News

Heist films offer a perfect blend of tension, action, and masterful plans that keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. From daring casino robberies to intricate cons, these films capture the thrill of high-stakes crime with charismatic characters and unexpected twists. Here are some of the best heist films that will leave you breathless.

First up is Ocean’s Eleven, a slick, stylish heist film that redefined the genre. With an all-star cast led by George Clooney and Brad Pitt, the movie follows Danny Ocean’s plan to pull off the ultimate Las Vegas casino robbery. The plot revolves around Ocean’s attempt to steal $160 million from three major casinos in one night, including the Bellagio. Terry is the gentleman who owns the Bellagio, which has the reputation of offering some of the best casino games and service in Las Vegas, making it the perfect target for a daring robbery.

Costa-Gavras’ single hyphenated trade name has been synonymous with political thrillers since Z shot from the starting gates in 1969 to win two Oscars and bring the world’s attention to the machinations of the military junta then ruling Greece. Among the numerous films he has made over the ensuing decades, based in France but working also in English, it is the on-brand political films that have been most prominent: State of Siege, Missing, Amen.

Costa-Gavras has, however, other strings to his bow. Witness Last Breath (Le Dernier Souffle), a truly marvelous film, screening in competition in San Sebastian. It’s about dying. Not at the end of a gun barrel, but in the normal course of things, whether the dying person is serenely unafraid, fighting tooth-and-nail to stay alive, or in denial. Based on a book by Regis Debray and Claude Grange, who collaborated with the director in writing the script,...

Amazon Prime Video has officially ordered a series adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta novels with Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis set for the lead roles.

It was reported in February 2023 that the series, currently titled “Scarpetta,” was in the works. Now, Amazon has greenlit two seasons of the series and added five additional cast members. As previously reported, Liz Sarnoff will serve as writer, executive producer, and showrunner. The series hails from Blumhouse Television and Amazon MGM Studios.

Ariana DeBose, Bobby Cannavale, Simon Baker, Rosy McEwen (“Blue Jean”), and Jake Cannavale will all star alongside Kidman and Curtis.

“Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta has enraptured fans for decades and I am honored that Prime Video is entrusted to bring the series to screen for our global customers,” said Vernon Sanders, head of television for Amazon MGM Studios. “The most exemplary group has been assembled for the series...

Prime Video has officially ordered two seasons of Scarpetta starring and executive produced by Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis, as Deadline predicted early last year when we announced exclusively that the project based on Patricia Cornwell’s best-selling Kay Scarpetta book series was in development.

The mystery thriller has also set 5 new series regulars: Oscar winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), Emmy winner Bobby Cannavale (Ezra), Emmy nominee Simon Baker (Breath), Rosy McEwen (Blue Jean) and Jake Cannavale (The Offer).

Scarpetta follows Kay Scarpetta (Kidman), Chief Medical Examiner, as she returns to Virginia and resumes her former position with complex relationships, both personal and professional – including her sister Dorothy (Curtis), with plenty of grudges and secrets to uncover.

DeBose will play Lucy Farinelli-Watson, Dorothy’s daughter; Bobby Cannavale will play former detective Pete Marino; Baker joins as FBI profiler Benton Wesley; McEwen joins as Past Kay Scarpetta and Jake...

Does an invisible presence haunt one family? The new film “ Hold Your Breath” offers up a frightening possibility set during a historical tragedy. It takes place in 1930s Oklahoma, an area within the Dust Bowl. This decade saw landscapes devastated by drought and erosion — causing crop loss as well as powerful dust storms. Those storms present a haunting backdrop for the project. ‘Breath’ comes from co-directors Will Joines and Karrie Crouse.

Continue reading ‘Hold Your Breath’ Trailer: Sarah Paulson Stars In New Horror Film Coming To Hulu In October at The Playlist.

Exclusive: The Mentalist actor Simon Baker, Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories and Australian agent-producer Lee-Anne Higgins are taking to adapt Emily Perkins’ novel ‘Lioness.’

The trio have optioned the hot book, which comes from bestselling Aotearoa New Zealand author Perkins and won the recent Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Baker, who took his first full TV series starring role since The Mentalist in Netflix’s Boy Swallows Universe earlier this year, will direct all episodes. Papandrea, Steve Hutensky and Katie Amos will produce for Made Up Stories, along with Higgins, Baker and Perkins.

