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Is Kevin Costner Quietly Pursuing Demi Moore?(Photo Credit –Instagram)

Kevin Costner, who is still nursing wounds from his high-profile split, has allegedly been quietly making moves on Demi Moore for months. According to new reports, the Yellowstone alum wasted no time swooping in to offer a comforting presence after her devastating Oscar loss, one that saw 26-year-old Mikey Madison snatch the trophy Moore seemed destined to take home.

Longtime Crush Comes To the Surface

Despite her Golden Globe and SAG Award victories, the 62-year-old actress faced a brutal snub at the Academy Awards, and insiders reveal that Costner, smelling the perfect opportunity, has been reminding her just how stunning and talented she is. But those sweet words aren’t without an agenda.

An insider told RadarOnline, “It’s no secret that losing out to a woman less than half her age was a hard blow for Demi. Kevin has...

Since proudly planting a tricolor flag with their viral remix of Simian’s “Never Be Alone” in 2003 (aka “We Are Your Friends”), Justice has kept France at the forefront of the dance music world.

The Paris-based duo, consisting of Gaspard Augé, 45, and Xavier de Rosnay, 42, are famous for throwing everything from heavy metal to vintage disco into a techno blender in pursuit of infectious beats.

After a seven-year hiatus, they released a fourth studio album, Hyperdrama, in April of last year. Its single “Neverender,” featuring vocals by Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, won best electronic/dance recording at last month’s Grammys — the third Grammy for the group.

Currently on an epic world tour that saw them headline the Hollywood Bowl last October and which next brings them to Mexico and South America, the band snuck through Los Angeles after a stop at Crssd fest in San Diego long enough...

Hollywood is jam-packed with stories of on-set feuds. While some of them are very true (George Clooney still despises David O. Russell), others get exaggerated over time, or simply turn out not to have any basis in reality whatsoever. One famous Hollywood feud that’s turned out to be nothing more than gossip was the rumoured discord between stars Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke on the set of 9 1/2 Weeks, which was directed by Adrian Lyne.

In a recent, lengthy interview about her career with Variety, Basinger set the record straight, with her saying the rumor is likely due to the fact that neither of them spoke on-set outside of filming. As per Basinger, this was at her request, as it was something she needed in order to get into the character. She says the scene where she meets him for the first time in the grocery store is...

Jane Fonda and Kate Hudson presented the Producers Guild of America Trailblazer Awards to posthumous recipients Paula Weinstein and Lynda Obst. Fonda worked with Weinstein on the films 9 to 5 and Monster-in-Law and the TV series Grace and Frankie. Having made her first film in 1958, Fonda said it was lonely until women made headways in the ‘70s through the feminist movement and in Hollywood.

For Monster-in-Law, Fonda’s first film after 15 years, Fonda remembered Weinstein saving the film after a poor test screening.

“Paula totally saved it by geting Carrie Fisher to rewrite the ending and hiring Elaine Stritch to play my mother,” Fonda said. “Paula knew funny.”

Fonda said Weinstein’s legacy beyond her films would be the hundreds of women she mentored, as evidenced by Weinstein’s memorial after she died March 25.

“We asked anybody who was mentored by Paula to come stand with us on stage,” Fonda said.

The Producers Guild of America announced on Friday that it will pay tribute to two glass-shattering female producers at its PGA Awards in February.

Lynda Obst and Paula Weinstein will be honored with the Trailblazer Award, celebrating their shared commitment to paving the way for female producers and championing women’s voices in Hollywood, after both women died in 2024.

“Lynda Obst and Paula Weinstein have made a lasting impact on the industry with their trailblazing work and steadfast commitment to amplifying women’s voices,” said Producers Guild of America presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line said in a statement. “Lynda and Paula embody the spirit of women who have broken barriers and paved the way for future generations of producers. Their visionary work includes iconic films that have defined eras, alongside their unwavering commitment to championing underrepresented stories. Honoring them highlights their dedication to empowerment, innovation, and mentorship, celebrating...

The National Film Registry stands apart from awards like the Oscars in the way it looks at the big picture. 25 films are chosen each year for preservation based on their historic or artistic value, with a ten-year wait before becoming eligible. Freed from the passing norms of the moment, it can avoid the trap of ignoring "lesser" genres like comedy and horror, something the Oscars has yet to figure out. Its selections -- which include at least some input from the public -- thus tend to be a stronger representation of these movies as an art form, which can take on some amazing and surprising shapes.

2024's crop featured an unusual number of 1980s blockbusters, including the likes of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Beverly Hills Cop and Dirty Dancing. They're notable, not because they're unworthy, and indeed they're not the first commercial films of the 80s to make the list.

