R.J. Cutler’s production hub This Machine is developing another documentary about a music star — in this case, the late Olivia Newton-John, who died in August 2022.
The feature-length doc will explore Newton-John’s life and work as an iconic entertainer, best-selling music artist, animal rights and environmental activist and health, wellness and plant medicine advocate. This Machine has secured full authorized access to Newton-John’s music and personal archives.
In 1978, Newton-John co-starred with John Travolta in “Grease,” which catapulted her into super-stardom. During her career, she garnered four Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award and numerous other trophies. Her other feature film credits include “Funny Things Happen Down Under,” “Toomorrow,” “Xanadu,” “Two of A Kind,” “It’s My Party, Sordid Lives,” “Score: A Hockey Musical,” and “A Few Best Men.”
Cutler, along with This Machine’s Elise Pearlstein and Trevor Smith, will produce the untitled docu, while John Easterling, Larry Mestel, Natalia Nastaskin, John Mason and Mark Hartley will serve as executive producers.
This Machine is behind the 2021 Oscar shortlisted docu “Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry,” which Cutler directed. Currently the banner is at work on the Elton John docu “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances and the Years That Made His Legend” for Disney+. (Cutler serves as director on that project.)
While a director has not yet been secured for the Newton-John project, This Machine has partnered with music publisher Primary Wave on the film.
Cutler founded This Machine in 2020. The company is a part of Sony Pictures Television. In addition to “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry,” the banner is also behind “Belushi” (2020) and “Supreme Models” (2022).
In addition to the Newton-John docu, This Machine is currently at work on the untitled Martha Stewart Documentary (Netflix), “The Devil You Know (HBO), and “Big Vape” (Netflix).
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When Joe Biden was a candidate to be his party’s nominee for President, he ran as one of the biggest foes of fossil fuels ever to make a credible run for the White House. He pledged to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2050, ween the country off dirty sources of energy and “end fossil fuel.” He canceled the high-profile Keystone XL pipeline, took millions of acres of possible drilling off the table by scrapping leases to oil and gas companies, and banned imports of Russian oil. He even threatened oil firms with a windfall tax and likened them to war profiteers.
Environmental groups went gaga over his rhetoric and action alike, buoying his political alliances and giving climate change activists heart after years of broken promises.
And yet, a unique alignment of political and geological confluences may spur Biden in the coming days to do something that will leave those same green allies seeing red.
Biden’s administration is nearing a final decision on a potentially game-changing oil and gas project that has now been under consideration across five presidencies. The proposed Willow project in the northeast section of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska would produce 180,000 barrels of oil each day, create $10 billion in tax and royalty revenues, and create 2,000 construction jobs and 300 permanent ones. The massive project would require as many as five drilling sites, a processing facility, 50 miles of new roads, seven bridges, and an airstrip.
Local groups, including those representing Alaska Natives, as well as labor unions and the state’s congressional delegation, have all championed the project as a source of good union jobs and money for Alaska’s North Slope.
But environmental groups and some Native American groups from the Lower 48 oppose the ConocoPhillips project, citing an Interior Department analysis that estimates it would emit at least 278 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over its lifetime and during construction. It also would endanger the local wildlife like polar bears. On Thursday, a coalition of environmental groups—represented by a PR firm with deep ties to the Biden Administration—plans to rally at Lafayette Square across from the White House before delivering another 90,000 comments in opposition to the proposal, which they liken to 76 coal plants running for a year. (Industry groups heartily reject this comparison, noting it compares a lifetime of direct and indirect emissions from Willow with one coal plant’s annual emissions.)
If they can’t kill it, the green groups are pushing a scaled-back project, one that would cut three of the proposed five drill sites and better protect calving grounds for the Teshekpuk Lake caribou.
A White House spokesman did not have an immediate comment.
The Willow proposal dates back to 1999, when the Clinton Administration signed the lease on Alaska’s North Slope. Oil wasn’t discovered there until 2017, and the Trump Administration quickly approved the project. Biden’s team seemed to agree with that thinking, at least until a judge said the environmental costs were not adequately considered and environmental groups separately sounded alarms. A Department of Interior draft impact study released in July appeared to game out how to move forward with the project, although supporters and opponents alike stressed that it was still very much in flux.
There’s good reason to suspect Biden is poised to make a decision on the Willow project. Because of Alaska’s treacherous conditions, much of the construction needs to happen during the winter months, when the roads are frozen and can accommodate heavy traffic. Warmer temperatures create messy roads that could pause work. In other words, if Biden doesn’t sign off on the project soon, it will languish for another year.
“We’re running out of time to be able to do construction this winter,” says Nagruk Harcharek, the new president of Voice of the Arctic Inupiat, a regional council advocating for North Slope communities. “A lot of the construction on the North Slope requires the winter season for ice roads. And if we get too far into February, they’ll have to put it off until next year.”
That would mean delayed—if not totally unrealized—revenue for local governments and allies, the kind of money that proponents say could prove transformative for a region that isn’t exactly teeming with new opportunities. “We want to be able to live in the communities that we have so that we can then practice our subsistence culture and be able to go out and hunt in our lands that we grew up on,” Harcharek told me last week. “I remember growing up as a kid, we used to have honey buckets and we’d have to haul those out. Now we can flush our toilets.”
Biden, coming off a less-disappointing-than-expected midterm election season, may be better positioned to disappoint environmental groups than at any point in his presidency. The 2022 elections are barely in his rearview mirror, the 2024 races are still distant, and he can afford to take some incoming criticism from his friends. His allies are bracing for a potential decision, even if they still defend his broader environmental record as one to celebrate.
Playing into Biden’s decision-making here is the different promises he made as a candidate. While waging rhetorical war on the fossil fuel industry, he also vowed to listen to local communities, including Alaska Natives. As President, he promised to consider Native Americans’ requests and pledged to make sure they were on equal footing. So it’s hard for him to ignore that Alaska Natives are overwhelmingly in support of the project. Within days of her taking office over the summer, Rep. Mary Peltola—the first Alaska Native elected to serve in Congress and a Democrat—urged the Interior Department to approve the project as a way to demonstrate “the Administration’s commitment to addressing inflation, high energy costs, the need for greater energy security, and environmental justice initiatives.”
Ultimately, this is going to be Biden’s call, and his most enviro-minded advisers may have to calibrate their ambitions for scaling back the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels as energy prices remain high and the demand for cheap and easy power is not fading.
Biden’s campaign rhetoric won over younger voters and green ones, too. But the trail is one thing, and the art of governing is another one altogether. In that, Biden may have to compromise his own aspirations and accept a new oil drilling regime in a state already threatened mightily by climate change. It is unlikely to be a good look among the green activists, but Biden simply may be out of ways to dodge on this one.
Apple has had a big focus on productivity for its recent software releases. While iOS 14 brought the first appearance of redesigned widgets, iOS 15 doubled down on this with Focus, and soon, Freeform looks to complete this trilogy with a new software update.
This is a new app (opens in new tab) from the company where you’re given a blank canvas, and you can either work on your own or with other Apple users across macOS 13.1, iPadOS 16.2 and iOS 16.2, all now available to download from today (December 13) by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
While Freeform was first shown off back at WWDC 2022 in June, it was made available to users in November with the first public beta releases of macOS 13.1, iPadOS 16.2 and iOS 16.2, which allows you to sign up for a testing phase to see what’s been changed and what’s been fixed.
When you launch the app, you’re brought to a blank canvas, with a menu bar at the top, where you can insert text, sticky notes, images, and shapes, alongside a toggle to use an Apple Pencil.
If you’ve got a learning style where you can plan a project by mapping out what you’re going to create on a blank canvas, this is where Freeform comes in.
But it goes deeper than that – you can invite friends and family to help contribute to this canvas, in way of new ideas or building upon existing ones. You can also drop in rich links for websites, alongside video links that will play once you select them within Freeform. This way, it cuts the steps in using a different app to view these, and it’s been an easier affair in building some ideas across the canvas with my wife for example.
The design of the app is pure Apple – a minimal amount of options at the top of the app to choose from, but enough to get the job done, wrapped up in an elegant app that works across iPhone, iPad and Mac. Compared to other apps such as Reminders and Safari which have had a slight redesign in recent years, to see a brand new app that works well out of the gate is great to see, and you’ll want to fit Freeform into your workflow due to its great design.
(Image credit: Apple)
I’ve been creating a canvas in laying out where I wanted some smart cameras to be positioned across my home, as I bought three during Black Friday weekend. I have a space in the dining room where our dog, Jolly sleeps, and I have a sticky note describing where the camera could go.
Occasionally, my wife will add a photo to another part of the canvas that defines another room of the house, and I’ll see her updates as to where the camera should be placed, and when it should record.
It’s been a good use case of how Freeform could work, but there’s been an AR aspect to the app that makes me think it could be perfect for Apple’s rumored headset, as it seems tailor made for the next frontier.
Productivity in an AR world
(Image credit: Apple)
Imagine wearing a headset that would load up Freeform, and you could collaborate on a virtual wall, that has your existing canvas attached, and with your hands, you can rearrange the sticky notes and photos, similar to a scene from the 2002 movie, Minority Report.
Throughout using the app, it felt as though Freeform could be a fantastic showcase for the headset if it does become official in 2023, as these use cases would be perfect for this product. Collaboration and productivity are themes that Apple has been improving upon for its iPhone, iPad and Mac products in the last few years, and something like this could only elevate that focus more.
Regardless though, Freeform is a fantastic first version to come out from Apple, and it’s an app I’ll be using alongside my to-do apps when another big project arrives.
Amid narrowing political rights and an “undercurrent of misogyny,” former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for empathy and respect among women Tuesday, encouraging women to “lift each other up.”
“We need a lot more empathy and a lot more understanding and respect for the choices that women are making,” Clinton said during the TheWrap’s Power Women Summit, in which Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton started off the day with a Spotlight Conversation. “And we need to fight back politically so that the space for women doesn’t continue to narrow.”
Following her long standing political career, Hillary turned her attention to another way to lift women up by collaborating with her daughter to create and produce “Gutsy,” a docuseries that launched the mother-daughter duo further into their goal of telling the stories of gutsy women that they began with their 2019 “The Book Of Gutsy Women.”
Now streaming on Apple TV+, the series follows female trailblazers from celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Amy Schumer to advocates fighting child marriage, promoting indigenous representation and fostering support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Spreading these stories of inspiring women was a fairly established tradition for the family, one that was strengthened when Chelsea became a mother.
“My mother and my grandmother’s purposely had always kind of brought stories of inspiring women in into my life,” Chelsea said, noting that one of her earliest memories was going with her mom taking me to see Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. “After I became a mom, we were starting to tell these stories to my children,” she continued, pointing to the evolution of the book to the docuseries.
The series highlights women that exemplify what Hillary and Chelsea see as lifting other people up amid today’s harsh political climate — something Hillary said “we’re going to need … more than ever.”
“I think there is pushback against women’s rights and opportunities and progress in our own country, but elsewhere in the world,” Hillary said, pointing to the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. “There’s also an undercurrent of misogyny and sexism that is now made much more public and, sadly, acceptable because of social media.”
Chelsea, who echoed her mother’s thoughts on the importance of fighting back by showing up to vote, also sees a necessity to push back on “cultural fronts,” pointing to recent decisions to ban Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” as one example.
“Yet we can’t only fight at the ballot box or through the political arena, because we see how the forces of darkness that want to push our rights back, push opportunities back [and] return back generations are fighting on cultural fronts as well,” Chelsea said, noting that misogynistic forces are at work in schools, religious institutions and social media. “We have to stand up and make our voices heard anywhere and everywhere.”
As for whether Chelsea has any plans to follow in her mother’s steps by running for president, she said she has “no plans” but thinks it is “an important question.”
“I think anyone who cares about our country needs to consider it,” Chelsea said.
For more from the Clintons, including how they cope with failure and Secretary Clinton’s “stunned” reaction to the “mean-spiritedness” of Trump’s inauguration, check out the full interview above.
The Power Women Summit (PWS) is the largest annual gathering of the most influential women in entertainment, media and technology. The event aims to inspire and empower women across the landscape of their professional careers and personal lives. This year’s PWS provides two days of education, mentorship, workshops and networking around the globe – to promote this year’s theme, “A Time to Unite.” Learn more here: thewrap.com/pws.
Film Independent has revealed the television nominations for the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which this year have gone gender-neutral, just like its film colleagues. As revealed online Tuesday morning by Asia Kate Dillon (“Billions“), the annoncement included a winner: Apple TV+’s “Pachinko” won for best new ensemble cast, including Soji Arai, Jin Ha, Inji Jeong, Minha Kim, Kaho Minami, Lee Minho, Steve Sanghyun Noh, Anna Sawai, Jimmi Simpson and Yuh-jung Youn.
Overall, leading the nominees were ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” FX’s “The Bear,” Apple TV+’s “Severance” and HBO Max’s “Severance,” all tied with three nods each.
“As the television landscape continues to evolve, and independent artists expand the idea of how stories can be told, we’re proud to be changing with them,” said Josh Welsh, president of Film Independent. “With our new categories and gender-neutral acting awards, we hope to better reflect the diversity of incredible work being created by these talented artists.”
With the categories going gender neutral, the Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series award was expanded to 10 nominees and a Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series award has been added to honor performances outside of the leading roles.
The film portion of the Independent Spirits were announced on Nov. 22, with “Everything Everywhere All At Once” leading the pack.
The Spirit Awards’ TV component were first introduced for the 2021 ceremony, and honor first-year shows only. Also, unlike the film competition, there’s no budget cap on productions. According to Film Independent, “this year the Spirit Awards Television Nominating Committees selected nominees applying the following guidelines: uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter, economy of means.”
The 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards will take place on Saturday, March 4, 2023 in-person on the beach in Santa Monica. With no TV outlet this year, the Independent Spirits will instead be streamed internationally across multiple online and digital platforms.
Executive Producers: Michael Ellenberg, Lindsey Springer, Theresa Kang-Lowe, Richard Middleton, Justin Chon, Kogonada
Co-Executive Producers: Dani Gorin, Sebastian Lee, David Kim, Ethan Kuperberg
“The Porter” (CBC)
Creators/Executive Producers: Marsha Greene, Annmarie Morais, Arnold Pinnock
Creator/Co-Executive Producer: Bruce Ramsay
Creator: Aubrey Nealon
Executive Producers: Ian Dimerman, Jennifer Kawaja, Charles Officer, R.T. Thorne, Aml Ameen, Bruno Dubé, Alfre Woodard, Rose Catherine Pinkney, Devin Griffin
Co-Executive Producers: Elise Cousineau, Andrea Glinski, Steve Cochrane, Daphne Park
“Severance” (Apple TV+)
Creator/Executive Producer: Dan Erickson
Executive Producers: Ben Stiller, Nicholas Weinstock, Jackie Cohn, Mark Friedman, Andrew Colville, Chris Black, John Cameron
Co-Executive Producers: Jill Footlick, Kari Drake
“Station Eleven” (HBO Max)
Creator/Executive Producer: Patrick Somerville
Executive Producers: Jessica Rhoades, Scott Steindorff, Dylan Russell, Scott Delman, Jeremy Podeswa, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson
Co-Executive Producers: David Nicksay, Nick Cuse
(LAST YEAR’S WINNER: “Reservation Dogs,” FX)
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Aml Ameen , “The Porter”
Mohammed Amer, “Mo”
Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”
Bridget Everett, “Somebody Somewhere”
KaMillion, “Rap Sh!t”
Melanie Lynskey, “Yellowjackets”
Himesh Patel, “Station Eleven”
Sue Ann Pien, “As We See It”
Adam Scott, “Severance”
Ben Whishaw, “This is Going to Hurt”
(LAST YEAR’S WINNERS: Thuso Mbedu, “The Underground Railroad” and Lee Jung-jae, “Squid Game”)
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Danielle Deadwyler, “Station Eleven”
Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”
Jeff Hiller, “Somebody Somewhere”
Gbemisola Ikumelo, “A League of Their Own”
Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”
Frankie Quiñones, “This Fool”
Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”
Molly Shannon, “I Love That For You”
Tramell Tillman, “Severance”
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
“Children of the Underground”
Executive Producers: Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Jon Bardin, Ted Gesing, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Kate Barry; Co-Executive Producer: Julie Gaither
“Mind Over Murder”
Executive Producers: Marc Smerling, Nanfu Wang, Max Heckman, Chad Mumm, Mark W. Olsen, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez
“Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?”
Executive Producers: Nick Boak, Andrew Renzi, Andrew D. Corkin, Theo James, Andrew Fried, Jordan Wynn, Dane Lillegard, Sarina Roma; Co-Executive Producer: Jeremiah Murphy
“The Rehearsal”
Creator/Executive Producer: Nathan Fielder; Executive Producers: Dave Paige, Dan McManus, Christie Smith; Co-Executive Producers: Carrie Kemper, Eric Notarnicola
“We Need to Talk About Cosby”
Executive Producers: W. Kamau Bell, Andrew Fried, Katie A. King, Vinnie Malhotra, Dane Lillegard, Sarina Roma, Jordan Wynn; Co-Executive Producer: Geraldine L. Porras
Are you ready to feel old? It’s been 30 years since Home Alone 2: Lost In New York was first released!
We all know that Home Alone 2 is iconic! It featured loads of landmarks throughout New York City that have obviously changed in the last 30 years — and I just so happened to have been invited to tour all of the major ones recently (in a limo fit for a Kevin)!
So let’s go through the differences between nine of New York City’s most-known and loved landmarks 30 years ago and now:
1.
Here’s The Statue of Liberty in the 1990s:
Here’s how the statue was featured in Home Alone 2 in 1992:
And here’s The Statue of Liberty in 2022:
2.
The Queensboro Bridge in the 1990s:
How the bridge was featured in Home Alone 2:
The Queensboro Bridge in 2022 (Now the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge):
3.
Radio City Music Hall in the 1990s:
How the building was featured in Home Alone 2:
Radio City Music Hall in 2022:
4.
Empire Diner in the 1990s:
How the diner was featured in Home Alone 2:
5.
Gapstow Bridge in Central Park in the 1990s:
How the bridge was featured in Home Alone 2:
6.
Carnegie Hall in the 1990s:
How the venue was featured in Home Alone 2:
7.
Wollman Rink in the 1990s:
How the rink was featured in Home Alone 2:
8.
The Plaza Hotel in the 1990s:
How the hotel was featured in Home Alone 2:
9.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in the 1990s:
How the tree was featured in Home Alone 2:
The Rockefeller Christmas Tree in 2022:
It was amazing to tour NYC and not only learn about how these landmarks have been maintained over the decades but also just to see how beautiful they are! I’d definitely recommend getting “lost in New York” to anyone who has the chance! (Except please don’t actually get lost! We have better technology than Kevin did 30 years ago!!)
If you’d like to see more of my trip — I made a fun video on where I got to go! Where would you love to visit on a Home Alone 2 tour?
Stream Home Alone 2: Lost In New York now on Disney+ and celebrate it’s 30th this holiday season!
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Avatar: The Way of Wateris a groundbreaking visually stunning film in which director James Cameron takes filmmaking technology to an incredible new level, and raises the bar in the visual movie-going experience. The movie was jaw-droppingly beautiful! I was simply in awe while I was watching the Avatar sequel, and not only did the movie look amazing, but the story was great and an emotionally charged thrill ride that will leave audiences breathless.
The story for the sequel picks up several years after the events of the first film, with Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) living on Pandora with their family. They are living a good and happy life, but when that life is threatened by humans looking to colonize the planet and exploit its resources, they are forced to make some hard decisions.
It doesn’t help that the ruthless Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) returns in Na’vi form, and his mission is to kill Jake Sully because he’s been fighting the human colonization every step of the way and really putting a dent in their efforts. He and Neytiri are fighting to protect their home and their way of life. But, after their family are put in a life-and-death situation, he and his family are forced to find a new home.
Their journey leads them to the Metkayina, who are an oceanic Na’vi clan located on Pandora’s reefs. They have a close spiritual relationship with the water. It’s here that Jake and his family struggle to find their place among this clan and learn their ways in order to pull their weight and survive.
The story itself is a deeply emotional and thought-provoking exploration of the connections between humanity and the natural world. It also puts a focus on the destructive forces of colonialism and the impact of technology on the environment. Like the first film, the themes of the film are timely and relevant, and will undoubtedly resonate with audiences.
Cameron has once again pushed the boundaries of special effects, with the lush, alien world of Pandora coming to life in incredible, mind-blowing detail. From the majestic floating mountains to the vibrant bioluminescent forests and oceans. As you know, water plays a huge part in this sequel’s story and what Cameron did to bring that aspect of the film to life is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Some of this stuff is seriously the most beautiful visual effects ever put on the big screen.
