'The Magician's Elephant' Kate DiCamillo, one of Minneapolis' most celebrated authors, should be tickled pink by this animated film version of her 2009 children's classic, a rip-roaring adventure about a teenager who must perform three impossible tasks to find his sister. The story nods to "E.T." and "The Wizard of Oz," but it's a wholly original tale, one that Hans Christian Andersen would be ...

ANAHEIM, Calif. — As he sifted through the hours and hours of Super 8 footage for the 2006 rockumentary, “Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out,” The Police drummer Stewart Copeland knew he needed familiar music from the band to go along with the film. But he didn’t want to play it straight. Instead, he found recordings of “obscure moments, improvisations on stage and wild jams” to create ...

The knives are out and then some in "Full River Red," a murkily entertaining exercise in twist-twist-stab-stab from the Chinese director Zhang Yimou. Set over a long, dark and increasingly bloody night at a Song Dynasty military fortress, this 12th-century comic mystery opens with a touch of "Macbeth" — a visiting leader is found murdered in his bed, suspicion falls immediately on the guards — ...

Freddie Prinze Jr. knows what the director did that summer. While promoting the March release of his new horror movie podcast, "That Was Pretty Scary," Prinze Jr. sat down with TooFab to dish on the making of one of his most notable films, the 1997 teen slasher flick "I Know What You Did Last Summer." Prinze Jr., who co-hosts the podcast with filmmaker Jon Lee Brody, revealed that his on-set ...

LOS ANGELES — After a milestone night for Asian and Asian American inclusion at the 95th Academy Awards, one community is still feeling the sting of being left out. Sunday’s performance of the viral heel-tapping hit “Naatu Naatu,” which became the first tune from an Indian film to win the Oscar for original song, was meant to be a celebration of Telugu-language blockbuster “RRR’s” unlikely ...

LOS ANGELES — On paper, Nancy Meyers’ ambitious in-the-works Netflix movie seemed to have all the ingredients of a classic Hollywood romantic comedy. A semi-autobiographical plot about a filmmaking duo falling in and out of love; A-listers, including Scarlett Johansson, expected to star; and Meyers herself, known for box office hits including “The Holiday” and “Something’s Gotta Give.” But the ...

You have questions. I have some answers. Q: Why is the music volume on TV so loud? Often it drowns out what the actors are saying. A: Some celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving and other holidays every year. An annual event here at the Q&A-Quarters is Background Music Day, where for about 20 years I have been answering the question that is asked more than any other. This dilemma doesn’t just ...

For its producers, "Boston Strangler" arrives at what arguably is an opportune time, when content based on true crime is hot. Although the Boston Strangler murders occurred about 50 years ago, the murky story of who exactly killed several unmarried women in and around the Massachusetts city — and why — remains a fascinating if also gruesome subject. One of the stronger 20th Century Studios ...

Drew Barrymore is taking her daytime talk show hosting skills to the next level for the 2023 MTV Movie and TV Awards. The Golden Globe Award-winning actress announced Wednesday that she has been tapped to serve as the mistress of ceremonies for the channel’s annual fete to celebrate the best of the year’s movies and television. “And now, for a breaking Drew’s News report, we go to our special ...

Scott Z. Burns must get this one a lot: How did the writer of the 2011 Steven Soderburgh-directed drama "Contagion" experience the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic? "We all were told by the scientists we worked with that it wasn't a matter of if there would be another pandemic; it was a matter of when," says Burns, during a recent video interview to promote his new Apple TV+ limited ...

The awarding of the Oscar for best documentary to the film "Navalny" was well-deserved, not only because it is a riveting film, but because it prods us to think about what will happen to Russia if Vladimir Putin loses his war on Ukraine. Alexei Navalny is Russia's best-known opposition politician, whose health has been deteriorating since he was jailed on trumped-up charges in 2021. The film ...

There’s an exasperating trend in superhero movies that has reached the end of its shelf life and needs to be chucked. Back in the 2010s, a light touch on the tone seemed fresh and funny, with quippy, ironic dialogue popularized by Joss Whedon's “The Avengers” that felt revolutionary, and snarky, motor-mouthed performances from stars like Ryan Reynolds in “Deadpool” that were downright radical. ...

