Ronald.phillips

IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
Genre: Adventure / Crime / Drama / Fantasy / Mystery / Thriller
Size: 2.59 GB
Runtime: 2hr 21 min

In the second installment of the Death Note film franchise, Light Yagami meets a second Kira and faithful follower Misa Amane and her Shinigami named Rem. Light attempts to defeat L along with Teru Mikami (a Kira follower) and Kiyomi Takada (another Kira follower) but in the end will Light win? or will a Shinigami named Ryuk make all the difference in Light's victory or his ultimate death?—Laharl Krichevskoy

Sylvester Stallone sure has had one hell of a run with his most famous onscreen creation, Rocky Balboa. He's had a long career full of ups ("First Blood," "Cop Land") and downs ("Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot"), but when people look back at Stallone's contribution to cinema in 50 or 100 years' time, it will be the big-hearted slugger from Philadelphia who Sly is best remembered for.

Perhaps because of his association with the action genre and easily-spoofed screen persona, people don't always give Stallone the credit as an artist he deserves. After all, you can say what you want about the overall quality of the "Rocky" franchise, but there can be little doubt that he created one of the greatest movie characters of the 20th century. Plenty of actors are intrinsically linked with their most famous roles; just take Harrison Ford, who pulled off the feat of embodying not just one but two iconic characters, Han Solo and Indiana Jones. But Ford didn't create those characters the way Stallone did with Rocky.

It's easy to see why the Italian Stallion found his way into so many people's hearts. We all love an underdog, and Rocky's rise from down-on-his-luck club boxer to heavyweight champion of the world is truly aspirational, reassuring us that with enough guts and determination, we can achieve anything. It is the American Dream in action, yet the message resonates whether you're from Kensington, Philadelphia, or Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That's why the "Rocky Steps" have become one of the city's biggest tourist attractions; people from all over the world come to run up them just like Rocky and jump around at the top.

But now, almost 50 years after "Rocky" was released, the seemingly unthinkable has happened: "Creed III" is the first movie in the franchise without Stallone playing a direct part.

Sylvester Stallone's Long Run As Rocky Balboa

In the early '70s, Sylvester Stallone was an actor struggling to make an impact in Hollywood. Then one night, everything changed. Stallone saw journeyman battler Chuck Wepner's fight against Muhammad Ali and take the champ to within 19 seconds of going the full distance.

Wepner's heroics inspired Stallone. He knocked out a screenplay in three days and stuck to his guns, refusing to sell it unless he could also play the lead role. The rest is history. "Rocky" was a smash hit and received nine Oscar nominations, including Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay for Stallone, and won Best Picture and Best Director for John G. Avildsen.

After the roaring success of "Rocky," it was pretty much Stallone's franchise to do with what he wanted. He wrote five sequels and directed four of them, the sequence broken only by Avildsen returning to helm the dreary "Rocky V."

The trajectory of the "Rocky" franchise is pretty wild. After "Rocky II" made Balboa heavyweight champion, the series grew increasingly cartoonish in the '80s, much lampooned for its over-reliance on training montages. The dismal "Rocky V" still made good box office but felt like the antithesis of the previous installments, seemingly spelling the end of the franchise.

Then in 2006, after a run of poor movies, Stallone brought his beloved character back again in "Rocky Balboa," a return to the character-based drama of the original after the more bombastic entries.

Stallone and Rocky still weren't quite done. "Creed" came along in 2013 and Stallone reprised the role as an aging Balboa training Apollo Creed's son Adonis (Michael B. Jordan). In a nice touch of symmetry, Stallone received an Oscar nomination for his performance. He returned once again in "Creed II," before dropping out of the series altogether before "Creed III."

The Upcoming Creed-Verse?

In February this year, Michael B. Jordan confirmed that there will be a "Creed IV" and also talked about other spin-offs in the "Creed-verse." That's right, everyone — although Sylvester Stallone may no longer be a creative force in the "Rocky" franchise, the series is likely to become a Cinematic Universe. Personally, I'd love to see a de-aged Burt Young in "Paulie," 90 minutes of Rocky's best friend getting angrily drunk and yelling at the TV set above the liquor rack of his local bar.

Although Cinematic Universes are often the domain of huge superhero and science fiction franchises, it is a sign that the "Rocky" series has reached a level of cultural saturation where it can thrive without the involvement of its creator. There are plenty of precedents in this respect. Perhaps the biggest began the year after "Rocky" hit the screens with a little movie called "Star Wars," unfancied at the time of release but a box office monster that would change the face of cinema forever.

It was George Lucas's baby, of course, and he retained creative control over the colorful galaxy all the way up until 2012 when he sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4.1 million, citing family reasons as his motive for stepping away. Now if you go to Disney World in Florida you can see the incongruous spectacle of Imperial Storm Troopers marching along with Cinderella's Castle in the background. Since the sale, the "Star Wars" Universe has grown exponentially. There has been a concluding trilogy to the Skywalker saga, spin-off films, and several animated and live-action TV series. The quality isn't always good, but it seems the appetite for hanging out in the galaxy Lucas set into motion over 45 years ago continues unabated.

Why Do Cinematic Universes Thrive Without Their Creators?

Let me get this out of the way: I was a huge "Star Wars" fan as a kid but now I'm pretty weary of the endless content. For me, it drains much of the escapist magic of the original films. What I will say about the "Star Wars" Universe's expansion is that it has enabled writers and producers to explore aspects of Lucas's galaxy that might have never seen the light of day otherwise. His vision is so well-established in the public consciousness that it can not only survive, but flourish. "The Rise of Skywalker" proved how tired that saga was by the time it staggered over the line, but shows like "The Mandalorian" and "Andor" have gone on to prove that there are almost limitless possibilities for the tales you can tell within that Universe.

It helps that "Star Wars" now comes with such a baked-in audience that new creators have the freedom to try new things without much fear of failure. Even if a movie or a series s**ts the bed, the continued hunger for more "Star Wars" material means it isn't likely to break the Universe. Nostalgia also plays its part. I've already shown my kids the original "Star Wars" trilogy and they loved it. I'm sure many other parents are the same way, exposing their children to the stuff they adore from the earliest age possible, which means our kids will grow up with nostalgia for them, too. The cycle will continue. 

The same goes for "Rocky" and the "Creed-verse," as Michael B. Jordan has called it. Now departed from the creative control of Sylvester Stallone, it is free to move in directions that its originator may not have considered taking it in. So who knows? I might get my "Paulie" movie one day.

Read this next: Butkus To Punchy: Ranking All 8 'Rocky' Movies From Worst To Best

The post The Rocky Franchise Has Grown Beyond Sylvester Stallone appeared first on /Film.

It has been more than a decade since Jeff Bezos excitedly sketched out his vision for Alexa on a whiteboard at Amazon's headquarters. His voice assistant would help do all manner of tasks, such as shop online, control gadgets, or even read kids a bedtime story. But the Amazon founder's grand vision of a new computing platform controlled by voice has fallen short. From a report: As hype in the tech world turns feverishly to generative AI as the "next big thing," the moment has caused many to ask hard questions of the previous "next big thing" -- the much-lauded voice assistants from Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and others. A "grow grow grow" culture described by one former Amazon Alexa marketing executive has now shifted to a more intense focus on how the device can help the ecommerce giant make money. "If you have anything you can do that you might be able to directly monetise, you should do it," was the recent diktat from Amazon leaders, according to one current employee on the Alexa team. Under new chief executive Andy Jassy's tenure this change of focus has resulted in significant lay-offs in Amazon's Alexa team late last year as executives scrutinise the product's direct contribution to the company's bottom line. The belt-tightening came as part of broader cuts that have seen the ecommerce giant slash 18,000 jobs across the group amid pressure to improve profits during a global tech downturn. At Microsoft, whose chief executive Satya Nadella declared in 2016 that "bots are the new apps," it is now acknowledged that voice assistants, including its own Cortana, did not live up to the hype. "They were all dumb as a rock," Nadella told the Financial Times last month. "Whether it's Cortana or Alexa or Google Assistant or Siri, all these just don't work. We had a product that was supposed to be the new front-end to a lot of [information] that didn't work." Nadella can afford to be blunt: Microsoft's recent introduction of AI chatbot ChatGPT to its Bing search engine means the company is now seen as a leader in the field, having previously been mostly forgotten by the majority of internet users. ChatGPT's ability to understand complex instructions left existing voice assistants looking comparatively stupid, said Adam Cheyer, the co-creator of Siri, the voice assistant acquired by Apple in 2010 and introduced to the iPhone a year later.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The man. The myth. The chin. Bruce Campbell is one of the most beloved cult TV and film stars in existence, and he's going to be bringing his special brand of bravado to 22 different U.S. cities starting Wednesday, April 5, 2023. The guy behind Ash Williams of "Evil Dead," Elvis of "Bubba Ho-Tep," and Brisco County, Jr. himself, Campbell will be touring with BRUCE-O-RAMA, a two-part evening that's sure to be a bigger blast than a boomstick to the butt. The shows will start with an interactive game of "Last Fan Standing," a game show where everyone in the audience gets to play and test their knowledge of all things fantasy, horror, sci-fi, superheroes, and gaming. After that, they'll show a cult film of Campbell's and do a pre-screening Q&A. 

Tickets are available on the BRUCE-O-RAMA website, with special fan packages available that include a chainsaw autographed by Campbell himself. Now that's a neat keepsake. Fans who attend are also able to win cash prizes, and if it's anything like Campbell's Comic-Con appearances, he'll be handing out the bills himself. 

I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with Campbell via Zoom and chat about BRUCE-O-RAMA, "Evil Dead Rise," the original ending of "Army of Darkness," and even his favorite kind of salad dressing. The actor, writer, and producer's career may be prolific, but he's not slowing down any time soon. 

Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. 

'Spartacus Ash Versus The Robots'

You've said before that you preferred the original ending of "Army of Darkness." Can you tell me a little bit about why, and if you still prefer it?

Well, I always respect the filmmaker's choice because while it may not be the most popular, I think it was very appropriate. Ash is a big enough idiot to forget the amount of drops he was supposed to take, and he lost count, slept too late for 100 years, the world's destroyed. It makes perfect sense for the character Ash, and it also sets up a sequel to that, which would be sort of a "Spartacus," "Ash versus the robots" kind of deal. Could be a really, really cool survival, Charlton Heston, end of the world-type movie. That's why. But then when we tested it, because studios always have to put forth endings that are happier, so it was deemed sort of a bummer ending, so they wanted an ending that was happier. It's okay. It's serviceable, but it's kind of silly. This ending is much more logical, actually.

'It's Not Your Father's Evil Dead'

You've retired as Ash, but we do have a new "Evil Dead" movie coming out. Can you tell me about the new movie and what you hope for the future of the franchise?

The movie is "Evil Dead Rise," coming out, I think, on [April] 21. It's not your father's "Evil Dead." We're out of the cabin. We're out of the woods. It's a high rise. It's a struggling single mother and her family, and it's kind of a child's worst nightmare come true when mommy goes bad. It's a pressure cooker, same sort of situation as a cabin, very isolated location in its own way. And Lee Cronin, who wrote and directed it, he cleaned its clock, as they say. I mean, he really brought it. He really brought it.

'I'd Be All Over That Like A Cheap Suit'

It feels like a lot of things from the '80s and '90s, and the '90s especially, are coming back in a big way. You were a part of a lot of big '90s shows: "Lois and Clark," "Xena," "X-Files." Is there one that you would like to see come back and maybe do a cameo on?

I think Xena's been decapitated, so that'd be tough to bring her back unless it's a prequel. Those would've been fun to revisit. "Jack of All Trades," potentially. Actually, no. I would go for Brisco. "The Adventures of Brisco County" is ... you would bring him back following the death of Lord Bowler to find out who killed Lord Bowler, and you have potentially a Brisco son with Dixie that we don't know about, and maybe a Bowler's son that we don't know about, and maybe those guys team up. With me being a successful San Francisco lawyer, maybe he's got to saddle up again at some point. But you'd have to take a new spin on the whole thing, but I'd be all over that like a cheap suit.

I would love to see the father and son adventures of Brisco County Junior and The Third.

That's right. That's right. The Third, yeah. [chuckles]

'Marvel Kind Of Fits Right In With The End Of Days'

You're part of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." Why do you think multiverses are just this gigantic thing right now?

If I had the answer to that, I would be the ruler of Hollywood. Fantasy is pretty big. I think we need an escape whenever the world gets pretty real. I think entertainment tends to dial out. During the '30s, during the Depression was all those Busby Berkeley splashy music. [Pantomimes vaudeville dancing] "Life was great, life is fine." But there are soup kitchens and lines out in the street.

Conversely, when times are good, let's say, I don't know, '70s or something, the movies become introverted. "Oh, look at how horrible we are to ourselves, and look how horrible our government is, and everyone's paranoid." They tend to be a pendulum that swings to the opposite direction. Movies are also made for their target audience, too. The audience in the '40s used to be people in their 40s, so all the actors were people in their 40s, and all the writers were people in their 40s. So it makes sense if everyone's in their 20s, then you're going to have more youthful-oriented material, which is fantasy, sci-fi, or more spectacular stuff. Marvel kind of fits right in with the end of days.

'I've Had Long, Boring Talks With Marvel'

Speaking of that, are we going to see the Pizza Poppa again?

Well, if you think, for example, that he's just a Pizza Poppa, I think you're sorely mistaken, because as we all know, once you get into that multiverse, be very careful. Perceptions are not what you think they are. Do you think I would've signed up for this one stupid little part with a guy with four lines of dialogue? Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I've had long, boring talks with Marvel.

I love to hear it. Speaking of pizza, do you cook? What goes on a pizza in the Campbell house?

My mother declared the kitchen closed in high school. The cruelest trick of all to tell her sons that when they're the hungriest in their lives, that she's not cooking anymore. I can do a salad like nobody's business. Like yesterday, my wife specifically said, "That salad you made yesterday was pretty good." I go, "Really? What did you like about it?" She goes, "Oh, my God. Those tiny bits of cut up pickle and chopped up olives give it that little zest and a zing, and the shredded carrots over the top of it to give it some color and a little something." I survived that way, and as an actor on location, I can dice and slice, and get the basic stuff. An actor can survive if there's a Whole Foods within about a 10 mile radius.

What's your favorite salad dressing?

Oh, it's definitely Newman's Italian. There's nothing that touches it, because it's the same type of Italian dressing that I had as a kid. Newman's was the one who brought it back. He's like, "What's this other crap? I need the classic Italian." It's definitely Newman's Own.

'I Like Playing Idiots And Janitors'

You are a part of the Marvel Universe, and everybody always asks actors and directors if they're willing to be a part of the MCU. Is there any comic book character you'd like to play on screen?

I just wrote a comic book character, Sgt. Rock, for the competing company, DC. Would I want to be a comic book character?

Would you want to play Sgt. Rock, maybe?

Sure, 25 years ago. Yeah, let me have a whack at it. No, honestly, I like playing idiots and janitors. The thing that appeals to me about the character Ash was that he had no skills. He had no military background, nothing. This guy's got nothing. He wasn't born on another planet. No kryptonite, none of this crap. He's just a dude who's really lucky and really dumb.

I guess that answers my next question. Would there be any chance we'd see you in a "Star Wars" or a "Star Trek"?

It depends on the part. I mean, there's lots of ... look, I'm entering the crooked politician phase of my career. I mean, I'm ready to be swindlers, and shady governors, and things like that of shady zones. I could be a traitor. I could do the shady stuff. I got that. You can't trust me too much. So yeah, there's room, George.

'I Just Love The History Of It Because You're On The Same Stage As Houdini Or That Sort Of Thing'

What is your favorite thing about doing road tours like the one you're doing for Bruce-O-Rama?

Seeing new venues that I have not seen before, because they still have some creaking old ancient theaters that are still alive that they're retrofitting. They're putting new sound in, better seats. They're fixing the places up, fixing the twinkling lights in the ceiling. I mean, there's some really great venues out there. I just love the history of it because you're on the same stage as Houdini or that sort of thing. That to me, is always very exciting. To meet new people, see new -- I've been to most of these towns, but there's probably half a dozen towns I have not been to before.

Ben Affleck And Ashettes

If they were going to make a movie about your life, who would you want playing you?

Oh, it would be Ben Affleck from 15 years ago.

Okay, digitally de-aged Ben Affleck.

