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Mark Wahlberg has come a long way since his days as Marky Mark in Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. With an over three-decade-long acting career, he’s appeared in dozens of films, from action-packed thrillers to heartfelt dramas. However, long before he became a Hollywood A-lister, Wahlberg made his cinematic debut as a young soldier in Renaissance Man.

While Wahlberg’s role in the film was relatively small, it set the stage for the actor to eventually shed his Marky Mark persona and transition into leading man status. And, though Renaissance Man wasn’t a great success at the box office, it completely changed the trajectory of Wahlberg’s career, helping to establish him as a serious actor and paving the way for the diverse roles he would take on in the years that followed.

Renaissance Man is Classic Danny DeVito Humor

Directed by Penny Marshall, Renaissance Man follows...

“I don’t write for directors, I don’t write for producers, and I certainly don’t write for movie studios,” Hans Zimmer says in his new concert film Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert.

So, for whom does the Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer of more than 150 films including Inception, Dune and The Lion King write his iconic music if not the films and host of reputable directors he’s worked with across the past four decades?

“I have this fictitious figure in my head,” Zimmer tells Deadline from his Remote Control Productions studio in Santa Monica. “She’s called Doris. She lives in Bradford in the UK. She’s a single mom with two unruly kids and her hands are red from the cold and working really hard. She does an amazing job to keep these children fed and pay the rent and fight the fight. So,...

New month, new drops, and TheWrap is here to give you the best of what’s coming to Paramount+ this March.

Whether you’ve seen them before, have them on repeat or are first-time viewing they’re worth putting on you watch list. While Paramount+s list of new films in March stretch way beyond these seven titles, TheWrap wanted to point your attention to best ones on its lineup.

Check out our picks for the best new movies on Paramount+ in March 2025 below.

“A League of Their Own” (Columbia Pictures) “A League of Their Own” (1992)

To kick off Women’s History Month, we had to start our list with a film that highlights the story of women in professional baseball. In Penny Marshall’s “A League of Their Own,” a group of women step up to plate and join an all-female baseball team after men head off into battle in World War II.

In the annals of “things that have gone wrong on Saturday NIght Live” — Ashlee Simpson’s lip-synching disaster, Charles Rocket’s inopportune F-bomb, slam dancers destroying Studio 8H during a Fear performance — no individual episode can compare to the debacle surrounding the show’s live, prime-time special from Mardi Gras in 1977.

Saturday Night had become the hottest show on TV, and NBC was ready to cash in on that early success with a primetime special. Lorne Michaels was eager to take his show on the road, using iconic cities’ architecture as urban comedy sets. When someone suggested New Orleans as a possible destination, Michaels was all for it. “Let’s go get steeped in it!” he proclaimed, according to Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live.

The cast was stoked as well. Who wouldn’t want to escape New York’s winter for a week or two in the sunshine?...

The Sandlot, the sports comedy classic that reminded everyone not to mess with highly valued baseball items, has become a streaming hit. The iconic 1993 film has climbed up the charts of the free streaming service Tubi, and by the time of writing, it sits on the second spot in the top 10 list of the platform's most popular movies.

Directed by David Mickey Evans, The Sandlot follows a group of young baseball fans in the summer of 1962 in the San Fernando Valley. Scott Smalls is the new kid in town, and although his stepfather likes baseball, Scott hasn't exactly acquired the ability to play ball. The boy finds a sandlot where some kids meet daily to play baseball, but on the first attempt to make friends, things don't go great. However, with the guidance of the team leader, Benny Rodriguez, Smalls becomes part of the gang.

Summer is going great until they run out of balls.

Celebrating women directors and their incredible contributions to filmmaking, the new book “Cinema Her Way: Visionary Female Directors in Their Own Words” includes a brief history about groundbreaking trailblazers, in-depth interviews with singular female directors, and a comprehensive list of noteworthy talents and their films from author, critic, and IndieWire contributor Marya E. Gates.

The filmmakers interviewed for the upcoming book are: Allison Anders, Gillian Armstrong, Lizzie Borden, Jane Campion, Martha Coolidge, Julie Dash, Josephine Decker, Cheryl Dunne, Bette Gordon, Marielle Heller, Miranda July, Karyn Kusama, Mary Lambert, Mira Nair, Sally Potter, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Isabel Sandoval, Susan Seidelman, and Katt Shea.

IndieWire shares an exclusive excerpt from Gates’ introduction below.

I first became aware that women could direct films when I was eight years old and my mother took me to see Gillian Armstrong’s “Little Women.” That movie affected me deeply and has remained my favorite film ever since.

