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Wednesday, May 8

21

Critic’s Notebook: Everything to Know Behind the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar Rap War of Words

When wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Shawn “Heartbreak Kid” Michaels takes to social media and invites you to settle your rap rivalry in the squared circle — or Saturday Night Live takes a deep dive with a sketch — you know your…

Wednesday, May 1

Sheryl Crow on AI in Music: “Congress Needs to Act Now” (Guest Column)

I am not a scientist. I am an artist. I cannot begin to spout scientific data on what we will become once artificial intelligence outsmarts us. I can read the predictions of how our workforce will be replaced by AI. I can read the warnings…

Monday, Apr 29

20

Anita Hill on Harvey Weinstein Reversal: “Our Movement Will Persist”

This week’s reversal of Harvey Weinstein’s conviction sent shockwaves through survivor communities. It’s grossly ironic, if not outright cynical, that the release comes during Sexual Assault Awareness Month; it says volumes about the…

Thursday, Apr 11

22

NAACP Reacts to ‘Good Times’ Trailer: “Choices Were Made and Approved” (Guest Column)

Shortly after Netflix released the trailer for its new adult animated series Good Times two weeks ago, our office started receiving calls and emails. Inspired by the iconic live-action sitcom of the 1970s, the new show’s use of the beloved…

Sunday, Feb 18

20

Guest Essay: J. Robert Oppenheimer Biographer on the Nearly Impossible Adaptation

Back in September 2021, a friend sent me a paragraph-long notice in a magazine, reporting that Hollywood director Christopher Nolan was working on a film about J. Robert Oppenheimer. This was disturbing news to me, a co-author of American…

Friday, Feb 9

00

The “Brute Math” Behind Hollywood’s Outsized Role in Shaping Perceptions of Muslims and Jews in America (Guest Column)

As we enter the heart of Hollywood awards season, there are signs everywhere of both how far the entertainment industry has come in telling the whole American story — and just how far it has left to go. Last month, events during the…

Friday, Jan 12

21

A Little Barbie Could Take Nikki Haley All the Way to the White House (Guest Column)

Though Margot Robbie’s delightful tributes to Barbie on the red carpet have become a fun staple this season, seeing a possible homage to Barbie on a presidential debate stage this year was definitely a surprise. During the final, pivotal…

Friday, Jan 5

16

AI Threats Emerge In Music Publishers’ Battle With Big Tech (Guest Column)

The threat of artificial intelligence to creators, and its value to big tech, is one of the most pressing concerns in the legal and music fields. Current litigation will ultimately shape how AI will be developed and implemented across…

02

It’s Time for Hollywood to Step Up and Fight Antisemitism, Israeli-American ‘Outpost’ Filmmaker Argues (Guest Column)

When we woke up on October 7 to the stories of the barbarity of Hamas, when we heard about the hostages, when we saw the footage of the obliterated homes on various kibbutzim, when we were told the massive death toll and saw kidnappings…

Thursday, Jan 4

22

‘Creed III’: When Michael B. Jordan Stepped Into the Directorial Ring (Guest Column)

I joined Outlier Society as president and became Michael B. Jordan’s producing partner after serving as president of production at Paramount Pictures. When I arrived at Outlier, the Creed III team was already in development on the script…

Friday, Dec 29

20

How the Smothers Brothers Embraced the Counterculture, Defeated the Censors and Set the Stage for ‘Saturday Night Live’

In 2017, The Hollywood Reporter gave me the opportunity to write an oral history about a passion of mine, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, the groundbreaking variety program anchored by Tommy Smothers, who died Tuesday at age 86, and his…

17

Remembering Laurie Frank, the Creative and Social Force Whose Love for L.A. Went Unrivaled

If you knew Laurie Frank — and who didn’t? — you know her great heart burst skyward on Nov. 30. Hours earlier, a technicolor rainbow appeared over the Hollywood Hills, Laurie’s Promised Land. You likely knew she was in the first class at…

Thursday, Dec 28

20

How Multiple Shows This Season Offered Insight Into the Isolation and Insulation of Fame

Early in the final season of The Other Two, Cary Dubek (Drew Tarver) shows up at the distant and dingy offices of a Brooklyn-based burrito review website ready to do some press for his straight-to-VOD indie movie — only to discover what…

Wednesday, Dec 27

22

‘Birds of Prey,’ ‘Transformers,’ ‘I Am Stan’ and More: Heat Vision’s Best Comics of 2023

After a brief explosion during the pandemic, the comics industry is undergoing an existential crisis. It faces tumultuous sales at local comic shops, and the creative malaise audiences felt this year in the superhero movie genre is well…

16

A Big Year for Labor, But Not for Reality TV Workers

Of the many narratives that were sparked by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes this year, one idea briefly lit up headlines over the summer: Could the reality TV industry take a step closer to unionization? After many past…

Saturday, Dec 23

19

Was This Hollywood’s Worst Year Ever?