Lioness follows Therese Thorne, a woman who has married a wealthy older man and built a successful career, but now finds a fraud investigation threatening her sense of loyalty as well as her reputation. She faces a midlife reckoning about love and complicity, while being drawn to her neighbour,...

Who Is Keel in Wind Breaker? Meet the New Gang's Members and Top Dog - Main Image

After Bofurin’s clash with Shishitoren, they’re about to face a new gang called Keel in Wind Breaker. They are more dangerous than Shishitoren, as their ideals and history are shrouded in mystery, at least for outsiders.

The final episode of the Wind Breaker anime featured some of the members of Keel, who are up to no good. They were harassing Anzai, not to mention Nagato, so Sakura had to intervene and join the battle.

Spoiler Warning: This article includes spoilers for the Wind Breaker manga, so proceed with caution.

Who Is Keel in Wind Breaker?

Keel is a rising gang with a large number of members, despite claims that they are a small-scale team.

All of the members are ruled by fear and violence, making it difficult to quit the gang.

Characters are more often associated with their iconographies, which provide them with an enduring legacy through the ages. When readers think of Sherlock Holmes, the pipe and the iconic hat immediately come to mind; the bat insignia is a cue to Gotham’s caped crusader; and similarly, the mention of Godzilla always evokes the mental image of the atomic monster unleashing its fierce, nuclear-powered breath—akin to the fire-breathing dragons of ancient mythology.

Atomic Breath has been an integral part of the big G’s identity since the character’s first appearance and has been showcased in almost all of Toho Studio’s 30+ cinematic ventures involving Godzilla. Irrespective of the tone and treatment of the movie, whether it’s the campy fun of the Showa era or the grounded, dark approach of the present Reiwa era, makers have always made sure that each version of Godzilla asserts their individuality through their respective atomic breath.

Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy are to reunite to star in the adaptation of Enid Blyton’s ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’.

Based on The Faraway Tree series of novels for children, the project follows Polly and Tim and their children Beth, Joe and Fran – a modern family who find themselves forced to relocate to the remote English countryside.

Soon after the family arrives in the countryside, the children discover a magical tree and its extraordinary and eccentric residents including treasured characters Moonface, Silky, Dame Washalot and Saucepan Man. At the top of the tree, they are transported to spectacular and fantastical lands and, through the joys and challenges of their adventures, the family learn to reconnect and value each other for the first time in years.

Garfield will play Tim while Foy takes on the role of Polly. The pair have previously starred together in Andy Serkis’ 2017 offering ‘Breath’.

Also...

Talking about Moonatic Studios’ One Last Breath without bringing up the excellent 2016 puzzle-platform game Inside by Playdead would have been quite difficult since the former borrows quite a few elements from the latter, to the point where it becomes a cause for a skeptical eyebrow raise.

Fortunately, Moonatic adds just enough fresh and grand variations to make its game feel like it can stand on its own two feet, using deeply immersive visuals and sound design to get the message across while throwing in a couple of nature powers to differentiate it from similar games that came before.

One Last Breath is out now for PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The Visuals and Sound Design in One Last Breath Elevate the Experience One Last Breath does a great job of portraying a post-apocalyptic and dying world.

There is no denying that One Last Breath looks and sounds absolutely amazing,...

Prime Video has unveiled first-look images of its The Narrow Road to The Deep North adaptation starring Jacob Elordi, which has wrapped production in Australia.

Set against the shadows of World War II, Sony Pictures Television’s series tells the epic story of Lieutenant-Colonel Dorrigo Evans (Elordi) and how his all-too-brief love affair with Amy Mulvaney (Odessa Young) shaped his life. The story is told over multiple time periods, providing a love story to sustain audiences through the darkest of times, an intimate character study illustrating the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity, and an investigation into a marriage and an unforgettable love affair.

A set of new castings have also been announced including Essie Davis (Lynette), William Lodder(Rabbit), Eduard Geyl (Jimmy), Christian Byers (Rainbow), Sam Parsonson (Rooster), Reagan Mannix (Bonox), Fabian McCallum (Sheephead), Caelan McCarthy (Chum), David Howell (Tiny), Taki Abe (Colonel Kota), Masa Yamaguchi...

Five months of production has been completed on Jacob Elordi-starring drama series “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” which is set in the “Euphoria” and “Saltburn” star’s native Australia.

An adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanaghan, the five-part series is a love story set against the backdrop of World War II. Elordi portrays Lieutenant-Colonel Dorrigo Evans and co-stars with Odessa Young. Ciaran Hinds (“Belfast”) plays the older version of Evans.

The adapted screenplay was penned by Shaun Grant and the show is directed by Justin Kurzel.

Production is by Curio Pictures with Prime Video releasing the title in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In other territories, it distributed by Sony Pictures Television.

Flanaghan’s novel, published in 2013, chronicles a century dominated by war, with forced labor on the Thai-Burma Railway and a brief love affair as its dramatic heart.

The story is told over...

While it’s not quite The Bay or Phase IV, but if you fancy some eco horror in your gaming, Moonatic Studios and Maniac Panda Games look to have your fix with One Last Breath. The puzzle platformer is coming digitally to PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and the Nintendo Switch, with physical releases for the PS5 and Nintendo Switch, which are now up for pre-order.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, you play as Gaia, an earth goddess born from nature’s very last breath. Thrust into an existence where mankind has all but vanished, it’s up to Gaia to discover what happened to mankind, and restore life back to the planet. However, decades of pollution and greed have twisted the world into a hostile ruin full of mutants.

Balance is the name of the game in One Last Breath. You will find both brutality and tenderness in...

Bhumi Pednekar’s Bhakshak On Ott Hype Check (Result)(Photo Credit –Facebook)

A few days back, we conducted a Twitter poll for the recently released film Bhakshak. Starring Bhumi Pednekar in the lead role, the film arrived directly on the Ott platform, so we conducted a poll under our newly started property ‘Ott Hype Check.’ As the Bhumi Pednekar starrer is making noise on the streaming platform, it has expectedly grabbed a positive response in the poll. Keep reading to know more!

What is Ott Hype Check?

In Ott Hype Check, we’ll be talking about the newly released content (films and web series) on Ott platforms. We’ll discuss the basic concept of the content, its reception, and its availability.

At the end of the story, there will be a Twitter poll embedded in which you can cast a vote by choosing suitable options. The result of the same will be announced later.

Co-Production Market will support 34 feature film projects from around the world.

The 2024 Berlinale has selected 34 feature film projects for its Co-Production Market, including Sally Potter’s Alma.

The festival has also chosen 202 Berlinale Talents, and 14 titles for its Forum Special strand.

Scroll down for the full list of Co-Production Market projects

The 34 feature projects in the Co-Production Market hail from 27 countries, and were selected from 318 submissions – a slight increase on 2023.

Potter’s Alma follows a family battling survivor guilt and sibling rivalries while on an expedition to scatter the ashes of an archaeologist. It will be produced by Christopher Sheppard...

Veteran actor Ciaran Hinds and Odessa Young have joined Euphoria star Jacob Elordi in the cast of premium Australian miniseries “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.” Production is now under way.

An adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanaghan, the five-part series is love story set against the backdrop of World War II. Production is by Curio Pictures with Prime Video releasing the title in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In other territories, it distributed by Sony Pictures Television.

Flanaghan’s novel, published in 2013, chronicles a century dominated by war, with the forced labor on the Thai-Burma Railway as its dramatic heart. The story is told by an Australian doctor who was taken prisoner during World War II and became an unlikely and uncomfortable hero after the war’s end.

The series has been in development for several years and was previously announced on the slate of Fremantle.

Studiocanal has boarded the big screen adaptation of Australian author’s Craig Silvey’s award-winning 2002 bestseller Runt, about the friendship between a young girl and a stray dog she takes under her wing.

Child actress Lily Latorre, whose credits include feature Run Rabbit Run and TV series The Clearing, has been signed for the lead role, to star alongside by a rescue dog called Squid.

The actress’s real-life sibling Jack Latorre will also join her in his big screen debut as a daredevil younger brother.

The all-Australian adult cast includes Jai Courtney, Celeste Barber, Deborah Mailman, Matt Day and Jack Thompson.

Set in the country-town of Upson Down, the comedy drama follows eleven-year-old Annie Shearer and her adopted stray dog Runt, as they try to save the family farm by competing in the Agility Course Grand

The production is led by Sydney and Perth-based See Pictures, with the backing of Screen Australia,...

Best-selling Australian novel, Runt” is to be adapted as a feature movie that will begin shooting from next month. Studiocanal is handling international rights sales and local distribution in Australia and New Zealand.