Every frame of this film is a visual feast, but Cameron doesn’t just rely on special effects; the performances from the cast are top-notch, with Sam Worthington reprising his role as Jake Sully and delivering a powerful and nuanced performance. Zoë Saldana also shines as Neytiri, bringing fierce determination and emotional depth to her character. The chemistry between Worthington and Saldana is electric, and their scenes together are powerful.
The rest of the cast, including Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, and Kate Winslet, all offered fantastic performances!
Then there are the action sequences! Not only is the film beautiful to look at, but the action sequences in Avatar: The Way of Water are pulse-pounding and intense, with Cameron once again proving that he is the master of delivering edge-of-your-seat thrills with the exhilarating battles that take place on land, sea, and air. Cameron has always been great at directing action sequences and the battles between the Na’vi, Quaritch and his squad, and the human military, is pretty epic and thrilling. The final epic final battle sequence is quite an incredible spectacle!
On top of all that, you’ve got the 3D technology that adds a whole extra layer of immersion to the experience! The 3D created for this movie is incredible! But, I especially appreciated the film’s heart and soul. At its core, this is a story about the struggle to protect one’s home, family, and way of life, and the lengths we will go to in order to defend what is most important to us. The themes of family, love, and sacrifice are woven throughout the film, giving it an emotional depth that audiences will appreciate.
It’s the perfect mix of all of these things that makes James Cameron’s films so damn good! He’s a great filmmaking and storyteller and Avatar: The Way of Water is a great film that begs to be seen on the big screen. I’m 100% in on this franchise and I hope that Cameron gets to tell his full story in all the sequels that he’s got planned! I can’t wait to see the next one!
Avatar: The Way of Water is a must-see for fans of the first film and for anyone who simply just loves a thrilling and good sci-fi action film!
A24 dropped the first poster – and title change – for Ari Aster’s “Beau Is Afraid,” previously named “Disappointment Blvd.” (the film was originally rumored to be called “Beau Is Afraid.”).
A child version of star Joaquin Phoenix graces the poster, wearing the same gray satin pajamas that the actor was spookily snapped wearing on set last July. The film is slated to premiere in 2023.
“Beau Is Afraid” marks the third collaboration between Aster and A24, after horror hits “Hereditary” (2018) and “Midsommar” (2019). Plot details are under wraps, though it has been described as “an intimate, decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.”
In an interview with French paper Le Journal du Dimanche, Aster called collaborating with Phoenix “one of the best experiences of my life.”
“I am very proud of his performance and I love him with all my heart,” he added.
In addition to the “Joker” star, “Beau Is Afraid” features Aster’s largest and most star-studded cast to date, with the likes of Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan, Kylie Rogers, Parker Posey, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Michael Gandolfini, Denis Ménochet, Zoe Lister-Jones and Richard Kind. Aster and his Square Peg production partner Lars Knudsen will produce.
Phoenix will reprise his Oscar-winning role in “Joker: Folie à Deux” opposite Lady Gaga in 2024.
Aster’s “Hereditary” grossed $80 million worldwide, holding the record for A24’s top-performing film until it was usurped by “Everything Everywhere All At Once” earlier this year. Likewise, the Florence Pugh vehicle “Midsommar” cleaned up nicely with $47.9 million at the global box office. Both movies were hits with critics and fans alike, positioning “Beau Is Afraid” to be one of the most anticipated indie films of 2023.
Throughout Teen Wolf‘s six seasons, the series incorporated numerous villains, from werewolf hunters to Ghost Riders and many others in between. But, at the height of a massive sacrifice to locate their parents in the Nemeton, Scott, Stiles, and Allison return with a piece of darkness within themselves, but for Stiles, it is far more than that. When Kira’s electricity hits Stiles, she accidentally triggers the Nogitsune that had hidden out within his body, activating the Nogitsune’s possession of Stiles. Throughout season 3b, Stiles tries to understand the Nemeton’s effect on his mind, only to eventually discover it was not entirely the sacrifice that resulted in this, but the possession from the dark fox spirit.
Season 3b pushes everything further, from the characters themselves to their relationships and how they make decisions regarding their new villain. The Nogitsune is not just an entity to itself; it is hiding out in Stiles’ body, and the question is whether the pack can get rid of the Nogitsune without killing Stiles. But, the Nogitsune also expands on Teen Wolf’s use of mythology while using the Nogitsune in connection to Kira’s family’s past to help tether the storyline, as well as the Nogitsune being responsible for one of the most tragic deaths in the series.
One of the results following the sacrifice is that Stiles finds he can no longer read. Letters are mixed up and what was once easy to comprehend is now impossible. He also loses time, becomes more impulsive, and lacks sleep. After ending up at the hospital, Melissa forces him to sleep and connects Stiles’ comments to his late mother’s symptoms that led to her dementia diagnosis. The Nogitsune not only messes with Stiles’ concerns about his health but also gets his family and friends to worry when the results of Stiles’ MRI match his mother’s. Stiles is more affected by the Nogitsune than anyone, as it affects his mental, emotional, and physical health throughout his possession. Placing such an emotional conflict on an integral and usually upbeat character added to the depth Teen Wolf gave Stiles during the Nogitsune’s control.
5/6 Dylan O’Brien’s Dual Performance
MGM Domestic Television Distribution
One of the things that made the Nogitsune such a successful and fan-favorite villain was seeing Dylan O’Brien, who usually portrayed his sarcastic and wacky side of Stiles, take on a more dark and dangerous antagonist. While Stiles was worried about his mental state and what it could mean for his life, the Nogitsune impersonated Stiles and played on his friends’ thoughts, feelings, and vulnerabilities. Dylan O’Brien’s performance as the Nogitsune is part of what makes the season 3b arc so memorable and beloved by fans.
4/6 Challenging Scott to Face Off Against His Best Friend
MGM Domestic Television Distribution
Scott McCall had faced a variety of villains from Peter Hale, the Argents, a Kanima, and an Alpha Pack, but things get personal when the Nogitsune possesses Stiles. Although Scott is always in favor of saving people, or at the very least not killing them, if it is avoidable. This time, a dark spirit is holding his best friend captive in his mind. So how does Scott destroy the Nogitsune and save Stiles?
It is a problematic line, as the Nogitsune is the most dangerous villain the McCall Pack has ever faced. Scott is desperate to save Stiles to the point where he considers potentially turning Stiles into a werewolf to change the body of the host, which could kill a Nogitsune. But even as Stiles is willing to sacrifice himself to save everyone else, Scott determines that saving Stiles is the most important thing.
3/6 Incorporates More Mythology and Backstory Into the Show
MGM Domestic Television Distribution
Teen Wolf goes beyond choosing supernatural creatures at random, explaining the myths and background surrounding the Nogitsune and its origination for being connected to the Nemeton. Kira’s mother holds a history with the dark fox spirit and had once called upon it in a time of war and despair. However, when things went too far, she hid it in the Nemeton, hoping never to come across the spirit again. In this case, the Nogitsune’s main opposition is the Kitsune, another fox, including the reveal that Kira and her mother are both included in the supernatural world. Season 3b comes with the confirmation that more supernatural beings are being drawn to Beacon Hills with the Nemeton’s activation.
2/6 Responsible for a Devastating Character Death
MGM Domestic Television Distribution
Sometimes, a villain is considered so threatening because they manage to lift the stakes and cause legitimate consequences and pain for the central heroes. In this case, the Nogitsune is responsible for two character deaths. Sadly, Aiden dies against the Nogitsune’s minions in an attempt to help save everyone else. But Allison Argent’s death in the penultimate episode seals the deal. Allison had been a central and beloved character to the rest of her friends and the show’s audience. Unfortunately, Allison discovers a way to kill the Oni just before she is killed, and it is a devastating moment as she dies in Scott’s arms while Lydia screams out her name.
Villains can cause different levels of harm and threats. But only some change the game forever. Killing Allison holds repercussions for everyone as it drives an absolute sense of motivation and desperation into the final battle with the Nogitsune. However, the Nogitsune’s effects on everyone continue to hold afterward, as everyone grieves Allison later. No other Teen Wolf villain leaves as permanent a mark as the Nogitsune.
1/6 Contests the Bounds of Illusion
MGM Domestic Television Distribution
Between Stiles’ uncertainties of what was real and the events of “Divine Move,” which questioned the Nogitsune’s abilities to manipulate spaces, the Nogitsune as a trickster is one of the most complex and frustrating villains. Always a few steps ahead, as a dark trickster and enjoyer of riddles, the Nogitsune is constantly challenging everyone else in a game only he knows the rules to. However, during the final battle, Stiles realizes that the snowy surroundings of what should have been the high school are only an illusion after seeing a desk hidden in snow in a sword’s reflection. Ignoring those trying to cause them harm and walking directly through the doors brings them back to the actual high school hallway, setting up for the Nogitsune’s defeat.
Adam Sandler has been turning heads lately with his dramatic turns in Hustle and Uncut Gems, but he’ll be honored in March for his comedy roots. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said today that the Saturday Night Live alum and film star will receive its 24th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
The award will be presented March 19 during a gala performance at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Manhattan. Broadcast details are TBA.
“Adam Sandler has entertained audiences for over three decades with his films, music and his tenure as a fan-favorite cast member on SNL,” Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter said. “Adam has created characters that have made us laugh, cry and cry from laughing.”
A five-time Emmy nominee, Sandler got his start with a four-episode stint on The Cosby Show, then the No. 1 series on TV, before joining the SNL cast in 1990 and became a featured player the following year, drawing guffaws for his goofy original tunes including “The Chanukah Song” and “The Thanksgiving Song.” He went on to embody such memorable characters as Cajun Man, Opera Man and Canteen Boy during his five-season stint.
His film career kicked into high gear in 1995 with Billy Madison, followed in quick succession by Happy Gilmore, The Waterboy, The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, Mr. Deeds, 50 First Dates, The Longest Yard, Grown Ups and its sequel voicing and Dracula in the first three Hotel Transylvania films, among other roles.
He also has three career Grammy noms for his 1990s comedy albums, along with a slew of People’s Choice, MTV and other awards. He got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.
The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain. Past recipients range from Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner and Whoopi Goldberg to Eddie Murphy, David Letterman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Dave Chappelle and Jon Stewart.
An elegiac air hangs over A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto—To the Moon and Back, a new anthology of covers of the Japanese composer’s work. This weekend, the cancer-stricken musician livestreamed a solo concert from his studio, seeming to harbor no illusions about his prognosis: “This might be the last time that you will see me perform in this manner.” But the anthology also marks the rare occasion to pay homage to a beloved figure while he is still alive. There are remarkable reworks from a number of his friends and collaborators, including David Sylvian, Fennesz, and Hildur Guðnadóttir. One of the simplest yet most moving pieces comes from the German electronic musician Alva Noto, aka Carsten Nicolai, Sakamoto’s longtime partner in some of the most minimalist music in his catalog.
In much of their work together, Nicolai supplies spartan scrapes and pings while Sakamoto occupies himself with typically lyrical melodies. Here, though, Nicolai sets aside his signature austerity to tackle Sakamoto’s theme to Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1990 film The Sheltering Sky. Originally scored for symphony orchestra, it is one of the Japanese composer’s most sweeping and sentimental works, with a languid melody that rises and falls like rolling dunes. Beginning with a steady electronic ping, like the sound of a hospital ward, it seems at first that Nicolai is about to deliver his usual clinical precision. Instead, he opens up, unfurling lush string synths and delicate chimes. But a cautious air hangs over “The Sheltering Sky – Alva Noto Remodel,” substituting the original’s orchestral fanfare for a carefully calibrated digital palette. A spare, somber take on the original, it represents a captivating fusion of the two men’s sensibilities.
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“Pray Away” profiles several former leaders of the movement that advocated to convert LGBTQ people to become straight. Filmmaker Kristine Stolakis examines how many of them now renounce the movement that continues without them.
The Pope has offered a harrowing vision of the future, saying he has seen signs of an even darker time for humanity.
At a Mass at the Vatican, the Pope, 85, said on Sunday that he has a dire vision for the world with ‘omens of even greater destruction and desolation’.
The Mass was commemorating the feast of Our Lady Guadalupe, which fell yesterday. It commemorates the appearance of the Virgin Mary to a young man, Saint Juan Diego, in 1531 in Mexico City. The day is a national holiday in Mexico.
But despite the current difficult times for the world – including wars, particularly Russia‘s conflict in Ukraine, the rising cost of living, poverty, famine, and an international energy crisis – the Pope said he has a vision that things will get worse.
At a Mass at the Vatican, the Pope said on Sunday that he has a dire vision for the world with ‘omens of even greater destruction and desolation’
The Mass was commemorating the feast of Our Lady Guadalupe. It commemorates the appearance of the Virgin Mary to a young man, Saint Juan Diego, in 1531 in Mexico City
In his homily, the pontiff said ‘it is a bitter time, filled with the rumbling of war, growing injustice, famine, poverty and suffering,’ but at this ‘bleak and disconcerting’ time, there are ‘omens of even greater destruction and desolation’.
He added that at Christmas, God’s ‘divine love and his coming down to us tell us that this too is a propitious time of salvation, in which the Lord, through the Virgin Mother, continues to give us his Son’.
He urged the Vatican congregation ‘to get involved with each other without delay, to go out to meet our brothers and sisters who have been forgotten and discarded by our consumerist and indifferent societies’.
The pontiff recounted the Bible verse from John 3:16: ‘God who so loved the world, sent us his son, ‘born of a woman’, so that ‘whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”.
Attendees wave as Pope Francis as he leaves in his wheelchair after celebrating the Mass for Our Lady of Guadalupe on Sunday
In the celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe the Pope said that the Virgin Mary ‘invites us to leave behind all the prejudices and fears that populate our hearts and to trust in the true God for whom we live, joyfully and confidently directing us to reaffirm our belonging to the Lord’.
In 2031, it will be the 500th anniversary since the appearance of Mary to the young man in Mexico.
With this in mind, Pope Francis called on ‘all members of the pilgrim Church in the Americas, pastors and faithful, to participate in this celebratory journey that aims to promote an encounter with God through Our Lady of Guadalupe’.
‘She wants to remind us that it was the Gospel that shaped the soul of Latin America, and that as believers in Christ it is our responsibility to be credible witnesses of the love of Jesus Christ and decisive protagonists in building a new culture.’
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for Season 2 of “The White Lotus,” now streaming on HBO Max.
Rest in peace, Tanya McQuoid.
While we mourn the crown jewel of “The White Lotus” — who in the Season 2 finale takes out a few “high-end gays,” falls off a yacht, knocks her head on a dinghy and drowns to death in the Ionian Sea — the internet is ablaze with Jennifer Coolidgememes. (Yes, she is aware of them.)
Tanya figures out she’s being conned by Quentin (Tom Hollander), but as she preps her escape back to shore, she slips and kills herself in a shocking death that even the most outlandish theories didn’t predict. As for why Tanya didn’t put the pieces together sooner, Coolidge tells Variety, “It is too hard for people to admit to themselves that there’s that type of evil in the world. No one wants to believe that.”
While Tanya fended off “evil gays” in the Season 2 finale, Coolidge herself battled seasickness. “I told Mike I didn’t want to be on a boat ever again after ‘White Lotus’ Season 1, and of course there were two yachts I had to be on,” she says. “I was so nauseous.”
In an interview following the end of the second season, Coolidge — who in September won an Emmy for playing Tanya in Season 1 — sat down with Variety to discuss how her own “obliviousness” inspired the character, becoming an instant meme and what “The White Lotus” has meant for her and her career.
When did you first find out you would be the big death at the end of this season, and what was your reactionwhen Mike told you?
I wasn’t happy about it! But Mike White’s a genius — I knew my ending would be good. When he told me I was going to die, he didn’t have the ending yet, he hadn’t completely orchestrated it out. I was kind of bummed, but Mike knows how to tell a story better than anyone I know, so I knew I just had to trust it. You can’t talk Mike White out of anything, so I’ll just have to go on some different adventures this year and maybe go visit Mike when they’re filming [Season 3].
Tanya dies by falling over the side of the yacht and hitting her head on the dinghy. Did she not see the ladder?
Tanya didn’t notice! Mike White thinks it’s very funny that I can handle big things, but a little thing will be my demise. Like, my technical inabilities with my phone or something will keep me from accomplishing something big. These small things throw me off. It was so in line with who I am — I even heard Mike say that to somebody. Not noticing something that could save my life.
Are you speaking as you, Jennifer, or as the character Tanya?
I’m saying Mike stole that from me, Jennifer Coolidge, and made it a Tanya thing — her obliviousness.
How did you shoot that scene?
It was late at night on a rocky boat. I told Mike I didn’t want to be on a boat ever again after “White Lotus” Season 1, and of course there were two yachts I had to be on. I was so nauseous. I’m not good on these boats. It was many hours on that boat not feeling well and having to kill people and run around. There was a lot of running around on that boat.
Why do you think it took Tanya so long to put the pieces together and plan an escape, even though she had already seen the photo and had told Portia about Quentin and Jack? Did she refuse to believe it, or was she frozen in fear?
Mike was writing these scenes as very dreamlike: “Did I really see that? Is that really real, or is that my imagination?” Tanya’s a very damaged person, and a lot of times she isn’t nice, but she would never take someone’s life or anything. That kind of person who has no problem taking another person’s life — it’s very hard for a naïve, innocent person to conceive that idea in their head. You hear people on a jury say, “The reason why I voted that he was innocent is I just don’t think anyone could take the life of their own child or kill their wife.” Like, oh my God! They do it every day! Somewhere in the world, someone is doing that. It’s that sort of inability to believe something until you’re in way too deep, because the possibility of it is too hard for people to admit to themselves that there’s that type of evil in the world. No one wants to believe that.
In Tanya’s last moments, she asks Quentin if Greg is having an affair. What does that say about her?
There’s so many things in that line. One, that’s so important to women. And you have to remember, this is a dramedy. There’s a lot of comedy in this show. Even with all the bodies strewn around on the floor, that’s a question that Tanya wants answered, despite this horrific scene she’s standing in. When I read it, I thought it was brilliant. And two, she really wants to know. People want to know if she really got all that was going on. She talks to Portia about putting the pieces together, but that deep denial is just beyond reason.
How does it feel to be a gay icon who ends up murdering a bunch of “high-end gays” who plotted to kill her?
That is so Mike White. I wouldn’t have come up with that scenario myself, it wouldn’t occur to me. Gay men can be catty, but mostly they are the good guys in a lot of films that I’ve seen. But Mike White made these guys kind of wicked, very corrupt soulless guys. He told me, “You end up getting taken in by this group of — well, let’s just say they’re evil gays.” I just got so riveted, I was so enthralled. You know, Tanya’s not onto them, but she’s finally being appreciated and she’s finally having a good time on this horrific trip.
Are you aware that the “These gays, they’re trying to murder me” has already become a meme?
I have had some people send me that this morning, yes.
Did you anticipate that when you read the line?
No. That was one of the last scenes I filmed for the show, and I was seasick and stuff. There were a lot of logical things I should have come up with. There’s so many things people are sending me. [When filming], you’re not thinking memes down the line for some reason. Maybe other people on the show were, but I wasn’t savvy enough to spot them.
Do you have a favorite line you improvised?
There’s one line that I told Mike about that he put in the script. I had just bought this big house in New Orleans, and my father was secretly upset because he thought I was in over my head. And my aunt pulled me aside and said, “Sometimes… old buildings are more important than people.” And I told Mike White that, and he put it in the script in a different way. [Tanya tells Quentin on the boat, “There aren’t enough people out there that are worried about old buildings.”] It’s very clever the way he weaves all these things in.
One of my favorite lines, which Mike came up with, is “These are some high-end gays.” I liked when Tanya was excited about something, because she was so depressed for most of Season 1 and the beginning of 2. There’s another brilliant line about how when you meet other rich people, they don’t fear that you’re going to take their money, so they let you in. That’s a true fact! I improvised a lot of things, some made it in and some didn’t. But 99.9% of my favorite lines were Mike White.
How does it feel to say goodbye to Tanya McQuoid, and what has “The White Lotus” meant to you and your career?
It was sort of the beginning of good times for me, coming out of COVID and making “White Lotus” Season 1. To be given this gift to act and do this very cool story. I know Mike White’s a genius and all that, but I never had the thought that “White Lotus” was going to be a huge deal. I remember thinking, “This is good,” but there’s a lot of good stuff on television that never gets any recognition. I didn’t have any expectations, but it turned into this massive thing.
