Movies

Early in “Made in Italy,” a cringingly syrupy tale of overdue bonding between an estranged father and his only offspring, someone describes Liam Neeson’s character as “a selfish prick.” Thus we learn, even before Neeson has made his entrance, that the Irish star will be playing the polar opposite of the all-caring and ultra-capable dad

An attorney for the state of New Jersey urged a judge on Wednesday to keep theaters closed, arguing that fans are free to watch movies at home without creating a risk to public health. The National Association of Theatre Owners, and several major theater chains, are seeking an injunction that would allow theaters to reopen

NBCUniversal’s Peacock announced that all eight Harry Potter films will be available to stream in windows starting later this year and rolling into 2021 — including on Peacock’s free, ad-supported tier. The octet of movies based on J.K. Rowling’s famed fantasy book series is set to roll off HBO Max as of Aug. 25, after

Directed by former competitive swimmer Pascal Plante and featuring a two-time Olympic athlete in the title role, “Nadia, Butterfly” qualifies as both a sports movie and not-a-sports movie — which is to say, Plante’s aloof, intermittently engaging second feature takes a backstage look at a defining moment in a swimmer’s career, but it does so

In honor of the 55th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act, Magnolia Pictures, Participant and Color Farm Media will host a series of live events tied to the milestone and the documentary “John Lewis: Good Trouble.” Producers will first lead a live tweet event of the film at 8 p.m. ET on

Reconnecting with his Jewish heritage was part of the creative process for Seth Rogen on his new comedy, “An American Pickle.” For one, the actor learned to speak Yiddish for the first time for the film. “I had heard [Yiddish] my whole life, but I did not know it,” Rogen said Tuesday during the film’s

IFC Films Unlimited, the streaming arm of IFC, has expanded to Canada. It will be made available on Amazon Prime beginning Wednesday. Customers can subscribe directly to IFC Films Unlimited for $5.99 CAD per month. The subscription service also offers access to movies from IFC’s other labels Sundance Selects and genre label IFC Midnight. The

Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in early July quietly made a surprise appearance at an open-air film screening in Rome’s central Piazza San Cosimato, where the country’s leader and his girlfriend wore masks and sat on pillows in a socially distanced spot on the pavement. They attended the thriving “Il Cinema in Piazza” summer arena

A fervid supporter of new directors, Paris-based sales house Celluloid Dreams has dropped two clips and the poster of Brazilian João Paulo Miranda Maria’s “Memory House” (“La Casa de Antiguedades”), a first feature, but also the only Latin American title to be included in this year’s Cannes Official Selection. “Memory House” will now world premiere

Neo Sora, director of “The Chicken,” playing in this year’s Locarno Festival short film competition, and his producer Albert Tholen have shared details on the filmmaker’s upcoming debut feature “Earthquake,” a screenplay participant at Berlinale Talents Tokyo in 2017. Friends, roommates and collaborators, Sora and Tholen are enjoying the bittersweet distinction of a Locarno Festival

Ever since David Lynch, decades ago, flirted with the prospect of making a film of “The Secret Garden,” Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 children’s novel, I’ve always leaned toward thinking it could make a great movie — and I’ve always imagined that movie as a spooky, earthy Lynchian dream, since that so connects with my memories

Like many Mongolians, Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir has been visiting shamans from an early age, consulting the spirits for guidance when confronting thorny life challenges. So it came as no surprise when, several years back, the filmmaker’s mother urged her to visit a shaman during a particularly turbulent time in her life. The surprise arrived when the

The combination of claustrophobia, darkness, murky water and one big crocodile adds up to a decently scary time in “Black Water: Abyss,” Andrew Traucki’s belated followup to the abyss-less 2007 original he co-directed with David Nerlich. This time, the tasty humans are trapped in an underground cavern during a flash flood, making for a situation

Leaders of the Writers Guild of America West have touted the benefits of their campaign to revamp how agencies represent their members. The WGA West board of directors notified their 10,000 members in a message Tuesday evening that a key objective of the agency campaign is timely information from the agencies to assist in enforcement

From Brett Kavanaugh’s rise to the Supreme Court, to the Muslim ban, to the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Magnolia’s new documentary on the American Civil Liberties Union “The Fight” covers all these pivotal events. Beginning with the protests over the travel ban from seven Muslim countries in early 2017, “The Fight” follows