The story is a heartfelt, contemporary Australian tale, set in the country town of Upson Downs, where eleven-year-old Annie Shearer and her best friend, an adopted stray dog called Runt, try to save their family farm by competing in the Agility Course Grand Championships at the prestigious Krumpets Dog Show in London.

The book was released in 2022 and won a clean sweep of the major Australian literary awards including the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s book of the year for young readers, book of the year for younger children at the Australian Book Industry Awards, and overall book of the year at the Australian Indie Book Awards.

The movie is adapted for the screen by...

It doesn’t take long for the new Netflix/A24 documentary The Deepest Breath to let you know an ill wind is blowing. “I accepted that she was doing a dangerous thing,” intones the father of Alessia Zecchini, one of the world’s elite freedivers. “Extreme sports have extreme consequences,” says the father of safety diver Stephen Keenan. Both parents have funereal looks on their faces as they speak. Zecchini and Keenan, the documentary’s principal characters, appear only in previously shot footage. The question isn’t if someone will die here,...

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a bold new direction for the Zelda series. The game sported an open world and semi-survival genre mechanics that helped refresh and recontextualize the franchise. However, while the title was fantastic overall, it dropped the ball in several places. Most notably, the game lacked proper dungeons. The closest the game gave us to such dungeons were the Divine Beasts, which served as vaguely dungeon-like experiences and played a substantial role in the game’s narrative and world. Their significance makes it all the stranger that nobody can seem to find the Divine Beasts in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

For those who need a refresher, Breath of the Wild revolved around unearthed Sheikah technology. They are the cause of (and solution to) most problems in the game. The figurative and literal biggest examples of Sheikah tech in Breath...

Before his passing in late March, the late Japanese composer and electronic music pioneer Ryuichi Sakamoto had been putting together a playlist of music to be played at his own funeral. Now, Sakamoto’s management has shared that “last playlist,” simply titled “funeral.”

“We would like to share the playlist that Ryuichi had been privately compiling to be played at his own funeral to accompany his own passing,” Sakamoto’s team wrote in an accompanying message. “He truly was with music until the very end.”

Opening with an 11-minute track by Sakamoto’s frequent collaborator Alva Noto, the 33-song playlist features classical music from Johann Sebastian Bach, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel. It also includes the work of renowned film composers Ennio Morricone and Nino Rota, jazz music from Bill Evans Trio, and David Sylvian’s “Orpheus” — the latter of which features Sakamoto himself on piano and synths. Closing out...

"Avatar: The Way of Water" is out on digital. Perhaps you've heard of it? The long-awaited sequel to 2009's "Avatar" by James Cameron made almost $2.5 billion at the box office. It continues the story of the Sully family as they hide out from the humans of the Rda, who have returned to Pandora after years away. The family finds sanctuary with the Metkayina, a water-based group of Na'vi who have developed physical adaptations for swimming.

You may have heard the stories on-set of the actors holding their breath underwater, aka freediving, for a very long time. This includes Kate Winslet — who played Ronal, one of the Metkayina — holding her breath for a whopping seven minutes and 15 seconds. In fact, all the swimming scenes were done "wet for wet," meaning that they were all shot underwater. That meant the actors had to learn to swim under the surface for a long time without scuba gear,...

Ti West has locked in an all-star cast for his Mia Goth-led A24 horror pic MaXXXine, with Elizabeth Debicki (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.), Moses Sumney (The Idol), Michelle Monaghan (Nanny), Bobby Cannavale (The Watcher), Lily Collins (Emily in Paris), Halsey (Americana), Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul) and Kevin Bacon (City on a Hill) closing deals for roles.

MaXXXine is the third title in A24‘s first major horror franchise, on the heels of West’s films X and Pearl, both of which were released to much acclaim last year. The ’70s-set X had Goth pulling double duty as Maxine, who sees her pornography-shooting friends violently murdered in Texas, and one of their elderly assailants, Pearl. The latter film, set in 1918, meanwhile, served up an origin story for the latter villain character.

MaXXXine reverses the franchise’s trajectory through time to pick with Maxine after the violent events of X,...

Action is back, baby! While John Wick: Chapter 4 is blasting through the box office with a Dragon’s Breath shotgun, Chris Hemsworth also returns with his own fight and stunt spectacular with the Netflix sequel, Extraction 2. In the original, we are introduced to Tyler Rake, a mercenary who had taken on the assignment of seeking and rescuing the kidnapped son of a prisoned, international crime lord. The first Extraction featured some of the more amazing action sequences of the past few years, including an extended one-shot sequence that took place in and around an apartment building and on the streets of Bangladesh.

