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What Is Cinema?

Like any craft worthy of the name, filmmaking is both an art and a science. In a new series of articles and videos, Vanity Fair, in partnership with Rolex, enlists reigning masters of the form to illuminate the creative and practical aspects of their work. The human urge to tell stories has always been with us, but the storytelling tool kit has never been more robust. Let these living legends inspire you to keep exploring.
—Radhika Jones, Vanity Fair editor in chief

What Is Cinema?

Lee Isaac Chung’s Childhood Trauma Drew Him to Twisters

In the next installment of Vanity Fair’s What Is Cinema? series, director Lee Isaac Chung breaks down his inspirations for Twisters.
What Is Cinema?

Richard Linklater Explains How He Turned True Crime Into Screwball Comedy

In the next installment of Vanity Fair’s What Is Cinema? series, director Richard Linklater breaks down his inspirations for Hit Man.
What Is Cinema?

George Miller on How Furiosa Provides a Template to Survive the Apocalypse

In Vanity Fair’s What Is Cinema? series, the Oscar-winning filmmaker breaks down his inspirations for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
Awards Insider!

Emilia Pérez’s Karla Sofía Gascón Is About to Make Oscar History, but She’s Not Done Fighting

The Golden Globe nominee reflects on her campaign whirlwind, admits to the parts of awards season she hates, and responds to trans writers who have criticized her film: “If you don’t like it, go and make your own movie.”
Awards Insider!

See Every Golden Globes Winner of 2025

From film to TV, here’s every winner at the 2025 Golden Globes, updated in real time.
Awards Insider!

Golden Globes Nominations 2025: See Every Nominee Here

Emilia Pérez leads the film nominations by scoring 10 nods, with The Brutalist close behind with seven total.
Streaming Guide

The 31 Best Movies on Amazon Prime to Watch Now (January 2025)

Whether you’re in the mood for a classic drama or a sexy tennis flick, see our list of the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
Awards Insider!

Making Nosferatu: Corralling Live Rats, Overpowering Flames, and the Ghost of a Cinematic Legend

Robert Eggers has had this movie in mind long before he started filmmaking as a professional. He and his Oscar-nominated D.P., Jarin Blaschke, put everything into getting it right.
Shot List

Inside the Epic Filmmaking of The Brutalist: “What the F--k Is Happening Here?”

Brady Corbet digs into the combination of a rigorous approach to technique and technology, and the encountering of a few happy accidents, that led to one of the most visually striking films in years.
Reunited Live

Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan Meet Again—and Remember the “Magic” of Lady Bird and Little Women

They’re Oscar contenders for A Complete Unknown and The Outrun, respectively, and their chemistry off-screen is as electric as it is in the movies.
Awards Insider Exclusive

Angelina Jolie on Stepping Out of the Dark and “Starting to Come Alive Again”

The Academy Award winner digs deep on her Oscar contender Maria, its connection to her breakout in Girl, Interrupted, and finding herself as an artist again: “Some therapist should study these things and tell me what they mean.”

The 22 Best Movies on Hulu to Watch Right Now (December 2024)

The best movies on Hulu are a cornucopia of classics, comedies, dramas, and more.
Reunited!

For Amy Adams and Denis Villeneuve, Making Arrival Meant “Flirting With Disaster”

In a conversation eight years after their sci-fi masterpiece, the Dune director says he’d love to collaborate with the Nightbitch star again—just not at karaoke.
Awards Insider!

Luca Guadagnino’s Wild World: Inside the Director’s Big Year

Guadagnino was everywhere in 2024 with both Challengers and Queer, and the internet couldn’t get enough. He has one message for fans: He didn’t do it alone.
Shot List

The Images of Maria: Operatic Filmmaking for an Iconic Diva

The Angelina Jolie–led Oscar contender boasts an exacting, transporting visual design. Here’s what went into it.
International Film

How to Make a Movie in Iran and Not Get Caught: Inside The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Mohammad Rasoulof’s new movie is getting attention from awards voters—and the Iranian government.

