As Brazil falls heedlessly into far-right political clutches, the liberal message of Gustavo Steinberg, Gabriel Bitar and André Catoto’s ravishing animated feature “Tito and the Birds” turns out to be more unhappily timely than its makers would have hoped: Put simply, a society gripped by fear will never take flight. If the boy-against-the-world allegory carrying this
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If American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to be taken at his word, the Asia Society’s U.S.-China Entertainment Summit taking place Tuesday in Los Angeles could be a short meeting. Pompeo this week said that the U.S. would oppose China “at every turn.” Janet Yang, noted producer, and chair of the summit, says there
“The Predator” opened on top of the Chinese box office after a gap of some seven weeks for a Hollywood movie. But its $19.5 million haul was indicative of a continuation of the recent slump in theatrical takings in the Middle Kingdom. Another newcomer, Chinese animated romance, “Crystal Sky of Yesterday” took second place with
“Halloween” continues to cash in on the spooky holiday spirit, leading the international box office with $25 million from 62 territories overseas. Universal and Blumhouse’s R-rated thriller also made a killing in North America where it came in at No. 1 with $32 million. Director David Gordon Green’s film — starring Jamie Lee Curtis as
“Suspiria” bewitched the indie box office, nabbing the best screen average of the year. Luca Guadagnino’s arthouse remake of “Suspiria” summoned $179,806, an especially impressive haul considering the horror film opened in just two locations. That averages out to a massive $89,903 per venue. “Suspiria” played at Regal Union Square in New York and Arclight Hollywood in Los
“Halloween” easily stayed No. 1 at the domestic box office in its second weekend as the spooky holiday nears. Universal and Blumhouse’s slasher film starring Jamie Lee Curtis picked up another $32 million, marking a 58% decline from its impressive debut. Directed by David Gordon Green, “Halloween” crossed $100 million on Friday. Holdovers “A Star
MADRID — Making good on the largely overlooked achievement of debut feature “The Demons,” Québécois Philippe Lesage’s “Genesis” swept the 63rd Valladolid Intl. Film Festival, winning its top Golden Spike, director and actor on Saturday. One of Spain’s top three or four festivals, and a bastion of auteur cinema, Valladolid closed its official section Friday
British filmmaker Sean McAllister is probably better known around the world than he is in his homeland, scoring big international hits with thoughtful and insightful character sketches such as 2015’s “A Syrian Love Story” and the Sundance Special Jury Prize winner “The Liberace of Baghdad” (2005). But the amazing thing is not that the director
The Ji.hlava docu fest is known for its embrace of new technologies, trends and platforms, so this year’s launch of an online section, Short Joy, with Internet viewers acting as jury, surely fits the fest profile. About 2,000 viewers screened the 24 shorts in the curated program on DAFilms.com, the online streaming source for hundreds
When it comes to documentary, there are few subjects as thorny as pornography, and for his latest film, Portuguese director Jorge Pelicano has chosen something even thornier – the sometimes fraught relationship between a gay male porn actor and his mother. Titled “Until Porn Do Us Part,” the film tells the story of Eulália, a
Comedians and satirists have been thoroughly challenged in the age of Trump, says Mike Bonanno of the Yes Men, the prankster duo who have sent up corporate greed and government injustice since the 90s by impersonating members of elite power structures. “The challenge is how to work with humor in this moment,” he told
In “Alt-Right: Age of Rage,” screening at the Ji.hlava doc fest, director Adam Bhala Lough takes on the machinations of white power leader Richard Spencer, balancing his philosophies against the views of Daryle Lamont Jenkins – a spokesperson for the anti-fascist movement Antifa – who has tirelessly exposed the group who led the Charlottesville march
To put it mildly, Werner Herzog has his own take on things, so it comes as no surprise that one of the most recent projects by the prolific international director does not follow the rules of normal political biography. Over a six-month period, and without a prepared script, Herzog conducted three interviews with former Soviet
October 27, 2018 9:12AM PT The myriad offscreen woes experienced by this controversial, expensive Chinese WW2 action epic overshadow the hectic, jumbled onscreen result. Few films can claim a bumpier, more public production ride or worse crash landing than “Air Strike,” purportedly the most costly Chinese feature ever when it was shot — which was
If the 18 participants selected to take part in the Emerging Producers program of the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival aren’t entirely sure what to expect from this year’s edition, they’re not alone. “I don’t know how to define it,” says Italian producer Paolo Benzi, who along with Irena Taskovski is tutoring the group. Over
