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Tartakovsky discusses his pivot to action comedy, taking “Primal” in a new direction,” and tackling an R-rated comedy with “Fixed.”

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Genndy Tartakovsky has proudly become the auteur of adult 2D animation. His new “Unicorn Warriors: Eternal” steampunk series premieres May 4 on Adult Swim; he’s completing his R-rated dog comedy “Fixed” for release next year at Sony Pictures Animation; and he’s prepping for Season 3 of his Emmy-winning “Primal” series at Adult Swim, but departing from the prehistoric world.

With “Unicorn Warriors,” though, Tartakovsky combines his personal steampunk aesthetic with action and humor, going back to his old Cartoon Network days, but without the gore of “Primal” or “Samurai Jack.” It’s about three heroes — powerful sorceress Melinda (Hazel Doupe), cosmic monk Seng (Demari Hunte), and warrior elf Edred (Tom Milligan) — reawakened through eternity as teenagers to fight a mysterious supernatural force threatening humanity. In the first season, the three find themselves in industrial London, joined by a steam-powered robot, Copernicus.

“I started to develop it at the end of  ‘Star Wars: Clone Wars,’” Tartakovsky told IndieWire. “It was more about magic versus technology. And that’s where the steampunk aesthetic came in. And then through the years, it became less focused on [that] and more on the characters and their conflicts: What it was like reawakening as a different person.

“And the biggest benefit was that in the last 20 years, I had three kids. And so seeing them go from 12 to 13, and, all of a sudden, my daughter’s a different person. It’s like, ‘What the hell’s going on? What possesses her now?’ And then seeing them become adults really fed upon it and was a benefit for sure.”

Unicorn Warriors: Eternal

“Unicorn Warriors: Eternal”

Courtesy of Adult Swim

“Unicorn Warriors,” which, like “Primal,” is animated at French-based Studio La Cachette, still retains the look of golden age character animation that informed “Dexter’s Laboratory,” courtesy of character designer Stephen DeStefano (“Primal”). Melinda resembles Max Fleischer’s Betty Boop, Seng has a Chuck Jones vibe, and Edred is influenced by Zuka. But the most delightful character is the R2-D2-influenced robot, the epitome of steampunk. “To give something inanimate so much personality without dialogue is something I’m really comfortable with,” Tartakovsky said. “And it’s great ’cause Joel Valentine [the sound effects designer] bought all these real old steam whistles and bought different libraries of steam blasts and ratchets and cranks. So it’s really very handcrafted, almost like on a feature level to give him the voice.”

“Unicorn Warriors” also continues Tartakovsky’s bold use of color, popping with purple, red, black, and gold. “We really keep trying to make the colors emotional and not just to be fancy,” he added. “Everything that we’ve learned through the years from ‘Samurai’ to ‘Primal.’ We know how important color is to the storytelling, and so we keep trying to push it and create a mood.”

Speaking of “Primal,” which goes for its second Emmy, all Tartakovsky was willing to say at this point about Season 3 is that “it’s a new world, and we’re just trying to figure out how to operate in it. But I think everybody’s excited about it. Everybody believes in it.” He previously told IndieWire of his desire to spin-off “Primal” into an anthology franchise, embracing other genres in the same minimalist animation style. “The big idea is that ‘Primal’ becomes a brand,” he said. “Visceral, emotional, raw, minimal dialogue, artistic.”

Unicorn Warriors: Eternal

“Unicorn Warriors: Eternal”

Courtesy of Adult Swim

Meanwhile, “Fixed,” about a dog that finds out it’s going to be neutered in 24 hours and decides to have a wild time with his buddies before settling down, is being animated at Renegade Animation (“Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up!”) in Glendale, supervised by a dozen 2D vets no longer working at the Hollywood studios.”I first pitched it in 2010, and finally, we’re making it 13 years later, and it’s 2D. It’s fully animated, more fully than I could ever imagined it,” Tartakovsky added.

“Fixed” contains even more of a classic Warner Bros. cartoon foundation than “Unicorn Warriors,” but it’s contemporary and basically follows the rules of “101 Dalmatians.”

“It’s got raunchy humor, it’s got incredible feature-level cartoony animation, but it’s the best I’ve ever made,” Tartakovsky said. “But, if you can look past the butts and balls, there’s this whole other movie there. So, it’ll be really interesting to see how people react. Just the idea of sitting in an audience and watching a 2D animated movie will be incredible.”

“Unicorn Warriors: Eternal” premieres the first two episodes May 4 on Adult Swim and May 5 on HBO Max, followed by eight new episodes debuting weekly with encores on Fridays on Adult Swim and Toonami.

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Tartakovsky discusses his pivot to action comedy,

The iconic DC villains Harley Quinn and the Joker have been around for ages, and each has been portrayed on the big (and small) screen across numerous films and animated series. David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, however, would mark the first live-action movie to feature both characters and the origins of their relationship.


Playing the villains are Margot Robbie and Jared Leto. Both Robbie and Leto have proven themselves throughout the years to be a couple of the most talented actors in the business. Leto earned his first Academy Award in 2014 for Best Supporting Actor in the film Dallas Buyers Club and Robbie has a total of two Oscar nominations in the category of Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for her roles in I, Tonya and Bombshell(respectively).

In Suicide Squad, Robbie and Leto starred alongside Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Will Smith, Idris Elba, and John Cena. Suicide Squad is available to stream on HBO and a sequel, The Suicide Squad, was released on the streaming platform in 2021.

Here are Harley Quinn and Joker’s five best moments in Suicide Squad.

Updated April 25, 2023: If you’re a fan of DC villains, including this infamous duo, you’ll be pleased to know this article has been updated with additional content by Manthila Gallassage.

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8 Harleen Quinzel Meets Joker

At the beginning of Suicide Squad, we learn that Harley Quinn wasn’t always the wild and unpredictable villain she is today. Harley Quinn was once Dr. Harleen Quinzel, a psychiatrist who was assigned to be Joker’s therapist. While she thought she was helping to cure the clown, she was falling in love with him.

Joker was able to manipulate the doctor’s feelings and turn her into his obsessive partner in crime. During this scene where Joker asks Harleen to do him a favor, and she responds with “Anything,” jumping at the opportunity to help him, it becomes clear that the two’s relationship is much more than what was intended to be. While everyone else in the facility is scared of the villain, Harleen is buying him gifts and offering to do him favors. This meeting marks the beginning of their outrageous adventures together as Harley Quinn and Joker.

Related: James Gunn Isn’t Interested in Joker, Prefers to Use Unkown Characters

7 Harleen Quinzel Chases Mr. J

A flashback of Harley Quinn was shown in the deleted scenes of the movie where Harleen Quinzel chases Mr. J on a motorcycle. The Joker thought he could avoid Harleen, but he thought wrong, after chasing him down she confronts him on how he cannot, he leaves after all she had done, and she confesses her feeling to the Joker. The only response the infatuated Harleen received was rejection and the words “Go away.”

6 Harleen Quinzel Becomes Harley Quinn

Joker-Harley

In a desperate attempt to prove she will do anything for Joker, Harleen Quinzel gives up her old life and identity to enter a new world with the Joker as Harley Quinn. After Joker tries to leave Harleen she confesses her love for him and begs him not to go. Joker takes her to a factory where he makes Harleen take an oath that she would not only die for him but that she would live for him.

Once she agrees, Harleen jumps into a vat of acid that turns her from Harleen Quinzel to the infamous Harley Quinn. The change marks her full commitment to Joker and proves just how crazy in love she is. This scene is filled with incredible cinematography that leaves a memorable impact on the viewer.

5 In The Club

Monster T meets the Joker in the club on discussing the success of the job done, the flair of the conversation did not start till Monster T (Common) mentioned how lucky the Joker is to have Harley Quinn in his life. The unexpected happened after the Joker said, “The fire of my loins, the itch of my crotch, the one, the only… infamous Harley Quinn.”

Joker gives Harley Quinn to Monster T as a treat but jealousy and anger are portrayed on his face. Monster T tries to clarify that he does not want to cross any boundaries with his lady, but it was too late, and the club scene ends with the death of Monster T and the laughter of Harley Quinn.

4 Harley Quinn’s First Signature Weapon

Robbie in Suicide Squad
Warner Bros. 

Another deleted scene that will supposedly be in the Ayer Cut of the movie is when the Joker beat an individual (which is not clearly shown or disclosed by James Gunn) with a baseball bat to death. All this was happening while Harleen Quinzel was strapped to a chair by Jonny Frost, the henchman. Eventually, Joker proceeds toward Harleen to electric shock her. This is when Harleen truly becomes Harley, and she proceeds to use the baseball bat as her signature weapon before the mallet.

3 Batman Saves Harley Quinn

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In this next scene, we see Harley Quinn and Joker’s relationship in full effect. As they are speeding down highways and acting as if they rule the world, Batman intervenes and starts “ruining date night” (as Harley claims). In an attempt to stop the two villains, Batman forces the Joker to drive their car off the road and into a giant body of water. Even though they are murderous villains, Batman brings an unconscious Harley Quinn up from the water and saves her from drowning.

