Movies

“Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1,” a period swashbuckler starring Tak Sakaguchi (“Versus”) as the legendary warrior Miyamoto Musashi, is wowing fans outside Japan as it moves from the international festival circuit to streaming. In North America, it hits martial arts specialist HI-YAH! on Feb. 12, 2021 under the title “Crazy Samurai Musashi.” Digital, Blu-ray, and

There’s a genre of literature, rife with fear and dismay, that’s more steeped in sinister fate than the novels of Thomas Hardy, more flecked with cruelty than the bad-dream collages of William Burroughs. It’s so infused with a sense of life’s unfairness that merely to read it is to stalk the darkness. I’m talking, of

A.R. Rahman, the Oscar-, BAFTA-, Golden Globe- and Grammy-winning Indian composer of “Slumdog Millionaire,” is set to return to Hollywood projects after a hiatus. Rahman’s mother Kareema Begum was ailing for eight years, and Rahman and his family decided to spend as much time with her in India as possible. She died in December. “It

Storied filmmaker Spike Lee is the latest in a long line of auteurs to be awarded honors by the American Cinematheque. The ceremony celebrating Lee’s more than three decade-career was presented virtually due to the ongoing pandemic. A collage of images from some of his most iconic “joints” (including “Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm X,”

Demi Lovato’s new docuseries has been set as the opening night headliner at the 2021 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival. South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals announced that the YouTube Originals docuseries “Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil,” directed by Michael D. Ratner, will make its world premiere and kick off the 2021

Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch and Alisha Weir will join Netflix’s musical adaptation of the beloved children’s story “Matilda,” directed by Matthew Warchus. Thompson will play Miss Trunchbull while Weir, who has appeared in the Irish TV series “Darklands,” takes on the title role of the young girl who learns to use her special powers. Lynch

Shudder, AMC’s horror and thriller-focused streaming platform, announced a lineup of 11 films set to premiere over the next 11 weeks. The selection of Shudder Originals coming to Shudder include Sundance Film Festival selections, as well as Tribeca Film Festival selections and a host of new content, as well. The first project to join the

British East and Southeast Asian media advocacy group BEATS has rolled out a ground-breaking new representation measure for the U.K. industry. Launched during a virtual summit hosted by BEATS (British East Asians in Theater and on Screen), the British Film Institute (BFI) and ITV, the BEATS Test measures on-screen representation for British East and Southeast

A new trailer for the upcoming docuseries “Trans in Trumpland” opens with ominous music as Donald Trump is heard in voiceover saying, “I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens.” There’s no question that Trump, who was impeached for a second time on Wednesday, did not fulfill his promise. In fact,

Chloé Zhao’s acclaimed film “Nomadland,” a road drama that’s expected to be a major awards player, has modified its release plan due to the pandemic. The movie — starring Frances McDormand as a woman who leaves her small town to travel the American west — will debut in select Imax venues on Jan. 29 before

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced plans Thursday to honor filmmaker Tyler Perry and the Motion Picture Television Fund with Jean Hersholt Humanitarian awards at the 93rd annual Oscars. “There has been such widespread generosity in our industry that limiting the Hersholt Humanitarian Award to one recipient, this year in particular, was

“You’ve been commissioned to write a 90-page screenplay, not ‘War and Peace.’” With these airy words, in the opening minutes of “Blithe Spirit,” exasperated trophy wife Ruth (Isla Fisher) admonishes her first-time screenwriter husband Charles (Dan Stevens) as he twitchily battles writers’ block. Then she adds a kicker: “How can it be so difficult to

Kino Lorber’s acquired U.S. rights to Milcho Manchevski’s “Willow,” which will represent North Macedonia in the Oscars’ international feature film race. “Willow” premiered at the Rome Film Festival and went on to win a best director award at Raindance. Reel Suspects is handling worldwide sales on the movie. “Willow” tells the heartfelt tale of three

“Bad Tales,” a drama written and directed by Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, has been acquired by Strand Releasing for North American distribution. Sold by The Match Factory, the movie world premiered in competition at Berlin in 2019 and won the Silver Bear for best screenplay. The drama unfolds in the suburbs of Rome and is set

Abramorama has acquired North American theatrical and digital distribution rights for Maya Zinshtein’s “‘Til Kingdom Come.” The documentary pulls back the curtain on the bond between Jews and evangelical Christians in the U.S. and Israel. It follows the Binghams, a dynasty of Kentucky pastors, and their Evangelical congregants in an impoverished coal mining town, who

