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“You can fall in love with a character, you can get really emotionally invested,” declares “From” star Harold Perrineau, “but they’re just like, ‘yeah, we don’t care, sorry, bye!” For our recent webchat he adds with a laugh, “We are trying to hurt your feelings!” referring to the series’ growing list of casualties as evidence that no character is safe on the horror drama. “Lately it’s been a steady stream of people who are like ‘I love ‘From,’ but if they kill Boyd, I’m gonna be mad!’ Like, I can’t control that!” he laughs. “It’s been really exciting to see that it’s really getting into people’s homes and they’re really digging it.” Watch our video interview above.

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“From,” created by John Griffin (who also serves as showrunner), streams exclusively on...

Lina Esco, the actor best known for “S.W.A.T.” and “Kingdom,” has joined the cast of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s new film “Rip.”

Joe Carnahan is directing the action thriller for Netflix. “Rip” follows a team of Miami cops whose trust begins to fray when they discover millions in a derelict stash house. The official logline teases: “As outside forces learn about the size of the seizure, everything for the team is called into question — including who they can rely on.”

Netflix declined to comment on Esco’s casting.

Along with Damon and Affleck, the cast includes Sasha Calle, Teyana Taylor, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Scott Adkins (“John Wick: Chapter 4”) and Nestor Carbonell.

In “Rip,” Esco will be playing a character named Captain Jackie Velez. The actor starred on “S.W.A.T.” for five seasons between 2017 and 2022, portraying Officer Christina “Chris” Alonso. She also directed the women’s empowerment film “Free the Nipple.

Catalina Sandino Moreno and Néstor Carbonell have joined the high-profile cast of Rip, a crime thriller starring produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

Joe Carnahan, the action and thriller director behind such fare as The Grey and Copshop, is helming the feature that already has Sasha Calle (The Flash) and singer-turned-actress Teyana Taylor on the call sheet. It begins production later this month in Miami and Los Angeles.

The feature is being produced by Artists Equity, the artist-led studio founded by Affleck and Damon. The duo are producing along with Luciana Damon and Dani Bernfeld for Artists Equity. Michael Joe and Kevin Halloran are exec producing for Artists Equity.

The crime thriller sees a team of Miami cops discovering millions in cash in a derelict stash house. Things are complicated by police rules requiring them to stay on location. As trust among the team begins to fray, outside forces...

After sharing a tease yesterday, Lionsgate has shared the first official trailer for their upcoming John Wick spinoff Ballerina, which stars Academy Award-nominee Ana de Armas in the lead role as a young assassin named Eve Macarro, who, after a tragedy, begins training in the ways of the Ruska Roma and plots her vengeance against those that wronged her family.

The film's official synopsis reads, "Taking place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the film follows Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) who is beginning her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma."

While the trailer does give us plenty of footage of the fan-favorite Cuban actress kicking all kinds of ass across the world, it wraps up with the most epic of cameos as the one-and-only Keanu Reeves reprises his iconic role as John Wick, a.k.a. Baba Yaga, and it looks like he'll...

In what is shaping up to be a rather thin awards season, could a small but formidable film, written and directed by a filmmaker with three Oscar winners in his family, find its way into contention?

That’s what Falling Forward Films is betting on in acquiring the U.S. distribution rights for Jack Huston’s impressive directorial debut Day of the Fight, a black-and-white indie about a once-renowned boxer — played by Huston’s former Boardwalk Empire costar Michael C. Pitt — as he takes a redemptive journey through his past and present on the day of his first fight since he was released from prison.

Indeed, the upstart distributor has already begun mounting an awards campaign for the film, which also stars Nicolette Robinson, Ron Perlman, John Magaro, Anatol Yusef, Steve Buscemi (another Boardwalk Empire alum) and — coming out of retirement to make a brief but shattering appearance — Oscar winner Joe Pesci.

Get ready From-ily. This afternoon,MGM+ and it’s propulsive horror series “From” is celebrating its inaugural visit to San Diego Comic-Con with new casting news, a season 3 premiere date, and a chilling new trailer.

“From” returns for its new season on September 22 on MGM+!

Look for two new faces this upcoming season. Robert Joy and Samantha Brown will join the ensemble cast. Joy will play Henry, a curmudgeon to whom the years have not been kind, while Brown will play Acosta, a new-to-the-force police officer who is in over her head.

You can get a glimpse of both new characters in the intense trailer below. Survival odds look lower than ever, and things are only getting creepier.

The series “unravels the mystery of a nightmarish town that traps all those who enter. As the unwilling residents fight to keep a sense of normalcy and search for a way out,...

Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas has called for public suggestions of Latino films to nominate for the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.

