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No animated movie dominated 2024 quite like Pixar’s “Inside Out 2.” The sequel, which saw lead character Riley, now a teenager, dealing with brand-new emotions like Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Envy (Ayo Edebiri) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), was an instant sensation. The follow-up to 2015’s “Inside Out” (which won the Best Animated Feature Oscar) is now the top-grossing animated movie of all time and the eighth highest-grossing film ever and has appeared on a number of year-end best-of lists. For director Kelsey Mann, the only emotion he’s feeling is joy.

“To have the response be what it was for this film was beyond what I had hoped for,” Mann said. “I hoped that people would go to the theaters and see it. And man, did they show up. It was apparent from that first weekend that people were excited to see the next chapter in Riley’s life.

Meryl Streep is the best of the best.

Her performance in Sophie’s Choice (1982) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actress winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 movie champs.

Diane Keaton ranked second for Annie Hall (1977), with Jodie Foster following in third for The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Liza Minnelli for Cabaret (1972) and Vivien Leigh for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actress winners is Mary Pickford for Coquette (1929). Just above that film in the rankings are Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Helen Hayes for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932), Loretta Young for The Farmer’s Daughter (1947), and Marie Dressler for Min and Bill (1931).

Another recent Gold Derby poll of cinema experts declared The Godfather (1972) as the greatest Best Picture Oscar winner of all...

The performance by Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice (1982) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actress winner ever. The results are from a recent Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts and editors, who ranked all 97 movie champs.

Ranking in second place is Diane Keaton for Annie Hall (1977). Following in third place is Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Rounding out the top five are Liza Minnelli for Cabaret (1972), and Vivien Leigh for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951).

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actress winners is Mary Pickford for Coquette (1929). Just above that film in the rankings are Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Helen Hayes for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932), Loretta Young for The Farmer’s Daughter (1947), and Marie Dressler for Min and Bill (1931).

Another recent poll had The Godfather (1972) declared as the greatest Best Picture Oscar winner of all time (view...

Sally Field is in talks to star in “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” a film adaptation of the novel by Shelby Van Pelt.

Netflix has acquired the project, which is in early stages of development. Olivia Newman, the filmmaker of last summer’s sleeper hit “Where the Crawdads Sing,” is directing the movie. “Where the Crawdads Sing,” starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, was based on the best-selling novel by Delia Owens and grossed $144 million at the global box office. Newman is also co-writing the screenplay with John Whittington.

Netflix declined to comment.

“Remarkably Bright Creatures,” Van Pelt’s debut novel, was released in 2022 and became a best-seller. The story follows a lonely widow’s unlikely friendship with a giant octopus. After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she begins working the night shift as a janitor at a local aquarium. At work, she becomes acquainted with an eight-tentacled animal named Marcellus, who helps Tova uncover...

That octopus book is heading to the screen.

Netflix has picked up a film package that adapts Remarkably Bright Creatures, the wildly popular novel by Shelby Van Pelt.

Sally Field, the veteran actress last seen in 80 for Brady, is in talks to star in the feature that is to be directed by Olivia Newman, perhaps best known for helming Where the Crawdads Sing. Newman is also writing the script with John Whittington.

Producing the adaptation will be David Levine via Anonymous Content along with Bryan Unkeless (I, Tonya) and Peter Craig, the established screenwriter of The Town and The Batman. Craig is also Field’s son.

The novel tells of the unique relationship between a lonely woman working as a janitor at an aquarium and a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus living at the facility.

The woman is grieving the death of her husband and also still processing the disappearance...

Jay Kanter, agent to superstar Hollywood clients including Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly, died Tuesday at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 97.

His son, Adam Kanter of Independent Artist Group, remembered his father as someone who conducted his entire career with “integrity and kindness.”

Kanter also inspired Jack Lemmon’s character in Billy Wilder’s classic comedy “The Apartment.”

Jay Kanter served in the U.S. Navy during WWII and started out working at McA, with mentoring help from Lew Wasserman. At just 22 years old, he was sent to pick up Brando at the train station and they became friends, with Brando becoming his longtime client.

He went on to represent stars including Warren Beatty, Gene Kelly and Ronald Reagan.

Kanter relocated to London when McA bought Universal, where he oversaw production for the studio in Europe. When the studio shut down European operations, he founded a production...

Jay Ira Kanter, veteran film producer and agent to a long list of Hollywood luminaries including Marlon Brando, Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, among others has died. He was 97.

Kanter died peacefully and surrounded by his family in his Beverly Hills home on the morning of August 6.

The agent and executive got his start in the business after his stint in the US Navy, which he joined during World War II. Kanter applied for a job at McA and rose up quickly through the ranks. He was mentored by Lew Wasserman.

At age 22, Kanter sought an offer for a young actor named Marlon Brando. Brando then traveled to Los Angeles via train, and Kanter picked him up at the station. Upon arrival, the two became fast lifelong friends, with Brando becoming Jay’s longtime client.

Kanter went on to represent stars such as Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, Gene Kelly, Warren Beatty,...

