Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the MVP of Super Bowl LVII! The star quarterback, who was named MVP of the 2022 – 2023 NFL season as well, is a record-breaking megastar, as he is the fifth player to win the Super Bowl MVP award twice, according to CBS Sports. He is also the first person this century to be named the Associated Press NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same season, according to NFL. There’s no surprise he was awarded with the title minutes after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023: he completed 21 of 27 passes and had no interceptions.
Patrick Mahomes as solidified himself as one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks with his second Super Bowl win. Want to know more about him? Check out five interesting facts below.
Patrick Mahomes celebrates his 2023 Super Bowl win with his wife, Brittany, and their daughter, Sterling (Photo: Ashley Landis/AP/Shutterstock)
2. Patrick Is Humble Despite His Fame And Fortune
Just before his NFL training camp started in Aug. 2020, Patrick held a socially-distance barbecue at his Dallas–Fort Worth–area mansion, according to Sports Illustrated. According to the outlet, his mother worries that the fame and fortune he had earned himself would change who he is at the core. However, she found that her son was the same boy she had raised when she peaked into his pantry at the shindig and saw Cool Ranch Doritos, his favorite snack. “You look at all the changes, whether it’s how big he is or this mustache he has right now that’s driving me bananas, but he’s still the same,” she proudly noted at the time.
3. Patrick Mahomes Has A Strong Arm
While the quarterback he beat during the 2023 Super Bowl — Jalen Hurts— has super muscular legs, Patrick is known for his impressive throws. He can throw with so much force that he was once recorded tossing a football outside of Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium. The video can be seen here.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes lifts The Vince Lombardi Trophy on Feb. 12, 2023 (Photo: Dave Shopland/Shutterstock)
4. There Is Another Sport Close to Patrick Mahomes’ Heart
Patrick Mahome’s father, Pat Mahomes Sr., was a pitcher in for Major League Baseball for 11 years. And although he does not play, baseball is still a huge part of Patrick’s life because in 2020, he became a partial owner of the Kansas City Royals after buying a partial stake in the team, according to Insider. The deal made him the youngest owner in MLB history. “I’m honored to become a part owner of the Kansas City Royals,” he said in a statement in July 2020. “I love this city and the people of this great town. This opportunity allows me to deepen my roots in this community, which is something I’m excited to do.”
He made the move after landing a historic mega deal with the Chiefs by signing a $503 million, 12-year contract. It was the largest deal in all of American sports history.
5. Patrick Mahomes Has A Passion For Shoes And Ketchup
If Patrick ever gets tired of breaking records in the NFL, he has another passion he can focus on: sneakers. In an Aug. 2019 video shared by Bleacher Report, he showed off his and Brittany’s new house and his custom-made shoe closet that holds his collection of 180 pairs although, at this point, it’s likely he has more! “I can wear each of them, like, twice a year,” he said in the video before gushing how wonderful it felt to be a first-time home owner.
Patrick is also a huge, huge fan of ketchup. His favorite ketchup is actually from the Texas fast-food chain Whataburger. In the past, he’s even tweeted that he wants the restaurant to bring a location to Kansas City. Maybe they’ll go ahead and do that now that the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl again and he was named MVP — again.
As the NFL crowns its next champion, Amazon Studios released a Super Bowl trailer for “Air,” a film that tells the story of how a multibillion-dollar shoe empire was built around another legendary sports champion: Michael Jordan.
“Air” is the latest film made by longtime partners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, with both men starring and producing with Affleck directing. Affleck plays Nike founder Phil Knight while Damon plays Nike marketing exec Sonny Vaccaro, the man who signed Michael Jordan to the most lucrative shoe deal in sports history before his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls.
While the movie never shows Jordan himself, “Air” shows how Vaccaro, with the help of Nike’s top lawyer Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) navigated the many layers of Jordan’s family and entourage to make the deal happen and create the basketball phenomenon known as Air Jordans. Foremost among the people that needed convincing were Jordan’s agent, David Falk (Chris Messina) and Jordan’s mother, Deloris (Viola Davis).
“Air” also stars Marlon Wayans and Chris Tucker, with Alex Convery as screenwriter. Watch the trailer in the clip above, and catch “Air” in theaters on April 5.
The Super Bowl trailer for MGM’s Creed IIIhas dropped. The pic, the latest in the boxing franchise, hits theaters March 3, with an Imax Live Premiere Event timed to the actual Feb. 27 world premiere. The movie’s star-director-producer Michael B. Jordan will be joined by the cast to celebrate his directorial debut at the TCL Chinese Theater. The premiere red carpet will be streamed to 50 theatres across North America followed by an advance screening of the film.
After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose.
The first two Creed movies, a spin-off of the venerable Rocky franchise, have grossed $387.7M WW.
While Stallone won’t appear in Creed III, Phylicia Rashad, Tessa Thompson and Florian Munteanu will rejoin Jordan onscreen. Keenan Coogler & Zach Baylin wrote the script for the new sports drama, which is based on their story co-written by Ryan Coogler.
A Chartoff-Winkler Production, Creed III‘s producers include Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Jonathan Glickman, Jordan and Ryan Coogler in association with Proximity Media. Executive producers include Adam Rosenberg, Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler.
The Romeo + Juliet actor recently revealed that he was in negotiations to play Vulture opposite Tom Holland in the Sony Pictures film. Leguizamo entered the conversation after Michael Keaton’s deal to star in the superhero film stalled.
“I was supposed to be the Vulture,” Leguizamo told ComicBook in an interview. “We had negotiated and I was about to play him, and they said that Michael Keaton wanted it back and they asked me if I would give it up. I said, ‘Well, okay I guess.’ They said, ‘No, we’ll work with you again, we’re gonna…’ That’s what happened there.”
Leguizamo said that Sony subsequently offered him “something tiny” that he ultimately opted to decline.
After news sources picked up Leguizamo’s claim, the Encanto voice actor followed up by saying he felt like a “pawn” during the whole process.
“It’s true but I was used as a pawn to close Keaton but I should have said ‘no’ because we had agreed to terms! And I had a leg to sue but I ain’t litigious,” Leguizamo shared on Instagram.
Keaton starred in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming playing the role of Adrian Toomes, the villain known as Vulture. He reprised the antagonist role in 2022’s Morbius post-credits scene that seemingly sets up a wicked team-up.
There are also rumours that the actress is dating her Geetha Govindam co-actor Vijay Deverakonda.
Rashmika often interacts with her fans on social media.
Rashmika Mandanna has become one of the most popular actresses after she shared screen space with Allu Arjun in Pushpa: The Rise. The actress is touted to be the national crush ever since then. Fans are often curious about the love life of celebrities and as Valentine’s Day is around the corner, eagle-eyed fans are waiting to know how the power couples will celebrate their day. Rashmika often interacts with her fans on social media. The Goodbye actress asked her fans to guess her Valentine this year on Sunday.
Sharing an Instagram story, Rashmika shared a small clip in which the text read: “Can you guess my Valentine?” This has left the fans speculating if something big project coming on their way or is a marketing gimmick.
There are also rumours that the actress is dating her Geetha Govindam co-actor Vijay Deverakonda. The Liger actor was earlier on a family vacation in Dubai and Rashmika Mandanna has also reportedly joined them. A couple of pictures from the trip surfaced on the internet showing Vijay posing with his folks. However, a few hours after, a fan seemed to spot the rumoured lovebirds together out and about.
The dating rumours about the duo have been making headlines for a long time now. However, the two actors have never confirmed their romantic relationship. Earlier, in an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha a few months ago, Rashmika shared that she’s very close to Vijay.
“I understand that we are actors, and the light is on us, with people wanting to know more about it. I see what is happening on social media, like watching a few videos and find it very cute, but Vijay and I don’t sit and discuss. We have a gang of 15 people and given a chance we would be playing board games with them. We are actors, but for us, our friends are equally important, and it keeps us grounded,” she said.
It will be interesting to know who Rashmika’s Valentine this year will be.
On the flip side, Rashmika’s latest film outing Mission Majnu opened to rave reviews from cine-goers and critics alike. Helmed by Shantanu Bagchi, Mission Majnu also features Siddharth Malhotra in the lead. The film premiered on the OTT platform Netflix on January 20. She also has Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal with Ranbir Kapoor. The film also stars Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol in crucial roles. Besides these, Rashmika also has Pushpa: The Raj in her pipeline.
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Sure, there was a football game and Rihanna concert today. But the Super Bowl is also a big enough event to encompass a snapshot of the cultural consciousness each year: Which celebrities are worthy of starring in a coveted commercial slot? What products are they hawking? And just as importantly, which upcoming films are buzzy enough to merit their own brand-new trailer? For pop culture aficionados, the Super Bowl can be seen as a chance to take the temperature of the coming year’s cinema.
Judging by the 2023 lineup of trailers, blockbusters are in great shape. There was the first substantial glimpse of Ezra Miller’s feature-length appearance as The Flash, while Marvel Studios didn’t miss its chance to introduce the next step in their Phase Five, and the Fast & Furious franchise continued to give fans an actual look (as opposed to a “legacy trailer,” because what even is that?) at its upcoming 10th installment. Read on for a round-up of the notable film trailers of Super Bowl LVII, and what we learned from each of them.
Creed III
Creed III | Extended Big Game Spot
Release date: March 3
“Ready or not,” intones Lauryn Hill of the Fugees in an ominous tone in the Creed III spot that aired during the big game. Using a cool trailer-y effect, the “III” title frames our first glimpses of the Michael B. Jordan-starring, Michael B. Jordan-directed Rocky sequel. Creed III sees Jordan’s Adonis Creed squaring off against a childhood friend-turned-rival, played by the magnificent Jonathan Majors. Of all the films providing previews at this year’s Super Bowl, this one might be the best, seeing as it most closely resembles the live action in between those commercial breaks.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 | New Trailer
Release date: May 3
The least surprising but most appreciated part of the new trailer for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is its spot-on soundtrack: Rainbow’s cover of Argent’s “Since You’ve Been Gone” totally rocks, dude, yet contains emotional depth, making it another fitting choice for this particular extraterrestrial franchise. Thanks to December’s teaser, it’s also not a surprise to see James Gunn’s final Guardians installment will include creepy baddie the High Evolutionary, a talking otter, and Gamora-but-not-the-Gamora-of-Volumes-1-and-2.
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Fast X
Fast X Super Bowl Spot (2023)
Release date: May 19
Most of what we now know about Louis Leterrier’s FasTen Your Seatbelts has been discerned from the official trailer of two days past: Jason Momoa joins the fray as a flamboyant baddie, Paul Walker—either computer-generated or archival—makes a return appearance, and Rita Moreno and Brie Larson are joining Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren as the latest Oscars winners to give this franchise an upgrade. But the “big game spot” above does include new footage, a peek at a pretty epic action set piece involving a fiery explosion atop a dam.
Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts x Porsche | Big Game Spot
Release date: June 9
Fair warning: this newly released Transformers 7 glimpse doubles as a Porsche commercial, in one of the Super Bowl’s most quintessential examples of capitalistic synergy. While the teaser from a few months ago showed us Mirage the Autobot, it’s only now that we’re hearing him—thanks to the vocal talents of one Pete Davidson. Joining him in this Bumblebee sequel, featuring robo-animals inspired by computer-animated spin-off series Beast Wars, are Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Tobe Nwigwe, Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, and Michelle Yeoh.
The Flash
The Flash – Official Trailer
Release date: June 16
As dramatic reveals in Super Bowl trailers go, Andy Muschietti’s The Flash may have everything else on this list beat. (For a more in-depth breakdown, click here.) YouTube’s “trailer reaction” posters are surely having a field day, between the above clip and the TV spot: In addition to Ben Affleck, we have Michael Keaton hamming it up again as Batman! Michael Shannon is back as General Zod! And instead of a Superman in all this multiverse madness, we have Sasha Calle’s Kara Zor-El, a.k.a. a Supergirl for the big screen! We’ll see how what is apparently double the amount of Barry Allens—more, not less, of a leading actor bogged down in criminally bad PR—changes the course of the evolving DCEU.
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Big Game TV Spot
Release date: June 30
Unlike most other TV spots on this round-up, the 30 second-glimpse of Indiana Jones 5 provided plenty of new visuals following the trailer. Unlike that longer version, here Indy asks Nazis to verify they’re Nazis before punching Nazis. There’s also a purported rescue from Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who looks more like the one who needs rescuing) and John Rhys-Davies as Sallah urging our hero to “give ’em hell,” which seems more than worth the price of admission.
For NFL fans, the Super Bowl can be a total coin-flip of a viewing experience, depending on how one feels about the teams involved. For non-fans, it’s all about the commercials and the halftime show spectacles (or it’s all about going out places knowing how many people are home watching). As it’s gone in years past, many of those commercials that air can be some of the funniest ads of the year, thanks in large part to how pricy and star-studded they are.
Everyone’s mileage will vary for what amounts to the funniest of all, but here are my choices for the 10 funniest Super Bowl LVII commercials, with the caveat that I’m also going with the full versions of the ads that can be found online, and not always just the limited spots that aired on TV. Many of which have already been online for days, which can be annoying, but that’s entertainment-fueled capitalism in 2023! Now enjoy funny expensive things!
Doritos: Jack Harlow Goes All Triangles
Jack Harlow’s star continues rising at a fast pace, from his explosive music career to making a name for himself on the big screen in the upcoming White Men Can’t Jump remake. But he may have already reached a comedic high mark with his Doritos Super Bowl commercial, which envisions a future where he dedicates all of his creativity toward triangles in all forms. You know what’s not getting enough attention these days? Shapes!
