Trouble (née Mariel Semonte Orr), an Atlanta rapper who collaborated with the likes of Drake, Migos and The Weeknd, has died, his record label Def Jam announced in a statement. He was 34.
According to Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office, per WSB-TV, Orr was shot around 3:20 a.m. Sunday at the Lake St. James Apartment complex in Conyers and died after being transported to a local hospital. While officials say no arrests have been made, a warrant is out for 33-year-old Jamichael Jones, a potential murder suspect.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the children, loved ones, and fans of Trouble,” Def Jam wrote on Instagram. “A true voice for his city and an inspiration to the community he proudly represented. RIP Scoob.”
Fellow Atlanta rappers like Gucci Mane and 2 Chainz paid tribute to Trouble — also known as Scoob — on social media. Producer Mike WiLL Made-It, who served as executive producer on Trouble’s 2018 debut album “Edgewood,” wrote in an Instagram Story, “Trouble’s personality lit up a room and his conversation left you more creative then [sic] when you walked in. His accent, dialect, and charisma were of constant discussion when we spoke; usually chats full of laughter.”
Orr first reached wider success with his 2011 debut mixtape, “December 17th,” which made the cut for Complex’s 25 best mixtape releases that year. The project included his breakthrough track “Bussin,” which was later remixed by Yo Gotti, Waka Flocka Flame and Trae the Truth. In 2013, Trouble was included on XXL magazine’s list of “15 Atlanta Rappers You Should Know.” He went on to release two full studio albums, including 2020’s “Thug Love.” In 2018, the lyricist signed with Mike WiLL Made-It’s imprint, Ear Drummer Records via Interscope Records.
“Edgewood,” which peaked at 130 on the Billboard 200, featured tracks with Drake (“Bring It Back”), The Weeknd (“Come Thru”), Quavo (“Rider”) and Offset (“Kesha Dem”). Trouble was also on the “Creed 2” soundtrack alongside Gucci Man, YG, Quavo and Juicy J. That project included contributions from City Girls and 2 Chainz.
Mr. Johnson reacted late to the looming threat of the virus, imposing a lockdown on the country a week after neighboring European countries. That delay, critics argued, made the first wave of the pandemic worse in Britain than elsewhere. In April 2020, with the virus circulating in Downing Street, Mr. Johnson himself contracted Covid, ended up in an intensive care unit and nearly died.
But Mr. Johnson also pushed for Britain to be a pioneer in developing a vaccine. When Oxford University and AstraZeneca produced one, he rolled it out faster than almost any other major country. He also made a fateful decision — one later copied by other leaders — to reopen society after a significant percentage of the population had been vaccinated. Britons, he said, must learn to live with Covid.
It was during the darkest days of the pandemic that the seeds of Mr. Johnson’s current troubles were sown. While the rest of the country was enduring stifling lockdowns, the prime minister and his top aides were taking part in social gatherings at Downing Street that violated their own lockdown restrictions.
The first reports of illicit parties emerged late last November, prompting Mr. Johnson to issue a blanket denial that any laws had been broken. A subsequent police investigation found that was not true: Mr. Johnson himself was fined for attending his own birthday party in violation of the rules.
Allies of Mr. Johnson argue that “Partygate,” as the London tabloids nicknamed it, is a trivial distraction at a time when Europe is confronting its first major land war since World War II. The prime minister swiftly staked out a position as Ukraine’s staunchest defender, shipping powerful weapons to its army and placing regular phone calls to his new friend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
At first, the war eclipsed the scandal, giving Mr. Johnson the chance to wrap himself in a statesman’s mantle. But as the fighting ground on, disenchantment resurfaced at home. The Metropolitan Police levied fines, and an internal investigation by a senior civil servant painted a lurid portrait of partying in the heart of government.
Understand Britain’s ‘Partygate’ Scandal
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Turmoil at Downing Street. A steady drip of disclosures about parties that violated lockdown rules has ensnared Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain in a scandal that has threatened his hold on power. Here is what to know:
Contentious gatherings. The British news media reported that staff members were invited to a party in the backyard of Mr. Johnson’s residence in May 2020, when officials were instructing people not to socialize to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Subsequently, details about other gatherings involving government officials that violated Covid rules have emerged.
Mr. Johnson holds on to power.. The prime minister faced public outcry over his role in the scandal, but the support from the Conservative Party has allowed him to ride out the storm so far. In local elections in May, Conservatives avoided the type of electoral meltdown that might have posed a threat to Mr. Johnson’s future in power, though they did lose several seats.
The taint of moral hypocrisy corroded the prime minister’s popularity with the public. On Friday, when he and his wife Carrie Johnson climbed the steps to St. Paul’s Cathedral for a thanksgiving service in honor of Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne, he was roundly booed by the crowd. It was an omen.
Antim: The Final Truth Director: Mahesh Manjrekar Cast: Salman Khan, Aayush Sharma, Mahima Makwana
It is only fair to say that Aayush Sharma yet again owes his career to Salman Khan. An official remake of Marathi movie Mulshi Pattern, the story set in Pune, has every aspect of a typical Salman Khan movie. From slow motion fights, to slow motion entries, and subtle yet powerful punch lines, Salman Khan carries this movie on his shoulder. Aayush Sharma also impresses in a few action sequences, but lacks the much-needed swag that is required to play the character.
Aayush plays the character of Rahul, who is in the centre of the story and his background reminds you of Sanjay Dutt from Vaastav, and that’s what doesn’t work for Aayush, as he fails to deliver what is expected. The story highlights strong social-political issues such as land grabbing, farmer struggles, political power game, and more. Besides Salman and Aayush, Sachin Khedekar, Mahesh Manjrekar and Upendra Limaye play an important role as supporting actors.
Talking about the action sequences, there are some innovative and good action scenes, which are well shot and have enough slow motion shots for Salman Khan fans to drool over. The highlight sequence, in terms of action, has to be where Salman confronts Aayush. As one can expect, Salman, of course, pins down Aayush. Ironically, the scene is self explanatory and shows how Salman owns the film.
Speaking of Mahima Makwana, one really will be impressed by her acting, but unfortunately her on-screen chemistry with Aayush doesn’t really impress through the movie. Another aspect about Aayush that one can notice through the movie is his style of delivering dialogues. Aayush tries really hard to deliver punch lines but his monotonous style with eyebrows up and a expression-less face is disappointing and doesn’t impress at all.
Varun Dhawan plays a guest role towards the climax with his performance in the Vignahartha song. Ironically, just like Vaastav, the climax of Antim is also set with Ganpati Aarti. With a roaring background score, slow-motion action sequences and a lot of slow motion entries of Salman Khan, Antim is purely made for Salman’s fans. Overall, though the script is strong, somewhere the casting could have been better along side Salman Khan.
At the eleventh hour, the organizers of the Shanghai Film Festival have cancelled this year’s event due to the pandemic, which continues to ravage parts of Asia. The festival — China’s most prestigious — was due to kick off later this month. Organizers said: “Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the Organizing Committee of Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has decided that the 25th SIFF, originally scheduled to take place in June 2022, will be postponed to next year. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks and sincere apologies to people in all sectors of society who care about and support SIFF. If possible, we will plan and hold film exhibitions and themed events in the second half of this year to share the joy brought by cinematic art and film activities.”
Studicanal Sets Post-Sarah Doole Transition For ‘It’s A Sin’ Producer Red
Studiocanal has set a team to manage the transition at It’s a Sin producer Red Production Company following the departure of CEO Sarah Doole. Doole revealed she was leaving the Years and Years indie late last week after around 18 months in post and will focus on her incubator Sow The Seed, which develops underrepresented voices. While Studiocanal seeks a replacement, the Red owner has set a team to manage the transition that will be supported by Françoise Guyonnet, Executive Managing Director TV Series, and Alex Hamilton, CEO UK. “We are very excited about the future of RED and it remains a pivotal part of the Studiocanal family,” said CEO Anna Marsh.
Rome Film Festival Dates & Competition
The seventeenth Rome Film Fest will be held from the 13th to the 23rd of October, 2022. The festival will take place once again at the Auditorium Parco della Musica. Fest chief Paola Malanga noted a new addition this year: “With respect to the most recent editions, we are officially introducing an international competition, validated by the Fiapf starting this year. The films in the competition, which will be titled Progressive Cinema – Visions for the World of Tomorrow, will be judged by a jury of professionals in the fields of cinema, culture and the arts”.
Cinedigm Acquires North American Rights to Horror Pic PussyCake
PussyCake Raven Banner
EXCLUSIVE: Cinedigm has acquired all North American rights to horror film PussyCake directed by Argentine genre specialist Pablo Parés (Plaga Zombie). The film premiered at Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre in December, where it nabbed the Audience Award for best feature, and went on to play Finland’s Night Visions Film Festival in April. Pic will release on VOD and Cinedigm’s horror streaming service Screambox this summer. In the film, a struggling all-girl rock band kicks off a new tour, hoping to rekindle their popularity. Things are off to a bad start, however, when they show up to their first gig to find the town deserted. Maca Suárez (The Accused), Anahi Politi (Crystal Eyes), and Flor Moreno (The Talking Guts) star alongside newcomers Aldana Ruberto and Sofia Rossi. “PussyCake is a wild and crazy ride that delivers all the bloody goods, and we’re excited to share the chaos with horror fans on Screambox and beyond,” said Cinedigm’s Manager of Acquisitions Brandon Hill. The deal was negotiated with sales firm Raven Banner Entertainment.
Micheaux Film Festival Returns To LA
LA’s Micheaux Film Festival, which aims to “showcase and celebrate diverse representation, gender and identity parity”, is returning for a fourth edition and has endorsement from celebrity ambassadors Anthony Anderson (Black-ish) and Sharon Lawrence (Dynasty). The festival will take place from Monday, July 11 through Sunday, July 17, 2022. It will be held both virtually and at the Regal Cinemas L.A. Live in Downtown. Last year’s event screened more than 180 features, shorts, music videos, and multimedia projects. “As a trailblazer and icon for filmmakers and creators alike, Oscar Micheaux paved the way for people who look like me in this industry. His legacy has revolutionized the film and TV business, inspiring BIPOC and multicultural creatives,” said actor Anderson (pictured above). “Movements and events such as the Micheaux film festival provide a much needed platform for artists around the world.” “Art and culture are powerful tools to bring about change on the many issues our world is facing, which is why the Micheaux Film Festival is an impactful vehicle to help create that change,” added Lawrence.
