Daily Archives: January 24, 2025

HIGH Mountain BREEZES Releases THIRD new HMB PLAYERS Single ‘HEAVEN’

HIGH Mountain BREEZES Releases THIRD new HMB PLAYERS Single ‘HEAVEN’ – Movie Industry Today – EIN Presswire

Flight Risk Review: Mel Gibson’s Low-Budget Thriller Is Your Typical January Movie

Lionsgate

“Flight Risk” is a modest affair. It sports a downright frugal budget of $25 million, and is set almost entirely on board a small prop plane. There are only three on-screen actors for the bulk of the movie’s mercifully brisk 91-minute runtime, and the concept is easy to get one’s head around. In execution, it feels like a neophyte director’s confident first turn. Perhaps shabby, but well-meaning, and only occasionally straining against its obviously limited means. 

Only this isn’t a first-time director’s film. This is a film by Mel Gibson, the once-respected Oscar darling and hitmaker, now ostracized for his many offensive public outbursts and unhealthy personal viewpoints. Gibson, as a director, has overseen multiple weighty, violent historical pictures, many of them impressively staged and visually astounding. This was the man who upped the game of the Hollywood epic with “Braveheart,” and turned Jesus’ last few days into a brutal “Terrifier”-esque gore reel with “The Passion of the Christ.” One might find his films to be assertively masculine, a little assertively Christian, or perhaps slickly melodramatic, but they never lacked ambition. Two of his films were staged in ancient languages. 

With “Flight Risk,” Gibson’s flagging career has pushed him back down into the practical and modest. In 2016, it seems that Academy voters were halfway willing to accept him back into the room by nominating his wartime film “Hacksaw Ridge” for six Oscars (it won two), but whatever goodwill he accrued, Gibson immediately flung away to find comfort in the arms of dunderhead right wing shock jocks. Most recently, Gibson was declared to be some kind of Hollywood Ambassador for the Trump administration, although the specifics of his mission remain unclear. 
“Flight Risk,” however, may be the director’s last call for level-headed diplomacy. It’s a simple thriller with a slight politic and no heavy-handed moral. It’s not epic or preachy. It’s a light, simple Saturday matinee. 

Flight Risk is small, efficient, and kinda-sorta effective

Lionsgate

The premise of “Flight Risk” is so efficient, and was so clearly designed to be made on the cheap, it would make Roger Corman or Jason Blum perk up. Michelle Dockery played a hardworking U.S. Marshal named Harris who is tasked with transporting a mob accountant named Walter (Topher Grace) from his off-the-grid Alaska hideout to the big city. She aims to have his testify against a mafia don. Harris’ only means of transporting Walter is a small, rickety, privately hired plane, flown by a colorful local pilot named Daryl (Gibson’s “Daddy’s Home 2” and “Father Stu” co-star Mark Wahlberg). The bulk of the film will take place on that plane. The film will end with it … well, I won’t spoil if it lands, crashes, or does a secret third thing. 

It seems, however, that Daryl is not what he seems. Early in the flight, Walter and Harris find that Daryl is, in fact, a brutal, foul-mouthed assassin with a penchant for torture. He killed and replaced the original pilot, and is how flying his charges to God-knows-where to murder them both in a creative fashion. Why not kill them both immediately? Because Daryl likes to take him time; when Harris learns of Daryl’s previous crimes, there are references to slowly poked-out eyeballs and the like. 
Wahlberg isn’t quite right as a vicious serial killer. He’s meant to be menacing and sinister, but comes across as no worse than a particularly nasty lager lout one might encounter at a Bostonian pub. Because he lacks a vital sense of Hannibal Lecter-like terror, the film never emerges as wholly threatening. It feels more like a problem-solving exercise than a thriller. 

Flight Risk is ultimately very slight and insubstantial

Lionsgate

Walter, the script (by Jared Rosenberg) assures us, is a funny, nervous-energy-filled chatterbox, but Grace seems far too laid back and affable in the role for his character’s anxious traits to emerge. Like Wahlberg, he doesn’t bring the right kind of rising energy to his role, happy to stay in the realm of “genial.” Both characters seem like they escaped from a more adult thriller because they weren’t comfortable going to edgier extremes.

Faring far better than Wahlberg or Grace — indeed, carrying the film on her back — is Dockery, who affects an action hero’s steely resolve, coming across as clear-headed and eager to solve extreme problems. She reads like a Starfleet officer, a capable troubleshooter who is never quite out of ideas. When she loses her cool, it’s not a moment of temporary madness, but perhaps a considered moment of steadfastness. It’s okay, she seems to figure, to pummel Daryl in the face at this moment.
After the initial first-act plot twist (revealed in the film’s trailers), “Flight Risk” has no further surprises for the audience. The tension doesn’t so much mount and gently crest. Gibson doesn’t bring any sense of verve or style to “Flight Risk” that couldn’t have been brought by any other halfway capable director. It’s matter-of-fact, straightforward, and plain. Plain on a plane. It feels like it was intended for casual cable TV consumption, recommended after one finished watching three or four episodes of “Law & Order.” Or, more fittingly, it feels like a January movie. Even if it had come out in July, “Flight Risk” would be a January movie.

“Flight Risk” perfectly serviceable, completely innocuous entertainment. It’s fine. It’s meh. 

Flight Risk seems to be politics-free … but isn’t

Lionsgate

This is a baffling turnout, however, for such a hotly contested and typically ambitious filmmaker like Gibson. Of course, no film exists without a politic — all art is political — but the filmmaker seems determined to be as neutral as possible with this low-budget thriller. He’s making no statements, fleeing from any notion that he might be proselytizing. “Flight Risk” is as substantive as an airport novel, as nutritious as a marshmallow. 

