SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square,” streaming now on Netflix. Christine Baranski grew up watching “White Christmas” with her family when she was a little girl, and that is a tradition she has kept, now watching it year after year with her own grandchildren.
Month: November 2020
According to his Twitter page, Bo McGuire has been “putting the queer in country since 1984ever.” Now, with his feature debut “Socks on Fire,” he’s putting some much overdue queer into the documentary landscape, with an anarchic, poetic and sometimes mind-blowingly surreal memoir that rakes over the coals of a very personal family feud. At
“People don’t really think about striptease these days,” says director Yoichiro Okutani, “it’s seen as old-fashioned. They don’t care. Normally, you wouldn’t even go there.” So with his debut film “Odoriko,” which takes its name from the Japanese word for exotic dancers and has its premiere in IDFA’s Feature-Length Documentary Competition, Okutani’s has decided to
In his latest documentary “Crazy, Not Insane”—screening at documentary film festival IDFA—Alex Gibney gives the floor to Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis, a renowned American psychiatrist who has examined numerous serial killers. Specializing in the study of people with dissociative identity disorder (DID), Lewis has concluded that many of the 20th century’s most notorious murderers—including Joel
President Trump still refuses to publicly acknowledge that he lost the 2020 election, but in any event he and his administration will lose access to the White House accounts on Facebook and Instagram in less than two months. Facebook confirmed that as of Jan. 20, 2021, when president-elect Joe Biden is sworn in as the
Body-swap horror comedy “Freaky” repeated as the winner of a seriously subdued U.S. box office with $1.2 million at 2,057 locations in North America. The Universal and Blumhouse Productions’ movie stars Vince Vaughn as a serial killer and Kathryn Newton as a low-profile high schooler who inadvertently switch bodies on Friday the 13th. “Freaky” has
Colombian documentary feature “Alis,” from directors Nicolas van Hemelryck and Clare Weiskopf, has won the Forum Award for best project at IDFA, one of the world’s leading documentary film festivals, which is running as a virtual event until Dec. 6. IDFA’s Forum section is a co-financing and co-production market for “creative” documentaries. “Alis” follows eight
Like many of its counterparts worldwide, the Guadalajara Int’l Film Festival (FICG), Mexico’s largest film festival, faced the quandary of whether to go online, reschedule or cancel altogether because of the pandemic. It opted for a rescheduled hybrid 35th edition which would serve those either unable or afraid to travel and those without an internet
There have been a number of recent documentaries—Netflix’s “Knock Down the House,” featuring Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and “Time for Ilhan,” looking at Ilhan Omar—that are about female politicians of color who have challenged the status quo on gender and race as they vie for political office in America. But these representational battles are not just the
A large group of biz owners in Erie County, NY called the local authorities’ bluff when they tried shutting down their get-together … and sent Johnny Law packing. This went down Friday night at a CrossFit gym called Athletes Unleashed in Orchard Park — not too far away from Buffalo — where upwards of 100
The diaries of the late actor Alan Rickman — best known for playing Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” movies — will be published as a book in fall 2022. As reported by The Guardian, Rickman’s journals covered everything from his thoughts on acting to insights on friendships and politics. The avid theater-goer also reviewed
Camera crews can be very heteronormative and there is a lot of toxic masculinity, argued DP Michael Filocamo during the online IMAGO and Digital Orchard Foundation Diversity and Inclusion Roundtable at Camerimage. Also noting the current situation in Poland and even calling out the festival itself. “As a queer cinematographer, I have experienced homophobia from
Filming the New York-set HBO thriller series “The Undoing” presented the challenge of getting inside the head of Nicole Kidman’s character, Grace, as her world flies apart and she doesn’t know what to believe, says Oscar-winning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle. The British DP, known for an artistic approach and a fascination for macro-level detail, used
Cinematographer Frederick Elmes, who was named as the winner of EnergaCamerimage Film Festival’s First Look – TV Pilots Competition on Saturday for his work on the Amazon series “Hunters,” spoke about the show’s first episode “In the Belly of the Whale” during an online Q&A earlier this week. Elmes explained that the story – following
Lance Heflin, former executive producer of “America’s Most Wanted,” died Nov. 15 after a brief hospital stay, his representative confirmed to Variety. He was 67. Heflin’s work on “America’s Most Wanted” led to the arrest of more than 1,000 fugitives, including 17 from the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Criminals list. During his 22 years as