LOS ANGELES — New DC boss James Gunn is set to direct the forthcoming movie “Superman Legacy,” the studio confirmed Wednesday. The announcement comes several months after co-heads Gunn and Peter Safran made the controversial decision to recast the superhero previously portrayed by Henry Cavill. Coming to theaters July 11, 2025, “Superman Legacy” will serve as the flagship film for Gunn and ...

Oscars night ended with a full-circle moment for Ke Huy Quan. The actor says “Everything Everywhere All at Once” winning best picture felt “even more special” because the award was presented by Harrison Ford, whom he starred with in his first movie, 1984′s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” “When I ran up onstage, I pointed at him and he pointed back at me and I gave him a hug,” Quan, 51, ...

Quentin Tarantino is reportedly nearing his grand finale, with a film titled “The Movie Critic” in the works. The filmmaker already wrote the script for what’s being described as his last movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He plans to begin directing the project this fall. Little is known about the plot but it reportedly centers on a female character in 1970s Los Angeles. Tarantino, ...

How you feel about the psychological thriller "Inside" may depend on how you feel about spending the better part of two hours staring nonstop at Willem Dafoe. The actor plays Nemo, an art thief who becomes trapped in a posh Manhattan penthouse after the security system malfunctions. Time goes by — days, weeks, months — and we're alone with Nemo, who does some impressive MacGyvering of the ...

"Moving On" isn't "Grace and Frankie" for the big screen, but you might be forgiven for thinking that it is, at least at first. Paul Weitz's film (and whether it's a comedy or a drama is something I'm still mulling over) stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as a pair of college friends who reunite in the early scenes. Claire (Fonda), perfectly coifed and lipsticked, is the more uptight one of the ...

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin add some welcome danger to their shtick in "Moving On." We've seen the icons paired a lot — way back in 1980's "9 to 5," in seven seasons of "Grace and Frankie" and just last month in "80 for Brady." There's always been a cuddly, aren't-they-adorable quality to whatever they're doing in their projects, almost as if they're not complicated humans but benign stuffed ...

In the new film “Inside,” Willem Dafoe goes it alone as an art thief who breaks into a billionaire’s luxury penthouse with only seven minutes to get in, snatch a few multimillion-dollar paintings, and get out. While director Vasilis Katsoupis’ “Inside” is a heist flick, albeit a classy art- and architecture-themed one, things very quickly go from bad to worse. The hacked alarm code doesn’t ...

PITTSBURGH — To HBO streamers, he’s the Bert, the out-of-touch, rascally grandfather on the comedy-drama murder mystery “White Lotus.” To Marvel’s followers, he’s the voice of the Egyptian god Khonshu in the Disney+ show “Moon Knight,” a massive, masked figure realized with CGI. To crime drama enthusiasts, he’s Omar in the 1983 film “Scarface.” To classical music fans, he’s Salieri, Mozart’s ...

The special prosecutor for the closely watched ‘Rust’ case, Andrea Reeb, is stepping down. The decision follows a motion filed by actor Alec Baldwin’s legal team demanding Reeb be removed due to her conflicting roles. Baldwin was charged earlier this year with involuntary manslaughter alongside armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed in connection with the fatal accidental shooting of cinematographer ...

Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems has one word for critics of her fabulous but enormous Oscars gown: “Oops.” That’s what the Oscar nominee tweeted Monday afternoon after memes and a video of a woman trying to peer around her cloud-like, view-impinging white gown in the Oscars audience went viral. She gracefully included a blushing emoji and four detail photos of her striking ensemble. Tems, ...

LOS ANGELES — Eric Saindon, part of Sunday night’s Oscar-winning “Avatar: The Way of Water” visual effects team, was reportedly hospitalized shortly after winning his award Sunday night in Hollywood. Saindon then underwent surgery for a ruptured small intestine, according to IndieWire. He is now recovering. Weta FX, the New Zealand visual effects company founded by filmmaker Peter Jackson, did ...

"Get up, Keanu!" A plaintive cry came from the audience more than once at Monday's surprise North American premiere of "John Wick: Chapter 4" at the South by Southwest Film and TV Festival. The marquee outside Austin's Paramount Theatre may have read "Baba Yaga" before the screening, but the packed, frenzied audience all knew what they were there to see. Director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu ...