In addition to the fact that this is an action-packed scene, what also makes it great is that after Harley is rescued from her near death, she begins to laugh hysterically as if what just happened did not affect her at all. It is said in Suicide Squad that “She is crazier than him and more fearless”—and this scene is a perfect example of that.

Related: Margot Robbie Shares Her Thoughts on Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn Casting

2 Helicopter Blown Up

Suicide-Squad-Harley-Quinn-Helicopter-scene

The next best Harley Quinn and Joker moment is towards the end of the film. When Harley realizes that Joker is up in a helicopter waiting to take her away, she, without hesitation, drops everything to be with him. This powerful moment is enhanced with the visual of Harley Quinn walking up to Joker, staring into his eyes amid the chaos and destruction going on around her, while a dramatic score fills all the space in the scene.

Finally, Harley makes it aboard the helicopter with Joker after almost getting shot by Deadshot (Will Smith) just for her to fall out of the helicopter as it’s being blown up. The sadness in Harley’s eyes after being separated from Joker once again makes this moment so important.

1 Joker Saves Harley

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Right at the end of the film, and the most memorable Harley Quinn and Joker moment on our list, is when Joker saves the day and frees Harley Quinn. In this scene, Harley is locked back up behind bars like he is at the beginning of the movie. She sits in desperation until men raid the facility and start breaking down the bars that hold her there. One man takes off his mask to reveal that he is, in fact, the Joker.

This scene is so ironic because it’s the man that has Harley metaphorically trapped in his world that is freeing her from literally being behind bars. Although she is escaping imprisonment there is no escape insight from the Joker, and it seems as though nothing is impossible when Harley Quinn and Joker are together.

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The iconic DC villains Harley Quinn

“Love & Death” is set to premiere Thursday on HBO Max (soon to be just “Max”) and is expected to be a strong Emmys player for the cable and streaming platform in the limited series races. Elizabeth Olsen’s turn as the unfiltered adulterous Candy Montgomery, along with Jesse Plemons’ performance as the dim-witted and simple churchgoing husband of her friend Betty Gore, are expected to be among the top prospects in the acting races, but not where pundits had initially speculated.

Variety has learned exclusively that Plemons will be submitted for supporting actor in a limited series and not the lead actor race category, which was assumed early on. So, unsurprisingly, Olsen will be the sole leading acting submission for the series.

Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Emmy predictions.

The true-life crime series created by Emmy winner David E. Kelley (“Big Little Lies”) tells the story of Texas housewife Candy who, in 1980, following a chance collision on a volleyball court with fellow church choir member Allan (Plemons), orchestrates an affair between the two married adults. The encounters lead to Candy being accused of murdering Allan’s wife, Betty (played delightfully by Lily Rabe). The series also stars Patrick Fugit, Keir Gilchrist, Elizabeth Marvel, Tom Pelphrey and Krysten Ritter.

Supporting limited actor has been chiefly a category that seems only assured for Paul Walter Hauser from another true crime series, “Black Bird,” for his terrifying portrayal of serial killer Larry Hall. But, again, Plemons put Allan’s awkward movement and mannerisms to the forefront, playing expertly off Olsen’s dedicated go-for-broke performance, with the two using the absurdity of how the affair of the two Texans transpired as the foundation that garners far more humor than you’d expect.

Plemons has netted two Emmy noms thus far — supporting actor (limited) for FX’s “Fargo” in 2016 and lead actor (limited) for Netflix’s “USS Callister” episode of “Black Mirror.” A third nom seems nearly assured with this campaign push. The 35-year-old is one of Hollywood’s most dependable and respected actors, and two years ago nabbed his first Oscar nom for “The Power of the Dog” in best supporting actor.

Elizabeth Olsen in “Love & Death”
HBO Max

Olsen has quickly risen to fame over the past dozen years with acclaimed performances in films such as “Martha Marcy May Marlene” (2011), “Wind River” (2017) and the Marvel franchise as Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch. The iconic MCU character was responsible for netting her an Emmy nom for the incredible ” WandaVision ” series in 2021. With enough time passed between Hulu’s take on the crime drama “Candy” in 2022, which starred Jessica Biel and was ignored by awards bodies, “Love & Death” and Olsen herself could have a straight shot at recognition with the Television Academy, especially with a lesser-than-usual competitive slate of contenders.

The episode titles, writers and directors are listed below. All Emmy submissions are subject to change.

Episode 1: “The Huntress” (written by David E. Kelley, directed by Lesli Linka Glatter)

Episode 2: “Encounters” (written by David E. Kelley, directed by Lesli Linka Glatter)

Episode 3: “Stepping Stones” (written by David E. Kelley, directed by Lesli Linka Glatter)

Episode 4: “Do No Evil” (written by David E. Kelley, directed by Lesli Linka Glatter)

Episode 5: “The Arrest” (written by David E. Kelley, directed by Clark Johnson)

Episode 6: “The Big Top” (written by David E. Kelley, directed by Clark Johnson)

Episode 7: “Sssshh” (written by David E. Kelley, directed by Lesli Linka Glatter)

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“Love & Death” is set to premiere

With the death of Harry Belafonte, America lost a musical genius and an icon of activism, who rose from a life of poverty to one of massive record sales and sellout concerts, using his fame as a performer to shed light on the causes he believed in.

But Belafonte was also a major movie star, and though his cinematic output wasn’t exactly prolific — he appeared, surprisingly, in fewer than two dozen feature films during his 65-year film career — he made a memorable impression each time he was onscreen. Below are a few highlights, all available to stream.

Rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.

Belafonte’s first leading role was only his second film appearance, after a supporting turn in the Dorothy Dandridge vehicle “Bright Road.” He reteamed with Dandridge for Otto Preminger’s film adaptation of the Oscar Hammerstein II musical “Carmen Jones,” itself an interpretation of Bizet’s classic opera “Carmen,” modernized and reimagined for an all-Black cast. The production was notoriously tempestuous, but Belafonte couldn’t have asked for a project more suited to his talents: The picture gave him the opportunity to emote and smolder in equal measure as the young soldier Joe, proving that this was no mere pop singer moonlighting in movies. This was the work of a full-fledged film star.

Yet Belafonte’s first burst of work was short-lived. After a handful of excellent dramatic turns in the late 1950s (most notably in Robert Wise’s “Odds Against Tomorrow,” sadly unavailable to stream), Belafonte devoted his time in the 1960s to his civil rights activism. But he made a triumphant return to the screen in this delightfully odd comedy-drama, playing the title role — an honest-to-goodness guardian angel who comes down to earth to help a poor Jewish tailor (the wonderful Zero Mostel) through a patch of bad luck and bad faith. This kind of material can easily veer into either the maudlin or the blasphemous, but Belafonte’s playful yet practical performance achieves the perfect balance of winking wit and gentle lesson-learning.

Rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.

The comic chops Belafonte exhibited in “The Angel Levine” would come to define his best screen work in the 1970s. Two years later, he teamed with his fellow actor-activist Sidney Poitier for what was clearly intended as a Black riff on “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” with Poitier and Belafonte in the titular roles of Wild West outlaws leading a wagon train away from white bounty hunters. Poitier plays the straight man, as he often did in comedies, allowing Belafonte to have a blast as Reverend Willis Oaks Rutherford, a con artist masquerading as a man of the cloth. When the original director, Joseph Sargent, was fired a few days into shooting, Poitier took over directorial duties, launching a new career in film.

Rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.

Unsurprisingly, when Poitier directed his next comedy, he again approached Belafonte to participate. Poitier co-stars in this rowdy buddy action-comedy with Bill Cosby (fair warning), leaving Belafonte to steal scenes galore — no mean feat when appearing with Flip Wilson and Richard Pryor — in his uproarious turn as Geechie Dan Beauford, a hot-tempered underworld boss. With “The Godfather” fresh in the minds of moviegoers, Belafonte played the role as a spoof on Marlon Brando’s already iconic performance as Don Vito Corleone, complete with rasping voice, puffed cheeks and pencil-thin mustache. It’s an inspired piece of comic acting, and a reminder that the serious-minded performer was just as comfortable with broad, “Saturday Night Live”-style tomfoolery.

Stream it on Amazon Prime and Arrow Player. Rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, and YouTube.

Belafonte took another long break — nearly two decades — from screen acting after “Uptown,” and even then, he appeared first as himself in a pair of star-studded Robert Altman pictures (“The Player” and “Ready to Wear”). But Altman got one more great, full-length performance out of the performer with this period gangster comedy-drama, set in the city and time of the director’s youth. As the underworld boss of Kansas City, the wonderfully named and perpetually whispering Seldom Seen, Belafonte eschews his customary warmth and comic inclinations to play a genuinely menacing villain — the kind of man who never raises his voice, because he never has to. It’s a chilling and unforgettable turn, and indicates the kind of third act he could’ve had as a character actor had he chosen that path.

Stream it on Vudu. Rent or buy it on Amazon and Apple TV.

Instead, he chose to keep fighting. This late-in-life biographical documentary from the director Susanne Rostock, made with the participation and blessing of the man himself, veers occasionally into hagiography and skims over the messier aspects of his long and complicated life. But there’s so much to celebrate, you can hardly blame its makers. Edited at a snappy clip from a wealth of rich archival materials (film and TV clips, home movies, newsreels) and both new and archival interviews, “Sing Your Song” celebrates Belafonte the artist, but even more, celebrates the man — and a life spent working for the causes he believed in, often putting his own career and comfort at risk.

Rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.

Belafonte’s final film appearance came, significantly, in a work of protest by a provocative Black filmmaker. He appears in the cameo role of the civil rights activist Jerome Turner in Spike Lee’s Oscar-winning adaptation of the Ron Stallworth memoir — but he’s also playing himself, imparting history and knowledge of the struggle for civil rights. In his single, haunting scene, Belafonte exhibits not only his skills and charisma as an actor, but the gravitas of his decades in the trenches of the struggle.

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With the death of Harry Belafonte, America

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NEW YORK CITY

Paik moved to New York City in 1964 and began several collaborations with classical cellist Charlotte Moorman, combining his video art with her music.

In 1967, Paik and Moorman were arrested for public indecency due to Moorman being topless while performing in Paik’s “Opera Sextronique.”

In 1969, they created “TV Bra for Living Sculpture,” in which Moorman wore two functioning television screens over her breasts while playing the cello.

In 1971, Paik and Moorman made “TV Cello,” a cello created from three stacked television sets and cello strings, that Moorman “played” as images of her and other cellists playing appeared on the screens.

1964

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1964NEW YORK CITYPaik moved to New

GOLD-rich Sudan is the coup-capital of Africa.

Once home to ancient kingdoms of pyramid-building pharaohs, the vast desert nation is now the world’s 15th biggest gold producer and major food and oil exporter.

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The Sudanese Armed Forces is led by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, who seized power in a coup in 2021Credit: AFP
The RSF is led by warlord general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti

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The RSF is led by warlord general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as HemedtiCredit: Reuters

More than 2.5 million people have died in six coups, 11 attempted coups, two civil wars, partition and the Darfur genocide since Sudan gained independence from Britain in 1956.

The country has only been at peace for 12 of the previous 68 years.

It is bigger than Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine combined but has a population of just 45 million people.

Q: What is happening?

Why Sudan has descended into violence and chaos
Ambassador to Sudan says 'too dangerous' to return but promises huge evac effort

A: Deadly clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15 over plans to integrate their troops.

More than 400 people have died, thousands more have been injured and at least 20,000 have fled abroad.

The fighting is focused in the capital Khartoum and eastern Darfur.

Q: Who leads the factions?

A: The SAF is led by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, a career soldier, who seized power in a coup in 2021.

The RSF is led by warlord general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, whose Janjaweed thugs helped crush Darfur uprisings from 2003 onwards.

They joined forces in 2019 to topple the former president, Omar al-Bashir, after months of protests.

Q: Why are they fighting?

A: Hemedti has long resented being Burhan’s deputy.

Plans to integrate Hemedti’s forces risked diluting his grip on gold mines and farms.

Q: Who are their backers?

A: Egypt supports Burhan while the US, UK, Germany and France have relied on his cooperation to evacuate their civilians.

The RSF is backed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, who in turn is backed by Russia.

Russia’s murderous Wagner mercenaries are also known to be active in neighbouring Central African Republic, close to Hemedti’s heartlands.

Q: Why does it matter?

A: Food, water and fuel are fast running out and the conflict could soon spark a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe.

It could also reignite conflicts in many of Sudan’s neighbours, which are battling insurgencies.

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GOLD-rich Sudan is the coup-capital of Africa. Once

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Halsey surprised fans with their pregnancy announcement

General Motors will scrap production of its top-selling electric vehicle, the Chevy Bolt, bringing an end this year to one of the U.S. market’s most affordable EVs.

The company said it will instead focus on EVs with a newer type of battery, called Ultium, including the soon-to-be-launched electric Equinox and Blazer SUVs. The Michigan factory that manufactures the Bolt EV and the larger Bolt EUV is being retooled to produce electric trucks, the company said.

Which electric vehicle is right for you? Check out our guide.

Analysts have long predicted that GM would stop producing the Bolt, which runs on an older type of battery. But the news will disappoint some EV drivers who have given the Bolt a devoted niche following since the car’s launch in 2016. Bolt EV and EUV were GM’s top-selling electric vehicles last year, helping the company sell more than 20,000 EVs in the United States in the most recent quarter.

“When the Chevrolet Bolt EV launched, it was a huge technical achievement and the first affordable EV, which set in motion GM’s all-electric future,” the company said in a statement.

With a starting price around $27,500, the Bolt EV is one of few electric options under $30,000 on the U.S. market. The vehicle’s reputation suffered a setback after roughly a dozen battery fires prompted a large recall in 2021. But price cuts last year helped juice demand again, as did a $7,500 federal tax credit for which the Bolt qualifies.

Bolt owners on a popular online forum, ChevyBolt.org, expressed disappointment with Tuesday’s news. Some said it was unwise of GM to ditch a brand that had developed a loyal following.

“A moniker like the Bolt is very difficult to just spawn at will,” one forum post said. “People who are genuinely excited for the product are attaching brand loyalty to GM.”

Peter van der Pas of Vallejo, Calif., who bought his Bolt EV early this year, expressed concern about the lack of affordable, small EVs for sale in the United States.

“All EV manufacturers are abandoning the small hatchback market. I’m almost 70 years old, and I’ve been buying small hatchbacks practically all my driving life,” he said. “I really like that format because it’s very functional.”

GM says it is investing $35 billion globally through 2025 in electric and autonomous vehicles, with the goal of selling only EVs by 2035. Much of that money is going into vehicle and battery factories in Michigan, Tennessee and Ohio.

On Tuesday, GM announced a fourth U.S. battery plant that it will build with partner Samsung, saying the two companies will spend $3 billion on the facility, which is to begin production in 2026. They did not disclose the plant’s location.

Fewer electric vehicles qualify for federal tax credits under new rules

GM’s first battery plant, in Lordstown, Ohio, will reach full production capacity by the end of this year. Its second plant, in Tennessee, will start production by year-end. Construction is underway of a third plant, in Michigan, that will begin production next year.

Without the Bolt, most of GM’s other EVs will be large and pricier vehicles. That category includes the Silverado truck, the Cadillac Lyriq and GMC Hummer. The company also has pledged to introduce an electric version of the more modestly sized Equinox SUV this fall, with prices starting around $30,000.

David Reichmuth, an engineer and clean-transportation analyst with the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, said it will be important for GM to “bring lower-priced EVs like the Equinox to market at volumes similar to the Bolt so that car buyers have more access to affordable EVs.”

While the Bolt is GM’s top-selling EV at the moment, it trails far behind Tesla models in sales and has never really broken out of a niche market position, said Ambrose Conroy, an automotive expert at the consultancy Seraph.

GM’s priority is “larger, more profit-focused vehicles,” Conrad said. “GM has plenty of models where they can electrify and places where they can charge more money.”

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Comment on this storyCommentGeneral Motors will scrap

Fox News anchors were giving President Joe Biden the side-eye after he purportedly confused the timing of his grandfather’s death.

Biden, making a speech Tuesday before the North America’s Building Trades Unions Conference after announcing earlier in the day he would be running for re-election, delivered a cursory reference to his grandfather’s deah as he outlined his jobs and economic agenda. 

Fox News quickly picked up on it.

“There was another one, to add to the president’s blooper reel of tall tales,” John Roberts said. “This one, about his coincidental family history, listen here.”

Roberts and “America Reports” co-host Sandra Smith then played back the clip. 

“By the way, when ya do — think about it this way: my grandpop, who I never met, he died in the same hospital I was born in two weeks before I was born,” Biden said. 

Biden didn’t quite have his facts completely straight, according to Roberts. 

“An anecdote that is sure to pull on the heartstrings, but Sandra it’s a story that does not appear to have the added benefit of actual being true,” Roberts said. “Biden’s grandfather, who he was talking about there, died in September 1941 in Baltimore. President Biden was born November 20, 1942, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 

Roberts went on to break down how Biden also couldn’t be talking about his other grandfather, as he’d died “several years after.“

“He could be talking about his other grandfather? Well, that grandfather died years later. So, take it for what you will, but apparently history does not line up with the way that the president recounted it earlier today.”

Watch the segment in the video at the top of this file.

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Fox News anchors were giving President Joe

About The Author

Barry Walsh is editor-in-chief and content director for Realscreen, and has served as editor of the publication since 2009. With a career in entertainment media that spans two decades, prior to Realscreen, he held the associate editor post for now defunct sister publication Boards, which focused on the advertising and commercial production industries. Before Boards, he served as editor of Canadian Music Network, a weekly music industry trade, and as music editor for HMV.com. As content director, he also oversees the development of content for the brand’s market-leading events, the Realscreen Summit and Realscreen West, as well as new content initiatives.

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Playing the last days of Romanian communism as frenzied farce, Lucian Pintilie’s “The Oak” is set in a world so despoiled a Hieronymus Bosch landscape might seem bucolic by comparison.

First shown in 1992, some three years after the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were executed and a year after a new constitution replaced single-party rule, “The Oak” has been restored and revived for a week at Film Forum. Ensuing decades have scarcely mitigated its power.

