Capsule Reviews Of New Movie Releases

When Demi Moore won the Golden Globe for her turn as aging star Elisabeth Sparkle in French director Coralie Fargeat’s body-horror hit The Substance on Jan. 5, she shared in her acceptance speech that it was the first real award she’d received in her more than 45 years in Hollywood.

The 97th Academy Awards will move forward in spite of the devastating Los Angeles fires, which have taken at least 28 lives and destroyed thousands of buildings and homes in the county. Recovery from the wildfires and community will likely set the tone for the event, which will be hosted by comedian and television host Conan O’ Brien in early March.

Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards, scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 2, arrived on Jan. 23 after multiple delays owing to the Los Angeles wildfires. The devastation is likely to cast a shadow over the remainder of this awards season, but in keeping with the spirit of Tinseltown, the show must, and will, go on. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Following a largely predictable awards season dominated by Oppenheimer, 2025 is looking a lot more open.

“Emilia Pérez,” a musical about a drug kingpin who undergoes gender affirming surgery, topped the 2025 Oscar nominations with 13 nods. It was followed closely behind by “The Brutalist,” a historical epic the examines the immigrant experience, and “Wicked,” the hit screen version of a long-running Broadway sensation, which both nabbed 10 nominations.

“The Virgin of Quarry Lake,” the latest feature from “The Returned” helmer Laura Casabé, sets Argentina’s 2001 economic collapse against a mix of adolescent angst, unbridled desire and supernatural forces. Written by top Argentinean filmmaker Benjamín Naishtat (“Rojo,” “Puan”) and drawn from Booker Prize-shortlisted author Mariana Enríquez’s short stories, the film is set to premiere […]

Agora, the industry section of the Thessaloniki Intl. Documentary Festival, has selected 14 projects for its Pitching Forum. All the projects are from Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean region, although the filmmakers can be from elsewhere. Agora, which runs March 7-15, has also revealed the projects that will feature in its new initiative Agora XR […]