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      ‘The Fishing Place’ Review: A Village Under Suspicion

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      Rob Tregenza’s latest film, set in a German-occupied Norwegian village, follows a housekeeper dispatched to spy on a priest.“The Fishing Place” is a visually arresting exploration of resistance, including that of its writer-director, Rob Tregenza. Set in a German-occupied Norwegian village in World War II, it tracks several characters circling one another in a world that’s striking for its natural beauty and its humming menace. Outwardly, everything and everyone here looks so ordinary, including the prosperous resident who, early on at a get-together at his home, salutes his guest of honor. “Our friendship goes way back,” he says, “we have been on the same team.” He then raises his glass, inviting the room to do the same, and toasts his guest, a Nazi officer.Beautifully shot in film by Tregenza and divided into two discrete sections, the movie opens on a fjord in the southern Norwegian county of Telemark. It’s winter. Snow has heavily blanketed the ground and dusted the surrounding forest and jagged peaks, lending the village a picture-postcard quality. Although Tregenza doesn’t offer much by way of historical background, it seems worth noting that Telemark is the birthplace of Vidkun Quisling, the head of the Norwegian government under occupation whose name became a synonym for traitor. It’s also the setting for Anthony Mann’s 1965 war film “The Heroes of Telemark,” in which Kirk Douglas plays a Norwegian physicist turned heroic resistance fighter.The mild intrigue in “The Fishing Place” is almost incidental to the overall movie and centers on Anna (Ellen Dorrit Petersen), a middle-age woman who arrives in the village with a single suitcase and no explanation. Sometime later, she is approached by the Nazi officer, Hansen (Frode Winther), a Norwegian with whom she has a murky history. “May I have this dance,” he says with a threatening undertone just before reminding her that she once turned him down. He seems to be holding a grudge; he also holds the power. So, when he orders Anna to begin working as a housekeeper for a newly arrived priest, Honderich (the quietly charismatic Andreas Lust), and reporting on his activities, she gets to work.Much of what transpires involves Anna, Hansen and Honderich, a German Lutheran. As life goes on, the priest tends to the oddly unwelcoming community — several residents warn him about the town — as Anna and the officer keep watch. Along the way, Tregenza seems to directly nod at the Mann movie, including in a scene set inside the priest’s church. More generally, Tregenza’s film offers up a counterpoint to the fantasies (and national myths) that turn history into screen entertainment, people into glamorous heroes. Tregenza is adept at deploying the conventions of mainstream fiction — guns are fired here, blows struck and brows furrowed — but he’s more interested in dismantling norms than in just recycling them.In that respect, the most intriguing figure in “The Fishing Place” is, in a manner of speaking, Tregenza, who throughout the film continuously draws attention to his camerawork, as he plays with the palette and different registers of realism, mixing in naturalistic scenes with more stylized ones that border on the hieroglyphic. His touch is evident right from the beginning with an eerie image of what looks like a ghost fishing boat adrift on the water amid tendrils of sea fog. Soon, Anna has arrived and with the camera parked behind her, glides toward the town. She looks like she’s floating on air, as if she too were a specter.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Netflix in February