And staying on “White Lotus” Season 2 — it was a life-changing thing. The offers! Whether I can take these projects or not, it doesn’t matter. I never thought I had a shot in hell at doing anything dramatic. Of course “White Lotus” has comedy in there, but before that, the only dramatic role I had was something a long time ago with Nicolas Cage called “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” and I don’t really know how many people saw that. “White Lotus” has opened a world of opportunities, and Mike White will be my friend forever, of course.
I never could have predicted this moment, and that’s what’s cool about life sometimes: Cool stuff is something you never thought of. I’m in a state of shock still, two years later.
Elon Musk has done and said a lot of stupid stuff lately, and on Monday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Kimmel, clearly growing pretty annoyed with the weirdness of the world’s richest man, mocked a lot of it.
And after seeing a recent joke Musk made, Kimmel first declared that Musk seems to be aiming to fill “the troll hole vacated by Donald Trump.” Then, he explained at length just why the joke was so bad.
“The new World’s Greatest Boss, Elon Musk, announced that Twitter will soon increase the character limit, from 280 characters to 4,000, and will be changing the name of the company to Facebook as well,” Kimmel said as he started to talk about it.
Now, Kimmel was referring to a recent exchange Musk had with one of his weird fans on Twitter, who asked, “is it true that Twitter is set to increase the characters from 280 to 4000?” “Yes,” Musk said. Now of course Musk has announced insane things about Twitter, on Twitter recently, some of which have actually happened.
But Musk also has a long, well documented history of purposefully making empty promises and saying things that flatly aren’t true, so much so that Mediaite described him as “pathologically full of s—.” So there’s no way to know if he was just making something up to please a flatterer, or actually announcing a new policy. But, many news outlets treated this announcement as true, so here we are.
Now, back to Kimmel. “Elon Musk seems to be intent on filling the troll hole vacated by Donald Trump. Because yesterday, he wrote ‘My pronouns are Prosecute and Fauci.’ Which, on top of being small-minded, lowest-common denominator garbage,and spreading false and dangerous conspiracy theories against a doctor who works for our good, is also, just a terrible joke,” Kimmel noted.
“It’s like a joke generated by AI. It doesn’t make any sense. The structure is wrong, it doesn’t rhyme with anything relevant, there are too many syllables. It’s exactly the kind of joke you’d expect from a guy who named his son after the bottom row of an eye chart,” Kimmel said, referring to the child he had with pop singer and occasional Marxist cosplayer Grimes, which they named X Æ A-Xii.
“But for some reason – some people like him. This weekend, a young guy came up to me, a very nice guy – he said ‘you got no love for Elon bro?” And I was like, no, I don’t. But it’s not just Elon specifically. I have a problem with any richest man in the world who comes to this country to casually slander a doctor who devoted his entire adult life to protecting our children from HIV and COVID and Zika and swine flu and ebola disease, while you’re off playing grabass with Trump and firing rockets into space to prove your penis works,” Kimmel explained.
“It’s just a general. It’s not specific,” Kimmel added.
So, the answer is, as long as he’s attacking, and spreading lies, about decent Americans who’ve been doing his best to protect the world since before this vomit casserole was born, I got no love for Elon, bro. Okay,” Kimmel concluded before moving on to the next topic.
There’s plenty more — including some jokes about Trump, and about Marjorie Taylor Greene’s recent turn to openly supporting the Jan. 6 attacks. You can watch the whole monologue above. The Elon Musk stuff begins about 3 minutes in.
When Taylor Swift and Director and playwright Martin McDonag sat down for their Variety Directors on Directors special we got some new insight in to Taylor Swift’s passion project, “All Too Well: The Short Film,” a 14 minute short film that’s been viewed more than 80 million times on YouTube and is inspired by events in Taylor’s life. The film was written and directed by Taylor Swift and stars Sadie Sink, Dylan O’Brien and Taylor Swift.
“I wrote it knowing I wanted it to be a short. I wanted to treat it differently than I’d ever treated a music video.” Said Swift “I wanted to shoot it on 35 millimeter, and I wrote it with Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien in mind.”
When asked about how she came across Dylan and Sadie’s work, Taylor replied. “I’d never met either of them, but I’d seen their work. I’d seen Sadie in “Stranger Things,” and I thought she has such a presence. She has such an empathy to her. I mean, you can just see micro emotions flash across her face in a way that I don’t usually see in performances. And I thought, “She’s never been a romantic lead and I wonder if she’d be interested in playing a young woman who goes through her first catastrophic, cataclysmic heartbreak.”
Courtesy of Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
So how did the two actors react to Taylor’s question? She goes on to say, “I wrote the manuscript, and I had visual references of the art direction. I put together a PDF of what I wanted to make, because I’d never made a short before, and I’m in the mode where I’m trying to persuade these two actors, and trying to convince them. They both said yes immediately when I texted them.”
While speaking on the script, Taylor went on to say “It had dialogue. I’d scripted out some scenes of them falling in love, the scene of them falling apart, breaking up. And then I’d had this argument — the argument was the one we ended up keeping as a scene without music because I thought it was just important to get a potent glimpse into their dynamic.”
Remember that intense fight scene that can be considered the turning point of the film? Well it turns out Taylor has some help in making that scene what it was.
Courtesy of Taylor Swift
“It was partly improvised. I had written out that fight with the same arc. There were just some things that Dylan would blurt out or Sadie would say, and I’d just be sitting at the monitor, going, “Oh my God. We are keeping that in the cut.”
Taylor Swift truly managed to prove herself as a storyteller and a director with this short film. Captivating her audience and entrancing them in a story that was told All Too Well.
“It’s structured narratively in a way that I felt had to be different than any music video I’ve made. I wanted people to be in that world with these two characters.”
What’s next for Taylor Swift? Soon she’ll be making her feature film directorial debut in association with Searchlight Pictures, and All Too Well is a favorite for The Oscars.
The BBC has unveiled a tense trailer for the highly-anticipated third season of Happy Valley, which is being co-produced with AMC+ and stars Sarah Lancashire and James Norton.
Following a seven-year hiatus, the trail gives a first glimpse into the final instalment of Sally Wainwright’s multi-BAFTA winner, which stars Lancashire as the iconic Sergeant Catherine Cawood.
When Catherine discovers the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, it sparks a chain of events that leads her straight back to Tommy Lee Royce (Norton). Her grandson, Ryan (Rhys Connah), is now sixteen and has ideas of his own about the kind of relationship he wants to have with the man Catherine refuses to acknowledge as his father, leaving Catherine’s sister Clare (Siobhan Finneran) caught in the middle.
The BBC is betting big on the show, handing it the lucrative 9 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. PST) New Year’s Day launch slot. Lookout Point has taken over production from Red Production Company.
Executive producers are Wainwright and Lancashire, with Faith Penhale and Will Johnston for Lookout Point, and Ben Irving and Rebecca Ferguson for the BBC.
Thanks to the pandemic, “The Territory” has become the documentary poster child for how to make a truly collaborative nonfiction film.
When Alex Pritz began filming his Sundance hit in 2018, he wanted to provide an immersive look at the tireless fight of the Amazon’s Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by Brazilian farmers and illegal settlers. He had no idea that some of the most memorable moments of his film would be documented by a member of the Uru-eu-wau-wau community.
In the first two years of production Pritz witnessed young members of the Uru-eu-wau-wau community acquire their own equipment, including drones and photography cameras to document illegal happenings on their land. While the director was pleasantly surprised by their interest in camera equipment, he did not invite them to help create the visual aesthetic of “The Territory.”
But when territorial incursions brought the added threat of a lethal virus due to COVID, the Indigenous community closed the entrance to everyone — Pritz included. That’s when the director asked members of the community if they wanted to document the final act of the docu by themselves. The answer was a resounding yes.
“With all the technological advances they were making independent of us, it felt really natural to ask,” Pritz said.
Tangãi Uru-eu-wau-wau took over camera duties for Pritz. His footage of the frontline of the land battle are some of film’s most compelling sequences.
“When Alex invited me to work with him in 2020, I was quite surprised and a bit nervous,” Tangãi said. “Before he asked, we were using cell phones and regular cameras. We used that equipment to create evidence. When I was shooting for Alex, I began to realize that there are a lot of tiny details that go into images and pictures.”
While Pritz did give some technical lessons over WhatsApp, he was unable to direct Tangãi in the field. The helmer saw most of Tangãi’s footage weeks, sometimes months, after it had been shot.
Ultimately, Pritz says that he is glad he couldn’t control Tangãi’s camera movements.
“Creatively and technically, you could feel the raw emotion and the immediacy of the way that he was moving the camera, the chaos of what it’s like to be in the forest,” said Pritz. “He captured it in a way that I never could have. So, it became this really nice exchange. The way Tangãi moved the camera with this really fluid, intuitive, organic, handheld camera movements inspired some of the stuff that I shot later for the film.”
Tangãi , who received cinematography credit alongside Pritz, was paid the local rate for his D.P. duties. In exchange for forming their own media team to help make “The Territory,” the Uru-eu-wau-wau community received a production company credit alongside film’s fellow banners including Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures and Passion Pictures. All credited production houses share an equal portion of the docu’s profits. While members of the Uru-eu-wau-wau did not have creative control over “The Territory” edit, they are working with Pritz to form a media center with editing bays, a podcast studio and exhibition space for their own work to be shown.
“That came out of conversations with Tangãi and others who said, ‘Look, if we really want to be in control of how our story is told going forward, we need to be more involved in the editing process.’ That’s where a lot of the creative decisions get made,” Pritz said.
“The Territory premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition, where it won the Special Jury Award for Documentary Craft as well as the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award. The doc aired on the National Geographic Channel on Dec. 1 and began streaming on Disney+ Dec. 2.
Miss India is an insipid telling of what is meant to be an inspirational story of the rise of a small town girl. Keerthy Suresh plays the lead along with tea that has a starring role, the Indian chai conquers coffee loving America.
The film rests on a flimsy screenplay filled with cliches and ticks all the genre boxes. Manasa Samyukta played by National Award winner Keerthy Suresh dreams of making it big in the tea industry and you know she does because the first scene opens with her monologue about her success, and the story of how she gets to the top is too lacklustre and long at 2 hours and 16 minutes. Miss India is the name of Manasa’s tea brand, the misleading title may have made you believe this is a film about the beauty pageant.
Manasa is inspired by her grandfather who makes healing herbal teas and apart from this grandfather played by Rajendra Prasad and father played by Sivaramakrishna who are the two token good men in the film she encounters only men ranging from mean to evil who want to thwart her journey to success. Jagapathi Babu as KSK the coffee conglomerate tycoon is reduced to playing a caricaturish villain. Save for Nadhiya who makes a genuine effort as Keerthy’s mother all the actors and junior artists especially are extremely unconvincing and what grates on your nerves is that they all speak in proverbs and aphorisms.
Keerthy Suresh has the tough job of living up to the expectations she set up with Mahanati but the shallow script fails her. The only deviation the screenplay makes from a long beaten road is the way it gives agency to the woman in romance. Apart from that there isn’t anything that stands out in this weak cup of tea. This tea feature film is so boring that it ends up being an advertisement for coffee.
Elon Musk has dissolved Twitter’s Trust and Safety council, effectively ending the company’s attempts to prevent harassment even as he has enthusiastically participated in actions on Twitter that have dramatically increased harassment.
Most notably, over the weekend Musk baselessly implied that Yoel Roth, the former head of the Trust and Safety council, is a pedophile. This resulted in Roth experiencing massive harassment and credible death threats that forced him to flee his home.
Members of the council were informed of the move Monday in an email that, like almost all recent company emails, was quickly leaked to the media. Twitter, the email said, is “reevaluating how best to bring external insights into our product and policy development work. As part of this process, we have decided that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best structure to do this.”
There is evidence that Musk’s actions were preemptive: According to The Washington Post, Musk dissolved the council less than an hour before a scheduled zoom meeting with Twitter executives to discuss “recent developments.”
Among those developments, last week three members of the Trust and Safety commission resigned in protest. “Contrary to claims by Elon Musk, the safety and well being of Twitter’s users are on the decline,” the members said in a joint statement.
And of course, there is also Musk’s increasing and unambiguous embrace of right wing politics that includes, among other things, defending Donald Trump’s role in the deadly Jan. 6 attacks and the purposeful spreading of multiple right wing conspiracy theories — part of which involved Musk’s false implication of pedophilia against Roth.
The IndieWire staff pick five of the film and TV compositions that will forever transport us to a place where the birds sing a pretty song, and there’s always music in the air.
Composer Angelo Badalamenti has died, leaving behind a musical legacy that spanned ’80s slashers, holiday season slapstick, and, of course, his long running creative partnership with director David Lynch. In memory of the man who collaborated with a Beatle and Bowie and was responsible for so much of the unmistakable mood of the Lynch filmography, the IndieWire staff picked five of the film and TV compositions that will forever transport us to a place where the birds sing a pretty song, and there’s always music in the air.
“Blue Velvet,” “Main Title” (1986)
The first collaboration between Badalamenti and Lynch, “Blue Velvet” boasts a main title that sees the late composer wryly hinting at the devilish duplicity of Jeffrey Beaumont’s (Kyle MacLachlan) descent into a suburban underworld with characteristic brilliance.
Presented over a blue velvet curtain, with the embellished names of Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, and the rest of the singular cast fading in and out, the 1986 film’s opening is at first classic in its theatricality: robust, celebratory, safe. But as the orchestra swells and the warm brass builds atop a snowballing cascade of minor chords, Badalamenti introduces a vicious playfulness crystallized in the rest of the horror’s soundtrack. As the “Blue Velvet” main title slips into Bobby Vinton’s crooning take on the ’50s love song that gives the film its name, the literal and the ethereal collide at the dreamlike bedrock of what would become a decade-spanning collaboration. —Alison Foreman
“Twin Peaks,” “Laura Palmer’s Theme” (1990)
To hear Badalamenti tell it, “Laura Palmer’s Theme” flowed from his fingers while Lynch described the elemental imagery of his pioneering TV team-up with Mark Frost: trees, wind, an owl, the emergence of a lonely girl from the darkness. Given the way each section of the theme rolls into the next, it’s impossible to imagine it coming together any other way — just as it’s impossible to imagine a version of “Twin Peaks” without those ominously sustained chords, the modulations that feel like they could just keep building infinitely toward the heavens, and the cascading beauty and romance that sticks around for just a few short measures before the whole thing dissolves back into dread. It’s a versatile cue that underscored melodrama, terror, and the end credits throughout the show’s ABC run, and came back for a particularly poignant full-circle moment in its 2017 sequel. Things have a habit of repeating themselves in “Twin Peaks,” and “Laura Palmer’s Theme” portrays those cycles beautifully, forever fading between light and dark, never fully giving itself over to one or the other. —Erik Adams
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“Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me,” “Theme from Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me” (1992)
The opening credits of 1992’s “Fire Walk with Me” — white, Lynchian, sans-serif lettering against the vibrating, bluish-white noise of television static — is essential to telling us what this prequel film is going to be. That is, total annihilation of the ABC broadcast version of “Twin Peaks” you’d cozily come to love. As the credits end, that TV set framing them is promptly smashed by a hammer, and a woman’s blood-curdling scream is heard out of view.
So begins “Fire Walk with Me,” in which audiences get to know what really happened to Laura Palmer. (It’s so much worse than you thought.) But it also begins with Badalamenti’s reinvention of the classic “Twin Peaks” theme, here a jazzy, lovelorn, Miles Davis-esque ballad with trumpet from Jim Hymes, slowed down to narcotized levels. It’s the sort of moody preamble you can imagine Laura, coked out in her bedroom or in sordid nightclub the Pink Room, vibing and writhing to in slow-motion. Musically speaking, “Twin Peaks” mainly exists in an electronic world, but punches of smoky jazz like this “theme” give a sense of Badalamenti’s real savvy for other genres — like much of his film music, this one stands on its own, outside of context, as a kind of uneasy listening. In context, however, it’s way more nightmarish. That oddly soothing sensation found within the inexorably awful and demonic defines Lynch’s body of work — white noise as nightmare — but that’s largely because of Badalamenti’s contributions. This one sticks in the mind: something horrible is coming, and it’s somehow calming. —Ryan Lattanzio
“The Beach” (2000)
Is “The Beach” an actual movie or is it a flimsy excuse to watch Leonardo DiCaprio, variously, hook up with Tilda Swinton and fight a shark? Who can really say. But there is a clarity and a lushness to Badalamenti’s score for this Danny Boyle directed/Alex Garland-penned adventure that feels quintessentially Hollywood at the turn of the millennium, a blend of thematic orchestrations with more atmospheric material that helps mark out the movie’s titular location as alluring and strange. Badalamenti leans on percussion and synths for the more unsettling aspects, but also employs echoing strings that feel as vast as a sunset in the more romantic moments. The score always matches the action onscreen, which means it’s often as goofy and taking big swings the way the movie is, but maybe even more successfully than the film itself, Badalamenti’s music always suggests that there’s something more going here, or some aspect of this place and these people still waiting to be discovered. —Sarah Shachat
“A Very Long Engagement” (2004)
Badalamenti might be more celebrated for the synth textures of his Lynch scores, but he operates with just as much precision when composing with a conventional orchestra in mind. Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “A Very Long Engagement” is both a conventional movie and not at all, a love story bursting with the visual life and the kind of cheeky tangents that make “Amelie” so delightful, but also the film is set just after World War I and most of the characters introduced in the film’s opening are dead and everything is terrible. Badalamenti’s score perfectly captures the essential contradiction at the movie’s happy and sad heart. It’s somber in expected ways, with the mournful horns and swelling strings that seem to come standard issued with war pictures. But it’s also slyly curious and energetic in its rhythms and in the ways Badalamenti develops its themes. There’s a restless forward motion to it that makes the score feel different from a generic trudge through the trenches. The seven-minute end titles track is as good a primer as any for not just the depth but the nuance of feeling that Badalamenti could evoke with his music. That it also happens to be gorgeous is (and isn’t) a happy accident. —Sarah Shachat
National Geographic Films dominated the 2023 Documentary Motion Picture nominees for the upcoming 34th Producers Guild Awards. The studio landed three of the seven spots with “Fire of Love” from Sara Dosa, “Retrograde” from Matthew Heineman and “The Territory” from Alex Pritz.
In addition to the Nat Geo trio, other nominees included HBO’s “All That Breathes,” Netflix’s “Descendant,” CNN and Warner Bros’ “Navalny” and Showtime’s “Nothing Compares.” All seven are in the discussion for Oscar recognition this year.
The Producers Guild Awards honors excellence in motion picture and television productions, as well as the most notable names in the industry who are shaping the producing profession.
PGA nominees for docs haven’t had the best track record of translating to Oscar attention, which differs from the narrative feature category. However, it strongly correlates to appearing on the Oscar doc shortlist of 15 films, which began voting today. Last year, seven of the eight PGA nominees made it to the shortlist, and four were ultimately nominated by the Academy — “Ascension,” “Flee,” “Writing with Fire” and winner “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).”
When it comes to winners, in the last decade, four PGA winners became Oscar winners — “Searching for Sugar Man” (2012) “Amy” (2015), “O.J.: Made in America” (2016), “My Octopus Teacher” (2020) and the aforementioned “Summer of Soul.”
The nominees for sports, children’s and short form television programs will be announced on Friday, Dec. 16. For the theatrical motion pictures, animated features, television series and specials and televised/streamed motion pictures, they will be revealed on Thursday, Jan. 12. The winners will be announced on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023.
The Producers Guild of America represents over 8,500 producers. It is a non-profit trade organization that represents, protects, and promotes the interests of all producing team members in film, television and new media.
The full list of nominees is below; all are being vetted for individual producer eligibility.
“All That Breathes” (HBO)
“Descendant” (Netflix)
“Fire of Love” (National Geographic Documentary/Neon)
Additionally, the Smile will broadcast a special film of the LP’s performed tracks along with one non-live album cut, “Bending Hectic.” The broadcast will be available to view for just 48 hours on the band’s YouTube channel, starting on December 13 at 3:00 p.m. EST.
Read about the Smile’s A Light for Attracting Attention on Pitchfork’s list “The 50 Best Albums of 2022.”
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The Smile at Montreux Jazz Festival, July 2022:
01 Pana-Vision (Live at Montreux Jazz Festival) 02 Thin Thing (Live at Montreux Jazz Festival) 03 The Opposite (Live at Montreux Jazz Festival) 04 Speech Bubbles (Live at Montreux Jazz Festival) 05 Free in the Knowledge & A Hairdryer (Live at Montreux Jazz Festival) 06 The Smoke (Live at Montreux Jazz Festival) 07 You Will Never Work in Television Again (Live at Montreux Jazz Festival)
Raindance has always aimed to champion independent filmmakers regardless of if they are veterans or new to the industry. Our goal is to amplify voices and provide an avenue for independent cinema to be celebrated. Over the last 30 years, we have seen many of our alumni go on to do incredible work on the big screen and receive the recognition they deserve. Our alumni work so hard to get to where they are, and as proud supporters, Raindance wants to continue celebrating their successes.
