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Actor Morgan Freeman is best known for his role as Red in The Shawshank Redemption. However, he has also played a variety of roles that have become a staple in pop culture, such as Lucius Fox in The Dark Knight trilogy, Nelson Mandela in Invictus, and Hoke Colburn in Driving Miss Daisy.

While he finally won the Oscar for Million Dollar Baby, Freeman named his first-ever Oscar-nominated role as Fast Black in Street Smart as his favorite. Freeman reportedly called the Christopher Reeve starrer his breakout role. Despite it being his favorite performance, Freeman admitted that he would never do something like that again.

Morgan Freeman Called His Role In Street Smart His Best A still from Invictus | Credits: Warner Bros.

Morgan Freeman has played everything from a boxing coach, a scientist, and a prisoner, to God himself. Known for his deep, narrative voice, Freeman became a pop cultural icon...

Mikey Madison is the current Best Actress Oscar frontrunner for her heartbreaking performance in the title role of Sean Baker‘s “Anora.” Her likeliest competitors are two past Oscar winners — Nicole Kidman, 57, for “Babygirl” and Angelina Jolie, 49, for “Maria” — plus six-time nominee Amy Adams, 50, for “Nightbitch” and Karla Sofia Gascon, 52, for “Emilia Pérez.”

At age 25, Madison has one advantage over her main rivals for the award: her youth. Of the 97 winners of this race, almost one-third (32) were in their 20s.

Among those ingenues to take to the stage to collect this coveted prize was Emma Stone, who was 28 when she won for “La La Land” in 2017. Stone was 35 when she picked up a bookend Oscar earlier this year for “Poor Things,” which made her the 35th Best Actress winner in her thirties.

Bracketing Stone’s two wins were five women who defied this bias toward youth: 60-year-old Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a lousy track record when it comes to getting its awards to the most deserving nominees. There are myriad examples of injustices, and, when it comes to Best Picture, a history of settling on a movie that most people at least really like, even if few outright love it. In recent years, we've had the perfectly fine "Spotlight," "Argo," Nomadland," and "Coda" take home the top prize. They weren't the best movies of their respective years, not even close, but they were proficiently directed movies buoyed by excellent performances and accomplished (if somewhat formulaic) screenplays.

The Academy has had a decent five year Best Picture run, but in 2018 there was a galling regression to the bad ol' days when white Hollywood phonies made bogus can't-we-all-just-can't-get-along bromides congratulating themselves for viewing people of different colors and ethnicities as actual human beings. That...

Broadway theaters will dim their lights on Sept. 26 in memory of James Earl Jones.

Jones, who died Sept. 9 at the age of 93, was a two-time Tony Award winner as well as a recipient of the 2017 special Tony Award for lifetime achievement. The Cort Theatre was renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre in September 2022.

Broadway theaters will dim their lights at 6:45 p.m. on Sept. 26 in his honor. The dimming of lights has been a tradition on Broadway for notable members of the community who have died, but must be approved by the theater owners.

Jones made his Broadway in 1957 as an understudy in The Egghead. He received his first Tony Award in 1969 for his role in The Great White Hope and won another Tony in 1987 for his role in Fences. He also appeared in The Iceman Cometh, Of Mice and Men, Othello, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Driving Miss Daisy,...

Broadway will dim its lights for the late James Earl Jones this Thursday, September 26, at at 6:45 pm/Et , the Broadway League announced today.

The traditional honor, in which the marquee lights of Broadway venues go dark for one minute, will pay tribute to the two-time Tony-winning actor who died September 9 at the age of 93. Jones was the recipient of the 2017 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.

“James Earl Jones was a true pillar of the Broadway industry,” said Jason Laks, Interim President of The Broadway League, “providing unforgettable experiences to multiple generations of theatregoers – all while accumulating many well-deserved honors, awards, and achievements for his iconic performances in other entertainment fields. While we acknowledge and celebrate Mr. Jones’ significant legacy across multiple mediums, we are particularly proud of his legacy on Broadway, and are grateful for the many memorable performances with which he graced our stages.”

Jones’ Broadway career...

(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)

"I never liked the title of my own story, and don't to this day." Those are the words of prolific author Stephen King writing in the 2009 book "Stephen King Goes to the Movies." The movie and story in question is the 1994 classic "The Shawshank Redemption." King was attempting to explain why the film -- which is now considered by many to be one of the greatest movies ever made -- was a box office bomb in its day.

While it may be hard to believe, director Frank Darabont's stirring, emotional prison drama was indeed a huge disappointment upon its initial release. For those who weren't regular ticket buyers at the time of this movie's original theatrical run, that must seem unfathomable.

