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Why this Stranger Things dad is the absolute worst, and 14 other potentially controversial takes.


Photo-illustration: Brooke Greenberg/BuzzFeed; Skip Bolen/Peacock / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images; HBO, Everett Collection: Chris Haston / NBC, Colin Hutton /Apple TV+,  Kelsey McNeal / ABC

Father’s Day, the holiday that caps several weeks of screaming “what the hell should I buy my dad?” into the void, is nearly here. And this has me thinking about some of the most important father figures in my own life: the dads from the TV shows I’ve had on rotation this year. No offense to my actual father, who does dutifully text me every single day (about the Wordle), but as a streaming writer and avid TV watcher, there’s no denying that Jim Hopper and I are just spending more time together these days! 

So what makes an amazing (or awful) TV dad? You could certainly judge them on their onscreen actions, or on vibes alone. You could discount both entirely and grade strictly on the curve of hotness, or you could look at the bigger picture and evaluate them on more than just the sum of their frequently subpar parts, like I’ve decided to do here. So, in honor of Father’s Day, here’s my ranking of the best (and worst) TV dads in my life at the moment. 

15.

Cal Jacobs (Eric Dane) — Euphoria


HBO Max

Grade: F

Do I even need to explain my reasoning here? In the words of Marsha Jacobs, “Put your penis away.”

Watch Euphoria on HBO Max. 

14.

Ted Wheeler (Joe Chrest) — Stranger Things


Netflix

Grade: D+

Ted Wheeler, AKA the dad from Stranger Things who just straight up sucks, has become an actual character for the first time in Season 4, and turns out, when given more than one line per episode (which is a generous guesstimate) he sucks even more.

*Sort of spoiler alert for Stranger Things Season 4*

Beyond questioning the presence of the best Stranger Things kid (yes, Dustin IS the best one, I will not be taking questions at this time) in “his” house and then suggesting that it’s plausible for Mike and his friends to be sacrificing innocent teens in Hawkins, Ted Wheeler is emotionally absent trash. Poor Karen… I mean, on the one hand it’s good she didn’t wind up leaving Ted for Billy, on the other… At least Nancy, Mike, and the seemingly unnamed third Wheeler sibling seem thoroughly unphased by their dad’s unabashed lack of effort. 

Watch Stranger Things on Netflix. 

13.

Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) — Friends


Warner Bros / Courtesy Everett Collection

Grade: C

Some of these fathers appear repeatedly on round-ups of great (or terrible) TV dads across many a publication, and how could they not? A lot of the dads on this list are such Dads™, it’s nearly impossible NOT to think of them when you think of memorable men with children on TV. Such is not the case with Ross Geller. When you think of Ross Geller’s most notable moments across 10 seasons of Friends, where are his children? When he’s making a pro and con list for the so-called love of his life? When he’s lying to her about sleeping with someone directly following that incident? When he’s dating that student that’s 12 years younger than him? With Ben, Ross had a slight bit of slack because he’s one of three co-parents, but with Emma, it’s just him and Rachel and yet it still seems like Rachel’s doing pretty much all the parenting. And when Rachel’s considering moving to Paris with Emma, is Ross’ main concern being an ocean away from his daughter? Nope, it’s losing Rachel. Not to be controversial here but… Ted Lasso vibes. Plus, remember how weird he got about Ben playing with a Barbie Doll? And how against Emma’s male nanny he was? Ick. 

Watch Friends on HBO Max. 

12.

Doug Gardner (Michael Rapaport) — Atypical


Beth Dubber / Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection

Grade: C+

When I started writing this I had Doug Gardner ranked a LOT higher, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized he kind of sucks. And not in the typical TV absentee dad way (although he did literally abandon his family for a year to “process” his son’s autism diagnosis). A lot of Doug’s parenting choices are truly terrible ones and yet he always has the audacity to criticize his co-parent (who, admittedly, is also flawed), over the littlest misstep. Also anyone who is anti-Casey and Izzie is a personal enemy of mine. He gets points for making some effort when he does finally come around, and a few more points for eventually trekking all the way to Antarctica with Sam but, man, has he fallen from grace since I started thinking about his character’s journey… What a sad revelation.

Watch Atypical on Netflix.

11.

Abe Weissman (Tony Shalhoub) — The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel


Amazon Studios

Grade: B-

I wouldn’t consider Abe Weissman to be one of the best dads on TV, but I would consider him to be one of my favorite fathers of all time (my own father actually agrees with this assessment). Between his overall neurotic personality and his unbridled and frequently unjustified rage, Abe is an absolute wild card in both of his children’s lives. Still, he has his moments, like when he yells at Joel for, well, everything. Or when he offers his very small paycheck to Midge to help support her after she takes him and Rose in (after Abe quit his tenured teaching job on a whim and blew up everyone’s lives, I might add). He’s a grumpy and reluctant grandfather, still harbors plenty of sexist views despite letting all the women in his life take total care of him and can’t remember the name of Midge’s one friend (typical). And yet, I can’t help but adore the strange little man anyway. 

Watch Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Prime Video. 

10.

Craig Robinson (Craig Robinson) — Killing it


Peacock

Grade: B

I’m operating on limited information regarding Craig Robinson’s relationship with his daughter, Nessa. Sure, our first impression of Craig involved him suggesting Nessa go handle the large lizard that fell onto the hood of his car because he’s “not good with reptiles,” but he’s only had one season so far, so there’s definitely time for Craig to grow. Plus, even when he’s living part-time in his car while he rents out his apartment for some extra money (only on the nights Nessa isn’t there, I might add), he’s still on time(ish) to take Nessa to school. Unfortunately, Craig’s a bit too busy hunting python’s to give us any significant signs of fatherly excellence, but he is sort of doing all the entrepreneurial stuff to take care of Nessa, in a way… 

Watch Killing It on Peacock. 

9.

Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy) — Schitt’s Creek


CBC / POP / Courtesy Everett Collection

Grade: B+

For all his faults, there’s no denying the love I have for Johnny Rose (of Rose Video). Whatever mistakes he made prior to the pilot of Schitt’s Creek (of which there were most certainly many) frankly feel like none of my business. Sure he hardly knew his kids while they grew up, but that’s what living next door to them in a motel is for! And boy, does he really make the most of those formative-ish years. Plus — although it really should be the bare minimum at this point — Johnny’s acceptance of David and Patrick’s relationship really warms my heart. My favorite Great Dad™ moment of Johnny’s, though, isn’t actually between him and either of his biological children, but when he’s consoling a heartbroken and embarrassed Stevie after the ultra-cheap motel awards ceremony. At the core of all his missteps (financial and otherwise), Johnny just wants to take care of the people he loves.

Watch Schitt’s Creek on Netflix. 

8.

Bob Belcher (H. Jon Benjamin) — Bob’s Burgers


Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection

Grade: B+

I don’t often make it a habit of developing crushes on cartoon characters (and don’t say Peter Pan, or Simba from the Lion King, or Scar from the Lion King, or Scar’s son Kovu from The Lion King) but Bob Belcher just makes my heart flip like one of those probably mediocre burgers he spends all day cooking. Maybe that makes me biased toward the quality of his fatherhood, but I think where other animated dads always seem to fall short, Bob really comes through. Yeah, a lot of the time spent with his kids is spent totally bewildered by their wild stories and oddball interests, but at least he’s there to be bewildered, and never once deterred by their antics. I haven’t yet seen The Bob’s Burgers Movie, but I’m positive that Big Screen Bob is just as solid of a dad (and man). 

Watch Bob’s Burgers on Hulu, and see The Bob’s Burgers Movie in theaters. 

7.

Andre Johnson (Anthony Anderson) — Black-ish


ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection

Grade: B+

Andre Johnson has an alpha-male exterior that I would usually see as a bright red flag, but underneath, the father of five always shows up for his family, even if he is spouting some “man-of-the house” BS as he does it. On a good day, he can deliver an excellent heart-to-heart, and on a not-so-good day, a very, very bad take (or two). But whether his good intentions behind even the most unfortunate choices are simply shining through, or there’s yet another crush at play here on my part, I think Zoey, Jr., the twins and Devante are lucky kids (even luckier to have Bow as their mom, though…).

Watch Black-ish on Hulu or Disney+. 

6.

Burt Hummel (Mike O’Malley) — Glee


Fox

Grade: A-

Burt Hummel is the poster boy for excellent character development on a show that enjoyed dragging each and every one of its once-exceptional characters through the mud. From the steady evolution of his feelings about Kurt’s sexuality to the glow-up of both his personal and professional life, Burt is an underrated icon. Even when he struggles to be the father Kurt needs, Burt always stands up for, protects, and advocates for Kurt. And when Finn comes into the picture, he makes sure to be there for him too, while still being conscious of Kurt’s complicated feelings surrounding the whole situation. Say what you want about the basic and at times gruff midwestern man, but you CAN’T say he isn’t trying — especially after that Single Ladies dance number he gifts Kurt at graduation. 

Watch Glee on Hulu or Disney+.

5.

Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) — Ted Lasso


Apple TV+ / Courtesy Everett Collection

Grade: A-

Although Ted’s technically above-average grade is attributed to his fatherhood, I’m judging his abilities based mainly on his coaching skills, because in a very out-of-character move, he’s relocated an ocean away from his actual son. That being said, for the players (and player-adjacent people) he’s decided to pass down all his dad jokes and motivational speeches to, Ted is a pretty great father figure, right down to the fantastic mustache. He looks the part, he sounds the part, he bakes the biscuits for the part, sometimes he drinks a little too much for the part: he’s the quintessential Great TV Dad™. 

Watch Ted Lasso on Apple TV+.

4.

Jim Hopper (David Harbour) — Stranger Things


Netflix / Everett Collection

Grade: A-

I don’t know that I have the emotional stability to even get into Jim Hopper’s relationship with his first daughter, Sara. But judging by the way he speaks about her (or often, can’t bring himself to speak about her), Hopper was the best dad he could have possibly been to Sara during her tragically short life. And then came Eleven, who, pardon the cliche typically reserved for rescue animals, definitely saved Hopper as much as Hopper saved her. Foul-mouthed, stubborn and unhinged as he can be (see: his multiple confrontations with Mike), Hopper would (and nearly does, on several occasions) die for Eleven, and probably any of her friends as well (Jury is still out on Mike). He’s not the perfect sitcom dad we wanted, but he’s the rough-around-the-edges sci-fi dad we needed, and if we don’t get an El and Hopper reunion in Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 2, the Duffer Brothers will be receiving a very strongly worded letter from me. 

Watch Stranger Things on Netflix. 

3.

Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell) — Modern Family


ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection

Grade: A

Beyond being an undeniable snack, Phil Dunphy is a fantastic TV father for several key reasons: 

1) It’s obvious he takes his job as a dad SERIOUSLY, far more serious than his silly little real estate gig. 

2) He’s just barely mature enough to pull off being a dad, to the point where often Claire is left taking care of him as he attempts to take care of everyone else. IRL this would be a red flag, but on a sitcom? Be still my heart! How adorable that this messy, foolish man who can barely take care of himself is trying so hard (and succeeding!) to take care of everyone else. 

3) Phil’s-osophies… Phil Dunphy elevates the concept of fatherly wisdom to a whole new, incredibly absurd level by literally writing down his best revelations in a book. And you gotta love him for it. 

In summary: Haley, Alex and Luke are lucky to have him as their dad (and Claire is a very lucky woman).

Watch Modern Family on Peacock or Hulu. 

2.

Luke Danes (Scott Patterson) — Gilmore Girls


Warner Bros.

Grade: A+

Has there ever been a TV dad better than Luke Danes? Luke, who doesn’t even know he’s a dad but is already helping to take care of Rory, stepping in as a stabilizing force for Jess and, let’s face it, serving as Kirk’s father figure? And that’s all pre the Season 6 introduction of April Nardini — about whom my feelings have been made quite clear — but setting aside my irritation at Luke’s surprise daughter, April did allow us to see just how deeply Luke cares about being a good dad under his gruff exterior and all that flannel. Especially in comparison to the other father figures of Gilmore Girls, Luke Danes is a treasure. 

Watch Gilmore Girls on Netflix.

1.

Garry (AKA Jerry, Larry, or Terry) Gergich, (Jim O’Heir) — Parks and Recreation


NBC / Courtesy Everett Collection

Grade: A+

Though his stellar dad reputation is most definitely tainted by his rampant accidents (both bathroom-related and otherwise), Garry Gergich was an excellent (and maybe even cool?) father. Garry, who drops the ice cream scoop straight off his cone pretty much half the time and has accepted he will almost always be the butt of the joke, can flawlessly flip dishes while dishing out fatherly wisdom when he’s in the presence of his three daughters. The stark contrast between his societal identity and his familial one certainly has me wondering: Does the father make the family, or vice versa? Whether he’s seriously stepping up to the dad plate at home, or so distraught away from his girls that he’s rendered a buffoon, no one, not even Tom, can deny Garry Gergich’s greatness.  

Watch Parks and Recreation Seasons 1-2 free on Peacock. 

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Why this Stranger Things dad is the

Film

This story about Nick Mohammed and “Ted Lasso” first appeared in the Comedy & Drama Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

Sometimes, Nick Mohammed refers to his character’s Season 2 arc on “Ted Lasso” with a professional wrestling term, calling it “a heel turn.” Other times, he uses a “Star Wars” reference and calls it “The Empire Strikes Back,” the boldest and darkest film in which evil prevails. But however you want to label it, it’s hard to imagine a bigger and more shocking shift than the one that Mohammed’s character, AFC Richmond football coach Nathan “Nate the Great” Shelley, undergoes.

In Season 1, Nate was the underdog everybody loved, the bullied equipment manager who rises to become an astute strategist with the help of Jason Sudeikis’ title character. But in Season 2, Nate becomes successful, insufferable and burning with anger at the man and team who helped him; by the end of the season, he’s raged at Ted, torn the coach’s famous locker-room “BELIEVE” sign in half and accepted a job with the team’s biggest rival, West Ham.

“As an actor, you relish doing something a little bit different,” said Mohammed, one of seven “Ted Lasso” actors nominated for Emmys last year. (Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein and Hannah Waddingham won.) “If I had a comfort area, it would certainly be doing the slightly bumbling, awkward kind of comedy — I know where I am and I can play within that area. So I certainly knew that the Season 2 version of Nate was going to be a lot more challenging. There were far fewer jokes in it for him, you know?

“And the other thing is that in my experience, if you’re a supporting character, you don’t usually get the opportunity to go on those journeys. The lead characters get to develop and change, but the supporting ones are often just a constant foil for them. So this was very fun.”

Mohammed knew the move was coming since early in the first season, when the writers let him in on Nate’s journey. And he figured that the fans Nate gained in Season 1 might well turn to haters in Season 2.

“I was aware that it was quite a dramatic heel turn,” he said. “That Season 1 journey for Nate was something that everyone could latch onto, in a way. It was a very good example of what the show does: Ted comes along, interacts with someone, empowers them in a really positive way and is a force of good. It feels really fulfilling: The underdog does good and wins at the end.

“But the fall from grace that typifies Nate in Season 2, that’s a big fall. There was a strong outpouring of hate on social media, but thankfully it was all directed toward the character. And it should be. When I read the scripts, I thought, it’s right that we feel upset and annoyed and frustrated and betrayed by what Nate’s done.” 

Still, Mohammed said he found himself understanding where Nate’s behavior, as despicable as it may be at times, comes from. “I guess I play Nate from a place where’s he’s got so many insecurities that stem from the toxic relationship with his father,” he said. “Hs behavior comes from a deeply troubled, insecure, abandoned place.

“There’s a sadness to Nate — and even when he’s being nasty, I try to think about how vulnerable he is. I don’t condone any of his behavior, at all, but I can see where it comes from.”

‘Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Stars Rachel Brosnahan and Michael Zegen Open Up About ‘Unapologetic and Unhinged’ Season 4

Mohammed lives in the Richmond area of London, home to the AFC Richmond team that Ted coaches in the series. (He was there long before the show came along, he hastened to point out.) And that means he and his wife and kids often frequent some of the same places as the characters in “Ted Lasso” — places where Nate would once have been welcome, but now not so much.

“There was a time when some of the other cast members were a bit concerned for my welfare,” he said with a laugh. “West Ham sent me a shirt after Season 2 with ‘MOHAMMED’ on the back. And I messaged them and said, ‘I don’t know if I can wear this out just yet. I might get attacked.’”

Read more from the Comedy & Drama Series issue here. 

Photo by Jill Greenberg for TheWrap

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This story about Nick Mohammed and “Ted

TV

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks
Photo: Chris Hyde (Getty Images)

Although it won him an Oscar, Tom Hanks is reflecting on his starring role in 1993’s Philadelphia, and why he’s not sure it would really work today. Hanks discussed the role as part of his press tour promoting Baz Luhrmann’s new Elvis film; in the film Hanks plays Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker.

In Philadelphia, Hanks, a straight actor, plays a gay man who takes a stand after facing workplace discrimination due to his HIV status. In a recent interview, Hanks tells the New York Times that he doesn’t think audiences would accept the same casting today, and “rightly so.”

“The whole point of Philadelphia was don’t be afraid. One of the reasons people weren’t afraid of that movie is that I was playing a gay man. We’re beyond that now, and I don’t think people would accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy,” Hanks explains. “It’s not a crime, it’s not boohoo, that someone would say we are going to demand more of a movie in the modern realm of authenticity. Do I sound like I’m preaching? I don’t mean to.”

The debate about straight actors playing queer characters has gained a new kind of traction lately, especially with films like Billy Eichner’s upcoming Bros casting only LGBTQ+ actors, and Joel Kim Booster’s Fire Island paying homage to an iconic queer tradition with an authentically diverse cast. Queer actors and directors are finally being able to tell their own stories.

Actor Eddie Redmayne, who played trans woman Lili Elbe in 2015’s The Danish Girl, has, like Hanks, called his decision to star in the film as a straight man “a mistake.” Redmayne told the Sunday Times last year that, although the casting was made “with the best intentions,” ultimately he got the role “because many people don’t have a chair at the table,” a situation Redmayne said must be remedied or “we are going to carry on having these debates.”

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Tom Hanks Photo: Chris Hyde (Getty Images)Although

What to Watch

 

Great news! “Kabuki Akadousuzunosuke” is available to watch on Netflix UK!

 

Date Added: 16th June 2022

Known expiry dates are shown above as well as on the Last Chance page.

Want to keep forever? Try looking for ‘Kabuki Akadousuzunosuke’ on Amazon (paid link)

 

Description:

The final installment of kabuki actor Matsuya Onoe’s “Idomu” series features Toma Ikuta in his first kabuki role.

 

Certificate: Suitable for ages 12 and up

Year: 2021

Duration: 2hr 49m

Audio: Japanese [Original]

Subtitles: Arabic, English, French, Japanese, Polish, Ukrainian

 

Cast and Crew

Cast: Matsuya Onoe, Toma Ikuta, Kangyoku Nakamura, Kuniya Sawamura, Tsutanosuke Ichikawa, Kikuji Onoe, Tokumatsu Onoe, Takamatsu Onoe, Matsumushi Onoe

 

Average Rating Not yet rated

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Awards

Andrew Dominik writes and directs the NC-17 adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel based on the late Monroe’s life.

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but who can Marilyn Monroe turn to?

The haunting teaser trailer for Andrew Dominik’s highly-anticipated “Blonde,” starring Ana de Armas as an anguished Monroe, announced a September 23 release date on Netflix. Watch it below.

The NC-17 rated film is a fictionalized portrait of Monroe as adapted from Joyce Carol Oates’ novel of the same name. Per an official logline, “Blonde” paints a fictional portrait of the life of the famed model, actress, and singer, chronicling her journey from Norma Jeane Baker, abused daughter of a single mother, to the most sought-after celebrity in the world.

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” visionary Dominik writes and directs the film featuring an unrecognizable de Armas, Bobby Cannavale, Adrien Brody, Julianne Nicholson, Xavier Samuel, and Evan Williams. Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tracey Landon, and Scott Robertson all serve as producers.

Related

Related

Dominik promised that “Blonde” will most likely “offend” everyone, while making cinematic history along the lines of “Citizen Kane” and “Raging Bull” with a #MeToo twist.

In the teaser, De Armas as Monroe is seen being overwhelmed by paparazzi and shriveling in tears before going onstage. That is, until she bursts into maniacal laughter as though flipping a switch.

“The whole idea of ‘Blonde’ was to detail a childhood drama and then show the way in which that drama splits the adults into a public and private self,” writer-director Dominik previously told Collider. “And how the adult sees the world through the lens of that childhood drama, and it’s sort of a story of a person whose rational picture of the world as being overwhelmed by her unconscious, and it uses the iconography of Marilyn Monroe.”

Dominik added, “It’s a tragedy. It’s sort of like an unwanted child who becomes the most wanted woman in the world and has to deal with all of the desire that is directed at her, and how confusing that is. It’s kind of a nightmare. It’s about being in a car with no brakes. It’s just going faster and faster and faster.”

For all the details on “Blonde,” click here. Check out the teaser below.

“Blonde” premieres September 23 on Netflix.

