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In the late 1960s, Paramount Pictures was getting a young-gun makeover with upstart producer Robert Evans taking the reins of the struggling studio. With the New Hollywood movement exploding thanks to provocations like "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Easy Rider," Evans was keen to hire exciting young filmmakers to apply their unique talents to the day's bestsellers. When he hit critical and commercial paydirt with Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby," he turned his attention to another hot novel owned by the studio, one that had the potential to revitalize the gangster film.

Author Mario Puzo hadn't even finished "The Godfather" when Paramount executive Peter Bart offered him $115,000 for the manuscript. His instincts proved spot-on. Within two years of its 1969 publication, "The Godfather" had become a phenomenon, selling in the neighborhood of nine million copies. A feature film adaptation was inevitable. All Evans and Bart had to do was find the right...

In 2024, a film’s TV debut is hardly ever an event to remember. Not so this Christmas, when the cinema event of the year might just premiere on the small screen…

Remember network premieres? Christmastime, and Christmas Day in particular, used to be full of them. With much of the Northern hemisphere forced to take some time off and the sun setting before we’ve finished lunch, channels knew they had something of a captive audience – one that couldn’t always be satisfied by the same six episodes of Dad’s Army.

Instead, the festive period often turned into a lifeline for the cash-strapped cinephile. With some of recent years’ biggest blockbusters making their way to the likes of the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, there was always the slightest tingle of excitement that came with the knowledge we’d finally – finally – be able to watch Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End...

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This December, Prime Video is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the much-anticipated sequel film to My Fault to an exciting anthology series based on different video games titled Secret Level. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Prime Video this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 7 best films that are coming to Prime Video in December 2024 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

After Hours (December 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90% Credit – Warner Bros.

After Hours is a dark comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Joseph Minion. The 1985 film follows Paul Hackett, an office worker with a set routine, but when one night he breaks that routine to meet a strange woman, he finds himself in several...

In 1975, George Kennedy starred in an unusual revenge thriller in which AI was used to catch the bad guys. A look back at The ‘Human’ Factor:

Revenge films and vigilantes were all over the place in the 1970s, whether it was Charles Bronson’s Paul Kersey gunning down crooks in Death Wish (1974) or Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle going on a rampage in Taxi Driver (1976). One of the more unusual thrillers of its type from the era, though, was The ‘Human’ Factor from 1975. For one thing, there’s its high-tech premise, in which George Kennedy’s protagonist uses cutting-edge technology to track down his enemies.

Kennedy plays John Kinsdale, a middle-aged, American computer expert stationed in Naples. Each day, he says goodbye to his picture-perfect Nuclear family – wife, two sons, a daughter with an outsized clown doll – and drives to his workplace at a nearby NATO base. There,...

James Gunn is a curious figure in popular culture. As a young man, just rising in the film business, Gunn co-wrote the witty and disgusting Troma epic "Tromeo & Juliet" with Lloyd Kaufman, and it featured kinky sex, a bisexual Juliet, cow monsters, mutant penis creatures, and an opening narration by Lemmy from Motörhead. After that, Gunn took the piss out of the superhero genre with "The Specials," a low-low budget film about what superheroes — petty jerks, mostly — do on their day off. He stayed aloft in Hollywood writing the screenplays for two surreal "Scooby-Doo" movies, and Zack Snyder's remake of "Dawn of the Dead" before making his directorial debut in 2006 with "Slither," another gross movie about body-invading worm monsters and wacko mutants.

Gunn then deconstructed superheroes even further with "Super" in 2010, a film that hypothesizes that superheroes are mentally ill and addicted to extreme violence. "Super" is bleak,...

Nicolas Cage is one of our most impressive living actors, and a big part of that is because of his intense love of cinema. He's a true student of the craft, with an obsession for older films that has led him to an extensive knowledge of all the medium has to offer. Cage's passion for his projects has led to him becoming the subject of many memes, mostly using his most over-the-top performances, but the man really knows his stuff. So, when Rotten Tomatoes asked Cage for his five favorite films of all time, he came a little over-prepared, offering his top 13 favorite films instead. He said that he simply couldn't narrow it down to five because "there's different movies for different reasons in different lifetimes," which is the most Nicolas Cage thing he could have said.

The actor often looks back to older cinema for inspiration and compares...

As one Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) says, “Pack your bags, we’re going to Hollywood/the movies!” Only Murders in the Building is about to be a major murder picture.I

Season 4 of Hulu’s cozy murder mystery series arrives Tuesday, August 27, and the ensemble cast will make it the biggest installment yet. The story will go bicoastal with yet another murder in the Arconia and the Hollywood treatment of Mabel’s (Selena Gomez), Charles’ (Steve Martin) and Oliver’s podcast in Los Angeles.

