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Universal Pictures recently held a preview screening of Jon M. Chu's Wicked for selected critics and social media influencers, and the first social media reactions are very positive indeed.

It sounds like fans of the Broadway smash hit are in for a treat - although it's always worth keeping in mind that these initial reactions do tend to be... enthusiastic. That said, several people who saw the movie admit to being surprised by how much they ended up enjoying it.

Wicked tells the story of how a shy green-skinned woman named Elphaba becomes a cackling villain with an aversion to water we first met in The Wizard of Oz.

Cynthia Erivo stars as Elphaba, who will ultimately become the "Wicked Witch of the West," while pop megastar Ariana Grande will play Glinda, aka "Good Witch of the East." Both actresses have come in for high praise for their performances.

Wicked is about to be pop-u-ler...Lar. First reactions to director Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of the Broadway musical on Wednesday saw audiences raving about performances from Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, while also praising the movie’s production quality.

Journalist Simon Thompson called the movie an “oz-some spectacle that pops and enchants on the big screen,” adding that the movie is “an absolutely stunning vision” and that Grande and Erivo “knock it out of the park.”

Wicked will be the first of Chu’s two films adapting the hit musical, with part two set for Thanksgiving 2025. The show — originally based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire — tells the untold story of the witches of Oz, with Erivo as Elphaba and Grande as Glinda. It premiered on Broadway in 2003, with Idina Mezel Kristin Chenoweth. Winnie Holzman, the stage production’s book writer, wrote the screenplay along with Dana Fox.

The first reactions to Wicked are coming in, and early reviews praise director Jon M. Chu and the film’s stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

Universal Pictures held a preview screening and their first takes are taking over social media on National Wicked Day.

Kristin Chenoweth, who played Glinda in the original Broadway production of Wicked, saw an early screening and shared her thoughts on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Counting down the days until the world sees Cynthia and Ariana in Jon M. Chu’s film… you will all be changed for the good when you see it,” Chenoweth posted.

21 years ago today we met Elphaba & Glinda at the Gershwin Theatre...

The LA Press Club has released the nominees for the 17th National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards, and IndieWire has received a site-record 14 nominations, including for Best Entertainment Website. This recognition occurs after IndieWire received seven notices in the final Naej awards in 2023, including a third-pace finish last year for Best Entertainment Website, out of our nine nominations that year.

In addition to the Best Entertainment Website nomination, which recognizes the entire IndieWire staff, 13 individual IndieWire staffers received specific recognition.

”The IndieWire team created a lot of terrific work this year and we’re honored to see so many of our submissions receive recognition,” said Dana Harris-Bridson, IndieWire’s senior VP and Editor-in-Chief. “Many thanks to the LA Press Club for giving us a site record for nominations.”

IndieWire’s Ben Travers received two nominations: One for Best TV Critic, recognizing his entire body of work for the year, and one in the Obituary,...

John Mulaney may have packed up “The Sack Lunch Bunch,” but he’ll be back on Netflix next year in a big way.

The standup comedian is getting his own live variety talk show on the streaming service; it will premiere in early 2025. Mulaney will host the show, co-showrun it, and executive produce though his Multiple Camera Productions.

The rest of the details remain under wraps, though here at IndieWire we do have one strong suggestion: Mr. Music (Jake Gyllenhaal) as bandleader.

Mulaney and Netflix tested this whole thing out earlier this year with six episodes of “John Mulaney’s Everybody’s in L.A.,” a live show that was part of the 2024 Netflix Is a Joke Fest. He’s also debuted three of his standup specials on Netflix: Last year’s “Baby J,” 2018’s “Kid Gorgeous,” and 2015’s “The Comeback Kid.” And then of course there was the excellent...

When he’s not winning Emmys, Ryan Murphy makes headlines for two reasons — and we’ve got examples of each in September 2024.

With Netflix’s “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” the consistently controversial showrunner is once again battling backlash for exploring dark psychosexual themes through outrageous camp. And with FX’s horror mystery “Grotesquerie,” guest-starring the NFL’s Travis Kelce among others, the writer-director-producer is showing off his famous network by casting major celebrity talent next to his repeat collaborators.

As a craftsman, Murphy often leaves something to be desired. Look back at IndieWire reviews for his past six or so shows and you’ll notice a pattern. Splashy styling, regularly mixed with a shock-value premise, injects life into a vibrant ad campaign that draws real attention. Sometimes the show debuts to strong effect, other times not — but problems almost always ravage the back half of a Murphy project.

[Editor’s note: this list was originally published in April 2024. It has since been updated with new performances from Kidman.]

Nicole Kidman is the rare actress in the 21st century who, like the stars of Hollywood’s golden years, doesn’t disappear into roles so much as elevate films by her mere presence.

