News

Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door,” starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, deals with a controversial topic: euthanasia.

Marking Almodóvar’s first English-language feature, “The Room Next Door” stars the two Oscar winners as Ingrid (Moore) and Martha (Swinton), who were close friends in their youth when they worked at the same magazine. After years of separation, they meet again when Martha is diagnosed with a terminal illness and decides to take her life into her own hands.

During the film’s Venice Film Festival press conference on Monday, the Spanish auteur spoke passionately about addressing the subject in the film and why he thinks it should be an option for those facing the same fate.

“This movie is in favor of euthanasia,” he said, speaking in Spanish. “It is something we admire about the character of Tilda, she decides that getting rid of cancer can only be done...

Buenos Aires-based sales outfit FilmSharks has closed major territories on dark comedy “Lobo Feroz,” from director Gustavo Hernández (“La Casa Muda”), and on “The Forgotten Killings,” the latest from Ines Paris (“Miguel and William”).

Produced by Uruguay’s Mother Superior, FilmSharks and Spains’ Bowfinger Intl. Pictures, “Lobo Feroz” is a remake of Israeli film “Big Bad Wolves” from Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado.

Bingo Films picked up “Lobo Feroz” rights for the U.K. following prior sales to Av Jet for Taiwan, Palace Films for Australia, AMC for Eastern Europe and Nashe Kino for Russia. Netflix picked up Spanish rights via Filmax, ViX will take Latin America and the U.S.

Negotiations for Korea, Japan, France and Germany are underway. FilmSharks handles remake sales for “Big Bad Wolves.”

“We’re very happy with the international performance of ‘Lobo Feroz.’ IP and film have proven outstanding and deals always bring more deals.

Chile’s Bf Distribution, among the leading distributors in Latin America, has picked up Latin American and Spanish distribution rights to “El Silencio de Marcos Tremmer” with Bf Distribution partners Carlos Hansen and Matias Cardone of Invercine Chile boarding the pic as executive producers.

Shot in the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Madrid, it was helmed by Spanish director Miguel García de la Calera and is currently in post.

The film stars Benjamín Vicuña, Adriana Ugarte (Pedro Almodovar’s “Julieta”), Daniel Hendler (a Berlin best actor winner for “Lost Embrace”) and Felix Gomez (“La caza”).

“Given its A-list cast of Latin American and Spanish talent, we plan to release it next year in Chile, Argentina and Spain to start,” said Cardone.

Vicuña plays Marcos Tremmer, a prosperous Uruguayan ad executive residing in Madrid, who is madly in love with his wife, Lucía (Ugarte). However, one day, Marcos uncovers a grim truth...

The acclaimed Israeli revenge thriller Big Bad Wolves has been freshly reimagined for the new Spanish movie Lobo Feroz, and Variety just debuted the remake’s trailer this morning.

Lobo Feroz (Ferocious Wolves) will release in Spanish theaters on January 27, 2023.

Gustavo Hernandez (The Silent House) directed the upcoming remake.

Variety details, “The mordant revenge thriller follows a detective as he tracks a suspected child killer, a former religious studies teacher who was arrested for the crime, but later released due to a clerical error. The detective eventually teams up with the mother of the most recent victim to mete out justice the law seems unable to provide.”

Javier Gutiérrez (“Campeones”), Adriana Ugarte (“Julieta”), Rubén Ochandiano (“Undercover)” and Juana Acosta (“El Inocente”) star in Lobo Feroz.

Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado directed the original Big Bad Wolves in 2013.

The post ‘Lobo Feroz’ Trailer – Israeli Revenge Movie ‘Big Bad Wolves’ Gets a...

“Lobo Feroz” (“Ferocious Wolves”), the Spanish-language remake of Israeli revenge thriller “Big Bad Wolves” by Uruguay’s Gustavo Hernandez, is launching its trailer exclusively with Variety, ahead of its Jan. 27 Spanish theatrical release via Filmax.

The mordant revenge thriller follows a detective as he tracks a suspected child killer, a former religious studies teacher who was arrested for the crime, but later released due to a clerical error. The detective eventually teams up with the mother of the most recent victim to mete out justice the law seems unable to provide.

Trailer opens with the detective slamming the suspect’s head against a pool table as he draws parallels with the “Little Red Riding Hood” fairy tale about the little girl who goes into the woods alone and comes across the big bad wolf.

Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado’s original “Big Bad Wolves” was hailed by Quentin Tarantino as...

As other European TV giants such as the Rtl Group, Spain’s Atresmedia, owner of the Ott service Atresplayer Premium, is finding the sweet spot between auteur and broad audience shows.

Launched two years ago, Atresplayer Premium boasts fast growth in terms of subscriptions – reaching 400,000 users in Spain alone – and content production volume, readying some 20 new TV projects for this year.

Promoting original voices, the platform is winning international visibility. Iconic original series “Veneno,” created by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, “Los Javis,” successfully launched on HBO Max in the U.S. and Latin America, with a strong impact on the international media, which contributed to strengthening the Atresplayer brand.