Sometimes directors lament over the projects they never got to make, but David Cronenberg - best known for body horror classics The Fly, Videodrome, and Scanners - revealed a film producers desperately wanted him to make, but which he knowingly and proudly turned down, not because he didn't like the script but because he knew he just wasn't the right man for the job.

The film in question? Flashdance, the 1983 feel-good romantic dance drama about a young woman (Jennifer Beals) making ends meet as a welder and an exotic dancer who dreams of joining a prestigious ballet academy. It's an odd pairing to be sure, but as Cronenberg told Variety at the Marrakech Film Festival, the production team of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer pursued the director relentlessly. He said:

"You might be amazed [they] were totally convinced that I was the right one to direct. Really, I don’t know...

Well, that could have been a real train “Crash.” David Cronenberg recently revealed he was offered the directing gig on “Flashdance.”

Cronenberg (“The Shrouds”) said during the Marrakech Film Festival that he turned down directing the 1983 feature, which starred Jennifer Beals as a welder with dreams of becoming a ballerina. “Flashdance” was directed by Adrian Lyne.

Master of body horror Cronenberg may seem like an odd pick to direct the quasi sports film-slash-love story. Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer didn’t seem to think so.

“You might be amazed [that producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer] were totally convinced that I was the right one to direct,” Croneberg said via Variety. “Really, I don’t know why [they] thought I should do it, and finally I had to say no.”

He added, “I said to them, ‘I will destroy your movie if I direct it!’”

Cronenberg instead went on to direct “Videodrome” and “The Dead Zone,” which...

Somewhere a version of “Flashdance” directed by David Cronenberg. Speaking at the Marrakech International Film Festival, where he is also the guest of honor and the subject of a retrospective, the Canadian auteur looked back at his almost sixty-year career, musing on some of his greatest works as well as those that could have been.

“The producer of [‘Flashdance’] was totally convinced I was the one to direct it and I told him I would destroy the movie if I did,” Cronenberg told the audience during an in-conversation event.

Continue reading David Cronenberg Almost Directed ‘Flashdance’ But He Didn’t Want To “Destroy” It at The Playlist.

It's easy to imagine David Cronenberg's Flashdance. The story of an 18-year-old exotic dancer with a welding nozzle grafted to her arm who competes for entry into a secret society attempting to force evolution through erotic "flash dances" wasn't meant for this world. Still, we could spend all day...

Reflecting on his trailblazing career, Canadian icon David Cronenberg felt particular pride for the one project that got away – or, more to the point, that he pushed away with full force: “Flashdance.”

“You might be amazed [that producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer] were totally convinced that I was the right one to direct,” Croneberg said at the Marrakech Film Festival on Sunday. “Really, I don’t know why [they] thought I should do it, and finally I had to say no – I said to them, ‘I will destroy your movie if I direct it!’”

David Cronenberg attends the opening ceremony and screening of “The Order” during the 21st Marrakech Film Festival on Nov. 29 in Marrakech, Morocco.

While “Flashdance” honors eventually went to Adrian Lyne – resulting in 1983’s third top grossing film – Cronenberg instead delivered the one-two punch of “The Dead Zone” and “Videodrome” that same year. In doing so, he cemented a...

For the first time in almost two decades, the Wayans Brothers are about to reunite for a new entry in their Scary Movie franchise! While there are certainly a whole ton of Wayans' siblings (and children) to keep track of these days, the original trio known by the shorthand of the Wayans Brothers included Keenen Ivory, Marlon, and Shawn Wayans, all of whom were heavily involved with creating the first two films in the Scary Movie franchise.

Of course, the Wayans Brothers (including the prolific Damon Wayans) have appeared in many more movies, both independently and together, outside that outrageously funny horror-spoof franchise. Some of those movies are bonafide classics that rival Scary Movie itself. And while some of the other films they've made over the years may not have lived up to that same level of quality, almost all of them feature outrageous scenarios that can't help but generate...

When Randal Kleiser‘s “The Blue Lagoon” was released in 1981, it was an instant sensation; the beautifully photographed tale of sexual awakening between two teenagers (Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins) set against the backdrop of a tropical island paradise combined prurience and elegance in a potent cocktail that audiences couldn’t get enough of at the time. Its $60-million gross against a $5-million budget couldn’t be ignored — especially by other filmmakers looking to replicate its success.

As was so often the case, Italian filmmakers were particularly aggressive in their plagiarism, with films like the now-forgotten “Due gocce d’acqua salata” blatantly ripping off both the premise and the marketing of “The Blue Lagoon.” But the most well-known “Blue Lagoon” imitator came from an unlikely location for an exotic travelogue centered on sensual exploration: Canada.

“Paradise,” which was released in 1982 by now-defunct distributor Avco-Embassy, was the brainchild of producer Robert Lantos,...

