Notizie

The trailer has launched for Adar Shafran’s drama-comedy “Running on Sand,” which is being sold worldwide by Picture Tree International, ahead of the Israeli film’s international premiere at Palm Springs Film Festival (Jan. 4-15). It is released in Israel on Thursday by United King Films.

The film centers on Aumari (played by Chansela Mongoza), a young Eritrean refugee living in Israel, who is about to be deported back to his home country. After a spontaneous escape attempt at the airport, he is mistaken for a Nigerian striker, who is supposed to arrive at the same time.

Aumari seizes the opportunity and benefits from his new identity as the key acquisitions for the team of Maccabi Netanya. Despite the absence of any soccer talent, he is able to cover-up and heal the divisions of his struggling team, while a tender romantic bond with the charmingly unconventional daughter of the patriarchal team owner is growing.

Israeli director Rama Burshtein-Shai focuses on an unlikely attraction in her eight-episode series “Fire Dance,” now debuting at TV festival Series Mania in Lille, France. Faigie (Mia Ivryn) is just 18 when she starts paying closer attention to Nathan, thirtysomething married son of their ultra-Orthodox community’s leader. Produced by Yes TV, Firma Productions and Kuma Studios, it has Yes Studios handling international sales.

“I don’t think it’s a story about impossible love. It’s a story about how you deal with passion,” Burshtein-Shai tells Variety. “You can get burnt or you can shut it all down, so what will you do?”

Arguing she is “all about hope” in her work, Burshtein-Shai doesn’t shy away from despair in “Fire Dance,” opening with Faigie’s suicide attempt. When Nathan helps her, it marks the beginning of their bond.

“Everything changes in that moment. She allows herself to count on him,...

Exclusive: Here’s a strong first English-language trailer for director Rama Burshtein’s (Fill The Void) anticipated TV debut Fire Dance, which has just been announced for Series Mania’s main competition.

The story of impossible love set in a tight-knit ultra-Orthodox religious community heralds from Shtisel, Fauda and Your Honor outfit Yes Studios. Launch is lined up for spring of this year.

Laced with fantasy, the seven-part series tells the coming-of-age story of a troubled young woman, Faigie, who’s grown up in a broken home and falls passionately in love with Nathan, the 35-year-old married son of the leader of the ultra-orthodox community where they both live. Nathan is also the owner of a workshop which employs seamstresses who live with mental illness, run by Faigie’s mother, Rayzee. Following a failed suicide attempt, Faigie becomes part of Nathan’s household, helping to run the home while Nathan’s wife,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSHong Sang-soo's The Novelist's Film (2022)The competition slate has been announced for this year's Berlinale, featuring the latest by Hong Sang-soo, Claire Denis, Rithy Panh, Phyllis Nagy, Ulrich Seidl, and more. Find the rest of the lineup here. In an interview with Variety, executive Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian discuss their plans for the festival to be an in-person event. Actor Michel Subor has died at the age of 86. Subor captivated audiences with his performances in films like Jean-Luc Godard's Le petit soldat (1960)—he also was the narrator for François Truffaut's Jules and Jim (1962)—and a number of films by Claire Denis, from Beau travail (1999) and L'intrus (2004) to White Material (2009) and Bastards (2013). We recommend reading Yasmina Price's excellent essay on L'intrus and Subor's distinct historiography as an actor. Recommended VIEWINGThe...

Rama Burshtein, the critically acclaimed New York-born Israeli filmmaker of “Fill The Void,” has teamed with Yes Studios on her TV drama debut, “Fire Dance.” Now in post, the show will be a Yes Studios original series and will be launching at the end of 2021 or early 2022.

“Fire Dance,” written and directed by Burshtein, is a vivid tale of impossible love set in a tight-knit ultra-Orthodox religious sect. Laced with fantasy, the seven-part series tells the coming-of-age story of a troubled young woman, Faigie, who’s grown up in a broken home and falls passionately in love with Nathan, the 35-year-old married son of the leader of the ultra-orthodox community in which they both live. Nathan is also the owner of a workshop which employs seamstresses who live with mental illness, run by Faigie’s mother, Rayzee.

Following a failed suicide attempt, Faigie becomes part of Nathan’s household, helping...

Exclusive: Production is under way on Israel’s biggest-budget TV drama series, Valley Of Tears, we can reveal.

The ambitious, under-the-radar project set against the 1973 Yom Kippur War, stars Israeli mega-star Lior Ashkenazi (Foxtrot) and comes from in-demand Israeli writers Ron Leshem (Euphoria) and Amit Cohen (False Flag).

Directed and co-created by Yaron Zilberman (A Late Quartet), and based on true events, the Hebrew-language, eight-part miniseries shepherded by WestEnd Films depicts the 1973 Yom Kippur War through the eyes of young combatants. It will follow the stories of three individuals swept away by the ravages of war, and culminates in a climactic battle. We understand each episode will cost in the region of $1M.

Valley of Tears stars Footnote and Big Bad Wolves actor Ashkenazi, Aviv Alush (The Shack), Lee Biran, Shahar Tavoch, Joy Rieger and Ofer Hayoun (Euphoria). A handful of Israel’s most prominent novelists reportedly took part in...

Literary adaptions and beloved franchises abound in the incoming May arrivals to Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix. Amazon alone has acquired the screen revivals of multiple classic novels, including renditions of Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist,” and Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express.”