Now, “Cardo,” from creators and writers Claudia Costafreda and Ana Rujas, executive produced by Los Javis after becoming one of the hottest indie series of last year for TV critics and audiences, is close to an important international distribution deal.

Spanish media giant Atresmedia is joining forces with Portocabo, the production outfit behind Movistar Plus hit series “Hierro,” for a remake of Showtime drama “Your Honor,” starring Bryan Cranston.

The Spanish redo is currently at the script stage and initiating casting.

With an undisclosed number of episodes, the project production is scheduled to kick off this year.

The TV series release date is still unknown. But it would be logical for it to launch on platform Atresplayer Premium before airing on Atresmedia’s free-to-air channel Antena 3 primetime, a windowing strategy usually followed by the group with its new fiction releases since Atresplayer Premium bowed in 2019.

“Your Honor” is based on the Israeli TV drama “Kvodo,” created by Ron Ninio and Shlomo Mashiach, and aired first on Israel’s paybox Yes TV.

The U.S. version was developed by Peter Moffat for Showtime and stars “Breaking Bad’s” Bryan Cranston,...

Hailed in its day as Spain’s own “Downton Abbey,” period espionage drama “The Time In Between” (“El tiempo entre costuras”), a huge hit in Spain, has been sold to South Korea in a deal between Atresmedia International Sales and Germany-based distributor Jung Consulting.

The series will air this January in South Korea on Smile TV Plus, TVasia Plus and WeeTV.

“We are delighted to be distributing such a successful Spanish series in Korea, together with Atresmedia. We trust the Korean audience will enjoy the series, and that it will allow us to bring more international Spanish series to Korea,” said Woojae Jung, Jung Consulting managing director.

An Atresmedia TV original series about a spying seamstress first released in Oct. 2013, “The Time in Between” went up against “The Voice” and historical hit “Isabel,” averaging an extraordinary 25.5% share and almost 5 million viewers on Antena 3. It made a star out of Adriana Ugarte,...

Airing on Amazon Prime Video and produced by ViacomCBS International Studios (Vis), Spanish broadcaster Tve and production-distribution house Onza Ent., “Parot” refers in its title one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in recent Spanish history.

The Parot doctrine was inspired by a 2006 Spanish Supreme Court decision abrogating Spanish laws reducing the maximum terms of imprisonment for persons convicted of serious crimes.

The doctrine was struck down by a European court decision in 2013, sparking the liberation from Spanish goals of a wide spectrum of inmates whose sentences extended well beyond the 30-year maximum of the time. Their release sparked bitter debate between the families of victims and defenders of human rights who saw little gain in life imprisonment.

“Parot” takes place as a motley bunch of maximum offenders walk free, and Isabel Mora (Adriana Ugarte), a resolute policewoman who years ago was victim of sexual abuse is assigned to...

Adriana Ugarte, star of hit Spanish TV drama “The Time in Between” and Pedro Almodóvar’s “Julieta,” will play the lead role in Atresmedia original series “Madre.”

A remake of successful Turkish TV drama “Anne,” in turn an adaptation of Japanese series “Mother,” “Madre” continues Spanish media conglomerate Atresmedia’s bet on re-versioning recent standout Turkish scripted series. This strategy kicked-off with “Alba,” the Elena Rivera-starring redo of female empowerment skein “Fatmagul,” a modern Turkish classic.

A 13-hour series, “Madre” is produced by Atresmedia TV in collaboration with Buendía Estudios, the joint-venture launched last year by Atresmedia and Telefonica-owned pay TV operator Movistar Plus.

Scheduled to premiere this year on Atresmedia’s SVOD service Atresplayer Premium and then launch on the group’s core channel Antena 3 in Spanish TV primetime, “Madre” will follow the same release windowing as “Alba,” which bowed in March on Atresplayer and now awaits a free-to-air TV debut.

Nicolas Herzog’s completed film The Shadow Of The Rooster also on slate.

As it launches sales at EFM on horror thriller Macabro from the producers of Elite Squad, FilmSharks has boarded world sales on crime thriller The Shadow Of The Rooster and Big Bad Wolves remake Ferocious Wolf.

Nicolas Herzog’s completed film The Shadow Of The Rooster (La Sombra del Gallo) from Rumba Cine stars Lautaro Delgado and Claudio Rissi, whose credits include HBO Latin America Originals’ Berlinale Series selection Entre Hombres, and Netflix’s hit Argentinian crime mystery El Marginal.

The Argentinian feature centres on Maidana, a...

Filming is underway on new police thriller “Parot” – a series based on the chaos that followed a controversial move seven years ago to reverse a piece of legislation in Spain that ensured prisoners served their full jail terms.

The ten-part drama, made up of one-hour episodes, focuses on a series of retribution attacks on prisoners who were subsequently released early, and a police officer determined to track down the person or people responsible for a series of revenge killings.

Filmed on location in Madrid – the series was ordered by ViacomCBS International Studios and Spanish public broadcaster channel and is being made by local production-sales company Onza, producers of Spanish time travel drama “The Department of Time.”