Jacob's Ladder, the psychological thriller from 1990 starring Tim Robbins, will arrive on streaming just in time to conclude spooky season. Deemed one of the scariest movies of all time, Jacob's Ladder will be added to Prime Video's library on November 1, which should help relieve those post-Halloween blues. Well, kind of.

Directed by Adrian Lyne and written by Academy Award-winner Bruce Joel Rubin, Jacob's Ladder is a great example of an underrated thriller that still falls between the cracks on best-of lists. With a narrative that moves between drama and thriller, Jacob's Ladder is a terrifying experience that hasn't lost its effectiveness as the decades passed, and many consider it to be the scariest "non-horror" film there is.

Related The 40 Scariest Movies Ever Made. Be Afraid...

There's a difference between "best" and "scariest," and while it's all subjective, we think these are the all-time best scary movies. Be very afraid.

Jacob's Ladder...

Two forces behind the beloved Showtime series The L Word have found their way back together.

Creator Ilene Chaiken and star Jennifer Beals have teamed to launch Run-A-Muck, a company described as a cross-platform queer media brand designed to produce content across film, TV and live events. Though they are not ready to reveal any projects that are already packed in their pipeline, the pair did reveal their business partners on the Run-A-Muck endeavor. Beals and Chaiken are joined by founding partners, WME’s director of impact and inclusion, Caroline Joyner, and business executive and entrepreneur, Jenn Smira.

“Queerness is no longer peripheral, but central to the creation of culture,” said Chaiken, whose other credits include The L Word: Generation Q, Empire, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Stumptown and The Handmaid’s Tale. “We’ve reached a threshold at which queer artists are dominating the entertainment space, and Run-a-Muck...

Women don’t have it easy in Hollywood. And they didn’t back in the ’80s when former New York Times Magazine editor Lynda Obst got her start as a producer. As famously chronicled in her 1996 book “Hello, He Lied — and Other Truths from the Hollywood Trenches,” she sold her first movie “Flashdance” (1983) to Dawn Steel at Paramount, only to have the newly minted production team of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer take over along with all the credit for its breakout success. Still, it was a winner for the Associate Producer, and she was on her way.

Always a heavy smoker, Obst passed away at age 74 from Copd (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). She was devoted to her family, including her brother, agent Rick Rosen, and son Oly, a producer/manager, whom she has described as “my confidant and best friend.”

“She was a trailblazer for women in the industry...

Paramount has announced the lineup of movies, TV shows, and live sports coming to the Paramount+ streaming service in November. The Paramount Plus November 2024 schedule includes Taylor Sheridan’s Landman, which navigates the fortune-seeking world of Texas oil rigs.

Sports fans can also enjoy an incredible spread of games over the holiday week, including the Nwsl Championship and UEFA Champions League marquee matches, as well as NFL on CBS and Big Ten on CBS action.

Landman

In November, audiences will be treated to the premiere of the new original series Landman, from Taylor Sheridan, co-creator of Yellowstone and starring Oscar winner Billy Bob Thornton, Golden Globe nominee Demi Moore, and Emmy Award winner Jon Hamm.

Set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas, the series tells the gripping story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires in the world of oil rigs fueling a boom so big that it’s reshaping our climate,...

Producer and author Lynda Obst, of Sleepless In Seattle, The Fisher King and Contact fame, has died after an illness.

A morning of not very nice news today, as we learn that producer Lynda Obst has died, at the age of just 74.

Obst produced and executive produced films such as Flashdance, Sleepless In Seattle, Contact, Interstellar, The Fisher King and Adventures In Babysitting. She also penned a couple of outstanding books about her time in the film industry, namely Hello, He Lied and Sleepless In Hollywood: Tales From The New Abnormal In The Movie Business.

Obst appeared on a special interview episode in April 2021, and it was striking how forward she was in her thinking, bringing up such topics as quantum computing and how that might affect the movie industry.

Lynda Obst had been unwell for a little while, it turns out, but had been working in recent times on...

Lynda Obst, who had producing credits on high-profile films including “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Flashdance” and “Adventures in Babysitting,” died Tuesday in Los Angeles. She was 74.

“I was immensely proud of her. She was a trailblazer for women in the industry at a time when it was very difficult for women to have prominent roles. She was passionate about her work but even more passionate about her family,” her brother, WME’s Rick Rosen, said to Variety.

Obst told the Hollywood Reporter earlier this year that she had been battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Most recently, she served as producer or executive producer on TV series including “The Hot Zone,” “Good Girls Revolt,” “Hot in Cleveland” and “Helix.” Obst’s final feature producing credit was Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” in 2014. Among her other credits were “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “Hope Floats,” “Bad Girls” and “The Fisher King.