For the Fourth of July, let’s get into the All-American spirit with good old-fashioned patriotic movies? Whether you’re an astronaut, a Congressman, a mathematician or a hockey player, you typify the kind of best Americans that the movies want to celebrate on Independence Day.

The theme of our photo gallery above is all about the American spirit, which can be a rah-rah film (like “Miracle” or “Top Gun”), fighting for the people back home or even going against the grain to fight for what’s right in society. Our gallery also includes “The Right Stuff,” “Field of Dreams,” “Forrest Gump,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Hidden Figures” and more. James Cagney, Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, Sally Field, Tom Hanks, Taraji P. Henson, James Stewart and Denzel Washington are some of the big names in starring roles.

Enjoy a hot dog and sit back to peruse (or even watch again) these...

Glen Powell, Anthony Mackie and Academy Award winner Laura Dern have signed on to star in “Monsanto,” the latest film from writer-director John Lee Hancock.

The film follows the true story of young, untried attorney Brent Wisner (Powell), who in 2019 took on a seemingly insurmountable case against the giant U.S. chemical company Monsanto on behalf of Dewayne “Lee” Johnson (Mackie) who used the company’s best-known product Roundup, a wildly financially successful weed and grass pesticide killer, as part of his job as a high school groundskeeper. Dern plays Dr. Melinda Rogers, the Monsanto Company’s chief toxicologist, who testifies with certainty that Roundup is safe during the landmark cancer trial.

“I was drawn to this contemporary David vs. Goliath true story because I found it dramatic, moving, quite funny and of critical importance in today’s world,” said Hancock. “My ambitions are to deliver a smart, thoughtful and...

Michelle Yeoh took a moment on Monday to clarify why she handed Emma Stone’s best actress Oscar to Jennifer Lawrence just before Stone accepted the trophy onstage.

At the 2024 Oscars on Sunday, five former best actress Oscar winners took a moment to introduce each of this year’s nominees, with last year’s winner Michelle Yeoh set to hand the trophy to the winner. When Stone’s name was called, though, Yeoh took an extra second to hand the trophy to Jennifer Lawrence, so Lawrence could hand it to Stone.

“I confused you, but I wanted to share that glorious moment of handing over [your] Oscar to you together with your best friend Jennifer!!” Yeoh wrote on Instagram on Monday. The Everything Everywhere All At Once star went on to explain that Stone and Lawrence’s friendship reminds her of herself and “my Bae Jamie Lee Curtis.” Curtis won best supporting actress last year,...

Zendaya, Michelle Pfeiffer and Oscar winners Nicolas Cage and Al Pacino are among the first group of presenters for this year’s 96th Oscars ceremony.

Also presenting are last year’s four acting winners — Brendan Fraser from “The Whale” and Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis from the best picture winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Oscar winners Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight” and “Green Book”), Jessica Lange (“Tootsie” and “Blue Sky”), Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club”), Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave”) and Sam Rockwell also are set to take the stage.

Additional presenters include Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Jennifer Lawrence, Kate McKinnon, Rita Moreno, John Mulaney, Catherine O’Hara, Octavia Spencer and Ramy Youssef.

Rounding out the list of presenters are Ariana Grande, Issa Rae, Anya Taylor-Joy, Oscar nominees Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”), Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”), America Ferrera, Ryan Gosling (“Barbie”), Melissa McCarthy...

Upon securing a spot in the 2024 Best Supporting Actress Oscar lineup, Jodie Foster (“Nyad”) officially shattered the Academy Awards record for longest span between fourth and fifth acting nominations. Following her two Best Actress wins for “The Accused” (1989) and “The Silence of the Lambs” (1992), she had last been recognized in that category for “Nell” (1995), making for a general nomination gap of 29 years. Coincidentally, she took this particular distinction from fellow “Silence of the Lambs” winner Anthony Hopkins, who waited 22 years between his supporting bids for “Amistad” (1998) and “The Two Popes” (2020).

Previously, the female record for longest wait for a fifth nomination was 12 years, as shared by Julianne Moore and Frances McDormand. Considering gaps between any two consecutive acting nominations, Foster ranks well behind overall record holder Judd Hirsch, whose first and second career notices for “Ordinary People” (1981) and “The Fabelmans” (2023) came 42 years apart. His female counterpart is Helen Hayes (39 years...

Michelle Yeoh won Best Actress last year for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a dazzling fictional tale of a woman trying to save the multiverse. However, when we think of typical Best Actress winners, we do think of performers portraying real-life people. Sally Field in “Norma Rae” comes to mind, so, too, do Julia Roberts in “Erin Brockovich,” Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side,” and Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady.”

But is this an old-fashioned way of thinking? Or is it still a relevant metric with which to measure to potential Best Actress winners. Lily Gladstone portrays a real person in “Killers of the Flower Moon” but Emma Stone is the Oscar favorite for “Poor Things,” in which she plays a fictional character. So, let’s take a look a closer look at this category and what sort of roles Best Actress winners typically win for. Below is a...

