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Demi Moore should win the 2025 Best Actress Oscar for 'The Substance'

Coralie Fargeat's The Substance is undoubtedly 2024's most talked-about horror film. Demi Moore gives a career-best performance as Elizabeth Sparkle, an aging celebrity who agrees to take the titular substance to create a younger version of herself, with chilling and unexpected results. Love or hate the movie, one thing is undeniable: Moore is outstanding, delivering a completely liberated and volcanic performance that ranks among the best of the year. The Substance is very much a comeback for Moore, giving her the chance to showcase her talent in a role that draws several parallels with her real-life persona. In a landmark year for horror, it would be perfect for the Academy to finally recognize a performance from the often-ignored genre, and who better than Moore, an actress who has been counted out several times but who refuses to give up? What do you think? Does Demi Moore deserve the Oscar for The Substance? If not, who is your favorite to win?

'The Ren & Stimpy Show' Was the First True "Adult" Cartoon

One night, looking for something to watch, I decided to cut on some good-old Paramount Plus and revisit the classic Nickelodeon Nicktoon, The Ren & Stimpy Show. It was here where it hit me: Ren & Stimpy was truly the first “adult” cartoon, but just so happened to be on a network built for kids. I mean, who at Nickelodeon greenlit this? Who thought this show could have possibly been for the Rugrats crowd? A lot of the humor in The Ren & Stimpy Show was really aimed at adults, and it sailed over the heads of the young humans who made up a majority of its viewing audience (I know, I was one of them). I mean, think about it: Ren & Stimpy really pushed the envelope so that shows like Family Guy could thrive. I know some will say The Simpsons was the first animated series built for an older audience, but, in all honesty, the clan from Springfield couldn't hold a candle to what Ren & Stimpy had. It was gross, and hard to watch at times, but, good Lord, it was hilarious, and still holds a spec

Should Trevor and Hetty Get Back Together on 'Ghosts'?

In its second season, Ghosts saw many of the show's resident specters hook up, from Isaac and Nigel's ill-fated slowburn to Flower and Thor's mismatched romantic timing. Somewhere in the middle of all that, Trevor and Hetty swept each other up in a wild psycho-sexual love affair. Having surprisingly more in common than one might expect of a Gilded Age robber baroness and a Y2K finance bro, their relationship worked surprisingly well — at least until they went public to the rest of the house. Even then, they found their attraction to each other too strong to resist and staged a fight so they could keep hooking up in secret. Their relationship genuinely ended, somewhat abruptly, at the beginning of the shortened third season which saw the show's typical episode count cut in half following the industry strikes. However, Trevor and Hetty did appear to attend Isaac and Nigel's doomed wedding together and generally continue to have excellent chemistry. Do you think Hetty and Trevor should ge

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‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Review: Tom Hardy and His Alien Entity Go Full Buddy Movie in a Finale That Shoots the Works, Because Why Not?

The alien gets the good lines, and Tom Hardy completes his mumblemouth Bowery Boy peformance, in a sequel that's as fun, and rote, as the others.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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“ Venom: The Last Dance ” is the third and final entry in the Marvel movie series about a helmet-headed alien with scary teeth and Gene Simmons’ tongue who fuses with a mumbly overpaid Method actor. Or something like that. Since this is the grand finale, the film’s director, Kelly Marcel (who co-scripted the previous two “Venom” installments and wrote this one, now making her debut behind the camera as well), may have felt a certain lack of restraint. As you watch “The Last Dance,” the film obliterates any distinction between shooting the works and jumping the shark and just saying, “WTF, let’s do it!”

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But I digress, because there is — fear not! — a reliably humorless and generic countdown-to-the-end-of-the-world plot involving a cosmic villain and copious monster battles like the ones you’ve seen 8,000 times before. When you put Andy Serkis’s name on something, it’s a signifier of cred, but for all the personality he often brings it might just as well have been a computer voicing the character of Knull, who looks like the Crypt Keeper (or maybe Bret Michaels) with his head bowed. He was placed in a prison by his family of symbiotes, and to be released he needs the Codex, a mystic device that happens to be embedded in the body of Venom. And so it will be until one of the entities that make up Venom — the alien or Eddie — dies.

To ensure that this happens, Knull dispatches a fast-moving giant spindly creature (head like a soft-shell crab, multiple legs and tails) that looks like it got lost on the way back from a “Starship Troopers” sequel. It has a way of slurping down human beings the way that some people eat ramen, and by the climactic showdown there are several more of these monsters. I should mention that if Knull ever does get his claws on the Codex, he has vowed to destroy all life in the universe. When Chiwetel Ejiofor ’s hardass Gen. Strickland gets wind of this, his agenda is clear: He means to destroy Venom before Knull can claim the Codex.

But that all gets muddied after Venom shows up at Area 51, the site of a giant underground laboratory that’s about to be decommissioned by the U.S. government. Juno Temple is Dr. Payne, the scientist who still believes in the glory of the extraterrestrial matter she’s studying. When Stephen Graham, who someone should seriously cast as Alex Jones, shows up once again as Patrick Mulligan, the former detective, and transforms into the Christmas-green alien hybrid Toxin, she thinks he’s the bee’s knees.

The “Venom” films are part of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (that is such a tedious sentence to write, let alone contemplate). And maybe that’s why Tom Hardy, from the first “Venom” on, has chosen to offset the uncoolness of doing a comic-book franchise by putting his slumming in quotation marks, playing Eddie as a borderline doofus who talks like a grown-up version of one of the Bowery Boys. The performance has worked, in a certain way, because it kept the whole series light. But it has also ensured that the “Venom” movies are a lark and nothing more, geared to the arrested pleasure centers of fanboys: the more snark and CGI the better.

Reviewed at Regal Union Square, New York, Oct. 22, 2024. MPA rating: PG-13. Running time: 109 MIN.