Dick Button, the two-time Olympic champion who revolutionized figure skating by completing the first triple jump in competition, then spun TV ratings gold with his pithy, Emmy-winning commentary, died Thursday. He was 95.

Button died in North Salem, New York, his daughter, actress Emily Button, told The Washington Post.

Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of his sport — as well as degrees from Harvard College and Harvard Law School — Button displayed a tart wit and passion that defined figure skating on network television for more than five decades, starting in 1960 on CBS with the Winter Olympics from what was then known as Squaw Valley, California.

Moving to ABC in 1962 — where he would remain for the next 40-plus years — Button presided over a new age in media and skating. With telegenic stars Peggy Fleming, Janet Lynn, Dorothy Hamill and Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner rising on the world stage during the 1960s and ’70s,...

David W. Duclon, the creator of Punky Brewster who also produced a handful of hit sitcoms, including Silver Spoons, Family Matters, The Jeffersons and Laverne & Shirley, has died. He was 74.

Duclon died Wednesday morning in Franklin, Tennessee, after a long illness, his daughter Danielle Duclon announced.

Born Warren David Duclon on April 27, 1950, in Rockford, Illinois, he first made his way into Hollywood in 1972 as a writer and assistant producer on ABC’s The Odd Couple, starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.

As Duclon continued his career in television, he clearly had a knack for sitcoms. He joined ABC’s Happy Days, starring Henry Winkler and Ron Howard, as a writer in 1976, as well as ABC’s Laverne & Shirley, starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, that year. He also served as a producer on the latter.

Punky Brewster, which debuted in 1984 and ran for four seasons on NBC and in syndication,...

Robin Williams is best known for his film comedies, such as Mrs. Doubtfire and Aladdin, but when asked about his own prized performances, Williams leaned toward more dramatic work. Forget Mork & Mindy – here are six roles that the comic named as his favorites, as reported by Far Out…

1 Dead Poets Society

According to the Williams biography, Robin, Dead Poets Society was originally slated to be directed by Jeff Kanew, the auteur behind Revenge of the Nerds. Williams didn’t see the story as a comedy and wouldn’t commit until Peter Weir signed on to direct. Williams identified with the story’s plot about a young man who dreams of becoming an actor but is opposed by a stern father who wants him to be more responsible. “It talks about something of the heart and of pursuing that which is a dream — and in some cases, to a tragic end,...

A League of Their Own star and co-creator Abbi Jacobson recently discussed last year's cancellation of the Prime Video series, suggesting that the reason it got the axe was a "scapegoat" excuse. Following the initial renewal of the fan-favorite show for a four-episode second and final season in early 2023, Amazon canceled it in mid-2023, citing the delays caused by the WGA strike as the prime reason.

Jacobson, who played Carson Shaw, the catcher and one of the coaches for the Rockford Peaches in the series, told Collider that the strike was used as an easy excuse to shelve A League of Their Own. "I was just talking to someone about this yesterday. Listen, I think a lot of networks and studios canceled things when the strike was happening," she said. "Was the strike a part of the cancellation? Yes. But did it feel, also, that the strike was an easy...

There’s a CineVita coming to town.

Theatrical production group For the Record is launching the “live cinema” venue at Hollywood Park near SoFi Stadium in the new year. On Feb. 11, CineVita will open doors by hosting its debut show, Tarantino | Pulp Rock, an homage to auteur Quentin Tarantino. The show — designed to bring Tarantino’s “cinematic universe to life in a high-octane 360-degree concert experience,” courtesy of a live band and artists — mixes notable scenes and soundtracks from all nine of his films: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Jackie Brown, Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Tarantino | Pulp Rock is directed and adapted by Anderson Davis with music supervision and arrangements by Jesse Vargas, choreography by Sumie Maeda and costume design by Steve Mazurek. CineVita’s design team includes lighting design by Emmy winner Mike Berger and sound...

In the mid-1980s, Whoopi Goldberg exploded onto the entertainment scene via her self-titled, one-woman Broadway show, which was considered so electric and essential that HBO filmed a performance and aired it within a year of its stage premiere. At this point, Goldberg was a force of nature, a comedic dynamo capable of zipping from one deep-tissue character study to another with the ease of Richard Pryor. Meanwhile, her big, brilliant brain seemed to run a mile a minute, like the one possessed by her friend and colleague Robin Williams. Whoopi, it seemed, could do anything. Movie stardom seemed a cinch.

It was. Kind of. After making her dramatic debut in Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple," she scored a smallish hit with Penny Marshall's comedy thriller "Jumpin' Jack Flash." That led to two more star vehicles in the 1987 duo of "Burglar" and "Fatal Beauty," but they didn't take.