UK Film & TV Charity Launches Funding And Survey Drive
The UK’s The Film & TV Charity has launched a renewed drive for donations to its campaign to support better mental health in the industry, and is calling for people to fill in its Looking Glass survey. Thousands of behind-the-camera British TV workers are being urged by the charity to fill in the survey, which feeds into its understanding of how people across the industry are dealing with wellbeing issues. This is partnered with a renewed funding drive to partner the campaign. The Looking Glass campaign was forged in 2020 to improve mental health after the Charity declared a mental health crisis in the UK TV sector, following alarming research from that year. Alex Pumfrey, The Film and TV Charity CEO, said: “We hope that everyone, from every corner of the industry, will complete this third Looking Glass survey. The data it returns is crucial for helping us – and the wider industry – to understand how we need to improve ways of working and the support people needThe data it returns is crucial for helping us – and the wider industry – to understand how we need to improve ways of working and the support people need.”
It may be time to ready your surgical gloves and don your masks because a “Scrubs” reboot may be on the horizon, according to the cast and its creator Bill Lawrence, who spoke on the subject during a reunion panel at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas.
The long-running comedy spanned nine seasons from 2001 to 2010, first airing on NBC and later on ABC. As its name suggests, the Emmy-winning series followed a new cohort of medical students as they solidified their knowledge in the field at Sacred Heart Hospital.
Sunday’s panel comprised of the show’s stars Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, John C. McGinley, Judy Reyes and Neil Flynn, as well as Lawrence, who soon voiced affirmations about a potential revival.
“I think we all kinda want it,” said Faison, who played the wise-cracking and driven Turk. “We would all love to work together again. It’s just really hard. It can’t be a full season of a show. It would have to be a movie or something … This dude [Bill Lawrence] is never going to be free again.”
Lawrence is currently tied up with the third season of the acclaimed Apple TV+ comedy “Ted Lasso,” on which he serves as showrunner. He is also reviving “Clone High” and renewed an overall deal with Warner Bros. TV earlier this year.
The rest of the cast echoed Faison’s sentiments, with Braff adding that a reboot wouldn’t be possible without Lawrence, whom he called the “wunderkind.” Flynn simply added, “We’re gonna do it,” to resounding audience applause.
“We’re going to do it because we’re lucky enough people care,” Lawrence concluded. “If you’re lucky enough to be able to work with the people you love, run to it.”
While nothing formal is in the works, the sentiments bode well for “Scrubs” fans. In the meantime, the full series can be streamed on Hulu.
In all the pictures, Hailey Bieber’s skin looked effortlessly dewy with her signature ’90s pink lip and her hair down in loose waves. In April, makeup artist Jamie Greenberg revealed how to achieve this glowing effect, which Hailey refers to as “glazed donut skin.”
“This is a texture that hasn’t been seen a lot in the last decade,” Greenberg said. “The glazed look is usually a signal of youthful skin—the youth are really embracing the gleam of a glazed skin look, and everyone is following suit.”
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Before you even start with makeup, Greenberg recommends gently exfoliating to remove any dead flakes before prepping your skin with a face oil or balm (she likes Furtuna Skin’s Replenishing Balm and Skinowl’s Selenite Gloss). This may not be the best routine for people with naturally oily skin as Greenberg further recommends mixing an oil into your foundation or onto your skin after applying your makeup. One product Greenberg swears by is Kevyn Aucoin’s Glass Glow Gloss for the glazed effect. “I love to layer with a little color too,” she says. “I like to place JamieMakeup’s Blighlighter as a first step and the Glass Glow on top.”
As for the pinky-brown lip, Hailey Bieber broke that down herself on TikTok. “For lips, everyone knows I love this Anywhere Caffeine Lip Liner [from Makeup for Ever],” she said in a May video. She applies the liner just outside her lip line before layering her favorite lipstick on top. “This is Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk,” she said, putting the lipstick shade on her finger before dabbing it onto her lip. “I love this lip combo. I love lip combos that I feel like match my natural color of my lips.”
“La Madrina: The [Savage] Life of Lorine Padilla” profiles a member of the South Bronx gang the Savage Skulls who became a community activist. Filmmaker Raquel Cepeda uncovers a hidden history of Latinas who overcame multiple adversities.
TORONTO –The sexual assault trial of Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard turned on one central issue: consent.
The Hedley frontman was found guilty of one count of sexual assault causing bodily harm against one of two complainants on Sunday, but acquitted of the same charge plus a count of sexual interference related to a teenage fan.
At the crux of the proceedings was a clash about consent, as is often the case in sexual assault trials, say observers.
The Crown alleged Hoggard violently and repeatedly raped a teenage fan and a young Ottawa woman in separate incidents in the fall of 2016, while the defence argued the sexual encounters were consensual.
High-profile cases like Hoggard’s have the power to shape our understanding of consent, lawyers and advocates say, exposing harmful misconceptions that pervade the courts and society at large.
“It’s great to be trying to shine a light on some of these stories and also worrisome,” Toronto criminal and constitutional lawyer Megan Stephens said in an interview ahead of the verdict.
“These kinds of cases are the ones that make people wonder whether they should come forward and report what has happened to them.”
Canada has some of the most progressive laws on the books about consent in sexual assault cases, said Stephens. The trouble lies in how the letter of the law is applied, she said.
The Criminal Code requires that consent be affirmatively communicated through a person’s words or conduct, meaning through signals that indicate “yes,” rather than the absence of a “no.” Consent can be withdrawn at any point in a sexual encounter.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Gillian Roberts told the jury deciding Hoggard’s fate that consent in the context of a sexual assault case is about whether the complainant “in her mind wanted the sexual touching to take place,” citing a provincial appeal court ruling.
Stephens, a former Crown lawyer, said this “subjective standard” means many sexual assault cases come down to jurors’ assessments of the credibility of the complainant and accused based on the evidence they present.
Jurors typically do their best to stick to the law, she said, but identity can influence their determinations and what and whose evidence is to be believed.
Many observers have noted the perceived gender imbalance on Hoggard’s jury, which appeared to consist of 10 men and two women.
“We’ve learned a lot over the last few years about implicit biases and how those can affect our understandings and experiences. And I think the jury system is not immune from that,” said Stephens, who advocates for women’s rights in the justice system.
“It is hard for people to sometimes understand the experiences of others when they’ve never been in that place, whether it is a male juror making sense of a female complainant or a white juror making sense of the experiences of a Black woman.”
Canadian courts have been grappling with the “myths and stereotypes” that plague the legal process, but even judges are prone to fall prey to them, said Pam Hrick, executive director and general counsel at Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund.
Canada’s highest court has issued a number of rulings in recent years finding that lower courts erred in their application of sexual assault law, said Hrick, serving as a course correction in a system that has subjected complainants to unfair scrutiny.
This shows how the social reckoning of the #MeToo movement has reverberated through the courts, but there’s still work to close the gap between Canadian law and our evolving understanding of consent, said Hrick.
“There is a lag, I think, sometimes between public understanding the application or development of the law,” she said. “We need to be vigilant in continuing to push for change and be continuing to try to safeguard some of the gains that we have made.”
Farrah Khan, manager of Consent Comes First at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Office of Sexual Violence Support and Education, said the Hoggard trial illustrates how misconceptions about sex and consent persist both in and out of the courtroom.
Defence lawyers alleged the complainants lied about being raped to cover up their embarrassment after being rejected by a “rock star.”
The defence narrative fed into familiar tropes, such as the “jilted lover” embittered about unreturned affections and groupies who fall under a famous musician’s sexual thrall, said Khan.
Jury deliberations continue in Jacob Hoggard sex assault
Jury deliberations continue in Jacob Hoggard sex assault
There were power dynamics at play in the case, such as differences in age and social status, that Canada’s consent laws don’t account for, but can nonetheless influence how sexual violence survivors process their own experiences, she added.
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“It’s important for survivors to understand it, because sometimes you can gaslight yourself in these situations,” she said. “Just because you wanted to see someone, just because you wanted to kiss someone doesn’t mean you want to be sexually assaulted.”
The Canadian Women’s Foundation conducted an online survey of more than 1,500 Canadians in 2018 that found only 28 per cent of respondents fully understood what it means to give consent, a drop from 33 per cent in 2015 before the #MeToo movement emerged.
With so many young people who grew up listening to Hedley keeping track of the Hoggard case, Khan said she’s concerned the next generation will suffer similar confusion unless we start prioritizing consent and pleasure in sex education.
“The challenge is that we treat consent like a checkbox,” she said. “Consent is about a conversation… And it’s ongoing, it’s reversible.”
“The Real Housewives of New Jersey” stars Melissa and Joe Gorga hit the red carpet for the MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted — and they talked about the future of the show with “Extra’s” Rachel Lindsay!
Happy to be surrounded by her fellow reality-TV stars for the event, Melissa said, “I’m a big ‘Selling Sunset’ fan, so I’m excited to see a lot of my… Bravolebrities here. I feel like I see them all the time, though, so I’m excited to see the other shows.”
She also revealed, “I actually just did some work with Christine Quinn… I’ve met Chrishell [Stause].”
Melissa told “Extra” she and Joe were also feeling happy to put the “RHONJ” reunion behind them. Joe even admitted, “I was so happy, I was doing jumping jacks.”
Melissa said it won’t be long, though, before we have more drama to dissect on “RHONJ.” “The cameras are already out and we’re filming again,” she dished. “It’s like a cycle that never ends.”
Rachel asked Joe, “So you didn’t quit?” and Melissa clarified, “He came back, he came back, and he came back. Andy begged for him, he came back.”