Planters: The Full Mr. Peanut Roast
The Planters ad that aired during the game couldn’t possibly hold a candle to the full Roast of once-dead-and-then-reborn Mr. Peanut, which lasts for nearly twelve minutes of surpringly funny jokes from roast master Jeff Ross and comics such as Natasha Leggero, Atsuko Okatsuka, Frank Castillo, Yamaneika Saunders, David Lucas, and Sarah Tiana. Leggero possibly has the best joke of the whole shebang with her very first observation, but there were more than enough “look how old and weird-looking this peanut man is” barbs and insults to appease fans of puns and insult comedy alike. Roasts for mascots and other fictional characters should become a big trend in 2023.
Pepsi: Ben Stiller’s Endless Acting Skills
Ben Stiller and Steve Martin paired up for some ad-teasing fun ahead of the reveals of their respective commercials promoting Pepsi Zero Sugar, but I found Stiller’s film genre-aping efforts to be the more amusing of the two. Though I can hardly stand here and say that Martin’s was worse. Because I’m sitting. (Wokka wokka.) Sure, the return of Derek Zoolander didn’t exactly hurt or anything.
M&Ms: Maya Rudolph Ruins (And Kidnaps) Candy
Rarely does a Super Bowl ad cause an internet kerfuffle before it’s even revealed to be a Super Bowl ad, but so it went when M&Ms revealed Maya Rudolph would be “replacing” its animated spokescandies. Thankfully, the actual result has been as weird and wonderfully gross as one might have expected from Rudolph being involved. Pre-game ads teased the inclusion of clams into the candy, culminating in the 30-second commercial that fully introduced the new clam-centric flavor takeover, all while the Red M&M was revealed as being held hostage. I love the idea of an ongoing mystery mixed in with the chocolate seafood combo.
Rakuten: Clueless Return For Alicia Silverstone
Everybody loves Clueless and Alicia Silverstone’s Cher, and it’s always a big plus to have them back in our lives. Even if it involves Rakuten, something that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to naturally connect to Amy Heckerling’s influential comedy classic. But hey, whatever gets Silverstone back in “Whatever” mode alongside former co-star Elisa Donovan, as well as designer Christian Sirianao, who recreated her fab yellow look for the ad. Perhaps it wasn’t the funniest in terms of the number of gut-busting lines or anything, but it still earned a spot here.
General Motors: Will Ferrell Goes Netflix
It’s weird for an ad to just blatantly promote product placement on such a grand scale, but props to General Motors for putting Will Ferrell at the heart of it. It’s a fun ride for the SNL vet to send up some of the streaming service’s biggest hits, from Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead to Love Is Blind to Queer Eye to Bridgerton. But we sha’n’t (or shalln’t) lie: the real highlight was Priah Ferguson reprising the role of Stranger Things‘ Erica.
Uber One: Diddy Don’t Do Jingles
This was a smorgasbord of throwback fun for anyone bopping along to pop radio from the ’90s through the 2000s, with Diddy and Uber One enlisting the talents of – and I use the term in the most polite of tones – “one hit wonder” superstars to spoof their moneymakers, such as Montell Jordan (“This Is How We Do It”), Donna Lewis (“I Love You Always Forever”), Kelis (“Milkshake”), Ylvis (“The Fox”) and Haddaway (“What Is Love”). Kelis gets the win for best alt-version.
Pringles: More Cylinder-Shaped Trauma
The Pringles ad that aired during the Super Bowl’s second quarter was like 75% on point with the alternate version online, but it’s the last bit that makes it completely worth it, as it ends on such a wonderfully dark and haunting note. That poor kid and his chip-related traumas.
Google Pixel 7: Justice For “This Guy Loves To Fart” Guy And More
One of the bigger phone camera innovations of recent years, the Google Pixel 7 allows for erasing unwanted details in pics. Which allowed for a pretty brilliant Super Bowl ad filled with surprise appearances from Amy Schumer (completely alone and without any exes), NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo, rapper Doja Cat, and the dude from the “This Guy Loves to Fart” meme. Spoilers: he doesn’t anymore. At least that’s what he says.
T-Mobile: John Travolta Getting Grease-y With Zach Braff And Donald Faison
Say what one will about Paramount+’s upcoming prequel series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, but I think just as much effort should be put into John Travolta quasi-reprising the role of Danny Zuko and fronting a full on shot-for-shot Grease remake, in the sense Gun Van Sant’s Psycho. Clearly, Zach Braff and Donald Faison would also be included somewhere, but they’d just be the icing on this summer lovin’ cake.
Honorable Mentions: Pete Davidson And More
I can’t be the only person who spent too much time thinking about what Hellmann’s was trying to tell us with its Super Bowl ad, right? I get what it meant on the surface, but are we supposed to believe that Pete Davidson imagined Jon Hamm and Brie Larson having a self-realizing conversation within his fridge before having a party that they attended? If so, I think that makes it funny, although it may not be worth all the effort. Here were some other amusing commercials that didn’t quite make the cut.
Here are some others that were worthy of chuckles and chortles.
The E*Trade Baby Wedding
Bud Light’s Dance Sesh with Miles and Keleigh Teller
Bradley Cooper’s Mom roasting him for T-Mobile
Dave Grohl honoring Canada for Crown Royal
Workday’s Rock Star ad with Ozzy Osbourne and more music legends
Get ready to watch a bunch of these ads and more airing throughout the rest of the year, probably during XFL games, leading into USFL games, which will then cap off with the return of NFL football. It’s all football, all the time. Plus funny commercials.
It’s all about the beat, the beat, the beat, someone once noted of rock ‘n roll. Others say it all starts with a song.
The truth of those statements shall likely be revealed Monday, as the Songwriters Hall of Fame will celebrate this year’s Oscar-nominated songwriters with an all-star virtual event, “A Conversation with 2023 Oscar-Nominated Songwriters for Best Original Song,” to be presented on February 13 at 9 AM Pacific time.
The virtual event is free to the public with advance registration required via Eventbrite. It will also be available to watch for a limited time on the Songwriters Hall of Fame website songhall.org beginning Monday.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame’s 7th annual program spotlights leading songwriters who are nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Song category. The event is cohosted and moderated by Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Nile Rodgers, who currently serves as Songwriters Hall of Fame Chairman, and Paul Williams, a 1977 Academy Award winner for Best Original Song for “Evergreen.”
The panel songwriters: Chandrabose, cowriter of “Naatu Naatu” from RRR; Ludwig Göransson, cowriter of “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Ryan Lott and David Byrne, co-writers of “This is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once; and SHOF inductee Diane Warren, writer of “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman.
Leave it to Rihanna to make powdering your nose feel historic. Right in the middle of her show-stopping Super Bowl halftime show, the singer whipped out a Fenty compact for a quick touch-up. But if you’re wondering what, exactly, the expecting mother used to achieve the look, we have you covered.
To prep Rih’s face for her Super Bowl beat, makeup artist Priscilla Ono started with Fenty Skin Hydra Vizor. “Fenty Skin Hydra Vizor is the perfect pre-makeup moisturizer because it nourishes the skin and is undetectable under foundation,” Ono said. “You don’t have to worry about your complexion products fading or moving, which is so important, especially for performance makeup.”
“That red stage called for the ultimate Rihanna red lip,” Ono added. “We wanted her beauty look to celebrate this moment and be a true reflection of her timeless beauty. And to me, there’s nothing more iconic to Rihanna than her soft matte skin and a bold red lip.”
SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! Karen Carpenter was a woman who died embattled by her fears in the form of anorexia nervosa. Like so many gifted musicians, singers, and songwriters who die too young from addiction, Carpenter’s drug was a self-induced condition, which too few knew too little about in her time. However, even in the unknown depths of her struggle with her eating disorder, Carpenter produced long-lasting songs with her unique velvet, creamy voice. Director Randy Martin captures all of Karen Carpenter in the unforgettable Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection.
At the outset, the filmmaker establishes a decade of music and culture The Carpenters, Karen and her brother Richard, uniquely made their own. The duo’s distinct style of arrangement and harmonizing spanned 14 years and ten albums with a bevy of single hits and loads of television appearances and specials. Although the documentary’s underlying purpose may be a PSA on stardom and eating disorders, some lingering unanswered questions suggest Carpenter’s anorexia was not just about image and the need to be thin, even though that is the price of fame and exposure when talent is so great.
Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection is an archival buffet of The Carpenters, their family, performances, appearances, and work sprinkled with interviews from several friends who are all celebrated writers, musicians, and artists. The late Olivia Newton-John was a very close friend to Karen Carpenter and regrets never recording with her. Carnie Wilson of Wilson Phillips, an executive producer of the film, tells it like it was and gives a voice for why we lost such a talent such as Karen Carpenter at 32 years old. Appearances by Cynthia Gibb, Suzanne Somers, Kristin Chenoweth, Bob James, Carol Burnett, and Belinda Carlisle offer more insight.
“…why we lost such a talent such as Karen Carpenter at 32 years old.”
However, the still-alive Richard Carpenter never weighs in. However, the film reveals that he was the golden boy, and as close as the siblings were, she harbored a never-ending battle, never succeeding or achieving perfection like him. In addition, Gibb adds haunting details about how the television film in which she played Karen was made. They shot at the Carpenter’s actual house. Richard Carpenter had a relentless attention to detail while the actor’s wardrobe was original pieces worn by the beloved singer. The thing is, the clothes kept getting smaller and smaller to the point the camera had to shoot only one side of Gibb because she couldn’t zip the clothes.
Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection reveals a woman in perhaps stunted or in arrested development with her stuffed animals and Mickey Mouse t-shirts. It’s as if she had to skip many of life’s passages or was just not loved enough by her battleax mother. Yet, the songs never stopped, and Carpenter was always on cue to perform no matter how tired she claimed to be. She played drums and sang, a talent very few can do. The amount of accomplishments she achieved in only 32 years is astonishing while rolling with change and acceptance.
The film moves through a journey, yet it leaves the door open for many questions on understanding Carpenter’s career and The Carpenters’ discography. The most surprising of all is a Christmas album, which is as popular as ever, even today. Songs like “Close to You,” “We Only Just Begun,” “Rainy Days and Mondays,” or “Top of the World” are a window into a time that no longer exists but is captured so well by Carpenter’s voice and presence.
Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection dives into the performer and artist whose voice and feeling are the mood of her time. It flows from one interview to the next seamlessly, whether it’s a celebrity, writer, or friend. The segments never overpower each other. Instead, Martin adds layers and layers of understanding to Karen Carpenter, a woman who left way too soon.
Patrick Mahomes proved why he is the NFL‘s Most Valuable Player as he shrugged off an ankle injury to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a dramatic 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday to claim their second Super Bowl in four years.
Kansas City’s hopes of returning home with the Lombardi trophy looked bleak late in the opening half when Mahomes appeared to re-injure the right ankle that had been a major worry coming into the game.
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Grimacing in pain after a tackle, Mahomes hobbled off the field and slammed his helmet to the turf as the Chiefs headed into halftime trailing 24-14.
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But when the teams returned after the break a resilient Mahomes produced a heroic effort, tossing two fourth-quarter touchdowns and engineering a final drive to set up Harrison Butker’s 27-yard game-winning field goal with eight seconds to play.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Glendale; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
The word “Bennifer” might include flashbacks to frosted lip gloss and butterfly clips, but everything comes back in style eventually. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are spending time together, nearly 20 years after their romance took the world by storm.
Affleck has reportedly been getting picked up in a white SUV that takes him to Lopez’s Los Angeles home. It’s easy to understand why they’d keep their hangouts on the down-low when remembering their high-profile romance.
The pair first connected in 2002 on the set of the ill-fated Gigli. The two played gangsters who fall in love while attempting to kidnap a neurodivergent man. The movie flopped at the box office and among critics, who claimed Affleck and Lopez didn’t have much chemistry.
It was a different story off-screen. Lopez filed for divorce from second husband Cris Judd in June 2002, and she went public with the Good Will Hunting star after.
The “Waiting for Tonight” singer had another rock on her finger by November. Affleck proposed with a 6-carat pink diamond that had smaller white diamonds on the sides.
The ring caught plenty of media attention as did J. Lo’s “Jenny From the Block” music video. Paparazzi caught Bennifer filming in various cities throughout the fall before the clip was finally released in November. It included plenty of scenes of the couple showing their affection for each other.
The duo even welcomed Dateline’s Pat O’Brien into their Vancouver rental home to discuss their relationship, but they wouldn’t say exactly when they fell in love. “You can’t pinpoint it,” Lopez said. “We became friends first. That is the honest to God truth.”
Their wedding was set for September 2003, and Lopez said she’d change her name to Jennifer Affleck after the wedding. However, they never made it to the altar, canceling just days before the ceremony due to “excessive media attention.”
Though it didn’t work out, Affleck and Lopez have only been kind to each other in the press. “We just happened to be together at the birth of the tabloids, and it was like ‘Oh, my God.’ It was just a lot of pressure,” she told PeopleTV’s The Jess Cagle Interview in 2016.
She continued, “I think different time, different thing, who knows what could’ve happened, but there was a genuine love there.”
Affleck, meanwhile, praised her in InStyle in April 2021 as “the hardest-working person I’ve come across in this business. She has great talent, but she has also worked very hard for her success, and I’m so happy for her that she seems, at long last, to be getting the credit she deserves.”
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Will Ferrell enters the worlds of “Army of the Dead,” “Squid Game,” “Bridgerton,” and “Stranger Things” in General Motors and Netflix’s joint Super Bowl commercial.
The two companies first announced their partnership with two teaser ads earlier in February. In the commercial, Ferrell promotes how Netflix productions employ GM’s electric vehicles to lighten their carbon footprint.
Ferrell gets thrown through the Netflix content gauntlet in the commercial, getting bit by a zombie from Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead” and trying to pass as Gaten Matarazzo in a “Stranger Things” spoof.
“The more we see electric vehicles show up in this type of binge-worthy content, the faster everyone gets used to them,” said Deborah Wahl, General Motors’ chief marketing officer.
