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Good horror movies have a way of peeping into the uncharted territories of our minds—the space that we want to keep hidden from the rest of the world—either in fear of judgment or in recognition of our own insecurities and imperfections. Body horror movies go a step further into this exploration of our psychological vulnerabilities by tapping into something primal, as seen in some memorable recent releases like Smile, The Substance, A Different Man, etc. Hulu’s recent release, Control Freak, a body/psychological horror that delineates the undoing of the human mind, proves to be another well-made entry to the genre. Even though, like most original horror releases in recent years, the scare factor isn’t really there and the narrative twists and turns aren’t completely out of the box. Still, backed with good acting, navigating themes like the futility of warfare, generational trauma, and the importance of mental health,...

The following is an excerpt from “In Review by David Ehrlich,” a biweekly newsletter in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the site’s latest reviews and muses about current events in the movie world. Subscribe here to receive the newsletter in your inbox every other Friday.

The past week presented a remarkable challenge to some of America’s longest-standing norms (and constitutional amendments). A green card-holder who’s married to an American citizen was disappeared in plain sight, the President of the United States turned the White House lawn into a car dealership as part of a naked bid to spare the world’s richest man from the consequences of the economy they’re both determined to crash at our expense, and — most unexpected of all, if also most welcome — Marvel actually released something bold and creatively provocative for the first time since Chloé Zhao...

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a franchise known for huge action blockbusters, with some deviations to their formula for applicable content, while A24 is an independent movie and television company that prioritizes an auteur’s aesthetic as well as more intimate character dynamics. Marvel capitalizes on a specific opportunity with Thunderbolts* and framed its latest marketing material for the upcoming movie within the context of the cast and crew’s A24 connection.

Kevin Feige and the MCU decision-makers clearly perceive A24 productions as having a niche filmmaking advantage, at least in terms of a project’s quality. And most importantly, the filmmakers may have purposefully brought some of those cinematic practices and perspectives to Thunderbolts*.

After all, the Thor trailer does not highlight director Kenneth Branagh’s Shakespearian background, and the advertisements for Avenger epics do not point out that many of the stars are Oscar nominees. This Thunderbolts* campaign...

A24 has a long list of movies lined up for 2025, starting with Opus, which will hit theaters on March 14. With its immense popularity in the indie movie scene, more mainstream artists are eager to collaborate with A24. It was primarily a film distribution company but later ventured into production with the Oscar-winning film Moonlight.

More recently, the studio is known for critically acclaimed films like MaXXXine, Sing Sing, A Different Man, We Live in Time, Heretic, Queer, The Brutalist, and Babygirl. The Oscar-winning film Everything Everywhere All at Once is the highest-grossing film from the studio.

Still posters of Death of a Unicorn (left) and Opus (right) | Credits: A24

A24 has already been involved in two movies this year. The studio distributed the Italy-France co-production Parthenope in the United States. It also produced the film On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, which was released in March. Here are all the upcoming...

The upcoming Marvel Studios film Thunderbolts* is going to feature multiple actors from various previous Marvel films and TV shows reprising their roles. It’s got Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster… but a recently unveiled promo focuses not on the Marvel projects we’d recognize the characters from, but on the creative pedigree of the cast and crew. Midsommar, A Different Man, You Hurt My Feelings, Beef, The Green Knight, Hereditary, Minari, and Everything Everywhere All At Once all get a shout-out in the Absolute Cinema promo, which you can check out in the embed above.

You might notice that all of the projects referenced in that promo were from A24. This goes along with a comment that Pugh recently made to Empire,...

The star of the latest Marvel movie, Thunderbolts*, says the film has more of an indie feel than previous efforts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Florence Pugh, who plays Yelena Belova in the new movie, said it felt more like an “assassin” movie than a traditional MCU film.

“It ended up becoming quite the badass indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes,” said Pugh in an interview with Empire, per The Hollywood Reporter. It makes sense that the Oscar-nominated Pugh would feel that way as Jake Schreier, the director of Thunderbolts*, also directed several episodes of the Netflix series, Beef,which A24 produces. The director was also advised that he should make the movie “something different.”

Schreier said that there’s a bit of “that Beef tone in it, that does feel different.” The director added, “There’s an emotional darkness that we brought to this that is resonant,...

Amid a trailer highlighting the indie powerhouses behind Marvel’s forthcoming Thunderbolts*, star Florence Pugh — herself a born and bred indie darling of Midsommar fame — described the action flick as more akin to an “A24-feeling” picture.

Speaking to Empire in a recent interview, the actress — who will reprise her role as Natasha Romanoff’s sister, Yelena, the highly trained former assassin first introduced in Black Widow — said the film, about a group of misfits not really giving the Avengers a run for their money, has an entirely different style from typical MCU fare.

