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For once, the top 10 movies on iTunes and Fandango aren’t close to a mirror image of each other. “Conclave” (Focus) and “Terrifier 3” (Cineverse), both successful October releases that exceeded theatrical expectations, were released on PVOD last week. They had the same availability yet vastly different results.

Edward Berger’s top award-contending “Conclave” took an immediate top spot at iTunes from its first day, yet is only #8 for the full-week in the Fandango top 10. Damien Leone’s “Terrifier 3” leads at Fandango, yet only briefly appeared during the week at iTunes (debuting at #3) before dropping off the list. It currently ranks #14.

The two charts can vary, but mainly in cases of different pricing. Fandango ranks by revenue accrued for a title, while iTunes goes by transactions. But in this case, they are the same price, making the different placements quite odd. In terms of relative position using daily charts for the week,...

Last month saw streaming platforms settle into their annual cozy season with new fall TV shows and autumn film favorites. This December, Hulu and Disney+ are hunkering down with premieres for several animated TV series, a solid selection of holiday fare, and feel-good movies both old and new.

Disney+ will bring its classic characters together for “Mickey and the Very Many Christmases” as well as “Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade.” It will also premiere “The Simpsons Christmas Double Episode,” “Doctor Who: Joy to the World,” and “CMA Country Christmas” to honor the season. Top non-holiday picks include the return of “Marvel Animation’s What If…?” (kicking off December 22 with new episodes premiering daily for eight days), “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,” and “Elton John: Never Too Late.”

Over at Hulu, the divisive new horror flick “Cuckoo” starring Hunter Schafer is set to stream alongside a robust catalogue of various other movies.

Quick Links A Teacher Has a Lot to Worry About in Mr. Holland's Opus What Hardy Had to Say About Mr. Hollands Opus Mr. Hollands Opus Works by Touching on Daily Challenges

Great movies either make you feel euphoric or like an emotional wreck. Others teach you a thing or two. Generally, films that tug on the emotional heartstrings tend to be appreciated more by cinephiles and critics, as it takes great storytelling and exceptional acting to trigger feelings of sadness or pity. Looking back at the Best Picture nominees over the years, one will quickly realize that most selections are tearjerkers, dwelling on the ugly side of fate.

Youd think that only audiences tend to be affected by the emotional power of films. After all, we often get so lost in the proceedings that we assume some things are real. Well, actors get touched the same way. Despite spending...

Richard Dreyfuss is the Oscar-winning actor who has been an integral part of so many American films that are now considered classics. His career really took off in the 1970s with “Jaws,” “American Graffiti” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” by being a key collaborator on a number of films directed by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Dreyfuss has proven himself adept in his wide range of characters — from a music teacher to a blood-thirsty gangster, and from an aspiring actor to an obnoxious oceanographer. The result has been a Best Actor Academy Award for “The Goodbye Girl” with an additional nomination for “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” plus a Golden Globe victory with three additional Globe nominations.

Take a tour of our photo gallery ranking his 12 greatest films from worst to best..

In a time when any comment can be taken as being offensive, every public figure has to be careful. Whether you agree with that or not, the situation is like that, and one has to be careful what comes out of their mouth. In light of that, there is a profound confusion when public figures come out and openly do something stupid. And we’re not referring to situations that can be misinterpreted, that can go either way, but about situations when a public figure openly says stupid things and offensive things. How can this happen? Having an opinion is one thing, but being blatantly offensive towards others and slandering them based on their race, gender, religion… why? How?

Well, we’ve recently reported about Michael Richards’ old outburst, and we are now “honored” to report on another, more recent incident that happened in Massachusetts. The incident involves famous actor Richard Dreyfuss,...

The Krites -- the titular "Critters" from the eponymous film series -- are small, furry, extraterrestrial eating machines that are essentially dry-land piranhas. Krites only have impulses toward consumption and chaos. They have human intelligence, but are far more interested in eating than philosophy. The first "Critters" movie, directed by Stephen Herek (of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Mr. Holland's Opus" fame) is one of the world's only Easter-themed horror movies, centering on a small Iowa town that discovers Krite eggs and paints them for the Sunday festivities. Naturally, the eggs hatch and the hungry Krites begin wreaking mayhem. Only a pair of alien bounty hunters named Ug (Terrence Mann) and Lee can help in stopping the alien threat.

The Krites can roll up into balls like hedgehogs and trundle quickly from place to place. They can also fire poisonous quills from their backs. They're mean little mothers.

The...

Wolfgang Van Halen and the Van Halen family have made a $100,000 donation to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation to benefit music programs in schools. The financial contribution kickstarts the nonprofit’s “Adopt a School” campaign.

The donation will be spread across 100 schools across the country, with each school receiving $1,000 toward its music program.

“Music has been a huge part of my life, and it is our family’s great pleasure to help support music education programs and bring the gift of music to students across the country,” said Wolfgang. “Music education has proven to be a huge contributor toward a student’s success in school and in life.”

Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation CEO Tricia Williams added, “Our mission is to make sure there is an instrument in the hands of every student who needs and wants one. By increasing schools’ inventories of quality, playable instruments, music teachers will...

"Jaws" is an immortal classic, but decades on from its 1975 release, several of the movie's principal players have left us. Peter Benchley, the source novel's author and the film's co-writer turned shark conservationist, passed in 2006. Robert Shaw, who played the shark-hating fisherman Quint, died in 1978, a mere three years after the premiere of "Jaws." Shaw still left his mark on film history thanks to his masterful monologue about Quint's experience during the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis.

Of course, the biggest winner of "Jaws" was director Steven Spielberg, who entered the production of "Jaws" as a scrappy young upstart and turned it into his first rung while climbing the Hollywood lader. Spielberg is the most influential American filmmaker of his generation and the ones that have followed. He's never lost his magic touch either, so we can only hope and pray he stays with us even longer.

In the years since then,...

Judith James, producer of “Quiz Show” and “Mad Dog Time” and Richard Dreyfuss’ longtime collaborator, died in Santa Barbara after a bout with cancer. She was 86.

James’ friend, Alex. B Block, confirmed the news to Variety.

James’ was an accomplished producer who worked alongside Dreyfuss on projects including “Funny, You Don’t Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville,” “Prisoner of Honor” and “The Lightkeepers.”

“From the minute I met Judy James at the Mark Taper Forum, I knew I had found someone who had the same passion for storytelling that I did,” Dreyfuss said in a statement. “In all the years we were producing partners, we were of like mind, not gender, and we always found a way to agree and wouldn’t have done anything without each other’s approval. She was a wonderful woman and a great friend.”

James was born in Worcester, Mass., and graduated from Vassar College...

Judith James, the longtime producing partner of Richard Dreyfuss who worked with the Oscar winner on films including Mr. Holland’s Opus, Quiz Show and Mad Dog Time, has died. She was 86.

James died Friday at her home in Santa Barbara after a bout with cancer, according to her son, Jackson James.

James and Dreyfuss worked together for 35 years, and their partnership also included the telefilms Funny, You Don’t Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville and the Prisoner of Honor, which aired in 1987 and 1991, respectively, and The Lightkeepers (2009). They were co-writers on You Don’t Look 200 as well.

“From the minute I met Judy James at the Mark Taper Forum, I knew I had found someone who had the same passion for storytelling that I did,” Dreyfuss said in a statement. “In all the years we were producing partners, we were of like mind, not gender, and we always found...

Spoiler Alert: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 9, episode 9 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired April 12 on Fox.

It was “Masked Singer in Space Night,” but “The Masked Singer” could have also been celebrating “’90s Night.” That’s because the two celebrities unmasked on Wednesday’s episodes were both TV stars from that era: Melissa Joan Hart (of “Clarissa Explains It All” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” fame) and Alicia Witt. Hart was revealed to be Lamp, while Witt was Dandelion.

Witt had won the previous week as Dandelion, but her journey ended here. For Dandelion, panelist Ken Jeong guessed Witt right. Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg thought it was Milla Jovovich. Robin Thicke went with Sara Bareilles and Nicole Scherzinger named Zooey Deschanel.

For Lamp, McCarthy Wahlberg, Thicke and Scherzinger all got it right with Hart. Jeong went rogue with Michelle Williams.

Like last season, “The Masked Singer...

Exclusive: Alicia Witt (I Care a Lot) and Blair Underwood (Caste) have signed on to star alongside Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe in Longlegs — the horror-thriller from Jason Cloth and Dave Caplan’s C2 Motion Picture Group (Babylon), which Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter) is directing from his own script.

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The film currently in production in Vancouver follows FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe), a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to...

Stephen Herek is an American film director, producer and screenwriter who has been active in the movie industry since the 1980s. He is best known for directing films such as Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), The Mighty Ducks (1992), and Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995).

He was born in 1957 in Princeton, New Jersey and grew up in Catonsville, Maryland. After high school he attended Towson University where he graduated with a Bfa degree in theater arts. He then went on to study filmmaking at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he graduated with honors.

Herek first made his mark on Hollywood with his debut film, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure – a comedy starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter which became a major hit. Since then he has directed several other successful films such as The Rocketeer (1991) starring Billy Campbell, Donnie Darko (2001) starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Critters 4 (1992), 101 Dalmatians (1996) starring Glenn Close and Steve Martin,...

Critters is a 1986 American science fiction horror comedy film written and directed by Stephen Herek. It stars Dee Wallace, Scott Grimes, M. Emmet Walsh and Billy Zane.

The plot of the movie follows four small alien creatures, which were accidentally brought to Earth from their home planet by a space probe, as they wreak havoc on a rural Kansas town while being pursued by an intergalactic bounty hunter. Along the way, they meet up with Charlie (Grimes), his brother Brad (Billy Zane) and the local police chief (Walsh). The critters must evade capture and find a way back home before their appetite for destruction leaves the town in ruins.