She’s certainly swung big at mainstream blockbusters (think: the “Aquaman” films) that might feel out of her step with her character-driven work elsewhere (like most of the films on the list that follows). But that’s because the Australian icon is unafraid of any role, whether stripping down her post-Oscar, A-lister veneer to film Lars von Trier’s Brechtian “Dogville” in Sweden, slipping into a bathtub with the 10-year-old possible reincarnation of her dead husband in Jonathan Glazer’s “Birth,” or, yes, donning a fake nose to play a suicidal Virginia Woolf for her Oscar-winning turn in “The Hours.”

On April 27 in Los Angeles, Nicole Kidman received the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award, joining the ranks of Jane Fonda,...

Now that we at IndieWire have landed on the best movies and TV shows of the year so far, let’s dive into the best performances on either screen in 2024 up until now.

We’re now in the thick of Emmys season ahead of the September 15 awards, which actually makes this year’s the second Emmys ceremony to go down in 2024, as the strikes pushed 2023’s event to this past January. All of this is to say we haven’t stopped talking about glorious TV performances in 2024, and our picks for the last six months range from streaming titles from celebrated filmmakers (like “Expats” on Prime Video from director Lulu Wang and co-starring Sarayu Blue alongside Nicole Kidman) and indie screen favorites to breakouts on cable that stunned and surprised us. And some streaming staples, like Hannah Einbinder’s spiky comedy writer in Max’s “Hacks,” outdid even their own performance from past seasons.

Films are stunning artifacts of humanity’s singular ability to dream and wonder in unison. But if the moviemaking miracles produced by Hollywood’s studio system are predestined — recycled IP inevitabilities that cost as much money as there are stars in the sky — indies are something greater.

Indie filmmaking is notoriously hard to define; combine the constantly shifting number known as “low budget” and another shifty goalpost, “independent,” and we’re partly there. Here’s another definition: It feels as if it’s willed into existence, both in the final story on screen and in the behind-the-scenes journey that explains how an auteur’s story got there. It was created because it had to be, rendered by talented and undaunted auteurs, through powerful visions and innovative commitment to craft. And finally, it’s introduced to equally ambitious audiences.

It’s in our name: IndieWire was founded in 1996 as an outlet...

[Editor’s note: This article was initially published in August 2022 and has been updated multiple times since.]

It’s hard to believe it took network TV audiences more than a full season to pick up on the burning brilliance of Greg Daniels’ “The Office.”

On March 25, 2005, the pilot episode of a mockumentary series about a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania debuted to just over 11 million viewers in the United States. The show wasn’t immediately acclaimed, with numerous TV critics arguing the so-called remake failed to adequately justify itself in Season 1.

Yes, the history-making NBC sitcom seemed at first like little more than a bastardization of the popular U.K. series, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in 2003. But for audiences lucky enough to binge the show in the streaming age, already knowing what it and its myriad talents (Mindy Kaling! B.J. Novak! Rainn Wilson! John Krasinski!) would become, the lovable goofs of Dunder Mifflin had us at jello.

Over eight years and a total of nine seasons,...

[Editor’s note: This story contains spoilers for all of Season 3 of Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” including the ending.]

When speaking to IndieWire ahead of “Bridgerton” Season 3 Part 1, new showrunner Jess Brownell teased that the word of Part 2 would be “heightened.” “‘Crescendo’ would be another one,” Brownell said. “I think things really ramp up in the back half. If the first half is pure rom-com, the back half still has elements of that, but I would say it’s very thrilling. The back half … intense.”

Indeed, gentle readers.

Part 2 of the Netflix smash found Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) immediately having premarital sex (it helps when your moral code isn’t quite as rigid as Anthony’s); Cressida (Jessica Madsen) attempting her very first blackmail; Violet (Ruth Gemmell) exploring romance with Lord Anderson (Daniel Francis); and — we’re stunned — the reveal to the entire ton, including the Queen (Golda Rosheuvel), that Penelope is gossip columnist Lady Whistledown herself.

It’s a...

[Editor’s note: The following story contains spoilers for “The Idea of You.”]

Don’t you hate it when Hollywood changes the ending to your favorite book when adapting it into a film? The process is sacrilege to some readers, but it can often lead to films improving upon their source material. The latest bestseller to see its ending changed is “The Idea of You” — and a recent piece by IndieWire’s Erin Strecker endorses the changes screenwriters Michael Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt made in adapting Robinne Lee’s 2017 novel.

However, it turns out these changes, well regarded as they are by some, did not receive input from Lee herself. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the author said she “was not involved at all in the adaptation.”

“I have not even spoken to [director] Michael [Showalter] yet,” Lee said. “But I’m looking forward to meeting him, so no, I haven’t spoken to him about any changes. My...

