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Elizabeth Banks is calling out an industry double standard. After writing, directing, producing, and starring in 2019’s “Charlie’s Angels” reboot, Banks reflected on the film’s box-office flop in an interview with The New York Times. “I would’ve liked to have made ‘Mission: Impossible,’ but women aren’t directing ‘Mission: Impossible,'” Banks said. “I was able to direct an action movie, frankly, because it starred women and I’m a female director, and that is the confine right now in Hollywood.” Banks claimed that a “big producer of big action movies” once told her directly that she “couldn’t direct action, that male actors were not going to follow me.” “He was flummoxed at the idea that a woman would be able to lead the Rock on a...

In the first of a dozen or so interviews running throughout “11 Minutes,” radio host Storme Warren chokes up trying to explain his role following the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. Warren, a popular country DJ, was onstage during the Route 91 Harvest music festival, where 58 people were killed and 869 more were injured in what became the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Warren escaped unhurt, but not unscathed. “There’s a very heavy weight that goes with being the storyteller,” he says, his voice catching in his throat. “A lot of responsibility to tell it the right way.” It’s been five years since the October 1 tragedy, and beyond living with the heartbreaking memories, Warren is trying to find a positive...

“Legally Blonde” is now legal…but Reese Witherspoon apparently didn’t think the film would spur two sequels back in 2001. Ahead of “Legally Blonde 3,” penned by Mindy Kaling, longtime Witherspoon collaborator Andy Tennant revealed the Emmy and Oscar winner didn’t anticipate the massive success of the Harvard Law School-based fish out of water rom-com. “I had lunch with her not that long before I turned in the ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ script,” Tennant told Insider as part of a “Sweet Home Alabama” 20th anniversary oral history. “We were just catching up and I asked, ‘What have you been up to?’ And she said, ‘I made this movie nobody is going to see. It’s silly but it was really fun to make.’ And that turned out to be ‘Legally Blonde.'” It...

Like cinematography and sound, the early leader in the editing race is Joseph Kosinski’s high-octane “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount), where we’re put inside the cockpit with Tom Cruise during the amazing dogfights. But in a season marked by stories of showbiz, social change, and superheroics, there are plenty of outstanding contenders that display creative and bold rhythm and pacing. Among the other early frontrunners are the Daniels’ complex multiverse of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24); Jordan Peele’s flipped-out sci-fi/horror spectacle, “Nope” (Universal); Brett Morgen’s mind-blowing David Bowie documentary, “Moonage Daydream” (Neon); and Baz Luhrmann’s delirious biopic, “Elvis” (Warner Bros.). However, the festival...

“Napoleon” will not be premiering in 2022. Despite a new report by The Ankler suggesting otherwise, IndieWire sources close to the Ridley Scott biopic deny that the film will be released by Apple Studios in December in order to qualify for the 2023 Oscars. A source also tells IndieWire that the movie, which began shooting in February and wrapped in Europe in May, is not finished with post-production. Apple has not officially dated the film, even for 2023. Nor has Apple dated the Will Smith-led Civil War drama “Emancipation,” once thought to be an awards vehicle for the Oscars-tainted star. “Napoleon” stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon and Vanessa Kirby as his wife, Josephine. “All the Money in the World” screenwriter David Scarpa...

Two years after “The Crown” Season 4 raised concerns at Buckingham Palace, the teaser for the fifth season of the Emmy-winning Netflix drama has already ruffled a few royal feathers. “The Crown” Season 5 centers on the marriage between Prince Charles (Dominic West) and Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), under the watchful eye of Queen Elizabeth II, now played by Imelda Staunton. Now, with Prince Charles having been anointed as King Charles in the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, “The Crown” has a new ruler to answer to. According to a “senior royal source” at the Telegraph UK, Buckingham Palace wanted Netflix to add a warning that “The Crown” is a “drama, not a documentary.” An unnamed friend of King Charles, per the report...

