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A Himalayan drama that sets a grandmother’s stories against the rise of artificial intelligence is aiming for a Cannes premiere next year. Director Bikash Subedi’s Nepali feature “Shirjara: Song of Grandmother” has wrapped principal photography and is at the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market to raise its last $44,000. Described as a speculative drama, the film moves […]
Politico isn’t leaving live video coverage of the midterm elections to the usual suspects. The political-news outlet will stream “Politico Elections Live” on Tuesday, November 3, beginning at 9 p.m., with five of its top journalists analyzing real-time results. The program will stream on Politico.com and the Politico app and also via YouTube. The panel […]
“Reacher” sure has some reach. The Prime Video series ended September as the month’s No. 1 original streaming series, according to Nielsen. “Reacher” comes from Paramount TV Studios, which had a good month: The company’s “Reacher” spinoff “Neagley” was ranked third, tied with another Paramount TV Studios series, “Lioness.” “Reacher” hit the top spot with […]
Variety has amassed 62 nominations for the Los Angeles Press Club’s 19th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, including nods for Print Journalist of the Year for Chris Willman and Online Journalist of the Year for Ethan Shanfeld. In the criticism category, Owen Gleiberman was nominated for film critic (over 1,000 words) as well […]
Twitch streamer Hasan Piker sued conservative commentator Scott Jennings on Tuesday, alleging that Jennings had defamed him by misconstruing a quote to make it sound like Piker endorsed lynchings. On his own podcast on Aug. 11, Jennings played a mashup of clips of Piker, including one in which Piker referenced going “back to a better […]
Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan have made their first film together. “The Land of Jinn,” a supernatural horror feature directed by Kevin Rahardjo (“Smothered”), was unveiled at the Tokyo Gap-Financing Market as the first co-production between the two countries. The story centers on a young Indonesian woman who journeys to Kyrgyzstan in search of a mystical healer […]
The opening film of the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival, Zeze Takahisa’s “Sukiyaki” tells the story of how the title tune became a worldwide hit in 1963 as well as a beloved standard that has been recorded in foreign-language versions that have also topped charts. The film goes beyond the song itself to delve into […]
Ash Dykes is trying to complete six back-to-back expeditions in a variety of extreme environments.
The 19th annual Hamptons Doc Fest has announced its full lineup of 40 films, which includes “Union Town,” “Wild Inside” and “Nuisance Bear.” Running Dec. 3 to Dec. 11, the festival highlights the best non-fiction programming and will open with Barry Avrich’s “Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been,” which is also set to receive […]
Cannes Palme d’Or-winning Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi – who was facing a one-year prison sentence – has now been sentenced by a Tehran Revolutionary Court to five years and one month in jail in a separate ruling, according to the Emtedad News Agency, an online Iranian reformist media outlet. Panahi’s lawyer Mostafa Nili told Emtedad […]
This Halloween, “Sesame Street’s” beloved furry red monster is trading crayons for couture. In a somewhat unexpected cultural crossover, Elmo for Halloween 2026 is dressing as fashion magazine editor-in-chief-from-hell Miranda Priestly, archly portrayed in the “The Devil Wears Prada” movies by Oscar-winner Meryl Streep. “Guess who Elmo is?” he says in a video released by […]
Barry Keoghan is making headlines for appearing in a new social media video shared by U.K. celebrity facial expert and Dermaspa founder Nilam Holmes, who posted a behind-the-scenes look at the Oscar nominee’s Xerf treatment. Per Dermaspa’s website, Xerf forgoes injections and uses radio-frequency technology to tighten the skin and renew collagen. The treatment costs […]
It’s not surprising to see ratings at “60 Minutes” slump when CBS doesn’t air a strong football game before the start of the show. But the program’s performance on Sunday, which lacked exactly that kind of NFL lead-in, is alarming nonetheless. The fifth episode of this season’s cycle of the venerable CBS newsmagazine drew only […]
Japan’s entertainment business has to adopt the model that made Hollywood studios global players if the country wants to reach its content export targets, according to Shiina Yasushi, CEO of TIFFCOM, the Tokyo International Film Festival’s content market now heading into its 23rd edition. The Japanese government has set a target of JPY20 trillion ($126.6 […]
Climate journalist Bill McKibben and executive producer and former “60 Minutes” producer David Gelber have teamed up to create “Altadena: One Fire After Another,” a documentary chronicling the aftermath of the 2025 Eaton Fire in Los Angeles. The film follows Altadena residents as they confront the challenges of rebuilding their homes, preserving their community and […]
The Tokyo International Film Festival’s TIFFCOM market exhibition space sold out early this year, according to managing director Ikeda Kaori. More Japanese producers are using the Tokyo market to find partners while projects are still in development. Last year’s edition drew more than 4,600 industry professionals from 46 countries and regions, and attendance rose 13%. […]
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains conversation about all three episodes of “The One About Matthew Perry,” now streaming on Netflix. At the end of Netflix’s new docuseries “The One About Matthew Perry,” director Mary Robertson can be heard saying something off camera. “He feels very present,” Robertson softly offers to the actor’s sister Mia Perry […]
A celebrity preacher who performs daredevil stunts for his congregation while hiding his fixation on a young follower sits at the center of “Trinity,” the new feature from director Boo Junfeng, which is among the projects at this year’s Tokyo Gap-Financing Market. Structured in three chapters modeled on the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the […]
Marriott Bonvoy has recruited some of the NFL’s biggest names to plan travel guides in their home cities. Among the participating athletes are Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp (Seattle), Eagles offensive lineman Jordan Mailata (Philadelphia), NFL legend Jerry Rice (Mexico City) and former running backs Todd Gurley (Melbourne) and Mark Ingram II (Rio de […]
An appeals court has denied Danny Masterson’s appeal of his 2023 conviction on rape charges, upholding the verdict and his 30-year prison sentence. In an 89-page ruling, a three-judge panel rejected each of Masterson’s arguments in turn, including the claim that the trial judge was biased against Scientology. Masterson, a star of “That 70s Show,” […]
