A spiritual kissing cousin of such compellingly campy ’90s Aussie-produced extravaganzas as “Strictly Ballroom” and “Muriel’s Wedding,” director Gracie Otto’s “Seriously Red” disarms and delights as a sensationally spirited concoction that neatly balances unfettered outrageousness and unabashed sentimentality. The beating heart of the entire enterprise is Krew Boylan. As screenwriter, she has created a terrific
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Reese Witherspoon, who first made a splash 30 years ago, has never lost a drop of her sunny smart charismatic movie-star spunk. Ashton Kutcher, in a career that kicked off in 1998, has had his ups and downs (sometimes in the same movie — how do you classify “Dude, Where’s My Car?”), but he has
Millennial moviegoers may not recognize the name Rajiv Surendra, but they certainly know Kevin Gnapoor. Surendra starred as the hormonal Mathletes president (with a flair for rapping) in Tina Fey’s “Mean Girls,” becoming one of the film’s most quotable supporting characters. But what ever happened to Surendra in real life? GQ magazine recently caught up
The Valiant Cinematic Universe (VCU) is set to grow at Paramount, as female superhero project “Faith” has found a writer. The live-action version of “Faith” is in early development. “Harbinger,” a title that also is part of the VCU, remains in development at Paramount. “Harbinger” is set to be directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo of
Lionsgate handily beat Wall Street estimates in its most recent fiscal quarter, as the company continued to explore spinning off or selling Starz, its cable and streaming business. Revenue at the media company behind “The Hunger Games” and “John Wick” topped out at $1 billion, rising nearly 13% from the $885.4 million that Lionsgate reported
James Gunn revealed on Twitter that he has spoken with Zack Snyder about the new DC Universe. Gunn, along with Peter Safran, is the head of DC Studios and is rebooting the DC Universe with a new slate of films and television series. Snyder was the architect of the previous DC Universe, commonly referred to
What do “The Broadway Melody” (1929), “Grand Hotel” (1932) and “Mutiny on the Bounty” (1935) all have in common? In Oscar history, they are the only films to have won the Academy’s most coveted award — and nothing else. Could Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” join that select group this year, despite being the
The Ukrainian parents and sister of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Alec Baldwin and the producers of “Rust” in connection with her death in October 2021. Attorney Gloria Allred announced the lawsuit at a press conference at her office on Thursday morning. Baldwin is also facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter
Last summer, Fran Drescher paid a visit to a key state lawmaker to push for legislation that would give TV actors more freedom to take jobs in between seasons. The issue had been a thorn in the side of SAG-AFTRA, the performers’ union, for at least a decade. The Motion Picture Association had lined up
The woman whose testimony led to Harvey Weinstein’s second rape conviction in December filed a civil suit against the disgraced producer on Thursday. The European model, who has been identified as Jane Doe #1 in court proceedings, has alleged that Weinstein raped and sexually assaulted her after barging into her room at the Mr. C
Angie Mayhew, the wife of the late “Star Wars” actor Peter Mayhew, is speaking out against an upcoming auction in which Peter’s “Star Wars” memorabilia will be sold. Ryedale Auctioneers is selling “Star Wars” scripts, call-sheets and more that were discovered in Peter Mayhew’s attic after his death. Peter starred as Chewbacca in George Lucas’
The late comedian John Candy is getting the documentary treatment from Colin Hanks and Ryan Reynolds. Amazon’s Prime Video is in negotiations to acquire an untitled film that Hanks has been quietly directing. Reynolds — who, like Candy, hails from Canada — is producing alongside George Dewey via his Maximum Effort production company. The film
Ed Skrein (“Deadpool,” “Game of Thrones”) and Luis Guzmán (“Narcos,” “Traffic”) are leading the ensemble cast of “The Patience of Vultures,” a neo-noir crime thriller which will be launched at the EFM in Berlin by Pulsar Content, XYZ Films and WME Independent. Gregg Simon, whose credits include “Hemlock Grove” and the upcoming horror-thriller “Captive,” is set to direct
In order to elevate Screambox, a streaming service for horror fans, Tom Owen, co-managing director of Bloody Disgusting for Cinedigm, focused on a decidedly retro inspiration. “We like to make Screambox feel like the staff picks section of old video stores,” he said. “We have a really incredible team of people who are real, authentic
A first trailer has been unveiled for debutant filmmaker Jow Zhi Wei’s “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” which will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation 14plus strand. The film follows sixteen-year-old Meng for whom life is not the most fulfilling, with him lounging at home with his grieving father on a
