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Paramount+ Schedule January 23-29: New TV & Movies

Teen Wolf: The Movie is premiering as part of the Paramount+ schedule for January 23-29.

On Thursday, January 26, the streaming service (sign-up for Paramount+ here) will add Teen Wolf: The Movie to its available content. The upcoming film hails from series creator Jeff Davis together with MTV Entertainment Studios and MGM’s Orion Television. Teen Wolf: The Movie will feature the return of lead star Tyler Posey.

Joining Posey are Holland Roden, Shelley Hennig, Crystal Reed, as well as Tyler Hoechlin and Orny Adams. Additionally, Linden Ashby, JR Bourne, Colton Haynes, Ryan Kelley, Melissa Ponzio, Ian Bohen, Vince Mattis, Nobi Nakanishi, Khylin Rhambo, Amy Workman, and Dylan Sprayberry. The only ones not included in the film are fan-favorite actors Dylan O’Brien and Arden Cho.

“In the Paramount+ film, a full moon rises in Beacon Hills, and with it, a terrifying evil has emerged,” reads the synopsis. “The wolves are howling once again, calling for the return of Banshees, Werecoyotes, Hellhounds, Kitsunes, and every other shapeshifter in the night. But only a Werewolf like Scott McCall, no longer a teenager yet still an Alpha, can gather both new allies and reunite trusted friends to fight back against what could be the most powerful and deadliest enemy they’ve ever faced.”

Loosely based on the 1985 Michael J. Fox-led coming-of-age film, Teen Wolf followed the story of a social outcast high-school student named Scott McCall (Posey), who was suddenly bitten by a werewolf the night before

Paramount+ Schedule January 23-29 | New TV & Movie Additions

Wednesday, January 25

Acapulco Shore (Seasons 8 – 9)
Taxi (Seasons 1 – 5)
The Astronauts (Season 1)

Thursday, January 26

Teen Wolf: The Movie premiere
Wolf Pack series premiere

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January 22, 2023

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Teen Wolf: The Movie is premiering as

Awards

All Quiet on the Western Front Ties Crouching Tiger BAFTA Noms Record – The Hollywood Reporter

Edward Berger’s gripping, and gutting, World War I drama All Quiet on the Western Front continued its extraordinary award season run on Thursday when it picked up 14 BAFTA nominations, leading the pack, ahead of Martin McDonagh’s Irish drama The Banshees of Inisherin and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s metaverse action comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once, which received 10 nods each.

The 14 noms tied the all-time record for a non-English-language film, blowing past the 12 nominations secured by Michel Hazanavicius’ silent film tribute The Artist (2011), while equaling the tally scored by Ang Lee’s wuxia masterpiece Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon more than 20 years ago.

In addition to the expected nomination in the best non-English-language feature category, the war drama picked up nominations for best film for producer Malte Grunert, best director for Berger, best adapted screenplay (co-written by Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell) and a best supporting actor BAFTA nom for Albrecht Schuch, who plays veteran soldier Stanislaus Katczinsky, the mentor to the fresh-faced recruit Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer).

All Quiet on the Western Front is the first-ever German-language adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic anti-war novel, first published, in German, in 1929. The book follows the experiences of an ordinary German front line soldier in the trenches. Lewis Milestone’s English-language adaptation won the best picture and best director Oscar in 1930. A U.S. television version from 1979, starring Richard Thomas as Paul Bäumer and Ernest Borgnine as Katczinsky, won an Emmy.

“We are speechless and overwhelmed. It’s an enormous honor to be acknowledged by the British Film Academy,” Berger said in a statement, commenting on the BAFTA nominations. “That the film has resonated with so many people is a testament to Erich Maria Remarque’s extraordinary book, written one hundred years ago and yet sadly still relevant today. It was our north star. The novel’s powerful anti-war message unites us, no matter which country we live in.”

All Quiet producer Malte Grunert called the 14 nominations “overwhelming” and thanked the British Academy for the “incredible honor.” Citing the other BAFTA nominees, Gurnert said it was “humbling to be in such great company. Thank you, BAFTA.”

All Quiet dominated the BAFTA’s craft categories —picking up nominations for James Friend for best cinematography; Sven Budelmann for best editing; Volker Bertelmann for best original score; best production design for Christian M. Goldbreck and Ernestine Hipper; Lisy Christl for best costume design; Lars Ginzsel, Frank Kruse, Viktor Prášil and Markus Stemler for best sound; Markus Frank, Kamil Jafar, Viktor Müller and Frank Petzoid for best visual effects; Simone Bär for best casting; and Heike Merker for best makeup and hairstyling.

Led by All Quiet, Netflix easily won the BAFTA’s distributors’ horse race. The streaming giant reigned supreme with a total of 21 BAFTA nominations —in addition to 14 for All Quiet, Netflix secured 3 for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and one each for Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, the Tobias Lindholm-directed The Good Nurse, Sally El Hosaini’s The Swimmers and Sebastián Lelio’s The Wonder.

That tally compares to 14 each for A24 — which received 10 for Everything Everywhere All at Once and four for Darren Aronofsky’s melodrama The Whale starring Brendan Fraser — and Searchlight — which picked up 10 BAFTA noms for The Banshees of Inisherin, three for Sam Mendes’ 1980s-set Empire of Light and a single nomination for Tom George’s West End period crime comedy See How They Run.

Berger’s anti-war epic was a frontrunner going into the nominations. The Netflix movie led the BAFTA longlist with 15 mentions, the most of any film since the BAFTA longlist was reintroduced three years ago. Of the 15 longlist contenders, only Felix Kammerer failed to score a BAFTA nom in the super-competitive best actor category.

The BAFTA bonanza should help maintain the awards momentum behind All Quiet, which is on the Oscar shortlist for best international feature and is considered a frontrunner to make the final five when the Academy Award nominations are unveiled in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Word-of-mouth buzz for the film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September and was released by Netflix worldwide Oct. 28, continues to grow.

Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon translated its record BAFTA performance into four wins, including best director, best non-English-language film, best costume design and best film music. The Artist fared even better at the BAFTAs, sweeping the 2012 awards with seven wins including best film, best director and best actor for star Jean Dujardin.

Crouching star Michelle Yeoh nabbed a BAFTA best actress nomination but no win, an oversight BAFTA voters could correct this year, as Yeoh is nominated in the same category for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Both Crouching Tiger and The Artist went from BAFTA to Oscar success, with the former winning four Academy Awards and later taking five, including best picture.

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January 22, 2023

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Edward Berger’s gripping, and gutting, World War

Docs

Mad Cats | Film Threat

SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! From Japan comes the deadliest mash-up in movie history…KITTIES and KILLERS as an ancient curse is awakened in indie filmmaker Reiki Tsuno’s feature action flick, Mad Cats …fear the purr!

Mad Cats stars Sho Mineo as sad and pathetic Taka, who lives in a trailer ever since his archeologist brother, Mune (So Yamanaka), went missing. One day, Taka receives a cassette tape with a voice giving him clues to unlock the whereabouts of his brother Taka. With some harsh motivation from his landlord for being worthless, Taka is led to a mysterious house and told to find a wooden box containing some ancient catnip. When Taka finds the box, it contains the ancient Catnip of Bastet, which gives special powers to the cats, who imbibe the sweet catnip. It’s not exactly explained, but it essentially turns felines into cat monsters, taking on human form.

In finding the catnip, Taka finds his brother in a cage awaiting execution by the Boss cat (Hikari Aiko). When The Executioner (Chiyuki Kanazawa) arrives, Taka goes on the run and is safe by a homeless man, Takezo (Yuya Matsuura). As the relentless horde of cat monsters hunt for Taka and Takezo, they are aided by a mysterious young girl, Ayane, played by Ayane. The three must ultimately confront the Boss cat to rescue Takezo safely.

Normally I don’t read the press note before seeing a movie…but I did. Writer/director Reiki Tsuno talks about how Japanese films, especially horror, tend to be “sad, serious, and depressing.” Instead, with Mad Cats, he wanted to “make something exciting and flashy.” Which he does. Mad Cats is essentially an action-adventure thrill ride…if you were on a county fair thrill ride.

“…it contains the ancient Catnip of Bastet, which gives special powers to the cats…”

Mad Cats employs the storytelling devices of contrast while subverting expectations. Our heroes, Taka and Takezo, are both inept and ineffective. They are lucky to be alive and to survive, they must be lucky. On the other hand, there is Ayane, who is highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, swordsmanship (swordspersonship), and firearms. Of course, this contrast leads to the comedic training montage, which (spoiler alert) leaves Taka and Takezo still inept and ineffective.

So cats and killer. This clowder of cats is essentially a crew of anthropomorphized cats in human form. Their feline facials and movements are creepy as hell, as budget restrictions thwart any attempt at cat costumes or make-up (a far cry from Tom Hooper’s creepy-looking CG Cats). The story also centers on legends and lore surrounding cats…catnip, stealthy movement, and their nine lives.

As the film plays out, this cat theme now serves as an overlay over a typical action story structure. With our three heroes on the run, one pair of cat monsters is sent after the other. The heroes much dispatch each pair who grow exceedingly more skilled and difficult to kill. Yes, we have a video game on our hands as our heroes are forced to become increasingly inventive to stand victorious.

This brings us to action. It’s good, particularly for a low-budget indie. Most of the action is hand-to-hand combat with ample gunplay, and Ayane is an exceptional action hero. Again, for a low-budget film, the action is shot brilliantly, but the film’s lack of money comes with its drawbacks. Quite frankly, the action sequences are small in scale and end sooner than expected (someone, please get Reiki Tsuno some money to realize his vision fully). I was definitely left wanting more than I got in the final product, which is on par for low-budget films).

Mad Cats is a fun movie. It doesn’t take itself seriously and has fun with the cat theme while never getting to 60s Batman level of camp. What’s in store for you is some amazing fight sequences dominated by women and their cat-like reflexes. It’s the purrfect movie to curl up to for a quiet evening or while engaged in some self-cleaning practices.

Mad Cats screened at the 2023 Slamdance Film Festival.

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January 22, 2023

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SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! From Japan

Trending

James Corden, Host Of A Late-Night Talk Show, Has Denied Allegations That He Stole A Joke From Ricky Gervais

James Corden has denied that he purposely stole a joke that Ricky Gervais had made in 2018 first. Corden, 44 years old, tweeted on Tuesday that he had “inadvertently told a wonderful Ricky Gervais joke on the program last night, obviously not knowing it was from him.” Because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke, it’s hilarious. You can view every one of Ricky’s entertaining specials on Netflix.

Corden joked during Monday’s episode of The Late Late Show about Elon Musk’s comparison of Twitter to a town square when he purchased the company. However, this is not the case since residents of the town will not say, “I don’t want to learn the guitar!” when they see a sign in the town square that advertises the availability of guitar tuition if someone hangs the poster there. I’d love to learn how to play the piano!

He continued by saying, Well, then you weren’t the target audience for that sign. It was intended for another individual! So you don’t have to let all this get you in a rage.

In the wake of the show’s airing, internet users were eager to point out that his remark was strikingly similar to a joke from Ricky Gervais’s 2018 Netflix special, Humanity.

According to CNN, Ricky Gervais compared it to entering a town square as he spoke in the special. And there’s a signup sheet for guitar instruction, so you head over there. However, I have absolutely no interest in taking guitar lessons.

When accusations surfaced on Twitter that Corden had stolen a comedy piece from Ricky Gervais, the star of The Office, who is 61 years old, stated that he did not believe Corden willfully took the joke.

No. ‘I suppose one of the writers came up with it for him,’ Gervais tweeted on Tuesday, adding that he had doubts that the comedian would intentionally duplicate such a well-known stand-up routine word for word like that. After further investigation, Corden admitted that he had paraphrased Gervais’ joke without realizing it.

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January 22, 2023

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Tech

Amazon Music Increases Streaming Subscription Price – The Hollywood Reporter

Amazon is the latest music streaming service, following Apple, to increase the price of its subscription plans.

In updates to its customer support pages in the U.S. and the U.K., Amazon said its Amazon Music Unlimited plan for individuals will go up from $9.99 to $10.99 a month (or £9.99 to £10.99 a month), while the student subscription will see a bump up from $4.99 to $5.99 a month (or £4.99 to £5.99). The price changes will go into effect on Feb. 21 in both regions.

With the upcoming price hikes, Amazon’s music streaming subscription will now cost the same as Apple Music, which saw a price increase for the first time last October. That same month, YouTube also bumped up the price of its YouTube Premium family plan, which includes access to music streaming, from $17.99/month to $22.99/month, though the individual YouTube Music premium plan remains at $9.99/month.

Spotify has thus far resisted a subscription price hike, keeping prices at $9.99/month for an individual plan and $4.99/month for a student plan, though CEO Daniel Ek has said the company is interested in raising its prices.

Amazon Music accounts for 13.3 percent of the global music streaming subscription market, according to the research firm Midia. Spotify leads with 30.5 percent, followed by Apple Music’s 13.7 percent. When it comes to podcasts, 0.7 percent of listening happens on Amazon Music, according to Buzzsprout. Apple Podcasts and Spotify take the lead with 38.6 percent and 26.7 percent, respectively.

In November, Amazon rolled out a set of perks for Prime members to include shuffle-mode access to Amazon Music’s library of 100 million songs, up from 2 million. Prime members without Amazon Music Unlimited subscriptions can also listen to podcasts from Wondery, Audible, CNN, NPR, The New York Times, Barstool Sports, Slate and ESPN without ads.

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January 22, 2023

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Amazon is the latest music streaming service,

Video

Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway Go Dark in Boldly Provocative Film

Anyone who saw British director William Oldroyd’s “Lady Macbeth” at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2017 will hardly be surprised to hear that Oldroyd’s followup, “Eileen,” is one of the boldest provocations to hit Sundance in 2023. A blackly humorous riff on film noir that tells you with the opening notes of Richard Reed Perry’s score that it’s heading for some very dark and doomy places, it’s both a tour de force for a cast led by Thomasin McKenzie and a sign that Oldroyd hasn’t lost his unsettling touch in the seven years since his last film.

“Lady Macbeth” was a twisted and bloody drama with only vague thematic ties to Shakespeare, and it provided a powerful breakthrough role for a young Florence Pugh as a 19^th-century wife whose passions could be both empowering and disturbing. “Eileen” isn’t exactly a breakthrough role for the New Zealand actress McKenzie who, since she’s already made her mark in films from “Leave No Trace” to “Last Night in Soho,” doesn’t need one of those. But the title character is a rich, weird and multifaceted young woman to play, and McKenzie calibrates the changes with precision; she and Oldroyd know we’re waiting, and they enjoy making us wait.

Eileen is a 24-year-old woman in Massachusetts who works in a prison for young men and lives with her former police-captain father (Shea Whigham) who is slipping into an angry, drunken dementia after the death of his wife. His conversations with Eileen, the one daughter who still speaks to him, are models of vicious verbal abuse disguised as everyday chatter. Some people, he tells her, are like the characters you watch make big decisions in a movie. “Other people, they just take up space and you take them for granted. That’s you, Eileen.”

And for a while, that does seem to be Eileen. The movie begins with a shot of fog rolling in and some massive dark chords that seem to herald the start of a horror flick. At first we seem to be watching the character study of a painfully timid young woman whose only action comes when she fantasizes about having sex with a guard up against the big window of a prison room.

But it’s clear that there’s more going on here than simply another Sundance drama about a lonely young woman trying to find her inner strength. The film is more aggressive than that, the music hinting at drama to come. And McKenzie drops hints that while Eileen looks timid, maybe we’re selling her short; maybe she’s not timid, she’s implacable.

Whatever she is, it starts to come out when a new psychologist arrives. Since the film – based on the 2015 novel by Ottessa Moshfegh, who co-wrote the script with Luke Goebel – is set in 1964, the arrival of a new female prison psychologist, Rebecca, is greeted with not-so-thinly veiled sexism by the prison brass. “Dr. Miss Rebecca St. John will be our new prison psychologist,” announces the warden. “She just got her PhD from Radcliffe.”

“Harvard,” corrects Rebecca curtly.

‘Justice,’ Surprise Sundance Doc on Brett Kavanaugh, Reveals New Allegations Against Supreme Court Judge

As played by Anne Hathaway, Rebecca could be a femme fatale heroine out of film noir: She’s a blonde bombshell who’s always smarter than the men around her, and one who knows how to hold a cigarette, wield a martini glass and deck a man who tries to make advances. Eileen, naturally, is transfixed, and in their first few brief conversations Rebecca seizes on the fact that beneath that meek exterior and squeaky voice (this time sporting a variable Boston accent), Eileen can drop some quiet barbs.

Eileen shaves her legs and dresses up to meet Rebecca for drinks, and she gamely tries to smoke when Rebecca lights up. “Sorry, I don’t usually smoke,” Eileen apologizes through a coughing fit.

“Nasty habit. That’s why I like it,” Rebecca says, reminding us that we’re pretty much in the world of noir now.

But this is noir with a twist, because the relationship between Eileen and Rebecca goes from adoration to flirtation. “You remind me of a girl in a Dutch painting,” Rebecca says. “You have a strong face. Plain but fascinating. I bet you have brilliant dreams.”

