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These child actors starred in iconic films – here's what they're up to now.Iniversal Studios, 20th Century Fox;new Line CinemaDaniel Tay – 'Elf'Daniel Tay starred in 2003's 'Elf' alongside Will Ferrell.Warner Bros. Entertainment; Mega

Daniel Tay was 11 when he acted opposite Will Ferrell in 2003's Elf as Buddy's half-brother, Michael Hobbs. But after making American Splendor (2003) and Doogal (2006), he quit acting to take a drastically different path.

He graduated from Yale in 2014 with a degree in economics and became an Sat tutor and bilingual editor. Now 32, Tay volunteers at a New York hospital and still has an agent in case he's called on to make a comeback.

Eric Lloyd – 'The Santa Clause'Eric Lloyd portrayed Charlie Calvin's role in the 1994 hit 'The Santa Claus' and its two sequels.Youtube;Mega

From age eight to 20, Eric Lloyd played Charlie Calvin in 1994's The Santa Clause and its two sequels.

Take a look at these Christmas cuties and their lives now.Movieclips/YouTube; Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers/YouTubeDaniel Tay – 'Elf'Warner Bros. Entertainment/YouTube; Mega

Daniel Tay was 11 when he acted opposite Will Ferrell in 2003's Elf as Buddy's half-brother, Michael Hobbs. But after making American Splendor (2003) and Doogal (2006), he quit acting to take a drastically different path.

He graduated from Yale in 2014 with a degree in economics and became an Sat tutor and bilingual editor. Now 32, Tay volunteers at a New York hospital and still has an agent in case he's called on to make a comeback!

Eric Lloyd – 'The Santa Clause'Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers/YouTube; Mega

From age 8 to 20, Eric Lloyd played Charlie Calvin in 1994's The Santa Clause and its two sequels.

Since then, the 38-year-old has added comedian, musician and producer to his résumé, and starred in the 2018 movie The Onyx of Wall Street. He partnered with...

Believe it or not, we’ve been celebrating Christmas by watching Elf for more than 20 years now!

Released in 2003, the movie became an instant holiday classic and introduced fans to Will Ferrell‘s spirited Buddy the Elf and his iconic lines – think “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear” and “Buddy the elf, what’s your favorite color.”

It also served as an introduction to Daniel Tay, who played Buddy’s half-brother Michael Hobbs in the movie.

At the time, Daniel was 11 and had one acting credit to his name, a role in American Splendor, which also premiered in 2003. He was a Hollywood newcomer who caught lightning in a bottle with his second movie.

However, Elf remains his biggest role to date, and we haven’t seen Daniel in any recent blockbusters.

That’s because his life took a different path. What has he been up to?...

You’d be forgiven if you forgot that Elaine had a roommate on Seinfeld. Despite the fact that Elaine lived with Tina for at least the first third of Seinfeld’s nine seasons — when Tina moved out is unclear — she only ever appeared three times on the show.

The first time was during the formative episode “The Deal,” where Jerry and Elaine try to work out a “friends with benefits” arrangement only to have a slew of things, including Tina, get in the way. The second was when Tina dated Kramer for an episode, driving Elaine crazy. And lastly, Tina appeared in Season Five, where it’s established that she moved out some time ago.

Despite Tina being criminally underused on Seinfeld, every time she showed up, she stole the scene, which is a credit to the actress who portrayed her: Siobhan Fallon Hogan, who also had a stint on...

As “Reykjavik,” a look at a critical summit between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that helped determine the fate of the two superpowers, begins shooting in Iceland this week, the drama has brought on Hope Davis, Branka Katic and Aya Cash. They join the Sk Global feature, which has already lined up an impressive ensemble that includes Jeff Daniels as Ronald Reagan, Jared Harris as Mikhail Gorbachev and J.K. Simmons as Secretary of State George Shultz.

Davis, who appeared on Broadway opposite Daniels in “God of Carnage,” will star as Nancy Reagan. Katic is set to play Raisa Gorbachev, wife of the Soviet leader, and Cash has been tapped to portray a young journalist covering the Reykjavik Summit. Production officially commenced Tuesday on location in Reykjavik, where the cast and crew started filming in and around Höfði House, the actual site of a 1986 meeting that happened as the...

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While most of the superhero fans are already privy to Marvel and DC movies and TV shows, there is another comic publisher that has tons of great comics that have been adapted into iconic movies and TV shows. If you still don’t know which comic book publisher we are talking about then let us tell you it is the Dark Horse Comics publications which published several comic books on which great movies and TV shows like The Mask and The Umbrella Academy are based. So, we thought of compiling a list of the 10 best movies and TV shows based on the Dark Horse Comics.

