Movies

Not many films hit an emotional crescendo around the publication of a Pitchfork review, but Bill Pohlad’s “Dreamin’ Wild” is sufficiently sincere and embedded in musical nerdery to make it work. As onetime brother act Donnie and Joe Emerson huddle with their family around a 30-years-late evaluation of the album they recorded as teenagers, one

Jack Neo, who is by far Singapore’s most commercially successful filmmaker, has begun production on “King of Musang King,” a comedy that he envisages being ready for release at Chinese New Year in January. The narrative gives prominent position to durians, the smelly Southeast Asian fruit that most people either love or hate. Neo (“Money

“Nobody messes with my family!” shouts Queen Latifah, aiming a revolver at baddies during a late moment in “End of the Road.” It is one of several points in this Netflix thriller where the blatancy of undiluted cliché has an effect rather more comical than intended. Taking a brisk route from the pedestrian to the

“The world belongs to the weird,” so says the tagline for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” but the wee hours of Friday morning belonged to Daniel Radcliffe as the comedy made its world premiere as the clock struck midnight at the Toronto International Film Festival. Radclifffe stars as the beloved parody musician in the upcoming

There has been no shortage of hip-hop star-is-born narratives hitting screens in recent years, but much like hip-hop itself for most of its history, there hasn’t always been a whole lot of space for women. Sanaa Lathan’s “On the Come Up,” which tracks a teenage girl’s complicated rise through the battle rap circuit to the

The Toronto International Film Festival kicked off on a historic day with one of its strongest opening films in years in Sally El Hosaini’s “The Swimmers,” but what some audience members will likely remember is the stressful experience of securing their tickets for the Roy Thomson Hall world premiere. TIFF, which has gone digital again

You’ve heard the expression, “There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy.” Well, “The Grab” makes the case that society had best brace itself for disorder, since certain parties are gobbling up the world’s food and water resources while the rest of us are distracted by other things. Produced in association with the Center

At the end of “The Swimmers,” you could be excused for thinking that Syrian refugee Yusra Mardini won an Olympic gold medal. She didn’t. That’s not to detract from everything she and her older sister, Sara, went through to escape the Syrian civil war and reclaim their dreams of competitive swimming. It just means that

Bathroom stalls, showering marines and flashlights under the sheets encompass A24’s “The Inspection.” While the moving drama could catch the attention of progressive Academy members, others may find the honest subject matter too off-putting. As Ellis French, Jeremy Pope takes the lead of Elegance Bratton’s directorial and writing debut “The Inspection,” which had its world

Quentin Tarantino and Miramax have put aside their differences over an NFT auction of screenplay excerpts from “Pulp Fiction.” The studio filed a lawsuit last November seeking to block the director from going ahead with the sale. At the time, Miramax said it was pursuing its own strategy to capitalize on NFTs — non-fungible tokens

The BAFTA TV Tea Party scheduled for Saturday in advance of the Emmys has been canceled in light of Queen Elizabeth II’s death on Thursday. “In light of today’s very sad news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the annual BAFTA TV Tea Party will no longer be taking place this weekend.

When you’ve been in the entertainment industry for more than 25 years, there aren’t a lot of “firsts,” but it’s been a busy week of them for Sanaa Lathan. On Sunday night, she attended the Creative Arts Emmys, where she was nominated for her first Emmy award. And just four days later, she’s celebrating the

Variety has announced this year’s list of 10 Screenwriters to Watch. The selected screenwriters will be honored at the 45th annual Mill Valley Film Festival with a dinner on Oct. 15. Andrea Berloff, the writer behind upcoming film “The Mother,” will also be honored with the Creative Impact in Screenwriting Award. The annual 10 Screenwriters to

From Tom Cruise flying at Mach 10 speeds to Daniel Kaluuya besting a man-eating alien monster, this summer’s biggest films have provided plenty to talk about. As the summer movie season draws to a quiet close, it’s time to look back at some of its most-talked-about hits. Thanks to the Variety Film Chatter Chart, which

Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde” debuted to a massive 14-minute long standing ovation during its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. Ana de Armas, who plays Marilyn Monroe, was in tears at the screening, her face glowing as tears streamed down.  Before the film’s world premiere Brad Pitt, who is among the film’s producers, de