Submissions of Latino-driven films can be made by visiting his website. To be eligible, films must be at least 10 years old. Public members are encouraged to submit their nominations to Congressman Castro and the Library of Congress directly.

“For more than a century, Latino filmmakers have poured their talent and creativity into bringing our stories to the silver screen,” said Castro, who is putting out the public call for the third year. “As my office launches our third annual public call for nominations, I’m excited to hear from folks across the country about the Latino-driven movies that have had an enduring impact on their lives. I’m looking forward to putting together an incredible list of the Latino films that have shaped American...

Twenty years ago this month, the fairy tale-like romantic comedy “13 Going on 30” starring Jennifer Garner made its way into cinemas. The actress played Jenna Rink, a socially awkward soon-to-be 13-year-old who quickly realizes that she “hates being 13.” She makes a birthday wish to be “thirty, flirty and thriving.” With the little help of some wishing dust, she wakes up the next morning to discover that her wish has come true.

It was a defining moment in Garner’s early career. Her role as Sydney Bristow in the television action thriller series “Alias” had made her a breakout star (including at awards shows) just a few years earlier. She won the Golden Globe for Best Drama Actress in 2002 and had competed again in 2003 and earlier in 2004. She had also been nominated for two Emmy Awards one Screen Actors Guild trophy.

While Garner already had a number of film credits on her resume,...

Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro announced on Monday that he has nominated 27 films for potential addition to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, all of which feature Latino filmmakers, culture and history.

“Given the film industry’s continued exclusion of Latinos, we must make a special effort to ensure that Latino Americans’ contributions to American filmmaking are appropriately celebrated and included in the National Film Registry,” Rep. Castro wrote in his nomination letter. “The continued exclusion of Latinos in the film industry affects Latinos seeking opportunities in the industry and shapes how Latinos are perceived, stereotyped, and misunderstood in American life.”

Among the films nominated by Castro are “Frida” the 2002 biopic of legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo that earned Salma Hayek an Oscar nomination. Other Oscar nominated performances, such as Catalina Sandino Moreno and Demián Bichir in the immigration dramas “Maria Full of Grace” and “A Better Life,” were also included.

Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro has nominated 27 Latino-driven films for inclusion in the National Film Registry. Among the suggestions are films that brought Oscar nominations to Latino actors and artists, including Salma Hayek, as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in “Frida” (2002); Catalina Sandino Moreno, who portrayed a desperate undocumented pregnant immigrant in “Maria Full of Grace” (2004) and Demián Bichir, who played an undocumented worker in Los Angeles in “A Better Life” (2011). All were nominated for lead acting Oscars.

Other notable titles nominated by the congressman are Peter Sollett’s coming-of-age indie “Raising Victor Vargas,” Alfonso Arau’s romantic drama “Like Water for Chocolate (1992) and Darnell Martin’s “I Like It Like That” (1994), a story of a Puerto Rican family in the Bronx.

“Given the film industry’s continued exclusion of Latinos, we must make a special effort to ensure that Latino Americans’ contributions to American filmmaking are appropriately celebrated and included in the National Film Registry,...

The 2023 Oscar nominees for Best Actress are Cate Blanchett (“Tar”), Ana de Armas (“Blonde”), Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”), Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”), and Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”). Our current odds indicate that Yeoh (82/25) will take the prize, followed in order by Blanchett (18/5), Williams (9/2), Riseborough (9/2), and de Armas (9/2).

Blanchett, who triumphed here in 2014 for “Blue Jasmine,” is the only past Oscar winner in this lineup. She now belongs to a group of 20 women with at least five Best Actress nominations apiece, with her previous unsuccessful bids having come for “Elizabeth” (1999), “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (2008), and “Carol” (2016). She also has a supporting victory to her name for “The Aviator” (2005) as well as two more notices in that category for “Notes on a Scandal” (2007) and “I’m Not There” (2008). Her overall nomination total of eight is the one of the highest for an actress, behind Meryl Streep (21), Katharine Hepburn (12), and Bette Davis...

The 2023 Oscar nominations were a mixed bag in terms of diversity — with no Black actors nominated in the lead acting categories and women shut out for best director — but there was one particular milestone worth applauding. With nods for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu (all for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”) and Hong Chau (“The Whale”), the number of Asian acting nominees reached the most recognized in a single year ever at four nominations.

This figure surpasses the lineup from 2004, which included Indian and Iranian actors Ben Kingsley and Shohreh Aghdashloo (both for “House of Sand and Fog”) and Japanese star Ken Watanabe (“The Last Samurai”).

“Everything Everywhere All At Once,” written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, was the top film with 11 nominations, many of which held historical significance. The Daniels are the fifth duo nominated for directing, with Kwan’s nominations for directing and...

