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Should rom-coms be reserved for men of a certain age? Well, Hollywood star, George Clooney, seems to think so. A two-time Sexiest Man Alive, Clooney was one of the hottest stars of the aughties and among the industry's most bankable talents. Never one to be typecast, he has showcased his versatility across a range of roles. However, his natural charm made him a perfect fit for romantic films, and he shined in the few he took on. While his charisma remains as strong as ever, it seems Clooney has now decided on the kind of roles that best suit him going forward, and rom-coms are no longer part of the plan.

Even after decades in the business, Clooney continues to challenge his craft. He recently made his Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck, a stage adaptation of the 2005 film he directed and starred in. In his latest interview with 60 Minutes,...

Good Night and Good Luck, starring George Clooney, broke the record for highest weekly gross for a play last week, with an eye-popping $3.3 million.

That total was brought in across only seven preview performances, and bests the record set by Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhall. Othello initially broke the record for highest-grossing play the week of March 3, with $2.8 million, and then broke its own record the following week with $2.82 million.

Good Night and Good Luck achieved the new record with an average ticket price of $302.07 and capacity of 101 percent at the Winter Garden Theater. The play, which sees Clooney play the journalist Edward R. Murrow as he takes aim at Sen. Joseph McCarthy, broke the record during its second week of previews and is scheduled to open April 3.

The Winter Garden Theater has a larger capacity, at 1,545 seats, than the Ethel Barrymore, where Othello is playing, with 1,043 seats,...

Ilana Glazer is set to host the 2025 Webby Awards, The Hollywood Reporter can reveal exclusively.

The multi-hyphenate will emcee the 29th annual ceremony from Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on May 12.

The Webby Awards, known for its signature five-word acceptance speeches, celebrates the best of the internet across websites, podcasts, social media, games, apps, creators and ads.

Glazer is currently part of the cast of the George Clooney-led Broadway play, Good Night & Good Luck. Glazer also recently released the stand-up special Human Magic on Hulu. After co-creating Broad City, which began as a web series before its five-season run on Comedy Central, with Abbi Jacobson, Glazer has starred in such TV shows and films as The Afterparty, Babes and False Positive, co-writing the latter two. In 2016 she co-founded the Generator Collective nonprofit, which organizes and creates content around electing progressive candidates.

“Hosting The Webby Awards is...

It wouldn’t be referred to as the Free World without democracy and dissent co-existing among the people. However, the US takes the thought a step further by having movie stars and business moguls battle it out in the public sphere. In the latest round of bouts, George Clooney and Donald Trump are battling it out in a clash of back-and-forth insults.

George Clooney in Good Night and Good Luck (2005) [Credit Metropolitan Filmexport, Warner Independent Pictures]

Being one of the best actors of this generation, George Clooney’s voice reaches the masses and has the power to influence them along the way. As such, when movie stars and celebrities like Clooney and Robert De Niro use every public platform at their disposal on every possible opportunity to call out the country’s leader, it is a dangerous but powerful statement.

George Clooney and Donald Trump enter the ring Donald Trump [Photo by nm5640306 autoGage...

In a recent interview with “60 Minutes” to promote his Broadway stage run of “Good Night, & Good Luck,” actor George Clooney declared his intention to pull back on roles in romantic films to allow younger actors to get their leading man shots.

“Look, I’m 63 years old,” Clooney bluntly told Jon Wertheim in his new interview with “60 Minutes” (via People Magazine) expressing his desire to step away from romantic roles as an actor.

Continue reading George Clooney Declares He’s Done With Acting In Romantic Movies: “I’m Not Trying To Compete With 25-Year Old Leading Men” at The Playlist.

Jeff Daniels has joined the cast of “Shrinking” at Apple TV+, Variety has learned.

The actor will appear in the series’ upcoming third season, which was originally announced in October 2024. Daniels will appear in a guest star role as Jimmy’s (Jason Segel) father. Along with Segel, the cast of the critically-acclaimed dramedy also includes Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell, Christa Miller, and Ted McGinley.

This will be the latest TV role for Daniels in the past several years. Previously, he starred in the Showtime (and later Amazon Prime Video) series adaptation of “American Rust” as well as the premium cabler’s limited series “The Comey Rule.” He has also starred in shows like “A Man in Full,” “The Newsroom” (for which he won an Emmy in 2013), “Godless” (for which he won an Emmy in 2018), and “The Looming Tower.” Daniels is a highly-accomplished film actor, starring in...

Othello broke the record for highest weekly gross for a Broadway play last week, and was the top-grossing show in the industry for the second week in the row. 

The play, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, brought in $2.8 million in its second week of previews and played to 100 percent capacity at the Barrymore Theatre. Ticket prices are high, with an average price of $338.09, which is hundreds above the next highest ticket prices of $158 at Wicked and Hamilton. 