It would seem that the General Motors is doubling down on its commitment to respond to the worsening global climate. Just two years ago, the company vowed to develop 30 new electric vehicle models by 2025.
According to Wahl, GM’s plan is to continue using TV commercials to boost recognition of new EVs like the Chevrolet Bolt EUV, the GMC Hummer EV Pickup and the Cadillac Lyriq. However, they company also plans to employ product placement in streaming to access consumers.
As of last year, Netflix agreed to an integration deal brokered by UTA that would mean placing at least one electric vehicle in every series or movie that it directly produced. Both companies have maintained that GM is not paying Netflix to push its vehicles in the streamer’s offerings, nor has GM made any financial commitment toward commercials on Netflix’s ad-funded tier.
The Super Bowl has always been home to some of the buzziest marketing of the year, but in addition to the star-studded commercials, major film and TV studios have used the most-watched TV event of the year to draw attention to their upcoming projects. That’s certainly the case for the 2023 Super Bowl, for which Warner Bros. made a big splash with the first trailer for “The Flash,” Paramount teased everything from “Scream VI” to “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and Disney showcased plenty from its upcoming slate. And of course there’s the “Fast X” spot, for which you can watch the extended trailer below.
We’ve rounded up all the Super Bowl 2023 trailers in one handy post, just in case you missed anything. Check them out below.
“Fast X”
Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have outsmarted, out-nerved and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced: A terrifying threat emerging from the shadows of the past who’s fueled by blood revenge, and who is determined to shatter this family and destroy everything—and everyone—that Dom loves, forever.
In 2011’s “Fast Five,” Dom and his crew took out nefarious Brazilian drug kingpin Hernan Reyes and decapitated his empire on a bridge in Rio De Janeiro. What they didn’t know was that Reyes’ son, Dante (Jason Momoa), witnessed it all and has spent the last 12 years masterminding a plan to make Dom pay the ultimate price.
Dante’s plot will scatter Dom’s family from Los Angeles to the catacombs of Rome, from Brazil to London and from Portugal to Antarctica. New allies will be forged and old enemies will resurface. But everything changes when Dom discovers that his own 8-year-old son (Leo Abelo Perry, Black-ish) is the ultimate target of Dante’s vengeance.
Directed by Louis Leterrier (Clash of the Titans, The Incredible Hulk), Fast X stars returning cast members Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Jason Statham, John Cena and Scott Eastwood, with Oscar® winner Helen Mirren and Oscar® winner Charlize Theron.
The film also features new cast members including Oscar-winner Brie Larson as Tess, a rogue representative from the Agency; Alan Richtson (“Reacher”) as Aimes, the new head of the Agency who doesn’t hold the same fondness for Dom’s crew as his predecessor, Mr. Nobody; Daniela Melchior (“The Suicide Squad”) as a Brazilian street racer with a powerful tie to Dom’s past; and legendary Oscar-winner Rita Moreno as Dom and Mia’s Abuelita Toretto.
“Scream VI”
Following the latest Ghostface killings, the four survivors leave Woodsboro behind and start a fresh chapter. In “Scream VI,” Melissa Barrera (“Sam Carpenter”), Jasmin Savoy Brown (“Mindy Meeks-Martin”), Mason Gooding (“Chad Meeks-Martin”), Jenna Ortega (“Tara Carpenter”), Hayden Panettiere (“Kirby Reed”) and Courteney Cox (“Gale Weathers”) return to their roles in the franchise alongside Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Liana Liberato, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda, Tony Revolori, Josh Segarra, and Samara Weaving.
“Scream VI” opens in theaters on March 10.
“Dungeons & Dragons”
A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in what’s described as “a hilarious and action-packed adventure.”
The cast includes Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman, Daisy Head and Hugh Grant. “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” opens in theaters on March 31.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
The new trailer puts the spotlight on the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), the unethical scientist responsible for turning an innocent raccoon into the gun-wielding Rocket through painful surgery and genetic manipulation. We even see Rocket get marked with the experiment tag “89P13.”
“He didn’t want to make things perfect,” bemoans Rocket. “He just hated things the way they are.”
Writer-director James Gunn, who is bringing his time with Marvel to an end as he prepares to launch a rebooted DC Universe, has said that “Vol. 3” will mark the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy in its current iteration. Dave Bautista has also said that this will be his last film as Drax the Destroyer. Whether this means that Drax and possibly other Guardians will be killed off by the end of the film remains to be seen, but there are shots of Star-Lord crying and his broken body being held.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
Set in 1969, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” sees Jones unraveling a mystery against the backdrop of the space race. While plot details have remained tightly sealed in a vault underneath Cairo, we do know that Mads Mikkelsen plays the heavy, a maybe-not-so-former-Nazi now employed by NASA; Phoebe Waller-Bridge is Jones’ goddaughter; and franchise stalwart John Rhys-Davies return.
James Mangold takes over directorial duties from Steven Spielberg, who had directed all of the previous entries (Spielberg stayed on as producer) and co-wrote the screenplay with Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth.
“Air”
As the NFL crowns its next champion, Amazon Studios released a Super Bowl trailer for “Air,” a film that tells the story of how a multibillion-dollar shoe empire was built around another legendary sports champion: Michael Jordan.
“Air” is the latest film made by longtime partners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, with both men starring and producing with Affleck directing. Affleck plays Nike founder Phil Knight while Damon plays Nike marketing exec Sonny Vaccaro, the man who signed Michael Jordan to the most lucrative shoe deal in sports history before his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls. EGOT winner Viola Davis stars as Jordan’s mom.
“Creed 3”
Michael B. Jordan’s third round as Adonis Creed will be his first as a director. His opponent will be Jonathan Majors as Damian, Adonis’ childhood friend who went to jail and spent his youth behind bars while Adonis was adopted by Apollo Creed’s widow, Mary Anne. Envious of Creed’s success, Damian challenges him to a title fight at Dodger Stadium, where Apollo’s son must defend everything he has achieved.
“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”
After nearly five years, the Autobots and Decepticons are back, and this time they’ve got the Maximals in tow. Paramount’s Super Bowl TV spot offered a first glimpse at Pete Davidson as Mirage, a new Autobot who lived a luxurious life back on Cybertron before coming to Earth and, befitting his old money roots, transforms into a Porsche 911 Carrera.
Elon Musk had a prime seat at State Farm Stadium for Super Bowl LVII. Fox Sports cameras captured the maverick billionaire sitting with Fox Corp. and News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch as well as his daughter, producer and investor Elisabeth Murdoch.
Fox’s cameras panned to a shot of the starry group in a stadium sky box about halfway through the third quarter of the big game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles have dominated through most of the game so far although the Chiefs are keeping it competitive.
The fleeting shot of Rupert Murdoch during the Super Bowl televised by the broadcast network he launched in 1986 may have been strategically placed to assure Wall Street and others that the mogul of media moguls is still up and around despite his 91 years. The Australia-born media baron will turn 92 on March 11. He appeared to be engaging in that most American of activities: eating a hot dog.
But the sight of the older and younger Murdoch with Musk is sure to ignite a flurry of speculation about possible activity between Murdoch’s businesses and Musk’s many investments. Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter in October has been largely a debacle, with the social media platform seeing an exodus of staff and advertising dollars.
Based in the U.K., Elisabeth Murdoch is a principal in the content banner Sister with partners Stacey Snider (the former head of the 20th Century Fox film studio) and British producer Jane Featherstone.
(Pictured: Elisabeth Murdoch, Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch and an unidentified person at Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.)
Touchdown in Arizona! Rihanna made a triumphant return to live performance with a Super Bowl halftime show that was well worth the wait — and not just because she revealed that she is pregnant with her second child.
It’s been five years since Rihanna’s last live performance, when she dueted with DJ Khaled at the 2018 Grammys on #1 single “Wild Thoughts.” (Rihanna’s fans, who call themselves the “the Navy,” have been waiting seven years for a full album since “Anti” in 2016.)
In fairness, the 34-year-old has been busy. Rihanna had a son last year with rapper A$AP Rocky, while overseeing the growth of two radically inclusive beauty and fashion businesses, Fenty Beauty and Fenty x Savage. Along the way, she became a billionaire.
Rihanna’s 13-minute set at the Super Bowl LVIII — known in some corners of the internet as a “Rihanna concert interrupted by a football game” — was a confident performance by a star at the height of her powers.
First, the fashion. Rihanna wore a Loewe boiler suit, a custom breastplate by It Brit designer J.W. Anderson and two different Alaia coats — all in cherry red. Her MM6 Martin Margiela x Salomon Low Cross sneakers grounded the look, while her multiple Messika jewellery pieces brought the sparkle.
Rihanna entered the field via a floating platform, surrounded by a naval fleet’s worth of tracksuit-clad dancers in white. The set was reportedly made by 300 to 400 people in just eight minutes.
Rihanna ran through a medley of her greatest hits: “B*itch Better Have My Money,” “Only Girl In The World,” “Rude Boy,” “Work Work Work,” “All of The Lights,” “Run This Town” and “Umbrella.”
It was a high-octane, perfectly choreographed show of banger after banger. The highlight was the finale, Rihanna’s hit “Diamonds,” performed high above the field on a swaying stage, as winking lights in the crowd appeared to reference the song’s titular sparklers. Rihanna clearly has no fear of heights.
She also clearly felt no need to share her stage. Despite rumours to the contrary, no other artists made an appearance during her Super Bowl halftime show, including Drake. Instead, in a show of total control, Rihanna took a moment to powder her nose (using a Fenty Beauty compact, naturally) halfway through the set.
It was a power move perhaps only rivalled by the fact that Rihanna made the baby announcement of all baby announcements, when she appeared to cradle a burgeoning bump. After the show, her rep confirmed that yes, Rihanna is pregnant with her second child.
The baby reveal wasn’t the only surprise. That fact that Rihanna performed at the halftime show at all raised eyebrows. She had previously turned down the gig to stand in solidarity with quarterback Colin Kaepernick and his protest against police brutality.
Speaking to Vogue in 2019, Rihanna said she declined an offer to do the halftime show because she “couldn’t be a sellout.”
“I couldn’t be an enabler,” she told the magazine. “There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.”
There were rumblings that her mentor, Jay Z — who has partnered with the NFL to improve their social justice efforts — may have influenced Rihanna’s decision to say yes this time round.
Either way: What a show! Eh-eh.
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SBIFF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and education organization dedicated to making a positive impact utilizing the power of film. SBIFF is a year-round organization that is best known for its main film festival that takes place each year in February. Over the past 30 years the Santa Barbara International Film Festival has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 90,000 attendees and offering 11days of 200+ films, tributes and symposiums. We bring the best of independent and international cinema to Santa Barbara, and we continue to expand our year-round operation to include a wide range of educational programming, fulfilling our mission to engage, enrich and inspire our community through film.
In June 2016, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. The theatre is SBIFF’s new home and is the catalyst for our program expansion. This marks the first time that Santa Barbara has had a 24/7 community center focused on the art of film and is an incredible opportunity to expand our mission of educational outreach. Particularly important to SBIFF is making available high quality learning opportunities for underserved and vulnerable populations. Our programs and reach are more robust than ever before.
SBIFF 23 Uncovered surprise | Wade in the Water
We absolutely were very happy to discover this, a surprise that needs to be seen. Great community.
The secret is well kept, you need to discover the vibe as soon as the film starts.
Wade in the Water: A Journey into Black Surfing and Aquatic Culture
A documentary that reclaims the 1,000-year-old tradition of Black surfing and aquatic culture—inspiring the next generation of Black surfers.
Wade in the Water: A Journey into Black Surfing and Aquatic Culture (2023)
reclaims the 1,000-year-old tradition of Black surfing. Braiding historical accounts with modern-day testimonials, the film dismantles the racial barriers of conventional surf culture, delves into the overlooked history of Black surfing’s legacy, and honors its current movement—inspiring the next generation of Black surfers.
Description :
Piloted by historical experts and community leaders in the BIPOC surfing movement, Wade in the Water (2023) reclaims the 1,000-year-old Black surfing tradition—inspiring the next generation of Black surfers. Braiding historical accounts, footage, and recreations, modern-day testimonials, live-action shots, and interviews, the film delves into the overlooked history of Black surfing’s legacy.
Guided by compelling voiceover narration, the journey begins with Prof. Kevin Dawson from UC Merced as he chronicles the evolution of aquatic African culture, from the first written account of surfing in the 1640s to its place in the context of 1800s America.
Flowing into the 1900s, historian and heritage conservationist Alison Rose Jefferson, M.H.C. | Ph.D., honors the lives, legacies, and struggles of Santa Monica’s pioneering African American surfers; thoroughly recounting their clashes against Jim Crow laws that legalized and enforced racial segregation.
What follows are extensive introductions to and insights from contemporary Black surfing legends, icons, and community leaders, as they discuss the generations responsible for cultivating Black surfing’s traditions and spiritual principles. These individuals are currently spearheading programs that are establishing equitable access to surfing in BIPOC communities, women’s surf clubs, and public policies that promote environmental stewardship and protection.
Featuring:
● Sharon Schaffer | First Black female professional surfer
● Selema Masekela | American television host, sports commentator, actor,
singer, surfer
● Tony Corley | Founder of Black Surfing Association (est. 1975)
● Rick Blocker | Black surfing advocate
● Greg Rachel | Co-Founder of Black Surfers Collective
● Vicky Williams | Surfer who shared waves with Nicolás Rolando
Gabaldón: Nick was the first documented Black and Latino surfer in Southern California.
David Mesfin – Director, Writer, and Producer
Born in Ethiopia, David migrated to the United States at an early age. Growing up in St. Augustine, Florida, he was immersed in a vibrant local surf culture that conceived his passion for the ocean and nature.