Lynda Obst, one of the most prolific female producers in Hollywood, died Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to her brother, WME partner Rick Rosen. She was 74.

Obst had previously been open about suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or Copd.

The producer’s long list of hit films includes Flashdance, The Fisher King, One Fine Day, Contact, Hope Floats, Interstellar and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. She also executive produced Sleepless In Seattle, TVLand’s Hot in Cleveland and had a deal at Sony Pictures Television.

“I was immensely proud of her,” Rosen said. “She was a trailblazer for women in the industry at a time when it was very difficult for women to have prominent roles. She was passionate about her work but even more passionate about her family.”

Obst’s son Oly, a partner at 3 Arts Entertainment, said today: “My mom was a trailblazer...

Lynda Obst, the pioneering producer who put her mark on beloved films like Sleepless in Seattle, Contact, Flashdance, The Fisher King, Adventures in Babysitting, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Interstellar, died Tuesday. She was 74.

Obst died at her Los Angeles home surrounded by loved ones, her son, manager-producer Oly Obst, told The Hollywood Reporter.

“My mom was a trailblazer and a fierce advocate for women. Also, she was an amazing mother, sister and best friend,” he said in a statement. “[My wife] Julie and I are incredibly grateful that she was my mom and that my daughters got to have her as a grandmother. We will miss her.”

Obst’s brother Rick Rosen, the longtime and respected partner of TV at WME, said: “Our family is immensely proud of the career that she had and the role model she was for women in the industry, but beyond that,...

Call the super. This unit needs repairs. Apartment 7A, like many prequels, sequels, companion pieces, and reboots, exists solely to revisit a far superior creation. That would be Rosemarys Baby, the bone-chilling 1968 masterpiece directed by Roman Polanski (Chinatown) and starring Mia Farrow (The Great Gatsby). At the time, the story about a young woman braving a sinister plot designed to make her birth the Antichrist was a one-of-kind, gut-punch movie experience. Not since Psycho, which hit theaters in 1960, had audiences experienced such suspenseful terror, nor such a story laced with evil. Unless they read Ira Levins bestseller.

Here, Julia Garner plays the ambitious young dancer Terry Gionoffrio, a minor character in the original film, whose dreams of fame and fortune in New York City are shaken after suffering a devastating injury. When an older, wealthy couple (Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally) welcome her into their flat in the Bramford building,...

Brian De Palma, the director behind Carrie, Scarface and The Untouchables, was sometimes criticized for “borrowing” from more accomplished directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard. But he was a favorite of Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael, a sought-after director whose visual style led to offers to helm huge Hollywood hits like Fatal Attraction, Flashdance and Taxi Driver, according to ScreenRant.

De Palma, though, told Business Insider he had no regrets about turning down those smashes. But there is one career move that he’d like to take back. “Now a movie I wish I hadn't done was Wise Guys,” he explained. “The studio changed their minds and didn’t want to make it. They just wanted us to go away. I should have just taken my money and walked instead of dealing with a studio that didn’t want to make the movie.”

The screwball plot of Wise Guys...

The Marvel Comics character Thor officially made his live-action debut in the 1988 TV movie The Incredible Hulk Returns. But the year before that, Thor was a major presence in a teen comedy film about a group of youngsters having a wild night in downtown Chicago. The kids deal with gun-wielding car thieves, knife-wielding gang members, a homicidal tow truck driver, and a lot of other odd characters and dangerous situations. Their lives are put at risk on multiple occasions. And throughout, Thor’s iconic helmet is worn by an eight-year-old girl who looks up to the character… and believes he’s real. By the time the night is over, she might be proven right… Or maybe not. Whatever the case, there’s a whole lot of Thor in the 1987 film Adventures in Babysitting (watch it Here). And it’s time for it to be Revisited.

Adventures in Babysitting began with...

Fresh off of its record-breaking debut weekend at the box office (during which it shattered the record for biggest domestic opening weekend ever for an R-rated movie), "Deadpool & Wolverine" has moviegoers quoting scads of profane dialogue while recounting its myriad of outrageous surprises. Plot twists! Cameos! A Jimmy Durante needle-drop! There's so much going on in Deadpool's latest adventure that Marvel die-hards will be lining up repeat viewings throughout the rest of the summer and, considering that solid "A" Cinemascore, well into the fall (though /Film's Chris Evangelista wasn't quite so enthusiastic in his review).

One bit of business Deadpoolers might want to examine is the hero's stunningly deft dance moves to Nsync's "Bye Bye Bye" over the opening credits. Who knew Wade Wilson had moves like Justin Timberlake? Does this mean star Ryan Reynolds can get down like a demon on the dancefloor, too? According to the 47-year-old actor ... no,...

