News

Jeffrey Wright began his distinguished career as a member of John Houseman‘s renowned Acting Company, touring the country performing Shakespeare and honing his craft. His stage breakthrough came with his co-starring role in the original production of “Angels in America” as the nurse Belize, a performance that won him a Tony Award and later an Emmy when Wright reprised it for the 2003 HBO miniseries adaptation.

That Tony win led to Wright starring in the title role of his first major film, “Basquiat,” directed by Julian Schnabel. His powerful performance led to a long and distinguished career as a character actor in film, where he worked with such acclaimed filmmakers as Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch and John Singleton. During that time, Wright balanced his career with TV and stage appearances as well, earning a second Tony nomination for 2002’s “Topdog/Underdog,” and three Emmy nominations for his co-starring role in...

On December 5, the IndieWire Honors Winter 2024 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars responsible for crafting some of the year’s best films. Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, IndieWire Honors is a celebration of the filmmakers, artisans, and performers behind films well worth toasting. In the days leading up to the event, IndieWire is showcasing their work with new interviews and tributes from their peers.

Ahead, “Blitz” star Saoirse Ronan tells IndieWire about make our Wavelength winners, writer/director Steve McQueen and production designer Adam Stockhausen, the ideal professional pairing.

As told to Harrison Richlin. The following has been edited and condensed for clarity.

I was immersed in Adam’s work for the first time on the ground through Wes Anderson’s films. That was long before I ever worked with Steve. And I suppose the true line between both of their work and what they hold...

Gwyneth Paltrow Never Watched Avengers Endgame ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Yep, you read that right. Gwyneth Paltrow, aka Pepper Potts herself, admitted she’s never watched Avengers: Endgame. “I stopped watching them at some point. I’ve never seen End Game. I can’t keep track of who’s what,” she said during a candid chat at the Red Sea Film Festival. And sure, she might get around to it someday, but for now? She’s good.

This wasn’t just a casual confession—it came during a career deep dive where Paltrow spilled on her Hollywood-to-Goop journey. “Entrepreneurship and acting are very similar. Both require the same kind of energy,” she told the crowd in Jeddah. And honestly, the woman’s been busy. From slaying the wellness game to managing inventory and P&Ls, she’s got her hands full.

But back to Marvel. It turns out that Gwyneth wasn...

Imagine this: you’re a little kid dressed up as a private, playing war with your buddies, except…it’s real. The guns are still just sticks and grenades just empty cupped palms, but the enemy is wholeheartedly believed to linger on the opposite side of a grassy no man’s land, traversing an adult-less world of child’s play doused in Ptsd.

The eight young soldiers—or “shoulders” as one might accidently say mid-rant—are practicing their military techniques with tree branches as they don’t have any weapons or even a lieutenant to tell them what the hell’s going on. All they know is they’re stranded in a northern look-out post amid idyllic, isolated Scottish hills, awaiting enemy attack. Whoever the “enemy” is.

The jingoistic band of boys might be far from frontline battles, but they soon discover—idle-eyed and bored of porridge—that the real battle is within.

If you’re trying to find the perfect movie to watch on Thanksgiving, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve all been there – you’re overstuffed, tired, but not quite ready to nap. Just waiting around for “pie o’clock” doesn’t sound too appetizing, but finding a nice movie to watch with the family can be a great way to relax, especially if it’s one most of you have seen before.

Below, we’ve rounded up some of the best Thanksgiving movies to watch during the holiday. They range from stone-cold classics where the plot actually revolves around Thanksgiving to more Thanksgiving-lite fare that still scratches that itch. So pick one from our selection below and you won’t regret it.

Photo credit: Paramount Pictures “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”

Streaming on Paramount+, FuboTV and Pluto TV

One of the best comedies ever made, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles...

Christopher Nolan recently moderated an FYC conversation with Denis Villeneuve after a screening of “Dune: Part Two” and raved about his love for the sequel, calling it “a miraculous job of adaptation.” The “Oppenheimer” Oscar winner joins the likes of Steven Spielberg and other top directors in praising “Dune: Part Two,” which is one of Warner Bros.’ top Oscar contenders this season.

“I watched the second half and I think it’s a miraculous job of adaptation, of taking that second half and making an incredible conclusion of the story,” Nolan said. “I have a lot of questions about how you did that, starting with: Usul, Muad’Dib, Paul, Lisan al Gaib. How many fucking names can you give one character and expect us to keep up with it?”

“There is a serious question behind that,” Nolan continued. “Most adaptations, it’s a process of condensing things and simplifying things.