When Rachel dug more about how deep into filming the couple is, Melissa said, “We literally just started, but hopefully we see some new faces — that’s what I’m excited about. I love to get, like, some new faces, some new, some new blood, some new rookies to come out… We need some new families to torture!”
Reacting to Ramona Singer leaking Teresa Giudice’s wedding invitation online, Melissa, said, “I could not even believe it, and the way she was, like, talking so freely about it and then just shows it to the camera… Who does that…? Like, I was, I could not believe it. I couldn’t. Teresa had to change a lot of stuff about that now.”
As for what people ask her about the big event, Melissa would only say, “People are very into, like, the bridesmaid list, the guest list, which Housewives are going.”
The MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted airs tonight on MTV at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Sega seems to be keenly aware of the demand for a Dreamcast Mini console, but it turns out the scope of such a project might just be beyond the hardware giant’s means.
Sega’s classic hardware producer Yosuke Okunari spoke about the recently announced Mega Drive Mini 2 in a Famitsu (opens in new tab) interview. During this talk, Okunari states that Sega has considered Mini console versions for both the Saturn and the Dreamcast. However, he admits that such a project would be far too expensive.
Twitter user gosokkyu (opens in new tab) transcribed that segment of the Famitsu interview. It’s here which Okunari states that “the MD Mini’s internals can’t adequately handle Saturn games, and both developing and manufacturing new chipsets during the pandemic is a difficult & expensive process.”
Okunari goes on to joke that while a Saturn or Dreamcast Mini may not be a feasible project at present, he may like to develop a Mini console that “costs as much as an authentic modern console.” (thanks, Nintendo Life (opens in new tab))
Analysis: Dreamcast Mini? Dream on…
Obviously, we’d love to see a Dreamcast Mini hit the gaming market eventually. Fondly remembered as one of Sega’s best consoles, it unfortunately met an untimely demise at the hands of the burgeoning sixth console generation. The Dreamcast’s failure caused Sega to bow out of the hardware market almost entirely.
And that’s kind of a huge shame, as the Dreamcast era saw the release of some of Sega’s most ambitious titles. Sonic Adventure, Jet Set Radio, Phantasy Star Online and Shenmue are just some of many that come to mind here. It was also the home of some incredible Capcom fighting games, including Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and the definitive port of Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.
While many Dreamcast era games have been re-released on modern storefronts such as Steam, the ports aren’t always the best. Jet Set Radio’s ports remain locked at 30fps, for example, while Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut introduced new bugs and graphical oddities that weren’t present in the original Dreamcast release.
Still, we can hardly blame Sega or Okunari for a lack of trying. The Covid-19 pandemic worsened a components shortage that led to parts like semiconductors to skyrocket in price. As a result, a prospective Dreamcast Mini could have been considerably more expensive than the publisher’s efforts with the Genesis / Mega Drive Mini.
With all that said, we’re still looking forward to the Mega Drive Mini 2 releasing, even if plans for a worldwide release are up in the air at present. Featuring a whopping 50 games, many being Sega CD titles that are difficult to play outside of emulation, we’re sure it’ll introduce no small number of fans to a litany of games they’ve probably never heard of.
Although USA and Syfy come in real handy around the holidays when they put on their Harry Potter movie marathons, the films are also streaming online year-round (and, of course, available to own outright)
And while the “Harry Potter” franchise came to a close in 2011 with the release of the final film, the movies continue to be a “feel-good” favorite while the Wizarding World story continues on in the ongoing “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, with the third film having hit theaters in April.
So where are the Harry Potter movies streaming right now? The answer changes quite frequently, actually, as the streaming rights to the Warner Bros. franchise are in the midst of being shared between a couple of different services.
Below we’ve rounded up which “Harry Potter” and “Fantastic Beasts” movies are streaming where with the most up-to-date information.
Streaming on HBO Max
Warner Bros.
HBO Max is currently home to the entire “Harry Potter” franchise and is the exclusive streaming home of the first three “Fantastic Beasts” movies, which take place decades before the events of Potter but feature some familiar faces (like Jude Law as a young Albus Dumbledore). Additionally, HBO Max is the only place to stream the 20th anniversary “Harry Potter” reunion which features Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and other cast members and filmmakers reflecting on the experience of making the franchise.
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001)
“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” (2002)
“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004)
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005)
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (2007)
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (2009)
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” (2010)
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” (2011)
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (2016)
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” (2018)
HBO Documentary Films and the Gotham Film & Media Institute’s Expanding Communities program have unveiled their Documentary Development Initiative.
The new initiative has been created for storytellers who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and/or storytellers with disabilities. The fund’s intent is to offer resources to develop thought-provoking, character-driven contemporary ideas for documentary films and limited series.
Up to 10 filmmakers will be selected and given grants of US$50,000 for research and creative development at an early stage in the filmmaking process of their project. HBO and Gotham will offer resources and mentorship, with funding for the grants provided by HBO Documentary Films, OneFifty and WBD Access.
Ideas generated through the initiative will be offered to HBO on a first-look basis, giving the network the first opportunity to make an offer to further develop the projects.
“We are so proud to announce this initiative, which will provide resources to filmmakers from historically excluded communities as they develop creative and thought-provoking documentaries. We are thrilled to champion these voices as they further their careers in the entertainment industry,” said Karen Horne, Warner Bros. Discovery senior vice president of equity and inclusion.
Actor-politician Udhayanidhi Stalin has said that he will continue to act in films with important social messages. At a press conference, where Nenjukku Neethi director Arunraja Kamaraj was also present, Udhayanidhi Stalin was asked if he would continue to act after Maamannan.
Udhayanidhi responded that he would like to select and act in socially responsible stories. As his grandfather was an integral part of both — cinema and politics — he said he would follow in his footsteps.
Meanwhile, the Nenjukku Neethi crew expressed gratitude to the fans for making the movie a success. Arunraja Kamaraj said, “I owe a debt of gratitude to actor Sivakarthikeyan. The success of the film I directed in his production gave me an identity. That’s how I got the movie Nenjukku Neethi.”
Nenjukku Neethiis the Tamil remake of Ayushmann Khurrana’s Article 15. Chennai’s mayor Priya Rajan praised Nenjuku Needhi and congratulated its crew on Twitter. She tweeted, “Udhay Stalin Anna’s fire performance and the gripping narrative make #NenjukuNeedhi an awesome film to watch. Congrats to all.”
‘எல்லாரும் சமம்னா யாரு Sir ராஜா?’@Udhaystalin Anna’s fire ? performance & the gripping narrative make #NenjukuNeedhi an awesome film to watch.
The movie received good reviews from both audiences and critics. It is bankrolled by Boney Kapoor and has a stellar star cast, including Udhayanidhi Stalin, Tanya Ravichandran, Aari Arujunan and Shivani Rajsekhar. Udhayanidhi plays the lead role of the IPD officer Vijayaraghavan. The story revolves around the plight of Dalits in Tamil Nadu.
Viz Media has appointed former Crunchyroll executive Sae Whan Song to the newly-created post of VP of content (animation). He will lead Viz’s content acquisition strategy and be responsible for execution of the company’s co-production strategy.
Song began his career in licensing at Toei Animation before moving over to Crunchyroll where he was instrumental in its transformation. There, he was helped build a successful rights management team before transitioning the company from a licensing and acquisitions model to co-productions and original productions strategy. Crunchyroll was acquired by Sony in 2021 and has since been integrated with Sony’s Funimation. His credits at the company include “Blade Runner: Black Lotus,” with Alcon Entertainment and Warner Media; “Tower of God,” “God of High School” and “Noblesse” with Webtoons; and “Fena: Pirate Princess” and “Shenmue the Animation,” with Adult Swim.
“Sae’s expertise has set an unparalleled standard in today’s highly competitive anime acquisition business. As evidenced in his work with Mappa, Crunchyroll, Toei Animation, and other prestigious organizations, Sae is an exceptional appointment and I am thrilled to have his talents and leadership join us at Viz Media,” said Brian Ige, Viz’s senior VP animation.
Viz Media is the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America. It is currently preparing the re-release later this year of volume 1 of “Bleach,” an iconic comic strip. One of the best-selling manga titles of all time, “Bleach” has sold over 120 million copies since its debut in Japan’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, including 2.7 million copies in the U.S. As an anime TV series, it ran to 366 episodes and spawned four feature films.
The company is also planning the release of the first twenty volumes of the “My Hero Academia,” currently one of the fastest-growing manga series, as a special boxed set, later in the year.
Warning! Major SPOILERS are ahead for Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 1! Go slay a demogorgon and come back once you’ve caught up!
I, as had millions upon millions of fans around the world, waited patiently for Stranger Things Season 4 to hit Netflix for nearly a full three years. I’d refreshed my memory on the events of Stranger Things Season 3 before sitting down to watch the return of one of the most bingeable Netflix original shows when it finally debuted as part of the 2022 TV schedule, but, I gotta be honest, I was a bit nervous. What if too much time had passed and I just didn’t care about Hawkins, Eleven, Hopper, and the rest of the gang anymore? Even worse, what if those three years weren’t worth the wait, and I didn’t like anything about the new season?
Well, let me tell you, all of those fears were completely unfounded, as the fourth season of Stranger Things managed to provide me with exactly the right thrills, chills, mysteries, and humor while upping the ante in several ways. In fact, I liked what I saw so much that while I sat down to watch just the premiere on Friday night, I ended up watching all of the seven available episodes in a marathon session that kept me up until 4:30 a.m. the next morning. And, when watching every episode back to back, I had many thoughts through the Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 1 ending, so let’s dig into them!
(Image credit: Netflix)
These Older Kids Are Still In High School?
I was shocked to find that Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan were all still in high school. At first, I thought maybe the writers had retconned how old these characters were, but I suppose it’s possible that I’ve simply forgotten how much of high school can be taken up by talk of college and one’s future beyond high school (it has been…a while, you guys). Honestly, though, this better be their last year in non-collegiate educational institutions!
