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March is set to be a big month for Hulu, with a packed lineup of movies and shows heading to the streaming service. Things kick off on March 1 with a huge drop of over 50 films, including some major fan favorites.

Sci-fi lovers have plenty to look forward to as Hulu adds nearly the entire Alien franchise to its catalog. Viewers will be able to stream Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection, Alien vs. Predator, Alien: Covenant, and Prometheus. Prey and Alien: Romulus are already available, so this update brings the full saga together in one place.

For those more interested in award-winning dramas, March 1 also brings several critically acclaimed films, including American Hustle, Brooklyn, Jojo Rabbit, Good Will Hunting, The Social Network, and Sideways.

The Oscars will also be a major event on Hulu this month. The streaming service will air the live broadcast of the Academy Awards on March...

James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown is getting its German premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday night, and its Oscar-nominated star Timothée Chalamet is in town to present the film.

Speaking during the movie’s press conference earlier in the day, Chalamet was asked multiple times by the audience what he took from Bob Dylan’s subtle lyrical activism and his ability to separate his art and public persona from becoming overwhelmed by personal political stances.

Chalamet drew comparisons between Dylan’s subtle political messages and those of Dune writer Frank Herbert: “Be wary of cult-like figures,” would be his takeaway from both men, he said, adding that that is a sensible philosophy.

“I won’t speak for him [Bob Dylan] because he’s alive and well in Malibu, but my interpretation is just be wary of any savior-like figures,” Chalamet said.

He added: “Frank Herbert’s Dune,...

“A Complete Unknown,” a musical biopic starring Timothée Chalamet as “Like a Rolling Stone” composer Bob Dylan, has cemented a box office milestone, notching $100 million in global ticket sales.

After seven weeks on the big screen, “A Complete Unknown” has grossed $70 million in North America and $30 million internationally for a grand total of $100 million. The R-rated film ranks as Searchlight’s sixth-highest grossing domestic release of all time and is expected to pass “Sideways” ($71.5 million) to crack the top five in the coming weeks.

James Mangold (“Walk the Line”) directed the movie, which reportedly cost between $60 million to $70 million to produce. Since movie theater owners get to keep roughly half of ticket sales, “A Complete Unknown” likely won’t turn a profit in its theatrical run. But still, it’s no small feat these days for specialty fare to crack the $100 million mark.

Searchlight opened “A Complete Unknown” on Christmas Day,...

Exclusive: How does it feel, Searchlight?

Absolutely great ahead of the Oscars, as James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown is quite known around the world coursing past $100M at the global box office.

The eight-time Oscar nominated movie is now Searchlight Pictures’ No. 6 highest grossing title of all-time at the domestic box office with $69.5M behind Sideways ($71.5M) and it’s expected to strum to the Disney classic label’s fifth best ever in the coming weeks.

In its first weekend, the Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro movie repped Searchlight’s biggest opening since Disney acquired the company, quickly ranking as the second-largest opening in the studio’s history – just behind 2009’s Notorious ($20.4M).

In its second weekend, the film became Searchlight’s highest grossing film domestically since Disney acquired the company in early 2019 – surpassing 2022’s The Menu ($38.5M...

Exclusive: We are hearing that Amazon and Warner Bros among others have put bids in for a pitch that’s been making rounds from the Radio Silence team with Paul Giamatti attached to star.

The pitch is a biopic about the late paranormal DJ Art Bell, who would broadcast his radio show from his home studio 65 miles west of Las Vegas, fielding unscreened telephone calls in a five-hour show on Knye-fm called Coast to Coast.

Guests would offer up eyewitness stories on Bell’s show about alien counters, past lives, time travel and more X-File-like situations. His 2018 New York Times obit noted that Bell claimed he and his wife spotted a “150-foot-long triangular craft” above their car one night before it disappeared.

In Coast to Coast‘s heyday in the 1990s, it would pull in around 10 million listeners.

Bell became an amateur radio operator at 13, served as an Air Force...

Super Bowl weekend is notoriously tough for cinemagoing but fans turned out and tuned in for music documentary concert film Becoming Led Zeppelin from Sony Pictures Classics, which rocked the top ten. A Complete Unknown and The Brutalist are holding. Neon saw a bump for its Parasite re-release. Documentary No Other Land had a nice expansion.

Long-gestating Becoming Led Zeppelin, an early version of which premiered at Venice in 2021, charged to more than $2.6 million on 369 Imax screens and the no. 7 spot, the only indie in the top 10 this weekend.

