“Wicked: For Good” First Reactions: A Heartbreakingly Tender Conclusion & Major Oscar Contender
The first reactions to Jon M. Chu‘s Wicked: For Good have arrived. When we spoke to Chu and co-writer Dana Fox, Chu was putting the finishing touches on the film, while Fox, who had a chance to watch both Wicked and Wicked: For Good back-to-back (as many fans will be doing in the years to come), said the experience was overwhelming for her.
How Cinematographer Robbie Ryan Used VistaVision To Capture the Claustrophobic Terror of “Bugonia”
A good deal of Yorgos Lanthimos‘ new psychological thriller, Bugonia, is set in a cellar. Teddy (Jesse Plemons), alone in the world except for his cousin, Don (Aidan Delbis), and their belief that Earth is under the thumb of an alien race called the Andromedans, kidnaps Michelle (Emma Stone), whom he believes to be the aliens’ local representative and an architect of a plan to destroy Earth via colony collapse disorder.
How “K-Pop Demon Hunters” Songwriter EJAE Turned Rejection Into Her Golden Success
Kpop Demon Hunters is a juggernaut. Since its release on Netflix, not only has it become the streamer’s most-watched film of all time, but the animated feature is the first to have four songs simultaneously on the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, the song “Golden” is now the longest-running number 1 by a girl group in the 21st century.
Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Applehans, the story is about K-pop girl group Huntr/x,
“Stranger Things” Two-Hour Finale To Get Historic Release in Theaters on New Year’s Eve
Stranger Things is going to go out with the biggest possible bang for a television series. The Duffer Brothers’ game-changing Netflix series’ two-hour finale, titled “The Rightside Up,” will have a simultaneous premiere on the streamer and more than 350 movie theaters on December 31st, beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. The finale will stay in theaters through January 1, 2026.
It’s an appropriately historic end for a series that has been a phenomenon on Netflix and made stars of many of its cast members,
“A House of Dynamite” Scribe Noah Oppenheim on His Real-Time Nuclear Thriller’s Emotional Stakes & Shocking Ending
Spoilers below.
News veteran turned Hollywood scribe Noah Oppenheim (Jackie, Zero Day) has penned a new edge-of-your-seat thriller in A House of Dynamite, a cautionary tale about nuclear weapons and those in charge of them. Helmed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty),
Production Designer Tamara Deverell on Building the Gothic Grandeur of Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein”
Guillermo del Toro became obsessed with Frankenstein at the age of seven, after seeing the 1931 Boris Karloff movie, and walked out of the theater with a new calling. “Gothic horror became my church,” Del Toro said in a statement, “and [Boris Karloff] became my messiah.”
Ever since that childhood epiphany, del Toro has dreamed of reanimating Mary Shelley’s famous monster for modern audiences. Now comes his Frankenstein (in theaters now,
How the “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” Sound Team Captured The Boss’s Raw Emotion
The Boss doesn’t just sing into a microphone; he commands attention. His raw charisma and rich baritone were evident when he burst onto the music scene in the mid-1970s at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, but arguably the strength and comfort of his singing voice became settled on his album “Nebraska.” That was the energy the sound team aimed to bottle in writer-director Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,
Inside Netflix’s “The Twits”: Writer/Director Phil Johnston on Empathy, Evil, and Adapting Roald Dahl
Writer/director Phil Johnston, known for his work on Zootopia and the Wreck-It Ralph features, says. “Every character I’ve ever truly connected to has been on the outside looking in. Outcasts, dirtbags, and weirdos are my people.” It seems appropriate, then, that he brought beloved weirdo-specialist Roald Dahl’s book “The Twits” to the big screen. He took Dahl’s story of two hateful people, expanded it,
“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” Location Manager Sarah Brady Stack on Finding The Boss’s New Jersey
For writer-director Scott Cooper’s making-of-an-album drama about one of America’s most enduring rock icons, finding the ideal location was a no-brainer, since Bruce Springsteen’s image and identity are inseparable from the Garden State. “Springsteen is like the New Jersey guy. If you’re gonna make a movie about him, it has to be in New Jersey, which is a character in its own in this film,” says the location manager for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,
“One Battle After Another” Production Designer Florencia Martin on Building PTA’s Three-Hour Action Thriller from the Ground Up
Paul Thomas Anderson’s action thriller One Battle After Another is loosely inspired by a section of Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel “Vineland,” but this three-hour epic is rooted in the present, a contemporary vision of a heightened clash between far-left and far-right, and, more intimately, a story about vengeance, desire, and family.
Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) are partners and active members of a far-left militant group,
“Hedda” Production Designer Cara Brower on Transforming a Stunning Estate for Tessa Thompson’s Rogue Heroine
To re-animate playwright Henrik Ibsen’s famously unhappy heroine Hedda Gabler, writer-director Nia DaCosta cast her longtime muse Tessa Thompson as the star of Hedda (opening Oct. 22). This vivid adaptation, featuring Nina Hoss in the gender-switched role of an ex-lover along with Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman and Nicholas Pinnock, takes place in 1950s England at a raucous party complicated by jealousy, existential angst, feminist fury,
The Invisible Architects: How Two Visionary Production Designers Launched a Global Movement
If a film’s visuals tickle the eye, scorch the heart, or linger in the consciousness long after the credits roll, you can thank the production designer. Whether the project is a blockbuster or a low-budget indie, the production designer is tasked with creating that elusive “look” of the film and translating the director’s vision into visual reality.
“A complaint often raised with production designers, like other ‘below the line’ [artisans],
Shocking Doc “The Age of Disclosure” to Make Contact With Viewers on Prime Video
The Age of Disclosure, director/producer Dan Farah’s chillingly compelling alien doc that premiered at the SXSW Film Festival (read our reaction to the film here), has set a worldwide release on Prime Video, as well as an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run in New York City, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles, on November 21. Prime Video has secured an exclusive VOD window for the film, which is now available for pre-order.
