Volker Bertelmann’s Oscar-shortlisted score for “All Quiet on the Western Front” features a three-note motif that came together on his grandmother’s old harmonium. It also features tones of Led Zeppelin.
In a Zoom conversation with Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, Bertelmann explained his approach to crafting the sound of Edward Berger’s retelling Erich Maria Remarque’s 1928 novel.
First, he augmented his orchestra with the unusual sounds of a turn-of-the-century harmonium, while eliminating most of the drums-and-brass war-movie clichés. In thinking about his approach to the score, Bertelmann told Zimmer that he intuitively had the idea to use an instrument from the era, but one he could put a modern spin on. “I wanted something that I could treat like a modular synthesizer that I could make very raw,” he explained.
Brass, wind and wood instruments seemed too conventional for the film’s theme. Bertelmann told Zimmer, “I remembered that I had refurbished my grandmother’s harmonium, which was used in her home in around 1900 to play music. And what I liked about it was that it had a double-bass function, so you could take one register out, and it would add a lower octave to everything you played.”
As for finding a balance of when to add his score throughout the World War I story, Bertelmann said, “There were so many gunshots that rather than smear music under the gunfire and the explosions, I looked for [other] spots to place it.” He continued, “When we have the first sequence where the uniforms are being washed, I was reminded of old silent movies that have storytellings of machinery. That’s where I felt the need to add music to the rhythm of the machines.”
Zimmer pointed out the symbolization of the score and imagery, noting, “I thought of the symbol of the industrialization of war, the industrialization of these men. They were machines that were eating themselves up… and eating up other machines. And it all sounded like Led Zeppelin.”
Zimmer wasn’t the only one to spot the rock band’s influence on the score. Bertelmann revealed that when he sent 90 seconds of the score to Berger, the director said the same thing. Bertelmann said, “I got a phone call from him and he said, ‘Hey, I’m sitting here with my family and we’re listening to your piece, and it sounds like Led Zeppelin. It’s fantastic and we really love it.’”
How exactly did the rock band influence the score? “The head-banging element of it,” Bertelmann said.
The two also talked about their process, with Zimmer revealing that he doesn’t read scripts before scoring. He said, “I say to the director, ‘Tell me the story,’ usually over a good glass of wine; that helps. Then I go to the DP, and I find out what colors are going to be used.” He added, “I get engaged very early on, and if I have time, I try to write things early on. It helps the directors to have a little bit of music that is part of the story they’re trying to tell.”
Sidharth Malhotra, Vicky Kaushal and others conveyed their wishes on Indian Army day
On Army Day, several celebrities from the film fraternity have taken to social media to pen encouraging wishes for the soldiers of our country.
On the occasion of Army Day, several celebrities from the film fraternity have taken to social media to pen encouraging wishes for the soldiers of our country. Actor Vicky Kaushal, who is shooting for Meghna Gulzar’s film Sam Bahadur, took to Instagram to reveal that he is shooting with the Indian Army on this special day. Sharing a photo with the officers, he wrote, “Shooting on #ArmyDay with the Army. Warmest wishes on the 75th Army Day to All Ranks from Team #Samबहादुर ! ????”
Take a look:
Sam Bahadur is a biopic of the Former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army, Sam Manekshaw. He passed away in 2008. The film also stars Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra.
Meanwhile, Sidharth Malhotra, who played the role of Kargil hero Vikram Batra in the film Shershah, took to Twitter to write, “Our Indian braves standing guard keeps the nation safe at utmost peace. Their sacrifice and service has always been commendable. Salutes and wishes to the army, veterans and their families on the occasion of #IndianArmyDay. ??”
Our Indian braves standing guard keeps the nation safe at utmost peace. Their sacrifice and service has always been commendable. Salutes and wishes to the army, veterans and their families on the occasion of #IndianArmyDay. ??— Sidharth Malhotra (@SidMalhotra) January 15, 2023
Actor Ananya Panday also conveyed his wishes on social media. She wrote, “A salute to the Indian Army for their unwavering bravery to safeguard our country, today and every day!
Meanwhile, in a first, the Army Day celebrations were moved out of the national capital and held in Bengaluru. Army chief Gen Manoj Pande among other top officials including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the Army Day 2023 event in Bengaluru. Delhi has been hosting the Army Day celebrations since 1949. According to the Station Commander of the Southern Command, from this year on, the annual celebrations will be held at the various field commands in the country to facilitate deeper connection with civil society.
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Chris Wallace put Andy Cohen in the hot seat during Friday’s episode of “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?”, asking if the reality TV mogul was embarrassed by “The Real Housewives” franchise.
In a rousing interview, the CNN anchor rolled clips of some of the Bravo series’ most dramatic moments, including physical altercations between the cast members.
“Are you at all embarrassed by what you do?” he asked Cohen.
“No, I’m really not,” he replied without hesitation. “Because it makes so many people happy.”
Cohen said audiences get out of “Real Housewives” what he got from watching “All My Children” as a child: an escape from reality.
“[“The Real Housewives”] can be really confrontational, it can sometimes be something that’s a little difficult to swallow,” he continued. “But I think it’s also about, in the real great moments, it’s about being a wife and a mother and a sister and a friend and a whole lot more.”
He went on to say that if the show was just a collection of highlight reels like the ones Wallace played, “it wouldn’t still be on the air and we wouldn’t have 10 [years] going. It’s very funny, too.”
A few moments later, Cohen admitted to getting “a little defensive” during his answer to Wallace’s question because he thought he’d never seen the show. In fact, Wallace watched one season of “Real Housewives of New York City” because he knew several members of the cast.
Cohen, who oversees nearly a dozen “Real Housewives” franchises, then invited Wallace to guest star on his live late-night show “Watch What Happens Live!”
Earlier in the interview, Wallace questioned Cohen about “New Years’ Eve Live,” which he co-hosts with Anderson Cooper. For 2022’s event, the duo took shots of a “mystery beverage” (apple cider vinegar) instead of alcohol. “Much to the chagrin, really, of the viewers,” Cohen said CNN asked them not to drink after he drunkenly spoke about former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio on the previous year’s show.
“I mean, we were very annoyed, because we felt like they were saying to us, ‘You’re not capable of drinking responsibly,’” he said.
“Did you watch your performance from the year before?” Wallace pressed him.
Cohen said that de Blasio was the “the safest person to go off on”: “There was no one who disagreed with me, I’m sorry.”
“You’re a TV executive. Was it really so unreasonable for the new bosses at CNN to say, ‘Getting hammered on national television, on a news network, is not a good look?’” said Wallace.
However, there were no hard feelings between the media personalities, who went on to discuss topics like parenthood, early career moves and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
When asked if the ex-royals had “become a bore,” Cohen demurred. After watching Harry promote his new book “Spare” on “60 Minutes” last week, he said “maybe there was a way for him to [speak about Prince William] without torching the bridge.”
“I think William should write a book called ‘Heir’ and tell his story,” Cohen joked.
As to whether the couple has become oversaturated in the media, he said he’d buy Harry’s book regardless: “Look, it’s expensive to live in Montecito. They’re cashing out!”
“Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” premieres Fridays on HBO Max, followed by a highlights show that airs on CNN Sunday night.
After much anticipation, the sophomore season of Tokyo Revengers is finally here. Takemichi — or Takemitchy, if you prefer — Hanagaki is back with some new adventures in time thanks to his peculiar superpowers that allow him to relive part of his life. Season 1 of the appreciated anime focused on Takemichi’s attempts to save Hinata Tachibana, his only love interest, from a violent death by changing the past and taking over the Tokyo Manji Gang.
Here’s a list of must-watch anime if you are a fan of Tokyo Revengers.
Great Teacher Onizuka
Like Tokyo Revengers‘ Takemichi, Eikichi Onizuka is a 22-year-old virgin looking to become a man finally. The titular hero of Great Teacher Onizuka is a former biker gang member who does a 180 and starts working as a teacher in a middle school. Considering his background, his teaching methods are unorthodox — to say the least — yet very effective. Based on the work of the same name by Tooru Fujisawa, Great Teacher Onizuka was adapted by Pierrot into a 43-installment series that first aired from June 30, 1999, to September 24, 2000. Great Teacher Onizuka was pretty popular in Japan both as a manga and an anime, thanks to its charismatic protagonist.
Erased
Time traveling to prevent something wrong from happening is a leitmotif in shonen anime. In Erased, Satoru Fujinuma has a peculiar power called “Revival,” every time he’s in danger, he can go back a few minutes in time, relive the situation and save the day. When he returns home and finds his mother assassinated, he is inadvertently transported back to elementary school. His mission is not only to save his mother’s life but also to stop a murderer from killing three children. The Erased English voice cast includes Ben Diskin as Satoru, Stephanie Sheh as Kayo, Sara Cravens as Sachiko, and Cherami Leigh as Airi, among others.
Steins;Gate
Speaking of time traveling, what if some scientists invented a sort of time machine that can send objects back in time? More than that, it can even send e-mails in the past that can alter history. Steins: Gate features 24 episodes that originally aired from April 6, 2011, to September 14, 2011. Planned as an adaptation of the visual novel of the same name, Steins: Gate was positively received and is still considered one of the best anime of the 2010s.
Gantz
What makes Tokyo Revengers a thrilling watch is its action-packed sequences of gang members clashing with each other for power in never-ending fist-fights. Gantz follows the story of two high school students, Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato, who, after their sudden death, become two hitmen serving a mysterious character called Gantz. The only way to get their lives back is to execute and survive all the missions Gantz will assign them. Audiences related to the anime based on the seinen manga of the same name by Hiroya Oku not only thanks to its gore action but also to its compelling story and likable characters.
Rainbow: Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin
In the 1950s, a group of delinquents needs to survive the challenges of a special reform school and its sadistic doctor, Gisuke Sasaki. Without revealing too much about the plot, let’s just say Sasaki often has too much interest in those troubled kids he is appointed to deal with and reform. The 26-episode anime deals with gang culture, but there is much more than that. Rainbow: Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin aired from April 6, 2010, to September 28, 2010.
If you’re in New York City this weekend, this is the last time you’ll be able to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center before it becomes important paperwork mishandled by some of the most powerful people in the world, according to “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon.
During his monologue Friday night, Fallon told his audience Saturday will be the last chance they’ll see the 82-foot Norway spruce that stands outside his studio’s headquarters.
“People always ask what happens to the tree,” Fallon said. “Well, it’s actually shipped to a paper mill, where it becomes thousands of mishandled classified documents.”
Fallon then shifted gears to the ongoing controversy that surrounds President Biden and the classified documents that were found in his garage, among other places.
“We’re still talking about the classified documents that were found in President Biden’s garage,” Fallon said, joking, “Even worse, it came out that his neighbor came over to borrow one and still hasn’t returned it.”
Earlier this week, it was reported that Biden’s team discovered 10 classified documents in a locked closet while cleaning out his office last fall. Since then, there were multiple instances where documents were found. Now, the president is facing a Department of Justice investigation.
Fallon told the audience that Democrats are concerned this scandal will weaken Biden as a candidate in 2024, but joked that there were concerns long before this one.
“As opposed to their previous concerned that the ravishes of time will weaken him by 2024,” Fallon joked. “Imagine losing the most powerful job on Earth because you kept putting off cleaning out the garage.”
“New year, new Miley” read the wheatpaste posters beside the exposed slice of stomach that’s somehow recognizable, all by itself, as Miley Cyrus. But even the pop star’s most ambitious aesthetic makeovers never truly manage to detract from the fundamental Miley-ness of her affairs. It’s part of what makes her such a celebrated covers artist; this is the woman who oozes so much charisma they named her for her smile, the one who’s going to revive the moribund state of network TV New Year’s Eve programming through sheer star power.
Sucks that her original material is often not as compelling. “Flowers,” the lead single and first track from the upcoming Endless Summer Vacation, starts in a similar position as 2020’s Plastic Hearts, with a story of a broken relationship that scans as a reference to her split from ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth, in 2019. This time, instead of stomping through heartbreak to the sound of ’80s rock, she’s doing something like twangy disco funk, with a sour string section that gives her revenge anthem the faintest hint of flamenco. But calling it revenge is a reach, not when Shakira is ready to call you a Twingo: What we’re really dealing with here is self-help, and as a pitch for loving yourself first, “Flowers”’ visions of long-stemmed bouquets and long walks on the beach couldn’t be more generic. “No remorse, no regret/I forget every word you said,” Miley sings, and it might have been more interesting if she didn’t sound so sincerely unbothered.
The new trailer for Tyler Atkins’ Ocean Boy stars Luke Hemsworth, Isabel Lucas, Leanna Walsman, and Ramsus King. Set in the late 1980s, Ocean Boy is told through the eyes of a 13-year-old boy, Rockit. As he grapples to understand why his Mum’s not coming home, Rockit embarks on a magical holiday with his father, Bosch, only to discover they’re actually running from the law. Rockit finds a soulmate and then teenage love with Ash Ash, but it’s the ocean that gives him the security and calm he yearns from his parents. Ultimately Rockit is a boy held by nature, a young man who wins our hearts and respect as his story unfolds.
Filmed at iconic Byron Bay, against the canvas of Australia’s famous east coast surf beaches and rain forests, Ocean Boy is a raw and unapologetic exploration of unconscious parenting and the deeper themes of love and relationships.
The Edmonton Oilers won their third in a row, scoring a 4-3 road win over the Vegas Golden Knights Saturday night.
It didn’t take long for the Oilers to grab the lead. Mattias Janmark beat Logan Thompson on a breakaway only 45 seconds into the game. Just 51 seconds later, Leon Draisaitl batted a rebound out of the air and in for his 25th of the season and a 2-0 Oilers lead. Keegan Kolesar put Vegas on the board late in the first. After an extended goal mouth scramble, he banked the puck off Jack Campbell from behind the net.
Draisaitl struck again in the second, shooting and scoring from the right side on two-on-one. Paul Cotter banged in the loose puck after Byron Froese hit the post, but Klim Kostin quickly restored the Oilers two-goal advantage with his ninth only 19 seconds later. William Karlsson tallied in the final minute of the second to cut Edmonton’s lead to 4-3.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has tapped Ben King, a former Apple services executive, as senior VP of direct-to-consumer, overseeing the gaming division’s PlayStation Store and PlayStation’s DTC businesses.
At Sony Interactive Entertainment, King reports to Veronica Rogers, SVP, head of global sales and business operations. Most recently, King was chief subscription officer at sports-streaming venture DAZN, where he led marketing, distribution and growth before leaving in mid-2022. Prior to joining DAZN in 2019, he spent more than 12 years at Apple, where he held various international marketing, business development and general management positions across iTunes, the App Store and Apple Music.
Commenting on his new role at SIE, King said, “The PlayStation Store has become one of the most visited digital media stores on the planet. This gives us the unique opportunity to think creatively about the relationship with our users, helping them to unlock maximum fun and joy from the PlayStation ecosystem, while simultaneously creating financial opportunity for our games studio partners.”
According to Sony, PlayStation’s digital services are engaged with by more than 100 million active users per month. “We have the ability to better serve our community by delivering more personalized experiences, helping each and every customer to discover the perfect entertainment for them, through the right channel, at the right time,” King said.
King, inspired by a gap year spent studying in Japan in 2001, began his career at high-growth startup Wireless Information Network (WIN), helping build Europe’s first internet and entertainment services for mobile phones. In 2006, he joined Apple to help drive the rollout and growth of the iTunes Store in Europe. His tenure at Apple included forming and leading the Apple Services division in emerging markets across Eastern Europe, Middle East, India and Africa, and developing the tech giant’s international growth strategy as the business shifted to subscription and access models.
King holds a master’s degree in Oriental studies – Chinese from St. Anne’s College at the University of Oxford. Outside the office, he spends his weekends coaching rugby, watching countless netball, football and cricket matches, playing “FIFA ’23” and “Rocket League” and introducing his kids “to as many international cuisines as he possibly can to try and inspire in them his love of travel and culture,” per his official bio.
YouTube is testing free ad-supported TV channels that show content from certain media companies, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The concept is similar to services like Pluto TV, Roku’s Live TV channels, or the experiences built into TVs from companies like Samsung, LG, and Vizio — there will be a “hub” that lets you pick what you want to watch.
The concept has been part of a profitable business model for some of the other companies in the space, as earnings reports from Vizio and Roku show that they make more profit from advertising and commissions on subscriptions than they do from selling hardware. The most recent reports showed Vizio (PDF) pulls in an average of $27 annually per user, while Roku (PDF) manages to net more than $44 per year.
An unnamed YouTube spokesperson confirmed the tests to the Journal, and the report says the feature could roll out more widely this year. It’s reportedly working with companies like Lionsgate and A&E, with the latter being the owner of channels like History, FYI, and Lifetime.
