News

The cast of Max’s medical drama “The Pitt” is clocking in for their shift.

The series, which explores the everyday challenges healthcare workers face in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania emergency room, was produced by John Wells. R. Scott Gemmill will write the first episode and executive produce “The Pitt” alongside its star Noah Wyle, who plays Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch.

All the drama in the first season takes place over a 15-hour period during one shift at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Hospital. Here’s everything you need to know about how and when to watch “The Pitt.”

Check out the full cast below.

Noah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch in “The Pitt” Season 1 (Max) Noah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch

Noah Wyle stars as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, the head honcho of fictional Pittsburgh-based emergency room in Pittsburgh Trauma Hospital. While Dr. Robby is still grieving over the death of his mentor,...

European giant Beta Film, known for ambitious titles such as “Babylon Berlin” and “The Swarm,” has shared with Variety in exclusivity a first-look picture of 1o-part series “Rise of the Raven,” which it hails as “one of the most epic European TV productions of all time.”

“Rise of the Raven” weighs in as a passion project of Hungarian-born and Canada-based producer Robert Lantos, behind “Sunshine,” “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Barney’s Version,” “Eastern Promises” and “Crimes of the Future.”

A highlight at Beta Film’s showcase this Tuesday at the London TV Screenings, “Rise of the Raven” turns on the extraordinary feat of Hungarian army commander Janos Hunyadi, played by discovery Gellért L. Kádár, who in 1456 won a bloody, brutal Battle of Belgrade against a vast Ottoman force twice the size of his troops who were often farm labourers armed with just slings and patriotic fervor.

Hunyadi largely halted a full Ottoman...

Jonah Hauer-King's role as Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid remake showcased his talents and gained him a larger audience. Hauer-King is from London, 6ft 1¾ (187.3 cm) tall, and aged 28. Hauer-King is a promising up-and-coming actor with future projects in Hollywood, including the upcoming series The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Jonah Hauer-King is an English actor who rose to prominence thanks to his role as Prince Eric in the live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, but this was far from his first role. Hauer-King has been acting since 2014 when he appeared in the short film The Maiden, and has since appeared in a number of TV shows and movies. While his previous roles have all shown the actor’s talents, it hasn’t been until The Little Mermaid remake that he found a larger audience. While The Little Mermaid was partially overshadowed by controversial backlash, it did find fans who appreciated...

Principal photography is underway near Budapest on “Rise of the Raven,” an epic drama series produced by veteran Canadian producer Robert Lantos’ Serendipity Point Films (“Crimes of the Future”) and Beta Film (“Gomorrah”) that marks the most lavish TV production in Hungary’s history.

Adapted from author Bán Mór’s bestselling novels, the 10-episode series tells the story of the Hungarian warrior Janos Hunyadi, who defeated the Ottoman army in 1456 at the Battle of Belgrade, halting its march across Europe.

Lantos, whose producing credits include “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Eastern Promises,” spoke exclusively with Variety about a passion project more than a decade in the making. He was joined by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director Robert Dornhelm and Hungarian directors Attila Szász and Orsi Nagypal, who joined the conversation fresh off shooting an epic battle sequence outside Budapest.

The Hungarian-born Lantos, who was in Cannes this year with David Cronenberg...

"I didn't come all this way just to sing." Gravitas Ventures has debuted the official trailer for I'll Find You, a WWII romantic thriller formerly known as Music, War and Love. This one originally premiered back in 2019 at numerous film festivals, and it's finally getting a VOD release this year. Inspired by true stories of Polish musicians from the 1930 & 1940s. Two young lovers, Robert (Leo Suter), a talented Catholic opera singer and Rachel (Adelaide Clemens), a Jewish violin virtuoso, dream of one day performing together at legendary Carnegie Hall. When they're torn apart by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, Robert vows to find Rachel, no matter what, taking him all the way into Germany. Also starring Stellan Skarsgard, Stephen Dorff, Connie Nielsen, Ursula Parker, Sebastian Croft, and Toby Sebastian. This reminds me of so many other films set during WWII, including The Song of Names most recently also about a Polish violinist.

Robert Lantos’ Serendipity Point Films (“Crimes Of The Future”) and Beta Film are joining forces on “Rise of the Raven” (working title), a big-budget epic drama series about Janos Hunyadi, a fearless warrior who defeated the vast Ottoman army and defended Europe in 1456 at the Battle of Belgrade.

Based on Bán Mór’s bestselling novels, the 10-hour series will be showrun by award-winning director George Mihalka who will also direct the final three episodes. Mihalka’s drama credits include NBC’s “The Firm,” TNT’s “Transporter: The Series” and Showtime’s “Bullet to Beijing.” He’s also the recipient of the Directors’ Guild of Canada’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Robert Dornhelm, whose most recent TV series include “Vienna Blood” with Matthew Beard and “Maria Theresa,” will direct the first two episodes of “Rise of the Raven.” Dornhelm previously directed Emmy and Oscar-nominated productions such as “Anne Frank: The Whole Story” with Sir Ben Kingsley,...