It would be like "Armageddon" Ben Affleck. Or what was the boring one? "Pearl Harbor." "Pearl Harbor," but you'd have to wake him up. You'd have to poke him with a stick, give him a cup of coffee.

Between people performing "Evil Dead: The Musical" and countless convention cosplays around the world, you've probably seen thousands of people doing their best Ash impersonation. What's that like, and have you seen any really memorable ones?

Yeah, the chicks are the best. For some reason, women have started wearing the torn outfits with the blood, and the strap, and the gun and the leather. But for some reason, they tear their shorts off to be these little short shorts. I'm like, "Well, Ash had pants on, but okay." They've done their own spin on it. I've seen photo shoots out in the woods, just going to leave it at that. I don't know how people are paying for these shots or getting paid. Don't really want to go into that, but there's some hotness. There is some 100% hot Ashettes out there. The dudes, I've seen some very good ones, but most of them, they'll do the thing, they'll match the thing, they'll do a little stuff on his face, and no blood. I'm like, then you're not Ash. You need to be kind of covered in blood and shiny s***. None of this stuff out of your mom's makeup. Don't give me this lipstick crap. It has to be a fake blood.

'I Do Kind Of One Gig A Month, And Then I Leave Myself Open For Hallmark Movies'

What is next for you? Are you going to be doing more hosting, acting, or maybe just take a nice vacation?

This will be the biggest tour of the year, and then I go back to sort of spacing it out. I do kind of one gig a month, and then I leave myself open for Hallmark movies, which, if they call, time to go do a Hallmark movie. No blood, no carnage. You don't have to wear knee pads or elbow pads, nothing. You just show up and say the lines of dialogue. Yeah, we'll see what happens. I'm self-publishing these days. I started a publishing company, and I'm on my third or fourth book now. I'm just going to spit out a whole series of books that have zero promotion, zero touring, zero international support that I'm just going to put them out. Hopefully when you buy something of mine on Amazon, it'll go, "Hey, if you bought this, you might like these, too." I figured the Amazon algorithms will do some sales for me.

Bruce Campbell: Book Publisher!

Can you tell me a little bit about your most recent book?

It's called "Citizen Alex." It was a story I wrote 25 years ago that's still pretty relevant. It's got sort of shades of "National Treasure." It's an innocent guy, gets caught up in a plot to steal the Constitution and rewrite it back at Independence Hall by a group of separatists, very similar to what's sort of going on now. Instead of kidnapping a governor, my governor of Michigan, they kidnapped the Constitution. It's just a fun story like that. I record them all. I read them all, and some of them ... this one we're going to actually add sound of gunshots, helicopters, because some of it just, it's more of a story with some action, so it makes sense.

My mother, before she passed, wrote two cool westerns. One is an old classic, old-time Clint Eastwood-type Western. That, we're going to do a radio play with the horses, and the clip clops, and the gunshots. I'll read the main guy. We'll have a narrator, all that. It's a great little thing to do on the side. It keeps me out of trouble. I've got a lot of material that I've developed over the years that I own that will never get made into a movie. I'm either too old, or there's no need for this anymore, or something's a little passe. Rather than gathering digital dust on my digital hard drive, I'm like, "Screw this, man." I have quite a pipeline of stuff. I'm going to be putting out all different genres.

Another one that just came out was "House Divided." It was what if two candidates running for a very rural Oregon County commissioner, one as right as you could get, one as left as you could get, take a Boy Scout challenge to spend a weekend hiking, and navigating, and camping together in the Eastern Oregon wilderness? Of course, wackiness ensues and they both get to walk a mile in the other guy's shoes, sometimes literally. It's a really ridiculous romp that I wanted really bad to make into a movie, but it's not something people are throwing money at these days, but would've been a good part for Seth Rogen.

Bruce Campbell's 22-city theatre tour "Bruce-O-Rama" begins on April 5, 2023. You can get tickets at bruce-o-rama.com.

Read this next: Every Sam Raimi Film Ranked

The post Bruce Campbell On The Future of Pizza Poppa, Evil Dead Rise, and His Upcoming Tour [Exclusive Interview] appeared first on /Film.

Shasheen Ediriweera has announced the release of Rescuezilla 2.4.2, the latest version of the project's "Swiss army knife of system recovery" based on Ubuntu. The new release adds a variant based on Ubuntu 22.10 (besides the ones derived from Ubuntu's most recent long-term supported releases). From the changelog:....

John Wick might be a ruthless killing machine, unanimously feared by even the most hardened criminals. But his sleek tailored suits never betray his brutality. In fact, as the "John Wick" franchise has seen increasing success, the hitman's gun metal suits have gained their own kind of cultural recognition, perfectly symbolizing Wick's stylish yet deadly methods. In the trailer for the upcoming "John Wick: Chapter 4," the suit even gets its own moment when Lawrence Fishburne's Bowery King produces a shirt and jacket and asks Keanu Reeves' assassin, "42 regular, wasn't it?"

Since the beginning of the franchise back in 2014, the John Wick suit has become almost as big a star as the man on which it hangs. Created by costume designer Luca Mosca, Wick's muted yet finely tailored attire was intended to project his grief in the wake of losing his wife, as well as being based on the sleek lines and deep grays of a Glock pistol. So, when it came time for some significant world-building in "John Wick: Chapter 2," screenwriter Derek Kolstad decided to expand not just the protagonist's backstory, but the backstory of his finery.

In the film, Wick travels to Rome to repay a debt to a past acquaintance. There, he stays at the Italian version of the Continental Hotel, a safe-house for the criminal underworld that tailors to its illicit clients' high-end needs. As part of Kolstad's attempts to expand the "John Wick" lore, the titular hitman visits The Continental's "Sommelier" — a provider of weaponry — alongside a tailor who fits him for a bullet-proof suit. And that suit-maker is actually played by a real tailor: Mosca himself.

The Man Behind The Suit

In a 2 Film Critics interview, Derek Kolstad spoke about wanting the film to "not only look good," but "make sense." Part of maintaining a level of realism between the outlandish gun-fu action sequences involved consulting experts. With the Sommelier scene, for instance, the screenwriter was given information on all the weapons and how they work from the film's stunt team. When it came to the tailor scene, however, Keanu Reeves had his own ideas. As Kolstad explained:

"The tailor in the movie really is Keanu Reeves' tailor. We had a Chinese tailor written into the script and Keanu said, 'The Chinese are good tailors, but the best tailors are Italian.' We did a screen test with his tailor, and [director] Chad [Stahelski] said, 'Let's go with him.'"

But Luca Mosca was more than just Reeves' personal tailor. He had designed the costumes for the first and second films at that point, and continues to work on the franchise to this day. In a Slashfilm interview with Kolstad, he elaborates on Mosca's cameo in "John Wick: Chapter 2," saying:

"[Mosca is] great, and he dressed Keanu in the first one, and he did all the design, the clothing, and they were trying to figure out who the tailor would be, and Chad had him read, and he's the tailor in the movie. I think it's so great. He deserves a little bit of the press because he's such a great guy."

Mosca's appearance certainly adds some believability to proceedings. His quick-fire questions about how many buttons John Wick wants, and how he wants the pants cut, are quite clearly coming from a place of experience. It's these little details that add to the majesty of the "John Wick" franchise.

Mosca's New Career

Luca Mosca, who grew up in Milan and actually studied pharmacy before becoming a costume designer, has spoken about being on-camera, telling Film Independent interview:

"I was honored that Chad [Stahelski] and Keanu [Reeves] gave me the opportunity. I was pretty nervous, but when the moment came I just did my scene and welcomed John to Rome as an old and respected acquaintance. Chad's advice was very simple: 'I want you to just act. This is your life, this is your calling.'"

Mosca enjoyed the experience so much, he's since acted in multiple short films along with the TV series "Placebo Heart." But perhaps the coolest part of the whole thing is that the designer confirmed the bullet-proof material he sews into John Wick's three-piece suit in the movie is actually a real thing. In our interview with Mosca, he explains that bulletproof suits are "worn by many people in government, and other high profile people." Of course, the material in the film is not the real thing, but it's another interesting detail that adds to the cinematic realism of the franchise. While the films clearly don't adhere to reality too closely, including realistic elements such as this just adds layers to the saga that help expand the story behind Baba Yaga.

Read this next: The Best Action Movies Of 2022, Ranked

The post Keanu Reeves Called In His Real-Life Tailor To Fill The Role For John Wick 2 appeared first on /Film.

Ryan Murphy made headlines back in 2018 when the prolific producer of TV hits ranging from "Glee" to "American Horror Story" signed a massive content deal with Netflix, estimated at a record-breaking $300 million. Since then, Murphy and his collaborators have delivered a head-spinning array of projects for viewers of the streaming service, in addition to various shows for network television and the FX basic cable brand.

Known for audacious and outrageous plot twists, compelling characters, and assembling a repertory company comprised of some of Hollywood's finest actors, Murphy has managed to leave his imprint on everything he touches. Realistically speaking, Murphy has increasingly spread himself thin as he continues to pump out more and more television content within multiple genres. Though everything remains thoroughly on brand, not all of those projects achieve the same level of quality. Occasional stumbles are inevitable. With that in mind, read on for a roundup of every Ryan Murphy TV show ranked worst to best.

22. The New Normal (2012)

Sadly, one show must be placed at the bottom of the list, and it's this 2012 series that remains (so far) Ryan Murphy's only foray into the sitcom genre. Justin Bartha and Andrew Rannells starred as, respectively, David and Bryan, a well-to-do Los Angeles gay couple. Bryan represents something of a stand-in for series co-creator Murphy, given that the character produces a successful "Glee"-like TV series called "Sing." Anxious to start a family, they hire recently separated Ohio waitress Goldie (Georgia King) to be their surrogate. To keep her close during her pregnancy, they encourage her to move in with them, with her nine-year-old daughter Shania (Bebe Wood) in tow. Further complicating this scenario is Goldie's grandmother, Jane (Ellen Barkin), a staunch Republican and raging homophobe, who follows Goldie with the aim of bringing her back and reuniting her with cheating husband Clay (Jayson Blair). Also tossed into the mix: "Real Housewives of Atlanta" alum NeNe Leakes as Bryan's production assistant on his TV show.

The show elicited mixed reviews and dismal ratings (despite winning favorite new TV comedy at the People's Choice Awards), and dredged up a fair amount of controversy when Salt Lake City's NBC affiliate refused to air the show at all due to content that the afilliate's CEO deemed to be "inappropriate" during the so-called family viewing period between 8 and 9 p.m. NBC canceled "The New Normal" after one season.

21. The Glee Project (2011)

The success of "Glee" not only spawned a live concert tour in which the cast sang songs from the show (which was documented in a 3D theatrical film), but also a reality competition dubbed "The Glee Project" that aired for two seasons. A scaled-down take on "American Idol," the show invited amateur singer-actors to compete in what was essentially an extended audition for "Glee," with the winner awarded a seven-episode guest-starring arc on the show. While "Glee" casting director Robert J. Ulrich oversaw "The Glee Project," the mothership's stars (including Jane Lynch, Darren Criss, and Dianna Agron, as well as Murphy himself) popped in to serve as mentors and guest judges. Darren McGinty and Samuel Larson were tied as winners for the first season, and each appeared on "Glee," in the promised seven episodes, while runners-up Lindsay Pearce and Alex Newell each earned a two-episode guest arc. 

Even if the show did not have the same wide appeal as Murphy's other TV series, it proved to be wildly successful in finding and nurturing talent. Newell's character, transgender student Wade Adams (a.k.a. Unique) resonated so much with viewers that the actor was invited back for additional episodes, ultimately becoming a series regular in Season 5. Meanwhile, Season 2 winner Blake Jenner likewise stuck around long after his initial seven episodes and was also hired as a series regular for Season 5. 

20. 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020)

"9-1-1" may not have been as beloved by critics as many of Murphy's other television projects, but the series proved successful enough that Fox ordered a spinoff. Premiering in 2020, "9-1-1: Lone Star" follows the same procedural format, with the key difference being the locale: Austin, Texas, versus Los Angeles (both shows, however, are shot in L.A.). "9-1-1: Lone Star" was also conceived as a star vehicle for Rob Lowe. He plays Owen Strand, a New York City firefighter who relocates to Texas after being recruited by an Austin firehouse that lost nearly all its firefighters in a horrific tragedy. Liv Tyler departed after Season 1 and was replaced by Gina Torres.

If anything, "Lone Star" feels even more melodramatic than its predecessor, with less reliance on outlandish, over-the-top disasters and an emphasis on Lowe, whose character is happy to share his skincare regimen and nutrition tips in what can only be described as a sly nod to his "Parks and Recreation" character, Chris Traeger. Ultimately, though, the show's appeal lies in viewers' eagerness to return episode after episode for a disaster of the week framed with a healthy dose of Lowe's not-inconsiderable charm. 

19. 9-1-1 (2018)

"Pedestrian" isn't a word typically associated with a Ryan Murphy television production, yet it is a somewhat apt one for "9-1-1." Airing on Fox, "9-1-1" represents Murphy tackling a conventional network television procedural drama along the lines of Dick Wolf's "Chicago" shows. Boasting a cast headlined by Peter Krause, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Murphy regular Angela Bassett, the series tracks the exploits of Los Angeles first responders, a group that includes cops, firefighters, and EMTs. What makes "9-1-1" stand out somewhat from similar TV dramas (i.e. "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff "Station 19," "Chicago Fire," etc.) is Murphy's penchant for over-the-top storylines. Beyond the usual car wrecks, apartment fires and abusive exes, there have been bombings, an explosive train derailment, and, in arguably the series' biggest disaster, a massive earthquake that devastated the entirety of Los Angeles.

"9-1-1" may simply not be weird enough for fans of "American Horror Story" to sink their teeth into, but the show has nonetheless managed to carve out a solid niche for itself in network television. As of early 2023, "9-1-1" was in its sixth season, with no indications of an imminent cancelation. 

18. Popular (1999)

Murphy broke into television with the 1999 series "Popular" for the now-defunct network known as The WB (which eventually merged with fellow "netlet" UPN to become The CW). Co-created by Murphy and Gina Matthews, the series focused on two teenage girls at opposite ends of the high-school popularity spectrum. Leslie Bibb starred as popular cheerleader Brooke McQueen, while Carly Pope portrayed not-so-popular Sam McPherson, an aspiring journalist who works for the school newspaper. When Brooke's mom and Sam's dad wind up falling in love and become engaged, however, these disparate teens — and, by extension, their respective friend groups — are forced to awkwardly co-mingle. Leslie Grossman stood out among a large supporting cast as wealthy, vacuous cheerleader Mary Cherry, and the actor would go on to become part of Murphy's repertory company in future projects, including several seasons of "American Horror Story."

Not entirely representative of the type of series that Murphy would produce in the future, "Popular" does share more than a passing thematic similarity to "Glee," "Scream Queens," "Feud," and even certain seasons of "American Horror Story." In fact, there's something of an argument to be made that "Popular" is basically "Glee" without the music. And while it only hints at the television brilliance that lay ahead as his career progressed, "Popular" remains a stunningly solid and well-realized series when considering it represents Murphy's first foray into TV.

17. The Politician (2019)

Of all the shows within Murphy's ouvre, "The Politician" may be the strangest. Ostensibly a dark comedy, "The Politician" was the first series to emerge from Murphy's heavily hyped $300-million deal with Netflix. Ben Platt starred as Payton Hobart, a privileged teenager who has known since childhood that he would one day become president of the United States. Before he can achieve that lofty goal, however, he must win a far more modest election to become student body president of St. Sebastian High in tony Santa Barbara, California. The only thing standing in his way is his opponent, the more-popular-than-him River Barkley (David Corenswet), leading Payton to instigate a level of political dirty tricks not usually associated with high school.

In addition to Platt, the first season featured a supporting cast that included Gwyneth Paltrow (as Payton's adoptive mom), Zoey Deutch, Lucy Boynton, Bob Balaban, and Murphy favorite Jessica Lange. Season 2 takes a bit of a time jump, with Payton now a student at NYU and running for New York State Senate. That places him at odds with Dede Standish (Judith Light), New York State Senate Majority Leader, and her loyal and devious chief of staff, Hadassah Gold (Bette Midler). Season 1 earned accolades (including Emmy, Golden Globe, and GLAAD Media Award nominations), Season 2 was received far less warmly, and Netflix opted not to renew "The Politician" for a third season. 

