December 16, 2019 11:02AM PT Based on the director’s boyhood memories of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, “1982” excels in visual acumen and narrative balance, which compensate for script weaknesses. Director Oualid Mouaness’ enriching use of images and sensitivity to narrative balance outweigh his unexceptional dialogue in “1982.” Even with such a caveat, his debut
Movies
Les Arcs Film Festival celebrated British filmmaker Sarah Gavron (“Suffragette,” “Rocks”) with the Femmes de Cinema Award during a ceremony on Sunday. The award, created by Les Arcs festival in partnership with Sisley, celebrates visionary female filmmakers from Europe and is aimed at boosting the representation of women in the film industry. Gavron last directed
ICM Partners has become the latest Hollywood talent agency to partner with a private equity firm, selling a one-third stake in the agency to Crestview Partners for about $150 million. The deal marks a milestone for the current iteration of ICM, which became a partner-owned agency in May 2012 when Chris Silbermann and 28 other
Brad Pitt will receive the Maltin Modern Master Award at the 35th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Jan. 22. The actor-producer is being saluted for his longstanding contributions to the film industry. The Modern Master Award, established in 1995, is the highest accolade presented by SBIFF. “Brad Pitt wears the mantle of movie
Malgorzata Szumowska, best director winner at the Berlin Film Festival for “Body,” has started shooting “Wonder Zenia,” starring “Stranger Things” actor Alec Utgoff, on location in and around Warsaw. Utgoff, who played Alexei in the third season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and also appeared in “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” stars in the title role in
Rose McGowan called out Harvey Weinstein after the disgraced mogul gave a bizarre interview before his impending sex crimes trial, in which he claims he’s a “forgotten man.” “I didn’t forget you, Harvey. My body didn’t forget you. I wish it could,” McGowan, one of Weinstein’s most vocal accusers, wrote on Twitter Monday morning. “I
December 16, 2019 6:20AM PT [embedded content] Tom Cruise is feeling the need for speed (again) in the official trailer for Paramount Pictures’ “Top Gun: Maverick,” a sequel to his 1986 classic. The action-packed footage sees Cruise returning, after 30 years of service, as a flight school instructor. “I have to admit I wasn’t expecting
For those who know Texas resident Andy Forbes and his fiancé Wendee, it comes as little surprise that their first act as newlyweds will be watching a “Star Wars” movie. She’ll be donning Princess Leia’s signature buns; he’ll be wearing a Stormtrooper costume. The duo, both in their early 30s, is one of two couples
December 16, 2019 6:00AM PT Will Smith makes a likable animated superspy — at least, until he morphs into a cranky pigeon in this energetically empty kiddie espionage caper. There are two ways to encapsulate the aesthetic of Blue Sky Studios, the digital animation company that was launched in 1987 and has been a major player
Sophia Loren will be feted by the Capri-Hollywood film festival with a lifetime achievement award presented to her by trailblazing director Lina Wertmüller, her old friend and recent recipient of an honorary Oscar. Loren, Italy’s most iconic living movie star, will receive the Capri Legend Award on Dec. 30 from Wertmüller during the event dedicated
December 16, 2019 2:33AM PT For the fourth consecutive weekend, “Frozen 2” remained as the box office champion in South Korea. The Walt Disney release earned $6.55 million from 896,000 admissions between Friday and Sunday and accounted for 42% of the total weekend box office. It has now earned a total of $85.9 million from
U.K.-based Cineworld is to acquire Cineplex, Canada’s leading cinema chain, in a deal that values the Toronto-listed company at $2.1 billion (C$2.8 billion) and puts Cineworld in position to become North America’s biggest exhibitor. Cineworld said Monday that it had secured unanimous approval from its board of directors for the acquisition, and that its leading
Variety has been given exclusive access to the Imax trailer, dubbed into English, to Fedor Bondarchuk’s sci-fi actioner “Invasion,” the sequel to his 2017 blockbuster “Attraction.” In the first film Moscow becomes the battleground for all-out war against an army of alien invaders. In the sequel, an alien spaceship crash lands in Moscow, and an
Chinese-made films “Sheep Without A Shepherd,” “Skyfire” and “Gone With the Light” dominated weekend takings at the mainland Chinese box office. Hollywood’s holdovers were consigned to the lesser rankings. “Shepherd” is a remake of 2013 Indian thriller “Drishyam” and tells the story of a man trying to cover up for his daughter’s killing of a
Locally made films “Sheep Without a Shepherd,” “Skyfire” and “Gone With the Light” dominated weekend takings at the mainland Chinese box office. Hollywood’s holdovers were consigned to the lesser rankings. “Sheep Without a Shepherd” is a remake of 2013 Indian thriller “Drishyam” and tells the story of a man trying to cover up for his