Berlin-based sales company M-Appeal will be handling eight films by Academy Award winner Hamaguchi Ryûsuke made between 2008-2016. The deal follows M-Appeal’s previous collaboration with Hamaguchi and producer Takata Satoshi, of NEOPA Inc., in 2021 on the film “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which premiered in Berlinale Competition and won the Silver Bear Grand Jury
Odin’s Eye Animation has picked up sales rights to “Shimmy: The First Monkey King,” an animated family entertainment film that is rare official China-U.S. coproduction. Sales activity will begin at the European Film Market starting next week alongside the Berlin Film Festival. The story involves Shimmy, a cheeky monkey with newly discovered superhero-like powers who
Paul Mescal, nominated for best actor at the BAFTAs and Oscars for “Aftersun,” has reacted to the emotional timing when the latter nod was announced. The Oscar nomination announcement came as Mescal’s mother Dearbhla was preparing to go into chemotherapy for cancer, as revealed by his sister Nell. my mum got a haircut today in
The Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation (AVAF) in partnership with Annecy Festival, France, is launching AniMela, India’s first-ever international festival for animation, VFX, XR, gaming and comics. The three-day festival is set to take place in Mumbai in November 2023 and will provide a platform for Indian talent in the animation, visual effects, gaming and
Bob Iger returned to the throne that he had only briefly vacated in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, presiding over his first quarterly earnings report since coming back as Disney’s CEO. But the once and present chief made it clear to analysts, during a conference call on the company’s fiscal first quarter earnings, that he was
Steven Soderbergh’s “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” is gearing up for its theatrical release with Salma Hayek playing the female lead opposite Channing Tatum, but that wasn’t how the film originally went into production. The movie started filming with Thandiwe Newton, but she exited the project after only 11 days and was replaced with Hayek. A
Jonathan Majors is gearing up to have one hell of a villainous year on the big screen. He’s joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe this February in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” where his character, Kang the Conquerer, will become the franchise’s new Thanos figure. Then in March, Majors will get into the ring with Michael
After the difficult news he had to deliver about layoffs and losses, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced several big news items for fans during the company’s earnings call for the year-end 2022 quarter on Wednesday. For animated film lovers, Iger announced that two new sequels to massive franchises — “Toy Story” and “Frozen” — were in
Forget the Super Bowl face-off between the Eagles vs. the Chiefs, the hottest weekend matchup is unfolding at the box office as several contenders — “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” and “Titanic” (yes, really) among them — compete for first place. The third “Magic Mike” chapter, this weekend’s only new nationwide release, is expected to bring
The Lewis Brothers, filmmakers behind digital comedy shorts and a 2021 viral sensation about the late Robin Williams, are heading back to vintage Hollywood for their next project. Jake and Sam Lewis will release “The Cowboy & The Samurai,” a proof-of-concept about the tumultuous relationship between show business bad boys Jack Nicholson and John Belushi.
While the final five in the international category at the Oscars ended up being mostly Eurocentric, the shortlist was one of the most diverse. Especially notable are the number of edgy stories set in different Muslim societies. They come not only from the Arab world such as Morocco’s submission “The Blue Caftan,” helmed by Maryam
IFC has dropped the trailer and art for its upcoming comedy “Paint,” and leading man Owen Wilson goes full-on Bob Ross mode in it. The film stars Wilson as Carl Nagyl, Vermont’s top TV painter who has everything going for him, from a fanbase to a van and even a perm, until a younger artist
The “Magic Mike” franchise is, at the center of its Red Bull-pumping heart, about hustling. Hustling for cash, for love, for good times, for protein powder at wholesale. Over 11 years, Channing Tatum’s stripper odyssey has produced two films, a reality dance competition, and a transatlantic stage show. Still, somehow, it keeps hustling up new
Slowly but surely, the Oscars are starting to reflect the best in international film, rather than simply celebrating the most impressive achievements in American (and occasionally English, Irish and Australian) production. That’s a good thing for world cinema — to be recognized at last by the historically Hollywood-centric awards show — but a tricky transition,
As Marvel gets ready to launch Phase 5 with the upcoming “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” its leading stars are taking a moment to celebrate the strength of their fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe actor Jeremy Renner. Both Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly have been in contact with Renner following the Jan. 1 snow plow accident