Emma Stone won the Best Actress Oscar in 2017 for her role as an actress trying to make it big in Damien Chazelle‘s “La La Land.” Stone has also earned two Best Supporting Actress bids, the first in 2015 for “Birdman” and the second for “The Favourite” in 2019. She reteams with the latter’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos, for Searchlight Pictures’ “Poor Things.” The film, which is out in US theaters on Dec. 8, follows Stone as Bella Baxter — a woman brought back to life by a scientist (Willem Dafoe) and subsequently goes on a journey of self-discovery, meeting a variety of people along the way including a lawyer (Mark Ruffalo) and a potential suitor (Ramy Youssef).

Stone’s performance is remarkable here, as many critics have noted.

Nick Schager (The Daily Beast) declared that Stone will “blow your mind” in the movie, writing: “Nothing overshadows Stone’s odd, amusing and affecting performance as Bella,...

Harlan County, USA

Filmmakers loves an underdog and movies have a long tradition of supporting the rights of workers, dating all the way back to the silent era. Here are some classic movies that celebrate workers’ right to strike for better wages and safer working conditions and the sometimes unlikely allies they find along the way. Many are based on true stories, including John Sayles’ masterful “Matewan,” about a coal miner strike in West Virginia, as well as Barbara Kopple’s Oscar-winning documentary, “Harlan County, USA.”

Photo credit: Disney

“Newsies” (1992)

“Headlines don’t sell papes, Newsies sell papes!” In this exuberant and pro-worker musical, Christian Bale’s Jack Kelly leads a group of newsboys in a strike against penny-pinching newspaper owner Joseph Pulitzer. They’re aided by Bill Pullman’s kindly, reform-minded journalist and, of course, Teddy Roosevelt, who was then governor of New York.

Photo credit: 20th Century

“Norma Rae...

Longtime Gilmore Girls second banana Sean Gunn is taking center stage on the SAG-AFTRA picket lines with his fiery rhetoric directed at Hollywood’s aristocracy.

On Friday, the actor behind Stars Hollow’s ever-eccentric Kirk Gleason took aim at his quasi-Guardians of the Galaxy boss, Disney CEO Bob Iger, in the wake of the exec saying striking actors and writers are not being “realistic” with their demands.

More from TVLineJesus Drama The Chosen Gets SAG Waiver to Finish Filming Season 4 - Here's WhyOur Annual Fall TV Grid Already Looks Wackier Than Ever - Brace Yourselves....The Nanny Foreshadowed...

Women in Film will commemorate the nonprofit organization’s 50th anniversary with a screening series spotlighting pivotal television or feature films made by women in the last half century.

The screening series, which will celebrate women and people of underrepresented genders working in front of and behind the camera, will kick off with a screening of “Norma Rae,” taking place on Friday, June 29, at Vidiots in Los Angeles.

Following the screening, Sally Field, the star of the 1979 classic, and producers Tamara Asseyev and Alexandra Rose will participate in a panel discussion on the film’s sustained impact throughout the years. Wif board member and actress, writer and director Lake Bell, who also serves as the chair of Wif’s 50th anniversary committee, has been selected to moderate the conversation.

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Angela Bassett Remembers Casting Taye Diggs for ‘How Stella Got Her Groove Back': ‘He Had to Fulfill the...

Women in Film, Los Angeles said Monday that it is launching a screening series to celebrate the nonprofit organization’s 50th anniversary, and has picked a timely movie to kick it off.

The series will kick off June 29 with the 1979 film Norma Rae starring Sally Field, who won the Oscar for her role as a single mom and factory worker who fights to unionize her workplace despite the dangers involved. The screening, taking place at Vidiots in Los Angeles, will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Field and Norma Rae producers Tamara Asseyev and Alexandra Rose and moderated by Lake Bell, a Wif board member and chair of Wif’s 50th Anniversary Committee.

The news comes as the Writers Guild enters its eighth week of a strike and SAG-AFTRA is currently in contract talks with the Hollywood studios over new film and TV contracts.

Wif, founded in 1973 to work...

If you read our Gold Derby combined odds for Oscar Best Picture, you see that the race is over and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is about to be crowned at the Academy Awards on March 12. But the favorite doesn’t always win the horserace. Upsets happen. The longshot comes in. Jaws drop. Calculations go awry. Something that no one could see coming winds up coming in. Chaos reigns.

And we love it.

If there is anything we’ve learned, it’s that there are no guarantees. Films that the majority think should have won, don’t. That’s particularly true in hindsight. “Citizen Kane,” widely regarded as the finest film of the 20th century, lost. So did the film many consider to be Martin Scorsese’s best, “Raging Bull.” “Moonlight” beat “La La Land.” “Crash” upset “Brokeback Mountain.” “Shakespeare in Love” upended “Saving Private Ryan.” “Chariots of Fire” snared the trophy over “Reds.

This year’s SAG Awards will be a glitzy evening with actors honoring their peers and Sally Field receiving the Life Achievement Award. As usual there will be no host but the proceedings can all be viewed on YouTube.

Taking place at 8 p.m. Et/5 Pt Feb. 26 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, the kudos celebrate the motion picture and television performances of the year, which are voted on by SAG-AFTRA’s diverse membership of more than 122,000 performers, existing as the largest voting body on the awards circuit.

