The changing global strategies of streamers and their impact on the independent film sector were front and center for international industry reps at the Zurich Summit on Saturday. Sasha Bühler, Netflix’s director of film for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Patrick Wachsberger, Black Bear president John Friedberg, John Lesher, Neon CEO Tom Quinn, Focus Features’ Kiska
Month: October 2023
“This is the only person to run a studio who knows how to make a movie,” director Allan Arkush exclaimed, hailing his former boss Roger Corman in front of a sold-out crowd at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica Saturday evening. Now 97 years old, the unbelievably prolific Pope of Pop Cinema was the guest
Richard Gere‘s breakout role in 1980’s “American Gigolo” might have made him a household name, but that didn’t mean the actor wanted to be labeled a “sex symbol,” according to veteran British talk show host Michael Aspel. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Aspel recalled Gere’s appearance on his talk show “Aspel and Company” in 1989.
It’s a month of big originals and spooky delights on streaming this October. Netflix is offering up two of its big fall titles: The electrifying finance thriller “Fair Play,” which the streamer bought for a whopping $20 million out of the Sundance Film Festival, and the Chris Evans-Emily Blunt two hander “Pain Hustlers,” which world
Paramount’s animated sequel “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie” topped the box office in its debut, earning a solid $23 million from 3,989 North American locations over the weekend. Those ticket sales were more than enough to rule over the three other new nationwide releases, which could be categorized as the good (Lionsgate’s gruesome “Saw X“),
Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill giving unemployment benefits to striking workers, which was backed by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA. “Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this sizable debt,” he wrote in his veto message Saturday. Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D-Burbank), who had sponsored the bill, was
In a genre not traditionally given to brevity, James Marsh‘s literary biopic “Dance First” at least has that on its side: In 100 minutes, it races through the key events and alliances in the life of Irish author and dramatist Samuel Beckett, even finding time for some metaphysical musings alongside the cradle-to-grave checklist. But Beckett’s
“Long-awaited” isn’t quite the term for Victor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes,” a film that dedicated admirers of the Spanish master may have hoped for, but didn’t dare expect. Instead, Erice’s first feature in 31 years — and only his fourth overall — arrives as something between a desert oasis and a mirage: a shimmery, nourishing
Ethan Hawke opened up at Zurich Film Festival about working with daughter and “Stranger Things” star Maya Hawke on “Wildcat.” “It’s extremely easy to direct your own daughter, because the love is there,” he told the audience. “When I was making the documentary ‘The Last Movie Stars’ [about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward], I got
Using hidden camera footage, the doc follows the high-stakes journey that a handful of desperate families make in order to defect from North Korea — a country with the most brutal regime on earth, led by a dictator, Kim Jong-un. Doc jurors included directors Barbara Kopple (“Harlan County USA”) Richard Rowley (“ Kingdom of Silence”)
“Foe” is a grandly muddled dystopian sci-fi movie starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal as a Midwestern farm couple in 2065 (they appear to be the only Midwestern farm couple left). When you hear the film’s premise, which makes it sound like a cross between “Interstellar” and “Blade Runner,” you may think it’s going to
After the success of horror film “Deleter,” actor Nadine Lustre and filmmaker Mikhail Red have teamed again on genre film “Nokturno.” “Nokturno” revolves around a curse brought on by Filipino folklore characters known as Kumakatok, who are tall, thin and have long, pale fingers. They wear veils that obscure their faces and come knocking in