Top Movie News provided by Rolling Stone©

• Bruno Ganz, Swiss Actor Who Portrayed Hitler in ‘Downfall,’ Dead at 77
  Actor also known for collaborations with director Wim Wenders, including Wings of Desire and The American Friend
• Academy Awards Reverse Decision to Cut Categories From Oscars 2019 Telecast
  "All Academy Awards will be presented without edits, in our traditional format"
• Trailers of the Week: ‘Aladdin,’ ‘Ma,’ ‘Frozen 2,’ ‘Yesterday’
  From a blue Will Smith to first looks at a big-time Disney sequel and Danny Boyle's world-without-Beatles movie
• Watch Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen Flirt in Trailer for Political Rom-Com ‘Long Shot’
  Film will hit theaters on May 3rd
• Chris Cornell Documentary Produced by Brad Pitt in the Works
  The film will be directed by Peter Berg and Cornell's widow, Vicky Cornell, is also a producer
• 50 Greatest Romantic Comedies of All Time
  From '30s screwballs to 21st-century meet-cutes, Rock and Doris to Hanks and Ryan — our picks for the best rom-coms ever
• Academy Clarifies Controversial Plan to Cut Oscar Categories From Broadcast
  Four awards will be presented during commercials, while speeches will be edited into live broadcast
• ‘Birds of Passage’ Review: Colombian Crime Saga Is Stunning, Surreal, Epic
  Drug-war story set in the South American nation's indigenous community is bold, brilliant — and a regional reinvention of the gangster movie
• ‘The Apollo’ Doc About Famed Harlem Theater to Premiere at Tribeca Film Fest
  HBO-bound film features new interviews with Pharrell Williams, Smokey Robinson, Patti LaBelle and Jamie Foxx
• See Octavia Spencer Terrorize Teens in Twisted First ‘Ma’ Trailer
  "Ma’s place goes from the best place in town to the worst place on Earth" in new horror film from Get Out producers

LA Times©

• New video: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper power ‘A Star Is Born’ update
  New on Blu-ray “A Star Is Born” (Warner Bros. DVD, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99; 4K, $44.95; also available on VOD) The venerable backstage showbiz melodrama “A Star Is Born” gets an unexpectedly sterling update, anchored by Lady Gaga. The Oscar-nominated pop diva brings an earthy presence and a booming...
• As women rule wrestling, WWE’s Paige reflects on life lessons following ‘Fighting With My Family’
  As a teenager, Saraya-Jade Bevis made her wrestling debut for her parents — professional wrestlers and promoters who operated their own gym in Norwich, England. At 20 she signed with WWE, and under the ring name Paige ascended the ranks with athletic charisma, jet-black hair and an outsider goth...
• Oscars reverse course: All awards will be presented during telecast
  Bowing to fierce blowback from the film industry — and throwing yet another wrench into an already tumultuous Oscar season — the motion picture academy announced Friday that it is shelving a controversial plan to move the presentation of four key awards to commercial breaks during this year’s telecast....
• Academy may reverse controversial Oscars change after meeting with top cinematographers
  UPDATE: The motion picture academy has reversed its planned changes and will present all Oscars in the traditional fashion this year. The Oscars conflict that has gripped Hollywood’s attention since Monday, drawing battle lines between the motion picture academy’s leadership and many of the group’s...
• Classic Hollywood: Claudia Cardinale shares memories of working with Fellini, Visconti and Leone
  Fabled Italian film star Claudia Cardinale has been the muse of such filmmakers as Luchino Visconti. Over the past six decades, she’s worked with such master directors as Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone and Werner Herzog. But when she began her career as a teenager, Cardinale voice was considered...
• How fear and 'Everybody Loves Raymond' convinced Ray Romano to star in Netflix's 'Paddleton'
  “Paddleton” is the story of two men who really only have each other. Neighbors in a nondescript apartment complex, they both have unfulfilling, dead-end jobs, seemingly no other friends or relations and spend much of their time together, watching kung-fu movies, eating pizza and playing a game...