Since its launch in 2018, Vis has been on a major production drive and SVP & head of Vis Americas Federico Cuervo added that “Parot” marked the continuation of its strategy to pursue content partnerships with key European partners.

Pedro Almodóvar has a lot on his plate, with at least three new projects in the mix, but he’s not too busy to do his part during the pandemic and wear a mask, as seen in a recent photo out of Madrid shared by his brother and producing partner Agustín. In the photo, Almodóvar and his star Tilda Swinton are sporting their personal protective equipment while on the first day of shooting “The Human Voice,” the Academy Award-winning director’s latest short film and first screen collaboration with Tilda Swinton. See below.

“The Human Voice” is based on a one-act play by Jean Cocteau, written in 1928 and first mounted in France in 1930. It concerns one woman’s final phone conversation with her longtime lover, who has plans to marry another woman. Almodóvar previously alluded to interest in the material before, including as inspiration for his Oscar-nominated 1988 breakout “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown...

In today’s film news roundup, UTA promotes agents Chelsea McKinnies and Emerson Davis, “A Deadly Legend’ finds a home and the Black Life Film Fest is unveiled.

Promotions

United Talent Agency has promoted veteran agents Chelsea McKinnies and Emerson Davis to partner status.

“As champions of powerful and unique voices, Chelsea and Emerson have been integral to the growth and evolution of UTA,” said UTA co-president David Kramer. “It is essential our partnership is comprised of dynamic and deserving leaders, particularly as we strive for our company to better reflect the world in which we live. Chelsea and Emerson make us better as a whole and will provide leadership and inspiration to colleagues who have been underrepresented in our partnership. UTA is fortunate to have such esteemed colleagues to help lead us in these times.”

Davis is a 14-year UTA veteran and part of UTA’s Motion Picture Literary Group.

UTA has promoted Chelsea McKinnies and Emerson Davis to partner status. The two rose through the agency ranks and collectively share 25 years of experience.

McKinnies jointed UTA in 2015 and is an agent in UTA’s talent department. She began at CAA in 2008 on the reception desk in New York and was promoted to agent in 2012. Her clients include Constance Wu, Tracee Ellis Ross, Amandla Stenberg, Cynthia Erivo, Anna Faris, Aidy Bryant, Martin Lawrence, Kiersey Clemons, Michael Che, Jemaine Clement, Jodie Turner-Smith, Phillipa Soo, Adriana Ugarte, Greta Lee and Yvonne Orji. McKinnies is originally from Bloomington, Minnesota, and graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Davis is part of UTA’s Motion Picture Literary Group and a 14-year vet of the agency. He rose through the UTA mailroom, and was promoted to agent in 2010. His client roster includes Hiro Murai, Kogonada, Terence Nance, Shaka King, Gillian Robespierre...

Based on real events, "Hache", the new Spanish drama series, created by Verónica Fernández, based on the novel by Federico Moccia, follows a woman "...catapulted into the heroin trafficking business in Barcelona during the drug-crazed 1960's..." streaming on Netflix November 1, 2019:

"...'Helena' (Adriana Ugarte) is a prostitute who ends up the favorite...

"...of powerful organized crime head 'Malpica' (Javier Rey), a violent man with a bad leg and an acquired morphine addiction to help numb the pain.

"Ambitious, headstrong and uncompromising, Helena – frequently called 'Hache', the Spanish pronunciation of the letter 'H' – quickly rises to the top of the organization that oversees the Barcelona ports for heroin smuggling routes between Africa to the Us..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Hache"...

Based on real events, "Hache", the new Spanish drama series, created by Verónica Fernández, based on the novel by Federico Moccia, follows a woman "...catapulted into the heroin trafficking business in Barcelona during the drug-crazed 1960's..." streaming on Netflix November 1, 2019:

"...'Helena' (Adriana Ugarte) is a prostitute who ends up the favorite...

"...of powerful organized crime head 'Malpica' (Javier Rey), a violent man with a bad leg and an acquired morphine addiction to help numb the pain.

"Ambitious, headstrong and uncompromising, Helena – frequently called 'Hache', the Spanish pronunciation of the letter 'H' – quickly rises to the top of the organization that oversees the Barcelona ports for heroin smuggling routes between Africa to the Us..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Hache"...

Madrid — On Nov 1 Netflix will drop its fifth Spanish original series, 1960’s-set drug smuggling drama “Hache,” produced by Madrid’s Weekend Studio for the platform.

Created by Verónica Fernández and directed by Jorge Torregrossa, “Hache” tells the story of Helena (Adriana Ugarte), a prostitute who ends up the favorite of powerful organized crime head Malpica (Javier Rey), a violent man with a bad leg and a morphine addiction to numb the pain.

Ambitious, headstrong and uncompromising, Helena – frequently called Hache, the Spanish pronunciation of the letter H – quickly rises to the very top of the vicious organization which oversees the Barcelona ports for heroin smuggling routes between Africa to the U.S.

Variety was given early access to the series’ first two episodes, and conducted a spoiler-free interview with Fernández and Torregrossa in Barcelona.

The series is said to be based on real events. Can you talk about the historical influences of the series?...

Netflix is doubling down on Spanish-language originals with heroin drama Hache.

