The Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE, Local 800) has just announced that Academy Award nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann and his long-time producing partner and collaborator, Academy Award-winning production and costume designer Catherine Martin, will be receiving the esteemed 2023 Cinematic Imagery Award. Both are known for their visually stunning movies with their most recent and highly acclaimed Elvis. Luhrmann/Martin’s 30-year collaboration has produced decades of successful and innovative entertainment for film, television, and the stage. They will accept the honor at the 27th Annual ADG Awards on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown. The announcement was made Friday, January, 20, 2023 by ADG President Nelson Coates, ADG, and Awards Producers Michael Allen Glover, ADG and Megan Elizabeth Bell, ADG.
Courtesy of Getty Images
Oscar-nominated Luhrmann is a master storyteller and pioneer of contemporary visual culture, writing, directing, and producing across film, opera, theatre, events and music. His signature blend of drama, romance, decadence and wit fuses high and low culture, a unique sonic and cinematic language and trademark theatrical aesthetic that continuously captivates audiences and ignites imaginations around the world. Nominated for three Golden Globes and seven Critics Choice Awards and one of AFI’s Top 10 Films of 2022, Elvis has become the filmmaker’s highest grossing film in the U.S. and in 22 international territories, including the UK, Mexico, Holland, Brazil and New Zealand. Elvis is also 2022’s highest-grossing non-franchise/IP film.
Luhrmann burst onto the scene with the first of the Red Curtain Trilogy, Strictly Ballroom, followed by the ambitious modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet and Academy Award-winning Moulin Rouge!, which cemented Luhrmann’s following amongst audiences and industry alike. In addition, Moulin Rouge! The Musical won 10 Tony Awards (the most of the 2020-2019 season), adding to the two Tony Awards garnered by Luhrmann’s production of Puccini’s opera La Bohème on Broadway in 2003.
The filmmaker’s sweeping historical epic Australia was followed by his adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, which won two Academy Awards. A collaboration with Netflix later produced The Get Down (2016), a critically successful series based on the birth of hip-hop in 1970s South Bronx.
In 1992, producer and Oscar-winning production designer and costume designer Catherine Martin began designing for film and partnered with Luhrmann on his hugely successful film debut Strictly Ballroom, and on William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction. She garnered two Academy Awards for Best Production Design and Best Costume Design for her work on The Great Gatsby. Martin’s acclaimed design work on Moulin Rouge! won her two Academy Awards, for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction, among other accolades.
Courtesy of Emily Andrews
Martin has also designed almost all of Luhrmann’s stage productions, including Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a version of Puccini’s opera La Bohème on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for Production Design. Martin worked as both costume designer and production designer on Luhrmann’s stage production of Strictly Ballroom the Musical.
Martin co-produced Luhrmann’s epic Australia and was also the film’s production designer and costume designer. The film earned Martin an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design.
The ADG’s Cinematic Imagery Award is given to those whose body of work in the film and television industry has richly enhanced the visual aspects of the viewer’s experience. Previous recipients include Jane Campion, Ryan Murphy, Chuck Lorre, Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, John Lasseter, George Lucas and Clint Eastwood.
Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin will receive the ADG Cinematic Imagery Award at the 2023 ADG Awards, celebrating their 30 year collaboration culminating in the highly acclaimed “Elvis.” Coates said “We are incredibly thrilled to honor Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin with the 2023 ADG Cinematic Imagery Award. Since their first collaboration, the extraordinarily creative and impactful pairing of these groundbreaking filmmakers has continued to dazzle audiences, stretch the imagination, and push the cinematic boundaries while also remaining excitingly contemporary,”
The ADG Awards honor excellence in Production Design in theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos and animated feature films. Producers of this year’s ADG Awards is Art Director Michael Allen Glover, ADG (Station Eleven, The Alienist, Solos). Joining the team as co-producer is Production Designer Megan Elizabeth Bell, ADG (Out of the Blue, Breakwater, American Murderer).
The ADG awards are proud to be sponsored by Presenting Level: Sweetwater/NEP Live Events; Premier Level: Astek Wallcovering, Cush Light, Dazian; Platinum Level: Goodnight Productions, Innovative Artists, Interior Design Solutions/ Belbien, Pixar, Universal Studios Operations Group, WPA Worldwide Production Agency; Gold Level: WME, Media Sponsors: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Below the Line and SHOOTonline.
ABOUT THE ART DIRECTORS GUILD:
Established in 1937, the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) represents 3,200 members who work throughout the world in film, television and theater as Production Designers and Art Directors; Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists; Set Designers and Model Makers; and Illustrators and Matte Artists. The ADG’s ongoing activities include a Film Society screening series, annual “Excellence in Production Design Awards” gala, bimonthly craft magazine (PERSPECTIVE), figure drawing and other creative workshops, extensive technology and craft training programs. For more information, go to here.
But nothing – and I mean nothing – compares to the chokehold that the new MAPPA anime, Chainsaw Man, had on me when I would log onto Crunchyroll every Tuesday afternoon. The show tells the story of Denji, a young man who is given the heart of the Chainsaw Devil in order to survive a brutal experience and give him the opportunity to transform parts of his body into chainsaws. However, he is taken in by the Public Safety Devil Hunters due to his new powers, and he discovers there is far more to the world out there than he ever believed there to be.
This, right here, is the most brutal and intense anime I have seen in a long time – and today, I’m going to go over the reasons as to why you need to watch it.
(Image credit: Crunchyroll)
The Characters Are Badass In Their Own Ways – And Relatable Too
Something that I love about anime is that it most often has a variety of interesting characters. One of my favorite anime, Attack on Titan, has plenty of characters that I have come to love, both the Titan versions and the regular humans. The same can be said for shows such as Dragon Ball Z, or even Pokemon – every show has characters that you can learn to love.
But Chainsaw Man is different in so many ways with its characters. Not only are they the epitome of badass – like seriously – they are all so relatable in somany ways that you don’t find yourself attached to one particular character. You end up just liking everyone. I relate to Denji and his simple goals in life. I admire the perseverance that Aki has and his willingness to do anything to seek revenge. I love the chaos that is Power and truly wish I had her energy on a good day.
Everyone is just so good, not only in the way that they fight, but who they are in general. You’ll be relating to someone within the first few episodes, hands down.
(Image credit: Crunchyroll)
But If I Have To Pick One To Highlight – Chainsaw Man Is Actually Terrifyingly Amazing
However, as much as I do love all the characters, I need to give some light on the main protagonist, Denji. Because man – I just love this dude so much. So much.
I’m going to use Attack on Titan again for this, because we’re talking about protagonists, right? Eren is the main person we follow in Attack on Titan, and as the series goes on, his character just gets more and more complicated where you really don’t know if you should even be supporting him anymore. But with Denji in Chainsaw Man?
Nah. All he wants is to have good food, a roof on his head, and to be with a girl.
Like, that is the most simple protagonist I have ever met in an anime since maybe Ash from Pokemon. No crazy goals of freedom, no intense urge to kill everyone, just someone who wants to be treated like a normal person. That is someone I legit love. Protect him at all costs.
But at the same time, him using Pochita (the Chainsaw Devil) to turn into Chainsaw Man is so terrifyingly amazing. He has the simplest goals in mind, but when you see him emerge with that chainsaw on his head and go literally crazy on all the devils, it just makes you giddy. I love him.
(Image credit: Crunchyroll)
You Really Have No Idea Who To Trust
So here’s the thing with Chainsaw Man – everyone is hunting devils for a reason. Everyone is here to achieve some other grand goal. I mean, to an extent, that means that Denji himself is even there to just get close to Makima, one of the leaders of the devil hunting unit, and the person who saves Denji.
With that being said, you might think you know these characters, but in reality, you are so wrong. You really have no idea who the heck to trust in this show because everyone always has some sort of ulterior motive. I know for a fact there were at least three people during the first season where I was like, “nah, no, I don’t trust you,” and then I read the manga and I was correct. It’s what makes this show so entertaining and always keeps you on the edge of your seat.
But let me tell you that the worldbuilding in Chainsaw Man is just so much fun. Every episode introduces you to a new aspect of the world that your favorite characters live in, from how devils are hunted down, to how fiends and devils interact with the human world, to even how training is done. Everything is so simple and yet explained so well.
It’s always interesting to watch a piece of media and see how they view the afterlife and other forms of scary substances, and Chainsaw Man is certainly one of the best I’ve seen in a long time.
(Image credit: Crunchyroll)
You Literally Have No Clue What To Expect
When I tell you that this show makes you feel a sense of trust before ripping it out of your guts, I mean that in the best way possible. There are so many moments within the confines of Chainsaw Man that made me genuinely just need to take a pause and stare at the television in shock.
You’ll get to know characters and then something so horribly terrifying will happen you’ll just be shaking your head for the next hour wondering, “why the hell did this happen?” The scenes will shake you to your core that when you expect one thing to go down, it’ll most likely not be what you expect that actually happens.
And that’s what makes it so unbelievably good and brutal. Don’t grow attachments. Don’t think anyone is in the clear. Because they are not at all. It’s perfect in every way.
(Image credit: Crunchyroll)
The Fight Scenes Are Absolutely Brutal – Along With The Devils
Animating fight scenes is something that takes a ridiculous amount of time and energy, and I have to say that the fight scenes in Chainsaw Man were some of the best I had seen in 2022. They were so much fun.
There’s just something so cathartic about seeing someone slice up a monster so much so that you’re just standing there in shock and awe at the power of these devil hunters and fiends. But the fights that are heartbreaking are devastating and brutal to the bone. The devils themselves are even scarier, monsters built off of fears of humans.
There are plenty of great shows out there to watch, but if you’re looking for an anime that will not only give you characters to relate to, but fight scenes and twists that no one would expect, be sure to check out Chainsaw Man. It’s truly one of the best anime of 2022, and one that you need to see before the inevitable next part gets animated.
Sundance: A bittersweet documentary tells the story of New York’s gentrification through the women who once worked the Meatpacking District.
You’d never know it from the sleek glass Apple store and velvet rope hotel clubs that stand there now, but New York’s Meatpacking District was once a hub for Black and brown trans women to earn an honest living. Even if you know your history, it can be hard to conjure an image of fabulous heeled goddesses walking the cobblestone streets now littered with luxury retail stores. For the ones who lived it, the experience is even more disorienting. That’s one of the bittersweet revelations present in “The Stroll,” a hauntingly poignant documentary that attempts to excavate and preserve that fractured history — while those who lived it are still here.
Directed by Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker, “The Stroll” is a film by and about trans sex workers, a rarity for depictions of an all-too-often sensationalized and dehumanized group. The film takes its title from the block of 14th street between Ninth Avenue and the Hudson River where many once found their trade, which the gals called The Stroll. In interviews with many women formerly “in the life,” dating from the 1970s through the early aughts, “The Stroll” captures the essence of what it must have been like to walk the stroll. Enduring racist policing, violence, poverty, and employment discrimination; they also found joy, humor, sisterhood, and community. By celebrating these women’s humanity and spirit without minimizing their hardships, that duality is what makes “The Stroll” so markedly different than what’s come before it.
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Adding a fascinating layer of media commentary (without overly intellectualizing, as has become an indulgent trend in some recent trans documentaries), the film opens with Lovell reviewing footage of her younger self in a 2007 film called “Queer Streets.” “My mission is to tell this story before we’re gone,” she says, now firmly in the director’s chair. “I feel like I could get it right, if I was the one to tell it.” As co-director, Drucker brought a vast archival knowledge; the filmmaker is an expert on early trans cinema and film footage. “The Stroll” uses many of these early images to create a clear visual of the Meatpacking District, painting a nostalgic portrait of a grittier, gayer, more livable New York.
One less than flattering discovery that may ruffle a few boa feathers is an early tape of a young RuPaul, in a ’90s precursor to the kind of street interview show that might live on YouTube or TikTok today. With a flippant and almost taunting tone, he waltzes down The Stroll lightly interviewing a few girls, all the while making sure to distance himself from them with every joke. In contrast to the very harrowing survival stories, RuPaul comes off as classist and cruel. It’s a shocking reframing made all the more stark thanks to Lovell’s personal perspective.
The cognitive dissonance continues with the rapid gentrification of the area, first by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and then Michael Bloomberg. One New York Times headline reads “The Shantyown of The He-Shes,” atop an article about the outdoor shacks by the river that trans rights pioneer Sylvia Rivera once called home. A former neighborhood organizer named John, who agreed to be interviewed for the film, proudly recalls a banner he hung from what is now The Highline threatening to expose potential Johns by using their license plate numbers to identify them and call home (which he did). “I can’t believe how many times I had to go to jail for this Highline Park to be built,” Lovell remarks bleakly.
The filmmakers assemble an impressive bench of talent from the early days, introducing each legend with her years active on The Stroll. They include Egyptt LaBeija, who appears in the final credits as “Overall GodMother of the House of LaBeija,” and Ceyenne Doroshow, founder of G.L.I.T.S., which recently opened the first housing complex owned by Black trans women in New York. Along with the other surviving interview subjects, they provide colorful anecdotes alongside an overwhelming breadth of trans herstory. For every one of them, there are ten who didn’t survive, a fact they live with every day.
Where limited archival footage falls short, “The Stroll” uses dynamic black and white 2-D cutout animation to illustrate some of the stories in the film, a technique Drucker used on her excellent HBO docuseries “The Lady and The Dale.” It’s a smart way to add visuals without relying on recreations, and it also safeguards the film from depicting violence against sex workers while still being able to address it.
The film lays out in stark reality the many decks stacked against trans sex workers of color that still resonate today: The corrupt NYPD, horrific conditions at Rikers, and the legacy of both Giuliani’s broken windows policing and Bloomberg’s unchecked real estate development. More than just a character study of some dynamic trailblazing women, “The Stroll” really strives to tell the story of what has happened to New York over the last few decades through the lens of The Meatpacking District and the women who once called it home. The result is poignant, heartbreaking, and maddening, a bitter truth that must be reckoned with.
Grade: B+
“The Stroll” premiered in U.S. documentary competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It will be released by HBO Documentary Films.
A Nova Scotia paramedic is speaking out about the conditions those in his profession are facing as paramedics are becoming essential to “hallway medicine” amidst a strained health-care system.
Scott Sturgeon, an advanced care paramedic, has been with Nova Scotia Emergency Health Services for 23 years. In that time, he’s seen dramatic changes to the job, including a growing problem with offload delays at the province’s emergency rooms.
“I’ve seen colleagues and done it myself where I’ve gone in (to the ER) with my first patient on a run of a 12-hour shift and stayed in the hallway with them for 12 hours,” he said.
What’s even more shocking, he says in some cases, is that he’ll “hand off” the patient to a night crew and then “sometimes inherit that very same patient again 12 hours after that.”
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This form of so-called hallway medicine is leaving paramedics like Sturgeon with what he describes as “moral injury.”
“To hear something of an acute nature, of an emergent nature, go out and not have there be any resources, not to be able to do anything about it — it’s difficult for us to handle,” he said.
Nova Scotia EHS worker says paramedics’ hands tied amid ER crisis
Not only is it difficult mentally, but physically as well.
Paramedics are being faced with a growing increase in calls, which leaves them no time for personal care.
“When I clear a call, I am assigned to get another call. And my only chance to go to the bathroom even is to stop at a gas station while I’m en route to yet another residence,” he said.
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“I don’t get my lunches, I’m quite often in overtime. It’s just a pace that people can’t … they can’t keep up.”
Earlier this month, the province unveiled a slate of actions they say will improve emergency care, after the stories of two women who died following seven-hour-long waits in ERs shook the province.
Deaths of 2 Nova Scotia women after ER wait shakes trust in system
The health department says it will begin assigning physician assistants and nurse practitioners to provide care in emergency departments.
It will also have teams led by doctors focusing on getting patients out of ambulances and into ERs faster, and will add care providers and patient advocates in waiting rooms.
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But there are questions about whether the plan will work if there aren’t enough health-care workers.
Their union says it’s a problem that has been building for a number of years.
Kevin MacMullin, business manager for International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 727, says there is a shortage of paramedics. There’s a global demand for them, he says, and many have retired or left the province for work.
“Our professional paramedics have done an outstanding job in this province. And that’s why they’re sought after so highly by other provinces. That’s why they want them. They’re doing an astonishing job under the worst circumstances you could find,” said MacMullin.
He believes what’s key is more attention paid to employee retention.
“If you don’t retain your employees, then you’re just playing catch up all the time. And if you retain your employees, give them good benefits, give them good money, they’ll spread the word and somebody who has left will probably come back. A lot will probably come back.”
Nova Scotia EHS worker says paramedics’ hands tied amid ER crisis
The shortage of family physicians and primary care providers in the province also contributes to the problem.
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Sturgeon says being a paramedic is a rewarding job when they do what they’re “designed to do”: intervene in emergency situations.
“But the reality is that the ambulance is being used by a large portion of the population to fill in gaps for primary care,” he said.
“So we’re being used kind of like a physician, and we’re not physicians … and we’re being asked to do that with regularity.”
Meanwhile, Sturgeon says the situation is difficult and currently, rural communities are paying the price.