• Review: Nothing regal about unpleasant ‘The Lears’
  Though based on “King Lear,” this indie film couldn’t be further from Shakespeare. “The Lears” is a witlessly profane attempt at dark comedy that is beneath the talents of everyone on screen. Bruce Dern makes a glorified cameo as Davenport Lear, the aging patriarch of four grown children (Anthony...
• Cinematographers demand meeting over plan to exclude nominees from Oscar broadcast
  With the Oscars just 10 days away, the furor over the motion picture academy’s plan to move the presentation of four awards — cinematography, editing, live-action short, and hairstyling and makeup – to commercial breaks during the upcoming telecast shows no sign of abating. On Thursday, several...
• Review: ‘Birds of Passage’ powerfully subverts the gangster epic
  Imagine “The Godfather” made by dazzling Latin American directors who combine bravura filmmaking with political awareness and a probing social conscience. Better than imagining it, see it for yourself in the visually stunning, dramatically gripping “Birds of Passage,” a film of great scope and...
• Critic’s Choice: New Books on ‘The Wild Bunch’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’
  My favorite kind of film books tend to be those that go behind the scenes, that provide inside looks at how celebrated films were put together, and two recent volumes fall squarely in that category. W.K. Stratton’s “The Wild Bunch” (Bloomsbury), published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of...
• Review: Matthew Broderick stars in unorthodox ‘To Dust’; Kiwi comedy ‘The Breaker Upperers’ and doggie rom-com ‘Patrick’
  'To Dust' Everyone grieves differently, but movies about grieving usually all seem alike. Except for Shawn Snyder’s “To Dust,” that is, which brings a pained Hasidic widower and sardonic biology professor together for what amounts to a tasteless comedy routine wrapped in a philosophical inquiry,...
• Review: Iranian black comedy ‘Pig’ skewers 21st century culture
  Nothing sets the Valentine’s mood quite like a pitch-black Iranian comedy about a succession of famous filmmakers who keep turning up dead with the word “Pig” carved into their severed heads, but such is the audaciously unorthodox allure of Mani Haghighi’s irresistibly wicked satire of the same...
• Review: Jamie Bell, Margaret Qualley steady Tim Sutton’s moody ‘Donnybrook’
  Writer-/director Tim Sutton's “Donnybrook” opens with a strange trio on a strange trip. A young man (Jamie Bell) and a young woman (Margaret Qualley) make their way down a misty river on a boat piloted by an older man. Where they're going, they need an entrance fee. How did the young man get it?...
• Review: Xander Berkeley shines in ‘The Maestro’ as classic Hollywood film composer
  As an evocative glance back at Hollywood in the mid-1940s, “The Maestro” succeeds on several levels, not the least of which is a superb turn by one of acting’s best utility players, Xander Berkeley (TV’s “24,” “The Walking Dead”). He plays Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, a true-life, largely unsung...
• ‘Roma’ actor obtains visa to attend Oscars after three rejections
  “Roma” actor Jorge Antonio Guerrero Martínez has finally obtained a U.S. visa and will be able to attend the Oscars. The Mexican actor, who plays brooding militant Fermín in Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-nominated film, said last month that he had been denied visas to the U.S. on three occasions, which...
• Academy defends its Oscar changes amid growing criticism from filmmakers and actors
  Controversy over the motion picture academy’s plan to move four key Oscar categories to commercial breaks in this year’s telecast has continued to roil the industry, as a group of prominent filmmakers and actors, including numerous Oscar winners, issued an open letter criticizing the move and the...
• Reviews: ‘Yucatán’ sets sail on Netflix; Alex Reid powers ‘The Bellwether’ and more
  'Yucatán' Shot on a real cruise ship, during an actual three-week transatlantic voyage, the Spanish caper comedy “Yucatán” is — like most vacations — equal parts delightful and exhausting. The accomplished team of writer-director Daniel Monzón and his co-writer Jorge Guerricaechevarría make good...
