Along With “The Amateur,” Sate Your Spy Appetite With These 6 Can’t-Miss Classics

In the wake of the release of director James Hawes’ The Amateur, starring Rami Malek as a CIA decoder who sets out to avenge his wife’s murder despite reluctance from his CIA superiors, now is the perfect time to revisit the genre’s rich history. From breathtaking sets to complex narratives complete with moral dilemmas and characters emblematic of the struggle between good and evil, the spy genre has everything a viewer could want.

By Evelyn Lott  |  April 18, 2025

Interview

Producer

From Script to Scream: Stephanie Allain on Producing Blumhouse’s Latest Nightmare, “The Woman in the Yard”

Stephanie Allain is a trailblazing producer. She was the Senior Vice President of Production at Columbia Pictures, where she oversaw films such as Boyz N The Hood and Desperado. From there, she became the President of Henson Pictures and eventually launched her production company, Homegrown Films. Homegrown Films is behind Hustle & FlowBeyond the Lights, and Exhibiting Forgiveness, a film Allain is deeply proud of.

By Jack Giroux  |  April 17, 2025

Interview

Showrunner

Devil Went Down to Georgia: How Erik Oleson Crafted Kevin Bacon’s Undead Demon Hunter in “The Bondsman”

Writer/producer Erik Oleson definitely knows a thing or two about characters chasing personal demons. He was the head writer on The Man in the High Castle, and went on to be showrunner and executive producer for seasons of both Marvel’s Daredevil and Amazon’s Carnival Row. It makes perfect sense, then, for him to take on Amazon’s new horror-comedy series The Bondsman

In it,

By Leslie Combemale  |  April 17, 2025

Interview

Director

Unreliable Narrators: Liz Garbus on Directing Hulu’s Chilling Adoption Mystery “Good American Family”

Good American Family rolled into living rooms last month like a TV Trojan Horse, appearing at first to be a domestic drama peppered with garden-variety stress. Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo plays super-mom Kristine Barnett, acclaimed author of “The Spark,” about her autistic son who gained early admission to Princeton University thanks to her nurturing ways and the loving support of husband Michael (Mark Duplass). Everything changes when the Indiana couple adopts Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace,

By Hugh Hart  |  April 16, 2025

Interview

Director, Stunt Coordinator/Stunt Person

“Daredevil: Born Again’s” Stunt Coordinator & Second Unit Director Philip Silvera on Big City Brawling

At the beginning of Season 1 of the Disney+ revival of the Daredevil storyline, Daredevil: Born Again, Marvel vigilante Matt Murdock/Daredevil is operating more or less as a yuppie. Matt has hung up his superhero suit to keep his heroics to the courthouse, working as a defense attorney and taking on clients pro bono when he believes in their innocence, but they can’t afford him. But with the murder of his friend and colleague,

By Susannah Edelbaum  |  April 15, 2025

Interview

Production Designer

The Architecture of Espionage: Maria Djurkovic on Designing Rami Malek’s Revenge in “The Amateur”

Bohemian Rhapsody Oscar winner Rami Malik switches it up in The Amateur to play buttoned-down CIA analyst-turned-warrior Charlie Heller, who goes rogue in Europe to hunt down the terrorists responsible for the murder of his wife (Rachel Brosnahan). Tough-as-nails CIA handler (Laurence Fishburne) spearheads the Agency’s efforts to squash Charlie’s self-appointed mission, but he soon learns he’s dealing with a determined, lethally intelligent, and remarkably savvy operator who isn’t above blackmailing his own agency to get the revenge he seeks.

By Hugh Hart  |  April 15, 2025

Interview

Cinematographer

Calculated Frames: DP Martin Ruhe on Capturing “The Amateur’s” Deadly Chess Game

In the first part of our conversation with cinematographer Martin Ruhe about his latest film, The Amateur, he discussed director James Hawes’ grounded approach to Rami Malek’s CIA analyst-turned-vigilante by focusing on how his character’s humanity and intelligence were the keys to his playing a deadly game with trained spies and assassins. He’s able to do this not only because of his superior intelligence, but also because he blackmails his superiors (who have been ordering unsanctioned black ops) who know more than he does about the specifics of spycraft,

By Su Fang Tham  |  April 14, 2025

Interview

Production Designer

Forging Feudal Japan: Emmy-Winning Production Designer Helen Jarvis Bringing “Shōgun” to Stunning Life

The ride is nearly complete. Four years ago, Helen Jarvis, who resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, with her husband, actor Robin Mossley, took on her first project as a production designer on the historical drama Shōgun, set in 1600 feudal Japan. The series went on to become a cultural phenomenon, breaking Emmy records for its intimate character-driven storyline, visual beauty, and moving performances, which gave us the phrases “Why tell a dead man the future,” “Flowers are only flowers because they fall,”

By Daron James  |  April 14, 2025

Interview

Cinematographer

Lethal Intelligence: How DP Martin Ruhe Shot a Decoder’s Revenge in “The Amateur”

Tapping into nostalgia for ‘90s spy thrillers of late, 20th Century Studios’ globe-trotting espionage revenge thriller features Rami Malek’s quietly ingenious CIA decryption analyst as the everyman reluctant hero. “He’s not a killer, he’s not trained with weapons, he probably wouldn’t survive in a fist fight. So, he has to be smarter than everybody else,” says German cinematographer Martin Ruhe (Showtime series The Agency, The Tender Bar) of Malek’s Charlie Heller.

