Movies

Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to “Story Ave,” which won a special jury award for cinematography at SXSW. From debut filmmaker Aristotle Torres, “Story Ave” stars Luis Guzmán (“Narcos,” “Boogie Nights”) and Asante Blackk (“When They See Us,” “This Is Us”), with Guzmán serving as executive producer alongside producer Jamie Foxx. “Story Ave”

Imagine the gleaming surfaces of Park Chan-wook’s terrific “Decision to Leave” stripped of romance, all scuzzed-up and grimy. Imagine drilling down through Diao Yinan’s Berlin-winning “Black Coal, Thin Ice” and finding unexpected seams of absurdist dark comedy. You are now somewhere in the seamy offbeat world of “Only the River Flows,” director Wei Shujun’s inventive riff

British actor Tobias Menzies, Emmy winner for Netflix’s “The Crown,” will next be seen in A24’s “You Hurt My Feelings,” directed by Nicole Holofcener. In the film, which bowed at Sundance earlier this year, Menzies plays Don, a psychologist whose long-standing happy marriage to author Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is upended when she overhears his honest

MoviePass, after emerging from bankruptcy under new ownership, is launching its movie-theater subscription service nationwide ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. The service lets MoviePass members choose from more than 4,000 theater locations across the U.S., including those operated by AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark. However, the reincarnated MoviePass is a far cry from

Magic Fair, a Miami-Paris based indie sales company and Hong Kong- and Paris-based All Rights Entertainment have launched rights sales on upcoming feature animation “Pigsy,” directed by Chiu Li-Wei (“Barkley”) during the Cannes Film Festival’s Marche du Film. The film is a reimagining of the classic Chinese tale “Journey to the West.” The story follows

In late night proceedings on Wednesday, a Seoul court dismissed police requests for the formal arrest of prominent Korean actor Yoo Ah-in on drug charges. The star of “Burning,” “The Throne” and Netflix series “Hellbound,” appeared at the Seoul Central District Court on charges that he used five different drugs. Local media photos showed that

All of life, including death, is in the lengthy, unbroken shot that opens Thien An Pham’s bewitching debut feature “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell.” We begin on the sidelines of a local soccer match in Saigon’s city center, observing the play from a cool distance before following a shuffling mascot, dressed in a wolf suit,

RESTRUCTURING Multinational cinema operator Cineworld‘s proposed restructuring now has the backing of most of its lenders, the company said on Thursday. The restructuring, which was announced in April, “now has the support of lenders holding and controlling approximately 99% of the legacy facilities and at least 69% of the outstanding indebtedness under the debtor-in-possession facility of

The first reactions are in for “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” with critics and journalists saying the film is “an actual work of art” while also “darker and sadder” than expected. The long-awaited sequel to 2018’s highly successful animated adventure “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Across the Spider-Verse” picks up over a year after the events of

Following a handful of supporting roles in “Tag,” “Green Book” and “The Irishman,” Sebastian Maniscalco makes his first bid for leading-man status with “About My Father,” a family comedy sourced from the same semi-autobiographical material that made his stand-up a commercial and cultural phenomenon. To say it’s better than all three “Meet the Parents” films

It’s 11 years since Anurag Kashyap’s electrifying five-hour crime opus “Gangs of Wasseypur” jolted Cannes audiences, triggering renewed global interest in Indian genre cinema and vaulting Kashyap to auteur status with several subsequent films granted A-list festival premiere status — even if none quite matched his breakout feature for ambition or execution. Following a run

Sooner or later, the lead actor of the movie-within-a-movie being made in “A Brighter Tomorrow” jokes, disgruntled director Giovanni (self-referential cornball Nanni Moretti’s latest on-screen avatar) was bound to make a movie that ended with its protagonist’s suicide — the implication being, the world wouldn’t be so surprised to find the helmer putting a noose

Subject Matter, the nonprofit organization that supports social issue documentary films and other nonprofits, announced that its second annual round of grantees have been awarded a total of $100,000. Subject Matter and Tribeca Festival unveiled that Tribeca’s Documentary Film Program’s “Breaking the News” and “Every Body” have both been awarded $25,000 grants. The documentaries’ corresponding

MUBI has acquired Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves” for major markets including North America following its well-received debut in Cannes. The indie streamer and distributor also picked up the movie for the U.K., Ireland, Latin America and Turkey. The competition title from the Finnish auteur had a number of bidders following its world premiere on Monday.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” star Ismael Cruz Córdova is opening up about the cast and crew’s mental health while shooting the Amazon Prime Video series. During an appearance on this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast, the actor tells me that an on-set therapist was on hand to offer help after