“It ended up becoming this quite badass indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes,” she noted.

Due in theaters May 2, the latest addition to the sprawling Disney-powered franchise is helmed by Jake Schreier, who shared an Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series or Anthology for directing six episodes of A24/Netflix’s hit Beef, the all-cylinders-firing...

Florence Pugh thinks the upcoming Marvel film “Thunderbolts*” feels less like a major Hollywood tentpole and more like an arthouse indie.

“It ended up becoming this quite badass indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes,” Pugh, who plays Yelena Belova in the film, told Empire.

Pugh’s comments are backed by “Thunderbolts*” marketing, which has recently emphasized its cast and creative team’s ties to A24. A new teaser points out Pugh, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Sebastian Stan’s roles in A24 films “Midsommar,” You Hurt My Feelings” and “A Different Man.”

The teaser also highlighted “the writers and director of ‘Beef,'” “the editor of ‘Minari'” and “the composers of ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once'” among others.

Director Jake Schreier told Variety at Comic-Con last year that “The goal that Kevin [Feige, president of Marvel Studios] set at the beginning was to go in and try to make this different.

In the entertainment industry, content is king, but marketing strategy is what wins the war, as it makes or breaks a film’s success. But what happens when one major studio spotlights the talent and prestige of another with its promotional content? Because that’s exactly what’s happening between Marvel’s Thunderbolts* and A24.

A still from Thunderbolts* | Marvel Studios

Other studios need to take notes from the MCU film’s marketing team. From a perfectly cut trailer to intriguing posts, they’ve done it all and increased Thunderbolts* chances of success at the box office. But what exactly does their recent tactic convey, and why has it brought criticism for A24?

A24 gets called out for their Oscar misses due to poor marketing A still from A Different Man | A24

Thunderbolts* new promotional material doesn’t just hype up Marvel’s long-awaited venture but also pays homage to...

Could Marvel be trying to get in on some of that indie popularity? With Sean Baker’s Neon release “Anora” running away with five Oscars last weekend, including the top honor of Best Picture, big Hollywood studios like Disney may want some of its own fare to have that independent touch. Such is the case it seems for its upcoming entry in the MCU, “Thunderbolts,” starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Lewis Pullman, Wyatt Russell, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Speaking in a recent interview with Empire, Pugh said of the tone the film “ended up becoming this quite badass indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes.”

And while A24 and “Anora” studio Neon are decidedly not “rivals,” as Neon CEO Tom Quinn recently said (Neon instead counts Netflix as their “biggest competitor” for acquisition titles), could Marvel be trying to square off with A24?

Marvel and Disney definitely were...

Marvel has released a new teaser for their next movie, Thunderbolts*!

The new minute-long teaser clip shares some of the cast and crew’s past indie credits, seemingly trying to give the movie a lesser-than big Marvel blockbuster look.

Previously, the film has been billed as being presented by “Marvel Studios

and a crew of indie veterans who sold out.”

Keep reading to find out more…

In the teaser, the below credits are shown across the screen:

From the stars of Midsommar (Florence Pugh), A Different Man (Sebastian Stan), & You Hurt My Feelings (Julia Louis-Dreyfus)

The writers & director of Beef (director Jake Schreier and writers Joanna Calo and Joanna Calo)

The cinematographer of The Green Knight (Andrew Droz Palermo)

The production designer of Hereditary (Grace Yun)

The editor of Minari (Harry Yoon)

The composers of Everything Everywhere All At Once (Son Lux)

Also starring in the upcoming movie include David Harbour,...

Marvel Studios is doing something a bit different with its latest Thunderbolts* trailer: adopting an indie vibe.

In addition to reintroducing the film's ensemble, Thunderbolts*' marketing adopts the look and feel of an A24 trailer, complete with a surreal musical choice and neon colors for text introductions. This trailer not only pays homage to its director and cast's previous A24 projects -- citing Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus' work on Midsommar, A Different Man and You Hurt My Feelings -- but revealed the cinematographer, editor, production designer and composer have all worked on films for the acclaimed independent film company too. This vibe extends to new scenes revealed in the trailer, such as Yelena Belova facing a hallucinatory version of herself and Bucky Barnes punching a man in a chicken suit.

Except newcomer Bob/Sentry (Lewis Pullman), Thunderbolts*' cast hails from both Marvel films and post-Avengers...

The latest preview for “Thunderbolts*” touts the Marvel movie’s connection to another cinematic universe — that of indie film favorite A24.

The new clip ditches Marvel’s traditional sweeping orchestrations and big action setpieces in favor of slick techno music and title cards highlighting that many of the film’s stars, creatives and artisans have previously worked on A24 films.

First revealed by Letterboxd, the “exclusive first look” intercuts shots of Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in their Marvel gear with their A24 acting credits.

