News

Mimi Hines, the Canadian comedian and stage actress who succeeded Barbra Streisand in the Broadway production of “Funny Girl,” has died. She was 91.

Hines died of natural causes on Oct. 21 in her home in Los Vegas, according to her long-time attorney, Mark Sendroff.

Hines got her Hollywood break performing on “The Tonight Show” with her late husband Phil Ford. After she made the show’s then-host Jack Paar cry with her performance of “Till There Was You,” the pair was an instant hit. Hines and Ford went on to secure bookings on several other late-night programs and nab top billings at nightclubs around the country.

In 1965, Hines took over for Streisand in the original stage production of “Funny Girl” on Broadway, which she starred in for 18 months. Following “Funny Girl,” Hines starred in national productions of “I Do! I Do!,” “Prisoner of Second Avenue,” “Sugar Babies,” “Hello, Dolly!,” “Anything Goes,...

Mimi Hines, the delightful Canadian-born actress, singer and comedian who stepped in for Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice in the original Broadway production of Funny Girl, has died. She was 91.

Hines died Monday of natural causes at her home in Las Vegas, her friend and attorney Mark Sendroff told The Hollywood Reporter.

Hines was married to late actor-comic Phil Ford from 1954 until their 1972 divorce, and as “Ford and Hines,” they had a thriving nightclub act that was featured on variety/talk programs like Jack Paar’s The Tonight Show.

In her Broadway debut, Hines starred in Funny Girl from December 1965 through its final performance in July 1967. When she got the gig, she told The New York Times — who described her as a “mischievous sprite” — that she was not nervous.

“It’s always easier to follow a good actress than a bad one,” she said. “Miss Streisand is wonderful. [And] there is...

Mimi Hines, who along with her comedy and musical partner (and husband) Phil Ford was a staple of late-night talk shows and variety shows of the 1960s before making a name for herself on Broadway as the replacement for Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl, died peacefully of natural causes on Monday, October 21, at her home in Las Vegas. She was 91.

Her death was announced by her longtime attorney Mark Sendroff.

Born July 17, 1933, in Canada, the singer and comedian Hines met Ford in 1952 at the Last Chance Saloon in Anchorage, Ak, and began performing as a duo. They were invited to appear on The Tonight Show on August 28, 1958, where Hines’ performed of the Meredith Willson song “Till There Was You.” Legend has it that the performance brought host Jack Paar to tears, and soon the duo Ford and Hines were an in-demand booking, with appearances on The Garry Moore Show, The Hollywood Palace,...

Predicting Best Original Song at the Oscars is made more difficult by the three-stage process. In years past, many seemingly sure-fire contenders were deemed to be ineligible. Even those ditties that clear this hurdle then have to pass muster with the 400 plus members of the music branch of the academy. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Original Song.)

To be eligible for consideration, a tune must meet these criteria:

It must be an original song with words and music, both of which were original and written specifically for the film;

It must be the result of a creative interaction between the filmmaker(s) and the songwriter(s) who have been engaged to work directly on the film; and

There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition (not necessarily visually presented) of both lyric and melody used in the body of the movie or as the...

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has selected 11 documentaries for its inaugural Doc@Poff competition, including six world premieres and five international premieres.

World premieres include Yana Sad’s third feature With My Open Lungs, the filmmaker’s personal journey of blossoming love and her partner’s cancer diagnosis against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Scroll down for the full list of Doc@Poff titles

Russian filmmaker Sad left her home country in 2022 for political reasons following the invasion, and is now based in Germany. With My Open Lungs is Sad’s third film after 2019 feature documentary To The Left – to Red,...

You don’t realize you’re at the end of an era when you’re living in the moment. It is only when some water goes under the bridge and you get the opportunity to reflect on everything that has gone down that you realize what has transpired. But we all realize that we are standing on the cusp of one, as fears around Elton John’s health flare up.

With the Rocketman singer’s health hiccups increasing, the future remains highly uncertain. Having gone under the knife many times over the past few years, he’s not the same he used to be. And he knows it better than anyone else.

Elton John reveals the shocking truth behind what surgeries have done to him Elton John reveals that he isn’t the same anymore || Image by Library of Congress Life, via Wikimedia Commons

Elton John: Never Too Late was just released last month,...

Elton John is running out of organs to have removed and joints to have replaced. At the New York premiere of his documentary film Elton John: Never Too Late, the music icon ran through a quick overview of his health journey, listing off: “I don’t have tonsils, adenoids or an appendix. I don’t have a prostate. I don’t have a right hip or a left knee or a right knee. In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip.”

But what he does have...

Elton John has always been larger than life, lighting up stages and hearts for decades, but recent news has left fans more than a little concerned. As if the world wasn’t already shaken by late actress Maggie Smith’s health struggles, John’s latest health update is hitting even harder.