Says Jon Brockett, executive producer, Screen Actors Guild Awards. “It’s a star-studded show that’s filled with an overwhelming sense of community. You’ve got the stars and the glam and the fashion, but also a peek into this big family of artists and how they support and care for each other. You really feel the camaraderie in the...

The Screen Actors Guild presented legendary comic actor Eddie Cantor with the first annual Life Achievement Award back in 1962. Over the past six decades, the award for ‘outstanding achievement in fostering ideals of the acting profession” has been given to such Hollywood icons as Stan Laurel, Bob Hope, Barbara Stanwyck, Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, Frank Sinatra, James Cagney, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. More recently, Mary Tyler Moore, Charles Durning, Debbie Reynolds, Rita Moreno, Carol Burnett, Helen Mirren and Robert De Niro have received the honor.

Two-time Oscar and three-time Emmy Award winning Sally Field is the latest recipient of the Life Achievement Award. The 76-year-old actress, who came to fame as the ultimate teenager “Gidget” in the 1965-66 ABC sitcom, is currently starring with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Rita Moreno in the hit feature comedy “80 for Brady.” She appeared with Jim Parsons last year in the drama...

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Canadian actor George R. Robertson passed away in Toronto on February 3, 2023. He was 89. 

Robertson is perhaps best known for playing the role of Chief, then Commissioner Henry Hurst in the first six "Police Academy" movies, released yearly from 1984 to 1989. The "Police Academy" series, while not well-reviewed, were massively successful, providing a generation with a cop-themed, National Lampoon-style snobs-vs.-slobs cinematic bedrock. According to the 2010 book "George Lucas's Blockbusting: A Decade-by-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success" by Alex Ben Block and Lucy Autrey Wilson, the first "Police Academy" film made nearly 150 million on a 4 million budget. 

The premise of the series was simple: due to a shortage of police officers in an unnamed American city, the local police department has been ordered to accept anyone who applies for the job. This leads to a comedy of errors wherein every weirdo,...

They might not have won seven Super Bowls like star quarterback Tom Brady, but the talented actors in 80 for Brady, including Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin, have won some of the most prestigious awards given to entertainers. Based on a true story, the movie follows four Brady-loving best friends trying to get to Super Bowl Li in 2017, with plenty of misadventures along the way. As a pleasant mix of slapstick humor, heartfelt poignancy, and tear-jerking drama, the road trip comedy makes the most of each of the women's many talents.

Fonda, Field, Moreno, and Tomlin have been actively making movies, appearing on television, performing on Broadway, and creating music for decades. Some of them, like Fonda and Tomlin, have shared the screen several times in '80s classics like 9 to 5 and recently in Netflix's Frankie & Grace. Moreno just appeared in the successful Spielberg remake of West Side Story,...

Just in time for the big labor day holiday weekend comes a highly praised film set in the world of…, well, work. A big hustling factory to be precise. Now, while other films have focused on the folks on the “line”, the “cogs’ if you will. the working “stiff” average “Janes and Joes” punching the time clocks in dramas like Norma Rae and comedies like Office Space, well, this one’s very different as it takes a long look inside the ‘executive suite” and its occupant. This “big cheese” wears many hats, owner, manager, supervisor, but the tag he hopes that most of the workers bestow on him is “papa”. Really, he thinks of the business staff as a family with himself as the surrogate father (who gives out an allowance in the form of a paycheck). He knows that his position has gotten a “bad rap”, so he wishes...

While Glenn Close has yet to win an Oscar, she is your overwhelming choice to receive the 2023 Screen Actors Guild life achievement award. We recently hosted a poll about which actress should be selected for the prestigious SAG honor. Over 2,000 people voted worldwide, with 49.27 choosing Close. Following her in second place was Meryl Streep with 29.56. See full poll results below.

The 2022 recipient of the honor was Dame Helen Mirren. There was no award given in 2021, but it was three men in a row before then (see list below). The following living people have already received this award and wouldn’t be chosen again (year referenced is from the ceremony; actors and actresses included): Joanne Woodward (1986), Robert Redford (1996), Angela Lansbury (1997), Clint Eastwood (2003), Julie Andrews (2007), James Earl Jones (2009), Dick Van Dyke (2013), Rita Moreno (2014), Carol Burnett (2016), Lily Tomlin (2017), Morgan Freeman (2018), Alan Alda (2019) and Robert De Niro (2020).

Seesag Life Achievement award: Full gallery...

The Screen Actors Guild will most likely be announcing their life achievement award recipient for 2023 in the near future. Who do you think should be taking home this prestigious trophy chosen by the SAG-AFTRA committee?

The 2022 recipient of the honor was Dame Helen Mirren. There was no award given in 2021, but it was three men in a row before then (see list below). Take our poll below and make your best guess on the selection. All 10 of these actresses in the poll have two things in common with typical decisions by this committee: at least 65 years old with a history of charitable and/or humanitarian works. Coming soon: we will offer a poll for actors in the near future.

Seesag Life Achievement award: Full gallery of recipients since 1995

The following living people have already received this award and wouldn’t be chosen again (year referenced is from the ceremony; actors...

Sally Field is so happy to be reunited with Dashiell Hammett.

