Jay Ellis honors co-star and late ‘Euphoria’ actor Angus Cloud at Sundance

Perhaps the best compliment that you can give a narrative feature is to say that it feels like a documentary. Not to say the shot composition is uninspired and the subject dry, but it’s a way to spotlight just how you forget this is actually an actor reading written words, but instead, believe everything happening in front of you is real and true.

Media representation of disabled people is challenging to get right — too saccharine, and you’re veering towards inspiration porn, too maudlin, and you’re implying that a disabled life might not be a life worth living. “Ibelin,” the newest documentary from “The Painter and the Thief” filmmaker Benjamin Ree, strikes a poignant balance, acknowledging the ways that physical disability can limit a life while showing how one complex man expanded his world nonetheless.

It might come as a surprise to most that the skirmish between Russia and Ukraine has been active for nearly a decade. However, international headlines would raise awareness to new heights upon Russia’s invasion of its neighbor in February of 2022.

Some movies are Irish. “Kneecap” is Ireland.

It starts innocuously enough. “Krazy House,” the English-language debut of Dutch filmmakers Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil, launches with a ‘90s family sitcom parody that ribs their cheese and cringe.

As the “peak TV” wave begins to crest, artists are again realizing that not every book needs adaptation as a miniseries. There’s value in the concision and prioritization forced by the feature format.

Angelique Jackson When basketball legend Sue Bird decided to let a team of filmmakers capture her final season after playing 21 years in the WNBA, she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from watching her career be contextualized on film, but it turned out to be wonderful. “You play such a long time — so many different moments, so many different memories — and to have it now, in this one film is amazing,” Bird said, visiting the Variety Studio presented by Audible at the Sundance Film Festival.

Adam Harrison’s cause of death has been revealed. Days after news broke that Rick Harrison of Pawn Stars had faced every parent’s worst nightmare, we’re hearing more details about what led to his son’s death.

Dominic Fike is opening up about the challenges of working on a show that focuses so much on drug addiction — especially as someone who struggles with it IRL.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director SPOILER ALERT: This story hints at a major cameo in the Sundance Film Festival premiere “Freaky Tales,” which debuted on opening night. Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s electrified the opening night of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival with “Freaky Tales,” a genre-driven anthology movie that tells four interconnected stories in 1987 Oakland, California. The movie is a return to indie filmmaking for Fleck and Boden, who made a name for themselves as the directors of indie hits like “Half Nelson” before they jumped into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with “Captain Marvel.” “It was great to come back to the indie film world in a lot of ways,” Boden said at the Variety Studio presented by Audible.

lifeless “Captain Marvel,” their latest movie has, um, flecks of the supernatural heroism and urban vigilante justice that we associate with the comic book genre. Running time: 106 minutes. Rated R (strong bloody violence, language throughout including slurs, sexual content and drug use).However, unlike many of those bland caped behemoths, “Freaky Tales,” which had its world premiere Thursday night at the Sundance Film Festival, also boasts enough forceful, nerdy personality to fill the San Francisco Bay.

“These are the tales, the freaky tales,” repeatedly intones Oakland rap legend Too $hort over the interstitials of writer and directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s “Freaky Tales.” This Bay Area anthology film takes its title from the over nine-minute song, which is itself an extended chronicle of prominent personalities the rapper encounters. While the directing duo occasionally approximates something wild in their headrush of 1987 nostalgia, they do not earn the second line of the rap.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Taking a one-for-us victory lap after one-for-them studio smash “Captain Marvel,” indie duo Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden blow a big, self-indulgent kiss to the late-’80s East Bay with “Freaky Tales.” Berkeley-born Fleck was all of 10 years old in early 1987, when this nostalgia-fueled anthology film is set, which explains the wide-eyed way he romanticizes the defining subcultures of the time (with Boden presumably doing her best to broaden the film’s incredibly specific, “you had to be there“ appeal). In four distinct but intertwining chapters — populated mostly with fresh faces, plus grizzled-but-gorgeous Pedro Pascal — “Freaky Tales” melds wildly different sectors of the city: There’s the rowdy-yet-respectful Gilman Street punk crowd; the revolutionary Oakland hip-hop scene (including Too $hort, whose raunchy rap anthem gives the film its name); the Warriors’ historic victory over the Lakers, in which local basketball legend Eric “Sleepy” Jones scored a record-setting 29 points in the fourth quarter; and a disturbing spike in neo-Nazi-linked hate crimes, which strangely serves to tie everything else together.

Sundance soaked up the sun on Thursday’s opening day. With plenty of powder to lend an idyllic backdrop to selfies and social media updates, the festival crowd was buzzing in line for the day’s largest film opening: “Freaky Tales,” taking the coveted early evening spot at the Eccles Center.

Sundance revved up with the premiere of Freaky Tales tonight, a debut met with rousing applause, including at the film’s last title card that read, “In loving memory of Angus Cloud.”

Oakland’s freaky side emerges in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s ambitious yet tonally uneven new anthology film Freaky Tales starring Pedro Pascal, Jay Ellis, Ben Medelsohn, Jack Champion, Ji-Young Yoo, Normani, Dominique Thorne, Too $hort’s, and Lenny G. The directors spotlight diverse local subcultures against the backdrop of Too $hort’s hit of the same name. The film intertwines four tales linked by unfolding events and a puzzling supernatural emerald glow permeating the city. Though the gritty visuals and soundtrack immerse in the look and feel of 1987 Oakland, the narrative struggles to weave these stories into a satisfying whole.

Normani and Dominique Thorne are all smiles while stepping out for the premiere of their new movie Freaky Tales held at Eccles Theatre on Thursday (January 18) in Park City, Utah.

William Earl Variety is returning to the Sundance Film Festival this year with its annual Interview Studio, presented by Audible, the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling. Throughout the festival, videos from the interview studio will be distributed across Variety.com as well as Variety and Audible’s social media channels (Instagram: @audible, @Variety; Twitter: @audible_com, @Variety; TikTok: @audible, @VarietyMagazine).

Star Wars fans have taken to social media to share their shock and disappointment that actor Ray Stevenson was not included in the 2024 In Memoriam tribute at the 75th Emmy Awards.The awards, which took place last night (January 15) featured its well-known segment where a tribute is paid to those in the industry who died in the last year. The video montage was accompanied by singer Charlie Puth and duo, The War And Treaty, performing a combination of 2015 hit, ‘See You Again’ and the Friends theme song, ‘I’ll Be There For You’ by The Rembrandts, paying homage to Matthew Perry, who died last October.The list of names included Euphoria actor, Angus Cloud, screenwriter and producer, Norman Lear, and musical theatre star, Angela Lansbury, among many others.

from awards shows. On Monday night, the 2024 Emmys left several big stars out of the “In Memoriam” segment. The segment — which pays respect to actors, directors, producers, writers and TV personalities who died in the past year — honored Matthew Perry, Angela Lansbury, “Euphoria” star Angus Cloud, Norman Lear, Andre Braugher, Paul Reubens, Stephen “Twitch” Boss, “This Is Us” star Ron Cephas Jones, Leslie Jordan, Lance Reddick, Kirstie Alley and Treat Williams, among others.