Movies Update: A new home for Sundance?

Plus, Netflix changes strategy.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story April 19, 2024 By Stephanie Goodman Hi, movie fans! This was a big week for potentially big changes in the film world. After parting ways with Scott Stuber, its top film executive, Netflix is shifting strategies under his replacement, Dan Lin. The new mandate is "to make Netflix's movies better, cheaper and less frequent," as my colleague Nicole Sperling explained, noting that members of Lin's reorganized team have also been asked to "become more aggressive producers, developing their own material rather than waiting for projects from producers and agents to come to them." The effects are already being felt, with Kathryn Bigelow reportedly walking away from a project. From my editor's perspective, fewer titles will make my job a little easier after the streamer's one-film-a-week era. But Hollywood sees an upside, too, Sperling says: The hope is that the streamer would "provide a home for more romantic comedies and midbudget character studies," the kind of movies the "American Fiction" writer-director Cord Jefferson pleaded with Hollywood to make when he was speaking at the Oscars. Another potentially important shift involves Sundance. After 40 years in Park City, Utah, the festival may be looking for a new home base, Sperling reports. The organization's contract with the Utah city expires in 2026, and, taking a hard look at drawbacks like snow, traffic and expensive lodging, the festival has put out a call for proposals from other localities interested in serving as host. Park City will probably be in the mix, so it's not clear the festival will actually move in the end. But it's interesting to contemplate what a new center of gravity for indie film could mean. (I personally have enjoyed The Black List founder Franklin Leonard's brackets pitting possible contenders against one another. Detroit, Philadelphia and New Orleans are among the cities his followers have voted for.) In the meantime, while we watch these developments play out, enjoy the movies! Bernard Walsh/Universal Pictures 'Abigail' Review: Horror by Numbers In this cheerfully unambitious vampire movie, a bloodsucker is shut up in an old mansion with some nitwit criminals. Will there will be gore? You bet. By Manohla Dargis Daniel Smith/Lionsgate 'The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' Review: War, Undemanding Guy Ritchie's latest is the platonic ideal of an airplane movie, which is not exactly a good thing. By Alissa Wilkinson Booklight Film Company Critic's Notebook 4 Documentaries That Explore How Families Cope With Dementia In "Little Empty Boxes" and other films, the heartbreak of memory loss is intertwined with deeper cultural implications. By Alissa Wilkinson Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT CRITICS' PICKS A24, via Associated Press Critic's Pick 'Civil War' Review: We Have Met the Enemy and It Is Us. Again. In Alex Garland's tough new movie, a group of journalists led by Kirsten Dunst, as a photographer, travels a United States at war with itself. By Manohla Dargis Magnolia Pictures/River Road Critic's Pick 'Food, Inc. 2' Review: A Second Course Directed by Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo, the sequel about food production in the U.S. is, in some ways, a more hopeful film. By Ben Kenigsberg MOVIE REVIEWS Danielle Scruggs/Participant/Sony Pictures Classics 'We Grown Now' Review: A Child's Eye View Minhal Baig's third feature follows two boys living in a public housing complex in Chicago as they cope by building their own dream worlds. By Manohla Dargis Neon 'Stress Positions' Review: It's Giving Pandemonium The writer-director Theda Hammel's biting, delirious quarantine comedy skewers white gay men in a world where fact, fiction and authentic experiences collide. By Lisa Kennedy Ralphie Taylor Allen/The Avenue 'Blood for Dust' Review: Dire Straits This drug-run thriller, starring Scoot McNairy, traffics in grim ponderousness. By Ben Kenigsberg Netflix 'Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver' Review: Of Stars and Wars A delirious, pulpy mishmash of knockoffs, Zack Snyder's film isn't good, but it sure is something. By Amy Nicholson Masahiro Mmiki/Strand Releasing USA 'Egoist' Review: A Romance With a Twist In this ultimately sentimental drama, a lonely fashion magazine editor in Tokyo meets a personal trainer with a secret. By Devika Girish Hulu 'The Stranger' Review: Somewhere Over the Freeway In this tense thriller on Hulu, Maika Monroe plays Clare, a Kansas transplant in Los Angeles who parallels Dorothy in Oz. By Natalia Winkelman Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT NEWS & FEATURES Chantal Anderson for The New York Times Denis Villeneuve Answers All Your Questions About 'Dune: Part Two' He explains why Lady Jessica's face is so heavily tattooed, whether Paul considers himself the Messiah and what he thinks of those Javier Bardem memes. By Amy Nicholson Hemdale Critic's Notebook Ken Loach: Championing the Strugglers and Stragglers A retrospective of the director's work at Film Forum shows how his movies have kept a focus on working-class solidarity. By Jeannette Catsoulis 20th Century Fox A.I. Made These Movies Sharper. Critics Say It Ruined Them. Machine-learning technologies are being used in film restoration for new home video releases. But some viewers strongly dislike the results. By Calum Marsh Patti Perret/Orion Pictures Queer Women Behaving Badly: These Movies Scrap the Coming-Out Story "Love Lies Bleeding," "Bottoms" and "Drive-Away Dolls" are leading a wave of stories about lesbians living their lives, committing crimes along the way. By Laura Zornosa Frederic J. Brown/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Netflix's New Film Strategy: More About the Audience, Less About Auteurs Dan Lin, the streaming service's new film chief, wants to produce a more varied slate of movies to better appeal to the array of interests among subscribers. By Nicole Sperling STREAMING RECOMMENDATIONS Well Go USA Entertainment Five Action Movies to Stream Now This month's picks include competing assassins, a mysterious hitchhiker, a stoic bricklayer and more. By Robert Daniels Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd., via Associated Press The 50 Best TV Shows and Movies to Watch on Disney+ Right Now The Disney streaming platform has hundreds of movie and TV titles, drawing from its own deep reservoir of classics and from Star Wars, Marvel, National Geographic and more. These are our favorites. By Scott Tobias Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT How are we doing? We'd love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to moviesupdate@nytimes.com. Like this email? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up here. Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Movies Update from The New York Times. To stop receiving Movies Update, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. 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