Elton John’s cameo in Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) | Tsg Entertainment

For someone who’s always been so full of energy, this development feels like an unwelcome jolt. After Smith, John facing major health issues feels like a double whammy no one saw coming—and frankly, we’re not ready to imagine a world without their brilliant light shining bright.

Elton John’s Desperate Move to Hide His Health Struggles—But Fans Aren’t Fooled Taron Egerton as Elton John in Rocketman | Paramount Pictures.

Elton John‘s health update is hitting hard, and it’s got fans seriously worried.

The renowned singer and songwriter Elton John will be featured in an upcoming documentary that takes a look back over his legendary career. Titled “Elton John: Never Too Late,” the film will examine John’s life and over five decades in the music industry. It will premiere in theaters on November 15 before coming to the Disney+ streaming service on December 13.

The documentary follows John as he prepares for his final concert in North America at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Viewers will get a glimpse into how the musician is feeling as he prepares for this milestone event. The film also provides insight into John’s journey from his early days writing songs to achieving worldwide fame.

In clips from the documentary, John reflects on always being passionate about music from a young age. “I just wanted to become a songwriter,” he says. Between 1970 and 1975, John actively recorded, releasing 13 albums...

"I was desperately wanting happiness – going completely the wrong way about it." Disney+ has revealed the first official trailer for a musician biopic documentary film called Elton John: Never Too Late, the definitive look back at the life of popstar singer / musician extraordinaire Elton John. Everyone should also remember the 2019 movie about him called Rocketman featuring Taron Egerton as Elton, which was pretty good. Never Too Late just premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival and it next shows at the New York & London Film Festivals before it's streaming later this year. The film showcases a never-before-seen concert footage of him over the past 50 years, as well as hand-written journals and present-day footage of him & his family. NYFF describes it as a "rousing, intensely personal documentary [that] finds a legendary musician in a richly reflective mood during his final concert tour... Filled with revealing interviews and rare archival material, Elton John: Never Too Late...

Elton John: Never Too Late, a documentary about the music icon looking back on his career ahead of his final U.S. concert, will head to Disney+ this December following its premiere earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Ahead of its December 13 arrival on the streaming service, Rolling Stone exclusively presents the new trailer for the film, which features a new original song by John:

“When I was very young, my life was all consumed by music,” John says in the trailer as archival footage. “I just wanted to become a songwriter.

For a film co-directed by its subject’s husband, David Furnish, Elton John: Never Too Late, while always entertaining, feels curiously impersonal and lacking in intimacy. If you want to revisit the glory days of John’s career, when he released an astonishing 13 albums in the five-year span of 1970-75, seven of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts, the Disney+ doc is a goldmine of exhilarating concert footage, interview clips and photographs that reveal John both in high-energy performance mode and low-spirited solitude. Fans will eat it up. But the contemporary perspective of a parallel track in which he prepares to play a farewell show is anemic.

That 2022 concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles marked the end of John’s 50 years of touring in North America. It also represented a full-circle trajectory from his legendary 1975 show at the same venue in front of 110,000 people (sporting a Bob Mackie...

There’s a moment in “Elton John: Never Too Late,” a robustly satisfying and emotional documentary about the life and career of Elton John, that captures him, in a most revealing way, in his ’70s heyday.

It’s a clip from a television interview, in which Elton is explaining how he writes a song. The clip must be from 1971, and Elton, still looking like a puppy child, with rectangle-framed glasses and plenty of shaggy hair, sits at an upright piano and brings out a sheaf of lyrics — pages all written in longhand by his collaborator, Bernie Taupin. Elton wants to show us his method, so he talks about a song he just wrote, called “Tiny Dancer,” and finds the lyrics to it. He explains how he scanned through them and realized, when he saw the word “ballerina,” that it would have to be a slow-tempo song. He demonstrates how he kind of improvised the chords.

We already know a lot about Elton John. Anyone who hasn’t followed at least some of the ups and downs of his 50-year-plus career as they happened can easily get the gist from the 2019 musical biopic “Rocketman” or his fascinating autobiography, “Me,” or untold thousands of interviews and articles.

Now, there’s even more of “me”: the new Disney+ documentary “Never Too Late,” which had its world premiere Friday night at the Toronto International Film Festival and will have a limited run in theaters beginning Nov. 15.

Elton, now 77, teared up as he spoke about the film to the audience. “I’m having the best time of my life – except this fucking eye. I wish I could see you,” he cracked, who revealed earlier this week that he’s recovering from a “severe eye infection” that’s left him with limited vision.

Co-directed by his manager and husband David Furnish...

Elton John opened up about fame and family on Saturday night after the world premiere of Elton John: Never Too Late at the Toronto Film Festival.

“Fame is a dangerous thing if you don’t have something else, and that something else is honesty, and if you don’t have honesty to go with fame, then you’re going to be in real, real trouble, like I was before I got sober in 1990. It’s been 34 years now,” John said during a post-screening Q&a for the film directed by R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, his husband.