There’s also YouTube TV, the paid service that lets people get a similar drop-in-and-watch experience with standard television channels. Last summer, YouTube announced that around 5 million subscribed to YouTube TV. It’s always possible that the free channels could be marketed using the YouTube TV brand.
Sky Ferreira has opened up about the delay in the release of her new music. The singer took to Instagram to explain that the holdup between music releases “is not my fault & it’s not a conspiracy.” She alleges that unspecified people have deemed her “difficult,” which has apparently held the release of her songs and long-awaited album back.
On Saturday, Ferreira shared a clip of a song and wrote, “I WANT TO PUT THIS OUT.” On her Instagram Stories, she pointed out that the song was from 2019. “I TRIED TO PUT THIS SONG OUT FOREVER AGO. This is not my fault & it’s not a conspiracy or whatever.”
The singer has not released a follow-up album to her 2013 debut, Night Time, My Time, though she has been teasing her upcoming sophomore LP, Masochism, for years. Ferreira dropped the ambient “Downhill Lullaby” in 2019, which appeared to signal that a new album would follow shortly, but it did not come. Last year, she dropped “Don’t Forget,” which again pointed to the possibility that her second set was forthcoming, but it has yet to arrive.
“I am not a hysterical/lying/lazy lunatic. I can pull up performances from 2014 of unreleased singles too. This is beyond fucked up. I am so frustrated & over it,” she added in her Stories.
She also implied that her allegedly being deemed “difficult” by unnamed people was one of the reasons for her music not having been released yet.
“Being ‘difficult’ or ‘high strung’ doesn’t give people the right to damage & stall my career. I am in a DIFFICULT situation & I have to be ‘difficult’ to get through it,” she wrote. “I have to protect my work & myself somehow? A lot of it is not being allowed to say or do anything I want/need without it being dismissed. The thing I actively tried to avoid happens & it somehow gets reversed.”
Reps for Ferreira did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s requests for comment.
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“I can’t think of a time in the last 7 years where I’ve been able to just focus on what I’m supposed to do & my work being presented the way I want it to or my shows being the way one needs it to be to be perform & play well,” she continued. “Despite having to basically sacrifice every aspect of my life to make sure it happens & the amount of time/work I put into everything beforehand. It’s not okay. If I’m not allowed to say something without consequence & the people who are supposed to do their job refuse to look out for me… How am I not going to be ‘difficult’?!?”
While her solo single releases have been sporadic during the delay and her new album has yet to have a drop date, Ferreira has made guest appearances on songs by Charli XCX (“Cross You Out“) and Primal Scream. She has also been acting, appearing in the television reboots of Twin Peaks and Twilight Zone as well as Edgar Wright’s film Baby Driver.
Surely we’ve all wondered that at some point, perhaps in the context of a gentle boss or cool professor. Why is the idea of adoption — a logical conclusion to the ever-popular notion of building a “chosen family” — limited to children?
Surprise, surprise, playwright Ellie Moon’s film “Adult Adoption” explores these questions in great depth, funneling that curiosity into a pastel-clad, sticker-wielding protagonist named Rosy.
Rosy, played by Moon, aged out of the foster care system years ago — and by her own estimation, she turned out just fine — but judging by the truly enormous stockpile of Kraft Dinner in her cupboard, as well as the persistent din of chaotic hyperpop in her headphones, something is amiss.
When Rosy learns of a website which claims to match lonely adults with equally lonely, older adults, something seems to click. It’s Tinder for the maladjusted, Bumble for the everlasting child — a first step toward adult adoption. Maybe this could be the key to Rosy’s happiness as a grown-up.
“It’s objectively the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Moon, 29, said in an interview about making the film.
“I wanted to write something about longing — platonic longing. The parent-child archetype kept cropping up, and I just came back to it.” Moon cited Sheila Heti’s book “Motherhood” and its picking-apart of the relationship between mothers and daughters as integral to her development of her debut film.
“This idea popped into my head: what if there was something like a dating site, but instead of matching lovers to lovers, it matched adults who want parental guidance with adults who desire to give parental guidance? I looked it up, and it doesn’t really exist. There’s Reddit threads and Facebook groups, little corners of the internet … but a dedicated space exists in the film,” she said.
Moon is perhaps best known for her work as a playwright: plays such as “Asking For It,” “What I Call Her” and “This Was the World” showed off her writing talent at an early age. She’s maintained a steady acting career at the same time, appearing in television shows such as “Pretty Hard Cases” and “Murdoch Mysteries.”
“Adult Adoption” first materialized like most of Moon’s writing projects — in an office at Tarragon Theatre, where Moon was playwright-in-residence for four years.
When it became clear the story was a film, not a play, the pieces started falling into place. Executive producer Laurence Siegel came on board. A “not-insignificant” amount of money appeared. Everything seemed dreamy, a real film fiercely attainable.
Filming was set to begin on March 25, 2020.
“It was actually kind of hilarious,” said Moon. Filming for “Adult Adoption” was indeed postponed until a year later.
“Making the film during COVID would have eaten up about 40 per cent of our budget. And we did lose money, because we’d put down payments on locations, and we had to pay crew, and then we didn’t make the movie (until 2021),” she said.
“I spent a lot of time pretty stressed out. But we kept pushing and knocking on everyone’s doors.”
An “angel” investor saved the project, and filming commenced in March of 2021. Fans of #theaTO — or Toronto theatre — will spot some familiar faces on screen, including playwright Michael Healey and actor Craig Lauzon.
“I don’t think we auditioned anyone. They were all offers,” said Moon. “The people we got are just, like, chef’s kiss.”
For Moon, making a movie has heightened her tolerance for risk-taking. Though, in her words, “you have to have taken a lot of risks to make three plays,” too. The two mediums constitute opposite sides of the same precarious coin.
But making a film signifies a coming-of-age for Moon, who found the pandemic lockdown to be “a time of real personal growth,” as is the case with many twentysomethings who lost years of their youth to the COVID years.
“I feel much more free,” said Moon. “I think I was taking risks before, but it was causing me real anxiety. I don’t think making something would cause me that much anxiety anymore — but I might just be getting older.”
How very fitting for “Adult Adoption.”
“Adult Adoption” has a theatrical run in Toronto at Revue Cinema from Jan. 14 through Jan. 19. Tickets are available at revuecinema.ca.
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Some online personalities have gleefully pointed out that various fringes of the online right disapprove of the Daily Wire film “Terror on the Prairie.”
“Terror on the Prairie”
Courtesy Everett Collection
One of the biggest box office failures of 2022 was “Terror on the Prairie,” the Ben Shapiro-produced Western starring Gina Carano. It marked Carano’s first major role since being fired from “The Mandalorian” over a series of social media posts that many viewed as Anti-Semitic. The film only grossed $804 during its one-day theatrical run despite any star power that the actress might have on the political right.
The film was intended to be part of The Daily Wire’s stated strategy of making films that entertain audiences without what they see as overt messaging, but without being explicitly conservative either.
“We’re making entertainment-first content, challenging content, adult content,” Daily Wire co-founder and -CEO Jeremy Boreing said of the company’s film strategy in a recent interview with IndieWire.” The two things that will distinguish [a Daily Wire film] is the fact that it broadly speaks to values that conservatives are aligned on — not strictly conservative values. We’re not making Hillary’s hard-drive story, and we’re not making rag-tag football players find Jesus in the third act.”
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But while “Terror on the Prairie” represented the right-wing media outlet’s most serious attempt at mainstream filmmaking to date, it failed to resonate with its target audience. A new story in The A.V. Club revealed that there are still some fringe online personalities who thought the film was too “woke.” Many of them took to Twitter and IMDB comment sections to complain about the film’s male characters acting insufficiently masculine while allowing Carano’s heroine to save the day.
For her part, Carano denies that she made any bad decisions from either a moral or financial standpoint. In a recent Twitter thread, she stood by the actions that led to her cancellation and blamed groupthink among journalists for her downfall.
“I didn’t fumble the bag I just didn’t go along with the sell out narrative, the online mob couldn’t handle that so they petitioned to have me fired & won. I’m not sorry for that. I stood for what I believe the right thing to do was & the more time that goes by the better I feel,” she wrote. “The genuine bag fumble is sell out journalists like you who sold out America and stopped asking questions to be liked by a fickle manipulated mob. That is what you valued and that will be your legacy.”
“UnPrisoned” actor Delroy Lindo and showrunner Yvette Lee Bowser have found that opportunities for Black creatives have increased since their early years in the television and film business, saying that their new Hulu series serves as a “present-day corrective” in tackling systemic issues.
“We’re absolutely making progress,” Bowser – who has produced several hit shows, including “Living Single,” “A Different World” and “Dear White People” – said during a panel discussion for Hulu and Onyx Collective’s new dramedy on the 2023 Water TCA Press Tour.
The scripted series, which stars Lindo, Kerry Washington, Marque Richardson, Faly Rakotohavana and Jordyn McIntosh, is created by Tracy McMillan and inspired by her life. The half-hour comedy follows the life of a messy but perfectionist relationship therapist and single mom whose life is turned right-side-up when her dad gets out of prison and moves in with her and her teenage son.
While discussing how the show will serve as a “present-day corrective” in tackling systemic issues like the impact of the prison system, the cast opened up about how the landscape and opportunities for Black creatives to tell their stories authentically and from their perspectives has changed over the years.
“Things are different,” Lindo said. “The fact of being here listening to this intelligence and brilliance of my colleagues, that that brilliance, that intelligence, that commitment, that vision can be brought together in a television show Is indicative of a difference, a significant difference, from the standpoint of the work that one is offered.”
In fact, Bowser remembers not so long ago when opportunities for Black writers were extremely limited or, for that matter, nonexistent.
“I think there was a time where we as Black writers and storytellers were fighting nearly for an opportunity to tell a story, and now we’re finding ourselves in a period in time where we can go deeper — much, much deeper,” Bowser said. “I’ve been in this business 35 years, and it’s actually beginning to change, and it’s incredibly cathartic and it’s incredibly rewarding to actually have stood the test of time and be here to help shepherd such fresh story because there’s so many different family stories to be told.”
Bower went on to acknowledge the existence of Onyx Collective and how it provides Black talent with a platform in which Black stories can be supported.
“Onyx as a platform exists to tell our stories and spread them globally, as opposed to the ‘80s and ‘90s when, quite frankly, our shows were used to build other platforms that then disregarded us for other audiences. Onyx is here to stay and to tell these kinds of stories for us by us,” Bowser said.
The Hulu/Onyx Collective original series “UnPrisoned” premieres March 10.
T’Lir is Star Trek’s new non-binary Vulcan hero, and in Star Trek #3, they follow the example of perhaps the greatest Vulcan ever: Spock!
Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek #3!T’Lir, Star Trek’snew non-binary Vulcan hero, is following the example of the greatest Vulcan in Starfleet history: Spock. In Star Trek #3, T’Lir and their shipmates aboard the USS Theseus are facing down a warp core breach. With the odds not in their favor, T’Lir follows Spock’s example, risking their lives to save the ship and their colleagues.
The issue, written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, illustrated by Ramon Rosanas and Joe Eisma, colored by Lee Loughridge and lettered by Clayton Cowles, sees Captain Benjamin Sisko and the crew of the USS Theseus continue their quest to discover the identity of the god-killer. Q pays a call on the ship, deciding to subject them to one last prank before he flees. T’Lir comes up with a plan to kick Q off the ship: flood it with extradimensional tachyons; the only device on the ship that can do this is the deflector. Meanwhile, thanks to Q’s meddling the warp core is malfunctioning. T’Lir and Jake Sisko make their way to the deflector, and as T’Lir rigs it, they say they met Spock when they were a young child. T’Lir says they saw in Spock “everything noble in this universe.” T’Lir then says their situation leaves them no choice but to “put the needs of the few above the needs of the many.” T’Lir is able to save the ship, allowing the Theseus to continue its mission.
T’Lir is one of the newest faces in the Star Trek universe, created specifically for this new comic; they work with Scotty, Theseus’ engineer, on the ship’s experimental systems. T’Lir hails from Vulcan, and is the first non-binary member of that species seen in any medium. A text piece in this issue reveals a great deal about T’Lir’s background, including a mysterious, classified disciplinary incident. Afterwards they were sent to Corrective Duty on another station before being recruited by Scotty–and as it turns out, bringing T’Lir aboard was a smart move.
T’Lir Has the Best Role Model
T’Lir’s actions in this issue are directly inspired by Spock. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the crew of the Enterprise found themselves in a similar situation. Their warp core was non-functional, and to restart it was to risk death. Spock ran down to engineering and brought the engines back online himself–at the cost of his life. History almost repeats itself aboard the Theseus, and once again a Vulcan saves the day. T’Lir’s actions could have cost them their life as well, but, inspired by Spock’s example, they pushed those worries aside. At this point in the timeline, Spock is still on Romulus, working for the reunification of the Vulcans and Romulans, but he would no doubt approve of T’Lir’s actions.
T’Lir is correct in their assessment of Spock: he does embody everything noble in the Star Trek universe. Aboard the Enterprise, Spock gave of himself many times–and it once cost him his life. T’Lir’s comment proves that Spock is not only revered among Vulcans, but the entire Federation as well. T’Lir, Star Trek’snew non-binary Vulcan is set to become a hero, alongside their idol, Mister Spock.
The Banshees of Inisherin, writer-director Martin McDonagh’s latest film, marks a reunion for him and lead actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson: Fifteen years ago, they teamed up for In Bruges. In that film, Farrell and Gleeson played London-based Irish hitmen on the run in Belgium, with opposing outlooks on their circumstances — not dissimilar to Banshees, which sees the pair playing best friends in 1920s Ireland who’ve grown estranged.
For Bruges, the British-Irish McDonagh, who got his start in theater and won an Oscar in 2006 for his short film Six Shooter, cast the two Irishmen alongside Ralph Fiennes as a rival hitman. After the film’s Sundance premiere in 2008, THR‘s review raved: “Martin McDonagh in his feature debut has fashioned an audacious combination of Old World grace and modern ultraviolence. Chock full of wonderful lines delivered by a splendid cast, In Bruges … toys with the conventions and mostly transcends the limitations. … Playing against type, Gleeson brings a sweetness to the role, while Farrell manages to be ghastly and sympathetic at the same time.”
Come awards season, In Bruges earned Golden Globe nominations for best comedy or musical, best supporting actor for Gleeson and best lead actor for Farrell, who won the award. McDonagh also received an original screenplay Oscar nomination (he would earn a screenplay nom again for 2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, as well as a best picture nom). The trio’s second collaboration might fare just as well or even better — Banshees is nominated in the same Globe categories, with additional recognition for McDonagh in directing and writing.
Of writing plays versus screenplays, McDonagh recently shared at THR‘s Writer Roundtable: “With screenplay writing, you can jump around in time and space, and scenes can be two lines long and then three pages? We don’t really do that in plays. A scene is seven pages long or it’s an act long. Now I find it harder to go back and write plays because I love being able to jump around.”
This story first appeared in a Jan. stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Boldy James was involved in a “serious two-car accident” in the Detroit metropolitan area this past Monday (January 9), according to his representative. The rapper was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and suffered broken vertebrae in his neck and orthopedic injuries. Following extensive surgery, James has been released from the intensive care unit and is now in stable condition.
In a statement, Boldy James and his family expressed their gratitude for “the incredible doctors and nurses that are taking care of him, and also to the communities’ emergency medical personnel and first responders.”
Last year, James teamed up with Real Bad Man for the collaborative album Killing Nothing. He also released the joint LPs Fair Exchange No Robbery with Nicholas Craven, Mr. Ten08 with Futurewave, and Be That as It May with Cuns. James opened for Early Sweatshirt and Action Bronson on their North American tour at the start of 2022 as well.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by Deborah Stratman
LAST THINGS Evolution and extinction from the point of view of rocks. A humid take on minerals, where sci-fi meets sci-fact. The geo-biosphere is a place of evolutionary possibility, where humans disappear but life endures.
Director/Producer: Deborah Stratman
Producer: Anže Peržin, Gaëlle Boucand
Festival Section: New Frontier
More Info: Check out the Sundance website for more details, including screening info, by clicking on the film title above.
Classified documents dating back to the Obama administration keep turning up in President Joe Biden’s personal workspaces, beginning with 10 documents found in November, days before the election, to six additional documents discovered at the President’s home in Delaware this week.
The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether the classified documents—which are supposed to remain in secure locations tracked by the National Archives—were ever mishandled, and if any federal laws were violated. Details about how many total classified documents were discovered and their contents remain unclear.
The situation is eerily reminiscent of former President Donald Trump’s possession of classified documents first discovered at his Florida home in June. Biden condemned Trump’s actions and supported the special counsel investigation into the former president’s handling of the documents, which began just two weeks before the first batch of Biden’s classified documents were discovered.
