The ‘Oppenheimer’ Oscars Reminded Us That Movies Can Still Be the Great Mass Art Form

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic There had been drill sergeants in movies before Louis Gossett Jr. played one in “An Officer and a Gentleman” in 1982 (though for the life of me, I can’t remember any). There would be a lot of them afterwards.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is looking mighty as it heads into its opening weekend, earning an impressive $10 million in Thursday previews. The muscular results come despite the fact that the film suffered meh reviews — critics faulted the latest clash of the primordial beasts for hectic pacing and overstuffed plotting. Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman, for instance, dismissed the film as “overly busy boilerplate” (though he liked the finale).

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Magnolia Pictures has released a trailer ahead of the May 3 release of “Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg,” about the legendary muse to the Rolling Stones. Scarlett Johansson provides the voice for Pallenberg, based on the words of her unpublished memoir.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Watching “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” I realized that the movie, a standard overly busy and mediocre blockbuster with a pretty awesome wow of a clash-of-the-titans climax, was demonstrating one of the essential principles of Hollywood movie culture today. Namely: All blockbuster movies are now connected! Kong, living in the Hollow Earth, where most of the film is set (the Hollow Earth is a place I’ve never much liked the idea of, since it seems like Earth’s version of a storage basement), is supposedly the last of his kind, but he discovers a child ape who actually looks like an homage to the cuddly creature in the 1967 Japanese film “Son of Godzilla.” This kid gorilla leads Kong to a tribe of scraggly hostile apes who are living in a slave society presided over by the Skar King, an evil ape with blotchy red hair who’s as tall as Kong and wields a skeletal bone whip that looks like it was fashioned out of the spine of a sea serpent.

AC/DC is embarking on their European ‘Power Up Tour’ in support of their 2020 album with special guest The Pretty Reckless where they’ll perform in countries like Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, France and more.“We are thrilled to finally announce the Power Up European Tour,” the band shared on X, formerly Twitter.“Angus (Young), Brian (Johnson), Stevie (Young), and Matt (Laug) will be joined by (former Jane’s Addiction bassist) Chris Chaney to carry the torch for Cliff (Williams).”This summer run will be the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band’s first time official trek since the 2016 ‘Rock Or Bust World Tour.’Most recently, the “Thunderstruck” rockers dusted off their guitars for the 2023 Power Trip Festival where they performed alongside heavy mainstays Metallica, Tool, Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses and Judas Priest.And if you want to see them live overseas this summer, we found tickets for a handful of gigs.At the time of publication, prices start at $103 USD before fees on Vivid Seats.Other shows have tickets starting anywhere from $104 to $529 before fees.Want to take the “Highway To Hell” with Angus, Brian and the band?We’ve got everything you need to know and more about AC/DC’s 2024 European ‘Power Up Tour’ below.All prices listed above are subject to fluctuation.A complete breakdown of all AC/DC concert dates, venues and links to the cheapest tickets available can be found here:(Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time. All prices are in US dollars, subject to fluctuation and include additional fees at checkout.)Vivid Seats is a verified secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic For more than 40 years now, moviegoers have lined up to see the spectacle of people being slaughtered by a psycho with a chainsaw, a psycho in a Halloween mask, a psycho in a goalie mask, a psycho with burnt skin and a striped shirt and fedora, or a psycho with S&M nails in his face. So why not a psycho Winnie the Pooh? “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey” raised a few hackles — otherwise known as free publicity — for having the scuzzy temerity to take a couple of beloved children’s characters and place them at the center of a slasher film. Yet the stunt concept was about all there was to it.