• Production: A Sony Pictures Releasing release of a Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Arad Productions, Pascal Pictures, Hutch Parker Entertainment, Hardy Son & Baker production. Producers: Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy, Hutch Parker. Executive producer: Joseph M. Caracciolo.
• Crew: Director, screenplay: Kelly Marcel. Camera: Fabian Wagner. Editor: Mark Sanger. Music: Dan Deacon.
• With: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Stephen Graham, Alanna Ubach, Rhys Ifans, Cristo Fernández, Brooke Carter.

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Critic’s Pick

‘Conclave’ Review: Serpents and Doves Amok in the Vatican

This film, based on Robert Harris’s 2016 thriller of the same title, centers on a British cardinal (a sensational Ralph Fiennes), and a campaign for a new pope.

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By Manohla Dargis

There are no Kamala Harris or Donald Trump bumper stickers embellishing the vans that occasionally zip through “Conclave.” The current presidential race is the far greater, more consequential nail-biter, yet there’s still much riding on the contest in this sly, sleek election potboiler about the selection of a new Catholic pope. With pomp and circumstance, miles of scarlet cloth and first-rate scene-stealers, the movie snakes through the marbled corridors of Vatican City, pauses in bedchambers as cold as mausoleums and tunnels into the deepest secrets of the human heart. It’s quite the journey, and as unpersuasive as it is entertaining.

Vatican stories are Hollywood catnip; see, or maybe don’t, the Dan Brown adaptations (“The Da Vinci Code,” etc.) featuring a worried-looking Tom Hanks racing through conspiratorial thickets. It’s easy to see the attractions of the minuscule city-state, beyond the untold masterpieces crowding it. The movies love stories about shadowy — to outsiders, at any rate — patriarchal, deeply hierarchical, unimaginably wealthy organizations with strict codes of conduct and tremendous power. That may sound a lot like a thumbnail portrait of the Mafia, but it also describes Hollywood. And what the movies especially love are lightly cynical, self-flattering and finally myth-stoking stories that, like this one, evoke the industry itself.

“Conclave,” based on Robert Harris’s 2016 Vatican intrigue of the same title, centers on a British cardinal, Lawrence (a sensational Ralph Fiennes). A cleric of uncertain faith if unwavering convictions about everything else, Lawrence has droopingly sad eyes and refined sensitivities, and serves as the dean of the College of Cardinals, the group charged with selecting the pope, who’s just died. Lawrence is on the move when the story opens, hurrying through dark streets and into a brisk drama filled with whispering, scurrying men, one of whom who will be anointed as the new earthly head of the Catholic Church. There are women, too, though mostly there’s Isabella Rossellini, giving great side-eye as Sister Agnes.

The cardinals keep whispering and scurrying as the story quickly revs up. Lawrence has been enduring a personal crisis — Harris calls it “some kind of spiritual insomnia” — and had asked the pope (Bruno Novelli) if he could leave Rome for a religious retreat. The pope denied him, telling Lawrence that while some are chosen to be shepherds, others need to manage the farm. With the pope dead, the reluctant Lawrence steps up and begins managing, a duty that involves herding scores of cardinals through the intricacies of the conclave, Latin for a room that can be locked. First, everyone needs to be sequestered until the announcement of “Habemus papam” (“We have a pope”), but until then, it’s every cardinal for himself.

The story coalesces around the lead candidates, a nicely balanced group of sincere, stealthy and smooth operators who soon circle Lawrence, their silver tongues wagging and hands wringing as they make their moves. The director Edward Berger and his team (the casting directors very much included) have stuffed the movie with a Daumier-esque collection of smooth and bearded, guarded and open faces. The juicy main cast includes Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati and a wonderful Sergio Castellitto, who plays a wolfish smiler who fulminates about the church’s liberal faction and yearns for the days of Latin Masses. The story could have used more of him and much more of his ominous rage.

Several of Harris’s novels have been turned into movies (“The Ghost”), and he’s well-served here both by Berger and by the screenwriter Peter Straughan, who cowrote the superb 2011 version of le Carré’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” There’s a great deal of talking in “Conclave,” not just dark-corner murmuring, yet the dialogue remains largely naturalistic throughout. Even when the characters are righteously thumping their red chests or squaring off, the dialogue rarely edges into exposition. That said, at one point, a character delivers the kind of sanctimonious sermon that’s required in mainstream movies that criticize institutions, if not too much, so that they can finally uphold those very same institutions.

Berger, as he exhaustively demonstrated in his last movie, “All Quiet on the Western Front,” likes to keep things — characters, cameras — moving. Here, he finds a more harmonious balance between stasis and action. When the cardinals are tidily assembled in the Sistine Chapel for the conclave, facing one another at long tables that flank the room, you can feel the momentum in the men’s ricocheting glances and rigid stillness. Although he doesn’t overdo it, Berger also likes to place the characters, though particularly Lawrence, right in the middle of the frame, which may be a sly nod at Renaissance perspective but also dovetails both with the ceremonial orderliness of this world and with the lugubrious rituals of the conclave.

Lawrence’s crisis of faith continues, waxing and waning even as the voting comes down to the wire. Fiennes, an actor of extraordinary expressive nuance, makes the character’s struggle palpable; you can see his sorrow, and not just for the dead pope, weighing and almost tugging him down like a millstone. At one point, while seated among the other cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, he looks up at Michelangelo’s monumental “ The Last Judgment ” and fixes on the figure of a damned man, a hunched, visibly distraught soul who’s being dragged to hell by devils. It’s a moment that suggests Lawrence’s spiritual turmoil, a struggle that, in turn, expresses the larger, deeper questions — theological, organizational — facing the church.

A number of such questions emerge in different plot threads. One involves old-school election rigging; another concerns an abuse of power. In the main, partly because the performances pleasurably dominate the movie, these crises register as fairly scattershot and more like personal matters rather than institutional failings. That remains true even as the outside world starts to violently press in on the cloistered clerics and bombs, literal and metaphoric, start going off. One is meant to put all those questions and plot turns into perspective, but because the biggest bombshell arrives so late, so inelegantly and unbelievably, it only blows a yawning hole in the movie. The wreckage is substantial, but its depths are shallowly rendered.