Still, the prices are below the highs reached during the prior week, when the show commanded an average ticket price of $361.90. The play, directed by Kenny Leon, is scheduled to open March 23. 

Othello again beat out Wicked, which had been the highest grossing show over the past several months. Wicked took the second spot last week, with $2.4 million, followed by Hamilton with $1.7 million, The Lion King with $1.5 million and The Outsiders with $1.3 million.

Time may have passed, but George Clooney is still up to his old shenanigans. Or at least back to playing career criminal Danny Ocean again.

Speaking in an interview with The New York Times, the Academy Award-winning actor teased the latest installment in the long-running franchise, which would serve as a follow-up to “Ocean’s Thirteen.”

“It’s like we’re all too old to do the jobs we used to be able to do,” Clooney said.

Clooney previously spoke of the project in an interview with Uproxx back in December 2023, where he compared the script to the 1979 comedy “Going in Style,” starring George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg. At the Los Angeles premiere of “Wolfs” back in September 2024, he also told E! News that he’d gotten the rest of the old team on board to return.

“We have a really good script,” said Clooney. “Everyone’s read it and ready to do it.

O Horizon is bound to be one of the season's sweetest charmers. The heartwarming indie film stars Maria Bakalova as a neuroscientist grieving the loss of her father (David Strathairn of Nomadland and Good Night and Good Luck). There's a nice sci-fi element, too, placing the film in the realm of magical realism and making it an overall celebration of indie cinema. Written and directed by Emmy winner Madeleine Rotzler (Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus), O Horizon is the kind of movie we need more of.

Bakalova evokes great compassion for her character, Abby, who grabs hold of an opportunity to speak and engage with her deceased father, Warren, again — through the use of new AI technology. Trippy. But perhaps not so much, considering the technological advancement these days. The challenge for Abby, however, is that the ripple effects of her actions spread much farther than she ever realized,...

According to a troubling new report, the romantic clock may be ticking on one of Hollywood’s most beloved couples.

Yes, we’re looking at you, George Clooney and Amal Clooney.

But we really wish we were not.

George Clooney and his wife Amal Clooney attend the LA premiere of Amazon MGM Studios’ “The Boys in the boat” at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California, December 11, 2023. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / Afp) / Alternate Crop (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/Afp via Getty Images)

Via In Touch, a source claims that the Oscar-winning actor and his extremely intelligent wife simply don’t see each other very often these days.

“They are both hardcore workaholics, so it’s like they’re in their own little bubble. They are in two very different worlds 90 percent of the day. They’re leading separate lives,” this insider tells the tabloid, noting that at...

Ray Wise is back on The Young and the Restless canvas as master manipulator Ian Ward. Perhaps best known for his role as Leland Palmer on Twin Peaks, Wise initially debuted on the soap in 2014 as the New World Cult leader with a history of tormenting Nikki. Although sent to prison in 2016, he’s now back to wreak more havoc.

Need To Know

The veteran actor has had an impressive career in film and television. Some of his most memorable roles include henchman Leon C. Nash in RoboCop (1987), Jack Taggart Sr. in Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003), and the Devil in The CW series Reaper (2003).

Want to learn more about the actor? Here are seven things to know about Ray Wise.

1. Wise was born in Akron, Ohio, and is of Romanian descent on his mother’s side. He attended Garfield High School before enrolling at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Upon graduation,...

Wow, November got here fast. This year’s election cycle seemed shorter than usual. The presidential candidates were all but a foregone conclusion, until they weren’t. Now with election season finally here, things continue to be tense. Are smooth transitions between administrations a thing of the past, or has the fever from last cycle broken?

Despite the strange reality we live in now, politics have always been fertile ground for nerve-fraying anxiety. Whether that’s the paranoia of being under the all-seeing eye of the Nsa today, the tragedy of the assassinations in the 60s, or the scandals of the 70s, politics have never been for the faint of heart. Struggles for power rarely are.

Here’s some of our favorite political thrillers to put you in the right mood for election season:

War Room

For better or for worse, the documentary War Room defined ‘90s politics. Unlike the ‘80s,...

Stanisław Lem's 1961 sci-fi novel "Solaris" had already famously been adapted to film by the masterful Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972, so there was some debate as to whether or not Steven Soderbergh's 2002 version of "Solaris" counted as a remake or simply another adaptation. Given the slow, moody, contemplative style that Soderbergh affects for his film, though, one might be tempted to say he was directly emulating Tarkovsky, a filmmaker known for his incredibly long, extended takes, paired with broad moments of silence.

