Month: January 2023

Kevin Spacey has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of sexual assault. The actor participated via video link at a hearing about his alleged sex offences at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Friday afternoon. The hearing was in relation to a second set of charges against Spacey that were made in November. The new charges

The Berlin Film Festival has added eight films to its Berlinale Special program, including “Golda,” starring Helen Mirren as Golda Meir, “Call My Agent!” star Camille Cottin, and Liev Schreiber. Other films include Andrea Di Stefano’s “Last Night of Amore,” about the last night of a Milan policeman, played by Pierfrancesco Favino, documentary “Massimo Troisi:

CMC Pictures is to give a 40-screen (30 venue) launch in Australia and New Zealand to “The Wandering Earth 2,” a sci-fi film that is expected to be one of the largest Chinese movies of the year. It will launch in Australia and New Zealand on Jan. 22, the first full day of the Chinese

Austrian director Ulrich Seidl, who faced allegations of on-set impropriety and child exploitation last year, will attend the world premiere of a “new” film, titled “Wicked Games Rimini Sparta,” at the Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam later this month. Seidl has strenuously denied the allegations made against him. A festival spokesperson told Variety that the plan

“The Crime Is Mine,” the new star-studded film by revered French director Francois Ozon, has been boarded by a raft of major distributors in key markets. Represented by Playtime, the crowd-pleasing comedy had its world premiere on the opening night of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris and drew laughter throughout the screening, along with a

Louis Theroux knows what it’s like to go viral. In 2022, the veteran British documentary presenter and journalist won himself a new generation of fans when a rap he wrote more than 20 years ago resurfaced on TikTok as a meme. Blowing up online is something he has in common with YouTube sensation KSI, the

Reliance Entertainment will release Steven Spielberg’s awards season contender “The Fabelmans” on Feb. 10 across India. The India release is significant because, even though U.S. movies have grown their market share to around 11% of the box office, the vast majority of it is dominated by Hollywood franchises, superhero films or creature features, which are

Although there is much to admire in “On Sacred Ground,” the first dramatic feature by environmental activist documentarians Josh and Rebecca Tickell, this technically polished indie effort is overall more admirable in its intent than compelling in its narrative. And there’s really no way of getting around the fact that many viewers will be put

Genre fans will get their money’s worth from “The Price We Pay,” a violent and grisly crime-horror-action outing with no pretensions of being anything else. What this tale of crooks holed up at a lonely farm with a hideous secret lacks in originality it makes up for with energetic direction by Ryuhei Kitamura (“Midnight Meat

“All That Breathes” and “Fire of Love” led the 16th Annual Cinema Eye Honors awards ceremony on Thursday night, which took place at the Museum of Moving image in Astoria, N.Y. and honored excellent craftsmanship and artistry in nonfiction films. Shaunak Sen’s “All That Breathes,” which follows two brothers who run a bird hospital dedicated

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has boarded the Oscar-shortlisted documentary short film “Stranger at the Gate” as executive producer. The film, which charts the surprising change of heart of a PTSD-suffering former U.S. Marine who set out to bomb a mosque but instead converted to Islam, was a prize winner at the 2022 Tribeca

The universe is bigger than you realize, and so are the Oscar-nom possibilities. The nomination period for AMPAS members runs from Jan. 12-17, which means voters will be casting ballots prior to the reveal of noms from key guilds such as BAFTA and the WGA. That poses some tantalizing questions about how Academy voters will

Matt Reeves confirmed in an interview with Collider that he has an upcoming meeting with new DC Studio bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran to go over their overhauled DC Universe and his ongoing BatVerse. The goal is to ensure that both universes “don’t crash into each other” in terms of storytelling. As Reeves put

Variety’s second annual FYC Fest: The Shortlist kicked off Oscar voting this Thursday, Jan. 12. The virtual event featured 13 panels with the top contending filmmakers and artisans that were shortlisted by the Academy in the documentary film, international film, song, hair and makeup, animated short, live-action short film and visual effects categories including creators from

When Samantha Morton got the email about acting in Maria Schrader’s “She Said,” she was “insanely busy”: among the projects she was working on included recording an album, directing a feature film and acting in a TV show.  But despite that very full calendar, Morton knew she wanted to make time for the part of

“Titanic” remains the biggest hit of Leonardo DiCaprio’s career, but it sounds like getting the actor to star in the film was tough work for director James Cameron. The filmmaker recently told People magazine that DiCaprio thought the “Titanic” screenplay was “boring” and didn’t want to star in the epic disaster romance film. Cameron had

Although she’s just 13 years old, actor Julia Butters has already worked with Quentin Tarantino, Michael Bay, the Russo brothers and, most recently, Steven Spielberg. Her breakthrough came in Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” in which she stole scenes as Trudi, a pint-sized thespian whose commitment to her craft shocks Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick

Left Handed Films, the production company of Academy Award-winning producer and actor Riz Ahmed, has joined the Pakistani film “Joyland” as an executive producer. Written and directed by Saim Sadiq, “Joyland” made its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Un Certain Regard jury prize and the Queer Palm.

Cate Blanchett is defending her Oscar-contending drama “Tár” in the wake of conductor Marin Alsop’s criticism. Alsop, who some believe inspired Blanchett’s character and who is name-checked in the movie, railed against the Todd Field-directed drama in an interview with The Sunday Times, saying it offended her “as a woman… as a conductor…as a lesbian.”