Movies

The mega-successful Chinese franchise about a mismatched detective duo tackling baffling crimes in foreign destinations continues with a wildly uneven caper set in Tokyo. With performances, plotting and visuals amped up to 11 as per usual, this hyperactive combination of Sherlock Holmes-type sleuthing and Three Stooges-style slapstick comedy offers plenty of zany fun, but the

For a criminal who revealed his agenda in exhaustively detailed black-and-white — via his famous essay “Industrial Society and the Future,” published in The Washington Post months ahead of his 1996 capture — Ted Kaczynski remains a somewhat unreadable figure. The domestic terrorist better known as the Unabomber killed three people and injured two dozen

There may be films that resemble in certain details “Death of a Virgin, and the Sin of Not Living,” though nothing readily comes to mind, and even were there something to compare it to, it wouldn’t lessen the way it burrows inside until you find yourself flooded by the fragility of life, with all its

Already devastated by her husband’s execution, Mina (played by co-director Maryam Moghaddam) discovers that the man she loves was put to death for a crime he didn’t commit in “Ballad of a White Cow.” That would seem to be injustice enough for one person to bear, but in conservative Iranian culture, now that Mina’s a

When thinking about weed-themed content, it’s easy to write off every movie or show as a stoner bro comedy. But the streaming age has brought diverse cannabis stories to the forefront, from cannabis-themed cooking shows, documentaries and dramas to — yes — the timeless and beloved easy-going flicks. For film choices, you can never go

DRAFT>>>PRE SEASON>>>REGULAR SEASON>>>POST SEASON 2021 AWARDS PREDICTIONS:BAFTA, DGA, PGA, ASC UPDATED: Mar. 5, 2021 AWARDS PREDICTION COMMENTARY: All awards and nominations lead to the coveted Academy Awards ceremony. As the industry’s leader in awards analysis, predictions and the entertainment business, you can find the key upcoming dates for this year’s awards season. Oscar nominations will

“Sound of Metal” follows the story of heavy metal drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) who begins to lose his hearing. Stumbling upon a rural shelter for deaf recovering addicts, Ruben meets Joe (Paul Raci), a recovering alcoholic who lost his hearing in the Vietnam War. The film was named one of the 10 best films of

It’s a very different landscape this week than it was a year ago, just before the pandemic forced cinemas to close around the country. Still, with New York cinemas cautiously reopening this week and many other markets determined to bring moviegoing back, the studios and indie distributors alike are bringing many of their long-delayed releases

It was a very rough year for AMC Entertainment, the world’s largest theater chain. Its theaters were dark for months as coronavirus spread around the world, and when some cities and states gave the green light for its cinemas to open back up, Hollywood opted to delay many of its highest-profile releases or send them

In a special edition of the Variety Streaming Room, film awards editor Clayton Davis moderated two panels that featured all 15 directors of the Academy Award shortlisted films for best international feature. The first panel featured 8 filmmakers from around the globe, while the second panel featured an additional seven filmmakers. They discussed what inspired

Tony Hendra, the British satirist and comic whose roles included top editing positions at magazines such as National Lampoon and Spy and a part in musical mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” died on Thursday in Yonkers, N.Y. He was 79. His wife, Carla Meisner, told the New York Times the cause of death was Lou

Daniel Craig and Mads Mikkelsen first met casting the 2006 film “Casino Royale,” which was Craig’s first turn at James Bond. Mikkelsen recalls their initial conversation at costume fitting and what he thought would be an audition. It was a crazy day, one Craig compared to “herding cats.” The two were taking a smoke break

When Lolita Ritmanis was growing up in Portland, Oregon, she didn’t even speak English. She spoke the native tongue of her parents, who fled the terrors of Communist Latvia in the years following World War II. Now an Emmy-winning composer (and bilingual), she is on the Oscar shortlist for best original score for her rich

Namir Smallwood and Sidney Flanigan will star in “Rounding,” a new dramatic thriller from “Saint Frances” director Alex Thompson. “Rounding” follows a driven young medical resident (Smallwood) who transfers to a rural hospital for a fresh start. There, the demons of his past start to catch up to him when he becomes consumed by the

Eddie Murphy’s return as Prince Akeem Joffer in “Coming 2 America” (streaming now on Prime Video) brings the comedy franchise back to the fictional Zamunda, home to the royal family and its future heir. Much of the Zamunda setting was recreated in Georgia, with the palatial palace brought to life courtesy of rapper Rick Ross,