John added family — which includes the two sons he and Furnish have raised — has meant the world to him, more than fame itself. “My life turned around. The thing I know about the movie the most is I have him [Furnish], I have my two sons, I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved,...

“I have one question… who is wearing sequins?”

It’s a fair query for Cameron Bailey, Toronto International Film Festival’s CEO, to ask at Friday night’s world premiere of “Elton John: Never Too Late,” a revealing look at the generation-spanning musical (and fashion) icon.

Although he’s one of the best-selling artists of all time, a tearful John told the crowd at Roy Thomson Hall that family is more important to him than fame. “On my tombstone, I don’t want it to say he sold a million records. I want it to say he was a great dad and great husband.”

“Never Too Late” captures John’s journey to becoming one of the world’s biggest rock stars, bookended by his landmark performances at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 1975 to more than 100,000 fans and again in 2022 as the final North American stop on his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour.

Elton John has already had a biopic that made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival and won him an Oscar, “Rocketman,” so it was perhaps inevitable that he’d add a bio-doc to the slate of Elton movies. That documentary, R.J. Cutler and David Furnish’s “Elton John: Never Too Late,” premiered on Friday night at the huge Roy Thomson Hall as part of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.

The film adopts an interesting take on a career that has lasted more than 50 years: It focuses on the first few years of Elton’s career and on the last few years, with scant attention paid to the 35-or-so years and 20-plus albums in between. In a way, though, that makes perfect sense, because the nine albums Elton made in a six-year stretch between 1969 and 1975 came with enough drama and enough hits for a dozen normal careers, and because the last six years,...

As the Toronto International Film Festival gets underway, The Hollywood Reporter’s critics weigh in on this year’s crop of titles, from biopics to documentaries, sweeping epics to intimate character studies, tear-jerking dramas to laugh-out-loud comedies.

Several of this year’s slate have already debuted at other festivals throughout the year. For those curious about the very best the TIFF calendar has to offer, a few — but not nearly all — of the highlights include the Steven Soderbergh ghost story Presence, which David Rooney hailed as “masterfully done” out of Sundance; the Icelandic grief drama When the Light Breaks, which Lovia Gyarkye described as “impossible to shake” at Cannes; and the literary adaptation Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, which Caryn James praised at Telluride for the “astonishing” child performance at its center.

In addition, the lineup includes a number of highly anticipated world premieres — we’re curious about David Gordon Green’s Nutcracker,...

The 68 th BFI London Film Festival has announced the full programme line-up, which will be presented in cinemas and online, across the UK.

The Lff will present a vibrant and diverse programme of 253 features, shorts, series and immersive works from 79 countries, featuring 63 languages playing across the 12 days of the festival. This includes 112 works made by female and non-binary filmmakers – 44% of the programme.

World Premieres

From filmmakers and artists include: Steve McQueen’s Blitz which opens the festival, Ben Taylor’s Cunard Gala Joy starring Thomasin McKenzie, James Norton and Bill Nighy, the BFI National Archive and The Film Foundation’s restoration Silent Sherlock, Darren Thornton’s Irish comedy film Four Mothers, spellbinding performance film from Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard The Extraordinary Miss Flower, thriller series A Thousand Blows from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, the latest documentary from Oscar®-winning directing duo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin Endurance,...

Fifteen features will world premiere at the 68th BFI London Film Festival (Lff), including Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s documentary Endurance, and previously announced opening title Steve McQueen’s Blitz.

The festival takes place from October 9-20.

Free Solo and Nyad directing duo Vasarhelyi and Chin direct Endurance alongside Natalie Hewit, which examines the lost ship of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. Further world premieres include Sophie Compton and Daisy-May Hudson’s documentary Holloway, about one of the largest women’s prisons in Europe.

Steven Knight’s Victorian boxing series A Thousand Blows, starring Stephen Graham, will receive its world premiere.

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s latest documentary feature Endurance about the epic search to find the lost ship of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, Sean Baker’s Anora, and Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch starring Amy Adams are among the titles that have been announced within the full lineup of the British Film Institute’s (BFI) 68th London Film Festival. Scroll down for the full list.

Endurance, which Oscar winners Vasarhelyi and Chin have made for National Geographic, will screen as a world premiere. Running October 9-20, Lff will feature 40 World Premieres, 12 International Premieres, and 21 European Premieres.

Eye-grabbing entries from today’s launch include headline gala screenings of Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner Anora, Edward Berger’s latest feature Conclave, and Ali Abbasi’s much-talked-about Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice. Other highly-anticipated titles that arrive from the...

Elton John is recovering from a “severe eye infection that has unfortunately left me with only limited vision in one eye,” as he revealed in a new social media post.

“I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye,” the 77-year-old icon wrote. “I have been quietly spending the summer recuperating at home, and am feeling positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery thus far.” Read the full, short statement below.