If the prospect of several days alone with your loving family over the holidays fills you with a sense of dread, or if you just need some me time to fill those lazy winter days, The Hollywood Reporter‘s annual pick of the best binge-worthy international TV series has you covered. Take a break with an intoxicating Japanese-French family drama about wine and power, deconstruct the life and work of Franz Kafka with in a new Austrian mini-series or dive deep into the cutthroat world of international fishing with a new Norwegian comedy that’s Succession… with salmon.

All This I Will Give to You Where to Watch: MHz Choice

A deliciously twisty French murder mystery that’s like a sophisticated, sexier version of a British country-house drama. Follow Manuel, the widowed husband of a secretly wealthy man, as he unravels a complex family mystery with a retired cop. Expect cold aristocrats,...

Babylon truthers, Margot Robbie stands with you. During an expansive conversation on the Talking Pictures podcast, host Ben Mankiewicz praised the film and questioned, "Why don't people like this movie?" Robbie exclaimed, "I'm still saying that!" She added, "I love it… I don't get it either. I know I'm biased...

Wherever you go, there you are. That iconic line has become a pop culture mainstay thanks to one of the strangest movies of the 80s, Buckaroo Banzai or, as it is formally titled, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. This 1984 science fiction movie has been a cult classic for four decades and remains a fan favorite thanks to its virtually unexplainable plot. Part comedy, part action, part scifi, part martial arts, part musical, part western, part satire and part of a franchise that never came to be, Buckaroo Banzai may be the single most bizarre movie we have ever covered for this series.

A box office bomb when it was released, grossing only six million against a seventeen million dollar budget, Buckaroo Banzai holds a decent 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes where critics sum it up succinctly as “violating every rule of storytelling and narrative structure in creating...

Let’s talk about one of the internet’s weirdest obsessions: killing off celebrities who are very much alive. What started as rare newspaper blunders in the early 1900s has morphed into a full-blown social media sport, where a single viral post can “declare” a star’s death faster than you can say “fake news.”

A still from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2001-2007) | Credits: Cartoon Network Studios

From Charlie Chaplin’s early brush with rumored demise to today’s pop icons getting “canceled” by bogus death reports, celebrities have basically become professional rumor-busters. These death hoaxes aren’t just random internet noise—they’re bizarre opportunities for stars to showcase their wit, turning potentially scary misinformation into clever comebacks and marketing moments. Turns out, in the age of viral headlines, staying alive can be its own form of entertainment.

1. Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin in a still from...

The universe of Minor Threats — actor and comedian Patton Oswalt and TV writer Jordan Blum’s cult hit comic book centered on the travails of underappreciated and overlooked D-list villains — continues to expand and has now attracted the attention of some A-list creators.

Matt Fraction, known for his Eisner Award-winning work on Marvel’s Hawkeye, and Miles Morales co-creator Brian Michael Bendis, along with award-winning artists Michael Allred and Gene Ha, are working on an anthology mini-series that is set in the Minor Threats universe and set to be published by Dark Horse Entertainment next year.

Writers Gail Simone and Gerry Duggan and artists Soo Lee and Mark Torres are also involved in the four-issue project that is titled Welcome to Twilight City and will feature a mix of new and established characters.

The idea of an anthology had been percolating for some time for Oswalt and Blum, who thought...

In September, Griff took the stage at New York’s Terminal 5 to a sold-out audience on her Vertigo world tour. The space holds a capacity of nearly 3,000 people, but for the duration of her set, the British singer-songwriter and producer transformed the venue into a room that matched the energy of a show at Madison Square Garden. Before she emerged with thundering live renditions of songs from her debut album, Griff joined Rolling Stone backstage for an episode of The Green Room to discuss the making of Vertigo, carving out...

Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold will be honored with a Visionary Tribute at the upcoming Gotham Awards for their work on A Complete Unknown, the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic from Searchlight Pictures — a distinction recognizing “groundbreaking collaborations that push the boundaries of storytelling in film.”

“In A Complete Unknown, Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold have beautifully captured Dylan’s emergence in 1960s New York not just as an artistic evolution, but as a meditation on the necessity of change,” said Jeffrey Sharp, executive director of event’s parent org The Gotham Film & Media Institute.

“Through Chalamet’s breathtakingly authentic performance and Mangold’s masterful direction, we witness Dylan’s transformation from folk prophet to electric rebel, showing how growth often requires letting go of the very relationships and identities that shaped us. Together, they have created a work that will not only resonate with longtime Dylan admirers but also...

The Paddington films have always been about learning to feel at home. In the first film, Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) adapts to life in London while his adoptive family, the Browns, figure out how to integrate the bear into their household. And in the second film, Paddington even turns a prison into a kind of domestic paradise using nothing but good manners and some fine marmalade. Now, Paddington in Peru presents the series with its biggest challenge, catapulting its characters to the other side of the planet as Dougal Wilson, making his feature directorial debut, takes over from Paul King. And yet, in spite of all these changes, the series has never felt more at home in its own furry skin than it does here.

