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The appeal of a comic book series might be its thrillingly violent action or impossible feats of derring-do. But “Daredevil: Born Again” captivates because of its immersive realism and its deeply human storyline about Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a visually impaired lawyer with heightened abilities who fights for justice in more ways than one. As the “Born Again” in the title implies, this show is a new phase of Murdock’s story, one where he hopes that he’s left his iconic red suit behind him; likewise, his nemesis Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) has allegedly put his criminal behavior behind him as the elected mayor of New York.

Nothing is that simple, of course. Both Murdock’s and Fisk’s façades wear thin, and the two are fated to collide.

The challenge for the show’s creative team, however, was developing a visceral signature style that could stand on its own.

Josh Holloway, star of the new Max action-thriller Duster, won’t soon forget his first time behind the wheel of the titular 1972 muscle car he drives in the series — especially because his vehicular co-star, so sleek and cherry red on screen, wasn’t quite ready for its close-up.

“They found it in a pasture — it was lime green, it had no hood and no interior, only the seat that they had bolted in for me to ride,” Holloway revealed to Gold Derby at the series premiere at Universal Studios on Thursday, where the Duster — now made over and polished to a gleaming Hollywood sheen — was parked on the red carpet just a few yards away.

Holloway, too, was ready for his own transformation. After breaking out in a big way as Sawyer — the soulful scoundrel with a heart of gold — on Lost in the 2000s, he went on to anchor...

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Cinema changed in the 1970s. After countless Westerns and studio-driven productions, the decade gave way to independent filmmaking and ushered in a handful of creative titans. Filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and Brian De Palma laid the groundwork on which modern cinema was constructed, for better or worse. Stars such as Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Carrie Fisher, Sylvester Stallone, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Harrison Ford became household names, and the once tame cinematic landscape was tossed aside in favor of more complex character studies brought to life by naturalistic performances, raw visuals, and shocking violence.

Blockbuster films like "Star Wars" were just coming into existence and charted a unique course with enormous financial results, but smaller, more personal productions like "Rocky" and "Halloween" snuck between the larger tentpoles and captured the imagination of audiences.

Gene Hackman, the legendary tough-guy actor famous for his roles in The French Connection and Unforgiven, enjoyed a peaceful life in Santa Fe with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, a gifted pianist. They lived away from the Hollywood limelight for over 30 years, preferring to keep their personal lives private, until their tragic passing in February.

In February 2025, their private world was shattered in a way that sounds straight out of a movie; there was no happy ending this time. The final autopsy report, recently released, dropped a bombshell: Arakawa died days before Hackman, leaving him alone in their home, possibly unaware of her passing due to his advanced Alzheimer’s.

What happened to Gene Hackman and his wife? Gene Hackman as Avery Tolar in The Firm | Image: Paramount Pictures

On February 26, 2025, maintenance workers found Gene Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, dead in their Santa Fe home, along with their dog, Zinna. The...

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Two months after Gene Hackman was found dead alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa, in the couple’s New Mexico home, the results of the screen legend’s autopsy have been made public.

The circumstances of Hackman and Arakawa’s deaths initially had investigators baffled.

They now believe that she died first, and Hackman, who suffered from dementia, wandered the massive home in a state of confusion before passing away himself.

American actor, Gene Hackman in London, 7th September 1973. (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images) Gene Hackman’s autopsy results revealed

On Monday, the results of Hackman’s final autopsy were made public, and they reveal chilling details of the actor’s final days.

In addition to a “history of congestive heart failure” and “severe chronic hypertensive changes” to his kidneys, medical investigators determined that Hackman had undergone a period of “prolonged fasting.”

Hackman’s body contained elevated levels of acetone,...

One of the most underrated movies of 2024 is storming Hulu's streaming charts. According to FlixPatrol, director Justin Kurzel's "The Order" was the second most streamed film on the service in the U.S. as of April 23, 2025, wedged between "American Idol" and "The Handmaid's Tale." Despite flying under the radar, the Zach Baylin-penned crime thriller boasts an impressive 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the movie for its performances and intense story.

"The Order" has Jude Law playing Terry Husk, an FBI agent tasked with bringing down a white supremacist organization that is connected to a series of car heists, bank robberies, counterfeiting scams, and bombings in the 1980s. The group, led by Bob Mathews (Nichols Hoult), is raising funds to overthrow the government and ignite a race war in the United States, and the FBI must (obviously) prevent that from happening.

If the acclaim for his...

Anora, Spine #1259, will release in the Criterion Collection on April 29th, 2025.