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      This month’s new arrivals include an insightful docudrama about a fraudulent wellness blogger and a rare TV role for Robert De Niro.Every month, Netflix adds movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of February’s most promising new titles for U.S. subscribers. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)‘Apple Cider Vinegar’Starts streaming: Feb. 6The Australian mini-series “Apple Cider Vinegar” is a fictionalized version of a true story about Belle Gibson, a wellness influencer who became the center of a scandal when she admitted to lying about overcoming cancer through strict dieting. Kaitlyn Dever plays Belle, who becomes addicted to the positive attention she receives — not to mention the money — when she begins sharing her made-up story on social media. Alycia Debnam-Carey plays Milla, another alternative health advocate who becomes first an inspiration to Belle and then a rival for likes and clicks — although her testimonials, too, are not strictly on the level. Aisha Dee rounds out the main cast as Chanelle, a friend of Milla’s who works with Belle and gets caught in the middle of the escalating quackery.‘La Dolce Villa’Starts streaming: Feb. 13This romantic comedy offers two main attractions. One is Scott Foley, a veteran TV actor with a disarming screen presence. He plays Eric, a busy business consultant and widower who puts his career on hold to help his daughter, Olivia (Maia Reficco), extract value from a suspiciously cheap piece of rural Italian real estate. The movie’s other big star is its sun-dappled location, where these two Americans discover some unexpected passions: Eric for cooking and the local dignitary Francesca (Violante Placido); and Olivia for interior design and the charming local restaurateur Giovanni (Giuseppe Futia). Directed by Mark Waters (“Mean Girls,” “Freaky Friday”), “La Dolce Villa” emphasizes the sensual seductions of the European countryside.‘Court of Gold’Starts streaming: Feb. 18When the U.S. Olympic Team first started sending N.B.A. players to compete internationally in 1992, the idea was to grow the sport of basketball so that one day, the United States would not, by default, have the most dominant players. This past summer’s Paris Olympics saw that plan fully coming to fruition, as the United States was tested night after night by the new N.B.A. superstars from Canada, Serbia, France and elsewhere. The documentary series “Court of Gold” offers behind the scenes access with the Americans as they prepare for a real challenge. The director Jake Rogal also spends time with the other top competitors, who no longer fear the United States the way teams did 30 years ago. Across six episodes, the series tells the story of a dramatic Olympics tournament, with twists and comebacks and a lot of pride on the line.‘Zero Day’Starts streaming: Feb. 20Robert De Niro takes his first regular role in an American TV series in this political thriller, playing George Mullen, a former U.S. president who gets pulled back into public service during a national emergency. When a global cyberattack results in widespread destruction and fatalities, the aged but still popular Mullen is asked to head a commission to uncover who was responsible, with vast and possibly unconstitutional powers at his command. The stacked cast also includes Lizzy Caplan as Mullen’s politically ambitious daughter, Joan Allen as his worried wife and Angela Bassett as the current president, who has reluctantly called for her predecessor’s help. Jesse Plemons, Matthew Modine, Bill Camp, Dan Stevens, Gaby Hoffmann, Connie Britton and Clark Gregg play various friends and foes who — even when they appear to be on Mullen’s side — have their own mysterious agendas.‘Running Point’Starts streaming: Feb. 27Based loosely on the life of the Los Angeles Lakers president Jeanie Buss, this fast-paced sports sitcom has Kate Hudson playing Isla Gordon, a basketball-savvy executive in the offices of the Los Angeles Waves. When a family scandal leaves Isla in charge of the team her father and brothers ran for decades, she has to overcome industry sexism, fan skepticism and various boardroom struggles to put the floundering franchise in position for a playoff run. “Running Point” is run by the “Mindy Project” writer-producer team of Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen, with Buss as an executive producer. They pepper underdog story beats throughout a close-up look at an often overlooked woman, trying to prove she can handle pro basketball’s big personalities.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Emilia Pérez’ and the New Era of Online Oscar Scandals

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      As Karla Sofía Gascón’s resurfaced social media posts upend the campaign for the year’s most-nominated film, what happens now?Last August, when I first met and interviewed the “Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofía Gascón, she told me that she was not the type of person to back down from a conflict.“I’m a great warrior,” Gascón said then. “I love to fight. If it was up to me, I would go to all the talk shows and fight with everybody all the time.”She shared this to illustrate how fraught her life had become in the years leading up to “Emilia Pérez,” when Gascón, previously known to Mexican audiences for her work in telenovelas, came out publicly as a trans woman. But that hint at her combative nature could also have been considered something of a sneak preview, now that the newly Oscar-nominated actress has become embroiled in a scandal — and embarked on a defiant media blitz — that has imperiled both her career and the formerly front-running awards campaign of “Emilia Pérez.”As recently as last week, the 52-year-old actress and the Spanish-language musical she stars in were riding high. With a field-leading 13 Oscar nominations, “Emilia Pérez” represented Netflix’s strongest shot at finally nabbing its first best-picture trophy, while Gascón had already made history as the first openly trans actress to be nominated for an Oscar.Gascón is the first openly trans actress to be nominated for an Oscar.Pathé FilmsThen, last Wednesday, the journalist Sarah Hagi unearthed years-old posts Gascón had written on X that denigrated Muslims (saying Islam was “becoming a hotbed of infection for humanity that urgently needs to be cured”), called George Floyd a “drug-addicted con artist,” and criticized the diverse winners of the 2021 Oscar telecast (“I didn’t know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8-M”). In a statement issued by Netflix the next day, Gascón apologized for the posts. But instead of allowing the dust to settle, the star took matters into her own hands.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Vocal Coach Who Helped Timothée Chalamet and Other Stars Sing Onscreen

