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Entertaintment, Film, Press Releases

‘The Continental’ Television series which is set to launch in 2023 has moved from Starz to Peacock.

In the Wick movies, the Continental Hotel is displayed as a safe hub, that is available worldwide for the members of the criminal underworld where they can meet and discuss their dealings with maximum privacy, keeping some rules in mind such as no spilling of blood on the Continental Grounds.

Set in 1975 New York, ‘The Continental‘ mini-series will be going into depth about the chain of hotels and the underworld through the eyes of a young Winston Scott portrayed by Colin Woodell (The Purge, The Originals). The said role is taken up by Ian McShane in the John Wick Trilogy.

Courtesy of Lionsgate

The cast is made up of: Katie McGrath who’ll be taking up the role of The Adjudicator; Peter Greene who’ll be portraying a Young Uncle Charlie; Mel Gibson as Cormac; Ayomide Adegun, a Young Charon; and Jessica Allain as Lou.

Kirk Ward and Greg Coolidge serve as showrunners for the three-part series. Chad Stahelski, Derek Kolstad, and Marshall Persinger are part of the executive production team.

 

John Wick: Chapter 4 will be released in theatres on the 24th of March, 2023.

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'The Continental' Television series which is set

Awards, Entertaintment

2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the Saturn Awards, and just this last week, the nominees were announced by the Saturn Awards organization, and the voting begins for members of the Academy on August 15th. All productions screened for the organization from November 2020 to July 4th, 2022 were eligible for award nominations.

The Saturn Awards organization is the official awards group of The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.  The Academy was founded in 1972 and is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

The 2022 Saturn Awards Nominees:

Superhero Film

The Batman (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony Pictures / Marvel)
The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Thor: Love and Thunder (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)

Courtesy of Marvel/Walt Disney Studios

Science Fiction Film

Crimes of the Future (Neon)
Dune (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Free Guy (20th Century Studios)
Godzilla vs. Kong (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Jurassic World Dominion (Universal Pictures)
Nope (Universal Pictures)

Fantasy Film

Cruella (Walt Disney Studios)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Sony Pictures)
The Green Knight (A24)
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Lionsgate)

Horror Film

A Quiet Place Part II (Paramount Pictures)
The Black Phone (Universal Pictures)
Last Night in Soho (Focus Features)
The Night House (Searchlight Pictures)
Scream (Paramount Pictures)
X (A24)

Action / Adventure Film

RRR – Rise Roar Revolt (Sarigama Cinemas / Variance Films / Potentate)
Death on the Nile (20th Century Studios)
F9: The Fast Saga (Universal Pictures)
No Time to Die (United Artists Releasing)
Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
West Side Story (20th Century Studios)

Thriller Film

Ambulance (Universal Pictures)
Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures)
The Northman (Focus Features)
Old (Universal Pictures)
The Outfit (Focus Features)
Pig (Neon)

Actor in a Film

Timothee Chalamet, Dune (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Tom Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Idris Elba, The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Tom Holland, Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony Pictures / Marvel)
Daniel Kaluuya, Nope (Universal Pictures)
Simu Liu, Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)
Robert Pattinson, The Batman (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Actress in a Film

Cate Blanchett, Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures)
Emily Blunt, A Quiet Place Part II (Paramount Pictures)
Zoe Kravitz, The Batman (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Keke Palmer, Nope (Universal Pictures)
Emma Stone, Cruella (Walt Disney Studios)
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Zendaya, Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony Pictures / Marvel)

Supporting Actor in a Film

Paul Dano, The Batman (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Colin Farrell, The Batman (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Ethan Hawke, The Black Phone (Universal Pictures)
Richard Jenkins, Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures)
Alfred Molina, Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony Pictures / Marvel)
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Benedict Wong, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)

Supporting Actress in a Film

Awkwafina, Shang-Chi and the Legend Of the Ten Rings (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)
Jodie Comer, Free Guy (20th Century Studios)
Carrie Coon, Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Sony Pictures)
Viola Davis, The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Stephanie

Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Diana Rigg, Last Night in Soho (Focus Features)
Marisa Tomei, Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony Pictures Marvel)

Younger Actor in a Film

Noah Jupe, A Quiet Place Part II (Paramount Pictures)
Madeleine McGraw, The Black Phone (Universal Pictures)
Millicent Simmonds, A Quiet Place Part II (Paramount Pictures)
Mason Thames, The Black Phone (Universal Pictures)
Jacob Tremblay, Luca (Pixar / Walt Disney Studios)
Finn Wolfhard, Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Sony Pictures)

Film Direction

Guillermo del Toro, Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures)
Joseph Kosinski, Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Jordan Peele, Nope (Universal Pictures)
S. S. Rajamouli, RRR – Rise Roar Revolt (Sarigama Cinemas / Variance Films / Potentate)
Matt Reeves, The Batman (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Steve Spielberg, West Side Story (20th Century Studios)
Jon Watts, Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony Pictures / Marvel)

Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Film Writing (Screenplay)

The Batman, Matt Reeves, Peter Craig (Warner Bros. Pictures)
The Black Phone, Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill (Universal Pictures)
Everything Everywhere All at Once, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (A24)
Nightmare Alley, Guillermo del Toro, Kim Morgan (Searchlight Pictures)
Nope, Jordan Peele (Universal Pictures)
Scream, James Vanderbilt, Guy Busick (Paramount Pictures)
Spider-Man: No Way Home, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers (Sony Pictures / Marvel)

Film Music (Composer)

Nope, Michael Abels (Universal Pictures)
Cruella, Nicholas Britell (Walt Disney Studios)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Danny Elman (Walt Disney Studios)
The Batman, Michael Giacchino (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Nightmare Alley, Nathan Johnson (Searchlight Pictures)
Crimes of the Future, Howard Shore (Neon)
Shang-Chi and the Legend Of the Ten Rings, Joel P. West (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)

Film Editing

Spider-Man: No Way Home, Jeffrey Ford, Leigh Folsom (Sony Pictures / Marvel)
Top Gun: Maverick, Eddie Hamilton (Paramount Pictures)
The Batman, William Hoy, Tyler Nelson (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Nightmare Alley, Cam McLauchin (Searchlight Pictures)
Everything Everywhere All at Once, Paul Rogers (A24)
Nope, Nicholas Monsour (Universal Pictures)
Ambulance, Pietro Scalia, Doug Brandt, Calvin Wimmer (Universal Pictures)

Film Production Designer

Shang-Chi and the Legend Of the Ten Rings, Sue Chan (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)
The Batman, James Chinlund (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Cruella, Fiona Crombie (Walt Disney Studios)
Nightmare Alley, Tamara Deverell (Searchlight Pictures)
Everything Everywhere All at Once, Jason Kisvarday (A24)
Last Night in Soho, Marcus Rowland (Focus Features)
Dune, Patrice Vermette (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Film Costume

Shang-Chi and the Legend Of the Ten Rings, Kym Barrett (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)
Cruella, Jenny Beavan (Walt Disney Studios)
The Batman, Jacqueline Durran, David Crossman, Glyn Dillon (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Dune, Robert Morgan, Jacqueline West (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Thor: Love and Thunder, Mayes C. Rubeo (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)
Nightmare Alley, Luis Sequeira (Searchlight Pictures)
The Eternals, Sammy Sheldon (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)

Film Make-Up

Crimes of the Future, Alexandra Anger, Monica Pavez, Evi Zafiropoulou (Neon)
Nightmare Alley, Jo-Ann MacNeil, Mike Hill, Megan Many (Searchlight Pictures)
The Batman, Mike Marino, Naomi Donne (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Dune, Donald Mowat, Love Larson, Eva Von Bahr (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Army of the Dead, Justin Raleigh, Ozzy Alvarez, Kevin Kirkpatrick, Victoria Down (Netflix)
Thor: Love and Thunder, Matteo Silvi, Adam Johansen (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)
The Suicide Squad, Heba Thorisdottir, Greg Funk, Brian Sipe (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Film Visual / Special Effects

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Jorundur Rafn Arnarson, Erik Winquist, Joe Letteri (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)
Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Sheena Duggal, Alessandro Ongaro (Sony Pictures)
Godzilla vs. Kong, Kevin Andrew Smith (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Jurassic World Dominion, David Vickery (Universal Pictures)
Shang-Chi and the Legend Of the Ten Rings, Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker, Dan Oliver (Marvel / Walt Disney Studios)
Spider-Man: No Way Home, Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein, Dan Sudick (Sony Pictures / Marvel)
Top Gun: Maverick, Scott R. Fisher, Ryan Tudhope (Paramount Pictures)

Independent Film

Alice (Roadside Attractions/Vertical)
Dream Horse (Bleecker Street)
Dual (RLJE Films)
Gold (Screen Media Films)
Mass (Bleecker Street)
Watcher (IFC Midnight)

International Film

RRR – Rise Roar Revolt (Sarigama Cinemas / Variance Films / Potentate)
Downton Abbey: A New Era (Focus Features)
Eiffel (Blue Fox Entertainment)
I’m Your Man (Bleecker Street)
Riders of Justice (Magnolia / Magnet Releasing)
Silent Night (RLJE Films)

Animated Film

The Addams Family 2 (United Artists)
Encanto (Walt Disney Studios)
Lightyear (Pixar / Walt Disney Studios)
Luca (Pixar / Walt Disney Studios)
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (A24)
Minions: The Rise of Gru (Universal Pictures)

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

Science Fiction Television Series: Network / Cable

The Flash (The CW)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (Showtime)
Supergirl (The CW)
Superman & Lois (The CW)
Resident Alien (SyFy / Universal)
Westworld (HBO)

Fantasy Television Series: Network / Cable

DC’s Stargirl (The CW)
Doctor Who (BBC America)
Ghosts (CBS)
La Brea (NBC)
Riverdale (The CW)
Shining Vale (Starz)

Horror Television Series: Network / Cable

American Horror Story: Double Feature (FX)
Chucky (SyFy / Universal)
Fear the Walking Dead (AMC)
From (EPIX)
The Walking Dead (AMC)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

Action / Thriller Series: Network / Cable

Better Call Saul (AMC)
Big Sky (ABC)
The Blacklist (NBC)
Dexter: New Blood (Showtime)
Dark Winds (AMC)
Outlander (Starz)
Yellowjackets (Showtime)

Actor in a Network / Cable Series

Chiwetel Ejiofor, The Man Who Fell to Earth (Showtime)
Tyler Hoechlin, Superman & Lois (The CW)
Coleman Domingo, Fear the Walking Dead (AMC)
Harold Perrineau, From (EPIX)
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul (AMC)
Michael C. Hall, Dexter: New Blood (Showtime)
Sam Heughan, Outlander (Starz)

Courtesy of STARZ

Actress in a Network / Cable Series

Caitriona Balfe, Outlander (Starz)
Kylie Bunbury, Big Sky (ABC)
Courteney Cox, Shining Vale (Starz)
Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets (Showtime)
Rose McIver, Ghosts (CBS)
Rhea Seehorn, Better Call Saul (AMC)
Elizabeth Tulloch, Superman & Lois (The CW)

Supporting Actor in a Network / Cable Series

Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul (AMC)
Tony Dalton, Better Call Saul (AMC)
Patrick Fabian, Better Call Saul (AMC)
Harvey Guillen, What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Michael James Shaw, The Walking Dead (AMC)
Michael Mando, Better Call Saul (AMC)
Brandon Scott, Jones Ghosts (CBS)

Supporting Actress in a Network / Cable Series

Emmanuelle Chriqui, Superman & Lois (The CW)
Lauren Cohan, The Walking Dead (AMC)
Janina Gavankar, Big Sky (ABC)
Julia Jones, Dexter: New Blood (Showtime)
Melissa McBride, The Walking Dead (AMC)
Danielle Panabaker, The Flash (The CW)
Sophie Skelton, Outlander (Starz)

Performance by a Younger Actor: Network / Cable Series

Jack Alcott, Dexter: New Blood (Showtime)
Zackary Arthur, Chucky (SyFy / Universal)
Brec Bassinger, Stargirl (The CW)
Gus Birney, Shining Vale (Starz)
Jordan Elsass, Superman & Lois (The CW)
Alex Garfin, Superman & Lois (The CW)

Guest-Starring Performance: Network / Cable Series

Michael Biehn, The Walking Dead (AMC)
Rachael Harris, Ghosts (CBS)
Jessie James Keitel, Big Sky (ABC)
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, The Walking Dead (AMC)
Fisher Stevens, The Blacklist (NBC)
Jennifer Tilly, Chucky (SyFy / Universal)
Aisha Tyler, Fear the Walking Dead (AMC)

Animated Series

Arcane (Netflix)
Blade Runner: Black Lotus (Crunchyroll / Adult Swim)
The Boys Presents: Diabolical (Amazon)
Invincible (Amazon)
Star Trek: Lower Decks (Paramount+)
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+ / Lucasfilm)
What If? (Disney+ / Marvel)

Science Fiction Series (Streaming)

The Expanse (Amazon)
For All Mankind (Apple TV+)
Lost in Space (Netflix)
The Mandalorian (Disney+ / Lucasfilm)
The Orville: New Horizons (Hulu)
Star Trek: Discovery (Paramount+)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)

Fantasy Series (Streaming)

Loki (Disney+ / Marvel)
Russian Doll (Netflix)
Schmigadoon (Apple TV+)
WandaVision (Disney+ / Marvel)
The Wheel of Time (Amazon)
The Witcher (Netflix)

Horror / Thriller Series (Streaming)

Creepshow (Shudder)
Evil (Paramount+)
Servant (Apple TV+)
Severance (Apple TV+)
Squid Game (Netflix)
Stranger Things (Netflix)

Courtesy of Netflix

Action / Adventure Series (Streaming)

Bosch: Legacy (FreeVee)
The Boys (Amazon)
Cobra Kai (Netflix)
Leverage: Redemption (FreeVee)
Peacemaker (HBOMax / DC)
Reacher (Amazon)
Umbrella Academy (Netflix)

Limited Event Series (Streaming)

The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+ / Lucasfilm)
Hawkeye (Disney+ / Marvel)
Midnight Mass (Netflix)
Ms. Marvel (Disney+ / Marvel)
Moon Knight (Disney+ / Marvel)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+ / Lucasfilm)

Actor in a Streaming Series

Tom Hiddleston, Loki (Disney+ / Marvel)
Oscar Isaac, Moon Knight (Disney+ / Marvel)
Anthony Mackie, Falcon & The Winter Soldier (Disney+ / Marvel)
Ewan McGregor, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+ / Lucasfilm)
Anson Mount, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)
Adam Scott, Severance (Apple TV+)
Antony Starr, The Boys (Amazon)

Actress in a Streaming Series

Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things (Netflix)
Britt Lower, Severance (Apple TV+)
Erin Moriarty, The Boys (Amazon)
Elizabeth Olsen, WandaVision (Disney+ / Marvel)
Beth Riesgraf, Leverage: Redemption (FreeVee)
Kate Siegel, Midnight Mass (Netflix)
Ming-Na Wen, The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+ / Lucasfilm)

Supporting Actor in a Streaming Series

Zach Cherry, Severance (Apple TV+)
Ethan Hawke, Moon Knight (Disney+ / Marvel)
Joel Kinnaman, For All Mankind (Apple TV+)
Elliot Page, Umbrella Academy (Netflix)
Ethan Peck, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)
Joseph Quinn, Stranger Things (Netflix)
John Turturro, Severance (Apple TV+)

Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series

Patricia Arquette, Severance (Apple TV+)
Danielle Brooks, Peacemaker (HBOMax)
Jess Bush, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)
Nell Tiger, Free Servant (Apple TV+)
Kathryn Hahn, WandaVision (Disney+ / Marvel)
Moses Ingram, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+ / Lucasfilm)
Aleyse Shannon, Leverage: Redemption (FreeVee)

Performance by a Younger Actor (Streaming)

Vivien Lyra Blair, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+ / Lucasfilm)
Maxwell Jenkins, Lost in Space (Netflix)
Gaten Matarazzo, Stranger Things (Netflix)
Sadie Sink, Stranger Things (Netflix)
Hailee Steinfeld, Hawkeye (Disney+ / Marvel)
Iman Vellani, Ms. Marvel (Disney+ / Marvel)

Guest Performance in a Streaming Series

Jensen Ackles, The Boys (Amazon)
Levar Burton, Leverage: Redemption (FreeVee)
Hayden Christensen, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+ / Lucasfilm)
Rosario Dawson, The Mandalorian (Disney+ / Lucasfilm)
Robert Englund, Stranger Things (Netflix)
Tony Dalton, Hawkeye (Disney+ / Marvel)
Jonathan Majors, Loki (Disney+ / Marvel)

HOME ENTERTAINMENT CATEGORIES

Classic Film Release

The Incredible Shrinking Man (Criterion)
Master of the World (Special Edition) (Kino Lorber)
The Secret of the Blue Room (Kino Lorber)
Theatre of Blood (Kino Lorber)
Village of the Giants (Kino Lorber)
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (Warner Archive)

Television Series Release

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Season 1 & 2 (MPI Home Video)
Chucky, Season 1 (Universal)
Creepshow, Season 2 (RLJ Entertainment)
Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Complete Series (Kino Lorber)
Night Gallery: Season One (Kino Lorber)
The Six Million Dollar Man: The Complete Series (Shout Factory)

Film Collection Release

The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection Volume 2 (Universal)
The Ghost Ship / Bedlam Double Feature (Warner Archive)
Francis The Talking Mule 7 Film Collection (Kino Lorber)
The Godfather Trilogy 4K (Paramount)
Shawscope, Volume One (Arrow)
Universal Classic Monsters – Icons of Horror Collection 4K (Universal)

4K Special Edition Film Release

Blood for Dracula (Severin)
Everything, Everywhere All at Once (Lionsgate)
A Fistful of Dollars (Kino Lorber)
Flesh for Frankenstein (Vinegar Syndrome)
For a Few Dollars More (Kino Lorber)
The Great Escape (Kino Lorber)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Kino Lorber)

Full nominee list found on Deadline.

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2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the

Global

Kingston police, along with the OPP, are investigating a break and enter at Alterna Savings at 823 Norwest Rd. in Clock Tower Plaza.

Police say at 2 a.m. Aug. 15, two individuals entered the vestibule at the credit union and broke into the ATM and left with the money inside.

Read more:

Kingston Police looking for person of interest in downtown arson investigation

Anyone with information on the identity of this individual is asked to contact Det. Mike Fleming at 613-549-4660 ext. 6318 or via email at mfleming@kingstonpolice.ca.


