Kang Soo-youn, a Korean actor who was a star of 1980s and 1990s film and TV, died on Saturday. She was 55. She was admitted to hospital in Seoul on Thursday after reportedly suffering a heart attack and being found unconscious. She died in hospital after a cerebral hemorrhage. Kang was a child star from
Movies
Mila Aung-Thwin, a producer on 2022 Sundance Special Jury Award winner “Midwives,” will direct a feature documentary about Tiberiu Uşeriu (a.k.a. Romania’s Ice Man), an extreme ultramarathon champion who turned his life around after serving time in a German high-security prison for armed robbery, the filmmaker told Variety during Toronto’s Hot Docs festival. Aung-Thwin, a
SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot points and cameos in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” currently playing in theaters. Well, so much for the Illuminati! The secretive and powerful group of superheroes sworn to protect their universe within the multiverse didn’t last long against the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), who did not
Mickey Gilley, the country singer-songwriter who crossed over into mainstream pop culture after his club was featured as the backdrop of 1980’s “Urban Cowboy,” died in Branson, Mo. on Saturday. He was 86 years old. News of Gilley’s death was confirmed by his management at 117 Entertainment Group. The musician had recently completed a road
I’ve never been one to strictly follow ratings advice, and neither did my parents: The first two movie theater experiences of my life were “Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers” (1989) and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991), at the tender ages of four and six. During “Halloween,” I ran out of the theater once
George Pérez, a legend of DC Comics frequently considered one of the best comic book artists of all time, died Friday from pancreatic cancer. He was 67. Last December, Pérez announced that he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The news of his death was shared by his close friend, Constance Eza, who posted a statement
Sommer Carbuccia’s time-traveling comedy short “Mac & Cheese” was awarded best film at the 2022 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Awards. “Mac & Cheese” took home a total of three prizes at the annual event, with Amanda Pinto winning best director and Jake Nathanson scoring best editor. The ceremony returned in-person for the first time in
Chan Tze Woon’s “Blue Island,” a doc-narrative hybrid exploring Hong Kong’s recent protest movement and ensuing crackdown, won Hot Docs’ Best International Feature Documentary Award and a Cnd. $10,000 cash prize, it was announced Saturday in Toronto at the festival’s awards ceremony, held at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. The film was cited by the jury
Film and TV workers will finally be able to take off their masks, as the entertainment unions and the studios have agreed to relax the industry’s COVID protocols. The loosened regulations will also mean less frequent testing during productions, though workers will still be required to get tested before starting a new job. The industry’s
The word “tabloid” has a sleazy mystique. It’s such a potent word that it can influence the way you think about the subjects that fall into that category. “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” is a documentary that dives into what we think of as the most tawdry and sensational aspects of the
SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses the main post-credit scene in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” currently in theaters. For as long as he’s been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) — former genius neurosurgeon turned master of the mystical arts — has only had eyes for one person: Dr. Christine Palmer
A ridiculously satisfying underdog sports story set in the highly specialized arena of Chinese lion dancing, “I Am What I Am” features a plot familiar enough that it could have been generated by computer, peppered with specifics unique enough that the experience consistently manages to surprise. The result is an inspired mix of engineering and
It has been 20 years since Sam Raimi‘s “Spider-Man” changed Hollywood forever, proving that the superhero movie genre offers the opportunity for massive box-office success while also garnering critical appreciation. “The world that they’ve created since ‘Spider-Man,’ which is the last time we have worked on a Marvel film together, look what’s happened! It’s exploded!
A fresh new voice in nonfiction filmmaking, Ahsen Nadeem never intended to make the doc that became “Crows Are White” as deeply, disarmingly personal as it turned out, but in re-centering the focus on himself, he arrived at a much more honest movie. Approaching the subject in the vulnerable, open-book tradition of cine-essayists Ross McElwee
Once you’re done streaming “The Batman” on HBO Max for the umpteenth time, it’s time to direct your attention to all of the new offerings on streaming platforms this month. Perhaps the biggest debut is “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” on Paramount+, which should keep children and families glued to the television well into the summer.