Following the death of her father, a onetime colonel in the secret police, the disheveled and seemingly demented Nela (Maia Morgenstern) departs the squalid Bucharest apartment they shared and, carrying dad’s ashes in a jar of Nescafé, makes her way to Copsa Mica, the Transylvanian town where she has been hired to teach.

The place is a citadel of pollution — industrial and otherwise. Nela is sexually assaulted by a gang of drunken workers. After she is dumped in a hospital bed (its previous occupant unceremoniously relocated to the floor), Nela meets a kindred soul in Mitica (Razvan Vasilescu), a surgeon similarly sent to the Transylvanian back of beyond. Equally unrestrained, Mitica eschews bribes and physically attacks his superiors, often with a fixed grin. The pair team up in a scattershot, anti-authoritarian conspiracy of two.

As wildly impulsive Nela, Morgenstern gives a performance no less anarchic than the movie. (It’s a minor irony of cinema history that this whirlwind actress would be best known for her somber portrayal of Jesus’s mother in “The Passion of the Christ.”) She’s so much fun to watch that “The Oak” loses velocity when attention shifts to her cohort.

Punctuated with sudden explosions, random mayhem, yelling, cursing, and ringing telephones, “The Oak” is impossibly busy as well as incredibly bleak. Trains stall, bridges flood, trucks crash. The army is perpetually holding drills. The hospital doubles as a charnel house. Officials are ineffectual even in their self-dealing. Ordinary people are pointlessly bellicose.

The movie is sometimes exhausting but never dull. Indeed, the pace is dizzying to the point of disorientation. “You can’t be sure which way is up,” Vincent Canby wrote in his review in The Times, watching “The Oak” was like exploring “a house of horrors in an amusement park in space.”

Pintilie, who died in 2018, has been called the godfather of the Romanian new wave — an example for the talented young directors who emerged in the early 20th century. “The Oak” provided a template for the journey-to-the-end-of-the-night absurdism found in Cristi Puiu’s “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” (2005) and Cristian Mungiu’s “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” (2007). In addition, “The Oak” pioneered a mode that might be called post-Communist grotesque, anticipating the Balkan tumult of the Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica’s “Underground” (1995), the frantic labyrinthine surrealism of Aleksei German’s “Khrustalyov, My Car!” (1998) and the political slapstick of Armando Iannucci’s “The Death of Stalin” (2017).

Unlike those three films however, “The Oak” has the quality of a personal exorcism. Made upon Pintilie’s return to Romania after years of self-imposed exile, it is a work of bottled-up fury. The movie’s mad energy suggests that Pintilie, some of whose earlier films were personally banned by Ceausescu, is pounding a stake through the dictator’s heart the better to dance on his grave.

The Oak

April 28 through May 4 at Film Forum in Manhattan, filmforum.org.

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Playing the last days of Romanian communism

‘A Tourist’s Guide to Love’

For the most part, the romantic comedy “A Tourist’s Guide to Love” follows the predictable pattern of a Hallmark-style “workaholic slows down and finds love” story. Rachael Leigh Cook plays Amanda Riley, an over-scheduled Los Angeles travel agent who suffers an unexpected setback in a long-term relationship. She recovers by taking a business trip to Vietnam, where she’s captivated both by the place and by her guide: the kind-hearted optimist Sinh Thach (Scott Ly). Though the movie’s leads are undeniably charming, director Steven K. Tsuchida and screenwriter Eirene Tran Donohue don’t give them much to do that hasn’t been done many times before.

What does distinguish their film is its setting. Amanda has been sent to Vietnam by her boss (Missi Pyle) as a kind of secret shopper, to experience the Tết celebrations and to look into the possibility of acquiring Sinh’s family-owned tour company. Hiding her true intentions, Amanda asks Sinh to take her tour group to all the country’s most popular spots; but gradually she gets more into his groove, following the flow of any given day.

Because this is a rom-com, eventually Amanda may have to risk her budding relationship with Sinh by telling him the truth; and there’s always the possibility that her noncommittal boyfriend John (Ben Feldman) will reenter the picture. But until those narrative gears start grinding again, “A Tourist’s Guide to Love” is a genuinely pleasant trip through Vietnam’s stunning-looking cities and countryside as two nice folks meander along, falling for each other.

‘A Tourist’s Guide to Love.’ TV-PG, for mild themes. 1 hour, 36 minutes. Available on Netflix

Alex Trewhitt in the movie “Cherry.”

(Entertainment Squad)

‘Cherry’

In their indie drama “Cherry,” writer-director Sophie Galibert and co-writers Arthur Cohen and Anne-Claire Jaulin make the daring choice to have their title character be a total mess. Alex Trewhitt plays Cherry, a young woman who works (sort of) as a magician at a costume shop and spends her free time either participating in a roller-skate dance troupe (when she remembers to show up) or hanging out with her boyfriend, Nick (Dan Schultz), a DJ with no interest in settling down. As the film begins, Cherry learns she’s pregnant. She has no health insurance. She has no real adult relationships to lean on. And because she’s been afraid to take a pregnancy test, she’s so far along that she has essentially 24 hours to decide what to do next.

In other words, Cherry is hardly the most sympathetic character to put at the center of a story about reproductive rights. (She even admits to never using birth control.) But that’s part of the point of this slight-but-engaging slice-of-life. These kinds of stories are rarely perfect. The easiest thing for Cherry to do would be to ask her friends and family for advice; but that’s not who she is. She’s a mixed-up youngster who half-wonders if maybe having a baby would help her mature. Ultimately, this film is less about her final decision than about how having these choices helps her figure out who she wants to be.

‘Cherry.’ Not rated. 1 hour, 16 minutes. Available on VOD

‘The Best Man’

The proliferation of “Die Hard” rip-offs in the ’80s and ’90s often lacked what made the original special: the quirky personalities of the heroes and villains. So the thriller “The Best Man” — which is essentially “Die Hard” at a destination wedding — deserves some credit for at least taking the time to let the audience get to know its characters. Brendan Fehr plays Bradley, who reconnects with his old special ops buddies Cal (Luke Wilson) and Anders (Dolph Lundgren) for Cal’s wedding at a ritzy New Mexico resort. Writer-director Shane Dax Taylor and co-writers C. Alec Rossel and Daniel Zirilli spend about a third of the film watching these guys reminisce, drink and flirt with the ladies in the wedding party.

Then mercenaries with a personal grudge invade the hotel and Bradley finds himself separated from the group, working in the shadows with the bride’s sister Hailey (Scout Taylor-Compton) to outsmart the gunmen. It’s here where “The Best Man” stumbles. The cat-and-mouse action is uninspired and slackly paced; and any pizazz that Wilson, Lundgren and Fehr bring gets lost once they stop talking and start shooting. The location is nice; and to be fair, this movie never promises more than it delivers. It’s an unambitious “Die Hard” clone with likable actors, aimed at audiences looking for something adequate.

‘The Best Man.’ R, for violence, language and brief drug use. 1 hour, 33 minutes. Available on VOD

Also on VOD

“Gringa” is a shaggy underdog sports story about a cranky soccer prodigy named Marge (Jess Gabor) who leaves home after her mom dies and tracks down her absentee dad (Steve Zahn), a laid-back soccer coach in Mexico. The film packs two movies’ worth of melodrama into one; but the backgrounds are lovely, Zahn and Gabor play well off each other, and the movie builds to an exciting climactic match. Available on VOD; also playing theatrically, Cinelounge Sunset, Hollywood

Available now on DVD and Blu-ray

“Small Axe” collects five vibrant, passionate Steve McQueen films (including what may be his masterpiece, “Lovers Rock”) that cover the tumultuous period from the ’60s to the ’80s in the lives of Londoners with roots in the West Indies. The Criterion Blu-ray set includes a related documentary co-directed by McQueen and James Rogan, as well as multiple interviews with McQueen, covering different aspects of this remarkable 2020 project. The Criterion Collection

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Many actors in the MCU have already confirmed their departure or expressed their desire not to return to the enormous franchise, but one actor wants their role recast after their exit.

Scarlett Johansson recently disappointed fans by expressing how she was definitively “done” with the character of Natasha Romanoff, which could preclude her from even appearing in Avengers: Secret Wars. But that character has a legacy replacement thanks to Florence Pugh’s Yelena.

Another actor soon leaving the MCU will be Dave Bautista’s Drax in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Fans weren’t too surprised by this news, considering how Bautista seemed to become jaded with the role over the years. 

Another Guardians alum will be leaving in the upcoming threequel but has expressed how they want their role to be recast, not shelved.

Zoe Saldana Doesn’t Want Gamora To Leave With Her

Marvel

In an interview with GamesRadar+, via Total Film, actress Zoe Saldana revealed that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would be her swansong in the MCU as Gamora. Saldana believed that “the time [had] come for [her] to step down, and for the next generation to come forward.”

