Month: September 2021

In an ornate palace ballroom overhung by an immense chandelier, a gang of strapping, shaven-headed young men play volleyball on a makeshift court. Stripped down to their undershirts, the game degenerates into vigorous roughhousing, and finally into a wrestling match. As flesh slaps flesh, amid the fading grandeur of Old Russia and the grunts and
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MGM has picked up several global territories on well-regarded comedy-drama “Queen Bees,” starring Ellen Burstyn, Jane Curtin, Loretta Devine, Ann-Margret and James Caan. The film is directed by Michael Lembeck and written by Donald Martin. Arclight Films has sold distribution rights to MGM for the territories of Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Iceland, U.K., Middle East,
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Netflix announced that Season 2 of “Gentefied” will premiere on Nov. 10. The American Ferrera-produced Latinx dramedy series follows three cousins who unite to keep their grandfather’s popular taco shop open amid rising gentrification in their Boyle Heights neighborhood. Starring Joaquín Cosío, J.J. Soria, Karrie Martin Lachney and Carlos Santos, Season 2 will see the
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Fanny and Nelson Grande, both actors and producers, saw a need for independent filmmakers struggling through the difficult and sometimes demoralizing process of funding a project, filming it and getting distribution. Their shingle, Avenida, gets in on the ground floor, offering clients guidance in crowdfunding and its management, pre-production, production and post, distribution and marketing,
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ViacomCBS unveiled its fall podcasting slate, continuing its strategy centered around extending popular franchises into audio programming. The media company, which claims downloads of its podcasts have nearly doubled year-over-year across the portfolio, is set to debut all-new podcasts from CBS, CBS News, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. The lineup includes a podcast version of “The
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Go ahead: make the “None more black” Spinal Tap joke when it comes to Metallica’s eponymously titled 1991 album. It wasn’t just the cover but the band’s melodic nihilism that made that dopey dig unironic. And it’s Metallica’s bleak romanticism and the mainstreaming of its intricate thrash-speed aesthetic that make the so-called “Black Album” worth
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After 13 years of overseeing the conservatorship he placed his famous daughter under in 2008, Jamie Spears abruptly asked a judge to terminate Britney Spears’ court-ordered arrangement. But why now? “As Mr. Spears has said again and again, all he wants is what is best for his daughter,” Tuesday’s filing stated when Jamie asked a
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The irreverent wit of Kacey Musgraves’ first two albums has long since given way on the last couple to an earnestness and, most of all, a gravitas  about love — falling into it, on her last release, 2018’s Grammy-winning “Golden Hour,” and falling back out, in a big way, on the just-released “Star-Crossed.” She does
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Self-expression has always been important to Larsen Thompson. Spending her childhood in and out of dance classes — she first rose to prominence when a video of her teenage self dancing to a pop anthem went viral — the actress and Global Pandora Muse found herself drawn to anything creative from a young age. “My
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Move over green screens, LED walls are here. When the pandemic hit, productions scrambled to figure out logistics in the new normal. That’s when studios turned to an emerging aspect of virtual production: digital immersive environments capturing real-world settings (including lighting) rendered in real time using game engines such as Unreal. They are then projected
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Colcoa, the Los Angeles-based French film festival, will be launching a competitive documentary section at its upcoming 25th edition. The documentary lineup will tackle contemporary and historical topics such as climate change, immigration, transgender inclusion, holocaust revelations and centenary celebration. Seven documentaries will vie for the 2021 COLCOA Best Documentary Award. “Documentary films have grown
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Keshet 12 has ordered a second season of baking competition show “The Perfect Dessert” following its successful debut earlier this summer. The premiere season premiered on June 16 and scored the network’s highest ratings for a baking show with an average rating of 17.7% and 28.1% share. “The Perfect Dessert,” which was originally developed and
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Mongolia is to launch film production incentives from early next year. The move adds to the attractions of a varied and little-exploited country. The country’s parliament in Ulaanbaatar approved the measures in late August in the hope of expanding its creative industries. “We have been promoting Mongolia as a location since 2017 when we joined
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Italian auteur Mario Martone is a Venice aficionado. He was recently in competition on the Lido in 2018 with “Capri Revolution,” and then again in 2019 with “The Mayor of Rione Sanità,” a contemporary adaptation of the play about organized crime by late Neapolitan playwright Eduardo De Filippo. The Naples native is vying for the
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The Toronto International Film Festival marked a poignant in-person return on Thursday evening, with the opening night title “Dear Evan Hansen.” Before a single frame of the cathartic tearjerker starring Ben Platt was screened, festival co-heads Cameron Bailey and Joana Vicente primed the room at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. Normally packed to the gills in
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Time’s Up has dissolved an advisory board that included several A-list Hollywood actors, including Jessica Chastain and Reese Witherspoon, as the organization continues to face an existential crisis. The advocacy group — formed with much fanfare just three years ago at the height of the #MeToo movement — has been profoundly harmed by its mishandling
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Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar and Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four
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Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar and Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four
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