Click to play video: 'Global News speaks with Ontario Health CEO amid ER closures, concerns of privatization'







Global News speaks with Ontario Health CEO amid ER closures, concerns of privatization
Global News speaks with Ontario Health CEO amid ER closures, concerns of privatization

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Kingston police, along with the OPP, are

Tech

Apple’s sweeping changes to its privacy rules are reportedly having a negative impact on some small businesses.

Introduced in iOS 14.5, the company’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature gave users the option of opting out of app tracking across third-party apps and websites, which would then stop these apps from serving targeted ads to customers.

This caused a 13% dip in revenue in Q2, 2022 for companies that relied on these targeted mobile ads to acquire new customers, according to data from software firm Varos which surveyed over 1,300 businesses.

How does the feature work?

Before the feature’s introduction app developers and publishers gained access to large amounts of users’ data.

Though this could be used for legitimate ends to make apps work better, for example, by providing location-based suggestions it also allowed publishers and advertisers to sell user data to 3rd parties.

The introduction of ATT hasn’t been without controversy, however. Apple is currently facing an antitrust lawsuit in Germany, with Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, investigating whether the introduction of the new rules is self-preferencing.

However, a report commissioned by Apple (opens in new tab) (perhaps unsurprisingly) found it hasn’t received a windfall under the new rules.

The report found that, “Apple is unlikely to have significantly benefitted from ATT because Apple Search Ads is a small part of the overall mobile advertising market, and because displaced advertising spending could move to many other companies that effectively leverage first-party data for advertising.”

Apple’s changes to how its products share data may have had wider impacts on the industry as a whole.

Google has said it will remove third-party cookies from Chrome by the end of 2023. 

Interested in changing your settings?

If you’d like to change how your iPhone tracks your data you can head to the “Settings” app and then tap on “Privacy”.

You can then go to “Tracking”, which is at top of the screen, and you’ll then be able to disable or enable tracking for any of your apps individually.

Via Financial Times (opens in new tab)

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Apple's sweeping changes to its privacy rules

Entertaintment, Global

On the 12th of August,  Ahmed Salman Rushdie was brutally attacked at an event in New York. The Novelist was on stage preparing for his lecture when a 24-year-old New Jersey man rushed to the platform and stabbed him in the neck and abdomen, injuring him severely.

The incident took place on Friday morning at the Chautauqua center where Mr. Rushdie was set to discuss how the United States is a safe place for writers that have been exiled. But he was attacked before he could even give his points in the scheduled event.

The Indian-born author was assisted by members of the audience, one of them happened to be a physician who performed first aid on him before he was airlifted from the education center and taken to an area hospital where he underwent immediate surgery.

At the time Mr. Rushdie’s health status was unknown, until later that evening when his agent, Andrew Wylie, sent an emailed update to The New York Times stating that his health was not at all good. The 75-year-old is said to have been placed on a ventilator and suffered wounds to his eye, severed nerves in his arm, and a damaged liver.

Ralph Henry Reese, the event’s moderator who was onstage with Mr. Rushdie when he got attacked sustained minor injuries and was released from the hospital in the afternoon.

The attacker identified as Hadi Matar was taken into custody and very little has been revealed about his motives.

Story is still developing.

 

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On the 12th of August,  Ahmed Salman

Entertaintment, Film

On Friday, August 12th, 2022, Anne Celeste Heche, 53, passed away due to injuries sustained following a car crash that occurred in the Mar Vista neighborhood on August 5th. Though she is legally deceased, she remains on life support measures for organ donation.

She is survived by her sons, Homer and Atlas, her sister, Abigail Heche, and her mother (whom she previously mentioned being estranged from) Nancy Heche.

Courtesy of Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

The actress and advocate began her career in 1987 when she secured a role on the daytime soap “Another World” (1987)— Disney’s “The Adventures of Huck Finn” (1993), “If These Walls Could Talk” (1996), “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (1997), Volcano (1997), “Psycho”(1998), “Prozac Nation” (1998), and “My Friend Dahmer” (2017).

She is known for her public relationship with Ellen DeGeneres, which lasted from 1997 to 2000. She became more of an interest to the media during this relationship, since it was not common for same-sex celebrity couples to be out in the public eye.

According to Insider, “Heche in interviews and podcast appearances often recounted the story of the premiere for her 1997 film ‘Volcano.’

‘I was told by Fox Studio executives that if I brought Ellen to the premiere, my contract would be terminated,’ she told Mr. Warburton. ‘I brought Ellen despite those threats, and we were escorted out of the theater before the lights came on by security and not allowed to attend the premiere party because they did not want any photos of us together.’”

“You Might Know Her From” podcast said she was the first leading actor to bring a same-sex partner to a premiere, and as a result, didn’t make another studio picture for ten years after the premiere.

She also wrote a memoir in 2001, “Call Me Crazy,” and started a podcast in 2020, “Better  Together,” with her friend Heather Duffy. She talks about her childhood and her struggles with her mental health, and Larry King described her memoir as “honest and outspoken” in an interview with the actress.

“I am left with a deep, wordless sadness,” wrote Heche’s son with Lafoon, Homer, in a statement shared with NPR via Baird. “Hopefully my mom is free from pain and beginning to explore what I like to imagine as her eternal freedom.”

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On Friday, August 12th, 2022, Anne Celeste

Entertaintment, Film

Timothee Chalamet has been something of a rising star in the entertainment industry recently.  Although he’s done acting in tevelsion and film since 2009, it was with 2021’s Dune that he came into the mainstream spotlight, taking on the role of the main character Paul Atreides, a role he is set to return to in Dune: Part Two.  In addition, he is set to play a young Willy Wonka in Wonka, a musical film detailing the character’s rise before opening his world famous chocolate factory.  Before that is set to come out though, this year he will be joining Canadian actress Taylor Russell in a romance film with a dark, cannibalistic twist; Bones & All.  Prior to this project, Russell received praise in the acclaimed drama Waves(2019), Words on Bathroom Walls(2020), and her appearance in the Escape Room series of horror films.

Based on a book of the same name by Camille DeAngelis, the story follows two teenage cannibals, Maren Yearly(Russell) and Lee(Chalamet) who fall in love with one another, as they journey together throughout America during the Reagan Administration.  The original book tackled themes of feminism, loneliness, self-loathing, and of course, cannibalism and the moral implications it carries.  The film is expected to carry over many of these themes, with director Luca Guadagnino stating the film is, ‘a very romantic story, about the impossibility of love and yet, the need for it.  Even in extreme circumstances.’

Guadagnino has been known for his work on the films The Protagonists, I Am Love, A Bigger Splash, and Suspiria.  The director previously worked with Chalamet on his 2017 film, Call Me by Your Name, another novel adaptation, this time by Andre Aciman.  The novel follows the relationship between Chalamet’s Elio Perlman and Armie Hammer’s Oliver.  The film would go on to become a critical success, even receiving the nomination for Best Picture at the 90th Academy Awards.  Guadagnino is no stranger to romance films and psychological thrillers, so a project like Bones & All seems like a perfect match for the ideas of this director.

Joining the cast will be Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg, Andre Holland, Jessica Harper, Chloe Sevigny, Francesca Scorsese, David Gordon Green, Anna Cobb, Jake Horowitz, and Kendle Coffey as the character Sherry.  The screenplay was written by David Kajganich, a frequent colaborator with Guadagnino.  Handling the music will be Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.  The film is set to have a 2 hour 10 minute runtime, and will see its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in September, with a US release set for November 23.

Be sure to check out the trailer above.

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Timothee Chalamet has been something of a

Film, Press Releases

NEW YORK, NY – August 10, 2022 – IFC Films is acquiring North American rights to THE LOST KING ahead of its World Premiere at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival. THE LOST KING reunites the Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning creative team behind box office and critical hit, PHILOMENA – director Stephen Frears and writers Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope. The film stars Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winning actress Sally Hawkins (THE SHAPE OF WATER) in the lead role of Philippa Langley, alongside Steve Coogan (PHILOMENA, THE TRIP SERIES) in the role of Philippa’s husband, John Langley. The film is produced by Steve Coogan with Christine Langan (THE QUEEN) and Dan Winch (A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL) and is a Baby Cow production for Pathé, BBC Film, Ingenious Media and Screen Scotland. Executive Producers are Cameron McCracken and Jenny Borgars for Pathé; Rose Garnett for BBC Film; Andrea Scarso for Ingenious; Jeff Pope and Philippa Langley. The film was Co-produced by Wendy Griffin.

THE LOST KING tells the remarkable true story of amateur historian Philippa Langley played by Sally Hawkins, who was behind the real life discovery of King Richard III in 2012 after the remains had been lost for 500 years. Langley spent years researching and searching for the remains, in spite of skepticism from friends, family and academics. The film is the life-affirming true story of a woman who refused to be ignored and who took on the country’s most eminent historians, forcing them to think again about one of the most controversial kings in England’s history.

Of the acquisition, Director Stephen Frears said, “I’m delighted that THE LOST KING has found a home in North America with IFC Films. It was hugely enjoyable to work again with Steve and Jeff and we were blessed with an incredible performance from Sally. Toronto is always special and now we have IFC at our side”.

Arianna Bocco, President of IFC Films said, “We are delighted to collaborate with the exceptional creative team behind THE LOST KING. Stephen, Steve and Jeff and our friends at Pathe have brought the astounding story of Philippa Langley to life and Sally Hawkins has added another brilliant performance to her resume. We can’t wait to have the world premiere with our amazing friends at Toronto this year in person, on a big screen.”

The deal for the film was negotiated by IFC Films’ Head of Acquisitions and Production Scott Shooman with Cameron McCracken , Managing Director, Pathe UK on behalf of the filmmakers.

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NEW YORK, NY - August 10, 2022

Entertaintment, Film

For quite some time, Ezra Miller has been the center of attention, for all of the wrong reasons.  Facing many accusations and legal troubles, with many reports of troublesome behavior from around the world; with multiple arrests, charges, and allegations of assault and grooming. Now, Miller once again found themselves facing legal troubles, as the Vermont State Police have charged Miller with felony burglary.

It seems like almost everyday, new information comes out about Miller, information that only paints the actor and the companies that work with them in a worse light.  Among these companies, has been Warner Bros. Discovery.

To say the company finds itself in a difficult position thanks to Miller would be an understatement.  Given the major role the actor plays in The Flash, scheduled to release in 2023, the new management at the recently formed Warner Bros. Discovery finds themselves facing a difficult decision with what to do with this film, one which has reportedly faced many behind the scenes issues and has a budget the size of 2017’s Justice League behind it.

It’s because of this, as well as the cancellation of Batgirl, that many people believe The Flash will face the same fate of cancellation, although it would be a much harder hit for the company.  Compared to the upcoming tentpole film, Batgirl had a far smaller budget, and was set to only see release on HBO Max, rather than a theatrical release.  Combined with concerns of the film’s quality, Warner Bros. Discovery cancelled the film and made a tax write-off, minimizing their losses.

Leslie Grace Batgirl

The decision was certainly a controversial move, especially given the film was essentially complete, (much like Zack Snyder’s Justice League, before it was heavily reworked into the inferior 2017 cut).  It’s only drawn even more ire from fans and audiences, as many took issue with the company cancelling the film that had little to no controversy prior to its cancellation, while The Flash lives on, and was even scheduled to have reshoots with Miller recently, in the midst of their legal troubles.  Notably, Kevin Smith would go on to state, ‘I don’t give a shit how bad the Batgirl movie is, nobody in that movie is complicated or has anything in their real life you have to market around.  In The Flash movie, we all know there’s a big problem!  Flash is the Reverse Flash in real life.”

Despite comments by new CEO David Zaslov stating confidence in the upcoming slate of DC Films, including The Flash, a piece by The Hollywood Reported stated that the company is now discussing three possible options for film following Miller’s trouble in Vermont.  First, Miller could seek therapy and Warner Bros. Discovery moves forward with the film’s release; two, The Flash is released as planned, but Miller would be recast moving forward; three, the film meets the same fate as Batgirl.  The only way this third film may happen, however, would only be if controversy continues to follow Miller, and the backlash becomes too great, that Warner Bros. Discovery is left with no choice but to shelve the film.

Credit to Warner Bros.

Financially, shelving The Flash wouldn’t save nearly as much money as Batgirl, and likely would result in heavy financial losses short term.  But given David Zaslov’s emphasis on looking at DC Films in the long run, it may actually be beneficial in the long run to lay this film to rest and recast Miller.  While Batgirl certainly faced some ire with fans, largely over the fact that this character would get a stand-alone film before Ben Affleck’s Batman, The Flash has seen ire from all sides of the DC fandom.  Prior to the escalation of controversies with Miller, fans of Snyder’s vision of the DC Universe were irritated when rumors and reports indicated that the movie would go out of it’s way to essentially retcon Snyder’s movies.  Likewise, DC fans in general were angered that it seemed like the film would replace Henry Cavill’s Superman and kill off Ben Affleck’s Batman, replacing them both with Sasha Calle’s Supergirl and Michael Keaton’s Batman.  Now, with Miller’s controversies and involvement in the film, practically everyone is against The Flash seeing the light of day.

For now, The Flash is still set to release in June 2023, but should Miller continue their troublesome behavior, and fan outcry continues to grow, it may find itself joining Batgirl in the film graveyard that Warner Bros. Discovery has been making.

For more information on Ezra Miller’s various controversies, click here.

For more information on Batgirl’s cancellation and DC Films current future, click here.

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For quite some time, Ezra Miller has

Video

Bill Maher cut his critics off at the pass Friday night, certain that they’d once again label him an Islamaphobic for pointing out that Salman Rushdie had every reason to be afraid of the “dangerous” religion.

“A good friend of this show got stabbed today, Sal Rushdie,” Maher began the roundtable chat. “He was stabbed by someone named Hadi Matar. We don’t know the motivation yet, but Sal did have some enemies in the past, as I recall. So I’m guessing Hadi is not Amish.”

Rushdie — who has been a target of the Islamic world since the publication in 1988 of “The Satanic Verses” because many see it as a blasphemous depiction of Muhammad – was about to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York State, when a man rushed the staged and stabbed him at least twice, once in the neck. As of this publishing, the writer is on a ventilator and unable to speak, with his agent saying he “will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.”

The attack on Rushdie moved Maher to both sadness and anger.

“He was giving a lecture — how about this for irony? — about how the U.S. is a safe haven for exiled writers and other artists under threat of persecution. And making that speech itself is unthinkable in most Muslim countries Salman Rushdie living in most Muslim countries without getting stabbed every day is unthinkable. So don’t come at me with Islamophobic,” a fired-up Maher said.

“Phobic means fear, right? Well, Sal had a good reason to be fearful. And when you say phobic, it’s just a way to shut off debate,” he continued. “We should have a debate about this, sorry, but you know, these things don’t go away. Islam is still a much more fundamentalist religion than any of the other religions in the world. And that means they take what’s in the holy book seriously. And that has been dangerous for a long time. It’s still dangerous.”

Maher Warns of ‘Two Very Different Americas’ After SCOTUS Kills Roe and NY Gun Control (Video)

The whole topic of free speech came to the forefront of the roundtable, with panelist Piers Morgan quoting Rushdie. “I want to draw your attention to a quote from Salman Rushdie. The defense of free speech begins at the point when people say something you can’t stand, you often have to defend people you find outrageous, unpleasant and disgusting. And that’s the point.”

Morgan went on: “I think that people have forgotten in this debate about free speech, which is, it’s not about the right of people you agree with to say what they like, and then you’re not alone. It’s about your ability to listen to people whose opinions you might staunchly disagree with. You might hate their opinions. You might hate them, but you should be able to tolerate their right to have a different opinion.”

You can see the conversation in the video at the top.

Under the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iranian government issued a fatwā in 1989 calling for Rushdie’s death and put a $3 million bounty on his head. Rushdie went into hiding via a protective government program in the U.K. before slowly reemerging a decade later. His 2012 memoir, “Joseph Anton,” charted his life with the fatwā. Today’s Iranian government has distanced itself from Khomeini’s treatment of Rushdie, but resentment and the threat of violence has remained a constant.

17 Times Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect Comments Sparked Outrage (Photos)

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Bill Maher cut his critics off at

Entertaintment

Fantasy novels and dramas invoke the magic within, daring fans to dream the impossible. Such dreams, however, were limited to men for a long time. Women had a hard time shaking hands with fantasy tropes. Humanity, however, has progressed a lot, and series like Netflix’s The Witcher portray some of the most powerful women. But they are still confined within the power domain of a male-centric society. And such a rendering of women characters immediately reminds us of Shakespeare’s absolute beauty, Macbeth. 

Though it maneuvers the horrendous tragedy of King Duncan’s death, Shakespeare explores the possibilities of how a single external suggestion can trigger our psyche. It spurs us on to perform deeds that wouldn’t have been otherwise possible. The play also uses supernatural elements to represent the most shadowy, obscure, and lawless part of human nature. If through Lady Macbeth, readers get an idea of ruthlessness. The three witches Shakespeare created are very much a representation of older women devoid of prestige. Don’t you think they very much resemble some of the prominent characters of The Witcher?

Yennefer is Lady Macbeth of The Witcher world

Yennefer of Vengerberg was an obscure, deformed, poor girl whose father traded her for four marks to the world of witchers and mazes. Such was the condition of societal misogyny during medieval times. However, the abysmal defenseless girl becomes a powerful sorceress, who often wields power over men and takes control of her destiny, all but at the cost of her magical, gifted ability to have children.

We couldn’t help but remind ourselves of Lady Macbeth, often known as the fourth witch in Macbeth. She asks the spirits to unsex her so that she can be gruesome enough to fuel the murder of their king. “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” are her words. It was believed that women would sell their souls and physical bodies to Satan in return for his assistance in employing demons to accomplish magical deeds. Lady Macbeth’s call to forces of darkness in Act 1 is reminiscent of this superstition; it is a chilling scene that shows the audience what the character is capable of while leaving Shakespeare’s motives a moot point.

Both Yennefer and lady Macbeth’s portrayals are fearsome to behold. They both are women of an agency who gets to shift the power dynamics. Both are principal female characters in a male-dominated plot, which magnifies the gravity of their actions and choices. They become representative of all women of those times and their personalities. The play becomes their court, and the gullible audience is their judge, jury, and executioner.

ALSO READ: Ciri Prepares To Face the Monsters of the Continent As The Witcher Season 3 Brings Time of Contempt to Life

Voleth Meir equivalent to the Three Witches in Macbeth?

Yet another character The Witcher brought to personify the dark feminine vigor is Voleth Meir. The deathless mother is the demon who feeds on others’ pain, turmoil, and desperations. Fans with Shakespearean knowledge are likely to resemble her with the Three Weird Sisters in his tragedy, Macbeth. Like Macbeth’s preternatural witches, The Witcher’s mysterious figure is equally likely to help or hinder a story’s protagonist, committing evil deeds such as eating children and guiding lost souls to what their hearts desire. Existing since the conjunction of spheres, the monster, like the witches, desires nothing but turmoil.