Although there are still several months until hope springs anew on the diamond, viewers can now play ball with a new 4K Ultra HD release of Penny Marshall's sports classic A League of Their Own. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has given the Tom Hanks and Geena Davis comedy-drama a serious upgrade, transferring footage from the original camera negative and including Dolby Vision. Also featured on the new disc is a collection of special features that dive deeper into the creation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League's iconic story.

Decades before shows like "Search Party" took an ever-shifting approach to the comedic TV format, "Laverne & Shirley" was switching things up season after season. The "Happy Days" spinoff started with a pretty consistent premise in its early seasons, focusing on two zany roommates working at a Milwaukee bottling company. By season 5, though, tomboy Laverne (Penny Marshall) and optimist Shirley (Cindy Williams) ended up in the Army Reserves, and season 6 saw them move to Burbank and work as department store gift wrappers. By the final season, Shirley was gone, and Laverne was working in the aerospace industry.

As wild as the twists and turns of "Laverne & Shirley" were, the show had some constants across its eight seasons, including the presence of neighbors Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David Lander), Laverne's dad Frank (Phil Foster), and Shirley's fame-hungry ex, Carmine (Eddie Mekka). Most of the actors who made "Laverne & Shirley...

It is not uncommon for TV stars to direct episodes of the series on which they appear. Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan and David Ogden Stiers all directed more than one episode of "M*A*S*H;" Peter Bonerz became a prolific director of television shows and films after directing 29 episodes of "The Bob Newhart Show;" and Penny Marshall might never have brought us such big screen classics as "Big" and "A League of Their Own" had she not started out directing on "Laverne & Shirley."

For the directing curious, the set of a long-running television show is a great place to cut one's teeth, so it's no surprise that two members of the Jeffersonian Institute Medico-Legal Lab found their way behind the camera during the 12-season run of "Bones." The most frequent guest in video village was David Boreanaz, who played the hard-charging FBI Agent Seeley Booth. He...

There’s no crying in baseball, and there’s never too much eating in it either if you’re Tom Hanks.

The 1992 historical sports comedy A League of Their Own is a completely timeless and mostly fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (Aagpbl), and its contribution to the sport of baseball in the quotes department remains nearly unmatched: “There’s no crying in baseball,” “The hard is what makes it great” and “Did anyone ever tell you, you look like a penis with that little hat on?” are all bangers, and they’re all spoken by the fabricated boozehound Jimmy Dugan, played by Hanks.

A departure from his usual affable, fuckable everyman character, Hanks’ portrayal of the ball-scratching, long-pissing and hilariously ornery manager of the Rockford Peaches is one his best-ever comic roles specifically because it was so off-brand. During a chat with the Happy Sad Confused podcast,...

In the modern landscape of blockbusters, it’s not uncommon for actors to gain or lose weight to fit their characters, especially in the realm of Cbms. But back in the ’90s, director Penny Marshall, who collaborated with Tom Hanks on two occasions, urged the actor to gain weight for a contrasting reason.

A League of Their Own | Credit: Columbia Pictures

The Oscar winner, who previously lost weight to fit the part of an out-of-shape middle-aged man in Cast Away, recalled being told to overcome his cuteness for A League of Their Own.

Tom Hanks Was Deemed Too Cute for A League of Their Own Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own | Credit: Columbia Pictures

Having already worked together on 1988’s Big, for A League of Their Own, starring the likes of Madonna, Geena Davis, etc, Penny Marshall asked Hanks to gain weight, as the actor recalled, the director...

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My Old Ass is a coming-of-age sci-fi comedy-drama film written and directed by Megan Park. The Prime Video film follows Elliott, an 18-year-old who takes mushrooms on her birthday and comes face-to-face with her wisecracking 39-year-old. Soon, she is contacted by her older self who gives her life advice which makes Elliott forces to rethink everything from family to love. My Old Ass stars Maisy Stella, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, and Aubrey Plaza. So, if you loved the coming-of-age drama, comedic tone, and compelling characters in My Old Ass here are some similar movies you should check out next.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (Prime Video) Credit – Amazon Studios

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is a sci-fi romantic comedy-drama film directed by Ian Samuels from a screenplay by Lev Grossman. Based on Grossman...

The 1990 movie Awakenings is a dramatization of Dr. Oliver Sacks' 1973 memoir of the same name and the true story behind the semi-fictional Dr. Sayer is just as fascinating. In 1990, viewers were treated to a dramatic story starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. The pair play doctor and patient in a story thats equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. Unlike Robin Williams' other medical drama, the historically inaccurate Patch Adams, Awakenings uses its true story to enhance its own semi-fictional narrative.