“As those ambulances are held in offload, the rural communities that normally have an ambulance end up being pulled into our geographical area. Because statistically, that’s where the next call is going to be,” he explained.
It’s a ripple effect that Sturgeon says needs to be addressed with infrastructure and community support to ensure that when the public needs paramedics, they can be there.
Note: the following contains spoilers for “The Bachelor” Season 27 premiere.
“The Bachelor” is already off to a drama-filled start as Zach Shallcross welcomed 30 women vying for his attention into the iconic Bachelor mansion, relying on his intuition and best judgment to give the coveted first impression rose to one lucky lady before the season’s first rose ceremony. But before Zach could even start the ceremony, a rocky confrontation sealed one of the women’s fate.
After learning that Zach was sealing some of his first conversations with a kiss, Madison shot her shot with the man of the hour with a fireside chat — that closed out with a warm hug. That wasn’t enough for Madison, though, as she stole him for another conversation that this time did end with a brief peck. That kiss resulted in an enlightening conversation between the pair about their (lack of) chemistry before Zach ultimately sent Madison home — before the rose ceremony.
“You can’t force it — if it’s not there, it’s not there,” Zach told TheWrap. “I would be doing her a disservice and myself a disservice to keep her around longer.”
Since Zach knows “the sacrifice it takes to be here,” noting that contestants are away from their family, friends and job, he took a realistic approach to his lack of spark with Madison, adding that he “can’t make [the chemistry] just magically be there.”
“It was really tough to do,” he recalled. “I absolutely wish her the best but you just can’t force that feeling. You can’t force love — you can’t force any of that — so I just wanted to be upfront and honest with her and, and not waste her time.”
Despite this tough moment, Zach took the reins on his first night has he shared lip locks with his suitresses, including with his first impression rose pick, Greer, who bonded with Zach about her dream to settle down in her “end goal” of Austin, TX.
“When I was trying to figure out who I give my first impression rose to it really kind of dawned on me that this night is absolutely absurd — it’s moving a million miles an hour,” Zach told TheWrap. “I looked back at my time with Greer, and during that time, it just felt really calm and comfortable to where … I felt like I was getting taken out of the wildness.”
For the first-time bachelor, their tender, sometimes goofy conversation about Greer moving from Houston, TX to the big Apple gave Zach the reprieve he needed as he began courting the many women in the mansion waiting to get their turn to speak with him.
“I didn’t realize it in the moment, really, that I needed to just get away from everything and kind of take a breather,” he said. “It was really nice that she was able to provide that for me that night.”
New episodes of “The Bachelor” premiere Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT and 7 p.m. CT on ABC.
The Deadline Studio at Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-23 at Hotel Park City, where the cast and creatives behind the best and buzziest titles in this year’s lineup sit down with Deadline’s festival team to discuss their movies and the paths they took to get to Park City.
Chanshi
Section: Indie Episodic Program
Directors: Mickey Triest, Aaron Geva
Logline: Chanshi is from a Jewish-Orthodox Brooklyn family. She uses the story of a friend’s wedding in Israel as a cover to escape her conservative bubble and fiancé. Free to fulfill her forbidden fantasy of sleeping with Israeli soldiers, her trip triggers a past trauma threatening to ruin her adventures.
Next Screening: January 24, 5:50 p.m MST, Prospector Square Theatre, Park City
Key Quote: Aleeza Chanowitz, Aaron Geva and Marnina Schon on Henry Winkler agreeing to play Aleeza’s father on the show: “He liked the project and he liked the opportunity to come to Israel. He had never been there before. And I guess he had some free time.” – Aleeza Chanowitz
“He came right after Barry, which is like an HBO show, to this Israeli set. He always said that he was scared that the minute he will step off the plane a war will burst in Israel.” – Aaron Geva
“But you know he keeps saying that he wants to come back for season 2. He wants there to be a second season and he wants to come back.” – Marnina Schon
Click above to watch the panel video, and track all of our Deadline Studio content here.
Alexandria Bombach, the director of the Indigo Girls documentary “It’s Only Life After All,” discovered the band when she was 12 years old — and as a pre-teen whose parents had recently divorced, Bombach found solace in the folk-rock duo’s lyrics. At that point, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls were already icons, with their1989 Indigo Girls’ eponymous major label debut selling over two million copies.
“That 12-year-old me saw how Amy and Emily prioritized authenticity, community and service,” says Bombach.
Over two decades later, Bombach (“Frame By Frame,” “On Her Shoulders”) attended an Indigo Girls concert in Los Angeles. “I was completely emotional,” says Bombach. “I looked around, and so many other people were also crying.” Afterward, the helmer found herself backstage with Saliers and Ray and was “blown away” by the duo — and that’s when Bombach knew that she wanted to make a doc about the band. So she asked.
“They had been approached in the past, but always said no because it wasn’t the right fit,” says Bombach. “After they saw my last film, ‘On Her Shoulders,’ they reached out and said, ‘We would like you to do this doc.’”
Four years later, Bombach is heading to Sundance to premiere “It’s Only Life After All.” The 123-minute docu tells the story of Ray and Saliers, who began their musical connection as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, and unexpectedly rose to fame with the 1989 hit “Closer to Fine.” Fans fell in love with their harmonies, moving lyrics, and ability to defy genre with a vast range of musical breadth — from folky, soulful ballads to punk-inspired rock anthems. But despite their success, Saliers and Ray, who are both lesbians, battled misogyny, homophobia, and a harsh cultural climate chastising them for not fitting into a female pop star mold. As a result, they each grappled with the impact of internalizing those messages. While they wrestled with career struggles, Ray and Saliers began supporting grassroots activism and speaking out against social and environmental injustice.
Bombach tells the rock duo’s story using Ray’s home movies, archival footage and present-day verité.
Variety exclusively unveils the first clip of “It’s Only Life After All” above. Cinetic is repping worldwide sales.
Needless to say, fans were NOT happy about that. So they decided to poke a little fun (okay, they full-on dunked on the show) on Twitter. So, I decided to do a roundup of funny tweets that truly captures how much the show is hated:
Also, be sure to like and follow these Twitter users!
Sundance: Raine Allen-Miller’s debut feature bolsters genre tropes with fresh leads, a wonderful sense of place, and fun to spare.
As the rom-com still gasps for air in the blockbuster landscape, the Sundance Film Festival has become a reliable source for small, distinctive entries into the genre, from “Obvious Child” to “Palm Springs.” This year, the festival’s lineup yields the delightful “Rye Lane,” which takes a simple premise and infuses it with warm performances and a distinct sense of place.
In Raine Allen-Miller’s debut feature, the two will-be lovebirds first encounter each other in a loo at an art show — he’s sobbing — and embark on a day of skirting responsibility and negotiating their own heartbreak. At just 82 minutes, Allen-Miller’s film is short, but packed to the brim with her affection for her characters and the place in world they occupy, the South London neighborhood of Peckham.
Watching the film, audiences will long for Allen-Miller’s heroes to get together, but will also likely also crave the burritos they eat and itch to grab some pints and crisps with them. It’s both a vibrant introduction to a corner of the city that, at least this American, knew little about, and a calling card for an emerging director who knows that the story of two people falling for each other should be as visually engaging as anything else in theaters.
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Dom (David Jonsson of “Industry”) is reeling from a break-up with his longtime girlfriend when Yas (Vivian Oparah) hears his whimpers. The script, from Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia, frames these two as a traditional odd couple: Whereas Dom shrinks from confrontation, Yas barrels headfirst into it. He’s an accountant. She’s a costume designer. Can I make it any more obvious?
A chat at their goofy mutual friend’s gallery exhibition spills out onto the street, where Dom explains he’s heading to meet up with his ex, who also happens to have cheated on him with his best friend since childhood. Even though Dom initially rejects her offer to come along as defense, Yas crashes his awkward lunch, posing as his new fling. Suddenly and briefly liberated from his heartbreak, Dom starts to embrace Yas’s more carefree attitude toward life as their hijinks progress into the evening and they find themselves crashing a party, breaking and entering, and doing karaoke to Salt-N-Pepa’s “Shoop.”
Even with all of Dom’s neuroses, Jonsson projects an ease on-screen that makes him an endearing romantic lead. His eyes downcast, he has an unassuming charm that creeps up on you that stands in counter to the whirlwind of charisma that Oparah unleashes. Yas uses her own confidence to mask the insecurities that Dom wears on his sleeve, and Oparah mashes up her character’s seductive freedom with her own woundedness to immensely satisfying effect. In an alluring beat, she picks out a new pair of shoes from a bargain bin and immediately discards the pair she is wearing.
The performances are augmented by Allen-Miller’s stylistic flourishes, which include fisheye shots, close-ups, and extended flashbacks where the characters observe their former mishaps. Allen-Miller packs every frame with sumptuous color. Some of it comes from the landscape of Peckham — the bright green of the park grass or the multihued graffiti on the street or the painted gates on the shops of Rye Lane Market — but some of it is purely of her own invention. The karaoke sequence is a mix of neon greens and pinks and purples.
And although the plot can start to feel just a bit slight, Allen-Miller’s energetic approach to filming Dom and Yas’ adventures makes up for whatever the narrative might be lacking. Bryon and Melia’s dialogue is natural and endearing, but as “Rye Lane” heads toward its conclusion, the stakes sometimes feel awfully low.
“Before Sunrise” is an obvious influence for “Rye Lane” as it emulates the rambling, getting-to-know-you events of Richard Linklater’s beloved classic. However, I detect, if not a full rebuke, then a sort of answer to another Richard: Richard Curtis. The Curtis-scripted “Notting Hill” takes its title from a gentrified neighborhood in London, and features it as a backdrop for the romance of white people with white friends.
“Rye Lane” highlights the thrillingly diverse population of its settings and centers on Black love. And if you needed more proof that there’s Curtis DNA, note a quick cameo from one of his regulars that I won’t spoil here. That unnamed person is the only major star in the feature, so here’s hoping it can find its audience when the film debuts on Hulu via Searchlight later this spring. Allen-Miller and her cast more than deserve the attention.
Grade: A-
“Rye Lane” premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release it to stream on Hulu on March 31.
Sundance: Peter Nicks’ biography is torn between an NCAA tournament rewind and the present-day perspective from the Golden State Warriors’ franchise player.
Of all the major American sports, basketball is the one where personality shines through the easiest. There’s no helmet, no facemask. Any one player only has to share the court with nine others. The athleticism, the fire, and the smiles all come through. So one of the biggest challenges for any documentary filmmaker trying to make a biography of a professional basketball player is to contend with what’s already freely given.
In the world of the NBA, Stephen Curry isn’t one of the largest personalities, but he’s not a blank slate either. Watch clips from any of his Golden State Warriors’ title runs or his legendary game-winners, and you’ll see a man who isn’t afraid to show emotion when the lights are brightest. He’s lived a life around sports, having come from a family of athletes, including a father and brother who are fellow NBA vets. As the opening minutes of “Stephen Curry: Underrated” show, he now has career records to go with a handful of championship rings. The biggest question for this feature-length Apple and A24 doc isn’t if all of that exists, but why. To find an answer, director Peter Nicks is tasked with going back to Curry’s time as a college undergrad.
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Though the film sometimes feels like multiple Steph Curry docs merged into one, the thread that becomes the most significant begins with a flashback to the mid-2000s, tracking Curry’s recruitment to Davidson College. Over the course of his three years playing and studying there, he went from undervalued point guard to a topic of national conversation. Naturally, that attention came as a result of his on-court heroics. But the most illuminating parts of “Underrated” from that time are the tiny glimpses in between the games. It’s a more carefree, freewheeling Curry in that footage. (One particular clip from a campus sketch show will be a treat to anyone whose first few years of college featured an inexplicable amount of Asher Roth.) There are grainy digital camera shots of study rooms and hotel hallways, evoking his time there. Those become the thin backdrop for a remembrance of Curry’s Davidson teams and the NCAA tournament appearances that made the small North Carolina liberal arts college a coast-to-coast sensation for a few weeks in 2008.
Those glimpses are fun, and “Underrated” is steadily entertaining throughout. At the same time, it’s hard to escape the feeling that this film is struggling to make a compelling case for its own existence. Aside from some sparse input from Curry’s teammates and coaches (including the sage Bob McKillop, for whom the Davidson court is now named), there’s not much in those Wildcat runs that wouldn’t pop up in a well-produced, in-house NCAA special. (You hear far more from Jim Nantz, Gus Johnson, and Sean McDonough’s in-game calls than you do from Steph himself.) There’s a healthy dose of from-the-stands camcorder footage of games throughout Curry’s college tenure. But fun as that perspective is, the story of Curry’s career has already been written.
As far as what makes Curry the player he is, “Underrated” nods toward parents Dell and Sonya reworking his shot back in high school. Aside from the other technical elements of his current-day prep (seen all too sparingly in workout sequences), the rest of what “Underrated” offers as the secrets to Curry’s success are more in the realm of self-psychology. The motivating factors for any point in Curry’s career — to achieve greatness, support teammates, and represent his roots — are the kind of one-size-fits-all sentiments that you could graft onto pretty much every pro athlete’s origin story. Save for a few peppered comments about wanting to prove wrong the people who underestimated him for his size, “Underrated” is a spiritual sibling to last year’s ESPN Derek Jeter documentary series “The Captain.” Both are tasked with wringing drama out of someone who’s lived a uniquely charmed sports existence.
The closest that Nicks gets to breaking that mold is putting forth Curry as a well-adjusted superstar, one who, despite living in a Bay Area house with a private gym, a bevy of Apple products, and a tastefully upscale interior, takes a workmanlike approach to his performance. On drives to the Chase Center for Warriors games with a camera in the passenger seat, he’s already locked into a silent focus. He approaches his strength-training regimen like a run to the grocery store. Even when his commercial shoot is crashed by a famous fan, he juggles all of those elements as someone who knows that they’re all part of the job. If there’s a heavy dose of added pressure that Curry still carries after his many exploits on the national stage, he doesn’t show it while there are cameras in the room.
So searching for something to latch onto, “Underrated” includes Curry’s delayed pursuit of a Davidson degree, after leaving college early for the NBA Draft left him a few credits short. It’s another example of Curry’s life being more compelling in theory than in practice, as Zoom meetings with a professor and Google Doc thesis outlines flit in and out of the film. (Any actual discussion of his chosen topic of women’s sports is limited to a few over-the-shoulder glances of him typing out parts of a rough draft.) Seeing him finish up his school obligations as he and his college teammates talk about their time in the spotlight a decade and a half ago makes for a cute bit of symmetry, but it’s never more than just another ingredient in the soup.
For all its familiarity and the lack of surprise that Curry himself is bringing, “Underrated” is still the product of an observant storyteller. When the film gets the breathing room to be spontaneous, particularly in its peeks into the day-to-day practice schedule of an otherworldly three-point shooter, there’s an excitement and a discovery there. That spirit spills over into the contributions of editor JD Marlow, who works together some smile-inducing transitions between past and present. The match cuts between swishes a decade apart or Curry side-stepping defenders for step-back 3s show a greater sense of diligence and playfulness than you usually find in straightforward hagiographies.
Maybe it’s because this film’s perception of Curry is of a player too talented and fueled by the joy of the long-range shot to be petty or spiteful. Maybe it’s his later success that keeps his Davidson stint from feeling like the open wound it clearly still is for at least one of his teammates. Whatever the reason, “Underrated” ends up feeling like something better suited for a different medium. The speed run through the end of Curry’s 2021-22 season with the Warriors, in particular, feels like a missed opportunity, a lack of runway, or a film butting up against its own self-appointed purpose. Closer to a magazine piece than a doc — it’s probably not a coincidence this will arrive somewhere near the 15th anniversary of that ’08 Davidson team’s Cinderella tournament run — it also has the feeling of a write-around profile that managed to get some time with its main subject after all. Curry has had a fascinating past two decades, something that “Underrated” does an effective job of capturing. But in harnessing what was always there in full view, there’s not much else here to add.
Grade: B-
“Stephen Curry: Underrated” premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in the Special Screenings section. The film will be available on Apple TV+ later this year.
Midnight Suns‘ Deadpool trailer was mostly about his antics and didn’t reveal how the mouthy hero would play during tactical battles. Firaxis Games has now released a gameplay showcase specifically focused on Deadpool, letting users get an idea of what he contributes to fights other than wisecracks and innuendos.
Deadpool, like some other characters in the game, has a specific resource that makes him unique called “En Fuego.” This En Fuego meter fills when Deadpool kills an enemy and drains a little if he takes damage. Once filled, it adds a stack of En Fuego, which makes most of his cards more powerful. Players are incentivized to use heroes that draw attacks away from Deadpool or otherwise protect him so he can take full advantage of En Fuego.
Deadpool’s passive also heals him a bit every turn, which can be upgraded to yield more health based on his En Fuego meter. While many of his cards seem to deal damage based on his En Fuego meter, his “Hey, #^*face!” card doles out resistance that’s contingent upon En Fuego, yielding a defensive ability that will protect him and allow him to stay on fire for longer. Deadpool also isn’t reliant on Heroism like many other damage-dealing heroes, which gives him even more of an identity.