However, she doesn’t want “Gamora to go away” since she has been “such an impactful character for fans, and especially female fans, and young female fans:”

“The one thing I would not want is for Gamora to go away. She’s been such an impactful character for fans, and especially female fans, and young female fans. I would love for Marvel to figure out a way to find that next generation of actors that can incarnate these characters, and give them this immortality that fans generationally keep coming back to…”

Saldana is still thankful for her time as the Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy, having initially “signed up for one” and getting ten years of steady work:

“But me, per se? I mean, I signed up for one, and I got 10 years. Lucky me, man. I have no complaints. And I’m moving on with so much grace and gratitude in my heart.”

One likely culprit for Saldana finally leaving the role could be the makeup process for the green-skinned alien warrior. 

In a past interview, she said that “[she] can never say no to anything,” but “[Gamora’s] green makeup? I wouldn’t be upset if it didn’t happen again:” 

“I can never say no to anything, but that green makeup? I wouldn’t be upset if it didn’t happen again… I miss Gamora but I don’t miss 3:30 a.m. calls and five-hour makeup sessions and trips to the dermatologist afterwards.” 

Saldana’s last time as the Daughter of Thanos at least offers a performance, as she’ll be playing a younger, time-displaced Gamora. During her GamesRadar+ interview, she described the time-displaced warrior as “not a Guardian” and that “[Gamora] doesn’t remember them. They never happened. She never happened for them.”

The actress said Gamora’s drastically different personality was “really hard, I think, for the Guardians to accept,” but that “It was fun – and painful, of course – to play this kind of Gamora.”

Should Marvel Studios Recasts Become More Acceptable?

Zoe Saldana is clearly outspoken about her character being recast in a future appearance without her. In fact, over a decade ago, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was fully supportive of this practice, ala James Bond.

Of course, exceptions exist not to recast roles, such as Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa. This is something that would have been too painful for director Ryan Coogler and the cast. But outside of that exception, Marvel Studios has made it more of a habit to phase out characters rather than recast them.

After all, Hawkeye and Steve Rogers have retired in-universe, along with others like Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff being killed off. But from the sound of it, Saldana’s time-displaced Gamora doesn’t appear to die by the end of the Guardians threequel.

Would Marvel Studios just put the character on a bus until Saldana was willing to return in who knows how many years or recast? The latter is more than feasible, especially with Saldana encouraging the studio to recast her in this interview.

Fans can see Gamora’s fate when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 releases in theaters on Friday, May 5.

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Come on, Barbie, let’s go party. Whether we want it to or not, that iconic Aqua song is pulsing through our veins as we anticipate the upcoming big-screen Barbie movie. She is no stranger to the screen, though. The iconic Mattel doll is, after all, the star of a whole animated cinematic universe. But now she’s getting the Hollywood treatment with a live-action film. Margot Robbie stars as the titular blonde girlboss, and she has a whole lot of star power with her—both in front of and behind the camera.

Warner Bros.

At CinemaCon, Ryan Gosling really summed up the spirit of the movie when he discussed finding his true Ken. He noted:

I only knew Ken from afar. I didn’t know Ken from within and if I’m being really honest, I doubted my Kenergy. I didn’t see it, but Margot and Greta, they conjured this out of me somehow.

It was like I was living my life and then one day I was bleaching my hair, shaving my legs, wearing bespoke neon outfits, and rollerblading down Venice beach. It came on like a light scarlet fever and then I woke up one day and was like, “Why is there fake tanner in my sheets? What just happened?:

We feel like that’s about to happen to all of us when we finally watch the Barbie movie.

Here’s everything we know about Barbie.

Title

Warner Bros. and Mattel are keeping it simple with this one, calling the film Barbie.

Margot Robbie as Barbie the doll from the titular film, sitting in a miniature Cadillac, smiling.
Warner Bros.

Barbie‘s Plot

So far, Warner Bros. and Mattel are keeping on the down low about Barbie‘s plot. But given the castings we know the ensemble film will include at least a few familiar figures from the Mattel world. In addition to the titular character, her on-again/off-again boyfriend Ken is a major figure. And there may even be more than one. Plus, this is a film from Greta Gerwig (and Noah Baumbach). So it wouldn’t be too surprising if they throw in a couple surprises. Will we see a wistful or melancholy Barbie, trying to move on from her himbo love? Or will we follow Barbie on a coming of age journey as she figures out what her dream job really is? With Gerwig at the helm and this stacked cast, we’re game for just about anything.

Barbie‘s first teaser offered us a lot to think about as well. You can watch below and check out our full breakdown of Barbie‘s trailer, including its 2001: A Space Odyssey references and recreations.

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Barbie‘s second trailer, meanwhile, brought us something a little bit more conventional, but no less excellent.

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Most recently, Barbie shared a slew of witty posters with us, teasing its full cast of Kens, Barbies, humans, and more. We definitely can’t wait to see more. We have a feeling we will soon enter a fantastic world like no other.

Behind the Scenes

Greta Gerwig will write and direct the film, with real-life partner Noah Baumbach co-writing the script. Robbie and Tom Ackerley are also producing the film through their LuckyChap Entertainment production company. Mattel’s Robbie Brenner and David Heyman also produce.

Barbie‘s Cast

 As stated above, Margot Robbie, who is also producing the film, is Barbie. Ryan Gosling is playing Ken. Joining them are Simu Liu, America Ferrera, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Rhea Perlman, Ncuti Gatwa, Emerald Fennell, Sharon Rooney, Scott Evans, Ana Cruz Kayne, Connor Swindells, Ritu Arya, Jamie Demetriou, Kate McKinnon, Ariana Greenblatt, Emma Mackey, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, and Hari Nef. Dua Lipa has all come aboard. It is quite a cast, to say the least!

In addition, we now know that Will Ferrell will play “the CEO of Mattel.” According to the actor, the role is “that guy who’s just insensitive but weird.”

Barbie’s Release Date

Barbie releases on July 21, 2023.

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Come on, Barbie, let’s go

Magpie Aviation announced a novel new approach to electric airplanes on Monday. Today’s battery technology (including CATL’s new, more efficient one) severely limits the practicality of zero-emission aircraft, leaving clean-energy innovators with two incomplete options: flying a plane full of batteries or one full of people — but not both. So the California-based startup wants to tie them together, extending the rear plane’s range by hundreds of miles.

Towing planes isn’t a new concept, with military use going back to World War II when aerial tows would pull smaller aircraft carrying troops and supplies. But applying it to the world of green transportation is new. Magpie Aviation’s concept uses one or more electric aircraft to act as a tractor plane towing a passenger (or cargo) aircraft using a long cable. The towed plane would have enough battery power for takeoff, landing and flying to alternate airports but not enough to fly the full distance on its own, as reported by AeroTime.

The lead plane would take on the bulk of the traction, and when its battery is depleted, it could hand off towing duties to another electric towing aircraft to extend the rear plane’s range. Magpie CEO Damon Vander Lind summarized to Aviation Week, “You get towed until you’ve depleted down to your reserve in the lead aircraft, and then you swap in another tow aircraft.” Although it’s still a regional solution impractical for cross-country or international flights, Vander Lind says it could allow for a trip from San Francisco to Seattle — far beyond the sub-regional distances battery-powered passenger flights can travel on their own.

Magpie says it’s conducted successful small-scale tests using a synthetic fiber rope around 330 ft. long; the company envisions a later commercial version to use nearly mile-long cables. The startup plans to scale up its testing gradually and believes it could be implemented commercially by 2030. It expects advances in battery tech to allow it to tow single-aisle airliners eventually. Magpie suggests that the concept, mainly targeting electric planes, could also work with hybrid, hydrogen and standard aircraft in low-power modes. Additionally, the company says it’s working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with an eye toward certification.

“It sounds kind of crazy, but we kept coming back to it because we couldn’t find any reason why we couldn’t do it,” said Vander Lind. “While our modeling shows that there is an advantage to doing a custom tow aircraft like this, we get a big advantage because the more expensive and critical passenger- and cargo-carrying ‘main aircraft’ has similar requirements to today’s aircraft and so adapts well to existing in-operation and already-in-development platforms. Remember that if we want to hit a zero-carbon 2050 goal, an airliner has a 30-year life, so we’re already at the point where airlines have to think hard about the operating life of the assets that they are buying today.”

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Magpie Aviation announced a novel new approach

Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell Talk About Their Chemistry Onscreen — and Reveal Her Nickname for Him | Entertainment Tonight
































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UPDATE—April 25, 2023: Getting hungry? Good news—Our Place is holding a massive sale right this minute. Nearly everything is up to 25% off, including the Insta-famous Always Pan, the brand’s cute cookware sets, and tons of tableware essentials. Even its new cast-iron pans are marked down. (In case you’re wondering, this almost never happens; the cookware gods have blessed us this week.)

No matter what your kitchen or tabletop is missing, you’re bound to find it here. Need drinking glasses that aren’t boring? On-trend dishware that doubles as a great graduation gift? A pot that can handle your latest attempt at a Bon Appétit recipe? You’re in luck—and so is your wallet. Like all good things, the Our Place sale won’t last forever, so hop to it and shop our favorite finds from the brand’s spring blowout while you still can.

ORIGINAL STORY—June 10, 2021: Sure, the Insta-famous Always Pan makes for grid-worthy photos, but is it more than just a pretty face? Let Glamour’s Our Place Always Pan review help you decide.