Conclave Rated PG. Running time: 2 hours. In theaters.

Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic for The Times. More about Manohla Dargis

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(Photo by Paramount. SMILE 2.)

Best Movies of 2024: Best New Movies to Watch Now

Welcome to our guide of the Best Movies of 2024, featuring every Certified Fresh movie as they come in week by week!

October additions so far: V/H/S/Beyond.   I’ll Be Right There . Things Will Be Different . It’s What’s Inside . Saturday Night . The End We Start From . The Beautiful Game . Exhibiting Forgiveness .  Piece by Piece . Blitz . We Live in Time . Terrifier 3 . Rumours .  The Apprentice . The Goldman Case .

Spooky season started early in September with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice . Sleep and Speak No Evil were there with the assist . We kicked off our guide to the 50 best new action movies with the Netflix’s Rebel Ridge . And the synths had their day with The Wild Robot (way up there on the DreamWorks Animation guide ) and Transformers One (ditto for this on on the Transformers list ) .

August  staved off the typical late-summer doldrums with Alien: Romulus, the first Alien movie to be marked Certified Fresh and not directed by Ridley Scott in some nearly 40-odd years. Sing Sing is keeping Colman Domingo in the awards contender discussion post-Rustin. And more from horror and likewise genre efforts with Blink Twice , Cuckoo , The Substance , and Strange Darling .

July was blockbuster month worthy of the summer season mantle, as Twisters carved its warpath, and fast in its wake Deadpool & Wolverine , Marvel’s sole MCU offering for the year. MaXXXine , Longlegs , and Oddity made a case for one-word horror titles. And in the limited release spectrum, Dìdi is an instant new Asian-American classic , while Hindi-langague Kill thrilled audiences. Those who missed the Hindi-language thriller of course will have their eternal chances to catch it on streaming, or even until the American remake comes out next year-ish.

Let’s talk about the June wide releases that went Certified Fresh. First, there’s Pixar’s Inside Out 2 , which revitalized the box office and brought back the studio in a big, big way . The Bikeriders is a crime drama starring Austin Butler , Tom Hardy , and Jodie Comer . It was directed by Jeff Nichols , who has unassumingly amassed one of the most impressive filmographies of any working director; all six of his directed movies are Certified Fresh. And let’s make some noise for A Quiet Place: Day One , which is now 3-for-3, a true horror rarity outside of George Romero ‘s original Dead trilogy . 

May brought the start of the summer movie season, launching with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt ‘s The Fall Guy . The following weeks saw Mad Max sequel Furiosa , and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes , which built upon the reboot trilogy of the 2010s (how to monkey-see the series in order , if you’re so inclined). Glen Powell ‘s Hit Man saw some limited theatrical play before dropping on Netflix, where it’ll be permanently one of the streamer’s 100 best-reviewed movies . Viggo Mortensen directed his second feature, western The Dead Don’t Hurt , while Pamela Adlon made her directorial debut with Babes . In a Violent Nature took viewers on a (very) slow ride from a slasher villain’s point of view. And check out Daisy Ridley’s crowd-pleasing Young Woman and the Sea .

Horror had an unexpectedly strong month in April , with Universal monster movie Abigail , Nic Cage action-hybrid Arcadian , The First Omen reviving the dormant franchise, and indies I Saw the TV Glow ,  Blackout , and  Infested . A24 had their first #1 box office-debuting film with the heated Civil War . Zendaya continued her Certified Fresh streak with Challengers , and Dev Patel made a major directorial debut with Monkey Man ,  which had its own long journey to go from being dumped on Netflix to theatrical major studio distribution.  Nowhere Special   becomes the highest-rated movie of the year.

In March : Love Lies Bleeding and Problemista , both from A24 . One Life , starring Anthony Hopkins. Ordinary Angels , starring Hilary Swank. In horror, we got You’ll Never Find Me and  Late Night with the Devil , the latter which also tops our best horror of 2024 list . Dialogue-free animation Robot Dreams and Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World jockeying for the top spot here.

And what about February ? Dune pretty good, thanks for asking. Part Two went Certified Fresh within an hour after the reviews embargo lifted on February 21st. With it outclassing the first Dune , we took a look at 20 sequels that got better Tomatometer scores than their originals . Otherwise, things got freaky with horror film Stopmotion and the comic zaniness of Hundreds of Beavers taking the crown for the best-reviewed of the year.

We didn’t have a blockbuster January like we did in 2023 ‘s, when genre surprises M3GAN and Plane went Certified Fresh. But Daisy Ridley got her post-Skywalker win with Sometimes I Think About Dying . Mads Mikkelsen re-teamed with his A Royal Affair director Nikolaj Arcel to find The Promised Land. With The Crime Is Mine , Francois Ozon is getting career-best reviews, and his 10th Certified Fresh film over the past decade-and-change. And Netflix scored with The Kitchen , Orion and the Dark , and Good Grief .