Movie songs used to be marketed based on film success, but "The Ballad of High Noon" changed that trend in 1951. "You're the Best" was actually written for Rocky III, not The Karate Kid, featuring lyrics that don't fit karate themes. Joe Esposito's persistence in pushing "You're the Best" for films like Flashdance and The Karate Kid led to its sports anthem status.

Movie Legend: The lyrics to the iconic theme song, "You're the Best," from The Karate Kid, don't make sense for The Karate Kid, because the song was written for a different movie.

The way that songs in films have been marketed has changed dramatically since the Golden Age of Hollywood. In the old days, you would write a song for a movie, and if the movie was a hit, then the song would typically become a hit, as well. Obviously, the song had to be good, as well,...

Despite its critical and commercial success, 1983's Trading Places has not received a sequel. Star Dan Aykroyd says he has written a treatment for the project and mused that he should resubmit it. Trading Places 2 could be a stronger possibility now that the Eddie Murphy legacy sequel Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a hit.

The possibility of a Trading Places sequel has gotten an encouraging update from Dan Aykroyd. The original 1983 movie, which was directed by John Landis, starred Aykroyd as hustler Billy Ray Valentine opposite Eddie Murphy as executive Louis Winthorpe III, who essentially swap lives when Winthorpe is framed for a crime. The comedy's ensemble cast also included Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Although the movie was both a critical and commercial success, the possible Trading Places 2 has failed to materialize in the four decades since its release.

Per Collider, Dan Aykroyd...

A few weeks ago, something absolutely incredible happened. On behalf of JoBlo.com, I was invited to attend the world premiere of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F in Beverly Hills! While there, I got to interview the entire cast, including Eddie Murphy. To give this a little context, I was born in ’81, and I grew up idolizing Murphy and watching all of the Beverly Hills Cop movies over and over. And yes, I said All – even 3. So, being invited to the glamourous premiere was pretty heady stuff. Heck, when I was there, I even got to meet another childhood hero of mine, Bronson Pinchot, from Perfect Strangers.

I’ve already posted my Eddie Murphy interview (check it out here), but today, I’m getting to post a lot more. In the video above, you can see me interviewing the whole cast, but here are my thoughts on each of them.

What kind of music goes best with comedy? Even if you’ve never seen The Benny Hill Show, you know its silly, sped-up theme song. For years, funny movies would incorporate swinging jazz or playful orchestral tunes. Then, in the late 1970s, John Landis had the idea to tap acclaimed Oscar-winning composer (and friend) Elmer Bernstein to write a no-winking serious score for Landis’ outrageous Animal House. The juxtaposition worked perfectly, the onscreen hijinks accentuated by Bernstein’s soaring strings — almost as if the movie was pretending to be classy while the characters were thumbing their nose at the pomposity. Soon, other movies, like Airplane! (also scored by Bernstein), were doing the same thing, proving that what initially seemed like a bizarre notion for music in a comedy could actually be brilliant.

But times change, and one trend gets replaced by a new one. By the mid-1980s, several hit comedies contained a hit single.

Bud S. Smith, an Oscar-nominated film editor, died last Sunday at his home in Studio City, California, from respiratory failure after a prolonged illness. He was 88.

Smith’s death was confirmed by his wife, dialogue editor Lucy Coldsnow-Smith.

During his five decades as an editor, Smith was a two-time Academy Award nominee, scoring bids in 1975 for William Friedkin’s horror classic, The Exorcist, which Smith shared with Evan A. Lottman and Norman Gay, and in 1984 for Adrian Lyne’s Flashdance

Smith won the BAFTA award for best editing for Flashdance and a career achievement award from the American Cinema Editors in 2008.

His credits also included Putney Swope, Cruising, Sam Raimi’s Darkman, Robert Towne’s Personal Best and Poltergeist II: The Other Side.

In the 1990s, Smith was a film doctor and consultant, most often on the slate at Universal Pictures under exec Casey Silver.

Born on Dec. 6, 1935 in Tulsa,...

Bud S. Smith, an Oscar-nominated film editor who was a regular collaborator with William Friedkin and whose other credits include “Putney Swope,” “Flashdance” and “The Karate Kid,” died Sunday at his home in Studio City, Calif. due to respiratory failure after a prolonged illness. He was 88.

Smith’s death was confirmed by his wife, dialogue editor Lucy Coldsnow-Smith.

Over a career spanning five decades, Smith was a two-time Academy Award nominee: in 1984 for Adrian Lyne’s romance fantasia “Flashdance,” and in 1974 for William Friedkin’s horror classic “The Exorcist,” which Smith shared a nomination for with Evan A. Lottman and Norman Gay. Smith won the BAFTA award for best editing for “Flashdance” and received a career achievement award from American Cinema Editors in 2008.

