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Moral compromises Sony Pictures Releasing Interviewed by the New York Times in 2011, Clooney touched on his feelings about his father’s congressional loss and how they shaped “The Ides of March.” In particular, he wondered if his father paid the price for not playing dirty and found himself asking: “Would I have made the easier choices and gotten a lot farther ahead?” In the film, Gosling’s Stephen decides “Yes.” Stephen discovers that Morris slept with his girlfriend, campaign intern Molly (Evan Rachel Wood)....

Here’s Why James Cameron Trashed The First Draft Of Avatar 2 20th Century Studios By Sandy Schaefer/Sept. 23, 2022 11:22 am EST While the rest of Hollywood was going wild for superhero movies and shared universes in the 2010s, James Cameron was keeping his nose pressed firmly to the grindstone trying to figure out how the heck to make a sequel to his Oscar-winning, box office monster “Avatar.” The easy answer is “You don’t,” but it’s clear by now this sci-fi franchise is no mere cash cow for Cameron (well, okay, it’s not just that) — it’s his true calling....

House Of The Dragon Features A Newly Canonical Connection Between House Targaryen And The White Walkers HBO By Sandy Schaefer/Aug. 16, 2022 5:17 pm EST The White Walkers were a huge part of the mythology in “Game of Thrones,” starting in the very first scene of its pilot. Those undead frozen creatures and their silent ruler, the Night King, would continue to haunt the series for most of its run, up until the Night King had a most unfortunate run-in with a Valyrian steel dagger part-way through the final season (well, unfortunate for him, anyway)....

How Emma D’Arcy Approached Rhaenyra’s Grief-Filled First Season Of House Of The Dragon HBO By Fatemeh Mirjalili/Nov. 16, 2022 7:46 am EST Since premiering, “House of the Dragon” has already exceeded expectations, delivering a breathtaking, thorough fantasy spin-off show. It progressed both slowly and rapidly to plant the seeds for the medieval nuclear war set to come. It delivered significant dragon action and featured far too many incestuous relationships, setting up a story rich in detail that makes for an incredible viewing experience....

How Ti West’s Pearl Remakes The Wizard Of Oz As A Horror Movie A24 By Caroline Madden/Sept. 20, 2022 8:46 pm EST Ti West’s “Pearl,” a prequel to his subversive slasher “X,” is one of the best horror movies in recent years. Mia Goth’s spellbinding performance as a lonely, sadistic farmer’s daughter with big dreams carries the film. Both “Pearl” and “X,” as well as the upcoming third film in the trilogy, “MaXXXine,” honor the film and pornography industries and study the allure of stardom through a celluloid aesthetic that captures a particular era in cinema history....

Where is Violent Night streaming? Universal Pictures Peacock will be bringing “Violent Night” to streaming starting on January 20. It’s a little late to enjoy the Yuletide mayhem, but this action-packed holiday movie will be fun no matter what time of the year you watch it. Before that, “Violent Night” will be available on PVOD, aka premium video on demand. Or, as I like to call it, “pay for it video on demand....

In Praise Of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3’s Brilliant Cold Opens Paramount By Witney Seibold/Sept. 15, 2022 9:00 am EST The fourth episode of the third season of “Star Trek: Lower Decks” sees the show’s four protagonists sitting in a hallway that also serves as their quarters. Being an ensign aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos, as the show repeatedly states, kind of sucks. Officers sleep in hallway bunks and have no privacy....

Finding the right voice According to a 2010 interview with TheFutonCritic.com, Najimy was seven months pregnant when she auditioned for the role of Peggy, and was very surprised by what she was asked to do: “I auditioned for Peggy by improvising and I just started talking and the producers looked at the wall and not at me while I improvised. They wanted to hear my voice so they could picture me as Peggy....

The downside to making a masterpiece Miramax On paper, “Jackie Brown” looked like the safest of bets. Tarantino’s chatty killers had been compared many times over to the loquacious criminals of Elmore Leonard’s novels. Barry Levinson’s peppy adaptation of Leonard’s “Get Shorty” felt like QT Lite. Perhaps Tarantino could get under the skin of the author’s “Rum Punch” characters and deliver pure, uncut Leonard. That it took Tarantino three years to get “Jackie Brown” off the ground raised more than a few eyebrows....

Wakey wakey Disney+ The trailer opens with Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters in a peaceful slumber. However, she’s about to have a very rude awakening courtesy of the strongest Avenger aka her cousin Bruce. Ever the scientist, Mark Ruffalo’s Smart Hulk is observing Jen’s abilities at work. Using an air horn, he points out that she reverts to her human form while she sleeps, but hulks out when jolted awake. Yet despite activating her powers, she remains in control, albeit having a “normal amount of rage” from being woken up like that....

