Movies

Late in the incisive psychological drama “The Things You Kill,” Ali (Ekin Koç), a married man in his thirties, opens up about a traumatic episode in his childhood and the reasons why he decided to leave Turkey and study comparative literature in the U.S. The monologue is momentarily shot out of focus with his face

How many times can the characters say “cabbages” in a movie before making you want to throw cabbages at the screen? With “Bubble & Squeak,” writer-director Evan Twohy sets out to answer that question — and little else of relevance to contemporary audiences. Not all movies need to serve up profound insights into the human

Who among us, when we were young, did not annoy the cranky old geezer down the street? In some cases, you couldn’t help it, as there are some people who simply aren’t made for suburban living, terrifying the neighborhood kids by growling “Get off my lawn!” any time an oblivious child stepped foot on their

A dozen years ago, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, I sat in the Eccles Theatre and watched “Fruitvale” (later entitled “Fruitvale Station”), Ryan Coogler’s true-life drama about Oscar Grant, a young man who was fatally shot by Bay Area police, even though he had done nothing. By the time the film ended, everyone in

The village is small and dense, lined with crumbling structures and the exploded remains of cars. The women, hanging laundry or selling American movies on DVD out of dusty briefcases, are suspicious. The men are outright paranoid, ducking down alleys or peering out of second-story windows. American troops patrol the area with assault rifles, where

Ronan Farrow revealed at the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance that he was the one to gently nudge his mother, Mia Farrow, back into acting. Farrow spent last fall on Broadway opposite Patti Lupone in Jen Silverman’s play “The Roommate.” Prior to that, she had a supporting run on the Ryan Murphy-produced Netflix

John Lithgow joined the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance and reacted to one of the biggest Oscar snubs of the year: “Conclave” filmmaker Edward Berger failing to land a nomination for best director. Lithgow has a key supporting role in the papal drama. “Conclave” received eight nominations, including best picture, and many prognosticators

[Warning: This story contains mild spoilers for “Twinless,” which premiered on Thursday at Sundance Film Festival.] Dylan O’Brien reveled in the process of playing dual roles in “Twinless,” a twisted comedic drama about two friends who meet in a support group for people who lost a twin. The “Maze Runner” and “Teen Wolf” star portrays

Most folks seek escapism when going to the movies, while others get off on seeing other people’s anxiety, drawing either catharsis or comedy from the idea that someone else has it worse. Sporting a poisoned-fortune-cookie title like “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” there can be little question as to which category best describes

Cynthia Erivo joined the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance ahead of receiving the Visionary Award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s gala fundraiser and said she doesn’t understand how “Wicked” landed 10 Oscar nominations, but not one for helmer Jon M. Chu in the best director category. Erivo is nominated for best actress,

Daisy Ridley‘s “Star Wars” movie is still alive. Lucasfilm has hired George Nolfi (“The Borne Ultimatum”) to write the script for the long-gestating follow-up to 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” which is still set to be the feature directorial debut for Oscar-winning documentarian Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. By the time Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy officially

Filming “Sukkwan Island,” a visceral psychological thriller premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, provided its French director Vladimir de Fontenay and everyone involved in the multi-national production with an epic yet transformative experience, mirroring that of the film’s protagonists. Adapted from David Vann’s harrowing “Legend of a Suicide,” “Sukkwan Island” tells the story of 13

After “Emilia Pérez” led the Oscar nominations with an impressive 13 nominations, it’s clear the film is being celebrated as a landmark moment for queer — and specifically trans — storytelling in cinema. Against the backdrop of a politically charged presidential election that saw Donald Trump re-elected, reigniting fears for trans and nonbinary individuals, the

“Hoops, Hopes & Dreams” may be a short film, but it has a lot of big ideas. At its core, it’s about how two leaders — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Obama — both made inroads in communities thanks to their love of playing basketball. Because of that, they were apt to meet those

Directed by Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman, “Speak.” is the type of documentary one can easily imagine being adapted into a dramatic feature down the road. It has a linear and easily digestible narrative, vivid and empathetic protagonists and a format that unspools like a sports film, depicting the triumph and disappointment of competition. Following