The film begins with the exciting arrival of Paddington’s first British passport. But the young bear has barely had time to celebrate this...

The Substance, the Cannes Film Festival winning, Demi Moore body swap horror movie, is poised to bust to great heights at the global box office with a $70M-$75M take.

That’s quite a landmark for the Working Title produced-2 hour and 21-minute running, French shot movie which has the Ghost and $2.5 billion global grossing blockbuster actress in the awards season conversation for her portrayal of an aerobics instructor TV star, Elizabeth, who soon realizes her days are over in Hollywood. However, she gets the opportunity to participate in a body swap experiment which introduces the world, and her former TV audience, to much younger version of herself, under the new alias Sue (Margaret Qualley). Consequences, as unsexy as they are, ensue. The movie received a 13-minute standing ovation at its Cannes premiere back in May and won Best Screenplay for its filmmaker Coralie Fargeat. Moore has been public about...

Tilda Swinton is an Oscar-winning actress who has been a favorite of both the art house crowd and the multiplexes, consistently taking on challenging roles in both indie fare and box office hits. Let’s take a look back at 19 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1960 in London, England, Swinton got her start working with experimental filmmaker Derek Jarman, making her movie debut in the director’s “Caravaggio” (1986). She won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress in his film “Edward II” (1991), kicking off a decades-long romance between the actress and awards groups. She also showed her willingness to push herself in offbeat projects with daring auteurs, an edict that would lead to collaborations with Luca Guadanigno, Jim Jarmusch, Bong Joon Ho, Sally Potter, Wes Anderson and the Coen Brothers.

She took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “Michael Clayton” (2007), for which she also won the BAFTA and reaped Golden Globe,...

It could be any day, any night, any city, and Bill Murray could be there. Maybe this sad clown folk hero is hitting karaoke night or doing a frat’s dishes or crashing a kickball game or bartending at some random joint or giving a speech at a bachelor party or popping in for a wedding photo shoot. Bill Murray is that “fun” uncle, the loose one with no clear direction yet always grounded in…well, whatever he wants. Maybe he’ll show up, maybe he won’t. Maybe he’ll have a job this year, maybe he won’t bother. Maybe he’ll sock a male co-worker on the nose, maybe he’ll direct misconduct at a woman. Bill Murray is one unpredictable dude, his actions described as erupting “a trail of hysteria,” the man himself as “The Murricane.” Oh, and he’s made some of the greatest comedies,...

“It’s so nice to talk to The Hollywood Reporter,” Olivia Williams says, as we start our interview, “because I really had that Hollywood experience. I went from living in a damp basement flat in Camden Town to, in a matter of days, flying in a private jet to go on set of a huge Hollywood movie.”

Over the course of a single year, from 1997 to 1998, Williams (before then a jobbing British theater actress, doing commercials for Dove shower cream — “they asked me to audition in a bikini…I felt like giving up”) starred in three studio films: Kevin Costner’s The Postman, Wes Anderson’s Rushmore and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. The Postman was a legendary flop. Rushmore an indie breakout. The Sixth Sense a gargantuan, global hit. Williams, it appeared, had arrived.

“I went from galloping horses with Kevin Costner — doing my own stunts, thank...

For over two decades, Adrien Brody has held one of the most coveted titles in Oscar lore, as the youngest man ever to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Only age 29 when he won his Oscar for “The Pianist,” Brody has since gone on to an acclaimed career in both drama and comedy and has had the opportunity to work with some of the medium’s best directors — some beloved, others not — but delivers great performances with them all.

Along the way, Brody’s work has been celebrated by both critics and the industry alike. In addition to his Oscar victory, he has been nominated for four Screen Actors Guild Awards and three Emmy Awards, as well as earning nominations at the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes. With the upcoming release of his latest film, A24’s 215-minute epic “The Brutalist,” that list may increase very soon. It will...

For over two decades, Adrien Brody has held one of the most coveted titles in Oscar lore, as the youngest man ever to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Only age 29 when he won his Oscar for “The Pianist,” Brody has since gone on to an acclaimed career in both drama and comedy and has had the opportunity to work with some of the medium’s best directors — some beloved, others not — but delivers great performances with them all.

Along the way, Brody’s work has been celebrated by both critics and the industry alike. In addition to his Oscar victory, he has been nominated for four Screen Actors Guild Awards and three Emmy Awards, as well as earning nominations at the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes. With the upcoming release of his latest film, A24’s 215-minute epic “The Brutalist,” that list may increase very soon. It will...