16. American Horror Stories (2021)

A spinoff of "American Horror Story," Murphy's "American Horror Stories" takes the series' anthology premise and runs with it; instead of each season telling a standalone story, "Stories" spins a different story in each episode. To sweeten the pot, some of those stories connect with previous seasons of "American Horror Story," including an episode that tied to the "Murder House" season, and another that fed into "Coven." These aren't the only links to the original show. Murphy also populates "American Horror Stories" with actors from the original series, including Matt Bomer, John Carroll Lynch, Billie Lourd, Cody Fern, Dylan McDermott, Denis O'Hare, Gabourey Sidibe, and more. Other stars to appear run the gamut, ranging from Paris Hilton to Danny Trejo.

The show's format ultimately proves to be both its strength and its weakness, with the quality and scariness of individual episodes all over the map. A Season 1 entry titled "Ba'al," for example, fired on all cylinders. A "Rosemary's Baby"-inspired terror tale, it stars Billie Lourd as a woman so desperate to have a child that she turns to a demonic totem to ensure pregnancy. Take a wild guess how that turns out for her. On the other end of the spectrum, we find "The Naughty List," the limp and predictable story of a bunch of obnoxious social media influencers who, realizing their popularity is waning, up the ante by pulling a humiliating prank on a department store Santa, who retaliates in homicidal fashion. 

15. Ratched (2020)

High concept doesn't come any higher than "Ratched," Murphy's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" prequel. Here, he presents the outlandish origin story of the primary antagonist in the 1975 movie and novel upon which it was based: sadistic Nurse Ratched, played by "American Horror Story" regular Sarah Paulson. As opposed to the movie, which featured the middle-aged version of the character, "Ratched" introduces Mildred Ratched in her younger years, revealing the twisted motivation behind her cruelty (which involves her murderous, priest-killing brother and a doomed lesbian affair with the press secretary for a powerful politician). The storyline felt somewhat overbaked, but Murphy did not skimp on acting talent; along with Paulson, the cast included Finn Wittrock and Cynthia Nixon (as the aforementioned brother and love interest, respectively), along with Judy Davis as a fellow nurse, Jon Jon Briones as Dr. Hanover, the anesthetic-addicted head of the psychiatric institution Mildred infiltrates, and Sharon Stone as wealthy socialite Lenore Osgood, who hires a hit man (Corey Stoll) to whack Hanover for treating her son's serial-killer tendencies by amputating some limbs.  

"Ratched" is as overblown and over-the-top as anything fans would expect from Murphy. It also features first-rate performances and cinematography (capturing the lush Northern California setting) that is nothing less than stunning. However, the flagrant campiness that propels the series is also its biggest drawback, infusing the whole production with a vibe just shy of silliness.

14. Impeachment: American Crime Story (2021)

For the third season of "American Crime Story," Murphy and his crew dramatized the events that led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. With Monica Lewinsky as consultant and executive producer, "Impeachment" lays out the story of how a naive but well-connected White House intern (Beanie Feldstein as Lewinsky) wound up the focal point of Republican-led impeachment hearings. Even with Clive Owen and Edie Falco as the president and Hillary Clinton, respectively, the showiest role went to Sarah Paulson, practically unrecognizable in extensive padding and prosthetics as Lewinsky's unfaithful confidante, Linda Tripp. Annaleigh Ashford plays Paula Jones, while Margo Martindale co-stars as rightwing literary agent and Republican operative Lucianne Goldberg. 

The performances were solid all around. Falco's Hillary Clinton in particular was a standout, barely containing her simmering rage at her husband's feckless infidelity while also holding a steely determination not to be portrayed as a victim. It was Paulson's depiction of Tripp, so villainous as to almost be cartoonish, that proved one of the show's weaker elements, a rare stumble by the usually excellent actor. Previous seasons of "American Crime Story" managed to add nuance and detail to stories that everyone thought they knew everything about. The "Impeachment" season struggled mightily with that task. Ultimately, there was just so much going on — subplots featuring internet pioneer Matt Drudge (Billy Eichner), and the naive Jones being devoured by the media, for example — that it lacked cohesion. 

13. Hollywood (2020)

"Hollywood" is arguably the most audacious, ambitious project in the Murphy pantheon. Set in late-1940s Hollywood, the show centers on Jack Castello (David Corenswet), a WWII veteran and aspiring actor who takes a job at a gas station owned by Ernie West (Dylan McDermott), who is actually a pimp whose attendants are sex workers who discreetly service famous clients of both sexes. It's through his illicit new profession Jack gains entry into the movie biz. In Murphy's blend of fact and fiction, Rock Hudson (Jake Picking) carries out an openly gay relationship with African-American screenwriter Archie Coleman (Jeremy Pope), while a studio head (Rob Reiner) suffers a heart attack that allows his wife (Patti LuPone) to take the reins, with her first big project as studio head bringing all these various characters together by producing Archie's controversial script, featuring an interracial romance. One of the show's most intriguing characters is Henry Wilson (Jim Parsons), a predatory gay agent whose reptilian aura of menace is a million miles away from the actor's "The Big Bang Theory" protagonist. 

The miniseries presented a wish-fulfillment fantasy depicting Tinseltown not precisely as it was, but how Murphy wishes it could have been. In fact, he made a major point here: that Hollywood could have been a racially inclusive, gay-friendly paradise if only the right people had shed their biases and prejudices, but the whole enterprise ultimately collapsed under the weight of its own pretensions. 

12. The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018)

Following the massive success of "The People v. O.J. Simpson," the second season of "American Crime Story" was initially intended to focus on Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans, but that idea was ultimately aborted. Instead,  Murphy and his team recounted the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramirez) by killer Andrew Cunanan ("Glee" alum Darren Criss). Despite the season's subtitle, "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" was really the story of Cunanan, a self-loathing gay man who embarked on a bizarre killing spree that culminated with him gunning down Versace on the front steps of his palatial Miami estate.

In addition to the strong supporting cast (including Ricky Martin as the designer's boyfriend, Antonio D'Amica, and Penélope Cruz as Donatella Versace), the story unfolds in an innovative style, beginning with Versace's murder and then moving backward, with each subsequent episode taking place prior to the previous one. That storytelling technique resulted in a series that was more slow-burn than explosive. Reviews were generally positive, but the season never came close to receiving the kind of acclaim heaped upon its predecessor. Meanwhile, Murphy was hit with backlash from members of the Versace family, who blasted the project as "a work of fiction." In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Murphy pointed out that the script was based on Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth's reporting, and he described it as "a work of non-fiction obviously with docudrama elements. We're not making a documentary."

11. Halston (2021)

In the wake of "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story," Murphy put the spotlight on another iconic fashion designer via "Halston," his 2021 miniseries for Netflix. With Ewan McGregor as the titular Halston, the production also offered the by-now expected spectacle of actors cast as famous folks from the past. In "Halston," this included Krysta Rodriguez as Liza Minelli, Halston's friend and muse; Rory Culkin as film director Joel Schumacher; and Mary Beth Peil as iconic dancer and choreographer Martha Graham. Chronicling Halston's rise in the 1960s to the highest echelons of the fashion industry, "Halston" captured the shiny, glitzy glamour of the designer's Studio 54 heyday in the late 1970s without shying away from the severity of his escalating cocaine addiction and the havoc it brought to his life, personally and professionally. 

Created by Sharr White and directed by Daniel Minahan, Murphy wasn't directly involved in "Halston," but took the brunt of criticism for the story's superficiality and lack of depth. And, as was becoming customary for Murphy's unauthorized biographical docudramas about famous folks, "Halston" was blasted by the late designer's estate, which issued a statement decrying the miniseries for delivering an "inaccurate, fictionalized account" of Halston's life. Ultimately, McGregor's captivating performance elevates the project, transforming what could have become a somewhat rote biopic into a highly watchable series. McGregor deservedly won an Emmy in the outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie category.

10. The Andy Warhol Diaries (2022)

Murphy shifted from scripted series for his first documentary project with "The Andy Warhol Diaries," a six-part Netflix docuseries that premiered in 2022. The series, directed by Andrew Rossi and produced under Murphy's banner, presented the most detailed and expansive look to date at the quixotic artist who upended the art world with paintings of soup cans and seemingly predicted today's social media-fueled culture when he famously quipped, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." Perhaps the most unique conceit in the series was Warhol — who died in 1987 — providing his own narration (actually, the voice of actor Bill Irwin, enhanced by AI, reading entries from Warhol's diary).

In addition to the expectedly star-studded roster of interviewees (a lengthy and eclectic list that includes Rob Lowe, Jerry Hall, Debbie Harry, John Waters, and various denizens of Warhol's Factory), the series shed light on the personal life that Warhol managed to keep entirely private throughout his life — particularly his relationship with interior designer Jed Johnson, his boyfriend of more than a decade, who remained by Warhol's side while avoiding the limelight himself. All in all, "The Andy Warhol Diaries" was considered a critical triumph, a fascinating and fast-paced deep dive into how shy and awkward Andrew Warhola from Pittsburgh reinvented and redefined himself to become one of the most famous figures of the 20th century.

9. Nip/Tuck (2003)

Murphy's television follow-up to "Popular," "Nip/Tuck" marked the beginning of his lucrative association with FX while also proving his adeptness as a writer and producer beyond teen dramedy. The series explored the exploits of Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) and Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh), top plastic surgeons who share a lucrative Los Angeles practice. In addition to witnessing the physicians' various and usually button-pushing surgeries ("Tell me what you don't like about yourself," one of the docs would invariably ask a patient at the start of each episode), viewers glimpse the characters' wildly complicated personal lives. Sean is a seemingly solid husband and father (a notion eventually revealed to be a facade) and Troy is a textbook sex addict with impulse-control issues whose insatiable libido compels him to sleep with pretty much every woman he meets (including Sean's wife, played by Joely Richardson).

"Nip/Tuck" definitely pushed the envelope, in terms of audacious and sometimes outright insane storylines, but also by tackling taboo subject matter (pedophilia and incest, for example). Meanwhile, Murphy's particular brand of pitch-black comedy was infused throughout, even within the show's graphic — and unbelievably frequent — sex scenes. Murphy also didn't pull any punches when it came to the surgery sequences, which were arguably even more graphic than the sex scenes. Through it all, Murphy delivered a withering satirical commentary on the cultural obsession with beauty -- and the extreme lengths people will go in attempting to achieve or retain it.

8. Scream Queens (2015)

The blend of horror and comedy that characterized the "Coven" season of "American Horror Story" returned in "Scream Queens," which ran for two seasons on the Fox network. The story surrounds a clique of nasty sorority girls dubbed the Chanels (including Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Abigail Breslin, and pop star Ariana Grande) who are targeted by a campus killer costumed as the college's mascot, the Red Devil. Jamie Lee Curtis was a standout as the school's dean, Dr. Cathy Munsch, while other stars included Nick Jonas, Keke Palmer, Nasim Pedrad, Niecy Nash, and "Glee" alum Lea Michele. In season two, Kirstie Alley, John Stamos, and Taylor Lautner entered the fray. 

Ultimately, "Scream Queens" leaned far more into its comedy side than the horror aspect, and actually seemed to find its footing in season two (which shifted the setting from a college to a hospital). Unfortunately, ratings for the second season cratered to about half of the first, leading Fox to pull the plug. Interestingly, the show found even more viewers when it began streaming on Hulu, something that did not go unnoticed by Murphy. "Obviously I work for Netflix now, but if I could do anything to bring it back," Murphy told Deadline in 2019. "Emma said she would do it, Lea Michelle [sic] said she would do it, Jamie Lee Curtis, Abigail Breslin, Billie Lourd are all in. So it would depend if Fox wants to do it. I think we'd all do it. I think we're waiting for them to call us."

7. The Watcher (2022)

Murphy's penchant for taking a true story and loading it with entertaining yet entirely fictional elements was on full display in "The Watcher," a 2022 Netflix miniseries about upscale couple Dean and Nora Brannock (Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts), whose purchase of their suburban dream home devolves into a nightmare when they begin receiving horrifically threatening letters from a mysterious source who knows intimate details about their lives. As the letters become increasingly hostile and disturbing, the Brannocks' sanity is tested in a variety of ways, with nothing as it appears. "The Watcher" also boasted a top-shelf supporting cast including Margo Martindale and Richard Kind as nosy suburbanites Mitch and Mo, Terry Kinney as a supremely creepy neighbor, and Mia Farrow as his malevolently conservative mom. 

As the series progressed, Murphy and co-creator Ian Brennan departed from the true story even further by adding one over-the-top plot twist after another, ranging from satanic worship to hidden subterranean tunnels. Jennifer Coolidge, the secret weapon of many a show and movie, once again wove her magic. Here, she plays Karen Calhoun, a realtor who's far more aware of what's happening than she initially lets on. Sleek and stylish, "The Watcher" offered a unique mix of ghoulish pseudo-horror and whodunit mystery that made for an addictive viewing experience — albeit one that ultimately felt a bit hollow in retrospect. The series' success, however, led Netflix to order a second season.

6. Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022)

Since the first season of "American Horror Story," Evan Peters has played an assortment of creepy characters in various Murphy-produced programs. None, however, came close to the creepiness of his portrayal of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in the 2022 Netflix miniseries "Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story." Over the course of 10 episodes, "Monster" traces Dahmer's journey from troubled child to predatory, cannibalistic murderer. As has become customary, Murphy stacked the show with an impressive supporting cast, including Richard Jenkins as Dahmer's father, Molly Ringwald as his stepmother, "Waltons" alum Michael Learned as his grandmother, and Niecy Nash as a fearful neighbor who was initially ignored when she contacted cops to express her suspicions.

Murphy bit off a lot here, not only attempting to explain the motivation behind Dahmer's depraved acts and the sociopathology that drove them, but also examining how systemic failures and societal inequities contributed. Once again partnered with Ian Brennan, Murphy walked something of a tightrope in explicitly depicting Dahmer's crimes without glamorizing him or exploiting the victims. The extent to which he succeeded there, however, emerged as a matter of debate. In any case, "Dahmer - Monster" ranks as one of the most-watched series in Netflix history, and what was initially conceived as a standalone project has subsequently expanded, with two more installments on the way that Netflix says will "tell the stories of other monstrous figures who have impacted society."

5. Glee (2009)

In 2009, Murphy launched what became his biggest TV hit to that point, "Glee." Created as a reaction to Murphy learning that cash-strapped schools throughout America were forced to cut their drama and music departments, "Glee" focused on the glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. The resultant vocal group, New Directions, was comprised of a diverse group of students from various social strata, played by a stellar cast of newcomers that initially included Lea Michele (a Broadway-loving Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (football quarterback Finn Hudson), Chris Colfer (stylish gay student Kurt Hummel), Kevin McHale (Artie Abrams, who uses a wheelchair) and others. Leading the group was teacher Will "Mr. Schue" Schuester, played by Matthew Morrison, who at that time had made a far bigger impact on Broadway than on television. The series' breakout, however, turned out to be improv-comedy genius Jane Lynch as phys ed teacher and cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, who served as a sort of Wile E. Coyote to Mr. Schue's Roadrunner. 

The show transcended mere television hit status by impacting pop culture, with New Directions' cover versions of well-known pop hits topping the iTunes charts. Then there was the aforementioned "Glee Project," "Glee" tour, and movie. As the show's popularity ascended, "Glee" became a destination for A-list guest stars ranging from Gwyneth Paltrow, Britney Spears, and Jeff Goldblum to Kate Hudson, Olivia Newton-John, and Sarah Jessica Parker, and on and on. "Glee" ultimately ran for six successful series, and remains beloved to this day.

4. Feud: Bette Vs Joan (2017)

Murphy chased the success of "O.J. Simpson" with a new series dramatizing the world's most famous rivalries, "Feud." The first season (as of March 2023, a second has yet to arrive) scrutinized the battle between fading movie queens Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford ("AHS" alum Jessica Lange), whose mutual hatred only grew when they were forced to work together in the "hagsploitation" classic "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" The spectacle of watching two accomplished female movie stars portray screen icons from an earlier era was reason enough to watch. Even better, Sarandon and Lange delivered some of the finest work of their respective careers. 

