“Charter,” Swedish director-writer Amanda Kernell’s eagerly anticipated second feature after the multi-prize-winning “Sámi Blood,” world premieres in Sundance and moves on to Göteborg and the Dragon competition for best Nordic film. What inspired “Charter?” It’s a personal story, as are all my films. I come from a family with generations of divorced parents actually. So, I
Comcast’s pay TV service Sky is adding two new channels to its U.K. portfolio, the company announced on Monday. Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature will launch this spring and will be available as linear and on demand channels and also on Sky’s streamer NOW TV. Originals on Sky Documentaries will include “Tiger Woods: The Comeback”;
January 27, 2020 3:00AM PT Pepe the frog’s transformation from easygoing cartoon to notorious symbol of hate is investigated by Arthur Jones’ sharp, absorbing doc. When is a cartoon frog not just a cartoon frog? When he’s Pepe, the brainchild of artist Matt Furie, who in 2005 created the laid-back anthropomorphic amphibian for a comic
All work and no play makes Rory O’Hara a dull boy — which is to say, one can scarcely overlook the connections between Sean Durkin’s subtly unsettling second feature, “The Nest,” and Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” even if this is by far the more tedious of the two movies. While the obsessive dad Law plays
Nominated for YJR Best Nordic TV Drama Screenplay Award at Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival, a second season of “Happily Never After” is already in the works – a clear indication of a shift in audience tastes, in what was just a couple of years a Nordic Noir dominated market. It’s also a sort of rarity
Swiss producer Tiziana Soudani, who through her Amka Films shepherded prizewinning films by prominent directors from nearby Italy, such as Alice Rohrwacher and Silvio Soldini, as well as by emerging talents in Switzerland and Africa, has died after a struggle with brain cancer. She was in her mid 60s, though her exact age was not immediately verifiable.
“It’s been a hell of a week,” said Alicia Keys, moments into her hosting gig on Sunday night’s Grammys telecast. “Damn! It’s a really serious one — real talk.” No kidding. Was this the first 99.9% joke-free Grammys, in the 62-year history of the telecast? Not that anyone should be complaining about that, exactly … not
January 27, 2020 12:11AM PT Newly widowed Rebecca Hall nonetheless feels unpleasantly un-alone at home in David Bruckner’s creepy supernatural thriller. A knack for creepy atmospherics and individual scares goes a long way in the horror genre, and it takes “The Night House” pretty far. Though this tale of a new widow’s apparent haunting gets
British stars including Carey Mulligan, Himesh Patel and Gemma Arterton have contributed to an ‘Alternative BAFTAs’ list of nominees that honors talent overlooked by this year’s awards. The campaign is organized by Time’s Up U.K., which is rolling out a social media blitz this week in the lead-up to Sunday’s BAFTA awards honoring the women
Pete (Will Ferrell) and Billie (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) are a prosperous American couple who’ve taken their two sons on a ski vacation to the Alps. Are they having fun yet? That’s a question that hovers over the movie, as the family members hit the slopes and make pilgrimages to the alpine-lodge restaurant, or retire to their
Searchlight Pictures is closing in on the worldwide distribution rights to “The Night House,” a supernatural thriller that premiered to strong reviews at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, insiders close to the deal said. Directed by David Bruckner and starring Rebecca Hall, the deal is reportedly valued at roughly $12 million. It marks the first
Back home in Bogota, teen brothers Carly and Mateo — played by siblings (and Disney Channel veterans) Mateo and Moisés Arias — are metal-blasting, skateboard-riding punks, and reluctant partners in crime. Carly, the sensible one, can’t prevent Mateo from dynamiting a dollhouse. But he’ll swoop in, hair flapping like a vampire’s cape, to rescue his
January 26, 2020 10:48PM PT Amazon Studios has nabbed North American rights to Phyllida Lloyd’s “Herself,” an Irish drama about a woman who builds her dream house after escaping an abusive marriage. The streaming service is planning a theatrical release for later this year. The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, where it enjoyed
“The Cave” director Feras Fayyad has finally made it into the United States, weeks after he was denied entry into the country. According to National Geographic Documentary Films, which is behind the Oscar-nominated “The Cave,” “we can report that Feras arrived safely this evening in Los Angeles.” Fayyad’s arrival comes after he missed a Television
It was a big night for Billie Eilish at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. The Interscope/Dark Room artist took home five awards, including the top four categories of song of the year, album of the year, record of the year and best new artist, in addition to best pop solo album. Her brother Finneas O’Connell
