The 79th Venice International Film Festival, organized by La Biennale and directed by Alberto Barbera, will take place on the Venice Lido August 31–September 10. In an official statement shared with media, La Biennale di Venezia rejects “any form of collaboration with those who on the contrary have carried out or supported such a grievous act of aggression” when it comes to Russian filmmakers. Additionally, the festival will “therefore not accept the presence at any of its events of official delegations, institutions, or persons tied in any capacity to the Russian government....

Near the end of Episode 8’s third flashback — Wanda’s “Christmas Carol”-esque trip to the Avengers’ compound where she first lived with Vision — the sentient android sits down next to the all-powerful witch and tries to understand the healing nature of sitcoms. His struggle, like all things with Vision, is completely reasonable. Even for us humans, “healing” likely isn’t the first word that comes to mind when thinking of sitcoms....

They’d long hoped to make “Army of the Dead,” an ambitious zombie heist film, at Warners, but Deborah said they have no regrets in creating this new partnership. When Netflix stepped in to make the film in 2019, it offered a big budget, a greenlight for two more franchise entries, and the kind of creative freedom not often on offer in a world gone mad for existing IP. And then there was the data....

Notable storylines to watch Oscars night include legendary composer Hans Zimmer chasing his second Oscar for “Dune” and first win since 1995’s “The Lion King” (though he’ll have to beat Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood’s innovative “Power of the Dog” score to do it), Will Smith seeking to finally win his first Oscar after two failed nominations, and a wide-open Best Actress race featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and no clear frontrunner....

Wes Anderson’s first live-action film in six years “The French Dispatch,” was originally slated for release last summer but like just about everything in 2020, the film was delayed, as was the Cannes Film Festival where it officially premiered earlier this month. Now that “The French Dispatch” has an official release date of October 16, there’s no better way to pass the time than by brushing up on Anderson’s filmography. From Anderson’s 1996 debut, “Bottle Rocket,” to his most recent outing, the animated “Isle of Dogs,” there are nine films to revisit before his tenth feature hits screens....

So what is “We Are Who We Are”? The series centers on two characters who befriend each other on an Italian military base. “It” and “Shazam” breakout Jack Dylan Grazer plays Fraser, an introverted 14-year-old who moves to the base from New York with his military mothers, played by Chloë Sevigny and Alice Braga. Newcomer Jordan Kristine Seamón plays Caitlin, a confident teenager who has lived on the Italian army base for several years....

Movies can truly be anything, and the beauty of Alexandre Koberidze’s lyrical and ineffably romantic “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?” is how it reminds us of that — time and again — during almost every one of its meandering 150 minutes. Nevertheless, a crucial scene towards the beginning stands out for the way it epitomizes that magic. A soccer player named Giorgi (Giorgi Ambroladze) and a knowledgeable young pharmacist named Lisa (Ani Karseladze) have just enjoyed an extremely Lanthimos-esque meet-cute along the banks of the Rioni River in the ancient Georgian city of Kutaisi; we’ve only seen them interact from the knees down or through nighttime long shots lensed from so far away that these characters have been reduced to specks of light in the darkness, but the film’s affectless narrator (voiced by Koberidze himself) assures us of their shared affections....