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We’ve all been there: Endlessly scrolling through the hundreds of movies served to you by the Netflix algorithm — only to come to the conclusion that there’s just nothing to watch. Then on to Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video, or any one of the other major streaming services, only to be faced with the same problem. What if the solution to the paradoxical problem of too many choices but nothing to watch lies in yes, another streaming service? The team behind a newly launched streamer, Curia, hopes...

Cary Fukunaga was a Student Academy Award winner and the director of the acclaimed indie “Sin Nombre” by the time he landed the gig to direct the first season of “True Detective,” but it was the HBO crime drama that made the filmmaker a household name. Fukunaga won a directing Emmy for his work on the series, but he did not return for the show’s second (or third) season. Both Fukunaga and “True Detective” creator-writer Nic Pizzolatto have been honest about set tension between them in the...

If you seek evidence that theaters are well on the way to recovery, look no further than Disney’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Free Guy.” They continue to thrive, while Warner Bros.’ “Dune” opened well in its initial foreign territories. If you suspect that exhibition issues abound, this weekend saw three new adult-oriented releases, led by Clint Eastwood’s “Cry Macho,” all of which had weak or worse domestic debuts. “Shang-Chi” was a dominant #1 in its third weekend...

This weekend’s box-office results justified Disney’s decision to provide theater-exclusive engagements for the remaining 2021 theatrical release schedule. Led by a very impressive second weekend for Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” as well as strong holds for “Free Guy” and “Jungle Cruise,” the studio commanded nearly 80 percent of domestic ticket sales. “Shang-Chi” provided the bulk, taking in almost $36 million in its second weekend. That’s down only 53 percent from...

Luxembourgish actress Vicky Krieps was the belle of the ball (or at least of Film Twitter) in late 2017 when the release of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread” thrust her into the spotlight. This year, she has four projects floating around, including M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old,” which released in theaters back in July; Cannes darling “Bergman Island,” now at the Toronto International Film Festival; “Beckett,” the Netflix drama that opened the Locarno Film Festival; and Barry Levinson’s...

Ritwik Pareek’s “Dug Dug” asks how a culture might pour its anxieties into a supernatural mystery, and it answers in raucous fashion. After a motorcycle accident leaves a man dead in Rajasthan, India, his impounded bike begins mysteriously reappearing at the scene. Locks and chains don’t help, and local villagers are drawn to this oddity — as are numerous grifters — resulting in the founding of a bizarre new religion. The film is moderately effective as social satire, though it most succeeds...

Not all movies are destined for Oscars. And the Telluride Film Festival, while it plays a pivotal role in the annual awards derby, isn’t just seeking to thrust movies into the Oscar spotlight. This year, with many adult moviegoers not comfortable inside theaters, and long slow platform releases in the rearview, film festivals are even more crucial for building word of mouth — not only for the lucky few that will land major Oscar campaigns this year, but smaller films trying to pull eyeballs...

Box-office history was busy this weekend. With Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” we learned that Simu Liu is an action star; that Labor Day is a perfectly fine time to open a blockbuster; and, that exhibition still has the capacity to exceed prior performance. “Shang-Chi” opening to $71.4 million for three days with an early estimate of $83.5 million for four. It’s the second biggest opening of the year and perhaps the year’s biggest boost for theatrical fortunes. After...

Carrie Coon was emerging as one of the most exciting actors working today thanks to “The Leftovers” when she made her feature film acting debut in David Fincher’s “Gone Girl.” Coon starred in Fincher’s Gillian Flynn adaptation as Margo “Go” Dunne, the no-nonsense twin sister of Ben Affleck’s Nick Dunne. It was a small part, but one that in Coon’s hands made an impression on film critics. Nearly seven years after the film’s release, Coon told The Independent that she’s not a fan of her work...

Every once in a while, concept art from Neill Blomkamp’s unmade “Alien 5” pops up online and sends fans of the space franchise into a tizzy. The “District 9” and “Demonic” filmmaker’s involvement with a proposed fifth “Alien” movie dates back over half a decade. Blomkamp intended to create a sequel to the original “Alien” franchise and break from Ridley Scott’s prequel films, which have stopped development following the financial disappointment of “Alien: Covenant.” In a recent interview...

While 2021 might have brought with it some major changes when it comes to the ways in which female filmmakers are lauded in Hollywood — including, for the first time ever, the nomination of two women for Best Director, with Chloé Zhao eventually winning for “Nomadland” — other areas of the industry continue to fall behind. The latest report out of The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, titled “Indie Women in a Pandemic Year,” finds that documentary films continue to employ...

Adam Sandler’s next Netflix original movie is “Hustle,” a basketball comedy that pairs the actor with acclaimed “We the Animals” helmer Jeremiah Zagar. The film casts Sandler as a basketball recruiter who travels overseas to try and convince an international basketball star to come to the U.S. and play in the NBA. During a recent appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Sandler revealed that Netflix altered the movie’s original concept that saw his character traveling to China to find a...

The end of August is known for its box-office doldrums, exhibition continues to face a dark time — and Nia DaCosta’s “Candyman” scored an estimated $22,370,00 in its initial domestic weekend, beating the lowball projection of $15 million by nearly 50 percent. That success testifies to the enduring appeal of the 1992 horror film, but it’s not the only good news: The #2 film, “Free Guy” (Disney), dropped only 27 percent in its third weekend. All told, the weekend grossed $63 million. That’s...