The 28th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books returned to the University of Southern California on Saturday and Sunday — and in a big way. Many of the 550 guests stopped by our portrait studio: Meghan Trainor, Michael Connelly, Jennifer Garner and more poets, artists, chefs, journalists, celebrities and musicians.
Here are some of the best photos from the day of people who did their best to entertain our photographer Myung J. Chun.
Geoff Dyer, author of “The Last Days of Roger Federer,” at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books portrait studio at the Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club of USC on Saturday.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Meghan Trainor, author of “Dear Future Mama: A TMI Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, and Motherhood from Your Bestie,” at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books portrait studio at the Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club of USC on Saturday.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
James Ellroy, author of “The Enchanters: A Novel,” at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books portrait studio at the Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club of USC on Saturday.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Michael Connelly, author of “Desert Star,” at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books portrait studio at the Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club of USC on Saturday.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Laura Dave and Jennifer Garner at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books portrait studio at the Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club of USC on Saturday.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Katie DiCamillo, author of “A Very Mercy Christmas,” at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books portrait studio at the Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club of USC on Saturday.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Jesse Leon, author of “I’m Not Broken: A Memoir,” at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books portrait studio at the Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club of USC on Saturday.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Rachel Lindsay, author of “Real Love: A Novel,” at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books portrait studio at the Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club of USC on Saturday.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Shaunna Stith and John Stith, at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books portrait studio at the Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club of USC on Saturday.
According to a new announcement from Marvel, some fans will have the chance to attend free, early IMAX screenings for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on April 28 at select theaters.
The third film in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise will release to the general public on Friday, May 5.
For many of those too eager to wait until May 5 for the official release, there will be an opportunity to see Guardians 3 a week early at select theaters.
How To See Guardians 3 Early
In a recent Tweet, Marvel announced that 25 special screenings of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will take place on Friday, April 28, giving attending fans an opportunity to experience the film event both a week early and for free.
This Tweet also came with a new poster for the threequel featuring the core team of heroes.
Marvel Studios
All of the screenings will occur at the given theater’s 7:00 p.m. local time on April 28. Below is a list of participating theaters and locations:
Megaplex Theatres at Geneva, Vineyard — Salt Lake City, Utah
Santikos Palladium IMAX — San Antonio, Texas
AMC Palm Promenade 24 — San Diego, Calif.
AMC Mercado 20 IMAX — San Francisco, Calif.
AMC Metreon 16 IMAX — San Francisco, Calif.
AMC Loews Alderwood Mall 16 — Seattle, Wash.
Ronnies 20 Cine — St. Louis, Mo.
Cineplex Cinemas Yonge-Dundas and VIP — Toronto, ON
AMC Tysons Corner 16 — Washington D.C.
Passes to watch the screenings can be acquired on gofobo, and all screenings will be in IMAX. Attendees will also receive a complimentary “collectible mini poster.”
It is worth noting that, according to disclaimers in the pass selection terms and conditions, “seating is first-come, first-served … This ticket does not guarantee you a seat! Theatre is overbooked to ensure a full house.”
Instructions recommend arriving early to secure a seat, given this “first-come, first-served” seating system.
It is possible that these early viewing opportunities are part of how Marvel intends to hype up Guardians 3 just ahead of its release to the general public. If early audiences love the movie they saw, and spread that opinion around, it is likely that others will want to get on seeing it as soon as they can, too.
The early screenings for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will take place on Friday, April 28 at select theaters, and the movie will release in theaters to the general public on Friday, May 5.
Andy Breckman is the creator of the American mystery-comedy-drama television program Monk. Tony Shalhoub played Adrian Monk, and the cast also included Jason Gray-Stanford, Ted Levine, Traylor Howard, Stanley Kamel, Bitty Schram, Emmy Clarke, and Hector Elizondo. Monk, which ran from 2002 to 2009, is mostly a police procedural series, with some emotional and comedic undertones in its examination of the personal affairs of the principal characters.
According to Deadline, Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, a Monk reunion film that will pick up after the series’ conclusion, was ordered by Peacock for production in 2023. Many of the original cast members will return to their roles, while Breckman will write the script. But the question still stands: what were these distinguished actors up to between the conclusion of the series and their decision to choose to reprise their roles in the Monk movie?
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Tony Shalhoub
USA Network
Some of Tony Shalhoub‘s more notable achievements since the conclusion of Monk include winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his performance in the Broadway production of The Band’s Visit and earning his fourth Emmy Award for his supporting role as Professor Abe Weissman in the Prime Video comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Shalhoub’s other recent projects include appearances in the movies Linoleum and Flaming Hot, and a prominent role as U.S. Senator Red Wheatus on the political comedy TV series BrainDead.
He also provided voices for characters in the animated movie Rumble, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, and the Cars franchise. In addition to reprising his role as Adrian Monk in the aforementioned Monk reunion movie, Shalhoub will also play Carlos Ghosn, the former CEO of Nissan and Renault who eluded capture by hiding himself in a music container, in the upcoming movie Fall of the God of Cars.
Jason Gray-Stanford has appeared as a guest star on a number of television programs since his role in Monk, including DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, The X-Files, iZombie, and The Boys. After being diagnosed with heart failure in 2020, he underwent a heart transplant. He later claimed in an essay for Today (via Yahoo) that, without the operation, he would have only had a few weeks to live.
He made two on-screen appearances in 2022: in the movie Cruel Instruction and an episode of FBI: Most Wanted. In addition to playing Maron in Disney’s upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians television series, he will also reprise his Monk role in the forthcoming reunion film.
Ted Levine
USA Network
The most notable recent television roles for Ted Levine include Lt. Hank Wade in the police drama The Bridge, retired police chief Thomas F. Bynes in the historical drama The Alienist, cult leader Obie Garbeau II in the comedy On Becoming a God in Central Florida, and ranch owner Horst Klensasser in the crime drama Big Sky. He also appeared in the movie Starbright and as a guest star on an episode of Tiny Beautiful Things in 2023. He will resume his role in the forthcoming Monk reunion film.
Traylor Howard
USA Network
Traylor Howard has had a few roles since Monk ended, including those in the TV film Nolan Knows Best and a guest appearance in the show Peacock Presents: The At-Home Variety Show Featuring Seth MacFarlane. She also provided voice work for the 2010 and 2016 animated shorts Simon Says Let’s Stop Climate Change! and Simon Says Save the Climate!. According to a 2014 Atlanta Journal-Constitution feature, Howard and her architect husband, Jarel Portman, are busy raising their son, Julien. In the upcoming reunion movie, she will reprise her role in Monk once more.
Stanley Kamel
USA Network
Partway into Monk’s run, Stanley Kamel suffered a heart attack, which tragically resulted in his death at the age of 65. The actor was well recognized for his recurring parts on Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, and Days of Our Lives.
After Bitty Schram‘s three-season stint on Monk came to an end, she faded from public view. Her notable performances prior to the show include Marvin’s Room, One Fine Day, and A League of Their Own. Other than reprising her role in Monk once in 2009, Schram only has one other acting credit following the series: a brief role in the 2016 film Moments of Clarity. She is not set to reprise her Monk role in the forthcoming reunion film.
Emmy Clarke
USA Network
Actress Emmy Clarke continued to work after her time on Monk, appearing in a number of projects, including the television movie The Line, the feature film Apartment Troubles, the short Capture the Flag, and the show The Strange Adventures of Gravemind the Warlock. After Monk concluded, Clarke, who now works as a team lead of client solutions for TikTok, obtained a bachelor’s degree in communications and media studies. She is not currently scheduled to resume her role in the Monk reunion movie.
Hector Elizondo
USA Network
After finishing his work on Monk, Hector Elizondo went on to voice characters in a large number of movies and television shows, including Thundercats, The Legend of Korra, Dora the Explorer, and The Lego Batman Movie. Additionally, he appeared in a number of movies and TV episodes, including Valentine’s Day, Grey’s Anatomy, Guess Who Died, Last Man Standing, and B Positive.
In an episode of the animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Elizondo provided the voice of Romar Adell in 2023. The actor will reprise his role as a psychiatrist for Monk in the aforementioned Monk reunion movie, in addition to appearing in the Max & Me animated historic production.
Ubisoft is about to bring another handful of games to Steam in the coming months. As spotted by , Far Cry 6, Riders Republic, Rainbow Six Extraction and Monopoly Madness will arrive on the storefront on May 11th, June 8th, June 15th and June 22nd, respectively. On PC, all four games are currently only available through the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft’s own Connect marketplace.
Following a three-year absence from the platform, Ubisoft in the winter of 2022. The first batch of titles included Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Anno 1800. At the start of 2023, the company then released The Division 2 and Watch Dogs: Legion, among a handful of other titles that were previously unavailable on Steam. When Ubisoft left the storefront in 2019, it said the decision led to pre-orders for The Division 2 on its own storefront (where Ubisoft did not have to pay Valve’s up to 30 percent cut of sales). As for the company’s decision to return to Steam, Ubisoft has only said it’s “constantly evaluating how to bring our games to different audiences wherever they are,” a statement that suggests the size of Valve’s userbase may outweigh the value of sharing a smaller portion of sales with a partner like Epic.
Editors note:This review was originally published March 16 after its premiere at SXSW. It opens in theaters Friday.
Deadites are everywhere in Lee Cronin’s newest film Evil Dead Rise. Taking place in cosmopolitan Los Angeles, these wacky demons still cause high-rise havoc in the modern era. Also written by Cronin, a true fan of the Evil Dead franchise, the movie stars Alyssa Sutherland, Lilly Sullivan, Morgan Davies, Gabriele Echols and Nell Fisher. It is interesting seeing these stories shift from a male to female perspective, showing that women can also be heroes of the supernatural as well.
Evil Dead Rise starts with a sweeping shot along a creek. This is the typical way a Deadite approaches its next victim — but no, that’s just a drone used by Caleb (Richard Crouchley), who’s hanging out with Teresa (Mirabai Pease) on a lake dock. Rounding out the trio is Jessica (Anna-Maree Thomas), who is sick in bed and not up for activities. When Teresa checks on Jessica, she can see that her friend isn’t having a restful sleep. As she reads Wuthering Heights, Jessica pops up, falls to the floor, convulses and transforms into a Deadite demon. Her possession is connected to the events in L.A. that happened the day before as the film cuts to an apartment where Ellie (Sutherland) and her children Danny (Davies), Bridget (Echols) and Kassie (Fisher) live. Her younger sister Beth (Sullivan) shows up after finishing a tour in Bangkok and needs a place to stay, while being simultaneously informed that her family has one month left in the building before it’s demolished.
Ellie sends her kids on a pizza run, but as soon as they return, a 5.5 earthquake hits the area, destroying the apartment and creating a deep hole in the parking garage where her kids are. Danny goes into the hole to explore and finds the Book of the Dead and a few vinyl records. Not knowing what the hell they have their hands on, she takes it home to investigate. Opening the book and playing the records delivers the incantation that gets the Deadite party going. But instead of possessing the person who started it, Ellie is the one who gets caught in the middle. Beth, her nieces and nephew must find a way to break the spell before they all are consumed by this curse of the damned.
The Deadites are one of the most comedic and charismatic of horror canon, causing its victims to act in strange ways while mocking itself and others. Cronin understands how to use these attributes and gives their actions and dialogue a modern flair. The director-writer also expounds on some the lore of this demonic force. Hearing this information lends credence to why a chainsaw will always be the Evil Dead universe’s most coveted weapon. Cronin also deploys familiar camera tricks and angles that are reminiscent of the original movies. However, it’s not a duplication of Sam Raimi’s work but an appreciation because the director uses these elements to build a one-off that is wholly his own.
Thanks to stunt coordinator Stuart Throp, the cast of Evil Dead Rise look strong and agile as their bodies shift and contort in various ways to show the demonic hold on the characters’ mind, body and spirit. Physical acting has been a hallmark of the franchise since the first film in 1981, and everyone is on board no matter how uncomfortable it might look. That and the practical effects and stunning makeup are the reasons why the Evil Dead movies are some of the most revered in the genre.
What bothers me about the film is the same thing that annoys me about all horror tropes and how they’re deployed. Why is everyone standing around doing nothing? Why are people voluntarily exploring weird locations and bringing back artifacts they aren’t familiar with? Why are they loud and making noise? Why, why, why? There has to be smart and innovative ways to execute these ideals without making the characters look like fools. These tropes are the worst way to move the narrative forward — though, to be fair, it’s not an Evil Dead movie without people bringing death upon themselves because of their nonsensical actions.
The 2013 Evil Dead pic was a bit more self-serious than the films before it. Maybe that was Raimi and Rob Tapert’s effort to shift things in a new direction, but it didn’t quite work. Although this premise takes place in the city as opposed to the woods, Evil Dead Rise feels like a real return to form. It’s funny, absurd, gory, bleak and will keep viewers on edge — just how fans like it.
Title: Evil Dead Rise Distributor: New Line Cinema Release date: April 21, 2023 Director-screenwriter: Lee Cronin Cast: Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, Nell Fisher Rating: R Running time: 1 hr 37 min
While kicking off the second leg of “The Special” tour in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Friday, Grammy Award winner Lizzo invited a group of drag performers, including several “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum, to call attention to the state’s new law banning drag performances.
Lizzo shared a videos of her speech and performance via her social media accounts as she led the performers onstage, where she spoke to the crowd directly about why she felt it was important to take a stand.
“In light of recent and tragic events and current events, I was told by people on the internet, ‘Cancel your shows in Tennessee,’ ‘Don’t go to Tennessee,’” Lizzo said, as they booed. “You don’t have to boo that person. Their reasons were valid.”
Lizzo continued: “But why would I not come to the people who need to hear this message the most? … Why would I not create a safe space in Tennessee where we can celebrate drag entertainers and celebrate our differences? And celebrate fat Black women?”
“What people are doing in Tennessee is giving hope,” the artist added. “So thank you so much for standing up for your rights, protecting each other and holding the people accountable who should be protecting us.”
A few of the performers who appeared onstage were former “RuPaul’s Drag Race” all stars like Season 10 winner Aquaria, Asia O’Hara, Kandy Muse and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.
In early March, Tennessee became the first state to ban drag shows in public places. The state’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, signed a bill that banned “adult cabaret entertainment” on public property or in locations where it can be viewed by minors, including “topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators, or similar entertainers.”
Critics of the law, which went into effect April 1, say that categorizing drag as “adult entertainment” automatically deems them sexualized performances. They also argue the language surrounding “male and female impersonators” is inherently anti-trans. At least a dozen other states are considering similar anti-drag legislation.