Deadpool is also just one of the four DLC characters that are included in the game’s season pass, which kicks off with Deadpool’s release on January 26. Venom, Morbius, and Storm are the other three heroes that will release in that same order throughout 2023. Firaxis still hasn’t detailed exactly when they’ll start dropping, though.
The collected “Discworld” novels by Terry Pratchett are so weird and so imaginative and so wry that very few filmmakers have ever seriously tried to adapt them. We’ve had one short-lived live-action series, one short film, a few animated mini-series and three ambitious live-action mini-series. (“The Hogfather” is a perennial yuletide viewing experience for all of us, or at least it should be.)
But feature films have eluded the dwellers of “Discworld” until just about — actually wait, let me check my watch here — now.
“The Amazing Maurice,” based on the 2001 children’s book “The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents,” features the voice of Hugh Laurie as the title character. He’s a cat who can talk in a world where cats don’t usually do that, even though magic is real, the living personification of Death walks among us and fairy-tale characters abound as well.
Then again, rats can’t talk either, but there sure are a lot of talking rats in “The Amazing Maurice.” It turns out they were living in the trash pile full of discarded wizard’s potions, they ate a bunch of weird glowing goo, and now here they are, like the rats of NIMH but more easily swayed by religious zeitgeist.
Because you see, Maurice has tricked these talking rats into believing that a children’s storybook, the Beatrix Potter–esque “Mr. Bunny Has an Adventure,” is actually a promise of a faraway utopia where animals wear clothes and live among humans as equals. But in order to get there, they’ll have to raise a lot of money, naturally. So Maurice and a human being with all the personality of a paper bag named Keith (Himesh Patel, “Enola Holmes 2”) pull a Pied-Piper scam, filling cities with rats and then musically removing them, cutting the rats in on the deal.
Unfortunately, the rats are now developing a complex and powerful sense of morality, thanks in large part to their spiritual leader Dangerous Beans (David Tennant). They don’t want to trick their way into paradise. But they embark on another job anyway in a town where, wouldn’t you know it, there are plot points afoot. A couple of rat-catchers have already removed the rats, but the food keeps disappearing anyway, and now it’s up to Maurice, Keith, the rats and the mayor’s daughter Malicia (Emilie Clarke) to solve the mystery and save the day.
Malicia is rather a lot. She narrates “The Amazing Maurice” via a framing device in which she explains the concept of a framing device, and then reduces every other aspect of the story to a familiar cliché as well. She does this within the story too, with practically every line of dialogue, and the film isn’t quite charming or funny enough to get away with that. You can only wink so many times before people think you’re not doing it on purpose and just have something in your eye.
It’s unfortunately rather endemic to “The Amazing Maurice” as a whole. It’s a film that’s extraordinarily clever and proud of itself, even though it rarely manages to make that cleverness fun for the rest of us. The film expects applause for its encyclopedic knowledge of tvtropes.com but rarely earns applause for using that self-awareness to make funny jokes, tell a satisfying story or impress us with genuine satirical insight.
Of course, animated movies about fairy-tale scenarios have been self-aware for quite a while now, and it’s not like the “Shrek” movies were so mind-bogglingly brilliant that nobody else can horn in on their territory. But “The Amazing Maurice” just has a frustrating way of making smart ideas seem uninspired and funny jokes not funny. It’s all in the execution, and the executioner has their hood on backwards and keeps swinging the axe anyway.
There are moments in “The Amazing Maurice” where director Toby Genkel, co-director Florian Westermann and screenwriter Terry Rossio (“The Lone Ranger”) lean heavily into the religious allegory and try to make serious points about faith, but the film sets up that conflict in such a halfhearted, clunky way that it doesn’t amount to much. Dangerous Beans seems to be a metaphor for Christian saviors but doesn’t have very much to expound other than hope is good, and not to take the Bible — I mean, “Mr. Bunny Has an Adventure” — too literally. A whole can of worms gets opened, and they only used one. It’s a bit of a waste.
As far as the characters go, Malicia is very amusing, but she sucks all the air out of the room, leaving poor Keith suffocating for screen time, character development or a sliver of personality. Maurice is ostensibly the lead, but it feels like the movie forgets about him most of the time, shoveling his path to redemption into the final act where it plays well but probably could have been set up more effectively and to bigger impact.
The animation in “The Amazing Maurice” is all perfectly competent, and occasionally rather playful, but it never quite matches the whirlwind energy of the story or (some of) the characters. Only the villainous Boss Man, voiced by David Thewlis, comes across like an interesting creation. The secret origins of his bizarre figure, swathed in baggy clothes, are rather obvious from the outset but nevertheless yield creepy, interesting physicality.
Families confusing “The Amazing Maurice” with a conventional American animated studio film may be somewhat surprised, however, to discover that the film goes to some deeply unpleasant places with its animal characters. Death is a literal figure here and so is, not coincidentally, Death of Rats, his rodential counterpart, and they’re on the job today. The sudden onset of violence in the film is technically off camera but nevertheless harsh, and families should probably be prepared for it, even if it’s arguably necessary for the heaviness of the thematic material to sink in.
It’s tempting to sign off by arguing that “The Amazing Maurice” isn’t amazing, but it’s not an everyday film either. It’s a seemingly honest attempt to translate Terry Pratchett’s bizarre, overstuffed, heady world of wonder into an animated film that’s relatively family-friendly, and everybody here deserves bonus points for even trying. They came pretty close to getting the mixture right; it would just be an exaggeration to say they got close enough.
“The Amazing Maurice” opens in US theaters Feb. 3.
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) An epic event that celebrated Black history, culture, and fashion shines a light on the importance of history and the healing power of music during times of unrest. World Premiered in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s US Documentary Competition section, where it won the US Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and Audience Award: US Documentary.
Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel
Festival Section: Encore Special Screenings
More Info: Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
According to measurements by Nielsen combined with first-party data from Warner Bros. Discovery, Episode 2 brought in 5.7 million viewers across linear airings on HBO and streams on HBO Max. That marks a 22% increase from last week’s record-breaking 4.7 million, a number that Warner Bros. Discovery later reported had already jumped to 10 million after two days of availability.
Per HBO, the jump from the initial premiere viewership to Episode 2’s debut audience is the “largest week 2 audience growth for an HBO Original drama series in the history of the network.”
The network also offered yet another update regarding the series premiere’s viewership, stating that “after one full week of availability, Episode 1 is now tracking at 18 million viewers, up nearly 4x from its premiere night audience.”
The immediate popularity of “The Last of Us” is unsurprising, as the drama series is an adaptation of the megahit video game of the same name that has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. The only comparable HBO series in recent memory is “House of the Dragon,” the “Game of Thrones” sequel series that debuted in August of 2022. Both series have significantly outperformed the launch of both seasons of “Euphoria,” which became HBO’s second biggest series of all time after “Game of Thrones” during its second season in early 2022.
HBO noted last week that “Sunday night viewership for an HBO series typically represents 20%-40% of the show’s total gross audience per episode.” Therefore, it can be expected that “The Last of Us” Episode 2, titled “Infected,” will hit another milestone soon.
Set 20 years after the destruction of modern civilization, “The Last of Us” stars Pedro Pascal as Joel, a hardened survivor who is hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie (Bella Ramsey) out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
“The Last of Us” is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television. Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann write the series and serve as executive producers along with Carolyn Strauss, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan and Rose Lam. The original video game was developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation platforms. PlayStation Productions and Naughty Dog both produce the series along with Word Games and the Mighty Mint.
Avan Jogia wants people to watch his directorial debut, “Door Mouse,” a film he also wrote and appears in. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a big budget to market and promote the indie.
But, he does have a hot body. Shortly after the movie’s release earlier this month, the former “Victorious” star posted a 30-second clip on TikTok that shows him at the gym followed by glimpses of his bare chest and abs. “Is that good enough for you? Did we do it? The thirst trap? Okay, now go watch ‘Door Mouse,’” he says in the video.
A few days later, Jogia tells Variety the tactic worked.
“I’ve seen a lot of people who watched the film who probably wouldn’t,” Jogia says on this week’s upcoming episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. “And then they text or DM me this really moving thing about the film and a really good sort of deep dive into what the film’s about. Off of a thirst trap? It’s great.”
The caption for the video, which currently has almost 500,000 views, reads, “Trying to convince the algorithm that what I make has value. Go pre-order ‘Door Mouse.’”
Jogia ends the video by declaring, “This is what we have to do now.”
“I think it was a reaction to seeing what penetrates, for lack of a better word, the algorithm,” Jogia explains of his thirst trap marketing. “I think people who make stuff are finding the algorithm a kind of complicated beast because it likes being fed what it likes being fed. I like the meta-ness of playing with that. I also cut a version of my film with transitions from ‘Victorious,’ the old show that I did, because the algorithm likes being fed what it likes being fed and it will push out videos that a lot of the time, unfortunately, have a simple fucking concept or instigate an instant feeling.”
“Door Mouse” stars Hayley Lew as a dancer at a burlesque club whose friends and fellow dancers suddenly start disappearing.
Jogia originally wrote the film almost a decade ago, when he felt he was losing out on roles because of the color of his skin.
“I was 23, I just got off of these two big shows for teens and [those] sort of Shia LaBeouf meaty acting roles weren’t really there for me as a brown man,” he says, adding, “I started writing and I wrote this because I wanted to see actors of color in a noir, just like a noir that we’d seen a thousand times before. There’s nothing specifically unique or special about this noir, other than the fact that [you] get to see people of color have the trench coat and smoke the cigarette and drink the whiskey and do the thing.”
You can hear the full interview with Jogia on “Just for Variety” Jan. 26 on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.
“Cat Person” director Susanna Fogel discussed the thriller’s themes of modern dating and consent with stars Emilia Jones and Nicholas Braun at Variety Sundance Studio presented by Audible.
“Cat Person” depicts the tumultuous romance between Margot, an arthouse theater employee and college student, and older theater-frequenter Robert. Cross-counter flirting turns into texting, and their relationship eventually unravels as awkward moments, discomfort and red flags surface.
“It answers the core questions and contradictions and complexities of the issue around consent,” Jones said.
Inspired by Kristen Roupenian’s viral New Yorker article of the same title, the film illustrates a provocative image of modern dating as it explores power dynamics, gray areas of consent and women’s relationships with themselves and their partners.
“The dread increases and then builds to a horrifying climax,” Fogel said, reflecting on her choice to adapt the fiction piece as a thriller. “There’s a lot of projection and fear that goes into that [modern dating], and for women in particular…The idea was to manifest that in an anxious, uncomfortable, suspenseful flash.”
Fogel, who co-wrote “Booksmart,” recently completed “Winner” and is in post-production on limited series “A Small Light” for National Geographic and Disney+.
Jones’ work includes “C0DA,” “Brimstone,” “Youth,” “High-Rise” and Fogel’s upcomming “Winner.” Emmy-nominated Nicholas Braun’s portfolio includes “Succession,” “Sky High,” “How to Be Single” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”
In addition to Fogel, “Cat Person” was executively produced by Daniel Hank, Gino Falsetto, Ashford, Anna Marsh, Shana Eddy-Grouf, Rachel Henochsberg, Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman, with Helen Estabrook and Jeremy Steckler producing.
“The video will not be utilized for any other reason,” the department said
Social media erupted over the weekend after a video went viral of a New York Police Department officer recording fans as they left Drake’s first show at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Now, the NYPD is providing more context, claiming that an officer was recording fans to use it on social media.
“The officer depicted in the video is a Community Affairs officer involved with the 28th Precinct’s social media team,” read a statement. “The officer was taking video for an upcoming Twitter post that will highlight local community events.”
“The video will not be utilized for any other reason,” the department added.
A New York Times reporter leaving the show recorded an officer as he filmed a video of those exiting the storied Harlem venue.
Still, privacy advocates — such as the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project in New York City — called the officer’s actions “highly concerning,” asking NYPD to destroy the content.
“This is yet another example of NYPD’s racist use of surveillance technology, following the department’s long legacy of targeting rap concerts. We’re deeply concerned facial recognition may have been involved, and demand the department destroy any footage it took,” Will Owen of STOP told Gothamist. “This is the latest proof that the city and state must ban its use at venues once and for all.”
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams, for his part, defended the police department’s decision, describing it as a “creative” way of engaging with the local community. “Thumbs up to that great captain,” Adams said of Captain Tarik Sheppard, who heads the 28th Precinct, per Gothamist. “And I encourage all of my commanding officers to be creative on how we engage with our residents. That was a safe event.”
The reaction comes after New York lawmakers introduced a new bill to try and ban the use of facial recognition to remove lawyers litigating against Madison Square Garden at its events.
Kunal Kemmu as investigator Abhay Pratap Singh is back and interesting crime stories are woven yet again to keep the thrill quotient going. In new episodes, Abhay 2 gets more engaging as challenges keep coming back in new forms and faces for the UP-based sleuth. With slick pace and neo-noir treatment, the series holds promise for another round of action and you won’t be able to look away when evil comes searching.
Now, Abhay has moved away from his child Sahil and can dedicate his whole mind and time to solving crimes. Earlier, he was somewhat restrained due to homely duties and a troubled past. The storyline does not give him a clean slate here but, first-off, it’s fresh to see Abhay focus whole-heartedly on helping people without having to worry about his personal life.
While season one worked on setting the pace, tone and familiarised us with the main character, Abhay 2 brings powerful villains to the fore whose dirt has to be cleaned up by the law enforcement agency. Chunky Panday, Bidita Bag and Ram Kapoor make for formidable opponents in the first three episodes and each of them embrace their dark, rebellious side.
Not that they will match up to Abhay’s grit, intelligence or sixth sense but it is always welcome for the bigger evils to face him first.
The new season makes investigative storytelling attractive and uses crime-drama tropes to its maximum advantage. High contrast images, deserted locations and a broody man-in-charge are all ingredients served with fresh perspectives. Kunal has also kept up well with his character as he catches twisted perpetrators and returns back without batting an eyelid.
Abhay showed promise in 2019 and with a new outing, the showrunners draw from their experimental side. As people sidestep all morality and strip humanity bare, a maverick officer keeps alive the hope of swift justice.
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 10: Austin Butler, winner of the Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama award for “Elvis”, celebrates the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards with Moët And Chandon at The Beverly Hilton on January 10, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Moët and Chandon)
Make way, Marvel Cinematic Universe. There’s an award-winning actor who’s said to be looking for a part in the next Fantastic Four movie, and this fan art imagines what he’d look like. We’re talking about Austin Butler, of course, most famous for portraying Elvis Presley in the 2022 Baz Luhrmann film.
Ever since word got out that the Fantastic Four would be part of the MCU, comic book fans and movie lovers alike all gathered to speculate who could be cast in the coveted roles. You’ll remember that beloved actors like Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan have portrayed Johnny Storm/Human Torch in the past Fantastic Four movies, and that’s the part Butler’s apparently got his eye on. While we wait to see which actor will ultimately play the next iteration of Storm, check out this awesome art below.
See what Austin Butler could look like as the Human Torch
Artist @clements.ink on Instagram created the two images below, which give us an idea of how well Butler could fit in the role of the Human Torch. By my judgment, he looks pretty great! And many of the commenters on Instagram all agree.
The post above received comments such as “Austin will be fantastic as the torch,” and “Would be the best actor in the MCU currently.” On the other hand, some disagreed that the Golden Globe-winning actor could pull off the role, with one writing, “Even with fan art I still can’t see it…I really hope he doesn’t become Johnny.” What do you think?
Is Austin Butler playing the Human Torch in Fantastic Four?
At the time of this writing, Butler is not confirmed to be playing the Human Torch, and neither is anyone else. The official casting has not yet been announced, though we have reason to believe the 31-year-old actor might very well be in the running. In a December interview on John Rocha’s podcast The Hot Mic, according to The Direct, Marvel insider Jeff Sneider revealed that Butler’s agents are “putting him up” for the role.
There will no doubt be countless actors trying out for the main roles in the new Fantastic Four film, so we can’t wait to see who comes out on top.
It’s been a minute since the internet exploded over photos of hot couple Rita Ora and Taika Waititi getting cozy with fellow hot A-lister Tessa Thompson.
In case you forgot, in May of 2021, Ora and Waititi were spending time in Australia, where the famed director was filming Thor: Love and Thunder, starring—you guessed it—Westworld actor Tessa Thompson. The trio interrupted everyone’s regularly scheduled pandemic gossip when they were photographed kissing and embracing at Waititi’s home in Sydney, sparking throuple rumors.
At the time, Waititi was unbothered by the media circus, telling Sydney Morning Herald, “I think in the world of the internet, everything goes away pretty quick. And also, is it that big a deal? No, not really. I was doing nothing wrong. It’s fine.” And that was pretty much that…until now.
Rita Ora and Taika Waititi had just confirmed their relationship in April of that year, and would eventually tie the knot in August 2022. Fast-forward to January 2023 and we finally have the singer’s take on the feeding frenzy. “You can’t train for this shit,” she said of tabloid fodder.
“I just chose to not acknowledge that because it’s ridiculous,” the 32-year-old recently told British GQ. “I think when some things are so absurd, and it’s hard to fathom any sense of it, you just have to ignore it. I’ve taken that approach for a lot of things because you don’t want to put energy towards something that’s nonexistent. It’s like trying to explain something that didn’t happen means you’re feeding into nothing.”