A favorite parlor game for film buffs is to pick Hollywood’s greatest year and then argue. The obvious answer — 1939, the certified Golden Year — always gets the most votes, but a few eccentrics make the case for a dark horse. 1928 was…

Friday, Dec 22

21

Goodbye DC Extended Universe: We Hardly Knew You (Yet We Knew You Too Well)

In December 2018, Aquaman arrived with the amount of fanfare appropriate for the moment. It was the height of comic book culture, and one of its reigning kings, Jason Momoa, arrived at the movie’s blue carpet premiere with a golden trident…

Tuesday, Dec 19

20

10 Arts and Culture Favorites From 2023

A charming South London rom-com, a retrospective of an African cinema giant and a handful of plays about death and illness are among picks by THR’s arts and culture critic.

Friday, Dec 15

18

GLAAD CEO: Why ‘Fellow Travelers’ Checks “Coveted and Rare Boxes” With LGBTQ Storytelling (Guest Column)

Every so often, a series comes along that changes the game for the LGBTQ community and educates the masses about who we are and the discrimination we too often face. Whether a series brings Black transgender women to the forefront of the…

Thursday, Dec 14

20

Remembering Andre Braugher and Norman Lear: “Together They Could’ve Created a Hell of a Sitcom”

It’s rare that you get to work with legends. Rarer still that they live up to the title. So how lucky am I to have worked with two such people? I’ve been thinking a lot about Norman Lear and Andre Braugher since their sudden passing, and…

Wednesday, Dec 13

06

Critic’s Appreciation: Andre Braugher Was an Intensely Dramatic, Intensely Funny Actor’s Actor

From 'Homicide: Life on the Street' to 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine,' the unexpected arc of Braugher's career was a testament to the rare breadth of his talent.

Monday, Dec 11

23

“My Second Father”: Rob Reiner Remembers Norman Lear

I was about 8 years old when I first met Norman Lear. My dad, Carl Reiner, was working on Sid Caesar’s Show of Shows and Norman was writing for Colgate Comedy Hour, so they were both in New York. In those days, it was a small world of…

21

Seven Lessons From the New Golden Globe Awards Voters’ First Nominations

Nominations for the 2024 Golden Globe Awards were announced Monday morning. And beneath the headlines hyping Barbie and Succession’s dominance among the competing works in film and TV, respectively, there’s a bit more to unpack about this…

18

Golden Globes Film Noms Analysis: The Awards Group Is Said to Be Improved; Its Nominees Certainly Are

The first Golden Globe Award nominations issued by the new Golden Globes organization — an overhaul of the late Hollywood Foreign Press Association, with a lot of new members, new rules and a new broadcasting partner in CBS — were issued…

Thursday, Dec 7

16

A TV News Reporter on Israel-Hamas Fog of War, Truth and Combating Conspiracies (Guest Column)

More than 60 days into the war, it’s hard to pinpoint a single moment that stands out. The coverage has been a series of moments. Many horrifying, sad, scary and unpredictable. Every day reporters on the ground — I’ve been in Israel…

Monday, Dec 4

23

Hollywood Rabbis Prepare for Fraught Hanukkah: “This Is the First Time I’ve Seen People Really Afraid”

The entertainment industry’s rabbis say that in the eight weeks since Oct. 7 — a horrific chapter in Jewish history encompassing Hamas’ massacre, Israel’s ensuing Gaza invasion and the worldwide response to it all — their congregations…

Friday, Dec 1

01

Why This Year’s Other Critically Acclaimed Movie Starring Lily Gladstone Hasn’t Been Picked Up (Guest Column)

As Indigenous woman filmmakers, we knew that our path through the industry would be narrow and that our film, Fancy Dance, would have a small window for success based on the abysmal record of representation for Indigenous folx in Hollywood…

Saturday, Nov 11

17

If Other Executives Trolled Critics Like Casey Bloys…

How intense is the pressure of being CEO of HBO? You’re constantly calling Kim Cattrall, enduring the other execs at Craig’s passive aggressively asking how “Max” is going, and ever since his show ended, dealing with John Wilson filming…

Friday, Nov 10

16

A Wholly Serious and Non-Exhaustive List of 74 Things Hollywood Needs to Ensure a Viable Future (Guest Column)

The Black List founder Franklin Leonard unveils his modest proposal(s) for the industry to help itself.

Wednesday, Nov 1

19

“Like When a Beatle Dies”: Hollywood Unpacks Why Matthew Perry’s Loss Feels So Massive

I watched Friends when it originally aired. I was in college in the 1990s, when the sitcom launched and became a cultural phenomenon. I carved Thursday nights out of my calendar, reserving the 8 p.m. hour for my Friends obsession, refusing…