In one of the most significant programming moves since joining CNN as its CEO nearly a year ago, Chris Licht has hired CBS Mornings co-anchor Gayle King and NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley to host a weekly primetime program, to be called King Charles.
The show was announced on TNT as part of the channel’s NBA playoff pregame coverage.
“What I think is so great for the both of us is that it is live TV,” King said on the program. “Whatever happens, happens.”
King Charles will be an hour long and begin running on CNN later this year and into 2024. King will continue to work for CBS in the mornings, and Barkley will keep his duties at Turner Sports.
Barkley said he was not intrigued about the idea of hosting a show for CNN until King’s name was mentioned. King, similarly, said she “wasn’t looking for another job.”
At a lunchtime event at the Paley Center in New York Thursday, Licht was asked about the rumors of a King-Barkley show and responded by saying, “Wouldn’t that be a fun show to watch? Wouldn’t you watch that show? I would watch that, no matter what network it was on.”
The show will be a big swing for CNN, which has been undergoing a programming reset since Licht joined about a year ago. So far he has launched a new morning show and revamped the dayside news hours with a more dynamic format.
In primetime, CNN has tried a number of formats, from panel discussions to longform interviews.
However, King Charles will be a very different type of show. At the Paley Center event, Licht said he wants to take big swings and “try different things.”
“One of the things that I’ve been very clear about is we should try to widen the aperture of what could be in primetime. That we need to compete not for the news junkie,” Licht said. “Let’s compete for people that are watching television, who have discretionary time… people who are saying should I watch ESPN? Should I watch Netflix? should I watch HGTV? Hey, CNN always has something interesting. And I think if we compete for those viewers without offending the core cable news junkie that’s to me the best guess or best hypothesis of what could be successful.”
Read Licht’s full memo to staff below.
To my CNN Colleagues,
I am thrilled to share that CNN will be home to a new show featuring the extraordinary duo of Gayle King and Charles Barkley, aptly titled King Charles, which will air weekly in primetime beginning this fall and running into 2024. This show will be an exciting new way we are delivering culturally relevant programming and unique perspectives to our audience, from two incredibly dynamic personalities. We are excited that they are both able to join us in addition to their current respective roles with Gayle continuing to anchor CBS Mornings. King Charles exemplifies the one-team, one-company mentality with Charles playing double duty at CNN and in his role at WBD Sports.
There will be more to come on this in the months ahead, but in the meantime, please join me in welcoming Gayle and Charles to CNN.
Most movies are a one-and-done type of deal. You sit down (probably with a snack), watch their plots unfold and — about a week later — forget about them. The Silence of the Lambs, however, is not one of those movies. Released over 30 years ago, Jonathan Demme’s psychological thriller is a cinematic triumph that only seems to get better with age. Following FBI trainee Clarice Starling as she hunts twisted serial killer Buffalo Bill, the film is intelligent, engaging, unique, and unpredictable. If you’re a fan of creepy storylines, chilling plot twists, and feeling glued to the edge of your seat, this critically-acclaimed masterpiece needs to be next on your watch (or rewatch) list.
Actor Eric Braeden, who has spent the past 43 years playing Victor Newman on the CBS soap opera “The Young and the Restless,” announced Saturday that he has recently been diagnosed with cancer.
In a Facebook video, Braeden told fans he was diagnosed while being treated by a urologist for bladder and urination issues. His doctor found cancerous cells near his bladder and is now in the midst of six immunotherapy treatments.
Braeden says he has been able to continue acting on “Y&R” despite his diagnosis. The actor has been starring in the CBS soap since 1980 and has appeared in 3963 episodes. He’s also appeared in notable films like “Titanic” and “Escape From the Planet of the Apes.”
“I’m happy to be able to go to work,” he said. “That, I enjoy. It distracts me. I love acting. I love knowing that I entertain people.”
In regards to the treatment, Braeden said he’s feeling “a little under the weather, but not really much,” adding that he is still able to exercise in a reduced capacity.
“I will lick this,” he assured his fans. “This bastard ain’t going to get me; I’m going to get it.”
Becoming emotional toward the end of the video, he said, “I love your support. It means a lot. So, whenever you have someone in your family who goes through this, support them. It can work out.”
Frank Ocean’s Coachella performance last Sunday (April 16) was so bizarre, beginning with the fact that much of it took place backstage, that some critics assumed it had to be a deliberate, brilliant deconstruction of expectations for festival headliners. Or something. Then Ocean himself said it “wasn’t what I intended to show” and canceled his performance for Coachella’s second weekend, a move his reps claimed was made on doctor’s orders due to a leg injury. All in all, it wasn’t what anyone expected from his first performance since 2017, with the world still waiting for a follow-up to 2016’s instant-classic Blonde.
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Tomás Mier (who covered the Coachella performance) and Simon Vozick-Levinson join host Brian Hiatt to discuss the performance, Ocean’s possible mindset, whether it’s OK to admit that even geniuses can have a bad night onstage (the answer is “no” according to Justin Bieber), and Ocean’s whole brilliant and confounding career so far. Find the episode here at the podcast provider of your choice, go directly to Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above.
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We also discuss new details that have emerged, including Rolling Stone‘s report that 100 ice skaters were set to join the performance before Ocean abruptly changed his mind (again, his reps blamed a leg injury for any changes.)
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone‘s weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out six years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth, career-spanning interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Questlove, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, Gary Clark Jr., and many others. Plus, there are dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters.
The trailer (below) has launched for documentary “Planet B,” which will have its world premiere at Visions du Réel film festival as part of its Grand Angle strand.
In the film, director and climate activist Pieter Van Eecke follows 13-year-old Bo, who has a seemingly perfect life: She lives in a peaceful neighborhood in Belgium, has a loving family and lots of friends, and is doing well at school. Like many young people, Bo questions everything and has a rebellious streak. As she follows the news, she becomes increasingly aware of the perilous state of the planet. She decides to take up the fight against climate change and joins Extinction Rebellion, along with her close friend Luca.
They occupy factory sites and highways, and soon grapple with the forces ranged against them. They are ignored, criticized and arrested, even spending time in police cells. As Luca proposes increasingly radical action, the more thoughtful Bo looks for her own way through the moral, ethical and practical dilemmas of our age.
Van Eecke states: “This film is a mixture of a political film, a climate film and a coming-of-age film. I wanted to make a portrait of this generation as they come of age because I think it is the first generation that has to face a future that is fading away.
“Instead of the world opening up to them, they are confronted with something that is escaping them, and they have to fight for their right to be adults in a liveable world.
“Their experience is also marred by a certain incongruity that they witness between the adults’ words and actions. Greta Thunberg, for instance, was very vocal about the total irresponsibility of adults in tackling the climate crisis. How do you even grow up and become a responsible adult if you do not have good role models?”
“Planet B” is Van Eecke’s third feature. His first feature length documentary, “Samuel in the Clouds” (2016), won the Gold Hugo Award at the Chicago Film Festival, the Gold Gentiano at the Trento Film Festival, and the Full Frame Environmental Award.
His second feature, “Holding Up the Sky” premiered just a few weeks ago at FIFDH Geneva, and is being theatrically released in Belgium and the Netherlands.
“Planet B” is produced by Hanne Phlypo for Belgian production outlet Clin d’Oeil Films in co-production with Katja Draaijer and Frank Hoeve for BALDR Film (the Netherlands), broadcaster VRT and Shelter Prod.
It is supported by the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Netherlands Film Fund (NFF), Taxshelter.be and ING and the Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government, and co-funded by Creative Europe MEDIA of the European Union.
Prime Video’s The Wheel of Timehas cast Danish model-actress Maja Simonsen, Icelandic actress and former Olympic swimmer Ragga Ragnars, Irish actor Jay Duffy and New Zealand singer, actress and comedian Rima Te Wiata in recurring roles for the hit fantasy drama’s upcoming second season. The announcement was made during today’s virtual panel at JordanCon.
The four will play familiar characters from Robert Jordan’s best-selling novels the series is based on.
Simonsen and Ragnars will portray Chiad and Bain, respectively. Chiad is a Maiden of the Spear of the Stones River sept of the Goshien Aiel who is bonded as a first-sister to Bain.Duffy will play Dain Bornhald, a high-ranking officer of the Children of the Light, while Wiata plays Sheriam Bayanar, an influential Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah.
The Wheel of Time was adapted for television by executive producer/showrunner Rafe Judkins. Larry Mondragon and Rick Selvage of Red Eagle Entertainment, Ted Field and Mike Weber of Radar Pictures, Darren Lemke, and Marigo Kehoe also serve as executive producers. Series star Rosamund Pike serves as Producer and Harriet McDougal and Brandon Sanderson as consulting producers. The Wheel of Time is co-produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television.
The latest blockbuster movie from Apple TV Plus is Ghosted, a spy action comedy starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. Despite those two stars pushing it way over the legal limit for how much charisma one movie should be allowed, it hasn’t been very well received, cruising to a 34% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, it’s has a more favorable 64% score from the audience, but that could just be the de Armas stans (they’re quite fierce).
Given that it’s probably not going to join the ranks of the best Apple TV Plus movies, we’d suggest skipping it for something that’s much more of a slam-dunk – so here are six action comedies with secret agents that we think are definitely worth your time, and many are available on the best streaming services.
Some are more comedy than others, I’ll admit – but at the very least, they’re fun international adventures. One of them is a Mission: Impossible movie, for example – I picked the most fun one, but they’re all worth a rewatch right now, with Dead Reckoning arriving soon, and they’re available on Paramount Plus.
Spy
Where to watch: Rent (US), Disney Plus (UK)
I unashamedly love this movie about a super-suave spy’s ‘voice in the ear’ analyst, who goes into the field to avenge his death. It is just so astoundingly unhinged, with Melissa McCarthy – not exactly a low-energy actor – as the most down-to-earth person in it. Jude Law plays the world’s coolest and most infuriating spy, Rose Byrne plays the world’s friendliest psychopath, Jason Statham plays a parody of his own characters, and it also features Allison Janney, Peter Serafinowicz, Bobby Canavale and Miranda Hart knocking it out of the park.
Available to rent from most streaming stores in the US. Available to stream on Disney Plus in the UK.
The Man from UNCLE
Where to watch: HBO Max (US), rent (UK)
Not strictly a comedy, but being a Guy Ritchie film, a dry wit is woven through it from start to finish. It’s the most stylish movie here by a huge margin, full of people staying cool in tense situations, sharp ’60s outfits, gorgeous European locations, and withering one-liners. The story is about spies for the US and Russia who must team up during the Cold War to stop a nuclear threat. Henry Cavill steals the movie, and it was a great early showcase for Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Debicki. Armie Hammer is also in it, and he’s very good, though some people may (fairly) be put off by that these days.
Available to stream on HBO Max in the US.Available to rent from most streaming stores in the UK.
Austin Powers
Where to watch: Rent (US), Netflix and ITVX (UK)
You know which ’90s comedy has aged pretty well (appropriately enough)? Austin Powers! There are so many great little jokes apart from the big ones that everyone remembers (my personal favorite is Austin’s firm assumption about who won the Cold War), and even more fond James Bond references than you think. It’s also the perfect balance of being earnest and heartfelt – it actually likes Austin as a character even when he’s annoying everyone else, which makes you root for him to find his way in the new world.
Available to rent from most streaming stores in the US. Available to stream on Netflix or ITVX for free in the UK.
The Man Who Knew Too Little
Where to watch: Starz (US), Prime Video (UK)
If you like your laughs on the farce side, this is a full-on, old-fashioned comedy of mistaken identity. Bill Murray is a nice but, shall we say, basic man, who travels to the UK to visit his brother. Said brother buys him an ‘interactive theater’ experience where he’d be the center of an apparent international espionage plot. Except he accidentally becomes the center of an actual espionage plot, and has no idea. It’s not a classic, but it milks Bill Murray’s charm for everything it’s worth, and there’s a moment with an old couple in a hotel that is in the top 10 comedy moments of all time (for me).
Available to stream on Starz in the US.Available to stream on Prime Video in the UK.
True Lies
Where to watch: AMC Plus (US), Disney Plus (UK)
Speaking of farces, this movie was apparently based on a French farce movie, with James Cameron’s whole thing layered on top, which is why it has such a truly bizarre “tricking your wife into a fake erotic spy mission” plot and then also has Arnie using a Harrier jet to rescue his daughter. The gender politics haven’t exactly aged perfectly, but there are so many fun scenes, from Bill Paxton’s pitiful pick-up artist, to Jamie Lee Curtis blowing Arnie’s cover, to Arnie’s whole deal when he’s under truth serum.
Available to stream on AMC Plus in the US.Available to stream on Disney Plus in the UK.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Where to watch: Paramount Plus (US & UK)
Another one that’s more of a straight spy movie, but it’s probably the lightest and most purely fun of the Mission: Impossible movies, due to it being from the director of The Incredibles and featuring Simon Pegg heavily, specifically to bring comedy relief. From the uncooperative prison break opening to the infamous (real) climb up the Burj Khalifa, it’s just a blast. Don’t worry about the plot about a nuclear device being stolen or something, who cares about that.
Available to stream on AMC Plus in the US.Available to stream on Disney Plus in the UK.
Gayle King and Charles Barkley will help break traditional barriers around news programming later this year when they launch “King Charles,” a new weekly primetime program for CNN.
The duo confirmed the move, which has been anticipated for weeks, with an announcement Saturday afternoon on TNT, a cable network that is, like CNN, owned by Warner Bros, Discovery. “King Charles” will be a one-hour, live discussion program and is set to air Wednesdays. CBS News, which counts King as one of the most prominent members of its roster of correspondents, signed off on the deal weeks ago, according to a person familiar with matter. Barkley, who recently renewed his longstanding deal with Warner Bros. Discovery’s sports division, had an easier transition.
King vowed to host a show that offers “a good conversation without tearing other people down.” Barkley said the program would not try to emulate “clickbait” that journalism outlets are forced to publish in order to keep traffic numbers up to please advertisers. “We don’t want to say, ‘We’re a liberal, conservative, Republican, Democrat’ — that’s one of the things that’s already ruined television in general,” he said.
The show will start “in primetime beginning this fall and running into 2024,” according to a memo from Chris Licht, CEO of CNN. “This show will be an exciting new way we are delivering culturally relevant programming and unique perspectives to our audience, from two incredibly dynamic personalities,” he added.
The move spotlights how big media companies are letting go something they once demanded: talent exclusivity. King, who will continue to work for CBS News, is the latest news personality to diversify her roles at a time when traditional media is fragmenting, and the audiences that might flock to a specific correspondent have dwindled.