Variety’s Global Locations Panel Conversations kicked off Saturday with a focus on Spain in which Juan-Manuel Guimeráns, Spain Film Commission general secretary, posited a new further reason for shooting in Spain.  Much is made of the country’s OMG locations, highlighted in “Game of Thrones,” its talent and technical prowess, and now extraordinary incentives. Now, as big

There’s just something about Cannes. No film festival can rival it for delivering old-school Hollywood glamour. And the 76th edition hasn’t suffered from a lack of star power during its first half, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman all shining on the red carpet. But Cannes isn’t just an opportunity to see the

“Tiger Stripes,” the debut feature of Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu, won the Grand Prize at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, the Cannes sidebar dedicated to first or second films. The prize was awarded by a jury presided over by Audrey Diwan, the Venice prizewinning director of “Happening.” The French Touch Jury Award went to Belgian director

The upper deck at France’s Hotel Du-Cap-Eden-Roc offers a stunning coastal view of nearby city Cannes, the kind that Jay Gatsby would covet to peep Daisy Buchanan. On Tuesday, at one of the hottest parties at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, that view belonged to Graydon Carter. Standing alone with his wife Anna Carter, the

Hong Sang-soo’s latest film “In Our Day,” which will premiere on closing night of Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, has been acquired by Cinema Guild for North America. Cinema Guild will release the film in theaters following its North American festival premiere later this year. “In Our Day” stars Kim Minhee as Sangwon, an actress who has

Warner Bros. Discovery’s newly launched Max lumped film directors and writers under a single “creators” heading — a change that prompted a backlash from filmmakers and Hollywood’s directors and writers guilds. Now the company says it is reverting the listings back to how they were presented on HBO Max, blaming the issue on a technical

Rebel Wilson is directing her first feature film with musical comedy “The Deb,” a big-screen adaptation of an Australian musical set in the outback. The film is produced by Amanda Ghost, Len Blavatnik, and Gregor Cameron via their company Unigram, which recently produced Apple TV+ movie “Tetris,” and sister outfit AI Film (“I, Tonya”). The

The 2023 Cannes Film Festival has been a big one for the Depp family. Johnny Depp opened the festival as a star of Maiwenn’s royal drama “Jeanne du Barry,” while his daughter, Lily-Rose Depp, headlined HBO’s “The Idol,” which delivered Cannes its most controversial world premiere thanks to its many scenes of graphic sex and

Revered Spanish auteur Victor Erice has penned an angry open letter in newspaper El Pais claiming the Cannes Film Festival behaved underhandedly during the selection process resulting in his new work “Close Your Eyes” being relegated to the relatively low-profile Cannes Premiere section. “Close Your Eyes,” which marks Erice’s return to feature film direction 30

Michel Merkt, the Monaco-based former producer and consultant who’s played a key behind-the-scene role in bolstering Cannes’s profile post-pandemic, has been named honorary citizen of the city of Cannes Merkt, an AMPAS voter who has produced over 50 films, was awarded the diploma prize by Cannes Mayor David Lisnard during an intimate ceremony on May

Most of us know the illicit rush of the sick day slyly pulled when you’re not really sick. The turning you ignore on your commute, but that one day, for no real reason, you take. Oh, that sudden, intoxicating sniff of freedom! It’s perhaps the closest thing that many of us get as adults to

Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” is poised to make a box office splash over Memorial Day weekend. The big-budget remake is projected to earn a mighty $100 million from 4,300 North American theaters in its first three days of release and $120 million to $125 million by Monday’s holiday. Based on those estimates, it’ll be the

Experimental filmmaker, artist and author Kenneth Anger has died. He was 96. His gallery, operated by Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers, confirmed the news on their website, writing, “Kenneth was a trailblazer. His cinematic genius and influence will live on and continue to transform all those who encounter his films, words and vision.” Born in

French independent producer Haut Les Mains has come on board “A Useful Ghost,” a film project that is both topical and supernatural. The deal was announced on the margins of the Cannes Film Festival and its accompanying rights market. “A Useful Ghost” follows March and Nat, a happily married couple, and their seven-year-old son Dot.

Cannes Docs, the Cannes Film Market event dedicated to documentary film, brought together an expert industry panel to discuss the place of creative documentary in the fast-changing audiovisual market, where words like “content” and “format” are increasingly replacing “film” and “language.” Joining DAE co-founder Brigid O’Shea on stage for the May 21 talk were Emilie Bujès, artistic director of Swiss