• How 'Alita' is paving the way for James Cameron's 'Avatar' sequels
  The steely gaze of Na’vi warrioress Neytiri welcomes visitors at the entrance to some of Hollywood’s most wondrous and fantastical worlds. Towering in the corner of a hangar, an “Aliens” xenomorph menaces, frozen in place. Upstairs sits the Heart of the Ocean, daring passersby to never let go. ...
• Oscar favorite Glenn Close talks acting, Lady Gaga and her first zombie movie
  To find Glenn Close in the place she is staying as she makes her way through awards season, you have to spend some time on Sunset Boulevard, which is pretty hilarious considering her Tony-winning role as Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard.” “I know,” she says, when that fact is mentioned. “When...
• Who is Michael Sanchez? Low-level Hollywood manager is a pivotal figure in Bezos-Pecker storm
  For years, Michael Sanchez operated on the periphery of Hollywood. The small-time talent manager’s clients included a clutch of Trump associates, a cable news personality and a judge on the reality TV show “So You Think You Can Dance,” with whom he would later wage a bitter legal fight. But within...
• Review: Florence Pugh turns a Paige in the delightful ‘Fighting With My Family’
  Is there anything Florence Pugh can’t do? It may be a premature thing to ask of a 23-year-old actress just a few roles into a remarkable career, but I remember thinking it after seeing her in the quietly seething independent drama “Lady Macbeth.” The notion of an English performer excelling in...
• Review: Preservation Hall Jazz Band explores its roots in documentary ‘A Tuba to Cuba’
  The rousing documentary “A Tuba to Cuba” (come on, is that not the best title?) takes us on an inspiring two-week trip with New Orleans’ celebrated Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Cuba for a culture-bridging whirlwind of music, dance and bonhomie. Just sit back and enjoy. Preservation Hall creative...
• Review: ‘Lords of Chaos’ skims the surface of bloody killings, Satanic rituals and black metal
  It’s all fun and games until someone loses a soul. That’s the glib message of Jonas Åkerlund’s “Lords of Chaos,” a loose, thin and bloody romp through the early days of the grisly rock subculture known as Norwegian black metal, which emerged in the late ’80s as a doubling down on black metal’s...
• How Colombia’s ‘Birds of Passage’ directors flip the script on the typical narco movie
  Films about narcotrafficking in Latin America often go something like this: A charismatic young man of limited economic means gets into the drug hustle and eventually comes to run a vast business empire. His ego gets the best of him and he dies in a hail of bullets. In between, there are lascivious...
• Review: Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘The Image Book’ is a searing essay on human violence
  “The Image Book” is an 85-minute cinematic brainstorm, a swirling, dazzling, maddening frenzy of disconnected sights and sounds that have been compiled and arranged according to a rhythmic and rhetorical logic that only its maker can fully divine. That’s a roundabout way of saying it’s a new movie...

NY Times©

• ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ Review: Do Female Cyborgs Dream of Breasts?
  James Cameron teams up with Robert Rodriguez for this big-screen adaptation of a Japanese manga. Cue the fighting, bad dialogue and more fighting.
• What Will Win Best Picture? 20 Oscar Voters Spill Their Secrets
  None would go on the record, but these members of the academy did reveal their candid opinions — and biases. News flash: It’s not all about merit.
• How ‘Roma’ Turned an Empty Lot Into a Bustling Avenue
  Alfonso Cuarón and his team built a replica of a city street from scratch.
• The Uphill Battles of Black Talent Agents in Hollywood
  With few colleagues of color in the four big agencies, these representatives have an impact on what is produced. But they also face isolation and other barriers.
• ‘Isn’t It Romantic’ Review: Rebel Wilson Mocks, and Obeys, Rom-Com Rules
  She meet-cutes with a Hemsworth in this film that relies on conventions even as it snickers at them.
• Anatomy of a Scene: How ‘The Lego Movie 2’ Envisions the Apocalypse
  The director Mike Mitchell discusses how these familiar characters ended up on the wrong side of the bricks.