That’s the biggest ever opening weekend domestically for an Imax-exclusive music release. Crowds are showing love across North America with strong results from both coasts as well as markets like Toronto, Cleveland, St. Louis and Dallas.

Also from SPC, Walter Salles I’m Still Here topping $1 million in week 4 on 704 screens, a big expansion from 93 last week, and Pedro Almodovar’s...

Oscar-winning writer/director Alexander Payne is one of the most acclaimed writer/directors of his generation. He specializes in films, such as “Sideways” and “The Descendants,” that can be darkly funny while at the same time being extremely moving. His depictions of the flawed character that he creates has almost become a genre unto itself — say a film is “like an Alexander Payne movie,” and film fans will know exactly what you mean.

Payne has a remarkable track record at the Academy Awards — he has made eight films and has earned seven Oscar nominations. Granted, it wasn’t one for each film, but percentage-wise, that’s still enormously impressive. And of those seven noms, he has won two Oscars for co-writing 2004’s “Sideways” and 2011’s “The Descendants.” In addition, he has received four Golden Globe nominations for his directorial work.

Payne takes his time taking on new projects — there was...

“Invincible” is back for Season 3 and boasting the same stellar cast that made the first two so great.

Much of the actors return again to voice their characters based on the Robert Kirkman comic book. Season 3 finds Mark at odds with Cecil all while trying to prepare mentally and physically for the threat of more Viltrumites heading to Earth.

Here are all the “Invincible” characters coming back for Season 3 — and the voice cast behind them.

Invincible (Credit: Getty Images/Prime Video) Steven Yeun as Mark Grayson/Invincible

Steven Yeun plays Mark Grayson, a.k.a Invincible. Yeun is most well-known for playing Glenn for years in “The Walking Dead” – a series based on a different comic book series by “Invincible” creator Robert Kirkman. He has also appeared in “Minari,” “Nope,” “Okja” and the Netflix series “Beef.”

Invincible (Credit: Getty Images/Prime Video) J.K. Simmons as Omni-Man

J.K. Simmons plays Omni-Man,...

Paul Giamatti started working professionally in the acting world in the 1980s, but did not get his true big break until the early 2000s, and many of his best movies and TV shows are from the time period after that break. Giamatti studied acting at the Yale School of Drama, which might be why he is such a great character actor who can simply disappear into a role today. He worked in theater and on Broadway before movies like American Splendor and Sideways, two of his best, provided him with his breakthrough roles.

In addition to theater, movies, and television, Giamatti has expanded his work to lend his voice to video games and audiobooks. All of his roles are different from one another while still allowing him to show the depth of his skills. Giamatti often takes on roles as the ordinary man experiencing what seems like an extraordinary conflict.

The Golden Globes have been honoring comedies since the 1950s and the days of such Billy Wilder gems as The Apartment and Some Like It Hot. But the category — which for the past 60 years has crowned a single winner among comedies and musicals — hasn’t always experienced smooth sailing.

How one defines a comedy — is it punchlines? pratfalls? subtle satire? — has been just one of the issues bedeviling the award. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association began playing even more fast and loose with definitions earlier this century when it increasingly nominated movies that seemed neither particularly funny nor acclaimed, instead using the category to bring popular films and stars into the fold that would otherwise have no way of getting there.

At the moment, the smaller, clubbier HFPA has been disbanded in favor of a larger and more representative group of global journalists. This has cut down on the number of nominated howlers,...

Michelle Randolph is now a veteran of the Taylor Sheridan-verse.

The young actress first appeared in “1923,” the phenomenally popular “Yellowstone” prequel that premiered back in 2022. She played Liz Strafford, soon Dutton, the fiancée of Jack Dutton (Darren Mann) and the possible grandmother of John Dutton (Kevin Costner) on the flagship series. (Randolph swears she still doesn’t know.)

She now stars a completely different character for the prolific showrunner as Ainsley, the bratty daughter of Billy Bob Thornton and Ali Larter on “Landman,” the Paramount+ drama based on a Texas Monthly podcast “Boomtown” about the state’s volatile oil business. The characters, besides a certain flintiness, couldn’t be further apart.

Randolph said that she first heard rumblings about “Landman” when they were shooting the first season of “1923” (it returns for Season 2 in February). She had assumed there was no way that she could do “Landman” because, as originally planned,...

Not every Hollywoodite can be expected to be as discerning in their wine selections as Miles Raymond, the infamously opinionated oenophile played by Paul Giamatti in 2004’s Sideways, the little indie that upended the industry. Thankfully, the town and its environs are full of sommeliers and other wine authorities only too eager to share their recommendations for year-end revelry, holiday gifting, and serious collecting.