The teaser gives the Marvel Studios logo an A24-esque makeover and features stylized cards for “the editor of ‘Minari'” (Harry Yoon) and “the writers and director of ‘Beef'” (director Jake Schreier and co-writers Lee Sung Jin and Joanna Calo). “The Green Knight” cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo and “Hereditary” production designer Grace Yun also get a shoutout, with “Everything Everywhere All At Once...

A new look at Thunderbolts*has dropped and it is totally playing up its stars' indie darling status. The one minute trailer opens by stating it is from the stars of Midsommar (hello Florence Pugh), A Different Man and You Hurt My Feelings. Then, of course, we're told it's from the writers and director of Beef, which won director Jake Schreier critical acclaim when it released on Netflix. It's feeling pretty smug right now isn't it? Good, stay with us. Oh, hold on, it's from the cinematographer of The Green Knight too. Yep, production designer who worked on Hereditary. Oh god, they're mentioning Minari and Everything Everywhere All At Once now. We can't keep up.

A new “Thunrderbolts*” trailer dropped Friday, and it this time, the Marvel Studios blockbuster took a surprising approach to its own material: It wants more indie cred.

In the trailer exclusive to Letterboxd, the 65-second spot highlights the behind-the-scenes creative team’s credentials across some of the decades most successful indie films, from “Minari” to “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” In other words, the Marvel film began marketing itself as an A24 movie.

Title cards include:

From the stars of “Midsommar,” “A Different Man” and “You Hurt My Feelings” … the writers and director of “Beef” (referring to director Jake Schreier and writers Joanna Calo and Joanna Calo) … the cinematographer of “The Green Knight” (Andrew Droz Palermo) … the production designer of “Hereditary” (Grace Yun) … the editor of “Minari” (Harry Yoon) And the composer of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (Son Lux)

Watch the full trailer below:

Exclusive new look at @MarvelStudios' Thunderbolts* starring Florence Pugh,...

Gotta be honest with you: the Marvel fatigue is real. But this new Thunderbolts* trailer? It got me, folks. Against all odds and expectations, it's impressed me enough that I might actually go see a Marvel movie in theaters again. (Which is something I haven't done in years and years.) And given the truly, mind-bogglingly cool creative team they've assembled — an Avengers-style team-up to resuscitate the long-stagnant movie arm of the comic book behemoth, perhaps? — it's no wonder they debuted it with the folks over at Letterboxd, everyone's favorite public movie diary for cinephiles.

For all its usual crash-bang-boom!, while some of Hollywood's biggest stars don a bunch of super-suits and say quippy lines, the teaser also features a lot more than your standard Marvel superhero fare. But it's hard to put it simply, you really need to watch it for yourself. Don't just take our word for it, check out the stylish,...

Now that the gold dust is settling on a long awards season, it is time to look forward to what’s next.

For Kieran Culkin that means heading to Broadway for the most recent staging of Glengarry Glen Ross, while this summer is likely occupied with filming on the third Dune movie for Timothee Chalamet. Elsewhere, awards break-outs like Anora’s Mikey Madison and Yura Borisov have yet to announce their next projects but are getting a lot of interest from studios and directors.

Here’s what the best actor and actress nominees have coming up.

Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown)

Next up for Barbaro is the second season of the Netflix action comedy series Fubar and the Don Winslow film adaptation Crime 101 at Amazon MGM.

Yura Borisov (Anora)

One of the biggest stars in Russia, he has three TV series and a movie in postproduction with several on deck in his native country,...

Director Coralie Fargeat’s body horror movie The Substance was nominated for five Oscars at the Academy Awards last night, a rare feat for the horror genre that was cause for celebration no matter which statues (if any) the film ended up taking home. The bad news? The Substance didn’t end up winning Best Picture. The good news? It didn’t go home empty handed.

The Substance is now officially an Oscar winner, with the film winning one of the five awards it was nominated for. The Demi Moore-starring horror movie, which explores the horrors of aging in the entertainment industry, won the Oscar for Best Makeup & Hairstyling.

Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, and Marilyne Scarselli are the artists honored with the award, with The Substance beating out A Different Man, Emilia Pérez, Nosferatu and Wicked in the category. It’s the first Academy Award won by a movie distributed by Mubi.

The 97th Academy Awards have wrapped and the entire 2025 Oscars winners list has been unveiled. We live updated the winners list throughout the entire night as the statuettes were handed out at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

“Anora” won five of the six Oscars for which it was nominated: Best Picture, Best Director Sean Baker, Best Original Screenplay (also for Baker), Best Editor (Baker again), and Best Actress for Mikey Madison. the only category it lost was Yura Borisov’s nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Anne Thompson’s final predictions were mostly right! It was undeniable that the Oscar race changed dramatically since the nominations were announced on January 23, and “Emilia Pérez” received 13 nods, the most ever for a non-English-language movie. The Jacques Audiard film ended up winning just two awards.