The synopsis reads,

Chris Hemsworth returns as Tyler Rake in Extraction 2, the sequel to Netflix’s blockbuster action film Extraction. After barely surviving the events of the first movie, Rake is back as the Australian black ops mercenary, tasked with another deadly mission: rescuing the...

When you create one of the greatest and most innovative games of all time, there are going to be imitators. Plenty of games have copied The Legend of Zelda since the original hit the Famicom Disk System in 1986. A few have arguably even improved on the beloved formula.

Much like the Legend of Zelda games themselves, the best Zelda-like experiences out there come in a variety of flavors. Generally, they’re action RPGs with an overworld, dungeons, and multiple different abilities and equipment you obtain throughout the game. They can be 2D overhead games like the original Zelda, 3D games similar to Ocarina of Time that point players toward the next goal, or more open-ended 3D games like Breath of the Wild. Regardless of which style of Zelda game is your favorite, here are just some of the other games that Legend of Zelda fans need to play.

Mystical Ninja...

Netflix’s series adaptation of Australian novel Boy Swallows Universe has unveiled its cast, and first images from the shoot have been released.

Travis Fimmel, Simon Baker and Phoebe Tonkin topline an ensemble cast for the eight-part limited series, which is based on Trent Dalton’s book and is now in production in Brisbane, Australia.

Deadline first revealed news of the project in May 2019, and Netflix boarded it earlier this year.

2022 Netflix Pilot & Series Orders

The book, set in the violent working-class suburban fringe of Brisbane in 1983, follows Eli Bell, an articulate 12-year-old boy, and his mute brother Gus. A synopsis for the novel reads: “Eli Bell’s life is complicated. His father is lost, his mother is in jail and his stepdad is a heroin dealer. The most steadfast adult in Eli’s life is Slim — a...

There are two kinds of heroes in the world of video games: those who talk, and those who don’t. Some protagonists start their lives as quiet characters and eventually graduate to speaking roles, but The Legend of Zelda’s Link has always remained the strong, silent type.

While voice acting has become the norm in video games, Nintendo’s landmark series The Legend of Zelda has primarily stuck to its non-voiced roots. The franchise only recently started exploring voice acting with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild via voiced cutscenes, and yet despite all of the characters talking around him, Link never utters a word in the game except for the usual grunts of “Hyut!” and “Hya!” While Nintendo is more than willing to get with the times when it comes to the rest of the Zelda cast, Link is seemingly stuck in the past. However, the...

Projects to receive up to 80,000 in funding and will premiere at the next Jeonju International Film Festival.

Chilean filmmaker José Luis Torres Leiva’s When Clouds Hide The Shadow and Korean director Jero Yun’s Breath took the top prizes last night (May 3) at the 14th Jeonju Project industry programme.

The Jeonju Cinema Project: Next Edition prizes – awarded to a Korean and international feature – provide up to KW100m in funding for projects to be produced with the caveat that they make their world premieres at the Jeonju International Film Festival. The titles were among eight pitched the previous day.

Drama and documentary projects hail from Korea, France, Canada, China and Chile.

Gangsters, a Chinese dissident and a female truck driver are among the subjects of eight upcoming features that were pitched at the Jeonju International Film Festival in South Korea on Monday (May 2).

Eight titles were pitched in-person to an international jury as part of the Jeonju Cinema Project: Next Edition programme, which supports the production of innovative and independent films. The winners will receive up to KW100m to complete their film in time for a world premiere at the next edition of Jeonju.

Evenly split between Korean and international projects,...

Uncork’d Entertainment will release John Real’s survival thriller Breath this spring. The film, headlined by award-winning actress Rachel Daigh (“Veep”), will be released on digital May 3. Lara Winslet is an expert geologist in volcanology. She is with her team to conduct some surveys, and one day decides to stay longer to finish some work. …

The post Official Trailer – Breath starring James Cosmo (“Game of Thrones”) appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

From director John Real, the survival thriller Breath is being released by Uncork’d Entertainment on the road to summer, and the official trailer and release date have arrived. Breath is coming to VOD outlets on May 3, 2022. In the film, “Lara Winslet is an expert geologist in volcanology. She is together with her team […]

The post ‘Breath’ Trailer – This Survival Thriller Takes Place Inside a Volcano?! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Breath Trailer — John Real‘s Breath (2022) movie trailer has been released by Uncork’d Entertainment. The Breath trailer stars Rachel Daigh, James Cosmo, and Neb Chupin. Crew Adriana Marzagalli and John Real wrote the screenplay for Breath. Blu Falabella and Michele Musarra created the sound for the film. Luigi Mingrone crafted the cinematography for the film. Plot [...]

