Gene Hackman, a celebrated actor whose death at 95 was announced on Thursday, stood out in Hollywood for his ability not to stand out. Not until he was 42 did he make his star turn, winning the Oscar for best actor for playing a gruff narcotics detective in “The French Connection.” But at that point … Read more
Tributes for the actor Gene Hackman, who was found dead on Wednesday at the age of 95 at his home in Santa Fe, N.M., with his wife and one of their dogs, streamed in from collaborators and co-stars as the news spread. Hackman, who played flawed Everymen, inflexible patriarchs and inspirational mentors, had decades of … Read more
On Tuesday night, over 100 Oscar nominees gathered at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles for a class photo in the David Geffen Theater. In the upper left corner of the group, seated two rows above Timothée Chalamet, Ralph Fiennes clasped his hands and looked deep in thought, as though he were still pondering matters … Read more
To tell the story of Katharine Graham, who led The Washington Post during a pivotal period for the paper and the nation, the sibling filmmakers George and Teddy Kunhardt use a standard approach, interweaving archival material with talking-head interviews. The result is a conventional documentary, and by all means an admiring one. But her story … Read more
On the face of it, the Russian actor Yura Borisov was an unlikely actor to land an Oscar nomination in 2025. Just a few years ago he played a guileless soldier in a Kremlin-sponsored movie that celebrated a Soviet tank model. Later, he starred in a biopic of Mikhail Kalashnikov, the man who invented the … Read more
The prospect of an animated movie about sloths introduces an invigorating challenge. What’s the best way to spin a comedic children’s story about the slowest-moving mammals on Earth? Sid, the central sloth in the “Ice Age” franchise, is slow of wit but swift in body, while “Zootopia” installed its sloth, Flash, as an unhurried employee … Read more
When you first see Gene Hackman in “The French Connection,” he’s wearing a Santa suit, conversing with a bunch of kids. It’s a jolly image that runs counter to what we’ll soon come to know about Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, the porkpie-hat-wearing detective that became one of Hackman’s most notable roles. The Santa disguise starts to … Read more
The “Steven Soderbergh presents” credit at the start of “Cold Wallet” raises expectations higher than can be sustained. The movie, directed by Cutter Hodierne, is a no-frills crime film that pits a group of wronged investors who trawl Reddit and YouTube for tips against an amoral crypto mogul who has stolen their savings. The matchup … Read more
The premise might sound like a riff on “Collateral,” but “The Accidental Getaway Driver” is no ticking clock thriller. Sing J. Lee’s quiet, big-hearted debut feature is steeped in the sorrow and yearning of its Vietnamese American characters as they work through the lingering trauma of displacement while living in Southern California. One late night … Read more
