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It is not surprising that "Columbo" is beloved as a detective show. Peter Falk's titular sleuth waltzes through the toughest cases with relentless precision, using his perceived ineptitude to disarm the slickest of criminals. When these criminals underestimate him and mistake his shrewdness for incompetence, it is incredibly satisfying to watch a smart, amicable fellow like Columbo have the last laugh. Moreover, it is a detective show like no other, taking an unconventional approach to how the mystery unfolds. Instead of operating like a whodunit, "Columbo" reveals the perpetrator in the first act and hinges its suspense on how Columbo gets to the heart of a case that appears unsolvable at first glance. "Just one more thing," Columbo muses, while poking every aspect of a case until the truth is revealed as plain as day.

The ABC series, which was released in 1968 on NBC, starts by setting an incredibly high standard.

There is no separating the character of Lieutenant Columbo from the man who portrayed him on "Columbo," Peter Falk (even if he wasn't the first choice to play the unconventional detective). The actor really made the character his own through his performance, but shockingly, he only directed one episode of the long-running series. It's likely that he wanted to focus on simply acting and wasn't interested in trying to pull double-duty, although he did also write an episode of the series later in its run. In the end, though, fans got only a single magical episode both starring and directed by Falk: season 1, episode 7, "Blueprint for Murder."

"Blueprint for Murder" features "Silent Night, Bloody Night" star Patrick O'Neal as the murderer of the week, Elliot Markham, an architect who kills the extremely wealthy Texan Bo Williamson (Forrest Tucker in a 10-gallon hat) with the help of his lover, Williamson's beautiful trophy wife,...

In the early- to mid-1970s, a number of prominent filmmakers found modest success with star-studded whodunnits. In 1972, Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine in a splendid adaptation of Anthony Shaffer's intricately plotted play "Sleuth." A year later, Herbert Ross directed the wickedly clever "The Last of Sheila," a mystery concocted by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim, and featuring such marquee names as James Coburn, Dyan Cannon, Richard Benjamin, Raquel Welch, and James Mason. Then in 1974, moviegoers got a double dose of Agatha Christie with Sidney Lumet's "Murder on the Orient Express", and Peter Collinson's "And Then There Were None".

There was no cultural development driving this sudden spate of whodunnits; it was just a reminder that people love to watch a bunch of great actors get thrown into the same location where foul play has been committed, and then try to work out...

Vagabond sleuth Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) may have the ability to spot any lie, but almost as uncanny is her way of entangling herself in the lives of strangers who just happen to turn up dead. We witness a murder play out in the opening third of each episode of Poker Face and then flash back to see everything from a different perspective, in the process learning how Charlie was enmeshed in the events that took place. But while the corpses continue to pile up in season two, the series leans more into comedy than drama, following even sillier characters and more heightened predicaments.

There was a light-hearted undercurrent to the first season that, when contrasted with Lyonne’s larger-than-life screen persona, lent Poker Face a certain friction. But the new season’s opener, “The Game Is a Foot,” establishes a broader tone, leaning into overt comedy and gimmicks like...

The history of comedy on TV is littered with characters who have extraordinary gifts. There are the ones who can do literal magic, like Samantha on Bewitched, Jeannie on I Dream of Jeannie, or, well, all the witches of Agatha All Along. There are space aliens, like Uncle Martin in My Favorite Martian or The Great Gazoo on The Flintstones or Mork on Mork & Mindy. There are straight-up mutant superheroes, like in She-Hulk or Doom Patrol or The Boys. Poker Face’s Charlie (Natasha Lyonne) has the preternatural ability to tell, from merely hearing someone make a statement, if it’s a lie; thus, she is part of a long TV tradition, even if her power is a bit less dramatic than if she could change the nature of matter, stop time or fly around shooting lasers from her hands. And while watching her use this gift to solve mysteries is extremely satisfying,...

There's a lot to love about the classic detective series "Columbo," and over the years, people have tried to figure out exactly what has made it so darn watchable. Seriously, it's incredibly easy to turn on an episode of the series on streaming and end up losing a whole afternoon to hanging out with television's comfiest-dressed and most comforting police detective, Lieutenant Columbo. Played by Peter Falk, Columbo spends each lengthy episode solving a crime that the audience is already privy to, as each episode begins with the murder itself. Sometimes these murder sequences can be rather extensive, setting up characters and backstories and running for up to 30 minutes before Columbo himself even appears. 

In a retrospective from Peacock, archival interview footage with Falk reveals his opinion on why people loved "Columbo" so much, and it actually has more to do with those opening murders and less with Columbo or Falk.

