Peter Debruge - starsalert.com

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13.04.2023 / 02:09

In Search of ‘Bare Realism,’ The Dardenne Brothers Keep Turning Their Camera on Society’s Overlooked Members

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic If I were to count on one hand the most preeminent humanist filmmakers of our time, the first two fingers would have to be dedicated to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Bringing empathy and insight to stories of immigrants, outcasts and the working poor, the Belgian siblings have dedicated their career to observing characters Western society prefers to overlook. In that time, the brothers have screened every one of their 12 features at Cannes, collecting two Palme d’Or trophies — in 1999 for “Rosetta” and 2002 for “L’Enfant.” The Dardennes keep the prizes in the office they share at their Liège-based production company, Les Films du Fleuve. “They are in an armoire so the sight of them doesn’t weigh too heavily on our shoulders when we start working on a new film,” they tell Variety.

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12.04.2023 / 15:11

‘Mafia Mamma’ Review: Toni Collette Inherits a Crime Family in Fun Female-Empowerment Farce

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic In her own home, Italian American working mom Kristin Balbano Jordan (Toni Collette) is hardly the boss. When her deadbeat hubby isn’t cheating on her, he calls the shots, and her independent-minded son can’t wait to leave for college. At work, her male colleagues undermine her every idea. What Kristin doesn’t realize is that it’s not her destiny to be a doormat. Far from it. Come to find, she’s next in line to run Italy’s well-connected Balbano clan, and though Kristin couldn’t have imagined she was heir to an organized crime family, taking charge amounts to an offer she can’t refuse. A fun fish-out-of-water farce with “Godfather” DNA and a clever female-empowerment kick, “Mafia Mamma” makes inspired use of Collette, who’s never better than when playing women we oughtn’t to have underestimated. Here, using stiletto heels to brutally stab a rival clan’s top assassin, first in the crotch and then in the face, demonstrates that Kristin’s better suited to the job than her enemies could have imagined. While such a graphic scene may come as a shock in a movie that’s more “Under the Tuscan Sun” than “Scarface” (“He had bits of his scrotum stuffed in his eye socket,” reports Monica Bellucci as Bianca, Kristin’s seen-it-all consiglieri), it more than proves that Donna Balbano deserves some respect.

Peter Debruge Monica Bellucci Catherine Hardwicke Destiny Debbie Jhoon Michael J.Feldman USA Italy Jordan film fun reports Department shock man

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07.04.2023 / 00:59

‘Still’ Trailer: Michael J. Fox Reveals How His Parkinson’s Diagnosis Made Him a ‘Tough Son of a Bitch’ in New Documentary

Charna Flam Apple has released the official trailer for its highly anticipated documentary, “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” which is set to premiere on May 12. “Still” follows Fox, the legendary “Back to the Future” and “Teen Wolf” actor, as he recounts his life story, from his childhood in Canada to becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Director Davis Guggenheim elevates Fox’s story with the inclusion of documentary, archival and scripted elements, which come together to take viewers inside Fox’s world. In interviews with Guggenheim, Fox recounts the difficult years that followed his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease, a brain disorder that causes uncontrollable movements, at just 29 years old. Now 61 and having come to terms with the illness, Fox recounts in the trailer how living with Parkinson’s has made him a “tough son of a bitch.”

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06.04.2023 / 17:35

‘Chupa’ Review: Jonás Cuarón Applies the Amblin Formula to a Fluffy Mexican Creature Feature

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic According to legend, the chupacabra is a fearsome, blood-sucking beast — a lean and intimidating animal you wouldn’t want to come across feasting on your livestock at night. Not so the cub three kids nickname “Chupa” (Spanish for “sucker,” short for its species) in Mexican director Jonás Cuarón’s family-friendly Netflix movie. This one looks like a fuzzy-wuzzy baby lynx, with inquisitive amber eyes and a pair of awkward azure wings it still hasn’t learned how to use. A single glimpse of this oversized kitten and you’ll want one for your own, if not the plush version to snuggle up with at night. That’s a pretty radical reimagining of a mythical monster usually discussed in horror terms, but an inspired way to bring a sense of Amblin-esque wonder south of the border, attempting to do for a legendary Latin American creature what films like “E.T.” did for extra-terrestrials — which is to say, turn something typically perceived as a threat into everyone’s new fantasy best friend. Cuarón doesn’t exactly hide his influences here, paying overt homage to Steven Spielberg throughout. He even goes so far as to tack a “Jurassic Park” poster on the wall of 13-year-old Alex’s (Evan Whitten) all-American bedroom.

