Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” could only have been created by a true fan. The British filmmaker wanted to evoke her youthful experience reading Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel when she was 14, which she describes as “the most physical emotional connection I’ve ever had to anything.” Her bodice-ripping, visually sumptuous version, in theaters Friday, incorporates some essential literary elements, but also imagines what’s in between the lines of Brontë’s writing, including sultry moments between the protagonists.
“I’m fanatical about the book,” Fennell says. She’s speaking over Zoom alongside Margot Robbie, who stars as Catherine Earnshaw (and who also produced the film), and Jacob Elordi, who plays Heathcliff. “I’m as obsessive about Emily Brontë as everyone else. She gets inside you.”
The director, 40, recalls going to the Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing in West Yorkshire, England, in 2025 and feeling completely at home. “I was like, ‘These are my chicks,’” Fennell says. “We all want to sleep in a coffin.” Robbie laughs, despite likely having heard the story before.
“We are, all of us, breathless, up against a rock,” Fennell continues, referencing a particularly evocative scene she imagined for her film. “I care so deeply about this that I couldn’t hope to ever make a perfect adaptation because I know my own limits.”
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in the movie “Wuthering Heights.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
What she could do is make a film that recalled the visceral feeling of reading the novel as a teen. “That would mean it had a certain amount of wish fulfillment,” she admits. The novel is famously austere, with mere glimmers of physical intimacy. “The Gothic, to me, is emotional and it’s about the world reflecting everyone’s interior landscape. This is my personal fan tribute to this work.”
“Wuthering Heights” marks the third collaboration between Robbie’s production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, and Fennell. Robbie, 35, produced Fennell’s 2020 feature debut “Promising Young Woman,” which earned Fennell the Oscar for original screenplay, and 2023’s class-envy thriller “Saltburn.” Her style is confrontational and seemingly fearless, often provoking hugely divergent reactions from critics and fans. She’s a filmmaker who goes full-on.
Despite their history, however, Robbie had never acted in one of Fennell’s films.
“When I read this script, I did find I was putting myself in Cathy’s shoes and reading the lines and thinking, ‘How would I play it?’” Robbie says. “I do that often when reading scripts, but my heart sank when thinking about the casting. So I threw my hat in the ring.”
Margot Robbie in the movie “Wuthering Heights.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
“It’s a bit like asking your friend to date you,” Fennell chimes in. “It’s taking something a step in a different direction. You don’t want to be the person who blows up the thing that you have that works so well. But I was desperate for Margot to play Cathy. I was so relieved that it was her who made the first move.”
Fennell did make the first move with Elordi, 28, recently Oscar-nominated for his monster in Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein.”
“Emerald texted me and said, ‘Do you want to be Heathcliff?’” Elordi recalls. “That was it. I said, ‘Yeah.’ And then when she gave the screenplay, I read it and wept. That’s how you dream of making movies.”
Not only did Elordi look like the version of Heathcliff on the cover of Fennell’s edition of the novel, but she had witnessed his potential for the role while making “Saltburn.”
Jacob Elordi in the movie “Wuthering Heights.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
“Felix is a character who does something awful in every scene,” Fennell explains of Elordi’s charismatic rich boy in “Saltburn.” “But it needed somebody who could make everyone in the audience forget that. And Jacob was the only person who came in and did that. Heathcliff is an extreme antihero. He’s cruel and he’s violent and he’s relentless and he’s vengeful and he’s spiteful. Jacob has a sensitivity and tenderness and groundedness that makes us forgive all that.”
Fennell knew the film hinged on the casting of Cathy and Heathcliff, two iconic literary characters who have been portrayed by a multitude of actors over the years, including Laurence Olivier, Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes. It’s been broadly debated whether the novel actually is a love story between the snobbish Cathy and the glowering Heathcliff. For some, it’s a tale of toxic fixation, for others a revenge plot or a tragedy. But Fennell’s version is undeniably a big-screen romance.
“We were looking for outsized charisma and outsized talent, people like Burton and Taylor,” director Emerald Fennell says. “A combination of actors who are explosively brilliant. And it’s these two.”
(Shayan Asgharnia / For The Times)
“We were looking for outsized charisma and outsized talent, people like Burton and Taylor,” Fennell says of the classic onscreen pairing of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, famously tumultuous. “A combination of actors who are explosively brilliant. And it’s these two.”
“That’s the coolest thing to say,” Elordi says, covering his face with his hands. “This after years of hearing nothing,” he quips. (Fennell says she is sparing with praise.)
“Wuthering Heights” reunites several of Fennell’s repeat collaborators. Actor Alison Oliver, who appeared in “Saltburn,” plays Isabella Linton, Edgar’s ward who becomes a problematic fixation for Heathcliff, and the filmmaker reteamed with cinematographer Linus Sandgren, production designer Suzie Davies and editor Victoria Boydell. Fennell also brought in new faces, including Hong Chau as Nelly Dean, Cathy’s companion, and Shazad Latif as wealthy businessman Edgar Linton. She and Robbie aimed to create a creatively safe set.
“It’s very exposing, especially for the actors,” Fennell says of making an audacious film like this. “You need to be able to forget that and feel that you have the ability to make mistakes and try something different.”
Fennell’s direction was often unexpected.
“I remember she prepped us for the long table scene and said, ‘It needs to come to life,’” Elordi says. “Heathcliff was brooding but she said, ‘What if he wasn’t brooding?’ All of a sudden there was this electricity at the table. As an actor, that pushes me out of my comfort zone. And every time it works.”
“What I like about working with Emerald is: I like going too far,” Robbie agrees. “My instinct is to go really hard and then have someone tell me to pull it back. She rarely tells me to pull it back. She wants the maximalist version and I relish that. She would say, ‘Now you’re in a sensible period film.’ And then she’d say ‘Now do it like you’re Ursula the sea witch.’”
That was the take that made the final cut. “Part of it is there,” Fennell confirms. “Usually I use only a little moment of something but that’s the crucial one. Because we’re all so crazy in life, aren’t we?”
“And Cathy so is Ursula the sea witch,” Robbie says.
“She’s such a little sea witch,” Fennell agrees.
Fennell’s reimagining of “Wuthering Heights” amps up the existing emotions in the novel. She abridges its plot, removing the second-generation narrative that bookends Brontë’s writing. The torment of Cathy’s abusive brother shifts to the hands of her father, played by Martin Clunes.
Meanwhile, the longing between Cathy and Heathcliff, who can’t be together due to his lowly station and her spiteful decision to marry the wealthy Linton, accelerates dramatically into fervid sex scenes. The doomed couple erotically embrace on the Yorkshire Moors, in the back of a carriage and even inside her bedroom at Thrushcross Grange — all moments that are not part of the book.
Margot Robbie in the movie “Wuthering Heights.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
“They’re part of the book of my head,” Fennell says, adamantly. “I think they’re part of the book of all of our heads. With all the love and respect and adoration I have for the book, I also wanted to make my own version that I needed to see.”
“It is totally that wish fulfillment,” Robbie says. “And if you can’t have the wish fulfillment in movies, where are you going to get it?”
Fennell imbued the film with tactile visuals that evoke the sexual tension between Cathy and Heathcliff. There are close-ups of hands kneading dough, a snail sliming its way up a window and Cathy prodding a jellied fish with her finger. The director tested numerous fish before selecting the one that is seen onscreen.
“Why I love working with these guys so much is we’re all detail perverts,” Fennell says. “I am obsessed with every single thing. That fish that Margot fingered — I fingered about 50 different fish before then. Tiny fish, big fish, fake fish, jelly that was wet, jelly that was soft, jelly that was firm.”
“You think she’s joking but she’s not,” Robbie says.
“My finger smelled so bad the whole time that we were making this movie,” Fennell adds.
Ultimately, though, it was the best possible fish. “We did the takes with a couple of fish, but we all knew the right one when it happened,” Robbie says of the scene, which mirrors the sexual disappointment in Cathy’s marriage. “We all felt it in the same moment. Everyone went, ‘That’s it.’”
Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in the movie “Wuthering Heights.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
The film’s aesthetic is bold and brash, featuring brilliantly hued red floors and walls designed to look like Cathy’s freckled skin. It lands somewhere between Disney fairy tale, ’80s romance paperback art and old Hollywood glamour. Atmospheric mist pours across every scene. The estate of Wuthering Heights is foreboding and dark, with rocks splintering through the walls, while Linton’s Thrushcross Grange bears a Victorian aesthetic, containing the outside world. “It’s nature coming in and nature being kept out,” Fennell says. “And it’s about what that means emotionally and metaphorically for the story and for these characters.”
There is purposefully no adherence to historical accuracy, particularly in the costumes. Designed by Jacqueline Durran, the wardrobe was elaborately wild to underscore emotional truths rather than period relevancy.
“You couldn’t not scream,” Robbie says about trying on each piece. “And then Emerald would come up with a platter of jewels and start decorating me like a Christmas tree.”
“There was so much screaming every day,” Fennell says. “I always want people to have permission to go too far, to do something that’s in bad taste, that’s not subtle. I’m really interested in pushing until that squeaking point where you’re like, ‘OK, that’s too far.’ It takes a lot of bravery to do that.”
Even Elordi joined in the excitement. “I was screaming at all the dresses,” he says. “Margot and Alison’s dressing rooms flanked me so I’d often get caught in the hallway.”
Although the world of the movie is heightened and beautifully garish, the romance is more grounded. You can feel how desperate Cathy and Heathcliff are for each other in their own twisted way, and despite their horrible machinations you want them to be together. The film ends differently from the novel, but it shares with it a sad inevitability.
Fennell inherently understood what makes these characters so desirable.
“I was led by my own feelings,” she says. “On set, we were all trying to find that thing that made us get goosebumps. One of the earliest scenes we shot was where Heathcliff breaks the chair to build Cathy a fire.”
To help a shivering Cathy, Heathcliff rises from his wooden seat, smashes it on the floor and tosses the pieces into the fireplace. It’s a moment of devotion from Heathcliff, but triggers a lustful response in Cathy.
“I looked around and all of these professionals, women and men, were agape. Everyone felt the same way as Cathy. That’s what I was looking for every day.”
“He actually broke the chair,” Robbie says. “Cathy’s reaction is my genuine reaction.”
Elordi understood the challenge of embodying such an iconic character, who has existed both on the page and on the screen for generations. He also didn’t want to let Fennell down.