Who says this summer is light on blockbuster fare, despite the strikes holding productions and release dates up?

Big movies coming to theaters in the next hot few months include favorite IP getting a 2024 burnish, from “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” to “Alien: Romulus” and “Twisters”. Oh, and a little movie called “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (May 24), which George Miller will first bring to the Cannes Film Festival before opening it in theaters later that month. Plus, poised to be a Netflix hit this summer is Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” (May 24 in theaters), playing for a couple of weeks in select cities before the crime comedy starring Glen Powell hits the streaming platform.

But those bigger-ticket titles aside, summer 2024 is a time for indies to shine, from Annie Baker’s long-awaited festival hit “Janet Planet” (June 14) to India Donaldson’s wonderful Sundance premiere “Good One” (August...

This year’s SXSW Film and TV Festival (running March 8 through March 16) continues the Austin-based multimedia showcases expansion beyond typical-screen movies and into the realms of TV and Xr experiences.

The festival’s opening night premiere, Doug Liman’s “Road House,” falls somewhere in the cracks between film and TV, as controversially the Jake Gyllenhaal-led ’80s throwback reimagining will not play theaters from Amazon MGM Studios and will instead plop on Amazon Prime Video on March 21. (“Road House” and Amazon MGM are meanwhile in the thick of a copyright lawsuit filed by the 1989 original’s screenwriter R. Lance Hill that also messily involves the studio’s alleged AI usage to rush completion on the movie.)

Similarly, the deep-pocketed but theatrically stingy streamer’s “The Idea of You,” a Coachella-set romantic dramedy from director Michael Showalter and starring Anne Hathaway, will also be a Prime Video exclusive this May after playing SXSW.

Who said March Madness is just for sports? With a slew of spring premieres across cable and streaming, narrative television is just as mad during the long, unpredictable month.

Just as we did in January and February, IndieWire’s TV team compiled the March TV premieres we’re most excited about — that’s new TV only, and it’s still an impressive list every time. March marks the premieres of buzzy book adaptations “Apples Never Fall” (Peacock) and “We Were the Lucky Ones” (Hulu), not to mention the sci-fi juggernaut “3 Body Problem” from “Game of Thrones” executive producers. Disney+ has heroic offerings from outside the MCU, with revival series “X-Men: 97” and the inspiring docuseries “Madu.” Max peeks into the lives of female journalists on the campaign trail in “The Girls on the Bus,” Guy Ritchie adapts his own film into Netflix’s “The Gentlemen,” and Apple takes us into...

Welcome to the feverish final moments of this year’s Oscar campaign season! With voting (finally) ending later this evening — mere hours after this article is first published — Hollywood and its biggest names and brightest talents will finally be able to take a breath after months of premiering, screening, interviewing, chatting, and awards show-ing. All across the land, cries of “pencils down!” shall ring out, and the town will grow temporarily quiet, at least until it’s time to lace up for Hollywood’s biggest night, nearly two blessed weeks away. (You can catch up on all of the nominations right here.)

But even if no actual campaigning happens during that fallow period, plenty of prognosticating will still be rolling out, and in hopes of (somewhat) avoiding that kind of idle chatter, some of the editors of IndieWire have taken on a different ask. Not who will win, or even who should win,...

For years, the running joke in media has been that if we keep inventing and bundling streaming services, we’re effectively going to reinvent cable. At first, it made sense to separate streaming titles; some were better for movies, some for TV, and still others for sport. At least one of them comes discounted if not free with the latest iPhone, while another is built into the subscription that gets you free shipping on toilet paper. But when it comes to quality and quantity of content, what streaming service really comes out on top?

Listen, before you go about choosing let alone ranking your streaming apps, you need to assess your streaming priorities. Below, four IndieWire staffers debate our top three streamers, acknowledging that each of us has different viewing preferences and lifestyles. But with a bustling streaming climate, rising prices, and wide-ranging titles, these are the kind of tough...

[Editor’s note: This story contains spoilers for the film and series “One Day,” both based on David Nicholls’ 2009 novel of the same name.]

If you went to see the 2011 film “One Day” in theaters, you may remember one thing and one thing only. That thing. In fact, as we type out this article, unsuspecting viewers all over the world are booting up Netflix’s superior adaptation and probably receiving the shock of a lifetime in Episode 11, refreshing the battery life on this harrowing plot twist for a whole new generation.

But Nicole Taylor’s new series has way more going for it than the film did, and a lasting power that includes compelling leads, inviting chemistry, and genuinely adept storytelling — none of which were present in the movie (that Anne Hathaway/Jim Sturgess misstep is currently rocking a 35 percent on Rotten Tomatoes).