John Williams Steven Spielberg Peter Debruge Isla Nublar Jonas Cuaron Spain USA Mexico city Kansas City Netflix film audience Latin Citi Adventure Luna

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05.04.2023 / 13:59

‘Chevalier’ Review: Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s Fiery Take on a Forgotten French Maestro Ought to Set the Record Straight

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Though his life and accomplishments were largely erased under Napoleon, the extraordinary figure at the center of Stephen Williams’ “Chevalier” really did exist. Born on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, the son of a white plantation owner and his Black slave, Joseph Bologne went on to excel in spheres rarely accessible to people of color in 18th-century French society. Here was a champion swordsman and celebrated musician invited to play his violin at Versailles, where Marie Antoinette reportedly accompanied him on the harpsichord. So why has it taken so long for his story to be told? The time certainly seems right to rediscover the Chevalier — an honorary title that reveals how high Bologne rose under France’s overtly racist Code Noir, as well as a fitting name for the film. A compelling example of Black excellence dating back even before the French Revolution, the English-language “Chevalier” doesn’t feel nearly as fusty as its powdered wigs and period setting might suggest. Like “Chocolat” (not the Johnny Depp confection, but the 2016 Omar Sy vehicle about the circus clown who broke barriers on the Paris stage), this modern-minded if occasionally under-nuanced costume drama fills a historic gap, starting with its fanciful opening scene: a violin showdown between Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Joseph Prowen) choreographed like a rap battle.

Johnny Depp Kelvin Harrison-Junior Omar Sy Peter Debruge Marie Antoinette Stephen Williams Joseph Bologne France Austria Guadeloupe film audience musician composer opera Music

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03.04.2023 / 18:13

‘Triangle of Sadness’ Is Headed to Criterion Collection in April

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. After a successful awards season, “Triangle of Sadness” is one of several films being added to The Criterion Collection this month.

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23.03.2023 / 18:59

‘Transparent’ Star Trace Lysette And Patricia Clarkson Play an Estranged Daughter and Mother Who Connect in ‘Monica’ – Watch U.S. Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Los Angeles-based Italian director Andrea Pallaoro’s delicate drama “Monica” is finally set to open in U.S. theaters via IFC following its world premiere at last year’s Venice Film Festival. The film starring transgender actor Trace Lysette (“Transparent”) as a woman who returns home to the Midwest to care for her dying mother, played by Patricia Clarkson, marked the first time an openly-transgender actress headlined a Venice competition title. In “Monica” Lysette plays a woman who from Los Angeles goes back to her suburban midwest home for the first time since she was a teenager to care for her mom who had rejected her when she transitioned.

Peter Debruge Patricia Clarkson Nick Vivarelli International Trace Lysette Andrea Pallaoro Los Angeles Los Angeles Italy film stars actor actress exclusive Platform and

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19.03.2023 / 09:49

‘Air’ Review: Ben Affleck Turns Nike’s Quest to Sign Michael Jordan Into This Generation’s ‘Jerry Maguire’

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Americans spend tens of billions of dollars on basketball sneakers every year. Sure, everybody needs shoes, but it shouldn’t matter if your choice bears the Nike swoosh, Adidas’ three stripes or the Converse star. In most cases, consumers aren’t simply buying footwear; they’re investing in the fantasy of walking in someone else’s shoes — a sports star or personal idol — of believing that switching one’s kicks has a direct impact on your potential for greatness. As the Nike marketing gurus in Ben Affleck’s “Air” put it, “A shoe is just a shoe until someone steps into.” If you’ve been alive on earth in the last 40 years, then you already know what happened when a rookie named Michael Jordan let Nike put his name and likeness on their shoes. But “Air” isn’t about convincing the greatest basketball player in the history of the game to sign with Nike, although a “Jerry Maguire”-desperate Matt Damon — as paunchy, flop-sweating Sonny Vaccaro — might trick you into thinking this is just the (admittedly very entertaining) anatomy of a landmark business deal.

