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Exclusive: Sony Classics is finalizing a U.S. pre-buy of period drama Farnsworth House, which is to star Ralph Fiennes and Elizabeth Debicki.

Debicki, who is soon to be seen starring in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, is in final negotiations to join in the co-lead role which was previously going to be Maggie Gyllenhaal but the latter is newly taken up with directorial debut The Lost Daughter.

Set in late 1940s Chicago, Debicki will play Dr. Edith Farnsworth, whose ambitious project with the revolutionary Bauhaus architect Mies Van Der Rohe, played by Fiennes, to build the first glass house led them into a passionate but tempestuous love affair. Pic is due to shoot this spring or summer.

Richard Press, known for feature documentary Bill Cunningham New York, wrote the screenplay and will direct. Pic is a Canada-Ireland co-production from Serendipity Point Films producers Robert Lantos and...

The indie distributor Neon is becoming the cool, popular kid in Hollywood and on the box office playground since they dominated the Oscars with the multiple Parasite wins. This weekend, the distributor, founded by Tim League and Tom Quinn, saw the return of Portrait of a Lady on Fire in theaters, while Parasite took a victory lap after winning four Oscars, upping its theater count to 2001 for the President’s Day holiday weekend.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire was previously released in New York in Los Angeles at the end of last year for a one-week awards season qualifying run. Céline Sciamma’s French period romantic drama starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel opened on 22 screens across six markets, with an estimated $440,907. It is on track for an estimated 4-day weekend cume of $633,310.

This is a strong start for the pic, which had an estimated gross of $67K in its exclusive one-week run,...

As Neon basked in the afterglow of four Oscar wins including Best Picture for “Parasite,” the movie doubled its gross on its 19th weekend, by far its best showing. Universal’s Oscar-winner “1917” also stayed strong in even more theaters, grossing higher still.

Neon also ruled the roost with another potential crossover film, Valentine’s Day weekend entry “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.” Céline Sciamma’s period bodice-ripper, which returned to theaters after a one-week Oscar qualifying multi-city run, showed significant success in most locations, not only core specialized, but also more mainstream theaters.

Otherwise, weekend results continue mixed. Searchlight released marriage story “Downhill” wide to less than enthusiastic response, while Bleecker Street went limited with a modest reaction to their serious romantic drama “Ordinary Love.” This was a weekend to spotlight films about couples, but Valentine’s Day didn’t deliver any significant boost.

The other standout opener...

While there’s no easy way to sum up the momentous contributions Bill Cunningham has made to the fashion industry, it’s probably simplest to say he’s the man who invented street style photography. But that hardly does justice to the industry icon, who had an encyclopedic memory of runway shows and trends, noticed the smallest sartorial details (while often missing that they were often worn by enormously famous people) and who celebrated everyday New Yorkers’ style while wearing his trademark blue jacket in all weather. As Anna Wintour once said, “We all dress for Bill.”

Though he passed away in June,...

Above: French grande for El Topo (Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico, 1970). Artist: “Moebius,” aka Jean Giraud, aka “Gir” (1938-2012).You might expect something wilder from the fecund paired imaginations of Alejandro Jodorowsky and the artist known as Moebius. But this striking yet unusually restrained poster for El Topo (courtesy of Film/Art Gallery who provided a second, that’s-more-like-it Italian poster for the film that also made the top 20) was the most popular poster on Movie Poster of the Day over the last three months by a long stretch of desert.Collecting the posters with the most likes and reblogs yields a particularly attractive and typically diverse collection of art. There are Danish posters for French films, Polish posters for Italian films, Italian posters for Russian films and Russian posters for American films. Plenty of great artists are represented: from the Sternberg Brothers to John Alvin, from Andrzej Onegin-Dabrowski to Georges Kerfyser,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

The Films of Albert Brooks

We can think of no better way to celebrate the holiday weekend then curling up with the hilarious, often touching films of Albert Brooks. All of his directorial features — Real Life, Modern Romance, Lost in America, Defending Your Life, Mother, The Muse, and Looking For Comedy in a Muslim World — have now been added to Netflix. What are you waiting for?...

Bill Cunningham, the iconic photographer whose ground-level view of New Yorkers’ fashion senses endeared him to the city for decades, died yesterday in Manhattan at 87. He had recently been hospitalized after suffering a stroke. A U.S. Army veteran and Harvard dropout, Cunningham first published a series of candid street photos for the New York Times in 1978; he soon became a mainstay of the paper, where he remained until his death.

Read More: Interview | Director Richard Press on Capturing the Elusive “Bill Cunningham”

The photographer was both respected and beloved for his approach, which found him on the streets of Manhattan (often on his bicycle) photographing passersby whose taste in clothing caught his eye. After becoming famous for his work, Cunningham eschewed the very notion of his own celebrity. “Bill was an extraordinary man, his commitment and passion unparalleled, his gentleness and humility inspirational,” said Michele McNally, director of photography for the Times.

