Indonesian police said 127 people died and 180 others were injured in a stampede following a soccer game Saturday evening.
Among the dead were 125 civilians and two police officers, East Java Police Chief Nico Afinta told reporters. They suffered breathing problems and suffocated as they tried to exit the stadium, he said.
Thirty-four people died at the scene, Afinta said, and the rest died at hospitals.
“Mass commotion” followed the match, and the number of those killed was still being determined, the soccer league, Liga 1, said in a statement.
The stampede occurred after the home team, Arema FC, lost to Persebaya, at which point dozens of fans stormed the field, according to local media reports.
Videos showed fans scattered across the field as loud bangs and clouds of smoke erupted in the arena. Uniformed officers carrying riot shields were seen chasing down fans on the field and beating them with batons.
Matches were suspended for a week, the league said. “Hopefully this will be a valuable lesson for all of us,” said the head of the league, Akhmad Hadian Lukita.
Bruce Willis’ team is dismissing the notion that the star sold his digital likeness to a deepfake company.
Recent media reports, including one from The Telegraph, suggested that the actor sold his rights to Deepcake to authorize the creation of a “digital twin” of himself to appear in projects following the announcement that he has stepped away from performing. Although reports stated that this made Willis the first Hollywood personality to set up this type of deal, his team denies the existence of any such arrangement.
In a statement shared to The Hollywood Reporter, Willis’ representative said that he “has no partnership or agreement with this Deepcake company.”
A publicist for Deepcake confirms to THR that Willis’ digital-likeness rights cannot be sold, as they are his by default, and that the company’s involvement with the star was set up through his representatives at CAA. Deepcake’s spokesperson explains that their company created his digital twin for 2021 ad campaigns, and that any future use of the likeness would be up to Willis.
Deepcake’s website touts the company’s digital-twin technology as an ability for A-list actors to virtually include their likeness in marketing campaigns without the need to physically appear in front of the camera. The site prominently features quotes attributed to Willis about a 2021 commercial that aired in Russia for mobile phone carrier MegaFon.
“I liked the precision of my character,” Willis said, according to the quotes on the Deepcake site. “It’s a great opportunity for me to go back in time. The neural network was trained on content of Die Hard and Fifth Element, so my character is similar to the images of that time.”
In March, Willis’ family posted a statement to social media to announce that the star would be “stepping away” from his acting career after being diagnosed with aphasia, which had impacted his cognitive abilities. Aphasia is a disorder that limits the ability to understand or express speech.
Bella Hadid had a dress sprayed onto her body during last night’s finale of the Coperni fashion show for Paris Fashion Week, stunning those in attendance. And now video fo the moment is making the rounds.
The 25-year-old model took the runway in only a pair of heels and underwear, holding her breasts in her hands for two men to spray paint white latex onto her body, so that she eventually got dressed in front of a live audience. Synth music accompanies the formation of the gossamer gown as the transfixing video below shows.
It wouldn’t be Paris Fashion Week without a major gasp moment – and the Coperni SS23 show concluded in the most spectacular fashion with Bella Hadid acting as a human mannequin for a spray-on dress that was fashioned before the audience’s eyes. pic.twitter.com/nroyqo9qdK
The final look, which took 15 minutes to create, consisted of a midlength gown with off the shoulder sleeves, in which Hadid walked off the runway. A woman cut a slit in the skirt of the dress and pulled the sleeves down off of Hadid’s shoulders.
THIS! Is by far the most interesting part that has been cut out from everyone! Why isn’t anyone seeing this part of Bella Hadid & the spray-on dress at #Coperni: can you imagine the pressure not ruining the dress while it’s wet & everyone watching ?❤️ pic.twitter.com/r6Zcpay9tf
The Cut also detailed how the dress exhibit came to be, all starting with a can of silly string and a man named Dr. Manel Torres.
“I thought I could create a mist,” he said in a 2013 TED Talk. “That was the eureka moment.”
According to People, Manel Torres, PhD, inventor of the spray-on fabric, and other specialists surrounded Hadid to make the vision come to life. The fashion show took place in the Salle des Textiles at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris.
“We wanted to dedicate this moment to Dr. Torres, because we respect what he does so much,” Coperni’s Arnaud Vaillant told Vogue. “We felt that it was absolutely necessary that he led the performance – to us, that makes the experience even more magical.”
Vaillant and Meyer also told Vogue how the concept behind the viral video reaffirms their “celebration of women’s silhouettes from centuries past” while also “updating their aesthetic in a scientific way” as well.
The French brand has previously used DIY fashion in the form of hand-blown glass objects that accessorize celebrities like Doja Cat on red carpets, as mentioned in Glamour.
Hadid shared a slideshow of photos of the dress in formation (which you can view below) — evolving from gossamer threads almost like cobwebs to a solid flowy white material — as well as its duration throughout the night.
Madame Sylvia Wu, whose Santa Monica Chinese restaurant served generations of Southern Californians and many celebrities, died on Sept. 29 at 106, her family confirmed.
In her later years, Wu stayed in the West side’s mind with cookbooks, television shows, and charity work, particularly at the City of Hope cancer center.
Her restaurant was one of the first in Southern California to offer a stylized cuisine beyond Chop Suey (although she did cater to conventional tastes as well). She was a fixture at her business, even taking telephone orders for take-out while working the room.
Frank Sinatra, Mia Farrow, Mae West, Paul Newman, Princess Grace and many more dined at Madame Wu’s over the years. She closed the original Wilshire Boulevard restaurant in 1998, but then opened Madame Wu’s Asian Bistro & Sushi in newly opened Grove. That venture was not as successful, but Madame Wu remained dear to her longtime customers.
Survivors include sons George and Patrick and numerous grandchildren. Her husband died in 2011. The two had been married 67 years.
Godzilla Vs Kong Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri Director: Adam Wingard
Sequels are made because there is big money to be made. When you run out of sequel ideas, there is always the brainwave of clubbing associated franchises of the same studio, because there is bigger money to be made. If Batman can take on Superman, if Alien can fight Predator and rake it in, Godzilla Vs. Kong was waiting to happen.
The film literally goes for a monster kill in search of its pot of gold. The challenge here was obvious. You have fans of Godzilla, you have fans of Kong. The big deal always was to keep both the armies happy.
Calling the shots on the extravagantly expensive monster mayhem is Adam Wingard, who rose up the Hollywood ladder directing low-budget Hollywood horror. Wingard’s grindhouse background perhaps made him apt for the creature feature tone of Godzilla Vs. Kong textually. The filmmaker goes about juxtaposing standard big-studio pomp — in terms of CGI excesses and monster violence — with its core narrative idea to set up the visual entertainment quotient.
Creature feature as a genre doesn’t appeal to all unlike, say, superhero flicks, but it does have a huge and loyally audience base, particularly in the Asian market. On cue, the film’s extended climax is set in Hong Kong. Plenty of Asian characters flit in and out of the frames. With a pathbreaking storyline not being priority, the film’s focus was clearly on reaching out to diverse markets that will let it thrive in an era that welcomes inclusivity.
There are films where you can figure out the entire story watching the trailer. Godzilla Vs. Kong is a film that tells you its entire ‘script’ with one look at the poster. There is Godzilla, there is Kong. We have seen the two prehistoric monsters in individual franchises before, and we know their individual stories. The script of this film is about setting up an excuse to let the two mighty beasts fight it out, even as swanky Hong Kong crumbles all around them like an expensive toy city.
A lot of what goes on in the early hour is a build-up to the final fight. To give it an iota of logic, Wingard and company try setting up the story against a sci-fi backdrop.
Of course, when Kong the super ape and Godzilla the super lizard find themselves pitted against each other, neither can really be the bad guy. Screenwriters Terry Rossio and Michael Dougherty find the perfect ‘villain’ in the desperation to establish humans as the supreme species on the planet, even at the cost of destroying the two monsters for no reason.
The film rides a lot of sound and fury as mindboggling SFX brings alive the action overkill. It gets monotonous after a while once the monster action starts, although it is technically a brilliant film that should satiate lovers of the genre.
In a film called Godzilla Vs Kong, you naturally don’t have much to do unless you are either Godzilla or Kong. Most of the human cast is as much a spectator as the ticket-paying audience, once Kong and/or Godzilla hold centrestage (which is almost all the time).
For all its big bang execution, the film starts to fade from your mind even as you leave the theatre. After 113 minutes of an explosive experience, the lack of resonance is a downer of sorts.
UPDATE: Authorities have now upped the death toll from Hurricane Ian to more than 77, with an estimated 1,100 people rescued from flooding. Rescue efforts are ongoing, and officials warned that the death totals could rise as floodwaters recede in places littered with wrecked homes.
EARLIER: Florida continued the grim task of digging out from Hurricane Ian today, as authorities surveyed the damage and death totals from the devastating storm.
Officials said Saturday morning that they expect the death count to top 50 people.
Of the 31 people confirmed dead, 27 were from Florida. Four people died in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper said Saturday. Ian headed northw Saturday across central North Carolina, now considerd a tropical cyclone. It was heading toward Virginia after hitting the coast of South Carolina.
Elsewhere in the state, things were starting to return to normal.
After being closed for three days due to Hurricane Ian, Universal Orlando Resort theme parks returned to normal operations today. Its “Halloween Horror Nights” will be open tonight.
Disney reopened its Walt Disney World theme park and Disney Springs shopping area in Orlando, Florida, on Friday in a “phased approach.” As of today, all four Walt Disney World theme parks are now open.
Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park will reopen on Sunday, Oct. 2. Winter Summerland Miniature Golf and Fairways Miniature Golf will remain temporarily closed at this time. Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park is currently closed for the season.
The National Football League has scrapped its contingency plans to move Sunday night’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Minnesota. The game will continue to be held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa as originally scheduled.
With just eight episodes of The Walking Dead left, the stakes are higher than ever.
The series returns at a breakneck pace as we delve deeper into the conflict behind the walls of the Commonwealth and the desperate battle for survival.
Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) is the leader of this compound, and she’s been left vulnerable for the first time following an explosive story in the town paper.
Robins tells TV Fanatic that Pamela is “determined” when the series picks back up because her entire family legacy is at stake.
“Pamela carries the weight,” Laila adds of Pamela.
“Carrying that weight has warped her personality a little.”
Laila doesn’t think Pamela thinks about her own mental health because she’s so focused on the Commonwealth and the responsibility she holds.
Mercer was tirelessly devoted to the cause of the Commonwealth, but he’s starting to put together the fact that some shady things are going on.
“He’s in a shit storm, and he’s trying to figure out how to solve it,” Shaw tells TV Fanatic of his character’s mindset.
“He’s got a lot of decisions to make. He’s got to start taking action at this point,” Shaw adds, noting that it’s time to make a move if he wants to save his family.
Eleanor Matsuura, who plays Yumiko, thinks her character’s mindset is similar to Pamela’s, but she also desires to keep everyone safe.
Eleanor believes that Yumiko has a pursuit of freedom.
“It’s like a real burning drive for her,” but Yumiko is on the wrong side of the Commonwealth and has been thrust back into a role she never thought she’d be in again.
“I think we’re seeing a full circle moment for Yumiko,” Matsuura adds.
“All of her past is coming suddenly into her future, and it’s like, how can she do the right thing here?”
“How can she do these jobs within these rules and fight for what she believes is right and fight to keep her people alive?”
“Yumiko has to use all of her tricks, and there are so many more things to unravel this season.”
Eleanor adds that Yumiko is pushed to the limit, but she always aims to do what’s right for her people.
Matsuura delved into playing this side of Yumiko in a world that’s filled with peril.
“As an actor, I’ve loved every second of it.”
“I spent the last few seasons covered in mud in the woods, getting covered in bites, and getting bruised,” she adds, saying that while there’s a great joy to that, the evolution of her character has been satisfying.
“I’m in a suit, chopped all my hair off, and I’m suddenly getting to play on a courtroom drama.”
Eleanor says it is surreal because she looked at her co-stars while filming these scenes and thought she was on a different show.
“This is The Walking Dead, right?” she recalls saying with a laugh. She says that it is a great privilege to work on the show.
Naturally, there are questions about how some of these characters would fare if they were back on the road.
Mercer’s situation is tricky because he’s built up this strong track record inside the Commonwealth, but his sister Max (Margot Bingham) leads what can only be described as a rebellion.
Mike believes Mercer would thrive if he had to go back on the road.
“He’s definitely a survivor and has all the tools to survive.”
Mike added that he thinks Mercer has survived so long because he has a purpose at the Commonwealth.
As for Pamela surviving away from a cushy community, Laila notes that she wasn’t a girl scout, so she might lack the skills.
“She’s a hunter, though,” Eleanor interjects, referencing an episode in which Pamela hunts with Maggie (Lauren Cohan).
“Yeah, but does she know how to put up a tent?” Laila responds with a laugh.
“Can’t you just see me for hours trying to put a tent up?”
“The soldiers may have handled that,” Mike offers.
Laila said she could imagine Pamela having a hissy fit about being unable to put up a tent and having no soldiers to help.
“I have a feeling she’d find some, though. Even out on the road, she’d quickly assemble some stuff and a group,” Eleanor says, noting that “we’ve all been led by Pamela Milton.”
“She might be able to pull it together, but she wouldn’t be a happy camper. Let’s put it that way,” Laila says of Pamela in the great outdoors.
Undoubtedly, there is a lot of excitement about the final season, so I asked the cast how the series finale would challenge expectations.
Eleanor believes that ending a show after such a long time naturally leads to many expectations.
“This show has a huge following,” she warns, adding that living up to everyone’s expectations is tough.
“The only thing I can say is that it will go places you don’t imagine it to go to.”
“You think you might know how it ends, but I don’t think you do. I don’t think anyone will ever guess how it goes.”
“Even though it is the end of the main series, the universe is still thriving,” but the star says this is a definite end to this chapter.
Eleanor said making every viewer happy is tough, but plenty of spinoffs on the horizon will give fans the option of which characters to follow.
Laila spoke about the conclusion of The Sopranos because there was a lot of debate about how it wrapped up.
“In some ways, it was perfect,” but it all comes down to the person watching and their expectations, she notes.
The Walking Dead returns Sunday at 9 p.m. on AMC and AMC+.
Return to TV Fanatic for more TWD interviews ahead of the premiere and as the series is airing.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
“Real Time” host Bill Maher has no complaints about President Joe Biden when it comes to him getting things done. He does, however, worry that Vice President Kamala Harris might prove a sticking point when it comes to a 2024 re-election, going as far as to suggest she be replaced on the Democratic ticket.
On Friday night’s “Real Time,” Maher and his panel – The Atlantic writer Caitlin Flanagan and CNN commentator Van Jones – discussed the successful track record thus far in Biden’s presidency. Maher argued against some Democrats saying Biden’s age come 2024 puts him in a vulnerable place for re-election.
“It’s very hard to take the nomination away from the president,” Maher said. “What I could see is replacing the vice president because she’s not very popular anywhere. And it didn’t seem to work out. And I don’t know. That’s been done before in a ticket.”
Flanagan agreed, saying of Harris, “In addition to being, for some reason, an off-putting person, she also has, I think, a lot of baggage that probably wouldn’t do well under a lot of scrutiny.”
“I just think she’s a bad politician. And I don’t…I mean…I don’t think…I think she’s a very bright person,” Maher stumbled. “But I can see them doing that because a lot of the problem with Biden being old is, ‘Oh, if he dies then you know you’re gonna get this person.’ OK, so here’s the problem with the Democratic party. They’re so boxed in by identity politics that you cannot conceive of a Democratic ticket that doesn’t have a woman and person of color on it. And pretty soon you’re gonna line up behind that gay Latino and you’re gonna have to have, you know, a deaf Eskimo be the…”
Jones pointed out that both sides play that “identity politics” game.
“You talk about identity politics. Joe Biden is an example of identity politics. Joe Biden is an example of Black voters saying, ‘We think we need to put a white guy in here.’ And nobody says he’s an identity politics guy. [Former Vice President Mike] Pence, how do you get Pence? You have [Donald] Trump, who is not the most saintly guy in the world, needs somebody who identifies as a conservative Christian. He goes and gets Pence. So politics is about identity. That’s what it is. But whenever there’s a person of color or a woman, we say, ‘Well, that’s identity politics.’ It’s all identity politics.”
Maher, of course, did throw in some humor to the serious topic — as he usually does – hitting back at those who come down on Biden because of his age.
“Would I like to have great wisdom in the body of a 20-year-old? Yes,” he said, adding that everybody would. “I admit, he is gonna have trouble in the debate. Debates are gonna look bad. Prepare for it now. There’s gonna be some senior moments. OK, he could show up without pants. That’s true.”
But, Maher went on, “It doesn’t matter. It has nothing to do with running the country.”
In Elena Avdija’s documentary “Stuntwomen,” which is world premiering at Zurich Film Festival, you don’t just become a stuntwoman: you have to work for it. Virginie Arnaud, Petra Sprecher and Estelle Piget certainly do, but they don’t always get to showcase their skills.
“Cinema has a fascination with sexist violence. We like to see women suffer, getting kidnapped or raped,” Avdija tells Variety. These are the scenes her protagonists are usually asked to portray.
“What we see on the screen influences our society and our way of thinking. Seeing sexist violence normalizes it in our minds. We need to find new ways of talking about it and Michaela Coel’s ‘I May Destroy You’ is a great inspiration.”
Petra Sprecher, who is also an actor, was recently spotted in “Westworld” and “Lovecraft Country.” Arnaud worked as a stunt coordinator on Séries Mania-selected series “Syndrome E” and “Hors Saison,” while Piget appeared in Quentin Dupieux’s Cannes curio “Smoking Causes Coughing,” and soon will be seen in “The Three Musketeers: Milady.”
But the professional stunt industry is still a man’s world, observes the helmer, with few women able to access it. Those who do, especially in Europe, are stuck playing victims.
“The European market isn’t as crazy about action spectacles. The best stunts are in comedies, but in comedies women still wear high heels and play dumb. Then we have more realistic films, but sometimes it means [scenes of] domestic violence, basically.”
“Virginie used to laugh, saying: ‘There is no work in love stories, unless they turn sour.’”
For some, replaying such violent interactions can be triggering.
“I think one in three women has been assaulted in her life. Virginie implies that if you go through something like that, it’s easier to play it. But others find it much harder,” she notes.
Avdija shows stuntwomen trying to make light of the situation, but sometimes, the lines get a bit blurry.
“When they have to play the victim and their colleague plays the oppressor, it’s a game. But I saw one man – he is not in the film – who seemed to enjoy it a bit too much. You never know when the game stops and reality begins.”
Virginie Arnaud
Those who want more from their careers tend to struggle to progress.
“Virginie is trying to focus on being a stunt coordinator, but it’s hard – this industry is a cartel. You have to belong to ‘the family’ to get certain opportunities. These guys, they didn’t really understand why I was focusing on women. They made it hard for me to film and hard for her to work.”
And yet they keep on going, eager to test how far they can go. Admitting that sometimes “it’s cool to jump into a void and not die,” even though their families may beg to differ.
“There is freedom in being in control of your body, in knowing exactly what it can do. I am not athletic, so I envy that. Also, we all know how it feels when our families don’t understand what we do. My family had no clue, all these years I was making this film,” jokes Avdija. But she remains pragmatic about what’s in store.
“There will always be work for stuntwomen, because there will always be stories about women getting hurt,” she says.
“I just hope that those who come next will get to have much better jobs. Maybe we just need cool female directors to write new kinds of roles? Stuntwomen are more than the characters they get to play. It applies to all of us, really. We are more than the chances we get sometimes.”
“Stuntwomen” was produced by Agnieszka Ramu, Marie-Lou Pahud and Ursula Meier for Bande à Part Films (Switzerland), and Cécile Lestrade and Elise Hug for Alter Ego Production (France).
“It was important for this film to be overseen by female producers,” adds Avdija.
“They really helped me find a language for the story based on these women’s experiences and traumas. One that wouldn’t just focus on their impressive physical capacity.”
Bande à Part Distribution handles distribution in Switzerland, and Andana Films is looking after international sales.
It’s officially spooky season. Freeform’s annual October programming, “31 Nights of Halloween,” is back with a lineup of Halloween-inspired films, including both beloved classics and recent hit films. In addition to fan favorites like the “Ghostbusters,” “Hocus Pocus” and “Halloweentown,“ this year’s lineup will also add “Get Out,” 2018’s “Halloween,” “Happy Death Day” and the sequel and “A Quiet Place.”
October 13 will be honoring Tim Burton, with a plethora of his films airing including “Frankenweenie,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Corpse Bride,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Beetlejuice,” among others. Of course, his hits will also be sprinkled throughout the month.
Scroll through for the full schedule, kicking off this weekend.
