Greta Gerwig’s ‘Lady Bird’ to Open Austin Film Festival
The Austin Film Festival has selected A24’s “Lady Bird,” starring Saoirse Ronan, as its opening night film on Oct. 26. “Lady Bird,” directed by Greta Gerwig in her feature debut, premiered on Sept. 3...
View ArticleWhy the Toronto Film Festival Felt Smaller Than Ever
For evidence that climate change is real, look no further than the Toronto International Film Festival. The official fall kickoff to awards season is usually accompanied by hot sales that burn through...
View ArticleMill Valley Film Festival Celebrates 40th Anniversary
When filmmakers and stars walk the red carpet at the Mill Valley Film Festival, they probably notice something. Namely that the “carpet” can be a packed-dirt floor surrounded by trees. “I see Emma...
View ArticleStagecraft Podcast: Blackmail Led Tracy Letts to Acting (Listen)
The Tony-winning actor Tracy Letts only discovered acting because somebody blackmailed his father into starring in a community theater play. Letts, who as a writer (“August: Osage County”) has won both...
View ArticleSaoirse Ronan’s ‘Lady Bird’ Flies High to Top Limited Opening of 2017
Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird,” starring Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalfe, has launched with the best limited opening of the year with $375,612 on four screens in Los Angeles and New York for an...
View ArticleFrances McDormand’s ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ Scores Strong...
Frances McDormand’s drama “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” has launched with the second best limited opening of 2017, garnering $320,000 on four screens for an impressive $80,000 per screen...
View ArticleComing-of-Age Dramas Make Mad Dash for Awards Season Glory
The coming-of-age genre is nothing new to Oscar season. From recent best picture nominees “Juno” and “An Education” to classics such as “Dead Poets Society” or “American Graffiti,” the universal truths...
View Article‘Lady Bird,’‘Three Billboards’ Fly High, Netflix Mum on ‘Mudbound’ Results
A24’s “Lady Bord” and Fox Searchlight’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” both cracked the top 10 at the domestic box office this weekend as limited release awards contenders. But Netflix is...
View ArticleComedies Speak Truth to Power in Golden Globes Race
Typically, the Golden Globe Award for best motion picture comedy/musical has been a mixed bag. Only once in the last decade has the victor — 2012’s “The Artist” — gone on to win the best picture Oscar....
View ArticlePlayback: Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan on ‘Lady Bird’ and Coming of Age
Welcome to “Playback,” a Variety podcast bringing you exclusive conversations with the talents behind many of today’s hottest films. This week, on a special Thanksgiving episode, we have “Lady Bird”...
View Article‘Lady Bird’ Named Best Picture by New York Film Critics Circle
With its annual cinema superlatives vote Thursday morning, the New York Film Critics Circle made a handful of historical choices. “Call Me by Your Name” star Timothée Chalamet became the youngest...
View ArticleScene Stealer: Beanie Feldstein Is the Best Friend We All Want In ‘Lady Bird’
While Saoirse Ronan soars as the title character in “Lady Bird,” she would be nowhere without her best friend Julie, played by Beanie Feldstein. The 24-year-old actress is also currently enjoying her...
View ArticleSAG Awards: Are ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘Three Billboards’ Your New Oscar Frontrunners?
If you’re obsessed with following statistics — as many awards-watchers are wont to be, seeing the season as far more scientific than it actually is — then the best picture race just got narrowed to...
View ArticleOwen Gleiberman’s 10 Best Films of 2017
Earlier this year, as winter was doing its slow fade, something happened in the world of movies you don’t see too often: A film arrived out of nowhere to become a fast-break phenomenon, lionized by...
View ArticleThe Best Films of 2017
In a year of cinematic riches, Variety chief film critics Owen Gleiberman and Peter Debruge may not agree on precisely what films rank as the year’s best (although “Get Out” scores pretty high for...
View Article‘Lady Bird,’‘Call Me by Your Name,’‘I, Tonya’ Screener Copies Leaked to...
Three indie movies vying for Oscar laurels — “Lady Bird,” “Call Me by Your Name,” and “I, Tonya” — popped up on piracy file-sharing networks Tuesday. The movies were evidently ripped from...
View ArticleGreta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan on How They Found the Voice of ‘Lady Bird’
Greta Gerwig is having coffee and a bowl of jasmine rice in a mostly empty SoHo restaurant on a frosty late afternoon in December. The day before, she was named best director by the National Board of...
View Article10 Directors to Watch: Greta Gerwig’s Career Soars With ‘Lady Bird’
When Gerwig enrolled at Columbia U. in the early 2000s, she didn’t think she would be able to make movies. “Film still seemed pretty inaccessible,” recalls the “Lady Bird” director. So Gerwig got...
View Article‘Lady Bird’ Editor Nick Houy on Keeping It Tight and Emotional
One of the virtues of “Lady Bird” is the running time: a tight 94 minutes. Nick Houy, who was just nominated for an American Cinema Editors award for his work, says brevity was not a goal per se: “You...
View ArticleTiffany Haddish, ‘Lady Bird’ Steal the Show at New York Film Critics Circle...
Just like she stole the show in “Girls Trip” alongside names like Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith, Tiffany Haddish did the same at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards on Wednesday night. The...
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