Continue reading: Breath (2022) Movie Trailer: Rachel Daigh’s Accident Leaves Her Alone in a Hole Inside a Volcano...

"No food, no signal, no help, no hope." Uncork'd Ent. has revealed a trailer for a movie called Breath, made by filmmaker John Real. This almost plays like an Asylum remake of 127 Hours, but with a female lead and a *gasp* volcano twist. It looks pretty bad, oh well. Lara Winslet is an expert geologist in volcanology. She is with her team to conduct some surveys, and one day decides to stay longer to finish some work. But she has an accident, falling inside a hole in the ground. She remains stuck inside there, where no one can either see or hear her. It is now a race against time to get out safely. Rachel Daigh stars as Laura Winslet, with a small cast including James Cosmo and Neb Chupin. I know getting a guy from "Game of Thrones" is a big get, but it's a shame the marketing...

A mother’s will to survive and return home to her child from a dangerous, life-threatening work trip, no matter what obstacles she has to overcome to do so, is a powerfully courageous one. Actress Rachel Daigh’s protagonist of Lara Winslet is proving just that in the upcoming drama, ‘Breath.’ Uncork’d Entertainment will distribute the survival […]

The post Actress Rachel Daigh Fights For Hope and Survival in Breath Exclusive Trailer Premiere appeared first on Shockya.com.

Attention, all Taylordle players! The "Holy Swift" podcast, aka the creators of Wordle (Taylor's Version), is expanding Taylordle's Swiftie-inspired dictionary to now include up to eight-letter words. There's no denying that Taylordle walked so other Wordle spinoffs, such as Wordlerry (created for Harry Style diehards) and BTS Wordle (for ARMYs stans), could run. Given the popularity of Wordle and the "All Too Well" singer's dedicated fan base, it's no surprise that Taylordle has had mass success since its March 2022 launch. Now fans have the opportunity to guess a variety of Swiftie terms, including six-letter words like "McGraw," "Juliet," "Archer," and "Willow."

Taylordle follows the same premise and color-coded rules as its predecessor: gray means the letter isn't included in the mystery word, yellow means the letter is in the word but not in the right spot, and green indicates the letter is in its correct spot. Players have six attempts to guess a Swiftie word.

Selection includes projects from Korea, France, Canada and China among others.

South Korea’s Jeonju International Film Festival has revealed the selection for this year’s Jeonju Cinema Project pitching programme, including new titles from Fighter director Jero Yun and Canadian filmmaker Isiah Medina.

Jeonju Cinema Project: Next Edition has increased this year’s selection from six to eight – four in the international and four in the domestic project categories – following a reported increase in submissions.

This year’s Korean projects are Tae Jun-sik’s 1997, Lim Sun-ae’s Fixed Love, Fixed Girl, Jero Yun’s Breath and Lee Sangcheol’s My Dear.

Selection includes projects from Korea, France, Canada and China among others.

South Korea’s Jeonju International Film Festival has revealed the selection for this year’s Jeonju Cinema Project pitching programme, including new titles from Fighter director Jero Yun and Canadian filmmaker Isiah Medina.

Jeonju Cinema Project: Next Edition has increased this year’s selection from six to eight – four in the international and four in the domestic project categories – following a reported increase in submissions.

This year’s Korean projects are Tae Jun-sik’s 1997, Lim Sun-ae’s Fixed Love, Fixed Girl, Jero Yun’s Breath and Lee Sangcheol’s My Dear.

Exclusive: Simon Baker, star of CBS’ The Mentalist, has partnered with MGM International Television Productions.

The actor and director, who made his directorial debut in 2017 with Breath, an adaptation of Tim Winton’s novel, has struck a multi-year, first-look deal with the production company behind series including Epix’s From and Peacock’s Last Light.

The deal will see Baker, who also starred in The Devil Wears Prada, develop scripted projects with MGM with an international focus, with an eye for him to director and/or star.