Rita Ora and Taika Waititi attend the UK gala screening of Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 05, 2022.
The Kardashians fans are divided by Kourtney’s husband, Travis Barker. Some Redditors think that the Blink-182 drummer comes off as weird and creepy.
Many The Kardashians fans are getting weird vibes from Kourtney Kardashian’s husband, Travis Barker. Kris Jenner and the late Robert Kardashian Sr.’s eldest daughter married the Blink-182 drummer for the third time in May 2022, at an intimate ceremony in Italy. The duo’s relationship is known for featuring over-the-top public displays of affection, which aren’t always warmly received. However, the newlywed couple has ignored the criticism, and appears to be going strong.
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Travis and Kourtney purchased a house together, and Kourtney is reportedly happy to be called, “Mrs. Barker.” In a short time, a lot has changed, as Travis used to be Kourtney’s neighbor, and a family friend of the Kardashians. The famous clan has welcomed the relationship between the The Kardashians’ Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker with open arms. The only exception is Kourtney’s ex, Scott Disick.
Kourtney Kardashian’s Fans Are Wary Of Travis Barker
While the Kardashian family members may have accepted Travis into the fold, some odd things about Travis have been noted, which have been talked about since their relationship began. In an episode of The Kardashians season 2, momager Kris revealed to Kourtney that Travis had told her he moved to Calabasas years ago so he could be close to Kourtney. Redditor DebateDifficult7111 started a thread discussing their thoughts on Kourtney’s new husband, saying, “So just curious…does anyone else find Travis Barker to be low key weird?
That Redditor continued, “Like when kris was talking about how Travis said he moved to calabasas because he knew kourtney lived there I was like….” Travis’ romantic gesture was perceived as quite inappropriate and creepy. The second half of “Kravis” is giving off creepy vibes to fans of The Kardashians.
Has Travis Barker Been Interested In Kourtney For Years?
Other people seemed to be on the same page, noting that Travis made them uncomfortable. On the thread, Reddit user loveyourlife19 stated, “Yes, he’s [Travis] definitely a creeper!” Another user, justbrowsin2424, talked about Travis relocating to Calabasas, “They[Kardashians] all view it as endearing and sweet but in any other instance it would be considered stalking and creepy.” There was also a lot of discussion on the thread about Kourtney and Travis’ extreme PDA, which has made many viewers cringe.
Among others, Reddit user Ambitious-Food4499 admitted, “I really don’t like him [Travis], all the constant pda is creepy and super uncomfortable to watch, let alone be around.” It appears that the Blink-182 drummer is making a lot of Kardashian fans feel uneasy, on The Kardashians and online. However, Reddit user Randchick jokingly reminded others that Travis is not creepy, because he’s, “just a scorpio.” They meant that Scorpios usually have intense personalities.
Some fans mentioned that despite the strange impression they got from him, they like Kourtney and Travis together. In the end, fans are glad that Kourtney seems happy again, especially after her relationship drama with Scott. Nevertheless, The Kardashians fans still think there is something off about Travis. He may be a little clingy with his wife.
Disability is usually the last identity category most people think of when we talk collectively about bolstering diversity, equity and inclusion across institutions — yet disabled people comprise the most diverse minoritized population in the world. After all, anyone can become disabled at any time. Disability is also often invisible: Think of how many people you know who live with chronic illness, chronic pain, or learning and cognitive conditions. Even more invisible within the disabled population, however, are those who experience mental health difficulties. Despite the fact that one in five adults in the U.S. experiences mental illness, it remains a silenced and stigmatized subject.
Last year, when CODA‘s Oscar buzz was growing, many commentators reflected on the relative dearth of films that accurately depict disabilities, the fact that an even smaller number of those films actually receive awards consideration at all, and the perennial question of who, exactly, gets to tell such stories. Several films in the 2023 race feature lead characters with disabling health conditions — most of them mental illness in some form. But other than The Fabelmans, which doesn’t diagnose Mitzi Fabelman (Michelle Williams) with a disorder but instead hints at one, none of these films are strong best picture contenders. In fact, relatively few Oscar-nominated films across the past 50 years have put mental health at the forefront of their stories.
Oscar voters clearly love a good, harrowing performance that runs the gamut between histrionic and catatonic but seem to find movies about mental health issues, well, depressing. Going back to 1973, only about 20 to 25 best picture nominees out of nearly 300 explicitly address or satirize mental health crises and care. Additionally, a large number of these films display rare or extreme psychological behavior, such as Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter and Fatal Attraction. Among the small number of nominees cited, only three have actually won the top prize: 1975’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, about a group of patients living at a mental health facility; 1980’s Ordinary People, about a depressed young man confronting his traumas in therapy; and 2001’s A Beautiful Mind, about a schizophrenic mathematician.
Contrast this to the exceptional number of Oscar acting nods across history that have been bestowed on performers emphasizing a stereotypical “descent into madness” archetype. Nominees like Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence, Jessica Lange in Frances and Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted come to mind. (None of these films received best picture nominations.) It’s not necessarily easy for an actor to embody the complexities of mental illness, but it may be easy for voters to perceive these performances as immersive, labor-intensive and emotionally compelling. In other words, prime for a little gold trophy.
But what kind of overarching story or complete viewing experience is meaningful to the run-of-the-mill Oscar voter? Based on statistical averages, Academy members tend to view movies about men as more “best picture worthy” than movies about women. Perhaps the continued tendency of our society to associate women with (unwanted) hysterical behavior may account for why movies about male vulnerability may be seen as more de facto “relatable” and are thus more often elevated to best picture status. In addition to the three mental health-focused best picture winners mentioned earlier, movies about psychologically wounded men such as Good Will Hunting, As Good as It Gets, Silver Linings Playbook, Manchester by the Sea, A Star Is Born and Joker, just to name a few, all netted best picture nominations. In the same period, only one female-centric movie about mental decline — Black Swan — received a best picture nom.
This year’s Oscar nominations may, in fact, play out along historical lines, with mental health struggles defining the acting categories but not any other major ones. The Whale, about a depressed and agoraphobic man struggling with obesity, is a tour de force for Brendan Fraser but otherwise divisive among viewers. The same goes for Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde. Other depression-themed movies like Empire of Light, The Son and Causeway have all but disappeared from precursors altogether, despite highly touted performances from the likes of Olivia Colman, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry.
Perhaps the critical acclaim for indie darling Aftersun will implore voters to see the film for more than just Paul Mescal’s masterful performance as a depressed single dad doing his best to hide his inner state while on vacation. And maybe if you squint hard enough, you could see some loose mental health themes in The Banshees of Inisherin. But given the industry support for blockbusters like Avatar: The Way of Water, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Everything Everywhere All at Once and Top Gun: Maverick, Oscar voters may end up overlooking fraught stories for more uplifting fare.
This story first appeared in the Jan. 18 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
For documentary filmmakers seeking distribution for independently made projects, Sundance is the golden ticket. It’s where a few lucky doc directors can nail down seven-figure deals with major distributors including Netflix, Amazon or Apple TV+ every year. But this year, with streamers not only tightening their purse strings but also increasingly commissioning their own content, and even shunning more provocative political-leaning fare, the Park City market for indie nonfiction features will be more competitive and likely less lucrative.
Last January at Sundance 2022, which was an online-only event, the doc market got off to a strong start. Several Sundance nonfiction titles sold, including “Aftershock” (Disney’s Onyx Collective and ABC News), “All That Breathes” (HBO), “Descendant” (Netflix), “Last Flight Home” (MTV Documentary Films), “Fire of Love” (National Geographic), “Mija” (Disney+), “Nothing Compares” (Showtime) and “The Territory” (National Geographic). But as the year wore on, economic unease and the merger of major brands significantly reduced the number of docs being bought out of festivals.
“It’s no secret that the market out of festivals throughout 2022 steadily declined throughout the year,” says Kathryn Everett, head of film at nonfiction shingle XTR. “So it will be an interesting bellwether to see whether these in-person screenings can move the needle in the marketplace or not.”
But despite the decline in acquisitions, doc industry veterans such as Submarine Entertainment sales agent Josh Braun aren’t fretting about Sundance 2023.
“It’s definitely a more challenging landscape,” says Braun, who is bringing nine acquisition titles to the fest, including “Beyond Utopia” and “Invisible Beauty.” “But in talking to various distributors going to Sundance, it seems like every company that buys and releases documentaries is looking for films and is looking to fill their lineup.”
Braun, with his blue chip slate, can afford to be optimistic. The number of slots left in distributors’ respective lineups seems to be dramatically dwindling, but what every platform is still making room for are docs that could garner an Oscar nom later in the year.
“Distributors are making films that they think are going to work on a prestige level, but they just aren’t getting the [award] nominations,” says Cinetic Media’s Jason Ishikawa. “Realistically, the best bang for your buck is to just buy a movie that’s really good and to de-risk yourself. Even if you pay a premium for that movie and it costs two or three times what the production cost of it is, it’s cheaper than investing all this time and energy on a film in-house that can only work if it works on an awards basis.”
Last year four docs acquired out of Sundance — “All That Breathes,” “Descendant,” “Fire of Love” and “The Territory” — made the 2022 Oscar documentary shortlist.
“The power that the independent filmmakers still have is that a streamer can’t manufacture the magic of a deeply personal documentary that is emotionally resonant and becomes a sensation because of how it makes people feel,” says Everett. “If you’re just trying to follow the algorithm, it can’t predict intangible things like that. I don’t think that the algorithm would have predicted that ‘All That Breathes’ would be such a huge hit this year. So I think the streamers really understand that, and they go out looking for their awards.”
Observers also see a reluctance to board overtly political fare recently from streamers. “Streamers especially don’t want their audience to feel challenged,” says Ishikawa, who is selling seven titles at Sundance, including “Kim’s Video” and “Going to Mars.” “Things can be provocative, but streamers don’t see audiences as wanting to watch something that goes against their moral or political beliefs or is challenging politically. So I think that’s partially some of the reluctance from streamers to really engage in politically centric docs.”
Adds Annie Roney, founder of documentary distribution agency Roco Films, “We are hearing from the streamers’ own mouths that they just are not interested in docs that aren’t really entertaining and easy to market.”
Co-founder of doc fund Impact Partners Geralyn White Dreyfous — who has spent decades helping directors make challenging films, including “The Invisible War,” “The Square” and “Icarus” — the current doc distribution landscape has her worried.
“The collapse of CNN Films is just an example of where corporate America is heading around political docs and streaming content,” Dreyfous says. “A lot of the distributors where these important speak-truth-to-power documentaries have landed are shifting their mandates. There’s a number of us in this business who are thinking that we may have to create a company just for political docs, where you have a minimum guarantee for P&A, and you bring the films to theaters, and then you license them to the streamers after you can prove that there’s an audience for them.”
But despite this market condition, the Sundance program comprises numerous social issue-oriented documentaries that involve politics, including Mstyslav Chernov’s “20 Days Mariupol,” Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler’s “Bad Press” and Matthieu Rytz’s “Deep Rising.”
Narrated by Jason Momoa, “Deep Rising” focuses on the fate of the planet’s last untouched wilderness, the deep ocean, which is under threat as a secretive organization is about to allow massive extraction of seabed metals to address the world’s energy crisis. Even though it’s a geopolitical film, Roney is repping the doc.
“A lot of social-issue films or political films are localized,” Roney says. “Often, it’s a U.S. story that may have some universal tidbits that can cross into other territories. But ‘Deep Rising’ is truly a global film for humanity. It’s bigger than a political film. It’s about planet Earth, and the stakes are high. So the film is going to resonate in any territory in the world.”
Tracy Droz Tragos’ “Plan C” is another political Sundance film seeking distribution. The film, about a hidden grassroots organization fighting to expand access to abortion pills across the United States, was executive produced by Everett.
“Tracy’s film is so emotional, and it applies to 50% of the U.S. population, so I think that there’s a great big audience appeal to it,” Everett says. “It’s a film that streamers could make an exception for.”
Dreyfous’ Impact Partners has two documentaries at Sundance, “Going Varsity in Mariachi,” about a high school mariachi band, and “It’s Only Life After All,” about the Indigo Girls. Both are crowd-pleasing commercial docs that should sell without a problem. But Dreyfous, who admits that less-commercial Impact docs did not get into Sundance, hopes not only upbeat fare sells.
“We need to send a signal to the streamers that you can’t do this without supporting the independent ecosystem,” Dreyfous says. “Sundance started 40 years ago to disrupt the studio system. I feel like now we have to disrupt what is the corporate streaming environment.”
A British man who had been involved in a ‘bitter’ family feud over properties left to him by his late mother has been shot dead in Jamaica, local media has said.
Michael Brown, 48, was shot and killed in his bed while visiting relatives in Mike Town, Manchester early Thursday morning.
Police reports said Brown was in an unfinished section of a house in the community and was pounced upon by gunmen at approximately 12.20am Thursday.
His death brings the number of Britons killed on the Caribbean isle this year to two.
Michael Brown (pictured in an image shared by local press in Jamaica), 48, was shot and killed while visiting relatives in Mike Town on the outskirts of Mandeville in Manchester early Thursday morning
Brown, also known as ‘Jimmy’, was in a bedroom of an unfinished house he was constructing when he sustained gunshot wounds to his upper body in the attack. He was rushed to the Mandeville Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Citing ‘community sources’, Jamaican radio station Nationwide 90FM said Brown had been involved in a ‘bitter’ family feud over several properties his recently deceased mother had left to him in her will in the island nation.
The station reported the dispute escalated on Wednesday between Brown and his relatives, and a heated argument took place.
Police have opened an investigation into the shooting and are collecting statements.
Detectives are now probing whether Brown was killed in connection to the feud, according to local reports.
Speaking to the Jamaica Observer, Brown was in bed when he was shot, just four days after he laid his 74-year-old mother to rest.
Head of the Manchester police Superintendent Shane McCalla told the local newspaper that the police had previously intervened in the family dispute, which is reported to have been going on since 2015.
Local television reports showed this picture, said to be of Mr Brown. Police reports said Mr Brown, also known as ‘Jimmy’, went to an unfinished section of his house in the community and was pounced upon by gunmen at approximately 12.20am on Thursday
‘Up to as recent as last night [January 18], the police had to intervene in a domestic dispute between [relatives]. All the necessary actions were taken, persons were warned,’ McCalla said. She told reporters the dispute involved five houses.
‘The dispute stems as far back as 2015 and it is various properties, not only located [in Mike Town], but in other areas of Manchester, about five houses in total,’ she said.
Police sources said two of Brown’s relatives had been taken into custody, the Observer reported, and that they were persons of interest.
McCalla told the paper that officer questioned the relatives ‘for hours’.
Reporters from the Observer visited the house, and said they found grief-stricken relatives, who shed some light on the dispute.
One said Brown’s late mother suffered because of the dispute, claiming that even she was attacked at one point and chased from her house in the nude.
‘This is a despicable crime and we are looking at all lines on inquiries. This man was from England and came over to look after his new house which he was building and to visit family,’ a police spokesman said.
‘From all accounts, he was a hard-working man. We intend to bring to justice those responsible.’ they added: ‘We will catch those responsible.’
An FCDO spokesperson said: ‘We are in contact with the local authorities following the death of a British-Jamaican man in Jamaica,’ adding the Foreign Office had not been approached for consular assistance.
Brown is the second Brit to be shot dead in Jamaica this year after Sean Patterson (pictured), 33, a personal trainer from Shepherd’s Bush, West London, was found with gunshot wounds to his upper body and head in St James , earlier in January
Patterson, a personal trainer, was shot and killed outside of the guesthouse where he was staying, pictured, in Jamaica. Witnesses have said they heard ‘explosions’
Speaking at the time, Jamaica Constabulary’s deputy commissioner Fitz Bailey called it ‘a contract killing that emanated from Britain’.
In a video statement, Bailey went on to say Patterson had arrived in Jamaica on 29 December with another man who was also from London. The pair had spent several days at an apartment before checking into the villa in Bogue Hill on New Year’s Day.
Later that day, Mr. Patterson, and the man staying with him, met a third person from Kingston, and all three of them stayed at the guest house in separate rooms.
It was around noon the following day that Mr. Patterson and the Jamaican man went to the villa’s pool deck, and a ‘lone man dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt’ was seen firing shots, Mr. Bailey said.
The Neighborhood will be back for a sixth season. CBS announced today the hit comedy will be back for the 2023-2024 broadcast season.
The renewal comes amid a strong fifth season for the comedy starring and executive produced by Cedric the Entertainer. The Neighborhood is currently averaging 6.13 million viewers in its Monday 8 PM time period and grows to over 7.3 million viewers with live+35 day viewing across linear and streaming platforms. This season, The Neighborhood ranks as the #3 comedy series on Paramount+ based on total minutes viewed with full episode streaming up +60% year over year (Paramount+ and CBS TVE).
“The Neighborhood has become a hit by not only delivering laughs but by telling stories of cultural impact,” said Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment. “From gentrification to Black Lives Matter, to addiction and pregnancy loss, the incredible writers and this amazing cast push boundaries and endlessly entertain us. As they film their 100th episode this week, directed by Cedric the Entertainer, we are thrilled to announce that we are welcoming this outstanding series back for a sixth season.”