The Mask (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – New Line Cinema

The Mask is a superhero action comedy film directed by Chuck Russell from a screenplay by Mike Werb. Based on the Dark Horse...

Exclusive: Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman (Succession) have been tapped to helm the first two episodes of The Four Seasons, Netflix’s new comedy series based on the same-name 1981 film, from Tina Fey, Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield.

As previously announced, Fey, Steve Carell, Colman Domingo, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Erika Henningsen and Will Forte will star. While a logline for the series hasn’t been provided, the film The Four Seasons follows three couples who vacation together every season, only to see their worlds upended when one of them divorces. Alan Alda directed from his script and starred opposite Carol Burnett, with Martin Bregman producing.

Hailing from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Fey’s production company Little Stranger, Inc., The Four Seasons will be exec produced by Fey, Fisher, Wigfield, David Miner, Eric Gurian and Jeff Richmond. Alda and Marissa Bregman will produce,...

Paul Giamatti is boldly going where no one from “Billions” has gone before: the “Star Trek” franchise.

The Oscar-nominated star of “The Holdovers” has boarded Paramount+’s upcoming series “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” in a major recurring role, Variety reports.

Per the trade, Giamatti will play the first season’s main villain, who has a “sinister connection” to one of Starfleet Academy’s cadets.

“Sometimes you’re lucky enough to discover that one of the greatest actors alive is also a huge ‘Star Trek’ fan, and meeting Paul was one of those miraculous moments for us,” co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau said in a statement. “The sheer delight with which he dove in on ‘Starfleet Academy’ is only surpassed by the gratitude we feel about him joining our incredible cast.”

Giamatti joins Oscar winner Holly Hunter in the cast. Hunter will be playing the captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy,...

In Alexander Payne's recent dramedy "The Holdovers," the Oscar-nominated Paul Giamatti played a grumpy (but charismatic) teacher, largely hated by the student body. It seems that the students of Starfleet Academy are about to hate him even more, as — according to a new report from Variety — the actor has been cast as the central villain of the upcoming "Starfleet Academy" TV series. The Variety report says that Giamatti will serve as an as-yet unnamed recurring antagonist throughout the "Star Trek" show's first season, and that his character will have "a sinister connection to the past of one of the (yet to be cast) cadets." Variety didn't specify if he'd be playing a human or another alien species.

Speculation may now commence. Will he be playing a bitter former professor? An escaped convict and serial killer who just happens to be the father of one of the main characters? A charismatic cult leader,...

Paul Giamatti is set to join Stephen Colbert for an evening of conversation as part of the second annual North to Shore Festival in New Jersey this June.

The event, set for June 29 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, will raise money for Montclair Film, the New Jersey based arts organization with which Colbert has long been involved, which runs the Montclair Film Festival.

Onstage, the Late Show host and Holdovers star will discuss Giamatti’s long-running screen career. In addition to his recent, Oscar-nominated role in the Alexander Payne-directed film, Giamatti’s film credits include Sideways, his Oscar-nominated role in Cinderella Man and performances in such movies as American Splendor, Barney’s Version, 12 Years a Slave, Straight Outta Compton, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, San Andreas, Planet of the Apes and Saving Private Ryan.

On the small screen, Giamatti spent seven seasons starring in Billions and previously...

With many of the winners of the Academy Awards now looking set in stone, there’s one question that we still have to ask. How will returning host Jimmy Kimmel do on his fourth try? His previous gigs were in 2017, 2018 and last year. He’s always been great. But this year, he’ll be better than ever… if he decides to deliver the following Oscars monologue. Mr. Kimmel — here you go.

1. Good evening and welcome to the Academy Awards. Or as it’s known this year, the “OppenOscars.” That’s right. There are 10 films vying for Best Picture. One of them is “Oppenheimer.” The other nine are all “Poor Things.”

2. I’m Jimmy Kimmel, father of the atomic joke and your Oscars host. And good news. Best Actor nominee Cillian Murphy can assure you that there’s a “near zero” chance that I’ll bomb tonight. I can just hear Matt Damon’s melodramatic response.

Adding to his awards season accolades, Paul Giamatti was honored with the Cinema Vanguard Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Wednesday, where he sat down for a conversation about his long career and journey to The Holdovers.

In a 75-minute chat moderated by The Hollywood Reporter‘s Scott Feinberg, Giamatti walked the Santa Barbara audience through his pivot from wanting to study primate anthropology to pursuing acting after his father died. He reflected on early roles in Private Parts, Planet of the Apes (“I was really disappointed I couldn’t play a gorilla. I was like, ‘I can’t be a gorilla, why not?’ They’re like, ‘You look more like an orangutan'”) and eventually American Splendor, where he said, “I remember at the time thinking, this is probably the first and last time I’m gonna lead [a movie] like this.”

