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If you're a parent with a kid of a certain age, there's a damn good chance you've seen at least one of the "Trolls" movies. They are wildly popular and now ranks as one of the more successful toy-to-screen adaptations in modern Hollywood history. The first "Trolls" film was released in 2016 during Hollywood's 2010s franchise boom. It was a solid hit that gave rise to a sequel, which arrived in the form of 2020's "Trolls World Tour." On the surface, that movie seemed to be an unassuming, harmless animated follow-up to a hit film aimed at kids. In reality, it helped change Hollywood forever.

Let's rewind the clocks a bit. It's March 2020 and movie theaters all around the world have been forced to close due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The box office is on life support, with drive-ins making an unexpected comeback. Hollywood studios are fearful of an uncertain future...

Eddie Murphy famously had beef with David Spade after his Hollywood Minute segment on SNL’s Weekend Update took a wicked shot at him. “Look, children, it’s a falling star,” Spade snarked next to a picture of a smiling Murphy. “Make a wish.”

@doubleimpactpodcast

Spade had been much crueler to other celebrities, but Murphy, fresh off his first box-office flops, was incensed. He repeatedly called the SNL offices to berate a terrified Spade. “My heart stopped. Wtf?” Spade remembered. He finally accepted the call, and “I took my beating.”

But if Spade’s one-liner riled Murphy, what did he think of that fake movie trailer that ran before Tropic Thunder? Multiple trailer spoofs in that movie parodied the worst of Hollywood. Ben Stiller’s character, Tugg Speedman, starred in Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown, the latest in a series of over-the-top action blockbusters that made less money with each sequel.

Katherine Elizabeth Upton is believed to be around 5ft 10 (177.8 cm), which makes her much taller than the average American woman. She wears a US size 9.5, which converts to approximately 7 in the UK, 40-41 in Europe, and 25.5 in Japan.

At the V Magazine Dinner Party on July 19, 2024, Kate Upton stood out in a shiny velvet strapless cocktail dress from Jason Wu paired with Jimmy Choo Skye heeled sandals.

Posing alongside fellow models Isabeli Fontana (5’9″ / 175.3 cm), Daiane Sodre (5’11” / 180 cm), and Maria Klaumann (5’7.5″ / 172 cm), the group showcased effortless glamour against a stunning sunset backdrop.

Kate Upton dazzles in a golden Jason Wu dress, standing alongside Isabeli Fontana, Daiane Sodre, and Maria Klaumann at the V Magazine Dinner Party on July 19, 2024 (Credit: INSTARimages)

Kate Upton’s Best Designer Shoes: Jimmy Choo, Giuseppe Zanotti & More

Kate Upton consistently showcases her sophisticated footwear taste, favoring high-end brands that complement her elegant style.

While fashion wasn’t her original career goal,...

The former and incoming First Lady of the United States Melania Trump is coming to Amazon Prime Video — and to theaters.

Amazon has announced that Prime Video has licensed an upcoming documentary on Melania Trump that is being directed by Brett Ratner, the director and producer of films like “Rush Hour 2” who has been on the outs with Hollywood since the #MeToo era.

The movie began filming in December 2024, shortly after Donald Trump won the election, and intends to be completed and released in the second half of 2025. The untitled documentary project will be released theatrically as well as available exclusively on Prime Video, though no specific release plans in terms of the scope of the theatrical release were detailed.

An Amazon spokesperson said the film will give “an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look” at the First Lady, and that she will be executive producing the film alongside Fernando Sulichin for New Element Media.

No one stays canceled forever, it seems. After being accused by seven different women of sexual misconduct and assault, Brett Ratner's Hollywood career was effectively over. Warner Bros.'s studio dropped him and all future projects in 2017, and he hasn't worked since. That is, until January 5, 2025, when news came of Ratner's big comeback: directing a documentary on former and future First Lady Melania Trump for Amazon Prime Video.

Filming has already begun, Variety reports. An Amazon spokesperson said the film is "an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look" at Trump, with the First Lady set to executive produce the project alongside New Element Media’s Fernando Sulichin. The spokesperson continued: "Prime Video will be sharing more details on the project as filming progresses and release plans are finalized. We are excited to share this truly unique story with our millions of customers around the world."

Related Sean Penn Bashes the Oscars and...

Brett Ratner is returning to directing for the first time in a decade, marking the first time any of us had thought, "Brett Ratner made a Hercules movie starring the Rock?" Well, he did. Not long after Hercules' release, Ratner's lucrative career in making Rush Hour sequels and reading The...

Melania Trump will be the focus of an upcoming Prime Video documentary directed by Brett Ratner, who will make his return behind the camera for the first time since his #MeToo era downfall seven years ago.

The streaming service announced the film just weeks before Melania reassumes the role of First Lady for the second Trump administration. According to Prime Video, the documentary will offer “an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look” at the President-elect’s third wife.