In her review, IndieWire Senior TV Writer Proma Khosla noted, “‘One Day’ as a limited series leaves a much stronger impression than it ever could have as a film, minting [Ambika] Mod and [Leo] Woodall’s chemistry,...

Don’t sleep on February. It’s a mighty month — even though it’s still the shortest, even with an extra day — in entertainment, this year sandwiched between Emmys and Oscars and full of intriguing new titles as well as red carpet season.

Like every month, IndieWire has compiled the new television that our team is most excited about in February. This only applies to new shows or anthologies, and is mostly limited to English-language series. Some titles also appeared in our 2024 TV preview or 2024 Netflix TV preview (and if you’re still catching up on January TV — like we are — here are the 17 new titles we picked last month).

This year’s February TV slate includes highly-anticipated big-to-small screen adaptations (Prime Videos’ “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and Netflix’s “One Day”), the thrilling docudrama “Genius: MLK/X,” two big swings from Apple TV+ (“The New Look” and “Constellation”), and...

January is a transitional time for film, with focus shifting to the Oscars just as new offerings in theaters enter an annual dreaded slump. It’s also, paradoxically, one of the best months for new movies — if you’re lucky enough to head to Park City, Utah for Sundance Film Festival.

The single biggest film festival in the country, with almost 50,000 attendees each year, Sundance Film Festival was founded back in 1978 as the Utah/US Film Festival, before rebranding in 1984 to its current name. Operated by the Sundance Institute, the annual fest hosts hundreds of films each year, showcasing the brightest in independent filmmaking, along with a variety of foreign, documentary, and midnight films. Over the years the festival has hosted some of the most beloved indie films ever, and helped launch the careers of major filmmakers like the Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, Damien Chazelle, Ava DuVernay, and many, many more.

While much of 2023 in Hollywood was dominated by labor strikes and negotiations, the film and TV industry are finally heading into a full-fledged awards season. November marked the return of the Gotham Film Awards, and 2024 will herald the return of the delayed Primetime Emmys, Oscars, and and more.

First up are the Golden Globe Awards, which will take place on January 7, 2024 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The 81st Golden Globes will air live on CBS and award both film and television selected by 310 international journalists after the Hollywood Foreign Press Association dissolved and redistributed its assets. The 2024 ceremony will introduce two new awards: Cinematic and Box Office Achievement in Motion Pictures, and Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television. Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment (Wce) will serve as executive-producing showrunners for the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards, with Weiss directing.

Cedric “The Entertainer...

The great Joni Mitchell once wrote, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone,” which certainly applied to acting in 2023. Of course, actors didn’t disappear this year. They were just far less visible for a while. The SAG strike — lasting from mid-July to early November — was an eye-opening necessity, protecting the guild from the studios’ ghastly attempts to implement artificial intelligence and correcting issues like lost wages and residuals that stemmed from the “great” streaming disruption.

But if you would’ve told me a year ago I’d be lamenting the loss of all those red carpets, publicity junkets, and various press appearances actors bravely embark upon for their art, I would’ve laughed in your face — and then I would have apologized for laughing in your face, and explained, slowly and assuredly, that “No, I would never miss the scourge of half-formed quotes and...

It’s the ingénue performers, the newbies, and the surprise turns that gave us hope for the future of screen storytelling in 2023. Especially in a marketplace — ew — driven by repeats, volume, and content-feeding, the unexpected can hit with a sharper shock than ever nowadays in theaters and on TV.

In the last year, we’ve seen some known or known-enough actors deliver unpredictable, accomplished work, along with fresh faces out of the clear blue that took us aback or pulled us in with their acting debuts. What is a breakthrough performance? We’ve turned that definition over and over to round up performances that stood out from the content morass, that broke through their stories to elevate and transcend the film or series around them. Or to sharpen its point in yet another year of innumerable offerings.

Some of these shows or movies didn’t quite reach the audience they should have,...

Every year — if you’re lucky, and TV fans usually are — there is a show that debuts to gasps, applause, and breathless wonder; a comedy that elicits tears and cackles; a genre piece that redefines world building and whose title becomes an adjective for future audiences.

For me, that show was “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” — existing IP, no question, but a reimagining that blew me away on every level. I remember watching “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” in a movie theater in 2010, wanting it to start over the second the credits finished rolling. I remember feeling the same when I finished Episode 8 of Netflix’s animated expansion, my heart full as I realized the bar for creativity had been punched to the moon and back.

And because TV fans are lucky, it wasn’t the only time that I or the rest of IndieWire’s TV team felt that way...

Audiences will have to wait a little bit longer to check into “The White Lotus” Season 3.

The third installment of the Emmy-winning HBO anthology series will arrive in 2025, according to chief content officer Casey Bloys.

