News

Gold Derby's top news stories for May 23, 2025.

The Wheel of Time canceled after three seasons on Prime Video

Amazon has canceled fantasy series The Wheel of Time after three seasons. The series, which premiered on Prime Video in 2021, was based on the popular novel series by Robert Jordan, and featured a large ensemble cast led by Rosamund Pike. The third season made Nielsen's top 10 list of streaming originals, but the renewal bar is high for expensive fantasy series.

Cannes' Un Certain Regard winners revealed

The 2025 winners of the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, which honors early career filmmakers, have been revealed. La misteriosa mirada del flamenco (The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo), the debut feature of Chilean filmmaker Diego Céspedes, won the top Un Certain Regard Prize. Colombian director Simón Mesa Soto won the second-place Jury Prize with his film Un Poeta (A Poet). Palestinian...

Update, 16.10 BST 23/5/25: Neon has acquired North America rights to Oliver Laxe’s Cannes Competition titleSirât.

It is the distributor’s fifth buy from the Competition, afterAlpha,It Was Just An Accident,The Secret Agent andSentimental Value.

Original story:

Mubi has bought yet more distribution territories from the Cannes Competition, taking Italy, Turkey and India rights on Oliver Laxe’s Sirât.

The Match Factory, which Mubi owns, handles international sales on the film.

Sirât had its world premiere in Competition on Thursday, May 15. The film follows a father and son at a rave in the mountains of southern Morocco, looking for their daughter/sister.

Mubi has bought yet more distribution territories from the Cannes Competition, taking Italy, Turkey and India rights on Oliver Laxe’s Sirât.

The Match Factory, which Mubi owns, handles international sales on the film.

Sirât had its world premiere in Competition on Thursday, May 15. The film follows a father and son at a rave in the mountains of southern Morocco, looking for their daughter/sister.

The film is produced by Pedro Almodovar, Agustin Almodovar and Esther Garcia for their El Deseo banner, with Xavi Font and Laxe for Filmes Da Ermida, Oriol Maymo for Uri Films, Mani Mortazavi and Andrea Queralt for 4A4 Productions,...

UK post-production house and film equity investor LipSync has entered administration, the company has confirmed to Screen.

A statement from the company said it was “business as usual” during the process, that no redundancies had been made and ” an announcement sale would be made soon”.

Lipsync was founded in 1984 and has worked on films includingThe Brutalist,The Salt PathandTornado,as well asWe Need To Talk About Kevin,Nowhere BoyandTestament Of Youth.

Lipsync has long been a fixture of the London film production scene, with an office on Wardour Street in Soho. Its parent company is Glenthorp Ltd, owned by Lipsync...

Vicky Krieps have joined the cast of The Idiots, the upcoming feature by Polish filmmakers Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert.

They join previously announced cast members Aimee Lou Wood and Johnny Flynn in the feature, which is being sold internationally by The Match Factory.

The drama is adapted from Andrew D. Kaufman’s novel The Gambler Wife: A True Story of Love, Risk, and the Woman Who Saved Dostoyevsky.

Szumowska and Michał Englert, whose previous joint directorial credits include Woman Of… (2023) and Never Gonna Snow Again (2020), have also co-written the adaptation with Kasper Bajon and Bríd Arnstein. Englert will also serve as cinematographer.

The novel follows the lives of Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his wife Anna during a period that inspired him to write The Idiot. The novel was...

“Corsage” and “Phantom Thread” actor Vicky Krieps and “The Zone of Interest” and “White Lotus” star Christian Friedel have joined Aimee Lou Wood and Johnny Flynn in the cast of “The Idiots.”

Krieps won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard best performance award and the European Film Award for “Corsage” in 2022. Friedel is a two-time nominee for best actor at both the European and German film awards.

Other actors joining the cast are Barbara Marten and three-time German Film Award nominee Rainer Bock.

The film is to be directed by Polish filmmakers Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert, and is co-written by Szumowska and Englert together with Kasper Bajon and Bríd Arnstein. Englert will also serve as cinematographer. International sales are being handled by the Match Factory.

The story is based on the novel “The Gambler Wife: A True Story of Love, Risk, and the Woman Who Saved Dostoyevsky” by Andrew D. Kaufman,...

Award-winning European actors Vicky Krieps (Corsage, Phantom Thread) and Christian Friedel (The Zone of Interest, White Lotus) have joined the ensemble cast of The Idiots, the new film from Polish directors Malgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert (Woman of…, Never Gonna Snow Again).

Friedel’s White Lotus co-star Aimee Lou Wood, and Ripley actor Johnny Flynn headline the project in a cast that also includes Dune: Prophecy actress Barbara Marten, and Rainer Bock (Wonder Woman, The White Ribbon).

