Category Archives: Film

‘Break your silence’: Jane Fonda leads rally against Trump crackdown on arts and media

Posted on by

Actor outside Kennedy Center urges Americans to ‘stand tall against authoritarianism’ and resist free-speech threats

The actor Jane Fonda joined journalists, musicians and writers outside Washington’s John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in urging US citizens to “break your silence” and “stand tall against authoritarianism”.

At a damp but defiant rally hosted by Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment on Friday, around a hundred invited guests gathered to hear speakers and singers rail against book bans, political censorship and other threats to free speech under Donald Trump.

Continue reading...

Lebo M sues comedian Learnmore Jonasi claiming Circle of Life misrepresentation

Posted on by

Grammy winner seeks more than $20m in damages over mistranslation of The Lion King chant

A Grammy-winning South African composer who wrote and performed the opening chant in Circle of Life for Disney’s The Lion King is suing a comedian for allegedly damaging his reputation by intentionally misrepresenting the song’s meaning on a podcast and in his standup routine.

Lebohang Morake’s lawsuit accuses the Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, known as Learnmore Jonasi, of intentionally mistranslating the chant, which launches the 1994 movie and is central to staged versions as well as Disney’s 2019 remake.

Continue reading...

Indian film board blocks release of Oscar-nominated Gaza drama The Voice of Hind Rajab

Posted on by

Distributor says authorities warned screening Tunisian film-maker Kaouther Ben Hania’s docudrama could harm India–Israel relations

The Indian release of The Voice of Hind Rajab, the Oscar-nominated Tunisian film about the death of a five-year-old girl during the Israel-Gaza war, has been blocked by the country’s ratings body, according to the film’s Indian distributor.

In a report by Variety, Manoj Nandwana of Mumbai-based Jai Viratra Entertainment said that he was told that if the film was released, it would “break up” India-Israel relations.

Continue reading...

War, inheritance and … a baby? First Dune: Part Three trailer is here

Posted on by

The final instalment in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi trilogy brings back Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Florence Pugh and introduces a nasty new villain

Timothée Chalamet may have finally escaped Oscar season, but not movie promotion – the first look at Dune: Part Three is here.

The first trailer released for the final installment in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi trilogy sees further war and political upheaval in the galaxy beyond Arrakis – plus a possible future child for Chalamet’s Paul Atreides and Chani, the Fremen warrior played by Zendaya. “If we have a girl, what should be name her?” Chani asks, suggesting the two have reconciled since the end of Part Two.

Continue reading...

‘We are the family’: low-budget thriller highlights Hungary’s election tension

Posted on by

Audiences draw parallels between the abduction plot of Feels Like Home and Viktor Orbán’s 16-year reign

It’s seven o’clock on a Tuesday night, and one of the most popular movie theatres in Budapest is full, not an empty seat in sight. The audience is not here for a Hollywood blockbuster, but a Hungarian film that barely had the budget to be made.

Feels Like Home (Itt Érzem Magam Otthon) has captured moviegoers not only with its striking visuals but also with its timing – its release coming before Hungary’s pivotal parliamentary elections on 12 April.

Continue reading...

One Battle After Another sweeps the Oscars as Michael B Jordan and Jessie Buckley win big

Posted on by

Paul Thomas Anderson’s revolutionary epic took home six awards while Sinners scored four including for best actor

Paul Thomas Anderson’s counter-culture caper One Battle After Another has won the Oscars war, taking home six awards after a hotly contested season.

The big-budget comedy thriller, inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, was named best picture and also won director, supporting actor for Sean Penn, adapted screenplay, editing and the first ever Oscar for casting, a category long-petitioned for within the industry.

Continue reading...

Mr Nobody Against Putin wins the best documentary Oscar

Posted on by

Primary school teacher Pavel Talankin’s record of the indoctrination of his pupils to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine beats contenders

Mr Nobody Against Putin, a primary school teacher’s record of the indoctrination of his pupils to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has won the Oscar for best documentary.

Pavel Talankin, who is now in exile in Europe, picked up the award alongside the film’s US co-director, David Borenstein. It beat favourite The Perfect Neighbor to take the prize, along with other contenders The Alabama Solution, Come See Me in the Good Light and Cutting Through Rocks.

Continue reading...

Barbra Streisand pays tribute to Robert Redford at the Oscars: ‘He blazed his own trail’

Posted on by

The actor and singer remembered her co-star in 1973’s The Way We Were, who died in September

Barbra Streisand has paid tribute to her friend and former co-star Robert Redford at the 98th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

The actor and singer, 83, sang a portion of the title song from their 1973 romantic drama The Way We Were, directed by Sydney Pollack, after remembering the pair’s respect and affection for one another.

Continue reading...

‘Some parents said they’d break my knees’: the teacher who exposed Putin’s primary school propaganda

Posted on by

Grenade-throwing contests replaced PE and ‘denazification’ speeches became homework. Pavel Talankin’s undercover film about his school’s indoctrination drive won a Bafta and is tipped for an Oscar, but has left him in exile

In order to watch the Oscar-nominated documentary in which many of them have starring roles, pupils at Karabash School No 1 have had to source bootlegged copies, viewing the film in private, on their phones or their laptops.

Last week’s Bafta best documentary win for Mr Nobody Against Putin has been studiously ignored by Russian state media, and the prize the film won at Sundance last year was also met with silence. Staff at the school and government officials in the Kremlin seem united in their desire to pretend that they know nothing about the film.

Continue reading...

Delroy Lindo thankful for ‘love and support’ after N-word incident at Baftas

Posted on by

Lindo speaks out after man with Tourette syndrome shouted slur while actor was on stage with Michael B Jordan

British-American actor Delroy Lindo expressed gratitude for “the support and love” he and Michael B Jordan have received after a man with Tourette syndrome (TS) shouted the N-word as the two men presented a Bafta award.