Exclusive: The Oscar nominated actress of Maria Full of Grace, Catalina Sandino Moreno, is joining Ana de Armas in the John Wick spinoff Ballerina in a sizeable role, Deadline has learned. Moreno’s part remains under wraps.

The actress, whose deal just closed, joins Anjelica Huston, Ian McShane and Lance Reddick in the Lionsgate release. Cameras are currently rolling on the Len Wiseman directed, Shay Hatten scripted title in the 586M-grossing John Wick universe.

Producer Erica Lee said: “One of the challenges of casting Ballerina is making sure that the new roles are played by actors with as much power, emotional presence, and physical skill as Ana has. After working with Catalina on John Woo’s Silent Night, it was clear that she belonged at the top of our list, and it’s a thrill to be reuniting with her.”

Moreno was Oscar nominated out of the gate for her...

Premium network Epix is bringing back sci-fi horror series “From” for a 10-episode second season, we recently learned, and Deadline reports on some casting news this afternoon.

Deadline reports, “Scott McCord, who recurred as Victor in Season 1, has been promoted to series regular for Season 2. Additionally, Nathan D. Simmons (Diggstown), Kaelen Ohm (Hit & Run), Angela Moore (The Stand), Aj Simmons (Reacher) and Deborah Grover (Anne With An E) join lead Harold Perrineau as series regulars in the series.”

“From” unravels the mystery of a nightmarish town that traps all those who enter. In season two, hidden truths about the nature and terrifying origins of the town begin to emerge, even as life for its residents is plunged into chaos by the arrival of mysterious newcomers.

Deadline also teases this week, “In season two, hidden truths about the nature and terrifying origins of the town begin to emerge, even as...

Catalina Sandino Moreno and Harold Torres have been cast in “Silent Night,” an action-thriller starring Joel Kinnaman.

Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo (“A Better Tomorrow”) is directing the film, which is currently in production in Mexico City. The story centers on Godlock (Kinnaman), a father on a mission to avenge his young son, who was tragically caught in the crossfire of gang violence on Christmas Eve. Moreno will portray Saya, Godlock’s wife, and Torres will take on the role of the gang leader, Playa.

Robert Lynn is writing the screenplay, which contains almost no dialogue. Instead, the film will rely on the actor’s abilities to convey meaning and intention through Woo’s stylized imagery and intense action sequences.

Thunder Road Pictures and Capstone Studios are producing “Silent Night.”

“We couldn’t be happier to have the immensely talented Catalina and Harold join ‘Silent Night,’” said Capstone’s head of production,...

Ariana DeBose is now in the SAG Awards record books.

After winning SAG’s best supporting actress award for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” DeBose is now the first Latina to win a film award from the guild, along with being the first queer woman of color to be recognized for acting.

“It’s indicative that doors are opening,” DeBose told reporters in the virtual backstage media room. “It’s an honor to an Afro Latina queer women of color and a dancer and a singer and an actor.”

DeBose said that she is cognizant of the importance of the firsts that she is notching for Afro Latino actors,” but equally significant to her is the sign that “it’s indicative that I will not be the last. That’s the important part. Whatever firsts are attached to my name, they’re important to me,...

Epix will unleash a new nightmare on Feb. 20 when its new sci-fi meets horror series, “From” debuts.

The story revolves around a nightmarish town that traps all those who enter. The show’s cast features Catalina Sandino Moreno from “Maria Full of Grace,” Eion Bailey from “Band of Brothers,” Hannah Cheramy, Simon Webster and Ricky He from “The Good Doctor.” The residents fight to keep a sense of normalcy and search for a way out as they battle to survive the threats of the surrounding forest – including the terrifying creatures that come out when the sun goes down.

Visual effects supervisor Roberto Biagi teases there are great monster reveals. He says, “I am most excited to reveal the aftermath of the monsters’ dirty work. They appear quickly but the carnage they leave behind is gruesomely artful.”

While developing the creature transformations was a challenge, his biggest challenge came in keeping...

Fifteen years have passed since Penélope Cruz broke new ground as the first Spanish woman to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Although her performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s Spanish-language film “Volver” was passed over in favor of Helen Mirren’s in “The Queen,” she bounced back two years later by triumphing in the supporting category for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” Now, based on her work in Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers” (their seventh collaboration), she may have another shot at lead glory. If she does land in the lineup, she will join an exclusive club as the fifth leading lady to be recognized for two non-English language performances.

The first woman to accomplish this feat was Sophia Loren, who was nominated for “Marriage Italian Style” (1965) after winning for “Two Women” (1962). Both are Italian-language films directed by Vittorio De Sica. After losing on her second outing to Julie Andrews (“Mary Poppins...

Exclusive: Starz is expanding the series regular cast for season 3 of Power Book II: Ghost. David Walton (9Jkl), Monique Curnen (The Dark Knight) and Moriah Brown (Raising Dion) are set as series regulars for the upcoming season of the Power universe spinoff.

