“Saturday Night Live” Thrives in Bad Bunny “The Age of Discovery” Spanish Sketch

Bad Bunny brought his multifaceted talents to Saturday Night Live this past weekend as host and musical guest in a buoyant episode that made excellent use of not only his Spanish but Spanish-speaking SNL cast members, too. One sketch in particular, “The Age of Discovery,” finds Bad Bunny playing the King of Spain in the 16th century alongside his son, the prince (Marcello Hernández). They’re seated in the throne room,

By The Credits  |  October 23, 2023

Interview

Hair/Makeup

“Lessons in Chemistry” Makeup Department Head Miho Suzuki Captures the Pressure Cooker of Being a 1950s Woman

Chemical reactions can be calculated and quantified, but matters of the heart are far less predictable. When scientist Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) finds herself pressed toward domesticity from all sides, she realizes that the way to pursue her passions, empower women, and advocate for equality may be through the kitchen after all. Lessons in Chemistry – based on the hit novel by Bonnie Garmus – follows Zott’s evolution from student to TV star.

By Kelle Long  |  October 23, 2023

Interview

Casting Director

“Killers of the Flower Moon” Casting Directors Ellen Lewis and Rene Haynes on Their Historic Oklahoma Casting Call

With its prodigiously detailed and complex production, long running time, and sprawling cast, Killers of the Flower Moon (in theaters now) cut no corners in telling the true story about members of Oklahoma’s oil-rich Osage Nation who were systematically murdered in the 1920s by white men eager to inherit “head rights” worth millions of dollars through marriage and trickery. To surround Leo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro’s duplicitous usurpers with authentic Native American talent,

By Hugh Hart  |  October 20, 2023

Interview

Director

Martin Scorsese on Finding Truth in Tragedy in “Killers of the Flower Moon”

When Martin Scorsese was young, he had an experience where he became painfully aware of how Native Americans were being treated, and since then, it’s taken him years to find a story he could tell about the culture in a respectful way. Killers of the Flower Moon, which opens in theaters October 20 with a runtime of 3 hours and 26 minutes, presents that lifelong desire with a gentle, examining eye in what could easily be the director’s best work to date.

By Daron James  |  October 19, 2023

Interview

Cinematographer

“Killers of the Flower Moon” Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto Illuminates Martin Scorsese’s Twisted Tale

When I connected with Rodrigo Prieto for our video interview, as one might imagine a cinematographer to do, he was perfectly lit in a warm amber glow, perhaps a nod to a fire motif visually laced in Martin Scorese’s Killers of the Flower Moon – a love story between Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone) and Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) wrapped in the travesty the Osage Nation faced during the 1920s.

Having spoken previously with the Mexican native as far back as Argo (2012),

By Daron James  |  October 19, 2023
New “Napoleon” Trailer Unleashes Ridley Scott’s Historical Epic

Warrior. Emperor. General. Genius. Tyrant. This is how a new Napoleon trailer describes the titular conqueror in Ridley Scott’s upcoming historical epic. Napoleon is played by Joaquin Phoenix—his second time playing an emperor for Scott—he first ruled the world as Roman Emperor Commodus in Scott’s 2000 epic Gladiator. “Scenes with him just felt really authentic,” co-star Vanessa Kirby has said about working with Phoenix, “he was unbelievable about capturing the idiosyncratic,

By The Credits  |  October 18, 2023

Interview

Costume Designer

Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter on Stitching Together Her Legendary Career

With more than 70 films to her credit, including Malcolm X (1992), Amistad (1997), Selma (2014), Black Panther (2018), and Dolemite Is My Name (2019), costume designer Ruth E. Carter has created a visual representation of Black history and the Black experience for generations of moviegoers.

“Costumes can be another character in the film. For Do the Right Thing,

By Loren King  |  October 18, 2023

Interview

Production Designer

How “Killers of the Flower Moon” Production Designer Jack Fisk Created 1920s Oklahoma

Killers of the Flower Moon became a journey of inspirational research for production designer Jack Fisk (The Revenant, There Will Be Blood). He traveled to Oklahoma to visit the very homes of the Osage portrayed in the Scorsese film – a story that unpacks the painful history of the Osage during the 1920s, whose oil-backed wealth was methodically stolen from them under false pretense.

The screenplay was adapted by Eric Roth and Scorsese based on David Grann’s meticulous 2017 work of non-fiction.

By Daron James  |  October 18, 2023
“The Zone of Interest” Trailer Reveals Jonathan Glazer’s Harrowing, Urgent New Film

Jonathan Glazer’s films have a way of sticking to your ribs. Whether he’s taking on a gangster story, like his irresistibly intense Sexy Beast (2000), or delivering a powerhouse sci-fi meditation on what it means to be an outsider in his alien-among-us masterpiece Under the Skin (2013), a Glazer film is an experience unlike any other. This is why his latest film, The Zone of Interest, comes with the promise of something both unforgettable in the best sense and in the most urgent and upsetting.

By The Credits  |  October 17, 2023
Godzilla Stomps to the Rescue in New “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” Trailer

The first thing you see in the new trailer for Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is the most iconic of monsters rising from the Pacific Ocean. Such is the luxury enjoyed by showrunner Chris Black (Severance) and the rest of the Monarch creators—their series boasts the most famous cinematic beast of them all.

