“Am I OK?” might be the only comedy at this year’s Sundance Film Festival about a pair of pals upended — sort of — by the admission that one of them is gay, but it’s also a generous examination of female friendship, a dead funny skewering of L.A. culture, and a refreshing new spin on the sex comedy to boot. It’s got something for everyone, a crowd-pleaser with the kind of plotline that might scare of a handful of audience members (too bad for them, really)....

Starz announced the news Tuesday morning with a special message from novelist and executive producer Neil Gaiman. The author of the 2001 “American Gods” fantasy novel, Gaiman’s work serves as the basis for the ongoing series, but he emphasized the “timely” nature of the latest incarnation. Per the synopsis provided by the network: “In Season 3, Shadow angrily pushes this apparent destiny away, and settles in the idyllic snowy town of Lakeside, Wisconsin — to make his own path, guided by the gods of his Black ancestors, the Orishas....

Adapted by Catherine Léger from her play of the same name, the French-Canadian satire opens on the verge of an overdose of testosterone and adrenaline, with Cédric and his skeevy pals Carlos (Stéphane Moukarzel) and Tessier (Hubert Proulx) ogling pictures of women on their cellphones while cheering on a bloody cage-fight. With rapid-fire close-ups of breasts, butts, and the trio’s leery eyes, Chokri, cinematographer Josée Deshaies, and editor Pauline Gaillard yank the audience into an uncomfortably ravenous sensory overload with a sickly, plastic façade, as the music by Emile Sornin riffs on the turbo-charged strumming of Dick Dale & The Del Tones....

The 1980s music industry is explored in Netflix’s “Beauty,” written and produced by Lena Waithe and directed by Sundance Film Festival darling Andrew Dosunmu, who also executive produces the feature. “Beauty” premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival and premieres on Netflix June 29. Gracie Marie Bradley stars as the titular Beauty, a rising singer who struggles to maintain her identity after being offered a lucrative recording deal by an executive, played by Sharon Stone....

By the end of the weekend, after multiple showings, “Belfast” was the crowdpleaser of the festival. “It was a very charged experience,” Branagh said in a recent interview in Los Angeles. “When we got there, first of all I was impressed by the size of the venue and the size of the screen, all these basic things that accompany the release of a film, and then how many people were there....

In his review out of this year’s Telluride Film Festival last week, IndieWire’s David Ehrlich wrote: “A shaggy black-and-white mood piece about an unmarried radio journalist (Joaquin Phoenix) who unexpectedly finds himself on a cross-country assignment with his nine-year-old nephew (Woody Norman) in tow, Mills’ latest film…can be unspecific in a way that drifts toward vagueness. But ‘C’mon C’mon’ finds a pulse of its own in the quasi-parental friendship that forms between Johnny and his nephew Jesse....

Here’s the official synopsis from Universal: Peele has described this new riff as a “spiritual sequel” to the original 1992 “Candyman,” which was written and directed by Bernard Rose and based on a short story by Clive Barker. The film starred Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Vanessa Estelle Williams, and an early acting performance by “Harriet” filmmaker Kasi Lemmons. Both Todd and Williams reprise their roles in this update. With Anthony’s painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini Green old-timer (Colman Domingo) exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman....

Butler and Grillo seem to be forging a path for themselves in old-school-style action movies that indulge in a bearish brand of masculinity, even as well-paid superhero movie/TV roles with franchise possibilities become increasingly available to almost any actor with name recognition. On paper, a film that pits them against each other as rival thugs would hopefully be at least entertaining. But “Copshop” co-writer/director Joe Carnahan just won’t let his headliners be great....

“There is an air of quiet death in this house, and I do not like the way it smells,” Reynolds Woodcock announces over breakfast in “Phantom Thread.” Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary (“Phantom Thread” co-star Vicky Krieps) appears to feel the same way about Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace, the difference being she has finally got used to its odor. It doesn’t help that, by Christmas 1887, a quiet death is exactly what “Elise,” the now-40-year-old spouse of ruler and busybody Franz Joseph (Florian Teichtmeister), seems destined for....

Netflix confirmed to IndieWire that the series will leave the platform at midnight local time February 28. The Defenders titles were licensed originals, and as the license for Netflix has ended, the rights are returning to Disney. Representatives at Disney had no comment. The news was first reported by Entertainment Weekly. Fans began to suspect the move when Netflix recently attached a notification to the shows saying “this show is available until March 1st....

