The Frame

"The Daily Show" host (far right) talks about his film directing debut, "Rosewater"; how is the LGBT community faring in depictions on television?; Jake Gyllenhaal tells us about the first time he realized he wanted to act; and singer Perla Batalla recalls her family-run record store that is gone, but not forgotten.

Hilary Swank talks about her unglamorous role in “The Homesman" (pictured); Mexico's most acclaimed filmmakers criticize the handling of a student massacre in their homeland; the grandson of General George S. Patton on how filmmaking can help veterans deal with PTSD; and Amazon unveils its next slate of TV shows.

The director on why "Interstellar" is his "most aggressive" attempt at a family blockbuster; how a high school teacher works the arts into the classroom; the butler from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” becomes King Lear; Jon Stewart tells us about the first time he bombed as a stand-up comic.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art gets a collection (including a Monet, pictured) valued at $500 million; Herbie Hancock talks about the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in L.A.; James Marsh's 'Theory' tells the Stephen Hawking story; and the AARP puts on its second film festival in L.A. (Did you know the "R" no longer stands for "retired"?)

The director of "Interstellar" (seen with Matthew McConaughey) is a rare creature in Hollywood; Pink Floyd revives songs that are 20 years old; Tyler the Creator transitions from rapper to carnival barker; and the AFI Fest opens in Los Angeles.

Why the biggest pop star broke up with the world's biggest streaming service; election day ends a great comedy campaign season; and two young L.A. musicians give opera a modern-day makeover.

The “Nightcrawler” writer-director (leaning on car door) explains how he cast L.A. as a character in his movie; a new stage production examines the legacy of the Black Panthers; and art writer Jori Finkel has the latest news about architect Frank Gehry and collector Eli Broad.

Our guide to Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican commemoration of All Souls’ Day, which is a popular tradition in Mexican-American communities; the Comikaze pop culture convention is in LA this weekend.

Choking, torture and waterboarding — are extreme haunts going too far?; a postcard from San Francisco's idyllic music festival; and why hasn’t there been a Wonder Woman movie?

Jake Gyllenhaal goes deeper, and darker, in his new movie; Song Exploder dissects Julia Holter's "Horns Surrounding Me"; and actors between gigs scare up some cash by working in haunted houses.

Author, religion scholar and TV consultant Reza Aslan adds talk show host to his credits with "Rough Draft"; Oscar nominee Lon Burden breaks down the sound design for a crucial scene in "The Revenant"; the toughest Oscars trivia contest happens at a pub in Santa Monica.

The Black Version is a group of improv performers who put an Afro-centric spin on mainstream movies; Leonardo DiCaprio sees environmental parallels between the 1820s when "The Revenant" is set and modern-day America; eligibility rules for the Oscars raise questions for the original score nominees.

Will this year’s Academy Awards be the tipping point for racial representation in Hollywood? Marc Bernardin of The Hollywood Reporter weighs in; The Song Exploder podcast takes apart a song with the band Clipping; "Inside Out" writer Meg LeFauve gets a Pixar education and now takes on Ms. Marvel.

USC's Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at Annenberg tracked the representation of women, people of color, and the LGBT community in film and television and found Hollywood is still "a straight, white boys club." Then co-star and co-creator of the HBO show 'Togetherness', Steve Zissis, mines his life-- failures and all-- for the show. And comedian Kamau Bell is excited to see Chris Rock turn #OscarsSoWhite into comic gold at the Academy Awards.

Comedian Paul Rust went from Iowa to working with his childhood heroes Judd Apatow and Paul Rubens, and now he's landed the Netflix series "Love," which comes out today. The Coen Brothers bring water ballet back to the big screen in "Hail, Caesar!" with the L.A. aquatic dance troupe Aqualillies. Also, we deconstruct the Oscar race for Best Picture with John Horn and Kyle Buchanan from The Awards Show Show.

Writer-director Robert Eggers' impressive feature debut is about witches in colonial New England; after camera assistant Sarah Jones was killed on a film set, her parents became advocates for production safety; the play 'Placas' tells the story of a man who escapes one of the world's most brutal gangs.

David Javerbaum created @TheTweetOfGod, which led to the hit Broadway play, "An Act of God," currently starring Sean Hayes; faced with low ratings, ABC fires network chief Paul Lee; singer-songwriter M. Ward revisits his early years in the Conejo Valley on his new album.

The producer of the Record of the Year Grammy talks about what went into making the dance hit, "Uptown Funk"; France's Academy Awards entry for Foreign Language Film was actually shot in Turkey by a Turkish-born filmmaker; Edward Gero played Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in a show at Arena Stage.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Alejandro G. Iñárritu of "The Revenant" are among the filmmakers and actors on The Frame's annual Academy Awards preview. You'll also hear from Sylvester Stallone, Brie Larson, Bryan Cranston and many others.

Sylvester Stallone turned down the part of an ailing Rocky Balboa in "Creed" twice before agreeing to do it-- with the help of an acting coach. Now he's nominated for an Oscar. Grammy nominated musician Lianne La Havas finds inspiration in Jamaica. How only Kanye West could pack Madison Square Garden while playing an album off his laptop.

The Marley family has launched a line of marijuana products to be distributed at dispensaries around the country; Catherine Opie shows a wide range of her work in three current L.A. exhibitions; John Horn and Kyle Buchanan assess the Academy Awards campaign season.

"The Hateful Eight" came along at the right time for Jennifer Jason Leigh, and won her an Oscar nomination; the infamous freeway chase was diligently re-created for "American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson"; things are getting slightly better for female characters in movies, but only slightly.