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Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright, and Ariana Madix
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The world according to Jax. Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright’s return to Bravo continued on the Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen after show — and so did the bombshells.

“Don’t you think it’s so hypocritical of the group to be so hard on Tom and Raquel given everyone’s history with cheating?” Andy Cohen asked the couple on Wednesday, March 22. “Of the current cast, by my count, Ariana [Madix] and Katie [Maloney] are the only ones who haven’t cheated.”

Taylor, 43, was quick to question Cohen’s math. “No, Katie has,” he said. “Brittany and Ariana are the only two that have not. Don’t you remember the D. … The motorboating the D?”

Cartwright, 34, noted it must have been “before I was on the show” because she didn’t know what her husband — who weathered his fair share of cheating scandals during his tenure on Pump Rules — was referring to.

Jax Taylor Says Brittany Cartwright and Ariana Madix Are the ‘Only’ Cast Members From 'Pump Rules' Who Haven’t Cheated Before 3

Tom Sandoval, Ariana Madix, Raquel Leviss
MediaPunch/Shutterstock

“Brittany and Ariana are the only ones on the show — in my opinion, I don’t know if it’s fact,” the former SUR bartender added.

Back in 2014, Taylor and Scheana Shay alleged that they saw Maloney, who was dating Tom Schwartz at the time, “motorboating” a man’s “d—k.” Maloney, 36, denied the allegations several times and Shay, 37, later downplayed the story.

“She DID NOT cheat. … I simply felt like she crossed the line,” the “Good As Gold” singer wrote via her Bravo blog after the episode aired. “Schwartz doesn’t care so no one else should either. They had a rough summer with their relationship, and I apologize for any part, small or large, I may have had in that.”

Taylor and Cartwright, who last appeared on Vanderpump Rules during season 8, were on hand to promote their new podcast but fielded several questions from Cohen about Scandoval — the controversy surrounding Tom Sandoval’s affair with Raquel Leviss. According to Taylor, the 28-year-old former beauty queen wasn’t the first time Sandoval, 40, cheated on Madix, 37.

“I was there for the first week during the Miami situation. … I was there the week they started dating when this happened,” Taylor said, referring to the infamous “Miami Girl” cheating allegations documented on season 3. “I was there. I was in the room next to them.”

Over the years, Sandoval has vehemently denied sleeping with “Miami Girl.”

Jax Taylor Says Brittany Cartwright and Ariana Madix Are the ‘Only’ Cast Members From 'Pump Rules' Who Haven’t Cheated Before 2

Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright
Arlene Richie/Shutterstock

“There’s been other times,” Taylor continued to allege, adding: “It doesn’t matter if he did it one or ten times, he did it … within the last couple of years.”

Sandoval and Leviss are set to face the music at the taping of the season 10 reunion on Thursday, March 23, after apologizing to Madix via Instagram statements. Leviss gave a preview of what she has to say during a chat with TMZ on Wednesday.

“It started off as a friendship and turned into something more,” she said. “We’re just trying to get through these next through steps and make amends and hear everybody out. I know a lot of people are angry. So just getting through these next few steps and not putting a label on anything. We’re just kind of taking a break for now.”

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Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright, and Ariana

On Wednesday’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” guest Brian Cox briefly claimed that he feels bad about the harsh things he’s said about the practice of method acting.

Thankfully, he was kidding, and it was just the setup to a gag in which the actor recorded an amazing fake Master Class video that bluntly summed up his real opinion on the Method.

For those who don’t know, method acting, also called the Method, is an acting technique in which actors strive to emotionally relate to and empathize with their characters on such a level that it often includes actors staying in character even when not performing in order to remain in their fictional mindset. It’s yielded some incredible performances, but it’s also subject to a lot of criticism, including from Cox.

In February Cox gave an interview in which he lavishly praised his “Succession” co-star Jeremy Strong as a person and as an actor. But he also said that Strong’s insistence on method acting is “f—ing annoying.” Then just this week, Cox had more bad things to say about method acting, calling it “American s—,” and urging actors to “just do the job. Don’t identify.”

Fallon brought that whole thing up while chatting with Cox. “Well you know, Jimmy, I’ve been a little harsh,” Cox replied. “I have been a little harsh on that, and I’m sorry about that, and in fact I’ve been trying to set the record straight in a Master Class series on acting that I’ve just been doing.”

“Oh I didn’t know that you did a master class,” Fallon replied.

“Well actually, I brought a clip,” Cox said. “And I think this more eloquently explains my feelings about acting.”

They then rolled the clip, which was made to look very much like the branded Master Class videos. It was called “Brian Cox Teaches the Craft of Acting.”

“Hi. I’m Brian Cox,” Cox said with an exaggerated sophistication. “And this is my Master Class on the craft of acting.”

Then onscreen, “Tip 1.” Immediately after, Cox returned and said, “Just f—ing do it!”

It’s hilarious and you can watch it here right now as part of Cox’s full interview with Fallon at the top of the page. The Master Class bit kicks in around the 4:30 mark.

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On Wednesday’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy

“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” Jennifer Shah and her legal woes are the talk of the town — even thousands of miles away in Thailand.

Filming on “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” started in mid-July 2022 — two days after Shah plead guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to an alleged telemarketing scheme. It was a total change from the not-guilty plea she entered in court two months prior — and the innocence she professed throughout Season 3 of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.”

Shah wasn’t invited to Thailand (nor could she travel given her ongoing case), but her “RHOSLC” castmate and staunch supporter Heather Gay made the trip. And several housewives couldn’t wait to hear the latest from Gay, who was with Shah right until the moment she entered the courthouse.

They jumped on Gay the moment she entered the Thai resort, and grilled her about someone who isn’t even on the trip.

“This was a huge story!” Gizelle Bryant told TheWrap ahead of Thursday’s Season 3 premiere. “Heather had front-row seats to all that was going on with Jen. We needed to know what was happening. [Jen] had said that she was not guilty for over a year. And then all of a sudden, at the last minute, she pled guilty. So yeah, I wanted to tea! I need to know what’s going on.”

Candiace Dillard, Bryant’s “Real Housewives of Potomac” costar and fellow “Girls Trip” attendee, felt the opposite.

“It was top of a lot of people’s minds,” Dillard admitted. “I personally was kind of lost on a lot of it. It just wasn’t interesting to me. And then you know, Heather, was or is best friends with Jen. So I get why people would expect her to have some answers. But some were asking her to be the mouthpiece for Jen Shah. And she clearly obviously doesn’t know anything. So you see me kind of zone out in some of that conversation!”

The “Real Housewives of Miami” cast had mixed feelings about all the Shah talk.

“I’m not so fascinated by her or what she did at this point,” Alexia Nepola said. “We all knew what she had done. So I really didn’t want it to be about her. Honestly, it bugged me a little bit. Because I’m like, “There’s so many things to talk about. We have a lot of things between us, so why would we be talking about her? But you know, I get it. It had just happened. Heather was coming back from New York. And Jen Shaw had just pleaded guilty. So it makes sense to maybe mention it. But I just didn’t want to make it about her because there’s a reason why she wasn’t there.”

Marysol Patton disagreed.

“It was quite fun!” she replied. “I was like, “I can’t believe we get to hear this [firsthand]. And I can’t wait to hear the answer.”

“Each woman has plenty to talk about for the rest of the nine days,” Porsha Williams added. “So spending one day to get the tea on Jen was worth it.”

Shah’s name comes up later in the season when the topic of Gay’s black eye — the other major storyline from “Salt Lake City” comes up.

“I don’t know how I got it,” Gay says of her shiner.

“I thought Jen hit her,” Gay’s cousin and castmate Whitney Rose responded.

“I have figured this out,” declared Bryant. “Jen Shah punched Heather in the face. But if Heather tells anybody, then they’re going to put more years on the years that they’ve already given her in the clinker!”

Is Bryant right? You’ll have to watch “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” to hear exactly what Gay said about her now-incarcerated BFF.

“Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” Season 3 premieres on Peacock Thursday.

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“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” Jennifer

In Dance 100 eight street dance choreographers battle it out for a $100,000 prize. As the competition progresses, the routines get increasingly more complex with more dancers, until the finale where choreographers utilize the whole “dance 100,” 100 elite dancers who also act as the judges of the show. Dance 100’s judging process stands out from the countless other competition shows airing right now (which usually have a small panel of judges); and while the show does address some more technical aspects of choreography, it is still entertaining for people who don’t know much about dance. Packed with lovable competitors, upbeat music, and amazing dancing, Dance 100 is an enjoyable watch, and with only six episodes it’s perfect for a quick binge.

Photo: Netflix

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By Ava Erickson In Dance 100 eight street dance

Last Updated: March 23, 2023, 17:55 IST

Chetan Kumar, better known as Chetan Ahimsa, has been granted bail.

Chetan Kumar has been granted bail. He was arrested on 21st March by Seshadripuram police for his alleged objectionable tweet on Hindutva.

Kannada Actor Chetan has been granted bail with a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and one security by the 32nd ACMM court in the Hindutva tweet case. He was arrested on 21st March by Seshadripuram police for his alleged objectionable tweet on Hindutva. He was sent to 14-day judicial custody by a Bengaluru court. For the uninitiated, the actor had tweeted, “Hindutva is built on lies’.

His tweet that got him into trouble, further read, “Savarkar: Indian ‘nation’ began when Rama defeated Ravana & returned to Ayodhya —> a lie 1992: Babri Masjid is ‘birthplace of Rama’ —> a lie 2023: Urigowda-Nanjegowda are ‘killers’ of Tipu—> a lie Hindutva can be defeated by TRUTH—> truth is EQUALITY”

Following this post, Shivakumar, the convenor of Bajrang Dal’s Bengaluru North unit, filed a complaint against the actor. Based on the complaint, an FIR was filed under sections 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred, or ill-will between classes) and 295(A) (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings), of Indian Penal code (IPC).

However, this is not the first time Chetan got into trouble. Earlier, he was arrested for tweeting against Justice Krishna Dixit of the Karnataka High Court, who was then hearing the hijab matter. He was detained in February last year. In October of last year, another FIR was also filed against Chetan Kumar for making derogatory statements regarding the film Kantara. In his remarks on the film, Chetan said that Brahmanism and tribal culture coexisted.

Read all the Latest Movies News here

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Last Updated: March 23, 2023, 17:55 ISTChetan

LILLE, France – Producers, commissioning editors and creative talents from across La Belle Province took the spotlight at a Series Mania showcase of the best of recent Quebecois scripted offerings. Below are the seven series that drew whoops and appreciative hollers from a room full of international buyers.

Late summer doldrums, young adult love, and the generally placid rhythms of suburban life take on additional heft and resonance for a group of friends all suffering from cystic fibrosis – especially once one’s condition takes a turn for the worst. Far from jerking tears, the offbeat comedy “Thin Air” finds irreverent and life-affirming humor following young adult characters that feel the pangs of mortality more acutely than most. Produced by Urbania and created by acclaimed writer Jean-Christophe Réhel, the bittersweet series offers another plum role to “Mommy” star Antoine Olivier Pilon.

Produced by Saint Laurent TV and directed by Jean-Francois Rivard and Mathieu Cyr,  “Good Morning Chuck (Or the Art of Harm Reduction)” tracks a disgraced talk show host who checks into rehab more for the good press than to actually kick his drug habit. As much a satire of fame and PR narcissism as an earnest ode to the rehab process, the dark comedy turned heads at the Series Mania pitch on the strength of its stark black and white visuals. “For me, [using black and white] is like filming the soul,” said director Jean-Francois Rivard. “It’s that balance between darkness and light.”   

‘Good Morning Chuck (Or the Art of Harm Reduction)’

“Pearls” creator Erika Soucy described her small town dramedy as a kind of Quebecoise cousin to the Cher/Winona Ryder classic “Mermaids,” promising that this tale of a single mom raising two daughters in a remote, seaside community would shine a loving spotlight on characters and stories all too often overlooked. “I wanted to create a feminist series that puts forward women who have neither the time nor the vocabulary to assert themselves,” Soucy said of her series upon its announcement. “While developing many themes that are important to me, in the end, [the series] asks one question: What does it mean to be a good mother?”

An hour-long scripted farce from Quebec’s reigning comedy champion Isabelle Langlois (whose series “Freefall” claimed top honors at Canada’s Gémeaux Awards four years in a row), “The Candidate” follows working-class single mom drafted into a doomed-to-lose political campaign only to end up the surprise victor. “It’s more of a coming-of-age and fish-out-water story,” said producer Vincent Gagné of Encore Television. “The show is more about finding out who you are, and that is something everyone can relate to.”

‘Pearls’

Co-created and anchored by Quebecois star Éric Bruneau, the investment banker drama “Before the Crash” won critical and audience acclaim for its first season, with a follow-up coming shortly down the pike. The writer and lead described his high-octane, high-finance series in more intimate terms, promising to take viewers behind the big deals and eye popping numbers to really examine the fractured psyches and fraught relations that push a certain ambitious few to greater and greater extremes, eventually setting them up for a fall.

“What’s local is universal,” said “Mégantic” creator/director Alexis Durand-Brault. Indeed, while the eight-part disaster drama recreates a 2013 rail accident that devastated a small French-Canadian town not far from the Maine border, the ensuing tales of grief and perseverance, of heroism big and small, knows no one language or nationality.  “Underneath these explosions were real people and real human stories,” said producer Sophie Lorain. “That’s what the story is all about, and that’s what will reach audiences.”

Written, directed and created by Mara Joly, “Still I Rise” takes a familiar format and gives it an unabashedly Black, queer and feminist spin. Set in a diverse sector of Montreal, the series finds an at-risk teen given a new path forward and lease on life through the martial arts – in this case, as part of young cadre of MMA fighters trained by an-ex champion turned police officer. “There is love, action, families that tear each other apart,” said co-producer Myriam Charles, while also promising “thriller elements and even ethical eroticism.” “Our characters are heroes who exposed all of their flaws,” she added. “That’s what makes them human.”

‘Still I Rise’

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LILLE, France – Producers, commissioning editors and

Reading through a large number of articles every day can be time-consuming, especially if those articles are long.

Helping you save time is a problem we are very passionate about, so we are excited to release today a new Feedly AI feature called Summarization.

We have taught Feedly AI to read and summarize the articles in your feeds so that you can more efficiently scan through articles and determine which ones are relevant.

Demo

Feedly AI automatically reads all the articles in your feeds and summarizes them.

Articles lists showcase those summaries as articles descriptions.

Feedly AI summaries in article lists

When you open an article, Feedly AI also highlights the key sentences which are part of the summary. The goal is to help you get to the key insights more efficiently.

Feedly AI reads and highlights the most important sentences

Board newsletters and slack integration also take advantage of the Feedly AI summaries for the article descriptions.

Available Now

The Feedly AI Summarization feature is available now to all users in the Pro+ and Business plans.

If you prefer not to see the blue highlights, you can turn them off via the Feedly AI Summary Highlights preference.

If you have feedback about the Leo Summarization skill, you are welcome to join the Feedly Champions slack channel and discuss it with the product team.

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Reading through a large number of articles

On the DCN Podcast #169, the crew take you on a journey through this week’s DC news, including the confirmation from James Gunn himself that he will be directing the upcoming Superman: Legacy film, Ben Affleck stating he won’t direct a DC film, a first look and release date for Sweet Tooth season 2, and much more!

So sit back, and enjoy!

 

DCN PODCAST #169

 

Steve J Ray: www.twitter.com/el_steevo

Brad Filicky: www.twitter.com/filickyb1

Seth Singleton: www.twitter.com/1MoreSingleton

Damian Fasciani: www.twitter.com/Damian_Fasciani

Kelly Gaines: www.twitter.com/KelGainesWrite

Kendra Hale: www.twitter.com/DevourAllWords

Editor-in-Chief – Josh Raynor: www.twitter.com/MovieBlogMerc

Be sure to also subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play, and if you like what you hear, please give us a 5-star rating and review!