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18.03.2023 / 11:21

‘Joy Ride’ Review: Adele Lim’s Asian ‘Girls Trip’ Gives Four Women of Color a Chance to Cut Loose

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic In 1993, “The Joy Luck Club” made Hollywood history, proving to a skeptical — and let’s face it, racist — industry that there was mainstream demand for a culturally sensitive Chinese American ensemble drama. Three decades later, along comes “Joy Ride,” throwing sensitivity to the wind en route to obliterating any remaining barriers. Like “Girls Trip” with an all-Asian-American cast, the Seth Rogen-produced, hard-R road movie follows small-town besties Audrey (Ashley Park) and Lolo (Sherry Cola) to Beijing, where they tackle everything from taboo tattoos to a devil’s threesome with all the gusto you’d hope or expect from “Crazy Rich Asians” co-writer Adele Lim’s directorial debut.

Ken Jeong Seth Rogen Peter Debruge Adele Lim Joy Ride China USA city Beijing Hollywood film stars audience shock Celebrity Parke

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17.03.2023 / 20:13

‘Knock at the Cabin’ Sets Peacock Release Date

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Peacock continues to expand its growing library of films with “Knock at the Cabin,” which will stream exclusively on the NBC platform starting March 24. The M. Night Shyamalan thriller, starring Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge and Rupert Grint, follows three family members who are camping in the woods and are suddenly interrupted by four strangers with visions of an impending apocalypse. The only way to prevent the end of the world, they claim, is to have the family willingly kill one of their own. The movie collected $14.2 million in its opening weekend in February, enough to top box office charts and dethrone “Avatar: The Way of Water.” It also landed a promising “A-” CinemaScore from ticket buyers.

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16.03.2023 / 04:39

‘Tetris’ Review: Taron Egerton Brings Home the Original Blockbuster in Video Game History Lesson

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic At last, a video game movie that’s more than just a video game movie. In theory, “Tetris” — that primitive and highly addictive block-stacking strategy game — doesn’t lend itself to the big-screen treatment any more than Rubik’s Cube or Tic-Tac-Toe might. But Noah Pink has found an ingenious solution to a classic puzzle. The screenwriter realized that there’s more to Tetris than most people knew. Namely, there’s a terrific backstory about how this Soviet-hatched computer software made its way over the Iron Curtain, and telling it could play like a Cold War thriller as three teams of Western rivals race one another to Russia to secure the rights.

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16.03.2023 / 02:25

‘BlackBerry’ Trailer: Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton Play Mobile Phone Moguls Who Build an Empire That Breaks Them Down

Charna Flam The so-called “crackberry” is back. IFC Films has released the first official trailer for the upcoming comedy-drama film, “BlackBerry,” which provides a peek into exactly how the handheld device revolutionized the cell phone industry. Director Matt Johnson, along with co-screenwriter Matthew Miller, adapted Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s book “Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry” for the big screen. Johnsonplays BlackBerry co-founder Douglas Fregin in the film, alongside Glenn Howerton as chair and co-CEO Jim Balsillie, Jay Baruchel as co-founder Mike Lazaridis and Cary Elwes as Palm CEO Carl Yankowski. The cast also includes Saul Rubinek, Michael Ironside, Rich Sommer, Michelle Giroux, Mark Critch and SungWon Cho.