Despite the critical success of that film,...

The Sundance Film Festival is regarded as one of the most prestigious independent film festivals, where filmmakers have been premiering their movies and documentaries since 1984.

The festival was founded in 1978 by Sterling Van Wagenen, the head of Robert Redford’s company Wildwood, and John Earle of the Utah Film Commission under the name Utah/US Film Festival to attract more filmmakers to Utah.

Redford founded the Sundance Institute in 1981 to foster independence, risk-taking, and new voices in American film. That year, 10 emerging filmmakers were invited to the Sundance Resort in the mountains of Utah, where they worked with leading writers, directors and actors to develop their original independent projects.

By 1984, the festival had established itself and was officially renamed the Sundance Film Festival after Redford’s character in his 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. That year, the Grand Jury Prize in Dramatics was awarded to Old Enough, an...

Paul Giamatti, the guest on this episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, is one of the greatest character actors of all time.

Giamatti is an Oscar nominee and winner of Emmy, Spirit and Critics Choice awards, three Golden Globe awards and three SAG awards, with credits to his name including 2003’s American Splendor, 2004’s Sideways, 2005’s Cinderella Man, 2006’s The Illusionist, the 2008 limited series John Adams, 2012’s Win Win, 2013’s 12 Years a Slave and the drama series Billions, which ran from 2016 through earlier this year.

His most recent credit is 2023’s The Holdovers, which reunites him with his Sideways director Alexander Payne; in which he plays a cranky boarding school teacher who is made even crankier by having to spend the 1970 Christmas break on campus with an aggrieved student; and for which he has already won best actor Golden Globe and National Board of Review awards...

Paul Giamatti “has never been better” (Deadline) in acclaimed Academy Award® -winning director Alexander Payne’s newest film, The Holdovers, available to own with all-new exclusive bonus featurettes on Digital on December 29, 2023, and on Blu-ray and DVD on January 2, 2024 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 96% and nominated for 8 Critics Choice Awards® including Best Picture, The Holdovers delivers an expert balance of comedy and warmth.

“Raucously funny” (The Hollywood Reporter) and poignant, The Holdovers stars critically acclaimed actor Paul Giamatti, alongside the remarkable Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa in his feature film debut.

From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, The Holdovers follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged,...

James McCaffrey, a seasoned veteran of the small screen and the voice of the iconic video game character Max Payne, has died.

He was 65.

According to reports, McCaffrey died Sunday of multiple myeloma cancer.

He was probably most well-known to non-video game players for his work on Rescue Me, where he played Jimmy Keefe.

Keefe was a New York firefighter who lost his life on 9/11.

He appears as a ghost to his cousin, played by Denis Leary, and his character drives some of Leary's richest scenes as Leary's character tries to understand the loss and why he's still alive.

McCaffrey had a series regular role for the first three seasons before switching to a recurring capacity for the final four seasons.

The FX hit also starred John Scurti, Michael Lombardi, Steven Pasquale, and Andrea Roth.

Throughout his career, the actor had countless credits across movies, TV, and video games.

In addition to Rescue Me,...

James McCaffrey, the actor who portrayed firefighter and 9/11 victim Jimmy Keefe on Rescue Me and provided the titular voice of the Max Payne video games, died Sunday at his home in Larchmont, N.Y. He was 65.

McCaffrey died after a battle with myeloma. The news was confirmed by his wife, actress Rochelle Boström, to The Hollywood Reporter.

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In addition to starring in 55 episodes of the FX dramedy Rescue Me, McCaffrey also starred in 1994’s Viper as...

James McCaffrey, who portrayed the firefighter and 9/11 victim Jimmy Keefe on Rescue Me and provided the voice of the title character in Max Payne video games, has died. He was 65.

McCaffrey died Sunday at his home in Larchmont, New York, after a battle with myeloma, his wife, actress Rochelle Boström, told The Hollywood Reporter.

McCaffrey also starred in the 1990s as expert driver Michael Payton/Joe Astor on the first and fourth seasons of the NBC drama Viper and as Capt. Arthur O’Byrne on the Fox crime series New York Undercover.

McCaffrey’s Jimmy was killed on 9/11, and his vision hounded friend and fellow New York firefighter Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) over all seven seasons (2004-11) of the acclaimed FX drama Rescue Me. He said it was his favorite role.

He voiced Max Payne — the avenging former NYPD officer turned DEA agent whose wife and daughter were murdered by...

Paul Giamatti talks about finding the heart in the protagonist of Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers.

