The pseudonymous novelist Elena Ferrante’s appeal to television producers remains as clear as the Tyrrhenian Sea. Sun-kissed Italian locations; prominent female leads, afforded greater agency than the Italian media have traditionally afforded their women; material that’s genre-adjacent, but open to more emotion than genre mechanics typically allow. As HBO’s much-lauded ‘My Brilliant Friend’ — three
Month: January 2023
Wales has long been regarded as a place of myth and magic – its national emblem is the dragon, after all, and it has strong links with the legend of King Arthur. So, it is fitting that Lucasfilm should have chosen it as the location for the Disney+ fantasy series “Willow.” The production was based
Catherine Cyran, an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, producer and writer who began her career working under Roger Corman, died Dec. 24, 2022 in Vancouver, B.C. following a battle with cancer. She was 59 years old. Before emerging as director in the 1990s, Cyran established herself as a screenwriter, with credits on films such as 1990’s “Slumber Party
For the first time since 1989, there were no French movies among the country’s top 10 box officers grossers, which was exclusively dominated by U.S. studio movies. James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” led the 2022 chart with an estimated $54 million grossed from 7.8 million admissions since its Dec. 14 release, followed by
James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” loomed large at the box office during the New Year’s holiday, generating a towering $86.3 million over the four-day weekend. Through New Year’s Day, the blockbuster sequel has grossed $444.4 million in North America and roughly $1.4 billion globally. “The Way of Water” has been holding strong in
Say this much for “Will Trent,” a new drama series on ABC: It’s found a compelling lead. Ramón Rodríguez, playing the central detective, makes for a sympathetic and rootable figure. The challenge the show faces will be bringing the story up to his and his costars’ level. Rodríguez benefits, perhaps, from the source material; Trent,
The long-running “PBS NewsHour,” which has its roots in broadcast-TV coverage of 1973’s Watergate hearings, is preparing itself to tell stories in some very new media frontiers, which include places like TikTok and YouTube. “We have been thinking about the pace of the show. It is completely different from our commercial competitors. It is slower.
Hollywood employed fewer female filmmakers and directors from underrepresented communities to make its biggest films in 2022, according to a new study by USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative. The USC Annenberg report found that of the 111 directors hired to make the 100 top-grossing movies last year, just 9% were women. That was down from 12.7%
The multi-prized Spanish doc feature “The Visit and A Secret Garden,” one of the 15 features in competition at this year’s ARCA, plays off a moving contradiction. A film of two parts, the first for a full half hour captures the once celebrated Spanish painter Isabel Santaló in decrepit old age living in absolute anonymity
It’s a fully in-person edition for the 2nd ARCA International Festival of Films on Arts in Uruguay as it shakes off the pandemic blues that saw some guest cancellations last year. “Despite the peak COVID situation last January, we had approximately 5,000 attendees,” says fest director Mercedes Sader, who pointed out that the event’s outdoor screenings
All facets of the art life are on display in Mercedes Sader’s telling documentary, “The Children Of The Mountain,” (“Los Hijos De La Montaña”), which digs intimately into the repertoire and psyche of renowned Uruguayan sculptor Pablo Atchugarry. The film is set to bow Jan. 2 at this week’s ARCA International Festival of Films on
“Lobo Feroz” (“Ferocious Wolves”), the Spanish-language remake of Israeli revenge thriller “Big Bad Wolves” by Uruguay’s Gustavo Hernandez, is launching its trailer exclusively with Variety, ahead of its Jan. 27 Spanish theatrical release via Filmax. The mordant revenge thriller follows a detective as he tracks a suspected child killer, a former religious studies teacher who was
From the royalty of Elizabeth I to the treachery of Hela, Australian sensation Cate Blanchett is one of the most revered performers of her generation with some of the most riveting turns in modern cinema. Variety ranks her 13 best performances of her career (thus far). Beloved by critics, audiences and awards bodies, Blanchett has
Jeremy Renner is in “critical but stable” condition after a weather related accident. “We can confirm Jeremy is in critical but stable condition with injuries suffered after experiencing a weather related accident while plowing snow earlier today,” Renner’s rep confirmed with Variety. “His family is with him and he is receiving excellent care.” While the
Gangsta Boo, a rapper and former member of hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, died on Sunday, Fox 13 Memphis and WREG Memphis report. She was 43. According to Fox 13, Boo — whose birth name was Lola Mitchell — was found dead around 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. WREG reported that her death was confirmed
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the Season 5, Episode 8 episode of “Yellowstone,” “A Knife and No Coin,” which premiered Sunday, Jan. 1 on Paramount Network. Happy New Year! The last time we checked in with the Duttons, it was before Christmas and Jamie was plotting how to impeach his father. On this week’s
Audiences rang in 2023 with a trip to Pandora, as James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” continued to dominate the holiday box office. The ambitious — and staggeringly expensive — science-fiction epic has been in the works for years, blowing past several release dates as Cameron figured out a way to expand his story
Indian star NTR Jr, currently riding the wave of Oscar-shortlisted film “RRR,” will commence shooting his next project that has the working title “NTR 30,” in February. The actor had revealed to Variety that the film is a revenge drama. Plot details are under wraps and the film has the cryptic tagline: “When courage turns
Try as you might to banish the image of James Norton’s Tommy Lee Royce brutally assaulting Sarah Lancashire’s Sergeant Catherine Cawood in Season 1 of “Happy Valley,” chances are it’s emblazoned in your memory of the iconic British crime thriller. Writer Sally Wainwright, who is about as nervy as her flawed but heroic Yorkshire policewoman,
The new series “Kaleidoscope,” premiering on Jan. 1, is intended to be viewed in any order, with its first seven episodes possible to scramble and remix however the viewer chooses ahead of a final installment. In this way, it seems to suggest itself in form as much as premiere date as ideal for a New
Jeremiah Green, a co-founder and drummer for the rock band Modest Mouse, died Saturday night after a battle with cancer, the group announced. He was 45. “I don’t know a way to ease into this: Today we lost our dear friend Jeremiah,” the band wrote on its official Facebook page shortly before midnight on New
Anita Pointer, who rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the hit sibling singing group the Pointer Sisters, died Saturday at age 74. No cause of death was given, but her publicist said she died surrounded by family. “While we are deeply saddened by the loss of Anita, we are comforted in
Netflix has released the first look at young Lady Agatha Danbury in the streamer’s upcoming “Bridgerton” prequel series, “Queen Charlotte.” Played by Arsema Thomas, Agatha uses Charlotte’s ascent to the throne to forge her way into society while under the thumb of a much older husband. Strapped with a sharp understanding of the once-divided social
Stanley Mills, part of the prosperous Mills Music family publishing dynasty who popularized “The Chicken Dance” as a wedding and party staple, died Dec. 29 at a hospital in New Hyde Park, N.Y. He was 91. Mills was the son of famed music publisher Jack Mills, who had the golden ears to sign such artists