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Rachael Ray’s Tuscan adventures continue with a surprising culinary detour – to Albania! In this Monday’s episode of Rachael Ray in Tuscany, viewers can expect a delicious fusion of Italian setting and Albanian flavors. Rachael’s friends, Leida and Veina, bring their culinary expertise to her Tuscan kitchen, ready to teach her the art of Albanian […]

Rachael Ray in Tuscany: Albanian Pizza with Muscles and Pasta...

If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

On Thursday, Warner Bros. released the first trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film One Battle After Another starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The movie is the first that Anderson has made with DiCaprio. Still, it is not the first project Anderson has done with a member of DiCaprio’s family. The Oscar-winning actor’s father, George DiCaprio, appeared in Licorice Pizza. Anderson also originally wanted DiCaprio to star as Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights.

As revealed in the new trailer — which dropped a week after Warner Bros. officially dated One Battle After Another for the fall — the film is heavily inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland. DiCaprio stars as Bob Ferguson, a dishelved counter-culture radical on a quest to find his missing daughter (Presumed Innocent star Chase Infiniti), who was abducted by a conservative military figure named Steve Lockjaw (Oscar-winner...

Pixar is one of the most successful production companies of all time, mostly because it has managed to create a ton of amazing kids' films. These movies have captured the hearts and minds of mass audiences, transporting them into fictional worlds that feel so brilliantly surreal. As such, without Pixar, it could be argued that the film industry would be stuck in a very stagnant state.

Another great aspect of Pixar's success was its fictional bloopers. Normally, as part of a DVD extra, the studio would create a few extra scenes that would showcase the characters messing up their lines or getting caught up in some silly hijinks. While they aren't used in modern films, these bloopers helped Pixar stand out from the crowd in a very competitive era.

Hopper Struggles to Intimidate the Princess A Bug's Life

Fans of A Bug's Life will remember just how terrifying Hopper can be,...

One of the most iconic anime of the 1990s (at least in the West) was Samurai Pizza Cats, even if many kids watching at the time didn't know that it was Japanese in origin. Now a nostalgic memory, the meowing marinara maniacs are finally back in a digital adventure that promises more fun than any turtle ever had.

Handled by Dutch developer Blast Zero and publisher Red Dunes Games, Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast from the Past! is an upcoming video game that's set to go all out in bringing the cats to modern gaming consoles. Featuring Speedy Cerviche, Polly Esther and Guido Anchovy in a side-scrolling action RPG adventure, this game celebrates a major anniversary of the anime's original incarnation. Although fans will have to wait a year before they can grab a slice, the original cast will be back when the game comes out.

RelatedCardcaptor Sakura Connects '90s...

Quick Links Sasheer Zamata Was Originally Embarrassed by Her Trekkie Name How Jennifer Kale's Earrings Are a Nod to Star Trek from Marvel

The following contains light spoilers from Agatha All Along now streaming on Disney+.

The Marvel Studios series Agatha All Along debuted its finale on Disney+, and fans are still buzzing about the WandaVision sequel series. The show is full of pop-culture references, specifically focused on witches, but there is a little something for the sci-fi nerds as well. Actor Sasheer Zamata plays Jennifer Kale, and Marvel sneaked a Star Trek Easter egg into the show with her earrings.

While the changing entertainment landscape after the pandemic has hit Marvel Studios along with the rest of Hollywood, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still a juggernaut. It is the most successful film and television enterprise in history. The only fictional universe that could even try to compete with Marvel is Star Trek,...

Alana Haim, the singer-songwriter who is part of the rock band Haim, is continuing her push into acting after making her debut starring in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza.

Haim has lined up two back to back feature gigs involving some bold-faced names.

Haim has started production on The Mastermind, an art heist drama starring Josh O’Connor and directed by Kelly Reichardt. She will then jump into The Drama, a feature from Dream Scenario filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli that also stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.

Mastermind set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the beginning of the women’s liberation movement in America.

Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani, and Vincent Savino of filmscience are producing. Mubi, the global film distributor, production company and streaming service, is financing the drama and distributing.

Drama is centers on a couple, played by Zendaya and Pattinson, who in the days leading up to their wedding,...

In Hollywood’s ever-evolving landscape, family dynamics often become intertwined with the glitz and glamour of fame, resulting in compelling narratives that capture the public’s attention. Actor Eric Roberts, known for his strong performances in King of the Gypsies and Paul’s Case, has found himself at the center of such a situation following the release of his new memoir, Runaway Train: Or, the Story of My Life So Far.

Eric Roberts | Credit: Eva Rinaldi/Cca By-sa 2.0/Wikimedia Commons

The book explores his tumultuous upbringing in Georgia and the various highs and lows of his long acting career, along with an apology to his sister and the beloved Hollywood icon Julia Roberts. The apology stems from his previous statement that his sister’s success is largely down to him. However, the sibling rivalry has taken an unexpected turn, as recent reports indicate that Julia Roberts is not happy with her...

