“I think you have to go back to therapy. It wasn’t enough,” says Isabella Rossellini, drily and only somewhat jokingly, to her nephew Alessandro, as he interviews her on some hard family truths. The documentary he’s making is that therapy, he tells her, earning a fixed stare of equal parts affection and skepticism. “Good luck,”
“A.rtificial I.mmortality” provides a diverting if superficial survey of how fast-evolving technology might be able to extend our lives — or at least some of our memories and characteristics. Featured as Hot Docs’ opening night selection, this Canadian documentary from director Ann Shin presents once-fantastical ideas now edging toward reality in a form palatable to
Whenever we see them, the seven contested children at the heart of Gorki Glaser-Müller’s taut, highly emotive “Children of the Enemy” have their eyes blurred over, to help protect their identities. It’s a strangely reassuring element in a film that at certain moments may be watched through nail-bitten fingers: If the seven grandkids of Patricio
While Bucky Barnes-Sarah Wilson ‘shippers are clamoring for Marvel Studios to #ReleaseTheBuckySarahCut, it’ll have to settle for a detailed behind-the-scenes look at the creation of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” that includes more delightful Helmut Zemo cuts and a look at the way the writers approached Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) transformation into Captain America.
Caritas Migrant House sits where the semi-arid Sahel region gives way to the Sahara Desert, on the edge of the urban sprawl of Gao, a town of more than 85,000 inhabitants in the landlocked West African nation of Mali. But as the location of Ousmane Samassékou’s unobtrusively observant “The Last Shelter,” the refuge can feel
Malcolm Campbell, a longtime publishing executive for national music publications including SPIN, Blender, the Fader and Rolling Stone, died on April 29 at his home in City Island, New York. Campbell, 61, had been battling a recurrence of pancreatic cancer that had first been identified the previous year. “With heavy hearts, we announce the loss
The owner of the Santa Monica Place mall has filed a lawsuit seeking to evict the ArcLight Theatre for non-payment of rent. Macerich, the real estate investment trust that owns the mall, served an eviction notice on April 13, the day after Pacific Theatres announced that it would permanently close all 17 of its ArcLight
Discovery Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav’s total compensation fell more than 17% in 2020, topping out at $37.7 million. That was down from the $45.8 million that Zaslav pulled in the previous year and significantly down from the massive $129.4 million in compensation that the Discovery chief earned in 2018, which included the value of
It’s the cardigan that’s the giveaway. For the duration of “The Outside Story,” Brooklyn filmmaker Charles (Brian Tyree Henry) wears the kind of roomy, shapeless, porridge-colored knitwear item that is established movie code for a hero in dire need of a full life reset. Thirtysomething and recently separated from his more glamorous girlfriend, Charles has
Easterseals Southern California has announced finalists for the 2021 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge: Home Edition 2.0. Created in 2013 by Nic Novicki, the challenge gives filmmakers the opportunity to create short films that showcase disabilities in its many forms. The week-long filmmaking contest received a record number of submissions, with 93 from across the globe.
The Recording Academy announced today that it has made significant changes to the Grammy Awards process — including the elimination of nearly all of the controversial “secret” nominating committees that made final decisions about which artists or recordings were nominated in certain categories, including the “Big Four” General field of Album, Song, Record of the Year and
It has been an eye-opening 24 hours for the U.K. film and TV industries as the fall-out continues from bombshell sexual misconduct and harassment allegations against British actor Noel Clarke. (Check out Variety’s explainer about Clarke and his career to date.) In the course of just one day, the 45-year-old actor-producer has been dropped from
Director Paul Haggis asked a judge on Friday to speed up his civil trial on a rape allegation, saying he has nearly been bankrupted by legal fees and needs to clear his name in order to work. Haggis said he cannot continue to pay his legal bills, and asked the New York judge to set
Scrap Paper Pictures, founded by Rachel Brosnahan, has promoted Russell Kahn to creative executive. In his new role, Kahn will work alongside Paige Simpson, Scrap Paper Pictures’ head of development. “Russell is a fiercely intelligent, passionate and generous collaborator who has his finger on the pulse of a new generation of talented artists,” Brosnahan tells
Just a few years ago, Tubi didn’t want anything to do with original content. The subscription VOD market is “heated and very expensive,” founder/CEO Farhad Massoudi told Variety in early 2019 in explaining why Tubi had no plans to produce original content. “We want to bring our customers as much of the other 99% of
