Avery’s particular challenge on “The Rings of Power” was to build environments that are both familiar and unfamiliar — some unevolved versions and some much more evolved versions of the cultures that feature in Jackson’s trilogy. But one place that presented Avery with both the largest canvas to try new things and the strictest sense of what already exists is the one place we’ve all already seen before: the dwarf city of Khazad-dûm, which will one day become the Mines of Moria....

The sad fact that Guantanamo Bay is still open would be enough to emboss “The Mauritanian” with enough clear relevance, but — at a time when so many in our government are adhering to the Constitution with all the reverence of an Ikea instruction manual — the movie’s triple-underlined insistence that American exceptionalism can’t survive exceptions should land with the righteous fury of our better angels screaming at us from the heavens....

“Time” follows a young couple, Fox Rich and Rob, whose romance is interrupted by the Louisiana carceral system and a 60-year prison sentence. “How can you convey the full length of 21 years in the span of a single film, let alone a documentary that runs just 81 minutes? And from its degraded opening images — borrowed from the first of a thousand video messages that a black Louisiana woman named Sibil Fox Richardson (aka ‘Fox Rich’) recorded for her husband as she waited for him to be released from the State Penitentiary — offers a similarly simple answer: You don’t measure it in length, but rather in loss,” wrote IndieWire’s David Ehrlich in his review....

Luca Guadagnino’s cannibal love story costarring Timothée Chalamet opened at five theaters with about $120,000 (per theater, $23,985), drawing an overwhelmingly under-35 audience as anticipated. This tricky-sell story got the start UA expected. This is a tough title for comparisons, but it does have some overlap with A24 genre titles. Most recently, it opened “Bodies Bodies Bodies” to $226,000 in six theaters last August ($38,000 per) with a more conventional horror audience appeal....

While originally a release set up at Paramount Pictures for February 2021, the studio sold the rights to the film to streamer Hulu in December. “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” has, so far, not had any festival play, but it comes with plenty of star wattage that should make it a buzzy title next month. Trevante Rhodes, Natasha Lyonne, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Garrett Hedlund round out the cast. This is Andra Day’s feature acting debut....

Adam McKay’s new HBO series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” details the transformation of the Los Angeles Lakers under former owner Jerry Buss, played by John C. Reilly. Based on the book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s,” the series follows the personal and professional lives of NBA legends Earvin “Magic” Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Solomon Hughes). Both billed as newcomers, Isaiah and Hughes immediately wow in the trailer for the origin story set in the 1980s....

She reports to Academy Museum director and president Bill Kramer. “We are bringing together the already fantastic work of our curatorial, programming, education, and publications teams that are creating powerful and diverse content and initiatives for the Academy Museum,” Kramer wrote in an email. “Jacqueline’s background as an educator, programmer, archivist, author, and scholar, along with her deep commitment to building strong community relations and showcasing diverse, inclusive, and accessible stories made her a perfect candidate for the position....