Directed by Penny Marshall, Awakenings is a retelling of the groundbreaking work carried out by Dr. Oliver Sacks, author of the Awakenings book. While it certainly makes some big changes, including the key characters involved, the important aspects and powerful elements of the Awakenings true story are captured. This helped to make Awakenings a huge hit, making over $52 million (Box Office Mojo) and being nominated for three Oscars, Best Adapted Screenplay,...

Cissy Houston, the Grammy-winning gospel singer and Whitney Houston’s mother, died Monday in New Jersey. She was 91.

The singer was in hospice, where she was receiving care for Alzheimer’s disease, at the time of her death. In a statement, her daughter-in-law, Pat Houston, said that she was surrounded by her family. “Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness,” Pat said. “We lost the matriarch of our family. … Mother Cissy has been a strong and towering figure in our lives. A woman of deep faith and conviction, who cared greatly about family,...

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Before Barry Sonnenfeld became a director with films like the "Addams Family" movies, "Get Shorty," and "Men in Black," he was a decorated cinematographer who often worked with The Coen Brothers, Danny DeVito, Penny Marshall, and on two of Rob Reiner's most memorable films — "When Harry Met Sally..." and "Misery." In Sonnenfeld's new book, "Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time: True Stories from a Career in Hollywood," he described his role of cinematographer as a "friend of the director," rather than just the director of photography. "I had as many opinions and ideas about editing, performance, or if the costumes looked worn-in enough, as I did about lighting or camera angles," he wrote. It makes sense; the cinematographer is your first line of defense to make sure something looks right, so Sonnenfeld was often involved in areas that were...

Nearly 20 years after his breakout role in “Heroes,” Zachary Quinto returns to NBC as a world-class, eccentric doctor in “Brilliant Minds.” The “Star Trek” and “American Horror Story” star plays Dr. Oliver Wolf, a neurologist who lives with a brain disorder — prosopagnosia, colloquially known as “face blindness” — and believes “you can’t treat a patient without understanding who they really are and sometimes the only course of treatment is breaking the rules.”

But Dr. Oliver Wolf isn’t a figment of fiction and those philosophies weren’t invented for the screen — he’s got his roots in the incredible true story of a legendary physician. Here’s what you need to know what’s true in “Brilliant Minds.”

Is “Brilliant Minds” based on a true story?

Yes, but it’s not strictly following the details of the real-life Dr. Oliver.

“Brilliant Minds” is inspired by the life and writing of renowned British doctor,...

Female friendships have been at the center of some of television’s most memorable and iconic shows — from comedy highs to dramatic lows. Here are TV’s Top 10 BFFs.MEGALaverne and Shirley on 'Laverne & Shirley'mega

Schlemiel! Schlimazel! They might be polar opposites, but as roommates and co-workers at Milwaukee’s fictional Shotz Brewery, Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) constantly lifted each other’s spirits as they got in and out of trouble!

Ethel and Lucy on 'I Love Lucy'Prime Video/YouTube

In one of the most legendary sitcoms in TV history, Lucille Ball as Lucy and Vivian Vance as Bff Ethel made audiences howl with laughter over their hilarious antics.

Mary and Rhoda on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'mega

The classic opposites attract couple of polite local news producer Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) and her brash best friend and upstairs neighbor Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) became a...

The cause of death has been revealed for former Alf child star Benji Gregory. The actor was found dead in his car at a Chase Bank parking lot in Peoria, Arizona, on June 13, along with his service dog Hans.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner determined Gregory died from heat exposure in the setting of hepatic cirrhosis. His death was ruled accidental.

Gregory played middle son Brian Tanner on more than 100 episodes of Alf, which aired from 1986-90. It followed the earthly adventures of a furry alien from the planet Melmac who crashes his spaceship into the Tanners’ garage. Nicknamed Alf (for Alien Life Form) and voiced by Paul Fusco, the creature often cracked wise about human customs and was a cat lover — though not in the usual sense.

Born on May 26, 1978, in suburban Los Angeles, Gregory began his TV career at a tender age with mid-’80s guest roles on such as The A-Team,...

Jimmy Fallon gets a lot of flack for his interviewing skills. We've criticized him on this very sight when it comes to his penchant for cutting guests off, or stepping on a joke that took minutes to build up. He isn't the smoothest in this regard.

That said, Jimmy Fallon is human, and things can get awkward for him during interviews as well. The veteran Tonight Show host opened up about this exact topic during a 2019 interview on Watch What Happens with Andy Cohen.

Jimmy Fallon initially struggled with Robert De Niro

Fallon was asked to reflect on the most akward late night interview of his career, and he came up with a name right away: Robert De Niro. The host told Andy Cohen that he struggled mightily with De Niro, as the conversation seemingly went nowhere.

Fallon conceded that he was relatively new to late night when the interview occurred,...

