Month: October 2018

Key representatives of Italian media joined with their American counterparts in Rome Sunday morning to usher a call for greater inclusion in the local entertainment industry. During a panel on the final day of MIA hosted by Women in Film, TV & Media Italia, the group presented the tools of ReFrame, the American organization promoting

Stan Laurel, the slimmer British half of Hollywood double act Laurel and Hardy, was not one to wax lyrical about the art or mystique of comedy: “You have to learn what people will laugh at, then proceed accordingly,” he said, making vaudeville performance sound altogether as methodical and prosaic as shopping for groceries. No matter

Six of the ten titles in Morelia’s 2018 Mexican feature competition are directed by women, likewise two of Mexican filmmakers’ five movies at Toronto.  In Mexico, as Chile or Catalonia, women are finally coming to the fore as directors and screenwriters, and making movies and TV series which position their female characters in a very

Tricia Tuttle will take over the BFI London Film Festival, and other BFI festivals, following Clare Stewart’s decision not to return after a sabbatical. Tuttle stepped in as artistic director for this year’s LFF, which came to a close Sunday with a world premiere screening of “Stan and Ollie.” Tuttle’s new permanent role is director,

“Venom” remains a force to be reckoned with overseas as the Tom Hardy superhero movie topped the foreign box office for the third weekend in a row. Sony’s “Venom” secured the No. 1 spot abroad with $32 million from 65 markets, taking its international total to $290.7 million. It earned $18.1 million in North America for

It’s dispiriting, if more true than not, to keep hearing that the two sides of America have no more overlap, that we’re at fundamental odds, plugged into different news streams, different cultural-ideological values, different realities. And a pivotal way this degrades our discourse is that neither side feels like it has the luxury to look

In the spring of 1975, long before he became one of the U.K.’s most respected producers, Paul Webster got his first job in the film industry working as a dispatch clerk in the basement of the Gate Cinema in Notting Hill, checking celluloid reels for damage before they could be fed into the projector. For

A band of young street performers and pickpockets in Athens find an unlikely refuge in an abandoned shopping mall. But when their former leader is released from prison, his return threatens the delicate balance of their makeshift family. In “Broadway,” director Christos Massalas creates a colorful world of cast-offs and hustlers, set on the fringes

When the matriarch of a British-Iranian family goes missing in London, her loved ones find themselves on an offbeat spiritual journey to track her down, setting their old world traditions on a collision course with their new world surroundings. Inspired by her own Iranian roots, “Mercy” is the feature debut of British-Iranian director Mandi Riggi.

“Halloween” made a killing in North America, earning $77.5 million when the slasher film launched in 3,928 locations. David Gordon Green’s “Halloween,” a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic, obliterated the franchise record opening of $26 million, previously held by the 2007 Rob Zombie reboot. “Halloween” also notched the second-best start for an R-rated horror film

Scott Wilson, an acting veteran of half a century who was a high-profile member “The Walking Dead” cast, was remembered warmly at memorial ceremonies Saturday at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. Wilson died at the age of 76 after a battle with leukemia on Oct. 6. The premiere episode of the ninth season of “The Walking

Four female Italian bandits known as “Le Drude” are the protagonists of “My Body Will Bury You” a Sicily-set revenge drama/Western set in 1860 that is among standout titles presented to prospective buyers and sales agents during the Rome MIA market’s What’s Next Italy showcase. This second feature by Alessandro La Parola, whose bittersweet comedy

Starring “La casa de papel’s” Ursula Corberó, “The Tree of Blood,” the latest movie from Spain’s Julio Medem, is being brought onto the international market at Rome’s MIA market by FilmSharks Intl., which has acquired world sales rights. FilmSharks Intl. will continue introducing the film to buyers at the American Film Market, which opens Oct.

Danny Leiner, a film and television director whose feature films included “Dude, Where’s My Car” and “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle,” died Thursday. He was 57. Leiner’s collaborator Ross Putman confirmed his death in a Facebook post, and described its cause as a long illness. “If there’s one thing I can say about

Sex-trafficking drama “Joy,” from Austrian-Iranian director Sudabeh Mortezai, has won the award for Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival. “Joy” was one of 10 films in the official competition lineup, half of which were directed or co-directed by women, including Mortezai. The winning picture is a “vital, beautifully made film,” said Lenny Abrahamson, president

Like “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which successfully combined fresh new material with a plethora of nostalgic nods to the past, Universal’s “Halloween” reboot manages to pick up where John Carpenter’s 1978 classic left off while paying sly homage to the original film and several of the sequels it otherwise ignores. Overflowing with inside jokes,

October 20, 2018 9:08AM PT Tinge Krishnan’s upbeat, London-set musical romance is a mixed bag galvanized by Michaela Coel and Arinzé Kene’s star chemistry. Michaela Coel plays a character called Simone in Tinge Krishnan’s neon-bright urban musical “Been So Long” — and whether that’s coincidental, or intended to humor internet fan calls for the up-and-comer

“Halloween” will not only take home the box office crown in its debut weekend, but may also break “Venom’s” recently-set record for best October opening of all time. Universal’s reboot, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, is heading for an estimated $80 million from 3,928 North American locations in its first weekend. It’ll have to outpace “Venom’s”