The glamorous side of being an influencer is easy to see, but Erzabel says building a successful online career takes far more work than followers might realize.

The 30-year-old Southeast Asian influencer has built an international audience while creating a lifestyle that allows her to travel regularly. However, she exclusively told The Blast that the freedom came with an unexpected problem: learning how to stop working.

For Erzabel, even a vacation could quickly become another content opportunity.

“I used to be in work mode all the time,” Erzabel exclusively told The Blast.

That mentality followed her even when she traveled somewhere she was supposed to enjoy.

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“Even when I travel, like, ‘Okay, I have to take pictures. Okay, I have to make content,’ instead of just enjoying the moment, the holiday,” she explained.

That’s one reason Erzabel is skeptical that building a career as an influencer is as effortless as it can appear from the outside.

“It seems easy, but it’s not so easy,” she said. “You have to be 100% into it, like focus on it.”

Erzabel had wanted to become a model since childhood and began working with local brands while attending university. She eventually shifted her attention toward creating content online and has since attracted an international following, with her largest audience based in the United States.

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However, getting an audience is only part of the challenge. Keeping that momentum means constantly adapting.

Erzabel Reveals The ‘Hardest’ Part Of Growing Her Audience

For Erzabel, there is no permanent formula for social media success.

“The hardest is to get more [followers],” she told The Blast. “It means that I have to actively create content, try new stuff.”

That can mean experimenting with entirely different platforms when her existing strategy stops delivering the results she wants.

“For example, this week I tried TikTok, and then if it doesn’t work, I have to try another platform,” she explained. “Just keep trying, just keep creating. That’s the hardest part.”

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The uncertainty hasn’t shaken her confidence. Asked whether she has struggled with imposter syndrome as her profile has grown, Erzabel answered immediately.

“No, I always know that I’m going to be successful,” she declared. “That’s always been my goal.”

She applies the same certainty to anyone hoping to turn influencing into a serious career.

“You cannot do it 50-50,” she said. “You have to be 100% into it.”

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Traveling The World Created An Unexpected Work-Life Struggle

Travel is one of the biggest rewards Erzabel has gained from her career, but her desire to explore the world existed long before influencing became her job.

“Since I was little, that was one of my dreams. That was my biggest dream, actually,” she recalled.

Once she began earning her own money, seeing new places became more important than buying possessions.

“Instead of buying materialistic things when I had money, the first thing in my head was, ‘I need to travel because now I have my own money,’” Erzabel said.

She now tries to travel every month, sometimes alone and sometimes with friends or her assistant.

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The trips also serve another purpose. Erzabel says staying in one place too long can leave her bored and searching for fresh motivation.

“When I travel, I get more inspiration,” she explained.

Switzerland, Iceland and Peru remain on her wish list, while she also hopes to return to China for an experience far removed from the typical influencer getaway.

Erzabel wants to attend a Kung Fu retreat. “Do something different,” she said of the idea.

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Erzabel Says Financial Independence Gave Her ‘Full Freedom’

Erzabel’s current lifestyle is dramatically different from one of her earlier experiences abroad.

Before becoming an influencer, she spent eight months working as an au pair in the Netherlands and caring for three young children.

She recalled the arrangement becoming difficult when she felt her host family was overworking her, including expecting her to participate in family weekends that were supposed to be her time off.

Today, being able to control her own schedule and finances has changed what success means to her.

“It’s really good when you have your own money, to become independent,” Erzabel told The Blast. “You have full freedom, you get to meet people when you travel.”

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She believes that independence is particularly valuable for women.

“Now you can depend on yourself,” she said. “You can do whatever you want. You don’t have to depend on a guy or somebody.”

Meeting people from different backgrounds has become another important part of that freedom.

“I feel like people are open books, so you get inspiration from people, from new places,” she explained.

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Erzabel Already Has Her Eye On Life Beyond Influencing

Influencing may be Erzabel’s career now, but she isn’t limiting her ambitions to social media.

Her interests have expanded into psychology, mindset and spirituality. She practices meditation, yoga, and breathwork, and says she enjoys learning how people think.

“I’m really into spirituality,” she said. “I like to learn more about psychology and mindset and spirituality.”

There’s also a considerably more sparkling business idea on her mind.

“I really like diamonds, so I really want to open a diamond business,” Erzabel revealed.

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For now, however, she remains focused on the career she has already built and the constant experimentation required to sustain it.

The beautiful destinations and freedom may be what audiences see on their screens, but Erzabel says the work behind that lifestyle never succeeds with half-hearted effort.

“You cannot do it 50-50,” she emphasized. “You have to be 100% into it.”

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Detective shows have spent decades asking some version of the same basic question: what really happened? Yet somehow, the genre keeps finding completely different ways to make the search for that answer exciting. That’s because detective fiction is surprisingly experimental. A single show can mix mystery with comedy, romance, psychological drama, family conflict, or even horror without ever losing sight of the investigation at its center.

That freedom keeps the genre from feeling repetitive, even when the setup stays the same. It also means that two great detective shows can look almost nothing alike, as long as they make the audience desperate to see where the investigation goes. These six masterpiece detective shows do exactly that, with wildly different approaches to the genre, each one being 10/10.

1

‘True Detective’ (2014–Present)

Image via HBO

True Detective begins with a standard murder investigation but evolves into something much more unsettling. The anthology series tells a different story each season, but Season 1 remains the benchmark. The story follows detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson), who are assigned to investigate the ritualistic murder of a woman in rural Louisiana, only for the case to stretch across years and slowly reveal connections to disappearances, powerful people, and secrets that were never meant to come out. The investigation is gripping on its own, but the real tension comes from watching Rust and Marty lose their sense of self while trying to search for answers.

This personal angle is why True Detective stands out from typical procedurals. Rust and Marty’s partnership drives the story forward because their conversations, disagreements, and even failures become essential to the central mystery. The Louisiana setting only adds to the show’s identity with its empty roads and isolated communities. Later seasons of True Detective have taken the series in different directions, each with its own interpretation of what a detective story can be. Season 1, however, remains the perfect introduction to the show’s experimental approach, featuring complicated investigators and non-linear storytelling.

2

‘Mindhunter’ (2017–2019)

Image via Netflix

Mindhunter is another detective show that breaks away from the genre’s conventions. The series is set in the late 1970s and follows FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), along with psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), as they begin interviewing imprisoned serial killers in an attempt to understand how violent criminals think. Through this premise, the series covers the early days of criminal profiling. Now, the hook here doesn’t come from watching detectives put puzzle pieces together to figure out a killer’s identity or adrenaline-fueled chases through dark alleys — Mindhunter builds its tension purely through conversation. Watching Holden and Bill sitting across a table from some of the most disturbing criminals imaginable and trying to understand them is the real horror of the show.