“‘White Lotus’ Season 3 probably would have been in ’24, that’s pushing to ’25,” Bloys said during a press conference. “It’s shows that we’ve had on the runway and we’re in the middle of shooting, obviously.”

Bloys continued with further updates, “‘Penguin’ would have been in the spring, so we’ve had to adjust across the board. The ‘It’ prequel we’re working on…’Welcome to Derry’ — we had that that scheduled previously for Halloween of ’24. That’s likely pushing into ’25.”

Pending the resolution of the SAG-AFTRA strike, “Welcome to Derry” will return to production in spring of 2024. “The Last of Us” Season 2 will shoot then as well.

“The White Lotus” Season 3 will be set in Thailand.

It’s somehow November, which means it’s the exact time of year that everyone around you starts saying “How is it November?” Scorpios are out. The sun is not. Winter holidays (and weather) are just around the corner, and the last vestiges of summer energy have withered away.

It’s not all bad though. November is a welcome month for TV fans, with networks and streamers ramping up for big winter premieres and binges. Like every month, IndieWire put together a list of new shows debuting this month, from “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” to “Black Cake” to Brian Cox on a reality competition show, and the return of “Fargo”.

What else is new in November? Book adaptations are still going strong, with “All the Light We Cannot See” and “The Artful Dodger” (an “Oliver Twist” spinoff). “The Buccaneers” comes to Apple TV+ to scratch your “Bridgerton” itch. Nicole Kidman...

When it really wants to, Netflix does a great job at letting people know what TV shows it has to offer. Unfortunately, with the never-ending wave of new shows constantly arriving, high-profile creators on the creative roster, and shifts in the streaming wars and algorithms that can upend viewer attention at any moment, there always seem to be series that fall between the cracks.

To go with the ever-growing list of reviews that we publish on the site on a regular basis (including new releases worth your time), IndieWire combed through Netflix to put together a collection of the best series that the streamer has ever had to offer: a perfect resource for when there’s nothing fresh you really fancy. It’s a tricky time for the streaming industry at large, with changes in pricing and user strategy — not to mention sudden removals — signaling a potential sea change. In...

It’s Frasier Week at IndieWire. Grab some tossed salad and scrambled eggs, settle into your coziest easy chair, and join us. We’re listening.

“Frasier” is back — and he’s not the only one. Over the years, television has become increasingly enamored with the nostalgic allure of reboots, reunions, and revivals. Why create a new hit when you can resuscitate an old one? Why not give in to viewers’ fervent desire to revisit their favorite characters and storylines from years ago? Why not catch up with a cast returning to the roles that made them famous, a last hurrah (for now anyway) for something so beloved?

The Revival-ssaince is not without its quandaries. Many from critics to viewers lament the dearth of original storytelling most evident when a new revival is announced. More often than not, the second or third or umpteenth hurrah is not nearly as satisfying as the original series.

Are you ready for it?

Several IndieWire staffers met up Friday night for what was supposed to be opening night of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” at a NYC theater. Anticipation? High. Energy level? Even higher. Drinks consumed? Unprecedented.

Taylor’s Eras tour concert film is so much concert film. It’s nearly three hours long and Swift is her supernova self, hustling through 17 years of music with eras both mellow and nostalgic. (A high point in our particular theater was the euphoric in-your-seat dancing to high school throwback “You Belong with Me.”) While the audience energy level was definitely higher than the kind you’d find with your typical Friday night cinephiles, the crowd mostly remained seated, and the singing along was kept simply to key lyrics.

It was a night filled with friendship bracelets, light up Taylor glow sticks (more on that later), and at least one homemade Taylor T-shirt.

With his work spanning decades of TV and film, and a warm presence that’s equally radiant across screens big and small, John Corbett has made an illustrious career from being “that guy” in “that rom-com.”

The 62-year-old actor is perhaps best known for his role as Aidan Shaw: Carrie’s second choice on the ’90s smash hit “Sex and the City” and the second-most controversial character in its contemporary Max spinoff, “And Just Like That…”

Corbett is equally celebrated for his breakout film performance as the leading man in indie darling “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” Nia Vardalos’ treasured love story from 2002 tells the tale of a sheltered woman and her enormous, meddlesome family introducing Corbett’s dashing fiance character, the magnanimous school teacher Ian Miller, to countless kooky relatives, the Greek Orthodox Church, and the healing power of Windex.

Those two star-making moments for Corbett re-collided this...

Fall is in the air — and on the air, as networks and streamers prepare to roll out major September TV premieres. Many 2023 releases (including those in IndieWire’s fall TV preview) have already or could still be delayed due to the ongoing writer and actor strikes, but the next month’s slate feels pretty safe.