(Image credit: Netflix)
I Think Eddie Is A Super Senior
Did anyone notice that Eddie is a bit different from the rest of the older kids in Stranger Things, in that he’s not actually a kid anymore? During Eddie’s lunch diatribe, he talks about getting grades just good enough to graduate, at which point both of the other older Hellfire Club members point out that he’s said the same thing for two previous years. This would mean that Eddie is likely what folks call a “super senior,” and is now in his third year as a twelfth grader. You guys, Eddie is 20 years old!
(Image credit: Netflix)
Poor Robin
Oh, Robin. What are we gonna do with you, girl? It’s hard not to feel bad for Steve’s new bestie, as while Robin is tough, brave, funny, and seems to actually have friends whom she doesn’t have to help save the world on the regular, she’s also gay and afraid to come out in her small town. On top of that, dumb Steve keeps prattling on and on about all his womenfolk to Robin, while she continues to have crushes that go unrequited (as far as she knows). I have a feeling this will get better for Robin (and Will, who is also believed to be gay) soon…as long as she lives. And Robin better fucking keep living!
(Image credit: Netflix)
This Was A Really Good Season For Robert Englund To Appear In
We were all tricked into believing that A Nightmare on Elm Street legend and terrifying horror villain actor Robert Englund would be the Big Bad of this season, which is fair enough. But, it was still wonderful to see, just about a half hour into the premiere, that this was the perfect Stranger Things season for him to appear in. The frights of this set of episodes are very close to those in Englund’s classic franchise, and he did a terrific job as Victor Creel.
(Image credit: Netflix)
How Did Brenner Survive?
Alright, pretty much no one who knows the rules of movie/TV show deaths thought that bad guy Dr. Brenner was really dead (we never saw a body). But, um… are we ever gonna find out how he survived his demogorgon attack in Season 1?!?! There’s a part of me that thinks this isn’t the real Brenner, but we shall see…
(Image credit: Netflix)
Watching One Black Dude Torture Another Black Dude Is Really Hard For Me
I’m not saying that watching anyone torture anyone else (even in a blissfully fictional setting) is easy for me, because it’s not, but wooo boy. This was tough. I’d thought that Agent Wallace was killed instantly when Lt. Colonel Sullivan’s men stormed the Byers place in California, but he wasn’t. And, when Sullivan took Wallace and began torturing him to get info about Eleven, well, it was hard enough to watch that I soon wished Wallace had been killed by his gunshot wound.
(Image credit: Netflix)
Steve Can’t Be OK After This Season
Look, I don’t want anything worse to happen to Steve than it already has, OK? But, he got bitten by a number of demo-bats and proceeded to traverse the Upside Down with several open wounds. If all Steve needs after that is a rabies shot I. Will. Be. STUNNED.
(Image credit: Netflix)
I Love That All Of The Main Characters Are Outsiders In Some Way
All of the kids, hell even Joyce, Hopper, and Murray, are outsiders on Stranger Things in some way. What I love is that we (including kids who might be watching) get to see that not being accepted by a large group doesn’t mean that you have to be friendless, and it definitely doesn’t mean you’re not important, or capable of doing big things.
(Image credit: Netflix)
If Things Don’t Work Out With Hopper, Joyce Should Date Murray
I adore Hopper, but just because he survived that explosion in Season 3, a Russian prison, and the demogorgon it doesn’t mean that he’s totally out of the danger woods. If Joyce is left without Hopper, Murray is more than able to help with any scrapes she and the kids get into. Plus, he’s funny and knows how to throw a mean karate kick!
(Image credit: Netflix)
Eleven Getting Her Powers Back Might Not Be A Good Thing
Sure, Eleven getting her powers back is good for the world in the short term, but it might not be good for her at all, or good for the rest of us in the long term. I’m very worried that to get her powers back, and maybe even become stronger, it’s going to alter who Eleven is as a person and she’ll become even more connected to the Upside Down. Even if she successfully kills the Vecna, I have a bad feeling that she will absorb his powers/madness and maybe end up going Dark Phoenix on everyone and becoming the Big Bad of Season 5.
(Image credit: Netflix)
I’m Not Convinced The Vecna Will Be Vanquished By The End Of Season 4
Speaking of Eleven fighting the Vecna… I’m not 100% convinced that she can fully win this battle. Vecna is, from what I can see, the most dangerous villain that the Hawkins gang has faced. This isn’t some crafty monster, this is literally a human psychopath with superpowers who was transformed into an even more powerful and dangerous monster.
He has a connection to humanity that makes him far more devious and committed, plus I think we’re going to find out that he’s the one who created all of the beings in the Upside Down in an attempt to break through and alter this world in the first place. Eleven might be able to beat him back for a time, but I don’t think she’ll be able to kill him and fully close us off from what is now his dimension without great personal sacrifice… and another Stranger Things season of frights and fights.
On the cusp of her debut in “Jurassic World: Dominion,” actress DeWanda Wise is opening up about why she had to vacate her first shot at franchise filmmaking in the 2019 film “Captain Marvel.”
Wise was originally cast as the character Maria Rambeau, best friend to Brie Larson’s pilot-turned-superhero Carol Danvers in the Marvel Studios film, but ended up having to leave the role due to scheduling conflicts outside of her control.
“It wasn’t a choice,” Wise told Collider. “I committed to ‘She’s Gotta Have It’. When you commit to something, you commit to it. And it just so happened that when they decided to essentially expand the role in ‘Captain Marvel’ a little longer, a little larger, it conflicted with a very specific moment that we were shooting in Season 2, a very special episode that we shot that I would not trade for anything in the world when we shot in Puerto Rico.”
Wise played Nola Darling in Spike Lee’s Netflix series “She’s Gotta Have It,” and was contractually committed to the show’s second season, making her role in “Captain Marvel” impossible. The actress admitted the experience was a painful one.
“That was experientially, spiritually, personally one of the most remarkable and life-changing moments of my life,” Wise said. “So it was painful. It was painful to be told no at the time. It wasn’t something that I didn’t have to grieve and process and be like, wow, this was a really big opportunity that felt like, at the time, that it was taken from me, but now of course, when you play it back and you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m playing a pilot. Here’s why. Here’s why. That’s why this didn’t happen, so that I could do this in this way.’”
The actress also heaped praise on actress Lashana Lynch, who ended up taking on the role of Rambeau in “Captain Marvel” after her exit: “She’s so good!”
In the third “Jurassic World” film, Wise plays former Air Force pilot Kayla Watts, who ends up helping Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing.
“Jurassic World: Dominion” opens in North America only in theaters on June 10.
Oklahoma City’s Chat Pile hail from a long, proud Midwestern tradition of sheer, unadulterated ugliness. Their music feels like a tattered, grease-stained, shotgun-blasted mood board of ’80s and ’90s noise rock. In the quartet’s gruff, pugilistic songs you can detect the eviscerating howls of the Jesus Lizard’s David Yow, the wilting bass of Amphetamine Reptile-era Helmet, and the solid-state mechanism and unrelenting meanness of Big Black—plus a little bit of drop-tuned nu-metal, for good measure. Chat Pile take their name from the slag heaps of their native region, toxic mounds of lead-contaminated mine refuse, and you can hear, feel, and taste that legacy in their noxious low end: They take the sludge of bands like Melvins and Eyehategod and make it literal.
But despite Chat Pile’s period influences, their music feels ragingly vital. That much is self-evident from “Slaughterhouse,” the lead single from their forthcoming debut album, God’s Country. This is no pigfuck cosplay; it’s a report from an America that’s even more diseased than in noise rock’s Reagan-and-Bush-cursed heyday. The combination of bassist Stin’s gravelly pick work and Luther Manhole’s detuned guitar feels like despair distilled. Captain Ron’s stop-start drums mimic the unwilling trudge of daily life in a capitalist hellscape, and singer Raygun Busch’s guttural growls are pain and confusion incarnate. “If we could only fly away now,” he croaks, his voice cracking like eczema. He bellows about the eyes of God, the shedding of blood, the inability of escape; he lands, again and again, on the agonized refrain, “Hammers and grease!” Is he singing in the character of a particular tortured soul? Or simply giving voice to the trauma of the nation as it bleeds out a slow and ignominious death? Whatever the case, “Slaughterhouse” feels depressingly prescient for a month like this one, as we witness the horror of multiple mass shootings. “All the blood/All the blood/And the fuckin’ sound, man/You never forget their eyes,” he shouts through strained larynx. “And the sad eyes, goddammit/And the screaming/There’s more screaming than you’d think.”
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You’ve made a film – congratulations. Are you hitting film festival brick walls?
Every year about this time I start getting emails from filmmakers complaining about their treatment at the hands of film festival programmers who have skipped over their film. There’s even expensive professional advisers who train disgruntled filmmakers how to do better with their next festival submission.
The funny thing is, none of these advisors or tutors actually run film festivals or make movies. That’s where I differ. Without throwing tonnes of numbers up on the wall, Raindance has screened over 7,500 shorts, features, documentaries, web series pilots and VR projects since I started Raindance Film Festival in 1993. Each film we’ve screened has been selected by our professional programmers from several dozen submissions. I’ve had a lot of time to sift through a whole bunch a whole bunch of films. I have some interesting data I would like to share with you.
Firstly, submit early. This gives the programmers more time to consider your film.
Let’s suppose you have made a film that’s gone out to a bunch of film festivals and received nothing but rejections. What possibly could be the matter?
Film Festival Brick Wall #7: You’ve picked the wrong festival
It is very possible you have entered you film to an inappropriate film festival. You should know whether of not the London Children’s Film Festival accepts horror films! Festivals spend ages, in my case decades, defining their voice. Research the festivals on your short list. Speak to past attendees. for example, here’s our pick of the essential horror film festivals.
I just hate it when we get a submission from a filmmaker who hasn’t looked at our festival’s history and had a feel for the types of films we programme.
Film Festival Brick Wall #6: You haven’t read the submission rules
I know it’s boring. You simply have to read the rules silly as they may appear to be. Each festival has rules so they can automate as much of the submission process as possible to save on manpower or to deal with premiere status issues.
