Jafar Panahi, the critically acclaimed filmmaker of “Taxi” and “Three Faces,” has been ordered by the Iranian judicial authorities to serve the six-year sentence he was given in 2010. Panahi was arrested last week in Tehran after going to Evin prison to ask about another filmmaker who was being detained. Panahi’s wife, Tahereh Saeedi, told
Movies
FESTIVALS A trio of global festival favorites — Pan Nalin‘s “Last Film Show,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki‘s “No Land’s Man” and Gurvinder Singh‘s “Crescent Night” (“Adh Chanani Raat”) — will open the 11th edition of the BMO International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA), Toronto (Aug. 11-21). The festival is in-person at venues across the Greater
“Victoria’s Secret for men.” That’s how International Male, the clothing catalogue founded by Gene Burkard is described in the opening moments of Bryan Darling and Jesse Finley Reed’s “All Man: The International Male Story.” Only the description should have an important caveat: This smorgasbord of images of men in the sexy (if aggressively outrageous) outfits
From its opening shot — a close-up of the nautilus-like curl of a human ear — Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s “Earwig” sets out to unsettle, slowly burrowing its way into our brains by any orifice it can. Not quite a horror film, this sometimes freaky, often frustrating third feature from the French art-house director of twisted socialization
The first reactions to Jordan Peele’s “Nope” are pouring in as the movie continues its premiere in Los Angeles, earning praises for the director’s turn to science-fiction and drawing comparison to filmmakers like Steven Spielberg. Expectations are high for “Nope,” given Peele’s emergence as one of the most beloved directors over the last five years.
Roman Polanski’s lawyer indicated Monday that he will renew his request to have the fugitive director sentenced in absentia, a day after a transcript was unsealed that revives misconduct allegations in the director’s 45-year-old rape case. But the path to resolving the case is not at all straightforward. Harland Braun, Polanski’s lawyer, said in an
Quinn Shephard may be only 27, but she’s already a veteran of the film festival circuit. At 22, she was lauded at Tribeca for her feature debut, “Blame,” which she also wrote (she started the screenplay in high school) and in which she starred with Chris Messina. Shephard began acting when she was 3 years
Tom Cruise’s “Top: Gun Maverick” is the box winner of the year so far, and it’s not even close. The long-awaited sequel has earned $617 million and counting at the domestic box office and $1.2 billion so far worldwide. Outside of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and its $1.9 billion gross, “Top: Gun Maverick” has been
Keanu Reeves has turned John Wick into an iconic action here over the last seven years, but it turns out the role was originally written for an actor more in the vein of Harrison Ford or Clint Eastwood. Franchise producer Basil Iwanyk confirms in the new book “They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete
Prolific Oklahoma-based helmer Mickey Reece – now at Fantasia with “Country Gold” – will join forces with “It Follows” producer David Kaplan on his upcoming feature “The Cool Tenor,” Variety has found out exclusively. The film, set in a vaguely dystopian future and co-written by John Selvidge, sees a retired widow who weds an unstable jazz enthusiast
Thomas Barbusca has joined the cast of “Incoming,” a high-school comedy from directors Dave and John Chernin. The project reunites Barbusca and the Chernin brothers, who worked together on the Fox TV comedy “The Mick.” “Incoming” follows four incoming freshmen as they navigate the terrors of adolescence at their first-ever high school party. The cast
Denis Villeneuve is back on Arrakis as filming is finally underway on “Dune: Part Two.” The film is already slated for a November 2023 worldwide theatrical release from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Entertainment. Villeneuve is filming the sequel on location in Budapest, Abu Dhabi, Jordan and Italy. The official “Dune: Part 2” synopsis from
A Westeros legend is making his way to Panem. “Game of Thrones” actor Peter Dinklage has been cast as Casca Highbottom in “The Hunger Games” prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” Dinklage will star opposite Tom Blyth as young Coriolanus Snow, Rachel Zegler as tribute Lucy Gray Baird and Hunter Schafer as Tigris Snow.