Mikey Madison is a star, delivering a mesmerizing performance in the titular role of Sean Baker’s Oscar winning film. The role of Ani is a complicated and layered one that allows Madison to showcase the full extent of her acting abilities. Sean Baker — acting as the director, writer and editor — delivers his most compelling and finely crafted film to date. Anora is — in my opinion — the best film of 2024, and it is an absolute gift to have this gorgeous new edition join the Criterion Collection.

Anora plot

Anora (Mikey Madison) — or “Ani” as she likes to be called — is an exotic dancer and sex worker. She spends her nights buttering up clients and enticing them to spend their cash on her in the club’s VIP section. One of those clients winds up being Ivan, a wealthy young...

The Academy Awards are an odd tradition. Every year, voters from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (becoming one of these voters is itself a somewhat mystified bureaucratic nightmare) nominate and award feature films in a number of categories.

Even ignoring the flaws in the process -- such as potential mis-categorization (see co-leads Zoe Saldaña and Kieran Culkin breezing their way to Oscar wins by competing as "supporting actors") -- the prestige and preeminence of the Oscars gives way to a false air of objectivity regarding its honorees. It creates the illusion that winning films are inarguably the best, rather than the beneficiaries of the aggregation of the subjective opinions of a relatively small and unavoidably biased stable of Hollywood elites.

This is all to say, while the Academy Awards are a lot of fun, they are simply unable to honor every film that deserves an award. Below,...

There is no doubt that one’s life can change after they make it in Hollywood. For many, it is their dream to make it in the film industry. Once you land a major role, you can see that you’ve got the world at your feet: red-carpet events, blockbuster deals, and a bank account that most people can only dream about. It is the type of success that can change people’s lives.

But here is the thing–Hollywood is not everyone’s cup of tea. Sure, some stars go on to become fan favorites and build legacies, but it also puts the spotlight on them all the time, a price to pay for fame, which everyone might not enjoy. After getting a taste of the industry, we might see some chase Oscars and box office success, but there are also people who find a calling in something else.

With the death of director William Friedkin sending shockwaves through the film world, as everyone pays tribute to his classics The French Connection and The Exorcist, now is a good time to look back at one of his most underrated movies, the 1977 classic action thriller Sorcerer!

The 1970s were probably the last decade when the film industry had many honest-to-goodness auteurs. Directors who made movies on their own terms without compromises; not just the ones making little indie art films, but the guys in charge of sizable projects with the backing of major studios. Filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Brian De Palma came of age during this era, and were responsible for movies that would resonate for decades. Another name you can add to that list is William Friedkin, who during that period made two instant classics and one misunderstood masterpiece.

The classics...

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Anthology Film Archives

A series on sex workers includes Spike Lee’s Girl 6, Working Girls, and House of Tolerance.

Bam

Queering the Canon runs between in-theater showings and virtual screenings, including Tsai Ming-liang’s Vive L’amour.

Spectacle

Tomu Uchida’s A Fugitive from the Past screens on Saturday.

Roxy Cinema

The French Connection plays on 35mm, as curated by Martin Scorsese; Beethoven screens for free on Sunday.

Film Forum

Mort Rifkin favorite A Man and a Woman begins playing in a new restoration; Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman plays on 35mm this Sunday.

IFC Center

Salò, The Holy Mountain, Stop Making Sense, The Elephant Man, Sorcerer, and Funny Games (the good one) show late.

Nitehawk Cinema

Twelve Monkeys screens early on Saturday and Sunday.

Metrograph

Donnie Darko and Diabolique play on 35mm; In Good Faith and In the Pinku start while Tonino Guerra,...

Morgan Freeman may be one of Hollywood’s most iconic voices, but behind that legendary presence lies a painful reality. At 87, the Shawshank Redemption star still suffers from nerve damage caused by a devastating car accident years ago. Despite his enduring screen presence, the injury permanently affected his left hand, leaving him in constant pain.

Morgan Freeman as Secretary of State Mullins in Lioness | Credits: Paramount Television

Freeman, however, refuses to let it slow him down, continuing to deliver powerhouse performances. But the truth remains — his body will never fully recover from the wreck that changed his life forever.

Morgan Freeman’s health struggles and permanent nerve damage after devastating accident Morgan Freeman in Hard Rain | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Morgan Freeman’s frail appearance at the Oscars has reignited concerns about his health. The Shawshank Redemption icon, now 87, looked visibly shaken as he paid tribute to late friend Gene Hackman,...

