Movies

“A Call to Spy” braids the stories of three decorated WWII spies to reveal — and to revel in — their pivotal roles in British spy craft and history. The title may fall flat but the movie, a sturdy directorial debut for producer Lydia Dean Pilcher, gets to the heart of the matter. Even as

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the Film Festival Cologne will be one of the first major festivals in Europe to take place entirely physically as the coronavirus continues to wane in Germany. It runs Oct. 1-8. Launched in 1991 as the Cologne Conference, as it was known until 2016, the international film and television

Cinemas across India are to be allowed to reopen from Oct. 15, the national government announced on Wednesday. The move comes despite India’s still swelling number of coronavirus cases. “Cinemas/ theatres/ multiplexes will be permitted to open with up to 50% of their seating capacity,” said the Home Ministry. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

Coronavirus and social distancing are forcing changes on the annual AACTA awards organized by the Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Awards and the Australian Film Institute. The event will be held mostly online and be accompanied by a new screen festival. In place of the usual lunchtime teaser event, AACTA Industry Awards will be

Netflix has unveiled first look images of the late Chadwick Boseman’s final film, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” set for release on Dec. 18. In the photos released via Twitter, the late “Black Panther” star is suited up in a tuxedo, performing music on stage with co-star Viola Davis. Based on August Wilson’s award-winning play of

SAG-AFTRA leaders are being pressed to respond to stunt performers allegations of racism, nepotism, intimidation and slander. The issue arose due to an open letter sent Wednesday on behalf of stunt performers who are BIPOC, women, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities. Signees asserted that their talents are overlooked, denied and discredited, professional opportunities foreclosed and

It would be unfair to blame Harry Styles for “After We Collided,” the sequel to 2019’s “After,” just because both films are based on a series of novels that evolved from One Direction fan-fiction. But he should maybe lie low for a bit because by the time the end credits roll like a potential warrant

In today’s TV news roundup, Jennifer Lopez will be honored with the People’s Icon Award at the E! People’s Choice Awards on Nov. 15, and Netflix released a trailer for “Social Distance,” a pandemic-based anthology series coming to the platform in October. FIRST LOOKS Netflix has unveiled a trailer for “Social Distance,” an anthology series

Idris Elba will star in the survival thriller “Beast” for Universal Pictures with Baltasar Kormakur directing and producing. Universal is keeping the story line under wraps. “Rampage” writer Ryan Engle wrote the script, based on an idea from Jaime Primak-Sullivan. Will Packer and James Lopez will also produce through their Will Packer Productions. Kormakur will produce through

“What if there’s no such thing as happiness, only moments of not being depressed?” So asks Jane, the paranoid schizophrenic heroine of “Eternal Beauty,” and it’s one of the more thought-provoking lines in Craig Roberts’ earnest but ungainly sophomore feature — a film that itself stumbles upon moments of clarity without ever finding a happy

The 58th edition of the New York Film Festival is unlike any of the previous 57 iterations. Coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings forced the festival’s organizers to overhaul their usual approach to highlighting the best of cinema. Gone are the red carpets, glitzy parties, and celebrity-packed premieres at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, a casualty

The five winners of the 2020 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition were announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday. Each fellow will receive $35,000 and be highlighted at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and virtual table read, scheduled to take place on Dec. 3. At the awards,

Bollywood period espionage thriller “Bellbottom,” starring Akshay Kumar (“Pad Man”), and directed by Ranjit Tewari (“Lucknow Central”) has wrapped its Scotland shoot, making it one of the first projects globally to start and complete its entire shoot during the coronavirus pandemic. Producers Pooja Entertainment (“Ghost”) flew the 200-strong crew in a chartered flight to Glasgow

Writer, director and producer Charlie Kaufman will be honored with Variety‘s creative impact in screenwriting award during its virtual 10 Screenwriters to Watch event on Oct. 13. The virtual event will be hosted by the Mill Valley Film Festival. Kaufman, who one of Variety‘s screenwriters to watch in 1999 for “Being John Malkovich,” will discuss

Saban Films has acquired distribution rights to numerous global territories on “Wildcat,” a thriller starring “Black Mirror” actor and BAFTA winner Georgina Campbell. The distributor will roll out the film in North America, Variety has learned, as well as the U.K. and Ireland where Saban has recently expanded its presence. Jonathan W. Stokes (“El Gringo”)