He is rightly known for his versatility, but Paul Giamatti has a special knack for principled, witty curmudgeons. “It seems to come to me,” he says of the personality type, “and it is hard for me to know whether I manifest it for myself or it’s something people have seen me do. They are interesting characters to play for sure though.”

The latest in the US actor’s line of acerbic grumps is at the centre of The Holdovers, the awards-contending comedy-drama from...

Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti’s latest film, The Holdovers, is in the awards conversation for its tale of holiday mischief and misfits at a remote New England boarding school. In it, Giamatti plays a cranky history teacher tasked with looking after students who aren’t going home for winter break. Almost 20 years ago, Payne and Giamatti earned awards acclaim for their first collaboration: 2004’s Sideways.

For Giamatti, who had built a career as a character actor, the film marked his second as a lead (after American Splendor the year before). He plays Miles, a depressed middle-aged English teacher, unpublished writer and wine snob on a vineyard-hopping road trip through California’s Santa Ynez Valley with his friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church), a down-on-his-luck actor about to get married. Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor adapted the screenplay from Rex Pickett’s novel of the same name and filmed on location at hotels,...

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association is announcing winners for the best films and performances of 2023.

After Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” won the National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Awards for best film, all eyes are on the California journalists to see if they will opt for something else or continue the lovefest for one of cinema’s most adored auteurs.

Last year, the West Coast organization had two films tied for its top prize. Todd Field’s psychological drama “Tár” and the eventual best picture-winning dramedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once” from the Daniels.

Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.

Since 2000, only four of Lafca’s selections for best picture failed to garner an Oscar nod for best picture — “About Schmidt” (2002), “American Splendor” (2003), “Wall-e” (2008) and “Small Axe” (2020). In the same timeframe, five films have gone...

Emma Thompson has turned in a host of eclectic, effective, excellent performances throughout her illustrious career. She started out with period dramas such as “Howards End” and “The Remains of the Day” before later moving into fantasy with roles in “Nanny McPhee” and “Harry Potter.” Add to that top-tier performances in the likes of “Sense and Sensibility,” “Saving Mr. Banks,” “Cruella,” and “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” and you’ve got one hell of a performer.

However, Thompson has stated herself that the role she gets the most praise for is actually… “Love Actually.” The classic Richard Curtis Christmas movie, which turns 20 this year, tells the interconnected love stories of eight different sets of people with Thompson delivering the most emotional and heartbreaking storyline of all of them. Thompson’s Karen is an under-appreciated stay-at-home mother who spends her days looking after the kids, making costumes for their school nativity,...

If you were a kid or teen in the 2000s, it's likely that you watched at least one movie featuring Josh Hutcherson, and it's also likely that you had a favorite movie with him in it. Hutcherson began acting in the early 2000s and had minor roles in a variety of TV shows before making his film debut in 2003's "American Splendor." From there, Hutcherson was launched into stardom and starred in a number of popular films throughout the decade, including "Kicking & Screaming," "Zathura: A Space Adventure," and "Journey to the Center of the Earth." By the 2010s, Hutcherson took on more mature roles and arguably landed his most popular role as Peeta Mellark in "The Hunger Games," which he would reprise for the remaining three movies in the beloved film series.

Most recently, Hutcherson is set to star in "Five Nights at Freddy's," the film adaptation of the...

Madeleine Gavin’s Sundance award-winning documentary “Beyond Utopia” has garnered the best documentary and best doc editing honors at the 24th annual Woodstock Film Festival.

The documentary, which was recently acquired by Roadside Attractions, is vying for Academy Award attention.

Using hidden camera footage, the doc follows the high-stakes journey that a handful of desperate families make in order to defect from North Korea — a country with the most brutal regime on earth, led by a dictator, Kim Jong-un.

Doc jurors included directors Barbara Kopple (“Harlan County USA”) Richard Rowley (“ Kingdom of Silence”) and Heidi Ewing (“Jesus Camp”).

“This year’s winner is an astonishingly intimate, white-knuckle thriller following families trying to escape North Korea,” the jurors said in a joint statement. “Stitched together from raw, first person footage, it is impossible not to feel the heart-breaking courage as a family clings to each other during a nighttime crossing of the Mekong River.

Two-time Oscar winner Alexander Payne returns to the big screen with his entertaining and crowd-pleasing film “The Holdovers” which debuted at the Telluride Film Festival on Thursday night, where he was in-person to introduce.

With a 1970s aesthetic, a sharp script by David Hemingson, and a trio of exquisite performers, the film feels like the slam-dunk Oscar contender the establishment members of the Academy can get behind.

