Movies

In a strange reversal of a longstanding trend with the Academy, this year’s documentary short ballot is almost entirely domestic (which is to say, films made by or about Americans), while the feature doc category — where subtitles aren’t so common — is entirely international. Judging by the overall quality of the films in the

For weeks after the Oscar nominations were announced, “Barbie” star Ryan Gosling publicly maintained he wasn’t sure if he’d perform “I’m Just Ken” during the 96th Academy Awards. However, “Barbie” co-star and producer Margot Robbie says he never hesitated to agree to the performance. In fact, she says she didn’t have to pressure him “at

Universal and DreamWork’s animated adventure “Kung Fu Panda 4” topped the domestic box office, earning a solid $58.3 million from 4,035 theaters in its opening weekend. It marks the biggest debut of the franchise since the original, 2008’s “Kung Fu Panda” ($60 million), overtaking the start of the two prior entries, 2016’s “Kung Fu Panda

Daisy Ridley took a moment during the post-premiere Q&A for her indie thriller “Magpie” at SXSW on Saturday night to reflect on the journey of bringing the film to life. “I remember the first day on set when I saw the trailers saying ‘Oh my god, we’re making a film.’ Now, I feel like, ‘Oh

Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” was Sunday evening named as the best picture at the Asian Film Awards. The 17th edition of the prizes was held at the Xiqu Centre, part of the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong. While “Evil Does Not Exist” and Korean blockbuster “12.12: The Day” had dominated the

Illumination and Nintendo will join forces to produce a new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros. The companies previously partnered on last year’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which grossed more than $1.3 billion and became the second highest-grossing movie of 2023. It’s unclear which fanciful characters the new film will

A shocking attack on a transgender couple in plain view of hundreds Saturday night has rattled filmmakers and guests at this year’s Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, which has a spotlight on queer cinema as one of the focal points of its 26th edition. During the terrifying episode, which took place around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night, a

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Film’s biggest night is (almost) here. The 96th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 10 at a new time, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, from the Dolby Theater. Jimmy Kimmel

When Judd Apatow and the boys make an R-rated pregnancy comedy, they call it “Knocked Up.” But when “Broad City” co-creator Ilana Glazer and stand-up comic Michelle Buteau try their hand at the same subject, the every-bit-as-raunchy result comes with a far classier title: “Babes.” That pun is just one of the movie’s many acts

How distraught is Annette, the severely troubled British mother of two played by Daisy Ridley in “Magpie?” She has gotten a short angular haircut, one that might, in another context, be the height of chic (very Isabella Rossellini). Except that the movie uses it as a symbolic expression of her trauma, like Mia Farrow’s iconic

“Babes,” a new comedy about the highs and lows of pregnancy and early motherhood, received a boisterous welcome at its SXSW premiere on Saturday. The audience frequently broke into sustained waves of laughter watching BFFs Eden (Ilana Glazer, who also co-wrote and produced) and Dawn (Michelle Buteau) contend with how Dawn’s second child and Eden’s

A narrative trifurcated across decades and generations, Fawzia Mizra’s “The Queen of My Dreams” follows a young Pakistani Canadian coming to terms with her upbringing. It hits all the familiar beats of a first-generation South Asian story and, despite its novel queer bent and tongue-in-cheek casting (actress Amrit Kaur plays protagonist Azra, as well as

Oscar contenders and Berlin prize-winners will be among the European films being represented by visiting companies to FilMart that are making use of the European Film Promotion umbrella stand within the annual Hong Kong market. In total 29 European film sales companies are making the trip, including more than a dozen from France under the

Indian sales outfit Indywood Distribution Network has sold Rupesh Paul’s “Kamasutra — The Revenge” wide ahead of Hong Kong’s film rights market FilMart. Starring Sherlyn Chopra, Milind Gunaji and Gajendra Chauhan, and produced by San2Creations, the film follows two princesses — one who is robbed of her dreams when forced to accept a middle-aged king

When “My Dead Friend Zoe” filmmaker Kyle Hausmann-Stokes set out to adapt his own experiences as an Army vet onto the big screen, he made two very big changes: gender-flipping the main characters and two women of color in the roles. Starring Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales, “My Dead Friend Zoe” is a dark dramedy

Writer-director Tracie Laymon has a lot of Bobs in her life. First, there was Bob Laymon, her father. “In 2012, I was looking for my dad,” she says. “He would just feel disrespected for even the most minor infractions, and he’d disappear for a year or two and not talk to me. So I put

