Writer/director Taika Waititi revealed the genesis of the unexpected nod to Taylor Swift in the latest MCU installment, now in theaters. The scene-stealing screaming goats that act as sidekicks to the titular Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Jane Foster aka newest hero Mighty Thor (Natalie Portman), and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) had a special connection to none other than Emmy winner Swift. “The goats were always going to be in there because they are in the comics, but we didn’t know how they would sound,” Waititi told Insider....

The winners were determined by votes cast by the TCA’s network of more than 250 professional TV critics and journalists in the United States and Canada. In noting that “Watchmen” received the organization’s Program Of The Year award, a TCA announcement singled out the series “for taking the established mythos of the legendary ‘Watchmen’ graphic novel to new heights with a timely story that paid homage to the original source while paving its own unique legacy....

In this week’s episode of Screen Talk, Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson sit down at the Telluride Hotel to discuss the rush of activity they’ve experienced at the start of the Colorado gathering and how they expect the buzz to evolve in the days to come. Check out more Telluride analysis from Thompson here and the full Telluride lineup here. Listen to the full episode below. Screen Talk is produced by Leonardo Adrian Garcia and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and hosted by Megaphone....

AMC will open theaters in San Diego County, an area that received the go-ahead last Friday. Today, Maryland also announced that theaters are good to go (50-percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is less), but the late announcement makes Friday’s opening for “Tenet” uncertain. Variety reported that Bow Tie Cinemas, a regional circuit that also was a plaintiff in the multi-party federal suit to reopen theaters, will be open Friday....

The “God’s Country” star spoke out against prejudice in an interview with Sky News (via The Independent UK). “My internalized prejudice was stopping me from feeling like I could play this role when it’s precisely that prejudice that I’ve received,” Newton said of starring in the 2022 Sundance film, based on James Lee Burke’s short story about an older white man. Newton continued through tears to say, “I’m sorry that I’m the one chosen” over “darker-skinned actresses....

Here are the seven best movies new to Netflix in September 2020. 7. “Anaconda” (1997)  Available to stream September 1. 6. “Magic Mike” (2020) First things first, the best and most important thing about “Magic Mike” is that “Magic Mike XXL” wouldn’t exist without it. That being said, the original is excellent enough on its own merits. A beefy good time that doubles as a post-recessionary study of greed, Soderbergh’s shirtless spectacular is such a deeply enjoyable movie because it never forgets that the heart is the strongest muscle in the human body....

Tom Clancy’s best-selling novels have been adapted into a blockbuster film franchise, and there’s a new installment coming soon. The former insurance agent-turned-novelist who died in 2013, was known for recurring themes of espionage, Soviet operatives, military-inspired storylines, corrupt government agencies, and other makings of a gripping action film. Jack Ryan, Clancy’s biggest novel-to-film character, is a CIA analyst whose various missions have been the premise for most of the films that his books were adapted from....

Season 1 of “The Crown” drew 17.57 million hours viewed for the week of September 5-11, according to Netflix, good enough for seventh place. That viewership tally pretty much just counts Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. (There would definitely have been some natural — albeit very late — sampling of the first season on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, though it is safe the assume the lion’s share came during the early mourning period....

So did it come from the master’s hand, or is it a “fake”? Spoiler alert: Andreas Koefoed’s “The Lost Leonardo” is the kind of fast-paced and casually absorbing investigative documentary that ends with a newscaster declaring: “The mystery is sort of solved, but not really.” But Koefoed himself is every bit as cagey and opportunistic as any of the other people whose eyes widened at the sight of the painting during its 12-year journey from Louisiana to the Louvre, and though his film slow-rolls the obvious for maximum suspense, it understands from the start that the real mystery behind “Salvator Mundi” isn’t about how art becomes commerce so much as it’s about how commerce becomes art....

Here’s what didn’t happen: None of the leading contenders scored slots in all four top Guild Awards: WGA, PGA, DGA, and SAG Ensemble. Leading the fray are the DGA nominees: Kenneth Branagh’s Toronto audience award-winner “Belfast,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s ’70s California valentine “Licorice Pizza,” Steven Spielberg’s musical remake “West Side Story,” and Denis Villeneuve’s space epic “Dune,” which are all three for four, and show support from the crafts as well, as does PGA nominee Jane Campion’s neo-western “The Power of the Dog” (which was not eligible for the WGA), and nabbed three SAG nominations, but not ensemble....

Hypnotically vibrating in the fuzzy black space between a very special episode of “Behind the Music” and the longest film that Stan Brakhage never made, Todd Haynes’ “The Velvet Underground” is a documentary (his first) by a man whose previous musical tributes include a glam-rock fantasia that gave David Bowie the “Citizen Kane” treatment, a “Mishima”-esque kaleidoscope that refracted Bob Dylan through the infinity mirror of his own myth, and an underground Karen Carpenter biopic that cast the late singer as a literal Barbie doll....