From accountant to acting powerhouse, Indian actor Vijay Sethupathi’s 50-film journey has been anything but ordinary.

The actor’s 50th film, the Tamil-language “Maharaja,” written and directed by Nithilan Saminathan (“Kurangu Bommai”), is an action-packed saga that blends thriller elements with family drama and has a father-daughter relationship at its core. It has emerged as one of the biggest Tamil hits of the year.

The actor says he didn’t specifically choose “Maharaja” as a milestone project, but he was drawn to the story and the director’s energy. “We do all the films with so much fear and passion. We just wanted to do what we had imagined,” Sethupathi told Variety about the film’s success. “We didn’t expect this. Of course, I’m happy. But we just wanted my producer to collect the money, he should be safe. Because he has invested so much money just...

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Pixar Animation often brings in some of the best voice talent in the business for the animated features, even if it's just for bit parts. For example, the original "Inside Out" featured the voices of Frank Oz and Dave Goelz as a pair of bickering subconscious guards inside Riley's mind. Oz is probably best known for bringing life to Yoda in the "Star Wars" saga, but he was also behind beloved Muppets like Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy, as well as "Sesame Street" characters like Grover and Bert. Meanwhile, Goelz is known for playing Gonzo and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew in various Muppets productions over the years. Both of them return with small parts as Mind Cops in "Inside Out 2," and if director Kelsey Mann had his way, there would have been one more legendary contribution to "Sesame Street" and the Muppets making an appearance.

Many '90s-era anime fans grew up watching Cardcaptor Sakura -- the anime adaptation based on Clamp's popular magical girl series. Recently, a Pizza Hut branch paid tribute to the beloved franchise with a set of themed menu items that quickly went viral online.

As detailed on Netlab and Taiwan News, Pizza Hut's Taiwanese branch released its official Cardcaptor Sakura collaboration items on June 4. The menu's signature item is the "Magical Circle Cheese Pizza" -- a wildly inventive tribute to the franchise's titular character. Half-meal and half-dessert, it consists of an eight-pointed star filled with german sausage and covered with white mochi. Additionally, the center of the star is filled with Japanese-style curry and mashed potatoes. Surrounding the star is an attached "halo" of pizza dough that's dotted with yellow macarons. The menu also features a manju, or sweet rice cake, that resembles "Kero-chan," the flying bear-like creature that accompanies Sakura on her adventures.

It's been over half a year now since we brought you news that The Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence is set to helm an adaptation of Stephen King's The Long Walk. Now, following hot on the heels of last week's announcement that Lawrence is set to direct Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes sequel Sunrise On The Reaping, we're learning more about the busy filmmaker's King-related plans. According to Deadline, Licorice Pizza star Cooper Hoffman and Rye Lane breakout David Jonsson are both in talks to lead Lionsgate's long-gestating adaptation.

Originally published under his Richard Bachman pseudonym in 1979, King's dystopian doorstop takes place in a world where 100 teenage boys — including sixteen-year-old Ray Garraty —take part in the annual "Long Walk" competition. This particular long walk has three simple yet brutal rules: the boys must maintain a speed above 4 miles per hour; if they receive three warnings in an hour,...

Licorice Pizza star Cooper Hoffman is set to star alongside Industry’s David Jonsson in the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk.

An adaptation of Stephen King’s 1979 dystopian novella The Long Walk has been on the horizon for several years now meaning that fans of the book have faced a wait that has been even longer than the titular walk itself.

While The Long Walk might sound like the way you’d like to spend a sunny Sunday morning, rest assured that this isn’t that kind of stroll. Instead, envisage a futuristic dystopian society where young people enter a state-sanctioned murder fest, walking until they can’t walk anymore. When they fall, stumble or even slow down, they don’t get a cup of water or one of those silver blankets. In fact, their only reward is a quick (and televised) execution.

If it all...

Despite their monumental success with Marvel’s Avengers films, the Russo Brothers admire the creator of the DC Extended Universe Zack Snyder for his approach to visualizing his movies. Having worked under the MCU and DC, respectively, both the filmmaking duo and Snyder are renowned for their contributions to comic book movies.

Zack Snyder | Credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons

However, their approach to bringing their vision to the screen differs significantly. Snyder prefers to visualize the story through detailed storyboards, a skill that the Avengers: Endgame filmmakers couldn’t help but envy.

Zack Snyder Reveals the Secret Weapon Behind His Cinematic Magic

During a conversation with Joe Russo and Anthony Russo on the Pizza Film School podcast, Zack Snyder discussed his method of visualizing the stories for his movies. The filmmaker explained that he approaches the process through sketches and detailed storyboards.

Zack Snyder | Credit: Pizza Film School podcast...