Veteran actor Gene Hackman sadly passed away in February of this year. The Oscar-winning actor was found dead along with his wife, Betsy Arakawa, and their dog Zinna. Hackman reportedly died due to heart disease and was also said to be suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Arakawa reportedly died earlier due to hantavirus.

While the deaths have been ruled to be of natural causes, new information has been uncovered from a hairstylist of Arakawa. Hackman’s wife reportedly revealed to the hairstylist that the couple was being stalked by a crazed fan who had followed them and approached the Superman actor twice.

Gene Hackman’s wife revealed the presence of a stalker fan before their death A still from Superman | Credits: Warner Bros.

The world woke up to the tragic news of Gene Hackman’s death on February 18. The actor was known for his incredible performances in films like The French Connection,...

Night Moves, Spine #1255 released in the Criterion Collection on March 25th, 2025.

Last month the screen legend and acting icon Gene Hackman tragically passed away following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. As the details of his tragic passing — along with his wife Betsy — were made public, his fans were left grappling with the heartbreaking realization of his final moments. While watching Night Moves I was reminded of why Hackman was regarded as a master of his craft. His memory lives on, permanently engrained in the history of cinema and perfectly represented in the 4K restoration of Arthur Penn’s 1970’s classic.

RelatedCrossing Delancey (4K): Criterion Collection Review Night Moves plot

Los Angeles private investigator Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) makes his living by tailing cheating spouses and dealing with the worst of the worst that humanity has to offer. When he’s hired by aging actress Arlene Iverson to find...

Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) may be barely holding it together as chaos swirls around him — and as the forces that want to tear down New York City also menace his allegedly reformed antagonist Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) — but the world of “Daredevil” looks as rich as it ever has in its newest iteration, “Daredevil: Born Again.”

Director of Photography Hillary Fyfe Spera, who shot seven out of nine episodes for the series, and cinematographer Pedro Gómez Millán, who shot Episodes 4 and 5, have both embraced the mission of giving Murdock’s New York a kind of dirtbag romance — visually speaking, at least — in the grand tradition of beautifully grimy films like “Taxi Driver” and “The French Connection.”

The challenge was crafting a cinematic grammar where that vision of Hell’s Kitchen can co-exist with Matt’s sensory abilities as Daredevil, his personal church that is the courtroom, Fisk’s adventures in mayoral politics,...

Just a year after delivering a memorable performance as Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, John Travolta came back as Miami Mobster in one of the decade's most celebrated comedies. In this 1995 gangster film, Travolta plays the character of Chili Palmer, a loan shark who had "an idea for a movie" and is fascinated with Hollywood filmmaking. He thinks that 'Hollywood ain't so different from the mob. Just a different kind of hustle.' And that's exactly what Barry Sonnenfeld's Get Shorty delivers–a gangster drama that's not about shootouts and heists but about the hilarious clash between the underworld and Hollywood.

Adapted from Elmore Leonard's novel and written by Scott Frank for the screen, Get Shorty is one of the comedies that knew exactly where to be witty, serious, and genuinely funny. Travolta, who was fresh from Pulp Fiction success, brings the cool, fashionable and...

John Wayne was arguably Hollywood’s undisputed Western cowboy, known for playing tough lawmen and fearless gunfighters. From Stagecoach to Red River to Rio Grande, he represented the spirit of frontier justice, becoming the face of a genre that defined American cinema. Audiences expected him on horseback, rifle in hand, bringing order to lawless lands. But in 1952, Wayne stepped out of the Old West and into modern America’s political battlefield.

Big Jim McLain was a big departure from the films that made Wayne a star. Set in Hawaii, the film cast Wayne as a Cold War enforcer, eliminating traitors and exposing threats to national security. It was a role that aligned with his real-life politics, but it also marked a rare moment in his career. And while the film performed well at the box office, it would be more than two decades before Wayne played another modern-day officer.

Big...

If you asked many actors to name a favorite movie from their own body of work, they’d probably dodge the question, saying their films are like children. You just can’t choose. Well, the bold ones made the choice and Gene Hackman was one of them. And if you, as a film lover, were asked to guess what his pick was, you’d name one of his hits.

Was it The French Connection, the neo-noir action thriller that earned him his first Oscar? Bonnie & Clyde would be a great guess too, since it marked the first time that Hackman ever got noticed by the good people at the Academy Awards (nomination for Best Supporting Actor). What about Unforgiven? That, too, was brilliant, and so were Superman and The Conversation.