“I knew how personal the story was to Emerald and I knew the screenplay that she had written was extremely good, but I was like ‘What makes you think I can do this?’” Elordi remembers. “I had a lot of nerves but I jumped into it. This is a director you’re really able to give everything to. The images that come from her head are so unique and singular. The first time I watched ‘Saltburn’ with her, I sat back and I realized I was in the presence of something truly great and original. To be able to investigate with her two times is a gift.”
Says Robbie, “My hope is always: There’s got to be one person that watches this movie and thinks ‘That’s my favorite of all time.’ I want to make a movie that is someone’s favorite movie of all time and I’ll know how much that means to them. That it might save them in whatever ways movies can save you.”
Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” shudders with feeling. And however audiences perceive it, its maker has done exactly what she intended.
“When a movie is the best possible incarnation of itself, it’s a universe you fall into; as the youth says, it’s a vibe,” Del Toro says during an interview at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where he was in attendance to screen a restoration of his 1992 feature debut, “Cronos.”
Like Victor Frankenstein, who diligently selects body parts from corpses to stitch together his humanoid creation, the Mexican director carefully assembled his troupe of movie magicians. Of course, their talents mattered immensely to him, but so did their drive and their willingness to participate in the “team sport” of filmmaking.
“The cohesive personality of the film, the expressiveness of the film, depends on every aspect being orchestrated without an ego,” Del Toro says. “Each department sustains the department next to them.”
Del Toro clearly knows how to pick them. The Envelope recently caught up with makeup effects veteran Mike Hill, seasoned production designer Tamara Deverell, costume virtuosa Kate Hawley and acclaimed composer Alexandre Desplat, all Oscar-nominated for their work on “Frankenstein.”
And just like organs that constantly communicate with each other, their work is intimately intertwined. Nothing is conceived in isolation on a Del Toro film. “We all know what everyone’s doing within the different departments, so we all echo each other,” says Hawley.
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1.Tamara Deverell.2.Kate Hawley.(Lauren Fleishman / For The Times)
In casting his acolytes, Del Toro seeks the alchemy that only human minds and hands can accomplish building tangible worlds. “The audience knows when something is digital, and when something has been crafted with real materials,” Del Toro explains. “I really believe people can tell the difference. Maybe they can’t articulate it, but they can feel it.”
Hill agrees. His mandate to create the prosthetics and makeup that transformed Jacob Elordi into the Creature aimed to make him look like an artwork that Victor Frankenstein handcrafted. Every part of him was by design, with the scars on his body reflecting incisions that those studying human anatomy in the 18th century would have made.
“If the monster felt fake, we would’ve lost the movie,” says Hill. “The Creature had to feel real. Not to put down VFX, but there’s a human quality they can’t catch.”
For Deverell, “Frankenstein” represented both the continuation of a creative partnership that dates back to the 1990s and an opportunity to showcase her multi-faceted skills. “Guillermo and I speak in a language of art history, and he is steeped in cinematic history,” she says.
With a team of technicians and craftspeople, Deverell constructed breathtaking sets, including Victor’s laboratory with giant batteries that required intricate steam and lighting mechanisms.
Undoubtedly, her pièce de resistance is the full-size Arctic ship where the opening sequence unfolds. Though the production considered existing vessels, none of them measured up. “There were specific action beats that Guillermo wanted, and a look that we all wanted,” she says. “To have complete creative control, there’s only one way to do it.”
To anyone who disagreed with the need for a ship, Del Toro would explain that it was not an extravagance. “It’s actually what tells the audience the scale of the movie,” he says.
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1.Alexandre Desplat.2.Mike Hill.(Lauren Fleishman / For The Times)
The first half hour of the film, Del Toro believes, establishes its ambition and operatic quality. There are no digital doubles in that sequence, but real stunt performers aboard a ship that’s not a miniature but a massive structure that moves thanks to a giant gimbal.
It’s the way Del Toro pursues ideas by way of collaboration that brings Hawley back to his worlds (she even worked with him on his unmade version of “The Hobbit”). She’s learned to conceive her pieces considering that in his movies real water, mud, snow and fake blood might be in play.
“There’s something that happens with real materiality, real construction, there’s an alchemy to it,” Hawley says. “What a fabric does and performs is not always predictable, but the outcome and the potential you see in something then becomes the magic.”
As production timelines get shorter and A.I. utilization creeps into the filmmaking process, Hawley believes artists are trying to hold onto the craft as much as possible. “We came here to build worlds,” she says. “That’s what we did as kids. That’s what we do. This is our church.”
Del Toro admits he can be a “pain in the ass,” especially when dealing with his film’s production design and makeup effects. He atones by constantly reassuring his artisans. “They need to know that even if you are torturing them you admire them,” he says.
The only element of the film where Del Toro actively hopes to be surprised is the score. And Desplat is committed to delivering.
“Writing music is using your imagination. It’s not using references. It makes no sense to me,” says Desplat, who believes most scores today sound like work that has come before. “I hear many composers use references, but what for? That’s not what we do. We have the film to be inspired by. That’s enough.”
For “Frankenstein” — his third creature movie with Del Toro, after “The Shape of Water” and “Pinocchio” — Desplat thus avoided Gothic compositions to create a counterpoint to the images, highlighting the fragility of Elordi’s Creature, who he thinks of as the core of the film.
Also tying together the film’s craftsmanship is Del Toro’s awards campaign for “Frankenstein,” which he’s navigated to the tune of “F— AI.” The chant has resonated with those fighting to keep art made by humans for humans. “Frankenstein,” in turn, is the director’s latest monument to the beauty of imperfection.
“Art is the thing that we should never let go of, never surrender to mechanization or artificial intelligence,” Del Toro adds. “We need to grasp on it because this is the last point of contact between humans.”
To say the mood at Ryan Coogler’s production company Proximity Media has been euphoric would be an understatement.
You too would be more than euphoric if your film landed in the year’s box office top 10 and set the all-time record for most Oscar nominations.
But “Sinners” wasn’t built in a day. It’s been a slow and steady ascent — call it, well, one success after another — since Coogler founded the company in 2018 with his wife Zinzi (they married in 2016) and USC film school buddy Sev Ohanian. And the director is unstinting in his praise for his partners.
“Zinzi is meticulous and detail-oriented and the one that keeps it all together,” Coogler wrote in an email to The Envelope. “She is humble and observant but is the smartest person I know and knows me extremely well. Sev is exceptional at strategy, and the most experienced producer of the three of us, which is invaluable. … Together, they act as a bridge between the creative and the business, which allows me to stay focused on the film.”
The three have been working together since Coogler’s 2013 feature debut, “Fruitvale Station,” based on the true story of Oscar Grant, a young Black man shot to death by a transit police officer in an Oakland BART station.
Bringing audiences in close proximity to stories and subject matter often overlooked forged the name of the company, which now includes feature film, television, nonfiction, music and podcasting departments.
Past film projects include the Oscar-winning “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Space Jam” and “Creed III.”
“They are on a fast rocket with an upward trajectory for almost any project they bring to the marketplace,” said Andrew Goldman, adjunct professor of film and television at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. ”Every company in town will want a Proximity/Ryan Coogler project. They have cracked a formula of both critical acclaim and box-office successes.”
A recent installment of the podcast “In Proximity” featured Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler getting in the weeds about the production of “Sinners,” including how Jordan distinctly portrayed twins Smoke and Stack.
Moving forward, it looks like Proximity’s sights are set on stories based on another duo: “The X-Files’” Mulder and Scully, the iconic opposites-attract FBI agents who forged a deep personal partnership while investigating strange and paranormal cases over 11 seasons on Fox, beginning in 1993 and stretching until 2018.
Warmly displaying their camaraderie and creative interdependence, Zinzi Coogler and Ohanian spilled more about their company over Zoom, including their early days, people who inspired them and how they’re adapting to the shifting media landscape.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Michael B. Jordan, left, and Miles Caton in “Sinners.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
What is the origin story of how Proximity Media formed?
Ohanian: It officially became a company on April 6, 2018, over lunch in San Francisco, but the roots go back to 2008 at USC film school, where I first met Ryan Coogler. We became friends working on student films and reconnected when Ryan and Zinzi were finishing “Black Panther.” Around that time, I had just produced “Searching,” and we started talking seriously about forming a company together.
Zinzi, what made you want to partner with Sev and Ryan formally?
Coogler: After years of working with Ryan unofficially, especially on “Fruitvale Station,” we knew we wanted to make it official. Sev had always impressed me with his creativity and relentless work ethic. When Ryan and I discussed founding a company, Sev was the only person we wanted to approach. Luckily, he said yes — and that’s how Proximity really began.
Did you ever imagine Proximity would grow as it has?
Ohanian: Honestly, no. Back when we were making “Fruitvale Station,” we were just trying to get the movie finished. But looking back, it feels inevitable because we’ve put in years of steady work and built strong relationships in the industry.
Coogler: We couldn’t have foreseen this success. But the foundation of our collaboration — our shared belief in storytelling and craftsmanship — has never changed since those early days.
What projects are you most excited about now?
Ohanian: Last year was a landmark one. We released “Sinners,” had streaming hits like “Ironheart” and “Eyes of Wakanda,” and launched Season 3 of our “In Proximity” podcast. We also have several documentaries and new TV shows in development, plus a long-rumored “X-Files” project that’s close to launching.
Tell us about the atmosphere within the company.
Coogler: There’s a lot of laughter between the three of us — Ryan, Sev, and me. In our early days, someone once asked, “Can I get the real name of your company?” We cracked up at that and recorded the moment. It keeps us humble and reminds us how far we’ve come.
How did you approach producing “Sinners?”
Coogler: It was our first time being sole producers on something Ryan wrote and directed. We saw it as a big moment for Proximity — a chance to support Ryan’s creative vision from start to finish.
Do you have defined roles within Proximity?
Ohanian: Roles shift depending on the project. We each bring different strengths — Ryan as director, me from the indie film side, and Zinzi with her broad experience and steady leadership. We’ve built a team of about 20 people who’ve grown with us, including some who started as assistants and are now producers.
Did other production companies serve as an inspiration?
Coogler: We’ve leaned on amazing mentors — Jim Morris at Pixar, Kevin Feige and Lou D’Esposito at Marvel, and Charles King at Macro. Their guidance shaped how we lead and structure our company.
Looking ahead, how is Proximity adapting to the changing media landscape?
Ohanian: Change has been constant since day one — recessions, strikes, streaming shifts. We stay adaptable through yearly retreats, often at Pixar, to reassess our strategy and think creatively about the future.
How do relationships like the one with Michael B. Jordan influence your work?
