Movies

Watching “Soapdish” as a child in the 90s was the first time I saw what life could be like for a transgender actress. Montana Moorehood, an actress on a soap opera played beautifully by Cathy Moriarty, is forcibly outed as a transgender woman to her co-stars. They react with shock and disgust, with her producer

LGBTQ representation in major Hollywood films saw a record high this year, an annual studio study from GLAAD reveals, though diversity and trans visibility hit troubling lows. The media watchdog’s annual Studio Responsibility Index vets releases from top-grossing companies for the quality, quantity and integrity of its queer stories, and issues ratings based on performance.

The International Documentary Association has named industry veteran Brenda Robinson as president of its board of directors, the first African American to hold the post. Robinson, who joined IDA’s board in 2018, succeeds Kevin Iwashina, whose board term ends in December. Robinson officially begins her role as president immediately. The IDA noted that Robinson has

Brotherly Belgian filmmaking duo Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne will receive this year’s Lumière Award at the upcoming Lumière Festival, which celebrates classic films and cinematic masters each autumn in Lyon, France. Last year’s award went to Francis Ford Coppola, who joined previous recipients including Jane Fonda, Wong Kar-Wai, Martin Scorsese, Pedro Almodóvar, Clint Eastwood and

Netflix nabbed Richard Linklater’s “Apollo 10½,” an animated film set against the backdrop of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. The project, announced Thursday, coincides with the 51st anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. “Apollo 10 1/2” is inspired by Linklater’s childhood in Houston. Linklater directed from his own script, which attempts to

“Captain America” actor Chris Evans praised a 6-year-old boy named Bridger Walker, who saved his younger sister from a dog attack, as a hero — and plans to send him an authentic Captain America shield for his brave actions. “I’m sure you’ve heard this a lot over the last couple of the days, but let

Netflix is notoriously secretive about how many people watch the movies and television shows it spends so lavishly to produce. The streaming giant did offer a little more clarity on the popularity of some of its original films, revealing to Bloomberg that “,” a Chris Hemsworth action flick, “Bird Box,” a dystopian thriller with Sandra

Award-winning Spanish producer Agustín Almodóvar on Thursday tweeted a set photo from the first day of shooting for his brother Pedro Almodóvar’s upcoming short film adaptation of Jean Cocteau’s “The Human Voice,” starring Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton. In the photo, taken in Madrid, Almodóvar is seen wearing a stylish black mask while Swinton employs

Kate Winslet will have another award to add to her trophy case. The Oscar winner will receive the Tribute Actor Award during the 2020 Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 15. “Kate’s brilliant and compelling on-screen presence continues to captivate, entertain and inspire audiences and actors alike,” TIFF executive director and co-head Joana Vicente said in

Charli XCX is releasing a documentary film called “6ft Apart,” based on the recording of her quarantine album, “How I’m Feeling Now,” which was released in May. The album, the first to be made in quarantine by a major artist. The prolific performer, songwriter and producer first announced the album on April 6th, giving herself

Producer Mark Kassen’s morning routine looks very different than it did in a pre-coronavirus era. When he pulls up to work — in this case, a music soundstage in Pasadena, Calif. — Kassen clocks in so building staff can account for the number of people present. From there, his temperature is taken (behind a plexiglass

“The Gentlemen” director Guy Ritchie has teamed with U.K. industry org Creative Access to fund a year-long development program for emerging Black talent. Launched with Creative Access — which supports Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic talent to enter the country’s creative industries — Ritchie has committed to 10 paid internships for Black talent on the

Like its signature “Godzilla” franchise, Toho normally towers above the rest. The company is a producer, distributor and exhibitor that operates Japan’s largest theater chain. As a distributor, it consistently accounts for the lion’s share of local hits, and in some years it gets to release the films of anime maestro Hayao Miyazaki. But even

Action-thriller Western “A Soldier’s Revenge,” which stars Neal Bledsoe (Amazon’s “The Man in High Castle”), and Val Kilmer (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Batman Forever”), has been picked up by several distributors including Well Go Entertainment in the U.S. The film, which also stars Rob Mayes (ABC’s “Mistresses”), AnnaLynne McCord (CW’s “90210”), and Jake Busey (“Starship Troopers”),

Even as some film industry events are now firming up their schedules, others are being forced to cancel, due to continuing travel restrictions and new outbreaks of the coronavirus. The result is a fast-changing calendar of conferences, conventions and festivals going into the northern hemisphere fall. On Wednesday, the CineAsia distribution and exhibition sector convention