The special effects used for the Critters range from puppetry to robotics. They have been described as “fuzzy rodents with razor-sharp teeth and an appetite for human flesh”. Although initially thought of as evil creatures that only wanted to cause mayhem and harm people,...

Oscar winner plays 911 operator trying to reach hiker trapped on Appalachian Trail.

Richard Dreyfuss and Annie Malee have been announced as the leads in the contained thriller Abandonment for Storyboard Media and Malee Movies, with Storyboard handling sales.

The Oscar-winning Dreyfuss portrays a 911 dispatch operator racing against time to save an injured hiker on the Appalachian Trail.

Annie Malee plays the hiker and wrote the screenplay, which is described as The Guilty meets The Revenant. Malee also produces through her Malee Movies, and Storyboard Media’s Elisabeth Costa de Beauregard Segel serves as executive producer.

The producers are targeting an autumn release on the project,...

Oliver Wood, whose work as a cinematographer included such big-budget action films as The Bourne Identity and two of its sequels, along with studio comedies like Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, has died. He was 80.

Wood died Monday, Feb. 13, surrounded by loved ones at his Hollywood home following a battle with cancer, his agent Ann Murtha told The Hollywood Reporter.

He is known for working with a long list of prominent directors, including John Woo on Face/Off (1997); Adam McKay on Talladega Nights (2006), Step Brothers (2008), The Other Guys (2010) and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013); Edward Zwick on Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016); Antoine Fuqua on The Equalizer 2 (2018); and Daniel Espinosa on Safe House (2012), Child 44 (2015) and Morbius (2022). His work on Paul Greengrass’ The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) earned Wood a BAFTA Award nomination for best cinematography.

Born on Feb. 21, 1942, in London, Wood moved to New York City at age 19 and...

Peaceful coexistence between theaters and home platforms, and the latter showing more interest in awards-elevated titles, stand out as themes this week in VOD play. Throw in signs that Nicolas Cage, always a draw for home-oriented feature films, is as strong as ever, and two unheralded titles standing out at Netflix above higher-profile originals, and the result is several interesting developments this week.

In its second week of home video play, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (Universal/19.99), released in theaters just over a month ago, repeats as #1 on all three VOD charts we follow. In the meantime, the film gained six percent this weekend in theaters, crossed the 100 million mark, showing signs that concurrent availability does little harm, at least to a family title.

This week, the Golden Globe awards and nominations from other prime industry group saw little reaction in theatrical returns other than a consistent interest in...

“Top Gun: Maverick” just screened at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, and the film appears to have taken the audience’s breath away.

Initial reactions are positively glowing, praising director Joseph Kosinski’s approach to the film’s aerial flight sequences and action while also acknowledging that the sequel is surprisingly emotional.

Starring Tom Cruise, who reprises his role as Maverick from the 1986 film, the sequel will fly into theaters May 27, 2022. Val Kilmer will also reprise the role of “Iceman.”

“#TopGunMaverick is a profound cinematic experience and easily the best film of the year,” TheWrap’s Drew Taylor wrote. “What Kosinski, @chrismcquarrie, @eddiehamilton and of course @TomCruise have accomplished is epic and intimate, heart stopping and heartbreaking. However good you think it’ll be, it’s better.”

“Deadpool” co-creator Rob Liefield is “Stunned at how absolutely outstanding” the film is, praising its “Perfect page, thrills, cast, chemistry!!!” and calling it “One...

Exclusive: The long-in-coming return of the musical based on Jerry Lewis’ The Nutty Professor, and a new musical adaptation of the Richard Dreyfuss 1995 film Mr. Holland’s Opus, will receive major regional theater stagings this year, with Maine’s nationally recognized Ogunquit Playhouse announcing the productions for its 2022 season.

This summer’s staging of The Nutty Professor, based on Lewis’ 1963 comedy, with music by Marvin Hamlisch and book and lyrics by Rupert Holmes, will be the first production of the musical since a planned Broadway-bound Nashville world premiere directed by Lewis himself was scuttled 10 years ago with the death of Hamlisch. The musical has not been staged since.

The Ogunquit production, set for July 1 to August 6, will be directed by Marc Bruni, director of the Tony-winning Broadway musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Casting has not been announced.

Following the Nutty Professor engagement, Ogunquit will present the world premiere of Mr. Holland’s Opus,...

When you’re a streaming service, there’s only one way to celebrate the New Year. And that’s by IP mining to bring back a franchise that had no business in coming back!

With its list of new releases for January 2022, Hulu is raiding CBS’s closet and premiering How I Met Your Father, a continuation of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Complaints about unnecessary rebooting aside, perhaps its worth giving the Hillary Duff starring series a chance. If nothing else, telling a story about 2022 from a future perspective might play well.

