“If there is one takeaway from this year’s Main Slate, it is cinema’s limitless capacity for renewal,” said Dennis Lim, artistic director, New York Film Festival. “Collectively, the films in the program suggest that this renewal takes many forms: breathtaking debuts, veterans pulling off new tricks, filmmakers of all stripes seeking new and surprising forms of expression and representation. We love the range and eclecticism of this group of films and are excited to share it with audiences....

To state the obvious, voters made their selection from a wide range of smaller-scale movies, given that many of the studio blockbusters, from Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” to Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” were pushed back due to the pandemic. Clearly, while stuck at home, many Academy voters were watching Netflix. That’s a huge advantage for “step one” on the road to an Oscar nomination: getting your movie seen. The full shortlists are here....

Seeking their first Oscar acting mentions: Critics Choice and BAFTA nominees Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jesse Plemons both landed nominations for their roles in Jane Campion’s festival hit “The Power of the Dog” (Netflix). Smit-McPhee plays Peter, an enigmatic medical student who joins his mother Rose (nominee Kirsten Dunst) and her new husband George (Plemons) on a remote Montana cattle ranch. Out of his element on the range, Peter is happy for the couple’s newfound happiness, until George’s surly brother Phil (nominee Benedict Cumberbatch), a loudmouth bully, seeks to undermine his new family at every turn....

This comes as “Nomadland,” winner for Best Picture, Actress, and Director, reduced its price Tuesday to $5.99. Prior, it was available as a $14.99 Premium VOD offering after its initial launch in theaters and on Hulu. (The rentals bump came before the price reduction.) Platforms vary in how quickly they reflect changes in viewership, but AppleTV is one of the most responsive. That shows in today’s rankings, which reflect transactions rather than pricing....

In an appearance on “Good Morning America,” the Oscars telecast producer discussed how LAPD was ready to arrest Will Smith after he slapped Best Documentary presenter Chris Rock onstage. However, Rock didn’t want Smith to be removed, according to the producer. (Sources at Deadline, however, dispute Packer’s version of events and claim that Rock was never asked if he wanted Will Smith to be removed.) When the slap happened, Packer said he thought it was a bit....

Set in 1717, “Our Flag Means Death” follows Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) after he trades in his aristocratic lifestyle to become captain of pirate ship Revenge following a midlife crisis. Helmed by creator David Jenkins and executive-produced by Taika Waititi (who also stars as Captain Blackbeard), “Our Flag Means Death” is loosely based on the real-life adventures of Bonnet and his crew. The 10-episode season premieres March 3 on HBO Max with three episodes, followed by three more episodes March 10, two episodes March 17, and the two final episodes March 24....

But for all of the wild reveals that “Oxygen” has in store, most of which are predictable in broad strokes, there’s one minor little detail that Christie LeBlanc’s script never satisfyingly explains despite the fact that it’s baked into the deepest bedrock of this film: Why in hell would a cryogenic chamber ever come equipped with social media!? Surely the best part of suspended animation is the sweet release from the poison grip of posting....

While the “Terminal List” actor’s father Arnold Schwarzenegger played a man who could conceive and carry a child in 1994 comedy “Junior,” Schwarzenegger revealed he wore a “pregnancy belly” prosthetic to show his “The Staircase” character’s physical change over the course of the HBO limited series. “He got really heavy,” Schwarzenegger told Variety of playing real-life North Carolina resident Todd Peterson, who battles alcohol and drug abuse. “I had to wear a four-month pregnancy belly....

My earliest memories of Keller come from the place I’ve loved and chosen to cover for my career: the movie screen. Patty Duke’s Oscar nominated performance in 1962’s “The Miracle Worker” wasn’t the first movie about a disabled person I saw, but it was the most ubiquitous. It’s an image that has become ingrained in nearly all discussions of disability representation on-screen. Despite the fact that 1 in 4 people in the United States have some form of disability, they only make up about 3....

“It’s difficult sometimes to remember where your head was at,” Phillips tells IndieWire, but the British actress finds it fascinating that the themes Eliza and crew were talking about on the show — racism, misogyny, and the problems of the oppressed — only became more relevant as time went on. As the world outside took on a darker sheen, what audiences connected to so intensely was the series’ old-fashioned, nostalgic sensibilities....

