"Specter," the next James Bond movie (directed by Sam Mendes), recently finished shooting on location and is slated for a November rollout. This latest installment in the film world's most famous franchise stars Daniel Craig in the role of the MI-6 renegade uber-agent. But this is not just any old Bond movie. It's a bit of a revolution, in fact. Why? Because the Bond girl is a spot over fifty. None of this is news

"Congratulations to Eddie Redmayne for winning an ‪Oscar‬ for playing me in 'The Theory of Everything' movie. Well done Eddie, I'm very proud of you." Astrophysicist Stephen Hawkings thus congratulated Eddie Redmayne recently. The thirtysomething British actor plays Hawking on-screen in "The theory of everything." And on Sunday, Redmayne earned the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for this performance. Not too shabby

It was a magical night in Tinseltown, during which the stars were aligned and the year's great films and the people who made them happen were awarded richly and rightly. Well, almost. The Clint Eastwood-directed "American Sniper" fell tonight under enemy fire. Are academy voters turning into tree-huggers on me? Where's the love? This year's voters sent a strong anti-war message by leaving the perfect-score "Sniper" out of the

The red carpet has been unfurled and Hollywood is getting ready for its collective close-up. The 87th Academy Awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will be taking place at Hollywood's 3,300-seat Dolby Theatre tonight. It's pretty clear that it's down to "Birdman" and "Boyhood," both of which are jockeying for the best picture nod. Performers on hand include Lady Gaga, Rita Ora, Jennifer Hudson and Anna Kendrick.

At the last Cannes Festival this past May Abderrahmane Sissako's slow burn-tale about a town's descent into Islamist hell was the first movie I saw. By the end of fest (that is, about fifty movies later), "Timbuktu" waded around my brain like a very sweet but anxiety-inducing dream I once had. It's now nearly a year later now and director Sissako has triumphed as France's best filmmaker, getting some well-deserved recognition

Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale: "No, I'm not ready; I have no makeup on... but things are getting better!" (one of the many choice quotes from "Grey Gardens").

For the sadistic movie-goer "Grey Gardens" might just be the epitome of schadenfreude: look, rejoice, at how Big and Little Edie Beale, a mother-and-daughter team of recluses living in a run-down mansion in East

The film world a political injustice loveth (but it also loveth good cinema). And in a perfect storm of urgent, inspired filmmaking and jurisdictional accuracy the Golden Bear, the top award at the Berlinale, went to Jafar Panahi for his film "Taxi," a day after the FIPRESCI prize was given to him. Many of the other awards given out last night went to the underdogs, directors making cinema on a small but vital scale.