Sapkowski and Lauren Hissrich’s creation of characters and monsters took inspiration from lore and narratives worldwide. And how the characters of such fantasy tropes take after the characters of numerous narratives since time immemorial is really something of great intrigue. Were you able to draw such parallels? Do let us know in the comment section below.

ALSO READ: Do Ciri’s Powers Allow Her to Time Travel? Will We See Her Comb The Wools of The Past In ‘The Witcher’ Season 3?

The post A Sheer Depiction of Power and Preternatural: ‘The Witcher’ May Remind of Shakespeare’s Greatest Tragedy ‘Macbeth’ appeared first on Netflix Junkie.

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Fantasy novels and dramas invoke

Film

Spoiler Warning: The Following Post Contains Spoilers For Prey.Last Friday, Hulu’s latest entry into the Predator franchise, Prey, was unleashed on the streaming hub. The Predator is one of the more famous movie monsters to come out in the latter quarter of the 20th century. The creature revels in The Most Dangerous Game, always seeking out the strongest opponent to hunt. The more the challenge, there’s more the thrill to be had.



This time the Predator has been dropped into Comanche Territory within The Great Plains of North America in the 19th Century. Unfortunately for the Comanche or anyone else who resides there, access to a mini-gun isn’t available for another couple of centuries. With the vast difference in technology between the Predator and its prey, the characters in Prey showed varying degrees of bravery.

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10 Raphael

Raphael was an individual who was associated with the wrong crowd at the worst time. His role as the designated translator for the group of fur-trappers is crucial when he tries to employ Naru to their cause in capturing the Predator.

Related: Every Predator Film, Ranked By Kill Count

When diplomacy fails, Raphael doesn’t protest when his fellow trappers torture Taabe and use him and Naru as bait for the Predator. His meekness and cowardice is proven more so during the Predator’s slaughter of his compatriots as he hides behind a tree. Eventually, he would attempt to play possum to avoid the Predator, if only they were a little more tolerant of pain.

9 The Fur-Trappers

The result of growing capitalism in the western hemisphere, the fur-trappers merely see what profit is to be gained from their conquests. Their thrill of the hunt is more for the prospect of fortune than it is for sport or survival.

Towards the climax of the film, they attempt to trap the Predator and utilize Naru and Taabe as bait, showcasing their cowardice in utilizing innocents for their gain. But when it comes time for the Predator to show up, they do somewhat competently execute their trap only to vastly underestimate their target. The fur-trappers’ actions are a display of bravery and stupidity in equal measure.

8 Wasape

Wasape is the hot-headed member of Naru’s tribe and the most vocal in their misogyny against her attempts to become a hunter. A proud warrior, there is no denying that he is capable in the hunt and has a strong sense of self but his attitude towards Naru and dismissal of her warnings would only be his undoing.

His overconfidence in his skill led him into situations where he viewed himself as the top of the food chain. Unfortunately for him, this would get the better of him as he doesn’t recognize fear when needed to and ultimately becomes the Predator’s first on-screen human kill.

7 Itsee

Itsee is another case of it’s not a matter of whether their bravery is up for debate, it’s a matter that the audience didn’t get a chance to see it before he was quickly killed off. Being a Comanche warrior comes with a lot of skills and the mindset for any hunter to be envious of.

Related: Every Yautja Hunter In The Predator Franchise, Ranked

He does have one moment where he attempts a team-up with Naru in trying to take down the alien. His calm and cool in the face of danger is on full display. Unfortunately it quickly fades when Naru correctly points out that they don’t have a chance against the superior foe and are forced to flee.

6 Ania

Before Taabe and Naru have their chance to face off against the Predator, Ania together with his friend Huupi challenge the powerful foe to avenge their friend, Wasapi. Despite seeing the disparity in weapons and size, the two proud warriors attempt an offensive.

After being flown in the air and giving off a Wilhelm scream, Ania returns to the fight, no hesitation, and manages to strike a blow and draw blood from the Predator. It’s an impressive feat that proves the tenacity a Comanche warrior wields, yet sadly it doesn’t matter when faced off against the aforementioned disparity in strength in a one-on-one with the Predator.


5 Huupi

Together with Ania, Huupi gathers the courage to fight the Predator head-on even after it’s turned off its camouflage cloak, revealing their true appearance. Even after seeing the Predator roar in fury, Huupi doesn’t hesitate to coordinate an attack with Ania and hopefully get the chance to avenge their friend.

Spear in hand they manage to hold off the Predator in a duel for a hot second before they are bested by the Predator’s advanced weaponry. All hope lost, Huupi still cries in defiance before he is summarily taken as a worthy trophy for the sport-obsessed hunter.

4 The Predator

Even though the Predator featured in the film is considered the main antagonist, it would be remiss to not mention what separates this Predator from previous iterations. The “Feral” Predator as some have dubbed it, has an absolute lust for battle with a prideful sense to get up close and personal with its targets.

In one of the film’s best action sequences, the Feral Predator fights a grizzly bare-handed. This could be viewed as the Predator wanting to experience a true test of its own strength against a worthy opponent. Its fight with the grizzly goes poorly at first with them taking on multiple wounds until they manage to regain their composure and win the fight in a one-hit knockout. The Predator could have easily dispatched the feral beast with its arsenal but chose to fight close quarters instead thus earning its victory “bloodbath.”


3 Taabe

Taabe is the quintessential model for the Comanche warrior, he’s tactful, knows his prey, and has the brawn to back it. Throughout they prove themselves to be more than capable to remain calm and collected when faced with danger, whether it be lions or galactic alien-hunters. He is effectively the Dutch stand-in as he even gets to call back to one of Arnie’s lines from the original film.

Related: 10 Side Characters In The Predator Franchise With Main Character Energy

His courage and bravery are recognized by all of those in their tribe and at one point is awarded the title of “war chief” for his efforts in hunting down the lion that had maimed and killed other hunters. But his true moment to shine comes from his ultimate sacrifice to save his little sister, Naru. Knowing his fate, he takes the moment to encourage his sister in her hunt of the Predator and holds the creature off for an impressive amount of time before he becomes another trophy.


2 Sarii

Throughout history, there have been tales of the courageous acts domesticated dogs managed when it came to in service to their handlers or the love they shared for their owners. Sarii is no exception to their owner and trainer, Naru. Time and time again, Sarii can chases down and draws away creatures five times bigger than themselves.

In fact, it’s because of this cunning and the bravery they’ve instilled that proves crucial in defeating the Predator towards the climax. Without command or a warning to heed from Naru, Sarii jumps to protect their owner from the seven-foot-tall monster despite the danger of the Predator possibly seeing them as a worthy target.


1 Naru

Without a doubt the film’s protagonist, Naru is the epitome of what it means and what it takes to be brave even if she doesn’t see it herself. Naru is the one to choose the Predator to be the subject of her kühtaamia upon seeing its footprint, and she is able to determine that it’s a bigger threat before anybody else.

Bravery isn’t necessarily to be defined as charging in blindly despite all odds but to charge a head and recognizing the fear to be had when facing insurmountable odds. Though she feels downtrodden when believing that the Predator doesn’t see her as a “worthy” opponent, she quickly realizes that she can capitalize on that and execute a plan to ultimately defeat it.

Next: 8 Times A Human Killed A Predator In The Entire Predator Franchise

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TV

“People were trying to cast her as, like, ‘the fat one,'” Lynskey remembered of Murphy.

Melanie Lynskey is looking back on Hollywood’s typecasting of women based on their bodies, and the “Heavenly Creatures” alum couldn’t help but point out one cautionary “heartbreaking” tale: Brittany Murphy.

Lynskey, nominated for an Emmy thanks to her stunning performance in “Yellowjackets,” has been open about the criticisms of her physique onscreen. While Lynskey has slammed the backlash, she opened up about what it means to be a woman in Hollywood.

“I was friends with Brittany Murphy, and the way she viewed herself was always really heartbreaking to me — the things she felt she had to change to be a successful actor,” Lynskey told InStyle for a cover story. “She was perfect just as she was, but people were trying to cast her as, like, ‘the fat one,’ because when she was a very young teenager, her cheeks were a little bit round.”

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Lynskey explained, “People tell you that you’re a particular thing, and it’s very hard to fight back against.”

Murphy’s body was the subject of quips in “Clueless,” and as she underwent a drastic transformation, audiences publicly wonder if she was healthy or not. Murphy denied having an eating disorder, but recent HBO Max documentary “What Happened, Brittany Murphy?” implied Murphy struggled with one. Murphy eventually died of a heart attack at age 32.

Almost two decades later, and Lynskey hopes Hollywood can normalize all body types.

“I’m trying to just say to myself, ‘OK, you’re normalizing this, and hopefully more women will come along who look like you, and people won’t feel like they have to say things like that,’ because there is kind of a backhanded compliment,” Lynskey said. “Sometimes, I get tired of hearing about my body, even when it is positive, I just, you know, feel like I need a break from thinking about it and hearing about it and I think all women feel that way.”

And Lynskey credited real-life husband Jason Ritter (who could potentially be her “Yellowjackets” co-star at some point…) for always supporting her.

“Sometimes, my husband will tweet things about thinking I look hot or whatever and a lot of people like it, and I said to him, ‘Isn’t it funny that if I was a Victoria’s Secret model and you tweeted the exact same thing, people would not respond the way that they do?’” Lynskey cited. “People get excited because I look like I look, and my husband, he’s like a cute, young actor, but I am aware that some of the responses to him are like, ‘Good for you.‘ It’s like, well, he got together with me because he found me attractive. It’s not like he’s throwing himself on the sword for the rest of mankind. And also — he had competition.”

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"People were trying to cast her as,

What to Watch

From the mind behind Train to Busan and Peninsula, an exciting new dystopian sci-thriller is coming to Netflix in 2023: Jung_E. We’ll be keeping track of everything you need to know about Jung_E on Netflix.

Jung_E is an upcoming Korean Netflix Original dystopian sci-fi thriller written and directed by Train to Busan‘s Yeon Sang Ho. Despite being the writer of the Hellbound manga, Jung_E is officially the first Netflix project for Sang Ho.

Netflix JUNG E Korean Movie Everything We Know So Far yeon sang ho

Yeon Sang Ho directing on the set of Train to Busan (2016)

When is the Jung_E Netflix release date?

Previously, Netflix had listed Jung_E as a part of its 2022 film slate. However, the schedule has changed and Jung_E has been pushed back to 2023 with no official release date.

Given that Jung_E was scheduled for a 2022 release, we expect the Korean sci-fi film to arrive in Q1 of 2023.

What is the plot of Jung_E

The synopsis for Jung_E is courtesy of AsianWiki:

Set in the 22nd century, climate change has caused the planet to become uninhabitable and humans live within a man-made shelter. A war takes place within the shelter. Jung Yi is the elite leader of the allied forces. She becomes the subject of a brain cloning experiment. The cloning experiment is a potential key to win the war.

Who are the cast members of Jung_E?

Award-winning and pioneering actress Kang Soo Yoon plays the lead role of Seo Hyun. Jung_E was Kang Soo Yoon’s first movie role in almost a decade, having last starred in the 2013 movie Jury. Sadly, Jung_E is the last on-screen appearance for the actress as on May 7th, 2022 she tragically passed away due to a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 55.

She was honored by many of her family, friends, and peers in a live broadcast of her funeral on May 11th, 2022. Within a week of her funeral, on May 15th, 2022, TV Chosun released a documentary with archived footage of her life, and interviews with those who knew her closely, including the legendary director Korean director Im Kwon-taek, who had previously worked with Kang Soo Yoon on the 1986 movie “The Surrogate Woman.”

Netflix JUNG E Korean Movie Everything We Know So Far kang soo yoon

South Korean actress Kang Soo Yoon

Kim Hyun Joo plays the lead role of Jung Yi. Hyun Joo was last seen on Netflix in 2021 in the Dark Fantasy series Hellbound.

Netflix JUNG E Korean Movie Everything We Know So Far kim hyun joo

Kim Hyun Joo in Hellbound (right)

Ryu Kyung Soo also starred in Hellbound, in the supporting role of Yoo Ji (Deacon). His last lead role in a Netflix series was in 2020 in Lovestruck in the City. The actor will also star in the upcoming k-drama Glitch. Kyung Soo also starred in a supporting role in Itaewon Class and a guest role in The Sound of Magic.

Netflix JUNG E Korean Movie Everything We Know So Far ryu kyung soo

Ryu Kyung Soo in Hellbound (right)

So far, no further cast members have been revealed.

When was Jung_E filmed?

Filming for Jung_E began on October 31st, 2021, and ran for a few months before eventually coming to an end on January 28th, 2022.

The film is currently in post-production as we await its Netflix release.

Are you looking forward to watching Jung_E on Netflix in 2023? Let us know in the comments below!

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From the mind behind Train to Busan

Awards

Game shows are heading to the Primetime Emmys. As part of the ongoing Emmy realignment between the Television Academy (the West Coast org formerly known as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences) and the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the two sides will migrate game show categories from the Daytime Emmys to the Primetime Emmys beginning next year.

The decision comes as, previously announced, the two orgs have agreed to award many programming categories by genre instead of daypart. Game shows remained a sticking point in such an arrangement.

Moving forward, the new Primetime Emmy category for outstanding game show “will be awarded to programs with game elements that primarily take place in studio and involve mental challenges,” the orgs said in an announcement on Thursday. “They must be self-contained or carryover (winner continues to next episode) and cannot be arced.”

According to the announcement, game shows migrating to the Primetime Emmys will have an 18-month eligibility window, Jan. 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023.

As part of the move, the Primetime Emmys will also add a category for outstanding host for a game show, “awarded to the “master of ceremony” host(s) for a continuing performance in a game show.” This year, in their final appearance in the Daytime Emmys, “Jeopardy” continued its streak as the best game show winner, while Steve Harvey (“Family Feud”) won for game show host.

The Primetime Emmys already have an “outstanding competition program” field (which awards programs with reality-style, skill-based competitions). In order to avoid confusion, the category for the latter will return to its original name of “outstanding reality competition program.” Also, game shows and reality competition programs with solely children as contestants must enter in the Children’s & Family Emmy Awards.

The decision to realign the major Emmy awards came last year, with several categories realigned to focus on genre, rather than dayparts, as a way to divide eligibility between the Primetime and Daytime Emmys.

Most notably, the alignment shifted all scripted programming to enter the Primetime Emmys, with two exceptions: Daytime soap operas — defined as “multi-camera, weekday daily serials” and any spinoffs or reboots of those sudsers — will remain with the Daytime Emmys. And as had been previously announced, all children’s fare are now be a part of the new Children’s & Family Emmys, which launches later this year as a new ceremony.

In the talk fields, the TV Academy and NATAS has so far kept two separate talk show competitions in both the Daytime and Primetime competitions, but it’s the next frontier to tackle.

The decision in 2020 to move all of the Primetime Emmy kids categories to the Daytime Emmys (and as of this year, the Children’s & Family Emmys, administered by NATAS) represented a major thaw in the decades-ling cold war between the two TV academies. The orgs split in 1977 over irreconcilable differences, and spent the next few decades at war, ocassionally suing each other over issues of Emmy domains and oversight. Things reached a boiling point in 2008, when NATAS tried to launch its own Broadband Emmys, and the TV Academy balked.

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Game shows are heading to the Primetime

Music

 

LENOX, Mass. — The problem with “Lessons in Love and Violence” has always been that it is not “Written on Skin.”

“Skin,” George Benjamin’s unflinchingly savage second opera with the librettist Martin Crimp, was hailed as a landmark at its premiere at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2012. Its stature has only grown since, and it’s a routine choice as one of the great operas of the century so far.

Benjamin and Crimp stuck to their template for the gruesome “Lessons,” the successor piece that was more coolly received after its debut in London in 2018 and that received its American premiere on Monday night at Ozawa Hall here, with the composer leading the youngsters of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in dagger-sharp support of an incisive cast of current and past Tanglewood vocal fellows.

Like “Skin,” “Lessons” has a dense, historically contrived libretto, offering a callous plot that hacks away at any sentimentality you might have left about power or love. There is music that seethes and soothes — its every last, creepy twang of a cimbalom or bludgeon of brass conceived and executed with flawless clarity of gesture and precision of timbre.

Yet somehow this jewel-studded, velvet-wrapped mace of a score never once feels too deliberately methodical or sounds anything but fully alive. Its imposing rigor scalds in the heat of the murderous moment.

Listen to it, and you might ask yourself which of these two unsparing operas is supposed to be Benjamin’s masterpiece. For if “Skin” disappeared, “Lessons” would be sufficient to anoint its composer all on its own.

The operas are similar, but “Lessons” is no mere reproduction of its predecessor. It abandons the metahistorical flourishes of the earlier work, focusing on the story at hand rather than creating a superstructure of characters to drag it into the present. Despite the medieval setting, the core conceit of a prince receiving (dubious, shall we say) instruction in governance from the machinations of his parents — the King and his wife, Isabel — and their scheming courtier-lovers, Gaveston and Mortimer, has a Machiavellian timelessness to it.

“Don’t bore me with the price of bread,” the King sings when Mortimer confronts him with the ruin that his favor for Gaveston has unleashed on the body politic. “There is no connection between our music and your labor,” Isabel assures the impoverished supplicants who demand an end to entertainments whose costs could pay their wages for a year. Not for nothing did the concert performance here, instinctively acted behind music stands though it was, take on the morality tale feel of an oratorio.

However revealing the unstaged approach might be, it’s regrettable that “Lessons” had its premiere like this. How is it possible, one has to ask, that the first American performance of such a major work should be entrusted to a group of summer-school attendees for one sparsely attended night only — a Monday, no less — in the Berkshires?

The Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of seven co-commissioners of “Lessons,” but there is still no sign of it mounting Katie Mitchell’s original staging, which it had to postpone in 2020. In the absence of a major house taking up “Skin,” the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, at its bravest, gave that work its staged premiere in 2015, but that festival is no more.

It is to Tanglewood’s immense credit that it has taken the initiative, pushing its fellows to their limit at the end of the annual Festival of Contemporary Music and building on the long, close relationship that the Boston Symphony Orchestra has enjoyed with Benjamin, who led “Skin” in its quickly mounted American debut here in 2013 and followed it with a song cycle, “Dream of the Song,” in 2016.