One of our most recent inspirational success stories is Nadira Murray.
Having grown up in Central Asia, Nadira, the daughter of two theatre actresses, began her career in the UK 20 years ago on stage. She trained at the Drama Studio in London before soon finding her passion as a producer during her studies at the Media Business School in Spain.
In 2015, Nadira chanced upon Raindance, becoming a member and attending her first British Independent Film Awards (BIFA). An active member, Nadira attended several Raindance events and courses including “Budgeting and Scheduling for Your Movie”, which helped to further her educational and networking opportunities. In 2014, Nadira established her production company Sylph Productions, where she produced multiple acclaimed short films including “Baku, I Love You”, “Locked In” and “Stuk”. Since her humble start, Nadira has gone on to produce Winners (2022), directed by Hassan Nazer, which won “Best UK Feature” at the 30th Raindance Film Festival, and has been selected as the official UK entry for the Oscars. The film, set in a small provincial town in Iran, follows nine-year-old Yahya, a quick-witted film fanatic, and his friend Leyla as they find a prestigious international trophy. Sharing a passion for cinema, Yahya’s boss Naser Khan (Reza Naji) decides to help them find the owner. Winners will be screened in theatres all over the UK and Ireland.
In an Instagram Live interview with Raindance Artistic Director Malaika Bova, Nadira was asked about her experience putting a film together with people of several different nationalities. Nadira spoke on how being an outsider, and not from the UK, she wanted her company and the project to focus on involving people from outside the UK of different backgrounds, as with her platform, she wants to work towards providing opportunities and representation.
Nadira shared that despite her team not being UK locals, she believes that Winners is a British film, because she hatched visually and creatively in the UK, having begun her educational filmmaking journey in London. Winners has a sense of internationality that creates a sense of belonging for all those watching.
Another question posed by Malaika was how does one behave in the middle of an Oscar race. Nadira responded with a simple “stay humble”. During the process, the team didn’t think of the successes of the films, they just wanted to create the best film they could, Nadira shared. She added that they didn’t expect anything, and just went in blind, submitting to festivals to see how far it could go, but didn’t think anything big could happen. “Of course we have little dreams inside of us, but we stay humble and see what happens”.
Since completion of Winners, the film has been screened at several festivals, including the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Raindance Film Festival (where they won Best UK Feature). Winners also won the Breakthrough Producer Award and The Raindance Discovery Award at BIFA 2022, and is in the race for the Oscars, and will be in theatres, with help from UK and Ireland distributors from early March 2023.
Raindance is eternally proud of Nadira and her achievements. We cannot wait to continue to marvel at accomplishments.
Flames defenceman Chris Tanev was helped off the ice after taking a slap shot to the head in the second period of Calgary’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.
During a 5-on-3 penalty kill, Tanev attempted to block a slap shot from Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki. The shot hit Tanev in the side of his head and the he fell on the ice as the Bell Centre crowd fell silent.
“It’s tough, I mean, he doesn’t stay down very often,” said Calgary goaltender Jacob Markstrom. “So when he stays down you’re worried. I haven’t talked to him after, but hopefully he’s OK.”
Although Montreal still possessed the puck, Canadiens right-winger Joel Armia asked the referees to whistle the play dead so Tanev could get medical assistance.
After team medics examined Tanev, he skated off the ice with help from his teammates. Before the injury, Tanev had 11:43 of ice time with one shot on net.
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“I just talked to Tanev. I know the feeling and I know the sound,” said Calgary head coach Daryl Sutter.
“I told the players, the toughest guy in the building is Chris Tanev, let’s go do it for him.”
The Flames were left with five defencemen for the remainder of the game.
The 32-year-old Tanev has five assists, four penalty minutes, and a minus-1 rating over 23 games for Calgary this season.
Calgary Flames’ Chris Tanev is helped off the ice by teammates Rasmus Andersson, left, and Trevor Lewis after taking a puck to the head during second period NHL hockey action against the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022.
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of Fox’s The Cleaning Lady.
Season 2 of The Cleaning Lady came to a close Monday night with a two-part finale that killed two key characters and left Thony (Elodie Yung) to pick up the pieces.
Despite warnings to stay away from Robert Kamdar (Naveen Andrews) as the FBI closed in on him, Thony once again took matters into her own hands. While Arman (Adan Canto) was eventually able to take him down, FBI agent Garrett Miller (Oliver Hudson) was also killed in the process — disintegrating Thony’s connection to law enforcement and ruining her chances of saving her sister Fiona (Martha Millan) from deportation after the two are caught stealing medical equipment and administering an experimental drug to Thony’s son to save his life.
Arman and Thony will have to work together to bring Fiona back to the United States, but Arman wants to keep their plan from Nadia (Eva De Dominici) — who has just inherited all of Robert’s wealth.
“It’s really resetting the board in an interesting way,” co-showrunner Melissa Carter said.
Carter and her co-showrunner Miranda Kwok spoke with Deadline about the decision to take a big swing by killing two major characters in one fell swoop, and how it will create a domino effect of consequences for those who are left standing.
DEADLINE: Talk me through the decision to kill off two big characters in that finale episode.
MELISSA CARTER: We always knew that Naveen Andrews’ character was going to be someone that was just going to be [in the series] one season, and we wanted it to be a thrill ride. We wanted him to really put Arman under his thumb. There’s this possibility of romance with Nadia, and so we wanted to feel that satisfaction that finally, [the story] brings Arman and Nadia back together to take revenge on him. I think the inspiration of taking out Garrett is the unpredictability of this world. We want to just show how unsafe the world of crime is and that anyone’s life is in danger at any point in time. So that was kind of the big, the big reason, and wanting a cliffhanger at the end of the season. But the other the other part of the motivation is that, with Fiona getting deported, Thony no longer has that law on her side. She no longer had that ability to get Fiona back, so that ultimately is going to push her deeper into crime.
MICHELLE KWOK: We absolutely love Oliver. He’s been such a supporter of the show, and I think that’s also part of that decision is that it would be so heartbreaking, so devastating to lose one of our leads. [It’s about] the importance of showing not only the unpredictability, but the consequences [of Thony’s actions]. Thony is a character who is always the smartest person in every room. She’s so resourceful. She’s got all the chess pieces moving, and [Garrett’s death] really shows her that she can’t control everything all the time. She isn’t in control, and that she’s going to make mistakes. Thony, for the past two seasons, has been on this tightrope of morality between the law and the criminal world and trying to navigate both. She’s always wavering in that and finally made these decisions that did not work out for Fiona or for Garrett.
DEADLINE: Is Garrett’s death and Fiona’s deportation going to help Thony realize she needs to take a step back and follow someone else’s lead at times?
KWOK: That’s the big question. What way is she going to go? Has she learned from her lessons or not? Garrett is somebody that kept trying to pull her out of this life of crime and pull her away from these these bad decisions that she keeps making. Now that he’s gone, what is she going to do? At the same time, with Fiona deported, she has to now make even more risky decisions and more potentially detrimental mistakes trying to get her back. It’s going to be this push-pull, but even more intense, even more elevated, and even more complicated.
DEADLINE: Naveen Andrews plays such a great villain. What do you think he brought to that character?
CARTER: When we saw Naveen in The Dropout, I got really excited because he really brought so many layers to Sunny Balwani. His portrayal really surprised me. We were looking for that nuance, and he embraces the bad guy character with such zest, such zeal, and he really enjoys it. It’s right on the edge like almost a little campy but not. It’s grounded. He was a delight to work with and just always on it. He was just game to try anything and so it was fun to create this character that really is so nihilistic.
KWOK: Robert is somebody who definitely amasses money for power, and he’s done that and so now he’s untouchable. Or he thought he was. It’s just that really lovely, nuanced character, somebody who’s so unpredictable, and a different kind of villain. Somebody who could be so calm and then just like snap at an instant is kind of what we were looking for that he really delivered for us.
DEADLINE: What are you looking for in future adversaries who you might add for later seasons?
KWOK: I think what we’re always interested is somebody who can challenge Thony and Arman and push them a little beyond their comfort zone to do things they wouldn’t normally want to do. But at the same time, hold a mirror up to them as well. Arman and Thony hold up a mirror to each other and show each other you know, who they are at the core. So I think with each villain that we bring in, we want them to bring something that is able to allow our characters to self reflect as well.
DEADLINE: So, Arman and Nadia are back together, but Thony and Arman are now embarking on this mission together. What does this signal about how this trio is going to fare moving forward?
KWOK: I think we’re going to continue to have a really interesting love triangle, and actually now the stakes are higher for everyone. Well, for Thony, she was always trying to save her son. Now she’s trying to save Fiona. And Arman is even more connected to her than before, and he also he does feel responsible, even though he knows Kamdar had to die in order for them to be safe. He knows that it was also his responsibility. It’s going to put all three of them at odds, which is just fun stuff to dig into.
CARTER: Also, Nadia is now in a place of power. Arman and Nadia are not legally married. She has inherited everything of Robert’s. I feel like there’s nothing quite like the aphrodisiac of power and money that’s going to keep Arman close to her as well.
Shaquille O’Neal emceeing a New Year’s Eve party — and you’re invited to experience it in VR.
“The Shaq-tacular Spectacular” is a one-hour special produced for Meta’s VR and social platforms. The recorded event will stream on Dec. 31 in a repeating loop — all night — featuring musical acts, celebrity entertainment and “an epic neon-light performance” complete with a DJ set from Shaq himself. The countdown special features performances by Cardi B, Ludacris, Lil Yachty, Killer Mike, Whipped Cream and DJ Diesel (O’Neal’s deejay stage name), along with appearances by former NFL player Rob Gronkowski and model Camille Kostek.
Shaq’s New Year’s Eve event will premiere Saturday, Dec. 31, at 3:30 p.m. PT, in VR in Meta Horizon Worlds and on Meta Quest TV, available in the Meta Quest 2 headset, as well as on O’Neal’s Facebook and Instagram pages and in Messenger’s Watch Together.
“This year we’re ringing in 2023 with new experiences and connections. I’m excited to celebrate with some of my favorite artists and athletes in a way that you can enjoy with friends and family in VR across the world,” Shaq said in a statement. “From music, laughs and much more, we’re celebrating New Year’s Eve and welcoming 2023 with a spectacular party you won’t want to miss!”
The set features a roller rink, basketball court and main stage. In addition to the featured performers, the festivities will include a marching band, cheerleaders, pro roller skaters, basketball players and fans. “The Shaq’tacular Spectacular” also will include dance-offs, which VR users will be able to replicate in the virtual experience.
“Virtual reality has become such an exciting new way to experience and participate in and engage with entertainment and culture,” Westbrook Media president Brad Haugen said. “We are thrilled to partner with Shaq, the team at Jersey Legends, Media.Monks and Meta and invite audiences to spend New Year’s Eve with some of their favorite performers and athletes in a way that truly allows them to feel like they are in the room too. The show has electrifying performances, hilarious and competitive games and it’s been so fun for us to explore all that we can do in this space.”
Watch the teaser trailer for “The Shaq’tacular Spectacular”:
Attention span is something “La Calesita” filmmaker Augusto Schillaci was aware of when making his short film thanks to test audiences. “If it felt like four minutes and a half, then I knew my pacing was good,” Schillaci said.
The director was joined by fellow short film contenders, PH Dallaire and Ben Therriault (“Canary”), Victor Gabriel (“Hallelujah”), George-Alex Nagle (“Mate)” and “We Are Here” directors Constanza and Doménica Castro to break down the difficulties of creating a short narrative on Variety’s Streaming Room.
When it came to telling the story of undocumented immigrants in “We Are Here,” Domencia Castro says the biggest challenge for her and her co-director Constanza was truncating such a huge conversation into a five-minute window.
“As we went into the interviews and as we delved into the stories, we realized that we needed more time because there’s the 30-minute cut, then there’s the 22-minute cut, and it was so difficult to scale back,” Castro said. “We knew that we had to be fair to the narrative, but also fair to the audience in terms of how much was enough to show without being self-indulgent.”
The idea of opening the world to shorter stories but with larger narratives that could impact real change is the ethos behind the Castros production company 271 Films. “We’re trying to change the lens of what storytelling in Hollywood have been,” said Castro. “We are committed to representation, both in front and behind the camera, to open doors and we are empowering the next generation of BIPOC filmmakers.”
Watch the full conversation about creating big waves with little time, above.
Tory Lanez’s felony assault trial opened in Los Angeles Monday with prosecutors revealing for the first time that key witness Kelsey Harris will testify she saw Lanez fire the semiautomatic 9mm handgun that wounded Megan Thee Stallion in both feet in the predawn hours of July 12, 2020.
Harris was Megan’s best friend and assistant at the time, and her first-person account is considered crucial considering Lanez’s insistence he’s not the triggerman. Harris was considered a wildcard leading up to trial, staying mysteriously mum over the last two and a half years and becoming estranged from Megan despite their prior close relationship.
“Kelsey will tell you that she just saw her close friend get shot by the defendant,” Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney Alexander Bott told jurors in his opening statement, adding that Harris rushed to Megan’s side as the “Savage” rapper lay bleeding in a random driveway in the Hollywood Hills. Bott said Harris will testify she freaked out when Lanez approached the two women after he fired five shots.
“Kelsey, she’ll tell you she didn’t know if the defendant still had this gun. She didn’t know what the defendant was capable of, if he was going to continue his assault. Her defensive instincts kicked into gear, and she approached the defendant. She’ll tell you the defendant physically assaulted her at that point. He pulled her by her hair, and he either punched her or slapped her.”
According to Bott, Megan and Harris were both “terrified” at the scene when they both agreed to get back into the car before it was pulled over a short time later. Bott told jurors that Harris quickly sent three highly critical text messages to Megan’s bodyguard Justin Edison in the five minutes following the shooting.
“Help,” Harris texted Edison at 4:27 a.m. on July 12, 2020, according to a visual of the text chain shown on a screen in the courtroom. “Tory Shot Meg,” the next line read. “911,” the third bubble read.
Bott also played a recording of five gun shots for jurors and said Megan will testify that Lanez shouted “Dance, bitch!” before opening fire, an allegation first revealed at Lanez’s preliminary hearing last year.
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In his dueling opening statement, Lanez’s defense lawyer George Mgdesyan urged jurors to keep an “open mind.” He said no one beyond Megan reported hearing the “Dance, bitch” line, and he said a neighbor who purportedly witnessed some of the incident from a nearby balcony reported seeing a muzzle flash closest to the non-victim female. (Prosecutors have said they won’t be calling the neighbor because he gave conflicting statements, including saying at one point that he was woken up by the sound of gunshots.)
Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, has pleaded not guilty to three felony charges in the high-profile case: assault with a firearm causing great bodily injury; concealing a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and the recently added count of discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
If convicted as charged, the Alone at Prom rapper is facing the possibility of 22 years and eight months in prison and subsequent deportation since he’s a citizen of Canada.
The case has drawn intense public scrutiny due to the outsized fame of its subjects, the hyper engagement of their respective fan bases and a series of disputed facts that link back to an outdoor pool party at reality TV star Kylie Jenner’s house.
According to prosecutors – and testimony at the preliminary hearing last year – Peterson and Megan were traveling together in a Cadillac Escalade along with Harris and Peterson’s driver, Jauquan Smith, when a heated argument caused Megan to exit the vehicle on a residential street.
At the time, Megan already was rocketing to mainstream superstardom thanks to her viral hit “Savage” and its Grammy-winning remix with Beyoncé. Lanez, meanwhile, had four albums under his belt and a Grammy nomination for his 2016 R&B single “Luv.”
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The exact details of the argument in the SUV remain in dispute. On Monday, Mgdesyan said the alcohol-fueled fight started when Megan purportedly became “jealous” that Peterson was spending time with Jenner in the pool and didn’t want to leave her house. He said Kris Jenner’s boyfriend Corey Gamble was a witness to the genesis of the argument and would take the witness stand.
Mgdesyan told jurors Peterson eventually agreed to leave the party with Megan and Harris, and that the fighting escalated in the vehicle when Peterson blurted out that he and Megan had been intimate. The lawyer said Harris, who initially took Megan’s side against Peterson, became enraged with her longtime friend from Houston because she also had been in a sexual relationship with Peterson. Harris allegedly complained, “Megan did the same thing to me when I was with DaBaby, another rapper, and when I was dating Ben Simmons, the NBA basketball player,” Mgdesyan told jurors.
In statements to the court last week, Mgdesyan said the defense plans to present evidence that Harris could have been the one to discharge the gun. Prosecutors sought to bar Mgdesyan from saying Harris was the shooter.
In his opening, Bott said a highly intoxicated Peterson brandished the gun after Megan dissed his musical talent. Bott conceded Megan and Peterson had “been intimate” at some point before the shooting, but he suggested Peterson’s bruised ego was the motive, not anything linked to jealousy.
“They’d all been drinking, emotions were running high. What Megan and Kelsey will both tell you is what really set off the defendant was when Megan insulted his skills as a musical artist,” Bott said.
The prosecutor said Peterson later apologized to Harris in a recorded jail call and tried to smooth things over with Megan in a text message that read, “I know you’re probably never going to talk to me again, but I genuinely want you to know I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart. I was just too drunk. Nonetheless, shit should have never happened, and I can’t change what did. I just feel horrible because I genuinely just got too drunk.”
Bott said that one day later, at about 3:30 p.m., Edison visited Peterson’s residence to retrieve some of Megan’s belongings. He said the bodyguard will testify that Peterson essentially confessed he was the shooter.
“Justin will tell you that the defendant admitted much of what he admitted in the call and the text, that he was the triggerman that night, that he did the shooting. But he said he was just shooting in the air, and shooting at the ground. But importantly, he told Justin he was the person who fired the gun,” Bott said.
Speaking to Rolling Stone for a cover story earlier this year, Megan said she was friends with Peterson at the time of the shooting, but they were not an official couple.
“That man was never my ex… never my man,” she told Rolling Stone reporter Mankaprr Conteh. Still, she believed at the time of the shooting that she shared “a real connection” with Peterson because they had bonded over losing their mothers.
“I thought he knew me. And I never would’ve thought he would’ve shot at me at all,” she said.
“I never put my hands on this man,” she said. “I never did anything to him. There was an argument. People argue every day. Friends argue every day.”
Megan, 27, is set to take the witness stand Tuesday. Harris is due to testify as well. According to Megan, Peterson offered both women money for their silence, an allegation Peterson denies.
Meanwhile, Megan’s recovery from the shooting and an emergency surgery was painful and long, she told Rolling Stone. She was discharged from the hospital with both of her legs in bandages.
“I could not walk. I still have bullet fragments in my feet right now. I was very scared that I was not able to be Megan Thee Stallion no more. And I was fucked up,” she said.
In interviews with police and media, she’s explained that fear, embarrassment and a feeling of loyalty toward people she considered her friends led her to initially tell police she stepped on glass. She was worried how police might respond if they knew there was a firearm in the vehicle.
“I feel shame, a little bit, because even after he shot me, I still was thinking about everybody else in the car,” she told Rolling Stone. “I thought everybody in the car was my friend, [and] the whole time, that’s not how they thought of me. That’s what really hurts.”
Through comments from his lawyers, posts on social media and in song, Peterson has claimed he was framed – that the investigating officer dropped the ball and should have investigated Harris as the possible shooter.
Mgdesyan told jurors that after former LAPD lead investigator Det. Ryan Stogner learned Harris and Peterson both tested positive for gun shot residue, he failed to test the firearm for Harris’ DNA or fingerprints. “Detective Stogner didn’t think it was important,” the lawyer said. “We’ll never know” what such testing would have shown, “because the detective on this case refused to do it,” he said.
For her part, Megan has held firm, questioning why Peterson hasn’t taken responsibility.
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“You’ve already shot me. So, why are you dragging it out like this? Like, what else? Have you hated me this much the whole time and I didn’t see it?’” she said in her interview with Conteh.
“I want him to go to jail,” she added. “I want him to go under the jail.”
American pop icon and multiple-Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Taylor Swift celebrates her 33rd birthday today. Born in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Taylor started her career as a teenage country singer whose songs resonated with an entire generation of fans who call themselves Swifties. Over the years, Taylor has dabbled in different genres of music and has used her song writing skills to define the heartbreak sorrows of a generation.