New Slate Ventures has come on board as a production partner for Insignia Films’ “Free Money.” The announcement was made just ahead of the documentary feature’s world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Jordan Fudge, Jeremy Allen and Tess Cohen will join producer Amanda Pollak, and executive producers Stephen Ives, Bradwel Iro (LBX

The blowback Warner Bros. Discovery received over its cancellation of “Batgirl” was “blown out of proportion,” according to CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels. Last month came word that “Batgirl,” the $90 million Warner Bros./DC movie starring Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, would not be released theatrically, on HBO Max, or anywhere else. WBD, formed formed earlier this

Luke Hemsworth (“Westworld”), Milo Ventimiglia (“This Is Us”), Ricky Whittle (“American Gods”), Daniel MacPherson (“Poker Face,” “Foundation”) and Chika Ikogwe (“Heartbreak High”) join Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth in the cast of action thriller “Land of Bad.” The previously announced title will shoot from later this month on the Gold Coast and Southeast Queensland, it

The Telluride Film Festival wrapped on Labor Day, with many of the season’s mystery films getting a first look from critics, journalists and festivalgoers. But what did we learn from the four-day fest? Do we have an Oscar frontrunner? Four narrative films world premiered in the Colorado mountains – “Women Talking” from MGM/UAR, “Empire of

Leaders and celebrities around the world are mourning the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, who died aged 96 on Thursday, ending a historic 70-year reign over the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Her son and heir, King Charles III, said: “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved

“Wall-E,” Pixar’s 2008 sci-fi love-story animated film classic, is getting a special three-disc 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray release from the Criterion Collection this fall. The special edition of “Wall-E,” the first collaboration between Criterion and Disney’s Pixar, features a 4K digital master approved by director Andrew Stanton, according to Criterion. The three-disc set will be available

An ambitious slate of more than 80 titles is featured in Taiwan’s debut at Toronto Film Festival’s TIFF Industry section this year, presenting a diverse mix of productions in various genres in a bid to showcase not just the island’s homegrown talent but also its potential as a co-production hub in the region. “We want

A good biopic invites the audience to experience, from the inside out, who the subject really was. That’s the level that “Blonde,” Andrew Dominik’s film about Marilyn Monroe, operates on for most of its 2 hours and 46 minutes. Based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 2000 novel, the movie is a hushed and floating psychodramatic Klieg-light

Variety has selected its 10 Actors to Watch for 2022, an honor that dates back to 1998. Past honorees include many future Oscar winners and nominees including Mahershala Ali, Timothée Chalamet, Viola Davis, Adam Driver, Brie Larson and Lupita Nyong’o. This year’s honorees will be feted in the Oct. 12 issue of Variety and at

Peacock has released the official trailer for the forthcoming rom-com “Meet Cute.” Starring Pete Davidson and Kaley Cuoco, the Peacock original film premieres exclusively on the streamer Sept. 21. “Meet Cute” follows the story of Sheila (Cuoco) and Gary (Davidson), who seemingly fall in love at first sight. In reality, Sheila has a time machine

Alexander Rodnyansky, the producer of Oscar nominated films “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” has boarded the next project from Kazakh director Adilkhan Yerzhanov (pictured), whose film “Goliath” has its world premiere at Venice Film Festival on Thursday in the Horizons Extra section. The new project, “Nosorog,” tells a contemporary story of Tamara, a distraught woman on a

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Timothée Chalamet may have delivered his most memorable red carpet look to date while attending the premiere for his upcoming film “Bones and All” at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. The 26 year-old actor

WME veterans Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz have been promoted to co-chairmen of the powerful talent agency that is a cornerstone of Endeavor. The pair will succeed Lloyd Braun, who will step down from the WME chairman role at year’s end. Muirhead is the agency’s longtime communications chief. Weitz is one of the industry’s most

The never-ending press cycle surrounding “Don’t Worry Darling” continues, as director Olivia Wilde denies that Shia LaBeouf quit the film. After Wilde originally claimed she fired him from her movie, LaBeouf shot back and maintained that he quit “Don’t Worry Darling.” The actor provided Variety with emails and text messages allegedly sent between Wilde and

Master documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose “Sacro Gra” won the Venice Golden Lion in 2013, is back on the Lido with “In Viaggio,” a doc about Pope Francis’ travels in which the director creates a counterpoint between archival footage and images that Rosi shot himself.  In the first nine years of his pontificate, Pope Francis made