Kjersti Flaa is used to asking questions. She writes celebrity profiles for Norwegian magazines and does entertainment interviews for TV2’s “God Kveld Norge” (“Good Evening Norway”) as well as her own YouTube channel. But on Monday, she became the story. Flaa had just filed a blockbuster lawsuit alleging that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had

In another major blow to movie theaters, Disney announced “Mulan” will forgo its planned theatrical release. Instead, the live-action remake is premiering on Disney Plus on Sept. 4 for a premium rental price. Unlike the rest of the content available on Disney Plus, “Mulan” won’t come with a subscription to the service. Consumers in the

Drugs, alcohol, more than half a billion dollars vanished and allegations of domestic violence. These are the makings of a PR nightmare, enough to ruin even the biggest star’s career. But for Johnny Depp, these headlines have become his reality, as the damaged A-lister undergoes a messy trial in the public eye where he has

The Walt Disney Company was brutalized by the coronavirus pandemic, which shuttered its parks and delayed the release of its films, setbacks that nearly sliced its revenues in half during its most recent fiscal quarter. And yet the big takeaway will not be the lackluster results, but the company’s bold decision to upend the way

Irish actor Colm Meaney reflects on his relationship with “Midnight Express” and “Evita” director Alan Parker, who died last week. I first met Alan in 1990 when auditioning for “Come See the Paradise”, his remarkable and, I think, under-appreciated film about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War Two. He was seated across a table,

Following his star turn in “Jauja,” a major hit at the 2014 Cannes Festival, Viggo Mortensen will re-team with Argentine director Lisandro Alonso on “Eureka,” one of the boldest upcoming art films from Latin America. Mortensen, who takes the lead role in “Eureka’s” first part, will be joined by France’s Chiara Mastroianni, a Cesar Award

Jake Gyllenhaal and his Nine Stories production company signed a first-look feature film production deal with New Republic Pictures, the company headed by Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer. Gyllenhaal has previously collaborated with Oliver on “Everest” and Fischer on David Fincher’s “Zodiac.” Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker launched Nine Stories in 2015 and have teamed on “Stronger,”

Rupert Wainwright will no longer direct “Not Without Hope,” a survival drama with Miles Teller that was scheduled to start shooting in the Dominican Republic this August. The filmmaker’s exit is being attributed to “creative differences.” The production is now looking for a new director, a search that will likely push back filming by at

The 22nd edition of the Mumbai film festival has been postponed to 2021 in light of the ongoing coronavirus crisis in India, the organizers announced Tuesday. The festival, run by the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) and sponsored by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s telecommunications giant Jio, was originally scheduled for November. The festival will

Constantin Film has acquired the rights to hit novel “Perfect Addiction,” set in the world of boxing, partnering up once again with producer Jeremy Bolt, with whom they worked on the “Resident Evil” blockbuster movie franchise, assassin action movie “Polar,” starring Mads Mikkelsen and Vanessa Hudgens, and the upcoming video-game adaption “Monster Hunter,” starring Milla

Several dozen young protesters took to the streets of Bangkok on Monday dressed in Harry Potter costumes. They claimed to be casting a spell for democracy. The demonstration was held opposite the city’s Democracy Monument and was organized by students from Kasetsart University and Mahanakorn University of Technology. While Thailand has recorded relatively few coronavirus

Tom Pollock, the former Universal Pictures chairman who died Aug. 1 at the age of 77, had a shrewd eye for business. Even before he took the reins at the studio in 1986 to embark on a decade-long run, Pollock had established himself as one of the savviest dealmakers in the entertainment industry. As a

Cinemark isn’t sold on AMC Theatres plans to shorten the length of time that films play in theaters. The pact, which trims theatrical windows at AMC locations, was made with Universal Pictures and will allow movies from the studio behind “Jurassic World” and “Fast and the Furious” to potentially debut on premium video-on-demand after 17

Sky has acquired “The Secret Garden” from Studiocanal and will release the film in U.K. and Ireland cinemas and Sky Cinema channels on Oct. 23. Directed by three-time BAFTA winner Marc Munden (“National Treasure”) and produced by David Heyman (“Harry Potter” franchise) and Rosie Alison (“Paddington”), “The Secret Garden” is an adaptation of the classic

A 27-year-old Tyra Banks was elated when she landed the role of Zoe, the no-nonsense bartender in “Coyote Ugly.” Although there weren’t high expectations for the movie, which starred a cast of mostly unknowns who play rowdy dancers at a seedy bar, the movie became a sleeper summer hit for Touchstone Pictures, grossing $60 million