Every Academy Award for Best Director: A Complete History of the Winners

Learn more about every best-director Oscar winner over the last 95 years, from 1929 to today.
Shot List

Making Anora: A Deep Dive Into a Brighton Beach Classic

Sean Baker reveals the filmmaking secrets behind his Cannes-winning, Oscar-bound new classic.
Q&A

Pedro Almodóvar’s Cinematic Journey: “Of the 23 Films I Have Made, There Are Only Two That I Don’t Like at All”

In a wide-ranging interview, Pedro Almodóvar reflects on his new film, The Room Next Door; death; and why he wants to make a movie about Zendaya and stylist Law Roach.
best of 2024

22 Best Movies of 2024

Anora, My Old Ass, Conclave, and more of 2024’s best movies.

Every Academy Award for Best Picture: A Complete History of the Winners

Learn more about the history of the Academy Award for best picture, and see all of the Oscar winners, from the last 95 years.
Gobble Gobble

The 21 Best Thanksgiving Movies to Stream Right Now

Embrace one of Hollywood’s more undercelebrated holidays with Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; Knives Out; or Spider-Man. Yes, Spider-Man!
Awards Insider!

With I’m Still Here, Brazilian Icon Fernanda Torres Goes Global

The Cannes-winning actor is stoking Oscar buzz for her revelatory performance in Walter Salles’s harrowing biopic.
Awards Insider!

Wicked Is Plenty Popular. But Is It a Potential Best Picture?

The Awards Insider team explains why the musical might be a serious Oscar threat after debuting to a magical $164 million at the worldwide box office this past weekend.
Awards Insider!

Bobby Cannavale on Taking the Lead, Disappointing Scorsese, and Asking Pacino for a Favor

The Emmy-winning character actor returned to the top of the call sheet this year, an experience that has sparked some bittersweet memories: “The one thing that I did with Martin Scorsese is the one thing that wasn’t successful?”

Why Denzel Washington’s Gladiator II Performance Is So Unexpected—and Brilliant

The two-time Oscar winner steals the show in a rare supporting role—one that marks a thrilling high point for one of the all-time great screen-acting careers.
exclusive

Meet the Movies of 2025: First Looks With Witherspoon, Pattinson, Hathaway, Gladstone, M3GAN, and More

As for the directors, how do Guillermo del Toro, Bong Joon Ho, and Celine Song sound, for starters?
Shot List

How Emilia Pérez Pulls Off Its Audacious Musical Numbers

Director Jacques Audiard and his D.P. share the secrets of (and a few regrets about) the most memorable sequences in Netflix’s musical melodrama, from Selena Gomez’s karaoke set to Zoe Saldaña’s mid-movie showstopper.
Little Gold Men

Demi Moore on The Substance Mania, “Scary” Oscar Buzz, and Keeping That Yellow Coat

The Hollywood legend has never had a moment quite like this one. It’s a lot to take in.
Brad Pittiful

Neil Jordan Believes He Knows Why Brad Pitt Had a Bad Time Filming Interview With the Vampire

In a new interview with Variety, the Interview With the Vampire director opened up about why Pitt had an infamously bad experience: “I think the problem that he suffered from was the fact that the role suffers,” said Jordan.
exclusive

Robert Eggers Reveals the Ghastly True Tales Behind His New Nosferatu

The Witch filmmaker on his updated adaptation of the silent film: “Even as recently as the early 2000s, there have been vampire occurrences.”
Happy Halloween

The Undying Mystery of Max Schreck—the First Nosferatu

The man behind the silent-film vampire has inspired questions for decades, adding to the allure of one of the creepiest movies ever made.
FROM THE MAGAZINE

Jesse Eisenberg on Feeling “Envious” of Kieran Culkin’s Character in A Real Pain

The film’s creator takes VF inside the scene the pair struggled over—even though, he says, Culkin’s “the greatest actor of all time.”
review

Venom: The Last Dance Ends a Once-Fun Series with a Whimper

Tom Hardy seems sapped of energy in this anemic comic book three-quel.