In a career reaching back to the 1960s, Steven Spielberg has made a string of classics, but the projects that didn't materialize are just as interesting. Ultimately, it's hard to look back on Spielberg's glittering career so far and suggest that he should have done anything differently. Still, it's a shame to see some of the exciting projects that fell through, and fans can only imagine how they would have looked.

Steven Spielberg's best movies include Jurassic Park, Jaws and the Indiana Jones franchise. Had things played out differently, he might have some other classics to his name. Spielberg has worked in a variety of genres, and he has always shown a willingness to experiment with new ideas. Some of the most interesting movies he almost made include sci-fi thrillers, animated video game adaptations, and biopics about historical figures.

Miscellaneous Movies That Spielberg Was Interested In Which Ended Up...

This September, Paramount+ is bringing you a ton of entertainment with the highly anticipated new season of the crime drama series Tulsa King starring Sylvester Stallone and the horrifying psychological thriller film Apartment 7A. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Paramount+ this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 5 best films coming to Paramount+ in September 2024 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Big (September 1)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

Big is a fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall from a screenplay co-written by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg. The 1988 film revolves around Josh Baskin, a young boy who wishes to get bigger in size to a fortune-telling machine, and when the next day he wakes up he discovers that his wish has been fulfilled. Big stars Tom Hanks in the lead role with David Moscow,...

"A League of Their Own" was one of those movies that always seemed to be airing on cable when I was growing up -- and I mean always. It's not a dad movie, per se; technically, its nearly all-women cast makes it the opposite of one. Yet, it hits a lot of the same pleasure centers. It even stars America's Dad himself, Tom Hanks! At the time, though, the actor was coming off a string of box office misfires and was far from the national treasure that he is today. Hence, he asked his old buddy Penny Marshall -- who had directed him in the 1988 hit "Big" (a problematic fantasy-comedy that I still have a soft spot for) four years earlier -- to cast him in "A League of Their Own," hoping it would change his fortunes. And boy, did it ever.

Marshall's sports dramedy tells a fictional story...

A fire engulfed a beloved California baseball field, Jay Littleton Park, the setting of many popular baseball films in the late '80s and early '90s. The historic landmark was home to A League of Their Own, Eight Men Out, and The Babe, all of which had ties to the field.

Related Best Baseball Movies That Are Based on True Stories

From Moneyball to A League of Their Own, these are the best baseball movies based on real events.

According to Deadline, the fire was initially reported in the evening on Thursday in Ontario, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles. As the crews reached the scene, the fire was fully developed, already engulfing many of the seats and dugout in flames. A member of the Ontario Fire Department announced there was an open investigation into the cause of the fire, but there were no reported injuries. The arson damage...

Taxi, a beloved sitcom that aired from 1978-1982, featured a talented main cast including Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd. The show also included memorable guest stars like Tom Hanks and Ruth Gordon, all of whom contributed to its success. Deceased cast members like J. Alan Thomas, Jeff Conaway, and Marcia Wallace are deeply missed, but their impactful roles live on in Taxi's legacy.

The beloved sitcom Taxi aired its first episode over 45 years ago, back in 1978, and in the years since, a few cast members have passed away, including J. Alan Thomas. The series, which would run for five seasons and conclude in 1982, centered around a group of New York City taxi cab drivers and their obnoxious dispatcher. Several of the main cast became huge stars, including Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, and Marilu Henner. An acclaimed series, Taxi won the Emmy for Best Comedy Series for its first three seasons.

Tom Hanks’ A League of Their Own character famously said, “There’s no crying in baseball,” but folks might make an exception today. A baseball park east of Los Angeles that has been a popular filming location for movies and TV shows was badly damaged in a fire overnight.

Along with the Penny Marshall-directed 1992 pic that starred Hanks, Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell, Madonna and Lori Petty, the park also has hosted film shoots for such features as the 1988 Charlie Sheen-John Cusack Black Sox movie Eight Men Out and the 1992 biopic The Babe starring John Goodman as Babe Ruth. It also has been used for numerous TV commercials, the city said.

The blaze was reported around 11:30 p.m. Thursday at Jay Littleton Ball Park in Ontario. An Ontario Fire Department spokesperson told Key News Network that the fire was fully involved when the crews reached to the scene.

In the era of celebrities getting "canceled," it can sometimes be seen as controversial to support the work of problematic Hollywood stars. However, others including The Batman star Zoe Kravitz are able to separate the art from the artist.