Apple’s “CODA” has now won two powerful guild awards that could presage how Oscar members will vote: the Screen Actors and the Producers. Like “Parasite” in 2020, the SAG Ensemble award for “CODA” signaled widespread support for a low-budget indie, which broke out big at digital Sundance 2021 and generated interest from multiple buyers before AppleTV+ cleared the table with a $25 million buy. With this pivotal win, “CODA” is now positioned to take home all three of its possible Oscars: Troy Kotsur in Supporting Actor, Sian Heder for Adapted Screenplay (who will likely win the WGA on Sunday), and Best Picture....

Exhibition fought off encroachments for decades, but theaters have never been so weak. Some theater owners would like to cast these new precedents as COVID-era exception, but neither the AMC-Universal deal nor Cinemark’s willingness to play films with limited window would happen if theaters felt there was an alternative. There’s another, more optimistic element that may also be in play. By addressing VOD head on, AMC and Cinemark are becoming active participants in its future....

The queen died at age 96 after some months of health complications. Her eldest son, Prince Charles of Wales, is now king, with Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, next in line for the throne. The queen died after being placed under medical supervision and a rescheduled Privy Council meeting. The monarch passed away at her Scottish Highlands estate, Balmoral. Queen Elizabeth II, a direct descendent of Queen Victoria, was born in 1926 and became queen after the death of her father King George VI in 1952....

When it was time for Rachel Brosnahan to choose her favorite scene from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” Season 4,” she couldn’t. The scenes bookend Season 4 and explore two of Midge’s most important relationships: Susie (Alex Borstein) and Lenny (Luke Kirby). The first scene is near the top of Episode 1, when Midge and Susie are left behind by Shy Baldwin (Leroy McClain) after Midge all but outed him in the Season 3 finale....

“They stand on their own,” she said. “I wanted to believe our Cruella 15 years later becomes the Glenn Close version that we know. And because we’re an origin story, and we start with this girl who’s finding her way and finding her fashion, it’s believable that she’s playing with all those looks in hair and makeup and costumes, and eventually will become the sculptured look that Cruella is.”...

During an October 5 panel at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival, Downey Jr. and his producing partner and wife Susan Downey confirmed “conversations are happening” to build out the third “Sherlock Holmes” movie into a new film universe. Downey Jr. experienced the rewards of a shared universe as the MCU’s Tony Stark/Iron Man, a role which came to an end after a decade with the release of last year’s “Avengers: Endgame....

“He certainly did not ask me for any advice,” Nolan recently told Singapore’s CNA news outlet about Pattinson. “We kept a respectful silence around the issue until very near the end of the shoot. We said a couple of things and made a couple of jokes. We did have a little bit of a conversation about the various aspects of what he was going to be putting himself through. But I was thrilled that he was cast, and I think he’ll do an amazing job....

Bernthal made his MCU debut in “Daredevil” Season 2 as former Marine Frank Castle aka The Punisher who sets out to avenge the death of his family. He then got his own Marvel series, “The Punisher,” which lasted at Netflix for two seasons from 2017 to 2019. Meanwhile, Dawson starred as Claire Temple aka the Night Nurse in “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” and “Iron Fist,” among the Netflix Marvel shows....

“I think the facts are clear: A weapon was handed to Mr. Baldwin, the weapon is functional and fired a live round, killing Ms. Hutchins and injuring Mr. Sousa,” Sheriff Adan Mendoza said during a Wednesday press conference. No charges have been filed as of yet. Mendoza said made sure to specify that much of the information he shared will need to be confirmed through additional interviews with the 90 “Rust” crew members, plus additional and forensic and ballistics tests conducted at the FBI Laboratory....

“She’s helped me so much in ‘Deadpool,’ all kinds of movies that have been big successes,” said Reynolds, who called Lively a “really talented, multihyphenate kind of person.” He added that his best contributions as a writer to projects often come from Lively. “There’s a lot of A++ writing that I’ve done that was actually Blake; Blake would jump in, grab the keyboard and [say] ‘What about this?’ And I’d be like, ‘That’s incredible,’” Reynolds said....