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Andrew Dominik writes and directs the NC-17

Music

(from left) Daryl McCormack and Emma Thompson in the film Good Luck To You, Leo Grande.

(from left) Daryl McCormack and Emma Thompson in the film Good Luck To You, Leo Grande.
Photo: Searchlight Pictures

From the moment we meet Nancy Stokes, anxiously pacing around a tastefully anonymous hotel room, knocking back a minibar vodka and posing in the mirror to no great personal satisfaction, we can tell she’s a nervous wreck. And why shouldn’t she be? Nancy is a 55-year-old widow awaiting the arrival of a sex worker who’ll hopefully give her the first orgasm of her entire life. The male escort assigned to this monumental task is the “aesthetically perfect” young Leo (Daryl McCormack) and, as he’ll learn over the course of their four meetings, giving Nancy a chance to premiere her O-face means breaking down her well-established defenses.

If that sounds like the premise for a comedy or even a tragedy, it’s actually neither. Good Luck To You, Leo Grande is a tender and richly satisfying charmer whose themes of self-acceptance and body positivity are delivered with a light and carefully crafted touch. Emma Thompson is at her prickly, vulnerable, fiercely intelligent best as Nancy, a stand-in for every woman who’s suppressed her sexuality out of shame, feelings of inadequacy or a need to please others. Unfolding almost entirely in one room, the film is a two-character study of sexual awakening and a heartfelt, yearning dispatch from the farthest corner of the age divide. It’s a sexually frank and intimate story told in a pleasingly mainstream manner that avoids greeting card clichés and empty “girl power” posturing.

One of the surprises of Australian director Sophie Hyde’s first film since 2019’s hard-partying Animals is that as much as we want Nancy to experience the pleasure she’s long been denied, she’s not asking us to love her, just to root for her. This is a woman who faked every orgasm during her 31-year marriage to her recently deceased husband, so who can blame her for being snippy, churlish and terrified? When Leo first glides into the hotel room, gorgeous and poised with a soothing Irish accent and piercing eyes, Nancy’s knee-jerk reaction is to sabotage the encounter. She peppers him with questions about being an escort. “Do you enjoy it?” “Do you feel demeaned?” “Have you been doing this long?” Leo has faced this line of interrogation before, when the unstoppable force of his charm meets the immovable object of a client’s anxiety. Ever the smooth operator, he effortlessly deflects Nancy’s queries with eminently sensible replies like, “You haven’t bought me, you’ve bought my services.”

Such is the dynamic in the early goings of Katy Brand’s probing, often tart, script. Nancy is a real person and Leo is a fantasy and as long as everyone acts accordingly, things should be fine. But Nancy is too anxiety-ridden to just sink into the moment, so the retired schoolteacher finds more intellectual ways to connect with Leo, starting with his use of $10 words like “reductive” and “empirically.” Soon her well-honed talent for self-deprecation and her fear of disappointment soften and the games begin.

The challenge with any two-hander is that both characters must carry their narrative weight. In Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, this is where things get muddy. Our allegiance and curiosity lie primarily with Nancy not only because her story of frustration is, to some degree, one we can all relate to. It’s also because it’s rare for any film, especially one featuring a middle-aged woman, to be so unapologetic about the joy of exploring one’s sexuality. When Nancy breaks the erotic spell during their second meeting by asking about Leo’s mother, his mysterious past assumes the burden of maintaining our interest. Leo’s reasons for becoming an escort, though, don’t hold a scented candle to Nancy’s fight to escape her decades in the carnal wilderness. The film’s pro-sex worker stance, while cleverly suggesting that both parties are captive to their long-held secrets, feels less like a bold statement and more like a manufactured way to give Leo an arc of his own.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures

The wonderful Thompson plays Nancy as a bundle of wildly contradictory impulses that still feel like they’re being experienced by the same person. She’s dry and acerbic in a recognizably British way but the awkwardness and self-owning are less frivolous coming from someone so heartbreakingly inexperienced. McCormack’s assignment is to hold his own against an international treasure, and he’s up to the challenge, refusing to reduce Leo to a Ken doll delivery system of late-middle-age sexual fulfillment. The Peaky Blinders vet oozes a velvety and unironic sincerity when Leo is providing the full boyfriend experience.

When Nancy insists on digging into Leo’s past, his runway-ready face droops in anger. All this risk-taking and spilling of secrets requires space, and Hyde gives it to them by staying out of the way. And as Nancy and Leo’s encounters get more emotionally and physically revealing, Bryan Mason’s camera replies in kind, loosening up and drifting around to suggest Nancy’s growing sense of liberation.

At the beginning of Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Nancy is prone to protect herself with self-abasing jokes like, “There are nuns out there with more sexual experience than me.” By the end, whether Leo pulls off a miracle and sends Nancy to the carnal finish line is almost, but not entirely, beside the point. There’s beauty in merely being open to new forms of pleasure and in taking charge of your sexual needs. In Nancy’s case, satisfaction starts by looking in the mirror and unconditionally loving what you see.

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(from left) Daryl McCormack and Emma Thompson

Docs

NOW ON SHUDDER! This year marks a milestone in dedication, creativity, and perhaps a slight dash of creative insanity with the release of visual effects maestro Phil Tippett’s long-gestating stop-motion feature Mad God.

Tippett is revered within the industry, with a body of work dating all the way back to the original Star Wars as his holographic chess game taught us all to “let the Wookiee win.” Since then, his craft can be witnessed in groundbreaking films such as Robocop, Jurassic Park, and Starship Troopers. For the past three decades, he has been slowly, meticulously bringing to life a world of stop-motion Miltonian magic and horror. Finally, after all those years, Tippett’s labor of love has been unveiled.

With it, Tippett disproves his declaration of “I’ve just become extinct” at the onset of the CGI revolution by giving birth to his passion project that dates back to 1987. After initially being shelved for decades, it once again moved into production thanks in large part to a Kickstarter campaign. Funnily enough, light is hard to come by in the world of Mad God, which is a dark, dank world of chaos and twisted brilliance that makes Tool’s Sober music video seem like an episode of My Little Pony. It’s an anarchistic world where steampunk and flesh converge and never-ending levels of fresh hell await.

“…he descends into a world of nightmarish visions…”

Opening with a fiery passage from Leviticus, we are introduced to our protagonist, The Assassin, who resembles an old-school miner in a tin helmet and gas mask. He is essentially our guide as he descends into a world of nightmarish visions: faceless factory drones are spewed out of a machine only to be needlessly destroyed and replaced, toothy maggots that cry like a baby, and an endless supply of fresh, squishy grue.

There is dialogue, but it’s mostly infant gibberish piped through loudspeakers to all inhabitants, as Mad God is far more interested in world-building than narrative thrust. As the journey continues, we are introduced to live-action performers, such as The Last Man (played by mad-god director Alex Cox), which sidesteps from its miniatures in motion and feels slightly out of place, despite the addition of body horror these scenes contain.

When it returns to its full stop-motion world, it’s a Hieronymus Bosch painting come to life (which Tippett cited as an influence). Every frame provides us with enough nightmare fuel for years to come: roaches with human skulls, mutants created by excrement from giants in electric chairs, and countless combinations of flora/fauna flotsam with corroded metal jetsam. Influences from other fantasy and sci-fi titles are buried throughout, including an item bearing striking similarities to R2-D2, a 2001: A Space Odyssey monolith, and even some characters resembling Skeksis from The Dark Crystal. Speaking of Jim Henson, if you’ve ever been curious to see Henson anthropomorphize a s*****m, there is a hooded character that echos Hoggle, from Labyrinth, with boils.

Tippett himself said he did not intend Mad God to adhere to any strict narrative structure, so it’s best to merely soak in the sumptuous, detailed visuals and extract your own meaning from the journey. It’s a ferociously engaging, if slightly flawed, viewing experience. Be warned, though, that it should not be taken by those with delicate constitutions. It’s a singular vision that is a testament to commitment, craftsmanship, and skill that is a twisted tribute to a cinematic art form that proves it is still full of life.

Mad God screened at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival and the 2021 Fantastic Fest.

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Macron tells Ukraine it will have to negotiate with Putin to end the war days after angering Kyiv by suggesting Russia should ‘not be humiliated’

  • Emmanuel Macron said in Romania Ukraine ‘will have to negotiate’ with Russia
  • He said he will ‘do everything to stop Russia’ as he pushes for peace talks
  • Macron has been criticised for attempting to mediate and talk with Putin

By Jack Newman For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Emmanuel Macron has told Ukraine to negotiate with Vladimir Putin in order to bring about an end to the war.

The French president arrived in Romania yesterday for a three-day trip to Ukraine’s eastern neighbours including Moldova, before possibly heading to Kyiv on Thursday on a visit with leaders from Germany, Italy and Romania.

‘The Ukrainian President and his officials will have to negotiate with Russia,’ he said today.

Emmanuel Macron has told Ukraine to negotiate with Vladimir Putin in order to bring about an end to the war (pictured today in Romania)

The French leader has been criticised by Ukraine and eastern European allies for maintaining a dialogue with Putin

The French leader has been criticised by Ukraine and eastern European allies for maintaining a dialogue with Putin

The French leader has been criticised by Ukraine and eastern European allies for what they perceive as his ambiguous backing for Ukraine in the war against Russia.

But French officials have in recent days sought to strengthen the public messaging, while Macron appeared to take a tougher line with his troops.

‘We will do everything to stop Russia’s war forces, to help the Ukrainians and their army and continue to negotiate,’ he told French and NATO troops at a military base in Romania.

Last week, Macron caused outrage when he said Russia should be treated fairly in a negotiation process.

He said: ‘We must not humiliate Russia so that the day when the fighting stops we can build an exit ramp through diplomatic means. 

A Russian serviceman patrols on the promenade in Berdyansk, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine

A Russian serviceman patrols on the promenade in Berdyansk, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine

‘I am convinced that it is France’s role to be a mediating power.’

Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmitro Kuleba hit back, saying Macron’s position ‘can only humiliate France’.

Macron has sought to maintain a dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

His stance has been repeatedly criticised by some eastern and Baltic partners in Europe, as they see it as undermining efforts to push Putin to the negotiating table.

Macron has spoken with Putin regularly since the invasion as part of efforts to achieve a ceasefire and begin a credible negotiation between Kyiv and Moscow, although he has had no tangible success to show for it. 

His symbolic visit to Kyiv would come a day before the European Commission makes a recommendation on Ukraine’s status as an EU candidate.

The biggest European nations have been lukewarm about Ukraine’s membership and are set to discuss at a leaders’ summit on June 23-24.

Macron and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis meet with NATO forces during their visit at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base

Macron and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis meet with NATO forces during their visit at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base

‘We are at a point when we (Europeans) need to send clear political signals, us Europeans, towards Ukraine and its people when it is resisting heroically,’ Macron said, without giving details.

France leads a NATO battle group in Romania of about 800 troops, including 500 French troops alongside others from the Netherlands and Belgium. Paris has also deployed a surface-to air missile system.

Macron heads to Moldova later on Wednesday to support a country many fear could be drawn into the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine.

The focus may turn to Kyiv on Thursday, with diplomatic sources saying the European leaders may head to Ukraine’s capital.

Macron declined to comment on ‘logistical matters’, but said it was important to hold new talks with Ukraine on military, financial matters and issues related to exporting grains from the country.

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said support should include offering Ukraine candidate status in the European Union.

‘In my opinion, the candidate status must be granted as soon as possible, it is a correct solution from a moral, economic and security perspective,’ Iohannis said, adding that there were efforts to find a feasible solution to differences among European powers.

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Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson Celebrities at Craig's Restaurant, Los Angeles, USA - 13 Jan 2019


Los Angeles, CA - Tristan Thompson arrives in a limo to attend his daughter True's dance class in Los Angeles. Pictured: Tristan Thompson BACKGRID USA 3 JANUARY 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients - Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*


Calabasas, CA - *EXCLUSIVE* - Tristen Thompson was seen showing Khloe Kardashian some love as the co-parents arrived to watch their daughter True at dance class, as he placed his arm around her for a hug. While Khloe and Tristen are kind and affectionate to each other, they probably aren't back together. Tristen has met Khloe multiple times at True's dance class and they always drive separately. Tristen seems to want to chat with Khloe before she heads home to Calabasas, but the pair always cut things off after a few minutes with Tristen heading the opposite way. However difficult it may be to be co-parenting x's, Khloe and Tristen are doing a bang-up job at keeping it kind for True. It looks like Khloe has the upper hand in the relationship, as Tristen seems to be the one putting in all of the efforts. Pictured: Khloe Kardashian, Tristan Thompson, True Thompson BACKGRID USA 23 AUGUST 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: IXOLA / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients - Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*

Image Credit: BACKGRID

Khloe Kardashian sobbed uncontrollably during the season finale of The Kardashians after processing the fact that her partner, Tristan Thompson, had cheated on her again. Kim Kardashian broke the news about Tristan’s paternity lawsuit, where he admitted to having sexual intercourse with another woman, to Khloe over the phone. After getting over the shock of what happened, Khloe was in tears. After the scandal broke, Khloe needed to take a few days to herself.

“I found out what Tristan is doing with the rest of the world,” she admitted. “A courtesy would be not doing it. But fine — if you do — you’re not even going to give me a f***ing heads up before the rest of the world? It’s just an additional slap in my face. It’s humiliating. I’m embarrassed. I would prefer to be alone than around people.”

khloe kardashian tristan thompson
Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson out and about. (BACKGRID)

In December 2021, news broke that Tristan was requesting a paternity test via a lawsuit after a woman named Maralee Nichols said he fathered her child. In his lawsuit declaration, Tristan admitted to sleeping with Maralee on his 30th birthday in March 2021, which was just days after Khloe had thrown him a birthday party. Khloe had no idea about the infidelity until the lawsuit went public. It was eventually confirmed that Tristan is the father of Maralee’s child.

“I’m replaying every event, every grand gesture, every trip, every date. All of that was a lie,” Khloe said. “God, how were you able to not say something? I feel just not really in my own body. That these things are happening and I’m just going through the motions. But, I mean, when things happen to you a couple of times, you do kind of become immune to them, which is really sad.”

While dealing with the aftermath of the situation, Khloe got so anxious, she wound up dehydrated and even fainted. “I’m not sure there’s one thing that hurts more than the other in a situation like this,” she revealed. “Everything is an act of betrayal. Everything is a lie. Everything is manipulation. It’s deceit. Did Tristan have every opportunity to tell me? Yes. Was Tristan going to tell me if there wasn’t a baby involved? Absolutely not. And that shows a lot about his character. The entire thing is despicable.”

khloe kardsahian tristan thompson
Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson out with True. (IXOLA / BACKGRID)

In addition to having to deal with everything Tristan did, Khloe had to deal with thousands of people commenting on it on the Internet, which only made the situation worse. “I believe in second, third, fourth chances for everyone,” she explained. “I want someone to give me the same grace I’m giving them. I’m fine. Is it the most f***ed up thing that this has to happen every f***ing time in my life? Yes. Is it so f***ed up that society blames me or blames women? It’s disgusting and deplorable of these people to talk about other people like that. There’s no empathy. There’s no compassion. There’s just no sense of humanity.”

At the end of the day, though, Khloe knew it was time to be done with Tristan for good. “I’m just exhausted,” she said. “I’m exhausted of dealing with everything. So people might think my approach is crazy or weird and I’m definitely numb and all that, but I’ve done this so many times now. It’s humiliating. There’s no more tears left to cry. It’s time to walk away. I don’t feel guilty about that. I tried so hard.”

By the end of the episode, Khloe was packing up Tristan’s things in the new home that she bought for them to live in with their family. One thing that did not change after the scandal, though, is Tristan’s relationship with the pair’s daughter, True Thompson. “True FaceTimes him every night,” Khloe told Kim at one point. “I don’t speak. He talks to True. True will never know anything is wrong, in my book, ever. I’ve done this before. I know how to do it.”

Despite all she went through with Tristan, though, Khloe is still optimistic about the future.  “I will push through anything and everything like I have in the past,” she confirmed. “I’m not someone who sits in my sorrow and makes that the rest of my life. Without [my family], I don’t know how I would survive. It just makes you feel like you can do anything and no matter what you go through, you’re gonna be okay. One day I will have the fairytale I hope to have.”

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View gallery Image Credit: BACKGRID Khloe Kardashian sobbed uncontrollably

Tech

On Wednesday’s “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert was very, very happy to learn that the leader of the “violent fascists” known as The Proud Boys is mad at him, and had lots of fun mocking him. But just in case, Colbert also jokingly used MSNBC host Joe Scarborough as a virtual human shield. All in good fun of course.

So, Joseph Biggs, who has been identified as the leader of the right wing extremist group, has been indicted for his role in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol incited by Donald Trump. But his lawyers this week argued that the trial should be moved to another jurisdiction, citing unfavorable media coverage as well as the ongoing Jan. 6 commission hearings.

Biggs’ lawyer said in part that Biggs cannot get a fair trial in “media-obsessive Washington, D.C.” because of “the increased and unquestionable spectacular 24/7 negative press and media coverage about the fraternity known as the Proud Boys, from Morning Joe to Stephen Colbert‘s Late Show.”

After reading that quote during his monologue, Colbert took a minute to bask in cheering from the in-studio audience. Then, faking tears, he said “you know folks, I do a lot of jokes about the violent fascists. But, to hear that even one of them noticed? I… I feel so seen! You hate me, you really hate me.”

“They want to move the trial to some place where The Proud Boys have a better reputation,” Colbert continued. “Like 1930s Berlin.”

Then Colbert noted that Newsweek attempted, but failed to reach his reps for comment about the statement. So he provided one of his own: “While this is high profile case, in our justice system the accused is of course innocent until proven guilty. So I want everyone in the potential jury pool to hear me when I say, you are going to jail, you neo-numbnut.”

“And if you don’t like it,” Colbert continued, “you can come and get me. My name is Joe Scarborough, and I love coffee. Welcome to the monkey house, brother.”

You can watch the whole monologue above. The stuff we focused on for this post kicks in about 5 minutes in. It’s all worth watching if only for when Colbert calls Biggs “worst case scenario David Cross.”

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On Wednesday’s “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert

Entertaintment

PLEASE NOTE: This forecast, assembled by The Hollywood Reporter’s awards columnist Scott Feinberg, reflects his best attempt to predict the behavior of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, not his personal preferences. He arrives at these standings by drawing upon consultations with voters and strategists, analysis of marketing and campaigns, results of awards that precede the Emmys and the history of the Emmys itself. There will be regular updates to reflect new developments.