After beginning in television and working under David L. Wolper in the ’60s, Smith’s first feature editing credit came at the end of the decade with Robert Downey,...

The original Bad Boys debuted nearly 30 years ago, and even with a first-time director, two stars untested at the box office and a scramble to finish the script, nothing could handcuff the film’s success.

After a string of hits that included Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop and Top Gun, producing partners Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer began developing a buddy-cop script from George Gallo (Midnight Run) called Bulletproof Heart. Saturday Night Live standouts Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz were eyed to star, but Will Smith and Martin Lawrence ultimately landed the leads. (In 2013, Arsenio Hall told The Hollywood Reporter about his regret over having turned down Smith’s part: “Sometimes I made bad choices.”)

At the time, Smith and Lawrence were starring on the sitcoms The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Martin, respectively, and neither had led a studio movie. Making his feature directorial debut was Michael Bay, known for music videos and commercials.

Jerry Bruckheimer claims Young Woman and the Sea is his "highest-testing movie" ever made in his career spanning over 50 years. This new sports drama, based on the true story of Gertrude Ederle, features Daisy Ridley in the lead role and received positive reviews. Bruckheimer and his producing partner, Don Simpson, are known for producing Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop, and Top Gun and popularizing the "high-concept" formula in Hollywood.

A new sports drama, Young Woman and the Sea, is the "highest-testing movie" of Jerry Bruckheimer's 50+ year career. Based on the book by Glen Stout, the biopic was directed by Joachim Rnning and adapted by Jeff Nathanson, who previously teamed up on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Young Woman and the Sea tells the true story of Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel, with Daisy Ridley starring in the lead role and Tilda Cobham-Hervey,...

Veteran producer Jerry Bruckheimer talks to us about his latest film, Young Woman And The Sea, and the long process of getting it made.

Some movies descend into the ninth circle of development hell and never return, but Young Woman And The Sea, at least, has a happy ending. Having begun life in 2015 at Paramount Pictures, the project – about real-world swimmer Gertrude Ederle and her 1926 attempt to swim the English Channel – was put into turnaround five years later.

By 2020, the production had lost its original star, Lily James, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer doggedly continued to try to get it made, eventually striking a deal with Walt Disney Pictures. There, it was originally intended as fodder for the Mouse House’s Disney+ streaming service, yet the film director Joachim Rønning came back with was so impressive that Disney executives decided to give it a limited cinema release.

All of which led...

Daisy Ridley is back on the big screen with one of her finest works to date in Young Woman and the Sea. Directed by Joachim Rønning, the biographical drama about legendary swimmer Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle is the highest testing film of Jerry Bruckheimer’s storied producorial career that includes the likes of Top Gun: Maverick, Beverly Hills Cop and Flashdance. Originally slated for a Disney+ exclusive release, Ridley and co. were rewarded with a limited theatrical run that begins on May 31. Such upgrades don’t come easy given the costs associated with theatrical exhibition, but as Rønning put it, Bruckheimer was “relentless” in his successful pursuit.

The film’s road to theatrical, in a way, parallels the underdog story that Young Woman and the Sea is telling involving Trudy, and Ridley considers this hard-earned achievement to be as rewarding as anything she’s done to date.

“It certainly felt like...

Tom Cruise’s Top Gun is one of the legendary actor’s earliest landmark projects that ended up thrusting him into the mainstream. Recognized as arguably the biggest action star in Hollywood since a decade or two, Top Gun is still seen as one of his most stellar projects yet.

The 1986-release recently completed its 38th year of existence, bringing fans a sense of nostalgia to the time when the now 61-year-old broke into the industry as a charming, baby-faced action star.

Tom Cruise in Top Gun. | Columbia Pictures

Regardless, as it turns out, the Tony Scott-directorial had its fair share of hiccups during the production process. Among them, was the fact that Charlotte Blackwood’s character, Kirsten Lindstrom, was initially shown as a stereotypical ‘classic bimbo,’ instead of the aviator instructor that she was eventually transformed into.

That was all thanks to Dawn Steel, who was the first...

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

Roxy Cinema

Stanley Donen’s Funny Face plays on Friday and Sunday, the latter day bringing a program of work by Nicola Tyson and Son of Kong on 35mm.

Paris Theater

Prints of Prizzi’s Honor, The Mechanic, Grosse Pointe Blank, and Killer Joe play in a hitman retrospective; Yi Yi shows on 35mm this Sunday.

Museum of Modern Art

A massive overview of Bulle Ogier continues with films by Fassbinder, Rivette, and more.

