Movies

“Luther: The Fallen Sun” starts by punishing its protagonist — scruffy, cross-the-line Detective Chief Inspector John Luther (Idris Elba) — for all his past sins after the franchise’s latest villain, played by Andy Serkis, releases details of Luther’s rule-bending tactics to the media. On the phone with some kind of Estonian henchman, Serkis’ Robey implies

Adonis Creed, like Rocky Balboa before him, is a fighter who faces down his demons and finds his triumph-of-the-human-spirit mojo, all leading up to his inevitable delivery of that knockout punch (well, okay, Rocky actually lost the fight in “Rocky”). The first two “Creed” films, like the six “Rocky” films, were rah-rah crowd-pleasers, with the

“Linoleum” starts out as one kind of movie, drops teasing hints that it might be another type of film and ultimately plot-twists into, well, something else. All of which makes it difficult to review, much less describe in detail, without spilling an economy size bag of beans. But wait, there’s more: It’s also a movie

News of a fresh horror comedy from Christopher Landon, director of the joyously silly “Happy Death Day” and its sequel, should be greeted with cautious optimism at the very least. He’s been working in the space for some time now, having also co-written and directed “Freaky,” “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” and the more

Tapping into the Japanese national zeitgeist once again with “Suzume,” writer-director Makoto Shinkai surpasses his peers in making films for and about teenagers. Now 50 years old, the anime master christened his latest blockbuster after its heroine, Suzume Iwato (voiced by Nanoka Hara), a 17-year-old orphan on the southwestern island of Kyushu swept up in

The woman whose grueling testimony led to Harvey Weinstein’s L.A. rape conviction told the court in tearful statement on Thursday that she had blamed herself for the assault. The woman, identified as Jane Doe #1, spoke of the impact of the rape just before Weinstein was sentenced to an additional 16 years behind bars, on

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, one of the star witnesses of Harvey Weinstein’s west coast trial, says justice was served with the convicted rapist’s 16-year sentencing on Thursday, but warns there is more work to be done. A filmmaker and actor, Siebel Newsom is married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, making her the First Partner of the

It’s not often in a career that having your hard work go by unnoticed is actually the ultimate compliment. Movie crews, almost uniformly across any filmmaking disciplines, find themselves in this nebulous zone where the less their work stands out, the more accolades they get from critics, peers and audiences. If costumes stand out, the

An Irish Goodbye Inspiration for the black comedy came from co-director Tom Berkeley at soccer match where two brothers were “at each other’s throats,” although where one was caring for the other who had Down syndrome. In “An Irish Goodbye,” estranged brothers Lorcan and Turlough are brought back together following their mother’s death, and Turlough

Back in 2001, Sean Penn found himself next to Jack Nicholson in a speeding car on the way to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin. The two actors were in Russia for the world premiere of “The Pledge” at the Moscow Film Festival. The Penn-directed psychological drama starred Nicholson as a retiring police detective who vows

Harvey Weinstein made a final plea to the court on Thursday, just before a judge sentenced him to 16 years in prison. “I maintain that I’m innocent,” he said. “I never raped or sexually assaulted Jane Doe 1. I never knew this woman, and the fact is she doesn’t know me. This is about money

Warner Bros. Pictures is revamping the “Lord of the Rings” film franchise. On a Thursday earnings call, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced that newly-installed studio leaders Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy have brokered a deal to make “multiple” films based on the beloved J. R. R. Tolkien books. The projects will be

“Maximum Truth,” a political mockumentary starring Ike Barinholtz and Dylan O’Brien, has sold domestic rights to Momentum Pictures. The distribution company is aiming to release the film in theaters and online in the fall. David Stassen directed “Maximum Truth,” which tells the story of a documentary crew following political grifter Rick Klingman as he teams

Addison Rae, scream queen? The TikTok star is expanding her film repertoire, joining the cast of director Eli Roth’s slasher “Thanksgiving.” Spyglass Media is backing the thriller, which follows a killer who visits a small town in Massachusetts with the hopes of creating a carving board out of the town’s turkey-loving inhabitants. The story is

The last time a movie was marketed with a this-sounds-so-wretchedly-over-the-top-not-to-mention-insane-it-could-almost-be-fun low/high concept, the results, to put it kindly, were mixed. “Snakes on a Plane,” which sounded like a title that Don Simpson scrawled in white powder on a table at 4:00 a.m., was a movie that wore its brain-deadness on both lapels. But 17 years