Saturday, Oct. 1 7:00 a.m. ET – “Edward Scissorhands” 9:10 a.m. ET – “The Witches” (1990) 11:20 a.m. ET – “The Haunted Mansion” (2003) 1:25 p.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” 3:05 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 5:10 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 7:15 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 9:25 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 11:30 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (1984)
Sunday, Oct. 2 7:00 a.m. ET – “The Witches” (1990) 9:10 a.m. ET – “Decorating Disney: Halloween Magic” 10:10 a.m. ET – “Halloweentown” 12:15 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 2:20 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 4:25 p.m. ET – “Maleficent” 6:30 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 8:35 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 10:45 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (2016)
Monday, Oct. 3 1:00 p.m. ET – “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1992) 3:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (1984) 5:30 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters II” 8:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters (2016)” 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
Tuesday, Oct. 4 11:30 a.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (1984) 2:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters II” 4:30 p.m. ET – “Edward Scissorhands” 7:00 p.m. ET – “Maleficent” 9:00 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 12:00 a.m. ET – “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb”
Wednesday, Oct. 5 12:00 p.m. ET – “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” 2:00 p.m. ET – “Madagascar” 4:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 6:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 8:00-11:00 p.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
Thursday, Oct. 6 11:00 a.m. ET – “Madagascar” 1:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 3:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 5:00 p.m. ET – “Shrek Forever After” 7:00 p.m. ET – “Halloweentown” 9:00 p.m. ET – “Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge” 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
Friday, Oct. 7 10:30 a.m. ET – “Scared Shrekless” 11:00 a.m. ET – “Shrek Forever After” 1:00-11:00 p.m. ET – “Family Guy” 12:00 a.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2”
Saturday, Oct. 8 7:00 a.m. ET – “Decorating Disney: Halloween Magic” 8:00 a.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 10:00 a.m. ET – “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” 12:05 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (1984) 2:35 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters II” 5:05 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 7:10 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 9:20 p.m. ET – “Maleficent” 11:25 p.m. ET – “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
“A Quiet Place”
Jonny Cournoyer/Paramount/Kobal/
Sunday, Oct. 9 7:00 a.m. ET – “Monsters vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins” 7:30 a.m. ET – “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” 9:35 a.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (1984) 12:05 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters II” 2:40 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 4:45 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 6:55 p.m. ET – “Get Out” 9:25 p.m. ET – “Halloween” (2018) 11:55 p.m. ET – “A Quiet Place”
Monday, Oct. 10 11:30 a.m. ET – “A Quiet Place” 1:40 p.m. ET – “Get Out” 4:15 p.m. ET – “Halloween” (2018) 6:50 p.m. ET – “Happy Death Day” 8:55 p.m. ET – “Happy Death Day 2U” 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
Tuesday, Oct. 11 12:30 p.m. ET – “Maleficent” 2:30 p.m. ET – “The House with a Clock in Its Walls” 5:00 p.m. ET – “The Haunted Mansion” (2003) 7:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 9:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
Wednesday, Oct. 12 10:30 a.m. ET – “The House with a Clock in Its Walls” 1:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 3:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 5:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (2016) 8:00-11:00 p.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
Thursday, Oct. 13 (Tim Burton Day) 10:30 a.m. ET – “Frankenweenie” (2012) 12:30 p.m. ET – “Edward Scissorhands” 3:00 p.m. ET – “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” 6:00 p.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” 7:30 p.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” 9:00 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 12:00 a.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Friday, Oct. 14 10:30 a.m. ET – “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET – “Family Guy” Episodes 5:00 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. ET – “Family Guy” Episodes 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “Family Guy” Episodes
Saturday, Oct. 15 7:00 a.m. ET – “Hook” 10:15 a.m. ET – “How to Train Your Dragon 2” 12:25 p.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” 2:25 p.m. ET – “Toy Story of TERROR!” 2:55 p.m. ET – “Scared Shrekless” 3:25 p.m. ET – “Shrek Forever After” 5:30 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 7:40 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 9:45 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 11:50 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation”
Sunday, Oct. 16 7:00 a.m. ET – “How to Train Your Dragon 2” 9:10 a.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” 10:45 a.m. ET – “Scared Shrekless” 11:15 a.m. ET – “Shrek Forever After” 1:20 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 3:25 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 5:30 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” 7:40 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 9:50 p.m. ET – “Maleficent” 11:55 p.m. ET – “The Witches” (1990)
Monday, Oct. 17 12:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (1984) 2:30 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters II” 5:05 p.m. ET – “The Haunted Mansion” (2003) 7:10 p.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” 8:50 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
Tuesday, Oct. 18 10:30 a.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (1984) 1:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters II” 3:30 p.m. ET – “Fright Night” (2011) 6:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (2016) 9:00 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
Wednesday, Oct. 19 10:30 a.m. ET – “Fright Night” (2011) 1:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (2016) 4:00 p.m. ET – “Maleficent” 6:00 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 8:00-11:00 p.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
Thursday, Oct. 20 11:00 a.m. ET – “The Witches” (1990) 1:00 p.m. ET – “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” 3:00 p.m. ET – “Halloweentown” 5:00 p.m. ET – “Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge” 7:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 9:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 12:00 a.m. ET – “The Witches” (1990)
Friday, Oct. 21 10:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET – “Family Guy” Episodes 5:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 7:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. ET – “Family Guy” Episodes 12:00 a.m. ET – “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1992)
Saturday, Oct. 22 7:00 a.m. ET – “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1992) 9:00 a.m. ET – “Maleficent” 11:00 a.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (1984) 1:30 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters II” 4:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (2016) 7:15 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 9:20 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 11:30 p.m. ET – “The House with a Clock in Its Walls”
Sunday, Oct. 23 7:00 a.m. ET – “The House with a Clock in Its Walls” 9:30 a.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (1984) 12:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (2016) 3:10 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 5:15 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 7:25 p.m. ET – “Monsters, Inc” (Disney-Pixar) 9:30 p.m. ET – “Monsters University” (Disney-Pixar) 12:00 a.m. ET – “Shrek Forever After”
Monday, Oct. 24 12:00 p.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” 2:00 p.m. ET – “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” 5:00 p.m. ET – “Shrek Forever After” 7:00 p.m. ET – “Haunted Mansion” (2003) 9:00 p.m. ET – “Maleficent” 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
Tuesday, Oct. 25 10:30 a.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” 12:00 p.m. ET – “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” 3:00 p.m. ET – “Halloweentown” 5:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 7:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 9:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
Wednesday, Oct. 26 12:00 p.m. ET – “Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge” 2:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 4:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 2” 6:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” 8:00-11:00 p.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
“Ready or Not”
Eric Zachanowich/Fox Searchlight
Thursday, Oct. 27 11:00 a.m. ET – “Ready or Not” 1:00 p.m. ET – “Maleficent” 3:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (1984) 5:30 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters II” 8:00 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (2016) 12:00 a.m. ET – “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1992)
Friday, Oct. 28 10:30 a.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (2016) 1:30-11:00 p.m. ET – “Family Guy” Episodes 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Office” Episodes
Saturday, Oct. 29 7:00 a.m. ET – “How to Train Your Dragon 2” 9:10 a.m. ET – “Edward Scissorhands” 11:40 a.m. ET – “Frankenweenie” (2012) 1:40 p.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” 3:35 p.m. ET – “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” 5:40 p.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” 7:20 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 9:25 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 11:35 p.m. ET – “Ghostbusters II”
Sunday, Oct. 30 7:00 a.m. ET – “The Witches” (1990) 9:05 a.m. ET – “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” 10:45 a.m. ET – “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” 12:50 p.m. ET – “The Haunted Mansion” (2003) 2:55 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 5:00 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 7:05 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 9:15 p.m. ET – “Maleficent” 11:20 p.m. ET – “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
Monday, Oct. 31 10:30 a.m. ET – “Ghostbusters” (1984) 1:00 p.m. ET – “The Haunted Mansion” (2003) 3:00 p.m. ET – “Beetlejuice” 5:00 p.m. ET – “Maleficent” 7:00 p.m. ET – “Hotel Transylvania” 9:00 p.m. ET – “Hocus Pocus” 12:00-2:00 a.m. ET – “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” Episodes
We’ve been very much impressed with the new Apple AirPods Pro 2, and that’s partly down to the Adaptive Transparency tech they offer. Now it looks as though the same feature could be heading to the original Apple AirPods Pro as well.
As spotted on Reddit (opens in new tab) (via AppleInsider (opens in new tab)), the latest iOS 16.1 beta brings a software switch for Adaptive Transparency for the first-gen AirPods Pro. Apple hasn’t said anything officially, and it’s only in testing for now, but it looks as though the feature is on the way.
The standard transparency mode on the AirPods Pro attempts to accurately simulate outside sounds while the earbuds are in your ear. With the adaptive option enabled, that still happens, but with very loud noises (85db and above) made to sound quieter.
Older hardware
Apple has fitted an upgraded H2 chip into the second-gen AirPods Pro, which makes all of the necessary calculations required for Adaptive Transparency to work. It’s not clear yet how the H1 chip in the original AirPods Pro will manage.
It’s possible that Apple has updated and streamlined the relevant algorithms to suit the H1 chip, and it’s also possible that the feature won’t work quite as well on the first-gen earbuds compared to the second-gen earbuds.
Based on user reports, it seems that Adaptive Transparency functions properly on the original AirPods Pro, but as yet no one has done a detailed comparison with the 2022 version of the earbuds. Note that you also need the beta firmware for the AirPods Pro installed as well as the iOS beta for the feature to appear.
Analysis: more value for older devices
It’s clear why tech companies don’t rush out new features for older hardware: the internal components may not be powerful enough to handle the improved functionality, and it gives consumers fewer reasons to upgrade to a new device too.
However, we’d like to see more of what Apple has (apparently) done here. Where the hardware allows, giving owners of older devices access to newer features would add a lot of extra value to products – and it would do a lot for the reputation of a brand as well.
To be fair to Apple, it’s one of the best there is when it comes to pushing out new software for its existing gadgets. iOS 16 works on every iPhone all the way back to the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 from 2017, even if some of the features aren’t enabled on older devices.
Manufacturers are keen to promote their eco-friendly credentials, and this is another way of prolonging the life of products and slowing down the upgrade cycle – even if there isn’t quite as much profit made along the way.
MGM has given us something to chew on. Here is the first full trailer for Bones and All, the cannibal love story starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell in the former’s reunion with his Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino. Take a look above at the footage — set to the creepy strains of Leonard Cohen’s “You Want It Darker” — and at the new poster below.
The film, which premiered at Venice, screened at Telluride and is set to play the London and New York festivals in October, is a story of first love between Maren (Russell), a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee, an intense and disenfranchised drifter (Chalamet).
“You look like the kind that’s convinced himself he’s got this under his thumb,” Lee is told. “But you pull on one little thread …”
Michael Stuhlbarg, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, David Gordon-Green, Jessica Harper, Jake Horowitz, Mark Rylance and Anna Cobb also star in the film. David Kajganich wrote the screenplay based on Camille DeAngelis’ novel.
The press notes call Bones and All — which hits theaters in November via MGM — “a work of both tender fragility and feral intensity, setting corporeal horror and runaway romance against a vividly textured Americana.” Call this what you will, as you feast.
Apple announced the premiere date and shared a first look (pictured above) of “Echo 3,” the 10-episode action-thriller from Mark Boal and starring Luke Evans and Michiel Huisman, alongside Jessica Ann Collins. The show will premiere with the first three episodes on Wednesday, November 23, followed by one new episode weekly every Friday through January 13, 2023.
The action series, filmed in Colombia with English and Spanish dialogue, follows Amber Chesborough (Collins), a young scientist who is the emotional heart of a small American family. When she goes missing along the Colombia-Venezuela border, her brother, Bambi (Evans), and her husband, Prince (Huisman) – two men with deep military experience and complicated pasts – struggle to find her against the backdrop of a secret war.
Additional cast includes Martina Gusman as Violetta, a prominent political columnist, James Udom, Maria Del Rosario, Alejandro Furth, Juan Pablo Raba and special guest star Bradley Whitford. The show’s narrative is based on the series “When Heroes Fly,” created by Omri Givon, and inspired by the novel by Amir Gutfreund.
“Echo 3” is produced for Apple TV+ by Keshet Studios, the US production arm of Keshet International. Boal serves as showrunner and director, executive producing alongside Keshet Studios’ Peter Traugott, Jason Horwitch, Omri Givon, Eitan Mansuri, Jonathan Doweck, Mark Sourian, Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman and Karni Ziv. Pablo Trapero directed four episodes, including the pilot, and serves as an executive producer.
Also in today’s television news:
DEALS
BeIN Media Group and Group One Holdings have announced an exclusive multi-year partnership to broadcast One Championship events live across the Middle East and North Africa for the first time in the MENA region. The partnership will mark the first time BeIN is distributing mixed martial arts content to its audiences, underlining the growth of the sport across the region and its growing fanbase.
BeIN Sports, the group’s flagship channel, will broadcast One’s international events with both Arabic and English commentary across 24 territories in the MENA region. Martial arts participation and engagement has notably grown significantly across MENA over the last few years. This announcement from ONE follows recent agreements with the Qatar Investment Authority and Media City Qatar, with hopes to become the leader in martial arts and gaming across the region.
PROGRAMMING
Digital channel studio Best Ever Channels and comedy-based The Stand Group, Inc., announced its brand-new FAST channel, WItz-Comedy TV, which will debut November 2022 with new original series and standup comedy specials. Talent attached to Witz-Comedy TV include Sal Vulcano, Ari Shaffir, Big Jay Oakerson, Laurie Kilmartin, Rich Vos, Bonnie McFarlane, Bret Ernst, Yannis Pappis and more.
WItz Original Series, such as “Upstairs at The Stand,” “Passed” and more, will join the new channel’s comedy programming lineup. Also featured in the lineup are Vos’ “Anonymous,” an new comedy special and the first production shot at an Narcotics Anonymous convention and Laurie Kilmartin’s “45 Jokes About My Dead Dad.” Angry Buddha will produce its slate of specials and original programming for the WItz network, with WItz’s Jonathan Schwartz working with the production company to develop additional new series, features and formats for Witz.
Tollywood actor and producer Bandla Ganesh has given memorable performances in several movies. He catapulted to fame with Gabbar Singh directed by Harish Shankar. Besides his films, he remains in the news for his strong comments as well. Sometime back, he had openly condemned director Puri Jagannadh for not attending the pre-release event of his son Akash Puri’s film Chor Bazaar, which hit theatres in June.
Jagannadh also criticised Bandla indirectly over his comments. He said that one should use their words sparingly. Now, in a surprising turn of events Bandla has praised Jagannadh in a recent interview.
Top showsha video
In the interview, Ganesh was asked why Jagannadh had asked him to be careful while speaking. He said that Jagannadh loves his family that’s why he must have said that. However, Bandla further said that the Liger director is his friend. As a friend, he has full right to call out when Jagannadh is making a right or wrong choice.
Apart from this interview, Bandla also dotted headlines for his film Son of India, which was released some time back. Directed by Diamond Ratnababu, Son of India was a disaster at box office. According to critics, director Ratnababu had penned a good script. However, it was the weak narration which played the spoilsport. Adding to that, critics pointed out the lack of gripping screenplay. These factors made the film quite boring. Mohan Babu’s acting was lauded, but Son of India was unsuccessful at box office. Sainath Thotapalli had written the dialogues.
Son of India revolved around the story of the kidnapping of a minister, a film doctor, and a government officer. An NIA officer is appointed to crack this case. After initial investigation, it is discovered that a driver is behind the kidnappings.
Besides this film, Bandla also remained occupied with his production serial Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar. Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar was loved by audiences. They admired the storyline and acting performances.
The Film Development Council of the Philippines and the Directors Guild of the Philippines have chosen Erik Matti’s “On the Job: The Missing 8” as its entry for the Oscars’ international feature film race. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival last year where it won best actor for John Arcilla.
The film is a follow up to Matti’s “On The Job,” which bowed at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2013. Inspired by true events, the film follows a corrupt journalist seeking justice for his colleagues, and a convict who is frequently brought out of prison to perform assassinations.
The “On the Job” franchise was also expanded as a TV series for HBO, which was recently nominated in the TV Movie/Mini-Series category at the International Emmys.
Pakistan Jumps for ‘Joyland’
Pakistan’s Oscar selection committee, headed by double Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, has chosen Saim Sadiq’s “Joyland” as its entry for the Oscars’ international feature film race. The film had its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year where it won the Queer Palm and the jury prize at the festival’s Un Certain Regard strand.
The tale of sexual revolution sees a patriarchal family yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theater and falls for an ambitious transsexual starlet.
Producers are Apoorva Guru Charan, Sarmad Sultan Khoosat (“Circus of Life”) and Lauren Mann (“The Card Counter”). It was produced through All Caps and Khoosat Films in association with Diversity Hire, One Two Twenty Entertainment, Blood Moon Creative, Film Manufacturers, Astrakan and Noruz Films, from producers Kathryn M. Moseley, Oliver Ridge, April Shih, and Katharina Otto-Bernstein. Executive producers are Ramin Bahrani, William Olsson, Jen Goyne Blake, Tiffany Boyle, Elsa Ramo, Oleg Dubson, Kathrin Lohmann, Hari Charana Prasad, Sukanya Puvvula and Owais Ahmed.
Portugal Selects ‘Alma Viva’
Portugal has selected “Alma Viva,” the feature debut of Portuguese-French filmmaker Cristèle Alves Meira which world premiered at Critics’ Week in Cannes.
“Alma Viva” follows Salomé, a little girl who returns to her family village nestled in the Portuguese mountains for the holidays. As the holidays begin in a carefree atmosphere, her beloved grandmother suddenly dies. While the adults are tearing each other apart over the funeral, Salomé is haunted by the spirit of the one who was considered a witch.
“Alma Viva” is a personal project for Alves Meira, who was born in France to Portuguese emigrant parents and cast her own daughter is the role of Salomé.
The film was produced by Gaëlle Mareschi and Pedro Borges, and co-produced by Sébastien Delloye and Rachel Morte. Producers are Guillaume Marten, David Thion and Philippe Martin, Mathias Jenny and Thomas Berthon-Fishman.
Cristèle Alves Meira was trained as an actor and began her career as a theater director. She then directed a documentary in Cape Verde, “Som & Morabeza,” and one in Angola, “Born in Luanda.” She directed a few shorts, including “Campo de Víboras” and “Invisível Herói.”
Morocco Picks ‘The Blue Caftan’ as its Oscar Candidate
Morocco has chosen Maryam Touzani’s “The Blue Caftan” as its official entry for the Oscars’ international feature film race. The movie world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Fipresci prize. Films Boutique has sold the film to more than 30 territories.
Strand Releasing will distribute the film in North America. “The Blue Caftan” just had its North American premier at Toronto in the Special Screenings section.
Touzani’s follow-up to Un Certain Regard title “Adam,” “The Blue Caftan” tells the story of Halim and Mina, a married couple running a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice shows an utmost dedication in learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim. Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man.
Produced by Nabil Ayouch (“Casablanca Beats,” “Much Loved”), “The Blue Caftan” stars Lubna Azabal (“Incendies”) and Saleh Bakri (“Costa Brava, Lebanon”). The film is produced by Ali n’ Productions in Morocco, Les Films du Nouveau Monde in France, Velvet in Belgium and Snowglobe in Denmark.
Argentina Submits ‘Argentina 1985’ to Oscar race
Argentina has sent “Argentina 1985,” directed by Santiago Mitre, to vie for the Academy Awards’ best international film prize.
The drama based on real events won the Fipresci jury prize at the Venice Film Festival, where it had its world premiere, and snagged the coveted Audience Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival, both in September.
Starring Ricardo Darin (“The Secret in Their Eyes,” “Wild Tales”), “Argentina, 1985” is inspired by the true story of prosecutor Julio Strassera, who – together with young upstart lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo and their even younger legal team – took on Argentina’s military junta and brought several members to trial. The military dictatorship of Jorge Videla was accused of sequestering, torturing and murdering alleged members of the opposition. It ruled with brutal impunity until democracy was finally restored in 1983.
As Infinity Hill producer Axel Kuschevatzky pointed out in a previous interview with Variety: “One of the reasons why we made this film is because most of us have young children; we made this for the generations to come and most of all, to demonstrate how fragile democracy is.”
“While there will always be doubts that justice can prevail in a democracy; this trial proves it can be done. The message is universal and can be applied to the current state of the world we live in: ‘Nobody is above the law.’”
Structured like a thriller but with some touches of wry humor, “Argentina 1985” is a co-production between Amazon Studios, Mitre’s La Unión de los Ríos, Kenya Films and Infinity Hill. Prime Video will launch the film worldwide on Oct. 21.
Denmark Selects ‘Holy Spider’
Denmark has selected “Holy Spider,” Ali Abbasi’s Iran-set daring thriller, to be its official Oscar entry for the international feature film race.