Chicago – On September 9th 2024, the world lost an icon of acting, voice work and pop culture stardom. The great James Earl Jones passed away at age 93, after a career of prominent statute, memorable characters and a voice to a generation through Darth Vader in “Star Wars” and Mufasa in “The Lion King” (both versions). Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com took an Exclusive Portrait of Jones in 1993 during a Chicago book tour.

Jones was born in Mississippi, and was raised in Michigan by his maternal grandparents. His estranged father became an film actor, and they reconciled in the 1950s. Jones graduated from the University of Michigan as a drama major, and after a stint in the military made his major Broadway debut in 1958 as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s butler in “Sunrise at Campobello.”

James Earl Jones in Chicago, 1993

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

He shifted to Shakespearian roles thereafter,...

The social, cultural, and historical relevance of James Earl Jones simply cannot be overstated. The actor’s voice has permeated every vessel and bone of modern society, shaping and informing entire generations since the advent of Star Wars in 1977. By lending a mouthpiece to Darth Vader, the menacing villain with the samurai helmet became infinitely more terrifying, influencing popular culture forever and becoming a forebearer of all evil to come.

Star Wars primary antagonist, Darth Vader [Credit: Lucasfilm]

Now, nearly half a century later, no other voice has been so instantly recognizable and integrally iconic to our pop culture history. Capable of sending literal chills down the spine of his audience, James Earl Jones’s legacy will continue to live on through Darth Vader, with his voice becoming forever immortalized after his heartbreaking death.

However, James Earl Jones had more to his life and identity than one Star Wars character.

James...

I spent my first decade in New York working at Variety’s former offices on Park Avenue South and more than once found myself sharing an elevator with James Earl Jones while he was on his way to or from Verizon to shoot commercials. The giant of an actor, who died today at age 93, never failed to say a warm, “Good morning” or “Good afternoon,” and even if I hadn’t recognized his face or his imposing 6-foot, 2-inch frame, there was no mistaking that sonorous voice.

His voice was the earth-shaking basso rumble coming from behind the forbidding mask of Darth Vader in the Star Wars saga, starting with the original 1977 film, and the stentorian growl of Mufasa, King of the Pride Lands and father of Simba in The Lion King.

It was also the voice of a revered stage actor, who forged his reputation in the 1960s and ‘70s,...

James Earl Jones, the Egot winner who lent his distinctive voice to such iconic film characters as Darth Vader and Mufasa of “The Lion King,” has died at 93.

He died Monday morning at his home in Dutchess County, New York, according to his representatives.

The actor, who made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 black comedy, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” went on to appear in such beloved films as “Field of Dreams,” “Coming to America” and “Conan the Barbarian.” He also authoritatively told viewers, “This is CNN.”

A powerful presence onscreen, Jones was also known to several generations as the voice of the terrifying “Star Wars” villain Darth Vader in George Lucas’ original “Star Wars” trilogy, as well as the regal Mufasa in both versions of Disney’s “The Lion King.”

Jon Favreau, who directed the 2019 remake of the animated classic,...

James Earl Jones, the revered actor who voiced Star Wars villain Darth Vader, starred in Field of Dreams and many other films and Broadway shows and is an Egot winner, died this morning at his home in Dutchess County, NY. He was 93.

His reps at Independent Artist Group confirmed the news to Deadline.

Widely regarded as among the world’s great stage and screen actors Jones is one of the few entertainers to have won the Egot, though his Academy Award was Honorary. Jones has received two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy, a spoken-word Grammy Award in 1977 and three Tony Awards.

The actor amassed nearly 200 screen credits during his brilliant 60-year career, starting some early-’60s TV guest roles and Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 classic Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). He probably is best known for his voice...

One of the most acclaimed films of 2004 is “Collateral,” starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx and Jada Pinkett Smith. Written by Stuart Beattie and directed by Michael Mann, the movie tells of a cab driver in nighttime Los Angeles who becomes the hostage of a contract killer. Released 20 years ago in August 2004, “Collateral” was a box office success, grossing $220 million worldwide on a $65 million budget. Read on for more about the “Collateral” 20th anniversary.

Most of the nation’s critics were positive on “Collateral.” Todd McCarthy in Variety wrote, “This intensely focused piece soars not only on the director’s precision-tooled style but also on the outstanding interplay between leads Cruise and Foxx.” Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film “a rare thriller that’s as much character study as sound and fury.” And Peter Travers in Rolling Stone said, “Mann hits a new peak, orchestrating action, atmosphere and...

Morgan Freeman’s narration played a significant role in taking The Shawshank Redemption to millions of viewers over the years. However, he was paid very modestly at the time for his role as Ellis Boyd Redding, reportedly less than half a million. The film had a low budget of $25 million and did not manage to recoup the budget in theaters.

Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd in The Shawshank Redemption | Castle Rock Entertainment

However, the film made a strong comeback after its Oscar nomination in 1995, making considerable money from re-release and rental video release. Interestingly, Freeman and Tim Robbins are likely still earning residuals from the film, considering what Bob Gunton, who played the antagonist, revealed about his Shawshank income.

Not Morgan Freeman, But Another Shawshank Redemption Actor Earned Millions In Residuals Bob Gunton in The Shawshank Redemption | Castle Rock Entertainment

Morgan Freeman‘s The Shawshank Redemption was considered a box office flop,...

Stars: Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver, Michaela Watkins, Aisha Hinds, Tim Baltz, Rupert Friend, Nicole Byer | Written and Directed by Kobi Libii

The debut feature from writer-director Kobi Libii, this blackly comic fantasy comedy has a solid central idea, but never quite gets to grips with its own satirical intent. Ultimately, it works better as an offbeat romantic comedy, thanks to an engaging central performance and charming chemistry between the two leads.

Justice Smith stars as Aaron Mbondo, an artist in Los Angeles whose yarn sculptures aren’t quite cutting it with the art gallery crowd. After a painful show, during which he’s mistaken for a waiter, insult is added to injury when he’s nearly beaten up by some white guys who think he’s a mugger. However, he’s rescued at the last minute by Roger (David Alan Grier), a server he recognises from the gallery.

It didn’t really take all that long but Green Book is now generally considered one of the most undeserving movies to ever win Best Picture, serving as a safe choice that could give the Academy members yet another chance to pat themselves on the back instead of voting for something more daring like Roma, which many pegged to be the favorite. And this backlash has stuck with Viggo Mortensen ever since, calling out critics of the movie to this day.

Speaking with Vanity Fair, Viggo Mortensen – who played real-life figure “Tony Lip” to his third Best Actor nomination – stood up for Green Book, which faced heavy criticism partly for the depiction of the relationship between Lip and Dr. Donald Shirley, played by Mahershala Ali (winning his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar). “It was frustrating to me, as part of the filmmaking team, to see that the studio was somewhat...

Actor and comedian Dan Aykroyd has had a long and steady career ever since he first began doing improvisational comedy with the famed Second City troupe in both their Chicago and Toronto theaters.

Fame came to Aykoyd when he was hired for what seemed like a low expectations comedy/variety show NBC was beginning for late Saturday evenings. “Saturday Night Live” became a bit of a phenomenon launching all the original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” (as the cast was called) into stardom. Aykroyd along with Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman and Garrett Morris suddenly found themselves among the most talked about television stars working in the business.

Aykroyd and Belushi became especially close friends during the series run and began working in films together such as “Neighbors,” “The Blues Brothers” and potentially “Ghostbusters,” but Belushi’s overdose at the age of 33 caused Bill Murray...

Long before the Disney/Fox merger of 2019 created 20th Century Studios, there was 20th Century Fox. One of the original big five studios, 20th Century Fox was founded as 20th Century Pictures in 1935 by Joseph Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck. The latter of the two was a former Warner Bros. executive and noted pervert, who, as The Daily Beast has pointed out, was one of the chief architects of the notorious casting couch culture that produced so much of the murk in which golden age Hollywood operated. But despite what The New York Times has described as his "well documented" proclivity for flashing women, he also seemed to be pretty good at running a studio — at least for most of his career.

One particular aspect of his personality that helped in that regard was his attention to detail, as described in Scott Eyman's 2021 book "20th Century Fox -- Darryl F.

Exclusive: Netflix has given the green light to what it calls the “next iteration” of its Emmy-contending documentary series Life on Our Planet, with Morgan Freeman set to return as narrator and Steven Spielberg as executive producer.

The as-yet-untitled show from Silverback Films and Amblin Documentaries will “tell the story of the rise and fall of the dinosaurs – where they came from, why they mattered, how they evolved and how they met their ultimate fate.”

Season 1 of Life on Our Planet examined not only the dinosaurs, but the rise of invertebrates, mammals, plants, and other life forms across billions of years of evolution up until the present. Industrial Light & Magic (Ilm) returns to craft the visual effects and animation; Grammy Award-winner Lorne Balfe is back as composer.

‘Life on Our Planet’

“It is an extraordinary privilege to bring the most iconic creatures in Earth’s history to the screen,” said Dan Tapster,...

Morgan Freeman once quoted the nautical saying “long foretold, long last; short notice, soon past” to describe his acting career. He meant that it took him along time to achieve success in the acting profession but he hoped his long struggle would mean his career would last and not prove to be just a flash in the pan. His career has lasted and Freeman has had a nearly 30-year film career in major movies.

Freeman’s career started on the New York stage in the musical theater when he took over the role of Rudy the Maître d’ of the restaurant where the famous title number is performed. He was part of the groundbreaking moment when Pearl Bailey led an all-black cast into the production which had been running for years with white performers.