The timing of the discoveries also raises questions about why the investigations—which began one day after the midterm elections that the Democratic party was favored to lose—were kept quiet for so long. It wasn’t until last week when news investigations revealed the discoveries that the White House publicly acknowledged the case.
“People know I take classified documents and classified materials seriously,” Biden said at a briefing on Thursday, adding that he was “cooperating fully and completely with the Justice Department’s review.”
Here’s the timeline of events:
November 2022
On November 2, Biden’s private attorneys unexpectedly discovered the first collection of about 10 classified documents from the Obama-Biden administration in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center office in Washington D.C—a think tank that Biden founded. Biden began working at the office occasionally in 2017 after his vice presidency ended.
Following statutory requirements, the documents were voluntarily turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). On November 4, NARA informed the Justice Department (DOJ) about the revelation. Midterm elections, where the Democratic party was favored to lose its Congressional majority, took place a few days later on November 8.
On November 9, the FBI began an inquiry into whether any laws were broken and if classified information was mishandled. Several days later on November 14, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned John Lausch, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, to the case to determine if a special counsel was needed.
December 2022
The following month, Biden’s personal counsel found additional classified documents in the president’s private library attached to his garage during an inspection of his home in Wilmington, Delaware on December 20. The attorneys informed Lausch about the findings and handed the documents over the following day.
January 2023
A few days into the new year, Lausch filled Garland in on the investigation on January 5 and recommended that the DOJ appoint a special counsel, who would extensively investigate and potentially prosecute any wrongdoing.
On January 9, CBS News was the first to report on November’s discovery of classified documents, bringing the case to public attention. The White House then publicly confirmed the inquiry, saying that the administration was cooperating with the DOJ and NARA, but didn’t mention the additional classified documents found in December.
“The White House is cooperating with the National Archives and the Department of Justice regarding the discovery of what appear to be Obama-Biden Administration records, including a small number of documents with classified markings,” White House lawyer Richard Sauber said in a statement.
On January 10 at a news conference from Mexico, Biden said that he was surprised to learn about the classified documents, explaining that his team helped him set up his personal office after his vice presidency ended. The White House asserted that it was an oversight and that Biden’s team acted immediately to hand over all classified documents upon their discovery.
During another inspection of Biden’s home on January 11, his personal counsel found one more classified document stored in a room adjacent to the garage. The lawyers informed the DOJ about the latest uncovering the next day, on January 12. These documents were in addition to the ones found there in December.
That afternoon, Garland announced the appointment of Robert Hur, a Trump-era U.S. attorney for the district of Maryland, as special counsel. “The extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter,” Garland said at the briefing, also mentioning the second batch of classified documents obtained in December.
Later that day, Biden’s team found an additional five classified documents at his home in Wilmington. The White House shared this discovery on January 14.
“The President directed his personal attorneys to be forthcoming and fully cooperative,” Bob Bauer, the president’s personal attorney, said in a statement to the press on Saturday. “The President’s personal attorneys have attempted to balance the importance of public transparency where appropriate with the established norms and limitations necessary to protect the investigation’s integrity.”
NBC’s “Found,” originally set to debut on Feb. 19, will now debut in fall 2023, the network announced on Thursday. NBC is also ordering additional scripts.
“After watching the first few episodes of ‘Found,’ it quickly became clear that our love for this show has continued to grow and grow with each step of the process,” says Susan Rovner, chairman, entertainment content, NBCUniversal television and streaming. “Our goal is always to find the absolute best home for all our series, and it’s particularly the case with one as important as this. By moving it to fall, we’re able to better leverage our resources, including lead-in and marketing muscle, enabling us to launch ‘Found’ to the largest possible audience across all our platforms.”
“Found,” led by Shanola Hampton and Mark-Paul Gosselaar, will follow PR specialist Gabi Mosely and her team as they look out for forgotten missing people. “But unbeknownst to anyone, this everyday hero is hiding a chilling secret of her own,” per the official description.
The show will draw awareness to the 600,000+ people who are reported missing in the U.S. each year.
Kelli Williams, Brett Dalton, Gabrielle Walsh, Arlen Escarpeta and Karan Oberoi also star. Nkechi Okoro Carroll, Sonay Hoffman, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Leigh London Redman and Lindsay Dunn executive produce.
Berlanti Productions and Rock My Soul Productions produces with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television.
Additionally, NBC announced multiple schedule shifts for their midseason schedule. Each of the shows air next day on Peacock.
“The Blacklist,” set to premiere on Feb. 26, is moving from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
“Magnum PI,” which has a 9 p.m. time slot and was picked up from CBS for a 20 episode two-part fifth season, will air back-to-back episodes for its Feb. 19 premiere.
“Grand Crew” will launch its second season on March 3 at 8:30 p.m.
The Signal Awards, a podcast award from the organizers of the internet-focused Webby Awards, unveiled a wide-ranging group of winners for its inaugural year.
The Signal Awards received nearly 1,700 entries for its dozens of awards, which were divided across four categories: individual episodes, limited series and specials, shows and branded shows and advertising.
The inaugural batch of winners included HBO Max’s Winning Time, Hacks and Insecure companion podcasts; Netflix’s Skip Intro; Pineapple Street Studios’ Back Issue and 70 Over 70; and Pushkin Industries’ Well Read Black Girl.
In the public voting categories, where more than 135,000 fans cast votes for their favorite shows, podcasts like The Bald and the Beautifulwith Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova,The Fantasy Footballers, Mother Country Radicals and Stay Tuned With Preet received the most votes, according to the Signal Awards.
“The Signal Awards were created to lift up and showcase the podcast industry’s diversity and depth, while also helping the community of listeners and fans find new shows and celebrate the existing ones they love,” Deondric Royster, the managing director of the Signal Awards, said. “We congratulate the winners on their success and also thank the podcast-listening public for enthusiastically engaging in the very first year of our awards.”
See below for a selection of winners from the inaugural Signal Awards. Winners will be honored at an awards party in New York on Jan. 23.
Shows
Back Issue – Pineapple Street Studios
30 Bach – Lowry Yankwich (Independent Podcaster)
70 Over 70 – Pineapple Street Studios
Collapse: Disaster in Surfside – Tree Fort Media
Command Line Content – Pacific Content
Dark Dice – Fool & Scholar Productions
Food Network Obsessed – Discovery, Inc.
Insecuritea – HBO Max
Last Day – Lemonada Media
Masters of Scale – WaitWhat
TCM’s The Plot Thickens – Turner Classic Movies
Time to Walk – Apple
Today Explained – Vox Media Podcast Network
The Atlas Obscura – SXM Media
Well Read Black Girl – Pushkin Industries
Individual Episodes
Access & Opportunity, “Building Black Generational Wealth” – Morgan Stanley
Masters of Scale, “Improving Human Dignity w/ Promise CEO Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins” – WaitWhat
Jalen Rose: Renaissance Man, “Jalen Rose Talks with Magic Johnson” – New York Post
Overheard at National Geographic, “Amelia Earhart” – National Geographic
Shattering Gleam: A Podcast About Music and Gender – SiriusXM
Skip Intro – Netflix
Masters of Scale, “Stacey Abrams: How to Harness Risk” – WaitWhat
The Official Winning Time Podcast – HBO Max
The Official Hacks Podcast – HBO Max
Torched, “Greg Louganis’ Infamous Dive” – FilmNation Entertainment
Spark & Fire, “Turn Crisis Into Art: Choreographer Bill T. Jones.. on ‘Afterwardsness,’ his pandemic masterpiece – WaitWhat
Limited Series & Specials
Hit Job – Audible
Metaverse Marketing – Adweek
My New Favorite Olympian: Timothy LeDuc – NBCLX
The Bering – Campside Media
The Thing About Helen and Olga – Dateline NBC
To Live and Die in LA – Tenderfoot TV
In Machines We Trust, “Want a job? The AI will see you now” – MIT Technology Review
When the Earth Started to Sing – Emergence Magazine
HBO Max’s “Velma” is the latest incarnation of the “Scooby-Doo” mythology. And this version is very different.
Instead of your usual Saturday morning fare, “Velma” is a hard-R animated series strictly for adults. Velma (Mindy Kaling) is the main character, a teenage girl whose mother has disappeared and whose friendship with Daphne (Constance Wu) is strained at best. Fred (Glenn Howerton) is a toxic man-child and Shaggy goes by Norville (Sam Richardson), is in love with Velma and, most surprisingly of all, doesn’t smoke.
TheWrap spoke to Richardson and Howerton about what it was like to reinvent these classic characters, what new element of these characters they’re most excited about and how familiar they were with the world of “Scooby-Doo” before signing on to “Velma.” Plus Richardson recounts getting the seal of approval from former Shaggy (in live-action and animation) Matthew Lillard.
What was your level of “Scooby-Doo” fandom pre-“Velma”?
Sam Richardson: Pretty big. I’ve watched all iterations of “Scooby-Doo,” from “Scooby-Doo” to “What’s New Scooby-Doo” to “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo,” to all the “Scooby-Doo” movies. I’m a big fan of Mystery Inc. Even the newer shows from the past 10 years that have come out. I was excited to get to be a part of this, which is so different from even all of those things.
Glenn Howerton: I would say most of what I know about “Scooby-Doo” is from the original cartoon. I was watching it, I was about to say from the ’80s, but it wasn’t from the ’80s, was it?
Richardson: From the ’70s.
Howerton: Seventies, yeah. I’d say that that’s where my knowledge of the show comes from. That’s what I think of. Although I did watch a lot of those other ones still. I watched “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.” I watched all the cartoon ones that were around when I was a kid. I was super into it for sure.
How was the show pitched to you? Obviously “it’s an R-rated ‘Scooby-Doo’” is a pretty good logline.
Howerton: Well, they didn’t tell us. I didn’t know it was going to be an adult animated show. When I found out about it, it came to me as they were offering me the role and I was like, Oh my gosh, this is amazing. I’m finally doing a show that I can watch with my kids and my kids can be like, “My dad’s on TV.” And it was “Scooby-Doo,” an iconic character, so I was super excited about it. When I read the script, I was like, “Oh, no. My kids can’t watch this.” I was like, “This is…wow.” I loved it but I was not expecting that when I read the script.
Richardson: Yeah. Same. I knew it was an adult take and that I’d be Norville. And I was like, “Oh yeah, sure.” Me thinking adult take meant that there were adults. But then reading the script, “Oh yeah, OK.” This is right out the gates, really, but so funny. I didn’t know what to expect. And then reading a script, I really loved them so much and really loved what they did and what they were doing. Just the idea of where it was going, I was on board.
Sam, I wanted to ask you, how much did it mean to get the Matthew Lillard seal of approval?
Richardson: I know. Big deal. Big deal.
Howerton: I don’t know about this. What happened?
Richardson: Yeah. He’s such a cool dude. When they announced the breakdown of the characters, a lot of people, believe it or not, had a problem with there being a Black Shaggy. But really they’d probably be like, why aren’t the old voices the same? But they’re different. We’re different. It’s all different. Matthew Lillard said, “Oh, he’ll be a great Shaggy.” He tweeted it out. It was really nice. He didn’t have to do that. But I really appreciate it.
Howerton: I didn’t hear about that.
Because I think he was more skeptical of the “Scoob” Shaggy (voiced by Will Forte).
Richardson: Yes. I think so.
This is a huge reinvention and there’s so much more to both of your characters in this one. What is your favorite new aspect of the characters?
Howerton: For me personally, the thing I really kind of latched onto was this thing that I was feeling from the script that he was the classic popular kid who was kind of a bully, but what made this different was that he didn’t seem to know that he was a bully at all. There was an innocence there. I’ve been describing him as the innocent bully. A bully who has no idea that the things that he’s saying are extremely rude and mean and potentially offensive. And also obviously, he’s the embodiment of entitlement. And so those were the characteristics that I latched onto that I had a lot of fun with. And I was like, OK, what is the vocal manifestation of that? That was the most fun for me.
Richardson: New aspect of the character, yes. It’s the fact that he’s a confident nerd. I really appreciate that he is not a fully bullied nerd but he’s gotten this confidence in this level of maturity, but then immaturity here and there and his selfishness. I really appreciate that. And how he gets from here to there. I’m very curious to see how that plays out and his sobriety. He’s a sober Shaggy.
Ray Cordeiro, a fixture of the music scene in Hong Kong for some seven decades, died on Friday, age 98.
His funeral committee said on Saturday local time that Cordeiro, full name Raimundo Maria Cordeiro, but much better known as “Uncle Ray,” died on Friday at the CUHK Medical Centre in Hong Kong. The cause of death was not disclosed, but the committee said that friends and family sent him off with a version of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Born on Dec. 12, 1924, Cordeiro had stints as a prison warder and a bank clerk, before beginning his broadcasting career in 1949 at Radio Rediffusion. By 1960, he was appointed head of light music at Radio Hong Kong, which later became today’s RTHK. Cordeiro continued as a presenter at RTHK until 2021.
As far back as 2000, he way picked up a Guinness Record as the world’s most durable DJ. His “All the Way with Ray” show on RTHK ran largely unbroken from 1970 until May 2021.
His early interviews with The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard were notable, and he was recognized by Elvis Presley Enterprises for his contribution – in latter years, the three-hour, late-night “All the Way” show would invariably begin with an Elvis track.
Cordeiro was honored with Hong Kong’s Silver Bauhinia Star last year. Other honors included an MBE in 1987, an Honorary Fellowship from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts in 2012 and an Honorary Doctorate of Social Science from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2022. RTHK presented Cordeiro with a lifetime achievement award in 1997.
“Dr Cordeiro (Uncle Ray) made significant contributions to the broadcasting industry in the past 70 years and was held in high regard in the sector. He was the host of the longest-running radio program in Hong Kong, ‘All the Way with Ray’, with great success. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr Cordeiro for his lifelong contributions to the broadcasting industry, and extend my deepest condolences to his family. We will fondly remember him,” said Hong Kong’s Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Algernon Yau.
“Uncle Ray guided us in appreciating music with his sound professional skills, broad experience and friendly voice over many decades. He was a prominent figure in Hong Kong popular culture and our kind senior, making considerable contributions to the Hong Kong music scene. We are saddened by his passing and he will be remembered fondly,” said Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Kevin Yeung.
Many actors, particularly early in their careers, are wary of taking similar roles to avoid being pigeonholed to a specific type of character.
While it’s a blessing to get regular roles, some actors have talked about typecasting in Hollywood – the effect it has on their careers and how to escape it. Here are 18 actors who’ve spoken about typecasting and how to overcome it:
What actors do you always see playing similar roles? Let us know in the comments below!
TV and Movies
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Though we’re all excited to see the big blockbusters that come out of 2023, we’re also looking ahead to 2024 and picking out the top titles that we know will deliver. One of those is the sequel to Todd Phillips’ 2019 film Joker, titled Joker: Folie à Deux. The second movie will see Joaquin Phoenix return as the titular character, along with Zazie Beetz as Sophie. Exciting news came last year when it was announced Lady Gaga would be joining the cast as beloved DC character Harley Quinn, and artists have been imagining what that could look like.
Lady Gaga rose to fame as a musician, of course, but has since become a movie star. Her biggest films include A Star is Born, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, and House of Gucci. We have no doubt she’ll receive critical acclaim for her upcoming role in Joker: Folie à Deux.
See what Lady Gaga could look like as Harley Quinn in Joker 2
Joker: Folie á Deux is due out in 2024, and while we wait for more news to come out about the film, take a look at this awesome image created by artist @83pixelstudios on Instagram. It imagines Lady Gaga as Harley alongside Phoenix as the Joker.
Pretty awesome! I’m personally really excited to see Gaga acting alongside Phoenix, as he’s one of my favorite actors.
Just like Phoenix isn’t the first actor (or the last) to play the Joker on the big screen, fans of the DC Universe know Gaga won’t be the first actress to portray Harley Quinn. Academy Award nominee Margot Robbie played the fan-favorite character in the films Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey, and The Suicide Squad. In October 2022, Robbie talked to MTV News about Gaga taking on the role, as reported by Deadline, and only had supportive things to say:
“It makes me so happy because I said from the very beginning, all I want is for Harley Quinn to be one of those characters, the way like Macbeth or Batman always gets passed from great actor to great actor.”
“I think she’ll do something incredible with it,” Robbie added.
Fingers crossed that in 2023 we’ll get the first look and maybe even a trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux. We cannot wait to see what Gaga will look like as the classic DC character.
Without Cruise’s help, “In the Bedroom” could have looked very different.
Even before Harvey Weinstein was outed a serial sexual abuser, the former mogul struck fear into the hearts of filmmakers for a different reason: his tendency to interfere with the editing process and overrule the visions of young filmmakers.