“The holidays are always a fun time for wine,” says Thatcher Baker-Briggs, sommelier and owner of Thatcher’s Wine in Brentwood. “Although for me personally, I would have Champagne throughout the entire meal.” Baker-Briggs points to two smaller producers who grow their own grapes. “One of the most talked about and sought after is La Rogerie which is 100 percent Chardonnay and from a husband-and-wife team in their early 30’s who have skyrocketed into stardom.” Amaury Beaufort is his other pick. “It’s organically farmed which is hard to find in Champagne.

Image Source: Paramount Pictures Before he won two Oscars (for Sideways and The Descendants), Alexander Payne earned his first nomination for writing the dark comedy Election. Starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon, the film struggled to find its footing at the box office upon its initial release, but years of cable TV showings and streaming have turned it into a cult classic, highly acclaimed for its biting humor. In the film, Witherspoon played a student running in a high school election, though she was already in her 20s when she made the film. To prepare herself for the role, she went back to high school for a while; when the film was released, Witherspoon told us what it was like to find herself back in the classroom again. (Click on the media be below to hear Reese Witherspoon.) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Reese_Withersoon_Election_.mp3

Election is...

DC Comics is in the midst of a new era for its DC Universe, which is the perfect opportunity to highlight some of its underused new characters. DC has currently gone All-In for a new initiative to soft reboot the DC Universe with new stories, new creators, and new heroes at the helm. With so many classic heroes getting the spotlight - for the first time in years - fans can't forget their more recent favorites, either.

Truth be told, the past decade or so has seen a bevy of new superheroes join the fray at DC. That said, many of those new heroes haven't been seen or heard from since they debuted. Whether it's because of timing or the downsides of having a stuffed and stacked roster of talent, some modern heroes have already been forgotten in the larger scope of the DC Universe. Many of these heroes deserve a second chance at superstardom,...

It's sad to say it, but DC Comics has let one of the best characters it has introduced in the last few years just slip away before they could reach their potential. It's not the first time a hero has died before their time, but this loss is tragic, even years later.

DC Comics' "Rebirth" era was a period of optimism and hype, even after the universe was hit hard by the events of Dark Nights: Metal. If anything, that event was a boon, as it introduced a new line of characters and teams, including one character that DC Comics has unfortunately forgotten all about.

Sideways Was DC Comics' Best New Character Post-Metal Introduced as Part of DC's "New Age of DC Heroes"

After Dark Nights: Metal, DC Comics began a new line of comics as part of its "New Age of DC Heroes" branding. These new stories followed up on the events of Metal,...

In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks with writer/director Jonathan Eckersley talking about his feature film directorial debut The Stoic and “3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life,” which includes:

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) Sideways (2004) Sicario (2015) & Witness (1985)

3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life is a podcast that explores the transformative power of cinema. From emotional masterpieces to thought-provoking classics, each episode delves into the films that have had a profound impact on our personal growth and perspective. Through engaging storytelling, critical analysis, and cultural commentary, Stuart aims to uncover the lasting influence that movies have had on his guests. Please join him on an emotional journey through the world of film and discover how just three movies can change the direction of a life, cement memories you will never forget or sometimes change how you see the world.

Thomas Haden Church has joined the second season of Shane Gillis’ comedy series “Tires” at Netflix.

The show was renewed for Season 2 back in May ahead of the first season’s Netflix debut. Gillis self-financed the six-episode first season of “Tires,” with Netflix acquiring the show as part of a deal that included him getting another stand up special at the streamer. That special is also expected to debut in 2025.

Church will star in the show alongside Steven Gerben, Gillis, Chris O’Connor, Kilah Fox, and Stavros Halkias. The official logline for Season 2 states, “After the unexpected success of their big marketing idea, Will (Gerben) and Shane (Gillis) rush to grow personally and professionally without fully realizing the cost of doing business.”

Church will star in the show as Phil, described as “Shane’s wealthy but immature father. A grown-up version of Shane, Phil enjoys owning various businesses in Florida where he resides,...

Wine snobs can be some of the most insufferable people out there. This is displayed perfectly in Alexander Payne’s 2004 dramedy Sideways, if not just through the movie’s most famous line. As delivered by depressed oenophile Miles (Paul Giamatti): “If anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving. I am not drinking any f*cking merlot!” And with that, sales of merlot dropped straight into the barrel.

