“David was a huge inspiration for us, and Matt wanted to create a POV-driven, noir detective story,” said Chinlund, who previously worked with Reeves on “The Planet of the Apes” franchise. “And, as the designer, the challenge was weaving a world that could contain all these threads and deliver a Gotham that felt simultaneously grounded yet stitched together in a new space that we haven’t seen before.” Taking inspiration from Frank Miller’s “Batman: Year One,” Chinlund worked off a totally corrupt Gotham in stitching together a Batworld culled from London (where they shot on location and did set builds at Leavesden and Cardington studios) and New York City (where they also shot)....

While American audiences are now certainly aware of Kazakhstan, its actual culture and history remain a mystery to most. Although Kazakhstani artists have been making movies since the 1930s, most of those efforts were Soviet propaganda until the past 30 years. Since it achieved independence from the USSR in 1991, the country has managed to develop a small-but-substantial film industry. Much of Kazakh cinema focuses on epic stories that honor their ancient past or their complex relationship with the Soviet Union and, later, Russia....

The 70-year-old Choy isn’t the subject of their film so much as she’s the lens through which it looks back at yesterday and the fire that kindles its hope for a brighter tomorrow, but her inextinguishable spirit can be felt burning away behind every scene. Not allowing history to get too comfortable. Rubbing a lit cigarette into our collective political blind spots. Combining the revolutionary zeal of a teenage Marxist with the diva-like magnetism of Mariah Carey....

Has any divorce had a more profound impact on the American imagination than the one between Steven Spielberg’s parents? It was the breakup that launched a million blockbusters. That made daddy issues into a spectacle all their own. That led directly to “E.T.,” “Catch Me if You Can,” and the last scene of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” while also paving the way toward any number of iconic films about the meltdown of the nuclear family — which any multiplex would tell you was the middle class’ defining crisis of the 20th century....

Nearly all of the stories in “The Sopranos” universe are told by men and boys: The newest is even narrated by a male ghost. Women of “The Sopranos” tend to be preternaturally voiceless, silenced, beaten, or all three, at least when they are not seducing men or complaining. Young girls and daughters experience this misogyny twofold, and “The Many Saints of Newark” carries on “The Sopranos” tradition of rendering young girls all but invisible, forgetting about daughters....

“He called me one day and said, ‘I want to do this little movie, it’s called ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth,’” Delbonnel told Indiewire in a recent interview. “I don’t want to shoot a play, I want it to be a movie — but I’m interested in exploring the theatricality, and what is theater. And I don’t want to go to Scotland, I want to shoot everything on a stage.” Over the course of a year of discussions and planning, Delbonnel realized that Shakespeare’s ideas and dialogue were so complex and beautiful that the simplest possible form would be ideal to express them; he adopted the idea that the film would be the cinematic equivalent of a haiku, where a whole world is conveyed in a few sentences....

The other two #1 positions were taken by 2013 Jason Statham-starrer “Homefront” (Google Play), likely boosted by its bargain $3.99 price. At Spectrum, “The Deep Blue Sea 3” took the top spot as it moved off premium pricing. Among the titles that debuted last Friday, “The Vanished,” directed by actor Peter Facinelli and starring Thomas Jane and Anne Heche as parents searching for their daughter, scored best. It was in second or third place at three sites (Spectrum ends its chart before Friday releases)....

Director Kerem Sanga may not be working at quite the same level, but his stirring new film pays effective tribute to the likes of “Magnificent Obsession” and “A Place in the Sun” through its vivid self-belief that audiences will buy anything so long as they get enough bang for their buck. For the majority of its running time, “The Violent Heart” appears to have more in common with the sullen indie romances of today than it does with the star-crossed theatrics of yesteryear....

The Governors Award debuted in 1978 with the intent to honor individuals and organizations whose exceptional and universal achievements surpass the scope of annual Emmy Awards recognition. While the TV Academy chose not to bestow the honors in 2019, previous recipients include “Star Trek,” “American Idol,” “Masterpiece Theater,” and William S. Paley. “Tyler Perry has changed the face of television and inspired a new generation of content creators. He pioneered a new brand of storytelling that engages people of color both in front of and behind the camera, and his shows have resonated with a global audience,” Governors Award selection committee Chair Eva Basler said in a statement....

Meanwhile, two other top fall releases, both at $19.99, share the top position at the moment. “No Time to Die” (United Artists) and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (Disney) both took #1 spots among the three charts below. Both were made available last week, with initially the Bond title atop across the board. That makes sense for “No Time to Die,” especially because of its early (31-day) PVOD release and older, still theater-averse audience....

