For Johnson, the role is another colorful character in a string of many of them. Best known to audiences for portraying Nick Miller on “New Girl,” “Minx” was an opportunity for Johnson to play a character that didn’t fall into a clean category, while also hearkening back to a 1970s retro-cool persona that doesn’t seem to be around much anymore. “[Creator] Ellen [Rapoport] posted something today about on the Wall Street Journal, they were talking about men dressing like the ’70s, and that skeezy guy from ‘Minx,’” Johnson told IndieWire via Zoom....

As far as first impressions go, this one is pretty terrible. But here’s the thing: First impressions are built on assumptions. Maybe this guy is inconsiderate, or maybe that was the only place he’s allowed to smoke. Maybe his advice tilted into mansplaining (to a demoralizing degree), but it could also be true and straight from the heart. Maybe his offer to talk reads as inappropriate, or maybe he’s just networking at a networking event....

“Moffie” is Afrikaans slang for “faggot,” and the film, which is based on André Carl van der Merwe’s autobiographical novel of the same name, attempts a bold gesture in reclaiming epithet as an emblem of power. It’s 1981, South Africa, which means it’s not okay to be a “moffie”; effeminacy is a sign of weakness, and being gay is also illegal. It’s also a moment of compulsory military conscription that all (white) boys over the age of 16 must endure, and so that means, as the film begins, Nicholas Van de Swart (Kai Luke Brummer) is readying to ship off to defend colonized land....

In the Academy Awards’ 93-year history, only five women have ever been nominated for Best Director: Lina Wertmüller (1976′s “Seven Beauties”), Jane Campion (1993′s “The Piano”), Sofia Coppola (2003′s “Lost in Translation”), Kathryn Bigelow (2009′s “The Hurt Locker”), and Greta Gerwig (2017′s “Lady Bird”). This year marks the first time the Academy handed out nominations to not just one woman in the category, but two. Zhao also becomes the first woman of Asian descent to pick up the nom....

Netflix released a trailer today for “Naomi Osaka,” a three-part documentary series directed by rising documentarian Garrett Bradley about the international tennis sensation. Bradley recently made waves when her second documentary feature, “Time,” was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary earlier this year. The collaboration, shot over the last two years, is sure to be more than a standard sports doc. Here’s the official synopsis, per Netflix: The series will also follow Osaka as she further explores her Haitian roots as well as her connection to Japan, the country for which she plays....

Luna’s departure from the series had been anticipated; the actor told IndieWire earlier in the year that the show’s heavy subject matter had weighed him down and he was eager to dedicate time to comparably lighter projects. “Not for now, not for now, no, no, no,” Luna told IndieWire in April when asked about filming more “Narcos: Mexico” episodes. “At the beginning it was fun, but then it became really heavy for me....

After being held prisoner for a century, the Sandman, who shapes our deepest fears and fantasies while we sleep, returns to the dreaming and waking worlds that have been thrown into chaos. His only recourse is to cross timelines in order to correct the mistakes he’s made and restore what order he can, with the help of old friends and foes alike, both cosmic and human. Patton Oswalt co-stars as Dream’s trusted emissary, Matthew the Raven; Gwendoline Christie plays the ruler of Hell, Lucifer; and Kirby Howell-Baptiste embodies Death — Dream’s wiser, nicer, and much more sensible sister....