Patrick Stewart - 📽️ Lifeforce (Tobe Hooper, 1985) RIP to a genre legend, so iconic for his best parts he got plugged into far too few standalone movie ensembles. This is one of the most fun, a small but mighty role where he gets to play possessed by an alien. Peter Firth and Frank Finlay shine too.

Daniel Stern - C.H.U.D. (Douglas Cheek, 1984) There’s a fine cast of character actors in early parts here: John Heard, Frankie Faison, Sam McMurray, Jon Polito, and a young John Goodman. Stern gets the most fun and heroic role as the conspiracy theorist with the best idea of what’s going on here.

Patrick Stewart (1940–2026)

Hong Chau - 📽️ Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014) Chau kicked off a meteoric rise to character actress royalty with this early standout comedic part. As the enigmatic Jade, she’s a scene partner holding her own against a top form Joaquin Phoenix. She nails the Anderson-Pynchon dialogue.

Leslie Mann - 📽️ Funny People (Judd Apatow, 2009) Mann shone doing a modern Gatsby love triangle routine with a top form Adam Sandler and Eric Bana. The role starts out comedic then, like many an Apatow movie, takes a lengthy turn for the dramatic while showcasing Mann’s warm naturalism. #filmsky

Stephen Dillane - 📽️ King Arthur (Antoine Fuqua, 2004) Fuqua’s movie has its fans but is unsuccessful in many regards. But the ensemble is commendable, from Stellan Skarsgård’s long-bearded Saxon villain to Dillane’s stoic warrior Merlin. He’s often untapped for badass character roles. #filmsky

Raúl Juliá - 📽️ Eyes of Laura Mars (Irvin Kershner, 1983) This John Carpenter mystery script presents Faye Dunaway with a host of suspects and ace scene partners: Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, René Aubrrjonois. But Juliá is special as her depressed, drunk ex. He could be so magnetic while tragic.

Jeffrey Wright - 📽️ Cadillac Records (Darnell Martin, 2008) A rare great and authentic true story movie about music, Cadillac Records is underrated in general, and Wright sizzles starring as Muddy Waters. He stands out even more than Eamonn Walker’s Howlin’ Wolf and Beyoncé’s Etta James. #filmsky

RIP to this angel

Michael Ironside - 📽️ Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven, 1997) Ironside is a genre film pro, and already stole scenes for Verhoeven in Total Recall. As teacher/lieutenant Jean Rasczak, his gravitas is helpful to Starship Troopers’ singularly difficult satirical tone, in contrast to the young stars.

Gwei Lun-mei - 📽️ Black Coal, Thin Ice (Diao Yinan, 2014) This is a singular, slow, and strange crime thriller with touches of classic noir. Throughout it all, Gwei is one of its central loners and is uniquely shrouded in a constant cloud of building dread. You can’t help but feel for her intensely.

John Amos - 📽️ Coming to America (John Landis, 1988) “They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick.” This is a real instance of almost everything he says is funny. Cleo McDowell, the knock-off McDonald’s owner, is a constant opportunist and Eddie Murphy’s funniest scene partner. His is the Golden Arcs.

Dennis Haysbert - 📽️ Suture (Scott McGehee and David Siegel, 1994) The great Haysbert has led too few movies. His singular and infectious voice makes him a chilling noir protagonist in this esoteric mistaken identity story. He plays memory loss and will generally keep you guessing what’s going on.

Powers Boothe - 📽️ Southern Comfort (Walter Hill, 1981) As shell-shocked stick in the mud to contrast Keith Carradine’s smirking survivor, Boothe brings a lot of personality to a stoic protagonist. It’s one of his few film leads, and the simmering builds to a hell of an explosive climax. #filmsky

Parker Posey - 📽️ Clockwatchers (Jill Sprecher, 1998) The chemistry among the central quartet here - Posey, Toni Collette, Alanna Ubach, and Lisa Kudrow - really makes it one of the unheralded ‘90s comedies. Posey shines bitterly in one of few indies with writing worthy of her performance. #filmsky

Clifton Powell - 📽️ Bones (Ernest R. Dickerson, 2001) The underrated actor (Ray, Menace II Society, Deep Cover) has a strangely tender villainous role in Dickerson’s fascinating pulp horror movie. Starring Snoop Dogg, Pam Grier, and Bianca Lawson, Bones has some fun style to recommend. #filmsky

She was lovely. RIP. 😢 variety.com/2026/film/ne...