In the 1970s Freeman appeared for seven years and 680 episodes of the children’s television series “The Electric Company.

Morgan Freeman revealed the most frustrating moment of his career and it also happened to be his career’s biggest regret. Freeman’s career took off with his Oscar-winning film Driving Miss Daisy. Before the role happened, Freeman wanted to play one particular character in a book-based movie and approached Miloš Forman, the director, to convince him to cast him.

Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy in a still from Driving Miss Daisy | The Zanuck Company

The Dark Knight actor didn’t get the job in Forman’s Ragtime. While the film wasn’t Forman’s best, Freeman was touched by the source material and wanted to play the African-American pianist in the film.

Morgan Freeman’s Biggest Regret Is Losing A Role In A Veteran Director’s Film

Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption | Castle Rock Entertainment

Morgan Freeman has been a remarkable presence in supporting roles in Hollywood.

Gloria Stroock, who played Rock Hudson’s secretary on McMillan & Wife and appeared in films including Fun With Dick and Jane, The Competition and The Day of the Locust, has died. She was 99.

Stroock died May 5 of natural causes in Tucson, Arizona, her daughter, Kate Stern, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Stroock was married to Emmy-winning writer-producer Leonard B. Stern (Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion, The Phil Silvers Show, The Honeymooners, Get Smart and much more) from 1956 until his death in 2011 at age 87.

Her late younger sister was Geraldine Brooks, a Tony nominee and Warner Bros. contract player (Cry Wolf, Embraceable You).

Stroock recurred as Maggie, the secretary of Hudson’s San Francisco police commissioner Stewart McMillan, on the final three seasons (1974-77) of McMillan & Wife, the NBC series created by her husband.

She portrayed the wife of Richard Dysart’s art director in John Schlesinger’s The Day of the Locust...

It might be one year premature for its 30th anniversary, but David Fincher’s Seven is having a moment. Following the release of the 8K transfer of the 1995 film, Fincher has left himself no choice but to dig back into the archives – and that includes the test screenings, described by the director as “disastrous.”

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, David Fincher said that Seven tested in the 50s with audiences, a deadly sin in its own right within the movie industry. But Fincher believes that the test audience had been duped, as promotional fliers teased the wrong movies from his stars. “They brought me this little 5-by-7-inch card that said: “Would you like to see a new movie starring Brad Pitt (‘Legends of the Fall’) and Morgan Freeman (‘Driving Miss Daisy’)?” It made no sense to me. You’re not going to market this movie to...

Stars: Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver, Michaela Watkins, Aisha Hinds, Tim Baltz, Rupert Friend, Nicole Byer | Written and Directed by Kobi Libii

The debut feature from writer-director Kobi Libii, this blackly comic fantasy comedy has a solid central idea, but never quite gets to grips with its own satirical intent. Ultimately, it works better as an offbeat romantic comedy, thanks to an engaging central performance and charming chemistry between the two leads.

Justice Smith stars as Aaron Mbondo, an artist in Los Angeles whose yarn sculptures aren’t quite cutting it with the art gallery crowd. After a painful show, during which he’s mistaken for a waiter, insult is added to injury when he’s nearly beaten up by some white guys who think he’s a mugger. However, he’s rescued at the last minute by Roger (David Alan Grier), a server he recognises from the gallery.

Morgan Freeman is often regarded as one of the best actors in Hollywood. Given his years of experience and performance, the actor has starred in a plethora of movies that have won a handful of awards. But among all, the particular film that stood out is the 1994 classic The Shawshank Redemption.

Morgan Freeman in a still from The Shawshank Redemption

While the 1989 movie Driving Miss Daisy was Morgan Freeman’s breakout role, The Shawshank Redemption actually cemented his status as a legendary actor. Although Freeman earned a modest salary of $300,000 for his role in the 1994 movie, the film eventually turned out to be his career’s best, which visibly changed his life forever.

Morgan Freeman Made a Modest Salary for The Shawshank Redemption

Appearing in the 1994 classic about patience, and loyalty, The Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman played the role of Red Redding, a lifer who narrated the tale of Tim Robbins’ character Andy Dufresne,...

It turns out that Morgan Freeman’s first big break in show business was just kid’s stuff. After working in a few unmemorable productions, Freeman caught on with PBS’s The Electric Company, a show from the Children’s Television Workshop designed to teach basic reading skills to kids from 7 to 10 years old. The gig ran for six seasons and 780 episodes.

He next grabbed attention in 1980 with performances in Brubaker with Robert Redford and TV movie Attica, he broke out in Street Smart, which earned him the first of five Academy Award nominations. Freeman received Best Actor nominations for Oscar-winning Driving Miss Daisy (1989) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994) before winning for his Best Supporting Actor role in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby (2004). He also received a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela in Invictius (2009).