The movie world premiered at Cannes in competition and won best actress for Iranian Ebrahimi. It went on to play at Toronto and earned unanimous praise.
A Danish-Iranian filmmaker, Abbasi made his feature debut with “Border” which won a prize at Un Certain Regard in Cannes. “Holy Spider,” Abbasi’s sophomore outing, was one of the three films shortlisted by Denmark’s Oscar committee, along with ‘Forever’ by Frelle Petersen and ‘As in Heaven’ by Tea Lindeburg.
Based on a true story, the film revolves around a family man, Saeed, who embarks on his own religious quest to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of sex workers and turns into a serial killer. The film was produced by Sol Bondy at One Two Film, and Jacob Jarek at Profile Pictures. Wild Bunch International handles worldwide sales. Utopia acquired North American rights off the film’s acclaimed world premiere at Cannes. The Danish release is scheduled for Oct. 13.
Denmark’s Oscar committee comprises of chairman Claus Ladegaard, CEO of the Danish Film Institute, Danish producer Kim Magnusson Søren Balle, screenwriter Mette Heeno, cinematographer Jan Weincke, film critic Nanna Frank Rasmussen, exhibitor Line Bjørn Daugbjerg Christensen and Marianne Moritzen, head of fiction at the Danish Film Institute.
Hong Kong Picks ‘Where the Wind Blows’ For Oscars Contention
Hong Kong has selected controversial crime thriller “Where the Wind Blows” as its contender for the Academy Awards’ best international film competition. The film is directed by Philip Yung, whose previous “Port of Call” was the territory’s Oscar contender in 2015.
The selection was made by a committee within the Hong Kong Film Producers Association. The organization said Tuesday said that “Wind” won on a majority vote, but it did not name the other titles on its shortlist.
The film, previously known as “Theory of Ambitions” was produced by Hong Kong’s Mei Ah Film Production in a co-venture with mainland Chinese firms Dadi Century and Global Group, with production taking place as far back as 2018. Its production budget has been reported as $38 million, making it one of the most expensive Hong Kong films of all time.
“Wind” stars Hong Kong’s Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Aaron Kwok, Patrick Tam and Michael Chow and Chinese actress Du Juan. The actors play four notoriously corrupt police officers who rose to power in 1960s Hong Kong, with Du one of their wives.
“Technical reasons” is widely understood in mainland China as a euphemism for censorship and was the phrase used for the abrupt cancelation of Zhang Yimou’s “One Second” at the 2019 Berlin film festival and for the last-minute halt of “The Eight Hundred” which had been set as the opening film at the Shanghai festival later the same year.
The film was again selected as the HKIFF’s opening film in 2022 and played in public on Aug. 15, 2022. Yung was not present in Hong Kong when it screened.
Estonia Picks Basketball Film ‘Kalev’ For Oscars Consideration
A jury convened by the Estonian Film Institute has selected Ove Musting’s basketball film “Kalev” as the country’s candidate in the contest for the Best International Feature Film Oscar at the Academy Awards.
A jury led by Edith Sepp, the head of the EFI, selected this year’s nominee from among 11 candidates. Other members of the jury included cinema journalist Tõnu Karjatse, film designer Eugen Tamberg, film booking specialist Tõnis Lõhmus, distributor Kaupo Liiv, film critic and Black Nights Film Festival director Tiina Lokk, and film critic Johannes Lõhmus.
“Kalev” is the story of the journey of the Estonian basketball team to the final championships held in the sport in the collapsing Soviet Union. With many of their fellow countrymen opposed to them taking part, and pitted against merciless opponents, the team faces turbulent times on and off the court. The film was inspired by actual events that took place in 1991, when the Estonian team won the last ever Soviet basketball trophy.
“Despite knowing how the story ends, tension is maintained to the final frame,” noted the jury in justifying their choice. “The film is marked out by first-rate direction and editing, which enhance every scene, and the narrative itself is fascinating to follow. Adding to all of this is exciting lighting and camerawork. Among the cast, Mait Malmsten in particular stands out for his performance. Basketball is used in the film to convey key moments in the modern history of the Republic of Estonia: its regaining of independence, the events leading up to it, the problems this involved and the solutions that were found to them.”
The jury felt that in revisiting the basketball team’s 1991 triumph the director was examining themes that are pertinent today: a country’s right to self-determination; national pride; opposition to an imperialistic world view; and sport as a universal concept that transcends political power struggles. Another of “Kalev’s” strengths is that it examines how a team comes together and the roles that individuals play therein, the jury said.
“Kalev” received four votes from the jury. The runner-up, which received three votes, was Jaak Kilmi’s family film “Tagurpidi Torn” (The Sleeping Beast), about which one of the jury members said: “Of the films in contention, ‘Tagurpidi Torn’ was in my view the strongest overall. A thriller about social problems, it manages to maintain its tempo while building up a sense of unease in the viewer, and doesn’t answer all of the questions it asks, but leaves a lot of them up in the air.” Another member of the jury said of the film: “It’s a kids’ film that makes perfect viewing for adults as well, leading viewers down pathways of recollection that have surreptitiously embedded themselves in our subconscious.”
“Kalev” was shot by Rein Kotov, designed by Tiiu-Ann Pello, composed by Mihkel Zilmer and produced by Pille Rünk and Maria Avdjuško. It is an Allfilm and Ugri Film co-production distributed by Hea Film.
The making of the film was supported by the EFI and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, with film producer Kristjan Rahu providing substantial private backing. Other supporters included entrepreneur Priit Koit, the companies Alexela, Postimees, Cramo, Golden Club and Sportland, and the Riga Film Fund.
Italy Picks Mario Martone’s ‘Nostalgia’
Italy has selected Mario Martone’s Naples-set drama “Nostalgia,” which competed in Cannes, as its contender in the international Oscars race.
The well-received pic, which has been praised by Variety critic Guy Lodge as the prolific Italian auteur’s “most rewarding film in years,” stars Pierfrancesco Favino as the middle-aged Felice Lasco, who returns to the bustling port city after having lived in Egypt for 40 years. Once back, he is caught up in memories of a distant life spent in his hometown, as his criminal youth slowly catches up with him.
Besides Favino, the “Nostalgia” cast also includes Francesco Di Leva, who played the lead in Martone’s “The Mayor of Rione Sanità” and in this drama plays a priest who tries to help the protagonist navigate the Naples of today.
“Nostalgia,” which is based on Neapolitan author Ermanno Rea’s novel by the same title, was penned by Martone with Ippolita Di Maio.
The film is lensed by ace Italian cinematographer Paolo Carnera (TV series “Gomorrah”) and shot in Naples’ vibrant Sanità quarter, in the heart of the city, a labyrinthine area known for poverty and crime, but also for magnificent churches and Baroque buildings. Naples is clearly a strong element of the narrative.
“Nostalgia” is an Italian-French coproduction between Italy’s Picomedia, Mad Entertainment, Medusa Film and France’s Rosebud Entertainment Pictures.
“Nostalgia,” which has performed relatively well at the sagging Italian box office, has been sold widely by Italy’s True Colours in more than twenty international territories, but still lacks U.S. distribution.
Martone’s latest feature emerged as Italy’s Oscar candidate from a group of twelve titles, beating Emanuele Crialese’s Penelope Cruz-starrer “L’Immensità” and Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama “The Eight Mountains,” which were considered the other frontrunners. Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All” was not a candidate because it’s in English.
France Selects “Saint Omer”
France’s Oscar committee has selected Alice Diop’s “Saint-Omer” to represent the country in the international feature film race. Diop’s debut fiction feature “Saint-Omer” won the Silver Lion and the Lion of the Future at the Venice Film Festival. It will be released in the U.S. by Super, the boutique distribution label from Neon. Saint Omer” will premiere at the New York Film Festival and play the BFI London Festival.
“Saint Omer,” which Diop co-wrote with Amrita David and Marie NDiaye, stars Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville and Aurélia Petit. Toufik Ayadi and Christophe Barral of Srab Films produced alongside Arte France Cinéma and Pictanovo Hauts-de-France.
“Saint Omer” was one of five films that were pre-selected by the committee, along with Mia Hansen-Love’s “One Fine Morning” starring Lea Seydoux and acquired by Sony Pictures Classics; Eric Gravel’s drama “Full Time” starring “Call My Agent!” star Laure Calamy; Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret’s “The Worst Ones;” and Alice Winocour’s “Revoir Paris” starring Virginie Efira.
This year’s committee includes international sales agents Hengameh Panahi, Grégoire Melin, producers Philippe Rousselet (“Coda”), Didar Domehri (“Girls of the Sun”), and directors Jacques Audiard (“A Prophet”) and Michel Gondry (“L’ecûme des jours”), along with Gaumont executive Ariane Toscan du Plantier.
Venezuela Picks “The Box”
Venezuela has submitted Lorenzo Vigas’ “The Box” (“La Caja”) to represent the country at the Oscars. Vigas, who made film festival history by being the first Venezuelan-born filmmaker to snag the Venice Golden Lion with his 2015 feature debut “From Afar,” presented “The Box” at the Lido last year.
He describes “The Box” as the final part of a trilogy that began with his Cannes Critics’ Week short “Elephants Never Forget” and continued with “From Afar.”
“The heart of the story is really about a boy in search of his father,” said Vigas. That’s the overriding theme in all three stories: What happens to a child who grows up without a father.”
Cinepolis releases “The Box” in Mexico in November while Cines Unidos releases the drama in Venezuela in December.
Mubi, which has secured the U.S. rights, will release the drama theatrically in New York on Nov. 4 before streaming it on its platform from Nov.11. “We decided to wait for the exhibition market to normalize a bit and now that moment has arrived,” Vigas told Variety.
“The Box” stars non-pro newcomer Hatzin Navarrete who plays a teen who is obsessed about finding his father. After he picks up a box in what he’s told are the remains of his father exhumed from a mass grave, he spots Mario (played by veteran Mexican actor, Hernan Mendoza) who is a dead ringer for the supposedly deceased parent. Hatzin hounds him until Mario grudgingly accepts him into the family and his dodgy business recruiting workers for the local factories.
Said Variety reviewer Guy Lodge: “This potentially far-fetched pivot into high-stakes, blood-laced thriller territory is kept grounded and plausible by the mutually watchful, reflective connection between the two leads, as the relationship between Hatzin and Mario bristles and evolves and gradually finds common ground.”
Working with ace cinematographer Sergio Armstrong, Vigas shot “The Box” at various locations in Chihuahua and the border town of Juarez, where large multinational factories stand and where unresolved cases of vanished female workers still persist.
Based in Mexico, Vigas is a producing partner at Teorema with Michel Franco.
“The Box” is co-produced by Teorema and SK Global Entertainment in co-production with Labodigital. Cologne-based The Match Factory handles world sales.
Sweden Picks ‘Boy From Heaven’
Tarik Saleh’s film “Boy from Heaven” is Sweden’s contender for the 2022-23 Academy Awards Best International Feature Film category.
The political thriller about fisherman’s son Adam, who is thrown into a brutal power struggle between Egypt’s religious and political elite, won the best screenplay award at Cannes earlier this year, as well as the François Chalais Prize.
Saleh said: “I am honored to represent Sweden with our film. Sweden has become a great film nation and to be chosen by my fellow filmmakers makes me very proud.”
Producer Kristina Åberg said: “I would like to thank the jury and everyone who has worked with ‘Boy From Heaven.’ It’s truly amazing that our film has been chosen as Sweden’s submission to the Oscars. The film has already received great international acclaim and made headlines in international press since the success in Cannes. Now it’s sought after among distributors all over the world.”
Petter Mattsson, head of the international department at the Swedish Film Institute and chair of the Swedish Oscar Committee added: “‘Boy From Heaven’ is a film with both political and personal depth where the little guy becomes a pawn in a game with high stakes. With his masterful script, fantastic acting, magnificent settings and cinematography that leaves the viewer breathless, Tarik Saleh has created a political thriller of high international standard. I am convinced that the film has a real chance of going all the way to nomination and beyond.”
Sweden has been nominated in the category several times and has won it thrice, the last time in 1983 for Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander.”
Palestine Picks ‘Mediterranean Fever’
Maha Haj’s drama “Mediterranean fever” which tackles the dynamics of male friendship and the strain of living under Israeli occupation, has been selected as Palestine’s official entry for the 2022-23 Academy Awards Best International Feature Film category.
The film, which world premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard earlier this year, follows a family man named Waleed whose chronic depression hinders his dreams of a writing career and leads him into the path of neighbor and petty criminal Jalal.
“Mediterranean Fever” is a co-production between Palestine, Germany, France, Cyprus and Qatar, with sales handled by Luxbox.
Haj in an interview with Variety said that the film “Is partly about the frustration that we Palestinians live with daily, whether we’re in Gaza, the West Bank, inside the state of Israel or exiled. It’s the sense of being imprisoned and not knowing when you’re going to be free, if you’re going to be free.”
The Israeli-born Palestinian director also pointed out that “I decided not to take money from the Israeli Film Fund although I have every right to,” changing her approach from her first feature, “Personal Affairs” which was funded by the organization.
“I wanted to make a film without Israeli money because I wanted to present it to the world as Palestinian,” she said.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized Palestine as a territory in 2003. Since then Palestine has scored two nominations for Hany Abu Assad’s “Omar” and “Paradise Now,” respectively in 2005 and 2013.
Lithuania Picks ‘Pilgrims’
Lithuania has selected “Pilgrims” (aka “Pilgrimai”) as its national contender for the Oscars’ best international feature film award. Directed by Laurynas Bareisa, the film is a troubling drama about a man and a woman who travel to a small town to investigate the gruesome death of the man they had in common. The film debuted last year at the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival where it won best picture. It had its qualifying commercial release earlier this year through distributor Kino Pavasaris. International sales are handled by the U.K.-based Reason8. The selection was announced by the Lithuanian Film Center and the Lithuanian Filmmakers Union.
India Picks ‘Last Film Show’
Pan Nalin’s Gujarati-language “Last Film Show” (“Chhello Show”) is India’s contender for the 2022-23 Academy Awards Best International Feature Film category, the Film Federation of India has revealed.
The partly autobiographical drama takes Nalin back to his roots in Saurashtra, Gujarat, western India, where “Last Film Show” was filmed. The story is set against the backdrop of Indian cinemas witnessing a massive transition from celluloid to digital where hundreds of single-screen cinemas are either in ruins or have disappeared altogether.
The film follows nine-year-old boy Samay, whose life turns upside down after watching his first movie. He passionately falls in love with films against his father’s wish. Samay strikes a deal with Fazal, the projectionist, who will let him watch movies for free in exchange for eating the contents of his lunchbox. Their food-for-films deal turns into an endearing friendship, but heartbreaking choices lie ahead.
The film, produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur, Pan Nalin, Dheer Momaya and Mark Duale, premiered at Tribeca and has won multiple awards across various international film festivals and scored distribution deals worldwide.
Nalin said: ”I could have never imagined such a day would come and bring light and celebration of light. ‘Chhello Show’ has been enjoying love from around the world but there was an ache in my heart that how do I make India discover it? Now I can breathe again and believe in cinema that entertains, inspires and enlightens.“
Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired all U.S. rights to the film, which is represented in international markets by Orange Studio.
Roy Kapur said: “We are thrilled and honored that our film, ‘Last Film Show’ has been selected to represent India at the Academy Awards. There could not be a more apt time for a film like this one, that celebrates the magic and wonder of cinema and the theatrical experience. When cinema-going around the world has been disrupted by a pandemic, it reminds audiences anew of the first time they fell in love with the experience of watching a movie in a darkened cinema hall. It is a matter of great pride for us to represent our country with this film, and with the backing of our partners Samuel Goldwyn Films and Orange Studio, we will make sure that we give it our best shot at the Academy Awards.’
Momaya added: ”We are very excited, this is just a first step. We aim to get a nomination and eventually win. Hoping we can make our country proud.”
Nepal Picks ‘Butterfly on the Window Pane’
The International Feature Film Selection Committee of Nepal has selected feature debutant Sujit Bidari’s “Ainaa Jhyal Ko Putali” (“Butterfly on the Window Pane”) as its contender for the 2022-23 Academy Awards Best International Feature Film category.
The film, which debuted at the Busan International Film Festival’s New Currents competition strand in 2020, released earlier this month in Nepal to much critical acclaim. It follows studious teenager Bidya and her young brother Basanta. When he learns that his sister is giving up on her dreams, Basanta tries to give Bidya the hope she desperately needs.
Nepal began submitting to the category in 1999 and scored a nomination with its very first submission – Eric Valli’s “Himalaya.” It has yet to win an Oscar.
New Zealand Picks ‘Muru’
New Zealand has selected “Muru,” written and directed by Tearepa Kahi, as its contender for the 2022-23 Academy Awards Best International Feature Film category.
Inspired by actual events, “Muru” is the story of a local Police Sergeant (portrayed by Cliff Curtis), who must choose between duty to his badge or his people, when the government invokes anti-terrorism powers to launch an armed raid on the remote Urewera community. The action drama is not a re-creation, but a response to the raids against Tuhoe in 2007 and 1916. ‘Muru’ is a Maori concept for ‘forgiveness.’
“Muru” was the opening film of the New Zealand International Film Festival in July and began its commercial release in the country in August, landing on top of the box office for two weeks. It had its international premiere at the recent Toronto film festival and will next play in competition at the Busan festival. A commercial release in Australia also follows in October.
Rialto Distribution releasing the film in New Zealand and Australia. Arclight Films is handling sales internationally.
Iran picks Houman Seyedi’s ‘World War III’
Iran has selected anti-totalitarian political drama “World War III” by prolific young director Houman Seyedi as its candidate in the race for the international feature film Oscar.
“World War III” recently scored a double whammy at the Venice Film Festival, scooping the top prize in the Horizons sidebar and also an acting prize for leading man Mohsen Tanabandeh.
The film is a political metaphor in which a homeless day laborer on a construction site named Shakib gets hired to work as an extra on a film being shot on the site about the atrocities committed by Hitler during WWII.
Shakib then has to contend with the pic’s tyrant filmmakers and a secret lover who jeopardizes this potentially life-changing opportunity.
Seyedi in his director’s statement noted that “Societies ruled by totalitarian regimes are the most effective creators of anarchists.”
“I’ve always wondered for how much longer there can be tyranny and oppression in the world and who the people are who will be crushed by the powerful rulers of such plagued societies,” the director said.
“World War III,” which Seyedi co-wrote, directed, edited and produced with financing from an Iranian company called Namava, is the director’s sixth feature. Sales company Iranian Independents is distributing the film internationally
“World War III” was selected by an Iranian government committee to represent the country at the Oscars out of more than 50 submissions that were at first whittled down to 17 and subsequently to five final candidates.
Unsurprisingly incarcerated director Jafar Panahi’s “No Bears,” which won the Special Jury Prize at Venice, was not among the candidates. “No Bears” is the latest of several features made in secrecy by the embattled auteur who was sentenced to six years in prison by Iranian authorities in July for “propaganda against the system.”
Iran has won the international feature film Oscar twice, both times with films by Asghar Farhadi, who won for “A Separation” in 2011 and for “The Salesman” in 2016.
Israel Selects “Cinema Sabaya”
Israel has selected “Cinema Sabaya,” Orit Fouks Rotem’s feature debut, as its Oscar candidate in the international feature film race.
The film just triumphed at the Ophir Awards, Israel’s highest film honor, winning five prizes, including best film, director and supporting actress for Joanna Said during a ceremony hosted on Sept. 18. “Cinema Sabaya,” which previously won best debut at the Jerusalem Film Festival, revolves around eight women, Arab and Jewish, who come from different backgrounds and take part in a video workshop hosted by a young Tel Aviv-based filmmaker. Through the experience, the women get to know one another and see their views and beliefs shifting.
Belgium has selected Lukas Dhont’s movie “Close” as its candidate in the race for the international feature film Oscar. The movie world premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Grand Prize (shared with Claire Denis’s film “Stars at Noon”).
“Close” follows the intense friendship between 13-year-old boys Léo and Remi, which suddenly gets disrupted. Struggling to understand what has happened, Léo approaches Sophie, Rémi’s mother. The film is billed as an exploration of friendship and responsibility. The film is headlined by newcomers Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele. Léa Drucker and Kevin Janssens, Marc Weiss, Igor Van Dessel, and Léon Bataille also star. The movie marks Dhont’s follow up to his Golden Camera winning feature debut “Girl.”
“Close” was produced by Michiel Dhont and Dirk Impens for Menuet and co-produced by Diaphana, Topkapi Films and Versus Productions. The Match Factory has so far sold to more than 100 territories worldwide. MUBI acquired the rights for UK/Ireland, Latin America, Turkey, and India, and A24 has North American rights.
“We are so thrilled that Belgium has chosen Close as its official submission to the 2023 Academy Awards,” said David Laub at A24. “We have loved this unique and moving film since the moment we saw it in Cannes, and are so proud to be behind it in the US and to be orchestrating its awards campaign,” Laub continued.
