Oscars Don’t Distract SXSW: Attendees Transfixed By Robert Rodriguez’s Work-In-Progress ‘Hypnotic’; Crowds Turned Away

tribute speech in honor of his friend Adam Sandler being awarded this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the comedian called out the Oscars for snubbing the “Uncut Gems” star.“I’ve known this guy for 30 years,” Rock, 58, said of Sandler, 56, during his speech from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.“The Oscars, you know, they’re f–king a–holes,” he continued. “And if they don’t want to give my man his props, we will tonight.”Rock appeared to be referencing Sandler’s lack of a nomination for his role as New York City jeweler Howard Ratner in the 2019 film, “Uncut Gems.” Sandler’s role was highly praised, with some even calling it the “finest” performance in his entire career — including The Post.The movie grossed over $500 million domestically on a $19 million budget, according to box office stats.Along with glowing reviews, it even scored an award from the USA National Board of Review as a “top ten film.”However, the Josh and Benny Safdie-directed film was not nominated for any Oscars.In response to the snub, Sandler tweeted out a message at the time, writing, “Bad news: Sandman gets no love from the Academy.

Netflix unveiled its slate of Polish-language series and films due to hit its service in 2023 in a “See What’s Next” event in Warsaw on Tuesday.

Ed Meza @edmezavar The Barcelona-set feature “La nit no fa vigília” and Argentine film “Hidden City” (“Ciudad Oculta”) won the Malaga Festival Work in Progress awards for Spanish and Latin American projects on Friday. “La nit no fa vigília” (which roughly translates to “The Night Does Not Keep Watch”) centers on a young man who lives with and cares for his aging, frail grandmother, but still finds time for a nocturnal social life. It was among the frontrunners to win at the awards ceremony. A joint project from a student collective comprising Laura Corominas Espelt, Laura Serra Solé, Clara Serrano Llorens, Gerard Simó Gimeno, Ariadna Ulldemolins Abad and Pau Vall Capdet, “La nit no fa vigília” also won the industry magazine Cine y Tele prize.

“Air,” the first film from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon‘s Artist Equity banner, closes SXSW in Austin this year to much anticipation.

EXCLUSIVE: Fresh off a surprise “work in progress” screening at SXSW, Robert Rodriguez’s action-thriller Hypnotic, starring Ben Affleck, has been set for a May 12 U.S. release.

Naman Ramachandran Taiwan-France film “Salli” marks the feature debut of Taipei-based filmmaker Lien Chien-Hung after several acclaimed shorts and a TV movie. “Salli,” which won the grand prize at the Chinese-language film project matching and co-production platform Golden Horse Film Project Promotion in 2019, is a work-in-progress selection at the Hong Kong — Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). The Mandarin-, Taiwanese-, English- and French-language film follows a lonely middle-aged chicken farmer Hui-Chun, who doesn’t speak English and develops a romantic relationship through an app with a French man who calls himself Martin. In the online world, Hui-Chun is Salli. Despite everyone calling it a romance scam, she wants to prove that love indeed exists.

Rina Sawayama performed at Elton John‘s Oscars viewing party in Los Angeles, California last weekend – watch the footage below.John has held the annual invite-only event for the last 30 years in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which he launched in 1992. Funds are raised through high-price tickets and a celebrity auction.Footage has since emerged of Sawayama performing the ‘Hold The Girl’ tracks ‘This Hell’ and ‘Catch Me In The Air’ at the 2023 party.

Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti have shared some of their holiday disasters as they headed to the Maldives for some winter sun.The Love Island 2022 winners jetted off on the luxury holiday to celebrate Davide’s 28th birthday and filmed the trip to share with their followers on their brand new YouTube channel. However, the purported idyllic trip wasn't without some hiccups, with Davide being turned away from the restaurant at the luxury resort where they were staying. In one clip, the Italian reality star filmed himself walking back to their hotel room shirtless and said, "Morning, just been kicked out of the restaurant.

feels the need, the need — to stay far away from his ex-wife, Nicole Kidman. The 60-year-old “Top Gun: Maverick” actor was noticeably absent from the 2023 Oscars on Sunday, despite the movie being nominated for six awards. He reportedly was MIA because he wanted to avoid an “awkward run-in” with Kidman, 55, whom he divorced more than 20 years ago.“Tom was not there because she was there, and he did not want a run-in,” a source reportedly told the Daily Mail on Monday.But insiders close to Cruise allegedly told the outlet that his absence was “not personal” and instead the result of scheduling issues.