With the passing of Anna Karina, a curtain has fallen on the French New Wave, that fabled cinematic movement that brought fame to the man who made her name, Jean-Luc Godard. Yes, Godard is still with us, as is “Breathless” star Jean-Paul Belmondo (practically the last of the living New Wave legends), but his moviemaking
In a banner year for Asian American representation in Hollywood, Randall Park, Constance Wu and the cast of “Fresh Off the Boat” were among the honorees at the 18th Annual Unforgettable Gala, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Saturday evening. Host Simu Liu, who flew in from Sydney where he
December 15, 2019 10:20AM PT Universal’s “Last Christmas,” a romantic comedy starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding, surpassed $100 million in global ticket sales. The milestone is a win for original fare, one that is especially impressive considering the movie was skewered by critics for its wacky twist ending. After six weeks in theaters, “Last
December 15, 2019 9:37AM PT Sony’s “Jumanji: The Next Level” powered international box office charts, collecting $85 million from 34 markets over the weekend. The action-packed sequel kicked off in North America with $60 million for a global start of $145 million. “Jumanji: The Next Level” debuted in a handful of foreign territories last weekend,
Ahead of its launch in France on March 31, 2020, Disney Plus has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Canal Plus Group, the country’s leading pay-TV company. The deal, which was first reported in the French newspaper Les Echos and confirmed by Canal Plus Group CEO Maxime Saada on his Twitter account, marks a new
French New Wave star Anna Karina, who served as a muse for Jean-Luc Godard and appeared in eight of his films, has died. She was 79. France’s culture minister, Franck Reister, announced her death in a tweet, as did her agent, Laurent Balandras, who attributed the cause as cancer. “Her gaze was the gaze of
December 15, 2019 8:51AM PT “Frozen 2” is the sixth Disney movie this year to hit $1 billion globally, strengthening the studio’s sheer dominance over the box office. Those ticket sales extend the benchmark Disney set over summer, with five other films — “Avengers: Endgame,” “Aladdin,” “Toy Story 4,” “The Lion King” and “Captain Marvel”
It’s shaping up to be a merry holiday season for “Jumanji: The Next Level.” Sony’s adventure sequel debuted in first place to $60.1 million, dethroning “Frozen” after three consecutive weeks as box office champ. Those ticket sales, arriving at the higher end of industry projections, represent a healthy jump on the $36 million start of
There are two films in Julie Delpy’s ambitious, sharply-made but unbalanced “My Zoe.” There’s the scabrous relationship melodrama, about bitter exes sharing custody of a beloved child, which contains the story’s most potent emotions. And there’s the sci-fi-inflected ethical-dilemma grief movie, which houses its most provocative ideas. Both have much to recommend them, not least
For a man who was so enraged at the administration of Barack Obama that he spent his 2012 Republican Convention speech lecturing an empty chair, Clint Eastwood has made a number of conventional, level-headed — one might even say liberal — political dramas. Films like “Invictus” and “J. Edgar” and “Midnight in the Garden of
“Frozen 2’s” reign at the box office is finally over: Sony’s “Jumanji: The Next Level” is on its way to a winning $50 million debut. The sequel film starring Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, and Kevin Hart is opening at 4,227 North American locations and took in $19.4 million on Friday. That number set
Unlike his “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” co-stars Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, Oscar Isaac had already established a long and acclaimed acting career before J.J. Abrams cast him as ace X-wing pilot Poe Dameron in 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” including standout roles in 2006’s “The Nativity Story” and 2011’s “Drive,” and
Denmark’s Jonas Alexander Arnby, France’s Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli, and Poland’s Agnieszka Smoczyńska are among up-and-coming directors from across Europe whose latest projects will be presented at the 11th Coproduction Village of Les Arcs Film Festival. This edition of Les Arcs Coproduction Village will showcase a total of 22 European projects spanning 19 countries.
Shortly before the credits roll on “Chez Jolie Coiffure,” a customer in the eponymous hair salon asks her stylist, Sabine, if she has any plans to go home this year. Out of context, this sounds like the kind of standard, empty small talk one often makes while having one’s hair cut: what good movies you’ve
This time last year, Netflix estimated that it would release 90 original movies in 2019. At the time, the number seemed outrageous: That’s more than four times the number Warner Bros. made in the same 12-month period — and more than any human would ever care to watch. Guess what: Turns out that 90 was a