After moving to the West Coast to receive his Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication and Advertising from California State University, Long Beach, David connected with a community of Black surfers that introduced him to the historical context of surfing in Africa.
These formative experiences, which connect his lifelong passion and ancestral roots, spawned the creative inspiration and community-based collaborations that have bloomed into Wade in the Water.
Beyin Abraha – Executive Director
Born in Ethiopia, of Eritrean descent, and raised in Toronto, Beyin’s introduction to surfing came through a college roommate. He’s been hooked ever since.
In his day to day life, Abraha works with Beats by Dre as a Mechanical Product Design Engineer specialized on in-ear headphones. He has also enjoyed similar positions at Apple with the iPhone design team as well as at Tesla working on the iconic Model 3 electric vehicle in the past.
As an active community member, Abraha is the project manager and founding member of Sofly Surf School, an organization that gives free surf lessons in Huntington Beach, and holds the position of vice-chair on the board for PaddleforPeace, an organization offering holistic approaches to introducing people to the practice of surfing and protecting the ocean.
After being contacted by David to be featured in Wade in the Water (2022), Beyin’s passion for surfing and community connections soon saw him transition into an integral role of bringing the project to life on shoot days as well as behind the scenes making sure things are on track.
Teferi Seifu – Editor
Teferi Seifu is an Editor and Producer best known for his work on feature films The Runner (2021), Bad Impulse (2019) and The Bandit Hound (2016) available on streaming platforms.
He is in pre-production for three feature films with his longtime director Michelle Danner . Other projects include Sígueme (2018) , Dream Date (2019), Love and Voodoo (2015), Dock 24 (2019) and No Actors Allowed (2014) premiered at film festivals worldwide.
Kira Gilmore – Producer
Kira is an Executive Producer in advertising with work spanning across broadcast, social and digital. She enjoys jumping from big-budget Super Bowl spots to smaller budget social projects, finding creative ways to ensure the highest production value possible and digging into research on the best ways to turn the creative vision into reality. Wade in the Water is her first foray into feature-length and documentary filmmaking – a new experience she’s excited to be learning from.
Kira grew up surrounded by surf culture in Huntington Beach, and has been working with local activist groups since 2020 to campaign against racism in the city. Wade in the Water is a convergence of things she’s passionate about: filmmaking, the ocean, and working to educate wherever possible to create a more kind and equitable world.
Micheal Warner – Producer
Michael Warner is a double Emmy Award winning producer and director with a passion for telling stories that affect positive social change. Whether he is producing documentary films about injustice and inequity, or directing public service campaigns designed to challenge assumptions and rattle the status quo, Michael’s work reflects his deep belief that well told stories have the power to change the world.
Michael’s professional path has provided opportunity in nearly every production department imaginable. Michael began his career as an actor, and quickly graduated to casting, art department, location services, editorial, camera, sound. lighting, and finally producing and directing.
Michael spent several years working in the feature film industry in Hollywood before focusing his attention on broadcast television, and documentary projects for MTV, ESPN, ABC, HBO, Discovery Networks and The Travel Channel. In 2012 Michael co-founded Frontage Road Studios, a full service production company handling a wide variety of commercial, public service, and corporate accounts.
Michael’s unlimited creativity, range of experience, commitment to cause based work, and big-picture perspective have made him a key contributor to Wade In The Water.
Xahil McDonald – PR Coordinator (He/Him)
Born in Seattle, of Afro-Latino, Filipino, Maya, and European ancestry, Xahil is an equity-minded and passionate emerging writer who wants to change the world. Using words to cultivate common-ground, he holds space for his audience to examine their humanity.
After a successful NCAA DII soccer career, Xahil left fútbol in the rearview and transferred his athletic energy into surfing—currently living among las playas hermosas de México as a freelance copywriter.
Xahil is convinced that stories are where we start—our inception. They are our foundations of being. They are the framework for our navigation of relationships to land, to people, and to the intersection(s) of the two. He also understands that traditionally dominant narratives are rooted in inequity and oppression—and the time to change that is now.
Partnering with Wade in the Water is an organic manifestation of his life’s interests; equity-based stories, surfing, and changing the world.
Alison Rose Jefferson, M.H.C. | Ph.D
Alison Rose Jefferson is an independent historian and third generation Californian. Presently, her research and professional interest revolve around the African American experience in Southern California during the Great Migration of the twentieth century and Jim Crow era. Jefferson is also author of Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era (University of Nebraska Press, 2020).
Dr. Professor Kevin Dawson Ph.D
Kevin Dawson is the Associate Professor of History and Interdisciplinary Humanities Graduate Group Chair at the University of California, Merced. He is also the author of The Undercurrents of Power and recipient of the Harriet Tubman Book Prize. Prof. Dawson’s contributions dive deep into West Africa’s rich aquatic culture as well as the spiritual significance of maritime activities to these communities.
Selema Masekela
Selema Masekela is a beloved commentator, journalist, musician, and producer best known for his work presenting NBC’s Red Bull Signature Series; ESPN’s Summer and Winter X Games, which he hosted for 13 years; his cultural reporting in South Africa during the 2010 FIFA World Cup; and hosting E!’s Daily 10.
Organizations Black Surfing Association
Established in 1975 by Tony Corley. He began organizing informal fundraisers for junior swimming and lifeguard programs after learning that Black children were statistically much more likely to drown than white children in the United States. He went on to submit a letter to the editor of SURFER in hopes of finding fellow Black surfers who would be interested in connecting and surfing with him. SURFER published that letter in January 1974, which prompted a slew of responses. The organization continues to empower Black youth in Southern California and Rockaway, New York in partnership with Lou Harris.
Black Surfers Collective
Established in 2011, the BSC promotes diversity and cultural awareness in the sport of surfing through community-based activities, outreach, and camaraderie.Our goal is to sponsor family-oriented activities that get folks down to the beach to share the love of the ocean. These seaside events are used to generate public interest in the sport, the history of surfing, beach culture, and ocean stewardship.
Sofly Surf School
Sofly Surf School was founded by Sahfilli Matturi. Sahfilli grew up in Long Beach, has over 15 years of experience surfing and started a surf school based in Sunset Beach (OC) in 2021 with some of his friends to pass on the stoke. Sofly Surf School provides free classes for all ages and experience levels on every second Saturday of the month. Their goal is to foster community through the fun, healing, and uniting force of the ocean.
Color the Water
A community for BIPOC to reclaim space in the ocean, Color The Water began as a way to fight racism with joy after the murder of George Floyd. We started to offer free surf lessons and media for BIPOC in the LA area. Now we are a diverse, inclusive, anti-racist safe space for hundreds of BIPOC surfers.
Black Surf Club Santa Cruz
Black Surf Club Santa Cruz aims to tear down barriers that oftentimes keep our oceans segregated. By taking a strategic focus on both physical and spiritual wellness, Black Surf Club Santa Cruz aims to create a community of healing for our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Community here in Santa Cruz. Black Surf Club empowers the Black community to reclaim their space in the ocean through surfing, spiritual wellness, water safety, and community.
Cast
Alison Rose Jefferson M.H.C | Ph.D. Rick Blocker Gregory Rachal Gregory Jr. Rachal
Marie Rachal Kevin Dawson Ph. D Sahfilli Matturi Tre’lan Michael Jessica Williams Kayiita Johnson Lizelle Jackson Esabella Grace Bonner Sidy Camara Chris Dennis Sharon Schaffer Vicky Williams Beyin Abraha Natasha Smith Sierra Raequel
Mateo Canu Tony Corley Julian Willams Dedon Kamathi Kody Gruing Remi T. Smith Christine Lawson Selema Masekela Nathan Fluellen Angel Jardine Keano Jardine Brick
● Office of Supervisor Holly J. Michell – 2nd Supervisorial District, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
About Santa Barbara
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has star wattage and a wealth of premieres in a Mediterrean-style city by the sea.
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The team of editors of the The Santa Barbara Blog:Carol Marshall, Felicia Tomasko, Vanessa McMahon, Marla and Mark Hamperin, Kim Deisler and Bruno Chatelin
The biggest movies of the year share the spotlight with one of the years biggest sporting events, the 2023 Super Bowl. With the release of the brand new Super Bowl movie trailers.
Super Bowl Movie Trailers are something entertainment fans look forward to every year, with studios and advertisers vying for the precious 30 minute slots of air time. With more than hundreds of millions of people watching the show, this makes it the prime opportunity for movie trailers and commercials to be aired. Last year, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was the most-watched spot on social media in the 24 hours after the Super Bowl ended with 93 million views.
Here are the trailers and Big Game spots that came out during the Super Bowl in 2023.
Fast X
The trailer for Fast and The Furious 10 which came out before the Super Bowl delivers an action packed look at the final film in the franchise. The film which features a new villain, Dante from Dom’s past threatens to tear the fast family apart, making Dom’s worst nightmare a reality, losing a member of his family. Dante’s plot will scatter Dom’s family from Los Angeles to the catacombs of Rome, from Brazil to London and from Portugal to Antarctica. New allies will be forged and old enemies will resurface. But everything changes when Dom discovers that his son is the ultimate target of Dante’s vengeance. We also got a Big Game spot which premiered during the Super Bowl. The film premieres May 19.
Scream VI
Ghostface is taking over New York in this sequel. Starring starring Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega and In the Heights’ Melissa Barrera. Courtney Cox who has appeared in all six installments of the Scream franchise is also returning as news reporter Gale Weathers. Hayden Panettiere who starred in Scream 4 alongside Emma Roberts is reprising her role. The film follows Four survivors of the Ghostface murders as they leave Woodsboro behind for a fresh start in New York City. However, they soon find themselves in a fight for their lives when a new killer embarks on a bloody rampage. Premiering March 10.
65
Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt star in this Sci-Fi thriller about an astronaut who crashes on an unknown planet, only to discover he’s actually stranded on Earth — 65 million years ago. Now, with only one chance at a rescue, pilot Mills (Driver) and the only other survivor, Koa (Greenblatt), must make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous creatures. The official trailer for 65 gave us a thrilling look at what’s to come, the 30 second Super Bowl TV spot gives us a glimpse at all the prehistoric action there is in store. Coming to cinemas March 10.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. Starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman, Daisy Head and Hugh Grant Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in a hilarious and action-packed adventure which comes to theaters March 31.
Air
Directed by Ben Affleck, starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman and Viola Davis. Air follows the history of shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro, and how he led Nike in its pursuit of the greatest athlete in the history of sports: Michael Jordan, coming to theaters on April 5.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Since there were already multiple trailers out for the movie Marvel didn’t release a new one at the Super Bowl. Instead they’ve released a new Heineken branded TV spot featuring Ant-Man. The previous Heineken branded TV spot has received over 30 million views on YouTube. The film premieres on February 17.
The Flash
After getting a look at the brand new teaser poster for “The Flash” movie, DC promised fans the release of the official trailer, following the teaser that was released in October of 2021 at DC Fandome, and they delivered. The Incredible new trailer gives us a full on action packed, multiversal, metahuman look at the upcoming Flash movie. Despite the controversy surrounding a movie, you have to admit a good trailer when you see one. With the return of some old faces and the addition of some new ones the film is shaping up to be quite exciting. Starring Ezra Miller, the film follows the Flash as he travels through time to prevent the murder of his mother, but unwittingly causes changes that result in the creation of a multiverse. A Flash Big Game TV Spot was released as well. Premiering June 16.
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3
Written and directed by James Gunn. In a hilarious and emotional new trailer we see The Guardians of the Galaxy adjusting to life on Knowhere, but when parts of Rocket’s past resurface, Peter Quill must lead the Guardians on a dangerous mission to protect him that could lead to the team dissolving. We also get a better look at Adam Warlock. Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Sylvester Stallone and Sean Gunn. Coming to cinemas May 5.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
The seventh installment in the Transformers film series and a stand-alone sequel to 2018’s Bumblebee, starring Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Vélez and Tobe Nwigwe in his film debut, as well the voice talents of Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman, and Peter Dinklage. Set in the 1990s, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on an action-packed, globetrotting adventure as the Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons join the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth. Coming June 9.
Creed 3
Directed by Michael B. Jordan and starring Jordan, Jonathan Majors and Tessa Thompson. The first trailer released in October 2022 and gave us a look at Adonis Creed, still dominating the boxing world, thriving in his career and family life. When Damian, a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy resurfaces after serving time in prison, he’s eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian — a fighter who has nothing to lose. Premiering March 3.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
The fifth installment of the Indiana Jones film series stars Harrison Ford in his fifth and final portrayal of archaeologist Indiana Jones. John Rhys-Davies also reprises his role as Sallah from past films, with new cast members including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Thomas Kretschmann, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Olivier Richters, Ethann Isidore, and Mads Mikkelsen.
Disney100 Special
With Disney’s 100 year celebrations underway we we treated to a special look back at some of Disney’s classic films such as “The Lion King”, “Cinderella”, their recent hits like “Encanto” as well as Disney’s biggest franchises such as “Marvel”, “Star Wars” and “Avatar”. The special is full of emotion and nostalgia, as well as a sense of great appreciation for Disney.
The Super Bowl never fails to deliver from start to finish, and it always proves its not just sports fans it’s entertaining for.
Rihanna rubbing her belly during her halftime show at the Super Bowl on Sunday had fans wondering: Is she pregnant again?
After the resulting speculation got the word “pregnant” trending on Twitter, reps for the Grammy winner confirmed to several outlets that the superstar is expecting her second child with A$AP Rocky.
She gave birth to their first child in May 2022.
During her show, Rihanna wore a loose-fitting red jumpsuit with room to spare around her belly. She performed a medley of her biggest hits, including “Diamonds,” “Rude Boy,” and “We Found Love.”
Rihanna received her first Oscar nomination this year for her song “Lift Me Up,” which plays at the end of Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The awards ceremony will be held Sunday, March 12.