For the full episode release guide, find details about Season 4 below:

When does Only Murders in the Building Season 4 premiere?

Season 4 debuts on Tuesday, August 27.

How many episodes are in Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building?

Season 4 contains 10 episodes, just as the past three seasons have.

Mabel (Selena Gomez) and Tobert (Jesse Williams) in Only Murders in the Building

Are new episodes streaming weekly or all at once?...

Pierce Brosnan is finally getting to play “richer characters,” he told Variety.

“I tell my sons: ‘Work gets work.’ I’ve been a working actor all my life and I’ve managed to create a body of work that, I think, is entertaining and substantial. There are some wonderful jewels within it.”

Richard Gray, his director on western “The Unholy Trinity,” agreed: “Pierce’s a ridiculously good actor. Lately, he’s been doing some really good stuff. He’s had a string of films that aren’t out yet and they will show him in many different lights. Over the next 10 years, he’ll be very acclaimed.”

Brosnan has been a “great supporter” of the movie, now set to close Zurich Film Festival, which sees him square off against Samuel L. Jackson.

“Working with Pierce and Sam was a dream come true. I grew up watching these guys: they are legends.

Red Sun is not one of the most well respected spaghetti westerns. Face facts: in their time none of the spaghetti westerns were well respected, just populist vehicles for sex and violence. Made primarily for European audiences, they portrayed the wild west as brutal and dangerous, populated by mercenary thugs. They depicted violence, cruelty and outright criminality. In particular Once Upon A Time In The West shows the expansion of the US as being built out of exploitation, suffering and greed. As an outside view of American society they run against the nation-building narratives of the Hollywood westerns. "To see oursels as ithers see us!" There are no white hats. Might is destructive and oppressive, not right.

What make Red Sun a film of interest is its unusual cast and premise. In 1954, taking inspiration from a number of westerns, Akira Kurosawa made the cinematic masterpiece Seven Samurai. Toshiro Mifune co-stars.

Catherine Cohen has already appeared on “Girls5eva,” “What We Do in the Shadows,” “Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens,” “Broad City,” and “Search Party,” but it turns out no other show can really top the “good vibes” from Hulu’s beloved Emmy winner “Only Murders in the Building.”

Cohen stars in Season 4 of the whodunit series that centers on neighbors-turned-podcasters Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez) as they solve the pile-up of murder cases that seem to follow them everywhere…including during a bicoastal stint as their podcast is adapted into a film.

While Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria star as versions of themselves cast in the film adaptation of the podcast, Cohen and Siena Werber play a directing duo helming the movie. “Pachinko” alum Jin Ha is the screenwriter, with Molly Shannon as the producer setting the whole thing in motion.

The “Scream 3...

Get your chips and dips out! It’s time to celebrate! Our favorite murder-solving trio will be back!

Hulu has given its hit series, Only Murders in the Building, a green light for Season 5.

Not that its renewal was a mystery to us Arconiacs, but we’re glad it was solved sooner rather than later.

(Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)

Who doesn’t want more Mabel, Oliver, and Charles? There’s no better trio on TV than those three played by Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin.

So, another ten episodes of their comical, murder-solving ways is great news for Arconiacs, and the perfect pick-me-up for the almost end-of-summer blues.

Only Murders in the Building has already received 21 Emmy Nominations this year and 28 nominations for the prior two seasons.

Both Martin Short and Steven Martin are up for Best Lead Actor, and Selena Gomez is up for Best Lead Actress.

Industry...

One of Hulu’s most anticipated shows, ‘Only Murders in the Building’ released the premiere of season 4 titled “Once Upon a Time in the West” this week, setting up an incredible few weeks ahead. Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, and Martin Short return as New York City natives Charles, Mabel, and Oliver as they head to sunny Los Angeles, where studio executives are scrambling to turn their true crime podcast into the next Hollywood blockbuster, and clues to another murder are lurking, waiting to be discovered by our unlikely group of friends. Audiences can expect a spectacular story, great new characters, and laugh after laugh in the coming weeks. Put your sleuthing hats on, because this Emmy-nominated show is a must-watch! Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Limited Time Offer – Free Subscription to The Hollywood Insider Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision,...

Note: The following story contains spoilers for “Only Murders in the Building” Season 4, Episode 1.

The “Only Murders in the Building” Season 4 premiere solved the mystery of where Charles Haden-Savage’s stunt double Sazz Pataki’s (Jane Lynch) body disappeared to following her death by sniper in the Season 3 finale.

In the final minutes of the episode, Charles, Mabel and Oliver discovered that Sazz’s body was brought down to the basement of the Arconia and thrown in an incinerator, with one of her metal joints from Bulgaria left behind.