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Lapse in Judgement,” the first season finale of “The L Word: Generation Q.” Sometimes a title says it all. In the first season finale of “The L Word: Generation Q,” many of the characters take big — potentially controversial, depending on your perspective —
John Legend, YG and DJ Khaled performed a medley of songs alongside Meek Mill, Roddy Ricch and Kirk Franklin as part of the Grammy Awards tribute to Nipsey Hussle. The heartfelt performance, introduced by Ava DuVernay, began with the late rapper’s friends and fellow musicians, Mill and Rich taking the stage to start off “Letter
Fresh from celebrating a win for best rap album, Tyler, the Creator took a moment to pay tribute to late NBA star Kobe Bryant and address the elephant in the room — voting transparency — in the press room at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards Sunday night. “Man, that news was heavy, especially just being
Nearly four years after his death, Prince was honored Sunday night with a special all-star performance at the 62nd Grammy Awards that left some viewers scratching their heads. Usher, who anchored the medley of “Little Red Corvette,” “When Doves Cry” and “Kiss,” sang and danced onstage while longtime Prince collaborator and percussionist Sheila E. played
Longtime Grammy telecast producer Ken Ehrlich has delivered his Grammy swan song (figuratively and literally), and it couldn’t have happened without … Walt Whitman. To usher out his 40-year era as the guiding light behind some of TV’s greatest musical moments, Ehrlich chose the song “I Sing the Body Electric” from the 1980 movie musical
Billie Eilish swept the top Grammy categories on Sunday night, becoming the youngest (and only the second) artist in history to win the big four. In their spectacular Grammys debut, Eilish, 18, and her brother/recording partner Finneas O’Connell, 22, took home six of the seven awards they were nominated for on Sunday. Eilish won album
It didn’t seem like there was a large portion of the movie-going population who felt that Todd Phillips’ “Joker” was too subtle, in either its commentary on the modern era of those who are involuntarily celibate, or its homage-like appropriation of classic Martin Scorsese movies. But maybe writer-director-producer Eugene Kotlyarenko has other information, since that’s
Lil Nas X took the Grammy stage for the first time on Sunday night, but not without the help of some of his friends. Wearing his signature cowboy wardrobe with a dazzling silver twist, Lil Nas X was joined onstage by BTS, Diplo, Billy Ray Cyrus, Mason Ramsey and Nas to perform his two biggest
Demi Lovato made a triumphant return to the stage during the Grammys on Sunday, debuting her new song “Anyone.” The pop singer had an emotional start to her performance, having to pause and restart the opening, but that didn’t stop her from ending with a bang and earning a standing ovation. Lovato, who had tears
Louise Osmond’s 2015 Sundance audience winner “Dark Horse” was one of those documentaries that played like a crowdpleasing fiction, its real-life tale of underdog triumph had such a conventionally satisfying narrative arc. And indeed, the new “Dream Horse” proves that same material is indeed ready-made for dramatization. Euros Lyn’s feature springs few true surprises within
Camila Cabello delivered one of the most tender moments of the night at the Grammys on Sunday. Cabello performed “First Man,” from her sophomore studio album, at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. Old home movies played on the screen as Cabello sang the touching song dedicated to her father, who was in the audience. She
Pop music’s reigning princess Ariana Grande gave an intimate performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards as she transformed the Staples Center stage into a bedroom and slumber party. Grande, who arrived at the Grammys in a voluminous grey tulle dress, made numerous costume changes throughout the evening. Joined by an orchestra and a team of
Everything was coming up roses on the Grammys red carpet, because a bunch of celebrities showed up wearing pink power suits. We’re guessing Lil Nas X, Tyler the Creator, Shawn Mendes, and Common hopped on a FaceTime conference call before the Grammys to coordinate, and now we are eternally grateful to them. Ranging from dominatrix
In “The Glorias,” Julie Taymor’s pinpoint timely yet rousingly old-fashioned biopic about the life and times of Gloria Steinem, the legendary feminist leader is portrayed by four different actresses at four different stages of her life. Alicia Vikander plays her as a young woman wearing a sari as she travels through India, planting her flag
Bill Benz’s high-concept rock mockumentary opens with a white limo speeding through the desert. The driver (Ezra Buzzington) has never heard of his passenger, the cult sensation Annie Clark, better known by her stage name St. Vincent. “I’m not for everybody,” she shrugs. The driver is unsatisfied. “Don’t worry,” he glowers. “We’ll find out who