Farah’s film is the product of three years of working in secrecy to gain access to highly-placed government officials to discuss a highly sensitive and historically taboo subject—the existence of non-human intelligent life and a nearly century-long global coverup to keep the details of our knowledge,
“Black Rabbit” Creators Zach Baylin and Kate Susman on Cooking Up Their NYC-Set Thriller
Netflix’s hit series Black Rabbit brings viewers into the vibey, chaotic world of New York City nightlife in a breathless eight-episode sprint that left this viewer spent and satisfied, like after a particularly long and indulgent night in the city it lovingly, if somewhat dementedly, portrays. Starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman as Jake and Vince Friedken, respectively, brothers who try to slough off a particularly rough upbringing by opening the titular Black Rabbit restaurant together,
“The Last Frontier” Showrunner Jon Bokenkamp on Creating Apple TV’s Frigid, Frenetic Thriller
Jon Bokenkamp may have made it in Hollywood, but he hasn’t lost his Midwestern roots. The Nebraska native, best known for creating the spy thriller The Blacklist, is the type of person who still has a letter from George Lucas’s office taped to his wall, saying, “Mr. Lucas is sorry, but he’s unable to attend the screening of your movie.” This was a movie Bokenkamp made when he was a teenager.
The Last Frontier,
“Tron: Ares” Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth on Shooting IMAX, Practical Effects, and Nine Inch Nails’ Influence
The third installment in the Tron series, which broke new ground in 1982 with a film set in the digital world, sees AI beings cross over from the grid into the physical realm. Directed by Joachim Rønning, Tron: Ares stars Jared Leto as Ares, an AI soldier generatively laser printed by Dillinger scion Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) to take on rival corporation Encom. Encom CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has cracked the permanence code,
Hollywood Mourns Diane Keaton: Tributes Pour In from Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, and More
Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton passed away on Saturday, October 11, 2025. Following her death this past weekend, co-stars, colleagues, friends, and movie lovers shared their feelings about the iconic, singular star. This remembrance of Keaton has spread across social media, highlighting her legendary roles, kind spirit, activism, and talent.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Keaton’s nephew in the 1996 film Marvin’s Room, posted a remembrance on his Instagram Stories of the two together and wrote,
“Roofman” Writer/Director Derek Cianfrance on Casting Real People from Jeffrey Manchester’s Incredible True Story
The real story behind co-screenwriter and director Derek Cianfrance’s new feature Roofman (co-written with Kirt Gunn) is almost too bizarre to believe. In the late 1990s, North Carolina, a financially strapped father and army veteran, Jeffrey Manchester, broke into 45 McDonald’s locations by cutting through their roofs at night, robbing the employees at gunpoint in the morning. He gained the nickname Roofman, but was also famously very polite and kind to the employees,
“After the Hunt” Production Designer Stefano Baisi on Creating Three Generations of History in One Apartment
It’s no accident that Oscar-nominated Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino‘s movies look as elegant as they do. The Italian filmmaker has a side hustle as an interior designer. In 2017, he launched his eponymous studio and hired architect Stefano Baisi, who helped him design shops, hotels, Dior fashion shows, and luxury apartments. Last year, Baisi crossed over to film by conjuring a surreal 1950s Mexico City for Queer,
Bradley Cooper in Talks to Join Margot Robbie in “Ocean’s Eleven” Prequel
A new star-studded caper in the Ocean’s Eleven universe is currently being assembled, and Bradley Cooper and Margot Robbie are likely going to be your leads. Cooper is currently in talks to join the prequel with Robbie.
The new project would be a prequel to Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 heist comedy Ocean’s Eleven, set before the events in that film. Soderbergh’s Ocean’s remake—the original, which premiered in 1960,
Why Ron Howard’s “Eden” Isn’t the Movie You’d Expect – And That’s the Point
Two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard knows that Eden isn’t the kind of movie you’d expect him to make, which is one of the reasons he made it.
Based on real events, it tells the story of a group of outsiders who settle on a remote island in the Galapagos but quickly find out that the biggest danger they face isn’t the environment or the wildlife, but each other. Eden boasts an ensemble cast including Jude Law,
“One Battle After Another”: How a Single California Road Became The Year’s Most Hallucinatory Effect
Spoilers below.
Let’s try to ditch hyperbole for a second and get to the heart of the matter, to something we might even call objective: Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is a movie that meets its moment head-on. The visionary writer/director doesn’t make uninteresting movies—this, too, feels like an objective statement—yet he has rarely worked in the present day. For a 19-year period, between 2002 and 2021,
“One Battle After Another” Review Round Up: Paul Thomas Anderson Delivers a Stone-Cold Masterpiece
A recent re-watch of Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood reminded me—reconfirmed, really—that my experience in the theater watching his masterpiece, with an absolutely mesmerizing performance from Daniel Day-Lewis as the soused, ruthless oilman Daniel Plainview, had been exactly as transforming as I’d always remembered. It was and remains my favorite cinematic experience, and I’d waited years (decades, actually) to rewatch it. While finally sitting down and absorbing Anderson’s tale of carnivorous greed in America of the late 19th and early 20th Century on my couch wasn’t quite as transporting as being plastered to my seat in a New York City theater,
Inside the Breakneck Cut of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” With Editor Andy Jurgensen
The best-reviewed movie of the season is also the most relentless. Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Oscar front-runner One Battle After Another races through its two-hour fifty-minute run time propelled by adrenalized performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor, Benicio Del Toro, and Regina Hall as revolutionaries in the French 75 (in the case of DiCaprio’s Bob, Teyanna Taylor’s Perfidia Beverly Hills, and Hall’s Deandra),
Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” Preparing for an Electric Fall
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is one of the most highly anticipated fall releases. The visionary director reteamed with some of his most trusted collaborators to bring to life the movie he had been dreaming of making for over two decades, including production designer Tamara Deverell, cinematographer Dan Laustsen, and composer Alexandre Desplat. Frankenstein has already electrified audiences, first at the Venice Film Festival,
Bella & Edward Return: The “Twilight” Saga Rerelease Dates Revealed for Special Five-Day Run
The film franchise that turned Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson into global stars is returning to theaters, and now we know when.
