Lloyd Kaufman has always marched to the beat of his own drum. The “Toxic Avenger” creator has spent more than half a century making truly independent films through his Troma label, many of which gleefully push the boundaries of good taste while sneaking in progressive social messaging. They’re unapologetic B-movies in the tradition of Roger Corman, often filled with sex and bodily fluids and made on shoestring budgets. Kaufman works quickly, and is often mentally onto the next project before a film even premieres. But sometimes, despite your best efforts, you make something that stands the test of time.

Such is the case with “Tromeo & Juliet.” Kaufman’s 1996 take on Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy has lived on as a piece of indie film history. It’s primarily remembered for both introducing the world to James Gunn, who wrote the script and served as associate director. But it’s also an exhilarating display of indie filmmaking enthusiasm. Rewatch it in 2026 and you’ll see that the grossness and shock value are secondary to the passion and excitement of a team of artists trying to make something that was uniquely their own. It has a manic energy and lived-in grit that makes it more compelling than many films with much higher budgets.

Kaufman didn’t know that the film would catch indie lightning in a bottle, but he’s enjoying the victory lap three years later. The 80-year-old is celebrating the film’s 30th anniversary with a screening at Southampton Playhouse on August 11. And during a recent call with IndieWire, he made clear that he still believes that the movie has higher-minded ideas that are worth remembering as much as its sex scenes and prosthetics.

“It’s not a parody, it’s more of a reimagining,” he said. “That came from the fact that my generation, the post-war Baby Boomers, have destroyed love. I’ve been married for 52 years, but most marriages dissolve. Baby Boomers made a mess of it because they have to be so cool.”

That idea of devalued romance prompted him to start working on his own riff on “Romeo and Juliet,” combining Shakespeare’s classic tragedy with his own Troma sensibility. What began as a more faithful attempt at recreating Shakespearean verse gradually evolved as the team tried to figure out how to make something that spoke to then-contemporary anxieties.

“It took five years just to get the script to where I thought it could be a good movie,” he said. “Obviously Shakespeare wrote a pretty good play, and we tried to use my ideas and keep it all in Iambic pentameter. And then John Avildsen, one of my mentors who directed ‘Rocky,’ said ‘Don’t do that, nobody wants to hear Shakespeare.’ We decided to do it with high school kids and redo it in their vernacular. So I did two versions of that.””

Even after five years, it still wasn’t clicking. But the project came together when one of Kaufman’s most important collaborators entered the picture: James Gunn.

“Luckily for me, James Gunn was graduating from Columbia University where he got his MA, and he had written a novel. I gave him $150, and two weeks later he figured it out. He took the mess we had made and turned it into a wonderful, wonderful script,” Kaufman said, adding that he hasn’t been remotely surprised by the studio success that Gunn has gone on to enjoy. “I don’t necessarily have any talent, but I know talent.” 

Troma has produced or distributed hundreds of films throughout Kaufman’s run, but “Tromeo & Juliet” is arguably second only to “The Toxic Avenger” in terms of fan enthusiasm. The filmmaker has always enjoyed the array of fan art and merchandise inspired by the film that he sees on the convention circuit. To him, it’s evidence of how a film can take on a life of its own when you least expect it if it’s made with enough passion.

“You wouldn’t believe how many ‘Tromeo & Juliet’ tattoos I run into,” he said with a laugh. “You can buy an Oscar, but that’s love.”

Bill Maher accused President Trump of socialism on Friday’s episode of “Real Time” on HBO, spotlighting the federal government’s expanding corporate investments, which now numbers 30 different companies.

“Now that they’re communists, there’s an opening for socialism. And you know who’s filling it? Donald Trump,” Maher said, citing deals in 2025 that saw the U.S. government invest $8.9 billion in Intel stock and Nvidia’s agreement to share 15% of revenues earned from chip sales to China with the government. Maher also brought up Trump’s approval of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel, which was contingent on the federal government being given power to appoint a board member and veto certain corporate decisions on production. “We have a ‘golden share.’ We basically run their board room now.”