The series fictionalizes real-life serial killers including Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton) and Charles Manson (Damon Herriman), but it never turns these appearances into mere shock value. Instead, each interview becomes another piece in a much larger experiment that would go on to redefine the world forever. This historical angle makes Mindhunter feel more real and urgent than most other thriller shows. It really is a shame Mindhunter ended after just two seasons because the series still had so much room to expand its profiling work and establish itself as a true game-changer in the genre, especially with the BTK storyline. However, the fact that it still managed to leave such an impact despite its unfinished story says a lot.

3

‘Dept. Q’ (2025–Present)

Image via Netflix

Dept. Q breathed new life into the detective genre just when things were getting a little boring. The series follows Edinburgh detective Carl Morck (Matthew Goode), who returns to work after a shooting leaves one officer dead and his partner, James Hardy (Jamie Sives), seriously injured. Carl might be okay physically, but he is full of anger and guilt. Naturally, the department decides to give him charge of a newly created cold-case unit in an attempt to give him some time for things to blow over. However, Carl’s first case revolves around prosecutor Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie), who disappeared from a ferry four years earlier and was presumed dead. He initially approaches the assignment with no enthusiasm, but the little inconsistencies in Merritt’s case quickly get under his skin.

On the other hand, the audience learns that Merritt is actually alive and being held hostage, which immediately raises the stakes of this already intriguing investigation. The suspense in the show is not only about figuring out what happened. It also comes from watching Carl slowly catch up to information the viewers are already in on, which turns Dept. Q into an extremely immersive experience. At the same time, the show doesn’t shy away from showcasing Carl’s worst qualities. That messiness is exactly what gives the series so much character. The central mystery is compelling, but Carl is exactly the kind of detective viewers just can’t get enough of, especially when he gets down to work.

4

‘Columbo’ (1971–1998)

Image via NBC/Everett Collection

Columbo was ignoring genre conventions way before modern TV made it the new cool. The series throws out the biggest rule of detective television and reveals the murderer to the audience right off the bat. Most of the show’s episodes begin by following the murderer as they carefully plan the crime, cover their tracks, and convince themselves they have gotten away with it. Then, the audience follows Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) as he begins his seemingly harmless investigation.

The show hides Columbo’s true thoughts and intentions until the very end. He quietly notices tiny inconsistencies, circles back several times, and makes the culprit believe that he is an absent-minded oldie, while being the exact opposite of that. Columbo’s inverted whodunit structure still feels fresh today. The show is definitely simpler than the darker, more complicated detective shows that have taken over TV screens today. However, its episodic structure, slower pacing, and almost theatrical acting are part of the charm.

5

‘Broadchurch’ (2013–2017)

Image via ITV

Broadchurch is hands-down one of the greatest mystery shows of all time. The series begins with 11-year-old Danny Latimer (Oskar McNamara) being found dead on a beach in the small coastal town of Broadchurch. Detective Inspector Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) are assigned to the case, but soon enough, they realize that their suspect pool is messier than they initially thought. Turns out everyone in this small town is connected in strange ways, which essentially makes everyone feel suspicious. On the other hand, the press around the case is brutal, and Danny’s family is forced to grieve while every detail of their life is publicized for the world to see. Broadchurch doesn’t work with its central mystery in isolation.

The show sheds light on what really happens in situations like these where every new clue carries real consequences for the people involved. That gives Broadchurch a level of emotional weight that most mystery shows never even aim for. Hardy and Miller also make an excellent pairing because they approach the case from completely different positions, and this dynamic becomes the heart of the show. By the time Broadchurch reaches its answers, the mystery has already done permanent damage to the town, and that’s why the payoff lands harder than ever.

6

‘Bosch’ (2014–2021)

Image via Prime Video

Bosch is proof that when a detective show gets the fundamentals right, it doesn’t really need anything else. The series, based on Michael Connelly’s novels, follows LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver), who has a reputation for doing things his own way and very little patience for anyone who gets in the way of a case. Each season usually revolves around one major investigation, but Bosch is never dealing with just one problem at a time. Old cases resurface, department politics complicate his work, and his personal life keeps bleeding into the job, which makes things even harder.

Through all this, Bosch attempts to show the actual process of detective work, where there is a lot of bureaucracy, paperwork, and leads that essentially go nowhere. That sounds pretty boring, but watching the protagonist slowly build a case piece by piece is pure satisfaction, especially when all that hard work pays off.

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Bosch

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Release Date

2015 – 2021-00-00

Network

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Prime Video

Showrunner

Eric Ellis Overmyer

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Directors

Alex Zakrzewski, Ernest R. Dickerson, Patrick Cady, Aaron Lipstadt, Adam Davidson, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Kevin Dowling, Neema Barnette, Tim Hunter, Zetna Fuentes, Christine Moore, Jim McKay, Laura Belsey, Matt Earl Beesley, Phil Abraham, Roxann Dawson, Sarah Pia Anderson, Stephen Gyllenhaal, Tara Nicole Weyr, Thomas Carter, Hagar Ben-Asher

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Former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville has some answers amid her ongoing health struggles.

“I’m finally ready to tell you what I’ve actually been fighting and to start sharing some of my worst moments leading up to finally getting diagnosed,” Glanville, 53, wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, September 8. “I’ve been diagnosed with highly resistant ESBL Klebsiella and Enterobacter with biofilm, Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever), Demodex dermatitis and Mononucleosis.”

The reality star continued, “I also have a fungal ball in my face that needs to be removed. I have to get the metals from old dental work out of my mouth, my breast implants need to come out, and I’m looking at 4–6 months of daily IV treatment.”

According to the National Library of Medicine, biofilm production in ESBL-producing Klebsiella and Enterobacter can contribute to antibiotic resistance and make bacterial infections more difficult to treat.

Related: Brandi Glanville Reveals Daily 18-Hour IV Regimen, Drastic Weight Loss

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Brandi Glanville has shared insight into her ongoing health battle. “I know I’m so skinny right now. I can’t eat because the things I do … decreases my food. I feel like death. I look like death,” Glanville, 53, told fans in a Sunday, September 6, Instagram video […]

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states coccidioidomycosis is a lung infection from a fungus in soil in parts of the United States.

Demodex dermatitis is caused by a facial mite that lives in hair follicles, according to Cleveland Clinic. Meanwhile, the Mayo Clinic states mononucleosis is an infectious disease that spreads through saliva. Patients can get it through kissing or by sharing a glass or food utensils with someone who has mono.

“The treatment has NOT been easy, and so far I’ve had very little improvement. I still have a couple of surgeries ahead of me and months of treatment to go,” Glanville said about her current health plan. “Even with insurance, this is costing me around $3,300–$6,000 a month. I’m not able to work right now other than my podcast, and I honestly don’t know how I’m going to do this mentally or financially.”

When sharing her latest diagnoses, the “Brandi Glanville Unfiltered” podcast host also included videos of what her face looks like up close as she tries to get better.