*BEST DRAMA SERIES*

Frontrunners
Succession (HBO)
Squid Game (Netflix)
This Is Us (NBC)
Better Call Saul (AMC)
Stranger Things (Netflix)
Ozark (Netflix)
Severance (Apple)
Yellowstone (Paramount)

Major Threats
Euphoria (HBO)
Yellowjackets (Showtime)
Winning Time (HBO)
Bridgerton (Netflix)
Loki (Disney+)

Possibilities
The Morning Show (Apple)
Pachinko (Apple)
Killing Eve (BBC America)
Tokyo Vice (HBO Max)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (Showtime)

*BEST COMEDY SERIES*

Frontrunners
Ted Lasso (Apple)
Hacks (HBO Max)
Barry (HBO)
Atlanta (FX)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

Major Threats
Russian Doll (Netflix)
The Great (Hulu)
Black-ish (ABC)
Reservation Dogs (FX)
The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)
The Afterparty (Apple)
Cobra Kai (Netflix)

Possibilities
Emily in Paris (Netflix)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Insecure (HBO)
Pen15 (Hulu)
Better Things (FX)
The Chair (Netflix)

*BEST LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES*

Frontrunners
The White Lotus (HBO)
The Dropout (Hulu)
Dopesick (Hulu)
The Staircase (HBO Max)
Maid (Netflix)

Major Threats
Inventing Anna (Netflix)
Under the Banner of Heaven (FX on Hulu)
1883 (Paramount+)
Pam and Tommy (Hulu)
WeCrashed (Apple)
Gaslit (Starz)
Station Eleven (HBO Max)
A Very British Scandal (Amazon)

Possibilities
Scenes from a Marriage (HBO)
We Own This City (HBO)
The Offer (Paramount+)
The Girl from Plainville (Hulu)
Candy (Hulu)
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (Apple)
Moon Knight (Disney+)
Impeachment: American Crime Story (FX)

*BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES*

Frontrunners
Jeremy Strong (Succession) — podcast
Brian Cox (Succession) — podcast
Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game) — podcast
Jason Bateman (Ozark) — podcast
Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) — podcast
Adam Scott (Severance)

Major Threats
Kevin Costner (Yellowstone)
Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) — podcast
John C. Reilly (Winning Time)
Quincy Isaiah (Winning Time)
Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us) — podcast
Justin Hartley (This Is Us)

Possibilities
Tom Hiddleston (Loki) — podcast
Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton)
Lee Min-Ho (Pachinko)
Gary Oldman (Slow Horses) — podcast
Josh Brolin (Outer Range)
Ansel Elgort (Tokyo Vice)

*BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES*

Frontrunners
Zendaya (Euphoria) — podcast
Mandy Moore (This Is Us) — podcast
Laura Linney (Ozark)
Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets)
Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets)
Kelly Reilly (Yellowstone)

Major Threats
Britt Lower (Severance)
Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) — podcast
Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) — podcast
Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show)
Reese Witherspoon (The Morning Show)
Elisabeth Moss (Shining Girls) — podcast
Christine Baranski (The Good Fight)

Possibilities
Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age)
Simone Ashley (Bridgerton)
Minha Kim (Pachinko)
Caitriona Balfe (Outlander) — podcast
Katja Herbers (Evil)
Kristin Scott Thomas (Slow Horses)
Nicole Kidman (Nine Perfect Strangers) — podcast

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES*

Frontrunners
Kieran Culkin (Succession)
Matthew Macfadyen (Succession)
Nicholas Braun (Succession)
Alan Ruck (Succession)
John Turturro (Severance) — podcast
Christopher Walken (Severance)
Oh Young-soo (Squid Game)
Park Hae-soo (Squid Game) — podcast

Major Threats
David Harbour (Stranger Things)
Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul)
Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul) — podcast
Chris Sullivan (This Is Us)
Adrien Brody (Winning Time)
Cole Hauser (Yellowstone)
Luke Grimes (Yellowstone)
Wes Bentley (Yellowstone)
Gil Birmingham (Yellowstone)

Possibilities
Eric Dane (Euphoria)
Jacob Elordi (Euphoria)
Billy Crudup (The Morning Show)
Mark Duplass (The Morning Show)
Steve Carell (The Morning Show) — podcast
Owen Wilson (Loki)
Ken Watanabe (Tokyo Vice)
Mandy Patinkin (The Good Fight)
Jonathan Pryce (Slow Horses) — podcast

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES*

Frontrunners
Sarah Snook (Succession)
Julia Garner (Ozark) — podcast
Jung Ho-yeon (Squid Game) — podcast
J. Cameron Smith (Succession)
Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets)
Patricia Arquette (Severance)
Sadie Sink (Stranger Things)
Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things)

Major Threats
Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul) — podcast
Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria)
Maude Apatow (Euphoria)
Hunter Schafer (Euphoria)
Chrissy Metz (This Is Us)
Susan Kelechi Watson (This Is Us)
Kim Joo-ryung (Squid Game)
Lisa Emery (Ozark)

Possibilities
Yuh-Jung Youn (Pachinko)
Kelsey Asbille (Yellowstone)
Julianna Margulies (The Morning Show)
Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton)
Winona Ryder (Stranger Things)
Sally Field (Winning Time) — podcast
Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve)
Audra McDonald (The Good Fight)

*BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES*

Frontrunners
Bill Hader (Barry)
Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso)
Donald Glover (Atlanta)
Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building)
Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building)

Major Threats
Anthony Anderson (Black-ish)
Nicholas Hoult (The Great)
Ricky Gervais (After Life) — podcast
Don Cheadle (Black Monday)
Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)

Possibilities
Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows)
Kayvan Novak (What We Do in the Shadows)
Sam Richardson (The Afterparty)
Jake Johnson (Minx)
Dave Burd (Dave)

*BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES*

Frontrunners
Jean Smart (Hacks)
Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) — podcast
Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant)
Issa Rae (Insecure)
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary)

Major Threats
Elle Fanning (The Great) — podcast
Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building) — podcast
Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll)
Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish) — podcast
Pamela Adlon (Better Things)
Sandra Oh (The Chair) — podcast
Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie) — podcast
Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie) — podcast

Possibilities
Sarah Lancashire (Julia)
Natasia Demetriou (What We Do in the Shadows)
Robin Thede (A Black Lady Sketch Show) — podcast
Tiffany Haddish (The Afterparty)
Rose Byrne (Physical)
Maya Erskine (Pen15)
Anna Konkle (Pen15)
Lily Collins (Emily in Paris) — podcast

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES*

Frontrunners
Henry Winkler (Barry) — podcast
Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso)
Tony Shalhoub (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) — podcast
Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live)
Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live) — podcast
Anthony Carrigan (Barry)
Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Carl Clemons-Hopkins (Hacks)

Major Threats
Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso)
Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso)
Phil Dunster (Ted Lasso)
Jeremy Swift (Ted Lasso)
Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta)
LaKeith Stanfield (Atlanta)
Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows)
Pete Davidson (Saturday Night Live)

Possibilities
David Hyde Pierce (Julia)
Stephen Root (Barry)
Ben Schwartz (The Afterparty)
Ike Barinholtz (The Afterparty)
Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll)
Taika Waititi (Our Flag Means Death)
Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
Jay Duplass (The Chair)

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES*

Frontrunners
Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso)
Juno Temple (Ted Lasso)
Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) — podcast
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks)
Sarah Goldberg (Barry)
Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)
Yvonne Orji (Insecure)
Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary)

Major Threats
Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live)
Aidy Bryant (Saturday Night Live) — podcast
Meg Stalter (Hacks)
Marin Hinkle (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Jane Lynch (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Zazie Beetz (Atlanta)
Rosie Perez (The Flight Attendant)

Possibilities
Amy Ryan (Only Murders in the Building)
Molly Shannon (The Other Two)
Janelle James (Abbott Elementary)
Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary)
Zoe Chao (The Afterparty)
Ilana Glazer (The Afterparty)
Holland Taylor (The Chair)

*BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR TV MOVIE*

Frontrunners
Michael Keaton (Dopesick) — podcast
Colin Firth (The Staircase)
Andrew Garfield (Under the Banner of Heaven) — podcast
Sebastian Stan (Pam and Tommy)
Jared Leto (WeCrashed) — podcast

Major Threats
Oscar Isaac (Scenes from a Marriage) — podcast
Sam Elliott (1883) — podcast
Sean Penn (Gaslit)
Ben Foster (The Survivor)
Samuel L. Jackson (The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey) — podcast

Possibilities
Paul Bettany (A Very British Scandal)
Jon Bernthal (We Own This City)
Miles Teller (The Offer) — podcast
Himesh Patel (Station Eleven)
Oscar Isaac (Moon Knight) — podcast

*BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR TV MOVIE*

Frontrunners
Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout) — podcast
Margaret Qualley (Maid) — podcast
Julia Garner (Inventing Anna) — podcast
Julia Roberts (Gaslit) — podcast
Lily James (Pam and Tommy) — podcast

Major Threats
Anne Hathaway (WeCrashed)
Jessica Chastain (Scenes from a Marriage) — podcast
Isabel May (1883) — podcast
Claire Foy (A Very British Scandal) — podcast
Elle Fanning (The Girl from Plainville) — podcast

Possibilities
Mackenzie Davis (Station Eleven)
Beanie Feldstein (Impeachment: American Crime Story)
Sarah Paulson (Impeachment: American Crime Story) — podcast
Jessica Biel (Candy) — podcast
Emmy Rossum (Angelyne)

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR TV MOVIE*

Frontrunners
Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus)
Peter Sarsgaard (Dopesick)
Michael Stuhlbarg (Dopesick)
Will Poulter (Dopesick)
Naveen Andrews (The Dropout)
Jake Lacy (The White Lotus)

Major Threats
Tim McGraw (1883)
Matthew Goode (The Offer)
Seth Rogen (Pam and Tommy) — podcast
Nick Robinson (Maid)
Wyatt Russell (Under the Banner of Heaven)
Michael Stuhlbarg (The Staircase)

Possibilities
Arian Moayed (Inventing Anna)
Anders Holm (Inventing Anna)
Dan Stevens (Gaslit)
Shea Whigham (Gaslit)
Colton Ryan (The Girl from Plainville)

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR TV MOVIE*

Frontrunners
Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus)
Andie MacDowell (Maid)
Kaitlyn Dever (Dopesick) — podcast
Toni Collette (The Staircase)
Connie Britton (The White Lotus)
Alexandra Daddario (The White Lotus)

Major Threats
Daisy Edgar-Jones (Under the Banner of Heaven)
Faith Hill (1883)
Betty Gilpin (Gaslit)
Anika Noni Rose (Maid)
Rosario Dawson (Dopesick)
Sydney Sweeney (The White Lotus)
Anna Chlumsky (Inventing Anna)
Dominique Fishback (The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey)

Possibilities
Laurie Metcalf (The Dropout)
America Ferrera (WeCrashed)
Juno Temple (The Offer)
Chloe Sevigny (The Girl from Plainville)
Vicky Krieps (The Survivor)
Melanie Lynskey (Candy)
Edie Falco (Impeachment: American Crime Story)
Margo Martindale (Impeachment: American Crime Story)

*BEST DOCUMENTARY OR NONFICTION SERIES*

Frontrunners
The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
jeen-yuhs (Netflix)
We Need to Talk About Cosby (Showtime)
The Andy Warhol Diaries (Netflix)
The New York Times Presents: Controlling Britney Spears (FX)

Major Threats
Music Box (HBO) — podcast (Bill Simmons)
Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes (HBO)
Not So Pretty (HBO Max)
Welcome to Earth (Nat Geo)
McCartney 3, 2, 1 (Hulu)
Our Great National Parks (Netflix)

Possibilities
They Call Me Magic (Apple)
Sketchbook (Disney+)
The Big Conn (Apple)
NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021 1/2 (HBO)
The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin (HBO Max)
The Invisible Pilot (HBO)

*BEST DOCUMENTARY OR NONFICTION SPECIAL*

Frontrunners
George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO) — podcast (Judd Apatow)
We Feed People (Nat Geo) — podcast (José Andrés)
Lucy and Desi (Amazon)
Downfall (Netflix)
The Tinder Swindler (Netflix)

Major Threats
Wolfgang (Disney+)
Insecure: The End (HBO)
Sheryl (Showtime)
What Happened, Brittany Murphy? (HBO Max)
Nuclear Family (HBO)
A Man Named Scott (Amazon)
Gaming Wall St. (HBO Max)
Polar Bear (Disney+)

Possibilities
14 Peaks (Netflix)
Murdered and Missing in Montana (HBO)
The Super Bob Einstein Film (HBO)
Beanie Mania (HBO Max)
9/11: Inside the President’s War Room (Apple)
Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off (HBO)
Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U (Disney+)
Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles (Disney+)

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Movies

Sunny
Director: Ranjith Sankar
Cast: Jayasurya, Shritha Sivadas, Sshivada

Life is seldom uneventful. There are ups and downs, there are sharp curves and there are dramatic moments, some exciting, some tragic. This is where Ranjith Sankar’s Sunny, just out on Amazon Prime Video, falters. There is hardly a screech in this Malayalam work of close to a runtime of two hours. And with largely a single actor hogging the screen time, the film tends to get monotonous.

Admittedly, there have been movies in the past with a single character, including Sunil Dutt’s Yaadein, which opened in 1964. In black and white, it traces the soliloquy of a man who comes home and finds that his wife and son are not there. He begins to imagine that they may have left him, and starts reminiscing about his life without them.

In Sunny, the titular character, played by a heavily bearded Jayasurya – and masked as well, for these are times of the Coronavirus – returns to Kochi (Cochin) from Dubai. He has to have a compulsory quarantine, which means that he cannot step out of his hotel room for several days. Of course, he has plenty of money, although we are told that he suffered huge losses in business having been cheated by his partner (yawn, the same old story). He checks himself into a plush hotel, in a suite, which was once occupied by AR Rahman. Sunny himself was a musician, composing lyrics and scoring them. Maybe, he also sang.

But after his wife Nimmi (Sshivada; we merely hear her voice on Sunny’s mobile phone) leaves him, he decides to come back to Kochi. But the hotel isolation kills him, and when he runs out of his liquor stock, and the hotel says it cannot get him any, he is raving mad and even plans to jump off his balcony, when he hears and sees Adithi (Shritha Sivadas), who is just one floor above his. “Are you planning to commit suicide”, she asks him, and this intervention stops him.

There are conversations with his former wife, who is just about to give birth to their child, lawyer and friend – all on the phone.

But all these appear rather flat and hold very little interest. My attention began to waver midway, and with just Jayasurya to watch the entire time, the movie boils down to an experiment that does not quite take off, despite a promising premise of a man who is depressed because his wife left him, frustrated about his financial losses and terribly lonely, “imprisoned” as he is within the four walls of the hotel room.

A few flashbacks of Sunny’s life before the quarantine may have lifted the narrative, and could have made it gripping. Instead, what we get is a plateaued story of an unhappy man. Really, nothing elevating about this. Jayasurya is disappointing as well. Cannot blame him, for the writing offers little scope.

(Gautaman Bhaskaran is an author and a movie critic)

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SunnyDirector: Ranjith SankarCast: Jayasurya, Shritha Sivadas, Sshivada Life

Film

“Because it’s my movie [as a producer], nobody could tell me I couldn’t do that.”

Dakota Johnson felt creatively liberated working as both a first-time producer and a star on “Cha Cha Real Smooth.”

Johnson produced writer/director-star Cooper Raiff’s coming-of-age film about a Bar Mitzvah party starter DJ who falls for a single mother of an autistic teen girl, which screened at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival before premiering June 14 on AppleTV.

“A lot of this process was different, because we worked on everything together,” Johnson told Entertainment Tonight about working with “Shithouse” director Raiff. “Depending on what we shot, and how it went, and if anything was improvised or if we didn’t get something or we got extra whatever it was, then we would adjust further the following scene, so that it would make more sense or call back to a joke that was made that wasn’t previously in the script. So, just constantly updating, so that it was a real, cohesive story.”

Johnson added that being a producer also shut down anyone possibly getting “annoyed” with her creative process, something the “Fifty Shades of Grey” star has weathered in the past.

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“Some people really do get annoyed, they’re like, ‘You’re just an actress, how could you know?’ but like, I have a brain in my head,” she added. “I guess now, because it’s my movie — well, because I was a producer on it — nobody could tell me I couldn’t do that.”

“Cha Cha Real Smooth” marked Johnson’s first project as a producer. Writer-director Raiff previously told Deadline that the script popped “wide open” after Johnson signed on for the “collaborative” filmmaking process.

The “Lost Daughter” actress also produced fellow 2022 Sundance film “Am I OK?,” with films “The End of Getting Lost” and “Daddio” (which she will star in) additionally in the works. As for acting, Johnson is entering the MCU with “Spider-Man” spinoff “Madame Web.”

“I’m so excited,” Johnson gushed to ET. “It’s always been a dream of mine to do some kind of, like, massive action movie. I always wanted to do, like, a female Indiana Jones. It’s pretty cool to be in the Marvel world, especially with a character that’s not so known. So, there’s a lot of space for us to make her very cool.”

And improvise some more, perhaps?

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"Because it's my movie [as a producer],

TV

‘The Bachelorette’: Becca Kufrin, Bryan Abasolo and More Alums Weigh in on Upcoming 2 Lead Season (Exclusive) | Entertainment Tonight

































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What to Watch

Netflix has had some huge success in the past adapting popular works and that trend will continue. We’re here to walk you through many of Netflix’s upcoming book adaptations specifically being turned into movies that are scheduled to release in 2022 or beyond. 

We last covered Netflix’s upcoming book adaptations back in 2019 and there was a lot to cover back then but now it’s gotten ridiculous! We’re just going to be talking about confirmed movie book adaptations and not TV shows (which we’ll cover in a separate article) or just books Netflix has optioned (we’ll cover that separately too!).

Now we’ll notably be excluding comic books (with one notable exception) from this list as we’ve already covered them in a separate preview post.

Blonde

Coming to Netflix: 2022

blonde netflix book adaptation movie

Andrew Dominik’s Blonde has been a very long time in the making with it being adapted from the Joyce Carol Oates novel on a fictionalized version of the life of Hollywood actress and model, Marilyn Monroe.

The Gray Man

Coming to Netflix: July 2022

the gray man netflix

Netflix’s big movie of the summer directed by the Russo Brothers is, in fact, based on a novel and a pretty iconic one too. We’re, of course, referring to the book written by Mark Greaney.

The movie, set to release on Netflix on July 22nd, is one of Netflix’s biggest to date clocking in a budget of $200M.

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone

mr harrigans phone netflix

Ryan Murphy is teaming up with Jason Blum to adapt this Stephen King short story. It’s a horror movie that’s scheduled to hit Netflix later in 2022 (likely for Halloween).

It’s set to star Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell, and Joe Tippett and is being adapted by John Lee Hancock.

Nimona

nimona

Nimona – Picture: Netflix

Previously in development at 20th Century Fox, this adaptation of the Nimona novel from Noelle Stevenson (which was a webcomic before it was a novel) was seemingly lost after the studio behind the title was shuttered.

Then news came in early 2022 that Netflix would be reviving the project and releasing it exclusively.

The animated feature film, directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane is about a trouble-making young shapeshifter who is the sidekick to supervillain Lord Ballister Blackheart and together, work to stop Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics.

Persuasion

persuasion netflix book adaptation

Set to be a modern adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion novel, this movie comes from MRC with Dakota Johnson and Henry Golding playing the roles of Anne Elliot and Mr. Elliot respectively.

It’s set to release in July 2022 and has had a lot of hype around it.

Spaceman

spaceman of bohemia netflix

Adam Sandler is set to play Jakub in this adventure sci-fi movie that adapts the Czech book by Jaroslav Kalfar, Spaceman of Bohemia.

Not expected to arrive on Netflix until 2023, the movie is about an orphaned boy that’s raised in the Czech countryside and overcomes all odds to become his country’s first astronaut.

Alongside Sandler will star Paul Dano, Carey Mulligan, and Isabella Rossellini.

The Killer

the killer netflix movie

David Fincher will be bringing to life this adaptation of the Alexis Nolent’s comic series which is available as a complete graphic novel (hence why we get to include on this list) and will star Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton.

The plot of the globe-trotting movie revolves around an assassin who begins to crack as he develops a conscience while hunting his prey and wants out.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

the wonderful story of henry sugar netflix

One of the many Roald Dahl adaptations in the work is a live-action movie led by Wes Anderson that is set to star Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Kingsley.

Uglies

uglies netflix adaptation

McG is directing this adaptation of the novel by Scott Westerfeld with Krista Vernoff writing.

Here’s what you can expect from the movie that wrapped filming in late 2021:

“Set in an Orwellian future in which teenagers undergo surgery on their 16th birthdays to become like supermodels, the story follows Tally Youngblood – an “ugly” teen forced by authorities to forgo her transformation until she infiltrates The Smoke, a community of rebels who choose to retain their appearance and live outside of normal society.”

Other Book Adaptations Coming Soon to Netflix

  • 13: The Musical – Coming-of-age adaptation of the Robert Horn novel about a young boy who moves from NYC to small-town Indiana.
  • A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out – Romantic comedy adaptation directed by Meg Ryan based on the Sally Franson novel.
  • All Quiet on the Western Front – Based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque and a remake of the 1930 film adapted by Universal Pictures, this is a German-language adaptation coming exclusively to Netflix.
  • Black Brother, Black Brother – An adaptation of the coming-of-age novel by Jewell Parker Rhodes.
  • Black Samurai – Action adaptation by Addictive Pictures based on the book by Marc Olden.
  • Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents – Based on the book by Isabel Wilkerson, Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY will be handling this adaptation.
  • Dangerous Liaisons – French romance adapted from Choderlos De Laclos and set to release in July 2022.
  • Dial A for Aunties – Adaptation of Dial A for Aunties (Aunties #1) by Jesse Q. Sutanto
  • Dog Gone – Rob Lowe will headline this family drama. Based on the book by Pauls Toutonghi.
  • Ehrengard – A Danish movie adaptation of the Karen Blixen novel.
  • Exit West – The Obama’s Higher Ground Productions and the Russo Brothers AGBO are working on a movie adaptation of Mohsin Hamid.
  • Family Leave – Family comedy based on the book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal with Jennifer Garner starring.
  • Happiness for Beginners – A romantic comedy adaptation of Katherine Center’s novel that will star Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes.
movies coming to netflix summer 2022 hello goodbye and everything in between

Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between – Picture: Netflix

  • Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between – Adapted from Jennifer E. Smith’s novel, this teen romance movie comes from ACE Entertainment and is about a young couple retracing their relationship before breaking up and heading out to college. Coming in July 2022.
  • High in the Clouds – Animated feature film based on the book by Paul McCartney.
  • I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter – LatinX adaptation of the book by Erika Sanchez.
  • Ivy & Bean – A kids adaptation of Annie Barrows illustrated book series that is planning to have multiple entries over the years.
  • Lady Chatterley’s Lover – Coming from Sony to Netflix exclusively is this adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence starring Emma Corrin.
  • Leave the World Behind – Sam Esmail will be adapting this thriller novel published by Rumaan Alam for Netflix.
  • Love & Gelato – Directed by Brandon Camp, this new romance movie adapts the Jenna Evans Welch novel. Coming in June 2022.