Indeed, when all was said and done, only the supporting categories were near-locks, as Kieran Culkin won Best...

The movie Anora was the big winner at the 2025 Oscars with five wins, including Best Picture, and you can watch the film right now at home!

Anora won Best Picture, Best Director for Sean Baker, Best Actress for Mikey Madison, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.

Sean made history as the first person to win four Oscars for the same movie as he was eligible to receive the picture, director, screenplay, and editing awards.

So, how can you watch Anora? And for free? And what about all of the other nominated movies?

Keep reading to find out more…

You can currently rent Anora on demand for a $5.99 rental on iTunes or Amazon. It’s also available for purchase on digital at $14.99.

If you don’t want to pay specifically to watch the movie, you can get a Hulu subscription. The film will be available for free streaming for all...

The Oscar race is a marathon, not a sprint. There are dozens of pit stops along the way and trophies to be given out before the 2025 Oscars on March 2. Keep track of precursor wins here with our scorecard. This includes honors from major film festivals, critics groups, guilds, and televised shows of the 2024-25 Oscar season. Wins are listed in order of announcement and in accordance with candidates' FYC campaigns.

Updated: Sunday, March 2, 2025, with Oscar winners.

The Oscar season began and ended with Anora. Sean Baker's film moved to the front of the Oscar race after winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and while it didn't have the smoothest path, its Oscar journey ended with five trophies Sunday night, including Best Picture.

Anora also won Best Actress for Mikey Madison, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing — the last three of which went to Baker.

The bumpy road to Oscar glory will reach its end Sunday night at the 97th Academy Awards, closing out one of the most unpredictable awards seasons in years. Ups and downs, twists and turns, mudslinging, mea culpas, tears both happy and sad — we’ve seen it all in recent weeks as the race kept us guessing what new upheaval might come next.

And that includes who wins tonight. “Emilia Pérez” might have the most nominations (13), but Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical lost its frontrunner status pretty much the moment star Karla Sofía-Gascón’s history of bigoted tweets resurfaced. In stepped “Anora,” which won top prizes with both the PGA and DGA and seemed ready to sail to a Best Picture victory…until “Conclave” swept in and showed us that the race was much tighter than we’d thought.

And what looked like an unobstructed path to best actress anointment for...

The Academy Awards are underway, with Oscar statuettes being handed out for the year's most acclaimed filmmakers and performers. Heading into the event, there may have been favorites heading into certain categories, but no wins are guaranteed, given some of the shockers that have been seen on the small screen in the Oscars' past.

The list of nominations for the evening are listed below, with winners updated in bold as they happen live.

Actor in a Leading Role Adrien Brody, The Brutalist Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown Colman Domingo, Sing Sing Ralph Fiennes, Conclave Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice Actor in a Supporting Role Yura Borisov, Anora Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown Guy Pearce, The Brutalist Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice Actress in a Leading Role Cynthia Erivo, Wicked Karla Sofia Gascon, Emilia Perez Mikey Madison, Anora Demi Moore, The Substance Fernanda Torre, I'm Still Here Actress...

30 feature films have been nominated for awards at the 2025 Oscars and we’re letting you know where you can watch them all right now.

This list only includes feature-length narrative movies and does not include the films nominated in the Documentary or Short Film categories.

Emilia Perez leads the pack this year with 13 nominations followed by The Brutalist and Wicked with 10 nominations each.

The Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood with comedian Conan O’Brien hosting for the first time. ABC will air the show and you can stream on Hulu.

So, which movies are nominated? And how can you watch them?

Head inside to check out the full list…

A Complete Unknown

Streaming For Free With Subscription: Not available yet

Rent On Demand: iTunes or Amazon

Still In Theaters?: Yes!

Nominated For 8 Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Timothee Chalamet,...

Originally published Feb. 28 at 5 a.m. Pt; updated March 2 at 9:45 a.m. Pt

It's all come down to this. Gold Derby has been predicting the 2025 Oscars since way back in July, when Sing Sing was the initial No. 1 pick to win Best Picture.

Over the past eight months, Anora has enjoyed the first-place position in our rankings for most of the time, aside from when The Brutalist briefly soared to the top after dominating the Golden Globes. Anora reclaimed the top spot following its victories at the Producers Guild, Directors Guild, and Writers Guild. Meanwhile, Conclave has ascended to its highest position yet on our Best Picture chart, at No. 2, following huge wins at BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild.

Anora, about a Brooklyn sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, and The Brutalist, which focuses on a Holocaust survivor who hopes to achieve the American Dream,...

