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Its scary as hell, and thats just for starters. But Us , the new mesmerizing mindbender from writer-director-producer Jordan Peele, also carries the weight of expectation. Get Out , Peeles smashing debut from 2017, was a brilliantly caustic satire of race division in America that won Peele an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (hes the first African-American to triumph in that category) and became a phenom with critics and audiences. How can Peele top that? Short answer: he cant and doesnt. In interviews, Peele insists that Us is a straight-up horror show. Not really. Leave it to Peele to blaze a trail by putting a black family smack in the middle of a commercial thriller-diller. Thats more than a novelty, its a quiet revolution. And Peeles hints at the larger conspiracies of race, class and social violence festering inside the American dream resonate darkly. Ding Peele all you want for taking on more than he can comfortably handle, but this 40-year-old from New York who started as on...

A sequel to the 1986 cult classic Labyrinth , the Jim Henson-directed fantasy film that starred David Bowieas the Goblin King, is in the works. TriStar has inked a deal with the Jim Henson Company to produce a new version of the film, with Guardians of the Galaxy co-writer Nicole Perlman charged with penning the new Labyrinth script, The Hollywood Reporter writes. Entertainment Weekly adds that the upcoming Labyrinth film will be a sequel of sorts to the original and not a direct remake. Talk of a new Labyrinth film first surfaced in 2014, but the Jim Henson Company eventually quashed those rumors, saying they were working on a big screen Fraggle Rock and a sequel to The Dark Crystal instead. The original Labyrinth was directed by Henson, penned by Monty Python vet Terry Jones and produced by George Lucas. Although the film was a critical and commercial disappointment during its initial theatrical run, it developed a cult following thanks in large part to Bowie, who portrays J...

Scarlett Johanssons bachelorette party devolves into a crime scene in the hilarious first trailer for Rough Night , a star-packed comedy directed by Lucia Aniello and co-written by Aniello and fellow Broad City alum Paul W. Downs. The clips first half plays out like a traditional film comedy, as Johansson reunites with her college best friends played by Saturday Night Live s Kate McKinnon, Broad City s Ilana Glazer, Zo Kravitz and Jillian Bell for a wild weekend in Miami. The quintet take drunken shots, score some cocaine and scope out the local babes. Were gonna be swimmin in dick, girl, Bell tells the bride-to-be. But the trailer unexpectedly morphs into a black comedy midway through the clip, after an over-eager Bell accidentally kills a male stripper. (Lets get to the beans, she shouts, moments before the dancers demise.) From there, the clip previews their attempts to hide the evidence a task that evidently includes jet-skis, guns and car chases.

There is no question what DVD you should snatch up this week. Its Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street . The Two-Disc Special Edition is that rare DVD package that actually deserves to be called special. This is one of the best DVDs of the year, packed with juicy bonus features and showcasing sound and image that set a new gold standard. Directed by Tim Burton and starring his muse, Johnny Depp, the film version of Stephen Sondheims Broadway classic is a bloody wonder, intimate and epic, horrific and heart-rending. Depp received an Oscar nomination as Best Actor and he deserved to win if Daniel Day Lewis hadnt blown the category away in There Will Be Blood (a title that could fit this movie as well). Depp plays Sweeney Todd, the serial-killing barber who slits the throats of his customers and then, with the help of bake-shop owner Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), grinds up the corpses and serves them as meat pies to a salivating if unsuspecting public. You want social com...

In its legendary 25-season run, The Simpsons has built up an impressive stable of animated characters some iconic (Bart, Homer), some fan favorites (Apu, Comic Book Guy), and, with the creation of the recent app game Tapped Out , some that have debuted before being written into the actual show. According toSlash Film, the latest new Tapped Out character is Chester Dupree, the slacker brother-in-law to the shows Dr. Julius Hibbert (you know, that lovable dude with the incredible laugh). Five Simpsons Characters We Want Dead Dupree, who rocks a purple beanie and heaphones, isnt a complete newcomer to the Simpsons universe (having been mentioned verbally in the 2012 episode Gone Abie Gone), but he hasnt yet appeared on the series. Previously, the app debuted another new character, Kumiko Nakamura, for a limited run before she appeared as the Comic Book Guys romantic interest in the Season 25 episode Married to the Blob.The snarky, comical app often features tie-ins to the series, allowin...