The two-time Oscar-winning actor had been missing her cuddly Cavapoo — who’s nicknamed Dash — all morning while she was away rehearsing for “80 for Brady,” a road-trip movie she stars in with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Rita Moreno about four best friends who travel to the 2017 Super Bowl to see New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in action.

When Field arrives at our Variety studio, she is joined by her furry companion (brought to her by her assistant), who winds up sharing some screen time with the actor for our cover shoot and video interview. The two had bonded during the pandemic.

“When I got him, I think it really saved my life because my focus was on this little dog,” Field recalls.

Field says that Covid presented a unique set of challenges, but the actor is no stranger to struggle.

Alan Ladd Jr, the veteran film producer who won a Best Picture Oscar for Braveheart, commissioned George Lucas to write Star Wars and was an influential executive for Fox and MGM/United Artists, died today, his family said. He was 84.

His daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones, who directed the 2017 feature documentary Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies wrote on social media: “With the heaviest of hearts, we announce that on March 2, 2022, Alan Ladd, Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family. Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed. His impact on films and filmmaking will live on in his absence.”

Watch a trailer for her documentary below.

Along with Star Wars and Braveheart, Ladd was responsible for such Hollywood classics as a producer and studio boss, including Alien, Blade Runner, The Omen, All That Jazz, Norma Rae, Chariots of Fire, Thelma & Louise and Young Frankenstein.

Overall, his films...

Olivia Colman plays Leda in “The Lost Daughter” like a consummate pro, and her portrayal of a college professor on holiday in Greece, who reveals herself to be “an unnatural mother,” is among the most critically acclaimed performances of the year. With a deceivingly open and unpredictable best actress race ahead of us, the Oscar-winner who surprised awards watchers by defeating Glenn Close could add her second lead statuette to her mantle for her complex portrayal.

This year’s race for best actress has taken twists and turns. With nomination voting set to open on Thursday, Jan. 27, any number of the presumed frontrunners could drop out, leaving an opening for Colman to pick up her second Oscar in four years.

Twelve actresses have won two lead actress statuettes: Ingrid Bergman (“Gaslight” and “Anastasia”), Bette Davis (“Jezebel” and “Dangerous”), Sally Field (“Norma Rae” and “Places in the Heart”), Jane Fonda (“Klute...

After many votes have been tabulated, Barbra Streisand and Meryl Streep are your top two choices to receive the 2022 Screen Actors Guild life achievement award. In our recent poll featuring 10 actress possibilities, these two Oscar winners were far and above the top vote-getters and finished in a very tight race. See full vote percentages below.

The SAG-AFTRA committee will most likely be announcing their life achievement award recipient in the near future for the ceremony next February. This event skipped the annual tradition in 2021 for a pre-taped, shortened ceremony. It was three men in a row for the most recent ceremonies, so our guess is that it will be a woman this time. All 10 of these actresses in the poll had two things in common with typical decisions by this committee: at least 65 years old with a history of charitable and/or humanitarian works.

Seesag Life Achievement award: Full gallery...

The Screen Actors Guild will most likely be announcing their life achievement award recipient for 2022 in the near future. Who do you think should be taking home this prestigious trophy chosen by the SAG-AFTRA committee?

This event skipped the annual tradition in 2021 for a pre-taped, shortened ceremony. It was three men in a row for the most recent ceremonies, so our guess is that it will be a woman this time. Take our poll below and make your best guess on the selection. All 10 of these actresses in the poll have two things in common with typical decisions by this committee: at least 65 years old with a history of charitable and/or humanitarian works.

Seesag Life Achievement award: Full gallery of recipients since 1995

The following living people have already received this award and wouldn’t be chosen again (year referenced is from the ceremony; actors and actresses included): Joanne Woodward...

The Fast and the Furious franchise star Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges and 3x Primetime Emmy winner Beau Bridges are signed on to star opposite Queen Latifah in the Netflix movie End of the Road.

The Equalizer star plays Brenda, who after losing her job, and being recently widowed, embarks on a cross-country trip with her family to start a new life. But in the New Mexico desert, cut off from help, they must learn to fight back when they become the targets of a mysterious killer.

Ludacris and Bridges previously starred together in the 2008 Mark Wahlberg action movie Max Payne.

Millicent Shelton directs off a screenplay by The Intruder scribe David Loughery, which was previously written by Christopher J. Moore. Tracey Edmonds is producing for Edmonds Entertainment; with Mark Burg from Twisted Pictures and Brad Kaplan. EPs are Latifah and Shakim Compere for Flavor Unit Entertainment; Ben Pugh and Erica Steinberg for 42.

Bridges won a Primetime Emmy for 1997’s The Second Civil War (Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special), 1993’s The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special) and 1992’s Without Warning: The James Brady Story (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special). He also won two Golden Globes for The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie) and Warning: The James Brady Story (Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie). His feature credits include One Night in Miami, The Descendants, Charlotte’s Web, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Greased Lightning, Norma Rae, The Hotel New Hampshire, and more. Recent TV credits include Masters of Sex, Homeland and Goliath. He is repped by CAA.