I just hate it when a film comes in with some detail left out of the page. It means our programmers waste valuable time chasing down the missing information when they could be watching submissions.
Another nitpicker I have with the so-called festival consultants is they all advise on how to save money by getting fee waivers. Really? You want to start the selection process at a festival with a big black mark against your film?
Film Festival Brick Wall #5 You haven’t cleared music rights
This is probably why 15% of the hundreds of films submitted to our festival get turned down. Full stop. There is nothing we can do with your film if you haven’t cleared the music rights.
Film Festival Brick Wall #4 You have no social media
Put yourself in my shoes for a minute. Suppose I’ve taken my time and watched your film. Now I need to market it. I discover to my horror that you haven’t a website and no social media. I have to decide if I am going to take more time out to build out social media for your film.
Except at the very top, festival directors are poorly paid if at all. Having no social media that you can vend into their festival screening is a very big ask. Make it easy for them to say yes.
Film Festival Brick Wall #3 You have no press kit
This is a bit like having no social media. You create an instant brick wall if you don’t have key art work, excellent photographs and a trailer. If you submit to a festival without these elements it makes it really difficult for the festival to accept your film. They don’t know how to market your film and face the prospect of an expensive empty screen.
The natural rule of gravity is that water runs downhill. You are trying to make it run uphill when a festival programmer get to your film. Make it easy for them to say yes. Deliver a press kit.
Film Festival Brick Wall #2 You’ve aimed too high
I know you think your film is amazing and I know how much you’d like it to play at Sundance, Toronto, Cannes or Berlin. Let’s do a reality check. You have virtually no hope of getting into one of these festivals unless you have a white knight championing your film. Move on.
Every time I produce a film I go through the ritual of sending if off to Sundance at $150.00 an entry thank-you-very-much. What makes my submission even more comical is that I’m UK based – meaning there are only a dozen slots for international films. Fat chance! Move on. There are dozens of excellent film festivals.
Film Festival Brick Wall #1 Your film isn’t very good
Maybe just maybe your film isn’t good enough. Perhaps you rushed the production. Maybe you sent it out before the sound mix was properly finished. Or perhaps the script wasn’t very good. Perhaps you submitted very late in the submission process and the festival you sent it to didn’t have the time to properly evaluate your film. I have made every single one of these mistakes to my horror looking back.
What to do in this situation? Make another film. Remember the golden mantra of success:
Winners never quit Quitters never win.
Best for your film and hope to see you at Raindance.
Elliot Grove, Founder, Raindance | British Independent Film Awards
More than 100 days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s strategic assessment of the conflict is becoming clearer: it does not wish to be cast in the same light as Russia, but the war has deepened Beijing’s mistrust of the west.
In Beijing’s view, the pessimism has been exacerbated by the US and its allies’ recent efforts, for example, to help Taiwan increase its international recognition. On Monday last week, Beijing made the second-largest incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone this year with Taipei reporting 30 jets entering the area, including more than 20 fighters.
China’s tone has also evolved from sitting on the fence to outright defensive. When the conflict first began in late February, Beijing tried to be “impartial”, but in the last few weeks, it deployed the language that directly confronted the US-led Nato and western sanctions, calling them “financial terrorism” and “economic weaponisation”.
“The war in Ukraine has intensified the confrontation between the US and China,” said Prof Yan Xuetong, director of the institute of international studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing, in a recent talk. “It [also] further highlighted the differences between us [China] and France, Germany, Britain and Japan.”
Yan also detected that the emerging bipolarisation in the new world order was not tilting in China’s favour. And his view was widely shared by Chinese scholars and public intellectuals, said Liu Yawei, senior adviser on China at the Atlanta-based Carter Centre.
China’s leadership has sensed it, too. Early in May, the Guardian reported that shortly after the invasion began, Beijing had ordered a comprehensive “stress test” to study the implications of a possible Russia-style sanctioning by the west. Several key government agencies – from banking regulation to international trade – have been asked to come up with responses if the west imposed the same embargos on China.
Domestically, debates over Ukraine have endured, in spite of censorship. “China not only cannot stand with Putin, but also should take concrete actions to prevent Putin’s possible adventures,” warned Hu Wei, vice-chairman of the Public Policy Research Center of the Counselor’s Office of the State Council in Beijing in March, in rare dissent against the official view. But the article was quickly taken down.
While Beijing’s relationship with Moscow continues to evolve, despite their friendly public pledges such as “‘no limits’ partnership”, in a strategically anxious China today, voices like Hu’s are often met with fierce criticism.
Zhao Tong, a Beijing-based senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, observed: “Liberal voices within China have become less capable to counterbalance against the growing influence of hardline views that see China’s future as resting with working with other like-minded countries to more proactively push back against the US-led western order, norms, and values.”
One of the reasons for this dynamic, according to Liu, was that opponents saw “strong evidence that even if China had supported the US in condemning Russia and sanctioning it, the fundamentals in the bilateral relationship would not change”. He pointed out that many saw last week’s speech by Antony Blinken, in which the secretary of state said Washington would “shape the strategic environment around Beijing”, as further evidence that the American state has determined to treat China as its ultimate challenger.
And until recent weeks, public opinion seemed to be on Beijing’s side, too. According to a poll by the Carter Centre’s US-China Perception Monitor initiative, 75% of Chinese respondents agreed that supporting Russia was in China’s national interest, although roughly 60% of the surveyed also expected China to play a role in mediating an end to the war.
The public’s overwhelming support for Beijing’s stance – which some called “pro-Russian neutrality” – has made an immediate change of course more difficult, even if senior officials were thinking about a possible adjustment at some point, Zhao said.
The perception gap in Beijing is stark to many westerners. There is also a growing view among hawks that the conflict is a “proxy war” between Russia and the western powers. Additionally, Beijing thinks the US would ultimately glean the benefits from Ukraine’s misfortune – an assumption that has been heightened by the collapse of mutual trust in recent years.
“Russia-Ukraine conflict is Putin’s ‘counter-strike’ against the US-led west’s plan to dismember Russia,” declared Qiu Wenping of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, a government thinktank, repeating Moscow’s talking points in a recent TV discussion. “China is in a position that is somewhat comparable to Russia’s … The US is clearly manipulating the Taiwan issue and constantly fanning the flames in order to dismember China by creating a Ukraine of the Orient.”
Spoiler Alert:Do not read if you haven’t watched “candy asses,” the seventh episode of “Barry” Season 3, streaming now on HBO Max.
In “710N,” the sixth episode of “Barry’s” third season, Monroe Fuches (Stephen Root) comes close to finally turning over a new leaf. The selfish, cowardly criminal, currently waging a war against his surrogate son and former crime business partner Barry (Bill Hader), gets shot and left for dead by a group of motorcyclists he hired for his latest plan. After getting nursed back to health by a kindhearted rancher living in the desert, he seriously considers abandoning his quest for revenge in favor of settling down with the man’s daughter, Anita. But when he sees a newspaper story about Barry and his other mentor figure, acting teacher Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler), he steals the rancher’s truck and races back to Los Angeles to get the retribution he thinks he deserves.
It’s very likely that viewers watching the episode will have a sense of deja vu, because Fuches went through essentially the same arc earlier this season, in the third episode, “ben mendelsohn.” After Barry’s attempt to kill him in the Season 2 finale, Fuches spent the early part of this season hiding out in a ranch in Chechnya, where he comes to enjoy the simple life there and develops a connection with his caretaker. But all it takes is a bitter phone call with Barry and a severe misinterpretation of a fable about the dangers of vengeance for him to fly back out to America, intent on raising an army to ruin his surrogate son’s life. For Root, the repetition of the same storyline this season isn’t a flaw, but the entire point of the character’s journey.
“He should have stayed with both of them, he should have stayed with either of those women and go ‘This is a great life, I’m done,’” Root tells Variety. “But it’s just not within his nature to finish this relationship with Barry. Whether that means death or going back to working with him, who knows?”
Fuches’ inability to let go turns out to be his downfall in “candy asses,” the penultimate outing of the season. After getting a phone call from Jim (Robert Ray Wisdom), the father of Janice Moss (Paula Newsome), Fuches shows up at his house intent on convincing him to go after Barry, only to be driven straight to the police station, where he’s arrested in suspicion of Janice’s murder. Even in captivity, though, he still manages to drive another person to pursue his quest for him, after a tense interrogation with FBI agent Albert Nguyen (James Hiroyuki Liao), who served in the Marines with Barry, during which he reveals Barry’s bloody history and his own culpability in it.
Ahead of Episode 7, Root chatted with Variety about traveling the world with Fuches this season, imagining his own backstory for the character and how much longer he thinks Barry can get away with his crimes.
The cast has been so split up this season that you haven’t had a single scene with Bill Hader that wasn’t a phone call. With that in mind, what did shooting the season look like for you?
It was a weird experience. At the beginning of the year when we started to get a couple of scripts, Bill calls me after the second or third script and said, “Look, you know, we’re not going to have any scenes together, except for maybe two phone calls” and I went “What?” So yeah, it was absolutely bizarre. I worked with some great actors this year, but almost none of the cast. I talked to Barry a couple of times, and Hank [Anthony Carrigan] a couple of times on a phone call. So, completely bizarre season that way, but the writing is so good on this show and everyone’s great. It’s wonderful to have a big arc for Sarah [Goldberg] to do this year.
In Episodes 6, Fuches comes so close to giving up his pursuit of revenge, but what makes him change his mind is seeing a newspaper story about how Cousineau’s acting class helped Barry. Why is that what triggers him to leave?
It’s all within the psychology of this character. He really loves Barry, he really does. But he’s the kind of person that, even if he’s having an idyllic life, he’s too psychotic to not go back to revenge. And that’s just built in. The original concept for this guy was a very screamy, yelly type of guy, and it wasn’t until we redid the first episode to make him into more of a bad uncle that we found him. So starting from that point, and his real love for Barry, because no matter what they go through, he comes back to saying “I love you, and why aren’t we working together?” That’s his main motivation, “Why aren’t we working together?” — and any way that he can make it happen, he will. but it’s gotten to the point, with somebody with PTSD, that he’s just ready to kill him now.