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139 On the DCN Podcast #169, the crew

The third feature directed by Vietnamese superstar Ngo Thanh Van — better known to western audiences as actor Veronica Ngo in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and “The Old Guard” — lives up to its title with a furious display of female revenge set in the seedy streets of late-’90s Ho Chi Minh City. Despite a routine plot and some abrasive tonal shifts, this tale of a motherly mentor turning three damaged young women into deadly assassins is packed with exciting action and boasts fine performances from four killers bound by blood, bullets and all manner of deadly weapons. Following a series of rowdy screenings in SXSW’s Midnighters section, “Furies” will stream worldwide as the first Vietnamese Netflix original feature on March 23.   

A gritty and often brutal action thriller, “Furies” is reminiscent in tone and texture of old-school Hong Kong heroic bloodshed epics and has a dash of the “indestructible female fighter” films starring Thai dynamo JeeJa Yanin (“Chocolate,” Raging Phoenix”). Closely associated with the steady rise of Vietnamese genre cinema since moving from a successful pop music career to star in seminal works such as Charlie Nguyen’s smash hit “The Rebel” (2006), Ngo serves as director, actor, co-writer and producer in what’s bound to become one of the most widely seen of all Vietnamese films.  

A loose prequel to Le-Van Kiet’s 2019 hit “Furie,” in which Ngo played a petty criminal attempting to save her kidnapped daughter, “Furies” takes place 15 years earlier, with Ngo cast as a different character from the earlier film. Here she’s Jacqueline (also known as Aunt Lin), a tough dame who saves country girl Bi (Dong Anh Quynh) from suffering more of the horrific sexual violence she experienced as a child and teenager in the film’s confronting opening sequences. Currently a pickpocket on the neon-drenched streets of Ho Chi Minh City’s (formerly Saigon) nightlife district, Bi is recruited by Jacqueline to join a girl gang she has formed to destroy Hai (Thuan Nguyen), a super-sleazy, sex-addicted gang boss whose empire is built on trafficking women and drugs.

Bi’s occasional voiceover narration paints a vivid picture of her deeply troubled soul. “From the moment I was born, I was destined for darkness,” she tells us. Though wary of being dragged further into violence that seems to lurk around every corner, Bi is drawn to the security and family environment offered by Jacqueline and fellow recruits Thanh (pop star Toc Tien) and Hong (Rima Thanh Vy). The well-rounded characters offer interesting points of difference and commonality with the shy and traumatized Bi. While Hong is a bubbly type who likes dressing up and doing girly things, and Thanh is a tough customer with a punk rock vibe, both have experienced the same kind of heinous sexual violence as Bi. In light of this, it’s easy for viewers to accept Bi’s decision to stay and find purpose in life with her new sisters and comrades-in-arms.

Anchored by the trio’s emotional bonding and Jacqueline’s maternal care even as she whips them into shape for deadly combat, “Furies” delivers plenty of pulse-quickening action. Ngo and action director and fight choreographer Samuel Kefi Abrikh stage their best sequences in cramped quarters such as alleyways and the narrow corridors of Hai’s nightclub hangout, where dozens of the gangster’s goons are dispatched by the trio against seemingly impossible odds. Nguyen Cong Danh’s editing is right on the money here and elsewhere, mixing rapid-fire cutting with much longer takes that allow the audience to see the whole picture and admire the fighting skills of talented cast members.

In a memorable piece of slow-motion editing during a frantic early fight, we can see the very moment when Bi’s reticence to fight is suddenly replaced by an overwhelming feeling of power and control. It’s a couple of seconds that says as much as a monologue.

Most of the mayhem is executed in great style, though some visual effects fall short of the mark. An extended chase scene involving motorcycles is all too obviously filmed with actors on machines bolted down in front of a green screen, making it look like an excerpt from an arcade game. “Furies” loses a little of its momentum and gloss with a few comic scenes that don’t mesh well with the heavy atmosphere of menace, and the villainy on display is strictly cartoonish. A late development in which Jacqueline enters the fray as a combatant may not sit well with all audiences. Though intrinsic to the plot of this revenge scenario and never used for crassly exploitative purposes, certain scenes of sexual violence may linger longer than some viewers feel is necessary.  

These concerns do not detract too much from the film’s overall success as a fast-and-furious action bonanza that’s stylishly filmed in a riot of primary colors by DP Phu Nam. The rock guitar-dominated original score by Nguyen Hoang Anh is fine if a tad generic, and the soundtrack is given a nice boost by songs from renowned female singer Phuong Tranh, veteran pop star Dan Truong and co-star Toc Tien. Also noteworthy is Na Bong Chua’s excellent costume design which includes an eye-catching pink jump suit as Bi’s distinctly personal choice of combat fatigue.

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The third feature directed by Vietnamese superstar

Diverse storytelling has always been a strong point associated with anime. From shonen (think action-driven stories with male leads like in Attack On Titan, Naruto and Chainsaw Man) to shoujo (more romance and fantasy-driven, like Sailor Moon and Ouran High School Host Club), slice of life (realistic and relatable stories as seen in K-On! and Non Non Biyori), isekai (when a character is suddenly transported from their world into a new or unfamiliar one, like in Sword Art Online) and everything in between, the wide range of genres present within anime drive home the message that it can be for anyone and everyone — you just need to find out what you enjoy.

But with anime experiencing such a meteoric rise in popularity around the world, it’s now more important than ever to acknowledge the diversity that’s also present among its fans. Historically, fandoms within anime — particularly for Western audiences — have been dominated by white CIS males, resulting in a toxic culture of gatekeeping, sexism, racism and homophobia. While this isn’t representative of the entire anime community, animation studios, streaming platforms, writers and fans all have a crucial part to play in breaking down these traditional barriers and making anime not only more accessible to a wider audience, but also more enjoyable. For example, Jujutsu Kaisen was universally praised for revolutionising the shonen genre through its well-written and complex female characters like Nobara, Maki and Mai — who are all outspoken, confident and powerful.

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Diverse storytelling has

Spring has sprung, and Netflix is doing some housekeeping. The streaming platform is removing only 18 titles this month, though some are binge-worthy classics. (I’m looking at you, New Girl!) It’s possible that Netflix could bring back fan favorites when there’s room on the roster, but for now these are the titles on the cutting room floor. 

The good news is that there are plenty of new additions coming in April to make up for those shows and movies we’ve lost, like a new season of Firefly Lane, which picks up where season two, part one, left off. With April on the horizon, now is your last chance to catch up on what you missed before it’s gone. 

Here’s everything leaving Netflix in April 2023: 

Leaving April 1 

Turbo Fast, seasons 1–3

Leaving April 4

What Lies Below

Leaving April 7

Hush

Leaving April 9

New Girl, seasons 1–7

Leaving April 11

Married at First Sight, season 10

Leaving April 12

The Baker and the Beauty, season 1 

Leaving April 18

Cuckoo, seasons 1–5

Leaving April 20

The Mr. Peabody and Sherman Show, seasons 1–4

Leaving April 23

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

Leaving April 24

Bill Nye: Science Guy

Leaving April 25

The IT Crowd, series 1–5

Leaving April 27

Señora Acero, seasons 1–5

Leaving April 28

Ash vs. Evil Dead, seasons 1–3

Leaving April 30

Den of Thieves

Empire State

Leap Year

Road to Perdition

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 


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Spring has sprung, and Netflix is doing

As long as there have been films, there have been those who dedicate their lives to writing about them. It takes love, passion, and time to forge criteria and consideration towards the seventh art. Film critics and theorists have, for over a century, played a pivotal role in the cinematic world, as their words have filled movie seats (or not), birthed (or ended) careers, and became eternally bound to the films they refer to.


While some go through film school, or start as actors or in some other role in film production, some of history’s most renowned filmmakers began as critics, and through their studying and countless hours of movie-watching, eventually became creators themselves. No matter what you think about them, film critics and theorists are crucial to the development of film and of society’s consciousness towards them. These 10 critics (listed in alphabetical order) stand apart from the rest, as their influence and work is to this day precious to life and film.

André Bazin

What is Cinema? is still arguably the most important book about movies, and its author, André Bazin, is responsible for film criticism as it is today. The co-founder of Cahiers Du Cinema is one of the most respected names when it comes to filmmaking and film theory.

Bazin’s expansive essays on the importance of realism, and what makes films conjure so many emotions, and even influence everyday life, are keystones to film schools throughout the world. Without Bazin, there would be little critical consciousness regarding films, and thus, no film criticism as we know it today.

Peter Bogdanovich

Peter Bogdanovich in The Sopranos
HBO

The dearly-missed Peter Bogdanovich not only was one of the key figures in the New Hollywood movement, but he also was one of the most important film critics and historians of all time. As a kid, he would keep a record of all the films he saw in an index card with a review of each one included, a practice he would continue for nearly 20 years.

In average, he would see nearly four hundred films a year, a passion that drove him to be part of film programming teams at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, film critic at Cahiers Du Cinema, and writer of many important books on film history, and in-depth interviews with directors such as Alfred Hitchcock. Of course, Bogdanovich’s film career was also formidable, in which classics such as The Last Picture Show or Paper Moon stand out.

Peter Bradshaw

bradshaw
The Guardian

For over twenty years, The Guardian’s film section has featured the precise writings of Peter Bradshaw. After spending most of the 90s as a columnist for the Evening Standard, in 1999 he began working as chief film critic for The Guardian, and has since established himself as one of the most trusted and respected modern critics.

In an age where reviewers have received backlash by actors just for doing their job, Bradshaw is one of those raising the flag for the continuity and importance of film critics.

Manohla Dargis

dargis
NYT

This celebrated critic and author is one of the chief film w riters for The New York Times and a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. A look at Manohla Dargis‘ best film list of each year will give you an idea of what an eclectic and interesting mind is at work here.

Her cultured and beautifully written work, has graced week in and week out the newspaper’s Arts section, taking in from underground art house cinema to mainstream Hollywood blockbusters. As an author, she has written books focusing on the role of women in cinema throughout history.

Roger Ebert

Life Itself, the Roger Ebert Documentary
Magnolia Pictures

Loved, feared, and hated, his name is synonymous with film criticism. Roger Ebert is the undisputed best-known movie critic of all time. His work at the Chicago Tribune and on PBS introduced the “thumbs up/thumbs down” ranking that has become a staple of cinema, and his take would become a decisive factor on whether audiences would swarm to a theater, or wouldn’t even care to show up.

Related: 10 Greatest Movies of All Time According to Roger Ebert

In 1975, he became the first film critic to be awarded a Pulitzer prize, and despite the relevance of his opinion, he wasn’t as tough as the mythology that has been built around his work. A staple of his, was the inclusion of witty personal anecdotes in his reviews, which also made him sympathetic to thousands of readers. His death in 2013 left a void in the film world that is felt to this very day.

Pauline Kael

Pauline Kael licensed under Public Domain Mark 1.0

No one, absolutely no one would have expected for Pauline Kael to be the subject of Quentin Tarantino’s final film, yet it feels so appropriate. Hopefully, Tarantino’s love of film and its history will make Kael a known and beloved figure for more than just the film community, for which Kael is a sacred figure as relevant as all the films she wrote about.

Her nearly autobiographical approach to criticism set her apart from the academic form of prior critics and changed the way film was written about forever. She was famous for being unapologetic, unafraid of arguing, and a champion of films often discarded by most critics, and inversely, a critic of widely beloved movies.

Dilys Powell

powell

All-time best film critics lists hold a historical debt to female critics, who have been as good and important throughout history as men. Most only include Pauline Kael, leaving behind the legacy of critical icons such as Dilys Powell.

For over 50 years, Powell contributed to The Sunday Times and was one of the 20th century critics who was most open to societal and cultural changes. This can be indebted to her tireless traveling and hunger for understanding foreign cultures, which made her writing elaborate and incredibly knowledgeable.

Dan Sallitt

Dan Sallitt for Filmwax Film Series
Filmwax Film Series
Flickr

The love of film is hopefully what drives someone to become engaged more closely with the art form; that love is felt in every bit of writing from Dan Sallitt, which is gorgeously translated in his film work as writer and director.

One of the world’s most underrated critics and filmmakers has been at it for more than four decades, and thankfully in recent years, his work has achieved a higher recognition by the film community. His writing has been featured on MUBI, The Village Voice, Slate, and other famous outlets, while his films, ever since 2012’s brilliant The Unspeakable Act, have appeared in several film festivals.

Paul Schrader

Paul Schrader licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Shahab Ghayoumi

Paul Schrader is mostly known as a great screenwriter and director, but he is also one of the filmmakers that has acknowledged and championed the importance of film studies and criticism in the development of the art form. He became a film critic in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and published the renowned book Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer before he was even 30.

Related: Exclusive: Gregg Turkington on Useless Film Critics and the Comic Universe of On Cinema

By the mid-’70s, he made the transition to scriptwriting and directing, a career that has lasted half a century (most recently with the mysterious movie Master Gardener) could have easily left critical assessment of films aside, but he’s always had it so present, to the point that to this day he continually shares his opinions on his Facebook page.

Francois Truffaut

Francois Truffaut licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

No one bridged the gap between European and American cinema quite like Francois Truffaut. He would make some of the most important films of the 20th century while still being able to understand and appreciate what made someone like Steven Spielberg make the films he did. His dedication for the seventh art was clear right from the beginning of his career through his harsh though passionate reviews for Cahiers Du Cinema in the 50s.

As a writer, he is best remembered for his 1954 call-to-arms article, “A Certain Trend in French Cinema” which is seen today as partly responsible for the ignition of the French New Wave. He is also responsible for the development of “auteur theory,” which sets the director as the major creative force behind films, for which he used Hitchcock as an example, with whom he would develop an endearing friendship. His book, Hitchcock/Truffaut, was turned into a 2015 film, it was so influential.

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As long as there have been films,

“Ted Lasso” star and two-time winner Brett Goldstein’s biggest competition for the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy may be Harrison Ford for his role in “Shrinking,” a show Goldstein co-created.

We will update this article throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2023 Emmys race. The nomination round of voting takes place from June 15 to June 26, with the official Emmy nominations announced Wednesday, July 12. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be presented over two consecutive nights on Saturday, September 9 and Sunday, September 10, with an edited presentation of the ceremonies to be broadcast on FXX at a later date. Finally, the 75th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards take place on Monday, September 18, and air live on FOX at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT.

The State of the Race

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series is one where predictions will easily change between now and Emmy nominations, and that is mostly because of “Ted Lasso.” Apple TV+’s hit sports comedy completely took over this category in its debut season, scoring half the nominations slots. Then last year, the show got three nominations with a new lineup. The only returnees we can probably count on are Brett Goldstein, who was the ultimate winner two years in a row, and Nick Mohammed, the only other cast member that was nominated twice, and currently has a standout arc as the antagonist of the final season.

However, “Ted Lasso” being absent from the recent winter awards season made room for “Abbott Elementary” star Tyler James Williams to win a Golden Globe, and the show has gone on to win even more. The ABC workplace sitcom already won three Emmys for its debut season, and is on pace to win even more, so co-stars Chris Perfetti and William Stanford Davis also have a better chance of making the cut this time.

“Barry” star Henry Winkler also earned his second Critics Choice Award this year, having not been up against any “Ted Lasso” stars. The veteran TV actor won this Emmy category in 2018 for the first season of the pitch-black HBO comedy, and is likely to get a boost from it being another show ending this year. Same goes for his co-stars Anthony Carrigan and Stephen Root. Though the latter was not nominated last year, previews of the new “Barry” season suggest he plays a bigger role in the series’ final episodes.

