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"I'm done." So said Charlton Heston, the stoic but exhausted hero of the 1973 futurist thriller Soylent Green. The movie's message: Society will self-destruct in the year 2022 even as rigid rules and secret efficiencies are imposed to cope with disease and food shortages. As we launch into Year 3 of the pandemic…

I wish all these unhinged movies would quit coming true. Escape From New York. Escape From L.A. Being There. I Am Legend. You name it. Somebody shoots a whacko/dystopian/dysfunctional fantasy. Eventually, we all end up living it. At the moment, I'm living Brazil—bureaucratic dysfunction. My wife and I bought out a…

Doh! In a classic case of life imitating art, the recent White House video narrated by Tom Hanks promoting the achievements of the Biden administration has a parallel: a scene from the 2007 comedy adventure film The Simpsons Movie. In the 2007 version, a cartoon Hanks is shown saying, “Hello, I’m Tom Hanks. The US…

Bill Maher's Real Time was back on HBO Friday night, returning from its winter break as the host told his studio audience that it was "wonderful to see your beautiful masks again." That was the theme for most of the show, as Maher and guests looked back on things that happened in the long stretch between his last show…

John Stamos has published his eulogy to Full House costar Bob Saget, noting how “Bob was there for me like no other.” Saget died unexpectedly on Jan. 9 in a Orlando hotel room after a final stand-up comedy show. His private funeral was held a week later in Los Angeles. Stamos published his funeral speech in the Lo…

Editors note: On the commemoration of what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s 93rd birthday, multi-platform company Macro founder Charles D. King today takes a big picture look at an American icon and his influence in a guest column for Deadline. *** The significance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday in…

The reeling Los Angeles Lakers received a blast from the past on Saturday night. Lakers legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson blistered the team in a Twitter post following a 37-point loss to the Denver Nuggets. "We as Lakers fans can accept being outplayed, but we deserve more than a lack of effort and no sense of urgency," J…

Dave Chappelle regrets that he missed his last chance to speak with Bob Saget. During a Thursday night comedy set at the Peppermint Club in West Hollywood, Chappelle spoke about how he missed a final text from Saget. "Tomorrow I'm going to go lay my comrade to rest," Chappelle said, according to video footage…

Kanye West may be seeing someone else, but he’s apparently on the lookout for comedian/actor and King of Staten Island Pete Davidson, who is dating West’s estranged wife, Kim Kardashian. West, who recently changed his name to “Ye,” rapped in a teaser for a new song, "God saved me from that crash/ just so I can beat…

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit. This week, interviews with Amy Pascal, Daniel Craig and Cary Joji Fukunaga on finding elusive Oscar love for the two buzziest blockbusters of the year, plus why Oscar screenplay frontrunners aren’t eligible for the WGA Awards, and why March is…

A pained observation: The only intriguing stories on Hollywood this week consisted of obits – all kinds of obits. There were obits reminding us of the remarkable lives of Sidney Poitier, Peter Bogdanovich and Betty White. Also speculative obits about the Golden Globes, sentimental obits about the extinct 20th Century…

Not so long ago, it looked as if the movies had firmly embraced topicality. Digital technology had radically shortened the production cycle. Ferociously reportorial writers and/or directors like Mark Boal, Aaron Sorkin and Oliver Stone were speeding toward the screen with timely, “ripped-from-the-headlines” films like…