Of course, the story was about much more than the infamous Davis-Crawford feud. It offered an unflinching look at the brutality of Hollywood's treatment of leading ladies who commit the cardinal sin of aging, with their sell-by dates determined by the misogynistic men who ran the studios. With a first-rate supporting cast including Stanley Tucci as studio head Jack Warner, Alfred Molina as director Robert Aldrich, and Judy Davis as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (and let's not forget Catherine Zeta-Jones as Olivia de Havilland and Kathy Bates as Joan Blondell), "Feud" represented Murphy and his team at the top of their game.

3. Pose (2018)

Few shows can lay claim to being truly groundbreaking, but "Pose" is one of those rare series. Set within the ball culture of the 1980s that spawned Madonna's hit "Vogue" and the seminal 1990 documentary "Paris is Burning," "Pose" zeroed in on the lives of a group of gay and transgender friends who pull out all the stops each weekend to compete in fashionably over-the-top pageants hosted by flamboyant emcee Pray Tell (Billy Porter). Co-created by Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canal, "Pose" sublimely depicted how a marginalized, vulnerable community rose up to create something that was empowering, enduring, fragile, and truly beautiful.

Not only was the subject matter unlike anything tackled on television before, but the show also made history for hiring transgender actors MJ Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Dominique Jackson, Hailie Sahar, and Angelica Ross, in addition to trans producers, writers, and other behind-the-scenes staffers. Honoring those who fought for LGBTQ rights decades earlier, Murphy and company crafted a lovingly textured time capsule that brought viewers into a very specific place and time, telling a story that was often painful and poignant but was ultimately about triumph in the face of adversity. "It's been a really joyous, amazing experience," Murphy said of "Pose" during an interview with Variety, adding, "I would say without question [it] has been the highlight of my career."

2. The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016)

The initial concept behind "American Crime Story" was to dramatize famous true-crime stories that had captivated the media (and public), with the first outing tackling O.J. Simpson's murder trial. By this point, Murphy's cred allowed him to assemble what remains one of the finest casts ever assembled for a TV series, including Sarah Paulson and Sterling K. Brown as prosecutors Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Simpson, Kenneth Choi as Judge Lance Ito, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, and Courtney B. Vance, Nathan Lane, and John Travolta as, respectively, defense attorneys Johnnie Cochrane, Robert Shapiro, and F. Lee Bailey. Then, of course, there were all the minor characters at the fringes of the "trial of the century" that captivated America, ranging from Kato Kaelin (Billy Magnussen) and Faye Resnick (Connie Britton) to LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman (Stephen Pasquale) and O.J. pal Al Cowlings (Malcolm-Jamal Warner). 

A critical and commercial smash, "The People v. O.J. Simpson" rates as one of Murphy's crowning achievements, winning multiple Emmys, Golden Globes, and pretty much any other awards for which it was nominated. It was, no question, the prestige TV project of 2016. While there were several extraordinary throughout, it was Paulson's portrayal of Clark, thrown headfirst into the media meat-grinder, that was -- and still is -- the heart and soul of the project, while Brown's portrayal of Darden was a close second. Not surprisingly, both deservedly won Emmys. 

1. American Horror Story (2011)

Of all his series, "American Horror Story" is Murphy's jewel in the crown, the one that opened new doors and blazed fresh trails toward the wildly eclectic projects that ensued. Truly, "AHS" was like nothing before it, a terrifying television anthology series planted firmly within the horror genre. Each season related a self-contained story, utilizing a revolving repertory cast, many of whom returned for subsequent episodes as completely different characters (although occasionally reprising earlier ones), including Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Emma Roberts, and more.

As is to be expected in an anthology, not all seasons of "AHS" reached the bar established by Season One, dubbed "Murder House," in which a latex-suited entity wreaks havoc on a family who move into a haunted house. Season 2, however, went further, with an over-the-top storyline set in a 1950s insane asylum, featuring such bonkers touches as a demon-possessed nun and alien abduction thrown into the mix. The third season added a healthy dose of humor: the story of a New Orleans coven of witches — one of whom believes herself to be "Rumours"-era Steve Nicks. Other seasons have featured a 1930s carnival freak show, a homicidal clown, a summer camp slasher-movie homage, an evil hotel (inhabited by Lady Gaga, no less), and even the Antichrist. And while the quality of each season varied tremendously, even the less-than-stellar ones were at least weirdly interesting.

Read this next: The 15 Best Anthology TV Series Ranked

The post Every Ryan Murphy TV Show Ranked Worst to Best appeared first on /Film.

"Jackie Brown" remains Quentin Tarantino's only departure from writing and directing his own films and, as such, it continues to stand just outside of the explosive, hyper-real universe he's created with all of his other features. Adapted from Elmore Leonard's 1992 novel "Rum Punch," Tarantino's follow-up after the unprecedented success of "Pulp Fiction" was intentionally crafted to fly right under the radar of the mainstream. The chances of duplicating the cultural phenomenon of "Pulp" just wasn't a possibility and whatever Tarantino was going to do next would be unfairly compared to what many still consider his masterpiece. 

Until "Jackie Brown," Tarantino had essentially created his own cinematic universe (the QTCU?) populated by characters dreamt up by his own imagination. "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction," "True Romance," and "Natural Born Killers" all have the same voice that remained intact even when other directors such as Tony Scott and Oliver Stone inserted their own established, stylized brand. 

"Jackie Brown" is grounded in Elmore Leonard's literary universe featuring popular characters from his novels like Ordell, Louis, and Melanie, who were already featured in previous novels by Leonard, including 1978's "The Switch." Tarantino took those characters and added a few of his own flourishes, to the point where he even felt like he became the gangster Ordell Robbie (later played by Samuel L. Jackson). In an example of "method writing," the director tends to become the characters he's writing for, at times. "I spent a whole year basically being Ordell," Tarantino said in a 1998 issue of Creative Screenwriting magazine. "I couldn't shut him off and I didn't want to. And in a weird way Ordell is the rhythm of the movie."

The Natural Rhythm Of Jackie Brown

For "Jackie Brown," Quentin Tarantino abandoned the excessive dialogue he had become famous for, preferring to use a much more naturalistic style that played to the strengths of the characters. Not everyone talks like Tarantino, they speak in their own voice. Samuel L. Jackson's vocal rhythm as L.A. Kingpin Ordell Robbie became the musical beat of the movie that Pam Grier locked onto during filming. "Quentin told me that Sam had a metronome-like quality that's really fast, but that I'd have to slow down for Robert [Forster]," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "He warned me that not all actors can do that, so I had to learn."

Using the natural cadence of actors like Jackson and Forster allowed Tarantino to organically bring out Leonard's voice from "Rum Punch" without adding too many recognizable touches of his own. "This is in Elmore Leonard's universe and it was interesting making a movie outside this little universe that I created," explained Tarantino. 

Wanting to differentiate "Jackie Brown" even more from his style of filmmaking, Tarantino changed the look of the film to better compliment Leonard's established crime world: 

"I wanted it to be ultra-realistic. I used a different cinematographer to kind of get a different look. It still looks great but just a little bit more down to earth, a little less like a movie movie, a little bit more like a '70s 'Straight Time.'"

Starring Dustin Hoffman as a career burglar out on parole, "Straight Time" really does look visually similar to "Jackie Brown" in spots, especially in a few office scenes that closely resemble Max Cherry's Bail Bonds business. Tarantino also filmed "Jackie Brown" entirely on location in L.A. and shot the film with a 1.85:1 ratio, the only time he's used the format for one of his features.

Read this next: 13 Tarantino Projects We Never Saw But Wish We Could've

The post Quentin Tarantino Doesn't Consider Jackie Brown Part Of His Cinematic Universe appeared first on /Film.

Melanie Lynskey often plays complex female roles that defy societal norms, most recently her dark turns in "Yellowjackets" and "The Last of Us." But before Lynskey played a quietly fierce plane survivor or ruthless leader in a zombie apocalypse, she gave a bone-chilling performance in Peter Jackson's "Heavenly Creatures," her screen debut alongside the equally talented Kate Winslet. 

Lynskey was chosen from 500 New Zealand schoolgirls for the role of Pauline Parker, a glum outcast who engages in an obsessive friendship with an intelligent English rose named Juliet Hulme. The imaginative teen girls share eventually conspire to kill Pauline's mother with a brick.

 "We were looking for an actor who could capture the quiet intensity of Pauline Parker — who was by all accounts, a fiercely passionate introvert," says the "Heavenly Creatures" screenwriter Fran Walsh. "We knew immediately that she was right for the role. Mel was a natural in front of the camera, but more than this, she understood the complexities of Pauline's character and she brought tremendous sympathy to the role" (via Stuff). 

Although she had no proper acting training, Lynskey's performance is astonishingly nuanced and passionate. Her combination of unhinged teen delirium and measured malice is chilling. Pauline is a career-defining role that set the standard for Lynskey's transfixing on-screen presence, the terror of her unwavering resolve that she brings to her roles in "Yellowjackets" and "The Last of Us." Watching 16-year-old Melanie Lynskey in "Heavenly Creatures," you can see how she learned to detail her characters' hidden depths. 

Yellowjackets

Just as "Yellowjackets" gradually builds its gripping mystery, Lynskey is an expert at subtly modulating her performance. She is like a volcano — a simmering rage beneath her smooth, deliberate surface just waiting to erupt. Much like Pauline, Shauna has a hidden dark side that clashes with her suburban life, a secret desire for sexual and violent transgressions. Shauna indulges in reckless behavior such as masturbating to a photo of her daughter's boyfriend, getting drunk, and cheating on her husband. She can also bone a carcass with terrifying ease.

In "Heavenly Creatures," the young Lynskey established that she could carry such roles. Pauline's wildness unleashes a greater force, as if she were an animal locked in a cage that is finally set free. Pauline is another female character who opposes traditional femininity with her kinky humor when creating lecherous stories with Juliet about a sexual and violent royal family.

Lynskey solidifies how well she can can create vicious characters, plainly spitting out wicked lines such as "I am writing a little of this up on the morning before the death [of her mother]. I felt very excited and the night-before-Christmas-ish last night." Her phony sweetness when she offers her mother a pastry at tea time, knowing this will be her last meal, is unsettling. It comes from the same dark place as her sharp delivery of "I don't even like my daughter" during a brunch scene in "Yellowjackets." 

The Last Of Us

Showrunner Craig Mazin says in the official "The Last of Us" podcast that the idea for Kathleen's original character was "What if a kindergarten teacher were in charge of the terror of the French Revolution?" Her calm and gentle voice belies her icy ruthlessness as she murders her family doctor without hesitation and waves off Henry's brother dying because "children die all the time." 

/Film writer Valerie Ettenhofer praises Lynskey for imbuing her "delightfully villainous character" with "steely resolve, decisive wrath, and a glimmer of empathy even with her limited screen time." All of these traits are found in her "Heavenly Creatures" performance, particularly in the series of extreme close-ups throughout the film. The sullen schoolgirl has a firm gaze, as if she is shooting poison daggers from her upturned eyes. Beneath her wild mane of curls, Pauline's mouth is pinched in bitter annoyance. It's a stare with the kind of pointed anger that Wednesday Addams would be jealous of. With this chilling look, Lynskey powerfully communicates Pauline's silent rebellion against her oppressive mother and the rules of 1950s society.

Valerie Ettenhofer also touches on what is fundamental to all of Melanie Lynskey's performances: "[S]he nearly always projects a level of warmth that makes her impossible to fully root against." Both Pauline and Kathleen commit unspeakable acts of violence, but their actions feel authentic and even somewhat understandable through Lynskey's steady focus and passion. 

As just a teenage girl in "Heavenly Creatures," Melanie Lynskey says so much with so little. She demonstrates the keen control of turbulent feelings that she would bring to her future roles. She proves that she was capable of playing such twisted characters all along.

Read this next: 12 Things We'd Like To See In HBO's The Last Of Us

The post Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures Made Melanie Lynskey Scary Before Yellowjackets and The Last of Us Made It Cool appeared first on /Film.

An ATX case inspired by nature. | With real wood and RGB in rainbow colors behind the tinted glass. The new PC case called "North" from the Swedish case specialists Fractal Design offers a slightly more grown-up exterior than the competition with its tidy design language.

It's been close to a year since Chris Rock made a joke about Will Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, at the Oscars and Smith slapped Rock on live TV in response. It was the slap heard 'round the world, leading to Smith's banning from the Academy Awards for a decade and launching a million think-pieces. The shocking event was not the first time Rock targeted the pair with his jokes, as he has been making comments about Pinkett-Smith since the 1990s, but things escalated after Pinkett-Smith suggested he shouldn't host the Oscars in 2016 as a part of the "#OscarsSoWhite" movement. There's a lot of bad blood between the comedian and the married actors that came to a head when Smith's hand connected with Rock's face on the Oscars stage. 

Netflix debuted its first live-streaming stand-up special with "Chris Rock: Selective Outrage," promoting the special as the moment when Rock would finally respond to "The Slap." Rock clearly ascribes to the Klingon proverb, "revenge is a dish best served cold," but is revenge really the answer? After a roller-coaster of a set that tries to tackle transphobia, class division, and Elon Musk's semen output, the final 10 minutes of Rock's set are devoted entirely to Jada and Will. Instead of jokes, he mostly fired off rumors about the couple's extramarital affairs, attacked their personal character, and went for the lowest of blows whenever possible. It wasn't funny, it was just a man trying to work out his demons in front of millions of people and turning everyone's living room into a game of "he said/she said." 

A Whole Lot Of Anger

There were jokes about Smith before the special even started, with pre-show guest Arsenio Hall making a crack that "Smith might slap a TV tonight," but there were refreshingly few references to him for most of Rock's set until his concluding diatribe. This was his chance to put an end to the entire beef, but instead he went scorched earth, making fun of the fact that Smith was a much larger and stronger man who plays athletes and heroes, insinuating that Smith might not have slapped him if he weren't such a weak, easy target. That's relatively tame compared to what comes next, which is Rock going on at length about the pair's open marriage, alleging that Pinkett-Smith was having an affair with one of her son's friends. He then comments on how that must hurt Will, and that "she hurt him way more than he hurt me." Even if he's angry about being hit on national television, airing all of the couple's dirty laundry during a Netflix special feels exceptionally petty. 

That's not the end of it, either, as Rock goes on to list everyone who called Smith a "b****" in response to the slap, reiterating the difference in size, social status, and power between them. It feels like a kid on the playground listing everyone who thinks his nemesis is a loser, which is honestly kind of sad coming from a grown man in his 50s who used to be one of comedy's sharpest minds. 

Just Plain Petty

Rock, usually never the type to mince words, actually confused two of Smith's movies during his set, anxious to make a joke about "Emancipation" while talking about "Concussion." He continued to rail against Jada, calling her vulgar names and saying "she started this s***," and it's a shame that he couldn't be the adult and end it instead of turning this feud into a five-alarm fire. His joke about "Emancipation" had already made the rounds online, with Rock saying that he watched "Emancipation" just to see Smith get whipped. He took it a step further in the stand-up special, making "hit him again, massa" jokes that are well beyond this white writer's ability to comment on. It felt truly vitriolic, with seething rage from Rock as he encouraged Smith's fictional but brutal beating. For a comedian who opened the bit by saying, "I'm not a victim baby, you will never see me on Oprah or Gayle [King] crying," Rock's tirade and the selective decision to exclude his over 20-year pattern of throwing jabs at Jada Pinkett-Smith certainly felt like someone desperate to be seen as the one deserving of sympathy.

The final dig came with his last sentiment, about how Rock had parents and they raised him right. Smith has a well-documented tumultuous childhood with an abusive father, and making comments about his upbringing is about as low as you can go. It doesn't matter if you're a Smith fan or a Rock fan, that's just not a good look. He also held the special in Jada's hometown of Baltimore, instead of his own, which feels like another childish, petty move. Most people probably tuned in just to see what he had to say about the slap and the Smiths, and all I have to say is — was it worth it? 

Read this next: The 20 Most Influential Comedy Stars In Movie History

The post Chris Rock Finally Responds to Will Smith's Slap – And It's a Bunch of Petty Nonsense appeared first on /Film.

Netflix just aired its first-ever live special, and from a pure production standpoint, it went off nearly without a hitch. "Chris Rock: Selective Outrage" will surely grab headlines for its final ten minutes, as the comedian capped off an intermittently funny hour with an extended tirade during which he delivered low blow after low blow aimed at Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. There's plenty to be said about those anger-filled moments and all the good, bad, and ugly that came before them (look out for more coverage from /Film that will dig into the details), but it's also worth unpacking the live production elements that mark a brand new step for the streaming giant. Did Netflix pull this whole thing off? Should they keep experimenting with live TV?

