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“The Accountant 2” is a fun, charming action thriller. It may not be the sequel that fans of its 2016 parent film were expecting, but that is why it works. It doubles down on the electric chemistry between its stars, Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal, to deliver a sequel that has many of the same ingredients as the original “Accountant” but even more heart. As contradictory as it may seem to call a sequel original, “The Accountant 2” is, thanks to its combination of familial drama, intrigue and unsparing, pulse-pounding action, a unique concoction.

There are some films, however, that scratch the same itches as it. Case in point: Here are seven movies like “The Accountant 2” that you should watch next if you loved the film.

“Warrior” (Lionsgate) “Warrior” (2011)

“Warrior” has more in common with “The Accountant 2” than the fact that they were both directed by the same filmmaker,...

Italian directorial duo Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis, who made a splash at Cannes in 2022 with “The Tale of King Crab,” are back with “Heads or Tails,” a surreal Western starring John C. Reilly inspired by a true event that took place during Buffalo Bill’s stay in Italy. The film unspools in Un Certain Regard.

Italian cowboys, hailing from the central Italian plains of northern Lazio up through the coastal Italian region of Maremma into southern Tuscany and known as “butteri,” have a long-standing connection to Buffalo Bill and the history of America’s Wild West.

“We’ve known this story since we were kids,” said Zoppis. “There was a rodeo between the American cowboys and the Italian butteri from Cisterna Latina, just south of Rome, where we actually shot the film. And legend has it that the Italians won, though there are different versions of the outcome.

This year’s Italian presence at Cannes – one entry in competition by veteran auteur Mario Martone and two by young directors that landed slots in Un Certain Regard – accurately reflects the current state of Cinema Italiano.

Broadly speaking, following a protracted growth spurt, there has been a slowdown in production activity caused by the fact that the government has been dithering with modifications on tax incentives for local film and TV productions, which has stalled the greenlight process, especially for bigger-budget Italian movies.

But even though getting films financed has gotten tougher, a new generation of directors is bubbling under, alongside well-known names such as Paolo Sorrentino, Luca Guadagnino, Alice Rohrwacher and Nanni Moretti.

“I have the impression that once again we are seeing young [Italian] directors emerging and this is formidable,” Thierry Fremaux noted while announcing the lineup. The Cannes boss went on to add that “Italy is historically a...

Movies to Stream on Pluto TV May 2025 ( Photo Credit – Facebook )

Digital platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, HBO Max, Paramount and Disney + have an entire slate of original content, new and returning which makes them top contenders for the audience to focus on. But there are a few other platforms like Pluto TV which offer a range of interesting films.

Its release schedule for May features some intriguing films like the Escape Plan trilogy, the Hellraiser universe as well as the Mission Impossible film franchise starring Tom Cruise. Then there are movies like The Prophecy and Tomb Raider. Here’s the full list of movies streaming on the platform in May 2025. Which pens are you most excited to binge watch and enjoy?

Pluto Release Schedule: Every Movie Streaming In May 2025 May 1 2 Days in New York 3022 54 The Accused The African Queen Air Alan Partridge American Outlaws American Son Arrivederci, Baby!

Few films have caught more backlash during this year’s Academy Awards race than Emilia Pérez, the controversial musical from director Jacques Audiard. While the film debuted to rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival and was picked up for international distribution by Netflix, a vocal backlash emerged from members of the Lgbtqia and Mexican communities based on the film’s stereotypical, and even offensive depiction of legitimate issues. Although the controversy surrounding the hateful comments made by its lead actress, Karla Sofía Gascón, certainly made the discourse more toxic, it is perhaps unfair to dismiss Audiard’s entire body of work, as he is responsible for such great films as Dheepan, A Prophet, and The Sisters Brothers. In fact, Audiard’s romantic drama Rust and Boneis a powerful examination of healing and empathy that earned praise from Roger Ebert, who claimed it was one of the last “Great Movies” that he had ever seen.

“Emilia Pérez” is certainly the most talked-about Oscar contender of the year, for better and worse. The Spanish-language musical gained significant awards steam when it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival last year and won the Jury Prize alongside a shared Best Actress for its three leading ladies.

But what is “Emilia Pérez” and what’s with all the controversy?

You can get all the details below.

When did ‘Emilia Pérez’ come out?

“Emilia Pérez” first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize. It then hit theaters on Nov. 1, before it went to streaming just a few weeks later on Nov. 13.

Is ‘Emilia Pérez’ streaming?

Yes, it is. You can watch it right now on Netflix. It’s a Netflix original film.