Which, a more cynical viewer might suspect, is a calculation on Gibson’s part. He may sense that his politics and his … controversies … will drive audiences away, so he must be on his best behavior. Can he make a film for only $25 million dollars? Yes. Can he tell a story efficiently? Yes. Are the actors good? They avail themselves. It is taut and stylish and unique? Not at all. There’s nothing to be offended by in “Flight Risk,” seemingly by design. There’s also nothing to be exhilarated by in “Flight Risk,” floating lightly down to the middle of the road.
But no film is released into a vacuum. Some may stay away from “Flight Risk” because of Gibson’s off-screen shenanigans, and that’s their right. Some can only compartmentalize so hard. It’s certainly a bout of bad timing that Gibson just became a Trump ambassador right when his film hit theaters. It will be hard to watch “Flight Risk” without thinking of what the director intends to do in Hollywood in the year 2025.

Beyond that, the film is only okay. 
/Film rating: 5 out of 10
“Flight Risk” is in theaters now.

Michael Jackson Movie Reshooting Entire Third Act Amid Behind-The-Scenes Drama

Kevin Mazur/Lionsgate

Arguably no pop star in living memory can rival Michael Jackson in terms of popularity, influence, or controversy — and the filmmakers behind the upcoming musical biopic “Michael” are learning the harshest lesson imaginable about that last part. Helmed by the action director best known for “Training Day” and the “Equalizer” trilogy, Antoine Fuqua, and written by veteran scribe John Logan (“Gladiator,” “The Aviator,” “Skyfall”), the drama has spared no expense on star power in an attempt to capture the same lightning bolt that turned “Bohemian Rhapsody” into a runaway hit back in 2018. In addition to Miles Teller, the cast includes newly-minted Best Actor Oscar nominee Colman Domingo, Laura Harrier, and even Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in his feature film debut as the King of Pop. The Jackson biopic has been in the works since at least 2019 and, with filming completed, the creative team was in the midst of post production when, speaking of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” they hit a snag. And when I say a “snag,” I mean the worst possible setback that could ever affect a blockbuster of this size.

Matthew Belloni, the former editor of The Hollywood Reporter who went on to create his own newsletter called Puck, has released a bombshell new report revealing the turmoil that has engulfed the making of “Michael.” Apparently, Fuqua and his team have had to go back to the drawing board as a result of a legal snafu that, somehow, nobody at Jackson’s estate (which approved of the script and the use of Jackson’s actual music) caught wind of until the last moment. This involves the decision to address the well-known sexual abuse and pedophilia allegations surrounding Jackson that eventually led to his prosecution (though not conviction) in 2005. As it turns out, the film was never legally allowed to dramatize the alleged victim Jordan Chandler or his family in the first place.

Unbelievably, this meant that the entire final act has had to undergo extensive reshoots, delaying the film’s release by at least six months and almost certainly costing someone (or multiple someones) their job. Read on for all the details of what’s all but certain to be the wildest story of 2025.

Jackson’s estate made a huge (and costly) blunder

Lionsgate

Of all the reasons to make a Michael Jackson biopic, the ability to tell the famous celebrity’s story while using all of his beloved songs would be at the top of that list. That, of course, requires the approval of Jackson’s family estate, which has carefully guarded the rights to such productions and almost certainly required full script approval before signing off on “Michael.” As dubious as that may be for those concerned that the movie could potentially whitewash what was, in reality, an awfully complicated legacy, the pressing matter that has derailed the production has to do with someone failing to cross all their I’s and dotting their T’s while looking over the screenplay.

As detailed in the Puck report, that “someone” would be John Branca, the executor of the Jackson estate (and who is actually appearing in the biopic, played by actor Miles Teller). According to Belloni, “Michael” producer Graham King was the profoundly unlucky soul who had to pick up the phone as the film was nearing the finish line and receive the news from Branca that the movie could not be released in its current form. (The filmmakers are described as having been “blindsided” by the news.) To quote directly from the source article:

“Years before signing off on the ‘Michael’ movie with the Chandlers featured in the script, Jackson’s team agreed they would never include the family in any such movie. Yes, according to two sources, there’s a signed agreement with the Chandlers prohibiting any dramatization of them or their stories. Ouch. That deal, which was overlooked by the estate during the vetting of the script, has now rendered the planned storyline and several key scenes that were shot unusable.”

Mind you, this came after Lionsgate already rolled out the red carpet for “Michael” through early looks at CinemaCon in 2024 and talked up the wow factor involved in Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, perfectly embodying the looks and physicality of his late uncle. The film was originally set for release in April of this year, but Deadline reported back in November of last year that the biopic had been delayed until October 2025. Now we know exactly why that happened.

Can Michael still make its October 2025 release date?

HBO

Looming large over all of this unforeseen drama, of course, is when — or whether — “Michael” will be able to be released in its new and updated form. Reshoots are a fairly widespread practice throughout the industry, but rarely on such a scale. “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” infamously endured a rocky production as Tony Gilroy stepped in for director Gareth Edwards in order to rework large parts of the final act and, as alluded to earlier, “Bohemian Rhapsody” survived its original director Bryan Singer getting fired from production mid-filming on the way to becoming a nearly billion-dollar hit at the box office. At the very least, there is recent precedent for what the cast and crew of “Michael” are now experiencing … but it’s an open-ended question as to whether this will ever actually make it to the finish line.