You say he really does care for Barry. I don’t know if that was something I’ve always believed about him. The most obvious way his love manifests is in this possessiveness of Barry, and jealousy towards others who are close to him. Especially Cousineau.
Yeah, but that jealousy came for love for Barry. I mean, he’s for himself 98% of the time. 1% loves Barry, and the other percent hates Barry. That’s pretty much what I’ve learned about this guy.
Fuches’ inability to break out of old patterns, that’s a big theme of the season. All of the characters have had opportunities to better themselves, but they keep falling back into old patterns and mindsets. Why do you think these people can’t improve?
They’re real people, and that’s how real people are. They go through, “I hate you, I love you, I don’t want to see you, I’d like to see you tomorrow.” And it just reflects real life because the writing is so good. Everybody could improve — nobody will. Especially Fuches.
The title of the episode comes from the car ride conversation between Fuches and Jim. He says he was a fighter pilot in Vietnam and got shot down and captured, and he refers to the opposing side as “Candy asses.” What did you make of that conversation between them, and the way Fuches reacted to the story about how Jim convinced his captor to kill himself?
Fuches’ character, he was in the service, he did know Barry’s dad, but he was the kind of guy that was behind the lines, selling all the equipment that the frontline people would need. That’s the kind of guy he was and that’s the kind of backstory I have in my head. So he’s trying to impress a fellow Marine guy, like “Yeah, I did that. I’m this guy.” And of course this entire time, he’s being taken to the police station, which is a wonderful way to go. We’ve gotten Fuches to the police station before, but we haven’t gotten to the point where he most likely isn’t going to get out now.
What was it like shooting the big scene between you and James Hiroyuki Liao that closes the episode?
I loved James, his energy is so fantastic and so New York. It was like grabbing a piece of Brooklyn and plopping it in this show, and it was fantastic. You’ll also see some amazing stuff in Episode 8 by him as well. So it was great to have him but for me, I knew about this scene early in the process. And Bill said, “We really want to get this in one take.” Even though James is there, and has lines, it’s kind of a monologue from me, trying to figure out from the middle of this conversation, how can I take this over, and make him go do what I want to do? So we ended up using one close up take of me trying to convince him. So I’m glad that worked out, I thought it worked for the piece.
It was interesting that the final line Fuchs has in the episode is “Barry’s a good guy.” That’s what he tells Albert, even as he’s revealing Barry’s secret. What did you make of that?
I think it’s twofold. Again, his love for Barry and his rascally nature, he used both of them. He used his real love to say “No, he’s a good guy, but you should probably kill him.” So I get to use both of those emotions for those characters, and it’s very fulfilling.
Do you think Fuches has any guilt—
Nope! Let me answer that right away!
You don’t think he has any sense of guilt for his actions?
He’s trying to get what he’s trying to get. And actually, his affection for Barry gets in the way of what he wants. What he wants is his old job back. “Barry, go out, kill this guy, bring me the money, the end.” That’s what he wants. There are many things blocking this from him now and it’s annoying. And that’s it for him. That’s what this guy is about.
We don’t get a ton of info about what Fuches’ relationship with Barry was like before the series started. How have you thought about their history together, and how Fuches turned Barry into a hitman?
You get the sense that he grabbed him as soon as he got out of the army, he said “This is somebody I can mold. Somebody I can work around around, tell them what to do.” Hence the bad uncle. I think he eased him into it over probably a period of a year. Until he had done it, it was good. At least that’s what’s in the back of my head. By then, it’s just a business, it’s a nice business, let’s keep doing it. But it probably took him, by the time Barry got out of the Marines, a year to turn him into a hit guy. That’s my timeline.
The episode feels very dreamlike to me. Obviously you have Barry’s storyline, which is a literal dream sequence, but the episode in general feels more heightened and surreal than “Barry” usually is. What’d you make of it when you first read it?
I kind of reckoned it to Episode 5 last season, “ronny/lily.” Beautifully directed, surreal, more surreal than we’ve seen in a while. We’ve seen a lot of flashbacks and surreal life of him being married and having kids and stuff. But this is much more bizarre and completely connected to his PTSD. But that allowed Bill to use some really interesting visual techniques to show where Barry’s head is at.
Hader directed the majority of the season and he’s directing the entirety of show’s fourth season. What’s he like as a director?
Very specific, which is great. He’s cutting it in his head as he’s going along, which is great because then you’re not shooting extraneous stuff that maybe will fit in later — he’s already got it. It’s so very specific in terms of direction, and directing actors as well. He’s very specific about what he wants to see you do, what he wants to see in your face. And then within that, you get to have fun takes where you’re not necessarily saying the dialogue on the page and you can improv a little bit, but I would say most of it is just scripted, with a few ad-libs. I really admire him as a director. I love Alec [Berg] directing the episodes, he’s fantastic as well. But I think these last two episodes of this season are works of art, and I hope people appreciate it.
The show is going to have a Season 4, but during this season, after every episode, I keep thinking about how much it feels like a final season. I just can’t imagine Barry getting away with this for any longer. Not to spoil what happens in the finale, but how much more fuel do you think the show has in the tank?
That’s the smart question. How long can you sustain somebody with PTSD, that is a murderer and a killer? Over another couple of seasons, I personally don’t know how you can do that, just for the reality of the character. Are we going to do more than [Season 4]? Maybe, I don’t know. But I agree with your assessment, he’s not getting better to the extreme. I think for the reality of the situation, you’d have to end it within a reasonable amount of time.
Do you know anything about the direction Season 4 is going in? Is there anything you’re hoping to explore about Fuches?
From what little Bill has told me about Season 4, we will be actually working together, so I’m happy about that. I’m interested to see if they will go back to a relationship where they can work together, or whether it’s really gonna go down to death and killing. Obviously, we don’t know yet, and probably Bill does. And he ain’t telling me.
The 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards are back in full swing, with back-to-back ceremonies taking place for scripted series and films, as well as unscripted television, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday. Hosted by Vanessa Hudgens and Tayshia Adams, the awards aim to honor the most popular media for audiences that year.
“It’s all about fandoms. It’s all about bringing the biggest and the best, and the stars and the shows and the movies that we know our audience really loves. And that’s how we find the throughline,” producer Vanessa WhiteWolf told TheWrap about the awards shows.
Attendees this year include presenters Lana Condor, Sydney Sweeney and more, as well as stars who attended the red carpet, such as “Top Gun: Maverick’s” Glen Powell and Jay Ellis, Snoop Dogg, Jenna Ortega, Rachel Sennott, Chase Sui Wonders, Diplo and others.
Keep reading to see the red carpet style highlights:
The current season of television has no shortage of true crime series. So the team behind “Candy,” Hulu’s five-part miniseries that dramatizes the story of Candy Montgomery — who was found guilty of murdering her lover’s wife, Betty Gore — took a unique approach in crafting each episode as a different genre, according to co-creator and executive producer Nick Antosca.
“One episode, there’s a courtroom drama, one episode is a melodramatic affair, and so forth, so that each one would have its kind of unique tone,” Antosca said. “We thought that was appropriate because unlike some true stories that you’re dramatizing where you really can define what happened, in this case… two women walked into a room, one walked out and we only have one of their stories. And there is something at the core of this that is really fundamentally unknowable … so we wanted to construct the season like a prism, and you could see it different ways and through different perspectives as you went through the five episodes.”
Joining Antosca were the actors who play Montgomery and Gore — Jessica Biel and Melanie Lynskey, respectively — showrunner and co-creator Robin Veith, executive producer Michelle Purple and moderator Clayton Davis, Variety‘s senior awards editor, for the Variety Streaming Room presented by Hulu. Lynskey, who made her screen debut playing a real-life teen accused of murder in 1994’s “Heavenly Creatures,” said she felt a lot of “responsibility” in telling the story of Betty Gore. That was especially hard because Gore isn’t around to tell her side of the story, so the show follows Montgomery’s perspective, which Lynskey felt at odds with.
“I just wanted her to feel like a real person,” Lynskey said. “I felt really moved by her situation and the fact that she probably needed help that she just wasn’t getting, that she was very anxious and depressed… Then the murder scene was difficult for me just because I don’t believe that’s what happened. So I had to kind of leave my body a little bit. I had to keep reminding myself, ‘Okay, she’s walking through somebody else’s story. She’s telling somebody’s story right now.’ Because I felt like, physically, I wanted to protest.”
Biel, who is also an executive producer on the series, said she wanted to “respect the privacy” of the real-life Montgomery, who is currently a practicing therapist in Georgia. Although she joked that she considered booking a session with her under a pseudonym, Biel said she takes the subject matter of the series very seriously.
“Honestly, what keeps coming up for me is just women’s issues,” Biel said. “The same issues that are happening back then in 1980 are still happening now, where women are still being told we can do this and we can’t do this, and our bodies are somebody else’s decision making. I feel like it’s so topical. We still have a long way to go… We are going to keep talking about this inability and this societal pressure to be a certain way and be amazing and perfect all the time and do all these things. It’s just wrecking us all on the inside and it’s too much, and we’re just going to keep talking about it until it stops.”
Jay Cutler‘s getting one-upped in the post-divorce celebration department by his ex Kristin Cavallari … who says Jay’s got a lot of catching up to do, and also hints he’s already violated their settlement.
We caught up with Kristin at LAX, and asked for her thoughts on finalizing the divorce from the ex-NFL star … who commented about it this week on his “Uncut with Jay Cutler” podcast. Jay boasted about his bank account not really taking a hit in their divorce, and added, “When the settlement came through, I threw a party.”
PodcastOne/Uncut with Jay Cutler
Well, Kristin was pretty much mum to our camera guy on the settlement. In fact, she told us she doesn’t think she’s allowed to discuss it … hinting there’s a non-disclosure agreement and Jay shouldn’t be blabbing either.
