Standard Blog Whole Post - Time Warner Entertainment

Sister Wives’ Christine Brown and Kody Brown’s Ups and Downs

When five become four. Christine Brown‘s announcement that she and her husband, Kody Brown, split for good came as a shock to viewers who have followed the family on Sister Wives since 2010.

The TLC personality announced the news via Instagram in November 2021, shortly before the TLC show’s season 16 premiere. “After more than 25 years together, Kody and I have grown apart and I have made the difficult decision to leave,” she wrote at the time. “We will continue to be a strong presence in each other’s lives as we parent our beautiful children and support our wonderful family.”

The duo, who tied the knot in March 1994, share six children: daughters Aspyn (born March 1995), Mykelti (born June 1996), Gwendlyn (born October 2001), Ysabel (born June 2003) and Truely (born April 2010) and son Paedon (born August 1998).

During the Sister Wives series premiere in September 2010, Christine, who was raised in a polygamous family, said she decided at age 19 that she wanted to be part of a plural marriage.

“I honestly wanted sister wives more than a husband for a good time of my life,” she said at the time. “I want the whole family. I didn’t just want Kody. No, I wanted everything.”

As soon as she realized that she wanted to be part of a polygamous family, she also knew that she wanted to be someone’s third wife — not their first or second.

“They actually say if you’re having problems, like, when you have two wives … marry a third because they’ll even it out,” she said during one confessional scene. “I never wanted to be a first at all because I didn’t want to be married to a guy by myself. And then I didn’t want to be a second because I felt like they were a little wedge in the relationship, and I didn’t want to be the wedge. I only ever wanted to be the third because it sounded the easiest.”

Though Christine was happy to be Kody’s third wife, she initially struggled with the addition of the fourth, Robyn Brown, who wed Kody in May 2010. He also began relationships with Meri Brown in April 1990 and Janelle Brown in January 1993. (Both Janelle and Meri confirmed their separation from Kody in December 2022.)

“[Robyn] lives, like, five hours away,” Christine said during season 1 when Kody was still courting his future fourth wife. “There [were] a couple times where I’m like, ‘You really can’t go. You can’t leave me, and you can’t leave your family. You are replacing your family with Robyn and her kids.’ It was hard, and at the same point I realized that it needed to happen, but it didn’t necessarily make it easier.”

Keep scrolling for look back at Christine and Kody’s ups and downs over the years:

Credit: Courtrsy of Christine Brown/Instagram

Sister Wives’ Christine Brown and Kody Brown’s Ups and Downs Over the Years

During the Sister Wives series premiere in September 2010, Christine, who was raised in a polygamous family, said she decided at age 19 that she wanted to be part of a plural marriage.

[jwplayer MsAAundI-zhNYySv2]

“I honestly wanted sister wives more than a husband for a good time of my life,” she said at the time. “I want the whole family. I didn’t just want Kody. No, I wanted everything.”

As soon as she realized that she wanted to be part of a polygamous family, she also knew that she wanted to be someone’s third wife — not their first or second.

Keep scrolling for look back at Christine and Kody’s ups and downs over the years:

Sister Wives Christine Brown Kody Brown Ups Downs Over Years

Credit: Courtesy Christine Brown/Instagram

March 1994

Christine became Kody’s third wife when she was 21 years old. Two months after the wedding, Janelle gave birth to the family’s first child, Logan.

Credit: Courtesy Christine Brown/Instagram

March 1995

Christine’s first child, daughter Aspyn, arrived one year after she married Kody. Aspyn married Mitch Thompson in June 2018.

Credit: Courtesy Mykelti Brown/Instagram

June 1996

Kody and Christine welcomed their second daughter, Mykelti. In December 2016, Mykelti wed Tony Padron in a ceremony held in Utah.

Credit: Courtesy Paedon Brown/Instagram

August 1998

Christine’s first son, Paedon, became the eighth child in the family (her third).

Credit: Courtesy Gwendlyn Brown/Instagram

October 2001

Kody and Christine welcomed Gwendlyn, their third daughter and fourth child together.

Credit: Courtesy Christine Brown/Instagram

June 2003

Ysabel, the couple’s fifth child, arrived nearly two years after Gwendlyn.

Credit: Courtesy Christine Brown/Instagram

April 2010

The duo welcomed their sixth child, daughter Truely. The birth was documented on season 1 of Sister Wives.

Sister Wives Christine Brown Kody Brown Ups Downs Over Years Robyn Brown

Credit: Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

May 2010

Kody married his fourth wife, Robyn, making her the first new wife in the family in 16 years. “I don’t wanna be a boat rocker, and I don’t like my boat rocked,” Christine said of the impending marriage during the Sister Wives series premiere. “I’m a little hesitant to accept another wife. But if it happens, then she just has to be absolutely amazing. Otherwise, it might be a little difficult.”

Credit: Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

September 2010

Sister Wives premiered on TLC and instantly became a hit. Some viewers worried that the family’s openness might lead to criminal proceedings given that polygamy was (and still is) illegal in Utah, but no charges were ever filed again Kody and his wives. They did sue the state of Utah in 2011 to challenge the state’s ban on plural marriage, but the case was later dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2016.

Credit: Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

March 2021

Kody told Us Weekly in February 2021 that the family dynamic was getting “weird,” but one month later, Christine said she preferred their plural marriage to a monogamous one. “It’s so out there and beyond my understanding to have a guy around every night,” she told Us. “I felt, like, it would cramp my style a lot because I’ve never had that as soon as Kody and I married. I was the third wife. And so, I really liked the independence that I have and I love the freedom that I have. I love that I can just have those evenings where I’m wearing the grossest most comfortable clothes ever and I’m just, you know, curled up on the couch with the girls, eating popcorn and playing games or something. … I feel bad whenever I say things like that — really bad.”

In the same interview, however, she admitted that she sometimes felt like she wasn’t “an equal partner in this whole relationship” with Kody and the other wives. “The thing that I struggled with most is when I feel like I don’t have a say or when I feel like I’m not as important or things like that,” she told Us. “Anytime we’ve had major decisions, I go through a time where I’m like, ‘Does my opinion really even matter here?’ That’s when we struggle the most … is when I feel like I don’t really have a say or I don’t really have an opinion.”

Credit: Courtesy Mykelti Brown/Instagram

April 2021

Christine became a grandma for the first time when Mykelti gave birth to daughter Avalon. (Kody was already a grandpa of two thanks to Janelle’s eldest daughter, Madison.)

Credit: Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

April 2021

During the season 15 finale, Christine shocked her fellow wives by saying that she wanted to move back to Utah. The family had relocated to Arizona in 2018. “We’ve had a rough relationship for a couple of years,” Christine said of her husband during an earlier episode.

In the finale, she admitted that she wasn’t sure she could continue her relationship with Kody. “Meri, I can’t do marriage with Kody anymore,” she said. “I don’t want to. … It’s not enough.”

During a confessional interview, she explained that she never got comfortable in Arizona. “I agreed to move to Flagstaff, and I followed Kody here, but it’s been a struggle the whole time,” she explained. “I’m tired of feeling like I don’t matter, I’m tired of not having his support when I really need it. I’m just tired. I need a partnership. I need something different than this.”

Credit: Courtesy Christine Brown/Instagram

October 2021

Us confirmed that Christine sold her home in Arizona. When she signed the house over to the new owner, she listed her address as being in Utah.

Credit: Courtesy Christine Brown/Instagram

November 2021

After Christine announced her split from Kody, the Brown family patriarch confirmed the news via Instagram. “Christine’s decision to leave comes with a great deal of sadness,” he wrote. “We enjoyed many years together and I have a large amount of respect and admiration for her. Although we are moving forward on different paths, we will always remain committed parents.”

Sister Wives' Christine Was 'Not Excited' for Kody's New Property Pre-Split

Credit: Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock(2)

November 2021

During an episode of the TLC series filmed before their split, Christine appeared to reach her breaking point and turned to Meri for comfort. “You didn’t put 30 years into this — 25, 28, wherever you are — to walk away,” Meri said after Christine told her she “can’t do marriage with Kody anymore.”

In a confessional, Christine admitted, “Marriage is hard, but I never wanted the kind of marriage that I have now. I never wanted to be estranged and have extremely limited physical contact — not even hand holding. It’s sad. My marriage to Kody is sad.”

Sister Wives Christine Daughter Calls Out Kody Screwed Up Priorities

Credit: Courtesy Kody Brown/Instagram; Courtesy Christine Brown/Instagram

December 2021

The pair butted heads during a December episode of Sister Wives when Kody chose to stay home as Christine and daughter Ysabel traveled to New Jersey so the teen could undergo scoliosis surgery. “Ysabel’s really hurt that Kody’s not here. She’s really hurt,” Christine said during the December 13 episode. Ysabel later added of her dad, “I think his priorities are a little screwed up. And l don’t want to disrespect him because he is my dad and I understand, I do. I do understand why he’s doing it, it’s just really frustrating and really, really hard.”

Sister Wives Christine Brown Packs Up Kody Brown Belongings

Credit: Courtesy of Christine Brown/Instagram; Shutterstock

January 2022

During an emotional Sister Wives episode, Christine packed up Kody’s belongings after he said he wasn’t “interested” in being “intimate” with her anymore.

“What did I do so wrong? I always wanted [a] romantic marriage and it’s been so hard for so long,” she said to the cameras. “I feel like I don’t have a choice but to throw his stuff out because I can’t — it’s too heartbreaking to be around his stuff and it’s too heartbreaking to be around him and watch him with Robyn and Janelle and the kids.”

Sister Wives Christine Brown Chose to Focus on Family on 1st Valentines Day Post Kody Brown Split

Credit: Courtesy of Christine Brown/Instagram

February 2022

“HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!” Christine wrote via Instagram alongside a smiling solo snap on her first V-Day without Kody. “Take a break from this crazy world and focus on family today! #valentines #valentinesday #focus.”

Credit: Christine Brown

February 2022

“Kody and I are divorced,” Christine said during part three of the Sister Wives: One on One tell-all special. “We’re completely separate. We’re just gonna be friends, eventually. I just realized I had to make a decision for my heart, and my heart was done being broken. And it felt, well, freeing.”

Kody also confirmed during the tell-all that the two were totally done. “Christine’s moved; she’s left. We are no longer married,” he explained. “I love her, and I don’t know what to do ‘cause I’ve got the grief but I’m still angry. I’ll take the grief right now for a little while just to be out of the anger phase, and then [I’m] just moving on. [I] just [want to] have a good life and find happiness.”

Christine Brown Kody Brown Relationship Timeline Update

Credit: TLC

February 2022

Months after she and Kody called it quits, Christine announced that she had landed her own solo cooking spinoff. “A taste of something new!” the reality star wrote at the time. “#SisterWives’ Christine will be bringing you some of her favorite recipes on the new digital series #CookingWithJustChristine, dropping every Sunday [on Instagram] and on TLC.com.”

Credit: Courtesy Christine Brown/Instagram

May 2022

Christine gave fans a glimpse at her live without Kody, sharing an adorable photo from her time babysitting her granddaughter. “Practically begged @mykeltip to let me babysit Avalon!” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “She’s absolutely delightful! #oma #babysitting #blessed.”

Credit: TLC/YouTube

August 2022

TLC released the first trailer for season 17 of Sister Wives, teasing the aftershock of Christine and Kody’s breakup. “I feel like, to Kody, Robyn’s more important,” she says in the clip. “I have decided to leave. I’m going to leave Kody. … I agreed to be a sister wife but I agreed to be an equal wife.”

Sister Wives Christine Brown Gifts Her Coyote Pass Property to Kody and Robyn Brown for $10

Credit: Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock(3)

August 2022

Christine sold her portion of the Coyote Pass property in Flagstaff, Arizona, back to her ex and his fourth wife, Robyn, for $10, according to property records obtained by Us. The sale was signed off on one month prior.

Christine Brown Jokes She Has High Standards Dating After Kody Split

Credit: Courtesy Christine Brown/Instagram; Discovery Inc.

August 2022

Christine joked about having “high standards” for who she dates after her split from Kody, teasing in a TikTok video that a Warcraft character named Durotan is the “love of my life.” She added in the caption, “I would [date] again! Of course, but I’m pretty picky!”

Gallery Update: Sister Wives’ Kody Brown and Christine Brown’s Ups and Downs

Credit: Justin Stephens/Discovery; Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

September 2022

During a season 17 episode of the TLC series — which was filmed in March 2021 — Christine opened up about how strange it felt to be celebrating her and Kody’s anniversary post-split. “For my anniversary, I’m not going to pretend,” she told the cameras, noting that she didn’t spend the day with Kody as she prepared to move to Utah.

“It’s the first time [that] I’ve actually been able to go, ‘Wow, she’s serious about this,’” Kody said during the episode, after revealing he was surprised that Christine didn’t want to post something about their union on social media. “I think I want to keep testing it though.”

Christine, for her part, told viewers: “I don’t consider myself married to him anymore. I don’t wear our wedding rings anymore most of the time. I just feel like they’re a noose. … It felt so good just to take them off.”

Credit: TLC(2)

October 2022

After Christine told her fellow sister wives on the show that she was leaving Kody and moving to Utah, the patriarch told the cameras he was still surprised by her choice. “I’ve never understood her need to move. I don’t understand it at all unless there’s some guy she wants to date there,” he said in a confessional from the October 2 episode. “Or she wants to get away from me so my stink isn’t on her so she can date. I think the fact that I was spread so thin … plural marriage just hasn’t worked for her in many, many years.”

Christine, meanwhile, took issue with Kody’s sudden desire to see their youngest daughter, Truely, equally amid her relocation to Utah. “Now he wants 50/50 time with them. Well, hell, he could’ve had 50/50 time with us the whole f—king time we lived here,” she told the cameras. “If he wanted 50/50, he should’ve been around more. He doesn’t get 50/50. He hasn’t been around enough for that.”

Credit: AP/Shutterstock

October 2022

“Christine and I have been on the fast track from separation to divorce now for a few months. The last time the family got together was when Christine told us she was leaving,” Kody explained during the October 9 episode of the TLC series, which was filmed in summer 2021. “I feel very separated from the family. I’ve struggled through this process.”

The estranged couple later celebrated daughter Ysabel’s graduation from high school with a Brown family gathering. After seeing everyone getting along, Kody again expressed frustration regarding his and Christine’s split.

“We will never be there again. I’m living in a delusional world where I’m wishing Christine didn’t leave. I’m struggling with sort of a state of regret and frustration,” he said in a confessional. “It’s a weird thing to be getting left. It’s made me question getting into plural marriage. Question my faith. The message we had to the world about functional polygamy seems so dysfunctional now.”

Sister Wives’ Christine Brown and Kody Brown’s Ups and Downs Over the Years

Credit: TLC (2)

October 2022

In a first look at a Sister Wives episode shared exclusively with Us, Kody spoke candidly about how Christine moving out so quickly made him feel.

“It feels hostile to me. I feel like she’s done this as a backstab because she could’ve started talking to me about our relationship a long time ago. And she didn’t, and she drops this on me … and to me it seems really, really rushed. She’s been ready to get out the door from the time that she told me she wanted to stop staying [here],” he said in a confessional.

Credit: Courtesy of Christine Brown/Instagram; Shutterstock

October 2022

Nearly one year after she announced their split, Christine exclusively told Us that things were still tense between them. “So, I haven’t talked to him in person for a while,” she explained at the time. “All I’ve seen are the episodes, for a while, and what I’ve heard from like Janelle [Brown] who still speaks with him and stuff too. … I think he is just so hurt still and just processing it a lot slower.”

Though she revealed that they do “communicate back and forth” in order to arrange for Kody to see their youngest daughter, she doesn’t “think it’s coparenting quite yet.” The reality star noted that when Truely won Student of the Month at school, “I called him and told him. I sent him a picture … so he called her and congratulated her.”

Christine Brown and Kody Brown’s Ups and Downs: Relationship Timeline

Credit: TLC/YouTube X2

November 2022

“I did love the idea of a family. Of having sister wives, of raising kids together,” Christine told Kody during a season 17 episode of the TLC series. “It is an important part of a plural family, that each relationship and each marriage is strong too. We always talk about the spokes in a wheel, and when there’s a spoke that’s broken, how do we keep it going?”

She later confessed: “I did so much for the family. It was all about having family functions and family get-togethers and family parties. My house was always open to everybody. I loved the big family activities that we had. The big family is great. But when you feel like you’re a minimal person in Kody’s big picture, and you really don’t even matter in the big picture, it changes the perspective on everything.”

The TV personality told the cameras that she eventually had to stop focusing on the “big picture” of their plural family and choose herself. “I’ve been heartbroken for years,” Christine said. “I was tired of being heartbroken. Just tired. You don’t think I stayed for the big picture as long as I did? Because I wanted it to work?”

Kody, meanwhile, couldn’t get over the feeling of abandonment from Christine. “If I really boil it down, if I bring it to the core of what’s going on, it feels like after all I have done, I’m being rejected anyway,” he said in a confessional. “And it’s just not rejection for me, it’s rejection for some of my kids and my other wives.”

Credit: TLC/YouTube X2

December 2022

Christine revealed how she felt hearing her ex-husband say during a season 17 Sister Wives episode that he “wasn’t attracted” to her on their wedding day. “Actually, that was an empowering moment, as hard as it was,” she said during an episode of the “Reality Life With Kate Casey” podcast. “I kind of look back and I’m like, ‘Ah, I can see where you weren’t here and here and here and here and here and here.’ But you know what, if this has been happening for this long, I’m done. It’s over. I’m not going to keep pretending and I’m not going to keep doing this.”

The mother of six added: “If you really haven’t been attracted to me, and if you really didn’t really want a relationship with me, and you didn’t really want to spend time with me … it was almost like this burden got lifted. And I was like, ‘Alright, then it’s time to move on.’”

Sister Wives’ Christine and Kody Brown’s Relationship Timeline - 925

Credit: Justin Stephens/Discovery

January 2023

Christine claimed during part 3 of Sister Wives: One-on-One that Kody found his “soulmate” with Robyn, which didn’t leave much room for anyone else. “Kody and I had something special. We really honestly had something special,” she said. “But then when I needed his help and he wouldn’t give it to me it kind of was this click. Where I’m like, ‘I’ve done everything for you and you can’t give this to me.’”

The mother of six alleged: “Then he and Robyn met and he was everything for her and it seemed like she was also everything for him. They were just this unit together.”

Kody, meanwhile, insisted that Christine’s perception of his dynamic with Robyn was “a lot of sour grapeing.” He noted that if she was “envious” of their relationship she should have given “the energy and the effort in the relationship for that connection.”

Elsewhere in the episode, the patriarch revealed that he harbors no ill will toward his ex-wife. “One of the kids told me, ‘Dad, mom says you have your soulmate and she wants hers,’” Kody said about Christine. “I hope she finds her soulmate.”

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

When five become four. Christine Brown‘s announcement

Awards, Entertaintment, Film

Golden Globes announce final presenters, Award Show set for Tuesday, January 10

Claire Danes, Cole Hauser, Harvey Guillén, Henry Golding, Hilary Swank, Glen Powell, Jay Ellis, Jenna Ortega, Jennifer Coolidge, Jennifer Hudson, Letitia Wright, Mo Brings Plenty, Regina Hall and Salma Hayek Pinault and have been announced as presenters by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association® (HFPA) for the 80th Annual Golden Globe® Awards. This group of presenters join previously announced guests including Ana De Armas, Ana Gasteyer, Billy Porter, Colman Domingo, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Natasha Lyonne, Nicole Byer, Niecy Nash-Betts, Quentin Tarantino and Tracy Morgan.

Courtesy of Golden Globes

Jerrod Carmichael will host the ceremony airing live coast-to-coast on Jan. 10 from 5-8 p.m. PT/8-11 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock. Previously announced Golden Globe Award winner and six-time nominee Eddie Murphy will be the recipient of the 2023 Cecil B. DeMille Award. Five-time Golden Globe Award winner and sixteen-time nominee Ryan Murphy will receive the Carol Burnett Award.

Also participating on the telecast is Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy, offering a special message of peace which will be introduced by Sean Penn.

Produced by dick clark productions and Jesse Collins Entertainment in association with the HFPA, the Golden Globe Awards are viewed in more than 210 territories worldwide. Helen Hoehne is president of the HFPA. Jesse Collins and Dionne Harmon will serve as executive producers.

In order to create a more inclusive experience for blind and visually impaired viewers, NBCUniversal is proud to present the full NBC broadcast with live audio description on the Secondary Audio Program channel (SAP), provided by Descriptive Video Works. The broadcast will be available with additional audio narration, describing the rich visuals of the Golden Globes.

About The Hollywood Foreign Press Association

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was founded in 1943 – then known as the Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association – by a group of entertainment journalists based in Los Angeles. During World War II, the non-profit organization established a cultural bridge between Hollywood and millions around the world seeking an escape and inspiration through entertainment. The HFPA continues to do so with a voting body representing 62 countries. Since 1944, the group has hosted the annual Golden Globe® Awards – the premier ceremony which honors achievements in both television and film. The licensing fees from the Golden Globe Awards has enabled the organization to donate more than $55 million to more than 92 entertainment-related charities, film restoration, scholarship programs and humanitarian efforts over the last three decades. Its efforts include support for diversity programs in partnership with advocacy groups promoting greater access in Hollywood aimed at underserved communities. For more information, please visit www.GoldenGlobes.com and follow us on Twitter (@GoldenGlobes), Facebook (www.facebook.com/GoldenGlobes), Instagram (@GoldenGlobes), and in Spanish on Twitter (@globosdeoro), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/globosdeoropaginaoficial).

About dick clark productions

dick clark productions is the world’s largest producer and proprietor of televised live event entertainment programming with the “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “American Music Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” and the “Streamy Awards.” dick clark productions owns one of the world’s most extensive and unique entertainment archive libraries with more than 60 years of award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming.