Decades before Instagram and iPhones, Bill Cunningham was the godfather of street-style photography. The longtime fashion photographer for The New York Times who died Saturday at the age of 87 didn’t care about celebrity for celebrity’s sake. The latest movie and TV stars in the front row at fashion shows held no interest to him. He just cared about style, and anyone could have it. Even when he became a celebrity himself, after the release of Richard Press’ 2010 documentary film Bill Cunningham New York, he dodged the spotlight, covering his eyes when people asked to take photos or

read more...

Bill Cunningham, the legendary street-style photographer for the New York Times, died on Saturday at the age of 87. According to the Times, Cunningham was hospitalized following a stroke, and died in New York City after nearly 40 years of photographing New York style and building a reputation as one of the most iconic fashion photojournalists in the world. The 2010 documentary “Bill Cunningham New York” by filmmaker Richard Press, featured some of the most influential people in culture and fashion singing the praises of Cunningham’s work. “We all get dressed for Bill,” Vogue editor Anna Wintour famously said of the...

Bill Cunningham at Andrew Bolton's Manus x Machina exhibition Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The New York Times has reported that Bill Cunningham, the subject of Richard Press's 2010 documentary Bill Cunningham New York, died this Saturday, June 25, 2016 at the age of 87. He had been hospitalised recently after suffering a stroke.

I last saw Bill at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology press preview on the first Monday in May of this year. He was his usual spry self then, stalking the mannequins as he did when he came upon an interestingly dressed person on the streets of New York to photograph. He was dressed in his trademark uniform - blue jacket, khaki pants and black sneakers.

Bill Cunningham capturing L’Eléphant Blanc dress by Yves Saint Laurent Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Over the years you could tell that he was downtown...

Bill Cunningham, the New York Times‘ ubiquitous man-on-the-street photographer whose life and work was the subject of Richard Press’ acclaimed 2010 documentary Bill Cunningham New York, died Saturday in New York at 87. His death was confirmed by the Times, which disclosed that he’d recently been hospitalized following a stroke. Though technically a fashion photographer, Cunningham’s tireless work for the newspaper’s Style section was noted – and loved – for its social…...

Bill Cunningham, who photographed fashion trends for the New York Times for almost 40 years, has died at 87, the newspaper confirmed. According to the paper, Cunningham died in New York City on Saturday after having recently been hospitalized for a stroke. The photographer was known for riding around the city on a bike, capturing pictures of trendy fashion items (recent entries included off-the-shoulder tops, ripped jeans and the color pink) to craft photo essays for his "On the Street" and "Evening Hours" columns. A 2009 profile of Cunningham in the New Yorker described these columns as "frequently playful" while still conveying "an...

Bill Cunningham, who photographed fashion trends for the New York Times for almost 40 years, has died at 87, the newspaper confirmed. According to the paper, Cunningham died in New York City on Saturday after having recently been hospitalized for a stroke. The photographer was known for riding around the city on a bike, capturing pictures of trendy fashion items (recent entries included off-the-shoulder tops, ripped jeans and the color pink) to craft photo essays for his "On the Street" and "Evening Hours" columns. A 2009 profile of Cunningham in the New Yorker described these columns as "frequently playful" while still conveying "an...

April is last call for some great movies on Netflix streaming, including "Flashdance," '"Leon: The Professional," and "Let The Right One In."

Also going bye-bye: several classic Frank Sinatra films including "Anchors Aweigh" (1945), "High Society" (1956), "On The Town" (1949), "Pal Joey" (1957) and "Some Came Running" (1958).

Here's a complete list of the movies and TV shows leaving Netflix in April:

Leaving April 1, 2016

"101 Dalmatians" (1996)

"2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003)

"Along Came a Spider" (2001)

"Along Came Polly" (2004)

"Amistad" (1997)

"Bad Johnson" (2014)

"Bandslam" (2009)

"Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics Collection: Collection 1

"Berkeley in The Sixties" (1990)

"The Butcher's Wife" (1991)

"Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" (2003)

"Chuck's Eat The Street Collection: Collection 1

"Craigslist Joe" (2012)

"Dear Genevieve Collection: Collection 1

"Eureka": Season 4.0

"Flashdance" (1983)

"Hook" (1991)

"Hotel Rwanda" (2004)

"House of Wax" (2005)

"I'll Be Home for Christmas" (1989)

"The Inexplicable Universe with Neil deGrasse Tyson" (2013)

"Leon: The Professional" (1994)

"M*A*S*H": Season 11

"Nanny McPhee" (2005)

"The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear" (1991)

"Nine to Five...

