Variety — page 18

Coverage, page 18

page 18 of 26

Shuhua’s Acting Debut and Breaking Free From the ‘American Girl’ Label: Director Feng-i Fiona Roan on Toronto Title ‘Happily Ever After’

“Happily Ever After,” the follow-up feature from Taiwanese director Feng-i Fiona Roan, is bowing in the Toronto Film Festival’s Special Presentations lineup, arriving amid heightened attention following the success of her acclaimed debut, “American Girl.” “American Girl” premiered in the Asian Future section of the Tokyo International Film Festival before earning seven Golden Horse Award […]

Variety•Naman Ramachandran13 Sept

Cannes Prize-Winning Nepal Oscar Entry ‘Elephants in the Fog’ Sells Wide for Best Friend Forever (EXCLUSIVE)

Abinash Bikram Shah’s “Elephants in the Fog” has been sold to distributors across 10 territories, Best Friend Forever has revealed, as the Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner plays at the Toronto Film Festival with Nepal’s Oscars international feature submission also confirmed. New deals put the film with MetFilm Distribution in the U.K., Filmin […]

Variety•Naman Ramachandran13 Sept

TIFF Platform Competition Film ‘Idda’ Portrays Female Friendship, Grief and Memory Set on Sicily’s Mount Etna

Reaping upbeat initial reviews, Italian film “Idda” had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the TIFF Platform competition, whose non-English language winner, starting this year, will be directly eligible for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Directed by Irene Dionisio (“Pawn Street,” “Shores”) and starring Tecla Insolia […]

Variety•Roberto Prieto13 Sept

‘Up Against It’ Review: Antonio Banderas Stars in a British Family Dramedy That Ignores Its Own Conundrums

A crisscrossing family dramedy, Trudie Styler’s “Up Against It” features wonderful performances and intriguingly modern ideas, but it seldom coheres as comedy or drama. A tale of divorced parents, their respective partners and their ailing, precocious teen, this occasionally effervescent film has much to enjoy, but just as much that lands with an awkward thud. […]

Variety•Siddhant Adlakha13 Sept

Trans Pregnancy Drama ‘Aman’ Boards Parallax Films for Global Sales Ahead of Toronto and London Premieres (EXCLUSIVE)

International sales company Parallax Films has boarded “Aman,” writer-director Rahul Roye’s short film about a trans man who discovers he is pregnant on the eve of his gender-affirming surgery, for worldwide sales. The announcement comes ahead of the film’s world premiere in the Short Cuts competition at the Toronto Film Festival, after which it travels […]

Variety•Naman Ramachandran13 Sept

Oscars: Philippines Selects Rafael Manuel’s ‘Filipiñana’ for International Feature Race

Rafael Manuel’s “Filipiñana” has been chosen as the official entry from the Philippines in the international feature category at the 99th Academy Awards. It was selected from a shortlist of 8 films. The film is written and directed by Manuel and is distributed by Kino Lorber. Richard Lorber, Chairman and CEO of Kino Lorber, said, “From the moment […]

Variety•Jazztangcay13 Sept

FCC Chairman Slams James Talarico as Running a ‘Hoax’ With Jimmy Kimmel Interview, Which ABC Punted to YouTube, to Get ‘Clicks and Donations’

Brendan Carr, the Trump-aligned Republican chairman of the FCC, accused James Talarico, a Texas Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, of running a “hoax” to garner attention and campaign donations by sitting for an interview with Jimmy Kimmel — which ABC put on YouTube instead airing it on broadcast TV to avoid a potential clash […]

Variety•Todd Spangler13 Sept

Chris Rock’s Hollywood Send-Up ‘Misty Green’ Hits TIFF With Rosalind Eleazar’s Knockout Lead Performance

Roughly two-thirds through “Misty Green,” Rosalind Eleazar takes a breath and lets a rendition of “One Night Only,” from the musical “Dreamgirls,” rip. The characters around her go quiet, and the crowd at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Chris Rock’s film made its world premiere, were enraptured. But when Rock and his cast took […]

Variety•Clayton Davis13 Sept

Mahershala Ali Finally Made His ‘Blade’ Film With ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’

Bassam Tariq and Mahershala Ali finally made their “Blade” movie. On Saturday night, “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival before its theatrical release on Sept. 25. Tariq’s film centers on Latif (Ali), a devout Muslim hitman who, following the sudden death of his wife, goes […]

Variety•Marlow Stern13 Sept

‘Animal Hospital’ Leads Roblox Innovation Awards 2026 Winners as Roblox Unveils 20th Anniversary Event

The Roblox Innovation Awards (RIAs) unveiled its 2026 winners during a ceremony in San Jose Saturday with new title “Animal Hospital” taking home several top honors. Part of the 12th annual Roblox Developer Conference, this year’s RIAs were hosted by Roblox’s head of the developer community, Justin Sousa (widely known as “JParty” to Roblox users). […]

Variety•Jennifer Maas13 Sept

‘Misty Green’ Review: Chris Rock Tells the Story of a Party-Girl Actress, Brilliantly Played by Rosalind Eleazar, in The Best Movie About Hollywood in Years

"Misty Green" is an amazing slice of showbiz sociology, riveting in the details of what a contemporary Hollywood actress — even a successful one — is up against. Rock isn’t casting stones. The warped values he depicts are there in the industry and in Misty herself.

