Movies

Powered by its famed partners, Oslo-based Motion Blur, one of Norway’s top producers of commercials, features and TV shows, has never been that busy with projects both on home turf and in the U.S. That activity in part rolls off the pulling power of the company’s pedigreed partners: “Karate Kid” helmer Harald Zwart; “Kon-Tiki” and

The Norwegian International Film Festival kicked off on Saturday its 49th edition in the coastal town of Haugesund, an occasion for industry filmgoers and Nordic film aficionados to discover new projects from the region’s top talent. One of festival’s highlights is its Next Nordic Generation– a selection of the best graduation short films from various

After a stellar year picking up awards at Berlin, South by Southwest, Edinburgh and Melbourne, “Ninjababy” continued its prize-winning streak at Norway’s top plaudits for national movies, the Amanda Awards. Their prize ceremony kicked off the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund on Saturday night. The second feature from TV-film director Yngvild Sve Flikke (“Women

A musical biopic featuring Milan Marić in the title role, “Toma” uses creative license to chart the eventful life of legendary Yugoslav folk singer-songwriter Tomislav Zdravković (1938-91), one of the most beloved recording artists and dedicated live performers of his time. The screenplay by Serbian multi-hyphenate Dragan Bjelogrlić and co-writers Nikola Pejaković, Zoran Lisinac and

Sean Penn remains committed to his previous comments that the COVID-19 vaccine should be mandatory for all. “I am so grateful that audiences — and yes, we’ll come around to that I would request only vaccinated audiences — have an opportunity to see this theatrically,” the actor told CNN’s Michael Smerconish in an interview about

Irony is a word that pops up a lot in discussing the group Sparks — in their content, and in their career. And here’s an irony for you: When brothers Ron and Russell Mael created a project called “The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman” many years back, it was with the intent of it being a

Disney and 20th Century Studios’ “Free Guy” is expected to score the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office for the second week in a row. The comedic action film, starring Ryan Reynolds, is projected to add another $16 million to $18 million to last weekend’s haul, for a total gross of $56 million

Disney has filed a motion to force Scarlett Johansson into a private arbitration to address whether she is owed millions from the hybrid release of “Black Widow.” In the motion, attorney Daniel Petrocelli also argues that Disney lived up to its obligation to give the film a “wide theatrical” release, but that nothing in the

Documentary filmmaker Drew Xanthopoulos started reading about whale cognition, culture and communication around four years ago, and was blown away by what he found. “It was stranger than any science fiction I’d ever read or watched on the screen,” Xanthopoulos says. “It occurred to me that if I’m having this much of an emotional effect

The 55th edition of the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival returned to life in a fully live format Friday after a year-long COVID-forced break, with its traditional rousing dance numbers and a lifetime achievement Crystal Globe for Michael Caine. The versatile two-time Oscar winner prompted his third standing ovation from the audience packed into the

David Ondricek’s epic account of Olympic gold medalist and multiple record holder Emil Zatopek, who attained legendary status in the darkest days of the Czechoslovak communist regime, makes for a powerful opening film at this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival. The director of “Whisper” and “In the Shadow,” who co-wrote the biopic with Alice Nellis

It was 19 years ago that Nick Broomfield, that spiky and compelling one-man band of documentary filmmakers, released “Biggie & Tupac” (2002), his chilling, no-frills, down-the-mean-streets-of-Compton investigative look into the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. The movie arrived at a moment when Broomfield had begun to style himself as a kind of high-end

French icon Isabelle Huppert would love to play a Disney villain — except she would make her a bit “more lovable,” she laughs. “It’s scarier when you make them a bit more lovable and attractive and more manipulative instead of doing it like a classical villain.” In “White as Snow,” a playful twist on the

“Lovecraft Country” and “Underground” creator Misha Green and Jurnee Smollett are teaming up for a third project, taking Smollett’s “Birds of Prey” character Black Canary on a new adventure in her own standalone film. The project is in development for HBO Max. Smollett confirmed the news on Twitter, writing: “Guess the Canary is out of

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and BRON Creative’s “The Addams Family 2” will be made available for at-home rental in the U.S. and Canada on the same day it opens in theaters. The animated movie, which debuts Friday, Oct. 1, is a sequel to 2019’s “The Addams Family,” which made more than $203 million at the box office.