• Critic’s Notebook: How ‘Green Book’ Gives Short Shrift to a Gay Life
  The film’s treatment of Don Shirley’s sexuality belies the difficult realities that gay men of color like Jussie Smollett face to this day.
• ‘Happy Death Day 2U’ Review: Living Is Easy. Dying Again and Again Is Hard.
  In this sequel to the 2017 slasher film, a college student tries to understand why she keeps reliving her murder by undertaking a grand self-help course.
• The Carpetbagger: Rachel Weisz Is the Passion Pick, Online and on Awards Shows
  The Oscar nominee explored lesbian attraction in two 2018 films and found that after mainly male-oriented movies, acting opposite women is “unbelievably refreshing.”
• Bruno Ganz, Who Played an Angel and Hitler, Is Dead at 77
  “Wings of Desire” and “Downfall” were among the highlights of Mr. Ganz’s long film career, which he spent mostly in Europe.
• Donald Smith, Who Produced ‘The Silent Scream,’ Dies at 94
  His controversial anti-abortion documentary, professing to show a fetus expressing pain, became a formidable weapon for abortion opponents.
• The Carpetbagger: Dear Academy: Face It, the Short-Film Oscars Should Be Cut From the Telecast
  Giving these shorts their due in a separate ceremony would make the main event swifter and stronger, argues the Carpetbagger.
• The Carpetbagger: Oscars Rewind: When Harvey Weinstein Was a Force in Oscar Campaigns
  He pulled off an upset when “Shakespeare in Love” won best picture 20 years ago, though in retrospect he may not have been the underdog he seemed at the time.
• Will Smith’s Blue Genie and Other Scary Trailers This Week
  In a week that brought a bounty of new clips, promos for “Yesterday,” “Chlid’s Play” and “Ma” stood out; the one for “Aladdin” raised eyebrows.
• ‘The Lego Movie 2’ | Anatomy of a Scene
  The director Mike Mitchell narrates a sequence from his film.
• Streaming Movie Review: ‘The Breaker Upperers’ Review: Calling It Off, With an Assist
  This New Zealand comedy by Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami adds some welcome irreverence to the homogenized mix of Netflix comedies.
• The Week in Arts: Kamasi Washington, Amy Sedaris, Farruquito’s Flamenco
  The brash saxophonist performs at the Apollo; Season 2 of “At Home With Amy Sedaris" begins; and the Spanish dancer returns to Manhattan.
• A Peerless ‘War and Peace’ Film Is Restored to Its Former Glory
  Sergei Bondarchuk’s 1960s movie, made with a virtually unlimited budget and the backing of the Soviet state, comes to Lincoln Center this weekend.
• A Pop Culture Shock After the Trip of a Lifetime
  Our 52 Places Traveler thought she could rely on downloads as armor against the unknowns of global travel. That’s not how it went down.
• 6 Film Series to Catch in N.Y.C. This Weekend
  Our guide to film series and special screenings.
• Family Guide: Kids and Culture? There’s So Much to Talk About
  Arts writers for The New York Times share their strategies (snacks) and budget-friendly options (outdoor events) in a discussion about introducing children to the arts.
• Family Guide: 27 Ways to Keep Your Kids Culturally Engaged This Winter
  Classical concerts, children’s film series and a festival where technology meets art are among the events that can keep young minds occupied (and having fun) through a school sabbatical and beyond.
• The Carpetbagger: Proposed Oscar Changes Are an ‘Insult,’ Say Directors and Cinematographers
  The decision to present certain Oscars during a commercial break has drawn a stinging rebuke from those in Hollywood.
• Michael Jackson Estate Cancels Chicago Musical Run
  The estate attributed the change in plans to labor issues and not a forthcoming documentary detailing abuse allegations against the late pop star.
• ‘Hotel by the River’ Review: A Poet Makes Amends, Fumblingly
  The film is one of Hong Sang-soo’s most visually arresting movies, even if it doesn’t quite overcome the slightness that characterizes the director’s work.