Variety•Owen Gleiberman13 Sept

‘I Play Rocky’ Review: Anthony Ippolito Channels Sylvester Stallone in Peter Farrelly’s Cleverly Crafted Crowd-Pleaser About the Making of ‘Rocky’

For a biographical drama to work, it’s not required that the central actor do a pinpoint uncanny, so-close-to- the-real-thing-you-might-think-it’s-the-real-thing impersonation of the person he’s playing. But Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky” may be a special case. It’s a movie about the making of “Rocky” — about how Sylvester Stallone, then a two-bit actor in his […]

Variety•Owen Gleiberman13 Sept

‘I Play Rocky’ Premieres at TIFF: A Movie About a Best Picture Winner That’s a Best Picture Contender?

Yo Adrian, Rocky did it … again! Only this time, the famed character is at TIFF in biopic form, thanks to director Peter Farrelly, screenwriter Peter Gamble and a star-making turn from Anthony Ippolito, who portrays actor Sylvester Stallone in the story of his relentless determination to bring “Rocky” to the big screen. This has […]

Variety•Clayton Davis13 Sept

Lucy Dacus on Doing a Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Show to End Her ‘Forever Is a Feeling’ Cycle, After Previously Bringing the Boygenius Era to a Close There: ‘Maybe It’s a Place Where I’m Supposed to Cry’

“Forever Is a Feeling,” Lucy Dacus promised in the romantic-sounding title of her 2025 solo album. Feelings are transitory things, of course, and some of the good ones must come to an end, which is why Dacus is commemorating the end of that era Sunday night with a show at the Hollywood Bowl that will […]

Variety•Chris Willman13 Sept

Paramount Leaving California Will Devastate Los Angeles Economy, Leaked Report Finds

A leaked report from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation outlines devastating aftershocks that would follow if David Ellison pulled Paramount Skydance out of California. A copy of the report published by Politico reads, “At a minimum, relocating Paramount’s headquarters and other operations out of California would result in losses of 2,750 and 5,550 job-years […]

Variety•Jack Dunn12 Sept

‘Everybody Wants to F— Me’ Review: Giddily Genre-Crossing Comedy Sees Right Through Taron Egerton’s Nice-Guy Act

Just when the victim/villain discourse about sleeper smash “Obsession” was finally beginning to die down, along comes “Everybody Wants to Fuck Me” — another story of a young man’s desires getting violently over-satisfied — to start it all up again. Merging romantic comedy, body horror and gender-war satire as casually as its handsome, outwardly affable […]

Variety•Guy Lodge12 Sept

‘SNL U.K.’ Weekend Update Takes Aim at Trump’s New Hair — and Paddy Young Says the Punchline Was ‘Taken From Me by Our Legal Team’

U.S. President Donald Trump’s new hairstyle was heavily mocked in “Saturday Night Live U.K.’s” Weekend Update segment. “This week, President Trump stepped off Air Force One sporting a different hair color,” quipped co-anchor Ania Magliano. “He appears to be trialling a new shade of brown. Or, he’s shat his head.” “People are questioning, does the […]

Variety•Ellise Shafer12 Sept

Jeff Goldblum Performs a Jazz Number to Open ‘SNL U.K.’ Season 2: ‘Hoping You’ll Like Me More Than Nando’s or Marmite’

Jeff Goldblum kicked off his hosting duties on “Saturday Night Live U.K.” by employing his musical skills in a jazzy number about spending time in London. “Can you believe this is Saturday night, first of all?” Goldblum asked the live audience after making his grand entrance. “And me, I’m hosting this gosh darn ‘SNL U.K.’ […]

Variety•Ellise Shafer12 Sept

Camera-Shy Chrissie Hynde on Finally Allowing a Definitive Doc to Be Made About ‘The Pretenders,’ Bowing in Toronto: ‘I Just Wanted to Be in a Band. I’ve Never Graduated Beyond That Initial Interest in It’

At this late date, what the Pretenders accomplished is no mystery achievement. But it’s also a story that has never been extensively chronicled on film until “The Pretenders,” a Joss Crowley-directed doc that premieres Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival. The band released what might rightly be considered the best rock ‘n’ roll debut […]

Variety•Chris Willman12 Sept

‘SNL U.K.’ Mocks Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s British Return in Cold Open: ‘Don’t Tell Me You’ve Spent All Your Netflix Money Already!’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent much-publicized return to England was mocked in the cold open of the first episode of “Saturday Night Live U.K.” Season 2. The cold open began with Larry Dean as King Charles II and Emma Sidi as Queen Camilla relaxing at Balmoral Castle in Scotland (“I do love our weekends […]

Variety•Ellise Shafer12 Sept