“It’s about as dark as we’ve ever gone on the show, and it needed to be,” showrunner John Hoffman told TheWrap. “The episode is structured in a way that the audience has a sense about something that our trio doesn’t. We needed to give the trio, and mainly Charles, a sense that something’s not right… And finally...

Editor’s Note: This post contains spoilers for “Only Murders in the Building” Season 4, Episode 1, “Once Upon a Time in the West.”

“It’s kind of a flaw in our business model,” says Mabel (Selena Gomez) in the first episode of “Only Murders in the Building” Season 4. That model, of course, defined three seasons of Steve Martin and John Hoffman’s hit Hulu comedy and the fictional podcast that provides its name; a dead body is found at The Arconia on New York’s Upper West Side, and then Charles (Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel solve the case — often narrowly escaping death themselves.

And while the award-winning Hulu series has been mostly consistent in quality and execution, switching things up has proved to be a winning strategy for “Omitb.” Season 3 brought in a fresh cast of characters with Oliver’s Broadway project “Death Rattle Dazzle,” and the murder of...

This post contains spoilers for the first episode of "Only Murders in the Building" season 4.

Who doesn't love a good movie reference? Hulu's popular mystery-comedy "Only Murders in the Building" always has, whether it's crafting a set featuring stealth nods to many of Meryl Streep's best roles or letting Steve Martin deliver a cute "Father of the Bride" joke during a climactic moment. The show's references have always been great, but they've never been an overt, overlying theme of the series so much as a series of semi-subtle winks and nods for the movie buffs watching. The new, Hollywood-centric fourth season seems set to change that.

The new season starts off with an ode to the movies, delivered in the form of Charles' (Martin) final podcast recording for last season's mystery, the death of movie star Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd). "Motion pictures were created over a hundred years ago,...

“Only Murders in the Building” is back for Season 4, once again bringing a murder with it. Charles, Mabel and Oliver really don’t have great luck in avoiding that.

But the show will also bring some very famous faces into the mix as story for the fourth season finds the trio getting a proper Hollywood movie made about them. In addition to the actors playing them, fans will also see some beloved returning cast members. But more on that momentarily.

First and foremost, we need to get into when you can actually watch the new episodes. Well, here’s everything you need to know.

When does “Only Murders in the Building” season 4 come out?

Season 4 premieres on Tuesday, August 27th.

Where is it streaming?

Once again, new episodes of the series are streaming exclusively on Hulu.

Are the episodes released weekly or all at once?

In keeping with past seasons,...

A new season of our favorite Hulu original comedy has finally arrived and I hope you like meta moments because it’s looking like this season of Only Murders in the Building is going to be full of jokes and quips playing up that angle as the team goes Hollywood.

This season finds our favorite team of podcasters making their way from NYC to the streets of Hollywood for another season of adventures. Our season opener finds Charles, Oliver, and Mabel being whisked away to LA to meet with a team looking to adapt their podcast for a feature film, but it’s the sudden disappearance of Charles's stunt double and longtime friend Sazz Pataki that is the true heart of the episode and clearly is setting up to be this season’s central murder mystery – after all, you can’t have a season of Only Murders without at least one murder!

The fourth season of Only Murders in the Building premieres with the episode, “Once Upon a Time in the West.” The season kicks off with Charles, Oliver, and Mabel grappling with the shocking events that concluded the previous season, specifically those surrounding Charles’ stunt double and friend, Sazz Pataki. A crucial question arises: Was Sazz […]

Only Murders In The Building Season 4 Premiere...

When it debuted in 2021, Only Murders in the Building — partnering the iconic comedic duo of Steve Martin and Martin Short with pop singer/actress Selena Gomez — quickly became a fan favorite for its blend of witty banter and twisty mystery. Now in its fourth season, the show has started to lose some of the former but is still one of the most entertaining series on the air because of its outstanding cast.

Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Review

As with past seasons, this season of Only Murders in the Building picks up where the last one left off, having been teased with a new murder for our favorite crime-solving trio to unravel. Meanwhile, the trio deals with Hollywood-itis as their past investigations are adapted into a major motion picture, and there may be more to this than it seems.

Only Murders In The Building – “Once Upon a Time in the West” – Charles,...

If you have been waiting for a new season of your favorite murder mystery comedy series Only Murders in the Building. It soon premiers on Hulu with an even more glamorous season starring even bigger stars than its previous seasons. Created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman, the Hulu series is going to resolve the cliffhanger at the end of Season 3.