One charitable Star Wars fan is getting a shot at Lucasfilm glory with a cameo in the upcoming J.J. Abrams-directed sequel.To earn the privilege, fans must enter a contest by making a $10 donation to Star Wars : Force for Change, a charity created by Disney and Lucasfilm (in collaboration with Bad Robot). Star Wars Spinoffs We Want to See The winner will be transformed into a character for a scene in Star Wars: Episode VII , and they (along with one guest) will also enjoy free airfare and accommodations to the films London set. The contest will offer the winner behind-the-scenes access to the closed shoot and the chance to meet members of the cast (which, by the way, includes legends from the original trilogy such as Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill). Fans can contribute through the Omaze campaign, which runs from 12:01 a.m. PSTon May 21st until 11:59 p.m. PST on July 18th.(Nerd note: Each entrant has a maximum of 10,000 entries.) Disney has committed $1 million in support...

F or a while, Christopher Walken felt like troubled guys were the only types of roles he was being offered, and he knows when it began. In Annie Hall , I played a suicidal guy who drives his car into traffic, he says in his matter-of-fact, stilted, utterly Walkenesque way. Then in The Deer Hunter , which came immediately afterward, I shot myself in the head. I was playing these disturbed people. That might have been when that started. When asked if that bothered him, he plainly says, Listen, Im lucky. Its a bright spring day in Manhattan, but Walken is dressed head-to-toe in black right down to his trench coat, which he wears inside. He isnt playing the sort of anxious guy that won him an Oscar in the mid-Seventies; hes just a native New Yorker, seated at a table in a nondescript conference room where he is discussing The Family Fang , the Jason Bateman-directed comedy in which he plays an icy performance-artist patriarch. I hope this character is entertaining, Walken says, gesticulat...

WINNER OF THE WEEK: The horrific. Exorcism chiller The Possession easily won the holiday weekend, debuting with an estimated $17.7 million from Friday to Sunday and $21.3 million over the four-day weekend. Labor Day has been a good weekend to open a horror movie for about a decade now, provided the film is at least moderately well-marketed. (Contrast the fate of The Possession with last weeks The Apparition , unceremoniously dumped into a handful of theaters to open at No. 12; this weekend, it fell out of the top 20 altogether and has an estimated two-weekend total of just $4.4 million.) Lawless isnt a horror movie, though the period crime thriller could be, with its gory mutilations, unstinting violence, and copious vomit. It did very well, too, opening in second place with an estimated $9.7 million. (or $13.0 million for the full holiday). And kiddie horror flick ParaNorman held up in its third week with an estimated $6.6 million ($8.9 million through Monday), for fifth place. (Round...

Remember when Michael Keaton played a superhero in a cape? Those were the days. Now he's reduced to this Sixth Sense rip-off, playing an architect who sees dead people, notably his wife. He communicates with her by ing at TV static an activity far more fun than this thrill-free thriller.

Boxing movies the classic Raging Bull excepted tend to punch the same way: Underdog hits it big, then blows it before launching a comeback. From Rocky to Creed, thats been the drill. Hands of Stone, the true story of 1970s lightweight champ Roberto Duran (Edgar Ramirez), never strays far from the path. But the Venezuelan-born writer-director Jonathan Jakubowicz ( Secuestro Express ) knows how to muscle up momentum and bring the best out of actors. Ramirez ( Carlos ) excels as Duran, the natural street brawler from Panama whose hot temper often gets the best of him. His cocky charm manages to seduce Felicidad ( War Dogs gorgeous Ana de Armas), the schoolgirl who becomes his wife. Otherwise, Duran is pissed at everyone, from the U.S. with its big-stick control of the Panama Canal to anyone who thinks he can boss Duran around. Enter Robert De Niro, the raging bull himself, as Ray Arcel, the trainer who has molded 18 raw fighters into world champs. Arcel has been sidelined by the mob...