Taylor Swift attending the 2022 MTV EMA Awards. (Photo: Instagram)
Let us take a look at some of the memorable songs by Taylor that might make their way to your playlist:
The Lakes
From her Grammy-award winning album Folklore, The Lakes is a melodramatic poetic song which could be an anthem for introverts. Taylor brings in hues of modernism in this otherwise dreamy song. You may play this song when you wish to seek social media detox or just take a walk among the woods.
All Too Well (10 minute version)
Taylor recently released the ten-minute version of her heartbreak song which made its debut in 2012. The song reignited Swifties love for autumn, snow, and the red scarf as she sang about her heartbreak and the trauma of her past relationship. The song is an intricately woven story that depicts the beginning and the brutal ending of a romantic relationship.
Fifteen
From her 2008 album Fearless, Fifteen talks about teenage love and describes all the feelings that an innocent girl would undergo. Taylor also gives sound advice to her listeners through this song as she wrote, “In your life you’ll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team / but I didn’t know it at 15.”
Blank Space
Released in 2015 as part of her album 1989, Blank Space is Taylor satire on her man-eater image as the media depicted her dating famous men and then writing songs about them. Taylor demonstrated exactly what makes that image so appealing in the music video. The singer uses irony, wits, and her shrewd songwriting skills to pack a punch with this song.
Willow
From her latest album Evermore, Willow is a love song but not a typical one. It evokes a warm fuzzy feeling in you and may also provoke you to think long and hard as to how the singer wants her lover to be. The song was written for and inspired by her partner and actor Joe Alwyn.
“When I did direct, I just thought, ‘This is actually more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined,'” Swift said of her 2019 video “The Man.”
Taylor Swift rarely turns down a chance to be a multi-hyphenate.
The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter recently announced her feature film directorial debut with Searchlight Pictures. Swift is confirmed to be writing an original script for the feature after helming Oscar-qualifying short film “All Too Well” starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. The “Anti-Hero” singer directed her first music video in 2019 for “The Man.”
“This actually came out of necessity,” Swift said during Variety’s Directors on Directors series opposite “Banshees of Inisherin” director Martin McDonagh. “I was writing my videos for years, and I had a video that was a very specific concept I had written [2019’s ‘The Man’], which was that I wanted to be prosthetically turned into a man and live my life as a man. And I wanted a female director to direct it.”
Swift continued, “And the few that I reached out to were fortunately booked. We like it when women work. So I was like, ‘I could do it, maybe.’ And when I did direct, I just thought, ‘This is actually more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined.’”
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She added, “It was, sort of [by accident]. I think I’ve directed about 10 music videos and now one short. I’m just inching my way along toward taking on more responsibility.”
Swift recently directed Laura Dern and HAIM for the “Bejeweled” video and said she would want to trade places with Guillermo del Toro for a day. Also an actress, Swift appeared in David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam,” formerly stole scenes in Tom Hooper’s “Cats,” and infamously auditioned for Oscar-winning “Les Misérables.”
The Grammy winner recently shared behind-the-scenes footage of “All Too Well,” saying that the short film was over a decade in the making. “I loved every second of it and I will always remember it,” Swift captioned.
“I think I gave myself permission to completely make that jump into making a narrative short film because this is not a music video; we approached everything differently,” Swift said during a Tribeca Festival screening of the buzzy short. “You know, in shooting on 35 millimeter and all the decisions that were made to create these characters and dive into this world.”
Selena Gomez fans are not sure how to take the actor’s latest TikTok comment.
ICYMI: Gomez dated Justin Bieber and on and off for nearly a decade before a brief Jelena renaissance from 2017-2018. Bieber went on to marry Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin), while Gomez recorded “Lose You to Love Me” and called their breakup “the best thing that ever happened to me” in her recent documentary, My Mind and Me.
Now, Gomez is commenting on Jelena once again. In a recent TikTok video by a Selena Gomez fan account, user @donttellmymomma.fr posted a series of photos of Gomez from her time with Bieber, including an old comment Gomez reportedly made after one of their past breakups. “[He’d] rather models,” she supposedly replied to a fan. “I’m too normal.” The user titled the post, “The reason Selena is always skinny when she dates Justin,” and captioned the vid, “He rather models…my poor baby.”
While most celebs ignore videos like this, Gomez surprised her fans by commenting on the user’s feed with a sad face emoji. “Help no way she commented,” one of many fans replied.
TikTok
Though fans swarmed the comments with support, many debated whether her sad face was a confirmation of the video’s message or a show of disapproval. Some fans even suggested that @donttellmymomma.fr delete her comment so their fave doesn’t get hate and unsolicited comments about her body. Of course, the entire video is an unsolicited commentary on her body…
Godard told “King Lear” actress Molly Ringwald that “Pulp Fiction” lacked truth, despite being one of the most popular films of 1994 and winning Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars. Yet Godard was unimpressed while in conversation with Ringwald.
“We chatted about recent films. He didn’t think much of ‘Pulp Fiction,’ the movie of the moment,” Ringwald recalled in a New Yorker essay, noting that they stayed in touch after the 1987 “King Lear.” “‘Not authentic,’ he declared. (That word again!) However, we both liked ‘Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould,’ a more obscure film by the French Canadian director François Girard.”
Ringwald played Cordelia in Godard’s “King Lear” and stressed authenticity on set.
“When I watch ‘King Lear’ now, I’m struck by how extremely still and vigilant I seem,” Ringwald wrote. “My back is straight and at times it almost looks as though I’m in a photograph — until I speak or move. Godard was exacting about every single gesture, and I found that it was easier to do precisely as he liked.”
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The “Pretty in Pink” icon continued, “Once, before I filmed a scene of Cordelia waking up in bed, I asked if he wanted me to wake up slowly, and he looked at me as if the question were absurd: ‘No, you just wake up. Don’t act.’ He expanded on this a little, telling me that in American films people were always acting, which to him was a cardinal sin.”
It’s safe to say that the difference in taste was mutual with Godard and “Pulp Fiction” writer-director Tarantino.
“I’m not really a big fan of Jean-Luc Godard anymore,” Tarantino said in 2013. “I think Godard is kind of like Frank Frazetta. You get into him for a while and he’s like your hero for a little bit. You start drawing shit like him and then you outgrow. I think that’s what Godard is, at least for me anyway, as a filmmaker.”
Godard died at age 91 in September 2022. He died from assisted suicide in Switzerland, where the elective injection is legal. “He was not sick, he was simply exhausted,” a Godard family member told press outlets when he passed away.
Las Vegas is one of the world’s most popular and recognizable gambling locations. It is home to some of the biggest and most lavish casinos, hotels and resorts that all attract players and entertainment-seekers from around the globe.
One of the most iconic landmarks in Sin City is Caesars Palace. Built in 1966, the legendary location started as a small hotel and casino that wanted to highlight the Roman architecture. Through many expansion projects, an infamous fire and endless celebrity endorsements, Caesars Palace is commonly regarded as the most recognizable place on the strip.
The popularity of the casino is not, however, only due to its insistence on making every guest feel like Caesar. Over its almost 60 years, it has also been the shooting location for many Hollywood blockbuster movies — the most popular of which we’ve listed below.
Iron Man (2008)
The first movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and still one of the most popular Marvel movies to date, Iron Man earned $585.8 million at the box office. Considering the budget for the movie was only $140 million, this was a decent return for the multiple production companies involved.
The story follows Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), a spoilt playboy who makes his money running his father’s weapons and tech company, Stark Industries. After being kidnapped and forced to build a suit of armor that can fly him to safety, he rethinks how his company operates and faces incredible backlash from his trusted advisor.
The film takes place in multiple locations but clearly displays the Caesars Palace logo during an awards ceremony where the main character fails to arrive. Instead, he is shown playing craps on one of the many tables in the Caesars casino.
The Hangover (2009) / The Hangover III (2013)
If you’ve seen this movie, it is hard to forget the insane antics of a group of friends (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis) who go on a road trip to Vegas for a memorable bachelor party. Unfortunately, the memory of the party gets erased by an incredible amount of hard liquor and a night of mischief.
The following day, the group runs around trying to discover what happened and correct all the mishaps they encountered along the way. With a budget of only $35 million, the movie pulled in an impressive $469.3 million, becoming the tenth highest-grossing movie in 2009.
Because there are few better places to party in Vegas, plenty of the movie takes place at Caesars Palace. The film includes shots of the casino floor, lobby, entrance, roof, Emperor’s Suite and a few other recognizable locations.
A few years later, the third movie in the Hangover trilogy returned to Caesars for a short bout of filming. This movie, which gained $362 million at the box office and had a budget of $103 million, again uses the penthouse and the roof.
One of the most memorable scenes involving the iconic building involves Chow (Ken Jeong) jumping from the penthouse balcony (which showcased the hotel’s stunning views) and parachuting down onto the Vegas strip.
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
Following the lawyer behind the iron-clad “Massey prenup,” this movie follows Miles Massey (George Clooney) as he tries to woo gold-digger Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones). The two meet after Marylin’s husband, Rex (Geoffrey Rush), hires Miles to represent him after he is caught cheating by a private investigator (Cedric the Entertainer).
After talks fall through, Miles manages to secure Rex’s fortune, and Marylin targets him for revenge. A conference in one of the many fantastic venues at Caesars Palace is the backdrop for the two to have a chance encounter where the savvy lawyer and scorned divorcée reconnect.
While he may know plenty about numbers and the law, Miles focuses less on the recommendations for playing at Caesars to win big and instead falls head over heels in love. He throws his keynote address at the conference into turmoil when he announces he believes in love and marriage.
The movie, with a budget of $60 million, generated $120.8 million at the box office and also featured a scene in one of the many fabulous Caesars hotel rooms.
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
With a stellar cast of crooks and criminals that features the likes of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Bitt, Andy Garcia and Julia Roberts, Ocean’s Eleven is one of many of Ocean’s movies with plans to score big. Danny Ocean and his crew use ingenious heists and trickery to rob the biggest casinos in Vegas.
While the central heist in the movie focuses on other Vegas hotspots like the Bellagio and the Mirage, Caesars Palace is one of the first casinos seen in the film. This cameo occurs during a flashback of a failed heist at the landmark establishment.
With a budget of $85 million, the movie proved that heists are worth it. It garnered $450.7 million at the box office and confirmed that fans love the idea of big casinos and elaborate scams.
The Guilt Trip (2012)
Originally titled My Mother’s Curse, this movie follows Andrew Brewster (Seth Rogan) and his crazy mother (Barbra Streisand) as they travel across the country. During their travels, the pair stay at Caesars Palace before continuing their journey.
Garnering a total of $41.9 million, the movie barely broke even, considering it had a budget of $40 million. Thankfully, part of what it did do is highlight a great location to film in Las Vegas and share some light on the funny relationships between mother and son.
Honorable Mentions
While the above films are some of the most popular and recent movies set at Caesars Palace, the casino has a long history of movie appearances. Amongst these includes a movie filmed the year after the iconic casino opened. Below are some more movies shot on location at Caesars:
Kylie Jenner held nothing back when she released her ‘My 2022 Year In Review’ video on Youtube and, for the first time, the makeup mogul revealed who her favorite sister is. As fans know, the 25-year-old reality star is close with all her sisters, including Kim, 42, Kourtney, 43, and Khloe Kardashian, 38, as well as Kendall Jenner, 27. So who was her favorite this year? In her own words, “It is really hard because I love them all right now. But I think that my favorite sister this year is probably Khloe. Or, yeah. I am going to go with Khloe. We got a lot closer this year. We are in this little mom club and it’s a whole thing.”
“My favorite sister runner-up. I don’t know. Maybe Kendall. I really love them all. Kim has been great. Kourtney, they are all my best friends. We have had a good year,” Kylie said in the video, which was shared on her YouTube channel on December 12. But that’s not all.
Read below to find out all of Kylie’s favorite things that she revealed in her ‘2022 Year In Review’ video.
Kylie’s favorite trip: “My favorite trip of 2022. My birthday trips are always really special. We went to the Bahamas. Before that, we did a really fun London trip to see Travis perform and I brought my kids. It was a lot of fun,” she told her fans in the video.
Kylie’s favorite movie: “My favorite movie from 2022. I really liked Elvis,” she said.
Kylie’s favorite TV show: “My favorite TV show this year is obviously House of the Dragon. I have watched the whole thing probably five times now,” Kylie said.
Kylie’s favorite event: “My favorite event. I loved the Ulta Beauty event with Kylie Cosmetics. That was really special to celebrate that collaboration,” she told her fans, referring to the collaborative event between Ulta Beauty and her own line of cosmetics products.
Kylie’s favorite outfit: “My favorite outfit of 2022 was this Paco Rabanne vintage chain-hooded cool shirt. I actually got it when I was pregnant and I was like ‘well I cannot wear this now, but I am going to save this. When I feel confident enough I am going to wear this piece. I think it turned out amazing,” she revealed.
Kylie’s favorite fashion trend: “My favorite fashion trend. I am loving the knee-high boots right now. A lot of black going on. I love any time I get to wear all black,” she said.
Kylie’s favorite TikTok: “My favorite TikTok is any TikTok that I have with my daughter I always think is really cute. She wants to do a lot more TikTok videos. She loves doing videos with me, but I try to limit her TikTok time for sure,” she said. Kylie was not the only sister that had a huge year on TikTok, as her sister Kim appeared in countless TikTok videos with her daughter, North West, 9.
Kylie’s favorite accomplishment: “My favorite accomplishment of the year is probably having another healthy baby and giving birth once again,” she said, referring to the son that she gave birth to in 2022 with rapper, Travis Scott, 31.
Kylie’s favorite memory: “My favorite memory is with my son. My kids are four years apart and it is like a whole new experience again watching them babble for the first time and even grab your hand and try to say words and crawl. It is just amazing to see them learn.”
Kylie’s all-time favorite moment: “My all-time favorite moment of 2022 would be watching my kids become best friends. This has been awesome,” she told her fans before thanking them for watching. “Thank you guys for tuning in. I had so much fun answering these questions with you guys and I will see you soon.”
He had spent several years toiling as a comic trying to make it in New York when he auditioned for a new app-based game show called HQ Trivia. Little could he have foreseen what was to come, as the startup — from Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll, creators of Vine, who sold their company to Twitter for a rumored $30 million in 2012 only to see it shuttered in 2016 — snowballed into a global sensation.
Millions dutifully logged on via smartphones at 9 p.m. E.T. to play along as Rogowsky posed a series of multiple-choice questions, each round more difficult than the last. Any players still standing after the final question shared in a communal pot — usually somewhere between $750 and $2,000, but, as corporate sponsorship from the likes of Wendy’s and Nike joined the bandwagon, sometimes as high as $400,000.
Dapper, charismatic and quick on his feet, Rogowsky had stumbled into the break he was looking for.
His following, which dubbed him the “Quiz Daddy,” ballooned from a small, passionate tribe into a rabid fan army. Studios booked their stars — everyone from Dwayne Johnson to Robert De Niro — to appear alongside him. And his unusual rise to stardom made him catnip to morning shows, late shows and everything in-between.
Behind the scenes, however, HQ Trivia was coming apart at the seams. The app could simply not keep up with demand, crashing frequently and at the most inopportune moments and failing to deliver on promised payouts. Eventually, the fad began to wear off. After over a year of explosive growth, and despite a half-dozen attempted spinoffs, usage started to plummet.
Then the unthinkable happened: On Dec. 16, 2018, after the company holiday party, co-founder Kroll accidentally overdosed on fentanyl-laced heroin. He was found dead in the bedroom of his Soho apartment at age 34.
Already beset by low morale, HQ Trivia could not survive the loss of the genius coder who built it. The company announced it was ceasing operations on Feb. 14, 2020. (It has since found a buyer and still exists in some form, a shell of its former self.)
Rogowsky, meanwhile, saw the writing on the wall and — after clashing since day one with Yusupov — left the company in April 2019 to host ChangeUp, a baseball show on the DAZN streaming service. The entire saga will be retold in an upcoming CNN documentary, Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia, which will air in 2023.
Then the pandemic happened, and baseball didn’t, and Rogowsky decided it was time to shake things up yet again. So he moved to L.A. and opened up a vintage T-shirt store in Santa Monica (yes, really — it’s called Quiz Daddy’s Closet, it’s at 2525 Main St. and Rogowsky is behind the counter).
The time now feels right to get behind the camera again. So Rogowsky, 37, has joined Gamestar+ — another gaming startup, only this one based around TV sets, not smartphones. The company, which bills itself as the first “interactive streaming board game platform,” has also signed Steve Harvey and Ken Jennings to host play-at-home versions of Family Feud and Jeopardy!
Rogowsky’s game has not yet been revealed. But ahead of that announcement, the Quiz Daddy caught up with The Hollywood Reporter to unpack the strange journey his life has taken over the past five years — and underscore his dogged determination not to become the game show host equivalent of a novelty song.
Hi, Scott. What were you doing during the pandemic? It seems like it would have been the perfect time for HQ, yet HQ didn’t exist.
Man, what a year. What was I doing? So I was actually on my way to South by Southwest to do some activation for American Express, doing some panel. I was on my way to the airport when that whole thing got canceled. I turned around and went home.
In February, a month earlier, HQ officially shut down. A year prior I had left HQ. I left in March 2019 to do this baseball show on DAZN [pronounced “da zone”]. We were two weeks away from our season 2020 premiere and hey, no baseball season. So honestly, what was I doing? Not much. I’m sitting around watching a lot of movies.
Where were you?
I was in my new apartment in New York. I had broken up with my girlfriend. We broke up on New Year’s. So it was the breakup, Kobe [Bryant] dying, Australian wildfires, COVID — that was a heavy three months there. And I was in my new apartment alone.
2021 was more of a transitional period for me because that was like, “OK, now I don’t have the job in New York, I don’t have the girl. What am I doing here?” So that’s when I actually moved from New York to L.A. in April 2021 and started this new chapter in my life, my L.A. era. I’m thinking big things for 2023. I think this is the year that Scott Rogowsky could get back in households as a name. I’m hoping this is going to be a renaissance year for me in a way.
Let’s go backwards, if you don’t mind, to how you ended up at HQ Trivia.
I moved to the city in 2007 and was just doing open mics, that whole grind. I had a show called Running Late with Scott Rogowsky, which was a late-night talk show that I was doing in New York. It was finding an audience. I was all set to move to L.A. to try that route in 2017 when I got a call from this guy who I used to work with at The Onion back in 2008.
He said, “Hey, I’m working with the Vine founders. They got this game show they’re cooking up, some trivia show. It’s on a phone. You want to come in and audition to host?” I thought, “What the hell. I’ll do this, I probably won’t get it and I’ll just move to LA.”
I did the audition and didn’t really give a shit about it because I was thinking, “A game show on your phone, great, what’s next, maybe I’ll be on gas station TV after this.” To me, in 2017, in my old-soul show business mind, content on your phone was the lowest of low. I didn’t do Vine. I didn’t care for Snapchat comedy. I was a purist.
Anyway, I did the audition and because I didn’t care, I was cracking jokes that probably weren’t safe for air, but I was getting the room laughing. So they hired me. And that was it. It was just a total fluke thing. “OK. You’re the host now. Come on in and start writing some questions and start doing some beta tests.”
I was in there writing the questions in the beginning. It was such a small team, it was a startup. The blend of tech and media was always a bit of a tension, and it’s ultimately what led to the downfall, I think. But it’s also what made it successful to begin with. It’s the reason we had a professional looking show with a professional host with technology that was unmatched anywhere else in the world. It was a wild ride, man. I would have done it for 20 years. Unfortunately, it burned out almost as quickly as it shot up.
Rus famously regretted selling Vine. He wrote that famous tweet, “Don’t sell your company!” So they were probably pretty bitter about it and scorned by how the whole thing went down — selling their company and then Twitter basically shutting it down soon after.
Rus, his personality is not one to want to share the spotlight. He’s the kind of guy who wants to be taking credit for things that he believes are his creation. So when Vine was getting big, he was very thrilled. He was winning Webby Awards, all these things. But then all of a sudden the people on Vine started getting bigger than Vine itself. The Logan Pauls, all those Vine stars, racking up millions of followers, and they were getting all the power. They weren’t getting paid by Vine, they weren’t employees of Vine, they’re just using this platform and becoming celebrities, making millions of dollars.
I don’t think that sat well with Rus particularly because he didn’t have control. All of a sudden you lose control of your platform because now these people are controlling and they’re going to say, “Hey, I’m going to leave Vine and go here. I’m going to take my 8 million followers.” And all of a sudden if they have more power than the platform, then the business could be in trouble.
I don’t know exactly how things went down with the business, but that’s exactly what happened. All those Vine stars went on to continue their careers elsewhere.