Lionsgate has announced that all five Twilight films will return to theaters from October 29 to November 2. Twilight (2008) will kick off the series on October 29, followed by New Moon (2009) on October 30, Eclipse (2010) on October 31, Breaking Dawn –
How “The Naked Gun” Writers Dan Gregor & Doug Mand Got Liam Neeson & Pamela Anderson to Embrace Absurdity
Macho cop teams with gorgeous mystery woman to stop evil tech mogul from destroying the world: The plot’s perfectly functional for an action-thriller, but it’s the jokes, not the story, that have pushed The Naked Gun to the biggest action comedy opening of 2025. Writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), working with director/co-writer Akiva Schaffer, furnished stars Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson with a firehose of silliness encompassing sight gags,
“Anemone”: A Surreal, Haunting Return to the Screen for Daniel Day-Lewis in Son Ronan Day-Lewis’s Directorial Debut
There is something electric in Anemone, the new film that marks the long‑awaited return of Daniel Day‑Lewis to acting after an eight-year absence in the first feature film directed by his son, Ronan Day‑Lewis. It feels like a threshold movie, one that straddles multiple worlds. Past and present, real and surreal, familial love and bitter legacy, memory and myth, all come to the forefront in this cinematic experience.
Ronan Day‑Lewis,
Emmy Nominees Cathy Sandrich Gelfond & Erica Berger on Casting the Scrappy Young Doctors of “The Pitt”
When The Pitt started streaming on HBO Max in January, the influx of intense young actors just kept coming. ER star Noah Wyle anchors the medical drama as the cracked tower of strength, Doctor Michael “Robby” Rabinovitch; nearly all the other characters on his fractious emergency room team are portrayed by relatively unknown talents delivering performances that are, by turns, wrenching and highly technical.
The Pitt,
Happy Accidents, Revolutionary Moments, & Killer Improv: Inside “One Battle After Another” With DP Michael Bauman
Spoilers below.
“That dude is unbelievable,” admits One Battle After Another cinematographer Michael Bauman to The Credits about Leonardo DiCaprio. “I mean, he’s a star and he brings people in [theaters] but his ability to expand the character is unreal.” Bauman has worked with Paul Thomas Anderson on five different features in one capacity or another, but it was the first time on set with DiCaprio on the acclaimed film,
Shocking Doc “The Age of Disclosure” to Make Contact With Viewers on Prime Video
The Age of Disclosure, director/producer Dan Farah’s chillingly compelling alien doc that premiered at the SXSW Film Festival (read our reaction to the film here), has set a worldwide release on Prime Video, as well as an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run in New York City, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles, on November 21. Prime Video has secured an exclusive VOD window for the film, which is now available for pre-order.
Farah’s film is the product of three years of working in secrecy to gain access to highly-placed government officials to discuss a highly sensitive and historically taboo subject—the existence of non-human intelligent life and a nearly century-long global coverup to keep the details of our knowledge,
Cinematographer Matthew Libatique on Shooting Back-to-Back NYC Thrillers for Spike Lee & Darren Aronofsky
Cinematographer Matthew Libatique grew up in Queens. He knows New York City, which is a good thing because his knowing eye lends luster to a pair of urban thrillers hitting screens this month courtesy of directors Spike Lee and Darren Aronofsky. Libatique, Oscar-nominated for Black Swan, A Star Is Born, and Maestro, shot four previous movies for Lee before helping the iconic New Yorker in his latest,
“One Battle After Another”: The Makeup Magic Behind Sean Penn’s Gasp-Inducing Third-Act Reveal
Spoilers below.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson wants audiences to see One Battle After Another‘s stellar ensemble cast, warts and all. As a result, makeup department head Heba Thorisdottir and special effects makeup artist and prosthetics designer Arjen Tuiten knew that less would be more, with the only exception being Sean Penn’s Col. Stephen Lockjaw, whose shocking third-act disfigurement is the result of a masterclass of makeup and prosthetics design from Thorisdottir and Tuiten.
Hollywood Mourns Diane Keaton: Tributes Pour In from Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, and More
Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton passed away on Saturday, October 11, 2025. Following her death this past weekend, co-stars, colleagues, friends, and movie lovers shared their feelings about the iconic, singular star. This remembrance of Keaton has spread across social media, highlighting her legendary roles, kind spirit, activism, and talent.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Keaton’s nephew in the 1996 film Marvin’s Room, posted a remembrance on his Instagram Stories of the two together and wrote,
Jeffrey Wright Teases Jim Gordon’s Role in “The Batman Part II”
Things were quiet in Gotham when it came to news about Matt Reeves’ The Batman sequel for quite some time. Sure, we had the sensational spinoff series The Penguin to sink our beaks into, giving us a deep dive into Gotham’s criminal underworld via Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb and his equally standout screen partner, Cristin Milioti, whose Sofia Falcone was as cunning and ruthless as Oz. But when it came to news about when Robert Pattinson would be donning the cape and cowl again in The Batman Part II,
“Big Little Lies” Season 3 Officially in the Works
HBO is bringing back Big Little Lies for a third season.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith co-creator and showrunner Francesca Sloane is on board for season 3 and will write the first episode as well as executive produce alongside creator David E. Kelley, Nicole Kidman, and Reese Witherspoon, Variety reports. Kidman and Witherspoon will once again lead the cast.
Sloane’s hit Amazon Prime series,
Scarlett Johansson on Her Directorial Debut “Eleanor the Great”: “I Don’t Think I Could Have Done It 10 Years Ago”
Grief makes people do crazy things.
And sometimes that includes moving across the country after the death of your closest friend, befriending a 19-year-old college student, and lying about your identity.
Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, Eleanor the Great, stars June Squibb as Eleanor, a 95-year-old woman who moves to New York after the passing of her dear friend. The film explores how grief spans generations,
The Studio Giant You’ve Never Heard Of: How MBS Group Powers James Cameron and Some of Hollywood’s Biggest Productions
You might not recognize the name The MBS Group right away, but if you ever wandered through legendary studio lots like Radford Studio Center, Culver Studios, Raleigh Studios, or Symmetry Park Studios London, you’ve stepped onto one of the nearly 50 studio campuses they operate globally. The company is the world’s largest studio operator, running top-tier campuses in iconic entertainment hubs like Los Angeles, New York, and London. But they’re not just renting out space — they’re the behind-the-scenes powerhouse designing studios,
Venice Knockout: Dwayne Johnson’s “The Smashing Machine” Gets 15-Minute Standing Ovation at Venice Film Festival
Dwayne Johnson might have entered the Oscars ring.
The star got a very Oscar-friendly reception at the Venice Film Festival on Monday night, where he was on hand for the world premiere of Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine. Johnson stars as MMA legend Mark Kerr, sporting a prosthetic and an accent, marking an intriguing career pivot into prestige films. The result? A 15-minute standing ovation from the audience,
“The Roses” Director Jay Roach & Writer Tony McNamara On Benedict Cumberbatch & Olivia Colman’s Comedic Chemistry
Director and producer Jay Roach, known for making some of the most iconic comedies of the last 25 years, is now helming a reimagining of another classic with The Roses. Written by two-time Oscar-nominee Tony McNamara, The Roses is a fresh take on Danny DeVito’s classic 1989 movie The War of the Roses.
While the original boasted the iconic pairing of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner,
“Wicked: For Good” First Reactions: A Heartbreakingly Tender Conclusion & Major Oscar Contender
The first reactions to Jon M. Chu‘s Wicked: For Good have arrived. When we spoke to Chu and co-writer Dana Fox, Chu was putting the finishing touches on the film, while Fox, who had a chance to watch both Wicked and Wicked: For Good back-to-back (as many fans will be doing in the years to come), said the experience was overwhelming for her.
How Cinematographer Robbie Ryan Used VistaVision To Capture the Claustrophobic Terror of “Bugonia”
A good deal of Yorgos Lanthimos‘ new psychological thriller, Bugonia, is set in a cellar. Teddy (Jesse Plemons), alone in the world except for his cousin, Don (Aidan Delbis), and their belief that Earth is under the thumb of an alien race called the Andromedans, kidnaps Michelle (Emma Stone), whom he believes to be the aliens’ local representative and an architect of a plan to destroy Earth via colony collapse disorder.
How “K-Pop Demon Hunters” Songwriter EJAE Turned Rejection Into Her Golden Success
Kpop Demon Hunters is a juggernaut. Since its release on Netflix, not only has it become the streamer’s most-watched film of all time, but the animated feature is the first to have four songs simultaneously on the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, the song “Golden” is now the longest-running number 1 by a girl group in the 21st century.
Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Applehans, the story is about K-pop girl group Huntr/x,
“A House of Dynamite” Scribe Noah Oppenheim on His Real-Time Nuclear Thriller’s Emotional Stakes & Shocking Ending
Spoilers below.
News veteran turned Hollywood scribe Noah Oppenheim (Jackie, Zero Day) has penned a new edge-of-your-seat thriller in A House of Dynamite, a cautionary tale about nuclear weapons and those in charge of them. Helmed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty),
Production Designer Tamara Deverell on Building the Gothic Grandeur of Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein”
Guillermo del Toro became obsessed with Frankenstein at the age of seven, after seeing the 1931 Boris Karloff movie, and walked out of the theater with a new calling. “Gothic horror became my church,” Del Toro said in a statement, “and [Boris Karloff] became my messiah.”
Ever since that childhood epiphany, del Toro has dreamed of reanimating Mary Shelley’s famous monster for modern audiences. Now comes his Frankenstein (in theaters now,
How the “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” Sound Team Captured The Boss’s Raw Emotion
The Boss doesn’t just sing into a microphone; he commands attention. His raw charisma and rich baritone were evident when he burst onto the music scene in the mid-1970s at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, but arguably the strength and comfort of his singing voice became settled on his album “Nebraska.” That was the energy the sound team aimed to bottle in writer-director Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,
Inside Netflix’s “The Twits”: Writer/Director Phil Johnston on Empathy, Evil, and Adapting Roald Dahl
Writer/director Phil Johnston, known for his work on Zootopia and the Wreck-It Ralph features, says. “Every character I’ve ever truly connected to has been on the outside looking in. Outcasts, dirtbags, and weirdos are my people.” It seems appropriate, then, that he brought beloved weirdo-specialist Roald Dahl’s book “The Twits” to the big screen. He took Dahl’s story of two hateful people, expanded it,
“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” Location Manager Sarah Brady Stack on Finding The Boss’s New Jersey
For writer-director Scott Cooper’s making-of-an-album drama about one of America’s most enduring rock icons, finding the ideal location was a no-brainer, since Bruce Springsteen’s image and identity are inseparable from the Garden State. “Springsteen is like the New Jersey guy. If you’re gonna make a movie about him, it has to be in New Jersey, which is a character in its own in this film,” says the location manager for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,
“One Battle After Another” Production Designer Florencia Martin on Building PTA’s Three-Hour Action Thriller from the Ground Up
Paul Thomas Anderson’s action thriller One Battle After Another is loosely inspired by a section of Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel “Vineland,” but this three-hour epic is rooted in the present, a contemporary vision of a heightened clash between far-left and far-right, and, more intimately, a story about vengeance, desire, and family.
Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) are partners and active members of a far-left militant group,
“Hedda” Production Designer Cara Brower on Transforming a Stunning Estate for Tessa Thompson’s Rogue Heroine
To re-animate playwright Henrik Ibsen’s famously unhappy heroine Hedda Gabler, writer-director Nia DaCosta cast her longtime muse Tessa Thompson as the star of Hedda (opening Oct. 22). This vivid adaptation, featuring Nina Hoss in the gender-switched role of an ex-lover along with Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman and Nicholas Pinnock, takes place in 1950s England at a raucous party complicated by jealousy, existential angst, feminist fury,
The Invisible Architects: How Two Visionary Production Designers Launched a Global Movement
If a film’s visuals tickle the eye, scorch the heart, or linger in the consciousness long after the credits roll, you can thank the production designer. Whether the project is a blockbuster or a low-budget indie, the production designer is tasked with creating that elusive “look” of the film and translating the director’s vision into visual reality.
