The action that follows, however, soon deflates our mild anticipation, offering up little more than an ultimately dull narrative about a rich married couple (Lily Collins and Jesse Plemons), who arrive at their vacation home to find it being robbed by a strange man (Jason Segel). It’s a film that relies too heavily upon its scenic location and not enough on building any real sense of story, let alone suspense, and only adds to the growing feeling that, when a work calls itself “Hitchcockian,” it’s more of a red flag for something half-baked than an enticing homage to the master himself....

“X” kicks off on a secluded Texas farm surrounded by local police. The opening scene, framed within a barn, peers outside toward a simple wooden home peeking above the brush landscape. As an incessant buzz of flies swarm, the camera tracks outside revealing a trio of cop cars. There is a blood-soaked sheet covering an unknown body. A recently used ax grips the porch and a wide streak of crimson leads to inside the quaint, albeit creepy home....

And so does IndieWire’s annual look at some of the most exciting new films of the season, this year rolling out in one singular package, all the better to highlight a curated crop of the best films arriving at Venice, Toronto, and New York. With a reduced lineup this year — due to some films having to pause in the middle of production, and other finished features opting to wait until 2021 to get the usual festival bells and whistles — many festivals are showing significantly fewer titles, and many of the biggest titles will be screening at all three festivals....

Photo sharing may seem restricted to social media, but printable photos still exist. If you’ve been shopping around for a portable photo printer that will bring your favorite memories into the palm of your hand, we collected a list of some of the best, and most affordable options to buy, based on customer reviews. For additional shopping guides see our picks for the best digital cameras under $200 and must-have camera accessories....

The repetitively titled film is a sequel to 1983’s “A Christmas Story,” directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepard’s 1966 novel “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.” Set in the ’40s, the original film starred Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker, an ordinary 9-year-old boy engaging in various hijinks around Christmastime while desperately yearning to get a BB gun for the big holiday. Shepard narrated the film as an adult Ralphie reminiscing about his childhood....

Nominations voting is from January 12-17, 2023, with official Oscar nominations announced January 24, 2023. Final voting is March 2-7, 2023. And finally, the 95th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 12 and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT. We update predictions through awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2023 Oscar picks. The State of the Race Again this year, the usual five-slot Best Director category is half as big as Best Picture’s ten....

Before God and his catchy tunes, however, there is young Will Hawkins (Zac Efron lookalike Kevin Quinn, best known for another summer camp-set project, the Disney TV series “Bunk’d”). A teen orphan who has cycled through cities, schools, and foster families since the tragic death of his parents, Will is about to be tossed into a juvenile detention facility after, get this, stealing a cop car (he just “borrowed it!,” he argues, and that’s about all we’ll ever have explained about that)....