Now, as for Jay being in party mode — well Kristin didn’t hold back on that topic. We asked if she’ll throw her own post-divorce bash, and she said “I’ve been partying for 2 years straight” … a not-so-subtle reference to the divorce filingin April 2020.
You’ll recall … Kristin and Jay called it quits after a decade-long relationship that started after they met at a Chicago Bears preseason game. They got married 3 years later and had 3 kids.
Now that it’s over, sounds like they’re both celebrating good times.
Mother Gothel’s selfishness, deceit, and clever manipulation make her one of the scariest Disney antagonists, but one theory may change that.
Mother Gothel from the movie Tangled is one of the most severe characters in Disney movies, but a theory suggests that she may not have been the villain of Tangled after all. Gothel is seen as a strong Disney villain in part because she is not magically powerful. Instead, her villainy comes from her manipulation tactics and her gaslighting of Rapunzel. She’s a true-to-life villain, which makes her all the scarier, more so than an evil witch, like Maleficent, or a vengeful lion, like Scar.
Mother Gothel steals every scene she’s in by being the most bombastic person on screen. She moves with grace and class, but inside she hides her pure evil along with the secret that she stole Rapunzel from her parents as a small child so as to keep her youthful spell. However, a theory (via Reddit) claims that Gothel isn’t the true villain in Tangled.
The theory claims that it is actually the authorities, and in part the King and Queen, of Corona who are the real villains. Gothel had found the flower herself centuries before Corona’s kingdom was built up, and had harnessed its powers for many years peacefully. She hid the flower, but she never destroyed it. Yet, as soon as the Queen falls ill, authorities stalk and pillage the lands surrounding Corona, eventually finding the flower and simply taking it for themselves. They never question if it belongs to anyone, or think about how to conserve the flower to use as medicine in the future for others who fall ill. Thus, it is their actions that make them Tangled‘s real villains.
This theory actually stands up to some scrutiny. The King and Queen are largely portrayed in a sympathetic light after losing their daughter, apparently grieving ever since she was taken, but the selfishness of ripping up a flower that wasn’t theirs, and that could have been used to help countless people is undeniable. Thus, the theory states that Gothel taking in taking Rapunzel she is taking back what was taken from her.
This, though, is missing a lot of nuance surrounding the fact that, no matter the circumstances, Gothel did kidnap a young and innocent child. It wasn’t Rapunzel’s fault that the flower was taken, yet she suffers for it the most over the years under Gothel’s eye. Rapunzel’s dark Disney backstory shows how she was subject to gaslighting, taunts, and essentially treated as a servant to Gothel. Her iconic dress is also many sizes too small for her, which indicates that Gothel hasn’t bothered to sew or obtain new clothes that actually fit Rapunzel in years, but Gothel herself is dressed most glamorously.
Therefore, whilst it can be true that the authorities of Corona acted in similarly selfish ways, Gothel is still the true villain of Tangled. Her manipulation tactics, even hiring hitmen to deal with Flynn, show the extent of her cruelty. Her obsession lies not with Rapunzel, but merely with the gift she possesses. Even when Gothel is killed off, she dies clutching Rapunzel’s hair, which proves that was her only concern. She looks after Rapunzel as long as she is useful to her, which is ultimately the mark of a villain.
Fast 10 Returning Fast & Furious To Its Roots Is The Film’s Best News Yet
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This week I rewatched and reviewed the 1986 action drama Top Gun, I also give my thoughts on episode 3 of Obi-Wan and I talk briefly about George Carlin’s HBO documentary.
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Let’s start before the start. MV: Mild Violence flashes on HBO’s content warning slide. Mild? Sure, things got out of control last week with the motocross rampage on that L.A. freeway, riders plowing through windshields, flipping over cars, psycho Traci driving on top of a building and shooting at a crowd before being gunned down by the heroic used-car salesman. And, of course, Barry (Bill Hader) bit into a beignet poisoned by Sharon (Karen David), widow of Chris (Chris Marquette), the ex-Marine Barry killed in season one. “Die, you motherfucker!” Sharon hissed as Barry foamed at the mouth and keeled over. That was cool, guys! Don’t pull back now.
In lieu of grisly, graphic violence (Sharon torturing Barry in her basement?) we get an episode that continues the super-stuffed, kudzu-fast plotting we have come to expect all season, as well as a couple of crazy reversals, a Terrence Malick-y fever dream, and one of those big narrative ironies that make the series such a feat of engineering.
The latter element comes late in “candy asses,” when Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) finds himself face to face with the intimidating, no-nonsense Jim Moss (Robert Ray Wisdom), father of his dead lover, Janice Moss. Cousineau knows Barry killed Janice. Through Barry, Cousineau’s career has been revived. Jim has recently been told, by Fuches, that Barry killed Janice, and that Cousineau knows Barry did it. And yet, when Jim confronts Cousineau, he assures Jim that Barry is not the killer. As Cousineau babbles on, lying to cover for Barry, wishing Barry had had a gun there at the cabin so he could kill “those Russians,” the camera—Hader directs this episode, by the way—drifts upward to fix on Cousineau’s perspiring scalp. He’s not a good enough actor to hide the sweat of guilt. Jim, a Vietnam vet trained in PSYOPS, notes the tell.
Cousineau betraying the love of his life was perhaps the most heartbreaking sequence in an episode full of characters in despair. Ryan’s father (Michael Bofshever) is caught between ending the pain of his grief or having revenge on Barry. Sally (Sarah Goldberg) attacks Natalie (D’Arcy Carden) in the elevator, repeatedly screaming in Natalie’s face an ugly phrase that Sally was really hurling at herself. Sally’s vicious, unhinged rant, complete with smacking the wall right next to Natalie’s face, is a perfect copy of Barry’s explosion at Sally in episode two of this season. As with Cousineau, Barry has poisoned those around him, brought out their greed or violence or capacity to accept evil. It may be that those who have suffered most from Barry’s actions—the grieving—have greater capacity for good. Ryan’s father leaves the poisoned, dying Barry at an emergency room before he kills himself. Jim Moss is putting the pieces together and he seems a man of justice more than revenge.
Meanwhile, Hank puts himself in danger in Bolivia to find Cristobal, even though there’s little reason to think the lovers will be safely reunited. As for Fuches (Stephen Root), he seems to have reached the end of his road: He basically tells Albert (James Hiroyuki Liao) the truth about he and Barry’s working relationship. Still, it would be foolish to expect any of these characters to fade away, as Barry recycles the minutest of narrative threads.
As with last week, this was another episode that seems to test the audience’s patience with its wild happenstances. For example, I totally believe that Sharon, panicking after she poisoned Barry, would flee the house (will Albert find her there at the beginning of next week?). And I buy that Barry would survive, stagger out, and try to escape. But how did Ryan’s father find Barry passed out in an alleyway? How did NoHo Hank find the one guy in Bolivia who would take him to the Sifuentes crime family (after knocking him out with a blow dart).
Sarah Goldberg in BarryPhoto: Merrick Morton/HBO
How Albert finally connected Barry to Moss’ murder was straightforward enough: Jim Moss suspected Fuches, a.k.a. Kenneth Goulet, therefore turned him into the police. Chief Krauss and Burns think they’ve caught “The Raven,” but when Albert hears Moss say that Fuches fingered Barry Berkman—as Cousineau originally did—he goes in to interrogate Fuches himself, with cameras off. Albert reveals himself to Fuches as Barry’s wounded fellow Afghan vet, and Fuches spills the beans about his hitman operation with Barry.
The episode starts in a church with the congregation singing a hymn. We see Ryan’s dad, frozen with grief in the pew. It ends with Albert grabbing his gun and leaving, possibly for Sharon’s house. In between we see the gasping, wheezing Barry hallucinating himself on a beach, surrounded by the dozens he has killed: Goran, Chris, Esther, Fernando, and tons of Chechens and Bolivians. Out in the ocean, we hear an otherworldly rumbling and tumult of voices. Barry stands among these souls on the shore, bound for the afterlife. It’s hard to imagine Barry not surviving the season finale. “Barry’s a good guy.” The line’s spoken by both Fuches and Cousineau. Whether or not god forgives Barry, or sends him to hell, Albert is on his way.
Stray observations
The Barry opening logo runs without the usual burst of fanfare (Charles Bradley’s “Change for the World”). Instead, we hear the stage director for Cousineau’s acting show, followed by his cheesy intro monologue. Last time Hader/Berg did this was the final episode of season two, “berkman > block.”
Just a few juicy story points from The New Medusas’ whiteboard: “Abby buys hat to hide snakes,” “Abby and Calvin eat pizza WTF” “A + C Hook up Disaster,” “Abby feels ok about Cal Death”
LOL Hank line: He politely waits for Bolivian market guy to assemble his blowgun and tag him in the neck before chirping, “Yep. Okay. That’s what I thought you were doing but I did not want to be rude, so” and collapses.
Cousineau’s agent, Tom Posorro (the priceless Fred Melamed, who also repped Maria Bamford in Lady Dynamite) gets another list bit, this one where he gets to praise (not demonize) Cousineau. Under Annie’s direction Gene looks “masculine, virile, rugged, brawny, gallant, robust, lantern-jawed, un homme pour tous saisons…”
There’s a special place in hell for whoever dressed Cousineau (that bizarrely patterned tie, that plaid shirt).
Now that Natalie has her own Natalie, she’s keeping her busy. As they walk to the elevator, her assistant rushes to keep up: “Make me an appointment at the acupuncturist where Chloë Grace Moretz gets hers done, but make sure that it’s with the tattoo guy but not the fangs girl because I did not like her.”
As she angrily burns bridges with agent Lindsay (Jessy Hodges), Sally backs up into a dark, unlit room. The choreography echoes Barry’s moving into darkness at the end of season 2. They’re not so different, after all.
Stephen Root crushing a monologue is old news. Still, when Fuches tells Albert, “That switch you saw go off when Barry was avenging you? I harnessed that into a very lucrative job for him.” He cracks open his Pepsi on “switch.” Chef’s kiss.