In a new interview with The New Yorker, Field recalled his dismay when he learned that Weinstein’s Miramax had acquired his debut film “In the Bedroom” at the Sundance Film Festival. While the film was overwhelmingly praised at the festival, Field says he knew that Weinstein’s reputation for re-cutting films could jeopardize the response to its theatrical release. He says the film was ultimately saved by advice from an unlikely source: Tom Cruise.
“I was weeping in the bathroom,” Field said. “I called up Tom Cruise and said, ‘Something terrible has happened.’ He basically said, ‘This is how you’re going to play it. It’s going to take you six months, and you’ll beat him, but you have to do exactly what I’m going to tell you to do, step by step.’”
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Field went on to explain that Cruise told him to let Weinstein change the film as much as he wanted without pushback, then to wait for the recut film to test poorly with audiences. Once that happened, Field should remind Weinstein of the strong reviews that the original cut received and suggest that he release that version instead.
Field did exactly that, and he says that the plan worked exactly the way Cruise said it would. “In the Bedroom” went on to be a massive success and pick up five Oscar nominations, with Field scoring nods for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
While Field is currently enjoying rave reviews and a strong award season showing for “TÁR,” he’s still no stranger to the difficulties that independent filmmakers so often face. His infamous struggles to secure financing for his projects led to a 16-year gap between his second film, “Little Children,” and “TÁR.” And in a recent interview with IndieWire, he opined about how the theatrical landscape has become increasingly hostile to arthouse directors looking to see their films projected on film.
“I mean, nothing has changed about making a movie,” he said. “I think the world for cinema-goers has changed drastically in a way that I probably needn’t add to. Other people have said it at least as well or better than I could and have been attacked or inflamed for it. But let’s put it this way. I went out to tech theaters in New York today and it was really depressing. Super depressing.”
Gerard Butler’s latest film, Plane, is conquering the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Lionsgate
Gerard Butler is ready to reclaim his place as a big movie star with Plane, his latest action film that premiered this week and has everyone talking about it. Especially the audience, who seemed to be fascinated with the explosive story and Butler’s action-packed performance.
The action-survival thriller follows pilot Brodie Torrance, who saves his passengers from a thunderstorm by landing his plane on a remote and highly dangerous island. But that will be the beginning of an angry fight for survival since most travelers will be held hostage by an armed group. In such a situation, the only person Torrance can count on is a man named Louis Gaspar, who is accused of murder and transported by the FBI on the same flight. Each will need the other to survive this challenge.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
After its debut, the movie is currently certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with 74% of positive reviews from the critics and 95% from the audience, which is the highest audience rating in his career. Besides its great reception, the movie is performing pretty well at the box office, just behind Avatar: The Way of Water and M3gan, which have dominated theaters in the past few weeks. Plane is expected to collect between $7 and $10 million in its first weekend, according to Deadline.
Butler has become a massive action star, starring in movies like 300 andLondon Has Fallen and occasionally acting in rom-coms such as The Ugly Truth or The Bounty Hunter.
But, as can often happen with actors who focus on the world of action, injuries can come with the role. In this case, a hazardous accident resulted in Butler burning himself with acid.
“No matter what I’m doing, I manage to hurt myself […] We’re also shooting in Puerto Rico, so I’m covered in sweat, and the adrenaline, and the nose is running and everything. And I guess especially with Covid, you realize why this thing spreads, right, because I’m rubbing my face, and suddenly it’s in my throat, it’s in my mouth, it’s up my nose, it’s in my eyes, it’s burning my face. And I mean burning. And it turns out this is essentially phosphoric acid.”
Right now, his next movie, Kandahar, is in post-production. The story follows Tom Harris, an undercover CIA operative stuck deep in Afghanistan’s hostile territory. He must fight his way out, alongside his Afghan translator, to an extraction point in Kandahar, all while avoiding the elite special forces tasked with hunting them down.
Based on the director’s childhood, James Gray’s Armageddon Time tells the story of 12-year-old Paul (newcomer Banks Repeta), and how his Jewish family reacts to his friendship with a Black student, Johnny (Jaylin Webb), in early ’80s New York. Both boys share a love of space flight, and their pre-teen dreams take their imaginations light years away from their mundane lives. But the backdrop is a moment of tension, as Ronald Reagan, seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for president, stirs up civil unrest in the country. Paul’s father, Irving, played by Succession’s Jeremy Strong, despises Reagan’s dog-whistle provocations and screams at his image when he appears on television. But, he wonders, being from a vulnerable minority himself, is it wise for him to allow his son’s friendship to continue?
Gray was looking for an actor who could imprint his father with an almost Willy Loman-like stamp, though the role has also been likened to a Jewish Stanley Kowalski with a PhD, definitely not hagiography.
Strong knew that Gray had met with other actors. He desperately wanted to work with the man who’d made seven pictures, four of them with Joaquin Phoenix. There was also Gray’s screenplay which Strong likens to a “musical score in terms of its level of precision. “But Strong says he experienced a “profound doubt” as to whether he was capable “of what the role required.” “And at the same time, there was just a counter force that feels a need to move toward that feeling,” Strong says.
Gray says he picked Strong because he could see the actor’s commitment to digging deep to play Irving. “But I couldn’t help him. He had to find Irving himself,” he says. That was not helpful, says Strong. The actor says that there was an instance where Gray refused to assist him in his desire to find out relevant information about the director’s father. Eventually Gray acquiesced without a fight. Rare because “I fight a lot,” Gray admits.
He and Strong didn’t grapple or argue “because Jeremy is very communicative with what he’s going through. When the actor’s communicative you then say, to yourself anyway, “I’d like to help. And how directly can I get to the bottom of what’s troubling this person.” Joaquin is obviously fantastic as well, but he’s different,” says Gray.
Having followed the pair from Cannes to Telluride and now awards season, Baz Bamigboye pins Gray and Strong down to discuss the film’s very topical themes.
From left, Jaylin Webb and Banks Repeta.
Focus Features/Everett Collection
DEADLINE: James, when did you first notice Jeremy, and when did you know you wanted him to play Irving?
JAMES GRAY: Well, after I Zoomed with him. I didn’t know who he was, and then my wife was telling me how great he was, so I wanted to catch up.
JEREMY STRONG: James doesn’t watch anything from the last, like, three or four decades…
DEADLINE: You don’t watch TV?
GRAY: That’s not true! I watch movies. I just don’t watch a ton of television. Not out of snob-bery. I want to be clear about that because on TV, there’s some great stuff. But, as I’ve said before, I’m trying to be an expert in at least one thing in my life. So I watch a lot of old movies because I think that’s the basics, the rudiments of the history of it. And so I don’t really want to dedicate 60 hours of my life to The Wire, which I hear is a masterpiece. I’ve never done it. It’s overwhelming to me to watch a billion hours of television, you know? I feel that a movie is one hour and 48 minutes. It’s really that.
STRONG: The truth is for me, you know, James is such a heavyweight filmmaker who I’ve revered for my whole adult life. And of course the actors that he’s worked with and the performances that he’s gotten from those actors, I mean, the work that Joaquin [Phoenix] did in all of those films, the work, I think Ad Astra is my favorite performance of [Brad] Pitt’s.
I think he’s a director that as an actor you would swim across the ocean to work with. And it was apparent to me in our Zoom — I could just feel, as one can — that he wasn’t really familiar with my work.
DEADLINE: How did that lack of familiarity express itself?
STRONG: It didn’t express itself in any sort of explicit way. It was more a sense that one gets. So I had to figure out a way [to impress him], because I really wanted to do this with him. And he was looking at other actors — some great, great actors who are friends of mine — to do this. And I wrote to him, saying I felt I had this character in me. His capacity for love, his incomprehension, his feelings of inadequacy, his goofiness, his rage, all those things I felt I had within me, and I recognized them from experiences in my own life.
The character is described as “a Jewish Stanley Kowalski with a Ph.D.” which is really an incredible and vivid description, but also a gauntlet to throw down. I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ and at the same time, ‘I have to do this.’
DEADLINE: So, James, what were you seeing from your end?
GRAY: My wife said he was great, and my wife has fantastic taste. When she says to me, “This actor’s great,” it’s 99.9 percent certain that the person’s excellent. and that’s why I thought, ‘Well, I should do this Zoom.’ What I saw was that he liked me a lot, so immediately, I thought he was intelligent. [Laughs] Joking aside, I thought he was great. I mean, he was so smart. He had such a fantastic ability to understand human beings, you know? And he quoted something. I don’t even remember what, but it sounded all fancy and way smarter than I am, which is great. You always want to surround yourself with people who are smarter and more interesting than you.
He had passion for the part, and he understood it. I feel that when you work with an actor, if they get it, what you’re trying to do, and they’re not asking for more scenes, usually, it’s a pretty good indicator that they’re going to do a great job. So that night, I went and watched the first three episodes of Succession, if memory serves me correctly. I then wound up watching a huge lot more, although I’m now behind again. And then I saw Aaron Sorkin’s movie [The Trial of the Chicago 7]. I saw a bunch of other things and it was basically, the IMDB search on Jeremy, and I tried to become an expert on him.
STRONG: I don’t know if you remember this, James, but I was in Denmark at the time. I have a house about an hour outside of Copenhagen, in this fishing village on the ocean, but I don’t have Wi-Fi there, so I had taken the train into Copenhagen to Zoom with you. I told you that, and you were like, “Why on earth would you take the train to Zoom with me?” [Laughs] I’m glad I took that train.
Jeremy Strong
Focus Features/Everett Collection
DEADLINE: So James, what’s going through your head as you are watching him in Succession? Are you thinking, “OK, is this the right thespian to portray a character based on my father?”
GRAY: When I look at actors, I never, ever think, ‘Hmm, is the actor right for the part that I have in my head?’ I think that’s a very dangerous approach. What I look for is their total commitment to whatever they’re doing in the work. To me, the process is that the actor is completely dedicated, and that’s how you get an organic surprise. In other words, the actor is doing things you committed to and are consistent with the character that you and he or she or they have talked about. But it’s about moving past that, you know? The actor shouldn’t be doing exactly what I predicted they should do two years before. That’s not interesting. That’s crap. So what I look for is the dedication of the actor to the work.
DEADLINE: Jeremy, from your standpoint: was there anything else that you did to prepare for that first Zoom?
STRONG: If anything, I experienced a profound doubt that I was capable of what this role required, and at the same time, there was just a counter force in me that felt a need to move toward that feeling, if that makes sense. And it’s the intersection of those two things that’s the most fertile creative ground I’ve always sought for the kind of relationships in which an actor and a director have parity in terms of process and the way they feel toward the work. And James is a director that I hope I get to work with for the rest of my life, because I know what we could make together.
I feel more and more that a script, even a great script, is essentially a blueprint and that you are embarking on a voyage of discovery together. And the thing is only as good as the discoveries you make in the process. So that requires both being intrepid about it but also being open. And one of the incredible things I discovered about James, for someone who’d written a very, very precise script, is how open he was. One of the first things he said to me was, “Whatever you do, don’t nail it.” I can count on one hand the great directions that I’ve gotten from theater directors and film directors that have stayed with me my whole life, and that’s certainly one of them. James is in the tradition of those great filmmakers who are looking for moments that catch fire and moments of unexpected truth. You know, there’s a great documentary about Picasso where you watch him painting and the cameras behind the canvas, and it’s called the Mystery of Picasso and…
GRAY: He’s painting on glass.
STRONG: Yeah, painting on the glass. And he says what he’s looking for is the unexpectedness of the naked truth. And James is going after the same statement. This unvarnished truth, which you have to prepare the ground in a certain way for that to even be possible. But that commitment to the truth and a passionate commitment to veracity is a wonderful thing to find in a fellow traveler.
DEADLINE: So James, when did you say, “OK, I want this actor to be in my film?”
GRAY: Right after the Zoom.
STRONG: Really?
GRAY: Yeah, because when you see that level of commitment and passion in an actor, it almost never translates to mediocre work. I’ve never encountered that. Maybe that case can exist. Maybe there’s somebody like Eve Harrington, who wants the part so bad and pretends, but I’ve never had that. When I see an actor who’s that committed and that interested, it’s going to translate because the person is open and committed.
That’s everything in acting, you know? Is the actor willing, and is the director willing, to explore, talk, think, take risks, and not do the opposite of why we got into the business? Let me explain this to you because it’s actually, weirdly, one of the more tricky and more important concepts: 99.9 percent of all actors and directors got into the business because, in the high school play, they wanted all the ladies in the back row to love them. I understand that impulse. And yet, when we finally get to set, it’s the exact opposite of what we need to do. The exact opposite is to ignore the ladies in the back row and to focus on getting rid of the need for approbation or admiration — to be honest to yourself in the moment and to be willing to be disliked. That’s risk. That’s art.
STRONG: To be willing to be disliked and willing to make a fool of oneself.
GRAY: Yeah. You need that because the art that lasts is the stuff that really asks us to engage in some of our more embarrassing or unsafe qualities, because that’s what makes us human. You know what’s not human? You see an ad for, like, Victoria’s Secret. It’s very nice, but it’s not a work of art, really. It doesn’t engage me with what it means to be a human being.
I don’t feel it to be a comment on sincerity, it doesn’t mean anything to me. So the question is, are you going to do work that reaches out and takes that long arm of compassion and says, “Here’s what it means to be a member of the human race.” And then to do that, it means a willingness to not want to be loved. So that’s what I see. That’s what I like.
STRONG: It’s true what James is saying about the reasons that many, many of us sort of start doing this, which is about a form of self-presentation that might get you some kind of validation from others. Or just simply to be liked or to belong. And ridding yourself of those needs is important so that you can be unfettered, free, and open. So, for me, when a director calls action, it’s in a sense about robbing yourself of skill and security and entering a place that’s quite perilous. And you have to do that through character. That’s where craft comes in. You have to take your cool kid suit off.
DEADLINE: But if you’re going to play someone who’s in pain, who’s fallible and who’s a real person struggling with what people struggle with, and in turmoil the way Irving Graff is in turmoil, you have to really go there.
STRONG: By the way, this is a tricky, tricky thing here guys. I’m sorry to interrupt. The tricky thing here is of course, what he’s talking about. It’s really pretty much anathema to a lot of things. It’s anathema to capitalism. It’s anathema to making people feel comfortable buying new products. It’s anathema to the way the world is built right now. That’s the struggle, and that’s why there’s risk. Now you can bury it in something that has great popular appeal. It doesn’t mean everything that’s popular is bad. That’s not what I mean.
But what is evident is that this kind of risk does involve a battle against the system that doesn’t really want it all the time. And that’s a…
GRAY: Doesn’t want what? Authenticity?
Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong.
Anne Joyce/Focus Features/Everett Collection
DEADLINE: The thing I love about this movie is that almost every day, I see things that seem to relate to it. Even watching Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s documentary on Netflix talking about the unconscious bias of the royal family…
GRAY: Well, that’s a good thing, I think. I mean, it’s not really the job or the function of artists, if I may call us that, to offer you a positive view in the face of everything that is in the world. It’s our obligation to convey to you how we see the world, how we feel that it was or is and not what it should be. That’s a very important distinction. And we have a job to confront things with honesty. Class and race, all these things go into the soup of what it means to be a human being today. There are things that are really unpleasant that we have to confront. I don’t think it serves us well to avoid them at all or to give easy answers.
DEADLINE: Tell me about the kind of conversations that you had with Jeremy to place him in your story.
GRAY: Jeremy will confirm this. While we were shooting, I didn’t talk that much, with the exception of some adjustments to certain scenes. The job of the director, I think, is to help the actor realize their beauty and greatness and talent. It’s not my job to tell the actor, “This is what you have to do.” My job is to help them live and be beautiful. So I resist saying, “Here’s what I want.” That’s not what I’m after. Once I’ve cast the thing, my attitude is always, ‘How can I help the actor be their best?’ Because I’ve already made the decision to cast that person. Jeremy would probably be able to answer this better than I would. He asked me a lot of questions, and I don’t know how satisfactorily I answered them [laughs] but once the guy was in the picture, it was his job to get beautiful and find it.
STRONG: I’ll say I’ve played a lot of characters who were based on real people, many of them living people, so I’m used to the process of saturating yourself with everything you possibly can from the template of the real person and then making it your own. In this case, I never felt a greater challenge or responsibility in my life because this person was real and because it was the filmmaker’s father.
Finding a way in was imperative, and I was really in despair of it because, initially, I don’t think James wanted to share very much. I think he felt, like, “It’s on the page and I don’t want you to do some kind of portraiture or imitation of my parents.” I became like a detective, obsessed with finding clues. And so I got on a plane with a tape recorder, went and found James and started that process of just plying him with a million questions.