McFarland brought the famed 1863 photo of former slave “Whipped Peter” to the film’s premiere. Will Smith portrays Peter in the Apple Original feature, helmed by Antoine Fuqua. “I have the photo, this is the original photograph from 1863,” McFarland told Variety on the red carpet. “I wanted a piece of Peter to be here tonight.” McFarland continued, “It’s [sad] to say so many artifacts and photographs have not been preserved or curated or respected....

“We’re looking very carefully at what’s happening with ‘French Dispatch’ coming in the next couple of weeks,” Michelle Hooper, Searchlight’s marketing chief, said. “On [October 22] it opens in 12 cities and then we’re going to be 50 cities the following week. I think we’re going to go faster than we originally anticipated. I think it will be a real, true test of the specialized market.” NYFF, which wraps Sunday, offered Hooper a sense of optimism about the film....

Through four episodes, characters are still being honed, ideal dynamics identified, and a consistent sense of humor established (here’s hoping for at least 40 percent less poop jokes), but there are also enough solid cracks and relatable storylines to hope “Housebroken” finds its best self after a little more training. Honey, a tall, white poodle voiced by the radiant Lisa Kudrow, is the group’s de facto leader and openly unlicensed therapist....

The five new categories — Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series, Best Scripted Series, Best Female Performance in a Scripted Series, Best Male Performance in a Scripted Series, Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series — had an extremely straightforward set of winners, which cynical minds might suggest is a sign that an organization that specializes in independent film might not be the right awards body to dabble in the messy business of television....

The official synopsis describes “jeen-yuhs” as “a landmark documentary event presented in three acts from Clarence ‘Coodie’ Simmons and Chike Ozah…. an intimate and revealing portrait of Kanye West’s experience, showcasing both his formative days trying to break through and his life today as a global brand and artist.” The documentary was directed by Chike Ozah and Clarence “Coodie” Simmons, who began filming Ye when he was still a 21-year-old rap producer living in Chicago....

Part investigative mystery, part eccentric character study, “The Lady and the Dale” renders Liz’s adventurous life with inventive zeal, using whimsical paper cutout animation to bring life to the decades-old characters. A subject of media fascination at the time, Liz’s identity as a transgender woman became inextricably linked to her duplicitous business dealings, making her a powerful real-world example of the “trans deception” trope at its most insidious. Her trans-ness is explored with tender nuance; carefully extricated from the more complicated parts of her story and contextualized in trans history....

A little more about the unique love story: “As the investigation moves forward, inspired by Susan’s obsession with old Westerns and classic cinema, the fantasists cast themselves as Hollywood heroes in narratives of their own invention. Powered by Susan’s extraordinary imagination, Susan and Chris’s fantasy world provides a much-needed sanctuary from real-world horrors and their own clawing guilt but also threatens to undo them completely.” (Via Deadline.) Described as an exploration of love and fantasy, the series is directed by Will Sharpe, also an actor and writer known for creating the dark comedy “Flowers,” in which Colman also starred....

That means Andy watched a Pixar movie in 1995 that was actually made in the 2020s, which is perfect, considering the time-bending, Rip Van Winkle-like premise: After Buzz (voiced by Chris Evans) inadvertently strands his Star Command crew on an uncharted planet, he keeps traveling through time warps after a series of unsuccessful test runs to see if the rocket fuel will get them back to Earth. Each time he returns to the planet, though, the crew ages four years while he’s only been gone four minutes....

“Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” reunites fellow Emmy winners Peters and series creator Ryan Murphy for a haunting look at the life of cannibal and necrophile Dahmer. The series examines the gruesome and horrific true crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer and the systemic failures that enabled one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade. The show premieres September 21 on Netflix....

So while we wait a few more years for the Pixar equivalent of the MCU hitting Disney+ (aka the animated equivalent of “WandaVision”) adjust your expectations accordingly for “Monsters at Work” — a pleasant, very well-cast office comedy for kiddos, without grander designs than that. So far, at least. Along with smooth, rubbery animation lacking that Pixar depth and definition, “Monsters at Work” also makes a meaningful change in focus....