Interestingly, none of these films were remembered fondly by the Hollywood legend. During a conversation with The Independent, the...

The VHS cassette was initially developed in 1971 by engineers working for the Jvc corporation. Unlike their old video recording technologies, the nascent VHS machines were given a series of strict mandates by lead engineers Yuma Shiraishi and Shizuo Takano, all of them intended to make the new tech as consumer-friendly as possible. The cassettes and players, for instance, had to be compatible with the televisions already owned by the bulk of families. Cassettes needed to be able to hold two hours of recorded material, and the image quality had to be almost as good as broadcast TV. The cassettes needed to be usable in all players, compatible with video cameras, and simple enough that repair wouldn't be terribly difficult. And, most importantly, they needed to be affordable.

Shiraishi and Takano began working with their team, but the project immediately stalled when Jvc experienced a financial hit, forcing them to cut...

With a career that spanned five decades and saw him feature in such timeless classics as The French Connection, The Conversation, and Mississippi Burning, the late great Gene Hackman is nothing short of one of the biggest and most intriguing actors of the past 50 years. While he became known for his impact in searing dramas, his prowess extended to multiple genres, including comedies, legal thrillers, and major blockbusters. His commitment to Western movies is a defining component of his career as well.

The very private Gene Hackman will be allowed to retain some of that privacy posthumously, at least for a few more weeks.

Almost three weeks after the two-time Oscar winner and spouse Betsy Arakawa were discovered dead at their Santa Fe home, a New Mexico judge Monday granted their estate’s request to seal medical records. As well, Judge Matthew Wilson has sealed all police photos and video footage of the couple’s bodies and one of their dogs when they were found February 26.

Suffering from Alzheimer’s and heart disease, the 95-year-old Hackman is assumed to have died on or about February 18, according to New Mexico authorities. That was almost a week after 63-year-old Arakawa is said to have died as a result in part of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, a disease primarily spread by rodents’ feces, as state medical officials and Santa Fe County Sheriff Adam Mendoza revealed.

Unlike...

Hollywood woke up to terrible news as headlines were buzzing that legendary actor Gene Hackman had passed away at the age of 95. He was considered one of the greatest actors of his time and had a long illustrious career spanning several decades. In addition to this, what also shocked everyone was that his wife of 34 years, Betsy Arakawa, was also found dead along with one of their pet dogs.

While this surely left everyone in utter disbelief, it also opened doors for several rumours. Fans and his well-wishers wanted to get answers as to what actually happened. More than that, they thought if any foul play was involved in their deaths, as both the husband and wife being found dead at the same time was something that looked suspicious.

Gene Hackman in The Conversation (1974) | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Given the severity of the case, the authorities immediately took action and tried to unravel the details.

Gene Hackman’s will has surfaced following his death, revealing that his entire estate was left to his wife, Betsy Arakawa, with no mention of his three children from his first marriage. However, legal uncertainty remains due to the timing of the couple’s deaths.

Authorities discovered Hackman and Arakawa in their Santa Fe, New Mexico home on February 26, concluding that Arakawa had died from a virus on February 11. Hackman, who had advanced Alzheimer’s disease, reportedly survived for about a week longer before dying of heart disease. Since Arakawa predeceased him, legal experts suggest this could nullify his will.

California attorney Tre Lovell told the BBC that Hackman’s estate may be handled under intestate succession laws. “The estate will actually be probated in accordance with intestate succession laws, and the children would be lawfully next in line to inherit,” Lovell explained. Hackman’s children would need to establish...

An examination of the dog found dead along with actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Hackman in their Santa Fe home shows dehydration and starvation were likely what led to the animal’s demise.

A report obtained by The Associated Press from the state Department of Agriculture’s veterinary lab details partial mummification and noted that while the severe decomposition could have obscured changes in the organs, there was no evidence of infectious disease, trauma or poisoning that could have resulted in death.

The report noted that the dog’s stomach was mostly empty except for small amounts of hair and bile.

The kelpie mix named Zinna was one of the couple’s three dogs. It was found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near Betsy Hackman’s body, while two other dogs survived.

Authorities confirmed last week that Gene Hackman died of heart disease with complications...

Following the poignant circumstances of the deaths last month of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa, more uncertainty lingers over what will happen to his $80million fortune.

BBC News reports that the will of the double Oscar winner has been released, showing Hackman left his entire estate to his late wife, with no mention of his three children from his earlier marriage.