Other Angle has sealed a raft of deals on Christopher Thompson’s Paris-set romantic comedy “The Butcher’s Daughter.” The film is having its market premiere as part of the UniFrance’s Rendez-Vous With French Cinema event, which kicked off Wednesday. The sales company has closed deals on the film with major distributors in Germany (Telepool), Spain (A

Isabella Rossellini first saw “The Truffle Hunters” while serving on the 2020 Sundance jury, where Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s doc — now considered among the frontrunners in the race for the best documentary feature Oscar — first launched. Their unique cinéma vérité depiction of a vanishing Italian world in the forests of Piedmont, where

Siegfried Fischbacher, who worked with Roy Horn to create the famous animal training and magic duo of Siegfried & Roy, has died, according to the Associated Press and German outlets. He was 81. Fischbacher died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. His death comes eight months after Horn died due to COVID-19 on May 8,

In my view, one of the few bright spots in this very dim year, but in many ways the brightest, was the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The grown-ups will be back in charge, and we’ll all feel safer with the end of four years of ego, petulance, divisiveness and insanity. For so

The election of Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris was already one for the history books, even before they were set to take office after the attempted coup on Jan. 6 orchestrated by their predecessor, Donald J. Trump. Biden and Harris received 81 million votes, more than any previous presidential ticket, and the California senator

Ray Fisher has confirmed that he’s been removed from the cast of Warner Bros.’ “The Flash” and will not reprise his role as Cyborg in the comic book film. “I strongly disagree with their decision, but it’s one that is unsurprising,” Fisher says at the beginning of a two page post, published Wednesday evening. “Despite

London-based sales agent Dogwoof has snapped up Sundance-bound documentaries “Ailey” and “Captains of Zaatari.” Directed by Jamila Wignot (“Axios,” “Street Fighting Men”), “Ailey” will world premiere in the U.S. Documentary competition. Dogwoof will handle international rights, while Cinetic will oversee North American sales. The outfit has also snapped up the debut feature by Ali El

CNN Films is developing a documentary titled “The Lost Sons,” a stranger-than-fiction account of a baby who was kidnapped from his mother’s hospital room. The non-fiction film centers on a Michigan man named Paul Fronczak. At age 10, he unintentionally discovered newspaper clippings about his parents, who made headlines for grieving their kidnapped baby and

The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) has appointed academic and critic Kim Young-jin as its new chairman. He replaces Oh Seok-geun who reached the end of his three-year term on Jan. 7, 2021. Kim previously worked at Film 2.0 magazine and at Cine21 as critic and senior editor. He was subsequently an executive programmer at the

The assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi assassins sparked Bryan Fogel’s decision to direct and produce a documentary about Saudi Arabian efforts to stifle dissent. But even in the U.S. and abroad, Fogel says his own movie has seen the adverse effects of Saudi influence over its own narrative. “The film is

Audiences will have to wait to return to the world of “The Sopranos.” “The Many Saints of Newark,” an upcoming film that serves as a prequel to the long-running HBO series, has again delayed its big-screen debut. The movie will now open on Sept. 24, 2021 — an entire year after initially planned. “The Many

It’s no great leap forward in filmmaking, but the big-budget disaster movie “Skyfire” does prove that China is now capable of producing its own brand of utterly preposterous and enjoyably trashy popcorn entertainment for a global audience. This thrill-packed tale about an angry volcano wreaking havoc on thinly written characters at a luxury island resort

A new feature documentary has secured exclusive access to the story of Peter McAleese, the Scottish mercenary and ex-SAS operative who was hired by a Colombian drug cartel to assassinate drug baron Pablo Escobar. Produced by Glasgow-based Two Rivers Media and Salon Pictures, the producers of David Bowie film “Stardust,” “Killing Escobar” is told in

Armie Hammer has stepped away from his role opposite Jennifer Lopez in the upcoming “Shotgun Wedding,” decrying “vicious and spurious online attacks” against him as the cause. Hammer was set to begin production on the romantic adventure immediately, but will now be recast. The news comes after the “Call Me by Your Name” star began

In a competitive situation, Paramount Players has won the adaptive rights to the new novel from bestselling author S.A. Cosby. Titled “Razorblade Tears,” the book is set for release this July from Flatiron Books. Cosby is the author of “Blacktop Wasteland,” the top seller in mystery thrillers on Amazon in 2020, which was also named