• ‘Parkland: Inside Building 12’ Review: Recounting the Attack in Painful Detail
  This documentary on the Florida school shooting makes the massacre immediate in a way that sometimes gets lost in news coverage or political debates.
• ‘The Unicorn’ Review: A Gay Country Singer’s Grim and Lonely World
  This documentary about the singer-songwriter Peter Grudzien is a haunting portrait of what it means to burn bright, then die alone.
• Critic’s Pick: ‘A Tuba to Cuba’ Review: A New Orleans Jazz Band Makes a Caribbean Connection
  This joyous documentary follows the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Cuba for a celebration of musical history and common bonds.
• Tolkien’s World: An Exhibition Transports Us to Middle-earth
  J.R.R. Tolkien — the artist, the writer, the scholar — is the subject of an exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum. The show is a comprehensive view of his alternate reality.
• Critic’s Pick: ‘Fighting With My Family’ Review: They Body Slam You, Your Mum and Dad. Lovingly.
  Dwayne Johnson helped produce this charming comedy about a family of professional wrestlers, their chops, drops and drama.
• Critic’s Pick: ‘Clara’s Ghost’ Review: A Family of Performers, a Night of Hysteria
  This unhinged comedy shines a spotlight on a family’s maladjusted dynamics.
• ‘Ruben Brandt, Collector’ Review: Stealing Inspiration From Great Art
  A stylish animated film about a psychiatrist and a gang of art thieves.
• Review: ‘All About Eve’ Gets the Vampire Treatment from Ivo van Hove
  This London adaptation of the Oscar-winning satire, starring a misused Gillian Anderson and Lily James, is like a horror movie without a pulse.
• ‘Frozen II’ Trailer: Elsa Ice-Surfs and Anna Wields a Sword
  After releasing a much-criticized promo for “Aladdin,” Disney bounces back with a thrilling teaser for “Frozen II.”
• A Word With: Aubrey Plaza Would Definitely Host the Oscars
  While she waits, she’ll be busy hosting the Film Independent Spirit Awards, attending a “Parks and Rec” reunion and venturing to the dark side in the reboot of “Child’s Play.”
• Film Set in China’s Cultural Revolution Is Pulled From Berlin Festival
  The withdrawal of the film by the noted Chinese director Zhang Yimou comes amid a broader crackdown on the discussion of sensitive subjects in China.
• Critic’s Pick: ‘Sorry Angel’ Review: A Love Affair Two Men Start, Knowing the End
  Set in early 1990s Paris, Christophe Honoré’s new film presents us with a middle-aged, H.I.V.-stricken writer falling, wearily, for a bookish 20-something.
• Ron Miller, Who Rose to the Top at Disney, Then Fell, Dies at 85
  A former football player, he spent three decades working for Walt Disney, his father-in-law, and had notable successes — until things turned sour.
• ‘High Flying Bird’ Is Rich With Historical References. Here’s a Closer Look.
  Steven Soderbergh’s latest, released on Netflix, is filled with allusions to the racial and political history of pro basketball. Read this guide after you watch.
• ‘The Lego Movie 2’: How ‘Catchy Song’ Got So Catchy
  That song from the movie? The one that got stuck inside your head? A chat with the guy who wrote it.
• Critic’s Pick: ‘Birds of Passage’ Review: An Epic Narco Tale That Will Open Your Eyes
  Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra follow their Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent” with a saga of the drug trade set amid the Wayuu of northern Colombia.
• Cultural Studies: Why Do We Love Scammers So Much?
  These days, the con artist is as much a cultural figure as the antagonist of our personal horror stories.
• Women and People of Color Starred in Hit Movies in Record Numbers, Study Finds
  Forty percent of the top films from 2018 starred or co-starred actresses. Women of color and those 45 and older also made strong gains.
• Lars Von Trier Wants to Turn All His Movies Into Diamonds
  A specially cut diamond designed by the Danish filmmaker has gone on show in Antwerp, Belgium. It’s the first in a series of precious stones based on his films.