“The Glorias,” now streaming on Amazon Prime, tells the story of feminist icon Gloria Steinem, her troubled home life as a child, her travels through the decades, and her rise to prominence as a leader in the women’s movement. It fell to New York composer Elliot Goldenthal to musicalize that journey. The director, Julie Taymor,

Miranda July’s “Kajillionaire” is set in Los Angeles but doesn’t play out amid the glitz of Hollywood. The Focus Features film, which hits theaters Sept. 25, is about a family of grifters. Evan Rachel Wood plays Old Dolio, the daughter of parents (Richard Jenkins and Debra Winger) who have taught her the family trade: running

Five years ago, Charlie Carver, who appears in the upcoming Netflix film “The Boys in the Band,” was at an Emmy party when a gay man he worked with chastised him three separate times for acting too effeminate. “I was told that I needed to ‘get it under control’ around people in the business,” Carver

Let’s talk about sex (and movies). Review aggregation site CherryPicks, which amplifies female-identifying and non-binary voices, is launching a podcast centered on women and sex onscreen, titled “CherryPop,” with hosts Beandrea July and Meg McCarthy. “In film criticism, it’s not talked enough about the relationship that women have with sex, with their sexuality, with their

The first official trailer for Lee Isaac Chung’s critically lauded Sundance hit, “Minari,” has landed. Chung, who also wrote the script inspired by his own childhood, tells the story of a Korean-American family that moves to a tiny farm in Arkansas in search of better opportunities. Split between the Korean and English language, the trailer

A historical probe commissioned by the Berlin Film Festival to investigate the Nazi past of founding director Alfred Bauer has confirmed that his role in the Third Reich’s propaganda body was more significant than previously known. The study also revealed that Bauer had systematically covered up his role in the Nazi bureaucracy after 1945. The

LevelK has acquired Swedish erotic queer drama “The Schoolmaster Games,” a film adaptation of Kristofer Folkhammar’s popular novel “Magisterlekarna,” which has just gone into production. Written and directed by first-time director Ylva Forner, the daring film is set at the St Sebastian Academy, an all-male school where homosexuality is the norm. The helmer described “The

Award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay (“Selma,” “13th”) and “Succession” executive producer Jane Tranter are among a range of figures participating at this year’s British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival’s industry program. The program, which is virtual this year, is headlined by two ‘Spotlight’ conversations. DuVernay will be in conversation with the crew from her non-profit

San Francisco city officials have given the green light to reopening indoor movie theaters on Oct. 7, nearly seven months after the city’s cinemas were shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The city, one of the key metropolitan markets that’s remained closed, is imposing strict limits on movie theaters. They can reopen with 25% capacity

Zendaya is stepping into the shoes of Ronnie Spector, frontwoman of musical group the Ronettes, in an A24 and New Regency-produced biopic of her life. Variety has confirmed that the film companies have acquired Spector’s life rights in addition to her autobiography “Be My Baby,” which Spector wrote with Vince Waldron. They are eyeing Pulitzer-winner

Zac Efron will star in “Firestarter,” a new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic novel. The film centers on a young girl who develops pyrokinetic powers and the ability to see the future. She is abducted by a mysterious government agency that plans to weaponize her superhuman skills. The film is backed by Universal Pictures, Blumhouse

The fourth annual Pingyao International Film Festival will run as an in-person event from Oct. 10 to 19 in the central Chinese province of Shanxi. Chinese director Diao Yinan, who won the 2014 Golden Bear for his gritty thriller “Black Coal, Thin Ice” and premiered his latest neo-noir “Wild Goose Lake” at Cannes last year,

Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” sequel will premiere on Amazon Prime Video. It’s unclear when the film will be released on the streaming service, though sources say it will debut before the presidential election in November. The follow-up is reportedly titled “Borat: Gift of Pornographic Monkey to Vice Premiere Mikhael Pence to Make Benefit Recently Diminished

Rebecca Rubin has been promoted to film and media reporter at Variety. In her new role, Rubin will cover the rapidly changing world of theatrical exhibition, as well as focus on the competition between streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus. Rubin will also cover the major Hollywood studios and their indie

The American Black Film Festival announced today their plans to remember Chadwick Boseman. With support from three major Hollywood studios, the American Black Film Festival will be airing a Chadwick Boseman tribute on its streaming service ABFF Play. The Remembering Chadwick Boseman Film Retrospective will be available for free on October 3 and 4. Boseman’s