Movies

In his new documentary “Superpower,” Sean Penn assesses Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia and the meaning of the word “freedom” in a world gone mad. He’s also revisits his own past with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, a moment that Penn calls a dark memory from decades before he would meet up with embattled Ukrainian president

Fremantle has acquired the global distribution rights for epilepsy-themed feature documentary “Sisters Interrupted.” Directed by Caroline Sharp, the film reveals the hidden world of epilepsy – a life-threatening seizure condition that affects 50 million people worldwide. It follows British sisters Chelsea and Tamsin Leyland as they both battle forms of epilepsy and together fight for

The 31st edition of London’s Raindance Film Festival will open with the U.K. premiere of British actor Jack Huston’s directorial debut “Day of the Fight.” The film comes to Raindance fresh off its Venice debut, where Huston was honored by Variety as a breakthrough director. The story of a once-renowned boxer who takes a redemptive

Nicola Maccanico, a former Warner Bros. and Sky Italia senior exec, has been spearheading the radical overhaul of Rome’s Cinecittà Studios since June 2021, when the government-owned facilities secured a multi-million dollar loan provided by the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund to upgrade and expand the iconic facilities. Under Maccanico’s watch, the studios – which now

At its latest edition, which takes place parallel to the Helsinki Intl. Film Festival — Love & Anarchy, the Finnish Film Affair will again host its well-received Nordic Flair training program, an initiative designed to offer career development for film professionals from across the Nordic region. After a 2022 edition that focused on sales agents,

Organizers of the San Sebastian Film Festival said on Wednesday that they would proceed with scheduled screenings of the film “No Me Ilame Ternera,” despite calls for it to be withdrawn. According to objectors the film has connections to terrorism. Festival organizers said that they were aware of – but had not received – a

Jazz and animation make for strong bedfellows in “They Shot the Piano Player,” a film from Spanish directors Fernando Treuba and Javier Mariscal that represents an intriguing hybrid in all sorts of ways. It’s a love letter to the bossa nova movement that peaked in the 1960s, while at the same time it’s a sobering

Want to grab dinner with Bob Odenkirk or a Hawaiian shirt signed by Weird Al? Well, now’s your chance. The Union Solidarity Coalition, an organization founded this year by Hollywood writers and directors, is auctioning off a host of film and TV memorabilia along with in-person hang outs with stars. The auction is designed to

Fresh off the world premiere of her last directorial effort, “Priscilla,” at the Venice Film Festival (where star Cailee Spaeny won best actress), Sofia Coppola joined Rolling Stone to reflect on the 20th anniversary of her beloved “Lost in Translation.” Coppola, whose script for “Lost in Translation” won the Oscar for original screenplay, partly used

Nicolas Cage is one of the most admired actors in the world, and given the lore surrounding his unique personality and spectrum of roles, ranging from award-winning to eccentric, he’s always a point of interest in Hollywood. In the upcoming film “The Retirement Plan,” debuting theatrically on Sept. 15, Cage plays a retired government assassin

After more than four months on strike, many showrunners are getting restless. Writers Guild of America leaders are fielding a stepped-up volume of inquiries from prominent members who are frustrated with the duration of the work stoppage and looking to understand the guild’s strategy in engaging with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

“Wonka” director Paul King worked with Hugh Grant on “Paddington 2,” but he knew getting the actor to play an Oompa Loompa in the upcoming Warner Bros. musical would take extra convincing. So King wrote Grant a letter in which he said the actor was great at playing “washed-up old hams,” which is exactly what

In Polish actor-turned-filmmaker Kasia Smutniak’s documentary “Walls,” she undertakes an uncertain and risky journey into the red zone — a dangerous strip of land in Poland that runs parallel to the Belarus border. Crossing the long border is a 115-mile steel barricade built to repel migrants from entering the European Union in search of refuge.