Luckiest Girl Alive Netflix

  • Luckiest Girl Alive – Starring Mila Kunis, this thriller is adapted from the Jessica Knoll novel. Knoll will also be involved in the adaptation to writing the screenplay. Due to release in 2022.
  • Matilda – Another Roald Dahl adaptation coming to Netflix in December 2022.
  • Offering to the Storm – Netflix is set to distribute in select regions this Spanish-language adaptation of the book by Dolores Redondo.
  • Rez Ball –  An adaptation of Michael Powell’s Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation.
  • Society of the Snow – A foreign language adaptation of the book by Pablo Vierci that documents the story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 that crashed in the Andes.
  • The Electric State – Previously at Universal, this movie set to adapt the Simon Stålenhag illustrated novel and is eying a move to Netflix.
  • The Good Nurse – This big-budget movie (reportedly around $30 million) will star Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain adapts the Charles Graeber novel first released in 2013.
  • The Magician’s Elephant – An animated feature film adapting Kate DiCamillo’s children’s book.
  • The Netherfield Girls – A contemporary update of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
  • The Pale Blue Eye – Christian Bale will headline this adaptation of the novel by Louis Bayard.

the school for good and evil netflix september 2022

  • The School for Good and Evil – Set to release in September 2022, this fantasy movie adapts the book franchise by Soman Chainani.
  • The Selection – Kiera Cass’s teen romance novel is in development at Netflix but unclear where it is in development.
  • The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight – Another Ace Entertainment adaptation of a Jennifer E. Smith novel that’s set to star Jameela Jamil and Ben Hardy.
  • The Wonder – Romantic period piece adaptation of the novel by Emma Donoghue.
  • Treehorn – Animated adaptation of Florence Parry Heide’s book being directed by Ron Howard.
  • True Spirt – An adaptation of the Jessica Watson biography True Spirit: The Aussie Girl who Took on the World.
  • White Noise – Previously deemed unadaptable, Noah Baumbach will be giving it his best shot. Based on Dom DeLillo’s 1986 novel.

Have we missed any major book adaptations in the works at Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.

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Awards

About 15 years ago, after he’d worked on the story for Disney’s animated “Mulan” and co-directed “Lilo & Stitch” but before he took on the “How to Train Your Dragon” trilogy, Canadian filmmaker Dean DeBlois took a detour from animation into documentary film. His 2007 doc “Heima” followed the Icelandic band Sigur Rós as they toured their home country, performing huge outdoor shows and smaller concerts, interspersing interview footage in which the normally mysterious band talked about their work and their lives.

DeBlois spends most of his time working in animation to this day, but he still has a taste for Icelandic music and a knack for knowing how to put it on film. “Tíu,” which premiered at the Tribeca Festival, takes a different Icelandic band, Of Monsters and Men, and follows them on a trip around the country where they play music in a variety of locations that have special meaning to the band members.

But where “Heima” found Sigur Rós more often than not playing to big crowds, the 48-minute “Tíu” documents a trip that was of necessity private rather than public. Forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to cancel a tour that would have celebrated the 10th anniversary of their debut album, “My Head Is an Animal,” the band members simply played for themselves – in a lighthouse, on a boat, in empty rooms both big and small.

The result doesn’t capture the more upbeat and fully-produced modern-folkish sound that made Of Monsters and Men one of Iceland’s most successful musical exports since Bjork and Sigur Rós; the band’s music in the film is more often than not acoustic, gentle and startlingly intimate, even when it plays out against the vast spaces of mountainous, rural Iceland.

DeBlois, one of two cameramen on the shoot, lays back and beautifully captures the rhythms of the music and of the band members themselves, who tell their story with quiet humor and relentless understatement. They sit around, reminisce, laugh and slip into song, and it’s all of a piece – not a concert movie, but a gentle, lyrical conversation with the band and with the land.

The best-known Icelandic music of the past few decades has typically been atmospheric, as these songs are, but also more aggressively experimental. And while Of Monsters and Men have a way of introducing quietly adventurous elements into their music, the performances in “Tíu” are stripped down and simple: mostly acoustic guitars from Ragnar “Raggi” Þórhallsson and Brynjar Leifsson, understated bass from Kristján Páll Kristjánsson, a mixture of instruments, including percussion, from Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson and vocals, occasional guitar and keyboards from Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir.

‘Halftime’ Film Review: Jennifer Lopez Doc Tracks a Star Who Continues to Ascend

Starting in Hilmarsdóttir’s great-great grandmother’s house with a rendition of the charming and sprightly “Sugar in a Bowl,” they travel the country pulling out a mixture of songs, most of them older tunes that they haven’t recorded until now. (There’s an EP, also titled “Tíu,” that accompanies the film and provides more aggressive versions of some songs.)

While Þórhallsson, who mostly shares spokesperson duties with Hilmarsdóttir, says he hates “nostalgia or reminiscing” at one point, there’s something undeniably nostalgic about songs that in some cases date back to their teenage years. But it’s an utterly beguiling nostalgia as the band runs through a succession of gentle dreamscapes that become even more haunting for the way DeBlois shoots them with lovely economy against the stark and stunning Icelandic landscape.

This is intimate music in an expansive setting, and a lovely way to capture the artistry and humanity of this band. Apart from a brief blast toward the end, it’s a relentlessly understated approach that doesn’t capture the range of music Of Monsters and Men makes – but it’s a beautiful take on the band nonetheless, and one that never wears out its welcome.      

‘Elvis’ Release Date, Cast and Everything We Know So Far

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About 15 years ago, after he’d worked

Music

Ozzy Osbourne is back home after going through a surgery that his wife Sharon said was “really going to determine the rest of his life.” On Wednesday, the rock legend shared a health update for fans saying he was recovering from the surgery at home.

“I am now home from the hospital recuperating comfortably,” he wrote on Instagram. “I am definitely feeling the love and support from all my fans and send everyone a big thank you for their thoughts, prayers, and well wishes during my recovery.”

The update straight from Ozzy comes a day after his wife Sharon wrote that the singer — who hosts Ozzy’s Boneyard on SiriusXM — was “doing well and on the road to recovery.”

“Your love means the world to him,” she wrote. Sharon also posted a throwback photo of Ozzy, writing, “He’s feeling good!”

During an episode of The Talk last week, Sharon had said she would be returning to Los Angeles to be by her husband’s side as he recovered from his surgery.

“He has a very major operation on Monday, and I have to be there,” she told the audience. “It’s really going to determine the rest of his life.”

It is unclear what specific surgery the rocker has undergone, but a source told Page Six that the singer was going to be “having the pins in his neck and back realigned from when he had a fall back in 2019 … He’s been in a lot of pain.”

The Black Sabbath frontman has battled Parkinson’s disease for several years now and has opened up in the past about his trouble with mobility, partly due to a 2003 ATV accident.

“I’m just waiting on some more surgery on my neck. I can’t walk properly these days. I have physical therapy every morning,” he told Classic Rock Magazine last month. “I am somewhat better, but nowhere near as much as I want to be to go back on the road.”

Sharon had said on The Talk that she would be staying in L.A. for some time since their son Jack is anticipated to welcome a baby in the coming weeks, and July marks Sharon and Ozzy’s 40th wedding anniversary.

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Ozzy Osbourne is back home after going

Docs

Applications for Film Independent’s Fast Track film financing market are still open with our June 21 extended Member deadline. We asked Fast Track success story Down with the King to share their experience with the program. This is what producer Rob Cristiano had to say. Down with the King is on Digital and SVOD beginning June 28.

***

The old adage says it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Both are important, but what’s really crucial is the strength of your relationships with the people “you know.” Being a filmmaker has a lot to do with building up a great network of collaborators, supporters and hopefully people that inspire you. But it’s not enough to just go out and network. You have to find your team–the people that see you, know what you can do, trust you and want to help you get to where you’re going. You don’t have to have that level of connection with everyone you work with, but when you want to make a film, it’s worth searching far and wide for a partner that you can connect with on the highest level.

Writer/Director Diego Ongaro and I participated in Fast Track together in the fall of 2018 in hopes of finding financing for our film, Down with the King. The film is about a famous rapper that has fought tooth and nail to get to the top, but yearns for a simpler life and begins to think that he’s found it in the quiet countryside of rural Massachusetts. The first film Diego and I made together (Bob and the Trees) premiered at Sundance ’15 and we had been talking about making DWTK for about two years.

‘Down with the King’ (2022, dir. Diego Ongaro)

I had participated in a number of filmmaking labs over the years, but it became really apparent to me that I needed something different. I felt good about my track record as a line producer and abilities as a creative producer, but I had yet to get a film financed. What I really needed as a NY-based independent producer with no industry representation working with a director with no industry representation was someone to open some doors for us, and in a nutshell that’s what Fast Track did for us in a big way.

Diego and I had a story that we knew could be great, and we simply needed the opportunity to have real conversations with production companies and financiers about it. Fast Track gives you 15-20 minutes of undivided attention from about 60 industry attendees (60!) that have the power and resources to green-light your film. It’s a little bit daunting, but there were no phones ringing, emails going off or meetings for execs to get pulled into. We could really pitch and see if it led us anywhere.

L-R, Benoit Sauvage (Editor), Diego Ongaro (Co-Writer/Director), Rob Cristiano (Producer)

Going into our three days of pitches, we knew there were a lot of different companies with different buckets that they were trying to fill, but we were able to focus on four things that I would recommend any Fast Track fellow keep in mind:

  • Clearly/confidently pitching who we are and what we want to do, and improving from one meeting to the next by keeping the things that were working in the pitch and fixing/removing the things that weren’t
  • Getting real feedback on the pitch, how we could partner to make it and whether they’d check out our materials
  • Feeling out what attendees were actively looking to make and whether our project was a fit (listening to what the industry attendees say about their own company’s goals is just as important as pitching)
  • Looking for a spark of connection to our project or to our work that would allow us to building a connection beyond our short pitch meeting

Down with the King was ultimately a Fast Track success story. There, I reconnected with Jake Craven from Breaker Studios (formerly SingularDTV) whom I had met briefly about a year before. Jake had actually seen and enjoyed Bob and the Trees and there was that connection that we were looking for. After Fast Track, he checked out our treatment and really enjoyed it.

We kept in touch and the timing to make the film ultimately became right at the time when you’d least expect it, four plus years after we set out to make it and five months into a pandemic. He and producers Zach LeBeau and Kim Jackson saw what we could do, what we wanted to do, how we wanted to do it, and greenlit the film. We had our team, and two months later, we were shooting with rapper Freddie Gibbs in the Berkshires.

Less than a year later, Down with the King premiered at the ACid section at Cannes ’21 and then won the top prize at Deauville Film Festival–an award shared with a jaw dropping list of indie successes (including Being John Malkovich, Whiplash, and Little Miss Sunshine). Sony’s Stage 6 Films came on to distribute the film and it will finally be available on Digital and VOD on June 28. How’s that for a series of connections?

 

Film Independent’s Artist Development 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.

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Global

An addiction treatment program based in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains has only two months to secure significant funding or be forced to close its operations.

Shunda Creek Wilderness Addiction Treatment Program — located west of Rocky Mountain House — has been operating for 13 years, helping men aged 18-24 struggling with addiction.

The program — run by non-profit Enviros — incorporates wilderness into its treatment.

“It takes these young men out of the environments that cultivate active addiction,” said Stephen Harding, Shunda Creek employee and alumni. “It removes them from those triggers in those environments so that they can have a little bit of a reprieve to start working on the things that caused the addiction.”

Harding began his attempt at recovery from addiction in 2010, trying 12-step programs and multiple treatment centres.

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“I ended up relapsing and using actively again for about seven months. That ended in an overdose in the Red Deer hospital. I went from there to the detox centre in Red Deer and found Shunda Creek through an addictions counselor. That was six years ago.”

Similar to Harding, Colton Rolof attended Shunda Creek six years ago.

“I found myself in pretty dark places, drinking and doing drugs every day, waking up needing to use just to get through daily life,” said Rolof. “I went back to my hometown in Barrhead, looked my mom in the eyes, and said I don’t know what to do. I’m on a very straight path to death or jail and I need to figure something out.

“So I went down and reached out to the local counsellor and he mentioned a place called Shunda Creek.”

Read more:

Alberta overdose response app opens provincewide after ‘numerous’ interventions

Last week, Rolof learned the camp is at risk of closing operations due to funding challenges.

The facilities at the leased camp have fallen into disrepair, and Enviros needs to purchase a new location to continue the program.

“The buildings are pretty old. It’s leased property, I believe. So we’ve got to move and in order to maintain the wilderness therapy aspect of the program, we have to stay in a wilderness-based program facility,” said Harding.

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A new camp location has been found, but Enviros does not have the finances to purchase the location.

“My heart was absolutely broken. I got back from my 14-hour day at work and I cried for a solid three hours in my room. I had no idea what to do. I was in contact with the staff, I called the camp, I said there’s got to be something we can do,” said Rolof.

Rolof decided to create a GoFundMe page one week ago, and within the first 24 hours, raised $10,000.

The goal is to raise $625,000 to support Enviros in purchasing the new camp.

The additional land would also help expand the number of beds offered from 10 to 18.

“It’s a 10-bed treatment program. If we can get over this next hurdle then it can become an 18-bed treatment program. We’ll have more clients, more staff, more resources available to continue this beautiful work,” said Harding. “The Government of Alberta and Alberta Health Services are standing full-heartedly behind the program itself, funding the program, funding the staff — just funding for the new location has fallen short.

“The goal of this GoFundMe is to be able to purchase the new land so that they can expand the program.”

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Read more:

Alberta’s opioid-related overdoses still at record highs compared to pre-pandemic

Justin Brattinga, acting spokesperson for the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, said in a statement that “we want to ensure that Enviros can continue to provide these services to youth experiencing addiction.

“That’s why we’re working with Enviros and Alberta Health Services to find a solution to this issue of a long-term operating site. AHS is providing support, along with Alberta Health, to help Enviros gain approval from a lender to better situate the program long term,” the statement read. “Those currently receiving care at Shunda Creek will continue to be supported in their treatment and pursuit of recovery.

“We will continue to support Enviros as needed to ensure the critical services they provide to youth in Alberta can continue.”

Supporters hosted a rally on Wednesday to raise awareness for the program and hope to gain support as the deadline approaches.

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From one high-profile relationship to the next.

Tech

In today’s podcast roundup, domestic guru Martha Stewart teams with iHeartMedia for a talk-show podcast; ESPN expands its partnership with Peyton Manning for a new slate of podcasts; Audible taps Dominic Monaghan for a new spin on Sherlock Holmes’ famous nemesis, Moriarty; SiriusXM premieres original scripted podcast “Marvel’s Wastelanders: Wolverine”; and more.

DATES

Martha Stewart is no stranger to podcasts — and she has been a mainstay of TV, magazines and other media for years. Now she’s hosting her first-ever original podcast series, “The Martha Stewart Podcast,” slated to premiere June 22, produced in partnership with iHeartRadio. The talk-show-style series will feature Stewart in intimate interviews with a range of influential people she’s met over her career, with the first episode featuring her friend and business partner Snoop Dogg. Additional guests will include Kris Jenner, Alex Rodriguez, creative collaborators Kevin Sharkey and Douglas Friedman, and international plant explorer Dan Hinkley. “The Martha Stewart Podcast” also promises listeners a glimpse into her daily life through never-before-heard audio diary segments. The show will be distributed by the iHeartPodcast Network and available on all major audio platforms.

Audible announced a July 7 premiere date for “Moriarty: The Devil’s Game,” an original scripted podcast starring Dominic Monaghan (“Lost,” The Lord of the Rings film series). The 10-episode story is a new addition to the Sherlock Holmes universe, asking the question: What if Holmes’ most villainous nemesis was actually an innocent man? The series recasts Prof. James Moriarty as a desperate fugitive framed for murder — and hunted by dark forces who will stop at nothing to exploit his brilliance. In addition to Monaghan, the cast includes Bill Boyd, Phil LaMarr, Adam Godley, Curtis Armstrong, Josh Robert Thompson, Lindsay Whisler, Carlo Rota, Victoria Smurfit, Billy Harris and Rebecca Mader. “Moriarty: The Devil’s Game” was written and produced by Treefort Media. The series will be available exclusively on Audible (at this link).

The Smithsonian premiered the eighth season of its flagship podcast “Sidedoor” on Wednesday, June 15 — kicking off with a sex-education lesson on giant pandas. The first episode explores the unexpected challenge veterinarians, scientists and animal-care experts at DC’s National Zoo have faced for 50 years: why it’s so hard for giant pandas to make baby pandas. The new season of “Sidedoor,” hosted by Lizzie Peabody, will feature 15 episodes covering topics ranging from the importance of lawns in American society to the people working to preserve art and cultural heritage across the globe in times of crisis. This season will also include spooky ghost stories and special holiday-themed episodes exploring some famous year-end traditions. The podcast is a collaboration between the Smithsonian and PRX.

Cadence13’s C13 Originals premiered “History Is US” on Wednesday, June 15. The six-part series on race and history, which is hosted by scholar and author Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr., explores critical moments in American history that set the trajectory of the nation in regards to race. Guests will include Lonnie Bunch, secretary of the Smithsonian; Sen. Cory Booker; and Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown. Produced and directed by C13 Originals and Jon Meacham’s Shining City Audio podcast studio.

Marvel Entertainment and SiriusXM premiered original scripted podcast “Marvel’s Wastelanders: Wolverine” on Monday, June 13. It’s the fourth installment in the “Wastelanders” audio series, following “Marvel’s Wastelanders: Star-Lord,” “Marvel’s Wastelanders: Hawkeye” and “Marvel’s Wastelanders: Black Widow.” The new 10-episode series is written and directed by Jenny Turner Hall, with sound design by Michael Odmark and Daniel Brunell and original music by Rhett Miller and John Burdick. The series stars Robert Patrick as Wolverine, and features performances by Ashlie Atkinson (Kitty Pryde), Rachel Crowl (Red Skull), Isabella Ferreira (Sofia), Jennifer Ikeda (Rachel Summers), Justin Min (Justin), Clarke Peters (Professor X), Daniel Sunjata (Cyclops) and Carl Tart (Kevin).

In “Marvel’s Wastelanders: Wolverine,” Wolverine encounters Sofia, a young mutant in hiding, and vows to transport her into the safe hands of estranged former X-Men Kitty Pryde and Rachel Summers. When the Red Skull and his top lieutenant Crossbones frame Wolverine and escalate anti-mutant sentiment to dangerous new levels, our hero realizes that his only option may be to face Red Skull and his savage allies head on — but a shocking, terrible truth may destroy Wolverine first.

The series will initially be available exclusively on the SXM App and Marvel Podcasts Unlimited on Apple Podcasts. Episodes will be widely available one week later all major U.S. podcast platforms in the U.S.

Audacy’s 2400Sports will premiere “Hey Mayne,” hosted by longtime ESPN personality Kenny Mayne, on June 23. The weekly podcast will blend sports culture with entertainment, politics, music, comedy, and beyond. Each week, Mayne will talk to someone he knows a little — and is fascinated by a lot. Guests are set to include former NBA player Jamal Crawford, sports journalist Jemele Hill, author Sarah Kendzior, sports commentator Chris Berman, screenwriter-director-actor-musician Christopher Guest, actor and comedian Ben Schwartz. Listen to the trailer at this link.

Ramble, the influencer podcast network that is a joint venture between Audacy’s Cadence13 and UTA, announced the launch of “Justaposition,” a new weekly podcast hosted by content creator Hyram Yarbro on which he’ll explore issues ranging from mental health to how to make a positive social impact to skin care. Hyram rose to fame in 2020 through his viral TikTok videos, and has a combined social media following of more than 12 million today. “Justaposition” will launch with two episodes on June 16 on all major platforms, with subsequent episodes available on Thursdays. Hyram is represented by Hansen Jacobson and UTA, which brokered the deal with Ramble.

DEALS

ESPN expanded its relationship with Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions company for a new lineup of original podcasts initially launching with six titles produced by Omaha Productions. The podcast deal builds on the relationship between ESPN and Peyton and Eli Manning for an alternate telecast of “Monday Night Football.” The ESPN podcasts from Omaha Productions are:

  • “The VC Show” (Vince Carter & Ros Gold-Onwude) – June 20: Eight-time NBA All-Star Vince Carter and co-host Ros Gold-Onwude talk all things basketball with some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment.
  • “Courtside Club” (Rachel DeMita) – June 20: Host and influencer Rachel DeMita chats with the biggest athletes, celebrities, influencers and creative minds about sports, pop culture, and the experiences that made them who they are today.
  • “Moxie Bets” (Katie Mox) – June 20: Betting expert Katie Mox and her merry band of gambling insiders preview lines, spreads, parlays, and props with personality and the kind of advice they would give themselves.
  • “Always College Football” (Greg McElroy) – July 5: ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy takes a deep dive into the sport with the biggest names on and off the field.
  • “The Cam Heyward Show” – July 11: The Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle and five-time Pro Bowler gives his unfiltered thoughts on the league and headlines across all sports, welcoming guests including athletes, coaches and celebrities to talk sports, pop culture and more.
  • “Soup With Coop” (Cooper Manning) – July 18: Cooper Manning invites players and coaches from across sports to share stories and laughs while enjoying a bowl of his guest’s favorite soup. When the soup is finished, the conversation ends.