Szumowska and Englert co-wrote The Idiots together with Kasper Bajon and Bríd Arnstein, basing the story on Andrew D. Kaufman’s 2021 novel The Gambler Wife: A True Story of Love, Risk, and the Woman Who Saved Dostoyevsky, which follows the lives of the famous Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his wife Anna during a period that inspired him to write his classic The Idiot.

Wood and Flynn play Anna and her husband, nicknamed Fiedya.

Martin Scorsese has quite a list of projects to his name. Goodfellas comes to mind when anyone thinks of movies that made the world sit in awe of his skills. The Irishman is another project that reminded fans of his mettle recently.

That is what makes Scorsese a true genius – the web he weaves has lasted for years now. Even if Gen-z were to watch a Scorsese classic from the late 20th century or the 70s, they would appreciate his perspicacity. And Taxi Driver is one of his everlasting classics.

Taxi Driver was an important movie for Martin Scorsese Taxi Driver holds a special place in Martin Scorsese’s heart || Image by Harald Krichel, licensed under Cc By-sa 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

If fans were to ask Martin Scorsese which project he would hold close to his heart, Taxi Driver would rank highly on his list. He has made it clear...

When you think of anime adaptations, your mind probably goes straight to manga or light novels. But from global masterpieces to obscure gems, anime has a rich, often overlooked history of bringing classic literature to life. These adaptations don’t just retell familiar stories; they reinterpret them with bold visuals, emotional nuance and cultural twists that make them feel entirely new. You might not expect to see characters like Sherlock Holmes, Anne Shirley, or the Count of Monte Cristo on an anime screen, and yet, here they are. From high school mysteries to sci-fi revenge tales, from Swiss Alps nostalgia to literary action fantasy, anime has proven time and again that great stories transcend borders. Here’s a list of must-watch anime inspired by novels, literary icons and the authors behind them. Anne Shirley Based on: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (1908) Anime: Nippon Animation (1979), The Answer Studio (2025) L.

The Match Factory has come on board as sales agent for “The Idiots,” the new feature by Polish filmmakers Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert.

The film stars “White Lotus” actor Aimee Lou Wood, a BAFTA winner for best female performance in a comedy program for “Sex Education,” alongside Johnny Flynn, nominated for the best supporting actor at the Critics Choice Award for his role in “Genius.”

The film’s principal photography is set to start next month.

The story is based on the novel “The Gambler Wife: A True Story of Love, Risk, and the Woman Who Saved Dostoyevsky” by Andrew D. Kaufman, published in 2021, which follows the lives of the writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his wife Anna during a period that inspired him to write “The Idiot” – at the time a commercial flop, but today, considered one of the greatest novels in the history of literature.

The film follows...

Bungo Stray Dogs has a brilliant range of characters, all based on authors and important historical figures. One character stands out amongst them, and it’s Sigma. He serves as the main antagonist of the Sky Casino Arc, and then becomes somewhat of an ally of the Armed Detective Agency (Ada).

Sigma was created from the Book by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, making him a blank slate. He struggles with his identity and purpose, making him a relatable and fan favorite character quite quickly. He has fairly simple motivations and personality in Bungo Stray Dogs, as compared to everyone else.

He also isn’t a direct reference to any author or historical figure, giving Kafka Asagiri freedom to choose how to write him. In Bungo Stray Dogs, he might be the most innocent character. Sigma’s appeal lies in his normalcy as compared to the others, something the author even admitted.

Despite being born from the Book,...

Osamu Dazai can easily turn his head, raise a peace sign with a ‘teehee’ sound, and get fans to swoon over him. Or he could get morbid as he slays his enemies in the most torturous ways possible. Dazai’s duality and eccentricity in Bungo Stray Dogs has made him a fan-favorite character.

As beneficial as that is for the character’s popularity, his antics take away the focus from the complex narrative of Bungo Stray Dogs. The story is riddled with references from literature and the lives of famous authors. The complexities are a treat for those who like to dig deep, but Dazai doesn’t allow most fans to look beyond the surface.

Defining Dazai is a task due to his complexity Osamu Dazai in Bungo Stray Dogs | Credits: Studio Bones

The first few seasons of Bungo Stray Dogs follow a simple narrative structure. The audience gets introduced to the protagonist,...

Tubi has recently released a press release detailing all the films, series, and reality shows coming to the streamer in May. Among the 100+ releases arriving on Tubi, some of our favorite movies have also made it to the list. Given that the streamer is free for users, fans now get to watch these films without the hassle of a paywall.

The streamer has also announced four original projects in May. If you are wondering how the streamer makes money on these projects, it makes revenue from the ads run on the platform. With more crowd-pulling projects, more people are likely to log in to the streamer. It means that they will make more revenue for future projects from ads.

The hottest picks on Tubi in May 2025

Tubi’s can’t-miss category of films this May includes a few Fast & Furious films and a few DC titles. The streamer also brings a few Oscar-winning titles,...