So when it came to me and my celebrity growing with HQ, I think there were flashbacks to that — where he says, “I don’t want to let this guy get as big as Jake Paul, as all these Vine people.” And he tried to clamp down on me. For those first six months I was hosting the show, he had a gag order on me. I couldn’t do interviews, I couldn’t do what I’m doing with you right now.
I would get emails from GQ, Interview magazine, morning shows. I also wonder how many emails came into HQ’s office that I never saw. Rus said, “Every time you get a request for press, forward it to me immediately. You cannot do it.” And I dutifully followed his rules, forwarded the email, and the opportunity disappeared. So he controlled the narrative as much as he could until it just got too big. No one could control it.
What kind of contract did he get you involved in?
They were six-week, independent contractor contracts. I think I signed three six-week contracts, which ended up being the first six months of the show. He got me cheap, and no benefits, and no equity. Then I signed a bigger deal, once things got too big to deny. It was either sign me for a multiyear deal, or I’m not going to do it. At that point it was one of those things where I had realized I had some leverage here. I wanted to keep doing it, obviously, but I could play that card.
So I finally got a nice deal with benefits, I’m a salaried employee now, and that’s what I wanted. I left frankly because I had another job. I had this other opportunity, the DAZN job, which was a much better-paying show, and better hours. With all the drama going on, and Colin’s unfortunate passing, it was a really crummy place to be working at that point in early 2019. The morale was terrible, people were being fired, the writing was on the wall that the ship was sinking.
Did you have a decent relationship with Colin? What did his death bring up for you?
Basically, he was a great guy. He was a brilliant guy. He was really the coding genius behind all this stuff. That was an incredibly tragic thing, and came out of absolutely nowhere. I didn’t know him personally to the point where we were hanging out partying all the time, so I didn’t know about his habits. Apparently he was getting sober for some time.
But the bottom line is, I’ve learned this since, he had been a lifelong addict. And there are genetic reasons for that, a family history of these things. And then ultimately it was this fentanyl thing. You hear about this every week — these fentanyl deaths. So that’s what it was. There was some misreporting that it was suicide, a party guy just going crazy. No. He was using these drugs, but he was a smart guy, and he wasn’t going to screw up the doses and things. He knew what he was doing, he was doing it as responsibly as he could, and he just got a bad batch with fentanyl. There are many brilliant people who are succumbing to this fentanyl stuff. It’s just crazy.
Do you recall where you were when you heard?
I was on a little vacation visiting my sister overseas in Scotland. So I missed the holiday party. The holiday party was that night, which is when he died. Sunday morning I get back to the States, I’m ready to do my big first show back after three weeks off the air, and I get this news flash: “Colin Kroll, founder of HQ, dead at 34.” I was like, “What?” It was completely insane. Just totally shocking. Devastating. Not just for his family, his friends, but ultimately the company. You can absolutely pinpoint his death to be the nail the coffin for HQ because once that happened, Rus became a CEO again, and then within a year it was bankrupt.
But then there were some highs, right, for you? Meeting Robert De Niro …
It was mostly highs. De Niro, The Rock, John Mayer, Awkwafina, Keenan Thompson, LaKeith Stanfield, Danny DeVito, Kevin Hart, Mark Cuban, Gordon Ramsay. These were all co-hosts with me. Massive celebrities who were all of a sudden nervous entering my domain, my little shoebox studio, and they’re saying, “There are a million people watching right now?”
It was second nature to me. I started from zero, then 50 people watching, then 5 million people watching, but it happened gradually so I never got nervous. But for these guys coming in, first time, a million, 2 million people, that could be a little jarring. Live without a net. This wasn’t like TV.
How did you adjust to fame?
At the height, it was like Justin Bieber-level sometimes. You walk down the street and everyone’s trying to get a photo with me. The biggest response I ever got was at the B’nai Brith Youth Organization International Conference in Orlando, Florida. The Jewish teen organization. There was 4,000 kids, Jewish kids from all around the world, and now I’m the biggest Jewish celebrity of the time. They were losing their mind. You could not have that more perfect demo. I spoke at their convention and it was about three or four minutes of just sustained applause. There’s video of it on YouTube you could watch. I was blown away. I felt the sound waves knocking me back, and one kid rushed the stage and give me a hug — security had to pull him off.
So what can we expect to see you on now? What are the shows you’re doing on Gamestar?
We’re developing a trivia show, pretty much a proprietary show that’s going to be my take on trivia. Obviously, it’s not HQ. But it has the elements of Gamestar that make it, I would say, better than HQ. HQ was 9:00 p.m. every night, or 6:00 p.m. on the West Coast. If you missed it, you’re out. There was some excitement to that, obviously, but not everybody can make it at a certain time. Now with Gamestar, you can turn it on anytime you want. I’ll be there interacting with you, it feels live, and you can be playing with multiple people in your room across the world.
This is just the beginning of my relationship with them. It’s exciting to think that I’m in good company with Steve Harvey, Ken Jennings — they’ve got some heavy hitters they’ve signed up. It’s nice to be considered in that league now amongst all the other great, iconic hosts.
Gamestar’s going to be a place where, if you’re a show producer right now and you’re pitching to ABC and CBS and Game Show Network, you’re going to be pitching to Gamestar. It’s going to be happening quickly.
At the peak of HQ mania, you signed with Dixon Talent, which manages Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, and ICM. Are you still with them?
I cleaned house at the top of this year just because I was moving to L.A. and I just wanted a fresh start on everything. It’s been actually nice. There’s a bit of a psychic weight with some of those things — the psychic payment of waiting to hear, and what are they doing for me this week? Who are they calling on my behalf? I’m very involved in my life and my career, and when I pass it off to some other group, I want them to be just as involved. And I wasn’t finding that with some of these big agencies. It was not maybe the best culture fit, ultimately.
Right now I’m independent and I’m enjoying it. I have my lawyer who’s been with me since day one, and he’s fantastic, and the two of us are taking on the world here. But I could be open to signing with an agency if I really feel like it’s a good fit because I’ve been with several over my career and I haven’t quite found that fit yet.
“Love Life” and “The Nevers” are canceled, and “Gordita Chronicles” is also getting taken off the service.
HBO Max is cleaning house again. After the Warner Bros. Discovery streamer removed over 60 titles from the platform without warning this August — many of which were originals developed for the service — a new batch of series are being prepped to be taken off in the next few days, sources have confirmed to IndieWire.
The most high-profile of these series is HBO sci-fi series “Westworld,” which was canceled this fall after falling ratings in Season 4. Other shows getting taken off include HBO sci-fi series “The Nevers,” and rom-com anthology series “Love Life.” In a similar vein to the Lionsgate series “Minx,” the pulling of these shows effectively doubles as their cancellation announcement. According to sources, other less-high profile titles will be announced to leave the service in the next few days.
In addition, on December 9 Claudia Forestieri confirmed via Twitter that her series “Gordita Chronicles” would be taken off the platform soon. The coming-of-age comedy premiered on the service in June, and was canceled a month later.
*Trying hard to not be bitter about this latest insult to injury, but real talk, it feels like an EX destroying your photos in an attempt to ERASE you from memory…
Although the removal of HBO Max titles from the service is nothing new underneath the David Zaslav WBD regime, “Westworld” and “The Nevers” are two particularly surprising cases because they were produced for the HBO channel proper, and by Warner Bros. Television — in contrast, “Minx” and “Love Life” come from Lionsgate TV while “Gordita Chronicles” hails from Sony. According to sources, both shows may end up on a FAST channel (or a free service with ads) that Warner Bros. Discovery is working on developing as their plans to merge HBO Max and Discovery+ continue. These cuts also occur as WBD undergoes an end-of-year financial review.
Prior to its cancellation, “The Nevers” aired “Season 1A” in 2021, with a six episode Season 1B expected to premiere later on. Production on the second half of the season, which will reportedly wrap up the storyline, has already occurred, and it’s unclear if the new episodes will premiere on the show’s new home. The series, which starred Laura Donnelly, Ann Skelly, and Olivia Williams as a trio of women working to support a superpowered underclass that emerges in Victorian England, has faced numerous difficulties during its run, from the pandemic halting filming to the departure of its creator Joss Whedon following allegations of workplace harassment on other projects.
“Love Life” is notable for being HBO Max’s very first original scripted series, premiering with the streamer in May 2020. Created by Sam Boyd, both seasons of the series focused on a different individual’s search for love. Season 1 starred Anna Kendrick as Darby Carter, while Season 2 was lead by William Jackson Harper as Marcus Watkins. The show received mostly positive reviews, with its second season being seen as an improvement on the first.
Deadline first reported the news of Westworld’s impending removal from HBO Max.
A new six-CD boxed set from the Beach Boys, titled “Sail On Sailor,” represents a point in time — specifically 1972 and the beginning of 1973 — when the venerable band was trying to get away from its classic image a bit and fit in more with some of the other rock music that was coming out of the post-counterculture era. They were serious enough about it that they even considered ditching, or altering, their world-famous moniker. As longtime member Alan Jardine explains it:
“At that time, we felt we needed to get away from the California culture and just start over. We were in the process of even changing our name. I had an idea to call ourselves ‘the Beach,’ you know? Take the ‘Boys’ out, because we were branded with that,” Jardine says. “There was always an identity crisis with the band in those years,” says Jardine. “’Who are they? What is this all about? This is another direction.’” In the end, boys would forever be boys, even if the “Sail On Sailor” era represents a strong example of the group growing up to be men, to borrow an earlier Beach Boys phrase.
“Sail On Sailor,” which is available on vinyl and download as well as CD, and also comes in more economical and condensed packages, is a must-have for any serious or even curious appreciator of the Beach Boys, representing the end of the era in which the band stretched its wings — or, sure, its sails — to try to be more of an FM act. This was right before the “Endless Summer” greatest-hits album put the public in the mood for ‘60s nostalgia again, which was a cue for the group to reembrace its original surfy appeal. But the more rocky and adventuresome side of the band produced some great music while that inclination lasted, in the form of two studio albums, “Carl and the Passions — So Tough” and “Holland,” the latter of which produced the classic number that provides this collection its title. The deluxe version also includes a never-before-released Carnegie Hall live album that captures the period when South Africans Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar joined and invigorated the lineup. (It’s Chaplin who sang “Sail On Sailor,” something he still does on tour with Brian Wilson’s band.) Scores of outtakes fill out the collection.
Variety spoke with three key band members from that period — Mike Love, Jardine and Chaplin — about the new boxed set, personnel shifts at the time, and their memories of going over to Holland to record the album of that name. Condensed and edited versions of those three individual interviews follow…
MIKE LOVE
Is there anything that strikes you straight off about the new set, or the 1972-73 era it represents?
It’s 50 years ago — my goodness! … It’s pretty interesting because we are about to be playing in Carnegie Hall (in 2022). And on this collection, there’s a live album from Carnegie Hall that features Blondie Chaplin and his partner in the group the Flame, Ricky Fataar, playing drums, because at that time Dennis had screwed up his hand, so he couldn’t actually play. It was really unique because the Flame were from South Africa; there was still apartheid, when they joined our group. I think Blondie in particular gave a harder edge to the vocals, and he’s a great guitarist, too. So it was an interesting time period, that’s for sure.
Picking up roots and traveling to Holland to do the “Holland” album, living for six months in another country, was pretty amazing. The idea was that we’d always been in Southern California, in the studios on Sunset Boulevard or Brian’s place. We just decided we’d experiment and go overseas, and it was costly, but the music that came out of it was pretty darn cool, you know? I guess we were a little homesick because we did our “California Saga Trilogy.” I did this poem, “Big Sur,” about one of the most special parts of the world. And Al had read a book by a guy named Robinson Jeffers, and that contributed to his thought process. So it was an interesting thing to go all the way to Europe and yet write about something that was uniquely Californian.
There were some really definitely dramatic changes in the group and really profound experiences that led to the creation of some of these songs. There were so many things going on with integration and the Vietnam War and stuff like that — and also the influence of meditation. Alan and I ended up going to a (transcendental meditation) teacher training course around that early ‘70s period, and we were expressing some of our interest in meditation through “He Come Down” and “All This Is That.” So there are some different pursuits that took place in that very specific period of time, just before “15 Big Ones.”
It was a period when you and other band members came more to the fore as Brian receded a little bit.
Yeah, Carl did some great stuff with (then-manager) Jack Rieley providing a lot of the lyrics for Carl’s music. Alan Jardine wrote “On My Way to California,” and had me sing lead. And we both worked on together on “All This Is That.” Carl Wilson came in with a beautiful vocal part at the end of the record, and so that’s a very special song. I love doing that one in concert. It’s hypnotic, basically, and it’s from the Vedas. I first heard that saying from the Maharishi.
Talk about the spiritual elements that were key for you in some of those songs, like on “He Come Down” a sort of ecumenical gospel song on the “Carl and the Passions” album, which works Krishna and the Maharishi in there.
That was a special time, back getting initiated into TM on December of ’67, and then about a month and a half later there I was in India with Paul McCartney coming to the breakfast table singing “Back in the USSR.”
Because of growing up in a Christian environment, we became exposed to gospel music, which was great. And “He Come Down” is in this gospel-style format. The Maharishi talked about “drawing the arrow back,” meaning going within before you come out into activity. You take your 20 minutes in the morning and evening and you go within for that amount of time. That’s the TM to be practiced in the morning and the evening, as a preparation for activity. So we just put that into a gospel framework, and that was a fun song. Brian and I were at a meeting at one time, and he was saying how much he loved “He Come Down.” It’s just one of those things that was so different musically, and he absolutely loved it, and so that was nice. We all sang on it, but it really affected him.
You had a lot of input into the song “Funky Pretty.” Do you remember anything about that song?
I sure do. The woman I was with at the time was Tamara, who is the mother of our daughter, Summer. And she’s a Pisces, and she was the inspiration for the lyric for that song. Brian came up with the music part of it, and so it was a collaboration by Brian and I, which came out pretty nice. I wrote out the poem which became the lyrics, and we put it together musically. So that was like the old days, wasn’t it? Because Brian and I wrote so many great songs together during the ‘60s.
You never collaborated with Dennis much, but you did a little bit during this period.
“Pacific Ocean Blues” (which came out later on Wilson’s “Pacific Ocean Blue” album) —I did the lyrics on that, and “Only With You” (on “Holland”). He wrote a lot on his own, but he did ask me to contribute to “Pacific Ocean Blues.” We read about the slaughter of the dolphins that was pretty heinous. Dennis lived on a boat quite a bit of the time, the Harmony, and so we both had that interest in the environment. And Bruce (Johnston) and I have been on the advisory board of thee Surf Rider Foundation for many years. So we’ve all had a concern about the environment. And Al and I wrote that song together, “Don’t Go Near the Water” (on 1971’s “Surf’s Up). We all were concerned about it, and so some of that showed up with “Pacific Ocean Blues” and “Don’t Go Near the Water.” You know, it was nice to write basically with just about everybody in the group at that time.
You say in the liner notes you didn’t have a lot in common with Dennis because of the different paths you were on, but ecology was at least one area of overlap.
Right. The lifestyle choices were different. That is true. I got into meditation and I was invited by the Maharishi to go to India in the spring of 1968, and it was a really big influence on me, and still is. I mean, I meditate every day. And then some of the other guys went off into other directions, lifestyle-wise, which is too bad, because in Dennis’ case, it contributed to his early departure, you know? Which was sad.
Right now, you and the touring Beach Boys are doing a Christmas-themed tour, is that right?
Absolutely. With that pandemic, everybody got shut down, and I hated the fact that we couldn’t do music. That year that they shut everything down, we had (planned) the busiest year we’d ever had. So it’s nice to be back out to do live music for people. We’re with a small orchestra now, and we call it “Holiday vibrations” and everything sounds so great with the orchestra, particularly some of those “Pet Sounds” things like “God Only Knows,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “Sloop John B,” plus all the Christmas songs that we do from the original Beach Boys Christmas album. And there’s an album called “Reason for the Season,” which I did with most of my kids; four of my children played on it, and my sister played harp like she did on “Pet Sounds”back in the day. We are so happy to be back out doing it.
The Beach Boys’ “Sail On Sailor” 6-CD deluxe boxed set
ALAN JARDINE
There was a really fertile period of years where all the personalities in the band came more to the forefront as Brian receded a little bit, and you and Mike and Carl were really getting to do a lot more stuff and the band was maturing. And you had a manager at this time, Jack Reilly, who really was wanting to make the band seem more of its time, in the early ‘70s.
Yeah. We’ve outlived a lot of managers, too, with different ideas of who we were or who we could become. On this one, we had a manager/writer who worked with Carl, principally, and I think really helped Carl grow as a songwriter-musician. Really, I think a lot of people rediscovered or are rediscovering us through some of Carl’s songwriting, and some of my input as well, during that period. We moved the whole kit-and-caboodle over to Holland as a result of that management decision, and we had one of our best albums, I think, at least from a writing, compositional point of view.
Prior to that, “Carl and the Passions” was another example of booming creativity, when we brought a group over from South Africa called the Flame, and they contributed musically and sonically and lyrically to that album. So there was a lot going on. But unfortunately, we didn’t position ourselves too well as a recording group by calling ourselves “Carl and the Passions.” That took a little explaining, but I don’t know if the point ever got across that that was just a humorous (thing)… that was just like an anecdote that ended up being the title of that particular album. Probably nobody knew who the hell we were! [Laughs.]
I was impressed particularly with us writing some songs about more — shall I say — thoughtful and peaceful things, like from the meditation movement, because Mike and I had embraced TM at the time. And so there were a couple of things that I came up with, really from the old Indian, Hindu scriptures. One is called “All This is That,” which is a chant that I learned from Maharishi, and Mike helped me lyrically on that. So stuff like that was happening — we were a lot more introspective.
As you say, people might have been a bit confused because “Carl and the Passions” led people to think that would be a more nostalgic album — which applied to “Marcella,” but basically you were doing almost the opposite of that with more spiritual songs like “He Come Down” as well as “All This Is That.”
“He Come Down” was a great one. Another one of those (perfect) for the singers from the Flame; Blondie Chaplin sang that wonderful chant. … Ricky Fataar and Blondie were our backing band for “Holland” as well, so they were instrumental in making both albums. Ricky is one of the greatdrummers of our time, I think. Nobody could play a snare drum like Ricky Fataar.
Even in Holland, you ended up doing music about California.
By the end of the time we were over there in Holland, we were so homesick, my song “The California Saga Trilogy” kind of harkened back to our roots, actually. We were very cognizant of that. It was time to go home. One of the last vocals Brian did on the album is on the “California Saga” suite. He walked into the studio and marched over to the microphone in the middle of the mixdown — which is kind of unusual, because when you’re mixing down, you usually don’t record. You’re through recording! Brian walks in and goes, [sings] “On my way to sunny Californ-I-A.” It was cool and kind of lifted us all up, because we were on our way back home. That stands out as something I remember, because we’d done our thing, for so many months there; we were ready to go home.
Al Jardine’s ‘A Postcard From California’ CD cover
You have just released on CD a new version of your [formerly digital-only] solo album, “A Postcard from California,” with newly added tracks and remixes. It includes some songs that nearly count as Beach Boys tracks.
There’s material on my album that was originally supposed to be band material, which I was able to finish and produce with the fellas on it, from that period that we’re talking about. I rescued this one tune called “Don’t Fight the Sea,” and all the guys sang on it, and it just for some reason didn’t ever materialize, because it’s pretty serious, heady stuff, you know? I mean, the Beach Boys aren’t known for their thoughtful thinking about pollution and stuff like that. [Laughs.] So probably just thematically it wasn’t right for the Beach Boys, but it worked for me beautifully. And I encourage people to listen to the guys singing about something really important, especially now. … It’s unfortunately coming true — the polar bears are looking for places to sleep now.
How far back does “Don’t Fight the Sea” date?
The ‘70s. I just kept my original lead on it too. I couldn’t do a better job on the lead if I tried, so I just thought, no, I’m not gonna mess with this. And I got Brian, Mike, Carl and Bruce on the choruses. … On this album there’s a bonus track I remixed quite a bit, and the new version is pretty good. It’s called “Waves of Love,” another one that should have/could have, but due to all the complexities of being in a band of ourlongevity, there’s just not enough room for stuff, so you just have to find an outlet for it. But “Waves of Love” is really a Beach Boys song all the way through. And in fact, Carl Wilson sings one of his last leads on that, come to think of it, on “Waves of Love.” I’m very proud of that one. He was very generous with his time and helping each of his brothers and myself finish a song, and Carl was right there for me singing this beautiful bridge on “Don’t Fight the Sea,” as well.
Having finished touring with Brian Wilson early this year, you are back out on the road in December with your Endless Summer band, right?