Matt Johnson Cary Elwes Maxime Cottray Peter Debruge Saul Rubinek Glenn Howerton Jay Baruchel Nate Bolotin Aram Tertzakian Rich Sommer Nick Spicer Mark Critch Michael Ironside Noah Segal Mike Lazaridis Jim Balsillie Sean Silcoff county Love county Jay Berlin city Adrian film Mobile CEO Discover Provident Matthews BlackBerry and

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15.03.2023 / 06:55

‘Raging Grace,’ ‘Angel Applicant’ Top SXSW Film Festival Awards

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Two days after ”Everything Everywhere All at Once“ won seven Oscars, including best picture, the SXSW Film Festival, where Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s movie launched last year, has announced its own awards. To be clear, “EEAAO” was a studio-backed opening night premiere (not one of the smaller movies launched in competition at the indie-focused fest), but you can still feel the excitement in Austin around the landmark Oscar win. After all, SXSW was the first festival to take Daniels seriously, awarding them top prize for their Battles music video (“My Machines”) in 2012. Will any of the movies or directors screening here this year go on to change film history?

Richard Lawson Daniel Scheinert Peter Debruge Daniel Kwan Courtney Eaton Paris Zarcilla city Austin county Andrews county Dyer film performer awards innovations Music Oscar

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14.03.2023 / 19:17

‘Problemista’ Review: A Terrorizing Tilda Swinton Overshadows All Else in Julio Torres’ Messy Debut

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Some folks have it easy, and others make life difficult for themselves. Guess which type “Problemista” is about. The perpetually unsatisfied title character, a demanding New York art critic played by Tilda Swinton as a hag with hair the color of hibiscus tea, is obsessed with archiving the life’s work of her late husband (RZA), who left behind a series of egg paintings no one seems to understand. Swinton feels like a future Halloween costume in search of a movie in writer-director Julio Torres’ overly kooky and all-too-quixotic debut — another attention-deficit comedy from the studio that made “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” except that Torres lacks the technical experience to pull off even a fraction of the ideas to which he aspires.

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14.03.2023 / 16:09

‘Down Low’ Review: Gay Heartthrob Lukas Gage Gives Zachary Quinto One Hell of a Happy Ending

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic If they ever make a sequel to “The Celluloid Closet” — the landmark doc about the history of LGBT representation on screen — Lukas Gage should warrant at least two mentions. First, there’s the scene from the first season of “White Lotus” where Jake Lacy barges into the resort manager’s office, only to find Gage getting his salad tossed (a history-making moment for gay TV fans). And now there’s “Down Low,” an over-the-top, bottom-trawling comedy that wants to be for the gay community what “The Hangover” was to the mainstream — which is to say, wildly irreverent and incredibly wrong. Starring openly gay “Heroes” villain Zachary Quinto as Gary, a recently divorced, richie-rich zaddy hoping for a happy ending, “Down Low” doesn’t quite understand its own title — code within the Black and Latino community for men who consider themselves straight while having sex with other men — but that’s OK. “Down Low” is still light-years ahead of mainstream movies (including last year’s “Bros”) as debuting feature director Rightor Doyle delivers what an entire contingent of queer audiences have been asking for all their lives: namely, a comedy that’s as raunchy and inappropriate as the jokes they make between themselves. While nowhere near as extreme (or enjoyable) as 2009’s “I Love You Phillip Morris,” it’s still a rare enough occurrence to earn a dedicated following.

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13.03.2023 / 08:31

‘Hypnotic’ Review: For His Next Trick, Robert Rodriguez Will Pull Ben Affleck Out of a Funk

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Don’t trust anything you see or hear in “Hypnotic,” a noggin-jogging thriller with more twists than Minnie’s tightly braided ponytail. Who’s Minnie? She’s the girl who goes missing in the movie’s opening scene, while police detective dad Daniel Rourke (Ben Affleck) looks away for a second. Or does she? Depending how your mind works, there’s a chance Minnie doesn’t even exist. The perp was caught, but Minnie’s body was never found — which is a clue that this wasn’t a typical disappearance. Your typical popcorn-munching multiplex patron would never suspect how deep this Russian-doll mystery goes. Better to strap in and go along for the ride in the latest example of creativity-within-constraints from resourceful writer-director Robert Rodriguez. Taking a page from “The Matrix,” “Limitless” and “Memento” — along with whole chapters from sci-fi trickster Philip K. Dick — this slick mix of special effects and practical ingenuity puts Affleck in a fun position, and the slightly grizzled star’s still got the clench-jawed charisma to pull it off.