“The Holdovers” reunites Payne with his “Sideways” star Paul Giamatti. It tells the story of a curmudgeonly instructor at an elite New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the students with nowhere to go. He forms an unlikely bond with a damaged, brainy troublemaker (played by newcomer Dominic Sessa) and the head cook (portrayed by Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

It’s hard to believe Giamatti, 56, who’s been remarkable in movies such as “American Splendor” (2003), “Barney’s Version” (2010) and of course,...

When Josh Hutcherson was cast in "Five Nights at Freddy's," it just made sense. Director and co-writer Emma Tammi's film adaptation of the lore-heavy hit horror video game franchise has the actor playing Mike Schmidt, an Average Joe who takes a job as the night security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, unaware of that tiny issue where the entertainment center's animatronic mascots come to life and begin massacring people after midnight. Mike himself is the type of archetypical hero Hutcherson is best known for portraying; a humble everyman who must rise to the occasion in the face of extraordinary circumstances.

In a way, Hutcherson's unlikely transformation into one of this century's major genre movie and TV actors began with his first feature film, "American Splendor." One of the best comic book adaptations ever made, the film carries over the meta-narrative and autobiographical elements of Harvey Pekar's source material,...

Filmmakers Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini got their start with a documentary about a famous Los Angeles restaurant called "Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's," but broke through the world of narrative features with "American Splendor," a comedy biopic starring Paul Giamatti about the underground comic book writer, Harvey Pekar. At the 93rd Academy Awards, Amanda Seyfried snagged a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in "Mank," David Fincher's biopic of Herman J. Mankiewicz released by Netflix. In the year that followed, Berman and Plucini linked up with Seyfried and Netflix to make "Things Heard and Seen" based on the novel "All Things Cease to Appear" by Elizabeth Brundage.

Seyfried was cast as the star, but she was joined by "Stranger Things" favorite Natalia Dyer, "Better Call Saul" standout Rhea Seehorn, Karen Allen of "Indiana Jones" fame, Academy Award-winner F. Murray Abraham, Academy Award-nominee Michael O'Keefe,...

“Better Call Saul” breakout Rhea Seehorn will be joining Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the untitled fourth “Bad Boys” film, TheWrap has confirmed. Details of her character – and anything else pertaining to the plot of the movie – are being heavily guarded but no doubt will occur somewhere in Miami.

Seehorn played lawyer Kim Wexler for 60 episodes on Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould’s “Better Call Saul,” a spinoff of the popular “Breaking Bad” that is the rare example of a spinoff being just as good (if not better) than the original.

Seehorn has also been in several movies, everything from the Tim Allen version of “The Shaggy Dog” back in 2006, to the Netflix horror movie “Things Heard & Seen” with Amanda Seyfried (from “American Splendor” filmmakers Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini), but this fourth “Bad Boys” will definitely be her biggest movie yet.

Also Read:

‘Better Call Saul...

Comic book movies are everywhere. At the beginning of the millennium, comic and graphic novel adaptations were uncommon, with the critical failure of "Batman and Robin" putting the breaks on many studios' plans for future superhero fare. Nowadays, we are spoiled by the veritable bounty of comic book re-imaginings, from the indomitable machine of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the many spin-offs of "The Walking Dead" to the Oscar-winning success of "Joker." We live in a time where even "Madame Web" is getting a big-budget film. Truly, our cup runneth over.

Of course, the trend is currently for superheroes and hasn't expanded much beyond that limited subgenre. Comic books are like any other artistic medium: they encompass seemingly limitless potential across styles, themes, genres, and intents. There are exceptions, from the mundane realism of "Ghost World" and "American Splendor" to the rip-roaring golden age adventuring of "The Adventures of Tintin.

With the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in full swing, and our own Chris Bumbray covering the event, we wanted to know what film is your favorite of Sundance’s top prize: The Grand Jury Prize- Dramatic. From the very first winner (Old Enough) in 1984 to the most recent winner (Nanny) in 2022, let us know your favorite. If you’ve been to Sundance, please share your experience(s) in the comments section.

Favorite Sundance Grand Jury Prize WinnerNanny (2022)Coda (2021)Minari (2020)Clemency (2019)The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)The Birth of a Nation (2016)Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)Whiplash (2014)Fruitvale Station (2013)Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)Like Crazy (2011)Winter's Bone (2010)Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (2009)Frozen River (2008)Padre Nuestro (2007)Quinceañera (2006)Forty Shades of Blue (2005)Primer (2004)American Splendor (2003)Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002)The Believer (2001)Girlfight (2000)You Can Count on Me (2000)Three...