Yeah, I’ll be out there in the snow drifts, bringing hopefully some joy to a few people, at places like Nashville’s City Winery. I’m back doing the low-key kind of tours where you get to meet people, which is a lot more fun than playing in a giant stadium, or the big shows that we do with Brian, where you don’t even hardly see the people. I like doing the real personal things where you can see the joy on their faces. I call it the Endless Summer Band, because… I don’t know why. Well, I guess it’s because I happened to trademark the name! [Laughs.] That would be a good reason. But I mean, hopefully we don’t have an endless summer. At the time, it seemed charming. It’s funny how with time, meanings change.
BLONDIE CHAPLIN
Beach Boys fans are really interested in hearing the Carnegie Hall recordings that have sat in the vault for the last 50 years. Do you have any memories of playing Carnegie Hall?
Yeah, I remember. I think that was a show where I did “Leaving This Town” for the first time, and I was as nervous as crap to do it. You can hear me breathing hard, being nervous. But it was a really good gig. At that time, the Beach Boys had been playing kind of nonstop, three weeks on, one week off, doing a lot of colleges, building it up, and then Nassau Coliseum and Carnegie Hall. And that gig was a real special gig because it was pretty rocking. The fans gave us some good confidence. It was different for them because it was different music compared to what all the other Beach Boy stuff used to be, but they seemed to embrace it pretty good.
Jack Rieley, the manager at that time, was really one of those forces who wanted to make the group more contemporary and relevant to the early ‘70s.
Yeah, he just figured they could kick into maybe a slightly rockier or harder… not harder, but I mean, this more energetic, rocking thing, getting away from the beach and the surf kind of stuff — although that would always be a part of it. Reiley just thought they needed a new direction, and I think Carl as well thought so. The other guys, you’d have to ask them, but I know those two were gung-ho in trying something different, and here are two young African guys that fit the bill. [Laughs.] Ricky had joined the band before me, and I was still in South Africa at the time — I think it was early ’72 — when I got a call from Reiley to come and get involved and then joined up with them in Europe. God, I wish he was around. Because he put a lot of things into perspective with what he was thinking and feeling. He had a lot to do with it, and I think Carl did too. And those are the guys that are not here.
The Beach Boys // Photographer Unknown // Circa 1972/1973 // Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar
Photographer Unknown
“Sail on Sailor,” which you famously sang lead on, was such an outlier for the group. Actually, some of us of a certan age during that period got into the Beach Boys through that song, because it was such an FM-friendly, uncharacteristic track for the group, and then we went back into the earlier stuff, as opposed to the people who’d grown up with the band.
Yeah, I think that that happened a lot. It was so different. Just about everyone has heard, somewhere, that song. But at the time when it came out, it was no hit or anything. It was a “turntable hit,” as they used to call it in those days. It wasn’t even selling that many. But that song seemed to just kind of keep sailing — no pun intended — and keep going. And now, 50 years later, I’m going, oh, shit, that has some legs. But if you’d asked me at the time we were doing it, I would go, boy, I don’t know if this will (be around) 50 years later. But hey, I’m glad it did, because if that song wasn’t on the album, we wouldn’t even be talking.
It got on FM radio more than top 40, which was an interesting turnaround. As far as who sang it, we know that other people tried it before you did. Were you kind of surprised that a song that had its origins with Brian and had that much commercial potential, suddenly, it’s like, “No, let’s get Blondie to sing it”?
Well, the thing is, Dennis was there, and he was just preoccupied. He gave it a shot, but he was ready to go and check out his new board that was sitting in the back of his truck. That was where he was at. He was like, “OK, Carl, I gave it a shot. The surf’s up — I’m going.”That’s exactly what was happening. So he said to brother Carl, “You’re a better singer. You give it a shot.” So Carl tried it a couple times. He didn’t like the timbre of his voice. So there was only one other person in the whole room. And I had a feeling Carl would’ve liked me to have sang it anyway. So it landed in my lap and I sang it twice. I did it a couple of times and that’s what you hear.
It was a fun little track to do. It was just Carl on the electric piano initially; I played bass, and Ricky played drums and then sang something. It’s like a softer blues shuffle. If I go to a market or somewhere where it’s playing in the speaker, I stop and go, “OK, he’s not bothering me after all these years. He sounded OK then, and he sounds OK now.” And then you just keep going.
Your time in the band gets talked about a lot, for being such a short one. And then “Holland” there was almost a three-year gap between Beach Boys albums, and by “15 Big Ones” you and Ricky were gone and they’d shifted in a different direction, toward more of a nostalgic feel again. How did you feel about the the end of your tenure with the band?
Well, I look it as a short escapade, but there seemed to be quite a bit of music in there. The way it ended was a bit of a drag. Because I got into a bit of an argument with Steve Love, Mike Love’s brother, and that wasn’t any fun. And I think that’s what you are asking me, because that’s how it ended. There was a skirmish, so to speak, and people landed me a few blows, and I just said, “Screw it.” So however you can condense that so it doesn’t swallow the whole beautiful part of the music would be great. [Laughs.]
But it’s weird. There’s “Carl and the Passions.” There’s the “Holland” album, and then there’s “The Beach Boys Live.” That was in not even three years — like two and a half or something. I’m so amazed that people talk about it now. (“Sail on Sailor”) has got legs and it’s kind of gotten into the American psyche.I remember hearing it in, what was that movie with Scorsese and Jack Nicholson… (“The Departed.”) It’s in the background of one of those scenes, and when I was sitting and watching the movie, I go, oh man, that’s funny. So it stands up and I’m happy that people dig it. After all this time, it’s a pleasure to be thought of as a good thing in that era of the Beach Boys’ music.
Are there any other highlights you remember from the studio?
Well, I loved the “California Saga” stuff — that was a lot of fun doing vocals on that with Mike and Al and the whole band. I remember fondly “Funky Pretty,” which was a lot of fun when we did that in Holland. Because in the makeshift studio in Holland, it was all just a bunch of (equipment that had) just been flown from America and assembled over there and you’d trip over wires every which way. The train would come by and it would rumble the studio. We’d have to stop recording and then you’d start again. It was just so unusual to go bring all the equipment and start somewhere and do something in a barn — an adventure. I was, what? I was 21. I think Ricky was 20.
I’m still fond of going to Holland. Up until this pandemic, I was going there once a year, hanging out. I love going there and sitting on the boat, just going down the canal. It’s really mellow, and that’s what I liked about doing the “Holland” album. It was mellow to be there, and that’s a mellow place, so I had a lot of fun doing it.
So it had a lasting effect for you, in that it’s become a lifelong destination?
Yeah, I have some good friends there, and whenever I go to Europe, I stop there first and get acclimated, so to speak. But the barn where we recorded is not there anymore. I went there for a photo shoot with some people some years ago and went, “OK, that’s gone.” But one of the guys that runs the corner store who lives there was painting his fence, after 40-some odd years, still painting the fence the way he painted the fence back then, bent over in a certain way. And I’m going: God, could he be the same guy? Sure enough, it was the same guy! And I said, “Do you remember some of these people down here in the barn, making music?” He said, “Yeah, these American guys came and put in all this equipment and made a noise. They had a racket for three months, then they were gone.” It cracked me up.
The converted barn in Holland where the Beach Boys ‘Holland’ was recorded over many months
It’s easy to see how it must feel strange to talk about something you were only a part of for a couple of years, 50 years ago. And yet you have toured with Brian and his band in recent years, so in that sense it has to seem not such a completely foreign experience.
You know, Carl disappeared, and Dennis, and things do change. So I’m glad that this thing has come out the way it has, because it’s good to show what was happening with the band then, to show it was a good time creatively. Whatever happened later, it’s got nothing to do with me, because I wasn’t involved. … But with Brian… He flew over (for “Holland”), and that was something else, because he never did like to fly. So they got him there and it was a pleasure. Especially on “Funky Pretty” — it was a pleasure working with him on that. That one comes to mind a lot, with him.
And then working with him the last six, seven years, that’s been a gas, too. We get along. Because we were close for that one little time, Dennis, Carl and Brian, and he knew about the Flame and everything like that, there was like a mutual respect. I think I remind him of his brothers, with that connection, you know?
The center of gravity of “The Whale” is obviously the 600-pound man at its center. Look closely, though, and he’s the one with a soul as light as a feather.
Charlie is a reclusive, morbidly obese English literature teacher unable and unwilling to stop eating himself to death. As his health woes mount and his life expectancy is put at just a week, Charlie struggles to reacquaint himself with his estranged daughter. We meet him on Monday and the film goes day by day to Friday.
Charlie is a gentle giant, not raging at his fast approaching demise. He’s an optimist and a fierce believer in truth even though there is nothing in his world reinforcing either. “The Whale” is not always pleasant to watch but the payoff and performances make it an astounding film.
Stationary and wheezing on his couch, Charlie is repeatedly visited by a constellation of people — a friendly nurse, his teenage daughter and a young missionary from an apocalyptical church. They all need something from this well-meaning but broken man — spiritual, medical or familial. They are all broken, too.
The movie, based and adapted from the off-Broadway play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter, is directed by Darren Aronofsky, who helmed such dark tales as “Requiem for a Dream” and “Black Swan.” Hunter’s depiction of the mortification of the flesh perfectly meets a director enamored by the grotesque.
Brendan Fraser has earned lots of Oscar buzz for playing Charlie, allowing his signature puppy dog face to remain despite a massive body suit and swelling prosthetics. And why not? It is one of the most moving performances in years, full of humanity and a redemptive triumph for an actor who hid his talent in quickly forgotten films like “Blast from the Past,” “Hair Brained” and “Airheads.”
The whole cast is perfect, from Sadie Sink as Charlie’s spiky daughter, Hong Chau as his foul-mouthed nursing angel, Ty Simpkins as the missionary with a hidden past and Samantha Morton as his ex-wife with simmering anger and yet still love. There are steady references to Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick,” which gives the film the title and its doomed vibe.
Charlie has ballooned ever since the death of his same-sex partner, who apparently willed himself to death by wasting away in starvation after their relationship was condemned by his church-leading father. Charlie has apparently decided to die the opposite way.
He is sadly apologetic to his nurse — “I’m sorry,” he says continually — and shuts the video camera on his laptop during his online classes. Even the pizza delivery man doesn’t know what he looks like. “Who would want me to be part of their life?” he asks.
There has been fear that the film might be fatphobic and it’s true that cinematographer Matthew Libatique often leans into unflattering ways to show Charlie, soaping in a shower, straining to stand up or touch the floor, covered in sweat and shoving pizza or fried chicken into his mouth. Maybe some of that could have been touched on instead of lingered on.
But body weight is not what the writer and director want to focus on here. It’s more the weight of guilt and love and faith. “I just want to know I did one good thing in my life!” Charlie shouts. One feels that the underlying issue in “The Whale” could have been obesity as easily as cancer or alcoholism or a blood disorder. Hunter is exploring salvation, redemption, determinism and family.
The play has been sharpened for the screen but there’s no escaping the fact that it is rooted inside Charlie’s Idaho apartment, which he shuffles about in on a walker or later a wheelchair. This doesn’t make for sweeping cinema. Sometimes the apartment feels confining like a ship, adding to the Melville theme.
Some of the filmic attempts are forced, like the symbolically heavy bird that Charlie feeds outside his window, the three times actors rush to leave the apartment only to stop and turn back, and the heavy rain that builds as the film’s climax nears. But this is a film that stays with you and changes you. It is heavy, indeed.
“The Whale,” a A24 release that is in movie theaters on Friday, is rated R for “language, some drug use and sexual content.” Running time: 117 minutes. Four stars out of four.
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MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
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Teen Wolf fans were thrilled to hear the show was coming back as a movie for Paramount+. The original series ended in 2017 on MTV, with Scott McCall and his Pack striving to find and save werewolves. The show’s ending suggested the adventure would continue off-screen but delivered a solid conclusion for its central characters.
Years later, the trailer for Teen Wolf: The Movie has dropped, revealing various faces and names familiar to the Teen Wolf franchise. However, as many of the original cast members had been confirmed to return already, it was not necessarily a shock to see them in the trailer. More surprising was the return of the fan-favorite villain, the Nogitsune.
However, given Stiles and Kira will be absent from Teen Wolf: The Movie and had been so integral to the Nogitsune plot, the film could take several directions with this antagonist and how it connects to Allison Argent’s somewhat miraculous return if she is indeed alive at all.
The revival movie does not hide that it has been years since the end of the series, and instead, the trailer shows the film thrives on delivering a more adult side of these characters, seemingly facing the old traumas of their youth.
What will it be like for Scott and Lydia to return to Beacon Hills, especially as Scott reveals he has not been back in years? What are everyone’s lives like years later? This group of people went through fire together, and, for the most part, many made it out to the other side.
However, Allison’s return, especially with the Nogitsune coming back, is bound to bring up old trauma and fears. However, although Teen Wolf: The Movie is bringing back beloved elements such as Stiles’ Jeep and introducing new characters, can Teen Wolf: The Movie escape Stiles and Kira’s shadows as it relies on the Nogitsune as a potential central villain?
Still, the trailer for Teen Wolf: The Movie brings back familiar faces, locations, and a sense of danger. Will everyone make it out alive?
Today’s trailer roundup includes Netflix’s Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street, Disney+’s Just Love and a Thousand Songs, HBO Max’s This Place Rules and Peacock’s Paul T. Goodman.
Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street comes to Netflix on Jan. 4, 2023. The 4-part docuseries reveals the truth behind Bernie Madoff’s infamous $64 billion global Ponzi scheme that shattered the lives of countless individual investors who had placed their trust in the revered Wall Street statesman.
Just Love and a Thousand Songs is now streaming on Disney+. Tinishares the Astor Piazzolla Theater’s stage in Buenos Aires with Jorge Blanco, Cande Molfese and Mechi Lambreto give fans an intimate and unforgettable musical performance that pays tribute to “Violetta.” The special features new versions of five well-known songs from the show and includes anecdotal stories and memories from fans.
This Place Rules streams on HBO Max on Dec. 30. Andrew Callaghan brings his gonzo-style reporting to HBO to explore the undercurrents that led to the January 6 Capitol Riot. The 25-year-old ventures on a wild RV journey through America to take the pulse of a divided nation.
Paul T. Goodman premieres on Jan. 1, 2023, on Peacock with three episodes and new episodes weekly on Sunday. In the style of Jason Woliner’s work on Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the series is a groundbreaking project that mixes fact and fiction to tell a bizarre and incredible tale. The cast includes Paul T. Goldman, Rosanna Arquette, Melinda McGraw, Frank Grillo, Dennis Haysbert, Dee Wallace,Christopher Stanley, Paul Ben-Victor, James Remar, W Earl Brown, Josh Pais, Irina Maleeva and Hilda Boulware.
Netflix has just unveiled that it is diving into the world of My Hero Academia in the form of a new live-action movie with Joby Harold writing and Legendary Entertainment producing. Here’s what we know so far.
My Hero Academia is a manga series created by Kōhei Horikoshi and published in the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. Currently one of the most popular fictional franchises from Japan, as of January 2022 the manga alone has over 65 million copies in circulation. The anime is currently enjoying its sixth season, with fans returning en mass to watch new episodes week to week.
The story follows Izuku Midoriya, a “Quirkless” boy in a world full of superpowered beings, the greatest of which are superheroes. Midoriya dreams of becoming the world’s greatest hero, but in order to do so he enrolls at the prestigious U.A. High School, the number one hero school in Japan.
Who’s behind Netflix’s Live-Action My Hero Academia Movie
Joby Harold is on board to write. The writer, director, and producer is best known recently for his work on Disney’s Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series and worked alongside Zack Snyder on Netflix’s Army of the Dead.
Upcoming projects include Transformers: Rise of the Beast and Netflix’s Jennifer Lopez movie, Atlas.
Joby Harold attends Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California – Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Shinsuke Sato (best known for Netflix’s Alice in Borderland) is also involved in the live-action movie.
Legendary Entertainment’s Mary Parent and Alex Garcia are producers on the new project. They’re the same production company working on Netflix’s God Country and Gundam.
Is My Hero Academia anime streaming on Netflix?
If you’re looking to catch up on the anime before the movie arrives, Netflix isn’t exactly the best place to do so at this point in time. Seasons 1-6 of the main anime series and spin-offs are available in Asian regions such as Netflix Japan and Netflix India, while seasons 1-2 are available in select regions such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, South Africa, and France.
In the United States, the main show is streaming on Hulu and Funimation while some of the spinoffs can be found on Starz.
Will Netflix globally carry My Hero Academia?
Netflix will carry the new movie’s global rights with one notable exception.
It won’t be added to Netflix Japan and instead be distributed by Toho Co., Ltd.
Other Anime Live-Action Adaptations Coming to Netflix
This is just one of several anime adaptations either on or coming soon to Netflix, although it’s worth noting Netflix’s track record hasn’t exactly been the best.
Upcoming anime adaptations include The Duffer Brothers’ take on Death Note, One Piece, Gundam, Onmyōji,Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead,BRZRKR, Mega Man, and Pokémon.
Are you looking forward to this new anime adaptation at Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.
Bill Maher believes that the tribal mentality of hate of “the others” that is festering in this country very possibly could lead to a civil war.
“Everything that they say can’t happen here, of course it can,” the comedian said on his “Club Random” podcast. “They used to say terrorism couldn’t happen here and then that happened here. We’re not exempt. Americans, they think their s— don’t stink, and they think that they somehow live in this gilded cage, where the stuff that other countries endure, well, we’ll endure it too — and that could include authoritarianism.”
On this week’s episode of “Club Random,” Maher invited evolutionary biologist and critic of creationism Richard Dawkins, to discuss about science, COVID, vaccinations and such, but the conversation veered a little off track and led to state of the country and social behavior of those in it.
“There is much talk about [a second civil war] and there’s lots of people rooting for it,” Maher told Dawkins. “There [are] many people who think that we are so divided and they hate the other side. The term that both sides use: ‘one against the other.’” But the one thing they have in common, Maher said, is that it has become an “existential threat,” one in which he can “absolutely” imagine a civil war a part of it.
The Civil War of the 1860s was also known as the War Between the States with definite lines of battle between the sides and forays of each army into the other’s territory. “If they captured Washington, they’d win the war, and if we captured the southern Capitol, we would,” as Maher put it. But the tension between “the left” and “the right” nowadays has no boundaries. That might make some think a modern war would not be possible but, Maher said, it is still feasible, but with blurred lines.
“We’re all marbled together now. There’s 4 million Trump voters in California, the bluest state in the country. So we can’t have a battle there but could you have a battle, as many countries have, within the armed forces? Absolutely you could. You could have factions. Trump has factions also in police, the FBI,” he said. “That’s what you find out when the s— hits the fan, and we’ve seen it play out in many other countries.”
You can listen to all of “Club Random With Bill Maher” episodes, including the one above with Richard Dawkins, by clicking here. Or to see Maher’s entire interview with Hawkins, click here.
Welcome to Fiscal Spotlight, a special monthly round up of projects—at all stages of production—working their way through Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorshippipeline.
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History is written by the winners. It’s a cliché you’ve heard before, its thesis seemingly irrefutable. The thing this six-word bromide fails to capture, however, is that just whom the “winners” are shifts over time. Or even that thinking of the long arc of human civilization in terms of a simple binary is like trying to rewrite The Iliad with a stocking-stuffer magnetic poetry kit. The greater truth is that as human thought progresses over time history comes into focus—revealing hidden stories charged with present-day relevancy and vitality. And documentary films, of course, are one of the key tools we have to uncover these hidden histories.
As you might expect, many of these stories—and the fascinating characters that populate them—originate from underrepresented communities who only in recent years have been empowered to rediscover, research and re-launch the legends, legacies and landmark moments of their community’s yesteryear. Take the three projects featured in 2022’s final edition of Fiscal Spotlight, which take us to America’s protest streets, B-ball courts and TV studios.
All three projects are supported by Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program, which enables filmmakers to solicit tax-deductible donations and seek organizational grants in partnership with Film Independent. Here’s how it works:
November’s featured projects are Compton’s ‘22, EJ Lee: All-American and Barrio Television. Read on to learn more about each project and how to support.
COMPTON’S ‘22
Project type: Documentary Short
Project status: Post-Production
Director/Director of Photography/Editor: Drew de Pinto
Producer: Azza Cohen
About the project: In this project trans and gender-nonconforming performance artists reimagine the historic Compton’s Cafeteria Riot from the testimonies of the legendary “Compton’s Queens.” Three years before Stonewall—on an unknown date in 1966—trans women at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district rioted against police violence. There was no news coverage, and the arrest records no longer exist. Decades later, trans historian Susan Stryker unearthed the history of the riot and interviewed the surviving “Compton’s Queens.” Compton’s ’22 creates an intergenerational conversation between these archival interviews and young trans and gender-nonconforming artists today, using performance to imagine an interpretive archive that stands in for the absence of visual documentation. The film provides a rare opportunity for trans and gender-nonconforming people to learn about their history and reveals the powerful implications of intergenerational solidarity in the ongoing struggle for queer liberation.