What is it about?

Officially billed as “an audacious fever dream that defies genres and expectations,” the movie centers on “fearsome cartel leader Emilia [who] enlists Rita,...

Jacques Audiard’s crime musical “Emilia Perez” won a raft of prizes, including best film and director, at the 50th edition of the Cesar Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, on Friday in Paris.

“Emilia Perez” won a total of seven awards out of 12 nominations. While Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofía Gascón were both on hand and nominated for best actress, they lost to Hafsia Herzi, who starred as a prison supervisor in Stéphane Demoustier’s “Borgo.”

Gascón made her first award show appearance at the Cesar Awards ceremony after laying low in the wake of her offensive posts. Although she skipped the press line on the red carpet, Gascón sat on the same row as Audiard and Saldana inside the Olympia theater, but didn’t seat next to them and didn’t seem to be on speaking terms.

The ceremony’s emcee, French actor Jean-Pascal Zadi, tried to...

Pictures via Netflix, Warner Bros. Pictures, Sony Pictures and Hulu

2025 is in full swing, and with March just around the corner, it’s time for you to look ahead at the movies and series scheduled to depart Netflix throughout the month of March. The biggest notable TV series leaving is The Mindy Project, while hit films like Scooby-Doo and Love Again, among others, are also set to depart.

As always, Netflix’s library is constantly evolving. That means new titles are always on the way, but because Netflix licenses titles from big distributors, they’re not always on Netflix forever. When this license (or rental period) comes to an end, the movie or series leaves Netflix.

Note: This list will be constantly updated throughout February as we learn of more series and movies set to leave (typically 30 days before their departure). In the last few weeks of the month, Netflix...

Is it us, or has this year’s lead-up to the 97th annual Academy Awards been a bit of a roller-coaster ride?

After the nominations were announced roughly a month ago, we knew going in that there wouldn’t be a clear front-runner like last year, when Oppenheimer entered the competition with enough velocity to make you think it had already won. (You could have dubbed the ceremony the “Oscar-ppenheimers” and simply called it a day.) There was a lot of love for The Brutalist, Brady Corbet’s extraordinary shout-out...

When it was released in 2012, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained shattered box office records when it became the biggest box office haul in the history of the Western genre. A love letter to Spaghetti Westerns from directors like Sergio Corbucci and Sergio Leone, the film gave audiences a gritty revenge tale perfect for the director's bloody style. In the thirteen years since its release, the genre has seen plenty of great movies released to critical and audience acclaim.

Western movies continue to bring audiences well-acted, meaningful explorations of life on the frontier, from its challenges to its charms. Delivering interesting messages of revenge, forgiveness and everything in between, Tarantino's 2012 epic has been succeeded by an array of brilliant stories. While they might not all match the tone of Jamie Foxx's quest for vengeance, these movies all bring something unique to the genre in their own right.

The Sisters...

The Sisters Brothers featuring Jake Gyllenhaal – Picture: Annapurna Pictures

The second month of 2025 is beginning to wind down, and as always, when we enter a new month that means we’re about to see some rotation of Netflix’s movie library. Over 30 movies are leaving as we enter March 2025, but which ones should you be watching before they leave? Here are our nine picks.

Want to see the complete list of what’s leaving Netflix throughout March 2025? We’ve got you covered with the most comprehensive departures list on the net!

Note: This list covers removals planned for Netflix in the United States – other regions’ departures may and often will vary dramatically.

Leaving Mar 1The Sisters Brothers (2018) Genre: Drama, WesternRating: RRelease Date: November 15, 2024Director: Jacques AudiardCast: John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake GyllenhaalLanguage: EnglishRuntime: 122 minWatch on Netflix

Are Westerns back? They are at least on Netflix with the success of...

Jacques Audiard’s Mexico-set musical Emilia Perez swept France’s Lumiere Awards on Monday evening (January 20), winning five prizes including best film.

The Oscar and Bafta hopeful was the frontrunner going into the 30th edition of the awards with six nominations, and took home prizes for nearly all of them including best director, best screenplay, best score for Camille and Clément Ducol, and best actress for Karla Sofía Gascón.

Audiard set a new record at this year’s Lumieres, winning best film for a third time after 2006’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped and 2019’s The Sisters Brothers, and...

In an awards season where the race still seems to be fairly wide open, one film is gaining more traction than most as the finish line wobbles into view over the horizon.

“Emilia Perez” wasn’t talked about as an Oscar hopeful after it first bowed at the Cannes Film Festival, but eight months on and Jacques Audiard’s musical thriller about a Mexican cartel boss who undergoes gender affirmation surgery to live as a woman looks like it’s in pole position to land some major statuettes.