That sounds like it could be a story tied to the film, sort of like the unfounded rumor that sales of undershirts plummeted because Clark Gable didn’t wear one in a movie. But this is absolutely true. In a new feature marking the 20th anniversary of Sideways, winemaker Doug Margerum remembered the ripple effect that line had, saying everybody started switching to pinot noir instead of merlot. “We were having a hard time selling pinot then, but after the film came out,...

Alexander Payne had modest expectations for Sideways when his unassuming indie about an antic-filled buddy road trip through idyllic California wine country hit theaters in the fall of 2004. With an estimated budget of $16 million, the film wound up raking in more than $100 million worldwide and an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay — in addition to nominations for best picture, best director and best supporting actor (Thomas Haden Church) and actress (Virginia Madsen).

“As we were making Sideways, I thought it was just a nice little comedy and had no idea that it would ever stand the test of time,” says Payne. “And the merlot line that supposedly changed the wine industry? Well, it was just a joke, one single line in a movie. Who could have ever predicted that?”

The line in question comes about halfway into the movie. Miles, the pinot noir fanatic played by a typically agitated Paul Giamatti,...

Ready for a cozy, romantic comedy series? “Nobody Wants This” may be the warm blanket you asked for.

The Netflix series created by Erin Foster follows the unlikely love story between an outspoken, sex podcaster (Kristen Bell) and an upstanding Rabbi (Adam Brody).

Bell and Brody’s tangible chemistry drives the 10-episode rom-com home, making you wish you had more to binge. Breakout sibling performances from Justine Lupe (“Succession”) and Timothy Simons (“Veep”) round out the cast of this lighthearted, will-they-won’t-they romance.

Keep reading for a complete guide to the “Nobody Wants This” cast.

Kristen Bell as Joanne in episode 101 of “Nobody Wants This.” (Credit: Hopper Stone/Netflix) Kristen Bell as Joanne

Joanne is an outspoken sex podcaster, who doesn’t believe in God. She gets taken by surprise when she’s seated next to a Rabbi (Brody) at a dinner party, who starts to change her mind. Their unlikely love story begins there.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy boasts the franchise's most exciting new villain since Star Trek: Picard season 3 introduced Amanda Plummer as Captain Vadic. Starfleet Academy, executive produced by co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, is currently in production at the Star Trek Stage in Toronto, Canada. Targeting a 2026 premiere on Paramount+, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is headlined by Academy Award winner Holly Hunter and Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti, who plays the show's recurring villain.

Star Trek boasts a cavalcade of legendary villains like Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) and the Borg Queen (Alice Krige), but it's not often Star Trek TV series announce their villains beforehand. Star Trek on Paramount+'s shows like to keep as much under wraps as possible to avoid spoilers. A recent exception is Star Trek: Picard season 3, which revealed from the outset that Amanda Plummer was playing the villainous Vadic. Not only is Plummer Star Trek...

The Property Masters Guild (Pmg) announced the winners of the inaugural Pmg MacGuffin Awards, which is the only awards show to date celebrating the significant artistic achievements of Property Masters. The Motion Picture MacGuffin Awards were presented to “Oppenheimer”, “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part 1” (David Cheesman) and “Poor Things” (Balázs M. Kovács).

Winners in the Television Series included “The Bear”, “Lessons in Chemistry”, “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”, “That ‘90s Show”, “Perry Mason”, “The Last of Us” (Justin Onofriechuk) and “A Black Lady Sketch Show”.

Russell Bobbitt, the Property Master behind Marvel Studios films such as the “Iron Man” franchise, “Captain America” franchise and the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, earned the Hill Valley Humanitarian Award. He was recognized for “his outstanding philanthropic efforts and dedication to using his talents and resources to make a difference in the lives of those in need, including providing unique hands-on Marvel prop experiences for youth encountering debilitating health challenges.

Kryptonite is an iconic part of Superman's lore, but it's almost always the green variant. Tons of differently colored Kryptonite exist, and Red Kryptonite is by far the most underrated - a fact best proven when one story brought back a horrifying redesign of a goofy Red Kryptonite adventure Superman had back in the Silver Age.

The Dark Multiverse is one of the most terrifying parts of DC's cosmology. It's where every story goes wrong, no matter how innocent it might start out. One horrifying example of this dark effect is featured in Sideways #8 by Dan Didio and Max Raynor. In this story, the young hero Sideways runs into a group of people who have been displaced from their homes, and one of them is a terrifying version of Superman.

This version of Superman was exposed to Red Kryptonite on his planet and transformed into a terrifying half-man, half-ant creature.