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Related: Brandi Glanville Got Vaginal Rejuvenation Surgery to ‘Be a Virgin Again‘

Brandi Glanville still hasn’t forgotten about her vaginal rejuvenation surgery after becoming a mom. “I was with Dr. [David] Matlock. He was the pioneer for the surgery,” Glanville, 53, claimed on the July 2 episode of her “Unfiltered” podcast. “He was the original doctor to do it.” The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star […]

“I’m sharing some really bad moments, and I know I don’t look good in these videos,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t care. I feel terrible, and this is what being sick looks like for me right now. So please be nice in the comments. I’m already fighting enough.”

Soon after sharing her diagnoses, Glanville received suggestions from hundreds of followers. When one user claimed her health struggles are the result of breast implant illness, Glanville replied, “It’s not and everyone is on here assuming they know what it is.”

“I just want this s*** OUT of my body. I want my health back,” she proclaimed. “I want my life back. I want to feel like me again. I’ll be sharing more of what I’ve been going through, the treatments, the surgeries and hopefully eventually the other side of this. 🤍#brandiglanville #mystory.”

It’s hard not to think of 2026 as the low-key year of Patrick Brammall. The Australian actor and writer has already been carving out a niche for himself through various performances, but over the last several months, he’s become even more of a welcome presence onscreen. In May, he took on the role of Anne Hathaway‘s love interest in the highly anticipated Devil Wears Prada 2, and this month alone sees him pulling double duty for U.S. audiences in two very different TV series. The utterly charming romantic dramedy Colin from Accounts, which Brammall co-created and co-writes with co-star and partner Harriet Dyer, is wrapping up for good on Paramount+ this month (more on that swan song to come), while Apple TV’s thriller, Last Seen, is a polar opposite viewing experience.

The missing-child mystery has long been a staple of the genre, but what the six-episode series written by Kris Mrksa and directed by Christian Schwochow (The Crown) achieves comes through continually pivoting in the direction you least expect it to, pivoting away from a mere whodunit conceit and embracing more of a whydunit that doesn’t withhold its biggest twists for the sake of drama. Instead of trying to pull the wool over the viewer’s eyes until the very end, Last Seen is more interested in exploring the ripple effects that one consequential act can have on two different families — and how long-buried secrets will inevitably be unearthed.

What Is ‘Last Seen’ About?

Loosely based on Ryan David Jahn‘s novel The Dispatcher (chiefly because it transplants the story from East Texas to the fictional seaside town of Port McKenna, Australia), Last Seen centers around former police detective Ian Ridley (Brammall), whose life has been in shambles ever since his three-year-old daughter, Maggie, disappeared from home 11 years ago. Now working as an emergency dispatcher, he’s never lost hope that his daughter is still out there somewhere, but that insistence has upended all of his most important relationships and left him struggling to stay sober.

When a 000 call comes through to Ian one random night, the teenage girl on the other end of the line tearfully admits that she might be the “Mags” he’s been searching for, sending him down the rabbit hole on a search to find his long-lost daughter and vindicate his own suspicions about what happened on the night Maggie originally vanished. His ex-wife, Debbie (Jessica Wren), and their son, Dean (Tobias Muhafidin), are more skeptical about the possibility that this mystery girl could be the child they’ve been mourning, but Ian is driven to revisit all the leads that the original investigation didn’t pursue, much to the chagrin of new Detective Senior Sergeant Izzy Pena (Zahra Newman) and the concern of his sponsor, Donald Reid (Daniel Henshall).

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Ian, Donald’s brother, Henry (Brendan Cowell), and his wife, Jenna (Maxine Peake), have been living an undisturbed existence at their remote farmhouse with their teenage daughter, Sarah (Chloe Jean Lourdes), who bears an uncanny resemblance to a computer-generated sketch of what Maggie would have looked like around the same age…

‘Last Seen’s Big Twists Are Rooted in Character, Not Plot

On the surface, Last Seen looks like any other mystery thriller, with a damaged yet determined protagonist walking a tightrope between uncovering the truth and spiraling back into his worst habits. Yet beneath the familiar investigative conceit resides a much more compelling examination of grief and perseverance. Brammall’s Ian is our initial window into the story, and it’s hard to imagine many other actors striking the balance that he captures. This is a man whose refusal to let go of the past torpedoed his home life, a man who continues to make destructive choices that impact both himself and others, but Brammall infuses him with a likability that makes it impossible not to root for him to some degree. In the moments when Ian is calmly talking a mother through what she needs to do to keep herself and her children safe as the police respond to her emergency call, we can see glimmers of the capable investigator he used to be — and it sits in stark contrast to the instances when he sadly succumbs to his greatest addiction.

It doesn’t take long for the real circumstances surrounding Maggie’s disappearance to be confirmed, allowing the Apple TV series to devote more focus to letting its characters hook your interest. That strange emergency phone call reopens a lot of old wounds for Ian and his family — chiefly his ex-wife, Debbie, who has attempted to move on with her life and is expecting a baby with her new husband, police sergeant Bill McCracken (Bert LaBonté). Understandably, the couple’s dynamic with Ian is a bit strained, but Wren brings a powerful vulnerability to her performance, ensuring that her onscreen relationship with Brammall remains grounded in both the weight of the characters’ shared trauma and the love that still links them to a certain degree.

It’s impossible to ignore the clear physical resemblance between Brammall and Cowell — which may either be the whole point or simply a fun coincidence — but the Avatar actor infuses his role with the gravity required to make all of Henry’s decisions on behalf of his own family understandable, if not justifiable. Peake’s Jenna is a quieter, gentler counterweight to her husband’s more headstrong nature, while Henshall’s performance becomes even stronger once Daniel finds himself torn between two loyalties as the investigation around Maggie’s disappearance is revived. One of the biggest surprises of Last Seen, however, is Lourdes; despite this series serving as her screen debut, she delivers a striking turn that anchors both the story’s biggest emotion and most significant reveals.

Apple TV’s Last Seen asserts itself as the type of thriller that isn’t interested in conforming to the genre’s more predictable rules or structure, with the series’ twists rooted in the characters’ complexities and the moral lines that become easier to cross with loved ones in mind. This seemingly quiet, idyllic town is home to very messy, very complicated people, and the show emphasizes that their decisions — some more spur-of-the-moment than others — can give way to a tidal wave of consequences that leaves devastation in its wake. When the story briefly indulges in a flashback episode set before that fateful day, it does slow the pacing down somewhat, but mostly in the sense that it makes you more desperate to return to the present day to learn how everything will wrap up. Ultimately, this series is more focused on navigating the ripple effects that one devastating crime can create, and attempting to understand what could drive someone to commit such an act, rather than spending the entire season building to a major unveiling. Just when you think you know where the story is heading, Last Seen boldly turns in a completely different direction, resulting in a deeper, more emotional character study than the twisty thriller it’s been promoted as.

Last Seen premieres September 9 on Apple TV.