Bold and the Beautiful predictions see Deacon Sharpe’s specialty pizza taking flight at the upcoming wedding and landing in some unwanted places on the CBS soap. Spoilers tease that Deacon goes above and beyond for their wedding despite very few guests expected.

It looks like the bride wearing black is a good thing, as pizza smeared on a white gown would be such a mess. But, with Sean Kanan playing the groom’s role, the soap could add a touch of comedy to the twists and turns promised at Deacon and Sheila Carter’s wedding.

Bold and the Beautiful Predictions: Deacon Sharpe Puts His Ducks In a Row

Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan) is over the top about his upcoming wedding to Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown). While he’s a little short on wedding guests, that likely won’t stop him from loading up the buffet table.

While they still...

Freddy Kreuger has been depicted as a villain, anti-hero, and even a reluctant protagonist in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. The Dream Master director Renny Harlin explains how he's partly responsible for making Freddy the James Bond of the horror genre.

Horror fans nurture a love-hate relationship with the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, but there's a consensus the first film was the best in the series. Dream Warriors legitimized the franchise by pitting Freddy Kreuger against worthy adversaries, who proved there are more angles to explore in sequels. Audiences were taken aback when The Dream Master was released, though; it departed from pure horror and leaned heavily into morbid comedy. In an interview with /Film, director Renny Harlin said they shifted the tone of The Dream Master to revitalize the series for the fan base. He asserted that Freddy had also become the franchise's star at this point.

Romance tropes always play a crucial role in superhero films, as it enriches the plot and adds another layer of complexity to the characters’ personalities. While romance enables its viewers to relate to the film, the superhero genre always struggles to incorporate the ideas in their movies. Such was the case in the original Zack Snyder’s Justice League, until Avengers: Endgame directors approved of the unprecedented idea.

Henry Cavill as Superman in Zsjl

In the DC universe, the rivalry of Batman and Superman stands tall as one of the most iconic and enduring dynamics. The rivalry originates from the clash of ideologies and their take on justice. However, the Rebel Moon filmmaker decided to take their iconic rivalry to another level as he decided to put the Caped Crusader and The Daily Planet’s reporter in a relationship after Superman’s demise in the original plot of Justice League.

After debuting early last weekend, Universal’s The Fall Guy expanded to 78 overseas markets during its sophomore session, adding $25.4M for a running total of $36.9M at the international box office. That’s in line with Bullet Train and above The Lost City at the same point in release. Globally, the David Leitch-directed action romance is at $65.4M.

This is a fun picture with positive scores and exits so there’s hope for some legs here and playability throughout upcoming holidays. Still, an expensive movie, it came in slightly below projections domestically.

Internationally, the UK was a No. 1 debut with a strong $4.4M from 1,400 screens. Odeon was the top-performing circuit, and Everyman registered a 9% share, 3.1 points higher than their average for the year. Performance across 51 IMAX screens made up 7.6% of the total. The weekend result is well above Bullet Train and The Lost City. Monday is a holiday.

Mexico opened to $2.5M at No.

A new Deadpool & Wolverine IMAX trailer is currently playing in theaters and a must-see clip from that has found its way online this evening.

First, we see Wolverine telling Wade to put his mask back on while they grab a bite. The Merc with the Mouth points out that it's hard to eat while wearing it, leaving Logan to counter by bluntly stating it's harder for him to keep his food down while the Merc with the Mouth has it off.

We later see the title characters approach Giant-Man's massive skeleton, prompting Deadpool to say it looks like Paul Rudd has finally aged.

It's a fun meta-joke and a reference to the fact the Ant-Man star notoriously doesn't seem to grow older as the years go by. Whether this joke will make the final cut remains to be seen, particularly as gags like these are sometimes only used in trailers.

Star Ram Charan is in Chennai to shoot some sequences for his upcoming film ‘Game Changer’.

A source close to Ians said that the actor will be in Chennai for two days for the shoot.

Ram, on Wednesday, was seen entering the airport dressed in a casual white shirt paired with khaki pants. He completed his look with a baseball cap, sunglasses and sneakers.

‘Game Changer’ is a Telugu political action thriller in which Ram Charan plays a triple role. Other personalities in the film include Kiara Advani, Anjali, S. J. Suryah, Jayaram, Sunil, Srikanth, Samuthirakani and Nassar.

Directed by S. Shankar, the story is penned by ‘Pizza’ and ‘Jigarthanda’ filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj. This is not the first time Ram and Kiara will be sharing the screen space.

The two have previously starred in the film ‘Vinaya Vidheya Rama’ by Boyapati Srinu, which was released in 2019.

All of the nominations for the 2024 Daytime Emmy Awards have been announced!