One of the most acclaimed films of 2004 is “Collateral,” starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx and Jada Pinkett Smith. Written by Stuart Beattie and directed by Michael Mann, the movie tells of a cab driver in nighttime Los Angeles who becomes the hostage of a contract killer. Released 20 years ago in August 2004, “Collateral” was a box office success, grossing $220 million worldwide on a $65 million budget. Read on for more about the “Collateral” 20th anniversary.

Most of the nation’s critics were positive on “Collateral.” Todd McCarthy in Variety wrote, “This intensely focused piece soars not only on the director’s precision-tooled style but also on the outstanding interplay between leads Cruise and Foxx.” Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film “a rare thriller that’s as much character study as sound and fury.” And Peter Travers in Rolling Stone said, “Mann hits a new peak, orchestrating action, atmosphere and...

Exclusive: Alexander Payne has lambasted a report from earlier this year that the script for his five-time Oscar-nominated film The Holdovers, which he directed from a script by David Hemingson, was plagiarized.

“It was the stupidest thing in the world,” Payne told us at the Sarajevo Film Festival when asked about the Variety report earlier this year, which dropped on the eve of the Oscar ceremony.

In the piece, Luca screenwriter Simon Stephenson accused The Holdovers script of being plagiarized from his 2013 Black List screenplay Frisco.

“It was irresponsible of Variety to report on that without having read the scripts and comparing them themselves,” claimed Payne. “Do you think The New York Times would have done that?”

He added: “I haven’t heard anything more about it and I wish him [Stephenson] well but there was just no merit to it. I mean, I didn’t even pay attention to...

Alexander Payne is developing a Danish-language feature film that will shoot in Denmark and be 100% funded by European money.

Speaking to Screen at the Sarajevo Film Festival, Payne said he is yet to write the script but that he expected to qualify for certain European funding pots through his Greek citizenship.

He did not reveal plot or title details of the project, which would be the first European film for the Sideways and The Holdovers director. The director was previously attached to a Netflix film starring Mads Mikkelsen that was due to shoot in Denmark, Sweden and the US in...

As the Sarajevo Film Festival prepares to launch its 30th edition, which runs August 16-23, the event stands as a testament to the resilience and creativity of Southeast European cinema in the face of social and political upheaval.

Few cities bear the scars and burden of history as does Sarajevo. The festival itself was born out of conflict, launched during the nearly four-year siege of the city by Bosnian Serb forces in the early ’90s. While the fest has never avoided this history — it runs a “Dealing With the Past” section of films that look at “the many and unresolved issues that date back to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia” — from the start, the focus has been on the power of cinema to unite.

“The festival screen films from Serbia just a few years after the war, which was not a popular choice at the time,” says fest director Jovan Marjanović,...

Two-time Academy Award winner Alexander Payne (“The Holdovers”) teased the upcoming sequel to his beloved black comedy “Election” Sunday in Sarajevo while dishing on his desire to dabble in genre, sharing more details of an upcoming Western while also expressing his hopes “to do a good car chase film.”

Payne, who’s appearing at the Sarajevo Film Festival to receive a lifetime achievement award, gave an update on the anticipated sequel to his 1999 adaptation of the novel by Tom Perrotta, starring Reese Witherspoon as the ruthless go-getter Tracy Flick.

Paramount is reported to be developing a sequel for streaming service Paramount+, “Tracy Flick Can’t Win,” based on Perrotta’s follow-up novel, published in 2022, with Witherspoon reprising her iconic role and Payne tapped to direct.

“There is talk. Jim Taylor and I are conceiving that now,” Payne said on Sunday, describing conversations with his longtime collaborator, also in attendance. “If...

Alexander Payne touched down at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Sunday where he shed some light on his next project – a Western which will reunite the writer-director with The Holdovers scribe David Hemingson.

Speaking at a masterclass at the Bosnian Cultural Center, Payne, whose last project The Holdovers earned five Oscar nominations, told the audience that he wanted to explore different genres from the types of films he has made so far.

“The one genre I’ve wanted to do is a Western,” said Payne. “So, right now while Jim [Taylor] and I are talking about a sequel to Election, with a different writer – the guy who wrote The Holdovers [David Hemingson], we have been conceiving a Western for years now.”

He added: “It would be nice to take a kind of realistic-slash-naturalistic approach to a Western and also using landscape. In as much as sense of place is important…part of my...

Alexander Payne teased post-The Holdovers projects to an audience at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Sunday (August 18), providing an update on the Election sequel and saying he wants to make “a car chase movie.”

“Jim Taylor and I are conceiving what the sequel would look like now,” said Payne of the Election sequel, which is in the works at Paramount+. Taylor is a regular collaborator with Payne, including as co-writer on Downsizing and Sideways.