As an audience, we know that she does have vivid dreams, because we see them come to life every so often with a delicious shock. McKenzie suggests that Eileen is young woman with dark and unsettling depths, but the film simply drops hints until the two meet for a Christmas Eve dinner and everything changes with a single sentence.

It’d be a spoiler to say more, but “Eileen” embraces its heart of noir in the homestretch, giving McKenzie and Hathaway their share of big, bold moments and also giving Marin Ireland a showstopping sequence as a mother trying desperately to hide the darkest of secrets. It’s pulpy and provocative, and the remarkable thing about McKenzie’s performance is that even when she asserts herself, she does so without extraneous dialogue. Many of the strongest moments simply hold on her face for long stretches; not much happens, but everything happens.

Shot with a mean glow by Ari Wegner, “Eileen” isn’t concerned with delivering lessons about female empowerment. Oldroyd rather glories in dark, troubled and magnificently contradictory characters acting in gloriously twisted ways. Like the title character does in the film, the movie snuck up on the Sundance audience and gave it a swift kick.

Sundance’s 20 Buzziest Movies for Sale in 2023, From ‘Cat Person’ to ‘Shortcomings’ (Photos)

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January 22, 2023

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Anyone who saw British director William Oldroyd’s

Entertaintment

Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, More

While many TV shows have made household names out of their star players, occasionally showrunners have been able to corral some of Hollywood’s biggest names to drop in for a surprising cameo during a complete episode or a single scene.

Perhaps one of the most polarizing cameos belonged to Ed Sheeran on HBO’s Game of Thrones in July 2017. The singer appeared in a brief scene during the season 7 premiere, titled “Dragonstone.” In the episode, the “Bad Habits” singer plays a Lannister soldier sitting next to a campfire as Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) rode past on horseback. He sang a quick tune to his fellow soldiers and Arya replied, “It’s a pretty song. I’ve never heard it before.”

While some fans were pumped to see the “Thinking out Loud” crooner pop up in Westeros, others were really annoyed. Twitter users commented everything from “Ed Sheeran’s really looking for that castle on the hill, huh,” to “I don’t even watch Game of Thrones but still made Ed Sheeran ruined it” and “This is a show with dragons and I still can’t believe that Ed Sheeran is currently on screen.”

The HBO show’s creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss previously announced his cameo at South by Southwest that March. “We knew that Maisie was a big fan of Ed Sheeran and for years, we’ve been trying to get him on the show so we can surprise Maisie,” Benioff said at the time. “This year we finally did it.”

Following criticism of his brief role, Sheeran told MTV News that September that he was fine with it being a one-time performance. “No one wants to see me come back,” he said. “I wanted to be a cameo in it, and I’ve done the cameo. I’m cool with it, though. I enjoyed it.”

Another unforgettable cameo belonged to Taylor Swift when she made a one-scene appearance on the season 2 finale of New Girl in May 2013. While Cece (Hannah Simone) was set to marry Shivrang (Satya Bhabha) in the episode, the duo both had cold feet about their upcoming nuptials.

As Shivrang called off the nuptials mid-ceremony, he remarked that he was in love with his ex-girlfriend Elaine, who stood up from her seat at the time. There, Elaine was revealed to be the “Cardigan” singer in a scene that seemingly replicated her “Speak Now” track off her third studio album.

“She’s awesome,” Zooey Deschanel previously told Us Weekly at an episode screening and panel that April. “She’s super-funny and really smart. Very professional and we loved working with her.”

More recently, supermodel Gigi Hadid made a voiceover cameo on Netflix’s Never Have I Ever when season 2 premiered in July 2021. During the third episode, Hadid plays herself and narrates the inner monologue of Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet). She took over the role after Chrissy Teigen dropped out amid a bullying controversy involving Courtney Stodden.

“You may be asking yourself, Why is Gig-ers taking time out of her busy schedule to narrate the story of a 16-year-old old boy,” the model says at the start of the episode. “Believe it or not, I relate to this kid. We’re both constantly underestimated because people only see us as sex symbols.”

Hadid shared a trailer of her voiceover role via Instagram at the time with the caption, “Had the BEST time getting to narrate a new episode of @neverhaveiever — I got your back, Pax!” Barnet commented, “Thanks so much Gigi! you killed it! ?.” Show creator Mindy Kaling also replied, “I fainted” and “You did such a great job! We loved having you! ❤️❤️❤️??.”

Scroll through to revisit the most surprising TV show celebrity cameos:

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January 22, 2023

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While many TV shows have made household

Movies

Shah Rukh Khan Displays ‘Pathaan Hotness’ in This Unseen Muscular Pic From Gym, Fans Go Crazy

Last Updated: January 22, 2023, 19:04 IST

Shah Rukh Khan’s unseen gym picture

The photo seems to be clicked between his workout sessions and Shah Rukh Khan flaunts his muscular arms in a black tank top.

The countdown for Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan has begun! We are just a couple of days away from witnessing King Khan’s return on the big screen. Ahead of the release, SRK fans are flooding social media with photos and fanmade posters of Pathaan. Not just fans, but his close ones, too, have started the countdown for Pathaan. On Sunday, Aryan, Suhana and AbRam’s taekwondo trainer Kiran took to social media to share an unseen picture with the actor and the netizens are going crazy over it.

The photo seems to be clicked between his workout sessions and the actor flaunts his muscular arms in a black tanktop. Sharing the photo, she wrote, “Wishing my mooossttt fav Pathan @iamsrk huge huge success for alll the hard work he and his team has put in ..ready for mausam bigadney key liye…❤️❤️❤️ #pathan”

Take a look:

Shah Rukh’s fans couldn’t thank Kiran enough for the photo. One user wrote, “Thank you so much for this photo❤❤❤❤” while another user added, “OMG!! Pathaan hotness ✨”. “omggggg pathaan is glowing ♥️” read another comment.

Meanwhile, the YRF film opened advance bookings on Wednesday night in selected theatres before they opened advance bookings on Friday. While official numbers are yet to come in, a Bollywood Hungama report has claimed that Pathaan has already sold over 3,00,000 tickets in India, amounting to Rs. 10 crores gross. The advance bookings are reportedly better than blockbusters KGF 2, Bahubali 2, Sultan, and War.

Backed by Yash Raj Films, Pathaan joins the production house’s Spy Universe. The trailer revealed that Pathaan was inactive for four years but is brought back into action after a terror group plots to attack the country. Shah Rukh is seen performing several high-octane action sequences. The trailer also revealed that Deepika Padukone is also a soldier in the film, designated to help Pathaan in his battle. John Abraham plays the villain in the film. The film is slated to release in theatres on January 25.

Read all the Latest Movies News here

Entertainment Bureau

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January 22, 2023

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Last Updated: January 22, 2023, 19:04 ISTShah

Film

‘Cat Person’ Movie Review: Viral Story Gets an Excruciating Adaptation

Sundance: Susanna Fogel directs a mostly edifying take on Kristen Roupenian’s story, but a curious (and new) third act dilutes its power.

The final word of Kristen Roupenian’s viral 2017 New Yorker short story “Cat Person” is a gut-punch, a fitting capper on 7,000-or-so words that alternate between the hilariously true and the painfully honest. As short stories go, Roupenian’s was a winner, a discomfiting tale that turned played-out romantic tropes (he’s awkward! she’s cute!) into something far richer and wiser. It follows the seemingly ill-fated and short-lived affair between college student Margot and older man (but not too much older) Robert as it dips from sweet to scary, awkward to downright creepy. For many women, it felt terribly, painfully familiar, and that it ended the way it did, with that single horrible word, was just perfect.

One small problem for the inevitable film adaptation: that ending doesn’t quite follow the typical expectations of a movie. More directly? “Cat Person” the story doesn’t have a “third act,” a pretty hefty ask for “Cat Person” the film. And while Susanna Fogel’s feature film version of the story is appropriately excruciating (this is a high compliment; mostly, it will set your teeth on edge and raise the hairs on the back of your neck, just as it should), its muddled, messy, and brand-new final act feels at odds with Roupenian’s story and the very emotions it raised with its readers.

Adapted for the screen by “Masters of Sex” creator Michelle Ashford (who certainly knows a thing or two about the ins and outs of human sexuality, power dynamics, and interpersonal communication), Fogel’s “Cat Person” boasts a strong start. College sophomore Margot (“CODA” breakout Emilia Jones) is wiling away another evening working the concession stand at her local arthouse theater when the awkward (but maybe cute?) Robert (“Succession” star Nicholas Braun) arrives, offering the bored Margot a chance to flirt, if only to break up the monotony of her night. Soon enough, he’s back, asking for Margot’s number and giving the whipsmart (but not street-smart) woman a new curiosity to occupy her time.

But even Margot is hip to more pressing concerns, like, oh, the general anxiety of being a woman in this world. And as she walks back to her dorm, all alone in the night, her best pal and roommate (the always-welcome Geraldine Viswanathan, taking on a role expanded from that of “Tamara” in the short story) chatters to her on the phone about being safe, getting home in good time, trying not to be murdered, etc. LOL! Isn’t being a lady fun?

It is, and it also isn’t, and that’s just one of the many binaries that exist in this story — the line between cute and weird, alluring and tragic, adventurous and just plain scary — and that Fogel ably examines in the film. Jones and Braun also make for keen casting, with Jones winningly working the line between Margot’s relative innocence and her tricky desires, and Braun turning creepy when you least expect it (again, another compliment).

“Cat Person”

Sundance Film Festival

Like Roupenian’s story, much of “Cat Person” the film hinges on the early, giddy text exchanges between Margot and Robert. They’re zippy and fun and flirty, so much less awkward than their in-person interactions, and while it’s initially hard to grasp why Margot is even giving this guy the time of day, their textual chemistry makes a fine case. Fogel shows texts in various formats, both with on-screen chat bubbles and glimpses of Margot’s actual phone. We hear her tapping out messages, we eagerly await the ding of an incoming text, we’re right there with her. That’s how it should be.

Fans of the story will not be disappointed by the bulk of the film, which adheres closely to Roupenian’s text (never fear, Robert’s horrifyingly bad kissing is very much here, even more disgusting and hilarious in the hands — mouths? — of Jones and Braun). Even before the film hits the skids on its final act, there’s more padding on offer, and understandably so (the film clocks in at just under two hours, and it rarely drags).

Some of it is more funny than necessary (like that Taylor runs a feminist subreddit called “The Vagenda”), while some is oddly undercooked (Margot’s work alongside a beloved professor, played by Isabella Rossellini, feels like a limp attempt at adding an anthropological element to the whole thing). Other expansions add important context, like a trip home that sees Margot’s mother (played by a wonderfully brittle Hope Davis) offering up romantic tips to her daughter that seem cogent and later prove disastrous.

The portrayal of Margot’s inner monologue — a key element of the story — is similarly handled in ways both good and bad. Quick-cut fantasy sequences in which Margot is actually attacked by Robert feel jarring and unnecessary, mostly because Jones’ solid performance already suggests her terror at appropriate moments and because Fogel has a damn fine time shooting other scenes with a horror-film feel (also aided by Heather McIntosh’s nerve-shredding score). A more complex sequence in which Margot imagines Robert unpacking his relationship worries to a therapist (Fred Melamed) works better, but nothing is as good as Margot talking to herself (literally) during an unnerving sex scene.

It’s that entire sequence that most directly showcases the strengths of this adaptation. And while bringing a second Margot into the picture might sound like the easy way out, the best part is, it’s not. It’s the much harder way, the much more painful, the much more honest. As Margot (and we) survey Robert’s house (no cats, despite his endless chatter about them, but plenty of empty McDonald’s cups and one hilariously placed “Minority Report” DVD), even those unfamiliar with the short story will know where this is headed.

The real drama? How Margot feels about it, how she tries to talk herself into an experience she does not want to have, all while Robert continually shows himself to be (at best!) a very bad dude indeed. It’s the finest parts of “Cat Person,” both story and film, distilled to a powerful essence.

Less successful is the film’s final act, which attempts to tie up all sorts of loose ends, answering questions that range from the mundane (does Robert really have cats?) to the unnecessary (is Robert really a bad dude?), all of them sewing up tight a story that hits much harder when it’s allowed to be more open. Is Robert really a bad dude? Isn’t that the point of this entire story? That Ashford attempts to answer it is odd enough, but the script folds back on itself so much that it, weirdly, becomes too muddled to land any of the hard and fast observations it was trying to make. What a bummer way to end it.

The final word on “Cat Person” the film? Not nearly as biting and perfectly pitched as the story that inspired it: It’s good…enough. It could have been more.

Grade: B-

“Cat Person” premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It is currently seeking distribution.

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January 22, 2023

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Sundance: Susanna Fogel directs a mostly edifying

Season 48, Episode 10, Aubrey Plaza

Image: SNL

Saturday Night Live found the perfect host to bring it into 2023 in Aubrey Plaza. In addition to her deadpan delivery, she often treats press junkets, red carpets, and late-night interviews as her own experimental sketch show. It turned out to be a sort of homecoming for Plaza. She got her start in the entertainment industry in the NBC page program and even worked with the SNL set design department. Since those early years, she has built a surprising and impressive career with her role as April Ludgate in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation, earned laughs in broad Hollywood studio comedies, and captivated in a litany of dark indie films from Ingrid Goes West to Black Bear. Hosting SNL caps off a stellar year for Plaza after the success of Emily the Criminal, which she starred in and produced, and her role in The White Lotus. Perhaps this all caused too high of expectations. The episode overall felt middle of the road, even though Plaza proved to be an excellent and enthusiastic first-time host.

Best sketch of the night

The Black Lotus – SNL

The episode was full of spoofs on recent pop culture entertainment from “M3gan 2.0” to “Avatar,” but “The Black Lotus” stood out as the best of the bunch. A terrific showcase for Ego Nwodim and Kenan Thompson, it makes a good argument for them to join The White Lotus cast next season as the hotel managers. The sketch allowed Chloe Fineman to reuse her Jennifer Coolidge impersonation and gave room for Plaza to show her range after playing Harper on the show’s second season. Most impressive is that the sketch works well for those who were fanatics of the series and for those who immediately dismissed the show as rich white people problems.

Worst sketch of the night

Avatar – SNL

Of the pop culture spoofs, “Avatar” was the worst. The sketch felt like an obligation as if the writers felt like they had to do something with the cultural phenomenon of Avatar. It lacked focus, direction, or commentary. It felt overlong, even though it was relatively short. It was a lazy sketch that relied more on costuming and sets than good writing or funny performances.

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The most WTF moment of the night

Sam Smith: Gloria (Live) – SNL

It could be the best sketch of the night. It could be the worst sketch of the night. Sam Smith’s performance of “Gloria” was bizarre and bewildering. It took a while to realize that it was actually Sharon Stone surrounded by a choir in black sequin robes like a gay remake of Eyes Wide Shut. Smith sang in the back as Stone lounged before staring out into the horizon or the studio audience. Why all this was happening is up for debate. Is it camp? Is it a case of queerbaiting by an actual queer person? Is it a homage to Stone’s 1999 remake of the gangster film Gloria? We may never get the answer to these questions.

The most material of the night

Weekend Update: Colin Jost Interviews Rep. George Santos – SNL

The New York Times published its bombshell report about George Santos the day after the final 2022 episode of SNL. In the meantime, Santos’ web of lies has become as intricate as it is absurd. For SNL, it is the gift that keeps giving. Featured in a solid string of jokes in “Weekend Update,” Santos, played by Bowen Yang, made two separate appearances in the “Cold Open” and as a special guest on “Weekend Update.” There is something fascinating about Santos and the way that he embodies the fragility and failings of the democratic system in the United States.

MVP of the Night: Aubrey Plaza

Aubrey Plaza Monologue – SNL

While tempting to give the MVP slot to George Santos or even Molly Kearney, who had a good amount of screen time this week, Aubrey Plaza had the biggest impact on the episode. It was a mixed bag of sketches, but Plaza was committed throughout. She managed to show an impressively wide range of characters while infusing the show with her brand of off-beat deadpan humor. She was at her best during the monologue which played on her own history with SNL and NBC. She also managed to pull in a remarkable and peculiar collection of celebrity cameos from former co-star Amy Poehler to Tony Hawk to the aforementioned Sharon Stone, and even the President of the United States Joe Biden.

Stray Observations

Cecily Strong’s Verizon commercials got a shout out.
They felt like very short sketches this week, which was good and bad.
It was sort of funny when Michael Che didn’t seem to get the joke about the Staten Island Ferry.
“M3gan 2.0″ had some funny moments, but it needed to be pushed further and be much gayer. Like offensively gay. “Little Homo?” Just bleep out what she really should have said.

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January 22, 2023

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Image: SNLSaturday Night Live found the perfect

A two-image collage. On the left, Kotaro Kashima sits on the stairs with his teenage brother Ryuuichi, while Ryuuichi eats the bento Kotaro brought. On the right, Tsumugi Inuzuka smiles at someone offscreen in Sweetness and Lightning.