After the first round of nods were announced, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences revealed the remaining nominations on Friday morning (April 19)

The upcoming awards celebrate and recognize “outstanding achievement in television programming and crafts since 1974, honoring work in a variety of categories, including daytime dramas, talk shows, instructional programming, hosting, culinary and legal/courtroom programs.”

The Kelly Clarkson Show leads the daytime talk show categories with nine noms while The Young and the Restless‘ Eric Braeden earned his first nomination in over 20 years!

Keep reading to find out more…This year’s ceremony will take place live from the Westin Bonaventure Los Angeles on Friday, June 7th at 8pm Et and it will air on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ with a premium subscription.

Keep scrolling to see the full list of nominations…

Daytime Drama Series

The Bay (Popstar!

Lopez vs Lopez fans, we’ve got a fresh off the press preview for the new Season 2 Episode 4 episode titled Lopez vs Pizza!

Find out everything you need to know about the Lopez vs Pizza episode of Lopez vs Lopez, including a full preview, videos, release date, cast information and how to watch!

Lopez vs Lopez Lopez vs Pizza Season 2 Episode 4 Preview

Get ready for a hilarious showdown in the upcoming episode of “Lopez vs Lopez” titled “Lopez vs Pizza,” airing on NBC at 8:30 Pm on April 9, 2024. As Mayan and Quinten tackle the challenges of their new jobs, tensions rise, and unexpected conflicts arise—cue the chaos and pizza!

In this episode, viewers can expect plenty of laughs as the Lopez brothers navigate the ups and downs of their professional lives while trying to maintain their sanity. With pizza fueling the drama, Mayan and Quinten find themselves in a...

Watch out, Mario, there’s another video game character hitting the big screen.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s,” the popular survival horror video game from 2014, is coming to theaters (and Peacock) just in time for Halloween. The movie picked up $10.3 million at the box office in Thursday previews.

The original video game spawned multiple sequels and spinoffs that have been hits with gamers and teens. The movie version, from Universal and Blumhourse, is aiming to capitalize on the “Freddy’s” fervor and open with $50 million this weekend, though some predictions put it even higher. It’s on track to nab the year’s highest opening for a horror movie, beating returning franchises like “Scream VI” ($44.4 million), “The Nun II” ($32 million), “The Exorcist: Believer” ($26.4 million) and Blumhouse’s own original “M3GAN” ($30 million).

Josh Hutcherson stars as Mike Schmidt, a new security guard tasked with watching over Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, basically a creepy ripoff of Chuck E.

The Five Nights At Freddy's movie will explore a deeper connection between the ghosts and the protagonists Mike and Abby Schmidt, adding a new element to the film adaptation. Viewing the abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizza through Abby's eyes will bring a sense of childhood wonderment before the terror begins, providing a new perspective on the animatronics. By creating a connection between the creatures and Mike's past trauma, the audience can gain a deeper understanding of everyone's motivations, making the eventual turn of the animatronics even more terrifying.

Emma Tammi teases a deeper connection between the ghosts of Five Nights At Freddy's and the two protagonists, Mike and Abby Schmidt. In the movie, Mike is raising Abby on his own and takes a night security job at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear Pizza. As he discovers more about the place and the animatronics within it, Mike realizes he may have made a...

Carl's house from Pixar's Up is recreated with over 68,000 Lego bricks before taking flight with balloons. Up debuted in 2009, telling the story of Carl Fredricksen, a 78-year-old man who uses balloons to float his house out of the city with his sights set on Paradise Falls, only to inadvertently take off with a young Wilderness Explorer aboard. The film was co-directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, with voice talent that includes Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, and John Ratzenberger. Up was a hit with critics and audiences, earning over $735 million worldwide and ranking one of the top-rated Pixar movies.

As Disney celebrates 100 Years of Wonder, they released a new episode of Making Wonder on YouTube that sees Carl's house from Up recreated with a staggering 68,753 Lego bricks before letting it take to the sky with balloons.

Up co-director Pete Docter lends his insight, along with a Lego Senior Graphic...

Well-known Tamil film director and producer Karthik Subbaraj on Saturday announced that his production firm Stone Bench Films had forayed into the Malayalam film industry with director Jithin Isaac Thomas’s upcoming film ‘Attention Please’.

Taking to Twitter, Karthik Subbaraj, who has directed several critically acclaimed superhit films, including the Vijay Sethupathi-starrer ‘Pizza’, Siddhartha-starrer ‘Jigarthanda’ and the superstar Rajinikanth-starrer, ‘Petta’ said: “We are elated to announce our foray into the Malayalam Industry with ‘Attention Please’ made by the talented Jithin Thomas and team. Produced by Kaarthekeyens and releasing in theatres on Aug 26.”

The popular director also shared the link to the film’s trailer which showed that the film will be not only hard-hitting but is also likely to create awareness on societal problems.

The trailer begins with a person, who is looking to make a film, narrates the story of his film to those around him. He...