Ludacris starred in the Oscar winning Best Picture Crash, and next appears in Universal’s F9 which has already amassed over $256M at the foreign box office before its June 25 U.S. start. He is a 3x Grammy winner for Best Rap Album in 2007, Release Therapy; Best Rap Song that year “Money Maker” with Pharrell Williams; and 2005 Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, “Yeah” with Usher and Lil Jon. His albums Word of Mouf, Chicken-n-Beer and The Red Light District went multi-platinum. He is repped by CAA and Fox Rothschild.

Sally Field will be taking the court for HBO’s scripted series about the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s.

The untitled series was ordered at HBO in December 2019. It is described as chronicling the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties, in what came to be called the Showtime Era.

Field will star as Jessie Buss, mother of Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who will be played by John C. Reilly. As a young single mother, Jessie instilled in her son a love of math, money, and good times. Decades later, her son is a successful businessman – but he turns to her as a trusted advisor and bookkeeper.

Field is no stranger to television, having gotten her start on shows like “Gidget” and “The Flying Nun.” She most recently starred in the shows “Dispatches from Elsewhere” and “Maniac.” She is a three-time Emmy winner,...

Writer, director, producer Nicole Holofcener joins podcast hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss some of her favorite films.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Enough Said (2013)

True Romance (1993)

Coming Home (1978)

Bound for Glory (1976)

Hal (2018)

The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)

The Cowboys (1972)

Harold And Maude (1971)

Conrack (1974)

Norma Rae (1979)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Miller’s Crossing (1990)

Naked (1993)

The Short And Curlies (1987)

Short Cuts (1993)

Nashville (1975)

McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

The Father (2020)

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Sex, Lies And Videotape (1989)

Jaws (1975)

Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy (1955)

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

World Without End (1956)

Boogie Nights (1997)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Goodfellas (1990)

Adaptation (2002)

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Lolita (1962)

The Shining (1980)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Paths of Glory (1957)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

12 Angry Men (1957)

A Serious Man (2009)

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

Capote (2005)

A History of Violence (2005)

The 400 Blows...

While longer Best Actress-nominated performances are rarer than ones contending for Best Actor, there has been a significant amount of them over 92 years. Indeed, 44 have surpassed 90 minutes of screen time, and the overall longest nominated performance of all time comes from this category. Here is a look at the 10 longest ever nominated for the award:

10. Rosalind Russell (“Auntie Mame”)

1 hour, 48 minutes, 23 seconds (75.59% of the film)

Over the course of 16 years, Russell competed for the Best Actress Oscar four times, and her final bid was for playing an eccentric socialite who is tasked with raising her nephew. All four of her nominations were for relatively long performances, averaging one hour, 30 minutes, and 42 seconds and over 71%. She never won, and lost in 1959 to Susan Hayward, who was on her fifth and final nomination for her one-hour, 15-minute, and 26-second performance in “I Want to Live!”.

9. Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”)

1 hour, 49 minutes, 55 seconds (83.87% of...

Last year we watched as Renee Zellweger followed the yellow brick road all the way to the Wizard of Oscar as Judy Garland in “Judy.” Can lightning (or a tornado) strike two years in a row? That’s surely the hope of Andra Day, looking like a strong Best Actress Oscar contender for her title role in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Like Garland, Holiday rose to stardom in the late 1930s. She also had multiple marriages, faced financial woes and struggled with drugs and alcohol. The question is: can the role in this Hulu release deliver the Oscar to Day?

Before making a decision, keep in mind that the academy has a long history of recognizing actresses for portraying other actresses or entertainers. And the more drama, trauma and tragedy the better. Even raging and hysterical divas are welcome. Let’s look back at some prime and primadonna examples from Oscar’s history.

Mike Fenton, the legendary casting director who worked on the “Back to the Future” franchise, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and scores of other classic movies and TV shows, has died. He was 85.

Fenton co-founded what is now known as Casting Society of America in 1982. He was a prominent casting director for more than 40 years, with a mile-long resume that stretched from “The Andy Griffith Show” and “That Girl” to “Chinatown,” “American Graffiti,” “The Godfather II,” “Blade Runner,” “A Christmas Story,” “Norma Rae,” “Footloose,” “Honeymoon in Vegas” and “Chaplin.”

“Working with Mike Fenton was like working in a candy store — he made casting a blast,” Steven Spielberg said in a statement. “His fervent support of actors was the stuff of legend, and after landing a part, any actor’s smile was rarely as wide as Mike’s. He didn’t just support actors, he launched crusades.

Mike Fenton, casting director on hundreds of films and TV shows including classics such as Chinatown, American Graffiti, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Bad News Bears, Norma Rae, The Godfather: Part 2, The Goonies, E.T., Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blade Runner, Back to the Future and Chaplin has died. He was 85. Fenton also co-founded what became the Casting Society of America in 1982.

Steven Spielberg worked on many projects with Fenton as both director and producer including The Sugarland Express, the director’s first feature. Spielberg was among the first to weigh in on Fenton’s passing. Among other things, he remembered Fenton as a passionate advocate for the actors he cast.

