The audience of the 2025 Tony Awards was in the room where it happened Sunday — and by “it,” we mean a reunion of Hamilton‘s original Broadway cast.The ensemble came together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the blockbuster show, which won 11 Tonys — including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score Written for the Theatre — in 2016. In addition to Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sunday’s performance featured Carleigh Bettiol, Andrew Chappelle, Ariana DeBose, Alysha Deslorieux, Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Sydney James Harcourt, Neil Haskell, Sasha Hutchings, Christopher Jackson, Thayne Jasperson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Stephanie Klemons, Morgan Marcell, Javier Muñoz, Leslie Odom, Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Jon Rua, Austin Smith, Phillipa Soo, Seth Stewart, Betsy Struxness, Ephraim Sykes and Voltaire Wade-Greene. Instead of performing one or two numbers from the show, the cast performed a whole bunch of them, remixed into a nonstop medley that included snippets of “Non-Stop,” “The Schuyler Sisters” and “The Room Where It Happened.” And instead of wearing the fawn-colored costumes that have become synonymous with the musical, Miranda & Co. wore sleek black modern (and fancy) get-ups. (Exc

After Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever" was released in theaters in 1995, it quickly became one of the highest-grossing films of the year (it grossed over $336 million worldwide). But is Schumacher's take on Batman any good? Well ... the answer is a tad complicated, as "Batman Forever" was generally liked during its time of release, even though it garnered mixed reviews from critics. Some aspects of the 1995 flick are truly worth highlighting, such as its groundbreaking use of CGI in the form of the first digital double ever used. The rest, however, is a frivolous exercise in kaleidoscopic excess.In hindsight, the film's resounding success is rather baffling, as its imperfections seem more glaring with each passing day; the term "camp" can only do so much heavy lifting before being stretched to its limits. Sure, this is the kind of entertainment that appealed to a wide demographic (including kids, who were the target for the film's tie-in toys back then), and the film's light, humorous tone helped boost its mainstream popularity. However, this doesn't change the fact that "Batman Forever" is a pretty rough watch, where its impressive technical achievements are at loggerheads with its startling absence of depth.That said, it is not surprising that Warner Bros. immediately greelit a Schumacher sequel, expecting it to perform as well as its predecessor. Unfortunately, 1997's "Batman & Robin" swiftly became a franchise entity that everyone would rather forget, as this critically panned title didn't inspire confidence despite churning out a decent box office performance. While there's a lot to be said about how much of a terrible m

From television cowboy to one of the most instantly recognizable movie stars in the world, no one does it like Clint Eastwood. There's an irony to the man with no name, a character made famous by Sergio Leone's deeply influential "Dollars" trilogy, becoming so ingrained in pop culture that his signature squint alone transcends generations. Eastwood could have lived off his acting roles for the rest of his career. He was so popular that one of the highest grossing films of 1978 was "Every Which Way But Loose," a leisurely road trip comedy with Eastwood as a truck driver/bar brawler traveling the country with his trusty orangutan buddy. He's nothing, if not adaptable, proving countless times that he's also one of the industry's most restless talents by way of his expansive director's portfolio.For the past five decades, Eastwood has taken a stab at just about every genre from behind the camera and shows no signs of stopping. 2024's "Juror #2" is an astonishing courtroom morality play that any filmmaker would be lucky to have in their repertoire, let alone in a studio's catalogue (looking at you, Zaslav). To think that Eastwood pulled a real powerhouse out of him at the tender age of 94 is nothing short of a miracle. It proves he's always had the drive to be one of the most prolific American filmmakers.Eastwood's feature directorial debut would arrive in the form of 1971's "Play Misty For Me," a jazzy hangout psychological thriller by the sea with a star-making performance from Jessica Walt

Alfred Hitchcock's astounding legacy as a filmmaker spans more than six decades, starting with "The Lodger," a 1927 silent film that is believed to be the director's first critical success. The overarching themes in "The Lodger" anticipate Hitchcock's directorial sensibilities, such as his keen interest in complex psychosexuality and a perceptive preoccupation with death, guilt, and the cyclical nature of trauma. If we were to go further back, there's the debut feature "The Pleasure Garden," which was deemed too erotically charged back when it was released, and contains the blueprints for the iconic imagery that would end up defining his oeuvre down the line.However, a lesser-known film exists right between "The Pleasure Garden" and "The Lodger" — one that has been deemed lost media save for the existence of six surviving stills from it. This 1926 silent film, "The Mountain Eagle," is a romantic drama that leans heavily into German expressionism, while taking a more sensational route to establish the story. Per "The Guardian," Hitchcock described this film as "awful," and allegedly expressed relief about its lost status after every surviving print was lost/destroyed during his lifetime. It's tough to truly gauge this sentiment as the film can never be evaluated on its own merits, but it is an interesting perspective from a filmmaker who is known for being fearless and unapologetic about his craft.This is a good chance to delve into the history of "The Mountain Eagle," which the British F