By Imran Firdaus

Zahidur Rahim Anjan (1965-2025) was a profound admirer of filmmakers like Robert Bresson, Ritwik Ghatak, Yasujiro Ozu, Alain Resnais, and Aki Kaurismäki. Throughout the new millennium, he was a ubiquitous presence at film appreciation courses across Bangladesh, from the capital to divisional cities and rural districts. As a facilitator and screenplay expert, Anjan illuminated how Ozu and Bresson captured reality in fragmented ways, arguing that drama emerged not from sensational incidents but from the essence of everyday life, leaving a lasting impression. He would refer to Kaurismäki’s minimalist style as a tool to frame contemplation on screen. Needless to say, Anjan was immensely popular among his students, regardless of where he taught—universities, institutions, or workshops.

Through the trained eye of a film student, the zeal of a film activist, the dedication of a little magazine contributor, and the intuitive mind of a creative practitioner who wrote and drew rigorously,...

Whenever a book becomes popular and a bestseller, it's only a matter of time before it becomes a movie or TV show. And when these books reach a certain level of popularity or relevance, they can receive multiple adaptations. Books like Pride and Prejudice, Stephen King's It or Carrie, or Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express are now classic books that have received multiple movie or TV show adaptations. But while these popular books have taken to the screen more than once, they aren't close to the many adaptations some of the most adapted books of all time have.

Everyone knows the story of Dracula, Frankenstein or Tarzan, but probably not everyone knows just how many adaptations these books have. Some of the most adapted books have over 100 adaptations between movies, TV and theater productions. One of these books has more than 500 different adaptations. Other books have become such...

Independent international production company and financier Gold Rush Pictures has signed a deal with Ilya Stewart’s Hype Studios to participate in financing and co-producing a slate of at least five feature films, Variety can exclusively reveal.

The news comes ahead of the world premiere of Tom Tykwer’s contemporary German drama “The Light” (pictured), which was co-produced by Gold Rush Pictures and will open the Berlin Film Festival on Feb. 13.

Two of the five titles on the companies’ slate will be collaborations with the Polish screenwriter-director and two-time Berlinale prizewinner Małgorzata Szumowska, including “The Gambler Wife,” a dark comedy about Russian literary figures Anna and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The anticipated feature, which was announced in Variety, is due to begin principal photography this spring. A second feature from Szumowska is currently in development.

Rounding out the slate are three titles with long-time Hype Studios collaborator Kirill Serebrennikov, whose previous four...

“A society should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens,” wrote Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “but by how it treats its criminals.” The United States ranks as an unabashed and alarming failure by that metric. The country’s negligence toward the vulnerable and marginalized will certainly not come as news (or at least a surprise) to most, so it’s a testament to the fearless filmmaking of co-directors Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufmann that their documentary “The Alabama Solution” lands with such force.

Continue reading ‘The Alabama Solution’ Review: A Wrenching Look At A New Civil Rights Battlefield [Sundance] at The Playlist.

For Akira Kurosawa, “Man is a genius when he is dreaming.” While films like Seven Samurai, Rashomon, and Ran quickly spring to mind when one thinks of the Japanese filmmaker, some of his deeper cuts have inevitably slipped under the radar.

A still from High and Low | Credits: Toho Co

For a career that spanned over fifty years, with over thirty films released across multiple decades, even Kurosawa’s lesser-known works offer a compelling watch for film buffs.

Here, we rank ten overlooked Kurosawa films that show the breadth of the director’s cinema, his boundless curiosity, and his innate understanding of humanity.

10. I Live in Fear (1955)

Akira Kurosawa opens with Tokyo’s bustling intersections, scored by a theremin – a 1950s Atomic Age paranoia hallmark. We meet Dr. Harada, a dentist-cum-mediator, summoned to resolve a family dispute involving Kiichi Nakajima, a wealthy industrialist.

Nakajima’s obsession with nuclear fallout drives...

Although the late, great James Caan delivered iconic performances as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather and Frank in Heat, the single best role of his career may have been as the struggling English professor Axel Freed in the brilliant thriller The Gambler. Based on the novel of the same name by Fyodor Dostoevsky, the film explored gambling as a legitimate addiction issue and allowed Caan to sink his teeth into one of the most despicable anti-heroes in screen history. Living up to such a beloved classic was always going to be a difficult task, but director Rupert Wyatt took it upon himself to reimagine the story of The Gambler by placing it within a modern context. The remake of The Gambler was able to differentiate itself from its predecessor thanks to a surprisingly brilliant performance by Mark Wahlberg, who delivers one of the most captivating and surprisingly earnest roles of his entire career.

Existential horror is a subgenre that deals with ideas of insignificance, isolation, and the unsettling fact that humanity is just a speck in a dark, uncaring universe; in short, it's perfect horror movie fodder. Horror is filled with subgenres that are as basic as "slasher" to as specific and obscure as "screenlife". There are just so many ways to pluck fear and terror out of the world, almost everything can be molded into something frightening. Existential horror is somewhere in the middle of well-known and vague, an unofficial grouping that includes some famous movies.