BBC Radio One’s Big Weekend 2024, with RAYE, Charli XCX and The Last Dinner Party leading the way.This year’s edition of the festival is set to run between Friday, May 24 and Sunday, May 26, and will be held at Stockwood Park in Luton.Yesterday (March 18), the first run of artists, set to perform on the opening night, was revealed, and now organisers have also shared those lined up for the Saturday slots.RAYE has been announced as headlining the Main Stage on the night – following on from her record-breaking number of wins at the BRITs earlier this month – while pop icon Charli XCX will be headlining the New Music Stage. The slot comes ahead of her announcing details of her new album ‘Brat’, and dropping the huge lead single ‘Von Dutch’.Others set to perform on the Main Stage on Saturday include Aitch, Griff, Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Mabel and Joel Corry, while BRIT Rising Star winners and former NME cover stars The Last Dinner Party will be performing at the New Music Stage.Both The Last Dinner Party and Charli XCX will be joined by Alfie Templeman, Caity Baser, Cat Burns, Dylan, Tems and Shygirl,Saturday at #BigWeekend Luton is gonna be veRAYE special ♥️For more details and info on tickets, visit https://t.co/BGPOsfilea pic.twitter.com/OB6xc2VFAC— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) March 19, 2024Tickets, priced at £29.50 (plus a £4.50 booking fee per ticket), will go on sale at 5pm GMT on Thursday (March 21) and can be purchased here.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic At a glance, Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 campaign for president was the definition of quixotic. She was 47 years old; at the time, she had served only one term (starting in 1968) as the first Black woman to be elected to Congress. (Her district centered on the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.) To say that Chisholm wasn’t a seasoned Washington, D.C., player would be putting it mildly, and she looked the part of the outsider.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic When two stars have “chemistry,” we tend to think of it as basic animal magnetism. And maybe that’s the essence of it. Yet when a romantic movie works, even a synthetic magical rom-com trifle like “Irish Wish,” what draws us into the chemistry isn’t simply the actors’ sexy connection.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Musical theater artist and historian Ben West is writing a new book, “The American Musical: Evolution of an Art Form.” The book will be released by Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, on April 1, 2024. This comprehensive history of an American theatrical tradition offers a detailed and definitive portrait of the musical’s artistic evolution over the course of seven distinct eras. The company says it offers a unique perspective gleaned from research at more than 20 different archives across the United States.

New plans to clamp down on poor housing and rogue landlords will be put into action in Oldham. An extended selective licensing scheme will allow the local authority to hold those renting out homes to higher standards.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “Plastic People” is one of those essential state-of-our-world documentaries. If and when it gets a release (it premiered this week at SXSW), I urge you to see it, to ponder its message, to consider what it’s saying about how microplastics — plastic particles that are less than 5mm in length, though the key ones may be microscopic — have invaded our food, our water, our air, and, quite specifically, our bodies. For decades, it’s been a trope of environmental filmmaking to showcase the ugliness of landfills, and to ask where all the plastic we throw out is ultimately going to go.

EastEnders spoilers see Jade Masood’s (Elizabeth Green) health continue to deteriorate thanks to her dad - and Martin Fowler (James Bye) catches two people sharing a shock kiss. Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) continues to walk on eggshells around Denise Fox (Diane Parish) but it’s Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) who encourages Denise to get her marriage back on track and suggests a BBQ to bring the family together. Jack gets Stacey alone where she tells him he needs to be there for Denise.

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves looked incredible at last night’s Academy Awards. The pair decided to wear Versace for the occasion, making for one of the most stunning couples of the evening.America Ferrera and Matthew McConaughey to star in new drama: More detailsMatthew McConaughey and Camila Alves share reasons why they left LA for TexasDespite both wearing Versace, McConaughey and Alves had on very different and distinct outfits.

Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas, were among those who donned red "Artists4Ceasefire" pins at the 96th Academy Awards, as they joined calls for peace in the Middle East. And the Best Original Song winners weren't the only celebs who chose to wear these pins. Poor Things actor Ramy Youssef also donned a red pin.Talking to reporters ahead of the awards ceremony, he said: "We're calling for immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The stars of American Fiction are hitting the red carpet!

Robert Downey Jr. is finally an Oscar winner. The 58-year-old “Oppenheimer” star took home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar at the 96th Academy Awardslive from the Dolby Theater in LA on Sunday.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic How distraught is Annette, the severely troubled British mother of two played by Daisy Ridley in “Magpie?” She has gotten a short angular haircut, one that might, in another context, be the height of chic (very Isabella Rossellini). Except that the movie uses it as a symbolic expression of her trauma, like Mia Farrow’s iconic Vidal Sassoon cut in “Rosemary’s Baby.” Annette, who’s on some serious medication, looks at a mirror until it breaks. Does she have telekinetic powers? No, she broke it with her hand (which bleeds into the sink), but the force of her repressed rage is palpable.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “Road House” is an infectiously stylish piece of slumming. It’s a remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze cheeseball action cult film, and it’s staged with a verve and wit and dynamic grittiness that make the original film look even more rickety than it once did. Doug Liman, the director of the new “Road House,” has always been a gifted maverick, but I still like his earliest films (“Go,” “Swingers”) the best.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “Where’s the outrage?” That’s the theme that underlies just about every news report on Donald Trump, and nearly every documentary that spins around him. That would include “Stormy,” a reasonably absorbing film that presents the Stormy Daniels saga from Daniels’ point-of-view, revealing her to be a compelling and highly conflicted figure.