Month: November 2021

Crime comedy film “Be Somebody” expanded its box office take by 20% in its second weekend of release in China and joined in a 49% surge in nationwide gross revenues. Nationwide box office climbed from $43.1 million in the previous weekend to $64.3 million between Friday and Sunday. For all that, China’s year to date

There’s a symphonic rhythm to the aptly-titled Bolivian film “The Great Movement” (“El Gran Movimiento”). Kiro Russo’s portrait of La Paz is driven more by sensory cues than by any steady sense of narrative. Ostensibly following a trio of miners who arrive at the sprawling, Andean capital city with the hopes of getting jobs, “The

Box office takings in South Korea retreated over the weekend, despite a local film taking the top spot. This year has seen a dearth of local movies releasing in cinemas, though that shortage may be reversed in the coming months. Local comedy drama film “Perhaps Love” was the biggest film of the weekend. It earned

Like many girls her age, 12-year-old Di is not easily parted from her phone. All but welded to her hand, it’s the device through which she communicates most freely, sharing secret thoughts with her friends about the boys she likes, before cautiously approaching the boys themselves. But if it connects her local social network, it’s

Peter Aykroyd, the former cast member and writer on “Saturday Night Live” and brother to Dan Aykroyd, has died. He was believed to be 66. A cause of death has not been released. Aykroyd’s passing was announced on Saturday’s Simu Liu-hosted episode of “Saturday Night Live.” The program aired a tribute to the late comic

Like casual social hugs and the daily commute to the office cubicle, the platform movie release has been a casualty of the age of COVID. You remember the platform release, don’t you? It used to happen quite a bit this time of year. A movie with a major independent distributor, like Searchlight or A24 or

When Robert Greene began work on “Procession,” which follows six middle-aged survivors of abuse as they work together to reenact their traumatic memories on film, the director wanted to upend long standing documentary models. “I didn’t want to have a traditional film where you put the camera in someone’s face, they feel a lot of

Monochrome is in vogue this awards season as major contenders including “Belfast,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “Passing” have all opted for lush black-and-white cinematography. Mike Mills called on “The Favourite” DP Robbie Ryan to shoot his latest project, “C’mon C’mon,” with similar rich imagery. “I freaking love black-and-white movies,” Mills says. “It’s not a

While their most recent doc “The Rescue” continues its festival and award-circuit run, directors Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have been at work in the edit suite prepping their next big-screen effort – a decades spanning love story mixing business, philanthropy, and the great outdoors. Aiming for a mid-2022 launch, the still-untitled doc will follow

The box office ain’t afraid of no ghosts. “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” a sequel to the 1980s sci-fi comedy classic, opened at No. 1 in North America, collecting a solid $44 million from 4,315 venues. The better-than-expected result is an encouraging sign that family audiences are willing to visit their local multiplex, provided there’s something broadly entertaining

“The Real Charlie Chaplin” is an alluring title for a documentary about the man who was arguably the greatest comic artist in the history of the planet. (I could be wrong in that assessment; I wasn’t around in 1230 or 5600 B.C. But I’ll stand by it.) The title suggests that we’re going to get

Many’s the child who, when faced with what they feel is undue criticism or complaint from their parents, has reacted with a standard adolescent whine: “I didn’t ask to be born!” It’s a sentiment that resonates a little differently, however, through “Four Journeys,” in which Dutch-based Chinese multimedia artist Louis Hothothot quite sincerely invites his

Life on the road and fantasy worlds held sway at the 29th edition of the EnergaCamerimage International Film Festival on Saturday, winning big after a week of scaled down but enthusiastic industry events, seminars and screenings celebrating cinematography. “C’mon C’mon,” shot by Robbie Ryan and directed by Mike Mills, won this year’s Golden Frog. The

During a seminar at EnergaCamerimage Film Festival on Friday, described as “the best event of the festival” by one of the participants, Oscar-winning French cinematographer Philippe Rousselot shared his thoughts on working alongside a camera operator. “Philosophically, I hate the idea of power, command, obedience. It’s not in my DNA. But when I think of

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” is the front runner at the domestic box office, as the comedy sequel is headed towards a $40.5 million haul for the weekend. After earning $4.5 million in Thursday previews, “Afterlife” was originally projected to draw a three-day total of $27 million to $30 million, a figure that the film is now outperforming. The

Lin-Manuel Miranda Introduces ‘Tick, Tick … Boom!’ Youth Theater Music Video Netflix released a music video of students from performing arts public high schools in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas and New York performing “Louder than Words” from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” the film adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s musical of the same name. 

Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos has taken on ambitious visions for his longtime director comrade Kenneth Branagh, from the opulent pre-war world of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile” and “Murder on the Orient Express” to the excesses of “Sleuth.” But for the duo’s new film “Belfast,” based on Branagh’s childhood home and his family’s encounters with

Art LaFleur, a character actor who often appeared as a cop, coach or tough guy and played Babe Ruth in “The Sandlot,” has died after a battle with Parkinson’s. He was 78. His wife Shelley confirmed his death on Facebook, writing, “This guy… After a 10 year battle with A-typical Parkinson’s, Art LaFleur, the love