What to Watch

10 Best Manga Featuring An Adorable Kid Main Character

With Spy x Family‘s second season on the horizon and Buddy Daddies entering the fray as well, fans in the mood for upbeat humor and heartwarming slice-of-life scenarios have plenty of new favorites.

Whether the reader is a young fan just starting who can relate more to younger characters, or an older fan looking for a mood lightener after finishing a bleak seinen, there are plenty of manga featuring adorable kid protagonists navigating life with their friends and family.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

Sweetness And Lightning

In one of the best anime about parenting, based on an equally good manga, newly widowed father Kouhei is struggling to balance work and raising his young daughter. One of the skills he most needs to work at is cooking, which he learns with the help of his student Kotori, a chef’s daughter.

Tsumugi gets just as much of a spotlight as the adults in the series. Much of the time, she goes through life with a cheerful smile, adoring her father and Kotori. But she is also dealing with the death of her mother, and often does not know how to handle the concept or the powerful emotions she’s feeling.

Magi: The Labyrinth Of Magic

While much of the action in Magi is carried out by adults young and old, the actual protagonist is the 10-year-old Aladdin, the mysterious Magi who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, with his flying carpet, magic flute, and loyal Djinn companion Ugo. He quickly befriends Alibaba, despite the older boy’s initial reluctance, and begins to explore the world.

Because he was raised in a separate dimension, Aladdin brings an innocence and kindness wherever he goes that is unfamiliar in an often-cruel society, always trying to understand even things and people that horrify him. Injustice confuses and enrages him, and as he matures and learns more about the world and himself, he uses his growing powers to create a better world alongside his friends.

Astro Boy

Because he was originally built to replace his creator’s young son, Astro Boy physically and mentally resembles an 8-year-old child. His round, wide-eyed, smiling face, designed by the legendary Osamu Tezuka, is one of the blueprints for the look of many future young manga protagonists, coming from one of the most influential manga ever written.

Programmed to be a good child and raised by a loving adoptive father after his creator abandoned him, Astro is as kind and heroic as he appears, believing wholeheartedly that he can foster peace between humans and machines. However, equipped with super strength, powerful weaponry, and the ability to fly, Astro is considerably stronger than the average robot, let alone the average boy, enabling him to protect his ideals and his loved ones.

Somali And The Forest Spirit

One of the most heartwarming anime of its season is this fantasy tale with a very grounded main story. A forest golem discovers an abandoned human girl in his territory, and the girl instantly latches onto him as a father. The golem decides to look after the girl until he can find her a human family, but that’s easier said than done in a world where humans have been hunted to near extinction by other creatures.

Despite the danger she is constantly in, Somali’s love for life and for her father are one of the cornerstones of both the show and the original manga. She and the golem are both learning how to relate to one another; she very much wants her dad to be happy too and tries very hard to be a good kid for him.

Cardcaptor Sakura

Even the younger shoujo heroines are usually at least in their early teens or close to it. The titular Cardcaptor Sakura in this classic ’90s manga is only 10 years old when she takes on the mission to recapture all the magical cards that she accidentally released from her father’s book. Using a magical wand, she must not only protect the town from them but claim their powers as well.

Sakura is joined in her quest by Syaoran, a boy her own age who competes with her for possession and mastery of the card spirits. He attempts to act as the typical cold and dismissive rival, but his burgeoning crush on her makes it very hard for him to maintain that image as they fight alongside each other.

Mahou Sensei Negima

Shounen heroes also trend towards their teens, but Negi Springfield is a 10-year-old magical prodigy who has not only graduated college way early, but is well on his way to earning his full magic license. However, to fulfill the requirements, Negi must complete a term teaching at a girls’ middle school, at which he must keep his magic secret.

Even leaving aside his career woes, Negi is also looking for his presumed-dead father Nagi, and is carrying plenty of baggage regarding that. He still keeps his chin up and always gives his all in everything he does. He bonds quickly with his students and is intensely protective of them; they in turn are fond of him, but find his efforts to act more dignified and mature than he is to be very funny.

Gakuen Babysitters

Kotaro Kashima sits next to his teenage brother Ryuuichi on the stairs, while Ryuuichi happily eats the bento Kotaro brought. The subtitles say,

Though the protagonist is technically the teenage Ryuuichi, his toddler brother Kotaro and the other charges of Morinomiya Academy’s day care get the spotlight probably more often than the teens and adults do. From brash and aggressive Taka to cheerful baby Midori, the manga features an entire cast of adorable kids.

After their parents’ deaths, Ryuuichi is left to raise Kotaro on his own, and is constantly worrying about how Kotaro is affected by their loss. Kotaro isn’t given to showing much emotion, but he is very attached to his big brother, constantly trying to make Ryuuichi happy and afraid he’ll disappear one day too.

Dragon Ball

Most Dragon Ball fans of today, if asked to think about Goku, would picture him as an adult, as he is for most of one of the best Shonen Jump anime of all time. However, the original manga began with him as a child living in the mountains, full of raw power and entirely ignorant of people who aren’t his adoptive grandfather until about the age of twelve, let alone how to interact with them.

Small for his age and highly enthusiastic, Goku is still just as brave and kindhearted as a child as he is as an adult, though he has yet to achieve the height of his Saiyan strength. He is also special in that, after mangaka Akira Toriyama fought his editors for it to happen, he is one of the first shounen kid heroes to actually age into a teenager and then an adult as the manga went on.

Hunter x Hunter

While Killua and Gon both have moments that earn them spots among the scariest characters in Hunter x Hunter, they are both compassionate kids with power their trainers describe as “one in ten million” potential. They are both exploring the world for the first time and are each other’s first friends: their genuine joy in their friendship and in new things they find around every corner is infectious.

Interestingly, while the two are following the same path as Hunters, they appear very different between their first and most recent appearances. Killua’s more intimidating side is shown off often in the beginning of the manga, but as he gets further from assassin life, his kindness shines through more. Gon is introduced as bright and innocent, but by the later arcs, his capacity for ruthlessness is brought into full and shocking display.

Spy X Family

In his undercover mission, secret agent Twilight must acquire a family, so he marries assassin-disguised-as-civil-servant Yor and adopts telepathic orphan Anya, oblivious to their true natures. All three family members get largely equal time in the spotlight, including Anya, who, thanks to her power to read minds, knows all the secrets her new parents try to hide.

Though she doesn’t always understand what’s going on around her or in people’s heads, being only about four, Anya is determined to do the best she can in everything she does, whether it’s struggling with advanced classes in her elite school or trying to help her dad in his missions. Her earnest approach to her daily life endears her to both her parents and many manga fans.

NEXT: 10 Best ‘Punny’ Names In Pokémon, Ranked

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January 22, 2023

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With Spy x Family's second season

Awards

Technology & Engineering Emmy Winners List – Deadline

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences today announced the winners of the 74thannual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards, which will be handed out in April. See the list below.

The awards are given to a living individual, a company or a scientific or technical organization for developments and/or standardization involved in engineering technologies that either represent so extensive an improvement on existing methods or are so innovative in nature that they materially have affected television.

The awards ceremony is set for Sunday, April 16, as part of the National Association of BRoadcasters convention in Las Vegas.

“The Technology & Engineering Emmy Award was the first Emmy Award issued in 1949, and it laid the groundwork for all the other Emmys to come,” said NATAS President and CEO Adam Sharp. “We are extremely happy about honoring these prestigious individuals and companies, again in partnership with NAB, where the intersection of innovation, technology and excitement in the future of television can be found.”

Here are the winners of the 2022 Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards:

Invention and Development of the Pinned Photodiode Now Used in Most Image Sensors
Winners: Nobukazu Teranishi, NEC

Extraction of Granular Census Level Behavioral Data Using ACR
Winners: Cognitive Networks, Enswers, Turner Media Lab

AI-ML Curation of Sports Highlights
Winners: WSC, IBM, Comcast, Google

Digital Cinema Camera Mounted Video Extender for Live Audiences
Winners: MultiDyne, ARRI

Pioneering Development and Deployment of Virtualized Cable Modem
Winners: Harmonic, Comcast, Intel

TV PIONEER HALL OF FAME

Llewelyn Birchall Atkinson
Jean Lazare Weiller
Thomas Alva Edison
Jan Szczepanik
Constantin Dmitrievich Perskyi

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January 22, 2023

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The National Academy of Television Arts &

Music

Emily Ratajkowski Does Her Own Nude Stunts—See the Pics and Video

Emily Ratajkowski is many things: a successful model, an actor, a mother, a podcast host, a commencement speaker, and now…a stunt woman?

On January 20, EmRata gave fans a peek at an unknown project, sharing photos and videos of herself being dropped from mid-air wearing nothing but a safety harness and strappy black heels. “I do my own stunts,” she captioned the post with a sunglasses smiley face emoji.

While Ratajkowski is particularly well known for her role in Gone Girl and the 2013 “Blurred Lines” music video, it’s likely this shoot, led by fashion photographer and director TORSO, is more likely for an upcoming campaign. According to their Instagram feed, the artist has recently worked with Shakira for Burberry, Bella Hadid for Mugler, and Nicki Minaj for Interview Magazine, just to name a few.

Perhaps we can look forward to a Viktor & Rolf video campaign, as Emily Ratajkowski was recently named the face of their Flowerbomb fragrance, which originally launched in 2005. “It’s so crazy—your mom knows the fragrance, but so does a 12-year-old girl,” she recently told Glamour. “When I first booked the campaign, my best friend was like, ‘Are you kidding? I was wearing that in high school and then when I first moved to New York, I’d get it in Chinatown.’ She was like, ‘That is the fragrance.’”

Ratajkowski, however, says she was pretty inexperienced with the beauty world when she was first starting out. “My first beauty product was something terrible, probably sparkly eye shadow from Limited Too,” she recently told Glamour. “I failed so much with beauty when I was younger because I would just let people do whatever they wanted glam-wise. Hair and makeup artists made me look insane, totally insane. But it’s kind of how I learned my face in a lot of ways and learned what colors look good on me, nothing too pink on my lips, and stuff like that.”

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January 22, 2023

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Emily Ratajkowski is many things: a successful

Docs

Screenings & Showings | American Masters

Go beyond the broadcast and join American Masters in person!

Whether it’s a theatrical screening or a film festival, your favorite documentaries can come to life right in your neighborhood.

This month, Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV will have its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Amanda Kim, the documentary will have its exclusive U.S. broadcast premiere on American Masters on PBS.

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January 22, 2023

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Go beyond the broadcast and join American

Global

Toronto takes on New York, seeks to end 3-game slide

New York Knicks (25-22, seventh in the Eastern Conference) vs. Toronto Raptors (20-27, 12th in the Eastern Conference)

Toronto; Sunday, 6 p.m. EST

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE: Raptors -2; over/under is 224

BOTTOM LINE: Toronto comes into the matchup with New York after losing three games in a row.

The Raptors are 3-9 against division opponents. Toronto has a 12-15 record against teams over .500.

The Knicks are 16-13 in Eastern Conference play. New York is fifth in the Eastern Conference scoring 114.3 points per game and is shooting 45.6%.

Graceland Live Stream Of Lisa Marie Presley’s Funeral – Hollywood Life

Lisa Marie PresleyLisa Marie Presley — Image Credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP/Shutterstock

Priscilla Presley, Austin Butler and Lisa Marie Presley80th Annual Golden Globe Awards, Inside, Beverly Hilton, Los Angeles, USA - 10 Jan 2023 — Image Credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP/Shutterstock

Lisa Marie Presley is being honored with a public memorial service at Graceland — the historic home of her late father Elvis Presley. The event is being live streamed by Graceland’s official website at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 22, and the video feed can be seen right here below. “In addition to family and friends, the general public is invited to attend,” Graceland’s website confirms. “Following the service, there will be a procession to view Lisa’s final resting place in Meditation Garden.”

The service will be attended by Lisa Marie’s mother, and Elvis’ ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, 77, as well as Lisa’s surviving children: Riley Keough, 33, whom she shares with first ex-husband Danny Keough, and her twin girls, Finley Lockwood and Harper Lockwood, 14, who’s dad is her fourth ex-husband Michael Lockwood. Both of her ex-partners are also expected to attend. Lisa has one brother via Priscilla, Navarone Garibaldi, who will also be present. Notably, she was also married to the late Michael Jackson as well as actor Nicolas Cage.

The Now What singer tragically lost her second eldest child, Benjamin Keough at the age of 27 in 2020. She will be buried next to her late son on the Graceland property, which is also where her father Elvis was laid to rest, as well as grandparents Vernon, and Gladys, and her great grandmother, Minnie Mae.

Lisa Marie Presley’s public memorial is set for Sunday, Jan. 22. (
Damian Dovarganes/AP/Shutterstock)

A day ahead of the service, images of her above ground stone sarcophagus were released. The large gray tomb stone is similar in style to her son Benjamin’s, which it will be directly next to.

Lisa sadly passed away at the age of 54 on Jan. 12 after going into “full cardiac arrest” at her Calabasas area home, where she was living with ex Danny. The musician found her unconscious and administered CPR while medical help was called. Lisa was sadly pronounced brain dead at West Hills Hospital, and died shortly after experiencing a second heart attack later that day.

Priscilla confirmed the death of her daughter in a heartrending statement to AP. “It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” she said. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss. Thank you for the love and prayers. At this time there will be no further comment.”

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January 22, 2023

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View gallery Image Credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP/Shutterstock Lisa Marie Presley

Tech

iPhone 15 Pro tipped to get thinner bezels and curved edges

More details have emerged around what we can expect from the iPhone 15 coming later this year: thinner bezels on the two Pro models, and curved edges on all four handsets, for an Apple Watch-like aesthetic.

This comes from experienced Apple tipster ShrimpApplePro (opens in new tab) (via MacRumors (opens in new tab)), who says that the display sizes on the four phones will remain the same as last year. What’s more, the Dynamic Island will be making its way to every model too.

The tipster emphasizes that the screens will remain flat – it’s only the bezels that will curve into the rest of the phone casing. However, there’s apparently not going to be much change in the design of the selfie camera phone unit.

Well I have the result for the display design of the iPhone 15 series. – all iPhone 15 series will have the same display sizes as iPhone 14 series- pro 15 will have thinner bezels with curve edges, display is still flat tho, only the bezels is curveJanuary 21, 2023

The return of the curves

Take a look at the iPhone 14 and you’ll see that the bezels are already impressively thin, so it’s going to be interesting to see exactly how much they’re going to be reduced when it comes to the two more expensive handsets in the range.

We’re also keen to see these curved bezels too. It’s possible that Apple may go back to a more curved design overall, something like we saw with the iPhone 11. It wouldn’t be the first time that an iPhone screen tapered away at the edges.

The source here calls the most expensive model the “iPhone 15 Pro Max (aka Ultra)”, acknowledging that we’re still not sure what Apple is going to call this phone: we’ve heard several iPhone 15 Ultra rumors in recent weeks.

Analysis: the most beautiful iPhone yet?

The same leaker that has provided this new information also says that the iPhone 15 Pro Max (or iPhone 15 Ultra) is apparently “very beautiful” – and from the description we can see how these phones would have a lot of visual appeal.

With the bezels thinner on the Pro models, almost all of the screen will be taken up by actual pixels. Add in the curved effect right at the edges, and we get the impression that the iPhone 15 lineup might be very easy on the eye indeed.

While these thinner bezels aren’t coming to the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Plus, according to the rumor, those handsets are also going to curve slightly at the edges. The angular look is out, and the more rounded look is back in, it would seem.

Given the experience and expertise of Apple’s design team, we’re now very much looking forward to seeing what the iPhone 15 series has to offer in terms of what they actually look like – and it’s been a few years since we’ve been able to say that.

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January 22, 2023

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More details have emerged around what we

Video

Mia Goth, Brandon Cronenberg On Swimming In ‘Infinity Pool’: Sundance – Deadline

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.

INFINITY POOL

Section: MIDNIGHT
Director: Brandon Cronenberg
Screenwriter: Brandon Cronenberg
Logline: James and Em Foster take off to an all-inclusive beach getaway in the fictional state of Li Tolqa to help jump-start his writer’s block. Their lazy days are spent relegated to their pricey resort, isolated from the surrounding land. Gabi introduces herself and her partner, Al, as she’s a fan of James’ last novel, and they would like to spend some time together with the Fosters. The couples plan a secret daytrip outside the compound that ends in a fatal accident with James to blame. For a hefty price, there are loopholes to aid foreign travelers convicted of crimes there, which is how James is first introduced to a perverse subculture of hedonistic tourism.
Panelists: Cronenberg, Mia Goth (Gabi), Alexander Skarsgard (James) and Cleopatra Coleman (Em)
Distributors: NEON
First Screening: January 21, 11:55. MST, The Ray Theatre

Theatrical Release: Jan. 27
Key Quote: Cronenberg wrote the movie before his previous 2020 Sundance premiere, Possessor. “I started writing a short story a number of years ago, about the first execution scene, this idea of alternate reality fictional country, where people are executed for certain crimes, but they can have a double made of them to stand in for the execution. The story was about the one situation. Then as I was expanding it, I kept going back to memories I had of a resort I stayed at many years ago. They would bus you in at night…You’d be dropped in this weird resort compound surrounded by razor wire fence,” says the filmmaker.