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This story about Rachel Brosnahan and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” first appeared in the Comedy & Drama Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

The fourth season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” begins, in some ways, in a callback to the show’s first episode: Miriam “Midge” Maisel, once a perfect young wife and mother from New York City, reeling from a huge setback and ending up in a comedy club in a state of undress. Back in 2017’s Season 1, the blow was that her husband, Joel, was leaving her, which spurred her to spew out her rage in a standup comedy routine. Now, in the fourth season, her standup career has taken a huge hit because she’s been fired as the opening act of a massive worldwide tour. 

Five years have elapsed since “House of Cards” vet Rachel Brosnahan was cast as Midge Maisel in Amazon’s period comedy from Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino, years in which Brosnahan has won one Emmy and been nominated for two others. Midway through the filming of the fifth and final season, Brosnahan drafted Michael Zegen, who plays Joel on the series, to interview her for this issue. – SP

Jill Greenberg for TheWrap

MICHAEL ZEGEN We see a different side of Midge this season, a bit more unhinged and unapologetic. Did you approach her differently?

RACHEL BROSNAHAN (Laughs) She’s definitely a little unhinged and very unapologetic. In a lot of ways, it felt like returning to a Midge that we met in Season 1, but with the history behind her of the last couple of seasons. Midge in Season 1 would get up routinely wasted and stoned and do comedy sets straight from the heart and the depths of her mind, and she didn’t know why she would have to apologize. Now she knows. She’s been booted off Shy Baldwin’s tour for opening her big mouth. And she’s digging her heels in. She’s committing to her voice, unfiltered, being her superpower. I don’t know that I approach that differently, but it’s been exciting to grow with her.

‘Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Cast Expands for Season 5

It’s also hard to approach it when we get the scripts at the last minute and we don’t really know what the overall arc is necessarily gonna be.

Well, as you know, I usually pin Amy down and pour Irish coffee down her throat and get her to spill the beans on some of what’s ahead. She gave a little bit in advance of last season. But it definitely keeps you in the moment.

Jill Greenberg for TheWrap

“Maisel” is a comedy, but there are some very dramatic and even heavy moments for Midge, especially this season. How do you find the balance, and how closely do you work with Amy and Dan on determining what the tone of each scene will be?

I work really closely with Amy and Dan on figuring out exactly what their intentions were behind every scene. They have all the answers, and one of them will often say a single sentence in passing that feels like it unlocks entire chunks of the script or the season for me. I usually come in with a little notebook and ask them 20,000 questions before every episode. 

That’s very different than me, but that’s OK.

I don’t know if I ever told you this, but as someone who comes from drama, when I first read the pilot, I didn’t know what to expect. I had seen (Sherman-Palladino’s) “Gilmore Girls,” but I really wasn’t sure what the tone of the show was. All I saw was a woman who was getting divorced and having a mental breakdown on a stage. I thought tonally the show was more like “Nurse Jackie,” and I said, “Oh, this is why they’re interested in me. They need a dramatic actress to do this.” And then of course I arrived on set, and Amy was like, “It’s a comedy, you know?”

What is your process like as soon as you receive a script, assuming you have time for a process?

I panic. (Laughs) And I don’t sleep for days at a time. I wish I was kidding. No, I have worked with a coach for many, many years, the brilliant Ted Sluberski, who has continued to crack this character open for me over and over again. And we are panic partners. I send him a script and we dig in together so that I feel like I have at least a foundation to stand on. 

I’ve always noticed that you’ve got these little color-coded tabs in your script. What are those, and should I be ashamed that I don’t do the same? 

No! She’s Type A! They’re marking scenes that I’m in, and the colors correlate to how difficult they’re gonna be for me to learn.

No way, really?

Yeah. So red is like, “Oh f–k, you need to spend some time with this.” And blue is like, “You could probably, if you had to, get away with learning this dialogue the night before.”

‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Star Alex Borstein Breaks Down Susie and Midge’s Finale Tension and What It Means for Their Future

Was there anything this season that felt especially daunting, that needed one of those red tabs?

Most of my scripts are just filled with red. (Laughs) The opening monologue from this season was intimidating, because it opens on a very dramatic moment: Midge and Susie have just been left on the tarmac (after being fired from the Shy Baldwin tour), and we’re living in the immediate aftermath. Midge is shocked and devastated and angry, and then she somehow loses her clothes and is alternating between laughing, crying, getting pissed, yelling and punching Susie. So it just felt really important to know those lines upside down and backward before we could even hope to play with them.

Michael Zegen and Rachel Brosnahan celebrate “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” fourth season premiere at the 1960’s themed Maisel Skate Night at Winter Village at Bryant Park Ice Rink on February 05, 2022 in New York City.

Midge has romantic interests throughout the show, but those romances don’t define her in the way that they do on other series. What’s it like to play a female character who isn’t defined by her romantic ties?

It’s the dream. I think so many women in so many series of years past have been defined by which male lead they are interacting with, whether that’s romantically or otherwise. And it was really exciting to play a character who started herself feeling fairly defined by the relationship that she was in. It was her choice: She wanted to get married, she wanted to be the most perfect housewife that ever lived, she wanted to be a mom with three kids before 30. And when her dream blew up, she redefined herself and discovered that in fact, she has this whole other life, this inner life that she didn’t know existed, or she didn’t know how to wield. 

Midge’s flaws seem to be especially apparent this season. What’s it like to play a complex and flawed character, and how do you find truth in those moments?

I love playing a character who f—ed up so profoundly and openly and blatantly. (Laughs) I’m frustrated with her sometimes in the way that you might get frustrated with a friend or relative who puts their foot in their mouth or can’t get outta their own way, but it’s been really fun to play someone who’s so single-minded in both her successes and her failures. But I’d also love to see her grow and get out of her own way every once in a while. 

What do you hope audiences take away from Season 5?

That’s a great question. I guess that it’s not the end of something, that it’s just the beginning of a brand-new chapter. 

We’ll be shooting our last episode in October, which is going to be sad. At the table read today, I was just looking around the room, thinking about how special this show is and these people are.

I can’t even think about it. Every time I think about it too much, I get all weepy. I grew up on this show. I was 26 when we started this, and everything in my life has changed while we’ve been working on this together.

Read more from the Comedy & Drama Series issue here.

TheWrap asked our 5 cover subjects what they missed most during the pandemic, and here’s what they said.

Photos by Jill Greenberg for TheWrap

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Entertaintment

For Bridgerton, showrunner Chris Van Dusen wanted to bring a fresh, new perspective into the historical fiction genre. The first season, based on Julia Quinn’s first novel The Duke and I, was met with critical acclaim and received 12 Emmy nominations. Season 2 quickly became Netflix’s most watched English-language series, which could make Bridgerton a more daunting competitor in this year’s Emmy race.

The Season 2 premiere episode, “Capital R Rake,” is the latest installment of It Starts on the Page, Deadline’s annual series that highlights the scripts that serve as the creative backbones of the buzzy shows that will define the TV awards season. The scripts in our series are all being submitted for Emmy Awards consideration this year and have been selected by Deadline using criteria that includes critical acclaim, selecting from a wide range of networks and platforms and a mix of established and lesser-known shows.

Adapted for Netflix by Shonda Rhimes from Quinn’s novels, Bridgerton presents itself as a more female-fronted, Regency-set alternative to Downton Abbey. Season 2 is based on the book The Viscount Who Loved Me, which follows the eldest Bridgerton sibling, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey).

“Capital R Rake,” written by Van Dusen and directed by Tricia Brock, begins as Anthony starts to search for a wife but isn’t interested in most of the prospects. Meanwhile, Eloise (Claudia Jessie) nervously prepares for her debut in front of the Queen, which is interrupted by the return of Lady Whistledown (Julie Andrews).

Click below to read the script for “Capital R Rake”:

More from this Story Arc

It Starts On The Page

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Movies

The trailer of Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s much-awaited movie Brahmastra has been released. The Ayan Mukerji directorial also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna and Mouni Roy in pivotal roles. The trailer takes fans into Ayan’s Astraverse and reveals that Ranbir will be playing the role of a young boy named Shiva on whom the destiny of Brahmastra depends. The trailer is surely a visual treat for all. The film will hit theatres on September 9 this year.

ALSO READ: Brahmastra Trailer: Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt Open Gates To Astraverse, Promise Edge-of-the-Seat Experience 

TMKOC’s producer Asit Kumar Modi has said that Dayaben cannot return to the show overnight. In his latest interview, Asit Kumar mentioned that fans have been ‘literally abusing’ them over Daya’s absence and added that the auditions for the iconic character are currently underway. further added that Disha Vakani’s re-entry does not look possible and therefore the hunt for new Dayaben will take some time. He has also assured fans that their favourite character will be back soon.

ALSO READ: TMKOC’s Asit Modi Says Fans ‘Literally Abusing’ To Bring Back Dayaben, Adds ‘Auditions Are Underway’ 

Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor has refused to come on Karan Johar’s popular chat show Koffee With Karan 7. Filmmaker Karan Johar revealed the same in his recent interview and shared that Ranbir believes the consequences of his statement on the show last for a long time. During the interaction, KJo also shared that stars are often worried about how their statements are perceived and interpreted.

ALSO READ: Karan Johar Reveals Ranbir Kapoor Has Refused to Come On Koffee With Karan S7 Because of This Reason 

If recent reports are to be believed, Pooja Hegde Pooja will be soon sharing the screen with KGF star Yash. A recent report by Sacnilk claims that Pooja Hegde will be soon making her Kannada debut with pan-India superstar Yash. Reportedly, Pooja Hegde has already been approached by the makers of the yet-to-be-titled movie which will be directed by Narthan. If Pooja agrees to come on board, it will be her first film with KGF star Yash. However, there is no official announcement by the makers so far.

ALSO READ: Pooja Hegde To Share Screen With KGF Star Yash Soon? Here’s What We Know

Anushka Sharma fans were recently left worried after she visited a hospital in Mumbai along with her cricketer-husband Virat Kohli. While netizens also speculated if the actress is pregnant with a second child, it has now been revealed that Anushka had gone to Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in Mumbai only to see a physiotherapist.

ALSO READ: Anushka Sharma Is Not Pregnant, Here’s Why She Visited Hospital

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.

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Film

Spider-Man fans will get a special theatric re-release of the masked avenger’s latest installment, Spider-Man: No Way Home, with an extended cut.  Titled Spider-Man:  No Way Home:  The More Fun Stuff, which is set to be launched ahead of the Labor Day Weekend and will be at first available in the US and Canada.  For those living outside those countries, the release will come later.

The re-release is not only an appreciative nod to the fanbase but also to celebrate the Marvel comic- books’ 60th anniversary and twenty years of the Spider-Man movies.  The first one premiered in 2002 and earned an impressive $100 million from its opening weekend.

In the new release, deleted scenes and unrevealed footage will be included, most likely surpassing the two-and-a-half-hour runtime.

Sony dropped the exciting news this past Friday on Twitter with a fourteen-second clip of the three Spider-Men: Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and the current Spider-Man, Tom Holland.  The three appeared in No Way Home and famously recreated the “Spider-Man pointing” meme in a behind-the-scenes blooper reel.

Spider-Man: No Way Home became one of the record-breaking theater releases last December, with a revenue cap of $1.9 billion.  As documented on Box Office Mojo, it also gained status as the sixth-grossing film ever internationally.  Titanic, Avatar, Avengers, and Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens remain ahead.

Directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Zedaya (MJ), Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr. Strange), and Alfred Molina (Dr. Otto Octavious/Doc Ock), Spider-Man turns to Dr. Strange for guidance after his identity has been unveiled.  Consequently, he faces the franchise’s past villains, who want to shatter the world.  During this tumultuous course, Spider-Man realizes the significance of his heroship and self-worth.

Spider-Man: No Way Home: The More Fun Stuff will hit theaters Friday, September 2nd, with ticket sales beginning August 9th.

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TV

This story about “RuPaul’s Drag Race” first appeared in the Limited Series/Movies issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

Fourteen seasons in and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” is still sparking cultural conversations. Take the one that cropped up in January before the Season 14 premiere, when word broke that the long-running VH1 franchise would be introducing the show’s first straight male drag queen, Maddy Morphosis.

What, some fans of the show wondered, was a straight guy doing on a competition that is a celebration of the queer community?

“It’s not the first cisgender man who has auditioned for “Drag Race,” but it’s the first one who we felt like their drag was really authentic. It was really good,” executive producer Tom Campbell said. “Maddy challenged people in a really positive way and made for interesting conversations among my friend groups and the fans of the show. I think it challenges people to be more tolerant and more open-minded to the art of drag and who can perform it and why.”

The level of care that goes into casting is just part of what keeps “Drag Race” fresh 13 years since it launched with the aim of crowning “America’s Next Drag Superstar.” What started as an under-the-radar program on Logo in 2009 has blossomed into a pop culture powerhouse that has helped make drag culture mainstream.

Along the way, the show has picked up 24 Primetime Emmys, including four for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program and five for host RuPaul.

As Campbell, who has been on the show’s team since its inception, puts it, “‘Drag Race’ is like a tree that grew through a crack in the sidewalk.”

New installments of the series always manage to feature surprising twists that keep viewers enthralled, and Season 14 was overflowing with them. There was the queen saved from elimination at the last minute when she discovered she was in possession of the coveted Willy Wonka-like golden candy bar. There was the time the contestants watched the playback of their drama challenge and learned, thanks to the addition of breaking-wind sounds, that the entire play had been littered with hidden fart jokes all along.

Jeff Probst on Why ‘Survivor’ Needed a Makeover After 40 Seasons

And then there was the jaw-droppingly awful round of “Snatch Game,” where the queens attempt to impress RuPaul and the judges with their comedic celebrity impersonations. For the first time in the history of “Drag Race,” seven contestants performed abysmally. With only one queen, DeJa Skye, safe from the chopping block, the producers scrapped the plan for the following episode and replaced it with an entirely new concept: “LaLaPaRuza,” an episode-long lip-sync smackdown.

Pivoting quickly when things don’t go as planned has long been part of the “Drag Race” experience. “We always try to stay nimble,” Campbell said. “It’s a little crazy behind the scenes, but it’s worth it because we truly are as invested as people watching our (show). There are tears behind the scenes. There are gasps, screaming, yelling, whooping and hollering during the lip syncs.”

“If you had to bet on whether ‘Drag Race’ would make it or not, the safe money would have been that it wasn’t going to make it,” he added. “And the fact that it has and it’s a global phenomenon and keeps growing and keeps representing queer people and having them seen around the world is — it’s a miracle. It makes coming to work so easy and so fun.”

Read more from the Limited Series/Movies issue here.

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What to Watch

(ABC/Richard Cartwright)

Tuesday, June 14, 2022 ratings — New episodes: America’s Got Talent, Dancing with Myself,  Tom Swift, MasterChef Junior, Holey Moley, The Chase, and Who Do You Believe?.  Reruns: FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, FBI: International, Superman & Lois, and Crime Scene Kitchen.

Note: If you’re not seeing the updated charts, please try reloading the page or go here.

These are the fast affiliate ratings. The percentages represent the change since the previous original episode. (Percentages aren’t given for reruns or specials.) To see past ratings for a particular show, click the show’s link. The show pages are updated with the daily final ratings when they become available. Those pages include season averages to date.

What were you watching last night? Original network programming, reruns, cable, or something else?

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(ABC/Richard Cartwright) Tuesday, June 14, 2022 ratings —

Awards

Sean “Diddy” Combs will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 BET Awards.

The award “honors industry giants who have not only significantly shaped culture through their extensive careers, but who have also been transformative leaders that consistently inspire generations by setting a true standard of excellence,” BET said in making the announcement.

Combs’ three-decade career in entertainment has spanned music, fashion, TV and more. His Bad Boy Entertainment Group is credited with carving out a new niche within the hip-hop genre, with talent including Lil Kim, Faith Evans, 112, Mase, Total, Junior Mafia and The Lox. After six years away from the music spotlight, Combs launched a new R&B label, LOVE Records, and the first album will launch this summer in partnership with Motown Records.

Meanwhile, Combs bought back his Sean John fashion line in 2020 and also forged a partnership with Diageo for his Ciroc Vodka label and later acquired tequila brand DeLeón. He also launched the fitness and wellness water brand AQUAhydrate.

In 2013, Combs launched REVOLT Media & TV, the first Black-owned multiplatform cable music network, which now reaches more 80 million homes and 20 million monthly viewers digitally.

Combs will be recognized at the 2022 BET Awards, which will air live at 8 p.m. ET (delayed PT) from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Taraji P. Henson is hosting.

Past recipients of BET’s Lifetime Achievement Award include Whitney Houston, Prince, Queen Latifah, Anita Baker, Mary J. Blige, Samuel Jackson, Lionel Richie and New Edition.

“Diddy has always been a pioneering force in our community, breaking barriers, achieving unprecedented heights, blazing new trails, and, in so doing, raising the bar for all of us,” BET CEO Scott Mills said. “His virtuosity is matched only by his range — from music to media, culture, business and philanthropy — Diddy has exemplified Black excellence. We are delighted to have this opportunity to use our biggest stage to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of our friend Diddy.”

Connie Orlando, executive vp specials, music programming and music strategy at BET, called Combs “an incomparable cultural force and creative visionary whose impact has created historic paradigm shifts across music, media, fashion and lifestyle.”

Added Jesse Collins, executive producer of the BET Awards and founder and CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment: “Puff’s contributions to culture transcend hip hop. Growing up in DC, I watched his rise at Howard University as he repped Black excellence from day one.  It’s an honor to celebrate him now, while he is still on his incredible journey.”

Doja Cat leads the nominations for the BET Awards with six, followed by Ari Lennox and Drake with four noms each. Check out the full list of nominees here.

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Sean “Diddy” Combs will be honored with

Music

Foo Fighters and Taylor Hawkins’ family have announced the first round of performers for the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert scheduled to take place in London in September.

Performers include a mix of the late drummer’s friends and influences: Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, Oasis’ Liam Gallagher, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, Supergrass and Mark Ronson are on the bill, with comedian Dave Chappelle billed as a special guest.

Also on the bill are Jane’s Addiction’s Chris Chaney, the Police’s Stewart Copeland, Omar Hakim, Rufus Taylor (a Queen touring member), Wolfgang Van Halen, and Hawkins’ cover band Chevy Metal. The shows will benefit charities to be announced later, according to the band.

The show takes place September 3 at Wembley Stadium, with another tribute concert at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum on September 27. The lineup for the latter show has not been announced.

Hawkins died on March 25 while the band was on tour in Colombia; no official cause of death has been announced.

The band’s announcement follows in full below, as does Alison Hawkins’ statement.

FOO FIGHTERS
Together with the Hawkins Family
Present
THE TAYLOR HAWKINS TRIBUTE CONCERTS
Two Global Events Celebrating the Memory & Music of a Rock Legend

Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear and Rami Jaffee will come together with the Hawkins family to celebrate the life, music and love of their husband, father, brother and bandmate with The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts.

As one of the most respected and beloved figures in modern music, Taylor’s monolithic talent and magnetic personality endeared him to millions of fans, peers, friends and fellow musical legends the world over. Millions mourned his untimely passing on March 25, with passionate and sincere tributes coming from fans as well as musicians Taylor idolized. The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts will unite several of those artists, the Hawkins family and of course his Foo Fighters brothers in celebration of Taylor’s memory and his legacy as a global rock icon—his bandmates and his inspirations playing the songs that he fell in love with, and the ones he brought to life.

The all-star rock and roll shows will take place September 3 at London’s Wembley Stadium and September 27 at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles.

The lineups for each show will be announced shortly. Sign up to receive information on timings, ticketing links and on sale dates at https://www.foofighters.com/.

Taylor Hawkins joined Foo Fighters in 1997, first appearing with the band on the tour supporting sophomore album The Colour & The Shape. He made his recorded debut with Foo Fighters with 1999’s There Is Nothing Left To Lose, playing on every subsequent FF album, including One By One, In Your Honor (the first FF album to feature him assuming lead vocal duties on his song “Cold Day In The Sun”), Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Wasting Light, Sonic Highways, Concrete & Gold (also featuring him as lead singer on “Sunday Rain”) and Medicine at Midnight. As a member of Foo Fighters, Taylor was a 15-time GRAMMY Award winner and member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He lived and loved music to an insatiable degree, with Foo Fighters as well as his numerous solo and side projects and collaborations.

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Foo Fighters and Taylor Hawkins’ family have announced

Docs

Kenny and Robert begin the show with a special “Theme Song Throwback” segment joined by longtime WWE composer Jim Johnston. The maestro of the squared circle reveals his secrets for writing the most iconic entrance themes of professional wrestling’s top superstars including The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Goldust.

Then, Oscar and Grammy-winning composer Ludwig Goransson joins the show sharing what surprised him about Christopher Nolan while recording the score for his upcoming blockbuster film Tenet, his mesmerizing first trip to Jon Favreau’s office when meeting about writing his now Emmy-nominated score for The Mandalorian, how a song on Community led to a collaboration with Childish Gambino that won the 2019 grammy for record of the year and how he heard his music played by an orchestra for the first time at age seventeen.

This episode is presented by Spitfire Audio.

Follow us on Twitter @ScoreThePodcast, or send Kenny and Robert your questions for the mailbox at ScoreTheMailbox@epicleff.com.

