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I got to break out the family Bible for this one …

Reposted by Anthony Breznican

Mike Flanagan @mikeflanaganfilm.com · 20h

Wonderful profile of the phenomenal Samantha Sloyan by the great @brezwrites.bsky.social for Esquire. Cannot wait for you guys to see what she does on this show... www.esquire.com/entertainmen...

esquire.com

The Best Part of the New ‘Carrie’ TV Series? Her Mom.

You already know her from ‘The Pitt,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ and Mike Flanagan’s other shows. As Margaret White, she may finally become a household name.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 14h

A little tease of something coming later today at Esquire… Mark 5:9 🙏😈

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 15/09/2026

It’ll be scary, for sure. But don’t let it overwhelm you. You’ll be okay, I’m sure of it. I think sometimes the universe tries to lift up our heads to show us there are better uses for our time and efforts.

static.klipy.com

Indiana Jones: You Must Choose Wisely

ALT: Indiana Jones: You Must Choose Wisely

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 15/09/2026

We are at a time of life where work should make us happy as well as pay the bills. I hope you find somewhere that values you and brings out your best. I sure did. The number of people who stepped up for me are too many to count. My unsolicited advice is just — don’t be afraid.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 15/09/2026

I know this is destabilizing, and don’t want to presume to know your full situation. All I can share is that this happened to me a year ago. I would have stayed and worked like crazy for my old shop. So it was a true blessing to be let go. I got bumped from a flight that later nosedived.

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Mike Ryan @mikeryan.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I spoke to Courteney Cox about directing the wonderful EVIL GENIUS, about the 2003 pizza delivery man bomber and the pretty insane story behind it. And how FRIENDS played an unlikely role. (I really enjoyed this one.)

indiewire.com

Courteney Cox Had a Vision for Her ‘Evil Genius,’ and ‘Friends’ — Surprisingly — Played an Important Role

Cox's first directorial outing didn't pan out how she wanted, but her spin on the shocking real life "pizza bomber" story is her new calling card.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 10/09/2026

Who do you trust? Hubba, hubba, hubba. Money, money, money…

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 06/09/2026

Thank you so much for reading it!!

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 06/09/2026

Kenneth Branagh says Robin Williams was constantly “fireworking,” Christopher Nolan has an eerie way of bending time in real life, and Robert De Niro has no patience for other method actors. All this and lots more for #filmsky people in search of a longread this fine Sunday:

esquire.com

The Many Lives of Kenneth Branagh

The legendary actor and filmmaker reflects on it all: Shakespeare, Thor, Agatha Christie, Christopher Nolan, Frankenstein, Harry Potter, and his latest role alongside Ryan Reynolds in ‘Mayday.’

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 03/09/2026

Thank you! Very kind of you, Matt.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 03/09/2026

Okay, those are some highlights. But there's much, much more here, including other wild stories of Robert De Niro from Frankenstein. Enjoy The Many Lives of Kenneth Branagh An epic interview with @esquiremag.bsky.social www.esquire.com/entertainmen...

esquire.com

The Many Lives of Kenneth Branagh

The legendary actor and filmmaker reflects on it all: Shakespeare, Thor, Agatha Christie, Christopher Nolan, Frankenstein, Harry Potter, and his latest role alongside Ryan Reynolds in ‘Mayday.’

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 03/09/2026

Branagh says Nolan himself has a strange ability with time. Almost eerie.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 03/09/2026

"He was so moved and so brilliant in his perception of what Shakespeare was trying to do with memory, with time. [It’s about] people's lives in the moment when they may be driven to try and right wrongs, and somehow settle life before it all goes away from them. He was so sensitive to that."

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 03/09/2026

Finally — Branagh tells his #ChristopherNolan tales. The actor appeared in Dunkirk, Tenet and Oppenheimer, but before all that, the future #Odyssey filmmaker came to see him in a London stage performance of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale in 2015. "Which of course is a play which deals with time..."

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 03/09/2026

Other amazing stories from Branagh: —His "cameo" in Chariots of Fire, where he was really a background extra. — Competing with Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Oldman and Richard E. Grant in auditions when they were all starting out. — His time in "Harry Potter" as the vainglorious Gilderoy Lockhart.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 03/09/2026

Also ... Dead Again was a disaster. The 1991 neo-noir supernatural drama that he starred in with Emma Thompson was destroyed in seven different test screenings and was headed for ruin. Then the studio gave up. And Branagh made one last-second change that saved everything.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 03/09/2026

After shooting Hamlet, Branagh invited Williams for dinner. But Robin said no. He'd signed up for an open-mic night at London comedy club. "That personality was constantly fireworking. When I think of Robin, I think about a tough guy—but so bruisable. Like a fruit that you don't want to mishandle."

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 03/09/2026

The way he played the ex-KGB woodland hermit reminded me of Robin Williams — mischievous, explosive, but vulnerable and heartfelt. Turns out that was part of it. And that led to several moving stories about Robin from Branagh, who knew him and worked with him in Dead Again and 1996's Hamlet.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 03/09/2026

The hook is #Mayday, an action comedy with Ryan Reynolds. It's a surprise move for the classical actor—like seeing your Lit professor throw down in a bar fight. "It definitely FELT new," Branagh says. "When I got it, I said, “Why have they sent this to me? Zach Galifianakis should play this part.”

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 03/09/2026

The secret to Kenneth Branagh's legendary Shakespeare adaptations ...? He styled them like the American movies and TV shows he worshiped as a kid in Belfast. Henry V, he tells me, is actually shot like a cowboy movie. There's more here in this sprawling Q&A:

esquire.com

The Many Lives of Kenneth Branagh

The legendary actor and filmmaker reflects on it all: Shakespeare, Thor, Agatha Christie, Christopher Nolan, Frankenstein, Harry Potter, and his latest role alongside Ryan Reynolds in ‘Mayday.’

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 01/09/2026

Shots fired. 💥 (So to speak.)

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 25/08/2026

Dolly put a lot of good out into this world. I wanted to contribute a tiny fragment of the joy I witnessed around her.

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Reposted by Anthony Breznican

Library of Congress @librarycongress.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

The Library is devastated to learn of the passing of Dolly Parton, a music legend and titan of children's literacy. Her Imagination Library program has earned multiple Library Literacy Awards and, in 2018, she visited us to donate its 100 millionth book to our collection and host a story time. 🦋❤️

Dolly Parton reads to children in the Library’s Great Hall in 2018. Photo by Shawn Miller.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 25/08/2026

Goodbye, Dolly Parton. The world was a more wonderful place with you in it. ❤️ And you were your true to yourself every step of the way.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 25/08/2026

Queen Latifah. My mother was a choir director, and my family grew up in the church. [Dolly] was in the church big time. Dolly: Yeah, big-time holy roller Pentecostal. Plus my mother’s people were Owens, and her name is Dana Owens. She said we definitely could be soul cousins if not soul sisters.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 25/08/2026

These two cracked each other up. And they were amazing fun to be around. Dolly: We’re from completely two different worlds. We’re alike in that we are big hearted Me: What other qualities do you share?

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 25/08/2026

Me: That explains why you’re the only one with a fitted choir robe in the movie. Dolly: Well, I’m so little and my boobs are so big, that if I had that big robe on, I’d just… Queen Latifah: She’d look like a tiny box.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 25/08/2026

Essentially, she wasn't looking to transform onscreen. Dolly had made herself into who she wanted to be. "I have to do things that are true to my personality. I said if you don’t want me to change the way I am, then I’ll do it. If I can have my hair, my boobs, my nails, and my shoes, I’ll do it."

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 25/08/2026

Dolly hadn't made a movie in nearly 15 years. "I haven’t had any good scripts. I get all kinds of junk. I didn’t want to do something that really didn’t ring true. I can’t tear down enough to be that serious about something else. I know who I am, and I know if my personality can be what it is."

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 25/08/2026

Dolly: [Laughs.] This is how we do it. Queen Latifah: Yeah, what’s your problem? Me: I look forward to the NC-17 version of Joyful Noise. Queen Latifah: That will be the actor’s cut. Dolly: We didn’t say we weren’t sinners. We’re trying.

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 25/08/2026

Dolly: Dana and Dolly – double Ds! Queen Latifah: (Laughs. Tries to drink from a freshly opened bottle of water.) Huh. This is frozen. Dolly: Is that totally frozen? Can you suck it? Me: You two with your “double Ds” and “Can you suck it?” This is a family magazine!

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Anthony Breznican @handle.invalid · 25/08/2026

Always loved Miss Dolly Parton. Only got to interview her once, alongside Queen Latifah, when they made a gospel comedy called "Joyful Noise" in 2012. (This was for EW.) Dolly called her by her real name, Dana Owens, and these two were hilarious together. Here's how the conversation STARTED...

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Reposted by Anthony Breznican

Mike Ryan @mikeryan.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

It’s WITNESS week on Ford Focus: A Harrison Ford Podcast and @kphipps3000.bsky.social and I are joined by @brezwrites.bsky.social who comes prepared with his own personal Harrison Ford stories

open.spotify.com

'Witness' with Anthony Breznican

Ford Focus · Episode

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Kelly Knox @kelly-knox.com · 22/08/2026

optimist: the cup is half full pessimist: the cup is half empty archaeologist: that cup belongs in a museum

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Sam Weller @samwellerauthor.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

In February, 1924, Ray Bradbury’s Mother, Esther Bradbury, a cinema aficionado, took her three-year-old son to see Lon Chaney in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. It changed his life forever. The film had a six-day engagement at Waukegan’s Elite Theatre. Here is the ad. #RayBradbury #RayDay

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Mike Ryan @mikeryan.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

We actually recorded our first Patreon member movie request this week. @brezwrites.bsky.social was our guest and we changed the movie to fulfill the request because those are the rules. Also here’s the sticker you get.

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Brian Jay Jones @brianjayjones.com · 12/08/2026

If you found this intriguing, you can find this story, and a whole lot more, in my biography of Seuss, BECOMING DR. SEUSS: THEODOR GEISEL AND THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN IMAGINATION, available from fine booksellers everywhere.

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