And what a month it is! A month of emotive sports docuseries with “God. Family. Football.” and “One Shot: Overtime Elite”; a month of book adaptations with “The Changeling,” “The Other Black Girl,” and “The Wilderness.” “The Walking Dead,” “Castlevania,” “The Boys,” and “John Wick” expand their worlds with “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon,” “Castlevania: Nocturne,” “Gen V,” and “The Continental,” respectively. Prepare to be won over by Showtime’s “Dreaming Whilst Black” and Apple’s “Still Up,” to cackle through “Krapopolis,” and to have nightmares inspired by “American Horror Story: Delicate” (for better or worse).

As always,...

Red, White & Royal Blue is a romantic comedy film directed by Matthew Lopez from a screenplay by Lopez and Ted Malawer. The rom-com film is based on a book of the same name by Casey McQuiston and it follows the love story of Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the son of the first female President of the United States Ellen Claremont (Uma Thurman) and Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine), a British Prince. The romantic comedy film sees our protagonists pulled between love and duty while having carefree fun.

The YA rom-com film also stars Sarah Shahi (The L Word) as Zahra Bankston, Stephen Fry (Blackadder) as King James III, Rachel Hilson as Nora Holleran, Polo Morin (Who Killed Sara?) as Rafael Luna, and Ellie Bamber (Nocturnal Animals) as Princess Beatrice).

So let’s find what the critics are saying about the YA rom-com film. Check out the review quotes from...

Talk about living in a Barbie World. As Greta Gerwig’s smash hit dominates the box office in just its second week of release, giddily plowing its way toward an expected billion (with a b) box office take, we must face the inevitable: this thing’s gonna get a sequel, right? While Gerwig’s film (co-written with her partner Noah Baumbach) is a major crowdpleaser, it still feels subversive in the way it takes on everything from toxic patriarchy to the very toy conglomerate that owns the iconic doll. But any smarting Mattel and Warner Bros. Discovery might have felt during the creation of the film has surely been eased by its massive success at the box office. Money talks, and we’re betting that Wbd has already pulled up the dump truck outside Gerwig and Baumbach’s house.

IndieWire’s Kate Erbland, Erin Strecker, and Proma Khosla have all seen (and enjoyed!

[Editor’s Note: The following article contains spoilers for “And Just Like That…” Season 2, Episode 7.]

The moment you’ve been craving, fearing, or both is finally here. Aidan Shaw, as played by John Corbett, is back in “Sex and the City” land thanks to “And Just Like That” Season 2. Episode 7 sees Carrie’s email to her ex-fiancé lead to a Valentine’s Day “date” — and it is, it turns out, a date. The former furniture-maker and out-of-work podcaster rekindle old flames after a momentary meeting-spot mix-up, before skedaddling to Carrie’s apartment for a quick spat and a longer kiss.

But as much as the “And Just Like That” writers would prefer we think less about Aidan & Carrie taking one more stab at love, we have… questions. A lot of questions. Like, too many questions for a sequence of scenes spanning no more than 10 minutes. So if you, dear readers, also have misgivings about what you just saw (and what may come next), IndieWire’s...

Wait, the Emmys are still happening? Really? In this economy?

Yes, the 2023 Primetime Emmy Awards remain on schedule — for now. Despite an FYC season altered by the writers strike executives refusing to treat writers like living, working, human beings and reports of a potential SAG strike forcing September’s ceremony to be delayed into next year, nominations for the 75th Annual Emmy Awards were announced Wednesday morning, with barely a mention of anything out of the ordinary.

What did feel out of the ordinary, though, were some of the TV Academy’s nominees. There were a handful of surprises and, as is inevitable, there were even more snubs. But before we get too far into the particulars, a polite reminder: When IndieWire uses the term “snub,” we’re simply relying on the industry’s accepted shorthand. A snub is just a series or individual who was expected to be nominated,...

With Cannes done and dusted and the heavy-hitting autumn quartet of Venice, Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF still a few months off, what’s a film festival fan to do during the dog days of summer? With New York City’s own Tribeca Festival now firmly ensconced in the summer months after moving off its traditional spring dates in 2021, movie lovers both in the city and beyond can enjoy the annual event’s prodigious programming, thanks to a combination of in-person and virtual programming.

The 2023 edition will kick off June 7 with the North American premiere of “Kiss the Future,” a documentary following the story of a community of underground musicians and creatives throughout the nearly four-year-long siege of Sarajevo, as well as the 1997 U2 concert celebrating the liberation of the Bosnian capital.

A special 30th-anniversary screening of “A Bronx Tale” will close the fest on June 17. After the movie, the film...