Grace Alie is the production designer on Netflix’s “The Chair” (airing Aug. 20), which stars Sandra Oh as the first woman of color to head the English department at fictional Pembroke University. Alie researched images of Dartmouth, Yale and Harvard for that traditional Ivy League look and found that throughout the eras, the furniture hardly changed

After a competitive bidding war that received multiple offers, Gabrielle Union’s I’ll Have Another Productions has sold a queer teen comedy feature, with the working title “To Be Real,” to Amazon Studios. Tony winner, current Emmy nominee and recent Emmy winner Billy Porter — who’s been shooting his feature directorial debut “What If?” for Orion

Chadwick Boseman will be honored in a special tribute during Stand Up to Cancer’s (SU2C) fundraising telecast and streaming event on Saturday. The late actor’s wife Simone Boseman and SU2C host Anthony Anderson will honor him during the biennial fundraising telecast and streaming event. Boseman passed away last year, at the age of 43, after

Future Frames is a next generation showcase comprised of short works by students and recent graduates of European film schools, curated by the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in cooperation with European Film Promotion. The selected directors and their films will be introduced to on-site festival audiences from Aug. 22-24. Austrian director Andreas Horvath will mentor

Laika has announced it will release four films with new Blu-ray and DVD editions: “Coraline” and “The Boxtrolls” on Aug. 31, followed by “ParaNorman” and “Kubo and the Two Strings” on Sept. 14. The Laika editions feature new commemorative essays by journalists Peter Debruge (Variety), Ramin Zahed (Animation Magazine), Bill Desowitz (Indiewire) and Charles Solomon

In advance of the Aug. 27 release for Nia DaCosta’s “Candyman,” Universal Pictures and Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Prods. have launched a social impact initiative connected to the film, with the hashtag #TellEveryone. Directed by DaCosta, the new movie stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris and Colman Domingo and paints a new picture of the Candyman

Ricky D’Ambrose’s “The Cathedral” is set to bow at the Venice Film Festival. Starring Monica Barbaro and Brian D’Arcy James, the film was selected for the Biennale College Cinema 2020-2021 program, the development workshop created by the Venice Biennale for emerging filmmakers to produce micro-budget feature-length films. Semi-autobiographical in scope, the film focuses on Jesse,

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Video streamers are poaching independent films that previously were destined for movie screens, putting the tug-of-war over indie product in a spotlight. Exhibitors are stretching to keep premier specialty films attached to the silver screen and at the same time indie distributors struggle to cover sizeable marketing costs, which is a longstanding obstacle to cinema

As “The Night House” unfolds, and viewers watch as the widow of a suicide victim slowly unravels his dark past, it is composer Ben Lovett’s creepy, atmospheric music that keeps us on edge — a score that began long before director David Bruckner started filming on a lake in upstate New York. Lovett and Bruckner

Reincarnation, artificial consciousness and augmented reality intersect in U.S. director Jake Wachtel’s Cambodia-set “Karmalink,” for which Variety can reveal the first trailer. The sci-fi mystery will have its world premiere as the opening film of the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week on Sept. 1. Set in a near-future Phnom Penh, “Karmalink” is about a 13-year-old

Screen Media has acquired “The Green Wave,” a sports documentary that tells the incredible story of one coach’s impact on a high school basketball team. “The Green Wave” will premiere exclusively on Crackle Plus. The film was directed by Emmy award-winning Guido Verweyen (“After the Fire,” “Dance Moms”) and made its way around the festival

Sebastian Meise’s “Great Freedom,” a prison drama about a gay man repeatedly incarcerated under a draconian law outlawing homosexuality in West Germany, won the award for best feature film at the Sarajevo Film Festival. The Austrian director took home the Heart of Sarajevo at Thursday night’s ceremony, while leading man Georg Friedrich won the award

Starring Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” will receive its European premiere at late September’s San Sebastian Festival. The biggest film event in the Spanish-speaking world will open with the anticipated “One Second” from China’s Xhang Yimou, which was dramatically pulled from competition at the 69th Berlin Film Festival. Both titles

It’s an awfully long way from Louisiana to the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, but for Richie Adams, it was a journey worth taking. The American filmmaker, previously best known for U.S.-set indies “Of Mind and Music” and “Inventing Adam,” has made the most expansive, ambitious film of his career in “The Road