"Solaris" is about a mysterious distant planet, orbited by a human-made space station. When people board the station, a strange psychic wave from the planet reaches into their minds and physically manifests their loved ones. In Soderbergh's version, George Clooney plays the lead character, and he finds himself interacting with his long-dead wife Rheya (Natasha McElhone). The duplicates, however, understand -- in a very vague sense -- that...

Protagonist Pictures has unveiled the new drama-thriller Press Your Luck, starring Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird, Richard Jewell, I, Tonya). The company on Thursday also unveiled a first glimpse at the project, based on the “incredible” true story of Michael Larson, an unemployed ice-cream truck driver from Ohio who steps onto the game show “Press Your Luck” harboring a secret: the key to endless amounts of money. But his winning streak gets threatened when executives in the control room start to uncover his real motivations.

The all-star ensemble cast also includes Walton Goggins (Fallout, The Righteous Gemstones, The Hateful Eight), David Strathairn (Nomadland, Good Night and Good Luck), Maisie Williams (The New Look, Game of Thrones), Haley Bennett (Swallow, The Magnificent Seven), Shamier Anderson (John Wick: Chapter 4, “Invasion”), and David Rysdahl (Fargo, Oppenheimer).

Jackass legend Johnny Knoxville, Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker, Chicago P.D.), Patti Harrison (Theater Camp,...

Double Oscar winner George Clooney has become one of the most successful people in his profession but despite family connections (his aunt was the late singer Rosemary Clooney), he struggled for years to make it as an actor.

After dropping out of college, Clooney would try his hand at acting. He struggled for a few years until finding a part on “E/R” in 1984. This wasn’t the “ER” that would make him a star 10 years later, but instead was a short-lived sitcom with the same name. In the decade between those shows, Clooney became known mostly for his track record of starring in an incredibly large number of pilots that weren’t picked up to be made into series. He would score a few successes with recurring roles on “The Facts of Life,” “Sisters” and “Roseanne,” but he would also suffer brutal humiliations like starring in “Return to Horror High...

Oppenheimer is among Robert Downey Jr.'s best performances yet and could earn him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Downey's previous Oscar nomination was in 2009 for Tropic Thunder, and since then, his roles in the MCU haven't earned him any nominations. Oppenheimer is likely to be nominated for Best Picture, marking Downey's first Best Picture nomination since 2005's Good Night, and Good Luck.

Despite being one of the most recognizable actors in Hollywood, Robert Downey Jr. has an unwanted 15-year streak that Oppenheimer may finally end. Oppenheimer is among Robert Downey Jr.'s best performances and not only could his role earn a nomination, but the movie will likely be up for Best Picture as well. All signs point towards at least one Oscar nomination for Oppenheimer, but it could be a contender for many awards because of its sound, design, and performances. The film has already been...

There’s a gripping story to be told in The Boys in the Boat. Daniel James Brown’s best-seller gained acclaim for depicting how nine Depression-era boys defied the odds and inspired a nation rowing crew for the U.S. in the 1936 Olympics. It’s a tale rife with optimism and intrigue – all of which director George Clooney siphons away in this bland, rote adaptation.

It’s the middle of the Depression when Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) decides to go out for Washington’s rowing team as a way to pay for his college education. Most of the young men on the team, coached by Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), are there not because they have a passion for crew but because they simply want the paycheck. While they’re a ramshackle lot to begin with, over time the Jv crew team outshines the varsity squad and eventually wins a spot in the Olympics in Berlin,...

In Steven Soderbergh's sexy 1998 crime thriller, George Clooney plays the world's smoothest bank robber, Jack Foley, a man so charming that he manages to rob a bank using nothing more than a yellow highlighter. Foley begins "Out of Sight" in prison, having been busted after someone snitched on him. He bonds with imprisoned compatriots -- notably, Albert Brooks -- and the two of them arrange for Jack to get a job upon his release. When released, however, Jack is double-crossed by the Brooks character, and he is ejected from the building with no job. The rejection leads Jack, in a fit of resentment, to commit the above-mentioned robbery. He is caught, and put right back in prison. 

Clooney, a handsome man sculpted out of hardened cologne, makes his yellow prison jumpsuits look downright dashing, while his silvering hair swoop and five o'clock shadow are impeccably maintained behind bars. Some...

Emma Thompson holds a distinct Oscars record. She is the only person in the history of the Academy Awards to win for both acting and writing. She took home the Best Actress trophy in 1993 for “Howard’s End.” Three years later, she collected an Oscar bookend with her Best Adapted Screenplay win for bringing Jane Austen‘s 1811 novel “Sense and Sensibility” to the screen.

Prior to Thompson’s double wins, several others contended for both acting and writing. Orson Welles won Best Original Screenplay in 1942 with Herman J. Mankiewicz for “Citizen Kane.” He also picked up a Best Actor nomination for the same film. Warren Beatty has a rich history in both acting and writing awards. He was nominated for Best Actor in 1968 for “Bonnie & Clyde,” in 1979 for “Heaven Can Wait, in 1982 for “Reds,” and in 1992″ for “Bugsy.” He picked up Original Screenplay bids in 1976 for “Shampoo” (shared with...