Only Murders in the Building Season 4 will see the trio trying to solve the murder of Charles’ longtime stunt double Sazz Pataki. While all that is happening, the crew is also invited to Hollywood because a movie based on their podcast is being made. So, if you loved the murder, the mystery, and most importantly the comedy in Only Murders in the Building and are waiting patiently for Season 4, you can find the release dates for all of its episodes below:

Only Murders in the Building Season 4 – Episode Guide...

Only Murders in the Building season 4 is almost upon us, and we can't wait to see what happens next after the shocking events at the end of season 3. In case you need a reminder - Charles' poor stunt double and friend, Sazz Pataki, was murdered. Well, we're going to see the aftermath when new episodes return! Plus, you'll want the episode release schedule to know when to tune in.

Only Murders in the Building season 4 premieres Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024 starting at 12 a.m. Pt on Hulu. That would be a 3 a.m. Et release time on the east coast, and a 2 a.m. Ct release time for you Midwesterners. The season has a total of 10 episodes, with the finale scheduled for Oct. 29. We shared the episode release schedule below:

Episode 1, "Once Upon a Time in the West" - Aug. 27 at 12 a.m. PTEpisode 2 - Sept. 3Episode 3 - Sept. 10Episode 4 - Sept.

We are only a few days away from the premiere of an all-new season of Hulu's hit series Only Murders in the Building and fans can’t wait to dive right in! Each season has delivered laughs, mystery, and oh so many fun cameos. But for new fans wondering if the comedy-drama is appropriate for kids, here’s what we got!

Only Murders in the Building stars Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, and Martin Short as three unlikely Bffs who bond over their love (and borderline obsession) for true crime. The neighbors enjoyed getting together to crack a mystery or two from their favorite podcasts, but their world is turned upside down when a murder happens in their building.

Throughout the series, special appearances and guest stars have included Paul Rudd, Meryl Streep, Sting, Amy Schumer, Mark Consuelos, Mel Brooks, and several others. Each season has featured 10 episodes, and the...

Prime Video is the place to be in August with an incredible month of new releases. The month kicks off with the premiere of the animated series Batman: Caped Crusader on Aug. 1. The series was produced by J.J. Abrams and The Batman‘s Matt Reeves. We also return to Middle Earth this month with the premiere of The Rings of Power season 2 on Aug. 29.

As far as movies go, the Amazon original Jackpot! arrives on Aug. 15 starring Awkwafina and John Cena. This comedy is set in a world where Lottery winners have to survive until sundown in order to claim their multi-billion dollar jackpot – anyone who kills them before that gets to claim their prize.

The Hobbit trilogy also joins the Prime Video library this month, as do 21 and 22 Jump Street, Superman I-iv, Superman Returns, Night Swim, Drive Away Dolls, and 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Here’s everything coming...

Riding the record-breaking, opening weekend high of "Deadpool & Wolverine," Marvel Studios took the San Diego Comic Con's Hall H stage on Saturday night for its first full-stride victory lap in a shockingly long time. This is, after all, a studio that has mostly dominated the box office since "The Avengers" brought the Marvel Cinematic Universe together for an epochal superhero throwdown. Comic book fans had been dreaming of this movie for decades. Non-fans had been wired for it since Jon Favreau's "Iron Man," if not earlier.

12 years ago, this anticipation caught many in the film industry by surprise. If they'd known Marvel superheroes could be the cowboys of the 21st century, they probably would've taken this genre much more seriously after the surprise success of Tim Burton's "Batman" in 1989. And that's the thing with the superhero genre in this business. For a long time, these properties were...

Paramount has announced the lineup of movies, TV shows, and live sports coming to the Paramount+ streaming service in August. The Paramount Plus August 2024 schedule includes Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the final season of Seal Team.

With new English Football League and Serie A deals, CBS Sports brings even more thrills and drills to Paramount+. And to balance all that team spirit with cutthroat competition, renowned drag queens from 12 countries contend for the crown in RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars.

In August, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo continue their pizza-fueled antics when Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles premieres. The reimagined animated series—which picks up the foursome’s story after last year’s box-office hit Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem—will delight fans of all ages.

The 2023 film’s main voice cast returns, along with mutants voiced by Post Malone, Rose Byrne,...

In addition to Krusty the Clown, Bumblebee Man and, very briefly, Gabbo, one of Springfield’s most famous entertainers is, of course, Rainier Wolfcastle, star of the popular McBain movies, as well as Undercover Nerd and Help! My Son Is a Nerd (it isn’t a comedy).

The McBain franchise, which was first introduced in the second season of The Simpsons, is an action parody smorgasbord containing elements of Lethal Weapon and Die Hard, with a healthy dose of every movie Arnold Schwarzenegger ever made — although Schwarzenegger would later rip off Rainier Wolfcastle, so it all evens out in the end.