Existentialism is not a new or unique idea. Dealing with the very aspects of humanity that are unknowable and lonely has long been a subject of art. It's a philosophical viewpoint associated with 19th and 20th-century philosophers like Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. The novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky often includes themes of existentialism in his work and...

Kraven the Hunter has finally arrived in theaters, and the run of the Marvel film uses a number of memorable musical sequences that include a wide selection of songs. The Sony Spider-Man Universe movie roster may have come to an end with Kraven The Hunter, with seemingly no follow-up plans in place. This makes all aspects of the movie more important, including its soundtrack, with it being well worth taking a look into what songs were featured and how they were used in the film, contributing to the soundtrack and feel of the violent new Marvel film.

While perhaps James Gunn is best known for needle-drops in comic book films, filmmaker J.C. Chandor did include some memorable music-themed sequences in his latest film. Many of these follow Dmitri Smerdyakov, named after two characters from the Fyodor Dostoevsky novel The Brothers Karamazov. In Marvel, Smerdyakov is the alias of the villainous Chameleon,...

For his Oscar-contending documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, filmmaker Benjamin Ree drew inspiration from literary sources as much or more than cinematic ones.

“One of my main interests is dramaturgy… and structure,” he says over a breakfast of an omelet and waffles in Amsterdam. “I’m obsessed with that, and I’ve been studying that my whole life.”

In his Netflix film, Ree explores the journey of Mats Steen, a young Norwegian man with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a terminal condition that causes progressive weakening of the heart and skeletal structure. Despite the physical limitations caused by the disorder, Mats lived a rich life in the online World of Warcraft game – where his avatar was the powerfully built, able-bodied Ibelin. In that setting, Mats made many friends and impacted people far and wide, but his parents had no idea of their son’s vibrant virtual experiences until after his passing...

If you’ve been a fan of Bungo Stray Dogs since the beginning, you might have noticed something feels off in the current storyline. The early seasons and manga chapters captured a grounded, almost methodical vibe, pulling us into a world where mysteries were solved with logic, realism, and clever detective work. However, somewhere along the way, it seems like things have drastically changed.

Dazai and Atsushi from Bungo Stray Dogs | Credit: Studio Bones

As the series delved deeper into the Decay of Angels arc, the focus shifted. And this shift wasn’t limited to the plot either; it seeped into the characters, the conflicts, and the tone of the series itself. Let’s explore why this change feels so profound and even if Kafka Asagiri decided to return to the original style of Bungo Stray Dogs, why the series might never recapture its old magic.

The Old Days: The...

With a lot of the same talent both in front of and behind the camera, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was always bound to be similar to Wednesday but it has a few specific references to the hit Netflix show. Released 36 years after the original film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was Tim Burtons follow-up project to Wednesday season 1, which saw his long-awaited return to the macabre (and led to his biggest success in years). Burton tapped Wednesday showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar to write the sequels script and cast Wednesday Addams herself, Jenna Ortega, to play Lydia Deetzs rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid.

Bringing in Ortega and the writers behind Wednesday was a smart move, because it ensured that Beetlejuice 2 not only brought in nostalgic fans of the first film, but also brought in Wednesdays massive fan base. Part of Beetlejuice Beetlejuices blockbuster box office success can be attributed to the Wednesday walk-ups, because...

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Jeremy subtly foreshadows his shocking villain twist in his very first scene in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice thanks to a well-placed Dostoevsky reference. When Jenna Ortegas Astrid Deetz has had enough of her familys nonsense, she gets on her bike and rides through Winter River. After being run off the road by an emerging truck, she crashes through a fence and bumps into a tree. There, she meets her love interest, Jeremy, whos hanging out in his treehouse, reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

As Astrid and Jeremy discuss their love of Dostoevskys work, they quickly fall for each other and Jeremy invites Astrid over to spend Halloween night with him. However, when she gets to his house on Halloween, shes shocked to learn that hes one of Beetlejuice 2s many dead characters. He initially tells her he needs her help getting his life back,...

[This story contains spoilers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.]

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star Arthur Conti went from zero to sixty in record time. The English actor turned the equivalent of a high school musical into representation, which led to a two-line day on House of the Dragon and an acclaimed performance at London’s Park Theatre. Toward the end of his run on stage in Winner’s Curse, he put himself on tape for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to Tim Burton and Michael Keaton’s 1988 genre mashup, Beetlejuice. Unexpectedly, Conti soon found himself in the middle of a Zoom callback with Burton and the town’s newly anointed superstar, Jenna Ortega.

Within two hours, Conti officially landed the role of Jeremy Frazier, who Ortega’s character, Astrid Deetz, would eventually refer to as her “date from hell.” Astrid — having been estranged from her mother, Lydia (Winona Ryder), since the divorce and death of her father Richard (Santiago Cabrera...