I asked James to answer the Proust questionnaire as his father, and then I gave the tape recorder to his wife and they were going to see his father the next day. And so they had him answer all of those questions and they videoed him doing that. And that gave me a sort of nodule of truth that became the basis of everything else. But really, we didn’t talk much during the making of it because preparation is 90, maybe 95 percent of the thing.
DEADLINE: James, why were you so resistant to participate in Jeremy’s desire to learn more about the character he was going to be playing? What was your hesitancy there?
GRAY: The answer always must come from the actor. The director is not giving answers. The answer is within the actor. The actor is conveying. The actor’s job is not to act. It’s one of the great wrong terms ever. The wall must come down between the actor and the character. If the answers are coming from me, it means the actor is not finding it within him or her or themselves. So I don’t give answers to the actor. The actor must find the answers. It’s my job to ask the questions if I think they need help to get to that answer themselves. If I’m giving them the answer, that means it’s a real problem. I mean, I guess I gave the answers to the kids. But they’re 12, you know? It’s a very different language.
STRONG: I agree with James. Every time you play a character, it’s like you’re building a new instrument that’s never existed before, and then you have to learn to play it. And only once that instrument has been built and learned can you answer your own questions.
Anthony Hopkins in Armageddon Time.
Focus Features/Everett Collection
DEADLINE: James, you went out for dinner, what were the discussions like, did you fight? I’m trying to get to the heart of this collaboration.
GRAY: I don’t think we fought at all. Not a single fight actually, which is a weird thing. I usually fight a lot.
DEADLINE: I’ve heard this.
GRAY: With Joaquin [Phoenix] I fight a lot, but it’s a different sort of thing. Because lot of times, Jeremy is very communicative with what he’s going through. When the actor’s communicative you then say, to yourself anyway, “I’d like to help. And how directly can I get to the bottom of what’s troubling this person.” Joaquin is obviously fantastic as well, but he’s different.
You know, his process is different, so you don’t hear what’s troubling him. So then I kind of get frustrated. That’s where the fight comes. Although the last two pictures I made with him, I didn’t fight with him either. I mean, mostly what it is, is I like to let them do what they do. I almost never gave Jeremy direction before take one. I mean, I don’t think I ever did really, because you want to see what they bring.
And then there was, I think maybe on day one or two or something, I think I said, “Well, you know, it’s a little bit verging on, you have to do a little bit less.” It’s a bad word because it doesn’t really mean a lot, but you have to do a little bit less of the florid version of Irving because the cinema is so intimate. It reads, the camera reads everything. So sometimes actors, even if they’re honest, they need to understand that you’re not playing to, even the space that you’re in, you’re playing something smaller than that space.
DEADLINE: What do you think, both of you, the film says about America today? I know it’s set in the 1980s, but it does speak to so much that’s going on now. For example, when Donald Trump had dinner in Florida with a white supremacist, I thought of your movie and the scene at the school with Trump’s father, Fred Trump…
GRAY: Well, first of all, thank you. But what do I think it says about today? You know, nothing comes from nothing. It’s like history has very complex threads, and you can never get to the bottom of it. To try is folly, but that doesn’t mean you don’t try. You and I look at the world today and what we see is an unendingly complex situation that has been handled excessively poorly by our institutions. And it’s our job to point out how difficult it will be to unpack those things. It’s basically as simple as that.
Every time I buy a Nike shoe or a sneaker of any kind, I’m contributing to a brutal capitalist system in which the person who made my shoe is probably oppressed in the most vicious fashion. There is no action that we can take that is without a component of ethical and moral compromise of some kind. And it’s incumbent upon us, since we can’t live a clean existence, to know this and to work as hard as we can to make the world a better place. To contribute just a little bit to this mountain of endeavor that we call progress.
So there are two alternatives, right? The first is to make art, which expresses this in all of its complexity. And the other is to bury your head in the sand and think that the best version of this solution would be to simply focus on the life cycle of Captain Marvel. There isn’t really a third path, I don’t think, at least not that I’ve discovered. I prefer the one that engages with what is actually going on in the world and acknowledges its many layers. Not the one that tells me a whole bucket of bullsh*t. And this comes down to something really as simple as that. Knowing what is going on in the world, are you awake to it, or is your head buried in the sand? And are you doing a corporation’s bidding without knowing it, or aren’t you? We all have our ideological box. You can’t get out of it. But what you can do is say, ‘This is my box; this is where I am. What can I do to do better?’
STRONG: That’s so beautifully said. I guess one of the things that struck me so powerfully when I first read the script was the way in which this moment in 1980 was an inflection point in this country’s history, a moment where the social and political, and racial divisions that have now widened into unbridgeable gulfs were the fault lines of those things existing in that schoolyard. He found the locus of those things in that schoolyard in a moment where a kid chooses avoidance and social acceptance over integrity and moral courage. He’s a kid, but we’re all indicted by that moment. And I certainly feel indicted by that moment, all the ways in which in my life I have failed, in that moment, to act with courage or integrity or ways in which I’ve averted my gaze.
Complicity is really the insidious thing that perpetuates all of these systems, and the complicity here is not even malevolent on the part of the family; it’s just systemic. This is a Jewish family who has known persecution. And in this father has a very primal will to survive, to protect his children. There’s a kind of Darwinistic survival mechanism going on. And, at the same time, that has catastrophic costs for Johnny. His dream is completely expendable to the father but also to society.
GRAY: There’s one last thing I would add. Sometimes you hear people say, and not just about this movie, “Oh, is it about white guilt? Is this a white guilt movie?” And, really, what’s important to emphasize, it’s not about white guilt.
The whole idea behind it is that not only does the main character kid fail, but he benefits in some way. It works out really well for him. There’s something else going on when that happens. As Jeremy put it, the lack of acknowledgment of Johnny’s dream is not the movie throwing that character under the bus, so to speak. [Society is] throwing him under the bus, not the movie. Which is a very big distinction, because it’s incumbent upon people to see past the ideas that corporations don’t want us to see or know about. They want artists and people writing about art to fight each other, because that is the way that they can actually seize more control for themselves.
But you know what James Baldwin said? When he wrote The Fire Next Time [in 1963], he said that in this “water wheel”, as he called it, this big economy that was new in the post-war era, it was incumbent among reasonably conscious whites and reasonably conscious Blacks to join together like lovers, in his words, to forge an understanding and an awareness and a consciousness. I wanted to say this because it’s very important, given Johnny’s dream, that the movie’s point is that they throw him under the bus. It’s not just some random thing I threw in [as a writer] because it’s my attitude is that his dream doesn’t matter. This, to me, is the prevailing sadness of the story.
DEADLINE: That the dream mattered and it still matters. Well, look, we could talk for many hours about this in a way that we probably couldn’t about the Marvel movie…
GRAY: I didn’t mean to sh*t on that movie!
DEADLINE: No, I understand that. But what I’m going to say is that there’s something that’s happened in our popular culture that we seem to want everything to end happily. And life just is not like that. And it’s very rare for me; I see plays and movies every day of my life, and it’s very rare for me to see honesty. Painful honesty.
Read the digital edition of Deadline’s The Best of 2022 magazine here.
GRAY: Well, that’s the idea. That was why I got to this thing about white guilt. There’s no lesson learned, so they don’t solve the problem at the end and become better people. No, this is not what our function is. And that doesn’t mean the movie is endorsing it. The movie is not endorsing unhappiness; it’s saying, “This is what we grapple with, and it’s our job to show this to you with as much honesty as we can muster.” That is our job.
“38 at the Garden” looks back on Jeremy Lin’s phenomenal scoring streak with the New York Knicks in 2012 and what it meant for Asian Americans. Filmmaker Frank Chi interviews Lin along with comedian Hassan Minaj, journalist Lisa Ling and others who reflect on how “Linsanity” became about more than just basketball.
Elvis Presley’s only daughter died Thursday at age 54, just two days after walking the red carpet at the Golden Globes. She attended in support of Elvis, the Baz Luhrmann biopic of her father.
Bush recalled his brief red carpet talk with an ashen and unsteady Lisa Marie.
“She was very uneven in her balance,” Bush, 51, told Fox LA. “The speech was very slow. And, definitely, when the interview was over, I turned to my producer next to me and said, ‘Something’s off here.’”
“She was cognizant. She was certainly with it, just a second slow. But she was there. She was definitely there, but just a tad off in some way,” Bush added.
For Bush’s interviews, stars had to navigate two steps to the platform where he stood. Presley struggled with doing that, Bush said.
“It was clear that she was not coming up the two flights. I went down and met her on the carpet itself,” he said.
Video of Presley at the event shows her walking unsteadily at the Globes. She was escorted by manager Jerry Schilling, and in the middle of the interview with Bush, she told Schilling, “I’m gonna grab your arm,” ostensibly for support.
An official cause of death on Lisa Marie Presley has not been determined.
– Releases in theaters worldwide in May – First trailer released in October 2022 – Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and Dave Bautista among returning cast members – Will Poulter and Chukwudi Iwuji among newcomers – Picks up after The Guardians’ Holiday Special – Promises to be highly emotional – Could be the final time this Guardians line-up appears in the MCU – Fourth Guardians movie hasn’t been greenlit
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is the last time Marvel’s lovable group of ragtag superhero adventurers will team up on the big screen.
Well, in its current guise anyway. With director James Gunn already co-leading DC’s Cinematic Universe (DCU) into its new era, and some actors set to call time on their Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) careers, Guardians 3 will call time on the group’s current line-up.
With just one more Guardians movie to enjoy, what do we know about the Marvel Phase 5 movie? Below, we’ve compiled everything worth knowing about Guardians of the Galaxy 3. That includes its release date, first teaser, cast, plot details, the movie franchise’s future, and more.
Major spoilers follow for the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, their Disney Plus Holiday special, and their appearances in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 release date
Hey, Gamora, when is Guardians 3 out in theaters? (Image credit: Marvel Studios)
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 launches in theaters worldwide on May 5, 2023.
It’ll be a while before another teaser is released. These days, Marvel tends to release official trailers about a month before one of its films launches in cinemas. That was the case for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which received its second and final trailer on January 9 (Quantumania arrives on February 17). In short: don’t expect a new Guardians 3 teaser until late March at the very earliest.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cast
Chris Pratt returns as Peter Quill/Star-Lord. (Image credit: Marvel Studios)
Here’s Guardians of the Galaxy 3’s cast list so far:
Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord
Zoe Saldaña as Gamora
Dave Bautista as Drax
Karen Gillan as Nebula
Pom Klementieff as Mantis
Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon
Vin Diesel as Groot
Sean Gunn as Kraglin
Will Poulter as Adam Warlock
Chuwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary
Maria Bakalova as Cosmo the Spacedog
Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha
Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord
Michael Rosenbaum as Martinex
Daniela Mechior as TBA
Nico Santos as TBA
Pratt, Saldaña, Bautista, Gillan, Klementieff, Cooper, Diesel, and Gunn all reprise their roles from previous Guardians movies. Bakalova (Bodies Bodies Bodies, Borat 2) also returns as Cosmo, the telekinetic spacedog that made its MCU debut in the Guardians’ Holiday Special. Meanwhile, Debicki, Stallone, and Rosenbaum are back in their supporting roles from Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
Of the newcomers, Poulter’s Adam Warlock is perhaps the most significant. The powerful superhero, who director James Gunn describes as “more of a traditional superhero – although hero might be pushing it” (via Entertainment Weekly (opens in new tab) (EW)) – was teased in one of Guardians 2’s post-credits scenes, but he’ll make his official debut in Guardians 3.
For the uninitiated: in the comics, Adam Warlock is an artificial, perfect human specimen created by a group of scientists known as the Enclave. After he rebels against his creators (and throws down with Thor), Warlock – simply referred to as “Him” in his early comic book appearances – encounters The High Evolutionary, who gives him the title “Warlock”. Adam helps The High Evolutionary save his artificially created planet – Counter-Earth – from the evil Man-Beast and receives the Soul Gem (where have we heard that name before, eh?) before departing.
Adam Warlock’s comics history becomes somewhat complicated after that. For one, he helps the Avengers defeat Thanos, but he also has an evil version – Magus – who’s born after Warlock temporarily wields the Infinity Gauntlet. Given his ties to The High Evolutionary – more on him shortly – and how his origins have been retrofitted for the MCU (he’s created by Debicki’s Sovereign leader Ayesha in Guardians 2, not the Enclave), we suspect some parts of his comic history will be used in Guardians 3.
Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 arrives in theaters May 5, 2023. #GotGVol3 pic.twitter.com/oESF8MTKGYDecember 1, 2022
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As for The High Evolutionary, he’s a genius-level geneticist who creates highly-evolved, anthropomorphic creatures and artificial worlds. As mentioned, he created the planet Counter-Earth, which we see in Guardians 3’s first teaser. He’s the individual who experimented on Rocket (in the MCU, anyway), turning him from an ordinary raccoon into a bitter, cynical, gun-loving humanoid animal. Expect to see Rocket’s origins in a flashback sequence.
Even though he’s worked alongside superheroes, such as Adam Warlock and Thor, in the comics, The High Evolutionary isn’t a good guy. He uses them as a means to an end – i.e. to protect his research and self-indulgent experiments – which makes him more of a villain. Chukwudi Iwuji, who’ll play The High Evolutionary, has described him as “sociopathic” and “narcissistic” (per Collider (opens in new tab)), and “extremely powerful” and “complex” (per The Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab) (THR)). Unsurprisingly, he’s the main antagonist in Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
Potential cast spoilers follow.
Guardians 3 will pick up after their Disney Plus Holiday Special. (Image credit: Marvel)
There are two actors whose roles are yet to be announced. Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad) has signed on to feature (per Deadline (opens in new tab)), and MCU insiders have suggested she’ll voice Lylla, an anthropomorphic otter who Rocket falls in love with in the comics. We see Lylla in the movie’s first teaser, so she’ll appear in Rocket’s flashback scenes. Don’t be surprised if she ends up dying, too, which would explain why Rocket is so misanthropic when we met him in Guardians 1.
Nico Santos (Superstore, Crazy Rich Asians) is also part of the cast (per Deadline (opens in new tab)), but nobody knows what role he’ll play. Once we know more, we’ll update this section.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 plot
The High Evolutionary will be Guardians 3’s big bad. (Image credit: Marvel Studios)
Here’s the official plot synopsis: “In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, our beloved band of misfits are looking a bit different these days. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.”
Not much to go on, then, but we have some idea of the plot, based on the Guardians’ MCU outings, the film’s teaser, and what the cast and crew have said.
First, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will be incredibly moving. Speaking to Collider (opens in new tab), Gunn said “it’s different from what people are going to expect”. In a chat with EW (opens in new tab), Gunn also said it’s the “hardest thing I’ve ever done”, adding: “This is where things really happen. This is where we get to know the truth about who these characters are, and we face the biggest stakes.”
Bigger stakes mean a more emotional journey for these characters – and the actors playing them. Saldaña told ScreenRant (opens in new tab) that Guardians 3 is a “bittersweet moment” for everyone involved, while Gillan revealed the film’s script left the cast in “floods of tears” (per Yahoo (opens in new tab)).
Thankfully, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 won’t be an entirely somber affair. The threequel retains the self-deprecating humor that made the other films so enjoyable, with Gillan telling The Wrap (opens in new tab): “There’s been way more improv for me this time around than I have ever given before. I don’t know if they’ll make the cut but I hope they do.”
Music lovers will be delighted to hear Gunn has put together another banging, licensed soundtrack for the Guardians’ potentially final hurrah. With Peter Quill gaining access to a Zune MP3 player at the end of Guardians 2, Gunn had free reign to add any number of songs to the film’s soundtrack, telling EW: “I worked twice as hard on this soundtrack as I did on both the first two soundtracks combined.”
So, where are the Guardians at when the movie begins? (Potential story spoilers follow).
Zoe Saldaña dances her way on stage to introduce Brazil Comic Con to the brand new trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3! #GotGV3 #CCXP2022 pic.twitter.com/t9nq7E95VcDecember 1, 2022
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For starters, they’ve set up a safe haven for alien refugees on Knowhere, which was revealed in the Guardians’ Holiday Special. The group purchased Knowhere from the Collector after they parted ways with Thor in Love and Thunder. Cosmo has also joined the team in the interim period.
Quill/Star-Lord is still mourning Gamora, his former love, who was sacrificed by Thanos in Infinity War in exchange for the Soul Stone. However, thanks to Endgame’s time-travel-based events, a younger version of Gamora – an alternate timeline variant of the one Saldaña previously portrayed – is loose in the MCU, and Peter wants to track her down.
We see him searching for her on the Milano’s computer at the end of Endgame and, as we’ve seen in the trailer and first-look images, the pair do cross paths in Guardians 3. Gamora will be reintroduced as the Ravagers’ new leader (per THR (opens in new tab)), which explains why Stallone’s Stakar and Rosenbaum’s Martinex are back. Expect sparks to fly, romantic or otherwise, between Peter and Gamora.
