Category Archives: Film

Bruce Willis’ dementia diagnosis: ‘language is going’, says actor’s wife

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Emma Heming Willis recalls the actor’s ‘alarming and scary’ early symptoms and says his family has ‘learned to adapt’ as his brain ‘is failing’ amid ‘really great health overall’

Bruce Willis’s brain is “failing him” and his “language is going”, his wife, Emma Heming Willis, has revealed, more than two years since the actor was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

“Bruce is still very mobile. Bruce is in really great health overall, you know,” Heming Willis told Diane Sawyer in an ABC special on Tuesday. “It’s just his brain that is failing him. The language is going. We’ve learned to adapt and we have a way of communicating with him, which is just a different way.”

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The French film star, the fake Irish aristocrat and the missing €7m

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Trial to open in Nice of Thierry Fialek-Birles, accused of an ‘elaborate fraud’ against the actor and director Dany Boon

One of France’s most popular actors will have a starring role in court when a fake Irish aristocrat goes on trial accused of cheating him out of millions of euros.

Dany Boon, director and star of Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (Welcome to the Sticks), France’s biggest box office hit, says an alleged conman, who claimed to be an Oxford-educated maritime lawyer, stole nearly €7m (£6m) from him as part of an elaborate scam.

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Woody Allen rebuts Ukrainian condemnation over Moscow film festival appearance

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The director said he did not ‘feel cutting off artistic conversations is ever a good way to help’ after Ukraine calls the film-maker’s participation a ‘disgrace’

Woody Allen has denied claims that his participation in a Moscow film festival was “whitewashing” Russian atrocities, after condemnation of his appearance by Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs.

Allen said in a statement to the Guardian: “When it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, I believe strongly that Vladimir Putin is totally in the wrong. The war he has caused is appalling. But, whatever politicians have done, I don’t feel cutting off artistic conversations is ever a good way to help.”

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Jerry Adler, actor in The Sopranos and The Good Wife, dies aged 96

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Adler was involved behind the scenes of storied Broadway productions before finding acting success in his 60s

Jerry Adler, who spent decades behind the scenes of storied Broadway productions before pivoting to acting in his 60s, has died aged 96.

Adler died on Saturday, according to a brief family announcement confirmed by the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York. Adler “passed peacefully in his sleep”, Paradigm Talent Agency’s Sarah Shulman said on behalf of his family. No immediate cause was given.

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Composer John Williams says he ‘never liked film music very much’

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Exclusive: The creator of some of cinema’s most memorable music says it pales in comparison to the great works

As one of the greatest composers in film, John Williams has written some of the most memorable music in cinema for masterpieces such as Jaws, Jurassic Park and Star Wars.

But despite winning five Oscars, the 93-year-old believes that, as an art form, film music pales in comparison to history’s great works.

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Terence Stamp: the mesmerisingly seductive dark prince of British cinema

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Stamp had charisma and star power like no other. Fierce and beautiful in his youth, his screen presence evolved into something more elegant and enduring as the swinging 60s faded from view

“A stranger arrives, makes love to everyone and then leaves,” said Pier Paolo Pasolini to Terence Stamp, outlining the plot of his 1968 classic Theorem. “That’s your part.” Stamp exclaimed: “I can play that.” It was the role that the man was born to play and would play, with subtle variations, throughout his career.

From his first appearance as the eerily beautiful sailor in 1962’s Billy Budd through to his last manifestation as “the silver-haired gentleman” in Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho, Stamp remained a brilliantly, mesmerisingly unknowable presence. He was the seductive dark prince of British cinema, an actor who carried an air of elegant mystery. “As a boy I always believed I could make myself invisible,” he once said. He showed up and made magic, but he never stuck around for as long as we wanted.

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Brad Pitt break-in linked to gang targeting celebrities, Los Angeles police say

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Four teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of committing burglaries at the homes of several prominent residents, according to LA police

Los Angeles police have formally linked a break-in at Brad Pitt’s home in the city in June to a string of other burglaries at properties belonging to celebrities.

Los Angeles police chief Jim McDonnell announced the arrest of four suspects, saying they were a a crew that were committing burglaries at the homes of “various high-profile residents” throughout the city, adding that “some of the burglaries included homes of actors and professional athletes”.

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Former Superman actor Dean Cain reveals he’s becoming an Ice agent to support Trump’s mass deportation agenda

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The actor will be sworn in ‘ASAP’ amid the federal agency’s recruitment drive and unprecedented immigration raids that have sparked protest across the US

Former Superman actor Dean Cain has announced he has signed up to join Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), in order to support US president Donald Trump’s anti-immigration agenda.

The federal law enforcement agency has aggressively ramped up immigration raids since Trump’s return to the White House and was recently awarded $75bn in extra funding as part of his “big beautiful bill”, which includes billions for hiring an additional 10,000 Ice agents by 2029.

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Christopher Nolan criticised for filming in occupied Western Sahara city

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Organisers of local film festival warn production of The Odyssey in Dakhla could normalise repression by Morocco

The organisers of the Western Sahara international film festival (FiSahara) have criticised Christopher Nolan for shooting part of his adaptation of the Odyssey in a Western Saharan city that has been under Moroccan occupation for 50 years, warning the move could serve to normalise decades of repression.

The British-American film-maker’s take on Homer’s epic, which stars Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o and Anne Hathaway, is due to be released on 17 July 2026.

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Australian actor Rebel Wilson sued by production company behind her own film

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UK-based AI Film has accused the actor of deliberately sabotaging The Deb’s release by making alleged threats and defamatory claims

The legal drama surrounding The Deb, Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut, has made landfall in Australia, with one of the production companies behind the venture filing a lawsuit against Wilson in the New South Wales supreme court this week.