And you would be glad, though gladdening this opera is not, to hear a performance as strong as Monday’s in any major house. Three of the main parts were taken by recent graduates of Tanglewood’s vocal program; greater testament to its worth would be hard to imagine. Nathaniel Sullivan sang the King — Edward II, as imagined by Christopher Marlowe then reimagined by Crimp — with sniveling command, the monarch’s weakness to the fore. Daniel McGrew was eerily believable portraying the soldier-technocrat Mortimer’s earnest association of orderly progress with the necessity of killing, while Dominik Belavy gave Gaveston a deliciously unhinged air.

Surely no soprano takes on a role written for Barbara Hannigan without fear, but the current Tanglewood fellow Elizabeth Polese made it seem as if she had as the haughty Isabel. She excelled just as Edmond Rodriguez brought frightening dignity to the Boy who learns his lessons all too well, chillingly scheduling the execution of Mortimer after the general has installed him on the throne. Meredith Wohlgemuth, Claire McCahan and Jack Canfield acquitted themselves well in smaller roles.

But the orchestra was the star. Benjamin conducted it with his customary, graceful efficiency. Short of Alban Berg, few composers have been able to make abject brutality sound so exquisite, even so tender as Benjamin does here, his use of silence as intentional as his careful etching of textures around the voices.

There is an unerring flow to “Lessons”: Several of its seven short scenes echo one another; interludes link them, commenting on and even extending the action; and the odd leitmotif pokes through, most noticeably the braying trombones that announce the King and that reappear, with mutes, when his son assumes the throne.

Yet it is Benjamin’s merciless ability to hunt down the most specific of sounds that makes him such a potent dramatist. A desperately longing solo horn, fraught with desire, plays as Gaveston relates how the King likes to hold his hand over a flame; pawing woodwinds surround a Madman who fatally insists to the Boy that he is the real king, based on testimony from a cat.

Gaveston gets the grisliest death of all, nothing like the horrifying tower of dissonance that accompanies the killing of the King, but one that we have to imagine in absentia, as the powerless ruler reads the details of his lover’s death from a letter while a percussionist taps out a rhythm on the rim of a side drum.

You might hear in that the loneliness of Gaveston, or the dread of a King confronting the passage of time before his own, sure murder. I heard cockroaches, scurrying around the dead. Either way, what in any other composer’s hands could be predictable, Benjamin makes magical.

Lessons in Love and Violence

Performed on Monday at Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.

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Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program supports a huge variety of projects. And while we take time to tout rookie Fi Fiscal Sponsorship projects (and encourage your support of them!) in each month’s Fiscal Spotlight column, you may be wondering how some of that column’s previous subjects have been progressing. So it’s once again time for FiSpo Updates, highlighting recent achievements of projects that are part of the program.

Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program opens the door to nonprofit funding for independent filmmakers and media artists. The projects and makers participating in the program express a uniqueness of vision, celebrate diversity and advance the craft of filmmaking through the creation of these special works. To see the full range of projects that are part of our program, visit our Sponsored Projects page.

To learn how Fiscal Sponsorship works, check out the above video or watch our full discussion with Film Independent’s Artist Development team way down at the bottom of this article.

If you’re already part of our Fiscal Sponsorship program and you have a production milestone you’d like to see in the next post, please email us.

 

THE ERRAND

Project Type: Narrative Short

Project Status: Exhibition

Filmmaker: Amanda Renee Knox

Cast: Naya Johnson, Ezekiel Bridges, Toni Robison-May, Sean Gallagher

Synopsis: A young girl is hitchhiking. She is picked up by a middle-aged driver. She asks him to take her home. During their journey, the girl confronts the driver with moral questions and the tension between them builds until we understand the girl had a specific plan that the man blindly followed from the beginning: to expose her mother’s affair and reunite her fractured family.

Updates: The Errand had its World Premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase, sponsored by The Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The film was presented in Italy preceding Trudie Styler’s Infinite Storm, starring Naomi Watts. It will have its Los Angeles premiere at the 18th Academy Award-Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival on August 19 at the TCL Chinese Theater. The Errand will also be among 25 International Short Films screening in the highly competitive Canadian Screen Award Qualifying at the Regina International Film Festival. The Errand was part of the Panavision New Filmmaker Program and has been highlighted on Panavision’s website, to be screened in their theater Fall 2022. Writer Mira Olsson has been chosen as one of the top writers for the The Writers Lab, funded by Meryl Streep and supported by Television Tribeca and New York Women In Television. Producer Lara Aslanian and Nick Ramsey are collaborating on a pilot that was recently picked up by a major streaming site. Finally, filmmaker Amanda Renee Knox is in discussion with Maven Screen Media for a possible feature collaboration.

 

RILEY

Project type: Narrative Feature

Project status: Post-Production

Writer/Director: Benjamin Howard

Starring: Jake Holley

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Dakota Riley has big aspirations to play collegiate football. And like his dad before him, he has the potential to reach them. But when he acts out on the advances of a gay classmate one afternoon, his plans are thrown for a loop. The incident sets off a chain of events that leave him struggling with his sexuality and identity–an identity he’s felt he’s always had a firm grasp on. To begin coming to terms with himself, Dakota must navigate the disciplined world of high school football… and the expectations that come with it.

Updates: Riley officially wrapped production in April, filming throughout the month in San Diego. Largely based on the high school years of its writer/director Benjamin Howard, Riley aims to offer a contemporary perspective on the coming-out process for young athletes as well as showcase how coming to terms with one’s sexuality is easier said than done. The film is currently in the process of reaching picture-lock, negotiating music clearances and having an original score composed. Riley is on track for its targeted film festival run in 2023. Rendezvous, the film’s proof-of-concept, is currently on the festival circuit and has been selected for various festivals, including HollyShorts, Bend Film Festival and FilmOut San Diego.

 

IN TOW

Project type: Narrative Short

Project status: Post Production

Filmmaker: Sharon Arteaga

Cast: Katy Atkinson, Sandy Avila, Alec Franco

Synopsis: On the morning of her senior homecoming game, a self-involved high school cheerleader (Sheila) and her overworked single mom (Bonnie) wake up to find that their mobile home is being repossessed… with them inside it! Although living under the same roof, the women’s relationship has become estranged over the last five years–partly due to Sheila’s adolescence and first-generation Mexican-American goal to become more than where she came from, partly due to her mother’s fatigue from trying to keep their heads above water. The women argue inside the shaking, single-wide trailer as they are towed through the roads of rural Texas, fighting to get what they want. Bonnie tries to save the home she’s worked so hard for, while Sheila desperately attempts to escape the moving home so that she can cheer at her last homecoming game.

Updates: In Tow wrapped principal photography with a mobile home and a semi truck before the brutal Texas summer rolled in. Writer/director Sharon Arteaga’s latest project is an action-adventure inspired by her upbringing living in mobile homes with her immigrant single mom. The film has received production support from the Mexican American Cultural Education Foundation, Austin Film Society, New Orleans Film Society and the Santa Fe Film Institute. Now in post-production, editor Manuel Tsingaris (Building the American Dream, Lupe Under the Sun) is nearing a fine cut while VFX Supervisor Laurie Powers Going (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Amazing Spider-Man) has begun to make magic with visual effects. Director Sharon Arteaga is working with composer Amanda Duran and sound designer Morgan Honaker. The three last collaborated together on Arteaga’s short film, When You Clean a Stranger’s Home, currently streaming on HBO Max.

 

JIMMY IN SAIGON

Project type: Documentary Feature

Project status: Exhibition

Filmmaker: Peter McDowell

Synopsis: Jimmy in Saigon explores the mysterious life and death of James Austin McDowell, a Vietnam veteran who died at age 24 in 1972 as a civilian expat living in Saigon. Painting an elegiac portrait, director Peter McDowell uncovers family secrets surrounding Jim’s drug use and sexuality. Peter was only five when his brother died, and much about Jimmy’s death remained hidden from him. Through over 200 of Jim’s letters, interviews with Jim’s friends and family, and the filming of a truth-seeking journey across the United States, Vietnam and France, Jimmy in Saigon is an elegiac work examining grief, family secrets, war, drug use, sexuality and healing.

Updates: Jimmy in Saigon had its world premiere at the British Film Institute’s Flare Festival in March 2022. It has since played at numerous festivals, including Frameline: The San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, Bentonville, OUTshine Miami, and the Lovers Film Festival in Turin, Italy, where it won Best Documentary. It is slated to screen at more than a dozen festivals in the US and internationally through the end of this year. The Chicago Tribune has said of Jimmy in Saigon: “Handsomely filmed… it will grab you.” The film has raised over $200,000 from 500+ individuals, largely through Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program. From this success, Peter McDowell is now teaching fundraising classes for filmmakers. Jimmy in Saigon is scheduled for release in early 2023. See the film’s website for more details.

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

Keep up with Film Independent…

(Header: Jimmy in Saigon)

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Satellite photos taken after a series of explosions on Tuesday at a Russian air base in Crimea appear to show at least three blast craters and at least eight wrecked warplanes, indicating a serious blow to the Russian military contradicting the Kremlin’s account. Russian authorities had previously denied that any aircraft had been destroyed.

A senior Ukrainian official has said the blasts were an attack carried out with the help of partisans but was not more specific. Military analysts have said that Ukraine does not have missiles that can reach the base from territory it controls, well over 100 miles away, and that Ukrainian jets would have been unlikely to penetrate that far into Russian-controlled airspace.

Witnesses reported multiple explosions at the Saki base. Officials said at least one person was killed and more than a dozen wounded. Sergei Aksyonov, the Kremlin-installed leader of Crimea, said that at least 62 apartment buildings and 20 commercial structures had been damaged. He declared a state of emergency and raised the terrorism threat level on the peninsula.

Background: Russia has heavily militarized Crimea since seizing it from Ukraine in 2014 and has used the peninsula as a vital jumping-off point for military operations since the broader invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Even so, the attack on the air base suggests that Ukrainian forces are able to carry out guerrilla operations there.

In other news from the war:

Days after his home was searched by the F.B.I. in an unrelated investigation, Donald Trump invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination while being questioned under oath by the New York State attorney general, Letitia James. The former president responded to every question posed by her investigators by repeating the phrase “same answer.”

Trump’s refusal to respond substantively could determine the course of the three-year civil investigation into whether the former president fraudulently inflated the value of his assets to secure loans and other benefits. He has long dismissed the inquiry but was compelled to sit for questioning under oath after multiple judges ruled against him this spring.

His only detailed comment, people with knowledge of the proceeding said, was an all-out attack on the attorney general and her inquiry, which he called a continuation of “the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country.” Reading from a prepared statement, he said that he was being targeted by lawyers, prosecutors and the news media.

Next steps: James is now left with a crucial decision: whether to sue Trump or seek a settlement that could extract a significant financial penalty. And while declining to answer questions might have offered the safest route for the former president, it could strengthen the attorney general’s hand in the weeks to come.

A $1.9 million regional aid package unveiled by the United Nations Development Program on the edge of the Colombian Amazon is one example of how one of the world’s largest sustainable development organizations teams up with polluters, even those that at times work against the interests of the communities the agency is supposed to help.

A Times investigation found that U.N. partnerships with oil companies have led to the agency’s acting in the interests of those firms. In the program in the Amazon, the U.N. agency paired with GeoPark, a multinational petroleum company that holds contracts to drill near and potentially on the ancestral land of Indigenous Colombians like the Siona people.

These partnerships are part of a strategy that treats oil companies not as environmental villains but as major employers that can bring electricity to far-flung areas and economic growth to poor and middle-income nations. The development agency has used oil money to provide clean water and job training to areas that might otherwise be neglected.

Response: The development agency said it supports a clean energy transition and does not encourage drilling. But Achim Steiner, the agency head, said that its mission was to bring people out of poverty and often entailed working in countries built on fossil fuels. “We have to start where economies are today,” he said. “I don’t see a contradiction, but there is a tension.”

The black Issey Miyake turtleneck favored by Steve Jobs was not by any means the Japanese designer’s most interesting garment. It may even have been his most banal. But the turtleneck embodied Miyake’s founding principles and served as the door through which even those not particularly interested in fashion could enter the Miyake universe.

Monuments have long commemorated the loss of life from calamitous events: wars, genocides, terrorist attacks.

But Covid-19 poses a unique challenge. Millions of people have died, but not in a singular event or in a single location. Now, as the death toll continues to rise, communities are building new monuments and expanding existing ones, trying to keep up with their mounting grief.

In Malaysia, photographs and biographies of victims are updated online. White ribbons flutter on a church fence in South Africa, and white flags dot the National Mall in Washington. In London, family members and friends have written the names of their dead on a wall alongside the River Thames, above.

“We really do need to remember, and we need to do it now,” said Erika Doss, a researcher at the University of Notre Dame. “Covid isn’t over. These are kind of odd memorials in that names are being added. They are kind of fluid. They are timeless.”

That’s it for today’s briefing. Thanks for joining me. — Natasha

P.S. The Times won a Pulitzer last year for its Covid coverage. The pandemic kept the medal from going on display at the Times Building — until now.

The latest episode of “The Daily” is about the F.B.I. search of Mar-a-Lago.

You can reach Natasha and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

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Tech

A consortium of TV networks has responded to an open letter from TV showrunners demanding specific plans to protect workers on television productions in regions where abortion is no longer legal.

In their own open letter sent to the group of showrunners on Wednesday night, the studios expressed general and somewhat vague support for the right to an abortion and the safety of employees. However, the group — which includes AMC Networks, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery — did not actually respond specifically to any of those demands.

“We share your concerns around the health, safety and well-being of our dedicated employees and the people who support our productions. We believe they should have access to safe and effective health care, and their privacy should be protected,” the Studios’ letter said in part.

The letter discussed how each studio’s individual plans provided “comprehensive health care coverage” and noted, without any specific details, that various entities in the entertainment industry are making changes to deal with the challenges posed by the patchwork of anti-abortion laws in America.

“We want to assure you that we are individually focused on supporting the health, safety, well-being and privacy of our respective employees and those who support our productions as we continue to monitor this evolving situation,” the letter continued.

Variety first reported the news.

The initial letter, sent July 28 by a group of over 400 showrunners and TV creators, demanded among other things that studios:

––Published policies and procedures to provide an abortion travel subsidy for employees of your productions including specific information on how the employee’s medical privacy will be safeguarded.
–Protocols outlining the scope of medical care for employees of your productions, including ectopic pregnancies and other pregnancy complications that require medical treatment via abortion while working for [Studio].
–Policy regarding criminal and civil legal protection, including indemnification and defense against liability, for any member of a production who facilitates [Studio]’s protocols or provides [Studio]’s policy information and guidelines to an employee seeking an abortion.
–Pledge to discontinue all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees immediately.

Solidarity Letter Demanding Abortion Protocols Signed by Nearly 600 Male Showrunners, Filmmakers and Execs

A group of 600 male showrunners soon signed a solidarity letter supporting the effort.

The original letter also demanded a response by no later than 10 business days — a deadline that would have expired at midnight, Aug. 10. While the studios did meet that deadline, they notably elided any actual addressing of those concerns — most notably, the demand to stop contributing to anti-abortion politicians.

Read the full letter sent by the studios below:

Thank you for your letter of July 28, 2022. We share your concerns around the health, safety and well-being of our dedicated employees and the people who support our productions. We believe they should have access to safe and effective health care, and their privacy should be protected.

Each of our individually designed corporate health plans provides comprehensive health care coverage for our respective employees. We have been independently updating our respective employees – who live and work throughout the country – as plans and policies change and expand to provide reproductive care and other support now needed in states that have restricted or outlawed abortion access.

Most workers on scripted film and TV productions are covered by industry health plans that are jointly administered by union and management trustees under the collective bargaining framework. In partnership with various industry health plan staff and the union trustees on those plans, our management trustees worked swiftly to review existing health benefits, and several of these industry health plans have already adopted amendments providing for reimbursement for travel expenses associated with securing abortion services for participants and their dependents who reside or work in states where such services cannot be lawfully obtained. We understand the other industry health plans will be considering similar changes this month. The participants in the various industry plans have been receiving communications directly from the plans about these amendments.

We are pleased that our industry partners have quickly addressed this important issue and are committed to continuing to evaluate ways that we can best provide for our employees and workers who support our productions.

We want to assure you that we are individually focused on supporting the health, safety, well-being and privacy of our respective employees and those who support our productions as we continue to monitor this evolving situation. We look forward to working with you to continue to make great content for our audiences around the world.

Signed,

AMC Networks, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery

As of this writing, the showrunners behind the initial letter have not responded.

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A consortium of TV networks has responded

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Deadline

Jennifer Coolidge is enjoying the moment.

This show business veteran who got her first big break on a 1993 Seinfeld episode finally is in the big spotlight and the toast of the town thanks to The White Lotus. The HBO series landed 20 Emmy nominations including Outstanding Anthology Series or Television Movie and a Supporting Actress in a Limited Series nom for Coolidge among eight for its stars — and she is an odds-on favorite to win. It’s her first major-award nomination in a career full of highlights, from playing the notorious Stifler’s Mom in the American Pie films and the “bend and snap” manicurist in the Legally Blonde films, plus memorable turns in several Christopher Guest movie comedies including Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and the awards satire For Your Consideration. 

New 20 Questions On Deadline Podcast: Jennifer Coolidge Reveals Her ‘White Lotus’ Season 3 Dream & The Real ‘Bend And Snap’ Technique

Now it is Coolidge herself who is “for your consideration” as Tanya McQuoid, the hot mess of a Hawaiian vacationer bringing her late mother’s ashes to the White Lotus resort along with a lifetime of issues. She joins me for this week’s edition of my Deadline video series The Actor’s Side, in which she talks about what The White Lotus has meant to her career, as well as giving us a preview of what’s to come in the recently wrapped Season 2 — premiering in October — where the action has moved to Italy. She is the only cast member from the original limited series to return, on the insistence of creator Mike White, a former co-star of hers who wrote the role for her. However, as she tells me, she actually tried turn it down; only because of a persistent friend did she even take the role, thereby avoiding the biggest mistake of her career. “A lot of actors make big mistakes,” she laughed.

We talk about all of that and much more including some notable dramatic turns she has done including in the Best Picture Oscar nominee Promising Young Woman. To hear “the actor’s side” of a remarkable career and join our conversation, just click on the video link above.

Come back each Wednesday for another edition of The Actor’s Side all during Emmy season.

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Deadline Jennifer Coolidge is enjoying the moment. This show

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This year, the critically-acclaimed drama series “Better Call Saul” is wrapping up its run with a sixth and final season. Speaking to Variety senior TV features editor Emily Longeretta, co-creator Peter Gould discussed the challenges of ending a series with so much fan anticipation as “Saul.”

