Movies

Wanda Sykes has a very specific memory of hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2009. “I shushed the first lady,” Sykes tells me, laughing. “I was sitting next to Michelle Obama and going over my notes, and she was trying to make conversation. I’m looking over my cards and I gave her like a

Hallmark has begun production on its first movie under the new Mahogany banner, titled “Unthinkably Good Things.” The film will star Karen Pittman. The film, set to debut on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, sees a woman named Allison (Pittman) at a crossroads in her career and love life, in need of the love and support

Independent distributor Film Movement has picked up all North American rights to award-winning folk horror film “Seire.” The Korean chiller will be released theatrically in 2022, followed by launches on home entertainment and digital platforms. The film takes as its central premise the Korean superstition that nobody in the family of a baby less than

Sandra Bullock recently told TooFab that she’s still embarrassed about starring in “Speed 2: Cruise Control,” the 1997 sequel to her breakthrough action movie “Speed.” The film starred Bullock opposite Jason Patric as a couple trying to stop a Caribbean cruise shop from crashing into an oil tanker. While “Speed” director Jan de Bont returned

Banijay has acquired control of Italy’s expanding Groenlandia Group, which is a producer on ITV’s “Romulus” skein and made recent Netflix Italian original film “The Incredible Story of Rose Island,” among other titles. The Rome-based company, headed by directors and producers Matteo Rovere and Sydney Sibilia, has been steadily growing since its founding in 2014.

Sony has released a new trailer for “Where the Crawdads Sing,” an upcoming thriller set to hit theaters July 15. The film, which is based off the novel of the same name by Delia Owens, follows Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones) — a young woman from the North Carolina marshes who becomes a suspect in the murder

Warner Bros.’ “The Batman” continued atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the third weekend in a row with £3.3 million ($4.4 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The film, starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz now has a total of £32.6 million. Sony’s Japanese animated film “Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie,” a

“Mujib: The Making of a Nation,” the biopic of late Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is currently in post-production and a teaser will be unveiled at the Cannes Market in May. Popularly known as Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal), Rahman was one of the founders of the Awami League party and led the movement for political

Chile’s Infractor and Pejeperro, France’s Promenades and Belgium’s Transit-Transat have teamed up to co-produce “Kaye,” the sophomore directorial effort of Juan Cáceres, a Variety Chilean Talent to Track after his debut “Perro Bomba” nabbed the Ibero-American Prize at the Málaga Festival Zonacine in 2019, among other international awards. “Kaye” is being  presented at the ongoing

With “Dune,” Denis Villeneuve confirms that he is a visionary director. Adapted from Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, “Dune” is set in the year 10191 and Villeneuve salutes his artisans who helped him create the look and sound of the film, which covers multiple interplanetary cultures and locations. Patrice Vermette, production designPatrice preps a lot. He

Organizers behind the Oscars are pulling out all the stops to land an iconic performance from best original song nominee Beyoncé, multiple sources close to the show told Variety. While the superstar made nary an awards campaign stop over the past months in support of her track “Be Alive,” co-written with artist Dixson for the

Cinematographer Ellen Kuras became the first woman to receive the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award at the ASC Awards in Hollywood on Sunday night. Kuras, whose credits include “Summer of Sam,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Blow,” called attention to long working hours on set and advocated for on-set safety during her acceptance speech.

Jack Nicholson wanted to stage a boycott against the 2003 Academy Awards due to the Iraq War, revealed Adrien Brody in a recent interview with the Sunday Times (via Yahoo). The United States’ invasion of Iraq began just days before the 2003 Oscars ceremony. According to Brody, Nicholson invited all of the 2003 best actor

“Beyond the Summit” (“La Cima”), the latest film from director Ibón Cormenzana, producer of Goya-winning “Blancanieves,” has world premiered at Spain’s Malaga Film Festival, where it must rate as one of the event’s most singular and striking films.  It was also one of four new Spanish films to feature in a Market Premiere showcase on

Hulu’s buzzy new erotic thriller “Deep Water” debuted on March 18 and has been trending on Twitter ever since, thanks to a bizarre plot that feels like chunks were left on the cutting room floor, as well as the sultry performances of one-time real-life couple Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas. But what makes this

In his latest work, which was being singled out for praise on the first day of Malaga’s Spanish Screenings, Imanol Uribe recounts the fateful story of Lucia Cerna, the only witness to the 1989 massacre in El Salvador of six Jesuit priests and two other people by a U.S.-trained death squad at a university residence