On first pass, the answers to this seem obvious: yes and maybe. The special, which began at 6:30 P.M. PT with a live pre-show filmed in Los Angeles before moving to the Baltimore stage where Rock delivered his set, was rather seamlessly presented. In terms of coverage, editing, and coordinating the timing of many moving parts, the special was leagues ahead of other major live events like New Year's Eve broadcasts, award shows, and sporting events. Each of the comedians appearing on the pre-show, including Deon Cole, Arsenio Hall, and Leslie Jones kept their sets tight and on track, so that the switchover to Baltimore came at 7:00 P.M. on the dot.

A Tightly Paced Live Event With Very Few Flubs

Rock's actual performance lasted roughly 70 minutes, 10 minutes longer than the average hour-long Netflix special. It was in those last 10 minutes that he made his only real live show flub, accidentally citing the Will Smith film "Emancipation" for a punchline that actually called for the film "Concussion." He admitted that he "f***ed up the joke" and carried on with what would turn out to be the most incendiary -- and least funny -- part of the show.

The rest of the stream featured only a few quirks: during a 20 minute aftershow panel that included Hall, J.B. Smoove, Yvonne Orji, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Smoove had microphone issues but was quickly handed a new mic. Within a minute of Rock taking to the stage, a man in the audience began yelling -- likely not a surprise for a comedian who was booed two minutes into his most famous special, "Bring The Pain" -- and Rock quieted him quickly, calling, "N****, sit down!" before moving on.

As a live show, it was also impossible for comedians to flatter themselves with edits that might cut down on moments to which audiences weren't receptive. Both Hall and Rock mention Dave Chappelle in passing. Chappelle is a comedian who's by now as famous for his stubborn transphobia (and big Netflix deal) as for his actual comedy. Both references were met with near silence. "LA, y'all be acting weird sometimes," Cole said early in his own set, seemingly in response to a muted crowd.

Ronny Chieng Kept It Real

Live show moments that could've been awkward were smoothed over well by pre-show host Ronny Chieng, who made a point to call out Netflix itself for its less-than-transparent viewership numbers and attempts to reinvent the wheel by putting on a live TV show on a Saturday night. "All these moments will be lost like tears in the rain or a d*** pic on Snapchat," Chieng said, an ironic observation given the way streaming has recently eroded the TV preservation landscape. Chieng also managed to transition quickly past a rough bit involving David Spade and Dana Carvey, responding with a slightly judgmental look while quipping, "Thank you for representing white people on this one, guys."

While "Chris Rock: Selective Outrage" will obviously gain attention for Rock's comments about the Smith family, it's worth noting that it's unclear how many people actually watched the show, and may remain unclear even as Netflix releases audience numbers. As Chieng points out, Netflix's self-reported viewership data is notoriously confusing, plus -- in my own experience -- the streamer didn't seem too sure about how to get viewers on board. 

The title for the special appeared on Netflix days ago with a banner indicating it would be live, although its poster listed a 7:00 P.M. start time with no word of the pre-show. It also included an option to be reminded about the event. I signed up for the reminder, and received a nudge via email at 6:21pm, just nine minutes before the pre-show began. Even weirder, when I checked Netflix a few moments earlier, the title wasn't displayed on the top of the page: that slot belonged to the drama "Sex/Life." I only found the link to the live show after scrolling down to "New and Popular."

What's The Point Of A Live Netflix Show, Again?

So if Netflix does choose to bring more live shows to subscribers, it still has some kinks to work out. The show's production was impressively put-together, but the system for tuning in wasn't especially clear. The pacing and direction were fantastic, and Rock is clearly a polished performer who can deliver a punchline well when he's not tied up in petty, angry knots. But all of this still asks the question: why even do this? Will Netflix live shows earn the service the new subscribers the streamer is always hungry for? And is the show truly a special event if you can click on it anytime you want after it airs, as you can with this one?

It seems as if, by choosing to platform a comedian who they know will be shocking, streaming execs hoped to cultivate a massive watercooler moment akin to something from the golden days of prime-time television. In the end, this felt like a trial balloon, designed to gauge viewer reactions as much as it was meant to actually function as a comedy special. Aside from Chieng's enjoyably balloon-popping digs at Netflix, everyone involved in the pre- and post-shows hyped the live-ness of the special to no end, as if comedians aren't live and in person on stage every night. The only difference may be that in this case, more people can say they were "there" when it all went down.

Netflix's first live event was a surprisingly polished production. Just as viewers will inevitably wait with bated breath to see how the Smiths respond to Rock's new round of insults, the streaming world will have to wait and see if this special shapes the future of Netflix and its competition going forward.

Read this next: The 15 Best '90s Comedies Ranked

The post Chris Rock's Live Netflix Special Was A Polished Production of a Sure-To-Be-Divisive Standup Act appeared first on /Film.

Surprising absolutely no one at this point, Cyberpunk 2077’s Johnny Silverhand actor Keanu Reeves has proved once again that he’s one of the nicest people to ever live, as he shares his love for Silverhand, CD Projekt Red, and Cyberpunk in general. Reeves answered a question about the RPG game in a recent Reddit AMA while doing promo work for John Wick 4, and his response about working on the game, along with all of his other answers, was about as delightful as you’d expect.

MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Cyberpunk 2077 review, Cyberpunk 2077 lore & universe, Buy Cyberpunk 2077

"Tropic Thunder" has been the subject of a lot of controversies over the years. The film has been protested since its release in 2008 and continues to raise eyebrows over a decade later. Despite all the backlash, the writer-director and star Ben Stiller has never apologized for the film — or so he says.

The 2008 action-comedy was a risky satirization of some of Hollywood's more inhumane practices, one such practice being the way that disabled characters are used for Oscar bait. Ben Stiller plays a parody of a disabled character called Simple Jack in a movie-within-the-movie.

At face value and without the context of the film, Simple Jack might appear like a cruel caricature of disabled people. That's certainly the impression that fans got when U.S. Olympian Shaun White dressed up as the character for Halloween in 2018.

The Special Olympics spoke out against White when he posted a picture in the costume. "We are truly disappointed that Shaun White, an acclaimed Olympian, would choose this costume which is so offensive and causes so much pain," they told HuffPost in 2018. "Disability is not a joke nor should it be a punchline. We hope that Shaun White and others learn that this just continues stigma, stereotypes and discrimination."

Disability advocates also spoke out against "Tropic Thunder" in 2008. Stiller responded in support of the Special Olympics and White's apology — but also in support of the film. "'Tropic Thunder' was boycotted 10 years ago when it came out, and I apologized then," Stiller said on Twitter in 2018. It was always meant to make fun of actors trying to do anything to win awards. I stand by my apology, the movie, Shaun White, And the great people and work of the @SpecialOlympics."

Stiller's Not Sure Who Told You He Apologized

Some people were grateful that Stiller took accountability for the more problematic parts of "Tropic Thunder," while others saw Stiller as another victim of an over-corrective cancel culture.

"Please stop apologizing for doing this movie," a "Tropic Thunder" fan named Benny S. tweeted at Ben Stiller in February 2023. "It was and still is funny AF ... Even funnier now with cancel culture the way it is. It's a MOVIE. Ya'll can just get over it. I was DYING laughing when I first saw it back in the day and so was everyone else."

Despite Stiller's remarks in 2018, he seems to have taken a firmer stance in defense of the film since the backlash has died down. "I make no apologies for 'Tropic Thunder,'" Stiller replied to Benny S. on Twitter. "Don't know who told you that. It's always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work everyone did on it."

Stiller may have forgotten what he tweeted in 2018, but Benny S. didn't. "I'm guessing people saw [the 2018 tweet].... and took it, misconstrued it and ran with it," he offered. "That movie is a classic to this day. I stand with you bro."

Maybe Stiller never meant to apologize for the film, only for the way that a certain character had been misinterpreted. When it comes to media that could be construed as offensive, is intention what's most important? Or is it only a small piece of the appropriation puzzle?

RDJ Has No Regrets Either

"Tropic Thunder" is, first and foremost, a satire of the moviemaking industry. Its primary intention is to make fun of people who do exploitative things for success. Even the haters have to admit that the film consistently reiterates that these caricatures are offensive and wrong — it's the primary source of the film's humor.

"It is a comedy, y'know, and I think that you can't really take it too seriously, and we're making fun of ourselves," Stiller explained to The Voice in 2009. "And really the joke is on the actors, and the idea of actors sort of wanting to be taken seriously by trying to win awards, and the lengths that they'll go to. So I think it's pretty clear in the tone of the movie that that's where the humor is."

Robert Downey Jr. plays a character that dons blackface for a role. The lasting image has gotten in some hot water over the years, but the "Iron Man" star has no regrets about the film either.

"I get to hold up to nature the insane self-involved hypocrisy of artists and what they think they're allowed to do on occasion," Downey Jr. told Joe Rogan in 2020. "90% of my black friends are like, 'Dude, that was great.' I can't disagree with [the other 10%], but I know where my heart was."

Despite the best of intentions, maybe what's upsetting about "Tropic Thunder" is that exploitation is a source of comedy in the first place. Still, it's sometimes hard to overlook the humor in the absurdity of actors' ploys for success. "Tropic Thunder" captures something undeniably uncomfortable, but it calls out a terrible trend in the movie industry by poking fun at it, and that's why it still sparks debate so many years later.

Read this next: The 10 Best Comedies Of The Last 10 Years

The post Ben Stiller Makes 'No Apologies' For Robert Downey Jr.'s Tropic Thunder Character appeared first on /Film.

This post contains spoilers for HBO's "The Last of Us" and the video game series of the same name.

The infected in "The Last of Us" are driven by a different kind of hunger. These mutated, fungi-adorned monsters do not exhibit the traditional characteristics of a zombie, despite sharing overlapping traits with them. The Cordyceps-controlled infected function as a hive mind, interconnected through yards of undergrowth and tendrils, but they hunger for one thing alone: To infect every last human on earth. The end goal is not to devour human brains or flesh, but to multiply in violent ways to annihilate an already-dying race. Human survivors like Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) have spent most of the apocalypse fighting the infected, and the best way to tackle them is a shot to the head or a knife to the heart. But what about a threat that festers unseen, and brings the worst out of humanity? I'm talking about hunger. 

In both "The Last of Us" video games and the HBO adaptation, humans are a greater threat to our central duo than the infected, as their motivations are more twisted and difficult to parse. Episode 8 of the show highlights a new kind of evil with David (Scott Shepherd), the leader of a cultish religious group who enforces abuse by wielding power over the dependent members of his community. Like every other group of survivors, David's group has to contend with harsh winters, the infected, potential human threats, and hunger amid scarcity. Although survival has warranted a ton of violence in "The Last of Us," David's group takes it further when they are forced to satiate hunger: They kill and eat their own. 

Survival At Any Cost

The episode opens with David performing a sermon of sorts for his group, who have recently lost a member (who happens to have been killed by Joel in self-defense). David attempts to console his community and offer strength to the little girl who has lost her father. This scene gives off the impression that they're just like other groups trying to survive, doing their best to arrange food, shelter, and warmth for everyone, with David taking the onus of leading them. With time, it is clear that the group exhibits characteristics common in cults, with David assuming the role of a deceptively charming and seemingly generous cult leader who uses emotional manipulation to assert a sick form of authority. This is evidenced when David hits the same girl he had comforted before when she inadvertently questions his decision.

Hunger drives the plot forward when Ellie, David, and James (Troy Baker) cross paths after the former shoots down a deer. David appeals to Ellie's empathy by saying that he needs some of the meat to feed women and children in his group, but what appears as thoughtfulness is merely a ploy to have Ellie lower her guard. David exerts power over everyone by being in control of key resources like food and fulfills his role as a provider by killing and eating stray survivors, along with members of his own group. 

While his inner circle is actively aware of this and helps him carry out cannibalistic violence, others have an inkling but are either too scared or desperate to question or upset the status quo. The fact that human meat is passed off as venison in the group kitchen is revolting, especially considering that most of the adults are aware of the truth.

Hunger, The Greatest Provocateur

While the actions of the group are heinous, their desperate circumstances make it difficult to completely condemn them within a moral context. The younger members of the group are most likely unaware of the true extent of the situation and are trapped in a cycle of abuse enforced by the men they are dependent upon for survival. The same can be said about David's inner circle, who question his leadership at several points but ultimately choose to do nothing. Also aware of David's predatory behavior, they do nothing to actively stop it, as the need to have a full belly has convinced them that his (and their) actions are a necessary evil, thus justified.

The reprehensible nature of the cannibal group is in full display when Joel finds limbless bodies hanging inside their shed. To realize that they have been killing and eating people for years in the name of some twisted, survivalist mindset is sickening. David's monstrosity aside, the fact that the group was ready to kill a child in the name of retribution (and later eat her) or allow David to keep her locked in a cage clearly underlines their "us versus them" mentality, wherein they're ready to go to any lengths to satiate their own hunger. Hunger for food is only the least of the group's problems, as this base need has snowballed into a need to devour other lives and dehumanize anyone they deem as prey.

Then there are others like Maria and Henry, who, despite facing the same hunger, chose to give in to the need to protect and nurture instead. "The Last of Us" highlights time and again that while some actions are unavoidable, the path that one chooses to embark on is always hinged on our choices. How we respond to our hunger defines us.

Read this next: How Ellie's Room Decor In The Last Of Us Points To The Larger Story

The post The Last of Us Explores a Serious Apocalyptic Threat We Haven't Seen Before appeared first on /Film.

4am doesn’t suffer fools, or repetition. Or mysteries. Focused out of nowhere on tinkering with an Apple II a number of years back, they re-learned the whole of how the unique floppy disk system worked, how it could be manipulated, and then, ultimately, how legions of companies and individuals used those manipulations to “protect” commercial software.

Left to just that level of knowledge, this would store 4am in the cattle car of all the people I know of and deal with on a frequent basis. They’re the reason so many people know the penguin gets fat on the second run-through of Mario 64, or that what a fast-load cartridge actually does for a Commodore 64. Maybe not enough, probably too much.

But 4am is an engineer, and also a documentation writer, and also the aforementioned resister of dumb and deja vu, so not only did we end up with examples of crack writeups that rival a 1930s pulp story for adventures and twists, but also a series of increasingly complex and intense tools for the simple goal of removing the protection from Apple II software.

Somewhere in the middle of this journey, now well into the realm of a decade, came John Keoni Morris and Applesauce, itself an overengineered-for-the-purpose multi-tool that started with doing flux readings of Apple-only floppies and then expanded out into masses of other related systems and setups, and all allowing us to be broken free from chains.

To my great delight, the two creators of these projects don’t entirely hate each other, and share very similar goals, and listen to each other within reason.

The result is that years in, there are literally thousands of floppy disks that are definitively captured digitally, remixed or presented as packs of files, and offered without crushing pre-requisites or unseen gatekeeping. It’s all just… happening. If you’ve not paid attention (and you are quite welcome to not have been doing so) let me assure you that Apple II disk preservation has been flying at a speed and quality that almost no other platform enjoys, except Commodore 64, and C64’s surpassing comprehensiveness has come at great unpleasant costs.

As collections and piles of floppies have turned up, an amateur army of Applesauce owners (including 4am) have absorbed these plastic squares and turned them into files, literally rescuing them from oblivion. The to-be-expected reserves have been exhausted years ago, and we’re in the realm of the rare, the newly discovered, and the open hailing frequencies letting previously-unaware people know there’s a home for their boxes of floppies to be turned digital from the merely magnetic.

This all to say, the result of this set of happy accidents and personalities combined with the strange alure of this commercial computer platform and the relative sturdiness of the engineering has resulted in a renaissance of access to the old software. My small contribution has been to ensure that the old software has a permanent-as-possible home.

4am, however, rises to the top again and again.

Sitting at the Internet Archive, is the 4AM Collection, an Apple II collection of cracked software (cracked “silently”, meaning no title screens or destruction of function in the name of getting it out the doors), that numbers past 3,000 individual titles. And because we have an emulation system in place, you can click on almost all of them and begin interacting with them immediately, often instantly.