Coogler: Michael’s family to us. We’ve been through so much together — from “Fruitvale Station” to “Creed III” and “Sinners.” That trust and history make the work special every single time.
This year’s lineup of Oscar-nominated live-action shorts is as diverse as any in recent memory. From gritty political reality to absurdly cutting political commentary, tongue-in-cheek parody to touching, intimate drama (plus a moody adaptation of a Russian short story), voters have a wide selection from which to choose.
‘Butcher’s Stain’
Following the horrific attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, a Palestinian butcher in an Israeli shop finds himself accused of defiling a tribute to the hostages.
“I worked at the supermarket, and I experienced the collective trauma everyone was going through,” says writer-director Meyer Levinson, but he also felt how much animus “was pointed to the Palestinians that were working at the supermarket … individuals who have nothing to do with anything that happened, especially like my [movie’s] character, who is an everyday, working-class guy, trying to get money for his family, and has nothing to do with politics.”
Levinson calls making the film, his first, “one of the greatest experiences of my life. The set of a student film is a magical place; people come there for free, for passion. You just have to get them a decent sandwich.
“There were Palestinians, Jewish Israelis, Palestinians within Israel on set. It was this sort of paradise where we could come together. I’ve learned so much from my Palestinian actors, who’ve taught me about their community.”
‘A Friend of Dorothy’
(Filthy Gorgeous Productions)
In Lee Knight’s film, a chance meeting between a young Black Englishman in the process of finding himself and an elderly, white Englishwoman blossoms into an unexpected kinship — one based on Knight’s experience.
“I had a unique friendship with an elderly neighbor,” says Knight. “Me and my husband looked after her. She had this huge passion for the arts that she didn’t get to explore; when she realized we were actors, it was a huge thing for her. We became very, very close.
“She told me she would hide gay men in the garden during the war” and help them during the time of England’s infamous Section 28 (“banning the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality,” Knight says). He says it was meaningful for her “to see an interracial, gay couple happy and safe in her lifetime. As a gay man, I loved being around women because they didn’t judge me.”
‘Jane Austen’s Period Drama’
A charming country hillside. A fetching lass in Regency garb and her paramour, confessing his ardor. And the equivalent of a needle scratch as he’s halted by the appearance of blood on her skirt. Yes, that’s what’s meant by “Period Drama.” How will Miss Estrogenia Talbot elucidate this conundrum to Mr. Dickley? And once comprehending, shall he go with the flow?
Co-writer and co-director Julia Aks (who plays Estrogenia) admits it was the titular pun that got her and co-writer and co-director Steve Pinder going, but, “As we followed the thread, it made me reflect on shame I maybe hadn’t thought about. And the more I talked to women about funny period stories, I found they had heartbreaking ones.”
The film addresses stigma surrounding menstruation and includes biologically accurate descriptions; educational groups have screened it. But foremost, this “Period Drama” is a comedy.
Pinder says, “When you hear people laugh and come to life watching it, and then come up to you afterward and look like they’re floating … that is just incredible.”
‘The Singers’
Sam A. Davis didn’t exactly love Ivan Turgenev’s short story “The Singers,” at first — “honestly, I nodded off a couple times,” he says. “But it sneaks up on you. These guys have this fleeting moment of connection.”
The film updates Turgenev’s 1850s Russia to contemporary America, but maintains the “Lower Depths” social stratum. The low-down dive bar is draped in painterly shadows inspired by Renaissance masters, the stale cigarette stench palpable. Then the notion of a singing contest arises, and life stirs.
Davis says, after reading the story, “This sort of kismet moment happened where I opened Instagram and the first video that popped up was Mike Yung singing in the subway station in New York City. I flashed on a modern adaptation, but starring viral singing sensations.”
He recruited them to play themselves without a formal script. “It was almost like casting and writing were one process … I wanted it to be a love letter to the underdog. You never know who you’re sitting next to at the bar.”
‘Two People Exchanging Saliva’
(Misia Films & Preromanbritain)
In bold black and white, we find ourselves in a luxurious French department store. In this world, items are paid for by receiving slaps to the face. And the crime of kissing is punishable by death, raising the stakes as a young sales assistant bonds with a regular customer.
“We were writing in late 2022 and there was the reintroduction of the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law in Florida,” says co-writer and co-director Natalie Musteata. “In a sense, it presaged the moment that we’re living through; we’re all living in the fever dream of Florida. But other things were influencing us — the policing of queer love through history; you open your phone and see these women [in Iran] being shot at for taking off their hijabs.”
Co-writer and co-director Alexandre Singh says Oscar winner Barry Jenkins told them, on selecting the film for a program he curated at the Telluride Film Festival, “ ‘When I first watched this in 2024, it was surrealist, satirical, almost farcical. I couldn’t imagine how much more relevant it could become, in a scary way.’ ”
This season’s Oscar nominees for film editing have one thing in common: coping with trauma. The Envelope invited editors from each film to break down a pivotal scene that showcased their craft.
‘F1’
“F1” builds momentum for its underdog tale with an intricately constructed racing montage.
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Editor: Stephen Mirrione Scene: The montage in which Brad Pitt’s washed-up racer Sonny Hayes begins his winning streak through a momentum-building Grand Prix swing.
“There were more than a dozen structural versions of how we were getting through this story,” said Oscar winner Mirrione (“Traffic”). The three-minute, high-octane montage benefited from 5,000 hours of footage, captured with 20 cameras around the tracks. It was treated like a massive puzzle, with the racing order moved around for maximum impact. The key was seamlessly integrating in-camera footage with broadcast footage from actual races that offered happy accidents such as rain and a crash. “At one point, it was more focused on rookie driver Joshua [Damson Idris],” added Mirrione. “But then we realized that Sonny was more interesting, visually, in terms of his arc about dealing with the trauma of his near-fatal crash. And then once we saw it in context, it was not just about the two of them and their rivalry but also the team coalescing around Sonny.”
‘Marty Supreme’
A dinner in “Marty Supreme,” starring Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, leads to a startling flashback.
(A24)
Editors: Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie Scene: The jarring dinner scene/Holocaust flashback introducing nasty businessman Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary)
In this scene from the 1950s-set psychological drama, we get a glimpse of Marty’s (Timothée Chalamet) motivation for his obsessive pursuit of table tennis: Jewish pride and survival instinct. “The adversarial impulse of the Rockwell dinner scene involves several characters, each with a distinct subjective agenda,” said Bronstein. “The act of cutting the scene [with close-ups and extreme close-ups] became inseparable from its sensations and emotions.” Yet Bronstein pushed it to extremes with the bizarre Auschwitz flashback involving Marty’s dinner guest, Béla (Géza Röhrig). Thanks to his table tennis prowess, Béla disarms bombs for the Nazis in the woods. But when he discovers a beehive, he shares the honey with his fellow prisoners by smearing it over his body. “That’s like a carrot on a rope that’s hanging in front of me at all times, and when I get to the end of that exchange, I’m allowed to break free and go into an entirely new set of tools, which are much more expressive,” added Bronstein.
‘One Battle After Another’
Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, nearing the conclusion of “One Battle After Another’s” climactic car chase.
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Editor: Andy Jurgensen Scene: The climactic roller-coaster car chase
Jurgensen assembled the best VistaVision car chase in history for Paul Thomas Anderson‘s turbulent father-daughter actioner. That’s where teenage Willa (Chase Infiniti) becomes the hero by outsmarting and killing the hired muscle (John Hoogenakker), who chases her up and down the rolling hills followed closely by Willa’s flummoxed ex-revolutionary dad, Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio). Shot at shaky high speeds, the scene actually took shape as a result of the unique San Diego location called the Texas Dip, which looks epic in the 8 perf/35mm horizontal format. The Hitchcockian cross-cutting among the three cars, favoring Willa’s POV, was achieved with close-ups from rearview and side mirrors. The layering of the propulsive soundscape and Jonny Greenwood’s percussive score completed the adrenaline rush. But the tender father-daughter reunion at the end required reshooting. “The moment Bob pulled up to the crash site, when we first did the scene, he ran over to her right away, and they embraced,” Jurgensen recalled. “When we watched the dailies, it just didn’t feel authentic. So we reshot it with more meat: Willa second-guessing everybody and Bob having to earn her trust by proving his identity with the secret code.”
‘Sentimental Value’
Renate Reinsve’s Nora plays a part in her father’s new film in “Sentimental Value.”
(Kaspar Tuxen Andersen)
Editor: Olivier Bugge Coutté Scene: Actor Nora Borg’s (Renate Reinsve) early stage fright breakdown
Joachim Trier’s family drama finds Nora confronting the Borgs’ generational trauma when she reunites with her estranged director father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård). After an opening montage on the layered history of their Oslo home, which Nora once wrote about in a school essay, our introduction to the adult Nora is conveyed by the chaos and humor of her panic attack before a performance. But finding this arresting sequence first required trimming a very long setup of patrons entering the theater and sitting down, and the camera discovering Nora, frozen in fear, in the back of the dark stage. “It was so boring,” Coutté insisted. “But here we’re starting right on Nora’s face. Where are we? Has she become an actress? And then you slowly understand. There are no rules; just rhythm.”
‘Sinners’
Jayme Lawson performs “Pale, Pale Moon” in a pivotal scene from “Sinners.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Editor: Michael P. Shawver Scene: Pearline’s (Jayme Lawson) violence-inducing “Pale, Pale Moon” performance
In Ryan Coogler’s Imax spectacle, where the blues collides with vampires, the monstrous transformation commences with Pearline’s siren call: “Pale, Pale Moon.” This was Shawver’s boldest sequence, cross-cutting her mesmerizing performance with the rhythmic crowd stomping, the brutal beating of a card cheater and newbie vampire Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) seducing and murdering Stack (Michael B. Jordan). “When this was first cut together, it was about three or four times as long as the actual song that had been recorded and performed,” explained Shawver. “And so Ryan watched it and he liked what he saw, but he wanted to cut it to the length of the song. That first moment I wondered if I was the right editor, but that fear and anxiety gives you a bit of freedom to find those spiritual connections that built to this climax at the end. It was really just about Ryan’s ability to engage audiences on a personal level and unlock those things and find the ways that they can go together.”
New York — Keke Palmer can make Jack Whitehall blush.
We’re sitting in the green room at the 92nd Street Y on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, just before Palmer is set to host a live edition of her podcast, “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer,” with Whitehall and their other co-stars from the Peacock series “The ‘Burbs,” premiering Sunday.
