‘Public Obscenities’ at Woolly Mammoth Review

Filmmaker Sam Pollard, one of the most prolific and important forces in contemporary documentary, will be honored by Black Public Media at its upcoming PitchBlack Awards in New York.

Siddhant Adlakha Leaning full-tilt into its duology structure, Tollywood action drama “Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire” has a winding, often confounding narrative aimed at building up a sequel, but its maximalist action tableaus always yield dividends. After his previous two-parter “K.G.F.” smashed Indian box-office records for Kannada-language films, director Prashanth Neel employs the talents of ultra-charismatic superstar Prabhas (the star of S.S.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French broadcaster France Televisions has been blamed by supporters of Gerard Depardieu, the Oscar-nominated actor of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” for contributing to the downfall of one of country’s most iconic actors with a bombshell documentary about his history of sexual abuse allegations which aired on Dec. 7.

Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire saw $2.5 million in Thursday previews as the Telugu action thriller opens in about 800 locations in North America. Bollywood Superstar Shah Ruhk Kan toplines drama Dunki, his third film of the year after Pathaan and Jawan, both in the top ten of India’s highest-grossing films.

EXCLUSIVE: DB Woodside (911: Lone Star, The Night Agent) is partnering with veteran publicist Erin Kyle Osborne to launch Blue City Entertainment.

There’s a lot to take in and even more to process in American-Armenian director Michael Goorjian’s ambitious period piece: What he’s tilting at here is not beyond the realms of comedy, as Armando Iannucci proved with his 2017 jet-black satire The Death of Stalin. But tone is crucial, and Amerikatsi has a waywardness that too often undermines its intent — there’s a lot that works here and so much that doesn’t. There are moments that are sensitive, thoughtful, and really quite moving — in an elegant, silent-movie way — but the framing is so dark in its humor that many viewers may never make it to them.

Ramin Setoodeh Co-Editor-in-Chief Hello, Brooklyn. Is Madonna in the house? It’s after 10 p.m. on Wednesday night, and the Material Girl is nowhere to be found on the first hometown stop of her career-retrospective “Celebration” tour.

Considering the foothold it has in American pop culture, it’s somewhat surprising that there have been so few movies about pro wrestling. In fact, over the last 15 years, the only real notable narrative films on the subject are Darren Aronofsky’s 2008 drama “The Wrestler” and the solid, but already forgotten 2018 dramedy “Fighting With My Family.” The last 12 months have been something of a sea change, comparably, with Roger Ross Williams’ superb “Cassandro” about famed exótico lucha libre wrestler Saúl Armendáriz and now, Sean Durkin’s “The Iron Claw,” a spotlight on the Von Erichs, one of the most respected and snakebit families in the sport.

Manuel Betancourt The toxicity of patriarchal masculinity has become such a well-worn trope in pop culture (and especially in recent Colombian cinema) that it’s hard to remember its effects continue unabated in streets and households all over the world, and in that Latin American country specifically. And so, while Fabián Hernández’s central concerns in his simply-titled film, “A Man” (“Un Varón”), are all too familiar, his tale of a young man living in a shelter in the center of Bogotá who cannot escape the violence of the world of the streets around him, emerges nonetheless as a powerful portrait of the country’s inescapable machismo.

Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer is set to be released in Japanese cinemas, despite public criticism surrounding the senstive subject matter of the film.The Cillian Murphy-led biopic is controversial in Japan, where two atomic bombs were detonated in 1945, killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens.The film was released in most territories in July by Universal and went on to gross $950 at the global box office. But Toho-Towa, which handles most Universal titles in Japan, did not release the film.However, Variety reports that indie film distributor Bitters End will now give the movie a theatrical release in the country.“Bitters End will release Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ in Japan in 2024.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, a day before the National Board of Review will weigh in on its selections for the best films and performances of 2023. They’ll be following the New York Film Critics Circle who kicked off the season last week by crowning Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” as its top choice. Its West Coast counterpart, Los Angeles Film Critics, will drop their choices on Sunday.

EXCLUSIVE: American Documentary has acquired Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s award-winning documentary King Coal for the upcoming season of POV, the longest-running nonfiction series on television.

Fargo franchise is what gardeners would call a volunteer tree: sprung from a robust film, it has most certainly taken on a life of its own.Five seasons in, it has become the inimitable vision of writer Noah Hawley and his murderously affectionate take on the American Midwest. A witty, mischievous raconteur, Hawley delivers his (usually) cop-based yarns through ordinary lives that end up being anything but.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic In body-swap comedies, the acting is its own kind of brazen put-on fun. Adult actors get to channel their inner innocent kid; young actors get to channel their “serious” adult. And that’s why, ever since the original “Freaky Friday” (1976) brought this genre into being, it’s been marked by instances of true Hollywood artistry, like Tom Hanks’ classic performance in “Big” (though that wasn’t technically a swap comedy) or the lyrically funny bedlam that Jennifer Garner brought off in “13 Going on 30,” one of the best movies of its year.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic A movie directed by the berserk “Muppet Show” character known as Animal couldn’t be any more unruly than Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s new film of that title. This sporadically fun but exhausting hot mess provides 202 minutes of hyperventilating overkill for star Ranbir Kapoor as a tycoon’s favorite son whose anger-management (as well as daddy) issues are off the charts.

Sashay away, George Santos!

Animal, with Thursday previews of just over $1.25 million, looks set for the biggest North American Bollywood opening day since Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva last year. Both star Ranbir Kapoor.

Aramide Tinubu Projects like “Arrested Development,” “The Office” and even “The Hangover” film trilogy have prompted writers to infuse hysterical beats with satire as a way to examine the state of 21st-century American society. These shows and films comment on everything from race and sexuality to work and class. “Cobra Kai” creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald put a satirical spin on the action comedy in Netflix‘s Las Vegas-set, “Obliterated.” Unfortunately, instead of an uproarious commentary on the culture of drugs and drinking and the various factions of the U.S.

Mammoth Film Festival, running from Feb. 29 to March 4, will honor “Drunk History” host Derek Waters during the ceremony for his film and television contributions. He will receive the Golden Mammoth Film Festival Award.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent BUENOS AIRES — Brazil is beginning to come back as Latin America’s production powerhouse. At Ventana Sur on Monday, representatives of key federal, state and city authorities as well as a leading producer outlined some of the directions the giant would like to take on its return.