Also coming to Amazon and Hulu this May is the entire “Rocky” franchise, while Hulu has clinched all six “A Nightmare on Elm Street” movies. Netflix, meanwhile, will add scattered saga installments, including the original “Shrek,” “Scream 2,” and “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.”

A mix of original and acquired TV shows are also set to hit the streaming services next month. The new Showtime series “Patrick Melrose,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch, will stream on Hulu, while Amazon Prime will debut its original animated series “Rocky & Bullwinkle.” Also incoming are past seasons of shows like “Scandal,” “Orphan Black,” and “Running Wild With Bear Grylls.

New titles available to stream with your Amazon Prime membership next month include Season 5 of BBC’s “Orphan Black,” and several new Amazon Original series, including “Last Flag Flying,” “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” and “Diablo Guardian.”

Movies available include 2017’s “Baywatch,” “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” and “Rocky” I through V. Beginning May 1, you’ll also be able to rent “Annihilation,” “12 Strong,” James Corden’s “Peter Rabbit” and “Fifty Shades Freed.”

See the full list below. For our May Hulu roundup, head over here.

Also Read: 'Westworld' Creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy's New Sci-Fi Series 'The Peripheral' Lands at Amazon

Available May 1

3 Ways to Get a Husband (2009)

40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)

A Very Brady Sequel (1996)

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

Baby Boom (1987)

Back to School (1986)

Bad News Bears (1976)

Barefoot (2014)

Beyond Borders (2003)

Blame (2017)

Brother Nature (2016)

Bull Durham (1988)

Cool World (1992)

Cyborg (1989)

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Dr. No (1962)

Eight Men Out (1988)

Elizabethtown (2005)

Evolution (2001)

Foxfire (1996)

Frailty (2001)

From Russia with Love (1964)

Gator (1976)

Ghost Town (2008)

Goat (2016)

Goldfinger (1964)

Holy Air (2017)

Hot Boyz (2000)

Immigration Tango (2011)

Insomnia (2002)

Iron Eagle IV: On the Attack (1999)

Kalifornia (1993)

Live and Let Die (1973)

Love Is A Gun (1994)

Also Read: Amazon in Talks to Develop Series About Young Moammar Gadhafi's Rise to Power in Libya

Manhunter (1986)

Men with Brooms (2002)

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Never Say Never Again (1983)

New Rose Hotel (1999)

Ninja Masters (2009)

Octopussy (1983)

Outcast (2014)

Perfect Score (2004)

Perfume: Story of a Murderer (2006)

Psychopaths (2017)

Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)

Rocky (1976)

Rocky II (1979)

Rocky III (1982)

Rocky IV (1985)

Rocky V (1990)

Sabrina (1995)

Saturday Church (2017)

School Ties (1992)

Set Up (2011)

Starting Out in the Evening (2007)

Strategic Air Command (1955)

The Benchwarmers (2006)

The Benefactor (2015)

The Box (2007)

The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)

The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)

The Crow (1994)

The Elephant Man (1980)

The Golden Compass (2007)

The Hangman (1959)

The House I Live In (2013)

The Hurt Locker (2008)

The Last Castle (2001)

Also Read: Amazon Studios Shakes Up Under Jennifer Salke: Albert Cheng Named Co-Head of TV

The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

The Saint (1997)

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Thief (1981)

Thirst Street (2017)

Thunderball (1965)

Twisted (2004)

Untamed Heart (1993)

Wild Thornberrys (2002)

Wish Upon a Star (1996)

Wonder Boys (2000)

You Only Live Twice (1967)

Aristocrats: Limited Series

Banished: Limited Series

Charles II – The Power and The Passion: Limited Series

Daniel Deronda: Limited Series

David Copperfield: Limited Series

Desperate Romantics: Limited Series

Ivanhoe: Limited Series

Jane Eyre (1983): Limited Series

Jane Erye (2006): Limited Series

Life in Squares: Limited Series

Little Dorrit: Limited Series

Lorna Doone: Limited Series

Love in A Cold Climate: Limited Series

Mansfield Park: Limited Series

Martin Chuzzlewit: Limited Series

Middlemarch: Limited Series

Oliver Twist (1985): Limited Series

Oliver Twist (2007): Limited Series

Our Mutual Friend: Limited Series

Pride and Prejudice: Limited Series

Sense and Sensibility (1981): Limited Series

Sense and Sensibility (2008): Limited Series

Sinbad: Limited Series

Tess of the D’Urbervilles: Limited Series

The Buccaneers: Limited Series

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Limited Series

The Lost World: Limited Series

The Office: Limited Series

The Pickwick Papers: Limited Series

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall: Limited Series

The Way We Live Now: Limited Series

Tom Jones: Limited Series

Vanity Fair (1998): Limited Series

Available May 4

Last Flag Flying

Available May 5

Warrior (2011)

Diablo Guardian (Prime Original series), Season 1

Available May 11

Rocky & Bullwinkle (Prime Original series), Season 1

Available May 12

Baywatch (2017)

Still Mine (2012)

Orphan Black, Season 5

Available May 15

How to Be a Latin Lover (2017)

Available May 18

You Are Wanted (Prime Original series), Season 2

Available May 19

Beatriz at Dinner (2017)

Shooters (2003)

Available May 22

Dino Dana (Prime Original series), Season 2

Available May 23

Beast of Burden (2018)

Available May 25

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Prime Original series), Season 1

Available May 27

Just Getting Started (2017)

The Wedding Plan (2016)

Available May 29

Howards End, Season 1

Read original story Here’s What You Can Stream With Your Amazon Prime Membership in May At TheWrap...