“Art is for keeps.” This turn of phrase, uttered by Willem Dafoe’s character Nemo in Vasilis Katsoupis’ narrative directorial debut “Inside,” is a bedeviling little saying of multi-layered meaning. It rattles around in your brain like a pinball, much in the way Nemo rattles around the luxury apartment where he’s trapped after an art heist gone wrong. “Art is for keeps.” It speaks to the way we ...

Debuting on Hulu Friday comes the new true crime drama film “Boston Strangler,” directed by Matt Ruskin, starring Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon. While the true crime craze has reached its apex, not much attention has been paid to this case from the early 1960s, and the film is fascinating not for its lurid details but for its focus on two female journalists, Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole ...

Debuting on Hulu Friday comes the new true crime drama film “Boston Strangler,” directed by Matt Ruskin, starring Kiera Knightley and Carrie Coon. While the true crime craze has reached its apex, not much attention has been paid to this case from the early 1960s, and the film is fascinating not for its lurid details but for its focus on two female journalists, Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole ...

LOS ANGELES — We're not crying. You're crying. The internet cannot get enough of "Indiana Jones" co-stars Harrison Ford and Ke Huy Quan reuniting onstage Sunday at the 95th Academy Awards. An ecstatic Quan — who made his big-screen debut as a child in 1984's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" — excitedly hugged and kissed Ford on the cheek after the 80-year-old actor presented the award ...

Artists TLC and Shaggy have announced plans to embark on the “Hot Summer Nights Tour 2023.” Kicking off June 1 at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in Pelham, Alabama, the jaunt will feature performances from special guests En Vogue and Sean Kingston. The 26-city tour by the 90s chart-toppers is scheduled to include stops across the U.S. and Canada. It will hit Miami, Toronto, Phoenix and other cities ...

A robotic nanny with a mean streak tops the DVD releases for the week of March 21. "M3GAN": A high-tech doll programmed by an aunt to comfort her grieving niece turns out to have a dark side in this horror thriller. "Last fall the internet witnessed a rare phenomenon: the meteoric, memeified rise of a brand new star, catapulted into mononymic ubiquity thanks to a single two-and-a-half minute ...

Following is a partial schedule of coming movies on DVD. Release dates are subject to change: MARCH 14: A Man Called Otto 14: Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero 14: The Whale 14: Alice, Darling 14: Glorious 14: Puppet Master: Doktor Death 14: The Apology 14: The Good Fight: The Final Season 14: The Walking Dead: Season 11 14: The Locksmith 14: Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol: The Complete Series ...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Avett Brothers never planned on making a musical, let alone a dark, twisty tale of the sea featuring more than a dozen of their songs. But nearly a decade ago, a young theater producer from south Charlotte believed one of their albums could support such a venture. Eventually, he connected with the Grammy-nominated folk rock band. He got one of his buddies to join him as ...

LOS ANGELES — The children of immigrants paid touching tribute to their parents at the 95th Academy Awards. While accepting Oscars for their contributions to best picture-winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” director Daniel Kwan, producer Jonathan Wang and actor Ke Huy Quan honored their mothers, fathers and the sacrifices they made to support them onstage Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in ...

Oscar-nominated musician Tems was an unexpected breakout star at the 95th Academy Awards — and she didn’t even appear onstage. Instead, the “Lift Me Up” co-songwriter caused a stir with the enormousness and perceived enormity of her Oscars gown. Specifically when glimpses of her seated mid-row in the Dolby Theatre set off spectators who sympathized with those who had the misfortune of sitting ...

LOS ANGELES — ABC’s telecast of the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday got a post-slap lift in the ratings, according to Nielsen data. The ceremony from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood averaged 18.7 million viewers, up 12% from the previous year, when Will Smith’s onstage assault of presenter Chris Rock became a global news story. It was the largest audience for an Oscars telecast since 2020, when ...