Hosts: Robert Kraft & Kenny Holmes

Executive Producer: Matt Schrader

Coordinator: Carol Kuswanto

© 2020 Epicleff Media

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LONDON — Nationalist lawmakers in Scotland have re-fired the starting gun on independence and set up a potential clash with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, saying they will make plans to hold another public referendum on breaking away from the United Kingdom.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon outlined proposals for a “refreshed case for independence” on Tuesday, launching the first of several policy papers that make the argument for the country’s devolved Parliament to hold a vote — possibly without the consent of the British government, which London says is legally required.

“Scotland under Westminster control is being held back,” Sturgeon told reporters. “For Scotland, independence will put the levers that determine success into our own hands.”

The last Scottish independence referendum was held in 2014, when the majority of Scots (55 percent) voted to stay in the U.K.

However, Sturgeon’s pro-independence Scottish National Party won a majority in Scotland’s Parliament in 2021 and rules with Green Party support.

“The people of Scotland elected a Scottish Parliament with a decisive majority in favor of both independence and the right to choose. The Scottish Parliament therefore has an indisputable democratic mandate, and we intend to honor that,” she told reporters in Edinburgh.

U.K. cancels flight to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda after court challenges

The United Kingdom’s divorce from the European Union has also been a game changer, Sturgeon argues. Scotland voted overwhelmingly against Brexit, 62 percent to 38 percent, during the 2016 vote, which she said left Scotland at a “critical juncture.”

The Scottish National Party has previously said it wants to hold a new vote on independence by the end of 2023.

Johnson staunchly opposes another referendum and said Tuesday that an independence “decision was taken by the Scottish people only a few years ago, in recent memory. I think we should respect that.”

He said all governments across the U.K. should focus on the cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic, urging Sturgeon and other lawmakers to “focus on the things that people really want us to deal with.”

Why Britain’s plan to scrap part of the Brexit deal is so controversial

Sturgeon acknowledged that Johnson’s government would probably contest any effort by the Scottish Parliament to call for a binding referendum without a special order granted by Westminster, but she said that would not deter lawmakers.

“Democracy within the rule of law is how differences of political or constitutional opinion should always be resolved,” she said. “If we are to uphold democracy here in Scotland, we must forge a way forward. … However, we must do so in a lawful manner.”

Such a vote could break up the more than 300-year-old union between Scotland and England. Wales and Northern Ireland also have smaller, devolved parliaments within the U.K. They legislate on matters such as education and health care but rely on Westminster for most funding and other major functions, such as defense.

John Curtice, a leading Scottish pollster and a politics professor at the University of Strathclyde, told the BBC on Tuesday that opinion polls were basically “divided down the middle.”

“If you take the last half dozen polls, they on average point to Yes 48, No 52,” he said on the question of independence. “Both sides need to campaign, because at the moment neither side in the argument can be sure of winning.”

Some Scottish newspapers accused Sturgeon on Wednesday of bowing to pressure to “appease her political base,” while opposition lawmakers there called her announcement a distraction.

“The same old speech from Nicola Sturgeon,” said the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Anas Sarwar. “It’s her taking us back to the politics of the past, focusing on division and strife and trying to pit Scot versus Scot.”

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Placeholder while article actions loadLONDON — Nationalist

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Tech

Pinterest and Tastemade have inked a multiyear content deal that will see the food and lifestyle company produce 50 new shows, events and live programming for the social platform.

Programming under the multimillion-dollar deal will begin to launch later this year and through 2023, according to a Tuesday announcement from the companies. The new shows, produced in at least eight languages, will debut exclusively on Pinterest and feature top creators from both Pinterest and Tastemade across the U.S, Latin America, Europe and the Asia Pacific.

Tastemade will also host in-person events for Pinterest and Tastemade creators at its studios in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Jakarta, Mumbai, São Paulo and Buenos Aires.

The pact between the two companies is the first major deal overseen by Malik Ducard since he joined Pinterest in October from YouTube, where he most recently served as the video giant’s vp content partnerships. (Axios first reported the deal on Tuesday.)

“As one of our largest video partners globally, I’ve been so impressed by how Tastemade has expanded their platform, consistently delivers engaging content, and builds value on Pinterest,” Ducard, Pinterest’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “This is a natural extension of our existing partnership as we scale our content and creator efforts at Pinterest, and I’m thrilled to build something even bigger to inspire Pinners in more languages around the world.”

With Pinterest, Tastemade will also be expanding its areas of focus into beauty, fashion, fitness, parenting and pets, in addition to its well-established presence in food and travel.

“The biggest trends in media are now in video, creators and live streaming – and this partnership addresses all three at global scale,” Tastemade co-founder and CEO Larry Fitzgibbon said. “We have a long track record of deeply engaging the Pinterest audience and are excited to take even more Pinners from inspiration to realization through video storytelling.”

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Video

It is tough to top Spencer Tracy and Steve Martin, and this new Father of the Bride, with its distinctly Latino flavor, seems to know that. But it was 40 years between the classic 1950 first pic, where Tracy got quietly overwhelmed by the impending marriage of daughter Elizabeth Taylor, and the 1991 remake that paired Martin and Diane Keaton in a warm and wonderful update. Both those films spawned immediate sequels, and deservedly so.

Now it has been 30 years since the first remake, and the latest attempt starring Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan is a distinctly Cuban-American-flavored reboot that, while not quite as genuinely warm and funny as its predecessors, manages to prove that this concept of an exasperated father trying to deal with his little girl’s impending nuptials is a truly universal thing, as are the family ties that bind us.

Deadline

Smartly, Garcia — too smart of an actor to do otherwise — does not try to erase the memories of Tracy and Martin but still puts his own stamp on the role of a dad upended by his daughter getting married. And it is all about him, hence the title. Admirably, Warner Bros and the classy Plan B production company run by Oscar winners Brad Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner, and Dede Gardner do not try to emulate what has come before, but instead create a movie that both in front of the cameras and behind gives opportunity where it hasn’t been often done before to the Latino filmmaking community in taking on a crown jewel in the Hollywood firmament and making it come alive on its own terms.

In this version from director Gaz Alazraki (the Mexican smash hit Nosotros Los Nobles) and screenwriter Matt Lopez (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) — who, according to the credits, bases his script on Edward Streeter’s original novel rather than the previous films — there is also a different hook leading us into the main event. Garcia’s Billy Herrera and Estefan’s Ingrid Herrera have decided to call it quits on their marriage after Ingrid just can’t take it anymore. The plan is to announce it to the family at dinner, and that includes to both their daughters Sofia (a spirited Adria Arjona) and Cora (Isabela Merced). Just as about they are to deliver the earth-shattering news, Sofia announces she and boyfriend Ada Castillo (Diego Boneta) have impulsively decided to get married and plan to do it within the month.

This sets all the conflict and comedy in motion as Billy, with his very old-fashioned sensibilities, decides Adan (Diego Boneta) isn’t the right catch for his daughter, largely because Adan is dedicated to helping the world by working for a nonprofit, something Billy thinks will not allow Sofia to live in a style to which she is accustomed. The fact that Adan clearly is a good guy doesn’t seem to enter into it, and the fact that they are moving to Mexico to continue their work really doesn’t sit well with Dad. His negativity does not exactly endear us to the patriarch, even as Garcia does everything in his power to give this guy and his rather plebian and conservative view of family some dimension. The simmering tension between him and Ingrid also stands to put a bit of a sour taste to the proceedings, even though a third-grader could predict how this will all end up.

Comic relief, just as it did with Martin Short’s Franck in the ’90s Father of the Bride films, comes with the arrival of wedding planner Natalie Vance (played purely for laughs by SNL‘s Chloe Fineman), who has to put the frenetic plans in place in order to pull off a major wedding in virtually no time since the bride and groom are in a hurry to tie the knot. Fineman, at times stretching credibility, tries to make the most of it, as does the entire cast, which also includes Pedro Damian as the father of the groom and a host of wonderful Cuban American and Latino supporting players and musical performers. In fact, one of the highlights of this reboot is the terrific soundtrack, which not only includes traditional Cuban music but also the jazz stylings of composer Terence Blanchard’s score.

It is all pleasant enough to revisit the time-honored idea of what a father goes through when he realizes he is no longer the main man in the life of his beloved daughter, and Garcia in particular makes it credible, even when the slapstick threatens to drown everything out. Alazraki fortunately keeps it all on course, and the film should find a welcome audience on HBO Max, where it begins streaming on Thursday just in time for Father’s Day (of course). Paul Michael Perez also is a producers along with Kleiner and Gardner. Check out my video review with scenes from the film at the link above.

Do you plan to see Father of the Bride? Let us know what you think.

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It is tough to top Spencer Tracy

Entertaintment

HBO is juggling multiple television shows for a shot at the Primetime Emmy Awards, which could make them a dominating force in all categories, particularly for directing and writing.

Just wrapping its season finale, “Barry” is expected to match, if not exceed, its previous 18 nomination haul last time. Actor and producer Bill Hader will be among the “locks” for outstanding comedy series and lead actor (comedy). Still, with two previous Emmy noms for directing, he’ll be in the running again with the episode “710N,” the sixth episode that finds the titular hitman attacked by Traci’s gang. Three “Barry” episodes will also vie for attention in the writing categories: “710N” (by Duffy Boudreau), “candy asses” (by Liz Sarnoff) and the finale “starting now” (by Hader and Alec Berg).

Read more: Variety’s Awards Circuit Emmys Predictions Hub

With Zendaya leading the charge for lead actress (drama) for her towering performance in the second season of “Euphoria,” the show is looking for a better showing than its inaugural season, which only landed a single Primetime nom (it received five creative arts noms). In addition, Sam Levinson’s episode “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird,” which he wrote and directed, will seek consideration. Also a showcase for Zendaya’s acting work, it features her character Rue walking into the Howard household where Leslie (Nika King) has staged an intervention with her friends, but not before revealing Cassie’s (Sydney Sweeney) relationship with Nate that ends with Rue burglarizing a house, escaping police and reaching her drug-dealer Laurie’s home (played by guest actress drama contender Martha Kelly).

After taking all five available slots at the Directors Guild of America Awards with “Succession,” the third season of Jesse Armstrong’s satirical comedy has submitted six of its episodes for director consideration: Mark Mylod (“All the Bells Say”), Lorene Scafaria (“Too Much Birthday”), Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman (“Lion in the Meadow”), Andrij Parekh (“What It Takes”), Kevin Bray (“Retired Janitors of Idaho”) and Cathy Yan (“The Disruption”). Armstrong’s episode “All the Bells Say,” will represent in the writing categories.

Another returning winner for HBO is “Hacks” with Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, closing out its eight-episode sophomore season. The show won both writing and directing categories last year, and will look to mimic the success again with Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs (also contending for supporting actor) and Jen Statsky for writing the recently-aired finale, “The One, the Only.” In addition, Aniello will seek a directing nom for helming the season opener, “There Will Be Blood.”

Everett Collection
Everett Collection

The last time “Sex and the City” won an Emmy was in 2004, with lead and supporting actress (comedy) winners Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon walking away with the statuettes. Now with the revival series “And Just Like That…,” it’s still unknown if the new title and return will feel familiar or take a backseat to more recent entries. One of the other returning “City” Emmy winners could be showrunner Michael Patrick King. He was the premiere guest on Variety’s new video series “Showrunner Sitdown” with editor-at-large Kate Aurthur. For directing, King submitted the season finale “Hello It’s Me,” alongside star Nixon, who helmed “Diwali.” For writing, the network submitted the funeral episode “Little Black Dress” and the episode “Sex and the Widow,” penned by Julia Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky.

Fresh off an Oscar nomination for writing “Don’t Look Up,” Adam McKay has four projects pursing Emmy love this year, mostly with HBO. Along with executive producing the HBO docuseries “The Invisible Plot” and a guaranteed mention as one of the producers for “Succession,” he’ll be contending with his own show, “The Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” which has been a subtle awards spoiler waiting in the wings. He’ll be among the hopefuls for directing (drama) for the pilot episode titled “The Swan,” which introduces the audience to the iconic 1980s basketball team with the likes of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Finally, McKay has another shot in the outstanding television movie category with Hulu’s comedy-horror film “Fresh,” starring Sebastian Stan.

In addition to McKay’s episode, HBO also submitted helmers Tanya Hamilton (“Pieces of a Man”) and Salli Richardson-Whitfield (“Promised Land”) for “Winning Time” directing. McKay’s episode was also offered for writing, written by Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht, along with Richardson-Whitfield’s.

One of the frontrunners for outstanding limited or anthology series, the black comedy “The White Lotus,” which was entirely written and directed by Mike White, doesn’t have the daunting task of choosing an episode, as the limited categories don’t require it for someone who helms the show’s entirety.

HBO is also submitting the following:

“The Staircase”
Directing: Antonio Campos (“911”)
Writing: Antonio Campos (“911”), Maggie Cohn (“Seek and Ye Shall”)

“The Flight Attendant”
Directing: Silver Tree (“Seeing Double”) and Pete Chatmon (“Drowning Women”)
Writing: Liz Sagal, Steve Yockey (“Drowning Women”)

“Insecure”
Directing: Melina Matsoukas (“Reunited, Okay?”) and Prentice Penny (“Everything Gonna Be, Okay?”)
Writing: Issa Rae (“Everything Gonna Be, Okay?”), Prentice Penny (“Out, Okay?”), Amy Aniobi (“Reunited, Okay?”)

“Our Flag Means Death”
Directing: Taika Waititi (“Pilot”) and Andrew Deyoung (“Wherever You Go, There You Are”)
Writing: David Jenkins (“Wherever You Go, There You Go Are”) and Jenkins and Yvonne Zima (“Act of Grace”)

“Julia”
Directing: Charles McDougall (“Omelette”) and Melanie Mayron (“Boeuf Beef Bourguignon”)
Writing: Christopher Keyser, Daniel Goldfarb (“Chocolate Soufflé”)

“Peacemaker”
Directing: James Gunn (“It’s Cow or Never”)
Writing: James Gunn (“It’s Cow or Never”)

“Scenes from a Marriage”
Directing: Hagai Levi (“The Illiterates”)
Writing: Hagai Levy (“The Illiterates”)

“The Sex Lives of College Girls”
Directing: Lila Neugebauer (“I Think I’m a Sex Addict”)
Writing: Mindy Kaling, Justin Noble (“Welcome to Essex”)

“DMZ”
Directing: Ernest Dickerson (“Home”)
Writing: Robert Patino (“Home”)

“The Survivor”
Directing: Barry Levinson
Writing: Justine Juel Gillmer

“Station Eleven”
Directing: Hiro Murai (“Wheel of Fire”) and Jeremy Podeswa (“Unbroken Circle”)
Writing: Patrick Somerville (“Unbroken Circle”)

“A Black Lady Sketch Show”
Directing: Bridget Stokes (“Save My Edges, I’m a Donor!”)
Writing: Robin Thede, Tracey Ashley, Alrinthea Carter, Michelle Davis, Sonia Denis, Jonterri Gadson, Chloé Hilliard, Shenovia Large, Natalie McGill

“We Own This City”
Directing: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Writing: George Pelecanos, David Simon (“Part One”)

“The Gilded Age”
Directing: Michael Engler (“Let the Tournament Begin”),
Writing: Julian Fellowes (“Face the Music”)

“The Other Two”
Directing: Chris Kelly (“Pat Connects With Her Fans”)
Writing: Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider (“Chase Gets Baptized” and “Chase and Pat Are Killing It”)

“Minx”
Directing: Rachel Lee Goldenberg (“Not like a shvantz right in the face”)
Writing: Ellen Rapoport (“Not like a shvantz right in the face”)

“Love Life”
Directing: Sam Boyd (“Mia Hines”)
Writing: Rachelle Williams-BenAry, Sam Boyd (“Mia Hines”)

The official prediction charts will launch on Thursday when the Emmy ballots are revealed. You can see the latest predictions on Variety Awards Circuit’s Emmy Collective page.

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Movies

“In 1995, Andy got a toy from his favorite movie. This is that movie.”

So begins “Lightyear,” a new Pixar release that takes a meta approach to the animation studio’s flagship franchise. It isn’t a prequel to “Toy Story,“ exactly, but instead presents the movie that inspired Buzz Lightyear toys in the first place. It’s a potentially clever bit of reverse engineering by the Walt Disney Co., which, after decades of growing merchandizing out of its films, has reversed course. We aren’t exactly through the looking glass, but we may be through the Happy Meal.

It’s honestly a gambit — taking a fictional movie-within-a-movie and making it real — that I’ve wanted to see attempted before. Who hasn’t watched “Seinfeld” and been curious to actually see “Rochelle, Rochelle” or “Sack Lunch”? Or those pseudo Adam Sandler movies like “Mer-man” in Judd Apatow’s “Funny People”? I’ve seen the “Home Alone” movies enough to almost convince myself that “Angels With Even Filthier Souls” is a real gangster flick.

But the truth is, the appeal of all these faux-film cameos — like those that adorn Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” — is predicated on their brevity. So should “Lightyear“ have been a feature film or a Pixar short? The answer, I think, is very much the latter.

The “Toy Story” films, once an almost perfect trilogy, were already stretching toward infinity and beyond with “Toy Story 4,” a nine-years-later-sequel that was perhaps propelled less by a need for narrative closure than it was box-office imperatives. But at the same time, Forky. Forky made it forgivable.

What’s compelling “Lightyear” is harder to say, but there is a bland, vaguely “Planes” feeling here that smacks of a straight-to-video spinoff. Yet unlike that “Cars” detour, “Lightyear” bears the Pixar imprimatur. And, ironically, it’s the first Pixar film in more than two years to debut exclusively in theaters. During the pandemic, “Luca,“ “Soul” and “Turning Red” were all routed instead to Disney+, sometimes reportedly against the objections of Pixar’s own animators.

But “Lightyear,” helmed by “Finding Dory” co-director Angus MacLane (who made some of the “Toy Story” shorts and TV specials that have expanded the film series), arrives in theaters just as summer movies are reaching the stratosphere again. So it may be a bit of a buzzkill to call “Lightyear” — the biggest kids movie to come along in a while — a failed mission.

It’s a surprisingly self-contained film — that opening title card is one of the only tethers to “Toy Story“ — in which the “real” Buzz (drawn more human-like and voiced by Chris Evans, stepping in for Tim Allen), not the toy version, is marooned on a distant planet with fellow Space Ranger Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) and a spaceship full of people. Every time Buzz attempts to rocket into light speed to get help back on Earth, something goes wrong. Each trial takes a day but, back on the faraway planet, everyone else has lived through years. In a blip, Alisha (the first Black LGBTQ character in a major studio animated film) gets engaged, has a baby, sees her son graduate and grows old.

With its classic science-fiction framework, “Lightyear” borrows from “The Twilight Zone,“ “Star Trek,” Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” and others. It’s a little like Pixar made a straightforward sci-fi movie — one with obvious affection for the genre but little of the big-hearted splendor of “WALL-E.” It could be said that unorthodox approach to “Lightyear” allows Pixar to step outside the usual parameters of what the animation studio usually makes. “Lightyear” isn’t ambitious or existential or likely to make you cry. It’s just a flavorless movie, not much different from others.

“Lightyear” picks up a little when Buzz unites with a ragtag crew including Alisha’s granddaughter Izzy (Keke Palmer), the accident-prone Mo Morrison (Taika Waititi, doing his best to add some comic life to the film) and Dale Soules’ aged criminal Darby Steel. Buzz’s most notable companion, though, is a highly intelligent robotic cat named Sox (voiced by “The Good Dinosaur” director Peter Sohn), an especially familiar kind of Disney sidekick surely designed to kickstart a new merchandizing opportunity.

That may be the only circle of life at work in “Lightyear,” a dead-end wrong turn in the usually boundless Pixar universe. Buzz, himself, is a bit of a bore, too. It’s a character that, since he isn’t the Buzz we know, must prove his mettle as a protagonist. But with little to distinguish him beyond a chin that makes Jay Leno’s look petite, Buzz — like the movie itself — tries to skate by on name recognition. It’s enough to make you wonder what Andy saw in him in the first place. Maybe someone should have shown him “Ratatouille.”

“Lightyear,” a Walt Disney Co. release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for action/peril. Running time: 105 minutes. Two stars out of four.

___

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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Film

Dads are hard to shop for: They don’t curate elaborate wish lists the way moms do, and they never seem to want anything, anyway. But the best Father’s Day gifts do exist—you just need to do a bit of digging, and with this gift guide, we’re here to help.

After all, Dad deserves some credit for everything he’s done for you, like teaching you how to ride a bike, dropping you off at the mall, and not kicking you off the family cell phone plan. (Thank you, thank you, thank you.) And don’t forget the other honorary dads in your life—shout out to the grandfathers, brothers, husbands, and friends.

From food subscriptions for the home chef to shirts for the golfer, these unique gift ideas are guaranteed to be a hit, no matter your budget. Drop the cuff links and the “Best Dad Ever” coffee mug—you’ll find all the best Father’s Day gifts below.

Did you know you can shop right here, right now on Glamour? Hit the Glamour Buy Now buttons in this article to start building your cart. Once you’re ready to check out, complete your purchase without ever having to leave the article. Best part? There’s free shipping on all orders. Happy shopping!

