Several women confronted disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein at an actors event Wednesday, resulting in two of them allegedly being kicked out of the event’s Downtime Bar NYC venue. According to a Twitter recounting of the night, comedian Kelly Bachman “went after” Weinstein during her performance at an Actor’s Hour artist event, at which point she
Movies
Ted Mundorff, the longtime CEO of Landmark Theatres, has resigned from his post less than a year after the arthouse chain was bought by Cohen Media Group. Daniela Sapkar, a spokeswoman for the chain, confirmed Mundorff’s departure to Variety. In December, Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner sold the circuit to Cohen Media Group, an indie
Based on the same real-life story that inspired the 1995 animated feature “Balto” and Disney’s forthcoming “Togo” (and sliding into theaters not long before another sled-dog tale, the latest “Call of the Wild” remake), “The Great Alaskan Race” promises at the very least to be a satisfying movie for dog lovers. What else could one
The 23rd edition of the Czech Republic’s top docu fest, Ji.hlava, launched Thursday with a sharp focus on the climate crisis and the unveiling of a new award for filmmakers created by Ai Weiwei, the Chinese dissident artist. Ji.hlava fest president Marek Hovorka said the award, made of white Lego bricks shaped into a fist
Prolific and successful director Joko Anwar has seen his latest film, “Impetigore,” a horror-thriller about a woman who discovers that her neighbors want to kill her, open at the top of the Indonesian box office. The theatrical success comes at the time that Korea’s CJ Entertainment launches the title at the autumn rights sales markets
MORELIA, Mexico – Mexican exhibition giant Cinepolis is gearing up to produce up to four or five films a year, said CEO Alejandro Ramirez as he took stock of the company’s “important” growth this past year. He added that Cinepolis has “about 10 projects in development or pre-production.” The company produced its first film last
Taylor Swift isn’t limiting her participation in the new film version of “Cats” to just an acting role after all. The pop star has collaborated with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber on a new song, “Beautiful Ghosts,” for the movie. The new number will be sung in a narrative moment in the film by English ballerina
October 24, 2019 2:05PM PT A publisher of bestselling novels that has become a broad-based media company, Kadokawa has brought one of its biggest recent projects to TIFFCOM. Titled “Fukushima 50,” the film tells the true-life story of workers at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant who, over five desperate days, reined in a nuclear disaster
October 24, 2019 2:00PM PT Once known for its popular gang and other action films that had legions of mostly male fans, Toei today has a diverse line-up in a variety of genres. To this edition of TIFFCOM the company has brought several new titles, including “Mio’s Recipe for You” a drama about a young
MORELIA, Mexico – A year after taking on the role of Mexican Film Institute (Imcine) director, Maria Novaro addressed rumors about cuts to current audiovisual incentives in Mexico. Contrary to reports, the budgets for each of the three incentives – Fidecine, Foprocine and Eficine – have not been reduced as a result of the new
October 24, 2019 12:26PM PT Shoring up artistic director Orwa Nyrabia’s commitment to showcasing more women’s stories and platforming more women’s voices, IDFA has announced that this year’s festival features the highest percentage of female filmmakers in the event’s 31-year history: 64% of competition titles and 47% of the total program. “Reaching a fairer representation
“The King” has arrived. The final trailer for the Netflix original film, starring Timothee Chalamet as King Henry V, was released on Thursday. The trailer shows the young prince’s life among the “common people,” inebriated with his friend — knight Sir John Falstaff, played by Joel Edgerton. Following the death of his father King Henry
If you’ve ever wanted a mashup of Disney princess movies and “The Stepford Wives” or imagined “The Handmaid’s Tale” as a swoony YA fantasy, “Paradise Hills” is absolutely the movie for you. This first feature by young Spanish commercials director Alice Waddington expands upon the template of her well-traveled 2015 short “Disco Inferno” in offering
October 24, 2019 9:00AM PT A killer app kills in a horror melodrama even lamer than that sounds. Even the lowly jump scare can be a source of pleasure. But at its most mechanical, this least imaginative of stock devices in current horror cinema elicits less fright than annoyance — rather like a repetitive, low-level
Not long ago, it would have been difficult for Greek production outfit Heretic to board a project such as “Do Not Hesitate,” an ambitious, Afghanistan-set war drama that is partly being filmed on the island of Crete. But for Giorgos Karnavas, who is producing “Hesitate” alongside the Netherlands’ Lemming Film, the calculus has changed since
