EXCLUSIVE: The hammer just went down over the weekend on the one and only Oscar win for Citizen Kane, a 1941 movie many still consider the crown jewel of Hollywood, the greatest ever made.
EXCLUSIVE: The hammer just went down over the weekend on the one and only Oscar win for Citizen Kane, a 1941 movie many still consider the crown jewel of Hollywood, the greatest ever made.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Karlovy Vary Film Festival and Variety have teamed up to honor Francine Maisler, one of the world’s most respected casting directors, whose recent credits include “Dune: Part Two,” “The Bikeriders,” “Challengers,” “Civil War” and “Joker: Folie à Deux.” Maisler has worked on more than 70 feature films and is a recipient of 15 Artios Awards from the Casting Society of America, including for “Marriage Story” in 2020 and “Don’t Look Up” in 2021. As well as working with director Denis Villeneuve on “Dune: Part Two,” “Dune,” “Arrival” and “Sicario,” her other films include Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” and “Knight of Cups,” and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “The Revenant” and “Birdman.” In 2022, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for her work on HBO’s “Succession.” As part of its homage, Karlovy Vary will hold a special screening of one of the films which Maisler worked on.
This year’s edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is set to present a retrospective on Franz Kafka and his influence on cinema, dubbed The Wish To Be A Red Indian: Kafka and Cinema. It will examine how the influential Czech writer has impacted filmmakers from Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese, Ousmane Sembene, Jan Nemec and Steven Soderbergh.
EXCLUSIVE: This year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) will unspool in close collaboration with Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Scottish capital’s historic performing arts event, under a new expansive partnership confirmed today by the two organizations.
Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson have a podcast on the way!
Alison Herman TV Critic Of all the shows that have sought or earned comparisons to “Game of Thrones,” most have emulated its genre conventions. From “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” to “Foundation,” fantasy and science fiction series have thrived in recent years, riding on the momentum of a blockbuster hit that proved lore and maps weren’t just for fan conventions. But in writing “A Song of Ice and Fire,” the source material for the HBO drama, author George R.R.
Michelle Obama could extend her list of Grammy wins this year. The former First Lady is the recipient of one Grammy award for best spoken work album.
French film critic and historian Michel Ciment, the long-time publishing director of film magazine Positif, has died at the age of 85, French media reported on Monday evening.
Criterion Collection for a month-long 50% off winter sale — with all DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K Ultra HD discs marked down, sitewide. We rounded up the best deals on Criterion Collection releases, including Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane,” Spike Lee‘s “Do The Right Thing,” Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco” and much more. In fact, even boxed sets are half off, such as Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “The Dekalog” and Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology.
Guillermo del Toro has recently shared his top picks from TCM’s lineup of movies that have aired this October.The director, known for Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape Of Water is no stranger to sharing his views about movies online, with his Twitter feed being full of comments and opinions on some of cinema’s greats.But in a recent video via IndieWire, del Toro shares some of his top picks, which are fitting for this time of year considering their spooky themes.First up, he recommends Alfred Hitchock’s 1941 Suspicion, a romantic psychological thriller starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. On the movie, del Toro said: “Suspicion is one of my favourite Hitchcock films.
In the late 1960s, Gram Parsons, fresh from leaving The Byrds and becoming close pals with the Rolling Stones, signed on to star in a sci-fi film, Saturation 70.
“Like it or not there is an onus on actors,” said Mank star Tom Burke of the idea of global stars taking on the Green Rider unveiled earlier today, which will empower artists to add clauses to their contracts that work towards an environmental culture shift.
Ellise Shafer Michael Parkinson, the English broadcaster who hosted the popular long-running talk show “Parkinson,” has died, the BBC reports. He was 88.
recently bemoaned the poor reception to his DC film Shazam! Fury Of The Gods, expressed his frustration over Hollywood’s output at Chicago Fan Expo on Saturday (August 12).“I personally feel like the amount of content that comes out of Hollywood that is garbage – they don’t care enough to actually make it great for you guys. They don’t,” Levi said (via Entertainment Weekly).“How many times do you watch a trailer and go, ‘Oh my god, this looks so cool!’ Then you go to the movie and it’s like, ‘This was what I get?’ They know that once you’ve already bought the ticket and you’re in the seat, they’ve got your money.
Shazam! Fury Of The Gods’ poor reception.Directed by David F. Sandberg, the DC sequel received a mixed response from critics, earning a score of 49 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Zachary Levi is talking Shazam! and the future of the superhero while also opening up about the negative reviews the sequel dubbed Fury of the Gods received from critics.
Zack Sharf Digital News Director It’s been several months since “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” flopped at the box office, and star Zachary Levi is still somewhat perplexed by the comic book sequel’s reception. Levi appeared on a new episode of “The FilmUp Podcast” (via IGN) and lamented over people being so “insanely unkind” to his second “Shazam” movie. Critics dismissed the movie (it holds a 49% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it only grossed $57 million at the domestic box office.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Venice Film Festival will pay tribute to late Italian icon Gina Lollobrigida, who died in January, with a pre-opening event featuring a double bill of freshly restored works in which she stars. The Lido’s annual pre-opening event on Aug. 29 will feature a 27-minute short by Orson Welles titled “Portrait of Gina.” In 1968, Welles interviewed Lollobrigida in her villa on the Appian Way as the pilot for an ABC TV series — a U.S. version of “Around the World With Orson Welles”– that ABC rejected. Welles’ portrait of the diva remained in the vaults until 1986, when it was screened at the Venice Film Festival one year after Orson Welles’ death. This piece has been defined by Welles as a “personal essay” on Lollobrigida. Interestingly, when Lollobrigida saw “Portrait of Gina” in Venice in 1986, she reportedly tried to have it banned. The short’s restoration was done by the Munich Film Museum and Italy’s Cinecittà.