Spielberg:

Working with Mike Fenton was like working in a candy store — he made casting a blast. His fervent support of actors was the stuff of legend, and after landing a part,...

Who would’ve thought that the artist formerly known as Sheldon Cooper would be so good at being mean. Jim Parsons earned an Emmy nomination this past summer for his role as a predatory talent agent in “Hollywood,” and in “The Boys in the Band,” adapted from Mart Crowley‘s stage play, he cruelly lashes out at his friends while hosting a party that goes awry. It’s a performance worthy of Oscar consideration, but he wouldn’t be the first sitcom star to gain recognition from the motion picture academy.

Though Parsons is best known for his four-time Emmy-winning role as Sheldon in “The Big Bang Theory,” this isn’t his first foray into drama, and it wouldn’t be his first recognition for it either. Before his dark turn earlier this year in “Hollywood,” he appeared on Broadway in “The Normal Heart” (2011) and reprised his role in the 2014 HBO adaptation,...

Our recent Gold Derby poll results show that either Meryl Streep or Cicely Tyson should be the next actress to receive the life achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild.

Since it’s been three men in a row for the most recent ceremonies, we only offered 10 actresses in our poll. Streep and Tyson were the only two ladies with double digit support. All of them have two things in common with typical decisions by this committee: at least 70 years old with a history of charitable and/or humanitarian works.

Seesag Life Achievement award: Full gallery of recipients since 1995

Here are the final poll results with awards info about each actress:

Meryl Streep (30%)

Three-time Oscar winner in 21 nominations; three-time Emmy winner in five nominations; Kennedy Center Honors; AFI life achievement; Cecil B. DeMille Award.

See Meryl Streep movies: 25 greatest films ranked from worst to best

Cicely Tyson (22%)

One-time Oscar nominee...

Sometime in the next few weeks, the Screen Actors Guild will most likely be announcing their life achievement award recipient for 2021. Who do you think will be taking home this prestigious SAG Awards trophy?

It’s been three men in a row for the most recent ceremonies, so our guess is that it will be a woman this time. Take our poll below and make your best guess on the selection. All 10 of these actresses in the poll have two things in common with typical decisions by this committee: at least 70 years old with a history of charitable and/or humanitarian works.

Seesag Life Achievement award: Full gallery of recipients since 1995

The following living people have already received this award and wouldn’t be chosen again (year referenced is from the ceremony; actors and actresses included): Joanne Woodward (1986), Robert Redford (1996), Angela Lansbury (1997), Sidney Poitier (2000), Edward Asner (2002), Clint Eastwood (2003), Julie Andrews...

“Everything is a bit strange at the moment,” said Billy Crudup on the phone from New York. That’s partly due to the pandemic — he welcomed finally being able to dine outside in the East Village with a good friend. “It felt glorious to be in the city sitting outside on the street,” he said. “People by and large in New York have really done a magnificent communal job of keeping the pressure on and trying to remain vigilant. It has not been easy. We did have the experience of being really punched in the face. It was so gutting to lose so many. New Yorkers felt the strain of the virus so close.”

Crudup is also absorbing his first-ever Emmy nomination (Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series) for a rare television role, the devilishly disruptive network executive Cory Ellison on “The Morning Show.” Crudup, who grew up on...

What better way to kick off a new month than a look at the many movies coming to Hulu? Ok, if you don’t have a Hulu subscription you might need an alternative. Maybe this list will convince you to take one out, though (not that I’m there salesperson). But enough patter, let’s crack on with it.

Here’s every new film that arrived on July 1st:

12 and Holding (2006)

2001 Maniacs (2005)

52 Pick-Up (1986)

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (2009)

A Kid Like Jake (2018)

A Mighty Wind (2003)

A Storks Journey (2017)

An Eye for a Eye (1966)

The Axe Murders of Villisca (2017)

The Bellboy (1960)

Beloved (2012)

Best In Show (2000)

Between Us (2017)

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

Birdwatchers (2010)

Boogie Woogie (2010)

The Bounty (1984)

Brokedown Palace (1998)

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (1992)

Bug (1975)

Buried (2010)

Cadaver (2009)

California Dreamin’ (2009)

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)

Catcher Was A Spy (2018)

The Catechism Cataclysm (2011)

Change of Plans (2010)

Cheech & Chong...

Harriet Frank Jr., who collaborated with her husband, Irving Ravetch, on the Oscar-nominated screenplays for “Norma Rae” and “Hud,” died on Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 96.

Her nephew Michael Frank announced her death to the New York Times.

Frank and Ravetch worked on 17 features together after meeting while writers at MGM. She and Ravetch were married from 1946 until his death in 2010 at age 89.

Frank and Ravetch worked on eight movies directed by Martin Ritt, starting with “The Long, Hot Summer” in 1958, followed by “The Sound and the Fury” in 1959 and “Hud” in 1963. “Hud,” based on Larry McMurtry’s “Horseman, Pass By,” was nominated for seven Academy Awards. In addition to the Oscar nomination, the “Hud” screenplay received the best written American drama award from the Writers Guild of America and an award from the New York Film Critics Circle.

Frank, Ravetch and Ritt collaborated on 1974’s “Conrack,...