A filmmaker’s distinct style can be a double-edged sword. There comes a time when even the most creative visionaries can become constricted by their self-imposed limitations. We’ve seen that happen to the likes of Tim Burton or Michael Bay – and now, Wes Anderson might be joining that list. The Unique Appeal and Constraints of […]

Is Wes Anderson’s Magic Fading? Why His Recent Films Might Be Missing the Mark Written by Tito Pernalete for Fortress of Solitude...

Studio Babelsberg has named Joerg Bachmaier as its new CEO, effective November 18.

Bachmaier joins the company’s management board, succeeding Andy Weltman who has held the CEO role since 2022.

Weltman oversaw the integration of Studio Babelsberg into the global Cinespace Group.

Baichmaier was previouslyCEO of production services consultancy MediaXchange. Before that, he was SVP, head of premium studios at Warner Bros’ subsidiary Machinima.

He has held executive roles at BBC Studios in London and Zdf Studios in Germany. He was born and raised in Germany and trained as a lawyer at the University of Heidelberg, School of Law.

Studio Babelsberg...

Exclusive: The Santa Barbara Film Festival is lauding The Brutalist stars, Oscar winner Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce, with the Cinema Vanguard Award during the 40th annual event on February 13, 2025.

The Cinema Vanguard Award recognizes actors who have forged their own path, taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film. Previous honorees include Paul Giamatti, Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Carey Mulligan, Laura Dern, Michael B. Jordan, William DaFoe, Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Adams, Jean Dujardin, Bernice Bejo, Nicole Kidman, Peter Sarsgaard, Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Kristin Scott Thomas, Stanley Tucci and Ryan Gosling.

Directed by Brady Corbet with a scheduled release from A24 on December 20, The Brutalist follows an immigrant architect (Brody) who makes waves in post-World War II America, working for a fierce industrialist (Pearce). They plan to erect a mesmerizing, and defying,...

Ready to meet “Ghost Cat Anzu?”

The French/Japanese co-production, based on the manga of the same name by Takashi Imashiro, hits theaters on Friday courtesy of GKids — and we’ve got an exclusive clip, which you can watch below.

In “Ghost Cat Anzu,” a young girl named Karin (voiced by Noa Gotô) accompanies her father to the countryside. It’s there that she encounters the title character, an oafish supernatural entity who hustles as a masseuse and wears his cell phone around his neck (he is voiced by Mirai Moriyama). Together, Anzu and Karin set off on an adventure, which crosses over into spiritual realms and sees them encountering all sorts of bizarre characters.

The movie premiered as part of the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in May. It played the Annecy International Film Festival less than a month later. It was directed by Yôko Kuno (making...

Denis Villeneuve recently participated in a Q&a with students at Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal, Quebec (via Montreal Gazette) and brushed off Quentin Tarantino’s viral comments about refusing to watch “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two.” The “Pulp Fiction” Oscar winner said he’s not interested in remakes and didn’t need to watch Villeneuve’s films because he was already familiar with the “Dune” story from seeing David Lynch’s previous adaptation.

“I don’t care,” Villeneuve said as the “whole room erupted in laughter,” as reported by the Gazette. “It’s true. I agree with him that I don’t like this idea of recycling and bringing back old ideas. But where I disagree is that what I did was not a remake. It’s an adaptation of the book. I see this as an original.”

Villeneuve added, “But we are very different human beings.

Tilda Swinton, George Mackay, Michael Shannon, and Moses Ingram sing for their lives in “The End.”

Oppenheimer’s post-apocalyptic family drama “The End” stars Swinton as a mother who protects her family by living in a bunker for decades after the world has ended. George Mackay, her plays her son, has never seen the outside world. Shannon co-stars as his father, while Moses Ingram plays a stranger who arrives, interrupting their carefully crafted underground world.

Here’s the official synopsis: “Twenty-five years after environmental collapse left the Earth uninhabitable, Mother, Father and Son are confined to their palatial bunker, where they struggle to maintain hope and a sense of normalcy by clinging to the rituals of daily life—until the arrival of a stranger, Girl, upends their happy routine. Son, a naïve twenty-something who has never seen the outside world, is fascinated by the newcomer, and suddenly, the delicate bonds...

When Fantastic Mr. Fox premiered in 2009, Wes Anderson’s quirky adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s book won audiences over with its unique stop-motion animation and all-star cast. With George Clooney as the voice of the titular character, Meryl Streep playing his wife, and even Bill Murray and more in the film, it wound up being a huge success.

George Clooney’s character in Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox | Credits: Searchlight Pictures

Though the film went on to be known for its humor, charm, and artistic style, it ended up being one of Clooney’s most underrated roles. However, Anderson believed that was only because fans had missed one message that was deeply relevant: the importance of working together for a common good.