Owen Kline’s darkly hilarious directorial debut “Funny Pages” is a coming-of-age tale that finds the sublime in the grotesque, and the profound in an absurd search for meaning in the basement apartments and comic book shops of Trenton, New Jersey. Kline showcases a simultaneously provocative and poignant point-of-view and delivers an instant indie classic of lo-fi tri-state area cinema.

Kline’s “Funny Pages” is a delightfully disgusting and daring debut, featuring a breakout performance from “Eighth Grade”’s Daniel Zolghadri, as well as a host of New York’s most unique character actors. It also has notes of the Safdie Brothers’ “Uncut Gems” (the brothers serve as producers and Kline helped out on their shorts), a similar subject matter to “American Splendor” and just a soupçon of the gross-out sensibility of “The Greasy Strangler.”

Our protagonist, the young Robert (Zolghadri) is an aspiring comic artist in the tradition of R. Crumb,...

On VOD, Universal’s “Nobody” and the debut of the latest Liam Neeson action film, “The Marksman,” topped the charts along with “Nomadland.” The Bob Odenkirk thriller “Nobody” has been overall the top performer for its initial three weeks of $19.99 home play (with the studio collecting $16 for each rental). It is the sole title to make all four charts, placing #1 at GooglePlay and Spectrum, second and fifth at Fandango and Apple TV. Two million rentals would mean $32 million in studio rentals.

For “The Marksman,” Open Road held to the pre-pandemic 75 day window, grossing a little under $16 million in domestic theaters, before going PVOD. It took #1 at FandangoNow, #2 at Apple TV, and #3 at GooglePlay.

“Nomadland” took the final top spot, placing first at Apple TV at $5.99 after a PVOD release (and while it still runs on Hulu). It is #9 at GooglePlay and #5 at FandangoNow, where it ranks highest among non-pvod titles...

Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s no-thrills, no-chills, ultimately shrug-worthy adaptation of Elizabeth Brundage’s 2016 well-regarded, literary novel, Things Heard & Seen, works hard to turn tired, overused tropes into a compelling, engaging, and otherwise enthralling two-hour film starring recent Oscar nominee Amanda Seyfried. Spoiler alert: Despite a promising beginning that attempts to split the difference between Spoiler alert: Despite a promising beginning that attempts to split the difference between supernatural horror and domestic drama, the by-now obligatory pre-Internet 20th-century setting (1980), and an overabundance of intriguing, weighty ideas about art, spirituality, and the afterlife, Things Heard & Seen stumbles on practically every level, including as the equivalent of a sizzle reel...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

It was 18 years ago — how time flies in the indie world — that the married directing team of Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman brought us “American Splendor,” an achingly humane, scabrously funny, miraculously playful and inventive lower-depths comedy based on the life and work of the lumpen verité comic-book diarist Harvey Pekar, played by Paul Giamatti in a performance of irascible brilliance. The movie was an audacious triumph, and going forward one wanted, and expected, more great things from Pulcini and Berman. In the years since, however, nothing they’ve done has come within miles of living up to the promise of that landmark film. The odd thing is that their earnest empathy and craft is always on display; they have an instinct for pace, for camera angles, for how to seek out three dimensions in places where too many filmmakers settle for two. Yet lightning has never struck again for them.

It’s safe to assume any movie that opens with a quote from 17th century pluralistic-Christian theologian (and big time spiritualist) Emanuel Swedenborg has a lot on its mind, and so it’s no surprise that Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s “Things Heard & Seen” isn’t the straightforward horror story that’s suggested by its ominous flash-forward of an opening scene. Indeed, Swedenborg’s insistence that “things that are in heaven are more real than things that are in the world” hovers over the first hour of this strange movie like a gentle hand on your shoulder, as if to say “don’t be afraid of this haunted old house in the Hudson Valley. Just because it comes with a ghost or two and a smattering of half-hearted jump-scares doesn’t mean that it’s evil. Amanda Seyfried could’ve had that freaky nightmare about pulling a...

"Everything in the natural world, has a counterpart in the spiritual realm." Netlfix has revealed an official trailer for a mysterious thriller titled Things Heard & Seen, from filmmakers Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini. A Manhattan couple moves to a historic hamlet up in the Hudson Valley and come to discover that their marriage has a sinister darkness, one that rivals their new home's history. Oooh. Based on the acclaimed novel by Elizabeth Brundage. Amanda Seyfried and James Norton co-star, with Natalia Dyer, Alex Neustaedter, Rhea Seehorn, Michael O'Keefe, Karen Allen, Jack Gore, with F. Murray Abraham, James Urbaniak, and Ana Sophia Heger. At first glance, this looks like an American remake of Rebecca, about digging up skeletons in the closet once you marry and move. At least the talented Amanda Seyfried is leading this time. First trailer (+ poster) for Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini's Things Heard ...