It’s easy to blame studios for not releasing more movies to fill the void, but the reality isn’t that simple. Covid upended production schedules, an increased reliance on special effects led to a massive production backlog, and the capacity for theaters to deliver grosses commensurate with 2019 or earlier isn’t there. When major releases demand a minimum of $30 million in marketing, studios lose incentive for theatrical releases. Related ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Continues Surge, Most Other New Titles Swoon as Holiday Nears End ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Could Reach $600 Million Domestic, $2 Billion Worldwide Related Oscars 2023: Best International Feature Film Predictions The 13 Best Slasher Movies Ever Made, from ‘Candyman’ to ‘Psycho’ Domestic theaters managed about $52 million this weekend, possibly a low in this century (before 2020) in actual dollars, and certainly the fewest tickets sold for much longer....

All three documentaries — “Uprising,” “Black Power: A British Story of Resistance,” and “Subnormal: A British Scandal” — explore key themes and events depicted in McQueen’s award-winning “Small Axe“ anthology, which is currently streaming on Prime Video. Each documentary features first-hand interviews with key participants in the events, many of whom are telling their stories for the first time. McQueen is an executive producer on all three documentaries alongside James Rogan, Tracey Scoffield, and Soleta Rogan....

During a 2022 Tribeca Talk following a screening of the new 4K restoration of 1995 thriller “Heat,” star Al Pacino revealed that he hopes Chalamet takes on the role of detective Vincent Hanna in a prequel film. Pacino played Vincent in the original Michael Mann cat-and-mouse film, opposite Robert De Niro as criminal Neil McCauley. Director Mann co-wrote “Heat 2,” an upcoming prequel/sequel novel to the film, with Edgar-winning crime writer Meg Gardiner....

The eighth and final installment in the “Mission: Impossible” film franchise had to cease filming after dozens of sheep invaded production in the Lake District in England, as reported by Fox News. Lead star and producer Cruise stood to the side to make way for the sheep to pass through; additional set photos included Cruise flying in mid-air while attached to a blue parachute. Cruise plays spy Ethan Hunt in the film franchise, with upcoming “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One” set for a July 14, 2023 release date....

At the studio, Pollock worked with many of the top directors in Hollywood: Steven Spielberg (“Jurassic Park”), Robert Zemeckis (the “Back to the Future” trilogy), Ron Howard (“Backdraft,” “Parenthood”), Ivan Reitman (“Twins,” “Kindergarten Cop”), Martin Scorsese (“Cape Fear,” “Casino”), and George Miller (“Lorenzo’s Oil”). During Pollock’s Universal tenure, the studio garnered seven Academy Award Best Picture nominations, including winner Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List,” Miller’s “Babe,” Howard’s “Apollo 13,” Phil Alden Robinson’s “Field of Dreams,” Oliver Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July,” Martin Brest’s “Scent of a Woman,” and Jim Sheridan’s “In the Name of the Father....

The playwright-turned-filmmaker, whose debut “Bad Roads” was the Ukrainian Oscar submission last fall, was shooting “Demons” in the city of Myrhorod on Wednesday when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As airstrikes, tanks, and troops arrived across the country, the Myrhorod Air Base was among the targets. By then, Vorozhbit’s cast and crew retreated. On Thursday, Vorozhbit found herself in a makeshift bomb shelter with relatives on the outskirts of Kyiv, uncertain about the future of her project but committed to finishing it....

Many authors took to social media to support Rushdie, including “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling. She called the attack “horrifying” and wrote that she was “sick” with worry about Rushdie. Soon after, she shared threats made in her replies telling the author that she is “next.” She asked for support from Twitter, then later revealed that she had involved the police. While it is unclear if the Twitter threats had any connection to the attack on Rushdie, Warner Bros....

Per usual, the nominations will be announced early in the morning. Leslie Jordan (“Will & Grace”) and Tracee Ellis Ross (“Black-ish”) will announce the nominations at 8:18 ET/5:18 a.m. PT Tuesday, February 8. The nominations will be announced via a livestream, which you can watch on Oscars.org, ABC, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. Or in the video below. While the first phase of the Oscar campaigns may be over, the announcement of this year’s nominees will kick off another sprint of campaigning in the lead-up to the actual ceremony....

Thinking of adding a horror movie to your weekend watchlist? “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” the eighth and final installment in the chilling series, debuted in movie theaters and on HBO Max on Friday. Directed by Michael Chaves (“The Curse of La Llorona”), the film tells the story of real-life demonologists Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren in one of their most sensational cases. Based off the real-life Arne Cheyenne Johnson murder trial that took place in Connecticut in 1981, the movie plot centers around a young man who claims demonic possession drove him to commit murder....