Vatican: Last News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Francis and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky are sharing the Cinema for Peace Award, an honor recognizing their “contributions to the freedom of Ukraine and humanitarian efforts to protect civilians and children.”

a starry world premiere in Rome on Monday evening, drawing a packed gala screening in the Auditorium della Conciliazione, a stone’s throw from the Vatican. The classy event was held in tandem with the Rome Film Festival’s independently run Alice in the City section, dedicated to films for youth audiences. The film’s local distributor is Eagle Pictures, which has a local distribution partnership with Paramount. A substantial amount of the hotly anticipated action film was shot in the Italian capital. “Dead Reckoning Part One” follows the events of “Fallout,” where Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and his crew of secret agents saved the world from a nuclear apocalypse amid a series of double-crosses. The 2018 release was the highest-grossing entry in the franchise yet, earning nearly $800 million at the global box office.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic You might think Shia LaBeouf portraying a 20th-century Italian saint under the direction of perpetual bad-boy expat Abel Ferrara is a pretty strange prospect. But that’s just the iceberg tip of the oddities in “Padre Pio,” which, despite the American star’s casting in the title role, often appears uninterested in its own venerated ostensible subject.  Instead, much of this awkward English-language period piece focuses on peasants’ struggle to overthrow padrone control just after the First World War. Depicting that conflict often feels beyond the modest production’s scale — and, in any case, is never meaningfully connected to the angsty histrionics of LaBeouf, who seems to be in his own separate, indulgent, semi-improvised movie. Though coherent relative to Ferrara’s last narrative feature, the impenetrable espionage tale “Zeroes and Ones,” this eccentric misfire will likely puzzle fans of his past cult favorites, while flummoxing Catholic viewers who expect straightforward religious uplift. Gravitas Ventures is releasing to 50+ U.S. markets. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Marco Bellocchio’s drama “Kidnapped” that reconstructs the true tale of a Jewish boy who was kidnapped and forcibly raised as a Christian in 19th century Rome, has opened strongly in Italy following its Cannes launch. The revered Italian auteur’s film about Edgardo Mortara, who in 1858 was taken away from his family in Bologna to live in the Vatican – after it surfaced that the boy secretly been baptized a Christian – has also sparked debate and prompted the Vatican to comment the abduction for which Pope Pius IX has been held responsible. “Kidnapped” over the weekend bowed in third place at the Italian box office, placing itself after “The Little Mermaid” and “Fast X” and pulling a handsome more than €550,000 ($587,000) intake to date from roughly 300 screens.

Martin Scorsese has announced the next movie he will soon begin working on!

Martin Scorsese is making another film inspired by religion.

Move aside Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro – Pope Francis is famed director Martin Scorsese’s latest collaborator. On a European tour to promote his films, Scorsese announced his intention to make another movie about Jesus while at the Vatican. "I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus," "Scorsese said per reports confirmed by his representative.

Martin Scorsese has announced that he’s making a new film about Jesus after meeting Pope Francis in Italy.The director, who identifies as Catholic, shared the news on Saturday (May 27) during a conference at the Vatican.“I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus,” Scorsese said (via Variety), adding: “And I’m about to start making it.”Scorsese was in Rome with his wife, Helen Morris, to attend a conference titled The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination, where he briefly met Pope Francis.The director previously tackled the life of Jesus Christ in his 1988 religious epic The Last Temptation Of Christ, where Willem Dafoe played the lead character.

Fresh from his standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival for his latest film Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese has taken a tour of Italy, including a meeting with Pope Frances in the Vatican, where the Oscar winner also announced his plans to make a film about Jesus. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Martin Scorsese is on a post-Cannes tour of Italy where over the weekend the director, known for having a religious bent, met with Pope Francis and announced that he will make a film about Jesus. “I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus,” Scorsese announced on Saturday during a Rome conference at the Vatican, according to multiple reports. “And I’m about to start making it,” the director added, suggesting that this could be his next film. Also on Saturday, before attending the conference – titled “The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination” – Scorsese and his wife Helen Morris met Pope Francis during a brief private audience at the Vatican.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Revered Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio is returning to Cannes with “Kidnapped,” a drama that reconstructs the true tale of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy who was kidnapped and forcibly raised as a Christian in 19th century Italy. It’s a story that Steven Spielberg had his eye on, having announced in 2016 that he would make a drama about Mortara for which he began scouting locations in Italy. Last year, Bellocchio was in Cannes with another kidnapping drama, the limited TV series “Exterior Night,” about the abduction and assassination of former Italian premier Aldo Moro by Red Brigades terrorists. The veteran auteur’s first foray in TV has had the rare distinction of playing well in Italian cinemas — in two installments — before airing on RAI and selling globally. Earlier this month it also scored a slew of statuettes, including best director, at Italy’s David Awards, the country’s top film prizes.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Fast X” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”, which are now playing in theaters. Louis Leterrier’s “Fast X” drives into movie theaters this weekend, delivering plenty of action and a few surprise cameos. As previously revealed, the film’s credit scenes mark the return of Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs and Gal Gadot’s Gisele. The third cameo is none other than Pete Davidson, who plays Bowie. Davidson’s cameo comes after the “Fast” fam — Dom (Vin Diesel), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Han (Sung Kang), Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) — head to Rome on a mission led by Roman (Tyrese Gibson). Turns out, they’ve been lured into a trap set by Jason Momoa’s badass Dante, who wants revenge on the crew and threatens to get it by blowing up the Vatican.

