Movies

In his opening message for Wednesday’s Asian Film Awards, Tokyo International Film Festival chairman Ando Hiroyasu quoted “Macbeth”: “The night is long that never finds the day.” Whereas the AFA event was held online, for Tokyo, it seems that dawn has already arrived. Despite initial concerns, this year’s festival will play to cinemas operating at

While there are fewer Japanese titles than usual at this year’s streamlined Tokyo International Film Festival, it’s a varied selection, with numerous international co-productions and films tackling contemporary issues, as well as retrospectives, anime and a few classics. Here are five, new and old, that are worth catching. “Along the Sea”After highlighting the plight of

Kevin Costner paid tribute to Sean Connery, his co-star in “The Untouchables,” calling him “a man’s man who had an amazing career.” Connery died on Friday in his sleep. He was 90 years old. The actor won an Oscar for his role in “The Untouchables” as beat cop Jim Malone, a mentor to Costner’s character

I’ve always loved one detail in the story of how Sean Connery, in 1961, nabbed the role of James Bond. A number of other actors were being considered for the part, like Roger Moore and James Mason. Ian Fleming, who had written 10 Bond novels (the first, “Casino Royale,” was published in 1953), had his

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a second national lockdown in England from Nov. 5 as the second wave of coronavirus cases soar across the country. All pubs, restaurants and non-essential retail businesses will close until Dec. 2, after which some areas may go into lower-tier restrictions, depending on the severity of local cases.

Members of the stunt community have reacted to SAG-AFTRA’s move to create a task force to investigate racist practices that still exist within the stunt community. The move comes after members of the stunt community issued a letter to SAG-AFTRA last month highlighting issues of racism, homophobia, xenophobia and misogyny. Earlier this year, “Stargirl” actor Anjelika

Jasmila Žbanic’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?” won the El Gouna Star for best narrative film at the El Gouna Film Festival, carrying a $50,000 prize. The film’s star, Jasna Duricic, also took home the best actress award, for her startling eponymous turn. Based on a true story, the 1995-set drama tells the story of a UN

“They Planted Strange Trees,” the new documentary by Hind Shoufani, the Middle East-based Palestinian-American director and poet from the leftist Levantine diaspora, will depict her return to Galilee, after 20 years of absence and her parents’ death, to embrace the vibrant family and community she seeks in her ancestral Christian Arab land. Ossama Bawardi of

Claudia Huaiquimilla’s “My Brothers Dream Awake,” Thais Fujinaga’s “The Joy of Things” and Flavia Neves’ “Fogareu” will screen in Primer Corte or Copia Final, the two art film pix-in-post showcases at this year’s Ventana Sur, the biggest movie market in Latin America. The Cannes Festival and Film Market’s biggest initiative outside France, Ventana Sur will

Daniel Craig paid tribute to Sean Connery, calling his fellow 007, “one of the true greats of cinema.” Connery died overnight in his sleep. He was 90. In a decades-long career, Connery won an Oscar for “The Untouchables” and appeared in such hits as “The Rock,” “The Man Who Would Be King,” “Time Bandits” and

Leading Arab producer Ossama Bawardi is in development with Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s fourth film, a period drama set in Palestine, with European and Arab characters, in what he describes as “a very competitive Arab market” for Arab films. Speaking to Variety at the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt, Bawardi spoke about his upcoming

Sean Connery, who starred as the iconic James Bond and thrilled audiences in countless other memorable roles, has died at 90. Hollywood immediately started paying tribute to the silver screen legend, remembering him for Bond as well as his other iconic roles and effortless cool. Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli wrote via

Sean Connery, the Scottish-born actor who rocketed to fame as James Bond and became one of the franchise’s most popular and enduring international stars, has died. He was 90. Connery, long regarded as one of the best actors to have portrayed the iconic spy, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 and marked his

Slovak director Viera Čákanyová, about to present her documentary “White on White” at Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival – which sees her conversing with A.I. during her stay at a Polish Antarctic station – will come back to the topic of artificial intelligence in “Brand New World.” This time opting for a broader social perspective,

Following its successful retrospective dedicated to Taiwanese documentary cinema in 2017, Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival decided to focus on South Korea this time, securing “99.9% of the original program” after the event was forced to move online due to the pandemic. “Our colleagues in South Korea told us that this is the most comprehensive