In the show, Palmer and Whitehall play Samira and Rob, new parents who move back to Rob’s hometown of Hinkley Hills, a beautiful suburb where Samira immediately suspects something is amiss.
Palmer has kicked off her high heels and tucked her feet under her on the couch where she sits next to Whitehall as I ask them about their chemistry read.
“He was making me — not just me, everybody — laugh,” she remembers. “It was like, yeah, I can see how you fall in love with this guy because he’s just so funny and he’s so sweet. It’s so true, Jack. Seriously.”
Whitehall’s face turns red, which I point out. He admits that’s the case through giggles. Palmer interjects, “He knows how I feel. That’s my boo.”
“The ‘Burbs” reimagines the 1989 Joe Dante movie starring Tom Hanks for a modern era. In the original, Hanks’ character is driven to madness, imagining that his neighbors in the creepy house across the street might be murderers.
Jack Whitehall as Rob and Keke Palmer as Samira in “The ‘Burbs,” a series that reimagines Joe Dante’s 1989 film.
(Elizabeth Morris/Peacock)
Developed by Celeste Hughey, this version puts Palmer’s Samira, a lawyer on maternity leave, at the center. Though initially ill at ease among the carefully manicured lawns, she develops a fast friendship with a group of gossipy wine guzzlers on her block (played by Julia Duffy, Paula Pell and Mark Proksch). When a creepy man (Justin Kirk) moves into the dilapidated Victorian mansion across the street, she starts to wonder whether it has something to do with the disappearance of a teenage girl years ago. And then she starts to ponder how Rob might be involved. Is it a case of paranoia thanks to new motherhood? Or is there something really amiss in this paradise?
Initially, Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment, which made the original, and Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door Productions had teamed up to do a new film version of “The ‘Burbs.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, MacFarlane thought that the title might make sense for the “dark, humorous, creepy vibes of our shared fear inside our own communities,” Fuzzy Door president and show executive producer Erica Huggins explains in a phone interview. After it was reconceived as a series, they reached out to Hughey.
“When I thought about it for a modern take, I really wanted to center an outsider,” Hughey says, adding, “I grew up in Boston, a very white suburb, as a mixed kid; I wanted to center it on a Black woman who has a new baby, a new husband, in a new neighborhood kind of unwillingly and seeing it through her eyes.”
Palmer was always who Hughey wanted to play Samira, and Grazer had the same idea.
Keke Palmer says she was attracted to the idea of playing a mom having experienced the realities of being a new mom herself.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
“She’s so versatile,” Grazer says, adding she could be “really funny and really pretty and she could be the average person. Like, you could live through her and that’s a big thing. What was so great about Tom Hanks is you could live through him.”
It turns out the timing was perfect. Palmer wasn’t all that familiar with the 1989 version, but she identified with Hughey’s vision, especially given that her son, Leo, was around 1 year old at the time.
“Thinking about playing a mom and now being a mom and also being able to use horror and comedy to play with the realities of what it feels like to be a new mom all felt very exciting to me,” she says.
Once Palmer signed on, Hughey and her team needed to find someone to match her infectious energy. Hughey says she imagined Rob as a “fully supportive partner” whose childhood guilt is putting a wedge in their marriage. She and her collaborators landed on Whitehall, a British stand-up comedian who has had stints in blockbusters like 2021’s “Jungle Cruise.”
Whitehall flew into Atlanta from the U.K. to meet Palmer, who was shooting the upcoming Boots Riley film “I Love Boosters.” He tells me he has had bad experiences coming to the U.S. to read with potential co-stars before, but Palmer immediately put him at ease.
“I think I’m just genuinely curious, trying to get to know him, because at the end of the day we’re going to be together every single day and we’re going to be making out and kissing and hugging,” she says. “We gotta be married. Is this my Desi? Am I his Lucy?”
Jack Whitehall, who is also a parent, says he found elements of the script relatable.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Whitehall also understood the nuances of the part because he had a young child as well. His daughter Elsie is now 2 and a half. (Leo is about to turn 3 when we speak.)
“So many elements of the script were really relatable, with the character of Rob and the slight guilt that he has that he’s going back to work and his wife is feeling trapped and wanting to be a protector and to be helpful, but then also not not quite knowing where his place is and how he can be sort of useful and caring,” Whitehall says.
For Palmer, portraying Samira’s unease wasn’t just about highlighting the disconnect between her and Rob, it was also about portraying the specific fears of living in a postpartum state.
“You’re always kind of having this anxiety,” she says. “And I don’t want to say it’s disproportionate, but to a certain degree it is. You’re constantly filtering out, is this real danger? You are kind of constantly gaslighting yourself.”
Throughout the eight-episode season, which ends on a major cliffhanger, “The ‘Burbs” is always trying to make its audience question what is really going on. That specifically relates to Rob, who is keeping a lot of secrets that may or may not be nefarious. It’s an aspect of the character that attracted Whitehall, though he notes, “I think at one point in this series the finger is pointed at literally every single member of our cast.”
“The ‘Burbs” sets out to subvert expectations, and that also applies to the way it deals with Samira’s race.
“It was really important to me that we didn’t make it a cliché,” says Palmer, who is also an executive producer. “It’s expected that we play up the ‘Get Out’ aspect. So I think it was about not being untrue to that reality and how that plays a role in the story but to talk about the bigger thing where it’s really just about being a fish out of water.”
Samira finds a true community among the other neighborhood oddballs, which is true to Palmer’s experience of growing up in Robbins, Ill., outside of Chicago. Whitehall, meanwhile, says he grew up in the “British equivalent of Hinkley Hills” in a town called Putney, on the outskirts of London.
“It was just full of very proper people, but very judgmental, and there were secrets on the street,” he says. “There was scandal as well.”
During our interview it’s clear that Palmer and Whitehall have an easy rapport. They go on tangents about Palmer introducing Whitehall to the 1997 film “Soul Food,” which Whitehall proceeded to reference on set. Palmer grabs Whitehall in exuberance as they speak. While they have different styles of deliveries, their senses of humor are the same, according to Palmer. And they figured out how to make everything click in the show.
“I think we found our timing together and we let each other have our moments,” Palmer says. “Like very telepathic. Like, ‘Time for the bit.’ We can feel each other’s pacing. I guess we just really work well together.”
As film and television post-production work has increasingly left California, workers are pushing for a new standalone tax credit focused on their industry.
That effort got a major boost Wednesday night when a representative for Assemblymember Nick Schultz (D-Burbank) said the lawmaker would take up the bill.
The news was greeted by cheers and applause from an assembled crowd of more than 100 people who attended a town hall meeting at Burbank’s Evergreen Studios.
“As big of a victory as this is, because it means we’re in the game, this is just the beginning,” Marielle Abaunza, president of the California Post Alliance trade group, a newly formed trade group representing post-production workers, said during the meeting.
The state’s post-production industry — which includes workers in fields like sound and picture editing, music, composition and visual effects — has been hit hard by the overall flight of film and TV work out of California and to other states and countries. Though post-production workers aren’t as visible, they play a crucial role in delivering a polished final product to TV, film and music audiences.
Last year, lawmakers boosted the annual amount allocated to the state’s film and TV tax credit program and expanded the criteria for eligible projects in an attempt to lure production back to California. So far, more than 100 film and TV projects have been awarded tax credits under the revamped program.
But post-production workers say the incentive program doesn’t do enough to retain jobs in California because it only covers their work if 75% of filming or overall budget is spent in the state. The new California Post Alliance is advocating for an incentive that would cover post-production jobs in-state, even if principal photography films elsewhere or the project did not otherwise qualify for the state’s production incentive.
Schultz said he is backing the proposed legislation because of the effect on workers in his district over the last decade.
“We are competing with other states and foreign countries for post production jobs, which is causing unprecedented threats to our workforce and to future generations of entertainment industry workers,” he said in a statement Thursday.
During the 1 1/2 hour meeting, industry speakers pointed to other states and countries, including many in Europe, with specific post-production incentives that have lured work away from the Golden State. By 2024, post-production employment in California dropped 11.2%, compared with 2010, according to a presentation from Tim Belcher, managing director at post-production company Light Iron.
“We’re all an integrated ecosystem, and losses in one affect losses in the other,” he said during the meeting. “And when post[-production] leaves California, we are all affected.”
One glowing 10/10 review of the picture stated: “One of the finest plays in history is turned into a cinematic masterpiece.”
The reviewer praised The Crucible for featuring an “absolutely brilliant and cathartically heartbreaking performance” from one of its leading actors. They continued, describing how the star “delivers one of the finest examples of acting genius I’ve ever had the privilege of experiencing”.
Another 8/10 assessment declared: “I am not someone to randomly give out a perfect score for a movie… And I also happen to be a very critical person of most films. With that being said, The Crucible completely blows me away with its virtually flawless cinematic achievements!”
One 9/10 critique called the picture “just fantastic” and rooted in “possibly the greatest play ever written”.
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A particular performance was labelled “outstanding”, whilst another cast member made an “indelible impression thanks to their “marvellous acting”. The critic concluded by calling the film a “work of cinematic genius”.Yet another viewer awarded maximum marks, writing: “Not just a dynamic character study, but a study of madness”. One enthusiastic 7/10 review praised the production as an “excellent adaptation”, adding: “There is nothing I like better than a good play for the stage, even when it is on screen. “.
Released in 1996, The Crucible draws from Arthur Miller’s acclaimed 1953 stage play of the same title.
Taking place during the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts Bay between 1692 and 1693, Miller crafted the work as a pointed commentary on the political persecution characteristic of McCarthyism in the mid-1950s.
The narrative centres on a community of Puritan settlers thrown into chaos following rumours of dark magic after local minister Samuel Parris (portrayed by Bruce Davison) discovers his daughter collapsed and unresponsive in the forest.
The incident follows her participation with several other young women in attempting to perform incantations alongside an enslaved woman.
As news of the events circulates, allegations of sorcery spread like wildfire throughout the settlement, prompting residents to turn against one another based on mere suspicion rather than proof.
The young women begin pointing fingers at fellow townspeople, resulting in numerous trials, including that of John Proctor (Daniel Day-Lewis), who previously engaged in an illicit relationship with Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder).
The production boasted a stellar ensemble, featuring Joan Allen, Paul Scofield, Peter Vaughn, Frances Conroy, and Jeffrey Jones amongst its ranks.
Upon its 1996 debut, the picture garnered multiple accolades, including a Best Actress recognition for Allen and a Best Adapted Screenplay acknowledgement for playwright Miller himself. Furthermore, the production earned nominations for BAFTAs, Golden Globes, Satellite Awards, and the Berlin Film Festival.