As we’ve mentioned before, those early clips of McBain were designed to form one cohesive story — a more cohesive one than some real Schwarzenegger movies, to be honest. Fans, in fact, have even edited the scenes together as if it were a real film.

But in a rare...

Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" is not the greatest Spaghetti Western ever made, but it is widely considered to be the first. As the film that made Clint Eastwood an global movie star, it is inarguably the most significant. Most importantly in today's movie marketplace, people who've never seen a Spaghetti Western likely know the title, which makes it a viable candidate for a remake.

And this is fitting because "A Fistful of Dollars" is itself a remake. In fact, it was such a brazenly beat-for-beat copy of Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai classic "Yojimbo" that U.S. distributors wouldn't release Leone's film until the filmmaker settled up with the Japanese master and his backers at Toho (Kurosawa wound up making more money off this deal than he did with "Yojimbo").

Of course, "Yojimbo" wasn't an original either. Kurosawa openly acknowledged that his film was inspired by Stuart Heisler...

When Paramount Pictures was finally absorbed by a conglomerate in 1966, it had been a long-running Hollywood powerhouse that was now contending with a new set of challenges.

Perfectly described by historian Robert Sklar as “the house Adolph Zukor built,” Paramount was one of the first major studios. As its leader, Zukor set in motion both industrial vertical integration along with a carefully constructed machinery for curating and maintaining celebrity image. Though Zukor was no longer chairman of the board by the time Gulf + Western swept in to take over Paramount, the founding mogul’s influence still permeated the studio gates.

At a time when Hollywood was searching for a new identity — founding moguls were gone or largely retired, shattered self-censorship practices were making way for a modern ratings system, studios were being gobbled up by companies outside of the entertainment realm — Paramount managed to prevail in glorious fashion. Within a couple years,...

The extravagant crime drama was mishandled upon release, hacked apart by Warners Bros, but time has been kind to the fuller, bleaker version

There’s no mob whacking in movie history as gruesome as the job Warner Bros did on Sergio Leone’s final feature, Once Upon a Time in America, a sumptuous crime epic that Leone tried to cut down from 269 minutes to 229 for its premiere at the Cannes film festival in 1984, only to have 90 more minutes lopped off for its US release, taking it all the way down to 139 minutes. The changes, done without Leone’s supervision or approval, had the predictable effect of alienating critics, who’d lauded the film at Cannes, while tanking the film at the box office, and it has taken decades to restore its length and reputation. Longer cuts have circulated – a 251-minute version returned to Cannes in 2012 – but the 229-minute European cut has now become the standard,...

As expansive and iconic as its title suggests, Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West certainly seemed to be written in John Ford’s blood, from the vast wide-angle visions of Monument Valley that Leone and cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli luxuriated in, to the railroad-based, future-of-America economic landscape that serves as a backdrop to a number of bandit-versus-bandit power plays. Henry Fonda, with that methodical, stately stroll of his and those killer blue eyes barely visible from under the rim of his hat, can be seen and heard throughout, sending a shiver of great nostalgia up one’s spine. Ripened and tanned by years of desert sunlight, Ford’s Wyatt Earp is back in the saddle again.

But that particular pace and posture that Fonda had become known for in such films as My Darling Clementine, matched with the devious glint in those baby blues, now took...

To celebrate the release of Once Upon a Time in the West on 4K Ultra HD today, as part of a 4K Uhd & Blu-Ray Collector’s Edition, we have a Collector’s Edition to give away to a lucky winner!

Director Sergio Leone’s monumental Western classic Once Upon A Time In The West celebrates its 55th anniversary this year and to mark the occasion Paramount Home Entertainment will release the fully restored film for the first time on 4K Ultra HD on May 13, 2024, as part of a 4K Uhd & Blu-ray Collector’s Edition.

One of the most iconic and influential movies ever made, Once Upon A Time In The West has been restored from the original 35mm Techniscope camera negative by Paramount’s archive team, L’Immagine Ritrovata and The Film Foundation. This restoration honours the 2007 Film Foundation photochemical restoration overseen by legendary director Martin Scorsese by matching its build and colour palette.

With its list of May 2024 releases, Amazon Prime Video is giving us the kindest gift of all: cougar Anne Hathaway.

May 2 sees the premiere of The Idea of You, a romantic-comedy that features Hathaway as a 40-year-old mom finding romance with a 24-year-old boy band singer (Nicholas Galitzine). Having saved the medium of film forever, Prime Video is celebrating with some big time library titles this month as well. American Fiction and BlacKkKlansman arrive on May 14 and will be followed by Creed and Pearl: An X-traordinary Origin Story on May 16.