Roster includes Alexandre Aja horror O2; Lin-Manuel Miranda musical tick, tick… Boom!

International filmmakers feature prominently on a Netflix 2021 slate that will bring one new film a week, with new work from Australia’s Jane Campion, Italy’s Paolo Sorrentino and the UK’s Aardman Animations set to be launched globally on the platform this year.

The slate of 70 features – 10 of which are not in English – is a statement of intent from Netflix head of original films Scott Stuber, who has been in the job for three years and is shaping a pipeline with a higher level of quality, name talent,...

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (Lafca), one of the most important critics groups in the awards season, announced their favorites films and performances, following Boston and New York last week. They managed to shake things up considerably with Prime Video’s “Small Axe,” a collection of five films directed by Oscar-winner Steve McQueen (who was the runner up in best director), won two big awards including best picture and cinematography (Shabier Kirchner).

The only individual citation for one of the films was for “Lovers Rock,” whose composer Mica Levi was the runner up in best music. Amazon Studios has submitted “Small Axe” to the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards in the limited series categories. The plans have been to submit the series for the Emmys next year.

Other winners included Chloé Zhao winning once again for “Nomadland” in the directing category. She is the first Asian woman...

Another Netflix project on our list sorta filmed under the radar back in November of 2019. Back in their heyday, Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman were Sundance royalty when they launched American Splendor in 2013 and won the Grand Jury Prize at the fest. Things Heard and Seen was filmed in Hudson Valley, New York with the likes of James Norton, Amanda Seyfried, Natalia Dyer, Rhea Seehorn, Alex Neustaedter, and vet F. Murray Abraham.

Gist: The story centers on a Manhattan couple who move to a historic hamlet in the Hudson Valley and come to discover that their marriage has a sinister darkness, one that rivals their new home’s history.…...

Producer deal to start on June 2.

Ted Hope is stepping down as Amazon Studios movies co-head and has signed a multi-year, first-look producing deal with the streaming giant.

Hope will consult on several films planned for release in 2020 and produce select projects on the upcoming development slate. His producing deal starts on June 2.

Matt Newman and Julie Rapaport expand their roles as co-heads of the Original Movies team, reporting to head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke, who said the group would be “in good hands as they continue their collaborative leadership.”

The division’s recent films include Late Night, Brittany Runs A Marathon,...

Producer deal to start on June 2.

Ted Hope is stepping down as Amazon Studios movies co-head and has signed a multi-year, first-look producing deal with the streaming giant.

Hope will consult on several films planned for release in 2020 and produce select projects on the upcoming development slate. His producing deal starts on June 2.

Matt Newman and Julie Rapaport expand their roles as co-heads of the Original Movies team, reporting to head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke, who said the group would be “in good hands as they continue their collaborative leadership.”

The division’s recent films include Late Night, Brittany Runs A Marathon,...

Amazon Studios motion picture executive Ted Hope is stepping down from his role under chief Jennifer Salke, Variety has learned.

The official word from within Amazon is that Hope left by choice, and will transition out with a multi-year first look producing deal at the streamer. He brought deep indie street cred to the fledgling division when it formed. However, many of the films he championed, oversaw, and helped acquire suffered poor results at the box office and received a mixed critical reception.

A replacement for Hope is unlikely as his colleagues Julie Rapaport and Matt Newman will absorb his duties, according to a memo from Salke sent to staff on Thursday congratulating the pair on their “expanded roles.”

In the early days of Amazon’s original movies program, Hope was involved in mounting successful acquisitions like the Academy Award nominated “The Big Sick” and Oscar winner “Manchester By the Sea.

It’s shaping up to be a historic weekend in Gotham City (and in Burbank) that starts with the splashy release of Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn and likely ends with Oscar-night magic for Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips’ Joker.

Yan’s Birds of Prey, much like Joker, puts a premium on over-the-top transformation, although Yan’s movie is about a breakup, not a breakdown. The brash and fizzy underworld adventure stars Margot Robbie as the subversive DC fan-favorite named Harley Quinn, who was introduced on the big screen by Robbie in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad (2016) as the daft but dangerous girlfriend of the Joker (as played by Jared Leto with leering menace).

Robbie stole every scene as Harley and the film did robust business ($747 million worldwide gross) despite sour reviews so Warner Bros. gave the go-ahead for a spinoff...

Greta Gerwig is trying to follow in Emma Thompson‘s footsteps in more ways than one. Just like at the Oscars, should Gerwig win adapted screenplay at Saturday’s Writers Guild of America Award for “Little Women,” she’d be the first solo female winner in the category since Thompson was honored for “Sense and Sensibility” (1995) — yup, nearly a quarter of a century ago.