Per Esquire, Kravitz spoke about the movies she watches that she enjoys. That includes the work of several acclaimed filmmakers, like Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Penny Marshall, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, and the Coen brothers. When it comes to her all-time favorites, two of her most loved films Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant both happened to be directed by Roman Polanski. Based on concerning allegations made against Polanski, the filmmaker has long been one of Hollywood's most polarizing figures, and while Kravitz admits he's "controversial," she doesn't see the issue in enjoying his films.

Related The Batman Fan Art Imagines Paul Dano in a Retro Riddler Costume

Davi Alves takes...

Starting his career as a musician under the hip-hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, Mark Wahlberg has since transformed into a successful and acclaimed Hollywood actor. And he attributes his successful career to Penny Marshall’s 1994 comedy-drama, Renaissance Man, which marked his silver-screen debut.

Mark Wahlberg | Eva Rinaldi/Cca-by-sa-2.0/Wikimedia Commons

As the film celebrates its 30 years, Wahlberg reflected on starring in the movie, noting how the comedy-drama became the turning point that altered the course of his life and career.

Mark Wahlberg Credits His Film Career to Penny Marshall’s Renaissance Man

Mark Wahlberg has starred in numerous successful and acclaimed films throughout his career, even landing roles that Leonardo DiCaprio regrets passing on, such as the lead in the Oscar-nominated film Boogie Nights.

Mark Wahlberg in Renaissance Man | Credit: IMDb

However, the film he attributes his successful career as an actor is the 1994 comedy-drama Renaissance Man.

Warning: Spoilers for Netflix's The Union below!

The Union is a blue-collar James Bond movie with a focus on romance between the leads. The film has franchise potential and hints at further adventures for Mark Wahlberg's character Mike. The Union's cast includes Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, and J.K. Simmons in key roles.

The Union is Netflix's latest action-comedy and its cast is littered with movie stars and acclaimed character actors. The Union is the latest in the ever-expanding Mark Wahlberg action movie library, with the story involving a construction worker recruited by his high school sweetheart into a spy organization. The philosophy behind this group is that instead of selecting the so-called elite of Yale or Harvard, they recruit people from blue-collar backgrounds who know how to "get s*** done."

The Union is part spy movie - complete with the requisite gunfights and car chases - and part romantic comedy.

Ahead of her directorial debut premiere, Zo Kravitz has revealed her favorite filmmakers. And one of them is rather controversial. Like any devoted film lover, Kravitz has a list of favorite directors, including Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Penny Marshall, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, the Coen Brothers, and Roman Polanski. The latter, who was at the helm of Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant (two of Kravitz's favorite films), holds a legacy that is tainted by sexual misconduct and assault allegations that date back to the 1970s. Kravitz admits to Esquire that, while she knows it's "controversial" to hold Polanski's work in high regard, she explains that...

"It's okay that somebody bad was involved in something good. What are we supposed to do, get rid of America?"

Related Channing Tatum Went To 'Dark Places' For His Psychopathic Character In Zo Kravitzs Blink Twice

Channing Tatum opened up about leaving his comfort...

Zoë Kravitz is speaking out on the ongoing debate over whether someone can be a fan of a controversial artist’s work but not condone their actions.

Amid cancel culture and the #MeToo movement with allegations against actors and auteurs alike coming to light, “Blink Twice” writer/director Kravitz told Esquire that she does not shy away from still appreciating would-be canceled directors’ films. Kravitz specifically cited her admiration for Roman Polanski’s filmmaking. He directed two of her favorite films, “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Tenant.”

Polanski left the U.S. in 1978 after pleading guilty to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl who has since defended the director. Polanski has denied the sexual misconduct claims from five other women. Polanski is still making films, with his feature “The Palace” debuting at Venice 2023.

“It’s Ok that somebody bad was involved in something good,” Kravitz told Esquire about separating the art from the artist.

Some people think Leonardo DiCaprio became a star when he acted in James Cameron’s Titanic. Others believe his stardom predated that movie when he starred opposite Claire Danes in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. However, the movie that made him an up-and-comer is a film that seems to have been all but erased from his filmography: the 1995 drama The Basketball Diaries, a movie that teamed him with a young Mark Wahlberg, earned good reviews and became a VHS cult hit among teens of the nineties. Yet, it’s a tough film to find unless you’re willing to shell out big bucks for the long, out-of-print Blu-ray (never released in the U.S) or an old-school DVD. You won’t find it on streaming, and it remains an oddly obscure film considering how popular it was in the nineties. What gives?

The Basketball Diaries is based on the life of Jim Carroll,...

At the premiere of her directorial debut Blink Twice on Thursday, Zoë Kravitz took a moment for a special thank-you for the film’s star, and her fiancé, Channing Tatum.

Ahead of the screening at Los Angeles’ DGA Theatre, while Kravitz was thanking the cast and crew who worked on the project, she told the crowd she was “going to take just one second to talk about Channing fucking Tatum,” before reading a note she had written down in her notebook.