Robert Downey Jr. will receive the Maltin Modern Master Award at the 39th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Feb. 9.

The award is named after the film historian Leonard Maltin, who will lead an in-person discussion with Downey Jr. at the festival, where they will dig into the actor’s long career, including, of course, his turn in “Oppenheimer” as Lewis Strauss, the title character’s nemesis who tries to orchestrate his downfall.

“Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan said in a statement, “It’s thrilling to see audiences responding not just to Robert Downey Jr’s incredible charisma, but to a performance which, stripped of any movie star trappings, shows once again that he is one of the greatest actors.”

Downey Jr. began his screen career at age five in 1970, when he played a sick puppy in his father Robert Downey Sr.’s comedy “Pound.” He broke through in the 1980s,...

The DC Extended Universe (Dceu) is undergoing some mammoth changes at the moment with James Gunn and Peter Safran as the new rulers of DC Studios. This means the DC cinematic universe is getting something of a reboot after a slew of films of varying quality. However, outside of the Dceu, when filmmakers get DC adaptations right, they make masterpieces. Christopher Nolan‘s “The Dark Knight” trilogy and Todd Phillips‘ “Joker” are proof of that.

Regardless of their overall quality all of these films have a crop of top-notch actors. Some were already Oscar winners or nominees when they starred in their respective DC films, some landed Oscar nominations or wins after their DC roles, and some are still in the hunt for their first Oscar bids (Cillian Murphy). Whatever the case, the list of DC movie alumni stretches far and wide — and some of them could be in the...

With “American Fiction,” Cord Jefferson, best known for penning television episodes of “Succession” and “Watchmen,” helms one of the finest directorial debuts seen since Sam Mendes’ “American Beauty.” In the style that feels like an audacious blend of the screenplays of Alexander Payne’s “Sideways” and Nicole Holofcener’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me,” he shepherds an audacious dramedy anchored by a career-best and Oscar-worthy performance from star Jeffrey Wright. After debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival, it’s a movie that could be a contender for the coveted TIFF Audience Award, and it would be deserved.

Based on the novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett, the film follows author Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Wright), a frustrated novelist who is fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk writes an outlandish “Black” book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and madness.

Good Night And Good Luck Good Night And Good Luck, streaming for free on Itvx

ITV's free streaming service continues to serve up a selection of quality films, including this black and white dissection on 1950s journalism. It marked the second time George Clooney had sat in the director's chair for a feature after Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind and proved he was a force to be reckoned with, netting six Oscar nominations. The screenplay, written by Clooney and Grant Heslov, charts the real-life on-air clash between Senator Joseph McCarthy and early broadcast journalist Edward R Murrow (David Strathairn). Although a historical drama the film had plenty to say about the current affairs of the period in which it was made and arguably also reflects America's recent Trumpian moment. With its impeccably presented adult themes and strong performances from a heavy-weight ensemble cast including Patricia Clarkson, Robert Downey Jnr and Frank Langella.

The life of a movie director isn't all glamour and red carpets. Getting movies made, particularly personal stories or passion projects, can be exceedingly difficult. Then if the movie fails to turn a profit, the director will be left more precarious and with fewer doors open than before. Oftentimes, directors will make compromises to get their movies realized — particularly financial compromises. Catherine Hardwicke, in a recent interview with Yahoo News, detailed her struggles to make her debut "Thirteen."

The film is about two (you guessed it) 13-year-old delinquents, Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) and Evie (Nikki Reed). According to Hardwicke, the characters' ages and the sensual subject matter meant no studio would touch it: "Every financier said, 'No, we can't make it. How could we make a movie that's gonna be R-rated with an unknown 13-year-old girl in the lead?'"

"Thirteen" was ultimately shot for $2 million (raised by Hardwicke herself with independent equity) over 24 days.

If you read our Gold Derby combined odds for Oscar Best Picture, you see that the race is over and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is about to be crowned at the Academy Awards on March 12. But the favorite doesn’t always win the horserace. Upsets happen. The longshot comes in. Jaws drop. Calculations go awry. Something that no one could see coming winds up coming in. Chaos reigns.

And we love it.

If there is anything we’ve learned, it’s that there are no guarantees. Films that the majority think should have won, don’t. That’s particularly true in hindsight. “Citizen Kane,” widely regarded as the finest film of the 20th century, lost. So did the film many consider to be Martin Scorsese’s best, “Raging Bull.” “Moonlight” beat “La La Land.” “Crash” upset “Brokeback Mountain.” “Shakespeare in Love” upended “Saving Private Ryan.” “Chariots of Fire” snared the trophy over “Reds.