Amalia Ulman’s Magic Farm is in theaters beginning April 25. A New Leaf.Never have I seen one woman in whom every social grace was so lacking. Did I say she was primitive? Well, I retract that. She’s feral.—Henry Graham, of Henrietta, in A New LeafI have been dreading writing this essay because it means admitting to myself and to the world something very unfortunate: I am a loser brunette.It was 2017, and my then husband suggested we watch A New Leaf (1971) because there was a new Blu-ray restoration, which was exciting. But as I watched Walter Matthau as Henry Graham arrogantly reckoning with the fact that he had run out of money, making teary-eyed farewell visits to his Upper East Side tailor and racket club, I thought of the man sitting next to me and was shocked by the similarities. “He’s just like you,” I said to my husband,...

Famed detective Lieutenant Columbo, played to perfection by Peter Falk, isn't exactly your average TV cop. He's a bit meandering and doesn't seem particularly beholden to many social norms, wearing a rumpled raincoat and carrying a cigar almost wherever he goes. Over each wonderful, lengthy episode of "Columbo" (they run around an hour and 40 minutes without commercials), the eponymous detective will solve the murder shown at the beginning of the story using his well-honed powers of perception, and for the most part he is the only recurring character on the series. Different guest stars appeared as new murderers and victims each week, with Columbo himself serving as the only connecting thread, with one small exception: Columbo's pet Basset Hound, Dog.

Beginning in season 2, Columbo occasionally had Dog pal around with him on various cases, serving as a kind of mostly-useless sidekick. Dog is good for sometimes getting the people Columbo...

Before he was known for making blockbusters about sharks, aliens, and dinosaurs, Steven Spielberg had the honor of directing an episode of "Columbo." His contribution to the series, "Murder by the Book," is the first regular episode of the long-running drama following two successful TV movies, and it helped get the show off to a flying start. In fact, Peter Falk -- who plays the series' titular crime-solver –- was so blown away by Spielberg's directorial style that it made him rethink how television could be made.

As he once told "Pebble Mill at One" in an interview:

"I knew this guy was exceptional. The show with Steven Spielberg was the first time in my acting career that I did a scene in which I was unaware where the camera was. In television, the camera is always right there. And we did a scene, and he said 'Action,' and we started to shoot,...

Peacock released the official trailer for Poker Face Season 2 on Wednesday and as fans get ready for the highly anticipated series to return, star Natasha Lyonne tells Gold Derby how it all began.

“We sat at a diner booth. It was a classy diner, but it was still a booth. And we talked about all the things we love,” Lyonne says of her initial meeting with the show’s creator, Rian Johnson. Those things included 1970s classics such as Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye and California Split, John Huston's Fat City, and the Peter Falk procedural Columbo. “The relaxation and the ease they have on them — that was really how we found the way in,” Lyonne explains of her character, Charlie, who has an inherent lie-detecting ability.

But after the famous diner booth meeting, Lyonne says she didn’t hear from Johnson for a few months. Luckily when he did reach out,...

From the mind of Rian Johnson, fans of the filmmaker's detective stories were given a gift with Poker Face Season 1. The story followed Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), a woman who can always tell when someone is lying. Her "Peter Falk in Columbo" energy is the perfect framing device for a beautiful mix of modern characters, murders to solve, and a new favorite detective who always gets the answers she is looking for. Now, the hit series, written by both Johnson and Lyonne, is back for Season 2! The new trailer shows us Charlie doing what she does best: Forcing people to tell the truth when they don't want to.

Much like the first season, Season 2 will feature an all-star line-up of guests! The list includes Alia Shawkat, Awkwafina, Cynthia Erivo, John Mulaney, Giancarlo Esposito, John Ritter, Katie Holmes, Justin Theroux, Melanie Lynskey, and more. What looks great about this season is that,...

Mario Vargas Llosa, one of Latin American literature’s modern greats, died April 13 in Lima, Peru. He was 89.

He died surrounded by his family and “at peace,” his children Álvaro, Gonzalo and Morgana Vargas Llosa announced in a social post.

“He enjoyed a long, adventurous and fruitful life, and leaves behind him a body of work that will outlive him,” they added.

That body of work is huge. Winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010, Vargas Llosa was also with once close friend Gabriel García Márquez, the towering star of the Latin American Boom, which brought to global attention the works of young Latin American writers – Peru’s Vargas Llosa, Colombia García Márquez, Mexico’s Carlos Fuentes, Argentina’s Julio Cortázar and Cuba’s Guillermo Cabrera Infante – which were among the first Latin American novelists to be published in Europe.

Combining a large influence of European modernism, William Faulkner, experiment and word play,...

Peruvian Nobel literature laureate and Latin American literary giant Mario Vargas Llosa has died in Lima at the age of 89.

The writer’s son Álvaro Vargos Llosa announced Sunday that his father had “passed away peacefully in Lima” in a social media post, signed by himself and his siblings Gonzalo and Morgana.