For the record, it’s been 12 years since Beyoncé revealed her baby bump at the Video Music Awards.
Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear is out later this month and it received a hilarious Super Bowl poster. Coming from the class of 1985, the poster shows stats for the bear as if it was a football player. Impressively, it has 20+ kills and has consumed 35,000 grams of cocaine.
“Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, this wild dark comedy finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists, and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500- pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of cocaine and gone on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow … and blood,” reads the official synopsis for the film.
Check out the Cocaine Bear Super Bowl poster below:
Cocaine Bear is directed by Banks from a screenplay written by Jimmy Warden. The film stars Keri Russell, Brooklyn Prince, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Margo Martindale, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Christian Convery-Jennings, Matthew Rhys, Isiah Whitlock Jr, Kristofer Hivju, Hannah Hoekstra, Ray Liotta, and Aaron Holliday.
The movie is scheduled to arrive in theaters on February 24, pitting it against several independent films like Jesus Revolution and Ambush.
How the Ukrainian frontline became the unlikely setting for this portrait of a halfway house for vulnerable children.
Documentary filmmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont won a Peabody Award in 2017 for “The Distant Barking of Dogs,” which focused on a young boy living in the Ukraine with his grandmother during wartime. When Wilmont learned that she was deathly ill, he wanted to know: What might become of that boy? He began visiting orphanages near the Ukrainian frontline and quickly learned: The institutions were too big, too much the same. Except for one.
“There was such a different feeling,” the Danish director told me on Zoom. “There was a carpet on the floor, and it was worn out. The paint on the walls was old and chipped, but there were kids’ drawings hanging on the wall. And in one of the rooms nearby, I could see an elderly lady trying to teach some of the girls music. A lot of small kids were running around in chaos and laughing and chasing each other and at the end of the corridor, on the old rocker, was Margarita. She was hugging two kids while she was shouting something into the phone. There was just this sense of heart and comfort. I got super interested in finding out, ‘Is it like this every day? And if it is like this every day, what is it that makes this place so special?’”
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You see what the filmmaker describes and more in his heartbreaking “A House Made of Splinters,” which is a surprise Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Feature. The film debuted at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where it won Best Directing in the World Documentary section. It will make its national broadcast premiere on PBS as part of POV’s summer 2023 season.
What the filmmaker discovered was a smaller halfway house that cared for neglected or abused children, often of drug- or alcohol- addicted parents, while their cases moved through the courts. Some went on to bigger orphanages; others found foster homes. The home’s managers watched “Distant Barking” and welcomed his tiny crew: Wilmont as camera and sound, and an assistant director who also served as an interpreter.
When choosing who to follow, “most of all, it’s important for me that they’re curious about who I am and who my assistant director is,” he said. “They have that light in their eyes and they want to talk and they think that we’re funny and interesting to hang out with. That’s the first step to getting to know each other.”
Shooting “A House Made of Splinters”
Azad Safarov
He started with five kids. In the editing room, with great difficulty, he whittled it down to three: two girls and an intensely emotional boy who acted out while trying to take care of his younger siblings. Offering counsel during editing was Joshua Oppenheimer (“The Act of Killing”), whose company Final Cut for Real backed the film.
“I really wanted to include all of them,” Wilmont said. “But once the first cut was done, my editor and I found out — mathematically almost — that you need a certain amount of minutes with each child as a minimum for the film to be engaging. You want to to begin to sympathize and really live these kids’ lives, as opposed to it being a voyeuristic, more catalogue work. The hardest decision was to take away two of the other stories, but there was no way around it because otherwise it would have been a very cold film.”
Getting close to the kids required support. “We had close dialogue and collaboration with the social workers because they could teach me so many things about moving in an environment like this,” he said. “We were constantly discussing where our boundaries were. They knew where I was going.”
It helped that Wilmont had two young kids at home, he said. “And I love hanging out with them as much as I hang out with these guys. The hope is that that the kids can feel that. These kids need to be seen; they’ve been in a world where maybe not too much attention has been paid to them.”
Keeping the kids from performing for the camera was a challenge, “to make them understand that ‘No, no, no, no, I want you to be you,’” said Wilmot. “We spent a lot of time making them remember, ‘If there’s something you don’t want us to film, walk away, put up your hand, or turn away, or do something that lets us know that this is not what you want.’ When they did this, even though they were really great scenes, I put down the camera. When they saw this, it fostered some respect that I’m true to my word.”
The filmmaker considered shooting some parents at home, but decided against it. “I learned in that journey that their lives are much more complicated and nuanced,” he said. “I felt that I couldn’t film it without it being too easy to pass judgment. So I decided to leave that part out of the film, and only hear of or visualize the outside world from the perspective and the stories of the kids.”
One mother filmed at the halfway house “made quite an effort to clean herself up and and to present herself while she was there,” said Wilmot. “She has five kids with five different men. As a kid grows older she has to move on, so to speak, because the men that she chose were not the salt of the earth. That was her way of surviving, because she didn’t have a place of her own. Margarita said one reason a lot of these women leave their kids to the state is because after many years of trying to take care of them under conditions which they know are not ideal — living with a man who gets drunk every day or even violent maybe, but having no route of escape, they have nothing — they feel that having five meals a day at the orphanage is a better option.”
After production, producers hired a psychologist to be available to the kids if they wanted to talk. A psychologist was at the house on the first day of the Russian invasion; they said the kids were herded onto trains and taken for their own safety to the western parts of Ukraine. Later, some will likely go to Europe to temporary orphanages.
Even before the Ukraine war broke out, Wilmont began raising awareness for vulnerable children via an NGO. “When the 24th happened,” he said, “it became the number-one important thing with the film to try and raise as much money for them to have so they can continue their work, helping not only our kids from the film, but also the rest of the country with all of the internally displaced.”
The film’s main character is the house itself; threading its narrative is the voice of Margarita, who has worked there for 30 years. “I was thinking in the beginning that the house should have a voice, because so many destinies had been through that house,” said Wilmont. “And you know, if walls could talk, we could hear tales that would amaze us and horrify us and hopefully also we see the beauty and humanity. But it also occurred to me that these kids are what makes up this house. These kids have been a sliver of something different, but now they make up a whole.”
Some documentaries instill rage and inspire action. Some reveal and take you behind the scenes. Some speak to you directly and chase an explicitly political agenda to their finish. Some polemicize and educate. Some cut a path through an formerly erased history. And others, like 20 000 Days on Earth, draw you in emotionally and challenge the parameters of documentary-making.
Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s film does not reside comfortably within any of the genres you might expect from a Nick Cave music film covering the 20,000th day of the legend’s life: rock ‘n’ roll doc, biopic, indie character study, MTV-style promo video. Rather, the filmmakers, by necessity, approached the film as they would a narrative feature, capturing Cave’s songwriting sessions; road trips in a black BMW with famous friends; pasta and anecdotes about Nina Simone and Jerry Lee Lewis, with bandmate Warren Ellis; a therapy session with psychoanalyst Darian Leader; and a rummage through Cave’s personal photographic archives. Cave himself provides the narration, ruminating about time and memory, the creative process, living in a story and telling it, and “the space where imagination and reality intersect.”
Nick Cave (left) and pop artist Kylie Minogue. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films
“We were very aware that we were telling a story rather than writing a biography,” says Forsyth. “We saw the film as a portrait of Nick, in the same way that you paint a portrait or you photograph a portrait. There are different ways of doing that that aren’t strictly journalistic, that can be more impressionistic, more like storytelling. Pretty simply, we set scenes up in a way that you’d set up a dramatic feature. There was a lot of art direction and there was a shooting script, for that reason. Once those things were in place and we were shooting the scenes, we shot it like you’d shoot a documentary—the cameras would take a step back out of the sightline and we’d be in a much more observational role.”
Nick Cave’s self-made status as a man of myth in popular culture also cemented the need for a fluid approach of scripted, structured, emotionally driven documentary that could evoke the images and words and sounds of the musician’s inner world, which his outer world has collapsed into over the decades. Says Forsyth, “We felt very strongly—with the mythology that surrounds Nick in particular, and characters like Nick who have been, for 35 years, creating that mythology and building that mask-that there comes a point where they become the thing they’ve created. There’s been a real tendency, particularly in music films, that somehow we can get behind the mask and reveal something more authentic, revealing the normality of these peoples’ lives: a rock star cooking his own dinner, or driving the kids to school, or washing his car-an ordinariness that we can identify with.”
Nick Cave with his kids. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films
Though Cave comments at one point that his ex-Birthday Party bandmates, like the deceased Roland S Howard, seemed to have arrived in the world fully formed, the film gives the same impression about Cave himself. “We wanted to give that really calcified sense of character that Nick has,” says Pollard. “There isn’t a normal bloke in there. He’s gone. He’s become the thing he’s created, and he is that thing all the time. It’s not a bad thing; it’s an amazing, impressive thing. But it does mean that it’s hard to feel a normal human connection to him.”
And yet, Pollard maintains that “two different Nicks” still co-exist. “When you talk about the Nick and the mythology that he chooses to promote, what we’re more accurately talking about is what the media chooses to promote. He chooses to hang onto some of those very powerful tropes like the black crow king, and we want him to be this dark, Gothic source, and he is, as a performer, tremendously imposing. But as a person, and even in interviews, he’s remarkably open; he’s funny as hell. And we just set about documenting, capturing, portraying the Nick we know—and the Nick we know laughs a lot.”
Nick Cave with bandmate Warren Ellis. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films
“Honestly,” Pollard continues, “a lot of the articulation you hear from Nick came about in the edit. That was very much a crafted thing—to take it back into the world of cinema fiction, so it assumed this tightness and consideration. The original discussions we recorded were a lot more sprawling. In his conversation with [the psychoanalyst] Darian Leader, they end on that hanging question of his dad’s death. That didn’t happen at all in reality; that was totally constructed in the edit. Nick talked for about an hour about his dad and finding out about his death—and it didn’t have that power. It wasn’t working on those two levels that Ian and I are often looking for: It’s not just what we’re telling you; it’s what we’re making you feel and showing you. That’s what paints the whole picture. By positioning the talk of his dad’s death at the end of the interview as this pregnant, unanswered question, we were able to also make you feel the emotional truth: that the death of Nick’s father has had an enormous influence over everything else he’s ever done, and is still unresolved. His father’s death at that age [Cave was 19] is an open, hanging thing. We knew that we could craft that and make you feel it. So some of the truths are also our truths; they’re the decisions we made as filmmakers.”
“We recognized that every type of documentary-making is a manipulation of its subject,” says Forsythe. “There’s been so much change through reality television and all these things that have made audiences be aware of sophisticated ideas to do with mediatization and the presentation of an image. If we’d made a film, maybe five or ten years ago, and shot it TV-style, with grainy, handheld cameras, I think everyone would’ve come to the assumption that it was very ‘real,’ very authentic, that we were merely following Nick around. Because these days, this new visual imagery is part of our culture; shows like Homeland and American Idol and all of these devices are very familiar to an audience now. They know they’re being manipulated. “
That knowledge of manipulation makes it an exciting time for Forsyth and Pollard to venture into documentary territory. In the last decade or so, we’ve moved from director-dominant, polemical films like Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 and Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth that have impacted the international conversation, to hybrids like Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing and Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell that have tested, the possibilities of the documentary form, for both filmmakers and audiences
But in the end, it was the unavoidable commercial process of distributing the film that nudged the filmmakers toward a tangibly circumscribed cinematic area. “When we first started,” says Pollard, “we didn’t really think about what sort of a film we were making. There was no need to classify it. We didn’t even think of it in terms of documentary or not. We just set about making a really good film. It was only when our sales agent was submitting to Sundance, we went, ‘OK, we’ve made a documentary!'”
Forsyth continues, “It’s something we’re very used to, having worked together as artists for 20 years. There always comes a point to define. People need to be able to label things to make them simple, either for administration or for understanding. ‘You’re a video artist…You’re a documentary-maker… You’re a singer/songwriter…’ It’s inevitable, but weird when it comes, because during the process of making, they’re not things that are at the forefront of my mind.”
More forefront was the driving idea of Cave’s fear of being forgotten. “You want your days on earth to have meant something,” says Pollard. “You want to leave however small a mark in the world, and I think that is what we all want to do. To be a spectacle but not to be remembered? That’s a tough dichotomy. [Cave’s] reason for existence is to be remarkable, to be the center of something, to be spectacular and to entertain.”
Lauren Carroll Harris is a Sydney-based writer and the author of Not at a Cinema Near You: Australia’s Film Distribution Problem, published through Currency House.
LONDON — There is no bigger cheerleader of awards season than Richard E. Grant.
He brings joy to the red carpet, snapping selfies with stars and posting congratulations to nominees on social media.
Now this enthusiasm has been tapped to host the EE BAFTA Film Awards on February 19 at the Royal Festival Hall.
“I’m an unabashed fan of movies and of talent and always have been. I’ve never been disingenuous or, you know, blase about that,” he says.
“I probably have to restrain myself from permanently taking selfies with every nominee and winner coming up on the stage.”
“From that point of view, I am the right fit for the job, hopefully,” he says.
Grant also knows how it feels to participate in awards season and sit, nervously, waiting for that career changing envelope to be opened. He was nominated as supporting actor at both the BAFTAs and Oscars in 2019 for “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
And he’s aware that, as a working actor, hosting has its challenges.
“Traditionally if you’re a comedian, your role is very clear to roast the audience. Whereas I’m an actor and, you know, even though I’m the vast vintage that I am now, I still want to work and collaborate with directors and actors and writers for the remainder of my breathing days. So roasting them is not really an option and not something that I want to do.”
When asked if there will be any humor in the ceremony — Grant has jokes.
“No, It’s going to be very, very serious. There’ll be no jokes and it will be … it’ll be brutally earnest,” he says, laughing.