Two more prospective nominees to point out that are up for the final seasons of their shows are “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star Tony Shaloub, who won this Emmy category in 2019 for his performance as the irascible Abe Weissman on the Amazon Prime Video hit, and “Atlanta” star Brian Tyree Henry, who has been nominated for the FX series once before, and has had a spotlight on him recently as a 2023 Oscar nominee.

“Saturday Night Live” stars Bowen Yang and Kenan Thompson are also reliable bets for a nomination here, with the former making it in the last two years, and the latter having five Emmy nominations under his belt, plus a successful night hosting it last year. Support has also been bubbling up for Harvey Guillén (“What We Do in the Shadows”) and Ebon Moss-Bacharach (“The Bear”) in the past year, neither having ever been nominated for an Emmy, but of course, the newcomer most likely to grab the TV Academy’s attention the most is “Shrinking” star Harrison Ford, who also happens to currently be a Lead Actor in a Drama contender as well for role in “1923” on Paramount+. Funnily enough, the Apple TV+ series is a comedy co-created by Goldstein.

Current Contenders (In Alphabetical Order):
Anthony Carrigan, “Barry” (HBO)
William Stanford Davis, “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
Harrison Ford, “Shrinking” (Apple TV+)
Brett Goldstein, “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)
Harvey Guillén, “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)
Brian Tyree Henry, “Atlanta” (FX)
Nick Mohammed, “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)
Ebon Moss-Bacharach, “The Bear” (Hulu)
Chris Perfetti, “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
Stephen Root, “Barry” (HBO)
Tony Shaloub, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon Prime Video)
Kenan Thompson, “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Tyler James Williams, “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
Henry Winkler, “Barry” (HBO)
Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)

More Comedy Category Predictions:
Outstanding Comedy Series
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

To see IndieWire’s full set of predictions for the 75th Emmy Awards click here.

Last Year’s Winner: Brett Goldstein, “Ted Lasso”
Still Eligible: Yes.
Hot Streak: A third consecutive Emmy win for Goldstein would put him in the Emmy history books next to “The Andy Griffith Show” star Don Knotts and “Entourage” Jeremy Piven, the only two actors to achieve that same feat playing one specific role. However, the “Ted Lasso” star will not have a chance to break “Night Court” star John Larroquette’s record of four consecutive wins, as the Apple TV+ comedy is reportedly set to end this year with Season 3.
Notable Ineligible Series: Carl Clemons-Hopkins and Paul W. Downs, “Hacks” (Season 3 was not eligible)

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"Ted Lasso" star and two-time winner Brett

Another Wednesday, another installment of Fox’s The Masked Singer—and thus also another installment of that bit where the show’s audience literally bays and chants for its performers to be unmasked, which is, genuinely, never not a little unnerving to us. Specifically, tonight’s episode of the singing competition saw the unmasking of two of the show’s season 9 competitors, The Fairy and The Axolotl, which also meant their eliminations, because they don’t let you keep singing on this one unless you have a mask on your face.

Let’s start with The Axolotl, if only to ensure that our salamander-based spellcheck is still working. They were the first to fall to the power of Country Night, after all, getting eliminated off of a performance of LeAnn Rimes’ “Can’t Fight The Moonlight.” Thus the reveal that the woman inside the lizard was WWE star Alexa Bliss, who made headlines earlier today by revealing a skin cancer diagnosis she recently received. (That didn’t come up on the show; it’s just a lot of Alexa Bliss headlines for a single day.) In her exit interview, Bliss expressed her stage fright at singing, saying she cried before coming out to perform, but was happy to push herself outside her comfort zone.

The Reveal | Season 9 Ep. 6 | The Masked Singer

Afterwards, the Fairy (who’d previously performed Bonnie Raitt’s “Angel From Montgomery”) was forced to go up against The Macaw in a rendition of Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” the song in which Shania Twain proves herself exceedingly hard to impress by several things (car ownership, rocket science) that are objectively impressive. And when the Ding Dong Keep It On Bell tragically failed to ring—an actual sentence fragment that you were forced to read, and potentially derive meaning from—The Fairy was unmasked, revealing former 21 Jump Street star Holly Robinson Peete. (A.k.a. former The Talk star Holly Robinson Peete, and also a whole bunch of other credits; Holly Robinson Peete is a veteran performer, is the point.)

The Reveal | Season 9 Ep. 6 | The Masked Singer

And, hey, here’s a fun fact: Peete’s father was Matt Robinson, the first actor to play Gordon on Sesame Street. Which, as Peete discussed during her exit interview tonight, adds a nice little note to last week’s Sesame Street Week, which the Fairy performed in. (The audience agreed, with a requisite “Awwww.”) But sweetness can’t beat the cold, hard facts of elimination, and so Peete was ultimately destroyed by the terrifying beak of The Macaw—as we all someday shall be.

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Another Wednesday, another installment of Fox’s The

Paris-based CAT&Docs has come onboard as sales agent for Italian-Swedish director Erik Gandini’s “After Work,” which had its world premiere in the main competition at CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival. Variety speaks to the director at the festival.

In this stunningly cinematic doc, lensed by Ruben Östlund’s long-time DOP Fredrik Wenzel and shot in the U.S., Italy, South Korea and Kuwait, Gandini explores the notion of work in the 21st century, as automation and technology free up time, and asks what the future could be like in a work-free society.

One of the inspirations for the film, Gandini says, was Swedish sociologist Roland Paulsen’s writings on the ideology of work, which is rooted in the notion of a work ethic developed some 350 years ago.

“It was very relevant at the beginning of the industrial revolution because we needed to build so much. Everybody needed to work, it became the perfect idea for the time, and it also became a religious idea. But this is not compatible with the present, and definitely not with the future if technology is about to help us save so much time.”

According to a Gallup survey mentioned in the film, 85% of people worldwide are not engaged in their work – Gallup defines employee engagement as the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace. And yet, workers in the U.S. give up more than 500 million hours of holiday each year.

“It’s a system of values that makes us work regardless of how efficient technology becomes. Essentially, [it’s] this strong idea that we should work for the sake of working.”

South Korea has a similar work culture, he says, “but at least they try to do something about it,” he adds, referring to a clip from a government film featured in “After Work” that encourages people to spend time with their families rather than work long hours.

“That particular clip was somehow the essence of the whole project: when people lack imagination of what life could be, when you need to help them with imagery – this is how I see my film, too: we need some sort of stimulus or help because we can’t even think a different type of relationship to work.”

Seeking answers to this future without work, Gandini heads to Kuwait, where everyone has the constitutional right to a job, but where there isn’t enough work for everyone.

“So, you have 20 people doing the job of one person: you get money from the state and in return you’re asked to act, to pretend to work…

“I went there really hoping that maybe we could find something hopeful about a work-free [society],” says Gandini.

Asked whether his hopes were met, he answers truthfully: “They have all this money and, still, they sit behind their desks as if they cannot imagine anything different. It’s very emotionally, existentially, depressing: the idea that you are doing something that is completely useless and it’s so normalized.”

Turning the lens on Italy, Gandini says he found some elements of an answer in the NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) population, which is the highest in Europe. “In Italy – and this is my own experience – people don’t look at work in the same way: there’s an appreciation of life, a hedonism.

“It’s easy to see the NEET phenomenon as lazy spoiled brats, with this “It was better before” nostalgia. What I love to do in a film is to really explore forbidden ideas: maybe this idea, which is so easy to trash or criticize, could hold something that is fruitful when you think about an alternative to the work ethic which you see in South Korea or in the U.S.”

Taking it further, Gandini interviews a rich Italian heiress who leads a fulfilling work-free life.

“Rich people are usually ridiculed in documentaries. But, somehow, they become interesting as a reference of how you can really train yourself to [make decisions about how you spend] your time, and not let anybody else do it.”

Gandini, who works as a professor of documentary film at Stockholm University of the Arts, says deciding over your own time is an existential challenge for most people.

“I teach film, and when you give the students total freedom, you’re like: ‘You’re an artist, do whatever you want,’ sometimes people freak out, it’s not easy.”

While he doesn’t profess to come up with any given answers in his film, Gandini said the reaction of the Copenhagen crowd at the film’s premiere, where the question “What would you do if you didn’t have to work?” was on everyone’s lips, proves that “After Work” addresses existential questions of a very timely nature.

“After Work” is produced by Stockholm-based Fasad and co-produced by Propaganda Italia, in collaboration with Rai Cinema, SVT, Film I Väst, Indie Film Norway, with co-financing from VPRO and Geo Television.

CPH:DOX runs from March 15 through March 26.

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Paris-based CAT&Docs has come onboard as sales

Nick Grudin is leaving his short jaunt into the NFT world to return to Meta, rejoining the social-media giant as head of content partnerships — the same job he left last fall, Variety has confirmed.

Grudin had left Meta in September 2022 to join NFT startup Dapper Labs as chief business officer. In coming back to Meta, Grudin is reporting to his former boss, Justin Osofsky, the company’s head of online sales, operations and partnerships. In the role, Grudin will again oversee global partnerships and content across the company’s creator ecosystem, media, entertainment, sports and community initiatives.

A Meta representative declined to comment. Dapper Labs didn’t respond to a request for comment. Grudin’s return to Meta was first reported by The Information.

At Meta, he is leading the team responsible for bringing new product and business opportunities to partners, through consumer entertainment and community products such as Reels, Stories, the Facebook Watch video hub, livestreaming and Facebook Groups, and through Meta’s monetization portfolio including in-stream ads, subscriptions, branded content, the Facebook Stars virtual gifting currency and charitable giving.

Grudin had previously spent 12 years at Meta and Facebook, most recently serving as Meta’s VP of content and community partnerships. Prior to joining Facebook in 2010, Grudin held senior roles at Newsweek and worked at the Boston Consulting Group.

At Vancouver-based Dapper Labs, Grudin had been responsible for partnerships as well as developer experience and marketing across the company’s portfolio, including Dapper wallet, Flow blockchain and the Dapper Sports Studio, developer of NBA Top Shot, NFL All Day and UFC Strike.

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Nick Grudin is leaving his short jaunt

EXCLUSIVE: Popularity is everything at middle school.

At least, that’s what Corus Entertainment’s live-action kids comedy Popularity Papers suggests in this exclusive first-look clip ahead of its launch in Canada on YTV on April 10 at 6pm ET/PT and on streamer StackTV.

The Canadian series is based on the book series by Amy Ignatow and comes from Corus-owned Aircraft Pictures and Wexworks Media and is produced in association with BBC Studios Kids & Family. It follows best friends Julie (Glee Dango) and Lydia (Mia Bella) as they set out to crack the code on how to become popular at middle school by conducting a series of social experiments.

In the clip, we see both girls waking and going through their morning routines, with the starry-eyed Lydia soon arguing with her sister as she requests her mom takes a picture of her as she begins middle school and the more pragmatic Julie begging her parents not to do the same. They then meet and hug outside the school, with Lydia determined they shake off their past and reinvent themselves as popular, as Julie suggests they don’t bother.

The series also stars Callum Shoniker, Seth Murchison, Lyla Elliott, Keegan Hedley, Chris River, Pierre Drivas and Dave Barclay.

For Corus, the series marks the first since it acquired The Breadwinner producer Aircraft, which Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen founded in 2005. Leo and Rosen executive produce alongside Matthew Wexler and Amelia Johnson and Henrietta Hurford-Jones from series distributor BBC Studios. Vivian Lin, who co-created the series with Amanda Brooke Perrin, is showrunner and exec producer.

“The Popularity Papers book franchise has captured the hearts of many around the world through relatable middle school woes and hilarious circumstances, and we’re excited to deliver the same sentimentality through the live action series here in Canada,” said Colin Bohm, EVP of Content and Corporate Strategy, Corus Entertainment.

“As our first production with Aircraft Pictures since our partnership was announced last year, we know this highly anticipated series will be a hit with audiences worldwide as we continue to expand our global content offering.”

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EXCLUSIVE: Popularity is everything at middle school. At

It’s morphin’ time!

The Power Rangers are back in the newest trailer for Netflix’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, which takes place 30 years after the original show aired on Fox.

The anniversary special features the return of some of the franchise’s earliest castmembers, including David Yost’s Blue Ranger Billy Cranston, Walter E. Jones’ Black Ranger Zack Taylor, Catherine Sutherland’s Pink Ranger Kat Hillard, Steve Cardenas’ Red Ranger Rocky DeSantos, Richard Steven Horvitz’s Alpha 5 and Barbara Goodson’s Rita Repulsa. Karan Ashley’s second Yellow Ranger Aisha Campbell and Johnny Yong Bosch’s second Black Ranger Adam Park also appear in the film.

The trailer introduced new character Minh Kwan (Charlie Kersh), the daughter of Yellow Ranger Trini Kwan. Thuy Trang, who portrayed the Yellow Ranger in the original series, died in 2001 from a car accident. The creators chose to write in Trini’s death, with Kersh’s Minh revealing that she died at the hands of Rita Repulsa.

“Thirty years after the wise and powerful Zordon formed the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the team comes face to face with a familiar threat from the past,” the logline reads. “In the midst of a global crisis, they are called on once again to be the heroes the world needs. This 30th anniversary special is inspired by the legendary mantra from the franchise ‘Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger,’ meaning once you become part of the Ranger family, you are always welcome back.”

The Power Rangers franchise lost another one of its original members in November 2022 when Jason David Frank, who played the Green-turned-White Ranger, died. It’s unclear how the 30th anniversary special will address the loss — if at all.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always hits Netflix April 19.

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It’s morphin’ time! The Power Rangers are back

All filmmakers should be so lucky to have Florence Pugh in their movies. She so consistently delivers the best version of whatever she’s handed — whether good, mediocre or downright preposterous — that you may even start to wonder if the quality of the film around her really matters in the end. It does, of course, but her performances make whatever she’s in difficult to dismiss wholly.

In Zach Braff’s “ A Good Person,” Pugh is a New Jersey 20-something named Allison whose life is upended in a flash. On her way to try on wedding dresses in the city, she’s involved in an accident that leaves her future sister- and brother-in-law dead and her addicted to opioid painkillers.

Braff wrote the part specifically for her. The two dated for three years, a relationship that was scrutinized by many onlookers for their 21-year age difference, which she often defended. Last year, they quietly broke up.

Sometimes we find hope where we least expect it. Watch the official trailer for #AGoodPerson now. Directed by Zach Braff and starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman, see the film only in theatres this March.

In the past several years, Braff has suffered significant losses — his sister, his father, one of his best friends. He is an actor and filmmaker who has directed only four features, including his debut “Garden State,” which — however it may have aged 19 years later — was promising and captured a moment for a specific white hipster set.

Now in his mid-40s and a lifetime away from sitcom fame and indie-darling debuts, Braff still has that spark and promise. This time, he wanted to write about grief, which was the birth of “A Good Person,” an ensemble piece about tragedy, mourning, addiction, forgiveness and people who keep messing up despite their best intentions.

It takes him back to a familiar area — suburban New Jersey — and themes (aimlessness and prescription painkillers), but broadens the demographics and scope. And it is so earnestly done, with genuinely good writing and performances, that it seems unduly cruel to nitpick. But, even after reading interviews and Braff’s statements, it’s still a bit baffling why, with all his lived experience, he has chosen to tell this story about these people.

Allison is just one part of the equation. The other is her fiance Nathan (Chinaza Uche) and what remains of his family: His 10-years-sober, Vietnam veteran, cop father Daniel (Morgan Freeman) and his orphaned teenage niece Ryan (Celeste O’Connor). What would be a normal teenage rebellion has curdled under the unfathomable rage and sorrow of having suddenly lost both parents. Daniel is out of his depth trying to care for her, while Nathan is largely absent.