Members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television voted to crown Sophie Deraspe’s “Antigone” as best film at the Canadian Screen Awards Thursday, presented virtually by broadcasters CBC and CTV.

The film, a contemporary spin on the Greek tragedy, also won awards for lead female actor for Nahéma Ricci, female actor in a supporting role for Nour Belkhiria, adapted screenplay for Deraspe, and editing for Geoffrey Boulangé and Deraspe.

Variety’s review of the film, which was named best Canadian feature at the Toronto Film Festival, said it “feels refreshingly liberated by the spirit of Sophocles’ original material.” The “impassioned” film was “electrified by a performance of immense self-possession and dignity from revelatory new star Nahéma Ricci,” the critic wrote.

Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn won the prizes for directing and original screenplay for “The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open.” The film also took the cinematography award for Norm Li.

Antigone, Sophie Deraspe’s haunting French-language drama that set its adaptation of the Greek tragedy as a tale of a modern-day refugee family in Montreal, won Best Picture and tied François Girard’s The Song of Names with five wins overall Thursday at the Canadian Screen Awards, Canada’s equivalent to the Oscars.

Winners in the Cinematic Arts categories came tonight in a virtual ceremony held by The Canadian Academy, culminating three days of award handouts spanning film, TV, news, sports and documentaries.

Antigone won the Best Canadian Feature Film at last year’s Toronto Film Festival on its way to becoming Canada’s official submission in the 2020 International Feature Film race. Tonight, it also took best actress for star Nahéma Ricci, supporting actress for Nour Belkhiria, adapted screenplay for Deraspe, and Geoffrey Boulangé and Deraspe won for editing.

Song of Names, about an Englishman who searches for his childhood friend,...

”Because the weather has been amazing, I’ve turned the terrace into a workstation.”

Dubai-based distributor Gianluca Chakra is the founding managing director of Middle East distribution company Front Row Filmed Entertainment, which he created in 2003 with his father, the late film industry veteran Michel Chakra.

Alongside its theatrical distribution operations, Front Row is a pioneer in digital distribution in the Middle East as the first distributor in the region to do premium VOD releases, sign exclusive aggregation agreements with iTunes, GooglePlay and YouTube and work with Netflix, when it brokered a worldwide deal for the award-winning Lebanese film Very...

Is your at-home streaming slowing down now that everyone else in your neighborhood is also at home, streaming? May we suggest good old, reliable physical media?

New Indie

We need to stop acting surprised when Adam Sandler gives a powerful performance, as he does in the Safdie brothers’ “Uncut Gems” (Lionsgate); great work pops up throughout his career, from “Punch-Drunk Love” to “The Meyerowitz Stories.” Granted, whereas some movie stars take a “one for them, one for me” approach to balancing popcorn fare with arthouse titles, Sandler is more “ten for them, one for me”; if a great Sandler performance needn’t elicit shock anymore, it should bring up a touch of sadness for the career that might have been.

If you haven’t seen “Good Time” or other earlier Safdie movies, you might not be prepared for their brand of anxious, cinematic-panic-attack filmmaking. “Uncut Gems” will make you uneasy,...

The Song Of Names producer Robert Lantos on introducing composer Howard Shore to François Girard: “I had worked with Howard a few times before. Three David Cronenberg films. Crash, eXistenZ and Eastern Promises.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

François Girard’s The Song Of Names, based on the novel by Norman Lebrecht, screenplay by Jefferey Caine with a score by Howard Shore (two-time Oscar-winner for Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring and one for The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King) is produced by Robert Lantos, Lyse Lafontaine and Nick Hirschkorn, and stars Tim Roth and Clive Owen with Catherine McCormack, Jonah Hauer-King (Prince Eric in Rob Marshall’s upcoming The Little Mermaid), Luke Doyle, Gerran Howell, Misha Handley, Daniel Multu and Eddie Izzard.

Atom Egoyan and Robert Lantos with Anne-Katrin Titze at the Museum of Tolerance in New York for...

At this time of year, as Oscar season wanes and the Sundance Film Festival lures buyers with shiny new titles, indie distributors don’t launch many new movies. Two wider openers drew modest results: Vietnam biopic “The Last Full Measure” (Roadside Attractions) played nationally to lackluster numbers, while wacky “Color Out of Space” (Rlje), starring Nicolas Cage, drew more interest.