Next month, enjoy plenty of sports-related flicks with the addition of the Oscar-nominated “I, Tonya,” on May 31 and all the “Rocky” movies on May 1.

Other highlights include the Hulu original series “All Night,” out May 11, which chronicles teens trying to make their high school dreams come true during an all-night grad party, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s 2017 remake of “Baywatch,” available May 12.

Catch Season 4 of FX’s “The Strain” on May 16 and the complete first season of TNT’s “Claws” on May 11.

Also Read: Kyle Chandler Replaces George Clooney as Lead in Hulu's 'Catch-22'

See everything that’s coming and leaving below:

Available May 1

3 Ways to Get a Husband (2010)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors (1987)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)

A Very Brady Sequel (1996)

The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)

Baby Boom (1987)

Back to School (1986)

Barefoot (2014)

201 (2017)

The Box (2009)

Booty Call (1997)

Breakable You (2018)

Bride and Prejudice (2004)

Bull Durham (1988)

The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)

The Crow (1994)

The Crow II: City of Angels (1996)

The Crow III: Salvation (2000)

The Crow IV: Wicked Prayer (2005)

Demolition Man (1993)

Dirty Pretty Things (2002)

Eight Men Out (1988)

Elizabethtown (2005)

Emperor (2012)

Executive Decision (1996)

Foxfire (1996)

Gator (1976)

Godzilla (1998)

The Hangman (2017)

Also Read: Hulu, Spotify Launch $13 Bundled Subscriptions

Here to be Heard: The Story of the Slits (2017)

Hot Boyz (2000)

The House I Live In (2012)

Immigration Tango (2010)

Iron Eagle IV: On the Attack (1995)

Kalifornia (1993)

Lost in Vagueness (2017)

Love is a Gun (1994)

Malena (2000)

Man of the House (2005)

Manhunter (1986)

Mansfield Park (1999)

The Matrix (1999)

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Men in Black II (2002)

Men with Brooms (2002)

Never Back Down (2008)

New Guy (2002)

New Rose Hotel (1998)

Ninja Masters (2009)

No Greater Love (2015)

The Pallbearer (1996)

Pink Panther 2 (2009)

Pret-a-Porter (1994)

Priest (2011)

Race for your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)

Rocky (1976)

Rocky II (1979)

Rocky III (1982)

Rocky IV (1985)

Rocky V (1990)

School Ties (1992)

Set Up (2011)

She’s All That (1999)

Starting out the Evening (2007)

Strategic Air Command (1955)

The Swan Princess Christmas (2012)

Also Read: Hugh Laurie Joins Hulu 'Catch-22' Adaptation With George Clooney

The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure (1998)

Thief (1981)

To Rome with Love (2012)

Traffic (2000)

Untamed Heart (1993)

Valkyrie (2008)

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)

Available May 5

Drunk History: Complete Season 5A (Comedy Central)

Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin: Complete Season 1 (Sunrise)

The Longest Week (2014)

Warrior (2011)

Available May 6

I’m Dying Up Here: Season 2 Premiere (*Showtime)

Available May 7

Star vs. The Forces of Evil: Complete Season 3 (Disney Xd)

Available May 8

Running Wild with Bear Grylls: Season 4 Premiere (NBC)

Available May 9

T@gged: Complete Season 2 (AwesomenessTV)

Available May 11

All Night: Complete Season 1 (Hulu Original)

Claws: Complete Season 1 (TNT)

Bleeding Heart (2015)

Into the Fade (2018)

Available May 12

Patrick Melrose: Series Premiere (*Showtime)

Baywatch (2017)

Frank Serpico (2017)

Jane (2017)

Still Mine (2012)

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

Available May 13

Tonight She Comes (2016)

Available May 15

Animals (2015)

How to be a Latin Lover (2017)

It’s A Disaster (2012)

Periods. (2012)

Soul of a Banquet (2014)

Take Every Wave (2017)

The Other F Word (2011)

The Snapper (1993)

The Strange Ones (2018)

Available May 16

12 Monkeys: Complete Season 3 (Syfy)

The Strain: Complete Season 4 (FX)

Knights of the Damned (2018)

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

Available May 19

Beatriz at Dinner (2017)

Shooters (2002)

Available May 21

American Folk (2017)

Neat (2017)

Available May 23

Half Magic (2018)

Available May 24

Curvature (2017)

Available May 25

Hollywood Game Night: Red Nose Dat Special (NBC)

Mad to be Normal (2017)

Available May 27

The Wedding Plan (2016)

Available May 30

America’s Got Talent: Season 13 Premiere (NBC)

World of Dance: Season 2 Premiere (NBC)

Available May 31

American Ninja Warrior: Season 10 Premiere (NBC)

I, Tonya (2017)

Please Stand By (2018)

Rain Man (1988)

And here’s everything that’s leaving:

May 31

1984 (1985)

The Accused (1988)

A Feast at Midnight (1997)

Antitrust (2001)

The Big Wedding (2013)

Boulevard (2015)

Branded (2012)

Breakdown (1997)

Captivity (2007)

Chaplin (1992)

Diablo (2016)

The Doors (1991)

Earth Girls are Easy (1988)

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

Finder’s Fee (2003)

Fluke (1995)

Forces of Nature (1999)

Fred: The Movie (2010)

Fred: Night of the Living Fred (2011)

Fred 3: Camp Fred (2012)

The Glass Shield (1994)

Glitter (2001)

Gordy (1995)

Happythankyoumoreplease (2010)