How many women have to die before it’s considered a story?

The haunting trailer for Hulu’s “Boston Strangler” begs the question of the cost of a life. Two-time Oscar nominee Kiera Knightley and Emmy nominee Carrie Coon star as two real-life reporters who piece together a series of deaths in the Boston area as being connected to a serial killer.

Between 1962 and 1964, more than a dozen single women in the age range of 19 to 85 were killed in the greater Boston area. The work of two trailblazing reporters led to the story of the notorious Boston Strangler being uncovered.

Per the official synopsis, af. ter the bodies of three elderly women are discovered, Loretta McLaughlin (Knightley), a reporter for the Record-American newspaper, is the first journalist to publish a story connecting the crimes. As the mysterious killer claims more and more victims, Loretta attempts to continue her investigation...

I guess when you have George Clooney saying he’ll direct a new prestige drama series for you, it’s kind of hard to pass up. At least, in the case of Showtime, which just gave a straight-to-series order for a season of “The Department,” directed by the aforementioned Clooney.

Read More: ‘Good Night, And Good Luck’: George Clooney’s 2005 Film To Become A Limited Series For AMC

According to Variety, George Clooney has signed on to produce and direct the new political thriller, “The Department” for Showtime.

Continue reading ‘The Department’: George Clooney To Direct A New Political Thriller Series For Showtime at The Playlist.

George Clooney will direct and executive produce a political thriller series for Showtime called “The Department,” which has been given a straight-to-series order by the network. Clooney and Grant Heslov will executive produce through their Smokehouse Pictures with MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios set to produce.

The show is based on the acclaimed French drama series “Le Bureau des Legendes,” and Showtime and Paramount Media President/CEO Chris McCarthy compared this American adaptation to the network’s Emmy-winning hit series “Homeland.”

“’The Department,’ based on the riveting and brilliant series ‘The Bureau,’ will follow in the great tradition of ‘Homeland’, one of the most successful and brand-defining shows at Showtime,” said McCarthy. “Just as ‘Homeland’ elevated global espionage to new heights, ‘The Department’ will take viewers even deeper into a world of intrigue and subterfuge with complicated characters who struggle with their own demons as they fight existential threats...

It largely speaks to how different the landscape of Hollywood used to be compared to our present that even though Harrison Ford has been immortalized in two of pop culture's biggest Blockbuster franchises, he still has had a long and fulfilling career outside of those bubbles. Maybe it's the transition into IP-driven pictures and cinematic universes, but where most actors these days often find themselves stuck typecast, Ford thrived beyond his time as Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Outside of being Spielberg and Lucas's collaborator, he's worked with many prolific directors from Ridley Scott, Peter Weir, Francis Ford Coppola, and Mike Nichols.

Though he oozes expressive, rugged charm that we tend to associate with our greatest movie stars, one thing Ford doesn't have a lot of is Academy recognition. In fact, he's been nominated for Best Actor only once for his performance in 1985's "Witness," so there's a surprising lack...

Maria Schrader's She Said is the latest in a long line of exciting, well-plotted investigative dramas that aims to expose the hidden problems of the real world. This film takes aim at the infamous Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, examining the #MeToo movement that followed.

She Said is bolstered by a sharp screenplay and two powerful performances from Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan, who navigate this story with perfect levels of intrigue and restraint. It's a difficult narrative to watch unfold, but undoubtedly one that all audiences should be familiar with.

All The President's Men (1976) Available To Stream On HBO Max

For almost 50 years, All The President's Men has been the leading example of an investigative drama done right. It's one of the first movies to fall firmly in the genre, with its razor-sharp screenplay navigating the findings of two journalists that broke the Watergate scandal.

Reddit user lej5512 writes...

Alongside being a movie megastar, George Clooney has always had a penchant for smaller, less commercially ambitious films. For every "Gravity" and "Ocean's Eleven" there's a "Solaris" or a "Good Night, and Good Luck." The latter of those, released in 2005, was a product of Clooney and Steven Soderbergh's Section Eight Productions — a relatively short-lived production company responsible for the "Ocean's" franchise as well as smaller productions like "Syriana".

The company was shuttered in 2006, with Clooney leaving to start his current production company, Smokehouse Pictures, with his "Good Night, and Good Luck" co-writer and producer Grant Heslov. But for a while, Clooney and Soderbergh's joint venture was churning out an impressive slate of films, some of which proved successful both commercially and critically. But it was the smaller movies that its co-founders were particularly interested in. The two struck a deal with Warner Bros. to make relatively low-budget films in exchange for,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is bringing back Oscar-nominated producer Jennifer Fox to produce the 13th Annual Governors Awards, which will present Honorary Awards to Euzhan Palcy, Diane Warren, and Peter Weir, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Michael J. Fox on Saturday, November 19, 2022, at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

The news was announced by new Academy President Janet Yang, who said via statement, “We’re thrilled to have Jennifer back at the helm to help us kick off Oscar season with a tribute fitting to these four extraordinary individuals. Her contribution in past years has only elevated this truly special and joyous event.”