“It’s horrible, you have a lot of weight on how things end,” Gould said. “I like to think that the ending for us is a series of episodes, rather than being a single episode or a moment. But it’s a lot of pressure, it’s a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of sweaty palms and armpits. I love what we did. I don’t know whether everyone else will love it, I really couldn’t say. But I think the thing that feels good is to know that we’re playing the same game that we started with.”

Gould was joined by fellow 2022 Emmy nominees and showrunners Dan Erickson, creator of “Severance,” Chris Mundy, writer and executive producer of “Ozark,” and Ashley Lyle, co-creator of “Yellowjackets,” for a Variety Virtual TV Fest panel. The four creators discussed the process of showrunning their series, all of which were nominated in the best drama category at the Emmys, and compared and contrasted launching a new show with ending an old one.

Like “Better Call Saul,” “Ozark” also wrapped up its run this year with a two-part final season. Mundy agreed with Gould that the process of closing a show is stress-inducing, and described the specific challenges of closing the page on “Ozark,’ which focuses on a group of morally grey people, and trying to find an ending fitting for a group of characters that didn’t make the most ethically sound decisions.

“I’m sure it would be a different debate for everybody about whether or not the Byrds [Jason Bateman and Laura Linney] got what they deserved and whether or not Ruth [Julia Garner] got what she deserved,” Mundy said. “The characters didn’t know who they were very well, and you go through all the crap we put them through for four-plus seasons, and they ought to know it. So I wanted to make sure that happened.”

Discussing the process of beginning a new show, Erickson talked about the development of the first season of science fiction thriller “Severance,” which racked up an impressive 14 nominations at the Emmys. According to Erickson, part of the challenge in creating a new world is you don’t truly know what the show will look like until you see what the actors and the crew bring.

“Creating a new world from scratch, as I’m sure any of us know, is very difficult,” Erickson said. “And you don’t really know the language of the show until you hear it reflected back at you via the actors and the production crew, and ultimately the viewers. I feel like they sort of have the final say on what this whole thing actually is, and what about it is resonant or meaningful.”

Lyle also faced the challenge of introducing a new batch of characters to audiences with “Yellowjackets,” the acclaimed Showtime series about a girls’ soccer team stranded in the wilderness. During the panel, Lyle talked about the stresses of being a first-time showrunner, and said part of what helped her during the difficult process was being part of a team of three working on the series.

“To some extent, it’s just about letting go and realizing that everything will get done eventually,” Lyle said. “And sometimes you’re just going to have to let something be what it is.”

Watch the full panel above.

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Kanye West appeared to be in good spirits as he was seen stepping out in Los Angeles on Wednesday, following recent news that his ex-wife Kim Kardashian split from her beau Pete Davidson. 

The rapper, 45, covered up in a sleeveless black hoodie worn over a camouflage long-sleeve shirt, which he paired with grey denim pants and a ball cap.

The outing comes after Dailymail.com’s exclusive story in which a source said Kim, 41, found Kanye’s Instagram post on Monday – an image of a fake New York Times newspaper with the headline ‘Skete Davidson dead at age 28’ – ‘appalling.’

Out and about: Kanye West appeared to be in good spirits as he was seen stepping out in Los Angeles on Wednesday

The musician finalized his look with a pair of sturdy black boots. The busy star was also seen holding his cellphone in his hand.

Not wanting to draw any attention, he was seen pulling his hoodie over his cap at one point and shielding his face.  

The entertainer posted the mock-up newspaper page announcing Pete’s, 28, ‘death’, just two days after his split with Kim.

Casual: The rapper, 45, covered up in a sleeveless black hoodie worn over a camouflage long-sleeve shirt, which he paired with grey denim pants and a ball cap

Casual: The rapper, 45, covered up in a sleeveless black hoodie worn over a camouflage long-sleeve shirt, which he paired with grey denim pants and a ball cap

Good spirits: The outing comes following recent news that his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, 41, split from her beau Pete Davidson, 28

Good spirits: The outing comes following recent news that his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, 41, split from her beau Pete Davidson, 28

The newspaper had Monday’s date and also a tagline which read: ‘Kid Cudi meant to play funeral but fearful of bottle throwers.’

That was in reference to Kid Cudi, 38, cutting his headline set at Rolling Loud short on July 22 due to people throwing bottles at him. He filled in for Kanye at the last minute but then Kanye turned up later anyway and performed.

Kim subsequently slammed the ‘appalling’ meme on Instagram, and demanded he take it down. The post was removed from his account. 

A source close to the star told DailyMail.com: ‘Kim won’t stand for this. She is demanding that Kanye take the post down, but he won’t.’ 

Busy: The busy star was also seen holding his cellphone in his hand

Busy: The busy star was also seen holding his cellphone in his hand

Exit: Kanye was spotted exiting a building in LA

Exit: Kanye was spotted exiting a building in LA 

Covered up: Not wanting to draw any attention, he was seen pulling his hoodie over his cap at one point

Covered up: Not wanting to draw any attention, he was seen pulling his hoodie over his cap at one point

Covered up: Not wanting to draw any attention, he was seen pulling his hoodie over his cap at one point

‘She has been vigorously defending Pete. She’ll never get back together with Kanye over the way he’s treated the people she loves and respects.

‘She has tried incredibly hard to have a good co-parenting situation for the children.’

‘She won’t stand for this type of behavior from him.’

The source added: ‘Kim and Kanye’s divorce is still moving ahead. She thinks that people should not be ok with this post – and Instagram should not allow this type of harassment.’ 

The reality TV star split with Pete last week after first being linked in October when Kim made her hosting debut on Saturday Night Live.

After less than a year together the pair decided to just be friends, because of the long distance and clashing schedules – with Kim based in the US while Pete is filming in Australia.

Sturdy: The musician finalized his look with a pair of sturdy black boots

Sturdy: The musician finalized his look with a pair of sturdy black boots

Appalled: It comes after Dailymail.com's exclusive story in which a source said Kim found Kanye's Instagram post on Monday - an image of a fake New York Times newspaper with the headline 'Skete Davidson dead at age 28' - 'appalling'

Appalled: It comes after Dailymail.com’s exclusive story in which a source said Kim found Kanye’s Instagram post on Monday – an image of a fake New York Times newspaper with the headline ‘Skete Davidson dead at age 28’ – ‘appalling’

It’s not the first time Kanye has threatened Pete online as he’s regularly posted and then deleted attacks waged at his ex-wife’s former boyfriend. 

It was revealed earlier this week that Pete has been seeing a therapist for ‘trauma therapy’ after months of online harassment from Kanye over his relationship with Kim.

The former Saturday Night Live star is said to have found the ‘attention and negativity’ coming from the rapper a ‘trigger’ and has been receiving trauma therapy since April.

A source told People on Monday: ‘He has been in trauma therapy in large part [due to Kanye]. The attention and negativity coming from Kanye and his antics is a trigger for [Pete], and he’s had to seek out help.’

At it again: West took another swipe at the former SNL comedian following his split from Kim last week

At it again: West took another swipe at the former SNL comedian following his split from Kim last week 

Trauma: It was revealed earlier this week that Pete has been seeing a therapist for 'trauma therapy' after months of online harassment from Kanye over his relationship with Kim; Pictured 2022

Trauma: It was revealed earlier this week that Pete has been seeing a therapist for ‘trauma therapy’ after months of online harassment from Kanye over his relationship with Kim; Pictured 2022

Kanye previously shared a screengrab of Davidson’s defunct Instagram account and took credit for driving him away from the social media platform.

‘Ran Skete off the gram,’ he wrote. ‘Tell your mother I changed your name for life.’

In March, Kanye released a claymation video for his track Eazy, in which he depicted himself committing violent acts against a character resembling Pete.

Kanye also took to social media in March and said he was ‘really concerned’ that Davidson would get Kim ‘hooked on drugs,’ adding, ‘He’s in rehab every two months.’

West previously acknowledged his social media posts came off as harassing Kardashian, after he shared text messages with her saying that his previous torrent of posts were putting Davidson in danger.

Last selfie: A source close to Davidson confirmed the couple's split to DailyMail.com on Friday, following their nine-month romance

Last selfie: A source close to Davidson confirmed the couple’s split to DailyMail.com on Friday, following their nine-month romance

The way they were: Kim and Kanye married in 2014 but she filed documents to be recognized as legally single in December, 2021, following their split; Pictured in 2016

The way they were: Kim and Kanye married in 2014 but she filed documents to be recognized as legally single in December, 2021, following their split; Pictured in 2016 

‘I know sharing screen shots was jarring and came off as harassing Kim,’ West wrote on Instagram. ‘I take accountability.’

In the texts, Kardashian told West he was ‘creating a dangerous and scary environment and someone will hurt Pete and this will be all your fault,’ later adding, ‘There are dangerous people out there and this is scary and it doesn’t have to be.’

Kim and Kanye married in 2014 but she filed documents to be recognized as legally single in December, 2021, following their split.

The pair – who have four children together, including North, 9, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4, and Psalm, 3 – have been co-parenting since she filed for divorce back in January 2021. 

The couple had a trial-setting conference in their dragging divorce on Friday, and it was revealed that the Donda rapper recently lost his fifth divorce lawyer.

His attorney, Samantha Spector asked to be relieved as counsel and said her relationship with Kanye was ‘irretrievably broken’ though she did not specify why, as per TMZ.

The judge also made it clear that unless Kanye ‘submits his financial declarations to settle the remaining issues’ the case will go to trial in December.

Co-parenting: The pair - who have four children together, including North, 9, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4, and Psalm, 3 - have been co-parenting since she filed for divorce back in January 2021

Co-parenting: The pair – who have four children together, including North, 9, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4, and Psalm, 3 – have been co-parenting since she filed for divorce back in January 2021

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Kanye West appeared to be in good

Movies

Luca
Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Marco Barricelli, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Jim Gaffigan
Direction: Enrico Casarosa

“Luca” talks of inclusion, and the importance of accepting those that are perceived as different by society. Like all Pixar productions, the film serves its message in a goodlooking package that brims with feel-good verve, and animation that is as striking as you’d expect from the banner. The core adventure aims to regale children, and is served with suitably cute relish. The action is sanitised and the thrills, it is ensured, are never dark.

What “Luca” could have done with is more of the hallmark quirk that usually makes Pixar films irresistible. Apart from a central plot twist pertaining to the film’s two lead characters, the film remains predictable as the story unfolds. If you’ve loved “Coco”, “Inside Out” or “Up”, you might find that bit sorely lacking in this film.

Enrico Casarosa’s film opens somewhere deep within the sea, where Luca (voice of Jacob Tremblay), a young and sprightly sea monster lives with his parents and grandma. Luca is fascinated by what lies above the water surface but his parents have strictly told him not to venture out of the sea, for land is where the evil ‘human monsters’ live.

Then, one day Luca meets another young sea monster named Alberto ((Jack Dylan Grazer)), who invites him to join him for a trek above. The world outside, Alberto assures, is beautiful, and not at all as bad as Luca’s parents have made it to be.

There’s a surprise waiting for Luca above. He discovers every time he ventures out of water and the water on him dries off, he — like Alberto — turns into a young boy.

The narrative establishes that premises quite crisply and early one, before taking us into the ‘Human Town’ with Luca and Alberto. Much of their adventure that follows will unfold in the scenic little town on the Italian Riviera.

Casarosa and his screenwriters (Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones) start off with a wonky premise plus the advantage of stunning artwork that serves as backdrop for the animation. They handle the coming-of-age drama fairly well, as the two boys paint the town red with their little escapades.

Amusingly, with smart sales pitch, the writers have managed to blend Vespa branding into the story. The product placement is seamlessly done. The Vespa scooter, just like a bowl of pasta, is something that has come to define average Italian lifestyle. Luca’s obsession with the Vespa triggers an important aspect of the story.

“Luca” essentially works as a fun watch that entertains while it runs. There is not much that resonates in your mind once the show is over. The film works for its gorgeous visuals and a voice cast that does a commendable job.

Rating: 3/5

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.

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LucaCast: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma

Entertaintment, Press Releases

(New York, N.Y.) – HOUSE OF HAMMER, the highly anticipated discovery+ docuseries chronicling the deeply troubling accusations leveled against critically acclaimed actor Armie Hammer and the dark, twisted legacy of the Hammer dynasty, will be available to stream on Friday, September 2. Featuring exclusive access and shocking revelations, the documentary takes viewers inside the Hammer family’s dark power plays over the course of three revealing hours.

Courtesy of discovery+

“The accusations of rape and abuse brought against Armie Hammer in the last few years are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Hammer family. With HOUSE OF HAMMER, we witness truly disturbing details and sinister secrets that money and power couldn’t hide forever,” said Jason Sarlanis, President of Crime and Investigative Content, Linear and Streaming. “This documentary provides an important platform for the incredibly courageous women who came forward to share their stories, and we hope their courage inspires others to continue meaningful conversations around abuse in our society.”

Hammer’s meteoric rise to fame came crashing down as victims came forward with disturbing stories of bondage, cannibalism fantasies, branding and that was just the beginning. The rape and abuse allegations brought against Armie Hammer in 2021 shocked Hollywood insiders and fans across the globe. This docuseries begins in 2020 at the peak of Hammer’s rise to fame. Featuring exclusive revelations from Armie’s aunt, Casey Hammer, and multiple survivors of Armie’s alleged abuse, the docuseries brings to light the dark secrets – ranging from accusations of violence and abuse to political manipulation and financial fraud – hidden within one of America’s most prominent families.

Each episode will shine a light on a depraved pattern of abuse that extends far beyond the accusations brought against the disgraced actor. Coupled with a trove of incredible archival footage, HOUSE OF HAMMER weaves together a chilling story of the dysfunction and wickedness that grow behind decades of power and money.

HOUSE OF HAMMER is directed by Elli Hakami and Julian P. Hobbs for discovery+. Casey Hammer serves as a consultant.

In an April 2022 interview with Variety, Andrew Brettler, the attorney for several prominent public figures, discusses the allegations against Armie Hammer. He states in the article that he can discuss details that are public, and explains that there was “never a case” and that it “never turned into a litigation or into a criminal charge against anyone.”

The allegations were brought to light by the pandemic— “everybody was home, reading all these tweets. You have a well-known handsome actor being accused of salacious, kinky interactions with women. It captured the public’s attention but was completely blown out of proportion — to the extent that there was never anything in court. There wasn’t a matter for me to handle other than to help him manage his image in the press” (Variety).

He also told Vanity Fair that “all interactions between Mr. Hammer and his former partners were consensual. They were fully discussed, agreed upon in advance with his partners and mutually participatory. The stories perpetuated on social media were designed to be salacious in an effort to harm Mr. Hammer, but that does not make them true” (Vanity Fair).

The docuseries is giving a much-needed platform women who have been harmed by Hammer’s words and actions, and provides details about the deeper issues that plague the Hammer legacy.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, there is help. Contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit rainn.org.

____________________________________________________________
About discovery+
discovery+ is the definitive non-fiction, real life subscription streaming service from Warner Bros. Discovery. With the largest-ever content offering at launch, discovery+ features a wide range of exclusive, original series across popular passion verticals including lifestyle and relationships; home and food; true crime; paranormal; adventure and natural history; as well as science, tech and the environment, and a slate of high-quality documentaries. For more, visit discoveryplus.com, or find the discovery+ app on most mobile and connected TV devices.

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(New York, N.Y.) - HOUSE OF HAMMER,

Entertaintment, Press Releases, TV

Like any other set of best friends, Emilija Baranac (Riverdale), and Jennifer Tong (DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow) do almost everything together; even cooking up their own fake ID Empire, accidentally.

The 10-episode crime series follows childhood best friends, Zoe and Becca, as they splurge their newly found riches the best way high schoolers know-how, which lands them in hot water with the Feds. Their rocky ride doesn’t end there, Zoe and Becca’s friendship gets tested and they’re forced to fight for their survival when their get-rich-quick scheme crumbles, leaving some of their associates unhappy with the downfall.

Courtesy of Netflix/David Astorga

The two leading ladies share the screen with Richard Harmon (The 100). The Teen TV show is created by David Turko (Warrior Nun). Turko wrote the YA series with Tabia Lau and produced it with Simon Barry (Warrior Nun), and Stephen Hegyes  (A Dungeon Siege Tale).  Lilly Burns and Tony Hernandez also play a part as executive directors.

Fakes is set to be released on the 2nd of September 2022, on Netflix.

 

 

 

You can watch the trailer below and get a glimpse of the teenage drama to come.

 

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Like any other set of best friends,

Entertaintment, Film

Victory really is sweet. Why Not Productions, which is a Paris based Production company has given us a first look at Johnny Depp dressed as King Louis XV in Maïwenn’s film Jeanne du Barry which is currently filming in France. Jeanne du Barry is Maïwenn’s sixth feature and most ambitious production to date. Maïwenn will also be playing the title role of Jeanne du Barry. The shoot began on July 26, 2022 with locations including Versailles and other locations in the Paris region as well as in the studio. Coming off the heels of his victory in his turbulent defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. The jury found that Heard had defamed Depp in her 2018 Washington Post opinion piece, which is where she alluded to being a victim of domestic violence. However, the jury also found that Depp defamed Heard, through his attorney, while fighting back against her charges. This marks Depp’s first feature film role in the last three years which was his 2020 independent film “Minamata,” in which he played war photographer W. Eugene Smith. Later that year, Depp was forced by Warner Bros. to exit the “Harry Potter” spinoff series “Fantastic Beasts” after he lost his libel case against the British tabloid The Sun. In which he had been characterized as a “wife beater.” Madds Mikkelson replaced Depp as the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in 2022’s “Fantastic Beast: The Secrets of Dumbledore.”

The film is inspired by the life of Jeanne du Barry, who was Louis XV’s last royal mistress at the Court of Versaille, after Madame de Pompadour. Born into poverty, she is a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure who uses her intelligence and allure to climb the rungs of the social ladder one by one. She becomes Louis XV’s favorite companion. Unaware of her status as a courtesan, he regains his appetite for life thanks to their relationship. They fall madly in love. Against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her arrival scandalizes the court. Cast members include Benjamin Lavernhe, best known from The French Dispatch, Pierre Richard, best known from A Chef in Love, Melvil Poupaud, best known from By the Grace of God, Noémie Lvovsky, Camille Rewinds, Pascal Greggory, best known from HBO series Irma Vep and India Hair, best known from The Tears Thing Signe. Cinematographer Laurent Dailland who has done work on the film Aline, production designer Angelo Zamparutti who has worked on the French film The Voiceless, costume designer Yurgen Doering who has worked on the HBO series Irma Vepp, John Nollet on hair design who has worked on the film High Life, Tom Pécheux on make-up who has worked on the film Once and Forever and Nicolas Provost on sound. Stephen Warbeck is composing the original music.