“His departure will sadden his relatives, his friends and his readers around the world, but we hope that they will find comfort, as we do, in the fact that he enjoyed a long, adventurous and fruitful life, and leaves behind him a body of work that will outlive him,” read the post.

Born on March 28, 1936, in the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa, Vargas Llosa spent his early childhood in Cochabamba, Bolivia, with his mother and grandparents, after his parents divorced while he was a young child.

Returning to Peru at age 10, he was sent to a military academy...

For many people, the character of Lieutenant Columbo, the disheveled detective portrayed with a perfect mix of earnestness and deprecation by Peter Falk, is as comforting as a fictional character can be. He is the true ideal for justice, frequently taking down the rich and powerful through the sheer power of being an annoying little guy who pays close attention. Indeed, every episode of "Columbo" offers at least some kind of comfort for the audience. The show ran for decades, from 1968 to 2003 (though there were some gaps), with Columbo becoming a crucial part of pop culture along the way, being referenced in everything from "The Simpsons" to "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." 

One especially memorable "Columbo" reference, however, was created by Falk himself when he gave a truly hilarious performance as the titular character outside of the actual show. In 1978, the actor appeared in-character as Columbo on "The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast,...

This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of The Studio.

This week’s episode of Seth Rogen’s Hollywood satire The Studio found perpetually awkward Continental Studios head Matt Remick investigating a mystery involving a missing reel of film. The footage was seemingly stolen from the set of director Olivia Wilde’s new movie, an obvious Chinatown rip-off.

After donning a trench coat and fedora, breaking into trailers and disguising himself as a Chateau Marmont server, Matt eventually cracks the case and discovers that the reel was, in fact, stolen by Wilde herself! It seems that she was unhappy with the footage they shot for one sequence and came up with a scheme to convince Remick to pay for the pricey reshoots.

Some have interpreted this episode’s twist ending as a meta-nod to Wilde’s real-life on-set drama during the production of 2022’s Don’t Worry Darling. But it’s...

There are quite a few memorable things about the classic television detective Columbo that set him apart from the average TV cop. From his disheveled appearance and trademark tan overcoat to his perpetually lit cigar, Peter Falk's Lieutenant Columbo is clearly cut from a different, less rigid cloth. He regularly takes the rich and powerful down a few notches and always catches the murderer through a combination of attention to detail and a willingness to be a bit annoying, and it's through the latter that he uses his most famous catchphrase: "One more thing." While he doesn't always exactly say "one more thing," he uses some variation of it to let the killer know that he's caught onto them, asking some vital final question or pointing out their fatal flaw. It's one of the elements of the character that is most often referenced and parodied, but it wasn't ever...

With a legacy spanning decases, it's still inconceivable that anyone could dislike "The Princess Bride." Released in 1987, the fantasy romantic comedy was written by William Goldman (already a two-time Academy Award-winner for his work on "All the President's Men" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), directed by Rob Reiner (then best known for directing "Stand By Me" the year prior), and featured a miraculously stacked cast. Though it did just okay at the box office, the film has since become a cult classic that -- in large part through the continued success of this cast -- retroactively vindicates those who were early champions of its brilliance.

Whether senior actor or child star, veteran of the screen or relative newcomer, everyone with a role in the core ensemble of "The Princess Bride" brings something wildly unexpected to their individual role no matter how small. Incidentally, the vast majority of these...

Clive Revill, the actor known for voicing Emperor Palpatine in “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), died March 11 in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He was 94.

Revill’s death after a long battle with dementia was confirmed to Variety by his daughter Kate.

Over the years, Revill starred in “Kaleidoscope” (1966) alongside Warren Beatty, “The Assassination Bureau” (1969) with Oliver Reed and Diana Rigg and played the fire marshall in “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993). Revill worked with director Billy Wilder on both “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes” (1970) and “Avanti!” (1972), which starred Jack Lemmon. Revill received a Golden Globe nomination back in 1973 for his supporting role in “Avanti!”

In addition to his versatile film career, Revill also appeared and guest starred in numerous television shows, including “Columbo,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “MacGyver,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “The Fall Guy,” “Wizards and Warriors,” “Remington Steele” and “Three’s a Crowd.” Notably, his 1978 “Columbo” episode...

Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) had many mysteries throughout his long-running TV series. For one, he made frequent allusions to "The Missus," his wife, an off-screen character whom the detective claimed to make certain demands of him as a husband. He never referred to his wife by her name, though, and he didn't wear a wedding ring. This led some "Columbo" fans to assume that she was a fabrication that Columbo had invented to appear more personable. The assumption, however, was laid to rest when other characters reported talking to Mrs. Columbo. She was real. Indeed, Kate Mulgrew played Mrs. Columbo in a short-lived spinoff series called "Mrs. Columbo." That series, however, tried to cut its ties with "Columbo," leaving its canon status in doubt.