Other news outlets have also begun to allow their journalists to tackle multiple jobs. At MSNBC, for example, early-morning anchor Jonathan Lemire also serves as the White House bureau chief for Politico, and weekend host Jonathan Capehart has continued to work for The Washington Post. CNN has enjoyed the fruits of a similar relationship with CBS News that involves Anderson Cooper. Cooper is a correspondent for CBS’ “60 Minutes,” and the stories he contributes to that long-standing newsmagazine often turn up on his CNN primetime program. In the past, CBS News and CNN allowed Bianna Golodryga to work as a morning co-anchor on the broadcast network while contributing to the cable outlet. ABC News famously gives “Good Morning America” co-anchor Michael Strahan much leeway to pursue his football-analyst role at Fox Sports.
At the heart of this growing laissez-faire attitude? TV executives have begun to realize they can win new eyeballs to their programs if they let anchors, journalists and sportscasters ply their trade in other places. King’s role on CNN could bring some of the network’s viewers to her home base at “CBS Mornings.” There are still rules, however. It seems unlikely that CBS News would allow King to take up a role at ABC News or NBC News, or that NBCUniversal would allow MSNBC anchors to contribute their talents to CNN.
The show’s announcement comes just weeks before the nation’s big media companies are slated to pitch Madison Avenue in TV’s annual “upfront” market, when U.S. networks try to sell the bulk of their advertising inventory in advance of launching a new cycle of programs. CNN also recently unveiled a new Sunday program, “The Whole Truth,” which offers a one-hour single-topic documentary or deep dive.
CNN could use some new offerings. The network has seen its ratings slump noticeably since the aftermath of the 2020 election, and Licht has been testing new ideas across CNN’s schedule, ranging from regular town halls in primetime to a new morning program featuring Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, and a new kinetic daytime format aimed to add new energy and presentation fireworks to regular news delivery. The executive has run into some headwinds, with the morning team grappling with personality challenges. In recent days, CNN has signaled a willingness to continue to try new things, such as a run in primetime by Collins, and moving Chris Wallace’s interview show to Friday nights from Sunday evenings.
Taking on the CNN duties won’t mark the first time King has held multiple high-profile roles. For a time she helped run Oprah Winfrey’s magazine joint-venture with Hearst. She would often tackle those duties in the afternoon after having wrapped her weekday responsibilities at the CBS morning program.
Literary icon Judy Blume has been in the public eye for more than 50 years, but lately she’s been posing for even more cameras than usual.
For the past few months, Blume has been everywhere — from the red carpet premiere of the feature adaptation of her 1970 classic “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” in Los Angeles last week, to Variety’s Power of Women ceremony in New York City, where she was honored earlier this month. But on Monday night in Studio City, Calif., it was Blume’s husband George Cooper on the other side of a cell phone camera lens. As Blume was introduced to an eager (and pink-masked) crowd by 16-year-old Annabelle Chang, who owns Annabelle’s Book Club LA, Cooper sprang from his seat behind the desk to capture the moment on his cell phone.
Amid the applause from the audience, Blume made her way to her seat for a discussion about the Prime Video documentary “Judy Blume Forever,” joined by the film’s directors Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok. The Q&A, moderated by Chang, followed a special screening of the film – now streaming on Prime Video – which chronicles Blume’s life and career, exploring how her books ushered in the YA genre and made a profound impact on readers of all ages.
It was Pardo who initially approached Blume about making the documentary, an ask that the author says she’d never gotten before. As for why she agreed, Blume explained, “It seemed to me then, that if I didn’t do this in my life, somebody was going to do it after, in my after lifetime. And wouldn’t it be better, for me, if I was here to tell my story. I knew that I would want to be honest and open and here it is. I did it and they did it.”
But that doesn’t mean watching herself in the documentary isn’t weird. “I see the woman on the screen and I go, ‘Who is she?’”
While Blume might’ve dissociated from the on-camera version of herself — especially in some of the documentary’s more intimate segments — she’s quite clear about the important themes Pardo and Wolchok wove into the film. For example, “Judy Blume Forever” not only chronicles Blume’s rise to prominence as an author but the various challenges her work has faced by censors and politicians who’ve banned her books. “Censorship is about fear,” Blume said.
When Pardo and Wolchok set out to make the documentary, they always intended to include Blume’s fight against the censors, who’ve challenged books like “Are You There God?,” “Blubber,” “Deenie” and the coming-of-age novel “Forever…” But they’d initially envisioned it to be “the historical section of the film.”
Pardo explained: “We knew books were still being banned and we knew we wanted to interview authors whose books were being challenged, but we had no idea where we’d be right now. Things have exploded and it is so disturbing. We hope this film helps that conversation in some way, so that every kid, wherever they are, finds their Judy Blume.”
Annabelle Chang interviews Judy Blume and “Judy Blume Forever” documentarians Leah Wolchok and Davina Pardo following a screening of the film on April 17 in Studio City, Calif.
Victoria Sirakova/Getty Images
For Blume, looking back at her books’ initial challenges in the 1980s is a reminder of how “ridiculous” and surprising it was. (“Is puberty a dirty word? Is it a dirty subject?” she remembered thinking. “Do adults know this is going to happen to their kids whether they like it or not?”)
And she’s troubled “to be back there now, but worse, much worse because it’s coming from government and legislators trying to pass insane laws trying to tell young people what they’re allowed to talk about.”
As a longtime resident of Key West, Flor., Blume has a front row seat to these restrictive policies, which left her family with a simple choice: “Run away or stay and fight. We all have to speak out or we’ll lose these precious rights of ours.”
When Chang replied that Blume’s persistent fight against censorship is inspirational to her, the author turned the compliment back around.
“It’s people like you who give us hope, because you’re the next generation and you’re who’s going to be most affected it,” Blume told the teenager. “So, you’re the ones who have to speak out and fight the good fight. I know that you are already doing that.”
Blume also revealed one of her favorite moments from the documentary, a line delivered by author Jason Reynolds. Reynolds co-wrote the 2015 YA novel “All American Boys,” which has also been challenged and banned in a number of states.
“I don’t think Judy Blume wrote her books to be timeless. I think she wrote them to be timely,” Reynolds said in the film. “And because they were so timely, they were timeless.” Of his praise, Blume said, “That’s the quote that I want for the rest of my life. That really got to me.”
Later, the conversation turned to the more than 50 years of correspondence from fans that Blume preserved and are now archived at Yale.
“I’m a person who doesn’t keep things. I’m like, ‘Get rid of it.’ George, my husband, is kind of a pack rat and he keeps everything. He still blames me for giving away his checkbook stubs from when he was in college,” she told the giggling crowd, recounting a cute story about how her decision kept him from winning a debate about how much sweaters cost back in the day.
But those letters were too important to throw away. “They meant too much,” Blume said. “I moved around a lot, lost a lot of home movies of me doing endless cartwheels at age 9 on Miami Beach. So I couldn’t give [the filmmakers] any of that, but the letters I kept.”
Speaking of impact, Blume also took a few questions from the audience, including a mother who compared the tears she shed watching the documentary to her daughter’s experience crying throughout Taylor Swift’s Eras tour concert. Another query came from 17-year-old Shay Rudolph (Netflix’s “The Baby-Sitter’s Club”) who asked for advice about finding her purpose as an author. “Did you realize when you were writing these stories for kids that you were the voice for them?” Rudolph asked. “Or were you truly just pouring your heart out onto the page?”
“It was just pouring out. I didn’t write thinking, ‘Look what I’m doing. I’m going to touch people’s lives.’ No nothing like that. It was ‘Please let something get published,’” Blume recalled. “Success came so late, very sweet and slow. Otherwise, it could stop you from writing if it comes really fast.”
Judy Blume poses with Annabelle’s Book Club LA owner Annabelle Chang following a screening of the documentary “Judy Blume Forever.”
Victoria Sirakova/Getty Images
Multiple shots in the trailer showed the Marvel heroes popping up in situations both dangerous and hilarious, including a classic MCU team-up against its latest gender-swapped foe.
For a theme as unique as this one, the sequel’s main character would be included in such an awesome superpower smackdown. However, Brie Larson was seldom featured doing much of anything in The Marvels‘ debut trailer.
That may explain a lot about what’s going on in Captain Marvel 2 as Carol Danvers may actually lose her abilities in the MCU sequel.
Will Captain Marvel 2 Strip Away Carol’s Superpowers?
The cosmic Avenger may be doing this so that she doesn’t trade places with Monica Rambeau or Kamala Khan, but it could also be the case that Captain Marvel loses her superpowers in The Marvels.
2019’s Captain Marvel was all about the power that Carol Danvers acquired from the Space Stone and how the Kree wanted to get it from her.
Since The Supreme Intelligence couldn’t extract the power from Carol, the Kree installed a device on her neck that could inhibit Captain Marvel’s ability to use her superpowers.
Although Carol eventually overcame that device and escaped the Kree’s grasp, the new trailer for the MCU sequel indicates the Kree are sending a new Accuser after Captain Marvel, meaning they’re likely still after the power that she possesses thirty years later.
Are Captain Marvel’s Superpowers the Problem?
Now that the Infinity Stones are gone, Captain Marvel may be one of the greatest sources of power in the universe. The Kree know this, and they’re surely still wanting the power that Brie Larson’s MCU hero has.
There’s a good chance the corrupted jump point that Monica inspects in the new trailer is set up by the Kree in an attempt to retrieve Captain Marvel. After all, it’s likely the same jump point that Ronan used when he said he’d be back for Carol.
Marvel Studios
Carol is shown fighting the new Accuser in the trailer, but she doesn’t use her powers like she did when defending Earth against Ronan and his forces. It’s the same scene that shows Monica and Kamala switching places as they use their abilities, yet Carol is unaffected as she lunges at the villain.
So far, Kamala and Monica are the only ones that have been shown triggering the switching-of-places between characters. For instance, when Kamala switched places with Carol by using her bangle, Carol switched places with her mid-flight and ended up being thrown into Kamala’s kitchen table.
Marvel Studios
Interestingly, that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it-moment when Carol flies into the Khans’ house is the only instance in the trailer that shows Captain Marvel using her powers at all.
In a later scene, Kamala is shown using her bangle after trading places with Monica, yet Carol doesn’t take Kamala’s place like she did earlier in her kitchen.
Does that mean that the switching-of-places only happens when the two heroes are using their powers simultaneously? No, that can’t be true since neither Kamala nor Carol were already using their own abilities when the two first swapped places in the Ms. Marvel finale’s post-credits scene.
With that in mind, it’s possible that Carol is removed from Captain Marvel 2‘s superpower switch-a-roo in by losing her powers somewhere in the movie, either by choice or by force. Considering the Kree are coming back with a vengeance in the sequel, they may be the ones responsible for depowering the MCU’s strongest superhero (again).
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is officially on the way. And it arrives a cool six years after the second installment. So it’s certainly been a while since their last solo journey and a lot has happened. The Blip was still just a looming threat… remember those pre-Infinity War days? Neither do I. When we reunite with the crew—post Infinity War and Endgame— there will be plenty to unpack. Among the highlights: Gamora’s death, most of the team vanished for five years in the Blip, a younger version of Gamora is now rolling with the crew, and now they’re finally back together. So there’s plenty to speculate about.
For now, we have our first clip from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It brings us right into the world of the Guardians. Everything hits the right note of humor—but below the surface, there’s more than a little pain and drama.
Quill really misses Gamora, but she’s not having… Quinn. Too bad it’s not a private conversation, after all. The Guardians always have to make everything a little complicated, but that’s why we love them. And why we can’t wait for the movie to arrive.
We also get to see Quill and Nebula butt heads spectacularly over a rather annoying door. There’s even a bleep involved.
Here’s everything we know about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Title
The third installment in the beloved series is simply Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Plot
We don’t know much about the film’s plot yet, beyond that it takes place after the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Additionally, James Gunn did confirm that this is the final act for this particular rendition of the Guardians. Gunn told Deadline‘s Hero Nation podcast, “This is the end for us, the last time people will see this team of Guardians.” So we can only imagine this iteration of Guardians will go out with quite a bang.
You can see the latest trailer for the movie below:
One thing we do know, though, is that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is going to spend a lot of time with Rocket. Recently, James Gunn spoke to EW and shared just how much the grumpy raccoon plays into the third GOTG movie.
Marvel Studios
According to Gunn, one of the reasons he came back for Vol. 3 included needing to tell Rocket’s story and feeling very connected to the character. He says, “I feel like nobody would be able to tell his full story if it wasn’t me.”
Additionally, Gunn offers:
To me, Rocket has always been the secret protagonist of the Guardians movies… From the beginning, it has been rooted in who he is as a character. I think he exemplifies a lot of the traits of all the Guardians. They’ve had all these traumas, and it brings them together. I just think that his is more extreme than others… He was just fine being an animal, and he was transformed into something else he didn’t want to be. I think that transformation itself was extremely painful, but I also think it made him feel incredibly alienated from everyone else. In Vol. 3, we learn a lot about his past — where he came from, who he is, and what he’s been through. It’s been a difficult road for the little animal.
We can’t wait to get the Rocket backstory we all want and deserve.
Behind the Scenes
After a long, tumultuous road, James Gunn is back in the director’s chair for the final installment. He’s also, once again, writing the script. Frequent Gunn collaborator Fred Raskin is back as editing, alongside Craig Wood. The Suicide Squad‘s composer John Murphy is scoring the film.
Marvel Studios
Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Cast
As this is a GOTG film, it sees all our usual suspects returning for more—with a slight caveat. As such, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, and Sean Gunn are back. However, Saldaña’s playing an earlier version of Gamora, as the one we’ve met over the course of the franchise died at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. However, in Avengers: Endgame the younger version of the character traveled to present-day MCU and is now part of the crew. Additionally, Michael Rosenbaum has revealed that he will return as Martinex, the crystal Ravager
Amy Ratcliffe
New additions include Sylvester Stallone, who will play Stakar Ogord and Will Poulter as Adam Warlock. Peacemaker‘s Chukwudi Iwuji is also reuniting with Gunn for the project. San Diego Comic-Con 2022 confirmed Iwuji will play the film’s villain, the High Evolutionary. The Suicide Squad star Daniela Melchior and The Bubble‘s Maria Bakalova will also appear, with Gunn confirming both actors’ appearances. Crazy Rich Asians and Superstore actor Nico Santos has also been cast. Their roles are still under wraps.
Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s Release Date
The film is slated for a May 5, 2023 release.