Rebel Wilson got mixed reviews for her joke heavy turn as the BAFTA ceremony emcee last March, which at one point involved a cake of Benedict Cumberbatch’s face.
This year, “All Quiet on the Western Front” leads the nominees with 14. “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” both have 10 nominations.
As you’d expect, Grant knows quite a few of the nominees, having worked with EE Rising Star nominees Naomi Ackie and Daryl McCormack, plus Bill Nighy, Cate Blanchett and most of the “Banshees” cast.
But there will be big changes at the BAFTA Film Awards ceremony this year.
After six years of walking up the red carpeted steps into the Royal Albert Hall, nominees will be attending an event held beside the River Thames on London’s Southbank at the Royal Festival Hall.
Also, for the first time, the last 30 minutes of the show will be broadcast live on BBC One, as BAFTA moves towards the idea of a fully live ceremony.
“In an age where everything can be paused or fast forwarded or, you know, watched on at a later time, the thing of it being live gives it a kind of frisson and excitement and also the possibility that something can go fantastically well or really badly. And that’s always a good thing,” Grant says.
British rapper Lil Simz will be performing at the ceremony and both the prince and princess of Wales will be in the audience, as he is president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Grant, currently working with script writers on what he’ll be saying on stage, claims he’s more excited than nervous, adding he’ll probably be “levitating” on the big day.
“It is absolutely genuine,” he says of his boundless enthusiasm, “and it’s to the annoyance of some people.”
“Just surviving in show-business because it is, you know — for what it looks like from the outside — it is a profession that is has an enormous amount of rejection in built into it. So when people are recognized or succeed at what they’re doing and do it so brilliantly — I’m a great champion of that.”
We’re expecting to see the Sony Xperia 1 V at some point this year, and unofficial renders that have been posted online give us a good idea of what to expect in terms of the design aesthetics and the color options for this flagship smartphone.
The photos and videos shared by Green Smartphones (opens in new tab) and seasoned tipster OnLeaks (opens in new tab) (via Notebookcheck (opens in new tab)) show the phone from just about every angle, front and back. The handset is shown in both a black and a purple-ish shade.
We’ve also got a few specs here, though some of them are listed as “unconfirmed”: a 6.5-inch flat display, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, 16GB of RAM (up from 12GB last time), and a battery capacity of 5,000 mAh (matching the phone’s predecessor).
Camera upgrades
When it comes to the front and back cameras, this source says that we can expect a 12MP selfie camera on the front, and a triple-lens 48MP+12MP+12MP camera on the back – so the main sensor at least is getting a major upgrade from the Sony Xperia 1 IV.
The actual design of this year’s phone looks similar to what we saw in 2022, though the camera flash has been moved into the camera bump for a slightly neater look. There’s still a headphone jack and a recessed power button with an embedded fingerprint sensor.
We have actually had one previous leak regarding the design of the Sony Xperia 1 V, and these new renders match up with it, giving us more confidence that they’re accurate. If Sony follows last year’s schedule, we could see the handset in June.
Analysis: the same Xperia story
The narrative around the Sony Xperia flagship phones has generally been the same for several years now, and based on these newly revealed renders, it’s not going to change all that much during 2023 – for better or for worse.
While they’ve never enjoyed runaway success in terms of sales, the Xperia handsets have always impressed in terms of their displays and their camera capabilities. This is as you would expect considering all the other electronics that Sony develops.
So what limits the appeal? This particular Sony Xperia range has always been relatively expensive, and there are often minor drawbacks to worry about. In the case of the Sony Xperia 1 IV, we weren’t very impressed with the integrated fingerprint reader.
From what we’ve heard about the Sony Xperia 1 V up until this point, we’re once again going to get a smart-looking phone with an excellent display and camera setup – so let’s hope Sony manages to get the price down a little as well.
The trailer for Paramount’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the latest installment of the franchise based on the Hasbro toy line. Steven Caple Jr directs the new pic, which hits theaters June 9.
The cast includes Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback and the voices of Michelle Yeoh, Pete Davidson, Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Liza Koshy, John DiMaggio, David Sobolov, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Cristo Fernández and Tobe Nwigwe.
The plot is driven by a ‘90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduces a new breed of Transformer – the Maximals – to the existing battle on Earth between Autobots and Decepticons.
The screenplay is by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer & Josh Peters, and Erich Hoeber & Jon Hoeber. Hasbro is executive producing; Skydance is co-financing and executive producing; New Republic Pictures is also co-financing and executive producing.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts originally had a June 2022 release date, but shifted it into the summer 2023 corridor.
Scott Satin, a longtime producer for shows such as Funny You Should Ask and Most Outrageous Moments, has died. He was 64.
The Hollywood Reporter learned Satin died on Thursday following a years-long battle with progressive supranuclear palsy. Progressive supranuclear palsy is a rare neurodegenerative disorder that impacts certain parts of the brain.
The producer-writer-director began his entertainment career in the late ’80s with TV series such as Mathnet and Square One Television. Throughout the ’90s, he continued to work on projects like Hollywood Squares, The Byron Allen Show, Big Deal, The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show and Extreme Gong, a Game Show Network revival of The Gong Show.
As reality shows began to rise in popularity in the 2000s, Satin kept tapping into them by executive producing series like NBC’s Meet My Folks, Who Wants to Marry My Dad?, Who Wants to Be a Superhero? and Most Outrageous Moments – a series that showcases video bloopers and mishaps.
Within the last decade, Satin joined Allen Media Group, where he executive produced and co-wrote The First Family and Mr. Box Office. In 2020, he also helped create The World’s Funniest Weather and the comedy game show Funny You Should Ask, which features star comedians as they help contestants win prizes with trivia-based questions.
Other credits throughout his career include I Can’t Believe You Said That, Outback Jack, Smile… You’re Under Arrest!, Who Wants to Date a Comedian? and Who Wants to Be on a Reality Show?.
Satin is survived by his wife, Jamie, and his children Ryan, Sami and Dani. His family is asking for donations to be made in his honor at CurePSP.
Is “Knock At The Cabin” Is Better Than Other M. Night Shyamalan Movies
I’m curious about how people think it stacks up against Shyamalan’s previous films — specifically the ones he both wrote and directed — so let me know by voting below!
The “Monty Python” star doesn’t expect his controversial political views to factor into the new season of his classic sitcom.
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British comedy fans got some unexpected good news this week when John Cleese announced he’d be returning to star in a third season of his beloved sitcom “Fawlty Towers.” The revival, which is being produced by Matthew George and Rob Reiner through the latter’s Castle Rock Entertainment banner, is set to feature Cleese’s embattled hotel manager Basil Fawlty teaming up with his daughter to run a new inn.
Cleese and Reiner’s initial statements announcing the project contained more generalities than details. But new information about the content of the show is beginning to emerge. In an interview with British news outlet GB News (via Deadline), Cleese explained that the new season will be set in a “small bijou hotel” on a Caribbean island. He explained that the Caribbean setting will allow the show to feature a more diverse cast when the story picks up 40 years after the end of Season 2.
“If you put it in the Caribbean, it becomes very multi-racial,” Cleese said. “People in the hotel business come from everywhere, so you can bring lots of different people together. The characteristic of ‘Fawlty Towers’ was the pressure cooker atmosphere created in the hotel.”
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While the “Fawlty Towers” revival will be Cleese’s most prominent acting role in decades, it’s not as if the comedian has shied away from the spotlight in recent years. Cleese has been increasingly outspoken about his grievances with what he sees as “cancel culture” and the way it has created a hostile environment for comedians. He was also an outspoken supporter of the 2016 Brexit referendum. Some fans wondered if his worldview would find its way into the new “Fawlty Towers” episodes, but Cleese said that critics speculating about the content of the new season don’t know what they’re talking about.
“They obviously know better than I do what’s going to be in it. Maybe they should write an episode for me that they would find acceptable. Might not be very funny, but I’m sure it would really please some of their readers,” he said. “The idea that it’s all going to be about wokery hadn’t particularly occurred to me.”
Scream 6’s budget might be a problem for the meta-slasher sequel’s box office prospects, judging by the performance of Scream 4 and Scream 3.
While Scream 6 might be highly hyped, the Scream sequel’s budget proves that the movie risks repeating the franchise’s biggest box office mistake. The Scream movies are a financially successful series. From director Wes Craven’s 1996 original movie, which earned over $170 million on a budget of only $15 million, to last year’s surprise sleeper hit Scream 2022, the Scream series has always been a profitable franchise. However, not every sequel in the acclaimed slasher series has been as successful as its predecessors.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
BothScream 4 and Scream 3 (which originally used Scream 2022’s twist way earlier) earned less than their predecessors at the box office. In the case of Scream 3, this drop-off was not a major problem. The first two Scream movies earned around $170 million each, while Scream 3 made a little less with a gross of $160 million. However, Scream 4’s box office was a lot more of a dramatic fall, with the 2011 sequel only earning $97 million. This remains the worst box office performance in the franchise so far, and led to the Scream series lying dormant for over 10 years.
While Scream 2022’s success reignited interest in the franchise, the news that series heroine Sidney Prescott won’t appear in Scream 6was a major blow to the sequel. Not only that but, judging by the franchise’s history, Scream6’s budget could also be a problem for the movie. Scream 6 cost $35 million, which is much more than Scream 2022’s $24 million or the original movie’s $14 million. The only other big-budget movies in the series were Scream 4 (which cost $40 million) and Scream 3 (which cost the same), and these sequels were also the franchise’s lowest-earning outings.
While Scream 4’s underperformance could be blamed on the long gap between sequels, both Scream 4 and Scream 3 used their bigger budgets to stage more high-concept, action-forward versions of the meta-slasher franchise’s formula. Already, Scream 6’s trailer made it clear that the sequel would be taking the same approach, with a shotgun-wielding Ghostface shooting up a bodega and the New York City setting promising more mass-scale carnage. This might spell trouble for the Scream franchise which (judging by its box office history) tends to fare better when the series sticks to smaller stories like the plots of Scream, Scream 2, and Scream 2022.
Scream 6’s Budget Makes A Sequel Problem Worse
Failing to bring back Sidney already ensured that Scream 6 divided the franchise’s fan base. However, spending an extra $10 million and still not securing the return of the series stars because of salary negotiations could be evidence of some misplaced priorities. If Scream 6 focuses on Jenna Ortega’s Tara and other new characters over returning franchise veterans, the sequel runs the risk of alienating fans of the original movies. As such, the Scream sequel could find that bad box office history will soon repeat itself for the meta-slasher franchise when the bigger-budget Scream 6 hits cinemas in March.
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie thinks Republicans lost the optics battle at the State of the Union address by heckling President Biden, specifically when he accused the right of wanting to cut Medicare and social security.
“You don’t want to rise to the bait, and they did. A number of them did,” Christie told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week.”
“It doesn’t get you anywhere, and it gave Joe Biden an opportunity to engage them back in a way that was spontaneous, that I think was probably the best part of his entire speech,” he continued.
While Biden made some characteristic calls for bipartisanship during his speech to Congress on Tuesday, he went on the offensive when he said that some Republicans wanted to make cuts to social security and Medicare, prompting jeers and yelling from many GOP members in attendance. The claim was made in connection to a proposal by Florida Sen. Rick Scott to sunset all federal programs within five years.
“The better response would have been to respond to that with laughter,” said Christie. “If you really wanted to respond to the president saying something as ridiculous as the Republicans — because of what one Republican has said, Rick Scott, which was immediately rejected by almost the entire rest the party — what they should have done was laughed at the president then and moved on.”
While Biden and his administration have said that it is not a majority of Republicans in favor of cutting Medicare, they have pushed back on the right’s claims that Sen. Scott is isolated in his support of the cuts. In response to a Fox News story calling Biden’s claims false, the White House tweeted out a clip from an interview with Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson this past week suggesting that social security be privatized.
Watch Christie’s remarks on “This Week” in the clip above.
Sam Smith and Kim Petras performed their song “Unholy” at the 2023 BRIT Awards. The set differed in palette—if not theme—from the devilish bondage aesthetic of their 2023 Grammys performance last week. The track was nominated for International Song of the Year but did not win, falling to Harry Styles’ “As It Was.” Check out the performance below.
Smith was also nominated for Best Pop/R&B Act, again losing out to Styles. Smith and Petras are fresh off their win for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with “Unholy” at the 2023 Grammys; Petras became the first trans woman to win the award. The track is featured on Smith’s fourth studio album, Gloria, which was released in January.
Watch Sam Smith break down their favorite vocal performances in Pitchfork’s “Under the Influences” video series.
The documentary “’Til Kingdom Come” explores why American Evangelicals are preoccupied with Israel. Filmmaker Maya Zinshtein travels from Jerusalem to Washington to Kentucky to study the confluence between religion and politics that supports the right wing policies of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Chantilly cream and poached mandarin oranges with a quick calamansi and blood orange mimosa.
Poached Mandarin Oranges
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
4 clementine mandarin oranges, peeled and split into segments
Mix the water and the sugar in a pot and over medium-high heat, bring the pot to a boil.
Turn the heat off and place the mandarin orange slices into the syrup. The residual heat will poach the mandarin slices and once cooled, the orange segments are ready to use.
Peach and Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast
2 slices brioche bread, cut 2 inches thick
2 eggs
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⅔ cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
Stuffing:
½ cup peaches, sliced (fresh or frozen)
¼ cup mascarpone cheese
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons powdered sugar
Garnishes:
powdered sugar
poached mandarins
whipped or chantilly cream
Mint
Mix together the mascarpone with the vanilla and powdered sugar.
Whisk together the egg, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut the bread into two pieces, cut a slit into both pieces and stuff the bread with peaches and mascarpone.
Dip both stuffed breads into the milk and egg mixture and allow them to absorb some of the liquid. In a non-stick pan over medium heat, melt the butter and start to pan-fry the French toast. Continue to cook the French toast until the centres are warm and the outside is nice and golden brown.