Click above to watch the panel video, and track all of our Deadline Studio content here.

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival takes place from January 19-29. Follow Deadline’s complete coverage of the deals and the doings in Park City here.

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January 22, 2023

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The Deadline Studio at Sundance Film Festival

Entertaintment

Police Respond To Lunar New Year Shooting – Deadline

Police in California responded to reports of a shooting that happened following a large Lunar New Year celebration in the east Los Angeles community of Monterey Park late Saturday.

According to multiple media reports, the shooting happened in Monterey Park just after 10 pm, with one witness telling the LA Times that they believed the shooting happened at a local dance club.

LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia, an official in the local Los Angeles government, posted a tweet sharing condolences after the news broke.

“Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones tonight in our neighboring city, Monterey Park, where a mass shooting just occurred,” he tweeted. “Monterey Park is home to one of the largest Asian communities in Los Angeles County, and many were out celebrating the Lunar New Year.”

Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones tonight in our neighboring city, Monterey Park, where a mass shooting just occurred. Monterey Park is home to one of the largest Asian communities in Los Angeles County and many were out celebrating the Lunar New Year.

— Kenneth Mejia, CPA (@kennethmejiaLA) January 22, 2023

Many details about the shooting remain unclear, including the number of casualties. However, the LA Times reports that internal police communication state that there have been fatalities.

A witness named Seung Won Choi, who owns a restaurant in the vicinity of the shooting, told the LA Times that three people “rushed” into his restaurant and told him to lock his door.

The newspaper continues to report that the people told Choi that there was a shooter with a machine gun and multiple rounds of ammunition in the area.

Earlier in the day, thousands of people had gathered in Monterey Park for the Lunar New Year festival. Saturday was the start of the two-day festival, and it is one of the largest Lunar New Year events in Southern California, AP reported.

The Monterey Park government website says that past Lunar New Year events in Monterey Park have “drawn crowds estimated at over 100,000 visitors per day from all over the Southern California area.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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January 22, 2023

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Police in California responded to reports of

Movies

A Canadian guide to Sundance 2023

Doing something out of desire rather than need is always the better way. That’s the happy situation for the Sundance Film Festival as this annual showcase of independent cinema reinvents itself for its 2023 edition.

Running Jan. 19-29 in Park City, Utah, the festival will for the first time be a hybrid affair, with screenings both in-person and online. For the past two years, due to the pandemic, the fest was forced to move online only.

Shaking off the COVID blues, Sundance is returning to its hometown next to the Wasatch Mountains, welcoming movie lovers back to picturesque Main Street and to such familiar local theatres as the cavernous Eccles, the Art Deco Egyptian and the barnlike Library.

But the fest also wants to hold onto the big online audiences it attracted in ’21 and ’22. You can bet that festivals everywhere, Toronto’s TIFF among them, will be watching to see if the combo works.

“Our online festival has been such a success that it is hard to let go of it,” Sundance senior programmer Heidi Zwicker said via email.

“It has not only expanded the access public audiences have to the festival, it has also provided new access to international industry members who could never make the trip to Utah. We know it is not possible for everyone to attend Sundance who wants to attend, and our online component has helped solve that problem.”

Sundance is hedging its bets by staggering start dates: the in-person version of the fest begins Thursday but public online screenings won’t commence until Jan. 24, with both formats ending on Jan. 29.

Online screenings are limited to U.S. viewers only, but international viewers, Canadians included, can get some of the Sundance spirit by watching online its popular “Beyond Film” discussion panels during the second week of the fest. One panel sure to attract attention, with participants that include rising star Jonathan Majors, is titled, “Going Nowhere? On Burnout and Attention Crisis.” (There’s no charge for the online panels but you need to register for a free account at festival.sundance.org.)

Even as it tinkers with the format for its 39th edition, Sundance is still promising to offer the best in independent cinema. It will screen 110 features and 64 shorts selected from thousands of submissions worldwide. The features are diverse: 56 per cent of them are directed by women and 49 per cent by people of colour.

It will be hard to top last year’s success: family comedy “CODA” and music documentary “Summer of Soul” premiered at Park City and went on to win Best Picture and Best Documentary Feature respectively at the Academy Awards.

High on the list of buzzed-about films at Sundance 2023 are two literary adaptations: Susanna Fogel’s “Cat Person” and William Oldroyd’s “Eileen,” both screening in the multiplex-friendly Premieres section of the fest.

“Cat Person” is based on one of the most-read and most controversial short stories of the 21st century: Kristen Roupenian’s 2017 tale of the same name in the New Yorker, based in part on a true story, which exploded in print and online just as the #MeToo sex abuse reckoning was getting underway. College student Margot (“CODA” star Emilia Jones) meets the considerably older Robert (Nicholas Braun, TV’s “Succession”) and thinks it’s a great match until reality harshly intrudes.

“Eileen,” a psychological thriller set in the wintry New England of 1964 and based on Ottessa Moshfegh’s award-winning novel, stars Anne Hathaway as a new employee of a prison who bonds with a younger co-worker, a secretary played by Thomasin McKenzie. Hathaway’s character has a secret; the movie by “Lady Macbeth” director William Oldroyd has sinister things to reveal.

"Eileen" is a literary adaptation by William Oldroyd, a be-careful-who-you-befriend drama starring Anne Hathaway (L) and Thomasin McKenzie (R). It's one of the hot tickets at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Finding the dark truth of a place also animates “Infinity Pool,” a horror film by Toronto’s Brandon Cronenberg (“Antiviral,” “Possessor”) that’s set in an exclusive island resort in an unnamed Eastern European country. Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Mia Goth and Cleopatra Coleman, it’s a cautionary tale about wealth trumping morality that suggests it would make a great triple bill with such recent A-list attacks as “Triangle of Sadness” and “The Menu.”

Screening in Sundance’s Midnight section, where such horror classics as “The Blair Witch Project,” “Saw” and “Hereditary” were launched, “Infinity Pool” heads straight to theatres after its Sundance debut, opening Jan. 27.

It’s a strong year for Canada at Sundance. Besides “Infinity Pool,” there are four other long-form productions having their world premieres in Park City: Ido Mizrahy’s “The Longest Goodbye,” a documentary about a NASA scientist studying the risk of social isolation in Mars-bound astronauts; Lin Alluna’s “Twice Colonized,” a doc about Inuk lawyer and activist Aaju Peter as she searches for the truth about her son’s violent death; Jacqueline Castel’s Midnight program chiller “My Animal,” a secret-laden love story between a goalie and a figure skater in a northern town; and Xavier Dolan’s “The Night Logan Woke Up,” a TV mystery series set in 1991 in a Quebec town that sounds a lot like Twin Peaks, screening in the Indie Episodic Program.

"Infinity Pool" is a horror film by Toronto's Brandon Cronenberg, son of the famous David Cronenberg. It's about rich people doing very bad things in an unnamed Eastern European resort where money will let you get away with anything. It's one of the hot tickets at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Other hot Sundance 2023 picks include Roger Ross Williams’ “Cassandro,” a fact-based drama starring Gael García Bernal as a flamboyant Mexican wrestler known as “the Liberace of lucha libre”; Alice Englert’s wicked comedy “Bad Behaviour,” in which former child model Jennifer Connelly (“Top Gun: Maverick”) plays an out-of-control former child actor, wrecking the weekend retreat led by her guru (Ben Whishaw, “Women Talking”); and Elijah Bynum’s “Magazine Dreams,” the story of an amateur bodybuilder who goes to extremes, featuring actors from two recent Sundance breakouts, Jonathan Majors (“The Last Black Man in San Francisco”) and Taylour Paige (“Zola”).

Gael Garc�a Bernal stars in "Cassandro," a film by Roger Ross Williams premiering at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. He plays a Mexican wrestler known as "the Liberace of lucha libre."

Sundance is also known for its wealth of documentaries about famous and infamous people. This year’s bounty includes Lana Wilson’s “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” Thom Zimny’s and Oren Moverman’s “Willie Nelson & Family”; Lisa Cortés’ “Little Richard: I Am Everything”; Davis Guggenheim’s “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie”; and Anton Corbijn’s “Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis),” a doc about the mad artists behind the covers of many classic rock albums, including Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.”

The subjects of Sundance docs usually show up at the premieres, another reason for movie lovers to brave the snow and slush of Park City and to attend the fest in person. Imagine bumping into Brooke Shields, Willie Nelson and the ghost of the late Little Richard on Main Street.

Peter Howell, a Star contributor, is a movie critic in Toronto. Follow his Sundance posts on Twitter: @peterhowellfilm

SUNDANCE SENIOR PROGRAMMER HEIDI ZWICKER OFFERS THREE FEST BETS:

• “Polite Society” (Nida Manzoor): “This is playing the Midnight section but don’t assume that it is a dark, horrific watch. I think it’s your best bet for a high-energy, uproariously funny movie at the festival this year. It follows a teenager’s martial arts-infused quest to prevent her older sister’s upcoming nuptials.”

• “Past Lives” (Celine Song): “This is an exciting feature film directorial debut from playwright Celine Song. It is an achingly beautiful drama that follows two childhood friends from Seoul who reunite as adults in New York City.”

• “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” (Lana Wilson): “I am a big fan of documentary filmmaker Lana Wilson, and she continues to impress with her new film. This one explores Brooke Shields’ life in front of the camera, and dives deep into the sexualization of her as a child in pop culture and how she processes that today as a mother of two daughters.

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January 22, 2023

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Doing something out of desire rather than

Film

nominations, Oscar indicators, no women directors

A day after the Golden Globes were telecast, the Screen Actors Guild Awards announced their nominees for the February 26, 2023 ceremony, to take place at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Considering the dismal ratings that The Golden Globes received once again—airing on NBC—it’s not surprising that the SAG Awards will be going with a streaming platform for their telecast for the first time.

Usually a staple for the TNT/TBS channel for decades, the SAGs will run on Netflix’s YouTube channel, with plans to stream the award show directly on Netflix the following year. I wouldn’t be surprised if more award ceremonies go the way of streamers. Once a staple for the few basic television stations, the audience has been declining for all of them over the years.

Netflix Head of Global TV Bela Bajaria said in a press release: “The SAG Awards are beloved by the creative community and viewers alike, and now even more fans around the world will be able to celebrate these talented actors. As we begin to explore live streaming on Netflix, we look forward to partnering with SAG-AFTRA to elevate and expand this special ceremony as a global live event in 2024 and the years to come.”

Still, the SAG Awards have proven to be strong Oscar predictors in the past, with last year’s Actor winners—including Will Smith for King Richard (and the infamous slap), Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, and the sweep for CODA (a Sundance darling): the ensemble cast, Troy Kotsur, and Ariana DeBose—translating SAG wins into Oscars. That isn’t the case every year, and this year seems more of a mixed bag of titles than shoe-ins of performances that might continue to win all award season long like they did last year.

The surprise award season favorites will continue their streak into the SAGs with the dark Irish comedy The Banshees of Inisherin and the sci-fit sensation Everything Everywhere All at Once leading the field. Tying for five nominations each, they equaled the record set by critically acclaimed films Shakespeare in Love, Chicago, and Doubt, and swept the actor categories and ensemble nom. Expect co-stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan to be frontrunners in their respective actor fields, coming off their Globe wins Tuesday night. They will remain the betting favorites for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor.

Among the snubs, perhaps the biggest is the highly acclaimed performance of Michelle Williams in Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical tale, The Fabelmans, which won Best Director (of course!) and Best Drama at the 80th Globes ceremony. Instead, her spot seems to have been taken by Ana de Armas for the critically panned Blonde, a biopic of Marilyn Monroe.

Other surprise noms included Adam Sandler in The Hustle, and the well-deserved Hong Chau in The Whale as well as Stephanie Hsu for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Babylon—which received mixed reviews—was also surprised with an ensemble nomination. Other notable omissions include award-circuit darlings Tyler James Williams (who just won a Globe on Tuesday!) and Sheryl Lee Ralph (an Emmy winner) for the lauded Abbott Elementary. The heavily nominated Sebastian Stan and Lily James, who turned in chameleon-like performances in Pam and Tommy, were also left off the SAG list.

Two eyebrow-raising inclusions were The Patient’s Steve Carrell and 1883’s Sam Elliott, the sole nom from the Yellowstone camp. Continuing criticism that award shows don’t celebrate popular vehicles such as Yellowstone, it looks like the 29th SAG Awards will do nothing to let up pressure on that point, with no nominations for the series despite its huge success and Kevin Costner’s win at the Globes just last night. Equally perplexing was the exclusion of House of Dragon, which won Best Drama on Tuesday at the 80th Golden Globes. However, Severance—the series that I thought should have won over House of Dragon anyway—is thankfully included (and should win).

Perhaps the biggest disappointment is once again in the Director category, with no female nominations, despite seemingly making inroads with well-deserved back-to-back wins for Chloe Zhao for Nomadland and Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog. I can’t tell you how dispiriting it is that there are no female directors nominated this year, despite the influx of talented, powerhouse women turning out amazing work each year. Let’s hope this is a fluke (please).

See the full list here.

The 29th Annual SAG awards will be broadcast on Netflix’s YouTube channel on Sunday, February 26 at 8 p.m. ET.

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January 22, 2023

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A day after the Golden Globes

Alison Sweeney Says She’s Ready to Make a Third ‘Wedding Veil’ Trilogy for Hallmark (Exclusive)

Alison Sweeney Says She’s Ready to Make a Third ‘Wedding Veil’ Trilogy for Hallmark (Exclusive) | Entertainment Tonight

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January 22, 2023

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What to Watch

Underrated Films From Hollywood’s Golden Age

Over the years, the film industry has gone through many, many changes. Studios have fallen apart, and new ones have taken their place. Generations of actors have come and gone. Genres have gone back and forth in popularity. The ways in which people watch movies have drastically changed. Most notably, what movies have been allowed to do has changed. A defining characteristic of an “old” movie is that there is no cursing or vulgar language, no sex or nudity, and no graphic violence or gore. It’s not that these movies were wholesome, it’s that they didn’t include any actions or language that could be deemed inappropriate.

From 1934 to 1968, film studios had to follow a guideline called the Hays Code. Also referred to as the Hollywood Codes or Production Codes, the Hays Codes regulated what studios were allowed to include in their films during the majority of Hollywood’s Golden Age of film. This dictated everything from costumes that could be worn, words that were allowed to be said, actions that could be depicted, to the actual plot of the film. The Codes specifically prohibited profanity, graphic violence, suggestive nudity, sexual encounters, and rape. Married couples could not even be shown sleeping in the same bed during this time period.

After the Hays Codes ended, the shift in filmmaking is noticeable. Hollywood had already started to loosen up a bit in the ’50s when movie studios were granted free speech protection under the First Amendment, but the stark difference didn’t occur until after 1968 when the Codes officially ended. Filmmakers from 1969 until now have been able to make films about whatever they want, however they want. This is great because so many incredible films would not have been made if the Codes were still in place. However, a lot of classic films have come out of the Golden Age as well, such as Casablanca, and even more films that go underappreciated. So, here are ten films from Hollywood’s Golden age that are underrated:

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

10 She Done Him Wrong (1933)

Paramount Pictures

Released a year before the Hays Codes went into effect, She Done Him Wrong stars Mae West as a seductive nightclub singer named Lady Lou who flirts with several gentleman suitors including an escaped convict and a handsome temperance league leader, Captain Cummings. Since the movie was made and released pre-codes, Lady Lou is quite suggestive and shows no remorse in stringing along multiple men. She is fully confident in herself and her femininity. She may not be a choice role model for young girls considering she does knowingly sting people along, but it was refreshing to watch a movie from that time period where the female protagonist is so empowered. It was also amusing to see a very young Cary Grant test out his comedy chops as Captain Cummings in one of his earliest film roles.

9 The Awful Truth (1937)

A couple on the brink of divorce after baseless suspicions start undermining each other’s attempt to find a new romance in The Awful Truth. The physicality of screwball comedy that was prevalent in the ’30s is certainly present here with the full-body comedy of Cary Grant. There is a scene in which Irene Dunne’s character Lucy starts singing and Cary Grant’s character Jerry literally falls down. It is a classic battle of the sexes here, where Jerry meddles with Lucy’s new relationship at first, but then she turns the tables on him later on by toying with his new romance. The dialogue is fast and witty and the comedic timing is set to perfection. It is also clear that a lot of the lines and actions were improvised by Dunne and Grant, which only enhances the comedy elements.

8 Bell, Book, and Candle (1958)

After the success of pairing James Stewart and Kim Novak in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, the two were paired to star opposite each other two years later in Bell, Book, and Candle. The movie follows Gillian (Novak), a modern-day witch, who likes her neighbor but despises his fiancée. She casts a spell on him to make him love her instead, except she falls in love with him for real. BBAC at times feels like it served as inspiration for shows such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch or movies such as Practical Magic with its quirky characters and spell-binding magic. Novak and Stewart are of course great together, but the real charm of this movie is the beatnik culture of Greenwich Village that kind of parallels with the unconventional lives of the witches.