On Sunday, it won big at the Golden Globes, emerging ahead with four gongs, including best motion picture — musical or comedy, best supporting actress for Zoe Saldaña, best motion picture — non-English language and best original song. Just two days earlier, it was the top film out of the BAFTA longlists, with 15 slots across the various categories.

The emergence of “Emilia Perez” as...

Jacques Audiard has always been unpredictable. Throughout his 30-plus year career, the Palme d’Or-winning French filmmaker has delivered the gritty prison drama “A Prophet,” chronicled destructive passion in “Rust and Bone,” told a tale of Tamil Sri Lankan refugees in “Dheepan” and explored Westerns with his English-language debut, “The Sisters Brothers.”

His latest effort is “Emilia Pérez,” a Spanish-language, Mexico-set crime musical starring Karla Sofía Gascón as notorious cartel leader Manitas del Monte, who fakes her own death to live authentically as a trans woman. The supporting cast includes Selena Gomez, who plays Manitas’ tormented wife Jessi, and Zoe Saldaña, who portrays Rita, a talented but overworked lawyer recruited by Emilia to help her start a new life.

Audiard, who is neither Mexican nor trans, acknowledges that it was a wild challenge, but “‘Emilia Pérez’ was inevitable,” he tells Variety.

Since winning Cannes’ jury prize and an award for its female ensemble,...

There is something foundational about Carol Kane. She was part of the fabric of late 20th Century arts and entertainment, whether it be in films like “Dog Day Afternoon” and “The Princess Bride” or on television in her Emmy-winning performance on “Taxi” as wife to Andy Kaufman’s Latke. In transitioning into the 21st century, not only did her strengths become more amplified — her trademark quirkiness adding dynamism to movies such as “The Pacifier” and shows like “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” — but her range continues to become more pronounced. In the last decade alone she’s taken part in a western from Jacques Audiard (“The Sisters Brothers”), a zombie comedy from Jim Jarmusch (“The Dead Don’t Die”), and will soon be seen in Darren Aronofsky’s ’90s-set crime thriller “Caught Stealing” as a character she recently told IndieWire “only spoke Yiddish.”

The role garnering her the most attention nowadays, however,...

Exclusive: Though hardly a song-and-dance guy, French filmmaker Jacques Audiard has made the most compellingly original musical in years in Emilia Pérez, and it has become one of Netflix’s most celebrated awards-bait films in years. It got 10 Golden Globe noms, a record for the musical/comedy category; five European Film Award wins including Best Film and Best Director; 10 Critics Choice nominations; and numerous other accolades. The three actresses atop the call sheet — Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Zoe Saldaña — are all up for Globes, and the film is well positioned for the upcoming Oscar nominations.

The versatile Audiard found his audaciously original inspiration while thumbing through Boris Razon’s 2018 novel Écoute, where he got the idea for a cartel boss determined to kill his past and transform into the woman he always wanted to be. Here, he explains how he did it, in a moment where Netflix has...

John C. Reilly will soon appear on the big screen as Buffalo Bill in “Heads or Tails?” a surreal Western by Italian directorial duo Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis (“The Tale of King Crab”). The film is inspired by a true event that took place during Buffalo Bill’s stay in Italy.

Along with the Oscar-nominated U.S. actor – who co-starred with Joaquin Phoenix in Jacques Audiard’s Western “The Sisters Brothers” – the top notch “Heads or Tails?” cast also comprises rising French star Nadia Tereszkiewicz and Italy’s Alessandro Borghi, in lead roles, and Argentina’s Peter Lanzani.

Italian cowboys known as “butteri” –– and hailing from the central Italian plains of northern Lazio up through the coastal Italian region of Maremma into southern Tuscany — have a long-standing connection to Buffalo Bill and the history of America’s Wild West.

Buffalo Bill, born William F. Cody, was a...

Exclusive: Jacques Audiard is in the thick of awards season with his much-buzzed film Emilia Pérez, and now he is set for a retrospective from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival next month.

That Cannes Jury Prize-winning film starring Oscar hopeful Karla Sofia Gascón along with Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña will screen on January 10 at the Sbiff Riviera Theatre, followed by an in-person chat with Audiard.

The program running through January 17 at the new Sbiff Film Center also will include his films Paris, 13th District (2021), and The Sisters Brothers (2018); Dheepan (2015); Rust and Bone (2012); A Prophet (2009) and The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005).