Even in his dotage, stooped and tissue-skinned and walker-dependent, the former (and final) Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev is an imposing, even intimidating figure — formidable enough to have stymied the venerable Werner Herzog two years ago. The German auteur’s oddly cautious 2018 doc “Meeting Gorbachev” was a missed opportunity, colored by the filmmaker’s obvious
Indie ethos, costume drama and rich fantasy won the day at the world’s top cinematography event, EnergaCamerimage Film Festival, on Saturday, with Joshua James Richards’ naturalistic filming in Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” taking the Golden Frog plus FIPRESCI jury honors. The chronicle of life on the rough edges of America’s society among retirees living on the
During a seminar at EnergaCamerimage Film Festival dedicated to their drama “Pieces of a Woman,” acquired by Netflix following its premiere in Venice, cinematographer Benjamin Loeb and Kornél Mundruczó praised their cast, led by Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf playing a couple dealing with the tragic loss of their newborn child. Kirby, who left Italy
The attorney for Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old gunman accused of killing two protesters in August in Kenosha, Wis., said actor Ricky Schroder was among those who helped the teen post $2 million bail for his release on Friday. Attorney Lin Wood took to Twitter on Friday to announce Rittenhouse’s release, giving a shoutout to Schroder
“My Missing Valentine,” a fantasy comedy drama directed by Chen Yu-hsun, won the top prize at the 57th edition of Golden Horse Awards. It collected four further prizes, including best director and best screenplay on Saturday at an in-person ceremony in Taipei. Best actress and best supporting actress awards both went to the 81-year-old veteran
As COVID-19 cases continue to climb across California, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he has instated a “limited stay-at-home order” to take effect today, Nov. 21. The curfew will affect all counties in the purple tier, which currently includes 41 out of the state’s 58 counties. Though it is not a full lockdown, the
President-elect Joe Biden will secure control of Twitter’s official @POTUS account and others associated with the White House on Jan. 20 — regardless of whether Donald Trump has, by then, conceded that he lost the election. In addition to @POTUS, the Biden team on Inauguration Day also will take over accounts including @WhiteHouse, @VP, @FLOTUS
Variety’s Hitmakers program will feature award recipients featured in our annual Hitmakers issue on December 2nd. The program will simul-cast on Variety’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube pages. Harry Styles will be receiving Hitmaker of the Year. Other award recipients include J Balvin for Collaborator of the Year, Benee, Jenna Andrews and Josh Fountain for Isolation Salvation Song of the Year, Charli XCX and
Sia has not let accusations that she was “ableist” in the making of her upcoming movie, “Music,” go by without comment, and the pop star-turned-filmmaker spent the early hours of Friday tangling with disability activists who took issue with her on several points. Among the grievances she addressed, sometimes with palpable anger: her use of
When Cazzie David dropped in on Chrissy Teigen to promote her new book, “No One Asked for This: Essays,” she found her friend worse for wear — until she realized the model and social media giant was not herself, but instead husband John Legend in a wig and silk robe. Legend played the role of
“Mangrove,” now streaming on Amazon Prime, is the first in the five-part anthology, “Small Axe” by director Steve McQueen. Spanning two decades, the films are standalones tracing the West Indian experience with reggae music and costume tying all five films together. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran oversaw all five films, while individual designers worked on each
If last week was a big one for Netflix (what with “Mank” and “Hillbilly Elegy” out in theaters), then this one belongs to Amazon, who have a pair of big projects launching via their Prime Video subscription service. The first is “12 Years a Slave” director Steve McQueen’s anthology “Small Axe,” an epic and altogether
Herbert F. Solow, a longtime television executive who pitched the original “Star Trek” series to NBC while he was at Desilu Studios, along with “Mission Impossible” and “Mannix,” died on Thursday, his wife, Dr. Harrison Solow, confirmed. He was 89. In later years, he and his wife wrote several books on the “Star Trek” series,
In today’s TV news roundup, NBC set premiere dates for “Mr. Mayor” and “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” and the Food Network announced the third season premiere date of “Supermarket Stakeout.” CASTING David Iacono has joined the cast of Showtime’s “City on a Hill” in a recurring role. He will portray Faust Aquino, Benny’s classmate and potential
The season 17 premiere of “Grey’s Anatomy,” which featured the surprise return of Patrick Dempsey, delivered strong growth in delayed viewing. “Grey’s” grew to a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49 after three days of delayed viewing. That represents a 64% jump and also the top score for any non-football program during the week of Nov.
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