If you’re a millennial who follows food influencers or HGTV on Instagram (or if you’ve spoken the words always and pan in tandem out loud), you’ve probably been served #sponcon for the Always Pan—and you’ve probably been tempted to buy one. Unless you have the unicorn kitchen cabinets that can accommodate every pot, pan, lid, insert, and add-on, taking out just one pan probably involves removing and rearranging a small mountain of cookware. So replacing it all with a single pan that can handle braising, searing, steaming, straining, sautéing, frying, and boiling (and be used to serve and store) probably sounds like a dream.

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UPDATE—April 25, 2023: Getting hungry? Good news—Our

Netflix subscription is required to watch on Netflix

 

Great news! “The Hateful Eight: Extended Version” is available to watch on Netflix USA!

 

? Please note: this series is not available on the Basic with Ads subscription plan.

 

Date Added: 25th April 2023

Want to keep forever? Try looking for ‘The Hateful Eight: Extended Version’ on Amazon (paid link)

 

History:

   04/25/2019: Added to Netflix

   01/26/2023: Removed from Netflix

   04/25/2023: Streaming Again

 

Description:

Trapped at a stagecoach stop as a storm rages outside, two bounty hunters and an outlaw face a gallery of rogues. Features never-before-seen footage.

 

Certificate: R
Strong bloody violence, a scene of violent sexual content, language and some graphic nudity

 

Year: 2015

Duration: 4 Episodes

Available Seasons: Season 1 (4 Ep)

Audio: English [Original]

Subtitles: English, Spanish

 

Cast and Crew

Director: Quentin Tarantino

 

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, James Parks

 

Production & Box Office Details:

“The Hateful Eight: Extended Version” was produced by The Weinstein Company, Double Feature Films and FilmColony with a budget of $44m. With it’s initial release on December 25th 2015 it made approximately $155.76m at the Box Office.

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Watch the trailer for “The Hateful Eight: Extended Version”

 

RATINGS:

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LISTS:

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Available on Netflix USA!

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The EGOT winner was feted on Monday night at Film at Lincoln Center’s 48th annual Chaplin Gala, where stars like Jessica Chastain made their support clear.

It took about an hour of speeches saluting Viola Davis during the Film at Lincoln Center’s 48th annual Chaplin Gala before someone addressed the elephant in the room.

“When I see a movie like ‘The Woman King,’ it has Viola’s fingerprints all over it,” said Davis’ “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby” co-star Jessica Chastain. “A movie like that with a female director and a cast of powerful Black female leads can get made in Hollywood today because of Viola’s lifelong advocacy for women of color. Maybe one day a movie like that can get nominated for an Oscar.”

The statement was met with enthusiastic applause from an audience comprised of Lincoln Center donors, industry colleagues, and plenty of acting students from Davis’ alma mater, Juilliard. It was an explicit callout to the biggest Oscar snub to cast a shadow over last year’s awards season, and contextualized a celebration that made up for the missed opportunity.

Davis’ performance as an African war general seemed like a shoo-in for the Best Actress category after the Sony release grossed close to $100 million following its successful launch on the fall circuit, yet Davis was shut out of the category, while the movie itself garnered zero nominations — an outcome that led to questions about whether the Academy had truly addressed its diversity problems in the wake of #OscarsSoWhite.

At a dinner following the ceremony, where board members shelled out as much as $100,000 per table for the fundraising event, Chastain — who has two months left in the Broadway production of “A Doll’s House” — was still reeling about the exclusion. “Someone had to say it,” she told IndieWire. “I mean, come on. Not a single Oscar nomination for that movie? There had to be some Academy members in that room, right?”

Indeed there were. The crowd ranged from CAA heavyweight Kevin Huvane to prolific documentarian Roger Ross Williams, as well as several other notable actors and filmmakers who took the stage during the ceremony to praise Davis, only the third EGOT winner to receive the Chaplin tribute Mike Nichols and Audrey Hepburn. Notwithstanding Davis’ 2016 Oscar win for “Fences,” the event made the case that the 57-year-old actress’ talent has often been under-appreciated — and in some cases, the highlight of otherwise forgettable movies. For every “Widows” or “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” there are lesser-known gigs such as “Troop Zero” and “Lila & Eve” where she still manages to stand out.

“Widows” filmmaker Steven McQueen acknowledged as much in his speech. “Watching these clips on the screen is like watching Mike Tyson knockouts,” he said. “It’s Viola and someone else listening. You see someone who is truth. It’s scary and revealing.”

While “Woman King” director Gina Prince-Bythewood didn’t address the recent snub in the explicit terms of her editorial earlier this year, she spoke to the cultural impact of the performance. “The number of audiences who have shared that this film and her performance as Nanisca has literally changed their lives is stunning and inspiring,” Prince-Bythewood said. “It’s why we have fought so hard to allow Black female characters to show their mess.”

She also heralded Davis’ “insane work ethic,” a notion echoed by Meryl Streep, who recalled working with Davis on John Patrick Shanley’s 2008 “Doubt,” Davis’s onscreen breakout that resulted in her first Oscar nomination. Streep recalled her frustrations when Shanley kept asking for more takes of the scene in which Davis, as the mother of a child at a Catholic school who may have been abused by its priest, pushes back on allegations from Streep’s nun. “I said, ‘You’re killing this actor,’” Streep recalled. “I know an Oscar performance when I see one.”

Shanley insisted they come back the following week for additional shoots, which was when Davis delivered the devastating performance that wound up in the movie. “The greatest artists have a gift for conveying what it is to be human,” Streep said. “It’s just undeniable and it can’t be stopped by lack of opportunity.”

Matt Damon and Viola Davis in “Air”

COURTESY OF AMAZON STUDIOS © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC

The event doubled as a soft launch for what could end up being Davis’ next Oscar campaign for her turn as Michael Jordan’s mother Deloris in “Air,” a movie that didn’t appear in any of the montages from Davis’ work but received a standalone clip towards the end of the show. The scene finds Deloris pressing for Matt Damon’s Nike executive to accept a deal that promises her son will receive indefinite revenues from Air Jordan sales, though it doubles as an argument for pay equity that Davis has pressed for across the industry.

Amazon expects big numbers for the movie when it lands on the streaming service in May following its wide theatrical release, as it inches toward $50 million box office in North America. However, “Air” director Ben Affleck and others associated with the performance did not attend the gala, as the studio is likely to wait until later this year to unleash more advocacy for that performance.

In her own speech concluding the ceremony, Davis hewed to the bigger picture of her career, striking the same rousing note of her memoir “Finding Me,” which came out last year. “The biggest regret of the dying is never becoming your ideal self,” she said. “I do believe that we’re thrust into a world where we don’t fit in. A lot of people sell a bill of goods along the way — that if you get some awards, you mean something. … You swim through all the bad, filthy swill until you come to the really, really stark conclusion that you want to leave this Earth becoming who you know deep within I’m supposed to be. That transcends status.”

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The EGOT winner was feted on Monday

Let it be said: ‘90s hair has been hogging the spotlight. And now? The ‘80s want in. The latest haircut we’re crushing on is the momager crop. We didn’t expect to love it as much as we do, but there’s something about its ‘80s power suit energy and Kris Jenner-levels of zero BS that we can’t help but respect.

An update (or throwback) of the mussy pixie cut that’s dominated shorter crops in recent years, the momager crop sees a return to a more refined, immaculate finish. It has all the hallmarks of a smooth operator: It’s charming, polished, and alluring. As for the length, it’s giving us pure CEO vibes—daring, risqué, and adventurous—so unless you love be bold and take risks, you need not apply.

That said, the pixie-like shape has a delicacy and diplomacy that gives it a chameleon-like ability to feel soft and strong at the same time. We can already see it working equally well with casual jeans and T-shirts, romantic silky slip dresses, floral midis, or sharp tailoring.

British singer and songwriter Pixie Lott is the latest celebrity to jump on board. She posted a picture with the caption “PIXIE cut,” referencing her name. The rounded shape moves away from spiky layers to create a modern take on a retro ’80s crop.

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When styled—like Alyssa in the City here, with large and in charge disc earrings—the look helps to echo the buttons of a skirt suit blazer, but a basic black tee feels more relaxed.

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Let it be said: ‘90s hair has

Czech-Swedish filmmaker Greta Stocklassa was only eight when the War on Terror began in 2001. In the years that followed, fellow Swede and former UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, became a central figure in the investigation into weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In her documentary “Blix Not Bombs,” Stocklassa interviews Blix, now 94 years old, about the period running up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq 20 years ago.

In the docu, Blix describes his meetings with George W. Bush and Tony Blair, his frustration when Colin Powell gave his pivotal speech in the UN Security Council, and his feeling of emptiness when the U.S. started the invasion, despite his reports that his team had found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Blix also argues that there was a butterfly effect that the Iraq War triggered: the invasion resulted in the overthrow of the Iraqi regime, and the breakup of the Iraqi army, which led to the rise of ISIS, and the ensuing immigration crisis in Europe. As a reaction to that, a wave of far right populists such as Marie Le Pen, Geert Wilders and others arose, destabilizing governments all around Europe.