To mark the release of Licorice Pizza on 6th June, we’ve been given a copy of Licorice Pizza to give away on Blu-ray, along with a vinyl record of the movie soundtrack.

Licorice Pizza is a timeless story of Alana Kane (Alana Haim) and Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) growing up, running around, and falling in love in the San Fernando Valley in 197.

Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only

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The Small Print

Open to UK residents only The competition will close 16th June 2022 at 23.59 GMT The winner will be picked at random from entries received No cash alternative is available Please note prizes may be delayed due to Covid-19 To coincide with Gdpr regulations, competition entry information will not be stored once the competition has ended and the winners have been chosen and prizes sent out.

The usual T&Cs can be found here.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi” is here.

After a number of false starts and production resets, the first Lucasfilm original series on Disney+ to deal with a true legacy character (if we’re now comfortable acknowledging that “The Book of Boba Fett” was retconned fan fic of the highest order), “Obi-Wan Kenobi” debuted on the streaming channel Thursday night – early, no less! – to much fanfare. Ewan McGregor is back as the titular Jedi, 10 years after the events of “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” as he watches over a young Luke Skywalker and contemplates the events that led him there.

But what happens in the first two episodes? And how are they, anyway? Read on to find out!

Huge spoilers for the first two episodes of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” follow.

Also Read:

Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Story So Far: A Recap of What Happened Before the Disney+ Show Alone Again, Naturally

We begin...

If you are making any kind of film with a larger budget nowadays, there will always be some amount of CGI and digital effects involved, even if it is in a tiny capacity. This goes without saying with all the gigantic action blockbusters that flood the multiplex. A lot of the time, however, you will never notice the implementations of these effects in movies, like changing the color of street signs in "West Side Story" or "Licorice Pizza" in post-production to fit the time periods they are set in, or that almost all the sheep in "Brokeback Mountain" were CG (my personal favorite).

When you...

The post The Northman's Use Of CGI Was A Compromise For Robert Eggers appeared first on /Film.

To craft the looks of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” costume designer and frequent collaborator Mark Bridges turned to references including high school yearbooks and store catalogs that showed how middle-class residents of the San Fernando Valley might have looked in 1973.

“The yearbooks would verify we were on the right track and were incredibly valuable. I’m kind of a method costume designer,” Bridges jokes of his approach, which also had him leafing through offerings from Sears and Montgomery Ward.

Alana Haim plays Alana, a 25- year-old who still lives with her parents and sisters and embodies the period with her extremely 1973 white Peter Pan collars and halter tops. Bridges felt the character would borrow clothes from her two sisters, and eagle-eyed viewers will notice a scene where one of them wears an outfit that is later worn by Alana.

With Cooper Hoffman’s Gary, a 15-year-old going on...

Soon after the nominees were announced for the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards, our forum posters (many of whom are industry insiders) unleashed their opinions on the performances that were recognized and those that were snubbed. When it came to the feature film nominations, folks were most vocal in lamenting the omission of Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”) and fuming over the inclusions of several supporting men, especially Bradley Cooper (“Licorice Pizza”) and Jared Leto (“House of Gucci”). Debates also raged as some users celebrated the multiple nominations bestowed upon “Belfast” and “House of Gucci” while others denounced them.

Below is just a sampling of our readers’ savage SAG Awards reactions regarding the nominees in the six film categories. Take a look, then jump in if you’re brave enough. The film and TV winners will be revealed on February 27 during a live show that will be simulcast on TBS and TNT. No host has yet been announced.

In 2021 the BAFTA Awards upended its nominating system and brought back longlists in an effort to increase viewership of all the submitted films. The 2022 BAFTA Awards longlists were revealed on January 12. “Don’t Look Up” and “West Side Story” each earned 15 mentions; “Belfast” and “The Power of the Dog” are at 14; and “House of Gucci” is on 13; “Dune” and “No Time to Die” have 12; “Licorice Pizza” is at 11; and “Last Night in Soho” has 10. Scroll down to see the semi-finalists for the 2022 BAFTA Awards nominations.

In the recently concluded round one (which ran from Dec. 10 to Jan. 4), academy members ranked their top 15 films; the 15 with the most votes overall were longlisted. Members also took part in voting in their respective chapters. In most categories, the top 15 vote getters make the cut. However for the directing and acting categories there is an an added step. For these five races, a jury drawn...

The Screen Actors Guild nominations will be announced on Wednesday, January 12, which leaves precious little time for you to make or update your predictions at Gold Derby. Our senior editors Marcus James Dixon, Daniel Montgomery and Denton Davidson recently got together for a last-minute 2022 SAG Awards predictions panic video in which we discuss who will be nominated (and win) in all of the film and TV categories. Do You think any of our picks are worthy of sending us to the loony bin? Watch the editors’ slugfest above.