The pure existence of this collection, that it actually works and is available all the time and people use it by the thousands, also stands as a perfect example of what I’ve come to realize: Accomplishments fade, to the accomplished. People who are in the business of getting things done take very little time to wander out to the veranda to look down among their completed tasks and not move, quietly jiggling a beverage. They’re back inside working on the next thing, or trying to shore up a devastating (to them) flaw in their work they glanced at the last time they ever looked back at it.

Meanwhile, this collection (still growing) represents a foundational location to some audience, the size of which I can’t easily discern, who are just living in a world where thousands of Apple II software packages are ready to go at the slightest itch to make it happen.

The use of Passport and Applesauce means that when 4am gets new floppies, either by purchase or donation, they enter a well-oiled machine and process, which reads the disks, cracks them (or asks for help cracking them, before they are then cracked and everything else like them will be cracked in the future), and uploads the new ones to the Archive. There’s a lot less time to get bored, find it repetitive, and get a hold of the inevitable excuses to do anything else.

There’s lessons in all this but I’m not convinced they’ll reach the right people.

Speaking of lessons, the point of all this congratulatory fog of words is to bring out a hard lesson I learned due to a secondary 4am project: WOZ A DAY.

Applesauce pushes out three general types of disk images in its work. Fluxes, which are to-the-bit accurate portrayals of the magnetic flux of the floppy disks. Files that are just the data inside the floppies, and a third type, WOZ format.

Flux reads are huge, owing to how they’re being done, and can be 20 megabytes for a single floppy which would normally be 144 kilobytes. The files of JUST the data are usually the exact same, that is, 144 kilobyes.

But WOZ files are another beast all together. They shift; they are different sizes for the different unique aspects of that floppy disk images. WOZ, in other words, is a standard disk image but with an entire additional layer of information about the layout of the floppies and additional data shoved into them for the purposes of copy projection.

In the context of the end user, a WOZ file, booting inside a WOZ-enabled emulator, will boot with not a single solitary byte changed in the name of preservation, or a single solitary microsecond mistimed in execution and speed from the original hardware booking the original magnetic black square.

If you start up Choplifter! as a WOZ, you will experience Choplifter! exactly as you’d have booting something you picked up at the local computer store. For people who might have only played cracked versions, modified towards being copyable and easily transferred over modems, it might sometimes come off as the program being “wrong”. But no, it is you who is at fault; you remember something else, a simulacrum of what Choplifter was at the time.

The aforementioned process and automation on the part of 4am has resulted in WOZ-A-DAY holding over 1,500 individual commercially released programs in its collection. This number is astounding; for most individuals with a glancing and maybe even deep knowledge of Apple II software lore, they will be very hard pressed indeed to recall any program they bought in a store (or wished they had), or to find any commercial product advertised inside a magazine, and not bump into it among the hundreds contained here.

It is among the high crimes within my personal penal code when someone hears tangentially of a major project like this, spanning years, and coming back with “Well, call me when they have ______” without even checking, thinking they’ve added anything of value to the discussion. What they generally have done is withdraw another 15-45 seconds of my life to tell them that yes, this collection has Prince of Persia, Apple Galaxian, or Copy II Plus among its stacks. It has so many more, not just games but utilities, applications, educational and genres yet undefined.

Walking these exhibits myself, as I’ve done over the years, it feels like we’re looking at both a memorial and a testimony condensed into an object. After all, to know how amazing a game like Dung Beetles is, and being able to point to that specific URL to instantly play it, seems like a high watermark. It shouldn’t just be a simple case of the name and year of the program and then you play it – surely we can do more.

Already, WOZ A DAY and the other 4am collections stand as the kind of puffery discussed at a game convention or around a table on the second day of a tech meet, a wishful thinking of “someday” that could exist. I’ve sat in on those conversations, and yet here, absolutely, is the real thing.

But it’s thin. You are told a game exists here, you can click on it and play it. You do not get context, documentation, links to magazine articles and ads and all the other pieces of a program’s life that came through the world as it was sold.

Worst of all, the Internet Archive is absolutely brimming with the information I’m talking about – digitized magazines, flyers, books and recordings discussing these very items.

So, at one point, I decided it was time to do something about it.

It failed and I wanted to talk about why.

To understand what I was going for, I put in the time for Hard Hat Mack, a pretty straightforward platformer game from 1983, which has gotten the WOZ A DAY treatment. I spent time and tried to pull up everything about this game – write-ups, interviews, reviews, announcements, alternate versions and trivia. I created an item that would reveal Hard Hat Mack’s full spectrum of information and allow someone who played the game to also enjoy the world it was part of. Or, conversely, for a student or researcher to grab footholds in the history of the game.

If this sub-project started and ended with a handful of items, it’d be a success.

But there’s a lot of items.

After spending some weeks rounding up people to contribute entries in the same style of depth, tracking contributions and sharing the duties, only a handful ever got the treatment. I have mostly shut the whole thing down at this point.

So, what exactly happened?

Well, it comes down to a rather tricky situation – there are jobs/tasks that will only bring in fanatics if by fanatics you mean people being paid for their time. And those jobs/tasks will likely never get any sort of funding to do so.

They’re the worst of both worlds – profoundly boring, utterly necessary. No amount of rah-rah work, no reframing of the whole thing as a competition, “do it for the good of it” situation will obscure the fact that it is very difficult effort that should be compensated.

4am happened upon the secret – write code to do the boring parts, then make more and more parts boring; figure them out utterly, until there were no choices to make, and then code that followed those no-choice journeys thousands of times. But rich, interesting descriptions and lists of tangents are not the province of automation, yet, and so the WOZ A DAY remains as, simply, a spectacular selection of Apple II software, much of it rare as can be in the form it exists.

I could cook up some other schemes to get an army of people to do this work – fundraisers, “hackathons” and livestreams come to mind. But at the moment, things are stable, and I tried to do the experiment and have a lot of data about what worked and didn’t work in the process. We got a handful of nice items updated with their history, and I learned a lesson.

Maybe, sometimes, we take the lesson, and move on.

27 years ago, Chris Rock resurrected his career with one of the greatest hours of stand-up comedy I've ever seen. I was a month away from graduating college when "Bring the Pain" aired after the HBO Saturday night premiere of "Congo" or something less sublime when Eddie Murphy's once-prized protege, who'd been ignominiously fired from "Saturday Night Live" after three underwhelming seasons, took the stage in Washington D.C. and became the George Carlin of his generation. It was a set fueled by fury at white folks pandering admiration of Colin Powell ("He speaks so well!"), Black folks' support of crackhead Marion Barry ("I can be Mayor!"), and, to put it diplomatically, racial anti-intellectualism. Sandwiched in between all of this was a brilliantly random rant about an HBO prison documentary in which a prisoner waxed poetic about the pleasures of "salad tossing." It was like watching Greg Maddux throw a complete-game shutout. Rock worked the corners, inviting outrage, but never hung a single pitch.

It's hard to top a set like that, but in his subsequent specials Rock has never lost the strike zone. Like many successful comics, he's struggled to remain grounded. Once you're earning millions of dollars producing television shows and movies, your gripes are not those of the common working person. You can kvetch about your wife siphoning off half of your income via a divorce settlement, or keenly observe that the richest African-American person in the U.S. couldn't begin to touch the wealth of Bill Gates, but marriages break up every day in this country, and our country's wage disparity is a worsening crisis that affects everyone. These things are relatable.

Getting slapped by Will Smith during the live telecast of the 2022 Academy Awards is something none of us could possibly comprehend. It's surreal. It's also so belittling of the person who delivered the slap that the best revenge is to shrug it off and move on to weightier matters. I figured an A-plus comic like Rock would understand this and attack his first stand-up set in five years with a fiery indifference to this embarrassment. Instead, he chose to embarrass himself.

A Stand-Up Spectacle Unworthy Of The Hype

Chris Rock's "Selective Outrage" was Netflix's first live streaming event, and the outlet treated it like a coronation. Rock's friends and admirers, young and old, turned out for a pre-show presentation that portended a stand-up set for the ages. The sight of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was particularly encouraging, given his vehement support of the trans community in the face of a right-wing-driven campaign disputing their very right to exist.

Rock, perhaps leery of his colleague Dave Chappelle's TERF-friendly dismissal of trans people, made a glancing joke about the Kardashian family's acceptance of Caitlyn Jenner before explaining how his blue-collar brothers would lose their minds if their father pursued gender reassignment. The bit was meant to enlighten "wokes" -- and, yes, he disappointingly used that term as a pejorative during his routine -- as to the difficulty of getting regular people to adjust to the concept of transgenderism. Amazingly, Louis C.K., Rock's disgraced former writing partner, was more gracefully understanding of gender fluidity -- which he compared to playing a fretless bass -- in his most recent stand-up special.

The title "Selective Outrage" prompted hope that Rock would train his ire on our social-media-addled obsession with tabloid sideshows like the Kardashians and the British Royal Family. Instead, Rock sunk undue minutes of his set into celebrating Robert Kardashian's role in exonerating O.J. Simpson of murder (when he was merely a periphery player in the legal soap opera) and excoriating mixed-race Meghan Markle for marrying into a famously exclusionary lily-white clan.

If You Seek Revenge, Bury Two Or Three Graves

These jokes fell pitifully flat, but they were beacons of enlightenment compared to Rock's lengthy tirade about getting his daughter kicked out of her upper-crust Manhattan high school. When he learned that the young woman cut out of a field trip and got drunk at a nearby bar, he crows that he went to the principal and demanded her expulsion to teach her a lesson. She's now attending a culinary school in France, and he marvels that his mother, who was raised in such racist poverty that her dental care was left to a veterinarian, can sample her granddaughter's haute cuisine in a wildly posh setting.

From here, Rock veered into a pointless, oddly mean-spirited riff on why it's better to date younger women (spoiler: they're less worldly and unlikely to put a hurt on your wallet). This stretch was reminiscent of Eddie Murphy's alienating "Bush B****" rant in "Raw," only Rock lacks his mentor's natural charisma to mine laughs out of mindless misogyny.

Then Rock guided his audience into the nadir of his set, which turned out to be its stunningly toxic point. Just when you thought he was going to remain above the fray, he dialed up the launch codes and unleashed a full-scale nuclear strike on Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith. They're not undeserving targets, but they're so grotesque -- e.g. Will interviewing Jada regarding her extramarital affair with her son's best friend -- and culturally irrelevant that you can't believe Rock, a socially conscious comic who's lived to see a resurgence of the racism his mother experienced throughout her childhood, wants to end the most vital special of his career since "Bring the Pain" by shaming a couple of Hollywood kooks.

"Don't fight in front of white people," Rock exclaimed as he threw down the mic. Ultimately, that's all he did.

Read this next: The Funniest Movie Scenes Of 2022

The post Chris Rock Brought the Wrong Kind of Pain to His Live Netflix Special appeared first on /Film.

The final season of Star Trek: Picard features the return of the Klingon Worf, reports Polygon, calling it "the chance to give one of sci-fi's most beloved supporting characters something that's usually reserved only for Captains and Admirals: a glorious third act." Interestingly, back in 1987 Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had "hoped to avoid relying on familiar alien antagonists" when creating the first Star Trek TV sequel in 1987. So after a last-minute addition, "the early development of the character was left almost entirely in the hands of Dorn, then best known for a supporting role on the lighthearted police drama CHiPs." "They really didn't have a bible for Worf at all," says Dorn of those early episodes. "In fact, one of the first things I did was, I asked the producers, 'What do you want from this guy? You've just handed me a piece of paper that says Worf on it.'" With Roddenberry's blessing, Dorn set out making the character his own, giving Worf the kind of personal investment and attachment that only an actor can provide. "I decided to make the guy the opposite of everybody else on the show. You know, everyone else, their attitudes were great, and they're out there in space, relationships are forming. And after every mission they were like, Wasn't that fantastic? I didn't say anything to anybody, I just made him this gruff and surly character on the bridge. No smiles, no joking around." It didn't take the show's producers long to realize that Dorn's gruff, joyless performance could effectively turn any bit of throwaway dialogue into a laugh line.... Alongside his role as the show's unlikely comic relief, however, Worf developed into one of Star Trek's most complicated protagonists. Roddenberry mandated that the show's human characters had evolved beyond the sorts of interpersonal conflicts that typically drive television dramas, but Worf, an alien, was permitted to be contrarian, hot-tempered, and even malicious.... He strictly adheres to a code of honor that does not totally overlap with that of his peers.... Yet, however many times "real" Klingon conduct clashes with his values, Worf never allows this to pollute his own sense of honor. He remains unfailingly truthful, loyal, and brave. And, over the years, other Klingons take notice of this and grow to admire and emulate him.... Dorn — along with the rest of the Next Gen ensemble — has once again been called upon to revitalize a Star Trek spinoff. The third season of Star Trek: Picard reintroduces us to Worf as a wise old master, so confident in his ability to defeat his foes in combat that he rarely needs to unsheathe this weapon. Dorn has imagined the past 20 years of his character's life in detail, taking inspiration from a source not entirely disconnected from Star Trek: the films of Quentin Tarantino. Appropriately, Dorn has patterned this version of Worf after a character from a film that opens with an old Klingon proverb: Kill Bill. "One of the characters was Pai Mei, this martial arts killer," says Dorn. "He's gone so far in the martial arts, the next step is — he can defend himself and kill with a sword, but he can also do it with his bare hands. And with that comes calm, and the ability to know that sometimes you don't have to kill. That's how he's grown in the past 20 years. Now he can dodge ray guns...." One way or another, the actor looks back at his untouchable tenure as Starfleet's greatest warrior with warmth and appreciation. And speaking of appreciation, this video shows Dorn out of his Klingon makeup, joining with castmember Brent Spiner to recall a fondly-remembered prank that they'd played on Patrick Stewart (who was directing the episode).

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

This week we're back to a trio as we talk more Sons of the Forest, more Wo Long, some Destiny: Lightfall, and more! This week's music:  Ashnikko - You Make Me Sick!

So many of our favorite actors, directors, and creative giants are multi-hyphenates these days. In a time where being the most you can be at all times is, weirdly, the norm, it makes sense to see our most famous artists wearing as many hats as they can in their industries. In the case of "Yellowjackets" star Christina Ricci, she was so used to working behind the camera in addition to acting that she was actually wary of not serving as a producer on the beloved Showtime series.

In a 2022 interview with Collider, Ricci explained that when you're working on both sides of the camera, you end up privy to things that shape the character you're playing:

"This is one of the few times I've been a series regular on a show where I haven't been an [executive producer], so it is a different experience for me, and I'm kind of learning as I go with this. I've just found that with this, I as an actor am learning to be able to perform as this character no matter what surprises are thrown at me and to do that, I do find that I can't fill in those blanks and that is really weird for me because I've never really done anything in that way."

Working On And Off Camera

Christina Ricci also noted that in scenarios like her work on "Yellowjackets," it's possible to give yourself backstory that becomes null and void:

"[It's] difficult and tricky. I almost don't even want to fill in [the backstory] because, if I'm wrong — that's the thing that's a little scary about TV is coming up with any concrete sort of ideas or conclusions that have not yet been written in the scripts because you might make a choice based on those things and then later something happens and you're like, 'Oh god. What I did made no sense.' It's new for me."

I, for one, love seeing women taking the helm with their art in the ways Ricci — and many other incredible performers, directors, and more — has done, because their collaborations both on and off camera tend to be for the better and the overall good of the project. Further, having women in producing roles allows them to truly build something from the ground up, and we know what happens when we allow women that kind of space and trust in the film and television industry. (Spoiler alert: great things.)

That said, it's great to see women come together to work in storytelling in any way, which is a major reason why no matter her level of involvement, "Yellowjackets" continues to be an exciting vehicle for Ricci and literally everyone else in the cast. Over a year ago, the first season's finale shocked us all, and fans want to get back into the mystery. The best thing about the multi-genre series is that it hits us with just enough information — or, even better, the perfect little twist — at just the right time. It keeps us guessing.

Season 2 of "Yellowjackets" premieres on Showtime on March 24, 2023.

Read this next: The Moments That Defined TV In 2022

The post Christina Ricci Was Wary Of Not Being A Producer On Yellowjackets appeared first on /Film.