For its TV offerings, Prime is leading off with Outer Range season 2 on May 16. This James Brolin sci-fi Western will continue the mysteries of the strange happenings on Thanos’ ranch. Reality TV fans will be able to enjoy the Daniel Tosh-hosted competition series The Goat on May 9.

Here’s everything coming to Prime Video and Freevee in April – Amazon...

[Editor’s note: this story was originally published in January 2024. We updated and recirculated it in advance of the 96th Academy Awards on March 10.]

The Oscars are a cruel, selective beast. With only 10 movies recognized in the Best Picture race, and five entries in every other category, it’s an unfortunate reality that many high quality, deserving films each year will end up with nothing on nomination day.

The 2024 Oscar class is no different, with plenty of cries of snubbery coming out after their January 23 announcement. Most of the discussion has been taken up by the shocking blanks for Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig, who missed out on Best Actress and Best Director respectively for their work on “Barbie,” the indisputable film juggernaut of the year. Other major surprises included Charles Melton missing out for his breakout turn in “May December,” and Leonardo DiCaprio getting left out of the Best Actor race for “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Other surprises proved of the more pleasant sort, with on-the-bubble contenders making it in like Robbie...

Sergio Leone’s classic western Once Upon A Time In The West is heading to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray: more here.

Ah, now here’s some excellent catalogue physical media news. The flat-out classic Once Upon A Time In The West is, for my money, the finest of Sergio Leone’s westerns. Given that he also directed the spaghetti western trilogy, starring Clint Eastwood, that’s no small statement. But heck, Once Upon A Time In The West is bloody stunning.

For some time, it’s been known that Paramount Pictures was working on a 4K release of the film too, and now comes the confirmation that it’s heading out way. Once Upon A Time In The West will be making its 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray physical media debut on 13th May 2024.

The film is now available to order on 4K disc: you can find more information, and pick yourself up a copy,...

In his lofty and lengthy directorial debut, author, curator, film historian and former Viennale and Austrian Film Museum Director, Alexander Horwath, takes on a monumental task, superimposing the biographies of two giants: that of acting icon Henry Fonda and that of the United States of America. It is a personal essay about the United States of America perceived through the life and work of the Hollywood actor.

It is not the first time that Horwath has tackled the subject of Henry Fonda. In 2020, he curated an eponymous programme for Il Cinema Ritrovato, exploring the political persona of Henry Fonda through films that trace this particular narrative. A programme composed of films that outlined Fonda's legacy even if only partially, with some of his greatest films, including The Lady Eve, My Darling Clementine, Once Upon A Time In The West, Jezebel, Jesse James, 12 Angry Men and On Golden...

Although collecting physical media doesn’t have the convenience appeal of streaming films, there is now sort of a stigma with purchasing movies through online platforms. Although its possible to compile a collection of movies through an online library, consumers will ultimately be at the whim of the service should it choose to keep the title available on their server. The seemingly iron-clad way to have a movie ready-to-watch is if you can have it at your fingertips. Additionally, there are a number of titles that don’t happen to find their way to have streaming access and physical media distributors like Shout and Vinegar Syndrome have dedicated their business to some overlooked titles.

There are also classic, prestige movie titles that studios are proud to remaster for a new, modern way of viewing. You can now catch a new upcoming release of Once Upon a Time in the West...

In the realm of Giallo films, Dario Argento is a celebrated figure. He’s one of the most influential directors of the Italian film industry, but his films have enchanted audiences worldwide and made a lot of cinephiles fall in love with the Italian Giallo films, such as Suspiria (1977), Deep Red (1975), Inferno (1980), and many more. Directed by Simone Scafidi, the Shudder documentary Dario Argento: Panico sheds light on this legendary filmmaker’s life and his extraordinary filmmaking style. Some of those closest to him like his sister, daughter, and ex-wife, as well as some globally acclaimed directors who had always looked up to his work, appeared in this film to share how Dario became an inspiration for the next generation.

The film opened with Dario Argento being interviewed and filmed in a hotel room, where he was supposed to write the screenplay for his next film. Initially a little bit hesitant to talk,...

Genre icon Dario Argento is the focus on the documentary Dario Argento Panico, which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival back in September – the same time we got our hands on the trailer embedded above. Today, Deadline reports that Dario Argento Panico has been acquired by the Shudder streaming service, and they’re planning to start streaming the in film the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand on February 2nd.

Before we reach that date, the documentary is set to have its U.S. premiere at the IFC Center in New York during their theatrical retrospective Panic Attacks: The Films of Dario Argento, which is set to run from January 31st through February 8th.

Directed by Simone Scafidi and produced by Paguro Film, Dario Argento Panico is said to offer an insightful journey through the life and legacy of the legendary Italian filmmaker,...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Museum of Modern Art

A massive Ennio Morricone retrospective continues with Leone, Pasolini, and more.