For Best Film Ensemble, the group agrees with the overall Gold Derby odds that “Belfast,” “The Power of the Dog,” “West Side Story” and “Don’t Look Up” will earn cast bids. However, they each have something different rounding out their personal top-five lists. Dixon thinks “Licorice Pizza” will squeak in, while Montgomery picks “Coda” and Davidson chooses “The Harder They Fall.”

SEEall...

After becoming the first movie to gross a billion dollars at the global box office since the pandemic began and only the 11th to make $600 million in North America, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is already a massive phenomenon. It’s not just among the top three movie openings of all time, it’s been doing that sort of business as a global pandemic heads into its third year.

It doesn’t take long for a movie that is so popular to start inspiring calls for it to be considered for Oscars, including Best Picture. It’s little surprise that Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios have started campaigning the film for awards. Marvel head Kevin Feige even compared the latest “Spider-Man” to the conclusion of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which swept the Oscars in 2003: “In the way ‘The Return of the King’ was sort of...

For art-house movie theaters, already struggling during the pandemic, the wide expansion of Paul Thomas Anderson’s critically acclaimed Licorice Pizza on December 25 was seen as a godsend. When the film opened in late November in just four locations, it generated the year’s best per-screen average and continued to show staying power in its subsequent weeks in limited release. But last Tuesday, just as theaters were starting to promote their Christmas opening of the film, United Artists Releasing pulled it from hundreds of locations, inciting at least one exhibitor to cry “bah, humbug!” Originally set to be released […]

The post For Licorice Pizza’s Christmas Release, Some Theaters Left Out in the Cold first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” and Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” dominated the 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards, picking up a leading 11 nominations.

“Belfast,” Branagh’s most personal film to date, scored in Best Picture, Best Director and Original Screenplay categories. The cast also earned nominations including Best Supporting Actor nods for both Jamie Dornan and Ciarán Hinds, Best Supporting Actress for Caitríona Balfe, Best Young Actor/Actress for Jude Hill, and Best Acting Ensemble. The film also racked up nominations for cinematography, production design and editing.

Despite being one of the last films to screen for critics, Spielberg’s “West Side Story” landed nods for Best Picture and for its direction. Ariana Debose and Rita Moreno nabbed nominations for Best Supporting Actress, while newcomer Rachel Zegler is up for Best Young Actor/Actress. “West Side Story” also landed nominations for its ensemble, and nods for its screenplay, costume design,...

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” previously projected to expand on Christmas Day to around 2,000 theaters, will now open at fewer than half. United Artists informed hundreds of theaters this week, including many independents, that availability would be delayed.

The film spent its first two weeks in only four New York/Los Angeles theaters and showed the best limited performer since “1917” in 2019. It dropped only 22 percent in its second weekend, which attests to strong word of mouth. Even more significant is its draw for audiences under 35, unusual for a late year awards-appeal release.

Why the last-minute switch? UA president of distribution Erik Lomis is away from his office on a family matter and was unavailable for comment, but precedent for both this director’s films and other top awards contenders suggests this move represents faith in the film.

In the past decade, leading awards contenders that platformed on or...

Sunday Am Update: Without Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick in the marketplace, the Thanksgiving box office was much lighter than previous holidays, grossing an estimated $141.3M over 5-days, off 46% from 2019’s pre-pandemic holiday over the same period of time. Two family movies, Disney’s animated Encanto, which banked 52% of its $40.3M 5-day gross from Latino and Hispanic audiences, and Sony’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife which delivered $35.3M in its second weekend over Wednesday-Sunday, were the top destinations for families. Worldwide, Encanto hit its global studio projection with a $70M start.

For our previous updates of the Thanksgiving box office, click here.

If Disney CEO Bob Chapek is wondering whether families went to the movie theaters or not, the answer is yes, they did. It’s just that there was another family movie on the marquee doing business. Box office analytics company EntTelligence clocked that over five days, 3.7M moviegoers saw...

At the first theaters to host Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” tickets go on sale Friday morning, November 12. The film opens November 26 in New York and Los Angeles only, in four locations — and all will screen the film exclusively in 70mm.

The three New York theaters (AMC Lincoln Square and City Cinemas Village East in Manhattan and the Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn) and a single Los Angeles site (the Regency Village in Westwood) will show the film in 70mm. Very few theaters can present films in this format and Los Angeles lost one option with the closure of Arclight Hollywood. The Village is a vintage single-screen theater with more than 1,300 seats; its distinctive exterior was a key location in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Before multi-screen complexes became the norm, it often hosted exclusive initial engagements.

“Licorice Pizza” will expand to a wide national release of approximately 2,000 theaters on...

Paul Thomas Anderson, chronicler of the dark heart of America in films like “There Will Be Blood” and parties that stretch to near dawn in “Boogie Nights,” is a morning person. He’s up by 5, in bed by 9 or 9:30, and rises before the sun, when he tinkers with scripts, watches movies, or just enjoys a few hours alone with his thoughts before he wakes up the four kids he has with Maya Rudolph.