The film will be based on the 2022 sequel novel Tracy Flick Can’t Win by Tom Perrotta, who wrote the first book Election on which...

When the Sarajevo Film Festival was born in the midst of the Bosnian War in 1995, the festival’s initial aim was to reconstruct and regenerate the capital city and its inhabitants who had been cut off from the rest of the world during the four-year siege. With the festival set to kick off its 30th edition on Friday, these early objectives – to support the local industry while also driving the city forward – still remain as this year’s edition will see the event move the bulk of its events from its usual home in Sarajevo’s old town to the Marijin Dvor neighborhood, a modern district of the city.

For festival director Jovan Marjanović, it’s a move that will signify a new era of a much-loved festival that has served as an essential launching pad for regional talent. “We’re testing the waters with this new place,” he tells Deadline.

It’s already been two decades since “Sideways” pals Miles and Jack toured the Santa Inez Valley north of Santa Barbara and Miles, played by Paul Giamatti, declared, “I am not drinking any fucking merlot!”

But what did Miles and Jack, played by Thomas Haden Church, drink instead of merlot, which was deemed too mundane for their elevated tastes? Pinot noir, and lots of it! In Searchlight Pictures’ 2004 comedy, which is set to stream on Hulu this fall, the wine-obsessed duo sip and dine at the Hitching Post 2 restaurant in Buellton. Now, the Hitching Post is getting ready for the 20 year anniversary by hosting three Hitching Post + Sideways winemaker dinners and releasing a special edition pinot noir.

Hitching Post 2 chef and winemaker Frank Ostini and winemaker Gray Hartley of Hitching Post Wines are hosting anniversary events along with Santa Barbara’s La Paloma Cafe, Taste of the Santa Ynez Valley,...

It’s been 13 weeks since Kendrick Lamar dropped “Not Like Us,” the devastating Drake diss that’s now sat near the top of the charts for the majority of the summer. While he’s been relatively quiet since then, it looks like Drake is plotting a return to the public eye. On Friday, he surprised fans at PartyNextDoor’s tour stop in Toronto, hopping on stage to perform a handful of songs to the sold-out hometown crowd and to announce an upcoming collaborative project set to drop in the fall.

The Instigators offers a chance for Damon to bounce back from the flop of Downsizing with a heist thriller and familiar co-stars. Although reviews are mixed, the star power of Damon and Affleck in a Boston-centric setting should attract viewers on Apple TV+. The film's premise and solid cast make it a promising watch, but the 40% Rotten Tomatoes score raises concerns about its success.

Matt Damon's new movie The Instigators has an opportunity to redeem one of the worst-rated movies of his career from 2017. Damon stars in The Instigators with Casey Affleck, who he notably appeared onscreen with in Good Will Hunting. He and Affleck also co-wrote the 2002 adventure drama Gerry with Gus Van Sant and starred in that as well. Outside of their collaboration on the Ocean's trilogy, Affleck and Damon also both starred in two Christopher Nolan movies despite not appearing onscreen together in either, Interstellar...

Alexander Payne, whose most recent film “The Holdovers” picked up five Oscar nominations and one win, will receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award at the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival, in recognition of his “outstanding contribution to the art of film.”

Payne’s longtime collaborator Jim Taylor, with whom he shared the 2005 adapted screenplay Oscar for “Sideways,” will join him at the festival, which runs Aug. 16 to 23. Payne will present a special screening of “Sideways,” which earned five Academy Award nominations.

Payne also will hold a masterclass, which will be “an opportunity for the film enthusiasts to learn from him about film production, directing, screenwriting, and other key aspects of his career,” according to a statement from the festival.

Payne’s eight feature films have been nominated for 24 Oscars, including four times for best picture and three times for director. He has won twice for adapted screenplay, and “The Holdovers” won supporting actress this year.

US filmmaker Alexander Payne will receive the honorary Heart of Sarajevo award at the 2024 Sarajevo Film Festival (August 16-23).

Payne will present a masterclass at the festival about film production, directing and writing as well as other aspects of his career. He will also present a screening of his 2004 comedy-drama Sideways, which won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay.

He will be joined by longtime collaborator Jim Taylor, who wrote Payne’s films Election, About Schmidt and Sideways, and produced 2011’s The Descendants.

Payne previously attended the festival in 2005, presenting his films in a ‘Tribute to’ programme. His last feature...

Welcome to our weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big new singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. This week, Ice Spice drops her hugely anticipated debut album and joins forces with Travis Scott, Halsey taps into the melancholy side of Britney Spears, and Post Malone teams up with Luke Combs for some feel-good country. Plus, new music from Kacey Musgraves, Calvin Harris, and Ellie Goulding.

