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Elizabeth Olsen is set to star in the upcoming limited series “Love and Death” on HBO Max, written by David E. Kelley and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter. Revered for her turn in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series “WandaVision” that recently rolled out on Disney+, Olsen will play Candy Montgomery, a woman who murdered her friend Betty Gore with an axe on the night of June 13, 1980. The series is based on the book “Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs” and a collection of articles from “Texas Monthly” (“Love & Death In Silicon Prairie,” Part I & II). The series is produced by Lionsgate Television and executive-produced by Nicole Kidman, Per Saari, Helen Verno, Matthew Tinker, Michael Klick, and Texas...

The mark of a great actor is the ability to deliver a powerful performance, even without a lot of noise. That’s what Jeff Daniels does in Billy Ray’s ripped-from-the-headlines two-part limited series “The Comey Rule,” which hit Showtime September 27, 2020 for maximum impact ahead of the November election. For this docudrama, Daniels took on a well-known figure in recent American history — FBI Director James Comey — who went toe-to-toe with President Donald J. Trump (Brendan Gleeson), who infamously fired Comey in May 2017. Daniels (“The Newsroom”) brings his trademark decency and gravitas to the role. (He’s also 6’3″ to Comey’s 6’8″.) Ray, Oscar-nominated for the adapted screenplay for “Captain Phillips,” pursued Daniels because “he...

While a premiere date for the highly awaited third season of “Succession” has yet to be set, there is some happy news for fans of the HBO drama about the crumbling family surrounding a titanic media mogul. Alexander Skarsgård will be joining the cast this upcoming season, which is now in production, in a recurring guest role as Lukas Matsson, a confrontational CEO and tech founder. Meanwhile, the new season also has a logline courtesy of HBO: “Ambushed by his rebellious son Kendall (Jeremy Strong) at the end of Season 2, Logan Roy (Brian Cox) begins Season 3 in a perilous position. Scrambling to secure familial, political, and financial alliances, tensions rise as a bitter corporate battle threatens to turn into a family civil war.”...

Chloé Zhao has made a name for herself as one of the best indie filmmakers working today thanks to a trio of acclaimed features: “Songs My Brother Taught Me,” “The Rider,” and “Nomadland.” The latter won the Golden Lion at the 2020 Venice Film Festival and picked up Oscars this year for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress. Zhao’s win for Best Director made her the second woman and first woman of color to win the Academy’s filmmaking prize. Now the director heads to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for her first studio tentpole “Eternals,” the first footage from which debuted in Marvel Studios’ Phase Four teaser. “Eternals” is an ensemble-driven comic book movie starring the likes of Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail...

1. “Master of None” Season 3 (available Sunday, May 23) Why Should I Watch? By the time Season 3 premieres, it will have been more than four years since “Master of None” last dropped new episodes. Obviously, a lot has changed — as has the new season, which moves Lena Waithe’s supporting character from Seasons 1 and 2 into the spotlight. Season 3, subtitled “Moments in Love,” follows Denise and her partner Alicia (played by Naomi Ackie) as they work through long-term relationship highs and lows, including fertility challenges and divergent personal growth. Co-creator and executive producer Aziz Ansari will still appear in the series, but his main duties have shifted to writing and directing; he helms all five episodes and co-writes the...

This weekend saw the debut of two appealing studio titles, neither of which will be in theaters. “Without Remorse,” Paramount’s relaunch of their Tom Clancy franchise and “The Mitchells vs the Machines,” from Sony Animation, launched on Amazon Prime and Netflix, respectively, free to subscribers. On the Netflix chart, “Mitchells” immediately placed at #1. The cinemas could have used their momentum. Last weekend, “Mortal Kombat” and “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train” surpassed expectations with openings over $20 million. This weekend, the only new release was horror film “Separation,” which earned $1.8 million. “Mortal” and “Demon.” each fell over 70 percent. It isn’t unusual for big openers to drop half or more in their second weeks, but new...