Every Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress: A Complete History of the Winners

Learn more about every best-supporting-actress Oscar winner over the last 87 years, from 1937—when the Academy Award was first handed out—to today.
Little Gold Men

Stanley Tucci Takes Nothing for Granted: “After The Devil Wears Prada, I Couldn’t Get a Job”

In a career-spanning conversation, the beloved actor who’s experienced decades of ups and downs in Hollywood reflects on hitting his sweet spot—which is somewhere between the film Conclave and his next big food show.

Every Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor: A Complete History of the Winners

Learn more about every best-supporting-actor Oscar winner over the last 87 years, from 1937—when the award was first handed out—to today.

Every Academy Award for Best Actress: A Complete History of the Winners

Learn more about every best-actress Oscar winner from 1929 to today, including all of the details about the speeches, the stars—and even a tie.
FROM THE MAGAZINE

Mikey Madison’s Life Hasn’t Changed Yet—but When the World Sees Anora, It Will

The Better Things alum makes a stunning star turn as a brassy sex worker in Sean Baker’s new film.
Awards Insider!

Willa Fitzgerald Is Revelatory in the Serial-Killer Thriller Strange Darling. Is It Too Scary for Awards?

The Fall of the House of Usher alum goes deep on her slick thriller—and the struggle for genre performances to get the recognition they deserve.
Little Gold Men

Anora Has Already Made Sean Baker’s Biggest Dream Come True

Winning the Palme d’Or was Baker’s singular goal for the past 30 years. Now, he’s fighting for the protection of theatrical releases.
On the Scene

In Caught by the Tides, Jia Zhang-ke Looks Back to Look Forward

The Chinese auteur explained the arduous process of crafting his latest film at the New York Film Festival’s Amos Vogel Lecture on Tuesday night.
Awards Insider Exclusive

All We Imagine as Light’s Director on “Archaic” Oscars and the Power of Global Cinema

Payal Kapadia’s intimate portrait of modern Mumbai took Cannes by storm, but won’t even be able to compete for the international-film Oscar. What gives?
Little Gold Men

André Holland’s Good Fight: On The Knick Season 3, His Little Indie That Could, and Taking the Lead

The Exhibiting Forgiveness star made a name for himself as a scene-stealer in projects from Barry Jenkins and Steven Soderbergh. Now he’s taking charge—both in front of and behind the camera.
a wonderful night for oscar

Every Academy Award for Best Actor: A Complete History of the Winners

Learn more about every best-actor Oscar winner over the last 95 years, from 1929 to today.
Little Gold Men

Lupita Nyong’o Finds Her Voice: “The Industry Wasn’t Ready for Me”

Between A Quiet Place: Day One and The Wild Robot, the Oscar winner has spent 2024 earning rave reviews and ruling the box office. In a candid interview with Vanity Fair, she reflects on the scary, uncertain road to getting here.
COVER STORY

Wicked Stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on Love, Defying Rumors, and Flying High

“We needed real connection,” Erivo says of their friendship, which bloomed just as Grande needed it most: “Tabloids have been trying to destroy me since I was 19.”

Dazed and Confused Was a “Magical Moment” That Could Never Happen Now

As the high school cult classic gets a 30th-anniversary theatrical release, writer-director Richard Linklater reflects on its agonizing (for him) creation—and its eternal, chemically compatible appeal.
Little Gold Men

Richard Linklater Doesn’t Believe In Hit Men, but He Does Believe In Patience

“I’m not afraid to sit with something and just wait until the time is right,” the writer-director says of the yearslong process of making Hit Man and two of his upcoming projects.
Review

His Three Daughters Is One of the Best Dramas of the Year

Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olsen are remarkable in Azazel Jacobs’s poignant look at familial grief.
Little Gold Men

Sebastian Stan’s Year of Transformation, Trump, and “One Giant Nightmare”

The actor is headed into the most exciting stretch of his career, between A Different Man and The Apprentice.
Awards Insider Exclusive

Inside Cillian Murphy’s First Post-Oppenheimer Role in Small Things Like These

The actor tells Vanity Fair he was “pretty broken” and “worn out” after wrapping his Oscar-winning Oppenheimer turn. But his next project demanded a similarly intense performance.
Awards Insider!