Aside from Himyf, there aren’t any other Hulu original series to speak of. Instead, Hulu is opting to once again beef up its film library. January 1 sees the arrival of Master and Commander, Seven, and a whole bunch of Star Treks. Hulu will also be the streaming home of some recently released film Indies,...

Throughout 2021, we have been updating our “In Memoriam” photo gallery (view above). Scroll through to remember 33 entertainers from film, television, theater and music. Many were winners at the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and/or Tonys. Here is a closer look at just a few of those we celebrate in our gallery:

Legendary composer Stephen Sondheim died on November 26 at age 91. He was a seven-time Tony Award winner for “Company,” “Follies,” “A Little Night Music,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Into the Woods” and “Passion.” He received a lifetime achievement Tony in 2008. He was an Oscar winner for “Dick Tracy” and a seven-time Grammy winner. Other well-known shows were “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “Pacific Overtures,” Merrily We Roll Along,” “Sunday in the Park with George” and “Assassins” plus “West Side Story” and “Gypsy” as a lyricist. He was also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Kennedy Center Honors.

On a Labor Day weekend when “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” exploded to a record $90 million initial four- day gross, Disney also expanded Premium VOD platforms for its $100 million-plus box office “Jungle Cruise” ($29.99). As with other PVOD titles, it’s making a strong debut on multiple charts after an initial Disney+ home exclusive.

“Jungle Cruise” leads at Vudu, which favors higher-priced titles with its revenue tally. Among transactional charts, iTunes has it as #3, with GooglePlay placing it at #5. “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” (Lionsgate/$5.99) repeats at #1 at both iTunes and Google, and at #5 is the highest non-pvod films at Vudu. All of this reinforces that Disney can maximize returns from multiple outlets even as films still do well in theaters.

“Don’t Breathe 2” (Sony/$19.99), a surprise PVOD release after three weeks in theaters, is #2 at Vudu, #3 at iTunes, and #5 at GooglePlay. The film fell a modest 18 percent in...

Though there have been deaf characters in movies for decades they were rarely played by hearing impaired actors. Hollywood was looking for big names for their movies and overlooked performers who were deaf. Case in point: Did you know that Loretta Young played deaf characters in both 1939’s “The Story of Alexander Graham Bell” and 1944’s “And Now Tomorrow”? And hearing actors Jane Wyman and Patty Duke won Oscars playing deaf characters. It wasn’t until 1986’s “Children of a Lesser God” that a deaf actress, Marlee Matlin, won an Oscar for playing a deaf character.

Change has been slow since then, but this past year has been encouraging. Paul Raci received an Oscar nomination this year as a Vietnam Vet who became hearing impaired in the conflict runs a shelter for recovering hearing impaired substance abuse addicts in “Sound of Metal.” Teenage deaf performer Millicent Simmonds returned this year...

"You have a whole world out there and you are missing it!" Netflix has unveiled the official trailer for a quirky comedy called Afterlife of the Party, featuring Victoria Justice as a "party planner and social butterfly" who heads to the afterlife after a birthday accident. Most surprisingly, this is a new film directed by the director of such classics as Critters, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, The Mighty Ducks, The Three Musketeers, and Mr. Holland's Opus. Though he hasn't made much of a mark in the last decade. After finding herself in the afterlife, Cassie is given a second chance to right her wrongs on Earth within five days by reconnecting with loved ones, and most importantly, prove she's worthy enough to get into the big VIP room in the sky. Justice stars with Midori Francis, Robyn Scott, Adam Garcia, Timothy Renouf, Gloria Garcia,...

One year after “Sound of Metal” made a significant impact at the Oscars, Sian Heder’s “Coda” shows itself as an outstanding example for representation in the disability community, and could be one of the heartwarming family films of the year that finds its way to Academy attention.

Distributed by Apple TV Plus, which bought the film at the Sundance Film Festival for a record-breaking $25 million, “Coda” is bowing in theaters and on the streaming platform. Following excellent reception and feedback at an official Academy screening last week, and a hearty 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Apple could have one of its strongest awards contenders to date. Last year the streamer nabbed its first two nominations, for “Wolfwalkers” in animated feature and “Greyhound” in sound. With Heder’s feature, along with Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and Todd Haynes’ documentary “The Velvet Underground,” Apple could have its best shot at major recognition yet.

Exclusive: Emmy nominee Rob Lowe is set to headline and executive produce the Netflix movie Dog Gone, based on the true story of a father and son who repair their fractured relationship during a forced hike of the Appalachian trail to find their beloved lost dog.

Funny and heartwarming, the story received worldwide attention, as people of all walks of life joined the search for the ailing mutt, Gonker, who has only days to live without his medication. Dog Gone reps Lowe’s second reteaming with Netflix after the romantic comedy Holiday in the Wild, which was one of the streamer’s most watched movies of the year. Production on Dog Gone starts later this month in Georgia.

Also starring in the movie, which is directed by Stephen Herek is Johnny Berchtold and Kimberly Williams-Paisley. Dog Gone is written by...