The Svod service has ordered the eight-part thriller, which stars Adriana Ugarte (Palmeras En La Nieve) and Javier Rey (Fariña) from fledgling Spanish production company Weekend Studio, the company set up by director Tomás Cimadevilla and Canal+ Spain exec Jorge Iglesias.

The drama, which was created by Cuéntame and El Príncipe writer Verónica Fernández and is based on a true story. It tells the story of Helena, played by Ugarte, a woman catapulted to the heroin trafficking business in the Barcelona of the 60s.

“We are big fans of Javier and Adriana’s work, and couldn’t be more excited to see them both in a Netflix Original series,” said Erik Barmack, Vice President of International Originals at Netflix. “And the world that Verónica, Tomás and Jorge have created is unique, fresh, and likely to have global appeal. We...

Santiago De Compostela, Spain — Continuing its push to produce local content in Spain, Netflix has announced the commission of new original series “Hache,” created and written by “Velvet Collection” scribe Verónica Fernández.

Her 2001 feature “El Bola” earned the writer a Spanish Academy Goya nomination for best original screenplay.

The series’ eight hour-long episodes are based on real events surrounding Helena, a woman at the heart of 1960s heroin trafficking in Barcelona. Helena will be played by Goya-nominated actress Adriana Ugarte, joined on screen by Javier Rey, who this year took home the best actor award at Malaga Film Festival for his performance in “Sin Fin.”

The series is scheduled for release in more than 190 territories in 2019.

Since first launching in Spain in 2015, Netflix has embraced local content production. “Hache” will be the VOD platform’s fifth original Spanish fiction series production. The first, “Cable Girls,” launched in April of 2016. Since then “Elite,...

So French and horny that it makes Pepe Le Pew seem as chaste as Bresson’s country priest, The Other Woman is an embarrassing and rather abject attempt by the otherwise talented Daniel Auteuil to direct a sexy rom-com for the 50-and-over set.

The actor, who plays the lead alongside Sandrine Kiberlain, Adriana Ugarte and, of course, Gerard Depardieu, has a hard time wringing a single laugh from this story of a married man lusting after his best buddy’s beautiful and significantly younger girlfriend during an extended dinner party. Mixing dreams, reality and lecherous fantasies, it’s as if Walter Mitty popped...

So French and horny that it makes Pepe Le Pew seem as chaste as Bresson’s country priest, <em>The Other Woman</em> is an embarrassing and rather abject attempt by the otherwise talented Daniel Auteuil to direct a sexy rom-com for the 50-and-over set.

The actor, who plays the lead alongside Sandrine Kiberlain, Adriana Ugarte and, of course, Gerard Depardieu, has a hard time wringing a single laugh from this story of a married man lusting after his best buddy’s beautiful and significantly younger girlfriend during an extended dinner party. Mixing dreams, reality and lecherous fantasies, it’s as if Walter ...

Pedro Almodóvar bounces back with an absorbing saga of a mother and daughter told in an interesting style. A woman feels isolated, powerless, alone and anguished about what has happened in her life. Is any of it her fault? Or is all of it her fault? How do we hold relationships together, or do they fall apart no matter what we do? Highly rewarding dramas still exist; they don’t all go begging for Oscar nominations… just learn to read subtitles and you too can find out how the rest of the world lives.

Julieta

Blu-ray

Sony Pictures Classics

2016 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date March 21, 2017 / 30.99

Starring: Adriana Ugarte, Emma Suárez, Michelle Jenner, Darío Grandinetti, Rossy de Palma,Susi Sá Sánchez, Joaquín Notario, Pilar Castro, Tómas del Estal.

Cinematography: Jean-Claude Larrieu

Film Editor: José Salcedo

Original Music: Alberto Iglesias

Written by Pedro Almodóvar based on three short stories by Alice Munro

Produced by Augustín Almodóvar,...

This Week in Home Video‘They’re Playing With Fire’ Blends Bloody Violence and T&A Thrills to Surprising EffectPlus 13 more new releases to watch at home this week on Blu-ray/DVD.

Welcome to this week in home video! Click the title to buy a Blu-ray/DVD from Amazon and help support Fsr in the process!

Pick of the WeekThey’re Playing With Fire [Kl Studio Classics]

What is it? A sexy college professor seduces her student, and then people start dying horrible deaths.

Why see it? I’ve been a Sybil Danning fan for more years than I care to recall, but somehow this one slipped past me before now. I’m not sure what teen me would have thought, but as an adult I’m in awe of just how off the rails it gets from its very clear T&A origin. From the cover to the copy the film sells itself as just another sex flick, but...

Academy Award winner Pedro Almodovar returns to the helm with Julieta.

This female centered film looks at Julieta, in her older and younger days, as she navigates through her story as a brokenhearted woman who faces the painful mystery of her long alienation from her daughter.

The film stars Emma Suarez (Vacas) and Adriana Ugarte (Palmeras En La Nieve) in the title role.

It also stars Daniel Grao (Julia’S Eyes), Inma Cuesta (The Bride), Dario Grandinetti (Talk To Her), Michelle Jenner (Our Lovers) and Rossy de Palma (Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown).