The trailer takes us back to the events depicted in Gareth Edwards’ 2014 Godzilla when the titular Titan arrived on the shores of San Francisco and wreaked havoc.

By The Credits  |  October 17, 2023
“Killers of the Flower Moon” Costume Designer Jacqueline West on the Power of the Osage Blanket

“It’s a power symbol,” costume designer Jacqueline West (The Revenant) says of the blankets the Osage cast wears in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. “I felt it was some kind of armor against what is being imposed on them and what’s being done to them. You put it on against the world and against evil, and it becomes a real symbol of that.”

The “evil” West is referring to are actual events that took place during 1920s Oklahoma when the Osage Nation grew incredibly wealthy,

By Daron James  |  October 17, 2023

Interview

Hair/Makeup

How Osage Tradition Influenced the Hair & Makeup in “Killers of the Flower Moon”

There is perhaps nothing more important than authentically depicting the Osage in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, a poignant tale based on real events where the oil-rich nation was devilishly deceived, manipulated, and murdered for their money and oil shares by the very ones who married them. Newspapers later described the tragedy, which lasted from 1921-1926, as the “Reign of Terror.”

Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth brought David Grann’s best-selling novel of the same name to the screen with tremendous care and understanding.

By Daron James  |  October 16, 2023
Hilarious “Saturday Night Live” Sketch Forces Pete Davidson to Revisit a Humiliating Moment

Saturday Night Live gave Pete Davidson the Wired treatment last night. Davidson returned to the program to host the season 49 premiere, and one of the funniest sketches of the night had the Staten Island-born funny man play a sweet-natured TV star forced to revisit some of his, um, less stellar moments in his personal history. The sketch is a spoof on Wired‘s autocomplete interview series,

By The Credits  |  October 16, 2023

Interview

Production Designer

“The Fall of the House of Usher“ Production Designer Laurin Kelsey Reanimates Edgar Allan Poe for Netflix

It’s October, the right time of year for an Edgar Allan Poe revamp. Creator Mike Flanagan delivers, with a contemporary mini-series adaptation for Netflix of The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe’s 1839 short story about the creepy undoing of wealthy but disturbed Roderick Usher. In Flanagan’s updated version of the story, Roderick (Bruce Greenwood) and his sister, Madeline (Mary McDonnell), are the filthy rich heads of an unscrupulous pharmaceutical company,

By Susannah Edelbaum  |  October 16, 2023

Interview

Production Designer

“Cat Person” Production Designer Sally Levi on Turning a Viral Short Story Into a Feature-Length Film

“Margot met Robert on a Wednesday night toward the end of her fall semester. She was working behind the concession stand at the artsy movie theatre downtown when he came in and bought a large popcorn and a box of Red Vines.” This is how writer Kristen Roupenian’s short story “Cat Person” begins, a vignette about a young college student, Margot, meeting an older man named Robert. It was published in The New Yorker and appeared online on December 4,

By Bryan Abrams  |  October 13, 2023

Interview

Producer

Learn Filmmaking Network Founder Gabriel Alexis on Building a Community

Bronx-born Gabriel Alexis’s love of visual storytelling began when he was a kid in his childhood home, capturing family moments, a prelude to a career in which he would devote himself to helping filmmakers connect, inspire each other, and grow. After learning the ropes himself on a variety of projects, from TV to commercials, from music videos to creating short videos for the New York State Bar Association, Alexis had a moment while driving his car in 2018.

By The Credits  |  October 12, 2023
Swifties Rejoice: “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” Opening a Day Early

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is heading for a record global opening, with forecasters saying it will become a record-smashing debut for a concert film as it eyes $150 million to $200 million. What every Swiftie fan (and their parents) will be happy to hear is the film is also opening a day early. Swift herself announced that early screenings for the film will be held on Thursday in North America,

By The Credits  |  October 12, 2023
“The Iron Claw” Trailer Finds Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White Ready to Rumble

The first trailer for A24’s The Iron Claw has leaped into the ring. Writer/director Sean Durkin (The Nest, Martha Marcy May Marlene) has taken on the true story of the Von Erich brothers, a trio of supremely talented and extremely close siblings who were wrestling phenoms in the early 1980s. Durkin and casting director Susan Shopmaker have put together a terrific ensemble, including Zac Efron, The Bear breakout star Jeremy Allen White,

By The Credits  |  October 11, 2023
New “Killers of the Flower Moon” Featurette Reveals How the Osage Language Deepened the Film

“We’re making a film about a historical event that is central to the Osage history,” Martin Scorsese says at the time of a new featurette about his upcoming film Killers of the Flower Moon. “So, of course, it’s important we spoke that language.”

We’re then whisked back to Oklahoma in the 1920s, where Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), a white man new to the area, drives Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), a member of the Osage Nation,

By The Credits  |  October 11, 2023

Interview

Cinematographer

How “Quantum Leap” DP Ana M. Amortegui Keeps the Show Dynamic Across the Centuries

The past is prologue, but on Quantum Leap, the past is also the present and the future as Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) and his team embark on dangerous lifesaving excursions through history. The time travel epic is back with more mysteries that continue to escalate and may even threaten the project itself.

Director of photography Ana M. Amortegui kicked off the style of the series last season working on the pilot and several other episodes.

By Kelle Long  |  October 11, 2023