While all the headlines will shine a light on the final act readjustments, Belloni’s reporting actually shows that this is an even larger issue. As he explained:

“The [‘Michael’] script begins and ends during the 1993 investigation into statements about Jackson’s anatomy made by Jordan Chandler, the then-13-year-old boy whose molestation claim led to worldwide headlines and an eventual $20 million settlement. The script depicts Jackson as the naïve victim of the money-grubbing Chandlers, whose unfounded claims force Jackson to endure ridicule and persecution until he ultimately settles, his resolve and reputation forever in tatters.”

As troubling (and problematic) as that narrative framing may be, it also means that the filmmakers will have to rework much of the first (and likely middle) act as well. There’s a famous saying in screenwriting circles that third act problems are actually first act problems, and that may never feel more relevant than it does here. As of now, Fuqua and Logan have been rewriting and revising the script before handing it over to Lionsgate as early as this week, according to Puck. With the Jackson estate footing the bill for reshoots, word is the creative team is optimistic they can salvage this mess. Whether that actually happens or not is anyone’s guess.

“Michael” is currently scheduled to release on October 3, 2025.

35 classic movies based on novels

Some of the greatest movies of all time don’t start out as half-completed screenplays in a writer’s drawer. Frequently, they actually start out as books. From hardcover best-sellers to dog-eared paperbacks, novelists have given countless screenwriters in Hollywood the bones of a story to reinterpret and reshape into a more visual medium. With some of the most beloved movies of all time originating as books, it’s safe to say it’s a process that audiences are more than familiar with. A lot of best-sellers become hit movies, but which classic novels have made the greatest movies?The practice of adapting movies from literary works is as old as movies itself. In 1910, the silent movie Frankenstein adapted Mary Shelley’s hit novel, being among the first movies to adapt a piece of literary fiction. A few years later, German filmmaker F.W. Murnau failed to secure the rights to Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, prompting him to make his unauthorized adaptation under a different title: Nosferatu.The practice of cinematic adaptations of novels continued throughout the 20th century. In modern times, film producers actively seek out the rights to books, as the logic dictates that a book with a built-in audience means all those readers are would-be moviegoers, all eager to see how the movie gets the book “right.”Spanning genres from crime to horror to romantic comedies and more, these are 35 classic movies that are based on novels.35. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)Before making her debut as a novelist, magazine writer Lauren Weisberger spent nearly a year working as an assistant to Vogue editor Anna Wintour. Later, Weisberger mined the experience to write The Devil Wears Prada, a roman à clef about an outsider to the fashion industry who gets a front-row, top-level seat working directly under one of its most prolific (and overbearing) titans. In 2006, Weisberger’s book became a hit movie with Anne Hathaway in the lead role and Meryl Streep in her now-iconic performance as cutthroat boss Miranda Priestly.34. Carrie (1976)(Image credit: MGM)If your kid has a bullying problem, sit them down for a viewing of Carrie, Brian De Palma’s enduring teen horror classic. Sissy Spacek stars as a shy teenager who comes to harness supernatural telekinetic powers, which she uses to exact revenge on her high school tormentors. The movie takes after Stephen King’s literary debut from 1974, which was only the beginning of an exceptionally prolific writing career that spawned even more best-sellers that, in turn, inspired more adaptations across movies and TV. But Carrie is still iconic, with the movie’s key set-piece involving a bucket of pig’s blood the ultimate embarrassment and motivation for vengeance.33. Gone Girl (2014)(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)After getting laid off from Entertainment Weekly where she worked as a TV critic, writer Gillian Flynn leveraged her skillset to authoring fiction. In 2012, her psychological thriller Gone Girl became a massive hit, inspiring an acclaimed movie adaptation from director David Fincher and starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. Both the movie and Flynn’s novel follows a seemingly perfect married couple whose interior lives are on the fritz. Eventually, husband Nick (played in the movie by Affleck) is a key suspect in the disappearance of his wife Amy (Pike). Full of twists and pregnant with suspense, Gone Girl is a true classic of the 2010s, a dark story that underscored the uneasy zeitgeist and the complexities of modern day marriage. Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox32. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)The mysterious and elusive author Patrick O’Brian, who died in 2000, left behind 20 whole novels in his Aubrey-Maturin series – books set during the Napoleonic Wars that chronicle the friendship between Royal Navy shipmates. However, only one of these seafaring epics made it to screen: 1969’s Master and Commander, adapted to a mega-budget 2003 blockbuster Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World starring Russell Crowe. While the movie grossed a whopping $212 million worldwide, the movie never became a franchise that lived up to the scale of O’Brian’s books. 31. The Hunger Games Series (2012 – 2015)(Image credit: Lionsgate)One night while channing surfing, author Suzanne Collins was struck by the contrast of seeing reality TV competitions and news footage of the Iraq War. The juxtaposition led to her writing The Hunger Games, the first in a major hit book series that remapped the parameters of contemporary young adult fiction. Set in a dystopian future ruled by a totalitarian government, young children are randomly selected from across districts to compete in a televised battle royale called “The Hunger Games.” The books inspired a major film franchise by Lionsgate, which in turn made Jennifer Lawrence – in the lead role of cunning, resilient protagonist Katniss Everdeen –  into a new Hollywood “it” girl.30. Battle Royale (2000)(Image credit: Toei Company)Battle Royale, both Koushun Takami’s one and only novel from 1999 and its acclaimed film adaptation from 2000 (directed by Kinji Fukasaku), are intertwined as seminal works of fiction that not only defined unique Japanese anxieties at the turn of the century but influenced all of popular culture. Set in a futuristic fascist Japan, both versions of the story chronicle a class of randomly-selected high school students who are kidnapped by the government and forced to fight to the death on a remote island. Controversial for its graphic violence but renowned as smart social and political commentary, Battle Royale is synonymous with last man standing, winner-takes-all epics and even an entire genre of video games.29. John Carter (2012)(Image credit: The Walt Disney Company)Disney had high hopes for John Carter in 2012. Eager to find a new evergreen franchise in the spirit of Pirates of the Caribbean, the studio nabbed the rights to Edgar Rice Burrough’s John Carter and the Princess of Mars, published in 1912. (Although the book is in public domain, the name “John Carter” is still property of the Burroughs estate.) The story follows a Confederate veteran, John Carter, who winds up on the planet Mars and gets embroiled in an alien civil war as well as a romance with the beautiful princess Dejah Thoris. While Andrew Stanton’s movie was acclaimed by critics and audiences, the movie flopped hard at the box office, becoming one of Disney’s biggest disasters.28. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)(Image credit: MGM)Thomas Harris’ 1988 novel The Silence of the Lambs – a sequel to his ’81 novel Red Dragon, both featuring the iconic villain Dr. Hannibal Lecter – became one of the greatest cinematic psychological thrillers of the ’90s via director Jonathan Demme’s Oscar-winning adaptation. Jodie Foster stars as FBI trainee Clarice Starling, who reluctantly seeks the advice of imprisoned Dr. Lecter to capture another serial killer, Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). While Michael Mann’s disconnected film version of Red Dragon has spent years garnering acclaim as an underappreciated cult film, Demme’s Silence of the Lambs is a towering, renowned masterwork where Lecter pierces your own gaze and never seems to let go.27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2007)(Image credit: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution)Many die-hard fans of British author Douglas Adams did not embrace the Hollywood-ified film version of his comedic sci-fi novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, released in 2005. But the movie remains an endearing, and rather adorkable, rendition of Adams’ cosmic and comic visions. The story follows an ordinary man, Arthur Dent (played in the movie by Martin Freeman) who is whisked away to space after Earth is scheduled for immediate demolition. He embarks on an adventure to discover the meaning of life with an alien friend (Mos Def), his crush from Earth (Zooey Deschanel), a depressed robot (Alan Rickman), and the President of the Galaxy (Sam Rockwell). With a sharp sense of humor and impressive effects, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy gets a thumbs up even if most Adams purists give it a thumbs down.26. The Harry Potter Series (2001-2011)(Image credit: Warner Bros.)It’s hard to deny the impact of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books on a generation of readers. And it’s actually a marvel how the movies, all eight in total, translated Rowling’s beloved coming-of-age story of boyhood and magic for the screen. Beginning with 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the story follows orphaned Harry Potter who learns his parents were great wizards and enrolls at an exclusive academy before fighting the dark wizard who murdered his parents. The final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, published 2007, was by no means the end; the movies concluded with a two-part Death Hallows adaptation in 2010 and 2011. The rest of the decade saw new cinematic spin-offs, stage productions, video games, an entire theme park at Universal Studios, and more that expanded the Wizarding World.25. Schindler’s List (1993)(Image credit: Universal Pictures)The horrors of World War 2 and the Holocaust was no fiction. Nor was the story of Oskar Schindler, the German wartime industrialist who saved over 1,000 Jewish lives. In 1982, after being prompted by Holocaust survivor Poldek Pfefferberg, author Thomas Keneally wrote a fictionalized record of Schindler’s efforts to defy Nazi Germany in the book Schindler’s Ark, which in turn became the widely acclaimed movie by Steven Spielberg, Schindler’s List. Liam Neeson stars in Spielberg’s film as Oskar Schindler, who embarks on a profit-driven enterprise producing enamelware and ammunition for the Nazis before using his influence to save Jewish lives. In 2007, the nonfiction book Searching for Schindler: A Memoir detailed Keneally’s efforts to research and interview people who knew Schindler.24. Annihilation (2018)(Image credit: Param)Annihilation, the first book in Jeff VanderMeer’s series of sci-fi thrillers – collectively titled Southern Reach – was adapted for the screen in Alex Garland’s star-studded film released in 2018. Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Tuva Novotny portray female scientists who enter a zone called “The Shimmer,” where the fauna contained inside have started mutating due to an intrusive alien lifeform. Featuring spine-chilling moments and overall handsome creative direction, Annihilation received critical acclaim but not enough attention at the box office; a split distribution deal with Netflix in certain markets hampered the movie’s commercial prospects. In the end, the movie didn’t make enough to warrant adaptations of VanderMeer’s other books, but Annihilation is monstrous on its own.23. Little Women (2019)(Image credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment)There have been many movies based on Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel Little Women. But few have been as lively, hilarious, and impeccably designed as Greta Gerwig’s acclaimed 2019 adaptation. Hewing closely to Alcott’s best-seller, Little Women follows the lives of the March sisters in 19th century Massachusetts; Saoirse Ronan plays Jo, a writer in New York who returns home after her sister Beth (Eliza Scanlen) falls ill. The experience prompts Jo to look back on her upbringing with her sisters, who all came of age during the Civil War. The acclaim received by Gerwig from Little Women allowed her to flex new muscles as a blockbuster director, helming the summer hit Barbie in 2023. 22. Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024)(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)Lisan al Gaib! Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic Dune, which chronicles the alarming rise to power of Paul Atreides over an expansive universe ruled by commerce and superstition, first hit the big screen in a mystifying movie by David Lynch in 1984. Decades later, director Denis Villeneuve helmed a new two-part remake, the first released in 2021 and the second in 2024 (the latter was delayed by widespread labor strikes across Hollywood in 2023). While Lynch’s Dune is beloved as a cult film, Villeneuve’s Dune movies were certified blockbusters that rippled across mainstream culture like a roving sandworm.21. The Shining (1980)(Image credit: Warner Bros.)A horror classic about the chilling effects of isolation and the loss of sanity, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining endures as an irreplaceable classic of horror cinema. Based on Stephen King’s 1977 novel, Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall star as the husband and wife caretakers of a remote Colorado resort. The two succumb to hysteria as their son Danny (Danny Lloyd) winds up a vessel for a malignant supernatural entity. While King has expressed disdain for Kubrick’s movie, it hasn’t stopped The Shining from assuming its place in the canon of popular culture. In 2019, Mike Flanagan’s film version of King’s sequel Doctor Sleep paid plenty of homage to The Shining.20. American Psycho (2000)(Image credit: Lionsgate)At the height of yuppie culture circa late 1980s, author Bret Easton Ellis wove an indictment of the superficiality of young urban professionals – and in a revealing 2010 interview with The Oregonian, his own self – with his 1991 thriller American Psycho. Told from an unreliable first-person perspective, American Psycho is the story of narcissistic Manhattan banker Patrick Bateman whose boredom with his privileged lifestyle enables him to engage in unspeakable sadistic acts. The book, which earned praise as a transgressive postmodern masterwork, became a cult movie in 2000, directed by Mary Harron and starring Christian Bale.  19. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (1997)(Image credit: Universal Pictures)Between March and April 1971, Hunter S. Thompson traveled to Las Vegas with Chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta while working on an article for Rolling Stone. Unable to do their work in racially tense Los Angeles, Thompson accepted a gig for Sports Illustrated to cover the ’71 Mint 400 in Nevada. Such were the beginnings to Thompson’s gonzo novel Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, his ultimate treatise on the failure of the ’60s counterculture movement as America barreled towards political uncertainty of the ’70s. The book became an equally acclaimed film by director Terry Gilliam, with Johnny Depp in the role of Thompson’s self-insert protagonist Raoul Duke and Benicio del Toro as his accompanying attorney. Both versions of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas are hallucinogenic monuments to America’s disorienting excess. 18. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)(Image credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment)Swedish writer and journalist Stieg Larsson died before his book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – a psychological, techno thriller and first in his “Millennium” book series – became an international best-seller. Following a trilogy of adaptations in Sweden, with Noomi Rapace as the series’ signature character Lisbeth Salander, David Fincher helmed a Hollywood adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in 2011 with Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara in the lead roles. The story tells of a disgraced journalist who teams up with a tattooed rebel hacker to track down the long-missing scion of a wealthy family. Critics heaped praise on Fincher’s movie, though the movie’s uneven financial performance barricaded more sequels based on the Millennium series.17. Pride and Prejudice (2005)(Image credit: Focus Features)It is not hard to find a movie based on Jane Austen’s works, and especially not her universally beloved classic Pride and Prejudice from 1813. But of the dozens to choose from, the sunkissed 2005 version directed by Joe Wright is perhaps the platonic ideal as a moviegoing experience. Just as it unfolds in Austen’s classic, Pride and Prejudice follows headstrong Elizabeth Bennet (played by Keira Knightley) who rejects handsome yet antisocial Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen) before slowly falling in love. If you know a high school student struggling to get through Austen’s book, invite them to watch Wright’s film to help them get the basics down.16. Frankenstein (1931)(Image credit: Universal Pictures)Mary Shelley is widely recognized for inventing the science fiction genre. She did it with her 1818 novel Frankenstein, about a mad scientist who brings to life an artificial man made from the severed body parts of various deceased. This iconic monster and Halloween costume staple was brought to the screen first in a 1910 silent movie before Universal Studios’ iconic 1931 production directed by James Whale and starring the indelible Boris Karloff. Not only did the ’31 Frankenstein spawn one of Hollywood’s earliest movie franchises, it’s an unexpectedly moving horror-thriller that supposes evil isn’t always born but almost always made.15. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)(Image credit: Warner Bros.)So many of Roald Dahl’s timeless books for children have been adapted into incredible movies. But only one of them has a golden ticket to stand the test of time: Mel Stuart’s 1971 musical adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, retitled Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Its story, about a good-natured boy named Charlie whose once-in-a-lifetime visit to a mysterious chocolate factory sees his sense of right and wrong challenged at every turn, has made Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory a multi-generational classic that has never lost its sweet tooth. 14. Die Hard (1988)(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)Yes. Really. One of the greatest and most violent action movies of all time is actually based on a book. No kidding! Originating from Roderick Thorp’s 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever, John McTiernan’s Die Hard follows a tough New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) who, while visiting his estranged wife at an office Christmas party, gets trapped in a Los Angeles skyscraper when the party is crashed by terrorists. While the original novel has a much darker ending, Die Hard survives as a macho yet sentimental action classic that really comes alive at yuletide.13. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)(Image credit: Warner Bros.)Jack Nicholson embodies defiance in the face of overwhelming control in his role as Randle McMurphy in Miloš Forman’s dramatic classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, based on Ken Kesey’s novel from 1962. The movie follows Randle, a new patient who rebels against the iron grip of Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) at an Oregon mental institution. A portrait of the virtues of non-conformity and how life’s delights are the only medicine anyone ever needs, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is also a rather faithful adaptation of Kesey’s novel, which serves as a critique of psychiatry and champions individualism.12. Fight Club (1999)(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)While a lot of audiences may miss the point, Fight Club – both its acclaimed cult movie from 1999 and the source 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk – is still the ultimate portrait of male loneliness, mental illness, anticonsumerism, and the importance of getting some sleep. In both versions, an unnamed protagonist suffering from insomnia befriends a mysterious, charismatic man named Tyler Durden (played by Brad Pitt in the movie), who together establish an underground fight club for men as a substitute for therapy. After Fincher’s film bombed in theaters, the movie – with its memorable twist ending – eventually won over a dedicated audience who, in their own way, couldn’t stop talking about Fight Club.11. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)(Image credit: Universal Pictures)For the longest time, To Kill a Mockingbird was Harper Lee’s only novel until the publication of Go Set a Watchman in 2015, a controversial “sequel” published right before Lee’s death in 2016. The story tells of a lawyer, Atticus Finch, who defends a Black man accused of assaulting a white woman in 1930s Alabama. Harper’s controversial yet celebrated piece of American literature was adapted for the screen in Robert Mulligan’s equally seminal film. Gregory Peck puts in an unforgettable performance as Atticus, who serves as a moral compass for his young daughter Scout (Mary Badham). 10. The Princess Bride (1987)(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)Screenwriter William Goldman doubled as both a screenwriter and a novelist, with his name attached to the scripts of award-winners like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men. As a novelist, he wrote the romantasy The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, The “Good Parts” Version, published in 1973. Ostensibly an abridged version of an oral story, it tells of a pre-Renaissance farm girl who is rescued from marrying an evil prince by her former servant Westley, now a dashing swashbuckler. The Princess Bride became a generational classic movie in 1987, with Robin Wright and Cary Elwes in the lead roles as part of a story framed through a grandfather telling his bored grandson (Fred Savage) a bedtime story. Truly, it is inconceivable to imagine a world without The Princess Bride.9. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)(Image credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment)While there are many iconic movies based on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, from the 1931 Universal classic starring Bela Lugosi to the Hammer production Horror of Dracula in 1958, the 1992 movie by Francis Ford Coppola warrants special attention. A resplendent realization of Bram Stoker’s gothic classic, Bram Stoker’s Dracula sees Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder lead as Jonathan Harker and Mina respectively, as they end up caught in the long-nailed grips of Count Dracula (Gary Oldman). There’s no shortage of Dracula movies to pick from, but Coppola’s tactile and even titillating interpretation of Stoker’s story is a standout. 8. The Lord of the Rings Series (2001-2003)(Image credit: Warner Bros.)Decades after animated versions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings came from Rankin/Bass and Ralph Bakshi, director Peter Jackson undertook the ambitious challenge of adapting Tolkien’s high fantasy saga for the big screen. The end result is simply one of the greatest cinematic trilogies of all time, a tale of adventure, bravery, camaraderie, and purpose against an all-too-powerful evil which threatens all. Across an arduous six-year ordeal, Tolkien’s story was turned into a trio of tour de forces that boast not only creative achievements but technical ones too; Lord of the Rings is shoulder-to-shoulder with Jurassic Park and Titanic as a pathfinder in the world of visual effects. 7. The Great Gatsby (2013)(Image credit: Warner Bros.)Baz Luhrmann maximalism brings to life F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary classic The Great Gatsby, originally published in 1925. Leonardo DiCaprio dons the bespoke suits of millionaire Jay Gatsby, who befriends the main narrator, Midwestern expat Nick (Tobey Maguire), the distant cousin of the effervescent Daisy Buchnan whom Gatsby has his eye on. Living up to Fitzgerald’s storytelling that depicts the callous hedonism of the idle rich during the Jazz Age, Luhrmann cranks up his typically excessive style as he goes for Baroque on an American touchstone. Pity those who have it all.6. The Exorcist (1973)(Image credit: Warner Bros.)When The Exorcist hit theaters in 1973, America was in the grips of a newfound paranoia. In the aftermath of the counterculture ’60s, modern society had grown more secular, not to mention a wider presence in Satanism across rock music and the heinous crimes of serial killers. It was this atmosphere that William Peter Blatty wrote his 1971 novel The Exorcist, about a Jesuit priest who handles the case of possible demonic possession of a young girl in Washington D.C. In 1973, William Friedkin helmed the legendary adaptation (Blatty wrote the screenplay), which forever raised the bar for horror movies. A seismic hit, the popularity of The Exorcist drew long lines outside theaters everywhere, predating a similar phenomenon wrought by Star Wars a few years later. The Exorcist brought the horror genre firmly into the mainstream, simultaneously frightening and impressing moviegoers with its hair-raising scares and gross-out special effects and makeup.5. Blade Runner (1982)(Image credit: Warner Bros.)While Ridley Scott didn’t get to deliver his ultimate version of Blade Runner until 2007, his 1982 sci-fi noir is still a prominent touchstone of not only 1980s cinema but sci-fi as a whole. Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Scott’s movie follows a burnt-out bounty hunter, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) who is tasked with tracking down a particularly violent android “replicant” (Rutger Hauer). The ordeal inspires Deckard to begin questioning his own nature and reality. While Scott’s smoggy and neon-coated masterpiece deeply departs from Dick’s novel, both stories share bleak visions of a then-distant future, one where the convenience of artifice has made the value of authenticity practically priceless. 4. Jurassic Park (1993)(Image credit: Universal Pictures)Life, uh, finds a way. In 1990, Michael Crichton wrote Jurassic Park, a hit novel of speculative science fiction that posits the need for a conscience in the pursuit of science. Not long after its publication, Steven Spielberg realized Crichton’s story – ironically, with cutting-edge visual effects that represented the peak of technology and artistry – in his 1993 blockbuster movie adaptation. Like the novel, the movie takes place in a soon-to-open theme park where dinosaurs have been scientifically resurrected. A group of expert archaeologists, scientists, and other visitors on a preview tour predictably run for their lives after the dinos break free from the park’s security systems. Crichton was a prominent novelist even before writing Jurassic Park, but the success of the movie cemented his voice as an authority in the genre of tech-based thrillers.3. The Godfather (1972)(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)An invincible masterpiece in American cinema, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather – starring both Al Pacino and Marlon Brando – has roots in a 1969 best-selling crime epic by Mario Puzo. Though Puzo was born to Italian immigrants in New York City and grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, Puzo insisted during his lifetime that he researched the world of Italian organized crime and did not draw from any personal experience. Nevertheless, Puzo’s novel was a massive hit when it was published, introducing terms like consigliere and omertà to an English-speaking mass public. When Coppola got his hands on Puzo’s story, the alluring world of the Italian mob became its own subgenre in American cinema, inspiring more gangster film classics while captivating the world with the reluctant rise to power of one Michael Corleone. Leave the gun, and take the cannoli.2. The Wizard of Oz (1939)(Image credit: Warner Bros.)Although Victor Fleming’s revered fantasy musical The Wizard of Oz was not an immediate hit in 1939, today it’s impossible to imagine a colorless world where it did not fly over the rainbow. The story originates in L. Frank Baum’s novel from 1900, which chronicles Dorothy, flung from her Kansas farm by a tornado to the magical land and befriends a group of eccentric beings as she tries to get back home. Baum’s novel was a hit in its own right when it was published in 1900, prompting a series of countless official and unofficial sequels. In 1995, Gregory Maguire authored Wicked, which served as an origin story for the Wicked Witch which has in turn been adapted for Broadway and spawned its own cinematic adaptations.1. Jaws (1975)(Image credit: Universal Pictures)The iconic movie poster of Jaws, where a monstrous shark lurks beneath an unsuspecting swimmer, has roots on the hardcover book that inspired Jaws in the first place. Before Steven Spielberg came along, Jaws was a best-selling thriller novel by Peter Benchley, who was inspired by the exploits of real-life shark fisherman Frank Mundus. Like the movie, the book tells of a man-eating shark terrorizing a Long Island resort town (differing from the movie’s New England setting), prompting a group of men to find and kill it. Before it was published, word of mouth about the book’s potential reached producers at Universal, who secured the movie rights and tapped Spielberg to direct. (Another part of the deal: Benchley was given first crack at the screenplay.) The movie removes a lot of Benchley’s novel’s subplots, but Benchley himself makes a cameo appearance as a TV news reporter.