As well as bagging four Oscars and nine BAFTAs, Edward Berger’s WW1 drama All Quiet on the Western Front cemented its place in pop-culture history by becoming an internet meme. Under ‘how it started’, the meme shows the film’s protagonist, Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer), as a laughing, idealistic new recruit. But then, under ‘how it’s going’, we see the same young soldier, now hollowed out, filthy, and traumatized by the carnage he’s seen.

Elizabeth Taylor’s middle-aged married woman after she has full-body plastic surgery. In Joseph Losey’s The Romantic Englishwoman (1975) he was Glenda Jackson’s paramour, while in Tinto Brass’s X-rated “erotic-war-drama” Salon Kitty (1976), he played a Nazi SS commandant who recruits a group of female SS auxiliaries in order to plant them as prostitutes in a high-class brothel to collect intelligence on patrons of the establishment. After Visconti’s death, Berger’s acting career dwindled to mainly small roles.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor If anyone knows the musical world of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, it’s composer Brian Tyler. Over the years, he’s created themes and cues for Dom (Vin Diesel), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Cipher (Charlize Theron), and with “Fast X” he gets to dabble with Jason Momoa’s brilliant baddie, Dante. “Instead of creating a dark energy theme, I went for alluring,” Tyler says. In the film, Dante seeks to avenge his father’s death, Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) from 2011’s “Fast Five.” Dante lures the Fast Family to Rome, which leads to an action-packed chase through the cobbled streets of the Eternal City as Dom, Letty and their crew attempt to stop Dante from blowing up the Vatican. “Dante is charming and he makes you laugh. So, I used high strings such as the harp, and then we get into bass music with modern instruments,” says Tyler. “It gives you this feeling that you can’t look away. There’s a sense [in his music] of empathizing with him, and why he becomes this villain.”

Måneskin bassist Victoria De Angelis has explained that her home country of Italy is still “very conservative” when it comes to homosexuality, and recalled how she was made to feel “uncomfortable” for dating women.The 23-year-old was speaking in a new interview when she explained how traditional attitudes are still rife within society, and how it impacted her as an openly queer musician.Born in Vatican City, Rome, De Angelis said that her sexuality drew some unwanted attention in her home country, and that residents there would make her feel “uncomfortable” regarding the relationships she had.“I remember when I first started dating girls, I felt people really staring,” she admitted to The Big Issue (via Music-News). “These things can really make you uncomfortable, even if it’s not such a big deal compared to what other people deal with.

(who played the hot douchebag in ) and , the latest pair to provide the grist for the romance rumor mill. The two have been filming a new rom-com, Anyone But You, in Australia and dared to look smiley and relaxed in each other’s company, hence the internet (and myriad mainstream media outlets) have naturally concluded that the pair must be sleeping together.Of course, there’s no way for us to know whether they’re actually romantically involved or not, but that hasn’t stopped people from speculating that this is the reason why Powell has (reportedly) , Gigi Paris, or losing their minds over the fact that Sweeney was (briefly) seen without .

Sailing off to their happily ever after! Below Deck‘s Ben Robinson is engaged to girlfriend Kiara Cabral after more than three years of dating, Us Weekly can exclusively reveal.

Fast X has been released and reveals more about Jason Momoa’s new villainous character, Dante.The trailer kicks off with Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew in Vatican City as they attempt to disarm a rolling bomb set loose in the city by Dante. Flashbacks reveal how Dante got caught up with Toretto, dating back to Fast Five.Dante turns out to be the son of Herman Reyes, the lead antagonist of Fast Five. During the events of Fast Five, Toretto masterminded a heist in Rio De Janeiro to steal from Reyes, killing him.

Fragments of wood believed to be from the cross Jesus was crucified on more than 2,000 years ago will be included in the cross that will lead the coronation service for King Charles III next month at Westminster Abbey.  The two splinters, believed to be from the "true cross," were gifted to the monarch by Pope Francis ahead of his coronation and will form their own cross at the center of the processional cross, according to Reuters.The Church of Wales also noted on its site that the processional cross "will incorporate a relic of the True Cross," and called it a "significant ecumenical gesture."  The processional cross, which is known as the Cross of Wales, was formed from recycled silver bullion, Welsh slate and timber, and gifted to the monarch by the Church of Wales.There are also words from the last sermon of St David on the back in Welsh: "Byddwch lawen. Cadwch y ffydd.

is rolling into theaters soon!The franchise film's new trailer dropped on Wednesday, showing Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) headed back to the past to save his family, returning to Brazil and the infamous bank vault heist.As it turns out, the son of the kingpin whose life and empire was ruined by said heist has spent the last 12 years plotting his revenge. Dante Reyes, played by franchise newcomer Jason Momoa, has an expansive plan to make Dom pay — and he does so by targeting his 8-year-old son, Brian (Leo Abelo Perry).«If you never would have gotten behind that wheel, I'd never be the man I am today,» Dante tells Dom. «And now I am the man who's going to break your family, piece by piece.»The latest trailer gives fans an even closer look at the latest installment, as Dante unleashes a massive bomb on Vatican City, kidnaps Dom's son, and stages a deadly game of chicken that ends with two semis colliding in a fiery explosion on top of a dam.Things are even so dire that former villains Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and Cypher (Charlize Theron) are on the side of the family this time around, on hand to help «dig some graves.»Directed by Louis Leterrier — who, it was recently announced, will also head up the franchise's 11th and final installment --  stars returning cast members Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris «Ludacris» Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, John Cena, Scott Eastwood, and Helen Mirren.The film also introduces plenty of thrilling new players, including Brie Larson as Tess, a rogue representative from the Agency — and the daughter of Kurt Russell's Mr.