Movies

Focus Features has acquired the worldwide rights to “Brian and Charles,” a quirky and heartfelt comedy about an unlikely friendship that debuted to rave reviews this week at the Sundance Film Festival. The film centers on Brian, a lonely inventor in rural Wales, who builds unconventional contraptions that rarely work. He soon sets out on

Mattel Films executive V.P. Robbie Brenner has not one but two Magic 8 Balls in her office. As a mom, she’s always been partial to Barbie but admits the small black plastic orbs have a strange hold on her. “To this day, I still shake it and think somehow it’s going to tell me what’s

The virtual Sundance Film Festival concluded with a virtual awards show — no host this year, just a series of statements and videos parceled out across two hours via Twitter. It was a strangely anti-climactic way of wrapping a low-key festival, even as it gave winners a chance to prep polite, crew-inclusive acceptance speeches. The

“Palm Trees and Power Lines,” an unnerving and deeply disturbing look at an older man who grooms a bored teenager, asks challenging questions about consent and predation. As Tom, Jonathan Tucker, a veteran scene-stealer in “Kingdom” and “Westworld,”  is a revelation, painting a picture of pure evil that is nonetheless charming and seductive. He appears

Women have always been in the center of Pedro Almodovar’s films, driving his narrative. For the past few years, a woman has also been in the editing chair. For years, José Salcedo Palomeque was his go-to editor, until Palomeque died in 2017. Since then, Teresa Font has been working by the filmmaker’s side, on set

After Lena Dunham’s new movie “Sharp Stick” was criticized on Twitter by an autism activist who claimed she was approached to be a consultant on the project, the filmmaking team behind the Sundance film says that the central character, Sarah Jo, was never written to be on the spectrum. Producers say the drama about a

When one is asked to picture those who are are most impacted by global warming, the imagination flashes to Inuits on a melting ice floe or Maldives natives threatened by rising tides, not Bolivian shepherds who graze their livestock on the Altiplano, nearly 12,000 feet above sea level. But the residents of these remote highlands

“Aquaman” star Jason Momoa is set to join the “Fast” family. Variety has learned that Momoa is in talks to star opposite Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and the “Fast and Furious” crew in the upcoming 10th installment of the high-octane franchise. Directed by Justin Lin, the film is tentatively titled “Fast and Furious 10,” with

The family of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was shot and killed on the set of “Rust” in October, has taken the first step toward filing a wrongful death lawsuit. A Santa Fe, N.M., attorney, Kristina Martinez, filed a petition on Wednesday to be appointed as the personal representative of Hutchins’ estate. Martinez is seeking

The Walt Disney Co. has named longtime J.P. Morgan media analyst Alexia Quadrani as head of investor relations. In her new role as senior vice president, Quadrani will serve as Disney’s information liaison to the investment community and serve as a key advisor for company’s senior management team. She succeeds Lowell Singer, the Disney veteran

Last August, Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat managed to escape from Kabul with part of her family as Taliban fighters took over the city while U.S. forces withdrew. Now, her “Weekend With…Shahrbanoo Sadat” event at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, starting on Saturday Jan. 29, will give U.S. audiences an opportunity to

Elliott Hasler’s indie biopic “Vindication Swim” has added Douglas Hodge and James Wilby to the cast. Hodge recently appeared as Alfred Pennyworth in “Joker” opposite Joaquin Phoenix and has also had recurring roles in “The Great” and “Lost in Space.” Wilby played Lord Falmouth in BBC period drama “Poldark” and has appeared in “Gosford Park”

Troy Kotsur loved the script for “CODA” but knew that in one crucial scene he didn’t want to say the words, “thank you.” To be more precise, Kotsur knew he didn’t want to sign the phrase. Deaf actor Kotsur plays Rossi family patriarch Frank in Siân Heder’s film about Ruby (Emilia Jones), the Rossis’ hearing

Chilean filmmaker Roberto Doveris’ “Phantom Project” vies for the top Tiger prize at the Rotterdam film festival’s online edition this year and leads a robust Chilean delegation in other sections of the festival. Co-produced by Doveris’ Niña Niño Films and Aura Sinclair’s Agencia Rekia (“La Isla de las Gaviotas”), “Phantom Project” (previously titled “Ghost Project”)

“Fitness advice, gig economy, binge watching Danish crime series, sustainability, sex when the kids watch cartoons, mobile bank ID, personal development 5:2 diet, anti-aging cream, Adobe updates, climate friendly travel, body activism,” Anders rants quietly to the camera, as he walks from his car to home in the equivalent of white picket fence Sweden at