As for the “protecting one of their own” storyline hint, this has to refer to Rocket Raccoon. MCU fans might think The High Evolutionary is looking for Rocket for some reason, meaning the Guardians will have to protect him.
We’ll learn more about Rocket’s backstory in Guardians 3. (Image credit: Marvel Studios)
However, we actually think the Guardians need to keep Rocket safe from the Sovereign/Adam Warlock. Viewers will remember Rocket (and the Guardians by proxy) double-crossed the Sovereign in Guardians 2’s opening sequence. By the time that movie ended, the Guardians had escaped the Sovereign’s clutches, leading Ayesha to create Warlock to exact revenge on them.
Or so we thought. It seems the Sovereign enlisted The High Evolutionary’s help to create Adam Warlock, with the aim of sending him after Rocket and the Guardians. We suspect Warlock will attack Knowhere, but he’ll be unsuccessful in his attempts to kill anyone. That’ll lead Peter and company to track down The High Evolutionary – which is why they travel to Counter-Earth – to discover more about Warlock and stop him, Ayesha, and The High Evolutionary from killing them or, in The High Evolutionary’s case, enacting some form of diabolical masterplan. Gunn has suggested Rocket is the “secret protagonist” of the Guardians franchise and that the third movie shows the “importance of Rocket’s character and who he is” (per EW (opens in new tab)). So it sounds like Rocket will play a major role in this Phase 5 film.
Lastly, the big question on fans’ minds is: which Guardian could die? Rumors abound that Drax and Rocket are the most likely to perish, but MCU leaker Grace Randolph (opens in new tab) has claimed multiple death scenes were filmed to – ironically – stop the movie’s ending from being leaked. In short: just wait until you see Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3: will there be another movie?
Will Adam Warlock join the Guardians of the Galaxy? (Image credit: Marvel Studios)
Probably, but some individuals won’t remain part of the line-up after the threequel.
Meanwhile, Dave Bautista told GQ (opens in new tab) Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is his final outing as Drax, confirming what we heard back in 2021. “I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him,” Bautista said. “But there’s a relief [that it’s over]. It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy – it’s a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff.”
It’s unclear which other main players will depart. Much will depend on how Guardians 3 ends, but it’s possible Rocket could leave for pastures new. That’s if he doesn’t die by sacrificing himself to save the Guardians and defeat The High Evolutionary. Meanwhile, if the 2014 version of Gamora doesn’t join the Guardians, Saldaña might call time on her MCU career, too.
We’d expect the Guardians to exist in some form moving forward. Klementieff told the D23 podcast (opens in new tab) that the franchise isn’t “over, but it’s going to be different”, while Pratt told Extra TV (opens in new tab) he doesn’t know if he’ll have an MCU future post-Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Speaking to Deadline, Gunn added: “It’s not ever going to be the same group of characters for a lot of different reasons. Who knows what will happen with the Guardians franchise in regards to future characters, but in terms of this group of characters, this is the end of their story.”
Adam Warlock has led the group in the comics so, if Pratt hangs up Star-Lord’s twin pistols and helmet (or if Star-Lord dies), Warlock could lead the likes of Mantis, Groot, and Nebula in a new-look team. For his part, Poulter would “love to go on a journey” as Adam Warlock (per The Playlist (opens in new tab)). We’ll have to see what the future holds for the Guardians, but we’d be amazed if they aren’t part of the next two Avengers movies – The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars – at least.
With Oscar balloting now in full force, it might be only appropriate to share my conversation with a man who has already won five of them and once again is in the hunt with his first film in seven years, Bardo, which has been shortlisted for Best International Feature. Alejandro G. Iñárritu joins me for this week’s edition of my Deadline video series, Behind the Lens.
Iñárritu became the first director ever to win back-to-back Oscars in the category — with Birdman (2014) and The Revenant (2015) — since Joseph L. Mankiewicz did it with A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve in 1949-50. On top of that, he also won Best Picture and shared Best Original Screenplay for Birdman, as well as taking a Special Achievement Oscar for his remarkable 2017 Virtual Reality short Carne y Arena, which premiered at Cannes.
Amores Perros (2000) marked his first Oscar nomination, and many since then including 21 Grams, Babel, and Biutiful also been recognized with various major noms from the Academy. But his latest — full title: Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful Of Truths — is his most personal yet, a movie about a filmmaker who has many questions about life, but not as many answers. It is an exploration of numerous themes close to its creator, and we talk about it, and most of the above mentioned movies as well. To watch our conversation just click on the link above.
One wrong turn leads to another, until it’s too late to turn back. Intense stories of crime and punishment. The new anthology series from Howard Gordon (24, The X-Files) “Accused” is a thought provoking thriller and crime drama with deeply human stories that will leave you questioning, the Accused.
This series takes viewers on the journey of the defendant. Each episode opens in a courtroom on the accused, with
Courtesy of FOX
viewers knowing nothing about their crime or how they ended up on trial.
Told from the defendant’s point of view through flashbacks, “Accused” holds a mirror up to the current times with evocative and emotional stories.
Viewers discover how an ordinary person gets caught up in an extraordinary situation, ultimately revealing how one impulsive decision can impact the course of another life — and the lives of others — forever, until it’s too late to turn back.
Courtesy of FOX
Based on the BBC’s BAFTA winning crime anthology. Each episode will have a different case, a completely new cast, be set in a new city and a new story.
Featuring 15 stories of crime and punishment, and the gray areas in between. The show will be seeing a lot of familiar faces in the entertainment industry.
The cast of Accused includes Emmy winners Michael Chiklis (The Shield, Fantastic Four), Molly Parker (Deadwood, The Wicker Man), Margo Martindale (Your Honor, The Watcher), Malcolm-Jamal Warner (Malcolm & Eddie), Rhea Perlman (Matilda, Cheers), Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), along with Aaron Ashmore (Smallville, Warehouse 13), Whitney Cummings (Whitney, Made of Honor), Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Kingsman: The Secret Service), Wendell Pierce (The Wire, Jack Ryan), and more.
Courtesy of FOX
Academy Award Winner Marlee Matlin (CODA), Emmy Winner Billy Porter (Pose), Renowned Indigenous Filmmaker Tazbah Rose Chavez (Reservation Dogs), and Chiklis will all be directing episodes.
Executive-produced by Gordon, Alex Gansa (Homeland, 24) and David Shore (House, The Good Doctor).
“Accused” will take on current topics of our time, while also dealing with topics that are most human.
“Accused” premieres, Sunday, January 22 on Fox at 9/8c.
The acclaimed true crime series from A&E “Accused: Guilty or Innocent?” offers an extraordinary and compelling account of what happens when someone is formally charged with a crime and sent to trial – all solely from the perspective of the accused, their legal team and family members.
“Accused: Guilty or Innocent?” follows the dramatic inside stories – as they unfold – of people facing trial for serious crimes they are alleged to have committed as they prpare for there defense, face trial and receive a verdict. Each claims to be not guilty or that their actions were justifiable. Each immersive episode follows the accused person’s journey as their stories unfold, through the planning of their legal defense, their appearances in court, and, ultimately, awaiting justice. As evidence mounts and the trial approaches, these riveting and emotional stories provide an unprecedented look at what happens when your freedom is on the line.
“Accused: Guilty or Innocent?” is a favorite with A&E viewers, with season three growing over season two. Season three was a Top 5 Crime and Justice series on cable. The series was a finalist in the Television category of the 2021 American Bar Association Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts which honors books, documentaries, other media, and art for their role in fostering the public’s understanding of law and the legal system.
Among the cases featured in the upcoming season are: a young man stabs another man who assaulted his brother and attempted to steal from their family-run gas station. Was it attempted murder or self-defense? Police reopen the cold case murder of a young Marine who was killed in a hotel room and charge the woman who was with him at the time. Is she the mastermind behind his death or an innocent victim? A man falls asleep while driving and kills a construction worker in the road. Was he a reckless driver or an innocent man with an undiagnosed medical condition? A traveling nurse is pulled over for a traffic violation in New Mexico and is arrested for felony burglary carried out in her home state of Ohio. Is she a thug for hire or innocent with a rock-solid alibi?
Follow along at @aetv and @aetvtruecrime and join the conversation using #AccusedAE.
Season 4 is available on demand and to stream on the A&E App and aetv.com. New Episodes air Thursday. 9/8c; stream the next day.
“Accused: Guilty or Innocent?” is produced by Brinkworth Productions. Malcolm Brinkworth, Xander Brinkworth, Susanne Curran, and Jonny Young are Executive Producers. Elaine Frontain Bryant, Shelly Tatro and Brad Holcman are Executive Producers for A&E. A+E Networks holds worldwide distribution rights for “Accused: Guilty or Innocent.”
Aftersun is a stunning film from Charlotte Wells, who tells the story of 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) and her father, Calum (Paul Mescal), who’s taken her on a vacation. Young Sophie doesn’t know it yet, but the trip away with her father will be the last time she ever sees him, as an adult version of her character reveals. The heartbreakingly beautiful story gives flashes of the present as Sophie remembers the hazy, warm days spent with her dad, who was hiding a much more complicated inner life than he revealed to his daughter, who was young enough not to grasp his struggles in full, but old enough to sense something was awry. Aftersun will linger with you long after it’s over, and the ending of the film is what truly sticks: Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” soundtracks a striking, haunting few minutes as Sophie and her dad share one last scene.
Back in late 2021 it was announced that the popular BBC crime drama “Luther” starring Idris Elba was set to continue with a new feature length sequel film which is premiering this March. Idris Elba and Netflix have teased the date for the film. We last saw Detective Chief Inspector John Luther back in 2019 in season 5, so of course the excitement from fans is palpable.
Idris Elba promises that not only will the film be rewarding for long time fans of the series but it will also be an interesting film for newcomers. “If you watched the last season, it picks up after that. but for new audiences who haven’t seen it I think the film is, it’s a whole story, so even if you don’t know Luther, who he is or what, anything about him, the film attempts to be whole for a new audience,” says Elba.
The official synopsis for Luther: The Fallen Sun reads: An epic continuation of the award-winning television saga reimagined for film — a gruesome serial killer is terrorizing London while brilliant but disgraced detective John Luther (Idris Elba) sits behind bars. Haunted by his failure to capture the cyber psychopath who now taunts him, Luther decides to break out of prison to finish the job by any means necessary. The film also stars Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis and Dermot Crowley, who returns as Martin Schenk.
Courtesy of Netflix
Courtesy of Netflix
Courtesy of Netflix
According to Elba the film “has all the ingredients to echo those classic films of the ’90s” This film “will be more murder, more Volvos, more frowning Luther.” Their essential goal behind it is that they “just want to try and take it to a much bigger remit and scale and perhaps international as well.”
Andy Serkis describes his role in the film as his darkest role yet, and that’s saying something for Serkis. “When I first read the script, I almost wanted to throw it in the bin and have a shower, I don’t think I’ve come across anything quite as dark for a long time. And I thought, ‘In fact, do I really actually at this point in the world and time and my life, want to go down this particular rabbit hole of something that’s so hard to fathom in humanity?'” Said Serkis.
Directed by Jamie Payne, Written by Neil Cross, Produced by Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, David Ready, Neil Cross, Idris Elba and Executive Produced by Dan Finlay, Brendan Ferguson, Miki Emmerich, Kris Thykier, Priscilla Parish and Dermot Crowley.
Coming to Netflix March 10th, 2023 and in select theaters February 24th.
Disney+Hotstar’s ‘Hostages 2’ with 12 episodes of under 40 minutes each despite its thriller genre, seems stretched. Read our full review of the new web show here.
Disney+Hotstar’s Hostages 2 with a whopping 12 episodes of under 40 minutes each despite its thriller genre, seems stretched, and I was certainly disappointed with Sudhir Mishra, known for some great cinema. Hostages 2, which takes off from where season one ended, gives us all the ingredients of a popular Bollywood bonanza that includes gun fights, kidnappers who kidnap for an emotionally moving reason, office politics, bad blood among top cops, corruption in the higher echelons of political power, a swimming pool scene with a bikini-clad woman and a killer who appears as evil as Hannibal Lecter. Some of these are totally unnecessary that merely added up to the number of episodes. A plot that could have been wrapped up in just six episodes goes on to do double that number.
What is even more disappointing is that there are scenes which reminded me of the recent Spanish crime caper, Money Heist. Take, for instance, Ayesha Khan (played by Divya Dutta), essaying a police negotiator in a temporary camp set outside a dilapidated building where the kidnappers and the hostages are holed up. Khan resembles the police negotiator in Money Heist, who later crosses over to the other side of the fence and becomes the kingpin’s (called Professor) lover. Wow!
Season Two of Hostages does not go that far, probably bearing in mind Indian cultural sentiments (what will my folks think of me!), but is no match for the kind of character buildup that the Spanish series gave us. Ayesha prides herself as one who understands the psychology of the criminal, and is often at loggerheads with her chief, Karnail Singh (Kanwaljit Singh). She somehow wants to thread the path of peace by convincing her boss (he is a more a soldier), ready to shoot them all – a conflict we saw in Money Heist as well.
After bad cop Prithvi Singh (Ronit Bose Roy) with a heart of gold kidnaps a State Chief Minister, who also holds the country’s Defence portfolio, Kushwant Lal Handa (Dalip Tahil), in order to save his seriously ill wife, Sabah, through a bone marrow transplant, things go wrong. They had to. In the first place Handa is unwilling to give his illegitimate daughter, Prithvi’s wife, his bone marrow. And beyond all this is a huge economic and political conspiracy that wants Handa dead, because he is an obstacle to a multi-million deal involving a multinational company.
The rest of the story in not only as predictable, but has incidents that are uncomfortably distracting. Now, why would the series add a part about an assassin – who in the true Lee Harvey Oswald (who killed John Kennedy) style – takes up position on a tall building to shoot a foreign Prime Minister visiting Delhi. But the poor guy, hefty and probably weighing a 100 kg, is outsmarted by a wisp of a girl with the help of presumably a hairpin! This is literally teasing and taunting our basic intelligence.
Writing anything more about the plot would unleash spoilers, but in the final analysis, Hostage 2 could have had some merit if it had cut the fat out. And, yes, Indian cinema and series – in general — must stop taking the easy way out by running and re-running beaten incidents. What about some originality guys?
According to People, Prince Harry discussed the emotional ramifications of the royal line of succession in a new interview with The Telegraph, released on January 12. “As I know full well, within my family, if it’s not us,” Harry said while pointing to himself, “it’s going to be someone else.”
He continued, “And though William and I have talked about it once or twice, and he has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility, I still feel a responsibility knowing that out of those three children, at least one will end up like me, the spare. And that hurts, that worries me.”
UK Press Pool/Getty Images
Despite many shocking revelations in Spare, particularly involving the author’s “beloved brother and archnemesis,” the royal family has remained tight-lipped about Prince Harry’s tell-all. In fact, Will and Kate pointedly ignored a direct question about the memoir from an ITV journalist while visiting Liverpool on January 12. However, if Prince Harry was told that his niece and nephews are not his responsibility, it’s unlikely the Prince and Princess of Wales will be pleased with this update.
Regarding the Sussex children, Prince Harry says he would “love nothing more” than for three-year-old Archie and one-year-old Lilibet to get to know their family on the other side of the pond. “I’ve said before that I’ve wanted a family, not an institution,” he told People in his recent cover interview. “So of course, I would love nothing more than for our children to have relationships with members of my family, and they do with some, which brings me great joy.”
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend have welcomed their family’s newest addition!
The couple shares a six-year-old daughter, Luna, and a four-year-old son, Miles, and have been open about suffering a devastating pregnancy loss in September 2020. Just over two years later, Legend announced the exciting news at a private concert, telling the crowd “the little baby” was born “this morning” on January 13. A baby Capricorn!
According to People, the singer also shared that he “feels energized” despite not getting “a lot of sleep” while spending “a lot of time” at the hospital. Further details, including the newborn’s name, have yet to be revealed.
“What a blessed day,” Legend said.
The 37-year-old model announced her latest pregnancy in August 2022, after documenting her journey with IVF treatments. “The last few years have been a blur of emotions to say the least, but joy has filled our home and hearts again,” Chrissy Teigen wrote alongside a mirror selfie of her growing baby bump. “1 billion shots later (in the leg lately, as [you] can see!) we have another on the way.”
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She continued, “Every appointment I’ve said to myself, “ok if it’s healthy today I’ll announce” but then I breathe a sigh of relief to hear a heartbeat and decide I’m just too nervous still. I don’t think I’ll ever walk out of an appointment with more excitement than nerves but so far, everything is perfect and beautiful and I’m feeling hopeful and amazing. Ok phew it’s been very hard keeping this in for so long!”
Congratulations to the entire Teigen-Legend family!