The executive said A24 strongly believes that “it will resonate with and profoundly affect its audience, and we are elated that it has taken this next step of becoming Belgium’s official submission.”
“Close” will kick off the Ghent Film Festival in Belgium on Oct. 11.
Austria Selects “Corsage” Starring Vicky Krieps
Austria has selected Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage” as its official entry in the race for the international feature film Oscar.
The period drama stars Vicky Krieps, who won the best actress award in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes for her performance as Empress Elisabeth of Austria.
The film had its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and it will screen at the New York Film Festival too. IFC Films will release it in U.S. theaters on Dec. 23.
The film received rave reviews at Cannes, with The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw writing that Krieps gives “an exhilaratingly fierce, uningratiating performance,” and Jessica Kiang at Variety describing the “brilliant” film as “a witty subversion of biopic and costume-drama clichés.”
Picturehouse Entertainment will release the film in the U.K. on Dec. 30. Other distributors include Ad Vitam in France, BIM in Italy, The Searchers in Benelux, Adso Films in Spain, and M2 in Poland. MK2 Films is handling international sales.
“Corsage” chronicles a critical period in the life of Empress Elisabeth. It starts in 1877 when Elisabeth – renowned for her beauty – is celebrating her 40th birthday. We see her insisting that her corset is laced ever tighter, and restricting what she eats to make that so. It is a metaphor for how she is constrained by the expectations of society – limited to merely ceremonial duties, despite her intelligence, lust for life and rebellious spirit.
Read the Variety interview with Kreutzer and Krieps here.
Croatia Selects Juraj Lerotić’s ‘Safe Place’
Croatia has selected Juraj Lerotić’s “Safe Place” in the race for a best international feature film nomination at the 95th Academy Awards.
The director’s feature debut is the emotional story of a family reeling in the wake of a suicide attempt that centers on a man’s struggle to save his younger brother, creating a rift in the family’s everyday life.
The film won awards for best first feature film, best emerging director and best actor at the Locarno Film Festival and was named best film at Sarajevo, where Lerotić also won best actor honors. Variety’s Guy Lodge described it as a “supremely poised and moving first feature” and a “shattering” debut, “with a long trail of further festival bookings surely ahead.”
“Safe Place” is produced by Pipser and Zelena zraka, with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Center, Eurimages, HRT, CineLink Industry Days and the Slovenian Film Center. Cercamon is handling world sales.
Playing on Lerotić’s family history, the film features the Croatian multihyphenate in the lead role. Other cast includes Snježana Sinovčić Šiškov and Goran Marković. The cinematographer is Marko Brdar and the editor is Marko Ferković.
The Netherlands Enters ‘Narcosis’
The Netherlands has selected Martijn de Jong’s feature debut “Narcosis” as the country’s entry in the contest for the best international feature category of the 95th Academy Awards.
Penned by de Jong alongside Laura van Dijk, the movie tells the story of a close-knit family which is disrupted when the father fails to resurface during a professional dive.
The movie is headlined by Thekla Reuten, who starred in Oscar-nominated Dutch feature “Twin Sisters,” and Fedja van Huêt, who was the leading actor in “Character,” winner of the best foreign language film Oscar in 1998.
“Narcosis,” produced by OAK Motion Pictures, will world premiere during the Netherlands Film Festival in September. Coccinelle Film Sales is repping international sales.
The Czech Republic Enters ‘Il Boemo’
The Czech Republic has selected period drama “Il Boemo” as its submission. The film, written and directed by Petr Václav, will celebrate its world premiere in San Sebastian Film Festival’s main competition this month.
Set in the second half of the 18th century, “Il Boemo” tells the story of Josef Mysliveček, son of a Prague miller, who leaves for Italy to fulfil his dream of establishing himself as a composer. Thanks to his talent but also his charisma and luck, in a few years he manages to break through. From an unknown musician, he becomes one of the biggest stars of the musical scene. His fame gives him access to the highest circles of society, and wins him the favour of some of the leading opera divas, but he struggles financially.
Václav made his feature debut in 1996 with his film about a Roma boy, “Marian,” which won him the Silver Leopard at Locarno. He is also known for his films “Parallel Worlds” (2001) and “The Way Out” (2014), which premiered at San Sebastian in the New Directors competition, and the ACID section at Cannes, respectively. “The Way Out,” which focused on a young Roma woman trying to escape her poor living conditions, won seven Czech Lions in 2014, including best film. This was followed by drama “We Are Never Alone” (2016, presented in Forum at the Berlinale and at Toronto), “The Jumper” (2017) and “Confession of the Vanished,” the 2015 documentary about a performance of Mysliveček’s opera “Olimpiade,” and the composer himself, which served as prep work for “Il Boemo.”
“Il Boemo” is a Czech-Italian-Slovak co-operation with Jan Macola of Mimesis Film being the lead producer. Co-producers include Italian Dugong Films (producer Marco Alessi), Slovak sentimentalfilm (Marek Urban) and Czech co-producers Czech Television, Magiclab, Libor Winkler, Daniel Bergmann and Jan Menclík.
“Il Boemo” was supported by the Czech Film Fund with Euros 948,000, and also by the Production Incentives program. The film was also backed by Creative Europe – MEDIA, Prague Film Fund, Pilsen Region, South Moravian Film Fund, Slovak Audiovisual Fund, Film Foundation, Arte, MIBAC (Ministero della cultura), Liguria Film Fund, Veneto Film Fund and Sicilia Film Fund.
Ukraine Enters Maryna Er Gorbach’s ‘Klondike’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Ukraine has entered Maryna Er Gorbach’s “Klondike” in the race for a best international feature film nomination at the 95th Academy Awards, Variety has learned exclusively.
The film was one of two features considered by the Ukrainian Oscar Committee in the selection process, alongside “Sniper. The White Raven,” directed by Marian Bushan.
“Klondike” portrays the brutal realities of the war unfolding in Ukraine’s Donbass region through the lens of a pregnant farmstead owner whose life and home have begun to unravel.
The film, which earned Er Gorbach best director honors after its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic competition at Sundance, has racked up a slew of awards, including best director at Sarajevo and best international film at Chile’s 18th Santiago International Film Festival (Sanfic).
Largely told from the viewpoint of the pregnant Irka (Oxana Cherkashyna), “Klondike” begins on July 17, 2014, the day a Malaysia Airlines passenger flight was shot down over Donbass, killing nearly 300 people. That tragedy, however, is set against a larger drama as the village that Irka and her husband, Tolik (Sergey Shadrin), call home is beset by armed separatist forces.
Variety’s Guy Lodge, in a rave review of Er Gorbach’s “uncompromising, formally remarkable” feature, wrote: “Personal and political turmoil face a serene camera in ‘Klondike,’ a vision of the ongoing war in Donbass war that brooks no compromise in depicting the severe impact of the conflict on the region’s civilians — in particular, the innocent women to whom the film is dedicated.”
He added: “In Er Gorbach’s potent film, shot in unbroken, unblinking takes that observe obscene violence and destruction with cold candor, Irka’s resistance to warfare is at once fierce and futile.” Writing on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lodge noted that the film has “chilling topicality in its favor, even if the tensions it shows are all too longstanding.”
“Klondike” is a Kedr Film and Protim production in co-production with Turkish broadcaster TRT. It’s produced by Er Gorbach, Sviatoslav Bulakovskyi and Mehmet Bahadir Er.
Hungary Selects ‘Blockade’ (EXCLUSIVE)
“Blockade” has been chosen as Hungary’s entry in the contest for a nomination in the Academy Awards’ best international film category, Variety has learned exclusively.
The film tells the true story of the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary, József Antall, from his freedom fighter days in 1956 to the infamous 1990 taxi blockade that shook the nation.
The film is directed by Ádám Tősér, written by Norber Köbli, and produced by Tamás Lajos at Film Positive Productions. International sales are handled by NFI World Sales.
The decision was made by the Hungarian Oscar Selection Committee, which includes Csaba Káel, the government’s commissioner for the development of the Hungarian motion picture industry, and chairman of the National Film Institute; film directors Csaba Bereczki and Péter Bergendy; Tibor Fonyódi, a screenwriter; András Kálmán, a film distribution expert; Ákos Pesti, a producer; and Emil Novák, a cinematographer.
The film is set six months after Antall becomes Prime Minister of the first democratic government following the 1989 collapse of the Communist regime, and faces the most difficult test of his life.
Taxi drivers protest against the drastic rise in gas prices by the House of the National Assembly. Quickly disillusioned with democracy, they blockade Budapest, and soon after the whole country. The opposition sides with them and prompts them to start a revolution.
The reserved and thoughtful Antall goes head to head with the populist President Árpád Göncz about how they think the situation can be resolved, and their personalities and opinions collide.
The press and public opinion sympathize with the taxi drivers, and the police force abandons the government, now unpopular due to their position. Antall, a former participant in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, finds himself on the other side of the barricade.
In the midst of this crisis, he has to undergo an operation for cancer and in the hospital ward afterwards he looks back at his life as a young history teacher turned revolutionary, and how he met his wife.
Now, Antall has to make a decision about what he should do. He uses all the resources he possibly can without abandoning the democratic values that have reshaped his country, and finds a solution.
“Blockade” is not only the chronicle of the four days of the taxi blockade, it shows the battles and bargains behind the scenes, and the private life of a Prime Minister dealing with a crisis, and fighting for democracy.
“As Hungary lives through the last hours of Soviet occupation, and an unexpectedly escalated crisis situation and a human drama, the film tells the story of a society starting to learn that democracy is not only about freedom, but also about duties and taking responsibility,” Tősér said.
“’Blockade’ is the incredible true story of a nation divided and the leader who unites it – while fighting a battle against his worst enemy yet: cancer,” Köbli said.
“This film is special, most of all, because it is the first one to show the circumstances of the systemic change following the Socialist era in Hungary, and the political and private life of József Antall, Prime Minister of the first democratically elected government,” Lajos said.
The historical drama will be released in Hungary on Oct. 20.
Film Positive Productions, led by Lajos, has experience both in local and international feature films, television films, and documentaries. Along with its sister company, Szupermodern Studio, it has produced numerous critically acclaimed television films, including “Trezor,” “Eternal Winter” and “The Exam,” and its feature film sequel “The Game.”
Tősér has been working in film production for over 20 years. His latest film is “Kittenberger – The Last Hunt” (2021), which presents the adventurous life story of Africa expert Kálmán Kittenberger. In his 2020 film “Roads Fifty-Six,” through personal stories, he shows viewers the fates of 1956 refugees beyond the Iron Curtain. He produced the documentary “Strong” (2011), which follows the heroic struggle of Alpinist Zsolt Erőss, from his leg amputation to his return to the mountains.
Japan Enters Hayakawa Chie’s ‘Plan 75’
“Plan 75,” first-time director Hayakawa Chie’s drama about a government program to euthanize the elderly in a near-future Japan, has been selected as Japan’s entry for best international feature film at the upcoming Academy Awards. The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, which oversees the selection process, made the announcement.
Based on Hayakawa’s original script, the film first took form as a segment in “Ten Years Japan,” a 2018 omnibus with Kore-eda Hirokazu serving as executive producer.
Starring Baisho Chieko, with support from Isomura Yuto, Kawai Yumi and Stefanie Arianne, the film focuses on an elderly woman (Baisho) who is enticed into the title program, which promises an easy and painless death to anyone 75 or older. The aim, never directly stated to clients by the plan’s representatives, is to decrease the population of ‘unnecessary’ seniors.
Premiering at this year’s Cannes, the film won a special mention in the Camera d’Or competition for first-time directors. Released on June 17 in Japan on more than 100 screens by Happinet-Phantom Studios, the film has become a long-running hit, striking a chord in a country with the world’s oldest population.
Represented abroad by Urban Sales, the film has been sold into more than 30 countries and territories. The film’s wide release in France is set for Sept. 7, with Eurozoom distributing. Also, it will screen at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival in the Contemporary World Cinema section.
Unusual for a Japanese film by a new director, “Plan 75” is an international co-production, with Dongyu Club, Happinet-Phantom Studios, Loaded Films, Urban Factory, and WOWOW serving as production partners.
In a statement, Hayakawa said, “I feel that the film now belongs so much more to those who have seen it that it no longer feels like a film I directed. I am honored to receive this recognition.”
Brazil Selects ‘Mars One’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Brazil will submit Gabriel Martins’ “Mars One” for consideration in the 2023 Oscars race for best international feature film, Variety has learned exclusively. Martins is the first Black director in Brazil’s history to be selected to represent the country at the Academy Awards.
Magnolia Pictures International holds worldwide distribution rights, but “Mars One” is still looking for a U.S. buyer. The film follows a Brazilian family navigating an uncertain future amid the rise of far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro.
Martins said in a statement: “We are experiencing a moment of major happiness, we feel so honored, for me personally, but also for my company Filmes de Plástico, for the entire cast and crew and our partners, because we are opening doors and without a doubt leaving a stele of hope and willingness for those who are arriving now to make cinema, in a moment when they can be discredited until they can get to make a film. So, this selection is the result of the work of many people, and I believe that this is the most important feeling since ‘Mars One’ is definitely not a film that walks alone, it is the work of many people who want this film to move forward and fly high. It’s what it represents for me, what the Brazilian cinema, the black cinema can be: a beautiful and resilient collective strength that never fails to dream with a better and brighter future.”
Brazil has been nominated at the Academy Awards four times, most recently in 1998 for Walter Salles’ “Central Station.”
Algeria Selects ‘Our Brothers’
The Algerian Selection Committee has unanimously decided to enter Rachid Bouchareb’s “Our Brothers” in the Oscar race.
The selection committee, led by Mohamed Lakhdar Hamina, watched four films for the selection: Mohamed Benabdallah’s “Halim Erraad,” Mounia Meddour’s “Horia,” Damien Oounouri and Adila Bendimered’s “The Last Queen” and Bouchareb’s other film, “Nos Frangins.”
“Our Brothers” follows the true story of Malik Oussekine, a French student of Algerian descent who was chased by police and beaten to death in 1986 while he walked near student protests in Paris.
Poland Selects ‘EO’
Poland has entered Jerzy Skolimowski’s “EO” in the race for a Best International Feature Film nomination at the 95th Academy Awards.
“EO” shares a vision of modern Europe through the prism of a gray donkey, who meets a range of people on his life’s path, experiencing joy and pain, as well as disasters and unexpected bliss — all without losing his innocence. The film shared a Jury Prize with Félix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s “The Eight Mountains” at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
In his review at Cannes, where the film bowed in competition, Variety’s Peter Debruge described “EO” as “a damning polemic on our relationship to other intelligent species — as free labor, food and companions — as seen through the dewy, wide eyes of a donkey whom we come to adore.”
“EO” is presented by Skopia Film and filmmaker and HanWay Films founder Jeremy Thomas, who first collaborated with writer-director Skolimowski on the film “The Shout,” which won the Cannes Grand Prix in 1978.
It stars Sandra Drzymalska, Lorenzo Zurzolo, Mateusz Kosciukiewicz and Isabelle Huppert. It was produced by Ewa Piaskowska and Skolimowski. Eileen Tasca is the Italian co-producer, while Thomas is the executive producer. The screenplay was written by Piaskowska and Skolimowski.
Sideshow and Janus Films, who acquired North American rights from HanWay, are planning a fall 2022 theatrical release. The distribution duo helped Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s best international feature Oscar winner “Drive My Car” to four Academy Award nominations earlier this year, including best picture, director and adapted screenplay.
Germany Selects ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’
Germany has entered Edward Berger’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” in the race for the 95th Oscars in the Best International Feature Film category.
The decision was made by an independent jury whose members were appointed by various associations working within the German film industry. Nine films were in the shortlist.
The film tells the story of a young German soldier on the Western Front of World War I. Paul and his comrades experience first-hand how the initial euphoria of war turns into desperation and fear as they fight for their lives, and each other, in the trenches.
It is adapted from the German anti-war novel of the same name, published in 1928, which drew on Erich Maria Remarque’s own experiences in the trenches.
The film is produced by Amusement Park Film for Netflix. It will have its world premiere in the Special Presentations section at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 12, and the European premiere will be held as a gala premiere during the Zurich Film Festival.
Netflix will partner with 24 Bilder for the film’s nationwide theatrical release in Germany on Sept. 29. It will open in U.S. cinemas in October, and can be seen on Netflix from Oct. 28.
The nine-member jury, headed by Maria Furtwängler of the German Film Academy, commented: “[The film] is unsparing in its portrayal of the machinery and dehumanization of war through the material symbolism of bullet-ridden uniforms, trenches collapsing and shattered bodies. The violence of the events translates into powerful imagery from which there is no escape.
“The Iron Generation of the 1910s presents itself as the Lost Generation whose individual destinies mercilessly perish in teeming battle scenes. Edward Berger exposes with clarity how those vainglorious decision-makers detached from the real world display an arrogant vanity in sending the young soldiers into battle and sacrificing them without any feelings of conscience. The first German film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s almost hundred-year-old novel is startlingly topical and makes a powerful statement against war.”
Canada Selects ‘Eternal Spring’
Jason Loftus’ animated, Mandarin-language documentary “Eternal Spring,” which had its world premiere in March 2022 at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London, has been selected to represent Canada in the competition to nab a coveted Best International Feature Film nomination for the 2023 Academy Awards.
The decision was announced Aug. 24 by Telefilm Canada, the chair and coordinator of the 22-member pan-Canadian selection committee, which includes reps from government film agencies and national industry associations.
At a media conference in advance of the public announcement, Loftus said that a major platform sale of the film, covering most English-language markets, will be announced soon, and that the film, which has many international broadcast partners, will see a theatrical release in several markets.
“The recognition that Canada is providing is a game changer before we get into the wide release,” said Loftus, a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and four-time Canadian Screen Award nominee whose work spans docs, VR, games, and animation.
“Eternal Spring” had its North American premiere at Hot Docs in April 2022, where it won the Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary and claimed the top spot in the overall audience poll of cinemagoers and online doc-watchers.
The film, which also scooped awards and noms at European festivals, mixes 3D and new live footage to trace the story of comic-book illustrator Daxiong (“Justice League,” “Star Wars”), a Falun Gong practitioner, who fled China after police began cracking down on members of the outlawed spiritual group.
At the media conference, Loftus, who was seated with his wife and filmmaking partner Masha Loftus, said they met Daxiong while making a kung fu video that featured hand-drawn artwork.
“We learned he was originally from China and was living in New York at the time,” Loftus said. “He worked with a sort of preeminent kung fu novelist in China and we just thought, this is great. He is an amazing, artistic talent and also the cultural background suited to working with us on this kung fu property.”
While working with him in Toronto on the project, the artist told them the story of why he left China. Turned out Daxiong was from the same hometown as Loftus’ wife and business partner, the daughter of a mid-level government official.
“She didn’t have connections with the Falun Gong community, so hearing what had happened in her own hometown by someone who had endured this really hit home for her. And for me.”
While the jury is still out on whether the film will experience the same Oscar nomination hat-trick as “Flee,” the success to date of “Eternal Spring” illustrates how animation in documentary storytelling is having more than a moment.
“We had this opportunity to have animation and the artistic process be part of the story,” Loftus said at the media conference. “So that’s why we have this kind of blend of live-action and animation—the art comes from an individual who has personally experienced trauma, who has left his home behind, who has this nostalgia, and who also colors his own art with the memories of torture and abuse.”
“This venture represents an exceptional opportunity for ‘Eternal Spring’ to reach new audiences and offers a golden opportunity to showcase the high quality of Canadian filmmaking,” said Christa Dickenson, Telefilm executive director and CEO. “That is why Telefilm will be supporting the film team in this prestigious competition and we wish them the best of luck.”
“Eternal Spring” was written and directed by Jason Loftus, who produced the film with Masha Loftus, Yvan Pinard, and Kevin Koo. The film was edited by David Schmidt and lensed by John Trans, with animation by Alex Smith and Matthew Sousa. David St-Amant served as animation director.
The film is produced by Lofty Sky Entertainment and the international sales agent is Sideways Film.
Uruguay Submits ‘The Employer and the Employee’
Uruguay has submitted social thriller “The Employer and the Employee” by Manuel Nieto Zas as its official entry to the 95th Academy Awards in 2023. Nieto Zas’ third film had its world premiere in last year’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight before it went on to play in the San Sebastian Film Festival and other prominent festivals worldwide, including Guadalajara, Jerusalem, Beijing, Karlovy Vary and Mar del Plata. Madrid-based Latido Films picked up world sales rights ahead of the film’s debut in Cannes.
