“After additional networks decided to switch to virtual-only press conferences, and a conversation with the hotel, The TCA Board was forced to cancel the in-person press tour,” the new email from the board (the bolding is theirs) reads. “We are in discussions with networks to plan a virtual schedule, and will share this information as soon as we have it. Those virtual days may or may not be in the same timeframe as the current schedule....

Aretha Franklin was the kind of shooting star that sprints through the atmosphere only once in a lifetime. Born on March 25, 1942, the talented singer-songwriter honed her craft in church, and became an icon whose music will continue to inspire legions of recording artists for generations to come. In a career of more than 60 years, the Queen of Soul sold over 75 million records, won 18 Grammys, became the first female Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and amassed a collection of legendary hits soundtracking our lives with timeless anthems such as “Respect,” “Do Right Woman,” and “Rock Steady....

The year is 2003 — a time that one columnist dubbed the “Age of Ambition” — and all of Beijing is suddenly buzzing with the sense that anything is now possible. But individual change is hard to come by in a nation of billions; under the surface and behind the scenes, hopes for a brighter tomorrow are being frustrated by the back-currents of yesterday, and many of the people trying to swim upstream are finding themselves helplessly ensnared by the collective fears of a system that would sooner let them drown....

The reverse ends up being true for “The Cost of Winning,” a new HBO series following the 2019 football season of the Baltimore-area, nationally recognized athletics powerhouse St. Frances Academy. With a team made up of plenty of college recruits and a schedule of high-profile opponents across the country, the show makes the argument that the Panthers carry the weight of expectations faced by few others at the high school level....

There are literal traps, of course — this is the series that gave Michelle Gomez (here playing hardened killer Miranda Croft) a switchblade and let her loose on Bangkok, New York City, and Rome. But most of the drama takes place inside the head of protagonist Cassie Bowden (Kaley Cuoco), exploring the trauma of waking up next to the newly murdered corpse of a one-night stand named Alex Sokolov (Michel Huisman), as well as the psychological baggage she’s been carrying around for years....

Where to Watch ‘The Fungies!’: HBO Max It’s not easy to describe what exactly the Fungies are. The theme song for the animated HBO Max Original presents them as “prehistoric fungi,” though de facto main character Seth (voiced by Harry Teitelman) is basically shaded like a tomato and the inhabitants of bustling Fungietown live in giant mushroom buildings, so everything in this world follows a kind of internal children’s-show logic....

It’s certainly a sweet concept for a novel (just like the one the film is actually based on, by bestselling author Jojo Moyes), but one that never quite translates its disparate tones and stories into a cohesive cinematic experience. At best, it’s a suitable companion piece to the novel; at worst, it’s a lackluster feature bolstered only briefly by flashes of real human emotion. But back to those different heroines....

But really it’s “Se7en” that comes to feel like the most obvious antecedent of all, even if that epochal hit came out a few years after Hancock first hatched the idea for this one. Here is another vivid, patient, character-driven psychological thriller that sees its A-list cast as a license to subvert audience expectations, prioritize the detectives over the murderer they’re trying to catch, and offer a gruesomely dark vision of the world that focuses its lens on how the light gets in....

Some of them should be so lucky. At one point, during what can only be described as the worst bachelorette party ever conceived in movies and/or real life, Kristen Bell is submerged in the River Thames on a crisp fall afternoon while dressed in nothing but an American flag bikini (and that’s before the activity goes wrong). At another, Ben Platt pisses on iconic “No Fear, No Die” star Isaach de Bankolé out of spite, which is not a sentence I ever expected to write....

“The Staircase” explores the life of Michael Peterson (Firth), his sprawling North Carolina family, and the suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson (Collette), who was found dead at the bottom of the staircase in their mansion. Her husband, Marine Corps veteran Michael, was a novelist, newspaper columnist, and mayoral candidate when he was convicted of Kathleen’s murder in 2003. Starring alongside Firth and Collette is an embarrassment of rich talents: Michael Stuhlbarg, Juliette Binoche, Dane DeHaan, Olivia DeJonge, Rosemarie DeWitt, Tim Guinee, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sophie Turner, Vincent Vermignon, Odessa Young, and Parker Posey....