China will begin reopening cinemas in “low-risk regions” from July 20, the China Film Administration (CFA) announced Thursday, ending nearly six months of closures that left thousands of theaters bankrupt. “Cinemas in low-risk regions can resume business in an orderly manner on July 20, with the effective implementation of prevention and control measures. Mid- and

Mike Gribble, co-founder of Spike & Mike’s Festival of Animation, was just 42 years old when he passed away from pancreatic cancer in 1994 — an awful case of a larger-than-life film-world figure dying before his work was done. That probably would have been the perfect time for Kat Alioshin’s short, oh-so-adulatory “Animation Outlaws,” which

When it came to editing Hulu’s “Palm Springs,” the key to cutting for editor Matthew Friedman (“The Farewell”) was not to make scenes repetitive. The film stars Andy Samberg plays Nyles, a wedding guest stuck in a time loop. Soon, he’s joined by Sarah, played by Cristin Millioti, and together they relive the same day

Netflix has acquired the international distribution rights for the latest “SpongeBob” film, insiders familiar with the deal told Variety. The streaming giant picked up the foreign rights for ” SpongeBob: Sponge on the Run,” the twice-delayed Paramount Animation title from Viacom. The film is one of many theatrical releases thwarted by the coronavirus pandemic this

Kate James, Amber Heard’s former personal assistant, alleged that Heard had appropriated her story of being a “sexual violence survivor,” giving evidence at London’s Royal Courts of Justice on the seventh day of Johnny Depp’s libel trial against the publisher of The Sun newspaper. Depp is suing News Group Newspapers and journalist Dan Wootton for

British star Idris Elba advocated that racism in film and TV shows should be no different from sexism, with a rating system to warn viewers of racist viewpoints. “That’s why we have a rating system: We tell you that this particular content is rated U, PG, 15, 18,” said Elba to the Radio Times. “To

Sadistic Nazis, PTSD-afflicted Allied soldiers, angry spirits and creepy dolls make for an already-formidable pile of scare factors in “Ghosts of War,” which then topples the stack by loading too many additional elements in the final stretch. This second feature from “The Butterfly Effect” co-director Eric Bress likewise has a trickily structured take on reality.

Actor Kevin Connolly has denied a report in the Daily Beast that he sexually assaulted a costume designer at a wrap party in 2005. The outlet reported Wednesday that Gracie Cox alleges that Connolly led her into a VIP area during the party for “Gardener of Eden” and sexually assaulted her. Connolly, best known for

Chinese movie “Double World” will forgo a theatrical premiere in favor of a simultaneous online debut on Netflix and China’s streaming service iQiyi, the film’s producers announced. The news comes as China’s cinemas have yet to offer a timeline for reopening despite nearly six months of closures. The film will stream via iQiyi in China

Polly Platt, production designer, screenwriter, producer, and key collaborator to auteurs such as James L. Brooks and Peter Bogdanovich, doesn’t get the credit she deserves as a creative genius. The new season of “You Must Remember This,” Karina Longworth’s deeply researched podcasts on all things Hollywood history, aims to rectify that injustice. Entitled “Polly Platt,

Netflix is developing a feature film based on Jessica Watson’s sailing memoir “True Spirit,” with Sarah Spillane on board to direct. Watson became the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world in 2009, surviving seven knockdowns while at sea for 210 days on a 33-foot vessel. She returned Sydney, Australia, three

Imagine a Japanese version of “Pygmalion” in which the sculptor continues to caress slabs of marble even after Galatea has come to life. That is the unusual premise of “Romance Doll,” a marital drama in which a sex doll maker’s rapt obssession with his new prototype, leads to rejection of his human muse. Directed by

“Isolation,” a horror anthology film, has finished its principal photography shooting entirely in quarantine. The film weaves together nine standalone, yet interconnected, horror stories from all corners of the world. It follows people as they confront their biggest fears in attempts to survive an increasingly deadly pandemic, a premise that hits close to home for

The classic nutshell version of the Turbulent Sixties becoming the Me Decade 1970s is that idealism curdled into hedonism. For some, that was more a fork in the road than a one-way, and the two starring roles Krisha Fairchild has had in indie dramas illustrate alternative generational paths. Playing the eponymous (but fictive) protagonist in

Mattel Films and Universal Pictures are developing a live-action movie based on the hit ’90s TV series “Wishbone,” about a Jack Russell Terrier. “Wishbone” is the first theatrical film collaboration between Mattel and Universal Pictures, and the ninth Mattel Films project in the works. Mattel Films will produce “Wishbone” alongside Academy Award winner Peter Farrelly.