In addition to Cedric the Entertainer, The Neighborhood stars Max Greenfield, Beth Behrs, Tichina Arnold, Sheaun McKinney, Marcel Spears and Hank Greenspan. Executive producers are Bill Martin, Mike Schiff, Aaron Kaplan, Wendi Trilling, Cedric the Entertainer and Eric Rhone. The series is produced by CBS Studios.
Spotify’s Dawn Ostroff praised the growth of the audio giant’s podcasting expansion shortly after CEO Daniel Ek revealed a major leadership reorganization on Monday morning that will see Ostroff exit the company.
The reorganization, accompanied by a round of layoffs that will impact roughly 600 employees, involves consolidating Spotify’s business operations under co-president Alex Norström, who most recently oversaw the company’s freemium business. Ostroff, who joined Spotify in 2018 from Condé Nast Entertainment, will transition to an adviser role before formally leaving the company as her divisions now fall under Norström’s purview.
In a note to staff, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Ostroff praised Norström and reflected on the growth and impact of Spotify’s podcasting team, writing that the platform’s original and exclusive shows — which includes hits like The Joe Rogan Experience, Call Her Daddy and the original series Caso 63 — account for roughly 20 percent despite representing about 0.05 percent of shows on the platform.
“I’m so proud that we’ve built a home for creators to bring their art to the world in ways no one could have previously imagined. And while I’m very much excited about my next step, working alongside and learning so much from so many of you has been a privilege,” Ostroff wrote. “The memories of the moments, the stress, and the laughter we shared have helped me grow and better appreciate the journey … and for that, I will always be grateful. I wish you every success on the next chapter of the Spotify story.”
Read the full memo below.
Looking back on the past four and a half years, I am incredibly proud of what we’ve built together. It’s our best-in-class music operation where we have strengthened our relationships across the business, earned the respect of the industry, and become great partners. The entire music team is the heart and soul of this company.
Working together, our podcasting team has revolutionized the space. This organization’s trajectory has been astonishing, going from practically zero market share and a handful of podcasts, to the leading platform with more than five million podcasts today and a 30x increase in podcast consumption on the platform. And I’m really proud of what we have built with our original and exclusive shows–despite being just .05% of the number of shows on the platform, they account for ~20% of consumption. This includes a string of hits that had Spotify O&E shows occupy 6 of the top 10, and 24 of the top 100 slots on our global charts in 2022. In addition, we’ve learned so much from creators about the opportunities in video as we’ve seen the numbers surge.
Over the past two years, we’ve modernized the advertising business to make it essential to brands and clients. And we have delivered, doubling our ad revenue to well over a billion euros in the process. The technology and innovation that the global ad and sales team has brought to market ensures that there will be billions more to come. That growth is set to change the marketplace forever, especially under the strong leadership of my dear friend Alex, who has my every confidence.
We’ve championed marginalized voices and worked to drive much-needed change in the audio industry. I’m so proud that we’ve built a home for creators to bring their art to the world in ways no one could have previously imagined. And while I’m very much excited about my next step, working alongside and learning so much from so many of you has been a privilege. The memories of the moments, the stress, and the laughter we shared have helped me grow and better appreciate the journey … and for that, I will always be grateful. I wish you every success on the next chapter of the Spotify story.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Universal-based films again dominate VOD charts. The Korean “Jung_E” is Netflix’s #1.
If you want to see the #1 film in the world (and see it properly), you need to buy a ticket at a movie theater. And that likely will remain the case for “Avatar: The Way of Water” (Disney) for the indefinite future.
But it’s different for the #2 and (it appears) the #3 top-grossing titles in domestic theaters, at least as of Tuesday. “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (Universal/$19.99) marks its third week atop all three VOD charts we track. And multiple sources indicate that “M3GAN,” following the studio’s normal strategy for films that debut in theaters to less than $50 million, will add home rental platforms as well. (Universal did not respond to a request for confirmation).
“Puss” came out on only the third weekend of play in theaters (it opened midweek, allowing the early move), yet in successive weekends stayed strong. Its hold in consecutive weekends was down 19 percent, up 7 percent, down 21 percent this weekend. And it actually improved from #3 last weekend to second place.
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This kind of parallel play might not work for all films, but assuming “M3GAN” is available Tuesday, similar to other horror hits (“Violent Night” last month; the two most recent “Halloween” films actually had a same-day Peacock streaming release), it should still continue to have a decent theatrical life.
The three weeks at #1 puts “Puss” in rarefied territory. Only two other titles did that last year, though “Spider-Man: No Way Home” beat them all with five. It is one of five Universal/Focus titles in the three top 10 charts, for a total of 12 slots (40 percent) taken. It’s no coincidence the studio is releasing more films than any other studio; more so than any of their competitors, they’ve found the secret to theatrical and home coexistence while maximizing total revenues.
With “Ticket to Paradise” ($5.99) the studio has a second film on all three, as high as #2 at iTunes. Two Oscar-contending films — “The Fabelmans” ($19.99) and Focus’ “TÁR” — placed on two, with the hope that nominations ahead will boost both. “Violent Men” ($19.99), also on two, completes their current top VOD catalog.
“The Menu” (Searchlight, $3.99, price further reduced after it was added HBO Max streaming) and “Black Adam” (Warner Bros. Division, only now reduced to $5.99) complete the list of films ranked on all three.
“There’s Something Wrong with the Children”
Courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment
Two titles with primary home viewing thrusts made one chart each. “On the Line” (Saban/$5.99) with Mel Gibson is #8 on iTunes. From Blumhouse Productions comes “There’s Something Wrong with the Children” ($6.99), #7 on Vudu.
Netflix changed its #1 movie for the fourth straight week. The South Korean original “Jung_E,” a futuristic war film, took over from “Dog Gone,” now in second place. “Glass Onion” in its fifth week rose to #3. Though it only had two weeks at #1 (with substantial viewership), sustained popularity is as important. So far, so good.
But will any film ever be as sustained as “Sing 2”? The Christmas 2021 Universal animated hit, which placed for months before briefly dropping off the top 10, finds itself at #4. It is one of three recent animated hits (“Trolls” and “The Bad Guys” the others) on the top 10. Netflix is giving Disney a run for its money as a family streamer.
iTunes and Google Play rank films daily by number of transactions. These are the listings for January 23. Distributors listed are current rights owners. Prices for all titles are for rental.
iTunes
1. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) – $19.99
2. Ticket to Paradise (Universal) – $5.99
3. The Menu (Searchlight) – $3.99
4. Black Adam (WBD) – $5.99
5. Triangle of Sadness (Neon) – $6.99
6. TÁR (Focus) – $5.99
7. Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount) – $5.99
8. On the Line (Saban) – $5.99
9. The Fabelmans (Universal) – $19.99
10. The Woman King (Sony) – $5.99
Google Play
1. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) – $19.99
2. The Menu (Searchlight) – $3.99
3. Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount) – $4.99
4. Knives Out (Lionsgate) – $3.99
5. Violent Night (Universal) – $19.99
6. The Woman King (Sony) – $5.99
7. Ticket to Paradise (Universal) – $5.99
8. Black Adam (WBD) – $5.99
9. TÁR (Focus) – $5.99
10. Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24) – $19.99
Vudu
Vudu ranks by revenue, not transactions, which elevates Premium VOD titles. This list covers January 16-22.
1. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) – $19.99
2. The Old Way (Saban) – $19.99
3. Black Adam (WBD) – $5.99
4. Devotion (Sony) – $19.99
5. The Menu (Searchlight) – $3.99
6. Violent Night (Universal) – $19.99
7. There’s Something Wrong About the Children (MGM+) – $6.99
8. The Fabelmans (Universal) –
9. Ticket to Paradise(Universal) – $5.99
10. Prey for the Devil (Lionsgate) – $5.99
Netflix Movies
Most viewed, current ranking on Netflix’s daily chart on Monday, January 23. Originals include both Netflix-produced and acquired titles it initially presents in the U.S. Netflix publishes its own weekly top 10 on Tuesdays based on time viewed.
1. Jung_E (Netflix South Korean original)
2. Dog Gone (Netflix original)
3. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix original)
4. Sing 2 (2021 theatrical release)
5. Trolls (2016 theatrical release)
6. The Pale Blue Eye (Netflix original)
7. The Wedding Year (2019 VOD release)
8. The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker (Netflix original documentary)
9. The Bad Guys (2022 theatrical release)
10. Matilda: The Musical (2022 British Netflix original)
Stevie Nicks has extended her 2023 touring plans to include 14 solo dates across the US.
The tour, produced by Live Nation, will kick off on March 15 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, and make stops in Las Vegas, San Francisco and more, before concluding on June 27 in Louisville, Kentucky at the KFC Yum! Center. These dates are in addition to the eight previously announced joint headlining stadium dates with Billy Joel.
Joel and Nicks are set to play their first co-headlining date at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on March 10 and their last appearance will be on Nov. 10 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Tickets for all dates go on sale starting Jan. 27 at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster. Presales start Jan. 26 at 10 a.m. local time.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer appears to have a busy, fruitful year ahead of her. Aside from her tour announcement, Nicks will appear on Dolly Parton’s highly anticipated rock album, which will also feature household names and stars like Paul McCartney, John Fogerty and Brandi Carlile, among others.
Nicks’ 2023 tour dates:
Mar 10 – Los Angeles @ SoFi Stadium (+ Billy Joel) Mar 15 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena Mar 18 – Las Vegas, @ T-Mobile Arena Mar 19 – Nashville @ Nissan Stadium (+ Billy Joel) Mar 23 – San Francisco @ Chase Center Mar 26 – Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center Mar 30 – Oklahoma City @ Paycom Center Apr 2 – New Orleans @ Smoothie King Center Apr 5 – Birmingham, AL @ The Legacy Arena at BJCC Apr 8 – Arlington, TX @ AT&T Stadium (+ Billy Joel) May 12 – Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena May 16 – Knoxville, TN @ Thompson-Boling Arena May 22 – Atlanta @ State Farm Arena May 25 – Orlando @ Amway Center June 16 – Philadelphia @ Lincoln Financial Field (+ Billy Joel) June 20 – Toronto @ Scotiabank Arena June 23 – Chicago @ United Center June 27 – Louisville, KY @ KFC Yum! Center Aug 5 – Columbus, OH @ Ohio Stadium (+ Billy Joel) Aug 19 – Kansas City @ GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium (+ Billy Joel) Oct 7 – Baltimore @ M&T Bank Stadium (+ Billy Joel) Nov 10 – Minneapolis @ US Bank Stadium (+ Billy Joel)
Subhash Ghai (centre) with Dilip Kumar (right), and Rajkumar on the set of Saudagar. (Image Instagram)
Happy Birthday Subhash Ghai: Known to have both launched the careers of stars as we know them today and revive the fading careers of actors, Subhash Ghai’s movies were a mix of powerful emotions, romance and action
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUBHASH GHAI: If you are an 80’s or 90’s kid and a Bollywood buff, your childhood would be incomplete without the ‘desi tadka’ of Subhash Ghai movies. Known to have both launched the careers of stars as we know them today and revive the fading careers of actors, Ghai’s movies were a mix of powerful emotions, romance and action. The legendary filmmaker was known to have ensemble casts in his movies and seldom made films with a single protagonist.
Subhash Ghai with Salman Khan and others after cutting birthday cake in his house at Bandra, Mumbai on Monday night. (Image: Anil Kumar Tiwari)
Ghai also took a leaf out of renowned filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock’s book when he started to appear in cameos in his own films akin to the late English director. This trend was soon followed by other Bollywood directors like Prakash Jha, Karan Johar, and Prabhu Deva.
He has made a sort of comeback with the black comedy 26 Farmhouse. He has written and produced the ZEE5 movie starring Vijay Raaz, Sanjay Mishra, and Amol Parashar. As the iconic filmmaker turns a year older today on January 24, let’s take a look at some of the most iconic movies he has gifted us with.
Kalicharan (1976)
If you have grown up with Bollywood pop culture, the enigmatic supervillain LION played by Ajit and his innovative style of dialogue delivery cannot have escaped you. Starring Shatrughan Sinha in dual roles along with Reena Roy, this movie was the first one after Sholay that made the villain as famous as the hero of the movie.
Karz (1980)
This was the movie that totally reinvented the reincarnation genre although the theme had already been done innumerable times in Bollywood. Starring Rishi Kapoor, Simi Garewal and Tina Munim, the movie has also given us timeless blockbuster tracks like ‘Om Shanti om’ and ‘Dard-e-Dil’.
Hero (1983)
This highly successful romance thriller was the debut vehicle of Jackie Shroff and Meenakshi Seshadri, both of whom had successful careers in the industry after this launching pad.
Karma (1986)
If the most iconic villains on the Indian silver screen are to be mentioned, Dr Dang played by Anupam Kher in this cult classic is up there along with Gabbar Singh and Mogambo. Apart from Kher, this movie had an ensemble cast of Dilip Kumar, Nutan, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Sridevi, Naseeruddin Shah and Poonam Dhillon.
Ram Lakhan (1989)
One two ka four! Four two ka one! You probably know the rest. This mega-hit starred Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor as brothers separated in childhood.
Saudagar (1991)
This was another iconic movie that brought together two of the most legendary stars of the silver screen Dilip Kumar and Raj Kumar.
Khalnayak (1993)
Sanjay Dutt played the anti-hero in this cult film which also starred Jackie Shroff and Madhuri Dixit. The songs Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai and Nayak Nahi Khalnayak Hoon Main were raging hits in the 90s.
Pardes (1997)
Pardes beautifully portrayed the clash between western culture and Indian tradition. This movie starred Shah Rukh Khan, Mahima Chaudhary and Amrish Puri.
Taal (1999)
A big musical hit, this Akshaye Khanna, Aishwariya Rai and Anil Kapoor starrer had music by A.R Rahman that topped the charts during that time.
Kisna: The Warrior Poet (2005)
This movie, although did not do very well at the box office, it became a cult favorite ultimately and was hugely praised for its music by A.R Rahman and Ismail Darbar. The movie starred Vivek Oberoi, Isha Sharvani and English actress Antonia Bernath.
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Unlike a good blush or incredible lipstick, the best setting powders aren’t made to be noticed—which is why they’re an easy step to skip in your beauty routine when you’re pressed for time or money. Its bad rap for making your face look dry and cakey certainly doesn’t help either. But with the latest face powder formulas, your makeup could last twice as long and stay put without smearing, smudging, or feeling heavy.
Think of setting powder as a tool (and a highly underrated one at that) that can vastly extend the life of even easy makeup looks, like the way a topcoat does for your manicure. And unlike makeup setting spray, a single dusting can lock your makeup in place, keep shine to a minimum, and soak up sweat and oil—qualities that are undeniably useful in the sticky-sweaty dog days of summer.
Makeup powders can be especially helpful if you use a lightweight foundation. “In the heat, your cream or liquid foundation will not set without a setting powder,” explains Natasha Moor, makeup artist and founder of Natasha Moor Cosmetics. “It keeps your foundation locked in throughout the day and ensures that your skin looks smooth with an all-over clean finish—never shiny or oily.”
Is setting powder before or after foundation?
While makeup primer is usually the first setting step to enhance your makeup’s staying power, “powder is typically the final setting step to sealing in foundation and concealer, reduce shine, and hide blemishes,” says celebrity makeup artist and Jamie Makeup founder Jamie Greenberg.
You can also use it in place of foundation, since some tinted face powders can also offer translucent coverage, along with SPF and hydrating and brightening ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid. “Sometimes I just use a tinted SPF with a powder over top of it because I love my freckles and don’t want them to be completely covered,” Kenna Ehman, makeup artist and co-owner of Kenna Kunijo. “It’s a great way to control a shiny face all day without looking super ‘done up.’”
How do you use setting powder without looking cakey?
While nailing down the best setting powder for your skin will help, it really starts with your skin-care routine. “The key to preventing a cakey face is making sure your skin is well hydrated before the application of your products,” says Greenberg.
Should I use setting spray after setting powder?
Absolutely. “While powders typically work better for oily skin and setting sprays for drier skin, I recommend using both a setting powder and a setting spray to ensure long lasting wear,” says Greenberg, who’s a fan of the Herbivore Rose Hibiscus Hydrating Face Mist. “Using a setting spray is the perfect last step in your makeup routine, since it can help your makeup lock into place and melt together.”
Where do you apply setting powder?
While most of your face is fair game, “setting powder is typically applied on the T-zone area, under-eye area, and under your cheekbones to set your makeup into place,” Greenberg says. Also, it’s best applied with a fluffy makeup brush, although some work with makeup sponges (just don’t forget to clean your makeup sponge afterward to swerve a mix-up the next morning).
Do setting powders clog pores?
Not if they’re non-comedogenic. If you’re worried about inadvertently triggering a breakout, consider “powders that aren’t over-drying and don’t cling to dry patches, which are best for acne-prone skin,” Greenberg says. Also key for keeping pores clear: Knowing how to correctly remove makeup at the end of the day.
From vegan makeup brand Cover FX’s talc-free formula—perfect for those with sensitive skin—to others that double as the best bronzer, we compiled a list of the best finishing powder for every preference and concern.