We’ll keep you posted on any new details—and potential mixtape bangers—as we learn them.
Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto has suggested that the company is planning its next movie adaptation, following the hugely successful performance of The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Speaking in a Japanese interview with Nikkei this week (translated by VGC), Mario designer Miyamoto hinted that the company’s next movie adaptation could focus on different Nintendo characters.
“Please keep an eye on our next production,” Miyamoto said. This time, Mario was the focus, but, “Nintendo is like a talent agency. We have many other entertainers (on our roster),” the company Fellow added.
Although Miyamoto did not disclose any further details, he said, “There are various ways to develop characters (for the screen), including characters that are suitable for film and characters that are well known.”
Nintendo partnered with the animation studio Illumination for the movie. Considering the movie’s success, and the fact that CEO Chris Meladandri was appointed to Nintendo’s board, it’s likely that the pair will continue to work together in the future.
Asked about Illumination’s future relationship with Nintendo this month, Meladandri told ScreenRant: “We are so focused right now on this movie, all the way up to Wednesday, and how the audience engages with the film. Nintendo and Illumination have had a really rewarding collaboration.
“Mr. Miyamoto and his colleagues have invited me to join the board of directors of Nintendo, and we’re working together into the future with me in that capacity. But it’s hard for us to talk about anything else at this time.”
Mr. Miyamoto added: “Like Chris mentioned, there’s nothing we can share now. But I’m sure we will continue working on this partnership.”
While its core business remains making and selling games, Nintendo has moved to leverage its popular IP in various ways in recent years.
Can you imagine Martin Scorsese praising your work?
Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, with a career spanning several decades and a filmography that includes classics such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas. However, even the most accomplished directors can appreciate the talent of their peers.
In recent years, Scorsese has been effusive in his praise for the work of up-and-coming filmmaker Ari Aster. Known for his unsettling, atmospheric horror films such as Hereditary and Midsommar, Aster’s work has impressed Scorsese, who has compared him to some of the greatest horror directors of all time.
Now, Scorsese and Aster sat down to discuss Aster’s newest film, Beau is Afraid.
Martin Scorsese and Ari Aster Chat ‘Beau is Afraid’ and Filmmaking
While the whole Q&A isn’t in the video, the poster said they got the majority of it, and I feel like we learned a lot in the proceedings. Scorsese introduced Aster as “one of the most extraordinary new voices in world cinema.”
He went on to add to his thoughts on the new film, saying:
“This film was remarkable for me on different levels. The second time I saw it I noticed the technical artistry behind it. The first time I didn’t know what it was about, nobody had told me anything about it. I was impressed by the language of it which was so unique and so original. The risk-taking is so unique and so powerful and there aren’t many filmmakers who can’t do that on that level today.”
When producers asked Rhys what he would change about the iconic spy character, he was stumped.
For a handsome British actor of a certain age, auditioning to play James Bond is a rite of passage. Another rite of passage: telling one of the countless tales about how he narrowly missed out on the part.
The latest actor to regale fans with an embarrassing story about pursuing the role is Matthew Rhys. In an interview with The Times of London, the Emmy-winning star of “The Americans” recalled being asked to audition for the part that eventually went to Daniel Craig in “Casino Royale.”
Rhys called the experience “very intimidating” and explained that after he read, producers in the room asked him what he would change about the character of James Bond.
“I just remember going, ‘Ah.’ I was so not anticipating that question,” Rhys said. “And then I was like, is it a trick question? Are they waiting for people to go, ‘I wouldn’t do anything. He’s perfect?’”
Rhys said that his transparently honest answer would have been: “Oh, it’s been a bit one-note for a few decades, hasn’t it? I think we can drop the misogynistic jokes.” But rather than say that, he tried to defuse the situation with jokes that nobody laughed at. “I’d give him a limp. I said, ‘Limp?’ Nothing. ‘Eye patch?’ Nothing,” he said.
The actor joked that he envisioned Daniel Craig’s answer to the question being considerably more succinct: “Gritty reboot? Job done.”
Rhys’ story could be a cautionary tale for any actors who might consider telling jokes during the upcoming casting process for the next James Bond movie. Craig parted ways with the franchise after “No Time to Die,” which put the coveted role up for grabs for the first time in two decades. Fans have already begun to link actors such as Regé-Jean Page, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Tom Hardy to the role, though producers are in no rush to find an actor. The next Bond movie is not expected to hit theaters for at least two years.
Gayle King and Charles Barkley made the official announcement Saturday of a new weekly primetime series for CNN: King Charles.
The live show is set to debut this fall and run through 2024, and is a central feature of CNN boss Chris Licht’s efforts to revive the network’s primetime schedule. Its 9 p.m. ET hour has lacked a permanent host since Chris Cuomo was fired in December 2021.
King and Barkley, though, will fill one night of the week, Wednesday.
Licht has been taking a different approach to programming the 9 p.m. ET slot, with a mix of shows and formats rather than giving one personality a five-nights-a-week gig. The network has been trying a mixture of live events, like town halls and one-on-one interviews including Jake Tapper’s sit-down with Bill Maher, in the slot.
King and Barkley made the announcement on TNT’s NBA playoffs pregame coverage.
“What I think is so great for the both of us is that it’s live TV,” King said. “To me, live TV is like working without a net. So whatever happens, happens. I like that.”
She said that she “wasn’t looking for another job,” as she remains under contract for CBS Mornings, and Barkley will continue on WBD Sports.
Barkley said that he also didn’t “want to be on TV more” but agreed to it when offered the opportunity to team with King.
King Charles is being billed as a discussion show. In a memo to staffers, Licht wrote that the show will be “an exciting news way we are delivering culturally relevant programming and unique perspectives to our audience, from two incredibly dynamic personalities.”
King said that they will talk about politics on the show, but Barkley added, “but we don’t want to say we are a liberal, conservative, Republican, Democrat. That is one of the things that has already ruined television in general. She is going to be a straight shooter, and you know I am going to be a straight shooter.”
He added: “All I want is people, even if I disagree with them, to be honest with me. I don’t want them saying things to get clickbait. That is one of the things that is what drives me crazy about people in our profession right now.”
Said King: “Everyone I know has an opinion about something. I just think we have to figure out a way to have a good conversation without tearing each other down, I think we can do that.”
As an example, Barkley suggested that a wave of gun shootings this week would be a topic for the show if it were on the air now. “The image that people have of us around the world is not so good,” King said. “I know friends who are thinking about leaving America because their children are about to go to school.”
She also brought up the possibility of lighter subjects like food and pop culture.
“I want people to tune in to see, ‘What are Charles and Gayle going to do?’” King said, adding that “it will be fun to watch the dynamic between the two of us.”
Here is Licht’s full memo to staffers:
To my CNN Colleagues,
I am thrilled to share that CNN will be home to a new show featuring the extraordinary duo of Gayle King and Charles Barkley, aptly titled King Charles, which will air weekly in primetime beginning this fall and running into 2024. This show will be an exciting new way we are delivering culturally relevant programming and unique perspectives to our audience, from two incredibly dynamic personalities. We are excited that they are both able to join us in addition to their current respective roles with Gayle continuing to anchor CBS Mornings. King Charles exemplifies the one-team, one-company mentality with Charles playing double duty at CNN and in his role at WBD Sports.
There will be more to come on this in the months ahead, but in the meantime, please join me in welcoming Gayle and Charles to CNN.
The timeline of events surrounding Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes’ alleged affair has been intriguing to watch and, as of late, there haven’t been too many major developments. In recent weeks, sources have mostly been sharing alleged details about the former Good Morning America anchors’ continued job search. The two have allegedly been facing a somewhat rough climate in the TV business, as they seek to land new gigs. Insiders even claimed that big networks have already passed on Holmes and Robach. Now, it sounds like a major show also turned them down.
Per recent reports, the two journalists have been pitching themselves for a plethora of productions in the aftermath of the GMA drama but to no avail. A person close to the situation now tells OK Magazine that the two can now cross Dancing with the Stars off their list of reported professional prospects. Said person made this claim while dropping purported info on how the pair initially believed their job hunt would pan out:
These two had totally convinced themselves they were the new Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and job offers would come flooding in. … Not even DWTS wants them in their ballroom.
The individual didn’t provide any specifics regarding the capacity in which Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes were allegedly trying to join the show (which is streamable with a Disney+ subscription). One might think that with their specific backgrounds, they may have been looking at some kind of hosting gig. However, the upcoming Season 32 has its two co-hosts in series alums Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough. The notion of the two media personalities seeking jobs with the reality competition series does seem somewhat odd, though. That’s mostly because the program falls under the purview of the House of Mouse, which had to contend with the drama surrounding their exits from GMA.
All of this, of course, should be taken with a grain of salt at this point, and the same is true for the other reports. Sources previously said that both stars were passed on by both CNN and CBS. While it’s all conjecture at this point, those do sound like more realistic landing spots for them as opposed to the ballroom dancing show. Then again, sources say that they’ve been trying to be flexible when it comes to job opportunities.
As you would expect, news and entertainment entities have not revealed any interest in signing them to a deal. So it remains to be seen whether Amy Robach or TJ. Holmes will ultimately be put in a position in which one has to vouch for the other. We’ll have to wait and see how things pan out for the couple but, at the very least, it sounds like we probably shouldn’t expect to see them pop up on DWTS anytime soon.
Gayle King and Charles Barkley are teaming up this fall to host a new CNN prime show named after themselves, “King Charles,” the duo announcement on TNT on Saturday.
“King Charles,” will air on Wednesdays starting this fall and will continue through 2024.
“What I think is so great for the both of us is, it’s live T.V.,” King said in the on-air announcement. “To me, live T.V. is like working without a net. So, whatever happens, happens.”
Barkley added, “I want it to be nonpolitical… but we don’t want to say we’re a Liberal, Conservative, Republican, Democrat; that’s one of the things that’s already ruined television in general.”
Coming this fall, King Charles with Gayle King and Charles Barkley will air weekly on CNN in primetime running into 2024. Hear Gayle and Charles talk about their new show on @NBAonTNT. pic.twitter.com/ZMqYXdtYBw
King and Barkley explained during their live announcement that neither one of them were looking for additional jobs. However, Barkley admitted that when conversations first started about a possible new show, he only took the job so he could work with King.
“They said, ‘What about Gayle?’” Barkley recalled. “I said, ‘Gayle who?’ And they said, ‘Gayle King,’ and I said, ‘Oh, I’ll work with Gayle. That’s the only way.’”
Barkley said he immediately called King to talk about the show. King agreed she only wanted to work with Barkley, and that’s how “King Charles,” became a new primetime show for the network.
“This show will be an exciting new way we are delivering culturally relevant programming and unique perspectives to our audience from two incredibly dynamic personalities,” Licht said.
Both King and Barkley said they aren’t leaving their main jobs, hers being at CBS and his being on TNT.
With a film like Dry Ground Burning, filmmakers Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós place a lot of trust in their audience. This film comes out of Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab and isn’t dissimilar to films like Leviathan (2012). The distinctive aesthetic quality of these films is bound (and perhaps designed) to challenge viewers as the takes can be very long, and the action takes a long time to develop in many sequences. It’s definitely not for everyone, as it goes far beyond entertainment and serves as more of an ethnographic exercise. It’s observational cinema that has a foot in both documentary and narrative filmmaking.
Those who have seen the Brazilian film Bacurau from 2019 will recognize some similarities in Dry Ground Burning. Both feature a diverse cast of characters in a poor, arid community under threat from various segments of Brazilian society, including intensely nationalistic external forces. The majority of the film follows Léa, a tough and resourceful woman recently released from prison, as she assists her half-sister Chitara in illicitly selling oil to a motorcycle gang. Chitara is also campaigning to form a political party consisting of ex-cons in the hope of a better quality of life. All this is in the wake of Jair Bolsonaro’s shocking 2018 election.
“…illicitly selling oil to a motorcycle gang…seamless blend of documentary and fiction…”
We’re taken on a slow and meditative journey through the existence of the two sisters, and this includes extended sequences of refining oil, a church service, twerking on a bus, and a lot of Léa and Chitara chewing the fat while chain-smoking. The hypnotic quality of many of these sequences is fascinating, but I assuredly won’t be alone in positing that many are simply too long. The languid pacing would be challenging enough in shorter features. Still, with a bloated length of 153 minutes or so, even the most patient viewers will question the wisdom of dragged-out scenes featuring tertiary characters piling bricks or tossing lumber.
If one manages to push through, the reward is a seamless blend of documentary and fiction. All the characters are non-professional actors, and this intentional blurring of reality is unique in cinema. The sisters at the center of the film are fascinating, maintaining an edge that a professional actor simply couldn’t provide. One gets the sense that for much of the film, they aren’t really being directed; instead, they’re just living through their reality in front of the camera while still following a script. A shocking scene towards the end of the film brings us squarely into the world of documentary, but its poignancy makes it essential.
I want to recommend this to everyone, but the pragmatist in me tells me that many won’t have the patience, and Dry Ground Burning definitely requires it. There’s nothing quite like it, though, and fans of the Sensory Ethnography Lab should jump right into this mesmerizing journey through a Brazil we rarely see on camera. It’s a challenge that may ultimately be gratifying for the right audience — just make sure you have a comfy chair.
The Ford government has confirmed plans to build the first new provincial park Ontario has seen in 40 years.
The province said it would be creating an “urban provincial park” in Uxbridge, Ont., a town in Durham Region, located to the northwest of Toronto.
Ontario’s minister of the environment, conservation and parks, David Piccini, said the announcement — which was teased in the latest budget document — was timed to coincide with Earth Day.
“Creating the province’s first urban provincial park in Uxbridge would be a major step forward for conservation and biodiversity protection in Ontario,” Piccini said.
“We look forward to working with the public and local stakeholders to make this vision a reality for residents and visitors to get out and enjoy nature near this rapidly growing region.”
Provincial parks are enshrined in legislation to protect significant parts of Ontario’s natural and cultural heritage, offering research and monitoring and sustainable, outdoor recreation.
According to Ontario, there were 12 million visits to provincial parks in 2022.
The park will be located in Oak Ridges Moraine and, according to officials, will be designed to incorporate hiking and birdwatching.
Dave Barton, Mayor of Uxbridge, welcomed the news, saying the area was “near major urban centres in the GTA and perfect for hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.”
The province’s 2023 budget made reference to exploration work taking place in Uxbridge for new protected land but did not confirm plans to build a new provincial park in the town.
The Ford government said the park could include 532 hectares of provincially-owned land, including the 598-hectare Durham Regional Forest, owned by the local municipal government. That area is a mixed wood and conifer forest.