“From producing to performing to the pep talks to holding my head or my feet while I cried on the bathroom floor because I thought I fucked it all up, thank you for letting me be a complete Ocd psycho control freak. Thank you for your patience,” she said. “Making this film with you has been an awfully great adventure. Thank you for trusting me to female direct you.

On December 17, 1989, America sat down to watch "The Simpsons." The animated characters created by Matt Groening first appeared in short segments on the variety series "The Tracey Ullman Show," but by 1989, the Simpson family was ready to take on their own series.

Or were they?

The first episode to make it to air was the holiday special "Simpsons Roasting on and Open Fire," in which a down-on-his luck Homer (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) takes a job as a mall Santa. Eventually, the family adopts a greyhound dog named Santa's Little Helper, and Christmas is saved. It may not be the best episode of "The Simpsons," but it certainly made history: as of this writing, "The Simpsons" is still on the air, having just wrapped its 35th season. But back in 1989, a completely different episode of "The Simpsons" could've been the premiere. Then everything changed at the last minute.

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Bob Newhart, an Emmy winner and nine-time nominee who helped launch the recorded comedy craze with two smash stand-up albums before starring in the revered TV shows The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, died today at his Los Angeles home. He was 94.

His longtime publicist Jerry Digney said Newhart died after a series of short illnesses.

Newhart broke out in 1960 with a pair of No. 1 comedy albums — despite never having done stand-up before. The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart spent 14 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and stayed on that chart for more than two years. The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back! arrived about 10 months later and also hit No. 1. The former won Grammys for Album of the Year, Comedy Album of the Year and Best New Artist and featured a slow-spoken still-cited monologue with Newhart as Abe Lincoln.

Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2024: Photo Gallery & Obituaries

“I worked as an accountant for 2½ years,...

Legend has it that every turning point in American history was marked by the presence and influence of an elusive and mythical Forrest Gump. Tom Hanks’s 1994 film, directed by the legendary Robert Zemeckis, was powerful enough to move souls and shape ideas even decades after its critically acclaimed release.

Forrest Gump (1994) [Credit: Paramount Pictures]

Although Forrest Gump developed into an instant classic and a global phenomenon upon release, the film was shrouded in troubled production and studio politics at the time of its making. From problems related to the rights to the IP to slashing of the film’s budget, the uphill battle that Hanks and Zemeckis weathered to get Forrest Gump on the road is a tale in and of itself.

Tom Hanks’s Extraordinary Journey as Forrest Gump

While the world witnessed Forrest Gump teaching Elvis his iconic dance moves and shaking hands with President John F. Kennedy,...

When it comes to making movies, the most forward-facing job on the set is acting. Most audiences think of actors first when they imagine watching a movie, and there's no denying that many films wouldn't be as successful as they are without talented actors bringing the stories to life. On the other hand, most films wouldn't even exist at all without a director leading the charge. And in some rare cases, the actor and director are the same person.

Directors acting in their films is a storied tradition in Hollywood, going back to the days of silent pictures and pioneer filmmakers like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Over the years, other actors have joined in on the fun. Some of them, like Penny Marshall, kept their acting roles small so as not to detract from the other primary members of the cast. Others, like Clint Eastwood, cast themselves in the starring role.

Geena Davis did not play older Dottie in A League of Their Own's ending - Lynn Cartwright did, with Davis' voice dubbed over. The movie used a clever trick with Lynn Cartwright to connect the two eras of Dottie's life in a convincing way. Despite the deception, Geena Davis was still somewhat present as older Dottie through her voice dubbed over Cartwright's portrayal.

Despite being one of my most rewatched movies from the '90s, I just discovered the truth about Geena Davis' role at the end of A League of Their Own. As a '90s kid who always loved sports and movies, a mashup of the two has always been on my radar. Therefore, it should be no surprise that I've always been a fan of Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own. In fact, the movie had me constantly questioning why I was forced to...

At one of the heights of his career, following films like “Malcolm X,” “Philadelphia,” and “Devil in a Blue Dress,” Denzel Washington starred in a remake of the 1947 Christmas movie, “The Bishop’s Wife.” Directed by the late great Penny Marshall, the remake was called “The Preacher’s Wife” and centered on a struggling Baptist pastor, played by Courtney B. Vance, and an angel come down to help, but who ends up focusing more on the pastor’s wife. Marshall cast this role to another megawatt talent of the time, Whitney Houston. Discussing his career with Chaz Ebert at the American Black Film Festival in Miami, per People, Denzel Washington remembered the concern he had for Houston while making the film.