Who says you need a project to appear on late night? On Thursday, Amy Poehler swung by “Late Night with Seth Meyers” without any projects to promote, but to instead talk about the books she’s been reading this year and to make Meyers laugh so hard he was incapable of sound.

The memorable moment happened roughly seven-and-a-half minutes into the pair’s interview. While talking about Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own,” Meyers excused himself to sneeze.

“Oh my god, a sneeze! Everybody stand up!” Poehler cheerfully said.

As the audience cheered and jumped to their feet, Meyers buried his head in his hands, unable to contain his laughter. During the roughly 30 seconds he was laughing, only a couple of his chuckles could be heard. His response caused Poehler to burst into laughter too.

Poehler initially explained she came onto her former “Saturday Night Live” buddy...

Dark humor in British comedy movies explores taboo topics like death and sexuality. British filmmakers like Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris typify the nation's sense of humor. From heist comedies to zombie parodies, British films like "A Fish Called Wanda" and "Shaun of the Dead" blend humor with dark themes.

British humor has always been perfectly suited to dark comedies, and many of the funniest British movies of all time are about death, pain and suffering. Dark humor has historically provided a respite for people who otherwise wouldn't discuss taboo topics, so it's no surprise that it has taken hold in British society, which has gone through periods of social conservatism embodied by the national ideal of keeping a stiff upper lip.

Many of Britain's funniest filmmakers tend to explore dark subjects. Monty Python, Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris have all used humor to explore Britain's attitude toward death, political corruption,...

It’s my distinct pleasure to announce Gentle Creatures: Robert Bresson and Mani Kaul, a Dostoevsky double-header comprising adaptations of the short story “A Gentle Creature”––Bresson’s Une femme douce and Kaul’s Nazar––that I’ve programmed and which comes to Bam on Monday, August 5.

This event offers Une femme douce‘s first New York showing since 2017; searches yielding nothing, I’m plainly unsure when Nazar last played locally. Either are exemplary visions of their director’s genius. As a pairing, this program presents some study in contrasts: making his first color film, Une femme douce finds Bresson adding new layers to his oft-imitated, never-surpassed style, while Nazar allows Kaul to turn a narrative more linear than earlier triumphs into a formalist playground, tracing characters’ emotions with drifting cameras, spatial disorientation, reflections, and startling soundscapes.

Official description of both films below:

Nazar

Two decades after Robert Bresson made Une femme douce,...

[Editor’s note: Spoilers for “The Sympathizer” below.]

Turns out there was a very good reason for Robert Downey Jr. playing multiple roles in A24/HBO’s “The Sympathizer,” which is revealed in the Episode 7 finale. That’s when the versatile actor turns up in a surprising cameo as the Captain’s (Hoa Xuan Nguyen) father — a French Catholic priest, donning a long dark beard — and we learn that his other four character turns are toxic manifestations of the patriarch who disavowed him.

In fact, it’s a revelation to the Captain as well when all of them blend together in his mind as troubling paternal figures during a traumatic flashback. There’s Claude, the pop music-loving CIA operative; Hammer, the gay East Asian studies professor; Ned Godwin, the military vet-turned-congressman; and Niko, the counter-culture film director. They all contribute in a surreal way to the Captain’s identity crisis as a North Vietnamese communist spy and South Vietnamese sympathizer.

The third installment based on Konami’s horror survival game, Silent Hill, is expected to release this year. The preview of Return to Silent Hill screened at the Cannes Film Festival and the new Christophe Gans-directed film will be adapted from the game Silent Hill 2. The preview also gave a first look into the villain of the film, and fans are excited to see that the terrifying monster Pyramid Head closely resembled its video game version.

Christophe Gans’ Return to Silent Hill (credits: Konami via IMDb)

The first two films, Silent Hill and Silent Hill: Revelation, were critical failures. However, gamers were completely blown away by the gameplay of Silent Hill 2, which raises the expectations of the current film. The game took inspiration from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment.

Return to Silent Hill Introduces Terrifying Game Villain Pyramid Head And Fans Are Excited

The first look...

Mimi Garrard of Mimi Garrard Dance Theatre is proud to present a special invitation only film event, A Spiritual Journey, on Saturday, April 13, 2024 at 2pm at the Rubin Museum of Art,150 W 17th St, NYC.

With direction, camera, and editing from Mimi Garrard, and costumes by Mindy Nelson, the program consists of four dances created for video — “Realeyes,” “Mestos,” and “Seasons of the Mind” explore a mythical idealized world, while “Notes from the Underground Percussionist” uses the words of Fyodor Dostoevsky to explore the dark side of human nature.