O Canada! The Best Quotes From the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival

Florence Pugh, Jude Law, and more went on the road with some of the season’s buzziest movies.
Little Gold Men

Denis Villeneuve Wants to Make One More Dune Movie—but Don’t Call It a Trilogy

The director of the hit franchise looks back on the first two films, which he calls “the biggest technical challenge of my life.”
Toronto Film Festival

A Brutally Good Marianne Jean-Baptiste Powers Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths

The actor and director, who made Secrets & Lies together in 1996, deliver another piercing character study.
Awards Insider!

Nicole Kidman Wins Best Actress, and Loses Her Beloved Mother, in One Overwhelming Moment

The Babygirl star—whose win in Venice jolts an electrifying Oscar race—arrived at the film festival ready to accept the honor before receiving the tragic news.
Exclusive

Whiplash Turns 10: Damien Chazelle, Miles Teller, and J.K. Simmons on the Oscar-Winning Sensation That Changed Their Lives

Few indies over the past decade have maintained as much of a cultural hold as Damien Chazelle’s riveting breakout. In honor of an upcoming splashy rerelease, the director and his two stars reflect on the making of the movie, and how it’s impacted their lives.
First Look

Get Ready to Fall in Love With Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield in We Live in Time

The actors and director John Crowley reveal how they pieced together a time-jumping romance about “the shared experience of loss and love.”
Venice Film Festival

Queer, with Daniel Craig, Is Many Things: Captivating, Alienating, Sorrowful, and Erotic

Director Luca Guadagnino, working from a William S. Burroughs novel, is at his most enigmatic.

The Life of Chuck: The Feel-Good Stephen King Apocalypse Movie

In an exclusive first look, Tom Hiddleston and director Mike Flanagan explain the uplifting message in a doomsday tale.
Venice Film Festival

Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton Contemplate Death in The Room Next Door

Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature is a melancholy gem.
venice film festival

George Clooney and Brad Pitt Work Better Together in Wolfs

The pair brings Ocean’s-style movie-star chemistry to Jon Watts’s clever thriller.
Awards Insider Exclusive

The Making of Nickel Boys: How a Pulitzer-Winning Novel Became a Radical, Harrowing Film

The director and cast of the Telluride sensation, adapted from Colson Whitehead’s lauded best-seller, give their first joint interview about how they pulled off what most would’ve considered a fool’s errand: “We’re being asked to do something that you’ve always been told not to do.”

The 47 Best Feel-Good Movies to Boost Your Mood

From silent-film classics to modern rom-com hits, the best feel-good movies have a timeless power to bring out smiles—and sometimes a few tears too.
Little Gold Men

From “Trouble-Prone” Prisoner to Sing Sing Star

In his professional acting debut, Clarence Maclin plays a version of himself—a guarded, incarcerated man who discovers an acting program that forever changes him.
Awards Insider Exclusive

Inside Nicole Kidman’s Erotic Drama Babygirl: “What Have I Just Done?”

The Oscar winner gives a fearless performance in A24’s new film, but she’s still nervous about sharing it: “This is something you do and hide in your home videos.”
Awards Insider Exclusive

In Maria, Angelina Jolie and Pablo Larraín Bring an Opera Icon to Staggering Life

The film’s Oscar-winning star trained for more than six months to play the legend Maria Callas. Her director, Pablo Larraín, details that exhausting, terrifying prep—and how it led to the most personal movie of his career.
FIRST LOOK

Salem’s Lot Lives! Inside the Retro Retelling of Stephen King’s Vampire Story

Director Gary Dauberman, writer of It, explains how he made a ’70s-infused midnight movie out of the small-town saga.
sign of the times

Playing It Straight: For Queer Roles, Should an Actor’s Sexuality Matter?

Dynamic stars like Timothée Chalamet, Paul Mescal, and Josh O’Connor broke out in LGBTQ+ parts. Discuss.
Awards Insider!