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      “Help” is a word that the vocal coach Eric Vetro uses often to describe his contributions to the careers of celebrities. This season alone, he’s helped several actors with the musical demands of roles as varied as Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie in “Maria”), Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet in “A Complete Unknown”) and a young Good Witch of the West (Ariana Grande in “Wicked”). He also worked with Monica Barbaro to honor Joan Baez’s vibrato in “A Complete Unknown” and Nicholas Galitzine to become a boy-band dreamboat in “The Idea of You.”During a recent video interview, Vetro’s high-profile résumé came into sharp focus. The memorabilia behind him in his Los Angeles home, which was unaffected by the recent fires, included a guitar that Shawn Mendes had given him. He proudly pointed to platinum records from the Recording Industry Association of America certifying a million in sales for Ariana Grande’s single “The Way” and Rosalía’s album “Motomami.” Then he turned to a wall of selfies with his famous students: “There is Katy Perry. Camila Cabello and Sabrina Carpenter are right here.”He explained that his clients’ technical and emotional needs vary, and that holding their hands through the psychological ups and downs of being a famous talent is a big part of his work. So many jobs “rest on this one person’s success,” Vetro, 68, explained. “That’s a tremendous amount of pressure.”Vetro helped both Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez and Timothée Chalamet bring out their characters’ signature sound in “A Complete Unknown.”Searchlight PicturesWhile growing up in upstate New York there were early signs that Vetro was more into behind-the-scenes guidance than stardom. He would correct a cousin while they sang Christmas carols and lend a hand to friends learning songs for musicals. As early as fifth grade, when a fellow student who was popular and athletic asked him for assistance with a song, Vetro remembered, “We just bonded. And that made me think, ‘I have something special here. This is my identity.’”His parents were skeptical, especially his father. “He would say things like, ‘What makes you think that anybody of note would want to work with you?’” when as a boy he would bring up stars like Bette Midler as examples of people he wanted to work with.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Ingmar Bergman’s Grandson, Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, Has a Movie of His Own

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      With his debut feature, “Armand,” Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel wants to step out of his revered grandfather’s shadow. (Though the movie still contains a secret tribute.)When Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel was 9 years old, he became aware that his grandfather was a world-famous director: the Swedish master Ingmar Bergman.Filled with pride, he boasted about it to his substitute teacher, but he was soon overwhelmed with shame and decided to never mention it again. “I just felt so bad bragging about it, because I can’t take credit for him being my grandfather,” he said in a recent video interview from Oslo.Thankfully, Tøndel, 35, can now gloat about his own movie accomplishments. His first feature, “Armand,” in U.S. theaters Friday, won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival last year and was shortlisted for the best international feature film Oscar, representing Norway.A tense moral thriller with dashes of magical realism, “Armand” stars Renate Reinsve (of “The Worst Person in the World” fame) as Elisabeth, an actress and mother summoned to her 6-year-old son’s school after the boy is accused of inappropriate behavior.Elisabet, in turn, is the name of the actress character in Bergman’s intriguing 1966 drama “Persona” (played by Tøndel’s grandmother Liv Ullmann), a coincidence Tøndel attributed to a subconscious connection. Yet Tøndel did consciously include a shot in “Armand” that’s an Easter egg reference to Bergman, he said. He prefers to keep the brief homage a secret so audiences can discover it on their own.Renate Reinsve and Thea Lambrechts Vaulen in Armand.Pål Ulvik Rokseth/IFC filmsWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Phyllis Dalton, Oscar-Winning Costume Designer for Historical Epics, Dies at 99

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      Phyllis Dalton, a British costume designer whose unflinching attention to detail earned her Oscars for “Doctor Zhivago” and “Henry V” and acclaim for her emotive, striking costumes in “Lawrence of Arabia,” died on Jan. 9 at her home in Somerset, England. She was 99.The death was confirmed by her stepson, James Barton.Ms. Dalton’s keen eye was most apparent in period dramas and historical epics. She was known for her subtlety, crafting clothing that blended seamlessly into each film’s era.“Anyone can make a smart frock,” she said in a brochure that was handed out during a 2012 British Academy of Film and Television Arts tribute to her. “It’s much more difficult to make people from the past who are wearing ordinary clothes look real.”Phyllis Margaret Dalton was born on Oct. 16, 1925, in Chiswick, a suburb of London, to William John Tysoe Dalton, who worked for the Great Western Railway, and Elizabeth Marion (Mason) Dalton, who worked at a bank. Phyllis began studying costume design at Ealing Art College at 13 and later became a code breaker in the Women’s Royal Naval Service at the facility at Bletchley Park, a role she once said she considered “unbelievably boring.”One of Ms. Dalton’s earliest stints in wardrobe was on the 1950 crime melodrama “Eye Witness.” She honed her skills working on costumes for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 remake of “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” Robert Rossen’s “Island in the Sun” (1957) and Carol Reed’s “Our Man in Havana” (1959). In the 1960s, she completed two of her most renowned designs three years apart, dressing entire armies for “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) and “Doctor Zhivago” (1965).After 50 years of experience on more than 40 feature films, including “The Princess Bride” (1987), she earned her last credit on Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of “Much Ado About Nothing” in 1993.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Sundance Film Festival 2025: Standout Movies, Moments and Performances