Berlin’s virtual 2021 European Film Market, many companies feared, would be an underwhelming affair. Wrapping today, at least officially, the online event built over this week to finally give cause for much needed optimism. Ten takeaways from this week’s event. Berlin’s Netflix Film Market For the last two years, a Netflix panel was the hottest

Chile’s Santiago International Film Festival (Sanfic), which is preparing for its rescheduled, entirely digital industry section which will run March 18-25, ahead of its traditional in-person festival, scheduled for August, has revealed the projects’ lineup for its Santiago Lab Fiction, Documentary and Series sections. Sanfic’s brand new Series Lab, headed by Agustina Lumi and Alejandra

The Academy has begun its voting for the 93rd Oscars, and many films and performances are vying for spots in various categories. Nearly 10,000 members could cast their ballots by Wednesday, March 10, with nominations set to be announced on March 15. This has been an unpredictable awards season, with few consensuses forming in the

Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” was quietly swept from the Chinese web Friday, days after nationalist backlash erupted online over questions of her citizenship and a sentence she spoke to a U.S. magazine nearly a decade ago. The sudden online clean-up signals that the Frances McDormand-starring drama’s theatrical outing is in jeopardy — even though earlier this

This season saw female actors embody characters that were often unpredictable — and audiences and critics embraced them. Viola Davis stars in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” as a woman who knows her worth and doesn’t apologize for it — practically unheard of for a Black woman in 1927. Andra Day also plays a singer who

Ninja Thyberg, whose movie “Pleasure” debuted to rave reviews at Sundance Film Festival, has signed with CAA. “Pleasure,” an explicit drama about the adult film industry, marked Thyberg’s feature film directorial debut. In 2013, she directed a short of the same name, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival. The movie takes a look at the Los

IFC Films has acquired U.S. rights to Jacques Audiard’s upcoming film “Paris, 13th District” (Les Olympiades) during the virtual European Film Market. The movie was shot in the French capital during the pandemic. Playtime, which represents the film in international markets, has also closed sales in most major territories around the world, including U.K. (Curzon),

Sales agent M-Appeal has closed further territory deals for Japanese filmmaker Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which just won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. Benelux rights have gone to September Film, and StraDa Films has picked the film up in Greece. September Film plans to release the

Among the live action shorts in contention for this year’s Academy Awards is “White Eye,” Israeli filmmaker Tomer Shushan’s poignant narrative about the thought-to-reaction movements of a Tel Avivian who finds his stolen bicycle in the street. At 20 minutes and in one continuous take, it progresses like a waltz through the choreographed action of

Oscar-nominated Richard Linklater, producer Basil Iwanyk and “Shadow In The Cloud” director Roseanne Liang headline the speakers line-up at the Australian International Screen Forum set to take place later this month (March 21-26, 201). The event’s industry program showcases innovative Australian and international content, and features conversations with leading film industry mentors and talent from

Barcelona-based Filmax has acquired international sales rights to Costa del Sol-set action thriller “Hombre muerto no sabe vivir” (“A Dead Man Cannot Live”), the feature debut by producer Ezekiel Montes. The Spanish mini-major has also taken local distribution rights to the film, which is scheduled for a summer theatrical release. Produced by Montes at his

Atresmedia Cine, one of Spain’s biggest film production companies, has tapped David Pérez Sañudo, writer-director of “Ane,” the country’s biggest first feature breakout of 2020, to write and direct a new movie, an adaptation of Felix García Hernán’s “Cava dos fosas.” Part of Spain’s Buendía Estudios, a 50/50 joint venture between broadcaster Atresmedia and pay

Romanian director Radu Jude’s irreverent contemporary satire “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” has won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear for best film. The jury said the film has that “rare and essential quality of a lasting art work. It captures on screen the very content and essence, the mind and body, the values

The siren heard over the opening seconds of “A Cop Movie” doesn’t emanate from a car at all, but from an actor, imitating the piercing sound of approaching police with her voice. That’s a fitting fake-out with which to begin Alonso Ruizpalacios’ astoundingly original look at what makes an effective Mexico City cop. Technically, this

The EU’s game-changing Audiovisual Media Services Directive, which is expected to prompt new rules of engagement between producers and streaming giants, is finally in various stages of implementation across Europe. The new rules — for which the formal deadline was January 2021, but there is some leeway — will involve investment obligations and in some