However, following the discovery of their bodies on February 26, authorities have established that Arakawa pre-deceased her husband by as much as a week. If this is ascertained, the BBC quotes an LA attorney saying this would render Hackman’s will invalid, and mean his children could have a claim to the estate.

California attorney Tre Lovell told the BBC: “The estate will actually be probated in accordance with intestate succession laws and the children would be lawfully next in line to inherit.”

They would also need to...

Last Updated on March 17, 2025

Martin Scorsese is the quintessential New York filmmaker. Sure, some of his greatest films are set in New York, but that asthma kept him inside of a Little Italy apartment to do nothing but study cinema says a lot about how embedded the city is in his blood and his own movies. Now, Scorsese has listed more than 30 of the most essential New York films – and yes, he was modest enough to not list Mean Streets and Taxi Driver and Goodfellas and…

Check out Martin Scorsese’s list of 30+ greatest New York movies below:

Daybreak Express

The Naked City and Kiss of Death

Fourteen Hours

Cry of the City

A Double Life and The Marrying Kind

It Should Happen to You

On the Waterfront

The Wrong Man

Sweet Smell of Success

Shadows

Midnight Cowboy and Marathon Man

The French Connection

Bye Bye Braverman

Prince of the City...

Chicago – Oscar winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arawaka were found dead in their New Mexico home on February 26th. Arawaka died of a rare lung infection, the 95-year-old Hackman succumbed to natural causes. Photographer Joe Arce captured this Exclusive Portrait of Hackman in 2000.

The mystery and circumstances surrounding the couple’s death stayed in the headlines for weeks. They both had been deceased for several days before being discovered, and at first is was speculated that carbon monoxide poisoning might have been the culprit. But as the investigation continued, it was determined that Ms. Arawaka had died first on or around February 11th of a rare lung infection, and Hackman … suffering from Alzheimer’s disease … died one week later.

Actor Gene Hackman in 2000

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

Gene Hackman was born in San Bernardino, California, but the family settled in Danville,...

The late, great Gene Hackmanhad plenty of iconic roles throughout his acting career, including Lex Luthor in Richard Donner's Supermanand Jimmy Doyle in The French Connection. But there's one role of his that's been long overlooked—General Mandible in Antz. And that's surprising for two reasons. First off, Antz was one of the first films ever made by DreamWorks Animation, alongside The Prince of Egypt—the two even made their theatrical debut in the same year. The second is that Antz boasts an immensely good performance from Gene Hackman, who makes Mandible a truly terrifying figure. Most of the time when a big-name actor is cast in an animated film, it's usually to sell the film to a wider audience; Hackman, on the other hand, utilized his dramatic chops to infuse his performance with the edge it needed.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.News The Blob.While moviegoing trended downward elsewhere (though box office receipts increased), France, Great Britain, Brazil, and Turkey saw an uptick in cinema attendance last year. French theater owners and analysts point to several nationally specific contributing factors: government art subsidies, distribution laws that mandate long theatrical windows, the inability for urban apartments to accommodate big home-theater setups, and the public's strong cultural connection to the cinema.As more small-town movie theaters close because of low ticket and concession sales, local residents have begun forming nonprofit organizations to save them. In 2023, Nicki Wilson of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, successfully organized a fundraiser to save the Triplex Cinema, the town’s only moviehouse. By means of donations, grants, and volunteer labor,...

Reading Time: 3 minutes

It’s been over two weeks since Gene Hackman was found dead alongside wife Betsy Arakawa inside the couple’s Santa Fe home.

The cause of Hackman and Arakawa’s deaths was initially unclear, but it now looks as though she passed away from a rare virus.

Hackman was suffering from Alzheimer’s and, unable to seek help, he passed away roughly one week later.

Gene Hackman and date attend the 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 19, 2003 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

Now, a new mystery has emerged, as there are questions as to who will inherit Hackman’s $80 million fortune.

Gene Hackman’s will makes no mention of his children

According to a new report from TMZ, Hackman’s three children — son Christopher, 65, and daughters Leslie, 58, and Elizabeth, 62, all by his first wife, Faye Maltese — are not named as beneficiaries.

There have already been several tragic celebrity deaths in 2025, including David Lynch and Gene Hackman. Though he was 95 years old, Hackman's passing came as a particular shock as he was discovered in conjunction with the death of his much younger wife, Besty Arakawa. His death was announced days before this year's Academy Awards, where a special speech was given by former co-star and friend, Morgan Freeman. Hackman was a two-time Oscar winner, taking home acting awards for his roles in The French Connection and Unforgiven.

