‘Passages’: Ira Sachs On His New Film’s NC-17 Rating, The Movie’s Intimate Sex Scenes & Finding Pleasure In Men Behaving Badly [Interview]

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has partnered with brand and culture consultancy BSBP to curate a series of exclusive Q&A screenings in London of some of the industry’s most anticipated films. The screenings, which are targeted at BAFTA and AMPAS voters as well as key players in the showbiz community in the U.K., will take place at London’s The Cinema at Selfridges.

Patricia Swinney Kaufman, longtime head of film and television development for New York State, has been named Commissioner of NYC’s Mayor’s Office Of Media and Entertainment.

The cast of Glee hit the map as some of the brightest rising stars on the scene when the musical series debuted in 2009.

With his new project, “Passages,” out director Ira Sachs wanted to make a film of pleasure and intimacy.

She has kept a relatively low profile this year while her husband has been involved with promotional activity for his memoir and upcoming Netflix documentaries. But now it looks as if the Duchess of Sussex could draw on her experiences of acting and the film industry to return to the bright lights of Hollywood in a move described as clever by a royal expert.

While Lisandro Alonso doesn’t make films that will likely earn $100 million at the box office and attract a massive audience, the acclaimed filmmaker is one of the most interesting and skilled storytellers working today. Unfortunately, we haven’t heard much from the filmmaker over the past decade.

EXCLUSIVE: Big World Pictures has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights from Paris-based sales firm Charades to Giacomo Abbruzzese’s debut feature, Disco Boy.

The royal family fears that Harry and Meghan may return to their "mud-slinging" ways if their media careers fail and name the member of 'the Firm' who allegedly made racist remarks, according to an insider.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic On July 19, the MPA ratings board handed an NC-17 rating to “Passages,” Ira Sachs’s acclaimed drama about a very unusual love triangle (a man, a woman, and a megalomaniacal romantic sociopath). The film was set to be released just two weeks later; Sachs and his distributor, MUBI, were understandably upset. The scene that triggered the NC-17 rating, as is often the case in situations like this one, was an extended sex scene (the MPA does not like things that are long).

The recent gloomy weather has got us prematurely reaching for our Autumn favourites,, including swapping our beachy bronzed makeup for an altogether darker, more moody look. A dark lip is a signature style for most people as the weather gets colder, and although it’s technically still summer, the darker evenings and rainy weather is already giving us all the Autumn feels.

There’s quite a bit of uncertainty surrounding the film industry as we end the summer and look towards the fall, courtesy of the dual strikes from the WGA and SAG. We’ve already seen some high-profile films vacate the fall space and move into 2024, but there are still quite a few big projects that are hoping to take part in the yearly fall festival circuit.

CatVideoFest, which is just what it sounds like, joined notable indie debuts and festival favorites Shortcomings and Passages, the re-release of Shiva Baby and juggernaut Talk To Me in another weekend of varied specialty fare, both new and holding over. Indies are helping drive a buoyant box office. They’re also waiting for the Barbenheimer tsunami to recede as bit as these unusual blockbusters vacuum up the arthouse/adult audiences.

Sharon Farrell, whose long career included star turns in film, television, and on Broadway, died May 15 in Orange County. Her death at 82 was only recently discovered by relatives, who posted the news to Facebook, but they were unsure of the cause.

Festivals past are populating a busy specialty market this weekend with films from Sundance and Venice. Sony Pictures Classics is giving Randall Park’s Shortcomings a substantial 400+ screen release. See Deadline review. Mubi is out with Passages in New York and LA – both premiered to critical acclaim in Park City.

Miranda Lambert has no problem with selfies taken outside of concert venues. The 39-year-old country singer shared some sweet snapshots from her summer with her husband, Brendan McLoughlin, on Instagram, including one that showed off the former police officer's washboard abs.

recently shuttered “New York, New York,” and wrote the songs for the Disney movies “Moana” and “Encanto,” along with some new tunes for the live-action “The Little Mermaid.” His Tony Award-winning “In the Heights” was turned into a Warner Bros. movie, and he directed Netflix’s musical film “Tick, Tick… Boom!”.As Broadway’s only celebrity composer (who’s not a pop singer), a brand new musical by Miranda would be an instant draw for ticket-buyers and a major coup for the struggling theater business.A premiere date and location are not yet known, though a tryout of the show would be a boon for the Public Theater, which was recently forced to lay off 19% of its staff and slash programming for budgetary reasons.Wherever it lands, he’s picked a fascinating title.Some viewers will remember the culty 1979 film “The Warriors,” which is fun to watch now for its authentic shots of the bad old days of New York City.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director One of the most shocking lines in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” was not scripted by the director himself. It arrives during a scene where Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer is meeting with U.S. Secretary of War Henry Stimson and other government officials about where to drop the atomic bombs in Japan.

Marta Balaga Starring Deva Cassel, Laura Luchetti’s “The Beautiful Summer” (“La Bella Estate”) has bowed sales and a trailer, ahead of its world premiere at this week’s Locarno Festival. In a first deal to go down for sales agent True Colours, Palace Films has swooped on distribution rights to Australia and New Zealand. Xenix Filmdistribution will release in Switzerland “The Beautiful Summer,” which is loosely based on Cesare Pavese’s novel.

revealed to Variety she’s ready for her own steamy scene.“I have pretty tits,” insisted Halston, who plays wealthy socialite Bitsy von Muffling.“If [showrunner Michael Patrick King] said, ‘Hey, you wanna show your tits?’ I’d be like, ‘Uh, yeah!’ But they’d have to give me a little bit of advance notice so that I could pump up the arms a little bit. Even if it’s not a super sexy scene, it would be nice to see a big make-out scene or a big heavy romance.”“And Just Like That” follows Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte York-Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) as they navigate life, friendship, dating — and yes, sex — in their 50s.

Broadway actress Lilli Cooper just celebrated the opening night of her new play The Cottage and she was asked about her former co-star Ethan Slater while on the red carpet.