Mickey Rooney Jr., an original Mouseketeer, musician and actor who was the first child of Mickey Rooney, has died. He was 77. Rooney Jr. died Saturday at his home in Glendale, Arizona, according to a Facebook post from friend and actor Paul Petersen. The two were both original Mouseketeers at Disney. “Mickey Junior was tall
Jenny Galante has been promoted to executive VP of revenue and business development, Academy CEO Bill Kramer announced Monday. She will report directly to Kramer. In the newly-created position, she will be responsible for driving global revenue growth across plaforms including special events, member initiatives, international programs, digital platforms, the Academy Screening Room, talent development
“The Princess,” an intimate and immersive look at the life of Princess Diana, will debut on HBO next month. The film will premiere on Saturday, Aug. 13, at 8 p.m. ET to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death on Aug. 31. It will be available to stream on HBO Max on the same
“Hard Boiled” director John Woo is developing a historical drama about Chinese American Dean Lung — the valet of Oakland’s first mayor Horace Walpole Carpentier — whose donation helped found Columbia University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. The film has the working title “Dean Lung.” The university still refers to the letter Lung
Off the heels of a world premiere at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where he scooped the Proxima Special Jury Prize, writer-director Eduardo Casanova arrives in Montreal to screen his latest feature “La Piedad” (“La Pietà”) as part of the Queer Genre Cinema Spotlight at Fantasia. The screening marks its North American debut. The film
Argentine production company Coruya Cine (“Nocturna: Side A”), led by Javier Díaz, has signed-on to co-produce “The Sugar Girl,” (“La Niña Del Azúcar”) alongside Peru’s AV Films (“Juego Siniestro”). The project, shooting in the remote and sprawling city of Iquitos, will utilize an Amazonian cine noir aesthetic to merge the suspenseful and metaphysical components of
“Anita,” the biopic of the late Canto-pop queen Anita Mui, led the race of the 40th Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday night with five awards, including recognitions for the film’s actors and technical achievements. But the best film and best director awards went to action thriller “Raging Fire” directed by the late Benny Chan.
“Rugrats” co-creator Gábor Csupó is set to direct a feature-length adaptation of Rumer Godden’s children’s Christmas classic book “The Story of Holly and Ivy.” “Lonely young Ivy runs away from her orphanage during Christmas, while spirited but unsold doll Holly waits in her toy store window for the child who will give her existence meaning,”
Sylvester Stallone has voiced words against Irwin Winkler, implying that the producer behind the “Rocky” films and its sequel series “Creed” is withholding a significant financial stake in the franchise from the actor. The 76-year-old Stallone shared a portrait of Winkler as a knife-tongued serpent through his Instagram Sunday morning. The image came alongside a
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are — finally — married. According to a marriage license on the online records for Clark County, Nev., the couple’s official marriage was filed Saturday. The record is in both of their legal names — Benjamin Geza Affleck and Jennifer Lynn Lopez. Significantly, the record also indicates that Jennifer Lopez
Marvel’s superhero epic “Thor: Love and Thunder” is nearing the $500 million mark at the global box office, a great result after only 10 days on the big screen. Over the weekend, the fourth comic book movie to center on Chris Hemsworth’s hunky God of Thunder generated $60.1 million from 47 territories at the international
The documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe, who was born in Switzerland and is based in Denver, has carved out a neat niche for himself. He makes movies about movies — that is, movies about our obsession with movies. He shares the obsession, and as a filmmaker that allows him to overlap the role of superfan, critic,
Craig Robinson, the star of “The Office” and “Hot Tub Time Machine,” was evacuated from the Charlotte, N.C. comedy club where he was scheduled to perform on Saturday night after a man brandished a gun and demanded everyone leave the venue. He later discharged the firearm, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, which reports that
As the title character of “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Lesley Manville charms nearly everyone she encounters: homeless men on the streets of Paris, the heads of the Dior fashion house (including Christian Dior himself), models, dressmakers and racehorse track operators. Even the more snobbish people she encounters eventually find themselves taken in by Ada,
Before Danai Gurira returns this fall as the Wakandan general Okoye in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” she’s scheming and murdering her way onto the English throne in director Robert O’Hara’s new production of “Richard III” at the Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park. Here are three things to know about “The Walking Dead” star’s
Whether it’s Frank the Tank, Buddy, Ron Burgundy, or a one-scene wonder like Chazz Reinhold, Will Ferrell is a comedic wizard. With a keen ability to physically embody the varying energies of the characters he inhabits, his talents have been unparalleled throughout his career, perhaps even undervalued. To pay tribute to the actor and producer,
Studios and guilds have officially extended COVID protocols until Sept. 30. The Directors Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, Teamsters and the AMPTP issued a new statement extending the film and TV COVID protocols. The statement said, “The Agreement keeps in place the workplace protocols and protections that have allowed for a sustained and successful return