While Freeman’s career may have been slow to start, once he...

At 86, Morgan Freeman is still basking in the glory of a breathtaking career that has earned him an Academy Award and a long list of noteworthy flicks. As everyone knows, the Tennessee-born is a legendary actor who has enthralled audiences for decades with electrifying performances and, of course, his distinct voice.

Freeman has gained an indelible place in the hearts of fans with his roles in series such as The Long Way Home & The Electric Company and movies like The Shawshank Redemption. That being said, his seemingly ageless appearance may be even more impressive than his acclaimed roles. For this Oscar-winning actor, it feels almost like time has stopped.

Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption

You might wonder, “Does he even age?” if you were to compare pictures of Freeman taken before and after over time. It is truly remarkable how little he appears to have changed over the years.

This year’s Tonys will be held on June 16, so the American Theatre Wing will likely be announcing its Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in the near future. Who do you think should take home this prestigious trophy, which honors an individual’s body of work? It has gone to veteran stage performers, directors, choreographers, playwrights, songwriters, producers and designers. In some years we get multiple recipients.

Last year these honors went to actor Joel Grey and composer John Kander. The following living male Broadway vets have also received this award in the past and thus won’t be chosen again: Paul Gemignani, Alan Ayckbourn, Athol Fugard, Marshall W. Mason, Tommy Tune, James Earl Jones, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Harold Wheeler.

Here are 10 possibilities featured in our poll below, all accomplished men over the age of 65. Vote to let us know who you’d like to see honored. And take a...

This year’s Tonys will be held on June 16, so the American Theatre Wing will likely be announcing its lifetime achievement award recipient in the near future. Who do you think should take home this prestigious trophy? It has gone to veteran stage performers, directors, choreographers, playwrights, songwriters, producers and designers. In some years we get multiple recipients.

Last year these honors went to legendary actor Joel Grey and composer John Kander. The following living female Broadway vets have also received this award in the past and thus won’t be chosen again: Jane Greenwood, Rosemary Harris and Graciela Daniele. Here are 10 possible women the Tonys could award, all veterans over the age of 65. Vote to let us know who you’d like to see honored.

Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

Debbie Allen

Two-time Tony nominated actress for her performances in revivals of “West Side Story...

Long before he won the 2024 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for “Oppenheimer,” Robert Downey Jr. made his screen debut at age five in the experimental 1970 film “Pound,” which was directed by his father and co-starred his mother and sister. Upon clinching said prize, he emulated only three other men who were first honored by the academy at least half a century into their acting careers. Considering both male categories (and only counting credited roles in feature films), his waiting period of 54 years far exceeds the all-time average, which now stands at 19.5 years.

Although nearly two full decades separate their time-of-win ages (58 and 77), Downey came within five years of breaking John Gielgud’s general record for longest acting career preceding an Oscar victory. The English performer has held that distinction since 1982, when he was lauded for his supporting turn in “Arthur” 58 years after debuting in “Who Is the Man?” (1924). While no male...

If you build it, he will come. And if you joke about it, he will tweet. Kevin Costner has responded to John Mulaney’s breakdown of Field of Dreams – delivered when presenting Best Sound (a surprise win for The Zone of Interest) at Sunday’s Oscars – in good-hearted fashion, saying it wasn’t a bad summary at all.

In one of the night’s funniest moments, Mulaney took a tangent after delivering some of the most iconic lines in modern movies. One was, “If you build it, he will come” from 1989’s Field of Dreams. From there, he gave a far better plot summary of Phil Alden Robinson’s movie than any VHS box could. “I guess he doesn’t build it, he mows down corn, and then there is a field and he’s like, ‘I’m going to watch ghosts play baseball, and the bank is like, ‘You wanna pay your mortgage?...

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Cast’s Reported Salary Revealed! (Photo Credit – IMDb)

It’s a treat for the Ghostbusters lovers as the latest movie in that franchise will bring together the Og and new recruits. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire recently premiered in New York City, and the lead stars were all glammed up for the event. It was a star-studded affair from Paul Rudd to McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard and Bill Murray. The actors are all well-known faces of Hollywood and have received hefty paychecks for their parts.

For the unversed, it is the sequel to the 2021 movie Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The film is the fourth installment in the franchise. The first film came out in 1984, and the upcoming movie will celebrate the movie’s 40th anniversary. It premiered at the AMC 13 Theatre at the Lincoln Square in NYC on March 14. The film has yet to be released in US theatres.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire...

[Editor’s note: this list was originally published in December 2017. It has since been updated with new entries.]

The 21st Century is only two decades old, but its first batch of Best Picture winners already paints an extraordinary portrait of a world in flux. From historical epics to intimate digital indies, from a musical that riffs on showbiz standards to period drama that reflects on present crises, from a sparse modern western to an overstimulating multiverse martial arts story, these 24 films range from “problematic” to “perfect” and hit all points in between. More than that, they illustrate Hollywood’s evolving definition of greatness and the relationship between the film industry and the times that forge it.