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Claire Danes, Cole Hauser, Harvey Guillén, Henry

Tech

Streaming Service Owners to Pool First-Party Viewership Data – The Hollywood Reporter

There’s significant movement in the evolution of premium video advertising’s “currency.”

On Monday, OpenAP, the advanced advertising firm founded by the owners of most of the large TV networks, says that it will create a joint industry committee to focus on premium video currency, with the intent to have multiple currency options in place ahead of the 2024 upfront.

Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, Fox Corp., Paramount Global and TelevisaUnivision are all on board with the plan. Warner Bros. Discovery executive vp of digital ad sales and advanced advertising, as well as NBCUniversal ad sales president Krishan Bhatia, tell The Hollywood Reporter in an interview that they expect other publishers and programmers to join them soon.

“I’m confident we will have more members join in short order, in the coming weeks and months,” Bhatia said. “And we’ve already gotten really positive indications from other programmers.”

The catch is that any new members need to be focused on premium long-form video (sorry, TikTok), and need to be willing to share their streaming data (more on that below). The two obvious players in the space are Disney and Netflix, each of which have launched new ad-supported streaming tiers in recent months.

For decades, measurement giant Nielsen has dominated the TV currency market through its panel-driven products, though in recent years other competitors, and new products from Nielsen, have complemented those efforts.

A common currency is seen as a requirement for advertisers, media buyers and programmers to meaningfully transact.

The new committee suggests that the future of premium video, be it on linear TV or streaming platforms, will have multiple currencies for programmers and marketers to transact with. Nielsen, it should be noted, will be one of those currencies.

“There was a fair amount of alignment and coalescence around the need for it, how to do it and also with whom,” Bhatia added. “There’s a handful of new measurement companies and currency providers that have emerged as the leaders, in addition to the incumbents, and at the same time, I think it still wasn’t moving fast enough to really take advantage of the opportunity to ensure a more accurate, more precise and a more speedy way of measuring cross-platform premium video.”

Notably, the companies are also agreeing to create a programmer data set that will harmonize first-party viewership data from their respective streaming services (think Paramount+, HBO Max, Peacock, etc.) using OpenAP infrastructure.

The group intends to have the viewership data audited by an independent auditor, and to work with third parties like the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and other trade groups to accelerate measurement efforts.

Agencies and advertisers will be able to choose which currencies they want to transact with.

“We want to make sure that we’re aligning on standards, and have common definitions of what an impression is, or what a view is, or how a stream is calculated, and we want to make sure that each of the individual programmer groups are looking at it from the same point of view and that all of the measurement companies — whether or not it’s Nielsen or VideoAmp, or ComScore or others — that they are also aligned to the same definitions,” said Jim Keller, EVP, Digital Ad Sales and Advanced Advertising at Warner Bros. Discovery. “We don’t think that the industry moves forward if there are different ways of looking at the same types of data sets. And if we do it all in a privacy-compliant way, we believe that we’ll be able to move the business forward collectively.”

In an indication of the significance of the move, OpenAP released a joint statement attributed to NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish, TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

“The sustainability of the premium video advertising model depends on an ecosystem for measurement that is transparent, independent, inclusive, and accurately reflects the way all people consume premium video content today – across multiple screens, connections, and devices,” the CEO statement said. “By coming together to establish this JIC, we can collaborate and accelerate the efforts to implement a new multi-currency future that fosters more competition, inclusivity and innovation and will ultimately better serve advertisers, agencies and consumers.”

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

There’s significant movement in the evolution of

Awards, Entertaintment

Ashley Park & Haley Lu Richardson to Announce the 29th SAG Awards® Nominations on Wed, 1/11

Ashley Park (Emily in Paris) and Haley Lu Richardson (The White Lotus) will announce the nominees for the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® on Wednesday, January 11 on Instagram Live. The nominations will be announced exclusively via Instagram Live on @sagawards beginning at 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT.

SAG Awards Nominations will kick off at 9:50 a.m. ET / 6:50 a.m. PT on @sagawards’ Instagram Stories with an introduction by SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher. Nominations for the Outstanding Action Performances by Television and Film ensembles will follow, with announcements made by SAG Awards Committee members Jason George and Elizabeth McLaughlin.

This marks the third year that SAG Awards nominations will be presented exclusively via Instagram Live. The SAG Awards aims to utilize the innovation of social media channels to create an authentic connection with their audience by reimagining the Nominations

Getty Images / SAG Awards

Announcement as a seamless, virtual experience for both nominees and fans.

The 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023 at Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

About the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®
The 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®, presented by SAG-AFTRA with Screen Actors Guild Awards, LLC will be produced by Avalon Harbor Entertainment, Inc. and will take place on Sunday, February 26, 2023. One of awards season’s premier events, the SAG Awards annually celebrates the outstanding motion picture and television performances from the previous calendar year. Of the top industry honors presented to actors, only the SAG Awards are selected entirely by performers’ peers in SAG-AFTRA with 122,600 eligible voters.

For more information about the SAG Awards® and the latest updates, follow the SAG Awards on social (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok), online at sagawards.org, and join the conversation by using the official hashtag #sagawards.

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Ashley Park (Emily in Paris) and Haley Lu

Video

Chris Harrison Finally Addresses His Bachelor Franchise Exit

Chris Harrison is ready to talk.

“For my part in this, I was sick to my stomach. I lost 20 pounds. I didn’t sleep. I didn’t eat. I was scared to death not of my job but of my family – my fiancé, my kids. I’m a bit of an empath and I am very loyal to a fault and I am a team player,” Harrison said on his new podcast “The Most Dramatic Podcast … Ever.” “When this happened, while I was sick to my stomach and so disappointed that the interview went that way and it was on me because I controlled what I had to say. And while the point I was trying to get across I stand by, the way I did it was messy and disappointing and it’s just not me.”

The former host of ABC’s lucrative “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” reality shows (and several of its related spin-offs) stepped away from the franchise in early 2021 after defending contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, who faced criticism after attending an “Old South” ball in 2018. Harrison was speaking to Rachel Lindsay, who was the “Bachelorette” in the show’s 13th season, on the entertainment show “Extra.” After the ensuing media backlash (including comments from Lindsay about how the interaction made her feel), Harrison announced that he was stepping back from the show. And then in June, it was announced that he had left the franchise completely.

And that was it. Until now. Harrison has a new podcast on the iHeartRadio network called “The Most Dramatic Podcast … Ever.” Apparently, it will be about romantic relationships and not, specifically, his former reality show (although the title of the podcast is a play on the frequently hyperbolic marketing for the series).

“If this is going to be about relationships, the most important part of that is communication,” Harrison began. “We have not talked in a long time, and I think it’s time we finally have that chat. And I’m sorry it’s taken so long.”

Harrison noted that this was the first time he was talking since leaving the show (he gave one interview to Michael Strahan at “Bachelor” network ABC after the “Extra” interview), but says that it would have just added to the cacophony of discussion around his misstep and exit. “When there was so much noise, me talking would have just been more noise,” Harrison said. “One point that I was trying to make and did not make eloquently was that people need time to think and need time to process. We must have grace and patience for people or else you’re just getting nonsensical, reactive emotion. I wanted to step away and learn and change and go through everything I went through before I had this talk.”

He said that the producers of the show and the larger “Bachelor” community thought that after he apologized publicly, the controversy would subside. “People didn’t think it would amount to much. If I apologized we would be able to move forward,” Harrison said. But his very public bungle happened at a galvanizing point in the culture. “There was a lot of confusion, anger, resentment. It was a very combustible moment in time. My timing in being sloppy, wrong, inappropriate in that moment. I was just as frustrated and blind and pissed off as the rest of the world. But that’s not to say that was OK. The timing of this was very relevant. When I apologized I felt like I needed that and it was owed. And I was fine with it. But there was so much noise at the time, it just didn’t matter,” Harrison said. (For her part, Lindsay has said that she never got an apology from Harrison.)

‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Finale: Genevieve and Aaron Break Down Their Unexpected Break Up

Harrison wasn’t entirely self-reflective and Zen. At one point he referred to “people in Hollywood” who might be nervous about his return. “If you’re nervous, maybe you should be. Because you probably know that I know,” Harrison growled. Um OK? He also insinuated that there were “certain cast members” who were jockeying for his job as host of the legacy franchise but that others (including Ben Higgins and Catherine and Sean Lowe) stood by him and offered their support. Harrison also said that he hasn’t watched the show since he left.

Both the right and left claimed Harrison as one of their own in the moments following the uproar, according to Harrison. “My name became synonymous with this political, lightning-in-a-bottle moment, and all of a sudden someone on CNN is talking about me for purposes of the left,” Harrison said. “And then Ben Shapiro and whoever else is talking about me… so I was being used by the right.” (If you follow Harrison on social media you would probably assume his politics were, um, right of center.)

We’ll see how his podcast is received and if Harrison continues to discuss what he describes as an “ordeal.”

‘The View': Alyssa Farah Griffin Predicts Kevin McCarthy Will Be ‘The Shortest Speaker in History’ (Video)

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Chris Harrison is ready to talk. “For my

Entertaintment

Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson Set For Santa Barbara Film Festival Award – Deadline

The Banshees of Inisherin stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson have been tapped to receive the Cinema Vanguard Award at the 38th annual Santa Barbara Film Festival.

The prize recognizes artists — primarily actors — who have forged their own path, taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film. Past recipients include Benedict Cumberbatch, Carey Mulligan, Laura Dern, Michael B. Jordan, Willem Dafoe, Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Adams, Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Nicole Kidman, Peter Sarsgaard, Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Kristin Scott Thomas, Stanley Tucci and Ryan Gosling.

Farrell and Gleeson will accept the award on February 16th while appearing for an in-person conversation about their careers. They star in Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy The Banshees of Inisherin for Searchlight as lifelong friends on the Irish isle of Inisherin who find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly decides to end their relationship. They’ve joined McDonagh this awards season in claiming Critics Choice Award and Golden Globe nominations, among other accolades for their work, having come to the project after collaborating with McDonagh on his acclaimed 2008 film, In Bruges.

“Gleeson and Farrell’s individual careers have been exemplary and their collaboration in two McDonagh films show us two actors perfectly in sync – in both pathos and humor,” said SBIFF’s Executive Director, Roger Durling. “They’re a joy to behold and quite a treat for us to get to celebrate them together.”

Farrell is a three-time Golden Globe nominee who has also recently starred in Matt Reeves’ The Batman for Warner Bros., Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives for MGM, the BBC/AMC miniseries The North Water, based on Ian McGuire’s novel of the same name, and Kogonada’s After Yang for A24. Among his upcoming projects is The Batman spin-off series The Penguin, which will have him reprising his role as the Batman villain.

Gleeson is an Emmy winner and two-time nominee, with five Golden Globe nominations under his belt, who has also recently been seen in the second season of Nick Hornby’s Emmy-winning short-form series State of the Union for Sundance TV, as well as Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth for Apple TV+. He’ll soon be seen starring alongside Joaquin Phoenix in Todd Phillips’ anticipated Warner Bros. sequel Joker: Folie à Deux.

This year’s Santa Barbara Film Festival is taking place in-person from February 8-18. Passes and tickets are on sale now at this link.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

The Banshees of Inisherin stars Colin Farrell

Movies

Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s Pathaan Trailer On Jan 10; Sheezan Khan’s Bail Hearing Adjourned

Edited By: Yatamanyu Narain

Last Updated: January 09, 2023, 22:07 IST

Pathaan’s trailer to release on January 10; Sheezan Khan’s bail plea adjourned.

Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathaan and television actor Sheezan Khan were among the top newsmakers of the day.

The much-awaited trailer of Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham starrer Pathaan is finally going to drop on January 10 at 11 AM. Announcing this news, King Khan took to social media on Monday and wrote, “Thank u for waiting….ab Pathaan ki mehfil mein aa jao….#PathaanTrailer out TOMORROW at 11 AM!” Pathaan marks SRK’s comeback to the big screen after the 2018 movie Zero. It is directed by Siddharth Anand and is backed by Yash Raj Films.

ALSO READ: ‘Apni Kursi Ki Peti Bandh Lijiye’ as Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan Trailer Will Be Releasing Tomorrow

Tunisha Sharma’s suicide case took a new turn on Monday when the bail plea of the actor and accused Sheezan Khan was adjourned till January 11, 2023. The decision was announced by the Vasai Court. “We have asked for another date further and we’ll be keeping our perspective in the court on January 11,” Tunisha Sharma’s family advocate Tarun Sharma said as quoted by the news agency ANI.

This is for the second time that Sheezan Khan’s bail plea has been adjourned by the court. The actor is currently in judicial custody.

ALSO READ: Tunisha Sharma Suicide Case: Sheezan Khan’s Bail Plea Adjourned Till January 11

Siddharth Malhotra and Rashmika Mandanna’s upcoming film Mission Majnu is all the rage right now. As such, the makers finally unveiled the intense trailer. Sharing it on his Twitter handle, Malhotra wrote, “Jo khud se pehle desh ke baare mein soche, wahi hain #DeshKeLiyeMajnu. Aisa hi ek Majnu hai Amandeep Singh jisne India ke sabse khatarnak mission ke liye apni jaan ki baazi laga di. Watch Mission Majnu, a spy thriller inspired by true events.” Mission Majnu will be released on the OTT platform, Netflix on January 20 next year.

ALSO READ: Mission Majnu Trailer: Sidharth Malhotra Is Here As a ‘Jasoos’, Promises Action-Packed Film

Urvashi Rautela’s mother recently took to social media and dropped a picture of the hospital where cricketer Rishabh Pant is admitted. Along with the photo, she penned a note for her daughter and wrote, “Every thing is all right don’t worry beta @urvashirautela.” However, this left the netizens disappointed. Soon after the post was shared, several of Pant’s fans commented on it and alleged ‘harasment’ from the daughter-mother duo.

ALSO READ: Urvashi Rautela’s Mom Drops Hospital Pic Where Rishabh Pant is Admitted, Netizens Demand ‘Legal Action’

Kantara actor Kishore Kumar G has been in the news lately for taking a dig at Yash’s Kannada blockbuster film KGF 2 as well as his Twitter handle being suspended out of the blue. In light of the boycott calls against Shah Rukh Khan’s action-thriller Pathaan and the vandalism that took place a few days ago in a mall in Ahmedabad, Kishore has weighed in on the situation by stating that the ‘boycott’ movement is nothing but akin to hooliganism.

ALSO READ: Kantara Actor Kishore Deems ‘Boycott Bollywood’ as Hooliganism, Here’s What He Said

Read all the Latest Movies News here

Entertainment Bureau

Entertainment Bureau brings you all updates from the world of entertainment — breaking news, Twitter trends, features, movie reviews, exclusive inter…Read More

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Edited By: Yatamanyu NarainLast Updated: January 09,

Delta Partners with Paramount+ for In-Flight Streaming Experience

Delta SkyMiles members will now have access to a free trial of Paramount+ Premium service, starting this spring.

Delta loyalty members on flights originating from the U.S. can stream content that includes breaking news, championship sports, original series like Tulsa King and Criminal Minds: Evolution and movies like Top Gun: Maverick and Smile. Members have the opportunity to customize their in-flight experience through their mobile devices. Delta Is First Domestic Airline Partner for Paramount+.

“Delta customers expect nothing but the very best each time they fly, and that includes industry-leading reliability, memorable service, engaging entertainment and now, free, fast streaming Wi-Fi,” said Ranjan Goswami, svp of customer experience design at Delta Air Lines in a statement. “Paramount not only represents the best of the streaming industry, but they also share our passion for delivering personalized experiences fit to individual customers in ways that bring the experience in the sky closer to what you would find at home.”

With free Wi-Fi being available across Delta’s 700 Viasat-equipped aircrafts by the end of the year, the airline now offers SkyMile members unlimited access to the entire Paramount+ library, including live events and championship sports.

Delta currently offers their customer free in-flight entertainment through Delta Studio, with over 1,000 hours of programming including the latest movies, premium TV series from HBO, Hulu and Showtime, 18 channels of live satellite TV (on select aircraft), podcasts, playlists and games.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Delta SkyMiles members will now have access

Are You The One? TV Show on Paramount+: canceled or renewed?

What to Watch

Are You the One?: 22 Singles and Key Art Set for Global Dating Series on Paramount+ (Watch) – canceled + renewed TV shows

by Regina Avalos, January 9, 2023

Are You the One? is coming soon to Paramount+ with 22 singles looking for love in the return of the dating series. The original version of the reality series aired for eight seasons, between 2014 and 2019, on MTV. Hosted by Kamie Crawford, this new incarnation will feature contestants from around the world.

Paramount+ revealed more about the series in a press release.

Paramount+ today revealed a stacked lineup of international contestants for the upcoming global edition of the dating competition series ARE YOU THE ONE? The new season will premiere exclusively on the service Wednesday, Jan. 18 in the U.S. and Canada and roll out in the U.K., Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria on Thursday, Jan. 19, in Latin America on Wednesday, Feb. 8 and in Australia on Thursday, Feb 14. Relationship expert and TV host Kamie Crawford will host the first-of-its-kind global edition that will take contestants to Gran Canaria, Spain. An official trailer and key art were also released.

Meet the ARE YOU THE ONE? season nine contestants:

Women

Anissa Aguilar / United States of America
Brooke Rachman / United States of America
Ciara “CC” Cortez / United States of America
Courtney Rowe / United Kingdom
Danielle Bonaparte / United States of America
Dew Anderson / Spain
Jordanne Deveaux / United States of America
Julia-Ruth Smith / New Zealand
Mijntje Lupgens / Netherlands
Rosalyn “Roz” Odujebe / Ireland
Taylor Kelly / United States of America

Men

Aqel Carson / United States of America
Brendan Mosca / Australia
Clayton Carey / Australia
Eduardo Dickson Jr. / United States of America
Hamudi Hasoon / New Zealand
Leo Svete / United States of America
Michael “Mikey” Owusu / United Kingdom
Nathan Grant / United Kingdom
Oliver “Ollie” Andersen / United Kingdom
Shamal “Samuel” Khan / United Kingdom
William Gagnon / United States of America

In the most ambitious dating experiment ever attempted, 22 recently single men and women from around the globe were put through an extensive matchmaking process to find their “perfect match.” Hailing from around the world and living together under one roof at an international location, these singles will have a shared goal: to find “the one.” Each week, the singles will have an opportunity to find their match, and if they can identify all 11 perfect matches at the same time, they’ll split a massive cash prize.

The global expansion turned a new leaf last season and broke barriers with its U.S. edition when it became the first sexually fluid reality dating competition show in the nation. From coming-out moments to discoveries of sexual and gender identity, it told powerful stories about navigating relationships and finding love as a sexually fluid individual for the first time on a reality dating show.

ARE YOU THE ONE? is produced by ITV Netherlands. Amy Boyle and Noah Moskin are Executive Producers. Sitarah Pendelton and Diana Morelli are Executive Producers for MTV Entertainment Studios with Matthew Parillo as Executive in Charge.

Check out a preview for Are You the One? Below.

What do you think? Are you planning to watch the return of this dating series on Paramount+? Have you seen the original version?

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

by Regina Avalos, January 9, 2023 Are You

Entertaintment, TV

New Year, New Country, & Murder continues for Joe in Season 4 of ‘You’

In a brand-new “whodunit” format, this season of You, which just released its first trailer, shows Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) finding himself going toe-to-toe with another serial killer that comes into his life. Netflix has decided to release the season in two parts, with Part 1 debuting on February 9.

According to Netflix, “After his previous life went up in flames, Joe Goldberg has fled to Europe to escape his “messy” past, adopt a new identity, and, of course, to pursue true love. But Joe soon finds himself in the strange new role of reluctant detective as he discovers he may not be the only killer in London. Now, his future depends on identifying and stopping whoever’s targeting his new friend group of uber-wealthy socialites.”

Check out the gallery below with brand new first look images of the new season:

: Courtesy of Netflix

: Courtesy of Netflix

: Courtesy of Netflix

: Courtesy of Netflix

: Courtesy of Netflix

This changes the shows format a bit with Joe caught off guard for the first time. The trailer shows Joe (who know goes by Professor Jonathan Moore) working at a college teaching. He crosses paths with a group of “privileged douchebags” and finds himself entrapped as he learns more about the group while trying to figure out who the “Eat the Rich Killer” is and wants from him. Incase you are wondering about last season’s love interest, Marienne (Tati Gabrielle) don’t worry — the trailer shows a quick glimpse of her too as she is in the middle of a confrontation with Joe.

The new two-minute trailer, which you can see below, shows that Joe seems to be attempting to prove to himself (or maybe subconsciously for Marienne) that he is a good person and that if he shows some sort of redemption, he will be able to win her back.

The Season 4 cast also features Ed Speleers, Tilly Keeper, Amy Leigh Hickman, Niccy Lin, Aidan Cheng, Stephen Hagan, Ben Wiggins, Eve Austin, Ozioma Whenu, Dario Coates, Sean Pertwee, Brad Alexander, Alison Pargeter, Adam James and “The White Lotus” Season 1 actor Lukas Gage.

Inspired by the novels of the same name by Caroline Kepnes, the series is developed by showrunner Sera Gamble and Greg Berlanti, who executive produce along with Leslie Morgenstein, Gina Girolamo, Sarah Schecter and Michael Foley. Warner Bros. Television is the production company.

“You” Season 4 Part 2 will be released a month later, on March 9.

