June Harding, who starred in “The Trouble With Angels” and “The Richard Boone Show,” has died. She was 81. Harding died in hospice care in Deer Isle, Maine, on March 22, her brother, John, confirmed with the Richmond Times-Dispatch of Richmond, Va. The actress made her debut on Broadway in the comedy “Take Her, She’s
Movies
March 29, 2019 2:15PM PT “Eighth Grade” director Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, and Connie Britton have joined Carey Mulligan’s thriller “Promising Young Woman.” Other new cast members include Adam Brody, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Max Greenfield, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Sam Richardson, and Molly Shannon. The pic has started production in Los Angeles. Mulligan will play a
March 29, 2019 2:13PM PT The Writers Guild of America has blasted Endeavor, the parent of WME, over a report that it’s planning an initial public offering. “Today’s announcement that Endeavor plans to become a publicly-traded company only strengthens the call for the conflicted and illegal practices of the major talent agencies to end,” the
Tim Burton’s “Dumbo” is flying toward a $48 million opening weekend in North America, while the second session of Jordan Peele’s “Us” should take in about $32 million, early estimates showed on Friday. “Dumbo’s” launch is slightly lower than recent Disney forecasts for the live-action re-imagining of the 1941 animated movie. “Dumbo” earned $2.6 million
Weeks after generating controversy for discussing a past event in which he wanted to bait a black man into fighting him to avenge a recently raped friend, Liam Neeson has released an apology for the remarks. “Over the last several weeks, I have reflected on and spoken to a variety of people who were hurt
March 29, 2019 1:10PM PT Saban Films has acquired U.S. rights to Casey Affleck’s narrative feature debut, “Light of My Life.” The dystopian survival drama is written, directed by, and stars Affleck along with Anna Pniowsky (“PEN15”) and Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”). “Light of My Life” had its world premiere at last month’s Berlin
Until today, if you had asked me to name the greatest living filmmaker, I would have answered Agnès Varda. What a loss that the 90-year-old director — who died Friday, leaving behind such intimate masterpieces as “Cléo from 5 to 7,” “Vagabond,” and “The Gleaners and I” — will create no more. Her passing is
Can’t stop thinking about Elizabeth Holmes after watching HBO’s riveting documentary “The Inventor,” which exposed the Theranos scammer? Worry not, because come April, Hulu will be adding a slew of new titles to its slate, including “Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine” from the same director, Alex Gibney, and it’s sure to contain more
In the 20 years since its debut, Warner Bros.-Roadshow’s “The Matrix” has remained a major influence on countless action and sci-fi films. When it premiered in Los Angeles on March 24, 1999, producer Joel Silver described the film as “the first movie of the 21st century.” Variety also reported that Warner Bros. execs were “gleeful,
Perception matters. This is why the NAACP Image Awards has heralded the artistic achievements of people of color for 50 years. The award show’s milestone celebration airs March 30 on TV One with “Black-ish” star Anthony Anderson hosting for the sixth consecutive time. As for the emphasis on imagery, it’s a concept Frederick Douglass embraced
It’s no coincidence that the NAACP Image Awards are taking place a lot later than usual this year. Trumpeting its 50th anniversary, the organizers behind the broadcast say they wanted this year’s show to bask in its own spotlight away from other awards-season mainstays. This is worth noting because in past years, the Image Awards
In the history of motion-picture technology, few operators have had a more profound effect on camera movement than Garrett Brown. While dollies and cranes were Hollywood’s go-to platforms into the late ’60s, Brown’s ingenious camera rig — dubbed the Pole and later renamed Steadicam — started a photographic breakthrough that’s still growing 50 years later.
