There's a pretty famous story that George Clooney likes to tell about a dog. In the early 2000s, the recent Esquire cover star set up a meet and greet with a rescue he wanted to adopt and was told that the dog had to love him or the shelter would take him back. Clooney, scared the dog wouldn't love him, rubbed himself in turkey bacon before he met the doggo just to increase his chances of success. This is a story that says a lot about Clooney, which is probably why it's often told—in this magazine, even—to illustrate his dedication to the audience, human or otherwise. If aliens visited this planet and we needed to provide them with an example of a movie star, we would show them George Clooney. His charm is otherworldly, yet he often puts in the effort to mask it, turn it off, or make himself the joke when he needs to for our entertainment. He is, hands down, the number-one celebrity to pick if you're ever going to pull off a heist. And that would be an accurate pick even if he hadn't starred in so many heist movies. Clooney is the link between old-school cinema and modern Hollywood. He is perhaps the only actor whose career would get better after the Batnipples. He is untouchable, and unmissable even when he is indeed missing. Whether he's meeting a dog, pulling off a heist (in Vegas, in Italy, in the 1930s deep South, in WWII, in the Gulf War), voicing a fox, going into space, playing a total goon, or playing a version of himself—as he does in the new Noah Baumbach film Jay Kelly, which just hit Netflix—Clooney puts himself into every single performance. For that, we're put together a ranking of one hell of a filmography. Below, you'll find 36 movies that are all better off with Clooney in them. |
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George Clooney shot by Christopher Anderson for the October/November 2025 issue of Esquire. |
Can you hear those jingle bells? Christmas is upon us, so we put together our top 50 Christmas movies of all time. I have a bit of a soft spot for the claymation Christmas specials like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Year Without a Santa Claus, but let me know your favorite by writing me a note at josh.rosenberg@hearst.com. Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here. |
The Continuing Adventures of the Esquire Entertainment Desk |
From Jake Lacy's roles as the "nice guy" to finding a new home in true crime, the actor told us all about the surprising twist at the end of All Her Fault. "At a point, I felt that I could do more than the nice boyfriend," Lacy admits."But I don't think I had the skill set at the time to play with that in a way that I could now." Read the interview here.
Speaking of the perfect boyfriend, Josh Hutcherson opened up about playing one on HBO's I Love LA opposite series creator and actress Rachel Sennott. Looking for relationship advice? Start here. "The most important thing for me is allowing someone to be themselves and not trying to control them," he tells Esquire. "If you see someone, love who they are." Read Sirena He's entire conversation with Hutcherson here.
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Ted Sarandos, CEO of Netflix, stated in a press conference on Friday that, "over time the [theatrical] windows will evolve to be much more consumer friendly … to meet the audience where they are." / photo by: David Becker/Getty Images |
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The Cliff-Hanger's Winners and Losers of the Week |
Winner: People Who Want One App for Everything Good news for viewers who are tired of flipping between streaming services to watch their favorite shows. Netflix just won the bidding war to acquire Warner Bros., including their film studios and the HBO library. The sale—if it happens—doesn't bode well for the entertainment industry, but at least you'll be able to flip between Stranger Things and The Sopranos easier. Loser: Movie Theaters Theater owners are very worried that Netflix might remove the Warner Bros. film slate from theaters if they take over the company, resulting in a loss of nearly a third of all domestic films. To help sort out everything that may or may not come with the impending sale, we broke down what it all means (and you should feel about it) right here. Winner: One Battle After Another Following months of speculation, the 2026 Golden Globes nominations arrived today with Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio's One Battle Another leading the pack in every major category. The film—which is easily one of the best movies of the year—is also the frontrunner in the Oscars Best Picture race so far. Loser: Task?! Of all the snubs and surprises from the Golden Globes nominations this year, not recognizing Task outside of a nomination for Mark Ruffalo is insane. I mean, did the voters even watch Task?! Tom Pelphrey is one of the best performers of the year, period. Winner: Jason Bateman The latest Esquire cover star revealed that he reads every review critics write about his roles in TV and film. "I am doing these projects for public consumption, so it matters to me what the public thinks about them," he says. "But what's most important is that the weather inside is 72 and breezy. It takes a lot of work to stay happy, to stay clear, and to be proud of yourself. You can try to drink through it, but you're sober in the morning and you got to live in those hours too." Honestly, good on Bateman for being able to stay cool after reading the crazy things people write on the Internet. Not many can! |
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