In an interview with Kevin Smith (via /Film), “WandaVision” director Matt Shakman reveals a “Goonies”-inspired action scene was shot for the finale revealing Señor Scratchy’s transformation into a demon. The scene was cut because of incomplete VFX and because it took away from the main storylines in the finale. “We did have something planned for Señor Scratchy which we ultimately couldn’t do just because the finale had so many different chess pieces,” Shakman said....

Henry Selick, whose last feature was 2009’s masterpiece “Coraline,” is back at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival with “Wendell & Wild.” It’s a delightful return to form for the man who put stop-motion back on the map, and a charmingly devious collaboration with comedy duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, reunited after their groundbreaking comedy series ended. After watching her parents die in a tragic car accident, troubled teen Kat (Lyric Ross) spent her adolescence shunted from juvy home to juvy home, getting in trouble, and hating the world....

“Chris is redeploying our talent in ways he thinks make sense and will resonate,” a CNN spokesperson told IndieWire on Thursday. “This won’t be the last.” “Don Lemon Tonight” is in last place in viewers across CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC, in both hours. The primetime hour at 10 is down 42 percent year-to-year in total viewers and 48 percent in the key news demographic of adults 25-54, according to Nielsen....

No amount of breaking news can possibly convey the impact of Russian warmongering creeping into Ukrainian society, but the eerie and often heartbreaking ramifications come to life in Sergei Loznitsa’s satiric anthology “Donbass.” Valentyn Vasyanovych’s post-apocalyptic “Atlantis” is suddenly prescient for the way it conveys a bleak vision of Eastern Ukraine circa 2025, “one year after the war.” In Natalyz Vorozhbit’s “Bad Roads,” Donbas is explored as a series of tense exchanges between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainians at the mercy of propagandistic outbursts....

“As honored as I am to receive the VES Award for Creative Excellence, I am humbled by the knowledge that this would not be possible without the dedication and creative excellence of the many artists I have had the fortunate opportunity to work with over the years,” said Legato, who is also a cinematographer and second unit director. “I am so very grateful for the continued generosity of this community for their camaraderie and willingness to share their unique vision and valuable secrets of their successes....

Previously, Thelonious Monk’s son T.S. Monk told Pitchfork that the biopic was unauthorized by his father’s estate. “This project and its announcement are totally unauthorized! I hate the script and I control the music in Thelonious’ catalog,” Monk wrote in an email. “There is no involvement by anyone in the Monk family with this project, and we actually condemn the effort.” Bey added in his Instagram post that he’s still “super-excited, still, if there’s an opportunity to tell this type of story in the right way, and only with the estate’s approval and full involvement and acceptance....

After spending over a decade in the MCU, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” star revealed she felt “stuck doing these franchises” for years. “I’m very grateful for the opportunities that they provided, from collaborating with amazing directors and getting to meet cast members that I consider friends and getting to play a role that fans, especially children, love,” Saldaña told WWD. “I feel that for the last 10 years of my life, I’ve been just stuck....

Executive produced by Monica Lewinsky and Max Joseph, the film attempts to give insight into the way that the internet and social media feed into the modern methods of public shaming and the rise of “cancel culture.” Those groundswells of judgement are so vitriolic and widespread that it sometimes results in ordinary people, whether they made a mistake or were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lewinsky knows all about going from an anonymous citizen to the center of a scandal resonating on a global stage overnight....

Bialowas and Mandes’ first film stuck faithfully to the material provided by author (and co-screenwriter) Blanka Lipinska: a bored Polish hotel worker (Anna Maria Sieklucka as Laura) becomes the object of obsession for a sexy, if seriously fucked up, mafioso named Massimo (Michele Morrone). Massimo’s desire for Laura, initially kicked off after he spotted her on a beach before his father was murdered before his eyes (that old story), culminates in the mob don eventually tracking her down, kidnapping her, and vowing to imprison her for 365 days until she falls in love with him....

The repetitively titled film is a sequel to 1983’s “A Christmas Story,” directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepard’s 1966 novel “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.” Set in the ’40s, the original film starred Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker, an ordinary 9-year-old boy engaging in various hijinks around Christmastime while desperately yearning to get a BB gun for the big holiday. Shepard narrated the film as an adult Ralphie reminiscing about his childhood....