This will mark the fourth time the “Michael Clayton” producer has helmed the event, having produced the Governors Awards in 2018, 2019, and this past March, which was the event’s big return after two years off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival Film, Noah Baumbach’s feature take of Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel White Noise will also open the 60th New York Film Festival, making its North American premiere at Alice Tully Hall on September 30.

In the Netflix movie, Adam Driver plays Jack Gladney, an ostentatious “Hitler Studies” professor and father-of-four whose comfortable suburban college town life and marriage to the secretive Babette (Greta Gerwig) are upended after a horrifying nearby accident creates an airborne toxic event of frightening and unknowable proportions. DeLillo’s novel is known for being a pop-philosophical nightmare on unbounded consumerism, ecological catastrophe, and the American obsession with death.

“In 1985 my father and I drove from Brooklyn to see Kurosawa’s Ran open the 23rd NYFF, the same year that he brought home the hardback of Don DeLillo’s White Noise,” said Baumbach. “Opening the 60th NYFF with White...

Jeff Daniels is set to play the lead role in the upcoming Netflix drama series “A Man in Full,” Variety has learned.

The series is based on the Tom Wolfe novel of the same name. Variety exclusively reported the show had received a straight-to-series order at the streamer in November 2021. The show hails from David E. Kelley with Regina King onboard to direct and executive produce.

In the series, Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker (Daniels) faces sudden bankruptcy. Political and business interests collide as Croker defends his empire from those attempting to capitalize on his fall from grace. Croker is further described as polarizing and robust, crude, rude, and irresponsible.

This will be the latest TV starring role for Daniels in the past several years. Most recently, he starred in the Showtime series adaptation of “American Rust” as well as the premium cabler’s limited series “The Comey Rule.

Some films are nearly impossible to imagine in anything other than black-and-white. For example, in the case of "Schindler's List," Steven Spielberg shot his harrowing Holocaust drama as though he were a journalist recording the movie's events for the sake of posterity, its monochrome palette inseparable from the real-life historical horrors it depicts.

The same goes for 2005's "Good Night, and Good Luck," a dramatization of radio and TV journalist Edward R. Murrow's war of words with U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy and his Communist witch-hunts in the 1950s. George Clooney, directing for only the second time after "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," took...

The post George Clooney's Insistence On Black and White Could've Sank Good Night, and Good Luck appeared first on /Film.

At the 13th Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony in 2007, Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls”) made history as the first Black winner in the supporting actress category. In the time since, five of the 11 other Black women who have vied for the same award have succeeded. Ruby Dee (“American Gangster”) prevailed the very next year and was followed by Mo’Nique (2009’s “Precious”), Octavia Spencer (2011’s “The Help”), Lupita Nyong’o (2013’s “12 Years a Slave”) and Viola Davis (2016’s “Fences”). Now, having landed a nomination for her role in “Passing,” Ruth Negga could become the lucky seventh member of this group.

Negga faces Caitríona Balfe (“Belfast”), Cate Blanchett (“Nightmare Alley”), Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”) and Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”). Balfe, who is also up in ensemble for “Belfast,” and DeBose stand with Negga in forming the lineup’s SAG newcomer majority. Blanchett, also an ensemble contender for “Don’t Look Up,...

In 1989, Kenneth Branagh made his feature film directing debut with “Henry V,” based on the history play by William Shakespeare. He went on to compete in the next year’s Best Director Oscar race, ultimately losing to Oliver Stone (“Born on the Fourth of July”). Now, over three decades later and with 18 more directing credits under his belt, his work on “Belfast” has brought him a second bid in the category, as well as his first for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture.

With those latter two nominations, Branagh makes Oscar history as the first person to contend in seven distinct categories. He started his journey toward this singular achievement by landing a second bid for “Henry V” as its leading man. That made him the fifth person to earn acting and directing Oscar nominations for the same film, after Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Woody Allen, and Warren Beatty. His...

The Oscars returned to a hard slate of 10 Best Picture nominees this year, but ironically, for the first time in the preferential ballot era, none of the Best Actress Oscar nominees are in a Best Picture nominee.

Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Penelope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”), Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) and Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”) made the final five on Tuesday, but none of their films are in the top 10. The Best Picture nominees were “Belfast,” “Coda,” “Don’t Look Up,” “Drive My Car,” “Dune,” “King Richard,” “Licorice Pizza,” “Nightmare Alley,” “The Power of the Dog” and “West Side Story.”