Featuring “Persian Lessons” and “BPM (Beats Per Minute)” star Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, “The Employer and The Employee” (“El Empleado y El Patrón”) follows the parallel lives of an employer, Rodrigo (Pérez Biscayart), and an employee, Carlos (Cristian Borges), the teenage son of a land laborer toiling on the vast estates of Rodrigo’s father. Desperate to find a qualified driver for one of his combine harvesters, Rodrigo hires Carlos despite the latter’s lack of experience or a license. This inevitably leads to an accident whose aftermath plays out through the rest of the film.
“The Employer and the Employee” won awards at Toulouse’s Latin Film Festival, Mar del Plata’s LoboLab and San Sebastián’s WIP Latam, among others.
Lead-produced by Nieto’s Roken Films in Montevideo, the film’s production partners are Pasto (“A Family Submerged”) and Murillo Cine (“The Snatch Thief”) in Argentina, France’s Paraiso Production Diffusion (“Agosto”), Brazil’s Vulcana Cinema (“Castanha,” “Rifle”) and Sancho & Punta (“Yesterday There Were Strange Things in the Sky”) and Nadador Cine (“Belmonte”), Uruguay.
Taiwan Submits ‘Goddamned Asura’
Lou Yi-An’s “Goddamned Asura” has been selected as Taiwan’s entry for best international feature film at the Academy Awards.
The decision to submit the social psychological drama into the Oscar race was announced by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, part of Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture on Monday.
The film premiered at the Golden Horse Film Festival in November 2021 and picked up multiple awards at the Taipei Film Awards in June.. It had its commercial release in Taiwan in March this year.
The third film by Lou (2013’s “White Lies, Black Lies” and “A Place of One’s Own”) presents a multi-layered narrative drama that delves into a random shooting by an ordinary teenager through six characters, a popular video game and an alternate reality.
The leading cast members are Joseph Huang, Morning Mo, Huang Peijia, Devin Pan, Wang Yu-Xuan and Lai Hao-zhe.
The film was produced by Content Digital Film and Seashore Image Productions. Hope Marketing Entertainment is handling international Sales.
Lou’s previous work was known for his dark humor and the character-driven interleaving storyline in his films. He is deeply interested in Taiwanese local culture, racial issues and social problems caused by class differences and generation gaps. He has said that “Goddamned Asura” was inspired by real events in Taiwan.
South Korea Submits ‘Decision to Leave’
South Korea has selected Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave” as its national contender in the International Feature Film section of the Academy Awards. The film had its world premiere in competition at Cannes and earned Park the festival’s best director award.
Announcement of the decision was made on Thursday evening by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).
“All the films in the running had artistic merit, but when we took into consideration the particular characteristics of the Academy Awards, the film’s pure artistry, the director’s name recognition, workmanship and directing skill, the possibility of box office success in the North American market, and the ability of overseas distributors to promote, we agreed that [“Decision to Leave”] is the most appropriate choice,” said the KOFIC committee. “We look forward to the promoting this work.”
Starring Korea’s Park Hae-il and Chinese star Tang Wei, the film tells a slow-burn tale of police detective who starts out investigating the death of a man in the mountains, but falls for the mysterious charm of his not-very-grieving widow.
The film was released in Korean theaters on June 29, 2022, and remains in the top ten chart. As of Wednesday, it had grossed $14.2 million from 1.79 million spectators.
In North America, the film is scheduled to play at the Toronto festival in September and the New York Film Festival in October, ahead of a commercial release through Mubi, penciled in for Oct. 14.
Korean films had never won in the Oscars foreign-language category until 2020 when “Parasite” claimed four Oscar wins including best film, best international feature film, achievement in directing for Bong Joon-ho and best original screenplay. Given the subsequent success of Korean-language film “Minari” and the attention drawn to Korean TV drama since the release of “Squid Game,” “Decision” stands out as an immediate front-runner.
Switzerland Submits ‘A Piece of Sky’
Switzerland has chosen Berlin competition title“A Piece of Sky” as its International Feature Film contender.
Honored with a special mention at Berlin, “A Piece of Sky” marks director Michael Koch’sfollow-up to his 2016 debut “Marija,” which marked him out as a talent-to-track. Set in a remote Alpine farming community, “A Piece of Sky” follows a taciturn farmhand, Marco (Simon Wisler) and a single mother, Anna (Michèle Brand), who build a life together in the Alps. When Marco falls ill with a brain tumor everything changes, bu. Anna stands by Marco through thick and thin.
In his review, Variety’s Guy Lodge hailed “A Piece of Sky” as an impressive, austere Alpine tragedy.
“Stunning image-making fills out the stark storytelling in Swiss director Michael Koch’s potent, stoically moving second feature,” Lodge added.
“A Piece of Sky” is produced by Hugofilm. New Europe Film Sales handles world sales.
“Michael Koch’s ‘A Piece of Sky’ is marked by powerful images that are able to maintain the tension between the apparent simplicity and the great weight of the drama,” said the Swiss jury that selected the film.
“In this way, emotions develop their resonance and attain depth. Carried by strong amateur actors, the film surrenders to the rhythm of nature and regards its protagonists as part of the rugged mountain world. Their love not only stands up to the adverse circumstances, but also dares to question the inevitability of death,” added the jury, led by Swiss writer-director Stéphanie Chuat.
The 95th Oscar awards ceremony will take place on March 12, 2023.
Ireland Submits ‘The Quiet Girl’
The Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) has chosen Colm Bairéad’s Irish-Language film “The Quiet Girl” (“An Cailín Ciúin”) as Ireland’s entry for the Oscars’ best international feature film category at the 95th Academy Awards.
Set in rural Ireland in 1981, the coming-of-age film follows Cáit (Catherine Clinch) as she is sent from her overcrowded, dysfunctional household to live with distant relatives for the summer. It recently became the first Irish-language film to win the Irish Academy Award for best film and received seven awards including director, actress, cinematography, editing, production design and original score.
The film was selected by IFTA’s 2023 Irish Selection Committee, which includes producer and Emmy-nominated actor Roma Downey (“Ben-Hur”), Oscar-nominated actor John C. Reilly (“Chicago”), producer and Paramount TV executive VP of international strategy David Flynn (“Bodkin”), Oscar-nominated director Jim Sheridan (“My Left Foot”), director Aisling Walsh (“Maudie”) and actor Fionnula Flanagan (“The Others”). The committee was chaired by Academy CEO, Áine Moriarty.
Moriarty said: “This is such a unique and beautiful film that captures your heart from the outset, and leaves you profoundly moved. How proud we are to submit this outstanding Irish language film into the Oscar competition, to compete with the best in the world, as we know this story will resonate with international audiences, beyond the borders of language, and no doubt with American Academy members too.”
Bairéad and producer Cleona Ní Chrualaoi of Inscéal added: “We are honored beyond words that “An Cailín Ciúin”/”The Quiet Girl” has been selected to represent Ireland. Our heartfelt thanks to IFTA and its selection committee. We have always believed in the idea that an Irish-language film could stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of world cinema and we feel so proud to be representing our country and our language in this way. It has been an extraordinary privilege adapting Claire Keegan’s ‘Foster’ to the big screen and we can’t wait to introduce our film to more and more members of the Academy as ‘The Quiet Girl’ continues its roll-out on the international stage.”
“The Quiet Girl” was produced by Ní Chrualaoí as part of the Cine4 funding scheme for Irish-language film, in partnership with Screen Ireland, TG4, and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, and the film is also in receipt of the Irish Government’s Section 481 tax incentive.
The international film contenders will next be shortlisted to 15 finalists on Dec. 21. These will then be ultimately shortlisted to the final five Oscar nominees in the category on Jan. 24, 2023. The 95th Academy Awards ceremony is currently scheduled to take place on March 12, 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
World sales for “The Quiet Girl” are being handled by Bankside Films.
Leo Barraclough, Elsa Keslassy, Mark Schilling, John Hopewell, Christopher Vourlias, Jennie Punter, Naman Ramachandran, Patrick Frater and Anna Marie de la Fuente contributed to this report.
Disney’s suite of 20 TV channels was yanked off Dish Network’s satellite television and Sling TV services for customers across the U.S., after the two companies failed to reach a carriage-renewal deal Friday.
Disney networks that are no longer on Dish TV and Sling TV include ESPN, FX, Disney Channel, Freeform and National Geographic, as well as ABC local stations in eight markets. The two companies’ previous carriage contract expired at midnight PT on Sept. 30. Dish is notorious in the pay-TV business for aggressive negotiating tactics with content companies — and hasn’t been afraid to sit through extended blackouts to try to extract more favorable terms.
According to Dish, the media conglomerate had asked for a $1 billion increase in fees (though it’s not clear what that entails) and declined the pay-TV operator’s offer for a contract extension. Dish accused Disney of initiating the channel blackout and “hold[ing] viewers hostage for negotiation leverage.”
Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution said Dish had rejected its “fair, market-based” offer for continuing to carry the networks.
“After months of negotiating in good faith, Dish has declined to reach a fair, market-based agreement with us for continued distribution of our networks. As a result, their Dish and Sling TV subscribers have lost access to our unrivaled portfolio of live sports and news plus kids, family and general entertainment programming from the ABC-owned television stations, the ESPN networks, the Disney-branded channels, Freeform, the FX networks, the National Geographic channels and BabyTV.”
According to Disney, “The rates and terms we are seeking reflect the marketplace and have been the foundation for numerous successful deals with pay-TV providers of all types and sizes across the country. We’re committed to reaching a fair resolution, and we urge Dish to work with us in order to minimize the disruption to their customers.”
Dish claimed that, as part of the fee increase, Disney is demanding that ESPN and ESPN2 be included in Dish TV packages that currently exclude sports channels. In addition, while Dish TV has allowed subscribers to remove local channels to reduce their monthly bills, “Now Disney wants to take this away by forcing most Dish customers in their ABC markets to pay for local channels,” the pay-TV provider said.
“Disney has exploited its market position to increase fees without regard for the public viewing experience,” Brian Neylon, EVP and group president of Dish TV, said in a statement. “Clearly, Disney insists on prioritizing greed above American viewers, especially sports fans and families with children who watch their content.”
The full list of Disney-owned networks affected by the blackout are: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes, Disney Channel, Disney Jr., Disney XD, Freeform, FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, ACC Network, SEC Network, Longhorn Network and Baby TV.
ABC-owned locals that have winked off Dish and Sling TV are: Chicago (WLS), Fresno, Calif. (KFSN), Houston (KTRK), Los Angeles (KABC), New York (WABC), Philadelphia (WPVI), Raleigh, N.C. (WTVD) and San Francisco (KGO).
As of June 30, Dish had 7.79 million satellite TV subscribers (down 9% year over year) and 2.20 million Sling TV subscribers (down 10% year over year).
Spooky season is well under way and what better way to usher it in then with a vintage horror film, particularly one with icons Bette Davis and Joan Crawford? What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? tells the story of Jane and Blanche Hudson, sisters and rivals in show business. While Jane was a successful child star of the stage, Blanche began to gain fame and recognition during adulthood. When an unfortunate “accident” leaves Blanche handicapped, deranged Jane takes care of her, only to wreak more havoc on both of their lives as a result. Although both actresses bring their A-game to the rival sisters, it is Davis’ haunting, Oscar-nominated performance as Jane Hudson that will stay with you long after the film is over. See for yourself what happens in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and if you like it, might I suggest Ryan Murphy’s mini series Feud: Bette and Joan as a follow-up?
The musician and actor Colson Baker — who is better known by his stage-name Machine Gun Kelly, or MGK — will receive the SCAD Savannah Film Festival’s Discovery Award on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 27, The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively report. Earlier in the day, he will be interviewed in front of a festival audience by yours truly for THR’s Awards Chatter podcast.
On the podcast, the 32-year-old will discuss his colorful life, varied career and the film he is bringing with him to the fest, Tim Sutton’s Taurus, on which he served as an executive producer and in which he stars opposite his real-life fiancée, Megan Fox, as a self-destructive rock star “whose limitless success seems matched only by his bottomless despair,” to quote THR’s review.
Taurus had its world premiere at February’s Berlin Film Festival, screened at April’s Tribeca Film Festival and will be released in select theaters later this year by RLJE Films, which acquired it in May. But SCAD Savannah Film Festival attendees will be able to watch it on the night of Oct. 27 at a 9:30 p.m. Lucas Theatre screening that will be followed by the presentation of the Discovery Award — previous recipients of which include Kodi Smit-McPhee (2021), Steven Yeun (2020), Aldis Hodge (2019), Stephan James (2018) and Mahershala Ali (2016) — and a separate Q&A with Baker. (Tickets will go on sale Oct. 3.)
Baker is best known for the music he has made as Machine Gun Kelly, which includes four Billboard top 10 albums (his 2012 debut studio album Lace Up, 2015’s General Admission and two that hit number one, 2020’s Tickets to My Downfall and 2022’s Mainstream Sellout) and single (“Bad Things,” with Camila Cabello). But he has also racked up a number of impressive acting credits under his own name, including Gina Prince-Bythewood’s film Beyond the Lights (2014), Cameron Crowe’s 2016 TV series Roadies, Susanne Bier’s film Bird Box (2018) and Jeff Tremaine’s film The Dirt (2019).
Baker’s Awards Chatter episode is but one part of a star-studded season for the podcast, which is nearing its 500th episode. Adam Sandler, the star of Netflix’s Hustle, will record an episode in front of an audience at the Newport Beach Film Festival on Oct. 15. Michelle Yeoh, the star of A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, will record an episode in front of students at Chapman University on Oct. 16. And other special guests will soon be announced.
Since its 2016 inception, Eddie Vedder‘s Ohana Fest has seen a number of artists collaborate during each other’s sets. In the past, Vedder has appeared with Social Distortion, Glen Hansard, and Jack Johnson during their sets and has had Liz Phair, Johnny Marr, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Brandi Carlile, and more join him during his (and Pearl Jam’s).
The latest edition is no different.
During Stevie Nicks’ headlining set on Friday night, Vedder traded vocals with the Fleetwood Mac singer on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”
This year, Nicks has performed at a number of festivals, including Bonnaroo and New Orleans Jazz Fest. She also is performing select headlining shows, including one at the Hollywood Bowl next week.
As for the rest of Ohana Fest, Vedder and the Earthlings, Jack White and Billy Strings are headlining on Saturday night. On Sunday, P!nk, who recently performed at the Taylor Hawkins tribute show, and St. Vincent have top billing.
“The U.S. and the Holocaust” looks at the World War II era when many European Jews fleeing the Nazis were turned away by America. Filmmakers Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein tell a story that deeply resonates today as the United States grapples with the arrival of asylum seekers.
The Edmonton Oilers overcame a strong goaltending effort from Calgary’s Dan Vladar to beat the Flames 2-1 in pre-season action Friday night at Rogers Place.
The Oilers opened the scoring while killing a penalty in the first period.
Kailer Yamamoto held onto the puck down low before putting it in front for Leon Draisaitl, who flipped the puck past Flames goaltender Dan Vladar. Dillon Dube pulled the Flames even about minutes later.
Late in the second, Connor McDavid collided with teammate Evander Kane in the neutral zone. McDavid was spun around and fell to the ice, remaining down for a few seconds before skating slowly to the bench. He returned to the game without missing a shift.
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“I was trying to get out of the way, but those things happen,” Kane said. “I knew he was okay — he’s a big, strong guy.
“Anytime you don’t see it coming, you’re probably more surprised than anything.”
The Oilers dominated the second, outshooting the Flames 16-4, but couldn’t solve Vladar.
“Tip your hat to their goaltender, he played a heck of a game,” Woodcroft said post-game.
The Oilers had their first fight of the pre-season in the third period, when Darnell Nurse engaged in a brief scrap with Mitch McLain.
Brett Kulak gave the Oilers the lead with 11:05 left, taking a pass from Luke Esposito and sailing a long shot past Vladar.
Nurse and McLain tussled again late in the game.
“I would never want to pull back Darnell in that situation because I thought he tried to do it for the right reasons — he was sticking up for a teammate,” Woodcroft said.
“It’s part of what makes him of of the most feared defencemen in the league.”
“He’s obviously a leader on this team and seeing him step up and take care of that physical stuff for me is appreciated,” Evander Kane said.
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Jack Campbell made his first appearance in the Oilers goal, stopping seven of eight shots in just over 31 minutes of work.
“It was nice to get in the new jersey and hear the new fans and the boys were buzzing out there,” Campbell said.
“He didn’t get a ton of work, but I thought he was clean with the puck and looked confident and big in the net,” Woodcroft said post-game.
Calvin Pickard went the rest of the way and turned away 14 pucks. Vladar finished with 37 saves.
The Oilers will play in Winnipeg on Saturday. It’s on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 5:30 p.m. The game will start at 6 p.m.
The end of September brought in the expiration of another carriage deal with no agreement in place to renew it. At midnight on Oct. 30, the Disney-owned television stations that carry ABC programming as well as cable networks ESPN, FX Networks, Nat Geo, Freeform and Disney Channel, are no longer available on Dish and Sling TV.
The news comes just a couple of days after the Game Show Network was restored on Dish and Sling after it too went dark over a carriage dispute.
The disruption also comes as ABC is launching the new seasons of its series, led by flagship Grey’s Anatomy, which returns for Season 19 next week, and ESPN is in the thick of NFL coverage with Monday Night Football.
Here are the statements:
Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution regarding DISH:
After months of negotiating in good faith, DISH has declined to reach a fair, market-based agreement with us for continued distribution of our networks. As a result, their DISH and Sling TV subscribers have lost access to our unrivaled portfolio of live sports and news plus kids, family and general entertainment programming from the ABC Owned Television Stations, the ESPN networks, the Disney-branded channels, Freeform, the FX networks, the National Geographic channels and BabyTV. The rates and terms we are seeking reflect the marketplace and have been the foundation for numerous successful deals with pay TV providers of all types and sizes across the country. We’re committed to reaching a fair resolution, and we urge DISH to work with us in order to minimize the disruption to their customers.
Our contract has expired with The Walt Disney Company. Our goal and priority is to reach a fair agreement to bring their channels back as quickly as possible. Visit https://t.co/TH9bxCgYKp for more information and to make your voice heard, call Disney at 818-560-1000. pic.twitter.com/XD7YIOQRsK
On Friday’s “Real Time,” Bill Maher’s latest “New Rules” drew inspiration from Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, who was suspended for the entire 2022-23 season after it was discovered he’d had a consensual relationship with a team employee.
Maher argued that Udoka’s punishment, if the circumstances are as was reported, was not only out of proportion, it shouldn’t have happened at all — and that it actually makes things worse because it treated a consensual relationship as though it was sexual assault.
From there, Maher made a lengthy argument in defense of office romance if only, he argued, because work is where people spend most of their time and are most likely to meet other people.
“Now that Americans are finally returning to the office after the pandemic, let’s let them f—,” Maher joked as he kicked it off. “Not necessarily right on the copy machine, but, you know, in general.”
Maher brought up Udoka next. “Now, for sure, not all of the facts about this case are known. And if it turns out he was violent, or physically coercive, then his case has nothing to do with what I’m about to say , and he should expect the appropriate, and severe punishment,” Maher said.
“But, in general, it’s long overdue that America had an adult review” of what Maher called “our war on office romance.”
“There’s only a few places where Americans meet each other in person anymore: Work, bars, church, and Adam Levine’s house,” Maher quipped.
Maher noted that as far as the Udoka case is concerned, all reporting indicates it was consensual. “I shouldn’t even be reading about it. What people do that is intimate and consensual is not my business, not yours, and not that f—ing little leprechaun,” Maher added, referring to the Celtics’ mascot.
From there, he got into how the impropriety of the relationship Udoka had involved a power imbalance with whomever he had a relationship with. He noted that coercive and abusive situations are bad. “But to deny two humans the chance to find love because they work in the same office is a bit anachronistic.”
Maher noted the rise of HR and sexual harassment policies in workplaces that, theoretically protect employees. “And yes,” Maher said, many business require that employees disclose any and all such relationships if they happen.
“God forbid grownups start making decisions about their own bodies without getting corporate involved,” he argued.
He also noted how most companies don’t allow managers and subordinates to have relationships. But he argued that many relationships are a matter of luck and “serendipity,” that can’t be quantified by such rules. “Also,” he japed, “when you’re f— someone in the office, you know they can hold down a job.”
He noted that Barack Obama met his wife, Michelle Obama, when he was an intern at her law firm, a relationship that could never have happened under current rules. He mentioned other famous examples of consensual relationships in the workplace, like Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, and noted that these examples didn’t involve anything criminal or nonconsensual.
“We all know that ‘no’ doesn’t mean ‘yes,’ but now ‘yes’ doesn’t mean ‘yes’?” Maher articulated.
Maher also mentioned ex-CNN boss Jeff Zucker, who was fired from CNN, he and the company said, because he failed to disclose a consensual relationship with his longtime assistant.
“Who are we protecting here? Exactly who at CNN would have been traumatized by this unauthorized boning? The war correspondents?” Maher sarcastically asked.