Warner Bros. was planning a domestic release of “Detective Chinatown 3” parallel to its New Year opening in China, but postponed the movie at the last minute when the coronavirus scare shut down all theaters in China.

The Oscar push continues to benefit “1917” (Universal) as it passed $100 million. Meantime, “Parasite” (Neon) is closing in on $31 million, and “Jojo Rabbit” (Searchlight) also saw added numbers ahead of the awards.

Opening

The Last Full Measure (Roadside Attractions) – Metacritic: 52

$1,055,000 in 614 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $1,718

This multi-decade dream project for producer-turned-director Todd Robinson...

People today (well always but more so now) really enjoying having lots of choices, be it food (as in buffets and food courts) or in entertainment. And with the latter, we’re talking the multiplex which often presents several types of films, or genres if you want to sound “fancy-schmancy’, from comedies to family flicks, to, well, this week’s unique mix. That’s because this new film is tough to “pin down”, so it may be a multiplex in itself. It’s a musical (in a way), an historical drama, a mystery, a look at faith and religion, and a “coming of age” buddy film. Somehow all those themes and elements come together in the film strangely named The Song Of Names.

It all begins with a flashback to 1951. It’s moments before the big debut of 21-year-old violin virtuoso David Rapoport at a London concert hall. But the concert producer,...

Four months after winning an Emmy for her score to the miniseries “Chernobyl” and two days after taking home a Golden Globe for her music to “Joker,” composer Hildur Gudnadottir won new awards for both of those scores at the first annual Scl Awards, presented by the Society of Composers and Lyricists.

Although the Scl was formed in 1983 as an offshoot of previous organizations that had dated back to 1945, its efforts to promote the interests of composers and lyricists working in visual media did not include giving out awards until this year.

“What took you guys so long with the awards?” composer Bill Conti asked at the beginning of the show. “People who work in Hollywood, we need constant approval.”

Also Read: BAFTA Nominations Put '1917' in the Awards Spotlight Again - and 'Joker,' Too

The Icelandic composer Gudnadottir received that approval to the point where she was visibly embarrassed,...

Golden Globes weekend is the time for thriving awards titles to pull audiences as they expand their runs. The standout among recent openers is Christmas Day release “1917” (Universal), with a rare second-weekend increase. “Uncut Gems” (A24) continues to stun as a wide release success. And “Parasite” (Neon) keeps accruing more high numbers, even before it enters the winners’ circle.

Not reporting numbers was Oscar-shortlisted Israel documentary “Advocate” (Film Movement). Don’t expect more new specialty titles until until February, as some older titles move to parallel home viewing after their 90-day exclusive window expires.

Week Two

1917 (Universal)

$590,000 in 11 theaters (no change); PTA: $53,636; Cumulative: $2,280,000

What an impressive way to lead into a wide expansion, let alone the heart of awards season! Sam Mendes’ film is clearly an audience favorite. In the same 11 theaters in seven cities as last week, its gross actually went up 2%, against the usual second weekend fall off.

“1917” (Universal) is the standout new limited release, placing it among the best of the year and boosting its upcoming dates and awards chances. “Just Mercy” (Warner Bros.) and “Clemency” (Neon), both serious dramas focusing on the death penalty, weren’t as strong but each performed at the levels expected.

“Uncut Gems” (A24), hardly typical wide-release holiday fare, also stood out, with $20 million so far with five days of wide release added to its initial strong limited start.

Of note: “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story,” and “The Two Popes” — Netflix’s three awards contenders — are all down to minimal theater play (though New York and Los Angeles full-page newspaper ads convey otherwise). Spot-checking grosses, it appears all are now getting all their viewing via streaming. By comparison, “Roma” was adding theaters at this point (with a slightly later debut).

Opening

1917 (Universal) – Metacritic: 80

$570,000 in 11 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $51,818; Cumulative: $1,008,000

Universal...

The specialty box office space was hustling and bustling on the holiday weekend as moviegoers came out to theaters after unwrapping gifts, eating endless amounts of Christmas cookies or just wanting to take a desperate break from family fun time. A handful of limited releases performed strongly over the five-day Christmas weekend.

Universal and DreamWorks Pictures’ 1917 kicked off its limited release in 11 North American theaters in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, DC and Toronto, opening to a stellar three-day estimate of $570,000 and a five-day cume of $1,008,000 with a per-screen average of $91,636 since opening on Christmas Day. The numbers are practically meeting box office expectations. It was on track to earn an estimated $600,000-$625,000 for the three-day weekend with a per-theater average of $55,000. To no surprise, we hear that the Arclight in Hollywood and Lincoln Square in New York topped the list while the film has a Cinemascore...