Eva Marie Saint, ‘North by Northwest’ Star, Dies at 102

Oscar-winning actress Eva Marie Saint, who starred in such memorable classic films as “On the Waterfront” and “North by Northwest,” has died.

variety.com

Yann Gael - 📽️ Saloum (Jean Luc Herbulot, 2022) The Congolese director and Cameroonian leading man united for a Senegal-set movie that defies genre. It’s a crime-horror-thriller-western whose tone keeps shifting. Gael grounds it all as the revenge-bound former child soldier leading the central trio.

Ginger Rogers - 📽️ Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933) The film’s principal ladies are Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, and the great Joan Blondell—and they rock. But Rogers is here briefly as the conceited Fay and you can feel her destined starpower. Sure enough, she becomes a star the next year.

William Fichtner - 📽️ Drowning Mona (Nick Gomez, 2000) If you see Fichtner pop up in a mediocre-to-solid crime comedy, prepare for him to steal the whole thing. As Bette Midler’s exhausted but conniving husband, he stands out in a stacked ensemble. The guy sure can deliver a dumb, sleazy joke.

Joe Pantoliano - 📽️ Bound (Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski, 1996) The Wachowskis’ wonderful queer erotic crime thriller is one of the best debuts you’ll ever find. Key to its success is Pantoliano with a huge role as the volatile, slippery villain Caesar. He’s equally detestable and mesmerizing.

Gordon Pinsent - 📽️ Away from Her (Sarah Polley, 2007) Polley’s masterful drama nearly won Julie Christie a second Oscar for her depiction of Alzheimer’s. But Pinsent as the even larger role is equally crucial to the film’s heartbreaking impact, and he was one of Canada’s most unheralded talents.

Theresa Randle - 📽️ Girl 6 (Spike Lee, 1996) Thanks to Suzan-Lori Parks’ script, this might be Lee’s funniest movie, and it’s certainly among the most incisive. It feels like Randle deserved to be a major movie star when you watch this brave, blank, and hilarious leading turn. These reaction shots!

David Paymer - 📽️ Quiz Show (Robert Redford, 1994) Paymer is one of the ultimate character actors, and Quiz Show is one of his money roles. As the network executive, he gets to show off his dry rapid-fire patter while scheming. His scenes with Hank Azaria are some of the film’s most fascinating.

Margot Kidder - 📽️ Sisters (Brian De Palma, 1973) Kidder has a fascinating, difficult, repeatedly twisty dual role in De Palma’s underrated thriller. Co-starring with Jennifer Salt and the great Charles Durning, Kidder steals scenes left and right, keeping you guessing with twinkle-eye. 🎥 #filmsky

Dean Martin - 📽️ Some Cane Running (Vincente Minnelli, 1958) As Bama Dillert, Martin gives a contender for his best performance while Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Martha Hyer, and Arthur Kennedy do the same. Martin is the alcoholic gambler, and gets the movie’s huge emotional payoff. #filmsky

Jeff Daniels - 📽️ Terms of Endearment (James L. Brooks, 1983) Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson won Oscars; Debra Winger and John Lithgow were nominated. Daniels was deserving too as the other major role, Professor Flap Horton. He has a tender, subtle redemption and killer chemistry with Winger.

Josh Hartnett - 📽️ The Black Dahlia (Brian De Palma, 2006) Hartnett is a talent who was oft wrongly utilized in his heyday. But a hardboiled noir lead for a great director was such a good fit, and the solid film was underrated. He and Aaron Eckhart sound like detectives who emerged from the ‘50s.

Isabelle Huppert - 📽️ Story of Women (Claude Chabrol, 1988) Most of Chabrol’s films should be better-known today than they are, and this is one of the finest. Huppert’s role as a WWII-era abortionist in nazi-occupied France contends as the best of her dozens of powerhouse performances. #filmsky

Cate Blanchett - 📽️ Oscar and Lucinda (Gillian Armstrong, 1997) Blanchett’s leading debut instantly got her the role in Elizabeth. Her abilities are fully formed as ever in a dark romance with a red-haired Ralph Fiennes. She’s the heart, and her scenes with Ciarán Hinds are lovely too. 🎥 #filmsky