He also noted the case of Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles, who began a relationship while she was directing the film ‘Don’t Worry Darling.” This led him to note a whole lot of other famous Hollywood couples who met on the job, prompting him to observe, “who are we to tell people they can’t have love, because when they met, they weren’t co-equal?”
Maher linked office relationships to what he called “a loneliness epidemic.”
“If loneliness is destroying our health… it’s just not healthy to be criminalizing the pool of eligible mates in the workplace,” He said.
Maher also noted that Udoka’s replacement was once arrested for domestic abuse. “But it’s ok, because they didn’t work together,” he said bluntly.
Ryan Reynolds casually broke the internet this week when he announced that Hugh Jackman will return as Wolverine in “Deadpool 3.” How does it affect the events of “Logan” (2017), and what can we expect when it hits theaters?
“The Woman King” from Gina Prince-Bythewood and “Don’t Worry Darling” from Olivia Wilde dominated the box office for two weekends in a row. In the case of Bythewood’s historical epic, critical acclaim and lots of Oscar buzz are surrounding the Viola Davis-starring vehicle. In addition, the first “Avatar” racked up more than $30 million globally during its return to theaters, hinting at the domination the upcoming sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” will have when it drops in December. Can James Cameron’s return dethrone Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” as the highest-grossing film of the year, and possibly one of the highest of all-time (again)?
Netflix removed the LGBTQ tag from its Ryan Murphy-created Jeffrey Dahmer limited series, “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” after receiving backlash from social media users and influencers. The convicted serial killer was even trending on TikTok, with creators commenting on his appearance, while others are condemning such behavior.
Finally, Variety’s annual Power of Women event took place honoring the women who graced the covers of the magazine — Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth Olsen, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, and Malala. What were the best moments from the night?
Hosted by Variety chief correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister and senior awards editor Clayton Davis, Variety’s “The Take,” presented by Apple TV+, is a weekly series that navigates the week’s top stories from entertainment, pop culture and media, while providing expert analysis and exclusive insight on what’s buzzing in Hollywood. Filmed in Variety’s state-of-the-art studio in Los Angeles, new episodes are released on Fridays on Variety.com, YouTube and social media.
Justin Bieber, and his wife, Hailey Bieber, were spotted enjoying an afternoon stroll in Studio City earlier on Friday.
The Beauty And A Beat singer, 28, and supermodel, 25, opted for comfort during a daytime outing with the Rhode founder’s older sister, Alaia Baldwin, 29, and her toddler.
The talented performer was seen holding the baby in his arms, and at one point, laid a loving kiss on her head during the family excursion.
Family outing: Justin Bieber, 28, and wife Hailey Bieber, 25, were seen out and about in Los Angeles earlier on Friday
Justin kept his look casual and simple as he enjoyed the warm California weather, wearing a pair of Bode shorts along with a white, short-sleeved Casablanca Racing T-shirt.
The Peaches hitmaker added a pair of white slip-ons which he easily paired with tall, white ankle socks.
The star added a black Nike cap on top of his hair which he opted to wear backwards.
During the outing, Justin was seen lovingly carrying Hailey’s niece in his arms as they walked about the bustling city streets.
Cute! The Peaches singer was pictured carrying his wife’s sister, Alaia Baldwin’s, baby as they enjoyed an outing together on Friday afternoon
Adorable: The talented performer was spotted laying a quick kiss on the toddler’s head as they crossed a street
Loving: The star appeared to be more than happy to help out and hold Alaia’s toddler as they walked across the street
Hailey was fashionable for the Friday afternoon outing with her loved ones, and donned a pair of comfortable, baggy tan pants.
She added a white cropped top to flaunt her toned abs, and threw on a faux leather jacket on top.
The businesswoman slipped into a pair of white and black sneakers to make walking around the city easy and simple.
The beauty had a black tote bag slung over left shoulder with the word Strand on the front, representing the Strand Bookstore located in New York City.
Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, showcasing a pair of small, gold earrings. Hailey also donned black sunglasses to protect her eyes under the hot sun.
Alaia opted for a pop of color, and wore a hot pink one-piece ensemble. She wore a pair of open-toed sandals and had a black cross-body bag slung over her shoulder. An off-white sweater was slung over her arm in case the afternoon grew a little chilly.
Having fun: Justin was all smiles as he briefly played with Hailey’s young niece as they enjoyed an afternoon stroll
Baby fever: Hailey was also pictured carrying her sister’s baby during the late afternoon excursion
During the Friday outing in the busy city, Justin was spotted happily holding Hailey’s niece in his arms. At one point, he was spotted laying a kiss on top of the baby’s head.
Hailey also took her turn to hold the toddler, while the Love Yourself singer sent a smile towards the baby.
The supermodel opened up about the subject of starting a family of her own with Justin during an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this year in February.
‘I think ideally in the next couple of years we would try. But there’s a reason they call it try, right?’ she stated.
‘You don’t know how long that process is ever going to take. Definitely no kids this year. That would be a little bit hectic, I think,’ the Vogue model further added.
Future family: In an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this year in February, Hailey expressed, ‘I think ideally in the next couple of years we would try’
Enjoying the afternoon: Hailey and Justin appeared to be in high spirits as they enjoyed quality family time together
A recent episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast officially aired on Wednesday. The entrepreneur opened up about her relationship with Justin.
She also touched on the slight frenzy and allegations that have been made about Hailey taking the singer away from his ex-girlfriend, Selena Gomez.
‘I can say, period, point blank, I was never with him when he was in a relationship with anybody. That’s the end of it,’ the Rhode founder stated.
The former Disney channel star jumped to her own TikTok shortly after the episode aired due to backlash Hailey was receiving.
During a livestream, Selena slammed harsh comments from fans. ‘All I have to say is, it’s incredibly ironic that I would release something that is all about kind words, ’cause that’s exactly what I want,’ she expressed, referencing to her brand, Rare Beauty.
‘If you support Rare, I cannot thank you enough, but know that you are also representing what it means. And that is, words matter. Truly matter.’
New podcast: An episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast recently aired on Wednesday, where the model opened up about her relationship with Justin, and the issues revolving his ex, Selena Gomez
Shutting down backlash: Selena went onto a livestream on her TikTok to slam harsh comments following Hailey’s podcast interview, calling for ‘kind words’
Shortly before the podcast episode aired, Hailey was pictured making a show-stopping appearance in Paris during Fashion Week earlier Tuesday.
The talented beauty made a special guest appearance to watch the Yves Saint Laurent Womenswear Spring/Summer 2023 runway show in the heart of the stunning city.
Hailey opted to wear a short baby pink miniskirt, showing off her long toned legs. She added a matching cropped jacket to complete her stylish ensemble for the star-studded event.
The businesswoman slipped into a pair of black, chic heels while carrying a black handbag from the luxury brand.
Fashion week: Hailey was pictured in Paris on Tuesday to attend the Yves Saint Laurent runway show
For more than 40 years, TIFF has been a strong indicator of Oscar hopefuls, with Best Picture winners like “Nomadland,” “Green Book,” “12 Years a Slave,” “The King’s Speech” and “Slumdog Millionaire” all winning the People’s Choice Award at the fest.
This year’s high-profile world premieres included Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” (this year’s People’s Choice Award winner); Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King.”
With awards season gearing up, here are the top performances in movies that screened at TIFF that are already gathering buzz.
Jessie Buckley and Claire Foy (Women Talking)
Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley is being touted as a front-runner for her heart-wrenching film “Women Talking,” which she wrote and directed. Based on the novel by Miriam Toews, it follows women in a Mennonite colony deciding how to handle an epidemic of sexual abuse. The film is anchored by riveting and emotionally complex performances from a stunning ensemble cast. Buckley and Foy are almost certainly getting nods, while Rooney Mara, Frances McDormand and Ben Whishaw are also solid candidates for supporting role nominations.
Viola Davis (The Woman King)
Davis gives a standout performance in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s latest, a true story of the Agojie, the all-female military regiment charged with protecting the African kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century. She’s got a strong chance for a Best Actress Oscar nod and if she wins she’ll be the second Black woman to get a lead acting Oscar, following Halle Berry in 2002 for “Monster’s Ball.”
Gabriel LaBelle and Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)
Steven Spielberg’s film is an earnest and poignant work based on his childhood passion for filmmaking. LaBelle is disarming as he channels the wide-eyed, cinema-loving young Spielberg or rather, his alter ego in this film, Sam Fabelman. The film is heavily anchored by Williams’ stellar turn as Sam’s mother. While there’s awards buzz for LaBelle and Williams, Paul Dano as father Burt and standout Judd Hirsch as uncle Boris are also in the running.
Daniel Craig, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery)
Academy Award nominee Rian Johnson’s highly anticipated “Glass Onion” won over audiences as the second runner-up for the People’s Choice Award. Besides being in the running for Best Picture, the Netflix film is a showcase for actors Craig, Hudson and Monáe, who all have worthy shots at Oscar nominations.
Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
Fraser, who received the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance, is the clear Oscar front-runner for his remarkable turn as a reclusive 600-pound English teacher who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale.” The film also stars Sadie Sink and Hong Chau, who are garnering their own buzz.
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Martin McDonagh’s latest dark comedy racked up several awards at the Venice International Film Festival, including Best Actor for Colin Farrell. Farrell is a strong contender for Best Actor at the Oscars while Brendan Gleeson has a shot in the Best Supporting Actor category.
Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union (The Inspection)
Elegance Bratton’s stellar directorial and writing debut is inspired by his own life story as a young, gay Black man who, after being rejected by his mother, decides to join the Marines. Jeremy Pope shines as Ellis French and has already racked up strong awards season buzz. Gabrielle Union, who gives a career best as his homophobic prison guard mother, has also impressed critics.
Olivia Colman (Empire of Light)
Another beautiful film about the magic of cinema and human connection, Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light” allows Olivia Colman to shine through. She’s among the front-runners in the Oscar Best Actress race.
Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse)
Jessica Chastain gives a neatly layered performance in this Netflix film by Tobias Lindholm while Eddie Redmayne will surprise many with his subtle yet deeply chilling portrayal of Charlie Cullen, one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history. They have a solid chance at Best Actress and Actor nods at the Oscars.
Song Kang-ho (Broker)
“Parasite” star Song Kang-ho, who already won the Cannes award for Best Actor for his performance in this Hirokazu Koreeda film, delivers a heartfelt turn as a child trafficker who sets out to sell a runaway mother’s baby and learns about the meaning of family along the way.
Jennifer Lawrence (Causeway)
Jennifer Lawrence gives a raw and compelling performance in this Apple TV Plus film by Lila Neugebauer, starring as Lynsey, a member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who returns from Afghanistan after her vehicle hit an explosive, injuring her body and brain. She’s once again in the running for Best Actress.
Bill Nighy (Living)
Bill Nighy is being touted for giving his career best in this Oliver Hermanus remake of the 1952 Akira Kurosawa classic “Ikiru.” It follows a British bureaucrat who questions the choices he made in life after receiving a terminal diagnosis.
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Maureen O’Sullivan and Johnny Weissmuller as Jane and TarzanPhoto: OFF/AFP via Getty Images
Sony has acquired the film rights to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan, apparently with an eye toward making yet another live-action adaptation of the famed literary character.
It’s been six years since the last time Hollywood made a Tarzan movie—2016 Alexander Skarsgård vehicle The Legend Of Tarzan—so fuck knows we were due. Burroughs’ jungle-raised Brit-by-birth is, after all, one of the most adapted fictional characters of all time; more than 20 different actors have portrayed him in live action over the last century, with Johnny Weissmüller, who played the character from 1932’s Tarzan The Ape Man through 1948’s Tarzan And The Mermaids, the most prolific. (Other notable Tarzans include Christopher Lambert, who played the title character of 1984’s more highbrow Greystoke, and future Vikings star Travis Fimmel, who starred in the 2003 WB series Tarzan, the show that dared to ask: What if Jane was a police detective and Tarzan helped her solve crimes in modern-day New York?)
But we digress! (Did you know Supernatural creator Eric Kripke co-developed that Tarzan show? He later called it “a piece of crap’ and “a hell ride in every way.” So that’s fun! But we digress.) The film rights to Tarzan—who Burroughs originally created in 1912—have bounced all over the place over the years; Disney, obviously, had their own animated version in the 1990s, while Village Roadshow made the last couple of live-action movies (including Legend) with an assist from Warner Bros. Now Sony’s got them, presumably in the hopes of achieving the perversely difficult task of getting movie-going audiences to give a shit about a character who pretty much everybody in the English-speaking world knows by name. (Disney’s Tarzan did perfectly well for itself back in 1999—thanks, Phil Collins—but the Skarsgård movie fell fairly far short of its blockbuster ambitions.)
Sony’s intent is apparently to do a “total reinvention” of the character, which, given how many very old, very outdated storytelling tropes this particular white savior-type is rooted in, is a pretty understandable starting point for any kind of new version.
Planned Parenthood has joined the chorus of voices with nothing much positive to say about Netflix’s new Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, giving an interview today that blasts the film as “anti-abortion propaganda.”
This is per THR, which reached out to the reproductive rights organization for comment on Andrew Dominik’s new film, which stars Ana De Armas as a version of the legendary Hollywood star, and which depicts two illegal abortions as part of the web of trauma that led to Monroe’s death. (Including CGI talking fetuses that say things like, “You won’t hurt me this time, will you?”)
In response, Caren Spruch, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s national director of arts and entertainment engagement, told THR that, “As film and TV shapes many people’s understanding of sexual and reproductive health, it’s critical these depictions accurately portray women’s real decisions and experiences. While abortion is safe, essential health care, anti-abortion zealots have long contributed to abortion stigma by using medically inaccurate descriptions of fetuses and pregnancy. Andrew Dominik’s new film, Blonde, bolsters their message with a CGI-talking fetus, depicted to look like a fully formed baby.”
Spruch added:
Planned Parenthood respects artistic license and freedom. However, false images only serve to reinforce misinformation and perpetuate stigma around sexual and reproductive health care. Every pregnancy outcome — especially abortion — should be portrayed sensitively, authentically and accurately in the media. We still have much work to do to ensure that everyone who has an abortion can see themselves onscreen. It is a shame that the creators of Blonde chose to contribute to anti-abortion propaganda and stigmatize people’s health care decisions instead.
Dominik has come under fire both for the content of the film itself—based on the book by Joyce Carol Oates—and for the press he’s given around it, in which he’s suggested a sort of baseline contempt for Monroe’s various films. Addressing the abortion issue in a recent interview with The Wrap, he suggested that the film is not anti-choice, and that unhappiness at its depiction of abortion was rooted in the Supreme Court’s recent overturn of Roe v. Wade. “No one would have given a shit about that if I’d made the movie in 2008, and probably no one’s going to care about it in four years’ time.”
Let’s face it: many of us don’t pay enough attention to what streaming services we are subscribed to — and paying for. Especially now, when there are more and more services vying for our attention, it’s easy to go for a trial subscription, or to decide that you’re going to subscribe “just for a couple of months,” and then completely forget about it. Meanwhile, your charge card is being pinged every month.
For example, over a year ago, Matthew Inman, the comics artist who creates the site The Oatmeal, reported (to his apparent chagrin) that he had been paying for Netflix’s DVD subscription for the last 13 years:
(For our younger readers: yes, Netflix started out as a DVD rental service and then segued to the streaming service it is today.)
So it may be a good idea, especially if your income is a little tight, to check your current streaming subscriptions and drop the ones that you haven’t used for several months. (After all, unless you’re grandfathered into an especially good deal — and that’s happening less and less these days — you can always re-up again if there’s something on the service you want to watch.)
One thing to be aware of: during the process of canceling a streaming service, you may need to go through several pages or pop-ups urging you not to cancel or to at least settle for a less expensive (and usually less feature-filled) version of the service. So be prepared.
Here’s where you can go to cancel some of the more popular streaming services.
Image: Netflix
Netflix currently offers three different plans: Basic for $9.99 a month, Standard for $15.49 a month, and Premium for $19.99 a month; the differences between the three involve video quality and resolution.
You can find your current subscription status at Netflix by clicking on your personal icon in the top-right corner and choosing Account. This will take you to your account page, which will give you all your information about your current account. On the left side of the page, look for the Cancel Membership button.
Image: Amazon
You can’t just join Prime for its streaming services; you have to pay for the entire package for $14.99 a month or $139 a year (after a 30-day trial).
Be aware that if you’ve paid for an annual membership, your refund — if you get one — will depend on how many of your Prime benefits you’ve used, including deliveries, streaming movies, etc. When you begin the process, the cancellation page will tell you if you are eligible for any type of refund. If the refund is small (or non-existent), you might be better off simply disabling the renewal option (go to the Membership Management section at Prime Central) so that you can still take advantage of the benefits of Prime membership until your subscription ends. Also, if you are sharing the membership with another adult in your household, only the primary member can cancel the account.
Note that, according to Amazon, you can also pause your membership temporarily by going to the Membership Management section.
If you want to completely close your Amazon account and delete all of your data, you can go to this page.
Image: HBO
HBO Max has been going through a number of changes lately. For one thing, the service is merging with Discovery Plus, so nobody is quite sure how that will affect the type of content it provides. Currently, you can pay $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year for a subscription with ads; if you want to avoid the ads, it’s $14.99 a month or $104.99 a year.
In the meantime, the service can be subscribed to either independently or through a number of different providers, such as the Apple App Store, Google Play, and a bunch of others. The best way to find out how to drop the service is to go to HBO’s help page on canceling your subscription or trial and click on the appropriate link for directions.
According to HBO, you should try to cancel one or two days before your billing cycle renews.
Image: Apple
If you’re attracted by the content on Apple TV, you can get it for $4.99 a month after a seven-day trial. (If you buy an Apple device, you get it free for three months if you apply for it within 90 days.)
Instructions for canceling your Apple subscription can be found here. In short:
To cancel on your Mac, go to the App Store, click your name (at the bottom of the page) and then Account Settings (at the top). Scroll down to the Manage topic, look for Subscriptions, and click on Manage. Click on Edit next to the subscription you want to cancel and select Cancel Subscription.
On an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings, select your name, then Subscriptions. Select the subscription you want to leave, and tap on Cancel Subscription.
Image: Hulu
While you are encouraged by the site to take Hulu as a bundle with HBO Max and ESPN Plus, you can subscribe to Hulu alone. Prices are currently $6.99 a month for a with-ads plan and $12.99 for an ad-free plan. However, costs are going up as of October 10th, 2022; at that point, you will pay $7.99 a month for the with-ads plan; $14.99 a month for the ad-free plan. There are also other plans available.
Hulu offers instructions on how to cancel here — and makes sure that you know that you can both cancel anytime and re-up anytime. You can also pause your subscription for up to 12 weeks. If you cancel, your canceled subscription will last until the end of your billing cycle.
Since, like HBO Max, there’s a good chance you’ve signed up through a third party such as Amazon, Verizon, or Sprint, there are several links on the page where you can get specific instructions.
Image: YouTube
YouTube TV is one of those services that offer a wide range of channels, including many that used to only be available via cable. It costs $64.99 a month.
As with Hulu, you can either cancel or pause your YouTube TV subscription (links for either process are on the same page). Pausing is a good option if, for some reason (a vacation, a work project, temporary financial difficulties), you don’t want to use the subscription for anywhere from four weeks to six months. You won’t be able to use the service during that time to watch or record, but your already-recorded content will be saved. Once the pause is over (either via a pre-selected date or if you manually end the pause period), your billing will recommence.
If you want to leave YouTube TV entirely, select Cancel Now on that same page. You will still have service until the end of your payment period; after that, you’ll have another 21 days to view the recorded programs in your library.
Image: Disney
If you don’t choose to bundle Disney Plus with Hulu and ESPN Plus, it comes to $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year.
To cancel your Disney Plus subscription on the website, go to your profile icon in the upper-right corner and then click on Account. Find your subscription level under the subhead Subscription, click on that, and then scroll down to where it says Cancel Subscription. As with most other services, you will still have access to Disney Plus until the end of your billing cycle.
Note that canceling Disney Plus TV does not cancel your general Disney account.
Image: Paramount
Paramount Plus offers two plans: the Essential plan for $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, which comes with “limited ads,” or the Premium plan for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, which promises “No ads except live TV & a few shows” and the ability to download shows. You get a one-week trial.
Like several of the other services here, the way you cancel your Paramount Plus subscription depends on how you subscribed in the first place. If you subscribed through the website, then go to paramountplus.com, click on your user initials in the upper right-hand corner, select Account, and then scroll down and select Cancel subscription.
If you subscribed through another service, you’ll find the directions here.
Image: NBCUniversal
Peacock, owned by NBCUniversal, is the only service listed here that has a free version; according to its list of plans, you can watch over 10,000 hours for free (although the content will invariably be interrupted by ads). It also has two paid services: Premium, which gives you additional ad-supported content for $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year; and Premium Plus, which for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, removes the ads and lets you download the content.