“We appreciate all the support and love that we have been shown,” Lindo – who, like Jordan, is Black – said on stage at the annual NAACP Image awards in Los Angeles. He called it “a classic case of something that could be very negative becoming very positive”.

Continue reading...

Brigitte Bardot tribute at the César awards greeted with boos

Posted on by

A shout of ‘racist’ could also be heard during the segment at France’s version of the Oscars

A tribute to Brigitte Bardot at the Césars, France’s version of the Oscars, on Thursday was greeted with boos. In a video clip posted on social media, boos can clearly be heard among the applause as the tributes, and a shout of “racist!” is also audible.

Bardot, who died in December aged 91, became arguably the most celebrated figure in postwar French cinema for films such as And God Created Woman and Contempt, but after quitting acting in the early 1970s her later years were marred by increasing political activity on the far right, resulting in a string of convictions for inciting racial hatred.

Continue reading...

Christina Applegate reveals she is largely confined to bed due to multiple sclerosis

Posted on by

Actor, who was diagnosed with MS in 2021, says taking her 15-year-old daughter to school has become her ‘favourite thing to do’

Christina Applegate has revealed that she is now largely confined to her bed, five years after she was diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis.

In an interview with People magazine before the release of her memoir, the 54-year-old actor said she spends a lot of her days in bed due to the pain that comes with movement.

The Guardian will run an extract from Christina Applegate’s memoir, You With the Sad Eyes, on 28 February

Continue reading...

Man allegedly assaulted by Shia LaBeouf in New Orleans wants to see hate crime charges

Posted on by

Jeffrey Damnit says actor punched him and second man on Tuesday, calling both ‘faggot’ repeatedly

One of the men whom Shia LaBeouf allegedly battered and insulted with a homophobic slur on Mardi Gras morning in New Orleans on Tuesday, leading to his arrest, would like to see the actor face hate crime charges.

Jeffrey Damnit, who dresses in drag and was in makeup at the time of the encounter with LaBeouf, said on Thursday that the behavior attributed to the Transformers film franchise star was “a complete slap in the face to any alternative-culture person”.

Continue reading...

Tom Noonan, actor known for Heat and Manhunter, dies aged 74

Posted on by

Actor, whose credits also included RoboCop 2, Anomalisa and Heaven’s Gate, was also an accomplished playwright

Tom Noonan, the actor known for his Michael Mann collaborations, has died at the age of 74.

His death was confirmed by Fred Dekker, the director of 80s comedy horror The Monster Squad which saw Noonan play Frankenstein’s Monster.

Continue reading...

‘Bored by all the sex and violins’: readers on Wuthering Heights film

Posted on by

Reaction to Emerald Fennell’s movie adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi

My group of six English teachers – aged from 30 to 54 – saw the film on Friday. We are still processing our thoughts in a group chat. We agreed that the visuals were often delightfully shocking. We talked about the contrasts between the lavish costumes and the moor landscape, which we thought Fennell got right. We talked about the Charlie XCX music and how well it evoked the landscape and the spirit of the book.

Continue reading...

Oscar-nominated co-writer of It Was Just an Accident released from Iranian prison

Posted on by

Mehdi Mahmoudian released 17 days after arrest for signing a statement condemning Iran’s supreme leader and regime’s protest crackdown

Mehdi Mahmoudian, the Oscar-nominated cowriter of It Was Just an Accident, has been released from an Iranian prison 17 days after his arrest, according to local media reports.

Mahmoudian was arrested in Tehran shortly after signing a statement condemning Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the regime’s violent crackdown on demonstrators. On Tuesday, he was released from the Nowshahr prison, along with two other signatories of the statement, Vida Rabbani and Abdollah Momeni.

Continue reading...

Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton among those to condemn Berlinale’s ‘silence’ on Gaza

Posted on by

At least 80 film-makers and stars sign open letter after German festival jury president Wim Wenders says they should keep out of politics

More than 80 current and former participants of the Berlinale, including Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton and Adam McKay have signed an open letter condemning the festival’s “silence” on Gaza.

It comes after the film festival was swept up in what it called a “media storm” over the alleged sidelining of political discourse at the event.

Continue reading...

Frederick Wiseman, prolific documentary film-maker, dies aged 96

Posted on by

Recognised with an honorary Academy Award in 2016, Wiseman directed and produced almost 50 films with a lifelong commitment to curiosity and naturalism

Frederick Wiseman, the prolific film-maker whose documentaries primarily explored US public institutions and communities, has died aged 96.

His death on Monday was announced in a joint statement from the Wiseman family and his production company, Zipporah Films.

Continue reading...

Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now and Godfather star, dies aged 95

Posted on by

From the classic To Kill a Mockingbird to blockbuster Gone in 60 Seconds, the Oscar-winning actor’s films spanned a remarkable range

Robert Duvall, the veteran actor who had a string of roles in classic American films including Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, M*A*S*H and To Kill a Mockingbird, has died aged 95.

“Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort,” wrote his wife, Luciana Duvall, in a message on Facebook.

Continue reading...

Iran sentences award-winning director Jafar Panahi to year in prison for ‘propaganda activities’

Posted on by

Iranian film-maker won Cannes film festival’s Palme D’Or prize earlier this year for It Was Just an Accident

Iran has sentenced the Palme d’Or-winning film-maker Jafar Panahi in absentia to one year in prison and a travel ban over “propaganda activities” against the country.

The sentence includes a two-year ban on leaving Iran and prohibition of Panahi from membership of any political or social groups, his lawyer Mostafa Nili said, adding that they would file an appeal.

Continue reading...