Argentine actor Joaquín Furriel is set to topline Rafa Russo’s next feature, “Devotion” (“Devoción”), which will be produced by Málaga-born producer-director Ezekiel Montes at his label 73140323PC. Spanish actress Elena Martínez, who has starred in Gustavo Hernández’s “Lobo Feroz” and Montes’ admired feature debut “A Dead Man Cannot Live,” which premiered at the Málaga fest last

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the largest union representing behind-the-scenes workers in North America, has joined the growing number of critics expressing their disapproval of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ decision to pre-record eight craft categories at the Oscars. The eight categories to be aired retroactively as part of

There is an endearingly throwback vibe to Pete Ohs’ “Jethica,” a deadpan supernatural dramedy that lasts less than 70 minutes, but feels animated by a host of ghosts, not just of individual movies, but of entire filmmaking movements past. In particular, the restrictions of shooting in a pandemic seem to have liberated some of the

Keira Knightley-voiced animated biopic “Charlotte” has an official trailer. The feature, from Good Deed Entertainment, the studio behind “Loving Vincent,” tells the story of Charlotte Salomon, a young German-Jewish artist who was murdered in Auschwitz at the age of 26. “Charlotte” is directed by Eric Warin and Tahir Rana and features the voices of Jim

There is a certain satisfaction in learning the stories of people who, through luck, circumstance or sheer grit, have ended up in precisely the right job. Australian director Lachlan McLeod’s “Clean” turns out to be just such a story, but here the job is trauma cleaning — that is, swabbing down crime scenes and suicide

Sam Schles, a longtime creative executive under the ViacomCBS content umbrella, has joined Madica Productions. Schles has been named vice president of scripted development at the label — a spinoff of the prominent Hollywood PR agency Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis — whose credits include the Netflix’s “Ginny and Georgia” and the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced digital

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures revealed the first round of exhibits for its 2022-2023 season on Monday, including a tribute to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 film “The Godfather” and its first permanent exhibit, “Hollywoodland,” dedicated to the founders of Hollywood. Other newly announced additions to the museum include “Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971,” a tribute

Celebrate this year’s Oscars before, during and after the big night. From Mindy Kaling to Beyoncé and Jay-Z, celerities and industry bosses will toast the nominees and winners of the 94th Academy Awards. Pop that bubbly and shine those shoes because the fun is about to begin. MARCH 22 Emily’s List9:30 a.m.This year’s theme is

Taskovski Films has acquired world sales rights to Nataša Urban’s “The Eclipse,” which has its world premiere in the main DOX:AWARD competition at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX). Focusing on the events of Aug. 11, 1999, when most of Serbia’s population barricaded themselves in their homes and nuclear bunkers in fear of a

Amy Schumer is co-hosting the 94th Academy Awards with Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes, and she’s revealed at least one idea she planned for the upcoming ceremony: having Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appear during the ceremony via satellite or a pre-taped video segment. The 2022 Oscars will take place while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues,

Unspooling March 21-25, the Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event project (MAFF) provides a forum for Latin American film projects to seek international production partnerships. Costa Rican productions will be highlighted by subsection Costa Rica Guest Country.  The socially impactful film “Silence of the Earth” will feature in the MAFF Social subsection. Female directors earn

COMPETITION Universal Pictures‘ “Jurassic World Dominion” stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard have launched a competition for young U.K. fans of the dino franchise to design a British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) black card. The black card is the card that has the film’s rating and BBFC approval for cinematic screenings. “This is

Chilean filmmaker Matías Bize’s pandemic-prompted film “Private Messages” will be part of the Official Selection at the 2022 Malaga Film Festival, and the feature dives face-first into the stories which make us human, vulnerable and strong.  Bize, who won a Spanish Academy Goya for his Variety-championed film “The Life of the Fish” in 2011, uses

Principal photography commenced Monday at U.K. locations on historical comedy “Seize Them!,” directed by Curtis Vowell (“Baby Done”). The cast includes BAFTA winner, Aimee Lou Wood (“Sex Education”), Lolly Adefope (“Shrill”), Nicola Coughlan (“Bridgerton,” “Derry Girls”), Nick Frost (“Hot Fuzz”) and Jessica Hynes (“W1A”). Written by Andy Riley (“Ron’s Gone Wrong”), “Seize Them!” is a