Movies

The 20th edition of the New York Indian Film Festival will go online, powered by Movie Saints, following in the footsteps of many other fests. Running July 24-Aug. 2, the digital NYIFF will open with the streaming of Geetha J’s Malayalam-language “Run Kalyani,” about a woman who works as a cook while caring for her

Citing soaring coronavirus rates, Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered all movie theaters and bars in California to close immediately. The mandate, announced Monday, also covers restaurants, wineries, family entertainment, zoos, museums and cardrooms. Newsom previously announced that there would be a three-week closure of dine-in restaurant service and movie theaters in Los Angeles County and

KJ Apa and Sofia Carson will star in the pandemic thriller “Songbird,” joining previously announced cast members Demi Moore, Bradley Whitford, Craig Robinson, Jenna Ortega, Paul Walter Hauser and Peter Stormare. “Songbird” producers announced on July 8 that they had launched principal photography in Los Angeles — the first film to shoot in the city

Johnny Depp claims he discovered at a meeting with his accountant in 2016 that he had lost $650 million in movie earnings, immediately prior to an incident when he is alleged to have been violent toward his then wife Amber Heard, a court heard on Monday, the fifth day of his libel trial in London

Focus Features strikes again. The indie film company continued a torrid acquisitions streak, nabbing rights to Paul Schrader’s revenge thriller “The Card Counter,” one of the hottest titles available at this year’s Cannes Film Festival virtual market. “The Card Counter” is Schrader’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated “First Reformed.” The cast includes Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish,

Hong Kong Disneyland will shutter again starting on July 15 due to a spike in cases of coronavirus, after about a month back in operation. It was the second of Disney’s 14 parks worldwide to resume business since the advent of COVID-19 on June 18, following Shanghai Disneyland’s May 11 re-opening. “As required by the

The American Film Market’s 41st edition will be online rather than in person, the Independent Film & Television Alliance has announced, following in the footsteps of last month’s Cannes Virtual Market. IFTA also announced Monday that AFM 2020 Online will run over five days from Nov. 9 to Nov. 13, shifting one week later than originally

If movie theaters are banking on Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” to ride to their rescue, they may have to wait a lot longer for help. That’s the takeaway from a new note by Eric Handler, a leading exhibition industry analyst with MKM Partners, who predicts that there’s a “low likelihood” that “Tenet” will open on Aug.

Cinemas in Hong Kong are closing their doors again from Wednesday night as the city suffers a third wave of the deadly coronavirus. The move was part of a wave of new measures announced on Monday evening by Chief Executive Carrie Lam in response to a new surge in COVID-19 cases. New social distancing measures

The Jewish Film Institute has selected six projects for its inaugural Completion Grants Program, including “The Wild One,” a documentary by French filmmaker Tessa Louise-Salomé about Holocaust survivor, Hollywood filmmaker and Method Acting pioneer Jack Garfein, who worked with George Peppard, Steve McQueen and James Dean. The funding program supports both emerging and established filmmakers

After a number of attempts to delay this year’s Jerusalem Film Festival, organizers have now scrapped plans for a summer edition following a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Israel, which has resulted in new restrictions from the Ministry of Health on gatherings of large groups, expected to last several months. Instead, a winter edition

Renowned filmmakers Wong Kar-wai, Peter Chan Ho-sun and Derek Yee are among the top directors who have pledged to pass on their skills and experience to the young generation. They are part of a $12.9 million (HK$100 million) government-funded initiative to boost Hong Kong’s film industry, following damage from the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing political

The Bureau Sales has launched sales on documentary “The Monopoly of Violence,” David Dufresne’s timely examination of police violence. The film was selected recently by Cannes’ parallel section Directors’ Fortnight. Filmcoopi has picked up rights to the film in Switzerland, and O Brother has acquired rights for Benelux. Jour De Fête will release the film

The showbiz world is in shock at the death of “Jerry Maguire,” “Mischief” and “Twins” actor Kelly Preston, who died on Sunday at 57 after a two-year battle with breast cancer. As well as paying tribute to Preston, many in Hollywood shared their condolences with her husband John Travolta, and children Ella and Ben. Actor

Kelly Preston, who appeared in films including “Mischief,” “Twins” and “Jerry Maguire,” has died after a two-year battle with breast cancer. She was 57. John Travolta, her husband of 29 years, confirmed her death on his Instagram account.  “It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has