Details provided by Netflix below:

INSPIRED BY: The novels by Caroline Kepnes

DEVELOPED BY: Sera Gamble & Greg Berlanti

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Warner Bros. Television

SHOWRUNNER: Sera Gamble

EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY: Greg Berlanti, Sera Gamble, Gina Girolamo, Leslie Morgenstein, Sarah Schechter, Michael Foley

WRITERS: 401: Sera Gamble & Leo Richardson, 402: Neil Reynolds & Kara Lee Corthron, 403: Mairin Reed & Justin W. Lo, 404: Amanda Johnson-Zetterström & Michael Foley, 405: Dylan Cohen & Hillary Benefiel, 406: Justin Lo & Leo Richardson, 407: Neil Reynolds & AB Chao, 408: Kara Lee Corthron & Mairin Reed, 409: Amanda Johnson-Zetterström & Hillary Benefiel, 410: Sera Gamble & Michael Foley

DIRECTORS: John Scott (401, 402, 406), Shamim Sarif (403), Harry Jierjian (404, 405, 410), Rachel Leiterman (407, 408), Penn Badgley (409)

KEY CAST: Penn Badgley, Tati Gabrielle, Charlotte Ritchie, Lukas Gage, Ed Speleers, Tilly Keeper, Amy-Leigh Hickman, Niccy Lin, Aidan Cheng, Brad Alexander, Ozioma Whenu, Eve Austin

MUSIC SUPERVISOR: Season Kent

FILMING LOCATIONS: London, United Kingdom; Paris, France; Los Angeles, CA

Twitter: www.twitter.com/younetflix

Instagram: www.instagram.com/younetflix

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

In a brand-new "whodunit" format, this season

Docs

Who Can You Trust in “Enemies of the State”?

“Enemies of the State” investigates the complex case of Matt DeHart, a hacker with the group Anonymous who was arrested for child pornography. Director Sonia Kennebeck teams with executive producer Errol Morris to follow a story that continuously calls into question how we establish the truth.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

"Enemies of the State" investigates the complex

Desperate Russian claims that its forces wiped out 600 Ukrainian troops in a revenge attack were in tatters last night following reports the strike had missed its target

Global

Russia’s claims of 600 dead Ukrainians are in doubt amid reports attack missed its target

Russia’s ‘deadly barracks strike didn’t kill a soul’: Claims of 600 dead Ukrainians are in doubt amid reports attack missed its target

Desperate Russian claims suggest 600 Ukrainians were killed in revenge attack
Ukrainian officials said claim was ‘not true’ as journalists also find no evidence
In reality, Russian strikes had missed their target last night, according to reports
The strikes damaged two schools and eight apartments, but no one was injured

By Andy Jehring For The Daily Mail

Published: 17:05 EST, 8 January 2023 | Updated: 08:56 EST, 9 January 2023

Desperate Russian claims that its forces wiped out 600 Ukrainian troops in a revenge attack were in tatters last night following reports the strike had missed its target.

Moscow announced that it had struck a temporary barracks in response to Ukraine taking out up to 400 Russians in a missile strike on New Year’s Eve.

But in a major embarrassment for the Kremlin, Ukrainian officials dismissed the claim as ‘not true’ as journalists on the ground picked apart the propaganda.

Russia’s defence ministry announced yesterday that ‘reconnaissance assets uncovered and reliably confirmed’ that 1,300 Ukrainians were in the two dormitories in Kramatorsk, Donetsk, with 600 reportedly killed.

Desperate Russian claims that its forces wiped out 600 Ukrainian troops in a revenge attack were in tatters last night following reports the strike had missed its target

But pictures suggest the claim was false and part of a desperate bid to win back public support after Kyiv’s devastating New Year’s Eve strike.

Images showed the missiles did not score a direct hit – merely landing close by and blowing the windows out.

There was no blood or any indication that troops had even been there, and locals said no ambulances were seen.

Kramatorsk mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko said the strikes had damaged two schools and eight apartments, but nobody had been injured.

Images showed the missiles did not score a direct hit – merely landing close by and blowing the windows out

Moscow announced that it had struck a temporary barracks in response to Ukraine taking out up to 400 Russians in a missile strike on New Year’s Eve

Finnish journalist Antti Kuronen, who visited the site, said it would be ‘strange’ if the building had housed soldiers as it ‘isn’t even insulated’.

Ukrainian troops are trained not to gather in large numbers within range of artillery guns.

The Russians made such a mistake on New Year’s Eve, which allowed the Ukrainian strike to kill up to 400 of their troops in Makiivka, Donetsk.

The strikes had damaged two schools and eight apartments, but nobody had been injured

Serhii Cherevatyi, Ukrainian Joint Forces spokesman, said: ‘The Russian information is not true.

The Russian army attacked Kramatorsk with seven missiles at 11.30pm. But it did not have any impact on the Ukrainian army.’

The attack came after three died in Russian strikes that broke the Kremlin’s own pledge of a 36-hour ceasefire until 11pm on Orthodox Christmas on Saturday.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Trending

Prince Harry Responds to Question About His Part in the ‘Breakdown of the Relationship’ With the Royals

Prince Harry Responds to Question About His Part in the ‘Breakdown of the Relationship’ With the Royals | Entertainment Tonight

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Tech

You can now play the original prototype for Left 4 Dead in all its zombie goodness

The latest bunch of Valve leaks have revealed the original map sources and prototype for the beloved and classic Left 4 Dead.

We haven’t had any real news from Left 4 Dead or its developers since Back 4 Blood released in late 2021. So when Youtuber Tyler McVicker (opens in new tab) posted a video revealing that the earliest prototype for Left 4 Dead had been leaked, we were pretty intrigued.

The leaked footage depicts a forgotten level of Counter-Strike: Source, codenamed Terror Strike, along with some map sources for the game that have never been seen before. This unreleased map is the second stage of prototyping that began with the Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and the map Zombie City.

When it comes to the scenery in this unfinished level, there’s not much to write home about. Its abandoned grey cityscape is eerily quiet and empty as you make your way through the onslaught of infinitely respawning counter-terrorists. On the bright side, you can see the first inklings of the popular undead game within the dimly lit city streets.

But don’t take our word for it. You can go play the original prototype for yourself right now. You can download the Zombie City map for yourself at GameBanana (opens in new tab), or you can set up your own server on Counter-Strike: Source. Just make sure to allow a lot of counter-terrorists to respawn and then have you and some buddies try to make it across the map.

Ancient history

(Image credit: Valve)

The leaked prototype and map sources aren’t the first thing that surprised us about Left 4 Dead. The game’s production had a bit of an unconventional and rocky start.

For those who remember, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero had a turbulent time in production, being passed around from studio to studio in search of someone who could finally put the finishing touches to the game and bring it all together. Eventually, Left 4 Dead developer Turtle Rock pulled the game out of production limbo.

On the way to finally finishing Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, the developers over at Turtle Rock decided to test the waters out for another idea first. This would be the open-ended cityscape rush map, codenamed Zombie City. This idea would later go under more scrutiny thanks to Counter-Strike: Source in the map codenamed Terror Strike.

The goal of Terror Strike and Zombie City was for four players to make it from one side of the map to another while dodging the incoming melee attacks from counter-terrorists. If you got to the end, you could plant a bomb and then win the game.

View of map in Terror Strike — (Image credit: Valve)

Turtle Rock finally decided to take the leap and create the historic Left 4 Dead, but not without the help of every plumber’s favorite gaming studio: Valve. When Valve got wind of this undead project, it threw its hat in the ring. This renowned studio helped shape the game in terms of progression and story, while Turtle Rock developed it entirely in its own studio.

However, after interacting so closely with Valve, Turtle Rock began to have some difficulties. Valve purchased the studio and rebranded it to Valve South for a short time. Before long, the studio would meet an unfortunate fate. Valve decided to close up shop and take the rights to Left 4 Dead. It would later produce Left 4 Dead 2 entirely in-house.

Beating a dead game

Two survivors on a bridge — (Image credit: Valve)

Back 4 Blood failed to capture the joys of navigating the undead hellstorm with your closest friends

That wasn’t the end for Turtle Rock. After the closure, Phil Robb and Chris Ashton, two early days devs, decided to try restarting the indie studio.

They would later be contracted to work on its once golden-goose, Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 by Valve. But for the most part, Turtle Rock tried to start anew and head in its own direction. They would instead make more casual games like Leap Sheep and Journey of the Gods.

However, that didn’t last very long. You can take a developer out of the zombie hellscape, but you can’t take the zombie hellscape out of the developer. 13 years after its initial steps into Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock released a spiritual successor to the game, Back 4 Blood.

Unfortunately, it didn’t hold up to the frantic and bloody fun of Left 4 Dead. I’m not sure if it’s just been too long or if the people who made the Left 4 Dead magic simply weren’t around for Back 4 Blood’s development. Whatever the reason, Back 4 Blood failed to capture the joys of navigating the undead hellstorm with your closest friends.

Back 4 Blood Ogre — (Image credit: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)

For one, the cards and upgrades that Back 4 Blood introduced seemed to confuse and complicate the simple zombie-killing formula. These extras gave you various perks and items. While some of the perks were helpful, most just got in the way of starting a level and didn’t end up making a huge difference to the actual fights.

The reality, believability, and grit of Left 4 Dead are what made it such an iconic game

On the other hand, the core gameplay loop was uninspired and poorly paced. What began with simply navigating derelict towns in search of survivors somehow ended in giant radioactive ogre zombies. It didn’t feel like a believable progression. It simply didn’t capture the Left 4 Dead spirit.

Why should a zombie game be believable? It’s a fair question. But for me, the reality, believability, and grit of Left 4 Dead are what made it such an iconic game. There was no greater cause, no special ops, no mad scientist making green-gooey zombies. It’s just a group of survivors trying to make it from point A to point B, as opposed to the comparatively high-concept Resident Evil chicanery in Back 4 Blood. This simplicity made the game more intense and enjoyable; it was just you and thousands of zombies – how very intimate.

Back 4 Blood did let me down compared to its earlier siblings. Nevertheless, it was still refreshing to see Turtle Rock get back into the zombie business. Who knows, maybe Back 4 Blood will follow in Left 4 Dead’s footsteps and have an outstanding sequel.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

The latest bunch of Valve leaks have

Video

Rian Johnson, Bob Ducsay On ‘Glass Onion’ Editing, More – The Process – Deadline

In working with Rian Johnson on his critically acclaimed box-office smash Knives Out and its recent Netflix sequel Glass Onion, editor Bob Ducsay has gotten his first major opportunities to dissect the whodunit, coming to understand the unique challenges of the genre, and the ways in which it magnifies those prevalent on films of all kinds.

“When you’re cutting a movie…we have to pretend we don’t know anything about the movie as we’re putting it together. Because you’re always trying to put yourself in the point of view of the audience,” Ducsay explains. “That’s always hard on every movie because you’ve seen the movie over and over again, and you know everything about the movie from the script stage.”

The murder mystery, he continues, “adds a whole new level” of complexity to storytelling — presenting a more complicated puzzle, as far as the managing and subverting of audience expectations. “Because there are certain things that we have to dole out to the audience at certain times. So…that level of concentration and discipline that’s required, and the knowledge that you have to bring about where the audience is looking and what they’re thinking about…is extremely important.”

A key corollary for Johnson and Ducsay, in the shaping of the whodunit, that makes the endeavor all the more challenging, is that in the fabrication and resolution of their murder mysteries, no cheating is permissible, as the pair discuss in the latest edition of Deadline’s video series, The Process. “You and I have talked about this a lot in both films, but especially in Glass Onion, how we’ve tried to be as honest as possible with the audience, and to make sure that if you watch it again, you don’t feel you’ve been duped,” Ducsay tells Johnson. “You’re delighted by the things that you missed that were in plain sight.”

Of the unique features baked into the murder mystery story, one of the most challenging to grapple with for Johnson has been the sprawling ensemble that comes with this kind of narrative — something that’s been constantly on his mind, when it’s come not only to the writing, casting and blocking processes, but in post-production, as well. “I feel like we’re very conscious in the edit of trying to represent everybody and trying to keep everybody alive in the scene, which is quite a task when you have eight or nine characters in any given scene,” says the filmmaker. “And there were a lot of those scenes in Glass Onion.”

Johnson’s second in a line of whodunits, following Knives Out‘s massive global success, is connected to that original story only by a single character: the famed Southern detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). While Blanc in Knives Out investigated the murder of a mystery novelist at his Massachusetts estate, he in Glass Onion makes his way to Greece, where a murder-mystery game played by tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) and a group of his most wealthy and influential friends becomes a real matter of life and death.

Ducsay came to the Knives Out franchise after collaborating with Johnson on his films Looper and Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi — becoming on the former project the person Johnson credits with teaching him how to collaborate with an editor. Johnson famously began making films on tape at a young age, editing them in-camera, and later went on to cut his feature directorial debut, Brick, as well. He admits in his chat with Ducsay that he was frustrated as he pressed on in his career by the notion of having to cede control of the editing process to someone else, after having for so many years had his own hands on the material.

He says that this scenario, to him, felt more “organic,” and that collaborating with an editor initially felt awkward — “like playing the piano by telling somebody what keys to press.” It’s for this reason, he says, that to this day, he tends to keep his hands busy during the post process. by building “elaborate” Lego sets. “If I don’t keep my hands busy, I will go insane while we’re editing,” he deadpans. “So, there’s actually been a method to my Lego madness.”

But as much of a learning curve as it’s been for Johnson to give up on of editing all of his works himself, he’s of course ultimately seen great rewards in doing so. “Once I learned the collaborative nature of it and how to work with you, as opposed to through you, it became something where it was additive… just like my relationship with Steve [Yedlin], who’s my cinematographer, or any of the other HODs,” Johnson tells Ducsay. “It becomes something where the added voice, the added perspective, the time it takes to talk through it was something that added to the finished product, as opposed to being an obstruction.”

Bowing on Netflix on December 23rd after opening in 600 theaters the month prior, Glass Onion sees Craig joined on screen by Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista. Johnson and Ram Bergman produced the TIFF-premiering title, which has been recognized so far this awards season with six Critics’ Choice Award nominations and two at the Golden Globes, among other accolades.

In conversation with Johnson on The Process, Ducsay discusses discovering editing and experimenting with George Lucas’ fabled EditDroid while at USC, the huge difference in cutting an effects-heavy film like The Last Jedi vs. a smaller, more character-driven title, his approach to diagnosing story issues and his notes process with Johnson, the challenge of distilling down many hours of footage for Glass Onion‘s ensemble-driven scenes and capturing all the best moments, his approach to working with music and sound, and more.

Johnson speaks with his editor — who has most recently teamed with him for the upcoming Peacock series Poker Face — about the trust that enables a successful collaboration between film creatives, editing as a form of writing, his own time at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, his studies of Spielberg and Citizen Kane, his approach to blocking Glass Onion’s ensemble scenes, and why that part of crafting the Knives Out films has been “the hardest” for him, among other topics.

View the full conversation by clicking above.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

In working with Rian Johnson on his

Entertaintment

National Society of Film Critics 2022: Full Winners List

It was a rare hat trick victory for Todd Field’s “Tár,” as the drama added a best picture win from the National Society of Film Critics on Saturday. Following its prestigious wins from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics Circle this season, it’s one of the few movies to win the trifecta of best picture awards from the three majors critics bodies.

The last films to win NSFC, NYFCC and LAFVA were Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” (2021), David Fincher’s “The Social Network” (2010) and Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” (2009), all of which were nominated for best picture. Bigelow’s film went on to claim victory in the Academy’s top category.

But it’s not only the movie celebrating the three-peat, with “Tár” star Cate Blanchett and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” sensation Ke Huy Quan, winning all three lead actress and supporting actor trophies, respectively.

“Tár” also walked away with wins for best screenplay for Field, with supporting actress hopeful Nina Hoss being the runner-up in supporting actress. Blanchett and Field were both on Variety’s cover this past week.

Colin Farrell and Kerry Condon extended their leading tallies, picking up lead actor and supporting actress for their performances in Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Farrell’s win was combined with his other acclaimed turn in Kogonada’s “After Yang.”

Laura Poitras’ “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” landed another nod on the critics’ circuit, winning best documentary from the awards body.

A24’s moving independent drama “Aftersun” continues to exude strength with its first-time filmmaker Charlotte Wells taking the directing award ahead of Park Chan-wook for “Decision to Leave.” This comes after its robust showing on the BAFTA longlists; it was shortlisted for multiple categories including best film, ahead of presumed juggernauts “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Women Talking.”

Poland’s intimate donkey tale “EO” won two prizes for best non-english film and best cinematography for Michał Dymek. This upcoming week is one of the most crucial of awards season with DGA and SAG noms announcing this week, along with the Golden Globes and Critics Choice ceremonies.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

It was a rare hat trick victory

Movies

Review: Sarah Polley’s ‘Women Talking’ is a revelation

What happens when your home no longer feels like a home? When the rules of your life no longer make sense? When your body is not your own? When your children are not safe and neither are you? Do you look for justice? Revenge? Apologies? Do you make amends to keep the peace? Or do you search for something else? Something unknown, something new?

For a crime as old as sexual assault, we still struggle to find the language to talk about it. No matter how enlightened we’re supposed to have become about these things, there is so much silence, so much shame, so much anger that just hangs in the air. Isn’t it kind of sad, in a way, that the only words we’ve collectively agreed upon are “me too?”

Sarah Polley knows the terrible truth about sexual assault and the criminal and civil justice system: That there are no perfect victims. In her book “ Run Towards the Danger ” she writes about how she watched it unravel from the sidelines, in horrified silence at the advice of friends and lawyers, as a man she alleges assaulted her when she was 16, was found not guilty. The other women who claimed assaults publicly were deemed unreliable narrators, their memories imperfect.

And so, for her extraordinary film “ Women Talking ” she approaches this societal, cultural conundrum from a different angle and in doing so makes the conversation undeniable. The women in her film have no memory of the assaults at all. What they do have are bruises, blood and babies and a trauma so deep, so intractable that they no longer feel like themselves.

This isn’t helped by their faith, and the elders in their isolated religious colony who tell them that it was ghosts or Satan who did it, that they’re lying to get attention, or that it was an act of wild female imagination. But the film begins with an indisputable reality: One of the attackers is caught and this has led to a series of events in which three generations of women have 24 hours to decide what to do before they return, demanding forgiveness. Their three options as they see it are 1) do nothing, 2) stay and fight, or 3) leave. So, they talk.

The film is an adaptation of a 2018 book by Miriam Toews, which was itself inspired by a real story out of a Mennonite community in Bolivia in which eight men were convicted of raping more than 100 women and girls. They used cow tranquilizers on their victims who had little to no memory of the incidents.

Polley’s version is expressionistic and lyrical, biting and poetic. The conversations are messy, the feminism contradictory and the trauma complicated. Among the grandmothers (Frances McDormand, Sheila McCarthy, Judith Ivey) there are those who have lived with these unspoken truths for so long that abandoning the end goal, the kingdom of heaven, is simply not an option. There are some who are open to a conversation and see a light. One tells allegorical stories about her horses Ruth and Cheryl.

The younger mothers are different too. Jessie Buckley’s Mariche is full of bitterness and nowhere to channel it. Claire Foy’s Salome is bubbling over with rage. Her four-year-old was assaulted and she wants to kill. Rooney Mara’s Ona, newly pregnant from an assault, is serious but romantic, looking at things as a poet might, from a kind of ivory tower she’s constructed for herself, despite the fact that none of the women have been taught to read.

The teens (Kate Hallett, Liv McNeil, Michelle McLeod) giggle and act out too. No one has processed what’s happened in the same way, and the conversations are equally messy. Conversations are often interrupted. Tensions rise and are punctured, sometimes with rage, sometimes with laughter.

The men are not part of this conversation. They barely get names. And only one gets to bear witness to the proceedings, Ben Whishaw’s August, who knows the outside world, but has returned to teach the young boys at school but also out of love for Ona. I’m not sure it would be possible for his performance to be sweeter or more heartbreaking.

Polley and cinematographer Luc Montpellier shoot the story in a muted palette, not quite sepia but not quite color either, reflecting the limited world of its characters. “Women Talking” is told like a folk tale, from sometime in the future, with composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s poignantly minimalist, grassroots score, of guitars, strings, bells and cymbals, helping to save us from overwhelming despair.

“Women Talking” is not melodramatic or desperate or exploitative. It is astute and urgent and may just help those previously unable to find words or even coherent feelings for their own traumatic experiences. And hopefully it might just inspire more works of wild female imagination.

“Women Talking,” an MGM release, in theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “some strong language, bloody images, sexual assault, mature thematic content.” Running time: 104 minutes. Four stars out of four.

___

MPA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

___

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

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Conversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the Code of Conduct. The Star does not endorse these opinions.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

What happens when your home no longer

Film

Indian Hit ‘Dostojee’ Gets Channel 4 Deal

RIGHTS

Channel 4 has acquired U.K. and Ireland broadcast and streaming rights for Indian festival favorite and box office success “Dostojee” (“Two Friends”), directed by Prasun Chatterjee.

Set in 1992-93, when Hindu-Muslim tensions escalated in India in the aftermath of the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Bombay bomb blasts and percolated down to a remote village on the India-Bangladesh border, the film follows the friendship of two eight-year-old boys. Palash (Asik Shaikh), the son of a Hindu Brahmin and Safikul (Arif Shaikh), whose father is a Muslim weaver, are best friends, but fate intervenes.

The film world premiered at the 2021 BFI London Film Festival, and after travelling to 32 film festivals in 26 countries and winning eight international awards, it was released theatrically in India in Nov. 2022 and proved to be a box office success. Previously, it participated at the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum and at Indian lab Film Bazaar from where it went to the Cannes Film Market as part of the ‘Film Bazaar Goes to Cannes’ initiative.

APPOINTMENTS

U.K. factual specialist Zinc Media Group has confirmed the appointment of former Uplands and BBC Studios production head Nick Todd as Zinc Television’s head of production, reporting into MD Tanya Shaw. Todd will be responsible for overseeing operations and productions across the company’s TV labels based in London and Manchester. He will also work with new labels as Zinc Television expands into new factual genres in the next phase of its growth.