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12.03.2023 / 09:27

‘Self Reliance’ Review: Jake Johnson’s Off-the-Wall Feature Debut Makes the Case for Human Connection

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic There are movies made during the pandemic, and movies made because the pandemic, and though debuting director Jake Johnson had been kicking around the idea for “Self Reliance” for years, it took COVID to motivate him to make it. Why? Because the “New Girl” actor’s absurdist concept — about a sad-sack bored enough with his life that he agrees to risk it in a “Most Dangerous Game”-style reality show — assumed both profundity and relevance as soon as the species went into lockdown. Coming up for connection, Johnson delivers a silly and frequently surprising why-we-need-people parable. The helmer plays Tommy, who’s been a passive bystander in his own life for as long as he can remember, until one day famous dude Andy Samberg (who also happens to be among the film’s producers) randomly pulls up in a stretch limo and offers Tommy a ride. Should he take it? Probably not, but Tommy’s bored enough to accept, agreeing to meet a pair of eccentric producers who inform him that he’s been selected for a chance to win a million dollars. All he has to do is survive for 30 days, while a team of highly trained “hunters” try to take him out.

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12.03.2023 / 02:03

‘Flamin’ Hot’ Review: Believe It or Not, This Neato Latino History Lesson Will Change Your Take on Cheetos

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Americans can’t get enough of processed corn. They eat it for breakfast, in cereal form, and all throughout the day, snacking on cookies and crackers and chips, often washing it down with soda (sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup, naturally). Premiering at the SXSW Film Festival, “Flamin’ Hot” tells the backstory of Frito-Lay’s insanely popular, ultra-spicy line of snack chips — the ones that singe your taste buds and stain your fingers a radioactive red — as marketing guru Richard Montañez lays it out in his memoir, “A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive.” After a rough start selling drugs and hustling on the streets of East Los Angeles, Montañez got a job cleaning the machines at Frito-Lay’s Rancho Cucamonga plant and worked his way up to head of Multicultural marketing. Along the way, he may or may not have invented the recipe for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Doritos, et al.

Eva Longoria Peter Debruge Linda Yvette Chávez Richard Montanez Lewis Colick Los Angeles Los Angeles USA Hollywood film audience Love Corning Frito-Lay

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11.03.2023 / 04:05

‘2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary’ Review: Five Expand-Your-Mind Films in Under Three Hours

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic How long does a documentary need to be? Frederick Wiseman frequently goes long, and Oscar-winning “OJ: Made in America” ran nearly eight hours. Lately, with “Bill Russell: Legend” and “Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker,” streamers have embraced the so-called “two-part documentary” — a fancy term for what used to be called a miniseries. So, while there are no limits on how much longer docs can get, it’s refreshing to see a compelling subject covered in 40 minutes or less, and doubly rewarding to realize that four of the five packaged in ShortsTV’s “2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary” found audiences on their own merits, even without theatrical distribution.

Michael Apted Peter Debruge Boris Becker Bill Russell Jay Rosenblatt Kartiki Gonsalves film audience cover president Remark Merit Oscar FIVE

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10.03.2023 / 11:09

‘Chang Can Dunk’ Review: Director Jingyi Shao’s Debut Takes Disney+ Originals to New Heights

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic “Chang Can Dunk” doesn’t go the way you’d expect, and that’s a good thing. Here’s a Disney movie about a 5-foot-8-inch Chinese American high school basketball player who bets his rival that he can dunk by the end of the season. He gets his wish about an hour in (that’s neither spoiler nor surprise, since the title literally tells us that Chang can dunk), but there’s still a long way for the character to go — and grow — in a film that believes maturity isn’t achieved by shortcuts. The result marks the attention-worthy debut of writer-director Jingyi Shao, and exemplifies the sort of movies Disney should be making: It has its values in the right place, but doesn’t pretend its hero is perfect. If there’s a villain in “Chang Can Dunk,” that role is arguably filled by the title character (tenaciously embodied by Bloom Li, who keeps us wondering how to feel about Chang). In time, the obsessive teen’s ultra-competitive personality winds up alienating practically everyone in his life, except demanding single mom Chen (an excellent Mardy Ma), whose tough-love approach only amplifies his resentment.