The last time none of the Best Actress nominees were in a Best Picture nominee was 16 years ago, when the main category was still a field of five. Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress for “Walk the Line” over Judi Dench (“Mrs. Henderson Presents”), Felicity Huffman...

Oscar nomination voting started today, and George Clooney as he has often in his career, has a movie that deserves consideration in The Tender Bar which, so far, has been somewhat unfairly overlooked in critics and guild award nominations. But it’s a kind of small gem, a family dramedy and coming-of-age story, that I think is the finest directorial job Clooney has done since Good Night And Good Luck. Apparently those who have caught the film in its streaming run that began on January 7 on Amazon Prime agree.

The streamer says the movie, which is based on Jr Mohringer’s memoir of growing up in Long Island where the patrons of his Uncle Charlie’s bar basically stood in as father figures for him, had one of the best debuts of any original movie on Prime Video. It’s currently in their top 10 movie releases of all time, and...

During his 40-year career as a cinematographer, Robert Elswit has shot movies in practically every genre: “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle,” “Syriana,” “Good Night and Good Luck,” two “Mission: Impossible” films, and six with director Paul Thomas Anderson, including “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia.” He took home an Oscar in 2008 for PTA’s “There Will Be Blood.”

But Elswit had only worked on one sports project before lensing “King Richard,” the biopic starring Will Smith as the father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, the film has been nominated for the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Ensemble Cast (in addition to a solo nod for Smith’s performance) and the Producers Guild Award for Outstanding Producer of a Theatrical Motion Picture, both precursors for the Best Picture Oscar lineup.

TheWrap connected with Elswit from Rome, where he is filming Showtime’s limited series “Ripley,...

Just two years after landing his first credited film role, Kenneth Branagh made his feature directing debut by helming a 1989 adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Henry V” in which he also starred. The next year, he became the fifth person to receive acting and directing Oscar nominations for a single film, after Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Woody Allen, and Warren Beatty. Since then, his multifaceted talent has allowed him to compete in three additional categories: Best Live Action Short, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor.

Now, a full decade after his most recent outing, Branagh is poised to make Oscars history with “Belfast,” which chronicles the effects of The Troubles on a 1960s Northern Irish family. His work on the semi-autobiographical film is likely to earn him spots in this year’s Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay lineups. If he at least scores bids for producing and writing,...

I like George Clooney. He's a good-looking fellow, he's a dedicated philanthropist, and he's a damn fine actor. He seems like he has it all! But there's one area Clooney continues to fail in, no matter how hard he tries: filmmaking. Clooney has directed some solid flicks -- his directorial debut "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" is clever and features a killer Sam Rockwell performance, and his ode to journalism "Good Night And Good Luck" is fantastic. Beyond those two bright spots, though, Clooney has come up short in the filmmaking department. "The Ides of March" boasts an incredible cast but a...

The post The Tender Bar Review: Cool Uncle Ben Affleck Shines In George Clooney's Lifeless Drama appeared first on /Film.

Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical film “Belfast” is opening in theaters this week and has already attracted an immense amount of Oscar buzz, currently sitting as the frontrunner for best picture, director and several other categories. With honors and audience awards from various festivals, the Focus Features black-and-white drama has the famed filmmaker on a path to make Oscar history.

For “Belfast,” Branagh serves as one of the producers, which makes him eligible to be nominated for best picture, along with director and original screenplay. He’s received five nominations during his career, all across different categories – director, actor, supporting actor (“My Week with Marilyn”), adapted screenplay (“Hamlet”) and live action short (“Swan Song”).

Pending any unforeseen catastrophe, Branagh is on track to add two new categories to his arsenal (picture and original screenplay). This possibility could set a couple of records for the Ireland native. First, he would tie George Clooney,...

At the Middleburg Film Festival this month, there were two rapturous standing ovations in the main theater of the Salamander Resort, where all the prominent films screen. One was for the best picture front-runner “Belfast” from Focus Features. The other was for Clifton Collins Jr.’s heartfelt turn as an aging equestrian hoping for his final championship run in “Jockey” from Sony Pictures Classics.

With more than 70 movie credits, the Los Angeles-born actor has been a staple at the movies for two decades. From his imprisoned corporal in “The Last Castle” (2001) to his Oscar-snubbed role as convicted murderer Perry Smith in Bennett Miller’s best picture-nominated debut, “Capote” (2005), opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman, Collins has been a true character actor, with no awards recognition to come his way.

“Jockey” debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, which was virtual due to the pandemic. But movies often play differently in theaters.