“A complaint often raised with production designers, like other ‘below the line’ [artisans],
Shocking Doc “The Age of Disclosure” to Make Contact With Viewers on Prime Video
The Age of Disclosure, director/producer Dan Farah’s chillingly compelling alien doc that premiered at the SXSW Film Festival (read our reaction to the film here), has set a worldwide release on Prime Video, as well as an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run in New York City, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles, on November 21. Prime Video has secured an exclusive VOD window for the film, which is now available for pre-order.
Farah’s film is the product of three years of working in secrecy to gain access to highly-placed government officials to discuss a highly sensitive and historically taboo subject—the existence of non-human intelligent life and a nearly century-long global coverup to keep the details of our knowledge,
“Tron: Ares” Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth on Shooting IMAX, Practical Effects, and Nine Inch Nails’ Influence
The third installment in the Tron series, which broke new ground in 1982 with a film set in the digital world, sees AI beings cross over from the grid into the physical realm. Directed by Joachim Rønning, Tron: Ares stars Jared Leto as Ares, an AI soldier generatively laser printed by Dillinger scion Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) to take on rival corporation Encom. Encom CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has cracked the permanence code,
Hollywood Mourns Diane Keaton: Tributes Pour In from Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, and More
Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton passed away on Saturday, October 11, 2025. Following her death this past weekend, co-stars, colleagues, friends, and movie lovers shared their feelings about the iconic, singular star. This remembrance of Keaton has spread across social media, highlighting her legendary roles, kind spirit, activism, and talent.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Keaton’s nephew in the 1996 film Marvin’s Room, posted a remembrance on his Instagram Stories of the two together and wrote,
“Roofman” Writer/Director Derek Cianfrance on Casting Real People from Jeffrey Manchester’s Incredible True Story
The real story behind co-screenwriter and director Derek Cianfrance’s new feature Roofman (co-written with Kirt Gunn) is almost too bizarre to believe. In the late 1990s, North Carolina, a financially strapped father and army veteran, Jeffrey Manchester, broke into 45 McDonald’s locations by cutting through their roofs at night, robbing the employees at gunpoint in the morning. He gained the nickname Roofman, but was also famously very polite and kind to the employees,
“After the Hunt” Production Designer Stefano Baisi on Creating Three Generations of History in One Apartment
It’s no accident that Oscar-nominated Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino‘s movies look as elegant as they do. The Italian filmmaker has a side hustle as an interior designer. In 2017, he launched his eponymous studio and hired architect Stefano Baisi, who helped him design shops, hotels, Dior fashion shows, and luxury apartments. Last year, Baisi crossed over to film by conjuring a surreal 1950s Mexico City for Queer,
Bradley Cooper in Talks to Join Margot Robbie in “Ocean’s Eleven” Prequel
A new star-studded caper in the Ocean’s Eleven universe is currently being assembled, and Bradley Cooper and Margot Robbie are likely going to be your leads. Cooper is currently in talks to join the prequel with Robbie.
The new project would be a prequel to Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 heist comedy Ocean’s Eleven, set before the events in that film. Soderbergh’s Ocean’s remake—the original, which premiered in 1960,
“One Battle After Another”: The Makeup Magic Behind Sean Penn’s Gasp-Inducing Third-Act Reveal
Spoilers below.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson wants audiences to see One Battle After Another‘s stellar ensemble cast, warts and all. As a result, makeup department head Heba Thorisdottir and special effects makeup artist and prosthetics designer Arjen Tuiten knew that less would be more, with the only exception being Sean Penn’s Col. Stephen Lockjaw, whose shocking third-act disfigurement is the result of a masterclass of makeup and prosthetics design from Thorisdottir and Tuiten.
Busan 2025: How Locations Shape Asian Productions, From “The Dark Knight” to “K-Pop Demon Hunters”
A scroll through cinema history reveals a selection of unique, now-iconic locations that have become synonymous with the movies they have helped bring to life.
Think David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia and the sands of Jordan’s Wadi Rum (utilized for modern audiences in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films). Think the Caped Crusader on the rooftop of Hong Kong’s International Finance Centre (IFC) Tower in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
Getting Caught in “Kiss of the Spider Woman” Production Designer Scott Chambliss’s Perfect Web for Jennifer Lopez
Production designer Scott Chambliss is known in Hollywood for big tentpole movies— Star Trek, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Mission: Impossible III are a few of his films—so he was a bit shocked in 2023 when writer-director Bill Condon called him about revamping Kiss of the Spider Woman as an old-fashioned MGM movie musical. Chambliss knew exactly how to win over the man who made Dreamgirls and wrote the movie version of Chicago.
“Stranger Things” Two-Hour Finale To Get Historic Release in Theaters on New Year’s Eve
Stranger Things is going to go out with the biggest possible bang for a television series. The Duffer Brothers’ game-changing Netflix series’ two-hour finale, titled “The Rightside Up,” will have a simultaneous premiere on the streamer and more than 350 movie theaters on December 31st, beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. The finale will stay in theaters through January 1, 2026.
It’s an appropriately historic end for a series that has been a phenomenon on Netflix and made stars of many of its cast members,
The Invisible Architects: How Two Visionary Production Designers Launched a Global Movement
If a film’s visuals tickle the eye, scorch the heart, or linger in the consciousness long after the credits roll, you can thank the production designer. Whether the project is a blockbuster or a low-budget indie, the production designer is tasked with creating that elusive “look” of the film and translating the director’s vision into visual reality.