Howard Shore on Judith Clurman and the Juilliard connection in casting Daniel Mutlu as the cantor in The Song Of Names: “He was able to learn the new piece and create the role with Judith's help. She was really instrumental in creating that scene. And particularly the congregation, so that the response was accurate.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

In the second half of my conversation at Sony in New York with three-time Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore, we discussed what director François Girard wanted for the Paganini battle of the violins in The Song Of Names, performed by the 'great virtuoso' Ray Chen, the help from Brooklyn Heights Synagogue conductor and choral director Judith Clurman in the casting of the cantor played by Daniel Multu, and where in the film Shore used a chamber orchestra with ten male singers when he recorded the score with the Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal.

Dovidl...

“The Song of Names” is the kind of mediocre Holocaust drama that used to be taken more seriously in the 1990s, partly thanks to the Weinstein brothers and Miramax.

Director Francois Girard (“The Red Violin”) and screenwriter Jeffrey Caine’s adaptation of Norman Lebrecht’s novel is full of empty gestures and banal observations about remembrance and family, most of which flop because of wooden performances and trite dialogue.

Girard’s direction, as well as some star charisma from co-leads Tim Roth and Clive Owen, both give the movie enough emotional resonance to keep afloat its bland narrative — about the 35-year-long search for a missing Jewish violinist prodigy — but there’s no urgency or mystery to the movie, nor any compelling reason to care about its characters beyond a general hope that they’ll ultimately discover something true and/or moving about Judaism, music, and genocide. They do not, though...

It’s been thirty-five years since Dovidl (Jonah Hauer-King) disappeared in 1951. He was a violinist—a genius virtuoso depending on whom you asked (himself included)—primed to make his London debut in a sold out house courtesy of the man that served as his guardian the previous decade-plus (Stanley Townsend’s Gilbert Simmonds). One second he had his prized instrument in-hand while friend/surrogate brother/Gilbert’s son Martin (Gerran Howell) told him to relax and enjoy the moment. Dovidl was finally going to show the world exactly how good he was, but he didn’t show for curtain. He didn’t return home later either. For all Martin and his family knew, Dovidl was dead. And that presumption held a terrible weight considering the same uncertainty loomed over his own family at Treblinka.

François Girard’s The Song of Names therefore begins with ample drama atop the mystery of...

The Song Of Names star Clive Owen with producer Robert Lantos and director François Girard at Sony in New York Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

François Girard’s The Song Of Names, based on the novel by Norman Lebrecht, screenplay by Jefferey Caine with a score by Howard Shore is produced by Robert Lantos, Lyse Lafontaine and Nick Hirschkorn, and stars Tim Roth and Clive Owen with Catherine McCormack, Jonah Hauer-King (Prince Eric in Rob Marshall’s upcoming The Little Mermaid), Luke Doyle, Gerran Howell, Misha Handley, and Eddie Izzard.

Martin (Gerran Howell) with Dovidl (Jonah Hauer-King) in The Song Of Names Photo: Sabrina Lantos

From what Ed Bahlman calls the 'fantastic' documentary Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould to The Red Violin (Oscar to John Corigliano for Best Original Score), starring Samuel L Jackson, Greta Scacchi, Jason Flemyng, Carlo Cecchi and Sylvia Chang, François Girard is no stranger to films centered around music.

The Song Of Names producer Robert Lantos with director François Girard and composer Howard Shore at Sony in New York Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

François Girard’s The Song Of Names composer Howard Shore is a three-time Oscar winner for his work with Peter Jackson (Best Original Score for The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring and Best Original Score and Original Song with Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox for The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King) and is a six-time BAFTA nominee. Howard Shore is David Cronenberg’s longtime composer and has worked with Tom McCarthy (the Oscar-winning Spotlight), David Fincher, Tim Burton, Arnaud Desplechin, Penny Marshall, and on Tom Hanks’ directorial début That Thing You Do!

Howard Shore on François Girard and The Song Of Names, starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen: “I worked choosing with him very carefully all the music that's on screen.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that 344 feature films are eligible for the 2019 Academy Awards.

To be eligible for the consideration, the films must open in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County by Dec. 31, and begin a minimum run of seven consecutive days. Academy rules also state that a feature-length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes and must have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format.

Nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards will be announced on Monday, Jan. 13, 2020. The ceremony takes place on Sunday, Feb. 9, airing live from Hollywood on ABC.

“Abominable”

“Ad Astra”

“Adam”

“The Addams Family”

“The Aeronauts”

“After the Wedding”

“The Aftermath”

“Aga”

“Aladdin”

“Alita: Battle Angel”

“Always Be My Maybe”

“The Amazing Johnathan”

“American Factory”

“American Woman”

“Angel Has Fallen”

“The Angry Birds Movie 2”

“Anna”

“Annabelle Comes Home...