Last year John retired from touring after an epic performance at Glastonbury and a closing night tour-de-force in Stockholm. Shortly afterwards he was hospitalized after falling at home. But as he himself sang many times, “I’m Still Standing,” and he’s still racking up accolades, too, becoming just the 19th person to earn an Egot. A documentary about Elton John,...

Elton John has revealed his struggles with a severe infection that has affected his vision.

In a message shared on social media, the iconic singer shared that throughout the summer, he has “been dealing with a severe eye infection,” leaving him with “only limited vision in one eye.

“I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye,” he explained. John then expressed his gratitude toward “the excellent team of doctors and nurses,” as well as his family, “who have taken such good care of [him] over the last several weeks.

“I have been quietly spending the summer recuperating at home and am feeling positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery thus far.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elton John (@eltonjohn)

This hasn’t been the only health struggle John has faced this year.

Nearly two years after Elton John completed his final North American concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, a new documentary showing John’s journey behind the scenes is coming to Disney+.

Titled Elton John: Never Too Late, the documentary centers on the singer and songwriter’s illustrious 50-year career in showbiz, concluding with his final North American show. The new documentary will feature an original song from John as well.

Never Too Late will arrive on Disney+ on December 13th; prior to that, it will receive a limited theatrical run on November 15th in the US and UK. Previously, Disney+ streamed the concert film Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium.

The film’s official logline reads: “Directed by R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, the documentary follows Elton John as he looks back on his life and the astonishing early days of his 50-year career in this emotionally charged,...

Nearly two years after Elton John completed his final North American concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, a new documentary showing John’s journey behind the scenes is coming to Disney+.

Titled Elton John: Never Too Late, the documentary centers on the singer and songwriter’s illustrious 50-year career in showbiz, concluding with his final North American show. The new documentary will feature an original song from John as well.

Never Too Late will arrive on Disney+ on December 13th; prior to that, it will receive a limited theatrical run on November 15th in the US and UK. Previously, Disney+ streamed the concert film Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium.

The film’s official logline reads: “Directed by R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, the documentary follows Elton John as he looks back on his life and the astonishing early days of his 50-year career in this emotionally charged,...

Exclusive: Elton John: Never Too Late, the documentary about the British-born music legend’s incredible career, will debut on Disney+ on Friday, December 13, the streaming platform announced today.

The film directed by documentary great R.J. Cutler and David Furnish – Elton John’s husband – is set to make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday, September 6. The original documentary from Disney Branded Television is produced by Rocket Entertainment and This Machine Filmworks (a part of Sony Pictures Television).

“[T]he documentary follows Elton John as he looks back on his life and the astonishing early days of his 50-year career in this emotionally charged, intimate and uplifting full-circle journey,” notes a release. “As he prepares for his final concert in North America at Dodger Stadium, Elton takes us back in time to recount the extraordinary highs and heartbreaking lows of his early years and how he overcame adversity,...

Film at Lincoln Center announced the full slate of Spotlight films for the 62nd New York Film Festival on Wednesday, with several top titles joining the Spotlight Gala screening of “Queer” in the lineup.

Coming to New York this fall will be Jacques Audiard’s Cannes Jury winner “Emilia Perez,” Sundance screenwriting winner “A Real Pain” from director and writer Jesse Eisenberg, and Pablo Larrain’s biopic “Maria” starring Angelina Jolie. All three films are expected to factor heavily in the awards race this year – this assuming “Maria” lands U.S. distribution after it plays the fall festivals.

Those flashy titles join other films such as “Nickel Boys,” “Blitz,” and “The Room Next Door” in the New York Film Festival lineup this year.

For those using this latest round of title designations to guess the Telluride Film Festival lineup, note that “Emilia Perez” is left with no designation as is “Maria”. “The Friend,...

Following the Main Slate announcement, the 62nd New York Film Festival has unveiled its Spotlight section. Taking place September 27-October 14, the festival has added North American premieres of Leos Carax’s It’s Not Me, Alex Ross Perry’s Pavements, and Andrei Ujică’s Beatles doc Twst / Things We Said Today. Additional highlights include Jean-Luc Godard’s final film Scenarios, Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Jackson’s Rumours, Pablo Larraín’s Maria, Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez, Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, and, as previously announced, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer as the Spotlight Gala.

See the Spotlight lineup below and learn more here.

Spotlight Gala

Queer

Luca Guadagnino, 2024, U.S./Italy, 135m

Written in the early 1950s yet not published until 1985, William S. Burroughs’s Queer has come to be considered a canonical work in the career of the Beat Generation author and a cornerstone of transgressive gay literature.

Eddie Huang, creator of ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat comedy, is set to open the Toronto Film Festival’s TIFF Docs sidebar with a world premiere for Vice is Broke, a documentary about the rise and fall of Vice Media.