Another one of Columbo's mysteries was his first name. He only ever introduced himself by his last name as, as a cop, so did everyone else.

Peter Falk wasn't the first choice to play the titular detective on "Columbo," but it's safe to say that he nailed the role and became synonymous with the character for most of his career. The actor helped turn the '70s procedural into a bona fide success story, winning a bunch of Emmys in the process, and making audiences fall in love with his trench coat-wearing, scruffy crime-solver. What's more, Falk's portrayal of Frank Columbo inspired Christian Bale's performance in 2022's "Amsterdam," proving that he's had a long-lasting effect on popular culture. However, Falk wasn't the only actor to leave his mark on the series, as his wife, Shera Danese, set a record for her contributions to the show.

Overall, Danese appeared in several episodes of "Columbo," making her the most featured guest star in the series' history. Her debut, which came about in the season 6 episode "Fade In to Murder,...

For a long time, you could tell just how successful a TV show was based on the number of spin-offs it inspired. That concept is as true now as it was decades ago, what with the vast amount of "NCIS" and Dick Wolf spin-offs that litter the network airways year after year. But while spin-offs can be an easy sign of whether or not a series is popular, the spin-offs themselves aren't always successful, even when it comes to procedurals like cop dramas and mysteries. Indeed, just because viewers will always flock to crime dramas doesn't mean that every one of those shows is guaranteed to be a hit. If you need an example, simply look at the short-lived spin-off of one of the most beloved TV series of all time.

One of the all-time great mystery TV shows, "Columbo" transformed Peter Falk from an immensely talented actor into an...

Sad news for Star Wars fans today as Clive Revill, best known as the original voice of the villainous Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back, has died at the age of 94. Over a prolific career, the actor made many appearances on stage and screen, and his passing is the loss of another star from a generation that gave the world some pioneers of modern cinema. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Revill died March 11 at a care facility in Sherman Oaks following a long battle with dementia.

Born in 1929, Revill showed a love of acting at a young age and attended many schools and colleges on his way to a professional career which began in England. Appearing in many West End productions, the actor became a powerhouse performer in both modern – at the time – and Shakespearean roles, lending his voice to characters of both dramatic and comedic inclination.

In the 1960s and 1970s,...

Clive Revill, the New Zealand native who after being recruited to be an actor by Laurence Olivier starred on Broadway, appeared in two films for Billy Wilder and provided the original voice of the evil Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back, has died. He was 94.

Revill died March 11 at a care facility in Sherman Oaks after a battle with dementia, his daughter, Kate Revill, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The extremely versatile Revill played cops in Otto Preminger’s Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965), starring Olivier, and Jack Smight’s Kaleidoscope (1966), starring Warren Beatty; not one but two characters (a Scotsman and an Arab) in Joseph Losey’s Modesty Blaise (1966); and a physicist investigating strange goings-on at a haunted mansion in John Hough’s The Legend of Hell House (1973), starring Roddy McDowall.

A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Revill also appeared seven times on Broadway and received Tony nominations for...

"The Twilight Zone" is one of those shows so ingrained in popular culture that it's become synonymous with anything mysterious or spooky, even for people who have never seen an episode before. Conceived by Rod Serling as a method of exploring social commentary and often controversial ideas that are still relevant today, the original series first aired in 1959 and ran for five seasons. Serling wrote the bulk of the teleplays and narrated in his own inimitable way, sometimes inserting himself into an episode while dangling an ever-present cigarette. "The Twilight Zone" was also a showcase for some great actors: William Shatner, Burgess Meredith, Buster Keaton, Lee Marvin, Peter Falk, and many others made memorable impressions in classic episodes.

10 years after Serling passed away in 1975, CBS decided to resurrect the show. Although 1983's "Twilight Zone: The Movie" was a disappointment, the '80s "Twilight Zone" TV revamp was still able to...

We are firmly in the era of streaming and rapidly moving away from what was once the dominant force in TV. Cable is dying a slow death and traditional TV networks are increasingly becoming less relevant. It's a streaming-dominated world. Netflix spends nearly $20 billion annually on original movies and TV shows as the king of the streamers, and it's just one of many. Still, as often as new stuff gains traction on streaming services, it's often older shows (or movies) that give any single service value. This is increasingly becoming part of the strategy for these companies, and there's even a name for it. Welcome to the age of newstalgia.

During a panel at this year's SXSW in Austin, Texas titled "Measuring Film & TV Streaming Viewership," Tubi Chief Content Officer Adam Lewinson talked a lot about the popular free streamer's strategy. That has increasingly involved originals, such as "Killer Body Count...