Variety reports that the documentary, which will also be executive-produced by Melania, began filming in December,...

Director Brett Ratner has set his first film since being accused of sexual misconduct and harassment at the height of the #MeToo movement: A Documentary about First Lady Melania Trump.

Amazon MGM Studios has agreed to license the film, which will be released later this year.

The film is in production now, with Trump serving as an executive producer, along with Fernando Sulichin, who produced Oliver Stone’s Snowden and Sean Penn’s Flag Day. The project is expected for release in the first half of 2025 and will have a theatrical and streaming release, according to Amazon.

Amazon touts the film as giving “viewers an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at First Lady Melania Trump.” Added an Amazon spokesperson: “We are excited to share this truly unique story with our millions of customers around the world.”

Ratner has been in Hollywood exile since 2017, when six women accused him of sexual misconduct as...

Brett Ratner, the director behind the popular Rush Hour series, is attempting a Hollywood comeback after years away from the industry. Although he directed the first three Rush Hour films, attempts to pitch a fourth installment have hit roadblocks.

Studios like Paramount and Sony have shown no interest in working with him. Ratner’s absence from Hollywood began in 2017 when he faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct during the height of the #MeToo movement.

These allegations led to his agency cutting ties with him immediately. Ratner has denied all accusations, and no legal charges were ever filed. Despite his controversial past, Ratner has found support from Amazon for a new project—a documentary about Melania Trump, co-produced by the former First Lady herself, as per Variety.

The film promises a rare, behind-the-scenes look at Melania’s life and is slated for a 2025 release.

Ratner’s friends told Variety that he...

Amazon is getting into business with Melania Trump. And Brett Ratner.

The studio has confirmed that its Prime Video has exclusively licensed an upcoming documentary film on the former and incoming first lady that will be directed by Ratner. A studio spokesperson calls the film “an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look” at the first lady and third wife of Donald Trump.

The film will receive both a theatrical and streaming release and will be participatory in every sense given that Melania Trump will executive produce alongside New Element Media’s Fernando Sulichin. Filming began in December 2024, one month after former President Donald Trump won a decisive victory to return to the White House.

Amazon is planning a release in the second half of 2025.

Perhaps the most controversial element of the new project involves Ratner, who hasn’t worked on major Hollywood productions since 2017, when the “Rush Hour” helmer was accused of sexual...

A24 may have already secured the sleeper hit of 2025 if the trailer for Death of a Unicorn is anything to go by. A24 has been on a real hot streak of producing movies that hit the sweet spot between arthouse and mainstream. From Hereditary to Civil War or Everything Everywhere All at Once, they've been responsible for some of the most unique genre outings of the last decade. The trailer for Death of a Unicorn makes a good case that it might be added to the list of A24's best movies.

The premise sees a father and daughter accidentally running over a unicorn, whose body is then taken and examined by a pharmaceutical company. While the premise may sound like a kid's adventure film, Death of a Unicorn's trailer reveals it to be a gory horror comedy, where the unicorn's parent soon comes to seek revenge. The film...

We all have our favorite Oscars ceremony host, but it wouldn't be wholly inaccurate to name Billy Crystal as the best to ever do the job. Crystal, an affable song-and-comedy man (who was cut from the first episode of "SNL"), hosted the ceremony from 1990 to 1993, with returns in 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2004. Crystal, while game when finally on stage, has made no secrets about the times he wanted to step down. In 1998, he even announced to the audience that he didn't want to host the Oscars that year, but that the Academy talked him into it. 

The Academy has experimented wildly with hosts over the years, inviting people like Seth MacFarlane, Chris Rock, Neil Patrick Harris, and Hugh Jackman to take the job. Steve Martin and Martin Short hosted once. No one liked the year Anne Hathaway and James Franco served. One disastrous year, the Academy decided not to have a host.

In...

Sometime in the 2000s, comedian Eddie Murphy began experiencing a career slump that, quite sadly, would remain with him for years. Ron Underwood's 2002 sci-fi comedy "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" was a notorious bomb, making only $7.1 million on a $100 million budget. Murphy's cinematic update of "I Spy" from the same year also lost money, and Murphy turned to making mediocre but popular kiddie flicks like "The Haunted Mansion" and "Daddy Day Care" to make ends meet.

In 2006, Murphy received an Academy Award nomination for his performance in "Dreamgirls," but he immediately chased it with the universally hated "Norbit" only months later. "Norbit" made money, but no one seemed to like it. Some have even said that the presence of "Norbit" in theaters harmed Murphy's chance of winning an Oscar that year. He lost to Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine."

Murphy's next few films were all panned by critics,...

Prime Video’s November programming will dip its toe into Christmas and other holiday offerings such as The Holiday (2006) starring Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black. The streamer will also add some films with sequels arriving in theaters this month, like Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) and Ridley Scott’s 1992 film Gladiator.