***

Newen Connect, the distribution arm of Newen Studios, has promoted Leona Connell from executive VP, distribution, to chief commercial officer (CCO) of the company, working closely with CEO Rodolphe Buet. Based between London and Paris, Connell will focus on international and French markets across film and TV and will broaden her remit to oversee a team of 20 sales representatives across cinema and TV.

Connell joined Newen Connect in 2020 with the remit of optimizing the value of the outfit’s multi-genre content catalogue with broadcasters and platforms. She currently leads the fiction and non-fiction TV sales team in France and internationally and supports the financing of Newen Connect projects. Connell also develops co-production partnerships and pre-sales.

The creation of the CCO role follows the integration of the TF1 Studio International distribution team under the Newen Connect banner in 2022, and supports the distribution company’s ambition to optimize the value of its film rights.

FUND

Tourism Ireland is inviting applications for its 2023 International Programming Ireland Fund. Producers of high-quality international programming that feature or are made on the island of Ireland can submit proposals for evaluation by March 17 with a view to securing part funding for the successful applications.

A total of €1.3 million ($1.4 million) has been allocated for 2023, with Tourism Ireland expecting to invest in 10-12 projects which have already secured international broadcaster and/or distributor support. Funding will be allocated to a varying level according to the project, with Tourism Ireland’s investment capped at €200,000 per project and up to 50% of the production budget.

The fund is designed to attract and support new, original, innovative and commercially viable programming that can potentially be completed by Dec. 2023.

Previously supported projects include “Adrian Dunbar’s Coastal Ireland,” produced by Afro-Mic Productions for Channel 5 and “John Torode’s Ireland,” by Cornelia Street Productions for the Food Network.

Yvonne Pilkington, former format sales and production chief at NBCU International Studios, will oversee this year’s fund management and pre-selection.

Detailed guidelines are available here and the online application form can be accessed here.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

RIGHTS Channel 4 has acquired U.K. and Ireland

Turkey to Remake Israeli Drama ‘Shtisel’ – The Hollywood Reporter

Turkey’s OGM Pictures has acquired remake rights to produce a local-language adaptation of Shtisel, the hit Israeli television drama carried on Netflix in the U.S.

The Turkish show, Ömer, will track the same basic plot as the Israeli original, which follows Akiva Shtisel (Michael Aloni), a bachelor living in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhood with his aging father, who meets an older widow, Elisheva (Ayelet Zurer), living with her ten-year-old son. But the Turkish version will move the setting to the country’s ultra-Orthodox Muslim community.

“Shtisel is a very unique format that can be adapted to almost every culture and religion,” said OGM Pictures founder Onur Guvenatam. “So we are very excited to present Ömer in harmony with our culture and traditions.”

OGM acquired the remake rights from Dori Media Group, which handles international licensing for the show. OGM plans to produce at least 20 episodes for the first season of the Turkish adaptation for local network Star TV.

“For such an excellent Turkish production company to choose a format like this just goes to show how audiences from all backgrounds, be they Muslim or Jewish, or anyone else for that matter, can relate to the same family values and often fraught dynamics, significance of tradition, ceremony of food, etc., portrayed in Shitsel,” said Dori Media Group President and CEO Nadav Palti.

The original Shtisel, created and written by Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky, was produced by Fremantle-owned Israeli production company Abot Hameiri for Israel’s Yes network. It was a hit out of the gate, with Season 1 becoming the second-most-viewed Israeli drama on Yes and the show winning 11 awards at the Israeli TV Awards in 2013, including Best Drama Series. Season 2 took six trophies, including best actor for Doval’e Glickman, who plays Akiva’s father Shulem, and best actress for Neta Riskin, who plays the long-suffering Orthodox wife and mother Giti Weiss. A third season aired in 2021.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Turkey’s OGM Pictures has acquired remake rights

Awards

Taste Awards Rename Comedy Honor in Tribute to Bob Saget – The Hollywood Reporter

Organizers of the Taste Awards have changed the name of their best comedy category to the Bob Saget Award for Best Comedy and Humor to honor the late comedian.

The awarding body announced the change alongside the reveal of the finalist nominees and special achievement honorees for its 14th annual awards. “We are all honored to be able to remember Bob and his contribution to our culture, to families and to comedy with this newly renamed award,” said A.K. Crump, chair of the Taste Awards and CEO of TasteTV.

Saget, a beloved comedian and star of Full House and its follow-up, Fuller House, is survived by his wife, Kelly Rizzo, who runs the food and travel blog Eat Travel Rock, as well as his three daughters with ex-wife Sherri Kramer.

The Taste Awards celebrate the year’s best in food, fashion, health, travel and lifestyle programs in film, TV, podcasts, radio and photography across about 50 separate categories and honors. The first-ever finalists in the newly renamed comedy and humor category are Bermuda, Bring Back the Whistle Dog, Disco Sauce: The untold story of Penne Alla Vodka, Eat, Drink, and Handle Your Business, Hey Toby Hey Owen: This Is Not Sponsored by Valvoline, Let’s Make Food From Food With Michelle Ullmann, The SloFunkPump Christmas Special and The Trailer Park Cooking Show With Jolene Sugarbaker.

Among the 2023 special achievement award honorees are Hulu’s The Bear; Searchlight’s The Menu; Peacock and Hulu’s Baking It; Hulu, The CW and Food Network Canada’s Great Chocolate Showdown; and Netflix’s Selling Sunset. Other notable individual honorees and inductees are Padma Lakshmi, Selena Gomez and Gordon Ramsay.

Honors, including Hall of Fame inductions, will be presented on March 13 at the WGA Theater in Beverly Hills, the first in-person event since 2020. Winners from selected categories will also be announced ahead of the ceremony in mid-February.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Organizers of the Taste Awards have changed

Music

SZA Shuts Down Alleged Beef With Taylor Swift, Says She ‘Genuinely Loved’ Singer’s Album

SZA Shuts Down Alleged Beef With Taylor Swift, Says She ‘Genuinely Loved’ Singer’s Album | Entertainment Tonight

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Docs

Review: The Writer Emergency Pack

*Many thanks to the Writer Emergency Pack Team for sending me both packs for the purpose of this review. All views are my own.*

Photo by: Hannah Taylor

The ‘Writer Emergency Pack’ was first released in 2014. The original pack included 26 card themes with an ‘Idea card’ and a ‘Detail card’ for each theme. The aim of the pack is working towards “getting unstuck” in your story. Each card features a theme which will help solve a roadblock in the story. As the cards cover a variety of themes, there will be a card to choose in order to solve any problem.

A second release, the ‘Writer Emergency Pack XL’, campaigned on Kickstarter in September 2022, featuring 52 cards. The first 26 cards are the same as the first pack along with another 26 brand new card themes. The creator of the pack, John August is an American screenwriter, author and frequent collaborator with Tim Burton. Notably, working on the popular horror-family animation, Frankenweenie (2012). John August and Craig Mazin both run the popular podcast, Scriptnotes, where they discuss all things Screenwriting.

Example Card: The Original ‘Writer Emergency Pack’

(The Writer Emergency Pack Original – L: Idea Card/ R: Detail Card)

Photo By: Hannah Taylor

Example Card: The New ‘Writer Emergency Pack XL’

(The Writer Emergency Pack XL Version – L: Idea Card/ R: Detail Card)

Photo By: Hannah Taylor

Ways to Use the Cards:

The pack can be used in many different ways. It can be used as a writing exercise, for emergency writing procedures as the name suggests, as a ‘Cards Against Normality’ game or to use the cards as a starting point to either create an idea or to help start writing.

1) Writing Exercise

The writing exercise can be followed directly by the points instructed. Another way to approach the exercise is to adapt the steps to suit the story you wish to tell. The ‘Writing Exercise’ suggests to write around a well-known story i.e. a classic and see where your chosen card takes the direction of your story.

This exercise acts as a warm-up stage to eventually approach the cards with your own story. All in all, this exercise is intended to help the writer either start writing or help to make the writing flow more effortlessly.

2) Emergency Writing Procedures

Every writer has experienced a point in their stories where they feel trapped and unable to escape the pit they have created. Either that pit is within a character, a plot point or a specific scene. By taking a card at random, it can evoke ideas, emotions and feelings that the writer just might have needed to take their story further and to make it move.

This exercise is great at allowing space for the writer to explore different pathways and new directions. Most importantly, the ‘Emergency Procedure’ exercise will force the writer to question whether this new direction is something they can incorporate into the story. The experimental exercise will get the story into a completely different and unexpected place.

3) Cards Against Normality Game

Of course, the ‘Writer Emergency Pack’ includes an ironic writer’s spin on the original ‘Cards Against Humanity’ game. This game is recommended for three to six players. The gameplay consists of one storyteller and the players are the ‘retellers.’ The storyteller recites a story – whether made up, from real life or a classic tale.

Then each player has fifteen seconds to choose from three of their cards. Each ‘reteller’ creates their own version of the ‘storytellers’ story using the theme on their card. The player with the best version of the story, voted by the whole group, wins the game and the role of ‘storyteller’ switches to the next player.

I played this game with my family. Although we didn’t fully understand the instructions at first, in a positive spin it created discussion. We found that you can adapt the game to suit the story, situation, audience or atmosphere. The game definitely ended in more laughs than we originally intended. However the best aspect about this game is its adaptability – taking the game either seriously or in a more humorous manner. Whichever tone is chosen, it can meander your scenarios from basic story points, to progressing into story development.

Kickstarter Campaign

The Kickstarter project has reached $121,772 pledges and 2,963 backers from September to October 2022. With every pack sold, they will donate one pack to their partnering organisations. These include, NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program and 826LA (A non-profit writing and tutoring organisation).

Also available for pre-order on the official website is the ‘Writer Emergency Survival Guide’ with illustrated journal pages to keep a writing log. The XL pack is available for pre-order and will ship in March 2023 to US and Canada residents with an opportunity to ship to international addresses in the near future.

The Writer Emergency Pack XL

The ‘Writer Emergency Pack XL’ features cards which are double the size of the original pack as they adhere to their title of an ‘XL’ version. Not only this, but they are doubled in the amount of cards included in the pack.

The original cards in the ‘Writer Emergency Pack’ included 26 playing-sized cards. The new XL pack edition features 52 cards. Technically, there are 26 new cards added to this pack, whilst keeping with the original scenarios, which make up the first half of the pack.

One thing both packs celebrate are their travel-friendly sizes. Both packs are small enough to fit in a bag to help with fixing stories when writing on the go. I find the new XL version still maintains the game card appeal even with its larger card size.

Another great aspect which both packs share is their high-quality feel. The premium quality card is printed on a cross-hatch type material, which gives a smooth-to-touch feel.

The Artwork

The artwork in the ‘Writer Emergency Pack XL’ matches the feel, tone and design of the original Writer’s Emergency Pack. They are designed in a way to help the writer remember the image and match the description with the artwork.

(Idea Cards: L: WEP XL/ R: WEP Original)

Photo By: Hannah Taylor

(Detail Cards: L:WEP XL/ R: WEP Original)

Photo By: Hannah Taylor

Another great factor about this writer’s pack is how the themes can be easily memorised through the illustrations. When you think of the theme, the image immediately comes to mind. The pictures are unique to the themes and are both clever and well-thought out with adding a spark of humour at times.

The Main Differences between the ‘Writer Emergency Pack’ & the ‘Writer Emergency Pack XL’.

Expanded from 26 cards to 52 cards.
Larger font size and image size.
Larger playing cards.
Image and description fits onto one card now instead of two cards.
‘The Writer Emergency Pack’ Artwork – The Writer & The Typewriter Theme
‘The Writer Emergency Pack XL’ Artwork – The Writer & The Rocket Theme

The Writer Emergency Pack Original & XL Themes

Both packs feature a front cover theme which comes back into play on the cards ‘detail’ side. The writer is breaking away from their typewriter in the original pack. Perhaps signifying a break away into a new creative freedom when using the cards to help breakout new ideas and directions for the story.

(Front Covers – L: WEP XL/ R: WEP Original)

Photo By: Hannah Taylor

In the new XL version, the writer is launched in a rocket, ready to take off with their stories using the cards in the pack to open up new story ideas and directions. Interestingly, the design, layout and colour scheme of the cards are kept the same.

(Back Covers – L: WEP XL/ R: WEP Original)

Photo By: Hannah Taylor

Both card packs are consistent with the ‘Writer Emergency’ brand. The simple yet effective design features a white and orange colour palette with a solid structure of an ‘idea’ side and a ‘detail’ side to each card, used throughout the pack.

The original card pack featured two cards for each ‘emergency’ with one idea card and one detail card. In the new and updated ‘XL’ edition, the cards are back-to-back with the ‘idea’ on one side and the ‘detail’ on the other side. This makes the cards easier to use in all the exercises.

Both packs have clearly been curated by a writer who knows and understands how stories work. Each scenario is something that has been used countless times across cinema. But it is about identifying these themes and traits that make the ‘Writer Emergency Pack’ appealing. The cards force the writer to start imagining their protagonist in that situation. The scenarios could completely transform a story and turn it in a new direction.

Conclusion

Overall, the ‘Writer Emergency Pack’ makes the writer think about and ask the big and impactful but short question of – ‘What if?’ ‘What if my hero was forced to cooperate with the villain by being forced to work together – as the ‘Handcuffs of Fate’ card suggests?’

Or ask ‘What if the hero became part of a cult as the ‘Secret Society’ card gives consideration to – do they become a villain or were they the hidden villain from the start?’

There are countless avenues where the ‘Writer Emergency Pack’ can take the story. If one card does not seem to work it might work for a different story the writer has in mind. The different and overtly varied scenarios means the cards are bound to work with any story. There are 52 cards to choose from in the latest ‘XL’ edition – have fun exploring the different possibilities and pathways they can take you in your own stories.

To purchase the latest edition, the ‘Writer Emergency Pack XL’ visit the Kickstarter Project page here. The pack is currently available for pre-order. Alternatively, the original ‘Writer Emergency Pack’ is available to purchase on the official website here. The packs can be a great gift for yourself, if you are a writer or a gift to a writing friend.

Other important links to check out:

Writer Emergency Pack Website
John August Website
The Script Notes Podcast – Listen on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podcast Addict and more…

The post Review: The Writer Emergency Pack appeared first on Raindance.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

*Many thanks to the Writer Emergency Pack

Global

Charlotte visits Toronto for conference showdown

By Staff

The Associated Press

Posted January 9, 2023 2:03 am

Charlotte Hornets (11-30, 14th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Toronto Raptors (17-23, 12th in the Eastern Conference)

Toronto; Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Pascal Siakam and the Toronto Raptors host Terry Rozier and the Charlotte Hornets.

The Raptors are 11-16 in conference games. Toronto ranks second in the NBA with 18.1 fast break points per game led by OG Anunoby averaging 4.8.

The Hornets are 5-19 against Eastern Conference opponents. Charlotte gives up 118.1 points to opponents while being outscored by 6.2 points per game.

Jane Fonda on Being ‘Awestruck’ Over ‘Gorgeous’ Tom Brady (Exclusive)

Getty Images

Jane Fonda is not much of a football fan, but she knows when she’s in the presence of greatness!

The living legend was back on the red carpet at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Saturday for a screening of what by our count is her fiftieth feature film, the comedy “80 for Brady,” along with teammates Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin, Sally Field and Harry Hamlin, and “Extra” was there to intercept her.

Fonda, who turned 85 last month, huddled with “Extra’s” Melvin Robert, sharing how she is doing after announcing in September that she had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and, more recently, that she is in remission.

Getty

Jane Fonda’s Big Plastic Surgery Regret

View Story

Asked how she’s feeling these days, Fonda said, “Great! I stopped chemo and I feel great.”

She referred to having cancer as “an adventure,” saying, “I got a chance to experience what hundreds of millions of other people in the world have experienced. It wasn’t the first time I had cancer. And I got lucky. I had really, really good care. I’m lucky. I’m blessed.”

On getting back to her activism, especially her work on climate change, Fonda noted, “I care about the world and its creatures… my grandchildren… I want to do all I can… I’m at an age when you think about what is going to happen when I am on my deathbed. You want to feel you have done your very best to face this crisis.”

Calling climate change “the greatest crisis that has faced humanity,” she stated, “We have to act accordingly.”

On a lighter note, the enduring star was ga-ga about Tom Brady, a producer on the film and its titular star. “He is the GOAT,” she said emphatically. “I was awestruck, to tell you the truth. I really was. My knees actually started to give away. That doesn’t happen too often… When anybody is as good as he is… you have to bow down and honor that… The best the world ever had, plus he is gorgeous.”

Fonda did admit she isn’t a big football fan, but also said, “I have watched football and I watched Tom Brady play and it is jaw-dropping.”

Melvin couldn’t resist pointing out that Tom is single now, but there was a flag on the play —Fonda quickly quipped, “And I’m 85.”

But she couldn’t say enough positive things about Brady, and he wasn’t her only favored jock co-star! She revealed, “He was very nice to us — kind, generous, humble. I don’t know how a man like that could be humble, but he seemed to be… My scene with [Rob] Gronkowski, that was fun. He was really funny.”

“80 for Brady” hits theaters February 3.

Getty Images

Harry Hamlin Defends Wife Lisa Rinna: ‘Never Been a Bully to Anyone at Any Time’ (Exclusive)

View Story

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Tech

Prince Harry Believed Diana Might Still Be Alive ‘For Many Years’

Prince Harry opened up about his life in and out of the Royal Palace in Sunday’s “60 Minutes” interview with Anderson Cooper, and while Harry and Meghan’s exit from the family takes up most of the interview, he also revealed that he didn’t immediately believe Princess Diana was dead after her fateful car crash in 1997.

“For a long time, I just refused to accept that she was gone. She would never do this to us, but also maybe this is all part of a plan,” Harry told Cooper, adding that he believed she had maybe faked her death and would eventually reunite with Harry and Prince William.

Harry said he had “huge amounts of hope” and that his brother William “had similar thoughts,” adding that he believed Diana might still be alive for “many, many years” after her death.

When he was 20, Harry asked to see the police report and photos from Diana’s crash. When asked why, he told Cooper he was still looking for proof.

“Proof that she was in the car. Proof that she was injured. And proof that the very paparazzi that chased her into the tunnel were the ones that were taking photographs — photographs of her lying half dead on the back seat of the car.”

Harry said he’s grateful that his personal secretary and advisor dissuaded him from looking at the more gruesome photographs, but it wasn’t until he was 23 and visited the Paris site of the crash that he finally believed his mother was gone.

“I wanted to see whether it was possible driving at the speed that Henri Paul was driving that you could lose control of a car and plow into a pillar killing almost everybody in that car. I need to take this journey. I need to ride the same route,” he said. “Because William and I had already been told, ‘The event was like a bicycle chain. If you remove one of those chains, the end result would not have happened.’ And the paparazzi chasing was part of that. But yet, everybody got away with it.”

He added that he and William have considered reopening the inquest into the event, which is still officially dubbed a “tragic accident,” and said he still doesn’t feel like he has all the answers.

“Truth be known, no. I don’t think I do. And I don’t think my brother does either. I don’t think the world does. Do I need any more than I already know? No. I don’t think it would change much.”

You can watch Prince Harry’s full 30-minute interview with Anderson Cooper at “60 Minutes.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Set Docuseries ‘Live to Lead’ at Netflix (Video)

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Prince Harry opened up about his life

M3GAN, (aka MEGAN), from left: M3gan (voice: Jenna Davis), Violet McGraw, 2023. ph: Geoffrey Short / © Universal Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection

Video

‘M3GAN’ Unrated Cut in the Works, Screenwriter Akela Cooper Says

Akela Cooper, who wrote “M3GAN” with James Wan, hopes that the film’s success proves that horror movies don’t have to be “elevated” to succeed.

©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

James Wan and Jason Blum have already hinted that more “M3GAN” sequels are in the works, but the wait to see more of the dancing, murderous AI doll might be even shorter than fans expect. In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, screenwriter Akela Cooper (who wrote the film with her “Malignant” collaborator James Wan), teased that an unrated cut of the film with an even higher body count could be coming soon.

“There should be an unrated version at some point,” Cooper said. “I heard it is on the books. But yes, it was way gorier. Her body count in the script was higher than in the movie. It wasn’t a Gabriel [in ‘Malignant’]-scale massacre, but she did kill a bunch more people, including a couple of characters whom James was like, ‘I like what you did with those people, but I want them to live.’ I was merciless, but again, that is me. My humor is extremely dark.”

Cooper also expressed optimism that the success of “M3GAN” could pave the way for more unapologetically fun horror movies to break out, after years of “elevated horror” dominating the genre.

“It is exciting because for so long everyone was doing ‘elevated horror.’ Even going out and pitching, I would have people say, ‘We like it, but it’s too gory. It’s not elevated,’” she said. “An exec who read one of my specs and really liked it said, ‘It’s gory and no one’s doing gore right now. We have to wait for a horror movie that has gore to come out and be a hit, and then the market will shift.’ I was sitting there, like, ‘OK… we could lead that charge.’ Now I’m [hearing], ‘There’s gore, and it’s not a problem.’ I’m happy that I could have a hand in bringing back fun horror that doesn’t take itself so seriously. I’m reading about more horror movies that are wild, out-there ideas coming out or being bought. And some of them are original, which is good! I’m happy that I could steer that ship so that studio execs can be like, ‘Oh! There might actually be money in them thar hills.’”

Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Akela Cooper, who wrote "M3GAN" with James

Entertaintment

Why ‘9/11’ Directors Chose Discovery+ for Their ‘January 6th’ Doc

French brothers Jules and Gedeon Naudet are known for their documentary about New York firefighters that became “9/11” – an on-the-ground account of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the city. Over two decades later, the brothers have made another docu about an attack on America’s democracy titled “January 6th.” Told from the perspective of the Capitol and Metropolitan police officers, journalists, senators and congressmen, the doc is meant to be an apolitical account of the attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021. Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Metropolitan Police Commander Robert Glover, and former congresswoman Liz Cheney, are among the 50 survivors who participated in the two-and-a-half-hour Discovery+ film.