“Detention,” a school-set thriller-horror sited during Taiwan’s martial law or White Terror period, was Sunday named as best narrative feature at the Taipei Film Award, the closing event of the Taipei Film Festival. The film, adapted from a Red Candle video game, also claimed the best actress, best art design, best visual effects and best

This year’s virtual Comic-Con@Home has announced its schedule for Sunday, July 26. The highlights are below. The virtual event replaces the annual San Diego Comic-Con, the largest fan convention in North America, which was to be held July 22–26 at the San Diego Convention Center, until the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation. In June, Comic-Con

“X-Men: Days of Future Past” has arrived on family-friendly Disney Plus completely uncensored – a scene featuring Hugh Jackman’s behind is left in full view. In contrast, the streaming service showed an edited version of “Splash” in April with CGI hair covering Daryl Hannah’s posterior. Jackman, who plays mutant Wolverine in the franchise, shared a

Gina Prince-Bythewood has always wanted to direct an action movie. Her dream was finally realized with “The Old Guard,” an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name about a group of immortal mercenaries (Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthew Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli). “I, for a long while, never thought I’d get

In a new interview with NME, Vivica A. Fox revealed her hopes for a third edition of the “Kill Bill” franchise and knows exactly who she wants to be its star: Zendaya. Fox played Vernita Green, who was brutally murdered by Uma Thurman’s The Bride in the opening scene of “Kill Bill: Vol. 1.” Director

Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, one of the most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema, has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been admitted to Mumbai’s Nanavati hospital. His son, actor Abhishek Bachchan, whose Amazon Original series “Breathe: Into the Shadows” bowed on Prime on Friday, has also tested positive. “I have tested CoviD

This year’s virtual Comic-Con@Home has announced its schedule for Saturday, July 25. The highlights are below. The virtual event replaces the annual San Diego Comic-Con, the largest fan convention in North America, which was to be held July 22–26 at the San Diego Convention Center, until the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation. In June, Comic-Con

USC announced on Friday that its School of Cinematic Arts will remove an exhibit dedicated to John Wayne after student protests regarding the actor’s racist past. Wayne attended USC on a football scholarship in the 1920s and the exhibit honoring him was created in 2012. Controversy has been brewing for years over his 1971 interview

In “White Noise,” Daniel Lombroso’s lively and disturbing documentary portrait of three alt-right influencers, there’s a riveting scene in which Richard Spencer, a rock star of white nationalism who talks like a noodgy corporate assistant and has meticulous gelled hair that’s supposed to be his designer version of a Hitler fade (though Hitler didn’t have

AMC Theatres reached a debt agreement on Friday that could help the heavily leveraged exhibition chain avoid or at least forestall a liquidity crisis. Under the deal, Silver Lake Group will purchase $100 million in first lien notes, adding to the $600 million in convertible bonds that it already holds in AMC. The company, which is

Organizers of the Palm Springs International Film Festival have announced that the 32nd edition of the event has been pushed back nearly two months to run from Feb. 25 through March 8. The festival, which had been set to open on Jan. 7, said, “The date change is to ensure the health and safety of our

When Paul Cantelon was tapped by first-time feature director Harry Mavromichalis to score “Olympia,” the documentary on Academy Award-winning actress, Olympia Dukakis, he was more than prepared to craft music that underscored her Greek heritage. When Cantelon’s preacher father met his first-chair trumpeter mother, their family life becomes one of traveling evangelical tent meetings with

In the latest episode of Variety Critics Corner presented by Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, director Alice Winocour spoke with Variety’s chief film critic Peter Debruge to discuss representing motherhood on screen and training as research for her film “Proxima.” “I thought in cinema, you don’t see very often [a character] being an astronaut and

This unusual summer movie season continues this weekend with a particularly diverse batch of high profile releases hitting a variety of streaming platforms, along with the flow of independent and foreign films continuing to premiere on video-on-demand services. The romantic comedy “Palm Springs” made headlines when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Less interesting subjects than Olympia Dukakis have been profiled in more compelling documentaries than Harry Mavromichalis’ “Olympia,” a fervently admiring but scattered and sometimes scatty portrait of a woman who is anything but. Although peppered with tantalizingly salty-mouthed anecdotes and wry observations on aging, sexuality, outsider status and the art of performance, the film is