The bonus materials on the Blu-ray and DVD will include two featurettes featuring commentaries from Pedro Almodovar, Rossy de Palma and Adriana Ugarte. It also has a red carpet presentation and look into the opening night at the Museum of Modern Art’s Almodover Retrospective in “Celebrating Director Pedro Almodovar.”

Here’s the official synopsis:

In Julieta,...

Internationally acclaimed auteur and Academy Award winner Pedro Almodóvar (Best Writing, Original Screenplay, Talk to Her, 2002) is back in the director’s chair for his 20th feature film when Julieta debuts on Blu-ray™, DVD and digital March 21 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Emma Suárez (Vacas) and Adriana Ugarte (Palmeras En La Nieve) share the title role as older and younger versions of the same character in the story of a brokenhearted woman who faces the painful mystery of her long alienation from her daughter during flashbacks on her life and the most important events concerning her estranged daughter. Julieta also stars Daniel Grao (Julia’s Eyes), Inma Cuesta (The Bride), Darío Grandinetti (Talk to Her), Michelle Jenner (Our Lovers) and Rossy de Palma (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown).

Bonus materials on the Julieta Blu-ray and DVD include two featurettes. Fans join Pedro Almodóvar, Rossy de Palma and...

Left to right: Daniel Grao as Xoan and Adriana Ugarte as Earlier Julieta

@ El Deseo, in Pedro Almodovar’s Julieta. Photo by Manolo Pavón, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

2016 certainly turned out to be a good year for films, particularly dramas, and Juleta is one the last of those to come to local screens. A nominee for Best Foreign Language Film in the upcoming Oscars, the Spanish-language Julieta is simply one of director Pedro Almodovar’s best – a visually lush, beautifully constructed, haunting mystery about love and loss, tied up with a satisfying but unexpected ending.

The acclaimed Spanish director’s latest film is a drama in a familiar vein for him, a tale of a woman – a mother – in crisis, yet Julieta is brilliantly fresh at the same time. Julieta (Emma Suarez) is a successful, beautiful woman living in Madrid, who is on the verge of leaving her home...

When you think Pedro Almodóvar, you think Rossy de Palma. The actress’ unconventional, but striking, beauty has often made her the most memorable player in the auteur’s works, from her uptight virgin in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, to the heroine’s sister in The Flower of My Secret. In Julieta, which marks lucky number seven in de Palma’s collaborations with Almodóvar, she plays Marian, an overprotective housekeeper who looks after what she thinks should be her employer Xoan’s (Daniel Grao) interests. After meeting the title character, played in younger age by Adriana Ugarte, who is about to become the new mistress of the house, Marian reveals a secret that sets the entire plot into its tragic motion.

The usually glamorous actress – she’s been muse to designers like Thierry Mugler and Jean-Paul Gaultier – is seen sporting a frumpy, matronly look as Marian, in...

Pedro Almodóvar is the wild man of world cinema, a great, flamboyant talent whose films shimmer with his own vivid and hotly sexual take on the world. Not this time. Julieta, adapted from a trio of short stories by Pulitzer-winning Canadian writer Alice Munro, is more of the author than Almodóvar – the movie is a genuflection to the restraint and detail of her prose. This isn't a bad thing. It's just a different approach for the Spanish provocateur.

The plot unfolds, over three decades, in the form of a thriller.

Author: Competitions

Starring Emma SUÁREZ as Adult Julieta and Adriana Ugarte as Young Julieta, Julieta is written and directed by Spanish auteur Pedro ALMODÓVAR and is based on the short stories Chance, Soon and Silence by Alice Munro. Julieta will release in the UK on Digital HD 19 December 2016 and on Blu-ray™ and DVD through Twentieth Century Fox and Pathé on 9 January 2017. To celebrate, we’re giving away 3xDVDs!

12 years ago Julieta’s daughter, Antia, abandoned her without warning and hasn’t spoken to Julieta since. When a chance encounter brings news of her daughter, Julieta returns to her former home to revive her search for Antia, whilst also examining the events leading to her daughter’s estrangement.

Writer/Director Pedro ALMODÓVAR is one of Spain’s most celebrated filmmakers with numerous accolades to his name including an Academy Award®, four BAFTAs, numerous Goyas and over 100 further wins and nominations.

Please...

Julieta Sony Pictures Classics Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya Grade: A- Director: Pedro Almodóvar Written by: Pedro Almodóvar, based on Alice Munro’s stories Cast: Emma Suarez, Adriana Ugarte, Daniel Grao, Inma Cuesta, Dario Grandinetti Screened at: Sony, NYC, 9/6/16 Opens: December 21, 2016 At one point however brief, you get the impression that Pedro Almodóvar is setting us up to watch a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Happily though, at least for people like me not particularly fond of the writer-director’s goofy comedies and lavish worship of women, “Julieta” is one of the Spaniard’s most accessible movies. Maybe that’s because Almodóvar takes as his inspiration three stories [ Read More ]

The post Julieta Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Bayona’s film scoops 12 nods, followed closely by ‘Smoke And Mirrors’ and ‘The Fury Of A Patient Man’.