Venice Film Festival’s Artistic Director on the Boldest Films and Biggest Stars of the 2024 Lineup

Alberto Barbera reveals how he made the Italian festival the hottest spot to debut a film—and how it will juggle having both Brad and Angelina on the carpet.
Awards Insider!

Lamorne Morris Levels Up: “I Want to Be Morgan Freeman”

Between Fargo and the forthcoming Saturday Night, the newly minted Emmy nominee has started working at a caliber he’s long strived to reach. He tells Vanity Fair how he’s seizing the moment.
Review

Blake Lively Finds Meaning in the Melodrama of It Ends With Us

Movie star shine illuminates this adaptation of a tricky, smash-hit novel.
First Look

Unstoppable Tackles the Inspiring True Story of a One-Legged Wrestling Champion

The crowd-pleasing sports drama starring Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
EXCLUSIVE

Saturday Night First Look: How the SNL Movie Captures 1975’s Wild Opening Night

Director Jason Reitman calls it a “thriller-comedy” that counts down to the very first “Live from New York…”
o captain, my captain

“He’s Absolutely Extraordinary”: Remembering Robin Williams

On the 10-year anniversary of Robin Williams’s untimely passing, we asked more than 20 of his costars, collaborators, and friends—including Billy Crystal, Matt Damon, Ben Stiller, Al Pacino, Sally Field, Jeff Bridges, and Julianne Moore—for their favorite memories of this kind, playful, and uniquely intelligent artist.
Little Gold Men

How Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan Biopic Could Shape This Year’s Oscar Race

With A Complete Unknown, the Oscar nominee could be back in the race for the first time since his breakout in Call Me by Your Name. But that’s only the beginning of the awards potential for this movie.
First Look

Cate Blanchett Faces Public Shaming in Disclaimer, Alfonso Cuarón’s Revenge Thriller

The Roma and Gravity Oscar-winner unveils his unsettling new series, which taps into the ancient human desire for schadenfreude.
Awards Insider Exclusive

Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, and Carrie Coon Hold Nothing Back in the Wrenching His Three Daughters

The three stars exclusively share the trailer for their widely acclaimed Netflix drama, and go deep on their vulnerable powerhouse performances: “I let go so completely.”
First Look

Reintroducing Humphrey Bogart: The Untold Stories of a Hollywood Icon’s Volatile Private Life

The Casablanca star’s career was shaped by his relationships with women, from his distant mother to the love of his life, Lauren Bacall. Those stories come to the forefront in a new documentary, Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes.

How Real Tornados Tormented the Making of Twisters

Lee Isaac Chung, director of the Twister sequel, wanted to shoot in Oklahoma during storm season: “I was very naive.”
awards insider first look

Amy Adams Hears the Call of the Wild in Nightbitch

“When people ask me what the movie is about, I’m like, ‘It’s about motherhood and rage,’” says director Marielle Heller in this exclusive first look. “And you either get that or you don’t.”
exclusive

Rosemary’s Baby Prequel Apartment 7A Aims to Raise Hell: A First Look

Julia Garner and Dianne Wiest star in this follow-up to the 1968 thriller, centering a side character’s nightmarish untold story.
Little Gold Men

Viggo Mortensen Speaks His Mind: On Amazon’s “Shameful” Decision, Green Book’s “Disingenuous” Critics, and Indie Film’s Unclear Future

The Oscar nominee, whose acclaimed new film, The Dead Don’t Hurt, has just hit VOD, offers his frank assessment of Hollywood.
Awards Insider First Look

In Conclave, the Pope Dies—Then the Twisty Search for His Successor Begins

Ralph Fiennes top lines the new film from the director of All Quiet on the Western Front, a thriller about both a personal and a collective crisis of faith—backed by a brilliant ensemble including Isabella Rossellini, Stanley Tucci, and more.
failure to launch

Fly Me to the Moon: How a Stanley Kubrick Conspiracy Theory Inspired the Film

A new movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum asks: Could the moon landing have been faked?
from the magazine

Damson Idris’s Life in the Fast Lane

After Idris’s breakout role in Snowfall, his career is picking up speed. Next, he’ll star opposite Brad Pitt in Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer’s Formula 1 movie.