Harriot the Spy (1996)

Hart’s War (2002)

He Named Me Malala (2015)

Hesher (2010)

High School (2010)

Honey (2003)

Honey 2 (2011)

Jack Goes Boating (2010)

Jennifer 8 (1992)

John Q (2002)

Kingpin (1996)

Love Crimes (1992)

Show of Force (1990)

Manhattan (1979)

Manny (2015)

The Million Dollar Hotel (2001)

National Lampoon’s Dirty Movie (2011)

National Lampoon’s Dorm Daze 2: College @ Sea (2006)

No Stranger Than Love (2016)

Outlaws and Angels (2016)

The Pick-up Artist (1987)

Regarding Henry (1991)

The Secret of N.I.M.H. (1982)

Southie (1998)

Sprung (1997)

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)

Read original story Here’s Everything That’s Coming to and Leaving Hulu in May At TheWrap...

A widower struggles to reclaim his child in this authentic and affectionate portrait of New York’s Orthodox Jewish community

This terrifically authentic look at life inside New York’s Yiddish-speaking Hasidic community is a bittersweet treat – a vibrantly engaging portrait of down-to-earth lives that is affectionate, amusing and ultimately very moving. A million miles removed from such peripherally comparable fare as Sidney Lumet’s A Stranger Among Us or Boaz Yakin’s A Price Above Rubies, Joshua Z Weinstein’s fiction-feature debut gets right under the skin of its characters, gently unpicking themes of social conformity and religious responsibility with melancholy wit and wry, tragicomic insight.

Populated by first-time performers playing close-to-home roles, it combines the poetry of John Cassavetes with the grit of Ken Loach, along with a touch of the cultural intimacy that Rama Burshtein brought to Fill the Void and Through the Wall.

Continue reading...

In 2017, we’ve seen five specialized subtitled films gross over $1 million. But the languages aren’t French, or German, or from anywhere in western Europe: The winners are Turkish, Farsi, Yiddish, and Hebrew.

These films came from Turkey, Iran, Israel, and even the United States, and played at conventional “art house” theaters (as opposed to releases from India, China, Mexico, and elsewhere, which aim at ethnically similar audiences).

Once upon a time, $100 million and more (in adjusted grosses) was possible for films like “La Dolce Vita,” “Life Is Beautiful,” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”: more recently, “Amelie,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and “The Motorcycle Diaries” easily surpassed $20 million. However, over the last few decades we’ve seen the subtitled market shift from decline to near collapse.

Read More:Why French Cinema Faces an Uncertain Future in America

What happened this year shows some revival in the market, but with some twists.

As evidenced by her resonant drama Fill The Void, writer/director Rama Burshtein knows how to craft first rate storytelling with an impending marriage as its backdrop. With The Wedding Plan we follow the misadventures of Michal (a standout performance from Noa Koler), a strong minded and stubborn woman who is determined to get [...]...

Search for Mr. Right when the Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh romantic comedy The Wedding Plan arrived on Digital HD August 22 and will arrive on DVD September 5 from Lionsgate. From award-winning Irsaeli writer and director Rama Burshtein (Fill the Void) comes the Venice Film Festival® Best Picture 2016 nominee and New York Times Critic Pick starring Noa Koler as Michal, an Israeli woman looking for love after her fiancé calls off the wedding with only a month’s notice. “Charming, humorous and enjoyable” (The Hollywood Reporter), The Wedding Plan DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98. Now you can own The Wedding Plan on DVD. We Are Movie Geeks has four copies to give away. All you have to do is leave a comment answering this question: What is your favorite movie with the word ‘Wedding’ in the title? (mine is The Wedding Crashers!). It’s so easy! Good Luck!

Our resident VOD expert tells you what's new to rent and/or own this week via various Digital HD providers such as cable Movies On Demand, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play and, of course, Netflix. Cable Movies On Demand: Same-day-as-disc releases, older titles and pretheatrical Megan Leavey (biographical drama; Kate Mara, Ramon Rodriguez, Tom Felton, Bradley Whitford, Will Patton, Edie Falco, Common; rated PG-13) Rough Night (comedy; Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, Zoë Kravitz, Paul W. Downs, Ty Burrell, Demi Moore; includes gag reel; rated R) Paris Can Wait (romantic comedy; Diane Lane, Alec Baldwin; rated PG) The Wedding Plan (romantic comedy; Noa Koler, Oz Zehavi; rated PG) Lost in Paris (romantic comedy; Fiona Gordon...

Read More...

Search for Mr. Right when the Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh romantic comedy The Wedding Plan arrived on Digital HD August 22 and will arrive on DVD September 5 from Lionsgate. From award-winning Irsaeli writer and director Rama Burshtein (Fill the Void) comes the Venice Film Festival® Best Picture 2016 nominee and New York Times Critic Pick starring Noa Koler as Michal, an Israeli woman looking for love after her fiancé calls off the wedding with only a month’s notice. “Charming, humorous and enjoyable” (The Hollywood Reporter), The Wedding Plan DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98.

The Wedding Plan is a poignant and funny romantic comedy about love, marriage, and faith in life’s infinite possibilities. Michal, blindsided by her fiancé’s decision to call off their wedding with only a month’s notice, is unwilling to return to single life. Michal decides to put her trust in fate...

As we march toward awards season, let.s take a look back at the best movies of 2017 so far. Guess what? Thrillers take the cake! Take a look at my favorite films of the year.so far.

