From The A.V. Club

  • Between Chris Farley and The Naked Gun, Paul Walter Hauser's having a big week

    Paul Walter Hauser’s been hovering on the verge of a really big breakthrough for a few years now, pushed along by eye-catching performances in films like Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell, and TV shows like serial killer drama Black Bird. (And also, yes, obviously, the I Think You Should Leave sketch where he loves his wife very much.) Now, Hauster’s having something of a banner week, having secured roles in both the upcoming Chris Farley biopic and a co-starring role in that weird-ass Naked Gun...

  • Airbnb is going big on the whole movie-themed stay experience

    For years, Airbnb has dabbled in novelty stays. You could rent a bed in an Ikea or a Blockbuster, you could stay in the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air mansion or the Barbie Dreamhouse. While those were generally temporary, pop-up oddities, the tech company announced today 11 new experiences—dubbed the “Icons”—that seem to be of different levels of permanence. At their summer release event this morning in Los Angeles, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky unveiled a host of locations themed around movies,...

  • Dan Schneider sues Quiet On Set producers for defamation

    Nickelodeon child endangerment documentary Quiet On Set is now the subject of a lawsuit from its main focus, Dan Schneider. Per TMZ, the creator of such Nickelodeon shows as The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, and iCarly, Schneider filed a defamation lawsuit against producers of the documentary series. He claims the series implied that he sexually abused child actors and employees he worked with at Nickelodeon. Lawyers for the beleaguered children’s television producer accused the series of...

  • Harvey Weinstein is going back on trial this fall

    Harvey Weinstein will be retried “sometime after Labor Day” a judge said today, during the disgraced movie mogul’s first appearance in court since his 2020 rape conviction was overturned by a New York court last week (via ABC News). “We believe in this case, and we will be retrying this case,” prosecutors added (via Deadline). “It was a strong case in 2020 and it remains a strong case in 2024.” Weinstein was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair today, for a hearing that lasted less than...

  • Chris Hemsworth was glad to "dirty it up" and leave his superhero persona behind for Furiosa

    Earlier this week, Chris Hemsworth lamented the fact that he “became a parody of [him]self” and “got caught up in the improv and the wackiness” while filming Thor: Love And Thunder. It’s no wonder, then, that the actor jumped full throttle at the chance to finally play a no-holds-barred villain in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, George Miller’s upcoming prequel to 2015's Fury Road. One of his main attractions to the part, “besides working with George,” was just “to dirty it up and to be messy and...

  • Terrifier 3 is heading to theaters early; Art’s tiny tophat still missing

    Good news for those in desperate need of terror: Terrifier 3 will now be coming to theaters earlier than expected. Per Variety, Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting have moved the trilogy capper’s release date from October 25 to October 11. Though Christmas seems to come earlier every year, we’re still apparently getting coal this season as Art’s tophat is still missing. Despite the promise of a Halloween adventure the season belies, Art’s latest jaunt around town—God willing, in his adorable...

  • Mariska Hargitay fought to keep Kelli Giddish on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

    Mariska Hargitay may be one of the most powerful women in television, as evidenced by her being featured in Variety’s “Power of Women” issue, but her power only goes so far. She’s top of the call sheet and an executive producer on Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, but even she couldn’t prevent Kelli Giddish’s character from being written off the long-running procedural. “Kelli is my favorite actor to work with,” Hargitay tells Variety of her co-star’s exit. “Kelli is my heart. It’s a sore...

  • Netflix is a Joke: Ali Wong, Gabriel Iglesias, and Michelle Buteau among upcoming stand-up specials

    Say what you will about Netflix, but they sure do invest in comedy. The 2024 Netflix is a Joke festival is jam-packed with stand-up comics and comedy groups of all kinds. Many of these shows you have to be in Los Angeles to appreciate, but there’s going to be events for the average Netflix user to enjoy from home, like John Mulaney’s Everybody’s In L.A. and the live comedy event The Greatest Roast Of All Time: Tom Brady, airing on Sunday, May 5. Of course, there will also be plenty more...

  • Kate Winslet plays another tough broad in Lee teaser

    Kate Winslet clearly enjoys trading her traditional movie star beauty to play tough, life-hardened women (see: Mare Of Easttown). It makes her well-suited to star as Lee Miller, who traded her own comfortable life as a model-turned-fashion photographer to become a photojournalist on the ground in World War II. Lee, which premieres September 27, doesn’t flinch away from the harrowing realities of warfare, which is exactly what Winslet set out to do as both the star and producer of the film. ...

  • J.K. Rowling’s rampant transphobia makes Daniel Radcliffe "really sad"

    As we’ve witnessed, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s anti-transgender agenda has gone beyond political belief into a full-blown obsession. She posts about gender ideology debates near-daily on Twitter/X, lending her considerable capital (both social and financial) to causes championed by trans-exclusionary radical feminists. This reflects not only on Rowling, but on the entire Wizarding World empire she’s built, including its original stars, like Daniel Radcliffe. Recently nominated for a...

  • Chicago Critics Film Festival 2024: Five movies you shouldn't miss

    I’ll be the first to admit my bias towards the Chicago Critics Film Festival. I’m part of the organization that puts it together, it takes place at my favorite movie theater (Chicago’s organ-scored Music Box Theatre), and it enriches my local community of arthouse moviegoers. I can’t, in good conscience, advocate for anyone to pay through the nose for the privilege of standing in an icy Sundance line, only to pack into a theater filled with high-earning super-spreaders. But I can tell those in...

  • The best horror films streaming on Shudder

    We’re halfway to Halloween, and even though October 31 is still six months away, there’s still one place where you can queue up the best fright flicks available for streaming 365 days per year. When it comes to horror, every day is Halloween at Shudder, a platform that offers the widest range of chillers and thrillers, from blood-drenched slasher flicks to campy creature features to obscure gems from the 1980s and 1990s and all-new exclusive originals like Infested and Late Night With The Devil....