OK, am I wrong, or were the Oscars kind of sweet this year? Yes, there were the usual excessive number of jokes about the ceremony being too long (which, of course, made it longer), and a bit too much shtick from host Jimmy Kimmel, but for the most part, the Academy Awards telecast Sunday felt pleasantly old school. Unlike last year, every category was presented live; unlike last year, nobody ...

LOS ANGELES — The Academy Award for most awkward red carpet interview at this year’s Oscars goes to ... Hugh Grant and Ashley Graham. Sunday’s awards show had its share of memorable moments, but the “Love Actually” actor’s pre-show chat with Graham made the internet rounds and split viewers. “Hugh Grant steps forward to be interviewed at the Oscars, then gives most awkward, painful interview ...

The new movie "Flamin' Hot," which premiered over the weekend in Austin, Texas, tells the story of Richard Montañez, who rose from janitor to executive at Frito-Lay and has long claimed to have invented the wildly popular Flamin' Hot Cheetos flavor of spicy snacks. The film is the fiction directing debut from Eva Longoria and will begin streaming June 9 on Hulu. Starring Jesse Garcia as ...

The other night at a local library, I did an Oscars presentation, offering some uneducated guesses on who and what might win on March 12. When the subject turned to “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — a film that entranced roughly half the folks in attendance, while exasperating the other half, like some sort of love-it-or-hate-it rebuke to nuance — I said, well, here I am, right in the ...

LOS ANGELES — Hearing his name announced at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday was "a really special moment" for newly minted Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan — who was advised toward the beginning of his career to change his name. After winning the Oscar for best supporting actor, a triumphant Quan stopped by the press room adjacent to the Dolby Theatre and recalled his manager once encouraging him to ...

There’s always debate over which films and performers went unappreciated on Oscars night, but snubbing performers from the Academy Awards’ annual In Memoriam segment — which simply requires dying between annual ceremonies — never goes over well with fans. Arguably leading the list of omissions Sunday night was Charlbi Dean, who starred in the 2023 best picture nominee “Triangle of Sadness.” ...

LOS ANGELES — The Academy Awards’ In Memoriam forgot a few Hollywood greats. Before introducing the In Memoriam montage Sunday night, Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel joked, “Now it’s time for the interactive part of the show. Everybody, please get out your phones, it’s time to vote. If you think Robert Blake should be part of the In Memoriam montage, text, ‘give me a Blake’ to the number on your ...

LOS ANGELES — This year's acting prizes were marked by a recognition of veteran performers, some in what can only be called comebacks. Others may have never gone away, but they have never before received the acclaim and prestige of an Academy Award. Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh all received recognition this year that was a long time coming. For all of them it ...

LOS ANGELES — The Academy Awards, wherein golden statuettes are bestowed upon heroes of motion picture arts (and sciences), took place once again Sunday night, for the 95th time, with the traditional invocations, celebrations and ritual naming of the dead. And as has happened since before anyone nominated can remember, it was broadcast on television (on ABC). For whatever else the Oscars ...

LOS ANGELES — A24, the studio behind best picture winner "Everything Everywhere All at Once," already had an enthusiastic following for its highbrow films and edgy, youthful tastemaker reputation. That cinephile cred was on full display at Sunday night's Oscars ceremony, where the press-shy New York indie darling netted its second best picture victory, six years after its upset win for ...

LOS ANGELES — It didn’t win quite everything everywhere all at once. But it came pretty darn close. “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a gleefully bonkers sci-fi-action-comedy mash-up about a Chinese American immigrant who traverses the multiverse to keep her family together, claimed best picture at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday night, beating out a diverse field that included massive ...

LOS ANGELES — That wasn't Jenny, that was an impostor donkey! While hosting this year's 95th Academy Awards, Jimmy Kimmel walked a donkey wearing a sequinned emotional support vest onto the Dolby Theatre stage, claiming it was Jenny, the beloved donkey from "Banshees of Inisherin." But it was an impostor. "This is Jenny, she's one of the stars of 'Banshees of Inisherin,'" Kimmel said on ...

The breakout indie hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once” proved to be the alpha at Sunday’s Oscars, dominating with seven wins including for best picture, best director and three acting prizes. Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win best actress for her portrayal of a Chinese American immigrant on a high-stakes journey across alternate dimensions, while Ke Huy Quan concluded his ...