One of Blade star Wesley Snipes’ most underrated movies is now free to stream. The actor and martial artist, who is best recognized for his role as the Marvel vampire hunter, a role he reprized in last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine, puts in a reliably charismatic performance as a boxer behind bars in the action/boxing/prison drama, Undisputed. You can now discover the movie without spending a dime, and it deserves a second round.

Released back in 2002, Undisputed is written, produced and directed by Walter Hill, the filmmaker behind the likes of the nightmarish ‘70s thriller The Warriors and producer of the Alien franchise. The movie stars Ving Rhames as George "The Iceman" Chambers and Wesley Snipes as Monroe "Undisputed" Hutchen, a pair of fighters who find themselves facing off while serving time behind bars. The rest of the cast features several genre favorites, including Peter Falk, Michael Rooker,...

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This March, Hulu is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the wacky crime comedy series Deli Boys to the much-anticipated streaming release of Anora. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Hulu this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the ten best films that are coming to Hulu in March 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

High Fidelity (March 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91% Credit – Touchstone Pictures

High Fidelity is a romantic comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay co-written by D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack, and Scott Rosenberg. Based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, the 2000 film follows Rob, a record store owner who has been unlucky in relationships. However, his bad luck might...

Throughout the twenty-first century, romantic comedies have experienced a slow death. During this period, major Hollywood studios have focused primarily on action-based blockbusters, leaving little room for high-profile romantic comedies. Recently, when studios do decide to produce romantic comedies, they receive streaming-only releases. These films tend to feature poor acting, subpar screenplays, and corny, cliché-ridden narratives. Major publications such as The Washington Post, Variety, and Parade have all written articles declaring the romantic comedy as a dead genre.

While the current state of romantic comedies seems to be in limbo, the complete opposite was the case in the 1980s. During the 1980s, romantic comedies thrived both critically and commercially. In Hollywood, romantic comedies such as When Harry Met Sally..., Tootsie, and Moonstruck ranked among the most iconic films of the decade. Overseas, romantic comedies like Pauline at the Beach and My American Uncle earned numerous accolades at international film festivals.

Fake Profile bites off more than it can chew, and that results in a messy plot with undercooked characters. The first season was more of a family drama revolving around the Ferrer family and Camila, the erotic dancer who was employed to entice Miguel, the son-in-law of the patriarch, Pedro. Season one came to an end with Pedro’s death and his daughter Angela’s arrest. We could already guess that a second season was on its way, especially because of Angela’s desire to seek revenge on those who she thought had wronged her father. Unlike the first season, this time, thankfully, none of the characters made a surprise return after seemingly dying just to add to the twists and turns. While I did not expect the second season to be about a serial killer, then again, the drama alone would’ve been quite boring, and the fact that...

Paris, Texas, spine #501, is now available on 4K in the Criterion Collection.

Wim Wenders sprawling masterpiece receives a well-deserved 4K update this month from the Criterion Collection. Part mystery, part neo-western and part road trip movie, Paris, Texas is a beautiful depiction of love, loss and the American west.

Related The 100 Greatest Movies of All-Time Paris, Texas plot

Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) wonders out of the desert after being missing for years. He seemingly has no idea who he is or where he’s been. He’s reunited with his brother, Walt (Dean Stockwell), whose been raising Travis’ young son. Travis’ surprising reappearance causes the lives of those around him to be thrown into disarray as he slowly begins to piece his former life back together.

The review

The cinematography, consisting of wide shots, vacant landscapes and minimalist imagery, gives Paris, Texas a distinct visual style that perfectly compliments...

Hours before I place my trust in a rush-hour F train departing from Herald Square just 19 days before Christmas, I am speaking with scholar and filmmaker Jerry Carlson about David Bordwell and Orson Welles’ Filming Othello. Nominally a chronicle of Welles’ time adapting Shakespeare’s play, the documentary’s stream of inconsistencies and outright fibs linger with the late critic. Carlson pauses in his recollection and conjures Bordwell’s exclamation post-screening: “You can’t trust a thing this man says!”

Welles’ instinct for storytelling was matched only by his affection for lying. I suspect he assumed these two phenomena were basically linked, two sides of the same coin pulled from an ear. You could do worse than have Welles on the brain on a night when Elaine May would appear in front of a theater audience. Would she appear? We were told she would, following a 6:00 Pm screening of her sour,...

Martha Luttrell, a veteran talent agent whose clients ranged from Susan Sarandon and Martin Campbell to Julie Taymor, Sam Shepard and Waylon Jennings and also worked with Mike Nichols and Bill Robinson, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer in Calabasas, CA. She was 80.

Her friend Holly Goldberg Sloan confirmed the news to Deadline.

Born on October 31, 1944, in Vancouver, Luttrell knew at an early age that she wanted to be in show business and moved with her cousin to Los Angeles right out of high school. Among her first jobs was answering phones at Capitol Records.