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Release Date

September 9, 2026

Network

Apple TV

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Directors

Christian Schwochow

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Writers

Alexei Mizin, Kris Mrksa, Giula Sandler, Ryan van Dijk

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Cast

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• 

  Patrick Brammall

  Ian Ridley

• 

  Brendan Cowell

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  Henry Reid

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Pros & Cons

• Patrick Brammall gives a powerful performance as the struggling dispatcher Ian Ridley.
• You’d never guess that this was Chloe Jean Lourdes’ first screen role.
• The series is less interested in big twists or reveals and lets its characters and relationships drive the suspense instead.

• A major flashback episode late in the season does slow the series’ pacing somewhat.

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Gwyneth Paltrow is opening up about the difficulties of blending families with husband Brad Falchuk.

“I have one girl and one boy, and then Brad has one girl and one boy,” Paltrow, 53, said during the Tuesday, September 8, episode of the “Friends Keep Secrets” podcast, referring to daughter Apple, 22, and son Moses, 20, with ex-husband Chris Martin and Falchuk’s daughter, Isabella, 22, and son, Brody, 20, with ex-wife Suzanne Bukinik. “So I have two girls and two boys.”

The Goop founder added, “They all get along, and it’s so fun.”

Paltrow and Falchuk, 55, tied the knot in 2018. The Iron Man star admitted on Tuesday that it was “so hard” to combine their families.

“It was like the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “It just didn’t go well for a really long time.”

Related: Gwyneth Paltrow Had an ‘Initial Difficult Relationship’ With Stepkids

Gwyneth Paltrow opened up about navigating her role as a stepmom. During the Visionary Women’s International Women’s Day Summit at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Wednesday, March 6, Paltrow, 51, asked the audience whether there were any stepmothers in attendance. When the crowd erupted into a brief applause, she said, “Yeah, it’s a bitch, right, […]

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Paltrow explained that “kids can feel like they’re being sort of demoted” when their parents remarry. (The Seven actress was married to Martin, 49, from 2003 to 2016, while Falchuk was married to Bukinik, 56, from 1994 to 2013.)

“They’re not, but they can feel like [that] if there’s a new parent that comes in, and it can cause a lot of disturbance. So it was hard. It was really hard at the beginning,” she said.

Paltrow said their family dynamic improved with time.

“We never did family therapy altogether, but we, I don’t know, it just ended up … I did a lot of work on myself and around, like, why is this so triggering, and why are my feelings so hurt, and why am I having like these non-adult reactions to a child, you know?” she continued. “And they ended up teaching me so much, and I really am so grateful that I traversed through all of that, but it was rough, but now it’s amazing.”

Related: Gwyneth Paltrow Makes Rare Comment About Life as a Stepmom

Gwyneth Paltrow is opening up and giving some rare insight into her life as a stepmom to her husband Brad Falchuk’s daughter, Izzy. “Happy Birthday my snizzle,” Paltrow, 52, wrote via her Instagram Stories on Saturday, September 6, in honor of her stepdaughter’s 21st birthday. “You have taught me so much about love,” the actress […]

Paltrow concluded, “They’re all best friends.”

Last year, the businesswoman revealed that Falchuk’s kids filled a void in her heart.

“My dad [Bruce Paltrow] used to say the only regret he had in his entire life was not having more kids, and I felt like that for a long time until I got yours too,” she told her husband on her “Goop” podcast in April 2025. “I got to tack on.”

Paltrow also got candid about the obstacles she faced while building her relationship with Falchuk’s kids.

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“We traversed through some really rough things,” she said on her podcast last year. “One of the most profound lessons that I’ve learned from my relationship with your daughter, which is now so fantastic, is there was [a lot of] testing going on. She was testing me at the time to see at what point I would reject her.”

For his part, Falchuk said he “always” believed that they could work through their issues.

Paltrow concluded, “It’s been amazing for me to watch all four kids, kind of, grow into this and embrace it. It’s almost, like, the payoff is greater when it’s your stepkid than your own kid because … it’s not as natural of a relationship. You’re able to create something with someone who’s not one of your kids but becomes one of your kids.”

Though the second act of Robert Downey Jr.’s career truly took off with 2008’s Iron Man, the film that set the stage for that comeback actually arrived three years earlier, with Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The actor’s well-publicized legal troubles and issues with addiction made him a difficult figure in the entertainment industry, but somehow Black created the perfect star vehicle to begin to bring him back to Hollywood. In the vein of Black’s other screenplays, like Lethal Weapon or The Long Kiss Goodnight, the movie is self-referential and playful with genre conventions (while never going full Quentin Tarantino), in addition to being an exciting mystery that also knows how to pull a lampshade over its convoluted plotting. The most fitting part of it for Downey is Black’s hilarious and fast-paced dialogue, which let the always fast-on-his-feet actor show his capability with line delivery.

More than any other Shane Black film, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is an old-school pulp mystery, with Downey playing Harry, a petty criminal whose circumstances lead him to Hollywood in a cheeky way. He stumbles into an audition while on the run, and his clear desperation makes him look like a method actor. The movie’s sense of parody effectively comes from an inside baseball look at the industry, as most of its targets are mainstays of Hollywood lore: older successful men who seem to have everything, and younger women whose yearning for a way in to the industry leads them to a dark place. With the feel of a James Ellroy novel at times, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang throws viewers into a complicated mystery with secret identities, childhood trauma, and a world-weary cynicism that’s only bolstered by how deeply funny the movie is.

‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ Is A Subversive Hollywood Mystery

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Shane Black’s love of detective novels is only rivaled by his love of Christmas and Los Angeles, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang finally let him explore a full-on detective mystery — one a little less intense than the action excess of The Long Kiss Goodnight or The Last Boy Scout. Like most of his other scripts, it centers on a buddy cop duo dynamic, where one man is more experienced and the other is more of a chaos agent (and the two spend most of the movie learning to like each other, as the genre goes). The key difference in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is that the chaos agent at first has no sense of how deep the mystery goes, and gets thrown into its depths. Harry is just an aspiring actor, and for how much Robert Downey Jr. imbues him with a sense of street smarts and world weariness, he has none of the professional know-how of “Gay” Perry (Val Kilmer), the private detective he’s tasked with shadowing for his role.

When they discover a young woman’s body being dumped in a lake, Harry and Perry embark on a journey to discover the truth as Harry reconnects with childhood love Harmony (Michelle Monaghan), who also might have some connection to the mystery. For all the complex conspiracies at the movie’s center, everything ultimately comes back to the suggestive title. It’s a story of two relationships, one romantic and one platonic and mission-driven. The fun of watching Harry and Harmony’s rekindling of sparks, even when she seems to be the most dangerous kind of film noir femme fatale, is one of the reasons the movie works so well. The other is Downey, who, like Black, was coming off a career low point before the making of the film. The movie does the parody trick of both making fun of the genre tropes while also playing them fairly straight, and Downey’s ear for fast-paced, clever dialogue was never better put to use.

‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ Was A Redemption Moment for Shane Black and Robert Downey Jr.