Other on-screen roles include LA Confidential, Margin Call and CBS’ The Guardian. He recently starred in and exec produced High Ground, directed by Stephen Johnson, and starred in Blaze from Del Kathryn Barton.

On the scripted side, MGM is also behind international series such as Amazon’s El Fin del Amor and Shelter, Epix’s Billy the Kid, HBO Max’s Mariachis and France Television’s The Reunion.

Panah Panahi is the son of the acclaimed Iranian dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi, the winner of many prizes at top film festivals and the auteur who was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 20-year filmmaking ban for his socially critical work. Panah inherited his father’s filmmaking talent, got his filmmaking education and learned the tricks of the trade by assisting his father and even co-editing his film “3 Faces” (2018). “Hit the Road” is Panahi Junior’s feature directing debut that was selected for Directors Fortnight at Cannes. We had the chance to see it at Sarajevo’s Open Air section.

“Hit the Road“ is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema

Hit the Road opens to the sounds of Chopin’s piano music over the black screen before the action starts in the car. A hyperactive, obviously bored boy (Rayan Sarlak), pretend-plays the keyboard drawn on the...

For Western Australian author Adam Morris, screenwriting may carry some advantages over penning a novel but making a film is far from an easy ride.

The Albany-based writer can now add director and producer to his titles after wrapping production on debut feature Edward and Isabella in August.

Morris, who has published books My Dog Gave Me the Clap and Bird, said while there was less pressure than what he was used to in the writing process, the project as a whole was the “most stressful thing” he’s ever done.

“Writing the screenplay was a lot of fun and casting was a lot of fun but we were living all together in my house while also filming there,” he told If.

“We’d shoot and I’d be doing the catering some days as well, so I’d cook after we’d finished.

“There were cameras and boom stands...

Doc NYC gave a boost to 15 Oscar-contending documentaries Tuesday, naming them to its prestigious shortlist of the year’s best nonfiction films.

Early favorites Flee, Summer of Soul, The Rescue, Ascension, and Becoming Cousteau made the Doc NYC shortlist, as did Introducing, Selma Blair, the intimate documentary about actress Selma Blair’s battle with Ms, and The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes’ film on the influential avant-garde rock band fronted by Lou Reed.

Doc NYC has earned a reputation as an accurate predictor of Oscar success. Last year, the festival gave shortlist recognition to three of the docs that went on to claim Oscar nominations: Time, Collective, and Crip Camp.

“For eight of the last nine years, Doc NYC has screened the documentary feature that went on to win the Academy Award,” the festival noted. “The festival has also screened 39 of the last 45 Oscar-nominated documentary features.

Panah Panahi is the son of the acclaimed Iranian dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi, the winner of many prizes at top film festivals and the auteur who was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 20-year filmmaking ban for his socially critical work. Panah inherited his father’s filmmaking talent, got his filmmaking education and learned the tricks of the trade by assisting his father and even co-editing his film “3 Faces” (2018). “Hit the Road” is Panahi Junior’s feature directing debut that was selected for Directors Fortnight at Cannes. We had the chance to see it at Sarajevo’s Open Air section.

Hit the Road opens to the sounds of Chopin’s piano music over the black screen before the action starts in the car. A hyperactive, obviously bored boy (Rayan Sarlak), pretend-plays the keyboard drawn on the cast on his father’s (Hassan Madjooni) leg. The mother (Pantea Panahiha of...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Andrzej Munk Retrospective

An influence on the likes of Krzysztof Kieślowski, Roman Polanski, and Jerzy Skolimowski, and more, Andrzej Munk’s filmography is quite unspoken of here in the United States. Hopefully that will change with the arrival of new restorations, featuring his early political documentaries and his subsequent features including Bad Luck, Eroica, Man on the Tracks, and Passenger, which was finished after his untimely death in 1961.

Where to Stream: Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema

Annette (Leos Carax)

In Annette, a provocative comedian (Adam Driver) and renowned opera singer (Marion Cotillard) fall in love and have a gifted child. Written and composed by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, the singular rock band that formed in the early 1970s,...

Rather than run to the nearest beach in search of some sun, I spent the majority of this past weekend playing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD on Nintendo Switch. I simply couldn’t resist the opportunity to revisit a classic (if divisive) Zelda game.