7 Mildred Pierce (1945)

After her unfaithful husband leaves her, Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) sets out to prove she can be successful without him. Although, winning the approval of her spoiled daughter Veda proves to be an even greater challenge. To put it lightly, Veda is an ungrateful brat who could not care less about all that her mother has sacrificed in order to give her the life that she so desperately desires. She berates her mother for being a working woman. She looks down on her mother for not having a husband. She ridicules her mother for not being as wealthy as others every time her mom achieves something.

In the middle of a murder investigation after the death of her second husband, Mildred has to reevaluate her own freedom and her complicated relationship with Veda. Mildred Pierce is a scathing noir that looks into the complications of mother-daughter relationships, selfishness, and the ways in which social status can bring out the absolute worst in people.

6 Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Playwright and author Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) has always been against marriage, but suddenly falls in love and gets married. He makes a trip home to tell his unmarried aunts the news, but discovers that they have a rather disturbing hobby; poisoning lonely old men and burying them in their cellar. Arsenic and Old Lace is an over-the-top black comedy that leaves you laughing even when the movie has ended. The dysfunctional Brewster family also includes Mortimer’s delusional uncle (who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt) and his homicidal brother. Most of the movie takes place in the Brewsters’ living room as Mortimer continues to uncover secrets his oddball family has been keeping from him. The combination of his two aunts, his uncle, and his brother adds a hilarious dynamic to this already entertaining movie.

5 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers cast looks at the camera — Allied Artists

Although there was a 1978 remake starring Donald Sutherland, the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers is deserving of just as much attention as its remake. Heavily influenced by the Red Scare and McCarthyism tactics during the height of the Cold War, the movie follows a small-town California doctor whose patients are convinced that their loved ones are being replaced by alien imposters. He soon learns that these creatures plan to inhabit the bodies of humans and use our planet as their new home since their planet is struggling. The similarities to McCarthyism are basically identical. A group of people is terrified that a new enemy is hiding in plain sight among people they admire and respect. It was a very real fear that is depicted very well here.

4 The Killers (1946)

Two hitmen walk into a dinner one night looking for a man who is known as “the Swede”. The Swede knew they would be coming for him, so he doesn’t put up a fight when they do find him. He had a life insurance policy, so an investigator decides to look more into the murder and discovers that the Swede was in love with a beautiful woman who may have persuaded him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

The Killers is film noir at its finest. It is actually based on Ernest Hemingway’s short story of the same name but expanded further by director Robert Siodmak. It has everything a noir needs; suspense, seduction, crime, and manipulation. There’s the femme fatale whom the male protagonist is foolish enough to help and ultimately pays for it. It’s everything that makes a film noir worth watching.

3 Indiscreet (1958)

In 1946, Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant charmed audiences in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Notorious. Their instant chemistry and convincing performances led them to star together again 12 years later, but this time in the romantic comedy, Indiscreet. Grant was obviously well versed in comedy among other genres, but Bergman had never done a comedy before. Bergman stars as an accomplished actress who has given up hope in finding the man of her dreams. Until Philip Adams (Grant) walks in, and she realizes this is the smart, handsome man she has been waiting for.

This is an easy, comforting watch thanks to the ever-present likability of Bergman and Grant. Essentially, it is 100 minutes of watching the two of them fall in love and all the ups and downs that come with romance. A smile will be on your face the entire time.

2 It Happened One Night (1934)

The Wall of Jericho in It Happened One Night, one of the best comedy movies ever made — Columbia Pictures

People who are very into film and the history of film will likely know about Frank Capra’s screwball romantic comedy, It Happened One Night. However, more casual fans of movies likely have not seen it, or maybe have never even heard of it. Clark Gable stars as a renegade reporter while Claudette Colbert stars as a runaway heiress who meet by chance on a bus headed from Miami to New York. They end up stuck with one another after the bus leaves a rest stop without them.

The two of them wind up on a wild journey throughout the East Coast involving hitchhiking, pretending to be a married couple, and spending the night outside on a farm. There is a scene in the movie where Colbert’s character, in an attempt to hitch a ride, sticks her bare leg out on the road to get a male driver’s attention after Gable’s failed attempt to get anyone’s attention. This is a scene that has been recreated many times, though many people probably don’t realize where it originated from.

1 Charade (1963)

Charade movie with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn — Universal Pictures

Surely the most Hitchcockian film not to be written or directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Charade follows Regina Lamper (Audrey Hepburn) in her return to Paris after falling for a man named Peter Joshua (Cary Grant) on a skiing trip in the French Alps. However, she discovers that her husband has been murdered, leading her and Peter to be chased by three of her husband’s World War II buddies who are after the quarter of a million dollars they had stolen behind enemy lines. Even more peculiar is that Peter keeps changing his name.

Charade is an absolute blast from start to finish. It’s a murder mystery with plenty of comical moments. It’s a shame that Grant and Hepburn weren’t in more movies together, because they make an outstanding pair. Their comedic timing bounces off each other smoothly, and they are able to ease into more serious moments just as easily. Their chemistry is captivating which amplifies both the humorous and the thriller aspects of the film

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January 22, 2023

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Over the years, the film industry

Awards

Final Academy Awards Predictions 2023: ‘Elvis,’ Brendan Fraser & More

All signs point to “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis” and “The Fabelmans” all dominating the Oscar noms with eight apiece. But if “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Top Gun: Maverick” manage some pickups, they could join or surpass the group.

On Jan. 24, AMPAS will unveil its nominees for the 95th Academy Awards. The season has been marked by the return of the Hollywood blockbuster, and a love for old-fashioned movie extravaganzas will play a crucial role in how the nearly 9,600 members rank their ballots.

So what will be the story of the day?

Warner Bros’ musical biopic “Elvis” is looking to assemble a robust showing in the tech races, which doesn’t include an overdue career nom for director Baz Luhrmann. Still, its star Austin Butler is a lock for his first nod in best actor.

Martin McDonagh’s Irish comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” might only nab one technical achievement in editing. Nonetheless, all four of its cast members are expected to be recognized, two being first-time nods for veteran stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.

Paul Dano and Michelle Williams in “The Fabelmans”
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

If “Fabelmans” garners the most noms, it would be the fourth Steven Spielberg film – after “The Color Purple” (1985), “Schindler’s List” (1993) and “Lincoln” (2012) – to lead the nomination tally in a given year. Despite a weak BAFTA showing, Spielberg and Universal’s movie is predicted to rack up multiple mentions, including best picture.

Among the eight categories is a surprise nom for Michelle Williams in supporting actress, despite campaigning in lead actress. Academy voters have the freedom to vote for an actor in any category they choose, which they’ve done a handful of times with “supporting” performers who were moved to lead (i.e., Kate Winslet in “The Reader”). However, there is precedent for the opposite effect occurring in history. Most recently with Lakeith Stanfield for “Judas and the Black Messiah” (2020), and notably with Kevin Kline for “A Fish Called Wanda” (1988). As Otto in the classic Charles Crichton comedy, Kline only landed a single mention during the respective season at the BAFTAs (in leading actor). He was one of the shocking inclusions on Oscar nomination morning, eventually going on to win best supporting actor. This doesn’t necessarily mean Williams is switched. Perhaps she’s missing out entirely?

Populist titles should see a decent day, with multiple sequels on the bubble for recognition. The aerial crowd-pleaser “Top Gun: Maverick” is the only new installment predicted to make the lineup. A surprising outcome, despite PGA recognizing four sequels, which also included the visual spectacle “Avatar: The Way of Water,” the emotionally-charged “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and the whodunit comedy “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.”

A24’s kickass multiverse gem “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” along with leads Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, are locked in their respective races. However, despite a strong Critics Choice Awards showing and a DGA nom, it could be an uphill climb for the visionary duo the Daniels to make it onto the directing roster. I’m reluctantly predicting their inclusion, but crossing my fingers for them and acting hopeful Stephanie Hsu.

As for the overall performance of studios, streaming giant Netflix looks to lead the tally with 15. That’s impressive considering the bleak outlook on its awards prospects earlier in the season. Now, with the German entry “All Quiet on the Western Front,” at least one best picture nom could be headed the streamer’s way (and maybe two with a possible shocker like “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”).

However, Oscar nomination morning may not be purely celebratory if the forecast of no women director nods becomes a reality. After a steady improvement in representation, we could see a strictly white male directing lineup — a first since 2011.

See Variety’s nomination predictions below.

Visit the individual category pages for additional commentary and rankings, or access them from t he Oscars Predictions Collective page.

Best Picture

©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Daniel Marc Dreifuss, Malte Grunert
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)
Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, Martin McDonagh
“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
Baz Luhrmann, Gail Berman, Catherine Martin, Patrick McCormick, Schuyler Weiss
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Daniel Kwan, Mike Larocca, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang
“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)
Tony Kushner, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg
“Tár” (Focus Features)
Todd Field, Scott Lambert, Alexandra Milchan
“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)
Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison
“Triangle of Sadness” (Neon)
Philippe Bober, Erik Hemmendorff
“The Whale” (A24)
Jeremy Dawson, Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel
“Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Frances McDormand

Alternate: “RRR”

Best Director

Todd Field
“Tár” (Focus Features)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Martin McDonagh
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)
Ruben Östlund
“Triangle of Sadness” (Neon)
Steven Spielberg
“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Alternate: Joseph Kosinski, “Top Gun: Maverick”

Best Actor

Austin Butler
“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
Colin Farrell
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)
Brendan Fraser
“The Whale” (A24)
Tom Hanks
“A Man Called Otto” (Sony Pictures)
Bill Nighy
“Living” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Alternate: Hugh Jackman, “The Son”

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett
“Tár” (Focus Features)
Viola Davis
“The Woman King” (Sony Pictures)
Ana de Armas
“Blonde” (Netflix)
Danielle Deadwyler
“Till” (Orion/United Artists Releasing)
Michelle Yeoh
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Alternate: Olivia Colman, “Empire of Light”

Supporting Actor

Paul Dano
“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)
Brendan Gleeson
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)
Barry Keoghan
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)
Ke Huy Quan
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Ben Whishaw
“Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)

Alternate: Eddie Redmayne, “The Good Nurse”

Supporting Actress

©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection

Angela Bassett
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios)
Hong Chau
“The Whale” (A24)
Kerry Condon
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)
Jamie Lee Curtis
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Michelle Williams
“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Alternate: Dolly De Leon, “Triangle of Sadness”

Original Screenplay

©Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)
Martin McDonagh
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)
Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg
“Tár” (Focus Features)
Todd Field
“Triangle of Sadness” (Neon)
Ruben Östlund

Alternate: “Aftersun”

Adapted Screenplay

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell
“Living” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Kazuo Ishiguro
“She Said” (Universal Pictures)
Rebecca Lenkiewicz
“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)
Peter Craig, Justin Marks, Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie
“Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
Sarah Polley, Miriam Toews

Alternate: “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”

Animated Feature

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix)
Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Alexander Bulkley, Corey Campodonico, Lisa Henson, Gary Ungar
“Inu-oh” (GKids)
Masaaki Yuasa, Fumie Takeuchi, Eunyoung Choi
“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” (A24)
Dean Fleischer-Camp, Andrew Goldman, Elisabeth Holm, Caroline Kaplan, Paul Mezey
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (DreamWorks Animation)
Joel Crawford, Mark Swift
“Turning Red” (Pixar)
Domee Shi, Lindsey Collins

Alternate: “Wendell and Wild”

Production Design

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Christian M. Goldbeck, Ernestine Hipper
“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)
Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, Vanessa Cole
“Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)
Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino
“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Bev Dunn
“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)
Rick Carter, Karen O’Hara

Alternate: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Cinematography

©Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
Mandy Walker
“Empire of Light” (Searchlight Pictures)
Roger Deakins
“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)
Janusz Kamiński
“Tár” (Focus Features)
Florian Hoffmeister
“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)
Claudio Miranda

Alternate: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Costume Design

“Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)
Mary Zophres
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios)
Ruth E. Carter
“Don’t Worry Darling” (Warner Bros.)
Arianne Phillips
“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
Catherine Martin
“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” (Focus Features)
Jenny Beavan

Alternate: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Film Editing

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Sven Budelmann
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen
“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
Jonathan Redmond, Matt Villa
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Paul Rogers
“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)
Eddie Hamilton

Alternate: “The Fabelmans”

Makeup and Hairstyling

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Heike Merker
“Amsterdam” (20th Century Studios)
Nana Fischer, Lori McCoy Bell, Adruitha Lee
“The Batman” (Warner Bros.)
Naomi Donne, Mike Marino, Zoe Tahir
“Blonde” (Netflix)
Tina Roesler Kerwin, Jaime Leigh McIntosh
“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
Shane Thomas, Mark Coulier, Jason Baird, Louise Coulston

Alternate: “The Whale”

Sound

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Lars Ginzel, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Viktor Prášil
“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)
Gwen Whittle, Gary Summers, Mike Hedges, Chris Boyes, Tony Johnson, Julian Howarth
“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson, Michael Keller
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix)
Scott Martin Gershin, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano
“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)
Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor

Alternate: “The Batman”

Visual Effects

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)
Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett
“The Batman” (Warner Bros.)
Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands, Dominic Tuohy
“Nope” (Universal Pictures)
Guillaume Rocheron, Jeremy Robert, Sreejith Venugopalan, Scott R. Fisher
“Thirteen Lives” (Amazon Studios/MGM)
Jason Billington, Brian Cox, Bruce Bright
“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)
Ryan Tudhope, Scott R. Fisher, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson

Alternate: “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”

Original Score

©Orion Pictures Corp/Courtesy Everett Collection

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Volker Bertelmann
“Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)
Justin Hurwitz
“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)
John Williams
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix)
Alexandre Desplat
“Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
Hildur Guðnadóttir

Alternate: “The Woman King”

Original Song

“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios)
Tems, Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna and Ryan Coogler
“Ciao Papa” from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix)
Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo del Toro
“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR” (Variance Films)
Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, Rahul Sipligunj
“Good Afternoon” from “Spirited” (Apple Original Films)
Khiyon Hursey, Sukari Jones, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Mark Sonnenblick
“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman” (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Diane Warren

Alternate: “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick”

Documentary Feature

“All That Breathes” (HBO Documentary Films/Sideshow)
Shaunak Sen, Teddy Leifer, Aman Mann
“Descendant” (Netflix)
Margaret Brown, Essie Chambers, Kyle Martin
“Fire of Love” (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Sara Dosa, Shane Boris, Ina Fichman
“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine
“Navalny” (CNN/Warner Bros.)
Daniel Roher, Diane Becker, Shane Boris, Melanie Miller, Odessa Rae

Alternate: “Retrograde”

International Feature

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany)
Edward Berger
“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina)
Santiago Mitre
“Close” (Belgium)
Lukas Dhont
“Decision to Leave” (South Korea)
Park Chan-wook
“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland)
Colm Bairéad

Alternate: “EO”

Animated Short

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” (Apple TV+)
Peter Baynton, Charlie Mackesy, J.J. Abrams, Matthew Freud, Cara Speller
“The Flying Sailor” (National Film Board of Canada)
Wendy Tilby, Amanda Forbis, David Christensen
“Ice Merchants” (Curtas Metragens CRL/Agência)
João Gonzalez, Bruno Caetano, Michael Proenca
“New Moon” (Edith Productions)
Raul Domingo, Colman Domingo, Jérémie Balais, Jeffig Le Bars
“Save Ralph” (Blue-Tongue Films)
Spencer Susser, Lisa Hill, Jeff Vespa

Alternate: “More Than I Want to Remember”

Documentary Short

“As Far as They Can Run” (MTV Documentary Films)
Tanaz Eshaghian, Christoph Jörg
“The Flagmakers” (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Sharon Liese, Cynthia Wade
“The Martha Mitchell Effect” (Netflix)
Anne Alvergue, Beth Levison, Judith Mizrachy
“Nuisance Bear” (The New Yorker)
Gabriela Osio Vanden, Jack Weisman, Melissa Fajardo, Will N. Miller
“38 at the Garden” (HBO Max)
Frank Chi, Trayvon Free, Samir Hernandez

Alternate: “Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison”

Live Action Short

“An Irish Goodbye” (Floodlight Pictures)
Tom Berkeley, Ross White, Pearce Cullen, Sean A. Murray
“Le Pupille” (Disney+)
Alice Rohrwacher, Carlo Cresto-Dina, Alfonso Cuarón, Gabriela Rodriguez
“The Red Suitcase” (Cynefilms)
Cyrus Neshvad
“Sideral” (Les Valseurs)
Carlos Segundo, Damien Megherbi, Justin Pecherty, Mariana Hardi, Pedro Fiuza
“Warsha” (The Criterion Channel)
Dania Bdeir, Coralie Dias

Alternate: “Nakam”

Predicted Film Tally (two or more)

“All Quiet on the Western Front” — 8
“The Banshees of Inisherin” — 8
“Elvis” — 8
“The Fabelmans” — 8
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” — 7
“Top Gun: Maverick” — 6
“Tár” — 5
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” — 4
“Women Talking” — 4
“Avatar: The Way of Water” — 3
“Babylon” — 3
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — 3
“The Whale” — 3
“Triangle of Sadness” — 3
“The Batman” — 2
“Living” — 2

Predicted Studio Tally (three or more)

Netflix — 15
A24 — 11
Warner Bros. — 11
Paramount Pictures — 9
Universal Pictures — 9
Searchlight Pictures — 9
Focus Features — 6
MGM/UAR — 6
20th Century Studios — 5
Marvel Studios — 5
Neon — 4
Sony Pictures Classics — 3

2023 Academy Awards Predictions

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January 22, 2023

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All signs point to “All Quiet on

Music

Gloss Up: “BestFrenn” [ft. Glorilla] Track Review

Gloss Up and Glorilla are so tight they have the same line from Rihanna’s “Umbrella” tattooed across their thighs: “When the sun shine we’ll shine together/Told you I’ll be here forever.” The Memphis rappers met at a local talent show in 2019 and soon started co-writing bars; in the years since, as Gloss wrote in a glowing Instagram caption, they’ve survived homelessness and pregnancy together, fighting “304s”—“hoes,” if you turn the elementary-school calculator upside-down—side by side. As Glorilla’s career skyrocketed from her massive hit “F.N.F. (Let’s Go),” rumors of beef between the friends started circulating. But they want you to know their connection is stronger than ever: On “BestFrenn,” a rowdy single from Gloss Up’s upcoming debut Before the Gloss Up, they take pleasure in rising above gossip and gassing each other up.