Jim Tauber, a longtime executive and the president of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment for a decade until his retirement in 2015, died Wednesday from complications of multiple myeloma, his family confirmed. He was 74. Tauber, an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences member, grew up in Glencoe, Ill. His time at SKE included overseeing “Hell

I love all things horror, but I’ve never been someone to seek out hauntings in real life. Precisely because I’ve seen so many scary movies and know not to mess with that stuff — I’m not going to be the person shouting about how not scared I am right before some creature/demon/ghost slaughters/possesses/terrifies me. Still,

The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge opens registration Saturday, allowing filmmakers to compete with their short films for a $5,000 seed fund/film finishing grant from Adobe, among other prizes. The challenge, now in its 12th year, gives filmmakers five days to create a short film that addresses disability inclusion and aligns with a specific genre. This

We love L.A. Randy Newman famously gave us the melody for that phrase. For more than 100 years, Los Angeles has been the entertainment capital of the world — a city of dreamers, creators and innovators. But now, our city needs help. As someone who works in this industry, I’ve seen first-hand the impact of

One month ahead of this year’s ceremony, France’s Cesar Academy has promised not to “spotlight” anyone accused of sexual or physical violence while issuing regulatory changes to curtail the voting rights of any Academy member facing legal accusations of that nature.  If a member is ultimately convicted, they will be expelled from the Academy for

Soledad O’Brien stopped by the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance and scolded the American press for its coverage of Donald Trump. The former CNN host was highly critical of how the press covered Trump’s first administration, and she said her position has not changed as Trump’s second administration gets underway. “The media has

The documentary selection at this year’s Sundance celebrates the work of multiple BIPOC filmmakers shedding light on untold narratives of both celebrated and unduly neglected figures from their communities. “For a long time, people from the global South, those who are historically underrepresented, have been telling stories about themselves in their own circles. But they

Among another impressive stack of new horror titles looking to spook audiences at this year’s Sundance, “Rabbit Trap” joins a growing library of psychological folk horrors that have recently offered more (deeply) unsettling creeps than out-and-out scares. Bowing in the Midnight slot in Park City on Friday and the feature debut of Brit director Bryn

Storyboards by more than 50 famed filmmakers and animators including Martin Scorsese, Hayao Miyazaki, Federico Fellini, Steven Spielberg, Wes Anderson, and Alfred Hitchcock are set to go on display in an exhibition organised by Italy’s Prada Foundation. The show, titled “A Kind of Language: Storyboards and Other Renderings for Cinema,” will kick off Jan. 30

As the New Yorker magazine has its centennial year celebration in 2025, a new Netflix documentary will look at the inner workings of the prestigious and venerable publication. Marshall Curry, director of documentaries including “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night” and “Street Fight,” is directing, also serving as producer with Xan Parker. Executive producers are Judd Apatow,

“Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” which has its world premiere on Saturday in the World Cinema Documentary Competition section of the Sundance Film Festival, delivers an insider’s view of the impact of Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine on the lives of Russia’s children. Variety spoke to the film’s director, David Borenstein, who worked alongside Pavel “Pasha”

Fifty years ago today, 18-year-old Vera Brandes organized a concert for jazz pianist Keith Jarrett in Cologne, West Germany, which went on to make music history: a recording of the concert became the best-selling solo jazz album ever as well as the best-selling piano recording ever. Now director Ido Fluk and producers Sol Bondy and

One of the most dehumanizing features — which is certainly a built-in component and not a bug — of the U.S. immigration system as it pertains to asylum seekers is that the applicant bears the burden of proving they have suffered enough or that they risk death in their home country in order to be

After nearly four decades of its one-child policy, designed to curb population growth and reform the country’s economy, China has fully removed all childrearing limits in recent years. But the cultural repercussions will be felt for generations to come, even (and especially) in the swiping apps hounded by modern singles. Violet Du Feng’s documentary “The

“Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)” is a dazzling and definitive funk-pop documentary. It’s the second “jawn” directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, and he has leveled up from his first, “Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” — though that lyrical-flashback-to-1969-in-Harlem concert film, in its way, was beautiful. In