October 10, 2019 11:19AM PT [embedded content] Melora Walters’ “Drowning,” which has its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival, has debuted its first trailer. The film stars Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, Emmy winners Gil Bellows and Jay Mohr, and Walters, whose acting credits include “Magnolia,” Boogie Nights” and “Dead Poets Society.” The film tells
Movies
46 years on from its release, “The Exorcist” is not exactly a film that wants for analysis; it’s also not a film people are likely to stop analyzing any time soon. William Friedkin’s horror masterclass is, well, just that: one of its genre’s most irresistibly teachable works, with a clear, clean command of form and
Launched by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen as DreamWorks in 1994, DreamWorks Animation celebrates its silver anniversary, marking 25 years since embarking on its first voyage with the Academy Award-nominated biblical epic “The Prince of Egypt.” Since then, DreamWorks Animation has released 38 feature films, including the blockbuster “Shrek,” “Madagascar,” “Kung Fu Panda,”
The International Documentary Association has announced its shortlist for best feature, a category that includes “Apollo 11,” “American Factory,” “Diego Maradona,” “The Biggest Little Farm,” and the Aretha Franklin concert film “Amazing Grace.” The 2019 awards will be presented during a ceremony at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on Dec. 7. Up to 10 nominees
Amid the disruption and uncertainty wrought by Brexit and fears of a recession, the U.K.’s film and TV business continues to shrug off the jitters and provide the British economy with a much-needed boost. Figures issued Thursday by the U.K. Office for National Statistics show that, in the wider services sector, film and TV constitute
Joann Sfar, the French comic book artist and filmmaker, recently wrapped “Fashion Week,” a graphic novel inspired by the headline-making robbery of Kim Kardashian West in her Paris hotel room in 2016. Sfar is also developing a French film loosely based on the incident. Sfar is co-writing the script with Marion Festraëts (“Chefs”) and will
October 10, 2019 5:15AM PT The first footage from psychological thriller “Muscle” has dropped ahead of its world premiere Friday at the London Film Festival. Gerard Johnson’s feature, which is filmed entirely in black and white, is set in a testosterone-fueled world of hardcore gyms. It follows Simon (Cavan Clerkin), a directionless and unhappy office
Austrian writer Peter Handke, who helped pen the screenplay for Wim Wenders’ “Wings of Desire,” and Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, one of whose novels was adapted into the Berlinale film “Spoor,” have been named winners of the Nobel Prize for literature. Handke was awarded the prize for 2019, and Tokarczuk was retroactively named as the
The Hamptons Intl. Film Festival continues its 27-year run as a premier showcase for both contemporary global cinema and the most eagerly awaited awards season prestige movies. Unspooling among the tony beach towns of New York’s Long Island, it’s earned a reputation as a kind of East Coast Telluride. “It’s pretty busy,” says executive director
October 9, 2019 7:30PM PT Kajol, Tanvi Azmi and Mithila Palkar are confirmed to star in “Tribhanga,” a Mumbai-set drama for global streaming giant Netflix. The family-oriented story tracks back and forth through three generations of the same family, from the late 1980s to modern-day. The title is a reference to an Odissi dance pose
October 9, 2019 5:46PM PT There’s terror at sea but not much inspiration onscreen in this pedestrian horror thriller set on a haunted sailboat. When Emily Mortimer says, “Evil needs a body to exist. The body was that boat,” it’s just the first of numerous unsayable lines in “Mary.” This tale of nautical terror is
After a small group of students objected to a statue and exhibit honoring actor John Wayne, the USC School of Cinematic Arts has responded by hosting a discussion between the students and the school in hopes of finding solutions to concerns of racism. The conversation was ignited after USC film student Eric Plant displayed a
It’s been 20 years since Stephen Chbosky released his debut novel, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” to worldwide praise and adoration. He’s been busy since then — scripting the live-action “Beauty and Beast,” directing the adaptation of another beloved book “Wonder,” and even adapting “Perks” into an equally acclaimed feature film. But he always
In today’s film news roundup, “Just Mercy” is the closer for the Austin Film Festival, Tyler Christensen’s “Vulture” gets an award and Simon Helberg is cast opposite Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard in “Annette.” FILM FESTIVALS The Austin Film Festival will close with legal drama “Just Mercy,” starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx and Brie
Filmmaker and philanthropist Abigail Disney and industry veteran Adrienne Becker joined forces to launch the content studio Level Forward in early 2018 after they’d briefly paired up in an effort to buy Weinstein Co. out of the ashes of bankruptcy. Disney and Becker came to realize that they were kindred spirits in their interest in
