On June 12, the film and TV world said goodbye to one of its all-time dependable actors,Philip Baker Hall, who passed away at the age of 90. His career spanned half a century, but Hall is most celebrated for his collaborations with directorPaul Thomas Andersonin films likeBoogie NightsandMagnolia. His most memorable role, however, may be one of his smallest, when in the third season ofSeinfeld, he appeared as a guest star in a single episode....

There are a lot of terrific road trip movies out there.Crossroads,Into the Wild,Little Miss Sunshine,The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert— the list goes on and on. But in the Top 10 of iconic movies centered around tough lessons and unbreakable bonds being formed while rolling down the highway,Ridley Scott’s 1991 feature,Thelma & Louiseis certainly at the top. StarringSusan SarandonandGeena Davis, you simply can’t get two better actresses to headline a movie about sisterhood and sticking it to the patriarchy....

It’s impossible to say whetherJokerpremiered 16 years ago or yesterday, but what is definite is that it nabbedJoaquin Phoenixa Best Actor Oscar and, whether you love it or hate it, has stayed in the pop culture conversation. This remains true for a recentthree-hour podcast chat[viaThe Playlist] betweenQuentin TarantinoandEdgar Wrightfor Empire. TheOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodfilmmaker remains pretty lukewarm onTodd Phillips' DC film overall—“Is this where we live now?" he asks....

On The CW seriesRiverdale, the new school year begins as the town is coming to grips with the tragic but mysterious death of high schooler Jason Blossom. Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa) would prefer to pursue a career in music rather than follow in his father’s footsteps, while girl-next-door Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) is deciding whether to continue to keep her crush on her best friend and neighbor a secret. Throw in new student, Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes), a curious Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) and Queen Bee Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch), who is always happy to stir up trouble, and secrets are bound to surface....

I kind of wish all production companies were more like Rooster Teeth and that all animated series were more likeRWBY. That’s not to say I want RT to be the only game in town (though the relatively small Austin-based company would probably be okay with that) or that I think all cartoon series should look likeRWBY, but rather that I would love to see Rooster Teeth’s level of dedication to their fans, cast, crew, and creators mirrored by other such production studios....

Khloé Kardashianhas been the source of her sisterKim Kardashian’s ire in recent seasons ofthe reality series, because of her tendency to stay within her gated community after years of negative press surrounding her on-again-off-againrelationship with co-parentTristan Thompson. Kim has routinely been frustrated with her siblings over the years, since their desire to keep large portions of their lives private often means their over-scheduled sister needs to pick up their slack when it comes to filmingThe Kardashians....

While it’s cool thatKathleen Kennedyis one of the powers-that-be in theStar Warsstory team, so far all of the hires for writing and directing jobs for the new movies have been dudes. That’s a bit of an issue when you consider that Disney is setting a pace of wanting to churn out at least oneStar Warsmovie from this year forwards, but thankfully, it looks like the future of the franchise isn’t entirely in the hands of male writers and directors....

David F. Sandberghas made massive leaps in his first few years as a director, with his fourth feature film being the newly releasedShazam! Fury of the Gods, but his first filmLights Outis where he’s at his best. This horror debut was a big move for Sandberg, after havingdirected short films for many years, but it wasn’ttechnicallythe firstLights Outfilm. That would be the short film of the same name, which Sandberg directed in 2013....

Robert De Niro’s career is undoubtedly one of cinema’s greatest. A man who paved the way for many an iconic actor after him (and, in doing so, became one of the most influential figures in the acting world),De Niro is considered by many to be the greatest of his craft in modern memory. With such an acting pedigree comes the chance to work on the best projects, something De Niro has more than achieved across his more than 60 years in the business....

While the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards are still a few days away, the Creative Arts Emmys have been going on all week to single out additional exceptional work on the year’s best television, and a big early winner isThe Mandalorian. It should come as no surprise that the Disney+ series is doing incredibly well in the crafts categories, as the brains behind the first-ever live-actionStar WarsTV series literally invented new technology to make the show feasible....

Netflix has released a trailer for its eight-part limited seriesThe Serpentstarring recent Golden Globe nomineeTahar Rahim(The Mauritanian) and I’ve gotta tell ya, this looks really good. I’ve had access to this series for a couple of weeks, but it wasn’t until I watched this trailer that it shot to the top of my screening queue, where it is now priority viewing. Inspired by real events,TheSerpenttells the little-known story of serial conmanCharles Sobhraj(Rahim) and the remarkable attempts to bring him to justice....

The feeling of forced joy and fulfillment is evident on the face ofNicolas Cagein the first-look images of the upcoming comedy-thrillerThe Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. The images showcase Cage in unfurled glory, with a fully-grown beard seemingly enjoying the life that being a celebrity brings, including relaxing poolside with expensive drinks, cliff diving into the ocean, and driving his jeep, all while the film’s superfan, Javi (Pedro Pascal), explores the depths of superstardom with his idol....

Part of thefun of watchingBar Rescueis seeing the amount of work that hostJon Taffer, alongside his trusted bartenders and renovators, puts into revamping bars that are down on their luck. The rest comes from the sheer, unfiltered chaos that accompanies those revamps. In the over 250 episodes ofBar Rescue, there have been kitchens that violate nearly every rule, unspoken or otherwise, of food preparation. There are bars that act less like bars and more like a seedy club....