Movies

Cara Williams, one of the last remaining actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age and an Oscar nominee for her performance in 1958’s “The Defiant Ones,” died on Thursday. She was 96 years old. Williams’ death was confirmed to Variety by her daughter Justine Jagoda and her great-nephew Richard Potter. “Not only was she a sparkling actress with impeccable

Steven Spielberg has a simple reason for why he made sure Latino characters were played by Latino actors in his “West Side Story” adaptation. “This is the way to do it,” the director said Tuesday at the film’s Los Angeles premiere. “This is the way we are in this world. This is where we should

Although pornographic films have been around since the late 1800s, even having a near-mainstream surge in popularity in the early ’70s thanks to films like 1972’s “Deep Throat” and provocateurs like Andy Warhol, major films about the pornography business took a lot longer to gain mass appeal. Early works, like Paul Schrader’s 1979 “Hardcore,” treated

20th Century Studios’ “West Side Story” is off to a slow start at the domestic box office. Steven Spielberg’s movie musical grossed $4.1 million across 2,820 locations on Friday. Though “West Side Story” had a quiet debut on Thursday evening, collecting just $800,000 in previews, box office analysts were still sticking with original expectations for the

The Oscar shortlists hit Hollywood on Dec. 21, with filmmakers and artisans alike waiting to see if their pics have made it. It’s another COVID-challenged year, with theaters still not running at full capacity and screening links de rigueur even as widespread vaccinations boost the confidence in getting back in a cinema. The films below

French director Julia Ducournau, who burst onto the world filmmaking scene in 2016 with “Raw,” admits it wasn’t easy to come up with her latest film, “Titane.” “I think that it is the hardest script I’ve ever had to write, although I’m very young in my career,” she tells Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast. “But I

Writer and director Benjamin Cleary’s “Swan Song,” which premieres Dec. 17 on Apple TV Plus, straddles the line between science fiction and drama as Mahershala Ali plays Cameron, a dying man who is presented with a choice that could save his family from grief. Composer Jay Wadley came onto the movie late in the game;

Audiences viewing Steven Spielberg’s new “West Side Story” will see many differences from the 1961 version, including a younger cast, revised screenplay and new choreography. What hasn’t changed is the music by Leonard Bernstein, the result of four high-profile experts who teamed up to record the score anew. Oscar-nominated composer David Newman oversaw all of

Since she was appointed executive producer of “American Experience” in July 2020, Cameo George has been busy expanding and diversifying the slate of PBS’ signature historical documentary series, with the upcoming 34th season the first produced in full under her direction. The new “American Experience” season will kick off on Feb. 7 with Michael Bicks

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced the 2022 document motion picture nominees who will advance to the final round of voting at the 33rd annual Producers Guild Awards on Feb. 26. Films nominated include “Ascension,” “The First Wave,” Flee,” “In the Same Breath,” “The Rescue,” “Simple As Water,” “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival has unveiled its short film program, curated from an all-time high of 10,374 submissions. The films — encompassing categories like domestic and international live action as well as animation — will screen throughout the hybrid festival in-person, at satellite venues, and online. “Short films are such a vital part of

It was the original cult film. A movie you had to show your girlfriend or boyfriend so they understood you. And it was the comedy Variety called “as much fun as a burning orphanage.” Making “Harold and Maude” wasn’t easy, and releasing it to the general public was even harder. But 50 years on, the touching, droll

Ahead of its Jan. 14 release, Sony Pictures Classic has released the first trailer for “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America.” The documentary is directed by Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler. Interweaving lectures, personal anecdotes, interviews and shocking revelations, criminal defense and civil rights lawyer Jeffery Robinson draws a stark timeline of

European production group Newen Studios is teaming with Oscar-nominated Danish producer Sigrid Dyekjaer to launch production company Real Lava. Based in Denmark, Real Lava will aim to produce cinematic documentary films and series for international audiences. Kicking off Real Lava’s documentary slate is Alex Pritz’s “The Territory” which will be premiering at Sundance. “The Territory”

“Eternals,” the most recent chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will soon be available to watch from the comfort of your own home. The superhero film will land on Disney Plus in just over a month on January 12. Disney made the announcement on Friday, just one week ahead of the theatrical release of “Spider-Man:

Twitch gamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins will make his animated movie debut, opposite Selena Gomez and Andy Samberg, in “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania,” the fourth installment in the hit family-friendly monster franchise. Blevins, who has 17 million followers on Twitch, will play a character named Party Monster in the Sony Pictures Animation feature. He most recently made

Scarcely a week after the announcement that a more barebones European Film Awards (EFA) ceremony was to take place Dec. 11 in Berlin with only nominees in attendance, even that compromise proved to be too bold. Given that the EFAs already vie for global attention with Stateside awards campaigns and end-of-year lists, it must be

Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” led the nominations from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ). The emotional western was nominated for best film, director, adapted screenplay, and in acting and craft categories. With 25 individual categories, the awards are divided into three sections: the standard “best of” section, the “Female Focus” awards

Variety will honor two-time Academy Award-winning director Asghar Farhadi at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 7 as part of the publication’s annual “10 Directors to Watch” and Creative Impact Awards brunch at the Parker Palm Springs. Farhadi will be celebrated for his recent film “A Hero”, released by Amazon Studios, as

One tweet is all it took. “Thank me when you’re famous,” wrote Rachel Zegler’s friend Makena Reynolds, who sent the then-highschooler a tweet in 2019 announcing an open casting call for “West Side Story.” One “I-don’t-know-how-I-booked-it” self-tape and several months of callbacks later, Zegler got the part. She was going to be Maria in Steven

Indian filmmaker Ishan Shukla has started the motion capture of his debut animated feature “Schirkoa” in Angoulême, France. The film tells the story of a bored office worker, who may have accidentally sparked a revolution in a bizarre dystopian world, Schirkoa, where citizens live with paper bags on their heads to dissolve political, cultural and

If you weren’t around at the time, it’s hard to communicate just what a splashy, dominating place the Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller occupied during the 1970s. Wertmüller, who died on Thursday at 93, was far from the first celebrated woman director — just think of Agnès Varda, Shirley Clarke, Elaine May, Lois Weber, Ida Lupino,

The first trailer for “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” has sped out of the gate. Unveiled at Thursday night’s Game Awards, the trailer gives fans of the original movie and popular Sega video game franchise a first look at Tails and Knuckles, two of Sonic’s animated buddies in the live-action world. Most of the cast from

In the early moments of “Commitment Hasan,” Turkish writer-director Semih Kaplanoglu’s slow-burning morality tale, one could mistake the titular character for a weak, vulnerable individual others routinely walk all over. Portrayed with a quiet sense of stealth by Umut Karadag, Hasan is a fairly prosperous farmer and gardener tending to the family land he inherited

As timely as last night’s episode of “ESPN Sports Center,” and as riveting as a well-crafted tick-tock suspenser, “National Champions” adroitly avoids most of the pitfalls common to conventional “message movies” by raising and debating issues in the context of a solid and involving drama that can be enjoyed even by people who couldn’t tell

There has been no better time than now for documentaries to educate and create a platform that enhances dialogue. Two years into the pandemic, documentarians have led the helm in starting conversations for viewers to learn and explore the lives of people and social constructs while audiences are still in their own pandemic bubbles. At

If you want to win an Oscar, does it help to have a nude scene? That depends on if you’re competing in the best actor or actress category. In the past, we’ve seen victories for actresses who bare it all onscreen — such as Halle Berry in “Monster’s Ball” (2001) or Kate Winslet in “The

Turning Nicole Kidman into Lucille Ball and Javier Bardem into Desi Arnaz in “Being the Ricardos” wasn’t only about creating a facsimile of the iconic 1950s TV duo. Rather, director Aaron Sorkin instructed hair department head Teressa Hill and makeup department head Ana Lozano, “We are not taking a photograph; we are painting a picture.”

Christopher Nolan is adding more star power to his World War II drama “Oppenheimer.” Oscar winner Rami Malek, Oscar nominee Florence Pugh and “Uncut Gems” director Benny Safdie have joined an ensemble that already includes Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt. The film, with its oh-so-commercial-sounding story about the development of

Agents, studio executives and movie lovers will resume their annual pilgrimage to Park City as the Sundance Film Festival, the preeminent showcase for indie film, returns to in-person premieres this January. The 2021 version unfolded entirely digitally as a concession to COVID-19. What they will find in the that thin mountain air is the standard