The Crucible (1996) is streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV for a fee now.
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Martin McDonagh’s 2023 film The Banshees of Inisherin secured eight Academy Award nominations – including Best Picture – while collecting numerous other accolades, inspiring many to explore its stunning landscapes.
For those eager to experience the spectacular scenery firsthand, there’s welcome news: the majority was shot on a single island.
Achill Island, situated off the County Mayo coast, is accessible by car, linked to the mainland via the Michael Davitt Bridge and readily reached using the N59 from Westport to Mulranny, followed by the R319, according to Achill Tourism.
On the island’s south-eastern side, Cloughmore served as the backdrop for JJ Devine’s pub Jonjo’s. Regrettably, the structure was purpose-built for production and subsequently dismantled, meaning it’s no longer visible today.
Nevertheless, it remains a beloved birdwatching location and merits a visit for its sweeping coastal panoramas, reports the Irish Mirror.
Heading westward from Cloughmore along the shoreline, you’ll discover the spot used for the fork in the road, distinguished by a statue of the Virgin Mary in the film.
In reality, no fork exists at this location, and the production team positioned the Mary statue there specifically for filming. This site was also used for the sequence in which Colm (Brendan Gleeson) escorts Pádraic (Colin Farrell) home following a beating in the village.
The notorious opening sequence of a cheerful, contented Pádraic wandering into frame against a vividly coloured, rainbow-tinged landscape was filmed at Purteen harbour, situated between Keel and Pollagh.
The production team transformed the site into a harbourside street scene featuring the island’s post office. The shop – O’Riordan’s – was built specifically for the film, whilst the row of fishermen’s cottages was merely a front.
Keem Bay is a breathtaking beach, boasting white sands and gorgeous turquoise waters – establishing it as one of Ireland’s most beloved coastal destinations. It also serves as the location for Colm and Pádraic’s closing scene – the structure, which is privately owned, wasn’t purpose-built and remains standing, though the actual scene was filmed on a studio set.
Corrymore Lake provides the backdrop for Dominic’s (Barry Keoghan) and Siobhán’s (Kerry Condon) heartbreaking exchange and his demise.
St Thomas’s Church, located in Dugort, is a 19th-century Church of Ireland structure that functioned as the setting for the Catholic Mass sequences in the film. It remains an active church and isn’t accessible to visitors outside of service times.
The film The Eagle Had Landed stars Michael Caine, Robert Duvall and Donald Sutherland, and is a hit with movie fans who praised it as ‘not your typical boring war movie’
Michael Caine stars in the war epic
A war film hailed by movie fans as ‘powerful’ and ‘wonderful’ is available to stream now on BBCiPlayer.
The film The Eagle Had Landed stars Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland and Jean Marsh, and has become a huge hit with movie fans.
Based on the 1975 novel The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins, the movie follows a German intelligence officer Max Radl in 1943 as he plots to kidnap Winston Churchill during a visit to a small English village. Colonel Kurt Steiner leads a team of disguised paratroopers, aided by Irish agent Liam Devlin. The mission, initially successful, is jeopardised when a soldier’s uniform is revealed during a rescue act, bringing in American forces.
Released in 1977, the film might not have won over critics or earned any Academy Awards but it did earn the affection of fans who have praised it. The film ratings website Rotten Tomatoes is packed with positive reviews, all contributing to the film’s 71 percent rating.
One review said: “Its a brilliant lazy afternoon war film packed with actors you recognise and a wonderful performance from Larry Hagman.”
Another wrote: “Watched the film for the first time recently. It was better than I thought. Great cast and moves quickly.”
A third posted: “This is as much a thriller as a ‘war movie’. It has great characters, a wonderful soundtrack and has an authentic vibe throughout. Suspect negative reviews are from gamers. This film requires thought and attention to fully enjoy. The book is Higgins best and is a really enjoyable read.”
“A powerful beginning, great build-up, an interesting side-story to keep us interested and great finishing action sequences make for a World War II movie that is well worth seeing,” said a fourth.
A fifth added: “A neat little WWII spy thriller. Caine and Duvall are great, and Pleasence and Sutherland ham it up in an agreeable fashion.
“It’s not attempting to reinvent the genre, but it goes about its business with confidence (the steady hand of veteran director Sturges is felt in this regard), and it’s unique in that it presents the story (fairly exclusively) from the point-of-view of the ‘enemy.'”
Another highlighted the star cast as it said: “Michael Caine and Robert Duvall are two of my favorite actors of all time and yet somehow, Donald Sutherland totally steals the show. Awesome story out of the WW2 era. Not your typical boring war movie either.”
“Well made little war film based on the novel by Jack Higgins. Last film directed by Sturges is not as good as “The Great Escape” or “Magnificant Seven” but its not bad. Duval, Sutherland, Caine and Wiliams all do well while Hagman acts like he’s in a different movie entirely,” said another.
Another simply wrote: “One of the best action war movies.”
The Eagle Has Landed is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Before starting a cosmopolitan life as an artist in Mexico City, queer filmmaker Efraín Mojica came of age between Riverside and the rural town of Penjamillo, Michoacán: home to an annual jaripeo, or a Mexican rodeo competition that takes place every Christmas.
Every year, cowboys convene to test-drive their masculinity, namely by swigging handles of tequila and precariously mounting the backs of bucking bulls. These heroic shows of manhood long fascinated Mojica, who frequented jaripeos with family — and quietly forged a community with other locals who diverged from Mexican gender norms.
That community would become the cast of “Jaripeo,” the debut documentary feature film by Mojica and co-director Rebecca Zweig, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Shot in the style of cinéma vérité, Mojica appears as both a narrator and protagonist. Zweig, who first encountered Mojica in Seattle’s punk scene, follows them behind the lens as they interview members of the LGBTQ community in and around Penjamillo.
“[Mojica] invited me to Michoacán in 2018 to spend Christmas with their family,” Zweig tells The Times, the day after the film’s Jan. 25 premiere. “As soon as I was at the rodeo with them, I became obsessed with the performance of masculinity.”
“[Zweig] was like, ‘How do you feel about making a documentary [about] the rodeos?’” Mojica tells The Times. “I said, ‘Yeah, but it’s got to be gay.’”
Produced by Sarah Strunin, the documentary begins with a pastoral scene from Mojica’s pickup truck as they overlook the grasslands of Michoacán. Pink party lights and techno music are woven into scenes of bandas and revelers in tejana hats, who kick up dust as they dance inside the rodeo ring. The crew flashes strobe lights in the cornfields, lighting up the figures of sexy cowboys sifting through the crops to find one another — drawing parallels to queer nightlife in the cities.
“On New Year’s there’s a rodeo in Acuitzeramo, with like 10,000 people and big speakers with heavy bass,” said Mojica. “What’s the big difference between a city rave and a rancho jaripeo, you know? They’re doing the exact same thing.”
“I wanted to blur all the lines and make these abstract sequences,” says Zweig. “And I thought, how much is that gonna be allowed in a formal [film] institution? I want to shout out public media, [because] when we got the Open Call Fund from ITVS, they took a chance on us as first-time filmmakers. [Marlon Riggs’ documentary] ‘Tongues Untied’ was also funded by ITVS — the legacy of queer cinema and documentaries in the U.S. has been supported by public media.”
“We have to deal with these issues in our towns, and [people] are still not open to receiving that kind of help,” says Noé Margarito Zaragoza, center, who stars in the new film “Jaripeo.”
(Cat Cardenas / De Los)
Each interview adds more color and dimension to Mojica’s memories of the village they left long ago, no longer suspended in the past. Mojica visits Arturo Calderón, a local rodeo clown known as “La Pirinola,” who performs in drag; Calderón lets the camera roll as he paints his eyelids electric blue.
They later stop by the local church and the disco with Joseph Cerda Bañales, a bearded makeup artist who brandishes long stiletto nails to the rodeos. Despite efforts from the festival organizers, and even a letter from Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), Cerda was unfortunately not granted entry into the U.S. for the Sundance premiere.
“Joseph is the mayor of his town,” says Mojica. “He’s the president of the church. He runs the folkloric ballet. He does everything. It’s not that there’s no more traditional culture… People just want to keep the community together. [It means] holding a bunch of truths [and] contradictions at the same time.”
Mojica even shares flirtatious moments onscreen while interviewing Noé Margarito Zaragoza, a dashing and stoic ranchero who lives discreetly as a gay man.
“It’s exciting, but at the same time I’m a little nervous,” says Margarito of coming out in the film. “Part of my family doesn’t know what’s going on with my life, so I don’t know how they’re going to take it. But my main family members — my siblings, my dad — well, they feel content and happy [for me], so I’m going forward and giving it my all.”
“We never talked about my queer identity,” says Mojica of their own family, some of whom flew in for the premiere of “Jaripeo” at the Yarrow Theatre in Park City. Mojica planned a belated coming out talk at dinner the night before; the discussion never happened.
“I choked up,” says Mojica. “I thought, ‘OK, I’m just going to give them a little heads up of what the film’s actually about.’ But I could not vocalize a single word. My eyes started tearing up. So I was like, ‘See you tomorrow!’”
It was after the screening, during an open Q&A, when Mojica’s mother quelled the artist’s fears in one fell swoop.
“What was the reception from your family after seeing the film?” an audience member asked Mojica in Spanish — unaware that their family had just watched it for the first time with everyone else in the theater.
To that, Mrs. Mojica Rubio rose from her seat and introduced herself “as a very proud mamá” who loves her child “unconditionally.”
After a beat, she exclaimed: “It’s the 21st century!”
Mrs. Mojica Rubio’s show of support was promptly met with resounding cheers from the audience. “My mom also approached [Margarito] and said, ‘I’m going to give you a mother’s hug, because you deserve it,’” says Mojica, who appears misty-eyed as they recount the scene.
In a time of increasing hostility against LGBTQ people and immigrants in the United States, to behold the strength of a mother’s love — and the solidarity across communities — affirms the purpose of such a film, with a power that transcends states, governments and institutions.
“People in different countries [have] this antiquated idea that Mexico is this little ranchita that’s hateful, that they’re gonna beat you if you’re queer. But we really care for each other,” Mojica says.
“We have to deal with these issues in our towns, and [people] are still not open to receiving that kind of help,” added Margarito. “So let’s hope [the movie is] a success.”