One of the most impressive things about Hackman's career was his ability to play a wide range of roles. The actor could, at once, play both intense drama, like Harry Caul in The Conversation, and comedy, such as when he played the Blindman in Young Frankenstein. One of his most iconic late-career roles blended drama and comedy, playing dying patriarch Royal Tenenbaum in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums.

New York icon Martin Scorsese is revealing his go-to films set in the Big Apple.

The auteur curated the screening series “Living, Breathing New York” for the Roxy Cinema, which features screenings of four of his favorite NYC movies out of a full list of Scorsese’s 32 favorite New York movies he’s created and which IndieWire is proud to share below.

“Living, Breathing New York” is curated by Scorsese in celebration of the new release of Olmo Schnabel’s NYC-set thriller, “Pet Shop Days,” which Scorsese executive produced. The film premieres March 15 at the Roxy Cinema in New York, and stars Dario Yazbek Bernal and Jack Irv as two lovers whose whirlwind romance sends them down a rabbit hole of drugs and depravity in Manhattan’s underworld. Willem Dafoe (who starred in Olmo Schnabel‘s father Julian Schnabel’s Vincent Van Gogh biopic “At Eternity’s Gate”), Emmanuelle Seigner, Peter Sarsgaard,...

Despite winning the 1971 Academy Award for Best Picture, defining the late Gene Hackman’s career and producing one of the most badass car-chase sequences in movie history, The French Connection isn’t only famed for its Hollywood hardware and pedestrian endangerment; it also inspired one of The Simpsons’ greatest early gags.

In Season Three’s “Bart the Murderer,” the eldest Simpson child found himself eating his own shorts, taking L after L during what may be the worst morning in the show’s canon. Stepping on a spiky dinosaur toy, losing out on his cereal prize to Homer and discovering Santa’s Little Helper had eaten his homework — “I didn’t know dogs really did that” — were just the beginning. After glancing up from his shredded assignment, Bart realized he’d fumbled the bag yet again — the school bus was just about to take off without him.

“Wait, wait!” Bart yelled to bus driver Otto,...

Gene Hackman's death has been among the biggest tragedies that have hit Hollywood so far this year. When he was found dead on February 26, the actor was 95 years old. He had a decades-long career that began with an uncredited role as a cop in the 1961 movie Mad Dog Coll. Hackman then played a series of small roles in TV shows and films before having one of his first breakout roles, playing a supporting character in Bonnie and Clyde, which earned him his first Academy Award nomination.

Four years after Bonnie and Clyde, Hackman's role as Jimmy Doyle in The French Connection would solidify his stardom. After being nominated for Oscars for his supporting roles in Bonnie and Clyde and I Never Sang for my Father, The French Connection earned him his first win. He would later be nominated for two more Academy Awards, winning again for his supporting role in Unforgiven.

Hollywood is now mourning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 63, who passed away in February this year. The actor, who won two Oscars, was a big movie star with over 100 acting credits.

The news of his death came as a shock despite his age, especially with the deaths initially labeled as suspicious. Their causes of death have since been revealed, with Awakawa reportedly dying as a result of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and the actor passing away of heart disease and complications from Alzheimer's. The interest in his films has since surged. According toTudum, one of his last films, 2003's Runaway Jury, has become a hit on Netflix.

Runaway Jury premiered on Netflix in early March and has already entered the Top 10 in its first week. In the global charts, the legal thriller is in sixth place with 4.5 million views and 9.7 million hours viewed. It entered the Top 10 in six countries,...

One of the last movies of the late Gene Hackman has entered the Netflix Top 10 Global Movies chart 22 years after its initial release. Hackman was one of the most revered and successful actors in movie history, and enjoyed a strong filmography, which included a diverse mix of both blockbusters and character-driven dramas. He shot to prominence with early roles in movies like Bonnie and Clyde and I Never Sang For My Father before achieving global recognition and leading man status with the role of Popeye Doyle in William Friedkin's crime thriller The French Connection.

Hackman won an Oscar for his performance and reprised his role in the follow-up The French Connection II. He then went on to star in a number of successful and critically acclaimed box office hits, including Superman, Superman II, Mississippi Burning, and Unforgiven, for which he won his second Oscar. The '90s brought less critical acclaim,...

Gene Hackman, nothing less than a titan of the screen, has left us. He was announced dead at the age of 95, along with his wife Betsy Arakawa and one of their dogs, under strange circumstances that are still being investigated. Hackman left the world with a career full of iconic performances, including two Oscar-winning turns in The French Connection and Unforgiven, as well as nominations for Bonnie and Clyde, I Never Sang For My Father, and Mississippi Burning.