• ‘The Favourite’ and ‘Roma’ Sweep the Baftas
  The films dominated the last major awards ceremony before the Oscars, setting up a showdown at that event.
• Ron Hutchinson, Restorer of Early Sound Films, Is Dead at 67
  For years, he hunted down the discs containing the soundtracks to short films from as early as 1926 that featured comedians, opera singers and others.
• ‘The Lego Movie 2’ Tops Box Office, but Falls Short of Expectations
  After an extremely weak Super Bowl weekend for ticket sales, “The Lego Movie 2” failed to give the box office a boost.

NPR©

• Academy Awards Live Broadcast To Include 4 Cinematography Categories After All
  In its latest reversal, the Academy Awards restores four awards to its live broadcast. It had tried to shorten the program by handing them out during commercial breaks.
• Director Paul Schrader Tests His Faith In 'First Reformed'
  First Reformed, which Schrader wrote and directed, is up for an Oscar for best screenplay. It tells the story of a divorced minister experiencing a crisis of faith. Originally broadcast June 12, 2018.
• Academy Defends Decision Not To Present 4 Awards Live
  Some Hollywood luminaries have criticized truncating the broadcast of awards for best cinematography, film editing, live action short, and makeup and hairstyling. Some parts will be shown later.
• Teenage Wasteland: 'Alita: Battle Angel' Doesn't Quite Earn Its Wings
  Despite a surfeit of impressive talent behind and before the camera, and solid set-pieces, Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of a popular manga about a deadly teenage-ish robot feels thin, and dated.
• More 2019 Short Film Oscar Nominees, Reviewed: Live-Action And Documentary
  Critic Andrew Lapin reviews the 10 short films nominated in the live-action and documentary categories this year, and offers his picks for both what will — and what should -- win.
• In A 'Hotel By The River,' Guests Contemplate Love, Death And Art
  The latest from South Korean director Hong Sang-soo explores his usual theme of existential regret. The film's complex structure leads its characters to simple, if revealing, insights.
• An Indigenous Community Is Drawn Into The Drug Trade In 'Birds Of Passage'
  An epic new film by Colombian director Ciro Guerra taps into the family versus business tension captured in great American mob sagas like The Godfather and The Sopranos.
• When Your Shared Netflix Account Outlasts The Relationship
  Sharing of online streaming video and music passwords among sweethearts is a territorial marker, like wearing a boyfriend's sweater. But what happens to custody of the accounts when the love is gone?
• Ken Jeong's Netflix Comedy Special Comes Out On Valentine's Day
  You might know actor Ken Jeong from the movie The Hangover. NPR's David Greene talks to him about his new Netflix special, and how he went from being a medical doctor to a comedian and actor.
• In An Effort To Shorten Academy Awards Telecast, 4 Awards Won't Be Presented Live
  In the interest of cutting the Academy Awards telecast down to three hours, awards in four categories will be presented during commercial breaks, and edited for inclusion later in the broadcast.
• Well Before 'The Wife,' Glenn Close Was Ready For Her Close-Up
  Her latest movie role earned her a nomination for the best actress Oscar. Ahead of the ceremony, she talks about facing the camera, her viral Golden Globes speech and her love of theater.
• Have You Never Seen 'A Face In The Crowd'? Watch It And Review It With Us
  We all have movies we missed. ​This week, NPR's Weekend Edition wants to give you an excuse to watch A Face in the Crowd.
• Look Out! Here Comes The Spider-Verse
  With great filmmaking comes great acclaim.
• 'What Men Want' Actor Taraji P. Henson Talks Fighting 'Like A Girl'
  Henson tells NPR what she wants for women who look like her. "You can't tell me that a movie that I'm doing about ... black culture is not going to reach other corners of the world," she says.
• Video Clips Of Oil Train Disaster Used In Netflix Sci-Fi Films Anger Canadians
  In 2013, an American-owned oil tanker train exploded in the Quebec city of Lac-Megantic and killed 47 people. Canadians are furious that video of the disaster is being used by Netflix in sci-fi films.