Huang will chronicle events leading up to Shane Smith’s Vice Media, a scrappy media player once valued at $5.7 billion, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023 to open the way for a sale of the company.

There’s also world bows in Toronto’s documentary strand for Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story, directed by Sinéad O’Shea, who did hours of interviews with the legendary Irish novelist in the last year of O’Brien’s life; Jen Gaiten and Screwball doc maker Billy Corben bringing Men of War, about a former U.S. Green Beret caught up in a failed 2020 coup to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro; and...

The time has come for the annual presentation of the Toronto International Film Festival. The festivities will include many premieres of titles, whether it be their big world premiere, their North American premiere, or even just their Canadian premiere. Deadline has unveiled a number of upcoming films that attendees are expected to see this year.

Among those premiering are some star-studded affairs, such as the war drama Without Blood, which stars Salma Hayek and Demián Bichir and is directed by Angelina Jolie. The film is based on the Alessandro Baricco novel. Hard Truths from Mike Leigh stars Marianne Jean-Baptiste. That film is being described as an “Ongoing exploration of the contemporary world with a tragicomic study of human strengths and weaknesses.”

The Last Showgirl will premiere. The movie follows a seasoned stage dancer who must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run and stars Dave Bautista,...

The 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival have unveiled their lineup of 63 films from the Gala and Special Presentations programs. Notable titles include the world premieres of Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths and The Last Showgirl, the North American premieres of Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Harvest and Justin Kurzel’s The Order, the Canadian premiere of Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End, along with many favorites from this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Check out the lineup below.

Galas 2024 (in alphabetical order)

*Previously announced

Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe Cosima Spender | UK

World Premiere

Better Man Michael Gracey | USA

Canadian Premiere

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight Embeth Davidtz | South Africa

Canadian Premiere

Sales Title

*Eden Ron Howard | USA

World Premiere

Sales Title

*Elton John: Never Too Late R.J. Cutler, David Furnish | USA

World Premiere

*Harbin Woo Min-ho | South Korea

World Premiere

Meet the Barbarians...

The 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival announced its full lineup of Galas and Special Presentations today in what is a complete embarrassment of riches as the event blasts off after last year’s actors strike with 29 titles having rights for sale.

Among those movies making their world premieres is the Angelina Jolie-directed war drama Without Blood, starring Salma Hayek and Demián Bichir, based on the Alessandro Baricco novel. There’s also Mike Leigh’s first movie in six years, Hard Truths, with Marianne Jean-Baptiste, which is billed as an “ongoing exploration of the contemporary world with a tragicomic study of human strengths and weaknesses.”

Gia Coppola has the drama The Last Showgirl, starring Pamela Anderson, Dave Bautista, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kiernan Shipka and Billie Lourd, which follows a seasoned stage dancer who must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run.

World premieres from Angelina Jolie, Mike Leigh, David Mackenzie, Edward Burns, Uberto Pasolini, Peter Cattaneo, and Rachel Morrison among the Gala and Special Presentation titles unveiled by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) today (July 22).

Hard Truths is a rare TIFF premiere for Leigh after the UK auteur’s last film Peterloo debuted in Venice in 2018, while Mr. Turner in 2014 and Another Year in 2010 both premiered in Cannes. Cornerstone represents sales and Bleecker Street will handle US distributon on the film, which stars Marianne Jean-Baptiste from Secrets And Lies.

Pasolini’s The Return marks his follow-up to Venice 2020 entry Nowhere Special...

The 49th Toronto International Film Festival has unveiled a star-studded lineup featuring a slew of highly-anticipated features this awards season.

IndieWire can confirm the Galas and Special Presentations programs that boast 63 films, including new titles from beloved directors like Mike Leigh, Morgan Neville, Jacques Audiard, and Edward Berger, whose papal drama “Conclave” will make its international premiere at the festival. (Meaning this American production will world-premiere at Telluride.)

The Galas program, sponsored by Dyson, includes buzzy Cannes titles like Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” and David Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds.” Cronenberg will also be honored with the Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award during the festival.

The Special Presentations section marks the premiere of Gia Coppola’s “The Last Showgirl” starring Pamela Anderson, as well as Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ “Heretic.”

The Galas and Special Presentations programs for 2024 boast films from 25 countries, including 29 sales titles.

“This Special Presentations section can...

Ruth Westheimer, the diminutive guru of the American sexual revolution whose straightforward, matter-of-fact way of discussing the facts of life led to an illustrious career as a radio talk-show host, television personality, author and advice expert, has died. She was 96.

Westheimer died Friday at her home in New York City, spokesman Pierre Lehu told The New York Times.

She escaped Nazi Germany in the 1930s and was profiled by The Hollywood Reporter in January 2016 as one of the entertainment industry’s last survivors of the Holocaust.