Olympia Dukakis, the veteran actress with over 200 roles to her name in stage, movie, and television production, has died. The beloved performer, perhaps best known for her Oscar-winning role in Moonstruck (1987), passed away on Saturday morning according to a Facebook post from her brother, Apollo Dukakis. No cause of death was given, but Apollo notes that Olympia had been suffering for months. She was 89 years old.

"My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City," Apollo wrote, including an image of Olympia. "After many months of failing health she is finally at peace with her Louis."

Apollo is referring to Louis Zorich, Olympia's late husband, who passed away years ago; the pair had been married since 1962 and had three children together. Zorich was also an actor who was famous for playing Burt Buchman, father of Paul Reiser's Paul Buchman, on the 1990s sitcom Mad About You.

Beloved screen and stage actress Olympia Dukakis died May 1 at the age of 89. The news of the Oscar winner’s passing was shared by her brother, Apollo Dukakis, on Facebook. “My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City. After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her Louis,” Apollo wrote. Her husband, actor Louis Zorich, died in 2018 at the age of 93.

Olympia Dukakis starred in more than 130 stage productions, as well as more than 60 films and 50 television series. She won her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1988 for her role in “Moonstruck” as Rose Castorini. She won a Golden Globe for the film as well, and received Emmy Award nominations for “Lucky Day” (1991), “More Tales of the City” (1998), and “Joan of Arc” (1999). She released an autobiography, “Ask Me Again Tomorrow: A Life in Progress,” in 2003. Last year, a feature-length documentary about her life,...

Olympia Dukakis, who won an Oscar for her supporting role in the 1987 hit Moonstruck also starred in Steel Magnolias, Away From Her, the three Look Who’s Talking films and Mr. Holland’s Opus, died today at her home in New York City. She was 89 and had been in ill health for some time.

“My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City,” wrote her brother Apollo, who confirmed her death on his Facebook page. “After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her [husband] Louis [Zorich].” The cause of death has yet to be determined.

Her other film credits include Over the Hill (1992), I Love Trouble (1994), Picture Perfect (1997).

Michael McKean, Bradley Whitford, George Takei & More Pay Tribute To “Brilliant, Strong, Hilarious” Olympia Dukakis

Her television credits include the 1993 transgender drama Tales of the City and its 1998 sequel, which earned her an Emmy nomination. Dukakis...

Amazon’s “Sound of Metal” is a piece of terrific filmmaking — and its achievements are even more impressive considering Hollywood’s depictions of deafness in the past.

“Sound of Metal,” directed by Darius Marder, stars Riz Ahmed as a heavy-metal drummer who begins to lose his hearing. The film has a three-act structure: Attempts by drummer Ruben to cope; his time spent in a deaf community; and his attempts to re-create his life as it was before the hearing loss.

The heart of the film is the middle segment, when community leader Joe (the excellent Paul Raci) tells Ruben that deafness “is not something to fix” and his assignment is simple: “Learn how to be deaf.”

Director Marder tells Variety, “This film is a wake-up. Most people think of deafness as a physical disability. We don’t understand that it is in fact a culture.”

In the past, most onscreen...

Actress and singer Victoria Justice and Midori Francis are set to star in “Afterlife of the Party” for Netflix, TheWrap has exclusively learned.

Also joining the cast is singer and songwriter Spencer Sutherland, who will co-star in and write original music for the film.

“Afterlife of the Party” centers on a social butterfly (Justice) who experiences the biggest party foul of all… dying during her birthday week. To her surprise, she’s given a second chance to right her wrongs on Earth by reconnecting with loved ones, and most importantly, prove that she’s worthy enough to get into the big VIP room in the sky.

Stephen Herek is set to direct the project. The screenplay is written by Carrie Freedle whose credits include “The Christmas Heist,” “Winter Love Story,” and “My Secret Valentine.” Robyn Snyder are Deborah Evans are producing the project.

Production is set to start later this...

Disney Plus has added 9 new titles to its library today, and while it’s not the most exciting or eye-catching haul, there are still a few notable fresh movies and TV shows that you may want to look into.

For one, we’ve got some new films that might keep the young ones entertained. There’s 2008’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which boasts a cast that includes Piper Perabo and Jamie Lee Curtis as the human leads, while George Lopez and Andy Garcia lend vocal support. The pic follows the adventures of a couple of Chihuahuas who find themselves dognapped and taken to Mexico. It spawned a few sequels back in the day and while not an incredible movie by any means, it can definitely kill a few hours if you’re looking for some family-friendly entertainment.

2005’s Cheaper by the Dozen 2, meanwhile, stars Steve Martin and focuses on the jumbo-sized Baker family.

Disney+ is out with its list of everything new coming in October.

Fans of Baby Yoda will be glad to hear that Season 2 of “The Mandalorian” is coming on Oct. 30. Other highlights include Season 31 of “The Simpsons,” “Maleficent,” “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” and “Cheaper by the Dozen 2.”