“It’s my quiet time,” says Anderson, who is interrupting that sojourn to speak with a Variety reporter about his new film, “Licorice Pizza,” a warmhearted story about growing up in the San Fernando Valley. “I have a lot of siblings, and the only time to have any alone time was to wake up before anybody else. The only problem is by 1 o’clock you’re wasted.”

He’s excited but nervous to discuss his new film,...

After a decidedly lax few weeks at the specialty box office, new entries from reliable auteurs Wes Anderson and Edgar Wright have given the market a lift, even as festival hits from Pablo Larraín and Joanna Hogg failed to light up the big screen during their recent theatrical premieres. Both Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” and Wright’s “Last Night in Soho” — each set for 2020 premieres, before being pushed back due to the Covid-19 pandemic — have enjoyed strong early play, already entering our list of the top 10 best-performing indie and specialty films of the year.

Another unexpected top 10 entry: Scott Cooper’s horror thriller “Antlers,” another Searchlight Pictures holdover from its initial 2020 slate, which is trailing just behind “Last Night in Soho.” It’s the second horror-centric entry on the list from Searchlight, clocking in just above David Bruckner’s “The Night House,” which the studio released in August after...

There was a special delivery this week with the trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson‘s eagerly awaited “Licorice Pizza,” which could be Bradley Cooper‘s ticket to Oscar finally? Maybe? Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng are here to discuss PTA’s latest, BCoop’s chances and more.

One of us immediately slotted Cooper into their No. 1 spot for Best Supporting Actor after the trailer dropped. Cooper plays Jon Peters, the real-life producer of such films as 1976’s “A Star Is Born,” starring his then-girlfriend Barbra Streisand (in case you completely missed that in the trailer). It sounds juicy on paper, but “Licorice Pizza” sounds like it could be mainly a two-hander between the two main characters, Gary Valentine and Alana Kane (Alana Haim) with a vast collection of colorful supporting players who just pop in here and there.

See Oscar Experts Typing: Will ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Melvin Van Peebles. (Courtesy of Shadow & Act)We're deeply saddened by the news that the great Melvin Van Peebles has died. A filmmaker, director, novelist, playwright, and composer, Van Peebles was a pioneer of independent cinema, best known for his films Watermelon Man (1970) and Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971). In an official statement, Van Peebles' son, filmmaker Mario Van Peebles, states: "He was a pioneer, a maverick and one cool cat." Exiled Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi has published an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, discussing the struggles faced by refugees whose films are censored, banned, and restricted from being shown to the Academy. Ghobadi proposes "a refugee team of filmmakers; they can have their works viewed by a jury and eventually one movie can be chosen from the refugee team.

The 47th Annual Annie Awards nominations were led by Disney blockbuster sequel “Frozen 2” and Laika’s Yeti adventure “Missing Link” with eight nominations apiece, followed by Netflix’s “Klaus” with seven and DreamWorks’ “How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World” and Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” with six, which all landed Best Feature nominations. Also racking up a surprising six nominations for Netflix was lauded indie nominee, French import “I Lost My Body.”

Not bad for animation awards newbie Netflix.

Scoring four nods were DreamWorks’ and Pearl Studios’ other Yeti entry, “Abominable,” and GKids’ Japanese Oscar entry “Weathering with You.” Landing two nominations each were Blue Sky’s “Spies in Disguise” (Fox), Illumination’s “The Secret Life of Pets 2” (from Universal), and “The Addams Family” (United Artists).

Left out of the fray were GKids’ Cambodian drama, “Funan,” and Disney’s “live-action” remake “The Lion King,” which did not land...

KollywoodTo be directed by Venkatesh Kumar, the film will be bankrolled under the Studio 18 banner.Digital NativeDigital NativeNational award winning actor Bobby Simha has signed a new project. The star is currently busy with the Rajinikanth starrer Petta, in which he plays a crucial role. According to the latest reports, Bobby Simha has inked a deal to star in a new Tamil film titled The Raging Tiger. To be directed by Venkatesh Kumar, the film will be bankrolled under the Studio 18 banner. The Raging Tiger will be based on the life of Ltte chief Velupillai Prabhakaran with Bobby Simha essaying the lead role. The film is in the pre-production stage and will go on the floors soon. It may be noted here that quite a few films on the life of the Ltte chief have been made in the past so it needs to be seen how different The Raging Tiger will turn out.