Shane Black had had a rough couple of years professionally in the lead up to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, with the flop of 1996’s The Long Kiss Goodnight occurring alongside reports that he had received a $4 million payday for the script, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Kiss Kiss let him prove himself as an artist by showing for the first time that he could direct as well as write, and especially by working with an actor as established — and professionally in exile — as Downey. Though Downey, in fact, wasn’t the first choice for the role of Harry; it was almost Jackass legend Johnny Knoxville, according to JoBlo reports from 2004.

The public scandals of his addiction relapses and time in jail throughout the late ‘90s made him hard to market a film around, and effectively put his career on skids around the same time as Black’s. But it meant both men could work relatively cheaply, and Downey returned the favor to Black nearly a decade later by reaching out to him to direct 2013’s Iron Man 3, giving him the biggest hit of his career while letting him be one of the few directors to put an original stamp on a Marvel movie.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is streaming on Prime Video.

If you want to look beyond novels, then technically, Stephen King was first published earlier in the 1960s, with some short stories that were in various magazines, and later compiled in collections. But if you’re talking about his novels/books, the 1970s was when he made his start as a published author, and he’s not slowed down in the 50+ years since, with an almost overwhelming number of books to keep up with if you want to read everything.

To not be as overwhelmed, taking things a decade at a time might be worthwhile, and conveniently, there are seven books King had published in the 1970s. One isn’t so great, while the other six range in quality from great to perfect. It was a good start to one of the most impressive writing careers in recent history, and ranking all those 1970s books Stephen King wrote isn’t easy (once you get past that obviously “worst” one), but that’s what’s attempted below regardless.

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‘Rage’ (1977)

Image via Signet Books/Stephen King

It’s not nearly as well-known as most of the other books here, but that’s got quite a bit to do with Stephen King willingly making Rage go out of print. It was the first of King’s Richard Bachman books (a pseudonym he used for a while), and finding a copy of it isn’t easy, since you have to get something second-hand. It’s about a student who takes a gun to school, shoots one of his teachers, and then holds his classmates hostage inside a room, threatening to shoot them too.

So, Rage is more of a psychological thriller than a horror book, and if it is horror, then it’s not of the supernatural variety, by any means. It’s more horrifying than some of King’s actual horror books, though. It’d land a bit harder – and perhaps be even more controversial – if it was written a little better, because Rage does run out of steam, at a point, and that’s a problem when it’s not particularly long. It’s easily the weakest of King’s books from the 1970s, but it’s still got more to offer than some of the author’s later works (and some of those not-so-great books are long, while Rage is a mercifully short length).

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‘Salem’s Lot’ (1975)

Image via Doubleday

It feels rotten putting Salem’s Lot second-last, but that speaks to how good his output was in the 1970s, if you’re looking at his novels. It’s in second-last and it was also the second Stephen King novel to be published, showing the first was no fluke. It’s a good deal longer than his debut, and it gets near epic territory without going there to quite the extent as some other books by King… you do get a whole town populated pretty convincingly here, though.

There’s a supernatural threat that reveals itself slowly, and then once things really get going, Stephen King is in full-on ruthless/not-giving-a-damn mode, because there’s a great deal of death, and a sense that dying can happen to pretty much anyone. This keeps Salem’s Lot nice and unpredictable, and even when it’s technically slow-going, it’s always building suspense and going somewhere. That sense of “going” mitigates the “slow” part quite nicely. Once more, it feels kind of dirty having to rank it so low here.

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‘The Dead Zone’ (1979)

Image via Viking Press

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There’s a high-concept premise here in The Dead Zone, but there are later Stephen King novels that do indeed get weirder, and some get weirder in ways that are more than a bit out of control (like Dreamcatcher and The Tommyknockers). This is the right kind of weird and high-concept, though. With The Dead Zone, the narrative revolves around a man who can see flashes of the future if he comes into contact with certain people or objects.

He uses this ability to assist in the hunt for a serial killer, and then things get more high-stakes when he starts fearing the potential end of the world after meeting a deeply disturbed politician who has aspirations of becoming president. That part, about preventing a horrible future, is where The Dead Zone really soars/shines, and if there’s a flaw here, it’s that the serial killer part feels a bit tacked-on. Still, for the sheer amount of stuff here that works, and proves undeniably entertaining, The Dead Zone is pretty great, not to mention one of King’s strongest sci-fi novels overall, too.

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‘The Long Walk’ (1979)

A temporarily unadaptable Stephen King story, The Long Walk did get a faithful movie adaptation in 2025, or at least mostly faithful. The scope of the competition was reduced slightly, and some rules were changed, but the basic premise remained the same. Teenage boys take part in a competition that involves walking non-stop, and they’re killed if they don’t keep walking. The winner is the last person left walking, and the only person who’s not killed.

The Long Walk starts intense, inspiring dread early on before finding surprising new ways to get more horrifying. It’s hard not to feel some kind of pain while reading it, or you can go a step further and try it as an audiobook, listening to it while doing a whole bunch of physically exhausting cardio yourself for a more intense experience. It’s like one of those 4DX cinemas, but for reading/listening. Oh, and if it doesn’t go without saying, then it’ll be said right now: The Long Walk is the best of the Richard Bachman books. It has a bit of competition in the somewhat comparable The Running Man (also dystopian, and about a competition), but there’s something special/especially mortifying about The Long Walk.

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‘Carrie’ (1974)

Image via Doubleday

Carrie is responsible for tying Stephen King to the coming-of-age genre, and especially for establishing him as someone adept at blending that genre with horror. That’s what Carrie does quite effortlessly, with its titular character being a teenage girl who’s bullied at school and abused by her mother at home. All the while, she’s developing powerful telekinetic abilities, and proves able to use those powers to get revenge on those who’ve wronged her.

That might sound like things are being spoiled, but that’s not really the case, since Carrie tells its story in a way that lets you know things aren’t going to end well. The suspense, though, comes about from not knowing the details until they come around, and so there are still surprises. Distressing/sad/horrific elements aside, Carrie is a pretty effortless read, thanks to its short length and relative punchiness. It was a pretty-much-perfect first novel for King to have had published, but as its position in this ranking suggests, there were even greater books to come, as soon as the very same decade that saw Carrie’s release.

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‘The Shining’ (1977)

Image via Vintage

At the risk of giving out a take of the hot variety, The Shining works equally well as a novel and a film, with both takes on the story being scary for different reasons. To focus on the book, though, it could well be King’s best if you’re looking for pure horror. If there are more distressing horror books of his, they’re few and far between, not to mention they all came out a bit later (arguments could be made for Pet Sematary being the actual scariest, or maybe 2014’s Revival, if you’re feeling brave and really want to dish out an actual hot take).

The Shining is about a haunted hotel, so it’s got the supernatural thing going for it, of course, but it couples that brand of horror with psychological horror, too. The interplay here is immense, and the main reason why The Shining remains so effective. It’s not a proper epic, but there is ambition here in the way it tackles more than one kind of horror incredibly effectively all at once.