“House of the Dragon” is a hit, but what’s working and what’s not remains hotly contested among fans and critics alike. How is the show handling misogyny, violence, and wigs? Are the week-to-week plot twists as gripping as “Thrones'” before it? The show is pulling in a massive audience, but are we just going through the motions and watching the big buzzy show, or do we actually love it? As Season 1 enters its second half, let’s look at the pros and cons of Episodes 1-6 to better assess how HBO’s latest juggernaut can get even better (and bigger?) from here. Episode 6 “The Princess and the Queen” jumps ahead more than any other so far, catching up with Alicent and Rhaenyra around 10 years after Episode 5, with the characters now played...

Andrew Domink’s “Blonde” has become one of the most controversial films of the fall festival season, with many critics expressing disappointment in its treatment of abortion and frequent use of nudity, which led the film to receive an NC-17 rating. But while some feel that the sexual subject matter is overshadowing the rest of the film, its lead actress sees things differently. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ana de Armas, who plays Marilyn Monroe in the film defended the film’s use of nudity and explained that she isn’t bothered by other people’s interpretations of it. “It’s harder for people to watch [those scenes] than for me to make them, because I understood what I was doing and I felt very protected and safe,” de...

Years before he became one of Hollywood’s top superhero movie directors, James Gunn wrote two live-action “Scooby Doo” movies. “Scooby-Doo” and “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed” both starred Linda Cardellini, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, and Neil Fanning as the beloved Hanna-Barbera characters, with Raja Gosnell directing both movies. While the material might seem like a natural fit for Gunn’s comedic sensibilities, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” director is not thrilled with how the finished products. Gunn recently took to Twitter to air his grievances about what he saw as unnecessary interference from Warner Bros. on the films. When an official Netflix Twitter account announced that the films will be...

“Don’t Worry Darling” (Warner Bros. Discovery) performed slightly better than studio and tracking projections to take #1 this weekend with about the same gross as “The Woman King” (Sony) last weekend. The performance of Gina Prince-Bythewood’s African female warrior film, which cost $15 million more than Olivia Wilde’s much-discussed 1950s “Stepford Wives”-adjacent drama with Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, and Chris Pine, was regarded as strong, in part because of lower expectations. After the barrage of publicity surrounding its Venice showing, “Darling” became a box-office cause celebre with consensus of an opening weekend of $20 million or higher. However, it faced an above-average drop from its combined preview and Friday results...

The wait for “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” is almost over. In the months leading up to the highly anticipated sequel, may felt that the film’s plot and release date were almost as big of a mystery as the identity of the murderer. The Greek-set film features Benoit Blanc solving a new original mystery, but little else was known about the project. That all changed during the Toronto International Film Festival, when the film released a teaser after its world premiere and confirmed a November theatrical run ahead of its December streaming release date. Now, a new clip released at Netflix’s Tudum event offers fans their best look yet at the Cajun detective’s next case. “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” sees Rian Johnson returning...

“Bridgerton” is back for Season 3! The third season of the hit Netflix series will focus on Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) finding romance with longtime pal Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). The “will they, won’t they” dynamic will further be explored as Penelope (aka Lady Whistledown) reports on the fresh faces in Regency England, including new cast members Daniel Francis as charismatic womanizer Marcus Anderson, Sam Phillips as eccentric Lord Debling, and James Phoon as simple bachelor Harry Dankworth. A new video released as part of Netflix’s Tudum fan event shows Luke Newton and Claudia Jessie, who play Colin and Eloise Bridgerton, attempting to paint portraits of each other as they discuss the upcoming third season of the...

Joe Goldberg is back to test what you will do for love. Penn Badgley reprises his infamously delicious role as Joe in Season 4 of Netflix’s “You,” premiering February 10 on Netflix. The season is set to pick up after Joe murdered his wife Love (Victoria Pedretti) and traveled to Paris to find his mistress Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) and escape the American suburbs. Season 4 is confirmed to be taking place in London’s literary world, tapping into book preserver and bibliophile Joe’s romantic side. Charlotte Ritche is rumored to be playing Joe’s newest obsession Kate, an art gallery director. Ozioma Whenu, Eve Austin, Ben Wiggins, Niccy Lin, Aidan Cheng, Ed Speleers, Amy Leigh Hickman, and Brad Alexander play members of the British art...