“Audiard is a master of cinema — combining genres in order to tell his complex yet compelling stories which always draw attention to important and urgent subjects like immigration and the disenfranchised,” festival executive director Roger Durling said. “As a filmmaker, he is generous, challenging and humane, and...

The versatile John C. Reilly has been announced as the first honoree at the 19th annual Oscar Wilde Awards.

The event, organized by the US-Ireland Alliance, is set for Feb. 27 — in its traditional evening spot three days before the Oscars — at the historic Ebell theater in Los Angeles, its original home.

The casual bash celebrates the work of those from Ireland — and some who are not — who contribute to film, television and music. It also fosters artistic collaborations, from giving young actors and singers a profile in the U.S. to encouraging the shooting of films in Ireland.

The Chicago-born Reilly, 59, speaks often of his family’s strong ties to Ireland. A frequent visitor to the country, he served as the International Guest of Honor at Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities in 2022.

“It might just seem like a goof to just appear at a parade, but to me,...

Among the most popular genres in film, Western movies have delighted audiences across the globe with terrific action, engaging storytelling and memorable characters that either resonate with viewers or light up the screen with style. Although the western genre stems from the traditional American West viewpoint and the United States of America has delivered some of the most iconic westerns ever made, other nations from across the planet have also produced interesting films about the Old West.

Whether tackling an original approach to storytelling, blending visual styles or presenting unique characters, the foreign film market can engage with audiences throughout the world by offering something to say from a specific country. At the same time, with the sheer number of western movies that have been produced by Hollywood, viewers are given the chance to witness films that are totally out of the ordinary or provide a new interpretation that opposes the traditional American western film.

There are many different ways to measure a terrific film awards season.

Last year, “Barbenheimer” put two billion-dollar blockbusters at the center of the awards chatter. “Barbie” settled for an Oscar and a “box office achievement” Golden Globe, while “Oppenheimer” fulfilled its promise as the first (much-needed) awards season megahit and awards juggernaut in many years. Besides sweeping up multiple Oscars, Christopher Nolan’s opus also garnered both Oscar and Golden Globe best picture wins.

Twenty-five years ago, the Oscar race was a Weinstein-era slugfest for best picture, with the Harvey-handled “Shakespeare in Love” keeping Steven Spielberg’s WWII epic “Saving Private Ryan” out of the top Oscar perch, while both films took home Golden Globe best picture trophies. This year has been knocked by some critics and some awards season pundits as perhaps not one for the history books, with a less than stellar lineup of key contenders.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Emilia Perez.

There has been speculation about whether Netflix's crime comedy musical and Oscar-contender Emilia Prez is based on a true story. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret. The film is France's official entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025 despite receiving backlash about the misrepresentation of the realities of trans people and relying on trans narrative tropes.

The combined talents of Zoe Saldaa, Karla Sofa Gascn, and Selena Gomez led the cast of Emilia Prez. Emilia Prez won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere in May. Emilia Prez's soundtrack is one of the essential highlights of the film as well as...

Netflix's crime comedy musical Emilia Prez is by far the wildest potential Best Picture contender at the 2025 Oscars. The combined talents of Gascn, Zoe Saldaa, and Selena Gomez led the cast of Emilia Prez, which won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival after its world premiere in May. The film is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel coute by Boris Razon, which features a kingpin wanting to get gender-reassignment surgery.

Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret. It is France's official entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025. Months before the Oscars will take place, Emilia Prez's November 13 release on Netflix has generated awards season buzz as well as controversy and backlash.

Emilia...

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Emilia Prez.

Netflix's crime comedy musical Emilia Prez features Selena Gomez's career-best film performance as the unstoppable Jessi Del Monte. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret. The film is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel coute by Boris Razon and is France's official entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025.

The combined talents of Zoe Saldaa, Karla Sofa Gascn, and Selena Gomez led the cast of Emilia Prez. Emilia Prez won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere in May. Emilia Prez's soundtrack is one of the essential highlights of the film as well as the heart and soul of the ultimately tragic narrative.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Emila Prez.

Netflix's crime comedy musical Emilia Prez has sparked some controversy surrounding its alleged misrepresentation and flawed character construction of its titular trans protagonist, played by Karla Sofa Gascn. The combined talents of Gascn, Zoe Saldaa, and Selena Gomez led the cast of Emilia Prez, which won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival after its world premiere in May. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret.

The film is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel coute by Boris Razon and is France's official entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025. Emilia Prez's soundtrack is the essential highlight of the film as well as the heart and soul of the inspirational yet tragic narrative.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Emilia Prez.