Jamie Lee Curtis’ “Halloween” is dominating the pre-Halloween box office with an impressive $30.5 million at 3,990 North American sites. Universal’s R-rated slasher movie — a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s original 1978 movie with Curtis’ Laurie Strode again facing off against serial killer Michael Myers — crossed the $100 million mark on Friday, its
Eighteen documentary films from Central and Eastern Europe will take part this week in Between the Seas, a competition section at the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival, including a host of world premieres from emerging and established filmmakers. “It’s very rare to have this type of program focusing on [Central and] Eastern Europe,” said festival
MORELIA, Mexico – Cinepolis CEO Alejandro Ramirez, who presides over the second largest exhibition circuit in the world in terms of admissions, declined to comment on the ongoing controversy swirling around Saudi Arabia and its embattled Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS. The Crown Prince has been tainted by the disappearance and
MORELIA, Mexico — In 2010, Switzerland’s Locarno Festival, Europe’s biggest mid-summer movie event, held its inaugural Locarno Academy with the intent to develop emerging industry talents from multiple industry disciplines such as sales, distribution, exhibition and production. In 2014, Morelia became the first festival to partner with the Academy for what has since become a
In an ongoing series, Variety profiles 10 emerging Mexican women filmmakers. Putting Betzabé Garcia on a list of up-and-coming Mexican female directors is problematic. Garcia doesn’t identify as or believe in the binary gender system used to qualify such a list, but here we are, and it would be criminal not to recognize the filmmaker
Principal photography is about to begin on “Collision,” a new feature by Denmark’s Avaz brothers, who were among Variety’s 10 Europeans to Watch in 2018. Produced by the trio’s Rocket Road Pictures and Kim Magnusson, along with Nordisk Film, the drama explores a family’s struggles to stay together after tragedy strikes. The cast includes leading Danish
On the news that FilmStruck has been struck down, fans — including Hollywood directors Barry Jenkins, Guillermo del Toro and Rian Johnson — vented their shock, sadness and anger on social media. FilmStruck will cease operations on Nov. 29 after two years in operation, Turner and Warner Bros. Digital Networks announced Friday. The move comes amid
China’s Dalian Wanda group has denied reports that it is seeking to sell a minority stake in Legendary Entertainment, the production company behind “Pacific Rim” and the revived “Godzilla” and “Jurassic World” franchises. The Reuters news agency reported on Friday that the beleaguered Chinese group was exploring the possibility of selling a minority stake in
Emilia Clarke may play one of the fiercest and most intense characters on television as Daenerys Targaryen on “Game of Thrones,” but it took a bit of silliness to help her land the job. While presenting Clarke with the Britannia Awards for British Artist of the Year on Friday night at the British Academy Britannia
MORELIA — At Friday night’s closing ceremony for the Morelia Film festival, winners of this year’s Impulso Morelia, the Works in Progress section of the fest, handed out awards to a handful of projects screened from Wednesday through Friday. This year’s Impulso Morelia jury consisted of Bafta Nominee and César winning filmmaker Nicolas Philibert (“To
Lila Avilés snagged the top prize at Friday night’s Morelia Intl. Film Festival closing ceremony with her debut feature, “The Chambermaid” (“La Camarista”), which world premiered at Toronto. It also took the Warrior of the Press award. “Llegamos! Llegamos!” (“We made it! We made it!”), screamed Avilés all the way from her seat to the
Despite waves of critical adulation in the wake of its Venice Film Festival premiere two months ago, Alfonso Cuarón’s latest film “Roma” — the director’s most personal work to date — admittedly has a few on-paper hurdles to clear on its way to potential Oscar glory. First, it’s a foreign-language film; only 10 such films
“A Bread Factory,” written and directed by Patrick Wang, is a drama that tickles your spirit in a special, buoyant way. It’s set in the small town of Checkford, N.Y. (it was shot in the picturesque historical village of Hudson), and though Wang has conceived the film as an epic — it’s four hours long,
Seth Rogen and Michael Keaton will star in “King of the Jungle,” a comedy about the true story of tech magnate John McAfee. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (“I Love You Phillip Morris”) are directing from a script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, based on the Joshua Davis Wired magazine article “John McAfee’s Last
Boba Fett is no longer getting his own spinoff movie. News emerged in May that Disney and Lucasfilm had been developing a “Star Wars” standalone movie centered on the bounty hunter Boba Fett from “Logan” director James Mangold — although the project was never officially announced. Variety has learned that Lucasfilm is no longer developing