“A complaint often raised with production designers, like other ‘below the line’ [artisans],
“Black Rabbit” Creators Zach Baylin and Kate Susman on Cooking Up Their NYC-Set Thriller
Netflix’s hit series Black Rabbit brings viewers into the vibey, chaotic world of New York City nightlife in a breathless eight-episode sprint that left this viewer spent and satisfied, like after a particularly long and indulgent night in the city it lovingly, if somewhat dementedly, portrays. Starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman as Jake and Vince Friedken, respectively, brothers who try to slough off a particularly rough upbringing by opening the titular Black Rabbit restaurant together,
“The Last Frontier” Showrunner Jon Bokenkamp on Creating Apple TV’s Frigid, Frenetic Thriller
Jon Bokenkamp may have made it in Hollywood, but he hasn’t lost his Midwestern roots. The Nebraska native, best known for creating the spy thriller The Blacklist, is the type of person who still has a letter from George Lucas’s office taped to his wall, saying, “Mr. Lucas is sorry, but he’s unable to attend the screening of your movie.” This was a movie Bokenkamp made when he was a teenager.
The Last Frontier,
“Game of Thrones” Returns With “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Trailer
“I was squired to Sir Arlan of Pennytree,” says Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) in the opening seconds of the first trailer for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a new Game of Thrones spinoff coming to HBO. “He charged me to be a good knight, to defend the weak and the innocent, and I swore that I would.”
It only takes a mere twenty seconds or so to catch a name Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon fans are very familiar with—Targaryen—when a young man asks Ser Dunance whether he’s Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel).
Costume Designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb on Dressing Scorching, Corporate-Controlled Future in “Alien: Earth”
Alien: Earth (streaming on FX) pictures our future here on Earth as a wildly advanced, increasingly grim corporate kleptocracy—a scorching hot planet that doesn’t get any more welcoming after it’s populated with flesh-eating “Xenomorphs” (thanks to a crashed research vessel owned by one of thoes corporate overlords, Weyland-Yutani) that is then pursued by a private army owned by tech genius Boy Kavalier’s company Prodigy. While face-bursting and brain-controlling eyeballs roam the rainforest,
“Alien: Earth” Cinematographer and Director Dana Gonzalez on Bringing Cinema’s Most Iconic Monster to TV
On Earth, everyone can hear you scream. No apologies for the dreadful play on the classic logline for Alien, which continues to reach new, strange heights in FX’s Alien: Earth, created by Fargo‘s Noah Hawley. Cinematographer and director Dana Gonzalez establishes the expressive vision in the pilot, titled “Neverland,” which introduces a young, terminally ill girl named Marcy Hermit (Florence Bensberg) to a future world in which she’ll survive,
From Abbey Road to “Alien: Earth”: Composer Jeff Russo on Bringing Xenomorphs Home Through Music
Alien: Earth doesn’t rehash the familiar, even if it beats with the acid-pumping heart of Ridley Scott’s original Alien. The series expands on the terrifying world Scott first unleashed on audiences on May 25, 1979 by focusing not only on the iconic Xenomorph, one of the most legendary movie monsters of all time, but by imagining what the world might look like decades later when the Xenomorph, and a slew of other captive galactic creatures,
From USC Benchwarmer to Cartel Smuggler: Inside “Cocaine Quarterback” With Director Jody McVeigh-Schultz
If the infamous trope “I know a guy who knows a guy” had a poster child, it should be Owen Hanson. Chronicled in a three-part docuseries, Cocaine Quarterback: Signal-Caller for the Cartel, from director Jody McVeigh-Schultz, the shocking events reveal how the former USC walk-on went from National Champion to convicted drug cartel smuggler.
McVeigh-Schultz, best known for helming the school spying scandal docuseries Spy High,
From “Barbie” to “Bridgerton”: Entertainment Partners is the Secret Sauce Behind Many of the Films & Shows You Love
For nearly five decades, Entertainment Partners (EP) has been the secret sauce behind the scenes of your favorite films, TV shows, and commercials, from Barbie to Bridgerton. Headquartered in Burbank, California, the company has revolutionized the way the entertainment industry manages payroll, accounting, and production finance, with a world-class team of experts specializing in a wide range of areas, including global tax incentives, labor compliance, residuals, and healthcare.
Their industry-standard digital platform featuring Movie Magic Budgeting and Scheduling,
“The Pitt,” “The Studio,” “Adolescence,” and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” Have Big Night at the Emmys
The 2025 Emmys Awards telecast crowned the year’s big winners on Sunday night, with The Pitt, The Studio, Adolescence, and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert winning big.
The Pitt nabbed three Emmys, including for Best Drama Series. Star Noah Wyle also took home the Best Actor in a Drama Series win, and his co-star, Katherine LaNasa, topped four White Lotus stars to pull in the Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.
“Big Little Lies” Season 3 Officially in the Works
HBO is bringing back Big Little Lies for a third season.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith co-creator and showrunner Francesca Sloane is on board for season 3 and will write the first episode as well as executive produce alongside creator David E. Kelley, Nicole Kidman, and Reese Witherspoon, Variety reports. Kidman and Witherspoon will once again lead the cast.
Sloane’s hit Amazon Prime series,
Inside the Heist: Editor Jay Prychidny on Cutting the Monster Mayhem in “Wednesday”
“If These Woes Could Talk,” the fourth episode of Wednesday season two, is an hour of monster playtime from Tim Burton. The fourth episode wrapped up part one of the season and is built as a heist story with Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) seeking family secrets while Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen), a zombie, and a Hyde (aka a mutant) run amok in an institution. It’s exuberant chaos in the hands of Burton’s frequent editor,
“SNL 50,” “The Pitt” and More Win Big at the Creative Arts Emmys
During the second night of the Creative Arts Emmys, SNL 50 garnered seven wins for its massive, decades-spanning celebration, including wins for directing (Liz Patrick), production design, makeup, and hairstyling.
Love on the Spectrum won for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Programming, while Queer Eye won for Structured Reality Programming. In a nice moment for a veteran director,
MPA Industry Champion Award Recipient Rep. Darrell Issa: From Digital Pirates to Real-Life Mavericks
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is the recipient of the 2025 Motion Pictures Association’s Industry Champion Award, recognized for his efforts to strengthen copyright protections, spur innovation, and preserve free expression. As chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, Issa has been at the forefront of legislative efforts to combat digital piracy and address emerging challenges posed by artificial intelligence to the entertainment industry.