All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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Dads are hard to shop for: They

TV

Andy Garcia finds new dimension as an addled Cuban-American dad, but the latest version of this classic tale is oddly dark.

Here’s a weird feeling: the sense that the eponymous father of the bride is right when it comes to his many trepidations about a would-be happy event that is about to consume his life, for better and very much for worse. Edward Streeter’s 1949 novel “Father of the Bride” inspired Vincente Minnelli’s 1950 Best Picture nominee and Charles Shyer’s sterling 1991 version (plus sequels and even a TV series), and now the story receives yet another reimagining, this time through the prism of a vibrant and complicated Cuban-American family led by Andy Garcia as the appropriately addled patriarch.

While many of the film’s beats are familiar, director Gary Alazraki’s version of this classic family comedy often misses one essential ingredient: real humor. Its heart is in the right place, but even its wackiest diversions — including “SNL” star Chloe Fineman trying to put her spin on Martin Short’s indelible wedding planner Franck, plus a fresh take on the two families at its center — fall short of previous versions, and find themselves awkwardly tucked beside far more serious subplots.

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Garcia’s Billy Herrera often feels less nutty and far more pragmatic than his predecessors. It’s a solid performance, but the limitations of Matt Lopez’s script mean it’s not an amusing one, and that levity and lightness is missing from every inch of what should be a comedic slam-dunk. Billy is a dreamer and a hard worker, a bootstrapping immigrant who arrived in this country with nothing — one of his favorite pastimes is sharing increasingly embellished versions of his coming-to-America story — who has become so set in his ways that it’s alienated his beloved family. That includes his long-time wife Ingrid (Gloria Estefan), who is still hungry for new experiences, plus the pair’s two daughters, obvious favorite child Sofia (Adria Arjona) and her more offbeat little sister Cora (Isabel Merced).

In fact, when the film opens, Billy and Ingrid are close to divorce. That’s hardly a zippy, romantic kickoff for a story about the power of true love, but it does serve to further plague Billy. Ingrid wants out of marriage just as Sofia announces she wants in, having fallen head over heels for fellow lawyer Adan (Diego Boneta), who shares her dreams of moving to Mexico and working to help immigrants find the better life Billy carved out for himself long ago. But who exactly is Adan? When did Sofia fall for this dude? Why do they need to get married post-haste, throwing everyone in the family into disarray? Exactly how is Billy going to paper over his own personal drama as they all run toward the chapel of love?

We know this set-up, and we know its rife for comedy and fun, but there’s something decidedly darker about this entry. While the “Father of the Bride” films always followed the emotional arc of the eponymous dad, Alazraki’s take can never quite kick the odd sadness that opens it. Why wouldn’t Billy be opposed to a quickie marriage?

“Father of the Bride”

Claudette Barius

Things do get very silly: Fineman’s appearance as nutty wedding planner Natalie Vance provides some levity (her pronunciation of “Latinx” is instantly iconic), but she never reaches the dizzying highs of Short’s take on the well-meaning goof. Billy and Ingrid’s extended family provides some pop, though most of those characters remain one-note and are pushed aside to make room for Adan’s staggeringly wealthy (and amusingly out of touch) clan. A subplot about Cora’s struggles to break free of her sister’s shadow is picked up and dropped at random, and often feels like padding for a story that should already have plenty going on.

While the film is set in Miami, it was filmed in Atlanta. That Southern city is a fine stand-in for some sequences, but it rarely captures the vibrant locale it’s meant to mimic. Worse still are a handful of green-screened sequences that appear to have been shot on a dark set rather than a sun-drenched canal or a hopping party yacht. Eventually, we know, Sofia and Adan’s wedding will take place at the Herrera home (a staple of this franchise), but before we get there, the family is shunted to various locations that, again, only seem to pad the running time. (One exception is the demented mega-mansion Adan’s dad buys to host the overblown wedding of his dreams, which is destroyed in spectacularly Floridian fashion.)

Getting to that blessed event on the Herreras’ own property is the film’s heart-swelling raison d’être, but this “Father of the Bride” chugs toward it in increasingly addled style. The familial bonds are sweet and often amusing, but pointed bickering often rules the roost. Was Billy right to want to put the brakes on this particular event? For the first time in the storied history of this franchise, yes.

Grade: C+

“Father of the Bride” starts streaming on HBO Max on Thursday, June 16.

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Andy Garcia finds new dimension as an

What to Watch

First time on the podcast I’m having someone from Peter’s season on the show (I believe), and Alayah definitely doesn’t disappoint. Granted, it almost didn’t happen this week because she came down with COVID earlier in the week, but she fought through it and I loved getting the chance to talk to her. So many things covered in this podcast, including getting her side to the Victoria Paul story that I don’t think we’ve ever heard in its entirety. With that said, there’s no need to pile on Alayah or Victoria regarding what happened. It was three years ago, yes, but this is also the first time I’ve been able to speak to her, so of course I’m going to ask about it because it was the biggest drama during her time on the show which didn’t make sense to a lot of people. Hopefully after this podcast, you’ll have a better understanding about their relationship. During the open, I give an update on the last two days of hometown dates for Gabby and Rachel. Hint: While they weren’t spoiled publicly like Saturday’s, Sunday’s, and Monday’s, doesn’t mean I didn’t find out who they were with. Rachel’s 3rd hometown was yesterday and I got video of it. Gabby’s 2nd hometown was on Tuesday that I also have video of. You’ll be getting those shortly. Gabby’s 3rd is today, and hopefully stuff gets posted or sent to me. Rachel’s 4th is tomorrow in LA with Tino Franco. So now you know 3 of Rachel’s 4 hometowns, and you’ll know that last one soon enough. Gabby’s only public one so far was Sunday’s with Erich Schwer in New Jersey. You’ll know who Tuesday’s was with soon enough. Thanks again to Alayah for joining me this week as she will definitely be on in the future.

You can listen to today’s podcast on a number of platforms, but you can also tune in by clicking the player below:


Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Stitcher, Spotify
Music written by Jimmer Podrasky
(B’Jingo Songs/Machia Music/Bug Music BMI)

(SPOILERS) I begin by talking about the hometown dates currently filming on Gabby and Rachel’s season. Then Alayah joins me (10:44) to talk about currently having COVID, her journey in the pageant world that led to her being Miss Texas 2019, how she got cast on the “Bachelor,” the drama surrounding Victoria P. on her season, her wild ride on the show from getting eliminated, getting called back, getting a rose, then going home two days later, and much, much more.

Instagram – @alayahbenavidez
Website: www.threebeesathome.com

CampaignZero – link
8CantWait – link
PoliceScorecard – link

Send all links and emails to: steve@realitysteve.com. To follow me on Twitter, it’s: www.twitter.com/RealitySteve. Instagram name is RealitySteve, or join my Reality Steve Facebook Fan Page. Talk to you next week.






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Awards

The end of the final full day of the 2022 Banff World Media Festival saw the Canadian confab reward barrier-breaking projects and honor a departed genius.

Tonight’s Rockie Awards Gala handed out the Program of the Year Award and the Grand Jury Prize to CBC sitcom Sort Of and Channel 4’s Jodie Comer-Stephen Graham pandemic TV movie Help, respectively. As was previously announced, the Jully Black-hosted Banff ceremony also posthumously awarded the Canadian Award of Distinction to Jean-Marc Vallée. The Montreal-born Dallas Buyers Club, Wild and Big Little Lies director died late last year.

‘Dune’ Production Designer Patrice Vermette Pays Tribute To Late Jean-Marc Vallée In Oscar Speech

Back for an in-person festival up in the stunning Alberta mountains for the first time since 2019, Banff honored Netflix Global TV boss Bela Bajaria with the Rockies’ Impact Award and Vivica A. Fox with the 2022 Inclusion Award. See the full list of awards given out on Tuesday and their category definitions below.

Set and filmed in Comer and Graham’s hometown of Liverpool, Help sees the Killing Eve alum playing Sarah, a recently certified worker in a care home. The Marc Munden-directed film finds her beginning to work with and develop a strong connection with Tony (Graham), a middle-aged man with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Against the backdrop of the pandemic’s devastating early months, Sarah is left virtually alone to assist Tony and the other patients in the home.

The Jack Thorne-penned Help debuted on the UK’s Channel 4 in September. In late May, Comer won her second British Academy Award for her performance. Graham was nominated for Lead Actor, and the film itself was nominated for Best Single Drama.

Created by showrunners Bilal Baig (Acha Bacha), who also stars, and Fab Filippo, Sort Of is a Toronto-based coming-of-age story that follows the journey of Sabi Mehboob (Baig). Sabi is gender-fluid first-generation Pakistani-Canadian millennial who straddles various identities from sexy bartender at an LGBTQ bookstore/bar to the youngest child in a large and sometimes overwhelming family to the de facto parent of a downtown T.O. hipsters.

Sort Of debuted on CBC in October and premiered on HBO Max a month later. An official selection of the 2021 Toronto Film Festival, the series was renewed for a second season on both outlets on February 25 this year.

Having kicked off on June 12, the jam packed 2022 Banff World Media Festival concludes tomorrow.

See the full list of the 2022 Rockie Awards Gala winners below:

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: Sort Of
The Program of the Year award is presented to an outstanding, critically acclaimed, ground-breaking, and/or highly rated program from within the last calendar year. Past recipients include: It’s a Sin, This is Us, Handmaid’s Tale, Making a Murderer and Surviving R. Kelly.

THE GRAND JURY PRIZE: Help
The Grand Jury Prize is awarded to the highest scoring project in the Rockies Program Competition by the festival’s specially appointed Grand Jury of industry executives. Past recipients include: I May Destroy You, Fleabag, Big Little Lies, Planet Earth II and Sharp Objects.

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED:

IMPACT AWARD: Bela Bajaria (Head of Global TV, Netflix)
Presented by The Hollywood Reporter, this award is bestowed annually to an individual or group that has made a significant and impactful contribution to screen-based entertainment. Past honorees include: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Shore, accepting on behalf of ​The Good Doctor; Anthony Anderson, accepting on behalf of ​black-ish; and Justin Simien accepting on behalf of Dear White People.

SIR PETER USTINOV COMEDY AWARD: Ana Gasteyer (American Auto, Saturday Night Live)
The award recognizes a creative talent who has made an outstanding comedic contribution to the media industry. Past honorees include: Kenan Thompson, Sean Hayes, John Cleese, Tracey Ullman, Bob Newhart, Tantoo Cardinal, John Candy and Bill Hader.

INCLUSION AWARD: Vivica A. Fox (Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2, Empire)
Presented by A+E, the Inclusion Award recognizes an individual whose efforts and vision in media champion and reflect the diversity of the world in which we live. Past Honorees include: Danielle Brooks, LeVar Burton, Jonathan Murray and Elizabeth Vargas.

Jean-Marc Vallée will be posthumously awarded the CANADIAN AWARD OF DISTINCTION
Presented by the Canada Media Fund (CMF/FMC) and MadeNous, the award is given to a Canadian whose body of work exemplifies outstanding achievement in the entertainment industry. Past Honorees include: Simu Liu, Eric McCormack, Kim Cattrall and Sheila Hockin.

INNOVATIVE PRODUCER AWARD: Eagle Vision
Presented by Lionsgate, the Innovative Producer Award recognizes the entrepreneurial excellence and achievements of an independent producer in TV/digital media. Past honorees include: Sinking Ship Entertainment, Wattpad Studios, Scott Brothers Entertainment, New Metric Media, Wolf + Rabbit, Don Carmody and marblemedia.

CREATIVE VOICE AWARD: Rose Matafeo (Starstruck, Funny Girls)
The creative voice award is bestowed on an executive or creative talent that has created outstanding work that breaks through, inspiring and connecting global audiences.

SHOWRUNNER OF THE YEAR: Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson and Jonathan Lisco (Yellowjackets)
Presented by Variety, Showrunner of the Year recognizes exceptional achievement of a showrunner or writer/producer for their creative vision, overseeing from development, through pre- to post-production, and as the driving force of a series. Past honorees include: Jed Mercurio, Moira Walley-Beckett, John Ridley, Damon Lindelof, Joey Soloway and Clyde Phillips.

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The end of the final full day

Music

After nearly a decade together, the seven members of BTS need some time apart.

The Korean boy band released a video on Tuesday discussing the members’ desire to take a break from their current arrangement in order to explore their individual music careers; the move, they said, would also take some pressure off their lives as international pop sensations.

“We’ve talked among ourselves several times and we believe it’s good to take some time apart,” J-Hope, one of the members, said in the video. “I hope that people don’t think negatively about this step and that they see this is a healthy, important part of our plan that will let BTS grow stronger.”

But messages of support and heartbreak from the group’s dedicated fan base — known as Army — became tinged with confusion on Tuesday when news organizations reported that the entertainment company associated with the Grammy-nominated band had released a statement saying that BTS was not, in fact, taking a hiatus and that its members were simply focusing more on solo projects. The statement said BTS will “remain active in various different formats.”

The BTS video was released as the K-pop group celebrated the ninth anniversary of its debut. While chatting and reminiscing over a meal, the members — J-Hope, RM, Jin, Suga, Jimin, V and Jungkook — touched on some of the challenges they were facing as artists, including the pressure to keep churning out hit songs.

“I should be writing about what I’m feeling and the stories I want to tell,” Suga said, “but I’m just forcefully squeezing out words because I need to satisfy someone.”

RM, who often speaks for the group in English — including at a recent White House visit — said it was challenging for him to balance his own artistic work with the demands of acting as a kind of group spokesman.

The singers seemed to agree that some time focusing on their solo careers would strengthen their future collaborations and would ultimately be in the service of their fans. And future solo performances are already on the books: Earlier this month, Lollapalooza, a music festival in Chicago, announced that J-Hope would be a headliner at the event this summer.

“I want to keep performing,” RM said, “but I feel like I’ve lost direction.”

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After nearly a decade together, the seven

Docs

Filmmaker Hao Wu is a Chinese American male. Seen here sitting and eating at a table with his child, his family members, and partner. From Hao Wu’s ‘All in My Family.’ Courtesy of Netflix.Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. 

It’s Pride Month here in the US, and while we celebrate the work and art of our queer colleagues all year, we wanted to use this week’s Screen Time to showcase some of our favorite documentaries on queer participants, down the ages. We hope these films bring out the intersectionality and the many joys and struggles of living as queer people in this country. 

Back in 2012, David France, who reported extensively on the AIDS crisis as a journalist, made How to Survive a Plague to tell the world of the relentless activism of young men and women who fought against prejudice, hatred, and an apathetic government. Watch the film on Google Play.

In The Paint Wizzard, Jessie Auritt and Jessica Wolfson document the life of Millicent McCrory, a house painter in Austin, Texas, who decided to come out as a trans woman at 58. As much as it documents the joy in Millie’s life as a woman, it also brings out the grief and pain her inner struggles cause her. Watch the film on The New Yorker. 

Sure we love the glitter and the joy of Pride marches, but some young queer people in the country continue to live through the harshest and cruelest social structures and behaviors. Documentaries like Kristine Stolakis’ Pray Away educate us and hold space for the pain that many queer people suffer. Watch the film on Netflix.

Also on Netflix is Hao Wu’s All in My Family, which documents the queer filmmaker’s redefining of what a family looks like in modern America. As he and his partner decide to have children through surrogacy, the filmmaker negotiates the cultures and traditions of his Chinese family and tries to resolve the disruptions that emerge through his journey. 

In the hybrid documentary The AIDS Show, filmmakers Peter Adair and Rob Epstein draw inspiration from the long-running eponymous Theatre Rhinoceros stage production. Excerpts from the play are interspersed with interviews and punctuated by voiceovers, in order to bring out the devastating impact the AIDS crisis had on the LGBTQI+ community, especially gay men. 

Nikolai Ursin’s Behind Every Good Man was made in 1967, years before the historic Stonewall Riots. An early documentary on the life of an African-American trans woman, the short was preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive as part of the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project. Watch it on YouTube.

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Global

Volodymyr Zelensky‘s top adviser has told the West to dramatically step up deliveries of heavy weapons if Ukraine is to defeat Russia‘s invasion.

Mykhailo Podolyak said Monday that Kyiv needs 1,000 howitzers, 300 rocket artillery systems, 500 tanks, 2,000 armoured vehicles and 1,000 drones ‘to end the war’. 

The eye-watering shopping list amounts to an army’s-worth of Western equipment and goes well beyond both what has been supplied so far and what Ukraine itself has been requesting.

Put in context, 500 new tanks would be more than the UK and Germany have in active service combined, while 1,000 howitzers and 300 rocket launchers is more than the US currently has in active service.

The US has supplied a little over 100 howtizers to Ukraine so far while the US and UK combined are thought to have sent seven rocket systems.

Podolyak published the list amid heavy fighting in Ukraine’s east – where Russia has this week issued a ‘surrender or die’ order to troops defending a key Donbas city – and ahead of a Wednesday meeting in Brussels to discuss weapons supplies.

Ukraine has asked its Western allies to supply an additional 1,000 artillery guns in order to put them on a level footing with Russian forces in the Donbas (pictured, a US M777 howitzer)

Ukraine also wants another 500 tanks which it says are needed to 'win' against Russia (pictured, the German Leopard 2 tank which Spain was considering sending to Kyiv)

Ukraine also wants another 500 tanks which it says are needed to ‘win’ against Russia (pictured, the German Leopard 2 tank which Spain was considering sending to Kyiv)

Zelensky's adviser said 300 multiple-launch rocket systems are also required, with the US and UK having sent just seven so far (pictured, M270 MLRS)

Zelensky’s adviser said 300 multiple-launch rocket systems are also required, with the US and UK having sent just seven so far (pictured, M270 MLRS)

Ukraine’s ‘shopping list’

– 1,000 howitzers, chambered in 155mm NATO-standard shells

– 300 multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS)

– 500 tanks

– 2,000 armoured vehicles

– 1,000 drones 

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Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, will chair the meeting, while UK defence secretary Ben Wallace will be in attendance.

It is the third such meeting of Western defence ministers in recent months, after the first summit in late April brought together 40 nations to discuss Ukraine’s security.

But such is the scale of Podolyak’s new request that it is unclear whether the allies would even be capable of supplying Ukraine with what it needs without leaving their own stockpiles critically low.

And that is before factoring in shipments of spare parts, ammunition, fuel, and other equipment needed to keep those weapon systems running.

Germany, which has already baulked at some of the relatively moderate requests coming out of Kyiv to date, is almost certain to oppose the plans.

Berlin has committed to supplying weapons to Kyiv – including cutting edge anti-air systems and howitzers – but they have still not arrived in the country.

Chancellor Scholz has also blocked or delayed supplies of other equipment, such as Marder armoured vehicles which manufacturer Rheinmetall has offered to donate, and German-made Leopard 2 tanks which Spain offered last week.

Joe Biden has not placed hard limits on what the US is willing to give, only saying his objective is to achieve ‘a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression.’

Severodonetsk is the current frontline of fighting in Ukraine's Donbas, with control of the city shifting week-to-week - and with Russia currently dominant

Severodonetsk is the current frontline of fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas, with control of the city shifting week-to-week – and with Russia currently dominant

Liz Truss, the UK foreign secretary, has gone beyond that – saying the objective is to push Russia back beyond Ukraine’s internationally accepted borders, while vowing to go ‘further and faster’ with weapons deliveries until that goal is met.

Doing so would mean Ukraine not just recapturing all the territory it has lost since the current war began on February 24, but also taking back areas of the Donbas and Crimea occupied after the last war in 2014.

Pivotal to that goal will be the outcome of the ongoing battle for Donbas, where Russia and Ukraine are locked into bloody long-range artillery duels and bitter street-to-street fighting in the city of Severodonetsk.

Russian forces on Monday blew up the last remaining bridge connecting the city with its sister, Lysychansk which sits on high ground across the Donets River, making efforts to resupply and reinforce units in the city very difficult.

As news of the bridge’s destruction emerged, Eduard Basurin – spokesman for Russian-backed rebel armies in Ukraine’s east – told the city’s last defenders to ‘surrender or die’ in the face of the Russian assault.

‘Ukrainian divisions that are there [in Severodonetsk] are there forever,’ he said.

Kyiv has admitted the bridge was destroyed but denied defenders in the city are cut off, saying supply lines are still running although they are ‘complicated’.

Oleksandr Stryuk, head of administration in Severodonetsk, said today: ‘Massive shelling has destroyed a third bridge. But the city is not isolated.’

He said Ukrainian troops ‘continue to defend the city’ and that there is round-the-clock fighting, adding that the ground situation ‘changes every hour’.

He estimated that there are ‘around 540 to 560’ civilians hiding in the shelters of the city’s chemical Azot plant, and that it is becoming ‘difficult’ to support them.