Here are the runners-up (in no particular order):

Colossal

The Beguiled

It Comes at Night

Spider-Man: Homecoming

The Lego Batman Movie

I, Daniel Blake

John Wick: Chapter 2

My Scientology Movie

Okja

The Lovers

A United Kingdom

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

Risk

The Wedding Plan

Megan Leavey

What about the worst?

These films all have a common denominator . interesting premise but faltered at the end. From .Transformers: The Last Knight. to .Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,. the movies mentioned below showed some promise but then we all walked out of the theatres feeling empty! And I Really Hate That Feeling!!!!

Transformers: The Last Knight

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales...

The Year's First Half Is Over! But rather than wait for this "halfway mark" for year in review listicles we started at the end of the 1st quarter so you'll have to combine those lists (movies / actresses / actors) with the highlights from your host's April through June screenings for a complete "halfway mark" take. Got it? Unlike many critics orgs and the Oscars, The Film Experience believes that moviegoing is a 12 month long activity and each month can hold worthy efforts.  Here are 4 or 5 highlights of what we've seen the past three months per Oscar category in alpha order. How will they measure up to what's still to come?

Key movies I regret missing this quarter: Beatriz at Dinner, Hero, Gifted, Manifesto, and Their Finest

Picture and/or Director and/or Screenplay

(i couldn't decide which to cut so this first grouped selection is 6 wide)

Baby Driver (Edgar Wright)

The Big Sick...

Here are my favorite movies of the year, so far! What.s yours? Here.s my list (in no particular order):

Wonder Woman

Colossal

Logan

Get Out

The Beguiled

It Comes at Night

Baby Driver

Spider-Man: Homecoming

War for the Planet of the Apes

The Lego Batman Movie

The Big Sick

I, Daniel Blake

John Wick: Chapter 2

The Lost City of Z

My Scientology Movie

Okja

The Lovers

A United Kingdom

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

Risk

The Wedding Plan

Megan Leavey...

By Nathaniel R

The opening weekend for Transformers: The Last Knight was such a huge drop from the series past bows that they might want to use the last film's title The Age of Extinction rather than dumping more billions into keeping this franchise alive. Unless of course its overseas take continues to be ginormous. 

Weekend Box Office (June 23rd-25th)

W I D E  L I M I T E D 1. ...

Things are looking up at the specialty box office as two festival hits, Sundance breakout “The Big Sick” (Amazon/Lionsgate) and Sofia Coppola’s Cannes director-winner “The Beguiled” (Focus Features) both beat all the 2017 limited openings to date. With $87,000 and $60,000 per theater averages respectively, they both accomplished something only one platform film (“Cafe Society”) achieved all last summer. And they did so the same weekend in some of the same theaters.

This shows that core specialty audiences are starving for cinematic nourishment they aren’t getting from mainstream studio fare.

The two new films join “Beatriz at Dinner” (Roadside Attractions), which expanded well in its third week. A box office rebound for specialized non-mass-audience film is finally under way.

Opening

The Big Sick (Lionsgate) – Metacritic: 87; Festivals include: Sundance, South by Southwest, Seattle 2017

$435,000 in 5 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $87,000

Amazon strikes again with its $12-million Sundance acquisition marking the biggest limited opening of the year,...

At the specialty box office, reviews can have a huge impact. This weekend, “The Book of Henry” (Focus Features), Colin Trevorrow’s return to indie films, was scorched by critics and summoned only a mediocre start in 579 theaters ($1.4 million). On the other hand, the best per-theater-average came from “Hare Krishna” (Abramorama), a documentary the New York Times, normally critical in launching any specialized release, chose not to include among its reviews. It managed over $21,000 in one Manhattan theater.

While IFC’s Northern Ireland political story “The Journey” also delivered a surprisingly strong New York opening, the most encouraging news of the weekend was the impressive expansion for “Beatriz at Dinner” (Roadside Attractions).

Opening

The Book of Henry (Focus) – Metacritic: 28

$1,407,000 in 579 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $2,431

Trevorrow broke out with Sundance indie “Safety Not Guaranteed,” which grossed a healthy $4 million, followed by blockbuster “Jurassic World.” This anemic personal project will...

Fox Searchlight pushed Rachel Weisz melodrama “My Cousin Rachel” into national release this prime summer weekend, which boasts only one new wide studio opening. But the romantic mystery thriller failed to click with audiences.

On the other hand, Roadside Attractions kept Miguel Arteta’s Sundance hit “Beatriz at Dinner” in limited dates, where the edgy and compelling story of a mismatched dinner at a Southern California estate thrived in its first limited run. With a $30,000+ per theater average and a potential appeal beyond core art house audiences, this Salma Hayek starrer could make a significant impact in upcoming weeks.

Eleanor Coppola’s romance “Paris Can Wait” continues to lead wider releases, at a decent level for its theater break but significantly below such top 2016 crossover performers as “Love and Friendship” and “The Lobster” at this time.

Opening

My Cousin Rachel (Fox Searchlight) – Metacritic: 63

$954,000 in 523 theaters; PTA (per theater average):...

“Wonder Woman” captured the weekend zeitgeist with reviews as good as any new adult-appeal specialized opener — and gobbled up potential audience. But that’s not the sole reason the specialty box office went to hell this weekend.

“Churchill” (Cohen), with the pedigree of an arthouse crossover winner, went nationally in top theaters but failed to capture more than desultory business. A trio of niche releases showed some mid-level interest in New York and Los Angeles — “The Exception”(A24), “Letters from Baghdad” (Vitagraph), and “Band Aid”(IFC) — but none looks likely to cross over beyond the big-city arthouse market.