Luttrell relocated to New York City in the early 1970s and became the assistant to comedian-turned-Oscar-winning The Graduate filmmaker Mike Nichols. After working with him on 1973’s The Day of the Dolphin, she moved back to Los Angeles and got a job assisting Robinson at The Robinson Agency, where she learn the craft of agenting.

Related:...

Actress, comedian, writer, and director Elaine May, 92, does not do interviews; she rarely makes public appearances. So when she agreed to a post-screening Q&a as part of Metrograph‘s American Cinema Editors Presents series, it became a sold-out event that attracted New York’s biggest cinephiles; for them, May is the most elusive member in the pantheon of greatest living filmmakers.

After a screening of “Mikey and Nicky,” the writer-director sat down for a 40-minute conversation with her frequent editorial and production consultant Phillip Schopper and Jeffrey Wolf, who was an assistant editor on the film. Topics included the film’s surprising origins, stars Peter Falk and John Cassavetes, and the bizarre story of the film’s extremely troubled post-production during which the film went “missing” and Paramount sued May.

May has always been upfront about her family’s connection to organized crime; Falk and Cassvetes’ characters were based on people she knew growing up.

The thing about episodes of "Columbo" is that they're kind of like slices of pizza: even when they're not that great, they're still pretty wonderful. There really aren't any god-awful episodes of "Columbo," and ranking the best of them is a challenge. "Columbo" is pure comfort, a show that feels like a warm hug because Peter Falk as the titular detective is the ultimate dream of what justice should look like. Columbo almost always gets his villain, the bad guys are usually the rich and entitled, and the world feels like a better place, all within the span of 90 minutes or so. I've already written at length about which "Columbo" episodes are the absolute best (in my humble opinion), but how did Falk feel about the series?

Back in the early 1990s, Falk did a special for A&e where he went over his favorite episodes from the NBC era of the series,...

Two stars of The Princess Bride have had a special reunion as seen in a new photo posted online. The reunion comes 37 years after the beloved fantasy film's original release in theaters.

On the social media platform X, The Princess Bride star Cary Elwes (Westley) shared a new image of himself alongside Mandy Patinkin (Inigo Montoya). Revealing that the post is in honor of the latter's birthday, Elwes wrote in the caption, "Please join me in wishing this guy a very happy birthday!" The post can be seen below.

Please join me in wishing this guy a very happy birthday! 🎈🎉🎂 @PatinkinMandy pic.twitter.com/jgXg4f480B— Cary Elwes (@Cary_Elwes) November 30, 2024

Related Saw Stars Reunite for 20th Anniversary Screening

Original stars of Saw reunite at Beyond Fest to celebrate the horror movie's 20th anniversary.

Directed by Rob Reiner, The Princess Bride is based on the original 1973 novel by William Goldman,...

Emma Stone might be in a whole bunch of your favorite movies — but what are her favorites?

In January 2024, Stone spoke to Letterboxd — the social media site centered around movies — about her "four favorites," a regular interview the outlet does with major Hollywood celebrities. After appearing visibly stressed by the prospect of only picking four movies, Stone responds that Charlie Chaplin's 1931 comedy "City Lights" is her all-time favorite movie. "I love 'Network,'" Stone continued, name-checking the 1976 dark comedy that won Best Picture at the 49th Academy Awards in 1977. "'Mikey and Nicky,' I just saw it for the first time a couple of weeks ago," Stone raved, citing Elaine May's movie (also from 1976) about a mobster and his best friend (played by John Cassavetes and Peter Falk). "I love almost every Cassavetes movie — that one wasn't Cassavetes, he's just in it. It's obviously Elaine May, who's a genius,...

The best Columbo episodes show why the series has been called one of the best murder mystery shows of all time. Peter Falk created one of the most unique and brilliant fictional detectives with his performance as the titular cop. Columbo is a lieutenant who investigates murders and suspicious deaths with his own distinct oddball approach. He comes across as a bit of a bumbling sleuth, but as he gradually and politely digs deeper into the truth, he always cracks the case.

Columbo set itself apart from many murder mystery shows of its kind by showing the audience who the killer is upfront. The format of the show then focuses on the killer's attempts to get away and cover up the crime, only for Columbo to start snooping around. It is a series that perfectly blends murderous intrigue with a charming sense of humor. Falk is unforgettable in the lead role.

Movies are empathy machines, as Roger Ebert once wrote. The best films allow us to experience emotions we may not have felt otherwise through a particular character’s story. But some movies conjure emotions that we’re actively seeking out. Happiness. Joy. Love. We call these “feel-good movies.” Everybody has their go-to stable of films they return to over and over again when they need a boost — or maybe just an escape.