Power Book II: Ghost is the first series in the expanded Power franchise from executive producers Kemp and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

The series picks up shortly after the Power finale and follows Tariq St. Patrick (Michael Rainey Jr.), the son of James “Ghost” St. Patrick and Tasha Green-St. Patrick, as he navigates his new life.

Walton will play Lucas Weston, an adventure-seeking, left-leaning high-level executive at his family’s Wall Street firm.

Curnen, who recurred as former NYPD Detective Blanca Rodriguez in the first season, returns to reprise her role as a series regular in the upcoming season. This time around, she’s more determined than ever to...

IFC Midnight has acquired North American rights to “Barbarians,” a home invasion thriller with “Game of Thrones” star Iwan Rheon and “Maria Full of Grace” Oscar-nominee Catalina Sandino Moreno. The movie also marks the directorial debut of Charles Dorfman, the producer of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter.” Tom Cullen (“Downton Abbey”) and Inès Spiridonov (“Section Zero”) round out the cast.

The film premiered at the 2021 Fantastic Film Festival, and IFC Midnight will release the film in theaters and on demand on April 1, 2022.

Set over the course of twenty-four hours, “Barbarians” sees couple Adam (Rheon) and Eva (Moreno) wake up in their supposed dream house on Adam’s birthday. Lucas (Cullen), property developer and friend of the couple, arrives for dinner with his actress girlfriend Chloe (Spiridonov), to celebrate Adam’s birthday and the couple’s buying of the house. But secrets unravel over dinner, and when the doorbell rings...

In an unprecedented move, multi-Oscar nominated American composer and pianist Philip Glass (“The Hours”) has contributed key music to Mexican documentary “Cartas a Distancia” (“Letters from a Distance”) by Juan Carlos Rulfo.

Credit goes to Glass’s decades-long friendship and collaboration with the documentary’s lead composer and music producer Leonardo Heiblum, whose notable list of film credits include some highly acclaimed Latin American films, including “Frida,” “Maria Full of Grace,” “La Jaula de Oro,” Tatiano Huezo’s Cannes hit “Prayers for the Stolen” and Rulfo’s 2006 docu, “In the Pit.”

According to Glass, he and Heiblum met over 20 years ago when the latter worked for Glass’s company Dunvagen Music Publishers in New York. “He is an accomplished composer in his own right, so he eventually moved on to his own projects. Then I began to see him whenever I visited Mexico, and he would stop by for coffee...

Exclusive: Oscar-nominated Catalina Sandino Moreno is set as a lead opposite Eion Bailey and Harold Perrineau in From, Epix’s contemporary sci-fi horror series created by John Griffin (Crater). The series is produced by Midnight Radio — the producing team of Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg — as well as Joe & Anthony Russo’s Agbo.

From unravels the mystery of a nightmarish town in Middle America that traps all those who enter. As the unwilling residents fight to keep a sense of normalcy and search for a way out, they also must survive the threats of the surrounding forest – including the terrifying creatures that come out when the sun goes down.

Moreno plays Tabitha Matthews, who, along with husband Jim (Bailey), is struggling in the aftermath of a personal tragedy and suddenly finds herself and her family trapped in the town. Together they must find a way to keep their children safe,...

One of the last Oscar contenders to drop this season is someone’s first film. Andra Day makes her feature film debut in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” and could very well be the 17th big-screen newcomer to land a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

Just four people have won Best Actress for their film debuts — Shirley Booth (“Come Back, Little Sheba,” 1952), Julie Andrews (“Mary Poppins,” 1964), Barbra Streisand (“Funny Girl,” 1968) and Marlee Matlin — but 12 others scored nominations. There have been five instances in this century alone: Keisha Castle-Hughes (“Whale Rider,” 2003), Catalina Sandino Moreno (“Maria Full of Grace,” 2004), Gabourey Sidibe, Quvenzhane Wallis and most recently Yalitza Aparicio.

Day wouldn’t be an out-of-nowhere discovery like Castle-Hughes, Wallis — both of whom became the category’s youngest nominee, a record Wallis, who was 9 at the time, still holds — and Aparicio, but more in the vein of Booth, Andrews and Streisand, all of whom...

In an Oscar race unlike any we’ve seen before, few acting contenders can be truly counted out, especially as Covid-19 has pushed a number of high-profile releases out of contention. With the film industry shutting down for months, academy members have also had more time to watch films from home, which might include indie darling “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” from Focus Features.

The Eliza Hittman-directed drama, about a Philadelphia teenager who travels to New York City to get an abortion, premiered at Sundance in January to rapturous reviews, especially for its newcomer star, Sidney Flanigan. With critics praising Flanigan as a “remarkable discovery” and “a wonder to behold,” she could pick up more than a few votes in Best Actress if the industry is just as impressed.