Visual albums — a bunch of videos strung together to commemorate the release of new work from a musical artist — typically either feel like shameless promotion or a vanity project. “Songs From the Hole” not only earns the label honestly, but actually takes this co-called next-level artistic endeavor to, well, another level: Chronicling the

We’re less than 24 hours from Hollywood’s biggest night, and if you haven’t filled out your office or household Oscar pool, time is running out. But first — check out this week’s Variety Awards Circuit Podcast for some final analysis. Awards guru Clayton Davis, along with Jenelle Riley, Jazz Tangcay and Michael Schneider recorded a

“Harry Potter” actor Miriam Margolyes is concerned about adult fans of the beloved franchise. “They should be over that by now,” Margolyes said in a recent interview with New Zealand’s 1News. “You know, I mean, it was 25 years ago, and it’s for children. I think it’s for children.” Margolyes played Professor Pomona Sprout, who taught herbology at

“Kung Fu Panda 4” director Mike Mitchell gravitates toward villains that can “reflect the hero.” And that’s something that he leaned into with the Chameleon, a threatening two-and-a half foot shape shifter voiced by Oscar winner Viola Davis, who is the nemesis of Jack Black’s titular panda Po in the latest installment of the DreamWorks

When Colman Domingo steps to the stage to introduce the SXSW premiere of his new film “Sing Sing” — a deeply affecting depiction of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at the titular maximum security prison in New York — he gets a standing ovation before a second of the film has screened. That might be in

A carefully constructed and often sobering documentary about disinformation, “How to Build a Truth Engine” makes meticulous efforts to lay out its visual and thematic groundwork. However, its chilling portrait of the digital world comes up against a unique roadblock. A fleeting scene late in the film not only plays like a last-minute addition (concerning

“I Love You Forever” has all the trappings of a romantic comedy, for better or worse. In the whipsmart millennial-skewing film where you’re old if you’ve been caught using a third-generation iPhone, there’s something charmingly antiquated about the scene filmmakers Cazzie David and Elsa Kalani set around Mackenzie (Sofia Black D’Elia), a law student who

On Jan. 12, screenwriter Simon Stephenson sent an email to the Writers Guild of America’s senior director of credits Lesley Mackey asking to set up a call to discuss an important matter. The CAA-repped writer, whose credits include Pixar’s “Luca” and StudioCanal’s “Paddington 2,” wrote, “I’ve encountered a credits-related issue on quite a high profile

It’s been nearly three months since an animated wide release hit theaters, the last being Illumination’s “Migration” over the holidays. That’s a little bit frightening, but with some expert timing “Kung Fu Panda 4” has arrived, benefitting from a lack of competition for family audiences to score some strong numbers in its debut. Universal’s animated

Issues around the use of AI in the production process is the big sticking point in SAG-AFTRA’s negotiations with the largest video game companies, SAG-AFTRA chief Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said Saturday during a wide-ranging Q&A at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Crabtree-Ireland, who is national executive director and chief negotiator of the performers union, said he put

Following the bracing sexual and political candor of “BPM,” writer-director Robin Campillo‘s much-laureled film about HIV/AIDS activism in 1990s Paris, “Red Island” initially appears to be a retreat into cozier nostalgia — a child’s-eye view of life on a French military base in 1970s Madagascar, flooded with sunlight, awash with the thrill of youthful exploration.

The infamous Razzie Awards are back, (dis)honoring the year’s worst in film. While Sunday’s Academy Awards will celebrate Christopher Nolan’s landmark drama “Oppenheimer” and Greta Gerwig’s $1.4 billion blockbuster “Barbie,” the 44th annual Razzies are focusing on lesser-seen fare, like the fourth “Expendables” movie and “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” a horror adaptation that

The 44th edition of genre film festival Fantasporto, which runs in Portugal’s second city Porto from March 1-10, has bestowed its best film award on Japanese sci-fi fantasy pic “From the End of the World,” directed by Kaz I Kiriya. The movie follows 10-year-old Hana, whose dreams transport her across various eras in Japanese history,

The stage at the 17th Annual Women in Film Oscar Nominees was scarcely big enough for the impressive show of sisterhood on display.  The event, which celebrates the women, nonbinary and trans people nominated at the Academy Awards, coincided with International Women’s Day on March 8.  When WIF CEO Kirsten Schaffer invited dozens of honorees