“The film became a dialogue between generations,” says “Blix Not Bombs” producer Radovan Síbrt. “Greta is trying to figure out how to live as responsibly as possible in the world Hans has co-created and is slowly leaving. She tries to understand the limitations of diplomacy, professional duty, personal responsibilities, and the fact that there is not always a simple answer to everything.

“Blix Not Bombs,” which had its world premiere at Copenhagen documentary festival CPH:DOX, will screen at Hot Docs in the Special Presentations program.

Variety spoke with Stocklassa and Síbrt about why they wanted to make “Blix Not Bombs,” production challenges and the film’s biggest takeaways.

Variety: Did you approach Hans Blix about making this docu or did he reach out to you?

Stocklassa: I approached Hans almost four years ago, knowing he lived in Stockholm and that he was still pretty active. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make a film or what the focus of it would be, but I was intrigued by the fact that here is a man, who was part of history, yet remains not very known, at least for my generation, and is most famous for being ridiculed in the satirical cartoon “Team America.” When I reached out to him, I was surprised by his openness and friendliness, he immediately invited me to his home for tea and we met a couple of times before we decided to start filming.

What drove you to make this film?

Síbrt: Greta and I had slightly different motivations. For me, Hans is a character I knew from my adolescence. Before the invasion of Iraq, we watched the news every night and his name kept coming up. At that time, the official mood in the Czech Republic was clear: We must attack Iraq. We were freshly part of the Western world. We had joined NATO the year before, and the whole society was clearly in tune: Whatever the U.S. leaders say, we must be in agreement. It doesn’t matter if it’s a lie. So, Blix was also seen as a negative figure because he was saying something that didn’t quite fit the official discourse. So, it was extremely interesting to tell the story of a man who was touching on great history that we only knew from the television screen. Especially since no one who loudly supported the war ever publicly apologized.

Stocklassa: During the making of this film, the urgency of making it grew. The topics we had talked about in the abstract or on the example of the Iraq war – war, peace, diplomacy, future – had become very specific and urgent with the war in Ukraine. The Iraq war became a case study in what happens, when you don’t care about the facts (or create your own), don’t respect the agreements of multilateral organizations and humiliate your opponents. A lot of it applies even today.

What was the most challenging aspect of making the doc?

Stocklassa: The most challenging part was definitely in the editing room. We needed a lot of archives to tell the story and find a rhythm that wouldn’t make it into a boring history lesson. In general, finding the balance between the behind-the-scenes of Hans’ involvement in Iraq and all his other work, like Chernobyl, and all the other universal topics which are important both for him and for me, such as ethics, diplomacy, and future, was hard and a lot of darlings were killed.

Síbrt: The film was full of challenges from the very beginning. After the first short shoot, Covid-19 started, so most of the film was shot in conditions where it was impossible to travel. Access to Hans was extremely difficult. At one point he stopped communicating completely because he was hospitalized. Because of his age, we were constantly in a situation where we didn’t know whether we would finish the film. Because of that situation, we had a problem getting financing for the film.

What are you hoping audiences think about after seeing “Blix Not Bombs”?

Stocklassa: I would like (audiences) to get acquainted with Hans Blix and his values, because I think peace makers should get more spotlight than war heroes. Regardless of if they agree with Hans or not, I hope audiences think about what their personal role is in making the world a better place or maybe (the film) just incites a love for birds and nature like Hans has… Hopefully it can do both.

Síbrt: The film clearly shows how fundamental decisions are made by people who don’t care about the truth, who have other interests and are willing to do anything for them. They don’t care what the consequences of their actions will be. The effects of the war in Iraq still affect the lives of millions of people, including all of us. That is why we need to ask questions like Greta’s much earlier. Not after we see the impact around us.

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Czech-Swedish filmmaker Greta Stocklassa was only eight

Polling shows a majority of Registered Practical Nurses in Ontario have contemplated leaving the profession amid staffing shortages and increased stress.

The polling was done by Nanos Research of behalf of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and SEIU Healthcare. Results show 60 per cent of registered practical nurses are either considering or somewhat considering leaving the profession and 82 per cent of respondents say they experience high stress as result from their job.

“Stress is endemic. Trouble sleeping is pervasive and dread is everywhere,” said Jackie Walker, SEIU Healthcare nursing division president. “We have a crisis in Ontario’s healthcare system.”

Abie Osawe has been working as an RPN for over two decades and recently she said she and her colleagues have been feeling increased stress amid staffing shortages.

“Nurses have been struggling,” she said.

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According to College of Nurses Ontario, the main difference between RNs and RPNs is foundational education. The website said RNs study for a longer period of time, allowing for a greater depth and breadth of foundational knowledge.

Osawe said she is often called upon to cover for RN colleagues.

“It is not uncommon for RPN to look after 130 residents and be in charge of 130 residents. …There is no RN. There is so much shortage of nurses and the RPNs have to pick and do that role,” she said.


Click to play video: 'Ontario Health Coalition launches province-wide referendum against healthcare privatization'


Ontario Health Coalition launches province-wide referendum against healthcare privatization


While a majority of RPNs have considered leaving the workforce, polling also found 78 per cent would consider staying in the profession if wages increased to $35 an hour.

“Nurses are not able to commit to their futures and their nursing profession because we have a government that is not committed to addressing the very drivers of the nursing exodus,” said Walker. “Pay RPNs 70 per cent of an RN for doing 90 per cent of the scope and raise the minimum wage for RPNs to $35 per hour.”

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In a statement, a spokesperson for the Minister of Health said, “Since our government took office in 2018, over 60,000 new nurses and nearly 8,000 new doctors have registered to work in Ontario. 2022 was a record-breaking year for new nurses in Ontario with over 12,000 new nurses registered and another 30,000 nurses are studying at an Ontario college or university. But we know more needs to be done.”

The statement went on to say the provincial government has made it easier for internationally educated health care workers to work in Ontario while allowing health care workers registered in other provinces and territories to immediately start working in Ontario.

The statement also referenced the most 2023/2024 budget where the province announced a combined $280 million investment that would see the expansion of training opportunities and nursing education programs at universities and colleges.

The statement did not respond to questions around a wage increase for RPNs.

“We are doing the work load. We are doing the extra work and going above and beyond,” said Osawe. “It’s a way of showing gratitude and thank you and that’s what we are asking for.”

&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Polling shows a majority of Registered Practical

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FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver is exiting ABC News as The Walt Disney Company ramps up layoffs, Variety has confirmed.

ABC News will hold onto the FiveThirtyEight brand with plans to streamline the statistics-driven news and analysis site. The network plans to create a more efficient structure for FiveThirtyEight leading into the 2024 presidential election and beyond.

Silver sent a message to his team in a company Slack channel warning that the Disney layoffs would impact FiveThirtyEight, and that Silver is not planning to return after his contract ends.

Silver said in a tweet, “Disney layoffs have substantially impacted FiveThirtyEight. I am sad and disappointed to a degree that’s kind of hard to express right now. We’ve been at Disney almost 10 years. My contract is up soon and I expect that I’ll be leaving at the end of it.”

He continued, “I had been worried about an outcome like this and so have had some great initial conversations about opportunities elsewhere. Don’t hesitate to get in touch. I am so proud of the work of FiveThirtyEight staff. It has never been easy. I’m so sorry to the people impacted by this.”

In a statement obtained by Variety, a spokesperson for ABC said, “ABC News remains dedicated to data journalism with a core focus on politics, the economy and enterprise reporting – this streamlined structure will allow us to be more closely aligned with our priorities for the 2024 election and beyond. We are grateful for the invaluable contributions of the team members who will be departing the organization and know they will continue to make an important impact on the future of journalism.”

Founded in 2008, FiveThirtyEight became a licensed feature of The New York Times’ website and was renamed FiveThirtyEight: Nate Silver’s Political Calculus. ESPN acquired the brand in 2013 before it moved over to Disney sister company ABC News in 2018.

Using Silver’s unique statistical methodology, FiveThirtyEight compiled polling data and published articles analyzing the data as it pertained to sports, economics, current events and political issues.

The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the news.

VIP+ Analysis: Why Media & Tech Layoffs Are Soaring

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FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver is exiting ABC

But it turns out, “Not a Game” isn’t exactly a brand-new song. The Verge found that the track is composed of multiple preexisting elements, with the primary new addition being the Drake voice.

The fakers took the vocals from this a cappella rap posted to Looperman, a site that hosts audio loops, samples, and sounds that musicians can repurpose to create songs. The track is available to be freely used for noncommercial purposes, and it’s popped up in dozens of SoundCloud tracks since it was first posted in 2019. Artists are supposed to credit the rap to its creator, Sean Pharo.

The creators of “Not a Game” reworked Pharo’s vocals with the AI-generated “voice” of Drake, then layered that over a modified version of a beat by the artist Cedes, which is for sale on the beat marketplace BeatStars. Suddenly, two components that hadn’t been a hit before — the beat and the original rap — were going viral thanks to Drake. Pharo and Cedes did not respond to requests for comment.

This relatively low-effort creation shows just how powerful the ability to clone a musician’s voice is — and just how easy it is for creators to assemble a new track from a major artist. “Not a Game” is still available on SoundCloud and is also back on YouTube after getting reuploaded. SoundCloud, YouTube, and Drake’s label, Universal Music Group, didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.