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‘The Stand’ (1978)

Image via Doubleday

So, The Shining was great without being an epic, but then a year later, Stephen King had The Stand published, and this is pretty much his definitive epic. The Dark Tower is a longer overall story, but that’s a series, while The Stand is just the one book. The 1978 version of the story was sufficiently grand, and definitely worthy of being called an epic, but then the 1990 uncut version was, unsurprisingly, even bigger and grander.

But it’s the 1978 version being considered here, since that’s all there was back in 1978. It’s still worthy of being called one of Stephen King’s very best works, even with the later version offering even more. The Stand’s story is told across almost the entire U.S., with a virus killing most of the population, and the survivors joining one of two camps and then battling for the future of the world. It’s huge, it’s got some great horror elements, and it feels like one of King’s most varied and least predictable novels, too.

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The Stand

Release Date

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1994 – 1994-00-00

Directors

Mick Garris

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Hey, The Young and the Restless fans. We’ve got Patty Williams (Stacy Haiduk) out of the high security facility and on the loose this week, and we know that means danger and chaos. And Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) might be why that lunatic is prowling around Genoa City this week.

Today we’re going to talk about whether Patty is free because of Victor. He may be responsible for Patty’s escape and they may be in cahoots again and chaos is coming.

Young and the Restless:

Now, we know this week Patty gets out of the psych prison. She’s been there since she tried to kill Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) and Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters). But it seems really strange that Patty would just suddenly be out of the maximum security psych prison because when Matt Clark (Roger Howarth) went to visit her, it was awfully secure. Like steel bars holding her in. She wasn’t just sitting around a day room or something. So, there’s no way Patty could just sneak out and escape.

She would need help, maybe from a guard or a warden, or there might have been some sort of serious shady intervention using bribes or influence to get her officially released. Either way, Victor may be the reason Patty’s out. Because if you remember, Victor used Patty as a weapon against Jack twice before. Once recently, once many years ago that Victor used her. The first time was when Patty shot and nearly killed Jack and Victor both. So, it’s not too far-fetched to think Victor would use Patty again.

Victor’s At it Again on Y&R

Plus, there’s official Young and the Restless spoilers about Victor plotting revenge on the Abbotts again this week. That’s the day after Patty shows back up. She’s out of the psych facility where she was supposed to be held for decades. So, the timing of that is very suspicious. And we know Victor lied when he recently told Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) he loves her more than he hates Jack.

We know that was not correct. Because this week Victor’s back at it. His history with Patty and the timing of her escape and his revenge plan are very suspicious. And this is exactly why I suspect Victor may have gotten Patty out. Victor could have bribed a guard to sneak Patty out in a laundry basket. Or Victor could have bribed an official to say Patty’s sane and is free to go. Given the timing of Dr. Laurence Markham (Jere Burns) saying Patty was sane and when he released her, I kind of suspect Victor bribed that shrink months ago.

Young and Restless: Victor Still Hasn’t Learned

He might have paid the doctor to let Patty go because she was immediately in Genoa City and kidnapped and raped Jack on the yacht and then Victor paid Patty with a huge bag of cash. So, Victor may be pulling from this same game book again. I really hope Nikki’s hubby had finally learned to let go of this Jack vendetta, especially after he nearly lost Nikki.

It took her going blind to get her to take Victor back. And at this point, even if Victor’s not responsible, I don’t know if Nikki will believe that. But also, I don’t see how Patty would get out of that facility without some serious help. Even if Victor didn’t help get her loose, now that she’s free, he might fund Patty’s next game because I’m sure she’s going to come after Jack and Diane again.

Nikki’s going to be really ticked. And this week, Patty shows up to see Matt at his motel room, and he’s stunned she’s on the loose. He knows that Patty’s crazy and she may get obsessed with Matt on top of her fixation on destroying Diane and Jack’s marriage.

 Jack Traps Patty on Y&R

That’s all in revenge for Diane cheating with Jack when Patty was married to him decades ago. So, it’s a long simmering vendetta. You’d think that Jack would be Patty’s first target. Clearly, the psychiatric facility or law enforcement notifies Jack that Patty isn’t behind bars anymore. That’s why official Young and the Restless spoilers say that Jack sets a trap for Patty this week. But it may not work because she is super sneaky and she may want to also have Matt all to herself since Patty seems to like Matt’s dark side.

Young and Restless: Patty Switches Gears

But even so, even if Patty decides she wants Matt, I don’t think she’ll miss a chance to go after Jack, especially if Victor got her out and made a bargain that she can go free if she comes back to Genoa City to target Jack again. And that means not only are Diane and Jack likely in danger. But I think Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford) might be in danger, too. Because Matt is all in with Phyllis, she and Matt are a legit couple now. Phyllis just told Matt she’s falling in love with him.

And if Patty decides that she wants Matt for herself, that’ll paint a giant target on Phyllis’s back. And of course, Victor would be 100% fine with that. In fact, Victor might have gotten Patty out so she can target Jack and Diane and also target Phyllis and Matt because Victor hates all of them and he wants them all destroyed. We’ve also got Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) in the mix because Phyllis and Matt are targeting her for his sketchy redemption plan they’re cooking up.

Sharon’s Risk on Y&R

And if Patty gets wind of that plan, she could flip things around and interfere so that Sharon is in real danger and Phyllis is framed and blamed for something bad happening to Sharon that was supposed to just be a setup. That would get Phyllis out of the way so that Patty could have Matt all to herself. And Patty’s crazy brain, her darkness is a twin flame to Matt’s darkness. So, this scheme that Phyllis and Matt are planning is already dangerous because Phyllis’s schemes always go awry.

Young and the Restless:

She told Matt they would make sure that Sharon will be safe But it already looked dodgy even before Patty got into the mix. And she is in the mix soon. And now that she is, everybody’s in more danger because, let’s be real, Patty’s insane, absolutely unhinged, and Victor might be the reason Patty’s able to wreak havoc again. With Matt sending Phyllis mixed signals this week, per the Young and the Restless spoilers, I suspect Matt may lie about Patty coming to see him at the motel.

Obviously, Phyllis is going to know Patty’s on the loose because word of her being out, whether she’s escaped or released, that’ll be public knowledge. And Phyllis may directly ask Matt if he has seen Patty. And I think he’ll lie to Phyllis trying to protect her from Patty. We also could see Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) and Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle) pulled into this too if they keep meeting up for sexy time.

If they’re back at the motel right next to Matt and Phyllis, it could get really messy because Kyle or Victoria may spot Patty and she may hurt them to make sure they can’t tell anybody where she is. Especially Kyle, seeing as he’s Jack and Diane’s son. So, Patty might go after Kyle just to torment his parents.

Young and the Restless: Kyle at Risk

Remember before Matt went to see Patty, the last visitor she had was Kyle. When he was trying to make a deal with Patty to take down Victor But of course Patty is unpredictable. And even if Victor is responsible for getting Patty out of that psych ward, that doesn’t mean Victor is safe from Patty’s new reign of terror. With Victor soon going after the Abbotts again, that could wind up ending Nikki and Victor’s marriage once and for all.