Alfonso Cuarón could tie a record just broken by Kenneth Branagh last year at the Academy Awards nominations announcement on Jan. 24.
As one of the producers for the Disney short “Le Pupille,” he could receive a nom in the best live action short category. The mention would mark the seventh Oscar category in which the filmmaker’s been recognized. He would be the second person ever to achieve this following Branagh last year with “Belfast,” in addition to being the first Latino.
The short film, directed by Alice Rohrwacher and co-produced by Carlo Cresto-Dina, Cuarón and Gabriela Rodriguez, who became the first Latina ever nominated for best picture with “Roma” (2018), looks into the minds of girls within the confines of a strict religious boarding school at Christmas.
Cuarón is currently tied with George Clooney and Walt Disney, who have both been recognized in six different categories throughout their careers. Cuarón’s 10 career Oscar noms have been spread between best picture, directing, original screenplay, adapted screenplay, cinematography and editing. He’s won four statuettes: director and editing for “Gravity” and director and cinematography for “Roma.”
Fun fact: another member of the “three amigos,” Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro, could join the six-category spot vacated by Cuarón.
Aside from being a lock for “Pinocchio” in best animated feature, del Toro is a likely candidate for a second nom in original song as a songwriter on the whimsical track “Ciao Papa.” If the Netflix movie manages to surprise in adapted screenplay (which is totally possible given the presumed weakness of that race), that would be del Toro’s sixth category following his appearances in best picture, director and original screenplay (along with animated and song if they come to fruition). He’s a beloved auteur who’s won two Oscars for “The Shape of Water” (2017) in best picture and director. If “Pinocchio” wins animated feature, he’d be the first person to have Oscars for picture, directing and animation.
And if “Bardo,” from Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, is nominated for directing or international feature, all “three amigos” would be Oscar nominees. It would be the second time since 2006 all three were all recognized individually following “Babel,” “Children of Men” and “Pan’s Labyrinth.” All lost their prizes.
Oscar voting is currently underway and concludes on Jan. 17 at 5 p.m. PT.
Creating a movie is an art form, but it also requires dedication. Splitting a schedule between directing and a job can be challenging. Anyone dreaming of debuting a film at the Raindance Film Festival should learn to balance filmmaking with a part-time job by refining their time management skills.
These are a few ways to start finding more time for filmmaking before it’s a full-time income. A new perspective and a few time management tools could be the only things standing between a hobby filmmaker and the next industry-leading director.
1. Create a Calendar
It’s essential to have a calendar that centralizes filmmaking and professional responsibilities. Color coordinating both on a virtual calendar will set them apart visually while providing notifications. Scheduling a hobby may seem strange, but it improves anyone’s time management by setting aside portions of the week for their film.
2. Plan the Production Schedule
Every filmmaker should have a rough production schedule to streamline their calendar events. Hobbyists may not have made one before, but it’s easy. While reflecting on the future film, consider planning production steps like:
Writing the script
Revising the script
Setting the budget
Estimating the length of the shoot
Considering post-production work
Every part of the production should fit on a filmmaker’s calendar so they best understand how long they’ll work on the project. It also makes scheduling part-time work around the changing production stages easier.
3. Dedicate Time to Family
Many people juggling two jobs or managing businesses need to remember that they control their own schedule, even when their work becomes more pressing. Planning time exclusively for family activities is essential so loved ones don’t feel neglected.
Adding time for a family board game or dinner to a daily schedule may feel awkward, but it’s an excellent way to balance filmmaking with personal responsibilities. Planning outings to seasonal events or weekend getaways is another way to add more relaxation with loved ones into a busy schedule.
4. Combine Research With Fun Activities
Hobbies can often become stressful, especially when filmmaking reaches later production stages. Remember to add fun activities to weekly or monthly calendars to find joy in other areas of life.
Filmmakers may find inspiration by hosting a movie night with their friends and family. They could schedule weekly nights out with their best friend or after-hours fun with co-workers. Activities that don’t directly involve filmmaking will help creative energies reset so returning to the film feels more like a hobby again.
5. Practice Self-Care
Creative minds need to recharge their batteries with self-care. Simple steps like journaling to vent frustrations, taking evening walks or eating healthier foods tend to a person’s physical and mental health needs, which are often neglected during busy times.
This may be the most critical step for anyone feeling burned out over their hobby or part-time job. Losing the joyful spark when working on a film or feeling exhausted all the time could indicate that self-care should become a more integral part of a filmmaker’s routine.
6. Ask for Help
Personal responsibilities don’t disappear while making a film. Finding time for them may be more difficult when professional and filmmaking priorities stack up, so remember to ask for help. Friends or family could assist with tasks like taking the trash out, running errands and managing carpooling.
7. Raise Some Money
Even hobbyist filmmaking sometimes requires money. Part-time employment might not provide all the necessary funding for a film or grant paid time off (PTO) for film work.
Don’t worry about switching to a full-time job when a bigger budget becomes necessary. Anyone can raise money by finalizing the screenplay and applying for grants, drafting proposals for producer pitches or contacting financing agencies.
Traditional options could also help, like creating an online donation link or hosting a weekend car wash. It depends on what each filmmaker is ready to do when it comes time to raise funding for things like working with a visual effects expert, upgrading lighting equipment or taking time off to film an extensive shoot.
8. Set Realistic Time-Bound Goals
People who work part-time or full-time jobs won’t finish a film as quickly as a full-time filmmaker. It’s crucial to avoid setting identical production deadline expectations because time and funding vary for each project.
Move a project’s goalposts further out and set mini goals within the film’s production schedule to stay on track without changing the part-time job’s schedule. The result will be less stress, more realistic goals and an increased chance of finishing the film.
Start Balancing Filmmaking With Any Schedule
Anyone can learn how to balance filmmaking and a part-time job with tips like these. A shifted perspective, realistic schedule and reminders to prioritize personal needs make anything possible.
If some parts of the filmmaking process remain vague, hobbyist filmmakers can spark creativity with writing exercises or attend free educational events to learn more about the industry. Expanding personal skills is always a good use of time because everyone deserves to grow within their art form.
Oscar Collins is the editor-in-chief atModded. He’s passionate about films, filming techniques and the finer details of filmmaking. Follow him on Twitter@TModded for frequent updates on his work!
Delaney Barth knows exactly how her mother died – because she was the one who found her body and the suicide note.
After a long battle with mental illness, Louise Feddema, a physician in Canmore, Alta., took her own life on New Year’s Eve, 2021. Barth and her sister had arrived at their mother’s house after Christmas with their father, only to find her body, a note and a list of important contacts and next steps.
So when Barth later discovered that Feddema’s name was circulating on a fake list of 80 doctors whose deaths were linked to the COVID-19 vaccine, she found it “truly insulting.”
Louise Feddema, pictured with her daughters Delaney and Jaylynn Barth. Feddema is included in the Canadian doctor death conspiracy, despite the fact she died by suicide.
Delaney Barth
The bogus theory – promoted by a small group of Canadian doctors who have spent the pandemic falsely claiming or suggesting that the vaccine kills or harms people – insists, without proof, that the vaccine may have played a role in the death of an ever-growing number of physicians.
Global News has spent months investigating the list of doctors and speaking to their families and has found no link of the COVID vaccine to any of their deaths. Where Global News was able to determine the most likely cause of death, it was most often cancer, heart attack or suicide. At least one wasn’t even vaccinated.
And some family members say beyond the lies about their loved ones, they themselves have also become the target of hate mail and abuse.
“This is not OK. This is not right. I’ve been getting calls into my husband’s clinic from patients who have seen this and they’re calling and leaving horrible messages,” Catherine Cole, wife of Dr. Christopher Cole, who died in May this year after a battle with mental-health issues, says.
Having to field calls from anti-vaxxers while trying to mourn his loss had been “brutal,” she says through tears. “It had nothing to do with COVID. This is insanity.”
Hate speech surging on Twitter under Elon Musk
But, the truth cannot contain the spread of the theory which, along with other COVID falsehoods – is no longer confined to the fringes of the internet. After Twitter dismantled its tools to root out COVID disinformation in November, disinformation accounts and bad actors that were previously banned from the website reemerged under Elon Musk’s ownership. And, much like the virus and its new subvariant XBB.1.5, that disinformation is now spreading with reckless abandon.
Alongside Musk’s Twitter, winter pressures on health services and the latest COVID-19 subvariant, also known as Kraken, has helped disinformation thrive in recent months, according to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
The Canadian doctor conspiracy theory had 3.3 million views on Twitter between Nov. 20 and Dec. 20, CCDH data shows. During the week of Nov. 23 alone, when Twitter removed its disinformation policy, the theory reached 1.4 million views.
Its surge in popularity at that time coincided with the release of misinformation film Died Suddenly, with “Died Suddenly” and “Vaccine Death” now routinely trending hashtags.
A conspiracy theory baselessly claims that the Covid-19 vaccine may have played a role in the deaths of 80 doctors in Canada.
Druthers.net
“In the absence of any real evidence that COVID vaccines are harmful, we have seen anti-vaxxers adopt a strategy of baselessly linking any unexpected deaths to COVID vaccines,” says Callum Head, CCDH’s head of research.
“This narrative is reaching millions of people in multiple countries, so it poses a real risk of dissuading people from getting vaccines that can keep them healthy.”
If the theory is “allowed to fester unchecked,” Head says, its impact will continue to grow.
But, just who is supposed to “check” this resurgence of disinformation?
Medical regulatory bodies have become victims of it themselves. In November, the Gateway Pundit – which Twitter banned in 2021 for peddling conspiracy theories and reinstated after Musk’s takeover – featured a false video interview from an Alberta physician on its website. The video claimed the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) suggested unvaccinated patients take psychiatric medication, which resulted in an onslaught of abuse and death threats towards the CPSO – about 6,000 in just over a week – and a police report.
In Ontario alone, there are 50 active cases against 30 doctors for allegedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Just two have concluded in three years.
“Misinformation is a significant issue that is resulting in an erosion of the patient-physician relationship,” a CPSO spokesperson told Global News, “and it is exacerbating the challenges faced by our health-care system.”
It’s also exacerbating the grieving process for these doctors’ families.
For Barth, it’s the latest insult from a portion of society that she believes pushed her mother over the edge.
“She quit practising a year before her death because of the number of people pressuring her to give them vaccine exemptions,” Barth says.
“I’m so angry that someone has done this. It was so traumatic losing her to suicide and finding her body and for someone now to do this, it just feels so callous and cruel.”
’80 Canadian MDs VAXXED and Dead’
In November, 80 smiling faces appeared on the front page of a fringe Canadian newspaper called Druthers. The headline read: “80 Canadian MDs VAXXED and Dead.”
Underneath each photograph: the doctor’s name, age, hometown, date of death, occupation and a few words about how they died. Many simply say “died unexpectedly.”
In many cases, this is true. But not in the way it is implied.
An article on the front page of fringe Canadian newspaper Druthers claimed the Covid-19 vaccine may have played a role in the deaths of 80 Canadian doctors.
Druthers.net
The Druthers article was an attempt to buttress a conspiracy theory that had been circulating for months, parts of which have been debunked. Its origins were murky – seemingly first appearing in late July, when three doctors at an Ontario hospital, Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga, died within a week.
Ensuing rumours that linked the deaths to the COVID-19 vaccine led Trillium to put out a statement in an attempt to kibosh the swirling disinformation. The doctors had actually died from different types of cancer, but the damage was already done.
The rumour circulating on social media is simply not true. Their passings were not related to the COVID-19 vaccine.
We ask to please respect their families’ privacy during this difficult time.
— Trillium Health Partners (@THP_hospital) July 27, 2022
Social media was awash with dire warnings of the fourth booster, and the three doctors’ names were jotted down alongside an expanding group of Canadian physicians whose deaths were falsely linked to the vaccine, without cause or explanation.
The burgeoning conspiracy theory was soon picked up by tech-millionaire turned anti-vaccination advocate Steve Kirsch, who in August wrote about “14 young Canadian docs” who died after getting a shot of COVID vaccine.
In November, U.S. conservative radio show host Stew Peters, who also produced Died Suddenly, claimed in a Facebook video that “hundreds” of Canadian doctors had died. The video has reached countries as far away as New Zealand, spawning other country-specific, dead-doctor theories.
By mid-October, according to the CCDH, it was being mentioned on Twitter 8,000 times per day — despite disinformation-flagging tools still in place.
‼️ ? THREE Trillium Health Partners-Mississauga Hospital doctors have DIED suddenly in 1 week, apparently after getting latest mandated booster. Cause of deaths is not yet disclosed. How often have 3 doctors died, days after hospitals started giving 4th shot to hospital staff.⚠️ pic.twitter.com/u0lxOmsnVB
The theory, of course, isn’t true. But the doctors it is making examples of are.
By speaking to families and looking at obituaries and media reports, Global News determined the cause of death of 48 of these doctors: 10 died from cancer, three perished in car accidents, one died during a fall while climbing K2, one drowned while trying to save his son, five suffered heart attacks and six died by suicide. Others battled ongoing or abrupt illnesses unrelated to COVID-19 or the family preferred not to say but confirmed it was not related to the vaccine. One man, Dragan Stojimirovic, was not vaccinated and never practised medicine in Canada.
“This makes absolutely no sense,” his wife, Anita Stojimirovic, told Global News in a cafe in west Toronto. “We don’t know how they know about him, he hasn’t practised since 1993 in Serbia.
All of the 29 families Global News spoke to were outraged that their loved one’s death was being publicly misrepresented. Some had been fielding abusive messages from members of the public who believed it to be true.
Tomas Ryan, best friend of Richard Cartier, who died in July during a climbing expedition on K2, said Cartier’s fall was “the sole cause of his death, no question.” K2 is considered the world’s most dangerous mountain.
“He was in great shape and reached an altitude close to 8,000 meters the day before without supplemental O2. That is impossible to do for someone not at 100 per cent capacity following rigorous training and preparation,” Ryan said.
“Blaming his death on the COVID vaccine is just plain stupidity, it makes absolutely no sense, and is not supported by any evidence.”
Mountaineer and Quebec doctor Richard Cartier, pictured at Everest base camp, was killed by a fall on K2, considered the world’s most dangerous mountain. However, he has been caught up in the conspiracy as well.
Tomas Ryan
Beverley Alam, wife of Mohammad Shoaib Alam, who died in February 2021 and whose photo in the Druthers article bears the caption “died 24 hours after first jab,” says while the timing is accurate, the cause of death is wrong. He had a fatal heart attack. One of her husband’s patients had linked him to the conspiracy theory after hearing of his death, she says. Someone had even put up a poster about it in High River, Alta., where they live.
“He had a family history of heart disease and he smoked,” Alam says. “He was an overworked family doctor who took more care of his patients than himself.”
Several families say they have written to Druthers to ask for the article to be retracted and taken down from their website, with no response. Druthers editor Shawn Jason Laponte did not reply to questions from Global News.
Those at the centre of the conspiracy theory – two Canadian doctors – did respond, however, they failed to prove that their theory is anything more than a hoax.
How Canadian doctors are sowing disinformation
Two articles accompanied the Druthers newspaper spread in November. One, written by Ontario physician Mark Trozzi, stated that doctors giving out COVID-19 vaccines were complying with a “criminal injection campaign” and playing a “sick game of Russian roulette” by being vaccinated themselves. The other was an open letter from Alberta physician William Makis, calling for the Canadian Medical Association to investigate the deaths.
Both Makis and Trozzi use their medical credentials when promoting their theories online. But neither are practising doctors.
Trozzi — who worked at Hasting Highlands Health Services Center in Bancroft, Ont., from 2017 to 2021 — is being investigated by the CPSO for allegedly granting medical exemptions to patients in which he described vaccines as “injectable COVID-19 experimental genetic therapies.” His licence was restricted in October 2021 and suspended on Dec 8, 2022.
Ontario doctor Mark Trozzi has described vaccines as ‘injectable COVID-19 experimental genetic therapies.’.
drtrozzi.org
Makis was previously a nuclear physician in Edmonton, but his medical licence is now inactive. He has been embroiled in a long legal battle with Alberta Health Services over his termination and his registration lapsed in February 2019.
Makis claims to be behind the list of 80 doctors, which he says is now at 93. His “volunteers” compile the list from medical institutions across Canada, the bulk of which has come from the Canadian Medical Association’s “In Memoriam” page, he told Global News. But, according to the CMA, they don’t track Canadian doctor deaths. Their “In Memoriam” page includes tributes provided by families and is not a comprehensive list.
His data set also does not extend further back than 2019.
Alberta physician William Makis, whose licence is inactive, claims to be behind the list of 80 doctors.
YouTube
Makis vehemently denies that he has claimed that the vaccine was the cause of the doctors’ deaths, saying instead: “I suspect that COVID-19 vaccines may have played a role in their deaths.”