Though companies such as HBO Max, AMC Networks and Starz have recently made headlines over removing content from their streaming services, Netflix is the platform now drawing the ire of fans over its recent programming decisions.
Uncoupled, 1899, Warrior Nun and The Midnight Club are just a few of the shows the streamer has axed over the past two months, joining an even longer list of canceled titles in the past year.
These cancellations have prompted outrage, leading dedicated fan bases to start online campaigns demanding Netflix reverse its decision or urging another streamer to rescue a series. Fans of Warrior Nun have taken to social media to do just that over the past month, even leading to the phrase “Netflix, correct your mistake” trending on Twitter on Tuesday.
So what is behind the streamer’s recent cancelation spree?
As of late, the streaming boom has fizzled out after years of strong growth as platforms in search of subscribers propelled the volume of new TV series to all-time highs. In response to underwhelming growth, streaming services are cutting costs and pulling back, something that has been compounded by the possibility of a recession.
To that point, Netflix had a difficult time in 2022.
Though the company added 7.66 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, it had a rocky start to the year, losing more than 1 million subs at the beginning of 2022.
Since the loss of subscribers, the company has laid off over 400 workers, announced plans to crack down on password sharing and created an ad-supported tier.
The company also plans to keep its investment in new film and television programs steady. In 2022 and 2021, Netflix spent $17 billion on programming, and it expects to spend at least that amount in 2023.
This translates into Netflix becoming more conscientious about which projects it spends money on.
“What we have to do is be better and better at getting more impact per billion dollar spent than anyone else,” said co-CEO Ted Sarandos during a prerecorded earnings report. “And that’s how we’re focusing on it… As we reaccelerate revenue, we’ll revisit that number, of course. But we’re a pretty disciplined bunch about that.”
Therefore, it makes sense that shows that underperform will get the axe.
“It’s not something that we take lightly,” Netflix’s head of U.S. and Canada scripted series Peter Friedlander told Variety of the streamer’s content decisions.
“It’s just a frustrating part of the job that’s been a part of our business forever, so this isn’t a new experience to have cancellations, and hopefully, we can continue to bring in shows that continue,” he added.
Various metrics go into the cancellation decisions besides financials.
From a data perspective, shows with a lower completion rate–the percentage of viewers who finish a show–have a harder time getting renewed, according to Forbes, which looked at third-party data on series completions. Many canceled series, including the recently killed First Kill, had a completion rate below 50%.
Additionally, Netflix’s Top 10 list is a metric for measuring a series’ success.
Despite its numerous cancellations, Netflix’s methodology seems to be working.
In 2022, Netflix had five of the Top 10 most-watched English-language TV seasons ever, led by Stranger Things 4 and Wednesday, both of which had more than one billion hours of viewing.
“This business is really completely about engagement, profit and revenue,” said new Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters in the company’s prerecorded fourth-quarter earnings call. “We’ve got to grow all of those things and all those things are tied to executing content. When the content’s working, the business is working. We grow engagement; we grow revenue; we grow profit.”
We have been graced with many autobiographical movies from major filmmakers throughout the course of cinema history. Just last year, for instance, we saw Empire of Light from Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. While the former fizzled with critics and audiences, the latter has become a force to be reckoned with this awards season. Whether good or bad, there’s nonetheless something immediately interesting whenever a director decides to turn the camera towards themselves. This is precisely what Italian filmmaker Emanuele Crialese has done with L’Immensità.
Part of the Spotlight program at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, L’Immensitàstars Penélope Cruz as Clara, a woman living an unfulfilled life in 1970s Rome. She is trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who abuses and cheats on her, and her only saving grace — or graces, more correctly — are her three children: Adriana (or “Adri”), Gino, and Diana. Indeed, Clara throws herself fully into being the best mother for her kids, which often involves tapping into her own inner child, much to the chagrin of her authoritative husband and their judgmental friends. Clara’s profound relationship with her oldest, 13-year-old Adri, enters new waters as Adri traverses feelings of gender dysphoria, beginning to identify as a boy and going by the name of Andrea. More than that, Andrea fosters a connection with Sara, one of the children in their neighborhood, their relationship gradually moving from friendship to something more.
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Crialese, who is trans, based L’Immensità on his own childhood experiences of navigating gender identity, particularly during a time when the understanding and vocabulary — and access to both — related to transgender expression wasn’t as expansive as it is today. In this way, his film sits firmly at the intersection of the pain of adolescence, the sliding scale of strength and fragility that is family, and the epiphanic moment of self-actualization, effectively offering a poignant love story between a mother and her child.
A Magnetic Performance from Penélope Cruz
Warner Bros. Pictures
To great effect, L’Immensità is told through the eyes of Clara’s children, specifically Andrea’s. There’s a certain playfulness to Gergely Pohárnok’s cinematography here, the camera moving through Andrea’s world, zipping across the space like a child unbridled and excited about the freedom of play. Combined with vibrant costume design from Massimo Cantini Parrini, popping out among the more muted earth tones of the sets, there’s an overall feeling of joy. Indeed, at the beginning of the film, Clara and her children lip sync and dance along to the radio as they set the table for dinner in a meticulous choreographed sequence that is thrilling to watch because of how undeniable Clara’s happiness is at this moment (and, by extension, how that happiness spreads to the children). Here, the camera never stops orbiting around the family — this is their world, and we are just guests.
That said, what’s most interesting about Crialese’s positioning of the narrative in Andrea’s view is that, in addition to the joy we bear witness to whenever they’re with or around Clara, there’s an inherent unreliability to it as well. After all, they are only 13 years old. Of course, this ultimately makes for a riveting watch where Clara is concerned. Through Andrea’s eyes, we can see that the darker shades of their mother’s character are forcefully kept just beneath the surface, even if, at times, we don’t fully understand why. It helps that Cruz is magnetic as ever, deftly weaving through the different roles Clara occupies — the ever-present mother, the unhappy wife, the outsider, the woman desperately seeking something else — and presenting to us someone who is both familiar and a mystery. Just as Andrea wants to know more about their mother, we, too, find her irresistible.
Luana Giuliani Is a Breakout Star
Warner Bros. Pictures
As perfect as Cruz is, however, L’Immensità truly belongs to Luana Giuliani, who plays Andrea. She turns in one of the most exciting performances by a young actor in recent years, commanding every scene with just a glance. Giuliani’s ability to convey a lot while doing very little defies her years, and is essentially the perfect vessel for Andrea’s emotional metamorphosis. At the end of the film, Andrea imagines themself onstage performing “Love Story” as their true self in a televised broadcast, slicked-back hair, tailor tux and all. On the one hand, it’s a poetic callback to a similar sequence they imagine earlier in the film, except it was Clara onstage. But on the other, and more importantly, this is a hard-earned moment for Andrea, signifying their choice to finally live their truth.
Throughout the entirety of the film, everyone chastises, ridicules, and stifles Andrea’s true gender identity. Although Clara is accepting of how Andrea identifies (to a degree), she also still sees them as Adriana, especially when around other people. There’s a suggestion, here, that she wants to protect Andrea from derision from others, as any mother would. However, seeing how unhappy their mother ultimately became from playing by traditional rules, Andrea makes the decision of self-love, which is radical for a queer person who exists in a world that seeks to hide them. And as the camera closes in on them at the end, it’s like the sun breaking through the clouds.
The Art Directors Guild will present Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro with the William Cameron Menzies Award, to honor his visually striking and emotionally rich body of work. Del Toro will receive the award at the 27th ADG’s Excellence in Production Design Awards on Saturday, February 18 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.
Del Toro first gained recognition for writing and directing Cronos, which premiered at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Mercedes Benz Award, and went on to earn more than 20 international awards. Del Toro’s most noted films include Pan’s Labyrinth, which garnered Academy Awards for Art Direction, Cinematography, and Makeup and The Shape of Water, which won the Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Lion as well as Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design and Best Score. His latest project, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, continues his lifelong love of animation and stop-motion filmmaking. Additional credits include The Devil’s Backbone, Hellboy, Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak, and Nightmare Alley.
Del Toro is also a prolific producer of animated films and television. Among his EP credits are Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3, Puss in Boots 1 and 2, and Rise of the Guardians; his producing credits include The Book of Life.
Past recipients of the Menzies award include Robert Osborne, John Musker and Ron Clements, Syd Mead, and Denis Villeneuve.
“Guillermo del Toro has stunningly brought humanity to non-human characters and full-fledged existence to environments which could be seen as devoid of life by integrating strong narrative imagery into his collaborations with production designers,” said Coates. “The Art Directors Guild is thrilled to celebrate his captivating work, which has indelibly pushed the bounds of production design to new heights.”
While a jukebox musical may not be a rock concert, bringing well-known songs to a musical setting comes with an expectation. In the case of Tina, The Tina Turner Musical, the journey of an icon is more than just well-placed songs recalling the highs and lows of her life. The real takeaway from this musical is that women can, and should, get loud because they deserve to be heard.
Chronicling her journey from Anna Mae Bullock to Grammy-winning Tina Turner, this musical never loses sight of the person behind the iconic songs. Even if those hits from the 80s might have been the soundtrack to some people’s childhood or the Ike and Tina review influenced R&B, it is more than just the melodies that make an impact on the audience. It is a reminder that even in the most difficult moments, following a dream has value.
When Tina opens, a young Anna Mae is scolded for being too loud with her singing. That reprimand might seem harsh, but it serves as a sentiment that plays throughout the superstar’s story. Whether taking the abuse from Ike Turner or trying to regain her position in music relevancy, Tina needed to put aside the quietness and embrace, or celebrate, her loudness. A woman without a voice will never be powerful.
Tina, The Tina Turner Musical, Touring Production, photo provided by Dr. Phillips Center
Presence and power are clearly shown by the talented National Tour cast. During a recent performance at Dr. Phillips Center, Zurin Villanueva, who is one of the tour’s leading ladies as Tina, owned the stage. While she captured the slight ruggedness that Turner’s voice employed, it is the big belting numbers that have everyone enraptured. Balancing the fear, desire, and brashness that is part of a celebrity, Villanueva kept all eyes on her. Even as “Young Anna Mae” might tug at the heartstrings during the finale, this show is a vehicle for Villanueva’s talents.
Although there are many harsh moments where the audience gasps and recoils due to the violent relationships, the sadness and even heartbreak in many of Tina’s iconic songs will never overshadow the joy that music can and will offer. To refer back to the words of one of her most famous songs, the river is deep and the mountain high, but the view that is filled with harmony and fulfillment is worth the journey.
Even though everyone knows the story and songs, there is a want to enjoy the musical experience for what it is. Some songs and moments might be a little clunky in the plot, but everyone is waiting for that big moment. In this case, it comes in the finale and encore. It is time to clap, dance, forget about the negativity and let the music take hold. The Tina Turner Musical finale and encore definitely leave the audience wanting more.
Tina, The Tina Turner Musical, Touring Production, photo provided by Dr. Phillips Center
Although musical theater has seen its transformation or modernization from idyllic characters bursting into song to queens who rock and founding fathers who rap, the truth is that musicals, especially jukebox musicals, can serve as a retrospective of music and culture. The past is not dated, rather it is the melody that plays in the mind like an old friend.
Whether or not the audience had seen Tina Turner strut her way across a stage or watched or read her biographic story previously, the Tina Turner Musical is an entertaining night of theater. Part warning, part inspiration, and a whole lot of great music are a reason to purchase a ticket.
Tina, the Tina Turner Musical is on a National Tour with a recent stop at Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, Florida. Additional tour dates across the U.S. are available.
“Five Years North” profiles two figures on the opposite sides of immigration struggles in New York City: an undocumented Guatemalan teenager and an ICE agent. Filmmakers Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci deepen our understanding of the human effects of America’s policies. The documentary opens theatrically this weekend at New York’s Film Forum.
No record of electronic communication between Premier Danielle Smith’s office and the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) has been found after allegations reported last week were probed, according to Alberta Justice.
In a news release issued Monday, the government department said the Alberta Public Service had undertaken a “comprehensive review of emails” regarding the matter, searching for “any emails sent to or received by the relevant prosecutors and staff in the premier’s office over a four-month period.”
Concerns were raised last week after the CBC reported that a source told them they had seen emails they alleged were sent from a staffer in Smith’s office to the ACPS, challenging prosecutors on their judgment regarding cases relating to a blockade by the Canada-U.S. border near Coutts, Alta., last year.
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“No further review will be conducted unless additional evidence is brought forward,” Alberta Justice said on Monday.
Madison Johnson is a contestant on season 27 of ‘The Bachelor, hoping to find love with Zach Shallcross.
She owns a marketing business for medical aesthetic companies.
Madison has two younger sisters who she is extremely close with, one of whom she filed for custody of in 2018.
Zach Shallcross will meet 30 women on night one of The Bachelor, including 26-year-old Madison Johnson. “Madison hopes to meet an honest, empathetic, loyal man with a caring family,” her ABC bio reads. “Madison has worked extremely hard to get to such a great place in life and says she is more than ready to find someone to share it with. She is serious about finding love on this journey.”
Zach has also been open about how serious he is about finding a wife on the show. His season has been teased as one of the most “emotional” in the show’s history. Learn more about Madison below:
Madison on ‘The Bachelor.’ (ABC)
1. Madison Johnson owns her own business
Madison is the founder and CEO of MJM Consulting Inc. The company is a marketing agency for companies in the medical aesthetic space. Before owning her own company, Madison worked as the marketing manager for the Rejuv Medical Aesthetic Clinic in Fargo, North Dakota, according to LinkedIn. She used the experience to start consulting on her own, according to the MJM Consulting website. She founded her company in March 2020. “I realized just how bad the aesthetic industry needed qualified digital marketing individuals who knew all things marketing and cared about the value of each dollar spent on marketing,” Madison explained.
2. Where did Madison go to college?
Madison received her Bachelors degree in Communication from Western Michigan University in 2017. She then went onto the Communications Masters program at Western Michigan University, but left after one year and transferred to North Dakota State University. Madison received her Masters Degree in Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia from NDSU in 2019. During Madison’s time at Western Michigan, she worked as a Marketing Specialist and a research and teaching assistant. She was also a presidential scholar .
3. Madison has full custody of her teenage sister
Madison has two younger sisters, Meaghan Johnson and Myah Johnson. She has been open on Instagram about how close she is with both of her sisters. In 2018, after completing one year of her Masters program at Western Michigan, Madison moved back home to North Dakota to care for her youngest sister, Myah, who was still a minor. She did not publicly reveal what led to her decision to become Myah’s caretaker, but did open up about the process.
“I will be moving heading home to take on a new role in this peanut’s life,” she wrote on Instagram in April 2018. “There isn’t an obstacle I wouldn’t tackle or challenge I wouldn’t face to see you and Meaghan smile. Against all odds and despite all the obstacles, we are going to make it.” In a Christmas Day 2018 Instagram post, Madison confirmed that she was filing for custody of Myah.
She expanded on her custody journey in a Feb. 2020 Instagram post, revealing that she received all the final paperwork that gave her custody of Myah one year prior (Feb. 2019). “Although it has been almost two years since I moved home to take care of her, we are still adjusting,” Madison wrote. “I’m still figuring out what it takes to be a sister-mom. She’s still figuring out how to be a sister-daughter. We have both made mistakes. A lot of tears have been cried trying to figure out this new norm and I don’t know if we ever will. We were dealt a bad hand but I wouldn’t trade this crazy life for the world.” Myah graduated high school in May 2022, according to an Instagram post.
4. Madison had major surgery as an infant
“Fun fact, I have a 6 inch scar on my stomach from having 20 percent of my small intestine taken out when I was 7 weeks old,” Madison wrote in an Oct. 2020 Instagram post. She proudly posed in a crop top to show off the scar in the photo.
5. How old is Madison?
Madison Johnson was 26 years old when she filmed The Bachelor in the fall of 2022. She lives in North Dakota.
Plenty of us have shrunk the space taken up by our music collection with the advent of digital and streaming services, but scientists at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have taken that to the limit.
In a feat of miniaturization, the research team at DTU has managed to create what it claims to be the world’s smallest music record.
Measuring just 15 x 15 micrometres in size – that’s 40 μm/micrometres or microns in diameter, which is almost half the diameter of an average human hair – the tiny disc can barely be seen without the use of a magnifying glass.
Able to hold just 25 seconds of the opening bars of the festive classic Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, the record is unsurprisingly unplayable on a standard record player.
The disc was created using a process which saw the audio inscribed into polymer film using DTU’s new Nanofrazor Scholar 3D lithography technology, which is a series of words we definitely understand.
Emphasizing just how tiny the record is, Postdoc Nolan Lassaline explained “It’s so small that the entire thing we’re patterning can fit within one single groove of a regular vinyl record”.
DTU Physics researcher Peter Bøggild added: “The Nanofrazor was put to work as a record-cutting lathe – converting an audio signal into a spiralled groove on the surface of the medium. In this case, the medium is a different polymer than vinyl.”
“I have done lithography for 30 years, and although we’ve had this machine for a while, it still feels like science fiction,” he added.
Unsurprisingly, DTU doesn’t envisage the technique being developed further as a music format, but instead sees the technology being used to help provide breakthroughs in scientific research.