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08.03.2023 / 21:05

The Year in Review: Variety Editors and Critics Weigh In on 2022 Films

Variety asked editors Peter Debruge, Clayton Davis, Tim Gray, and Jenelle Riley, to answer four questions about this past year in film and discuss its standout moments. The questions are: 1. How would you rate 2022’s films against previous years? 2. What was the most important issue this year for the industry? 3. What film inspired you the most this year?

James Cameron Jenelle Riley Peter Debruge Tim Gray county Davis county Gray county Riley county Clayton Netflix film show audience pandemic art voice and

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08.03.2023 / 00:03

‘Champions’ Review: Woody Harrelson Stars in What Probably Could’ve Been the Feel-Good Film of 1993

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic While Peter Farrelly was off winning Oscars for “Green Book,” younger brother Bobby has been largely absent from feature directing. It’s been nearly a decade since the siblings shared credit — the last time being 2014’s “Dumb and Dumber To.” Now, rather than competing with Peter at the respectability game, Bobby sticks to what he knows with “Champions,” in which Woody Harrelson plays a minor-league basketball coach court-ordered to assist a Special Olympics team for 90 days — just long enough to take the team from bumbling incompetents to national finalists. There are zero surprises in “Champions,” unless you count the not-inconsiderable shock that such a movie exists at all. A remake of 2018 Spanish box office sensation “Campeones,” this awkward (if presumably well-intentioned) comedy might have felt enlightened 25 years ago — back when “Forrest Gump” was an Oscar favorite — but today makes for a patronizing portrayal of people with intellectual disabilities. That’s still better than no portrayal at all, I suppose, and there’s some satisfaction to be had in watching Harrelson’s character overcome his prejudices — reflected by using the “boo-boo word” that starts with “R” — and grow to see these amateur athletes for more than their limitations. But did the film (little more than a “Role Models” redux) have to paint its players as such extreme incompetents from the outset?

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07.03.2023 / 00:41

Critic’s Notebook: Stumped by Sondheim After Spending ‘Sunday in the Park with George’

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic As a critic, I’m always looking for a fresh challenge, which is one reason I took up writing about theater: It still has the capacity to scare me. I’ve reviewed nearly 1,700 movies in my time at Variety, but how to weigh in with authority on stage productions of William Shakespeare or Samuel Beckett when I haven’t seen most of their work performed, but know it only by reputation? Last year, I was nervous going in to a fresh revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse, as I had only the Mike Nichols movie as a reference point. How to judge Calista Flockhart’s performance, and what might I compare it to, not having seen Uta Hagen play Martha on Broadway? (I did manage to track down a vinyl recording of that show, but still…

Stephen Sondheim Mike Nichols William Shakespeare Peter Debruge Samuel Beckett Calista Flockhart James Lapine New York Los Angeles state Virginia county George show stage song art blues Music Parke sondheim

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04.03.2023 / 05:11

‘2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action’ Review: Brevity Proves a Blessing in a Year of Overlong Oscar Nominees

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Of the 10 films up for best picture, no fewer than six run 199 minutes or more. On one extreme, James Cameron’s punishing “Avatar” sequel is long enough to require bathroom breaks. At the other, Daniels’ ADHD-styled “Everything Everywhere All at Once” proves equally exhausting, dedicating every hyperkinetic second to stimulating easily distracted audiences. It’s enough to make folks grateful for the lower-profile but still engaging live-action shorts category, where nominees are bound by a strict 40-minute time limit. This year’s crop — the so-so “2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action” program — clocks in at under two hours. Available in theaters and on myriad streaming platforms, the international assembly may be a hit-and-miss affair, but never outstays its welcome.

