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A Look At Seattle International Film Fest's New 'African Pictures' Program Selections For 2013

It was announced last fall that SIFF (the Seattle International Film Festival) was the 2012 recipient of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences multi-year grant for its African Pictures program, which comprises of a total of $150,000 over a three-year period - funds that will go toward...

Review and Trailer for Oscar-Nominated 'Kon-Tiki' - An Enjoyable, Supersized High-Seas Adventure

Norway's Oscar-nominated Foreign-Language entry, the enjoyably supersized “Kon-Tiki,” follows the real-life adventures of explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who, in 1947, embarked on an eccentric mission across the Pacific Ocean, from Peru to Polynesia, on a wooden raft. His goal was to prove that Polynesia.....

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: 'Kill List' Director Ben Wheatley Talks IFC's 'Sightseers'

Brit filmmaker Ben Wheatley had brought his prior two low-budget features, "Down Terrace" and "Kill List," to the Cannes market. Then he made his proper Cannes debut with "Sightseers" in the Director's Fortnight, an unexpected breakout during an unexceptional year. Then the film played the fest circ...

Zimbabwean Director Of 'Pride' Heading Home To Shoot 'Riding w/ Sugar' (Watch Short Version)

It never ocurred to me that the 2007 drama, Pride, which starred Terrence Howard, Kimberly Elise, Bernie Mac and others, was directed by a Zimbambwean filmmaker named Sunu Gonera. Film blogging wasn't anything I was doing at the time, and I think was more focused on filmmaking, so I don't recall i...

Skinny Matthew McConaughey Talks New Approach to Roles: 'Mud,' 'Dallas Buyer's Club,' 'Magic Mike' [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO]

When we sat down with Matthew McConaughey last November, he looked scarily thin. He'd lost 38 pounds to prep for passion project "The Dallas Buyer's Club," about a straight man fighting HIV who becomes a dealer in unapproved drugs to stave off AIDS. (The film just landed a distributor.) The actor wa...

Navigating Documentary 'Venus and Serena' with the Williams Sisters Was Not Easy

Veteran broadcast journalists Maiken Baird and Michelle Major spent four years obtaining access to the private world of tennis superstars the Williams sisters for "Venus and Serena," which debuted last week at the Toronto Film Festival. But when the tennis documentary finally premiered, it did so wi...

Gemma Arterton & Anna Kendrick Join Ryan Reynolds In 'Persepolis' Director Marjane Satrapi's 'The Voices'

Change is good and Marjane Satrapi seems to thrive on it. She broke out in 2007 with the beloved, critically acclaimed, Oscar nominated "Persepolis," but has hardly made a predictable step since. Her followup was the fantastical live action tale "Chicken With Plums" and not long after came the comi...

Magnolia Acquires Beatles Secretary Doc 'Good Ol' Freda'

Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to the SXSW crowd-pleasing documentary "Good Ol' Freda," directed by Ryan White ("Pelada"). The film profiles Freda Kelly, The Beatles' lifelong secretary, who tells her story for the first time in 50 years over the course of the documentary.

AFI Docs Announces Opening Night and Centerpiece Premieres

Now in its eleventh year in Washington DC, AFI Docs presented by Audi (formerly Silverdocs) kicks off of on June 19th and runs until the 23rd. The documentary festival has just announced that their opening gala on the 19th will be a presentation of Bill Couturie's "Letters to Jackie" at the Newseum....

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: Ebertfest 2013, Days Three and Four

Our final dispatch from a deeply personal film festival.

Watch: Mark Wahlberg Slam Dunks Over Some Kids In Clip From Michael Bay's 'Pain & Gain'

This week, Michael Bay is going indie -- kinda -- with "Pain & Gain," his first non-"Transformers" movie in quite some time. And it seems theater owners aren't too happy about it. At last week's CinemaCon, Deadline revealed that after seeing the completed movie, some theater folks complained it was ...

Robert De Niro & Shia LaBeouf To Play Father & Son In Drama 'Spy's Kid'

Oh man, if this movie goes south like Shia LaBeouf's mooted Broadway turn with Alec Baldwin, those leaked emails are gonna be epic. Not that we would wish ill on a movie production, and if you look past the title, there is actually something potentially interesting brewing between LaBeouf and Robert...

Beatles Documentary 'Good ol' Freda' Acquired by Magnolia Pictures

Magnolia Pictures has snagged North American distribution rights to Ryan White's "Good ol' Freda," a documentary that tells the unsung story of Freda Kelly, The Beatles' secretary. Magnolia plans to release the film theatrically later this year.

Ray McKinnon on His New Sundance Channel Drama 'Rectify' and Why 'The New Indie Is In TV'

Though Ray McKinnon won an Oscar for his 2001 short "The Accountant" and went to Sundance with his 2004 film "Chrystal," starring his late wife Lisa Blount and Billy Bob Thornton, he's best known for his work as an actor. He's a familiar face from features like "That Evening Sun" and the upcoming "M...

5 Best Bets on TV This Week: Sundance Channel's New Death Row Drama and LCD Soundsystem's Farewell Concert Doc

Sure, Sunday tends to be overcrowded with high-end TV, including "Mad Men," "Veep," "The Borgias," "Game of Thrones," "Nurse Jackie" and more, but what to watch the rest of the time? Every Monday, we bring you five noteworthy highlights from the other six days of the week.

CNN Deserves an Award for Chutzpah

WATCH STREISAND CLIPS, as the Star Accepts the Film Society at Lincoln Center's Chaplin Award

Monday night, the Film Society at Lincoln Center in NY pays homage to Barbra Streisand for their 40th annual Chaplin Award Gala, which follows her recent performance of "The Way We Were" during the In Memoriam segment on the Academy Awards telecast.

Support Critic Ed Douglas' Fight Against Cancer

The writer and critic for Coming Soon was recently diagnosed with acute leukemia and has no insurance.

'The Reluctant Fundamentalist': Mira Nair's Mirror of American-Pakistani Relations

In a Lahore cafe, the Pakistan-born, Princeton-educated hero of Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist tells an American reporter about his reaction to the World Trade Center attacks. Changez  (Riz Ahmed) was as horrified as anyone – but at first there was an instinctive smile, simple "a...