There are also new episodes of Disney+ Originals like “Weird But True,” “Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom,” and “The Right Stuff.”

See the full list below.

Oct. 1

Maleficent

Oct.2

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Cheaper by the Dozen 2

Mr. Holland’s Opus

Secrets of the Zoo: Down Under (s1)

The Simpsons (s31)

Zenimation Extended Edition – Premiere

Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Episode 102 – “Happy Birthday, Gino!”

One Day At Disney

Episode 144 – “Pablo Tufino: Ride Show Technician”

Weird But True Episode 308 – “Our Solar System”

Oct. 9

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Oil Spill of the Century

Wild Portugal

X2

The Right Stuff Episode 101 – “Sierra Hotel,...

Disney Plus is adding 9 new titles this coming week to kick off October. September opened with one of the biggest streaming releases of the year, Mulan, so obviously this month is going to have a softer opening haul. Still, there are a few notable fresh movies and TV shows going up on the service this Friday, October 2nd.

To start with, there are a handful of new films being added to D+’s library, and 2008’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua is one of them. Starring Piper Perabo and Jamie Lee Curtis as the human leads and the voices of George Lopez and Andy Garcia, the movie – which started a pretty successful straight-to-dvd franchise for the Mouse House – follows the adventures of a couple of well-off Chihuahuas who get dognapped and taken to Mexico.

2005’s Cheaper by the Dozen, the sequel to the earlier comedy film starring Steve Martin about the mishaps of the jumbo-sized Baker family,...

Back in November of 2019 (which seems like a lifetime ago), Disney+ launched with what would become its premier title: The Mandalorian. Now here we are just under a year later and it’s finally time for the next installment of Disney+’s Star Wars journey.

The Mandalorian season 2 arrives on Oct. 30 and is the biggest ticket item on Disney+ this month and perhaps is the biggest ticket item in all the streaming world. Rest assured that the itty bitty Baby Yoda will be returning once again. And be sure to catch up all the other secrets the trailer holds here.

In addition to Mando, Disney+ is brining another major original series to its stream this month. The Right Stuff, based on on the 1979 book of the same name about the NASA space program, will be arriving on Oct. 9 and debuting new episodes throughout the month.

Big library titles in October include Maleficent,...

With October quickly approaching, it’s time to start looking ahead to what’s coming to all our favorite streaming services next month, and as usual, Disney Plus is first out of the gate in regards to announcing what’s on the way. We’ll get to the full list shortly, but clearly, the big highlight for many will be season 2 of The Mandalorian.

Though it took a while for the Mouse House to begin the marketing campaign for it, the past few weeks have brought us photos, posters and, of course, a stunning full-length trailer for the show’s next run, all of which promise another thrilling adventure. Rumors of behind the scenes turmoil aside, all signs point to The Mandalorian making another big splash on the platform with its second season and we can’t wait to see what Baby Yoda and Mando get up to next.

But...

Harry Clein, 82, co-founder of Hollywood PR agencies Clein + Feldman and Clein + White, died June 18 in Atlanta. He suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

I first met Clein in Manhattan in 1978 when I worked in the United Artists publicity bullpen at 729 Seventh Ave. He represented Alan J. Pakula on the western “Comes a Horseman,” starring James Caan and Jane Fonda. He admired my Annie Hall vests and fedoras; we bonded over his encyclopedic knowledge of film and Broadway musicals, and remained friends as he founded bicoastal press agency Clein + Feldman in 1981 with Bruce Feldman. Their first client, Pakula’s “Sophie’s Choice,” won Meryl Streep her second acting Oscar.

When I first moved to Los Angeles as the West Coast Editor of Film Comment, Clein + Feldman hired me to be the unit publicist on what would turn out to be Sam Peckinpah’s last movie, “The Osterman Weekend” (1983), starring Rutger Hauer, Dennis Hopper,...

Harry Clein, 82, co-founder of Hollywood PR agencies Clein + Feldman and Clein + White, died June 18 in Atlanta. He suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

I first met Clein in Manhattan in 1978 when I worked in the United Artists publicity bullpen at 729 Seventh Ave. He represented Alan J. Pakula on the western “Comes a Horseman,” starring James Caan and Jane Fonda. He admired my Annie Hall vests and fedoras; we bonded over his encyclopedic knowledge of film and Broadway musicals, and remained friends as he founded bicoastal press agency Clein + Feldman in 1981 with Bruce Feldman. Their first client, Pakula’s “Sophie’s Choice,” won Meryl Streep her second Best Actress Oscar.

When I first moved to Los Angeles as the West Coast Editor of Film Comment, Clein + Feldman hired me to be the unit publicist on what would turn out to be Sam Peckinpah’s last movie, “The Osterman Weekend” (1983), starring Rutger Hauer,...

Harry Clein, a veteran film publicist who wrote the original press notes for Star Wars and helped develop the innovative internet campaign for The Blair Witch Project, died June 18 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder in Atlanta. He was 82.