“Over the coming months, the government will be conducting site assessments and evaluations to measure the feasibility of creating an urban provincial park in Uxbridge,” the province said in a statement Saturday.
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Consultations will include Indigenous communities, the public and various local and environmental bodies.
Ford government to rename science centre subway station
Kylie Jenner, 25, took to Instagram to share a set of new sexy photos with her followers on Friday. The makeup mogul wore a red wig along with a long-sleeved peach crop top that included gloves and light pink sheer pants, in the snapshots. She also accessorized with sunglasses and added dark pink lipstick as she gave a kissing face to the camera, in one photo.
Kylie captioned the post with just a red lipstick mark emoji and her fans didn’t hesitate to comment. Kylie’s sister Khloe Kardashian, also commented. “I love when you go king Kylie,” one of her comments read. “Stunning!!!!! You beat me to it but you look better than I would have anyhow. Ha,” another one read.
Before Kylie made headlines with her latest set of photos, she got attention for opening up about her lip fillers, in a new interview with HommeGirls. “I think a big misconception about me is that I’ve had so much surgery on my face and that I was some insecure person, and I really wasn’t! Yeah, I love full lips and wanted full lips, but growing up I was always the most confident person in the room,” she told the outlet in a cover story.
Kylie during a previous outing. (MEGA)
“I was the girl performing for everyone,” she continued. “I had my one lip insecurity thing, so I got lip filler, and it was the best thing I’ve ever done. I don’t regret it. But I always thought I was cute.”
Kylie also talked about being a mother to daughter Stormi, 5, and son Aire, 1, both of whom she shares with ex Travis Scott. The devoted role in her life has made her look at beauty in a new way. “Oh, it’s changed so much. It’s made me love myself more,” she said about how motherhood has changed her. “I see my features in my daughter and my son now, but you know, my daughter looks like me. I get to see my beauty in her, and it’s made me love myself more for sure. Beauty is always changing for me.”
Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok’s documentary film “Judy Blume Forever” captures the popular author’s understanding of children by including her archive of letters she exchanged with fans who were growing up at the time she began writing her books.
The film, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and arrives on Amazon Prime Video, unfolds Blume’s path to writing in a similar coming-of-age format to match the genre for which she is most well-known. Access to Yale’s collection of all the letters Blume wrote to and received from fans allowed the true connection Blume had with children to shine.
“With that collection, we understood that we had something really special and that would be very different from just your average, typical biography-type documentary,” producer Sara Bernstein told TheWrap. “The project was really about her impact on her readers over the years.”
The documentary immediately plunges viewers into an experience similar to that of discovering Blume’s books — with Blume reading an excerpt about masturbation from “Deenie.”
“We had some different versions of the opening and many different versions that we tried, and this is the one that felt the most honest, the funniest, it gets you right into her head, gets you her trailblazing honesty,” co-director Leah Wolcok told TheWrap. “It makes you a little uncomfortable, and I think that was important to put people on notice, like, ‘Oh, okay. All right. We’re going there and just let’s relax and go there for the rest of the film.”
According to co-director Pardo, the start of the documentary establishes Blume’s writing voice and personality simultaneously, hinting at how she became a successful author. Pardo corresponded with Blume for a year and a half before getting the author’s blessing to make the film. The filmmakers aimed to mirror the curiosity around coming of age that children have.
“Because Judy had so many coming of age moments throughout her life, it was always going to cover childhood, adolescence and adulthood in Judy’s life, but also the story of her books,” Pardo said. “We’re really focused on the intersections of her life and the books. There are so many moments in the books that even though they’re not necessarily autobiographical, they come from really specific, intimate moments in her life. We’re really interested in sort of an interplay of those coming of age stories, and the coming of age of for readers, which is sort of also happening at the same time in the film.”
Actresses and creators Molly Ringwald, Anna Konkle, Lena Dunham and more also commented on Blume’s strides that encouraged them to portray female adolescence in their respective works like the John Hughes films, “PEN15” and “Girls.”
“We [also] wanted to talk to women who had really revolutionized the way that female protagonists are seen in American popular culture. They were all Judy Blume readers,” Pardo said. “We wanted to interview them all in the same setting with that abstract vintage wallpaper, quirky prop living room setting that was inspired by the original paperback covers of Judy’s books, and we wanted to treat them all the same.’
Pardo and Wolcok interviewed other published authors, many of whom made their own strides in the battle for diverse young adult books, like Mary H.K. Choi, Tayari Jones, Jason Reynolds and more, about Blume’s work and its influence on their childhood and adolescence. These authors also discussed book bans, which became relevant near the film’s release, just as they were in the ’80s. The documentary precedes the long-awaited film adaptation of “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret?” starring Abby Ryder Forston, Rachel McAdams, Benny Safdie and Kathy Bates.
“We talked to her a lot about how her books are never neatly tied up. Margaret’s left wondering because that’s we’re all left wondering so much of the time,” Pardo said. “It’s so typical for kids. It’s not like the last chapter appears and you figure your life out. She never wanted stories and perfectly she wanted to be true to life and true to her own experience.”
Blume’s activism for the content of her books to remain readable in the 80s remains important today with regulators trying to dictate what young children can and cannot read. Margaret’s questioning of religion and the existence of God plays into the same fear around banning books today.
“She [questioned God] at a time when people did not think 11-year-olds could do that. Everyone thought 11 and 12-year-olds should be doing and thinking exactly what their parents wanted them to do and think and not question for themselves,” Wolcok said. “But that is the power of Judy’s work. She gave the power to the kids themselves. She saw how important it is to honor and respect a kid’s experience the child’s experience with questioning and wondering.”
Australian comedian and entertainer Barry Humphries, best known for his character Dame Edna Everage, died April 22. He was 89.
Humphries passed in a Sydney hospital following complications with hip surgery, his family announced in a statement.
“He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit,” the family said. “With over 70 years on the stage, he was an entertainer to his core, touring up until the last year of his life and planning more shows that will sadly never be.”
Humphries reportedly fell in February and had a hip replacement. In March, the entertainer had hip surgery, but earlier this week, he returned to the hospital due to complications and later died, according to Sydney Morning Herald.
Humphries was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1934, and less than 20 years later, he created the character of Edna Everage in 1955, as a social satire. In the ’70s, the character became a huge hit when Humphries brought his talents to London.
From then on, in the ’80s and ’90s, Humphries appeared on talk shows, specials and in films, as Dame Edna and his other alter-egos Les Patterson and Sandy Stone, including the British comedy show, “The Dame Edna Experience,” in 1987.
Humphries’ success spilled into the United States as well. In 2000, he won a Special Tony Award for his Broadway show “Dame Edna, The Royal Tour,” and he appeared as Edna in “Ally McBeal” in 2001.
Humphries is survived by his wife of 30 years, Lizzie Spender, his children and 10 grandchildren.
Shannen Doherty and Kurt Iswarienko are going their separate ways after 11 years of marriage.
TMZ reported that the 52-year-old actress filed for divorce from her estranged husband in Los Angeles on Friday – and it does not sound like the split was amicable at all! Her rep, Leslie Sloane, confirmed the breakup to the outlet, saying in an eyebrow-raising statement:
“Divorce is the last thing Shannen wanted. Unfortunately, she felt she was left with no other option. You can contact Kurt’s agent, Collier Grimm at PICTUREKID as she is intimately involved.”
Does anyone else think the rep is trying to insinuate that Kurt might have allegedly cheated on Shannen with his agent?!! If that is true, it is no wonder why things are tense between the exes behind the scenes! According to court documents obtained by the outlet, Shannen listed January 2023 as the initial date of separation. She also asked for spousal support and none to be awarded to Kurt. An insider close to the former couple also said that the Charmed alum is “not well” when it comes to her health, making their “acrimonious” split even more difficult right now.
For those who don’t know, Shannen tied the knot with Kurt in 2011. During the pair’s marriage, the Girls Just Want to Have Fun star had been battling breast cancer. She was first diagnosed with it in February 2015, and subsequently underwent several rounds of chemotherapy and had a mastectomy. While Shannen announced her remission two years later, her breast cancer, unfortunately, came back as Stage 4 in 2020.
It’s heartbreaking that not only is she dealing with her health struggles but not having to go through what sounds like a nasty divorce. So, so awful. Hours before the divorce news broke, the Beverly Hills, 90210 star took to Instagram to share a cryptic message that read:
“The only people who deserve to be in your life are the ones who treat you with love, kindness and total respect.”
(c) Shannen Doherty/Instagram
Her post received a ton of support from fans and friends, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, who wrote:
“I guess you will be in my life forever then”
Hopefully, Shannen has a solid support system throughout this difficult divorce from Kurt! Reactions, Perezcious readers? Are you shocked by the breakup news? Let us know your thoughts on the situation in the comments below.
Anushka will next be seen in Chakda Xpress, based on the life of cricketer Jhulan Goswami.
Renowned Central Tiffin Room (CTR) in Malleswaram received unexpected visitors – Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, along with their family and friends.
The renowned Central Tiffin Room (CTR) in Malleswaram received unexpected visitors – Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, along with their family and friends. They stopped by to try the eatery’s famous crispy dosas. Anushka, who is Bengaluru-born, took a delicious trip down memory lane with her hubby. Their culinary expedition included hitting up Anushka’s favourite food joints, which she shared with fans on her Instagram stories. Anushka’s parents also joined the fun as they indulged in the scrumptious offerings of the famous eatery in Bengaluru. The couple then made their way to the popular Corner House, where Anushka picked her favourite ice cream before heading back home.
One of the pictures Anushka shared on her Instagram.
The official Instagram page of Central Tiffin Room, lso shared the couple’s photographs and expressed that they were glad to serve them. They wrote in the caption, “Look who joined us today! It was great pleasure having the legendary @virat.kohli and the beautiful @anushkasharma visit us with their family. Your words and wishes have raised our spirits and made our day! Looking forward to having you again.”
Anushka, too, took to her Instagram to share pictures of her meal and thanked a friend for hosting them. Her meal comprised dosa, vada and sweets.
After being in a relationship for several years, Anushka and Virat tied the knot in a private ceremony in Italy in 2017. The couple welcomed their daughter Vamika in January 2021.
Anushka’s next project is sports biopic “Chakda Xpress,” which marks her return to work after motherhood. The movie is based on the life of cricketer Jhulan Goswami and was filmed in Kolkata and the UK. Production for the movie began last year. Additionally, Anushka made a cameo appearance in the Netflix film “Qala,” produced by her brother Karnesh Sharma, in 2021.
Given that Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury (the man who Tony Stark described as an agent whose secrets have secrets) is at the forefront, the show’s genre isn’t surprising.
However, the Skrulls’ inclusion in the series will look to take its mystery elements to the next level.
New Secret Invasion Rumor Has a WandaVision Connection
Marvel
As per The Cosmic Circus, Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion is rumored to be the first MCU Disney+ show that will rival WandaVision when it comes to the tone of its twists and turns, meaning that it will leave fans with many questions while also reigniting speculation online.
The Cosmic Circus noted that Secret Invasion “brings back the incredible spy-thriller vibes” akin to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with each episode “leaves more twists and turns than ever, leaving fans with more questions than answers.”
While LokiSeason 1 and Moon Knight did almost reach this level in some regard, the fan speculation surrounding WandaVision‘s twist and premise was massive during its Disney+ run, leading to a good chunk of trending topics on Twitter.
“When we think about the world that they’re in, the Skrulls have been around since we saw them in ‘Captain Marvel.’ They’ve been building in numbers. And are they good? Are they bad? We’re gonna find out in the show. But there’s certainly a lot of them and so it sort of turns into this, ‘Can I trust you? Can I not trust you?’ And it’s really cool. It’s certainly fraught with a lot of tension.”
Speaking with TV Line, via Comicbook, Smulders shared that she is excited about Secret Invasion‘s “very different tone,” teasing that it sets up Nick Fury in a “really interesting way” that she always wanted to see:
“I’m really excited about it and it’s a very different tone that I have seen, especially like having Sam in anything is just a thrill to watch but I think it really like just sets his character up in a really interesting way that I’ve always wanted to see, so I was really excited about that.”
Furthermore, the Secret Invasion star also teased that the way the show “portrayed the twists and turns that they take people” will be worth it and exciting:
“It’s a really fascinating concept and I think that the way they’re portrayed and the twists and turns that they take people on is going to be really worth it and really exciting.”
Why Secret Invasion Could Elevate MCU’s Disney+ Shows
Amid the MCU delays and struggles in Phase 5, this new rumor about Secret Invasion could be what Marvel would need in order to get over the hump.
Given that WandaVision received widespread acclaim because of the fodder it gave fans to ponder weekly (on top of Wanda Maximoff’s popularity), Secret Invasion has the potential to rival the Elizabeth Olsen-led series due to its crossover nature and its unexpected twists and turns.
From predicting which MCU character will show up in the next installment to fan theories on which hero or villain is disguised as a Skrull, the possibilities are endless.
It also helps that Secret Invasion‘s episodes will release weekly similar to WandaVision as it would give fans and critics time to analyze and rewatch installments in order to craft engaging theories that would elevate the MCU in trending topics online.
Secret Invasion being compared to the tone of Captain America: The Winter Soldier could hint that the twists will be as impactful as the Hydra reveal during the MCU sequel, mainly because it took the franchise to a dark place like never before.
Wednesday‘s Jenna Ortega becoming Teen Titans’ Ravenis DC live-action casting magic, thanks to new stunning fan art. The fan casting could become a reality as DC prepares to reboot the DCEU with James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe. With the new universe, many beloved DC characters that did not get their time to shine in the DCEU, such as the Green Lanterns or the Bat-family, will finally get their due. Gunn’s announcement of the lesser-known superhero team The Authority getting a movie is a good thing for the possibility of a more popular team like the Teen Titans being adapted, and, with it, Raven.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAYSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
On Twitter, digital artist Jaxson Derr imagined what Ortega could look like as Raven in the DC Universe, and the result is pitch-perfect.
Ortega has become one of Hollywood’s most popular young stars, with her role helping Netflix’s Wednesday become the second most watched English-language series in the streamer’s history, only behind the groundbreaking Stranger Things season 4. With Ortega’s popularity at an all-time high, it would be smart for DC to scoop her up to lead one of its projects, and Raven would be the perfect character for the actress.