The idea for Hypnotic conceptualized around the time director Robert Rodriguez was filming Spy Kids 2, which is what he told the audience at Sunday night’s premiere screening. His love of Austin and SXSW is what brought him back 30 years after El Mariachi. This was a full-circle moment for him, and he revealed that is this film is a work in progress. After watching it, Hypnotic still needs work in order to progress because this is all over the place. Written by Rodriguez (who also provided the score) and Matt Borenstein, the pic stars Ben Affleck, Alice Braga, William Fichtner, Jeff Fahey and Dayo Okeniyi.

Robert Rodriguez didn’t want to screen his new movie for the first time on the same night as the Oscars. It just worked out that way. It all started when, in mid-February, the 54-year-old filmmaker realized he was rapidly approaching the 30th anniversary of the theatrical release of his first feature film, the neo-Western “El Mariachi.” “It fucking snuck up on me,” Rodriguez tells Variety on Sunday afternoon, sitting on a hotel rooftop bar overlooking the ever-changing Austin skyline. Rodriguez famously shot “El Mariachi” on a $7,000 budget, and its success helped to catalyze the independent film revolution of the 1990s and reinforce Rodriguez’s conviction to continue his DIY, homegrown approach to filmmaking. Almost all of Rodriguez’s films have been made at least in part out of his Austin-based Troublemaker Studios, from his R-rated action films like 1998’s “The Faculty,” 2005’s “Sin City” and 2010’s “Machete” to his family movies franchises “Spy Kids” and “Sharkboy and Lavagirl.” Even 2019’s “Alita: Battle Angel,” the James Cameron-produced action epic with visual effects work by Weta Digital, was shot at Troublemaker.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Work-in-progress film project “The Remnant” is both a spotlight on those who feel powerless and also a very Hong Kong example of elements of the city pulling themselves up. “The Remnant” is one of the projects in the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) unspooling March 13-15 alongside Hong Kong’s Filmart market. It tells the story of a former gangster who, upon his release from prison, sets up a laundry in an anonymous district and lives a quiet life. After property developers try to grab a rundown building, young gangsters try to throw people out of the building, drug addicts cause trouble and the old-timer heeds his neighbors’ calls and fights back.

Though it boasts a few clever ideas and exciting set pieces, Rodriguez's latest falters for the same reason his films usually do: a flimsy script.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Don’t trust anything you see or hear in “Hypnotic,” a noggin-jogging thriller with more twists than Minnie’s tightly braided ponytail. Who’s Minnie? She’s the girl who goes missing in the movie’s opening scene, while police detective dad Daniel Rourke (Ben Affleck) looks away for a second. Or does she? Depending how your mind works, there’s a chance Minnie doesn’t even exist. The perp was caught, but Minnie’s body was never found — which is a clue that this wasn’t a typical disappearance. Your typical popcorn-munching multiplex patron would never suspect how deep this Russian-doll mystery goes. Better to strap in and go along for the ride in the latest example of creativity-within-constraints from resourceful writer-director Robert Rodriguez. Taking a page from “The Matrix,” “Limitless” and “Memento” — along with whole chapters from sci-fi trickster Philip K. Dick — this slick mix of special effects and practical ingenuity puts Affleck in a fun position, and the slightly grizzled star’s still got the clench-jawed charisma to pull it off.

“We’ve come a long way that two men can share an Oscar,” joked Academy Awards host Jimmy Kimmel after the commercial break following Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s win for Best Director for A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Fit for a queen! Angela Bassett blew Us away in Moschino at the 2023 Oscars. 

Naman Ramachandran Saurav Rai’s 2019 film ”Invitation” featured a child protagonist and once again the filmmaker centers a film on a young person. Rai’s “Guras,” a Nepali and Hindi-language film, is a work-in-progress selection at the Hong Kong — Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). It follows 9-year-old Guras, who lives in a mountain village in India’s Darjeeling district. Her pet dog goes missing and she embarks on a journey that soon turns mystical as she meets otherworldly beings along the way. “I always had this fascination with my grandma’s real-life incident during her childhood when she stole someone’s vegetables from their garden. She ended up having chest pain after that and when her mother figured it out, she took her to the owner of the farmland. The owner immediately knew what had happened, so she smiled and prayed to her ancestors and relieved my grandma of the pain,” Rai says.

TriStar Pictures has acquired Spyglass Media Group‘s “Thanksgiving,” a full-length slasher film inspired by the fake trailer from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s double feature “Grindhouse,” according to an insider with knowledge of the project.Roth is attached to direct the horror thriller film. “Thanksgiving” is co-written by Roth and Jeff Rendell, with Roger Birnbaum, Roth and Rendell producing.Chatter has existed about turning the jokey trailer into an actual movie, with Roth having written a screenplay over a dozen years ago.

Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Michael Fassbender and Owen Wilson are in talks to star in the big-budget Netflix comedy marking Nancy Meyers’ return to directing, Deadline can confirm.

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