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Sad news to report today as acclaimed playwright, actor, screenwriter, and directorSam Shepardhas died at the age of 73. According toVariety, “He died on Thursday at his home in Kentucky following complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.” Shepard, who won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1979 for his playBuried Child, was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his turn as Chuck Yeager inThe Right Stuff....

The pandemic has impacted production significantly across the board. Release dates arebeing pushedall over the place, some productionshalted workdue to confirmed COVID cases, and then some shows aregetting canceleddespite earlier renewals due to the current circumstances. There’s no minimizing the devastating effects the pandemic is having on the industry (and beyond), but I’ll take a silver lining wherever I can get one, and apparentlyStranger Things 4has pivoted for the better in one particular way....

A wall covered with letters started bulging and counting down as lights flickered across Hall H. No, the screen wasn’t possessed and the electricity was fine – it just meant it was time for theStranger Thingspanel at 2017’s Comic-Con International in San Diego. The highly anticipated second season drops June 27, 2025 on the Netflix streaming service just in time for Halloween. The panel began with clips recapping the first season before moderatorPatton Oswaltcame to the stage and promisedStranger Thingsfootage that no one has ever seen....

On a crisp February morning five years ago, I was enjoying an unexpectedly familiar classical piece on the radio. As the piece ended, the soothing voice of Carl Grapentine, the morning host, wafted across the airwaves, announcing that it was on that same day 35 years before thatthe final episode ofMAS*Hhad aired. Grapentine had been the host of another morning Classical Music segment in Detroit at the time, and the morning after the last episode of the show aired in 1983, he had chosen to play this same piece....

There’s something really captivating about watching a true story play out in front of you. Unlike a fictional narrative, documentaries don’t have neatly tied-up endings, and there is no guarantee of what’s to come. In summation: they feel like a more accurate representation of what the world is capable of: good and evil, nurturing and abandoning. Often, a documentary provides a way to dive deep into a story that hasn’t been fully explored previously, maybe even to get answers to long-existing questions once and for all....

Fox Searchlight has released the first trailer for writer/producer/director/starNate Parker’s slavery dramaThe Birth of a Nation. The film tells the true story of Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher who was used to “calm” other slaves in neighboring plantations down via his sermons, and who subsequently led a bloody uprising that had reverberations throughout the country. This is a fantastic trailer that makes expert use of Nina Simone’s “Strange Fruit” to give a somber tone to the first half before getting to the rousing, energetic second-half....

It’s officially official:John Francis DaleyandJonathan Goldsteinare directingThe Flashmovie. News broke in January that theHorrible Bossesscreenwriters had entered negotiations to directFlashpointfor Warner Bros. and DC, but during the press rounds for their hit action-comedyGame Night, the filmmaking duo clarified that their deal to directThe Flashmovie wasn’t closed—meaning it was always possible things might not work out. But sources close to the situation have confirmed to Collider that Daley and Goldstein have now closed their deal to directThe Flash, and Daleysent out a tweetsaying as much, so they are now officially signed on to direct the standalone DC movie....

In terms of quality of work,Michael Bayhas always been at the forefront of scathing criticism. Critics and even audiences have caught up to his over-reliance on explosions, over-the-top action, and downright sub-par filmmaking whose objective is to rake in the profits rather than to present something artistic and “auteur-cinema” worthy. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing if that’s his aim, but in a medium that has far surpassed the debates on whether it could be considered art, Bay has been, for some, the solitary example of what one shouldn’t represent in filmmaking....

Here’s your friendly reminder that the season finale of AMC’sThe Terror, one of the most unique and riveting shows on TV at the moment, airs tonight at 9/8c. As terrifying as the small-screen adaptation ofDan Simmons' novel exploring the disastrous Franklin Expedition is, scarier still is the realization that tonight’s episode closes the book on that story, pun intended. So while you should most definitely tune in to see Tuunbaq & Co....

Coming-of-age stories are a staple of Hollywood, and have proved to be one of its most diverse and evergreen genres. The stories can take the form of comedies likeDazed and ConfusedorClueless, more dramatic turns likeThe 400 BlowsorThe Graduate, or somewhere in between withStand By Me,The Breakfast Club, andThe Perks of Being a Wallflower. The underlying similarities between them are thematic, centering around the sometimes joyful, sometimes heartbreaking, almost always complicated changes that occur in the transition from childhood to adulthood, and how these change the individual....

Sunday marks the one-year anniversary ofNicolas Winding Refn’s incredible crime seriesToo Old to Die Young, which is one of the best things Amazon has ever released, and yet, so few have actually seen it. Thankfully, shows don’t come with an expiration date, so even though what little cultural conversation there was aroundTOTDYhas long since moved on, the showisstill available to watch on the streaming service. Just use that ‘search’ function, because lord knows you won’t find it on any homepage....

Bo Peep is back and she’s a changed woman! Pixar has debuted a new poster, synopsis and teaser video introducing the world toToy Story 4’s new spin on Bo Peep and she’s looking prettyprettyfierce. Long gone are the hoop dress and bonnet; this Bo Peep’s been on the road and she’s seen some things; she’s rocking pants, a cape, and wields her staff like a boss, all while still sporting a cute af pink bow in her hair, thank you very much....

Sony and directorAndy Serkishave tapped Oscar-winning cinematographerRobert Richardsonto shootVenom 2starringTom Hardy, Collider has confirmed. Richardson is coming off ofQuentin Tarantino’s Sony hitOnce Upon a Time… in Hollywood, and he previously worked with Serkis on his 2017 directorial debutBreathe. He has won a trio of Oscars for his work onJFK,The AviatorandHugo, and has six other nominations to his name, including three for Tarantino’sInglourious Basterds,Django UnchainedandThe Hateful Eight. Another nomination is expected to be in the cards for Richardson given his exceptional work onOnce Upon a Time, which has grossed $106 million at the domestic box office thus far....