Drink the Kool-Aid. Wear blinders. Cover your ears. Because thats the only way you can totally enjoy Revenge of the Sith the final and most futile attempt from skilled producer, clumsy director and tin-eared writer George Lucas to create a prequel trilogy to match the myth-making spirit of the original Wars saga he unleashed twenty-eight years ago. Fan boys, of course, have convinced themselves otherwise. So have several critics, if you go by early reviews. Heralded for its savagery (my God, its rated PG-13), the film follows Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen to merely call him wooden is an affront to puppets everywhere) as he loses his limbs and his conscience and takes on the evil mantle of Darth Vader. But thematic darkness is no excuse for dimness in all other departments, except the visual. In this heretics opinion, Sith is a stiff, brought down by that special knack Lucas has of turning flesh-and-blood actors into cardboard cutouts. To hear Anakin and his pregnant wife, ...

After a summer of drama over who will or wont graduate, plus a box office flop and concerns that the second season had gotten too off course, Ryan Murphy knew he had to get Glee back on track. And so he promised to remind us of the Glee we loved consistently once upon a time. Its almost like he wrote Mr. Schuester s pledge to the New Directions to the viewers at home: Im planning on pushing you harder than youve ever been pushed This year, Im not planning on letting anyone or anything get in the wayI lost focus. And with that, The Purple Piano Project is born. Schue hopes to inspire school enthusiasm for the New Directions by placing donated pianos around the school. Hes painted them purple; whenever a New Directions member happens upon one, they have to sing. Before anyone opens their mouths, however, Jacob Ben-Israel gives us a speed update on what everyones been up to: Finn puts up a front but actually confesses hes directionless, seniors Rachel and Kurt have big plans to mo...

Ahoy, zombie-fans! Wasnt it sort of weird to find yourself caring about Mr. Brian Heriot ? Wait, I mean, Phillip ? Wait, I mean: can someone still be The Governor if hes abdicated his governance? Hang on, lets remind ourselves of where we left off: The antibiotics brigade returned to the prison with the anti-flu medication just in time to save Glenn. It was too late for Caleb, Mr. Jacobs, Henry the Intubated Patient, and assorted other red-shirts. Rick and Carl mowed down a sea of zombies once the walkers breached their security perimeter. (Although if they had that much ammo and those assault rifles, why didnt they just take out the zombies BEFORE the undead surged through the fence? Just wondering). Hershel became a superhero and all sorts of a bad-ass. Daryl wanted to know what happened to Carol. And our old nemesis, The Governor , spied on the prison once again. Nine Walking Dead Villains Were Dying to See Onwards! Tonights edition of zombie-time is a stand-alone episode starrin...

It may technically be summer until September 21st, but as far as Hollywood is concerned the season ended on Labor Day Weekend. According to their calendar, it also began in early May when X-Men: Apocalypse hit theaters. It was a time of sequels, reboots, retreads and even a tiny, tiny handful of original movies. Some of them were watchable, but most were pretty horrid. Now we have a question for you: What was the worst movie of the summer? Feel free to vote for a disappointing sequel like Independence Day 2: Resurgence and Now You See Me 2 , an underwhelming reboot like Ghostbusters and The Legend of Tarzan or a comic book flick Suicide Squad and X-Men: Apocalypse . Any movie counts as long as it came out sometime between May and Labor Day. Please only vote once and only for as single movie. You can vote on Facebook.com/RollingStone or on Twitter with the hashtag #WeekendRock.