Don’t expect an “Emancipation” for Oscar winner Will Smith in 2022. Originally expected to drop on the fall festival circuit later this year, the actor’s next film from Apple, and co-produced by his production company Westbrook Studios, is planning to delay the film’s release to sometime in 2023. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”), the
Veteran producer Michael De Luca and his partner Pamela Abdy are in talks to join Warner Bros. Discovery as film executives, multiple insiders familiar with the situation told Variety. Scenarios being discussed include having De Luca and Abdy launch a movie label within the Warner Bros. Pictures group, or enlisting them to take roles within
Variety will honor French entertainment giant Pathé with its Achievement in Intl. Film Award on May 20 at the Cannes Film Festival. The oldest of the French film groups is still fully involved in exhibition, production, distribution and sales, is family-owned and run by Jérôme Seydoux. Earlier this year, “CODA,” the remake of the company’s
In “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” longtime Marvel Cinematic Universe hero Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) is at her most complex, as her relationship the title character (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) grows more tangled over the course of the film. But Olsen, whose portrayal of the mystical Scarlet Witch has made her a consistent
Ever since Patrick Stewart’s singular voice rang out in the Super Bowl trailer for Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” fans have eagerly awaited the return — really, the resurrection — of Professor Charles Xavier, the role Stewart played seven times over 17 years as part of 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men” movie franchise.
Michelle Pfeiffer will star in “Wild Four O’Clocks,” which marks the directorial debut of Peter Craig, who wrote Robert Pattinson’s “The Batman” and has a story credit on the upcoming “Top Gun: Maverick,” which will premiere at Cannes. Protagonist Pictures are handling international sales on the project and will introduce it to buyers at the
Welcome back, David Cronenberg. Neon has debuted the official trailer for the filmmaker’s “Crimes of the Future,” which is set to compete for the Palme d’Or at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. The movie marks Cronenberg’s first feature directorial effort since 2014’s “Maps to the Stars,” which won Julianne Moore the best actress prize at
Ann Dowd will star in “The Undertaker’s Children.” The thriller is currently in pre-production. The Exchange will introduce the title to buyers at the upcoming 2022 Cannes Film Market. Dowd stars as a secretive undertaker forced to take in two orphans. When her sinister plan for getting rid of the kids in her care is
CAA has signed rising star Stephanie Hsu for representation. Already a SAG Award winner for her work as Mei on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Hsu has garnered additional acclaim for her breakout performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” In the A24 film by The Daniels’ (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Hsu stars as Joy
This sorcerer still reigns supreme. Disney and Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” earned a formidable $36 million in Thursday previews, setting the stage for what could be a massive $175 million-plus debut this weekend. This ranks as the eighth largest preview performance ever, behind “Avengers: Infinity War’s” $39 million in 2018. Its
In 2014, at age 53, Tom Wilson, a singer-songwriter from Hamilton, Ontario, with a stack of gold records and stories aplenty, found out quite accidentally that he had been adopted. Soon afterward he learned that his biological parents were Mohawk from the Kahnawake community, just outside of Montreal. For legions of fans familiar with Wilson’s
“1917’s” George MacKay and “Candyman” actor Nathan Stewart-Jarrett are set to star in drag queen thriller “Femme.” The feature, which is set to shoot in London, U.K., next month, is directed by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, based on their short film of the same name. Anton are repping global sales at the
Arachnophobes, beware, you’re in for a scare. A new horror about a super-sized spider is hitting the Croisette from Cornerstone Films, which will handle worldwide sales and introduce the pic to buyers in Cannes. From writer and director Kiah Roache-Turner (“Wyrmwood: Apocalypse,” “Nekrotronic”), “Sting” centers on a spider hatched from a mysterious object that falls
Miriam Toews’ 2014 novel “All My Puny Sorrows” thrives on the kind of fraught tonal whiplash that comes with the most intimate of relationships to one’s subject. Inspired by the suicide of the author’s sister, the book is a veiled grief memoir that veers wildly between plangent, poetic despair, plainspoken journaling and blunt, cutting humor
“Million Dollar Pigeons,” which had its world premiere this week at Hot Docs, follows a colorful cast of pigeon masters from far and wide who compete in the most lucrative pigeon races on the planet. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer, and speaks to the director, Irish filmmaker Gavin Fitzgerald. The third