Young and the Restless: Victor Loses Everyone

If you remember, Victoria told Kyle she didn’t want him going after Victor for revenge because Victoria knew if Kyle went after him, then Victor would lash back at Kyle and the other Abbotts and then Nikki may be done with Victor for good. And in fact, Victor may alienate his whole family because Adam and Nick would be horrified if they found out Victor unleashed Patty on Genoa City again, especially if she went after Phyllis, who is the mother of Nick’s child. Of course, Adam cares about Jack, so it would be problematic with him, too.

Victoria would be angry that Victor was throwing away the chance he just got when Nikki agreed to reunite with him. I think it would be incredible if Patty’s release is what triggers Victor to finally have to pay some consequences for his horrible behavior because I would be stunned if Patty got loose and just quietly left town. I think chaos is coming and I think Victor is one of the reasons it’s happening But we’ll see.

David Harbour is getting candid about what it’s like working with Millie Bobby Brown. 

The “Stranger Things” co-stars played an on-screen adoptive father and daughter in the wildly popular Netflix series. Brown played Eleven while Harbour played Jim Hopper. 

Despite their previously rocky relationship, the duo seems to be collaborating again, and fans are excited to see what they might have in store. 

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Despite having played father and daughter for nearly a decade, Harbour is not tired of sharing the spotlight with Brown. 

The co-stars are set to reunite on a new Netflix spy series, where they both have starring roles. They will also executive produce it along with Brown’s husband, Jake Bongiovi. 

The series follows a disgraced FBI agent returning to the field following the kidnapping of his estranged daughter, who is also an FBI agent. Emmy winner Jack Thorne, who previously worked with Brown on the “Enola Holmes” movies, wrote the script. 

In an interview with E! News, the “Black Widow” actor reflected on the special bond between their characters. “I go anywhere in the world, and people know the relationship of Hopper and Eleven,” he gushed.

The 51-year-old wants to channel that dynamic in exploring other stories and to build something that is truly unique and original. 

“It really is a working relationship, where we love what we bring out in each other,” he shared. “You’re in service of a greater story, and we both know how to do that and think about that and talk about that. I love what we have together, and I love to be able to see her daily.”

He also revealed details on the untitled project, saying, “It’s very unexpected, and we’ve come up with something that I’m very, very proud of.”

Millie Bobby Brown Addressed Rumors About Her Relationship With David Harbour

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The actor’s sentiments were also echoed by the “Enola Holmes” actress. Last year, she also had a few things to say about her co-star following the premiere of the final season of their show. 

She highlighted that the cast of “Stranger Things” has always had a united front, prioritizing their bond above everything else. 

“We’ve been doing that for the last 10 years. I mean, we have always been united in that,” The Blast reported that the actress explained. “We love this show with everything, and we value our friendship more than anything.”

She also had a lot of loving words to say about her on-screen father figure, adding that working with Harbour again was so nice and that it was exciting to “come back together.” 

David Harbour Was Accused Of Bullying Millie Bobby Brown 

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Brown’s comments came after shocking allegations rocked the sci-fi drama set. Allegedly, the then 21-year-old had filed a bullying and harassment complaint against the then 50-year-old, casting a dark cloud on the hit series final season. 

“There were pages and pages of accusations,” a source revealed, per The Blast. “The investigation went on for months.”

The allegations, however, did not contain any sexual assault, and the outcome remained unclear. While Netflix did not release an official statement on the incident, an insider said that Brown had a representative on set while filming. 

The Duo Had A United Front At Stranger Things Premiere 

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Despite the rumors that surrounded them, the actors appeared in a united front at the final premiere of the Netflix hit show. 

The Blast reported on a video shared by Netflix of them at the red carpet event that showed Harbour and Brown in a heartwarming moment.

The caption read “David Harbour and Millie Bobby Brown arrive together for one last Stranger Things premiere.” The duo was also captured laughing and hugging each other while posing for pictures.

David Harbour Opened Up About His Mental Health 

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Just months after Harbour and Brown’s seemingly friendly reunion, the “Thunderbolts” actor shifted the focus to his mental health. 

Earlier this year, the 51-year-old spoke on how important therapy has been for him, saying, “I have been in therapy since I got sober in 1999.”  He explained that when he got sober, he was forced to confront a lot of demons that rose to the surface.

Harbour, however, added that he has not had a manic flare-up, which was usually accompanied by what he described as “fundamental narcissism,” since he started psychoanalysis with a good therapist. 

“Only recently have I started intense psychotherapy, and it has made a world of difference in my treatment,” the actor, who was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder at age 25, said, according to The Blast.

Long before streaming services and franchise universes, classic movies proved that great storytelling, sharp humor, and unforgettable characters never really go out of style. Classic films such as His Girl Friday, Singin’ in the Rain, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid have been quoted at parties, rewatched on rainy Sundays, and passed down from one generation to the next, not because they’re required viewing, but because they’re just genuinely, endlessly fun.

What makes a movie “classic” isn’t just its age. Some of the most fun classics are films that took big swings with new special effects, unconventional structures, or jokes nobody had tried before and landed them so well that audiences are still watching them decades later. We’ve compiled a list of some of the most purely entertaining classics out there, including comedies that still get real laughs, adventures that hold up against any modern blockbuster, and a few genre-defining favorites that changed movies for good. From the iconic screwball comedy, Bringing Up Baby, to the Oscar-nominated classic, Some Like It Hot, these are eight of the most fun classic movies, ranked!

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8

‘Bringing Up Baby’ (1938)

Image via RKO Radio Pictures

Bringing Up Baby is frequently ranked as one of the funniest and most chaotic classic comedies ever made, making it a masterclass in screwball comedy that still holds up as pure entertainment years later. The plot is delightfully absurd and follows a stuffy, buttoned-up paleontologist, Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant), who gets tangled up with a scatterbrained heiress, Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn), who’s convinced she’s in love with him. Things spiral from there, involving a missing dinosaur bone, a pet leopard named Baby, and an escalating series of disasters over one increasingly unhinged day.

Director Howard Hawks structures Bringing Up Baby so that literally every scene makes things worse for Grant’s character and more of a delight for Hepburn’s. There’s no breathing room as one disaster triggers the next, and just when you think it can’t get more absurd, it does. Initially, Bringing Up Baby was a flop, but over the years, it has gained immense support from a new generation of film fans and is cited as one of the greatest classic comedies in cinema history.

7

‘My Man Godfrey’ (1936)

Image via Universal Pictures

Gregory La Cava‘s My Man Godfrey is recognized as one of the greatest screwball comedies of all time, known for its blend of farce and surprisingly pointed social commentary. The movie revolves around a naive socialite, Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard), who, during a scavenger hunt, “finds” a homeless man, Godfrey (William Powell), living in a city dump and brings him back as her prize. In exchange for his help, Irene convinces her chaotic family to hire Godfrey as their butler, but Godfrey turns out to be far more capable and mysterious than anyone expects, quietly running circles around the family’s absurdity while hiding secrets of his own.