Accompanied by a wrestling-themed video, the irresistible track is a warning to their mutual enemies. “Ain’t no E-N-D, this shit forever, we don’t break or bend,” Gloss Up raps, fired-up over the synth squeaks and pounding bass of a classic crunk beat. Across the track’s two-minute rumble, the two exude enough swagger to command the attention of an entire WWE Smackdown! arena. “Bett’ not try my best friend,” they chant in unison, two heavyweight champs rooting each other on. Big Glo’s gruff delivery gives her smack talk a rougher dimension as she cackles and roasts anyone who dare test them. Don’t get between the powerhouse pair; as they’ve promised, they’ll “smack your granny, smack your cousin, smack your auntie and her friend,” then gleefully leave to twerk on the nearest headlights together.

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January 22, 2023

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Gloss Up and Glorilla are so tight they

Docs

An Epilogue

With the 2023 Sundance Film Festival kicking off tomorrow, in-person in Park City and Salt Lake City, UT, for the first time since 2020, and keeping me busy in my role as Senior Programmer, this is typically the time of the year when w(n)td goes on hiatus for the duration of the Festival.

This year, it also makes for a fitting time to bring this site to a close, more or less. I’ve been posting about all things documentary since the summer of 2010, usually multiple times daily during the work week. While my writing has been less in-depth in recent years, making the site function more like a nonfiction release listing, it’s still been a time commitment. With others providing similar information – I recommend interested readers sign up for DOC NYC’s Weekend Watch newsletter – I feel like it’s time for me to step away from regular posting for the foreseeable future. I may pop in with an occasional post, such as notable Sundance announcements or listings of Sundance alumni releases, but, after 12.5 years and more than 8000 posts, my daily contributions to w(n)td have now wrapped.

Thanks to everyone who has checked out this site over the years, which I’ll continue to maintain as an archive. If you’re headed to Sundance, I hope to see you in person there.

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January 22, 2023

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With the 2023 Sundance Film Festival kicking

Global

Australian Open 2023 results: Iga Swiatek loses to Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff out to Jelena Ostapenko

Iga Swiatek (left) won the French Open and US Open last year

Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 16-29 January
Coverage: Commentary every day from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra ‘Tennis Breakfast’ live from Melbourne, with selected live text commentaries and match reports on the BBC Sport website & app

Top seed Iga Swiatek is out of the Australian Open after losing to Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the fourth round.

Rybakina, seeded 22nd, had struggled to replicate the displays which saw her win at the All England Club in July.

But against Swiatek the Kazakh showed again how she thrives on the big stage, playing confidently and powerfully in a 6-4 6-4 win at Melbourne Park.

Less than half an hour later, Coco Gauff lost 7-5 6-3 to Jelena Ostapenko.

American seventh seed Gauff, 18, was among the favourites for the title but was overpowered by the 17th seed from Latvia.

Rybakina, 23, will play former French Open champion Ostapenko in the quarter-finals instead of the match-up between Swiatek and Gauff that many predicted.

“I am nervous every time I am on court but I try to show calm. It is a big win and I’m happy to be in another round,” Rybakina said.

Third seed Jessica Pegula and two-time Melbourne champion Victoria Azarenka play later on Sunday.

Swiatek ‘wanted it too much’

Poland’s Swiatek rose to the top of the world rankings last year following the retirement of Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, going on to win the French Open and US Open titles as she dominated the WTA Tour.

She reached the Melbourne semi-finals last year and, after a remarkable 2022, returned aiming to be the first women since Serena Williams in 2015 to hold three of the four major titles.

“I felt like I took a step back in terms of how I approach these tournaments and I maybe wanted it a little bit too hard,” she said.

“So I’m going to try to chill out a little bit more.”

Rybakina’s success has been more sporadic. Between claiming the most prestigious title in tennis and the start of this year’s Australian Open, she won just 14 of her 24 matches and has spoken out about the lack of recognition she feels she has been given.

She has also struggled with tough draws, with her world ranking lower than expected after receiving no points for her Wimbledon victory.

But she made another impressive statement at Melbourne Park, reaching the last eight for the first time with a dominant win over Swiatek.

The pair exchanged breaks early in the opening set before a double fault from Swiatek at 3-3 gave Rybakina another chance, which she took with a whopping cross-court backhand winner.

A confident hold to love sealed the one-set advantage, but Swiatek improved at the start of the second set and moved into a 3-0 lead.

Rybakina quickly fought back and levelled for 3-3 as Swiatek struggled to deal with her hefty serve.

She dropped just six points on her first serve in the match and registered an impressive held to love to secure victory after breaking for 5-4.

Rybakina says she is no longer “bothered” about not having earned ranking points at Wimbledon but improving her world status is a source of motivation in Melbourne.

“For sure it’s a motivation, but as I said before, every tournament I come I want to win and no matter points, no points,” she said.

“I love to compete, no matter where I play. For now I would say that I don’t really look at these things.”

Ostapenko has ‘never doubted’ she can win another major

Ostapenko became a teenage champion at French Open almost six years ago but a lack of deep runs since has seen many write her off as a one-hit wonder.

However, against Gauff she displayed the powerful-hitting and aggression that led her to the Roland Garros title in 2017.

Ostapenko hit 30 winners as she broke Gauff’s serve three times and also saved seven of eight break opportunities for the American.

Despite it being the first time since Wimbledon in 2018 that Ostapenko has reached a major quarter-final, the 25-year-old says she “honestly hasn’t really doubted” she could win another.

“My life changed a lot, so I needed a few years to really get used to what happened because I was really young,” said Ostapenko, who had never previously gone beyond the third round at Melbourne Park.

“I always knew and believed in my game. If I play well, I can beat almost anyone.

“I was trying to work more on my consistency, especially in the pre-season, just to step on the court and play my game.”

Gauff had not dropped a set in her previous three matches, including a second-round win over British number one Emma Raducanu.

The teenage prodigy, who lost to Swiatek in last year’s French Open final, became emotional during her news conference as her wait to land a major continues.

“I think every loss is somewhat in my control because I do feel like I’m a good player, but today she just played better,” said Gauff.

“There were moments in the match where I was getting frustrated because I normally can problem-solve, but I feel like I didn’t have much answers to what she was doing.

“There was a couple of things I could have improved on, but overall I think she deserved to win.”

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January 22, 2023

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Iga Swiatek (left) won the French Open

Trending

Selena Gomez and Drew Taggart Enjoy Date Night In NYC

The Mega Agency

Date night! Selena Gomez and Andrew “Drew” Taggart were spotted enjoying dinner in New York City on Saturday, January 21.

The pair stopped at Torrisi Bar & Restaurant in Soho. The new couple were spotted holding hands in photos obtained by Us Weekly.

The night on the town marks their second date in one week. The Rare Beauty singer, 30, and the Chainsmokers musician, 33, were seen enjoying a bowling date at The Gutter in New York City on Tuesday, January 17. Gomez and Taggart kept the outing casual, with Gomez rocking a black sweatsuit while the DJ donned a long-sleeve green shirt and dark pants.

Us exclusively confirmed their budding romance earlier this month. The two are “very casual and low-key,” a source told Us on January 16, explaining that the Only Murders in the Building star and her new beau “go bowling and to the movies” when spending time together. “They aren’t trying to hide their romance by sneaking around at members only clubs,” the insider explained.

“They are so affectionate and having a lot of fun together,” the source added. “Selena can hardly keep her hands off him.

Taggart’s new relationship with Gomez comes four months after Us exclusively confirmed that the EDM artist was dating Steve Jobs’ youngest daughter, Eve Jobs.

New Couple Selena Gomez and Drew Taggart's Date Night In NYC — The Mega Agency

The model, 24, and Taggart’s romance was a “casual summer fling,” a source exclusively told Us in September 2022. Their spark fizzled out before the DJ began seeing the Wizards of Waverly Place alum. Taggart and Eve’s breakup was “totally amicable,” the source told Us, adding that the exes are “friends” who are both “very mature and cool about going [their] separate ways.”

Prior to his romances with Gomez and Eve, Taggart was linked to Meredith Mickelson and Haley Rowe. In March 2021, Us confirmed his split from DJ Chantel Jeffries after one year of dating.

Gomez, for her part, dated Justin Bieber on and off from 2011 to 2018 and was periodically linked to Niall Horan, Charlie Puth and Zedd. While on a break from Bieber, 28, she dated The Weeknd for nine months in 2017.

The “Lose You to Love Me” singer has been open about getting her heart broken, but she said painful breakups won’t stop her from looking for love. “I feel like giving myself completely to something is the best way I can love,” Gomez said during a November 2022 episode of Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast. “But I never wanted the pain that I endured to put some sort of guard on myself — an armor if you will — and I never let that happen because I still believe and I still hope.”

She concluded: “I would rather continue to get my heartbroken than to not feel at all.”

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January 22, 2023

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The Mega Agency Date night! Selena Gomez and

Tech

Bowen Yang’s George Santos Hijacks ‘Fox NFL Sunday’ and Lies About Football Stardom (Video)

“SNL” has been off the air for a month, and that means the show’s writers missed the chance to parody a ton of big news items that broke during the break. Luckily, Republican congressman/serial liar/grifter/con artist George Santos continues to be relevant, and so it is that the show’s first cold open of 2023 did a riff on his, you know, whole thing.

You can watch some of that below now:

Alas it was in service to a middling parody of “Fox NFL Sunday,” featuring jokes and references that, well, were kind of whatever. But Bowen Yang once again delivered whatever it is he has that makes even bad sketches fun, by playing George Santos as a surprise sports reporter who, yep, lied and lied and lied, in this case about his nonexistent football career.

Yang’s Santos was clearly inspired by the real Santos’ interview with Tulsi Gabbard last December, when Santos delivered a stream of BS about the details of his life and career that he lied about. In that interview, Santos, called out for lying about having worked in the financial industry, spewed a stream of what certainly looked like hastily-googled terms he didn’t understand, and then he said voters were too stupid to understand what he was talking about.

Yang’s Santos didn’t go quite that far, but he did brag about a football career filled with inaccuracies, including listing baseball statistics among his accomplishments. It was followed by some more middling jokes related to football. Then for the end of the sketch, Yang’s Santos returned to hijack the broadcast again, this time as “Kitara Revache,” the drag persona Santos used to have, though of course he denies it.

The stand out moment at this point was Yang’s Santos then breaking into a dance, set to a house music remix of the NFL theme music. You can see that particular moment above. We’ll have the full video once they’ve put it online.

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January 22, 2023

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“SNL” has been off the air for

Video

Ben Platt Praises Paul Mescal in ‘Merrily We Roll Along’

Ben Platt has nothing but raves for Paul Mescal. The two actors are joining forces for Richard Linklater’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” an adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim and George Furth musical that’s being filmed over the course of two decades. Variety reported earlier in January that Mescal had replaced Blake Jenner in the lead role of Broadway composer Franklin Shepard. Platt said at the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance that working with Mescal is already “wonderful.”

Platt is starring in the musical as Franklin’s creative partner and lyricist Charley, while Beanie Feldstein is taking on the role of their good friend and theater critic, Mary. The story tracks the trio’s disintegrating friendship as Franklin abandons Charley and Mary to become a successful Hollywood film producer. The story is told in reverse chronological order over 20 years, so Linklater and his actors are shooting parts of the film every year for nearly two decades.

“We shot the first sequence,” Platt told Variety’s Rebecca Rubin. “The film is structured that it’s nine different sequences over 18 years, so we’ll see how we do. We’ve done the first one and the next one is coming this year. It’s wonderful.”

“Sondheim is the ultimate god of the theater, so to get the opportunity to do a beautiful short film of Sondheim is wonderful, especially with Beanie who is a dear friend and Paul who is just one of our greatest screen talents,” Platt added. “I’m hoping we can make it to the finish line.”

Platt is at Sundance as the star of “Theater Camp,” directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Liebrman. The film is set at a scrappy theater camp in upstate New York that’s a haven for budding performers. After its founder (Amy Sedaris) falls into a coma, her clueless son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) is tasked with keeping the the camp afloat and making sure opening night runs smoothly. Platt co-stars opposite Gordon, Noah Galvin and Patti Harrison.

Gordon and Galvin joined Platt at the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance. Gordon and Platt are childhood friends, while Gordon and Galvin last starred together in Olivia Wilde’s breakout directorial debut “Booksmart.” The duo got “Theater Camp” off the ground after taking the project to producer Jessica Elbaum, who also worked on “Booksmart.”

“The film was birthed out of just wanting to make something together and being inspired by people who came up together,” Gordon said about “Theater Camp.” “It just felt like this big friend hang that was also really hard and took 19 days and was a crazy thing.”

Watch the full interview below:

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January 22, 2023

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Ben Platt has nothing but raves for

Entertaintment

Cineflix, #MeToo activist Anthony Rapp team for “Surviving Hollywood”

Cineflix Productions has partnered with actor and #MeToo activist Anthony Rapp on a new event limited series that aims to shine a light on the toxic culture of abuse in …

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January 22, 2023

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Cineflix Productions has partnered with actor and

Movies

Rent 5 Movies From Blockbuster And We’ll Guess Your Age

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January 22, 2023

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Rent 5 Movies From Blockbuster And We'll

Film

Kylie Jenner Finally Revealed Her 11-Month-Old Son’s Name and Face With New Photos—See Pics

After 11 long months, Kylie Jenner has finally announced the name of her son, previously known as Wolf Webster.

In the caption of her latest Instagram photos, which revealed the baby boy’s face for the first time as well, the mother of two shared that her second child will henceforth be known as Aire. Given his four-year-old sister’s name is Stormi, we are sensing a sky-related theme…as well as a pattern of interesting spelling.

The photos feature baby Aire wearing a shark outfit, then a car outfit and beanie, sitting in a high chair, and laughing (or crying?) with his mom.

Instagram, @kyliejenner

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott welcomed their second child in February 2022 but announced they’d be changing his name a month later. “FYI our son’s name isn’t Wolf anymore,” the beauty mogul shared on her Instagram Stories in March. “We just really didn’t feel like it was him.”

In September, however, Jenner revealed the new name was not yet finalized. Apparently, Scott kept getting excited about new options. “We haven’t officially, legally changed the name,” she said during an appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden. “His name is still Wolf, his passport’s Wolf, but that isn’t gonna be his name. We don’t call him Wolf…. We’re just not ready to share yet.”

It seemed that then-boyfriend Travis was not completely satisfied just yet. “One day he’ll be like, ‘Ooh, this name’s kind of cool,’ and change it again,” she said. Now that the couple has reportedly split, it appears Kylie Jenner was ready to make the official announcement.

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January 21, 2023

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After 11 long months, Kylie Jenner has

Time’s Up Organization to Shut Down by End of January

Time’s Up is shutting down a year after the scandalized organization promised a “major reset,” the AP reported on Saturday. Remaining funds will be distributed to the independently-run Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.

Board chair Gabrielle Sulzberger said that all operations will halt by the end of January. She, Ashley Judd and Colleen DeCourcy, the only remaining board members of Time’s Up Now and the Time’s Up Foundation, will leave their posts.

The decision comes just over five years after its public launch won resounding support in the wake of allegations against Harvey Weinstein and a wave of other industry predators. Hundreds of female-identifying actors, producers and agents signed an open letter pledging to make the entertainment industry a “safe and equitable place for everyone” and to uplift women’s voices in workplaces across the nation.

The organization began to implode in August 2021 when a report revealed that it had advised former New York governor Andrew Cuomo following his sexual harassment scandal. Chairwoman Roberta Kaplan, who reportedly helped Cuomo discredit one of his accusers, resigned days later. Although CEO and president Tina Tchen initially said she would not resign, she stepped down after a New York Times exposé revealed conflicts of interest within the organization, fueling further internal and public backlash.