Page 1: Movies #1-100 | Page 2: Movies #101+

Nowhere Special (2020) 100%

LaRoy, Texas (2023) 100%

Girls Will Be Girls (2024) 100%

Anora (2024) 99%

Ghostlight (2024) 99%

The Wild Robot (2024) 98%

Thelma (2024) 98%

Sing Sing (2023) 98%

Robot Dreams (2023) 98%

Good One (2024) 98%

The Crime Is Mine (2023) 98%

Molli and Max in the Future (2023) 98%

Aisha (2022) 98%

LOLA (2022) 98%

The Goldman Case (2023) 98%

Late Night with the Devil (2023) 97%

His Three Daughters (2023) 97%

The Promised Land (2023) 97%

Kneecap (2024) 97%

Hundreds of Beavers (2022) 97%

Tótem (2023) 97%

Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (2023) 97%

Tiger Stripes (2023) 97%

Crossing (2024) 97%

Fancy Dance (2023) 96%

Dìdi (2024) 96%

Oddity (2024) 96%

Rebel Ridge (2024) 96%

Io Capitano (2023) 96%

Sleep (2023) 96%

The Last Stop in Yuma County (2023) 96%

Red Rooms (2023) 96%

Infested (2023) 96%

The Vourdalak (2023) 96%

Música (2024) 96%

Fitting In (2023) 96%

Hit Man (2023) 95%

Strange Darling (2023) 95%

In Flames (2023) 95%

Banel & Adama (2023) 95%

Love Lies Bleeding (2024) 94%

La Chimera (2023) 94%

New Life (2023) 94%

Exhibiting Forgiveness (2024) 94%

The Settlers (2023) 94%

Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023) 94%

Driving Madeleine (2022) 94%

The Monk and the Gun (2023) 94%

Hoard  (2023) 94%

Green Border (2023) 93%

Femme (2023) 93%

We Grown Now (2023) 93%

Close Your Eyes (2023) 93%

Gasoline Rainbow (2023) 93%

Limbo (2023) 93%

Housekeeping for Beginners (2023) 93%

20,000 Species of Bees (2023) 93%

Minor Premise (2020) 93%

Dune: Part Two (2024) 92%

Touch (2024) 92%

National Anthem (2023) 92%

The Substance (2024) 91%

My Old Ass (2024) 91%

A Different Man (2024) 92%

The Imaginary (2023) 91%

Orion and the Dark (2024) 91%

About Dry Grasses (2023) 91%

Stopmotion (2023) 91%

In the Summers (2024) 91%

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) 90%

Inside Out 2 (2024) 90%

One Life (2023) 90%

Cabrini (2024) 90%

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (2023) 90%

The Devil's Bath (2024) 90%

Monkey Man (2024) 89%

Transformers One (2024) 89%

Young Woman and the Sea (2024) 89%

Kill (2023) 89%

The End We Start From (2023) 89%

The Kitchen (2023) 89%

Disco Boy (2023) 89%

Look Into My Eyes (2024) 89%

Challengers (2024) 88%

Babes (2024) 88%

V/H/S/Beyond (2024) 89%

A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) 87%

Last Summer (2023) 87%

Backspot (2023) 87%

The Three Musketeers: Part II - Milady (2023) 87%

The Beast (2023) 86%

Problemista (2023) 86%

Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara (2023) 86%

The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed (2023) 86%

Longlegs (2024) 85%

Smile 2 (2024) 85%

Janet Planet (2023) 85%

The Dead Don't Hurt (2023) 85%

Monolith (2023) 85%

I Used to be Funny (2023) 85%

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Review: 'Oppenheimer' emerges as a monumental achievement on the march into screen history

“It’s kind of a horror movie,” understates director Christopher Nolan.

"It's kind of a horror movie," understates director Christopher Nolan of "Oppenheimer,"

his brilliant, bruising take on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), the dark knight of the atomic age. Murphy's pale blue eyes become a path into a tortured soul as Nolan—a true film artist in works as diverse as "Memento" and "Dunkirk," creates a new film classic.

Based on Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherman's 2005 biography, "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer," Nolan's three-hour-plus masterpiece fills up our senses with the details of quantum mechanics to ignite the story of an American theoretical physicist who helped invent the ultimate weapon of mass destruction and lived to regret it.

Murphy's performance, flawless in every detail, encompasses how Oppenheimer's Manhattan Project team relocated to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to accelerate development of the weapon that would help end WW2 through the cataclysmic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, and usher in the threat of nuclear annihilation that's only escalated over time.

Nolan uses radio reports to detail the effects of those bombs, saving the eye-searing visuals for the 1945 Trinity test in the New Mexico desert to bring home the destruction being unleashed. The superb sound design in which silence alternates with waves of reverberation to bring the unthinkable to devastating life is unmissable, unforgettable and scary as hell.

Shot with Imax cameras by the great Hoyte van Hoytema, "Oppenheimer" deserves to be seen on the biggest screen with a state-of-the-art sound system. This despite the fact that the film is often a series of debates among scientists arguing in close-ups that find endless fascination in the geography of the human face.

The actors in "Oppenheimer could not be better. They include Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves, the blustering military supervisor at Los Alamos, Benny Safdie as Edward Teller, who pushed to develop the even more dangerous hydrogen bomb, and Gary Oldman in a sensational cameo as Harry Truman, the president who ordered the use of the bomb on Japan and dismissed Oppenheimer as a "crybaby" for objecting.

Oppy, as intimates called him, had a personal life that mirrored his professional turbulence. Though he mingled with such greats as Albert Einstein (Tom Conti), Ernest Lawrence (Josh Hartnett), and Niels Bohr (Kenneth Branagh), Oppy's sexual entanglements, notably with psychologist Jean Tatlock (a mesmerizing Florence Pugh) made the wrong kind of headlines.

His marriage to biologist Katherine "Kitty" Puening (Emily Blunt), an alcoholic suffering from postpartum depression, added to the chaos. Kudos to Blunt for building the role with a fierce independence as Kitty defended Oppy from the political gamesmanship that plagued him.

In the riveting last section of the film, Nolan shows us Oppenheimer fighting against those eager to discredit him, first in the Sen. Joseph McCarthy commie witch-hunts of 1954 and five years later during the Senate confirmation hearings for the nomination of former  Atomic Energy Commission chair Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.) as secretary of commerce.

Nolan shoots both these sections in a vivid black-and-white to underscore the resentment Strauss feels for Oppenheimer for hiding his Jewish roots, communist proclivities and fears about government backed nuclear energy.