The Naudet brothers spoke to Variety about their decision not to interview Capitol insurrectionists, making a film without political bias, and why they specifically wanted to partner with Discovery+.

Did you decide to make a doc about the Jan. 6th attack on the day of the riot or after?

Jules Naudet: It was after when we were watching the first day of Donald Trump’s impeachment, a couple of weeks after the attack on the Capitol. When they started the impeachment, there was a 20-minute video, which was a recap of the personal stories from inside (the Capitol) when the riot was happening. We were struck by the stories. People were talking about these moments of heroism, humanity, and discreet courage. It’s the same humanity that we always look for in all of our projects. We thought, okay, this is definitely a story we’d like to tell.

The majority of the Congressmen and women interviewed in the docu are Democrats. A few Republicans participated, including Troy Nehls (U.S. Representative for Texas’ 22nd district) and Adam Kinzinger (U.S. Representative for Illinois’ 16th district). Did you reach out to a few Senate and House Republicans or all of them?

JN: We sent emails to all 50 Republican Senators and about 115 Republican Congressmen and women. At the end of the day, all we got were four responses, which we were incredibly happy that we got. But yes, most Republicans did not want to participate. We wish we had more. We tried.

Capitol and Metropolitan Police Departments granted you full access to their officers. You’re the only doc team they have given that access to. How did you convince them to let you in?

JN: The most important part in our documentaries, and this one is no different, is the preparation that happens before filming. To be able to have access to these people who were there to participate takes a lot of work. We had to earn their trust. The Capitol Police took us about five months to get the authorization, and for the Metro PD it took us nine months. It’s about not rushing and being clear about explaining what we wanted and what we’ve done in the past. Our work on “9/11” and some of the other work we have done helped a lot.

Why was it so important that the police who defended the Capitol be part of the doc?

Gedeon Naudet: No matter how many politicians, senators, congressmen, even staffers, and journalists we interviewed, people would say, “They are Democrats” or “They are Republican.” We knew that the first line of defense was the police officers. Without them, you can’t tell the story. And without them, people can basically accuse you of being for one side or another.

Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman diverted the insurrectionists from the floor of the Senate. He received the Congressional Gold Medal for his heroic efforts and is arguably one of the most well-known January 6th police officers but is not featured in the film. Why?

JN: We tried, but he’s a very discreet individual. We tried to get absolutely everybody.

Why did you want to make this doc – about a very political situation – apolitical?

GN: Simply telling the facts and simply telling the story will do the job. The moment you try to be political, then you are making a film for just one audience.

JN: When you think about police officers, the senators, congressmen, and staffers involved in January 6th, we tend to see only their uniform or their title, but what we forget is under all of that, there is a human being. There’s a mother, a father, a son, a daughter. Seeing that terrible day through that human perspective is one way for the American public to really look at the attack and maybe not shy away from it. We want people to discover these people. We were never looking to make a documentary with a political message.

Did you ever consider interviewing any of the insurrectionists?

GN: No. In all our films, we always are interested in the victims and never the attackers. It’s always about how you would feel if you were someone in this place and have no idea what’s coming to you. At that moment, you discover yourself. That is what fascinates us.

JN: We are not investigative journalists. Journalists have to treat both sides, which is normal. What we do is slightly different. For us, it starts at a place of passion, a place where we are inspired by people, and that’s what we want to show.

You pitched this project to several platforms and ultimately went with Discovery+. Why?

JN: We didn’t want a platform or broadcaster that might be seen as leaning Democratic or Republican. That’s why we thought Discovery+ was fantastic. “Honey Boo Boo” and “Deadliest Catch” are not exactly political lines in the sand, so we thought it was perfect to have this neutral platform where people can look at the story of that day through a different lens than the usual political or investigative one.

“January 6th” debuts Jan. 5th on Discovery+.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

French brothers Jules and Gedeon Naudet are

Movies

Here Are 19 Awesome Glass Onion Easter Eggs

When we first encounter Benoit Blanc in the movie, he’s having a bath upstairs and playing Among Us over Zoom with Stephen Sondheim, Angela Lansbury, Natasha Lyonne, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – as you do. So, when the doorbell rings, it’s a man called Phillip who answers the door, played by Hugh Grant.

Hugh’s cameo prompted journalists at a press conference at the London Film Festival to ask whether Benoit is “queer”, to which Rian replied, “Yes, he obviously is”. Here’s hoping Hugh has a bigger part in Knives Out 3, and we get to see the couple on screen together!

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

When we first encounter Benoit

Film

Mayfair Witches, Velma, Golden Globes

Alexandra Daddario in Mayfair Witches; Jerrod Carmichael; A still from Velma — Alexandra Daddario in *Mayfair Witches*; Jerrod Carmichael; A still from *Velma*

Welcome to What’s On, our weekly picks of must-watch shows. Here’s what you need to watch from Sunday, January 8, to Thursday, January 12. All times are Eastern. [Note: The weekend edition of What’s On drops on Fridays.]

The biggies

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches (AMC, Sunday, 9 p.m.)

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches Trailer: Starring Alexandra Daddario | AMC+

It’s witchin’ time. After last year’s charming Interview With The Vampire, AMC expands (not entirely successfully) its Anne Rice Universe with Mayfair Witches. The show is based on Rice’s complex trilogy about the Mayfair family. Alexandra Daddario plays Dr. Rowan Fielding, a neurosurgeon who discovers she has latent powers, so she ventures to New Orleans to learn more about her ancestry, and her mysterious connection with an ageless spirit named Lasher (Jack Huston). You can read The A.V. Club’s review here.

The Golden Globe Awards (NBC, Tuesday, 8 p.m.)

Golden Globes 2023: Ana De Armas, Billy Porter & More to Present | E! News

In a surprisingly successful “it’s as if nothing bad happened” maneuver, the Golden Globes are back. Sigh. The awards ceremony run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association faced its fair share of scandal, in part for its lack of diversity (and for reaping the benefits of Emily In Paris’ budget). After a Hollywood boycott in 2022, the Globes return for a live show hosted by Jerrod Carmichael. And if you thought the stars wouldn’t participate, think again. They’ve already lined up presenters like Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Colman Domingo, Natasha Lyonne, and Quentin Tarantino. Here’s the complete list of this year’s nominations.

Velma (HBO Max, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)

Velma | Official Teaser | HBO Max

After serving as a creator on her last two shows, Never Have I Ever and The Sex Lives Of College Girls, Mindy Kaling returns to onscreen work (sort of) for the HBO Max animated dramedy Velma. Kaling voices the iconic Scooby-Doo character Velma Dinkley in the show, which follows Velma, Daphne (Constance Wu), Shaggy (Sam Richardson), and Fred (Glenn Howerton) as teens before they formed Mystery Inc. and added a lovable dog to the crew. They inevitably team up when a killer begins attacking their school. Look out for The A.V. Club’s review this week.

Hidden gems

All Creatures Great And Small (PBS, Sunday, 8 p.m.)

All Creatures Great and Small: Season 3 Trailer

The comforting British drama All Creatures Great And Small returns for a six-episode third season in the U.S., after previously airing in the U.K. Based on the James Herriot books, the show is set in England’s Yorkshire Dales in the late 1930s. The series follows a trio of veterinary surgeons at Skeldale House, including the eccentric Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West), who runs the practice, and young vet James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph).

The Makanai (Netflix, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House | Official Trailer | Netflix

Created by Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japanese series The Makanai is based on Koyama Aiko’s manga, Maiko In Kyoto: From The Maiko House. Set in Kyoto, the show follows Kiyo, who becomes a Makanai (a person who cooks meals) at a house where apprentice geishas live together. Kiyo and her childhood friend join forces hoping to build a life, but end up pursuing different passions.

The Climb (HBO Max, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)

The Climb | Official Trailer | HBO Max

Jason Momoa and rock climber Chris Sharma host the adventure reality series The Climb. In this competition, amateur climbers are put through a rigorous series of challenges to brave intimidating ascents. The winner will score a $100,000 cash prize.

More good stuff

Alert: Missing Persons Unit (FOX, Sunday, 8 p.m.)

ALERT: MISSING PERSONS UNIT | OFFICIAL TRAILER | FOX

Another year, another police procedural. Alert: Missing Persons Unit is a cop drama set in Philadelphia. When officer Nikki’s (Dania Ramirez) son goes missing, she joins a special unit to help others in a similarly tragic situation. Nikki also teams up with her ex, Devon (Scott Caan), to find her long-lost son. The show also follows a “case-of-the-week” story. Look out for The A.V. Club’s interview with Caan this week.

Koala Man (Hulu, Monday, 12:01 a.m.)

Koala Man | Official Trailer | Hulu

Created by Michael Cusack, Koala Man is an animated comedy about middle-aged dad Kevin and his titular not-so-secret identity. His superpower is a burning passion for following rules and snuffing out petty crime in the Australian town of Dapto. Though it may seem like any other suburb, Dapto is full of cosmic and man-made evil that Koala Man is here to clean up. The voice cast includes Hugh Jackman, Sarah Snook, Jemaine Clement, and Miranda Otto.

How I Caught My Killer (Hulu, Thursday, 12:01 a.m.)

How I Caught My Killer | Official Trailer | Hulu

The true-crime docuseries How I Caught My Killer highlights the real-life stories behind unique homicide cases with interviews, archival material, and cinematic recreations. Each case provides a complex portrait of the person who lost their lives, and how the victims left behind case-breaking clues that helped solve their crimes.

Can’t miss recaps

Willow (Disney+, Wednesday, 3:01 a.m., season one finale)

RuPaul’s Drag Race (MTV, Tuesday and Friday, 8 p.m.)

Arriving now

East New York season one, NCIS: Los Angeles season 14 (CBS, Sunday, 8:30-10:30 p.m., winter premieres)

Bob’s Burgers season 13, Family Guy season 21 (FOX, Sunday, 9-10 p.m., winter premieres)

The Resident season six (FOX, Tuesday, 8 p.m., winter premiere)

The Conners season five, The Goldbergs season 10 (ABC, Wednesday, 8-9 p.m., winter premieres)

Vikings: Valhalla (Netflix, Thursday, 3:01 a.m., season two premiere)

Walker season four, Walker: Independence season one (The CW, Thursday, 8-10 p.m., winter premieres)

Ending soon

Alchemy Of Souls (Netflix, Sunday, 3:01 a.m., season one finale)

George & Tammy (Showtime, Sunday, 9 p.m., series finale)

Baking It (Peacock, Monday, 3:01 a.m., season two finale)

Single’s Inferno (Netflix, Tuesday, 3:01 a.m., season two finale)

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Alexandra Daddario in Mayfair Witches; Jerrod Carmichael;

Missing Persons Unit Boss Breaks Down The Series Premiere – Deadline

Fox’s latest foray into the police procedural focuses on the Philadelphia Police Department’s missing person’s unit — telling the stories of all the ways that people might go missing while also diving into the mystery of two officers’ own missing child.

From The Blacklist showrunner John Eisendrath and Jamie Foxx, Alert: Missing Persons Unit follows police officer Nikki Batista (Dania Ramirez), who joined the Philadelphia MPU after her son Keith went missing to help other people find their loved ones, even as she searches for her own. Six years later, her world is turned upside-down when her ex-husband, Jason Grant (Scott Caan), shows up with a proof-of-life photo of their missing boy. Or is it?

The series premiere, which aired Sunday, plants a seed of doubt into viewers’ minds when their son, Keith, is seen ripping up the pages of a diary that contains specific details about his life at the end of the episode after a joyful reunion with his parents.

“We are suggesting that he has something to hide. Is he their son? That is a question that is going to be central to the show, and we will give the audience concrete answers in most episodes to the question that is being asked on that topic in each episode,” Eisendrath told Deadline about the mystery, adding: “What I like is the situation where the audience may be ahead of our heroes. The audience sees Keith ripping those pages out, his parents don’t see it.”

Eisendrath broke down the premiere episode with Deadline and gave some hints about what Nikki and Jason could uncover about the person claiming to be their long-lost son. Episode 2 of Alert: Missing Persons Unit will air Monday at 9 p.m. on Fox in the series’ regular time slot.

DEADLINE: How did you work to differentiate Alert from the many other law enforcement procedurals that exist on broadcast television?

JOHN EISENDRATH: I think there’s probably two answers to that question. The first is just that a missing persons procedural is very distinct, because the types of stories that one can tell about missing persons are incredibly varied. They can be people who have been taken and are desperate to be found. They can be people who’ve run away and have no interest in being found. They can be stories that involve a crime, anything from kidnapping to murder. They can be stories that have no crime whatsoever involved. So it’s a huge range of possible stories that I find to be very distinct from procedurals that are essentially crime shows. So that I think alone makes it unique. I think missing persons also is something — which I thankfully was wrong — but experienced a few hours of thinking that one of my children had once been taken. And I think that it is something so many of us live with, so many of us fear, so many of us can relate to. I really wasn’t ready to move forward on it until I thought that there could be an interesting puzzle at the center of the story, because for me that is particularly important. Once I imagined that there could be a mystery about Nikki and Jason’s son who had gone missing and has returned, and there could be a mystery about him and his return that would be the emotional core story, I thought that that was exciting and interesting and could pull the viewers along. You have this great irony of the two experts who spend all day trying to find other people’s missing loved ones who have lost a loved one of their own and then are so desperate to get him back that they may miss some clues that other people see about whether or not he is their child.

DEADLINE: As you mentioned, there are so many ways that a person could go missing. Where did you draw inspiration from for some of these stories we’ll see this season?

EISENDRATH: Some of the stories are ripped from the headlines. We’re always looking for the most relatable and emotional core to the story. When you’re thinking about a missing persons story, it’s easy to start thinking about what would be a circumstance that just would be so terrifying or tragic or sad or serious. Everyone has their own fear of one. So the writers, we just imagine putting caring, loving people in that situation. In my case, when one of my sons went missing, I was showing him how to ride his bike, and he started riding his bike, and we were on the block that we lived on and he went around the corner. I was so excited. I ran after him. I turn the corner, and he was gone. I went all the way around the block. He was nowhere to be found. I spent an hour going to restaurants, convenience stores, all in my neighborhood, asking ‘Have you seen this boy?’ and I thought, ‘Oh my god, I’m gonna have a child who’s been taken.’ It turned out that he was in the house the whole time. He’d gone all the way around the block and gone inside. I never bothered to look inside because I just thought he was gone. So we’re doing a story on the show where it begins with two parents teaching their child to ride a bike and they go around the corner, and the child is gone. We start with something very simple that everyone can connect to, and then we build the mystery from there.

DEADLINE: I’m also glad you mentioned Keith, because by the end of the first episode it’s clear there is something off. Can you expand on what’s going on there?

EISENDRATH: It’s funny, because when I wrote the pilot, I was worried that I had not given enough clues to the viewer that there might be some mystery about Keith coming back. But everybody who watches television is so trained to look for the mystery that may or may not be there that no one missed the fact that by tearing up the pages in the diary, he might be wanting to hide something. So we are suggesting that he has something to hide. Is he their son? That is a question that is going to be central to the show, and we will give the audience concrete answers in most episodes to the question that is being asked on that topic in each episode. After the first episode, clearly there is a question about who he is. What I like is the situation where the audience may be ahead of our heroes. The audience sees Keith ripping those pages out, his parents don’t see it. So I’m hoping the audience is like, ‘Hey, Nikki and Jason, he ripped the pages out of the diary. Come on, guys. Look, you gotta know there’s something going on.’ Even in the pilot, you might sense that the sister, their daughter, is a little standoffish to Keith. Why is she standoffish? What does she know? It’s going to become evident to the parents, and once the parents start to wonder why their daughter is not bonding with their son that will begin a series of stories that will peel back the question about Keith.

DEADLINE: It’s also pretty clear that Keith returning is going to test some relationships. Mike and Nikki are already in a rocky place by the end of the episode.

EISENDRATH: I’m a huge soap opera fan, I love a good love triangle. But I think what is particularly unique about this one is that everyone’s position is very sympathetic. Jason and Nikki did not get divorced because they mistreated one another, cheated on one another, didn’t love one another. Their marriage floundered because their child was taken and their marriage couldn’t sustain that tragedy. She meets an amazingly nice person in Mike, and we see that they get engaged when we first get to know them. And then yes, Keith comes back. Well, Mike, who by the end of the pilot feels a little bit like the odd man out, understands why he’s the odd man out. He understands that Nikki and Jason need the time to reconstruct their family. Nikki is very clear with both the men in her life that this is a very delicate balancing act between wanting to get her family back and also continue her relationship with Mike. Jason’s in the same position. He desperately wants to spend time with his old family, but he also has moved on in his life. So it’s a situation that not only strains the relationships between Mike and Nikki and Jason, but it also will cause friction between Nikki and Jason because they won’t always agree on how to move forward with Keith, both on the question of who he is, and on the question of how to just reintegrate a now grown child into their world.

DEADLINE: I wanted to also ask about Kemi, because I think she adds a great element to the MPU. Why did you decide to have a character who is faith-oriented, but to also move away from a Christian-centric narrative there?

EISENDRATH: I have had the pleasure and experience of knowing a shaman, a very close member of our extended family. This person has shown me the power of belief in a unique way and the approach to solving emotional problems and practical problems through ritual. I think that from that experience, I have come to believe in its value, and I think [it’s interesting] in a police setting where the solution to the crime or the mystery of the missing person is ultimately going to be fact based. Kemi is not a mystic. Kemi cannot see into the future. Kemi cannot predict the outcome of a scenario based on her belief. But the people who come into the MPU are desperate. They are at their worst possible moment, and I think that someone like Kemi can offer the type of comfort and hope that people in those circumstances desperately need. That affords her being there for the chance to both solve the underlying problem that brings them there, which is the most important thing — finding the missing loved one — but also offer aid and comfort along the way. As for the non-Christian part of it, I think the belief is universal. I don’t think that any particular culture or any particular religion has a corner on that market. And I think that yes, it’s great to see someone channeling a non-Western type of belief, if for no other reason than it will dramatize how similar it is to every other type of belief.

DEADLINE: Can we expect our questions about Keith to be answered by the end of the first season, or are you planning for this to span longer than that?

EISENDRATH: Fingers crossed there will be more than one. I think that we are going to give the audience very clear answers about Keith, almost in every episode, and certainly I think that they will get some satisfaction by the end of the season. They can wait and see whether it’s the end of the story or not, but there will be no shortage of questions and answers regarding that mystery this season.

Source link

January 9, 2023

0 Comments

Fox’s latest foray into the police procedural

What to Watch

‘Mayfair Witches’ Episode 1 Ending Explained — Rowan & Dierdre Twist

Sunday’s Mayfair Witches premiere may not have included any demonic crock-pots magically springing to life, but the kickoff to AMC’s latest Anne Rice adaptation still delivered a surprise ending fit for a Pearson.

The first episode introduces us to Dr. Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario), a brilliant surgeon with commitment issues and untapped magical potential. (Surely we can all relate to at least one of those things, no?) When Rowan learns that her adoptive mother’s cancer is back, she turns to her hospital’s chief of surgery, who not only sneers at the idea of Rowan getting her mother into an experimental stem cell trial but also chastises her supposed arrogance. These unkind words don’t sit well with Rowan, who kinda-maybe-accidentally gives the jerk a brain aneurism.

Rowan’s mother Elena insists that she isn’t to blame for the incident, but the follow-up phone call Elena makes to a mysterious agency tells a different story. She’s desperate to find out if something has “changed” about her daughter, and she’s assured that an agent is being sent to investigate. The agent, Ciprien Grieve (Tongayi Chirisa), assures Elena that Rowan is safe from “the man” for now and promises to continue protecting her after Elena is gone.

Rowan then applies to work at Revenia, the company responsible for the aforementioned stem cell trial, but she and her new boss don’t exactly get off on the right foot. He first pees in front of her (what even?!), then tells her to choose which patient she’d like her mother to replace in the trial. None of this sits right with Rowan, so she reads Jerk No. 2 for filth, ultimately sending him toppling to the floor just like the last guy who pissed her off. Sensing a pattern yet?

The premiere also introduces us to Dierdre Mayfair, a young troublemaker who is sent to live with her aunts after her mother’s alleged suicide. She doesn’t believe her mother purposely jumped from the balcony, a suspicion she shares with her uncle Cortland (Harry Hamlin), a southern gent whose legendary parties are as over-the-top as his accent. It’s at one such party where Cortland introduces Dierdre to a boy named Patrick, and they hit it off immediately. They share a dance, which leads to some weird sex — and before you know it, Patrick is being taken away in a stretcher.

Patrick and Dierdre’s night together, while tragic, also results in a pregnancy. An increasingly desperate Dierdre attempts to take her own life months later by jumping from the balcony, but she’s stopped by a man named Lasher (Jack Huston). The twisted character tells her that the baby she’s carrying will change her life, and he asks Dierdre if she’ll take him to be hers forever.

We’re then treated to a real gut punch of a montage, juxtaposing the birth of Dierdre’s baby with the death of Rowan’s mother.

As for the big This Is Us-style twist I mentioned earlier, here it comes: We’ve been watching events unfold in two different timelines, and Dierdre’s baby grows up to be — wait for it — Rowan! Present-day Dierdre, now 47 years old (and played by the great Annabeth Gish), suffers from a strange affliction that prevents her from speaking. Or is it just that she’s too heavily medicated to communicate with anyone? Either way, her physician is determined to figure out who she really is… and something tells me that Rowan will soon be doing the same.

OK, let’s talk: Are you ready to join the Mayfair Witches‘ coven, or did this premiere not bewitch you like you hoped? Weigh in via our polls below, then drop a comment with your full review.