If you’re looking to expand your horizons beyond whatever’s streaming on Netflix, or if you just need a pick-me-up Asap, we’ve got you covered. Below, we’ve assembled a list of some of the best feel-good movies to watch when you’re feeling down.

20th Century “The Princess Bride”

One of the all-time great feel-good movies, Rob Reiner’s “The Princess Bride” endures as the platonic ideal of a romantic fantasy adventure. Carey Elwes stars as the devastatingly charming Westley,...

To celebrate the release of Columbo: The Final Years on Blu-Ray Box-Set from 18th November, we are giving a away a Blu-Ray Box set to one lucky winner!

Columbo is the landmark series that set the standard for the murder-mystery genre. The original run ended in 1978, but the series triumphantly returned in 1989 with an older and wiser Columbo! Remastered in 4K by NBC Universal, Columbo: The Final Years stars Peter Falk in his award-winning role as the cigar-chomping, trenchcoat-wearing police lieutenant. This Blu-ray boxset includes the final 24 episodes of this enduring classic that ran from 1989-2003.

The incredible wealth of guest stars includes Little Richard, George Hamilton, George Wendt, Anthony Zerbe, Anthony Andrews, Ian McShane, Patrick McGoohan, Juliet Mills, Tyne Daly, Faye Dunaway, William Shatner, Rod Steiger, Billy Connolly and many more.

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Alan Rudolph with Anne-Katrin Titze on Robert Altman considering Johnny Carson and Peter Falk to be cast as Dwayne Hoover (played by Bruce Willis) in Breakfast Of Champions: “He would cast his movies before they were written.”

In the first instalment with Alan Rudolph, we discuss Robert Altman’s early connection to Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast Of Champions, the roles played by Bruce Willis, Nick Nolte, Albert Finney, and Owen Wilson, plus working with Willis and Demi Moore on Mortal Thoughts. Now, with the help of Ron Mann, director of What We Like, producer David Blocker, cinematographer Elliot Davis and Shout Factory, there is a 4K Digital Restoration of Breakfast of Champions available to screen in cinemas, on streaming platforms and Blu-ray DVD for the 25th anniversary of this very prescient film. Alan Rudolph was an assistant director on Altman’s Nashville, California Split, The Long Goodbye, and appeared as himself in The Player.

There are few television shows as warm and comforting as "Columbo," the long-running mystery series starring Peter Falk as the eponymous detective. Each episode begins with a murder, and the fun isn't trying to figure out whodunnit but instead watching Columbo put together the pieces and catch the bad guy. Whether you're watching one of the original 1970s television episodes or one of the movie-of-the-week "episodes" that came out all the way through 2003, you can sit secure in the knowledge that Columbo will probably take the rich and powerful down a peg or two and be almost impossibly lovable while doing it. Despite the fact that Peter Falk wasn't originally the series' creator's choice to play Columbo, he is what makes the show so incredible watchable as he seems to aimlessly wander through crime scenes in his rumpled trench coat and ruin criminals' days with his trademark "just one more thing.

Dame Maggie Smith was many things. Hilarious and tragic. Elegant and aloof. Enchanting and deadly serious. Most will attribute their appreciation of her multiple-generation spanning career to roles in the “Harry Potter” or “Sister Act” franchises or perhaps “Downton Abbey,” which elevated her fame to a level she often spoke disdainfully of. For Smith was not an actress who was in it for the red carpets or accolades — though she received many, including two Oscars, five Baftas, four Emmys, and a Tony — but rather treated acting as a sturdy profession, one that required of her the utmost presence while on set or stage.

Beginning her career in the early 1950s, she played Viola in William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” at The Oxford Playhouse, followed later by roles in “As You Like It” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor” at London’s famed Old Vic theater. She rose to prominence on...

The Princess Bride is of the 80s' best enduring films, covering topics from fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, to giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, and miracles. Truly, it is a movie for any occasion, and now, the film will be available for streaming on Hulu starting on Oct. 1.

Per Hulu, The Princess Bride is one of several films coming to the streaming platform in October. The other films announced include other fun titles from years past like The Fly, Edward Scissorhands, and Mrs. Doubtfire. Also coming to the streamer are films from more recent years, such as Long Shot, Ready or Not, and Barbarian.

Related How Tim Burton Fought to Get Beetlejuice Beetlejuice on the Big Screen

One of this years most successful films almost didnt make it to theaters, but Tim Burton made it possible.

The Princess Bride, like many great works of fiction before, has an embedded narrative,...

The 1987 fantasy film The Princess Bride seems to grow more popular and treasured as time passes. It remains a cherished fixture in the fantasy canon of fans worldwide. Based on a novel by William Goldman, the film begins as a grandfather (Peter Falk) reads the story to his grandson (Fred Savage), who is home sick. As the grandfather reads, the audience is transported into the story and bear witness as the heroes' adventures unfold.

