Month: August 2023

After Netflix released the first trailer for Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” a biographical romance about Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre, many viewers took issue with Cooper’s large prosthetic nose, deeming it the latest example of Hollywood’s stereotypical or inauthentic portrayal of Jewish people, known as “Jewface.” But in a statement posted to Bernstein’s Twitter

Will “Blue Beetle,” the latest DC superhero adaptation, knock down “Barbie” at the domestic box office? It may be a closer-than-expected race between the two Warner Bros. releases for the top spot, despite “Barbie” entering its fifth weekend in theaters. “Blue Beetle,” starring Xolo Maridueña as the alien symbiote, is targeting $25 million to $32

A World War II drama that critics say glorifies Serbian nationalist groups has sparked outrage at the Sarajevo Film Festival, with organizers under fire for allowing excerpts of the forthcoming film to screen and the mayor of Sarajevo demanding resignations in the ensuing dust-up. On Wednesday, the Sarajevo fest fought back, insisting that it was

Black Bear’s management arm has signed Swedish director Måns Månsson for representation. Månsson most recently directed “Estonia,” an eight-part Scandinavian series about Europe’s deadliest civil maritime disaster, which has been selected to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival’s TIFF Primetime.  His work has received much acclaim, as all of his previous films have been selected

Paris-based outfit Urban Sales has locked several deals on “Pictures of Ghosts,” the latest film by celebrated Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho (“Aquarius”, “Bacurau”) ahead of its North American premieres at Toronto and New York film festivals. The movie world premiered at Cannes in the Special Screenings section. Weaving archive documentary, mystery, film clips and

Argentina’s Tarea Fina, a producer on Cannes Camera d’Or winner “Las Acacias,” International Oscar entry “The Sleepwalkers” and Ventana Sur hit “Sublime,” has boarded “A Loose End,” the third feature as a director from Uruguay’s Daniel Hendler, a Berlin Silver Bear winner for Best Actor in Daniel Burman’s 2004 international breakout “The Lost Embrace.” Set

Sovereign has acquired the U.K. and Ireland rights to Radu Jude’s latest feature, “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World,” which won the special jury prize at Locarno Film Festival. Written and directed by Jude, the comedy stars Ilinca Manolache, Ovidiu Pîrșan, Dorina Lazăr, László Miske, Katia Pascariu and Sofia Nicolaescu,

South Korean police said on Wednesday that they had found evidence that the box office performance of 323 films over the past five years had been inflated. Seoul Metropolitan Police said that, as a result, they had referred 69 people from major exhibition chains and 24 film distribution companies to prosecutors. The prosecutors will determine

Abhishek Bachchan (“Dasvi”) and Saiyami Kher (“Faadu”) headline “Ghoomer,” a cricket and disability-themed film from R. Balki (“Chup”). The film follows Anina (Kher), a young batting prodigy who loses her right hand in an accident. An unsympathetic, failed, alcoholic cricketer Paddy (Bachchan) gives her new hope and trains her as a spin bowler with unconventional

Though raised in Brooklyn, actor turned producer/director Danny A. Abeckaser was born in Israel. Unfortunately, that birthright isn’t enough to lend authenticity to “The Engineer,” which feels very much like an American B-movie stab at turning Israeli anti-terrorist operations of 30 years ago into formulaic action fodder — without much action, even. A miscast Emile

The European Film Academy has fired the starting gun in the race for the European Film Awards. It has recommended 19 films to its members who will then select the nominees from this list, as well as some additional titles from the summer festivals, which will be announced next month. Among the selected films are

Documentary filmmakers were reminded of the importance of storytelling during a panel discussion about their craft as part of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry program Cinelink earlier this week. “It’s about telling the story. It doesn’t have to be a complex story. It could be anything, but it’s the way you tell it and it’s

Amid the ongoing Hollywood strikes, Warner Bros. and DC Studios launched “Blue Beetle” on Tuesday night in Los Angeles with a star-free “fan screening” in lieu of a splashy blue-carpet premiere. Despite the fact that the film’s actors — including Xolo Maridueña, Bruna Marquezine, George Lopez and Oscar winners Adriana Barraza and Susan Sarandon —

The Writers Guild of America responded Tuesday to the latest proposal from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, but any hopes for an easy resolution of the 106-day strike were quickly dispelled. The WGA did bend slightly on a few items, according to sources familiar with the talks. But the union negotiators did