“A Good Person” seems to belong to a uniquely Dan Fogelman-esque subgenre of hyper sincere melodrama that sometimes clicks (“This Is Us”) and other times does not (“Life Itself”). Braff’s film is worlds better than “Life Itself,” but there are some similarities in how it strives for cosmic significance and ultimate tearjerking within a construct that the film tries to sell as authentically specific. In execution, it’s a bit more strained and contrived.

Allison is a good character for an actor. She’s one that was clearly written out of love for the woman he knew would be playing her, allowing Pugh to cry, to sing (the Velvet Underground’s “After Hours”), to be funny high and depressing high, to be delusional and selfish in one moment and relatable and true in the next.

When Allison finally decides to seek help, she ends up at the same Alcoholics Anonymous meeting as Daniel. She tries to flee, but he encourages her to stay and the two develop a tenuous friendship leading to some nice moments between Pugh and Freeman, who has his own world of regret and guilt to grapple with. This is borderline believable, but things really go off the rails (there is also a forced model train set metaphor) when Allison and Ryan develop their own ill-advised relationship.

“A Good Person” at times feels overstuffed with misery and despair, and oddly decides to fast-forward through the recovery part with a montage and a song. There are cliches (woman on the edge cutting her hair in the mirror) and curious choices (not nearly enough is made of a statutory rape incident) and a very contrived climax. Sometimes it feels like maybe this is a story that could have been better served by a series than a too-long feature (it’s telling that I haven’t even mentioned that Allison’s mom is played by Molly Shannon or that her AA sponsor is Zoe Lister-Jones).

And yet there are enough moments of grace and threads that defy the obvious cliche to keep you interested, even if you’re not wholly buying or invested in every character. Who doesn’t want to be told that you’re never in too deep to start over, to apologize, to forgive or to be honest with yourself and others?

“A Good Person,” an MGM release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for “drug abuse, some sexual references, language throughout.” Running time: 125 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

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MPA Definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr: www.twitter.com/ldbahr

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All filmmakers should be so lucky to

Things take a decidedly dark turn for the three X-teams all at once! While X-Factor face the final Horseman of Apocalypse – who proves to be all-too familiar – the New Mutants‘ attempt to help a creature called Bird-Brain ends in tragedy. Meanwhile, the X-Men learn they’re fated to die in Dallas, but it doesn;t stop them going there to save their missing leader, Storm!

Previous events that directly impact this storyline:

  • THIRD GENESIS – The formation of X-Factor
  • MUTANT MASSACRE – The Marauders slaughter the Morlocks
  • THE RIGHT – Cameron Hodge turns against X-Factor

Major Crossover: While it’s recognised as one of the earliest major crossovers in the history of the Marvel Universe, ‘The Fall of the Mutants’ is barely a crossover at all. The New Mutants issues reference the events in the other mutant titles and the X-Men’s story can be read without picking up any other X-book – or even the Hulk tie-in, for that matter. X-Factor’s battle with Apocalypse is where the actual crossover aspect comes in with most of the tie-ins relating to those events. I’ve also included some of the lead-in issues as tie-ins because the stories in the main titles don’t make half as much sense without them. 

The must-read chapters are marked with an asterisk *.
  • Uncanny X-Men #220 (tie-in) *
  • New Mutants #56-57 (tie-in) *
  • Uncanny X-Men #221-224 (tie-in) *
  • Incredible Hulk #340 (tie-in) *
  • New Mutants #58 (tie-in) *
  • Uncanny X-Men #225 *
  • New Mutants #59 *
  • X-Factor #24 *
  • Uncanny X-Men #226 *
  • New Mutants #60 *
  • X-Factor #25 *
  • Daredevil #252
  • Power Pack #35 *
  • Uncanny X-Men #227 *
  • New Mutants #61 *
  • Captain America #339
  • X-Factor #26 *
  • Fantastic Four #312

Uncanny X-Men #220 (tie-in) *
Against her better judgement, Storm decides to locate Forge and ask him to restore her powers, leaving the X-Men under Wolverine’s leadership. W
hen she arrives at Eagle Plaza days later, she finds it abandoned and condemned. Storm reaches Forge’s levels, which activates holograms playing her last encounter with him, of demons in Vietnam, the moment Storm lost her powers and a vision of Forge wired to the walls and driven mad. Forge’s mentor Naźe emerges and explains that Forge was born and trained to combat the Adversary. Storm agrees to help Naźe find Forge, but perhaps there’s more to the old man than meets the eye…

New Mutants #56 (tie-in) *
Last night, Cannonball accidentally smashed the tower containing the bizarre Bird Boy while the New Mutants fought the aliens Raek & Gyrk. Now the New Mutants and the rival Hellions pursue Bird Boy, believing him to be a mutant. Despite their in-fighting, the New Mutants grab Bird Boy and teleport him back to the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Magma, confused over her feelings for Empath, an
nounces her decision to transfer to the Hellions’ own Massachusetts Academy…

New Mutants #57 (tie-in) *
Magneto is shocked to find Bird Boy living in the Danger Room. Even Cerebro can’t discern Bird Boy’s genetic origins. Magma leaves for Emma Frost’s Massachusetts Academy. Cypher becomes jealous of Wolfsbane’s fascination for Bird Boy, renaming him ‘Bird-Brain’. The New Mutants get into trouble with Magneto for taking Bird-Brain to the mall after he runs loose in the cinema. The New Mutants are grounded, but Cypher suddenly figures out how to talk to Bird-Brain, making them the best of friends!

Uncanny X-Men #221 (tie-in) *
Mister Sinister expresses his disappointment in the Marauders for failing to kill Madelyne Pryor and orders them to rectify their mistake. At the Grand Canyon, Naźe and Storm continue their mission to locate Forge and rescue him from the Adversary, though Naźe has his own plans to claim Storm for himself. At the Xavier School, Wolverine interrupts a dispute between Dazzler & Rogue over their rocky past in order to prep the team for a mission to San Francisco following a call from Maddie Pryor. The Marauders get there first, almost destroying the city’s hospital and making short work of the X-Men. Polaris – now under Malice’s control and acting as leader of the Marauders – tries to drown Maddie & Rogue. Dazzler saves both of their lives, but they’re open to another attack…

Uncanny X-Men #222 (tie-in) *
Rogue and Dazzler defeat Polaris, but her presence shocks Havok as she gets the drop on him. Psylocke almost breaks Malice’s control over her. The X-Men are on the ropes, but the Marauders leave when they believe Maddie is dead. Polaris/Malice gives Havok the chance to kill her. He takes the shot but she survives, leaving him with the knowledge he tried. In the Rockies, Storm and Naźe are attacked by the demonic Eye Killers (who have escaped their banishment following THE MONTESI FORMULA) and are working for the Adversary. Naźe convinces Storm that their escape was Forge’s fault and he’s been subverted by the Adversary. Storm accepts she may have to kill Forge…

Uncanny X-Men #223 (tie-in) *
Crimson Commando, Stonewall & Super Sabre avoid incarceration by agreeing to join Freedom Force as replacements for Spider-Woman (who deserted the team during SINS OF THE PAST). Destiny has a premonition that the X-Men are about to die. Maddie despairs over the turn her life has taken and is comforted by Havok while the X-men set up base in Alcatraz. In the Rockies, Naźe falls to the Eye-Killers’ venom. While helping him recover, Storm takes a healing brew under his advice and suddenly finds herself fighting demons and seeing Forge unleash those demons in Vietnam. Storm then awakens from her dream, though the world outside begins to reflect what she just experienced…

Uncanny X-Men #224 (tie-in) *

Valerie Cooper officially announces the passing of the Mutant Registration Act and the formation of Freedom Force in the wake of the destruction in San Francisco. Mystique visits Rogue to warn her that the X-Men will die in Dallas. Lt Morrell warns the X-Men that Freedom Force are looking for them, so they head to Dallas to find Storm. In Wyoming, Storm parts ways with Naźe and climbs a mountain to find demons swirling around Forge who is standing before a rift in reality. Forge is glad to see her until she stabs him then immediately realises she’s been duped. Forge is innocent. Storm and Forge are drawn into the yawning portal, leaving ‘Naźe’ unchallenged as the true threat…

Incredible Hulk #340 (tie-in) *
A heavy snowstorm forces Clay Quartermain, Rick Jones and the Hulk to a break from locating the US Government’s gamma bomb stockpile before the Leader does. Stuck near Dallas Airport, the Hulk leaves their battlevan to get some air and leaps into a passenger jet. The X-Men help the jet to land safely. Wolverine picks up the familiar (yet different) scent of the Hulk and the pair soon face each other, with Wolverine refusing to fight. The Hulk goads Wolverine into a scrap which becomes increasingly more vicious. Quartermain bring the bloody battle to a close by firing a rocket launcher at the Hulk and admonishing them both for their behaviour.

New Mutants #58 (tie-in) *
The New Mutants are meant to be studying for their midterms but get distracted trying to teach Bird-Brain to talk. He freaks at Sesame Street and Wolfbane’s half-wolf form, calling them ‘like-creatures’. Cypher & Wolfsbane give him an old New Mutants uniform and, still believing him to be a mutant, make him one of the team. That might, Bird-Brain crashes through a window and escapes with the New Mutants in pursuit. Together, they track down the island in the North Atlantic he came from and are greeted by an assortment of animal-men…

Uncanny X-Men #225 *
The Adversary has taken Roma prisoner and banished her champions – Storm & Forge – to another dimension. He now threatens to disrupt reality and cause untold chaos. Roma appears to Colossus in Edinburgh, alerting him to his destiny. He has almost fully recovered from his recent injuries (sustained during the MUTANT MASSACRE), but maintaining his human form takes immense concentration. He calls the Xavier School and his sister, Magik, immediately teleports over to pick him up. In order to save Rogue, Freedom Force try to arrest the X-Men. Colossus is teleported in just in time to help most of the X-Men retreat into Eagle Plaza – the place they’re destined to die – just as a rift opens in the sky…

New Mutants #59 *
Magneto is elated when Sunspot & Warlock return to the Xavier School, until all three realise the New Mutants are missing. Elsewhere, the New Mutants’ arrival on the barren island is detected by its single human resident, Dr Animus – aka the Ani-Mator – who’s in league with Cameron Hodge and the Right. The Ani-Mator is behind the experiments that produced Bird-Brain as well as numerous other Ani-Mates on the island. The New Mutants encounter the Ani-Mates who want to attack them until Wolfsbane takes her wolf form and earns their respect. To become free of the Ani-Mator, the Ani-Mates have to get through his maze. The New Mutants Bird-Brain and a handful of Ani-Mates enter the maze and battle giant Ani-Mates, but are defeated by a series of traps and are captured. The insane Ani-Mator demands they all be destroyed…

X-Factor #24 *
X-Factor are teleported away from their victory over the Right (during THE RIGHT) by Apocalypse – a foe they’ve faced just once before who’s obsessed with advancing only the strongest mutants on the planet – finding themselves aboard his Ship. X-Factor reject his offer to join his war against humanity. Apocalypse sends his three Horsemen out to destroy Manhattan, but X-Factor bring them down before they can leave the Ship. Apocalypse introduces the metal-winged Death who they immediately recognise as Warren Worthington III, the former Angel, who quickly defeats X-Factor. Apocalypse restrains them and sends his four Horsemen out to provoke a war between humans and mutants. Caliban offers himself to Apocalypse in exchange for power as his hellhound so he can have his revenge on the Marauders…

Uncanny X-Men #226 *
Pasts and future collide in Dallas, with dinosaurs, barbarians and future cities appearing – all captured by TV news reporters Neal Conan & Manoli Wetherell. Outside Eagle Plaza, Dazzler recovers and almost gets Psylocke and Rogue to safety until Spiral magically knifes Destiny’s mask to her face. The X-Men and Freedom Force quickly join forces to save innocent bystanders from the reality-warping chaos, which all caught on camera by Conan & Wetherell. Psylocke realises Roma, Guardian of the Omniverse, was the one who sent Colossus. Wolverine orders Freedom Force to remain on the ground floor while the X-Men and Neal Conan ascend Eagle Plaza to meet their destiny. On an alternate Earth, Storm helps Forge recover from his knife wound. Over the course of more than a year, they rekindle their love for one another. Forge builds a device that unlocks Storm’s powers which they use to fuel their return to Earth-616 where the Adversary awaits and the roof of Eagle Plaza explodes…

New Mutants #60 *
Magneto heads to the Hellfire Club to use their mutant detection systems, while Sunspot & Warlock disobey his orders and begin their own search. On the island Paradise, the restrained New Mutants can only watch as the Ani-Mator continues to use Right’s funding to create Ani-Mates instead of looking for a way to stop mutations. Now he plans to use the New Mutants to make mutant Ani-Mates! Cypher convinces the loyal Ani-Mates to break them free. But Cameron Hodge arrive and tranquillises the team before gunning down many of the Ani-Mates. Bird-Brain’s friendly Ani-Mates rescue the New Mutants from the Right, so they all join forces as Sunspot & Warlock arrive in time to help them fight back. Cypher is shot dead when he takes a bullet from the Ani-Mator that was meant for Wolfsbane. Hodge’s plane drops a bomb on Paradise. An Ani-Mate octopus destroys his plane before it can drop another, dragging it into the sea. Bird-Brain defeats the Ani-Mator, but the celebration is cut short when the New Mutants realise Cypher is dead. Magik casts the Ani-Mator to Limbo…

X-Factor #25 *
Having sent his Horsemen out to decimate New York, Apocalypse cites the Mutant Registration Act as a sign of humanity’s intentions for mutants. Beast manages to turn off Iceman’s belt, unleashing his upgraded powers to free the team! Their fight with Apocalypse activates a power-drainer in Ship that sucks power from the city below. Apocalypse transports Cyclops & Marvel Girl to the streets to face his Horsemen. Hee teleports Famine to the American Midwest as a reward for defeating Marvel Girl. Back aboard Ship, Beast’s attack on Apocalypse causes the gigantic craft to tilt and career into skyscrapers, eventually hitting the Empire State Building. Power Pack help Marvel Girl catch the falling tip of the tower and take out Pestilence, accidentally killing her. Everyone returns to the Ship where Death ‘kills’ a decoy Iceman, snapping him out of Apocalypse’s control and turning him against his master. Apocalypse takes Caliban & War and leaves the Ship to X-Factor. They land the Ship lands flat, squashing X-Factor’s old HQ. When the media approach, Cyclops explains the X-Factor/X-Terminators ruse that allowed them to train mutants to use their powers. Now X-Factor will openly stand against anyone – human or mutant – who stands for their own superiority…

Daredevil #252
Matt Murdock’s Hotline Clinic is celebrating their first win when the Horsemen of Apocalypse attack New York and the power goes out. Many believe a nuclear war has begun. Gang leader Ammo rallies the lost and angry to build an army to take over the streets. Daredevil & the Black Widow search for supplies for the injured and encounter Ammo’s gang who have taken over the police armoury and plan an assault on the hospital. With help from army vets hoping to contain the violence, Daredevil & Black Widow fight the huge gang. Ammo opens fire on his own people, including kids, prompting Daredevil to bring him down directly. Matt’s young friend Cain is knifed by a gang member and dies in Daredevil’s arms…

Power Pack #35 *

The grounded Power Pack kids are home alone when the blackout hits, Starstreak flies into the subway in search of their mother. She encounters Pestilence whose touch makes her sick. The other Power kids find Starstreak and heal her, then witness the falling Ship. They help Cyclops & Marvel Girl defeat Pestilence while trying to catch the severed top of the Empire State Building, but Pestilence is crushed beneath it. Cyclops & Marvel Girl take Pestilence’s ‘horse’ back to Ship. Power Pack help the falling Ship land safely and get home in time to be there for their mother when he arrives home.

