Movies Update: The Sundance Film Festival and More

Plus, “Before Sunrise” turns 25.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story January 24, 2020

By Stephanie Goodman Film Editor

Hi movie fans!

Most of the staff is off to Sundance this week, where the high-profile titles include “On the Record,” the documentary about women who have accused the hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct, allegations Simmons has denied. This is the film that lost both its distribution and an executive producer (Oprah Winfrey) after Simmons and his supporters mounted an intense pressure campaign, as my colleagues Ben Sisario and Nicole Sperling first reported. Will the film get a new distributor? And will the directors, Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, say anything about the controversy? We’re keeping a close eye on the Saturday premiere in Park City.

Back in Hollywood, the Oscar race is heating up. With the earliest ceremony ever (Feb. 9) making for a short campaign season (something I heartily applaud), precursor prizes are quickly piling up. Last Saturday, the Producers Guild Award went to “1917,” instantly making that World War I drama a front-runner, as my favorite awards expert, Kyle Buchanan, noted. The very next night, the biting Korean drama “Parasite” took the all-important SAG Award from the actors’ union. Next up are the Directors Guild Awards on Sunday. Will they go with yet a third title? Stay tuned!

Lionsgate   The Carpetbagger 10 Years Later, an Oscar Experiment That Actually Worked Expanding the best-picture list has made the category better, but there’s still more to do to give us a fuller sense of the year in movies. By Kyle Buchanan

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MOVIE REVIEWS ‘The Gentlemen’ Review: Boys Will Be Boys, Sometimes With Guns Guy Ritchie makes a very Guy Ritchie movie, this time with Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant and Charlie Hunnam. by manohla dargis ‘The Turning’ Review: Taking a Dusty Book Off the Shelf Henry James’s 19th-century novella “The Turn of the Screw” receives an update in this film that has the hallmarks of horror but few real terrors. by ben kenigsberg critic’s pick ‘I Wish I Knew’ Review: A Melancholy Master’s Portrait of a City In this elegiac documentary, the director Jia Zhangke explores Shanghai through its people, stories and soaring cranes. by manohla dargis critic’s pick ‘Zombi Child’ Review: Race, Class and Voodoo A new film about a schoolgirl’s erotic obsession examines the social hierarchies of midcentury Haiti and present-day France. by glenn kenny critic’s pick ‘Color Out of Space’ Review: Bother From Another Planet Nicolas Cage and Joely Richardson face an evil shade of lilac in this inventive sci-fi horror film directed by Richard Stanley. by jeannette catsoulis ‘John Henry’ Review: Hammer Time Terry Crews stars as an ex-gang member reluctant to take revenge in Will Forbes’s over-the-top action flick. by jeannette catsoulis

NEWS & FEATURES ‘Before Sunrise’: The Making of an Indie Classic On a tiny budget and at the mercy of Viennese trains and Ferris wheels, Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke managed to create ’90s movie magic. by ashley spencer critic’s notebook Watch Movies in 4DX and You’ll Get an Education in Filmmaking Shaking seats and flashing lights may seem gimmicky, but in fact the format’s effects let you feel physically how a feature has been directed. by melissa powers Hollywood Women Push Directors Guild for Better Parental Benefits Taking leave can result in lost coverage, as one female director discovered after giving birth. She’s enlisted Amy Schumer, Amy Poehler and others in her effort to get the rules revised. by cara buckley A New Player at Sundance, Backed by Laurene Powell Jobs One-fourth of the documentaries in the Sundance Film Festival’s competition for American nonfiction films come from the same upstart company, Concordia Studio. by nicole sperling sundance film festival What Taylor Swift Reveals in the New Documentary ‘Miss Americana’ It covers pressure not to speak out politically and an eating disorder kept at bay as she questions her eagerness to please. What’s missing? Her feud with Scooter Braun. by kyle buchanan the carpetbagger SAG Award Winners 2020: ‘Parasite’ Pulls Off Huge Victory Joaquin Phoenix, Renée Zellweger, Brad Pitt and Laura Dern take the individual honors for film. “The Crown” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” win best TV drama and comedy. by kyle buchanan How ‘Honeyland’ Became an Oscar Game Changer The movie from North Macedonia is the first to be nominated for both best documentary and best international feature. by sara aridi exhibition review The Making of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Was as Far Out as the Movie A jumble of memorabilia, storyboards and props, an exhibit illustrates the whirl of influences behind Stanley Kubrick’s groundbreaking 1968 film. by ben kenigsberg

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CRITICS’ PICKS critic’s pick ‘Little Women’ Review: This Movie Is Big Greta Gerwig refreshes a literary classic with the help of a dazzling cast that includes Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern and Meryl Streep. by a.o. scott critic’s pick ‘Uncut Gems’ Review: Adam Sandler’s Punch-Drunk Hustle In the Safdie brothers’ new movie, Sandler plays a jewelry-store owner and compulsive gambler running for his life. by manohla dargis

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