The scariest weekend news: the total lack of response to Ken Loach’s Cannes 2016 Palme d’Or-winner “I, Daniel Blake.” While it’s been a long wait after a year-end qualifying run, it’s shocking that the well-reviewed BAFTA-winner met with near total disinterest.

Last weekend’s top opener “Long Strange Trip...

This Memorial Day Weekend isn't on fire at the movies. Nobody much cares about Baywatch (which is neither exciting like an action movie or funny like a comedy, but can still be amply defined as an "action comedy") and a new Pirates of the Caribbean is getting only the usual flock of lemming moviegoers for an established franchise and no one else. This is, by a very wide margin, the worst opening for a Pirates sequels. Elsewhere in sequel land the news isn't much better. Alien Covenant is the least popular Alien film yet if you adjust for inflation (and dont count those Predator crossovers because why would you?). Will Wonder Woman turn things around next week for audience interest or is counterprogramming that Big Hollywood rarely does anymore what they actually needed to do this very summer?

In limited release, slightly better news. Two unconventional romcoms are performing pretty...

Art house releases were kept to a minimum this week, as the Cannes Film Festival comes to a close. Fighting against holdovers at the indie box office were Vertical Entertainment’s “Berlin Syndrome” and, in a two-screen release, Abramorama’s Grateful Dead documentary “Long Strange Trip.” “Long Strange Trip” loaded Deadheads into the two theaters where it screened, earning the highest PSA of the weekend with a total of $34,131. Among holdovers, Roadside Attractions’ “The Wedding Plan” was the standout, as it expanded to 95 screens and grossed an estimated $311,150. That pushes the film’s PSA up for its third frame, with an average.

This Memorial Day weekend at the specialty box office is dominated by niche releases without much crossover theatrical appeal, often available for home viewing. The strongest performer: Sundance entry “Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead” (Abramorama), which opened in two cities, combining Thursday night event shows and full-week dates to overcome its four-hour running time.

While “The Tree of Life,” “Moonrise Kingdom” and “Before Midnight” all opened on this date, since 2013 top distributors have chosen not to launch major releases over the three-day holiday.

June will bring some top releases to flesh out a slow schedule, including Sofia Coppola’s Cannes success “The Beguiled” (Focus Features). Cannes competition films from Bong Joon Ho (“Okja”) and Noah Baumbach (“The Meyerowitz Stories”) will hit Netflix and select day-and-date theaters in June, and sometime after that, respectively.

Netflix scored front-page movie-section reviews for their Brad Pitt starrer “War Machine...

When thirty-two-year-old Michal is blindsided by her fiancé, when he calls off their wedding barely a month before the scheduled date, the determined young woman decides to carry on with her preparations, trusting that fate will find her a suitable groom. Such is the setup for The Wedding Plan, one of the more unorthodox, yet wildly rewarding romantic comedies you may see this summer.

During the month following being prematurely left at the altar, Michal (played with irresistible charm by Noa Koler) must not only plan her wedding, but she also decides to put her happiness on the line to find someone special to spend the rest of her life with. She predictably encounters a few would-be suitors, having a couple near catastrophic dates along the way, and, of course, learns a few things about herself as well.

On the surface, The Wedding Plan is exactly the kind of movie...

We’re less than a week away from June, the big wedding month, so let’s head, not to the chapel, but to the multiplex to catch a new nuptials flick. This new one is about an ultra-determined bride who has set a deadline to walk down the aisle. The non-refundable deposit is down for the hall, the reception, and the facilities, but the only part of her plan that’s missing is the groom. Ah, another zany, frothy “rom-com”, much in the style of 27 Dresses and Bride Wars (perhaps Heigl, or Hudson are in this one). you would think. Well, you would be wrong. Sure there are flashes of humor, but this new film ties the wedding to a test of faith. For this new take on “the big day” is from Israel, and its heroine is an Orthodox Jew. There are no wacky hi-jinks involving cake tasting and...

This weekend, the entire specialized industry is huddled in Cannes in search of the next big things. On the home front, just three noteworthy films opened, each on a single Manhattan screen. Two of them, the Bryan Cranston-starring “Wakefield” and Steve James’ financial world set documentary “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” showed some life.

Eleanor Coppola’s “Paris Can Wait” had a promising second-weekend expansion, and looks to be the standout over the next month and more. Still, results remain minor after a couple post-awards months led by “Gifted” and “The Zookeeper’s Wife.”

Opening

Wakefield (IFC) – Metacritic: 60; Festivals include: Telluride, Toronto 2016

$14,120 in 1 theater: PTA (per theater average): $14,120

Bryan Cranston has become an omnipresent force in TV, Broadway, and features. This film, opening many months after its September festival premieres, “Wakefield” puts him front and center as a Manhattan law partner who zones out of his suburban life...

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy 2 kicked off the summer movie season in grand fashion last weekend, with an opening weekend of $145 million, far surpassing the $94.3 million take of the original Guardians of the Galaxy movie. This weekend, these intergalactic superheroes took on two new movies in wide release, Warner Bros. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and 20th Century Fox's Snatched, with Lowriders also managing to crack the top 10 in limited release. Still, none of these newcomers could come close to the superhero ensemble Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which had no trouble repeating with $63 million.

Box Office Mojo reports that this superhero sequel dropped 57% this weekend, playing in 4,347 theaters for a respectable $14,494 per-screen average. The $200 million budgeted movie has now taken in $246.1 million domestically and $630.5 million worldwide. After just two weekends, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 already quite close to surpassing both the domestic ($333.1 million) and worldwide take ($773.3 million) of its predecessor.