Uncanny X-Men #227 *
Neal Conan sends out live footage of the X-Men fighting demons in ‘Vietnam’ from inside Eagle Plaza via the news-van outside. Maddie Pryor and the X-Men see ‘Forge’ use the souls of dead soldiers to cast the demonic invasion back to wherever it came from, the way it must’ve happened years earlier in the real Vietnam. Above them, the Adversary has control of Roma’s Starlight Citadel and is holding Storm, the real Forge and Roma captive. Against all odds, the X-Men, Maddie & Neal Conan ascend to the Citadel and free the captives, with Colossus’ steel form proving to be the Adversary’s weakness. Neal films the X-Men and Maddie as they agree to sacrifice their souls to give Forge the power he needs to banish the Adversary. On Muir Isle, Nightcrawler wakes from his coma, only to receive the news from Shadowcat that the X-Men are dead. Forge helps Neal Conan out of Eagle Plaza. Mystique accuses Forge of murderer now that Rogue has gone. In the Starlight Citadel, Roma restores the X-Men to life, acknowledging that the Adversary must not be locked away forever. The X-Men choose to allow the world to believe they’re dead, with Roma offering to transport them wherever they want to go…

New Mutants #61 *
Magik gives into her Darkchylde persona and casts the ‘Smile Faces’ of the Right into Limbo to be torn apart by Transmode-infected demons. The New Mutants return to the Xavier School, all blaming themselves for Cypher’s death. Magneto returns having seen footage of X-Factor revealing themselves to be mutants and the X-Men dying in Dallas. Things get heated when he finds out Cypher is dead as the divide between him and the New Mutants grows. Later, the team choose new costumes and decide to forge their own destiny…

Captain America #339
Famine spends almost a day draining the American heartland and those who farm it if life before she’s confronted by the Captain (Steve Rogers, the former Captain America) and his allies. Famine takes down Falcon & Nomad before the Captain defeats her. Her master teleports her to safety before she can face justice. Two weeks later, Steve Rogers drops in on Tony Stark who’s developed a new adamantium shield for him. Stark hopes this act of kindness will convince Steve to ignore his upcoming clash with the US Government…

X-Factor 26 *
X-Factor avoid arrest and continue to help those in need around the devastated New York City, observed from afar by Apocalypse. Beast’s will to help those in need costs him more of his intellect. Cyclops comes clean with Marvel Girl about his relationship with Maddie and his regret over how he treated her. X-Factor take on the Ship as their headquarters and their heroism is celebrated with a parade through New York!

Fantastic Four #312
Exposure to cosmic rays has mutated Ms Marvel into a ‘She-Thing’ and further-mutated the Thing. The Black Panther allows Doctor Doom to accompany him and the Fantastic Four back to America in time to witness X-Factor’s parade through New York. Doom becomes the target of his own troops, sent by Kristoff Vernard to assassinate him (following their fight for the throne of Latveria during ALL IN THE FAMILY). Doom asks X-Factor to attack the Latverian Embassy for him. When they refuse, he kidnaps Ms Marvel and the Beast. Ms Marvel refuses to even try escape, so the Beast risks losing his intelligence to stop Doom. Ms Marvel is inspired, but Beast becomes a mindless berserker. The other heroes arrive and subdue Beast, while Doom negotiates safe passage out of America. Ms Marvel promises to stop feeling sorry for herself.

MCG Note: Major fallout from these storylines is included in black & blue. 
Secondary, less-notable fallout from these stories included in grey.

Fantastic Four #308-310 (1987-1988)
The Fantastic Four are in Wakanda while Apocalypse launches his attack on New York.

Avengers #286-288 (1988)
The Avengers are prisoners of the Fixer while Apocalypse launches his attack on New York.

Uncanny X-Men #228 (1988)
OZ Chase toasts Dazzler and the X-Men after hearing of their demise.


New Mutants #62 (1988)
After spending time in the Hellions together, Magma and Empath become closer on a trip to Nova Roma.

Uncanny X-Men #229 (1988)

Roma transports the X-Men and Maddie Pryor to the Australian Outback, where they defeat the Reavers – a band of cyborg thieves and smugglers – and take over their hideout; Roma grants the X-Men the Siege Perilous – a mystical item that gives those who pass through it a chance at a new life.

Incredible Hulk #341-345 (1988)
The Hulk/Bruce Banner is reunited with Betty Banner; the Leader discerns Betty is pregnant; despite their best efforts, the Hulk, Rick Jones and Clay Quartermain are unable to stop the Leader from setting off a gamma bomb in Middletown, Arizona; the Hulk appears to die in the explosion, though it’s later revealed he was transported to the Microverse.

New Mutants #63-66 (1988)
The New Mutants and Magneto attend Cypher/Doug Ramsey’s funeral; Warlock tries to reanimate Doug’s corpse; Magik’s armour spreads over her entire body; Magik pursues Forge and tries to kill him, blaming him for the apparent death of her brother and the rest of the X-Men; Shadowcat refuses to help Magik kill Forge to avenge Doug; Magik takes the Soulsword from Limbo to use against Forge, allowing the techno-organically enhanced S’ym and his demons to gain more power in Limbo and move S’ym’s plans forward; the New Mutants depart the Xavier School, concerned that Magneto is returning to his old ways when they see him don his original costume once again.


X-Factor #27-28 (1988)
Apocalypse allows X-Factor to keep his Ship as a gift; X-Factor learn the Ship is sentient, referring to it as ‘Ship’; X-Factor defuse the bomb installed in Ship by Apocalypse, freeing it of his control.

Excalibur Special Edition: The Sword is Drawn (1988)
Captain Britain struggles to deal with Psylocke’s ‘death’; Shadowcat forms a new team with Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Captain Britain and Meggan calling themselves Excalibur.

Iron Man #228 (1988)
Iron Man betrays Captain America while breaking into the Vault during ARMOR WARS.

Daredevil #259 (1988)
Typhoid Mary recruits Ammo and Bullet into her crew to take Daredevil down together.

Fantastic Four #317 (1988)
Ms Marvel settles into her She-Thing form and becomes romantically involved with the Thing during SECRET WARS III.

X-Factor #30-31 (1988)
Freedom Force make an attempt to apprehend X-Factor as unregistered mutants under the Mutant Registration Act; Destiny implies Maddie Pryor will soon die, but Marvel Girl will live on and they must keep searching for Cyclops’ son; Beast takes a kiss from Infectia to save Iceman‘s life.

X-Factor #33 (1988)
The recent kiss from Infectia transforms Beast back to his blue, furry form and restores his intelligence; Cameron Hodge is revealed to have survived his plane crashing into the ocean.

Uncanny X-Men #239 (1988)
Having grown consistently closer, Havok and Maddie Pryor sleep together and make their relationship official; Havok is unaware that Maddie has made a deal with the demon N’astirh during INFERNO.

X-Factor #34 (1988)
Cameron Hodge is revealed to have made a deal with N’astirh, gaining immortality which allowed him to survive the plane crash; Hodge lures Death/Warren Worthington III into a deadly showdown; Death decapitates Hodge for killing Candy Southern.

Uncanny X-Men #240 (1989)
The Marauders have their next rematch with the X-Men during INFERNO.


X-Factor #36 (1989)
Death/Warren Worthington III becomes Dark Angel; Dark Angel rejoins X-Factor; a relationship between reporter Trish Tilby and the Beast begins to blossom during INFERNO.

New Mutants #73 (1989)
S’ym‘s plans to open a portal from Limbo to Earth are thwarted by Magik; Magik’s every-evolving Darkchylde persona ‘dies’ saving Earth; Magik and Colossus are reunited during INFERNO.


Uncanny X-Men #241-242 (1989)
The X-Men and X-Factor come face to face; Maddie Pryor is reunited with baby Nathan Christopher Summers, comes face-to-face with Mister Sinister and becomes the Goblin Queen during INFERNO.

X-Factor #38-39 (1989)
Warren Worthington III takes the name Archangel; Marvel Girl/Jean Grey and Madelyne Pryor/Goblin Queen have a showdown; Maddie Pryor is revealed to be a clone of Jean Grey created by Mister Sinister who had served her purpose now that Nathan Summers was born; the part of the Phoenix Force residing in Maddie is absorbed into Jean, resulting in Maddie’s memories being absorbed by Jean and Maddie herself dying; Mister Sinister is seemingly destroyed by Cyclops (though he later returns) during INFERNO.


Captain America #350 (1989)
Steve Rogers becomes Captain America once again, reclaiming the role from John Walker.

Fantastic Four #326-327 (1989)

Exposure to one of Mister Fantastic‘s cosmic ray machines transforms the Thing from his mutated rocky form back to human form.


Incredible Hulk #360 (1989)
Betty Banner loses her baby.

New Mutants #76 (1989)
Enforcing the Mutant Registration Act, Freedom Force make an attempt to apprehend the New Mutants; they only successfully arrest Rusty Collins and Skids due to Doctor Strange transporting the rest of the New Mutants to Asgard to oppose Hela.

X-Factor #42-50 (1989-1990)
Ship’s connection to the Celestials is first revealed.

X-Factor #50 (1990)
Caliban’s evolved form is first revealed during ACTS OF VENGEANCE.

X-Factor #51 (1990)
Caliban escapes Apocalypse in favour of using his newfound power to hunt Sabretooth during HOME!

Uncanny X-Men #246-247 (1989)
Rogue and Dazzler put their differences aside, but Dazzler is forced to sacrifice Rogue to destroy the Master Mold/Nimrod, forcing her through the Siege Perilous during DISSOLUTION & REBIRTH.

Uncanny X-Men #249-251 (1989)
Malice breaks free of Malice’s control; Havok reunites with Polaris when he helps save her from Zaladane in the Savage Land; after losing a number of their team members, the four remaining X-Men pass through the Siege Perilous to escape the Reavers’ vengeance during DISSOLUTION & REBIRTH.

Uncanny X-Men #255 (1989)
On a mission with Freedom Force, Stonewall is killed by Donald Pierce; Mystique’s animosity for Forge persists, but Destiny predicts they will get together; Forge and Banshee begin searching for the X-Men, believing they survived their encounter with the Adversary during DISSOLUTION & REBIRTH. 

Uncanny X-Men #262-263 (1990)

Forge’s experiences in Vietnam are revealed in full during SCARY MONSTERS.

X-Factor #57 (1990)
Archangel is attacked by cyborg stormtroopers, unaware they’re agents of the Right; Cameron Hodge returns (though his identity is unrevealed and his new cyborg body can’t yet be seen in full).

New Mutants #90-91 (1990)
Caliban confronts Sabretooth in the Morlock tunnels and snaps his spine during HOME!

Marvel Comics Presents #54-55 (1990)
Wolverine‘s next clash with the Hulk.

New Mutants Annual #6 (1990)

Wolfsbane makes her peace with Cypher’s spirit just as Cypher finds peace in death.

Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 (1990)
Forge reunited with Storm only to find the body she’s in the body of a fourteen year old girl having been deaged by Nanny during DAYS OF FUTURE PRESENT.

Uncanny X-Men #272 (1991)
The X-Men and X-Factor are put on trial by Cameron Hodge in Genosha, revealing to the world that the X-Men are still alive during X-TINCTION AGENDA.

X-Factor #62 (1991)
After Cameron Hodge‘s failed attempt to absorb Warlock‘s Technarch abilities, Warlock’s ashes are scattered over Doug Ramsey‘s grave during X-TINCTION AGENDA.

Uncanny X-Men #273 (1991)
Forge joins the X-Men alongside Storm.


New Mutants Annual #7 (1991)
The last few members of Freedom Force are sent on a mission to Kuwait, coming into conflict with the super-team Desert Sword; Aminedi decapitates Super Sabre during THE KILLING STROKE.

X-Factor Annual #6 (1991)
Crimson Commando loses an eye, an arm and the use of his legs the battle with Desert Sword; Avalanche gets Crimson Commando to safety, abandoning the Blob and Pyro to Desert Sword’s mercy; Freedom Force officially disbands during THE KILLING STROKE.

X-Factor #67 (1991)
Ship is destroyed by Apocalypse as part of his next major assault on X-Factor.

Excalibur: The Possession #1 (1991)
In a bid for revenge against the X-Men and Excalibur, Changeling uses the ghost of Doug Ramsey to possess Shadowcat.

Fantastic Four #350, 352-354 (1991)
Doctor Doom reclaims Latveria from Kristoff Vernard; the Thing is returned to his more familiar rocky appearance; Ms Marvel finally relents and accepts Doom’s offer to cure her rocky form, betraying the Fantastic Four, leaving the team and ending her relationship with the Thing.


X-Factor #71 (1991)
Havok and Polaris are fully reunited as members of the new government-sponsored X-Factor line-up, coordinated by Valerie Cooper during MUTANT GENESIS.

X-Factor Annual #7 (1992)

The reason why Longshot senses something tender within Spiral is because she used to be Ricochet Rita, the stuntwoman who fell in love with him.

Uncanny X-Men #290 (1992)
Storm rejects Forge’s marriage proposal in favour of her loyalties to the X-Men.

Uncanny X-Men #294 (1992)
War and Famine ride alongside Caliban as the Horsemen of Apocalypse (unaware that it’s not Apocalypse they’re serving) during X-CUTIONER’S SONG.

What If #50 (1993)
On Earth-93600, the Hulk kills Wolverine before the X-Men face the Adversary at Eagle Plaza; events play out differently to Earth-616, with the X-Men and Freedom Force sacrificing many team members in order to defeat the Adversary in Wolverine’s absence. 

Uncanny X-Men #301 (1993)
Against all odds, Mystique and Forge become romantically involved (as predicted by Destiny before her death, though it doesn’t last) during LEGACIES.

Cable #6 (1993) 

Apocalypse’s real name – En Sabah Nur – is revealed.


X-Men #30 (1994)
Scott Summers and Jean Grey get married during THE WEDDING OF CYCLOPS & PHOENIX.

Excalibur #77-81 (1994)
A techno-organic being calling itself Douglock emerges, with some believing this to be the resurrected Doug Ramsey/Cypher merged with Warlock.

What If? #65 (1994)
On Earth-94964, when Iceman tricks Death into believing he’s killed him, Death goes insane with guilt; Apocalypse kills the real Iceman to support the delusion; Archangel goes on a killing spree, murdering evil mutants.

X-Force #37 (1994)
Part of Ship‘s origin is revealed, including how he fell into the hands of Apocalypse.

X-Force #39 (1994)
It’s revealed that the ‘Professor’ AI from Cable‘s space station headquarters, Graymalkin, is actually the evolved Ship; Ship/Professor evolves into Prosh.

X-Men: Alpha #1 (1995)
In an alternate reality (Earth-295), Charles Xavier dies before forming the X-Men, allowing Apocalypse the chance to rise and take control of America during THE AGE OF APOCALYPSE.

X-Factor #115 (1995)
The real Naźe is revealed to be alive having allowed the Dire Wraith to believe it killed him; the Adversary actually took Naźe’s Wraith form; Naźe returns to aid Forge against the resurrected Adversary during HAVOK’S FALL.

X-Factor #121 (1996)
Naže, Forge, Roma and the government-sponsored X-Factor defeat the Adversary.

Uncanny X-Men #338 (1996)
Archangel’s metal wings shed, revealing his feathered wings during THE ASSASSINATION OF GRAYDON CREED.

The Rise of Apocalypse #1-4 (1996-1997)
The origin of Apocalypse is revealed.

What If? #101 (1997)
On Earth-10197, Archangel remains loyal to Apocalypse and continues to lead the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse, rather than rejoining X-Factor.

Civil War #1 (2006)
Expanding on the Mutant Registration Act, the US Government pass the Superhuman Registration Act during CIVIL WAR.

Avengers: The Initiative #12 (2008)
A completely new Freedom Force is formed, made up of government-approved superhumans from the 50-State Initiative.

X-Force #4-6 (2008)
Archangel’s metal wings return, signalling a period where he can switched between his feathered and metal wings (along with his lighter and darker peronas, respectively) during DIVIDED WE STAND.