No release has been set as of yet but the Paris-based Why Not Productions, IN2 and France Télévisions will produce the film.” Wild Bunch International is handling the world sales. Le Pacte is distributing the film in France and Netflix has licensed the film to stream in France after it plays in theaters.

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Victory really is sweet. Why Not Productions,

Entertaintment, Film

Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline are set to reunite after starring together in the 1997 film ‘The Ice Storm.‘  The pair will be gracing our screens soon in the drama ‘The Good  House’ based on a New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by Anna Leary.

The ‘Avatar’ actress will be starring as Hildy Good, a satiric  realtor in New England who has an unmatched love for wine and secrets. Her reality changes when an old high-school lover, Frank Getchell played by Kline, returns. Good is forced to confront herself after years of living in avoidance.

Courtesy of Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions

Weaver and Kline will be joined by Morena Baccarin, Kelly AuCoin, and Rob Delaney. The Good House made its appearance at two film festivals. First, it premiered at the 2021 Toronto Film Festival in September 2021. Ten months later it was seen at the Tribeca Film Festival that took place in June 2022, on the 18th.

The comedy-drama was directed by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky. The duo wrote the upcoming film with the director and writer of  Monte Carlo, Thomas Bechuza. The Good House is scheduled for release on the 30th of September 2022 in theaters.

 

 

 

You can watch the trailer below:

 

 

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Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline are set

Docs

“I believe that great art is for everyone—not just the rich or the middle class. When I go into East Harlem or Bedford-Stuyvesant and see the kids who come to see our shows, I see nothing so clearly as myself.”
— Joe Papp

In 1954, Joe Papp founded the New York Shakespeare Festival (a.k.a Free Shakespeare in the Park). His vision was to make the arts accessible to everyone, regardless of race, class or ethnicity. For more than 65 years, Free Shakespeare in the Park has continued to deliver on that vision, delighting over 5 million people since its inception with free performances and being host to some of the foremost acting talents of our time, including Meryl Streep, Raúl Juliá, James Earl Jones, Christopher Walken and many more.

Below we explore the annual summer program’s rich history with photos spanning six decades!

1956: “Taming of the Shrew” before Central Park became home

Before it found its permanent home in Central Park, the New York Shakespeare Festival traveled to all 5 of New York’s boroughs. Pictured is a production of “Taming of the Shrew” at the East River Amphitheater on the Lower East Side in 1956.

Photo by George Joseph © The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

1957: The birth of Shakespeare in the Park

From its inception, Free Shakespeare in the Park drew large audiences to its free performances as pictured here near the shore of Belvedere Lake in Central Park in 1957.

1957: The birth of Shakespeare in the Park

Photo by George Joseph © The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

1962: “The Tempest“ in the first year at the Delacorte Theater

 In 1962, Free Shakespeare in the Park moved to its forever home, the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Kathleen Widdoes and Paul Stevens performed in “The Tempest” during the theater’s inaugural season.

1962: The Tempest in Central Park

Photo by George Joseph © The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

1968: Shakespeare outside at the Delacorte Theater

 The New York Shakespeare Festival started as an outdoor performance and at the Delacorte Theater that remains the case. Here audiences are welcomed into the open-air theater in 1968.

1968: Shakespeare outside at the Delacorte Theatre

Photo by George Joseph © The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

1971: “Two Gentlemen of Verona”

Galt McDermot, the composer of “Hair,” wrote the music for the musical production of “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” pictured here in 1971. The Broadway run of the play ended up winning the Tony for Best Musical in 1972, beating “Grease” and “Follies.”  

1971: Two Gentlemen of Verona

Photo by George Joseph © The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

1989: “Twelfth Night” in front of a big crowd

The Delacorte Theater has a seating capacity of 1,872. Most of those seats are filled for this production of “Twelfth Night“ in 1989.

1989: Twelfth Night

Photo by Martha Swope © The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts 

1991: “Othello”

In addition to his ambition to bring art to the masses, Joe Papp wanted to create a “theater of inclusion,” where the diversity on stage represented that of the public. Free Shakespeare in the Park hews close to that maxim, as can be seen in this production of “Othello” in 1991 starring Raúl Juliá in the titular role.  

1991: Othello

Photo by Martha Swope © The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

1991: Major talents perform Shakespeare

In that 1991 production of “Othello,” Raúl Juliá was joined on stage by (L – R) Christopher Walken, Kathryn Meisle and Mary Beth Hurt. 

1991: Othello

Photo by Martha Swope © The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

1993: “All’s Well That Ends Well” on a New York summer night

The founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival, Joe Papp, died in 1991, however the festival has continued. In 1993, audiences enjoyed “All’s Well That Ends Well“ at the Delacorte Theater. 

1993: All’s Well That Ends Well

Photo by Martha Swope © The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

2021: “Merry Wives” in our modern day

Free Shakespeare in the Park continues to be a cultural institution, offering audiences free performances every summer. Pictured is a performance of “Merry Wives” in July of 2021.

Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 

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About the Master

Joe Papp • Theatrical producer and director • Jun 22, 1921 – Oct 31, 1991

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“I believe that great art is for

Entertaintment, Film

Edward Ashton is the author of the novels Three Days in April and The end of Ordinary, and short fictions including Unifiers, Wormwood, Wolves, Dahlia, and over a dozen more. While Ashton has appeared in various types of publications for writing one thing is clear, he enjoys being with his family. Ashton lives in upstate New York, with his wife and daughters, in a cabin in the woods with an adorably mopey dog named Max. In his free time, he enjoys cancer research, teaching quantum physics to sullen graduate students, and whittling. Ashton had someone option his book Mickey7 a while back, but as he told us exclusively in a podcast (coming soon) that authors are used to that. Books get optioned all the time and nothing ever comes from it. However, all of that changed one day when he woke up to see an article that they were moving forward with the adaptation and that the cast assembled to play the parts he had only imagined would be one of the biggest A-list casts of all time.

This will be his first movie adaptation and will be directed by none other than Oscar winner, Bong Joon Ho, and cinematographer Darius Khondji who has previously worked on Uncut Gems and The Lost City of Z. Bong’s adaptation of Mickey7 will be his third English-language film, and his first film back since his 2019 South Korean masterpiece Parasite shattered box office records worldwide.

Courtesy of Deadline

The film features an all-star cast will be lead by Robert Pattinson, playing protagonist Mickey Barnes. Pattinson broke the hearts of millions as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and in being an overnight success in the Twilight Saga franchise as Edward Cullen. He has since gone on to turn his career into one of the most interesting independent movie careers ever seen. Pattinson spends time picking and choosing exactly which roles he wants to play. After years of doing indie films and getting some critical acclaim, Pattinson threw his name in the ring for The Batman which thrusted him back into the spotlight making him one of the most famous people on the planet. Joining Pattinson are a cast full of award winning actors that have careers some of us could only dream about. You have Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun, and Naomi Ackie to name a few. While they have been announced, there has not been any details about which character the actors will play. One can assume based off of the novel as we wait for an official confirmation. So that brings us to the book, so what is Mickey7 about?

Mickey7 centers around Michael Barnes who was a historian on a planet similar to that of Earth that is falling apart. In an effort to save themselves and civilization missions begin to find other planets and colonize them. These missions bring the best and brightest as there is a limited spot on each vessel. Unfortunately that is not Barnes, there is really no need for a historian to help colonize a new planet. So Barnes has pretty much the same luck as Leonardo DiCaprio did when his character Jack Dawson won that last minute ticket to board the Titanic. Barnes gets a seat on the vessel if he agrees to become an expendable. This means that once on the new planet, Barnes would have his thoughts and personality uploaded on a regular basis to the tank and be put to task doing jobs that no one wants to do (basically suicide missions). If he dies, they clone him and upload the memories to a new Mickey and repeat. The book starts off with us meeting Mickey7 so its a safe assumption that Barnes has already died six times before you even begin finishing page one (think Black Mirror meets Upload).

However, its not long before you learn about the planet everyone is trying to colonize. Niflheim is an ice world which sounds completely horrible. Familiarity with Norse Mythology will lead you to recognize this name, as it’s one of the Nine Worlds. It’s a homeland of primordial darkness, cold, mist, and ice, a poetic embellishment of ‘Hel,’ the world of the dead. Ashton’s use of Niflheim throughout his novel doesn’t go unnoticed and emphasizes not only the setting of a snow icy planet, but the strong unavoidable truth that the planet may become everyone’s undoing.

Right away, we meet Mickey7 who is on a mission. However, something happens and he losing his footing and finds himself at the bottom of a hole. His friends want to help him, but Barnes figures he is dead so he sends them back to the home base while he basically waits to freeze to death or die. Due to a little help from a friend (depending on your view this can be deemed good or bad) Mickey7 is saved. He heads back not knowing that his crew has already deemed him dead, replaced him with a doppelgänger and uploaded his most recent memories to him. Mickey7 comes face to face with his double Mickey8. With two alive at once, all bets are off as expendable doubles are not welcome on this planet. So the two must do whatever they have to in order to survive as the colonization of their world takes a turn for the worse, leaving the fate of civilization in the hands of the Mickeys. So, basically, Dostoevsky in space? I mean, why not.

Ashton’s novel is a must read for anyone who loves Science Fiction and Space Travel and Quantum Physics. but all of those pages are not only fun filled, but they also reveal a simple, expertly built word and a clever narrative, intricately woven into a wonderful adventure of colonizing new planets and humanity’s journey beyond Earth. The moment I started this novel I couldn’t put it down. With twists and turns that will leave you on the edge of your seat, you will be brought into this scientific world of endless possibility. Is Mickey7 the same person he was before all of the uploads? Are we the same people we were a decade ago? Would you want to live an immortal life? Is climate change going to cause an issue for us in a a couple hundred years time that will make this fictional book seem more like non-fiction? As you read this book you will begin to go down the rabbit hole of all of these types of questions and more. This book is fast paced, written with precision and accuracy, and told in a way for all to understand. The new technological devices are described in a really cool way making it seem like the Jetson’s in outer space. Between the science, the technology, the descriptions of the crazy planet and creepers that appear on it (don’t worry you will get there), this is a must read. Just carve out some time because once you begin you won’t be able to put it down. Ashton is a master writer and with his background has such an intelligent brain it makes you wonder just how realistic this might become.

Mickey7 (the film) has begun shooting at Leavesden Studios in London, England. No release date has been announced but it can be assumed it will be released sometime next year. But don’t worry you have plenty to do in the meantime. First go pickup a copy of Edward Ashton’s book, Mickey7. Then check out the sequel which is available for preorder called, Antimatter Blues here. This will be available in March.

Then head over to social and follow Ashton online here or on Twitter @edashtonwriting.

*Also coming soon is our interview with Ashton where we discuss the book, the movie, Robert Pattinson, his conversation with Bong, and the sequel. So look out for that on our podcast, Silence on Set.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

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Edward Ashton is the author of the

Entertaintment, Film

When news came that Batgirl was to not see the light of day in either theaters or HBO Max, it came as a shock to pretty much everyone.  The move comes during a time when the future of the DCEU was left highly uncertain; while Aquaman : The Lost Kingdom will release with a heavily reduced role for Amber Heard, following the defamation trial earlier this year, The Flash has seen delay on top of delay, with reports of heavy amounts of reshooting taking place.  It seems that practically everything is going against this film in particular; the controversy with Ezra Miller, multiple delays and reshoots, and a high budget rivaling that of 2017’s Justice League, as opposed to Batgirl’s $70-$90 million budget, it seems like there is no easy answer for what to do with this seemingly misguided franchise.

Leslie Grace Batgirl

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery

However, new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, David Zaslav, has recently come out after Batgirl’s cancellation to assure fans that under this new regime, the franchise will see a refresh, with legacy characters such as Superman and Batman being given proper attention, with a new ten year plan in place.  As Zaslov states, “You look at Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman — these are brands that are known everywhere in the world.  We have done a reset. We’ve restructured the business where we are going to focus, where there is going to be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on DC. We believe we can build a much more sustainable business.”  Zaslov would later go on to state that more emphasis would be put upon quality, and ensure no film is released before it is ready.  This is reportedly part of why Batgirl was cancelled, as reports have come out that the quality of the film left much to be desired.

In light of this, many have started to wonder what is to become of this franchise moving forward.

Courtesy of HBO Max

Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room; that being the concept of the Snyderverse, which would continue Zack Snyder’s initial vision for the DCEU.  While there were recent reports that suggested that there has been no intention to continue with, or even recognize it, much of the same rhetoric was used when addressing the Snyder Cut during the #ReleasetheSnyderCut days, with multiple articles and executives either denying it’s existence, or stating there were no plans to release it, until that all changed in 2021, when Zack Snyder’s Justice League released on HBO Max.  Upon the film’s release, the 4 hour epic was considered vastly superior to the butchered 2017 cut released in theaters, and it proved to be a hit on HBO Max.  Given the positive reception of the film, it seemed odd for the previous regime to not want to capitalize on it in any capacity; even when detractors of Snyder’s vision initially, praised the Snyder Cut, finding it to improve upon the director’s previous films in the DCEU, Man of Steel and Batman V Superman : Dawn of Justice.  

Credit to Warner Bros.

Rumors and reports suggested that the upcoming The Flash film was indeed set to retcon and reset the DCEU, specifically going against Snyder’s vision.  There is reason to believe this, with it having the return of General Zod, played by Michael Shannon, as well as it being the final appearance of Ben Affleck’s Batman, before being replaced by a returning Michael Keaton.  Henry Cavill’s Superman was set to be released by Sasha Calle’s Supergirl, although Jason Mamoa and Gal Gadot would have returned as Aquaman and Wonder Woman respectively.  While this, admittedly, wouldn’t be hard to believe under the previos regime, with the recent news that Ben Affleck would appear in the second Aquaman film, in addition to the reported heavy number of reshoots The Flash is set to go through, perhaps plans have changed to see Ben Affleck continue his time as the cape crusader.  In addition, given the popularity of Cavill’s Superman, and Zaslov’s previous comments, it’s not unlikely that the new regime may find a way to work with Cavill and Affleck more in the future.  Perhaps it may even lead to a long-awaited Justice League sequel, one which will see the iconic team finally take on Darkseid and his forces from Apokalypse, which fans finally got to see in live action thanks to Zack Snyder’s Justice League.  Even if Snyder doesn’t return as director, there isn’t anything keeping Warner Bros. Discovery from utilizing his ideas and planned storylines, making the necessary adjustments for films which have come out since Zack Snyder originally filmed the movie, and given the similarities to Thanos that Darkseid presents, it makes sense to build up to the character in the long run, especially given the fact that a New Gods film was cancelled largely because of the character’s appearance in the Snyder Cut.

Black Adam

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery

Another, possible direction, one that seems more likely for the near future, involves a certain anti-hero/villain played by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.  Black Adam is set to release later this October, with it being promised to change the DCEU moving forward.  Considering the character’s relationship with Shazam, a character who will return for Shazam : Fury of the Gods just a few months later in December, it seems like Black Adam is being set up to be something of a Thanos like character, a multimovie threat that will require a team up to take down.  This seems likely as Johnson has expressed interest in facing off against Cavill’s Superman, and there have been discussions on who else the character could face off against, such as Wonder Woman.  This may yet be the plan that Zaslov has in mind for the near future.  Given the fact that it was established in Shazam that the titular character knows Superman personally, with the character making a cameo appearance at the end of the film, it’s likely that the major team up to be seen will be that of Superman and Shazam to stop a rampaging Black Adam, with other character’s like Wonder Woman thrown into the mix.

Of course, the future of the DCEU is still in flux, but many fans are relieved to see a new regime take control of the DCEU with a long-term plan, one that seems to have a clear sense of direction and is dedicated to revitalizing it’s most beloved character’s in the public eye and providing them with a second lease on life.

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Entertaintment, TV

Streaming platforms continue to fight for the attention of viewers and prove that they are dominating the market and are worthy of a ton of accolades. Last year, the undisputed leader was the drama series “Mare of Easttown” from HBO. This year all bets are off as every streaming service is delivering content at its best. Including the ranks is AppleTV+ with its latest show, “Black Bird.”

Courtesy of Apple TV+

Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) is a self–confident drug dealer, so at the moment when the police come to him to arrest him for selling, he smiles, because he has an “excellent lawyer.” However, everything doesn’t go according to plan. He thinks he is going to walk out or maybe see a tiny bit of jail time, however the court was not in his favor and sentence him to a decade. After his initial arrest, some time goes by and he seems relatively at home in the prison that is until he gets some unexpected visitors.

Detective Lauren McCauley (Sepideh Moafi), who was involved in his capture, comes to Keene and offers a deal; if Jimmy can gain the confidence of Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), a maniac who received a sentence for the murder of two girls to talk. The police suspect that Hall over 12 more victims that have been unaccounted for. Hall is a mysterious person: a fan of historical installations, closed and somehow out of this world. Obviously, it won’t be easy to get him to talk, but Keene has no choice – he agrees.

Courtesy of Apple TV+

How many TV shows about maniacs already exist? Is it possible to surprise the viewer, especially those who are adept and accustomed to a certain level of narration set by “Mind Hunter”, “Dexter”, “Hannibal” and other classical representatives of the genre? Perhaps, yes. The peculiarity of “Black Bird” is that it is a real psychological thriller. And not because it is a “thriller with psychology” (all films are somehow tied to human psychology).

Courtesy of Apple TV+

But because this is a rare example of a literal immersion in a person’s personality – akin to a psychotherapy session. Only as a psychiatrist in front of us is a charismatic criminal, and in the role of his patient is a creepy bear–like maniac, in whose gaze literally nothing is read. I.e. at any moment he, an infantile–looking man, can do anything – it is unpredictable.

And excellent actors demonstrate here the magic of transformation in the skin of their characters so much that the jaw drops. Egerton flaunts his trademark bravado (although he does it in a way that no one can do better), Hauser, brings a new sort of creep to the word creepy. He is one of the most memorable maniacs you’ve ever seen in your life. The hidden evil that radiates from his harmless, at first glance, kind of mattress-redneck, comes out gradually and is not always noticeable to the eye – this is a real chameleon man, the impersonation into which Hauser turned out to be so brilliant that the blood in his veins freezes.

Courtesy of Apple TV+

This is the highest level of acting – when the performer of the role merges so much with his character that you forget at the moment that you are looking at a feature film, and not a meticulous documentary. The duo play off each other so well its hard to tell who is really running the show or winning the “game” at any given moment. It’s a highly tense story told in a very confiding space which somehow makes it even that much more concerning.