Meet the filmmaker: To learn more about Compton’s 22, including how to support the project, click here. Filmmaker Drew de Pinto is a director and editor based in Queens, New York. As a teenager, they were drawn to film as a way to process feelings of gender dysphoria. Their work explores how documentary and experimental modes of filmmaking can build alternative frameworks for gender and other social structures that allow us to imagine better worlds. Drew is a recent graduate of Stanford’s MFA program in Documentary Film and has worked on projects with the Democratic Socialists of America, Kartemquin Films, Truth & Documentary, Group Nine Media and more.
EJ LEE: ALL-AMERICAN
Project type: Documentary Feature
Project status: Production
Director/Producer: Jason Rhee
Producer/Editor: Zoe Sua Cho
Producer: Razi Jafri
About the project: Before Jeremy Lin and Yao Ming, there was Eun Jung Lee. EJ Lee, a Louisiana legend nicknamed the “Korean Magic Johnson of NCAA women’s basketball,” despite being overlooked her entire career. Finally, at the age of 60, EJ receives her first opportunity to become a college head coach to lead an underdog university squad in West Texas. EJ Lee: All-American is a feature-length documentary that combines verité and archival footage of Lee, the “greatest player you’ve never heard of.” The film will be an intimate character study of this little-known Asian American superstar (with a Southern twang!) by interweaving the historical journey of EJ developing into one of the best players in both Korea and America alongside the present-day narrative tracking the final chapters of EJ’s 40-year-career as a first-time college head coach.
Meet the filmmakers: To learn more about EJ Lee: All-American, including how to support the project, click here. Filmmaker Jason Rhee is a Korean American writer and director with a passion for telling stories centered around his childhood and the AAPI community. Jason was selected as a script intern and writers PA for Conan, as well as a writing intern and contributor for The Onion. With a background in screenwriting, comedy and satire, he’s produced two one-woman shows with stand-up comedian Kellye Howard, which have been featured on ABC and described as “exposing admirable vulnerability and strength.” Jason directed a sold-out run of a third show with Kellye at the Steppenwolf Theater as part of its 2022 LookOut series. After three years as The Onion’s writers assistant, Jason is currently working on personal projects, including All-American, workshopped in the 2022 Kartemquin Diverse Fellows in Doc program. He is a proud member of the Asian American Documentary Network and the Writers Guild of America East.
BARRIO TELEVISION
Project type: Documentary Feature
Project status: Production
Writer/Director/Producer: Christina DiPasquale
Writer/Director/Producer: Neyda Martinez
About the project: Barrio Television is the untold story of a band of Puerto Rican filmmakers who refused to let the first all-Latino produced TV show in American history be canceled. In 1972, a band of Puerto Rican filmmakers in refused to take “no” for an answer. When New York’s local public television station WNET canceled their pilot (it touched on racism too much for their liking) the filmmakers padlocked the door to WNET’s live pledge drive and hijacked the event, filling the sidewalks outside their Columbus Circle office with protestors until the executives gave in. They finally got their own show, and got to make it the way they wanted. The show? Realidades—the first bilingual Latino TV show in American history.
Meet the filmmakers: To learn more about Barrio Television and how to support the project, click here. Christina DiPasquale has produced and scripted several short documentary films for the Youth First Initiative and Public Welfare Foundation. She is a Senior Fellow at the University of New Hampshire and serves on the Board of Directors of the Media Burn Independent Video Archive. Neyda Martinez is a producer and strategic communications and cultural consultant. Martinez is a Sundance Documentary Producing Lab Fellow. Her previous work includes Decade of Fire (2018), which won PBS’ Independent Lens 2020 Audience Award, and Lucky (2013). Martinez was Co-Executive Producer of Acuitzeramo (2020) and associate producer of HBO’s Habla Now and Habla Loud (2020 and 2022).
You can learn more about Fiscal Sponsorship, including its benefits and eligibility requirements, by visiting our website. Check out our Sponsored Projects page to see the projects are currently being supported.
Zaharie Ahmad Shah (pictured) was the pilot of the doomed flight
DID THE PILOT HIJACK HIS OWN PLANE?
Pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah planned mass murder because of personal problems, locking his co-pilot out of the cockpit, closing down all communications, depressurising the main cabin and then disabling the aircraft so that it continued flying on auto-pilot until it ran out of fuel.
That was the popular theory in the weeks after the plane’s disappearance.
His personal problems, rumours in Kuala Lumpur said, included a split with his wife Fizah Khan, and his fury that a relative, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, had been given a five-year jail sentence for sodomy shortly before he boarded the plane for the flight to Beijing.
But the pilot’s wife angrily denied any personal problems and other family members and his friends said he was a devoted family man and loved his job.
This theory was also the conclusion of the first independent study into the disaster by the New Zealand-based air accident investigator, Ewan Wilson.
Wilson, the founder of Kiwi Airlines and a commercial pilot himself, arrived at the shocking conclusion after considering ‘every conceivable alternative scenario’.
However, he has not been able to provide any conclusive evidence to support his theory.
The claims are made in the book ‘Goodnight Malaysian 370’, which Wilson co-wrote with the New Zealand broadsheet journalist, Geoff Taylor.
It’s also been rumoured that Zaharie used a flight simulator at his home to plot a path to a remote island.
However, officials in Kuala Lumpur declared that Malaysian police and the FBI’s technical experts had found nothing to suggest he was planning to hijack the flight after closely examining his flight simulator.
And there are also theories that the tragic disappearance may have been a heroic act of sacrifice by the pilot.
Australian aviation enthusiast Michael Gilbert believes the doomed plane caught fire mid-flight, forcing the pilot to plot a course away from heavily populated areas.
IF NOT THE PILOT, WAS THE CO-PILOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MYSTERY?
Co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, again for personal problems, was suspected by rumour-spreaders to have overpowered the pilot and disabled the aircraft, flying it to its doom with crew and passengers unable to get through the locked cockpit door.
Theorists have put forward the suggestion that he was having relationship problems and this was his dramatic way of taking his own life.
But he was engaged to be married to Captain Nadira Ramli, 26, a fellow pilot from another airline, and loved his job. There are no known reasons for him to have taken any fatal action.
There have been a series of outlandish theories about the disappearance of the plane
Others have suggested that because he was known to have occasionally invited young women into the cockpit during a flight, he had done so this time and something had gone wrong.
Young Jonti Roos said in March that she spent an entire flight in 2011 in the cockpit being entertained by Hamid, who was smoking.
Interest in the co-pilot was renewed when it was revealed he was the last person to communicate from the cockpit after the communication system was cut off.
DID THE RUSSIANS STEAL MH370 AND FLY THE JET TO KAZAKHSTAN
An expert has claimed the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 was hijacked on the orders of Vladimir Putin and secretly landed in Kazakhstan.
Jeff Wise, a U.S. science writer who spearheaded CNN’s coverage of the Boeing 777-200E, has based his outlandish theory on pings that the plane gave off for seven hours after it went missing, that were recorded by British telecommunications company Inmarsat.
Wise believes that hijackers ‘spoofed’ the plane’s navigation data to make it seem like it went in another direction, but flew it to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is leased from Kazakhstan by Russia.
However, Wise admits in New York Magazine that he does not know why Vladimir Putin would want to steal a plane full of people and that his idea is somewhat ‘crazy’.
Wise also noted there were three Russian men onboard the flight, two of them Ukrainian passport holders.
Aviation disaster experts analysed satellite data and discovered – like the data recorded by Inmarsat – that the plane flew on for hours after losing contact.
Careful examination of the evidence has revealed that MH370 made three turns after the last radio call, first a turn to the left, then two more, taking the plane west, then south towards Antarctica.
MH370 WAS USED BY TERRORISTS FOR A SUICIDE ATTACK ON THE CHINESE NAVY
This extraordinary claim came from 41-year-old British yachtsman Katherine Tee, from Liverpool, whose initial account of seeing what she thought was a burning plane in the night sky made headlines around the world.
On arrival in Thailand’s Phuket after sailing across the Indian Ocean from Cochin, southern India with her husband, she said: ‘I could see the outline of the plane – it looked longer than planes usually do.There was what appeared to be black smoke streaming from behind.’
Ms Tee’s general description of the time and place was vague and she lost all credibility when she later stated on her blog that she believed MH370 was a kamikaze plane that was aimed at a flotilla of Chinese ships and it was shot down before it could smash into the vessels.
Without solid proof of the satellite data, she wrote on her blog, Saucy Sailoress, the plane she saw was flying at low altitude towards the military convoy she and her husband had seen on recent nights. She added that internet research showed a Chinese flotilla was in the area at the time.
While the debris proved the plane went down in the Indian Ocean, the location of the main underwater wreckage — and its crucial black box data recorders — remains stubbornly elusive.
THE JET LANDED ON THE WATER AND WAS SEEN FLOATING ON THE ANDAMAN SEA
On a flight from Jeddah to Kuala Lumpur that crossed over the Andaman Sea on March 8, Malaysian woman Raja Dalelah, 53, saw what she believed was a plane sitting on the water’s surface.
She didn’t know about the search that had been started for MH370. She alerted a stewardess who told her to go back to sleep.
‘I was shocked to see what looked like the tail and wing of an aircraft on the water,’ she said.
It was only when she told her friends on landing in Kuala Lumpur what she had seen that she learned of the missing jet. She had seen the object at about 2.30pm Malaysian time.
She said she had been able to identify several ships and islands before noticing the silver object that she said was a plane.
But her story was laughed off by pilots who said it would have been impossible to have seen part of an aircraft in the water from 35,000ft or seven miles.
Ms Raja filed an official report with police the same day and has kept to her story.
‘I know what I saw,’ she said.
THE AIRCRAFT SUFFERED A CATASTROPHIC SYSTEMS FAILURE AND CRASH-LANDED ON THE OCEAN
A catastrophic event such as a fire disabling much of the equipment resulted in the pilots turning the plane back towards the Malaysian peninsula in the hope of landing at the nearest airport.
Satellite data, believable or not, suggests the aircraft did make a turn and theorists say there would be no reason for the pilots to change course unless confronted with an emergency.
A fire in a similar Boeing 777 jet parked at Cairo airport in 2011 was found to have been caused by a problem with the first officer’s oxygen mask supply tubing.
Stewarts Law, which has litigated in a series of recent air disasters, believes the plane crashed after a fire – similar to the blaze on the Cairo airport runway – broke out in the cockpit.
After an investigation into the Cairo blaze, Egypt’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Central Directorate (EAAICD) released their final report which revealed that the fire originated near the first officer’s oxygen mask supply tubing.
The cause of the fire could not be conclusively determined, but investigators pinpointed a problem with the cockpit hose used to provide oxygen for the crew in the event of decompression.
Following the 2011 fire, US aircraft owners were instructed to replace the system – it was estimated to cost $2,596 (£1,573) per aircraft. It was not known whether Malaysia Airlines had carried out the change.
If either pilot wanted to crash the plane, why turn it around? So the turn-around suggests they were trying to land as soon as possible because of an emergency.
THE US SHOT DOWN THE AIRCRAFT FEARING A TERROR ATTACK ON DIEGO GARCIA
The Boeing 777 was shot down by the Americans who feared the aircraft had been hijacked and was about to be used to attack the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia atoll in the Indian Ocean. So conspiracy theorists claim.
And former French airline director Marc Dugain said he had been warned by British intelligence that he was taking risks by investigating this angle.
There is no way of checking whether Dugain received such a warning or why he believes the Americans shot down the plane.
But adding to the theory that the aircraft was flown to Diego Garcia, either by the pilot Zaharie or a hijacker, was the claim that on the pilot’s home flight simulator was a ‘practice’ flight to the island.
Professor Glees said: ‘The Americans would have no interest in doing anything of the kind and not telling the world.
‘In theory, they might wish to shoot down a plane they thought was attacking them but they wouldn’t just fire missiles, they’d investigate it first with fighters and would quickly realise that even if it had to be shot down, the world would need to know.’
Mr Rosenschein said: ‘The U.S. would not have been able to hide this fact and in any event, if it were true, they would have admitted their action as it would have prevented a successful terrorist action on this occasion and acted as a deterrent for future terrorist attacks.’
Finding The One! Sophia Bush has kept her romance with Grant Hughes relatively private since the pair were first spotted together in Malibu in May 2020. However, the FocusMotion Health founder has shared a few photos of the couple.
Ever since landing the role of Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill in 2003, Bush’s personal life has made headlines. That is something that the actress and activist has intentionally changed, she explained in June 2021.
“It’s hard to have nothing that’s yours. And when you are a person who lives in the public eye, everybody wants to pick over everything and that can be really tricky,” the False Positive actress told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “I also grew up in the early aughts when girls were raked over the coals for any choices that they made. And I just was like, ‘I don’t think I like this.’ I didn’t like having my private life lied about. There were times where someone would send through an article and be like, ‘Well, supposedly you’re dating this guy.’ And I was like, ‘I mean, I would. Who is he?’”
The Hitcher star, who was briefly married to Chad Michael Murray before later entering public relationships with former costars Austin Nichols and Jesse Lee Soffer, added that now, she only wants to speak about her projects and her advocacy.
“It would be, ‘What are you wearing? And how’s your boyfriend?,’ and it’s like, ‘What does that have to do with anything about my work, my life?’” she recalled to ET at the time. “I really think the kind of gamification of people’s private intimacy is just creepy to me. So I don’t really hide what’s going on in my life, but I don’t flaunt it.”
Hughes, for his part, shared a slew of photos from 2020 at the beginning of 2021.
“I posted only two photos in 2020 and averaged less than 5 minutes per day on Instagram. This wasn’t really intentional; I think it was just a year for me to be present in other areas of my life. However, social media documentation or not, the memories of life continue being made,” he began via Instagram in January, sharing multiple pics. “Somehow through all this I found my person @sophiabush. She was in my life as a friend for 8 years and the pandemic forced us to slow down and stay in one place long enough to realize what I’d been looking for all along was closer than I could have known.”
In August 2021, Bush finally shared a photo of Hughes — proposing to her while the couple were on vacation in Italy. “So it turns out that being your favorite person’s favorite person is the actual best feeling on planet Earth,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “My heart. It bursts.”
Sophia Bush and Husband Grant Hughes’ Cutest Photos
Finding The One! Sophia Bush has kept her romance with Grant Hughes relatively private since the pair were first spotted together in Malibu in May 2020. However, the FocusMotion Health founder has shared a few photos of the couple.
Ever since landing the role of Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill in 2003, Bush’s personal life has made headlines. That is something that the actress and activist has intentionally changed, she explained in June 2021.
“It’s hard to have nothing that’s yours. And when you are a person who lives in the public eye, everybody wants to pick over everything and that can be really tricky,” the False Positive actress told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “I also grew up in the early aughts when girls were raked over the coals for any choices that they made. And I just was like, ‘I don’t think I like this.’ I didn’t like having my private life lied about. There were times where someone would send through an article and be like, ‘Well, supposedly you’re dating this guy.’ And I was like, ‘I mean, I would. Who is he?'”
The Hitcher star, who was briefly married to Chad Michael Murray before later entering public relationships with former costars Austin Nichols and Jesse Lee Soffer, added that now, she only wants to speak about her projects and her advocacy.
“It would be, ‘What are you wearing? And how’s your boyfriend?,’ and it’s like, ‘What does that have to do with anything about my work, my life?'” she recalled to ET at the time. “I really think the kind of gamification of people’s private intimacy is just creepy to me. So I don’t really hide what’s going on in my life, but I don’t flaunt it.”
[jwplayer v0hzcpXI-zhNYySv2]
Hughes, for his part, shared a slew of photos from 2020 at the beginning of 2021.
“I posted only two photos in 2020 and averaged less than 5 minutes per day on Instagram. This wasn’t really intentional; I think it was just a year for me to be present in other areas of my life. However, social media documentation or not, the memories of life continue being made,” he began via Instagram in January, sharing multiple pics. “Somehow through all this I found my person @sophiabush. She was in my life as a friend for 8 years and the pandemic forced us to slow down and stay in one place long enough to realize what I’d been looking for all along was closer than I could have known.”
In August 2021, Bush finally shared a photo of Hughes — proposing to her while the couple were on vacation in Italy. “So it turns out that being your favorite person’s favorite person is the actual best feeling on planet Earth,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “My heart. It bursts.”
The pair were first photographed together in May 2020, wearing matching face masks and embracing.
Credit: Courtesy Grant Hughes/Instagram
A Blur
“Who needs a party to dress up for the holidays?” Hughes captioned a still of the pair sitting outside with their dog.
Credit: Courtesy Grant Hughes/Instagram
First Date
The entrepreneur revealed that the pair’s first date “was also our first Covid test,” posting a pic of the duo in masks.
Credit: Courtesy Grant Hughes/Instagram
Pup Parents
The duo proudly coparent their dog, Maggie.
Credit: Courtesy Grant Hughes/Instagram
Passionate Partners
The Love, Victor actress and the University of Michigan grad participated in a Black Lives Matter protest outside Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office.
Credit: Courtesy Grant Hughes/Instagram
Nature Lovers
“A Kern River nature retreat. Few flights this year meant much more road trip exploring,” Hughes captioned a cozy selfie.
Credit: Courtesy of Sophia Bush/Instagram
Italy Trip
“Dream Boat,” Bush captioned a selfie of the pair on a boat together in Italy in August 2021.
Credit: Courtesy of Sophia Bush/Instagram
Engaged!
Bush showed off her engagement ring via Instagram in August 2021 just weeks after announcing that Hughes proposed in Lake Como, Italy.
Credit: Courtesy of Sophia Bush/Instagram
Meeting the Family
The One Tree Hill alum shared a snap via Instagram in September with Hughes and her parents in honor of her dad’s birthday.
“My sweet Papa turned 74 yesterday,” she captioned her post. “He’s such a good man. And a great dad.”
She added, “Celebrating him brings me tremendous joy. I love watching him and Grant nerd out about wine. And watching him and my mom hold hands when they walk down the street even still, though they’ve been married over 40 years. … Happy birthday to my original ride or die. I love you. ???”
Credit: Courtesy of Grant Hughes/Instagram
Lucky in Love
The Hard Luck Love Song star gushed about her “life partner” during a September 2021 interview with Entertainment Tonight.
“I will say, I do feel lucky whether it’s my life partner or the wonderful group of men in my life, who make up my friends and allies, who make up my support system,” Bush told the outlet. “I feel really lucky that across the spectrum of the dudes in my life, I have a real group of good ones.”
The duo made their first official appearance as a couple in October 2021 when they attended the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in Pacific Palisades, California. They also coordinated their looks, with Bush choosing a yellow bag that matched Hughes’ sunflower-colored suit.
Credit: Courtesy of Sophia Bush/Instagram
A Coupled-Up Christmas
Bush raved over Hughes while sharing photos of their decorations on Christmas Eve. “I spent four days making 76 [mushroom] ornaments and then my husband-to-be surprised me with carved wooden mushrooms and honestly my dreams of disappearing in a garden to grow vitamin-D laden snacks/running a craft-Tok (because nothing else on the internet sparks this much joy) are all coming true,” she wrote in December 2021. “Happy Christmas friends, and to all celebrating!”
Credit: Courtesy of Sophia Bush/Instagram
Matching Mates
Bush shared a sweet photo for Valentine’s Day. “You are my favorite favorite. I can’t wait to marry you and be your valentine forever ♥️,” she captioned the pic, where they donned identical buffalo plaid pajamas.
Credit: Courtesy of Sophia Bush/Instagram
Wedding Date
Before their own wedding, they attended friends’ nuptials. “Loves love. Loves a wedding. Loves wearing anything but sweatpants after the last two years,” Bush captioned the snap.
Credit: Andrew Harnik/AP/Shutterstock
Exploring D.C.
The pair went on a public tour of the White House in April 2022 ahead of the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Credit: Courtesy of Sophia Bush/Instagram
Family Bonding
Hughes attended a Los Angeles play with his fiancée and her mom on Mother’s Day. “Mia famiglia. My favorite guy. My favorite folks. My favorite pastime; being a theatre-goer,” the actress captioned the May 2022 snap.
Credit: Courtesy Sophia Bush/Instagram
6 Months of Marriage
“Six months married to my favorite person,” Bush captioned a photo with her hubby in December 2022. “The one who will camp under the stars with me, and also put on a tux to celebrate the holidays at the Naval Observatory in our Nation’s Capitol with me ??✨.”
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