Coen’s interest in “Macbeth” was first piqued when his wife, Oscar-winning actress Frances McDormand, asked him to consider directing her in the play as Lady Macbeth. He ended up not helming that production at Berkeley Rep, which starred McDormand and “Games of Thrones” alum Conleth Hill in 2016. But the seed had been planted for Coen, who began contemplating the story of a murderous couple in cinematic terms. That plan became clearer after 2018’s “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” the last film on which the Coens shared a directing credit....

“I’m well aware of the debate around British actors playing American Black, iconic figures,” King said during a panel attended by Variety. “But I was born in America, my family is Caribbean and I have a South African name so I am, literally, emblematic of a diasporic way of thinking.” Hampton, who fought alongside the Black Panthers for freedom for the Black community and an end to police brutality, was assassinated by the FBI at the age of 21 in 1969....

After Chinese nationalists threatened to boycott Reeves’ latest movie “The Matrix: Resurrections” following his virtual appearance at the 35th annual Tibet House Benefit Concert, it turns out that Reeves’ former films have now been erased from streaming platforms in China. The Los Angeles Times reported that China’s major streamers like iQiyi, Tencent Video, Bilibili, and Xigua Video have removed most films starring Reeves following the March 3 benefit concert for the New York-based nonprofit, which is affiliated with the Dalai Lama....

The actress played Amanda Rollins — an overhasty rookie turned senior detective and fan favorite — for more than eleven years on the legendary crime show: part of Dick Wolf’s sprawling (if intensely controversial) Law and Order universe at NBC. The character’s sudden departure was reportedly ordered from the top down, per Variety. The decision was attributed to salary negotiations, but also broader directives about the future of the TV franchise....

If either Kristen Stewart or Ariana DeBose win in March, they would become the first to do so. Say what you will about the limits of representation — that’s a big deal. Though more than a few LGBTQ actors (that we know of) have been nominated, only a few were out at the time of their nominations. And while it’s impossible to compare experiences across decades given how much discrimination LGBTQ people faced in earlier eras, none of the winners whom we now know to be LGBTQ were out at the time that they won — certainly not enough to say anything openly in their acceptance speeches....

Dershowitz told David, “We can still talk, Larry.” David replied, “No. No. We really can’t. I saw you. I saw you with your arm around [former Trump Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo! It’s disgusting!” Dershowitz said, “He’s my former student [at Harvard Law]. I greet all of my former students that way. I can’t greet my former students?” To which David replied, “It’s disgusting. Your whole enclave — it’s disgusting....

Which isn’t to spoil whether Vienna really is an N.S.A. agent who’s been sent back to pre-COVID Los Angeles from the year 2052 in order to make a few minor adjustments, or if she’s just some delusional stranger whom our handsome protagonist meet-cutes at a mid-afternoon screening of “Being There” (which, even compared to the rest of L.A., seems like a reliable place to find delusional strangers). It’s only to say that that the truth of the matter becomes kind of moot once she instills Bart with a new faith in what tomorrow might hold....

Where to Watch ‘Love & Anarchy’: Netflix If you took out all the flirting from “Love & Anarchy” (though why on earth would you ever do such a thing), what’s left is still a pretty solid workplace comedy. A Stockholm-area publishing house has its share of backward-facing execs, eminently more capable employees lower on the organizational chart, and one receptionist/secretary often baffled by what plays out in front of her desk....

It turns out that the American writer Patricia Highsmith, whose work inspired such illustrious filmmakers as Alfred Hitchcock and Todd Haynes, was just as prolific and popular with the most interesting women of her time. Women lotharios are hardly as revered as their male counterparts, and even less so for history’s great queer romancers, whose lives are often reduced to their saddest highlights when they’re remembered at all. In centering the writer’s sexuality in her lively and captivating documentary “Loving Highsmith,” filmmaker Eva Vitija does a great service not only to fans of Highsmith’s, but to all of queer history....

Guadagnino’s upcoming film “Challengers” stars two-time Emmy winner Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and “West Side Story” breakout Mike Faist caught up in a love triangle set in the elite world of professional tennis. While the plot remains under wraps, Guadagnino previously hinted it’s a “completely different film” from “Bones and All” and is a “fairly fizzy, sexy movie about the world of tennis.” During the “Bones and All” red carpet premiere for the 2022 New York Film Festival, Guadagnino gave IndieWire another hint at what’s to come: a portrait of “fucked-up people,” like we’d expect anything less from the “Suspiria” and “Call Me By Your Name” auteur....

