While the world, at least parts of it privileged enough to have easy vaccine access, is just starting to peel itself away from lockdown and reflect on the loneliness of the past year, artists have been trying to make sense of it all for months now. The virtual Sundance Film Festival back in January 2021
Movies
The New Zealand Film Commission has appointed of David Strong as its new CEO. He replaces Annabelle Sheehan, who stepped down from the role in May after three and a half years in the role. With a background both in the army and the film industry, String has been a specialist advisor to major motion
Film and TV actor Ned Beatty, who was Oscar nominated for his supporting role in “Network” and appeared in a number of the most significant American films of the 1970s, has died. He was 83. Beatty’s management confirmed his death to Variety, adding that he died from natural causes on Sunday morning surrounded by his
“F9” became the most-watched foreign film in South Korea since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic on another weekend where Hollywood and Japanese titles dominated the South Korean box office. The weekend box office chart was headed by “Cruella,” which held strong in its third frame and swapped places with newer “The Conjuring: The Devil
John Krasinski’s nearly silent thriller “A Quiet Place Part II” has crossed a notable box office milestone. The Paramount Pictures film is the first of the pandemic era to surpass $100 million in U.S. ticket sales. Through the weekend, “A Quiet Place 2” has generated $108 million at the domestic box office and another $80
On March 6, 1978, during a legal battle in Georgia over obscenity charges, Larry Flynt, the owner and publisher of Hustler magazine, was shot on the sidewalk, an assassination attempt that left him partially paralyzed. It didn’t take long for him to become an iconic figure in his gold wheelchair, but the shooting devastated him.
It was an unusual pitch. Amber Sealey, the director of “No Man of God,” couldn’t shake the feeling that Luke Kirby, best known for playing Lenny Bruce on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” was the perfect person to embody a very different historical figure: None other than Ted Bundy, one of the most infamous serial killers
Everything starts and ends with tradition in “India Sweets and Spices,” an inviting intergenerational dramedy of comforting flavors, both witty and familiar. Packing a conventional coming-of-age tale into its pleasantly paced running time, Geeta Malik’s sophomore feature — about old-fashioned multicultural families with storied roots and their modern, independently minded offspring — doesn’t offer all
There have been many dramas in which actors portray legendary true-life psycho killers, and the overwhelming majority of them are less than convincing. Every so often, though, an actor — through looks, skill, and temperament — will connect to the monster he’s playing in a way that’s so uncanny it seizes and chills you. Jeremy
Despite hailing from different backgrounds and faiths, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are linked by their kindred fights for justice and self-determination for all. Their unique friendship is the crux of “Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times,” Academy Award-winner Louie Psihoyos (“The Cove”) and co-director Peggy Callahan’s nonfiction portrait
Director Amber Sealey, who helmed the new film about Ted Bundy, “No Man of God,” has responded to Joe Berlinger’s email accusing her of attempting to discredit his two films centered on the serial killer to gain attention for her release. “It felt like he was trying to silence me, to let me know that
“Kids,” a gritty look at a group of skateboarding, drug-abusing, bed-hopping teenagers, became an unlikely box office hit when it premiered in the summer of 1995. Shot on a shoestring budget with a cast comprised of unknowns and amateur actors, the film’s subject matter and frank sexuality was scandalous, prompting condemnation in some quarters, as
On June 12, 1981, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” immersed viewers in the intrepid undertakings of Indiana Jones — a lionhearted archaeologist who set out to find the mystifying Ark of the Covenant. Harrison Ford portrayed the titular adventurer, while Karen Allen played the high-spirited and resilient Marion Ravenwood. Before being cast in Steven Spielberg’s
Most people know Wolfgang Puck as the ebullient proprietor of celebrity-saturated Spago, purveyor of frozen pizzas to the masses and ubiquitous presence on TV magazine shows. But before all he blazed the trail as one of the first true celebrity chefs, there was an uncertain boy who grew up in a poor Austrian family with
“Wish Dragon” is well aware that “Aladdin” got there first. Making his spirited feature debut, dream-big animation director Chris Appelhans pretty much assumes you’ll be thinking of Disney’s blue genie when his humble Hong Kong hero rubs a jade teapot and produces a fluorescent flamingo-pink dragon, ready to grant his wildest dreams — or three of