With summer nearly in the rear-view,Peter Travers has surveyed the five best and worst films ofthe season from Oscar-worthy, post-apocalyptic action ( Mad Max: Fury Road ) to, well, Adam Sandlers reliably unwatchable attempts at comedy ( Pixels ). Rolling Stone s critic wields the dreaded Scum Bucket to open the clip, tossing in the awkward, Owen Wilsonstarring thriller No Escape . (I havent seen a mix of suspense and stereotypes this bad since Michael Bay was a pup, Travers cracks.) He follows with the garbage futuristic thriller Hitman: Agent 47 and the fumbling action-comedy American Ultra , which wastes its excellent leads Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart on a tired script. At Number Two is the aforementioned Pixels , which finds Adam Sandler just going for a record every time he makes a movie, its horrible. But even that dud cant match the scumminess of the rebooted superhero bomb Fantastic Four :I know they just did this eight years ago and it wasnt good, Travers says, but n...

The CW will launch their own singing competition show later this year featuring Gloria Estefan and John Rich as mentors. The program, tentatively titled The Star Next Door , will be produced by Queen Latifah and Dave Broome, the creator of The Biggest Loser on NBC. The network has ordered 10 episodes of the series for the summer season. The Star Next Door will slightly tweak the formula of other popular singing competitions by placing an emphasis on the home towns of contestants. The show will begin with a nationwide talent search, and then the mentors will head to the top singers homes and immerse themselves in the local culture. Photos: Random Notes The CW has not yet announced the shows full panel of mentors, or whether the show will feature a host, like American Idol and The X Factor .

Natalie Portman plays an eccentric pop star navigating the comeback trail in the mesmerizing new trailer for Vox Lux . The film will open in New York and Los Angeles December 7th, with a wider release scheduled for December 14th. The Brady Corbet-directed film tells the story of Celeste, a young woman who survives a violent tragedy then rises to pop superstardom after singing at a memorial service. Raffey Cassidy portrays the younger Celeste, while Portman takes over the role when Celeste is older, prepping a new album and attempting to reclaim her place at the top after a devastating scandal. The Vox Lux trailer captures the films surreal, borderline science fictioni edge, though its also cut with moments of dark humor. Portmans Celeste swings wildly between a pop demi-god who performs for millions on stage, a self-absorbed iconoclast who throws temper tantrums backstage and a mother doing her best to raise her daughter. 'Lucy in the Sky' Review: The Portman Who Fell to EarthW...

UPDATE: Borg/McEnroe , a new film about the storied rivalry between tennis stars Bjrn Borg and John McEnroe starring Shia LaBeouf as McEnroe, will open the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7th. New biopics on the creator of Wonder Woman and disgraced Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding, as well as a comedy crime caper from George Clooney, are among the films set to premiere at the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival. The festival will take place September 7th to 17th. Other films set to feature at the annual festival include the latest from Darren Aronofskys mother!, starring Jennifer Lawrence; Emma Stone and Steve Carells true-story tennis flick Battle of the Sexes ; and Guillermo del Toros Cold War thriller The Shape of Water. Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman will make its world premiere at TIFF and arrives on the heels of D.C. Comics massive Wonder Woman film. Luke Evans stars as William Moulton Marston, the progressive, feminist psychologist who created...

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins will portray Iggy Pop in the forthcoming film CBGB , the Hollywood Reporter confirms. This will be Hawkins first significant acting role, though he has had comedic roles in a handful of Foo Fighters videos. Its unclear how substantial the role will be theres a good chance that its a small part and Hawkins was cast in part because he somewhat resembles the Stooges rocker in his prime. Other parts in the film have been cast as well, including The Borgias actress Mickey Sumner as Patti Smith, The Big Bang Theory star Johnny Galecki as Television manager Terry Ork, Malin Akerman as Blondie singer Debbie Harry and Rupert Grint as Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome. Alan Rickman will star as Hilly Kristal, the owner of the famous punk rock hot spot.