Here are the 24 Best Picture winners of the 21st century, ranked from worst to best.

With editorial contributions from David Ehrlich and Eric Kohn.

24. “Crash” “Crash” ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection

“Brokeback Mountain” deserved better, but the Academy didn’t know it. Paul Haggis’ painfully obvious ensemble drama about racial prejudices in Los Angeles was a smug,...

The Academy Awards have been handing out a Best Actress trophy since the very first ceremony in 1928. Janet Gaynor for a combo of “7th Heaven,” “Street Angel” and “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans” was the first recipient for his leading roles. The most recent champ was Renee Zellweger for “Judy.”

Since then, only one woman has won the category four times: Katharine Hepburn for “Morning Glory,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “The Lion in Winter” and “On Golden Pond.” Next with three is Frances McDormand. The ladies with two lead wins have included Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Jodie Foster, Glenda Jackson, Vivien Leigh, Luise Rainer, Meryl Streep and Hilary Swank. Streep holds the record of most lead nominations at 17.

The oldest winner was Jessica Tandy (“Driving Miss Daisy”) at age 80. The oldest nominee was Emmanuelle Riva (“Amour”) at age 85. The youngest winner...

What Oscar records will be broken and which ones will remain intact at the 96th Academy Awards ceremony March 10. With a win, Billie Eilish, 22, and Finneas, 26, would become the youngest artists ever to win two Oscars before the age of 30. The pair won for James Bond theme “No Time to Die” in 2022, and are nominated this year for “What Was I Made For,” from “Barbie.” Only three individuals have clinched two Oscars before turning 30: Luise Rainer earned back to back Oscars by the time she was 28 for “The Great Ziegfeld” (1936) and “The Good Earth” (1937); Jodie Foster in 1989 for “The Accused” (age 26) and in 1992 for “The Silence of the Lambs” (29); and Hilary Swank in 2000 for “Boys Don’t Cry” (26) and in 2005 for “Million Dollar Baby” (29).

Meanwhile, Diane Warren faces a less enviable milestone with her 15th nomination for “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot,” potentially tying with the late Alex North...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2024 Oscars Predictions:

Best Picture

Weekly Commentary: Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic “Oppenheimer,” narrating the saga of the father of the atomic bomb, is poised to sweep the Oscars. Having clinched every major guild and industry accolade – BAFTA, Critics Choice, Golden Globes, DGA, PGA, and SAG – it’s the first...

Truth be told, I’m not crazy about Oscar night. The shoes pinch. Security’s a bother. All the red-carpet nattering unnerves me.

And watching at home isn’t much better. Who really wants to turn on the television at 5 — oops, make that 4 — o’clock on an almost spring Sunday afternoon? I’d rather barbecue some chicken.

But the morning after, one week from today, that’s another story. In fact, Oscar Monday is pretty much my favorite day in the whole movie year. Since I started covering Hollywood 40 years ago, I have always loved that day. If it were up to me, it would be an official holiday. They could call it something fancy, the Feast of the Eternal Reboot, something like that.

Anyway, it’s always fun. For starters, you’ve got the second-guessing, and who doesn’t enjoy that? It’s better than cocoa and cookies on Christmas.

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Photo: Best Picture Snubs

Oscars 2024 is in a few days. With Cillian Murphy, Bradley Cooper, Margot Robbie, 'Barbie', Christopher Nolan, 'Oppenheimer', 'Maestro', all vying for the gold Academy Award, let us take a look at the past winners who were snubbed.

The Oscar for Best Picture may be the highest honor that a film could earn, but the Academy members who vote on the matter are anything but infallible--in fact, some of them don’t even watch the nominated movies at all. Audiences are often disappointed by the pick for Best Picture, but subjectivity mandates that there will always be some reasonable dissent--that said, this article will look back at some of the most widely agreed upon upsets that warrant a closer inspection.

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On Sunday, February 18, CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” won Best Hairstyling for Daytime Television during “The 11th Annual Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Awards” at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Hairstylists Lauren Mendoza, Justin Jackson, Michelle Corona and Diana Santana received the award for their work on the daytime drama series. Melissa Peterman hosted the awards show which honors members of the Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild (IATSE Local 706)

“The Bold and the Beautiful” and “The Young and the Restless” were also nominees in the Best Make-Up for Daytime Television category, but both shows lost out to “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula,” with make-up artists Swanthula Boulet and Dracmorda Boulet taking home the award.

Kate Linder, John Brotherton

Emma McIntyre/Getty (Courtesy)

That said, there was a mix-up with the hairstylist and make-up categories as “The Young and the Restless” was initially announced as the winner for make-up,...