Harriet Frank Jr., whose many screenplays co-written with husband Irving Ravetch included the acclaimed Hud and Norma Rae, died Tuesday at her home in the Hollywood Hills. She was 96.

Her death was announced by nephew Michael Frank to The New York Times. The Writers Guild of America West later tweeted its condolences.

Frank and Ravetch (he died in 2010) were known for socially conscious films, exemplified by 1979’s pro-union drama Norma Rae starring Sally Field (in an Oscar winning performance), and for adaptations of literary works.

Twice Oscar-nominated for their screenplays, Frank and Ravetch had a long-running collaboration with director Martin Ritt, beginning with The Long, Hot Summer in 1958 and continuing with The Sound and The Fury (1959); Hud, Hombre (1967), Conrack (1974), Norma Rae, Murphy’s Romance (1985) and Stanley & Iris (1990). In all,...

Harriet Frank Jr. a two-time Oscar-nominated screenwriter of films including “Hud” with Paul Newman and “Norma Rae” with Sally Field, has died. She was 96.

Michael Frank, Frank’s nephew, told The New York Times that she died in her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Frank collaborated with her husband, Irving Ravetch, on “Hud,” as well as “The Cowboys” and “Conrack,” beginning in 1957 after she worked independently for the first 10 years of her career. They wrote 16 screenplays up until 1990.

Also Read: Jim Lehrer, Longtime PBS News Anchor, Dies at 85

Together they adapted the work of William Faulkner, William Inge, Larry McCurty, Elmore Leonard and many more auteur authors. The two also collaborated on eight occasions with director Martin Ritt. Ravetch died in 2010.

Frank was originally contracted by MGM under the studio’s writers training program and was known for her provocative work that grappled with post-war life in America as it related to moral dilemmas,...

Ron Leibman, an Emmy-winning actor who garnered a Tony for his work in Broadway’s “Angels in America” and played the father of Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel Green on “Friends,” died on Friday. He was 82.

Robert Attermann, CEO of Abrams Artists Agency, confirmed the news to Variety. No further details were immediately available.

Leibman, a native of New York, played Dr. Leonard Green on “Friends” as a no-nonsense father who gave grief to David Schwimmer’s Ross, the romantic interest of Aniston’s Rachel. He received an Emmy Award in 1979 for portraying a reformed convict who became a criminal attorney on the CBS series “Kaz.”

Leibman won a Tony Award in 1993 for playing a fictional version of Roy Cohn in Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches.”

Leibman broke into the entertainment business in 1956 on the soap opera “The Edge of Night” and made his movie debut in the 1970 comedy “Where’s Poppa?,...

Ron Leibman, the actor who played Rachel Green’s father on “Friends,” Dr. Leonard Green, has died at the age of 82.

His agent, Robert Attermann of Abrams Artists Agency, confirmed Leibman’s death to TheWrap.

“We at Abrams Artists Agency are saddened to hear the news of Ron’s passing,” Attermann said in a statement. “Ron was an incredibly talented actor with a distinguished career in film, TV and theatre. Our thoughts go out to his wife, Jessica, and his family.”

Over Leibman’s long acting career, which began in the late 1950s, Leibman won a Tony for his role in the 1993 play “Angels in America.” He also won an Emmy in 1979 for best lead actor in the drama series “Kaz,” on which he played the title character, Martin “Kaz” Kazinsky.

Also Read: Shelley Morrison, 'Will and Grace' Star, Dies at 83

Leibman also acted opposite Sally Field as Rueben in the 1979 film “Norma Rae,...

Lionsgate’s “Bombshell,” which opens Dec. 20, has been getting enthusiastic reactions at industry screenings, indicating multiple Oscar nominations are likely. If so, that would make the film a welcome addition to a rare but important Academy Awards category: The hot-button, current events film.

Director Jay Roach, writer Charles Randolph and the actors — including Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie and John Lithgow — deliver the goods in a film that comes out only three years after the 2016 meltdown at Fox News. That puts the film on a par with other multiple-Oscar-nominated films such as the 1976 “All the President’s Men,” which opened three years after the Watergate hearings.

The banner year for this was 1940, when the best-picture nominations included Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator,” John Ford’s version of John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” and the Alfred Hitchcock-directed “Foreign Correspondent.” They dealt with, respectively, the grasp of Hitler,...

Cate Blanchett has crushed all of the competition in our latest Oscar poll with 73% of all votes. We asked which of the 10 active two-time winning actresses would be next to win a third Academy Award. Blanchett was far ahead of Maggie Smith, who finished second place in our poll results featured below. Be watching for our similar male actor poll coming soon.

Only 20 women have ever won multiple Oscars in the acting categories. Katharine Hepburn is the all-time leader with four Academy Awards, all as Best Actress. Ingrid Bergman and Meryl Streep have each won three, with two in the lead category and one as supporting for both ladies. Tour our new photo gallery above of all 20 actresses.

SEEOscar Best Actress Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History

Of the 17 actresses who have won twice, Olivia de Havilland is long since retired. Bette Davis, Helen Hayes, Vivien Leigh, Luise Rainer,...