A Spiritual Journey Program

“Realeyes”

Dancer: Austin Selden

Music: Tom Hamilton

“Notes from the Underground Percussionist”

Performer: Jonathan MevillePratt

Singer and music: Jonathan Melville Pratt

Text: Dostoevsky selected by Mimi Garrard

“Mestos”

Dancers: Tim Bendernagel and Kate Jewett

Music: Tom Hamilton

“Seasons of the Mind”

Dancers: Tim Bendernagel and Cynthia Koppe

Music: Joao Castro Pinto

About Mimi Garrard

Mimi Garrard was a dancer with Alwin Nikolais.

Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan, who is awaiting the release of her upcoming streaming movie ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’, has shared that she loves Russian history of the 20th century and Russian literature.

The actress, who has been a student of history, recently spoke with Ians ahead of the release of her period film and shared that she finds it very interesting how landmark moments in Russia from the rise of Vladimir Lenin to the fall of the Soviet Union happened within a span of 100 years.

She told Ians: “I like 20th-century Russian history a lot. I think it’s very interesting how they went from Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Mikhail Gorbachev to the fall of the Soviet Union, ye sab 100 salon mein hua hai. It’s very interesting to observe it that way.”

In fact, Nikita Khrushchev was the one who denounced his predecessor Joseph Stalin...

Quick Links Edgar Allan Poe Has a Great Power and Pet Sakunosuke Oda May Be the Most Important Posthumous Character in the Series Ouchi Fukuchi is a Villain Straight Out of Metal Gear Solid Kyoka Izumi is a Tragic Character Who Shows the Path to Redemption F. Scott Fitzgerald is a Better Villain Than Fyodor Dostoevsky Ryunosuke Akutagawa is Ever-Evolving Akiko Yosano Has the Most Heartbreaking Backstory Chuuya Nakahara is the Perfect Balance for Dazai Osamu Dazai Might as Well Be the Main Character Ranpo Edogawa is the Heart and Soul of the Detective Agency

Bungo Stray Dogs is an anime that manages to take an incredibly weird premise and turn it into seinen gold. On its face, having a bunch of super-powered characters modeled after famous authors from around the world sounds wild without proper context. However, the show manages to make it work quite nicely in its context.

Mk2 Films, the Paris-based outfit behind Justine Triet’s Oscar-nominated “Anatomy of a Fall,” is set to restore Robert Bresson’s “Four Nights of a Dreamer,” a romantic drama which competed at the Berlinale in 1971 and disappeared from screens in 1985.

MK2 Films, the division of a major arthouse cinema chain in France, will digitize “Four Nights of a Dreamer” in 4K and will bring it to global theatres in 2024.

“Four Nights of a Dreamer” is the 10th film directed by Bresson and the only one which wasn’t restored. His other credits include “Mouchette,” “Au Hasard Balthazar” and “Pickpocket.”

Inspired by Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel “White Nights,” “Four Nights of a Dreamer” revolves around a meeting on the Pont Neuf between a dreamy young man and a distraught young woman who will confide in each other over four nights. It stars Guillaume des Forêts, Isabelle Weingarten, Jean-Maurice Monnoyer. The film...

Bollywood megastars and real-life power couple Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt will star alongside Vicky Kaushal in filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Love & War.”

Kapoor debuted as a leading man with Bhansali’s romance “Saawariya” (2007), a Fyodor Dostoevsky adaptation. Bhatt headlined Bhansali’s women empowerment saga “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” which bowed at the 2022 Berlinale. They starred together in Disney’s sci-fi mythological superhero film “Brahmastra Part One: Shiva” (2022).

Bhansali is known for his grand cinematic vision and “Love & War” is billed as an “epic saga.” No other details are currently available.

Both Kapoor and Bhatt had successful outings at the box office in 2023. Kapoor headlined Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s blood-soaked action-drama “Animal.” Bhatt starred alongside Ranveer Singh in Karan Johar’s family drama “Rocky Aur Rani kii Prem Kahaani.” Both films placed in India’s Top 10 for the year. Bhatt also had a leading role in Tom Harper’s...

The deceptively unassuming figure of Los Angeles homicide detective Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk), with his rumpled raincoat, cheap cigars, and seeming absentmindedness, might not call to mind the sprawling existentialist novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky. But Columbo’s ancestry can be traced all the way back to Porfiry Petrovich, the pesky, psychologically attuned investigator in Crime and Punishment.

Like that literary classic, the show that shares Columbo’s name functions as an inverted detective story, not so much a whodunit as a howcatchem. In each episode, we spend time with the murderer, soak up their milieu, and witness the commission of the crime. Only then does Columbo make his entrance onto the scene. From there, it’s an escalating battle of nerves between the dogged detective and the initially arrogant murderer.

While Rodion Raskolnikov, the tortured protagonist of Crime and Punishment, is an impoverished student who kills out of economic necessity...

12 Angry Men started as a teleplay, not a book, and gained popularity through its stage production and subsequent movie adaptation. The original movie received numerous awards and nominations, proving the story's enduring appeal. While there are books available based on 12 Angry Men, they contain the published script rather than a novelization of the story. A novelization may be possible in the future.