In November 2021, Time’s Up announced that it was “in the midst of a structural and systematic reset.”

Sulzberger said it took another year for the newly-reduced board to arrive at the decision to shut down.

“Very simply, the Legal Defense Fund really reflects who we were not only at our inception but really at our core,” Sulzberger told the AP. “We really just decided that at the end of the day, we needed to go back to our roots. (The fund) was the first initiative that we formed and funded, and remains at the heart of everything we stood for.”

The Washington-based National Women’s Law Center oversees the fund, which powers the Legal Network for Gender Equity. According to its website, the Network provides legal and administrative services, as well as financial aid, to victims of sexual discrimination in the workplace. The AP reports that most clients identify as low-income and 40% as people of color.

In an email to TheWrap, Time’s Up said that “during this transition phase, we will not be making press statements or conducting interviews.”

5 Years of #MeToo: How the Movement Spread Beyond Hollywood – for Better and for Worse

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January 21, 2023

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Time’s Up is shutting down a year

What to Watch

Is ‘Dhamaka’ on Netflix? Where to Watch the Movie

Netflix subscription is required to watch on Netflix

Great news! “Dhamaka” is available to watch on Netflix USA!

Date Added: 21st January 2023

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

Description:

Two total strangers who happen to look alike — one a street-smart hustler, the other a wealthy corporate heir — compete for the same woman’s love.

Certificate: TV-MA
For Mature Audiences.

Year: 2022

Duration: 2hr 16m

Audio: Telugu [Original]

Subtitles: Arabic, English, Spanish, Thai, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese

Cast and Crew

Director: Trinadha Rao Nakkina

Cast: Ravi Teja, Sreeleela, Jayaram, Sachin Khedekar, Tanikella Bharani, Rao Ramesh, Chirag Jani

Production & Box Office Details:

“Dhamaka” was produced by People Media Factory and Abhishek Agarwal Arts and was originally released on December 23rd 2022.

RATINGS:

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DISCUSS ON…:
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Available on Netflix USA!

Netflix subscription is required to watch on Netflix

Where else can you watch ‘Dhamaka’ on Netflix?

Want to keep forever? Why not rent or buy ‘Dhamaka’ from one of the online services below?

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January 21, 2023

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Awards

‘Bad Behaviour’ Review: Jennifer Connolly Goes Wild for Alice Englert

Sundance: Englert (yes, yes, Jane Campion’s daughter) takes her own turn behind the camera. The results are wonderfully original.

Lucy is looking for enlightenment. Dylan wants to prove her strength. And in Alice Englert’s thrilling and darkly funny feature debut “Bad Behaviour,” both mother and daughter will find their way there. Well, eventually.

First off, we’ll dispatch with the sadly necessary disclaimer: Englert is, as the Internet would love for us all to repeatedly yell about for mostly boring ends, a “nepo baby.” The daughter of Oscar-winning filmmaker Jane Campion and fellow director Colin Englert (and, hell, let’s do the full family tree: also the granddaughter of actress Edith Campion and theater director Richard Campion), Englert has long dedicated herself to her own artistic career. She’s an actress, writer, singer, and songwriter, and with “Bad Behaviour,” she ascends to feature filmmaker status (she’s got two short films under her belt already).

Perhaps it’s the talent in her genes, perhaps it’s her unique life experience, perhaps some combo of that and more, but Englert is already a formidable, fully formed filmmaker. Dumb labels be damned: She’s the real deal, and “Bad Behaviour” is proof positive of that.

Englert, who also wrote the film’s script, is all too happy to wink at her background. Jennifer Connelly stars as a former child star (she mentions a “warrior princess” role from her teens that forever changed her, both in good ways and very bad) who is grappling with being out of the limelight. Englert herself co-stars as her daughter (“nepo baby”?!?), who is attempting her own Hollywood career as a stunt performer. Campion herself turns up in a cheeky cameo. But despite these nods to Englert’s own upbringing, “Bad Behaviour” is wholly its own original beast.

We pick up with Lucy (Connelly) as she’s on her way to a silent retreat with her guru Elon Bello (a very funny Ben Whishaw), who she listens to religiously on tape. Elon doesn’t seem particularly enlightened, but Lucy is into his schtick enough to fork out money and time to spend a week or so at his latest event, filled with similarly lost souls who think that going wordless for a while might help, well, whatever. Before she goes dark for an indeterminate period, however, she needs to catch up with her only daughter, Dylan (Englert), who is half a world away, working on a truly inane-looking fantasy film in New Zealand. (The country plays itself and also stands in for the Pacific Northwest, where Lucy lives, a production choice that works well.)

The women aren’t particularly simpatico, but they do share a bent toward exhibiting what Englert’s cheeky title hints at: behaving badly, even if they are, at their core, good people. Lucy’s attempts at righting herself zing between the hilarious and the profane as she tries to embrace whatever cuckoo-crap Elon slings at his followers (that it’s Elon who breaks the silent part of the silent retreat is just one of many amusing pops Englert adds at opportune times). Lucy’s fraught relationship with pseudo-enlightenment is thrown for a loop by the late arrival of a model/DJ (the also very funny Dasha Nekrasova), who takes everything even less seriously and yet is instantly beloved by all. Great!

Meanwhile, Dylan is on the other side of the world trying to prove her mettle as a rising stunt performer (internal checklist: scoff at Mom, proclaim she can’t feel pain, ask for harder hits, flirt with a fuccboi, repeat). But Dylan is indeed her mother’s daughter, and she too is prone to being bad, even when she thinks she’s actually doing good.

All of this is funny, flinty, and intriguing enough before Englert throws in a wild twist — and by “wild,” we mean good, well-earned, extremely shocking, and a solid catalyst for what comes next that pushes both women into new spaces. (Snappy editing from Simon Price assists in the twist and more.) That means reuniting, and Englert mostly avoids cliche when finally throwing these two toxic strivers together, with Connelly and Englert, already so good apart, doing even better work when they’re finally sharing the screen.

Englert’s cracking wit and ability to find humor and heart in all sorts of situations translate to her own performance, which is sneakily vulnerable. Even as Lucy grows more complicated (the role is a full meal for Connelly, who also produced the film), Dylan remains a ballast for her, maybe the only thing she truly loves. But how can someone as flawed as Lucy fully express that? And how can someone as bottled up as Dylan accept it?

Those questions linger throughout “Bad Behaviour,” heady topics Englert approaches with consistent laughs and deeper explorations. While the final moments may prove more inscrutable than everything that came before, they at least point to Englert’s force of vision and her intent on carrying it out. Maybe that’s something you’re born with, or maybe it’s just something you work for. However she gets there, Englert has arrived.

Grade: B+

“Bad Behaviour” premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It is currently seeking distribution.

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January 21, 2023

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Sundance: Englert (yes, yes, Jane Campion's daughter)

Music

Charli XCX and the 1975’s George Daniel Remix Caroline Polachek’s “Welcome to My Island”: Listen

Caroline Polachek has released a new remix of “Welcome to My Island” featuring Charli XCX and the 1975’s George Daniel. The house-inflected remix is the latest offering from Polachek, who’s set to release her upcoming album, Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, in February. Check out “Welcome to My Island (George Daniel & Charli XCX Remix)” below.

This isn’t the first time Charli XCX and Caroline Polachek have worked together. In 2021, they collaborated with Christine and the Queens for “New Shapes,” the second single from Charli’s 2022 album Crash, and Polachek also made an appearance on the Pop 2 song “Tears.”

Desire, I Want to Turn Into You is the first new album from Polachek since 2019’s Pang. Both releases include contributions from Danny L Harle, who’s featured on the new album alongside other producers like Dan Nigro and Jim-E Stack. Along with “Welcome to My Island,” Polachek has released additional singles including “Sunset,” “Billions,” “Bunny Is a Rider.” She’s also heading out on tour in February, with dates across Europe and North America later this year.

See why Polachek was included on “The 200 Most Important Artists of Pitchfork’s First 25 Years.”

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January 21, 2023

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Caroline Polachek has released a new remix

Docs

‘Judy Blume Forever’ Looks at Literary Icon

It took “Judy Blume Forever” directors Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok close to two years to convince Judy Blume to be the subject of a documentary. Blume, the 84-year-old children’s and young adult literary juggernaut, lives a quiet life in Florida’s Key West, where she owns a bookstore. “I think she was unsure about entering this thing that she knew was going to be a huge time commitment where she would be opening herself up,” says Pardo. Eventually, the directing duo convinced Blume to sit in front of their cameras, where she discussed not only her career, but also the people and places who influenced her writing. Segments of those interviews, along with contemporary scenes from Blume’s life and interviews with writers and celebrities influenced by the author’s unfiltered portraits of childhood and adolescence, make up “Judy Blume Forever.” The 97-minute documentary doesn’t delve into each of the 29 books Blume published. Instead, Pardo and Wolchok focus on a handful of seminal titles, including “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” “Blubber” and “Superfudge,” and the impact they made on millions of readers.

Amazon will release “Judy Blume Forever” later this year and it premieres at Sundance Jan. 21.

Whose idea was it to make a documentary about Judy Blume?

Wolchok: Davina’s.

Pardo: I was a shy, bookworm kid who loved to read and loved Judy Blume, but I hadn’t thought a lot about her books as an adult. Then, five years ago, during a long road trip with my husband and kids, I decided to play (Blume’s) “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing,” and it was like this total visceral reaction of, “Oh my gosh! This book is so good.” Suddenly I was seeing Judy through fresh eyes, and I turned to my husband and said, “Whatever happened to Judy Blume?” And then it turned into a documentary filmmaker’s curiosity.

Blume wrote so many fantastic novels. How did you determine what books to concentrate on?

Wolchok: From the beginning, we had highlighted five or six books that we knew intersected with Judy’s personal story and key moments in her life, which in turn influenced each book’s themes and characters. So we wanted those books to take us on a journey from childhood through adolescence and then through late adolescence into adulthood.

The doc also features materials from Blume’s personal archive, including decades-long written correspondence with fans about divorce, masturbation, sibling rivalry and depression. Did you know from the get-go that you wanted to include the letters in the doc?

Pardo: After seeing the letters, it whet my appetite for including them and making them another character in the film.

Two of Blume’s fans appear in the docu and are courageous enough to share the letters they wrote to her. How did you convince them to do that?

Wolchok: Judy connected us to them. We could not reach out to anyone whose letters are read from the archives. That is a very strict protocol from Judy and Yale University, where the letters are kept.

Will Judy be in Park City?

Wolchok: She will be there virtually.

Pardo: She’s turning 85 in a few weeks, so I think the travel, the altitude and the crowds are too much right now. Also, she’s very COVID-cautious, as she should be.

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January 21, 2023

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It took “Judy Blume Forever” directors Davina

Global

New Zealand Labour lawmakers meet to confirm Chris Hipkins as Jacinda Ardern replacement – National

New Zealand Labour lawmakers are currently meeting to confirm Chris Hipkins’s nomination to replace Jacinda Ardern as leader of the Labour party and New Zealand’s new prime minister.

Hipkins, 44, was the only nomination for the job and his confirmation by the 64 lawmakers, known as the Labour caucus, is largely a formality.

Hipkins said on Saturday that he had the support of his colleagues to take on the job.

In a surprise announcement on Thursday, Ardern said she had “no more in the tank” to lead the country and would step down.

First elected to parliament for the Labour Party in 2008, Hipkins became a household name fronting the government’s response to the pandemic. He was appointed health minister in July 2020 before becoming the COVID response minister at the end of the year.

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Empathy, trailblazing define Ardern’s legacy as New Zealand’s PM

Hipkins is holding a press conference following his confirmation as leader and there he is expected to announce a new Deputy Prime Minister. Hipkins said on Saturday that Grant Robertson, who is currently Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, is likely to hold onto the job of Finance Minister.

Before Hipkins officially becomes prime minister, Ardern must tender her resignation to King Charles III’s representative in New Zealand, Governor General Cindy Kiro. Following that Kiro would appoint Hipkins to the role and he will be sworn in.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by David Gregorio)

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January 21, 2023

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New Zealand Labour lawmakers are currently meeting

Trending

Watch Lisa Marie Presley’s Memorial at Graceland: Live

Watch Lisa Marie Presley’s Memorial at Graceland: Live | Entertainment Tonight

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January 21, 2023

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Tech

Variety Website Becomes No. 1 Entertainment Trade Site of 2022

Variety.com, the online home of legacy brand and weekly entertainment business magazine Variety, scored record-breaking traffic in 2022. An average of 28.5M unique users visited the site each month in 2022 — and Variety reached a bigger digital audience than consumer news publications such as Vanity Fair and Entertainment Weekly, as measured by unique visitors according to ComScore.

Variety‘s traffic for 2022 also beat out all other trade news sites, making Variety the most-read publication in its category.

“This has been an extraordinary year of growth for Variety,” said co-editor-in-chiefs Cynthia Littleton and Ramin Setoodeh. “We are so proud of our newsroom for helping us evolve Variety into its current incarnation as the most trusted brand for Hollywood news, reviews, analysis and longform journalism.”

The last 12 months of success was driven by industry-leading Oscars coverage, exclusive interviews and on-the-ground reporting. In print, Variety published a series of blockbuster cover stories, including the first interview with the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle after the death of Queen Elizabeth II; a viral conversation with the Kardashians (which became an entire storyline on their Hulu reality series); an in-depth look at how Ryan Coogler and his “Black Panther” cast worked through their grief with the Marvel sequel after the loss of Chadwick Boseman; an interview with Olivia Wilde that defined the press tour for “Don’t Worry Darling”; a rare sit down with “Law & Order” creator and TV trailblazer Dick Wolf; and the definitive rankings of the 100 greatest movies of all time.

This year of record-breaking traffic was highlighted with numerous industry awards won by the Variety newsroom. Variety was recently nominated for two GLAAD Media Awards for outstanding print article and overall magazine coverage. In December, Variety won 22 National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, including best entertainment website. The magazine was honored with three Eddie and Ozzie awards for editorial design excellence. Variety took home the Eddie award for website in the business-to-business category and another for best photography, business-to-business, for its 2021 Power of Women cover featuring “I May Destroy You” creator Michaela Coel.

Variety also landed groundbreaking numbers for the 17th season of Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series. The televised special featuring Cate Blanchett, Brendan Fraser, Viola Davis and Jennifer Lawrence generated over 35 million views on TikTok. On YouTube, the latest season of the series has racked up more than 7 million views.

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January 21, 2023

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Variety.com, the online home of legacy brand

The Deepest Breath Sundance 2023 Movie Deals

Video

The Deepest Breath Review: Aspires to Be the Free Solo of Freediving

Sundance: Laura McGann’s doc about champion freediver Alessia Zecchini will make you hold your breath, and then question the film’s tactics.

There are several key differences between “The Deepest Breath” and “Free Solo,” the Oscar-winning extreme sports documentary to which Laura McGann’s similarly harrowing and exultant non-fiction film begs — but only somewhat deserves — comparison.

To begin with the most obvious: One film is about climbing without a rope, while the other is about diving without a tank. On a slightly more nuanced level, one plays like a queasy tribute to a thrill-seeker who reached his peak despite meeting the love of his life, while the other unfolds like a heartsick elegy for a couple of athletes whose luck may have run out just after they found each other. Both of these films are suspenseful enough to leave you gasping for air, and both of them hinge on the acute recognition that — despite the isolation of their respective sports, and the abject lack of tangible support that participating in them demands — not even the world’s most gifted athletes are able to defy gravity on their own.

But where “Free Solo” invites us to share in its palpable sense of real-time relief, “The Deepest Breath” keeps us at a distance by teasing out its ultimate tragedy, contriving shallow intrigue at the expense of its potential depth. And that feeds into the most critical difference of all: One of these docs is haunted by the question of why its subject won’t stay on the ground, while the other limits itself to focusing on why one (or both) of its subjects couldn’t make it back up to the surface.

In fairness to McGann’s film, the story of what happened to Alessia Zecchini and Stephen Keenan on that fateful day off the coast of Egypt is riveting enough to withstand some of the frustrations provoked by the way it’s told here. There’s a powerful symmetry to how these two people crossed paths and eventually — potentially — began to fall in love, and “The Deepest Breath” lays it out with the clarity of Bahamian seawater.

As a child in Italy, Zecchini was embarrassed by what she wanted to be when she grew up. After all, becoming the first woman to dive 100 meters under the surface of the ocean without the help of scuba gear… well, she knew that it made her sound like a silly kid girl with a sunken dream. But Zecchini knew what she was born to do, and with the encouragement of her father — who recognized the seriousness of his young daughter’s conviction — she was only 18 years old when she set her first world record in the deadly sport that had long been declared as her calling.

By contrast, bright-eyed Irishman Stephen Keenan spent roughly three decades trying to silence his restless spirit before he finally discovered “the last quiet place on Earth” just below the surface of its oceans. He was nothing if not a searcher, but a few days with the diving community at Dahab’s notoriously dangerous “Blue Hole” was all it took for him to feel as if he found the place where he belonged. From the wistful tone that McGann’s talking heads adopt whenever they speak about Keenan (his loving father, most of all), we can infer that he met his destiny there in more ways than one, but “The Deepest Breath” spends the brunt of its time focusing on the lives that Keenan saved as the world’s top rescue diver — and, in Zecchini’s case, the lives that he changed in the process of doing his job.