SEEWe’re split on who will win Best Actress Oscar: Viola Davis (‘Ma Rainey’) vs. Frances McDormand (‘Nomadland’)

While Flanigan’s...

Slamdance has awarded its grand prize for screenwriting to writer Joyce Sherrí for her first feature screenplay for coming-of-age drama “Sweet Sixteen.”

The festival announced 13 prizes Thursday during a live-stream ceremony co-presented by Writers Guild of America West and hosted by Slamdance alum Todd Berger across feature film, horror/thriller, TV pilot and short film categories. Slamdance awarded more than $16,000 to winners across all categories.

“Sweet Sixteen” centers on Sweet, a 15-year-old girl who tries to convince her parents to throw her a big sweet 16 birthday party, but money and family problems lead her down a destructive path.

“Black people are not a monolith then neither are our experiences,” said Sherrí. “There is more to us than racial trauma. Sometimes we just want something as simple as a first kiss or a sweet sixteenth birthday party. I wrote ‘Sweet Sixteen’ because I want to share a story that explores a...

Hollywood has struck again, further perpetuating the idea that all Spanish accents are created equal, and every Hispanic is a Latino. Universal Pictures released the first trailer for “The 355” starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, Penélope Cruz and Fan Bingbing. As the trailer unfolds, with action that’s a mix of “Ocean’s Eleven” and “The Bourne Identity,” the first look showcases all the protagonists’ ethnic backgrounds as a dangling carrot to our “woke” generation.

In a voiceover, Nyong’o describes the intelligence agencies the women work for — American (Chastain), British (Nyong’o), German (Kruger), Colombian (Cruz), Chinese (Fan). Furthermore, the film’s official synopsis describes Cruz’s Graciela as a “skilled Colombian psychologist,” alongside Kruger’s Marie (“badass German agent”).

The use of the American and British cultural identities allows for a broader interpretation of what each of the women’s characters is, and what they may look like.

Starring Shea Whigham, Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon, and Academy Award® nominee Catalina Sandino Moreno – and from a writer of “Narcos: Mexico” – The Quarry arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital on June 16 from Lionsgate. This film is currently available On Demand. In this searing thriller, a drifter (Whigham) kills a traveling preacher and takes his place at a small-town church, but the police chief (Shannon) suspects foul play. Including audio commentary with the director, The Quarry Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.

Official SYNOPSISFrom the novel by Damon Galgut comes this searing thriller, a tale of sin and redemption set in the wilds of Texas. After murdering a traveling preacher, a fugitive drifter (Whigham) travels to a small town and poses as the man he killed. Though the congregation loves the drifter’s sermons of forgiveness, the local police chief...

Laura D. Smith (It Follows), Kristin Mann (Midnight Special) produced.

International Film Trust (Ift) has picked up international rights to SXSW 2020 selection The Quarry starring Michael Shannon and Shea Whigham and begins talks with Efm buyers this week.

Shannon plays a small town Texas police chief who becomes suspicious when a mysterious preacher (Whigham) arrives to take over the local church. As the congregation is drawn to the newcomer’s unorthodox sermons, it is not long before the two men are locked in a game of cat and mouse.

The cast includes Catalina Sandino Moreno from Maria Full Of Grace and TV series The Affair.

The Berlin Film Festival has suspended its Alfred Bauer Prize following revelations that the award’s namesake and the Berlinale’s first director was much more closely affiliated with the Nazi Party than previously known.

Bauer, a film historian, was appointed to head the festival in 1951 following its inception by Oscar Martay, a film officer in the U.S. Army who worked in the Information Service Branch of the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany. Bauer oversaw the Berlinale until 1976. The festival introduced the Alfred Bauer Prize in his honor following his death in 1986.

While it was known that Bauer worked for the Nazi government’s Reich Film Office in the 1940s and also advised the British military government on film issues after the end of the war, a new report by German newspaper Die Zeit has uncovered evidence that his association with the Nazis went far deeper.

Working with amateur film researcher Ulrich Hähnel,...

Film editor Anne McCabe and director Marielle Heller “both felt we needed to be incredibly respectful of the real Mister Rogers” when making “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” That courtesy extended to “the people who were involved with” Rogers’s long-running children’s series since “a lot of them were involved in the movie as well.” Watch our exclusive video interview with McCabe above.

The TriStar release is not your typical biographical drama. Instead it’s about the friendship between the beloved Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) and Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), a fictionalized version of real-life journalist Tom Junod, who profiled him in 1998 for Esquire magazine. Early on in the movie Lloyd’s wife, Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson), begs him not to ruin her childhood by taking down her idol, and McCabe “felt that pressure” as well.

See Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue Interview: ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

Believe it or not, it’s been 15 years since the Oscar winner for Best Actress hailed from the year’s Best Picture champ. The last time it happened was 2004, when Hilary Swank prevailed for “Million Dollar Baby” as boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in Clint Eastwood‘s tragic sports drama. None of Swank’s co-nominees that year starred in Best Picture nominees: Annette Bening (“Being Julia”), Catalina Sandino Moreno (“Maria Full of Grace”), Imelda Staunton (“Vera Drake”) and Kate Winslet (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”). Could there be — gasp! — a Best Actress Oscar curse in the making?

SEEPredictions for Best Actress at 2020 Oscars

We know what you’re thinking: with so many great performances out there is 15 years really that long to expect Best Actress to sync up with Best Picture? When compared to the other three acting categories, the answer is yes. Best Actor most recently matched up for Jean Dujardin...

Slamdance has awarded its grand prize for screenwriting to Tamra Teig and Michael Lipoma for their feature screenplay “The Fall.”

The festival announced a dozen prizes Thursday night during a ceremony hosted by Writers Guild of America West across feature film, horror/thriller, TV pilot and short film categories. Slamdance awarded more than $16,000 to winners across all categories.

“The Fall” is a historical drama set in East Berlin in 1989, where a single mother is forced to become a spy to save her son after he’s framed for murder. Her act of revenge, woven into historic events, leads to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

“With over 4,200 submissions this year, our judges were challenged by a wealth of exciting new writers to choose from,” said Slamdance president Peter Baxter. “Many plugged into the passion and concern around socially conscious themes our world is currently dealing with in raw, fun and unique ways.

Yalitza Aparicio, 24, was an aspiring pre-school teacher with a degree in education when her sister decided to go to a casting call at a local community center for a movie that was being partly shot in their town of Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, in Mexico.

Turns out, her sister wanted her to audition, instead. “She was very, very happy for me that they cast me. Even though I’m not a talkative person,“ Aparicio said with the help of a translator at last month’s Middleburg Film Festival in Virginia.

The movie turned out to be “Roma,” a Netflix film that could make history as the first Best Picture nominee – and perhaps winner – to be produced by a streaming site. It would also be the only fully subtitled feature to ever win. The story of a middle-class family of six living in Mexico City in the ‘70s and their kind and devoted live-in housekeeper and nanny Cleo,...

At this point in the Oscar race, all of the serious contenders for lead actress have been seen. So how is this year’s field stacking up?

Three performances feel like shoo-ins for nominations: Olivia Colman’s mad Queen Anne in “The Favourite,” a controversial category placement decision for a role some argue is supporting (though the film really features triple leads); Lady Gaga’s portrayal of a working-class diamond-in-the-rough in “A Star Is Born,” which could be one of two bids in the picture for the recording superstar, including original song recognition; and Melissa McCarthy’s best work yet as author/cat lady Lee Israel in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” which should make her a return contender after her first nomination seven years ago for “Bridesmaids.”

The battle for the gold likely lurks among that trio, but it will be interesting to see how the final two slots...

Oscar-nominated actress Catalina Sandino Moreno (The Affair) has been cast is set for a leading role opposite Sophia Bush in CBS’ drama pilot Surveillance, from Matt Reeves, David C. White, Patricia Riggen and 20th Century Fox TV, which will co-produce with CBS TV Studios.

Written by White, with Riggen set to direct, Surveillance is described as a complex and timely spy thriller centered around the head of communications for the Nsa (Bush), a charming operative who finds her loyalties torn between protecting the government’s secrets and her own.

Sandino Moreno will play Natalie, who oversees all active operations at the Nsa, the first woman to do so – and she’s excellent at her job. She is fiercely loyal to Maddy (Bush), her close colleague and longtime friend, and the two are like sisters.

Reeves executive produces via his 6th & Idaho production company alongside Riggen; White co-executive produces.

Sandino Moreno...

Matthew 4:16: “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” That Bible passage was written about Jesus Christ’s return from Galilee after the arrest of John the Baptist, but it could just as easily have preordained the glory of Jesus Christ’s return to movie screens after the pre-Easter rash of faith-based faff like “I Can Only Imagine” and “God’s Not Dead: Light in Darkness.”

Now that the lord hath risen, the quality of movies about him is set to rise as well. While Paul Schrader’s transcendent “First Reformed” is still waiting in the wings, “Maria Full of Grace” director Joshua Marston’s safe but stirring “Come Sunday” is a big step back towards grace, and a necessary reminder that spiritual crises are always more engaging for the questions...

