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Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor Though his movies have made billions at the box office and he’s been awarded pretty much every major accolade, from the Oscars to the Emmys to a Grammy, Ron Howard has achieved an honor even more rare: He’s maintained his reputation as one of the nicest guys in the business. It’s why the team behind Fox’s animated hit “The Simpsons” got such a kick out of portraying Howard as the ultimate Hollywood stereotype in his several appearances on the show. Howard would show up, often clad in a baseball cap and bathrobe while sipping a martini — even at a movie premiere or going to a special zoo for famous people. (For the record, Howard knew how his cartoon doppelgänger would be drawn: “I was in on the joke,” he assures Variety.)

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor Though many of them weren’t even alive in the 1980s, the cast of “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” said it was a dream come true to recreate the era for their new film. Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, the horror-comedy held its world premiere Thursday night at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica as part of the 2022 Beyond Fest Film Festival. The afterparty was held at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier, where guests could play carnival games and feast on funnel cakes and nachos. Based on Grady Hendrix’s novel with a screenplay by Jenna Lamia, “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” is directed by Damon Thomas and centers on best friends Abby (Elsie Fisher) and Gretchen (Amiah Miller), who are struggling with high school when another challenge is thrown their way — Gretchen begins exhibiting signs of demonic possession. In desperation she turns to Christian Lemon (Christopher Lowell), a wannabe evangelist who tours the mall and local schools preaching the word of God and physical fitness.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor The Newport Beach Film Festival has announced it’s 2022 Festival Honors, which includes Oscar winners Ron Howard and Eddie Redmayne and actors from Jonathan Majors and Patton Oswalt to Keke Palmer and Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly.) The artists will be honored at a brunch in conjunction with Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch taking place on Oct. 16 at Balboa Bay Resort. Howard is receiving the Variety Legends and Groundbreakers Award for his creative leadership. After starting as an actor in such classics as “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Happy Days,” Howard became an Oscar-winning filmmaker whose movies as director include “A Beautiful Mind” and “Apollo 13.” Most recently he directed “Thirteen Lives,” the true story of the rescue of a soccer team and their coach from a cave in Thailand. “Thirteen Lives” is available on Amazon Prime.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor Allison Janney has found that, depending on the person and location, people want to talk to her about different projects. “Sometimes a person will come up to me and I’m sure they’re a ‘West Wing’ person but they say ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’ is their favorite movie,” says the 62-year-old actress. “Or I’ll think they’re about to talk about ‘Mom’ and they saw me in ‘A View from the Bridge’ on Broadway. It’s really fun to have people know all these different things.” Yet after so many iconic roles, Janney is still finding she can do new things on screen. Case in point, her latest movie, “Lou,” now available to stream on Netflix, finds her playing an action hero. Not only that, she’s the film’s lead – something she didn’t realize until an interview with Variety.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor It was near impossible not to fall in love with Kenny Payne from the moment he appeared on Season 4 of “Cobra Kai,” the wildly popular Netflix series set in the universe of “The Karate Kid” movies. On his first day at a new school, he is caught dancing exuberantly as the school bus picks him up — and instantly becomes the target of Anthony LaRusso, the son of Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso. And it’s a testament to actor Dallas Dupree Young that as Kenny changed in Season 4 to the point where he turns the tables on his bully, that audiences are still rooting for him. The 15-year-old Young never intended on becoming an actor — his father is Eric Young Sr., a former Major League Baseball player and current first base coach for the Atlanta Braves, and Young thought he would follow in his father’s footsteps. But he went to an open call on a whim and ended up being advanced to a showcase in Los Angeles, where he met his manager. He was soon booking roles in shows like “The Good Place” and “Mixed-ish,” and even working with Steven Spielberg in the film “Ready Player One.” Says Young, “It did fall into my lap, but I felt a love and a passion for the craft instantly.”

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor“Allen v. Farrow” directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering never set out to make a movie about the allegations of sexual assault made by Dylan Farrow against her father Woody Allen.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor“Waiting for the Barbarians,” with an impressive cast including Robert Pattinson, Johnny Depp and Oscar winner Mark Rylance,, is available Friday on VOD. Based on the 1980 novel by J.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor“Pieces of a Woman” has garnered a lot of awards buzz for Vanessa Kirby’s fearless performance as Martha, a woman grieving the loss of her baby in childbirth.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor“Last year I played Madison Square Garden for four shows. Now I’m shipping eggplant to Vermont.