This article originally appeared on the Film Independent blog and has been republished with permission. Filmmakers often feel so attached to a song that it becomes a crucial and indispensable element to the story. A scene, or even an entire film, can revolve around a single piece of music. What many directors don't realize is that the process of clearing that song can be very difficult and expensive. Brooke Wentz, the music supervisor behind "Kings Point," "Bully" and "Bill Cunningham New York," cleared up some of the confusion and little-known realities of music licensing during a recent Film Independent education event. The most important thing to know is that there are two rights to every song. There is the person who wrote the song (who holds the publisher rights, a.k.a. sync rights) and the person who recorded it (who holds the master rights). To use this piece of...

Documentary specialist Submarine Entertainment is aboard to co-produce and co-finance feature doc Kusama: A Life In Polka Dots about the titular Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. The company will partner with Dogwoof on international sales. Heather Lenz is writing, directing and producing the story of Kusama’s turbulent quest to become a world famous artist. In the 1960s, she rivaled Warhol for press attention but hallucinations of polka dots and struggles against sexism and racism eventually led her to the Tokyo mental institution she has called home for over 30 years. After decades of working in obscurity she eventually became the first woman to represent Japan in the Venice Biennale in 1993. In 2008, her work broke an auction record at Christie’s for a living female artist, and in 2012, her Louis Vuitton clothing line launched. At Kusuma’s most recent show in Mexico City, it’s estimated 2.5M people attended and the museum...

By Anjelica Oswald

Managing Editor

Directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, Finding Vivian Maier documents Maloof’s journey to discover more about Vivian Maier after purchasing a box of her negatives in 2007. He began the search a few years later, after he realized the negatives consisted of some of the best undeveloped street photography of the 20th century. After some searching, it was revealed that Maier was a career-nanny who had died in 2009.

Since the documentary is in serious contention for a best documentary feature Oscar, we thought we’d check to see how many other photography-related films have managed to resonate with the Academy’s documentary branch and land a nomination in the same category. We found six.

The Naked Eye (1956)

Directed by two-time Oscar winner Louis Clyde Stoumen, this documentary celebrates photography through history by looking at pioneers in the field, such as Margaret Bourke-White. Though he covers works by multiple photographers,...

The movie journalist is always caught up in scandal, gossip and invasions of privacy. Though plenty of movies have been made about authors, poets, and other writers, the physical act of writing and editing rarely makes it into Hollywood journalism. Thankfully, the more sensational aspects of media have made for scathing satire and commentary, loathsome anti-heroes, and pulpy, investigative reporting that the camera loves.

This week’s Nightcrawler features Jake Gyllenhaal as a crime journalist in L.A., but he’s more Travis Bickle than Anderson Cooper. Even other films released this year have fit the template of being more about something else than actually about journalism, from a theater critic in Birdman trying to destroy Riggan Thompson’s career to Jeremy Renner in Kill the Messenger about how noble voices get squashed.

The best movies about journalism are more than the newsroom politics, so in honor of Nightcrawler’s release,...

On the opening day of the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto (24), Film Sales Company has picked up North American sales rights to Advanced Style. Separately, FilmBuff will release festival premiere Love Hotel.

Ari Seth Cohen’s film is set to receive its world premiere next week and follows Cohen as he brings characters to life from his blog and new book of the same name.

Advanced Style celebrates grande dames and focuses on the lives of three women over 75 as they are pursued by network television for a reality show.

Fsc chief Andrew Herwitz described the film as “Bill Cunningham New York meets Best Marigold Hotel with a little dose of Project Runway.”

The sales slate includes new pick-up Meet The Patels, The Overnighters, Beyond Clueless and Doc Of The Dead.

Fsc also handles sales on Marshall Currry’s Point And Shoot and An Honest Liar, both of which premiered this week at Tribeca are said...

Ahead of tomorrow's Independent Spirit Awards, SnagFilms has curated a selection of past Spirit Award nominees available to stream for free online. Titles include "The Woodsman," starring Kevin Bacon in his nominated role, Paul Dano's big breakthrough film "L.I.E.," nominated for Best Film and "Bill Cunningham New York," nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category. Read More: Stream 33 Oscar Nominees and Winners for Free on SnagFilmsThe Spirit Awards, hosted by Patton Oswalt, air March 1 at 10pm Et/Pt on IFC. Stream the films below. [Full Disclosure: SnagFilms' is Indiewire's parent company.]...

With a week of Doc NYC kicking off tonight, Indiewire's latest curated selections for Hulu's Documentaries page spotlights past films with indelible New York characters. Watch these and other docs now for free!Aviva Kempner introduced a new generation to Gertrude Berg in "Yoo Hoo, Mrs Goldberg," whose popular programs made a mark in early radio and TV programming, and brought a positive representation of Jewish family life to broad audiences. For a look at another acclaimed, multi-talented Jewish celebrity, check out Dori Berinstein's "Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did for Love" at Doc NYC. Though unassuming, the subject of Richard Press' "Bill Cunningham New York," has been documenting street fashion for The New York Times for decades. There are several photographer focused films at Doc NYC, including John Maloof and Charlie Siskel's "Finding Vivian Maier" and Tomas Leach's Saul Leiter portrait, "In No Great Hurry.""Herb and Dorothy" by Megumi Sasaki famously.