“You know why this is socialism, I think? Because Bernie Sanders agrees with it all. He wants to do it with the AI companies,” Maher continued. (In June, Sen. Sanders (I-Vt.) proposed a sovereign wealth fund financed by a one-time 50% tax on the stock of the largest AI companies.)

Maher’s comparison comes one week after the “Real Time” host spent his monologue criticizing the Democratic Socialists of America and saying his vote would be “in play” if the Democratic Party became too radical.

“The free market is dead. They have decided that the government wants to control 30 different companies. And Intel alone, which was a loser because of Nvidia — they basically own 9.9% of that company. That’s a lot,” added independent journalist Tara Palmeri, a guest on Friday’s episode of “Real Time.” “After they invested in this company, (Trump) then went on to buy stocks in this company, which shot up 200%. He actually made a ton of money on this. His government created a floor on a stock that he owns. It’s crony capitalism too.”

Per May filings by Trump to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, the president engaged in more than 3,700 transactions through the first three months of 2026, including an investment in Nvidia one week before the Commerce Department approved the company’s sale of chips to China. At the time, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told media, “There are no conflicts of interest. President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public — which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media.”

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is “gutted” that the Broadway production of his Cats: The Jellicle Ball is closing tonight at the Broadhurst Theatre, five months earlier than originally planned.

In an emotional message posted on Instagram, Lloyd Webber says he hopes the show’s closing will serve as a warning about “the unsustainable cost” of producing new shows on Broadway.

“I’m gutted that the wonderful Broadway production of Cats: The Jellicle Ball is closing today,” he writes. “I’m immensely proud to have been a part of an incredibly daring production whose cast and creative team broke new ground on Broadway and gave 17 actors their Broadway debut.”

He continues, “Maybe the show’s closing just might be remembered as the moment that caused everyone involved with Broadway to come to their senses and address the unsustainable cost of producing and running any new show now on The Great White Way, let alone saying new work.”

See the message below.

Today’s message isn’t the first time Lloyd Webber has expressed his disappointment about the early closing. Last month, when the August 8 closing date was announced, he wrote, in part, “As someone who is still as in love with Broadway as I was when I was a teenager, I beg the theatre owners, unions and producers to come together urgently to address what is a crisis coming to a head. Broadway is in dire danger of rivalling Hollywood’s empty soundstages with increasingly dark theatres.”

That IG post drew both praise and harsh criticism among commenters. While Sunset Blvd. star Nicole Scherzinger commended Lloyd Webber as “exactly the person” to “help drive the change that’s needed,” others rejected his seeming equating of landlords and union members in sharing the responsibility of Broadway’s financial uncertainties. “So have the audacity to call out out Shubert Organization which has a monopoly on almost half the Broadway theaters,” wrote one of Lloyd Webber’s followers. “Call out their greed. They want producers to cover the rent and the entire operating costs. They want to keep the telecharge fees which they own. How is this allowed?”

Wrote a member of a costume crew, “Leave the union workers out of this we deserve to be paid fairly for our work. if you can’t afford to pay us fairly then you can’t afford to produce a show right. Very dangerous to include the unions in this to be honest,” while actor and dancer Neil Haskell wrote, “Most Broadway actors can barely afford to live in the city.”

Tonight’s closing will almost certainly have at least one immediate impact: A bump in final-week ticket sales. While the box office report for the week won’t be out until Tuesday, last week’s figures showed Cats: The Jellicle Ball posting its best box office numbers ever as last-chancers scrambled for seats. The production was at standing room only for the week ending August 2, grossing $1,405,709. That’s an increase of $216,278 over the previous week.

Regarding today’s message from the composer, at least one famous commenter and Broadway devotee had a suggestion.

“Why didn’t alw just fund it himself,” commented Rosie O’Donnell. “he’s a billionaire.” A big fan of the show, O’Donnell did add a “Like” to Lloyd Webber’s message.