Jessica Mann — a key witness in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial who alleges the former movie mogul raped her twice and sexually assaulted her on numerous occasions — was let off the stand on Monday when she said she was having a panic attack during cross-examination. After being questioned for five hours by Weinstein’s attorney
Movies
The media’s most-discussed Oscar story this year is the lack of diversity. But in fact, awards are the worst gauge of Hollywood’s commitment to inclusion, because the results are always kept secret, and because we’re talking about voters’ tastes (which may or may not involve the need to Make A Statement with their votes). The
Thousands are set to cast ballots this week on two important races: the Iowa caucus and the Oscars, both of which rely on ranked-choice voting systems that are commonly misunderstood. When deciding who will win best picture at this year’s Academy Awards, voters are asking to list their favorite movies in order of preference. In
The Chinese box office is gearing up for a starkly unsexy Valentine’s Day, with “Jojo Rabbit” and a local title formally pulling out of the mid-February line-up, while unconfirmed reports suggest that others – including “Little Women” – will soon pull the plug, amidst strict measures to prevent the spread of deadly coronavirus. Cinemas are
Jessica Mann, a key witness in the trial of Harvey Weinstein, faced a second day of cross-examination on Monday about the complex nature of her relationship with the disgraced producer. Mann, a hairdresser and aspiring actor, gave explosive testimony on Friday in which she accused Weinstein of violent sexual assault and rape, and claimed the
Veteran U.S. film and TV executive Michael Garin has been appointed CEO of Abu Dhabi’s twofour54, the outfit that provides infrastructure and incentives to more than 500 entertainment companies and drives media and entertainment industry growth in the United Arab Emirates. Set up in 2008 and named after Abu Dhabi’s geographical coordinates, this so-called media
China has officially ordered an indefinite halt to all film production in the country as it seeks to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus that has swept the nation. The death toll in China stands at 361 – higher now than that of SARS, which killed 349. China has confirmed 17,205 cases as of Sunday,
Movie theaters aren’t throwing away their shot to have “Hamilton” on the big screen. Disney is bringing a film of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical sensation with the original Broadway cast to cinemas in North America on Oct. 15, 2021. The movie version isn’t an adaptation in the vein of Miranda’s upcoming “In the Heights,” but rather
The Miami Film Festival will open on March 6 with “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” starring Mick Jagger, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Debicki and Claes Bang. Miami Dade College’s festival, now in its 37th edition and running March 6-15, will screen more than 125 narrative features, documentaries and shorts from 30 countries. “Charles Willeford’s classic 1971 art
Jane Austen has been through a lot on screen in recent years. From watching details of her own life contorted into a romantic comedy framework in “Becoming Jane,” seeing her most enduring masterpiece invaded by the undead in “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” or observing the cottage merchandising and tourism industry that has sprung up
Picturehouse Entertainment has acquired U.K. rights from TrustNordisk for Maria Sødahl’s “Hope,” which stars Stellan Skarsgård and Andrea Bræin Hovig, and will have its European premiere at the Berlin Film Festival this month. Based on the director’s own experiences after being diagnosed with brain cancer, “Hope” explores the relationship between artists and partners Tomas (Skarsgård)
February 3, 2020 3:06AM PT The giant film studio complex at Qingdao in Eastern China has halted all film and TV production in response to the novel coronavirus that has infected thousands in the country and claimed more than 360 lives. Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis announced on Monday via its official WeChat social media channel
The TorinoFilm Lab has announced the 20 feature film projects and five story editor trainees who will take part in the 2020 edition of ScriptLab, an intensive workshop focused on feature film scripts in early stages of development. The program partners participants with filmmakers from around the world to develop their scripts through a series
Hong Kong on Monday severed nearly all of its land and sea connections with mainland China as part of growing measures in Asia to slow the spread of coronavirus. The move makes it ever more likely that Hong Kong FilMart, the biggest film industry trade market in Asia, will be postponed. A decision is to
German film and TV company Telepool, jointly owned by Hollywood actor-producer Will Smith and Swiss investor Elysian Fields, is moving forward in multiple areas of the entertainment business, CEO André Druskeit tells Variety. Druskeit reveals a major new acquisition for its German distribution arm, and Julia Weber, head of theatrical sales and acquisitions at Telepool’s