Kevin Bacon Spent a Day as a Regular Person: “I Was Like, This Sucks”

The actor opens up about his storied career, the film industry’s “hierarchical bullshit,” and the two films he has opening this week: the horror movie MaXXXine and the Eddie Murphy action-comedy Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

Why Kevin Costner Risked His Fortune, Reputation, and Personal Life for Horizon

At 69, the movie star is about to find out how the biggest gamble of his life—a four-film, partly self-financed franchise that reportedly contributed to his departure from Yellowstone—will pay off.
Review

A Quiet Place: Day One Is a Prequel Done Right

The director of Pig makes a franchise film that would be worthy on its own.

Sienna Miller Is More Than Ready to Be Recognized for Her Work, Not Her Personal Life

The star of Kevin Costner’s four-part epic, Horizon, on tackling her next chapter, onscreen and off: “I’m done with grief and torture.”

Here: Robert Zemeckis’s New Movie Spans a Century, but the Camera Never Moves

Tom Hanks and Robin Wright reunite the Forrest Gump team for a drama set entirely in one household’s living room.

Deadpool & Wolverine: Inside the Superhero Movie That Plays Rough

Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and filmmaker Shawn Levy reveal how a ping-pong table sent by Blake Lively helped bring R-rated troublemaking to the MCU.
Awards Insider Exclusive

Inside Sing Sing, the Colman Domingo Prison Drama That Will Break Your Heart

Domingo may be headed back to the Oscars for his incandescent performance in A24’s innovative film, where he stars opposite several formerly incarcerated men.
Review

In Janet Planet, a Brilliant Playwright Makes a Promising Film Debut

Pulitzer winner Annie Baker moves into movies in this poignant look at a mother and daughter.

Judge Reinhold’s Totally Awesome ’80s Flashback

Returning for the fourth Beverly Hills Cop, the actor shares stories about Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Vice Versa, and Stripes—as well as the time he was paid with a stolen car and the movie he thinks was deliberately killed at the box office.
Awards Insider!

Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, and Samuel L. Jackson Bring a True Story to Wild Life in Fight Night

Peacock’s dynamic new limited series examines how an infamous heist changed the city of Atlanta forever—and reintroduces Hart as a dramatic leading man.
from the magazine

A First Look at How Directors Dress, a New Book From the Indie Studio That Mastered Merch

From Steven Spielberg’s denim to Euzhan Palcy’s statement gold, Adam Wray examines the “workwear” donned by Hollywood’s beloved auteurs in this excerpt from the newest release by A24’s publishing arm.
Exclusive excerpt

“Directors Don’t Cry!” Madonna, Rosanna Arquette, and the Wild Birth of Desperately Seeking Susan

In an excerpt from her memoir, Susan Seidelman watches Madonna go from newcomer (“I’ll do anything to get this part”) to icon.
Awards Insider!

Jude Law: An Eras Tour

The two-time Oscar nominee reflects on his thrilling rise in Hollywood, the real reason he initially turned down The Talented Mr. Ripley, and his recent career turning point: “When there’s a whole herd of interesting, beautiful young men coming up, you’re trying to readjust.”

When Death Came For Frank Miller

The comic book icon behind The Dark Knight Returns, 300, and Sin City reveals the addiction that nearly ended his life—and how his loved ones (and a determined documentary maker) pulled him back.

Run Lola Run 25 Years Later: A Breathless Oral History

Franka Potente and writer-director Tom Tykwer share untold secrets of the uber-cool 1998 thriller
Awards Insider!

The Best and Worst Movies of Cannes 2024, and the Likeliest Oscar Contenders Among Them

From Megalopolis to Emilia Perez to The Apprentice, this was a festival of big swings. Some really worked, some really didn’t—and only a few will likely make it to the Oscars. We break it all down.
cannes 2024

The World Needs Films Like The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Mohammad Rasoulof had to flee his native Iran after being sentenced to prison for making films like this courageous drama.