Kate Winslet, the seven-time Academy Award nominee and Commander of the Order of the British Empire, is pulling her left leg out from under the table, stretching her bare foot out above her head, and showing off the black leggings she’s chosen for her long day of Zoom interviews. “Sure, I put a bit of mascara on because I’m talking to fine journalists, but trust me, I’m wearing tracksuit trousers,” Winslet said. “I’m wearing sweats and bare feet right now, and wouldn’t normally wear makeup at all.” This particular comment arose when the Berkshire-born actor was explaining what inspired Mare Sheehan’s perma-lounge look in HBO’s limited series “Mare of Easttown” — and how the character’s relaxed style isn’t that far removed from...

“For anybody who’s on the downside of advantage and relying purely on courage… it’s possible.” On that closing line of Russell Crowe’s 2001 Best Actor acceptance speech for “Gladiator,” I fell in love with the Oscars. I was also too sick to leave the house; at 14 years old, I was recovering from double pneumonia. It was the latest in a string of lung-related health issues that eventually led to a lupus diagnosis. When I heard these words from an actor I barely knew, it made me feel like I could be a part of Hollywood. This year’s Oscars were critically lambasted and received record-low ratings, but retained their power to inspire dreams and make viewers feel like they’re part of the magic factory. (Look no further than this viral...

Douglas Trumbull has been in the “2001: A Space Odyssey” business for over 50 years. The special effects guru was a young animation artist when he worked on the spaceflight short film “To the Moon and Beyond” for the 1964 World’s Fair, which caught the attention of Stanley Kubrick while in the early stages of planning his operatic space epic. Trumbull wound up learning the ropes of visual effects on the project and played a critical role in everything from the miniatures to HAL 9000’s robotic view and the climactic Stargate sequence, which remains as mesmerizing today as it was over half a century ago. Much of Trumbull’s work is on display in “Envisioning 2001: Stanley Kubrick’s Space Odyssey,” an exhibition at New York’s Museum of the...

The groundbreaking FX drama “Pose” debuted its third and final season at an in-person premiere in New York at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Thursday. But while emotions over the ballroom series’ final bow were bound to be inevitable, what wasn’t expected was a blistering speech from executive producer and director Janet Mock, who sounded off on the industry, and her own show, during a lengthy takedown that left attendees stunned. (Via Page Six.) “During the 15-minute speech, she complained about how much the network is paying her, demanded better treatment for the trans community, shouted ‘F-ck Hollywood,’ revealed that she’d slept with someone in the show’s crew, asked her ‘Pose’ actor boyfriend not to leave her over the infidelity...

The score for Tim Burton’s 1989 franchise launcher “Batman” may have earned composer Danny Elfman a Grammy nomination, but the composer apparently wasn’t happy with the outcome in terms of how the music was used. As revealed on a recent episode of Premier Guitar (via The Hollywood Reporter), Elfman said that the dub incorporated into the Oscar-winning film obscured the gravitas of the orchestra. In other words, he was “reasonably happy” with the score itself, but not with the transfer of the music to film. “I was terribly unhappy with the dub in ‘Batman’,” said Elfman, for whom the film marked his 10th score. “They did it in the old-school way where you do the score and turn it into the ‘professionals’ who turn the nobs and dub it in...

Beloved screen and stage actress Olympia Dukakis died May 1 at the age of 89. The news of the Oscar winner’s passing was shared by her brother, Apollo Dukakis, on Facebook. “My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City. After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her Louis,” Apollo wrote. Her husband, actor Louis Zorich, died in 2018 at the age of 93. Olympia Dukakis starred in more than 130 stage productions, as well as more than 60 films and 50 television series. She won her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1988 for her role in “Moonstruck” as Rose Castorini. She won a Golden Globe for the film as well, and received Emmy Award nominations for “Lucky Day” (1991)...

The American Film Institute has announced the launch of The Osborne Collection, a celebration on the Institute’s website of the life and work of the beloved movie historian and whiz TCM host Robert Osborne, who died in 2017. The collection will debut on May 3, which is Osborne’s birthday, and it will feature many of Osborne’s insightful (and quite soothing) film introductions, including clips for “The Best Years of Our Lives,” “Bringing Up Baby,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “From Here to Eternity,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “National Velvet,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “North by Northwest,” “Psycho,” “A Star Is Born,” “The Thin Man,” and “Top Hat.” As a bonus, the Collection will be connected to the AFI Catalog...