BERLIN — Wide has closed deals in major territories for two Berlinale players, Alexander Gorchilin’s dark Russian drama “Acid,” which screened in Panorama, and Tamer Jandali’s “Easy Love,” which opened the Perspektive Deutsches Kino program. “Acid” (pictured) is the gritty directorial debut of Gorchilin, a 26-year-old Russian theater actor and protégé of celebrated filmmaker Kirill
Movies
BERLIN — Verida is a modern girl who works in a beauty salon, stays glued to social media, and gossips with her friends. But she’s engaged to be married to a man she’s never met, and like many girls her age in modern-day Mauritania, she’s forced to gain weight to meet the demands of a
February 12, 2019 7:57PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the TV advertising attention analytics company iSpot.tv, DreamWorks Animation claims the top spot in spending with “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.” Ads placed for the fantasy film had an estimated media value of $7.98 million
Perhaps the last thing one would expect, in a film that, among other things, playfully weighs the artistic expressiveness of cinema against that of literature, is for the film to come down pretty definitively on the side of the written word. But that is just one of the mischiefs that Peter Parlow’s 76-minute lower-than-lo-fi “The
Spike Lee has tapped Chadwick Boseman to star in his next film, “Da 5 Bloods.” Netflix is in talks to distribute the movie, with Delroy Lindo and Jean Reno also in negotiations to star. Lee will also write the film with Kevin Willmott, based on an original screenplay by Danny Bilson & Paul DeMeo, and rewrite
The most daring stylistic flourish in Esther Rots’ forensically first-person, raw-nerve drama seems at first like a mistake. Over crisp images of a happy Dutch family — bearded Dad, his pregnant, laughing wife and their blond, tousle-haired daughter driving around in a well-kitted-out camper van — a baritone sings a comic operetta, in English, about
It’s an amazing time for documentaries — in fact, there are so many looks into fascinating lives and subjects out there right now that it’s hard to keep track of them all. The brilliant, complicated life and legacy shown in “Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable,” which premiered at SXSW last year, is as compelling
The Oscars have stepped in it again. On Tuesday, Hollywood filmmakers and leading craftspeople roundly condemned a decision by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to hand out four awards during commercial breaks. The hope is that will trim the show’s run time and keep it to a relatively brisk three hours. Nominees
It could be anybody’s game this weekend at the domestic box office. A trio of new releases — Fox’s “Alita: Battle Angel,” Universal’s “Happy Death Day 2U,” and Warner Bros. and New Line’s “Isn’t It Romantic” — will be vying for box office glory. All three are getting a head start on a busy holiday frame,
February 12, 2019 2:05PM PT The president of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has slammed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its decision to not televise the best cinematography Oscar and three other awards. Kees van Oostrum issued the condemnation of the decision Tuesday in a letter to members, a day
Of course a filmmaker of André Téchiné’s standing doesn’t simply “toss off” a feature, but it remains dispiriting that a director who can make emotionally trenchant movies — including the recent success “Being 17” — is also able to turn out duds like “Farewell to the Night.” Though “based on an original idea,” there’s very
As the profile of music supervision has risen over the past decade, so has the growth of the Guild of Music Supervisors, which hands out its annual awards in 18 categories on Feb. 13 at the Ace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. In addition to recognizing those who soundtrack our favorite movies, shows and games,
Every awards season is basically the same, but always includes a few unique exceptions. One of those is Universal-Participant’s “Green Book.” The film has won major prizes (Golden Globe, Producers Guild, National Board of Review, Toronto Fest’s People’s Choice Award) and yet no film has been more beaten up, online and in the mainstream media.
