👋 Your watchlist just got better. From overlooked gems to major releases, we keep cinematic tastemakers up-to-date on what’s happening, like what to watch this week:

• 🎥 Warfare | 4.11

• 🎥 Sacramento | 4.11

• 🎥 The Amateur | 4.11

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TRENDING

• 🎬 Wes Anderson's star-studded The Phoenician Scheme debuts trailer featuring Benicio del Toro, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks and more.

• 🏃‍♂️ Will Forte reveals his "biggest career regret" was agents blocking his Amazing Race dreams with Val Kilmer after MacGruber bonding.

• 🥶 Kurt Russell and Keith David reunite at John Carpenter's Hollywood Star ceremony, jokingly still suspicious about who's really The Thing.

• 🎮 Pig and Quiet Place: Day One director Michael Saronski to helm A24's Death Stranding with game creator Hideo Kojima (interview here).

• 🔥 Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning last trailer explodes with nearly 8 million views in just 24 hours.

• 📺 HBO sizzle reel reveals fresh footage from The Last of Us S2, Peacemaker, Welcome to Derry and more upcoming shows.

• 📀 27 masterpieces lost in the streaming era, from Hitchcock's Rebecca to Altman's Short Cuts — see the full list.

• 😳 Joe Don Baker thriller Framed features one of the most dangerously insane stunts ever filmed in American cinema.

• 👨‍👧‍👦 Bluey is the most streamed series of all time. Here’s how it teaches us to parent (and how to play pretend).

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FEATURE 

⭐ White Lotus Composer Walks Away After "Hysterical" Behind-the-Scenes Battles

The Emmy-winning musician behind The White Lotus's unforgettable theme has dramatically exited the HBO hit, citing creative clashes that became increasingly tense with each season.

"Maybe I was being unprofessional," admits Cristóbal Tapia de Veer in a revealing New York Times interview that exposes the growing friction between the experimental composer and series creator Mike White.

The departure comes after Tapia de Veer collected three Emmy awards for his work on the show's first two seasons. "What I gave him did this, you know — did those Emmys, people going crazy," the composer argued, suggesting his artistic vision proved more successful than producers acknowledged.

What makes this split particularly significant is the controversial season three theme tune that abandoned the iconic "ooh-loo-loo-loo" vocals fans had come to expect. "When [the season three theme] came out, I had TMZ calling me, even people from England and from France, because they wanted some kind of statement about the theme."

The behind-the-scenes tension reveals a classic creative struggle that Tapia de Veer himself likened to "a rock 'n' roll band story." "I'm the guitar player who doesn't understand the singer at all," he explained, painting a picture of artistic differences that couldn't be reconciled despite the show's massive success.

Most fascinating is the revelation that a longer version of the season three theme – one that would have included the beloved vocal elements – was created but ultimately rejected by White, a decision that left fans "furious" and reaching out to media outlets worldwide for explanation.

As The White Lotus moves forward without one of its defining creative voices, this high-profile departure raises compelling questions about artistic control, fan expectations, and what happens when award-winning collaboration breaks down into "hysterical" disagreements.

[Spoilers] If you have seen the finale, check out these memes:

• Fans can’t stop talking about Laurie’s run.

• Jon Hamm channels his inner Ratliff.

• Deleted scene with Zion and Piper for finale.

• Take a look at Walton Goggins vs. Ophelia.

• Walton Goggins did something Jude Law couldn’t.

• Why did Lochlan choose to do this? 

• Aimee Lou Wood talks about Chelsea and Rick.

• Did Chelsea change Saxon’s life forever? (more here)

• This was Timothy Ratliff the whole season.

• Here’s what fans want to see next, post-credits (maybe this)

PUNCHLINES