Source link

January 8, 2023

0 Comments

Sunday’s Mayfair Witches premiere may not have

Awards

‘The Woman King’ Cinematographer Polly Morgan – Deadline

Director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s goal for The Woman King was to create a sprawling epic based on a group of all-female warriors in Africa. She tasked cinematographer Polly Morgan with capturing the beauty of the landscape and leaning into the colors of the environment, which could be a challenge for scenes taking place at night. The Woman King tells the story of the all-female Agojie warriors in the African Kingdom of Dahomey. Filming in Africa presented a challenge for the production, but the location allowed Morgan to highlight the colors and tones of the period.

DEADLINE: What were the early conversations with Prince-Bythewood about what she wanted for the cinematography?

POLLY MORGAN: I think Gina wanted to lean into the genre of historical epics and give the movie a lot of scope and really capture the beauty of the landscape and lean into the colors of the environment. We wanted to have really beautiful, natural, saturated color, highlighting the reds of the earth and the greens of the forest and jungles and capture the beautiful light and lean into flares and back light. She wanted it to be a striking movie, one that would feel iconic and could stand the test of time alongside all the other historical epics that we love and she also felt strongly about making sure that the women were captured in a beautiful way that not only showed off their physicality and all the work that they had done to prepare for the roles, but also their beauty and their vulnerability.

DEADLINE: How do you making sure that you’re properly catching that?

MORGAN: Well, not to get too technical, but I think when you are lighting a movie for a theatrical release, you really have to be conscious of the fact that a projector is half as bright as the screens that we would watch at home. And just to make sure that when you’re exposing the image you have a really thick negative, and there’s a lot of detail and information there. As a photographer, I really like to have a lot of detail in my images. I don’t like it when areas fall off into pockets of deep black and there’s nothing there. I really wanted to capture not only the beauty of these women, but also all the sort of textures and specifics of the environment, even at nighttime, so I had to make sure that I had a really good base illumination that would expose the negative.

Once I had that base illumination, I would make sure that I focused on the skin tones and I was able to model and sculpt the light and play with color contrast. At night, the ambient moonlight was a nice cool hue and then we would contrast that with the warmth of fire. We actually used real fire to light their faces, and not just modern LED tubes, which I found a lot more evocative with the lighting. You would see the flames reflected in their eyes and just that natural flicker that only an actual fire source could give you.

DEADLINE: What was it like shooting on location in Africa?

MORGAN: Luckily, I’m someone that loves a challenge because logistically to shoot in the middle of nowhere always kind of puts you outside your comfort zone, because you don’t have the resources to fall back on if something goes wrong, like if a generator fails for example. So, we just really made sure that we were very thorough in our preparation and we really prepped in advance on exactly how we wanted to execute everything, and we made sure that we had all the tools and manpower that we needed to pull it off. But, to actually shoot on location was so incredible. Not only for the cast, but for the crew to really get away from modern life and really delve deep into the story and you just feel that you were actually back there in the 19th century with these warriors.

Source link

January 8, 2023

0 Comments

Director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s goal for The Woman King was

Music

Bumper In Berlin Relies On Qualities Bumper Never Had In Pitch Perfect

In the Pitch Perfect movies, there is not much to be said about Bumper other than his back-and-forth dynamic with Amy and that he leads the Treblemakers.

Bumper’s character is never entirely explored. He is not the main villain in the first movie, even if he leads the primary rival a cappella group. Instead, even though Pitch Perfect is an ensemble, Beca is the protagonist, and Barden Bellas Captain Aubrey Posen is Beca’s central foil.

In Pitch Perfect 2, three years after ditching the Trebles for a backup singer gig for John Mayer, Bumper has returned to Barden as a security guard for seemingly no reason other than to give him a role in the movie.

Overall, Bumper’s relationship with Amy is the biggest thing he has going for him. Even his post-credits appearance on The Voice comes across more as a joke, even though multiple singers turn their chairs for him.

Since Bumper was never a leading character, his interest in pursuing music professionally was rarely expanded on, and it was never quite clear what his endgame hope was.

However, early in Bumper In Berlin, it is suggested that Bumper is good at improvising, a quality he most certainly does not show in the Pitch Perfect movies.

Bumper In Berlin tries to show Bumper’s strengths, such as using him being booed on stage as a background to build a short cover of Taylor Swift’s “Message In A Bottle.”

However, the entire concept of the show relies on character elements that did not exist before the spinoff started. Bumper is portrayed as an underdog whose life never picked up after a failed try on The Voice.

Even if that part could be justified in the sense that Bumper did not get anywhere after briefly working for John Mayer, he was so excited to leave for Los Angeles that it did not make sense why he would return to work at Barden at all. Did he need money? Did he want to return to where he had once been successful? Unfortunately, Pitch Perfect 2 does not expand on Bumper enough to explain his reasons.

Meanwhile, previous Das Sound Machine co-leader and Barden Bella’s rival, Pieter, is suddenly meant to be portrayed as empathetic to the audience after being an antagonist throughout Pitch Perfect 2 and never showing another side of his personality.

Granted, Bumper In Berlin explains how Pieter’s life drastically changed. Still, Pieter was a comical villain previously, so showing him as anything else without seeing the character development seems off-putting.

People can change, but in this case, it seems Bumper In Berlin relies on the audience excusing character development that was not seen, given it has been years since their characters appeared on-screen.

It certainly does not help that the spinoff picked two characters with no substantial history to run the series. On top of that, neither has a strong sense of chosen family bond, which was one of the highlights of the original trilogy.

Although Bumper and Pieter may have always shown charisma in the past, the Peacock spinoff is more of a show to watch for fun and nostalgia but lacks the heart of the original trilogy.

Source link

January 8, 2023

0 Comments

In the Pitch Perfect movies, there is

Docs

Racist Trees | Film Threat

With overt ties to slavery, Confederate statues are an easy target for removal as America slowly undergoes its institutional racial reckoning. Directors Sara Newens and Mina T. Son’s documentary Racist Trees attempts to look at something far more obscure but no less divisive.

Written by Newens and Joanna Sokolowski, the film follows a small Palm Springs community that questions the origins of a row of non-indigenous, invasive tamarisk trees. These trees cordon off a predominantly black community from a wealthy, exclusive (and formerly whites-only) golf course. The question is, was it done with malicious intent, or was it for the protection of errant golf balls from sailing through windows or onto private property?

Divided into chapters, the movie looks at the formation of the man-made desert oasis known as Palm Springs. Particularly, Racist Trees focuses on the tiny community of Crossley Tract, a stretch named after its founder, African-American entrepreneur Lawrence Crossley. Originally the area was reservation land exclusively occupied by the indigenous Cahuilla people. In the 1900s, it was rebranded as a luxury resort destination, with the nearby film industry taking a particular interest by the 1930s.

Then, in 1959, residents living on a square mile of land serving as public housing (now considered downtown) were summarily booted from their homes to make room for a newly planned golf course. Today, residents of Crossley recognize the rising property values of surrounding communities while their homes remain stagnant. They want the trees gone, not only because they are a nuisance but because they also block the stunning mountain views, thus stagnating the value of their homes.

“…trees cordon off a predominantly black community from a wealthy, exclusive (and formerly whites-only) golf course.”

But the trees represent more than merely ornamental repercussions. The tamarisk also serves as an inviting home for rats and snakes. On top of that, according to an arborist, the trees can actually combust in the sweltering desert sun. Past requests by residents to remove the trees have been rejected by the city council. But, now they have a white spokesperson, Trae Daniel, who has access to a larger megaphone, and the council suddenly is taking notice. And lest you think this is an example of a “white savior” scenario, think again. Daniel happens to be a real estate agent who sees the inherent value in the area’s possible gentrification.

Opponents of the move weaponize the absurdist title, Racist Trees: “How can a tree be racist?” This obfuscates the fact that inequality and prejudice can be found throughout this country’s foundational and continual formation. While the trees themselves are neutral, land developers have attempted to marginalize communities through deceptive means. That is no concern to the likes of weaselly fascist Tucker Carlson, who begins to fan the flames of hate by inviting Daniel on his program. The man then vomited out such nonsensical arguments such as “What racist sentiments have they expressed to you?” and “How can you prove these trees are racist?” That’s all that was needed to incite his Pavlovian white nationalist base and make the story gain national traction.

The mayor of Palm Springs, an out-and-proud gay man, contends his city is open and accepting to all and shirks any thought of it being seen as “racist.” And while the white residents of the surrounding neighborhoods similarly contend in city hall meetings that their objections aren’t race-based, the flurry of anonymous emails and social media posts from those same residents suggests otherwise.

Using interviews with residents following the legal case, Newens and Son takes a fascinating look into the debate that does not always point to the expected outcomes. The argument is never as cut-and-dry as the title would imply. Racist Trees is a captivating peek into institutional equality within a small community and, like Descendant, demonstrates the lengths some go to ensure that history is never heard.

Racist Trees screened at the 2023 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Source link

January 8, 2023

0 Comments

With overt ties to slavery, Confederate statues

Trending

Fox’s ‘Alert’: Scott Caan and Dania Ramirez in a Violent Kidnap Drama

It’d been this critic’s assumption that “Alert: Missing Persons Unit,” a new drama launching on Fox, would resemble “Without a Trace,” the case-of-the-week crime story that aired on CBS during what we might call that network’s Golden Age of police procedurals. There, each week brought a new intrigue around a person who’d disappeared, and, eventually, a resolution.

“Alert,” which was created by John Eisendrath of “The Blacklist” and Jamie Foxx of movie stardom, pumps up the formula. The searches for the missing each episode feature not just high dramatics but graphic onscreen violence; the show’s second episode, for instance, begins with a fellow being beaten bloody with a baseball bat to the head. Ouch! The show has, in the two episodes provided to critics, something of a throughline from the first. We follow the professional and personal lives of two formerly-in-love cops (Scott Caan and Dania Ramirez) whose marriage was ruined by the disappearance of their son. Together, they cope with the long tail of surviving a crime done against their child, and their family.

Elements of this storyline in the first two episodes truly beggar belief, and a sense of boundless evil surrounding the comings and goings of the Philadelphia Police Department and of a single family come to overwhelm the story in moments. And yet Caan and Ramirez are pros, and sell the double experience both characters are having — working cases involving missing children while swallowing to blot out the grief of having lost their own.

It’s tempting to leave it there. But it must be said: There’s something a little odd about a show debuting in the post-Pizzagate era that depicts the world as an endless procession of bad men seeking the opportunity to traffic children. It’s not that it never happens, but placing crime of this sort as the very central concern of a number of career city cops seems to overstate the case in manners that flatter the conspiracy-minded.

But, well, we live in conspiracy-minded times. And the show’s central mystery remains to be untangled in ways that may, this viewer hopes, veer farther from Q than they may first appear. This is a well-enough-made show that is far from the most egregious example of television valorizing the cop at the expense of all other facets of society. It’s hard to see how its stories — both finding enough spins on missing-persons cases to keep the show fresh, and continuing to unpack the family tragedy at the show’s center — can continue for a long time before growing exploitative. (The explosion of violence in Episode 2 was not an auspicious sign.) Time will tell if its high-octane, fast-burning formula, converting frightening crime into a weekly thrill ride, is enough to keep it from vanishing, well, without a trace.

“Alert: Missing Persons Unit” will premiere Sunday, January 8, following Fox’s broadcast of the NFL; it will premiere in its time period Monday, January 9, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Source link

January 8, 2023

0 Comments

It’d been this critic’s assumption that “Alert:

Tech

The worst products at CES for safety and privacy

Comment

LAS VEGAS — American shoppers, regulators and companies face a problem: Tech products often hit the market with giant safety and privacy flaws.

At the same time, CES, a giant annual consumer electronics exhibition in Las Vegas, brings a flood of new gadgets. It might be pouring gas on a fire, privacy and security experts say.

“I think there is a chronic problem with consumer electronics, that they are not giving people the full picture that they need to evaluate whether they want to use these tools,” said Cindy Cohn, executive director of the privacy rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Last week, the CES show floor buzzed with thousands of companies slinging health wearables, smart TVs, autonomous vehicles and other gadgets that rely on data from our bodies or homes. Many pitch themselves as the next great thing — but almost none directly address how they treat customer’s data after it’s collected or their approach to safety and security.

The best (and strangest) tech we found at CES 2023

“CES doesn’t seem to have a theme this year other than throwing everything at a wall and seeing what sticks,” said Kyle Wiens in a YouTube live stream. Wiens is CEO of iFixit, which advocates for consumers’ right to repair their devices. “There are negative externalities to our society when that happens.”

Cohn and representatives from iFixit, Consumer Reports and other consumer advocacy groups rounded up a CES “Worst in Show,” calling out which products could have the greatest negative impact on privacy, consumer choice and the environment. They included some of this year’s breakout favorites, such as the U-Scan urine sensor from connected health care company Withings, which analyzes hormone levels in urine and is gearing up for U.S. launch. After the Supreme Court overturned the right to an abortion in June and some states banned abortion, hormonal changes could potentially become evidence of a crime. Withings said it stores that data indefinitely and, if subpoenaed by law enforcement, would “comply with all legal requirements in the territories in which it operates.” It said it doesn’t otherwise share data with third parties.

Media tend not to ask tough questions on safety at CES, and companies tend not to volunteer the information, Cohn noted.

“Literally only one company even mentioned [privacy or safety], and ironically, it was a sexting app,” said Leanna Miller on the show floor. Miller said she works for a small company that makes reusable writing tablets and came to CES to browse all the new products. The company she referenced was Blyynd, an adult network that claims to use encryption to promote safe sexting.

With few exceptions, tech companies address safety when problems arise rather than taking more time to test products and build in safe features, said Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Jen Easterly, in an interview on the sidelines of CES.

These companies’ incentives are “really focused on cost, capability, performance and speed to market, and not on basic safety,” she said.

Easterly’s CES address alongside CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz focused on the rapidly rising cost and danger of cybercrime, which often relies on hastily shipped products, they said. It was the first time a cybersecurity official of Easterly’s rank has spoken at the show.

Buggy software in off-brand smart home devices is a hacker’s playground

“As we think about the world we’re living in, we cannot accept that in ten years [cyber risks] are going to be the same or worse,” she said during the talk.

That may depend on consumers demanding safer products or the government regulating software, though Easterly noted she doesn’t support “burdensome” regulation. Regulation could come in the form of stricter privacy safeguards or clearer communication with consumers about the risks a product poses. The White House has backed the idea of a nutrition-label-style “software bill of materials” telling buyers which software components a product contains.

Just last week, for instance, the European Union fined Meta $414 million for burying information about its targeted advertising business in its terms of service rather than obtaining its users’ meaningful consent and giving them an option to decline. Meta has said it intends to appeal the ruling and the fines. Risky technology such as facial recognition is also the subject of scrutiny in the E.U.

Meanwhile at CES, companies touting facial recognition technology spatter the show floor. Miko, a Disney-backed robot that claims to keep kids engaged, comes equipped with facial recognition and uses its camera to analyze children’s moods and map elements of your home, its website says. Its CEO said all facial recognition data is stored on the device and not the cloud.

Then there’s the camera-enabled smart home devices — such as the autonomous mower Landroid Vision that navigates its way around your yard. Its maker, WORX, said all images the mower captures are anonymized and any faces or house numbers are blurred before the images are sent to the company’s cloud storage. Its privacy policy leaves room to share data for advertising.

Companies could choose to make useful, private, repairable products, said iFixit’s Wiens during the Worst in Show announcement, but what is the real purpose of a $200 travel mug with location-sharing capabilities and an irreplaceable battery?

“We already have thermoses,” he said. “They’re phenomenally successful. They’ve been around for a very long time.”

Jamie Kaplan, vice president of communications at CES-producer Consumer Technology Association (CTA), said the show has encouraged innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth. This year, CTA hosted 3,200 exhibitors.

“CES requires exhibits to comply with U.S. law, which favors innovation and focuses on restricting bad behavior rather than banning new and innovative products,” she said in a statement.

Source link

January 8, 2023

0 Comments

Comment on this storyCommentLAS VEGAS — American

Video

Bernard Kalb, Founding Reliable Sources Host and Journalist, Dies at 100

Bernard Kalb, a veteran journalist and the first anchor of the CNN series “Reliable Sources,” died on Sunday at the age of 100.

Kalb died at his home in Maryland. The Washington Post first reported his death from complications after a fall.

Kalb was the founding anchor and panelist on CNN’s weekly series “Reliable Sources” when it launched in 1993, remaining in the post until 1998. He was succeeded by Howard Kurtz, who was then succeeded by Brian Stelter until the show was canceled in August 2022.

Before “Reliable Sources,” Kalb built an esteemed career as a journalist, working for the New York Times, CBS News and NBC News with a particular interest in international affairs.

After traveling with Henry Kissinger on diplomatic missions alongside his brother, journalist Marvin Kalb, the Kalb brothers wrote the 1974 biography “Kissinger, A Biography.”

Kalb was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs in 1984 for the U.S. State Department under Ronald Reagan’s administration. Kalb later quit when Bob Woodward revealed a secret plan from the White House that aimed to plant false information in the U.S. media in order to weaken Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, saying he knew nothing of it.

Kalb spent his later years as a moderator and lecturer.

Source link

January 8, 2023

0 Comments

Bernard Kalb, a veteran journalist and the

Entertaintment

The Best Music You Didn’t Hear in 2022 – Rolling Stone

From DJ-turned-producer Uncle Waffles’ club-filling take on Amapiano to singer/songwriter Hailey Whitters’ middle-American storytelling, some of the best music of 2022 may have slipped under the radar for some listeners. Even some great albums by veterans, including Willie Nelson’s poignant A Beautiful Time and Ozzy Osbourne’s unexpectedly strong Patient Number 9, may not have connected with as many listeners as they deserved.

<br />

The new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now is an exhaustive look at some relatively under-the-radar music from last year, drawing from Rolling Stone‘s lists of the best country and Americana and metal albums, as well as our first-ever list of the year’s greatest Afropop songs. (To hear the whole episode, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or press play above.) Mankaprr Conteh, Kory Grow, and Joseph Hudak join host Brian Hiatt for the discussion.

Download and subscribe to our weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out six years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth, career-spanning interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Questlove, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, Gary Clark Jr., and many others. Plus, there are dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters.

Source link

January 8, 2023

0 Comments

From DJ-turned-producer Uncle Waffles’ club-filling take

Movies

Barun Sobti’s Calm Demeanour Adds Dimensions to Murder Mystery

Last Updated: September 23, 2020, 17:46 IST

Halahal

Cast: Sachin Khedekar, Barun Sobti

Director: Randeep Jha

Lately, Barun Sobti has impressed me with his range in projects like Tu Hai Mera Sunday, 22 Yards and Asur, and he continues his good work in director Randeep Jha’s Halahal, a murder mystery with a medical college scam at the centre.

Dr Shiv (Sachin Khedekar) is an obvious name for the protagonist in a film titled Halahal (poison), but to his credit, he has balanced both the absorber and destroyer act with finesse. He has done similar roles in the past but he has tried to add layers to the role of a helpless father set out to find the truth of his daughter’s death. However, the story finds its momentum only after a morally ambiguous cop Yusuf’s (Barun Sobti) entry.

It’s one of those thrillers where the writers put emphasis on bringing out the grey side of even the most sophisticated-looking characters. In a funny way, a character actually announces that the world revolves around money and not the sun, in case you don’t get enough hints by what’s happening on screen!

You know the kind of film where even the closest friends try to con each other. You’ll be immediately reminded of Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly, but that’s not a co-incidence because Jha was in the direction team of that film. Also, one of the writers—Zeishan Quadri—has worked with Kashyap in Gangs of Waaseypur. But what makes Jha a promising talent is that he has tried his best to not be very gimmicky in his storytelling and has stuck with a matter-of-fact tone.

This is where Barun Sobti comes handy as he hasn’t shown much affinity for theatrics. His calm demeanour, which made Asur such a lovely watch, has added dimensions to Halahal as well. His restrained body-language keeps the audience intrigued about his intentions and who wouldn’t want such a trait for a mystery thriller. In fact, his objective chemistry with Sachin Khedekar is the highlight of the film as the two rely on dialogues to reveal plot points at crucial junctures.

Read: Sadak 2 Movie Review

Read: Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare Movie Review

However, Halahal never gets as dark as I wanted it to be in order to attain more shock value. Gritty characters need enough time to unfold on screen, but Halahal simply touches and moves on at some really important narrative points.

Set in the Western Uttar Pradesh and the adjacent Haryana, Halahal has a sinister tone but it also has many parties involved and that stops the audience from focusing on the crime and its primary architects. Also, many transitions hamper the flow of the 96-minute film.

Minor flaws overlooked, Halahal is engaging for sure, and its lead talents are quite impressive. With careful project selection, the director can offer much more.

Rating: 3/5

Rohit Vats

A journalist with over a decade of experience, Rohit values films as a strong catalyst for social changes. He is equally interested in sports and poli…Read More

Source link

January 8, 2023

0 Comments

Last Updated: September 23, 2020, 17:46 ISTHalahalCast:

Film

The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) kicked off wkth the premiere of ‘80 For Brady’

The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) kicked off last night with its Opening Night screening and World Premiere of ‘80 For Brady’. Guests in attendance from the film included Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field, Harry Hamlin, director Kyle Marvin, executive producer Mike Covino, and writers Sarah Haskins & Emily Halpern.

Additionally, the PSIFF Opening Day included the World Premiere of ‘Shot in the Arm’ with executive producer Neil deGrasse Tyson and director Scott Hamilton Kennedy, alongside Talking Pictures screenings with Angela Bassett and Ruth E. Carter (‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’), Colin Farrell (‘The Banshees of Inisherin’), and Bill Nighy and writer Kazuo Ishiguro (‘Living’).

PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 06: Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field attend the world premiere opening night screening of “80 For Brady” during the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 06, 2023 in Palm Springs, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Palm Springs International Film Society)

PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 06: Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field speak after the world premiere opening night screening of “80 For Brady” during the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 06, 2023 in Palm Springs, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Palm Springs International Film Society)

PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 06: (L-R) Harry Hamlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Kyle Marvin, Lily Tomlin, and Sally Field attend the Premiere Screening of Paramount Pictures’ “80 For Brady” at the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 06, 2023 in Palm Springs, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)

PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 06: Ruth E. Carter (L) and Angela Bassett (R) attend the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Talking Pictures Screening of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Q&A on January 06, 2023 in Palm Springs, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Palm Springs International Film Society)

PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 06: Colin Farrell speaks onstage at the Talking Pictures Screening of ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ at Palm Springs Convention Center on January 06, 2023 in Palm Springs, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Palm Springs International Film Society)

PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 06: Bill Nighy and Kazuo Ishiguro attend a screening of “Living” during the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 06, 2023 in Palm Springs, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Palm Springs International Film Society)

PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 06: Scott Hamilton Kennedy, Rita Moreno and Neil deGrasse Tyson attend the world premiere opening night screening of “80 For Brady” during the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 06, 2023 in Palm Springs, California. Scott Hamilton Kennedy and Neil deGrasse Tyson’s film, “Shot in the Arm”, had its World Premiere earlier on Friday at the PSIFF. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Palm Springs International Film Society)

Source link

January 8, 2023

0 Comments

The Palm Springs International Film Festival

Prince Harry Makes First TV Appearance Following Memoir Leak

Prince Harry has made his first TV appearance since his highly-anticipated memoir, “Spare,” leaked on Thursday.

The pre-recorded interview, which aired in the U.K. at 9pm local time on public service broadcaster ITV, saw Harry address some of the most explosive claims in the book, included his drug-taking and his fractured relationship with his family.

He said he was “grateful” for the chance to tell his story in the memoir and said if he’d still been part of the royal family he wouldn’t have had that opportunity.

Among a wide-ranging discussion, which was broadcast over 90 minutes with commercial breaks, Harry slammed former “Top Gear” host Jeremy Clarkson following a newspaper column last month in which the “Clarkson’s Farm” star wrote that he “hates” Meghan on a “cellular level” and suggested she be made to “parade naked” through Britain while people “throw lumps of excrement at her.”

“[It was] horrific, hurtful and cruel towards my wife,” Harry told Bradby of Clarkson’s column. “It also encourages other people around the U.K. and around the world, particularly men, to go and think that it’s acceptable to treat women that way.”

British tabloid The Sun, which published Clarkson’s column, later apologized for it while Clarkson said on Twitter he was “horrified to have caused so much hurt” although stopped short of an apology.

Harry also discussed his recent six-part Netflix documentary, “Harry & Meghan,” saying he was “relieved” it was complete. “The Netflix documentary and the book [“Spare”], one being our story and one very much being my story, they were look-back projects,” he explained. “They were necessary, they were essential, for historical fact. I don’t want my kids or other people at that age growing up thinking, ‘Oh wow, that’s what happened.’”

“It’s been a painful process, cathartic at times, but going back over old ground to be able to get these projects right has taken a lot of energy and there’s a lot of relief now that both these projects have been completed and now we can focus on looking forward and I’m excited about that,” he continued.”

Harry also told interviewer Tom Bradby he felt “compassion” for his father having to tell him his mother Princess Diana had died following a car crash in 1997 as well as detailing his memories of his mother’s funeral, where he famously walked behind her coffin on its way to the funeral service alongside his brother William, father King Charles II and grandfather Prince Philip. He told Bradby that when he took part in his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral last September, which followed the same route as Diana’s, he and William joked with each other “at least we know the way.”

Prince Harry gives an interview to ITV’s Tom Bradby ahead of the publication of his memoir, ‘Spare.’
Courtesy of ITV

Harry also discussed conspiracy theories that continue to swirl around his mother’s death, saying: “There’s a lot of things that are unexplained.” But, having reviewed the files relating to her death, he said he didn’t “really see the point” of opening up another inquiry.

In the interview Harry also said it was “important to acknowledge” his drug-taking, which he details in the book, but side-stepped a question from Bradby about whether his taking cocaine as a member of the publicly-funded royal family was a matter of public interest, with British newspapers covering it in the early to mid 2000s.

Harry also insisted that he had not written his memoir with the intention of hurting his brother and father, despite the many intrusive and potentially damaging revelations within it. “Nothing I’ve done in this book or otherwise has ever been [with] any intention to harm them,” he told Bradby. But he claimed his family had “got into bed with the devil” by cooperating with the British press and suggested this was his opportunity to right the record.

Harry also went into detail about his and Meghan’s rift with William and Kate, saying his brother and sister-in-law had been “Suits” fans – “Who’d have thought?” Harry laughed – but said there were “lots of different reasons” they didn’t get on, including “stereotyping” about Meghan being an “American actress, divorced, bi-racial.” He also repeated his insinuation from the book that his family were jealous of Meghan, leading them to brief the press against her.

“They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile,” Harry told Bradby of his current relationship with his family. “I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back.”

“Spare” is due to be released worldwide on Tuesday, Jan. 10 amid maximum security. But retailers in Spain broke the strict embargo on Jan. 5, reportedly to maximise sales ahead of “Three Kings Day” in Spain, which falls annually on Jan. 6 and represents the biggest retail holiday of the year.

The leak led to a media frenzy as press outlets across the world rushed to get their hands on a Spanish copy, titled locally “En la Sombra” (“In the Shadow”) and frantically translated it.

Amid the plethora of stories to emerge from the tome included Harry’s admission to smoking weed, snorting cocaine and even taking magic mushrooms at “Friends” alumna Courteney Cox’s house while she was out one night. He also details the night he lost his virginity, how he wet his underpants hours before his first date with Meghan, the frostbite on his penis at William and Kate’s 2011 wedding, his physical altercation with William, how he killed 25 Afghanis while fighting for the British army, his final words to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, following her death last September, and details of private conversations he had with family members including his father King Charles III.

Prince Harry, aged 12, greets mourners following the death of his mother, Princess Diana in 1997.
Courtesy of ITV

Bradby, who flew to California to conduct the lengthy interview with Harry, is the lead anchor of ITV’s “News at 10” and a former royal correspondent. He was said to have been close to both Harry and his brother Prince William. In 2010 he was chosen to conduct the engagement interview with a newly-betrothed William and Kate Middleton (now the Princess of Wales). And he scored a coup in 2019 with his documentary, “Harry & Meghan: An African Journey,” which followed the royal couple on tour in South Africa and first saw them both speak out about their unhappiness within the British royal family. Meghan famously thanked Bradby for asking how she was doing, saying “Not many people have asked if I’m OK” while Harry told the anchor of his relationship with William: “We’re certainly on different paths at the moment. […] We don’t see each other as much as we used to.”

However, reports in the U.K. media claim that the documentary, while representing a career highlight for Bradby, also brought about the end of his relationship with William.

Prince Harry has a further three interviews lined up with U.S. media, including “60 Minutes” with Anderson Cooper, which is set to air tonight, “Good Morning America” with Michael Strahan tomorrow morning and “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday evening. The interviews with Bradby, Cooper and Strahan were all believed to have been recorded before “Spare” leaked on Thursday.

More to come…

Source link

January 8, 2023

0 Comments

Prince Harry has made his first TV

What to Watch

Scene Of The Month – December 2022 + POLL

A monthly feature in which we’re trying to find the most compelling, best acted, written, directed and just generally great, memorable scenes that we’ve seen in the past month.

1899, “The Key”, November 17th, 2022, Actor: Emily Beecham, The Scene: Maura wakes up at the end

Justyna: It’s very disappointing to learn of the series cancellation just when we’ve reached the next chapter in the story. I’ve certainly enjoyed watching the show and was excited to continue the mystery. In the final moment of the series Maura wakes up in a starship called Prometheus, surrounded by the other Kerberos passengers, placed under suspended animation. She also discovers that it’s the year 2099, not 1899 and her brother leaves her a message to welcome her to reality. The end. Just when the possibilities were endless and with so many questions left unanswered. It was a great and engaging cliffhanger to finish a season on, a perfect place to craft some theories, so if there’s any chance at all for the series to still be saved, I’d be happy to continue to support it and watch wherever that might be. Kudos to the cast & crew for all their work!

1923, “1923”, December 28th, 2022, Actors: Sebastian Roché, Jennifer Ehle, Aminah Nieves, The Scene: Father Renaud punishes Sister Mary and Teonna

Laura B: Father Renaud doesn’t just hit Sister Mary, but Teonna gets another round from him too. If it wasn’t hard enough to witness a most-beloved Elizabeth Bennett (Ehle) in the role of a school-teaching nun who beats up the hands of the free-spirited Teonna Rainwater (Aminah), the show found a way to be even more horrific when at first Father Renaud seeks justice by doing the same act to Mother Mary before Teonna’s eyes, but then his taste for justice quickly turns into some rather disturbing abuse when he beats Teonna again! I’ve seen Sebastian Roché play some bad customers before, but this role may yet take the cake! Overall, 1923 had a pretty amazing opening episode!

GHOSTS, “The Christmas Spirit”, December 25th, 2022, Actors: Rose McIver, Utkarsh Ambudkar, The Scene: Sam gets possessed by Thor

Chris C: Rose McIver gets to relive her best iZombie life as a disgruntled Thor pretends to be Sam while talking to Jay in the kitchen. Everything from McIver’s elevated pitch to her glances and obsession with food is brilliantly executed and perfectly ridiculous, in a way that only a show like Ghosts can be.

HIS DARK MATERIALS, “The Enchanted Sleeper”, December 5th, 2022, Actors: Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, The Scene: Lyra tries to escape from Mrs. Coulter

María S: Lyra wakes up while Marisa is sleeping, so she tries to take this chance to escape from the place her mother is keeping her. But the opportunity fades away when Mrs. Coulter’s daemon leads her to the girl, so she sedates her again, while Lyra tells Marisa that she will never be safe with her. I think it’s really sad to see that, after everything that has happened, the only way Mrs. Coulter can keep her daughter next to her is by keeping her unconscious.

SLOW HORSES, “Old Scores”, December 30th, 2022, Actors: Gary Oldman and more

The Scene: The Slough House pays tribute to Min (and Dickie)

Folie-lex: Against Taverner’s instructions, Lamb makes sure that Min (and Dickie) get a proper “Joe’s memorial” and the whole crew is there to pay their respects. He might be an insufferable ass but one thing is for sure, Jackson Lamb proves yet again that he absolutely has the proper respect for his agents.

SO HELP ME TODD, “Swipe Wright”, December 15th, 2022, Actors: Skylar Astin, Madeline Wise, The Scene: Todd confronts Allison about setting up a profile on a dating app

Cristina A: Todd confronts his married sister about setting up a profile on a dating app. During an investigation for a client who is suing because her idea for a dating app is being stolen by a major corporation, Todd and his mother discover that his married sister, Allison, has set up a dating profile on the app. Todd confronts his sister and she admits that she set up the profile. She shares that her whole life has been decided for her by her mother, she’s never been able to do the things that she dreamed of and hoped for. Even becoming a doctor was her mother’s dream, not hers. As was marrying her husband. She wanted to see what her life would be like if she went down another path. Todd and Allison have a difficult relationship and her being able to confide in him her deepest feelings, was a huge step in their path to repair things between them. It was the first time the viewers got to see the deeply personal side of Allison, and understand the struggles she faced living in her mother’s shadow growing up.

STARGIRL, “Frenemies – Chapter Thirteen: The Reckoning”, December 7th, 2022, Actors: Brec Bassinger, Luke Wilson, Joel McHale and more, The Scenes: Sylvester is temporarily brought back to life by ISA & Courtney and Pat’s final scene in the basement

Justyna: It’s a good thing we have a sweet and heartwarming moment also highlighted in the article, because my choice is anything but that. In fact, it’s one of the most shocking and cruel revelations on the show. It left me completely stunned and is still very memorable today. In the opening scene of the series finale, we finally get an answer to the question “what really happened to Sylvester Pemberton” and it’s so much worse than I’ve imagined. Years after his death, Starman is brought back to life by his killer and the ISA… but only for a moment. He barely begins to learn of their evil plan before his brain is removed from his body, with him very much awake and aware of the fact. It’s beyond dark and is a powerful reminder that “Stargirl” never stayed away from telling the painful stories in addition to the hopeful ones. The only good thing about this moment is that the audience gets to know just how much Sylvester has truly cared about his best friend, when he asks about Pat with his final breath. It also makes it so much worse that Ultra-Humanite has spent all this time slowly destroying Starman’s memory and legacy. Luckily, as we learn in the epilogue, we end the series knowing that JSA has eventually found his brain and saved Sylvester. I only wish we could have seen his true reunion with Pat. Regardless, I really enjoyed this show and will miss it dearly. Thank you and kudos to the entire cast & crew for all the wonderful work on the series.

Joshua: Courtney tries to tell her stepfather that he is a hero and she defended him against the Ultra-humanite and Pat tells her that he already knows. Courtney has a very difficult relationship with her biological father throughout the series but she eventually comes to the realization that Pat (her stepdad) is the father she always wanted. That’s a major part of her series character arc. This final scene as a result marks an end to Courtney’s arc as it shows that Pat and Courtney have grown close throughout the show’s run. From Courtney being initially annoyed with Pat and unaccepting of him as her stepdad in the show’s pilot episode to eventually becoming closer to Pat when their superhero adventures begin. It’s a short but very important scene that shows just how special and well planned this television show was.

THE ROOKIE, “The Collar” & “Take Back”, December 4th, 2022, Actors: Melissa O’Neil, Eric Winter, The Scenes: Tim and Lucy openly admit their feelings & Tim asks Lucy out on a date

Folie-lex: Since Beth gave a shout-out to the Chenford final scene in 5.09 (the nomination that I completely endorse BTW) this completely unties my hands in order to submit their final scene of 5.08. As Chenford have spent the whole episode trying to get through this tough day all while attempting to regain a hold on their current shaky dynamic, Tim watches Chris push his “let’s live together” plan on a very frustrated and uncertain Lucy. He confronts her about it at the end of the episode and FINALLY, after approximately 3 years in the show’s timeline (and 5 seasons for the show’s audience), these two put to words their growing feelings, admit it to each other and have an honest conversation about doing something about it… and The Rookie fans REJOICE!

Beth W: Tim asks Lucy out on a date. The Rookie is finally doing it! They are pulling the trigger on Chenford and I for one am SO excited.

TREASON, “Episode 1”, December 26th, 2022, Actors: Olga Kurylenko, Ciarán Hinds, Charlie Cox and more, The Scene: The opening scene

María S: I think the opening scene is a good setup for the show since it gives you a full idea of the story and its main characters and does a good job in keeping you interested in how everything will unfold from here, and how everything will intertwine.

WILLOW, “Prisoners of Skellin”, December 28th, 2022, Actors: Christian Slater, Ruby Cruz and more, The Scene: Allagash buys the group time to get away from the trolls

Justyna: I’ve been really enjoying this new fantasy series, I like its unique feeling, the adventure and the characters. It reminds me of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign that I’ve seen a few years ago. And Christian Slater was a great fit to bring back the 80s to this modern take on Willow. Allagash is quite a character, we’ve only just met him and yet we’ve witnessed his many different sides all in the course of a single episode. Similarly to Hubert, he’s quite a scene-stealer and immediately a memorable character to cross paths with. Allagash is brave but foolish, friendly but not always loyal, he’s a good fighter and far from good songwriter. He doesn’t hesitate to steal the Kymerian cuirass but chooses to come back, seeking redemption for his past mistakes. He ultimately sacrifices himself to give the others a chance to escape and fights against an army of trolls, right after leaving Kit with a message to protect Elora Danan. The final shot of him falling, defeated by the trolls was another sad reminder of all the lives already lost in this fight. Kudos to cast & crew for their work on the series!

Source link

January 8, 2023
0 Comments

A monthly feature in which we're trying

Read More

Awards

Art Directors, ASC and MPSE Predictions: Film Awards 2023

The Art Directors Guild, American Society of Cinematographers and Motion Picture Sound Editors are three artisan organizations announcing their nominations this week. Their nominations will set the tone for the Oscar race for production design, cinematography and partly for the best sound race, now in its third year as a combined category for sound mixing and effects editing.

We’re expecting plenty of mentions for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” with possible surprises for “Elvis” and “All Quiet on the Western Front” which are both picking up momentum.

All three guilds will announce their nominees on Monday, Jan. 9.

See the 2022-2023 Awards Season calendar for all key dates and timelines.

Art Directors Guild

Period

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)

“Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

“White Noise” (Netflix)

Alternate: “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Fantasy

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.)

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios)

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

“Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical” (Netflix)

Alternative: “Don’t Worry Darling” (Warner Bros.)

Contemporary

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Netflix)

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)

“The Menu” (Searchlight Pictures)

“Tár” (Focus Features)

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

Alternate: “Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)

American Society of Cinematographers

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios) – Russell Carpenter

“Empire of Light” (Searchlight Pictures) – Roger Deakins

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24) – Larkin Seiple

“Tár” (Focus Features) – Florian Hoffmeister

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures) – Claudio Miranda

Alternates: Mandy Walker (“Elvis”), Janusz Kaminski (“The Fabelmans”) and Ben Davis (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)

Motion Picture Sound Editors

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Dialogue/ADR

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.)

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

Alternate: “Tár”

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Effects/Foley

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.)

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

Alternate: “Nope”

Outstanding Achievement in Music Editing – Feature Motion Picture

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix)

“Tár” (Focus Features)

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

Alternate: “Nope”

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Animation

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix)

“Lightyear” (Pixar)

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (DreamWorks Animation)

“Strange World” (Walt Disney Pictures)

“Wendell and Wild” (Netflix)

Alternate: “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Documentary

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” (Neon)

“Good Night Oppy” (Amazon Studios)

“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song” (Sony Pictures Classics)

“Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues” (Apple Original Films)

“Moonage Daydream” (Neon)

Alternate: “Retrograde”

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Foreign Language Feature

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)

“Argentina, 1985” (Amazon Studios)

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Netflix)

“EO” (Janus Films and Sideshow)

“RRR” (Variance Films)

Alternate: “Decision to Leave” (Mubi)

See the latest film predictions, in all 23 categories, in one place on Variety’s Oscars Collective. To see the ranked predictions for each individual category, visit Variety’s Oscars Hub.

Source link

January 8, 2023
0 Comments

The Art Directors Guild, American Society of

Read More

Music

30 Essential Tracks From “King of Rock and Roll” Elvis Presley

(From left to right) Elvis Presley poses for a studio portrait (Photo: Liaison/Getty Images). Presley performing “Hillbilly Heartbreak” on stage in Hollywood, California (Photo: Bettman/Getty Images). Presley poses for a studio portrait. (Photo: Liaison/Getty Images)
Graphic: Allison Core

For decades the King of Rock and Roll needed no introduction. Elvis was indeed everywhere, even after his untimely death, staying in the public eye through imitators, oldies radio, repackages, and rumors of a still-living Elvis Presley visiting a Burger King in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Last summer’s Baz Luhrmann biopic, Elvis, revived Presley’s legacy and introduced him to new generations of would-be fans. But since he released dozens of albums in his lifetime and there’ve been countless compilations and reissues over the years, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by Presley’s discography (recently deceased chart historian Joel Whitburn named Presley as the number one artist in Billboard history, with over 160 singles on the charts over the years). To help both newcomers and longtime fans navigate that extensive catalog, The A.V. Club has whittled down the King’s daunting discography to 30 essential tunes, listed here in chronological order. Use this list as a guide through one of the monumental catalogs in popular music.

Source link

January 8, 2023
0 Comments

(From left to right) Elvis Presley poses

Read More

Docs

ICYMI: Catch Up with December’s Film Independent Presents Q&A Lineup

Wow, 2022 was a pretty good year for movies, huh? We can safely claim this as a fact (not opinion) based on our own current state of frenzied media consumption. There’s simply too much good stuff to keep us busy this awards season, as our ears and eyeballs bounce like grocery store superballs from theater to streaming platform to proprietary Spirit Awards screener link trying to Hoover it all up.

Luckily, we always have the curatorial eye of Film Independent Presents to steer us in the right direction, with December bringing another bumper crop of virtual and in-person film screenings–plus plenty of filmmaker Q&As, available on our YouTube channel.

Check out everything below to see why this was such a December to remember, and see what’s coming up in January and beyond here.

THE WOMAN KING

Guests of honor: director Gina Prince-Bythewood, writer Dana Stevens, editor Terilyn A. Shropshire, composer Terence Blanchard, supervising sound editor Becky Sullivan, re-recording mixer Tony Lamberti, costume designer Gersha Phillips and production designer Akin McKenzie. Moderated by Jenelle Riley (Deputy Awards and Features Editor, Variety).

Synopsis: The Woman King is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. Inspired by true events, The Woman King follows the emotionally epic journey of General Nanisca (Oscar® winner Viola Davis) as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life. Some things are worth fighting for…

What critics are saying: “An exemplary intersectional feminist call to arms for the African sisterhood to keep building on the achievements of their female ancestors & to keep fighting–& dancing–as they did, or might have done… with or without the approval of their patriarch.” Anton Bitel, Sight & Sound.

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Guests of honor: writer/director/producer Edward Berger, composer Volker Bertelmann, actor Felix Kammerer and actor/executive producer Daniel Brühl. Moderated by journalist Gregory Ellwood.

Synopsis: All Quiet on the Western Front tells the gripping story of a young German soldier on the Western Front of World War I. Paul and his comrades experience first-hand how the initial euphoria of war turns into desperation and fear as they fight for their lives, and each other, in the trenches. The film, from director Edward Berger, is based on the world renowned bestseller of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque.