Why Jenna Ortega As Raven Would Be Perfect For The Teen Titans & The DC Universe
Ortega’s breakout role as Wednesday Addams has made her a household name. The new DC Universe will need to be fresh to shed the image of the controversial DCEU in hopes of avoiding the poor performance of projects such as what recently happened with Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which heavily underperformed at the box office. DC needs to build interest in its universe again, and the casting of an actress like Ortega, who is universally beloved and young enough to play an important character for a decade, would be a great step.
Wednesday features Ortega as its title character, a girl who had a cold attitude toward other people for most of her life but started opening up to a select few while maintaining her dark tastes. The character also deals with a power she does not completely understand. Funny enough, Wednesday’s psychic powers label her as a “raven,” based on her darker views, which appears to be a sign to the potential Ortega could have as DC’s Raven. The DC character and Wednesday share some similarities with the two characters’ dark personas and closed-off emotional nature making it easy for Ortega to seamlessly jump into the DC Universe.
As a popular young talent, Ortega would bring a massive fan following to Gunn’s new DC Universe. While the franchise will undoubtedly want to stand on its own two feet, a few established actors and directors that can help boost initial interest certainly can’t hurt. Raven is one of the most famous members of DC’s Teen Titans, and nailing her casting would be a huge step toward bringing the team to live-action on the big screen.
The runtime for Martin Scorsese’s newest movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, has just been announced, and it’s a doozy.
According to Deadline, the film clocks in at 3 hours and 26 minutes. That runtime is enough to make it Scorsese’s second-longest film ever, trailing only behind The Irishman. That movie, which was released on Netflix in 2019, is 3 hours and 29 minutes — only three minutes longer than Killers of the Flower Moon.
Killers of the Flower Moon is Scorsese’s longly-anticipated adaptation of David Grann’s book of the same name. Based on real events, the film follows the serial murders of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma. The brutual crimes came to be known as the Reign of Terror, resulting in the formation of the FBI. Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro headline the film’s cast, which also includes Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion and Tantoo Cardinal.
The Biggest Movies Coming in 2023
The film will be Scorsese’s first movie since The Irishman, which received mixed reviews upon release. The film brought in 10 nominations at the Oscars, but it ended up going home from the Academy Awards empty handed. That year, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite ended up dominating the awards.
Nevertheless, Scorsese is well-known as one of America’s foremost directors. From Raging Bull to Goodfellas to Taxi Driver, Scorsese has been behind some of the greatest films ever made. He’s no stranger to long runtimes, too; The Wolf of Wall Street clocks in at 3 hours, Casino runs at 2 hours and 58 minutes, and The Aviator is 2 hours and 49 minutes long. Viewers can trust Scorsese’s directorial prowess, and the content of Grann’s book has plenty of true crime to justify the runtime. But still, you might want to make sure you use the bathroom before entering the theater.
Killers of the Flower Moon, an Apple Original Film, will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France next month, but everyday viewers won’t be able to see the film until much later. It will open theatrically in October and later move to Apple TV+ just in time for peak awards season.
Carson Burton is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter at @carsonsburton.
Editors note:This review was originally published September 4, 2022 after its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.The film opens today in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Blended families, where children alternate between parents and spend their lives with an assortment of half-siblings or kids from their parents’ previous relationships, are now so normal that it’s easy to overlook how painful the blending process can be. Bitter separations, disrupted households, new beds and new people appearing in them, the resentments children feel for the grown-ups’ failures and the interloping new partners pawing at the mom or dad who is rightfully theirs: none of this is easy, even in splits later described smoothly as “amicable.”
Rebecca Zlotowski’s Venice Film Festival competition entry Other People’s Children (Les Enfants des Autres) wades into those murky waters with clear-eyed empathy, recognizing the cumulative power of small hurts. It starts with a new love affair. Virginie Efira plays Rachel, a dedicated high-school teacher in a district that clearly has its fair share of truants and troubled homes. Roschdy Zem is Ali, an industrial designer she meets in her evening class learning guitar. They are middle-aged but flirt like teenagers, spend nights together and soon enough are making impassioned declarations of love. Meanwhile, Rachel has yet to meet the sometime resident of the room in Ali’s flat marked in big, colorful letters: Leila, his daughter.
When they do meet, they take to each other immediately. Efira is best known outside France as the naughty nun in Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta, actorly baggage that she inevitably brings to the protracted sex scenes in this film, but she also has a sunny, maternal warmth as Rachel that lights up the screen. She throws herself into family life, telling Leila stories and ferrying her to judo classes; she suddenly longs for pregnancy; she is agonized when Leila, tired to the point of tantrum, demands why she is always there and tells her father she wants Rachel to go away. That hurts, but Ali waves away her sense of rejection. She’s five, he says briskly. That’s what children say. And it isn’t long before Leila draws a picture of her family that includes mom, dad and Rachel too. That is a great gift.
Zlotowski builds this picture of a family shaking down into a new order very gradually, folding in other ingredients of Rachel’s life that give it a spectrum of emotional colors. Her sister, who doesn’t have a partner, discovers she is pregnant. That is a bittersweet thrill for Rachel, who fears she is menopausal. Their own mother died when Rachel was 9, but with their father they are a close, noisy little clan, full of shared jokes and mutual mockery.
Time is marked out in the film by celebrations of Jewish New Year, the family gathering outside the synagogue with her father and sister to sing the seasonal hymn. The fact that Ali has an Arabic background is never mentioned, but it is certainly noticeable. Death, family, loss, the pull of tradition, the contrary pull of passion: Zlotowski achieves a complex blend of her own devising.
Until the point where she undermines her own project with a dramatic reversal that seems simply unbelievable. The whole film has been devoted with great seriousness to showing a family making and remaking itself in a way that has barely been explored in cinema, particularly in a glossy arthouse vehicle like this one. One step forward, two steps back and a shuffle: it isn’t easy, but they will manage. This is the story she has been telling, only to veer away in another direction.
Perhaps you will see it coming – the backward steps could be read as signals – but it makes no sense except as an injection of dramatic conflict into a story that needed no amplification. Of course, it may ring true to you, but the disappointment isn’t just that I didn’t buy it. It is that it diminishes what she has already achieved, turning her account of the building of a family, which may or may not succeed but which is its own story, into something much more conventional — Other People’s Children is a film that matters, full of fine performances. It just takes a wrong turn, that’s all.
Title: Other People’s Children Distributor: Music Box Films Release date: April 21, 2023 Director-screenwriter: Rebecca Zlotowski Cast: Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem, Chiara Mastroianni Running time: 1 hr 44 min
Mifepristone, a leading abortion drug, will stay legal for now, the Supreme Court ruled Friday, as an appeal moves forward on the case that could have wide-reaching implications for reproductive rights and the power of the Food and Drug Administration. The court halted a decision by a conservative Donald Trump–appointed judge in Texas banning the drug as the appeal works its way through the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. This is a temporary victory for the Biden administration in its fight to protect abortion access in a post-Roe America. Mifepristone, alongside misoprostol, is used in more than half of all abortions performed in the US.
The Supreme Court decision is the latest twist in what has been a closely watched legal clash between the Biden Justice Department and a conservative legal group, the Alliance Defending Freedom, which sued the FDA over its 2000 approval of mifepristone. The mifepristone case is one of the most far-reaching anti-abortion efforts to reach the Supreme Court since the justices overturned Roe v. Wade last June.
The lawsuit started in Texas, where earlier this month a conservative Trump-appointed judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a ruling in the case that would have revoked the FDA approval of the drug—despite the fact that it had been on the market for more than two decades. Attorney General Merrick Garland filed an appeal with the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals within hours. A conservative three-judge panel of the appeals court maintained the FDA’s 2000 approval of mifepristone—arguing that too much time had passed for the plaintiffs’ challenge. But it did side with Kacsmaryk’s decision to undo the FDA’s more recent changes that began in 2016—which broadened access to mifepristone, allowing it to be delivered to patients by mail, and extended the use of the drug up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.
After the Fifth Circuit Court decision, the Justice Department filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court to maintain mifepristone’s FDA approvals. Last Friday, Justice Samuel Alito issued an order that halted the restrictions the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals placed on the drug. While that mifepristone will still remain on shelves for now is a victory for access, reproductive rights activists stress that this lawsuit still could have far-reaching consequences.
“We are in the middle of an abortion-access crisis…. There is a lot of pressure put on states that are abortion-access states to care for the patients who no longer have the ability to access that care within their own state. So you add this on top of that, you are perpetuating and exacerbating an already fragile public health system—it’s dangerous,” a reproductive rights advocate said of this latest antiabortion push.
This person added, “This is another attack on abortion in this country, and it is a politically motivated one, not based in science or in the law.”
This article was originally published byVanity Fair.
The work of legendary ethnobiologist, conservationist and activist Jane Goodall has already inspired people to care for endangered species and the environment for decades — but the doctor’s latest endeavor continues her work in motivating the next generation.
Apple TV+’s mission-driven children’s series “Jane” harnesses the power of TV, with Emmy-winning creator J.J. Johnson (“Endlings,” “Ghostwriter”) using Goodall’s teachings to motivate kids to take a stand for endangered species and care for the environment. “Jane,” from the Jane Goodall Institute and Johnson’s company Sinking Ship Entertainment, premiered on April 14, with 10 episodes now available on Apple TV+.
“Jane” features eager 9-year-old environmentalist Jane Garcia (Ava Louise Murchison) — who is inspired to help save the planet, following in the footsteps of her role model, Goodall — along with her friends David (Mason Blomberg) and a chimpanzee named Greybeard. Each episode focuses on a different endangered species, such as Apis mellifera (Western honey bee) and Panthera tigris (tiger). Blending live action and CGI — and featuring an epic theme song “One Step Closer” written by Diane Warren, and sung by Leona Lewis — the show depicts the friends taking a stand for the species and the environment, and getting into occasional trouble along the way. The episodes all end with the friends video-chatting with real-life animal experts, particularly highlighting women and people of color.
Courtesy of Apple TV+
While Goodall’s years of dedication to great apes research and advocacy have made her a household name in the 21st century, she began her work at age 26 in 1960 studying chimpanzees. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, which fosters research, advocacy as well as community-led conservation, and it empowers children — particularly through its youth program Roots and Shoots, which was founded in 1991.
A United Nations Messenger of Peace and a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE), Goodall’s research on chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania helped change scientists’ understanding of humans’ relationship to animals. The research continues in Tanzania through the Jane Goodall Institute Gombe Stream Research Center, and it is the world’s longest-running chimpanzee study.
Also a prolific author, Goodall has adult and children’s literary works such as “The Book of Hope,” “In the Shadow of Man” and “Rickie and Henri: A True Story.”
Goodall is no stranger to the screen, however, as the subject of dozens of films including “Chimps, So Like Us,” “Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees” and “Jane Goodall: The Hope” — as well as Brett Morgen’s 2017 Emmy-nominated documentary, also called “Jane.” While Goodall did not create this “Jane” for Apple TV+, her life’s work and teachings inspire the show’s protagonist who idolizes her, and if Goodall had not approved the show’s concept when it was in development, it would not have moved forward.
Goodall, who turned 89 earlier this month, spoke with Variety over Zoom about how she hopes “Jane” inspires the youngest generation, and what she hopes to accomplish next in her career.
How do you hope viewers, especially children, react when they see “Jane”?
I hope that it will encourage them to actually think more about endangered species — to think about the fact that if we’re not careful, many of these species will disappear. I hope it also will encourage young people to join our Roots and Shoots program, which is in 68 countries. It’s about young people choosing projects to help — animals, people and the environment — deciding what they want to do, working out what they can do, rolling up their sleeves and taking action.
So if this Jane Garcia encourages real-life activities, it’ll be great. I hope it will encourage young people to join in the effort to make this a better world, to choose projects that will help to save the environment before it’s too late.
Courtesy of Apple TV+
Talk about environmental issues often creates anxiety in children and young adults, but it is still obviously important to learn about — how do you, through this show or beyond, hope to inspire the next generation without causing anxiety?
That’s my entire program Roots and Shoots, it’s all about taking action. If young people get together and work on projects, which is the same sort of thing with Sinking Ship Entertainment, then it’s all about positive change. We need to know that many species are close to extinction, but that we have to stop that from happening. And therefore we have to work together to find out ways of saving the animals that are moving toward extinction. We need to know about the doom and gloom — I talk about it all the time. But at the same time, it’s desperately important to give people hope, especially young people, because, yes, we can make a difference.
So “Jane” shows young people how they can get together and solve the “doom and gloom” effectively?
Yeah, hopefully. The goal is to try and get young people involved and taking action, and stepping on beyond that to do more. It’s young people getting really worried, but then working together with older people who are also wanting to try to save the species. So it’s a complete mixture.
How do we inspire the next generation to create change, without placing blame on children for a situation they didn’t create?
There are major problems and, yes, all sorts of things have led to unfortunate decreases in numbers of endangered species. But the whole emphasis is on working together to create change. Let’s get young people involved, talk about what can be done to make a difference and then, as I say, roll up their sleeves and work out what they can do. And taking action is going to be different with different species. And, basically, I hope that this program will have enough fun in it, as well as understanding the problem, that young people will be pushing toward saving a lot of these animals. Many animals on the very brink of extinction have been given another chance.
What’s an example of a species that was pushed toward extinction, but human intervention reversed the course?
My favorite one is that little black robin that was reduced to just two individuals, one male and one female. That was it. And through some very clever work, there are now about 500 of them. They’re all genetically identical, of course, but they’re being spread into four different islands. So, hopefully, there will be some genetic change so they’re not all identical, since that’s not very healthy. There are many, many stories like that.
What message do you have for people who feel hopeless, or that they alone cannot make a difference?
People have to realize that every single one of us can make a difference. We could just say, “Oh well, I know that animals are becoming extinct. There’s nothing I can do about it.” That’s really going to be the end of us. But if you decide, “I will try and make a difference, I will do something every single day,” then we can make a difference. We can choose what we can do: Some of us can help animals, some of us can help planting trees, some of us can help whatever it is that we care about. And if we all choose projects to make the world better, then it’s going to make a major difference. We don’t all give up and say, “Well, it’s just me, there’s nothing I can do.” If we give up, then the future is not very good, is it? We all have to do our bit to try and persuade other people. We’re in the middle of a pretty bad, dark space. So for young people to join in and feel, “Gosh, if I do this, I will be making the world a better place,” that’s really important.
Courtesy of Brendan Adam-Zwelling/Apple TV+
You’ve done so much in your life and in your career — what else do you look forward to accomplishing?