For the full list of Prime Video programming in November 2024, see below.

Related: New On Netflix For November 2024: Movies, TV Shows and More

Nov. 1

Movies:

12 Days of Christmas Eve (2004) 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995) 50 To 1 (2014) A Knight’s Tale (2001) Absolute Deception (2013) Across The Universe (2007) Agent Cody Banks (2003) Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004) Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) Airplane! (1980) All Saints (2017) Almost Christmas (2016) Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid (2004) Anger Management (2003) Apache (1954) Bad Company (2002) Battlefield Earth (2000) Battleship (2012) Big Night (1996) Blizzard (2003) Blown Away (1993) Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004) Boomerang (1992) Bucky Larson Born To Be A Star (2011) Carrie...

It’s been over two decades since Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker first teamed up for Rush Hour, the blockbuster buddy cop movie that worked way better without the involvement of Jay Leno.

Play

But after three hit movies, the Rush Hour series sputtered to a halt. Why? Well, for one thing, Tucker decided to take a break from Hollywood. But now he seems totally up for making another sequel, even telling reporters last year that Rush Hour 4 was “close” to happening.

Chan also seems amenable to the idea of continuing the adventures of Detective Inspector Lee. So what’s the problem? Well, it seems like the project comes with some pretty major baggage: director Brett Ratner.

As most of you are probably aware, in 2017, multiple women accused Ratner of abuses ranging from sexual harassment to rape, all of which he denied. This was in addition to his past indiscretions,...

Starz has announced the movie and TV titles that will be available on the service in September. The Starz September 2024 schedule includes the premiere of Three Women, a limited series based on the New York Times bestselling book that explores female desire through the compellingly raw and honest stories of three women on a crash course to radically change their lives.

Part Two of the final season of Power Book II: Ghost will also premiere. On the film front, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Imaginary, Arthur the King, Knock at the Cabin, The Strangers: Chapter 1, Training Day, Ant-Man, and several other notable titles will join the Starz app this month.

Three Women Starz Highlights

Power Book II: Ghost Season 4 Part 2

The second half of the fourth and final season of “Power Book II: Ghost” premieres on Friday, September 6, at midnight Et on the Starz app. On linear, it will air on Starz at 8:00 p.

Eddie Murphy may consider sequels to his classic movies after recent successes like Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F and Coming 2 America. Fans of Eddie Murphy's comedic roles are excited about the potential return of classic characters in sequels or spinoffs. Murphy's career renaissance may lead to sequels for movies like Bowfinger or Tower Heist.

After Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Eddie Murphy may consider making sequels to some of his other classic movies after decades of silence. Murphy first broke through as a movie star in the early 1980s. Since then, he has built a reputation as an inimitable comedic actor that rivals his success as a stand-up. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is the second legacy sequel Murphy has made in recent years. Amazon Prime Video's Coming 2 America also revived one of his most popular movies, suggesting that he may be open to more.

Eddie Murphy...

Exclusive: Emmy and DGA Award-winning actor, director, writer and producer Ben Stiller has signed with WME in all areas.

Stiller’s breakthrough came with his Emmy-winning sketch comedy program The Ben Stiller Show (1992-1995), which helped launch the careers of Judd Apatow, David Cross, Janeane Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk.

Among his TV credits and accolades, Stiller won the DGA Award for directing all 7 parts of the Showtime limited series Escape at Dannemora, which he also executive produced, receiving Emmy nominations in the Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series categories.

The multihyphenate recently concluded work on the second season of the Apple TV+ series Severance, which he directs and executive produces. For the first season of the series, he won a Peabody Award and was nominated for two Emmys plus PGA and DGA Awards.

His prolific acting career has included roles in major film franchises such as Night at the Museum,...

Adam Cooper has made his feature directorial debut with the thriller Sleeping Dogs, working from a screenplay he wrote with his writing partner Bill Collage. Starring Russell Crowe (The Pope’s Exorcist) and Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy), the film is set to reach theatres on March 22nd – and with that date swiftly approaching a trailer for Sleeping Dogs has arrived online! You can watch it in the embed above.

Cooper and Collage’s previous collaborations include New York Minute, Accepted, Tower Heist, The Transporter Refueled, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Allegiant, and Assassin’s Creed. The script they wrote for Sleeping Dogs is based on the novel The Book of Mirrors by E. O. Chirovici. The film has the following synopsis: In the wake of a cutting-edge Alzheimer’s treatment, former homicide detective Roy Freeman is tasked with re-examining a brutal murder case from his past – the grisly murder of a college professor.