Susanne Bier is in demand. HBO reached out to “The Night Manager” Emmy-winner to direct the limited series “The Undoing”; she didn’t have to pitch. That’s not just because she’s a sought-after filmmaker — and because experienced women directors are a prize get these days — but the Danish Oscar-winning auteur (“In a Better World”) has a sophisticated skill set that includes something hard to find: she knows how to reach a wide audience....

Ti West’s slasher trilogy with “X” and “Pearl” now concludes with “MaXXXine,” starring Goth as the titular character set a decade after the events of an adult film shoot gone wrong on a Southern farm. It’s now 1985 and Maxine has found her way to Los Angeles, where her name is perched in the hills in lieu of the Hollywood sign. Seems like she’s finally gotten her wish to be famous....

TIFF also launched a sales market, screening an array of fiction and nonfiction titles to the press and industry online, and to the public in both indoor (limit 60 people) and more expansive outdoor venues in Toronto, and virtually across Canada. “As we talked to industry and press and filmmakers and sponsors,” said TIFF co-head Joana Vicente, “people needed us to have this event. They wanted a platform for the films....

Since its inception in 2018, Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Outreach and Grant Program has helped over 600 emerging entertainment critics pursue their academic and professional goals. “According to a recent survey we conducted with 350 Tomatometer-approved critics, 92 percent contend that the cost of travel and lodging still prohibits them from attending key festivals and conventions,” Jenny Jediny, Rotten Tomatoes director of critic engagement, said. “Supporting festival inclusion programs remains an important part of Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Outreach and Grant Program and we’re thrilled to be expanding our mentorship initiatives and scholarships for aspiring critics from underrepresented groups....

On the 20th anniversary of that tragic time, Handling — who left TIFF in 2018 and is currently writing a book about the history of film festivals — spoke to IndieWire about the tumultuous experience and what lessons could be extrapolated from it for the pandemic era. The morning news cycle on 9/11 was chaotic. At what point did you realize the severity of the situation? The reality didn’t really set in until right after the towers fell....

Around the time “Doctor Strange” was opening in fall 2016, Swinton told IndieWire that once people saw her “Doctor Strange” performance they would understand and embrace her casting. “There’s a kind of misunderstanding, which I hope the film will make clear when people see the film,” she said, noting Feige and director Scott Derrickson “made this very clear decision” to cast Swinton so the role could be changed from “what they considered an offensive racial stereotype in the comic books....

In a new Substack interview with Matt Taibbi, Tim Robbins expressed his concerns that too much pandemic-related caution could ultimately make the arts less accessible. The “Shawshank Redemption” star explained that the Actors Gang Theatre, a Los Angeles theatre company where he serves as artistic director, made the decision to postpone its reopening in 2021 because he did not want to enforce a vaccine mandate for audience members. “We were capable of opening last September, but there were still all of these restrictions,” Robinson said of the vaccine mandates in California....

This year saw the release of several quality films and TV shows steeped in authenticity, joy, and a genuine grappling with the complexities of the trans experience. There’s no better time to visit these projects than during Transgender Awareness Week, a week of celebration that culminates with Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, which memorializes victims of transphobic violence. A decent place to start is the Laverne Cox-produced Netflix documentary “Disclosure,” which offers a comprehensive overview of trans folks onscreen, as well an impassioned argument for why representation matters....

The company, led by co-CEOs Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, has been embroiled in controversy over the last two weeks, since the October 5 release of “The Closer,” which triples down on Chappelle’s long-standing fixation on ripping into the transgender community. The mess included embarrassing leaks of internal communications, temporary suspensions of trans employees who spoke out, and, in one case, the termination of a Black non-binary employee. The very public lashing has been a PR nightmare for a company that has long touted its progressive values and resisted airing any and all dirty laundry in the public sphere....

But the parade of nightly news reports and late-night talk show guest spots also illustrates what makes “Untold” such an enticing premise to be seen through a sports lens. As the title implies, the series examines specific chapters in a variety of sports, offering the people at the center the chance to share their feelings years (or in some cases decades) later. Some of these have a true-crime tinge to them, as with installments covering a minor league hockey team caught up in a federal racketeering investigation or a shocking attack on one of the pioneers of women’s boxing....