Movies

Mediawan has come on board two English-language premium scripted series, Mauro Aragoni and Brian O’Malley’s steampunk spaghetti Western show “That Dirty Black Bag” and Gilles de Maistre’s “Big Five.” Aimed at family audiences, “Big Five” will be set in South Africa, and will follow the adventures of Daniah de Villiers, the young actress in “Mia

BUENOS AIRES  — Paul Hudson’s Outsider Pictures has acquired distribution rights to North America on “The August Virgin,” from Jonas Trueba, one of Spain’s most prominent young writer-directors who has broken through to big festival selection – “The Reconquest,” his fourth feature, played San Sebastian competition   — and now prizes. Luis Renart, at new

BUENOS AIRES  — For much of this century, Argentina’s Axel Kuschevatzky led a double life. On one hand, he served as a hugely hard-working movie producer for Telefe, then Telefonica Studios, then Viacom Intl. Media Networks, bringing their much-needed finance and promotion clout to some of the finest South American titles of the last decade:

Sales agent Ilaria Gomarasca is stepping down from Paris-based Pyramide International to become head of First Cut Plus, a program to assist filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe. First Cut Plus, which is touted as the only initiative of this type supported by Europe’s MEDIA program this year, is being launched in tandem with the Karlovy Vary fest’s Industry

Even Spider-Man gets a little star-struck around Will Smith. Though Tom Holland has co-starred with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, meeting his “Spies in Disguise” co-star for the first time was a pretty special experience for the 23-year-old star — partially because of the venue. “It was kind of crazy, you know, because

Confrontational revenge drama “The Nightingale” was the big winner in the feature film category of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. “Lambs of God” was dominant in the TV section. “The Nightingale” was named as best film. Jennifer Kent additionally won the best director and best screenplay awards. Giving her a night

Will Smith has spoken out in support of his “Aladdin” co-star Mena Massoud, who said in an interview that he hasn’t had a single audition since he starred in the Disney live-action remake, which hit theaters back in May. When told about Massoud’s claim on the red carpet for his upcoming animated film “Spies in

December 4, 2019 6:42PM PT Stylist Micaela Erlanger nodded to horror film “Us” with Lupita Nyong’o’s press tour wardrobe: “It was just the right amount of spooky, but we kept it fashion-forward.” March 8 “With Lupita, we always like to have a narrative and tell a story through the fashion choices,” Erlanger says. “‘Us’ is

CMC Pictures has acquired rights in North America to “The Rescue,” the Chinese big-budget action film that is expected to dominate Chinese New Year. The distributor will release the film in theaters on Jan. 25, 2020 in the U.S. and Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. The film is directed by Dante Lam (“Operation

Audiences may think they understand how the women at Fox News ended the 20-year reign of Roger Ailes in 2016, but Lionsgate’s “Bombshell” shows that the situation was much more complex and nuanced than the headlines. “I always want to get past the obvious,” says director Jay Roach. “I want to know what’s really going

In today’s film news roundup, the Big Screen Classics series lineup is unveiled, surfing documentary “And Two If by Sea” finds a home and Austin Studios gets a director. EVENTS Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies have unveiled the fourth annual TCM Big Screen Classics series, highlighted by the 60th anniversary release of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”

December 4, 2019 4:38PM PT Animation companies, Singapore’s Robot Playground Media and Malaysia’s The R&D Studio are co-producing original animated anthology “Spectrum.” The anthology will consist of seven short films inspired by the heritage and shared culture of Singapore and Malaysia. The project enjoys the support of Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the

December 4, 2019 4:21PM PT In addition to producing content, Tonko House has an eye on what comes next, creating a series of educational efforts that are extensive for a company still in its relative infancy. The company’s first project as a fully formed studio was an online computer-painting course designed to share skills its

Singapore cinema will claim a share of the spotlight at the ongoing Asia TV Forum & Market, where some 80 local media companies are promoting their wares at the Singapore Pavilion. The crop of local movies for 2020 looks substantial. Local powerhouse mm2 Entertainment leads the way with a line-up from several genres. Ong Kuo

Five years ago, art directors Robert Kondo and Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi traded in stability at Pixar for the unknown as they launched Tonko House, a Berkeley-based multimedia production company. Since then, they’ve developed a range of projects and educational initiatives to support their mission of telling stories that inspire curiosity and increase social awareness. Mere

A record 92 animated short films have qualified for the 92nd Academy Awards, a list that will be winnowed to 10 contenders when shortlist is announced Dec. 16. Alongside entries such as Sony’s “Hair Love” and Magic Light Pictures’ “Zog,” challengers include lauded films from animators such as Tomek Popakul’s “Acid Rain,” Siqi Song’s “Sister”