We've seen an explosion in fashion world documentaries over the past years with "The September Issue," "Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel," "Bill Cunningham New York," "In Vogue: The Editor's Eye" and so much more all casting various perspectives on an industry that has seen haute couture fall right into the mainstream. But fashion photography, and even contemporary advertising, wouldn't be the same without the contributions of Bert Stern, and it's the central premise of "Bert Stern: The Original Mad Man." While the now 83-year-old undoubtedly has his own insights and perceptions on where fashion has gone and where it is going, as he says in the documentary, he's reached a "dead end" and needs "something to do," and that feeling of listlessness pervades director Shannah Laumeister's effort despite her best intentions. The curious thing is, Laumeister is actually Stern's (much younger) partner, and if anyone would seem capable of opening him up,...

Edward Burtynsky has for decades been lensing large scale photographs that document the often devastating visual impact of humans on our environment en masse. The wide angle landscapes he frames are almost always the corollary conclusion of man’s need and abuse of materials, whether a seemingly endless axis of stockpiled iron ore from Canadian mining communities or a countless assemblage of towering skyscrapers set against a meltingly hot Chinese horizon. As an artist who’s body of work stands as an artifact invoking environmentalism, Burtynsky does not use his alien panoramas explicitly for political intrigue. Instead, placed cleanly in galleries around the globe, his massive photographs are taken in on their own visual merits without forced intention, quietly conveying that we are in fact trashing our own planet without directly stating the obvious. A quarter of a million dollar U.S. box office take, Jennifer Baichwal’s poetic 2006 film (2007 selected Sundance entry), Manufactured Landscapes,...

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced the Documentary Motion Picture nominees for the 24th Annual Producers Guild Awards. The nominated films, listed below in alphabetical order, are: A People Uncounted The Gatekeepers The Island President The Other Dream Team Searching For Sugar Man Last year "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest," "Bill Cunningham New York," "Project Nim," "Senna" and "The Union" nade up the nominees, with "Beats" winning. Notably, none of those films went on to be nominated for an Oscar. All other nominations for the 2013 Producers Guild Award categories will be announced on January 3, 2013, along with the individual producers. All 2013 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced on January 26, 2013 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

In the age of the internet, marketing a documentary is all about targeting influencial bloggers and cultivating online communities

Most films find an audience through a few well-chosen ads in newspapers and a handful of reviews. Not Bill Cunningham New York, Richard Press's Oscar-nominated documentary about the 84-year-old New York Times fashion photographer. UK distributor Dogwoof made a conscious decision to target fashion bloggers, creating buzz about the film. About 50 of these so-called fashion "influencers" blogged about the film, creating what Dogwoof's chief executive, Andy Whittaker, calls "the perfect social storm". Welcome to marketing documentaries in the age of the internet.

"One of the key tricks is identifying influencers and tapping into them and co-ordinating that into the campaign," says Whittaker. "The first people we wanted to reach were those who understood the importance of Bill Cunningham."

Whittaker, who founded the independent distribution label eight years ago, used to be an executive at eBay,...

Madman recently released two fashion focused documentaries, both set in New York and both about the coveted world of high fashion, but both coming from completely different places. Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) gangbuster was the eponymous Bill Cunningham New York, unpretentiously exploring the inner and outer layers of a complicated man and his role in the turbulent scene. Direct to DVD is the shorter and rambling The Tents, a polar opposite documentary that roughly uncovers the beginnings of the tents in the park - a now yearly event as part of New York's fashion week. Both pretty essential for fasionistas, read on for more details. Bill Cunningham New York begins with director Richard Press asking an interviewee to say something about Bill. 'What do...

Sarah Jessica Parker threw on a vintage Oscar de la Renta ball gown, paired with a cardigan, to attend last night's Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence gala at NYC's Waldorf-Astoria. The event was held to honor legendary New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham, who was the subject of the 2010 documentary Bill Cunningham New York. Bill was there to receive his praise, some of which was provided by Vogue's Anna Wintour and Hamish Bowles. In addition to honoring Bill, who spoke about his lengthy career, the bash raised $1.5 million for the music education programs at Carnegie Hall. Arts education is a cause Sjp is particularly passionate about. She announced yesterday that she, along with other celebs like Kerry Washington and Forest Whitaker, are teaming up with President Obama to help increase student achievement at underperforming schools in the Us by donating funds to increase access to arts programs. View Slideshow ›...

