“This plays like a penny whistle jammed up an orangutan’s butt.” Lines like that come easy to English writer-director Chris Morris, whose satirical sensibility has made him one of “Veep” creator Armando Iannucci’s inner-circle collaborators and a bit of a controversy magnet in his own right. Remember “Four Lions,” the unapologetically offensive 2010 comedy about
Movies
SAN SEBASTIAN — In a surprise – it had hardly figured in Spanish critics’ prize predictions – “Pacified,” directed by Texan Paxton Winters, won San Sebastian’s Golden Shell, the festival’s top award, on Saturday night. A Brazilian produced movie turning on a troubled favela-set father-daughter relationship, it snagged best actor (Bukassa Kabengele) and cinematography (Laura
September 28, 2019 12:18PM PT “The Fast and the Furious” director Rob Cohen has been accused of sexual assault. According to a report in HuffPost published Saturday, Cohen allegedly sexually assaulted an unnamed victim — given the name Jane in the article to protect her anonymity — while she was unconscious. The reported assault occurred
With a quick joke and a plea to let his film stand alone as art, director Todd Philips unveiled “Joker” to an audience of executives and glitterati at the film’s buzzed-about Hollywood premiere. Forgoing the usual introduction of cast and producers, Phillips made a quip to the audience at Los Angeles’ TCL Chinese Theater: “If
Even with its three hour run time and a short 26 days in theaters, Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” is likely to be a major contender at the Oscars. The 57th New York Film Festival opened on Friday night with the world premiere of the epic real-life mob drama. Scorsese and his all-star cast, including Robert
“Abominable” is edging out its box office competition, following $5.69 million in Friday’s domestic ticket sales. If estimates hold, the DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studio’s co-production should take home around $20 million come Sunday — the biggest opening for an original animated film this year and only the third original film to open at No.
Germany’s Amusement Park Film is developing an English-language remake of the French-Italian movie “Les Aventuriers,” with Edward Berger on board to direct, and “Next Door,” a Berlin-set dark comedy that will mark the directorial debut of actor Daniel Bruhl. Berger, who is known for helming “Deutschland 83″ and Benedict Cumberbatch-starrer “Patrick Melrose,” is co-developing the
Robert De Niro was not afraid to express his support for the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. “I hope he gets impeached, it has to be followed through,” De Niro told Variety’s Marc Malkin at the New York premiere for the Netflix film “The Irishman.” “He’s such a low life… He taints everybody around him.”
September 27, 2019 6:23PM PT In today’s film news roundup, David Straithairn gets cast as an alcoholic, “Parasite” gets a beer and the Other Israel Film Festival sets its opener and closer. CASTING David Strathairn is joining Bradley Cooper in Guillermo del Toro’s remake of the film noir “Nightmare Alley” for Fox Searchlight. The production
Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” is a coldly enthralling, long-form knockout — a majestic Mob epic with ice in its veins. It’s the film that, I think, a lot us wanted to see from Scorsese: a stately, ominous, suck-in-your-breath summing up, not just a drama but a reckoning, a vision of the criminal underworld that’s rippling
Apple has charted the first round of release dates for its original film slate — which includes the tech giant’s grand entrance into American movie theaters. With the help of three boutique distribution companies, Apple will be taking titles including Anthony Mackie’s “The Banker,” Minhal Baig’s “Hala” and the buzzy wildlife doc “The Elephant Queen”
Animated adventure film “Abominable” is heading for a moderate but dominant $18 million opening weekend at 4,242 North American sites, early estimates showed on Friday. The second weekend of Focus Features’ “Downton Abbey” is leading the rest of the pack with about $14 million, which will give the big-screen version of the British TV drama
Warner Bros. Entertainment has restricted access for print and broadcast journalists from the red carpet at the upcoming U.S. premiere of “Joker.” The event, which will take place on Saturday in Hollywood at the famous TCL Chinese Theatre, will now only allow photographers access to talent and filmmakers. Expected attendees include Joaquin Phoenix, director Todd
Rudy Behlmer, author of “Memo From David O. Selznick” and nearly a dozen other film-history books, died Friday at his home in Studio City, Calif. He was 92. Behlmer was among the most widely respected historians of Golden Age Hollywood, in part because of his insistence upon researching “primary source material” and not relying on
September 27, 2019 11:09AM PT Warner Bros. has given Clint Eastwood’s biopic “Richard Jewell” an awards season release date of Dec. 13. The film stars Paul Walter Hauser as the real-life security guard whose life turned chaotic after he was listed as a possible suspect in the Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics
SAN SEBASTIAN — Blessed by sun, a steady sustenance of Donostia winning stars and a stream of production announcements, the San Sebastian Film Festival rounded its final bend on Friday after a robust 67th edition. San Sebastian’s status as the highest-profile movie event in the Spanish-speaking world remains unquestioned. The maelstrom of change – imminent
Paul Hudson’s Outsider Pictures has acquired North American rights excluding Quebec to “Divine Love,” Brazilian Gabriel Mascaro’s Sundance hit which paints a prescient picture of a near-future faith dominated Brazil. Outsider is planning a Spring 2020 release for the film. Set in a supposedly near-future brazil, the relevance of the film was felt with force
September 27, 2019 9:27AM PT “Bumblebee” director Travis Knight will take the reins on Sony’s “Uncharted,” with Tom Holland attached to star. The studio announced the move on Friday, a month after disclosing that Dan Trachtenberg had exited the director’s chair. Production will start early next year. It also said at that point that Sony-based
SAN SEBASTIAN — A Mexican co-production between Astrid Rondero’s Corpulenta Producciones and Jack Zagha’s Avanti Pictures, “Non Distinguishing Features” took the main prize at San Sebastian’s Films in Progress section, its pix-in-post competition. The award: Post-production of the film and its distribution in Spain. An alumna of Mexico’s prestigious Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC) film school,
Musso & Frank Grill has catered to Hollywood players for 100 years and the venerable establishment is celebrating its centennial anniversary on Sept. 27. A book about the restaurant will be released. The Hollywood Award of Excellence, the first of its kind for a restaurant, will be presented by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Musso’s
Afghanistan has chosen Sahraa Karimi’s “Hava, Maryam, Ayesha” as its entry for the newly re-branded international feature film award at the 92nd Academy Awards, it was announced Friday. The film is the story of three Afghan women from different social backgrounds who live in Kabul and are facing big challenges in their lives. Hava, a traditional
After briefly breaking up, Sony Pictures and Marvel have found a way to get back in the Spider-Man business together. On Friday, the two companies jointly announced that Marvel Studios and its president, Kevin Feige, will produce the third film in the “Spider-Man: Homecoming” series. It will once again feature Tom Holland reprising his role
Animated adventure film “Abominable” has launched with a moderate $650,000 in Thursday night preview showings at 2,950 North American sites. “Abominable,” produced by Universal’s DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studios, has been forecast to take in as much as $20 million this weekend when it expands to 4,242 locations. The film centers on the relationship between
SAN SEBASTIAN — Having scored a career high with “Truman” and Canneseries-selected “Felix,” director Cesc Gay, one of Spain’s most popular cross-over auteurs, is re-teaming with long-time producer Marta Esteban, as well as distributor Filmax for “Sentimental,” Gay’s first studio stage film. Gay’s producer of near 20 years standing, Esteban will produce her eighth title
In today’s film news roundup, Kristen Stewart’s “Seberg” is getting a prime release date from Amazon and John Simmons, Debra Kaufman and Joe Alves have been selected for guild honors. RELEASE DATE Amazon Studios has given Kristen Stewart’s independent political thriller “Seberg” an awards-season release date of Dec. 13. Amazon bought the film at the
The LAPD plans to increase its visibility at theaters when “Joker” opens next week, amid heightened law enforcement concern about the violent Warner Bros. film. The department said it has not received any specific threats about the movie, but encouraged moviegoers to be vigilant. “The Los Angeles Police Department is aware of public concerns and
September 26, 2019 1:27PM PT Singapore has chosen Yeo Siew Hua’s “A Land Imagined” as its entry to the international feature film category at the Oscars. The film follows a construction worker from China who goes missing at a Singapore land reclamation site, and an insomniac police investigator who is on the case. It bowed
“The Blackcoat’s Daughter” director Osgood Perkins has signed on to write and direct the supernatural thriller “Incident at Fort Bragg” for Lionsgate. The project is inspired by the true story of Irish priest Malachi Martin, who was brought in by the U.S. government to perform a sanctioned exorcism on a young soldier at Fort Bragg,
Natalie Portman has a long history with space. She’s been to a galaxy far, far away in “Star Wars,” traveled between worlds for “Thor,” and now she’s playing an astronaut in “Lucy in the Sky.” But first, she had to put on the spacesuit. “It was really complicated. I was shocked at how many people
Finn Wittrock and Zoe Chao have signed on to star in the independent romance drama “Long Weekend” from writer-director Steve Basilone. The cast includes Damon Wayans, Jr., Casey Wilson, Wendy McLendon-Covey and Jim Rash. Wittrock plays a struggling writer, with Chao as an enigmatic woman who suddenly enters his life. Wayans Jr. and Wilson portray