In a Welsh seaside town, Geoff and Lawrence Fowler are turning out a series of surprisingly good low-budget features (e.g., Jack in the Box) about dolls, puppets or robots possessed by evil. Says one aficionado, "Their films look good, they are well-designed and well-plotted with good jump scares." - The Hollywood Reporter
"Streaming platform Mubi has cancelled its long-planned Mubi Fest Istanbul at the eleventh hour after (the local district) governor banned a screening of Luca Guadagnino’s LGBTI+ themed movie Queer, which was to have been the opening film." - Deadline
His easygoing exterior belied a deft improvisatory mind that could take the temperature of the room, the guest, and the viewer all at once, course-correcting with breathtaking speed. - The New Yorker
Access to the popular video app won't be blocked for Canadian users, but the Industry Minister said that the order, which is based on evidence and assessments from Canada's intelligence agencies, is meant to address security risks related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc. - AP
The de-aging technology comes from Metaphysic, a visual effects company that creates real time face swapping and aging effects. During filming, the crew watched two monitors simultaneously: one showing the actors' actual appearances and another displaying them at whatever age the scene required. - Wired
"The proliferation of true-crime entertainment like Netflix’s docudrama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is effecting real-life changes for their subjects and in society. At their best, (they) help expose injustices and right wrongs. But because many of these products prioritize entertainment and profit, they also can have negative consequences." - AP
"Some film-makers are explicit in their intention to affect election outcomes. ... Others come from the opposite direction, reckoning that an election year is the perfect time to draw attention. ... The Guardian chose films from each election year of the 21st century and interviewed the people who made them." - The Guardian
Kathryn Hahn on Agatha All Along: “It does feel like a really radical thing that we've been able to pull off. Though, because my currency in this business wasn't my sex appeal, I feel like I've been able to just kind of walk into more complicated parts.” - NPR
If you remember the 2005 movie Thank You for Smoking, you’d be forgiven for anticipating this is a Big Tobacco thing. “Nine out of the 10 films nominated for the Oscars top prize earlier this year featured smoking, which is up from the seven in the year before.” - BBC
The movie image of elite soldiers as macho hulks has fueled concerns that today’s flabby and screen-addicted youths couldn’t cut it in a real fight. But piloting drones demands quick thinking, sharp eyes and nimble thumbs, the kind of prowess more readily associated with computer games than military combat. - The Wall Street Journal
Figures published by the BFI said attendance across both free and paid-for in-person screenings and events at London venues increased by 92%, with 49% of tickets being booked by first-time LFF attendees. - Deadline
For instance, after the emperor died and the tech bubble popped in Japan, “filmmakers leaned into the anxieties of late-twentieth-century life–including, prominently and presciently, the ghostliness of digital technology.” - Criterion
We don’t mean that in a mystical sense, but in the sense that Sony and CBS are in the midst of a legal fight over the popular game show and its (perhaps even more popular) sibling, Jeopardy!. - Los Angeles Times
"Eastwood fans in the UK will have no problem seeing Juror #2, where it’s enjoying a wide release in more than 300 cinemas nationwide. Across the whole of the US, however, it’s screening in fewer than 50 cinemas” with no plans for a wider rollout or awards campaign. - The Guardian (UK)
Looks like Anna Kendrick, director and star of the Netflix film Woman of the Hour, which is about a serial abuser and killer, thinks the best thing to do is donate the money. - Los Angeles Times