Gerwig, who’s in first place in our predictions, would also be only the third solo female champ in the category since the WGA Awards established adapted and original fields in 1970; the first was Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who received the prize for “A Room with a View” (1986).

Including writing teams, Gerwig would be the eighth female winner. Elaine May was the first, prevailing for her “Heaven Can Wait” (1978) script with Warren Beatty in the adapted comedy category, which, along with adapted drama, was discontinued after 1984. Seven years later,...

While some people consider comic books to be kid stuff, just this week a wrap-around cover, single piece of original artwork from Marvel's 1983 illustrated edition of "Frankenstein" by Bernie Wrightson sold for a staggering $1.2 million at auction:

Other pieces of artwork that sold at the 'Profiles In History' auction included John Byrne's original artwork for Fantastic Four #256 (the complete 22-page story of "The Annihilation Gambit") selling for $90,000.

Steve Ditko's original artwork for "The Amazing Spider-Man" #37 (Page 8) sold for $90,000. 

Ditko's original artwork for "The Amazing Spider-Man" #6 (Page 21) sold for $33,000.

Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta's original artwork for "The Mighty Thor" #139 (the complete 16-page story of "To Die Like a God") sold for $90,000.

Jack Kirby and John Verpoorten's original artwork for "The Eternals" #2 (the complete 17-page story of "The Celestials") sold for $69,000.

Robert Crumb's original artwork for "American Splendor" #4 (the complete 7-page story of "The Young Crumb...

Markdown Amanda Seyfried as the latest combatant entering the fray of the great streaming wars set to begin in a few weeks. From Pedro Pascal and the McU’s cast of heroes to Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, the incoming Apple+ and Disney+ streaming platforms have fortified their armories of A-list talent for original shows that will be fighting for the attention of a Netflix-loving world.

Continue reading Amanda Seyfried Joins Horror Thriller By The Filmmakers Of ‘American Splendor’ at The Playlist.

Amanda Seyfried is in negotiations to star in Things Heard & Seen, a supernatural thriller set up at Netflix.

Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, whose credits range from American Splendor to 10,000 Saints, wrote the script and will direct. Anthony Bregman, who recently wrapped production on In the Heights, is producing with Stefanie Azpiazu, Peter Cron and Julie Cohen.

The story centers on a young couple who move to a farm near a small town in upstate New York. Their new home is cursed by the murder of its former owners and as haunted secrets reveal themselves, the husband and wife’s ...

Amanda Seyfried is in negotiations to star in Things Heard & Seen, a supernatural thriller set up at Netflix.

Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, whose credits range from American Splendor to 10,000 Saints, wrote the script and will direct. Anthony Bregman, who recently wrapped production on In the Heights, is producing with Stefanie Azpiazu, Peter Cron and Julie Cohen.

The story centers on a young couple who move to a farm near a small town in upstate New York. Their new home is cursed by the murder of its former owners and as haunted secrets reveal themselves, the husband and wife’s ...

Exclusive: Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Hope Davis (For the People) is set as series regular opposite Michael Stuhlbarg in Your Honor, Showtime’s limited series starring Bryan Cranston and based on the hot Israeli drama format Kvodo. Additionally, Lilli Kay (Chambers) will recur in multiple episodes.

The legal thriller hails from Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice) and The Good Wife‘s Robert and Michelle King. The 10-episode series produced by CBS TV Studios is slated to go into production this fall in New Orleans.

Written by British TV writer-playwright Moffat, Your Honor is adapted from the Israeli series Kvodo, created by Ron Ninio and Shlomo Mashiach. The legal thriller rips through all strata of New Orleans society.

Davis plays Gina, who might be even more dangerous than her husband, the feared crime boss Tommy (Stuhlbarg). Kay plays their daughter, Fia, whose relationship with her new boyfriend might threaten her family.

On June 6, 2019, award winning actor Paul Giamatti will celebrate his 52nd birthday. He is currently about to finish up his fourth season on the hit Showtime series “Billions” but is even more well known for his film career.

A graduate of the Yale Drama School, Giamatti began his career on the New York stage. He has appeared on Broadway four times in productions from esteemed authors Tom Stoppard, David Hare, Anton Chekov and Eugene O’Neill but surprisingly his rise to fame would come from playing a character named “Pig Vomit” in the movie version of Howard Stern’s book “Private Parts.” Giamatti played the part of an NBC radio executive who constantly battles Stern over obscenity rules and is practically driven mad by his never-ending battles with Stern.

SEERon Howard movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best

Surprisingly he has only earned one Oscar nomination for his film work,...