The 97th Academy Awards takes place on Sunday March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

The ceremony starts at 4pm Pt/7pm Et (midnight UK time) and is set to run for around three hours (although it usually overruns).

It will be broadcast live on ABC in the US and streamed on Hulu. In the UK it will once again air on ITV1, with coverage fronted by Jonathan Ross.

Conan O’Brien is hosting the ceremony for the first time, with Raj Kapoor returningas executive producer and showrunner, and Katy Mullan serving as executive producer.

Currently confirmed presenters for the night include Dave Bautista,...

Sebastian Stan supports the makeup team that he worked with for his movie A Different Man at The Academy Museum Hosts Oscars Season: Makeup & Hairstyling activation and panel on Saturday (March 1) in Los Angeles.

The 42-year-old actor took the stage with the Oscar-nominated makeup team, comprised of Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Jurado during the event, which took place at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Keep reading to find out more…

He was dressed casually in a turquoise sweatshirt, which he paired with a baseball cap and cuffed jeans.

A Different Man secured one nomination in the Best Makeup and Hairstyling category at the 2025 Oscars. The team competes with the makeup artists who worked on Emilia Perez, Nosferatu, The Substance and Wicked.

Meanwhile, Sebastian is up for Best Actor for his work on The Apprentice. Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Timothee Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing...

The following article is an excerpt from the new edition of “In Review by David Ehrlich,” a biweekly newsletter in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the site’s latest reviews and muses about current events in the movie world. Subscribe here to receive the newsletter in your inbox every other Friday.

Judgment day is nigh!

Awards season is so long that America was able to become a crypto-fascist autocracy faster than Hollywood was able to decide which “Emilia Pérez” song Diane Warren should lose to, but good news: At least one of those things will all be over by the end of the weekend.

The votes have been cast, the campaigns have been campainful, and the predictions have been made and, then re-made, and then scrambled by the SAG Awards at the last second. At this point all that’s left is to hand...

Filmmakers celebrated shooting celluloid at the 7th Kodak Film Awards, where respected veteran Dp Ed Lachman – who won the American Society of Cinematographers top honor last weekend for “Maria” – was feted with a Career Achievement Award.

“It’s a lifetime of exploring, knowing it’s in the journey and not in the final destination,” the Oscar-nominated Dp of films including “Maria,” “Carol,” Far from Heaven” and “El Conde” said of cinematography. “There isn’t only one way to create images to tell our stories. The challenges of cinematography, for me, has always been revealing or trying to evoke the psychological authenticity of the image in the story. Images are about discovering with your camera the emotional immediacy of the moment, which you can translate and share in the documentary and narrative form which we’ve seen in everyone’s work here tonight, and maybe even to express some injustices that there are in the world.

The 7th Annual Kodak Film Awards celebrated the artistry of cinematography, honoring Ed Lachman, Gia Coppola, Lol Crawley, Greg Kwedar, and Ramez Silyan. Film enthusiasts gathered at the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Clubhouse on Thursday, February 27, 2025, to recognize their contributions

Attendees at the event included John “Divine G” Whitfield, Clarence Maclin, Brent Buell, Nick Pomeroy, Kelley Kali, Mitch Dubin, and Alex Prager.

Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Ed Lachman, ASC (Maria), was honored with the Kodak Career Achievement Award, recognizing his profound and unparalleled contributions to cinema. Lachman’s mastery of the moving image, coupled with his inspired creative vision, has shaped iconic collaborations with directors like Todd Haynes, Robert Altman, and many others, resulting in four Oscar nominations and five ASC nominations.

Gia Coppola, director and producer of The Last Showgirl, starring Pamela Anderson, received the Auteur Award for her exceptional directorial achievements. Academy Award nominee Lol Crawley, Bsc, The Brutalist,...

There are few talents in Hollywood as intriguing as Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan, and Robert Pattison. The three actors have beautifully balanced franchise work with deeply nuanced character roles that have often intrigued and, sometimes, baffled audiences. Post-Twilight, Pattinson has had a fascinating career that includes films like The King, Good Time, and Cosmopolis, before turning to The Batman, and now, Mickey 17. Stan’s career has been endlessly fascinating, from taking on MCU’s Bucky Barnes, and proving he thrives in deeply complex character roles with films like A Different Man and The Apprentice. While Holland still has plenty of MCU work ahead of him, the actor has delivered surprisingly deep performances in movies such as The Impossible, The Lost City of Z, and even on stage in Romeo and Juliet. But there was a time when these three talents collided in a forgotten, yet incredibly complex and thrilling Netflix film.

Exclusive: Cheyenne Jackson (American Horror Story), Olivia Rose Keegan (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series), Tony Chung (Kung Fu) and Aaron Kingsley Adetola (A Thousand and One) are set to star alongside newcomers Toby Chau, Arkira Chantaratananond, and Ash Hurley in Chinese School, an indie coming-of-age comedy marking the first feature from writer-director William Kwok (I Was a Simple Man).

