Cannes Day 3: Pedro Almodóvar and Hirokazu Kore-eda Show Power of Cinema

EXCLUSIVE: Gaga Corp. and Goodfellas have revealed new sales on Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Cannes 2023 Palme d’Or contender Monster as the drama enjoys a strong theatrical kick-off at the Japanese box office.

None of the Royal Family publicly wished Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's daughter, Lilibet, a happy birthday as she turned two on Sunday. Unlike last year, when there were well wishes sent on Twitter, the Royals stayed silent on the youngster's big day. It is believed that Harry, along with Meghan, their eldest Archie, 4, celebrated Lilibet's birthday with a small gathering in California, where they were joined by Meghan's mum Doria Ragland.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The nominations for the Emmys are still weeks away. But there’s growing excitement in the Latino community as multiple lead actors continue to look well-positioned to receive deserved recognition. Two of the top contenders in the lead drama actor race — Pedro Pascal as the hardened survivor Joel from HBO’s apocalyptic video game adaptation “The Last of Us” and Diego Luna as the rebel hero Cassian in the “Star Wars” prequel series “Andor” from Disney+ — are Latino and star in buzzy sci-fi and fantasy series. Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Emmy predictions in all categories.

Gogglebox's Pete Sandiford has welcomed his second child with wife Paige Yeoman.The reality TV star shared the news that the pair had welcomed a baby girl during Friday night's episode of Gogglebox.Their baby joy was revealed right at the end of the show when Pete was seen holding his little girl. He also revealed his daughter's name. While his sister and Gogglebox co-star Sophie was in another room, he shouted: "Hey Sophie, have I told you her name? We think we're going to call her Evie Sylvie Sandiford." Sophie quickly shared her excitement and approval of the name and shouted to her brother: "Oh I love it!" Gogglebox fans were quick to share their excitement of the baby news and congratulate the couple.

Zendaya and Tom Holland are one of the most fan-favorite couples in Hollywood. And while the pair are known for keeping their personal life private, they can’t help but show their love on social media from time to time. The 26-year-old actress decided to share a sweet tribute to celebrate her boyfriend’s birthday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Could 2023 be the year of genre? Thanks to a pandemic that created a deep desire for escapist TV, there are more shows that fit into that box now than ever, many of which are eligible for Emmys this season. They include Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” HBO’s “House of the Dragon” and “The Last of Us,” Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” Disney+’s “Andor” and “The Mandalorian,” Paramount+’s “Star Trek: Picard,” Netflix’s “The Sandman” and AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire.” Of the eight series that Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis has predicted will get a nomination in the drama category, three would fall into the sci-fi or fantasy field: “Game of Thrones” offshoot “House of the Dragon,” video game adaptation “The Last of Us” and critical darling “Yellowjackets.”

The average South Korean consumes around 80 packets of ramyeon a year. The rehydrated mix of dried, curly noodles, freeze-dried vegetables and a sachet of powdered soup is one of the country’s most beloved comfort foods, a quickly-whipped, heartwarming meal that sits at the tricky intersection of tasty and convenient.

“Perfect Days” makes a perfect debut.PERFECT DAYS. Did Wim Wenders just make his best film since UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD? Holy crap.Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” was the hero of the day, earning strong notices and the now-standard standing ovation.

Striking film and television writers got a signal boost on Thursday from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (d-NY), who spoke at a rally outside the East Coast offices of Paramount Global in the busy heart of Manhattan’s Times Square. 

Pedro Pascal was noticeably absent at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The Chilean actor is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, and the world is captivated by his every move.

Three Floors” opened with a high-profile belly flop, festival-stalwart Nanni Moretti returns to Cannes with “A Brighter Tomorrow,” a comeback of sorts that also airs a list of grievances and could serve – should need arise – as a closing statement.Not that it likely will. Funny and endearing in some places, and typically grumpy and old-fashioned in others, “A Brighter Tomorrow” should, at very least, keep Moretti far from director’s jail for years to come.

Cannes Film Festival comes to a close on Saturday and you can feel it. Things are starting to slow down, standing ovations aren’t as long and those on the Croisette are starting to get tired. Beloved filmmaker Wes Anderson debuted his latest feature, “Asteroid City,” on Wednesday and the reaction was more muted than the reception to “Killers of the Flower Moon” or even the more mixed “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” TheWrap’s Steve Pond emphasized the whole did not live up to the sum of its parts, despite pristine craft as always.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Wes Anderson brought cowboys, aliens and movie stars to the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, earning a six-minute standing ovation at its world premiere. Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Matt Dillon, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Jeffrey Wright, Ed Norton, Margot Robbie and Jeff Gollum are among the starry ensemble cast — many of whom were in attendance at the Grand Palais with their notoriously stylish and exacting director. The project tells of a desert tourist trap that was one the site of an asteroid landing, which also doubles as the location of an annual camp for “star gazers and space cadets.” The conceit is a story-within-a-story, as the the cast plays a troupe of actors and stage crew for a play.

A West Lothian bird sanctuary has been named the best day out at the Scottish Hospitality Awards.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Spain’s status as Cannes’ Marché du Film’s Country of Honor is a “milestone,” says María Peña, CEO of ICEX Spain Trade & Investment. But it’s also a mark of recognition, she says, after Spain’s big wins just this year at the Berlinale (three prizes for Estibaliz Urresola’s “20,000 Species of Bees”) and France’s Cesars (foreign film win for “The Beasts” and actor trophy to Benoît Magimel for Albert Serra’s “Pacification” and cinematography for its DP, Artur Tort). Peña also points to April’s MipTV, where Rafael Cobos’ “The Left Handed Son,” from Movistar Plus+, won Canneseries’ Short Format Competition, and “The Caravan,” produced by Barcelona’s Caravan Films, the first MipDoc International Buyers Screenings honors.

In the throes of Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s latest Rashomon-infused narrative Cannes competition film, Monsters, are two boys learning about their feelings for one another.

Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest gem, “Monster,” begins on an enormous inferno. The facade of a hostess club is engulfed in flames of mysterious origin, attracting everyone from curious neighbors to squealing children chasing down roaring fire engines to witness the chaos.

Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s seventh go-round in Cannes competition, Monster, received a six-minute standing ovation Wednesday in the Grand Theatre Lumiere. He won the Palme d’Or back in 2018 for Shoplifters. Can he do it again?

Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda is a perceptive observer of families, keenly detecting the quirks that make an individual unique and the whole stronger and more complicated. 2018’s masterful Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters” was perhaps the finest display of Kore-eda’s skills and preoccupations as a minimalist artist of mysterious domestic rhythms, informed by social and financial realities.

previously on the Dua Lipa podcast, the filmmaker stated that “it’s a queer Western, in the sense that there are two men and they love each other. It’s about masculinity in a deep sense because the Western is a male genre.” He continued, in sentiments that echoed his post-screening conversation on Wednesday, “What I can tell you about the film is that it has a lot of the elements of the Western.