Wes Anderson on George Clooney’s Fantastic Mr. Fox

Though Fantastic Mr. Fox was initially celebrated for its groundbreaking animation and humor, it has since...

It’s shaping up to be a Huston family Christmas.

Siblings and Hollywood royalty Anjelica and Danny Huston are teaming on a new project, The Christmas Witch Trial of La Befana, a hybrid animated and live-action feature film that is currently shooting in Los Angeles and Ontario, Canada.

HighballTV confirmed the details of the film, which was written by David James Brock and HighballTV’s Melissa D’Agostino based on an idea they conceived with Matt Campagna who is also directing with D’Agostino, a frequent creative partner. Johnathan Sharp is producing.

The plot follows a peculiar court case that unspools after the children in a rural Italian village kidnap their legendary Christmas witch, played by Huston, and put her on trial in an attempt to stop her annual judgment from their lives. While casting a spell through witches, fantasy and Italian folklore, the project is said to touch on universal themes of grief,...

Quentin Tarantino has not seen Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” movies and has no intention of changing that, despite the rave reviews. During an interview on “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast” (the same interview where Tarantino defended “Joker: Folie à Deux”), the filmmaker was asked about whether or not “Dune: Part Two” was the best movie of the year as many have proclaimed. He didn’t have an answer because he’s not going to watch it.

“I saw [David Lynch’s] ‘Dune’ a couple of times. I don’t need to see that story again,” Tarantino said about his lack of interest in Villeneuve’s adaptations. “I don’t need to see spice worms. I don’t need to see a movie that says the word ‘spice’ so dramatically.”

Tarantino has nothing against Villeneuve, he’s just not interested in watching a story he’s already familiar with due to...

Exclusive: More than a decade after his last feature directorial outing with The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, Jay Duplass is back behind the camera for See You When I See You, a comedic family drama to star Cooper Raiff (Cha Cha Real Smooth), David Duchovny (Californication), Hope Davis (Succession), Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart), Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody), and Ariela Barer (How to Blow Up a Pipeline).

An exploration of the intricacies of grief and healing, currently in production in Atlanta, See You When I See You is scripted by actor, comedian and writer Adam Cayton-Holland (Those Who Can’t). The film is inspired by Cayton-Holland’s acclaimed memoir Tragedy Plus Time: A Tragi-Comic Memoir, the winner of the 2019 Colorado Book Award for Creative Non-Fiction, which examines the impact of his younger sister Lydia’s suicide on him and his family.

Jay Duplass called the project “the kind of deeply personal dramatic comedy that I grew up on,...

“Between the Temples” is in many ways a coming-of-age story, but it is also a meditation on faith, an examination of the aging process, and reconnecting with the past. How are all these things possible at once? As “Between the Temples” so beautifully explores, identity is fungible, and there is never any definitive moment in which someone definitively passes from one stage of life to another.

The possibility of finding either maturity or regression later in life is what makes it so exciting, but it can also be a challenge for those who don’t feel their experiences are worth consideration. There are a lot of touchy subjects that get a spotlight in “Between the Temples,” but at its best, Nathan Silver’s gut-busting dramedy explores all the specific chaos that comes with being human.

At the center of “Between the Temples” is another charming man-child performance by Jason Schwartzman as Ben Gottlieb,...

Hollywood hairstylist Emanuel Millar has worked in the industry for over four decades and has come across several actors and actresses during his work. He has worked as the head of the hair department in iconic films like Kill Bill, Cinderella Man, Public Enemies, and Inglourious Basterds. He recently made headlines by highlighting some of the bad experiences he faced from celebrities.

Emanuel Millar | Credits: @emanuel_millar6/Ig

On the receiving end of these horrible accusations are actresses Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lopez, and Blake Lively. Millar shared that these actresses were rude to him and did not treat him as a fellow human being, let alone as a co-worker.

What Do We Know About Celebrity Hairstylist Emanuel Millar? Emanuel Miller with Angelina Jolie | Credits: @emanuel_millar6/Ig

Emanuel Millar recently appeared on the What It Was Like podcast, where he revealed the horrible celebrity encounters he had. Millar explained his roots in the podcast,...

Every now and then a man comes along who just captures the moment and becomes the It Guy. Right now, Timothée Chalamet is that guy, so much so that a lookalike contest was recently held in which the winner got $50 – do you know how many peaches that could buy?! Adding to the story, however, was that Timothée Chalamet himself turned up…looking the least like Timothée Chalamet out of anyone there.