Set in present-day New York City, the film blends live-action, animation, and original songs to tell the story of Jacky (Chau), a Chinese American teen who grudgingly attends a Chinese language school every weekend with his longtime friend and bandmate Monica (Chantaratananond) — at least until he meets his dream girl: the blonde, all-American, devoted churchgoer, Abigail (Keegan). Jacky soon finds himself pulled in many directions, including on a reluctant journey of self-discovery and reflection.

Independently financed, the project is inspired by Kwok’s own coming-of-age experience. Kwok and Katherine Vondy...

When the 97th Academy Awards ceremony is held on March 2, viewers will notice that the way nominees are introduced in their respective categories will be like it used to be years ago. Per Variety, an assortment of film clips will be played as the nominees in acting categories are introduced, which has not been the case in recent years.

Back in 2021, when the pandemic was in full swing, the Oscars were broadcast with no host, and no film clips before each of the nominees. Instead, at the 2021 ceremony, the presenters gave a few “fun facts” and praise about each nominee in their category, per InsideHook. The ceremony also reduced the number of clips for acting nominees to free up time for more comedy or musical numbers and speeches.

When the ceremony is broadcast, viewers will be able to see clips from such films as A Complete Unknown, The Apprentice, and...

Are you prepared for an action-packed week featuring an array of new movies to stream across various Ott platforms? Dive into a weekend of cinematic delights with our handpicked selection of the hottest movie releases. This list is curated with movie recommendations for those of you who only want to watch the best out of the new movies that pop up on streaming. The list may also come in handy for you to stay updated with current releases on subscription-based Ott platforms and help you pick the best based on your taste and appetite.

The Best New Movies To Stream on Max 1. Goodrich (2024)

Where to Stream: Max | Dir: Hallie Meyers-Shyer

Goodrich, directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer, is a heartfelt relationship drama that follows Andy Goodrich (Michael Keaton), a workaholic Los Angeles art dealer whose world is turned upside down when his second wife, Naomi (Laura Benanti), checks herself into rehab. Suddenly,...

Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for his performance as Arthur Fleck in Joker, but before he suited up for the critically panned sequel last year, he also teamed up with A24 for a twisted psychological thriller that just got a major streaming update. Phoenix stars alongside Patti LuPone and Amy Ryan in Beau is Afraid, the 2023 tragic comedy that earned scores of 68% from critics and 71% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed only $12.3 million at the worldwide box office on a $35 million budget. Max has officially announced that Beau is Afraid will begin streaming on the platform on March 14, leaving its current streaming homes of Prime Video and Paramount+ while joining other A24 hits like We Live in Time and A Different Man on HBO's streamer.

Earlier in the Oscar race, we dropped our instant reactions to the nominations. However, with a few weeks of more awards coming out, as well as some additional events, the race changed drastically. Below are the FandomWire final Oscar predictions for the 97th Academy Awards. Make sure to check out our breakdown for the shorts if you want to win your Oscar pool.

Best Picture Conclave – FandomWire Final Oscar Predictions

And the Nominees Are:

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

I’m Still Here

Nickel Boys

The Substance

Wicked

Predicted Winner: Conclave

Who Should Win: Anora

Who Should Have Been Here: Sing Sing

This is a very tight race at the top, and the battle between Conclave and Anora is fully underway. Anora and Sean Baker have picked up some nice hardware. They took the top prize of the Producers Guild of America (PGA), Writers...

Anthony Mackie recently had some fun at his longtime co-star Sebastian Stan’s expense. While appearing on Hot Ones alongside actor Danny Ramirez, Mackie was asked to rank his Captain America scene partners from most to least talented. His choices were Chris Evans, Danny Ramirez, and Sebastian Stan.

Out of respect for Evans, who played Captain America before him, Mackie put the fan-favorite actor at the top of the list. Next, he ranked his new co-star, Danny Ramirez, who plays the Falcon in Captain America: Brave New World.

This meant his close friend, Sebastian Stan, landed in last place. However, Mackie made it clear he wasn’t actually criticizing Stan’s acting skills—he was just having fun.

Mackie joked, “F*ck Sebastian Stan. He got a Golden Globe, an Oscar nomination, he got a new girlfriend, he got everything!”

Mackie and Stan’s on-screen chemistry became iconic in Captain America: Civil War,...

Anthony Mackie ranks Sebastian Stan as the least talented scene partner below Chris Evans and Danny Ramirez. He had his own reasons to rank his best buddy lower than the other two. Mackie jokingly mentioned how Stan has got everything now from awards glory to a new girlfriend.

Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America in Captain America: Brave New World | Credits: Marvel Studios

Stan and Mackie’s dynamic became iconic in Captain America: Civil War, leading to the pair getting a separate series of their own. After The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Mackie received his own Captain America movie in the MCU, while Stan joined Florence Pugh, David Harbour, and others in Thunderbolts*.

Anthony Mackie explains why Sebastian Stan isn’t a talented scene partner Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier in Thunderbolts* | Credits: Marvel Studios

Anthony Mackie shared the screen with Chris Evans in Captain America: The Winter Soldier...

After delays due to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, the 2025 Oscar nominees were finally announced. All the speculating and prognosticating has come to this moment, and now we transition from predicting who will be nominated to who will win. Emilia Pérez leads all nominees with 13 nominations, followed by The Brutalist and Wicked with 10 apiece.

For those at home who want to watch as many contenders as possible before the 97th Academy Awards ceremony on March 2, we've compiled a complete list of where to watch every nominated film. Many 2025 Oscar nominees are still in theaters, but most are available to stream. We'll add more streaming or theatrical information as it becomes available, but here's where to watch them.

Alien: Romulus

Director Fede Alvarez's extension of/homage to the Alien franchise is nominated for Best Visual Effects. It's available to stream on Hulu.

Anora

Writer-director Sean Baker’s empathic...

With just days to go before the 2025 Oscar ceremony, Anora is still Gold Derby's pick to win Best Picture, despite losing to Conclave at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday.

Sean Baker's risqué independent film, about a Brooklyn sex worker (Mikey Madison) who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, claimed three key precursors in recent weeks at the Producers Guild, Directors Guild, and Writers Guild. The only contender that historically won all three of those specific prizes and failed to take the Best Picture Oscar was Brokeback Mountain (2005). The Ang Lee film infamously lost to Crash, which won the SAG Award for Best Cast.

As for Edward Berger’s fictional tale chronicling the scandals within the Vatican following the pope's death, it's now in the runner-up position to win Best Picture. Conclave's back-to-back victories at the SAG Awards (Best Cast) and BAFTA (Best Film) are hard to ignore.

Mikey Madison as Ani and Mark Eydelshteyn as Ivan in ‘Anora’ (Courtesy of Neon)

Anora continues to pick up speed heading into the Oscars, scoring Critics Choice Awards and DGA wins and snagging a Best Feature win at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Anora also captured Best Director (Sean Baker) and Best Lead Performance (Mikey Madison) wins. A Real Pain and Didi each earned two awards during the February 22, 2025 Spirit Awards ceremony hosted by Aidy Bryant.

On the television side, Baby Reindeer dominated with three wins. The critically acclaimed limited series took home the Best Lead Performance (Richard Gadd), Best Supporting Performance (Nava Mau), and Best Breakthrough Performance (Jessica Gunning) wins. Other television winners included Shogun and How to Die Alone.

2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominees and Winners

Best Feature

Winner: Anora

Producers: Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan

I Saw the TV Glow

Producers: Ali Herting, Sam Intili, Dave McCary,...

Film Independent handed out its 2025 Spirit Awards on Saturday afternoon (February 22), in a Santa Monica ceremony that saw Anora claim three prizes for best feature, director Sean Baker, and lead performance Mikey Madison in the gender-neutral category.

Sean Wang’s Didi took two prizes for best first feature and first screenplay, whileGints Zilbalodis’s Latvian animation Flow won international film and No Other Land was named best documentary. A Real Pain also nabbed two awards for screenplay and supporting actor Kieran Culkin.

While it is too late for the Spirit Awards to have any bearing on the Oscars next weekend...

The 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards have wrapped! And now we know, as the full winners list for the Spirit Awards has been revealed, just how much momentum “Anora” has going into the Oscars: a lot. It already got the most Spirits nominations with six, and it ended up winning Best Feature, Best Director for Sean Baker, and Best Lead Performance for Mikey Madison.

Kieran Culkin won Best Supporting Performance for “A Real Pain,” which also won Best Screenplay. “No Other Land” won Best Documentary, and the extraordinary animated film “Flow” won Best International feature.

“Baby Reindeer” collected the most prizes on the TV side with Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series going to Richard Gadd, Jessica Gunning won Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series, and Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series went to Nava Rau. “Shogun” won Best New Scripted Series.

Host Aidy Bryant...

Kieran Culkin took home the win for best supporting performance at the 2025 Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday.

Presented by Kathryn Hahn, Culkin won the honor for his work in Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, marking his first Spirit Award ever. Culkin — who is starring in Glengarry Glen Ross, which opens March 10 on Broadway — was not present at the Spirit Awards in Santa Monica on Saturday, but Hahn accepted the award on his behalf.