So-Cal car culture went into gear this weekend with the debut of Bh Tilt's Lowriders by Richard de Montreuil. The feature opened in 295 theaters, grossing $2.4M, but the highest PTA of the weekend goes to Sony Pictures Classics' Paris Can Wait, which opened in four locations, grossing almost $102K. Amazing Studios/Roadside Attractions opened The Wall in 541 theaters taking in over $891K, and Roadside took The Wedding Plan to two locations grossing $19,605. TWC widened 3 Ge…...

As specialized distributors head to Cannes, Eleanor Coppola’s French valentine “Paris Can Wait” (Sony Pictures Classics) scored with arthouse moviegoers. It’s only the fourth 2017 limited release to break the increasingly rare $20,000 per-theater-average mark.

These days, movies with older audience appeal are sustaining the market — and will likely form the core demo for similar available new films at Cannes. Eleanor Coppola (“Apocalypse Now” documentary “Heart of Darkness”) makes her narrative film debut at 81 with her semi-autobiographical first screenplay, starring Diane Lane as the wife of a self-involved film producer (Alec Baldwin).

New York also saw a handful of other small but still promising initial results, led by Cate Blanchett stunt-theater piece “Manifesto” (Film Rise), Israeli marriage story “The Wedding Plan” (Roadside Attractions) and “Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe” (First Run).

Netflix’s timely Tribeca documentary “Get Me Roger Stone,” an eye-opening portrait of Donald Trump’s flamboyant dark knight,...

It ended up a lighter weekend than expected, mostly due to the struggles of the weekend's two new wide releases as both King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and Snatched fell below Mojo's forecast. In the case of King Arthur it opened well below our estimation as the $175 million budgeted feature couldn't even crack $15 million over the three-day. Meanwhile, at #1 it was Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which is already flirting with $250 million domestically after ten days in release and has now topped $630 million worldwide. For the second weekend in a row it's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 at the top of the weekend box office as it delivered an estimated $63 million for a domestic cume over $246 million. While this falls below our $69.9 million forecast, the 57% drop is an improvement on the average for first sequels in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and better than the second weekend holds for Avengers: Age of Ultron,...

After a jam-packed weekend of new Specialty releases last week, the tide continues with a full roster of new limited roll-outs just as the summer blockbuster season heads into full swing. The weekend’s largest Specialty debuts include Amazon Studios/Roadside Attractions’ The Wall by Doug Liman and starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and John Cena, which will open in north of five hundred locations, as well as Bh Tilt’s Lowriders by Ricardo de Montreuil with Eva Longoria, Demián Bichir and Gabriel Chavarria with nearly three hundred runs. Sony Classics is going traditional with the New York and L.A. bow of Diane Lane starrer Paris Can Wait, which the distributor is hoping will tap a collective societal need to escape — in this case, to the French countryside. Cate Blanchett plays 13 different characters in artist-director Julian Rosefeldt’s Manifesto (FilmRise), which is based on his multi-screen installation presented in New York...

The 2017 summer movie season kicked off last weekend with the strong opening for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which enters its sophomore session this weekend and will once again find itself atop the box office as the week's new wide releases*King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and Snatched*aren't looking to offer much competition. Question is, with the Guardians sequel outperforming the opening weekend of the original by more than 55% (the best opening performance for a first sequel among all Marvel Cinematic Universe films), will the second weekend for the galactic superheroes also outperform the norm? In our showdown featuring Marvel First Sequels you can see the average second weekend drop for the four other films on the list is 57.4%, an average that would have Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 delivering over $62 million this weekend. The best hold among those comparisons belonged to Captain America: Winter...

Heading into last weekend, it was virtually guaranteed that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was taking the top spot at the box office, the only real question was how much it would earn. Early box office projections had the superhero sequel taking in as much as $160 million in its opening weekend, a huge jump from the $94.3 million that the original Guardians movie made. But the sequel fell just short of those projections, only taking in $146.5 million, just a bit more than the Sunday estimate of $145 million. This weekend, it will go up against two new releases, Warner Bros.' King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword and 20th Century Fox's Snatched, neither of which are expected to put up much of a fight against this Marvel Phase Three adventure, which should easily repeat with $79.2 million.

Box Office Mojo reports that the PG-13 fantasy adventure King Arthur: Legend of the Sword...

Through The Wall, it was called back in Israel. Honestly, The Wedding Plan fits it better. What else would you name a romantic comedy about a woman who decides to stick to her wedding date, even after her fiancé up and leaves her? What better title could you find for a film about a bride-to-be planning her nuptials around the absence of a groom, with just 30 days to find and fall for someone new? Omit a few details and you could be describing a lost Julia Roberts vehicle. (Can’t you just see the poster, with a little plastic bride, positioned next to a little plastic question mark at the top of a wedding cake?) But the details matter. Because The Wedding Plan isn’t just the Israeli version of a Hollywood movie you’ve seen a hundred times before. It’s also the Jewish Orthodox version, featuring a ...

For the third year in a row, Marvel kicks of the summer movie season with a new superhero sequel. In 2015, Marvel Studios unleashed Avengers: Age of Ultron in the first weekend in May, with Captain America: Civil War kicking of the summer movie box office season last year. This year, the studio unveils Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which had no trouble surpassing its predecessor Guardians of the Galaxy ($94.3 million) with an opening weekend haul of $145 million. While the opening weekend is certainly a strong one, it did come slightly under projections.