The poster for “Send Help” advertises the film as from the director of “The Evil Dead” and “Drag Me to Hell” — and notably not Sam Raimi’s bigger hit “Spider-Man” (or its two sequels). No, the kind of Raimi movie you’re getting here is irreverent, silly and very bloody: a character study that also features incredibly goofy scares. Written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, “Send Help” is a gonzo survivalist riff that works as well as it does because it features two incredibly game actors that surf the wave of Raimi’s tonal madness with a blend of absolute glee and carefully honed skill.
And if that poster were to present the star of “Send Help” in the same way as Raimi, the tagline would read “from the star of ‘Red Eye’ and ‘Mean Girls,’” because Rachel McAdams is fully in her horror-comedy mode here. It’s an excellent reminder of her range. Co-star Dylan O’Brien also proves himself once again to be one of the best actors of his generation: a former teen heartthrob who now operates more like a chameleonic character actor. Both McAdams and O’Brien move beyond expectations to deliver highly expressive, almost clownish performances — in the best way.
McAdams is astonishingly dowdy as beleaguered corporate workhorse Linda Liddle, a “Survivor”-obsessed loser who is passed over for a promotion by her slick new boss, Bradley Preston (O’Brien), a nepo baby. In an attempt to play the good ol’ boys game, she boards a private flight to Bangkok with the team, on which she bangs out memos while they laugh at her “Survivor” audition tape. One plane crash later, the tables are turned, with the injured Bradley now at the mercy of Linda and her survival skills on a tropical island.
The swap in the power dynamic thrills Linda, calling to mind Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness,” specifically the relationship between Dolly de Leon and Harris Dickinson. But “Send Help” is more of a psychological exploration than overt class satire, though it does explore the ridiculous notion of what it would be like to be stranded on an island with your boss.
McAdams and O’Brien deliver almost silent-film era acting with their faces (there’s one bravura long shot of O’Brien eating a bug that’s absolutely virtuosic) and Raimi’s camera playfully pushes the audience around, offering exaggerated tilts and close-ups, screaming: Look at this. There’s no subtlety, but would you expect that from the director of the “Evil Dead” movies? You’re just waiting for the ghouls and blood geysers to pop out. We don’t come to a Raimi film for its natural realism.
If there’s any flaw to “Send Help,” it’s that it generates such nuance and empathy for both Linda and Bradley, even within such outlandish circumstances and style, that it feels impossible to root for just one of them to come out on top. The film paints itself into such a corner when it comes to their conflict that any ending would feel too clean, too pat. As it stands, the ending is just that. But it’s to Raimi and the actors’ credit that they manage to make such an odious character as Bradley actually sympathetic — and so clear a heroine as Linda complex and thorny. Nothing’s perfect but “Send Help” is a blast nevertheless.
What’s the difference between Brett Ratner and Leni Riefenstahl? Riefenstahl, for all her many sins, was technically innovative; Ratner (unless you count an almost fetishistic fascination with first lady footwear), not so much.
But in the end, they are both political propagandists, collaborators if you will, with heads of state determined to create a narrative that is, at best, at odds with reality and, at worst, a targeted attempt to distort it.
Am I saying that “Melania” is as horrifically significant as “Triumph of the Will”? No, I am not. But it is motivated by the same base forces, and as fun as it might be to watch Jeff Bezos lose most of the $75 million Amazon paid for the purchase and then marketing of the film, it is important to remember that.
As Melania Trump said herself at the film’s premiere: “Some have called this a documentary. It is not. It is a creative experience that offers perspectives, insights and moments.”
A “creative experience” for which the first lady, who serves as narrator and executive producer, reportedly received about $28 million.
Money she very much does not earn.
Anyone who goes into “Melania” hoping to see even a glimpse of what it is like to be first lady, or indeed Melania Trump, will find instead a super-long version of “we followed [fill in the blank] as they got ready for the Oscars.”
Only in this case, it’s Donald Trump’s second inauguration, which Ratner (given his first big job since being accused by six women of sexual misconduct) frames as the Second Coming, from the lingering shots of the sleek lines of the motorcade to the use of “His truth is marching on” from “Battle Hymn of the Republic” as the first couple takes the stage at one of the inaugural balls.
(And in case you think that’s not obsequious enough, at the end of the inaugural festivities, Ratner, off camera, says, “sweet dreams, Mr. President,” which honestly could have been the title of this film.)
Most of the “action” involves the first lady making entrances: off private jets, out of big black cars and into well-appointed rooms. There, Trump and her designers wax rhapsodic over a gown designed to disguise any seams, admire an inaugural dinner menu that begins with caviar in a big golden egg and discuss the furnishings that will be moved in as soon as the Bidens move out.
These mind-numbing glories are interrupted just long enough for Tham Kannalikham, an interior designer in charge of the White House transition, to talk about how her family immigrated to America from Laos when she was 2 — the opportunity to work in the White House is, for her, the ultimate American dream. Beside her, Trump, also an immigrant, remains silent.
Other things happen. Trump has a video conference with French First Lady Brigitte Macron to discuss initiatives to end cyberbullying, meets with Queen Rania of Jordan to discuss helping foster children and comforts former Hamas hostage Aviva Siegel. Siegel, whose husband, at the time of filming, is still a hostage, provides the film’s one real emotional moment, despite having been clearly included as an opportunity for Trump to reveal a bit of personal kindness (and some political messaging).
We follow Trump as she and her husband attend Jimmy Carter’s funeral, during which her narration describes the pain of her mother’s death the year before, and as she “sneaks” the cameras into a room where her husband is rehearsing his inaugural speech.
There she suggests, with a completely straight face, that he add the word “unifier” to “peacemaker” in his description of what he hopes to be his legacy, a term he then uses in his speech the next day.
Throughout it all, the first lady remains relentlessly poised and personally inaccessible, lending new and literal meaning to the term “statuesque.”
Given the nature of the film’s subject, and the fact that she is the one literally calling the shots, no one with half a brain could expect to see any interesting or authentic “behind-the-scenes” moments (Melania wearing sweats or counting her breakfast almonds or, I don’t know, sneezing). A brief scene in which the remarkably tone-deaf Ratner attempts to get her to sing along to her favorite song, Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” elicits (finally!) a genuine laugh from her, and while his decision to repeatedly zoom in on her admittedly well-shod feet becomes increasingly creepy, it at least offers drinking-game potential.
Even so, “Melania” is as cynical a piece of filmmaking as exists since the art form began.
Listening to her describe the seriousness with which she takes her duties; her love, as an immigrant, for this great nation; and her dedication to making life better for all Americans — especially children and families — I was reminded of the climactic scene in “A Wrinkle in Time,” when young Charles Wallace has been ensnared by the soothing rhetoric of the evil brain-washing IT.
The superficial blandness of “Melania” isn’t boring; it’s calculated, infuriating and horrifying.
The first lady is describing an alternative universe of peace, love and unity while her husband has unleashed armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to terrorize and detain children and adults (many of whom are citizens or here in this country legally) and, in at least two cases, kill American citizens who protest their actions. She wants to help children and families while her husband slashes federal assistance programs and holds school funding hostage. She would have us believe she is battling cyberbullies while her husband, the president of these United States, regularly engages in lies, direct threats and character assassination on social media.
President Trump is many things but he is not a unifier — he believes, as he has assured us time and again, in winning, and, as he has also said and shown, he will choose retribution over reconciliation every time.
Melania Trump is, of course, not her husband. But this film is little more than a 90-minute campaign ad. Which, given the fact that Trump cannot legally run for president again, should be cause for much concern.
Many criticized the decision to release “Melania” mere days after federal agents killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis, and excoriated those notables, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, who chose to attend an early celebratory screening that included “let them eat” cookies with “Melania” scrawled in the icing.
For the kind of person who makes, and buys and distributes, a film that purports to be a “documentary” and is really just old-fashioned, through-the-looking-glass propaganda, however, it’s actually the perfect time.
Why worry about the federal government killing its own citizens when we can all ooh and aah over the fact that the first lady’s inaugural gown is constructed so that none of the seams show? Especially if it makes her husband happy.
She portrayed a spoiled socialite turned impoverished rural motel manager in “Schitt’s Creek.” She played a self-centered stepmom who, when possessed by an evil entity, channeled Harry Belafonte’s voice singing “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” in 1988’s “Beetlejuice.” She was the harried, forgetful mom who left her son behind in “Home Alone,” a goofy ‘90s comedy that would become a Christmas classic.
Catherine O’Hara, who died Friday at the age of 71, brought to life dozens of characters over her 50-year career across film and television, and no two of her performances were alike. She might play an eccentric artist one moment, an insufferable snob the next, then a deceptively “normal” housewife, animating each with their own personality, quirks and ticks.
Though a comedic performer at heart, O’Hara, as they say, had range. From her recurring role as a grieving therapist in Season 2 of HBO’s dystopian drama “The Last of Us” to voicing and acting a plethora of bizarre characters in Tim Burton‘s films, O’Hara made her mark. Here are 10 of her most memorable roles.
I was just getting settled in my seat for the first showing of “Melania” at the Grove cineplex when Melania Trump walked in.
OK, it wasn’t the Melania Trump, as in the first lady. But it was a reasonable facsimile.
The impersonator, followed by a man filming with his phone, strode in like a model, flinging her hair back and smiling as she addressed the six people — many of them critics from various press outlets — in the auditorium who were among the first in Los Angeles to see “Melania,” the controversial documentary that features the first lady as star and producer.
“Hi, everybody. I want to welcome you all to my movie,” the impersonator said in a Slovenian accent. She wore a stylish dark pantsuit and high heels, a frequent motif in the film which chronicles the real Melania Trump in the 20 days leading up to the second presidential inauguration of her husband, Donald Trump.
After a few more words of greeting, the impostor Melania flashed another smile as she exited.
I was stunned and extremely frustrated that I didn’t have time to capture the moment. It’s rare to find yourself in the presence of a first lady —even a fake one.
During the film, my fellow viewers were mostly silent, although there were a few murmurs of laughter as Melania Trump outlined the burdens of coordinating the correct outfit and decor for her re-entry to the White House.
“My creative vision is always clear, and it’s my responsibility to share my ideas with my team so they can bring it to life,” she says at one point.
Later in the film, when Donald Trump was formally introduced at the inauguration as the 47th president, one older woman sitting near the front of the theater applauded. And I could see her smiling as, onscreen, the first couple made their way through the White House following the ceremony.
“Being hand in hand with my husband at this moment is very emotional,” she says. “Nobody has endured what he has over the past few years. People tried to murder him, incarcerate him, slander him. But here he is. I’m so very proud.”