Ray Liotta, in one of his last roles before he passed, manages to play out all the necessary emotions with ha glance. His intense conversations with Jimmy and the ever doting father that is just trying to get his son free is something not to be missed. It would not be surprising if Liotta gets some awards for the role next year.

The story keeps a super fast pace as its only six episodes which were written by “Island of the Damned” writer, Dennis Lehane. This pace keeps the viewer invested. Its a story that you seem to binge in one sitting (that is if you didn’t watch it live week to week as AppleTV+ released them).

Courtesy of Apple TV+

On top of that, we must remember that this entire crazy story is based on some sort of real events – it seems that such a fantastic plot (a drug dealer makes friends with a maniac to find out the details of his crimes) can only be something so crazy that it has to be fictional; but no, real life inspired it.

That fact along makes one shudder – it’s enough to look into Larry Hall’s empty, hazy eyes to understand how often we don’t understand the world we live in, and how much we don’t know about its most intimate and terrible secrets.

 

Check out the trailer below:

You can watch the entire series now, currently on AppleTV+. Let us know what you think.

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Streaming platforms continue to fight for the

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Olivia Newton-John, actress, philanthropist, and Grammy award-winning singer has passed at the age of 73. While it has not been confirmed that her death was cancer related, it is well-known that Newton-John battled breast cancer for years. Newton-John is survived by her husband, John Easterling, who announced the sad news via her official Facebook page:

Courtesy of John Easterling

“Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends. We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.

Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer.  Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer.  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made in her memory to the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund here.

Olivia is survived by her husband John Easterling; daughter Chloe Lattanzi; sister Sarah Newton-John; brother Toby Newton-John; nieces and nephews Tottie, Fiona and Brett Goldsmith; Emerson, Charlie, Zac, Jeremy, Randall, and Pierz Newton-John; Jude Newton-Stock, Layla Lee; Kira and Tasha Edelstein; and Brin and Valerie Hall. – via John Easterling, husband, Olivia Newton-John

She signed with Decca Records and in 1966 recorded a version of Jackie DeShannon’s “Till You Say You’ll Be Mine,” then became the sole female member of a girl group band called Tomorrow, which was brought together by Don Kirshner. He hoped to create a U.K. version of The Monkees. She then opened for Cliff Richard on tour and then appeared on his TV show before recording another version Bob Dylan’s “If Not for You,” for her first album. In 1973, she received her first Grammy Award, winning for the best country vocalist for her U.S. album debut, Let Me Be There. This was a title track off of her top 10 singles. She then had her first two No. 1 hit with “I Honestly Love You” in 1974 and “Have You Never Been Mellow” a year later.

Newton-John sold more than 100 million albums and had nearly 40 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 during her years in music. She did country-pop and soft-rock in the 1970s and ’80s. However, her fame rose to a new level when she was cast as Sandy Olsson in the blockbuster hit, Grease, starring opposite John Travolta as Danny Zuko in 1978 which landed her hits like “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” and “You’re The One That I Want” written by longtime pal John Farrar. She even re-teamed with Travolta for a fantasy comedy called Two of a Kind in 1983, bringing her new song, “Twist of Fate,” back into the top 10.

See Newton-John in a clip from Grease below:

Newton-John shed her good girl image by completely reinventing herself as a Spandex aerobics fantasy in a sexy and comedic music video for hr single, “Physical”. It spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Top 100 from 1981 into early 1982. Newton-John retained the title of having a single remain the longest time in the top spot for the entire decade. She went on to have many other hits such as “Let Me Be There,” “If You Love Me (Let Me Know),” “Make a Move on Me” and “Heart Attack,” among many others.

During her tenure, Newton-John appeared in Sordid Lives in 2000 by playing the barfly Bitsy Mae Harling and in a TV spinoff for Logo. She sang during the Opening Ceremony at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Later appearing on the films score, A Hockey Musical, in 2010 and A Few Best Men in 2011. In April 2014, she began a three-year residency where she performed at the Flamingo Las Vegas. In the midsts of all of that she found time to make a cameo playing  herself in two episodes of Glee.

However, Newton-John always kept one thing at the forefront of her mind, helping others. She helped launch the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne and raised hundreds of millions of dollars in the fight against the disease. She always preferred to be called a cancer “thriver” rather than a cancer “survivor.” ‘Survivor’ sounds like someone clinging onto a lifeboat,” she said to Today in an interview from 2017. “A thriver’s someone who’s already off the boat and on land.” She also supported many other charities and environmental concerns.

Below is a segment from Sunday Profile (courtesy of CBS Sunday Morning) where speaks about her journey with Breast Cancer:

In May 2017, she announced that after 25 years in remission, her cancer was back and had spread. In August, 2018 she canceled a two-date tour just three weeks after announcing it. She was to reminisce and speak about her career with an interviewer in Melbourne and Sydney recently. Again, at this time there is no confirmation that, that is how she passed. While we want to respect her privacy, if you are all listening to her music right now, remember to donate in her name to her foundation here. Everyone at TWE sends their condolences to her family and fans around the world. While she left us too soon, she will always be our favorite Rydell High cheerleader and ultimate pink lady badass. Browse below to see what some of her friends have posted in honor of her.

John Travolta’s statement via Twitter, Graphic Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter

Janis Joplin via Twitter, Photo Courtesy of Janis Joplin

Randall Kleiser, Director of Grease, Graphic courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Story still developing. 

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Olivia Newton-John, actress, philanthropist, and Grammy award-winning

Global

 

A ‘devoted’ mother has died suddenly on a plane in front of her children and husband.

Helen Rhodes was travelling home to the UK with her husband Simon and their two children Nathan and Emma on August 5 after living in Tung Chung, Hong Kong, for more than 15 years.

A few hours into the flight, Mrs Rhodes was found unresponsive and could not be resuscitated after passing away in her sleep.

A midwife by profession, the ‘one of a kind’ mother ‘lay in a breathless sleep’ in her seat for the remaining eight hours of the flight until the plane landed in Frankfurt.

Mrs Rhodes’ body remained in Germany while her husband and two children had to continue on to the UK without her.

The ‘extremely traumatizing’ incident unfolded in front of her children, a friend of the family wrote.

A GoFundMe page has been set up by Jayne Jeje to help the family with unexpected expenses and to ‘honour our dear friend Helen’. It has so far raised more than £10,000.

Ms Jeje described how the family were ready to ’embark on a new chapter’ and Mrs Rhodes was ‘looking forward’ to seeing her aging parents whom she hadn’t seen since the start of the pandemic.

Helen Rhodes (right) was travelling home to the UK on August 5 with her husband Simon (left) and their two children Nathan and Emma after living in Tung Chung, Hong Kong, for more than 15 years

She wrote: ‘Helen and her family wrapped up a life in Hong Kong of over 15 years to embark on a new chapter living back home in the UK.

‘Helen was excited and nervous about the move, but looked forward to seeing her family back home, as she had not seen her family or aging parents since the pandemic began. Sadly, she never got to see them again.’

She continued: ‘We are still in disbelief and shock about the sudden passing of our dearest friend Helen Rhodes, whose life has touched many people in Hong Kong and the UK.

‘Helen was one of a kind, a gem. She was a midwife by profession, and was always willing to lend a helping hand or advice to anyone who needed it.

‘Helen loved to talk and made friends easily. She was the pulse of her community in Tung Chung, in Hong Kong.

‘She couldn’t walk a few feet and not run into someone she knew by name. She was an early member of a tight knit diverse group, called Tung Chung Mums.

‘Over 200 women who first looked to her if they had a question concerning anything medical related.

‘Helen always made herself available to help others. She was clever, witty and generous with her time.’

A midwife by profession, the 'one of a kind' mother 'lay in a breathless sleep' in her seat for the remaining eight hours of the flight until the plane landed in Frankfurt. Pictured: Hong Kong

A midwife by profession, the ‘one of a kind’ mother ‘lay in a breathless sleep’ in her seat for the remaining eight hours of the flight until the plane landed in Frankfurt. Pictured: Hong Kong

She added: ‘Helen was sharp and creative. She ran her own business making amazing bespoke bows and accessories. Helen took pride in everything she did, and her bows were exquisite.

‘This fundraiser is to honor this lovely woman who was loved by so many, a dear friend who touched so many people.

‘We can only hope she knew how much she meant to us and how her void can never be filled.

‘How this loss is so painful and surreal. The grief we feel is paralyzing. Yet, we feel lucky to have known her.’

Describing what happened, Ms Jeje said: ‘On August 5, 2022. Helen passed away in her sleep on her flight from HK to UK. Helen was found unresponsive a few hours into the flight.

‘Despite all efforts, Helen was not able to be resuscitated. This all unfolded in front of her children. For the remaining 8 hours of the flight, Helen lay in a breathless sleep in her seat.

‘Although this was extremely traumatizing to the family, they all had time to say what they needed to say to her.

 Needless to mention, they are devastated. This loss is unimaginable. Helen was a devoted wife and mother. She was the glue that held her family together.

‘After landing in Germany and the protocol that followed, Helen remained in Frankfurt while her husband (Simon) and two young children (Nathan and Emma) had to go on to the UK without her.’

Andrew Spires, admin of Tung Chung Tower Communities’ Facebook page, paid tribute to Mrs Rhodes.

He said: ‘Sadly Tung Chung’s very own Helen Rhodes passed away on a flight back to the UK. She was with her husband Simon, and two kids.

‘I knew Helen only on a ‘school gates’ level but she was the most caring, generous and thoughtful person; also the most chatty! Tung Chung and school pick-up won’t be the same without you.

‘Wishing all the best to her family going forward – I hope they eventually find some peace.

‘Live life to the fullest folks, and hugs the ones you love.’

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  A 'devoted' mother has died suddenly on a

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Fans of MTV reality show “Siesta Key” may soon see the unannounced departure of one of its original cast members. Kelsey Owens, who has been on the show since the premiere of the first season in 2017, shared on Instagram early Friday that she just found out she will be “cut” from the show moving forward and received no warning ahead of time.

“It’s mind blowing and truly disgusting that after working on a show since I was 19 years old where I’ve shared things about my personal life I wasn’t always comfortable with, revolved my whole life around, and put so much effort into could come to an end in such a disrespectful manner and so abrupt,” Owens said in a lengthy Instagram post. “Not even a simple ‘thank you for sharing the past five years of your life with us.’ I cried my eyes out then wiped those tears and filmed my last scene the best I could with my head held high.”

Cast member Madisson Hausburg left an encouraging and supportive comment under Owens’ post, saying that she was “still in shock and can’t seem to find the right words” about the alleged firing. Juliette Porter, another original cast member on the show, also shared some kind words for Owens saying “the crown may tilt but never falls,” before proclaiming her excitement for Owens’ future.

Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Max Owens, commented how sorry he was that she was being treated in this way. “I know you have put your heart into this show and wanted to believe in the best in the people running it but unfortunately the producers and show runners of this show just aren’t good people,” he wrote. “They lie to your face and tell you they care about you in order to manipulate you into doing the things that they need – all while holding money and episode checks over your head. I’ve seen it from the minute I walked into this show and have been very vocal about it to them in your defense, which I know is why they didn’t want me in Miami with you. They’ve created a horrible culture and working environment and I am honestly so relieved that we will now be able to move forward with our lives. I promise you the best is yet to come .”

The reality series is largely inspired the popular hit show “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County,” taking similar elements from the genre of television that dominated much of the early 2000s. Seasons 3 and 4 of “Siesta Key” had full 24-episode runs after the first and second seasons had 18 and 12 episodes, respectively.

On Wednesday, Variety exclusively announced that Creature Films, the production company behind the reality show, signed a multiyear overall deal with Entertainment One.

Variety has reached out to MTV. Check out Owens’ full post below.

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Fans of MTV reality show “Siesta Key”

Tech

Amazon Prime Video’s Italian original series “Prisma,” which launches on Aug. 10 from the Locarno Film Festival, sees the streamer revisit the theme of gender identity fluidity after “Transparent” while catering to a young adult audience and also connecting with Italy’s neorealist roots.

The eight-episode show (watch exclusive clip) – which marks the first TV series to premiere at the prominent Swiss fest dedicated to indie cinema – is centered around identical adolescent twins Marco and Andrea, who challenge gender norms in different ways, along with their group of friends who are also going through a similar journey.

“Prisma” is set in the city of Latina, just south of Rome, and its surrounding area, which used to be a swamp until the land was drained under Fascist rule. The area is now known for modernist architecture and fertile agriculture. 

“Prisma,” which means prism in Italian, is the brainchild of Ludovico Bessegato,  who has gained local prominence as showrunner of “Skam Italia,” the Italian adaptation of the Nordic young adult drama that’s made a splash in Italy and plays on Netflix.

Bessegato, who directed “Prisma,” wrote the screenplays with Alice Urciuolo, a writer who hails from the Latina area.

It’s produced by Beta-owned Cross Productions, the shingle behind “Skam Italia.”

“Five years ago, purely by chance, I had the opportunity to tell stories about people younger than I am, mentored by Norwegian show runner [and Skam creator] Julie Andem,” Bessegato said in his director’s statement.

Now “After five years on this journey, I felt the need to take everything I learned and try to do something that is completely ours,” he added.

“Something that started from our observation of reality; of our context. Something that showed that we weren’t just good adapters, but were able to offer our own perspective on that world. A new narrative, which brings together years of study and observation of that world with our personal idea of ​​cinema and our aesthetics.”

“We started with the following fact,” Bessegato noted.

“All those years of meeting people younger than us had clearly shown us how many of the dualisms that up until my generation had been unshakeable dogmas, were no longer so for them.”

“And we’re not just talking about sexual orientation and identity. We are talking about a generation that seems to live and choose the spaces in between in the broadest possible sense.”

“A generation and a world in which the very concept of diversity seems to no longer suffice to describe reality. Given that there is no longer a convergence with regards to an idea of ​​normality, there cannot even be a uniform view with regards to that of diversity.”

No longer normal, no longer different. Only an infinity of unique existences. We borrowed the image of the optical prism, which manages to break down light, only apparently white, into the infinite spectrum of colors that composes it.”

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Amazon Prime Video’s Italian original series “Prisma,”

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Once Considine heard that “Game of Thrones” was “about dragons,” he wasn’t interested.

With so many spin-offs in development following the show’s dominant eight season run, it’s easy to forget what a risk “Game of Thrones” was for HBO. The show is credited with revitalizing the fantasy genre, with countless viewers becoming addicted to its cocktail of sex, violence, and Shakespearean power struggles. But before the show aired, taking a fantasy role was considered a serious career risk by many actors.

In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Paddy Considine revealed that when his agent approached him about starring in “Game of Thrones,” he declined the offer without even looking at the script.

“He said, ‘It’s about dragons,’” Considine said. “I went, ‘No thanks.’ I didn’t even read it.”

That decision led to Considine missing out on the opportunity to star in one of the biggest television shows of all time. When he got a second chance to join the franchise, he made sure not to make the same mistake. He jumped at the chance to join the upcoming prequel “House of the Dragon,” where he plays King Viserys Targaryen.

Considine revealed that the character was inspired by his mother, who battled a serious case diabetes. Watching the decline of someone he respected, while seeing her maintain her kind spirit, informed his portrayal of a king at a breaking point in his dynasty.

“If anything Viserys was based on my mother. She was the most powerful woman I knew, for a long time. Until she neglected herself,” he said. “By the end of her life my mum had diabetes. I adored my mum. But her illness became her comfort zone. It was tragic to see that decline and I put that — plus her kindness and her love — into Viserys”

According to HBO’s official description of the character, King Viserys was “chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen, at the Great Council at Harrenhal. A warm, kind, and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy, but as we’ve learned from ‘Game of Thrones,’ good men do not necessarily make for great kings.”

“House of the Dragon” premieres on HBO on Sunday, August 21.

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Once Considine heard that "Game of Thrones"

Entertaintment

Britney Spears has responded to Kevin Federline’s tell-all interview about her 13-year conservatorship and her relationship with her sons.

In an excerpt from an upcoming ITV interview that was published by The Daily Mail on August 6, Federline made a series of statements about his ex-wife’s conservatorship, her relationship with her sons, her nude photos, and her father, Jamie Spears. Kevin and Britney were married from 2004 to 2007 and share two teenage sons, Sean and Jaden. In 2008, Britney’s father and an attorney were granted a temporary—then permanent—conservatorship over her assets, estate, and business affairs. The conservatorship was finally terminated in November 2021 and Britney was able to marry her partner Sam Asghari in June 2022.

“The boys have decided they are not seeing her right now,” Kevin claimed in the new interview. “It’s been a few months since they’ve seen her. They made the decision not to go to her wedding.” Federline pointed specifically to “nude” photos on his ex-wife’s Instagram page as one source of their discomfort. To add insult to injury, Federline’s current wife, Victoria Prince, was also interviewed about their family. “This is a normal home, a family… full of love,” Victoria said. “Whatever is happening outside has nothing to do with this home.” You can read the rest of the interview here.

On the same day, Britney Spears described the interview as “hurtful” in her response. “It saddens me to hear that my ex-husband has decided to discuss the relationship between me and my children,” she began in an Instagram story on August 6. “As we all know, raising teenage boys is never easy for anyone…It concerns me the fact that the reason is based on my Instagram…it was LONG before Instagram…I gave them everything…Only one word: HURTFUL.”

Instagram/@britneyspears

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Britney Spears has responded to Kevin Federline's

Movies

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal recently visited Cochin Shipyard to see India’s First Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), Vikrant. The actor took to social media and shared several photos from his visit and called Vikrant “a true engineering marvel”. For the event, the actor wore a navy blue suit with white shirt and a matching tie.

He captioned the photos as, “Honoured to be onboard India’s 1st Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), soon to be commissioned as Vikrant, built in Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kerala. After 13 long years of dedicated construction, she sets sail as a true engineering marvel that further fortifies the Indian Navy and speaks volumes about India’s shipbuilding capabilities. I express my heartfelt gratitude for this matchless opportunity, especially to the Commanding Officer, Commodore Vidhyadhar Harke, VSM, and Mr Madhu Nair, the Chairman & Managing Director of Cochin Shipyard Limited, for their warm reception.”

“Witnessing the unmatched peculiarities of this mean machine urges me to triumphantly salute all the people behind IAC Vikrant, the wonder. May she always be victorious at sea!” added Mohanlal.

In the photos, Mohanlal is seen posing with the officers of Indian Navy, who were explaining the actor about IAC Vikrant.

On the work front, Mohanlal is joining hands with Jeethu Joseph for his next project. The upcoming drama is titled Ram and the film was announced in 2020. Reportedly, after much-delay due to COVID-19, the cast of the film has started shooting in Kochi and will also shoot in London. He will also be seen in Alone, which is being directed by Shaji Kailas. He was last seen in B Unnikrishnan’s Aaraattu, which was released in february.