Gordon Proudfoot was both a lawyer and a disc jockey. Before the internet provided quick answers to almost any kinds of questions, Gordon ran an on-air “dial-a-law” segment where listeners could call him with legal queries about car accidents or whatever trouble they may have gotten into. So, when Gordon died in May 2020, his

The 24th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) has unveiled its lineup for this year’s festival, taking place Oct. 12-19. It includes 91 films from 19 countries, including 14 world premieres. In addition, the festival has announced several special events open to attendees. Some of the buzziest film titles include three offerings from Netflix: “May

Longtime Google executive Tim Carter has joined the artificial intelligence company Flawless as head of its Artistic Rights Treasury group. The recently-announced division (A.R.T.) is a rights management platform for creative industries looking to advance with the use of AI, while still respecting creators and asset holders. Carter will be named vice president of ecosystems,

Jonathan Demme’s classic Talking Heads concert film “Stop Making Sense” returned to theaters for its 40th anniversary and became Imax’s highest-grossing live event. The film earned $640,839 and sold out 25 screens across 165 Imax locations in North America, according to the company. All things considered, this is a pretty niche record within Imax. The

Martin Scorsese is on the cover of Time magazine ahead of the release of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and he briefly opened up on the film’s extensive rewrites. “Flower Moon” is based on David Grann’s 2017 non-fiction book about the FBI’s investigation into a string of murders among the Osage Nation in the early

Elysian Film Group, Anonymous Content and Bleecker Street have jointly acquired the U.K. rights to “The Boy and the Heron,” the first film from legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki in a decade. Elysian Film Group will release the film in U.K. cinemas later this year. “The Boy and the Heron” premiered to strong reviews at this year’s

Chris Keyser, a tuxedoed 23-year-old, stood at a lectern at the Oxford Union to defend the moral superiority of the United States over the Soviet Union. It was 1984. Keyser, now a leader of the Writers Guild of America strike, was then a Harvard Law student. He was also a seasoned debater, often taking the

A new study has found that women directors are getting more screentime at festivals than ever before. Though the gap still exists between major studio films by male and female directors, the space in between continues to shrink, and in some areas, has disappeared entirely in regards to independent films at festivals. In the wider

Italian producer and director Ginevra Elkann, whose delicate first feature “If Only” opened the 2019 Locarno fest garnering critical praise, is at the Toronto Film Festival with her tonally different follow-up, “I Told You So.” The movie features a group made up mostly of women who are having a mental meltdown amid an unprecedented January

In response to the rise of antisemitic tropes in mainstream pop culture, the Anti-Defamation League has launched a Media and Entertainment Institute to engage Hollywood insiders and tastemakers in dialogue on general societal perceptions of Jewish people and how they are portrayed in media and entertainment. From Kanye West’s recent outbursts to neo-Nazi demonstrations in

When Michel Franco began penning the script for his latest drama, “Memory,” he knew the premise — an unlikely connection between Sylvia, a woman struggling to overcome addiction and sexual abuse, and Saul, a man with early onset dementia — but where the story ended up was entirely unexpected. “I saw it very clearly in

Hot off “Dicks: The Musical’s” premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, A24 has released the song “All Love is Love” from the film. Performed by Aaron Jackson, Josh Sharp, Bowen Yang, Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally and featuring vocalist Lauren Evans, “All Love Is Love” is one of the musical’s many songs that could be

Caution! Kaisa El Ramly’s upcoming feature “Gateways & Dreams” has debuted a trailer, so watch out for moving vehicles. The tragicomic road movie, produced by Helsinki-based Inland Film Company and co-produced by Sweden’s Läsk, focuses on multiple characters stuck in their cars on one summer’s day, as well as one hitchhiker and a very special

Signature Entertainment has acquired U.K. and Ireland rights to action comedy “Bride Hard,” starring Rebel Wilson (The Pitch Perfect franchise). In the film, badass secret agent Sam is tasked with one of her hardest missions to date – being maid of honor for her childhood best friend. Out of her comfort zone, and with fellow

“Knox Goes Away” is a silky and entrancing thriller directed by its star, Michael Keaton — but as soon as I heard the film’s premise, I’ll admit I was skeptical. Keaton plays an underworld hit man who is diagnosed with dementia. That sounds a bit trendy, and more than that it sounds like a stunt

Cages can’t contain the sheer amount of imagination on offer in “Sing Sing” — not just in the way director Greg Kwedar and his writing and producing partner Clint Bentley conceived of the prison-set drama, but also as an animating force among its characters. Apart from Colman Domingo and a few others, most of the

TATA TAKES BITE OF APPLE IN INDIA Indian channels aggregator, Tata Play Binge, is soon to incorporate Apple TV+, a first-of-its-kind collaboration for Apple TV+ in India. The move means that series such as “Ted Lasso,” “Shrinking,” “Silo,” “Hijack,” “Foundation,” “Tehran,” “Servant,” “Platonic,” “Severance,” “The Morning Show,” “Bad Sisters,” “Slow Horses” and “Prehistoric Planet,” and Apple