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03.03.2023 / 01:35

Sundance Documentary ‘32 Sounds’ Sells to Abramorama (EXCLUSIVE)

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “32 Sounds,” an immersive and experiential documentary, has sold North American rights to Abramorama following its premiere at Sundance Film Festival. The movie, which explores the phenomenon of sound through 32 specific sonic experiences, will begin its nationwide theatrical rollout at New York City’s Film Forum on April 28. To complete the unique auditory experience, several venues, including Film Forum, will offer audience members individual sets of headphones so they can watch “32 Sounds” the way the filmmaker intended. “32 Sounds” had its world premiere at Sundance, where it played to positive reviews. Variety’s chief film critic Peter Debruge wrote that the movie is “bursting with humor, emotion and curiosity” and praised it as a “rare and rewarding sonic journey with the potential to enrich our lives.”

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02.03.2023 / 20:55

‘2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animation’ Review: ‘The Boy’ and His Ilk Mark a High-Water Year

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic On Oscar night, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” will almost certainly win the Academy Award for feature animation. For many of those following along at home, it will look as though the director of “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Shape of Water” is being rewarded for some kind of secondary passion, as if del Toro had scaled Everest and then set his sights on a smaller peak on which to plant his flag. But that’s not how it happened at all. Way back in Mexico, del Toro started his filmmaking career doing animated shorts: Obsessed with Ray Harryhausen, the amateur future auteur built rudimentary armatures, painstakingly repositioning the puppets one frame at a time. Decades later, once established in Hollywood, del Toro accepted a side gig at DreamWorks Animation, serving as a story consultant on films such as “Megamind” and “Kung Fu Panda 2” as a pretext for teaching himself the trade. With “Pinocchio,” he put those lessons to work on a stop-motion passion project that’s every bit as challenging as his most impressive films.

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25.02.2023 / 04:15

‘Tótem’ Review: Secrets Are Made and Truths Revealed at an Unforgettable Family Gathering

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Presented largely from the point of view of two children, Mexican director Lila Avilés’ intimate, emotionally rich Berlin competition entry “Tótem” immerses audiences in a boisterous family gathering, where a handful of adult siblings have gathered to celebrate the birthday of their brother, a painter named Tonatiuh (Mateo Garcia). “Tona” is barely seen for most of the movie, confined to a back room where he refuses visitors. Naturally, this confuses 7-year-old Sol (Naíma Sentíes), who spends the day wandering the house alone, building a pillow fort in the living room or collecting snails in the garden. “Sometimes I feel like my dad doesn’t love me when he says he doesn’t want to see me,” Sol confides to her father’s trusted nurse, Cruz (Teresita Sánchez, the lone carryover from Avilés’ exceptional 2018 debut, “The Chambermaid”). Your heart can’t help but break a little in that moment, for by this time, Avilés has already provided enough clues for us to sketch out the rough situation in our heads.

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24.02.2023 / 16:05

Mubi Acquires Additional European Territories on Ira Sachs’ Erotic Drama ’Passages’ in Berlin (EXCLUSIVE)

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Global indie streamer distributor and producer MUBI has acquired all rights in several key European territories to “Passages,” the erotic drama by Ira Sachs that bowed with a splash at Sundance and just had its European premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Following the world premiere of “Passages” at Sundance MUBI last month snapped up all rights for the U.S., U.K., Ireland and Latin America to the U.S. indie darling director’s first film shot in France. Now MUBI has acquired additional European territories on “Passages” including for Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey and Benelux. The Benelux pickup is in partnership with Belgium’s Imagine Film Distribution.

Ira Sachs Michel Merkt Peter Debruge Saïd Ben-Saïd France Italy Ireland Austria Germany Belgium Berlin Turkey film Love Latin Parke Gay

variety.com

24.02.2023 / 09:25

‘Luther: The Fallen Sun’ Review: Idris Elba Breaks out of Prison but Can’t Escape a Corny Script in Feature Spinoff

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic “Luther: The Fallen Sun” starts by punishing its protagonist — scruffy, cross-the-line Detective Chief Inspector John Luther (Idris Elba) — for all his past sins after the franchise’s latest villain, played by Andy Serkis, releases details of Luther’s rule-bending tactics to the media. On the phone with some kind of Estonian henchman, Serkis’ Robey implies that it will be tricky to dig up the dirt on Luther because “he doesn’t have much of an online presence,” but the next thing we know, Luther’s being tossed into a high-security prison. Guess they got their hands on the past five seasons of the BBC Television series. Or maybe the last episode was enough — although we won’t retroactively give it away here, for those who haven’t dedicated the past dozen years to following Luther’s exploits. Suffice to say, this was the role that got people speculating that Elba might make a suitable replacement when Daniel Craig decided to retire his license to kill. Like Craig’s 21st-century 007, Luther was a darker, more tortured kind of action hero, torn between a constipated psychology and his locomotive drive to capture and punish wrongdoers.

