One of the more engaging figures in Ondi Timoner’s 2022 documentary, “The Last Flight Home” — about the decision of her 92-year-old father, Eli Timoner, to use California’s end-of-life option — was the director’s sister, Rachel. A rabbi, Rachel Timoner brought a pastoral warmth and spiritual insight to the sorrows and joys, rites and spiritual […]

Bowen Yang’s initial screen test for “Saturday Night Live” did not go well following an interaction with creator Lorne Michaels, according to the comedian. During a recent interview on “Hot Ones,” Yang recalled his screen test in 2017 for the late-night sketch comedy series. “The final step in that process is you have a one-on-one meeting […]

What is it like to come of age under constant threat of war? Director Sareen Hairabedian’s poignant documentary “My Sweet Land” follows an ethnic Armenian youngster named Vrej Khatchatryan from the small village of Tsaghkashen in the Martakert region of the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Conflict, displacement and exile color everything in his and his […]

On Oct. 1, 1942, a Japanese freighter carrying over 1,800 British POWs captured during the Battle of Hong Kong was torpedoed by an American sub. The chaos that followed — wherein members of the Japanese army shot any prisoner aiming to swim to safety while a slew of fishing boats helped in their rescue — […]

Ethan Slater is trying to get used to the attention he’s receiving for both his professional and private lives. He’s making his big-screen acting debut as the lovesick Boq in Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked” opposite Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Baily, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum and Marissa Bode. Last year, Slater and Grande faced scrutiny […]

What’s in a name? For “Spellbound” director Vicky Jenson, it’s a simple portmanteau. In an early sketch of Flink, Princess Ellian’s adorably mischievous animal sidekick, Jenson wanted him to flash and blink as he energetically flitted about. “I have a tendency to squish words together,” she tells Variety. “So I was like, ‘He just has […]

Cinematographer Michał Dymek’s stark black-and-white lensing of “The Girl With the Needle” won the EnergaCamerimage Golden Frog, with special mention going to director Magnus von Horn, at the cinematography festival’s closing ceremony, Saturday in Torun, Poland. The film, which is Denmark’s entry for this season’s Academy Award for an international feature, is loosely based on […]

Jon M. Chu counted himself a fan of “Wicked” long before he was hired to direct the big-budget movie adaptation of the popular Broadway musical. So it was a question of where, not if, he should pay homage to Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the stage roles of Elphaba and Glinda, in the […]

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Cruel Intentions,” both the 1999 film and the entire first season of the new Prime Video series.”  Twenty-five years later, “Cruel Intentions” will still make you blush. The 1999 film about high-society stepsiblings Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) and Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) curing their privileged boredom by corrupting the […]

SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot points, including the ending for “Gladiator II,” currently playing in theaters. All hail Macrinus! In a world of political backstabbing, power and ambition, Denzel Washington’s Macrinus enters the arena in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” with troops and guards under a canopy. He reeks of wealth and oozes power. The […]

Wow, 20 years ago today the team at Blizzard Entertainment launched its massive multiplayer online addition to the “Warcraft” franchise, and changed the gaming industry forever. While many MMOs have followed in “World of Warcraft’s” footsteps and drawn younger audiences into the genre, the power of the game that created a giant customer support team […]

TALLINN, Estonia — Industry @ Tallinn & Baltic Event, one of the leading industry events in Northern Europe, closed Nov. 22 with an awards ceremony where the focus country Germany dominated the list of 15 winning projects at various stages of development or post-production, on top of two accolades to promising producers.  For the first time, […]

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers for plot points, cameos and the ending of “Wicked,” now playing in theaters, as well as minor spoilers for the “Wicked” stage show. It’s time to rejoicify! It’s been 21 years since the smash hit musical “Wicked” premiered on Broadway, and fans can finally watch the tale of […]

“Wicked” is pocketing lots of green, with the Universal release coming in on the upper side of projections to head toward the third-biggest domestic opening of the year. Now forecasting a $117 million sum for the weekend, that’d only be behind “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($211 million) and “Inside Out 2” ($151 million) among 2024 releases. […]

Bobby Bedi, one of India’s most successful film producers, unveiled a powerful multinational production slate ranging from dance documentary to soaring fantasy. Speaking at a private event on the sidelines of the International Film Festival of India, in Goa, Bedi introduced “Mudras,” the journey of a Spanish dancer who travels to India in the 1980s […]

In Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning “Anora,” Mikey Madison’s titular Ani goes through a whirlwind evolution as she’s swept from the club where she makes a living as a sex worker to the palatial mansion of the weed-smoking, video-game playing, inexplicably charming Ivan, the prodigal son to a billionaire Russian oligarch. Throughout the film, she lives […]

Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Lucy Walker began a Saturday panel discussion on stories that travel by describing her own wanderlust backstory. “As a girl growing up in London, I didn’t have enough money to travel. And I didn’t think being on vacation was the most interesting way to see the world. And yet I really wanted […]

Fresh off his Cannes 2024 success with “In Retreat,” producer Thanikachalam S.A. is backing “Kurinji (The Disappearing Flower)” from debut feature director Payal Sethi at India’s Film Bazaar co-production market. Sethi’s previous work includes the award-winning shorts “Leeches” (2016), which won the Grand Prix Internationale at Brussels Short Film Festival, and “Grant St. Shaving Co.” […]

Everything old was new again at this year’s Cairo Film Festival. Filling out a super-sized 45th edition, the Egyptian event introduced a new section dedicated to heritage titles, showcasing 10 gems of world cinema, among them titles like “The Lonely Wife” and “The Color of Pomegranates” to mark the centenaries of film greats Satyajit Ray […]