By Su Fang Tham  |  April 11, 2025
Cannes Lineup Revealed: Ari Aster, Richard Linklater, Scarlett Johansson, Wes Anderson & More

The 78th Cannes Film Festival has announced its lineup, and once again, the South of France will be home to some of the biggest stars and most sought-after directors, including directorial debuts for two great performers and a first-time for the festival itself in its opening film.

Some of the well-known directors heading to the Croisette this year are Wes Anderson, arriving with his caper The Phoenician SchemeRichard Linklater for his new film Nouvelle Vague,

By The Credits  |  April 10, 2025

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

“Connecticut’s Cinema Secret: How Dillon Bentlage’s “Watching Mr. Pearson” Found Its Perfect Location

Dementia was part of writer-director Dillon Bentlage’s family, his grandmother struggling with its early stages before passing away from cancer. Watching Mr. Pearson is a love letter to those living with symptoms and the people around them wanting to give them their best life. The feature stars Hugo Armstrong as Robert Pearson, a former Hollywood legend battling mental decline. When one of his caregivers, Caroline (Dominika Zawada), finds out that performing scenes from his film work gives him new life,

By Daron James  |  April 10, 2025
Ryan Coogler’s Big Swing With “Sinners” is Also a Love Letter to the Movie Theater

When Ryan Coogler was shopping the script for his fifth film around Hollywood, the excitement and competition for the rights to work with the filmmaker were equally high.  The major studios and streamers were vying to be able to produce and distribute Coogler’s original story, which, we’d eventually learn, was Sinners, his upcoming supernatural period piece. The reasons for the excitement and competition were obvious—Coogler hasn’t missed yet,

By The Credits  |  April 9, 2025
Robert Pattinson Circling Shape-Shifting Villain Role in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Messiah”

Austin Butler was a worthy villain and challenger to Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Two, the second installment in a planned trilogy from director Denis Villeneuve. Butler played Feyd-Rautha, the swashbuckling, sociopathic goth princeling who took on Atreides at the end of Part Two, fighting as Emperor Shadam IV (Christopher Walken)’s champion and only barely losing. Now, reports are coming in that Robert Pattinson may be next in line to give Atreides a tough time in the third and final film,

By The Credits  |  April 9, 2025
Jesse Garcia on his Joyous Reunion with Eva Longoria in “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip”

Over his career, actor Jesse Garcia has rubbed elbows with superheroes in The Avengers, battled vampires in From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, and sold fake IDs to Sarah and John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. He portrayed an activist high school student in Walkout, a gay Mexican-American coming to terms with his sexuality in Quinceañera, and a janitor who invents Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in Flamin’ Hot.

By Chris Koseluk  |  April 8, 2025
Rachel Brosnahan Talks “Superman”: It’s Not an Origin Story, But is it a Love Story?

DC Studio chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran, along with the stars of Gunn’s upcoming Superman, David Corenswet (Clark Kent/Superman), Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), and Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor), delivered the goods last week at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. Part of their Superman presentation included a brand new, nearly 5-minute-long sneak peek at the film, and now, with the film soaring towards theaters for its July 11 release date,

By The Credits  |  April 8, 2025
Tom Cruise Hangs On For Dear Life in “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” Trailer

The official trailer for Tom Cruise’s potential last mission as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt has arrived, giving us a fresh look at the lengths Cruise has been willing to go to keep this action franchise at the extreme edge of what’s possible to do on camera. The new look at Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning takes us on a brief trip down memory lane, to Cruise’s very first mission as Ethan Hunt,

By The Credits  |  April 7, 2025
What is “The Phoenician Scheme”? The First Trailer for Wes Anderson’s Latest Offers Colorful Clues

The first trailer for Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme wastes no time letting you know just how many stars have signed up for Anderson’s latest caper. Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, Richard Ayoade, Scarlett Johansson, and Benedict Cumberbatch—many of them returning players in Anderson’s meticulously detailed oeuvre.

The trailer opens with a plane crash, with Del Toro’s business titan in the fields of armaments and aviation,

By The Credits  |  April 7, 2025
Major Lasers: Jared Leto Breaks Through Reality in Official “Tron: Ares” Trailer

In the first trailer for Tron: Ares, Disney’s sequel to the 2010 film Tron: Legacy, Jared Leto has officially gone off-grid. Leto’s Ares, a sophisticated computer program, has penetrated the real world and is about to introduce humanity to an artificial intelligence the world is not prepared for.

Leto’s Ares is embarking on a dangerous mission, one that Jeff Bridges, who starred in the original 1982 Tron as Kevin Flynn,

By The Credits  |  April 7, 2025
A Greek Tragedy in Thailand: Mike White on “The White Lotus” Season 3 Finale’s Explosive Ending

The deaths (plural) that were meted out during the season 3 finale of The White Lotus delivered yet another bitter final meal for some of our guests in Mike White’s zeitgeist-dominating series. After an eight-day stay in the Thailand-set resort, White’s anthology series drew to a bloody close, taking two of the season’s most beloved characters, Walton Goggins’ searching, soulful, sad Rick, and his delightful, daffy, even more soulful girlfriend, Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood).

By The Credits  |  April 7, 2025
James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” Unveils Sizzling Trailer at CinemaCon

James Cameron’s more or less right on time with his third Avatar installment. The ever-ambitious filmmaker was able to reveal footage from Avatar: Fire and Water at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, wowing movie theater owners and industry insiders.

Fire and Water‘s spot-on timing benefited greatly from the fact that Cameron shot the second and third films in the franchise, The Way of Water and Fire and Water,

By The Credits  |  April 4, 2025