Uncanny X-Men #500 (2008)
The vastly-expanded ranks of the X-Men officially relocate to San Francisco during MANIFEST DESTINY.

X-Men Legacy #224 (2009)
Rogue finally gains control of her absorption powers with help from Professor X.

X-Necrosha #1 (2009)
Cypher is one of many mutants resurrected by Selene & Eli Bard using the Transmode Virus (though Cypher remains alive while the majority of other ‘undead’ mutants return to the grave) during NECROSHA.

New Mutants #9 (2010)
the resurrected Cypher rejoins the New Mutants alongside Warlock.

Uncanny X-Force #10-18 (2011-2012)
Archangel becomes infected with the Apocalypse Seed, giving in to his Dark Angel persona and becoming the heir of Apocalypse; Archangel is stabbed with the Life Seed, effectively killing that persona; he is reborn as a younger Angel, keeping the metal wings but losing the blue pigment in his skin.

New Mutants #38-40 (2012)
The New Mutants return to Paradise Island – the place where Cypher died; the team are reunited with Bird-Brain; the New Mutants face Virusplague, a virus created by the Ani-Mator to replicate himself in the event of his death.

X-Men #40-41 (2013)
A completely new line-up of criminal mutants are given a second chance by the US Government as Freedom Force, including a new Crimson Commando.

Cable and X-Force #15-17 (2013-2014)
The Adversary returns, taking control of Forge; Doctor Nemesis frees Forge while trapping the Adversary in his mind.

Howling Commandos of SHIELD #2-5 (2016)
The Adversary returns, possessing Navid Hassan; SHIELD‘s Howling Commandos cast the Adversary out of Navid’s body, but he doesn’t survive the experience.

Black Panther #171-172 (2018)
The Adversary is summoned by Klaw to sow chaos in Wakanda; the Adversary’s real name is revealed to be Sefako the Twice-Risen God.

See how this story fits into the wider Marvel Universe continuity:

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Things take a decidedly dark turn for

Welcome to another episode of I AM THE NIGHT, a podcast dedicated to breaking down every episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Each week, the wonderful Steve J Ray (reviewer at DC Comics News, as well as Editor-in-Chief of our sister site Dark Knight News) and a guest will sit down and dive cowl first into an episode of the greatest animated series of all time.

In this episode, Steve is joined by fellow DCN and DKN writer, and his son, Adam Ray, to talk about the season three episode of Batman: TAS (aka The New Batman Adventures), titled “You Scratch My Back“. So sit back, put on your cape and cowl, and prepare yourself for a journey into the darkness!

Episode Synopsis: In an effort to further distance himself from Batman, Nightwing tries to go it alone to stop a smuggling ring and gets unexpected help from the seductive Catwoman, who attempts a somewhat sensual relationship with him.

 

Our “You Scratch My Back” episode is also available on YouTube:

 

Steve J Ray: www.twitter.com/el_steevo
Adam Ray: www.twitter.com/IzzetTinkerer

“I Am The Night” Theme by David B. (www.twitter.com/DavidBMusic21)

Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play, and if you like what you hear, please give us a 5-star rating and review!

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170 Batman: The Animated Series 3×05 – “You

Meta’s publishing arm for virtual reality games is now officially called Oculus Publishing. It’s a completely different division from Oculus Studios, which is the company’s label for first-party games. Oculus Publishing will instead support partner developers with conceptualization, funding, technological help, as well as promotion and merchandising. While the name is new, the division itself isn’t. It had previously funded and supported over 300 titles, including Among Us VR, Bonelab and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.

The company has also revealed that Oculus Publishing has over 150 titles currently in development, which bodes well for the Quest 3 that’s expected to arrive this year. Previous reports suggested that the next-gen Quest will be thinner and more powerful than its predecessor and will have mixed reality capabilities. That could mean that some of these new titles — Meta unfortunately didn’t name any of them in its announcement — may have features that weren’t possible for older games. 

At the moment, users still have more than 500 titles to choose from in the Meta Quest Store, and they seem to be doing well. Last year, the company said the games and apps on the store had surpassed $1.5 billion in revenue, with 40 titles grossing over $10 million. In addition, the number of titles that had reached $20 million in revenue had doubled year-over-year.

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Meta's publishing arm for virtual reality games

There will always be unintended consequences when ego leads the way.

It would be fair to say that Black Adam was Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson’s attempt to become something larger than life in Hollywood. The action star would have made his mark as a superhero in the DC that was worthy of taking up the mantel of leading the new era of superhero films from Warner Bros. into a new direction that Superman and Batman couldn’t do.

The problem, amongst several others, was Johnson.

After a less-than-stellar $66 million worldwide box-office performance from Shazam! Fury of the Gods (according to Box Office Mojo), insiders told TheWrap that Johnson’s ambitions to prompt his DC film over Shazam, which he was originally cast to be the villain in, “may end up tanking both franchises.”

‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Ambition is never a bad thing, especially in Hollywood. But when an already struggling franchise is having a hard time convincing audiences that they should come out to theaters and watch the latest (and underwhelming) DC superhero film in an already oversaturated superhero market, Johnson is shooting himself and the franchise in the foot when he doesn’t support the brand as whole.

Johnson had already gone over executives’ heads and quickly wore out his welcome when he was cast as Black Adam ten years ago. Insiders told TheWrap that the reason the studio was hesitant to have Henry Cavill cameo as Superman at the end of Black Adam was that they wanted Shazam (Zachary Levi) to appear instead. Johnson allegedly shut down that idea.

Johnson tried to set himself and Henry Cavill up for a Black Adam-Superman showdown that would have immediately shot Johnson’s character up to the ranks of a “VIS” (a very important superhero).

In this version, the surviving members of the Justice Society would enlist Shazam to join their team, setting the stage for Shazam and Black Adam to face off (like they do in the comics). However, Johnson wasn’t interested in the idea and wanted to create his version of the character.

There was also an inside source (via GeekTyrant) that offered additional insight into how Johnson sees himself while developing his movie, saying, ”Dwayne tries to sell himself as bigger than the movie. He’s one of the few people who always thinks he’s the most important person in any situation or room.”

Zachary Levi confirmed the news by reposting this news on social media with the caption: “The truth shall set you free.”

This is the last gasp of the DC Extended Universe as egos clash while James Gunn and Peter Safran prepare a new future for DC Studios. As of right now, Shazam and Black Adam are not slated to have sequels in the new DCU.

Johnson’s meddling did not help the already uncertain future of Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC properties, and it sure didn’t help with the morale around the release of Shazam! Fury of the Gods. It’s hard to create an interconnecting universe when one of the villains refuses to fight his comic book nemesis.

It is funny and a little ironic that even though these enemies never met on the silver screen, their actors are airing their issues out in a very public, meta sort of way.

What can we learn from DC’s final moments? As filmmakers, it is important to not surround yourself with “yes men” who will let you lead yourself down the wrong path. There are smarter ways to handle your creative differences with people. Take a step back, look at the bigger picture, and realize your role in a film that has hundreds and thousands of hands touching it.      

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There will always be unintended consequences

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight to write new Star Wars movie for Lucasfilm, taking over from Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson.

Lucasfilm has had difficulty getting a new Star Wars movie off the ground, but perhaps Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight will have better luck. Variety has reported that Steven Knight is set to pen the screenplay for the untitled Star Wars movie with Ms. Marvel‘s Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attached to direct. The Star Wars movie is the same one that Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson originally penned before they departed.

Steven Knight is best known for creating Peaky Blinders, the period crime drama starring Cillian Murphy, but he is also known for his work on Eastern Promises, Dirty Pretty Things, Locke, Allied, Spencer, Taboo, See, SAS: Rogue Heroes, and more. It’s said that this new Star Wars movie will mark the franchise’s return to the big screen following the release of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. Production is slated to kick off next February with an official announcement expected to arrive at Star Wars Celebration next month.

A week before it was revealed that Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson had stepped down from the Star Wars project, Lindelof seemingly foretold his departure while speaking with /Film. “I will just say, that for reasons that I can’t get into on this Sunday morning, on this day, the degree of difficulty is extremely, extremely, extremely high,” Lindelof said. “If it can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist. That’s all I’ll say, because I have the same association with it as you do, which is, it’s the first movie I saw sitting in my dad’s lap, four years old, May of ’77. I think it’s possible that sometimes when you hold something in such high reverence and esteem, you start to get in the kitchen and you just go, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be cooking. Maybe I should just be eating.’ We’ll just leave it at that point.“

Although Star Wars is thriving on Disney+ thanks to shows like The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and more, the big screen side has yet to go as smoothly. Many previously announced projects have been put on the back burner, including movies from Patty Jenkins and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. We’ll have to keep our fingers crossed that Steven Knight is able to deliver a Star Wars script that Lucasfilm is happy with, but until I’m actually sitting in a theater watching it… I’m not about to hold my breath.

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Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight to write

For all the things Amazon does as a streaming platform that make very little sense to me, I’ve always thought the service does a good job adapting airplane or beach novels for TV, delivering generally fast-moving genre pieces for an audience pre-disposed to devour them. Some (Bosch) have been good, some (Reacher) have been decently true to the spirit of the source material, and even the ones that were awful at least played directly to their target audience (please stop sending me DMs, Terminal List fans). All felt like reasonable plays for a company that, in its free time, has been known to sell books on the side.

Netflix doesn’t have that same business model, but Shawn Ryan’s adaptation of Matthew Quirk’s novel The Night Agent still feels like an Amazon-style show. It’s less textured and grounded than Bosch and its main character isn’t as instantly distinctive as Jack Reacher, but it’s better than The Terminal List, while blending many of the same elements of patriotism and revenge. Generally, The Night Agent is well-paced, reasonably entertaining (especially in its second half) and features an effective central turn from Gabriel Basso. Maybe it feels a little thin when it comes to its main mystery and political world-building, but it sets itself up comfortably for an ongoing series after this 10-episode introduction.

The Night Agent

The Bottom Line

Fluffy and fast-moving, like an airplane book.

Airdate: Thursday, March 23 (Netflix)
Cast: Gabriel Basso, Luciane Buchanan, Hong Chau, D.B. Woodside, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Eve Harlow, Phoenix Raei, Enrique Murciano, Sarah Desjardins
Creator: Shawn Ryan, from the book by Matthew Quirk

Basso, who clearly hasn’t missed an arm day at the gym since his juvenile performances in things like Super 8, stars as Peter Sutherland, a fledgling FBI agent who stops a major Metro bombing in the taut opening scene. Peter should be a hero, but the lack of answers surrounding the bombing sullied his name, as did the identity of his father, a notorious alleged traitor.

One year later, Peter is working a secretive and entirely dead-end job in a windowless office of the White House, stationed in front of a mysterious phone that never rings. Until it does. At the other end of the phone is Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan), a disgraced former cyber-security CEO who got the number for the highly secure phone from her aunt and uncle before they were murdered by a pair of vicious assassins (Phoenix Raei and a nicely wild-eyed Eve Harlow). Rose is shocked to find out that her aunt and uncle were spies and she’s concerned by a conversation she overheard about both an upcoming terrorist attack and a mole in the White House.

Peter believes Rose and Diane Farr (Hong Chau), the president’s chief of staff, believes Peter, but Peter’s FBI boss (Robert Patrick) isn’t so sure. Oh and yes, this may remind you of Netflix’s CIA-centric The Recruit, a more dishy and ridiculous (for better and worse) take on the spy thriller.

We meet Chelsea Arrington (Fola Evans-Akingbola), a Secret Service agent assigned to the only gig more menial than Peter’s closet duty: protecting the vice president’s daughter, Maddie (Sarah Desjardins, having a big weekend with this and the return of Yellowjackets). Chelsea is assigned a new partner in D.B. Woodside’s Erik Monks, returning to the job years after taking a bullet for a previous president. His experience will come in handy when — try not to be shocked here — the storyline with the vice president’s daughter intersects with Peter’s case.

Soon, everybody is on the run, everybody is being looked at as a potential suspect in some scandalous stuff, and potential traitors and other red herrings are popping out of the woodwork at a rate of one or two per episode. The body count rises as an explosive finale nears.

The Night Agent pilot, written by Ryan and directed by Seth Gordon, has an exciting opening and wastes very little time in establishing Peter’s dead-end position and then the danger facing Rose. But the opening episodes are inconsistent, at least partially by design.

There isn’t close to enough story to fill 10 hours, and it’s interesting how much of that expanded space goes to conversations that are, on the surface, pretty meaningless small-talk. That means lots of banter between Peter and Rose, an almost instant flirtation of the sort I rarely buy. There are also conversations between the two assassins, who never even get actual names, and lots of foundation-laying for the bond between Chelsea and her evasive ward. This doesn’t always mesh with Peter and Rose’s investigative process, which quickly falls into a rut of following a trail — stretching across Vancouver locations that never pass convincingly for the Beltway — to a person who gives them partial information and then recounts a personal story that immediately puts them in jeopardy. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Around the sixth or seventh episode, though, some real tension begins to build, and all of that banter turns out to have engendered some investment in some of the characters. Imagine that, right? Without those earlier scenes, Maddie’s just another prestige cable teen doing really dumb things, Peter and Rose are just pretty people constantly squished into tight quarters together, and those assassins are just slasher movie villains constantly popping up to wreak havoc. There are still plenty of surprises that are way too obvious and elaborate plots held together with the flimsiest of logic, but I tore through the last five episodes without pause, only scratching my head occasionally.

Basso starts off almost uncomfortably stolid, but as he digs deeper into Rose’s case and into his own past, the increased emotion offers a reminder of how good he was back on The C Word. Buchanan, a New Zealand actress in her first American TV lead, similarly gives the initial impression of woodenness — I blame the accent — but as the show goes along she becomes a regular source of humor and takes advantage of the show’s determination to buck some damsel-in-distress stereotypes. Chau and Patrick add value to frustratingly underwritten roles, though this isn’t really a peak for either.

The series solves its main mystery and answers several key character questions within these 45-to-50-minute installments, which would have passed broadcast content standards other than some limited swearing. And without exactly ending on a cliffhanger, it concretely lays a foundation for more. The Night Agent may not be consistently gripping, nor is it the stuff of fine literature, but it’s serviceable, pulpy entertainment.

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For all the things Amazon does as

Netflix subscription is required to watch on Netflix

 

Great news! “I See You” is available to watch on Netflix USA!

 

Date Added: 22nd March 2023

Want to keep forever? Try looking for ‘I See You’ on Amazon (paid link)

 

Description:

As he searches for a missing child, a small-town detective uncovers a malicious presence lurking in the crevices of his family’s already broken home.

 

Certificate: R
Violence and language

 

Year: 2019

Duration: 1hr 38m

Audio: English [Original]

Subtitles: English

 

Cast and Crew

Director: Adam Randall

 

Cast: Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, Judah Lewis, Owen Teague, Libe Barer, Gregory Alan Williams, Erika Alexander, Alison King

 

Production & Box Office Details:

“I See You” was produced by Head Gear Films, Kreo Films FZ, Local Hero, Zodiac Features, Zodiac Holdings, Metrol Technology and Real by Fake with a budget of $3m.

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Watch the trailer for “I See You”

 

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Available on Netflix USA!

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Wayne Swinny, guitarist and founding member of the rap-rock band Saliva, has died after suffering a brain hemorrhage, the group announced on Facebook. He was 59.

“It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our brother Wayne Swinny,” the band wrote. “Wayne passed away this afternoon from a spontaneous brain hemorrhage while we were out on tour. … Wayne will be missed by all those who knew him.”

Earlier in the week, Swinny was rushed to the hospital after his bandmates said he was found in “medical distress.”

“He was transported to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a Spontaneous Hemorrhage in his brain. He is currently in the ICU as we await further news. We ask that you keep him in your thoughts and prayers at this time,” the group said.