The 2017 Goya award nominations were announced in Madrid today (December 14) by actors Natalia de Molina and Javier Cámara, Goya winners last year with Food And Shelter and Truman respectively. The ceremony for the 31st edition of the awards will be held on February 4.

J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls, which tops the box office so far in Spain this year with $27.6m (€25.9m), leads the nominations with 12 nods including best film, best director for Bayona, best adapted screenplay (for Patrick Ness who wrote the adaptation of his own novel), best supporting actress for Sigourney Weaver, best music, best cinematography, best production design and art direction. Bayona is currently in Hawaii preparing Jurassic World 2.

Two thrillers, a popular genre in Spanish cinema, scored 11 each. Smoke And Mirrors, by Alberto Rodríguez, big winner at the 2015 edition of the Goyas with Marshland...

This year’s holiday season is full to bursting with new movies, from the expected awards contenders to a number of festival favorites and some true-blue feel-good offerings to round out the pack, and we’re pleased to offer up 22 of the coming weeks’ best bets for film fans of all stripes. Whether you’re looking to beef up on your Oscar contenders, take the whole family to see something they all can enjoy or you just want to lose yourself in the magic of the movies, the rest of 2016 has something for you.

Take our advice, there’s no better place to spend the season than at the movie theater, so start here.

“Allied” (November 23)

Robert Zemeckis has had an interesting relationship with on-screen history. “Forrest Gump” reimagined decades worth of Americana and “The Walk” turned a grace note of New York history and crafted a spectacle. “Allied” finds him in historical thriller mode,...

Following the premiere of “Elle” at this year’s New York Film Festival, the film’s star, Isabelle Huppert, shared her thoughts on her complicated character, Michèle. “She’s what I would call almost like a post-feminist character, building her own behavior and space,” Huppert said. “She doesn’t want to be a victim, that’s for sure, but she doesn’t even fall into the caricature of the revenge avenger. She’s somewhere else.”

The film’s controversial reception has not only centered around Michèle’s rejection of victimhood, but also the strange relationship she forges with her rapist following her initial attack. Mid-way through the film, following the reveal of the attacker’s identity, Michèle begins to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, goading her attacker into a second encounter that some felt romanticized rape. However, it quickly becomes evident during the scene that Michèle’s intentions are...

The nominations for the 29th European Film Awards were announced this Saturday in Seville. Four films which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival are included in the race for Best European Film, including the Palme d’Or winner “I, Daniel Blake” and Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle.”

Maren Ade’s “Toni Erdmann” leads the pack with six nominations including Best Film and Best Director. Among the Best Actress and Actor nominees this year are Isabelle Huppert for her critically acclaimed role in “Elle” and Hugh Grant for his charming performance in “Florence Foster Jenkins.”

Read More: British Independent Film Award Nominations: ‘I, Daniel Blake’ Leads with 7

The Efa, in collaboration with the European Film Academy and Efa Productions, honor the greatest achievements in European cinema.

The 2016 European Film Awards will take place on December 10 in Wroclaw, Poland.

Read More: 2016 Ida Documentary Awards Nominations Include ‘13th,’ ‘The White Helmets’ and ‘Fire At...

Maren Ade’s comedy received five nominations, Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake received four.

A quartet of films that premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival dominate this year’s European Film Academy Awards nominations, which were revealed this morning at the Seville European Film Festival.

Acclaimed Germany comedy Toni Erdmann was nominated for five prizes: best film, best director, best screenplay, best actress and actor.

Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake scored four nominations, including best film, best director for Ken Loach, best screenplay for Paul Laverty and best actor for Dave Johns.

Pedro Almodóvar’s Julieta received three nominations (best film, best director and best actress for Emma Suárez and Adriana Ugarte jointly) as did Paul Verhoeven’s Elle (best film, best director and best actress for Isabelle Huppert).

More than 3000 Efa members will now vote for the winners.

The awards will be handed out at the 29th annual ceremony in Wroclaw (Poland...

"I'm going to tell you everything I wasn't able to tell you." Sony Pictures Classics has debuted an official Us trailer for Pedro Almodóvar's latest film, titled Julieta, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. Julieta stars Emma Suárez as a mother living with her daughter, played by Blanca Parés. After a casual encounter, she decides to confront the pains in her life and the most important events about her stranded daughter. Also starring Adriana Ugarte, Daniel Grao, Inma Cuesta, Darío Grandinetti, Michelle Jenner and Rossy de Palma. This received mostly positive reviews out of Cannes, and looks like it's another colorful and energetic journey into the life of a vibrant woman. Check out the trailer below. Here's the official Us trailer (+ original poster) for Pedro Almodóvar's Julieta, direct from YouTube: Julieta lives in Madrid with her daughter Antía. They both suffer in silence over the loss of Xoan,...