Preacher Carlton Pearson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) wrestles with the pull of organized religion and divine belief in Netflix’s superb new film “Come Sunday.” Equal parts religious meditation and institutional indictment, Joshua Marston continues his streak of exceptional films, beginning with 2004’s “Maria Full of Grace” and, more recently, “Complete Unknown.” Buoyed by exceptional performances by Ejiofor, Jason Segel, and notably, Lakeith Stanfield, “Come Sunday” is a film that should not be missed.

Despite being an Oscar-nominated lead actor thanks to “12 Years A Slave,” Chiwetel Ejiofor still doesn’t get enough opportunities to lead movies. Let Netflix’s upcoming drama “Come Sunday” be another powerful reminder why that needs to change.

The film, directed by “Maria Full of Grace” and “Complete Unknown” filmmaker Joshua Marston, casts Ejiofor in the true story of the conflicted Bishop Carlton Pearson. Members of Pearson’s church conspired to have him removed for heresy after he started preaching that Hell doesn’t exist. The drama co-stars Jason Segel, Danny Glover, Martin Sheen, and Lakeith Stanfield.

“Come Sunday” will debut on Netflix April 13. Watch the official trailer below.

The fall is often perceived as the launch pad for awards season, as numerous prestige films compete for attention in the final weeks of the year. For much of the film community, however, it’s also the first major window into movies worth talking about next year. That’s because the Sundance Film Festival lineup typically drops in the middle of November, shaking up the holiday season with a mixture of familiar faces and newcomers who could make an impact in Park City this January. With programmers working in overdrive to complete the lineup in the coming weeks, and filmmakers praying to break through as the deadlines loom, we’ve cobbled together as much intel as we can for this extensive preview featuring dozens of promising titles that stand a good chance at making their way to Sundance this year. As usual, we’ve tried to avoid projects that are...

Robert De Niro in ‘The Godfather: Part II’ (Courtesy: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

By: Carson Blackwelder

Managing Editor

The first few days of Donald Trump’s presidency have been filled with a slew of sweeping policy changes that have garnered plenty of criticism — but the recent changes to America’s immigration policy have topped headlines. With an executive order that has been considered a Muslim ban by many, let’s take a look at some great films about immigration to the United States. There are plenty of them, but here is just a sampling of 16 that you should definitely watch.

A Better Life (2011): This film was directed by Chris Weitz and is a drama about a gardener in East L.A. who struggles to keep his son away from both gangs and immigration agents all while trying to give him opportunities he never had. A Better Life — written by...

By: Carson Blackwelder

Managing Editor

The Oscars have been a source of contention for the last two years — but that is poised to change this year. At the source of the controversy is a lack of non-white performers among the 20 slots in the best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, and best supporting actress categories. Let’s see just how many minorities — of black, Asian, and hispanic descent — have been honored by the Academy since 2000.

#OscarsSoWhite is the term that has been used to describe the phenomenon of having non-white thespians completely shut out of the acting categories at the 2015 and 2016 ceremonies. Nearly all of Hollywood and the press have spoken out about this occurrence, though it looks like the 2017 ceremony could shape up to be one of the most diverse in history. Here is a breakdown of every nominee and winner post-2000:

For the 2000 ceremony, there was one minority for each acting category.

Here’s another clip from Bh Tilt/WWE’s thriller Incarnate, starring Battle Los Angelesand I, Frankenstein‘s Aaron Eckhart and Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace, Che Part 1 and 2). Brad Peyton (San Andreas, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Cats and Dogs 2) directed from a screenplay by Ronnie Christensen (Passengers, Dark Tide) in which an exorcist taps into the […]...

Annette Bening in 20th Century Women (Courtesy: Merrick Morton/A24)

By: Carson Blackwelder

Managing Editor

Over the course of her career, Annette Bening has been nominated for four Oscars. That, of course, shouldn’t come as a surprise because this is one extremely talented lady. What might shock you, though, is that Bening has taken home zero of those coveted statuettes — but this could all change with her latest work: 20th Century Women.

Mike Mills (Beginners, Thumbsucker) returns with another work he both directed and wrote the screenplay for — and it has the distinction of holding its world premiere on October 8 at the 54th New York Film Festival as the Centerpiece film this year.

The movie is a comedy based in Santa Barbara in the late 1970s and is the story of three women — Bening as single Dorothea Fields, a single mother to teenaged son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann); Greta Gerwig as Abbie,...

This weekend brings a rare event as three very different specialty films face off nationally on between 800-900 theaters. Debuting “Southside With You” (Roadside Attractions) and “Hands of Stone” (Weinstein) go up against “Hell or High Water” (Lionsgate) in its third week.

The winner is “Hell or High Water,” which after this weekend’s success could wind up the year’s highest-grossing specialized release. “Southside With You” also scored high numbers, with “Hands of Stone” not up to its level.