Adrien Brody and the cast and director of The Brutalist on their Oscar-nominated movie: “To make great cinema, you have to be vulnerable”

When GamesRadar+ sits down with The Brutalist writer-director Brady Corbet to discuss his new post-war epic, he’s just been nominated for Best Director at this year’s BAFTAs. The movie is also up for eight other gongs, including Best Film, and, 10 days prior, picked up three Golden Globes. “It’s totally unexpected, to be honest,” Corbet tells us. “I assumed that the film would be a lot more divisive than it’s been. Some people hate it but, for the most part, it’s been a very warm reception.” A week after our conversation, the movie was nominated for 10 Oscars.Opening in 1947 on an immigrant steamship from Europe to New York and spanning over three decades over its three-and-a-half-hour runtime, The Brutalist follows renowned Bauhaus architect and Holocaust survivor László Tóth (Adrien Brody) as he ventures to the US from Hungary to start a new life. When we speak to Brody, he praises the film for being “both vast and very personal and intimate”. He says László’s “complexity” stood out to him, “his flaws and frailty and strengths”.Forcibly separated from his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) and their niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy), László finds work at his cousin’s furniture business in Philadelphia, where the duo is hired by the wealthy Van Buren family to renovate their library. While the initial project doesn’t quite to go plan, Lázsló piques the interest of larger-than-life patriarch Harrison (Guy Pearce), who commissions him to design a monumental community center in small-town Pennsylvania – and offers to help him bring Erzsébet and Zsofia across the pond.Power and control(Image credit: A24/Universal Pictures)Harrison’s flamboyant eccentricity thinly masks a much more sinister personality of anger, prejudice, and hatred. He becomes a domineering figure in Lázsló’s life, casting a shadow over everything in the film in much the same way as the planned building would over the landscape. Facing antisemitism and xenophobia and separated from his family, Lázsló often struggles to overcome the long shadow of Harrison’s status and power. “I love that the film spoke to this collective yearning to belong and find home and assimilate, and how hard that is to really feel,” Brody adds.Harrison is often trailed by his self-important son, Joe Alwyn’s Harry, who the actor describes as “just icky” when we speak to him over Zoom. “What I found interesting was thinking about their relationship as a father and son,” Alwyn says. “[Harry’s] probably someone who hasn’t received much of the right kind of love in his life, and everything he’s doing, even if it’s skewed and ugly, it’s kind of at the same time because he’s searching for his dad’s approval.”Big Screen SpotlightShining a light on the under-the-radar theatrical releases that you need to know about, with a new article every FridayAlthough ostensibly a movie about immigration and architecture, family dynamics (whether between father and son or husband and wife) underpin the film – although Erzsébet doesn’t arrive on-screen until the movie’s second half, her presence is felt strongly throughout. An accomplished journalist in Hungary, she’s a headstrong figure whose “incredible dignity” is matched only by her love for her husband. This devotion is exemplified by the fact that she’s a convert to Judaism, through which she “finds a very deep faith,” according to Jones. “Perhaps in contrast to László, who has lost his faith, she actually needs that spiritual crutch much more. And perhaps he does but, in some ways, he finds that through her.”Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inboxLászló’s quest to reunite with his wife and niece in the film’s first chapter parallels his ambitious concrete construction project in part two – art begins to imitate life and both goals fail to provide their desired catharsis. “The journey of being an artist is quite painful, and it’s kind of a chipping away,” Brody tells us. “So much of [László’s] journey is rebuilding, and as he’s laying this foundation for this thing that should be symbolic of that rebirth and his own triumph, it has many setbacks and obstacles and interventions to prevent it from blossoming and living up to his standards. And that’s much like life and the artistic journey. You have to find beauty and gratitude in those moments that you do find great inspiration. We’re all yearning for that.””You’ve got to risk something”(Image credit: A24/Universal Pictures)After so many years apart, László and Erzsébet’s relationship needs some time to find its footing. Their shared and separate traumas manifest in their bodies in different ways, and take a toll on the physical side of their relationship. “Erzsébet realizes that their sexual life is so important to their survival as a couple and she’s refusing to let the trauma that they’ve gone through take away their desire, because then she feels as though the fascists have won,” Jones explains when we ask her about the movie’s sex scenes. “And so desire is so integral to the maintenance of their spirits. It reminded me of Isabelle Huppert in The Piano Teacher, some of those scenes that Erzsébet and László have. There’s an intensity to their intimacy.”That kind of intimacy can only be achieved through sensitivity behind the camera, too. “[Corbet] and Mona [Fastvold, Corbet’s screenwriting and real-life partner] were vulnerable in making the film because it was very personal,” Jones adds. “But to make great cinema, you have to be vulnerable, really, as a director. Because you’ve got to risk something, haven’t you, otherwise you’re just going to say the same old things over again.”Corbet, though, is also thinking practically. “It’s funny, the life of a filmmaker. It’s freelance, forever,” he explains, adding that The Brutalist’s critical recognition is “a little bit of job security for the next couple of years. But that’s kind of all it is. I mean, anyone who’s won one of these prizes can tell you, ‘I thought everything would change, and then it just didn’t.’ Martin Scorsese still struggles to get his own movies made, and he’s Martin Scorsese.”He continues, “I think that it’s great that people are having this response, but ultimately, in terms of what it’s all for, I just hope – and it’s not coming from a place of arrogance, I don’t see myself as like some Robin Hood figure or something – but I really hope that the film makes it easier for other films to get made. I think that what is good for our film is good for the ecosystem of the medium.”The Brutalist is out now in UK cinemas and US theaters. For more on what to watch, check out the rest of our Big Screen Spotlight series.

