The International Cinephile Society is known for going its own way with its annual awards, and its latest edition is no exception. Leading the field for its 17th awards was Pedro Almodóvar’s semi-autobiographical “Pain and Glory,” which won best picture, and best actor for Antonio Banderas. The ICS is made up of more than 100
Movies
February 7, 2020 3:05AM PT Bruno Mars is coming back from a long hibernation with big news: He’s set to star in and produce a “music-themed theatrical film” that will be developed by Disney and which features mostly original music that he will write and perform. Details are scant, but Mars’ big-screen experience includes an
Starz’s international streaming platform Starzplay has struck an output deal with parent company Lionsgate for split first pay streaming rights in the U.K. to Lionsgate’s recently released and upcoming feature films. Under the deal, Starzplay’s U.K. subscribers will be able to access Lionsgate first-run movies including “Knives Out,” “Bombshell,” “Angel Has Fallen” and “Rambo: Last
The 10th annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards were held at the The Wiltern theater in Los Angeles on Thursday night (Feb. 6). Winners in the film categories included Mary Ramos for “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,” Kier Lehman for “Queen & Slim” and Terri D’Ambrosio for “The Last Black Man In San Francisco.”
London-based documentary distributor Dogwoof has boarded Hulu’s hotly anticipated film on teen climate activist Greta Thunberg. “Greta” (working title) is to bow on the Disney-controlled streamer in the U.S. later this year, with Dogwoof selling the feature doc internationally. Dogwoof, whose recent slate includes the Oscar-nominated “The Cave,” will begin selling limited rest-of-world rights, and
David Heyman’s Heyday Films, the company behind this year’s hot Oscar contenders “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and “Marriage Story,” is set to produce “Shackleton,” the long-gestating biopic of legendary polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, with Tom Hardy on board to play the title role. Written by “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” scribe Peter Straughan,
The Osaka Asian Film Festival, Western Japan’s largest showcase of films from Asia, has announced the line-up of its 15th edition, which will unspool March 6-15 at venues in Osaka, Japan’s second-largest city. The opening film is “The Garden of Evening Mists,” Taiwanese director Tom Lin Shu-yu’s drama about a woman who falls in love with
“Hemp is the plant of our generation,” says Amy Duncan, founder of the California-based Mowellens CBD skin care line used at The Spa at the West Hollywood Edition (editionhotels.com). Unlike other cannabis plants, hemp produces higher levels of CBD but lower levels of THC, responsible for intoxicating effects. In beauty products, CBD has antioxidant and
Elton John will be at the Oscars on Sunday because he is nominated with longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman.” Even so, that doesn’t mean he’s going to miss his annual viewing and afterparty benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. “As soon as the category has been presented,
Tequila rocks at Hollywood events. Some prefer it neat. Nightlife entrepreneur Rande Gerber recommends his (with George Clooney) Casamigos brand on the rocks. Icy tequila can be refreshing and cinematic: the frozen margarita got its due in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s” brazen finale. Although there is a surplus of Piper-Heidsieck champagne for toasting,
While the pinnacle of awards season, Oscar week can also mean traffic congestion, reservation headaches and, for guests traveling with kids in tow, restless children. The town’s top concierges have tips to make awards week a more pleasurable experience. “First, understand where your hotel is versus the awards shows,” says Rob DelliBovi of RDB Hospitality
When stylist Sam Ratelle creates looks with Billy Porter, they “always look to blur the lines between masculinity and femininity.” Feb. 24, 2019 “We knew it was going to be something even being in that room, but I don’t think we understood the impact it would have on humanity,” says Ratelle of Porter’s 2019 Oscar
You’ve scored the nomination or invite, but now for the harder mission: what to wear? These personal shoppers and services help attendees navigate red-carpet event dressing. “I’m working with a producer right now to find a look for the Oscars, as well as a comedian client who’s often on the gala circuit,” says personal stylist
The Oscar kudoscast marks the end of a long awards season and looking and feeling great on the red carpet is as big a piece of the equation as the fashion. Variety turned to some of Hollywood’s most sought-after fitness and beauty gurus to ask how to create a flawless outer shell for the big
In today’s film news roundup, “Parasite” wins half a dozen awards at the Global Cinemateque organization, Legion M partners with Endeavor Content and “Tuscaloosa” finds a home. ‘PARASITE’ AWARDS South Korean dark comedy “Parasite” has dominated the inaugural World Cinema Awards from the Global Cinemateque organization. Founded by Jacqueline Lyanga and co-founded by Jasmine Jaisinghani,