This is only scratching the surface of his legacy; mainstream audiences most likely recognize him as Lex Luthor in the 1978 Superman, as the mix of comedy and menace he brought to the role defined one of the most iconic versions of that character. Hackman actually retired from acting in 2004, citing how the intensity of being on set was having effects on his heart condition. Yet one of his final roles in The Royal Tenenbaums,...

The entertainment community recently lost an icon when the legendary Gene Hackman died at the age of 95. While there are still some unknowns surrounding his death, no one is disputing his status as a Hollywood legend. The French Connection, Superman, The Poseidon Adventure, Unforgiven, Hoosiers, The Firm, and The Royal Tenenbaums are just a few of his acclaimed works. But there's one title that's far less well-known, and it was Hackman's final film prior to retirement.

Hackman's last onscreen appearance was in 2004's Welcome to Mooseport. He played a former President of the United States who retired to a small town in Maine and befriended a local handyman, played by Ray Romano. Welcome to Mooseport was a critical and commercial failure, and it did not deserve to be Hackman's last outing. But was its underperformance the reason for his retirement? Or were there other factors that led to him leaving the spotlight?...

Words cannot express the monumental loss of Gene Hackman, arguably the finest actor of any Hollywood generation. As investigators sift through the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Hackman, his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, and one of their dogs, pointing fans toward one of Hackman's final TV appearances may help ease the pain.

In 2008, well into retirement, Hackman briefly appeared on The Food Network's culinary road show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Humble, humorous, down-to-earth, and as natural in front of non-famous locals as he was in front of a movie camera, Hackman's delightful cameo sheds insight into his small-town New Mexico life post-Hollywood.

Gene Hackman Was a One-of-a-Kind Performer

For younger crowds who may be unaware of Gene Hackman's unparalleled acting greatness, the two-time Oscar winner amassed 101 credits from 1961 to 2004. After breaking out in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967, Hackman showcased tremendous range and natural onscreen charisma across all genres.

The recent death of Gene Hackman has prompted many cinephiles to revisit their favorite films featuring the two-time Academy Award-winning actor -- though, really, regardless of what's going on in the world, any movie lover worth their weight in celluloid is never far removed from watching a Hackman flick because the man made so many classic, rewatchable pictures. The most valuable thing we can do as film buffs right now is to turn younger cinephiles on to the man's multitude of brilliant performers, because some of these kids were born after his 2004 retirement from acting.

For those just becoming acquainted with Hackman, it's important to understand that there's no ideal way to watch his movies. You can throw a dart at Hackman's filmography, and even if you hit a lousy movie like "Loose Cannons" or "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace," you're at least going to get Hackman being an...

Although long-running franchises have become a seemingly permanent part of our current cinematic landscape, there's an argument to be made that even the most consistently high-quality series are subject to diminishing returns. The question of whether a sequel can match or surpass an original is still a topic of debate, and it's one that reaches all the way back to an era when sequels were hardly as common as they are now. While the debate makes sense on the surface — after all, on paper, how can any sequel be as fresh and unique as an original? — it's perhaps based on the wrong question. Maybe, despite all the constant franchise rankings and the like, we shouldn't be asking whether a sequel surpasses its predecessor, but rather what new depths and richness are brought to the material that enhances the franchise as a whole.

It's through that lens that I view 1975's "French Connection II,...

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman died from heart disease and complications related to Alzheimer’s, while his wife, Betsy Arakawa, succumbed to a rare respiratory illness, according to findings released by New Mexico authorities. The couple, who had lived privately in Santa Fe for decades, died about a week apart in their home before being discovered on February 26.

A forensic report from the New Mexico Chief Medical Examiner’s office detailed that Hackman, 95, passed away due to hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s as a contributing factor. His pacemaker reportedly stopped functioning on or around February 17, indicating the estimated time of his death. Autopsy results showed no signs of trauma, but evidence suggested Hackman had not eaten for several days prior to his death.

Arakawa, 65, died first, likely on February 11, after contracting Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (Hps), a severe respiratory illness linked to exposure to rodent droppings. According to Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza,...

The news that Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, had been found dead sent shockwaves through Hollywood. Hackman had an extraordinary career, winning Academy Awards for his roles in The French Connection and Unforgiven.

Of course, many of you will know him best for playing the villainous Lex Luthor in three Superman movies released between 1978 and 1987. He retired from acting in 2004 after Welcome to Mooseport and wrote several novels, including Justice for None.