Anthology Film Archives

Buñuel’s The Milky Way and Philippe Garrel’s The Virgin’s Bed play in the Jesus Christ retrospective.

Roxy Cinema

They Live plays on 35mm; Home Alone and The Faculty also screen.

Film Forum

The new 4K Days of Heaven restoration is now playing (read our interview with Brooke Adams) while Michael Powell’s career-killing masterwork Peeping Tom continues; The Muppet Christmas Carol plays this Sunday.

Japan Society

Some of Japan’s most radical filmmakers are exhibited in “Taisho Roman: Fever Dreams of the Great Rectitude,” running through Saturday.

Museum of the Moving Image

A career-spanning Todd Haynes retrospective continues with Velvet Goldmine and Poison Keaton’s Our Hospitality plays on Saturday.

IFC Center

It’s a Wonderful Life and Alphaville...

This year, only six Asian films (in the most broad geographical sense) out of 20 titles competed in the Official Competition of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. If there is one among them that stood out in quality, that's Batbayar Chogsom's sophomore drama “White Flag”, set up in the breathtaking vast Mongolian steppe surrounded by dramatic, naked mountains.

“White Flag” is screening at Tallinn Black Nights

Batbayar gained international attention with his debut “Out Of Paradise” (2018) that brought him Best Film Awards at the Shanghai International Film Festival, something that he still calls “quite unexpected”. It took five years for the Swiss-Mongolian helmer to make his second movie, mainly due to a couple of unsuccessful attempts to get funding for other projects he wanted to shoot in Switzerland. When fighting for financing proved futile, Batbayar decided to turn his gaze to his native country yet again, and he returned to Mongolia to make another independent,...

Martin Scorsese’s sudden social media fame was not by his own doing. A day before he turns 81, Scorsese has revealed that he felt bamboozled — in the most loving way — by his 24-year-old daughter, Francesca, into becoming a TikTok star.

In recent weeks, the filmmaker has appeared in several now-viral videos with his daughter, where he’s been seen learning the definition of “simp” and unwittingly ranking movies, much to the delight of millions. “I was tricked into [TikTok],” Scorsese told the Los Angeles Times. “That was a trick. I didn...

Italian cinema is in the spotlight at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles where the screening series “Ennio Morricone: Essential Scores from a Movie Maestro,” programmed in partnership with Cinecittà, is currently playing to sold-out audiences.

The Oct. 6-Nov. 25 event comprises 20 titles, including Sergio Leone’s “The Good the Bad and the Ugly” in a new restored print, “Once Upon a Time in the West” (pictured) and Don Siegel’s “Two Mules for Sister Sara,” plus a selection of other works hailing both from the master composer’s native Italy and the U.S.. Among these are Brian De Palma (“The Untouchables”), Terrence Malick (“Days of Heaven”) and Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight,” for which Morricone finally won the the Oscar for best original soundtrack in 2016.

“Hateful Eight” screened at the museum’s David Geffen Theatre in the 70mm “Roadshow” version with an intermission and an overture.

Cinecittà operates...

Marina Cicogna, a film producer and one of the first women to establish herself in the traditionally male cinema environment in Italy, died Saturday in Rome. She was 89.

Cicogna produced several important Italian films, including Metti, una Sera a Cena by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi and Indagine su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogni Sospetto (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion) by Elio Petri, with the latter winning the Oscar for best foreign language film in 1971. The New York Times called her “one of the most powerful women in European cinema.”

Her extraordinary experience and career were recounted in 2021 in the documentary film Marina Cicogna. Life and Everything Else by Andrea Bettinetti and in her autobiography, Ancora Spero, released this year by Marsilio Publishing.

Cicogna died with Benedetta Gardona, her companion of more than 30 years, by her side.

Ahead of receiving the 2023 David Award for Lifetime Achievement this year, Cicogna...

Holy Moses! Has it really been 35 years since Young Guns rode with guns ablazing into theaters? You better believe it, pardner, and Lionsgate plan to celebrate the occasion with a timed 35th-anniversary release of the modern Western on a SteelBook in National 4K Ultra HD (+ Blu-ray + Digital), plus a Best Buy exclusive release on December 5th. This is the first time the film will be available in 4K with a brand-new transfer featuring Dolby Vision Hdr. A new Dolby Atmos audio mix and the original 2.0 stereo theatrical mix will be included. This is also the first time the film will be on digital and Blu-ray.