Stars, directors and other local film folk turned out in impressive numbers on Saturday afternoon for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival. The glitzy red carpet was replaced with a series of more static photo ops on a stage in central Tokyo, with plexiglass partitions keeping the talent separated. The festival has

Japanese film sales company Free Stone Productions has expanded both its new movie line-up and its stock of library titles ahead of next week’s TIFFCOM and the American Film Market. Its back catalog has grown with the addition of the Zero Pictures roster. Zero has been active since 2001 and is a production company and

The SAG-AFTRA National Board is creating a task force to investigate allegations of racist practices in the stunt community. SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said, “We have heard the personal stories of paintdowns, wiggings, harassment, and bias and we stand together to say ‘no more’. This board recommitted itself to our mission of diversity, equity and

In 2003, the Canadian documentary “The Corporation” offered what it took to be a bold new thesis about the way corporations work. The film seized on an enormous legal-cultural quirk: that corporations, in terms of how the government and financial sector deal with them, are in many technical ways treated as “individuals” — that is,

The cast of “Hocus Pocus” reunited to conjure up funds for the New York Restoration Project, a nonprofit founded by Bette Midler that aims to create a greener and more sustainable New York City. The virtual Hulaween benefit, “In Search of The Sanderson Sisters, A Hocus Pocus Hulaween Takeover,” took place Friday, with stars of

This is it, it’s Halloween weekend and you’re ready to fill the hours with a horror movie marathon. You’ve seen our list of the best horror movies to binge on Netflix, now it’s time for Amazon Prime. Here are the best of the scariest, spookiest and downright disturbing flicks to fill your time. And the

Remi Weekes’ “His House” centers around a couple Bol (Sopé Dìrísù) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) who have fled war in South Sudan for refuge in the United Kingdom, except their dream soon turns into a nightmare as “The Crown’s” Matt Smith, who plays a caseworker, shows them their new home. It’s infested with rats and

In early October, with cases of COVID-19 rising in Europe, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer decided to pull the plug on its plans to release “No Time to Die” at Thanksgiving. The studio had made a similar decision last March as coronavirus first gripped the world, pushing the release of the 25th James Bond adventure back by eight months

Can you remember the first movie that scared you? Variety asked your Hollywood favorites which films freaked them out at the earliest ages and scarred them for the rest of their lives. From Lin-Manuel Miranda’s screening of “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” at seven years old to Kelly Marie Tran’s childhood viewing

Composer Michael Giacchino has finally managed to realize a long-held dream: his first solo album, released Friday, which combines science-fiction storytelling with lounge music and an overall theme that is unexpectedly relevant to our times. It’s called simply “Travelogue, Volume 1,” and is credited to “Michael Giacchino and his Nouvelle Modernica Orchestra.” Mondo is releasing

Ellen Page and Paris Berelc have boarded gaming comedy “1UP,” with Kyle Newman directing in what could be the first feature film for BuzzFeed Studios. Berelc will portray a gamer who quits her college esports team due to sexism from her male counterparts. To keep her scholarship, she’s forced to assemble an all-female team and

The 23rd annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival has announced this year’s competition award winners. Best narrative feature went to “Killing Eleanor,” while “Kusasa” won best documentary feature. “My Brother’s Keeper” won the Jury Award for exceptional storytelling. A key stop on the festival circuit leading up to the Academy Awards, SCAD screened more than 150

The thoughtfully curated doc tribute section Black Cinema Matters has generated wide interest at the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival – and not just among Czechs. Screening 13 films covering three decades, ranging from the 1963 polemic “Take This Hammer” through Madeline Anderson’s provocative 1969 doc “Tribute to Malcolm X – Black Journal Segment” to

With the spotlight on inclusive storytelling shining brighter than ever before, women in Hollywood, both on and off screen, joined Variety Power of Women: Conversations which was a part of thee Broad Focus Initiative from Lifetime. This year’s virtual program covered everything from the making of “Grey’s Anatomy” to launching a women-centered production company. The

“Doctor Strange” filmmaker Scott Derrickson will direct the horror movie “Black Phone” for Blumhouse and Universal Pictures. Derrickson will also co-write the adapted screenplay with Robert Cargill. The duo teamed on the script for “Doctor Strange” and “Sinister.” “Black Phone” is based on Joe Hill’s horror novella of the same name. The book revolves around