For more than three decades, when the subject turned to sex, Dr. Ruth (as she was known to her legion of fans) was the go-to person. People magazine included her on its 1998 list of the Most Intriguing People of the Century. In Playboy’s 55th anniversary issue in 2009, she landed the No. 13 spot on its list of the most important people in sex from the past 55 years.

The Toronto Film Festival on Tuesday announced the first six titles set to make their world premieres at the 49th edition, in the Gala and Special Presentation program, also naming this year’s TIFF Tribute Award recipients.

Films selected thus far include R.J. Cutler and David Furnish’s Disney+ doc Elton John: Never Too Late, Woo Min-ho’s Harbin, Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck, Marielle Heller’s Amy Adams-led dark comedy Nightbitch, Netflix’s Indigenous coming-of-age basketball film Rez Ball from Sydney Freeland, and DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot.

“We know the TIFF audience has been eagerly anticipating what films will be coming to Toronto this September, and today’s announcement is a snapshot of what’s to come this year: a wonderfully wide range of titles that span genres and generations, with discoveries for everyone,” said the festival’s Chief Programming Officer,...

Get ready for a gripping and emotional episode of “Zatima” with Season 2 Episode 13, titled “Never Too Late,” airing on BET at 10:00 Pm on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. In this highly anticipated installment, viewers are taken on a rollercoaster ride of love, forgiveness, and second chances.

As Zac struggles to repair the damage done to his relationship with Fatima, he finds himself faced with the daunting task of winning her back. Determined to make things right, Zac goes to great lengths to prove his love and commitment to Fatima.

However, despite his efforts, Zac begins to realize that it may not be enough to mend the broken trust and heal the wounds of the past. As tensions rise and emotions run high, Zac must confront his own mistakes and shortcomings in order to salvage what remains of his relationship with Fatima.

With powerful performances and compelling storytelling, “Never Too Late” promises to...

Singer Adam Gontier joined his former band Three Days Grace onstage in Huntsville, Alabama, on Wednesday night (April 19) to rock two songs from their 2006 album, One-x.

It’s been 10 years since Gontier parted ways with Three Days Grace. He went on to front the rock band Saint Asonia, and more recently started a brand-new project called Diviidedby. Three Days Grace have continued on with bassist Brad Walst’s brother Matt taking over lead vocals for the past decade, churning out several more hits on rock radio along the away.

At the Huntsville gig, Gontier surprised fans by entering the stage for the final two songs of Three Days Grace’s set, after being introduced by the band’s aforementioned current singer, Matt Walst. The two singers shared vocal duties on “Riot” and “Never Too Late.”

Three Days Grace were at the Probst Arena at the Von Braun Center serving as...

I have been tracking producer Sol Bondy since 2016 when co-production The Happiest Day in the Life of Ölli Mäki won the Un Certain Regard Grand Prize and the European Film Award for Best Debut. He and Fred Burle have been developing The Girl from Köln (aka Köln 75) with writer-director Ido Fluk, the filmmaker behind 2016 Tribeca selection The Ticket since 2019. "This project has been very close to our hearts in the last few years and we're very excited with the way it's been shaped so far," said Bondy, a Variety Producer to Watch in 2018. "It's been such a joy working with Ido on this exciting story and we're thrilled to have put an amazing team together," added Burle, Brazilian born producer who was just made a partner in One Two Films, alongside co-founders Sol Bondy and Christoph Lange. Burle joined One Two in January 2017, having graduated from the German Film and Television Academy (dffb) the previous year. He has previously worked as a film critic, at The Match Factory, and as curator of the inaugural dffb film festival. One Two Films has produced and co-produced award-winning films such as Holy Spider (Read my blog about it here), Vadim Perelman's Persian Lessons (Read my blog about it here), Jennifer Fox's Sundance breakout The Tale, Isabel Coixet's The Bookshop and Juho Kuosmanen's The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki.Other titles in the pipeline include Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson's dark comedy Northern Comfort, which premieres in SXSW later this month, Annemarie Jacir's survival drama The Oblivion Theory, Sarah Arnold's debut feature Wild Encounters and Michiel ten Horn's romantic comedy Any Other Night. In Berlin this year it was announced that Bankside would be The Girl from Köln's international sales agent and was launching sales. Alamode Film already has German-speaking territories and is a coproducer, who have very recently secured funding through the Fff, the local fund in Bavaria. It is in early pre-production and will shoot this year in Poland and Germany. The Girl from Köln tells the little-known story of Vera Brandes, who, in 1975, at the age of 17, staged the famous Köln Concert by jazz musician Keith Jarrett, which became the top-selling jazz solo album of all time. With Polish Film Institute backing, Oscar-winning Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska (Ida, Cold War) of Extreme Emotions is co-producing along with Annegret Weitkämper-Krug of Germany's Gretchenfilm (Seneca). Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Oren Moverman (Love & Mercy, Bad Education) serves as executive producer. Moverman also produced Fluk's previous feature, The Ticket. The Tale writer-director Jennifer Fox also serves as executive producer. Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green executive produce for Bankside. It stars Mala Emde (Skin Deep, And Tomorrow the Entire World) in the lead role, alongside John Magaro (Past Lives) as Jarrett. Magaro was also in Cannes last year with Kelly Reichardt's competition title Showing Up.Other cast attached include Alexander Scheer (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush), Ulrich Tukur (The Life of Others), Susanne Wolff (Sisi & I, Styx), Jördis Triebel (Dark), Jan Bülow (Lindenberg) and Marie-Lou Sellem (Tar, Exit Marrakesh). The NYU-graduate Fluk was dubbed "a talent to watch" by Variety following his feature debut Never Too Late, the first crowd-sourced Israeli film ever made. His American debut, the Tribeca competition selection, The Ticket, starred Dan Stevens and Malin Akerman. Upcoming projects include 24 Hours in June, a retelling of the final day in the life of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union, to be produced by Academy Award winner James Schamus (Brokeback Mountain) and Joe Pirro (Driveways). Fluk is repped by Amotz Zakai, Amy Schiffman, and Kegan Schell at Echo Lake Entertainment. He is also created the recently-announced HBO series Empty Mansions for Fremantle with director Joe Wright (Atonement, Darkest Hour) attached to direct the pilot. "From the moment I heard Vera's story, about how as a high school teenager she organized one of the greatest concerts in history, I knew her story had to be told," said Fluk. "We were immediately exhilarated by Vera Brandes' remarkable female empowerment story. Her strength, courage and sheer belief in herself and the music of Keith Jarrett will entertain and inspire audiences around the world," added Kelliher.