Web seriesThis web series presented by Karthik Subbaraj is a dark tale with characters who are new to Tamil content.Nandhu SundaramKallachirippu, the new web series presented by director Karthik Subbaraj which has released online on ZEE5, is a thriller involving the accidental killing of a husband by his wife (Amrutha Srinivasan) and her slow, painful descent into a moral cesspool. The content is for “mature” audiences and the F-word and its Tamil equivalent are liberally sprinkled across scenes -- and in at least one song (Episode 4 - Pallavarayan - Snicker Me Not). When HBO began airing in the Us, actors took pleasure in cussing; many still do. And, Roju, the writer-director of the show, puts to full use the liberties a web series offers -- quickly and brazenly. To establish himself as a master of the medium, he goes in for all the wizardry offered by a non-linear screenplay.

Orange is the New Black, Season 2, Episode 1: “Thirsty Bird”

Written by Tara Herrmann and Jenji Kohan

Directed by Jodie Foster

Orange is the New Black, Season 2, Episode 2-4: “Looks Blue, Tastes Red”, “Hugs Can Be Deceiving”, “A Whole Other Hole”

Written by Jenji Kohan (Episode 2), Lauren Morelli (Episode 3), Sian Heder (Episode 4)

Directed by Michael Trim (Episode 2, 3), Phil Abraham (Episode 4)

Orange is the New Black, Season 2, Episode 5-7: “Low Self Esteem City”, “You Also Have A Pizza”, “Comic Sans”

Written by Nick Jones (Episode 5), Stephen Falk (Episode 6), Sara Hess (Episode 7)

Directed by Andrew McCarthy (Episode 5,7), Allison Anders (Episode 6)

Premiered Friday, June 6th on Netflix Instant

Although the anti-hero television dramas of the past have been almost consistently compelling, there is a tendency for it to be nothing but a boy’s club that girls aren’t allowed into. Orange is the New Black, however, is a breath of...

Recently, Wamg was treated to a delicious Italian meal with real-life (former) mobster Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Lorenzo, and several other members of the press, to celebrate the release of The Family on DVD. Check out some of the dinner chat below!

Here is a little background on Ronnie Lorenzo:

According to the newspapers, Ronnie was “allegedly” associated with the Bonanno family. The Bonanno crime family is known to be one of the ‘five families’ within the Mafia that controls organized crime actvities in New York. Aside from his ‘family’, Ronnie has been around ‘street guys’ for his entire life since he was just 12 years old.

Ronnie was born on January 4th 1946 in New York City. When he was very young Ronnie was in the Firework Business, then he opened after-hours clubs (many with gambling) around the city. He was also involved in a few discos… and the last club he owned...

Emma Roberts is figuring it out. Julia Roberts' niece, the daughter of actor Eric Roberts, the 22-year-old star of "Adult World" is grappling with living in the world as, well, an adult. When NextMovie caught up with Roberts at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City the day after the film's premiere, the actress was picking at a bunless burger and a heap of fries, bemoaning the blisters her heels had given her the night before. "Someone should do a shoe break-in service where they break in your shoes," she said.

Shoe problems aside, Roberts' career is standing tall: She's graduated from her "Nancy Drew" and "Aquamarine" kiddie film days to solidly received indies like "Adult World" and "It's Kind of a Funny Story," and a memorable supporting role as Ke$ha-like Riley in Rashida Jones' "Celeste and Jesse Forever." Her career is maturing as she does.

We don’t have to tell you that Rebel Wilson is our unofficial girlfriend, right? Who else is both a Critics Choice nominee for Pitch Perfect and the only actress who has ever added visible pubes to her VMAs outfit? We’ve loved the 26-year-old Aussie since she first poured frozen peas on her infected tattoo in last year’s Bridesmaids, and our love has just kept growing the more we see her: killing it as Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect, breaking our heart in Bachelorette and generally being a delight every time she appears on a late-night talk show. Which is a lot, because she is #11 on our list of 12 Celebs Who Dominated 2012.

Dominating Moment: When Pitch Perfect came out on October 5 and introduced us to Fat Amy, every critic had Rebel Wilson’s name laughing out of their lips. Past their lips? Laughing out of their mouths? Either way,...

Paul Fenech comedy Housos Vs. Authority has grossed $554,003 on its opening weekend at cinemas.

Housos Vs. Authority, inspired by Sbs TV series Housos, follows Franky, Shazza, Dazza and their mates as they attempt to sprinkle Shazza's mum's ashes on top of Australia's most famous icon. The film, distributed by Paramount and Transmission Films, opened on 151 screens, giving it a screen average of $3485.

The performance is far shy of Fat Pizza, Fenech's last feature film comedy which grossed $1.16 million on its opening weekend in April 2003. That film, distributed by Roadshow, was based on the successful Sbs series Pizza and went on to gross $3.65 million at the box office.

Meanwhile, Australian documentary Paul Kelly: Stories of Me continued to perform well. It lifted 48 per cent in its third weekend, taking $139,241 across seven screens. It is likely to become the second Australian documentary to enter the top 10 box office list alongside Storm Surfers 3D.