Over the weekend, the Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest was held in New York City, bringing thousands into Washington Square Park to see who had the aura of the namesake celebrity. It seemed like everywhere you turned there was Willy Wonka and Paul Atreides and even just street clothes Chalamet. According to multiple sources, RSVP numbers were anywhere between 900 and 2,500. That’s an insane amount of people that look like – or were at least told they looked like – Timothée Chalamet.

AI animation company Asteria insists that it’s not a tech company; It’s a film studio. Founded by Bryn Mooser, head of documentary banner Xtr, Asteria wants to use AI tools to solve problems and get stuff made. Mooser believes the tech companies have severely undervalued filmmakers and approached Hollywood all wrong.

“Even with all the AI tools in the world, it’s hard to make stuff. It takes a team of people, capital, dedication, and love to make stuff,” Mooser told IndieWire. “There’s a potential of a return to independent filmmaking through this technology. That’s exciting.”

Mooser says just as YouTube disrupted the way people distribute content, AI can disrupt how people produce content. “If you put this in the hands of filmmakers, they have the advantage. Then the studios actually are in trouble, because they’re built for the old world,” he said. “But the narrative among filmmakers was,...

Venice Prize Winner ‘Familiar Touch’, ‘ ‘Black Dog & ‘Eephus’ Set For Red Sea Fest

In the first film program announcement for its upcoming edition, Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled the 12 titles in its Festival Favourites line-up. The sidebar celebrates films that have enjoyed a high-profile outing on the festival circuit in recent months such as Sarah Friedland’s Familiar Touch, which won the Luigi de Laurentiis prize for best first film at Venice, and Cannes Un Certain Regard winner Black Dog by Guan Hu. The other titles comprise Agora (Tunisia), East Of Noon (Egypt), Eephus (U.S.), Freedom Way (Nigeria), The Inevitable Journey To Find A Wedding Dress (Egypt), The Legend Of The Vagabond Queen Of Lagos, Little Jaffna (France), Quiet Life (Greece), Santosh (UK) and U Are The Universe (Ukraine). “This year’s selection continues to demonstrate our commitment to showcasing diverse...

Horror, martial arts, sci-fi and more – here’s our pick of 35 genre films you can watch for free on Tubi.

Like any streaming service, particularly of the ad-supported variety, there’s a lot of filler on Tubi, the subscription-free platform which recently made its debut in the UK.

On there you’ll find an array of low-budget documentaries of spurious quality, landfill reality TV and how-did-this-get-made TV movies (Amish Abduction).

Do a bit of digging, though, and you’ll find plenty of movies that are genuinely worth watching, including the work of such respected directors as Michael Mann (Ali), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), David Fincher (Gone Girl) and Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel).

Look beyond even those worthy films, and Tubi is positively stuffed with genre and cult offerings – sci-fi, horror, comedy, martial arts, thrillers and more besides. Finding these can take a bit of hunting around, however, so...

One of the year’s top Oscar contenders enjoyed the year’s top limited-release opening over the weekend.

Neon debuted Sean Baker‘s “Anora” in six theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, earning more than $540,000 over the three-day frame — good for a per-screen average of more than $90,000 per venue. That’s the largest per-screen average of the year and the best platform debut in 16 months.

“We’re incredibly excited about this weekend’s record-breaking results and the fantastic critical and audience response to Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning film ‘Anora.’ Baker is a singular director who truly understands the power of the theatrical experience and how important it is for films to be seen in the theater,” Neon said in a statement. “With Mikey Madison in her unparalleled performance as Anora, and the film’s strong awards potential, there’s no doubt it will continue to...

Great indie numbers this weekend as Anora turned out highest per-screen-average of 2024 at $90k on six screens for a $540k gross. We Live In Time, the best platform expansion of the year, grossed $4.2 million on 956 screens in week 2 for a $4.5 million cume. Newcomers Union and The Line fared well on one screen each, as did Goodrich on about 1,000.

“We’re incredibly excited about this weekend’s record-breaking results and the fantastic critical and audience response to Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning film Anora. Baker is a singular director who truly understands the power of the theatrical experience and how important it is for films to be seen in the theater,” Neon said. “With Mikey Madison in her unparalleled performance as Anora, and the film’s strong awards potential, there’s no doubt it will continue to captivate a broad audience as we move into the fall.”

The highest PSA...

“Smile 2” has carved out a decent $23 million in its opening weekend, easily topping the otherwise sleepy North American box office charts.

The R-rated sequel to Paramount creepy psychological thriller “Smile” debuted on par with expectations and even with the original film, which opened to $22.6 million in 2022. That movie, which was commissioned for streaming before pivoting to a theatrical release, became a sleeper hit with $105 million domestically and $217 million globally. The follow-up film also opened overseas with $23 million for a global start of $46 million.