IFC Center

Man Ray: Return to Reason begins; After Hours and the Bob Fosse retrospective begin; Labyrinth, Flashdance, and Tank Girl play late.

Japan Society

America’s largest-ever Hiroshi Shimizu retrospective migrates to Japan Society (watch our exclusive trailer debut).

Museum of the Moving Image

Two more Shimizu films play; House on Haunted Hill screens Friday and Sunday, while The Right Stuff shows on 35mm this Saturday.

Victor Montalvo Drives the most yellow vehicle in Los Angeles County, a 1987 Mitsubishi SUV he just purchased off of Craigslist. He pulls through the security gate at a sprawling Santa Monica office compound, parks, and removes a gold chain and ring he bought in India last year. The sunglasses stay on. Just back from Japan, he’s jet-lagged as hell. “I swear it’s not a hangover,” he says, chuckling. “Just feels that way.” But alas, he must train.

You’d probably call Montalvo a break dancer; they call themselves...

Even as he collected his martini, the burly stranger who introduced himself as “Joe” exuded an aura of belligerence. We were standing on the fringe of a post-screening reception, so, hand extended, I blurted, “Did the movie work for you?”

“It was blah,” he replied. “Given what they spent for the script, they should have made a powerful f*ckin’ movie.”

At the time I didn‘t realize I was talking with Joe Eszterhas, who had made $4 million from sale of his script — more an auction than a sale and hardly “blah.” Joe and several estimable writing colleagues were participants in what came to be known in the mid-‘80s as the “Writers Rebellion,” a moment when top screenwriters decided to reinvent what they considered a broken system for propagating their creative product.

The rebellion was not as momentous as, say, the French Revolution, but its drama and rhetoric for...

Oscar nominations were announced in Los Angeles at 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 23. The backlash began by sunrise. Barbie received eight nominations, including for best picture, but where were individual nods for director Greta Gerwig or star Margot Robbie, the A-list architects who constructed a billion-dollar blockbuster out of an $18 plastic doll that was born in 1959? Barbie fans went berserk online, denouncing the Academy for what they saw as a sexist snub. Breathless press coverage of the controversy dominated the news cycle for days, and even Hillary Clinton weighed in to support her shunned sisters.

By Jan. 26, producer Lynda Obst had heard enough. “I have to write about this misplaced horror,” Obst unloaded on Facebook, offering a history lesson pulled from personal experience, reminding her readers that comedies rarely fare well at the Academy Awards in top categories. Furthermore, she and best friend Nora Ephron “didn’t flip out” when...

Ridley Scott’s Very Expensive Roman Holiday

With accidents on the set, complaints about animal abuse and now reports that the production went wildly over budget, sources tell Rambling Reporter that Ridley Scott’s long-anticipated Gladiator sequel is leaving Paramount execs feeling a bit like Joaquin Phoenix’s Emperor Commodus — “terribly vexed.” Initially budgeted at $165 million, sources say that figure has ballooned to something closer to $310 million. (Paramount insiders insist the net cost of the 49-day shoot was under $250 million.) “It’s a runaway,” says one source. “It’s not being managed.” The strikes account for some of that money; the shutdowns starting in July reportedly cost $600,000 a week, or a total of about $10 million, until Scott resumed shooting in December (though there were reports he kept cameras rolling during the work stoppages, shooting extras at crowd scenes in Malta, where he built a Coliseum set). But even before the walkouts,...

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing Image: Hulton Archive Dancing never goes out of style, but apparently dance movies do. The 40th anniversary of Footloose has us thinking about all the dance movies we’ve loved through the years, and the scarcity of those kinds of films these days.

Kevin Bacon in FootlooseImage: Paramount Pictures/CBS (Getty Images)

Dancing never goes out of style, but apparently dance movies do. The 40th anniversary of Footloose has us thinking about all the dance movies we’ve loved through the years, and the scarcity of those kinds of films these days. If you look at social media,...

Jason Momoa thinks the Super Bowl just might do wonders for his comedy career.

The actor is best best known for his turns in action-heavy projects such as “Aquaman,” “Dune” and “Game of Thrones,” but gets to shake it all off in a new T-Mobile Super Bowl commercial. He will be spotted dancing to Irene Cara’s “Flashdance… What a Feeling” alongside Zach Braff and Donald Faison, the actors who have been part of the company’s Super Bowl efforts for the past few years. Momoa gets doused with water, hits a few high notes in song, does a flip and even meets Jennifer Beals, the actor who starred in the “Flashdance” movie.

“People are just seeing a different side of me,” Momoa tells Variety in an interview, while noting that he’s primarily “known as a dramatic actor” due to the roles he won early in his career. But...