In a film of standout performances, Downey delivers a tour de force of festering animosity that blows the doors off. All his time in the Marvel universe might lead you to forget that Downey is one of the best actors on the planet. Here's a reminder. Prepare to be wowed.

"Oppenheimer," set to Ludwig Göransson's thundering orchestral score, is one of the best movies you'll see anywhere. With Nolan's extraordinary talent shining on its highest beams, the film emerges as a monumental achievement on the march into screen history.

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News of the World

There’s an old-fashioned aesthetic in “News of the World” that might make it easy to dismiss as a “dad movie,” something that plays on TNT in regular rotation for the next decade (which it almost certainly will), but this kind of finely-calibrated genre film is harder to pull off than it looks. There’s an attention to detail in every corner of this movie, including not just the period recreation but everything from James Newton Howard ’s lovely score to Tom Hanks ’ subtle performance. There’s something comforting about giving yourself over to an undeniably talented group of artists for two hours and just letting them tell you a story. That’s what this will be for many this holiday season. Yes, it’s relatively predictable and arguably a little thin in terms of ambition, but it’s also refined and nuanced in ways that these films often aren’t. Everyone here is at the top of their craft from the character actors who populate the ensemble to the two leads at its center to everyone behind the camera, and you can feel that from first frame to last.

Hanks reunites with his “ Captain Phillips ” director Paul Greengrass to play a very different kind of Captain in Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a traveler in Texas in 1870, not long after the end of the Civil War . Kidd is a newsreader, someone who travels from town to town and literally gets paid to read the news to the locals. Home delivery wasn’t a thing 150 years ago and many people in these small towns couldn’t even read, so they relied on people like Kidd to tell them what’s going on in the world. The chosen profession has made him something of an isolated wanderer, but it’s also imbued a deep humanity in Kidd that has given him the air of an old-fashioned storyteller. He’s an entertainer as much as an informer, choosing what to read and how to present it. His travels and encounters also mean he can read people better than most, which will be essential for the next chapter of his life.

That starts when he comes across the scene of a murder. A Black driver has been hanged from a tree and a blonde girl looks at Kidd from the woods nearby. Kidd decides to take the girl he names Johanna (the excellent Helena Zengel ) to safety, even though she speaks no English and appears to have spent much of her young life in the captivity of Native Americans. She comes from German lineage but speaks Kiowa, and she was being taken to the authorities after the tribe who raised her was killed. Kidd realizes he will have to find this orphan a home.

These early scenes may be simple in narrative structure but Greengrass, Hanks, and the team behind the film add so much grace and nuance to them. Hanks has become such a subtle actor over the years, finding the little beats to define Kidd at every turn but never feeling showy. He’s so completely in the moment in this film, responding to each situation believably instead of sinking into the bland protagonist that could have hampered this film. It’s yet another recent turn of his that feels like it won’t get enough attention because he makes it look so easy (see also “Captain Phillips,” “ Bridge of Spies ” and “ Sully ,” among others).

“News of the World” becomes a road movie of sorts for Kidd and Johanna, with new encounters across the unstable landscape. (After the end of the Civil War, Texas was not exactly the safest place in the country.) Greengrass structures it in an episodic way that kind of detracts from the midsection, where the film sags a bit as it jumps from encounter to encounter. The set-up is so well done that watching the movie settle into a road trip may be a bit disappointing, although Greengrass brings out some of his action movie direction skills when they’re needed, such as in a tense shoot-out with some scumbags who try to buy Johanna. However, there’s a better version of “News of the World” that has slightly higher stakes. As difficult as the journey is, neither Kidd nor Johanna have a bruise or scar to show, even after jumping from a runaway horse and cart.

Greengrass is also smart enough to imbue his 1870 Western with some 2020 ideas. Kidd finds his way to Erath County, where the atmosphere is one of isolation and, sorry, fake news. The most prominent figure in the area, Mr. Farley ( Thomas Francis Murphy ) insists that Kidd read his propaganda newspaper about pushing out everyone from the area but the white people, and connections to disinformation in the modern age are not hard to make. And the idea of a man trying to bring a fractured nation back together through knowledge and decency has some relevance in 2020 too.

Not all of these themes are fully fleshed out, but “News of the World” stays together and stays entertaining because of its top-notch craft. It may feel like Greengrass’ most traditional film but there’s an energy to the direction here that’s not always apparent in a Western. It helps that it’s arguably the director’s most aesthetically striking film, with gorgeous vistas captured by Darius Wolski and one of the best scores of the year from James Newton Howard. And it’s so great to see so many wonderful faces filling out the cast like Ray McKinnon , Elizabeth Marvel , and Bill Camp . On paper, this simple tale well-told may not seem like it amounts to much, but, at the end of a year in which comfort was hard to find, this movie sometimes feels like a gift.

In theaters on Christmas Day .

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

• Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd
• Helena Zengel as Johanna Leonberger
• Fred Hechinger as
• Michael Angelo Covino as
• Thomas Francis Murphy as Merritt Farley
• Elizabeth Marvel as Gannett
• Mare Winningham as Jane
• Neil Sandilands as Wilhelm Leonberger
• Chukwudi Iwuji as Charles Edgefield

Cinematographer

• Dariusz Wolski
• James Newton Howard
• Luke Davies
• Paul Greengrass

Writer (based on the novel by)

• Paulette Jiles
• William Goldenberg

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A complete list of movie reviews and ratings from the Screen Rant film critics and industry experts - helping movie lovers decide which films to watch for over 15 years.

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• Best Streaming Services of 2024

A streaming service lets you view on-demand content of your choosing at any time and customize the live content you see more than you can with cable. But how should you decide which streaming services are right for you? Although there has been some splitting and consolidation among streaming services in the past year or so, these services continue to be widely popular as people choose them over a traditional cable TV subscription. From our pick for the best streaming service overall, Max, to picks with higher variety, children's programming, or for original movies, the following streaming services won't disappoint.