Here, the pride that Keenan took in that work is as striking as the footage that shows what that work entailed. McGann’s film leaves us with an extremely detailed sense of what happens to the human body after swimming the length of two full skyscrapers underwater in a single breath. McGann’s film starts us with that, too, as Zecchini blacks out in the opening scene. Her eyes bulge open. Spotters pull her to the neck by the surface and breathe life back into her lungs — lungs that have constricted to the size of fists. It’s an awful spectacle each of the half-dozen times we see it, and made all the more jarring by how violently it clashes with the serenity of the dives themselves (which include seamlessly interwoven recreations when needed).

The best divers push themselves to the brink of asphyxiation so often that we’re almost surprised when they don’t need help on the surface. In fact, it would appear that Zecchini and Keenan’s first kiss, so to speak, happens when he has to bring her back to life after a failed dive at one of the world’s biggest tournaments.

I can only say that it would appear that way, as “The Deepest Breath” doesn’t shine any light whatsoever on the relationship that began to blossom between its two subjects during their final days together, even though it’s easy to appreciate what they must have seen in each other. In a film so compelled by the mysteries that motivate people — a film about the magic power that compels someone to dive 104 meters deep just because they watched their rival dive 103 — it’s bewildering that McGann has so little interest in how Keenan brought out the best in Zecchini.

Given the brief period of time that separated romance and tragedy, it’s understandable that McGann might have been grasping at straws, but omitting certain voices — for what seems to be the benefit of cheap suspense — can’t help but cut her movie off at the knees. The result is a fascinating but frustratingly superficial portrait of “the deepest woman in the world.” A film that, for all of its ethereal underwater cinematography, leaves us feeling that Zecchini has receded too far below the surface to ever see her clearly.

Grade: C+

“The Deepest Breath” premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Netflix will release it later this year.

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January 21, 2023

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Sundance: Laura McGann's doc about champion freediver

Entertaintment

Rep. George Santos Admits to Dressing in Drag, Denies Being a ‘Queen’

BACKGRID

Rep. George Santos did, in fact, dress in women’s clothing as a young man — but don’t go calling him a drag queen now … ’cause he’s still rejecting that label, it seems.

The newly-elected New York congressman touched down in the Big Apple Saturday on a flight from D.C., and sure enough … the media was there to greet him, peppering him with questions about his many scandals and apparent lies — including the drag thing.

Check out the video … Santos seems agitated that he’s being asked about the same stuff over and over — but frankly, his explanations to this point have been less than adequate.

Finally, when someone asks him about recently-resurfaced photos that seem to show him dressed in drag … he cops to it, saying he was “just having fun” out there and that it’s much ado about nothing. He also made sure to specifically denounce the term “drag queen.”

It’s great Santos — who’s openly gay — is finally being truthful … but the fact this is basically a 180 from his outright denial appears to be in line with an emerging pattern with him. Namely, he tends to flatly challenge stories about him as false — only to recant later.

Of course, the larger issue is that he made up a lot of stuff on his resume — both academically and professionally — in the process of getting elected as a Representative.

Despite calls for him to step down, Santos has no shame … and has refused thus far.

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January 21, 2023

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Movies

Simplistic But Relevant Take on Art and Culture

Last Updated: August 23, 2020, 10:39 IST

Mee Raqsam (I, Dance)

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Danish Husain, Aditi Subedi

Direction: Baba Azmi

There is something very earnest about Mee Raqsam that endears, about the way debutant director Baba Azmi tries using his story to reiterate a message that is all-too familiar yet always relevant. Despite lacking in nuances that would have helped set up a layered narrative, the film is a simple story that connects.

Azmi, a veteran cinematographer of over four decades, takes his directorial bow with a film that talks of the need to free art from the shackles of religion, gender bias and societal restrictions, through the story of a Muslim girl who dreams of being a bharatnatyam dancer. Her situation is complex owing to the milieu she hails from — the heartland village of Mijwan in Azamgarh district (Mijwan, in fact, is the birthplace of Azmi’s father, late poet-lyricist Kaifi Azmi).

In Mijwan, Husain and Safdar Mir’s writing imagines a tailor named Salim (Danish Husain) and his daughter Maryam (Aditi Subedi). She dreams of being a bharatnatyam exponent, and he goads her to chase her dream despite being fully aware such an idea is unacceptable in their orthodox world, where a girl who dances is crassly dismissed as a ‘tawaif’.

Naseeruddin Shah, in a formidable special appearance as community elder Hashim Seth, defines such constricted notions in Salim and Maryam’s world. For the likes of Hashim, as well as Maryam’s khala or nani, the girl’s dancing in public would not just demean the family but the community, too. The form of dance she has chosen itself is deemed ‘gair mazhabi” by Hashim. By turns, he tries reasoning with and threatening Salim, who tells his daughter he is willing to endure all storms to make her dream come true.

Mee Raqsam maintains a progressive tone in storytelling as well as while conveying its message, which makes the film a well-intentioned effort. However, creatively there is not much that you can applaud beyond its intention. The narrative sorely lacks a treatment that would have rendered the plot a certain depth, beyond its ambition to make a few obvious comments about society.

Despite getting rather flat characters to play out, the cast is impressive in the impact it leaves. Naseeruddin Shah towers above all, despite playing a character you would quite simply loathe and in spite of his limited screen space. It is a delight to watch the iconic actor, as always.

Danish Husain imagines Salim as a man with quiet resilience, harbouring a mindset far more progressive than the Muslim stereotype he represents. Maryam, the centre of all focus in the story, is sincerely portrayed by Aditi Subedi. Her final dance performance (as well as the fusion score Ripul Sharma has arranged) is absorbing fare.

Although Baba Azmi is a cinematographer par excellence, he has opted delegating camera work to Mohsin Khan Pathan. The shots are functional, without trying to be outstanding.

That last observation in fact echoes across everything about the film. Mee Raqsam seems contended being functional while telling its story and putting a rather simplistic message across.

Rating: 3/5

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)

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January 21, 2023

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Last Updated: August 23, 2020, 10:39 ISTMee

Film

Sundance Jurors Walk Out of Screening After Captioning Device Glitch – The Hollywood Reporter

Members of the Sundance Film Festival jury left a screening of a U.S. Dramatic Competition title Friday before seeing the film due to a glitch with the theater’s captioning devices, sources familiar with the situation tell The Hollywood Reporter.

During the screening for Magazine Dreams, the Elijah Bynum-directed film that stars Jonathan Majors, the devices typically provided to all audience members who are deaf and hard of hearing, including juror Marlee Matlin, did not work. Matlin and fellow jurors Jeremy O. Harris and Eliza Hittman all exited the screening.

Later that evening, the jurors attended a different screening, where the captioning devices were functioning properly. They plan to see Magazine Dreams at a later time, according to the festival.

The jurors have sent a letter, obtained by THR, to festival filmmakers that criticized the lack of open captioning for competition titles.

“We have all travelled to Utah to celebrate independent film and those who devote their lives to making them,” the message read. “There’s a thrill to sit in a room with others who love films and cheer for them together and Sundance has been an important place for each of us to do that over our varied careers. The U.S. independent cinema movement began as a way to make film accessible to everyone, not just those with the most privileges among us. As a jury our ability to celebrate the work that all of you have put into making these films has been disrupted by the fact that they are not accessible to all three of us.”

CEO Sundance Institute Joana Vicente said in a statement about the situation that the festival’s accessibility efforts are “always evolving” and that the feedback was appreciated. “Our team has been working hard in this area but there is always more work to do,” she said, in part. “We all still need to do more as we learn and consider the community at large.”

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January 21, 2023

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Members of the Sundance Film Festival jury

Atmosphere at the IndieWire Chili Party, Presented by Stanley and SAG-AFTRA held at The Cabin on January 19, 2023 in Park City, Utah.

Sundance Jury Walks Out of ‘Magazine Dreams’ Over Captioning Dispute

“The US independent cinema movement began as a way to make film accessible to everyone, not just those with the most privileges among us,” the jurors said in a statement.

Jurors for the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival walked out of Friday night’s premiere of “Magazine Dreams” due to a dispute about accessibility for hearing impaired audience members. Jury members, including Jeremy O. Harris and Eliza Hittman, stood in solidarity with their fellow juror Marlee Matin when a closed captioning device provided to her did not work. A Sundance spokesperson told IndieWire that the captioning devices, which are built into the backs of the seats in the theater, functioned properly in tech rehearsals but malfunctioned once a large audience was in the room.

While the device was eventually repaired, the incident speaks to a larger debate about accessibility in the film festival community. In private discussions during the weeks leading up to the festival, jurors had expressed concerns about the festival’s accessibility and had asked for all films to feature open captions shown on the screen. Following the “Magazine Dreams” screening, the jury released a signed letter to filmmakers asking them to make a stronger effort to ensure their films are accessible to deaf audiences.

“What we just experienced at the Library screening of The Starling Girl was both disturbing and embarrassing, not for us, but for everyone who chose to do difficult thing of being actively hostile to the easy decision to be inclusive. As lovers of world cinema we are profoundly baffled that filmmakers would feel that captions would diminish the worth if their films. We hope that this “call in” gives everyone a chance to reflect and can become a “teachable moment.” – The Jury

Following the incident at the “Magazine Dreams” screening on Friday night, Sundance began including open captions during the introduction videos and sponsor ads for all films screened on Saturday.

Sundance CEO Joana Vicente responded to the incident in a statement provided to IndieWire: “Our goal is to make all experiences (in person and online) as accessible as possible for all participants. Our accessibility efforts are, admittedly, always evolving and feedback helps drive it forward for the community as a whole. The screening device used to provide closed captions did not work at one of our Friday evening premieres. The jury left and will see it together at another time during the Festival. Our team immediately worked with the devices in that venue to test them again for the next screening and the device worked without any malfunction. Our team has been working hard in this area but there is always more work to do. We all still need to do more as we learn and consider the community at large. We are committed to improving experiences & belonging for all festival attendees. We consider accessibility as one of the primary drivers of institutional excellence and this work is done in partnership with film teams.”

IndieWire has reached out to representatives for “Magazine Dreams” for comment.

Read the full letter from the jury, obtained by IndieWire, below.

Dear US Dramatic Filmmakers,

We have all travelled to Utah to celebrate independent film and those who devote their lives to making them. There’s a thrill to sit in a room with others who love films and cheer for them together and Sundance has been an important place for each of us to do that over our varied careers. The US independent cinema movement began as a way to make film accessible to everyone, not just those with the most privileges among us.

As a jury our ability to celebrate the work that all of you have put into making these films has been disrupted by the fact that they are not accessible to all three of us. We implore you (with the recognition that each of your films finished at different times) that if your film has access to an open caption dcp that you will allow that to be the print that is projected for your premieres. This will allow your jury to enjoy the movie with your audience in the way we were meant to.

In 2023, when major institutions and artists are working more consciously to be inclusive in their hiring we hope we will continue to challenge ourselves to be make our audiences more inclusive as well.

Thank you for your time. We hope we can enjoy your films with each of you.

The US Dramatic Jury

Additional reporting by Eric Kohn and Kate Erbland.

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January 21, 2023

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"The US independent cinema movement began as

What to Watch

Is ‘Dhamaka’ on Netflix UK? Where to Watch the Movie

Great news! “Dhamaka” is available to watch on Netflix UK!

Date Added: 21st January 2023

Known expiry dates are shown above as well as on the Last Chance page.

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

Description:

Two total strangers who happen to look alike — one a street-smart hustler, the other a wealthy corporate heir — compete for the same woman’s love.

Certificate: Suitable for ages 15 and up

Year: 2022

Duration: 2hr 16m

Audio: Telugu [Original]

Subtitles: Arabic, English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese

Cast and Crew

Director: Trinadha Rao Nakkina

Cast: Ravi Teja, Sreeleela, Jayaram, Sachin Khedekar, Tanikella Bharani, Rao Ramesh, Chirag Jani

Production & Box Office Details:

“Dhamaka” was produced by People Media Factory and Abhishek Agarwal Arts and was originally released on December 23rd 2022.

RATINGS:

IMDB rating 8.7/10

The Movie Database rating 47%

Average Rating Average rating 65.25%

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This title is available on Netflix UK

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Want to keep forever? Why not rent or buy ‘Dhamaka’ from one of the online services below?

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January 21, 2023

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Awards

Judy Blume Forever Directors on Author’s Legacy

Fifty years after Judy Blume took the young adult literary scene by storm, the author is having a renaissance year. As the first-ever adaptation of “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” heads to theaters, fans will get a glimpse at the writer herself in the documentary “Judy Blume Forever.”

On the eve of the film’s Sundance premiere, co-directors and producers Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok checked in with TheWrap’s Portrait and Video Studio at The Music Lodge.

Pardo was on a road trip, listening to Blume’s audiobook reading of “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing,” when the idea began to take shape.

“This amazing magical effervescent voice fills the car, and I started thinking about Judy Blume as a person, who was the woman behind these characters that I grew up loving so much,” Pardo recalled to Sharon Waxman, CEO and Editor in Chief of TheWrap.

Driven by “filmmakers’ curiosity,” they got to work learning about Blume’s biography and rediscovering what made the author so ahead of her time.

“Judy Blume is a fearless author who has taught us all about ourselves, about our bodies, about understanding our complicated friendships and our relationships to our parents, and to our lovers and to our own sexuality and those things never change,” Wolchok said. “Judy Blume will always be relevant because she taught us to understand ourselves. She saw us and she will continue to see us.”

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What audiences may not know, and which the pair learned in the process of making the film, is that Blume was also a “fierce activist and advocate” for free speech.

Blume’s honest exploration of then-taboo subjects like teenage sexuality, puberty and bullying resulted in several of her books being banned across multiple states. Just last year, her 1975 novel “Forever” was banned by a Utah school district.

“People weren’t ready for that. They were afraid of girls understanding their bodies and boys, too, appreciating girls’ bodies,” Polchok explained.

Pardo added that the themes and messages of Blume’s works are just as salient today as they were when they were first published.

“The fundamental feelings that kids experience – ‘Do I fit in?’ ‘Am I normal?’ ‘What’s going on with my body?’ – that’s universal, even if you’re coming at it from a different perspective than you might have been 40, 50 years ago.”

“Judy Blume Forever” is available April 21 on Prime Video. Watch the full interview above.

TheWrap’s Portrait and Video Studio at The Music Lodge during the 2023 Sundance Film Festival is sponsored by NFP along with support from Sylvania and HigherDOSE

‘Judy Blume Forever’ Review: Doc Proves an Writer’s Output Can Be More Memorable Than Their Biography

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January 21, 2023

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Fifty years after Judy Blume took the

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Kristin Chenoweth Sings to Ariana Grande’s ‘Over the Rainbow’ Cover – Billboard

Ariana Grande is showing love to Kristin Chenoweth after the Broadway vet shared a video of herself singing a Wizard of Oz classic alongside the pop superstar.

On Friday (Jan. 20), Grande — who will portray Glinda in Jon M. Chu’s upcoming live-action film adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked — posted a TikTok video of herself singing a gorgeous a cappella version of “Over the Rainbow” from the 1939 musical film. Shortly after, Chenoweth responded with a side-by-side clip of herself harmonizing the beloved tune alongside Grande.

“You know I had to duet this one,” Chenoweth, who originated the role of Glinda in the Broadway musical of Wicked in 2003, wrote in her TikTok video. “Over the [rainbow emoji] with my baby girl.”

The Broadway star added in her caption, “Just two Ozians.”

Grande quickly caught wind of Chenoweth’s flattering post and shared a heartwarming response in her Instagram Story. “oh i am crying,” the 29-year-old pop star wrote. “i love you so much @kchenoweth.”

It’s been more than a year since it was announced in November 2021 that Grande would be playing Glinda opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba in the long-awaited big-screen adaptation of the prequel to The Wizard of Oz. Chu later revealed that they’d be splitting the project into two films, the first of which is set to arrive in December 2024.

Last March, Chenoweth expressed her approval of Grande’s casting as Glinda in the Wicked movie. “I think that crown and wand are going to the exact correct person,” she said during an appearance on Today. “I think she’s gonna nail it.” Chenoweth added, “Maybe some people do know this about Ari, but she’s really, really funny. And Glinda has to do funny and drama; she has to do it all. And sing high and sing low. So, there’s the girl.”

Watch Chenoweth sing “Over the Rainbow” alongside Grande on TikTok below.

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January 21, 2023

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Ariana Grande is showing love to Kristin

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Performing for inmates at Angola Prison

“Angola Do You Hear Us?” follows Liza Jessie Peterson as she performs her one woman show, “The Peculiar Patriot” at Louisiana’s Angola Prison. Filmmaker Cinque Northern captures how the event raises excitement for the inmates and tensions for the guards.

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January 21, 2023

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"Angola Do You Hear Us?" follows Liza

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10 She Done Him Wrong (1933)

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