His death was announced by spokesperson Mark Pogachefsky.

Clein, along with Bruce Feldman, cofounded the Clein + Feldman agency in 1981. Their first client was director Alan J. Pakula and his film Sophie’s Choice.

With offices on both coasts and quickly developing a reputation as an innovative shop for independent distributors, producers and filmmakers, the agency became Clein + White in 1989, with the addition of Cara White as a partner and the departure of Feldman for a studio career. Clein + White closed in 2000, with Clein focusing on producing and marketing consultation. He also taught at the Los Angeles Film School.

Earlier in his career, Clein was a unit publicist on such films as All the President’s Men,...

David Nichols, a production designer and visual consultant on more than 20 films, such as “Rocky,” “Taxi Driver” and “Groundhog Day,” died on Wednesday in Taos, N.M., Variety has learned. He was 78.

Nichols had a 30-year career in the film industry, serving as a production designer, art director, visual consultant, writer and actor at various times. His work stretched across Hollywood films and on Broadway shows.

As a production designer, he worked on the 1993 hit comedy “Groundhog Day,” starring Bill Murray. His other credits include “Gossip,” “Buddy,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” “A Midnight Clear,” “Great Balls of Fire!” “The Serpent and the Rainbow,” “Hoosiers,” “Heartbreakers,” “Found Money,” “Testament,” “Swamp Thing” and “Longshot.”

As a visual consultant in the different art departments, he helped with Sylvester Stallone’s Oscar-winning movie “Rocky” and Robert De Niro’s “Taxi Driver,” which picked up four Oscar nominations. Nichols also appeared as an extra in a...

Clueless is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year. And while it has been fun to see some of the cast reunite and reminisce about old times, it's truly exciting to see the star of that movie, Alicia Silverstone, back in a new comedy, all grown up and dealing with some very adult problems. Today, we have an exclusive clip from Bad Therapy, which pairs Silverstone with comedy favorite Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine).

Alicia Silverstone and Rob Corddry play a married couple having trouble with their relationship. They make the decision to see a therapist, and it doesn't quite go as planned. The romantic comedy also stars Michaela Watkins&#160and Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense). The film will now be released on VOD on April 17th. You can watch the exclusive clip featuring Alicia Silverstone taking a meeting with her new therapist played by Michaela Watkins, who isn't giving her very good advice.

Acclaimed stuntman and action director extraordinaire Jesse V. Johnson joins us to discuss the U.S. based action films and filmmakers that have influenced him the most.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

On The Waterfront (1954)

Fultah Fisher’s Boarding House (1922)

Undisputed (2002)

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)

Undisputed III: Redemption (2010)

Boyka: Undisputed (2016)

The Killer Elite (1975)

Convoy (1978)

The Osterman Weekend (1983)

Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (1974)

Le Cercle Rouge (1970)

Straw Dogs (1971)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Birdcage (1996)

Cross of Iron (1977)

Electra Glide in Blue (1973)

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974)

Easy Rider (1969)

Fail Safe (1964)

The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Ride The High Country (1962)

Major Dundee (1965)

Jinxed! (1982)

Beowulf (2007)

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)

The Girl Hunters (1963)

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Point Blank (1967)

Falling Down (1993)

M (1951)

M (1931)

The Black Vampire (1953)

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Scum (1979)

Elephant (1989)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), possibly Joe’s favorite John Ford...

The Ogunquit Playhouse has announced an exciting lineup of shows for its 88th season that includes the Northeast regional premiere of the hilarious dark comedy The War of the Roses, a new play based on the novel by Warren Adler and helmed by Tony Award-winner Jason Alexander, and the world premiere of the funny and heartwarming musical adaptation of Mr. Holland's Opus, helmed by Tony Award-winner Bd Wong. The season opens with the high-energy musical sensation Dirty Dancing -The Classic Story on Stage based on the smash-hit film, then continues with a stunning revival of the Tony Award-winning, all-Gershwin, tap dancing extravaganza Crazy for You, and the exhilarating Broadway hit musical based on the lives of Grammy Award-winning husband-and-wife team Gloria and Emilio Estefan, On Your Feet. The season will stretch to the holidays once again with the return of the hit show White Christmas in collaboration with The Music Hall in Portsmouth,...

HBO is out with its list of everything new coming to HBO in January, and everything leaving.

Highlights include “The New Pope,” out Jan. 13. Starring Jude Law, it’s a continuation of the 2016 series “The Young Pope.”

There’s also “The Outsider,” out Jan. 12. Based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel, it stars Jason Bateman, Cynthia Erivo and Ben Mendelsohn.