Kevin Hart is back with another Netflix film but this time instead of a comedy we see him as a master thief. Directed by F. Gary Gray, the Netflix film Lift revolves around a group of thieves who join hands with Interpol to get immunity for their past crime, but to do that they have to steal half a billion dollars worth of gold from a flying airplane without being caught by the owner of the gold, who is surprise surprise the bad guy. Lift also stars Úrsula Corberó, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Worthington, Billy Magnussen, Kim Yoon-ji, Jean Reno, and Vincent D’Onofrio starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved Lift and all of its action here are some similar films you could watch next.

The Italian Job (Paramount+ & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – Paramount Pictures

From the same director and in the same genre as Lift, this film deserves to be on this list.

Kate Upton rose to fame with her appearances in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issues and her acting debut in Tower Heist. Upton had a successful modeling career, appearing on multiple Sports Illustrated covers and Vanity Fair's 100th anniversary issue. After a hiatus from acting, Upton will soon star in the upcoming comedy Sweet Dreams.

At one point in time, it seemed like Kate Upton was everywhere, but the model/actress has practically disappeared from the limelight over the past couple of years. Upton first received widespread attention for her appearances in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issues. She was first featured in the 2011 issue, in which she was named Rookie of the Year. That same year, she made her acting debut in Brett Ratner's Tower Heist alongside Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, and Matthew Broderick. The following year, Upton starred in the 2012 film The Three Stooges.

Upton went on...

It’s the most spookiest time of the year, and you’ll find a smorgasbord of creepy content on the Hulu streaming service in October! Not only has the streamer secured recent theatrical releases like Cobweb and Slotherhouse for you, but Huluween is here again to make sure things go bump in the night.

Huluween highlights this year include the first season of Living for the Dead, which comes from the creators of Netflix’s popular Queer Eye. Join five queer ghost hunters – Alex Le May, Juju Bae, Ken Boggle, Logan Taylor and Roz Hernandez – as they travel to a range of the world’s most haunted locations in an attempt to help the living by healing the dead.

Hulu will also premiere Monster Inside: America’s Most Extreme Haunted House from director Andrew Renzi. The new documentary follows the story of “Navy Veteran turned master of horror” Russ McKamey. His home,...

As the calendar turns to August, Peacock is going to be home to some of the most exciting sporting events and movies on streaming. In addition to being the streaming home for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the NBCUniversal streaming service will host the WWE’s Summerslam, college football’s premiere Week 0 matchup between Notre Dame and Navy from Ireland.

In addition to all of the sports action, the streamer will become the exclusive streaming home of the most successful movie of the year, all of Hallmark Channel’s Summer Nights movies, and one of the most exciting Viking epics ever made.

Sign Up $5.99+ / month peacocktv.com What Are the Best Shows and Movies Coming to Peacock in August 2023? 2023 Women’s World Cup Finals | Aug. 20

The United States Women’s National Team is just two games into its quest to win its third-straight Women’s World Cup, but the excitement is already ramping up,...

The second season of original series “Almost Paradise” is set to premiere on Freevee on July 21. When hypertension forces DEA agent Alex Walker (played by Christian Kane) into early retirement, he moves to the Philippines in hopes of a quieter life. But unfortunately for him, he can’t avoid danger. Soon, the local police ask him to help solve a series of serious crimes.

Watch the “Almost Paradise” Season 2 trailer:

Also coming to Amazon’s free streaming service in July is the incredibly meta action series “Ze Network.” In the show, David Hasselhoff plays himself as he takes a gig at an English-language theater in Germany — and we all know that Germans love David Hasselhoff. However, once there, he is recruited into an elite society of super-spies, who must work together to prevent a dangerous plot from striking the nation.

Check out the trailer for “Ze Network”:

The Coen Bros.

From Frat Baby to Kalispitron to The Biggest Turkey in the World, Waystar Studios is responsible for plenty of solid, mediocre entertainment in the Succession universe. Throughout the show’s four-season run, the writers of Succession prioritized the Shakespearean tragedy of the characters above all. But they also had a ton of fun with all the in-universe media pumped out by Logan Roy’s empire – particularly the mindless films produced by Waystar Studios. Waystar Studios is the only branch of the company that Roman felt comfortable working for, because it allowed him to flex his creative muscles.

Every feather in the Waystar cap has a real-world parallel. Atn is Succession’s stand-in for Fox News; Brightstar Adventure Parks is its stand-in for Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products. But Waystar Studios isn’t based on any particular movie studio – it’s a parody of all of them. Waystar Studios is perhaps...

A few months ago, we heard that filming was underway on a thriller called Sleeping Dogs, starring Russell Crowe (The Pope’s Exorcist). Filming has since wrapped, and now we’ve gotten our hands on the first image from the film! The image features Crowe and co-star Tommy Flanagan (Alien vs. Predator), and you can check it out at the bottom of this article.

