Adam Epstein

Stranger Things, an E.T. meets Stand by Me meets Alien mashup of classic 1980s films, wears its pop culture references on its sleeve. Never one for subtlety, the Netflix series literally cast Mikey from The Goonies (Sean Astin) in its second season. So now that it has nearly exhausted the inventory of 1980s sci-fi and coming-of-age tales to use as inspiration, Stranger Things is turning to a comedy icon of the decade: Chevy Chase.

If you’re reading this, you probably didn’t go see Kevin Spacey’s new movie, Billionaire Boys Club, at the theater this weekend.

It’s been five years since the master filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón made a film. That’s too long. But based on the mesmerizing trailer for Roma released today, the wait seems well worth it.

Three months after its films were barred from competing in Cannes, Netflix is getting ready to open the Toronto International Film Festival with what it hopes will be one of several Oscar contenders.

Gandalf the Grey, the wise old wizard in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary fantasy series The Lord of the Rings, knows a thing or two about death. ”Many that live deserve death,” he tells the Hobbit Frodo. “And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them?”

The sun rises in the east, sets in the west, and Riverdale dominates the Teen Choice Awards. Such things are facts and cannot be changed.

Spike Lee’s newest joint, BlacKkKlansman, opens with a scene from another film: Gone with the Wind, the part when Vivien Leigh’s character, Scarlett O’Hara, surveys the massive Confederate casualties following the Battle of Atlanta—a resounding victory for the Union that presaged the surrender of the slave-holding South less than a year later.

Update: The Academy announced Sept. 6 that it will postpone the introduction of the new “popular film” category, admitting that it needed “further discussion with our members” after a fervid, widespread backlash to the initial Aug. 9 announcement. The new award will not be presented at the 2019 Oscars as originally intended as the film Academy “seeks additional input.”

The hit 2006 song “Hey There Delilah” by American rock band Plain White T’s is being adapted into a scripted TV series, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The band and a team of producers are reportedly pitching a romantic comedy based on the song, described as a “contemporary fairy tale,” to networks this month.

Has anyone checked on Laura Ingraham?

One of Hollywood’s favorite places to explore nowadays is the human mind.

On July 28, journalist Jeff Maysh published a report in the Daily Beast on the wild, stranger-than-fiction story of an ex-cop who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game for a decade, building a vast network of co-conspirators across the US.

Hollywood has really gone and done it now.

The makers of Crazy Rich Asians aren’t afraid of a challenge. They’re putting out their film—the first US studio entry with an all-Asian cast in 25 years—with the specific goal of proving to Hollywood that audiences will turn out for an Asian-focused story. And they turned down a whole lot of cash to have the opportunity to prove their point.

Longtime CBS boss Les Moonves has been called out by one of his most important employees. Stephen Colbert, host of CBS’s Late Show and the most prominent public face at the network, said that Moonves—like everyone else credibly accused of sexual harassment—needs to be held accountable for his actions.

The incredible story of Madam C.J. Walker, a black hair care mogul and the first self-made female millionaire in American history, is coming to Netflix, the streaming service has announced. Octavia Spencer, who won an Oscar in 2011 for The Help, will portray Walker.

Netflix is developing a young-adult TV series described as “Lord of the Flies meets Lost,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. Makes sense. The streaming service’s algorithm probably showed that people would binge-watch a show concocted from those two famous stories of survival in the wild. (Lost itself was clearly influenced by Lord of the Flies.)

Mad Max: Fury Road is one of cinema’s great success stories: After a decades-long stay in the depths of development hell (from which few films ever return), the film went on to receive 10 Oscar nominations (winning six), earning raves as one of the best action films of all time. And the accolades keep coming.

Eighth Grade, the directorial debut of young comedian Bo Burnham, isn’t your average teen coming-of-age story. While the film hits the genre’s familiar beats—tension-filled parties, awkward conversations with parents, clashes with “mean girls”—it also operates on a much deeper level. It explores the ailment that’s often responsible for these miserable middle school experiences, and many adult ones too: anxiety.

Shonda Rhimes was already one of the most important creators in American television. Now at Netflix, she wants her “Shondaland” TV empire to expand around the globe and become a cultural staple whose name long outlives her own.

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In 2009, shortly after The Social Network—then known only as “the Facebook movie”—was announced, Mashable ran a story with the headline, “No, You Cannot Turn Facebook into a (Decent) Movie.” Even after it was reported that the brilliant filmmaker David Fincher would direct Aaron Sorkin’s script about Mark Zuckerberg and the early days of Facebook, the Huffington Post published a story proclaiming “The Facebook Movie Puts the zZzZ’s in Zuckerberg.” Some months later, after the film’s cryptic, one-minute teaser trailer hit the internet, the Atlantic remained skeptical, predicting that The Social Network would be “deadly dull.”

From afar, Castle Rock, Maine doesn’t much stand out from other quiet Northeastern US towns. Spooky, stately old homes line its wooded streets. Its downtown area, like that of many American city centers, is being revitalized to drive up sinking real estate values. The one bar in town, the “Mellow Tiger,” probably makes a very mediocre Old Fashioned.

With all eyes on the US Supreme Court following Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, now is a perfect time to drop a trailer for the film about one of his colleagues—and one of the court’s most inspiring justices ever.