"Owners of Roald Dahl ebooks are having their libraries automatically updated with the new censored versions containing hundreds of changes to language related to weight, mental health, violence, gender and race," reports the British newspaper the Times. Readers who bought electronic versions of the writer's books, such as Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, before the controversial updates have discovered their copies have now been changed. Puffin Books, the company which publishes Dahl novels, updated the electronic novels, in which Augustus Gloop is no longer described as fat or Mrs Twit as fearfully ugly, on devices such as the Amazon Kindle. Dahl's biographer Matthew Dennison last night accused the publisher of "strong-arming readers into accepting a new orthodoxy in which Dahl himself has played no part." Meanwhile... Dahl's publisher earlier announced they'd also resume publishing original versions of Dahl's novels "before the end of the year," reports the BBC. The Telegraph notes that when he was alive, Dahl himself "threatened to never write another word if his publishers ever changed his language, promising to send his 'Enormous Crocodile' to gobble them up if they did so." A New York Times opinion writer adds that "the changes to Dahl's texts first began to appear more than a year ago without attracting any significant attention until now." Children's book author Frank Cottrell-Boyce admits in the Guardian that "as a child I disliked Dahl intensely. I felt that his snobbery was directed at people like me and that his addiction to revenge was not good. But that was fine — I just moved along." But Cottrell-Boyce's larger point is "The key to reading for pleasure is having a choice about what you read" — and that childhood readers faces greater threats. "The outgoing children's laureate Cressida Cowell has spent the last few years fighting for her Life-changing Libraries campaign. It's making a huge difference but it would have a been a lot easier if our media showed a fraction of the interest they showed in Roald Dahl's vocabulary in our children."

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Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most important and influential directors in cinema history, and anyone aspiring to become a filmmaker should do themselves a favor and study his body of work. This one man pioneered numerous filmmaking techniques still used today, shot some of the industry's most famous scenes, elevated the thriller genre to new heights, and achieved so much more than can be crammed into this paragraph. In fact, there's an argument to be made that Hitchcock's genius is so great that simply watching his movies is a fine substitute for enrolling in an expensive film school.

With a career dating all the way back to 1925's "The Pleasure Garden" (although he did shoot other films before it, one of them is lost and the other he only directed half of), it's no wonder why Hitchcock has so many classic films to his credit. "Psycho," "Vertigo," "North by Northwest," "The Birds," "Rear Window" –- it's hard to believe that all of these iconic, diverse films and others came from the same mind. However, while those titles should be on the must-see list of any film lover, Hitchcock also made many other pictures that have largely flown under the radar. If you're interested in checking out Hitchcock's more underrated films, here are 12 to get you started.

Family Plot (1976)

Julia Rainbird is a wealthy old woman who feels guilty about pressuring her recently-deceased sister into giving her illegitimate son, Edward Shoebridge, up for adoption to avoid drawing negative attention to the family. Rainbird hires her psychic Blanche Tyler (who's actually a con artist) to track down Shoebridge and make him the heir to her vast fortune. Tyler and her con artist boyfriend George Lumley search for the missing nephew, eyeing the $10,000 reward Rainbird has in store for them. However, it turns out that Shoebridge is all grown up, and is quite the criminal himself. When he discovers that Tyler and Lumley are on his trail, he decides to take them out ... permanently.

Most of Hitchcock's films tend to lean more toward the serious and intense, but he possessed a wicked sense of humor, which is especially evident in "Family Plot." The movie has a complex plot, but Hitch handles the narrative twists and turns masterfully, juggling the many pieces without letting any of them fall. Barbara Harris and Bruce Dern are delightful as the criminal couple Blanche Tyler and George Lumley, respectively, while William Devane plays a surprisingly chilling Edward Shoebridge. This was Hitchcock's final film, and while it doesn't quite rank among his other career highs, the blend of dark comedy and intense crime thriller is the perfect way to cap off his impressive film career.

Strangers On A Train (1951)

Bruno Antony is wealthy but psychotic and harbors a deep hatred of his father. Guy Haines is an up-and-coming tennis player who wants to marry Anne Morton but is stuck in a marriage with his unfaithful wife Miriam. One day, Bruno and Guy meet on a train and engage in a friendly conversation that soon leads into a devious plan that Bruno has cooked up: the two men murder the other's object of their disdain to reduce the possibility of them getting caught. Guy laughs it off, but Bruno interprets the reaction as an agreement to the deal. He not only murders Miriam but expects Guy to uphold his end of the deal.

"Strangers on a Train" falls into a category of film that Hitchcock frequented quite a bit, that of "innocent man gets caught up in a criminal scheme and must find a way out of it." It's seen in both versions of "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "North By Northwest," and the aptly titled "The Wrong Man," and is put to great effect here. Robert Walker is a standout as Bruno Antony, somehow managing to be both charming and demented; his is not the stereotypical bloodthirsty murderer, but a killer who's just as charismatic as he is malevolently calculating. Also, Hitchcock pulls off the near-impossible by making Miriam's murder sequence a thing of beauty.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

Bob and Jill Lawrence are on vacation with their young daughter Betty in Switzerland when a man they only recently met, Louis Bernard, is mysteriously shot and killed. Just before he dies, he gives the married couple a piece of vitally important information: a clandestine group intends to assassinate a European head of state soon. The leader of the group, Abbott, discovers that the couple knows about their plan, and kidnaps Betty to keep them quiet. Bob then sets out to recover his daughter while Jill heads to a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, where the assassination is set to take place, to save the life of the European consul.

Hitchcock would remake this film more than 20 years later (more on that in a moment), but this version is still more than just a curiosity in his canon. Some parts of the story don't make a lot of sense, and there are more than a few leaps in logic, but Hitchcock keeps the film moving at a brisk pace and delivers several sequences that are bound to put even modern audiences on the edge of their seats. One such standout sequence unfolds at the Royal Albert Hall, wherein Jill takes advantage of a momentary pause in the performance to let out a fateful scream. As a bonus, Peter Lorre is fabulous as the wonderfully sadistic Abbott.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Ben and Jo McKenna are on a trip with their young son Hank in French Morocco when they befriend the charming yet mysterious Louis Bernard. But before the McKennas can figure out what Louis' deal is, he's suddenly killed, and with his dying breath tells Ben about a plot to assassinate an important European politician in London. Hank is then abducted by the group, who plans to carry out the high-profile killing to keep the couple quiet. Aware that telling the authorities what they know will endanger their son, Ben and Jo set out to both retrieve Hank and prevent the assassination from taking place.

Yes, much of the plot was retained for this remake, but what's changed -– I'd even go so far as to say improved -– is Hitchcock's directorial style. While the original version of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" saw the director wring a fair amount of suspense from several key sequences, in this version rarely a minute goes by without a threat of something ominous about to happen. His recreation of the Royal Albert Hall scene is even more tense and climactic; one thing that Hitchcock was always great at was providing a sense of relief commensurate with the anxiety that preceded it. James Stewart and Doris Day are endlessly watchable as the McKennas, being both sympathetic and larger than life.

Rope (1948)

"Rope" opens with Brandon Shaw and Phillip Morgan murdering their classmate David Kentley as part of a bizarre intellectual experiment meant to demonstrate their perceived superiority over him. Of course, it's not enough for them to merely kill David. As part of their cerebral "exercise," they hide his body in a large wooden chest, which they then use to serve food on top of at a dinner party they're about to host. While Brandon keeps his cool throughout the engagement, Phillip gradually descends into panic, coming closer and closer to spilling his guts as he believes that the guests are beginning to suspect their crime.

Another of Hitchcock's many great attributes as a director was that he was always willing to try new filmmaking techniques, and even the worst of his films are marked by flashes of daring experimentation. "Rope" is one of his better experiments, wherein he makes a film that takes place in real time and in one large (mostly) unbroken take. While the film doesn't quite pull off the intended effect, as editing is such an essential part of a finished movie, it's still entertaining as hell seeing Hitchcock attempt to disguise the cuts with clever camera movements and meticulously planned actor choreography. It's a basic plot, yet Hitchcock still squeezes our considerable suspense whenever a dinner guest appears close to opening the wooden chest/David's casket.

The Trouble With Harry (1955)

It's a beautiful day in the small idyllic New England town of Highwater, Vermont. That is until the corpse of Harry Worp (Philip Truex) shows up just outside of town. With no suspect in sight, several wacky Highwater citizens start to think that they're the one responsible: Captain Wiles (Edmund Gwynn) assumes a stray bullet from his rifle is what did it; Jennifer Rogers (Shirley MacLaine) insists her hitting him in the head with a milk bottle killed him; while Miss Gravely (Mildred Natwick) is sure that she did the deed when she struck him with her boot after he surprised her in the woods. And so they, along with the eager and inquisitive artist Sam Marlowe (John Forsythe), hide Harry's body in different places around town to avoid being caught by Deputy Sheriff Calvin Wiggs (Royal Dano).

"The Trouble with Harry" is one of Hitchcock's few comedies, and it's a testament to just how talented a director he was that he was able to make death fun. You see, the joke of the movie is that no one in Highwater seems terribly bothered by the fact that a man they know inexplicably turned up dead. They all treat the presence of Harry's corpse as little more than a minor inconvenience. It reaches an almost absurdist level when a romance even blossoms between Rogers and Marlowe, and yet Hitchcock is able to stick the landing and make us accept the zaniness of the situation.

Saboteur (1942)

Barry Kane is an aircraft worker who becomes suspected of causing a major fire at his job that results in the death of another employee. Barry's innocent, of course, but he thinks the person who really did it is someone named Fry. Unfortunately, when he tells the authorities this, they can't find anyone by that name who works there, which only makes him all the more guilty in the eyes of investigators. Barry then goes on the lam to find the mysterious Fry and prove his own innocence. He soon learns that Fry is connected with a group of criminals that's plotting an imminent and major act of sabotage.

This is one of Hitchcock's earliest "innocent man gets caught up in a criminal scheme and must find a way out of it" movies. There are some rough edges in his directing style, and the plot has its share of holes. However, Hitchcock moves things along at a brisk pace in a fairly enthralling cross-country chase flick. The highlights are the action scenes set at famous American landmarks, including Boulder Dam and Radio City Music Hall, followed by a thrilling climax at the Statue of Liberty.

Torn Curtain (1965)

"Torn Curtain" follows U.S. physicist and rocket scientist Michael Armstrong, who seemingly defects to East Berlin during the tensions of the Cold War, much to his fiancée Sarah Sherman's shock. Unbeknownst to her, however, this is all part of a bigger mosaic that involves Michael ingratiating himself with the East German scientific community so that he can get close to prominent scientist Gustav Lindt, who holds key information about what the Soviet Union is working on. But as Michael comes closer to being caught before he can convince Lindt to share his anti-missile equations, Sarah is torn between defecting to East Berlin to stay with her fiancée or remaining loyal to America.

With spy thrillers becoming all the rage in the 1960s, it was only a matter of time before Hitchcock put his own spin on the genre. Paul Newman is equal parts dashing and intelligent as Armstrong, giving us a brainier version of the James Bond hero that was so popular in that era, and Julie Andrews is stellar as the hapless Sherman, representing the audience's POV as she's whisked from her normal life into one of double-crossing and Cold War tensions. "Torn Curtain" lags a bit during an extended middle sequence set on a farm in the countryside, but other than that the film grows delightfully tense when the net begins to close in on the protagonists.

Sabotage (1936)

"Sabotage" opens with someone pouring sand into a generator, causing a blackout in London. The man responsible is Karl Verloc, who owns a movie theater with his wife, Mrs. Verloc, and is in cahoots with a cadre of European terrorists. However, because the blackout didn't last very long and was even ridiculed by the public, Karl and his colleagues decide to make a bigger statement by placing a bomb in Piccadilly Circus. Scotland Yard is hot on Karl's trail, and orders Detective Sergeant Ted Spencer to befriend him to prove his guilt. Ted ingratiates himself with Mrs. Verloc and, after arriving at the conclusion that she's in the shadows about what her husband is up to, develops a romantic attraction to her.

One of the more frustrating elements of this film is that the terrorists' motives are never made clear, leaving the audience in the dark about why they were wreaking so much havoc in London. Still, plot issues aside, "Sabotage" is further proof of why Hitchcock was, is, and will forever be regarded as the Master of Suspense. In the film's most brilliantly tense sequence, Karl sends his wife's younger brother Stevie on an errand to deliver a package he claims is filled with projector parts. Unbeknownst to him but known to us, the package actually contains a bomb. Thus, every delay in his trip makes it all the more likely that the bomb will detonate before it reaches its destination.

Topaz (1969)

The plot kicks off when former Soviet Union intelligence Boris Kusenov renounces his allegiance to Russia and pledges his loyalty (somewhat) to America, along with his family. While reluctant to share too many Soviet secrets, he does cough up some info on the budding relationship between Russia and Cuba. Knowing that involving U.S. with Cuba is a bad move because of their tense rivalry, CIA agent Mike Nordstrom sends his friend and French intelligence officer André Devereaux to Cuba to acquire proof of what the Soviets are doing in Cuba. However, complications arise when André reconnects with his mistress, Juanita de Cordoba, who's affiliated with an underground resistance organization. Meanwhile, the French government is wondering what André is doing in Cuba.

It seems Hitchcock was eager to return to the world of Cold War espionage, this time in the form of the surprisingly topical (for its time, at least) "Topaz." The film features a pretty complex storyline that gets a bit convoluted at times and also dilutes the impact of the climax a bit. Still, there are plenty of brilliant Hitchcockian touches that proved that he was still exploring new territory even at this advanced stage of his career. For example, there are few death scenes in cinema history as beautifully rendered as when the villainous Rico Parra murders Juanita de Cordoba, with her flowing purple dress serving as a poetic substitute for blood.

The Lodger: A Story Of The London Fog (1927)

A serial killer is on the loose in London, and the authorities are on the hunt for the culprit but so far have no clues. The killer, nicknamed the Avenger by the public, has a penchant for murdering young blonde women. A blonde model named Daisy Bunting develops an attraction to an alluring but mysterious man who recently moved into her family's home, much to the frustration of her current boyfriend, police officer Joe. The murders continue and seem to be moving closer to the area where the Buntings live. Joe begins to suspect that this new lodger is the Avenger, but Daisy's relationship with him only continues to deepen.

"The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog" is one of Hitchcock's earliest films, having been made before the advent of sound in movies. Even at this formative stage in his career, though, one can see several of the trademarks that would later characterize him as the Master of Suspense. Hitchcock's camerawork is amazingly expressive and gives us so much narrative detail without the use of sound or excessive title cards to tell us what's happening. While tame by today's standards, it nonetheless features an aura of forbidden sex and violence the director would explore further under more relaxed censorship codes. Even in the 1920s, Hitch pushed the boundaries of what could be shown on film.

Spellbound (1945)

Dr. Murchison, freshly retired from his position as the director of a Vermont mental hospital, is replaced by the distinguished Dr. Anthony Edwardes. Dr. Constance Petersen, a psychoanalyst at the hospital, is initially wary of Anthony because he's so young, but they become close and even engage in a romantic relationship. However, Constance notices several details about Anthony that don't make sense, prompting him to confess that he is an imposter and that he killed the real Dr. Anthony Edwardes and took his place. Because he suffers from amnesia, Constance believes that he's innocent, and is determined to help him uncover his past and determine his true identity.

Imposters is another trope that shows up quite a bit (for example in "Foreign Correspondent," "To Catch a Thief," and "Marnie") in Hitchcock's films, but here the director also manages to include a dramatic love story. Hollywood Golden Age stars Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck are dazzling as Dr. Petersen and Dr. Edwardes, respectively, delivering performances that blend elegance and obsession. Miklós Rózsa's score perfectly conveys the film's mix of romance and dread, and even Salvador Dalí lends his eccentric imagination to the proceedings with a wonderfully surrealistic dream sequence. The psychoanalysis elements may not have aged very well, but Hitchcock's mastery of tone and atmosphere will never grow old, and the Dali sequence needs to be seen to be believed. 

Read this next: Alfred Hitchcock's 20 Best Films Ranked

The post 12 Underrated Alfred Hitchcock Movies Worth Watching appeared first on /Film.

Over 40 years after "History of the World Part I" hit theaters, a sequel is finally arriving in the form of a TV series on Hulu. Appropriately titled "History of the World Part II," the series follows in the footsteps of the legendary Mel Brooks by looking back at history with a contemporary comedic lens. Taking cues from the original movie, the series jumps around to different historical periods and events, such as the Biblical times of Jesus Christ, the unfolding of the Russian Revolution, the struggles of ending the Civil War, and many more. While some of the sketches are ongoing threads spread across eight episodes, there are also smaller bits involving Noah's Ark, Kublai Kahn, William Shakespeare, and Galileo.