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      The movies and performances most likely to make an impact in the year ahead, including an ode to 1970s New York and Josh O’Connor going full cowboy.Just as the Sundance Film Festival is in flux, likely soon to leave its longtime home of Park City, Utah, so too is the state of film — and indie film in particular. Yet the industry and its most ardent fans still came to the mountains for America’s most important event in independent cinema to schmooze, ski and see lots of movies, hoping to find this year’s “A Real Pain,” the breakout hit from last year’s slate. Sometimes it can feel like you’re wading through too much muddy snow to find the bright spots, and the 2025 festival, which ended on Sunday, definitely felt less shiny than in years past. But below are some standout moments that might influence the year ahead in culture.Eva Victor in “Sorry, Baby.”Mia Cioffi Henry/Courtesy of Sundance Institute1. One new name to know: Eva VictorThere’s a particular kind of Sundance movie that centers on a young woman who perseveres with wry humor and grit despite something terrible happening to her. Often, it takes place on a college campus. This year’s exemplar was “Sorry, Baby,” which was among the funniest, saddest and most exciting films of the week. Victor, 30, first found success in the Brooklyn comedy scene, but this is her feature directorial debut. She also wrote and stars in the tender project (alongside Naomi Ackie and Lucas Hedges).Rebecca Hall and Ben Whishaw in “Peter Hujar’s Day.”Courtesy of Ira Sachs2. Queer cinema is still ascendant (but still very male)Indie film has always been a genre through which teenagers who feel like outsiders learn to discover themselves, but this year’s roster felt especially crowded with L.G.T.B.Q. projects. Although the three with the most buzz were — for better or, mostly, for worse — about handsome white men: “Twinless,” in which two guys (one straight, one gay) meet in a bereavement group for people who’ve lost their siblings; “Plainclothes,” featuring Tom Blythe and Russell Tovey as a duo (one a closeted cop, one his target) grappling with temptation and intimacy; and “Peter Hujar’s Day,” Ira Sachs’s ode to 1970s-era New York, following the titular photographer (Ben Whishaw) as he narrates his quotidian schedule to his friend the writer Linda Rosencrantz (Rebecca Hall), based on Rosencrantz’s 2022 book of the same name.Josh O’Connor and Lily LaTorre in ”Rebuilding.”Jesse Hope/Courtesy of Sundance InstituteWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Marianne Faithfull Was an Unforgettable Style Paragon

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      Marianne Faithfull, who died on Thursday at 78, “seemed to touch all the moments,” helping define the look of the 1960s with an influence that is still seen today.She was a figure out of fiction, right down to her Jane Austen name. The daughter of a baroness and a British major (a spy during World War II), Marianne Faithfull — who died this week at 78 — was discovered by the Rolling Stones’ manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, at a record release party in the 1960s while still in her teens. “My first move was to get a Rolling Stone as a boyfriend,” she was often quoted as having said. “I slept with three and decided the lead singer was the best bet.”The bet paid off for both parties. Mick Jagger and Ms. Faithfull dated from 1966-70 and during that time she recorded a series of pop songs, most memorably “As Tears Go By.” Mr. Jagger wrote imperishable Stones hits like “Wild Horses” under the direct inspiration of Ms. Faithfull — lovely, feckless, druggie and unfettered. She was “a wonderful friend,” Mr. Jagger wrote on Instagram this week, “a beautiful singer and a great actress.”She was also a style paragon from the outset.“She seemed to touch all the moments, from Mod to rich hippie to bad girl and punk, corsets to leather to the nun outfit she wore when she performed with Bowie,” the designer Anna Sui said this week by phone. “She was there, through all those periods — performing, participating in events, acting and singing and also in the tabloids, very much in the eyes of anybody loving those periods.”Ms. Faithfull was introduced to much of the world through her relationship with Mick Jagger, but her style and talent made her fame last.PA Images, via Getty ImagesA British journalist once described Ms. Faithfull, in the late 1960s, as “the flowing-haired, miniskirted, convention-knocking epitome” of a “drug generation” that her elders were challenged to understand. What more accurately she epitomized was a spirit of bohemian laissez-faire better located in class than any particular era.Cultured, if not conventionally educated, Ms. Faithfull was as offhand about her looks as only a natural beauty could afford to be. And she was as indifferent to the strait-jacketing conventions of the bourgeoisie as those of her background (she spent her early years in an upscale commune her father founded in Oxfordshire) often are.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More