Back in March, box office analysts predicted a $160 million box office opening weekend for Guardians 2, but it came in slightly under those projections. Still, the $145 million estimate, courtesy of Box Office Mojo, is a solid start to the summer movie season, with the movie earning an impressive $33,368 per-screen average from 4,347 theaters. Still, it falls far below The...

Accounting for over 79% of the cumulative top ten gross, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 topped the domestic box office, showing a 54% increase compared to the 2014 original and giving Disney the top two openers of 2017 so far. Additionally, the film expanded its reach overseas, including openings in South Korea and China, the latter of which delivered the fourth largest opening in China to date for a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the film's global cume has now topped $425 million in 13 days. With an estimated $145 million opening weekend, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 topped the weekend box office and improved on the original 2014 release by 53.78%. Considering the $94.3 million opening for the original Guardians of the Galaxy was something of a surprise it's a spectacularly impressive result considering it's the largest jump for a second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, among all sequels in the McU only the...

For the last two years (and four of the last five years) Marvel has kept a foothold on the first weekend in May, which kicks off the summer movie season. The studio still holds the May record for the biggest opening with The Avengers' $207.4 million debut, but their most recent May hits, 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.2 million) and last year's Captain America: Civil War ($179.1 million) have fallen just short of that mark. This year, the studio releases Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which is the only movie opening in wide release this Friday, and will definitely hit quite huge, getting the summer season off to a great start. But it may still fall short of The Avengers' all-time Marvel record, opening with a predicted $181.7 million.

Box Office Mojo reports that Marvel is planning on rolling out Guardians 2 in approximately 4,200 theaters, which falls in line with the rollout of the last few Marvel blockbusters.

The Wedding Plan (Laavor et hakir) Roadside Attractions Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya Grade: B- Director: Rama Burshtein Written by: Rama Burshtein Cast: Noa Koler, Dafi Alferon, Noa Kooler, Oded Leopold, Ronny Merhavi, Udi Persi, Jonathan Rozen, Irit Sheleg, Amos Tamam, Oz Zehavi Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 4/18/17 Opens: May 12, 2017 Rami Bushstein, […]

The post The Wedding Plan Movie Review: Noa Koler is an almost overwhelming force appeared first on Shockya.com.

Opening in Beverly Hills on April 26 and continuing to May 3, the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival will showcase contemporary and classic films highlighting the best in Jewish Cinema.Of the 27 films showing, 14 are Los Angeles premieres. One World Premiere, one North American Premiere and one U.S. Premiere make for some great discoveries.

An opportunity for film lovers to celebrate the rich tapestry of Jewish history, Jewish heritage and Jewish characters, the Opening Night Red Carpet Reception at Laemmle’s Ahrya Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills evening will honor one of the entertainment industry’s most beloved figures, Ed Asner, with the Los Angeles premiere of the documentary “My Friend Ed”, directed by Sharon Baker and executive produced by Liza Asner.

For his distinguished body of work as an actor, and for his relentless commitment to activism and to preserving Jewish life.

Ed Asner

You know him best as Lou Grant,...

Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.

Will This April Dump Weekend See Any New Movie Open Over $10 Million?

After the decent opening of last week’s The Fate of the Furious--though not quite as much as I predicted--it’s going to be hard for any new movie to make a mark against its second weekend even if it drops 55% or more this weekend, which is very likely.

Probably the best bet to make money this weekend is the thriller Unforgettable (Warner Bros.), which pits Kathryn Heigl against Rosario Dawson and is the directorial debut by producer Denise Di Novi (Crazy, Stupid, Love). It also stars Geoff Stults as the ex-husband of Heigl’s character Tessa, who becomes engaged to Dawson’s Julia, making her the stepmom to the former’s daughter,...

"What about your heart?" Roadside Attractions has debuted a trailer for a romantic comedy indie film titled The Wedding Plan, from director Rama Burshtein (Fill the Void). This is one of those perfectly cheesy romantic comedy concepts that actually looks somewhat enjoyable. A woman begins planning her elaborate wedding, until the groom backs out. But she decides to go ahead with the wedding anyway, in hopes that the right man will appear within the 30 days left until the big day. Israeli actress Noa Kooler stars as the lead character Michal, with a huge ensemble cast including Amos Tamam, Oz Zehavi, Irit Sheleg, Ronny Merhavi, Dafi Alpern, Karin Serrouya and Erez Drigues. This may actually be worth a watch. Enjoy. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Rama Burshtein's The Wedding Plan, in high def from Apple: At 32, Michal is finally looking forward to the comfort and security of marriage,...

In a disappointing follow-up to the acclaimed Fill the Void, Rama Burshtein attempts an orthodox Jewish take on a too-familiar formula

Israeli-American director Rama Burshtein follows her impressive debut, Fill the Void – a drama about marriage set in Jerusalem’s Haredi community – with another picture dealing with relationships set against an orthodox Jewish backdrop. But this time, the power of her storytelling is diluted by a not-entirely-successful comic approach. The aim is clearly a Hassidic take on the Bridget Jones formula. Michal (Noa Kooler) is an unmarried thirtysomething who longs for love and respectability. When her fiance jilts her a few weeks before their wedding, she decides to carry on planning her marriage alone in the hope that God will provide a groom. It’s sporadically funny – Michal’s job as the proprietor of a mobile petting zoo offers some snake-based amusement – but pacing issues, dead scenes and an absolute...