‘Roost’ Review: An Insubstantial Thriller About Trauma That’s Neither Thrilling Nor Fresh

Abigail Disney has shut down Fork Films, the documentary and feature film company behind “Crip Camp,” “One Child Nation” and “The Tale,” a drama about sexual abuse that starred Laura Dern. As part of the closure, fewer than 10 positions have been eliminated. Abigail, a filmmaker and philanthropist, is also the granddaughter of Roy Disney, the co-founder of The Walt Disney Company. A spokesperson for Fork Films said the staff was notified of the closure in February, and have been working to wind down the company by Sept. 30, 2022. Disney’s most recent film, “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” which she co-directed with Kathleen Hughes, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and was recently released digitally. The film examines the issue of economic inequality and ballooning CEO compensation packages. The movie made headlines as Disney drilled down on the employment and union practices at the theme parks run by The Walt Disney Company. In the film and dozens of subsequent interviews, Disney has consistently and unflinchingly taken the company to task, describing the corporation’s promises of “upward mobility” as “neoliberal claptrap.”

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic It’s been said that former President Donald Trump corrupts all who enter his orbit — that it’s impossible to deal directly with him without taking on his amorality and crassness. “The Lincoln Project,” a new documentary series on Showtime, depicts that process among his political opposition. Here, people devoted to ousting Trump mirror his rhetorical style and his self-regard. And it’s in subtly making this case that the documentary succeeds, even as it grows punishing to watch. The Lincoln Project, a circle of former high-level Republican strategists who made viral anti-Trump ads, seemed throughout the 2020 presidential election to be, Trumpishly, more focused on brand promotion than political work. “No one’s ever fucked with a candidate like we’ve fucked with a candidate,” Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson says early in the doc; those schemes include a Times Square billboard, attention-getting for attention’s sake.

Written and directed by Parker Finn, Smile personifies trauma and examines its ripple effect and how it connects people, places, and things. The film stars Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, and Kyle Gallner.

“Harry Potter” alum Rupert Grint looks lost in a haunted forest in a scene tease from “Dreams in the Witch House,” which also stars Ismael Cruz-Cordova (aka Arondir from “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”), DJ Qualls, Nia Vardalos and Tenika Davis. That episode is written by Mika Watkins, based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft and directed by “Twilight’s” Catherine Hardwicke.“Pickman’s Model” stars Ben Barnes, Crispin Glover and Oriana Leman in an episode based on another short story from Lovecraft, written this time by Lee Patterson.

Jessica Kiang In a gated compound camouflaged by the thick, dripping vegetation of inland Indonesia, all is quiet. A curtain may stir. The hushed commentary on a TV chess match may mutter indistinctly. An insect or two may chirrup. But mostly, this dark-cornered, sinister place, which is being minded by callow young caretaker Rakib (Kevin Ardilova), feels eerily still and expectant, like a spiderweb waiting for the return of its spider. Makbul Mubarak’s “Autobiography” — the Indonesian filmmaker’s impressive debut — gives a “Godfather”-style, power-corrupting-the-naive story the Conradian overtones of “Apocalypse Now.” But with its powerful sense of mood, it emerges from Coppola’s shadow by summoning evocative, specific shadows of its own, out of Indonesia’s troubled, genocidal, terrifying past.

An Iranian government official has warned that action will be taken against celebrities who publicly show support for anti-government protests, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody.

EJ Panaligan editor A24 has released the official trailer for its upcoming Claire Denis-helmed romantic thriller “Stars at Noon,” starring Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn. The film first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The two-hour film follows a young American journalist (Qualley), who falls for a mysterious Englishman (Alwyn) while stranded in Nicaragua. Though at first he seems like her best bet at getting out of the country, it is slowly revealed that her affiliation with the Englishman has put both of them in immense danger. Also appearing in the film in supporting roles are Danny Ramirez, John C. Reilly and Benny Safdie. Ramirez plays a Costa Rican policeman, Reilly plays an American boss and Safdie plays a CIA agent. They all take interest in the Englishman’s ominous dealings in Nicaragua.

EXCLUSIVE: We’ve just learned that White Boy Rick actress Bel Powley, The High Note‘s Tracee Ellis Ross and The Room‘s Jacob Tremblay are leading the psychological thriller Cold Copy, which reps the feature directorial debut of Roxine Helberg.

EXCLUSIVE: Miramax is producing the J.T. Mollner directed thriller Strange Darling which is currently shooting in Portland, OR with Willa Fitzgerald (The Fall of the House of Usher, Scream: The TV Series), Kyle Gallner (Smile, Dinner in America), Emmy Award nominee Ed Begley Jr. (St. Elsewhere, Better Call Saul), and Oscar nominee Barbara Hershey (The Portrait of a Lady, Black Swan).

Yungblud spoke out about the death of Mahsa Amini during his set at Firefly Music Festival in Delaware this weekend (September 24).Amini, 22, died in Tehran earlier this month (September 16) after being arrested for not wearing her hijab in accordance with government standards. Police claimed she suffered heart failure at the station, although witnesses have claimed Amini was severely beaten by the authorities.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A new trailer for the second season of futuristic fantasy actioner Alice in Borderland was the highlight of a slate of Japanese film, series and cartoons unveiled by Netflix on Sunday as part of its Tudum fan experience. Japanese content is doing well for the streamer, both within the country which is Netflix’s most valuable in the Asia-Pacific region, and increasingly overseas. Though the country is awaiting its “Squid Game” breakout show, the company has signaled that it is investing more in the Japanese-language category. The Sunday presentation included a group interview segment in which Yamazaki Kento and Tsuchiya Tao, who play Arisu and Usagi from “Alice in Borderland,” Mori Nana and Deguchi Natsuki who play Kiyo and Sumire in “The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House,” and Ai Fairouz , voice actress for Jolyne Cujoh in “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean,” talked about their personal growth and shared thoughts on now reaching fans all over the world.

Alissa Simon Film Critic Overline: Hed: By Alissa Simon “Subtraction,” from idiosyncratic Iranian helmer-writer Mani Haghighi (“Men at Work,” “Modest Reception,” “A Dragon Arrives!”) is a tense Hitchcockian thriller set in Tehran, where a heavy, non-stop rainfall signals a lingering malaise. There, a young couple come across their doppelgängers. The film premiered at the Toronto festival. The idea for the plot grew out of the helmer’s long-ago trip to Southwest Iran to look at places where the Iran-Iraq war took place.

EXCLUSIVE: Francesca Eastwood (Old) and Milo Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge) have been tapped to star in Clawfoot — a cat-and-mouse thriller from Yale Entertainment, which is currently in production in Los Angeles.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Tel Aviv-based Donna and Shula Productions and “Tehran” director Daniel Syrkin have set a joint venture to develop TV series for the global market, with an emphasis on the U.S. and Europe. Donna and Shula Productions leaders Dana Eden and Shula Spiegel have shepherded two seasons of the espionage drama series “Tehran” with Syrkin. The series debuted in June 2020 on Israel’s Kan 11 broadcast network. Apple TV+ quickly picked up the show, making it the first non-English series to premiere on the platform. “Tehran” bowed on Apple TV+ in 2021 and the streaming giant partnered with Kan 11 on the production of a second season that premiered in May.

Well, it’s disappointing to hear a confirmation of such a problem, but we suppose it’s for the best.

The trailer for Netflix’s highly anticipated The School for Good and Evil has finally arrived!

Do you ever wonder where every great fairytale begins? Coming this fall, the new Netflix film “The School For Good & Evil” from director Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids”) and based on the string of novels by author Soman Chainani tries to answer those questions. READ MORE: ‘The Sandman’ Trailer: Tom Sturridge Plays Neil Gaiman’s Master Of Dreams In Netflix’s New Series The supernatural adventure pic boasts a rather impressive cast with Charlize Theron, Michelle Yeoh, Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne, Sophia Anne Caruso, Sofia Wylie, Kit Young, Peter Serafinowicz, Ben Kingsley, Rachel Bloom, Rob Delaney, Patti LuPone, and Cate Blanchette will lend her voice as the film’s narrator.

asking her to disclose her support of Democratic candidates, pointing to a tweet Sonn wrote that expressed support for Boebert’s former opponent Diane Mitsch Bush.“This debate is not about me,” Sonn responded, as the crowd booed Boebert for her remarks.The event, which was hosted by Club 20, Colorado Mesa University and the Grand Junction Sentinel, is the first and only debate scheduled between Boebert and her Democratic challenger Adam Frisch prior to the election.Boebert has been under fire in recent months, after comments that President Biden’s student-debt forgiveness funds “Karen’s daughter’s degree in lesbian dance theory” had Twitter trolls coming out of the woodwork.In August, her husband was also the center of controversy when he made threats to neighbors before driving his car into their mailbox in a rage after a dispute.

Every film Jafar Panahi makes is an act of resistance. Currently in jail, the Iranian director has spent the past 12 years in and out of house arrest, banned from traveling or making films outside Iran and faced with numerous obstacles making films at home. That hasn’t stopped him.