In a way, “Succession” will never end. The Roy family’s wealth is too immense to be squelched in a single episode — even a finale that’s as long as a film. That kind of money isn’t even money anymore; it’s capital, power, and, as Kendall put it in his eulogy to Logan, “the lifeblood […] of this wonderful civilization we have built from the mud.” Whomever succeeds the Waystar Royco business titan will grab the reigns of an ecosystem that may not be too big to fail, but certainly protects its own. Barring an asteroid smashing into the planet or a significant time-jump into the post-apocalypse, “Succession’s” ending isn’t likely to halt the Roys’ destructive rampage across this planet. There will be survivors. There will be enterprise. There will be wealth.

But we won’t get to see any of it because “Succession” is still ending.

It’s hard to think of any television show that has over-delivered on its premise more than “Barry.” You’d be forgiven for thinking a show billed as “a hitman begins taking acting classes” sounded like the worst idea on the planet when the series was announced in 2016. But if there’s one thing the show has definitively proven (even if we arguably should have known it before), it’s that you should never bet against Bill Hader.

Hader’s “Barry,” which he co-created with “Seinfeld” and “Silicon Valley” veteran Alec Berg, is more than just the first major TV role for a “Saturday Night Live” legend. It’s been a four season rollout for one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. And it happened alongside an overdue Henry Winkler renaissance; yet another knockout from Stephen Root; and breakout performances for Anthony Carrigan and Sarah Golberg.

From its very first episode,...

Summer is a time to savor the great outdoors — to emerge from a wearying winter into the rejuvenating sunlight and appreciate the splendor of a world that’s slowly, steadily, catching on fire. But if you’re a TV fan, summer is also a peculiar time for storytelling. Some new shows feel like they’re trying to match the scope and scale of big-screen blockbusters. Others are incredibly strange experiments, either dumped on or targeted for the time of year when networks aren’t just competing with each other, but barbecues and baseball, fireworks and catching fireflies.

IndieWire’s 2023 Summer TV Preview is here to help. Our TV staff has selected 15 key programs debuting between mid-May and the end of July. About half are returning favorites while the rest are completely new Each one is either an exciting show because of the creatives involved or an important series for the...

After five years, the TV gods have heard fans’ prayers, and Keri Russell is finally back on our screens. The once and always Felicity Porter stars in “The Diplomat,” a political thriller hitting Netflix this week — and her first leading role in a show since the much-beloved “The Americans.”

The show is the culmination of a great first few months of 2023 for Russell. This February saw her lead the starry ensemble of “Cocaine Bear”: the bloody comedic thriller from Elizabeth Banks that launched many a meme. Set in 1984, the film gave Russell a chance to rock the kind of throwback, shoulder pad looks she wore during “The Americans”: a Cold War-set series where she played a ruthless Russian spy. It also gave her the chance to reunite with her co-stars from the show, including Margo Martindale and her real-life partner Matthew Rhys, just in time for the 10 year...

Spring is a time for new beginnings, in TV as much as anywhere else. Networks and streamers know the power of a spring hit that will keep audiences tuning in, bingeing, or talking for weeks and months to come — and 2023 isn’t pulling its punches. Television juggernauts “Succession” and “Yellowjackets” return the same weekend, competing not only with each other but with a slate of new shows that premiere this season while those titans release new episodes weekly.

Among the bountiful harvest: Donald Glover’s latest work since “Atlanta,” about the dark side of all-consuming fandom; a musical romcom about the voices in people’s heads; a Charles Dickens adaptation with none other than Olivia Colman; an epic feud between strangers; a nun fighting the algorithm, and then some. 2023’s spring TV slate is getting weird and staying there, inviting viewers to do the same.

In order of premiere date,...

When the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, there’s only one thing we’re thinking about: All the amazing TV that lies ahead for 2023.

Nowadays, TV is practically the only thing we can rely on; that new and returning shows will delight and unite audiences in otherwise confusing times. Whether your life is consumed by some newbie called “Severance” or invigorated by the impending return of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, TV will be unflinchingly at your side, as it has in years passed and will be in years to come. IndieWire’s TV team picked the series we’re most excited about — mostly new, but with a few oldies we couldn’t resist including — and already the year seems a bit brighter.

Here are IndieWire’s 11 most anticipated TV shows of 2023.

Erin Strecker, Ben Travers, and Steve Greene contributed to this article.

1. “Masters of the Air...

Editor’s Note: While some series may have ended in 2021 they weren’t officially canceled until 2022 and thus are included on this list.

Too often canceled series are abruptly cast to the winds, unable to wrap up storylines and character arcs. But 2022 felt different. Several prominent shows, including “Atlanta,” “Better Things,” and “The Good Fight,” were told by their respective networks their end had come, so were given the chance to wrap things up. This year’s list of best canceled series tried to focus on shows that weren’t given that kindness.