Here’s the official synopsis for Youg Guns via Lionsgate:

The year is 1878, Lincoln County. John Tunstall, a British ranch owner, hires six rebellious boys as “regulators” to protect his ranch against the ruthless Santa Fe Ring. When Tunstall is killed in an ambush, the Regulators,...

Veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar has said that the iconic Bollywood film ‘Sholay’ was not based, as was rumoured, on the classic western ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, which was directed by Sergio Leone. “As I have said, we (Salim and Javed) were influenced by Sergio Leone. But ‘Sholay’ was not based on his epic film. Critics also said ‘Zanjeer’ was based on ‘Dirty Harry’,” Akhtar writes in the recently released book, ‘Talking Life: Javed Akthar in Conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir’.

He points out that ‘Dirty Harry’ was released in December 1971 and ‘Zanjeer’ in May 1973. It would have been impossible for them in those pre-Google days to have written the screenplay (inspired by ‘Dirty Harry’), and then have the film shot, edited and released in such little time.

“It is all rubbish. No film was a remake or based on any other film,” Akhtar writes.

He...

Veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar has said that the iconic Bollywood film ‘Sholay’ was not based, as was rumoured, on the classic western ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, which was directed by Sergio Leone. “As I have said, we (Salim and Javed) were influenced by Sergio Leone. But ‘Sholay’ was not based on his epic film. Critics also said ‘Zanjeer’ was based on ‘Dirty Harry’,” Akhtar writes in the recently released book, ‘Talking Life: Javed Akthar in Conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir’.

He points out that ‘Dirty Harry’ was released in December 1971 and ‘Zanjeer’ in May 1973. It would have been impossible for them in those pre-Google days to have written the screenplay (inspired by ‘Dirty Harry’), and then have the film shot, edited and released in such little time.

“It is all rubbish. No film was a remake or based on any other film,” Akhtar writes.

He...

Genre icon Dario Argento is the focus on the documentary Dario Argento Panico, which is having its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival – and with that premiere to take place this Saturday, September 2nd, a trailer for the documentary has arrived online! You can check it out in the embed above.

Directed by Simone Scafidi and produced by Paguro Film, Dario Argento Panico is said to be an immersive deep dive into the creative process and life of Argento. It features exclusive interviews with the legendary filmmaker and insight from other acclaimed directors like Gaspar Noé, Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn about his impact on the horror genre and generations of other directors.

Fiore Argento, Asia Argento, Vittorio Cecchi Gori, Lamberto Bava, Luigi Cozzi, Michele Soavi, Claudio Simonetti, Marisa Casale, Cristina Marsillach, Floriana Argento, Franco Ferrini, and of course Dario Argento himself also appear in the documentary.

It’s a case of one score to rule them all, as Howard Shore’s stirring epic soundtrack for The Lord of the Rings trilogy was voted the U.K.’s favorite movie music.

Shore’s score for the Rings film, which has won three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes and four Grammys, came out ahead of some of the greatest and most recognizable soundtracks of all time, including John Williams’ music for Schindler’s List and Star Wars, which came second and third respectively.

The list of the top 100 film scores was compiled by popular U.K. radio station Classic FM, as part of their annual Movie Music Hall of Fame. More than 10,000 people voted for this year’s edition and the winner was revealed on Sunday by Jonathan Ross, the former presenter of the BBC’s Film program.

“Many thanks to all the Classic FM listeners,” Shore told...

Howdy pardners! Today, we’re galloping back to 1988, when Christopher Cain and a band of rootin’ tootin’ outlaws shot up the silver screen for the American Western action film Young Guns. Presented as a retelling of the adventures of Billy the Kid during the Lincoln Couty War, Young Gun features a murderers’ row of talent, including Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, Casey Siemaszko, Terence Stamp, Jack Palance, and Terry O’Quinn.

Cain directs from a script by John Fusco. Young Guns revolves around a group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, who become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. However, when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.

Historian Paul Hutton once called Young Guns the most historically accurate of all films focusing on the dirty deeds of Billy the Kid as of its year of release.

Pedro Almodóvar has been dancing with the idea of directing an English-language movie for decades, but he’s closer than ever to getting there. “I think I’m going to make it sooner or later,” the Spanish filmmaker told IndieWire over Zoom from his apartment in Madrid earlier this month. “I should be more honest about knowing my conditions.”

That admission comes a few months after “A Manual for Cleaning Women,” the adaptation of the Lucía Berlin short stories that Almodóvar spent years hoping to make, fell apart a matter of months before production was set to begin with Cate Blanchett. A series of complications led Almodóvar to cancel the production, leaving the rights to the project with Blanchett’s production company.

Now, Almodóvar is resurfacing with another toe-dip into English with “Strange Way of Life,” a touching gay Western short starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal that follows his first English-language effort,...