I hoped that Melania would be around in the lobby as we left the theater to ask us how we liked the film. But I was disappointed. Melania had left the building.
Cher Horowitz fans, rejoice: Amy Heckerling’s 1995 teen comedy is one of 25 classic movies chosen this year by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry.
And if “Clueless” wasn’t your jam — whatever! — maybe this will send you deep into your dreams: Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending “Inception” is in the mix. Other films chosen for preservation include “The Karate Kid,” “Glory,” “Philadelphia,” “Before Sunrise,” “The Incredibles” and “Frida.” There are four documentaries, including “Brooklyn Bridge” by Ken Burns. From old Hollywood, there’s the 1954 musical “White Christmas,” and the 1956 “High Society,” Grace Kelly’s last movie before marrying into royalty.
Since 1988, the Library of Congress has selected 25 movies each year for preservation due to their “cultural, historic or aesthetic importance.” The films must be at least 10 years old.
The oldest of the 2025 picks dates from 1896, filmmaker William Selig’s “The Tramp and the Dog.” The newest of the group is from 2014: Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which, the registry noted, involved “meticulous historical research at the Library of Congress to create visually striking scenery.”
Turner Classic Movies will host a TV special March 19 to screen a selection of the films.
A closer look at some of this year’s selections:
“The Tramp and the Dog” (1896): Once deemed lost, but discovered in 2021 at the National Library of Norway, Selig’s silent film tells the story of a tramp who tries to steal a pie from a backyard windowsill — and is foiled by a dog. The registry notes it’s an early example of “pants humor” — “where a character loses (or almost loses) its pants during an altercation.”
“The Maid of McMillan” (1916): This 15-minute “whimsical silent romance” shot by students at a drama club at Washington University in St. Louis tells the story of the track team captain, Jack, who’s in love with Myrtle, “a pretty coed,” according to the university’s library. It is known, the registry says, as the first student film on record.
“Ten Nights in a Barroom” (1926): A silent film featuring an all-Black cast, it’s based on a stage melodrama adapted from “Ten Nights in a Bar-room and What I Saw There,” an 1854 “temperance novel” written to discourage readers from drinking alcohol.
“High Society” (1956): In what the registry calls “the last great musical of the Golden Age of Hollywood,” Bing Crosby appeared with Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly, in her last movie before retiring and marrying Prince Rainier of Monaco. Louis Armstrong appeared with his band. Kelly wore her Cartier engagement ring during filming, the registry notes.
“Brooklyn Bridge” (1981): Ken Burns’ first documentary broadcast on PBS, in which the filmmaker recounted the building of the iconic landmark. “More than just a filmmaker, Burns has become a trusted public historian,” the registry says.
“The Big Chill” (1983): Lawrence Kasdan’s era-defining story of a group of friends reuniting after a suicide features Glenn Close, William Hurt, JoBeth Williams, Kevin Kline, Jeff Goldblum and Meg Tilly in an ensemble that “portrays American stereotypes of the time — the yuppie, the drug dealer, the TV star — and deftly humanizes them.”
“The Karate Kid (1984): The first film in the franchise, starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita, is “as American as they come,” the registry says — “a hero’s journey, a sports movie and a teen movie — a feel-good movie, but not without grit.”
“Glory” (1989): Denzel Washington won an Oscar as Private Trip in this story of the 54th Regiment, a unit of Black soldiers who fought in the Civil War. The cast also included Morgan Freeman, Matthew Broderick, Cary Elwes and Andre Braugher.
“Philadelphia” (1993): Tom Hanks starred — and won an Oscar — in one of the first big studio movies to confront the HIV/AIDS crisis. The film is also known for Bruce Springsteen’s Oscar-winning song, “The Streets of Philadelphia.”
“Before Sunrise” (1995): The first film of Richard Linklater’s deeply romantic “Before” trilogy, starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. The registry notes Linklater’s “innovative use of time as a defining and recurring cinematic tool.”
“Clueless” (1995): Heckerling’s teen comedy, starring Alicia Silverstone, was a loose adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma” and forever enshrined the phrase “As if!” into popular culture. The registry hails “its peak-1990s colorful, high-energy, soundtrack-focused on-screen dynamism.”
“The Wrecking Crew” (2008): Danny Tedesco’s documentary — not to be confused with the 2026 buddy cop movie of the same name — looks at a group of Los Angeles studio musicians who played on hit songs of the ‘60s and ’70s such as “California Dreamin’” and “The Beat Goes On.”
“Inception” (2010): In a movie that asks whether it’s possible to influence a person’s thoughts by manipulating their dreams, Nolan “once again challenges audiences with multiple interconnected narrative layers while delivering thrilling action sequences and stunning visual effects.”
Noveck writes for the Associated Press.
Full chronological list of 2025 National Film Registry inductees
ACTRESS Margot Robbie hits a Hollywood height at her new film’s premiere — wearing a £6million necklace once owned by Elizabeth Taylor.
The Taj Mahal diamond is a heart-shaped gold pendant set in jade and hanging from a gold, ruby and diamond chain made by Cartier.
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Margot Robbie dazzles at the Wuthering Heights premiere in a £6million necklace once owned by movie star Elizabeth TaylorCredit: GettyMargot stuns at the Los Angeles premiereCredit: GettyElizabeth Taylor wearing the necklace, pictured with Richard Burton and Grace KellyCredit: Getty
Margot wore it to the world premiere of Wuthering Heights in Los Angeles, where she was earlier joined by co-star Jacob Elordi and singer Charli XCX, who recorded the film’s soundtrack.
The actress, Cathy in the adaptation of Emily Bronte’s 1847 novel, said the necklace was poignant as it had “a lot of romantic history”.
She said: “It’s our big Hollywood world premiere — we’ve got to go all out.
“This is Elizabeth Taylor’s necklace. It’s the Taj Mahal diamond that Richard Burton gave to her.
“There’s something kind of Cathy and Heathcliff about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in my mind, so it felt appropriate.”
The diamond was created for a 17th century Mughal emperor who commissioned the Taj Mahal.
It was later acquired by Cartier, with Burton buying it from them to give to Elizabeth.
Following her death in 2011, it was sold at auction for £6million to an anonymous buyer.
The Taj Mahal diamond is a heart-shaped gold pendant set in jade and hanging from a gold, ruby and diamond chain made by CartierCredit: AFPMargot with co-star Jacob Elordi and singer Charli XCX, who recorded the film’s soundtrackCredit: Getty
When Melania Trump showed up on movie screens in 2001, it was a joke.
The former fashion model and her spouse, Donald Trump, then only a real estate mogul, played themselves in the Ben Stiller comedy “Zoolander,” about a dimwitted male supermodel. She silently looked on as her husband gushed at an awards show red carpet: “Without Derek Zoolander, male modeling would not be where it is today.”
The cameo offers a glimpse of the couple, who in 2017 would enter the White House as president and first lady. As they move past the first anniversary of their second stint in Washington, D.C., Melania has largely stayed away from the spotlight.
But this week the first lady is preparing for her close-up. She is center stage as star and executive producer in the documentary “Melania” hitting theaters Friday. Positioned as a companion to her best-selling memoir, “Melania” has been shadowed by controversy since its announcement several months ago. The project marks a comeback attempt by Hollywood filmmaker Brett Ratner, the director of the documentary, who was exiled from Hollywood in 2017 following charges of sexual misconduct by multiple women, including actor Olivia Munn. He continues to deny the accusations.
Amazon MGM Studios paid $40 million to license the project, and sources said it is spending around $35 million for marketing and promotion. Melania is skipping the traditional TV talk show circuit, opting for an appearance on Fox News, which featured an exclusive interview with her on Tuesday — her first since returning to the White House. The following day, she rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
Trailers for the film have popped up on several networks including CNN, a frequent target of President Trump’s ire, and outdoor advertising has been installed in several major cities, including Los Angeles.
The project, which is slated to stream on Prime Video after a brief theatrical run, arrives as the president confronts sinking approval ratings and the most turbulent phase to date of his second term, which includes controversies over his handling of the economy, international relations, the demolition of the White House’s East Wing for a planned ballroom, and the long-delayed release of the Epstein files.
More pointedly, the lead-up to the official premiere, slated for Thursday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, has collided with an unexpected juggernaut: national outrage over the deadly shootings of two Minneapolis residents by federal officers carrying out his aggressive anti-immigration campaign.
The continuing protests over the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as the backlash after Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller labeled them as domestic terrorists, has placed even more uncertainty over how “Melania” will fare with moviegoers.
Industry forecasters were divided on whether the film will be a hit or a bomb. Firms specializing in box office projections estimate the opening weekend will fall within the $5 million range.
“It’s very hard to predict whether people will show up, given the unique nature of the film and the marketplace,” said one veteran box office analyst who asked not to be identified.
On Wednesday, the film was pulled from theaters in South Africa, where it was slated to open on Friday, after the distributor announced it would no longer release the title, citing “recent developments,” according to a New York Times report.
Domestically, “Melania” is competing in a crowded movie weekend against the highly anticipated survival thriller “Send Help” from veteran filmmaker Sam Raimi (“Drag Me to Hell”), the horror film “Iron Lung” from popular YouTuber Markiplier (Mark Edward Fischbach), and “Shelter,” with action star Jason Statham.
President Trump kisses his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, during the presidential inauguration in 2025. The documentary will highlight the lead-up to the event.
(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)
Adding to the uncertainty on the film’s performance, the analyst said, is whether fans of Ratner, whose resume features several blockbusters including the “Rush Hour” trilogy, will show up for a documentary about the first lady. According to press notes, “Melania” follows the first lady in the 20 days leading up to the 2025 presidential inauguration as she orchestrates plans for the event and the family’s move back to the White House. The film’s trailer, released last month, does not offer much more insight.
During both of Trump’s terms in the White House, his wife has been described as mysterious and sphinx-like. Some Washington watchers have praised her for what they call her independence and individualism, while others say her accomplishments fall short of previous first ladies such as Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Reagan.
Anita B. McBride, director of the First Ladies Initiative at American University, said that the position of first lady has been defined in distinct ways by every woman who has served in that capacity.
She said in an interview that the current first lady has exhibited a confident persona “that has never been defined by expectations. She now has the benefit of experience after operating during her first term in a very hostile environment. She is sure-footed with a staff that supports her, and she has made it clear that she is in control.”
The White House on Saturday hosted a VIP black-tie preview of “Melania,” with a guest list that included Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, former boxer Mike Tyson and Apple CEO Tim Cook, who this week criticized the shootings of Good and Pretti, calling for de-escalation in Minneapolis.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was among the politicians blasting the event, which took place hours after Pretti was killed.