The Oscar-frontrunning “Maestro” was the big winner at the 11th annual Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards (held February 18 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel). Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein opus took period/character makeup and special makeup effects. This puts “Maestro” in the Oscar driver’s seat (led by two-time winner Kazu Hiro) against “Poor Things,” “Oppenheimer,” “Golda,” and “Society of the Snow.”

Two non-Oscar competitors, “Saltburn”and “Barbie,” split the other wins: Emerald Fennell’s psychological thriller grabbed both contemporary makeup and hairstyling, while Greta Gerwig’s billion-dollar blockbuster snagged period/character hairstyling.

TV winners, meanwhile, were divided among “The Idol” (contemporary makeup), “The Crown” (period/character makeup), “The Last of Us” (special makeup effects), “The Morning Show” (contemporary hairstyling), and “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” (period/character hairstyling).

As previously announced, Annette Bening (Best Actress nominee for “Nyad”) received the Distinguished Artisan Award, and Oscar- and Emmy-winning make-up...

The Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild (IATSE Local 706) announced winners of its 11th annual awards on Saturday, with Amazon MGM Studios’ Saltburn taking home two Muahs Awards for best contemporary make-up and best contemporary hair styling. Netflix’s Maestro also picked up a pair of honors for best period and/or character make-up and best special make-up effects.

Warner Bros.’ Barbie also won in the feature film categories, taking the prize for best period and/or character hair styling.

Winners in the television categories include Netflix’s The Crown, HBO’s The Last of Us, Apple TV+’s The Morning Show and Netflix’s Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. ABC’s Dancing With the Stars won three awards for best contemporary make-up, best contemporary hair styling and best period and/or character hair styling. NBC’s Saturday Night Live won two awards for best period and/or character make-up and best special make-up effects.

“Maestro” and “Saltburn” took home the main prizes at the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild (IATSE Local 706) awards.

The guild held its 11th annual awards ceremony Sunday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The night kicked off with the honoree awards being presented. Oscar-nominated actor Annette Bening was honored with the Distinguished Artisan award. However, due to Covid, Diana Nyad accepted the award on her behalf.

Michael Westmore was presented with the Vanguard Award for his work on “Rocky,” “Star Trek,” “Mask” and “Raging Bull.” Kevin Haney received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and “Hocus Pocus 2.”

The first awards for daytime TV had a “Moonlight” “La La Land” moment when an envelope mixup resulted in the winners for hairstyling being read out instead of makeup and the team from “The Young and the Restless” came...

Maestro, Saltburn and Barbie were the big film winners at the 11th annual Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards, which were handed out tonight at The Beverly Hilton. See the full list of winners below.

Netflix’s Maestro and Amazon MGM Studios’ Saltburn were dual winners, with Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein pic taking Best Period and/or Character Make-up and Special Make-up Effects, and Emerald Fennell darkly comic thriller winning Best Contemporary Make-up and Contemporary Hair Styling.

Warner Bros’ Great Gerwig-helmed megahit Barbie took the Best Period and/or Character Hair Styling.

Since the modern Muahs Awards began in 2014, one of its marquee film winners for makeup or hair has gone on to claim the Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar every year — except in 2022. The Academy Award went to The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which was up for three of the guild’s awards but went home empty-handed.

Many people often blasphemously (and hilariously) joke around that Morgan Freeman is God. Not only because of his pitch perfect casting as God but also due to his smooth, defining and, yes, god-like is Morgan Freeman’s voice that one can’t picture penguins or parts of nature or, yes, God, without hearing the man. One reason could be that we’ve only ever really known Morgan Freeman as an older actor, not striking a chord with mainstream audiences until he was in his 50s.

Soon enough his skills, screen presences and voice had Hollywood calling every time they needed a kind wise grandfather types or a grizzled vet from either side of the the law or any type of narration in any type of film. That persona has marked him as a welcome figure throughout modern cinema – despite the nearly constant cash grabs that pad out the unfortunate bulk of his filmography.

Annette Bening will be honored with the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylist Guild’s Distinguished Artisan Award at their 11th annual ceremony, Feb 18 at The Beverly Hilton.

Known for a body of work that includes American Beauty, The Kids Are All Right and Bugsy, Bening has earned two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globes, two Tony nominations, and earlier this week, her fifth Academy Award nom for her role in Nyad.

Bening recently starred in Jerry and Marge Go Large, and can be seen in the upcoming Chris Pine-helmed Poolman alongside Danny DeVito and Pine.

“Annette Bening brings fascinating characters to life on the screen with each stunning performance and has won the hearts of moviegoers around the world,” said Guild president Julie Socash. “Her talent and versatility as an actress, from a beguiling Hollywood starlet to a driven marathon swimmer, have been matched by her commitment to her craft,...