Sarah Jessica Parker threw on a vintage Oscar de la Renta ballgown, paired with a cardigan, to attend last night's Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence gala at NYC's Waldorf-Astoria. The event was held to honor legendary New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham, who was the subject of the 2010 documentary Bill Cunningham New York. Bill was there to receive his praise, some of which was provided by Vogue's Anna Wintour and Hamish Bowles. In addition to honoring Bill, who spoke about his lengthy career, the bash raised $1.5 million for the music education programs at Carnegie Hall. Arts education is a cause Sjp is particularly passionate about. She announced yesterday that she, along with other celebs like Kerry Washington and Forest Whitaker, are teaming up with President Obama to help increase student achievement at under-performing schools in the Us by donating funds to increase access to arts programs. View Slideshow ›...

Since "Valentino: The Last Emperor," "The September Issue," "Bill Cunningham New York" and the like, we've been jonesing for some good fashion films to come along.

Cue "Fabulous Nobodies," the latest project by "The September Issue" director R.J. Cutler. Cutler will be overseeing the film adaptation of Lee Tulloch's novel of the same name, published in 1989.

Tulloch was a former Vogue Australia editor and editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar Australia, but ditched it all (er, "was dismissed after nine issues for being a little too creative") to come to New York City and write a novel about, well, fabulous nobodies.

The book centers on Reality Nirvana Tuttle, the ever-discerning doorgirl at the Less Is More nightclub. "Life is cruel to people who aren't fabulous," she quips fabulously, and no fabulous people will ever find their way into Less Is More: "You can't bribe me... Why, Mother Theresa couldn't get in...

In what is a triumph for 2012 the UK box-office this week is 37% up on the equivalent weekend last year.

Battling the likes of Chalet Girl, The Lincoln Lawyer and Anuvahood this weekend we had The Devil Inside, 21 Jump Street, We Bought and Zoo and Contraband vying for box-office supremacy.

But who won, lost, underachieved and flat-out flopped this week?

The Winner – The Devil Inside

Working from a production budget said to be around the £700,000 mark and with a huge chart topping weekend in the Us in the bag The Devil Inside has wiped it’s horribly stern face and then some. Panned by critics and heckled by audiences for what sounds to be one of the most frustrating endings in history the film avoided the bad buzz that it apparently deserved by not screening for the press until the day of release.

It’s an evident success for what is sadly an ever-increasing practice.

It was slammed by Us film fans and initially hidden from UK critics, but The Devil Inside's tale of exorcism has proved an instant hit at the box office

The winner

It enjoys a measly 7% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and scored 18/100 at Metacritic. When it opened in the Us, it suffered the rare ignominy of being rated F by film fans measured by market research firm CinemaScore. In the UK, it avoided the slings and arrows of newspaper critics by the simple expedient of not screening to them until the day of release. But none of this mattered too much at the box office, with exorcism horror The Devil Inside (rumoured production budget: £630,000) dethroning John Carter (rumoured production budget: £158m) from the chart summit. With a decent £1.99m opening, this was enough to land it more than £400,000 ahead of action comedy 21 Jump Street.

Genre films traditionally see a front-loaded skew,...

21 Jump Street (15)

(Phil Lord, Chris Miller, 2012, Us) Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Brie Larson. 109 mins.

As with comic books, now that all the big titles have gone, it's down to TV's B-list to feed Hollywood's appetite for ready-made movie concepts. Based on the show that first traded on Johnny Depp's youthful good looks, it stars Hill and Tatum – a great odd-couple anchor – as two low-flying cops who are sent back to high school to infiltrate a drugs ring. The premise is an almost pitifully obvious excuse to aim for broad-appeal paydirt with a mix of fratboy crudity, teen-movie romance and crime-flick action, but for all the box-ticking, it has intermittently hilarious results.

Contraband (15)

(Baltasur Kormákur, 2012, Us) Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi. 110 mins.

Mark Wahlberg sticks to what he's good at, which is muscled, breathy and slightly high-pitched posturing in a brooding action thriller. Here he plays a smuggler lured...

There are some big hitters out this week for your viewing pleasure.

There’s a buddy-cop action comedy, a high-octane crime thriller, a chilling exorcism based horror and a film about someone buying a Zoo. The latter is the current front-runner for the much coveted “least imaginative film title of the year” award by the way.

Last week’s big releases John Carter and The Raven both opened to fairly mixed reviews, arguably slightly more weighted towards the negative in both cases. Will this week’s offerings fare any better?

Here’s what we think.

If you want to check to see if any of these films are playing near you, you can visit Find Any Film and they’ll be able to help.

21 Jump Street *Pick of the Week* Iframe Embed for Youtube

Two under achieving cops are sent back to High School on an undercover mission to bust a drug ring.