In a market where big screens for indies and foreign films are few and far between, these art houses are developing and serving local cinephile communities: AFS Cinema (Austin) Director Richard Linklater founded the Austin Film Society in the mid-’80s as an excuse to screen obscure classics. Thistwo-screen venue gives such films — plus worthy
Director Harmony Korine may have been wastin’ away again in Margaritaville when he came up with the idea for “The Beach Bum.” According to Jimmy Buffett, his songs “Margaritaville” and “A Pirate Looks at Forty” inspired the stoner comedy, and his friendship with Korine landed him a role in the film. “He was telling me
The new Sex Pistols film-in-the-making, news of which has punks young and old abuzz, has a name: “Only Anarchists Are Pretty.” The writer and producer of the project tell Variety that they are setting about getting the picture financed ahead of casting their Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten et al. Producer Ayesha Plunkett is making the
Tim Burton’s “Dumbo” has taken flight with an estimated $2.6 million in North America on Thursday night. It’s a similar figure to the $3 million earned by “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” during Thursday previews and the $2.1 million gross for “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.” Disney expects the live-action re-imagining
IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Lynn Shelton’s (“Humpday”) Alabama-set comedy “Sword of Trust” which world premiered at SXSW Film Festival where it earned a warm reviews. Co-written by Shelton and Mike O’Brien (“Saturday Night Live”), “Sword of Trust” follows Cynthia (Jillian Bell, “Rough Night”) and Mary (Michaela Watkins, “Wanderlust”) who show up
Agnès Varda, a leading light of the French New Wave who directed such films as “Cleo From 5 to 7,” “Vagabond” and “Faces Places,” has died. She was 90. Varda’s death from breast cancer at her Paris home was confirmed Friday by her family. “The filmmaker and artist Agnès Varda died from a cancer at
Celebrity scandals are hardly unusual in Japan – the weekly tabloids found in every convenience store dig up new ones for every issue. But the March 12 arrest of musician-actor Pierre Taki for cocaine possession sent larger than usual shock waves through the local entertainment industry. Two weeks later, they are still reverberating. A front
March 29, 2019 1:28AM PT Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s unstable mix of dark comedy, brutal thriller and Douglas Sirkian melodrama is shamelessly excessive but undeniably entertaining. Movies as diverse as “Short Cuts,” “Weekend at Bernie’s,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Magnolia” and “The Man Who Fell to Earth” are among the source material that inspire wink-wink allusions and tonal disruptions
“Unplanned” isn’t a good movie, but it’s effective propaganda — or, at least, it is if you belong to the group it’s targeting: those who believe that abortion in America, though a legal right, is really a crime. It’s hard to imagine the movie drawing many viewers outside that self-selected demographic. “Unplanned” preaches to the
Producer and director Greg Berlanti expressed sadness and anxiety over the fate of diverse storytelling in commercial movies, on the heels of Disney’s decision to close the Fox 2000 film label it acquired last week. Accepting the GLAAD Media award for best feature for his Fox 2000 film “Love, Simon” on Thursday night in Los
Taking a significant stand for acceptance and support of LGBTQIA people of color, pop icons Beyonce and Jay-Z accepted GLAAD Media’s Vanguard award on Thursday night in Los Angeles. Each a cultural monolith in their own right, the husband and wife team dubbed “the most powerful black people in the country” by presenter Lena Waithe
March 28, 2019 9:15PM PT This month’s FilMart rights market in Hong Kong was a busy one for South Korean indie sales house Finecut. It completed multiple license deals. Berlinale Panorama title “Idol” was acquired by New Select for Japan and Apex Success Global for Taiwan. Directed by indie sensation Lee Su-jin (“Han Gong-ju”,) the
In August 2018, Jakiw Palij — a former concentration camp guard identified as “the last known World War II Nazi living in the U.S.” — was deported to his homeland, fully 15 years after a federal court had stripped him of his citizenship. No country, not even Germany, wanted to accept him, and so he
Guillermo del Toro delved deep into his past Thursday to explain the profound hold that “Scary Stories in the Dark” has on him. “I basically was roaming through a bookstore, in San Antonio, Texas,” he said at a Hollywood event to launch the movie’s teaser trailer. “I was in my early teens, and I came
March 28, 2019 4:54PM PT The American Film Institute has received a $350,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a study on gender parity in the history of American film. The study has been named for director Lloyd Bacon’s lost 1928 film, “Women They Talk About,” a comedy starring Irene Rich and
March 28, 2019 4:23PM PT Justin Theroux and Pierce Brosnan have joined Ilana Glazer in A24’s latest horror film, “False Positive.” Zainab Jah, Gretchen Mol, Sophia Bush, and Josh Hamilton have also joined the ensemble cast. The pic is Glazer’s first film role following the end of her Comedy Central series “Broad City,” which wraps
SAG-AFTRA is supporting California Senate Bill 564, which bans the creation and dissemination of digitally created sex scenes and nude performances without consent. The legislation was introduced by Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) with input from SAG-AFTRA — in order to enhance performers’ protections when they are involved in sex scenes and their rights to control
March 28, 2019 1:38PM PT [embedded content] The first trailer for “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” was released on Thursday, giving fans an extended look at the upcoming film after unveiling a few macabre teasers during the Super Bowl earlier this year. The film follows a group of teenagers as they solve a