Swinny founded the band, Saliva, outside of Memphis, Tennessee, in 1996. The group is known for its blend of hard rock and hip-hop. Saliva released their self-titled debut album in 1997, followed by its major-label debut “Every Six Seconds” in March 2001.

That album, “Every Six Seconds,” sold 1 million copies, and earned Saliva a Grammy nomination for best hard rock performance in 2002.

Saliva said funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.

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Wayne Swinny, guitarist and founding member of

Nearly three years after first facing the prospect of a ban in the U.S., TikTok’s future in the States appears to be in limbo once again as the Biden administration looks to crack down on the Chinese-owned app. 

Like the Trump administration’s pursuits in 2020, the Biden administration is reportedly mulling forcing TikTok’s owner ByteDance to sell its U.S. operations, or outright banning the app if ByteDance won’t cooperate. The tension will boil over Thursday as Congress’s Energy and Commerce Committee is set to hold a hearing regarding privacy and safety concerns on the app.

TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew is set to testify. Ahead of the testimony, Chew posted a video on TikTok, warning users about a potential ban and noting that over 150 million Americans, or over half the country, are now on the app. 

@tiktok

Our CEO, Shou Chew, shares a special message on behalf of the entire TikTok team to thank our community of 150 million Americans ahead of his congressional hearing later this week.

♬ original sound – TikTok

Here’s a quick briefing on what to expect for Thursday’s hearing, why TikTok’s under the government’s microscope, and what any such change could mean for the music industry.

Why is the app’s future in the U.S. in question?

It isn’t clear whether or not a ban will actually happen, but Thursday’s hearing reflects concern from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

TikTok collects data on its users. A lot of data. While other social media platforms also get loads of user data, TikTok’s critics argue the app’s Chinese roots lead to a potential security risk as they worry that ByteDance could be compelled to turn that information over to the Chinese government. TikTok has repeatedly said that it’s never turned data over to China — and that it wouldn’t do so if asked — though it’s not clear how much of a choice the company would have if compelled by a government mandate. Chew is expected to reiterate as much on Thursday, as noted in his submitted written testimony.

As a more secondary issue, the Energy and Commerce Committee also cited the app’s potential impact on minors’ safety, with the committee alleging that the app “exposes [children] to dangerous content online.” Fairly broad, safety for teens could mean a wide range of issues; As Rolling Stone has previously reported, TikTok has had problems with misinformation ranging from school shooting hoaxes, Covid-19 and vaccine conspiracies and far-right propaganda, just to name a few.

Those who want to tune in can watch from the Energy and Commerce Committee’s livestream.

What it could mean for the music biz

Whether or not a ban would even happen is unknown, but such an action in 2023 has different implications on the music industry than even three years ago. Along with being ubiquitous among influencers and content creators, TikTok is still the most influential platform in the music business for breaking new artists marketing hit songs. Ice Spice, to name one example, is just the latest whose initial pull from the app has turned her into one of the buzziest new artists in music. Viral trends and sounds still set the table for many songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and sped-up and slowed-down remixes of songs are one of the more recent trends that have helped juice songs, turning Lady Gaga’s deep-cut “Bloody Mary” into a viral hit at the end of last year, as well as Mariah Carey’s “It’s A Wrap” this year. 

But even music executives who gained success finding and pushing artists from the app’s earlier days say their reliance on TikTok has waned as they look to diversify their marketing push. The app has grown more saturated, they say, and success on the app has grown harder given the sheer volume of content competition. 

Ryan Chisholm, general manager at Work of Art management, which oversees the careers of early TikTok success stories Tai Verdes and Claire Rosinkranz, recalls the earlier days when TikTok was the largest driver for his artists, where their posts would easily garner millions of views and push users to listen to music off-platform. Today, his artists have more stable businesses from their records and tours, Chisholm says, but getting that kind of engagement like before is more hit or miss.

“Our consumption was so lean-forward because of TikTok. It was a superpower, I couldn’t describe it any other way,” he says. “In 2020, with Tai, we were guaranteed to get at least a couple videos a week getting a couple million views. Now you have a very oversaturated platform, which makes sense; every brand has a TikTok. I’m sure there isn’t a label, a manager, an artist who isn’t looking at their data and going, ‘Damn, my TikToks aren’t reaching what they were six months, 12 or 18 months ago.’”

The short-term video format that TikTok pioneered (and remains the master of) has made its way to other major tech platforms like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels and has even crept its way onto Spotify, which rolled out a new TikTok-like home feed onto its platform earlier this month. Chisholm and Chris Anokute — another music manager who found success leveraging TikTok campaigns for artists like Curtis Waters and his viral 2020 hit “Stunnin’” as well as for Muni Long on her song “Hrs and Hrs” (including a Best New Artist Grammy nomination for the latter) — both note the ceiling hasn’t been as high on YouTube or Instagram to push songs.

“I think it’s the algorithm,” Anokute says of TikTok compared to other services. “I think it’s the most sophisticated algorithm I’ve seen in terms of opportunity for exposure, regardless of where you are in your career in terms of development. And that’s for any career, music, chefs, fashion.”

Compared to 2020, when the first TikTok ban was mulled and other short-form platforms were just launching, there are multiple outlets today experts expect could have similar functions. They’ve already been incorporating these outlets into their strategies, with Chisholm noting he’s currently pursuing a hip-hop artist to manage whose engagement is strongest on Reels.

Those impacted most by a major TikTok change would be the unsigned and under-resourced or upcoming artists who would then lose out on a platform that notoriously gave footing against even those with larger followings. If it were to go, Anokute and Chisholm ponder which platform — whether YouTube, Spotify, Instagram or something else — may capitalize the most with the same appeal.

“It has democratized the business and made entrepreneurs more bullish about staying independent. A lot of the breakout success stories, the first breakout moment is usually coming from TikTok,” Anokute says. “It doesn’t stop with a viral moment, but it can be a great launching pad for a career, and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I would hope if it were no longer around, we’d see somebody step up and take their market.”

Trending

Beyond individual creators, from an industry-wide perspective, there’s always been a pivot when something new pushes music, and the business will take that on, whenever that is.

“You can’t be a one-trick pony. You can’t rely on one platform or one song to break through. I was there when radio ran the business. I was there when it was Spotify playlists. Now we’re seeing this TikTok generation. Who knows what comes after, if that’s Web-3 or blockchain, we don’t know,” Anokute says. “But at the end of the day, the music industry is still about those three minutes and 33 seconds. It may not be as much about stars more so than anything than it was and that’s okay. “But it’s still about the three minutes and 33 seconds whether we like it or not. It’s about hits.”

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Nearly three years after first facing

Today is March 20! On March 20, 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono celebrate their wedding anniversary!

People in the modern world are not told the truth about many things by the mass media. Most things are just propaganda. But with many other things, reporters and writers are just being lazy and, well, they can’t speak Japanese or other local languages so they cannot delve deeply into many subjects

One subject which has been a part of discourse in the West for many decades is: “Did Yoko Ono break up the Beatles?” Yes, a mundane subject. But people have been arguing about this since I can remember. It’s time to set the record straight (pun intended)!

Yoko’s family were by far one the richest families in Japan, if not the richest. And as their eldest child, it stands to reason that Yoko was the heir to the family wealth. So to think that

Yoko “broke up the Beatles” or “wanted to marry John Lennon for money” might be a bit tenuous. Why? Read on.

I will not push my opinion upon you, one way or another, I will merely present the facts and the reader can decide.

Yoko was born in 1933 in Tokyo, Japan. She was born into an extremely wealthy Aristocratic family. Yoko was born into the class of women who may have married the emperor of Japan. In fact, she was enrolled in such an elitist school, that she was a classmate of the future emperor of Japan, Prince Akihito.

Yoko’s grandfather founded and owned the Yasuda group. There is not a person in Japan that does not know the name or his story. The Yasuda group would have made them in the top 4 of the richest families in Japan, perhaps the richest. Her grandfather (you may have heard of Zaibatsu. They controlled Japan for decades, until the end of the war) Yasuda group owned many banks, real estate companies, huge tracts of land, and had their hand in all sorts of businesses in Japan, as well as financing many, many industrial projects. To this very day, they are still, in whispered voices, called Zaibatsu by some. The comparison of Yasuda to the Beatles? The Beatles sold lots of records, but Yasuda group made billions of dollars annually every year (adjust to today’s rate) for nearly 80 years!

Yoko’s father was the first Japanese to open a Japanese bank in the USA during the Economic Miracle of Japan. It was then that Yoko moved to the USA with her mother. Yoko’s parents chastised her often for befriending people that they felt were beneath her.

By the way, Yoko Ono was smart with money. She helped the 1967 Beatles break free from a contract that was holding them back. Breaking this contract was critical to the future success of the Beatles. To remind you, Yoko became involved with the Beatles in 1966. People credit Brain Epstein, but was he really so good at business? Decide for yourselves or was Yoko there, whispering into the Beatles ears?

And as far as Yoko showing up to the Beatles rehearsals, of course John Lennon asked her to attend. So, while the Beatles fought, Yoko would just sit there, silently (as any Japanese would do), on an amp and wonder, “Why do these people fight?” She would say nothing.

One time, when Yoko was telling John Lennon who her family was, she showed him a photo of her grandfather. John Lennon said, “I was him in a previous life!” Yoko scolded John and said, “Don’t say that! My grandfather was assassinated.” We all know what happened to John Lennon.

John Lennon was just a musician (considered a low class job in Japan) and did not even graduate from college and dropped out. Any Japanese family, including Yoko Ono’s family, would be completely against their only child marrying a musician or someone like Lennon.

When TV documentaries are made, that talk about the Beatles, why does no one ever discuss these things at all? This information totally changes everything about the unknown history of the Beatles & Yoko Ono.

So, once you understand this, you can imagine, as I do, that it was John, and not Yoko, who, after dating and consulting about personal backgrounds, and realizing who Yoko was and how incredibly wealthy her family was, John must have thought, “I have won the lottery!“

About the film: Yoko: “Grapefruit”

Yoko was a very influential Avant Guard artist in the Fluxus Movement in 1964, the time frame of this movie. That was two years before she met John Lennon.

The Fluxus group was a loose association of Dada-inspired avant-garde artists which was founded in the early 1960s by Lithuanian-American artist George Maciunas. Maciunas admired and enthusiastically promoted Yoko’s work, and gave Yoko Ono her first solo exhibition at his AG Gallery in New York in 1961.

Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus is known for experimental contributions to different artistic media and disciplines and for generating new art forms. Fluxus also was called, “Anti-art” and many artists destroyed their art by fire as part of the exhibition of said art.

In the tradition of Fluxus art, viewers must do something to enjoy the art fully and be with the creator of the art and artist. They must be a part of the project. Most people who come to the screening will receive a high-quality original art print that has a hand drawn artwork on one side and the explanation about Yoko and this unknown history on the back. This art will be a very limited edition and not available anywhere else. It will never be reprinted and sold. The audience can care for this original artwork by taking it home and framing it, or, in the tradition of Fluxus they can destroy it. 

Either way, after that, this experience will end for the audience, and they can take a small piece of Grapefruit home in their hearts, or not… And perhaps they will have a piece of history and hanging on their walls reminding them of a much better time.

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Today is March 20! On March 20,

Michael Schumacher’s wife has lived ‘like a prisoner’, shunning lunches and parties, to keep his condition secret, according to Eddie Jordan. 

Schumacher suffered a skiing accident in December 2013 and was placed into a medically induced coma. He was later moved to the family’s Lake Geneva home in September 2014 where a team of medical staff now support his wife Corinna in looking after him.

Jordan, who is loosely connected to the Ferrari icon, revealed last year that his plans to visit the seven-time Formula One world champion were veteoed by Schumacher’s family. 

‘This was the most horrific situation for Mick and Corinna,’ Jordan told OLBG .

‘It’s been nearly ten years now and Corinna has not been able to go to a party, to lunch or this or that, she’s like a prisoner because everyone would want to talk to her about Michael when she doesn’t need reminding of it every minute.’

Jordan suggested visiting Schumacher last year but was told only direct family can visit

Eddie Jordan (right) claims Michael Schumacher’s wife Corinna (left) lives ‘like a prisoner’ as she tries to keep the condition of her husband private following a skiing accident in 2013

Corinna (left) and Michael Schumacher (right, pictured together while skiing in 2005)

Corinna (left) and Michael Schumacher (right, pictured together while skiing in 2005) 

Schumacher once described his wife, 54, as his ‘guardian angel’ and she has taken total control of blocking out any noise around his condition.

Jordan gave Schumacher his break in F1 in 1991 with Jordan Grand Prix but has not been granted a visit, with access to the former Ferrari star ring-fenced by his wife.

Corinna has shunned speaking publicly about her husband but did shed some light on her struggles in a documentary on his life which aired in 2022.

‘Michael is here. Different, but he’s here, and that gives us strength, I find,’ Corinna said.

‘We’re together. We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he’s comfortable. And to simply make him feel our family, our bond.

‘And no matter what, I will do everything I can. We all will. We’re trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives.

‘”Private is private”, as he always said. It’s very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible. ‘Michael always protected us, and now we are protecting Michael.’

One of the few that has been granted visits to Schumacher has been former-FIA president Jean Todt, who revealed in May 2021 that he makes two visits a month to see the German.

In a rare interview for a documentary on Michael's life, Corinna opened up on her situation

In a rare interview for a documentary on Michael’s life, Corinna opened up on her situation

Schumacher (pictured in 2005) hasn't been in the public eye since suffering a skiing accident in December 2013 - he is now looked after by medical staff and his wife Corinna at home

Schumacher (pictured in 2005) hasn’t been in the public eye since suffering a skiing accident in December 2013 – he is now looked after by medical staff and his wife Corinna at home

In a rare discussion on Schumacher, Todt claimed the German is ‘in the best hands’ with the medical team he has working at his home. 

Todt told German publication Bild: ‘I’m happy that the fans, not only in Germany, think of him so much.

‘People ask so much about Michael. The fans should know that he is in the best of hands.

‘In the best situation, he can be and surrounded by people who love him.’

Schumacher and Todt have long been close having enjoyed a successful relationship at Ferrari – where the German driver won an unprecedented five consecutive world titles between 2000 and 2004. 

It has been revealed that the pair watch Formula One races together when Todt visits. 

Last year Todt joined Corinna, and her daughter, Gina, to collect the State Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia in Cologne on behalf of Schumacher. 

Schumacher won five straight F1 world titles at Ferrari under Jean Todt from 2000 and 2004

Schumacher won five straight F1 world titles at Ferrari under Jean Todt from 2000 and 2004

It is the highest civilian honour available to those born within the region and can be awarded to anyone who has made an outstanding contribution to the world.

The ceremony took place in Cologne, around six kilometres from Hurth, where Schumacher and his brother Ralf were born.

Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wust presented the award to a sobbing Mrs Schumacher, and said: ‘Today we pay tribute above all to the person. A person with a big heart and for which it has always been important to think about others.

‘Michael Schumacher also thought of those who are not wealthy. He quietly helped them with extremely generous donations and his family continues this charitable endeavour.’

Schumacher is one of the most successful F1 drivers of all time, having claimed seven world titles – 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004.

He also added 71 fastest laps and 155 podiums to his name during his iconic racing career.

His son Mick is now a reserve driver for Mercedes, having been let go from Haas F1 last summer.  

Mick Schumacher (left), with his mother Corinna (right) and sister Gina-Maria (middle)

Mick Schumacher (left), with his mother Corinna (right) and sister Gina-Maria (middle)

In 2019 the Schumacher family released an update on his 50th birthday assuring his millions of fans they are doing ‘everything humanly possible’ to help him recover.

In 2020 it was claimed he was set to undergo stem cell surgery – only for it to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In September last year Zurich-based neurology specialist Professor Erich Riederer told a documentary for French TV channel TMC he doubted the racing legend would ever fully recover.