The ending of Netflix's crime comedy musical Emilia Prez finds the titular protagonist and the mother of her children, Jessi, at the end of their road. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret. The film is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel coute by Boris Razon and is France's official entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025.

The combined talents of Zoe Saldaa, Karla Sofa Gascn, and Selena Gomez led the cast of Emilia Prez. Emilia Prez won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere in May. Emilia Prez's soundtrack is one of the essential highlights of the film as well as...

Editor’s Note: This review was originally published during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Netflix opens “Emilia Pérez” in theaters on November 1 before the film streams November 13.

You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a movie musical where the words “mammoplasty, vaginoplasty, rhinoplasty” play out in song. Nor have you lived until you’ve seen that same movie musical in which Selena Gomez says the words “My pussy still hurts when I think of you.” And you’ve never seen a movie musical at all about transness that takes as bold of swings as Jacques Audiard‘s “Emilia Pérez,” which is stylistically unforgettable while missing the crucial element that makes any movie musical work: Actually good, memorable songs.

Audiard is the 72-year-old French director known ever for dipping into other worlds and genres that are far from his own as a cis white guy from Europe. His 2015 Palme d’Or...

Jacques Audiard has never made two films alike, with each new endeavor a completely new exploration of entirely new genres and experiences. From making one of the greatest crime dramas of the 21st century with A Prophet, creating a Western dramedy in The Sisters Brothers, or a unique take on the romantic drama with Rust and Bone, Audiard always makes sure each film is unlike what youve seen from him before. While Audiard usually seems to latch onto a specific new genre and try to master it, his latest, Emilia Prez, is arguably his most ambitious film so far, one that refuses to fit into a particular box, a musical drug cartel drama with a transgender affirmation story, all blended with a melodramatic telenovela style. No one would ever say Audiard isnt daring, and Emilia Prez is certainly a strong example of this, yet despite three strong female lead performancesincluding...

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Emilia Prez.

Netflix's crime comedy musical Emilia Prez takes place in many countries but was filmed in only one. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret. Emilia Prez won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere in May. The film is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel coute by Boris Razon.

Emilia Prez is France's entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025. The film currently has a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 82% and an audience score of 79%. Emilia Prez's mostly favorable reviews have made it an early contender for Best Picture and has also generated Best Actress Oscar buzz for Gascn and Best Supporting Actress for Saldaa.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Emilia Prez.

Music plays such a crucial and creative role in Netflix's crime musical Emilia Prez. As much of the story is told through various styles of genres of music performed by the cast of Emilia Prez, the original songs become an essential part and driving force of the overall narrative. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret. Many of the original songs on Emilia Prez's soundtrack were written and performed by the French singer Camille.

Emilia Prez is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel coute by Boris Razon. The story follows Saldaa's Rita Moro Castro, a defense lawyer in Mexico City looking to make a difference, who encounters an unusual but lucrative opportunity from cartel kingpin Manitas Del Monte as he aims to fulfill his lifetime...

The combined talents of Zoe Saldaa, Karla Sofa Gascn, and Selena Gomez lead Netflix's crime comedy musical Emilia Prez. Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the genre-blending film delivers innovative music numbers and choreography infused with a gut-wrenching story about unfulfilled desire and regret. Emilia Prez won the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Ensemble award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere in May. The film is a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel coute by Boris Razon.

Emilia Prez is France's entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, 2025. The film currently has a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 82% and an audience score of 79%. Emilia Prez's mostly favorable reviews have made it an early contender for Best Picture and has also generated Best Actress Oscar buzz for Gascn and Best Supporting Actress for Saldaa. The...

In the article series Sound and Vision we take a look at music videos from notable directors. This week: several music videos by Jacques Audiard. Jacques Audiard's newest film, Emilia Pérez will be released this week in cinemas and soon on Netflix. A darling at the Cannes Film Festival, and a probable oscar-contender, the film might seem like an odd fit for Audiard, since it's a full blown musical. But while Audiard is mostly known for his gritty humanist dramas, like Dheepan, Un Prophéte (A Prophet), De Rouille et d'Os (Rust and Bone) and De Battre Mon Coeur s'Est Arrêté (The Beat That My Heart Skipped), there has been a droll sense of humor to his films before (The Sisters Brothers), some magical realist touches...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Here is an unusual film from a restless mind. French filmmaker Jacques Audiard’s eclectic career has already seen a gritty prison drama (A Prophet), a comedy Western (The Sisters Brothers) and a romantic drama about orcas (Rust And Bone). His latest, Emilia Pérez, is part drug-cartel gangland thriller, part trans coming-of-age drama, part grand melodrama, and part opera libretto musical. It’s nothing if not unique.