Adam Cooper is making his feature directorial debut with this project, working from a screenplay he wrote with his writing partner Bill Collage. Cooper and Collage’s previous collaborations include New York Minute, Accepted, Tower Heist, The Transporter Refueled, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Allegiant, and Assassin’s Creed. The script Cooper and Collage wrote for Sleeping Dogs is based on the novel The Book of Mirrors by E. O. Chirovici. The film has the following synopsis: In the wake of a cutting-edge Alzheimer’s treatment, former homicide detective...

Eddie Murphy is reportedly in talks to star in a remake of the classic comedy The Pink Panther. Starring the legendary Peter Sellers as bumbling Inspector Clouseau, 1963’s The Pink Panther was a smash hit heist comedy that spawned a long-running Sellers-led series, culminating with 1983’s Curse of the Pink Panther. Following Sellers’ death, the Pink Panther franchise made a return in 1993 with Son of the Pink Panther, starring Roberto Benigni as Clouseau’s progeny. A proper reboot was later attempted with 2006’s Shawn Levy-directed The Pink Panther, starring Steve Martin, who reprised the role of Clouseau in 2009’s The Pink Panther 2.

Now over a decade after Martin’s second and apparently final outing in the Pink Panther series, MGM is developing a new reboot, with Shrek star Murphy reportedly in talks to play Clouseau (via THR). Sonic the Hedgehog’s Jeff Fowler was previously reported to be directing,...

Exclusive: Former Madam Secretary star Tèa Leoni has signed with Gersh for representation.

Leoni took a multi-year break following her six-season starring run as Elizabeth McCord in the CBS series Madam Secretary, which she also produced. She is now planning a return to acting and producing and may also venture into writing and directing.

In features, Leoni is known for Tower Heist, Ghost Town, You Kill Me, Fun with Dick and Jane, Flirting with Disaster, Deep Impact, Spanglish and The Family Man, among others. 

Since 2001, Leoni has been a Unicef Ambassador and in 2006, she became a National Board Member of the U.S. Fund, now Unicef USA. Leoni is the third generation of her family working with Unicef following in the footsteps of her grandmother, who co-founded the U.S. Fund for Unicef in 1947 and served as its President for 25 years. In November 2007, she and her father, Tony Pantaleoni, received...

Russell Crowe (Gladiator) and Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy) star in Sleeping Dogs, a thriller that started filming in Australia this month. Adam Cooper is making his feature directorial debut with this project, working from a screenplay he wrote with his writing partner Bill Collage. Cooper and Collage’s previous collaborations include New York Minute, Accepted, Tower Heist, The Transporter Refueled, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Allegiant, and Assassin’s Creed.

The script Cooper and Collage wrote for Sleeping Dogs is based on the novel The Book of Mirrors by E. O. Chirovici. The film has the following synopsis: In the wake of a cutting-edge Alzheimer’s treatment, former homicide detective Roy Freeman is tasked with re-examining a brutal murder case from his past – the grisly murder of a college professor. Intrigued and fighting to regain his memory, Roy enlists his former partner to help him revive the investigation. This time though,...

In February 2023, Netflix will remove a bunch of movie and TV series from its library,

Netflix UK and Netflix US takes down numerous titles each month without fanfare, meaning that many things on your watchlist could suddenly disappear.

These removals are due to licencing deals coming to an end. Often, the titles make their way back to Netflix in the following year, but sometimes they leave to go to other platforms.

This month sees a selection of Netflix Originals being taken down, also.

To minimise surprise, we have put together a comprehensive list of everything being removed in both Netflix UK and US.

Find a full list of every movie and TV series being added to Netflix this month here.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK

Movies

1 February

Amélie

Biking Borders

Christmas Under Wraps

The Cider House Rules

Collateral (2004)

Equilibrium

Event Horizon...

In February 2023, Netflix will remove a bunch of movie and TV series from its library,

Netflix UK and Netflix US takes down numerous titles each month without fanfare, meaning that many things on your watchlist could suddenly disappear.

These removals are due to licencing deals coming to an end. Often, the titles make their way back to Netflix in the following year, but sometimes they leave to go to other platforms.

This month sees a selection of Netflix Originals being taken down, also.

To minimise surprise, we have put together a comprehensive list of everything being removed in both Netflix UK and US.

Find a full list of every movie and TV series being added to Netflix this month here.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK

Movies

1 February

Amélie

Biking Borders

Christmas Under Wraps

The Cider House Rules

Collateral (2004)

Equilibrium

Event Horizon...

In February 2023, Netflix will remove a bunch of movie and TV series from its library,

Netflix UK and Netflix US takes down numerous titles each month without fanfare, meaning that many things on your watchlist could suddenly disappear.

These removals are due to licencing deals coming to an end. Often, the titles make their way back to Netflix in the following year, but sometimes they leave to go to other platforms.

This month sees a selection of Netflix Originals being taken down, also.

To minimise surprise, we have put together a comprehensive list of everything being removed in both Netflix UK and US.