While many believe the 1957 movie 12 Angry Men started out as a book, this assertion is incorrect. In the courtroom drama movie, a jury deliberates whether a young boy is guilty of murdering his father and if he should get the death penalty. Though only Juror 8 initially dissents from a guilty verdict, he provides a compelling enough argument to sway the other jurors. This story is considered one of the cornerstones of the courtroom drama genre. It increased interest in the judicial process and addressed many...

ListicleWhile there have been raging debates over whether a film adaptation of a literary work does justice to the original, some of these films have fulfilled the expectations of book lovers.YouTube screengrabWhat better delights a literature enthusiast than a film adaptation of their favourite literary work? While there have been raging debates over whether a film adaptation of a literary work does justice to the original, it is no doubt that movies make them more accessible. Apart from accessibility, cross cultural adaptations also bring the stories closer to home. Here are five south Indian movies that were adapted to suit local tastes while maintaining the spirit of the original works: Kandukondein Kandukondein (2000) The Ajith Kumar starrer is adapted from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility which revolves around the romantic entanglements of two sisters who are forced to live in more meagre conditions along with their widowed mother. Even...

Three years after the end of the second season the members of the Armed Detective Agency, the Port Mafia and the Guild return once more, in a style that mirrors the one of the last season in terms of narrative, but ends up in probably the best chapter of the series so far.

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The first three episodes of the third season delve into the past once more, when Mori has just taken leadership of the Port Mafia, with the help of Dazai's silence regarding the way he achieved it. Mori asks Dazai to research the emergence of a gang of kids with Talents named Sheep, which is how the latter initially gets to know Chuya.Their clash and power games involve Mori and ultimately lead to Chuya joining the Port Mafia.

Check the reviews of the previous seasons Anime...

Nuri Bilge Ceylan likes to take his time. The Turkish director is one of the greatest living practitioners of slow cinema. The filmmaking ethos — pioneered by Russian auteur Andrei Tarkovsky and taken up by the likes of Theo Angelopoulos, Albert Serra, Béla Tarr, Kelly Reichardt and Lav Diaz — eschews the rapid editing and relentless nonstop forward-driving plots of the Hollywood blockbuster (looking at you, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) for a more contemplative, metaphysical approach.

The characters in a Ceylan movie don’t do much. There’s little action or traditional suspense, and the storylines are fairly basic. In 2002’s Distant, a rural factory worker visits his cousin in Istanbul. Homicide police unearth the body of a murder victim and take a long drive back to the city for the autopsy in 2011’s Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. An old actor, his wife and his sister sit...

Aimee Lou Wood and Matt Dillon have signed on to play Anna and Fyodor Dostoevsky in Małgorzata Szumowska’s ‘The Gambler Wife.’

Written by Szumowska and Kasper Bajon adapted from Andrew D. Kaufman’s book The Gambler Wife: A True Story of Love, Risk and the Woman Who Saved Dostoyevsky, is a dark comedy about one of literature’s most towering figures.

The project follows Fyodor, or Fyedya to his intimates, and his much younger, pregnant wife, Anna, as they travel to Switzerland for their honeymoon. Anna tolerates Fyedya’s gambling addiction as this will serve as inspiration for his burgeoning literary career. However, Fyedya’s compulsive roulette playing continues to cause problems for the couple until they are forced to return to a Russia that is not quite as they remember.

Also in news – First look image revealed for Sky original film ‘Arthur’s Whisky’

Szumowska describes the feature as...

BAFTA-winning “Sex Education” star Aimee Lou Wood and Oscar-nominee Matt Dillon (“Crash”) have been tapped to star as Anna and Fyodor Dostoyevsky in “The Gambler Wife,” a dark comedy about one of world literature’s most towering figures, by two-time Berlinale prize winner Małgorzata Szumowska.

“The Gambler Wife” follows the Russian novelist and his much younger, pregnant wife, Anna, as they travel to Switzerland for their honeymoon. Anna tolerates her husband’s gambling addiction, which will serve as inspiration for his burgeoning literary career. However, Fyodor’s compulsive roulette playing continues to cause problems for the couple until they are forced to return to a Russia that is not quite as they remember.

“This dark comedy explores the patriarchal, nationalistic Russian identity which keeps on waging war between the West and the East, which is as relevant today as it was two hundred years ago,” said Szumowska.

Pic is produced...

TV actress Keerti Nagpure, who is currently seen in the show ‘Pyaar Ka Pehla Naam Radha Mohan’, spoke about her interest in reading books and that she takes out time for her hobby during her shoots as well. She added that she is a huge fan of J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

She shared: “Since childhood, I have been very fond of books, and I prefer reading fiction and mythology, as well as novels based on true stories. In fact, reading an interesting book always makes me happy and stress-free, even if I have a hectic shoot schedule. At times, I even read a few pages in between takes. I must also mention that not a lot of people know, but I am a big fan of Harry Potter.”