Why did he do it? That’s the question that anyone who’s ever been touched by the hungry, life-force spirit of Anthony Bourdain will have at the top of his or her head going into “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.” Directed by the award-winning Morgan Neville (“20 Feet from Stardom,” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”),
Stylish and insidery, “Poser” is enthralled by Columbus, Ohio, particularly its burgeoning independent arts and music scene. It’s a sophisticated, if not cold-to-the-touch psychodrama of elegant visuals and innovative tunes, which debuting co-directors Ori Segev and Noah Dixon (who also scripted) beguilingly steer as a cheeky yet gradually darkening ode to their adoptive city. So
Joe Berlinger is accusing Amber Sealey, the filmmaker behind “No Man of God,” a new film about Ted Bundy, of taking unnecessary potshots at the two films he previously made about the serial killer in an effort to generate attention for her movie. The indie director, whose credits include both the Netflix docu-series “Conversations with
Imagine the protagonist of a Richard Curtis film woke up on the morning of whichever wedding or funeral they were to attend, suddenly cursed with self-awareness. The resulting movie, a comedy that elicits such bone-deep cringe it’s indistinguishable from horror, might look a lot like Andrew Gaynord’s “All My Friends Hate Me,” a ferociously witty,
A3 Artists Agency announced on Friday that Alexis Cooper will now serve as vice president of HR, while Ulisses Rivera was promoted to director of communications. Both Cooper and Rivera will continue reporting to Chief Operating Officer Todd Quinn. “Alexis and Ulisses have been key to helping us take the agency to the next level,”
Oscar-winning actors Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore are set to headline a new drama from acclaimed director Todd Haynes. “May December” will see the heavyweights pair for the story of a Hollywood actress (Portman) who travels to the picturesque coast of Maine to study the real-life woman (Moore) she’s set to play in a film.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has promoted Shawn Finnie to executive VP of member relations and awards. In his new role, Finnie will lead engagement and outreach initiatives for the Academy’s global membership of over 10,000 artists, filmmakers and executives. He will also oversee the processes for submissions, rules and voting. Leading
The Academy Museum store at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will feature merchandise designed by costume designers Adrienne Phillips and Ruth E. Carter as well as a Lego Oscar statuette and a ruby slipper purse. The retail space will be located in the lobby of the new Mid-Wilshire museum, which is set to open
“Flag Day,” a new drama from Sean Penn, has sold North American rights to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer weeks before it is scheduled to have its global debut at the Cannes Film Festival. The film was directed by Penn, with the Oscar-winner starring alongside his daughter, Dylan Penn. It’s an adaptation of Jennifer Vogel’s acclaimed memoir “Flim-Flam Man:
“Dear Mr. Brody” isn’t as formally daring as writer-director Keith Maitland’s documentary debut, “Tower,” but it nonetheless boasts plenty of nonfiction flourishes — most notably, dramatic recreations of some of the thousands of unopened letters that were sent to Michael Brody Jr. in 1970 after the 21-year-old promised that he’d give away $25 million to
It’s only fitting that George A. Romero, who created the zombie movie as we know it, would release a film from beyond the grave. Nearly 50 years after it was completed, shelved and thought to be lost, “The Amusement Park” has returned to the land of the living — and, just as important, proven worth
BROADCAST “Friends: The Reunion Special” has broken viewership records at Sky One, becoming the network’s most watched show ever with more than 5.3 million tuning in to see the one-off special, which was available exclusively on Sky and its Now streaming service in the region. The special now stands as Sky’s most watched program across
Four Greek fiction features and two documentaries have been selected for this year’s edition of Thessaloniki Goes to Cannes, the Cannes Film Market’s pix-in-post industry showcase. The projects will be presented to potential sales agents, distributors and festival programmers during a presentation at the Palais des Festivals on July 12. The event is a collaboration
Los Angeles Confidential magazine celebrated its fourth “Portraits of Pride” edition with a swanky soiree held at the newly-opened Pendry West Hollywood hotel on Tuesday night. Presented by EFFEN Vodka and Hornitos Tequila, the event also honored cover star Andrew Rannells for his decade-long career in entertainment. Ahead of the event, Rannells explained what Pride
Tommy Wirkola, the popular Norwegian helmer of “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” and “Dead Snow,” will be making his animation debut with “Spermageddon,” a humor-laced musical feature about the beginning of life. Charades (“Mirai,” “Belle”) has boarded the project and will represent it in international markets. “Spermageddon” follows two narrative threads — the emerging love