While the efficacy of vaccines in a worldwide population that has almost all either had COVID-19 or been vaccinated is under debate, their safety is not. In Canada, of the 95.6 million COVID vaccine doses that had been administered as of Dec. 9, just 0.011 per cent resulted in a serious adverse reaction. Of the 397 reports of death after vaccination, none have been definitively linked to the vaccine.
But vaccination rates have waned, along with concerns over the virus itself. As of Dec 4, only 50.4 per cent of Canadians have received their first booster and just 21.9 per cent have received a second booster.
These statistics don’t matter to proponents of disinformation. After being asked repeatedly for any medical evidence or proof of any potential link between the vaccines and the doctor’s deaths, Makis accused Global News of “engaging in ad hominem attacks” and refused to answer. When informed that the doctor’s families were upset their deaths were being misrepresented, he accused Global News of “making this up” and asked for conclusive autopsy reports.
Trozzi said he stands by Makis’s research and extended his condolences to families who “are offended or troubled by the issues raised by Dr. Makis’s analysis, and my efforts to bring them to the attention of the public.”
More must be done to combat COVID-19 disinformation sharing in Canada, researcher says
Meanwhile, Makis continues to promote conspiracy theories online, most prominently on alt-right website Gettr. He recently claimed that September 2022 was the deadliest month for Canadian doctors in four years, releasing a list of 67 doctors who died.
Global News investigated those 67 names, too. Of that group, one is a doctor in Australia, one name is mentioned twice, one appears to be a lawyer, one had their licence revoked in 2010 for sexually abusing a patient and 54 were long retired – some as early as the mid-1990s. About two-thirds of this list were older than 80 when they died, several were in their late 90s and one was 101.
But Makis’s crusade continues – with the help of a slew of familiar names in Canadian disinformation.
An unprecedented disciplinary hearing
On Nov. 23, more than 2,000 people tuned in to an Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal hearing on YouTube for three local doctors accused of incompetent COVID-related conduct: Patrick Phillips, Crystal Luchkiw and Mark Trozzi. The audience for this kind of proceeding was unprecedented – but there was a reason for that.
As the tribunal chair outlined the agenda, audience numbers rapidly ticked upwards. It soon became apparent that they had responded to a call to action.
“Time to support the doctors that have risked everything, standing for their oath!” one message from the anti-vaccine mandate group Canadian Frontline Nurses read. The message was circulated before the hearing, calling for its followers to tune in, or if they couldn’t make it, to simply inundate the CPSO with requests for the link.
‘It’s killing people’: The great COVID-19 infodemic
And the CPSO had been inundated – but not only because of the hearing. Days earlier, William Makis appeared in another TikTok video, accusing the College of sending a memo to its members suggesting that unvaccinated patients had a “mental problem” and that they should take psychiatric medication.
By his own admission, this wasn’t true; Makis told Global News his interview was based on an old COVID FAQ on the CPSO website that said physicians should work with patients to manage anxieties related to the vaccine and “in cases of serious concern,” prescription medication or referral to psychotherapy were options. The page was updated in October to include more specific wording.
But the video had already gone viral. After it was picked up by notorious disinformation website the Gateway Pundit, thousands of emails of abuse streamed into the CPSO – 6,000 in about 10 days.
“Your failures have been cataclysmic to civilization. You destroyed (sic) everything on a fake quest. It is too late now, and you should really start settling all your affairs,” read one email.
“You better hope that it’s the military that politely removes you from your homes. All the other scenarios are even worse for you,” said another.
As the emails and phone calls grew more grotesque and heated in their murderous tones, the CPSO say they called Toronto police to report the abuse.
Toronto police could not immediately confirm that they were notified.
The CPSO says that this stalling allows disinformation campaigns to continue with impunity as the investigations against Trozzi, Phillips and Luchkiw drag on.
After all, Trozzi and Phillips have been fighting legal proceedings brought by the CPSO since late last year. Trozzi was accused of failing to comply with investigations into allegations he issued false medical exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine and for his “misleading, incorrect or inflammatory statements” about vaccinations.
Phillips is the subject of two investigations – one for allegations of comments on social media against vaccines and public health measures, including comparing COVID-19 public health measures in Canada to the genocide of Jewish people; the second for allegedly releasing a tranche of confidential documents on Twitter about that investigation.
More work must be done to combat COVID-19, vaccine misinformation: Dr. Tam
The CPSO suspended Luchkiw’s licence on March 17, 2022, after she received complaints for allegedly not following COVID-19 restrictions, allegedly issuing an immunocompromised patient with a vaccine exemption and allegedly spreading false information on a podcast about the vaccine, including that it was a government hoax.
The virtual hearing on Nov. 23, which was virtually stormed by 2,000 people, was the latest attempt for the doctors’ lawyer, Michael Alexander, to absolve his clients of any wrongdoing. Over three hours, he argued that they should not face disciplinary hearings for writing vaccine exemptions for patients who are “being coerced into taking the vaccine, contrary to the principles of informed consent” and they should be allowed to express their views, “especially in a public health crisis.”
The three doctors appeared briefly onscreen at different times, but none spoke. Trozzi wore black scrubs and spoke intermittently to someone out of the frame – despite the College’s claim that he had informed it he was no longer practising.
The tribunal’s decision was reserved. Almost two months on, there is still no decision.
The College continues to argue that to address the complaints, it needs the provincial Ministry of Health to intervene. The Ministry has so far refused.
But government documents, released under an Access to Information request, show that they considered stepping in a year ago.
Regulators fail to hold doctors accountable
Last January, a Global News investigation uncovered a web of Canadian doctors spreading disinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.
In response to that story, the director of Ontario Government Relations wrote to an advisor asking for a set of policy options that the Ontario Ministry of Health could use to intervene in COVID-19 investigations involving physicians, according to government documents. The requested policy options included “expedited review processes, consequences for those issuing exemptions, and associated implications.”
‘Unacceptable’ for doctors to spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation: Ontario health minister
A report was put together by a senior analyst, outlining the issues and comparing them to actions taken in other provinces, and sent back on Jan. 24, 2022. One line in the report said “there may be additional actions that the Minister may take” but it should not interfere with the integrity of the CPSO’s processes. A line later in the report determined that the Ministry becoming involved “may be viewed as interfering” – despite, of course, the CPSO begging for that interference.
The Ministry refused to answer questions on why they decided not to intervene, stating simply that the CPSO is responsible for investigating physician complaints and the two entities continue to work together.
Ontario isn’t alone in its hands-off approach. There has been little success for any regulatory body across Canada to discipline medical professionals sharing disinformation since the pandemic began.
In January, the RCMP launched an investigation into a website allegedly selling false COVID-19 vaccine and mask exemptions after it was highlighted in a Global News article. The website was linked to B.C. physicians Gwyllyn Goddard and Stephen Malthouse.
Eleven months later, the RCMP says the investigation was concluded and was no longer active. They refused to say if any action was taken.
This lack of action from regulators, occurring alongside an online landscape that has laid fertile ground for disinformation sharing, has experts concerned.
‘It’s rude, inconsiderate, mean and cheap’
After welcoming back a slew of people previously barred from Twitter for spreading COVID-19 disinformation under Musk’s new leadership, the platform went even further on Nov. 23 – quietly dismantling its policy against COVID-19 misinformation.
But disinformation didn’t quietly creep back – it exploded.
After the online release of misinformation documentary Died Suddenly on Nov. 21, the phrase “Died Suddenly” trended on Twitter for days. That helped it reach more than 10 million views on alternative video website Rumble in a little over a week.
Disinformation is now being shared by huge accounts, including those verified with Twitter Blue.
Last week, tweets mentioning the anti-vaxx trope ‘Died Suddenly’ spiked by 328 per cent after NFL player Damar Hamlin suffered a heart attack during a match, according to CCDH data. A week later, #VaccineDeath was trending on Twitter, linking the collapsing of various sportspeople to the COVID-19 vaccine. The same conspiracies swirled when a CTV reporter had a medical emergency live on air on Jan. 8 and when Lisa-Marie Presley died.
Damar Hamlin showing ‘remarkable’ signs of improvement, but still in critical condition, Buffalo Bills say
Twitter did not respond to requests for comment. It’s unclear if they still have a media department.
The Canadian doctor theory has made it on to other mainstream platforms, too. On Dec. 21, failed PPC candidate Michelle Lindsay shared a viral video on Instagram of suspended Ontario doctor Chris Shoemaker speaking at a Toronto protest about the theory, falsely claiming 80 doctors had died in 60 days. That video has been shared tens of thousands of times. It was flagged on Instagram, by its third-party fact-checkers, as “partly false.”
Meanwhile, without recourse, those small few Canadian doctors continue trying to persuade the public that COVID-19 vaccines could be killing doctors.
After a sabbatical, Trozzi returned to medical practice on Dec. 7 to take over Luchkiw’s patients following her suspension. Trozzi’s licence was suspended the following day. His lawyer, Alexander, decried the suspension, telling Global News: “Further action is pending.”
Luchkiw, Trozzi and Phillips continue to appear in online videos and interviews, sharing their claims about the vaccine. Phillips is still listed as the director of the Canadian Covid TeleHealth Inc (CCTH), which offers the controversial and unproven parasitic treatment ivermectin for COVID-19. Makis continues to add to his list of doctors and promote it online.
Experts call for change after investigation reveals doctors spreading COVID-19 misinformation
And families in mourning continue to be caught in the middle of it all.
“It’s rude, inconsiderate, mean and cheap to use (Lorne’s) image and name for a political cause,” says Valérie Lamarre, whose husband Lorne Aaron died after developing a complication from his second bone marrow transplant after a 25-year battle with leukemia.
“He did not pass because of the COVID vaccine and did not get leukemia because of (the) COVID vaccine.”
Other families are fighting back.
For Christmas, Marie-Pier Hendriks, the daughter of Edmundston, N.B., physician Edouard Hendriks – who died in February due to what his wife Suzie says was likely a heart arrhythmia – made a donation to charity Gifts of Hope. She bought a COVID-19 kit for an at-risk community, but she didn’t make the donation in her own name – she made it in the name of Mark Trozzi.
“Dr. Trozzi, your recent article about the false claims concerning the doctors dying after the vaccine inspired me to make this donation in your name,” she wrote in the card, emailed to his lawyer.
“Thanks for bringing COVID care around the world.”
Marie-Pier Hendriks, daughter of one of the doctors caught up in the conspiracy theory, purchased a Covid-19 kit on behalf of Mark Trozzi as a Christmas gift.
After Zac Efron was spotted on the set of his upcoming film The Iron Claw as Kevin Von Erich, fans expressed strong opinions on social media.
In the photographs that were made public, the former star of High School Musical wore a brown wig with short bangs and wavy hair that extended straight over his ears. He also sported a tight gray cut-off crew neck tank, ripped denim shorts, and, most obviously, a brown wig.
After the photo went viral, fans on Twitter had a field day making comparisons between him and the Shrek antagonist Lord Farquaad, a figure with short black hair with bangs and was diminutive in stature.
One of Efron’s fans remarked that he “looks like if Lord Farquaad hit the weight room,” referring to the muscular development that the actor underwent to more accurately portray his wrestling role.
Someone suggested changing it to the 21st century while still referring to Lord Farquaad. Another user joked, “I see Lord Farquaad has been keeping up with his workouts.” According to a tweet from a user, Zac Efron will not be playing the role of Lord Farquaad’s lost brother.
The good lord Farquaad has been getting his glow on! An additional voice was heard. Someone else made a joke about the stereotypical appearance of a lady living in Brooklyn, New York City, and compared it to the offspring of a relationship between a Brooklyn art girl and Lord Farquaad from the movie Shrek.
One more enthusiast said that the character “actually looks like lord Farquaad on steroids.” On the other hand, Efron didn’t seem to be too disturbed by the resemblance, and he hasn’t commented on the social media hysteria either.
In September of last year, the actor from Neighbors addressed a rumor that had been spreading about one of his physical characteristics, namely his jaw.
The Daily Beast’s parent company IAC, the massive holding company founded by tech billionaire Barry Diller, is looking to unload the publication on a new owner, The New York Times reported Friday.
According to the Times, IAC has hired consulting firm Whisper Advisors to explore selling the storied tabloid/hard news hybrid website. The process is still very early and a deal may not happen, the New York Times reported, but the issue seems to be that though Daily Beast was one of Diller’s first forays into digital media space, it hasn’t generated the kinds of financial returns IAC wants from its publications.
The Daily Beast was launched in 2008 with founding editor Tina Brown and of course financial backing from Diller and IAC. The site has racked up dozens of huge scoops over the years, including unearthing the scandals that plagued Georgia Republican Herschel Walker’s U.S. Senate campaign.
But it’s one of several major media properties owned by IAC, which includes the magazine publisher formerly known as Meredith and its suite of magazines such as People, InStyle, Real Simple, Better Homes & Gardens, AllRecipes, and Southern Living among others.
Representatives for IAC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.
For Grammy-nominated artist Jack Johnson, songwriting is just another way to process information.
“If you ask my kids, I’m constantly singing things around the house – putting things in the rhyme that don’t need to be or shouldn’t even be. But it’s how I remember things,” Johnson told Variety during the most recent episode of “Live From My Den.” “Like, if I have to pick up the kids from wherever, I put everything in a song. And every once in a while, I’ll find myself singing something that’ll sound like a lyric, you know? And then I’ll ask myself, ‘What does that mean to me? And why is it stuck in my head?’ And then I write the verses around that.”
That was the simple method that resulted in “Meet the Moonlight,” Johnson’s eighth studio album, which released in June to some of the best reviews of his career. Johnson was joined on “Live From My Den” by Alabama Shakes and Fiona Apple collaborator Blake Mills, who produced the record. Together, Johnson and Mills performed five songs from “Meet the Moonlight,” and gave fans a tour of the iconic Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, Calif., where they recorded some of the album. Two guitar nerds, Johnson and Mills also shared their major influences when it comes to playing the instrument.
“Your style of playing is so personal, and I’m a sucker for anybody who doesn’t use a pick. I really, in particular, enjoy playing with you when you’re fingerpicking… When you were learning guitar, were there any players or songwriters that you took note of how they played and tried to figure out what they were doing?” Mills asked Johnson.
“I don’t think people hear it in my music, but I would say Ian McKaye from Fugazi,” Johnson replied. “I remember pulling over on the way to high school one day… and hearing [‘Waiting Room’] come on the radio and pulling over because I didn’t want the reception to go out… and listening to it and deciding, ‘I’m gonna make a band.’”
Johnson added, “And Hendrix too, but I don’t mean in a guitar god way, but more of the little hammer-ons and ways he would connect chords on songs like ‘Bold as Love’ or ‘Castles Made of Sand’ or ‘Angel.’”
Mills agreed, saying that Johnson caused him to think differently about Hendrix’s chord progressions, which in turn impacted the album.
“It was the first time I noticed how outside his songwriting could be in terms of how free the changes were and weird and unexpected,” Mills said. “And sometimes I’d bring the song back in like, ‘Listen to the chord progression! We can be as weird as we want, man!’ You grew up listening to this stuff, like it’s in your DNA.”
Watch the full episode above.
This season of “Live From My Den” is made possible by Hard Rock and in partnership with Fujifilm X Series U.S.
Austrian actor Florian Teichtmeister, who stars alongside Vicky Krieps in Marie Kreutzer’s Oscar contender Corsage, has been charged with possession of child pornography.
A court spokeswoman confirmed on Friday that authorities found some 58,000 digital images featuring pornographic depictions of minors, some as young as 14, in Teichtmeister’s possession. His trial is set to begin Feb. 8. He faces up to two years in prison.
Teichtmeister intends to plead guilty and assume full responsibility, his lawyer Michael Rami said in a statement to Germany’s dpa news agency. “He confessed throughout the investigation and always cooperated with the authorities,” Rami said.
Teichtmeister’s lawyer argued that his client did not commit any criminal acts directly against the people depicted in the pornographic images, calling his offense a “purely digital crime.”
In Corsage, Teichtmeister plays Emperor Franz Joseph, the husband to lead Vicky Krieps’ Empress Elisabeth. The film is a fictional, feminist revisionist account of the 19th century monarch and her portrayal in such films as Sissi (1955) starring Romy Schneider.
The period drama premiered in Un Certain Regard in Cannes last year and is Austria’s official entry for the 2023 best international feature Oscar. Corsage, which received a limited domestic release via IFC Films in late December, made the 15-film international Oscar shortlist.
Vienna’s Burgtheater on Friday announced it terminated its contract with Teichtmeister, one of the theater’s ensemble members, after learning “with great horror” of the investigation from the media.
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the producers of Corsage and IFC Films for comment on Teichtmeister’s arrest.
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