In other words, if you don’t want to pay for the service anymore, you can simply downgrade by going to your account page and going to Plans & Payments > Change Plan > Peacock Free. You will be switched to the free plan at the end of your billing cycle.
If you signed up for Peacock through a different service, you can find directions on how to downgrade here.
Image: ESPN Plus
ESPN Plus is mainly available via third-party providers, such as DirecTV, YouTube TV, or a cable provider. It is also often bundled with Disney Plus and Hulu. The price depends on the supplier you subscribed through.
If you originally subscribed directly via the web and want to cancel your subscription, log in and select Manage > Cancel Subscription. Otherwise, if you subscribed through one of the services mentioned above, your best bet is to go to this page, which links to all of the ways it’s possible to cancel, depending on how you originally subscribed.
Update September 30th, 2022, 10:35AM ET: This article was originally published on January 15th, 2021. Paramount Plus and Peacock have been added; others have been updated to account for service and price changes.
The Twilight and Thirteen filmmaker also will be leading an acting workshop at the Santa Fe Playhouse.
Her latest film, Prisoner’s Daughter, starring Kate Beckinsale, Brian Cox and Ernie Hudson, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Written by Mark Bacci, the film tells the story of a tough but proud ex-con who’s struggling to find a way to reconnect with his only daughter and grandson. Once he begins an attempt at reconciliation, his violent past catches up to him.
Hardwicke’s biggest-grossing movie is the 2008 vampire YA romance Twilight, which launched the franchise and grossed $408M WW. Her 2003 directorial debut, Thirteen, won the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival that year and notched a Supporting Actress Oscar for Holly Hunter, among other accolades. Additional directing credits include Red Riding Hood, Miss Bala and Lords of Dogtown.
As a production designer, her credits include Three Kings, Suburbia, Laurel Canyon, Vanilla Sky, Tombstone and Tank Girl.
Hair and makeup in film help to tell a visual story without any use of words.
Hairstyles in Film
Hairstyles have altered and changed over the years these different everyday styles give insight and ideas into film. Imagine going to the theater to see a film based in the 1920s and the actor has a current day hairstyle, it would change the atmosphere of the film. Often the character will cut off or color their hair to give the character unique features. With the many changes in hair, wigs and hair pieces became more popular for actors in the 1970’s gave the actors more freedom with their hair and could change between roles or change hairstyles in a pinch.
The use of makeup on camera became highly used in the 1930s, known as “pancake makeup” created by Max and Frank Factor. This makeup is heavy and compact to be obvious on the skin, it was important to actors and filmmakers so that the emotion and the look of the makeup was bold enough to tell the story. This type of compact pancake makeup lasted all day, in turn there were less touch ups to be done on set and more time to film scenes.
Prosthetic makeup started in 1902 in the French film ‘Le Voyage dans la Lune’. Though it was around, it was not majorly used until the late 1920’s when Lon Chney started using prosthetic makeup for monster movies such as ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ and ‘Phantom of the Opera’. Prosthetic makeup is very powerful in a film as it can be used for the whole body to change or reshape any feature. The use of this allows actors to fully be in character by changing or adding anything such as wounds, beauty marks, and even extra limbs.
I’m 23 years old from Tulsa Oklahoma, involved in athletics and arts since I was young.
I’ve volunteered at art centers, theaters and small festivals back home.
I went to school for cosmetology. After graduation I worked in a spa and salon behind the chair doing hair, makeup and nails. I am one of the interns at Raindance. My goal is to be involved in marketing and filmmaking from styling hair and makeup for actors on set to editing clips behind the scenes.
Deaths by suicide increased 4% in 2021 compared to 2020, ending a two-year decline, according to provisional data released by the National Center for Health Statistics on Sept. 30. A total of 47,646 deaths were recorded as suicides during 2021, at a rate of about 14 deaths per 100,000 people.
The largest increases were among men—especially young men. The age-adjusted suicide rate rose by about 3% among males in 2021 and by 2% among females (although the increase among females was not statistically significant) compared to 2020. The greatest increase among males—8%—occurred among ages 15 to 24. In 2020, suicide was the third leading cause of death for people in that age group, and the second leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 14 and 25 to 34. Past research has found that the COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly difficult for young people, who have been found to be more likely than older adults to report symptoms of depression and anxiety during the crisis.
Suicide deaths in the U.S. decreased during the 1980s and 90s, but they have been generally increasing (except for slight declines during some years) for the last two decades. In 2021, just 1% fewer people died by suicide than in 2018, which is the year with the highest suicide rate since 1942.
Experts emphasize that the causes of suicide are complex, and there are many risk factors. Though the report does not speculate about what may have contributed to increased rates in 2021, other researchers have warned that fallout from the pandemic—such as job loss, increased stress, and social isolation—could create a “perfect storm” that may contribute to an increase in suicides.
If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental-health crisis or contemplating suicide, call or text 988. In emergencies, call 911, or seek care from a local hospital or mental health provider.
The tragic news that Sarah Jessica Parker ‘s cherished stepfather, Paul Giffin Forste, had passed away was revealed by Parker. He was 76.
In a statement by Page Six on Thursday, the Sex and the City star’s family said, “Our family is saddened to announce that following an unexpected and fast illness, Paul Giffin Forste passed away yesterday at the age of 76.”
During his final moments, he was surrounded by the affection and gratitude of his cherished wife, Barbara, whom he had been married for 54 years, and his children, one of which was Sarah Jessica Parker.
The statement went on to say that Paul will be remembered for the attitude of loving compassion that was his faith, his great delight in his 13 grandchildren, and his continuous belief in making the world a more charitable, tolerant, and beautiful place for all people.
According to an exclusive article published by Page Six on Wednesday night, there was a sudden and sad family problem. Parker, 57, did not attend the 10th Annual Fall Fashion Gala hosted by the New York City Ballet.
The actress from “The First Wives Club” never showed up at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center, where she was supposed to be honored.
Parker now serves as vice chair on the NYCB Board of Directors. She also came up with the idea for the Fall Fashion Gala, which was held for the very first time ten years ago.
The tragic news about Parker’s family comes just one day after she and her husband, Mathew Broderick, together with her twin daughters Marion and Tabitha, who are now 13 years old, went to see the movie’s premiere, Hocus Pocus 2. In addition, they are parents to their son James, who is 19 years old.
Ari Emanuel, the legendary Hollywood agent who is CEO of Endeavor, reportedly got involved in the dispute between Twitter and Elon Musk over Musk’s attempt to nix his takeover of the company — but it’s not exactly clear why.
Within the “past few weeks,” Emanuel had reached out to Twitter board member Egon Durban to suggest the social network work with Musk to “find a solution” to their legal fight ahead of a trial scheduled to commence Oct. 17 in Delaware Chancery Court, according to a report by Bloomberg Law citing anonymous sources.
Twitter and Silver Lake declined to comment. Reps for Endeavor did not respond to a request for comment.
Bloomberg Law did not have details about Emanuel’s motive for inserting himself into the Twitter-Musk drama, speculating that Emanuel may be “operating at the behest of Musk” or that he is “trying to resolve a high-stakes dispute involving two allies.”
For now, Musk is headed toward a court trial to fight Twitter’s demand that he close the deal at the $54.20/share price that he previously agreed on.
Lawyers for Musk, who is the world’s richest person and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, have notified Twitter on three separate occasions that he believes Twitter has breached the terms of the acquisition agreement. Each time, Twitter has responded that Musk’s objections are “invalid and wrongful.”
The Musk team first told Twitter in July that he was exiting the deal because the company allegedly could not prove its claim that spam and fake accounts are less than 5% of active users. In a letter last month, Musk’s lawyers cited allegations by with Peiter “Mudge” Zatko — its former head of security who was fired in January — about security deficiencies and other problems at Twitter as additional evidence that the pact to buy Twitter was null. In a Sept. 9 letter to Twitter, Musk’s lawyers cited its severance payments to Zatko and his counsel totaling $7.75 million, which they claimed violated a provision of the acquisition agreement under which Twitter agreed to not “grant or provide any severance or termination payments or benefits” without first getting approval from Musk.
Twitter sued Musk, seeking to enforce the buyout deal. A judge in the Delaware Court of Chancery set a five-day trial in to hear Twitter’s case against Musk starting Oct. 17.
Musk was originally enthusiastic about the prospect of owning Twitter, floating ideas like authenticating all users and charging businesses to use the social network. Twitter’s lawyers have alleged Musk got cold feet after his personal net worth dropped with the decline in Tesla’s stock price.
Director Fletcher Moules tells IndieWire about the music driving the story and visuals (and vice versa) of the new Netflix special.
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When Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi asks you to create an animated New York City for a TV special revolving around his new album, you don’t say no. But when Fletcher Moules was hired to direct “Entergalactic,” there was only a handful of song demos and a three-page outline for a modern love story that would accompany a new album by Kid Cudi. Still, there was enough there to make the creative juices flow. “I joined in the summer of 2019 and spent the back half of the first year just painting New York City,” Moules told IndieWire. “As I heard the songs and read the story that the writers’ room was finishing up, I was able to spend the time just really designing the city the way we wanted the characters to see it.”
“Entergalactic” is far from the first visual album to debut on Netflix in recent years. In 2019 alone, the streamer released Sturgill Simpson’s “Sound and Fury” as well as The Lonely Island’s “The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience”; 2022 previously brought subscribers “Adam By EVE: A Live in Animation,” based on the music of Japanese artist EVE. But where those projects mostly strung together music videos, “Entergalactic” leads with its narrative. Not that there isn’t music, of course, but the special also functions as a love story about two artists — Jabari (Mescudi) and his neighbor Meadow (Jessica Williams) — falling in love in New York City.
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Where adult animation in the U.S. tends to focus on either violence or comedy, “Entergalactic” is more of a drama with comedic rom-com tropes, something rare for the genre. “That was part of the initial concept,” Moules told IndieWire, “where you’re seeing characters conveying all kinds of emotions.”
“The number one thing was to make sure the audience connected with the emotion of those characters because it is an emotional story,” he said. “It’s why I went to the very graphic art style — if we made it look illustrated then it suddenly places us into a unique world with movement and expressions you can relate to.”
To highlight the performances and create that emotional connection, Moules and his team played with the frame rate. “I wanted it to feel handmade, to see the brushstrokes on the faces, and for the mouth shapes to feel like they were live-action with some animation added in post-production,” he said. To accomplish this, Jabari and Meadow’s movements were often animated in twos and fours, with more frames than most other characters to make the audience connect with the two protagonists first and foremost. “You’ll also notice how people in the background are mostly just hand-painted in 2D and then moved in After Effects with the puppet tool,” Moules said. “Then as you move closer to the foreground, the frame rates on facial expressions and the details increase.”
Indeed, visuals are a huge element of “Entergalactic,” with its illustrated style reminiscent of the Oscar-winner “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” But this is also a special meant to accompany a new set of Kid Cudi songs, so it was paramount that each complemented the other. Moules said he was looking to do what past visual albums and musical films hadn’t done: “Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ wasn’t heavy on narrative but Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ was.” The result isn’t that much different from a standard rom-com with a soundtrack that is played for important emotional moments, only here the music drives both the story and the visuals themselves.
For the story, Mescudi started with the songs and worked backward with a writing team to script the story based on the music’s themes and lyrics. From there, the animation team created the visual. As Moules tells it, oftentimes a song conjured images right off the bat, like the number “In Love,” which scores the moment Jabari starts falling for Meadow and gives her a tour of the city on his bike.
“Entergalactic”
courtesy of Netflix
“I just started visualizing the sequence and how we could bring in Jabari’s headspace,” Moules said. “This is the ‘Aladdin’ moment when he is showing her the world through his eyes, the whole ‘Entergalactic’ idea as they go to space. I was literally riding my bike around listening to the song in headphones and then you just visualize a sequence, then go back and bring it to the team and work it out.”
But the opposite also applied, with the visuals dictating what the music needed to do. Moules recalled one sequence that was fully storyboarded, laid out, and scored, but he and the team felt the score wasn’t enough. “The scene felt like it needed Scott’s voice — it just wasn’t big enough,” Moules said. “So I pitched Cudi on the scene and what the characters are feeling, and he would come back with a song that was better than I ever imagined and it just made the scene.”
Despite the title of the special, there is rather little in terms of outer space imagery or fantasy in “Entergalactic” — unless you count the graffiti character Mr. Rager, who comes to life at several points. This was important for Moules, who had to find a balance between music video aesthetics and physics and grounded reality. “If you just think of the music and where you can go with a song, it becomes a mess,” the director said. Instead he chose to focus on editing, smash cuts, and montages to keep the visuals interesting and make the rhythm match the music. The special changes visual styles several times to show that a new character is telling a story from their perspective, but the viewer always stays grounded in the reality of “Entergalactic.”
Finding the best gifts for new moms can feel like a toss-up between getting something for her or buying something for the baby. While the latter is definitely appreciated, few milestones are as stressful as the early months of parenthood. Securing the perfect gift—whether it’s for her birthday, the imminent holidays, or just because—is especially important. She’s in uncharted territory, and between getting enough sleep, easing back into her routine, and adjusting to the endless postpartum duties that come with taking care of a real human child, it can feel impossible to keep up with everything.
Fellow moms get it, so we asked real women to share the things they received (or wish they had) right after giving birth. Swaddles, diaper bags, and new-mom gift baskets were probably ticked off on her baby shower registry—and can go only so far if you’re looking to surprise a mama-to-be with something truly thoughtful. So whether you’re shopping for your best friend, a loved one, or your coworker who just got back from maternity leave, look to the trusted recommendations ahead for the best gifts for new moms this year.
All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
There are only a handful of characters in Vikram Vedha who do not wield guns, swords or any ‘weapon’ they can lay their hands on. Almost all of them die. And what about those who do wield guns and makeshift weapons? They meet their fate too, except for…Rarely has a film let loose a such a fusillade of bullets, from all sorts of hand-guns as well as AK47s, as in this film. And rarely have we seen so many corpses tumble left, right and centre. The gangs increase from one to two while a Mumbai gang joins the fray, making it three. Counting the police force that is out to get them all, you have a four-cornered contest. And while the gangs fight conventionally, albeit often using unconventional weapons, the police often resort to the notorious method of fake ‘encounter’ killings, to eliminate most wanted criminals. Shot at a frenetic pace, simulating real-time incidents, Vikram Vedha is flawed on logic, but high on octane. It has the background of a mythical tale, which arouses curiosity, though the link is tenuous. A good representative of the gangster genre, it might be worth a watch, and will keep you excited for the better part.
On a tip, the Uttar Pradesh police squad, led Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abbas, and assisted by officer Vikram, raid a house where gangsters are hiding. Vikram, who is very close to Abbas, takes charge. They are met with a lot of fire power, but manage kill all of them. The last man standing, a youth, is unarmed, and claims he is innocent. Vikram shows no mercy and kills him too, but makes it look like an encounter, planting a gun in his hand and spraying bullets from it, with one of which he injures a member of his own team. But the squad fails to nab Vedha, the gang-lord, the killing machine, who has committed 16 murders, and was supposed to be hiding there.
When the squad is leaving for another place where they have information that ingenious Vedha, the man who jumped three storeys and sliced a man on the road into half with a sword, is hiding, he walks into the police station and surrenders. Under basic, conventional interrogation, Vedha does not speak at all. Then, when Vikram comes to interrogate him, he starts a cat and mouse game, narrating incidents from the past that have a bearing on the present circumstances. This is in the vein of the popular mythical tale of Vikram and Betaal, itself based on Betaal Pachcheesee, which was a highly watched television series in India, some 40 years ago. The dilemma is that Vikram needs him and also needs to get rid of him. Just then, Vikram’s wife, Advocate Radhika, walks into the police station, with Vedha’s bail papers. Vedha is released, but Vikram is bent on relentless pursuit, having decided that Vedha will be his own 19th encounter killing, keeping ahead of the criminal’s figure of 16. But the ‘Betaal’ Vedha has a few more storied to tell Vikram, and Vikram finds answers to some of the most elusive questions in these flashback tales.
A remake of the 2017 Tamil film of the same name, Vikram Vedha is written and directed by Pushkar-Gayathri, the duo that has made four other Tamil films, their first two being comedies. The original Tamil version made more than five times its investment at the box-office, which must have egged the husband-wife duo on to make a remake. But Madhavan, who is a Hindustani actor as much as he is a Tamil actor, if not more, was not retained in the Hindustani version. Neither was Vijay Sethupathi, the latter choice being more than expected. In March 2018, Pushkar–Gayathri announced that they would direct the film’s Hindi remake, to be produced again by YNOT Studios and co-produced by Plan C Studios.
In August 2019, it was confirmed that Saif Ali Khan will star as the police officer and Aamir Khan as the gangster. Shooting was planned to start in February 2021, but after production delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India during which the writers also re-worked on the script, Aamir left the project in November 2020 reportedly, due to scripting issues. Shortly thereafter, the makers signed Hrithik Roshan to replace him. One can only imagine what would the film look like with Aamir in place of Hrithik, but on his own merit, Hrithik is not any notch lower. Saif’s persona come across as a more pleasant surprise, as his single-minded devotion to a cause is challenged by Vedha’s ambiguous, grey area riddles. The makers have succeeded in pitching one against the other in a complementary way. I am sure Hrithik’s performance in Dhoom 2 as Aryan/Mr. A would have weighed in his favour.
Besides the chases and the battles, the script has incorporated a romantic angle between Shatak (Vedha’s young brother) and Chanda, his older school friend. There are also several scenes of bonding between Vedha and Shatak. These are moderately interesting. However, the entire track of Vikram’s wife Radhika being an advocate and taking up Vedha’s case, getting a 16 times killer bail in a jiffy, protecting her client from her husband, and Vikram and Radhika’s romantic dalliances and professional differences, given a fair amount of footage, ring false. Besides, the number of times Vikram gets into close proximity of dreaded criminals, never mind if they are hand-cuffed, defies all logic. As dies the fact that the police do not torture Vedha at all, subjecting him to mere Q & A sessions, and there are no As.
The betrayals and territorial wars are all expected, except for the gang being ‘imported’ from Mumbai by a betrayer to settle scores. The ambiguous philosophy propounded by Vedha and the hard-nosed responses by Vikram, using objects like sticks and glasses, fail to have the impact they were potentially capable of. The climax will again bring you back to the ambiguous riddles of Betaal. Benazir Ali Fida and Manoj Muntashir’s dialogue keeps pace with the racy film, with the occasional jabs at philosophy about things being all black and white only, Vikram’s credo, and there being grey areas, the point of view of Vedha. Characters speak the language that is expected from their parts. Only, one wonders whether the dialect is pure Poorbee or a mixture of Poorbee and Bhojpooree.
This is a cut in ice Saif Ali Khan, not the one who was known for romance and comedy. What he lacks in height, he makes up in muscle. And his dialogue delivery is nothing like we have heard in earlier films. It is possible that it has been digitally mastered, but it suits the character to a t. Only in the suggested sexual scenes with his wife is he a bit awkward. As far as voice and dialogue delivery is concerned, Hrithik too scores very high. But sometimes he looks too cute to be doing those unmentionable things that he does, his scraggly beard notwithstanding. Both are top class in their action scenes. Hrithik gets to dance, an add on that is gratis and not organic to the story, as only Hrithik can, in the song which is a paean to alcohol, and called ‘Alcoholia’. Radhika Apte, with her signature voice and bold image, is not able to pull off the advocate bit effectively.
Rohit Saraf has a good outing as Shatak, often at crossroads. Yogita Bihani as Chanda, a young girl and later an adult, with ambivalent values, is a good choice. Sharib Hashmi as Babloo is natural. One wonders whether he is so short in real-life or has been made to look like a dwarf using technology. Incidentally, while fighting a very tall man, Vedha refers to him as Lilliput! There is an actor-writer in the Indian film industry who is vertically challenged and goes by the name of Liliput. Satyadeep Mishra impresses as SSP Abbas. Good support comes from Manuj Sharma as Constable Dubey, Sudhanva Deshpande as Inspector General of Police, Govind Pandey as Parshuram Pandey (who looks suitably menacing and like the Don he plays), Bhupender Negi as Sub Inspector Giri, Dev Chauhan as Inspector Prabhakar, Kapil Sharma as Head Constable Yashwant, Vijay Sanap as Sub Inspector Ranjan, Saurabh Sharma as Sub Inspector Ansari, Rati Shankar Tripathi as Shiv Parsad, Bushan Vikas as Ravi and Shahidur Rehman as Sanki.
Some great establishing shots, appealing top angles a là drone, thrilling chases and fights through narrow lanes and unusual angles are the hallmarks of cinematography P. S. Vinod. A large part of the credit for the roller-coaster pace should go to editor Richard Kevin A. However, this also gives the impression that the film was shot in real-time, with a kind of monotone associated with it, scene after scene coming across as a continuum. Sam C. S.’s background score enhances the ambience and surfaces almost throughout the film, in various forms, with accompanying varying and appropriate sound effects. Vishal-Shekhar are in good form as they compose ‘Alcoholia’ and ‘Bande; both are well picturised too. It pains me to hear talented actor Vijay Raaz being summoned to do yet another voice over. He does a good job, but, nevertheless, I would rather see him in front of the camera.