UK-based AI Film, represented by Australian legal firm Giles George and high-profile barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC, accused the Pitch Perfect Australian actor of deliberately sabotaging the film’s release, alleging threats and defamatory claims had caused the production company financial and reputational damage.

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Fiddle-laden fake trailer reignites debate about Hollywood’s Irish stereotypes

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Clip turned out to be a stunt, but strength of reaction speaks to genuine affront at Ireland’s portrayal on big screen

A man in a bar with a flat cap, bloodied knuckles and a dreamy look lays down his whiskey and writes a letter. “Dear Erin,” he begins, and a soundtrack of fiddles swells as he yearns for his lost love in the distant land of America.

The trailer for the upcoming film – tagline: “she was the Irish goodbye he never forgot” – ran in recent weeks in cinemas and online and was accompanied by a poster showing green mountains, shamrocks and a rainbow.

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Toronto film festival: Angelina Jolie, Saoirse Ronan and Keanu Reeves lead lineup

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The 50th edition of the Canadian film festival will also feature world premieres starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Sydney Sweeney and Matthew McConaughey

World premieres starring Angelina Jolie, Saoirse Ronan and Keanu Reeves lead this year’s lineup for the Toronto film festival.

The 50th edition of the festival will again feature a string of films hoping to gain awards traction, taking place after the Venice film festival.

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First tickets to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey sell out – a year before its 2026 release

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The blockbuster adaptation of Homer’s epic has not finished filming and has no official runtime. But super fans – and scalpers – already have seats

The first tickets to Christopher Nolan’s take on Homer’s Odyssey have gone on sale – before he’s even finished filming it and a year before the film is even out, in what is likely the longest pre-sale in cinematic history.

The Odyssey, which stars Matt Damon as the cunning Odysseus as he fights his way home after the end of the Trojan war, will be released on 17 July 2026. But on Thursday, Imax released tickets to the first screenings at the 26 Imax cinemas around the world that have the staff and equipment required to project in 1570 format.

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Indian film board criticised for cutting ‘overly sensual’ Superman kisses

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Viewers complain that board allows violence and misogyny in Indian films but not a smooch in a Hollywood release

As Indian cinemagoers watched the latest Superman film, many noticed something was amiss. On two occasions as the superhero leaned in for a kiss with Lois Lane, the film suddenly jumped forward, cutting to the aftermath of an embrace.

India’s censor board had deemed the kissing scenes, including a 33-second smooch, to be “overly sensual” for Indian audiences and demanded they be cut from the film before its cinematic release.

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Rosie O’Donnell dismisses Trump’s threat to revoke her US citizenship

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Actor says she is latest in long list of artists, activists and celebrities to be threatened by US president

Rosie O’Donnell has shrugged off a threat from Donald Trump to revoke her US citizenship on the grounds that she is “a threat to humanity”.

The New York-born actor and comedian said on Sunday that she was the latest in a long list of artists, activists and celebrities to be threatened by the US president.

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Michael Madsen, star of Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill and Donnie Brasco, dies aged 67

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The actor, best known for his collaborations with Quentin Tarantino, was found unresponsive in Los Angeles

The actor Michael Madsen has died aged 67 at his home in Malibu, according to authorities and his representatives. No foul play is suspected, the sheriff’s department confirmed, after deputies responded to the Los Angeles county home following a call to the emergency services on Thursday morning.

He was pronounced dead at 8.25am. In an email, Madsen’s manager, Ron Smith, confirmed his client had died from cardiac arrest.

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California legislature acts to keep film and TV production at home

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Legislation will more than double current tax incentives under larger bill slated to be signed by Gavin Newsom

Hollywood’s home state of California will more than double annual tax incentives for film and television production to $750m under a measure passed by the Democratic-led legislature on Friday.

The increase from the current $330m was approved as part of a broader tax bill that is expected to be signed into law by California’s governor, Gavin Newsom.

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Home owned by Brad Pitt broken into in Los Angeles

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LA police say suspects broke in through the front window, ransacked the home and fled with property

Police are investigating a break-in at a home reportedly owned by Brad Pitt, who has been on a globe-spanning promo tour for his new movie, F1, after three people allegedly “ransacked” the property.

The Los Angeles police department confirmed they responded to a break-in Wednesday night at a house on the 2300 block of North Edgemont Street in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.

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Lalo Schifrin, composer of Mission: Impossible theme and more than 100 film and TV scores, dies aged 93

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The Argentinian composer also wrote the scores for Cool Hand Luke and Dirty Harry, and wrote one of the biggest-selling works in the history of classical music

Lalo Schifrin, the composer who wrote the endlessly catchy theme for Mission: Impossible and more than 100 other arrangements for film and television, has died aged 93.

Schifrin’s sons, William and Ryan, confirmed the composer died on Thursday of complications from pneumonia.

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Al Pacino on how he got his Modigliani film off the ground after 30 years

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Exclusive: Actor talks of difficulties of getting ‘art film’ made about tortured artist, played by Riccardo Scamarcio

He is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, having made his name in the 1970s gangster classic The Godfather. Yet, despite his fame and Oscars recognition, Al Pacino struggled for 30 years to make a movie about one of the 20th century’s greatest artists because “art films” are “always difficult to get off the ground”.

He refused to give up on a drama about Amedeo Modigliani, a tortured genius who faced repeated rejection before his life was cut short in 1920 by tubercular meningitis, aged 35.

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