What's great about "History of the World Part II" (watch the trailer here) is how it combines the classic style of Mel Brooks comedies with the contemporary humor of its creators. Nick Kroll and Ike Barinholtz are both integral to the show's creation as writers, executive producers, and stars, but it's also showrunner David Stassen and director Alice Mathias who helped shape the series. Mathias is responsible for some of the best sketch comedy of the past decade, including "I Think You Should Leave," "Portlandia," and "Documentary Now," while Stassen was an executive producer on "The Mindy Project" and a co-writer of "Central Intelligence." They all worked together to create a series that both preserved the legacy of Mel Brooks and also brought the humor of "History of the World" into the 21st century. 

Leading up to the release of "History of the World Part II," we spoke with Stassen and Mathias about the process of writing the series, collaborating with Brooks, and leaning into comedic sensibilities that weren't part of their regular repertoire. There's even a Mel Brooks joke that made it into the series that the comedian has been sitting on for over 40 years.

Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

'He Had A Joke In His Back Pocket He'd Been Holding Onto For 40 Years'

What's the writing process for a show like this? With so much history as fodder for comedy, how do you determine where to focus?

Stassen: Well, we started in the summer of 2021, Nick, Wanda, and I, just talking about the big picture stuff and how we wanted to have a few tentpoles for the season. We landed on the four tentpoles: Jesus and Mary, the Civil War, the Russian Revolution, and Shirley Chisholm. We kind of ran that big picture idea by Mel, and he signed off on it and gave us some ideas. Then we got into the writers' room and explained to them, "We think it's going to go like this. We'll have these bigger, longer sketches that will be broken up, and then we're going to write just a lot of one-off sketches," like the Kama Sutra, Shakespeare, whatever else we had. Then it became a real puzzle in editing, figuring out where to put everything.

How much guidance do you get from Mel Brooks on a project like this? What's it like working with him? Whenever he talks about comedy, it just feels like he's inexplicably tapped into what makes people laugh and executes it effortlessly.

Mathias: Yeah, Mel, obviously he's fundamental to this entire undertaking, and from the very beginning has been super supportive. Taking on the role of one of the directors on a show where that's Mel Brooks's name is in the headlines --

Stassen: We should clarify. As the main director, Alice really carried the weight of the directing.

Mathias: But of course, that was wildly exciting but also really intimidating, and he made himself available to guide me and guide us along the way. He really offered to chime in if there were dilemmas that we were facing. That really meant a lot, to have his support. All the way through the end of the show, I know he's been present and paying attention, and he cares a lot about the project. That's really evident in his collaboration.

Stassen: When we were coming up with the ideas in the writing process, and we told him the Civil War idea, he had a joke in his back pocket he'd been holding onto for 40 years.

Oh, wow.

Stassen: It was where they signed the Appomattox surrender, Jack McBrayer bends over and turns, and his sword hits his three lieutenants in the groin. That was one of the first things Mel told us about the show and about "Part II." Mel's so sharp and good, he's holding onto a joke, and we're going to get to do it. To me, that kind of set the tone of like, "Oh, that's the show we're doing." We're doing the true Mel Brooks homage, so we have to try and build our comedy in that genre that Mel mastered.

'Inevitably, We Are Trying To Uphold The Legacy Of Mel Brooks Here...'

Yeah, I wanted to ask, especially Alice, since you've been involved in some of my favorite sketch comedy in recent years --

Stassen: Mine, too.

Mathias: Thank you, guys. That's so nice.

The show feels like a perfect blend of Nick Kroll's "Kroll Show," "Documentary Now," and "History of the World Part I." Is that something that you were conscious of, blending all that together? Or is that just your natural style that developed because of your own personal comedic tastes?

Mathias: Inevitably, we are trying to uphold the legacy of Mel Brooks here, but we're also bringing our own contemporary points of view and comedic sensibilities to the work. I think, when you watch the show, you'll see the places where we really made an attempt to make homages to the original text and things that are truly nods to his preexisting canon. But then also there's things that are just original to our own sensibilities. So it's a kind of hybrid of both.

Something I enjoyed a lot about the project was just studying his work and really trying to analyze the patterns of his instincts and the themes of his canon. Finding places where we could bring that to the table was always really exciting. Sometimes it happened and it was planned, and other times it was organic and discovered on set.

Yeah, I love when you see the little flourishes that are just purely Mel Brooks sprinkled throughout, because it's this great blend of the contemporary stuff with his. There's two really quick bits in a row I liked in the Civil War segments, when you have one of the soldiers who turns and walks the wrong way when they leave the tent on their mission. Then immediately after that, you see the two soldiers who are laying in the tent with their feet sticking out, and one just crosses their foot over the other one in that cheekily romantic way. I love the little touches like that throughout the show.

Mathias: Thanks, I think it'll be fun for the audience to find them along the way.

'I Don't Think There's A Single Sketch We Shot That Isn't In Some Way In The Show'

Were there any ideas that were kicked around early on in development or the writing process that just didn't pan out or didn't feel like they worked once you got into the editing room?

Stassen: I don't think there's a single sketch we shot that isn't in some way in the show. We threw a lot at the wall. We wrote some sketches that we didn't shoot, but I don't think we shot any sketches we didn't use. Sometimes that's what I found, working on a sketch show for the first time, was you can't just have the seed of an idea and do six pages on it. Nick was great at always finding, I would say, another level to a sketch that helped us make it into something we could use.

I think we had a really funny idea about a famous Mexican Revolutionary War leader. He's doing a commercial, because one of the writers pitched that his name is now only synonymous with burrito stands. He's this great revolutionary figure. Now people just know him as a guy who owns burrito stands. I think we wrote a couple drafts of that, but we didn't get it to a place where it turned into something we shot.

I noticed that Janelle James was in the list of writers, but she doesn't appear in the series. I assume that's the same Janelle James from "Abbott Elementary," right?

Stassen: Yeah, we were lucky enough to get her to join our room, and then she got busy working on the most popular show on network TV. So we had her in the [writers'] room, and we had a couple ideas for her to be sketches, but then she had press for "Abbott," and then I think they might have started shooting while we were shooting. So we lost her after the room, but she's obviously so funny.

Do you have any hopes for historical settings or people that you would like to cover if a second season comes along? Much like "Part I," there's a teaser for a second season that acts as more of a gag. But I was curious if you guys were already kicking around ideas for new episodes.

Stassen: Alice, do you have anything you want to pitch us for the series?

Mathias: I think there's just a lot of history. So this installment, the second installment, were the first episodes of history that came to mind, but there's so much more to draw from. If we do end up doing a third installment, which I think is not even really being discussed to my knowledge, there's plenty to work with.

'I Really Enjoyed Mining The Sets, The Blocking, And Props For Opportunities For Jokes...'

It's no secret that Mel Brooks has been a huge influence on pretty much anybody who works in comedy. They've seen his movies, they know his work. Is there anything in particular that you learned from him while you were working on the show?

Mathias: For me, something that was really fun about it was embracing some of the more physical comedy that, I think leading up into this point in my career, I would've been like, "Oh, it's a little slapstick." It's kind of out of line of the tone of the work that I had done up into that point, which, to some extent, was just a little more self-serious. So I really enjoyed mining the sets, the blocking, and props for opportunities for jokes, which is just something that, up until that point, I just was never really looking for to the same extent. So I would say that was something that revisiting his work was really exciting and illuminating on set.

Stassen: I think Alice really brought a lot of that to the table when she joined us. Zahn [McClarnon], the third Civil War search party member who turns the wrong way, I'm pretty sure that was Alice's pitch. When the three of them are loading up the stuff into the wagon, and they're talking as the stuff gets smaller and smaller until they're handing spoons like it's a supply line, that was an Alice pitch. And that was, I think also from a writing side, it was fun to find that Mel Brooks comedy thing that doesn't say anything about the presidential election or politics, just fun Mel Brooks jokes. Once I saw Alice really mining that stuff, I think we all kind of were like, "Oh yeah, that's another level of the show that is maybe somewhat in the writing, but now on set we can heighten it."

Mathias: I'll have to quickly say too, it's in the trailer, but you could also use the physical kind of comedy to solve problems. I found myself in one situation with Jack Black where Stalin was about to burst into song after all his comrades leave. I was thinking, "Oh man, it would be really great if the light changed to make this feel a little bit more like 'Les Mis' with that kind of spotlight." I just remember being like, "It has to be motivated somehow," and I was like, "If it just comes out of nowhere that's corny." But then I was like, "Oh, just have him hit a button on the wall that says, 'dramatic light change.'" That feels, to me, so Mel Brooks. It's not something that I would've done in any other work leading up to this point. And it's really fun.

"History of the World Part II" premieres on Hulu starting on March 6, 2023. After that, two new episodes will drop daily, with the finale arriving on March 9.

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The post History of the World Part II Showrunner and Director on Preserving Mel Brooks' Legacy [Exclusive Interview] appeared first on /Film.

There are several ways to install software and also a number of different solutions to create the setup file for end users to get the product installed. Inno Setup, InstallShield, and Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS) are applications that help create a setup installer, another is Microsoft’s own Windows Installer. Windows Installer files are known as MSI files because of the file extension. Windows Installer files are used extensively by Microsoft for updating and installing Windows and other related software. They also have issues such as MSI files not being usable in Safe Mode. Software components for Windows Installer are

6 Ways to View and Extract MSI Files: Best MSI Extractors is a post from: Raymond.CC Blog

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released a new advisory about Royal ransomware, which emerged in the threat landscape last year. "After gaining access to victims' networks, Royal actors disable antivirus software and exfiltrate large amounts of data before ultimately deploying the ransomware and encrypting the systems," CISA said. The custom ransomware

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters spoke out against a European proposal to make streaming providers and other online firms pay for ISPs' network upgrades. "Some of our ISP partners have proposed taxing entertainment companies to subsidize their network infrastructure," Peters said in a speech Tuesday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (transcript). The "tax would have an adverse effect, reducing investment in content -- hurting the creative community, hurting the attractiveness of higher-priced broadband packages, and ultimately hurting consumers," he argued. [...] "ISPs claim that these taxes would only apply to Netflix. But this will inevitably change over time as broadcasters shift from linear to streaming," Peters said at MWC. Sandvine data suggests that nearly half of global Internet traffic is sent by Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple, Netflix, and Microsoft. Online video accounts for 65 percent of all traffic, and Netflix recently passed YouTube as the top video-traffic generator. Peters cited Nielsen data showing that "Netflix accounts for under 10 percent of total TV time" in the US and UK while "traditional local broadcasters account for over half of all TV time." Live sports account for much of that. "As broadcasters continue the shift away from linear to streaming, they will start to generate significant amounts of Internet traffic too -- even more than streamers today based on the current scope and scale of their audiences," Peters said. "Broadband customers, who drive this increased usage, already pay for the development of the network through their subscription fees. Requiring entertainment companies -- both streamers and broadcasters -- to pay more on top would mean ISPs effectively charging twice for the same infrastructure." Telcos that receive new payments wouldn't be expected to lower the prices charged to home Internet users, Peters said. "As the consumer group BEUC has pointed out, there is no suggestion these levies would be passed onto consumers in the form of 'lower prices or better infrastructure,'" he said. Peters said Netflix's "operating margins are significantly lower than either British Telecom or Deutsche Telekom. So we could just as easily argue that network operators should compensate entertainment companies for the cost of our content -- exactly as happened under the old pay-TV model." While telcos claim companies like Netflix don't pay their "fair share," Peters pointed out that Netflix has spent a lot building its own network that reduces the amount of data sent over traditional telecom networks. "We've spent over $1 billion on Open Connect, our own content delivery network, which we offer for free to ISPs," he said. "This includes 18,000 servers with Netflix content distributed across 6,000 locations and 175 countries. So when our members press play, instead of the film or TV show being streamed from halfway around the world, it's streamed from around the corner -- increasing efficiency for operators while also ensuring a high-quality, no-lag experience for consumers." Peters also touted Netflix's encoding technology that cut bit rates in half between 2015 and 2020. While Internet traffic has increased about 30 percent a year, "ISPs have managed this increased consumer usage efficiently while their costs have remained stable," Peters said. "Regulators have highlighted this, too, calling out that infrastructure costs are not sensitive to traffic and that growing consumption will be offset by efficiency gains."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A large spiritual gathering last month is connected to a case of measles, according a health alert. Here's what to know about the disease.

Director Tim Burton has tapped into the feelings of teen angst and estrangement in his classic romantic fantasy "Edward Scissorhands" and with his animation work in "Frankenweenie" about a weird boy and his dog. Burton explores that territory once again with "Wednesday" starring Jenna Ortega, as the precocious, whip-smart Addams daughter who's sent off to Nevermore Academy, a school tailor-made for outcasts. 

Burton has almost become the goth version of John Hughes, and his macabre sensibility and grotesque aesthetic have become immediately recognizable trademarks. His taste for darker imagery and his attention to detail made his work a standout at CalArts when he was a student, and made him somewhat of an outlier at Disney when he first started at the company. Burton may be done working with the House of Mouse for now, but his involvement with "Wednesday" and Netflix looks to be continuing with season 2 hopefully coming soon. 

Due in no small part to Burton's involvement and Jenna Ortega's incredible portrayal of Wednesday Addams, the "Wednesday" series was watched for more than a billion hours. That's just below the numbers for "Squid Game" and "Stranger Things 4." Burton directed the first four episodes of the series, giving Ortega the opportunity to see how he worked and how meticulous he was about achieving the right look for the show and her character. Ortega just gave an impressive performance trying dangerously spicy hot sauce on the most recent episode of "Hot Ones," where she spoke about how Burton's attention to detail meant that Wednesday's hair had to always be perfectly in place. 

An Artist First And A Director Second

Some years back, the MoMA in New York City curated a massive Tim Burton exhibition filled with concept art, storyboards, and other ephemera from Burton's films. The surprising thing to me after attending was how many never-before-screen sketches and drawings were on display. After hearing what Ortega had to say about the way Burton would direct at points, it's clear that the master of gothic fantasy (Burton's tied with Guillermo Del Toro) is still just as much of an artist as he is a filmmaker. "First of all, he draws a lot of his shots," she revealed. "So there were some days I would come into work and he would have his own little picture that he drew of me playing the cello or me fencing and he would say, 'This is what you're shooting.'" 

There's such a childlike sense of creativity that comes through hearing about Burton sketching on the day to help Ortega visualize whatever acting challenge is thrown in front of her. Burton is essentially storyboarding shots for her on the fly, which is a very loose and liberating way to work. Burton would also politely take over at times when he wanted to get the look of Wednesday Addams just right, according to Ortega:

"Even on the first day when they were trying to establish what my hair was gonna look like we ran two hours behind because 'No her braids are uneven. This one's lower, this one's higher.' He didn't like the way that my fringe looked at the time so he was just, 'Hey can I do ... do you mind if I do that?' He asked the hairdresser very politely and just kind of did my hair himself."

Jenna Ortega's Favorite Tim Burton Movie May Surprise You

When asked on Hot Ones what some of her favorite Tim Burton movies were, Ortega rightly named off "Beetlejuice" first and then threw a little bit of a curve ball. "I wanted to be one of the aliens from 'Mars Attacks' so bad. But not the Lisa Marie one, the one with the exposed brain." Clearly, if you were a fan of Ortega before this interview, you're an even bigger fan after that answer. "Mars Attacks" was unfairly dismissed as a cartoonish B-movie throwback when it was released in the shadow of "Independence Day" in 1996. But it has gained more fans over the years and seems fairly prophetic now when looking at some of the political buffooneries on display after the aliens start blasting. 

Boasting an incredible all-star cast featuring Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jim Brown, Natalie Portman, and Michael J. Fox, "Mars Attacks" should have been a financial success. Burton's '50s sci-fi homage managed to only make back about half of its budget, reportedly. The fact that Ortega embraced "Mars Attacks" after finding the film at a young age and imagined herself as a giant-brained alien instead of one of the film's many stars is a testament to her genre appreciation. 

There isn't going to be a sequel to "Mars Attacks" featuring Ortega as an alien any time soon, but fans will get a chance to see her again in another sequel when "Scream VI" takes a bite out of the Big Apple on March 10, 2023. 

Read this next: Horror Movies You Don't Want To Miss In 2023

The post Tim Burton Was Very Particular About Jenna Ortega's Hair in Wednesday appeared first on /Film.