Five Sundance releases are among this week’s new films, ranging from relatively wide opener “Southside” to Video on Demand entry “The Intervention.” As the Toronto Film Festival looms, the Park City event, despite offering half as many films, remains the biggest festival for acquisition titles.

Opening

“Southside With You” (Roadside Attractions) – Metacritic: 75; Festivals include: Sundance, San Francisco, Seattle 2016

$3,065,000 in 813 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $3,762

A strong initial result...

Opening in select theaters today, August 26, We Got This Covered has an exclusive clip for Joshua Marston’s (The Forgiveness of Blood, Maria Full of Grace) Complete Unknown that features Rachel Weisz battling against something of an identity crisis.

Having assumed a host of identities throughout her life, Weisz’s Alice (Jenny?) revels in anonymity, and likely has enough passports and identity documents to put even Jason Bourne to shame. But this picture, one haling from Amazon Studios and IFC Films, looks set to be a much more intimate affair than Universal’s tentpole actioner, delving into the remarkable relationship between Tom (Michael Shannon) and Weisz’s estranged lead.

At least, once Shannon’s baffled character pushes past the formalities to find out who Alice really is – a quest that may well force Tom into, ahem, the Complete Unknown. Kathy Bates, Danny Glover, Michael Chernus and Azita Ghanizada round out the ensemble.

“We are what we pretend to be so we must be careful what we pretend to be.” That lucite pearl of wisdom, which appears in the introduction of Kurt Vonnegut’s 1961 novel “Mother Night” and then reverberates beneath the rest of its pages, is as much of a warning as it is an invitation. Many of the great filmmakers have dedicated their lives to sifting through the truth of Vonnegut’s words — or at least that of the principle expressed therein — using that sentiment as a starting point from which to dive into the bottomless void of the human psyche.

“Maria Full of Grace” director Joshua Marston, who has struggled to live up to the promise of that stirringly urgent debut, is not one of the great filmmakers. Identity is a construct, relationships are a performance and love is a fiction that only endures for as long as two people...

People walk in and out of your life all the time, and it’s not clear what they do after they leave. Are they the same person? Did they become just like you? Did they drop off the face of the map? Or did they in fact leave their old life behind and become someone else entirely? Joshua Marston’s new romantic identity drama “Complete Unknown” centers around a woman (Rachel Weisz) who constantly leaves her identity behind and reinvents herself, and soon tries to bring an ex-lover (Michael Shannon) into her spontaneous life. Watch an exclusive clip from the film below.

Read More: Sundance Review: Joshua Marston’s ‘Complete Unknown’ Starring Rachel Weisz And Michael Shannon

The film is written and directed by Joshua Marston. He’s best known for writing and directing the films “Maria Full of Grace” and “The Forgiveness of Blood,” as well as directing episodes of “Six Feet Under,...

Rachel Weisz harbors an identity crisis in today’s first trailer for Sundance hit, Complete Unknown.

Hailing from Amazon Studios and IFC Films – the two backers behind the psychological thriller – this teasing snippet introduces us to Weisz’s Alice (Jenny?), an old flame to Michael Shannon’s Tom who drifts through life one discreet identity at a time.

Joshua Marston (The Forgiveness of Blood, Maria Full of Grace) is at the helm for Complete Unknown, which has immediately piqued our attention with its two stellar leads in Shannon and Weisz. Plus, there’s something dreamy and oddly mesmerizing about the latter’s performance – who is Weisz’s character, exactly? – and we can only imagine that level of intrigue will be dramatically amplified across the full feature. Kathy Bates, Danny Glover, Michael Chernus and Azita Ghanizada also star.

Complete Unknown will open via limited release on August 26.

A mysterious woman with...

What if you just walked away from your life and completely started over? What if you walked away from that new life and started over again? What if you did that again and again and again? That’s the premise of Joshua Marston’s new romantic identity drama “Complete Unknown,” starring Rachel Weisz as a woman who constantly reinvents herself and soon brings an ex-lover Tom (Michael Shannon) into her manufactured world.

Read More: Sundance Review: Joshua Marston’s ‘Complete Unknown’ Starring Rachel Weisz And Michael Shannon

As Tom celebrates his birthday with a group of close friends, he sees a woman from his distant past at the party. At first Jenny, or Alice as she prefers to call herself, pretends to have never met Tom before, she eventually reveals that she began to create different identities for herself after she left Tom’s life 20 years earlier, taking on new names and careers every time.

In a more just world, Joshua Martson would be a name that makes movie fans as excited as any other cinephile approved filmmaker. Breaking out with “Maria Full Of Grace,” the filmmaker hasn’t made a lot of features, but I bet you didn’t even realize his tremendously underrated 2011 film “The Forgiveness Of Blood” is on […]

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