Film

Film

This holiday season, cozy up with Kanopy, a video streaming service available for free with your card from the Contra Costa County Library system. Cardholders can access thousands of movies, documentaries and kids' favorites from the comfort of their homes, when they're traveling or anywhere else with their mobile devices. Kanopy's holiday recommendations include festive films like A Very Merry Toy Store and Lost at Christmas that are perfect for family movie nights.

Toy Story was one of the most influential films in modern cinema. Directed by John Lasseter and produced by Pixar with release through Disney, it was the first fully computer-animated feature film, leading studios worldwide to pivot away from hand-drawn animation. The story features toys who spring to life when humans are not looking, notably Woody (Tom Hanks), a pull-string cowboy doll, and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), a flashy new space-ranger who threatens Woody's status as Andy's favourite.

When "Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein" debuted on Netflix in July 2019, plenty of people had no idea what it was. Legend has it that star and executive producer David Harbour wanted it to come out that way. The actor parodies himself twice in this baffling 32-minute mockumentary, born from a Twitter conversation with writer John Levenstein, about a tortured man (Harbour), his late father (Harbour), and a made-for- TV play that holds the key to their relationship. Maybe. Sort of. Probably not.

Their trunks were as tall and straight as ship masts. Who knows how old they were, but I'm guessing they were planted when the house was built in the 1920s. By the time I was a boy, their tops towered high above the roof. We played endlessly beneath the cover of these pines, twirling madly on a single rope swing attached to one especially formidable branch.

Grainier, an orphan sent to Idaho by train at the age of 6 or 7 with a destination pinned to his coat, is an ordinary person-a laborer who makes a living building railroads, joining seasonal logging crews, and, as an older man, hauling freight with a wagon. "He'd had one lover-his wife, Gladys-owned one acre of property, two horses, and a wagon,"

After a powerful festival run, Catherine Argyrople's Growing Pains has officially landed on Tubi.

During the holiday season, it becomes all the more apparent that we are all awash in useless stuff. From the once-a-year seasonal outfit to ornaments without sentiment, trinkets we soon discard, and gag gifts that don't make it past opening day, the world pushes us to buy more of it all - stuff that we don't need and, frankly, don't really want. This puts us collectors in a troubling spot.

I wouldn't put it past Timothée Chalamet to go full method for A Complete Unknown and whip up a secret musical persona, but I certainly didn't expect this. This week, the internet has conceived an intriguing rumor that alt British rapper EsDeeKid is none other than America's sweetheart. The evidence is all in the eyes. EsDeeKid-a 20-year-old from Liverpool with a thick Scouse accent-performs with his face fully covered, revealing only a pair of moody, sunken eyes that look uncannily like Timothée's.

The Hathaways are farmers, in the English county of Warwickshire, with close ties to the land-some would say too close, at least in the case of Agnes, a young woman so eccentrically at one with nature that she is rumored to have been born of a forest witch. The Shakespeares are led by a glover, whose business has seen better days. His eldest son-William, of course, though he is not immediately identified as such-defrays his father's debts by tutoring Agnes's younger brothers in Latin,

The local communities were so welcoming, some even joined as extras. For the exterior of Mr. Sood's home, we found the perfect house, though the couple living there needed a little convincing. After chatting with their children, they happily agreed. It turned out they were huge fans of Bend It Like Beckham and Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging - a lovely surprise that made the whole experience feel like a blessing,

Between the ages of 3 and 5, I fell in love with the movies after seeing my very first one, learned how to read and write, and discovered there was actually a job out there that combined all of those things into one: A film critic. From that point on, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. And while my peers may have yearned to be doctors or firemen or the like, I wanted to watch movies and write about them,

Wicked: For Good is aiming to be the 11th direct sequel to be nominated for Best Picture and the fifth sequel to be nominated the year directly after its predecessor. Of the three Best Picture-nominated sequels in the last four years, there's Top Gun: Maverick, a legacyquel to a movie that was seen as popcorn fare in the 1980s, and Avatar: The Way of Water and Dune: Part Two, sequels to previous Best Picture nominees that boasted both box-office success and dazzling visual filmmaking.

Two years ago, Nicole Holofcener, the writer-director of funny and incisive indie comedies like Walking and Talking and Lovely & Amazing, released another great movie, You Hurt My Feelings, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Beth, a successful memoirist and creative-writing teacher who's having trouble finishing her first novel. Her agent thinks it needs work, but she has enjoyed the steadfast support of her husband (Tobias Menzies), who goes so far as to suggest that she find another agent who might be more enthusiastic about it.

After a movie and a half of build up, Fiyero has just finally left Glinda for Elphaba, and the two lovers have stolen away to Elphaba's tree hole, where she is hiding from the Wizard and Madame Morrible. The intro music for the sultry song comes on ... and Elphaba begins to disrobe. She takes off her coat. She looks longingly at Fiyero.

Cynthia Erivo is the name on everyone's lips again with Wicked: For Good being released today (21 November). The 38-year-old actor, alongside her Wicked co-star Ariana Grande, has become the centre-point of a cultural phenomena with the release of the musical adaptation and it's sequel. But the star is not just an amazing performer, she has also lived a rich and interesting life. Here are just a few of the facts about Cynthia Erivo.

The competition will be streamed on Peacock in the US on Thursday night. This year, Audrey Eckert from Nebraska will represent the United States at the pageant. She took home the crown at Miss USA 2025 in October following years of turmoil and leadership changes at the pageant. Miss USA 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel was the last American to win the Miss Universe pageant. It had been a decade since a contestant from the US took the crown.

Though I haven't loved all their films, Norwegian director Joachim Trier and his writing collaborator Eskil Vogt remains among the hopes of the medium-an accomplished team whose work is intelligent, involving, thematically ambitious but very human in scale. Their latest Sentimental Value won the Grand Prix at Cannes, and it again largely revolves around Renate Reinsve, the star of their last effort The Worst Person in the World.

The film has Jero (Cristian Mariani) coming home from a workout to find his partner Tom (Gastón Frías) is gone and ghosting him on their anniversary. Jero soon experiences the five stages of grief. As a way of explanation, Tom has left a box of 300 letters recounting his side of their relationship. As Jero starts reading Tom's missives, he learns that his ex thinks he is childish and superficial.