Sir Ian McKellen Was Brought Onto X-Men For More Than Just His Acting Expertise Denis Makarenko/Shutterstock By Adam Frazier/July 25, 2022 12:33 pm EST Long before he was Magneto the Master of Magnetism or Gandalf the Wandering Wizard, Sir Ian McKellen was a well-known figure in British theatre, often performing at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. And while his sexual orientation was known to his fellow thespians, it wasn’t until 1988 that he came out to the general public on BBC Radio....

Takashi Miike Was Careful With Where He Put The Most Violent Parts Of Audition Art Port By Anya Stanley/Sept. 18, 2022 8:00 pm EST Dates can go very wrong in horror movies. Carrie White’s prom date with Tommy Ross goes up in flames before the last dance, in both Stephen King’s novel “Carrie” and Brian De Palma’s film adaptation. In Sean Byrne’s Aussie horror movie “The Loved Ones,” poor Brett doesn’t even make it to his school dance after rejecting Lola, who hosts a macabre dance of her own....

Tenoch Huerta Hopes Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Isn’t The End For Namor Marvel Studios By Joshua Meyer/Oct. 21, 2022 7:30 am EST Though the character has traditionally been portrayed with wings on his ankles, it’s been a long swim for Namor the Sub-Mariner to the big screen. In “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Namor is finally set to make his live-action debut after years of false starts on his own solo film and a web of “complicated” rights issues, as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has described it....

The Best New Blu-Ray Releases: Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, Raging Bull On The Criterion Collection, And More Marvel By Chris Evangelista/July 29, 2022 4:00 pm EST Welcome back, Blu-ray fiends. It’s time yet again for another super-sized Blu-ray column, where I round up some of the best recent releases on home media. This week, we have the return of Doctor Strange, two 4K Criterion releases, a conspiracy-theory-laden documentary, an animated feature, and a mash-up of horror and film noir....

The Color Of Money Seemed Doomed Until Disney Stepped In Buena Vista Distribution By Lee Adams/July 8, 2022 10:28 am EST One evening I was in a grotty pool hall down by the docks, absolutely battering my mate. I was on fire that night and in the last game, I was on the black once again. I had a good angle into the bottom corner pocket so I decided to do the Tom Cruise thing from “The Color of Money,” sinking the winner while looking my opponent in the eye....

The Daily Stream: The Inmates Are Loose In Horror Anthology Gem, Asylum Cinema International Corporation By Anya Stanley/Nov. 17, 2022 6:00 pm EST (Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching, why it’s worth checking out, and where you can stream it.) The Movie: “Asylum” Where You Can Stream It: Shudder The Pitch: Halloween may be over for 2022, but for some of us, the month after October is just an excuse for more scary movies....

The Deep Space Nine Episode Of Star Trek: Lower Decks Is A Love Letter To Trek’s Finest Series Paramount By Danielle Ryan/Sept. 30, 2022 9:00 am EST “Star Trek: Lower Decks” injects its irreverent comedy with a lot of love for the “Star Trek” franchise, and it’s truly a series made by fans, for fans. The lower deckers of the California-class U.S.S. Cerritos are, like us, huge fans of the exploits of the Enterprise, and frequently reference characters and events from the original series and “Star Trek: The Next Generation....

The Karate Kid’s Famous Crane Kick Was A Headache For Ralph Macchio, Seasoned Stuntmen, And Pro Martial Artists Columbia Pictures By BJ Colangelo/Oct. 26, 2022 5:44 pm EST Imagining the climax of “The Karate Kid” without Daniel LaRusso’s iconic crane kick is like trying to listen to John Williams’ “Duel of the Fates” without a lightsaber battle. All seems lost after our underdog hero played by Ralph Macchio has had his leg swept by the villainous Johnny Lawrence (Billy Zabka), but thanks to the balancing act of a crane kick, LaRusso wins the tournament and scores his winning point with the move....

‘An experience I will never forget.’ DreamWorks Pictures Speaking to Total Film Magazine as part of the publication’s 20-year anniversary retrospective for the film, the real Frank Abagnale Jr. remembered receiving a call from Steven Spielberg’s assistant at the time, Kristie Macosko, to attend a screening of “Catch Me If You Can” prior to its release. Later that evening, Abagnale met Macosko and executive producer Barry Kemp at a “large” theater to see the movie for the first time:...

This Was The Fabelmans Star Gabriel LaBelle’s Only Out-Of-Character Interaction With David Lynch Universal Pictures By Mike Shutt/Nov. 30, 2022 2:04 pm EST This post contains spoilers for “The Fabelmans.” When I first learned that David Lynch was going to appear in Steven Spielberg’s heavily autobiographical picture “The Fabelmans,” my mind was racing. Here is one of the most idiosyncratic and mysterious American filmmakers we have ever had the pleasure of experiencing showing up — as an actor — for the king of populist cinema of the last half-century....