Last week, the AI Drake song “Heart on My Sleeve” — somewhat suspiciously — went viral after getting posted to the relatively new TikTok account @ghostwriter977. While UMG responded by issuing copyright takedowns, Drake remained silent despite speaking out about an AI cover of him performing an Ice Spice track. This sparked questions about whether this may have been some sort of publicity stunt by Drake and UMG or if the promotional group linked to Ghostwriter’s account, Laylo, was somehow involved. Laylo has since denied these claims.

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But it turns out, “Not a Game”

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Timothée Chalamet says he swam in real chocolate while playing the famed chocolatier Willy Wonka in the upcoming movie musical “Wonka.”

“Too much chocolate,” he said on the stage at CinemaCon, the annual exhibition trade show currently underway at Caesars Palace.

Despite the stomach aches from ingesting too many sweet treats, Chalamet called the role “a dream come true.” Past versions of the character were “cynical,” he says. But “this is a Willy that’s full of joy and hope and desire to become the greatest chocolatier.”

Chalamet is the third actor to don the recognizable top-hat. Gene Wilder memorably portrayed the candy man in the 1971 adaptation, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” and Johnny Depp later embodied the role in 2005 reboot “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” directed by Tim Burton.

Roald Dahl’s popular children’s book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” follows a poor boy who wins a golden ticket to tour the world-famous and heavily guarded chocolate factory run by one Willy Wonka. Since the movie serves as an origin story about Wonka and takes place as the chocolate factory gears up to open, Charlie and company won’t be making an appearance in the musical movie.

But in the extended footage that screened for exhibitors on Tuesday, he finally meets one of the Oompa Loompas — played by Hugh Grant, trapped in a tiny glass jar — who he later hires to keep his factory up and running.

Elsewhere in the trailer, Chalamet sings, dances and spins around a light pole á la “Singin’ in the Rain” as he searches the world for magical recipes. He later attempts to make people fly with his enchanted chocolates, a tease of the many wacky treats — like everlasting gobstoppers or snozzberries — that propelled Wonka to confectionary fame.

Crowds at CinemaCon also got glimpses at Olivia Colman as a Cockney innkeeper, Sally Hawkins as Wonka’s beloved mother and newcomer Calah Lane as the chocolatier’s new friend.

“Every good thing in this world started with a dream,” Wonka says in the trailer. “So you hold onto yours.”

“Paddington” filmmaker Paul King is directing “Wonka,” which is slated to release in theaters on Dec. 15.

Warner Bros. brought its expansive slate to CinemaCon, including previews of “Dune: Part Two,” which also stars Chalamet; as well as the Oprah Winfrey-produced musical adaptation “The Color Purple” and Greta Gerwig’s plastic, fantastic “Barbie.”

Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, the new heads of the Warner Bros. Film Division, introduced the footage of “Wonka” and told theater owners: “It’s our job to bring you the most diverse slate of films of every scale genre. It’s our personal directive for the future and we are absolutely committed to delivering on that promise.”

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Timothée Chalamet says he swam in real

Ever since Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment, we’ve seen a TON of new things. The whole Infinity War saga happened, there are new rides in the parks, and there’s even a whole new land at Disneyland.

Marvel and Disney have big plans for the future when it comes to movies and TV shows. One of those shows is Loki on Disney+, which is getting a second season.

Loki

Photo: syfy.com

The show was incredibly successful in its first season, and we saw a bunch of fun merchandise from Disney! And today, we found a brand new Loki collection in the parks.

Loki Merchandise Collection

Check out this new Loki collection in Disney World! We found all of these items in Disney Traders at EPCOT.

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

There are several clothing items in the collection, like this new tank top.

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

The front has Loki’s helmet surrounded by one of the phrases we heard associated with the show — “Glorious Purpose.”

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

At the bottom corner on the front, there’s a tag that says Loki, and written underneath it says “You were meant to be ruled. In the end. You will always kneel. Trust my rage.” Such detail!

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

And, the back has Loki’s name, and written under it is “You know you love me.”

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

You can get it for $34.99.

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

Next up is this long sleeve purple shirt featuring Loki on the front and that same tag in the lower right corner.

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

This thing is super bright!

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

On the back, you can see it says “Master of Mischief” with that same mantra underneath. This one is $44.99.

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

There’s also this Glorious Purpose shirt with Loki’s headpiece on the front…

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

…and the back which says Loki’s name three times, with one being in color. You can get this for $39.99.

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

You can also find some new sweatshorts! They have Loki’s angry face at the bottom with his mantra on one side.

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

The other side has Loki’s headpiece and “Master of Mischief” written again.

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

 

Finally, there’s a new Loki hat! The front is black with Loki written on it.

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

The sides have a patch with the Master of Mischief logo and are a burgh fuchsia and yellow. Grab it for $29.99.

Loki Merchandise Collection Clothing Marvel EPCOT glorious purpose

It’s kind of random timing for this collection, but maybe it means we’ll be finding out about the release date for Loki season 2 soon. Or, perhaps the release date was going to be announced, but it was postponed due to the abuse allegations and controversy going on right now with one of the stars of the show, Jonathan Majors.

Stay tuned for more Disney news and updates!

Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond-Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!

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Ever since Disney

A new The Flash movie trailer was officially released at CinemaCon. Watch the new footage alongside an extensive breakdown of The Flash trailer.


This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.

Warner Bros. officially releases a new The Flash trailer at CinemaCon 2023. Plans for a Flash solo film starring Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen have been in the works since 2014, and the nearly decade-long wait for the movie could be worth the wait. The Flash is reportedly one of the best DC movies ever made and will play a prominent role in resetting the DC Universe for James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new plans. This is due to the movie’s multiverse plot that involves Flash traveling to another universe featuring Michael Keaton’s Batman, Michael Shannon’s Zod, and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl, as well as another Barry Allen.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAYSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

As part of Warner Bros.’ presentation at CinemaCon 2023, a new The Flash movie trailer was officially released ahead of the movie screening in its entirety for those in attendance.

Developing…

Source: Warner Bros.

Key Release Dates

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A new The Flash movie trailer was

Activision has announced plans to introduce Plunder mode to Warzone 2 this Wednesday.

Along with Battle Royale, Plunder was one of two modes available when the original Warzone launched in March 2020.

“Get ready to take the money and run,” the company said. “ Complete contracts, grab bags of money, take advantage of brand new public events, and hunt down cash-leaders in a race to earn the largest stash.”

Plunder Is Back | Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0

Ahead of Plunder’s return, Activision has also released a new update for Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2, and we’ve republished the full patch notes below.

Developer Infinity Ward recently confirmed it’s investigating reports of Warzone 2 server-related gameplay issues and said it was “actively working to resolve them”.

The acknowledgement of the issues followed complaints from players about bullet registration problems, delayed actions, and significant frame drops since Season 3 launched two weeks ago.

A week-long Modern Warfare 2 free multiplayer trial will conclude on Wednesday.

It includes access to some of the content introduced in Season 3, including new core map Pelayo’s Lighthouse, which is set on a small, craggy island during an evening storm, and Gunfight mode.

April 25 patch notes:

GLOBAL

GENERAL

  • Added descriptions for picking up individual trophies in the “Trophy Hunt” Event.
  • Reduced the number of lasers in Loadouts in Gunfight
  • Added more ammo caches to Zaya Observatory in Ground War.

BUG FIXES

  • Fixed an issue in Gunsmith where multiple Attachments displayed as Highlighted at the same time.
  • Fixed an issue that showed a lock symbol on a BlackCell Sector despite the Player owning BlackCell.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the loading time to spectate the next Player in Gunfight to take longer than intended.
  • Fixed an issue with Recruit a Friend where Challenges were not tracking as intended.
  • Fixed an issue causing the Pro-Tuned icon to display incorrectly when hovering an attachment in Gunsmith UI.
  • Fixed an issue where some “Trophy Hunt” Event UI was missing in Battle Royale and displayed an incorrect number of trophies earned.
  • Fixed an issue where, after restarting the game, both recruiters and recruitees would appear to lose progression on the Recruit a Friend Challenges menu.
  • Fixed an issue where War Track Bundles were not showing the Bundle names on the Vehicle Select Menu.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause tab navigation in Multiplayer to display an incorrect screen.

WARZONE 2.0

BATTLE ROYALE

GENERAL

  • Moved Killstreak banners to reduce reticle overlap on screen.
  • Updated audio for opening loot caches.

BUG FIXES

  • Fixed an issue preventing Players from pinging Contested Loadout Drops.
  • Fixed an issue where after playing a match through the “What’s Hot” Playlist, Players could be met with an error after attempting to open the After Action Report.

DMZ

BUG FIXES

  • Fixed an issue in the Active Duty tab, when the Player customizes their Operator’s Skin or Finisher, they may spot the Reactive Bonus Effect table overlapping Bonus Effect table.
  • Fixed an issue where equipping a larger Backpack would sometimes show the smaller Backpack returned to the Player’s inventory with the wrong name in the UI.
  • Fixed an issue where if the Player is attempting to change weapons for their Loadout from the Active Duty tab, the Player will be sent back to the lobby screen.