As they began preparing “The Trip to Greece,” the fourth installment in Michael Winterbottom’s acclaimed comedy franchise starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, the creative team returned to the time-tested formula that made the previous three chapters so successful: a combination of food, wanderlust and the comedians’ impeccable improv skills. But with Winterbottom insisting this
October 24, 2019 8:44AM PT “Vikings” star Alyssa Sutherland will lead the cast of upcoming action-thriller “Avarice.” The Australian actor will play Jane, a woman who must rescue her husband, a cryptocurrency specialist, after he is abducted by two ex-soldiers during a home invasion. Sutherland starred as Aslaug in History’s original drama series “Vikings.” She
Debut director Prateek Vats’ “Eeb Allay Ooo!”, a satirical social commentary revolving around a monkey wrangler in New Delhi, won three awards at the 21st edition of the Mumbai Film Festival, which concluded Thursday. The film won the Golden Gateway first prize in the festival’s India Gold competition, the best actor award for Shardul Bhardwaj,
A remarkable trove of cinematic riches from Ukraine, much of it rarely seen outside the country, is headlining several sections of the Ji.hlava docu fest this year, with especially strong showings in the Fascinations section, dedicated to experimental work. That genre has long been a signature element of Ji.hlava, which invariably screens experimental, essay and
October 24, 2019 8:01AM PT Taylor Kitsch will star in “Inferno,” Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming science-fiction thriller. AGC Studios has boarded the project and agreed to fully finance and produce the film. Blomkamp is best known for his Oscar-nominated debut “District 9.” He also oversaw “Elysium” and “Chappie,” both of which were less financially and critically
David Lisnard, the mayor of Cannes who is the driving force behind TV event Canneseries, has unveiled massive plans to revamp the city, including its Palais des Festivals, the main venue of the Cannes Film Festival and other entertainment gatherings such as Mipcom. Lisnard, who is currently campaigning for reelection next March, outlined the ambitious
Robert Redford will receive a career tribute during the 18th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival. The Marrakech festival will take place Nov. 29 to Dec. 7. As previously announced, Tilda Swinton to preside over the jury. Redford, one of the leading figures of contemporary cinema, said it was “a great honor to be
“Nina Wu,” a dark drama about the Asian film industry, sexual harassment, and one woman’s paranoia, will get a release in North American theaters in 2020. Rights to the Taiwanese-produced picture, which premiered at the Cannes festival in the Un Certain Regard section, were acquired by New York-based distributor Film Movement. The film was directed
Japanese prosecutors in the rape case against Hirofumi Arai have asked for a five-year prison sentence for the actor. They made the request was made at a public hearing Wednesday in the Tokyo District Court. Arai has pleaded innocent to charges that he sexually assaulted a woman sent to his residence from a massage service
October 23, 2019 7:25PM PT BoxOfficeMojo.com has been transformed into an IMDbPro site, losing some of its free features. The Amazon-owned site, which had previously operated free of charge, was given a new look with its header reading “Box Office Mojo by IMDb Pro.” Information such as breakdowns by genre is now only available behind
October 23, 2019 6:35PM PT Disney Plus has launched development of a sequel to 1993’s fantasy comedy “Hocus Pocus” with “Workaholics” writer and co-producer Jen D’Angelo on board to script. The original “Hocus Pocus” starred Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as a trio of witch sisters who have been cursed since 1693
October 23, 2019 6:26PM PT Variety has won two Eppy Awards from Editor & Publisher, including Best Digital Magazine and Best Collaborative Investigative/Enterprise Feature for “American (In)Justice” — a collaboration with fellow PMC property Rolling Stone. “American (In)Justice” also tied with USA Today’s “Copy, Paste, Legislate” collaboration with The Arizona Republic and the Center for
October 23, 2019 3:43PM PT Newcomer Jake Austin Walker is set to join Luke Wilson in the sports drama “12 Mighty Orphans.” The film from director Ty Roberts also stars Martin Sheen and Robert Duvall. Lane Garrison is adapting the script, which is based on the book by Jim Dent. Walker will play one of
Despite three new nationwide releases, domestic box office charts look to be dominated by holdovers — Warner Bros.’ “Joker” and Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” — during the last weekend in October. “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” debuted last weekend with $36 million in North America, enough to dethrone “Joker” after the super-villain origin story’s back-to-back
Clouds on the global economic horizon and disruption to the scheduling of the event, have done little to dampen the interest of foreign visitors to TIFFCOM, Japan’s biggest film and TV market. Especially those from China, says market head, Yasushi Shiina. The market is again running at the Sunshine City shopping, entertainment and business complex