By Lee Pfeiffer

Squeezed in between the seemingly endless barrage of cinematic "tent pole" action and super hero franchises and tasteless comedies are some exquisite smaller films that traditionally get overlooked. One film that deserves plenty of accolades and a wide audience is director Francois GIrard's "The Song of Names", a Canadian production that is being released by Sony Classics. I first saw the film at the Sony screening room in New York City in September  and was completely absorbed and moved by it from the opening frames. It's always a danger that a critic, in trying champion a film, might reveal too many details and thus compromise the impact of the movie for potential viewers. "The Song of Names" is one such film. Based on the novel by Norman Lebrecht, the script by the estimable Jeffrey Caine is steeped in religious dogma but it is not a film that is primarily about a religion,...

“The Song of Names” “offers a really great palette for music,” says composer Howard Shore. “It covers 50 years,” including the periods before, during and after WWII. And the story involves “a virtuoso violinist, so the music score onscreen and the score itself were very appealing to work on.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Shore above.

Directed by Francois Girard, the Sony Pictures Classic release centers on a man (Tim Roth) haunted by the disappearance of his best friend (Clive Owen), a violin prodigy, before a 1951 concert that would’ve launched his promising music career. When he discovers his friend might still be alive, he searches the globe to find him.

See Dozens of video interviews with 2020 Oscar contenders

Before Shore ever saw the footage for the film he delved into his own research, “filling my mind and intellect up with the period and the music that we chose for the onscreen performances.

The Society of Composers & Lyricists has been around for nearly 75 years, but not until this year did the organization start its own annual awards program for music appearing in film, TV and videogames — and the nominees announced Tuesday for the inaugural show are certain to be scrutinized as a bellwether for what to expect as the Motion Picture Academy’s music branch votes on shortlists for the song and score categories.

As expected, Hildur Gudnadóttir scored nominations in film and TV categories alike, with nods for her work on “Joker” and “Chernobyl,” respectively. The latter limited series already won her an Emmy, and she’s being seen as a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination for scoring the blockbuster supervillain origin story.

The Scl Awards have instituted separate categories for scores of studio films and independent films. In the studio division, Gudnadóttir’s “Joker” music will face the scores written by Michael Abels for “Us,...

Image Source: Getty / Valery Hache

The cast of Disney's live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid is quickly shaping up to be a star-studded and intriguingly eclectic affair. After a long wait, Prince Eric has finally joined the crew! English actor Jonah Hauer-King is officially on board as the film's blue-eyed love interest, starring opposite singer Halle Bailey's Princess Ariel.

Though fans may still be a bit disappointed about Harry Styles turning down the role back in August, maybe Hauer-King's uncanny resemblance to Prince Eric will assuage their worries? Seriously, he's a young Disney prince come to life - look at those dimples!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jonah Hauer-King (@jonahhauerking) on Oct 10, 2018 at 5:18am Pdt

However, if you haven't heard Hauer-King's name before, you're not alone. The 24-year-old actor is a relative newcomer to the big screen, having only starred in a few films,...

Disney has found its Prince Eric for its live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid.” British actor Jonah Hauer-King has been cast to star as the character in Rob Marshall’s film, an individual with knowledge of the project told The Wrap.

Hauer-King screen-tested and beat out other contenders over the weekend. He will star opposite actress and singer Halle Bailey, who is playing Ariel.

Marshall is directing, and the film is produced by John DeLuca, Marc Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda. David Magee (“Mary Poppins Returns”) wrote the script.

Also Read: Daveed Diggs in Talks to Join Disney's 'Little Mermaid' as Sebastian

“The Little Mermaid” live-action remake will feature the 1989 animated classic’s original songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, as well as new songs with music by Menken and lyrics by Miranda.

Production is anticipated to begin in early 2020.

The original “The Little Mermaid” follows Ariel, a...

We exclusively told you back in September that Jonah Hauer-King was in the running for the role of Prince Eric in Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid, and today he won the role in the Rob Marshall directed movie.

Hauer-King was tested along with Krypton actor Cameron Cuffe London’s Pinewood Studios for the role back in September. Hauer-King’s casting comes in the wake of Harry Styles backing away from talks for the part of Ariel’s love interest; news of circling broke in July.

The Little Mermaid cast includes Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Awkwafina as Scuttle and Jacob Tremblay as Flounder. Javier Bardem is circling as King Triton. Pic is produced by Marshall, John DeLuca, Marc Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda. The film will feature beloved songs from the animated classic by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, as well as new songs by Menken (music...

The Song of Names directed by François Girard, is an instant classic about World War II, a Jewish child violin prodigy who disappears on the eve of his debut as a violinist and his “brother” who tracks him down.

We are entranced by the period on the eve of war in London when an Orthodox Jewish man leaves his son with a British family whose father recognizes the great talent of the child. We watch with interest as he fights and bonds with the son of the music publisher who has taken the boy in as his father leaves to return to Poland in the late 1930s.

You can see this at AFI Fest For Free!

November 17, 3:00 p.m., Tcl Chinese Theatre

November 19, 1:00 p.m., Chinese 1

Director François Girard takes Norman Lebrecht’s acclaimed novel and orchestrates a stellar ensemble as its players in this story about two Jewish boys,...

One of the few benefits of the frenzied awards race is Hollywood’s outpouring of materials associated with the contenders. Perhaps the biggest perk is the release of full scripts one is able to download legally, directly from the studios.

We’ll be updating this post as these and more arrive over the coming months, so bookmark the page, but one can check out everything thus far below. To catch up on the last few years, check out the 2018 screenplays, 2017 screenplays, the 2016 screenplays, 2015 screenplays, 2014 screenplays, and the 2013 screenplays, if they are still available.

After The Wedding (Bart Freundlich – Sony Pictures Classics)

Downton Abbey (Julian Fellowes – Focus Features)

Frankie (Mauricio Zacharias & Ira Sachs – Sony Pictures Classics)

Harriet (Gregory Allen Howard & Kasi Lemmons – Focus Features)

Hustlers (Lorene Scafaria – Stx Films)

Pain and Glory (Pedro Almodóvar – Sony Pictures Classics)

The Song of Names (Jeffrey Caine – Sony Pictures Classics)

Us (Jordan Peele – Universal Pictures...

The American Film Institute has added “The Two Popes” and “The Aeronauts” as galas during the upcoming AFI Fest along with a tribute to the late director Alan Pakula.

AFI had previously announced that the romantic drama “Queen & Slim” would launch the 33rd annual festival on Nov. 14 and close with the world premiere of Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson’s drama “The Banker” on Nov. 21. All galas will take place at the Tcl Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Inspired by a true story, “The Two Popes” stars Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce as the future Pope Francis in a verbal battle of wits over the future direction of the Catholic Church. It will screen at the Chinese on Nov. 18. The film is produced by Netflix, which has scheduled a limited theatrical release on Nov. 27 in the U.S. prior to its release on streaming on Dec.

Festival runs from November 14-21.

AFI Fest top brass have rounded out the galas line-up with the addition of Netflix’s The Two Popes and The Aeronauts from Amazon Studios.

The Two Popes will screen on November 18 and stars Jonathan Pryce as Pope Francis and Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI. Fernando Meirelles directed the story about a series of conversations that took place between the two men in and around the Vatican in late 2012 and 2013.

Benedict, who would announce his shock resignation from the Papacy in February 2013, summoned Argentina’s Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio – who would later succeed him as...

The final pieces of the Hollywood puzzle that is the 33rd AFI Fest, which is set to run Nov. 14-21, are now in place.

The Aeronauts and The Two Popes have been added to the Gala section of the film lineup, meaning they will screen at the historic Tcl Chinese Theatre. Special screenings — titles from international auteurs and emerging talents — will now include Just Mercy, Blackbird, Atlantics, The Friend, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Song of Names, Troop Zero and Clemency, paired with a conversation with star Alfre Woodard. The late director Alan J. Pakula will also be feted with a tribute comprised of a screening of Matthew ...

The final pieces of the Hollywood puzzle that is the 33rd AFI Fest, which is set to run Nov. 14-21, are now in place.

The Aeronauts and The Two Popes have been added to the Gala section of the film lineup, meaning they will screen at the historic Tcl Chinese Theatre. Special screenings — titles from international auteurs and emerging talents — will now include Just Mercy, Blackbird, Atlantics, The Friend, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Song of Names, Troop Zero and Clemency, paired with a conversation with star Alfre Woodard. The late director Alan J. Pakula will also be feted with a tribute comprised of a screening of Matthew ...

The 28th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (Sliff) — held Nov. 7-17 — provides St. Louis filmgoers with the opportunity to view the finest in world cinema: international films, documentaries, American indies, and shorts that can only be seen on the big screen at the festival. Sliff will screen 389 films: 81 narrative features, 63 documentary features, 227 shorts, and 18 film programs exclusive to the Cinema for Students program. The fest also will feature 12 special-event programs, including our closing-night awards presentation. This year’s festival has 63 countries represented.

Sliff will present our usual array of fest buzz films and Oscar contenders, including “The Apollo,” “Atlantics,” “The Chambermaid,” “Clemency,” “Cunningham,” “A Faithful Man,” “Frankie,” “A Hidden Life,” “Just Mercy,” “The Kill Team,” “Little Joe,” “Marriage Story,” “Nomad,” “Olympic Dreams,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Premature,” “The Report,” “The Rest,” “Seahorse,” “The Song of Names,” “Sorry We Missed You,” “Synonyms,” “A Tramway in Jerusalem,” “The Traitor,...