Parker Finn returned to direct “Smile 2,” which cost $28 million. Naomi Scott stars as a pop singer who begins to experience a series of disturbing events as she embarks on tour. It has been well-received by audiences, earning a “B” grade on CinemaScore and improving from the first film’s “B-” mark.

“Horror series are one of the more difficult genres to sustain over multiple episodes,...

"Barbie" star Margot Robbie, is the new ‘face’ of France’s Chanel No. 5 perfume, photographed by Karim Sadli:

After working in commercials and small indie films, Robbie got her first break on the TV series "Neighbours" (2008–2011), followed by "Pan Am" (2011–2012).Her breakthrough role came in 2013 with Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street".

She achieved wider recognition with starring roles as 'Jane Porter' in "The Legend of Tarzan" (2016) and as 'Harley Quinn' in the DC superhero films "Suicide Squad" (2016), "Birds of Prey" (2020) and "The Suicide Squad" (2021).

She also received an Academy Award 'Best Actress' nomination for her portrayal of figure skater 'Tonya Harding' in the biopic "I, Tonya" (2017). This was followed by roles in the period drama "Mary Queen of Scots" (2018), Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood".

Robbie and husband Tom Ackerley are co-founders of LuckyChap Entertainment, producing "Promising Young Woman...

Paramount and Temple Hill are grinning widely.

Their new movie, Smile 2, is winning the domestic box office race with an estimated $23 million after earning $9.4 million on Friday, including more than $2 million in previews. That would put the film’s debut just ahead of the first Smile, a sleeper hit that opened to $22.6 million in late September 2022 on its way to grossing more than $217 million worldwide against a $17 million budget.

Once again written and directed by Parker Finn, the film follows a malevolent spirit that jumps hosts via a diabolical grin, this time infecting a troubled pop star (Naomi Scott) with a ton of trauma to feed on, according to The Hollywood Reporter‘s review of the film. Scott stars opposite Lukas Gage, Rosemarie DeWitt and Miles Gutierrez-Riley. This time the budget was $28 million, which is a modest sum for a major studio.

Smile 2 earned a B CinemaScore from audiences,...

In Josh and Benny Safdie's 2019 panic attack "Uncut Gems," Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a fast-talking jewelry store owner with several terrible habits. For one, he's been having a long-term affair with his mistress (Julia Fox) and his bitter, angry, soon-to-be-ex-wife Dinah (Idina Menzel) can't wait to be rid of him. Howard is also is a gambling addict with an unusual way of perpetuating his habit. He loans gems to celebrities and athletes, but takes their existing jewelry as collateral. He then takes the jewelry across town to a pawn shop and pawns it for a pile of money before betting the money on a sporting event. If he wins, he can get the jewelry out of hock and return it to the original owners with cash in his pocket, and no one is the wiser. If he loses ... well, he actually loses a lot.

"Uncut Gems" grabs you...

Clockwise from top left: Posters for Sean Baker's Tangerine (2015) designed by P+A, The Florida Project (2017) designed by InSync Plus, Red Rocket (2021) designed by Grandson with illustration by Steven Chorney, and Anora (2024) designed by Grandson.In case you haven’t noticed—and plenty of eagle eyes on the internet already have—Sean Baker has a font. From Tangerine (2015) through to his Palme d’Or–winning Anora (2024), which opens in US theaters today, Baker has used the same typeface for the titles and posters of his four most recent films. And while that kind of typographic consistency is not unheard of on movie credits it may be unprecedented when it carries over to the film’s poster titles as well. The font in question is Aguafina Script Pro and it was designed by Alejandro Paul and Angel Koziupa for the Argentina-based Sudtipos type foundry. The Sudtipos website describes Aguafina Script Pro as “graceful,...

"Let us bear humble witness." Kinematics has debuted a trailer for a weird little indie film called Hippo, a kooky creation from filmmaker Mark H. Rapaport as his feature debut. It premiered at last year's Fantasia Film Festival and it also played at the Calgary Underground Film Festival earlier this year. Hippo, a peculiar adolescent, and his Hungarian step-sister Buttercup struggle to come of age in late 90s America, under the roof of a mother who has been institutionalized at least once. Reviews describe the film as "an avant-garde sex comedy that unleashes the quirks of Wes Anderson and Jim Jarmusch to their weirdest extents." Huh. Adding that it also "doesn't hold back in exploring taboo subjects... yet offering riotous laughter through the characters' absurdity." The indie film stars Kimball Farley, Lilla Kizlinger, Eliza Roberts, and Eric Roberts. This definitely won't be for everyone, but adventurous cinema nerds should check it out anyway.

Well, 2024 just got its new adorable mascot thanks to “The Legend of Ochi.”