Find a full list of every movie and TV series being added to Netflix this month here.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK

Movies

1 February

Amélie

Biking Borders

Christmas Under Wraps

The Cider House Rules

Collateral (2004)

Equilibrium

Event Horizon...

In February 2023, Netflix will remove a bunch of movie and TV series from its library,

Netflix UK and Netflix US takes down numerous titles each month without fanfare, meaning that many things on your watchlist could suddenly disappear.

These removals are due to licencing deals coming to an end. Often, the titles make their way back to Netflix in the following year, but sometimes they leave to go to other platforms.

This month sees a selection of Netflix Originals being taken down, also.

To minimise surprise, we have put together a comprehensive list of everything being removed in both Netflix UK and US.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK

Movies

1 February

Amélie

Biking Borders

Christmas Under Wraps

The Cider House Rules

Collateral (2004)

Equilibrium

Event Horizon

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Guest House

Holmes & Watson

Hostel

The King’s Speech

Letters to Juliet

Love Happens...

December is here, and some holly jolly cheer along with some spooks and scares will come to Amazon Prime Video in the form of newly added shows and movies.

Prime Video Original Christmas rom-coms on the way include “Something From Tiffany’s” — out Dec. 9 — starring Zoey Deutch and Kendrick Smith Sampson about strangers who cross paths unintentionally, discovering they might be meant for each other instead of their significant others as well as “Your Christmas or Mine?” — out Dec. 2 — starring Asa Butterfield, Cora Kirk, Alex Jennings, David Bradley, Harriet Walters, Daniel Mays, Angela Griffin, Natalie Gumede, Lucien Laviscount and Ram John Holder.

For those still nursing a Halloween hangover, Nikyatu Jusu’s horror film “Nanny” starring Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan and Sinqua Walls arrives Dec. 16, and suspense thriller “Three Pines,” adapted from Louise Penny’s best-selling series, arrives Dec. 2, starring Alfred Molina. There’s also the finale of “The Peripheral” starring...

It’s been a big year for Prime Video. From The Boys season 3 to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power to even the terrible games presented on Thursday Night Football, there were many hits to satisfy Jeff Bezos’ bottom line. How is the Amazon streamer planning on closing out 2022? Why, with another potential hit, of course!

Amazon Prime Video’s list of new releases for December 2022 is highlighted by the return of an old favorite. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan season 3 premieres all eight episodes on Dec. 21. This time around John Krasinki’s CIA analyst will be dealing with a potentially nuclear conflict with Russia. The only other original TV series of note this month is Three Pines on Dec. 2. The mystery series stars Alfred Molina as Chief Inspector Armand Gamache.

Over on the movie side of things, Prime Video is bringing forward a major holiday tile on Dec.

15 years after Enchanted, Giselle has returned to the screen in the sequel Disenchanted, though the character of Morgan has been recasted. While most of the original cast, including Amy Adams (Giselle) and Patrick Dempsey (Robert), have returned, Rachel Covey is not reprising her role as Morgan, Robert's daughter and Giselle's step-daughter. Instead, Gabriella Baldacchino has taken over as Morgan after the long delay between Enchanted and Disenchanted.

According to IMDb, Covey has only been in one project since Enchanted, an episode of What Would You Do? in 2016. Before Enchanted, she acted in the 2005 film Duane Hopwood. Covey has apparently left acting and, according to her website, is now a playwright and composer. Her only other IMDb credit is as composer of the 2018 short film Feet. A workshop of her play Noise ran in October 2022 in New York. Whether Disney asked Covey to return or not, it seems she has priorities elsewhere,...

It’s time to get the hot cocoa boiling and the holiday decorations up! It’s almost December and nearly every streaming service has consumers covered with both seasonal content and new shows to carry them into the new year. Amazon’s Prime Video service has a few new series debuting, including “Riches.” Starring Deborah Ayorinde, from “Them,” the series is described as “a high-stakes family drama about the exploits of the stylish, privileged, and super-successful Richards siblings vying for control over the family business.”

The streamer also brings actor John Krasinski back into the world of Tom Clancy with the third season of “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.” This installment finds CIA officer Jack Ryan wrongly accused of treason and on the run from his own government as he races against the clock to stop a global catastrophe. The season hits December 21.

If you’re in the market for classic television,...

Don’t Worry Darling seems to be destined for infamy – and the film isn’t even out yet.

The psychological sci-fi thriller, starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, premiered this week at the Venice film festival, amid mounting reports of behind-the-scenes turmoil.

From a rumoured “falling out” between the film’s director and its star, to a dispute over a controversial cast departure, Don’t Worry Darling has truly endured the promotional campaign from hell.

Click here for a timeline of the behind-the-scenes controversies that have surrounded the film.

However, Don’t Worry Darling isn’t the only film to have its launch thrown into disarray by a wayward promotional campaign.