“Avenue 5,” about a luxury space-traveling company, is out Jan. 19, along with season 10 of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Here’s the full list for January:

Jan. 1

American Animals

Casi famoso (Almost Famous) (2019)

Vaca (2018)

Another Stakeout (1993)

Arthur (1981)

Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988)

Cat People (1982)

College (2008)

Fast Five (Extended Version) (2011)

Filly Brown (2013)

Galaxy of Terror (1981)

Head Office (1986)

The Hitcher (1986)

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (2011)

Les Misérables (2012)

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012)

Mr. Holland’s Opus (1996)

Odd Jobs (1986)

The Odd Couple II (1998)

Rock the Kasbah (1991)

The Russia House (1990)

Scary Movie 3 (2003)

Seventh Son (3015)

The Shooting...

Tri-g and Savvy Media Holdings announced today that Jerry O'Connell and Celia Weston have signed on to star alongside Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas in Andy Tennant's The Secret Movie. Joe Gelchion's Tri-g, Matthew George's Savvy Media Holdings and Robert Katz under his Shine Box banner recently boarded the film to produce, alongside Robert Cort Productions, Illumination Entertainment and Covert Media.

Producers include Robert Cort, Rhonda Byrne, Paul Hanson, Matthew George, and Robert Katz and Joe Gelchion, who's banner Tri-g is fully financing the film. Covert Media is handling international sales which continue through the Afm this week. Principal photography begins today in New Orleans.

The Secret Movie centers around a hard-working young widow with three children who hires a handyman to fix her house during a terrible storm. As the handyman grows closer to the family, he shares his philosophy of believing in the power of thought to create what we want,...

'Music of the Heart' cast: Meryl Streep, Gloria Estefan, Aidan Quinn and Angela Bassett. 'Music of the Heart': Unusually bloodless Wes Craven movie works as Meryl Streep showcase Wes Craven, the director of the Scream franchise and of the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, is hardly the kind of filmmaker from whom one would expect a syrupy motion picture about a determined violin teacher who wins the hearts and minds of her inner-city school students. Yet Craven is the man responsible for Music of the Heart, a film utterly devoid of slashed faces, lethal stabbings, and deadly fingernails. Instead, this distaff version of Mr. Holland's Opus – with touches of To Sir with Love – offers loads of sentiment, some classical music (violinists Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, and Mark O'Connor appear as themselves), plenty of bad pop tunes, and a superb performance by Meryl Streep as a...

Alec Bojalad Dec 19, 2019

We have the highlights of what's coming and going from HBO Now and HBO Go in January 2020.

A new year will eventually mean a new HBO with the release of HBO Max. But for now HBO Now and HBO Go continue on and are putting their best foot forward with the HBO new releases for January 2020.

Comedy is the name of the game for the HBO originals in January 2020. Larry David returns as Curb Your Enthusiasm season 10 premieres on January 19. Veep creator Armando Iannucci takes his satirical ways to space with Avenue 5 the same night. The New Pope is...sort of a comedy and arrives on January 13. The Stephen King series The Outsider is very much not a comedy but it will come to HBO on January 12 all the same.

The list of movies coming to HBO in January 2020 are surprisingly action-packed as well. John Wick...

Poznan, Poland— Michael Price gets around. The British composer leaves Poznan today after being one of the featured speakers at the Transatlantyk Festival, a week-long event dedicated to film, music, and cuisine, to head straight to Los Angeles for the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Saturday (16). Price is nominated for the first time for Outstanding music composition for a miniseries, movie or a special (original dramatic score) for “Sherlock,” the BBC series he composes music for with David Arnold. Price apprenticed with a number of composers, but he also worked as a music editor for years, on such films as “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Love Actually,” and “Nanny McPhee.” I hopped in a car with Price to interview him on our way to Transatlantyk’s closing gala. You started as an assistant for the late composer Michael Kamen ("Brazil,""Band Of Brothers," "Lethal Weapon," "Mr. Holland's Opus"), who...

New York (AP) — You can soon buy concert tickets from StubHub for shows produced by StubHub. The company, which helps brokers and fans buy and sell tickets on its website, announced Wednesday it will sell tickets to concerts that it will produce. It has five shows planned so far featuring "emerging acts" and will launch its first self-produced concert May 18 in Los Angeles. The performer will be announced next week. StubHub is getting involved in a business dominated by Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and its Ticketmaster subsidiary. Aeg is also a big player in concert promotion and ticketing of concerts at its own venues like the Staples Center in Los Angeles through its ticketing arm, Axs. Michael Lattig, StubHub's chief marketing officer, said ticketing its own concerts is not a "one-off" project. "This is about doing something that we can repeat and continue to bring around the country and deliver...

Boyhood was truly a very cool and unique movie going experience. I had a chance to see it up and Sundance earlier this year, and I loved it. The film is seriously the most epic coming-of-age film ever made. It comes from director Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight, Dazed and Confused) who cast a young six year old boy in 2002. he then shot the film over the course of 12-years, which has never been done before. It follows the lives of the boy, his sister, and his divorced mother and father played by Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette. Here's an excerpt from the review I wrote for it:

A movie like this might be considered a coming of age story, but it's really kind of a coming of life story. There's so much that happens in the course of a person's life, so many twists and turns and crazy emotions.