“While we make these kinds of grooves here with nanometre precision, we can transfer these to a number of other materials, where that will fundamentally allow us to manipulate material properties on a nanoscale,” Professor Bøggild explained.
“We are doing something that we have never really been able to do in physics and material science before now.
“Another thing that also we would use this for is to make tiny magnetic field sensors that allows us to measure the currents in the brain, and for that we are hoping in the long term to create some affordable technology that would allow us to answer questions pertaining to Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s.”
So it looks like the best portable music players portable music players will remain larger than a human hair, and able to play more than 25 seconds per song.
Netflix’s new co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters have addressed a major elephant in the room: the streamer’s decision to cancel fan-favorite TV shows.
“A lot of these shows were well-intended but talk to a very small audience on a very big budget,” he explained. “The key to it is you have to be able to talk to a small audience on a small budget and a large audience at a large budget. If you do that well, you can do that forever.”
In the same joint interview, co-CEO Peters noted their über-popular international hit from South Korea, “Squid Game,” as an example of this.
“It is very rare that a show like “Squid Game” from Korea would be as global as it was. Within 30 hours, the world was watching ‘Squid Game’with no human intervention to try to market ‘Squid Game’ to the world,” he said. “We’re just getting started to make ‘Squid Game’ not an unusual thing, but basically something that happens literally every week.”
When it comes to their content strategy, Sarandos described Netflix as “equal parts HBO, AMC, FX, the Food Network, HGTV and Comedy Central.”
“You used to have to hunt through 500 channels of cable to find them all and now they’re gonna be on Netflix,” he explained. “The measure of quality is, if you love a dating show, make it as good as ‘The Ultimatum,’ make it as good as ‘Love is Blind.’ There’s no difference in prestige quality television in each of these genres as long as they’re well executed.”
Looking ahead, Netflix plans to grow its advertising business and continue expanding its games offering in 2023, with a focus on Netflix-related IP. Netflix will also begin experimenting with live programming, partnering with Chris Rock on a standup special in 2023.
Additionally, the company plans to begin a broader rollout of paid sharing in the first quarter of 2023 to crack down on an estimated 100 million households sharing passwords.
“Those people know how to watch Netflix. They’ve watched something on Netflix that they’ve loved. Our job is over the next couple of years to win all of them back,” Peters said. “We won’t do that out of the gate. Some of those folks are borrowing because they’re more price sensitive, they’re less engaged or whatever. But if we deliver a ‘Wednesday’ every week, if we deliver a ‘Glass Onion’ every week, we’ll get the vast majority of those viewers back.”
You probably hadn’t heard of To Lesliebefore celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett suddenly started praising it in a last-minute Oscar campaign for lead actress Andrea Riseborough. Well, I’m here to tell you that Gwyneth and Cate are right: To Leslie is really good, and it’s available to rent for cheap on digital platforms now. Riseborough stars as a single mother named Leslie, who wins $190,000 in her local Texas lottery, but eventually loses all her winnings to alcoholism. In the quiet, intense character study that follows, Leslie lets down her loved ones and blows her second, third, and fourth chances. Riseborough injects her performance with heartbreaking vulnerability and helplessness, and you’ll find yourself unable to look away.
First, That ’70s Show creators Bonnie and Terry Turner initially turned down doing a spinoff at Netflix. However, during the pandemic, they loved the thought of “wanting to go home,” and that’s where the idea for setting That ’90s Show back in the Formans’ house came from.
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Gregg Mettler, who wrote for the original series, was then brought on as showrunner and co-creator of That ’90s Show, alongside Bonnie, Terry, and their daughter, Lindsay Turner.
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Gregg was the one who actually came up with the idea to have That ’90s Show set over the summer and have it center on Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti’s daughter, Leia, staying with Red and Kitty.
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In fact, the idea came from Gregg not wanting the series to start because of a tragedy. He knew he didn’t want someone from That ’70s Show to have died, or for their life not to have worked out, and that’s why we’d be back in Point Place.
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Setting That ’90s Show over a summer vacation also gave the creators and writers a chance to invite original cast members back without them having to be in every single episode.
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Debra Jo and Kurtwood immediately said yes to returning after hearing the initial pitch for the spinoff series. Both of them brought their own ideas as to how Kitty and Red Forman have changed in the 15 years since we last saw them.
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One of the most emotional days of filming involved watching Debra Jo and Kurtwood step onto the re-created sets for the first time.
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In fact, Bonnie said she was “brought to tears” several times while filming That ’90s Show — namely, when she first saw the set, when Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis filmed their scene together, and when Topher Grace and Laura Prepon did the same.
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The moment when Eric and Donna push each other’s head while sitting on the hood of the car in the Formans’ driveway, which is reminiscent of a scene in the That ’70s Show pilot, was unscripted.
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Once Ashton and Mila agreeded to come back for an episode, the writers knew they had to write in a “Damn, Jackie” for Kelso. Their scene was one of the “easiest” to write for Gregg.
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Prior to filming Episode 1, Ashton was sending Gregg videos of himself running around the house in Kelso’s wardrobe and yelling, “Damn, Jackie.”
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While filming Episode 1, Ashton studied his lines on the couch in the Formans’ basement, just like he did while filming That ’70s Show. He fell asleep, and when he woke up, he said it was the “strangest feeling” to see Mila dressed as Jackie standing over him.
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Wilmer Valderrama hadn’t done his iconic Fez voice since That ’70s Show ended. The first time he did it again was for Bonnie and Terry, when they called to ask if he’d guest-star on That ’90s Show.
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A lot of thought went into how the Formans’ house has changed since That ’70s Show ended. For starters, the couch that used to be in the living room is now in the basement.
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Also, in That ’70s Show, Kitty had decorated the house with owls, so you’ll notice that they’re hidden on the bookcase in the living room in That ’90s Show.
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Some of the furniture from the original That ’70s Show set was actually in Ashton and Mila’s basement at their house. They brought back some of it for That ’90s Show.
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Casting director Marc Hirschfeld, who cast the original That ’70s Show, was brought back to cast That ’90s Show. His talent “for finding people who are unsuspecting” and “natural actors” was one of the reasons he was brought back. Plus, it added to the “magic” of having the original casting director find the new generation.
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When the original That ’70s Show cast was on set, they took the time to chat with the new cast and give them advice. They talked about what their lives were like both on- and offscreen while filming the original series.
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The creators saw “a lot of people” for the role of Leia Forman, until finally Callie Haverda popped up in an audition and they got “chills.”
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Mace Coronel didn’t originally know he was auditioning to play Jackie and Kelso’s son, Jay. As soon as the creators saw his first taped audition, they couldn’t help but notice the strong resemblance he has to Ashton and Mila.
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Before Mace’s chemistry read with Callie, Gregg finally told him he was auditioning to play Jackie and Kelso’s son. Once he knew, Gregg said, Mace really leaned into it and began to embody Ashton’s Kelso.
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The writers decided to pair up Leia and Jay in Season 1 because the idea of a Forman and a Kelso dating was “too good to resist.”
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Sam Morelos, who stars as Nikki, was attending a performing arts high school when she auditioned for the role. In fact, she did her callback in between classes and was struggling to find a Wi-Fi signal so she could sign into the Zoom call.
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Reyn Doi, who plays Ozzie, was the first person they cast for That ’90s Show. Previously, Reyn appeared in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, which is where some of the producers knew him from.
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The idea for Ozzie to come out as gay to Kitty came from the writers’ knowledge that Kitty would “embrace the ’90s” and all of the changes that come with it.
26.
Maxwell Acee Donovan, who plays Nate, reminded the Turners a lot of Ashton when he was cast on That ’70s Show. Both Max and Ashton were able to really grow comedically over the course of Season 1.
27.
Almost all of the original That ’70s Show cast members who returned brought back props they had taken when the original series wrapped. First, Debra Jo had the memorable glass grapes that sat on Kitty’s table as well as pictures from the original set, including one with Betty White and Tom Poston, who played Kitty’s parents.
28.
Wilmer had Eric’s Vista Cruiser, which he brought back alongside some of Fez’s That ’70s Show wardrobe.
29.
When creating the new generation of teenagers for That ’90s Show, Gregg was “hyperaware” that they’d be compared with the original teens. Ultimately, they created characters who were different enough but had similar mannerisms because “times change, but kids don’t.”
30.
Writing the show from a “female protagonist’s point of view this time” was important to the That ’90s Show creators. It allowed them to explore different storylines they didn’t get to when Eric was the lead character. In fact, the series had a “female-heavy” writers room this time around.
31.
In fact, one of the things that having a female protagonist allowed was exploring female friendships, namely with Leia and Gwen Runck (played by Ashley Aufderheide). While Jackie and Donna were important to That ’70s Show, Leia and Gwen are the “heart of the show” this time around.
32.
One of Terry’s favorite scenes that really illustrates Leia and Gwen’s friendship is in the Season 1 finale, when they talk about Leia’s almost-kiss with Nate.
33.
Laura actually directed the final two episodes of That ’90s Show Season 1, and it was “magical” having her on the other side of the camera this time around.
34.
One of the best parts about That ’90s Show was watching Debra Jo and Kurtwood hang out with the new generation of teenagers. In particular, Terry recalled watching Debra Jo, Reyn, Ashley, and Callie hanging out in the kitchen between takes and Debra Jo being “mesmerized” by them.
35.
Bonnie’s favorite That ’70s Show Easter egg is the faded pot leaf on the water tower. She loves that the water tower was able to become a central set on this show, too.
36.
Meanwhile, Lindsay loves that the Green Bay Packers helmet and the Candy Land board game are still in the Formans’ basement in That ’90s Show.
37.
Gregg has a very sentimental Easter egg he hid in That ’90s Show. He placed a photo of That ’70s Show writer Rob DesHotel, who died in 2018, in the basement because he “loved writing scenes down in that basement set with those kids in the 360s.”
38.
Costume designer Melina Root, key hairstylist Cindy Costello, and more worked on That ’70s Show and returned to work on That ’90s Show.
39.
While filming one of the classic Forman basement 360-degree shots, the young cast started singing “Careless Whisper” by George Michael in between takes.
40.
And finally, the That ’70s Show actor the new cast was most excited to meet was Tommy Chong, who plays Leo. In fact, when he first arrived, they all went to set and took pictures with him.
What did you think of That ’90s Show? Tell us in the comments below!
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In a massive deal, Sundance stand-out Fair Play has sold to Netflix.
It’s the first whopper deal to come from a sales title and one that begat a bidding war when it premiered Saturday. Searchlight, Lionsgate, Neon were among those in the running with the final price tag in the $20 million range. Netflix had no comment on the financial aspects of the deal.
The feature debut from Chloe Dumont, Play follows Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich), a newly engaged couple who work at a high-powered New York finance company, whose relationship is thrown into disarray when Emily gets promoted ahead of Luke. The movie is Domont’s feature film debut after making a name for herself directing shorts and television episodes of such shows Billions, Suits and Ballers.
Rian Johnson’s T-Street banner and MRC are behind the movie, which was produced by Leopold Hughes, Ben Leclair, Tim White, Trevor White and Allan Mandelbaum. Johnson and Ram Bergman exec produced.
It’s the first film to come out of the deal that T-Street’s Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman made with MRC to hatch vehicles with emerging talent. MRC handled the sale on behalf of the filmmaker.
Other deals are still percolating at the festival. Midnight Dreams, the dark Jonathan Majors drama, is said to have multiple offers, as does John Carney’s musical drama, Flora and Son.
Public relations veteran Joe Schlosser is leaving his position at Endemol Shine/Banijay to launch his own communications firm.
Schlosser has spent 11 years with the company, most recently as executive vp communications at Banijay Americas. He’ll be consulting with the company and handling communications chores for Banijay-owned Bunim/Murray Productions. Jaycee Medina, vp marketing/communications will continue handling internal communication efforts during the transition.
As exec vp at the TV production company, Schlosser oversaw all corporate, consumer and internal communications across North America and Latin America and led all talent relations, awards and events coordination. He also oversaw communications efforts for nine different production labels, including Endemol Shine North America, Bunim/Murray Productions, Authentic Entertainment, Truly Original, 51 Minds Entertainment and Steven David Entertainment.
Shows under his purview included Big Brother, MasterChef, LEGO Masters, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, The Real Housewives of Dubai, The Real World Homecoming: Los Angeles and Below Deck.
He previously was senior vp communications for Endemol Shine North America before Banijay acquired the company.
Before joining the company in 2012, he spent 10 years with NBCUniversal in various top communications roles, including senior vp NBC Entertainment Television Publicity.
He began his career in communications at Hallmark Channel after working as a journalist, serving as Los Angeles bureau chief at Broadcasting & Cable. He also has taught the UCLA Extension course “Working With the Media” for several years.
The psychological thriller starring Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich saw at least a half-dozen bidders.
The Sundance Film Festival is well under way, yet just a few of the over 80 films that were available coming into the festival have found homes. And yet there’s interest swirling around many of the hottest sales titles and others that have broken out.
Here’s the latest of all the deals we’re tracking out of Sundance.
Films Acquired During the Festival
Title: “Fair Play” Section: U.S. Dramatic Distributor: Netflix
In the first major, big money deal of the festival, Netflix is nearing the global rights to “Fair Play,” an individual with knowledge told IndieWire, and which several outlets have reported is for a $20 million deal. The erotic, psychological thriller from director Chloe Domont played in the U.S. Dramatic competition. It stars Alden Ehrenreich and “Bridgerton” actress Phoebe Dynevor, as well as Eddie Masran and Rich Sommer. The film is about a couple that keeps their relationship secret while working for a ruthless and cutthroat hedge fund.
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As many as seven distributors reportedly bid on the rights to “Fair Play,” with Searchlight and Neon being among them. MRC is the studio behind the film and also handled the sales rights.
“Fair Play” boasts Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman from T-Street as executive producers, and the film is the first in a deal between T-Street and MRC that backs films with emerging talent. Domont has cut her teeth directing episodes of “Billions,” “Suits,” and “Ballers.”
Title: “Kokomo City” Section: NEXT Distributor: Magnolia
Magnolia has been active, as following the theatrical pickup of “Little Richard: I Am Everything” earlier in the fest, the indie distributor staged an all-night negotiation to acquire worldwide rights to “Kokomo City,” the directorial debut of Grammy-nominated producer and singer D. Smith.
Smith, a trans performer also known for “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta,” directed, wrote and edited this documentary shot in all black and white and playing in the NEXT section about four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City who fight to break down the walls of their profession.
Lena Waithe is among the executive producers on the film, and Magnolia will release it later this year following a screening at Berlin Panorama. CAA Media Finance brokered the deal with Magnolia.
Title: “Little Richard: I Am Everything” Section: U.S. Documentary Distributor: Magnolia/CNN Films
Though it originally sat with CNN Films, Magnolia has acquired the worldwide theatrical rights to distribute “Little Richard: I Am Everything” and will release the film in domestic theaters this April. And Magnolia will also rep international sales rights on the title at EFM later this year. The film will still air on CNN later this year following its theatrical run.
Lisa Cortés (“Precious,” “All In: The Fight for Democracy”) directs this documentary about the rock icon Little Richard but approaches his legacy in the context of Blackness and queerness, as well as his own personal identity as it relates to his faith and Christianity. It also boasts Dee Rees as an executive producer and was produced by Bungalow Media + Entertainment for CNN Films and HBO Max, in association with Rolling Stone Films.
“I Am Everything” is a Day One movie at Sundance, but it’s also one of six of the final long-form movies to come out of CNN Films that were commissioned from outside producers and filmmakers.
“Succession” actress Sarah Snook stars in this Midnight title from director Daina Reed, known for “The Shining Girls” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The film is a thriller and horror movie about a fertility doctor who believes firmly in life and death, but after noticing the strange behavior of her young daughter, must challenge her own values and confront a ghost from her past. The film was shot on location in Melbourne, Australia and other parts of the country. Hannah Kent (“The Good People,” “Devotion”) wrote the screenplay.
Netflix picked up worldwide rights (excluding Benelux, Portugal, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Latin America, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Nordics and Taiwan) to “Run Rabbit Run” on Thursday as the festival was kicking off and will release it later in 2023. XYZ Films co-financed the title, handled international sales, and brokered the deal with Netflix.
Title: “In My Mother’s Skin” Section: Midnight Distributor: Amazon Prime Video
Amazon hours before Sundance kicked off acquired “In My Mother’s Skin,” the only Filipino film playing in the festival and the only international feature playing in the Midnight section. “In My Mother’s Skin” is the second feature from director Kenneth Dagatan, who previously directed 2018’s “Ma.” “In My Mother’s Skin” is set in 1945 in the Philippines and explores how a young girl’s duty to protect her dying mother is complicated by her misplaced trust in a beguiling, flesh-eating fairy. The film stars Beauty Gonzalez, Felicity Kyle Napuli, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, James Mavie Estrella, and Angeli Bayani.
“This is truly a moment for Filipino filmmakers to be seen by the international audience, and I hope this opens doors for more Filipino content to be watched by the rest of the world,” Dagatan said in part in an official statement.
Amazon Prime Video acquired global rights to the title and plans to release “In My Mother’s Skin” by the end of 2023.