Canadian actor William Shatner began his professional career in the early 1950s, appearing in an obscure film called "The Butler's Night Off." He worked in theaters, both as a manager and as an actor, in Montreal and Ottawa, and acted in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in the mid-1950s. He moved to the United States shortly thereafter to pursue a Broadway career, and made ends meet by appearing on an episode of the Canadian version of "The Howdy Doody Show." Shatner racked up dozens of credits in film and on TV throughout the '50s and '60s, appearing in adaptations of "The Brother Karamazov" and "Judgment at Nuremberg" and on notable programs like "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Twilight Zone." In 1965, Shatner starred in "Incubus," the only feature film ever made in Esperanto. 

Then, in 1966, Shatner landed the lead role in a new science fiction series called "Star Trek.

Huge news, fellow "Shark Tale" fans: It's finally our time to shine. The animated 2004 movie starring Will Smith and Robert De Niro recently made the leap to Netflix, and according to streaming data numbers site Flix Patrol, it's currently topping the charts. Specifically, as of this writing, it's number one on the kids' movies viewership chart and number five on the overall movies viewership chart, having beat out more recent family-friendly hits like "Sonic the Hedgehog," "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," and "Trolls Band Together" on both lists.

On Netflix's own Top 10 site, "Shark Tale" sits in the number 7 position on the top movies list, mostly bested in viewership numbers by new Netflix original movies like Jeremy Saulnier's thriller "Rebel Ridge" and Lee Daniels' possession flick "The Deliverance." This week's top dog on the kids' film front, "Shark Tale" debuted on Netflix on September 1, 2024 and has been in the...

Some fictional characters are so intrinsically tied to the people who portrayed them that it's nearly impossible to picture anyone else in that role. Columbo, the disheveled detective who helped take down the bad guys on TV over three decades on the series of the same name, just couldn't be anyone but Peter Falk. That's like suggesting someone other than Alan Alda play the television version of Hawkeye on "M.A.S.H."! Dressed in an eternally-wrinkled, too-big trenchcoat and always chomping on a cigar, Falk brings both a unique appearance and performance to the character, looking and acting unlike any other cop on TV. Without Falk, "Columbo" may never have been successful, and it certainly wouldn't have been the same. Back when the series was first being developed, however, the people in charge had some very different performers in mind.

"Columbo" was created by writers Richard Levinson and William Link, who first...

The late great Peter Falk was born on September 16, 1927, and his detective drama “Columbo” is as timeless as it is entertaining. In the whole of television history, few actors have been as identified with a single character than was Falk with Lieutenant Columbo, the eccentric, rumpled, cigar-chomping, trench coat-clad, implausibly wily Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective who always got his man. In the process, Falk and the producers revolutionized what a cop show could be.

It’s been more than a half-century since Falk began portraying the world’s favorite lieutenant as part of the rotating “NBC Mystery Movie” franchise on September 15, 1971. It would grow to become a global phenomenon originally across eight seasons (1971-78), then again sporadically from 1989 to 2003. The series itself would win 13 Emmys..

SEE30 best TV detectives ranked

From the first official installment of “Columbo” – entitled “Murder by the Book” and featuring Jack Cassidy as the...

For some of us, there are few things in this world more comforting than classic television. Back before "prestige TV" was really a thing and getting people to tune in was sometimes just a matter of hiring the biggest guest stars possible, things were a little different. There's just something about turning on the TV and settling in for a an episode of "Star Trek: The Original Series" or "Columbo" and knowing that matters will be resolved by the end of the show's runtime and that Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) always get the bad guy. Both are also pretty progressive; Columbo (an idealized lawman) routinely takes down the rich and powerful of Los Angeles, while "Star Trek" has always been socially conscious, aiming for a utopian society.

Columbo ran for a long time and then extended its life through a series of TV movies, meaning it filmed throughout the 1970s,...

Kids watch some terrible movies. I should know, I have two of them. A24, the independent film and TV studio that has become synonymous with quality, is out to change that.

On September 4, A24 published the 288-page “Hey Kids, Watch This!,” a collection of more than 100 movie recommendations for families. None of them, by the way, are A24 films. The curation was performed by a group of “discerning critics, animators, and directors,” according to a press release. IndieWire’s own chief film critic and reviews editor David Ehrlich contributed a primer on how to talk about movies with your kids.

“Hey Kids, Watch This!” covers both hits and deep cuts. How deep? Has your preschooler seen Yuri Norstein’s 10-minute short film from 1975, “Hedgehog in the Fog”? Right, mine neither. Are the ’70s not ancient enough for your young-Old-Hollywood head? How about the 100-year-old film “The Adventures of Prince Achmed” from German director Lotte Reiniger?...