Why Trust U.S. News

At U.S. News & World Report, we take an unbiased approach to our ratings. We adhere to strict editorial guidelines, maintain a separate business team, and provide transparency on our methodology.

Table of Contents

• Best On-Demand Streaming Services
• Rating Details
• Best Live TV Streaming Services

If you love to kick back at home and binge-watch popular TV series and movies, there are three types of video streaming services you can subscribe to. On-demand services like MAX, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu offer plenty of original and exclusive programming, plus a library of content from other networks, studios, and content producers.

By contrast, live TV streaming services like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and DirecTV give you access to live programming from a few dozen to several hundred channels and networks. These live channels may offer some on-demand programming, but the live content can typically be recorded using a service’s cloud DVR feature.

The third type of service offers both on-demand and live programming from specific networks. Peacock and Paramount+ are examples of these.

Many households that cut the cable cord now subscribe to at least one live TV streaming service, along with one or more on-demand streaming services. The best options for your household depend on what you want to watch and when.

An In-Depth Look at Our Best On-Demand Streaming Services

With all of the options now available, many consumers are switching from cable to streaming. Fewer than half of Americans now subscribe to traditional pay TV, according to Insider Intelligence . Read on for a more in-depth look at each of the streaming services that earned a spot in our rating.

MAX »

Original TV series and movies produced exclusively for MAX

No long-term contract

Three plans, starting at $10 a month (with ads)

One of the more expensive premium services

New seasons of original MAX series are spread far apart

Only two simultaneous streams allowed with the cheapest plan

SEE FULL REVIEW »

Netflix »

Ad-supported plans start at just $7 a month

Large selection of original and exclusive programming

Up to six user profiles and four simultaneous streams

Downloadable programming for off-line viewing

Most original series are limited to short seasons (8 to 10 episodes each)

One- to three-year gap between new seasons of many original shows

Disney+ »

Bundle deal: Get Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu for $14 a month

On-demand access to all classic Disney and Pixar movies

Complete library of Star Wars and Marvel movies and series

Strong emphasis on kid- and family-friendly content

Original shows and movies, plus Disney Channel and National Geographic programming

On its own, Disney Plus doesn’t offer a lot of programming for adults and non-Disney fans

Disney Bundle subscription plans are confusing

Hulu »

Prices start at $7.99

Live TV add-on available

Discounts for students

Base plan includes ads

Only two simultaneous streams on all plans

Peacock »

Watch NBC TV series from the past and present – from classics to current hits

Choose ads or go ad-free

Create up to six user profiles

Programs downloadable only with Premium Plus plan

Only offers NBCUniversal programming

Amazon Prime Video »

Large on-demand content library

Access to original shows and movies

Free with Amazon Prime membership, which includes free shipping and other perks

Some content is on a pay-per-view basis

Most programming now includes limited commercials

Apple TV+ »

Easily accessible from all Apple gear and non-Apple devices

Growing library of high-quality, original content

Seven-day free trial, or three-month free trial with purchase of an Apple device

Limited catalog compared to many rivals

Mainly limited to Apple-exclusive content

Limited kid-friendly programming

Fubo »

Stream from up to 10 screens/devices at once

Up to 274 channels of live TV

Includes broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and The CW)

Plans cost $80 to $100 per month

Add-ons are expensive

4K streaming not offered with the least expensive Pro plan ($80/month)

Fubo's rating of 3.8 stars reflects their score in our rankings for the Best Live TV Streaming Services methodology. Under the direction of the Best On-Demand Streaming Services methodology, Fubo earned a 3.4 star rating.

YouTube TV »

100+ channel lineup

Manage six profiles

Unlimited cloud DVR storage

Expensive add-on networks and channels

Spanish Plan costs extra and only includes 30 channels

YouTube TV's rating of 3.8 stars reflects their score in our rankings for the Best Live TV Streaming Services methodology. Under the direction of the Best On-Demand Streaming Services methodology, YouTube TV earned a 3.3 star rating.

• Best Live TV Streaming Services of 2024

Live TV streaming services offer access to dozens or hundreds of live TV channels, sometimes including local broadcast network affiliate programming from ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The CW, and PBS. These services also provide a lineup of popular basic cable TV news, sports, and entertainment channels and networks – all for a flat monthly fee that ranges from $35 to $100 per month.

One benefit of a live TV streaming service like YouTube TV , DirectTV Stream , Fubo , Sling TV , and Hulu + Live TV , is that you can watch your favorite shows live from your smart TV, smartphone, tablet, PlayStation, Xbox, or computer. You can also record shows using the service's cloud DVR feature and maintain multiple user profiles. In some cases, an on-demand library of TV series and movies is also available.

Some video streaming services provide a library of original and exclusive on-demand content, as well as live programming from one or more broadcast channels and/or cable networks. Peacock and Paramount+ fall into this category. These services offer plans that include ads and plans that are ad-free. Prices range from $6 to $20 per month.

The best way to save money on subscription streaming services is to seek out discounted bundles – and there are many to choose from. For example, one of the Disney bundles can include Hulu + Live TV, Disney+, and ESPN+ for a flat fee. Or you can subscribe to Paramount+ with Showtime. Whichever option(s) you choose, you get access to your favorite programming when and where you want it, as long as you have a continuous, high-speed internet connection.

When choosing a service and plan, determine if you can stream at up to 720p, 1080p, or 4K resolution. You’ll also want to know how many screens can stream content at the same time, and how many user profiles you can create and maintain with a single account. And if you have kids, you’ll want access to parental controls and content filters.

While some of the live TV services offer unlimited cloud DVR storage for recording shows, others limit the amount of storage that’s included with your plan. To learn more about each of the popular video streaming services and what they offer, see our coverage of the Best Live TV Streaming Services of 2024 .