“Classic” is certainly the keyword here. Unlike Breath of the Wild’s free and open atmosphere, Skyward Sword emphasizes a somewhat telegraphed fantasy adventure made in the mold of Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and other, more traditional, 3D Zelda entries. Are there drawbacks to that template? Sure, but utterly excellent dungeon design isn’t one of them.

Walking into Skyview Temple, the game’s first dungeon, I was instantly reminded of just how mesmerizing those large-scale puzzle boxes can be. It especially hits home at that moment since, up until that point, the game inundates you with character conversations, petty fetch quests, and combat tutorials,...

Richard Kadrey, author of the fantasy book series “Sandman Slim,” has written an original screenplay called “Dark West” that will be adapted into a movie by “Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead” writer-director Kiah Roache-Turner.

Chris Goldberg’s Winterlight Pictures has optioned “Dark West” and set Roache-Turner to write the next draft of the script. Roache-Turner is eyeing to direct the film in his native Australia. Kadrey is also working on turning “Dark West” into a graphic novel.

“Dark West” is a vampire revenge thriller set on the highways of Texas that follows two car thieves who accidentally T-bone a pair of vampires in the middle of the night. The story is in the vein of the classic ’80s horror films “The Hitcher” and Kathryn Bigelow’s “Near Dark.”

The idea for “Dark West” came about after Kadrey’s “Sandman Slim” book series was optioned by Goldberg in his role as...

BTS has topped yet another year-end chart, this time as the reigning kings of Twitter.

A new Twitter survey has revealed that BTS were the #1 most tweeted-about musicians in the U.S. for the fourth year in a row. The group beat out Kanye West, Beyonce and Drake for the most mentions on the social media platform in 2020. Four of the top ten musicians on the list were K-pop groups, edging out heavy hitters from 2019 like Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and Billie Eilish.

Twitter

As expected, BTS also dominated the...

Production begins this month on “Surviving Summer,” a teen-surfing drama series for Netflix and Zdf Enterprises. The show is produced by Werner Film Production, a three-time Emmy-nominated Australian firm headed by Joanna Werner.

Sky Katz (previously known as Skylar Katz) (Disney Channel’s “Raven’s Home”) stars as the titular character Summer, a fierce Brooklyn teen who is sent ‘Down Under’ to live with family friends in a coastal town on the Great Ocean Road. She stars alongside Brazilian rising star Joao Gabriel Marinho (“Malhacao”), Australia’s Kai Lewins (“Wild Boys”) and Savannah La Rain (“Content”). It also stars Lilliana Bowrey, a five-time Queensland junior state surf champion, making her first foray into acting.

The ten-part show will be shot at some of Australia’s most iconic surf beaches in Victoria.

It was created by Werner and Josh Mapleston (“Ready For This,” “Beat Bugs,” “Dance Academy”), and was written by Mapleston,...

Each year Filmmaker asks all the incoming feature directors at Sundance one question. This year’s question: “How did events of 2020 — any of them — change your film, either in the way you approached it, produced it, post-produced it, or are now thinking about it? “The Scope of the Story Also Expanded”: Director Nanfu Wang | In the Same Breath “I Feel Like in 2020 I Was Lucky”: Director Miriam Guttmann | Seeds of Deceit “Whether It’s a Refugee Crisis or a Pandemic, We Are All in This Together”: Director […]

The post The Sundance Question: "How Did Events of 2020 Change Your Film?" first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Each year Filmmaker asks all the incoming feature directors at Sundance one question. This year’s question: “How did events of 2020 — any of them — change your film, either in the way you approached it, produced it, post-produced it, or are now thinking about it? “The Scope of the Story Also Expanded”: Director Nanfu Wang | In the Same Breath “I Feel Like in 2020 I Was Lucky”: Director Miriam Guttmann | Seeds of Deceit “Whether It’s a Refugee Crisis or a Pandemic, We Are All in This Together”: Director […]

The post The Sundance Question: "How Did Events of 2020 Change Your Film?" first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Award-winning filmmaker died in Latvia, according to reports.

South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk has died in Latvia aged 59 after contracting Covid-19, according to reports.

The award-winning director had travelled to the Baltic country last month and intended to buy a house near the capital, Riga, according to local media. He reportedly died this morning (December 11) from Covid-19 complications.

Kim’s death was confirmed to local outlet Delfi.lv by ArtDocFest/Riga director Vitaly Mansky and his interpreter, Daria Krutova.

The Estonian Film Institute confirmed to Screen that Kim intended to shoot a new feature in the country titled Rain, Snow,...