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week, […]

The post This Week In Trailers: Suicide Tourist, The Courier, The Song of Names, Slayer – The Repentless Killogy appeared first on /Film.

The upcoming film “The Song of Names” tells the story of two brothers, but not in the way you might imagine. Unlike other family dramas that breakdown the relationship between siblings over the course of an adventure, a conversation, and/or some major event, the story of the boys in ‘Song of Names’ spans decades, as one searches for the other who has been missing since early adulthood.

Read More: ‘Luce’ Trailer: Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer & Tim Roth Star In A Brilliant Psychodrama

As seen in the trailer, “The Song of Names” follows two young boys that are brought together when a Polish family enlists a well-off British family to help raise their boy during World War II.

Continue reading ‘The Song Of Names’ Trailer: Clive Owen & Tim Roth Star In The Family Drama Spanning Decades at The Playlist.

"Go and find him!" Sony Classics has unveiled a trailer for the film The Song of Names, an emotional drama that spans two continents and half a century. This just premiered at the Toronto and San Sebastian Film Festivals, and will be opening in the Us on Christmas Day at the end of this year. The Song of Names tells the story of a prodigy violinist from Poland, who moves to London to study music at the beginning of WWII. The film splits the time between his youth, and years later when him and his British friend are both adults. Tim Roth stars as the adult Martin, attempting to find his friend Dovidl who disappeared years ago right before playing a major concert in London. Clive Owen also co-stars, with a cast including Jonah Hauer-King, Gerran Howell, Catherine McCormack, Saul Rubinek, Richard Bremmer, Misha Handley, Luke Doyle, and Eddie Izzard.

Joseph Baxter Nov 18, 2019

Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, starring singer Halle Bailey as Ariel, will be directed by Rob Marshall.

The Little Mermaid is coming back to theaters, this time in live-action form, as part of Disney’s deluge of live-action movie remakes of its iconic animated classics. Of course, the move is hardly the biggest surprise in the world, with the year 2019 alone yielding "A-list" releases of Dumbo, The Lion King, and Aladdin, and with Mulan set arrive in March 2020, and 101 Dalmatians prequel Cruella arriving in May 2021, giving its prolific corporate tentpole neighbors at Marvel a run for their money.

Halle Bailey will embrace life under the sea, and later on the surface, to star as Ariel. This is a major break for the singer/actress, who is part of the cast of Freeform’s Grown-ish and is one-half of the R&b act, Chloe X Halle.

Music is a remarkably powerful stimulus, capable of transmitting the greatest emotions and stories across space and time. A number of excellent films this year have shown the power of music (most notably Portrait of a Lady on Fire - read our review). Another one joining that list is The Song of Names, which is indeed about "The Song of Names", as the title indicates, from World War II. The film is described as an "emotional detective story spread over two continents and a half century", though that's not really the best description for it. The Song of Names is a moving Holocaust memorial film about a Polish Jewish violin prodigy named Dovidl who suddenly disappears in London just before a major concert, then is found again 35 years later by his British friend, living a much quieter life. It's good! But it's mostly bogged down by formulaic storytelling. The Song...

The Dtla Film Festival has selected QT8: Quentin Tarantino The First Eight, the documentary feature by Tara Wood, as the opening-night film for its 11th edition next month. The docu, which is having its world premiere the week before as a one-night-only screening via Fathom, will open Dtla on October 23 at Regal L.A. Live. The festival unveiled the news Tuesday along with its full slate of 38 feature-length movies.

QT8 focuses on the first 21 years of Tarantino’s career and includes interviews with frequent collaborators including Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Diane Kruger, Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Eli Roth, Tim Roth, Kurt Russell and Christoph Waltz.

Also on the Dtla docket is a special presentation of Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story, coinciding with the Griffin being honored with the festival’s Independent Film Pioneer Award.

The fest, which runs through October 27, will close with the...

HanWay Films represents international sales.

Sony Pictures Classics (Spc) has acquired all rights in all media, excluding airlines, in North America, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Latin America, Germany, Switzerland, and Thailand to The Burnt Orange Heresy.

Guiseppe Capotondi’s film stars Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Mick Jagger and Donald Sutherland and closed Venice Film Festival, where it won the Fondazione Mimmo Rotella Award. It received its North American premiere in Toronto International Film Festival, where it played in Gala Presentations.

Bang plays ambitious art critic James Figueras, fallen from grace and lecturing tourists in Milan, where he falls for the enigmatic American,...