Ice Spice feat. Travis Scott, “Oh Shhh…” (YouTube)

Halsey, “Lucky” (YouTube)

Post Malone feat. Luke Combs, “Guy for That” (YouTube)

Kacey Musgraves,...

Gordo is one of those artists-producers who has been around for years — his name casually appearing on a constant stream of hits from all of your favorites. He’s done it all at this point. He’s been DJ’ing for more than 20 years, first getting notice in the mid-2010s as DJ Carnage and then going on to pioneer house, club, and techno sounds across the globe. He’s experimented with reggaeton and Latin styles as well, playing massive festivals and launching tours across Latin America. In hip-hop, he’s dropped massive chart-toppers,...

This week marks the arrival of "Twisters" (read /Film's review), a sequel arriving nearly three decades after the original blockbuster hit "Twister." Because of how much time has elapsed between films, the cast for "Twisters" is entirely different. Although "Twisters," like its predecessor, boasts plenty of flashy special effects to create the sensation of powerful tornadoes popping up throughout Oklahoma as it tracks different groups of storm chasers trying to wrangle these bouts of Mother Nature's anger, the film doesn't quite live up to the secret weapon that "Twister" had: surprisingly committed character actors delivering better-than-needed supporting performances. But character actors popping up to steal the show in big-budget blockbusters isn't unique to "Twister" or its sequel, so let's rank the 10 best blockbuster performances by character actors.

Read more: The 20 Best Western Movie Actors Ranked

10. Paul Giamatti, Planet Of The Apes

With more than 25 years of hindsight, there's not too...

The Oaks cul-de-sac in Holidazed on Hallmark+ [Image Hallmark Channel on YouTube]

Hallmark Media has announced a new, original limited series, Holidazed, set to air during the holiday season exclusively on Hallmark+.

The fun series features six diverse families living in one cul-de-sac and their varying holiday traditions. As in real life, not everything is perfect during the holidays as each family faces its own challenges. Read on to find out more about Holidazed and its fan-favorite cast members.

Hallmark+ to release new limited series Holidazed Six families living in the same cul-de-sac celebrate the holidays in Holidazed on Hallmark+[Image Hallmark Channel on YouTube]

As the undisputed leader in holiday content, Hallmark Media keeps growing its offerings. The latest is a new limited series Holidazed, starring a fan-favorite cast. The eight-episode limited series is set to air on Hallmark+ during the holidays and features the humor, love and family feelings between six families,...

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,...

Star Trek fans are celebrating this afternoon after hearing about Paul Giamatti joining the cast of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy for a recurring villainous role. The Oscar-nominated actor plays the central villain in the upcoming series, described as “a man with an ominious past with a connection to one of the show’s cadets.”

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy “introduces us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.”

Last month, Holly Hunter joined the cast of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, lending even more star power to a fan-favorite corner of the beloved science-fiction franchise. Hunter will portray the captain...

"Million Dollar Baby" was Clint Eastwood's second Best Picture winner — and, I've a feeling, narrowly missed out on being his third, because there was a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for "Mystic River" in 2003. Unfortunately for Eastwood, that happened to be the year voters had earmarked as the year to celebrate Peter Jackson's brilliantly executed Middle-earth saga with the release of its concluding chapter "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Still, I bet it was a closer vote.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of "Million Dollar Baby" taking Best Picture is that, looking over the near-century-long list of winners, it's likely in the top five of awardees you never want to watch again — not because it's bad, but because it's horrifically depressing. Eastwood successfully sets the film on a familiar sports movie trajectory, but then it veers shockingly off course into a despairing third act.

Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc is looking dapper as hell in this new look at "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery," Rian Johnson's latest murder mystery that continues the adventures of the private detective after "Knives Out" and "Glass Onion." The topline instant takeaway is obviously that Blanc has much longer hair than he's had in the previous two films, and that new look could potentially signal a new attitude or maybe even a whole new worldview for this character. Could a shaggier-haired Blanc be a bit more laid back and bohemian this time around? Perhaps he's been hanging out with his pal Derol from "Glass Onion" in between movies and taken some life lessons from the amiable slacker.

Aaaaand we're off! Today is day 1 of shooting on the next Benoit Blanc mystery "Wake Up Dead Man" - see you on the other side. pic.twitter.com/Napfvq...

Paul Giamatti will star in a TV version of Eli Roth’s grisly Hostel franchise. Both Roth and the films’ original producers will be involved in the new series.