Whether we’re talking huge studio blockbusters or buzzy indie gems, sometimes all it takes is for one errant interview to spark a wave of bad – or merely strange – publicity.

Here are five of the most disastrous film campaigns in the history of cinema.

Exclusive: Jessica Szohr, who stars in Seth MacFarlane’s Hulu drama The Orville, has signed with Buchwald. She was previously with ICM.

Szohr recently completed Season 3 of The Orville where she portrays Lieutenant Commander Talla Keyali.

She is most notably recognized for playing Vanessa Abrams on Gossip Girl for four seasons. The success of the show led her to create her podcast Xoxo, which takes a deep dive into the cultural phenomenon of Gossip Girl and features interviews with cast and crew, as well as moguls in music, fashion and entertainment.

Additionally, Szohr played a pivotal role in Seasons 8 and 9 of Showtime’s Shameless as the intelligent, strong lesbian Nessa Chabon, who befriends Emmy Rossum’s character Fiona Gallagher. Prior to that, she portrayed Renee in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks for Showtime, Gretchen Polk in USA Network’s Complications, and Laura Melvin in the DirecTV series Kingdom.

On the film side,...

With the new month come new arrivals to all TV and movie streamers, including Hulu. The August 2022 slate contains many classic re-watch options as well as new seasons of original shows and new movies as well.

For those who couldn’t get enough of Keke Palmer in Jordan Peele’s latest movie “Nope” (2022), one of her breakout films “Akeelah and the Bee” (2006) has landed on Hulu. Tom Hanks’ “Cast Away” (2000), Natalie Portman’s “Black Swan,” the first two “Despicable Me” films and Tobey Maguire’s “Spider-Man” trilogy also arrive this month.

FX’s “Reservation Dogs” Season 2 arrives exclusively on Hulu Aug. 3. The Hulu Original film “Prey” arrives Aug. 5. “Legacy: The True Story of the L.A. Lakers” premieres on Hulu Aug. 15. Another exclusive heading to Hulu later in August is Steve Carell’s limited series “The Patient,” available to stream Aug. 30.

Here’s what’s new on Hulu in August 2022.

Also...

You ever notice how HBO’s releases tend to do the heavy lifting in HBO Max’s content library? That makes plenty of sense given that HBO has a track record of producing hits well before the streaming era even began. Well, a similar concept is now playing out over on Hulu. Like many monthly releases before it, Hulu’s list of new releases for August 2022 is highlighted by a whole bunch of FX TV shows.

The initiative once known as “FX on Hulu” is no more but that’s not stopping the cable network-turned quality TV brand from churning out some intriguing titles for the streaming world this month. It all starts early on with season 2 of the delightful comedy Reservation Dogs on Aug. 3. That is followed up by the docuseries Children of the Underground on Aug. 13, Little Demon on Aug. 26, and The Patient of Aug. 30. The most interesting of the bunch,...

May 2022 represents the calm before the storm for Amazon Prime Video. Early June will see the arrival of the much-hyped third season of The Boys. Before all that, however, Prime has some other streaming goodies to tide you over.

This month is highlighted by a handful of intriguing original series. Season two of Amazon’s sleeper hit The Wilds premieres on May 6. This pulpy mystery series about a group of teenage girls marooned on an island is Prime Video’s version of Lost or Yellowjackets so give it a watch if that kind of thing sounds up your alley. Also arriving on May 6 is the true crime docuseries The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith.

Canada’s finest comedy goobers The Kids in the Hall return in a rebooted version of their sketch series on May 13. The week after that J.K. Simmons will try his hand at sci-fi once again...

As usual, Dolly Parton was ahead of the curve. It’s taken us almost 60 years to catch up with her when she sang, “Just because I’m blonde don’t think I’m dumb” on her single “Dumb Blonde.” Films and TV have long poked and tweaked the dumb blonde archetype for laughs, from “Three’s Company” to “Legally Blonde,” but we’re moving into fresh territory with portrayals of sex positive women who refuse to allow their looks to put them in a box.

On “Minx,” porn model Bambi may initially seem like all she knows how to do is take off her clothes, but in Jessica Lowe’s show-stealing performance, she’s the most self-actualized woman at the feminist magazine at the center of the HBO Max standout. “‘Legally Blonde’ wouldn’t have been such a phenomenon if it wasn’t played by Reese Witherspoon. She went to Stanford,...

There’s no surprise given year when known quantities turn out career-best work in any given year — of course, Penélope Cruz is going to soar as a conflicted mother in the latest Pedro Almodóvar film, Benedict Cumberbatch will kill it as a repressed cattle rancher in a Jane Campion film, and Kate Winslet will nail the rough edges of a Pennsylvania police detective in freefall.