In the Jewish faith, the Kaddish is known as the “mourner’s prayer,” intended to memorialize the deceased and affirm their place in their families and within their communities. But among the horrors of the Holocaust emerged some devastating practical problems: The names of the dead were too numerous to remember easily, and whole families were lost, leaving survivors with the difficult task of remembering them. François Girard’s “The Song of Names” is constructed around a musical solution to this dilemma, but it’s . Sony Pictures Classics will appeal to older audiences for a rollout starting Christmas Day, but the film may have trouble standing out among an especially crowded awards-season slate.

Much of the anticipation surrounding “The Song of Names” is Girard’s return to the classical-music mystery of his 1998 hit “The Red Violin,” which followed a single instrument through four centuries, five countries and an assortment of linked narratives.

Eager as ever to attend Tiff, a festival I have missed only once in the last 29 years, because a cat bite sent me to the hospital, I am looking forward to discoveries and have booked my calendar tight with films!

I am lucky to have seen three films already, two in Cannes, both wonderful, memorable funny and absurd films, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, So. Korea’s submission for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, and a likely winner, as well as So. Korea’s first-ever Palm d’Or winner in Cannes this year; and Elia Suleiman’s This Must Be Heaven, sweetly surreal, as funny as a Jacques Tati film, wryly observing our human race and with a funny little cameo with Gael Garcia Bernal introducing Suleiman to his agent. The third, Synonyms, won this year’s Berlinale Golden Bear. A coproduction of France, Israel and Germany, it...

Donald Sutherland will receive the Donostia Award on September 26 Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival Canadian star Donald Sutherland will be honoured with a Donostia Award for lifetime achievement at the San Sebastian Film Festival next month.

The festival has also announced it will close with The Song Of Names, a detective story spanning two continents and 50 years, directed by François Girard and starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen.

Sutherland, whose career spans more than 50 years and 200 productions, will receive his accolade on September 26, prior to a screening of Giuseppe Capotondi's thriller The Burnt Orange Heresy, which also features Mick Jagger and Elizabeth Debicki.

The 84-year-old, who received an Honorary Academy Award in 2017, was awarded Canada's highest honour, Companion of the Order of Canada, earlier this year. He carved out his early career mainly on the small screen, but made his film debut with The Castle Of The Living Dead...

Starring Clive Owen and Tim Roth, Canadian François Girard’s historical drama “The Song of Names” will close the 67th San Sebastian Festival on Sept. 28.

World premiering at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival as a Gala Presentation, “The Song of Names” will play out of competition at what will be its international premiere.

Hanway Films is selling worldwide the film, which was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for the U.S.. Elevation Pictures will distribute in Canada; Filmax in Spain.

“The Song of Names” is based on a novel by British award-winning novelist and cultural commentator Norman Lebrecht, which Jeffrey Caine (“The Constant Gardener”) adapted.

Described as an “emotional detective story,” the film unfolds at the start of World War II, focusing on Dovidl, a 9-year-old violin prodigy who is a Polish-Jewish refugee in London. His brother Martin, of the same age, is devoted to him.

Hours before Dovidl’s...

The San Sebastian International Film Festival will close this year's 67th edition with the international premiere of The Song of Names, starring Tim Roth, Catherine McCormack and Clive Owen.

The film will screen in an out-of-competition slot on the Spanish event's closing night on Sept. 28.

Canadian François Girard (The Red Violin, Silk, Boychoir) directed the drama, based on the novel of the same name by Norman Lebrecht. The story focuses on a 9-year-old boy in London at the start of World War II who befriends a violin prodigy who is also a Polish-Jewish refugee, only to have him disappear ...

The San Sebastian International Film Festival will close this year's 67th edition with the international premiere of The Song of Names, starring Tim Roth, Catherine McCormack and Clive Owen.

The film will screen in an out-of-competition slot on the Spanish event's closing night on Sept. 28.

Canadian François Girard (The Red Violin, Silk, Boychoir) directed the drama, based on the novel of the same name by Norman Lebrecht. The story focuses on a 9-year-old boy in London at the start of World War II who befriends a violin prodigy who is also a Polish-Jewish refugee, only to have him disappear ...

British actor Tim Roth is to receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award in recognition of his “exceptional contribution to the art of film.” The ceremony at the Sarajevo Film Festival will be held on Tuesday. He will hold a masterclass on the same day.

His first screen role was the lead in the controversial Prix Italia award-winning TV movie “Made in Britain.” Roth’s second project came immediately after, starring in Mike Leigh’s critically acclaimed film “Meantime.” As his success continued, Roth starred in more than 15 film and television projects including Stephen Frears’ “The Hit,” for which he won the Standard Award for best newcomer, Peter Greenaway’s “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover,” Tom Stoppard’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” and Robert Altman’s “Vincent and Theo,” in which he portrayed Vincent Van Gogh.

Roth gained worldwide recognition for his roles in two Quentin Tarantino films,...