A gold star to anyone who saw this coming.

Paul Giamatti, of Billions and Big Fat Liar fame, as well as his collaborations with Alexander Payne including Sideways and this year’s wonderful drama The Holdovers (pictured), is starring in a television version of Eli Roth’s Hostel, which is not a sentence I expected to type today.

It seems this collaboration has been on the cards for some time. Giamatti told Entertainment Weekly in a 2013 interview that “Eli was shooting Hostel in Prague and I was shooting The Illusionist and I met him. We talked about me actually killing somebody in that movie but it never panned out”.

Hostel is a film often, and perhaps quite rightly in the case of its sequel,...

Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc is set to return with another mystery in the upcoming installment of the hit film series, Knives Out 3. The filmmaker, Rian Johnson, who directed the previous two installments, recently revealed the official title of the movie, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, which is scheduled to release in 2025.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery | Credit: Netflix

Continuing the tradition of ensemble casts, it is also expected to feature a stellar lineup. And the Spider-Man star Thomas Haden Church has become the latest addition to the ensemble, which includes the likes of Jeremy Renner and Josh Brolin alongside Craig.

Thomas Haden Church Joins Netflix’s Knives Out 3

Known for portraying the role of Sandman in Spider-Man 3, Thomas Haden Church has become the latest actor to join the ensemble cast of the upcoming film in the Knives Out film series, starring Daniel Craig as the private investigator,...

Paul Giamatti has signed on to star in a television adaptation of Eli Roth’s horror franchise “Hostel.”

The project is in development at Fifth Season, the studio behind “Severance,” and does not yet have a distributor attached. Roth is set to direct and write with original franchise producer Chris Briggs. The two of them will also executive produce alongside “Hostel” alum Mike Fleiss.

“Hostel,” which premiered in theaters in 2005 and spawned two sequels, followed American tourists who are convinced by a stranger to travel from Barcelona to Slovakia, where they are then taken captive by an underground organization that kidnaps people for rich clients to torture and kill.

The series is envisioned as a “modern adaptation” and “reinvention” of the low-budget horror franchise, the first installment of which collected $82 million atop a $4.8 million budget. The less lucrative sequel, 2007’s “Hostel: Part II,” still raked in more than $35 million against a $10.2 million budget.

Paul Giamatti's surprising next movie role will be in Downton Abbey 3, following his well-received performance in The Holdovers. Fans are scratching their heads over Giamatti's decision to reprise a minor role in Downton Abbey 3 after his award season successes. While Giamatti's return to Downton Abbey 3 is unexpected, his talent will undoubtedly shine in this follow-up to The Holdovers.

Paul Giamatti is set to appear in his first new movie after being nominated at the Oscars for The Holdovers, but the pick is entirely unexpected. Paul Giamatti received all kinds of praise for his role in The Holdovers, with it being one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2023. Because of this, it would be expected that Giamatti's next role after The Holdovers is even bigger, but this is turning out to not be the case.

Paul Giamatti is one of the most beloved actors of the modern era,...

The lazy eye detail in The Holdovers is a deliberate choice for Paul Giamatti's character, adding depth and uniqueness to Mr. Hunham. Paul Giamatti revealed that the lazy eye effect was achieved with a special contact lens, making him blind in one eye throughout filming. The lazy eye serves as a metaphor for the struggle to see eye to eye between Mr. Hunham and student Angus, showing their growth and understanding.

Mr. Hunhams lazy eye is a distinctive characteristic of Paul Giamattis character in The Holdovers, but there is more to be seen behind the curious detail. Giamatti took home a Golden Globe for his performance as Mr. Hunham, a strict and strange teacher at an all-boys boarding school in 1970. When troubled student Angus (Dominic Sessa in his acting debut) has to stay on campus for the winter holidays, a reluctant Mr. Hunham watches over him. The teacher-student duo butt heads often,...

May has only just arrived, and it’s already heating up at Hulu! Dozens of new titles have moved in for the new month, with some of streamer’s biggest hits landing on the platform during its first weekend, including Season 3 of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s “Welcome to Wrexham” and Season 5 of “The Kardashians,” but Hulu will be adding major titles all month long, from the premiere of the coming-of-age comedy film “Prom Dates” to the streaming debut of last year’s psychological thriller “Eileen.”

Ready to watch? Check out The Streamable’s top picks for this month at Hulu and find out everything coming to the streamer in May!

30-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month hulu.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Hulu in May 2024? “The Contestant” Premiere | Thursday, May 2

The new documentary turns the lens on “our culture of oversharing” and tells the true...