John Carter (12A)

(Andrew Stanton, 2012, Us) Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Dominic West, Samantha Morton, Ciarán Hinds. 132 mins

Despite the technological might of Pixar, this Martian epic still feels closer to retro fare such as Flash Gordon or Dune. It's a cumbersome hero's journey fully of silly names, skimpy costumes and princesses in peril – stuff we've seen recycled so many times since Edgar Rice Burroughs first wrote this, it now feels laughably quaint. Still, it's always fun to see an expensively rendered alien world, even if cheesy myth-making comes with the territory.

Trishna (15)

(Michael Winterbottom, 2011, UK) Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Roshan Seth. 113 mins

Hardy's Tess looks a comfortable fit with modern-day India in this naturalistic drama, which takes liberties with the text but finds new resonances, as Pinto's subdued villager struggles to find happiness with a wealthy young British-Indian.

The Raven (15)

(James McTeigue, 2012, Us) John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans.

★★★☆☆ Bill Cunningham is for fashion photography what Spike Jonze is for the music video, with his work continuously interesting and visually innovative. Richard Press 2010 film Bill Cunningham New York documents the much-loved shutterbug brilliantly, but in a fashion as non-invasive as the work of its subject, allowing for a sensitive and heart-warming depiction of a man adored by many in the world of fashion.

Read more »...

The Australian Film Critics Association (Afca) has announced its winners for its 2012 film awards, which are focused primarily on Australian productions.

Thriller Snowtown was the big winner of the event winning best Australian film, best actor, best director and best screenplay.

The winners

Best Australian Film

The Eye Of The Storm

Mrs Carey’s Concert

Oranges And Sunshine

Sleeping Beauty

Snowtown

Best Overseas Film (English Language)

Drive

The Guard

Melancholia

Take Shelter

The Tree Of Life

Best Overseas Film (Foreign Language)

Certified Copy

In A Better World

Incendies

Pina

The Skin I Live In

Best Documentary

Bill Cunningham New York

Mrs Carey’s Concert

Pina

Project Nim

Senna

Best Actor

Daniel Henshall – Snowtown

Willem Dafoe – The Hunter

Matthew Newton – Face To Face

Geoffrey Rush – The Eye Of The Storm

Hugo Weaving – Oranges And Sunshine

David Wenham – Oranges And Sunshine

Best Actress

Emily Browning – Sleeping Beauty

Judy Davis – The Eye Of The Storm...

Seth Rogen hosted the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday evening and the winners are:

Best Feature: The Artist. Also nominated: 50/50, Beginners, Drive, Take Shelter and The Descendants.

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist). Nominated: Mike Mills (Beginners), Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive), Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter), and Alexander Payne (The Descendants).

Best First Feature: Margin Call. Nominated: Another Earth, In The Family, , Martha Marcy May Marlene and Natural Selection.

Best Male Lead Performance: Jean Dujardin (The Artist). Nominated: Demián Bichir (A Better Life), , Ryan Gosling (Drive), Woody Harrelson (Rampart) and Michael Shannon (Take Shelter).

Best Female Lead Performance: Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn). Nominated: Lauren Ambrose (Think of Me), Rachel Harris (Natural Selection), Adepero Oduye (Pariah) and Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene).

Best Supporting Male Performance: Christopher Plummer (Beginners). Nominated: Albert Brooks (Drive), John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene), John C Reilly (Cedar Rapids) and Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris...

For the past twelve years, the Independent Spirit Awards have been held the night before the Oscars, and although the two sets of nominees sometimes overlap, traditionally the Spirit Awards end up honouring most of the films that the Academy ignores. This year things might be a little bit different, however, as Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist ended up taking home a handful of the major Spirit Awards including Best Feature, Best Director and Best Male Lead. As far as I know, the Spirit Awards and the Academy Awards have only picked the same Best Picture once before: Oliver Stone's Platoon in 1986. Christopher Plummer also won for Best Supporting Male, while Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) won for Best Female Lead. Is this all a sign of what's to come tomorrow night? There are at least a few Spirit Award winners who won't be repeating at the Academy...

Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist" was the big winner at the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The black-and-white silent film took home Best Feature, Director for Hazanavicius, Best Male Lead for Jean Dujardin, and Best Cinematography for Guillaume Schiffman.

In the performance categories, Michelle Williams took home the Best Female Lead award for her Marilyn Monroe portrayal in "My Week with Marilyn." Shailene Woodley, snubbed by the Academy for her memorable performance as George Clooney's daughter in "The Descendants," won Best Supporting Actress while Oscar frontrunner, Christopher Plummer, received the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance in "Beginners."

Held on Santa Monica Beach and hosted by Seth Rogen, the 27th Film Independent Spirit Awards will be broadcast by IFC at 10 p.m. Pst/Est.

