Month: September 2023

Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” brings style, swag and a whole lot of Barry Keoghan’s manhood to the award race. After having its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on Thursday night, festivalgoers were in for a wild bonanza of colors, lights and one of the sexiest films to grace the big screen so far this

Mika Gustafson’s “Paradise Is Burning” – sold by Italy’s Intramovies and previously known as “Sisters” – has debuted a trailer and exclusive first clip ahead of its premiere in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section. Set in Sweden, it sees young sisters Laura, Mira and Steffi trying to get by on their own after their mother

“Be kind, because everyone you meet is fighting a great battle” — that popular maxim (or some variation thereof) is often brought up in the context of remembering to have some sympathy for jerks. But it could also be applied to people whose lives seem too charmed to be true. In the documentary “American Symphony,”

Denzel Washington is back as professional killer Robert McCall in “The Equalizer 3,” which has made $3.8 million in previews at the box office. The R-rated, action thriller is expected to make between $28 million and $30 million in its opening weekend. With the Labor Day holiday on Monday, it could grow from $33 million

While at the Venice Film Festival to pay tribute to Ruggero Deodato, “Drive” and “The Neon Demon” filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn participated in a masterclass and bashed streamers for being “overfunded and rotten with money and cocaine.” The director, who previously infuriated some in the film biz by claiming that “cinema is dead,” said he

Elizabeth Olsen told The Times of London in a recently-published interview (conducted pre-strike) that she is aggressively seeking a “variation” of characters after working for four years solely in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Olsen filmed “WandaVision” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” back to back, which was perhaps too much time dedicated to

“The Promised Land” deserves a sexier title than “The Promised Land”: It’s hard to hear those well-worn words and not expect something as beige and starchy as the spuds grown on its titular terrain. It has one, in fact. The native Danish title for Nikolaj Arcel’s film translates as “The Bastard” — which has the

Vertical is shifting the theatrical release of Rebecca Miller’s romantic comedy “She Came to Me” by a week. The film, which stars Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei, will open on Oct. 6 instead of Sept. 29, when it was originally slated to premiere. Vertical opted to change its release strategy after Apple decided to move

The Venice Gap-Financing Market is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this year with record-breaking attendance and impressive new figures on the projects that the core component of Venice’s industry side has helped bring to the big screen. All told, over the span of a decade, “We have had 370 films (including immersive) from 70 countries and

At the Venice Film Festival press conference for his hotly anticipated “Poor Things,” director Yorgos Lanthimos said he really wished Emma Stone could be on the Lido to talk about, among other things, the fact that Bella Baxter, the character she plays, has plenty of sex scenes in the film. “It’s a shame that Emma

Thousands of Harry Potter fans gathered at Kings Cross train station in London, U.K. on Friday to celebrate the biggest ever Back to Hogwarts Day, held annually on Sept. 1. Travelling from across the country and even beyond, Potterheads arrived on the concourse clad in Hogwarts-branded robes, scarves and ties. Despite a nationwide strike that

Wes Anderson beamed with joy as his 40-minute short film “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” received a nearly 4-minute standing ovation at its Venice Film Festival premiere. Prior to the screening, Anderson was given Cartier’s Glory to the Filmmaker Award, which was presented to him by his frequent collaborator Alexandre Desplat. Anderson humbly accepted

Stage 32, the entertainment industry social network and educational platform, and Catalyst Studios, a U.S. production company supporting female-fronted projects, are partnering to launch a screenwriting contest for feature films with a focus on social impact, the companies announced Friday at the Venice Film Festival. Hosted on the Stage 32 platform, the contest is open

With fashion-themed films and series building momentum on the festival circuit, Kevin Macdonald’s “High & Low — John Galliano” has been sold by Newen Connect in major territories ahead of its premiere at Telluride. “High & Low — John Galliano,” a documentary portrait of the controversial fashion designer, is produced by Chloe Mamelok and Macdonald

France’s UFO Distribution has acquired French rights to Venice Horizons entry “An Endless Sunday” by first-time Italian director Alain Parroni from Fandango Sales. The film will segue from Venice to Toronto where it screens in the fest’s Discovery section. Set on the outskirts of contemporary Rome, this coming-of-age drama – which is based on the

Africa-based filmmaker development organization Realness Institute has unveiled its next wave of initiatives as part of MIP Africa and FAME (Film, Arts, Media and Entertainment) Week. As part of the event, which is now in its second year in Cape Town, South Africa, alumni of six Realness Institute programs will pitch their films and television

We’ve all seen our share of stories about inspirational teachers. “The Holdovers” is dedicated to the opposite sort: a hard-ass named Paul Hunham whom everyone hates. The feeling is mutual, as Mr. Hunham considers most of the kids enrolled at Barton Academy to be entitled little monsters, and the administration to be even more corrupt.

The best scene of “Call Me by Your Name” has nothing to do with fruit, but a frank father-son conversation. Brittle to the point of breaking, Timothée Chalamet sits on the couch, arms crossed, resenting his dad for acknowledging the source of his anguish. “You’re too smart not to know how rare, how special, what

The bipolar nature of Hungary’s politics and the country’s education system are the targets of Gábor Reisz’s “Explanation for Everything,” which world premieres in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons strand. The film is Reisz’s third feature after the acclaimed “Some Inexplicable Reason” (2014) and “Bad Poems” (2018). Set in summer in Budapest, “Explanation for Everything” follows