How do you follow up a record-breaking blockbuster about a killer shark? For starters, you get out of the ocean. And then maybe you look up. A longtime watcher of the skies, young Steven Spielberg had already been kicking around an idea involving alien visitation, spacecraft sightings and government cover-ups some sort of story, in the gentlemans own words, about UFOs and Watergate before he had started turning Peter Benchleys novel Jaws into a movie. One three-men-and-an-apex-predator hit later, he was a hot Hollywood director who had folks ready to sign on for whatever he did next. That included Columbia Pictures, as well as Taxi Driver producers Michael and Julia Phillips, who gamely took the directors extraterrestrial-visitors story and got him a greenlight. The result both delighted his patrons Fox had opened a space opera earlier that year, hence the company was thrilled to have their own science fiction movie on deck and worried them, given this expensive project was suppo...

The ballsiest thing Chris Rock does as director-producer, co-writer and star of this middling romantic comedy is to base it on Eric Rohmers Chloe in the Afternoon , a moral tale that filled art houses with appreciative snobs in 1972. Rock could never match the auteurs filmmaking delicacy or the rep he built as an editor at Cahiers du cinema . But you can bet that Rock has Rohmer beat for belly laughs. Just not here. In I Think I Love My Wife , Rock tamps down his natural exuberance to play Richard Cooper, a workaholic suit and family man feeling the itch of his seven-year marriage to Brenda (Gina Torres). Translation: Hes not getting any. Brendas excuses range from My face hurts to Its not your birthday. Thats when Nikki (Kerry Washington), a bombshell from his past, re-enters his life with enough come-on carnality to singe his eyebrows. In Rohmer style, he contemplates infidelity. Not in Rohmer style, he pops Viagra and gets a hard-on so huge that medics have to nick his pole with a n...

Princess Leias infamouslyimpractical golden bikini, worn while Jabba the Hutt enslaved the princess at the beginning of Return of the Jedi , is one of over 50 Star Wars lots set to sell at an upcoming auction hosted by Profiles in History. The costume, designed by Richard Miller, is expected to fetch between $80,000 to $120,000, and is billed as part of the most important and complete compilation of original Star Wars pieces to have survived production in private hands. The wares included in the lot were used on set, though the costume seen in the movie was a resized version made to account for actress Carrie Fishers weight loss while shooting. The lot also includes various alternate iterations of the costume nixed by George Lucas, as well as several design and paint studies, and a letter of authentication signed by Miller.Its every schoolboys fantasy but its also a very signature, iconic piece, Brian Chanes, consignment manager at Profiles in History, told The New York Post . 30 Best...

Al Pacino is the life of the party as Danny Collins, an aging rock icon still making bank from oldies concerts. But Danny is sick of it. His manager (a priceless Christopher Plummer) unwittingly kills the golden goose when he gives Danny a gift. Its an undelivered 1971 letter to Danny from John Lennon, in which the former Beatle invited Danny to discuss career choices. The films catalyst is a real letter Lennon sent to British musician Steve Tilston, who worried about the corrupting influence of fame. The letter is as far as screenwriter and debuting director Dan Fogelman sticks to the facts. A playful screen credit reads, Kind of based on a true story a little bit. My guess is youll be having too much fun to care. Fogelman, whose scripts range from Crazy Stupid Love to Last Vegas, is hardly allergic to formula or sentimentality. The Lennon letter changes Danny. He vows to quit touring and write the kind of music he thinks Lennon would have encouraged. So Danny flies to New Jersey, ch...

T he man is sitting, cross-legged, in his dressing room. Its a shot youve seen before in movies about actors and the theater the star performer in repose, waiting to go onstage. Except this time, the guy waiting to tread the boards iswait, is he levitating?!? Later, well see this same gent a movie star named Riggan Thomson, best known for playing a feathered superhero named Birdman in a series of blockbusters moving objects with his mind and flying throughout New York City. (The fact that Thomson is played by Michael Im Batman Keaton adds on a whole other layer of meta.) Thomson has fallen on hard times, it seems, since leaving the franchise. So hes come to Broadway to stage a theatrical production based on Raymond Carvers bleak short story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. His costumed alter ego, however, keeps popping up to talk trash and undermine his efforts. Did we mention that a giant, screeching metal eagle also shows up? And that the movie youre watching is essenti...