“The more believable you can make the character [look], the more people believe how [it’s] feeling,” says Tony Smeed, who, with Becky Bresee, shared the challenge of heading animation on Disney’s highly anticipated “Frozen II.” “Emotion comes from inside and manifests itself into actions and facial expressions. Anything beyond that is movement for the sake
“Aquaman” star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has landed one of the lead roles in the latest installment in the “Matrix” franchise. Sources tell Variety that director Lana Wachowski met with actors for the secret role over the last week and in recent days, Abdul-Mateen emerged as the frontrunner to join Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, who
Long before the women of the Marvel Cinematic Universe joined forces for the epic female scene in “Avengers: Endgame, Marvel had expressed interest in an all-women Marvel mashup movie. But after uniting in battle in the finale of “Endgame,” fans have been asking when they’ll see the female movie hit theaters. Now, Brie Larson, one
The Woodstock Film Festival, New York’s self-declared “fiercely independent” weeklong cinema celebration, wrapped its 20th edition on October 6. Held within the welcoming milieu of the Hudson Valley, the forward-thinking gathering hosts films, panels, parties and award ceremonies not just in Woodstock, but also in neighboring towns Rosendale, Rhinebeck, Saugerties and Kingston. At the heart
MADRID — Already producing 34 scripted series, The Mediapro Studio is now entering second-phase growth, naming Laura Fernández Espeso to the newly-created post of corporate director and expanding other senior management positions to meet the market needs of one of the fastest-expanding scripted series producers in Europe. Announcement of the appointments comes as The Mediapro
October 9, 2019 3:24AM PT Sony has acquired international rights to Annie Silverstein’s featured debut “Bull” which world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section and went on to win three awards at Deauville. The deal with Sony was negotiated by London-based Constellation Film which represents the film in international
Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Festival has unveiled that a massive 40 aspiring feature film projects have been selected for its annual project market, the Film Project Promotion. A further 8 efforts will be presented in the work in progress section. The event runs Nov. 19-21 in Taipei. The winners will be announced at a closing ceremony
Oscar-winning Indian composer A.R. Rahman (“Slumdog Millionaire”) is now in post-production with his directorial debut “Le Musk.” The film is a multi-sensory Virtual Reality experience, with haptic touch experiences and a sense of smell. Rahman developed the story from an original idea by his wife Sairaa and directed from a screenplay by Gurachi Phoenix, besides
October 8, 2019 10:02PM PT Singapore studio MM2 Asia and Fox Networks Group Asia are producing “Memory Eclipse,” a mini-series and movie inspired by the classic Chinese songs of Teresa Teng. Teng was a Taiwan-born singer who was said to be have the best voice of her generation in Chinese. She also recorded in English
It’s never a surprise to learn that the Internet has upended a business, or an entire industry. But in the lovely and wistful documentary “The Booksellers,” we hear one telling illustration of how the online universe has revolutionized the world of vintage books, and it’s an object lesson so fraught with irony that it’s a
Six years have passed since fans said goodbye to Jesse Pinkman, but “El Camino: A ‘Breaking Bad’ Movie” has come knocking at the door. “It was a family reunion of sorts. It was revisiting an old, dear, close friend of mine with zipping on Jesse Pinkman again. It was odd but very familiar,” star Aaron
They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky, they’re all together ooky — but can “The Addams Family” give “Joker” a run for its money at the domestic box office? MGM’s animated comedy about the notorious macabre kin is debuting in theaters this weekend alongside Paramount’s “Gemini Man,” an action thriller directed by Ang Lee
October 8, 2019 3:00PM PT Kirsten Dunst is in final negotiations to join Benedict Cumberbatch in Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog.” Dunst is replacing Elisabeth Moss, who was forced to drop out of the movie due to scheduling conflicts with her Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Netflix acquired the pic this summer from
October 8, 2019 2:49PM PT The AFI Fest has set Nov. 20 for the world premiere of Warner Bros.’ biopic “Richard Jewell,” directed and produced by Clint Eastwood. The gala will take place at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Eastwood is an American Film Institute Life Achievement Award recipient. “Clint Eastwood is an American
October 8, 2019 2:28PM PT “Hamilton” star Daveed Diggs is in talks to play Sebastian in Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid.” Halle Bailey will portray the Ariel, a mermaid princess who dreams of being a human, while Melissa McCarthy is playing her evil aunt Ursula. Javier Bardem is on board to play King