American self-propelled M109 howitzers are pictured on the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, as Kyiv asks the West to send more heavy equipment

American self-propelled M109 howitzers are pictured on the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, as Kyiv asks the West to send more heavy equipment

Ukrainian special forces take part in training missions in forests near the city of Kharkiv, as they prepare to deploy to the frontlines

Ukrainian special forces take part in training missions in forests near the city of Kharkiv, as they prepare to deploy to the frontlines 

A Ukrainian soldier waves to the camera atop a BMP-2 fighting vehicle, with Kyiv requesting another 2,000 similar vehicles from the West

A Ukrainian soldier waves to the camera atop a BMP-2 fighting vehicle, with Kyiv requesting another 2,000 similar vehicles from the West

Regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said Tuesday Russian forces were firing at the plant.

‘Russian forces are trying to encircle units of our troops,’ Gaiday said, a day after conceding Moscow’s army controlled ‘more than 70 percent’ of the city.

He said Moscow’s forces in the city had been reinforced by ‘two tactical battalion groups’.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Monday that the battle for Severodonetsk was taking a ‘terrifying’ human toll.

In his nightly address, the Ukrainian President said the battle for Donbas “will go down in military history as one of the most brutal battles in Europe and for Europe” 

He expressed confidence in Ukraine’s ability to reclaim territory, calling on the nation’s allies to send more weapons.

‘We just need enough weapons to ensure all of this. Our partners have them.’

The capture of Severodonetsk would open the road to Sloviansk and another major city, Kramatorsk, in Moscow’s push to conquer Donbas, a mainly Russian-speaking region partly held by pro-Kremlin separatists since 2014.

On Monday, Amnesty International accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, saying that attacks on the northeastern city of Kharkiv – many using banned cluster bombs – had killed hundreds of civilians.

‘The repeated bombardments of residential neighbourhoods in Kharkiv are indiscriminate attacks which killed and injured hundreds of civilians, and as such constitute war crimes,’ the rights group said in a report about Ukraine’s second-biggest city.

In Bucha, a town near Kyiv that has become synonymous with war crimes allegations, police said they had discovered another seven bodies in a grave.

‘Several victims had their hands tied and knees bound,’ Kyiv regional police chief Andriy Nebytov said on Facebook.

Dozens of bodies in civilian clothing were found in the town in April after Russian troops withdrew from the area following a month-long occupation.

Elsewhere in northern Ukraine on Monday, Russian rocket strikes hit the town of Pryluky, authorities said.

Destruction is seen in the city of Bakhmut, a key logistics hub close to the frontline with Russia, as fighting continues to rage in the Donbas

Destruction is seen in the city of Bakhmut, a key logistics hub close to the frontline with Russia, as fighting continues to rage in the Donbas

Locals in Bakhmut, a city close to the Donbas front lines, clear their destroyed homes after they were blown up by a Russian artillery strike

Locals in Bakhmut, a city close to the Donbas front lines, clear their destroyed homes after they were blown up by a Russian artillery strike

Pryluky, which lies about 150 kilometres (93 miles) east of the capital, is home to a military airfield.

In Donetsk, separatist authorities said three people were killed and four wounded in Ukrainian shelling on a market.

The nearby city of Lysychansk has been massively damaged after months of shelling, with no water, electricity or phone signal.

Ukrainian artillery uses the city’s high ground to exchange fire with Russian forces fighting for control of Severodonetsk, just across the river.

Lysychansk resident Maksym Katerin buried his mother and stepfather in his garden Monday after a shell ripped through his yard, killing them instantly.

‘I don’t know who did this, but if I knew, I would tear off their arms,’ said Katerin.

Katerin’s neighbour Yevgeniya Panicheva wept, saying Katerin’s mother ‘was lying here, her stomach was ripped and her guts were falling out. She was a very good, kind and helpful woman. Why did they do this to her?’

‘They bomb and they bomb and we don’t know what to do.’

A six-year-old boy was also killed in the city on Sunday, police told AFP.

Far from the battlefield, World Trade Organization members gathered in Geneva to address the threat to global food security since Russia’s invasion.

Ukraine’s deputy agriculture minister said on Monday that a quarter of his country’s arable land had been lost but insisted national food security was not threatened.

On a farm near the southern Ukrainian city Mykolaiv, the harvest has been delayed by the need to undo damage by Russian troops who passed through the area in March.

‘We planted really late because we needed to clear everything beforehand,’ including bombshells, Nadiia Ivanova, 42, told AFP.

The farm’s warehouses currently hold 2,000 tonnes of last season’s grain but there are no takers.

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Volodymyr Zelensky's top adviser has told the

Tech

SAN FRANCISCO — No one wanted to miss out on the cryptocurrency mania.

Over the last two years, as the prices of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies surged, crypto start-ups proliferated. Companies that market digital coins to investors flooded the airwaves with TV commercials, newfangled lending operations offered sky-high interest rates on crypto deposits and exchanges like Coinbase that allow investors to trade digital assets went on hiring sprees.

A global industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars rose up practically overnight. Now it is crashing down.

After weeks of plummeting cryptocurrency prices, Coinbase said on Tuesday that it was cutting 18 percent of its employees, after layoffs at other crypto companies like Gemini, BlockFi and Crypto.com. High-profile start-ups like Terraform Labs have imploded, wiping away years of investments. On Sunday, an experimental crypto bank, Celsius, abruptly halted withdrawals.

The pullback in the crypto ecosystem illustrates the precariousness of the structure built around these risky and unregulated digital assets. The total value of the cryptocurrency market has dropped by about 65 percent since autumn, and analysts predict the sell-off will continue. Stock prices of crypto companies have cratered, retail traders are fleeing and industry executives are predicting a prolonged slump that could put more companies in jeopardy.

“The tide has gone out in crypto, and we’re seeing that many of these businesses and platforms rested on shaky and unsustainable foundations,” said Lee Reiners, a former Federal Reserve official who teaches at Duke University Law School. “The music has stopped.”

Cryptocurrencies are digital coins exchanged using networks of computers that verify transactions, rather than a centralized entity like a bank. For years, they have been marketed as a hedge against inflation caused by central banks flooding the economy with money. Bitcoin, the most valuable cryptocurrency, has a built-in limit to its supply.

But now with stocks crashing, interest rates soaring and inflation high, cryptocurrency prices are also collapsing, showing they have become tied to the overall market. And as people pull back from crypto investments, the outflow is exposing the unstable foundations of many of the industry’s most popular companies.

More than 62 crypto start-ups are now worth $1 billion or more, according to CB Insights, a firm that tracks private financing. Last year, the industry received more than $25 billion in venture funding across roughly 1,700 deals, according to research from The Block. OpenSea, the largest marketplace for the unique digital images known as nonfungible tokens, reached a staggering $13 billion valuation. And Wall Street banks such as JPMorgan Chase, which previously shunned crypto assets, and Fortune 500 companies like PayPal rolled out crypto offerings.

Many of these companies are equipped to survive a downturn in cryptocurrency prices. But cutbacks are likely to continue as they adjust their strategies after years of excessive growth. Among the most vulnerable may be start-ups that launched their own cryptocurrencies, as prices plummet across the board.

Some industry experts have long said the exuberant growth of the last two years wasn’t going to last forever, comparing it to the late-1990s dot-com boom. At the time, dozens of dot-com companies were going public amid hysteria over the early promise of the internet, even though few of them made money. When confidence evaporated in the early 2000s, many of the dot-coms went bust, leaving just the biggest — such as eBay, Amazon and Yahoo — standing.

This time, investors predict there will be more survivors. “You certainly have some overhyped companies that don’t have the fundamentals,” said Mike Jones, an investor at the venture firm Science Inc. “But you also have some really strong companies that are trading way below they should.”

There have been warning signs that some crypto companies were not sustainable. Skeptics have pointed out that many of the most popular firms offered products underpinned by risky financial engineering.

Terraform Labs, for example, offered TerraUSD, a so-called stablecoin with a fixed value linked to the U.S. dollar. The coin was hyped by its founder, Do Kwon, who raised more than $200 million from major investment firms such as Lightspeed Venture Partners and Galaxy Digital, even as critics warned that the project was unstable.

The coin’s price was algorithmically linked to a sister cryptocurrency, Luna. When the price of Luna plummeted in May, TerraUSD fell in tandem — a “death spiral” that destabilized the broader market and plunged some investors into financial ruin.

This week, Celsius’s announcement that it was freezing withdrawals had a similar impact. Celsius had aggressively marketed its banklike lending service to customers, promising yields as high as 18 percent if they deposited their crypto holdings with the company.

For months, critics wondered how Celsius could sustain such high yields without putting its depositors’ funds in jeopardy through risky investments. The company drew scrutiny from several state regulators. In the end, a drop in crypto prices appeared to put the company under more pressure than it could withstand.

With the price of Bitcoin tumbling, Celsius announced on Sunday that it was freezing withdrawals “due to extreme market conditions.” The company did not respond to a request for comment.

The market instability has also triggered a crisis at Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange. Between the end of 2021 and late March, Coinbase lost 2.2 million active customers, or 19 percent of its total, as crypto prices dropped. The company’s net revenue in the first three months of the year shrank 27 percent from a year earlier, to $1.2 billion. Its stock price has plunged 84 percent since it went public last year.

This month, Coinbase said it would rescind job offers and extend a hiring freeze to battle the economic downturn. On Tuesday, it said it would cut about 1,100 workers.

Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s chief executive, informed employees of the layoffs in a note on Tuesday morning, saying the company “grew too quickly” as crypto products became popular.

“It is now clear to me that we over-hired,” he wrote. A Coinbase spokesman declined to comment.

“It had been growth at all costs over the last several years,” said Ryan Coyne, who covers crypto companies and financial technology at the Mizuho Group. “It’s now turned to profitable growth.”

Gemini, the crypto exchange led by the billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, also announced this month that it was laying off 10 percent of its work force. In a memo to staff, the Winklevoss twins said the industry had entered a “crypto winter.”

But they also expressed optimism about the future of the industry. “The crypto revolution is well underway and its impact will continue to be profound,” they wrote in a memo. “But its trajectory has been anything but gradual or predictable.”

Last year, the Singapore-based exchange Crypto.com aired a now-notorious TV commercial starring the actor Matt Damon, who declared that “fortune favors the brave” as he encouraged investors to put their money in the crypto market. Last week, Crypto.com’s chief executive announced that he was laying off 5 percent of the staff, or 260 people. On Monday, BlockFi, a crypto lending operation, said it was reducing its staff by roughly 20 percent.

Gemini and BlockFi declined to comment. A Crypto.com spokesman said the company remains focused on “investing resources into product and engineering capabilities to develop world-class products.”

Cryptocurrencies have long been volatile and prone to boom-and-bust cycles. In 2013, a Chinese ban on Bitcoin sent its price tumbling. In 2017, a proliferation of companies creating and selling their own tokens led to a run-up in crypto prices, which crashed after regulators cracked down on so-called initial coin offerings.

These bubbles are built into the ecosystem, crypto enthusiasts said. They attract talented people to the industry, who go on to build valuable projects. Many of the most vocal cheerleaders encourage investors to “buy the dip,” or invest more when prices are low.

“We have been in these downward spirals before and recovered,” Mr. Jones, the Science Inc. investor, said. “We all believe in the fundamentals.”

Some of the companies have also remained defiant. During Game 5 of the N.B.A. finals on Monday night, Coinbase aired a commercial that alluded to past boom-and-bust cycles.

“Crypto is dead,” it declared. “Long live crypto.”

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SAN FRANCISCO — No one wanted to

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Making a documentary can be hard, but making a documentary without your main subjects might seem nearly impossible. Sara Dosa rose to that challenge while directing “Fire of Love,” which tells the story of famed French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Herber, who spent their lives documenting every volcanic eruption they could on video. Some decades later, Dosa was able to use that footage (more than 200 hours of it, without any sound) to craft a narrative that is, as she puts it, “a love triangle story, a story about these two humans who also have a love relationship with a volcano.”

“We probably watched about 250 hours of footage. About 200 of that was original footage that Katia and Maurice Krafft shot, and then about 50 hours was recordings, documentaries, television, broadcasts of Katie and Maurice themselves,” Dosa told senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay for Variety‘s Doc Dreams presented by National Geographic. “Because there wasn’t sound, we had to do a ton of research to try to really understand what we were looking at. Luckily, Katia and Maurice provided that information for us. They authored nearly 20 books. There’s many biographies about them. There’s documentaries that had been made about them when they were alive.”

While Dosa’s team re-created much of the natural sound, from car engines to noisy explosions, they were also led by a more abstract approach, in which they were “guided by a sense of intuition,” as Dosa put it.

“We tried to rely, actually, on some of the tropes and hallmark style of the French New Wave as a guide,” Dosa said. “The French New Wave very much formed the cultural backdrop when Katia and Maurice were coming of age. One of the hallmarks of that aesthetic movement was associative editing. For us, when we had all of these pieces from all around the world, beautiful imagery, but a lot of times, we would be met with juxtapositions that didn’t quite make sense to us. We would be guided by a sense of intuition about how to put those together.”

Watch the full video above.

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Making a documentary can be hard, but

Entertaintment

HamptonsFilm has unveiled the lineup for its 14th annual SummerDocs series and it includes Sara Dosa’s “Fire of Love,” Daniel Roher’s “Navalny” and Jason Kohn’s “Nothing Lasts Forever.” Presented by Alec Baldwin with co-curation from David Nugent, artistic director of the affiliated Hamptons Intl. Film Festival, each screening will be followed by a conversation with that documentary’s director.

The series will kick-off on June 25 with “Fire of Love.” Following a successful Sundance debut, National Geographic Documentary Films acquired the worldwide rights to the docu. Neon subsequently partnered with Nat Geo to release the film about married volcanologists on July 6.

Roher’s “Navalny” will screen on July 23 followed by a Q&A led by Baldwin. About Alexei Navalny, the leader of the Russian opposition who survived an assassination attempt by poisoning with a lethal nerve agent in August 2020, “Navalny” premiered at Sundance to rave reviews and received both the audience and festival favorite awards. CNN and HBO Max released the film on April 24.

The SummerDocs series will conclude on Aug. 12 with Showtime’s “Nothing Lasts Forever.” The doc made its world premiere at the 2022 Berlin Intl. Film Festival. Directed by Kohn, the film examines the highly secretive diamond industry and uncovers a vast, far-reaching crime that threatens the value of every diamond ever mined.

“As always, we strive to program our SummerDocs series with some of the year’s most talked-about documentaries, and our fourteenth edition is no exception,” Nugent said. “We are excited to share a diverse lineup of award-winning films that illustrate incredible stories and topical issues that matter to our audiences.”

In the past, SummerDocs selections “Summer of Soul,” “Icarus,” “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Last Days in Vietnam,” “The Cove,” “Searching for Sugar Man” and “How to Survive a Plague” have gone on to receive Academy Award wins or nominations.

“SummerDocs is an annual highlight for our audiences out East, and we are delighted to welcome film lovers to East Hampton to enjoy the fine documentaries Alec and David have worked hard to carefully select,” said HamptonsFilm executive director Anne Chaisson.

Other summer programming includes the return of the outdoor screening series at Herrick Park in the East Hampton all summer. HamptonsFilm will host a free screening of classic films every Wednesday evening at sunset. In addition, HamptonsFilm will also be offering an in-person film camp from July 11-15 for students ages 8-15.

All screenings will be held at the Regal UA East Hampton Cinema.Tickets for individual screenings will be sold for $35 and are available for purchase at the HamptonsFilm website.

The 30th annual Hamptons International Film Festival will take place from Oct. 7 – 16.

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HamptonsFilm has unveiled the lineup for its

Movies

The simple, charming premise of “Lightyear” is explained in an onscreen text. “In 1995, a boy named Andy got a toy from his favorite movie. This is that movie.” In other words, it’s the origin story not of a hero but of a piece of merchandise, one that started out fictional but long ago crossed the boundary into real life. More than one hard plastic Buzz Lightyear lived in my house for a long time, just like in Andy’s. To be part of the “Toy Story” universe is to be intimately acquainted with the metaphysics of the commodity form.

This Buzz is a little different, though. He isn’t a toy, and he doesn’t sound like Tim Allen, who did the voice work in the four chapters of Pixar’s “Toy Story” cycle. He’s a real live animated make-believe Space Ranger, and he speaks in the manly baritone of Chris Evans, who played Captain America over in the Marvel Universe zone of the Disney empire.

Like Cap, Buzz is square-jawed, stoic and shadowed by a hint of melancholy — a soulful soldier in an endless corporate campaign. If “Lightyear” lacks both the sublimity and the giddy inventiveness of the best “Toy Story” movies, that may be by design. This isn’t supposed to be a 21st-century masterpiece, but a kid-friendly, merch-spawning movie from 1995. (That was a pretty good year for commercial cinema, by the way.) The Buzz Lightyear toy was meant to stick around after the movie had been forgotten, and to populate a richer, more varied imaginative landscape.

“Lightyear,” directed by Angus MacLane from a script by Jason Headley, aims to please by pandering, to be good-enough entertainment. As such, it succeeds in a manner more in line with second-tier Disney animation than with top-shelf Pixar. The hero, fighting off an invasion force of alien robots, falls in with a motley group of misfits, in whom he must instill the competence and confidence necessary for the task. The action is wrapped in lessons, delivered in a manner that isn’t too preachy, about how it’s OK to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. And there is a scene-stealing animal sidekick, in this case a robot cat named SOX, voiced in perfect feline-A.I. deadpan by Peter Sohn.

A few soft-boiled Easter eggs pop up to connect “Lightyear” with various “Toy Story” episodes. Remember Zurg? He’s back, with James Brolin’s growl and a secret I won’t spoil. An early section — a kind of extended prologue to the main action — recalls the celebrated montage in “Up” that compresses a long marriage into a few short minutes. This time, the focus is on the friendship between Buzz and his closest colleague, Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba), who crash-land a crowded space vessel on a distant planet.

Buzz doggedly tries to plan an escape, which means embarking on a series of test flights intended to reach hyperspeed. Each journey lasts a few minutes, which equals four years on the planet’s surface. Buzz stays the same age as Alisha marries, has a son and then a granddaughter, grows old gracefully and is gone.

Her life amounts to a sweet sidebar, a touching miniature movie-within-the-movie. But it also might make you wonder what it would look like if the story were told the other way around, with Alisha at the center. The person she marries is a woman, and a brief display of affection between them has already led some countries to ban “Lightyear,” which deals with the characters’ sexuality in a commendably matter-of-fact manner. At the same time, their marginality to the main plot makes it feel as if the filmmakers were content to check a diversity box, pat themselves on the back and move on.

What they move on to is an energetic, somewhat familiar adventure, with a few moments of lovely deep-space animation. Buzz teams up with Alisha’s now grown granddaughter, Izzy (Keke Palmer), and two other Star Command trainees: Darby (Dale Soules), a salty ex-convict, and Mo (Taika Waititi), an all-purpose goofball. And, of course, the robot cat.

It’s possible that, in 1995, “Lightyear” could have been an 8-year-old boy’s favorite movie, but that’s not really the point. Its purpose is to extend brand awareness, and to close a loop between the stuff we see and the stuff we buy.

Usually the movie comes first, but not always, as the “Transformers” franchise demonstrated. Greta Gerwig is making a Barbie movie. And within the “Toy Story” cosmos, the possibilities are endless. How about a Forky docuseries? Or “Shepherdess,” a folk-horror retelling of the Bo Peep story? Personally, I’d be most excited about “La Testa di Patata,” an uninhibited Italian romantic comedy about the courtship of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.

Lightyear
Rated PG. Robot danger. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. In theaters.

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The simple, charming premise of “Lightyear” is

Film

Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Joey King are set to star in an untitled romantic comedy that Richard LaGravenese will direct for Netflix.

LaGravenese — the screenwriter of such movies as The Fisher King, The Bridges of Madison County and Behind the Candelabra — also co-wrote the script with Carrie Solomon, the rising scribe who is working on the Margot Robbie-centric Ocean’s 11 prequel set up at Warner Bros.

While logline details are vague, the streamer notes the feature project sees a surprising romance kick off comic consequences for a young woman, her mother and her movie star boss as they face the complications of love, sex and identity.

Joe Roth, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Alyssa Altman are producing via Roth/Kirschenbaum Films. The prolific banner just saw its Adam Sandler drama Hustle debut on Netflix and is teeing up the Russo Bros. action movie The Gray Man for the streamer next.

A late summer start in Atlanta is being eyed.

Kidman was recently nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos and appeared in Robert Eggers’ Viking drama The Northman.

Efron starred in Blumhouse’s update of Stephen King’s Firestarter and recently wrapped production on The Greatest Beer Run Ever, being directed by Peter Farrelly.

King became a star thanks to toplining and breaking out in Netfllix’s teen romance movie trilogy, The Kissing Booth. She next stars in Hulu and 20th Century Studios’ medieval action movie, The Princess, debuting July 1, and then appears with Brad Pitt in the David Leitch-directed action movie, Bullet Train, which opens Aug. 5.

Kidman is repped by CAA, Media Talent and Jackoway Austen while Efron is repped by WME plus Johnson, Shapiro and Gang, Tyre. King is repped by UTA, Industry Entertainment and Hirsch Wallterstein.

LaGravenese, who directed the romantic drama P.S. I Love You and the 2013 fantasy Beautiful Creatures, is repped by CAA, LBI Entertainment and Ira Schreck at Schreck, Rose.

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Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Joey King