Amazon Studios has released the official trailer and one-sheet poster for the coming-of-age drama film "The Tender Bar" from director George Clooney. While this marks the first time that Clooney has directed his fellow Batman thespian Ben Affleck, the two of them won Oscars together for producing Affleck's 2012 film "Argo." The film recently premiered at the London Film Festival where it so far has garnered mixed reviews.

Besides Affleck, the cast includes Tye Sheridan ("Ready Player One"), Emmy Award winner Christopher Lloyd ("Nobody"), Lily Rabe ("American Horror Story"), Max Martini ("Pacific Rim"), and introduces...

The post The Tender Bar Trailer: Ben Affleck Tends Bar in Long Island for Director George Clooney appeared first on /Film.

Back in 2009, when Jeff Daniels was starring in “God of Carnage” on Broadway, TV was on the rise. Cable dramas like “Mad Men” were bringing newfound respect to the medium. Stars formerly exclusive to movie screens (like Alec Baldwin on “30 Rock”) were reinvigorating their careers with weekly roles. And Daniels, being a curious thespian who chased good parts whether they’re in movies or at the theater, whether they’re comedies (like “Dumb and Dumber” and “Something Wild”) or dramas (like “The Squid and the Whale” or “Good Night and Good Luck”), he wanted to know how to find those quality gigs on television.

Luckily, he was sharing the stage with an expert.

“[James] Gandolfini was there, god bless him,” Daniels said of his fellow Tony-nominated cast member. “And Jim… I was starting to go, ‘I want to get into TV. I want to chase whatever that is.’ So Gandolfini said,...

The latest directorial effort from George Clooney could be a surprise awards contender this year, as Amazon Studios has just dated “The Tender Bar” for limited release on December 17, 2021 before a nationwide theatrical release on December 22 and a global rollout on Amazon Prime Video on January 7, 2022.

Written by William Monahan, the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind “The Departed,” this new drama is based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author J.R. Moehringer’s memoir of the same name and stars Ben Affleck as a charismatic bartender who serves as a father figure to his nephew J.R., played by Tye Sheridan and glimpsed in the first-look image released by Amazon Studios.

The story charts J.R.’s pursuit of his own romantic and professional dreams against the backdrop of his colorful family, which includes his struggling mother (Lily Rabe) and outrageous grandfather (Christopher Lloyd).

This marks Clooney’s second directorial effort to be released in...

Once again, Jake Gyllenhaal churns out a committed, visceral performance in Antoine Fuqua’s contained thriller “The Guilty.” The film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival brings up the fascinating question — when will Gyllenhaal get another Oscar nomination?

It’s been over 15 years since the Los Angeles-born actor was nominated for supporting actor in Ang Lee’s romantic cowboy drama “Brokeback Mountain” (2005) opposite Heath Ledger. The film went on to win three Oscars for directing, adapted screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana) and original score (Gustavo Santaolalla). Notwithstanding the infamous “Crash” win for best picture over “Brokeback,” the actor race was also interesting during that season: Gyllenhaal’s Jack Twist missed out on a Golden Globe nomination due to HFPA moving the performance to lead status, and then was followed by a SAG nomination and a shocking BAFTA win where eventual Oscar-winner George Clooney was double nominated...

George Clooney’s career has evolved from a hot handyman dripping with charisma to a, well, hot Oscar-winning actor and producer dripping with charisma. But his resume isn’t all that’s changed in the past four decades – his hair has, too. Here is the long and short of it.

As a kid growing up in Kentucky, little George Timothy Clooney sported shaggy brown bangs. The hair doesn’t scream “George Clooney,” but the eyes and grin sure do.

1985 • Well into building an acting career, Clooney sat for a typical Hollywood-style photoshoot showing off his gorgeous wavy locks and fashionable (at the time) mullet.

1988 • A gig on “Roseanne” brought Clooney some notoriety… for both him and that fabulous head of hair.

1989 • Clooney hit the road to promote his new film “Red Surf” (notice the poster behind him) playing a — you guessed it — surfer who enjoys the lifestyle drug money brings him.

The films competing for the 2021 Best Production Design Oscar are “The Father,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Mank,” “News of the World,” and “Tenet.” Our odds currently indicate that “Mank” (31/10) will be the winner, followed in order by “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (4/1), “News of the World” (9/2), “The Father” (9/2), and “Tenet” (9/2).

Set decorator Karen O’Hara (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) previously prevailed for “Alice in Wonderland” (2011) after first receiving a bid for “The Color of Money” (1987). She has now earned a spot on the list of 12 most-nominated female set decorators, which includes last year’s champion, eight-time nominee Nancy Haigh. O’Hara could become the third of the dozen to win more than once, after Francesca Lo Schiavo and Haigh.

“Mank” production designer Donald Graham Burt is also a previous champ for his work in another David Fincher film, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2009). This is also the second bid for Burt’s set-decorating partner,...