Movies

In the mid-1960s, photojournalist Danny Lyon embedded himself with the Outlaws Motorcycle Club in the suburbs of Chicago, snapping portraits and candid photographs while interviewing members of the Outlaws. The result was a photo book called “The Bikeriders,” published in 1968, that serves as the inspiration for Jeff Nichols’ latest film of the same name, a meditation on midcentury motorcycle life, the birthplace of a certain kind of cool.

If ever there was a click-bait title for a film, “How to Rob a Bank” is it.

On a bright June afternoon in the San Fernando Valley, the summer's unlikeliest action hero sits down at a small dining table in the tidy ground-floor apartment that she shares with two cats. Offering her guest a plate of cookies, June Squibb explains that she previously lived for two decades in a different apartment on the second floor, but three years ago her son Harry insisted she move down to this unit so she wouldn't have to navigate stairs every day. "He was right — moving down here was the best thing I could have done," she says.

One of the basic rules of newswriting says you don’t begin a story with a question lede. But I have to ask: When did Glen Powell become an in-demand movie star?

The films of Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson are rare cinematic gems: simple but deeply felt portraits of people trying to do right by themselves and finding profound connections with others and within themselves along the way. The Chicago-based filmmakers and life partners made their feature debut in 2020 with “Saint Frances,” written by and starring O’Sullivan, directed by Thompson, about an aimless 30-something finding a friend in the 6-year-old she’s nannying. Their second feature is “Ghostlight,” which they co-directed from a script by O’Sullivan, a similarly small-scale indie family drama with a huge heart that fearlessly tackles the kind of big feelings that can seem impossible to manage.

In “Inside Out 2,” everything is upended by puberty’s surprising arrival, along with a group of new, more complex emotions. HQ is demolished to make room for Envy, Ennui, Embarrassment and the new emotion in charge, Anxiety.

Some spell-binding news is in the air as Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman circle the recently announced “Practical Magic” sequel.

Jon Cryer and Andrew McCarthy did not shy away from discussing the longtime animosity that came along with the glaring spotlight of being young Brat Pack actors. And the two recently shared how they finally buried the hatchet as adults.

Two years after his infamous Oscars meltdown, Will Smith has slapped away lingering doubts about his career comeback. A rare bright spot in the sluggish summer box office, the action-comedy “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” — co-starring Martin Lawrence — opened at the top of the box office charts this weekend with $56 million in domestic ticket sales and $104.6 million globally.  

At Whitney Houston's 2012 funeral, which was broadcast live on CNN, Kevin Costner delivered a 17-minute eulogy. But if the network had had its way, his remarks would have run much shorter, the "Yellowstone" actor says.

The first “Bad Boys” came out in 1995, which means we’re officially entering the “aging action star” territory with this franchise. The fourth installment, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” is directed by the up-and-coming action filmmaking team Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, known as Adil & Bilall, who took over directing duties from Michael Bay with 2020’s “Bad Boys for Life.”

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy says there’s a gender disparity in the “Star Wars” universe. In an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday about the latest installment in the franchise, showrunner Leslye Headland’s Disney+ series “The Acolyte,” Kennedy said women tend to “struggle” due to the space saga’s male-dominated fandom.

Jeremy Renner has found his first movie role since his nearly fatal snowplow accident. Renner is the latest star to join Rian Johnson’s new “Knives Out” film, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” a Netflix representative confirmed Thursday to The Times.

On Saturday, Brickwest will be holding its first annual all-day music festival, Brickfest. The event is free to the public and will run from 2-10 p.m. in the West End Plaza, featuring 10 bands on two stages.

Director Tony Goldwyn opens his family dramedy “Ezra” in the warm, collegial comfort of a comedy club. Max (Bobby Cannavale) perches on a stool, a handheld camera drifting closer and closer as he tells jokes about his life, including his autistic son, layering truths with punchlines, walking a tight-rope of tones. It’s an invitation from Goldwyn, and screenwriter Tony Spiridakis, to sit down and listen awhile as they unfurl this heartfelt, humorous and sometimes harrowing yarn.

With summer movie season already in full-swing, thanks to “The Fall Guy,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” and “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” bringing big-screen spectacle to theaters, it’s also a time to look back on the best films from the first half of the year and catch up with some of the titles that you may have missed.

Based on previous roles, viewers might expect that Chris Hemsworth plays a heroic character in "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." He very much does not. He's pretty much the anti-"Thor." Taylor Swift could practically be singing about his Dr. Dementus in "Anti-Hero": It's him. Hi. He's the problem. It's him.

It would be a challenging undertaking for any filmmaker to attempt to represent the outsize talent, unique style and utterly devastating downfall of soul singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse in biopic form. It’s a thankless task for any actor too. To quote one of Winehouse’s most poignant ballads, the endeavor is “a losing game” before it even starts.

There’s an existential question at the heart of writer/director John Krasinski’s new kid-friendly semi-animated movie “IF.” It’s a simple query, but it speaks to the limitless potential of a child’s imagination, and it gets asked again and again: “what if?”