Month: March 2022

In its continued bid to provide compelling artist-forward stories, WarnerMedia OneFifty has picked up the live action Oscar-nominated short “Please Hold” to stream exclusively on HBO Max where it bows on March 17. The directorial debut of Mexican-American screenwriter KD Dávila, who co-wrote the short with Levin Menekse, “Please Hold” is a darkly comic dystopian

Pixar’s “Turning Red,” now streaming on Disney Plus, is the story of Meilin “Mei” Lee, a 13-year-old who adores the biggest boy band on the planet, 4*Town. She is amazed to wake up one morning and find herself transformed into a giant red panda each time she gets excited or stressed. Speaking with Variety, director

Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” and “Ted Lasso” were the big winners at Sunday night’s Critics Choice Awards, as was Will Smith. But when the statuettes weren’t being handed out in front of the camera, there was plenty going on off stage. Waiting Game The show had even started yet, but everywhere you

“Daredevil” star Charlie Cox is no fan of Ben Affleck’s 2003 “Daredevil” movie. During his recent visit to Middle East Film & Comic Con 2022 in Abu Dhabi (via People), Cox revealed he had never watched the 2003 superhero movie until after he was cast as Matt Murdock/Daredevil in the Netflix-Marvel series. “I watched it

Consumer spending in the global entertainment market — consisting of theatrical box office and home entertainment — reached $99.7 billion in 2021, marking an important return to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report released by the Motion Picture Association. In 2020, when the entertainment industry and world at large first began to grapple with

Spain’s TV industry will make history at Series Mania Forum 2022, with its biggest panel and sneak peek series presentation presence ever at a major TV market.  The Spanish conference attendance – alongside Finland’s panel spread – also weighs in as the biggest from any single country at the upcoming edition of the most important

With nearly $800 million in the U.S. and $1.8 billion at the worldwide box office, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is the kind of blockbuster phenomenon that’s rare for even non-pandemic times. According to Benedict Cumberbatch, the upcoming Marvel tentpole “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” could reach similar success at the box office. “It’s

New York-based film and television studio and streaming network FilmRise has struck a production and distribution deal with Los Angeles-based Nicely Entertainment. Under the terms of the deal, FilmRise will co-produce and exclusively distribute in the U.S. holiday-themed films “Sappy Holiday,” starring Vanessa Sears (“The Last Man”) and John McLaren (“Heartland”) and “Snowball Effect” along

Discovery — which is about to become Warner Bros. Discovery within the next month, when its merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia closes — has confirmed its plans to combine its current streaming service Discovery Plus and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max into one service, rather than offer the two platforms as a bundle. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, who

Seven senior figures of the Ukrainian film industry, including 84-year-old doyenne Ada Rogovtseva, have spoken out against the Russian invasion of their country and have joined the numerous calls for a boycott of Russian culture. Ada Rogovtseva, actor (“Taras Bulba”), professor at the National University of Culture. Remains in Ukraine. I volunteer at home. The

Two feature films from Ukraine will this month be given special screenings in Tokyo, Japan, as part of a fund- and awareness-raising initiative about Russia’s war in Europe. Both films “Atlantis” and “Reflection” were made by director Valentyn Vasyarovych. They played at the Venice film festival but have not been licensed to Japan or released

Boldly going where few first-time (or however–many-time) directors dare, actor-turned-filmmaker Mo McRae (“Sons of Anarchy,” “The First Purge”) fashions a high-wire juggling act of a debut, in which half the breathless, uneasy entertainment value comes from wondering when it will all come tumbling down. That it eventually does, therefore — in a final act that

Anson Lo, part of Hong Kong pop sensation Mirror, has joined the cast of “Chungking Mansions,” an ambitious zombie film that is currently in advanced preparation. Alongside Lo, Hong Kong-Canadian actresses Selena Lee and Jeannie Chan, Korean star Choi Si-Hun, and Hong Kong actor Louis Cheung join the previously announced Japanese action star Rina Takeda

If I had a dime — or maybe a drop of blood — for every movie that tried to recreate the vibe, the situation, and the high anxiety of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” I’d have a pretty big bucket of blood. For decades, I’ve been watching movies that open with a handful of obnoxious