What critics are saying: “A film that feels both aesthetically dazzling and full of necessary truths: an antiwar drama that transcends the bombast of propaganda mostly just because it’s so artfully and indelibly made.” Leah Greenblatt & Joshua Rothkopf, Entertainment Weekly.

HEARTSTOPPER

Guests of honor: actors Kit Connor and Joe Locke. Moderated by Josh Welsh (President, Film Independent).

Synopsis: Teens Charlie and Nick discover their unlikely friendship might be something more as they navigate school and young love in this coming-of-age series.

What critics are saying: “There are some TV series so sweet, so joyous and so wonderful that the mere mention of them can make you smile. Netflix’s Heartstopper is one of those shows.” Kelly Lawler, USA Today.

WILDCAT

Guests of honor: director/producer Melissa Lesh; producer Alysa Nahmias; and producer Joshua Altman. Moderated by Jenn Wilson (Senior Programmer, Film Independent).

Synopsis: Wildcat follows the emotional and inspiring story of a young veteran on his journey into the Amazon. Once there, he meets a young female scientist running a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center, and his life finds new meaning as he is entrusted with the life of an orphaned baby ocelot. What was meant to be an attempt to escape from life turns out to be an unexpected journey of love, discovery and healing.

What critics are saying: “Lurking beneath the lushly photographed camouflage is a tenderly moving, deeply empathetic human survival story that has as much to do with emotional trauma as it does with the physical.” Michael Rechtshaffen, The Los Angeles Times.

MO

Guests of honor: creator/executive producer/star Mohammed “Mo” Amer. Moderated by SiriusXM host and comedian Dean Obeidallah.

Synopsis: Mo Najjar straddles the line between two cultures, three languages and a ton of bullshit as a Palestinian refugee constantly living one step away from asylum on the path to U.S. citizenship. His family—including his resilient and spiritual mother, sister and older brother—flee to Houston, Texas. Laughing the pain away, Mo learns to adapt to his new world, though getting ahead in life comes with several setbacks.

What critics are saying: “Somehow, Mo manages to be a family comedy, a romance, and occasionally a crime drama without compromising or switching tone.” Promo Khosla, IndieWire.

THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT

Guests of honor: director and editor Anne Alvergue, co-director Debra McClutchy. Moderated by Jenn Wilson (Film Independent Senior Programmer).

Synopsis: She was once as famous as Jackie O.–and then she tried to take down a President. The Martha Mitchell Effect is an archival documentary portrait of the unlikeliest of whistleblowers: Martha Mitchell, a Republican cabinet wife who was gaslighted by the Nixon Administration to keep her quiet. It offers a female gaze on Watergate through the voice of the woman herself.

What critics are saying: “Though brief, The Martha Mitchell Effect is a powerful, at times illusory document of a woman who refused to abide by the status quo of her era.” Johnny Loftus, Decider.

GUERRILLA HABEAS

Guests of honor: directors Betsy Hershey and Emma Wall. Moderated by Jenn Wilson (Film Independent Senior Programmer).

Synopsis: Guerrilla Habeas provides an intimate view into the work of two intrepid lawyers fighting to restore human rights and dignity of immigrant populations in the United States. As deportations in the dead of night and violations of civil liberties tear families apart, this searing documentary lays bare the shortage of legal representation for immigrants desperately attempting to navigate a complicated, overburdened and broken system. Filmmakers Emma Wall and Betsy Hershey document the real-life experiences of Baba Sillah, Kinimo Ngoran and Nirna Pierre-Paul as lawyers Sarah Gillman and Gregory Copeland fight to reunite them with their children and families.

What critics are saying: “A powerful documentary premiering on MSNBC next year that humanizes immigrant families caught up in deportation proceedings.” Matthew Carey, Deadline.

Film Independent promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work. To become a Member of Film Independent, just click here. To support us with a donation, click here.

Keep up with Film Independent…

(Header: The Woman King)

Source link

January 8, 2023
0 Comments

Read More

Global

Supporters of former Brazilian president Bolsonaro storm Congress in capital

Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress in the capital on Sunday, climbing on top of its roof and breaking the glass in its windows.

Source link

January 8, 2023
0 Comments

Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

Read More

Trending

‘A Man Called Otto’ With Tom Hanks Banks $4.2M – Specialty Box Office – Deadline

Sony’s Tom Hanks-starrer A Man Called Otto banked $4.2 million in a lively second frame as it moved to 637 locations nationwide from four in NY and LA. Strong word of mouth propelled moviegoers into seats with particular strength in the heartland and momentum looks good as the adult drama/comedy heads into next week’s wide expansion for the holiday weekend. It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day next Monday.

Otto made $1.5 million Friday, $1.7 million Saturday, and a projected $1 million Sunday with a strong $6.6k per screen average and a cume of $4.28 million. Audience response drove the jump — the film has a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, versus a 68% from critics. It’s no. 4 at the domestic box office.

The remake of the Swedish film based on a New York Times bestseller started the first phase of a three-step rollout last weekend in an exclusive run at four LA and NY theaters, grossing $60k for a $15k per screen average over the three-day New Year’s weekend and $75K, or an $18.7k PSA, over the four days. It goes wide next weekend, Jan. 13.

Top grossing DMAs include Austin, San Antonio, Detroit, Tampa, Salt Lake, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh. Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Seattle, Tacoma, Denver, Orlando, Sacramento and San Diego are other markets that over-indexed.

Hanks plays Otto Anderson, a grump who no longer sees purpose in his life following the loss of his wife. He’s ready to end it all but turns it around when a lively young family moves in next door.

It’s good news in this market when an adult film plays well. Sony’s Where The Crawdads Sing, also based on a bestseller, released last summer, made $90 million and played best outside of the coasts. That had a different trajectory, opening wide immediately.

(Otto also earned $4 million this weekend from 2,875+ screens in 10 early markets for an international cume of $8.4 million.)

This is a weekend short on new specialty releases. Mubi opened Alcarràs, winner of the Golden Bear in Berlin, on five screens in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Quiver Distribution presented Candy Land in nine theaters. No grosses yet reported.

In terms of holdovers, however, there are many: The Whale grossed an estimated $1.5 million on 835 screens in week for a cume of $8.58M, increasing in total box office from the holiday and with the strongest holdover in the top 10. The best limited opening of 2022 starring Brendan Fraser was no. 7 at the domestic box office.

United Artists Releasing expanded Women Talking to 14 markets/29 runs in week three for a strong $143k three-day gross – up 214% — a per screen average of $4.8k, and a cume of $340k.

Sony Pictures Classics doc Turn Every Page grossed 17,425 on four screens (up from wo last week) for a per screen average of $4.4k and a cume of $39.7k. SPC’s Living, in week three, grossed $42.6k on 11 screens (up from three last week), for a PSA of $3.9k and a cume of $120.4k.

Broker, from Neon, grossed $75k this weekend on 17 screens in week three for a PSA of $4.4K and a cume of $149.2k. The distributor’s doc All The Beauty and the Bloodshed, on 24 screens in week 7, has cumed $325.8k.

IFC Films expanded Corsage to 317 theaters in week three grossing an estimated $250k (PSA of $789). The estimated cume now stands at $340,789, making this the highest-grossing Austrian film in the US since 2014’s Goodnight Mommy.

From Sideshow and Janus Films, No Bears grossed an estimated $7,4k on a single screen in its third weekend, for a new cume of $38.5k. EO took in an estimated $65k on 62 screens in its eighth weekend, for a PSA of $1k and a new cume of $553.9k.

Source link

January 8, 2023
0 Comments

Sony’s Tom Hanks-starrer A Man Called Otto

Read More

Tech

Gallic Showcase Promotes New Talent

Running Jan. 13-Feb. 13, this year’s MyFrenchFilmFestival, an online fest organized by France’s film-TV promotional body Unifrance, will mark its 13th edition with an emphasis on debut features and dynamic new voices.

Showcasing star power, animated auteur fare and award-winning documentaries – all subtitled in 15 languages – the 12 features and 17 shorts of this year’s selection will reach home viewers via 70 partner platforms as well on MyFrenchFilmFestival.com, where all the shorts will be available to screen free of charge.

In an effort to cast as wide a net as possible, this year’s competition will feature projects that run the gamut from Alice Diop’s breakthrough documentary “We” – which finds connections in the lives of immigrants, lovesick teens and retirees all connected by a commuter rail line north of Paris – to Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s satirical sketch comedy “Bloody Oranges,” which shreds polite society with anarchic glee.

In between are everything from star vehicles for Isabelle Huppert (“About Joan”) and Adèle Exarchopoulos (“Zero Fucks Given”), to bittersweet animation (“The Crossing”), to more than a few coming-of-age tales, which include Anaïs Volpé’s “The Braves,” Vincent Maël Cardona’s “Magnetic Beats,” and Samuel Theis’ “Softie.” Festival favorites from Cannes Critics’ Week (“A Tale of Love and Desire”) and Berlin (“The World After Us”) round out this year’s competition.

“Softie”
Courtesy of Samuel Theis/Avenue B

As in previous editions, online festivalgoers will be able to explore the full selection – which presents foundational works from Maurice Pialat and Olivier Assayas alongside promising shorts from a whole new generation of Gallic voices – through thematic pathways dedicated to new talents, idiosyncratic approaches, and youth stories, among several more. An international jury that includes filmmakers Emily Atef (“More than Ever”), Chie Hayakawa (“Plan 75”), Juho Kuosmanen (“Compartment Number 6”), Sergei Loznitsa (“Donbass”), and Albert Serra (“Pacifiction”) will meet during the month-long event to vote on the top prize.

While available on over 70 VOD platforms worldwide, this year’s selection will stream free of charge across Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Korea, Romania, Russia and Ukraine.

MYFRENCHFILMFESTIVAL 2023

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

“About Joan” (“À propos de Joan”), Laurent Larivière

“A Tale of Love and Desire” (“Une histoire d’amour de du désir”), Leyla Bouzid

“Bloody Oranges” (“Oranges sanguines”), Jean-Christophe Meurisse

“Magnetic Beats” (“Les magnétiques”), Vincent Maël Cardona

“Softie” (“Petite nature”), Samuel Theis

“The Braves” (“Entre les vagues”), Anaïs Volpé

“The Crossing” (“La traversée”), Florence Miailhe

“The World After Us” (“Le monde après nous”), Louda Ben Salah-Cazanas

“We” (“Nous”), Alice Diop

“Zero Fucks Given” (“Rien à foutre”), Julie Lecoustre & Emmanuel Marre

OUT OF COMPETITION

“Bootlegger,” Caroline Monnet

“To Our Loves” (“À nos amours”), Maurice Pialat

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

“Bye Bye” (“Partir un jour”), Amélie Bonnin

“Cataract,” Faustine Crespy & Laetitia de Montalembert

“King David” (“Le roi David”), Lila Pinell

“Let the Beast Rise” (“Que la bête monte”), Marthe Sébille

“Malmousque by the Sea” (“Malmousque”), Dorothée Sebbagh

“Marianne” Julien Gaspar-Oliveri

“Our Own Land” (Nous n’irons plus en haut”) Simon Helloco

“Out of the Blue” (“Une femme à la mer”), Céline Baril

“Paloma” Hugo Bardin

“Titan” Valéry Carnoy

SHORT FILM OUT OF COMPETITION

“Anxious Body” Yoriko Mizushiri

“A Story for 2 Trumpets” (“Histoire pour 2 trompettes”), Amandine Meyer

“Belle River,” Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau, and Yannick Nolin

“Laissé inachevé à Tokyo,” Olivier Assayas

“Pests” (“Nuisibles”), Juliette Laboria

“Please Don’t Touch,” Capucine Gougelet

“The Night Watch” (“Ronde de nuit”), Julien Regnard

“The Crossing”
Courtesy of Annecy Festival

Source link

January 8, 2023
0 Comments

Running Jan. 13-Feb. 13, this year’s MyFrenchFilmFestival,

Read More

Video

Melissa George Influences Video Interview – The Film That Lit My Fuse – Deadline

The Film That Lit My Fuse is a Deadline video series that aims to provide an antidote to headlines about industry uncertainty by swinging the conversation back to the creative ambitions, formative influences and inspirations of some of today’s great screen artists.

Today’s subject is Melissa George, the Australian actress who stars with Justin Theroux in the Apple TV+ series The Mosquito Coast. They’ve just wrapped the second season of the drama in which a radical idealist and his wife and kids find themselves on the run from the U.S. government in Mexico. George began her career as an instant sensation, starring as Angel Parrish in the Australian soap opera Home and Away, this after becoming a national artistic roller skating champion, and looking for a new way to express herself artistically. The early success led to a series of films that began with Dark City, included Steven Soderbergh’s The Limey and David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. She found a seam in genre, starring in The Amityville Horror remake, the superb 30 Days of Night, and Turistas. Next came stints on the American series Alias, Grey’s Anatomy and Heartbeat, before a standout turn on HBO’s In Treatment that got her a Golden Globe nom. George is also an inventor. Here’s how she found her mojo, and it was a dream path to stardom.

Source link

January 8, 2023
0 Comments

The Film That Lit My Fuse is

Read More

Entertaintment

Black Music Action Coalition Honors Mondaii With Music Makers Grant

Chris Schuler has been named VP of Promotion at Capitol Records Nashville. His appointment follows news of Bobby Young’s retirement. Capitol Records Nashville is home to such artists as Luke Bryan, Mickey Guyton, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and Little Big Town, among others. Schuler joins after previous positions at Mercury Nashville, Arista Nashville and BMI Nashville.

Said UMG Nashville EVP of Promotion Royce Risser: “Finding the perfect person to lead Capitol Nashville’s promo department has always been a challenging and weighty decision. Chris Schuler … has all the qualities we need to lead and take Capitol to the next level. Capitol’s roster of superstars and their up-and-coming artists are such a critical part of UMG Nashville’s business and future. Chris is one of the smartest and savviest executives we’ve had come through promotion in the last 10 years. His attention to detail is unmatched.”

“There is nothing in the business like the Capitol roster,” added Schuler. “I’m beyond excited to rejoin the team to continue its ongoing legacy of excellence.”

Chris Schuler

Thursday, Jan 5

+ The Black Music Action Coalition has awarded Atlanta-based artist Mondaii with its 2022 Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Music Makers Grant. The newly established annual grant provides $5,000 to an emerging producer or songwriter personally selected by Jam and Lewis.

Mondaii was presented with the grant during a BMAC interview and listening session held by Jam, Lewis and BMAC co-founder/co-chairman Willie “Prophet” Stiggers who will help mentor the young artist over the course of the next 12 months as he navigates the release of his next LP. Similarly, all future grant recipients will have the opportunity to be mentored by members of BMAC’s board and executive leadership council.

“Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are two of the greatest examples of the musical genius that has emerged from the Black experience,” said Stiggers. “Music has the power to heal, inspire and to motivate, and we must ensure we are supporting the next generation of storytellers, musicians and the creative community as a whole.”

+ Downtown Music Holdings has acquired Curve Royalty Systems, a royalty services provider that will aim to integrate the suite of distribution and monetization capabilities that operate across the Downtown roster.

Curve was established in 2019 by Tom Allen, Richard Leach and Ray Bush as a royalty processing platform built to deal with the scale and demand of the modern digital music industry.

“Over the course of our discussions, it became apparent that we had a shared vision — Downtown provides real value for their customers and focuses on providing best-in-class products and services. That’s exactly what we’ve tried to achieve with Curve,” said Allen.

Curve is the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions that Downtown has made in recent years. The group recently acquired a series of companies, including FUGA, CD Baby and all its subsidiaries. According to Downtown, additional investments in Beatbread, Vampr and other creator-led music companies have played a key role for the music services provider to support all profiles of businesses in the music industry.

+ The Orchard has promoted Mary Ashley Johnson to the role of executive VP of sales and artist/label management (in the U.S. and Canada), while Katie Studley has been hired as VP, overseeing Nashville. The pair of seasoned execs will work in New York and Nashville, respectively, and both will report to Colleen Theis, the Orchard’s chief operating officer.

Since 2019, Johnson held the title of senior VP of sales and artist/label management (U.S. and Canada), where she drove revenue and market share for the Orchard, while also managing teams responsible for client relationships and high-level strategy on releases across the regions. She will continue that trajectory in the executive VP position.

As the Orchard’s new Nashville VP, Studley will run the office’s day-to-day operations, including the development of new business relationships, as well as providing on-the-ground support to existing clients in the market. Studley joins from a ten-year tenure at Jack White’s Third Man Records where she fulfilled the role of VP, operations and marketing director.

+ Round Hill Music has acquired the producer royalties and related rights of Steve Lillywhite, who is best recognized for his work with rock favorites like U2, the Rolling Stones, the Talking Heads, David Byrne and Phish, among many others.

“As someone who grew up idolizing the bands and albums Steve Lillywhite produced, it is an honor to partner with him on this exciting transaction,” said Josh Gruss, chief executive officer of Round Hill Music. “Steve’s catalog includes royalties to some of the most sought-after songs and albums of all time. We are thrilled to have reached this milestone transaction.”

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, however, the transaction adds to Round Hill’s active investments, which in the past few years, saw the firm invest more than $200 million across more than 40 acquisitions.

Added Lillywhite, “I am grateful to have found in Josh Gruss a kindred spirit who is a pioneer in the music royalty business and the ideal partner for me and my family as I look to my next steps.”

Tuesday, Jan. 3

Singer Ava Max has signed with Scooter Braun’s SB Projects, Variety has confirmed, where she will be represented by Allison Kaye. Max was previously managed by Jeffrey Azoff and Tommy Bruce’s Full Stop Management.

Kaye, a veteran of Variety‘s Hitmakers list, has worked closely with Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande at SB Projects, where she holds the title of president at the company.

Max logged her first hit in 2017 with Le Youth on the track “Clap Your Hands.” A year later, she released her debut single “Sweet but Psycho,” which became a global smash, earning RIAA-certified platinum status and becoming one of the most consumed songs of 2019.

The Albanian-American artist is currently gearing up for the release of her second full-length album “Diamonds & Dancefloors,” which is set to drop on Jan. 27.

The new collection, which Max has described as “heartbreak on the dancefloor,” will feature the recently-released singles “Maybe You’re The Problem,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “Dancing’s Done” and “Weapons.” Over the holidays, she additionally teased three electro-pop-infused singles from the forthcoming album over social media.

“Diamonds & Dancefloors” was originally slated for release in October.

+ Bria Fisher has been tapped as the first director of communications for Empire, reporting to senior VP of marketing Peter Kadin. She joins from Biz 3, where she worked for nearly three years with artists and projects including Larry June, Belly, Juicy J, Maxo Kream, Wale, Blu DeTiger, 24kGoldn, Jessie Reyez and Black Music Action Coalition. Prior to Biz 3, she worked as an account executive for FYI Brand Group with Jhené Aiko, 21 Savage, 6lack, Rich the Kid, the Black Lives Matter Global Network, and Russell Westbrook’s Why Not? foundation, among others.

+ Cash Cash will be releasing their first single, “Anyway,” on Jan. 13 following almost two years of hiatus. “Anyway” will be the producer trio’s first release under Ultra Records and Sony Music, with whom they signed last summer.

“Anyway” features RuthAnne, who is best known for co-writing hits for One Direction, Britney Spears, Bebe Rexha, Westlife and more.

The group, composed of brothers Jean Paul and Alex Makhlouf, as well as life-long friend Samuel Frisch, was previously signed to Big Beat (Atlantic Records) and has released five full-length albums, along with a range of EPs and singles. Cash Cash also boasts residencies at Las Vegas Zouk, Premier Atlantic City, and New York City’s TAO Group.

Source link

January 8, 2023
0 Comments

Chris Schuler has been named VP of

Read More

Categories

Trending

Recent Posts

Sister Wives’ Christine Brown and Kody Brown’s Ups and Downs Over the Years

March 1994

March 1995

June 1996

August 1998

October 2001

June 2003

April 2010

May 2010

September 2010

March 2021

April 2021

April 2021

October 2021

November 2021

November 2021

December 2021

January 2022

February 2022

February 2022

February 2022

May 2022

August 2022

August 2022

August 2022

September 2022

October 2022

October 2022

October 2022

October 2022

November 2022

December 2022

January 2023

Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathaan and television actor Sheezan Khan were among the top newsmakers of the day.

Russia’s ‘deadly barracks strike didn’t kill a soul’: Claims of 600 dead Ukrainians are in doubt amid reports attack missed its target

Share or comment on this article:

Ancient history

Beating a dead game

RIGHTS

APPOINTMENTS

FUND

Example Card: The Original ‘Writer Emergency Pack’

Example Card: The New ‘Writer Emergency Pack XL’

Ways to Use the Cards:

1) Writing Exercise

2) Emergency Writing Procedures

3) Cards Against Normality Game

Kickstarter Campaign

The Writer Emergency Pack XL

The Artwork

The Main Differences between the ‘Writer Emergency Pack’ & the ‘Writer Emergency Pack XL’.

The Writer Emergency Pack Original & XL Themes

Conclusion

Jane Fonda’s Big Plastic Surgery Regret

Harry Hamlin Defends Wife Lisa Rinna: ‘Never Been a Bully to Anyone at Any Time’ (Exclusive)

Akela Cooper, who wrote “M3GAN” with James Wan, hopes that the film’s success proves that horror movies don’t have to be “elevated” to succeed.

The biggies

Hidden gems

More good stuff

Can’t miss recaps

Arriving now

Ending soon

RELATED STORIES

Trending

Art Directors Guild

American Society of Cinematographers

Motion Picture Sound Editors

THE WOMAN KING

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

HEARTSTOPPER

WILDCAT

MO

THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT

GUERRILLA HABEAS

Keep up with Film Independent…

Thursday, Jan 5

Tuesday, Jan. 3