I want our Roots and Shoots program to be in every school in every country. But I always say, “If you try and aim for the stars, you might reach the moon. If you aim for the moon, you might reach the head of Mount Everest,” for example. So that’s the same for the stars — and at least we can reach the moon and help to protect the various animals and plants that are facing tremendous danger. The young and old alike in different countries need to really, really work hard to save these creatures. We’ve got to do it now.
Johansson joined fellow Marvel alum and actress Gwyneth Paltrow — who played Pepper Potts — on an episode of The Goop Podcast. The duo discussed their time in the MCU, which led to Paltrow asking if Johansson sees a Marvel return in her future.
Though the character of Black Widow died in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, Johansson did reprise the role for the 2021 prequel Black Widow. The Avengers star confirmed she’s finished with the MCU, but noted that it was “such a unique experience.”
“I’m done,” Johansson stated. “Chapter is over. I did all that I had to do. Also coming back and playing a character again and again, over a decade of time, is such a unique experience,” (via Variety.)
Johansson played Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in nine Marvel Studios movies. After making her first appearance as the character in Iron Man 2, she appeared in The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Widow, with a cameo appearance in the mid-credits scene of Captain Marvel. The actress will next be seen in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City.
Zoe Lister-Jones’ new Roku series “Slip” has taken the fascination with metaverses to a whole new dimension… courtesy of a few Earth-moving orgasms that take her out of this world. Literally.
“Slip” centers on Lister-Jones’ character, Mae Cannon, whose life is “a super banal dream where nothing really happens” and the excitement happens when she is dreaming. Or is her dream world reality? “You just need to wake up, but then you realize there’s nothing to wake up from because the dream is occurring while you’re awake, sleeping to find meaning and waking to lose it,” she says at the start of the Roku series. “And all you wanna do is sleep to dream of something more.”
The series — which Lister-Jones created, wrote, directed and stars in — is both funny and profound, which rarely happens. She wrote the entire first season during COVID lockdown, as she was struggling with depression and “a sort of sense of stuckness, of restlessness in my own life, and I didn’t know how to navigate it.”
“For me, as a writer, every project begins with a sort of existential question/crisis that I’m facing personally, and I think I use writing as a way for me to try to find some answers to the tougher questions that we contend with in life and what we do with a desire for more. It got all the louder in quarantine, obviously,” she told TheWrap. “Those voices sort of became impossible to ignore.”
Lister-Jones admits that she is a person who will meet someone and, even if she feels just the slightest connection, she’ll flash forward to an entire life together in her mind. “And I thought it was such a fun conceit to be able to actually see what those fantasies would look like lived out, to use orgasm as sort of mode of transport, because I was also really interested in exploring female desire and female sexuality in a way that was really central to the narrative.”
And that it is. Whenever Mae has an orgasm, she wakes up the following morning to discover she has been transported to a parallel universe in which her bedmate is her spouse and her life in drastically different.
“The courage it takes to really explore all facets of a self, which, allegorically, I think this show is about and the sort of hungry ghosts that live within us all. You know, the insatiable nature of what it is to be human and how we deal with all the ‘what ifs’ that plague us in a life,” Lister-Jones said. “[That] I think, again, in quarantine came into such hyper focus. There was such a nostalgic quality of like, ‘Should I have married my high school boyfriend?’ All of those questions of how do I find that sense of internal safety and balance?”
Although the show hasn’t been given a green light for a second season, they did green light a writers room, so all scripts are written for a sophomore year. “Without giving away any spoilers, it is a bats–t second season and also has sex as it’s propulsive force,” she teases. “In Season 1, Mae is not the agent of her own change or self-discovery. She’s being catapulted from world to world and she’s just sort of trying to catch up. In Season 2, I wanted to create a narrative in which she was shepherding her own ship.”
“Slip” is definitely a wild ride, one that shows off Lister-Jones’ talent as a writer, director and actor who brings a depth of emotion – whatever it might be – to every scene.
“If you’re looking to have fun and go on a really wild adventure but also be turned on,” this is the show for you, she said. “ I really wanted to make a show that was sexy and sex forward, and that was still irreverent and funny and escapist and, and also dealing with a very universal question that we’re all facing, whether we’re in a relationship or not, of how do we find happiness and what do we do with all of our desires for more.”
You can check out our entire interview with Lister-Jones in the video at the top.
DON’T TELL ANYBODY THE SECRETS I TOLD YOU: A Memoir, by Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams, the Grammy-winning 70-year-old songwriter, was born in Lake Charles, La. Her grandfathers were both preachers; one was a civil rights advocate. Her father, Miller Williams, was an award-winning poet. Her mother loved music and played the piano. Williams grew up in Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Utah, Chile and Mexico. On paper, it was an ideal upbringing for the artist she became: a nomadic touring musician whose songs draw on deep Southern roots, using matter-of-fact imagery to conjure tempestuous emotions.
But her pedigree didn’t make her life fall neatly into place, as Williams recalls in her memoir, “Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You.” “I’ve held back from talking about my childhood over the decades of my life,” she notes. “I’ve written songs about it instead.”
Williams’s mother was sexually abused as a child, she writes, and lived with schizophrenia and alcoholism. Her poet-professor father was a mentor and protector, but he also had a temper. Williams’s parents divorced after her father took up with one of his teenage students.
In the title song of her best-selling album, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road,” Williams sings about being a “Child in the back seat ’bout four or five years/Lookin’ out the window, little bit of dirt mixed with tears.” When her father first heard it, he told Williams that she was that crying little girl; until then, Williams hadn’t realized she was writing about herself.
Williams’s memoir is as flinty, earthy and plain-spoken as her songs. She reveals the autobiographical underpinnings of some of her darkest lyrics, but she also tells a larger tale: of artistic determination battling personal insecurity; of misjudging and being misjudged by men and by the music business; and of steadfastly holding her own.
She doesn’t give in: not on a trendy remix, not on her album cover photos, not on her instincts. She can handle being called difficult or “insane” even though, she admits, “There are times when I can bring an extra layer of unpredictable emotion to a situation that is already tough to begin with.” The lasting results are in her songs.
Williams envisioned life as a musician soon after she picked up a guitar. She started performing folk songs in her teens. But even as she honed her own songwriting and built local reputations — in Texas and then in Los Angeles — she worked day jobs well into her 30s. Major labels rejected her, again and again, as being “too country for rock” but “too rock for country.”
From the beginning — two low-budget Folkways albums she made in 1979 and 1980 — Williams sang about elemental subjects: desire, sorrow, love, traveling, survival, death. Some of her songs are kiss-offs; some offer regrets; some are elegies; some are takedowns. They’re always grounded in homely details. In “Hot Blood,” a bluesy outpouring of female lust, she sings about feeling “a cold chill” as she watches a guy just “fixin’ your flat with a tire iron.”
It took an English punk label, Rough Trade, to release “Lucinda Williams,” her 1988 breakthrough album. A decade later, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” marked her commercial peak. But recording that album, she recalls in the memoir, was lengthy and fraught. Making records, she writes, “can test the limits and boundaries of everyone involved. I now understand that is normal.”
Getting the sound Williams wanted on “Car Wheels” led to the breakup of her longtime band and clashes with two producers. Then contractual tangles delayed the release of the finished album for two years. Williams also nixed a video concept from the director Paul Schrader, deciding, “He was just another guy trying to impose his vision on a female artist. ‘Car Wheels’ did fine without a video.”
Throughout her book, Williams recognizes her own appetites and mistakes. She writes about suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder and bouts of depression, and she recognizes her weakness for the kind of boyfriend she calls “a poet on a motorcycle,” guys who often turned out to be cheaters, addicts or worse.
She came through anyway. “That relationship was done, but I got a good song out of it,” she writes about one romantic debacle. Williams has been married since 2009 to her manager, producer and songwriting collaborator, Tom Overby.
Although Williams finished her book in 2022, it doesn’t mention her 2020 stroke; she can no longer play guitar. But she returned to touring in 2021 and persists in writing songs; she’s releasing a new album in June. Her memoir shows how deep that grit runs.
DON’T TELL ANYBODY THE SECRETS I TOLD YOU: A Memoir | By Lucinda Williams | 272 pp. | Illustrated | Crown | $28
The trailer (below) for “Draw for Change!” – which was named best documentary series at Canneseries this week – has debuted. The feature film version of the first of its six episodes, “Behind the Lines,” will world premiere at Visions du Réel Film Festival on April 28.
The series, from creators Guillaume Vandenberghe and Vincent Coen, profiles six female cartoonists working in six geographic areas of the world, in six individual films and broadcast episodes. Female directors with close connections to each of the societies represented were chosen to tell the stories.
Autlook Film Sales is handling international sales.
“After decades of male directed series on male artists, this series brings us stories about female artists from a female perspective,” producer Hanne Phlypo said. “The stakes are very high for these artists, and championing them by telling their stories is our contribution to empowering global democracy – one laugh at a time.”
Vandenberghe and Coen said: “In this world where male autocrats solidify their powers, and algorithmic driven populism reshuffles the cards, who are the people that will make a difference? Cartoonists.”
“Behind the Lines” is directed by Alisar Hassan and Alaa Amer, and profiles cartoon artist Amany Al-Ali throughout 2020-2022 from her home in Idlib, Syria, amid devastating bombing attacks during the war.
Other female directors chosen are Sama Pana (India), Karen Vázquez Guadarrama (Mexico), Nada Riyadh (Egypt), Anna Moiseenko (Russia), and Laura Nix (U.S.). Other cartoon artists chosen for the project are: Rachita Taneja (India), Mar Maremoto (Mexico), Doaa El-Adl (Egypt), Victoria Lomasko (Russia), and Laura Nix (U.S.).
The series will create an educational program on gender equality in Belgium, expected to be exported to other countries by Evelien De Graef, the series impact producer/partner from Blue Bird Docs. Director Mar Maremoto (Mexico) will also deliver a VR experience of her film.
Clin D’Oeil Films produces the series, in co-production with A_Bahn, Ma.Ja.De. Filmproduktion, Point Du Jour – Les Films Du Balibari, Submarine, Real Lava, ARTE France, SWR/ARTE, ARTE G.E.I.E., WRD, VRT, RTBF and Shelter Prod.
It is produced by Hanne Phlypo, and co-produced by Estelle Robin You, Heino Deckert, Marion Guth, François Le Gall, Femke Wolting and Bruno Felix. Executive produced by Salma Abdalla and Sigrid Dyekjaer. Associate produced by Pierre Urbain and David Mouraire.
KHARTOUM, Sudan — The Sudanese army said Saturday it was coordinating efforts to evacuate American, British, Chinese and French citizens and diplomats from Sudan on military aircraft, as the bloody fighting that has engulfed the vast African nation entered its second week.
The military said that its chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, had spoken to leaders of several countries who have requested safe evacuations of their citizens and diplomats from Sudan. The prospect has vexed officials as most major airports have become battlegrounds and movement out of the capital, Khartoum, has proven intensely dangerous.
Burhan “agreed to provide the necessary assistance to secure such evacuations for various countries,” the military said.
Questions have swirled over how the mass rescues of foreign citizens would unfold, with Sudan’s main international airport closed and millions of people sheltering indoors. As battles between the Sudanese army led by Burhan and a rival powerful paramilitary group rage in and around Khartoum, including in residential areas, foreign countries have struggled to repatriate their citizens — some of whom are running short on food and basic supplies while hunkered down.
Burhan said that some diplomats from Saudi Arabia had already been transferred by land to Port Sudan, the country’s main seaport on the Red Sea, and airlifted back to the kingdom. He said that Jordan’s diplomats would soon be evacuated in the same way. The port is in Sudan’s far east, some 840 kilometers (520 miles) from Khartoum.
The Pentagon said earlier this week it was moving additional troops and equipment to a Naval base in the tiny Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti to prepare for the evacuation of U.S. Embassy personnel. But the White House said Friday it had no plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of an estimated 16,000 American citizens trapped in Sudan.
Burhan told Saudi-owned TV station Al-Hadath on Saturday that Khartoum’s airport would not handle any evacuations because of the ongoing fighting. He claimed that the military had regained control over all the other airports in the country, except for one in the southwestern city of Nyala.
“We share the international community’s concern about foreign nationals,” he said. “Living conditions are deteriorating.”
Even as the warring sides said Friday they’d agreed to a cease-fire for the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, explosions and gunfire rang out across Khartoum on Saturday. Two cease-fire attempts earlier this week also rapidly collapsed. The turmoil has dealt a perhaps fatal blow to hopes for the country’s transition to a civilian-led democracy and raised concerns the chaos could draw in its neighbors, including Chad, Egypt and Libya.
“People need to realize that the war has been continuous since day one. It has not stopped for one moment,” said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate, which monitors casualties. The clashes have killed over 400 people so far, according to the World Health Organization. The bombardments, gunbattles and sniper fire in densely populated areas have hit civilian infrastructure, including many hospitals.
The international airport near the center of the capital has come under heavy shelling as the paramilitary group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, has tried to take control of the compound. In an apparent effort to oust the RSF fighters, the Sudanese army has pounded the airport with airstrikes, gutting at least one runway and leaving wrecked planes scattered on the tarmac. The full extent of damage at the airfield remains unclear.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia and Jordan both announced that they had started arranging for the repatriation of their citizens stuck in Sudan. Officials did not elaborate on how the plans would unfold. Jordan said it was “taking into account the security conditions on the ground” and was coordinating its efforts with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The conflict has opened a dangerous new chapter in Sudan’s history, thrusting the country into uncertainty.
“No one can predict when and how this war will end,” Burhan told Al-Hadath. “I am currently in the command center and will only leave it in a coffin.”
The current explosion of violence came after Burhan and the chief of the RSF, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, fell out over a recent internationally brokered deal with democracy activists that was meant to incorporate the RSF into the military and eventually lead to civilian rule.
The rival generals rose to power in the tumultuous aftermath of popular uprisings that led to the ouster of Sudan’s longtime ruler, Omar al-Bashir, in 2019. Two years later, they joined forces to seize power in a coup that ousted the civilian leaders.
Both the military and RSF have a long history of human rights abuses. The RSF was born out of the Janjaweed militias, which were accused of atrocities in crushing a rebellion in Sudan’s western Darfur region in the early 2000s.
Many Sudanese — trapped in their homes as food supplies dwindle — fear that despite the generals’ repeated promises, the violence will only escalate as tens of thousands of foreign citizens prepare to escape Sudan.
“We are sure both sides of fighting are more careful about foreign lives than the lives of Sudanese citizens,” Atiya said.
She continued: “The interest there is in that particular area is very strange. Not that I’m surprised, but it’s a tiny slice of my life. Most of my life is focused on my son and my work.”