The unusual circumstances surrounding Hackman and Arakawa's deaths have raised big questions and we finally have some answers. Heather Jarrell, the chief medical examiner for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator held a press conference yesterday. She confirmed that Hackman died of cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer's disease as a significant contributing factor.

As for Arakawa, she's believed to have died around a week before her husband from hantavirus, a potentially fatal virus transmitted by mice.

Since the death of Gene Hackman, fans have been revisiting many of the actor’s movies across various streaming platforms. Now it is the turn of his 1986 underdog basketball movie Hoosiers to enjoy its time in the spotlight, and this is one of the movies that sits right up there with the best of Hackman’s long and varied career.

Charting at number four on the global Freevee chart, Hoosiers is a story that combines those classic 80s themes of small-town grit and the spirited teamwork of a group of people who are destined for lesser things until they are brought into the orbit of the one person who can help them find their true potential. While it may seem like a tried and overused plot, Hoosiers was probably the template for many other movies with a similar storyline that followed.

Set in rural Indiana during the 1950s, the film stars Hackman as Norman Dale,...

Gene Hackman, the legendary actor known for his roles in films such as The French Connection and Unforgiven, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were confirmed to have died of natural causes, according to an update from the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator on Friday. Hackman, 95, passed away after battling cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease being a significant contributing…

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Crime cinema is one of the most important genres in the history of cinema, as it was the low-budget gangster and police thrillers of the 1930s that first helped define the “Golden Age of Hollywood.” Crime films began to grow grittier as the decades passed; although international cinema introduced the influence of the French New Wave in the 1960s, the dawn of the “New Hollywood” movement in America amidst the 1970s resulted in much darker, grittier suspense films such as The French Connection, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Godfather.

The causes of death of legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa have been revealed, the chief medical examiner announced Friday, nine days after the couple was found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home.

Both Hackman and Arakawa’s deaths were found to be the result of “natural causes,” albeit six days apart: Dr. Heather Jarrell said that Arakawa likely died on Feb. 11 from Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, while Hackman died Feb. 18 (based on pacemaker information) from heart disease, with “advanced Alzheimer’s disease” also a contributing factor.

Actor Gene Hackman was found to have died likely a week after his wife Betsy Arakawa, with both determined to have died of natural causes, autopsies revealed on Friday.

Hackman was found to have advanced Alzheimer’s Disease prior to his death, according to an autopsy of his body as announced by the medical investigator of Santa Fe in a press conference on Friday. Hackman’s official cause of death was revealed to be “hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease,” with Alzheimer’s deemed a “significant contributory factor” in his death.

The medical examiner in the press conference revealed that Betsy Arakawa, Hackman’s wife, likely died on the afternoon of February 11, while Hackman died on Feb. 18, according to an analysis of his pacemaker. Her cause of death was revealed as “Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome.” The sheriff and medical examiner said it’s likely Hackman was in his home for a week while Arakawa was deceased,...

Gene Hackman likely died about a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died due to hantavirus, a medical examiner announced Friday.

Hackman died of cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a significant contributing factor, said Heather Jarrell, the chief medical examiner for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator.

Arakawa likely died about a week earlier, on Feb. 11, of hantavirus, a potentially fatal virus transmitted by mice. Both deaths fall under natural causes, which can include heart disease, stroke, cancer, respiratory failure, infections and age-related complications.

Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found dead on Feb. 26. Authorities said at the time they did not suspect foul play.

At a news conference on Friday, Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza said that surveillance cameras showed that Arakawa did errands on Feb. 11, visiting Sprouts market and a Cvs pharmacy. She also corresponded with a massage therapist by email that day.

Her car entered...

As fans celebrated the film mastery of the late Gene Hackman over the past week, some pondered the sliding-door moment that could have changed his acting career forever. After all, if sitcom producer Sherwood Schwartz had his way, the unknown Broadway actor would have been cast as Mike Brady, patriarch of The Brady Bunch.

Hackman was Schwartz’s first choice for the role, but ABC executives rejected the idea. Who had heard of Gene Hackman? They wanted someone with more experience like Robert Reed, who TV viewers knew well from several seasons starring in ‘60s legal drama The Defenders. Hackman, on the other hand, only had one-shot appearances on shows like I Spy, The FBI and Route 66. Ironically, he also guested twice on The Defenders.

Lucky for everyone, Hackman didn’t get the part, clearing the way for an Academy Award just a couple of years later for The French Connection.