Series that, for one reason or another, never got an opportunity to get off the ground in spite of having more than one season to tell a story. In some instances, like with “The Flight Attendant,” “Kevin Can F Himself,” or “Gentleman Jack,” they had more than one season—as well as significant delays between their first...

“You must, in fact, stand before the public and God and obliterate yourself.” So suggests Cate Blanchett’s Lydia Tár, in one of the great and most thematically controversial scenes of “TÁR,” about how performers and practitioners of the arts should set aside their identities in service of a greater good: the Art Itself, in spite of the artist themselves.

Things for an artist of Lydia Tár’s standing certainly don’t turn out so well in her favor, sure, and while we don’t necessarily endorse her statement, it could be applied to this year’s best performers onscreen — they stand before a certain public (the movie- or TV-going audience) and they obliterate themselves (in the hope of a performance good enough to move people).

Each year of exceptional film and television brings another batch of indelible performances, many of which become synonymous with the movie or series itself.

Choosing the best TV episodes is very different from choosing the best TV.

The best episodes might be outstanding hours of shows that fluctuate in quality, or a pivotal character moment or story beat that contextualizes everything else. Sometimes the best episode is part of an almost embarrassing bounty — just one of many consistently brilliant installments in a TV show that blew away both audiences and critics.

IndieWire’s look at the best TV episodes of 2022 is all those things, populated by our usual suspects of top 2022 TV as well as hours we couldn’t forget and shows we gladly binged in a weekend. There is drama, there is comedy, there is literal “Euphoria.” This list has it all. What it doesn’t have, however, is more than one episode from the same show, in an effort to spread the wealth.

Here are the best TV episodes of 2022 so far,...

If Jared Pedalecki and Jensen Ackles were the heartthrobs of The CW, Mark Pedowitz was its heartbeat.

When Nexstar announced its completed acquisition of (75 percent of) The CW on Monday, it installed board member Dennis Miller, a venture capitalist with executive stints at Sony, Lionsgate, and Turner, as the broadcast network’s new president. Pedowitz, who was chairman and CEO of the youth-skewing broadcast network for the past 11 years is out; he’ll stay in the game via the revival of his former production company.

Though The CW never quite soared like so many of its DC superheroes, the decade-plus under Pedowitz had its moments — and its misses. IndieWire looks back on both below.

With additional reporting by Erin Strecker, Christian Blauvelt, Ben Travers, and Kristen Lopez.

The Upn Holdovers

As Time Warner launched the CW, it joined with CBS to shut down the United Paramount Network, which ran from...

Should every TV show be a musical?

Maybe, depending who you ask (Yasper from “The Afterparty” we suspect is strongly in favor). There’s no denying the power of musical numbers, scores, opening credits, or just the right needle drop to propel a television scene from enjoyable to legendary. Moments like this were so bountiful in 2022 that IndieWire decided to pick the best ones as we comb through the best of this TV year so far. Below, in order of premiere, are the most memorable musical moments from 2022 TV.

1. “Peacemaker”: Opening Credits

It’s been a wondrous year for opening credits, none more bizarre and perfect than “Peacemaker.” James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” spinoff had a tough job with its HBO Max debut, spotlighting one of the only white male characters from the 2021 film and making a case, somehow, for the floundering DC Extended Universe.

But “Peacemaker” did that and more,...

The television landscape is so sprawling and, especially these days, full of A-list actors. The rise of prestige television has given fans shows where some of our favorite movie stars are transitioning from the silver screen to the small screen. But that’s no reason to discount the up-and-coming actors that have made their mark with one specific performance.

We’re looking at eight performances that broke through the sheer abundance of TV and made us take notice. These actors didn’t just give great performances, but gave us characters who went into our hearts and transformed their respective shows into something special.

In no order, below are the 8 best breakthrough performances of 2022, so far:

1. Iman Vellani (“Ms. Marvel”)

Iman Vellani may have dressed up as Ms. Marvel for Halloween, but no amount of costumed shenanigans prepares an actor for the role of a lifetime — the role she was born to play.

IndieWire has hired two executive editors to bolster our growing coverage of TV and analysis of the businesses that create entertainment.

Erin Strecker is our new Executive Editor, TV and Tony Maglio takes the brand-new role of Executive Editor, Business. Both are based in New York and report to Editor in Chief Dana Harris-Bridson.

Strecker leads the TV vertical, directing and expanding our coverage at an essential moment for the medium. She comes to IndieWire from Mashable, where she most recently served as its Entertainment Editor. Prior to that, she worked at Billboard and at Entertainment Weekly.

Maglio is IndieWire’s first-ever Executive Editor, Business and will oversee the site’s coverage of the TV and film industries in addition to offering his own insight and analysis. He comes to IndieWire after nine years at The Wrap, most recently as its TV Editor. A former financial analyst, he holds an...