For some of us, “American Fiction” has a satirical audacity that’s funny right out of the gate, gathers speed and force on the runway — and then, somehow, just when the comedy should be taking off, it turns muted and moralistic instead. I think the hitch is that after Jeffrey Wright’s Monk sells his fake memoir of Black street life, there’s a strong urge to see him — and the film — take a certain vengeful joy in how the book’s popularity skewers the racism of clueless white people. Instead, Monk is made so miserable by what happens that the movie never allows itself to discover that joy.

Had it done so, it might have been more like “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” a comedy of racial images that’s every bit as witty and scandalous as “American Fiction” (it almost feels like a kind of cousin to...

And so the “life-changing cab ride” sub-genre expands with Driving Madeleine, directed by Christian Carion and starring Line Renaud and Dany Boon. One likes to imagine this new film exists in the same universe as all of the rest. Somewhere in Atlanta, Morgan Freeman drives Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy) and gets a handle on prejudice. Meanwhile, Winona Ryder and Gene Rowlands (Night on Earth) have reunited in Los Angeles. Elsewhere in the City of Angels, Tom Cruise has just stepped into Jamie Foxx’s car (Collateral). Finally, in North Carolina, Souléymane Sy Savané and Red West (Goodbye Solo) carry on a gentle conversation.

Carion often trades in sentimentality (see his Joyeux Noël), and Driving Madeleine is as sentimental as it gets. Cab driver Charles (Boon) is in a bad situation. His marriage is strained, he has debts he cannot pay, and he’s one traffic stop away from losing his license.

With the Screen-to-Stage-back to Screen adaptation of Mean Girls landing in first place this weekend, we wanted to know what film based on a play has been your favorite? Are Oscar winning musicals such as Chicago or Amadeus your favorite? Maybe the classics like Grease or Little Shop of Horrors are more your speed? Or perhaps a nice court room drama such as A Few Good Men ranks number one for you? If you don’t see your favorite listed click the “Other” button and let us know what your favorite is in the comments.

Favorite Stage-to-Screen AdaptationCasablanca (1943)West Side Story (1961)My Fair Lady (1964)The Sound of Music (1965)A Man For All Seasons (1966)Oliver! (1968)Amadeus (1984)Driving Miss Daisy (1989)Chicago (2002)Alfie (1966)American Buffalo (1996)Annie (1982)Annie Get Your Gun (1950)A Bronx Tale (1993)Bug (2007)Cabaret (1972)Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)Children of a Lesser God (1986)Closer (2004)The Crucible (1996)Cyrano (2021)Dear Evan Hansen...

Filmmakers love to romanticize long drives as canvases for introspection, but cab drivers and their passengers are rarely portrayed in such a poetic light. At best, you get glaringly saccharine takes on race and class relations in films like “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Green Book.” At worst, you get Travis Bickle.

So when gruff French cabbie Charles (Dany Boon) hits the streets of Paris each morning, it’s fair to say that he’s not expecting to complete an entire road trip movie before he clocks out. When he pulls up to Madeleine Keller’s (Line Renaud) suburban alcove to drive her to her new nursing home, he’s just trying to help another paying customer run another errand before getting on with his life. What he fails to consider is that, for a 92-year-old, a simple drive across town can turn into an emotional odyssey filled with enough peaks...

At the 2022 Oscars, Sian Heder won Best Adapted Screenplay for “Coda,” her adaptation of the French film “La Famille Bélier.” “Coda” also claimed Best Picture, thereby becoming the fifth remake to win the top Oscar. In 2021 playwright Florian Zeller shared in the Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay with Christopher Hampton for bring his stage hit “The Father” to the screen. In his directorial debut Zeller bagged Anthony Hopkins his second Best Actor Oscar. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2024 Oscar predictions for Best Adapted Screenplay.)

Screen versions of stage works had won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars 15 times before. The most recent of these was in 2017 when “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney prevailed for adapting the latter’s un-produced play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.” Prior to that you have to go all the way back to 1989 when Alfred Uhry won for adapting...

The Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild on Tuesday revealed nominations for the 11th annual Muahs Awards, featuring 23 categories honoring outstanding achievements in make-up and hair styling artistry in motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos and live theater.

Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 scored a leading four nominations on the movie side, landing noms in four of the five competitive categories. Netflix’s Maestro also showed well with three noms. On the TV side, ABC’s Dancing With the Stars leads all titles with five nominations, while Prime Video’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has three.

See the full list of nominees below.

Winners will be announced February 18 at the 2024 Muahs Awards ceremony, where Rocky, Star Trek, Mask and Raging Bull make-up artist Michael Westmore will receive the Vanguard Award. In addition, Driving Miss Daisy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 make-up artist Kevin Haney and...