Month: January 2019

In “Blinded by the Light,” Javed (Viveik Kalra), a Pakistani British teenager living in a drab London suburb in 1987, discovers the music of Bruce Springsteen, and it jolts him alive. From the moment he straps on his Walkman headphones and drinks in the tightrope of ecstasy and despair that is “Dancing in the Dark”

January 27, 2019 10:28PM PT China’s Bona Film Group has boarded Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” as a co-investor, the company confirmed to Variety on Monday. Bona did not disclose the value of its investment or the scale of its stake. But it is understood to be taking a percentage of the film’s

In “Relive,” David Oyelowo plays an LAPD detective who gets a call from the cell phone of a teenage girl whose body he discovered shot dead in her bathtub just hours before. The victim was his niece, Ashley (Storm Reid), and so the cop can’t believe his ears when he hears her voice on the

If this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards are any indication, the race for outstanding comedy series at the Primetime Emmys this year might be more competitive than pundits had expected. Conventional wisdom has the return of Emmy darling “Veep” trouncing everything in its path for a final season victory lap. But “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”

The 25th annual SAG Awards celebrated the best of the year in TV and film on Sunday night, though there were more than a few surprises along the way. “Black Panther” surprised everyone, including its cast, by taking home the award for best cast in a motion picture. On the flip side, critical darling “A

Nights at Rosie’s bar tend to go awry. In this squalid corner of Bourbon Street, there are bugs on the whiskey bottles, underage kids sidling up for beers, nude women playing pool, brutes smashing glasses, and in the center of the maelstrom, bartender Will (Armie Hammer) pouring shots and finagling how to steal his crush,

It takes up to 48 hours to die of a rattler bite. For the Pentecostal snake handlers of Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage’s debut, “Them That Follow,” that’s two days to pray, bicker, and wonder if your faith might be poisonous. Augie (Thomas Mann) was born doubtful. But up on this Appalachian mountain, he’s

January 27, 2019 6:37PM PT An unflinching portrait of a strong-willed yet immature young woman facing a radical change in how the world looks at her as well as how she sees herself following an acid attack. A young working-class woman in London barely has the mechanisms to cope with a horrific acid attack that’s

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired multi-territory rights to Matt Tyrnauer’s “Where’s My Roy Cohn?”, individuals familiar with the deal told Variety. The film premiered in the U.S. documentary competition from Tyranuer, known for tackling culture-shapers like designer Valentino Garavani, Studio 54 co-founder Ian Schrager and Hollywood pimp Scotty Bowers. The sale includes U.S. rights, and

Six years after the international crossover success of “The Lunchbox,” along comes “Photograph” to prove, whatever Thomas Wolfe may think, that you can go home again. Writer-director Ritesh Batra’s first Indian film since his debut feature has the same quiet streak of wistful sentimentality that made “The Lunchbox” so globally beloved — and, for that

Awkwafina’s wedding dramedy “The Farewell” is close to landing a deal with indie studio A24 following its premiere this week at the Sundance Film Festival. The pact is for worldwide rights and is believed to be in the $6 million range, numerous individuals close to the negotiations told Variety. “The Farewell” stars “Crazy Rich Asians”

Mike Wallace upended television news by dispensing with the softball questions that had been the medium’s stock in trade. On shows such as “Night Beat,” the 1950s program that launched his career, and “60 Minutes,” the news magazine that solidified his place in the journalism firmament, Wallace grilled everyone from movie stars to world leaders

“Will & Grace” star Megan Mullally will bring the laughs on Sunday as host of the 25th Annual SAG Awards, which honors the top actors across film and television. SAG Awards ambassador Harry Shum Jr. (“Crazy Rich Asians”) and Yvonne Strahovski (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), who are both nominees this year, will announce the honorees for

Serial killers are the ultimate compartmentalized criminals — the fear and horror they represent isn’t just there in the gruesomeness of their violence, but in the way they pass among us, impersonating normal people. Seen in that light, Ted Bundy was the ultimate compartmentalized monster. He wasn’t the first hideous murderer to become infamous in

“Imaginary Order” director Debra Eisenstadt sat down to discuss her new film at the Variety Studio at Sundance presented by AT&T and revealed that the production was effected by the sexism she experienced on set. “I was battling a lot of sexism when I made this,” Eisenstadt said. “I don’t want to get into it,

“You’re a dinosaur,” Bill O’Reilly insists to veteran “60 Minutes” journalist Mike Wallace in the opening scene of Avi Belkin’s documentary “Mike Wallace is Here.” Then O’Reilly says something worse: “I’m your son.” Illegitimate, maybe. Both TV anchors made their bones asking confrontational — even rude — questions. The difference is Wallace wanted to hear

January 27, 2019 12:08PM PT Neon has picked up the survival thriller “Monos,” Variety has confirmed. The deal is for U.S. rights and follows the film’s world premiere on Saturday at Sundance. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. “Monos” centers on a group of Latin American rebels and their American hostage. An ambush

“Lorena,” a four-part documentary series from Amazon Studios, wants the world to see Lorena Bobbitt in a different light. In 1993, the 24-year-old woman became a tabloid fixture and late-night punchline for cutting off her husband’s penis with a knife. Although she alleged that she was raped and abused by her partner John Wayne Bobbitt,

“Glass” dominated the foreign box office for the second weekend in a row as M. Night Shyamalan’s twisted thriller generated another $23.6 million from 55 overseas territories. That brings the film, which shares a cinematic world with 2000’s “Unbreakable” and 2017’s “Split,” to $162.7 million worldwide. Disney is distributing the film overseas, while Universal is

January 27, 2019 9:58AM PT Daniel Radcliffe stopped by the Variety Studio at Sundance presented by AT&T, where he delivered a special message to Patriots quarterback and Trump supporter Tom Brady. “Take that MAGA hat out your locker,” Radcliffe quipped after explaining that though Brady shouldn’t retire, he should “stop winning things.” “I feel like