Director Gareth Edwards has found his follow-up to “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”: a new untitled project for New Regency. New Regency is set to produce and finance a new untitled sci-fi film written and directed by Edwards. Kiri Hart, who also co-produced “Rogue One,” will serve as a producer on the film. The project,
February 6, 2020 4:16PM PT It’s official — Lionsgate is preparing a sequel to its hit “Knives Out,” two of its top executives have confirmed. CEO Jon Feltheimer and Motion Picture Group Chairman Joe Drake said during Thursday’s conference call with Wall Street analysts that the studio is planning production starts for another “Knives Out”
February 6, 2020 3:43PM PT Loosely based on the director’s own experiences with her transsexual father, this debut feature sympathetically focuses on a girl’s difficulties in coping with her dad’s very quick transition. Director-writer Malou Reymann is perfectly aware that “normal” and “family” are mutually exclusive words — she was 11 when her father transitioned
February 6, 2020 1:37PM PT As the 92nd annual Academy Awards draw closer, anticipation builds as movie fans anxiously wait to find who will take home a gold statue. But who will you be voting for this Sunday? Print out Variety’s 2020 Academy Award Ballot, or download it to your phone, to predict this Sunday’s
Harvey Weinstein’s defense team kicked off their case Thursday afternoon, calling a former friend of Annabella Sciorra’s to undermine her allegation that the producer raped her in the early 1990s. Paul Feldsher, a former ICM agent and producer of several Miramax films, said that Sciorra was one of his closest friends for several years. He
The 15th annual Oscar Wilde Awards are around the corner and with honorees Norman Lear, Tig Notaro and Jenn Murray, the event promises to showcase the best of the U.S. and Ireland’s creative talents. Though unlike other black-tie events, the ceremony functions as a sort of “homecoming” for everyone attending — Irish and otherwise. “It’s
February 6, 2020 1:28PM PT Citing strong performance from “Knives Out,” Lionsgate has posted revenues and operating income above Wall Street projections for its third fiscal quarter that ended on Dec. 31. Revenue were $998.5 million, 8% above Wall Street forecasts, and adjusted operating income of $124.5 million beat estimates by 11%. Subscribers from Starz,
Miranda July’s “Kajillionaire” is still in the black, but a different distributor is close to winning the project out of the Sundance Film Festival. With a late-hitting bid, Focus Features is closing in on a deal for worldwide rights to the movie in a sale worth somewhere in the mid-seven-figure range, insiders said. Universal’s prestige
February 6, 2020 12:11PM PT Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger apologized on Thursday after an elementary school in Berkeley, Calif., was fined by the corporation for showing “The Lion King” during a movie night fundraiser. The elementary school was fined $250 by Disney’s licensing company for showing the popular film at a fundraising event
February 6, 2020 12:00PM PT Hubert Sauper takes the pulse of Cuba at a transitional moment in this affectionate but unfocused, impressionistic docu-essay. A leisurely, somewhat hazy travelogue compared to the piercing political indictments of his acclaimed prior “We Come as Friends” and Oscar-nominated “Darwin’s Nightmare,” Austrian documentarian Hubert Sauper’s new “Epicentro” looks at Cuba
Memo to Netflix, HBOMax, Disney Plus, and the rest of the streaming scrum: People were more likely to stream a movie when they knew it had been released in theaters, according to a new survey by Ernst & Young that was commissioned by the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO). Clearly, given NATO’s moniker, it
Issa Rae isn’t jumping to be in a superhero movie, but that doesn’t mean she’s opposed to them. “I’m not going to block any blessings but I am tired of them ’cause I’m a huge [fan]. Since the third grade, I’ve loved Spider-Man, comic books, memorabilia, everything,” she says on this week’s “The Big Ticket,”
When the high school romantic comedy “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” debuted on Netflix in 2018, the adaptation of Jenny Han’s YA best-seller was a groundbreaking benchmark for representation, casting Asian American actor Lana Condor (“X-Men: Apocalypse”) as Lara Jean, who wins the heart of class heartthrob Peter (Noah Centineo). The film was such a
Kirk Douglas will be included in the “in memoriam” section of this year’s Academy Awards. His death on Wednesday at the age of 103 led to an outpouring of tributes across Hollywood. It also resulted in some last minute edits to the “in memoriam” package, which had been completed, but was edited to include the
“Joker” star Joaquin Phoenix has linked with environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion and non-profit organization Amazon Watch for a short film sounding the alarm around deforestation and global wildfires. “Guardians of Life,” which Variety reveals exclusively below, also stars Rosario Dawson, Matthew Modine, Oona Chaplin, Q’orianka Kilcher and musician Albert Hammond Jr of The Strokes