On-demand streaming services let viewers watch content whenever and wherever they want. Also called video-on-demand services, these typically feature extensive and evolving libraries of TV shows and movies that viewers can access as they please. For viewers who want to catch an entire series, prerecording shows is no longer required, which has led to the recent phenomenon of binge-watching numerous episodes of a single series.

On-demand services are also a good option if you enjoy watching your favorite shows on the go, even in areas with limited Wi-Fi. To watch during your commute or a flight, simply download shows onto your mobile device ahead of time.

Watching videos on demand requires the following:

• Broadband internet: A broadband internet connection has download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second (Mbps). If your internet isn't this fast, you'll experience buffering and poor video quality. Some services let you download shows that you can watch later when you're offline.
• A streaming device: You can watch on-demand videos using a smart TV (including an Android TV), smartphone, tablet, computer, Blu-ray player, set-top cable box, gaming console (such as an Xbox One), or a streaming media device. Roku, Apple TV, and Chromecast are examples of streaming media devices. Check the streaming service's website to make sure your device is compatible with its app.
• Streaming service app: For compatible devices, you usually need to download an app for the streaming service to access its library and watch videos. The exception is for computers, which can often connect directly to the service's website using a browser (such as Chrome or Firefox) instead of an app.

On-demand streaming services typically don't have live TV channels, a cloud DVR, or local channels. For these features, check out our rating of the Best Live TV Streaming Services .

Luckily, video streaming is a simple affair with most devices. Follow these steps to watch content on a streaming service.

• Pick a streaming device. We list common streaming devices below, one or more of which you may already own. Before you buy a new device, check our list to see if you have something that will work.
• Make sure your streaming device is compatible with the streaming service you want. If you already have a device, such as a smart TV, you may want to pick a service that will work with it so you don't have to buy new equipment.
• Download the streaming service app. Unless you're using a computer web browser to watch streaming service content, you'll need the streaming service app to access its library and watch videos. Usually, the quickest way to get the app is to go to your device's app store. Some streaming services also post information on their websites about how to get the app for your type of device.
• Test your broadband and Wi-Fi speeds. Make sure your internet is fast enough to handle video streaming. One option to test your download speed is to use Netflix’s Fast.com website. Download speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) are the minimum for broadband internet and should allow you to stream HD video from more than one TV, according to the FCC’s Broadband Speed Guide . For help getting faster download speeds, see our internet service provider guide and rating of the Fastest Internet Plans of 2024.

You can use one or more of the streaming devices below to connect with your streaming service and watch your favorite TV shows and movies. Plenty of affordable options are available. For example, Roku has a variety of boxes and streaming sticks that can plug directly into your TV. These come with a remote, and prices start at around $30. Another option is Google’s Chromecast, which also starts at around $30.

Chromecast takes a different approach: After you connect your phone or laptop to a streaming service, use Chromecast to share both the video and audio (called casting) directly with your TV.

Note that as your streaming device ages, it may not be compatible with newer services.

The following is a list of common devices to choose from:

• Streaming media players : Examples include Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Nvidia Shield, and Google Chromecast.
• Smartphones and tablets : Apps are usually available for Android and iOS, and occasionally available for Windows devices.
• PCs and laptops : You can use a computer to watch videos by either downloading the streaming service's app or using your web browser to watch directly on the service's website.
• Game consoles : Examples include Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii consoles.
• Smart TVs : These connect to the internet connection and use apps to stream video.
• Blu-ray players : Like smart TVs, many Blu-ray players can stream video using apps.
• Set-top boxes : Some set-top boxes from cable TV companies can connect with streaming services.

Each of the major streaming services has pros and cons. If you’re cutting the cord, you may need more than one to fill the gaps. Look at the depth of each catalog in what you’re looking for, whether it’s family-friendly cartoons, edgy adult movies, horror flicks, or classic TV shows. Most allow you to watch on any device—tablets, phones, gaming consoles—but each places limits on the number of simultaneous streams. Netflix for example allows two streams for a standard subscription, requiring upgrades for more. Apple TV+ meanwhile allows six different people to watch from the same account. Also consider whether you want an ad-supported service that saves on cost or a more expensive ad-fee model. See more on pricing below.

Many people can save by cutting the cord in favor of on-demand streaming but pay close attention to the various pricing plans, which range from around $5 to $20 a month. Netflix, for example, offers an ad-supported tier at $6.99 with some shows excluded, but the standard plan with Ultra HD video is $15.49, and the premium plan with four simultaneous streams is $19.99. Extra costs apply to sharing with people outside the main household.

Amazon Prime Video is a perk for people who already have the subscription service Amazon Prime, but you can get a standalone video subscription for $8.99 per month. Most Amazon Prime Vido content is ad-free, but some shows must be purchased separately.

Peacock is priced at $4.99 per month with ads, but tack on an additional $6 monthly for the ad-free service. The other services fall in the same price range, all of which have both ad-free and ad-supported plans except for Apple, which is fully ad-free.

Remember that you may want more than one service to get the shows you want, so plan accordingly.

On-demand television creates new challenges for parents who want to limit their kids’ exposure to inappropriate content. Virtually all the streaming services enable you to create parental controls for each family member. One exception is FuboTV, which is a live streaming service more akin to cable. In any case, most of the newer smart TVs have parental controls built in so you can manage your viewing options that way if you choose. Each of the services has slightly different controls. Disney+ for example, allows you to set content ratings for each profile, but also has a “junior mode” that excludes content unsuitable for children.