His win at the 2025 Spirit Awards came a little over a month after he won the award for best supporting actor at the 2025 Golden Globes. Culkin, too, became a first-time Oscar nominee this year with a nod in the same category for his portrayal of Benji Kaplan in A Real Pain.

The Succession star was nominated for best supporting performance at the Spirit Awards alongside Yura Borisov (Anora), Joan Chen (Dìdi), Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson...

The best in independent film and new television shows were honored at the 2025 Independent Spirit Awards and we have the full winners list here.

Anora and I Saw the TV Glow led the film nominations with five nods each while Shogun led the television nominations with five nods as well.

In the end, Anora and Baby Reindeer led their respective categories with three wins each!

Make sure to check out the recap of every celeb who attended the event and take a look at our Best Dressed list as well.

Keep reading to find out more…

Scroll down for the full list of winners…

Best Feature

Anora – Winner

Producers: Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan

I Saw the TV Glow

Producers: Ali Herting, Sam Intili, Dave McCary, Emma Stone, Sarah Winshall

Nickel Boys

Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, David Levine

Sing Sing

Producers: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Monique Walton...

The 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards — the top awards event for the independent film and television community — were handed out on Saturday from the beach in Santa Monica, Calif.

The ceremony, hosted by Saturday Night Live vet Aidy Bryant for the second year in the row, was streamed live on the IMDb and Film Independent YouTube channels at 5 pm Et, and across other social platforms.

More from TVLineSAG Awards 2025: The Penguin, Shōgun and Only Murders in the Building Among TV WinnersNAACP Image Awards: Quinta Brunson, Jennifer Hudson and Fight Night Win BigWriters Guild Awards 2025: Shōgun, The Penguin and Hacks...

During his acceptance speech for best screenplay at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards, A Real Pain writer and director Jesse Eisenberg called Emma Stone, a producer on the film, his “fairy godmother.”

“I met Emma when we were in Zombieland together 2009 and since then — I write little magazine articles and little things on McSweeney’s, and she’s the only person, I’m including my mom here, who would take little screenshots of it over the last 15 years and send me things like, ‘This is such a funny line!'” Eisenberg said onstage, while Stone was in the audience. “She was, definitely still [is], the most famous person I know, and yet also the most dedicated to encouraging me as a writer. I think about her not as my producer, but like a fairy godmother, that I am riding the coattails of her goodwill. And I think it’s so important that somebody like her,...

The 40th annual Independent Spirit Awards took place in Santa Monica on Feb. 22, with Aidy Bryant as host for the second year in a row.

“Anora” was the biggest winner of the day, being named best feature while Sean Baker and Mikey Madison took home individual trophies for best director and lead performance. “Baby Reindeer” also won big, with Richard Gadd, Nava Mau and Jessica Gunning clinching the awards for lead, supporting and breakthrough performance, though “Shogun” won best new scripted series. And Sean Wang’s “Dìdi” clinched both awards in the debut film category: best first feature as well as best first first screenplay.

See the full list of winners below.

Best Feature

“Anora” (Winner)

“I Saw the TV Glow”

“Nickel Boys”

“Sing Sing”

“The Substance”

Best First Feature

“Dìdi” (Winner)

“In the Summers”

“Janet Planet”

“The Piano Lesson”

“Problemista”

John Cassavetes Award – Given to the best feature made...

Film Independent handed out its 2025 Spirit Awards on Saturday afternoon (February 22), in a Santa Monica ceremony that saw Anora claim three prizes for best feature, director Sean Baker, and lead actor Mikey Madison in the gender-neutral category.

Sean Wang’s Didi took two prizes for best first feature and first screenplay, while Gints Zilbalodis’s Latvian animation Flow won international film and No Other Land was named best documentary. A Real Pain also nabbed two awards for screenplay and supporting actor Kieran Culkin.

Baker gave an impassioned speech calling for higher upfront fees for independent directors who he said take...

The 2025 Berlin International Film Festival announced its award winners on Saturday, with Dreams (Sex Love) from filmmaker Dag Johan Haugerud winning the prestigious Golden Bear. Acting honors went to lead performer Rose Byrne for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and supporting performer Andrew Scott for Blue Moon.

This year’s 2025 Berlinale competition jury was led by filmmaker Todd Haynes (his narrative feature debut Poison was awarded the Teddy Prize for queer filmmaking in Berlin in 1991). Other jurors included Nabil Ayouch (Morocco/France), costume designer Bina Daigeler (Germany), actor Fan Bingbing (China), director Rodrigo Moreno (Argentina), Los Angeles Times critic Amy Nicholson (U.S.), and filmmaker and actor Maria Schrader (Germany).

See the complete list of 2025 Berlin International Film Festival award winners below.

Golden Bear: Dreams (Sex Love) by Dag Johan Haugerud

Silver Bear Jury Prize: The Message by Iván Fund

Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: The Blue Trail...