But that also means plenty of fresh faces and new talents get the chance to emerge out of the year’s best films and TV series. A watercooler sensation like “The White Lotus,” featuring a sprawling and diverse cast, meant many audiences were tuning into at least a few key new performers making their breakout bows. Meanwhile, in a year where film festivals were up and running again, a handful of foreign titles gained major crossover traction — meaning that new actors from overseas and beyond...

NBCUniversal’s international flight plan for Peacock starts this week: Starting Nov. 16, Sky TV and Now customers in the U.K. and Ireland will get access to the streaming service for no additional fee.

Comcast had announced plans this summer to launch Peacock as a free add-on for Sky’s satellite TV customers in Europe, representing a base of close to 20 million households. According to NBCU, after the “soft launch” in the U.K. and Ireland, Peacock will continue to roll out across Sky platforms in territories including Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland in the next few months.

Sky TV customers and subscribers to the Now Entertainment package in the U.K. and Ireland will get “early access” to the new ad-supported Peacock destination, with original and library TV shows and movies from across NBCU although the content availability will differ from what’s available on Peacock in the U.

Exclusive: In what we hear is a mid six-figure deal, Code Entertainment has acquired the spec script The Vampire Asset by Jonathan Stokes, which they’ll fast track toward production.

Vampire Asset is a franchise action story about a reluctant vampire recruited by the CIA to hunt down his former lover, the woman who turned him into an immortal killer, before she unleashes a global catastrophe.

Code’s most recent release The Ice Road, written and directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, starring Liam Neeson and Lawrence Fishburne, ranked No. 1 on Netflix during its debut day of June 25.

Code’s Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt will produce. Scott Carr, Jonathan Stokes, and Jonathan Dana will executive produce with Code Management’s Rich Freeman.

“Jonathan Stokes has created marvelous characters and a highly commercial tale, in the vein of Deadpool meets John Wick. We think the story will resonate worldwide and we look...

Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. took to Instagram to mourn the passing of his father, Robert Downey Sr., who died in his sleep yesterday. Robert Downey Sr. had been battling Parkinson's Disease for five years. He is survived by his third wife Rosemary Rogers, and his children Robert Jr. and Allyson Downey.

In a heartfelt post, Robert Downey Jr. hailed his dad as a "Maverick filmmaker" while also remembering his stepmother Rosemary Rogers-Downey, calling her a "saint". Here is what he wrote.

"Rip Bob D. Sr. 1936-2021...Last night, dad passed peacefully in his sleep after years of enduring the ravages of Parkinson's ..he was a true maverick filmmaker, and remained remarkably optimistic throughout. According to my stepmoms calculations, they were happily married for just over 2000 years. Rosemary Rogers-Downey, you are a saint, and our thoughts and prayers are with you."

Known for his absurdist independent films of the 1960s and 70s,...

Sad news to report, as Robert Downey Sr. died in his sleep at his NYC home after a battle with Parkinson's Disease, according to his wife. He has left a legacy that spans many careers and helped lead the Absurdist movement, basement budget, independent films, coming of age in counterculture anti-establishment 1960s America.

His work in the late 1960s and 1970s was classic anti-establishment, echoing the nonconformity promoted by larger counterculture movements which led to new freedoms, including the breakdown of codes on censorship. His 1970s films were independently made on shoestring budgets and were relatively obscure in the Absurdist movement.

One of his first underground films, Ball's Bluff, a fantasy short about a Civil War soldier who awakens in Central Park in 1961, put him on the map. He moved into big-budget filmmaking with the surrealistic Greaser's Palace. His most recent film was Rittenhouse Square, a documentary capturing life in a Philadelphia park.

Robert Downey Sr., the director of the anti-establishment satirical classic Putney Swope and the father of actor Robert Downey Jr., died early today in his sleep at home in New York City. He was 85.

His death was announced by wife and author Rosemary Rogers to the New York Daily News. Rogers told the publication that Downey Sr. had suffered from Parkinson’s for more five years. Robert Downey Jr. confirmed the death on Instagram today, writing that his father was “a true maverick filmmaker” who “remained remarkably optimistic” throughout “the ravages of Parkinson’s.”

See Downey Jr.’s Instagram tribute below.

Born in New York City, Downey Sr. became a significant force in the city’s underground film movement in the 1960s, writing and directing the 1961 short fantasy film Ball’s Bluff in which a Civil War soldier wakes up to find himself in 20th Century Central Park.

Other offbeat indie films followed,...

Robert Downey Sr., an actor and filmmaker, and father of Robert Downey Jr., has died. He was 85.

Downey Jr. confirmed his father’s death via Instagram on Wednesday, writing that he died “peacefully in his sleep after years of enduring the ravages of Parkinson’s.” Downey Jr. went on to call his father a “true maverick filmmaker” who “remained remarkable optimistic” throughout his illness.

Downey began acting in the early 1960s, with Boogie Nights, To Live and Die in L.A., The Family Man and Tower Heist among his robust credit list. He also appeared in the TV series 1st &...