Films Acquired Ahead of the Festival
Title: “Other People’s Children” Section: Spotlight Distributor: Music Box Films
Music Box Films on Tuesday, January 10 acquired the U.S. rights to Rebecca Zlotowski’s family drama “Other People’s Children,” which first premiered at Venice in competition and will make its U.S. premiere at Sundance on January 20. The film stars Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem, and Chiara Mastroianni, and IndieWire out of Venice called it “delightfully French” and praised Efira’s performance. She plays a high school teacher who falls in love with a man and soon grows a close bond to his 4-year-old daughter, making her grapple with her own ambitions with motherhood.
Music Box Films is planning a release for “Other People’s Children” in theaters and on home entertainment platforms this spring.
Title: “Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)” Section: Spotlight Distributor: Utopia
Anton Corbijn (“Control,” “The American”) gets back to his rock music history roots by telling the stories of some of the most famous album cover artwork ever, all of it spawning from the art design studio Hipgnosis. Corbijn interviews talent like Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, and Jimmy Page to tell the stories of albums such as Wings’ “Band on the Run,” Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” and Led Zeppelin’s “Houses of the Holy” in a film that should be catnip for classic rock heads.
“Squaring the Circle” first made its premiere at Telluride 2022 and will play in the Spotlight section of the festival. Utopia, which acquired the movie on Jan. 6, is planning a summer release.
Malala Yousafzai and Ramin Bahrani both executive produce this film that was the first Pakistani movie to ever premiere at Cannes. “Joyland” is directed and written by Saim Sadiq and is the story of a young man as a backup dancer in a Bollywood-style burlesque show, only to fall in love with a trans woman who leads the show.
Oscilloscope acquired “Joyland” on Jan. 6 and will release it theatrically later this year.
“My Animal” is a horror movie and romance starring Bobbi Salvör Menuez (“Under the Silver Lake”) and Amandla Stenberg (“The Hate U Give”) as two teens in a small town who fall for each other, only for one girl’s growing desires to slowly clash with her darker animal instincts within (translation: she’s a werewolf). Director Jacqueline Castel has collaborated with everyone from John Carpenter, Jim Jarmusch, and David Lynch and should be able to go beyond the traditional genre beats. Jae Matthews (“The Runner”) wrote the script.
Paramount Worldwide Acquisition Group picked up the worldwide rights (excluding Canada) to “My Animal” ahead of the festival, though whether the film will be theatrical, released through Paramount+, or another channel has yet to be determined.
Title: “The Deepest Breath” Section: Premieres Distributor: Netflix
From “Free Solo” to free diving. Irish filmmaker Laura McGann directs this documentary about a champion freediver training to break a world record with the help of an expert safety diver. The film explores not just the silent depths of the ocean but the depths of the emotional bond formed between the two divers.
Netflix collaborated on “The Deepest Breath” with A24 alongside Motive Films, Ventureland, and RAW, the latter of which was behind Netflix’s documentary hit “The Tinder Swindler.”
This South Korean romance is the debut feature from playwright Celine Song (“Endlings”) and spreads out over three generations of bonding and missed connections. The film stars Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magar0, and A24 will release the film following its Sundance premiere.
Another A24 film and another first time director, “Earth Mama” follows a pregnant single mother, with two children in foster care, who embraces her Bay Area community as she fights to reclaim her family. Savannah Leaf wrote and directed the film, her first feature after having won awards for her documentary short “The Heart Still Hums” and even earning a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video for directing Gary Clark Jr.’s “This Land.”
Title: “Stephen Curry: Underrated” Section: Premieres Distributor: Apple TV+
“Underrated” is a documentary about Golden State Warriors icon Stephen Curry that explores through a combination of cinéma vérité, archival footage, and interviews how Curry went from being a low rated, undersized college kid at a Division I school to rising to be a 4-time NBA champ. Ryan Coogler produces and Peter Nicks (“The Waiting Room,” “Homeroom”) directs this film that will debut on Apple TV+ later this year through its partnership with A24. “Underrated” was a late addition to the Sundance lineup in the Premieres section.
Title: “Infinity Pool” Section: Midnight Distributor: Neon and Topic
Brandon Cronenberg, son to David Cronenberg, makes his return to Sundance with his follow-up to “Possessor.” Early buzz suggests that he delivers. This Midnight title stars Alexander Skarsgard and Mia Goth and follows a couple on an all-inclusive resort vacation that reveals a perverse subculture of surreal horrors and hedonistic tourism after a fatal accident.
Neon and Topic came into the festival with the rights for “Infinity Pool” and promptly released a twisted and surreal trailer, and the film will now open January 27.
Title: “Still: A Michael J. Fox Story” Section: Premieres Distributor: Apple TV+
Davis Guggenheim’s first documentary feature in seven years follows “Back to the Future” icon Michael J. Fox in a film that charts this Canadian kid’s meteoric rise to stardom and how his life was altered by his Parkinson’s diagnosis at age 29. Guggenheim’s telling of Fox’s story is described via the festival’s description as a playful and humorous account of an “eternal optimist” dealing with the unthinkable.
Apple TV+ is releasing “Still” and acquired the rights to it back in April.
Title: “Landscape with Invisible Hand” Section: Premieres Distributor: MGM
Director Cory Finley (“Thoroughbreds,” “Bad Education”) makes his return to Sundance with an adaptation of M.T. Anderson’s National Book Award winner. It’s a darkly comedic sci-fi and coming-of-age story about two teenagers who have to livestream their courtship to curious alien invaders as a means of making money and scraping by an existence after the advanced alien technology has made all but the wealthiest humans obsolete.
MGM’s United Artists Releasing is distributing the film backed by Annapurna and Brad Pitt’s Plan B, and it also stars Tiffany Haddish, Michael Gandolfini, William Jackson Harper, and Clifton Collins Jr.
“You Hurt My Feelings”
courtesy of Sundance Institute/A24
Title: “You Hurt My Feelings” Section: Premieres Distributor: A24
Julia Louis-Dreyfus reunites with her “Enough Said” director Nicole Holofcener for this dramedy about a successful New York novelist who is offended and devastated to learn that her husband of decades doesn’t like her latest novel. The film has a rare comedic turn for Tobias Menzies and also stars Michaela Watkins and Arian Moyaed. A24 is distributing the film.
Title: “Cassandro” Section: Premieres Distributor: Amazon Prime Video
Gael García Bernal stars as a gay luchador tired of losing and tired of hiding behind a mask during his wrestling matches who manages to break barriers within the lucha libre circuit by developing an eccentric “exótico” character that takes crowds by storm. Roger Ross Williams, who is best known for his documentary “Life, Animated” that played at Sundance in 2016, is making his narrative feature debut on “Cassandro.” Amazon Prime Video is releasing the film.
Title: “Judy Blume Forever” Section: Premieres Distributor: Amazon Prime Video
Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok (“Very Semi-Serious”) co-direct this documentary about one of literature’s most influential children’s authors, Judy Blume. In addition to profiling the author, it also shows fans who share heartfelt letters that they wrote to the author over the years.
Amazon Prime Video is releasing the film that is produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Documentaries.
Title: “L’immensita” Section: Spotlight Distributor: Music Box Films
Penélope Cruz stars in this ’70s period drama set in Rome as a mother who forms a deeper bond with her teenage child who is just beginning to discover their transgender identity. The film is the first movie from Italian director Emanuele Crialese in 11 years, and early reviews have praised Cruz’s performance and its Italian pop music soundtrack.
Music Box Films is releasing “L’immensita” in the U.S., while Warner Bros. Italy has the Italian distribution rights. It first made its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
Title: “A Thousand and One” Section: U.S. Dramatic Distributor: Focus Features
Those in Sundance circles have long anticipated “A Thousand and One,” which is the feature debut of a Sundance Lab alumnus A.V. Rockwell. The film is about a mother bouncing around from shelter to shelter in ‘90s New York who kidnaps her own 6-year-old son from a foster home and attempts to build a new life together. The film spans years and is hyped to feature a star-making turn from the musician and singer Teyana Taylor.
Focus Features has already set a theatrical release date for March 31, 2023 for the film.
Though it’s in the splashier Premieres section, “Rye Lane” is an under-the-radar feature directorial debut of UK filmmaker Raine Allen-Miller and is a rom-com about two 20-somethings who pair up and cavort around London after they each have to confront some awkward recent break-ups. Searchlight Pictures is releasing.
Title: “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” Section: U.S. Dramatic Distributor: A24
“All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” is the feature directorial debut of poet Raven Jackson, who manages to bend the cinematic medium in surprisingly poetic and lyrical ways. The film spans decades in charting the growth, loves, and heartbreaks of a Black woman in Mississippi from her childhood to adult years.
The film is one of two movies A24 is bringing to Sundance, but this one has the backing of Barry Jenkins and his Pastel banner.
Title: “The Amazing Maurice” Section: Kids Distributor: Sky Cinema
The animated “The Amazing Maurice” is based on a book by the same name and follows a street-smart cat who along with a gang of rats develops a moneymaking scheme.
Toby Genkel directs, and Emilia Jones, Hugh Laurie, Himesh Patel, and Gemma Arterton make up the voice cast. The Sky Original will hit theaters February 3.
Title: “The Eight Mountains” Section: Spotlight Distributor: Sideshow Releasing and Janus Films
Felix van Groeningen (“Beautiful Boy”) and Charlotte Vandermeersch, both Sundance alums, direct this drama that’s set in Italy and is based on a novel about a boy from the city visiting a tiny mountain village over the summer.
Sideshow Releasing and Janus Films acquired “The Eight Mountains” after it won the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Title: “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” Section: Premieres Distributor: ABC News on Hulu
Named for her breakout role when she was just 12, “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” has been described as a revealing and critical documentary about a teen model and icon. Lana Wilson, who most recently got some intimate details out of Taylor Swift for her doc “Miss Americana,” directs the film.
The two-part documentary will air on Hulu via ABC News.
Title: “20 Days in Mariupol” Section: World Cinema Documentary Distributor: Frontline/PBS
A timely news documentary about the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Ukrainian filmmaker and AP News video journalist Mstyslav Chernov was up close and personal during the early days of the attacks on the city of Mariupol as one of the last international journalists to flee the country. Some of Chernov’s footage should already be familiar around the world and in some cases has directly refuted Russian misinformation.
“20 Days in Mariupol” is part of a larger editorial collaboration between Frontline and AP, and the film will be released by PBS Distribution following its Sundance premiere.
A new take on the classic Frankenstein story, “birth/rebirth” is about a single mother and a mortician who form a bond after they manage to re-animate a 6-year-old girl from the dead. The psychological horror film is directed by Laura Moss, and it stars Marin Ireland, A.J. Lister, and the young Judy Reyes in a breakout turn.
“birth/rebirth” is a Shudder original film that only kicked off production in September of this year, and the horror streamer will release it in North America in 2023.
Title: “Murder in Big Horn” Section: Premieres Distributor: Showtime
Sundance will present all three episodes of this Showtime docuseries in which each episode explores the missing person case of an Indigenous woman or girl who has disappeared from a reservation in the Big Horn region of Montana. Each episode is told from the perspective of the Native families and journalists involved in the case and who are still grieving. Razelle Benally and Matthew Galkin direct the series.
“Polite Society”
Focus Features
Title: “Polite Society” Section: Midnight Distributor: Focus Features
A different kind of Midnight movie, “Polite Society” is a mashup of comedy, horror, and martial arts movie and is also the feature directorial debut of “We Are Lady Parts” creator Nida Manzoor. The film follows an Indian girl who stages an elaborate heist in order to save her older sister from her upcoming marriage.
Focus Features will release “Polite Society” in theaters on April 28, 2023.
Title: “Victim/Suspect” Section: U.S. Documentary Distributor: Netflix
Nancy Schwartzman directs this documentary about a journalist investigating numerous cases of women reporting sexual assault to the police who are then accused of fabricating their stories and are charged with crimes of their own.
Netflix partnered on the feature with the Center for Investigative Reporting.
Title: “The Stroll” Section: U.S. Documentary Distributor: HBO
“The Stroll” takes audiences back to New York in the 1990s and tells the history of the city’s Meatpacking District, specifically from the perspective of transgender sex workers. Its co-director Kristen Lovell walked the streets in that time herself and is a long-time trans activist able to bring an intimate, personal touch to the film.
HBO Documentaries will air the film both on HBO and on HBO Max following its Sundance premiere.
Beyoncé headlining the grand reveal of Dubai’s newest luxury hotel, Atlantis The RoyalPhoto: Mason Poole/Parkwood Media (Getty Images)
On Friday, it was revealed Beyoncé would perform live for the first time in four years, marking her first performance following the release of her 2022 album, Renaissance. Bubbling excitement from fans soon turned into confusion and scorn, as the Saturday set heralded the opening of a new luxury hotel in Dubai, Atlantis The Royal. From the venue to the setlist, Beyoncé’s return devolved into a head-scratching affair rather than a triumph.
The hour-long set was performed for an audience of 1,500, comprised of celebrities, influencers, and fellow money-makers. Beyoncé’s family, including Jay-Z, their children Blue Ivy, Rumi, and Sir Carter, as well as her parents, Tina and Mathew Knowles, were all in attendance. Those who made the trek to Dubai were treated with “epicurean feasts, beachside indulgences, and special reveal experiences including business class airfare, first-class ground transportation, and first-class accommodations at Atlantis the Royal,” per Pitchfork.
Elitist overtones aside, many were quick to decry Dubai’s aggressive laws against same-sex relationships—which can be punished by death in the city—and wondered why Beyoncé would agree to perform there. Upon the release of Renaissance, the singer shared she crafted the album as an ode to her Uncle Jonny, as well as the queer tastemakers and cultural artisans who were essential in the creation and popularity of genres such as disco.
Now, we’re going to set Renaissance aside, as Beyoncé did not perform a single song from the album during the set. Instead, she kicked off the hour with a rendition of Etta James’ “At Last,” and filled the rest of the evening with ballads such as “Freedom,” “Spirit,” and “Be Alive.” She also performed deep cuts such as “Beautiful Liar” and “Flaws And All.” The on-stage accompaniment was made up of the all-women Firdaus Orchestra and Lebanese dance troupe the Mayyas.
Overall, Beyoncé’s performance at Atlantis The Royal is a reminder that nobody amasses extreme wealth without participating in and perpetuating the evils of capitalism, and $24 million proved to be too much for the singer to pass up—regardless of who it came from. Rich people do rich people things, and Beyoncé is no exception. She seems to have imbued the performance with her standard level of flair and thoughtfulness, but the set definitely did not kick off a legendary live Renaissance-era everyone’s been hoping for, nor does it seem worthy of getting the Homecoming treatment.
Reserve the next gen Samsung device All you need to do is sign up with your email and boom: credit for your preorder on a new Samsung device.
The first time we peasants get to see Queen Bey this year may be at the forthcoming Grammy awards, as she’s rumored to make an appearance at the ceremony.
SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! Paranoia flares in director Shujaat Saudagar’s The Underbug as two characters face the ghosts of their past while being hunted by the literal ghosts of a safe house. Written by Saudagar, Abas Dalal, and Hussain Dalal, the film is set in a politically charged India, where two strangers (Ali Fazal and Hussain Dalal) are wounded during a riot and seek solace in an abandoned house. Not knowing which side either of them was on, the two decide to keep their religion and loyalties a secret from one another. However, their safety is a mirage as the strangers face the ghosts of the slain family that once lived in their hiding place.
The film conveys a constant feeling of being watched. As the two strangers search the house, they begin to have haunting visions of a small child and discern an unrestful spirit within the home. Each interaction gives an uneasy aura and palpable mistrust between the main characters. The supernatural occurrences amplify the mounting suspicion of the two, adding tension to an already volatile relationship. Ali Fazal and Hussain Dalal each portray the strangers with nuance as subtle anxiety builds throughout.
“…safety is a mirage as the strangers face the ghosts of the slain family that once lived in their hiding place.”
The Underbug uses dialogue sparingly to create eerie moods and intensify the emotions behind both characters. Having only each other to feed off, Fazal and Dalal maximize the conversations and squeeze as much character depth as possible as the two strangers contemplate their horrific situation. The performances of both leads create enigmatic characters and elevate a claustrophobic thriller to an interesting character piece. These two characters and the actors’ performancesare some of the most compelling attributes of the film.
However, the narrative often struggles to find the build-up and thrills needed for the supernatural and psychological thriller it attempts to be. Saudagar crafts a strong sense of mystery and does subvert expectations in the climax. But, he does not build enough suspense to create the jaw-dropping twist the narrative goes for during the finale.
Creating unlikable yet fascinating characters is among the most impressive feats of The Underbug. The more the film reveals about the two, the further the likability or even relatability of the characters diminishes, yet fascination increases. Seeing them thrown into a terrorizing and dysfunctional scenario deepens the characterization and sharpens performances. Plus, the filmis well-made, considering the small cast and tiny budget, a substantial showing of the skills of Saudagar. Unfortunately, a more heightened climax is missed, along with the steps toward the intended Shyamalan-esque twist. Yet, the standout performances of Ali Fazal and Hussain Dalal and the entrancing characters they portray will satisfy for at least a one-time watch.
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