Here's the complete list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature

50/50 - Producers: Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin, Seth Rogen...

Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, The Artist The Artist, Jean Dujardin, Michelle Williams: Spirit Award Winners Best Feature (Award given to the producer) 50/50 Producers: Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin, Seth Rogen Beginners Producers: Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Jay Van Hoy Drive Producers: Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel Take Shelter Producers: Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin * The Artist Producer: Thomas Langmann The Descendants Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor Best Director * Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist Mike Mills – Beginners Jeff Nichols – Take Shelter Alexander Payne – The Descendants Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive Best Screenplay Joseph Cedar – Footnote Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist Tom McCarthy – Win Win Mike Mills – Beginners * Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash – The Descendants Best International Film (Award given to the director) * A Separation (Iran) Director: Asghar Farhadi Melancholia (Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany) Director: Lars von Trier Shame (UK) Director: Steve McQueen...

Chicago – Welcome to the HollywoodChicago.com coverage of the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards. These awards honor the best in independent film for 2011. Seth Rogen is hosting the Awards which will be shown at 9 p.m. Cst on IFC.

Below you will find a list of all the nominees for each category. As winners are announced, the list will be updated with winners appearing with a Spirit Awards icon next to them. All of the winners will have been announced before the show tonight, so if you don’t want to be Spoiled before watching the awards, don’t read any further.

Film Independent Spirit Awards

Photo credit: Film Independent

Best Feature

The Artist

Beginners

The Descendants

Drive

50/50

Take Shelter

Best Female Lead

Lauren Ambrose, “Think of Me”

Rachael Harris, “Natural Selection”

Adepero Oduye, “Pariah”

Elizabeth Olsen, “Martha Marcy May Marlene”

Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”

Best Male Lead

Demián Bichir,...

'The Artist' dominates, winning best feature, director, male lead (Jean Dujardin) and cinematography.

By Mary J. Dimeglio

Director for "The Artist," Michel Hazanavicius

Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images

"The Artist" dominated the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday afternoon, snagging trophies for best feature, director, male lead (Jean Dujardin) and cinematography.

Michelle Williams was awarded Best Female Lead for her role in "My Week With Marilyn," while Best Supporting honors went to Christopher Plummer ("Beginners") and Shailene Woodley ("The Descendants").

The ceremony, hosted by Seth Rogan, will air at 10 p.m. Et/Pt Saturday (February 25) on IFC.

Best Feature

"50/50"

"Beginners"

"Drive"

"Take Shelter"

"The Artist"

"The Descendants"

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius - "The Artist"

Mike Mills - "Beginners"

Jeff Nichols - "Take Shelter"

Alexander Payne - "The Descendants"

Nicolas Winding Refn - "Drive"

Best Screenplay

Joseph Cedar - "Footnote"

Michel Hazanavicius - "The Artist"

Tom McCarthy - "Win Win...

'The Artist' dominates, winning best feature, director, male lead (Jean Dujardin) and cinematography.

By Mary J. Dimeglio

Director for "The Artist," Michel Hazanavicius

Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images

"The Artist" dominated the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday afternoon, snagging trophies for best feature, director, male lead (Jean Dujardin) and cinematography.

Michelle Williams was awarded Best Female Lead for her role in "My Week With Marilyn," while Best Supporting honors went to Christopher Plummer ("Beginners") and Shailene Woodley ("The Descendants").

The ceremony, hosted by Seth Rogan, will air at 10 p.m. Et/Pt Saturday (February 25) on IFC.

Best Feature

"50/50"

"Beginners"

"Drive"

"Take Shelter"

"The Artist"

"The Descendants"

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius - "The Artist"

Mike Mills - "Beginners"

Jeff Nichols - "Take Shelter"

Alexander Payne - "The Descendants"

Nicolas Winding Refn - "Drive"

Best Screenplay

Joseph Cedar - "Footnote"

Michel Hazanavicius - "The Artist"

Tom McCarthy - "Win Win...

This weekend isn't just about the Oscars, for the record. Saturday night, as is traditional, sees the warm-up for the big show with the 2012 Spirit Awards, Film Independent's antidote to the Academy Awards, intended to honor the best of independent cinema. With recent winners of the top prize including "Juno," "The Wrestler," "Precious" and "Black Swan," they've provided the opportunity for films that are perhaps a little too dark, small or offbeat to win Best Picture from the Academy the chance to grab some gold.

This year, things may be a little different, with oscar front-runner "The Artist" nominated in multiple categories, so we could end up seeing the two ceremonies mirroring each other more closely than ever. But will that actually be the case? True to their name, the Independent Spirits have been known to go their own way. We've run down our predictions below, and stay tuned for...

This is it! The final week of Voting Spirit 2012. Last week I completed my journey to see all 38 nominated features, and then I–along with scores of other Ifp and Film Independent members– cast my ballot. And now I’ll break down for you my final thoughts on the nominees, as well as who will win and who should.