He said: ‘I think he’s in a vegetative state, which means he’s awake but not responding. He is breathing, his heart is beating, he can probably sit up and take baby steps with help, but no more.’

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Michael Schumacher's wife has lived 'like a

This story is part of The Hollywood Reporter’s 2023 Sustainability Issue (click here to read more).

Give up your climate guilt. 

That’s the title of the first episode, and one of the principal themes, of A Matter of Degrees, a podcast for the climate curious from policy experts and advocates Leah Stokes and Katharine Wilkinson. The idea that fighting climate change is a lost cause, or one requiring an unrealistic level of personal sacrifice, is a kind of trap, they say, that leads to defeatism and inaction and lets institutions off the hook. Stokes and Wilkinson instead cut through the noise by conducting deep-dive investigations into greenwashing and other environmental misdeeds, and by showing how existing technology and policies — if widely and intelligently rolled out — can make a difference on the structural level.

Along the way, the hosts keep things accessible by bringing in big names, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, and bona fide climate advocates like Sonia Aggarwal, Donnel Baird, Jesse Jenkins, Jamie DeMarco and Quentin Scott to talk real solutions. THR spoke with Stokes, a professor of environmental politics at UC Santa Barbara, about the impact of the podcast and steps Hollywood can take to combat the climate crisis. 

Dr. Leah Stokes and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson

Courtesy of A Matter of Degrees

What have been some of the most interesting stories you’ve run across in making the podcast? 

We did an episode last season, in season two, that looked at this fake grassroots campaign in Southern California. It was called Californians for Balanced Energy Solutions. So there was a requirement that if you build a new house, it has to be all electric, which has been done in 75 cities in California. And so Santa Barbara was going to do it, and basically, this front group, which actually was represented by the gas utility, sent text messages to tens of thousands of people in the community lying to them, and all these people wrote to the city council, being like, “Oh my God, you’re gonna take away my gas stove!” or whatever, which was not true. It was lies. We did a whole episode talking about this dark-money astroturfing group. That no longer exists, that fake campaign. There is no more Californians for Balanced Energy Solutions. You cannot go on their website. They don’t exist anymore. So that’s kind of cool. 

Have you received an influx of trolling or misinformation from climate deniers? 

The vast majority of Americans think that climate change is real — it’s happening now. Deniers are maybe 10 percent of the population. It’s really not the majority by any means. It’s a very small minority. Our show is really for folks who want to go deeper on the climate issue and are concerned about it, which is the vast majority of American people, and we want to get into the details in an accessible way that people can understand, but that actually goes quite deep. In some ways, we’re more like a Climate 201 rather than a Climate 101. 

How have you been thinking about the balance between the personal choices people can make and the roles the government and corporations have in combating the climate crisis? 

That’s a really core topic to our show. Our first episode is called “Give Up Your Climate Guilt,” and it was kind of a manifesto for why this is not some individual problem for you to go solve by yourself. A lot of folks have lied to us about climate change for years and delayed us. We had [the environmentalist] Bill McKibben on the show, and he talks about how the most important thing you can do is not recycle, it’s to organize and join organizations and be part of the movement. 

That being said, at the beginning of season three, we did this miniseries called “What Can I Do?” that does talk about, on the personal level, what are the most important things you can do? What we really try to explain to people is that you have to look at larger systems; for example, if you electrify your life and remove fossil fuels from your home, that is changing infrastructure. That is a much bigger change than, for example, recycling. 

People kind of think of climate activism or action in one way, which is really about consumer choices, behavioral choices, and what we try to do is get people to think about structural change, even on an individual level. 

Sustainability issue A Matter of Degrees art

Courtesy of A Matter of Degrees

What’s the best way to communicate with family members or people who don’t understand the urgency of climate change or feel the impact of their personal choices? 

It’s not really about sacrifice. So much of the branding, both from the movement and also from folks who don’t want us to transition off of fossil fuels, has been painting what we’re doing as being sacrifice. I have an EV, I have solar on my roof, I have two heat pumps — one for my water, one for heating and cooling my home. I have all these things and guess what? I can still take a hot shower; I can still drive around. I can still do all the things that I could do with fossil fuels. 

That’s when we’re going to win, when people really understand that, actually, it’s just better to not poison myself while I cook myself lunch by combusting gas in my house. And it’s just better to drive an EV because it’s cheaper and I don’t have to worry about high [gas prices]. 

What can Hollywood do? 

Hollywood has a role to play here too: How do we make sure that the film sets are electric? So many of these things are running off of diesel generators right now, but we have technologies like batteries, and there are new startups that are offering the ability for shoots to be done on electric, and that’s amazing. With the Inflation Reduction Act, there’s tons of money from the federal government to help you do that. You can get 30 percent of the cost back for solar and batteries, for example, through tax credits. 

And, of course, Hollywood has a massive platform to tell stories. We need more climate stories. We need more diverse climate stories. And there’s tons of climate people who are willing to work with folks in Hollywood to get the stories right. The stories, I think, are getting better over time on climate. 

I watched this hilarious TV show, Partner Track, over the summer about a lawyer — it was on Netflix. The whole plotline was that there was this new clean-tech startup. This entrepreneur was making this new technology, and then he got bought out by a fossil fuel company with the plan to shut him down. What the lawyer does is she shows up at the annual meeting and tries to get the votes to undermine this takeover, which is exactly what happens in the climate space. We do shareholder activism. It was really cool to see this storyline that actually reflects what the climate movement is doing, what technology is like. It was actually extremely well done for a climate plotline, and it’s not like 90 percent of people who watch this show are gonna think that’s a climate plotline. 

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This story is part of The Hollywood

Ryan Kavanaugh has acquired a large stake in the movie streaming service Row8 through his production outfit Proxima Media, TheWrap has learned; as part of the deal, the companies have collaborated on a new joint venture, Proxima 8.

The terms of the deal are not known but the deal aims to give Proxima big savings on marketing and distribution of its films.

Proxima 8 plans to create interactive movies experiences that among other things will offer behind-the-scenes looks at productions, chances to participate in productions or premieres, and virtual interactions with stars and directors.

Subscription-free Row8 offers rentals of new and back catalog films via distribution deals with the major studios. The service allows customers to cancel rentals within the first 30 minutes of watching and exchange for another title, and offers “scene alert,” which alerts parents to potentially inappropriate scenes before they display.

Kavanaugh has produced or financed more than 200 feature films generating billions in box office revenue, among them “300,” “The Fast and The Furious,” “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” “Mama Mia!,” “Limitless,” “The Fighter,” “Talladega Nights,” and “Stepbrothers,” and was a key figure in the establishment of Marvel Studios.

He is also the co-founder of Triller, and launched the digital pay per view series Fight Club in partnership with Snoop Dogg. Proxima Media most recently launched “The Quad,” a sub-label in partnership with Life Boat Productions,

Kavanaugh’s company Proxima Media most recently launched “The Quad,” a sub-label in partnership with Life Boat Productions, and recently completed production on the TikTok-influenced slasher-thriller “Skill House,” starring social media influencer Bryce Hall and Cutis “50 Cent” Jackson. Upcoming Proxima projects include the King Bach action-thriller “Myles Ryder,” “Home School,” and “Sway House”; Kavanaugh is also a credited producer on the upcoming films “Hunter Killer,” “Strangers 2,” and “Den Of Thieves.

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Ryan Kavanaugh has acquired a large stake

The new trailer for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, a stand-alone special premiering on Netflix globally on April 19, has been unleashed.

In the film, set 30 years after the wise and powerful Zordon formed the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the team comes face to face with a familiar threat from the past. In the midst of a global crisis, they are called on once again to be the heroes the world needs. Inspired by the legendary mantra from the franchise, “Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger,” Once & Always reminds viewers that you are always a part of the Ranger family.

Watch the trailer below.

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The new trailer for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers:

Alec Baldwin has questioned the conduct of New Mexico’s district attorney and complained that his right to a fair trial has been threatened by her actions.

Baldwin and his attorneys said comments made by a spokesperson for prosecutor Mary Carmack-Altwies attacking the actor and his counsel had implied his guilt and questioned whether the remarks violated New Mexico’s Rules of Professional Conduct, according to a filing with New Mexico’s 1st Judicial District Court on Tuesday.

Baldwin’s team said Andrea Reeb, who has stepped down as special prosecutor, had also made comments in the media implying the actor’s guilt without noting the presumption of innocence.

“The government’s conduct represented a disregard of its ethical duties, and it has threatened Mr. Baldwin’s right to a fair trial,” Baldwin’s attorney’s said in the filing. A representative for the district attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The comments by the prosecutors were made after Baldwin’s call to disqualify Reeb, who joined the “Rust” prosecution team last summer during her campaign for a seat in the New Mexico Legislature. The Republican took up her role in the legislature Jan. 1.

Carmack-Altwies could not be reached for comment.

The high-profile prosecution has come under intense scrutiny. Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed were charged with involuntary manslaughter for the accidental fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western “Rust” in 2021.

Baldwin’s comments were made in a filing withdrawing his request to disqualify the special prosecutor on grounds that her role was in conflict with her position as a representative in the New Mexico Legislature. Nonetheless, his attorneys added that he did not waive his right to challenge the prosecution based on the conduct of the prosecutors.

The actor’s filing seized on revelations by the New York Times this week of private email exchanges between Reeb and Carmack-Altwies that suggested she was working on the prosecution to advance her political career. Neither Reeb nor Carmack-Altwies have commented on the exchange.

“Representative Reeb’s prosecution of this case against Mr. Baldwin to advance her political career is a further abuse of the system and yet another violation of Mr. Baldwin’s constitutional rights,” Baldwin’s attorneys wrote.

In a statement, Reeb said the “charges brought on Baldwin were not for political reasons,” that she did not speak to the media during her campaign and that her communications were taken out of context.

“Mr. Baldwin’s attorneys will do any thing to deflect the situation of their client onto myself and anyone else,” she said. “I think it’s time people start remembering this case is about Alec Baldwin taking the life of Ms. Hutchins. It’s not about anything else.”

The resignation of Reeb from her role was the second blow to the prosecution initiated by Baldwin’s camp.

Carmack-Altwies already had to drop a firearm enhancement charge that added a potential five-year mandatory prison sentence to the involuntary manslaughter charges Baldwin faces. The move came after objections by Baldwin and Gutierrez Reed that the charge was improperly added.

Baldwin’s team noted that the relevant legislation had not taken effect in New Mexico until several months after the shooting took place. What’s more, they argued, the statute that existed at the time applied only to cases in which shootings involved intent to injure, which was not the case with Baldwin since the discharge was accidental.

If the case goes to trial and Baldwin is found guilty, he could face two years in prison. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to the involuntary manslaughter charges and has denied any wrongdoing.

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Alec Baldwin has questioned the conduct

At the 95th annual Academy Awards, held Sunday night in Los Angeles, California, Ruth Carter took home the Oscar for Best Costume design for Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. 

Carter previously won the same Oscar back in 2019, for Black Panther. With this second win, she now makes history as the first Black woman to be a two-time winner in any category. Additionally, she has the honor of being the first person to win a costume design Oscar for both an original film and a sequel. 

She took the stage and thanked the Academy for “recognizing the Super Hero that is a Black woman.” 

She continued, “Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman. She endures. She loves. She overcomes. She is every woman in this film. She is my mother. This past week Mabel Carter became an ancestor. This film prepared me for this moment. Chadwick, please take care of mom. Ryan Coogler, Nate Moore, thank you both for your vision. Together, we are reshaping how culture is represented. The Marvel family, Kevin Feige, Victoria Alonso, Louis D’Esposito and their arsenal of genius, thank you. I share this with many dedicated artists whose hands and hearts helped manifest the costumes of Wakanda and Talokan.”

In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the mighty Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of the death of their beloved King T’Challa. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) if they are to forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was written by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole and directed by Ryan Coogler.

Wakanda Forever! Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now streaming on Disney+. 

Follow Black Panther on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and find Marvel now on TikTok! 

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At the 95th annual Academy Awards, held

Filmmaker extraordinaire Zack Snyder has puzzled social media users with a short teaser clip related to the DCU supervillain, Darkseid. The 13-second clip captioned “#fullcircle” was posted early Wednesday morning and left Snyder supporters in a frenzy as they race to connect the dots ahead of the official announcement slated for April.


The “incoming transmission from Lord Darkseid” begins with an indistinguishable radio broadcast that seems to be establishing a clear frequency. Amid the cacophony, a glowing, blue orb is the center focus of the clip, which seems to operate as a power source of the displayed technological system. Once the dissonant frequency clears, the booming voice of the infamous demiurge pervades the transmission, stating, “April 28th, 29th, and 30th…save the date.”

The Darkseid April announcement comes weeks after James Gunn and Peter Safran unveiled the Gods and Monsters Chapter One plan for the DC Universe. The new, “game-changing” DCU vision notably left off any mention of a Darkseid film, so it’s hard to speculate what’s to come from Snyder’s reveal next month. If Snyder’s announcement is alluding to an upcoming project, it would be a touching way to close his chapter in the DC Universe.

Check out the cryptic announcement below:

Related: Explaining Darkseid’s Story in Zack Snyder’s Justice League


Warner Bros.

The DC Universe movie franchise can feel almost impossible to follow at times, leaving many fans questioning what exactly went wrong when adapting the popular comics. Since the franchise’s inception 10 years ago, the cinematic renditions have been plagued by inconsistencies, cancelations, broken promises, and the death of the fan-backed Snyderverse. It’s a blow that devout Snyder followers have yet to recover from, which is why Wednesday’s announcement has caused such a stir on social media. The impending Darkseid announcement has revitalized fans’ hopes of seeing the completion of his universe, despite the recent overhaul, with many users taking to Twitter to decipher what the obscure message means.

One user proposed that the Darkseid project could find a home on the Warner Bros Discovery-acquired streamer, HBO Max.

Some users speculated that the upcoming dates would be attached to Snyder Con, a charity event the filmmaker has held in the past where he displayed director cuts of his projects.

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Filmmaker extraordinaire Zack Snyder has puzzled social

Epic has revealed new ways for Fortnite players to create content and earn money from doing so.

During its State of Unreal conference at GDC, Epic announced the beta launch of Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) alongside what’s it’s calling Creator Economy 2.0.

UEFN is a new PC application for creating and publishing games and experiences directly into Fortnite.

Unreal Editor for Fortnite is Available Now

“UEFN works side-by-side with Fortnite’s existing Creative toolset, and teams of creators can work together across PC and console to develop and test islands in real-time,” Epic said.

It has released three tech demos to show what’s possible using UEFN. Deserted: Domination, Forest Guardian and The Space Inside, which are viewable in the trailer above, can be found in the Epic’s Picks Discover row in Fortnite.

The game’s newly launched creator economy centres around engagement payouts to eligible island publishers, including Epic, based on metrics including popularity and player retention.

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Epic said it will put 40% of the net revenue from Fortnite’s Item Shop and related real-money purchases into the engagement pool and make payouts monthly.

It explained: “Epic builds and sells Fortnite cosmetics, often working with third-party IP owners to bring their work into Fortnite. Starting March 1, 2023, Epic began reserving 40% of that revenue to distribute it based on the engagement created by eligible island publishers’ creative work, both yours and Epic’s. In this way, Epic will further reward creators for their creative work in Fortnite.

Deserted: Domination is one of three Unreal Editor for Fortnite tech demos

“Epic’s existing Support-A-Creator program that underpinned Creator Economy 1.0 remains, but is returning to its roots as an affiliate marketing program for streamers and social media content creators,” it added.

“We’ve removed the Support-A-Creator device within Fortnite islands to keep gameplay focused on fun. Players can now show support for their favorite creators’ islands simply by playing them.”