The 1990s are having a moment, a quarter of a century (yikes!?) since we welcomed the new millennium. Maybe it's merely millennials sipping the sweet nectar of nostalgia, "kids these days" having an archaeological-like fascination with the past, or our collective desire to remember the last time the world wasn't constantly ending (except on the big screen). Whatever the reason, it's also worth noting the '90s were also a terrific time for movies. It was the last decade before Hollywood completely sold its soul to serialized slop. Sure, the film industry has long fawned at the feet of franchises, but get this: in the '90s, only a handful of sequels led the end-of-year box office, while Best Picture-winners even topped the domestic box office twice. Beyond the box office, the decade saw the apex of the indie film movement, "grown up" movies still being made for theaters, and spandex-clad superheroes staying an unrealized dream, not an unstoppable inevitably. Movies were great in the '90s; now armed with the benefit of time, I'm counting down the best. While personal preference plays a part, I'm ranking these based on influence, re-watchability, cultural footprint, and good old-fashioned quality. Only three of these 15 movies won Best Picture, but each deserves its place as one of the greatest movies of the 1990s."Shakespeare In Love" campaigned its way to Best Picture, but the Oscar that year belonged to one of the best war movies, Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan." Alas, the producer of "Shakespeare," Harvey Weinstein, is a dirtbag, who ran a smear campaign arguing "Ryan" collapses after the Normandy invasion scene. Even if that were true (it's not), the most rivetingly realistic war scene outside of documentary foot

The British Film Institute has published a new report into AI and, with it, a number of recommendations. “AI in the Screen Sector: Perspectives and Paths Forward,” published as part of the BFI’s role within the CoSTAR Foresight Lab and compiled by Angus Finney, Brian Tarran and Rishi Coupland, is aimed at providing not just an analyse of how the industry is using and experimenting with generative AI technologies, but setting out what it describes as a “roadmap of key recommendations.” These it says will support the “delivery of ethical, sustainable and inclusive AI integration across the sector.” “AI has long been an established part of the screen sector’s creative toolkit, most recently seen in the post-production of the Oscar-winning ‘The Brutalist,’ and its rapid advancement is attracting multi-million investments in technology innovator applications,” said Coupland, the BFI’s Director of Research &amp; Innovation. “However, our report comes at a critical time and shows how generative AI presents an inflection point for the sector and, as a sector, we need to act quickly on a number of key strategic fronts.” See the nine recommendations from the BFI below: 1 – Rights: Set the U.K. in a position as a world-leading IP licensing marketThere is an urgent need to address copyright concerns surrounding generative AI. The current training paradigm – where AI models are developed using copyrighted material without permission – poses a direct threat to the economic foundations of the U.K. screen sector. A viable path forward is through licensing frameworks. For this market to be effective, new standards and technologies are required. 2 – Carbon: Embed data-driven guidelines to minimise carbon impact of AI</str

When &#34;Mission: Impossible&#34; is back in theaters, Tom Cruise always gets a boost to his already-substantial Hollywood profile. That&#39;s doubly true in the case of this year&#39;s &#34;Final Reckoning,&#34; as it claims to be the culmination of the decades-long series. As such, you probably wouldn&#39;t be too surprised to learn that the prior &#34;M:I&#34; film, &#34;Dead Reckoning,&#34; has shot back up the streaming charts, sitting at the number-two spot for movies on Prime Video at the time of this writing. What might be more surprising to you is that it isn&#39;t the highest-ranking Cruise flick on that list.That prestigious spot goes to &#34;Oblivion,&#34; a 2013 science fiction film that flew mostly under the radar back when it came out. It&#39;s a tightly focused, aesthetic movie with a very small cast — the kind of film that typically goes straight to streaming these days and rarely gets a big screen experience. And yet, &#34;Oblivion&#34; is the number-one movie currently streaming on Prime at the time of this writing, per FlixPatrol — perhaps bolstered by the fact that many Tom Cruise fans have never watched it before.It also may be noteworthy that the film was directed by Joseph Kosinski. &#34;Oblivion&#34; was just his second feature film after the success of 2010&#39;s &#34;Tron: Legacy,&#34; long before he became a Hollywood darling through his collaboration with Cruise on &#34;Top Gun: Maverick.&#34;

This article contains spoilers for &#34;The Life of Chuck.&#34;In 1843, the Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard wrote in his journal a passage which has echoed throughout time ever since, albeit one which is often shortened for easier consumption. The abridged and paraphrased quote is: &#34;Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.&#34; The full passage laments the paradox inherent within this axiom: While it&#39;s obvious that there&#39;s no literal way of stopping, reversing, or otherwise manipulating the actual flow of time to closely and accurately examine our lives, human beings have found the next best thing: art. While some artistic mediums excel at capturing the present in an electrifying way (namely, live theatre), most can lightly defy the flow of time. Painting, music, literature, and cinema all manage to both address the present while existing for long after their initial creation, allowing their messages to speak to numerous generations and even grow deeper and more layered as a result. While the study of history is important to try and suss out the facts of our lives, art is important to try and find the truths.Some artists go a step further than most, realizing that their ability to create and tell stories within certain mediums doesn&#39;t have to follow the usual linearity. Author Stephen King utilized this possibility when writing his novella &#34;The Life of Chuck&#34; in 2020, and filmmaker Mike Flanagan has retained King&#39;s unique story structure for this year&#39;s film adaptation. While the concept of a story told non-chronologically is nothing new, the way that King and Flanagan tell &#34;The Life of Chuck&#34; recalls the work of Ch