Garnish with powdered sugar, poached mandarins, chantilly cream and mint.
Calamansi and Blood Orange Mimosa
¾ cup sparkling wine
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⅔ cup blood orange juice
3 tablespoons calamansi extract
Pinch Sugar
Mix the wine, blood orange juice, and calamansi extract.
Add a pinch of sugar and adjust the sweetness to your preference.
Serve in a chilled glass and if you like, garnish with a thin slice of blood orange.
Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Mike Turner joined Jake Tapper for “State of the Union” Sunday morning, where he weighed in on the Biden administration’s latest action of shooting down a pair unidentified flying objects over Alaska and Canada between Friday and Saturday.
“I would prefer them to be trigger happy than to be permissive,” Turner told Tapper, “but we’re gonna have to see whether or not this is just the administration trying to change headlines.”
The statement comes as a nod to the Republican Party’s general discontent of how Biden handled the so-called Chinese spy balloon the week prior, which the administration waited to shoot down until it had crossed the country and was off the coast of South Carolina.
The difference here is there has been wide speculation on what these objects actually were and what threat they posed to the U.S. and Canada.
“I certainly don’t know, as the administration is saying they don’t know [what it is],” Turner admitted. “They do appear somewhat trigger happy, although this is certainly preferable to the permissive environment that they showed when the Chinese spy balloon was coming over some of our most sensitive sites.”
Turner then added that Biden’s response here seems to poke holes in his argument for not taking action against the balloon sooner.
“I think one thing that this shows is certainly the fallacy of the argument that the Biden administration’s saying – that the height of the Chinese balloon caused them to have no concern. Because certainly as we know whatever goes up, can come down, and just saying that this Chinese spy balloon was high and these were lower and therefore they absolutely pose a hazard, really isn’t a differentiation I think anyone’s comfortable with.”
But don’t think that Turner and his Republican colleagues in the House are unanimous in their support of how Biden handled these instances of flying objects. He revealed later in his interview with Tapper something that he finds “particularly annoying about this administration” and how it relays news to its elected officials.
“The Biden administration needs to stop briefing Congress through our television sets and actually come and sit down and brief us,” he said. “What we’re seeing here is a number of announcements by the administration without any real information being given to Congress. This could be because they don’t have any information. From the press conference we saw, it does seem they took this action without a real understanding for what they were going after, but having declared it a hazard. But we’ll see as the information comes to Congress. I do think there needs to be more engagement between the administration and Congress.”
Watch the the full “State of the Union” interview in the video above.
Puppy Bowl returns for its 19th year on Sunday, Feb. 12 and for the first time, the fluffy football event will be simulcast across Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, TBS, HBO Max and Discovery+.
The annual puppy play-a-thon will feature 122 puppies, as well as 67 shelters and rescues across 34 states. Here’s exactly when and where to watch the 2023 Puppy Bowl.
When Does “Puppy Bowl XIX” Air?
Puppy Bowl XIX starts with a pre-game show at 1:00p.m. ET/ 10:00 a.m. PT and a preview of the Kitty Halftime Show.
Is the 2023 “Puppy Bowl” Streaming or on TV?
The 2023 Puppy Bowl will be simulcast across Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, TBS, HBO Max and Discovery+. You can also livestream it on the Animal Planet website or the Animal Planet app.
Which Humans Are Part of“Puppy Bowl XIX?”
Puppy Bowl referee Dan Schachner returns for his 12th year of overseeing the the doggie free-for-all, while sportscasters Steve Levy and Taylor Rooks return to provide play-by-play commentary.
Seattle Seahawks’ Shelby Harris will also make an appearance: He’s been coaching Cooper, a Boston terrier/ boxer mix from Seattle Humane.
This year’s program will also feature reality TV personalities Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson of HGTBV’s “Married to Real Estate”, Faruq Tauheed of “Battlebots,” Zak Bagans of DIscovery+’s “Ghost Adventures,” Alex Guarnaschelli of Food Networks’ “Supermarket Stakeout”) and talent from Discovery Channel’s “Street Outlaws” franchise and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods.”
What’s New on the 2023 “Puppy Bowl?”
For the first-time the event will feature a Native American animal organization and a puppy player from Dominica, West Indies. There are also 11 special needs pups looking for their forever homes, including Julius, a hearing-impaired Dalmatian; Marmalade, a sight and hearing-impaired Border Collie/ Australian Cattle Dog mix; and Mykonos, a American Staffordshire terrier/ bulldog mix with a cleft palate.
The Walt Disney Company marks its 100th anniversary on Oct. 16, 2023, and will celebrate that milestone today with a special commercial debuting during Super Bowl LVII that spotlights its storytelling and innovation.
“As we commemorate our historic 100th anniversary, it is remarkable to look back at Walt Disney’s legacy and his passionate pursuit of excellence that continue to propel the Company forward today,” said Robert A. Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “We are incredibly grateful to the generations of people all over the world for being such a special part of our history and for inviting our stories and characters into their lives over the past century. Disney100 represents a celebration of all of our fans and families, and our storytellers and creative visionaries whose talents and imaginations have created the magical moments that make Disney such an enduring part of the global culture.”
“Disney100 Special Look” features scenes from iconic Disney films, series, stage productions, theme parks, and fans, as well as a collection of inspiring words from Walt Disney.
The debut of “Disney100 Special Look” kicks off a full-year of activities.
In addition to its full slate of films, television and streaming, on Feb. 18, Disney100: The Exhibition will have its world premiere at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, inviting guests into a 15,000-square-foot, ten-gallery exhibit that will bring Disney stories to life through technology. The Walt Disney Archives is opening its vault of treasures, showcasing more than 250 of its “Crown Jewels” – rarely seen original artwork and artifacts, costumes and props, theme park attraction vehicles, and more. The exhibition will also make stops across the United States and throughout Europe.
Disney Parks has already begun special Disney100 celebrations. On Jan. 27, Disneyland Resort introduced the new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction, two new nighttime events: “World of Color – One” at Disney California Adventure and “Wondrous Journeys” at Disneyland park, and all-new, limited-time Disney100-themed entertainment, food and beverage, and merchandise offerings.
Disney will also celebrate its biggest fans with exclusive events, sneak previews, and, in September, a Disney100-themed Destination D23 just for members of D23: The Official Disney Fan Club.
While reading up about Undekhi, it was revealed that its creator Siddharth Sengupta has earlier directed a series titled 9 Malabar Hill for Zee TV in the late ’90s. We were not allowed to watch much TV back then, but thanks to the satellite revolution in India, I still recall this show for its distinct ‘feel’. As a kid, it was imprinted on my mind strongly enough that today when I watch Undekhi, I could see how Sengupta has honed his craft to suit the crime-thriller genre over two decades.
There was a dread surrounding the environment in 9 Malabar Hill, as if people don’t want to talk about the obvious. The omnipresent fear engulfed the whole action area. The danger seemed immediate and imminent. It’s not that kind of terror which a community experiences. It’s very individual and targets appear all alone. In fact, it would be safe to say that you don’t deal with such kind of a terror with simply being brave. It’s much more than this because you have lived with your tormentors all your life, and they know how far you can stretch!
Coming back to Undekhi, here’s the basic premise of the show: Some dancers have been called to take part in a resort wedding of a powerful timber merchant family in Manali. Two of these dancers are absconding suspects in a murder case in the Sundarbans. A Bengali DSP Barun Ghosh (Dibyendu Bhattacharya) is in their pursuit, but things take a drastic turn when something sinister happens at the resort, and the host family tries to brush everything under the carpet.
Though the show is designed as a thriller, in which a few powerless people are trying to escape from the clutches of the mighty ones, it’s more about how the law enforcement machineries can be manipulated without much effort.
Rinku Bhaisaab (Surya Sharma) is the apparent scion of the Atwal family, headed by a drunkard, foul-mouthed Papaji (Harsh Chhaya). The maneuvering businessman, Rinku, has been controlling the local police since years, and is quite dreaded in the area. He has a gang of bizarrely menacing youths who could kill in a blink.
Sengupta has created moments from the very first episodes, and is quite open in bringing out the contrasting cultures of Bengal, Delhi and Himachal. Thankfully, he has an actor like Dibyendu at the helm of affairs, who is nuanced, subtle and extremely expressive. This could have been a tall task for any other actor. Dibyendu has brought out the helplessness, tactfulness and shrewdness of a police officer in a foreign land with brilliance. He takes charge of the situation and disappears into the background to let others shine just at the right moments. He is the cohesive force behind making Undekhi a really good watch.
Then there is the chemistry between Harsh Chhaya and Surya Sharma, which creates a nearly perfect milieu for a mob show. While Chhaya’s crass mannerism would push you away, Sharma’s confident body-language would make you hate his guts. If the devil would own a resort in Manali, it would look like Sharma. Another solid win for Sengupta at the casting front. Hope this actor gets more meaty roles.
But there are the usual Hindi web show tropes too that stop Undekhi from becoming a memorable show. Despite fine performances and some terrific moments, it’s stretched, and sometimes, developments look forced. It also gets repetitive after the 5th episode. Had the makers avoided giving extra time to chase scenes for no apparent reasons, it could have been a better watch.
Also, shock values don’t work once your premise is set and the primary characters are introduced. Why do the makers need to serve the audience an insane twist every 20 minutes when they know where all this is headed. The entire jungle chase scene and people bargaining with each other at every juncture could have been chucked out to make Undekhi a sleeker presentation.
But all said and done, Undekhi has a texture of its own and that would push you to binge watching. With 10 episodes of nearly 32-minutes each, Undekhi is another win of the Indian OTTs in the crime-thriller genre. It’s streaming on Sony Liv.
James Gunn is once again shooting down fan rumors, this time revolving around will will star in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Ever since James Gunn revealed the details of his upcoming DC slate, folks have been trying to figure out which actors could potentially be a part of the new DC Universe. Given that The Flash is being touted as one of the greatest superhero movies ever, some are wondering if perhaps Michael Keaton, who returns as Bruce Wayne/ Batman, will take over as DC’s “new” Caped Crusader in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which is supposed to introduce Damian Wayne as the first, true, big screen Robin since Chris O’Donnell. At one point, there was even a rumour that Gunn, in a crazy out-of-left-field choice, might recruit George Clooney, as he infamously played the character in the reviled Batman and Robin. Gunn himself shot down both rumors on Twitter, claiming George Clooney will “absolutely not” be playing Batman and that they’ll be hiring a “new actor.”
While it’s possible Michael Keaton could somehow figure into the DCU following The Flash, he’s probably a bit long in the tooth to play the character in The Brave and The Bold. By the time the movie comes out, Keaton will be well into his seventies, and while that doesn’t mean he can’t play Batman anymore, if they set up The Brave and the Bold as a trilogy, they probably need a Batman in his late forties/ early fifties. If anything, Ben Affleck would be the ideal choice, but Gunn previously revealed that Affleck would likely work for DC in a director’s capacity only. However, then again, who knows – it could all be smoke and mirrors.
Whatever the case, Gunn’s DC Slate, while controversial, is generating a lot of buzz from fans, and no doubt, whoever he casts as the DCU’s Batman will probably be an exciting choice. After all, Gunn is the man who turned Chris Pratt into an action star and helped Dave Bautista launch his acting career. Maybe he’ll make a really unique choice for the part.
Harry Styles had a good night at the 2023 Brit Awards. After winning best pop/R&B act, he quickly scooped up best artist of the year—a category laden with controversy after announcing an all-male shortlist despite the decision to introduce gender-neutral awards.
Styles is no stranger to controversy, himself. Earlier this month, he faced criticism for his album of the year Grammys speech, having said, “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often.” While some fans thought this comment was wildly out of touch—given that he’s a cisgender white man—while others pointed out that he was probably referring to his (still relatively privileged) upbringing in Manchester.
The “As It Was” singer was clearly aware of both controversies, as he finished his Brit Awards speech by saying he is “aware of his privilege” before dedicating his award to some of the women pop stars—including Charli XCX, Rina Sawayama, and Becky Hill—who weren’t nominated in the gender-neutral category: “This award is for Rina, Charlie, Mabel, Florence, and Becky.”
The new animated movie that mixes the DC characters and the RWBY universe announces its premiere date.
Warner Bros./Otter Media
Warner Bros. Entertainment and DC are gearing up for a new animated adventure. This time, some of the company’s characters will be coming to the RWBY universe in Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One. And this is what it looks like:
Based on the RWBY/Justice League comic book limited series, which debuted as a DC digital-first title in 2021, the movie finds Justice League confronting a new horror: Adolescence! Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg, Green Lantern, and Vixen are shocked to discover that they have not only materialized in a strange world called Remnant but have also been transformed into teenagers. Meanwhile, Remnant’s heroes find that their world has been mysteriously altered.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
RWBY is an American-animated series created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth in anime format. The series focuses on the adventures of the RWBY team, consisting of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. They inhabit the fictional world of Remnant, where young people train to become hunters and thus protect the world from creatures called Grimm.
Who Stars in Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen?
Warner Bros./Otter Media
Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen features the voices of Natalie Alyn Lind, Nat Wolff, Ozioma Akagha, David Errigo Jr., Chandler Riggs, Jeannie Tirado, and Tru Valentino in the animated version of Justice League.
Joining them will be RWBY’s long-running voice cast, Lindsay Jones, Kara Eberle, Arryn Zech, and Barbara Dunkelman, as Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, respectively. Other cast members include Miles Luna, Shannon McCormick, and Tara Platt.
The first part of Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen will be available digitally on Apr. 25 on various streaming platforms, including Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, and Vudu, among others. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Blu-ray also come with special features, including the “You Look… Different” featurette, revealing the inspiration behind the new appearance of the Justice League. Other features include “Kid Stuff” and “Plastic Man Saves the World” from the DC Vault.