“I have read all the books in the Harry Potter series as well as the Game of Thrones series.

No doubt there was some rivalry between Zauq and Ghalib, as is between leading practitioners of any craft, but it did not lend itself to such snide behaviour from him as in the serial. His depiction in the film "Mirza Ghalib" is more balanced, where he does not lose his equanimity as audience beating him to complete some of his best known shers, and then, goes on to introduce Ghalib when the latter’s turn comes.

Sheikh Mohammad Ibrahim ‘Zauq’ (1789/90-1854) hailed from modest circumstances, being the son of a mere soldier in what was left of the once-glorious Mughal Army. His elementary education was at the house of a nearby cleric, who also wrote poetry and was consulted by aspiring poets. Their discussions made an impression on young ‘Zauq’.

"As I used to hear them, many verses stuck in my memory. My heart received a sort of spiritual pleasure...

In 1966, Montreal-born William Shatner was cast in the role that would change his life, Capt. James Tiberius Kirk in NBC's sci-fi drama "Star Trek." Shatner would go on to play the starship captain for three seasons before reprising Kirk in a Saturday morning cartoon and then in several "Trek" movies throughout the 1970s, '80s, and '90s until Kirk's demise in 1994's "Star Trek Generations." There's no argument that Shatner — who celebrated his 91st birthday in March 2022 — will forever be associated with his "Trek" character. And while Kirk will always be his signature role, the truth is that it's one of many for an actor who first made his way to Hollywood in the 1950s after performing Shakespeare with the famed Stratford Festival in his native Canada.

In fact, Shatner has amassed a whopping 250 screen credits over the years. His roles have run the gamut, ranging from Ranger...

Even the greatest filmmakers end up fumbling once or twice. That's simply human nature shining through — nobody is perfect, and thus, no director has a perfect filmography. They may not produce any movies you hate, necessarily, but even your favorite director has movies you think are of lesser quality than others. Take, for instance, legendary auteur Akira Kurosawa, who is often credited as one of the defining directors of cinema.

However, not even he could say that his filmography was flawless. That's because in 1951, he released "The Idiot," an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Fyodor Dostoevsky. In an interview compiled in the book, "Akira Kurosawa: Interviews," he described the making of that movie as troublesome, which isn't a surprise given how it was cut down from a whopping 265 minutes to 100 minutes. Regardless, it sounded like he had a rough go of it with the producers at Shochiku,...

The Dualists: Cronenberg Doubles Down on Class Cliches

“Sorrow is concealed in gilded places, and there’s no escaping it,” wrote Fyodor Dostoevsky in his 1846 novella The Double, a classic template of doppelgänger literature where the confrontation of one’s mirror self conjures an eternal agony often obfuscated through our self-imposed facades. Such is one of the meager subtexts simmering beneath the morbid surface of Brandon Cronenberg’s third film, Infinity Pool, an odyssey into the troubling possibility of murder tourism lodged in Twilight Zone parameters regarding globalization and international flavored elitism.

More interested in identity politics than the significant predilection of body horror which defined his father David Cronenberg’s early works, there are profoundly absorbing ideas eventually reduced by a meandering repetitiveness by the time the narrative descends into a tepid resolution close to the two hour mark.…...

Unlike many other dogs in Family Guy, Brian the dog can talk — but why can Brian talk when other dogs can't? As an intellectual rival to his time-traveling baby friend Stewie, Brian's human-like capabilities surpass not only dogs but even most humans in the Family Guy universe. As revealed in season 4, episode 15, "Brian goes back to College", his high intelligence enabled him to attend Brown University and temporarily land a job as a writer for the New Yorker. His talent for writing and admiration of author Fyodor Dostoyevsky is matched by his musical talents. The dog from Family Guy has been seen playing the guitar and drums, loves to sing, and is an opera fan. Yet for all his human-like skills and traits, Brian's canine appearance, barking, and attraction to female dogs like Seabiscuit indicate that he is still a dog.

Like the varying conversational abilities shown by Family Guy's baby Stewie,...

Exclusive: Downton Abbey star Jessica Brown Findlay is leading a podcast based on Joseph Conrad’s 1911 spy thriller Under Western Eyes.

The Razumov Files, from True Spies producers Spyscape and Cup & Nuzzle, will approach events leading to the 1917 Russian Revolution from the perspective of a contemporary investigative podcast, with Brown Findlay playing Jess, a journalist whose family appears to be implicated in a multiple murder case by an unknown assailant.

Under Western Eyes takes place in St. Petersburg and follows Razumov, a young student preparing for a career in the Tsarist bureaucracy who unwittingly becomes embroiled in the assassination of a public official. Asked to spy on the family of the assassin ― his close friend ― he must come to terms with timeless questions of accountability and human integrity. The novel is seen as a response to the themes explored in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and is one of...