“I felt like I always wanted to protect her,” he said. Ebert acknowledged how this was present in the film. She said, “There was a vulnerability that you saw.”

Surprised this came across in his performance,...

Synopsis

It’s a home run with this hilarious and beloved comedy starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna. With baseball lineups and locker rooms left empty during World War II, the newly-founded All-American Girls Baseball League brought talented women to the big leagues and fans to the stands. The indomitable Dottie Hinson (Davis) finds herself leading a rag-tag group of players who end up winning over the heart of their has-been coach, Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks). Lori Petty, Rosie O’Donnell and Jon Lovitz round out the all-star roster. Based on the true story of the pioneering women who blazed the trail for generations of athletes.

Disc Details And Bonus Materials

4K Ultra HD Disc

• Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision, restored from the original camera negative

• English Dolby Atmos + English 5.1 + English 2-Channel Surround

• Special Features:

o Domestic Theatrical Trailer

o 5 International Teasers & Trailers

Blu-ray Disc™

• Feature presented in high definition,...

One of the best aspects of TV is watching relationships build, transform, and transpire, whether they are healthy or not.

Feuding females, frenemies, and gal pals glued at the hip seem to carry a magical essence in the TV world.

Some are so iconic they drive the show and make for the best scenes and audience draw. Here are 17 female duos who obsess over each other!

Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney (Laverne & Shirley)

Laverne & Shirley first aired in 1976 and was a spinoff of Happy Days. It stars Penny Marshall (Laverne) and Cindy Williams (Shirley).

The two are best friends, roommates, and co-workers at the Shotz Brewery in Milwaukee. They are complete opposites who balance each other perfectly and constantly encourage each other.

Related: Prequel Problems: Why Are TV Execs So Fixated on the Past?

The memorable duo was there for each other no matter what, and they were also highly independent.

As a kid growing up in the nineties, a movie that always got a ton of play in my household was Penny Marshall’s A League of Their Own. I have fond memories of seeing it in theaters as a ten-year-old in the summer of 1992, and it’s a movie I only revisit from time to time. So, I’m pretty happy to hear that my next revisit will be in glorious 4K, with Sony revealing that the movie’s coming out on 4K disc this September, with a fully loaded special edition.

For those who may not remember the film, it’s based on the real-life All-American Girls Baseball League, which sprung up during World War II, as most male players were overseas fighting the war. In the film, Geena Davis (in an iconic performance) plays Dottie Hinson, who, along with her sister Kit (Lori Petty), becomes a star player for the Rockford Peaches.

If one were to rank all the major streaming services by queerness, Amazon Prime Video would be a pretty tough one to pin down.

On the one hand, you have to give credit where credit is due: One of the service’s very first stabs at original programming was “Transparent,” which in turn was one of the first shows to star a trans main character. That show now has a lot of baggage, but it’s hard to its understate historical significance.

Beyond the thorny topic of “Transparent,” Prime Video does have a good track record of releasing shows with LGBTQ characters and centering their narratives on queer themes; in particular, many of their shows focus on queer women, refreshingly avoiding the centering of gay men that defined queer TV for decades. This spring, the streamer dropped a phenomenal limited series retelling of David Cronenberg’s “Dead Ringers,” starring Rachel Weisz as twin lesbian gynecologists.

Quincy Jones, the first Black producer to be nominated for best picture, and legendary casting director Juliet Taylor will receive honorary Oscars at this year’s Governors Awards, announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Wednesday. Screenwriter and director Richard Curtis will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, while James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli will be bestowed with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. The statuettes will be presented at the 15th annual ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 17, in Los Angeles.

“The recipients of this year’s Governors Awards have set the bar incredibly high across their remarkable careers, and the Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to recognize them with Oscars,” said Janet Yang, Academy President. “The selection of Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli is a testament to their success as producers of the fan-favorite Bond series and their contribution to the industry’s theatrical landscape.

Tom Hanks was a television star in 1982 and, 42 years ago, if what you really wanted was to be a movie star, that was a problem.

Actors had made the transition from small-screen success to big-screen stardom before, but Hanks' claim to fame was as one-half of the cross-dressing duo living in an all-women's apartment building on the ABC sitcom "Bosom Buddies." Though the show was initially a hit, the gimmick quickly wore thin, and Hanks found himself back on the casting market.

Post-"Bosom Buddies," Hanks' sole film credit was in the 1980 slasher flick "He Knows You're Alone," and, to his credit, he was so charismatic that the filmmakers opted not to kill him off onscreen. Still, that's not much to hang your hat on, nor was, unfortunately, two years of mild television notoriety. The biggest sitcom stars of the 1970s roughly in Hanks' age range were getting star vehicle...