The upcoming A24 indie fantasy adventure film teased a creature that looks eerily similar to Grogu Aka Baby Yoda-slash-“Gremlins” character Gizmo as a central figure in the coming-of-age tale.

Writer/director Isaiah Saxon makes his feature debut with “The Legend of Ochi” after helming music videos for Björk, Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and Kanye West. Saxon is also the co-founder of the animation studio Encyclopedia Pictura.

“The Legend of Ochi” is based on Saxon’s own characters and screenplay. The film tells the story of a young girl (Helena Zengel) who runs away from home and learns to communicate with an elusive animal species known as Ochi, hence the title.

Finn Wolfhard, Emily Watson, and A24 staple star Willem Dafoe round out the cast.

Writer/director Saxon shared first look images at the animation of...

As “Reykjavik,” a look at a critical summit between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that helped determine the fate of the two superpowers, begins shooting in Iceland this week, the drama has brought on Hope Davis, Branka Katic and Aya Cash. They join the Sk Global feature, which has already lined up an impressive ensemble that includes Jeff Daniels as Ronald Reagan, Jared Harris as Mikhail Gorbachev and J.K. Simmons as Secretary of State George Shultz.

Davis, who appeared on Broadway opposite Daniels in “God of Carnage,” will star as Nancy Reagan. Katic is set to play Raisa Gorbachev, wife of the Soviet leader, and Cash has been tapped to portray a young journalist covering the Reykjavik Summit. Production officially commenced Tuesday on location in Reykjavik, where the cast and crew started filming in and around Höfði House, the actual site of a 1986 meeting that happened as the...

With just a few weeks to go before the U.S. presidential election, Benicio del Toro has spoken out against the way that hot-button issues like immigration are used by candidates to rally support in the lead-up to the election.

The Oscar-winning star of “Traffic” and “Sicario” is guest of honor at the 16th edition of the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France, where he was hosting a masterclass.

Del Toro is part of a roster of stars attending the fest, which is organized by Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux. Other high profile talent on the ground in Lyon includes Xavier Dolan, Isabelle Huppert, Tim Burton and Monica Bellucci.

“You can’t group people and say they are all bad people…most people who are trying to get to America are trying to improve their lives because there are problems in their hometowns, wherever they come from. They’re trying to better their lives,...

“The Substance” is a movie starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. It is written and directed by Coralie Fargeat.

“The Substance” emerges as a film designed to stand out in every aspect, employing stark contrasts in its cinematography, embracing a Kafkaesque narrative, and maintaining a pace full of dramatic turns. It features an electrifying visual style and is driven by the performances of two exceptional actresses to tell a convoluted story filled with ingenious touches.

The mastermind behind this film is Coralie Fargeat, who not only wrote the screenplay but also directed the movie. Fargeat successfully makes “The Substance” her own creation on all levels, crafting a unique visual style characterized by provocative imagery and rhythms.

Plot

The plot revolves around a television presenter who is on the verge of being fired. She learns about a peculiar company offering a unique rejuvenation treatment. This treatment is based on cellular division...

Watch the full episode above or listen to it below.

After a short, overwhelming stint in the mobile Criterion Closet, which boasts over 1,200 titles in the order they were added to the collection, Screen Talk co-hosts Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio welcomed Criterion president Peter Becker to the annual New York Film Festival edition of “Screen Talk” Live.

But first, the co-hosts debated the merits of Luca Guadagnino’s artful but long “Queer” starring Daniel Craig as an aging gay junkie suffering from unrequited love. And they also argued about the NYFF closing nighter, “Blitz,” which some think lacks that Steve McQueen edge. His biggest budget film to date is also his most traditional, starring Saoirse Ronan and Elliott Heffernan as a mother and son separated during the London blitz of World War II. Reviews are stronger in Britain than stateside so far (Metascore: 76). Anne thinks it will play for Academy voters,...

The upcoming horror film Beautiful Friend is already making waves, with over seven million TikTok users weighing in on its controversial and chilling themes. Slated for an exclusive release on Amazon on October 31, the film is being hailed as one of the most disturbing cinematic experiences of the year. Directed by Truman Kewley, Beautiful Friend takes a raw, unflinching look at the terrifying world of incel culture and toxic masculinity, offering a provocative exploration of violence, obsession, and misplaced rage.

Critics have praised the film for its fearless portrayal of a violent kidnapper. Alexandrea Meyer won best actress for her powerful performance as the object of a dangerous obsession, while Adam Jones plays Daniel, an incel whose anger and frustration spiral into a violent kidnapping. The film has already gained notoriety for its uncomfortable realism and has been described by The Film Verdict as “a timely depiction of toxic masculinity and beta-male misogyny…...