February 2, 2020 10:05PM PT Men are from Mars and women are from the best-seller list in these competitive campfire tales by filmmaker Josh Ruben and co-star Aya Cash. “Scare Me,” written and directed by first-time filmmaker Josh Ruben, is a spook show stripped to the basics. A boy and a girl, Fred and Fanny
The experiment known as Biosphere 2 may be best remembered now — when remembered at all — as something that spawned “Bio-Dome,” the godawful 1996 comedy that is nonetheless many people’s favorite movie involving Pauly Shore or Stephen Baldwin. (Of course, others might get hives at the very idea of having a favorite anything involving
The shares of China’s entertainment companies crashed within minutes of stock markets reopening on Monday morning. Many firms saw share trading quickly halted after prices moved by the 10% maximum daily limit allowed on mainland Chinese equity markets. Film studio Huayi Brothers Media plunged 9.9% to RMB 3.81 per share. Wanda Film was down 10.01%
Disney Plus unveiled the first footage from its upcoming Marvel TV series — “WandaVision,” “Loki” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” — during the Super Bowl. The 30-second trailer teases the expanding comic book world that will unfold on Disney’s streaming service. The new series are set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will
James Bond made his way to Super Bowl LIV, debuting a new trailer for “No Time to Die.” The footage, putting the spotlight on Daniel Craig’s British spy, promises the 25th “Bond” movie “will change everything.” The 30-second clip also sees Lashana Lynch’s 00 agent in the cockpit as Craig asks, “Have you ever flown
Joaquin Phoenix called on his peers to help dismantle racism in the film industry during a rallying acceptance speech for his best actor award at the 2020 BAFTAs. During a ceremony that was short on controversy, the “Joker” star was the only industry figure to discuss the ongoing issue in the film business, claiming that
February 2, 2020 4:30PM PT [embedded content] Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh take center stage in the new “Black Widow” trailer that dropped at the 54th Super Bowl. Details are scarce on the next Marvel movie, directed by Cate Shortland, but new footage teases Natasha Romanoff’s life before she was an Avenger. “You don’t know
Tom Cruise has made an enemy in the newest “Top Gun: Maverick” trailer, which premiered during the 54th annual Super Bowl on Sunday. “My Dad believed in you, I’m not going to make the same mistake,” says Miles Teller who is playing Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, son of Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, deceased wingman to Cruise’s character.
The Sundance Film Festival is fighting a battle that’s been building for several years, and what it’s fighting for can be summed up in one word: relevance. What makes a Sundance movie relevant? In a sense, the old criteria still hold. It’s some combination of box-office performance, awards cachet, and that buzzy, you-know-it-when-you-see-it thing of
When Tim Bell died in London last summer, the media response was largely, somewhat sheepishly, polite: It was hard not to envision the ruthless political spin doctor still massaging his legacy from beyond the grave. “Irrepressible” was the first adjective chosen in the New York Times obituary. “He had far too few scruples about who he
“1917,” Sam Mendes’ World War I survival thriller, dominated at the 73rd British Academy of Film and Television’s Film Awards with seven wins including best film and best director. “Joker,” meanwhile, which went into the BAFTAs with the most nominations, 11, won three awards including best actor for Joaquin Phoenix. “Parasite” picked up two awards,
Every summer, more than 1,000 teens swarm the Texas capitol building to attend Boys State, the annual American Legion-sponsored leadership conference where these incipient politicians divide into rival parties, the Nationalists and the Federalists, and attempt to build a mock government from the ground up. In 2017, the program attracted attention for all the wrong
Ahead of tonight’s BAFTA Awards in London, Amy Gustin and Deena Wallace, co-directors of the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), discuss how they shook up their awards’ voting mechanisms to become more inclusive of a wider variety of films and filmmakers. BIFA is different from other awards bodies in its process as well as its
A wide range of Scandinavian films, including the politically-charged Danish drama “Shorta,” the supernatural Icelandic drama “Lamb” with Noomi Rapace, and the Finnish-Iranian refugee tale “Any Day Now,’ were some of the highlights at this year’s Nordic Film Market. They were presented, along with 13 other films in post-production, as part of the Work-in-Progress section.
Powered by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus, among others, the subscription video on demand market is booming. But in five years from now, it will have contracted with no single service fully dominating the landscape, according to the 7th Nostradamus Report, which forecasts trends in film and TV. The thorough