The beauty of My Man Godfrey is its social theme, which makes it feel more substantial than pure slapstick while still being a blast to watch. Released during the Great Depression, the film pokes fun at the obliviousness of the ultra-wealthy while also having real sympathy for those struggling, giving the comedy some unexpected depth without ever losing its light touch. Lombard and Powell, who had previously been husband and wife in real life, are an unpredictable delight who keep the audience engaged with their witty banter and quick one-liners.

6

‘His Girl Friday’ (1940)

Image via Columbia Pictures

His Girl Friday is universally recognized as one of the sharpest and most fun classic movies because of its sheer velocity, significant influence, and unforgettable comedic performances by an exceptional cast. The plot follows a hard-charging newspaper editor, Walter Burns (Cary Grant), who tries to stop his ex-wife and former star reporter, Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell), from remarrying and leaving the business by pulling her into one last big story.

The movie is packed with hysterical improvisation from the entire cast as well as rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue, mimicking how real conversations actually sounded, which was also almost unheard of in cinema at the time. The effect is a screwball comedy that feels electric and alive even by today’s standards. Grant and Russell have blistering chemistry, and Russell in particular gets to play a woman who is whip-smart, ambitious, and never treated as less capable than the men around her, cementing His Girl Friday as a timeless and incredibly fun classic movie.

5

‘North by Northwest’ (1959)

Alfred Hitchcock‘s espionage classic, North by Northwest, is celebrated as one of the most entertaining thrillers of all time that manages to be intense, funny, romantic, and visually spectacular all at once. Cary Grant stars as a slick New York advertising executive, Roger Thornhill, who is mistaken for a government agent by a group of spies, and suddenly finds himself being chased across the country while trying to clear his name — all without knowing who’s after him or why.

Beyond its immediate entertainment value, North by Northwest established the blueprints for the modern spy-thriller and action-adventure genre, making it a significant classic in cinema history. Its DNA can be traced directly into the James Bond franchise as well as a slew of popular television series, including The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Mission: Impossible. North by Northwest received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Art Direction. In short, North by Northwest is a thrilling classic that shaped blockbuster filmmaking and proved that a suspense film didn’t have to sacrifice charm, playfulness, or wit to be gripping.

4

‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ (1969)

Image via 20th Century Studios

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is often held up as one of the most purely enjoyable classic movies because it took the traditional tropes of the Western genre and infused them with buddy-comedy charm, essentially creating something that felt fresh at the time and still plays beautifully today. The movie centers around two outlaws, Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford), as their easy, criminal life starts to collapse when a relentless posse is sent to hunt them down, eventually forcing them to flee all the way to Bolivia in search of a fresh start.

Redford and Newman’s chemistry and their easy, bantering friendship are undeniably the heart of the movie, playing off each other like a classic comedy duo who bicker and joke even in the middle of life-threatening situations. The film moves fluidly between comedy, romance, and drama, including a famous, almost tonally daring bicycle scene set to “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” that has nothing to do with the plot and everything to do with charm. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid received seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, and went on to win four of its nominations, notably for Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay.

3

‘Blazing Saddles’ (1974)

Image via Warner Bros.

Mel Brooks‘ Blazing Saddles is widely regarded as one of the most audacious and fearless comedies ever made, known for taking direct aim at Hollywood westerns, racism, and cinematic conventions all at once, using absurdity as its main weapon. The plot follows a Black railroad worker, Bart (Cleavon Little), who is appointed sheriff of a small frontier town by a corrupt state attorney general, as part of a scheme involving a railroad deal. Blazing Saddles earned three Academy Award nominations, including Best Song, Best Film Editing, and Best Supporting Actress for Madeline Kahn‘s sidesplitting performance.

Blazing Saddles defied what studios typically allowed and rewrote the rules by breaking the fourth wall, parodying western movie clichés, and eventually spiraling into a chaotic finale where the characters literally burst off the film set and into other Warner Bros. productions, making it a staple in the classic comedy genre. Beyond the shock value, the film features clever wordplay, running gags, and quotable lines that still hold up as a genuinely well-constructed comedy today. Brooks himself has said he doubts the movie could be made the same way today, precisely because of how far it pushed, which is part of why it remains one of the most talked-about comedies of the era.

2

‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952)

Image via Loew’s Inc.

The Oscar-nominated classic, Singin’ in the Rain, is considered to be the greatest movie musical of all time, and much of its enduring appeal comes from pure, infectious joy that seems to have been engineered from the ground up to make audiences smile. Set during the 1920s, Gene Kelly stars as a silent film star, Don Lockwood, who must navigate the industry’s awkward, often disastrous transition into the Talkies, which is complicated by the fact that his glamorous leading lady (Jean Hagen) has a screechy, unusable voice, while falling for an aspiring actress, Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds).

Kelly, Reynolds, and Donald O’Connor perform physically demanding, wildly inventive dance numbers (including O’Connor’s astonishing “Make ‘Em Laugh,” a comedic routine that showcases his acrobatics and slapstick skills) that still feel exciting and impressive today. Kelly’s solo dance through a rain-soaked street, swinging around a lamppost and splashing through puddles, is one of the most iconic and joyful sequences in film history and is a scene that’s become shorthand for pure cinematic happiness. Unlike many classic musical movies that lean on melodrama, Singin’ in the Rain stays light, funny, and warm-hearted throughout, embracing pure entertainment as its goal.

1

‘Some Like It Hot’ (1959)

Image via United Artists

Billy Wilder‘s Some Like It Hot ranks as one of the funniest movies of all time (the American Film Institute placed it at #1 on its list of the one hundred greatest comedies), and its enduring reputation as pure fun comes from just how many comedic elements it juggles at once without ever dropping the ball. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon star as down-on-their-luck musicians, Joe and Jerry, who, after accidentally witnessing a mob hit, disguise themselves as women and join an all-female band that’s headed to Florida, where they both fall for the band’s singer, Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe).

The film’s central gimmick of two men hiding in plain sight as women doesn’t just set up one joke; it fuels an escalating series of complications and absurd situations throughout the entire film, making it a non-stop laugh fest. While both Monroe and Curtis deliver sensational performances, Lemmon gives a knockout performance that results in some of the movie’s biggest laughs. Today, Some Like It Hot is frequently cited as a masterclass in comedic structure and is a testament to how a film can be silly, romantic, tense, and biting all at once, while still building towards one of the most satisfying comedic payoffs ever put on screen.

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Some Like It Hot

Release Date

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March 19, 1959

Runtime

123 minutes

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Director

Billy Wilder

Writers

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Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond

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  Jack Lemmon

  Jerry (Daphne)

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  Tony Curtis

  Joe (Josephine)

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