As a California resident and representative,
2025 MPA Industry Champion Award Senator Chris Coons on the Real Cost of Piracy
Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) is the 2025 MPA Industry Champion Award recipient for his efforts to strengthen copyright protections, spur innovation, and preserve free expression. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Coons advocates for measures that support intellectual property laws and defend copyrighted works from piracy.
Online piracy is far from a victimless crime—in the U.S. alone, it costs the creative industry billions of dollars and thousands of jobs annually.
MPA Creative Protector Award Recipient Ivan J. Arvelo: The Federal Agent Protecting Your Favorite Movies From Piracy
Director Ivan J. Arvelo is being honored with the 2025 Motion Picture Association Creative Protector Award for playing a crucial role in advancing our core mission of protecting intellectual property and bringing the magic of cinema to life.
As Director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center), Arvelo leads the federal government’s efforts to protect creativity and innovation by enforcing laws that combat intellectual property crimes.
In this conversation,
Le Lotus Blanc: “The White Lotus” Headed to France for Season 4
HBO’s hit series is trading Thailand’s beaches for France.
The White Lotus is reportedly headed to the European continent for its fourth season, Deadline reports. HBO has not yet confirmed the news, but if the reporting holds, one of the best bets for where season four would be shot is at the Four Seasons at the iconic Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, located at the tip of the Cap-Ferrat peninsula on the French Riviera,
Emmy Nominees Cathy Sandrich Gelfond & Erica Berger on Casting the Scrappy Young Doctors of “The Pitt”
When The Pitt started streaming on HBO Max in January, the influx of intense young actors just kept coming. ER star Noah Wyle anchors the medical drama as the cracked tower of strength, Doctor Michael “Robby” Rabinovitch; nearly all the other characters on his fractious emergency room team are portrayed by relatively unknown talents delivering performances that are, by turns, wrenching and highly technical.
The Pitt,
The Studio Giant You’ve Never Heard Of: How MBS Group Powers James Cameron and Some of Hollywood’s Biggest Productions
You might not recognize the name The MBS Group right away, but if you ever wandered through legendary studio lots like Radford Studio Center, Culver Studios, Raleigh Studios, or Symmetry Park Studios London, you’ve stepped onto one of the nearly 50 studio campuses they operate globally. The company is the world’s largest studio operator, running top-tier campuses in iconic entertainment hubs like Los Angeles, New York, and London. But they’re not just renting out space — they’re the behind-the-scenes powerhouse designing studios,
How Cinematographer Robbie Ryan Used VistaVision To Capture the Claustrophobic Terror of “Bugonia”
A good deal of Yorgos Lanthimos‘ new psychological thriller, Bugonia, is set in a cellar. Teddy (Jesse Plemons), alone in the world except for his cousin, Don (Aidan Delbis), and their belief that Earth is under the thumb of an alien race called the Andromedans, kidnaps Michelle (Emma Stone), whom he believes to be the aliens’ local representative and an architect of a plan to destroy Earth via colony collapse disorder.
How “K-Pop Demon Hunters” Songwriter EJAE Turned Rejection Into Her Golden Success
Kpop Demon Hunters is a juggernaut. Since its release on Netflix, not only has it become the streamer’s most-watched film of all time, but the animated feature is the first to have four songs simultaneously on the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, the song “Golden” is now the longest-running number 1 by a girl group in the 21st century.
Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Applehans, the story is about K-pop girl group Huntr/x,
“A House of Dynamite” Scribe Noah Oppenheim on His Real-Time Nuclear Thriller’s Emotional Stakes & Shocking Ending
Spoilers below.
News veteran turned Hollywood scribe Noah Oppenheim (Jackie, Zero Day) has penned a new edge-of-your-seat thriller in A House of Dynamite, a cautionary tale about nuclear weapons and those in charge of them. Helmed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty),
Production Designer Tamara Deverell on Building the Gothic Grandeur of Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein”
Guillermo del Toro became obsessed with Frankenstein at the age of seven, after seeing the 1931 Boris Karloff movie, and walked out of the theater with a new calling. “Gothic horror became my church,” Del Toro said in a statement, “and [Boris Karloff] became my messiah.”
Ever since that childhood epiphany, del Toro has dreamed of reanimating Mary Shelley’s famous monster for modern audiences. Now comes his Frankenstein (in theaters now,
How the “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” Sound Team Captured The Boss’s Raw Emotion
The Boss doesn’t just sing into a microphone; he commands attention. His raw charisma and rich baritone were evident when he burst onto the music scene in the mid-1970s at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, but arguably the strength and comfort of his singing voice became settled on his album “Nebraska.” That was the energy the sound team aimed to bottle in writer-director Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,
Inside Netflix’s “The Twits”: Writer/Director Phil Johnston on Empathy, Evil, and Adapting Roald Dahl
Writer/director Phil Johnston, known for his work on Zootopia and the Wreck-It Ralph features, says. “Every character I’ve ever truly connected to has been on the outside looking in. Outcasts, dirtbags, and weirdos are my people.” It seems appropriate, then, that he brought beloved weirdo-specialist Roald Dahl’s book “The Twits” to the big screen. He took Dahl’s story of two hateful people, expanded it,
“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” Location Manager Sarah Brady Stack on Finding The Boss’s New Jersey
For writer-director Scott Cooper’s making-of-an-album drama about one of America’s most enduring rock icons, finding the ideal location was a no-brainer, since Bruce Springsteen’s image and identity are inseparable from the Garden State. “Springsteen is like the New Jersey guy. If you’re gonna make a movie about him, it has to be in New Jersey, which is a character in its own in this film,” says the location manager for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,
“One Battle After Another” Production Designer Florencia Martin on Building PTA’s Three-Hour Action Thriller from the Ground Up
Paul Thomas Anderson’s action thriller One Battle After Another is loosely inspired by a section of Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel “Vineland,” but this three-hour epic is rooted in the present, a contemporary vision of a heightened clash between far-left and far-right, and, more intimately, a story about vengeance, desire, and family.
Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) are partners and active members of a far-left militant group,
“Hedda” Production Designer Cara Brower on Transforming a Stunning Estate for Tessa Thompson’s Rogue Heroine
To re-animate playwright Henrik Ibsen’s famously unhappy heroine Hedda Gabler, writer-director Nia DaCosta cast her longtime muse Tessa Thompson as the star of Hedda (opening Oct. 22). This vivid adaptation, featuring Nina Hoss in the gender-switched role of an ex-lover along with Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman and Nicholas Pinnock, takes place in 1950s England at a raucous party complicated by jealousy, existential angst, feminist fury,
The Invisible Architects: How Two Visionary Production Designers Launched a Global Movement
If a film’s visuals tickle the eye, scorch the heart, or linger in the consciousness long after the credits roll, you can thank the production designer. Whether the project is a blockbuster or a low-budget indie, the production designer is tasked with creating that elusive “look” of the film and translating the director’s vision into visual reality.
“A complaint often raised with production designers, like other ‘below the line’ [artisans],
“Black Rabbit” Creators Zach Baylin and Kate Susman on Cooking Up Their NYC-Set Thriller
Netflix’s hit series Black Rabbit brings viewers into the vibey, chaotic world of New York City nightlife in a breathless eight-episode sprint that left this viewer spent and satisfied, like after a particularly long and indulgent night in the city it lovingly, if somewhat dementedly, portrays. Starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman as Jake and Vince Friedken, respectively, brothers who try to slough off a particularly rough upbringing by opening the titular Black Rabbit restaurant together,
“The Last Frontier” Showrunner Jon Bokenkamp on Creating Apple TV’s Frigid, Frenetic Thriller
Jon Bokenkamp may have made it in Hollywood, but he hasn’t lost his Midwestern roots. The Nebraska native, best known for creating the spy thriller The Blacklist, is the type of person who still has a letter from George Lucas’s office taped to his wall, saying, “Mr. Lucas is sorry, but he’s unable to attend the screening of your movie.” This was a movie Bokenkamp made when he was a teenager.
The Last Frontier,
“Tron: Ares” Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth on Shooting IMAX, Practical Effects, and Nine Inch Nails’ Influence
The third installment in the Tron series, which broke new ground in 1982 with a film set in the digital world, sees AI beings cross over from the grid into the physical realm. Directed by Joachim Rønning, Tron: Ares stars Jared Leto as Ares, an AI soldier generatively laser printed by Dillinger scion Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) to take on rival corporation Encom. Encom CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has cracked the permanence code,
“Roofman” Writer/Director Derek Cianfrance on Casting Real People from Jeffrey Manchester’s Incredible True Story
The real story behind co-screenwriter and director Derek Cianfrance’s new feature Roofman (co-written with Kirt Gunn) is almost too bizarre to believe. In the late 1990s, North Carolina, a financially strapped father and army veteran, Jeffrey Manchester, broke into 45 McDonald’s locations by cutting through their roofs at night, robbing the employees at gunpoint in the morning. He gained the nickname Roofman, but was also famously very polite and kind to the employees,
“After the Hunt” Production Designer Stefano Baisi on Creating Three Generations of History in One Apartment
It’s no accident that Oscar-nominated Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino‘s movies look as elegant as they do. The Italian filmmaker has a side hustle as an interior designer. In 2017, he launched his eponymous studio and hired architect Stefano Baisi, who helped him design shops, hotels, Dior fashion shows, and luxury apartments. Last year, Baisi crossed over to film by conjuring a surreal 1950s Mexico City for Queer,
“One Battle After Another”: The Makeup Magic Behind Sean Penn’s Gasp-Inducing Third-Act Reveal
Spoilers below.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson wants audiences to see One Battle After Another‘s stellar ensemble cast, warts and all. As a result, makeup department head Heba Thorisdottir and special effects makeup artist and prosthetics designer Arjen Tuiten knew that less would be more, with the only exception being Sean Penn’s Col. Stephen Lockjaw, whose shocking third-act disfigurement is the result of a masterclass of makeup and prosthetics design from Thorisdottir and Tuiten.
Busan 2025: How Locations Shape Asian Productions, From “The Dark Knight” to “K-Pop Demon Hunters”
A scroll through cinema history reveals a selection of unique, now-iconic locations that have become synonymous with the movies they have helped bring to life.
Think David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia and the sands of Jordan’s Wadi Rum (utilized for modern audiences in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films). Think the Caped Crusader on the rooftop of Hong Kong’s International Finance Centre (IFC) Tower in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
Getting Caught in “Kiss of the Spider Woman” Production Designer Scott Chambliss’s Perfect Web for Jennifer Lopez
Production designer Scott Chambliss is known in Hollywood for big tentpole movies— Star Trek, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Mission: Impossible III are a few of his films—so he was a bit shocked in 2023 when writer-director Bill Condon called him about revamping Kiss of the Spider Woman as an old-fashioned MGM movie musical. Chambliss knew exactly how to win over the man who made Dreamgirls and wrote the movie version of Chicago.
“One Battle After Another” Cinematographer Michael Bauman Breaks Down Filming the Chaos in El Paso
Spoilers below.
About an hour into Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, Leonardo DiCaprio’s Bob Ferguson, a washed-up revolutionary living off the grid in Northern California, sends his teenage daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) to her first high school dance, lights a joint, and queues up The Battle of Algiers when the phone rings. “Bob, we have trouble ahead and the road isn’t clear…”
He might be a burnout perpetually be-robed in tattered leisure wear that would make Big Lewboski proud,
Happy Accidents, Revolutionary Moments, & Killer Improv: Inside “One Battle After Another” With DP Michael Bauman
Spoilers below.
“That dude is unbelievable,” admits One Battle After Another cinematographer Michael Bauman to The Credits about Leonardo DiCaprio. “I mean, he’s a star and he brings people in [theaters] but his ability to expand the character is unreal.” Bauman has worked with Paul Thomas Anderson on five different features in one capacity or another, but it was the first time on set with DiCaprio on the acclaimed film,