Daniel Craig Andy Serkis Peter Debruge Jamie Payne John Luther Estonia Netflix BBC film audience folk action DiRT escape

variety.com

24.02.2023 / 05:11

‘Suzume’ Review: A Teenager Does Battle With Giant Worms in Makoto Shinkai’s Feel-Good Disaster Movie

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Tapping into the Japanese national zeitgeist once again with “Suzume,” writer-director Makoto Shinkai surpasses his peers in making films for and about teenagers. Now 50 years old, the anime master christened his latest blockbuster after its heroine, Suzume Iwato (voiced by Nanoka Hara), a 17-year-old orphan on the southwestern island of Kyushu swept up in a cross-country trip to prevent a series of natural disasters. That such a responsibility should fall to someone so young is typical of his oeuvre (see “Weathering With You”), but also an apt way of illustrating the lingering trauma and vulnerability that adolescents feel in many parts of Japan. Funnier and more streamlined than Shinkai’s earlier hypercharged toon epics, “Suzume” is a massive hit in its home country, where it has earned more than $100 million since opening last November — his third film to pass that milestone. The film made its international premiere at the Berlinale, one of two animated features in official competition (the other being Chinese director Liu Jian’s “Art College 1994”). Theatrical releases are scheduled to follow in most countries on or around April 13.

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variety.com

18.02.2023 / 22:01

‘Manodrome’ Review: Jesse Eisenberg Glowers His Way Through Reductive Look at Modern Masculinity

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic The first rule of “Manodrome” is you don’t talk about “Fight Club.” “Fight Club” looms large over writer-director John Trengrove’s unsettling second feature, even if no one overtly mentions David Fincher’s provocative late-’90s movie in this dark psychological-thriller-cum-social-critique, which finds the state of masculinity even more fraught than Fincher did a quarter-century ago. Trengrove, who is gay and hails from South Africa (his 2017 debut “The Wound” was shortlisted for the Oscar international prize), brings a queer sensibility to his otherwise unsatisfying analysis of contemporary manhood, enlisting Jesse Eisenberg to play yet another scrawny white guy seeking outlet for deep wells of festering aggression.

David Fincher Jesse Eisenberg Peter Debruge Adrien Brody John Trengrove South Africa film stars art queer man Oscar Gay

variety.com

18.02.2023 / 01:01

‘BlackBerry’ Review: A Ferocious and Nearly Unrecognizable Glenn Howerton Steals This Rowdy Tech-World Satire

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic For a hot minute, it looked like BlackBerry might control the smartphone market. They got there first, figuring out how to use the existing data network to put email in users’ hands. Sure, it all came packaged in a device as thick and unwieldy as a slice of French toast — too big for most people’s pockets, not at all comfortable to hold up to one’s ear. Still, Canada-based electronics company Research in Motion revolutionized how mobile phones worked and what they could do, making billionaires of its co-founders. So what happened? Frantic, irreverent and endearingly scrappy, “BlackBerry” spins comedy from the seat-of-their-pants launch and subsequent flame-out of “that phone that people had before they bought an iPhone,” as one character puts it. Directed by Matt Johnson — the renegade mock-doc helmer responsible for 2013 Slamdance winner “The Dirties” and moon-landing hoax “Project Avalanche” — from a script he co-wrote with longtime collaborator Matthew Miller, this sly tech-world satire freely extrapolates from journalists Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s book “Losing the Signal,” refashioning that wild ride into something that approximates their favorite movies.

Matt Johnson David Mamet Aaron Sorkin Peter Debruge Glenn Howerton Sean Silcoff France Canada film audience electronic Mobile Parke Matthews BlackBerry and

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