Thania Garcia Lex Borrero and Tommy Mottola’s Ntertain Studios have entered a new multi-year partnership with Audio Up Media to develop and acquire original content. Under the new deal, Ntertain will offer a diverse lineup of original Latin podcast programming, with extensions into music, TV and film development. “Our goal is to be the one-stop destination for any Latin talent wanting to develop a podcast and use their IP for additional transmedia opportunities. This venture allows us to continue to reshape the face of Latin content while continuing to impact with our creativity,” said Borrero in a statement. Today the company simultaneously announces its first few projects, including a kid-friendly series featuring original music from reggaeton artists, and another titled “Anthem,” which pairs professional athletes with their favorite artists to help create their on-field walk-out music.
EXCLUSIVE: Nina Bloomgarden (The Resort), James Tupper (Big Little Lies), Theo Germaine (They/Them) and Paige Collins (Big House) have signed on to star alongside Mary Beth Barrone in the indie erotic thriller Good Girl, which Lauren Garroni is directing, in her feature debut. No details on their roles have been disclosed.
Sir Michael Parkinson looked in brilliant spirits as he attended cricket umpire Dickie Bird's 90th birthday party on Wednesday.The legendary broadcaster, 88, was dressed for the occasion in a navy blue suit with a light blue shirt, and appeared in a fantastic mood as he greeted the partygoers.The event took place at Leeds' Headingley Stadium, and everyone seemed to be in jovial spirits as they celebrated the 90th birthday of Dickie. Dickie wore a grey pinstripe suit over a bright blue shirt, and in a lovely photograph, he wrapped an arm around his pal Michael.
Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Republic Pictures, an historic movie label founded in 1935 and shuttered in 1967, has been revived by parent company Paramount Global. The banner will function as an acquisitions play, releasing titles acquired by Paramount Global Content Distribution. “We’ve chosen to revitalize the Republic banner given its storied history of delivering popular movies to a global audience, ” said Dan Cohen, Paramount chief content licensing officer and newly-named president of Republic Pictures. “With our best-in-class global distribution teams working to identify the best homes around the world, we aim to continue that legacy by offering audiences great entertainment across all genres.”
EXCLUSIVE: Veteran producer Stratton Leopold (Mission: Impossible III) and filmmaker Dax Phelan (The Other Side of the Wind) have teamed up to produce a new currently untitled limited series based on an infamous 19th-century prison escape known affectionately as The Catalpa Expedition.
confirmed the news of his death. Shortly after WWII, when Americans feared the impacts of nuclear testing and radiation, Gordon created mutated monster movies that wreaked havoc on the world.
J. Kim Murphy Bert I. Gordon, an American filmmaker whose low-budget creature features brought super-sized monsters to drive-in cinemas in the mid-20th century, died Wednesday in Los Angeles after collapsing at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 100. Gordon’s death was confirmed to the New York Times by his daughter, Patricia. In Atomic Age America, Gordon’s science-fiction B movies manifested the country’s nuclear anxieties as eye-popping apocalypse spectacles. Mostly working under shooting schedules that could total to two weeks and change at most, Gordon produced, directed and wrote more than 25 features over a career spanning six decades, including striking titles like “Village of the Giants” (1965), “How to Succeed With Sex” (1970) and “Empire of the Ants” (1977). His films “Necromancy” (1972)” and “The Food of the Gods” (1976) featured Orson Welles and Ida Lupino, respectively.
Bert I. Gordon, who was given the nickname “Mr. B.I.G.” by Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J. Ackerman not just because it matched his initials but also because it matched the director’s favorite big-screen subject — giant monsters — died today. He was 100. His daughter Patricia Gordon confirmed the filmmaker’s death to the New York Times.
Death On The Nile and Tenet, revealed his choices in a poll for Sight and Sound magazine.Since 1952, the magazine has asked various filmmakers every decade for their lists of the greatest films of all time. As part of the Winter 2022-23 issue, directors like Branagh, Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Barry Jenkins and Ari Aster were invited to contribute their favourites.Branagh’s top pick was The Godfather, while Cloud Atlas and Lady Bird also made his top 10.
Amber Dowling It took 42 years, but Mel Brooks is finally making good on a parody of a promise he never seemed likely to keep: Bringing “History of the World, Part II” to audiences far and wide. The filmmaker addresses that elephant in the room within the opening minutes of the new, eight-part Hulu series, admitting that he agreed to the project under two conditions — that there could be no repeat gags, and that he be made to look exactly like he did in the 1981 original film. The show winks at both of those conditions by the end of the first episode, setting the tone for any unaware viewers that were expecting historical insight or veracity on world events.
Tim Gray Senior Vice President This year, all the Oscar-contending directors are nominated for original screenplay: the Daniels (Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert), Todd Field, Martin McDonagh, Ruben Östlund and Steven Spielberg (writing with Tony Kushner). This is the first time it’s happened in AMPAS history. The only year that came close was 2017, when all five helmers had written or co-written their scripts, though they didn’t all get writing noms. So here’s Film History 101. In Hollywood lore, Preston Sturges is often credited as the first scribe to become a hyphenate, as writer-director of the 1940 “The Great McGinty.” But as with all Hollywood “facts,” there is only an element of truth here.
Move over, Citizen Kane. There’s a new best film ever, according to the most recent Sight & Sound poll.
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