“I obviously misspoke in that situation,” Rebel Wilson told Variety at the premiere of her latest film “Isn’t It Romantic” Monday, acknowledging the gaffe in which she claimed to be the first-ever plus-sized woman to star in a romantic comedy during an October appearance on “Ellen.” Following the comment, Wilson was met with criticism from Twitter
Acorn TV has acquired exclusive North American rights to two new spinoff titles of hit Australian period series “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.” Feature film “Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears” and spinoff series “Ms. Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries” will debut in North America on the AMC-owned streaming service later this year, with the feature
Halle Berry wasn’t immediately sold on the idea of a “Boomerang” reboot. The 1992 romantic comedy, which starred Berry, Eddie Murphy, and Robin Givens, told the tale of cocky ad executive and insatiable ladies’ man Marcus (Murphy) who meets his match in his new boss Jacqueline (Givens) — an exec who treats him the same
Wes Anderson seems to love talking animals. So much so that he has made not one, but two, stop-motion movies starring verbal animals: first, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” which featured the voice of George Clooney in the title role, followed by the endlessly eccentric “Isle of Dogs.” This delightful outing opens with a card that
It’s easy to get struck by a moment, especially when they’re as vibrant, deep and emotional as some of the defining moments in this year’s Oscar nominees for the animated feature. Whether it’s battling super villains, traveling through time, searching through dangerous but brave new worlds or hopping through a multitude of dimensions, the filmmakers
February 12, 2019 10:01AM PT Chris Evans is in talks to star in director Antoine Fuqua’s past-lives drama “Infinite” for Paramount Pictures. “Infinite” will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian at Di Bonaventura Pictures, and John Zaozirny. Rafi Crohn is the exec producer. John Lee Hancock and Ian Shorr are adapting D.
Some of the year’s most-anticipated sequels dominate 2019’s animated feature release slate, and are already adding heat to the race for next year’s Oscars. Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” and Disney’s “Frozen 2” are as close to sure-fire commercial hits as they come. Both franchises, however, bring with them the kind of sky-high expectations in which
Two years ago, “Happy Death Day” was built around a stunt so gimmicky but surefire — a masked-killer horror scenario that repeats over and over again, with variations, like a slasher-film version of “Groundhog Day” — that it seemed almost remarkable no one had ever tried it before. The feisty sorority-girl heroine, named Tree, woke
February 12, 2019 9:51AM PT Former Sony Entertainment chief Michael Lynton is joining the Warner Music board of directors as non-executive chairman, a source close to the situation confirmed to Variety. The news was first reported by Music Business Worldwide. The decision was ratified at a board meeting before during Grammy week, the source said;
It’s hard not to notice shared themes in this year’s animated short film nominees: the emotional lives of women, life in Toronto, difficult family relations, and two films featuring parents who literally eat their children. Big visuals have swayed voters’ favor, often — though not always — to the benefit of studio-backed shorts including “Bao.” But
The producers of the Oscars are hellbent on delivering a show that’s no longer than three hours. With any eye towards tightening the running time, producers have decided to relegate certain categories such as best cinematography to commercial breaks. They’ve told winners that they have 90 seconds from the moment their name is called to
February 12, 2019 3:10AM PT Amazon Prime Video has inked a major deal with Italy’s Leone Film Group, giving the streaming giant full exclusive Italian pay-TV rights to all of Leone’s local releases for the next 30 months. The growing distribution-production company originally founded by spaghetti Western master Sergio Leone has output deals for Italy
Constantin CEO Martin Moszkowicz called the fast and far-reaching changes sweeping across the film and TV industries an “El Dorado” for producers, as increasing competition from new and established players creates soaring demand for fresh content. “There’s going to be more competition from the buyers’ side. There’s going to be more product needed,” he said.
February 12, 2019 1:48AM PT The fourth and (for now) final screen adaptation of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s hugely popular “Department Q” mysteries is a lurid high-gloss potboiler. Already the highest-grossing Danish film ever — with each of its predecessors following closely behind — “The Purity of Vengeance” is the fourth adaptation of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s hugely popular
February 12, 2019 1:07AM PT A shipwreck survivor’s stay on a tropical island is less than idyllic in this well-crafted if unmemorable old-school creature feature. Stripped-down creature feature “Sweetheart” stars Kiersey Clemons (“Dope,” “Transparent”) as a shipwreck survivor on an uninhabited island that unfortunately turns out to have one frequent, unfriendly, nonhuman visitor. The sparing
February 12, 2019 1:01AM PT An elderly art dealer’s attempt at a final career coup drives this low-key but effective drama about a curmudgeon redeemed. After successfully collaborating on 2015’s fact-inspired “The Fencer,” Finnish director Klaus Haro and scenarist Anna Heinamaa reteam for another low-key wade into feel-good dramatic terrain with “One Last Deal.” This
Pluto TV is further extending its movie offering in Britain by launching a streaming platform, Pluto TV Indies, dedicated to independent films, arthouse award-winners, film festival circuit highlights, world cinema, and theatrical documentaries. The company plans to launch an additional Pluto TV World Cinema in the second quarter of 2019. “At Pluto TV we are