In 91 years of Academy Awards, there have only been three occasions when a producer had two best picture nominees simultaneously: Francis Coppola and Fred Roos, with 1974’s “The Godfather Part II” and “The Conversation”; Scott Rudin, with 2010’s “The Social Network” and “True Grit”; and Megan Ellison, with 2013’s “American Hustle” and “Her.” That

Over a long career that stretches back 25 years, stuntman and stunt coordinator-turned-second-unit-director and actor Darrin Prescott has choreographed many a spectacular car chase and race in such testosterone-fueled movies as “Drive,” “Deadpool 2,” “Baby Driver” and “The Bourne Ultimatum,” which won him a Screen Actors Guild award as part of the stunt ensemble. But

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION The 16 films in this section are all world premieres. The 40-Year-Old Version (Director and screenwriter: Radha Blank, Producers: Lena Waithe, Radha Blank, Inuka Bacote-Capiga, Jennifer Semler, Rishi Rijani) —A down-on-her-luck New York playwright decides to reinvent herself and salvage her artistic voice the only way she knows how: by becoming a

Many of the most memorable movie families don’t rely on looking alike. Intimate family dramas are testaments to the power of great acting, where sensitivity, emotional perceptiveness and imitation create a bond that resembles the real thing. The directors behind some of 2019’s most acclaimed ensemble-driven films used several strategies to create believable family ties.

While the cinematic fare of 2019 casts a wide-ranging net, a largely male-centric line-up dominates the awards season buzz. But from Martin Scorsese’s mature mobster saga “The Irishman” (Netflix) to Todd Phillips’ dark comic-book spinoff “Joker” (Warner Bros.), many of the year’s masculine-leaning picks were either led or significantly aided by women storytellers’ vision and

When all is said and done, the fact that a mute, missing appendage has become one of the year’s standout characters might not be the single most surprising development of 2019, but it sure comes close.  Give a round of (one-handed) applause to “I Lost My Body” director Jérémy Clapin, who spent nearly eight years

Everything was so glamorous and cool,” sighs “Hustlers” star Constance Wu of the last lucrative night her character spends working in the strip club before the 2008 stock market crash. The camera agrees. In slow motion, it gawks as 300 people collide like electrons. Men fling money, slide cash into spandex and gaze in awe

Could Julian Day be the unofficial go-to costume designer for movies about icons? With films such as “Control” (Joy Division), “Nowhere Boy” (John Lennon), “Rush” (James Hunt, Niki Lauda), “Diana” (Princess Di) and “BohemianRhapsody” (Freddie Mercury and Queen) on his eclectic resume, Day’s grasp of what directors and actors need to create the right tone

It is the best of times and, arguably, the trickiest of times when it comes to the documentary industry. There’s no doubt that 2018 was a banner year for documentaries at the box office with Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s Academy Award-winning “Free Solo” garnering $29 million; Morgan Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

The Golden Globe nominations are just around the corner. Names we’ll likely hear when the nominees are revealed include Renée Zellweger (“Judy”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”), Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”) and Eddie Murphy (“Dolemite Is My Name”). Films on track for multiple noms include “Once Upon a Time in

The New York Film Critics Circle will be announcing its yearly awards Wednesday morning. The 85th ceremony will be held Jan. 7 at the New York Film Critics’ annual gala. Antonio Banderas’s win for best actor  (“Pain and Glory”) and Lupita Nyong’o (“Us”)for best actress gives them a nice boost for the Oscars. Laura Dern

BUENOS AIRES  — In one of the biggest deals clinched at this year’s Ventana Sur, Vicente Canales’ Film Factory Ent. has acquired international sales rights outside Latin America to “El Prófugo” (“The Intruder”). Described by its makers as a“psycho-sexual fantastic thriller,” “The Intruder” stars two of Argentina’s most internationally-rated actors: Erica Rivas, extraordinary as the

BUENOS AIRES — Esteemed Argentine film producers gathered to relay their experiences with fiction remakes as part of Ventana Sur’s industry conference series held at the UCA campus in Buenos Aires on Monday. The panelists included Juan Vera and Marcos Carnevale, directors who sold the rights to their films “Mama Se Fue De Viaje,” and

Helen Mirren is to be honored with a Golden Bear for lifetime achievement at next February’s Berlin Film Festival. The Oscar-winning star of “The Queen” and new HBO-Sky drama series “Catherine the Great” will also be the subject of an homage featuring several of her best-known films, including “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife &