This time, the Spanish Academy went in a more ambitious direction. Many expected the movie industry satire “Official Competition,” which stars Antonio Banderas as a pompous actor and Cruz as his director, to take the spot. Instead, Spain has selected “Alcarràs,” the sensitive and naturalistic sophomore effort from director Carla Simón. This marks the second time that the 35-year-old Catalan filmmaker has had a film submitted by the country following her intimate debut “Summer 1993,” but “Alcarrás” has already experienced a much bigger life....

Shortly before the People’s Princess drives solo into this latest telling of her tale behind the wheel of a top-down convertible, an opening epitaph promises us, “A fable based on a true tragedy.” But then, given the tight narrative focus of Pablo Larraín’s “Spencer,” which takes place in 1991 over the course of three excruciating yuletide days at the royal estate of Sandringham, one might ask: To what tragedy does that opening inscription refer?...

Let’s assume that “No Way Home” grosses at least $175 million. (The most recent Spider-Man entry, 2019’s “Far from Home,” did $390 million domestic in summer 2019.) That would mean Marvel films are the four top domestic 2021 releases: “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ($224 million to date) “Black Widow” ($184 million), and Sony’s other 2021 Spidey-related entry, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($203 million). If “Eternals” reaches $160 million in the coming weeks, Marvel would notch five of six top slots....

According to an ad released by Nickelodeon, the special sees the reality of the main series merge with those of its two spinoff series, both of which premiered last year: “The Patrick Star Show,” which focuses on SpongeBob’s best friend hosting a talk show with his family, and the Paramount+ kids series “Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years,” about younger versions of the main show’s cast attending summer camp. The special will see characters from each series interact, along with some assorted “SpongeBob” randomness — the sea sponge turns into a robot in the ad for unexplained reasons....

Nielsen’s latest report, which was based on viewership data from September 27 to October 3, marks the sixth time that a title had surpassed 3 billion minutes viewed in a week, per Deadline. “Squid Game” made its debut on Nielsen’s weekly reports last week, when it trounced the competition with 1.9 billion minutes viewed. The Korean-language drama series, which centers on deeply indebted individuals who participate in a twisted game show for the chance to win millions, had nearly triple the viewership of Netflix’s “Midnight Mass,” the second highest-ranked title of the week, which was viewed for 1....

Ever since it came to prominence more than 30 years ago, Sundance has been a platform for discovering new talent, from distinctive filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Ryan Coogler to acting discoveries like Parker Posey and Tessa Thompson. This time around, there were no shortage of discoveries, in addition to established talents moving into exciting new career phases. Here are the highlights. Christian Blauvelt, Jude Dry, David Ehrlich, Kate Erbland, and Tambay Obenson contributed to this article....

“These funds intend to address the deeply disproportionate effects the pandemic and racial terror have had on artists of color. With Uprise, our goal is to provide unrestricted financial support to those artists at key moments in their career development with the sole aim of combating the erasure of these important voices from our culture and society” Karim Ahmad, director, outreach and inclusion, said in a statement. The Uprise Grant Fund will support up to 25 emerging U....