Zoe Saldaña stars as an exhausted, hard-working lawyer in Mexico City, too busy to have a life of her own. Then one day she is kidnapped on the streets by machine-gun-wielding gangsters and bustled into a van. But the kidnapping is not a death sentence or a hostage situation: instead, it’s an unlikely (and compulsory) job offer. She is to organise and oversee the transition of a fearsome cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón), who wishes to fake her own death and begin...

Exclusive: Guy Burnet (Oppenheimer), John Ross Bowie (Speechless), Adrian Rawlins (Mary & George) and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Vikings: Valhalla) will round out the cast of Reykjavik, writer-director Michael Russell Gunn’s historical drama for Anyone But You producer Sk Global. Additionally, 2521 Entertainment has been set to produce and finance the film in partnership with Sk Global.

Others in the cast, as previously announced, include Jeff Daniels, Jared Harris, J.K. Simmons, Hope Davis, Branka Katic and Aya Cash.

Entering production in Iceland in early October, with extensive filming at Höfði House, the actual site of the 1986 Reykjavik summit, Reykjavik explains why the event marked one of the most significant diplomatic achievements of modern times. The film takes place at the most dangerous point of the Cold War, watching as political enemies Ronald Reagan (Daniels) and Mikhail Gorbachev (Harris) meet in Iceland over one long, tense weekend to decide if there will...

If you’re anything like me, when you saw the title for Max Barbakow’s new comedy “Brothers,” you thought, “Finally! A movie about brothers!”

I kid, I kid. But it’s not like there’s ever been any shortage of films about fraternal love and/or hatred: “Step Brothers,” “The Blues Brothers,” “The Sisters Brothers,” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” “East of Eden,” “Fred Claus.” You know, the giants. Max Barbakow’s first feature, the hilarious “Palm Springs,” injected new vitality into the rom-com genre and the time loop drama at the same time. Could he also make a formulaic buddy comedy about two criminal siblings on a road trip seem special?

The answer is … a little, but let’s not go nuts. That, apparently, was the job of Barbakow’s cast. But we’ll get to that. First we have to introduce you to Peter Dinklage and Josh Brolin...

Joaquin Phoenix’s Net Worth 2024 Revealed (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Joaquin Phoenix, a master of transformation, has captured accolades for his unforgettable performances in films like Gladiator and Joker. Known for his intense dedication to his credit, the actor has always fully immersed himself in complex characters, earning him an Academy Award. He is no stranger to accolades like Golden Globes and Oscars and has been rewarded for his emotional performances.

Born as Joaquin Rafael Bottom, the actor has a net worth of $80 million per Celebrity Net Worth. The actor’s acting career began at a young age, and he earned his breakthrough in To Die For. However, his portrayal of Commodus in Gladiator made him an international star and earned him his first Academy Award nomination.

At the age of 8, Phoenix began his acting with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He told Fresh Air’s Terry Gross about his first acting experience,...

The term "chameleon" is one often used to talk about actors that can transform themselves so thoroughly that their filmographies cover a huge range of roles and genres. It's not a title even most good actors can claim, as people naturally gravitate to certain types of characters and find their groove, and most films are lucky to have just one chameleonic actor in their cast. So, when a movie includes not one but four true chameleons working together as main characters, that's a special film, and that's just what the film world got with 2018's Western The Sisters Brothers.

The Sisters Brothers features John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix in their title roles as Eli and Charlie Sisters as well as Riz Ahmed and Jake Gyllenhaal as prospector/scientist Hermann Warm and private detective John Morris, a set of actors that between them have all been nominated for Academy Awards,...

With the official trailer for Emilia Pérez dropping today, I'm still not entirely sure what the film is about, or how all these women fit together. I do know what French auteur Jacques Audiard is capable of, with films as diverse as The Beat My Heart Skipped, Rust and Bone, A Prophet, and The Sisters Brothers under his belt. I know that its amazing cast of women - Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, and Selena Gomez - won a rare collectice acting award at Cannes Film Festival. I know it's a musical and there are drug cartels and a transwoman finally realizing her transition and a lot of fabulous hair and costumes and some serious violence. It's definitely an unusual combination of factors, and we...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

“Emilia Pérez” is almost here.