What is the most Oscar-nominated movie of all time?

The list of the most Oscar nominated movies contains some stone-cold classics as well as some unexpected choices. A lot of this is down to the fact that in order to enter the prestigious multi-nod club, a movie needs to be something of an all-rounder. This means it can’t just excel in acting and direction, but also in terms of production, writing, visual effects, and costuming. Those who manage to hit all those categories end up being blockbuster hits, historical dramas, and stylish musicals.The 2025 Oscar nominations almost invited another member to the ranks too, as Emilia Pérez landed 13 nominations, just shy of the 14 nominations record. So what has made that threshold? We go into the most Oscar nominated movies below, as well as what movies have won the most Oscars in the past too. And who knows, maybe 2025 will shake up this list further.What is the most Oscar-nominated movie of all time?(Image credit: Lionsgate)Three films share the joint honor of being the most Oscar nominated movies of all time. The record is 14 nominations, which All About Eve, La La Land, and Titanic all received in their respective years.All About Eve (1950): The classic American drama was written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and stars Bette Davis as an aging Broadway actor. Out of the 14 categories it was nominated for, it only won six awards, including Best Picture, as well as Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.Titanic (1997): James Cameron’s heartbreaking biopic about Titanic starred Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as doomed star-crossed lovers who meet on the passage of the fated vessel. The film was nominated in 14 categories and ended up winning a huge 11 awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Song. This means it also jointly holds the title of the most Oscars won by a single film.La La Land (2016): Damien Chazelle’s musical comedy La La Land stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a struggling jazz pianist and an aspiring actor. Their tragic love story landed 14 nominations, but only ended up winning in six categories. It won Best Director and Best Actress, and almost won Best Picture as well, but ah, we all know how that blunder went…What are the highest Oscar winning movies?(Image credit: New Line Cinema)It’s all very well getting nominated, but if you don’t win, it doesn’t count for much. Only Titanic, of those highest nominated movies, actually makes it into the category of the most Oscars won by a single movie. The record of 11 wins is shared between Cameron’s epic, 1959’s Ben-Hur, and Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.For more on all things Oscars, check out our round-up of the best Oscar winning movies to watch right now.Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox

21 Best Movies About Politics on Netflix (January 2025)

‘Politics of the movies’ or ‘movies about the politics;’ both are inseparable in our time of political dramatization. While every general election around the world becomes a performance ritual, it’s natural for the viewers to blur the line bordering politics and cinema. Contrary to the politically turbulent 70s, when movies assimilated the urgency of the political situation into their narratives, contemporary politics assimilated exaggerated reality, rhetoric, and melodrama into the political narratives. With both the cinema and politics searching for new forms, political movie lovers can wait for more intense and gripping films in the near future. Streaming platforms like Netflix have an impressive repository of political movies. So, here’s the list of really good political movies on Netflix that are available to stream right now.