“I didn’t expect this to happen,” Ratajkowski confessed to Spanish Vogue of the snapshots. “I think, in general, there’s a reason certain celebrities live in [Los Angeles], hire security, don’t go to public restaurants. … So the idea of giving [my freedom] up for the sake of privacy is something I haven’t considered yet.”
“Emily isn’t looking for anything serious,” the insider exclusively told Us in March. “She’s just trying to live her best single life and have fun.”
Shortly after the Gone Girlactress — who was previously linked to Brad Pitt, Pete Davidson and Eric Andre — and Styles’ kiss went viral, fans also speculated about a potential feud between Ratajkowski and Wilde, 39. (The Don’t Worry Darling director, who had previously been friendly with Ratajkowski, dated Styles for nearly two years until their breakup in November 2022.)
“These approaches occur over and over again. I did a TikTok talking about it when the Adam Levine case came to light. All my algorithm on this social network showed content focused on slut-shaming a 23-year-old girl,” Ratajkowski told Spanish Vogue in her cover story, referring to Sumner Stroh, the first woman to reveal her alleged romance with Levine. “I was frustrated with the way in which an attack narrative was being established on this girl, instead of asking what happens to the person who is in a relationship and as such has contracted obligations.”
She added: “In the case [of my photos with Harry], it’s more of the same. I feel bad for Olivia because she has had to suffer this situation on several occasions.”
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Frustrated users on Twitter are taking up arms against accounts with blue check marks and blocking them en masse in an effort they are calling #BlockTheBlue.
Previously,the blue check mark denoted a “legacy account” that was from a prominent organization or person, whose identity had been verified. But that changed Thursday, when the social media company stripped manypublic figures, media outlets, celebrities, businesses and others of the symbol, assigning it only to paid subscribers of Twitter Blue.
It really makes this site unusable as any troll can get verified and ensure the worst content is prioritized. It’s a spam and abuse enhancement tool. You couldn’t intentionally make a worse product design if you were lobotomized.
— Alejandra Caraballo ?️⚧️?? (@Esqueer_) April 22, 2023
Alejandra Caraballo, an instructor at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic, said the new verification policy makes Twitter unusable. “Any troll can get verified and ensure the worst content is prioritized. It’s a spam and abuse enhancement tool,” she wrote, noting that she had already blocked nearly 200,000 Twitter Blue accounts.
Max Collins, who runs the popular Twitter account for rock band Eve 6 and is blocking blue checks, said in an email that he now associates the symbol with “people who are really into crypto and have a borderline fanatic devotion” to Twitter owner Elon Musk and “hard line right wing ideologues.” Alastair McAlphine, an infectious diseases pediatrician, tweeted, “Block blue checks on sight for a happier, healthier [timeline]!”
Shortly after the #BlockTheBlue hashtag took off, Twitter on Friday suspended the @BlockTheBlue account. Musk supporters have meanwhile called on Twitter users to “pay the eight,” referring to the $8 monthly fee to get a check mark through the Twitter Blue subscription. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.
Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last fall. Under his leadership, it has suspended severaljournalists who covered him, dismantled policies aimed at protecting vulnerable groups and temporarily changed the logo of the site to the dogecoin symbol. In the months since his purchase, hate speech has been amplified, The Washington Post reported. Several prominent figures and organizations have also left the platform, including NPR, which Musk labeled “state-affiliated media” earlier this month.
My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t. My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.
Musk has sought to democratizethe policy around the blue check mark, which had become something of a status marker. Some well-known figures were gifted free Twitter Blue subscriptions by Musk, including author Stephen King,who did not appear to want one.
On Friday, Twitter users posted videos of themselves blocking dozens of accounts with paid blue check marks at once and offered strategies for targeting such accounts efficiently. Memes circulated casting those behind #BlockTheBlue as sci-fi gladiators attacking blue badges and hunters out for “bluecheck season.” Environmentalist Bill McKibben supported the #BlockTheBlue effort, writing on Twitter, “I’ve never blocked anyone, but this approach seems sound.”
Universal/Illumination’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has broken yet another box office record for animation with an estimated $58 million in its third weekend.
Just like last weekend, “Mario” has posted the highest total ever seen for an animated film in its third weekend and, at the moment, the seventh highest third weekend for any film. Given how the last two weekends have seen the film’s estimates rise as the weekend goes on, there’s still a chance that this $58 million estimate could rise to $60 million or higher.
Currently, Universal estimates that “Super Mario Bros.” will pass the $850 million mark worldwide by the end of the weekend, putting it in position in this coming week to pass the $939 million global total of “Minions: The Rise of Gru” to become the highest grossing animated film of the post-shutdown era. “Mario” has already passed “Rise of Gru” at the domestic box office, as it is set to reach $434 million in North America by the end of the weekend.
Heartstopper was an unexpected success when it debuted on Netflix last year. The graphic novels of this adaptation by Alice Oseman have always remained popular, but this was astounding how viewers cherished this adorable tale of teen LGBTQ+ love. Season 1 garnered deeply impressive critic reviews and audience scores, becoming a binge spot for the streaming giant. And with these widely binged episodes came a wave of huge fandom demanding another season of the series. Now fans are awestruck as they receive a special gift on the first anniversary of the highly acclaimed show.
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The official page of Pop Tingz recently shared the first picture from season 2 of Heartstopper. The photo showed Kit Conner and Sebastian Croft sitting on the same bench. Moreover, the pop culture page also suggested that the comedy-drama will return to the audience later this year. However, the creators have not confirmed anything about the shoot that started months ago.
Kit Connor and Sebastian Croft in the first official look for Season 2 of “Heartstopper”.
As for fans, they are just happy to see the first glimpse of season 2 and instantly noticed how these two are unpleased sitting beside each other. Moreover, many are getting emotional about how time flew, and the show completed one year.
Netflix has also rolled out a cute picture remembering the day they first entered fans’ lives. Seeing their post fans are asking for the release date as they have waited for it for so long.
— ella & the six || saw harry? (@darcy_the__egg) April 22, 2023
This picture might be making many people wonder what the future holds for the pair and their pals. So here’s everything fans need to know about the upcoming season and cast members.
When will Heartstopper arrive on Netflix? Who will be coming back to season 2?
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At this moment, it is unclear when the show will be released on the platform. It’s okay, though, considering the possibility of its arrival later this year. Moreover, Kit Connor is returning as Nick, and Joe Locke is back as Charlie who made their relationship official in the show. So viewers will see how their friends will support them through this new phase.
Other cast members include Yasmin Finney, William Gao, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Tobie Donovan, Olivia Colman, and Fisayo Akinade. Meanwhile, the success of this show has brought a lifetime opportunity to one of the cast members who will grace the screen alongside Kathryn Hahn in a Marvel project.
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Are you excited about season 2? Leave your comments below.
Melanie Lynskey Discusses Losing Friendship With Kate Winslet
Now,weekew you may recall that the two award-winning actors starred in the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures, where they grew to be close friends. Unfortunately, after the film wrapped, they did not remain close.
“When I lost touch with Kate, it was more heartbreaking than some breakups that I’ve had,” Melanie said. “It was so painful.”
“And it wasn’t like anything happened — it’s just she became a gigantic, international movie star and she didn’t have a lot of time,” she continued.
“Then, suddenly, she’d be in Los Angeles and not have time when I was living here,” Melanie said. “It gradually happened. It happens in relationships — people kind of drift apart. But that was so painful for me. And it happened a couple of times [with other actors].”
Josh then asked if the two have crossed paths since. Melanie said, “No,” but said she did see Kate at the Away We Go premiere in 2009.
Melanie also recalled how angry she got on Kate’s behalf when Kate was being body-shamed in the 90s. “I know she’s a very, very confident person, but everyone’s sensitive and she’s very sensitive. The way she was dissected and talked about,” she said.
“I remember at the time being just so furious on her behalf. Especially because Kate Winslet is now in the world. Kate Winslet is doing movies. And you’re getting to witness that talent.”
“This is an actor who comes along once in a generation. Just focus on that. It infuriated me so much, and I just was always amazed by how gracefully she handled all of that. It was always really impressive.”
It’s nice to see Melanie open up, yet still speak so highly of Kate. You can watch Melanie’s full interview here!
Giving birth in the United States is diabolical. Or at least it is according to Beverly Mantle, one of two identical-twin OB-GYNs played by Rachel Weisz in the Prime Video miniseries “Dead Ringers.”
A gender-switched remake of David Cronenberg’s 1988 thriller, the drama is an unsettling exploration of the codependent relationship between Beverly and her twin sister, Elliot, Manhattan physicians who practice medicine — and do just about everything else — together, but who come to realize their approaches to life and work may be incompatible.
Beverly — the reserved, compassionate one who wears her hair back — wants to “change the way women birth, forever” by opening a revolutionary birthing center. Elliot is an impulsive, hair-down type, who is more excited about pushing scientific and ethical boundaries with a cutting-edge embryology lab than about providing compassionate care.
Created by acclaimed playwright and showrunner Alice Birch, and anchored by a riveting dual performance by Weisz, the series maintains the surreal, uncanny tone of the original film, which starred a deliciously sinister Jeremy Irons.
But expanded to six hours and told from a decidedly feminine perspective, “Dead Ringers” also offers an unusually clear-eyed look at reproductive healthcare in the United States — from the agony of infertility and pregnancy loss to the everyday perils of childbirth, particularly for women of color.
And it wastes no time in doing so: Minutes into the pilot episode, Beverly, who has been trying unsuccessfully to have a baby, scoops bloody tissue out of the toilet after experiencing yet another miscarriage. Soon after, in a visceral montage, she and Elliot do their thing — using forceps, scalpels, suction devices and all manner of verbal coaxing to deliver babies vaginally and via C-section, all the while blood splattering their shoes. Elsewhere, the show grapples with such fraught issues as the regulation of embryos grown outside the womb, the racist origins of modern gynecology, surrogacy and the influence of wealthy benefactors on medical research.
“We knew we wanted it to begin in a really grounded place,” said Birch in a joint phone conversation with Weisz, who played a hands-on role as an executive producer on the series. “The twins are so ambitious, and they have these very clear ideas about how to make things better, that I felt like I needed to make the case for imagining something different. We wanted the births to feel real and for those patients to feel like real women who walk in and out of clinics today.”
Strict realism and preachy didacticism are not the goals of this highly stylized remake (in a nod to the original, the doctors and nurses wear crimson scrubs), but in order for the story to work — and for both Beverly and Elliot’s competing visions to resonate as powerfully as they do — the medicine needed to be anchored in truth. “Dead Ringers” is one of a growing number of TV shows, including “This Is Going to Hurt” and “I Hate Suzie Too,” that resist the squeamishness that so often hampers depictions of women’s bodies to portray reproductive health with a radical form of candor.
“Women’s bodies have been politicized forever,” Birch said. “So I think the show would have felt timely whenever it was coming out.”
Still, at a moment when maternal mortality rates are rising along with restrictions on people’s ability to control when and if they become parents now that Roe vs. Wade has been overturned, Beverly’s tirade about the “f—” system that “bullies and scares and terrorizes and humiliates and ruins women and their bodies” is likely to strike many viewers as the least hyperbolic aspect of the entire series.
A fan of the Cronenberg film since she first saw it as a teenager, Weisz was intrigued by the “twisted, bizarre, codependent relationship” at its center, she said — one that could easily be switched and turned into two rich characters for her to portray: “There seemed to be no reason why one couldn’t have two female identical twins.”
The actor brought the idea for a remake to Annapurna Pictures and suggested Birch, whose TV credits include “Succession” and “Normal People,” to shepherd the adaptation.
Birch was excited about opening up the story by delving further into the twins’ work in obstetrics. In an early conversation with Weisz, Birch recalled a doctor who’d talked about choosing when life begins when they performed C-sections and described themselves in godlike fashion. “It seemed like that might be something that our twins would say,” she said.
The writers room, which consisted of seven women (including Weisz), became a venue for sharing stories about giving birth, visiting the gynecologist and other personal experiences that are now “part of the archaeological layers in the DNA of the whole project,” said Weisz.
The writers used Beverly and Elliot’s competing personalities to explore divergent approaches to women’s health. Beverly believes that pregnancy should be treated as a normal physical condition, not a disease — a philosophical descendant of Ina May Gaskin, the pioneering American midwife (even if her birthing center is much fancier than Gaskin’s famous Tennessee farm). Elliot, meanwhile, just wants a lab where she can play the role of maverick scientist and violate accepted norms with impunity, as she is already inclined to do.
To realize both their dreams, the Mantles turn to a wealthy benefactor named Rebecca (played by Jennifer Ehle) who has made a fortune selling opioids. (Similarities to the Sackler family are surely not coincidental.)
“Finding these people who would be literally the worst people for her to have to accept the money from enabled us to keep asking those really complicated questions,” said Birch.
To better understand the medical and ethical ramifications of Elliot’s embryological experiments, the writers consulted scientists at the Francis Crick Institute in London. The production also enlisted a number of experts in reproductive medicine, including Barbara Sellars, a renowned New York City midwife, and Susan Grant, a recently retired OB-GYN who practiced at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, who offered feedback on scripts and were present on set when they were filming deliveries and other procedures.
Grant was called in to set “constantly,” she said. “You really need somebody who does it on a day-to-day basis to come in and say, ‘No, hold your hands this way.’ ‘The fetal heart rate would not be that number.’ I was really integrally involved. They wanted to get it right.”
She was struck by “the real female dominance essence and warmth” she encountered on location. (Directors on the series included Sean Durkin, Karyn Kusama, Karena Evans and Lauren Wolkstein.) For her part, Weisz was thrilled to be surrounded by experts who regaled her with their stories from the birthing trenches: “To sit and chat between takes with someone who spent their life delivering babies? It doesn’t get any better for me.”
Weisz also attended several births as part of her preparation for the series. “We know that it happens every second. It’s sort of the most ordinary thing that happens,” she said. “But to witness it feels completely extraordinary and miraculous and astonishing.”
Grant said one of the more challenging, if less bloody, scenes involved an effort to rotate a breech baby by applying manual pressure to a pregnant belly. Suturing was also tricky. But she was impressed by the research that Birch and the writers had already done. In one instance, she questioned the plausibility of an especially wrenching plot twist, only to have Birch cite an article about a nearly identical case.
The series is graphic — brace yourself for close-up shots of crowning babies — but it captures the power of being there when a new life enters the world, said Grant. “That’s the most amazing thing: when you see this giant head come out of a small vagina.”
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