“I didn’t even know [Cameron] was out of the business,” Liu told Entertainment Tonight. “In my heart, she’s always right here.” When asked by ET whether Diaz, Liu, and Drew Barrymore would reunite for another “Angels” film, Liu kept the option open. “I don’t know! Those are some very busy ladies,” the “Kill Bill Vol. 1” actress said. “But I adore and love them, so anything that they have to offer I’m sure we would have a very good time doing it....

“Jeanise is a true angel. I will probably always think of her as my godmother, a real hero and life coach,” Bakalova said. “She just wanted to help this girl become a strong woman. We had a real human connection from the very first day we met. I called her on Thanksgiving: It was my first American Thanksgiving and was also my best. I was so happy to talk to her that I started to cry....

McConaughey wrote an opinion piece for Esquire detailing his emotional connection to the massacre in the town he grew up in until he was 10 years old. “I’m sickened by the spate of mass shootings in America — especially those at schools, which are supposed to be some of the safest of spaces for our children and the closest extensions of our own homes. But this time felt different, more personal,” McConaughey wrote of returning home to Uvalde, Texas....

In an excerpt from his posthumously published memoir “Scenes from My Life” (via Vulture) Michael K. Williams revealed that he wasn’t fully on board with Simon’s plan to make Season 2 about white dock workers in Baltimore after spending Season 1 focusing on drug dealers in the inner city. “When I got my first scripts for season two and I saw the storyline had switched to white workers on the Baltimore docks, I was livid,” Williams wrote....

Earlier (November 16): Miramax has filed a lawsuit against Quentin Tarantino over an NFT project involving “Pulp Fiction.” The Oscar winner announced at the start of November that he was putting seven uncut scenes from “Pulp Fiction” up for auction as Secret NFTs on OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Miramax sent a cease-and-desist letter to Tarantino after the announcement but the NFT project persisted....

The supernatural thriller “Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon” paints a different picture of the seedy underbelly of New Orleans. The film centers on a mental institute escapee, the titular Mona Lisa (Jun Jong Seo), who befriends exotic dancer and single mother Bonnie (Kate Hudson) in an effort to go on a crime spree thanks to Mona Lisa’s unique otherworldly talents. Yet when a detective (Craig Robinson) starts putting the pieces together, Bonnie and Mona Lisa’s “Bonnie and Clyde” run just might be over…or come to a fatal end....

The new MoviePass waitlist opened yesterday at 9 a.m. By 9:05, 30,000 people signed up, crashing the website for nearly three hours. By 9 a.m. this morning, the reconnected waitlist had 463,000 signups. “Holy moly!” is how Spikes put it to IndieWire. Spikes estimated perhaps 50,000 or 100,000 Day-1 signups, so he isn’t sweating the server meltdown. “It’s a good problem to have,” he said of the mad rush. “We are drinking from the firehose....

Bonus Reason: Nunn’s hourlong episodes carry all the intelligence of their top-tier dramatic peers, but the teen romances, youthful exuberance, and tightly spun arcs make first two seasons fly by. While always worthy of a rewatch, “Sex Education” introduces its first new season since January 2020 this month — the wait has not been easy, but I’m sure still worth it. 2. “Dear White People” Volume 4 (available September 22) Lara Solanki / Netflix Why Should I Watch?...

Amblin chairman Steven Spielberg, in a statement shared with media, said: “At Amblin, storytelling will forever be at the center of everything we do, and from the minute Ted [Sarandos] and I started discussing a partnership, it was abundantly clear that we had an amazing opportunity to tell new stories together and reach audiences in new ways. This new avenue for our films, alongside the stories we continue to tell with our longtime family at Universal and our other partners, will be incredibly fulfilling for me personally since we get to embark on it together with Ted, and I can’t wait to get started with him, Scott, and the entire Netflix team....

According to Deadline, Hastings appeared at a keynote discussion at the New York Times DealBook conference, during which he spoke favorably of Musk, calling him “the bravest, most creative person on the planet.” “What he’s done in multiple areas is phenomenal,” Hastings said. “His style is different. I’m trying to be, like, a steady, respectable leader up here and he’s just out there.” During the conversation at Jazz at Lincoln Center, which was moderated by Andrew Ross Sorkin, Hastings referred to Musk’s acquisition of Twitter as an attempt to try and make a positive contribution to the planet....