Germany’s Mala Emde and US actor John Magaro are set to star.

UK sales outfit Bankside Films has boarded worldwide sales on director Ido Fluk’s feature Köln 75, that tells the little-known story of one of the best-selling jazz records of all time, US pianist Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln Concert, and how one maverick German teenager was instrumental in its creation.

The film meets teenager Vera Brandes while she is still in high school and starts producing and promoting music concerts in Cologne, and risks everything to put on what will become Jarrett’s legendary show.

German star of...

The Real Housewives of Potomac star Robyn Dixon’s relationship with Juan Dixon has confused viewers and co-stars for years. But after a three-year engagement, the longtime lovers finally tied the knot earlier this month. Despite Robyn’s unconventional romance, her parents have displayed a much more traditional way of living. They’ve been married all of Robyn’s life.

Robyn Dixon and her parents | Brian Stukes/Getty Images Who are Robyn Dixon’s parents?

Robyn comes from a two-parent household. Her mother, Gladys (aka Gigi), is a businesswoman and former college professor. Robyn’s father, Guy, is a retired dentist, jazz musician, and the co-founder of the Sterling Silver Jazz Quintet. They’ve been married for 50 years.

The longtime couple has appeared on several episodes of Rhop since the show premiered in 2016. They’ve been a huge source of support for Robyn regarding her rollercoaster relationship with Juan.

Source:...

Berlin-based One Two Films, in Cannes this week with Ali Abbasi’s competition title “Holy Spider,” is prepping a new feature from writer-director Ido Fluk, the filmmaker behind 2016 Tribeca selection “The Ticket.”

“Köln 75” tells the true story of Vera Brandes, who, in 1975 and at the age of 17, staged the famous Köln Concert by jazz musician Keith Jarrett, which became the top-selling jazz solo album of all time. It stars Mala Emde (“And Tomorrow the Entire World”) in the lead role, alongside John Magaro (“First Cow”) as Jarrett. Magaro is also in Cannes with Kelly Reichardt’s competition title “Showing Up.”

Oscar-winning Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska of Extreme Emotions will co-produce, with Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Oren Moverman serving as executive producer. Moverman also produced Fluk’s previous feature, “The Ticket.”

Other cast attached include Alexander Scheer (“Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush”), Ulrich Tukur (“The Life of Others”), Susanne Wolff...

The Tunisian drama debuted at Venice and is nominated for best international feature.

Studio Soho Distribution has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s drama The Man Who Sold His Skin, which is up for the best international feature at the Oscars this weekend.

The drama, sold by Paris-based Bac Films, premiered in Venice’s Horizons strand last September, where it won Yahya Mahayni best actor and the film the Edipo Re Award. Studio Soho is planning to release the feature theatrically in August.

Inspired by true events, it follows a young Syrian refugee in...

When “All in the Family” debuted Jan. 12, 1971, on CBS, it was exactly the TV show America needed — though America didn’t realize it at the time.

Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin had taped two ABC pilots of the script, both starring Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton, starting in 1968. But ABC was reluctant to commit; as Lear told Variety’s Army Archerd, it was “too controversial.”

Lear and Yorkin took the show to CBS, which surprisingly bought it.