A pulsating first half and an uneven second half make the 156 minute (the PR agency told me it was 138 minutes long; the Tamil version was 147 minutes long) film just about watchable. The side-tracks must have posed a dilemma. Had they stuck to the basics, gang, bang, it might have been action without respite. Would that have worked better? Let this be another ambiguous question, in the vein of the riddles put to Vikram by Vedha.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is an absolutely behemoth place, but certain franchises stand out as fan favorites. Case in point: Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, with the upcoming sequel serving as one of the most highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movies. Start your weekend right with Wakanda Forever’s leading ladies grooving to “Drop it Like it’s Hot.”
Ryan Coogler assembled an outstanding cast for the Black Panther franchise, and fans are eager to catch up with the iconic characters in Wakanda Forever. That includes the franchise’s leading trio of women: Letitia Wright’s Shuri, Danai Gurira’s Okoye, and Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia. Those actors have great chemistry, as you can see in a video from Nyongo’o’s Instagram of them dancing to Snoop Dogg’s classic “Drop it Like It’s Hot.” Check it out for yourself below,
I mean, how fun is that? You can clearly tell how much the women of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever like each other… as well as Snoop Dogg’s iconic tracks. And since this is merely a clip of this trio doing a photoshoot, one can only imagine how their chemistry will translate into the Marvel sequel. Especially when you consider the high emotional stakes involved.
This clip shared by Lupita Nyong’o will likely only help to buoy excitement over Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as it gets ever closer to being released in theaters. We’re about a month and a half from seeing what Ryan Coogler has up his sleeve, and how the titular nation will continue following the in-universe death of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa. Of course, both the cast/crew and fans in theaters will also be mourning the loss of Boseman IRL, following his passing in August of 2020.
Not much is known about the contents of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which is pretty standard for Marvel movies and their notoriously tight security. But given Boseman’s death and legacy, the real world has arguably never been more connected to the events of the real world. Filmmaker Ryan Coogler went so far as to call crafting the sequel the most difficult task of his professional career, given the emotions involved. And the special care he took with this story can be seen in the movie’s first trailer, which was a massive hit upon its release. As a reminder, you can check it out below,
Obviously the biggest question surrounding Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been exactly will be taking on the mantle of the Panther and becoming the next ruler of the fictional country. Some merchandise for the movie might have revealed this plot point, but it’s all unconfirmed until it finally arrives in theaters. There’s also some new characters being introduced to the MCU, including Namor the Sub-Mariner and Riri Williams aka Ironheart (who is getting her own series on Disney+).
Luckily for Marvel fans the wait for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is nearly over, as it’s hitting theaters on November 11th. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
Adam Sandler received some of his strongest reviews of his career for his performance in Netflix’s “Hustle,” which dropped on the platform back in June. The actor and producer has always seemed like an easy target for critics to unload in reviews however, Sandler has never pretended to be anything more than who he is: a guy who loves movies and loves making them with his friends.
“I like working hard,” Sandler says. “I like being around my friends who work hard. We push each other. ‘Hustle’ was a brand new vibe for us.”
On the film awards season premiere of the award-winning Variety Awards Circuit Podcast, Sandler sits down to discuss his performance in the Netflix sports dramedy “Hustle.” He discusses the awards buzz surrounding his role, whether or not we’ll ever get a full-length album of his music and the type of movie he’s dying to make. The answer just might surprise you.
Listen below:
Despite the Academy’s afflictions to comedic roles, and the unfortunate oversights of worthy Sandler turns such as “Uncut Gems” (2019) and “Punch-Drunk Love” (2002), Netflix is putting the actor and producer out in front for Oscar consideration in the best actor category.
Directed by Jeremiah Zagar, and written by Taylor Materne and Oscar-nominee Will Fetters (“A Star is Born”), “Hustle” tells the story of Stanley Sugarman (Sandler), a basketball scout who discovers a street ball player (Juancho Hernangomez) and sees the potential for him to get into the NBA.
The popularity for Adam Sandler and the dozens of movies he’s made over his career is undeniable. While visiting the offices of his film production company Happy Madison Productions in California, a tour of the space displayed posters of his most notable titles including “The Waterboy” and “Happy Gilmore.” He even had a music room, full of instruments where he often jams out with buddies.
During Variety’s conversation with Sandler, he reveals that he’s in conversations with “Saturday Night Live” creator and producer Lorne Michaels about returning to Studio 8H for another hosting stint. He was talking about doing it earlier in the season but recent hip surgery prevented him from making an appearance. He does say early 2023 could see him taking the stage for the show’s 48th season.
When asked if he foresees an end to the long-running NBC sketch comedy series, Sandler says: “It’s a pretty special place that gets cooler and cooler. I don’t see it stopping. I don’t see Lorne stopping. He doesn’t sound to me like he’s stopping when I talk to him. He’s still excited about it.”
Sandler will be seen next in “Murder Mystery 2,” “Spaceman” and “You’re So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah” for Netflix.
Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, produced by Michael Schneider, is your one-stop listen for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each week “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives; discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines; and much, much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts. New episodes post weekly.
NEW TO NETFLIX! Tragic is probably the best word to describe Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. Along with her intense fame, she should have been happy, but as portrayed in Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, Marilyn’s life was…tragic.
Blonde opens with Marilyn as the child, Norma Jean (Lily Fisher). She lives with her bipolar mother, Gladys (Julianne Nicholson), who reveals to Norma Jean that her father is a big name in Hollywood, and one day they will all be reunited. When Gladys tries to drown Norma Jean after the final rejection of the “big name.” Norma lives out her youth in foster care.
From here, Ana de Armas takes over as Marilyn. Her Hollywood career starts by being raped by a studio mogul, entering a throuple with Edward G. Robinson, Jr. and Charles Chaplin, Jr., an abortion from the throuple, a marriage to an ex-athlete (Bobby Cannavale) and playwright (Adrien Brody), a forced drug addiction to ensure she on set to make movies, and an encounter with a U.S. President.
Based on Joyce Carol Oates’ fictionalized account of Marilyn in her novel, Blonde, writer/director Dominik focuses the entire film and the traumas of Norma Jean/Marilyn Monroe. Visually speaking, Blonde is a beautiful film…a work of art. Dominik tells the story through the lenses of the cameras that filmed all of Monroe’s movies. The film is shot in the postage stamp 5:4 aspect ratio to the standard 16:9. Blonde is then presented in black & white, to the stylized colors of the 60s. Color and aspect ratios constantly shift throughout the film, signifying shifts in tone and tension as opposed to following the history of cinema throughout Monroe’s life. Blonde should be seen in a theater, and Netflix is making a big mistake streaming it from the start.
“…a collection of Norma Jean’s trauma and its relentless.”
Though this may feel confusing or disorientating, this technique is quite effective. It’s disarming and disorienting, which is what Marilyn’s life was. We’re constantly being kept off-guard, which perfectly complements Ana de Armas’ performance.
Speaking of Ana de Armas, she is brilliant, and she personifies Marilyn…a very stylized and tragic version of Marilyn. Not just in her speech and mannerisms but in the way she conducts herself. De Armas is also drop-dead gorgeous. She earned this award-worthy role. It’s worth mentioning that though the film is NC-17, the nudity is rated-R toplessness and never explicit.
Marilyn used her beauty as a means to survive, and clearly, she used her beauty to find meaning in her life. She’s portrayed as well-read and series about the craft of acting. The tragedy of her life was that it was never her own and that someone…in fact, many someones was always pulling the strings of her career and life.
Much like Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, Blonde doesn’t end so well for Marilyn, but then again, we knew this going in. This speaks to the film’s most significant problems, its length, and its tone. Blonde is almost three hours long, and these are three torturous hours ending on a very dark down note. Great films should make you feel, and Andrew Dominik makes you feel a lot of horrible feelings. The entire film is a collection of Norma Jean’s trauma and its relentless. She’s taken advantage of, beaten, and abused in the worst ways, and after the two-hour point, I wanted to end my life the same way she did. However, instead of a happy ending, the story arc is flipped as Monroe’s life starts from bad to worse with a brief moment of happiness with the Playwright.
Ultimately, Blonde is a recommend but loaded with caveats and disclaimers. It’s not for everyone. Its artistic visuals and Ana de Armas’ spot-on performance as Marilyn Monroe is worth seeing, but the almost three hours of emotional trauma may be a hard pass for most.
Emergency services in Hazmat suits descend on EU headquarters in Brussels after ‘suspicious white powder’ is found near President Ursula Von Der Leyen’s office
The headquarters were sent an envelope with a suspicious white powder in it
Emergency crews called to the building in Brussels at around 11.50am local time
Situation is said to be ‘under control’ and there will be no evacuation of building
Emergency services in Hazmat suits have descended on the EU headquarters in Brussels after a ‘suspicious white powder’ was found near President Ursula Von Der Leyen’s office.
Brussels Fire Brigade told the The Brussels Times that the headquarters, called The Berlaymont, had been sent an envelope with the white powder in it.
Crews were called to the 13th floor of the building, where the office of Ursula Von der Leyen is, at around 11.50 local time and the incident was initially thought to be a fire.
The crews were seen outside the building in Brussels but it is said that the situation is ‘under control’.
There will be no evacuation of the headquarters. The substance is being analysed by Civil Protection.
Brussels Fire Brigade told the The Brussels Times that the headquarters, called The Berlaymont, had been sent an envelope with the white powder in it. Pictured: An investigator in a haz mat suit
Crews were called to the 13th floor of the building, where the office of Ursula Von der Leyen, pictured, is at around 11.50 local time and the incident was initially thought to be a fire
There will be no evacuation of the headquarters, pictured. The substance is being analysed by Civil Protection
An expert stands outside the Berlaymont building after the white powder was found in Brussels
Belgian civil protection parked outside the Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Commission
Belgian police stand outside the headquarters of the European Commission, where an envelope with suspect white powder was found
Spokesperson for the Brussels Fire Brigade Walter Derieuw said that one person had come into contact with the substance.
They added that they have not shown any medical symptoms.
Emergency services have placed the room where the envelope was found under quarantine.
Cheyenne Floyd and Zach Davis tied the knot in a magical wedding ceremony in Pasadena, California on Sept. 29. The nuptials were a long time coming, as Cheyenne and Zach dated on and off for years before making it down the aisle. Fans have gotten to see the rekindling of Cheyenne and Zach’s romance, including a pregnancy and engagement, on Teen Mom OG in recent years. Now, they’re ready to start the next chapter of their lives together. Learn more about Zach with five facts below!
Cheyenne & Zach Have A Son Together
Even before their wedding, Zach and Cheyenne were already starting to build a life together. In Dec. 2020, they announced that they were expecting their first child together, who was later revealed to be a baby boy. Zach proposed to Cheyenne at her baby shower that April. The romantic proposal came just over a month before the pair’s son, Ace, was born. In addition to Ace, Cheyenne also has a five-year-old daughter with Cory Wharton, who she briefly dated after they met on The Challenge: Rivals III in 2016.
Of her second pregnancy, Cheyenne previously toldHollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY, “It was definitely a shocker, for me, at least. I wasn’t expecting that to happen the way it did so quickly and stuff. But we have a lot of history between us and in our families and we also have a lot of support from my family. We’ve been making it work this time.”
How Long Have Cheyenne & Zach Been Together?
Zach and Cheyenne’s romance goes back quite a while. The two actually first got together when Cheyenne was a senior in high school. They briefly reconciled in 2018, and Zach was even featured in an episode during Cheyenne’s first season of Teen Mom that year. It wasn’t until Oct. 2020 that they reconciled for real, though, after Zach slid into Cheyenne’s DMs and sparked a romance again.
Zach & Cheyenne Run A YouTube Account Together
Zach, Cheyenne, Ryder and Ace have a YouTube account called “Our CRAZ Family.” Cheyenne started the account back in November 2016, just before Ryder was born in April. Since then, Cheyenne and Zach have gotten together and totally transformed their channel, which boasts nearly 209,000 subscribers as of today. The family posted videos about wedding prep leading up to their big day on Sept. 29.
What Does Zach Do?
Zach hasn’t disclosed much about his own personal life, and his exact career is unclear. However, in March 2021, he did reveal on Instagram that he was beginning the process of becoming a realtor. In his post, he noted that he’s been an “entrepreneur [his] whole life.” It’s unclear whether he achieved his goal of actually becoming a realtor.
Disney has named Alisa Bowen, previously Disney Streaming’s executive vp global business operations, as the president of Disney+.
In her new role, the executive will lead the launch of the streamer’s ad-supported tier and promotion of the service and its content slate. She will continue reporting to Michael Paull, Disney’s president of direct-to-consumer.
“Alisa has been an indispensable member of our leadership team since the inception of Disney+,” Paull said. “She possesses a rare and valuable combination of deep institutional knowledge, forward-thinking innovation, and global vision rooted in a strong focus on our consumer, that is perfectly suited for this critical role, and I am confident that she will have an immediate and positive impact on the business.”
As exec vp global business operations, Bowen was involved in the international rollout of Disney’s streaming brands and operations across Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and Star+. She first joined the company in 2017 after holding top product positions at News Corp. Australia, Dow Jones and Reuters.
“Disney+ is a phenomenal growth story and has delighted fans around the world at tremendous scale. We have a best-in-class team behind this success and I’m excited to partner with them in this new role, as we drive the next phase of Disney+ growth,” Bowen said.
Disney reported having a total of 152.1 million Disney+ subscribers during its fiscal third quarter. The company is preparing to launch its ad-supported tier in the U.S. this December at $7.99 a month, which is how much the service’s ad-free tier currently costs.
Welcome to the Wednesday edition of Hot Pod. You can blame Rosh Hashanah for my tardiness. We have a lot to get into today, but first, some shameless self-promotion! I made an episode of The Vergecast about how the rise of streaming has changed music creation and what it means to be a star. Making podcasts is fun, who knew?
Today, CNN is laying off some of its audio staff, Spotify is trying to stem the flow of white supremacist music, and iHeart is buying illegitimate downloads through mobile games.
CNN lays off audio staffers
CNN is cutting some of its podcast staff as it refocuses its audio business, according to a laid-off employee. Alexander McCall, who worked as a product manager at CNN Audio, tweeted yesterday that he and other podcasting staffers had been laid off and that CNN plans to produce fewer series next year. “I’m joining the ‘My company invested heavily in podcasting, and then realized it’s expensive and then didn’t want to pay for that anymore.’ cohort,” he said.
CNN would not comment on how many staffers were laid off or which shows will be cut. In a statement, the company said: “Audio is an important growth area for the company. Over the last several years we’ve learned a lot about the topics and productions that most resonate with our audiences. As a result, we’ve refined our strategy to focus our resources more specifically in those areas.”
Most of CNN’s podcasts are tied to its shows and hosts, but the network announced a few new series in February. Breaking News Alerts, which issues minute-long news updates, is still up and running. A special season of Tug of War about the war in Ukraine posted its last episode in June, announcing there would be updates “from time to time” on the feed. (There haven’t been any.) Personal finance podcast Diversifying ended its run in August. Meanwhile, Anderson Cooper has a new podcast on grief, which is at number five on the Apple Podcasts chart and number 12 on the Spotify chart. It seems that standalone shows may be falling by the wayside as those centered on CNN’s anchors will remain.
In some ways, CNN’s situation is unique — its recently merged parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is hunting for $3 billion worth of cuts. But to McCall’s point, a lot of media companies have expanded into audio in the past few years, perhaps thinking it would be more profitable than it is. As signs of a recession loom, I would not be surprised if we saw more media and entertainment companies abandoning their audio enterprises (though I really hope not).
Podcast companies are using mobile games to generate downloads
Yesterday, Bloomberg released a pretty damning report showing how companies like iHeartMedia and the New York Post are purchasing automatic plays within freemium mobile games that end up in their overall download tally. This matters because those downloads drive those companies’ ad rates and help them in the constant ranking of top publishers.
The story is based on a report from DeepSee, which provides video demonstrations of how these automatic downloads work. When playing a freemium game, a player is given the option of buying their way into continued access to the game, or watching a video or listening to a sound clip. Players may think they are just sitting through an ad, but in some cases, they are downloading podcasts. Podcast companies buy these placements through an intermediary company called Jun Group.
Bloomberg reports that iHeart, in particular, which touts its position as the number one publisher according to Podtrac, has paid Jun Group $10 million and gotten 6 million downloads through mobile game placements since 2018. iHeart did not respond to request for comment.
ADL finds white supremacist music on Spotify
A new report from the Anti-Defamation League found 40 white supremacist artists on Spotify and criticized the company for allowing the music to surface on algorithmically generated playlists. Spotify has responded to the report’s claims, saying it is rooting out violent content on the platform.
“Our team of in-house experts regularly reviews and takes action against violative content on our platform,” the company said in a statement. “In fact, since January 1, 2022, we have removed more than 12,000 podcast episodes, 19,000 playlists, 160 music tracks, and nearly 20 albums for violating our hate content policy globally. Much of the content referenced by ADL was found to violate our Platform Rules and was removed from the platform. We recognize that even with our continued innovation and investments, when it comes to moderation, there is always more work to be done.”
As Spotify grows as a space for creators, it has introduced more specific content policies and launched a Safety Advisory Council earlier this spring to guide its policies moving forward. Two of the acts ADL identified, Wiking 1940 and Pugilato NSHC, have since been removed from the platform.
While the report is specific to Spotify and its playlisting tools, this is a problem for other music services as well. Wiking 1940 and Pugilato NSHC both have pages on Apple Music, though it looks like their tracks have been removed. Songs by Pugilato NSHC are available on YouTube, though they were posted only a month ago, possibly after previously being removed.
Apple did not respond to request for comment. YouTube spokesperson Jack Malon said, “Our hate speech policy strictly prohibits content promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on attributes like their immigration status, nationality or ethnicity. We’ll remove any content violating our policies upon review.”
Netflix releases trailer for its Spotify-inspired series, The Playlist
And lo, it is very Swedish! Which is perfectly fair, we’re talking about a Swedish company after all. The show, which was announced last year, will be a fictionalized six-part limited series based on the book Spotify Untold by business journalists Jonas Leijonhufvud and Sven Carlsson. The trailer features lots of laptops and aughts references. (Pirate Bay!)
The people simply want more business dramas. I don’t because they remind me too much of work and I would much rather just rewatch Bob’s Burgers, but I will probably be compelled to watch this one. The series comes out October 13th.
Hope springs eternal in Björk’s fantastical world. Her optimism is one of the most spiritually nourishing things about her work, as if she’s dressing the emotional wounds of the world despite making increasingly avant-garde music and becoming the world’s first Animorph. At times her lyrics have urged the listener to accept a lack of control as an opportunity—the way there are “unthinkable surprises about to happen” on Vespertine’s “It’s Not Up to You,” or how Post imagines romantic hope through self-possession. You can always find the spark or glimmer of light in Björk’s music, whether it’s in the outlook or the instrumentation.
Of course, her emotionally complex canon, spanning nearly 30 years, also shows that unthinkable surprises can be catastrophic, most acutely on 2015’s Vulnicura, written about her painful divorce from the artist Matthew Barney. Without the lows, there would be no hero’s journey for Björk, no abyss, no transformation, no return. She embraced new love on 2017’s Utopia, a fantasia of flute and birdsong, and she has been embraced herself, as a blueprint of autonomy for women artists and as some kind of experimental-pop “mom” for young fans. With her 10th album, Fossora, she is grounded back on earth, searching for hope in death, mushrooms, and matriarchy, and finding it in bass clarinet and gabber beats.
The most poignant songs on Fossora are the towering twin tributes to her mother, the environmental activist Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, who died in 2018. The first, “Sorrowful Soil,” is Björk’s attempt to mimic Iceland’s traditional style of musical eulogy, consisting of melodramatic melodies delivering dry biography, but from a matriarchal POV. “In a woman’s lifetime she gets 400 eggs but only two or three nests,” she sings, pausing for emphasis and buoyed by women’s voices from the Hamrahlid Choir. With a baroque choral arrangement and bass chords that function like a church organ, the song sounds solemn, to be sure, but there’s something strangely funny about boiling down a woman’s life to her menstrual cycles and prevailing worldview (Björk seems to recognize this, grinning over the lyrics’ oddness in our recent cover story). Certain phrases cut through and carry the melody: “emotional textile” (what a mother’s nest is made from, naturally), “self-sacrificial,” and “nihilism.” Björk’s mother was a nihilist, a fact that is dramatically emphasized in a vocal hook; despite her nature, the musician seems to say, she did her best to raise children, an act that disregards one’s own nihilism for the future.
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