There were few films out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival that generated as much buzz (and sparked as much discussion) as Jacques Audiard’s musical drama. The film ultimately won the Jury Prize, with its female ensemble collectively awarded the Best Actress prize. And now, as the film approaches its Netflix premiere on Nov. 13, you can watch the brand-new trailer below.

The film, which is France’s entry for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, is described officially as “an audacious fever dream that defies genres and expectations” (you definitely get that from the trailer). In the movie a “fearsome cartel leader Emilia (K Gascón) enlists Rita (Saldaña), an unappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead-end job, to help fake her death so that Emilia can finally live authentically as her true self.” In addition to the aforementioned performers, the movie also stars Adriana Paz and Edgar Ramírez.

France has picked Jacques Audiard’s queer crime musical Emilia Pérez as its contender for the 2025 Oscar race in the best international feature category.

Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz star alongside Spanish trans actress Karla Sofia Gascón in the genre-jumping feature about a Mexican drug lord (Gascón) who enlists the help of a lawyer (Saldaña) to undergo gender-affirming surgery.

Emilia Pérez premiered in Cannes, where it won the Jury Prize as well as a joint best actress honor for the ensemble cast.

Audiard is already an Oscar nominee for A Prophet in 2009. His filmography includes such features as Rust and Bone (2012), The Sisters Brothers (2018) and Dheepan (2015).

Traditionally, France has been a regular in the best international feature race and has won the category 12 times. But the last time the nation that invented cinema took home the trophy was in 1992 with Régis Wargnier’s Indochine. France has been shut...

Riz Ahmed has become one of the most exciting actors of his generation. While many of his contemporaries have chosen to either pine for awards attention by making Oscar bait biopics or signed up for multi-year deals with either Marvel or DC Studios, Ahmed has earned acclaim for bold, innovative projects like Nightcrawler, Four Lions, The Sisters Brothers, and Fingernails. While Sound of Metal was a critical breakthrough that earned Ahmed his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, not all of his films have been universally accepted. Despite positive reviews, Ahmeds work in the emotional science fiction thriller Encounter was sadly overlooked during its initial release.

Time to meet Emilia Perez. Pathe has revealed the first official trailer for the acclaimed film Emilia Pérez, a musical about a Mexican cartel leader transitioning to a woman. This is the latest film by award-winning French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, and it premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival last month where it won the Jury Prize & Best Actress prizes. The talented lawyer Rita receives an unexpected offer... She has to help a feared cartel boss retire from his business and disappear forever by becoming the woman he's always dreamed of being. The film is set mostly in Mexico, following the story of Rita and Manitas – and what happens after he switches to a she. Starring Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Edgar Ramírez, Mark Ivanir. I'm a big fan of this one! I raved about it in my review from Cannes - you've never seen anything like it before.

Jacques Audiard tips his hat in Cannes Photo: Richard Mowe Jacques Audiard: 'The fall of democracy is something that is unbearable for me' Photo: Richard Mowe After dabbling in English with The Sisters Brothers starring Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal and John C Reilly, French director Jacques Audiard adopted a Spanish accent for Emilia Perez in the Cannes Film Festival’s Official Competition.

If his last film Paris,13th District was an austere black and white foray looking at the love lives of millennials now he changes tack completely to deliver a a garishly colourful musical comedy about drug cartels mixed with crime fiction.

It was shot in a studio near Paris rather than on location in Mexico, which he had originally planned. Filming indoors he has said allowed him “to produce more form and gave me more freedom for the parts that are sung and choreographed”.

Audiard, 72, has found himself back...

There’s a lot to look forward to in what has been branded a Mexican comedy-thriller musical from the Palme d’Or winner that brought us Dheepan, A Prophet, Rust and Bone, and, more recently, the underseen Western delight that marked his move toward Hollywood, The Sisters Brothers. Or so it seemed.

Writer-director Jacques Audiard is one of the few filmmakers who has been able to, more than once, tell stories from outside their world and capture narrative, character, and culture with a unique foreign perspective that adds meaningful insight without bringing into question the filmmakers’ respect or depiction of the subjects.

Thus it appeared that this cartel-centric, Mexico-set, largely Latina film––about an unsuspecting lawyer being forced to help a violent cartel boss transition into a woman in order to leave her past behind and finally feel like herself––is actually right up the septuagenarian Frenchman’s alley. Unfortunately,...