The show was carefully tested for a long time. On July 22, 1970 — six months before the debut — Variety asked CBS president Robert Wood why the network wasn’t trumpeting the new show. He said, “Frankly, we’re still not sure how to introduce this one to the public … it might just be best to go on with no fanfare, and then prepare ourselves for the explosion.”

The first episode, “Meet the Bunkers,” aired Tuesday,...

Michael Lembeck directed from screenplay by Donald Martin.

Arclight Films has commenced talks with AFM buyers on Astute Films’ rom-com A Very Senior High featuring an ensemble cast led by Ellen Burstyn, James Caan and Ann-Margret.

Company chairman Gary Hamilton and his team represents worldwide rights and will be screening the film, formerly known as Never Too Late, for the first time at the virtual market.

Burstyn plays Helen, an independent widow who moves into a residential home and must learn how to negotiate cliques, powerplays and flirtatious suitors. Her life is changed when she learns to love again. Caan plays Dan,...

Amid a dearth of new major releases, exhibitors are pleased with the staying power of Roadshow Films’ Rams, which held onto the top spot at the box office over its second weekend, as well as Rialto’s Honest Thief and R & R Films’ Never Too Late.

The only major opener for the weekend was Studiocanal’s Radioactive, bowing in third on a middling $178,416 from 180 screens with previews.

Directed by Marjane Satrapi, the drama stars Rosamund Pike as Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie as she tries to explain to the world previously unknown radioactive elements. It soon becomes evident that her work could lead to applications in medicine that could save thousands of lives, or applications in warfare that could destroy them by the billions.

Premiering as the Closing Night Gala at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Radioactive has gone straight-to-streaming in other major markets such as the US and UK given the pandemic.

In a boost to cinemas, Roadshow’s local comedy-drama Rams has posted the third highest opening weekend post-covid, behind only Tenet and After We Collided.

Opening on 298 screens and earning $809,177 ($1.27 million with previews), Roadshow CEO Joel Pearlman has touted the result, arguing it proves Australian audiences are enthusiastic to return to cinemas.

A reimagining of 2015 Icelandic drama Hrútar, Jeremy Sims’ directs the Michael Caton and Sam Neill-starrer which follows two estranged brothers as they raise separate flocks of sheep descended from their family’s prized bloodline. When a rare disease threatens their stock, they have to work together to save their sheep, their small town and their family’s legacy.

Over the weekend, Neill was nominated for the Aacta Award Best Lead Actor for his performance. The supporting cast includes Miranda Richardson, Wayne Blair, Leon Ford, Travis McMahon, Asher Keddie, Hayley McElhinney, Kipan Rothbury and newcomers Asher Yasbincek and Will McNeill.

‘Never Too Late’ (Photo credit: Bradley Patrick).

The launches of the Liam Neeson action drama Honest Thief and Australian ‘geezer’ comedy Never Too Late helped reverse a three-week slide at cinemas last weekend.

But ticket sales remain depressed and the year-to-date national Bo total through Sunday is $334 million, a woeful 67.5 per cent down on last year’s $1.03 billion.

Among the limited releases, Polish drama Corpus Christi posted the weekend’s highest per-screen average while US indie comedy-drama Kajillionaire struggled. The Taika Waititi-produced Kiwi comedy Baby, Done did not resonate either.

Numero reported the top 20 titles generated $2.28 million, 7 per cent up on the previous frame.

The feature writing and directing debut of Ozark co-creator Mark Williams, Honest Thief stole $696,000 on 206 screens and $722,000 with previews for Rialto, in line with the US results where it’s been No. 1 for three weeks in a Covid-19 devastated market.

Neeson plays Tom Carter, a...

The shenanigans of sweet and grumpy old men certainly plays to the back rows – but it’s impossible not to be charmed

Four elderly Vietnam veterans, who busted out of a PoW camp many moons ago, reunite in their twilight years for another daring mission: to escape from a nursing home!

The core premise of director Mark Lamprell’s new comedy Never Too Late – written by Luke Preston – is a quintessential example of what’s known in the movie trade as a “high concept”, meaning a pithy premise that can be written down on space no larger than the back of a matchbox.

Antony I. Ginnane.

After 50 years in the business of producing films, Antony I. Ginnane is calling on the screen industry to fight to help the next generation of creatives.

Ginnane slammed key measures of the Federal Government’s media reforms including lowering the Producer Offset for films to 30 per cent and exempting producers’ overheads from the minimum qualifying Australian production expenditure (Qape), coupled with the failure to impose local spending obligations on SVOD services.

“It’s vital that we push back on these changes to film regulations,” he said in a webinar with Screen Producers Australia CEO Matt Deaner. “We have to fight to help the next generation so they don’t come in and get screwed from the get-go.”

The producer who has more than 70 screen credits fears many films won’t get made because the ensuing funding gap of 15 per cent – 25 per cent will be impossible to fill.