It’s the year of the woman at the New York Film Festival, and the selection of Pedro Almodovar’s Julieta, which also happens to be Spain’s submission to the Academy Awards, may as well be its central piece. A pastiche of stories of sorts, based on novels by Alice Munro, the film deals with a topic near and dear to film festivals the world over: loss, depression, and forgiveness. But while the usual beauty, passionate sexuality, and touching tragedy of Almodovar’s filmography graces Julieta, the overall product is most clearly the work of a director past his prime.

Julieta is about the life of the eponymous central character, from her roaming teenage years into adulthood and late middle age, from hope and dreams to despair and regret. Like all good Almodovar girls, she is strong-willed, sexual, and tragic. We begin with Julieta as a middle-aged woman, crippled by unexplained sadness and remorse.

The films of Pedro Almodóvar always draw out the oft-melodramatic complexities of everyday existence, especially for the multi-faceted female characters that drive the narratives. In Julieta, Almodóvar crafts perhaps his most straight-forward story, shorn of many of the melodramatic flourishes and plot twists that so often permeate his films, yet nonetheless powerful and provocative.

Based on three short stories by Alice Munro, Julieta opens with Julieta (Emma Suárez), a middle-aged woman living in Madrid and preparing to move to Portugal with her boyfriend Lorenzo (Darío Grandinetti). A chance encounter with Beatriz (Michelle Jenner) results in Julieta learning the location of her estranged daughter Antía (Blanca Parés). Suddenly, Julieta no longer wants to leave Madrid. She breaks it off with Lorenzo and returns to her old apartment, where she begins to compose a long narrative in a series of journals, addressed to her daughter.

The film then moves back in time,...

The New York Film Festival kicks off this week, sending us straight into the second half of a very busy fall festival season. In preparation for the festival, we’re rolling out a series of previews to point you in the direction of all the movies you have to see (or at least, all the movies you have to start anticipating right now). Today, some new offerings from cinema’s greatest master and auteurs — new, emerging and beloved.

“Manchester By The Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan

Over the course of just three feature films, multi-hyphenate Kenneth Lonergan has proven himself to be one of America’s most exciting rising auteurs. Uniquely capable of capturing great emotion without even a hint of melodrama or a single false note, his long-awaited follow-up to the grievously mistreated “Margaret” — perhaps this decade’s cinematic endeavor most deserving of critical reappraisal after critical reappraisal — again returns him...

Fire At Sea (Fuocoammare) director Gianfranco Rosi Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Bertrand Tavernier's loving My Journey Through French Cinema dedicated to Jacques Becker and Claude Sautet; Pedro Almodóvar's Julieta, sparked by Alice Munro short stories, starring Emma Suárez with Michelle Jenner, Adriana Ugarte, and Daniel Grao; Pablo Larraín's Neruda with Luis Gnecco as Pablo Neruda, Gael García Bernal and Alfredo Castro; and Gianfranco Rosi's Fire At Sea (Fuocoammare) with Samuele (a winning, completely natural combination of Bruno Dumont's Li'l Quinquin, a Wes Anderson boy scout in Moonrise Kingdom, and the scientist in Rosi's Sacro Gra) are four more highlights of the 54th New York Film Festival.

Ava DuVernay’s The 13th; Mike Mills' 20th Century Women starring Annette Bening with Billy Crudup, Elle Fanning, Lucas Jade Zumann and Greta Gerwig; and James Gray's The Lost City Of Z with Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland...

Romantic drama premiered in competition in Cannes.

Spain has selected Pedro Almodovar’s Julieta as its contender for this year’s best foreign language film Oscar race.

Starring Emma Suarez and Adriana Ugarte, the film premiered in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

It was selected from a three-strong shortlist that also included Iciar Bollain’s comedy-drama The Olive Tree and Paula Ortiz’s The Bride.

Marking Oscar-winner Almodovar’s 20th feature – his win came for 2002’s Talk To Her – the story of Julieta follows a broken-hearted woman who decides to confront the problems in her life, notably her estranged daughter.

Spain’s last winner in the foreign language Oscar category was Alejandro Amenábar’s Javier Bardem-starring drama The Sea Inside in 2005. Almodovar’s last film to be nominated in the category was 2006’s Volver.

Pedro Almodóvar hasn’t won the Best Foreign Language Oscar since “All About My Mother” took the prize in 1999, but that might change this awards season as Spain has officially selected his new drama, “Julieta,” as its 2017 Oscar entry. The news comes after months of speculation as to which title the country would choose, but Almodóvar always seemed like a safe bet given that he’s represented Spain a previous five times at the Academy Awards. The country has won gold four times, most recently in 2005 for Alejandro Amenabar’s “The Sea Inside.”

Read More: Pedro Almodóvar Reveals the Spanish Films That Inspire Him Most

“Julieta” follows the titular character at two critical points in her life. In 2015, she (Emma Suarez) is on the verge of madness when she loses her husband and her 18-year-old daughter runs away, but 30 years prior, her younger self (Adriana Ugarte) lives a prosperous life.