Chicago – DVD editions from Paramount Home Entertainment’s most popular films are on tap for holiday and general gift giving, and several are in the latest 4K Ultra HD format … providing high definition pixel imagery that is Perfect for backyard or any projected film nights.

Anniversary DVDs include “Roman Holiday” (70th), “Flashdance” (40th), “Deep Impact” (25th), Titanic (25th) and “School of Rock” (20th).

Anniversary DVDs from Paramount Home Entertainment

Photo credit: Paramount Home Entertainment

Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com overview of DVD gifts from Paramount Home Entertainment (Anniversary DVDs) …

Special Edition DVDs include “Dragonslayer” (1981), “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986), “Pulp Fiction” (1994), “Chicago” (2002) and the “Transformers” 4K Ultra HD Box Set, all the Transformer films from 2007-2018.

Special Edition DVDs from Paramount Home Entertainment

Photo credit: Paramount Home Entertainment

Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com overview of DVD gifts from Paramount Home Entertainment (Anniversary DVDs) …

DVDs from Paramount Home Entertainment are available wherever DVDs are sold.

Did disco ever go out of style? Not if you ask Mark Ronson and Dua Lipa, the forces behind the soundtrack for this year’s No. 1 box office hit, Barbie. Specifically, they co-penned the album’s lead single “Dance the Night,” which is performed by the English-Albanian singer.

In an era where No. 1 movies don’t always have top-ranking soundtracks, the hip swaying, hummable, string-fueled ditty took on a life of its own, becoming an anthem for summer and notching Grammy noms for Song of the Year and Best Song Written for Visual Media. Stateside, “Dance the Night” peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Lipa’s fifth top-ten single.

However, as easy and free-breezy as “Dance the Night” might sound, Ronson, who won an Oscar for the original song “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, says the single was “the longest I’ve ever worked on any song.

Fifty years ago, the release of two movies — “Jaws” in 1975, and “Star Wars” in 1977 — changed movies, America, and the world, not just by giving rise to “the blockbuster mentality” but by ushering in the cinematic age of all-popcorn-all-the-time. There had been antecedents, of course. In hindsight, much of our fantasy culture sprung from the loins of J.R.R. Tolkien. And there was a film that preceded “Jaws” and “Star Wars” that I think had just about as great an influence on movie culture: “The Exorcist.” That said, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are inarguably the transcendant game-changers of the second half of the Hollywood century. That’s a fact that justifiably became a mythology.

In many ways, the Age of Marvel is also a mythology, one that has often been thought of as a ramped-up sequel to the Lucas/Spielberg revolution. Not that the rise of comic-book-movie culture took place overnight.

Locked In is a mystery thriller film directed by Alex Baranowski, from a screenplay by Rowan Joffé. The Netflix film revolves around Lina, an unhappy newlywed woman who has a hostile relationship with her mother-in-law Katherine. An affair starts a chain reaction that ends up in betrayal and murder. Locked In stars Famke Janssen, Rose Williams, Anna Friel, Finn Cole, and Alex Hassell. So, if you loved the Netflix film here are some similar movies you could watch next.

Gone Girl (Max & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – 20th Century Fox

Synopsis: Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher and based upon the global bestseller by Gillian Flynn, unearths the secrets at the heart of a modern marriage. On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) reports that his beautiful wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick’s...

The Fatal Attraction series on Paramount+ offers a modernized version of the 1980s film, shedding some of its misogynistic aspects and delivering erotic thrills while adding something new to the story. The series featured a talented and recognizable cast, including Lizzy Caplan who gave a commanding performance as Alex, bringing a different energy to the role compared to Glenn Close's portrayal. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, with a 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the show still has strong nostalgia and offers a more realistic take on the erotic thriller genre, making it worth a watch.

The Fatal Attraction series generated a lot of buzz in 2023 when it remade the classic 1980s film, but is the modern thriller worth watching? Debuting in April 2023 on Paramount+, the show follows Da Dan Gallagher as his torrid affair turns dangerous when his new lover refuses to break things off. With more storyline to work with,...

Flashdance not only left its mark on cinema, but also on 80s fashion, unintentionally creating a legendary look with Jennifer Beals' cutoff sweatshirt. The iconic film is now set to be adapted into a television series, led by Dear White People creator Justin Simien, bringing the story into the modern era. Simien's successful track record and storytelling ability make him a great choice to revive Flashdance, adding to Paramount+'s lineup of classic reboots.

Flashdance not only marked an era for cinema, but also for fashion, exposing the best of 80s clothing. However, it seems that one of its protagonist's most characteristic looks was, in fact, an accident. Released in 1983, the film directed by Adrian Lyne is considered a classic of the 80s. The story centers on a young aspiring dancer named Alex, who dreams of being a successful artist. However, her reality is very different. By day, she works in a metallurgical welder,...