Tyrannosaur, The Kid With A Bike, Shame, A Separation, Melancholia

A curious trend in this year’s International nominees is a tendency toward truly dark drama. The Dardenne Bros. Kid With a Bike contains a lot of violence for a film about a young boy. Steve McQueen’s Shame dives headfirst into the depths of sexual depravity; while Paddy Considine’s deeply bleak Tyrannosaur paints a portrait so revolting that it dares you not to look away. Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation explores the troubling realm of what happens when good people make awful choices,...

Bill Cunningham New York documents life and long career of a photographer who has put the style of the street on the catwalk

"The best fashion show is on the street. Always has been, always will be." So says Bill Cunningham, 82-year-old godfather of street style photography, in a new documentary about his life and work.

As London fashion week opens, the once-rigid boundaries between catwalk and street fashion are increasingly blurred. Celebrity bloggers such as the Sartorialist now get VIP seats at catwalk shows. There are now as many photographers documenting the fashion show audience – and amateur photographer-bloggers in the audience documenting each other – as photographers stationed in the traditional end-of-runway "pit" to capture the catwalk looks.

So it is fitting that the most talked-about film in the front row is a documentary about a photographer who has a front-row seat at every major fashion show but whose passion...

The phrases “Total Badass” and “New York Fashion Week” are rarely uttered in the same unironic sentence, unless we’re talking about 83-year-old New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham, who was hit by an SUV yesterday in Manhattan but walked away unharmed and resumed shooting NY Fashion Week events. From Fashionista: Still, we gasped in horror upon reading the following tweet: “@WmagJane: Bill Cunningham hit by SUV. He’s ok @misternewton An SUV hit Bill Cunningham outside Reed Krakoff – he’s ok. He’s walking- still shooting!” Completely believable. If you haven’t seen the documentary Bill Cunningham New York, check it out, it’s terrific. If you have seen Bill Cunningham New York, you no doubt have already said aloud “How does this eccentric 80-year-old dude biking around Manhattan not get constantly hit by SUVs?” Your answer is, he does. He’s just physically invincible while a Fashion Week is taking place.

Laura Whitmore attends Bill Cunningham New York UK Premiere.Photo copyright Landmark / PR Photos. Laura Whitmore attends Bill Cunningham New York UK Premiere.Photo copyright Landmark / PR Photos. Laura Whitmore attends Bill Cunningham New York UK Premiere.Photo copyright Landmark / PR Photos. Laura Whitmore attends Bill Cunningham New York UK Premiere.Photo copyright Landmark / PR Photos. Laura Whitmore attends Bill Cunningham New York UK Premiere.Photo copyright Landmark / PR Photos. 02/01/2012 - Laura Whitmore - "Bill Cunningham New York" UK Premiere - Arrivals - The Soho Hotel - London, UK © Landmark / PR Photos 02/01/2012 - Dakota Blue Richards - "Bill Cunningham New York" UK Premiere - Arrivals - The Soho Hotel - London, UK © Landmark / PR...

Like it or not, the resounding mediocrity of The Artist has — for what feels like forever — been inching closer and closer to that coveted Best Picture victory; now, its cause has been further emboldened by the DGA. If you’re like myself, this crucial award was… just kind of forgotten in the time since the nominees were listed. (I blame the Oscar nominations.) But the winners were unveiled last night, and, with it, Michel Hazanavicius earned the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film over Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris; David Fincher for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Martin Scorsese for Hugo; and Alexander Payne for The Descendants. I could leave some comment or make some complaint about how Literally All Of The Other Nominees’ work far, far outmatched that of the actual victor, but it’s a Sunday.

Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Film was — while not as much...

Michel Hazanavicius, 2011 DGA winner Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), DGA Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement In Feature Film * Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Alexander Payne, The Descendants Martin Scorsese, Hugo Documentary Film * James Marsh, Project Nim Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Steve James,The Interrupters Richard Press, Bill Cunningham New York Martin Scorsese, George Harrison: Living in the Material World Movies For Television And Mini-series * Jon Cassar, The Kennedys (Reelz Channel) Jeff Bleckner, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Beyond the Blackboard (CBS) Stephen Gyllenhaal, Girl Fight (Lifetime) Demi Moore, Jennifer Aniston, Penelope Spheeris, Alicia Keys, Patty Jenkins, Five (Lifetime) Michael Stevens, Thurgood (HBO) Dramatic Series * Patty Jenkins, The Killing, “Pilot” (AMC) Michael Cuesta, Homeland, “Pilot” (Showtime) Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad, “Face Off” (AMC) Tim Van Patten, Game of Thrones, “Winter is Coming” (Pilot) (HBO) Michael Waxman, Friday Night Lights,...