Read the Latest News and Breaking News here

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Malayalam superstar Mohanlal recently visited Cochin Shipyard

Film

“Batgirl” wasn’t the only nearly completed Warner Bros. film that was killed last week, but in the case of the animated sequel “Scoob! Holiday Haunt,” the film’s producer and co-writer opted to continue working on the film even after it was canceled.

Both “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” were effectively killed last week by Warner Bros. Discovery, which now has no plans to release either film in theaters or on HBO Max despite the fact that both were nearly completed. But “Scoob! 2” co-writer and producer Tony Cervone found himself in a unique position – the stage and musicians had already been paid to record the score for the movie. So when that date came after “Scoob! 2” was canceled, Cervone decided to have the musicians record the score – written by Dara Taylor – anyway.

Cervone posted a picture of musicians on the stage to his Instagram with a note: “So what do you do when the movie is canceled, but you’ve already paid for the stage and the musicians? You record the damn score!”

Director Bill Haller shared on Twitter that he watched the scoring session from home. “Thanks for all the love and support this week,” he said. “Scoob fans are the best in the world! This weekend watched on zoom our score being magically produced by our already paid for musicians while I’m ironically recovering from Covid. It was glorious to my ears! #SaveScoobHolidayHaunt”

Shortly after news broke that “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” was being scrapped, Cervone took to Instagram to reveal that the film was “practically finished and turned out beautifully,” noting he was “beyond heartbroken.”

The film was a Christmas-themed sequel to 2020’s animated “Scooby-Doo” reboot, and was intended to debut on HBO Max in December. The voice cast included McKenna Grace, Ming-Na Wen, Mark Hamill, Michael McKean, Andre Braugher and Cristo Fernandez.

While Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav explained that “Batgirl” was killed out of a desire to focus DC films on theatrical but also out of a concern over quality, the reason for scrapping “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” is less clear. The filmmakers and fans of the franchise, however, have been rallying online to save the film with the hashtag #SaveScoobHolidayHaunt

‘Batgirl’ Star Leslie Grace Speaks Out Following Movie Being Axed

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“Batgirl” wasn’t the only nearly completed Warner

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While it was initially reported that Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson split over their busy schedules and long-distance struggles, a new report suggests Kardashian may have had another reason to end things.

According to a source who spoke with Entertainment Tonight, Kardashian felt “the spark between” them had “faded” after nine months together. The source added that Davidson is “so sweet, but she didn’t feel ready for something serious with him.” 

“They had tons of chemistry, and still do, but she kind of wants to be single and date,” the source continued. ”Kim still adores Pete and will always be friends with him. She still thinks he’s the nicest and sweetest guy in the world and there’s no drama or anything weird between them now.”

Ultimately, what started out as a “fling” quickly spiraled out of control. “She felt like Pete was the extreme opposite of Kanye and it was good for her then,” the source said. “She initially thought it would be a fun fling, but then it got more serious when they were spending so much time together. Kim wasn’t feeling like she was willing to settle down with him just yet.”

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This certainly tracks, given the circumstances that led to their romance. Following her tumultuous split from Kanye West, with whom she shares four children, Kim Kardashian admitted she made the first move on Davidson after her Saturday Night Live debut in October 2021 because she was “basically DTF.”

“I did SNL, and then when we kissed in a scene, it was just a vibe,” she said in an episode of The Kardashians. “And I was like, ‘Oh, shit. Maybe I just need to try something different!’” Kardashian was disappointed when Davidson didn’t show up to the after-party, adding, “Everyone was at my after-party—[Pete] does not give me the time of day.”

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While it was initially reported that Kim

What to Watch

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(HBO)

How will the story evolve in the fourth season of the Westworld TV show on HBO? As we all know, the Nielsen ratings typically play a big role in determining whether a TV show like Westworld is cancelled or renewed for season five. Unfortunately, most of us do not live in Nielsen households. Because many viewers feel frustrated when their viewing habits and opinions aren’t considered, we invite you to rate all of the fourth season episodes of Westworld here.

An HBO science-fiction thriller series, the Westworld TV show stars Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Ed Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Luke Hemsworth, Aaron Paul, Angela Sarafyan, and James Marsden with Ariana DeBose, Aurora Perrineau, and Daniel Wu. Created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the drama series unfolds in a pricey, futuristic theme park, where visitors pay to act out their Wild West fantasies while interacting with lifelike robot “hosts.” The fourth season picks up over seven years later after the protracted war and humanity is finally free. Or so it seems. Maeve and Caleb begin to suspect that Hale and a host version of The Man in Black are trying to regain control of the human race. Meanwhile, Bernard returns from The Sublime. A young writer, Christina, begins to question the nature of her reality.

What do you think? Which season four episodes of the Westworld TV series do you rate as wonderful, terrible, or somewhere between? Do you think that Westworld should be cancelled or renewed for a fifth season on HBO? Don’t forget to vote, and share your thoughts, below.

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Published: August 7, 2022(HBO) How will the story

Awards

“The intent was to go our separate ways in a way that is supportive of each other,” The Kid Mero said in a recent interview.

One of the more shocking pop culture developments of 2022 was the breakup of Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, the longtime comedy duo who turned their hit podcast “Bodega Boys” into a comedy empire that culminated in the late night talk show “Desus & Mero,” which ran for four seasons on Showtime. Last month, the stars abruptly revealed that they would not only be ending their Showtime series, but also their creative partnership as a whole.

At the time, a Showtime spokesperson told IndieWire, “Showtime’s late-night talk show ‘Desus & Mero’ will not be returning for a fifth season. Its final episode aired Thursday, June 23. Desus Nice and The Kid Mero will be pursuing separate creative endeavors moving forward.”

Since then, fan speculation has run rampant about whether the breakup was the result of a feud between the two comedians. But that’s not the way Desus and Mero see it. In a new appearance on Sirius XM’s “Basic!” podcast (via Variety), The Kid Mero claimed that the separation was amicable and planned well in advance.

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“Desus and I had discussed pursuing separate interests over a year prior to the show coming to an end and that conversation solidified us in signing overall agreements that recognized our intent to operate independent of one another,” Mero said. “As far back as June of last year we were both pitching or looking to join existing projects as individuals.”

He added that there won’t be animosity between the two as they pursue separate opportunities in the future.

“The intent was to go our separate ways in a way that is supportive of each other,” he said. “It’s not like I’m breaking up with my girlfriend on the phone. It was a strategy and one that we all agreed on.”

More than anything, Mero says, the breakup came from a place of wanting to end on a high note, rather than let the partnership fizzle out over time.

“At the end of the day, things wind up and wind down and when things are winding down you got to recognize that they are winding down,” he said. “And not supermax Patrick Ewing when he has two [knee pads] and his career is coming to a close.”

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"The intent was to go our separate

Docs

Dear Documentary Community,

Just over a year ago, I began my tenure as IDA’s first Latinx executive director. I accepted the position hoping to address the systemic inequities and biases that undermine the documentary industry. But this endeavor was interrupted by numerous staff resignations, causing turmoil and confusion in the larger community. 

I humbly admit that during this period, the board and I struggled to effectively communicate to the community what was happening. This was due to the legal constraints involving confidential personnel matters. I also regret that I did not effectively manage declining staff morale while working to rebuild the senior leadership team, deliver programmatic commitments, and address the concerns of our members and the community. Today, however, IDA is on the path to addressing staff concerns and uniting our constituents. 

Some of the actions IDA has taken include hiring a human resources consultant to develop and implement best employment practices. We are now well on our way to ensuring our organization adopts policies appropriate for a nonprofit of our size. 

When 11 IDA staff members voted to form a union last March, the board and I voluntarily recognized their efforts. We embrace the unionizing process and have hired labor attorney and workers’ rights advocate Kathy Krieger to represent IDA in the bargaining process. We look forward to negotiating in good faith so that IDA can continue meeting its mission with a staff that feels supported to do so.

Our new leadership team is the most diverse and inclusive in the organization’s history. Abby Sun, Director of Artist Programs, a former programmer at True/False Film Festival, is leading the programming for Getting Real ‘22. Keisha Knight, Director of IDA Funds, co-founded Sentient.Art.Film, an organization dedicated to expanding distribution opportunities for filmmakers. Director of Development Brian J. Davis honed his fundraising skills at nonprofits that serve LGBTQ youth. Zaferhan Yumru, Director of Marketing, Communications, and Design, joins us from the New Orleans Film Society, where he helped significantly grow their audience. Louise Rosen, IDA’s Interim Managing Director has been working in independent media and the arts for over 30 years, starting her career in international film and television as Director of Sales and Co-productions at Boston PBS station WGBH, later launching her own distribution company and sales agency.

Abby Sun, Keisha Knight, Brian Davis, Zaferhan Yumru, and Louise Rosen.

 IDA also elected new board officers and three new board members deeply committed to supporting the vital work of documentary storytellers. Led by Chris Pérez, Grace Lee, Amir Shahkhalili and Marcia Smith, the board is enacting a set of best practices under the guidance of nonprofit board consultant Tim Kittleson, whose clients have included the Academy of Motion Picture Arts Sciences and currently serves on the Outfest board as co-chair of the Governance Committee.

Throughout this period of transition, we delivered on our programmatic commitments. We concluded the open call for the Enterprise Fund, and launched The Sarowitz Project Completion Fund. We renewed our grant with the New York Community Trust, which supports the IDA Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund, and pivoted to a virtual edition of the IDA Documentary Awards when the Omicron variant prevented an in-person event. We celebrated a special set of honorees at an intimate luncheon at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival; and opened submissions for the 38th IDA Documentary Awards. 

In September the community will come together for Getting Real 2022. Our highly anticipated conference is a chance to address issues related to the present and future of the documentary field. This year’s theme, Flipping the Frame: Community, Imagination, Reverberation, encompasses the work that lies ahead of us.

We live in tumultuous times: war, mass shootings, an evolving global pandemic, a surge of hate crimes against multiple communities, and the dismantling of abortion rights in the US. We must not be seduced by misinformation, or impulses to sustain divisions. My goal for IDA and my leadership is to strive for reconciliation and restorative engagement.

In solidarity,


Rick Pérez
IDA Executive Director

 

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Dear Documentary Community, Just

Global

By
Jaclyn Kucey


Global News

Posted August 8, 2022 12:11 am

Updated August 8, 2022 12:15 am

The Lethbridge Junior Bulls were upset in the Canadian Junior Little League Championship gold medal game against team British Columbia on Sunday.

While both teams came into the game with a 5-1 record, B.C. quickly went up 3-0 after three innings.

The Bulls tried to recover, but the B.C. Battalion fought hard to keep the host team at bay.

The final score was 6-2.

READ MORE: BC Summer Games kick off

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Ron Laquaglia, head coach for Team B.C., said that with their baseball program only being five years old, this huge victory will garner worldwide attention.

“You honestly don’t ever think that this is going to happen,” said Laquaglia. “We have no home field; we play every game on the road and keep going and persevere.

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“This group of kids, I can’t say enough about their effort, their determination, their joy of the game.”

Neo Foster, the pitcher for the Battalion, said this year was especially tough with no home field and the difficulty finding places to practice, but the championship victory is “really amazing. This is something we’ve been working towards for a long time.”

Team B.C. will represent Canada on August 14th against the Latin America Regional Team.

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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By Jaclyn Kucey Global News Posted August 8, 2022 12:11

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John Oliver addressed the increasing numbers of monkeypox cases in the U.S. on Sunday night’s episode of HBO Max’s Last Week Tonight. The comedian expressed his frustration that “despite the fact we’re still in the middle of the COVID pandemic, we seem to be replicating some of its key mistakes.”

Oliver listed that some of the factors that don’t contribute to getting a hold of the monkeypox outbreak include “persecuting strangers, spreading misinformation, and badly mismanaging the public health response.”

The talk show host explained that monkeypox is a “pox virus” and “part of the same family as smallpox” but not as transmissible or as fatal. It was in 1958 that monkeypox was first discovered in captivated monkeys in Denmark that “like got them from rodents.” Oliver then shared an ABC News report from 2003 talking about a monkeypox outbreak that was linked to pet prairie dogs in the midwest.

California declared a State of Emergency on August 1st after recording close to 800 cases and the U.S. followed suit declaring a Health Emergency after cases topped 7,000 across the nation.

Oliver detailed that a majority of cases recorded as of now are “among gay and bisexual men and their sexual networks. The virus spreads through sustained skin-to-skin contact and it is currently believed to be spreading most commonly during sex, though in rare cases it can be spread through respiratory droplets.”

Despite knowing about the virus and having some tools to control a widespread outbreak, Oliver called out the fumbled containment of the virus.

“As of early June, we were only conducting 10 tests per day in total across the country — increasing to just 60 by the end of the month,” Oliver said.

Although testing has ramped up, the only FDA-authorized test detects the virus by swabbing lesions but a person would have to wait until they appear to run the test, which is not conventional as they could have other symptoms beforehand. Oliver noted that until testing gets better, there won’t be a good indicator as to how widespread the virus is.

“Every part of our early response to this made it harder than it needed to be,” he added. “I will say, there have been some improvements recently. We’ve seen some progress on testing, more vaccines are finally coming with large numbers set to start arriving in October.”

However, Oliver then questioned if the delays in fixing the problems had anything to do with “who’s been getting hit the hardest.”

“You have to believe that if monkeypox was spreading largely through heterosexual sex things would be drastically different,” Oliver said. “It is not homophobic to acknowledge who is currently most affected, which is gay and bisexual men, sex workers, and people who participate in sex with multiple partners. What is homophobic is when you blame or shame the people who are suffering or when you decide you don’t need to care about this because you don’t see their lives as valuable or their suffering as consequential and that is where there are strong echoes of  the AIDS crisis in some of the discussion around monkeypox.”

Oliver suggests information around protecting yourself from monkeypox be framed in a more “sex positive” light as it would be more likely to be well-received.

“The next 6 to 8 weeks are going to be crucial so we need to be ramping up testing and data collection and getting vaccines and anti-virals to those who need them the most,” Oliver suggested for the short term. “We also need to make quarantining be more logistically possible for people because monkeypox can require up to 4 weeks of isolation and for many, that is going to be difficult to manage without extra support.”

In the long term, Oliver suggested, “We badly need to restructure our public health system so it is better able to respond to a viral outbreak.”

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John Oliver addressed the increasing numbers of

Tech

Warner Bros. Discovery executives outlined the company’s plans in streaming Thursday, revealing that the new global service will launch in the U.S. in summer 2023, with other markets to follow.

CEO David Zaslav also said that, after its new service gains a foothold, the company also plans to launch a free, ad-supported streaming service with some of its content, part of a “diversified approach” to streaming.

“Our streaming strategy has evolved over the last year, and reflects the importance of, rather than the dependence on [streaming],” Zaslav said on the company’s earnings call, adding that the company will roll out its free or “FAST” service, “once our SVOD service is firmly established in the market.”

The streaming service is targeting profitability in the U.S. by 2024, and 130 million subscribers by 2025, up from 92 million as of today.

For now, however, streaming is still a money-loser, with the company reporting a $1.5 billion loss in the quarter for its streaming division.

Wall Street and the entertainment world writ large have been wondering about the company’s plans, given that it owns and operates 2 major streaming services, HBO Max, and Discovery+. The company had been telegraphing for some time that it planned to ultimately go to market with one major streaming service.

JB Perrette, who leads the company’s streaming business, dove into more detail on the plans.

For starters, there will be one service, under one brand, name still to be determined. The U.S. launch will be summer 2023, with Latin America to follow later that year, and Europe and other markets following in 2024.

The service will feature the full “unique and complementary” content libraries of both services, but will use the tech stack of Discovery+, which Perrette said received more positive feedback from users than HBO Max’s interface.

He added that the combined service will launch with a “big, noisy” marketing campaign meant to highlight the enormous library of content.

As for the free service, Perrette noted that the company currently licenses much of its content to free AVOD services, but will reevaluate those deals.

“There is much work to be done over coming months,” Perrette said. “We are determined to get it right, which will take a bit of time.”

Earlier on Thursday, WBD revealed that programming from Magnolia Network would join HBO Max, while some CNN original programming would join Discovery+. That announcement teed up the fact that no merger between the services was imminent.

Perrette said that other content may shift between services ahead of the launch of the combined service.

Ultimately, the combined content will be the differentiated content.

“In an already crowded market, consumers know these brands, and they trust them to deliver quality,” Perrette said, adding that “looking ahead, we will continue to have healthy content investment,” albeit at a “more measured pace” than prior plans.

To that end, Zaslav said that the team “could not find” an economic model that supports expensive direct-to-consumer movies like Batgirl, which the company killed after principal photography was completed.

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Warner Bros. Discovery executives outlined the company’s

Video

Britney Spears called out her ex-husband Kevin Federline for sharing details about her relationship with their teenage sons, calling his comments “hurtful.”

“It saddens me to hear that my ex-husband has decided to discuss the relationship between me and my children,” the “Baby One More Time” singer posted on her Instagram story Saturday. “As we all know, raising teenage boys is never easy for anyone.”

Spears’ statement comes just hours after Daily Mail released an exclusive interview with Federline, in which he broke his decade-long silence about Spears’ life and revealed that their sons, Preston (16) and Jayden (15), have chosen to avoid contact with their mom.

Federline also told Daily Mail that Preston and Jayden chose not to attend to Spears’ June wedding to “Slumber Party” music video co-star and long-time love Sam Asghari. Federline added that Spears’ nude selfies have not been easy on his sons, saying, “I can’t imagine how it feels to be a teenager having to go to high school.”

“It concerns me the reason is based on my Instagram,” Spears responded. “It was LONG before Instagram.” The “Toxic” singer then called the comments “hurtful” and expressed that she gave her sons everything.

“I’ll say it… My mother told me ‘you should GIVE them to their dad’ … I’m sharing this because I can … Have a good day folks!!!” she concluded.

The pop star continued her response through an Instagram post on Saturday, saying, “Reminder that the trauma and insults that come with fame and this business not only affect me but my children as well!!!!!” 

In the same post, Spears also expressed that she has been “enlightened” by her experience living without a conservatorship, in which she was “controlled and monitored for nearly 15 years,” and noted that she “should embark on doing WAAAY more than going topless on the beach.”

“I needed permission just to take Tylenol,” the 40-year-old star said of her 13-year conservatorship battle with her father Jamie – which was finally lifted last November.

Britney Spears to Write Tell-All Book in Deal Worth Up to $15 Million

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Britney Spears called out her ex-husband Kevin