While it was once considered one of the most fundamental genres within the film industry, Western films have somewhat declined within the 21st century. Although revisionist Westerns like Quentin Tarantinos Django Unchained and Andrew Dominiks The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford have certainly earned press based on the names attached to them, most modern Westerns have had to settle for being cult hits in a cinematic market that seems to favor films based on previously existing franchises. Given that Westerns are more popular on television than ever before, its unfortunate that many films set during the frontier era have seemed to pass most audiences by. While it was largely underseen and undiscussed on its initial release, The Sisters Brothers is a thoughtful homage to classic Westerns that analyzes masculinity and the changing of societal norms.

Jacques Audiard returned to Cannes on Saturday night to introduce the world to Emilia Perez, which received a rapturous response from the audience, who gave it a nine-minute standing ovation. After Audiard took the mic to speak in French, the standing ovation resumed for another minute or so.

The 10th film from the French auteur — his sixth film in the main competition — stars Zoe Saldaña as a frustrated lawyer, Selena Gomez as a drug lord’s wife, Édgar Ramírez as a dangerous love interest and Karla Sofía Gascón as the cartel kingpin who longs to escape a life of crime and become the woman he’s always dreamed of becoming. And surprise — it’s a musical.

As the credits roled, there were whoops and hollers and shouts of “Bravo,” even before the lights came up. Saldaña and Gascón were in tears, while Gomez was visibly moved, covering her face.

Reviews...

On paper, it looks mad as a loose wheel. A largely Spanish-language musical about a Mexican druglord having a sex change, featuring onetime Disney teen star Selena Gomez as a gangster’s wife: nobody could deny director and writer Jacques Audiard’s giddy determination to do something different, but how could Emilia Pérez be anything but a hot mess? But here is it is on the screen, a musical marvel. Of course it’s crazy, but Audiard has set up his impossible conjuring trick and made it work.

Emilia Pérez fires up immediately with an eccentric chanson about consumption – “we buy washing machines; we buy microwaves” – that literally sets the tone for what will follow. Rita Moro Castro (Zoe Saldaña) would love to consume a little more; she is a junior barrister flatlining as her boss’ more capable helpmate. Her story is told swiftly: Saldaña delivers a deft dance with the office cleaning women,...

Spoiler Alert: The following review contains some spoilers.

Like a rose blooming amid a minefield, it’s a miracle that Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez” exists: a south-of-the-border pop opera about a most unlikely metamorphosis and the personal redemption it awakens in a stone-cold criminal.

With a Palme d’Or to his name and the cojones to tackle his third movie in a culture and language that are not his own (after “Dheepan” and “The Sisters Brothers”), the director of “A Prophet” takes audiences into the macho realm of Mexican cartels, where Manitas del Monte — a fearsome drug lord with a silver grill and a voice like gravel — wants out, not because he’s had a crisis of conscience, but because he’s decided to embrace his true self … as a woman.

Pardon me if I’ve mixed up the pronouns there. Audiard’s dazzling and instantly divisive film — which...

The 77th Cannes Film Festival is poised to serve up a feast for film lovers, including new movies from celebrated directors such as Yorgos Lanthimos and Paolo Sorrentino, as well as living legends like Francis Ford Coppola, David Cronenberg and George Miller.

Lanthimos will bring Poor Things follow-up Kinds of Kindness to the Cannes competition. The Greek auteur’s latest, featuring the Oscar-winning Poor Things star Emma Stone, alongside Jesse Plemons and Willem Dafoe, will be high on every Cannes attendee’s must-see list. Sorrentino’s Parthenope, the Italian director’s 10th feature, will also premiere in competition on the Croisette.

Meanwhile, Coppola will unveil the highly anticipated Megalopolis, starring Adam Driver, Shia Labeouf, and Aubrey Plaza, in the competition lineup, while Canada’s Cronenberg returns with The Shrouds, a horror thriller with Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger and Guy Pearce.

And among the Hollywood highlights at Cannes this year is...

French director Thomas Bidegain is setting the record straight about Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby’s exit from his project “Suddenly.”

An interview with Bidegain that ran last week in the French magazine Technikart got international attention, with the headline “Four Days to Bury a Movie.” The interview suggested that Gyllenhaal and Kirby had left the film in the last stretch of pre-production in Iceland, which resulted in a loss of $26 million.

According to the story, Gyllenhaal dove into the freezing ocean, demanded multiple rewrites and rehearsed scenes in a mocking “Pepe Le Pew-like accent.” Though Bidegain wouldn’t address those specific claims, he tells Variety that he parted ways with Gyllenhaal and Kirby over a creative clash, rather than unprofessional behavior on Gyllenhaal’s part. He also claims that, contrary to what is suggested in the French article, the company which financed “Suddenly,” Studiocanal, didn’t lose $26 million because...