Here are a few points to consider as you compare the different ways to stream and the best streaming services:

• Price: If you're looking for the least expensive way to cut the cord, you should pick an on-demand streaming service. The average starting monthly cost of the on-demand services we evaluate is around $6. In comparison, you'll pay an average of about $50 month-to-month for a live TV service.
• Packages: Households that watch a wide variety of content should look for a base plan that gets you most of what you want, and then fill in any holes by adding a package. Many streaming services offer premium channel add-ons. Starz, Showtime, and Cinemax are common options. Several live TV services also offer packages that group together sports channels, kids’ networks, and Spanish-language networks.
• Compatible streaming devices: Don’t assume that your streaming device will work with the streaming service of your choice. See our section on media streaming devices below for a list of different devices you can use to stream videos.
• Simultaneous streams: This lets more than one person watch videos at the same time and can be an important benefit for households with numerous occupants. Note that when you download content and watch it without an internet connection, it doesn’t count as one of your simultaneous streams.
• User profiles: A user profile typically keeps track of your viewing progress for TV shows so you can quickly jump into the right episode, and lets you create a watchlist of your favorite movies and series. The ability to create different profiles is convenient for families that have a range of viewing preferences but may not be as important if everyone in your home usually watches the same types of content.
• Parental controls: With some services, parents can create kid-friendly profiles and keep youngsters from being exposed to inappropriate programming. If this is a must-have for your household, make sure the service requires a PIN to change parental controls or switch profiles, as this isn't always the case.

Below are a few pointers to break away from cable TV and switch to a streaming service.

• Decide what you want to watch. This is the most important step to make sure you will be satisfied with your new service. Before cord-cutting, decide what's on your must-watch list, which may include specific TV shows, channels, and original programming. Keep in mind, content libraries change frequently as licenses expire, original programming is pulled, or content moves to a different streaming service.
• Determine what equipment you have and what you’ll need. If you already have a streaming device—either a USB stick, a streaming box, or a smart TV—make sure the services you want to use are compatible.
• Cancel your current cable service. You’ll likely need to call or go online to cancel your current cable TV service. Don’t forget to return any equipment, such as set-top boxes, that you're renting from the cable provider.

Experts recommend using a virtual private network (VPN) to protect your information wherever you go online. For streaming, using a VPN can also be helpful if your internet service provider throttles, or slows, your speeds to limit your data usage. However, using a VPN at home can sometimes result in problems for cord-cutters. Many streaming services try to block VPNs. This is mostly because movies and TV shows often come with licensing agreements that specify which countries can watch which videos, and a VPN can get around these agreements.

If you want to watch your streaming service and have a VPN at home, like on your router, you have a couple of options. First, pick a VPN that says it works with the streaming service of your choice. If you can't find this information in the VPN's help section, you can test it out for yourself. Almost all of the VPNs in our rating of the B est VPNs of 2024 have a money-back guarantee period, giving you time to make sure the service works for you.

Another option is to look for a VPN with split tunneling. This lets you select a specific site, such as HBO Max, that stays outside of the VPN connection while keeping the rest of your online activities protected by the VPN.

For more help, check out our VPN guide and see our unbiased rating of the Best VPNs of 2024 .

Netflix, along with some other streaming services, lets you adjust the video quality when streaming. Other streaming services automatically adjust the video quality based on your current internet speed. These adjustments can affect your data usage.

Netflix reports the following data usage based on the quality of your video stream. Values are an approximation:

• 0.3 GB used per hour watching at the lowest video quality
• 3 GB used per hour watching HD Video
• 7 GB used per hour watching Ultra HD video

Keep in mind, slow internet speeds can make your video look patchy, freeze your show, or cause audio delays. You may be able to remedy this by disconnecting other devices. For more information, see our internet service provider guid e and our unbiased rating of the Best Internet Service Providers of 2024.

Our Technology Expert

Jason R. Rich is an internationally recognized consumer technology expert with more than 30 years of experience as a writer, journalist, and photographer. He’s also the author of numerous books on consumer technology and other subjects. In addition to the U.S. News 360 Reviews website, his articles and in-depth product reviews continue to appear on CBS Essentials, Forbes Vetted, and within AARP the Magazine and AARP Bulletin.

Need More Advice?

Our privacy and technology team has done countless hours of research on all sorts of consumer technology products and services. If you have a question that hasn't been answered in one of our guides, send an email to [email protected] , and we'll do our best to help.

• DirecTV Stream vs. YouTube TV
• Fubo vs. YouTube TV
• Hulu + Live TV vs. Sling TV
• Netflix vs. Hulu
• YouTube TV vs. Hulu + Live TV
• Amazon Prime Video
• Crunchyroll
• Fandango at Home
• DirecTV Stream

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Our 360 methodology for evaluating streaming services, 1. we researched the companies and products people care most about., 2. we created objective 360 overall ratings based on an analysis of third-party reviews..

• Professional Ratings and Reviews . Many independent industry sources have published their assessments of streaming services online. We consider several of these third-party reviews to be reputable and well-researched. However, professional reviewers often make recommendations that contradict one another. Rather than relying on a single source, U.S. News believes consumers benefit most when these opinions and recommendations are considered and analyzed collectively with an objective, consensus-based methodology.
• Consumer Ratings and Reviews . U.S. News also reviewed published consumer ratings and reviews of streaming services. Sources with a sufficient number of quality consumer ratings and reviews were included in our scoring model.
• Calculating the Z-Score: The Z-Score represents a data point's relation to the mean measurement of the data set. The Z-Score is negative when the data point is below the mean and positive when it's above the mean; a Z-Score of 0 means it's equal to the mean. To determine the Z-Score for each third-party rating of a company, we calculated the mean of the ratings across all companies evaluated by that third-party source. We then subtracted the mean from the company’s rating and divided it by the standard deviation to produce the Z-Score.
• Calculating the T-Score: We used a T-Score calculation to convert the Z-Score to a 0-100 scale by multiplying the Z-Score by 10. To ensure that the mean was equal across all data points, we added our desired scoring mean (between 0 and 10) to the T-Score to create an adjusted T-Score.
• Calculating the common-scale rating: We divided the adjusted T-Score, which is on a 100-point scale, by 20 to convert the third-party rating to a common 0-5 point system.

U.S. News 360 Reviews takes an unbiased approach to our recommendations. When you use our links to buy products, we may earn a commission but that in no way affects our editorial independence.

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