“Today DHS assassinated a VA nurse in the street, [Atty. Gen.] Bondi is attempting to extort voter files, and half the country is bracing on the eve of a potentially crippling ice storm with FEMA gutted,” she wrote in a post on X. “So what is the President up to? Having a movie night at the White House. He’s unfit.”
In the interview on Fox News a few days later to promote the film, the first lady was asked about the controversy in Minneapolis.
“I’m against the violence, so please if you protest, protest in peace,” she said. “We need to unify in these times.”
After a competitive bidding process, indie studio A24 has acquired the U.S. rights to Olivia Wilde’s comedy “The Invite” in a major deal out of the Sundance Film Festival.
The film, which stars Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton, was purchased for around $10 million, according to a person familiar with the deal who requested anonymity due to the sensitive matter. One factor for Wilde was a preference for a traditional theatrical release.
“The Invite” focuses on a dinner party among neighbors and was billed as a must-see after it premiered over the weekend at Sundance. So far, the film has notched a 91% rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
The market at Sundance has traditionally been viewed as a bellwether for the indie film business. In the last few years, deals have been slower to emerge from the festival, particularly as streamers stopped offering massive sums for films to stock their platforms and as studios cut back on spending.
The deal for “The Invite” is one of a handful that have already been announced. On Tuesday, Neon said it acquired the worldwide rights to horror film “Leviticus,” which premiered at Sundance. Neon also bought the worldwide rights over the weekend for another horror flick, “4 X 4: The Event” from filmmaker Alex Ullom. That deal was the first to be made in Park City, though the film was not shown at Sundance and will begin production later this year. The value for both of Neon’s deals was not disclosed.
Many in Hollywood fear Warner Bros. Discovery’s sale will trigger steep job losses — at a time when the industry already has been ravaged by dramatic downsizing and the flight of productions from Los Angeles.
David Ellison‘s Paramount Skydance is seeking to allay some of those concerns by detailing its plans to save $6 billion, including job cuts, should Paramount succeed in its bid to buy the larger Warner Bros. Discovery.
Leaders of the combined company would search for savings by focusing on “duplicative operations across all aspects of the business — specifically back office, finance, corporate, legal, technology, infrastructure and real estate,” Paramount said in documents filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Paramount is locked in an uphill battle to buy the storied studio behind Batman, Harry Potter, Scooby-Doo and “The Big Bang Theory.” The firm’s proposed $108.4-billion deal would include swallowing HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TBS, Food Network and other Warner cable channels.
Warner’s board prefers Netflix’s proposed $82.7-billion deal, and has repeatedly rebuffed the Ellison family’s proposals. That prompted Paramount to turn hostile last month and make its case directly to Warner investors on its website and in regulatory filings.
Shareholders may ultimately decide the winner.
Paramount previously disclosed that it would target $6 billion in synergies. And it has stressed the proposed merger would make Hollywood stronger — not weaker. The firm, however, recently acknowledged that it would shave about 10% from program spending should it succeed in combining Paramount and Warner Bros.
Paramount said the cuts would come from areas other than film and television studio operations.
A film enthusiast and longtime producer, David Ellison has long expressed a desire to grow the combined Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. slate to more than 30 movies a year. His goal is to keep Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. stand-alone studios.
This year, Warner Bros. plans to release 17 films. Paramount has said it wants to nearly double its output to 15 movies, which would bring the two-studio total to 32.
“We are very focused on maintaining the creative engines of the combined company,” Paramount said in its marketing materials for investors, which were submitted to the SEC on Monday.
“Our priority is to build a vibrant, healthy business and industry — one that supports Hollywood and creative, benefits consumers, encourages competition, and strengthens the overall job market,” Paramount said.
If the deal goes through, Paramount said that it would become Hollywood’s biggest spender — shelling out about $30 billion a year on programming.
In comparison, Walt Disney Co. has said it plans to spend $24 billion in the current fiscal year.
Paramount also added a dig at Warner management, saying: “We expect to make smarter decisions about licensing across linear networks and streaming.”
Some analysts have wondered whether Paramount would sell one of its most valuable assets — the historic Melrose Avenue movie lot — to raise money to pay down debt that a Warner acquisition would bring.
Paramount is the only major studio to be physically located in Hollywood and its studio lot is one of the company’s crown jewels. That’s where “Sunset Boulevard,” several “Star Trek” movies and parts of “Chinatown” were filmed.
A Paramount spokesperson declined to comment.
Sources close to the company said Paramount would scrutinize the numerous real estate leases in an effort to bring together far-flung teams into a more centralized space.
For example, CBS has much of its administrative offices on Gower in Hollywood, blocks away from the Paramount lot. And HBO maintains its operations in Culver City — miles from Warner’s Burbank lot.
The tender offer was set to expire last week, but Paramount extended the window after failing to solicit sufficient interest among Warner shareholders.
Some analysts believe Paramount may have to raise its bid to closer to $34 a share to turn heads. Paramount last raised its bid Dec. 4 — hours before the auction closed and Netflix was declared the winner.
Paramount also has filed proxy materials to ask Warner shareholders to reject the Netflix deal at an upcoming stockholder meeting.
Should Paramount win Warner Bros., it would need to line up $94.65 billion in debt and equity.
Billionaire Larry Ellison has pledged to backstop $40.4 billion for the equity required. Paramount’s proposed financing relies on $24 billion from royal families in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
The deal would saddle Paramount with more than $60 billion of debt — which Warner board members have argued may be untenable.
“The extraordinary amount of debt financing as well as other terms of the PSKY offer heighten the risk of failure to close,” Warner board members said in a filing earlier this month.
Paramount would also have to absorb Warner’s debt load, which currently tops $30 billion.
Netflix is seeking to buy the Warner Bros. television and movie studios, HBO and HBO Max. It is not interested in Warner’s cable channels, including CNN. Warner wants to spin off its basic cable channels to facilitate the Netflix deal.
Analysts say both deals could face regulatory hurdles.
The stunning circular walking trail, perfect for a relaxed day out, is believed to have inspired one of the most famous authors of our time — and it’s right here in the UK.
08:00, 28 Jan 2026Updated 08:08, 28 Jan 2026
The Tolkien Trail is popular with walkers(Image: Visit Lancashire)
A breathtaking walking route in Lancashire boasts an incredibly famous link to a bestselling author and has formed the inspiration behind a mammoth blockbuster film trilogy.
It’s well known that JRR Tolkien drew inspiration from Lancashire’s spectacular countryside whilst penning The Lord of the Rings, which was clearly reflected in his portrayal of Middle Earth. For decades, countless visitors have travelled from across the globe to trace the footsteps of the legendary fantasy writer.
During World War Two, Tolkien and his spouse frequently stayed at a guesthouse within Stonyhurst College’s grounds, where their son had allegedly been evacuated. This timeframe coincided with his writing of The Lord of the Rings, reports Lancs Live.
He’s believed to have sought refuge in Hurst Green village in the Ribble Valley, whose verdant and enchanting environment directly shaped The Lord of the Rings as well as his children’s fantasy tale The Hobbit.
Indeed, devotees of The Hobbit will recognise that Hobbiton and the Shire drew their inspiration from Hurst Green’s magnificent rural splendour and neighbouring regions.
The terrain surrounding Stonyhurst College also appears within Tolkien’s bestselling novels, and there’s even a complete 5.5 mile circular route called the Tolkien Trail which guides walkers through numerous locations they’d encounter referenced – or directly inspired by – in Tolkien’s masterpieces.
Renowned for his passion for woodland scenery and the natural world, several names and locations in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings bear striking resemblance to those found in reality around Hurst Green, including Shire Lane and the River Shirebourn, which shared its name with the very family who owned the Stonyhurst estate.
Tolkien is famously reported to have devoted considerable time ‘in a classroom on the upper gallery of Stonyhurst College’ crafting Lord of the Rings.
The Tolkien Trail itself is packed with historic sites, each more captivating than the previous. Beginning and concluding near the Shireburn Arms – a celebrated gastro pub in Hurst Green – the approximately five-and-a-half-mile Tolkien Trail guides walkers through breathtaking vistas.
The Shireburn Arms itself is a 17th-century establishment which has preserved many of its period features. Celebrated for its cuisine, this independent pub features a welcoming fireplace in the public room – particularly popular with visitors during the colder months.
The Tolkien Trail guides walkers past Stonyhurst College and the historic yet famous Cromwell’s Bridge, named after Oliver Cromwell.
Initially built in 1562, Cromwell is believed to have led his forces across the ancient bridge whilst travelling from Walton-le-Dale to participate in the 1648 Battle of Preston.
The Tolkien Trail also leads visitors past Hacking Hall – a 17th-century, Grade I listed Jacobean residence located near where the River Calder meets the River Ribble. Despite being privately-owned, it remains a beloved landmark amongst walkers, particularly those who have embarked upon the Tolkien Trail.
Tolkien’s Trail also guides adventurers through verdant fields and agricultural pathways, offering hikers classic Ribble Valley countryside panoramas.
Additional remarkable features along the route include a 19th-century observatory, the 18th century Hodder Place – a former educational establishment that initially functioned as a mill owner’s home – alongside a partially-medieval barn.
Peaceful waterside sections and endless vistas of the Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) render the Tolkien Trail an ideal ramble for those seeking to undertake a relaxed stroll.
Between two and a half to three hours represents an appropriate timeframe to dedicate to this historical walking route.
Delighted visitors have flocked to Tripadvisor to praise the trail, with one writing: “The Tolkien Trail is a scenic 5.5-mile walk through the beautiful Ribble Valley, offering lush woodlands, riverside paths, and peaceful countryside.
“Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s time at nearby Stonyhurst College, the trail is easy to follow and perfect for a relaxed day out. The mix of history and nature makes it a must for Tolkien fans and casual walkers alike. A great spot for a picnic with magical views!”.
Meanwhile another hiker said: ” Loved the walk. Great views and stunning scenery. Can understand this would inspire the imagination. Easy recommend.”
One visitor said: “The views and the surrounding area are exactly what you want on a walk, fresh air and green spaces with rolling hills and the rivers to marvel at too.”
How to get there
The village of Hurst Green is located approximately 5 miles west of Clitheroe and nine and a half miles northeast of Preston. Limited car parking is available in the village.
Regular bus services also operate between Clitheroe, Preston, and Whalley, stopping at Hurst Green.
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