In 2019, Netflix produced more hours of original productions in Spain (163) than any other country outside the U.S., aside from South Korea (238), but on a par with the U.K. (160), according to an analysis from Omdia. Once better known for its movie auteurs, Spain is fast becoming a production center as its drama
After shuttering for 13 months amid a devastating global pandemic, Disneyland is reopening — and David Vaughn, for one, is excited. Before COVID-19 hit, the 36-year-old would visit theme parks about twice a month. In line to enter Disneyland on Friday morning, he described the atmosphere as “incredibly relaxed,” with other eager visitors wearing masks
Malian filmmaker Ousmane Samassekou’s “The Last Shelter” won the top prize in Danish doc fest CPH:DOX’s main international competition on Friday, picking up the Dox:Award. A total of 11 films garnered prizes in the festival’s six international competitions, including five special mentions. “The Last Shelter” centers on the House of Migrants, located in the Malian
This week, British actor, writer and director Noel Clarke has made headlines after being accused of groping, harassment and bullying by 20 women. Clarke played Mickey Smith in “Doctor Who” from 2005 to 2010 and starred as Sam in the films “Kidulthood,” “Adulthood” and “Brotherhood,” which he wrote and directed, intent on bringing more representations
Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival will return to NRG Park in Houston, Texas from Nov. 5 to Nov. 6. Now in its third year, the annual music festival has been expanded to two days. The announcement comes just in time for Scott’s 29th birthday, who is also confirmed as the festival’s headlining performer; the rest of
France’s Atlas V and British banner No Ghost have unveiled the trailer and poster for “Madrid Noir,” James Castillo’s VR animated short, which is set to world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival then play at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June. The 40-minute, interactive VR caper is a spinoff of the 2018
“Young Rock” and “Kenan” have both been renewed for Season 2 at NBC. “It has been a true joy to watch Dwayne Johnson & Kenan Thompson on NBC every week and see families connect with their relatable, entertaining and heartwarming stories,” said Lisa Katz, president of scripted programming for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “We’re thrilled
Taika Waititi is hitting the high seas as the dreaded pirate Blackbeard in the upcoming HBO Max comedy series “Our Flag Means Death,” Variety has learned. Waititi joins previously announced series lead Rhys Darby. The pair previously worked together on the HBO series “Flight of the Conchords” and the film “What We Do in the Shadows.”
Jon M. Chu’s “In the Heights” will screen at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival with a special preview on June 4 at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre. The film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Broadway musical will screen five days before the Tribeca Film Festival. “We cannot wait to share this incredible film with
China is preparing to hit Tencent Holding Ltd. with a fine of at least $1.54 billion (RMB10 billion) as part of a larger antitrust crackdown on its major internet firms, according to a report in Reuters. That sum would be large enough to serve as a strong warning to the industry, but less than the
Country — what a concept. At least it is on Thomas Rhett’s newly released “Side A” album, in which he lets his more pop-leaning side take six as he digs deeper into his home genre. The titles of the first two singles from the collection, “What’s Your Country Song” (which already went No. 1) and
Josh Duggar, a member of the family made famous by the long-running TLC series “19 Kids and Counting,” is being held in an Arkansas jail following his arrest for possession of child pornography. Duggar, 33, was once a religious and political lobbyist, but has been out of the spotlight following reports in 2015 that he
Casey Wilson may be best known as an actor, with roles in “Gone Girl,” “Atypical,” “Happy Endings” and “Black Monday” as well as a stint as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member, and as a podcaster (“Bitch Sesh”). However, she also has an extensive writing résumé, including co-penning feature comedy films “Bride Wars” and “Ass
Noel Clarke has spoken out following allegations of sexual misconduct. “I vehemently deny any sexual misconduct or criminal wrongdoing,” he said in a statement to the the PA news agency. “Recent reports however have made it clear to me that some of my actions have affected people in ways I did not intend or realize.
Much of the action in science-fiction thriller “Stowaway” takes place inside an overcrowded spaceship. The challenge for production designer Marco Bittner Rosser: making the set seem as small as possible yet functional for the shooting crew. The film, which debuted April 22 on Netflix, stars Anna Kendrick, Toni Collette and Daniel Dae Kim as astronauts