Spain is submitting Pedro Almodovar's Julieta for the 2017 best foreign-language film Oscar race. The Spanish film academy announced the decision on Wednesday. Freely adapted from three Canada-set short stories by Nobel Prize-winner Alice Munro, it follows a Spanish classicist (played by Adriana Ugarte in the character’s youth, then Emma Suarez in middle-age) as she falls in love, has a child and eventually loses those she cherishes most. THR in its review said: "At their worst, Almodovar’s films deliquesce into a disparate mix of eclectic references, cultish influences and high-brow quotes that boast his exceedingly

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Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

– Sony Pictures Classics have announced they have acquired the rest of Pedro Almodóvar’s full library of films, including “Pepi, Luci, Bom”; “Labyrinth of Passion”; “Dark Habits”; “What Have I Done to Deserve This?”; “High Heels” and “Kika.” Spc will release his latest, “Julieta,” in theaters on December 21.

Based on short stories by Nobel laureate Alice Munro, “Julieta” is “about a mother’s struggle to survive uncertainty. It is also about fate, guilt complexes and that unfathomable mystery that leads us to abandon the people we love, erasing them from our lives as if they had never meant anything, as if they had never existed. The cast includes Adriana Ugarte, Emma Suárez and Rossy de Palma. It...

The 2016 New York Film Festival line-up has arrived, and as usual for the festival, it’s an amazing slate of films. Along with the previously announced The 13th, 20th Century Women, and The Lost City of Z, there’s two of our Sundance favorites, Manchester By the Sea and Certain Women, as well as the top films of Cannes: Elle, Paterson, Personal Shopper, Graduation, Julieta, I, Daniel Blake, Aquarius, Neruda, Sieranevada, Toni Erdmann, and Staying Vertical. As for other highlights, the latest films from Hong Sang-soo, Barry Jenkins, and Matías Piñeiro will also screen.

Check it out below, including our reviews where available.

The 13th (Opening Night, previously announced)

Directed by Ava DuVernay

USA, 2016

World Premiere

The title of Ava DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,...

Mark Harrison Aug 1, 2016

Fed up of big blockbusters right now? Here are some smaller movie treats to be found in August in UK cinemas...

Around this time of the year, we like to shine a spotlight on the slightly smaller films coming out after most of the box office juggernauts have been and gone. But with each annual feature, we've noticed that the year is filling up with blockbusters more and more. The year's first comic book movie was February's Deadpool, a surprise box office smash and Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice got 2016's blockbuster season started much earlier than usual.

We're late enough in this elongated season that August will find the blockbuster schedule repeating itself - Ben Affleck's Batman will be back on screen for a cameo in DC Movies' Suicide Squad, Disney follows The Jungle Book with a live-action remake of Pete's Dragon, and Ricky Gervais...

The director is at the 33rd Jerusalem Film Festival to accompany a screening of Pulp Fiction.

Iconic Us film-maker Quentin Tarantino is one of a number of high-profile international guests attending this year’s Jerusalem Film Festival (July 7-17). Tarantino is in town to accompany a screening of his 1994 feature, the Palme d’Or and Oscar-winning neo-noir black comedy Pulp Fiction. The film will be projected from a restored 35mm print from Tarantino’s personal archive.

The sold-out screening will take place at the Cinematheque tomorrow at 10pm. The director will participate in a live on-stage conversation following the film. Tarantino, who last visited Israel in 2009 to promote his Second World War thriller Inglourious Basterds, will also be presented with a lifetime achievement award at the festival’s opening ceremony tonight.

Another high-profile director attending the festival is Whit Stillman, who will participate in a Meet The Filmmaker event after a screening of his latest feature, the Kate Beckinsale...

Festival reveals guests headed to Karlovy Vary next month.

Us actor Willem Dafoe and writer-director Charlie Kaufman are to be honoured at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) (July 1-9) on its opening night .

Dafoe is to receive the Crystal Globe for outstanding contribution to world cinema and the festival will screen his performances in Abel Ferrara’s Pasolini and Martin Scorese’s The Last Temptation of Christ.

Kaufman, who won an Oscar for his script for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, will receive the president’s award and the festival will screen animation Anomalisa, which he co-directed with Duke Johnson.

As previously announced, the festival set in the Czech Republic spa town will open with the world premiere of Second World War thriller Anthropoid, with actors Jamie Dornan and Toby Jones, Aňa Geislerová, Alena Mihulová, Václav Neužil and Marcin Dorocinski in attendence alongside writer-director Sean Ellis.

Guests

Other...

Jff to pay tribute to Israeli actress and film-maker who died in April.

Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff, July 7-17) is to host a tribute to Israeli actress and film-maker Ronit Elkabetz.

Elkabetz was nominated seven times at Israel’s Oscars (Ophir Awards) for both acting and directing. She died in April this year following a battle with cancer.

The festival will screen her 2004 film To Take A Wife, in which she also starred. The film marked the first instalment in a trilogy written and directed by Elkabetz with her brother Shlomi Elkabetz. The final entry, 2014’s Gett: The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem, was nominated for a Golden Globe.

Opening film

Pedro Almodovar’s Cannes Competition title Julieta will open this year’s festival, with an open air screening at the outdoor Sultan’s Pool venue.

The film, which stars Emma Suarez and Adriana Ugarte as older and younger versions of the titular protagonist, has been selected...