This project is part of the previous DC slot. Now that James Gunn and Peter Safran are in charge of the recently created DC Studios, every single project connects with the others unless it’s part of Elseworlds, just like The Batman and Joker, which will remain independent.
“That representation that I longed for when I was a young actor coming up? To be able to offer that, to be given the opportunity to offer that, is a dream come true,” Angela Bassett said during a career-retrospective interview on Thursday prior to receiving the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Montecito Award in recognition of her body of work and her 2022 Oscar-nominated turn as Queen Ramonda in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. “It’s a full-circle moment.”
The youthful 64-year-old, whose best supporting actress Oscar nom marks the Academy’s first-ever recognition for a performance in a Marvel film — and the second Oscar nom of Bassett’s career, 29 years after she received a best actress nom for What’s Love Got to Do with It — reflected on her life and 35 years in the business over the course of a two-hour conversation at the historic Arlington Theatre that was skillfully moderated by the fest’s longtime executive director, Roger Durling.
She said that she was changed at the age of 15 by seeing James Earl Jones in a Kennedy Center production of Of Mice and Men while on a field trip to the nation’s capital. She subsequently landed a scholarship to Yale University and then was accepted to the Yale Drama School, which she decided to attend despite the reservations of a beloved aunt, the only other member of her family who had achieved a graduate degree, who feared that she would “waste” her Yale education by pursuing acting.
Not long after graduating, however, Bassett was on Broadway in two August Wilson plays directed by Lloyd Richards, who had been the dean of the drama school while she was at Yale, and then headed west, hoping to find worthy screen acting opportunities in L.A. Two up-and-coming Black filmmakers gave her just those: John Singleton, who was just 19, cast her in his feature directorial debut Boyz N the Hood, which was released in 1991, and a year later she was playing Betty Shabazz in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X. (She recalled that “it could be terribly intimidating” working with Denzel Washington, who played the title character and was already an Oscar winner. “I remember him taking his thumb and wiping the lipstick off my face” at her audition, she said — but she responded in-character and landed the part.)
Then came Brian Gibson’s What’s Love Got to Do with It, in which she was cast in the grueling part of Tina Turner opposite Laurence Fishburne’s abusive Ike Turner — she and Fishburne had previously worked together in Boyz N the Hood, and later reunited in Akeelah and the Bee alongside a young Keke Palmer — and she blew people away. She acknowledged that the Oscar nom that she received for that performance was followed not by many exciting offers, but rather by 18 months of “silence,” but she forged ahead. “I love when you’re underestimated,” she volunteered, “because then you really have an opportunity to shut it down. I prefer under to over, you know what I mean?”
Twenty-five years after What’s Love Got to Do with It, having been at the center of a number of films that illustrated that Black audiences were hungry for more content reflecting their community, such as 1995’s Waiting to Exhale and 1998’s How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Bassett was thrilled to be cast by Coogler in the original Black Panther. But, she said, she did not appreciate the expectations for and potential impact of the project until the film’s trailer was released. “Before we premiered the first Panther, I went down the rabbit hole on YouTube with the fanboys and girls, just watching them watch the trailer. I was astounded. They would cry, they would run into walls, they would fall off chairs, they would shake, they would shudder. It was, ‘What?!’ I’d never seen anything like that ever. That was amazing.”
She spoke glowingly of Chadwick Boseman, who played her son T’Challa in that film and then tragically passed away of colon cancer in August 2020. The 2022 sequel Wakanda Forever, which has five women at its center, was a tribute to him, she said.
At the conclusion of the conversation, Coogler himself came on stage and, before handing Bassett the fest’s award, delivered a heartfelt tribute of his own to the actress, whose early work he remembered watching with his family when he was “way too young” to be seeing such grown-up material, but who had made a lasting impression on him.
“Science tells us that life started on the continent of Africa,” he said. “I like to think that we all started through a Black woman, which means that all of the dynamics of what we are as humans had to exist in Black women — our strengths, our weaknesses, our highs, our lows, our dreams, our nightmares. And so often, this particular group of humanity has been flattened on the screen, in the medium. So what I was seeing in Angela’s performances, even as a child, was the truth breaking through the lie.”
Roseanne Barr joked that she’s “shooting my shot” with A$AP Rocky.
The day before Rihanna graces TV screens everywhere as the star of the highly-anticipated Super Bowl halftime show, Roseanne apparently slid into A$AP Rocky’s DMs and simply wrote, “Call me when you get tired of Rihanna.”
Roseanne shared screenshots of her private message to the rapper on Instagram on Saturday (Feb. 11).
The unexpected crush seemed to amuse her followers, who left comments like “Doesn’t hurt to try,” “I feel this, Roseanne” and “Reminds me when I shot my shot with my local weather man.”
“I’m so happy that this is the most offensive in my stand-up that I’ve ever had the balls to be,” she said in an interview with theLos Angeles Times, in which she suggested she’s been held to a cancel culture double standard and slammed ABC for firing her in 2018 from her sitcom Roseanne (then rebranded The Conners), after a late-night racist tweet that had her comparing White House advisor Valerie Jarrett to the offspring of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Planet of the Apes movies. At the time, she apologized and said she didn’t realize Jarrett was Black, and that she was on Ambien when she tweeted.
Sat in an acting class back in 2010, when I was wrinkle free and my ovaries were firing on all cylinders, an inspiring American coach Bernard Hiller, challenged the entire class to start writing and producing our own work. The take-away advice was, “If you want to act – act. Stop moaning that your agent never calls and create your own work.”
I told myself this was a great idea if I could write, but I didn’t know the first thing about script writing let alone 12-point Courier font size. Bernard’s challenge stayed with me and it’s thanks to him I embarked on this unplanned adventure into short film making. It’s been the greatest idea anyone has ever given me (well that and IPL hair removal). Creating my own work is fulfilling, empowering, a lot of fun and allows me to create challenging roles to play.
I discovered ‘The Pitch Film Fund’ in 2011 thanks to an actor friend, (thanks Gazza). The initial attraction was that I didn’t even need to a write a script, I just had to come up with a modern-day adaptation of a Bible story and make a two-minute pitch video in the hope of winning a generous production Award. Finally, those years of attending Sunday school would come in handy! I chose the beheading of John the Baptist (not a comedy!) that I set in Scotland leading up to the vote for independence. A young director came on board to shoot the pitch film trailer. Amazingly, he wasn’t scared off by my basic notes, written Blue Peter style, rather than a professional script.
Incredibly, I made the finals and pitched at Pinewood to some amazing industry judges including Oscar winner Nick Park. Even more incredibly, I made it to the final three! Who’d have thought?! I was untrained but full of passion and energy. I was disappointed not to win after this exciting rollercoaster ride, but looking back, I’m really glad I didn’t win as it made me want to work harder, learn a bit about script writing and come back the next year with a bigger and better entry. I did return, all guns blazing, with an exciting pitch trailer based on Judas Iscariot and the betrayal of Christ (not a comedy!). I got to the final three but missed out again. I was gutted and the blues set in. Luckily, I had discovered Reed Film competition (which sadly no longer exists) and this new challenge got me revved up. I was able to channel my energy and feelings into making my first comedy short film, Ambition, – a three-minute film inspired by my failures and lack of acting success which celebrated Thomas Eddison’s, quote, ‘I haven’t failed, I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work’.
I realised some years ago that it’s important to enjoy and appreciate the journey. Through entering The Pitch Film Fund, I’ve met some great film-makers whom I’ve collaborated with on lots of my short films. I have found my voice in comedy and having this annual challenge gives me an opportunity to develop my writing muscles and be creative. The Pitch team are so incredibly supportive and helpful to all who enter. They offer feedback, networking events and industry training sessions to help entrants through each stage of the process.
Every year since 2011, bar one (when I was still rocking in the foetal position after another loss), I have kept entering The Pitch. It became my holy grail. The Japanese have a great quote, ‘Fall down seven times, get up eight’ which definitely helped fuel my determination. I love the challenge of adapting a Bible story – there are so many incredible stories within this collection of books which have inspired many Hollywood films. The more I explore the Bible and study it, the more comedy gold I discover. Stories of pooing in a cave, cutting off 200 foreskins to pay a dowry, tricking a whole town of men to get circumcised…what’s not to like?! There is no other short film opportunity in the UK that I know of which offers a £25k fund to the winner, together with production support.
This year was my 11th entry in the Pitch Film Fund and the 5th time in the finals. Some friends thought this was utter madness to keep entering…but this has been a really positive focus for me mentally, through a lot of serious illness, operations and other life stuff. I always tried to listen to feedback each year in order to come back with something stronger the next. And yes, I also wanted there to be a Disney ending one day, to prove hard work and perseverance do pay off, so luckily kept the faith (thanks George Michael).
This year I was lucky enough to win the Comedy Production Award with my entry, ’Till Death do us Part’, a black comedy inspired by the biblical heroine Abigail. I still say lucky, despite a huge amount of hard work as I realise an element of luck is involved – which is the magic ingredient to winning. Pitching a film idea is like making a meal for a group of strangers, not knowing what their food preferences are or if they have any allergies. This year I was fortunate to dish up a story that an incredible panel of industry judges liked; award-winning producer, Hester Ruoff; Director of NFTS,Jon Wardle, BAFTA winning writer/director Gbemisola Ikumelo and actress Indira Varma.
Thanks to the judges and the Pitch Film Fund, I have won £25,000 to get the film made later this year including script development. After so many attempts, over so many years, I feel complete and utter relief! Hard work and perseverance really did pay off, which is just as well, as between you and me, this was going to be my last attempt! Exciting times ahead, thanks to an ancient Bible story which is still so relevant and inspiring today. Someone pour me a glass of champagne!
Actor Carolyn Goodyear is an awarding winning film-maker who fell into writing and producing her own short films as a way to create acting work. Through entering and re-entering many competitions over the years, including IMDB Script to Screen, Funny Women Shorts and Reed Film, she has developed a flair for writing comedy. After 11 attempts of entering The Pitch Film Fund and reaching the finals 5 times over a 12- year period, she has just won the Comedy Award with a budget of 25k. Her black comedy pitch, ‘Till Death do Us Part’ will be shot later this year.
Ayo Edebiri has been cast in “Abbott Elementary” in the guest starring role of Ayesha Teagues, sister of Janine (series creator Quinta Brunson).
Throughout the series, Janine periodically mentions having a complicated relationship with Ayesha, who will appear for the first time in the Feb. 8 episode “Valentine’s Day” via FaceTime before returning for a larger storyline later during Season 2.
Edebiri is best known for starring as Sydney Adamu in “The Bear,” FX’s hit comedy-drama series that debuted in 2022. The role earned her acting nominations from the Gotham Awards, Critics’ Choice, the Indie Spirits and the Screen Actors Guild. She is also a writer, with credits including “Big Mouth” on Netflix and “Dickinson” on Netflix — also playing Missy and Hattie in those shows, respectively — as well as NBC’s “Sunnyside” and FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows.” Up next, she will appear in the upcoming Marvel film “Thunderbolts” and the Emma Seligman’s 2023 film “Bottoms.” She will also write for “Mulligan,” Robert Carlock and Tina Fey’s upcoming animated series at Netflix.
In “Valentine’s Day,” the Abbott teachers discuss their relationships and plans for the holiday. Janine finds out one of her students has a crush on her and when turning to a colleague for advice, she inadvertently learns a secret about another teacher. Elsewhere, Ava sits in on Jacob’s Black History class after receiving a complaint.
“Abbott Elementary” is executive produced by Brunson, Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker of Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions, and Randall Einhorn. The series hails from Warner Bros. Television and 20th Television.
After revealing a film prequel and series to A.A. Milne’s beloved book “Winnie-the-Pooh,” Baboon Animation (“Angry Birds,” “Gigantosaurus”) has set a five-property podcast deal with GoKidGo, starting with “Stories from Pooh Corner” (working title). The podcast, like the feature, will explore the characters’ young lives before the tales in the book took place and will acquaint preschool-age children with all the classic pals from Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood, and introduce new characters.
“These younger characters will have big, fresh appeal for a brand-new kid audience,” said Baboon founder and DreamWorks alum Mike de Seve (“Madagascar, Monsters vs. Aliens”).
GoKidGo has had success creating fresh audio IP for future series development, with a recent example being “R.L. Stine’s Story Club” in co-production with Happy Nest.
“We’re excited to present the A. A. Milne book’s cuddly crew with a fresh perspective for 21st-century kids,” said GoKidGo co-founder and CEO Maia Glikman. “’Stories from Pooh Corner’ is a unique opportunity to build an enriching world for pre-schoolers filled with adventures, learning opportunities, and – of course – hilarious characters.”
The most compelling stories will be developed into animated series said GoKidGo co-founder and COO Jennifer Clary.
AMBASSADOR
Oscar-winning French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”) has joined the team of ambassadors of the United24 fundraising platform founded by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Together with Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina, the filmmaker will be in charge of the “Rebuild Ukraine” housing initiative that will allow some 4000 Ukrainians to return home.
In December 2022, Hazanavicius organized a charity auction with lots donated by representatives of the film industry including Tom Hanks, Catherine Deneuve, Alain Delon, Natalie Portman, and one of the members of the legendary French electronic duo Daft Punk – Thomas Bangalter. The filmmaker donated part of the funds raised through United24 to restore housing in Ukraine.
RERELEASE
Aditya Chopra‘s romance “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (“DDLJ”), starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, is the longest running movie in the history of Indian cinema. The film has been playing almost continuously at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir cinema since it released in 1995. This year, on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14., “DDLJ” will see a wider release across 37 Indian cities for a week, producer Yash Raj Films (YRF) has revealed. Netflix series “The Romantics,” that delves into the legacy of YRF founder Yash Chopra, streams from Feb. 14.