Coming back to Rotterdam Film Festival where he presented his short “A Bright Summer Day” only two years ago, Chinese director Lei Lei is ready to expand his audience, he tells Variety. Combining audio narration with animation and archive footage, in “Silver Bird and Rainbow Fish” – sold internationally by Asian Shadows and previously known

BBC has acquired “Trom,” a crime drama set in the Faroe Islands, which will have its international premiere at the Berlinale Series Market Selects. A Viaplay Original, “Trom” is produced by REinvent Studios with Kyk Pictures and Truenorth. REinvent International Sales represents worldwide rights. “Trom” will premiere on Viaplay on Feb. 13 Based on Jagvan

Italy’s True Colours has taken international sales on “Perfect Strangers” director Paolo Genovese’s new movie, a comedy drama titled “The First Day of My Life.” The Rome-based sales company will be launching pre-sales at the upcoming online EFM market on Genovese’s latest concept pic, which has echoes of Frank Capra’s classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Bettina Brokemper of Cologne-based Heimatfilm, the German co-producer of Lars von Trier films including “Melancholia” and “Antichrist,” has boarded “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry,” the third feature from rising Georgian filmmaker Elene Naveriani, which was selected for the Rotterdam Film Festival’s CineMart co-production market. Based on the novel by Georgian author and feminist activist Tamta Melashili, the

Things like drinking games and “RiffTrax” were invented for movies like “In the Forest,” which are very bad but need a little participatory help to become so-bad-they’re-good. This quasi-horror tale of bickering vacationers running afoul of disturbed locals strings together various well-worn clichés with a notable lack of suspense, plausibility and style, while excelling in

Strong-willed audiences who didn’t tap out of the “Ice Age” franchise after the first two films were rewarded with the memorable introduction of swashbuckling one-eyed weasel Buck Wild in “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.” The heroic and humorous Indiana Jones-esque character was a breath of fresh air for the series and its well-established group

If endless sequels, prequels, reboots, spin-offs, teamups, callbacks and shout-outs have put you off the idea of the “shared cinematic universe,” you haven’t been spending enough time in Karatas, world cinema’s smallest, wildest, weirdest crossover microcosm. The fictional village in rural Kazakhstan, populated exclusively by the clueless, the cowardly, the comic and the corrupt has

The Japanese theme park, based on the works of the Miyazaki Hayao-led animation firm Studio Ghibli, has set Nov. 1, 2022, as the date for its official opening. Having previously teased ‘Fall 2022’ as the park debut, Studio Ghibli announced the confirmed date in a simple tweet alongside an image of its Totoro character. 「ジブリパーク」の開園日が発表されました。

At the same moment Disney-critical documentary “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales” was premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, the media giant’s controversy du jour involved the treatment of dwarfs in its upcoming live-action “Snow White” remake. “Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho!” as the lyrics go. “We dig up diamonds by the score / A thousand rubies,

In some ways, Javier Bardem and Christoph Waltz have trod similar career paths. In the space of two years, both stole the show and won Oscars playing cold-blooded killers, Bardem in the Coen brothers’ “No Country for Old Men,” Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds.”  Both went on to become memorable Bond villains. And they also have

Searchlight’s “Nightmare Alley” takes place mostly in 1939-41, but its sensibility is contemporary. It’s a time-capsule movie: If future generations want to know what life was like in the 21st century, tell them to see this film. “Nightmare,” written by Guillermo Del Toro (who directs) and Kim Morgan, depicts a world of liars and charlatans

Though he’s been an acclaimed actor for five decades, earned four Oscar nominations and starred in several blockbusters, Willem Dafoe will take on a new challenge this weekend when he hosts “Saturday Night Live” for the first time Jan. 29. The announcement was met with massive enthusiasm online, with many people expressing disbelief Dafoe had

After a stampede of awards announcements that include ACE Eddies, Producers Guild and Writers Guild of America Awards, the prestigious Directors Guild of America Awards has finally weighed in with their own set of nominees that recognizes achievements in directing. In the motion pictures category, the group nominated Kenneth Branagh for “Belfast” (Focus Features), Jane

In the streaming age, documentary filmmakers, once the long-suffering artists working in obscurity to finish self-funded passion projects, have become rock stars. Deep-pocketed platforms like Netflix and Hulu have dished out for costly archival clearances and biopic rights, and the strategy has invariably led to awards glory. But just as the medium has become more

Evangeline Lilly, best known for playing Kate Austen in ABC’s drama series “Lost” and for her role as Hope van Dyne/Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, took to social media to confirm her attendance at a Washington D.C. protest over the weekend in support of “bodily sovereignty.” The actress went on to explain that she