It’s been 10 years since a shirtless Sam Claflin first stole hearts as the charismatic District 4 victor Finnick Odair in 2013’s “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” In a conversation with Variety about his upcoming Prime Video series, “Daisy Jones & the Six,” Claflin reflected on the films at length. “It still feels like yesterday…the

The Elephant Whisperers Kartiki Gonsalves’ documentary debut, “The Elephant Whisperers,” released on Netflix, shines a spotlight on the ways in which climate change and human encroachment are rapidly destroying the habitats of Asian elephants. The film’s dire warning is subtly woven into a heartfelt narrative about forging family in unlikely places with elephant caretakers Bomman

Film and television producers are, at the core, accomplished problem-solvers on myriad levels. For Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line, who currently share the presidency of the Producers Guild of America, the prevailing problems for its membership are downright existential. “The biggest refrain is ‘How can we get health insurance?’” says Allain, whose producing projects

Portuguese producers Pandora Cunha Telles and Pablo Iraola, of Ukbar Filmes, are bringing a delegation of six Portuguese women helmers to the Berlinale, to showcase their ambitious project “Told by Women,” – a slate of 10 TV movies by 10 first-time women filmmakers – coproduced with Portuguese public broadcaster, RTP. The producers have lined up

Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based sales outlet New Europe Film Sales has sold North American distribution rights for its Berlinale-selected drama “Delegation” to Greenwich Entertainment. “Delegation” is a story of three Israeli high school friends who take part in a class trip visiting Holocaust sites in Poland – their last time together before going to the army.

In the first few months of 2020, huge swathes of Northern Italy were hit by the COVID-19 virus. Soon the death toll in the city of Bergamo reached such heights that an army convoy had to transport coffins out because its cemeteries and crematoriums were full. In his powerful doc “The Walls of Bergamo,” which

Scott Waugh whose credits include “Act of Valor” and the upcoming “The Expendables 4,” is attached to direct the upcoming documentary “Escape to Atlantis,” based on the findings of Seattle native Dr. Jason Rubin who has used deductive reasoning, the writings of philosopher Plato and cutting-edge satellite sonar imagery to pinpoint the location of the

Mark Wahlberg has long championed his Catholic beliefs, and he told “Today” in a recent interview that Hollywood’s disregard for religion won’t stop him from sharing the value of faith. The Oscar nominee said that he needed “discipline” when he made the career jump from music to movies, and faith was one of the best

Is the Oscar cinematography category making progress when it comes to recognizing female DPs? This year, Mandy Walker became only the third woman ever nominated for cinematography for her work on “Elvis.” Rachel Morrison (“Mudbound”) made history as the first female DP to land a nom and that was in 2018, while Ari Wegner was

“Autobio Pamphlet” (“Aatmapamphlet”), debuting in the Berlin Film Festival’s youth-focused Generation 14plus strand competition, takes on the twin tasks of telling the coming of age story of both its young protagonist and of India. The Marathi-language film marks the directorial debut of Ashish Bende, who previously assisted on several films in India’s flourishing Marathi industry,

The story of Italy’s most-wanted Mafia boss, Matteo Messina Denaro, whose recent arrest by police in Palermo after 30 years on the run made global headlines, is set to become a big-budget film. Rome-based producer Marco Belardi (“Perfect Strangers”) has acquired rights to ace anti-Mafia journalist Lirio Abbate’s book about the Cosa Nostra boss. The

Actor Phil Davis has dramatically resigned his BAFTA membership following last Sunday’s awards ceremony, calling the show an “embarrassing travesty.” Davis, who has appeared in film and TV projects including “Doctor Who,” “Vera Drake” and “Alien 3,” cited host Richard E. Grant’s introduction – during which he pretended to arrive in a Batmobile before appearing

India’s Zee Studios and Emmay Entertainment have released the first trailer for “Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway,” starring Rani Mukerji. The film, directed by Ashima Chibber and written by Rahul Handa, Sameer Satija and Chibber, is based on the true story of an Indian couple whose children were taken away from them by Norwegian welfare services

Rising filmmakers were honored Wednesday night at the inaugural Sony Future Filmmaker Awards. The award show, created by Creo and Sony, celebrates creators and independent filmmakers across the globe. The filmmakers received a cash prize, a trip to Los Angeles and an industry immersion experience led by Sony Pictures execs. Thirty filmmakers were honored across

Half a century ago Hollywood was frantically trying to figure out the newly-dominant “youth market.” Since some of that market had recently found Jesus, there was a brief spate of related films: Zefferelli’s hippie-fied St. Francis biopic “Brother Sun, Sister Moon,” adapted stage musicals “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Godspell,” the Billy Graham-produced “A Time to