Lionsgate released a new video revealing the logo for its The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which will star Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth. It is set to release in theaters on November 17, 2023.
Check out The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes teaser trailer below:
Based on the 2020 prequel novel by Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set 64 years before the events of the trilogy, starting on the morning of the reaping of the Tenth Hunger Games where an 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is assigned as the mentor for the tribute girl from the impoverished District 12.
“Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol,” reads the synopsis. “With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.”
Written by Michael Lesslie based on a draft by Collins and Michael Arndt, the film will be helmed by Hunger Games films director Francis Lawrence. It will be shepherded by franchise producer Nina Jacobson and her producing partner Brad Simpson, along with Francis Lawrence. Suzanne Collins, Tim Palen, and Jim Miller will serve as executive producers. Meredith Wieck and Scott O’Brien are overseeing on behalf of the studio.
The MTV Movie and TV Awards crowned its 2022 winners on Sunday night!
Find out who took home the golden popcorn below!
Jack Black was presented with the Comedic Genius Award and Jennifer Lopez the Generation Award.
Jack Black (Getty Images)
Best Movie “Dune” “Scream 5” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (Winner) “The Adam Project” “The Batman”
Best Show “Euphoria”(Winner) “Inventing Anna” “Loki” “Squid Game” “Ted Lasso” “Yellowstone”
Best Performance in a Movie Lady Gaga — “House of Gucci” Robert Pattinson — “The Batman” Sandra Bullock — “The Lost City” Timothée Chalamet — “Dune” Tom Holland — “Spider-Man: No Way Home”(Winner)
Best Performance in a Show Amanda Seyfried — “The Dropout” Kelly Reilly — “Yellowstone” Lily James — “Pam & Tommy” Sydney Sweeney — “Euphoria” Zendaya — “Euphoria” (Winner)
Best Hero Daniel Craig — “No Time to Die” Oscar Isaac — “Moon Knight” Scarlett Johansson — “Black Widow”(Winner) Simu Liu — “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Tom Holland — “Spider-Man: No Way Home”
Best Villain Colin Farrell — “The Batman” Daniel Radcliffe — “The Lost City”(Winner) James Jude Courtney — “Halloween Kills” Victoria Pedretti — “You” Willem Dafoe — “Spider-Man: No Way Home”
Best Kiss Hunter Schafer & Dominic Fike — “Euphoria” Lily Collins & Lucien Laviscount — “Emily in Paris” Poopies & the snake — “Jackass Forever” (Winner) Robert Pattinson & Zoë Kravitz — “The Batman” Tom Holland & Zendaya — “Spider-Man: No Way Home”
Best Comedic Performance Brett Goldstein — “Ted Lasso” John Cena — “Peacemaker” Johnny Knoxville — “Jackass Forever” Megan Stalter — “Hacks” Ryan Reynolds — “Free Guy”(Winner)
Breakthrough Performance Alana Haim — “Licorice Pizza” Ariana DeBose — “West Side Story” Hannah Einbinder — “Hacks” Jung Ho-Yeon — “Squid Game” Sophia Di Martino — “Loki” (Winner)
Sydney Sweeney (R) walks offstage after accepting the Best Fight award for ‘Euphoria’ from Glen Powell during the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards at Barker Hangar on June 05, 2022 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for MTV)”
Best Fight Black Widow vs. Widows — “Black Widow” Cassie vs. Maddy — “Euphoria” (Winner) Guy vs. Dude — “Free Guy” Shang-Chi bus fight — “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Spider-Men end battle — “Spider-Man: No Way Home”
Most Frightened Performance Jenna Ortega — “Scream”(Winner) Kyle Richards — “Halloween Kills” Mia Goth — “X” Millicent Simmonds — “A Quiet Place Part II” Sadie Sink — “Fear Street: Part Two 1978”
Jenna Ortega accepts the Most Frightened Performance award for ‘Scream’ onstage during the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards at Barker Hangar on June 05, 2022 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for MTV)
Best Team “Loki” — Tom Hiddleston, Sophia Di Martino, Owen Wilson (Winner) “Only Murders in the Building” — Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, Martin Short “Spider-Man: No Way Home” — Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire “The Adam Project” — Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell “The Lost City” — Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt
Here For The Hookup “Euphoria” (Winner) “Never Have I Ever” “Pam & Tommy” “Sex/Life” “Sex Lives of College Girls”
BEST SONG “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” — Jennifer Hudson, “Respect” “Just Look Up” — Ariana Grande & Kid Cudi, “Don’t Look Up” “Little Star” — Dominic Fike, “Euphoria” “On My Way (Marry Me)” — Jennifer Lopez, “Marry Me” (Winner) “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” — Encanto cast, “Encanto”
Olivia Rodrigo (Getty Images)
Best Music Documentary “Janet Jackson.” “Jeen-yuhs: AKanye Trilogy” “Oasis Knebworth 1996” “Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u (a SOUR film)” (Winner) “The Beatles: Get Back”
BEST MUSICAL MOMENT
“Therapy” – Andrew Garfield and Vanessa Hudgens (“Tick, Tick… Boom!”) “Nobody Like U” – 4*TOWN (“Turning Red”) “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” – Encanto Cast (“Encanto”) “This Is How We Do It” – Montell Jordan (“Yellowjackets”) “Wrecking Ball” – Midnite String Quartet (“Bridgerton”) “Dynamite” – BTS, performed by Ashley Park (“Emily in Paris”) “Dance With Me” (“Heartstopper”)(Winner) “Rose Song” – Olivia Rodrigo (“High School Musical: The Musical: The Series”) “America” – (“West Side Story”) “Holding Out For a Hero” (“Euphoria”) “The Moment of Truth” – Carrie Underwood (“Cobra Kai”) “Downtown” – Anya Taylor-Joy (“Last Night in Soho”) “Do Ya Wanna Taste It” – Wig Wam (“Peacemaker”) “Original Score” (“Halo”) “Million To One” – Camila Cabello (“Cinderella”) “Disco Forever” (“House of Gucci”)
Mariah Carey is being sued for upwards of $20 million in damages over her massive holiday hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” as NBC News and TMZ report. According to the complaint, New Orleans songwriter Andy Stone alleged that he co-wrote a song with the same title five years prior to Carey’s release. Stone’s song was recorded by his country-pop band Vince Vance & the Valiants and released in 1989. Carey’s single was issued on her 1994 Merry Christmas LP.
Carey is being sued for copyright infringement and misappropriation; she’s named alongside her co-writer Walter Afanasieff and Sony Music Entertainment. When reached by Pitchfork, Carey’s representatives offered no comment.
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Gambling becomes interesting entertainment that many people cannot deny. There is great opportunity to gain great sum of money by playing some games. Gamblers can bet on many kinds of games. Various games are available and each of them has its own attraction and challenges. Some people think that same gambling games are more about opportunities and luck, but gamblers who have played for many years may have different opinion about the gambling. It needs more than just luck to make great profits from the bet, but they need to have good skills in gambling and it is also important to make best decisions. The decisions can be useful to gain great winning, or it can become safe way to avoid the loss. Surely, it can be more than just luck or fortune.
When it talks about gambling skills, it seems that the film titled God of Gambler can become great reference to see how great skills are needed to win the game. This is not new movie. In fact, God of Gambler has four series. Each of them shows different stories with the same actor. The main actor was Chow Yun Fat. In the movies, he was the God of Gambler. His skills were the reasons why he could get the title. His skills in gambling were very high, and even it could be called as magical skills. He could easily win the game by using his mysterious skills and these helped him to win various games, even when he had to face difficult gamblers who play various tricks and showed many kinds of skills on the gambling table. Although he got special skills and great winning records on the gambling tables, he chose to avoid the glams and he chose to stay low profile. Somehow, these make his rivals wanted to beat him and at the same time made him more mysterious. Of course, he still got special characteristic traits that made him easy to recognize, and one of them was his neat hairstyle and his choices in eating chocolate.
Chow Yun Fat in those movies played the card games. There were card games played by him and he chose the game because his mysterious skills enabled him to predict the cards on the hands of his rivals. In fact, these were not only to predict the card, but he could see the cards. It was like having special eyes to see the cards. Many rivals and enemies have tried various tricks to make him unable to use his eyes, but all of these were unable to stop him from winning the game. Of course, the movies were not only scenes on the gambling tables or casinos. It was Chow Yun Fat so there must be fighting scenes and these make the movies more interesting. Although the movies were released in 90s, these movies were still worth to watch. The movies could display well his skills in gambling and there were many action scenes that cannot be ignored.
Actually, there is another movie about gambling. This time, it is modern movie and it is part of the James Bond series. In the Casino Royale, the movie showed how James Bond played card games inside a casino. The movie displayed well the situation inside the casinos where there are chips, beautiful women, and large sums of money. Of course, gambling is not the main attraction in the movie because James Bond got the mission to win the game against a terrorist who also joined the game. His mission was to win the game so the terrorist could be stopped. However, as what were seen in many James Bond’s movies, the plan did not go smoothly. He even got serious heart attack in the midst of the game because of the tricks played by the enemies. Although he got problem, he could still won the bet when he made all-in bet in the end of the game.
There were still many kinds of movies and dramas displaying the gambling activities in the casinos or gambling locations. Watching how the gambling games may make people want to play the game as well. In fact, it is not a big problem to play the gambling. Of course, as what is shown in the movies, there are possibilities of losses and these can be serious losses where people can lose thousands to millions of their money in the gambling tables. Even so, it is the interesting part of gambling. The risks become challenges and excitement. Of course, goals of winning great sum of money will become great force to keep playing.
People now can find casinos and many gambling locations easily. When they do not want to get bothered by the location, they can play online gambling games. Online casinos and online gambling websites are available as the alternative to bet the wagers more conveniently. Instead of coming to certain place, they only need to open website or app. Later, the gambling games can be accessed quickly and easily. This allows people to enjoy gambling without any restrictions regarding the place or location. Of course, it is still important to pay attention to the risks of online gambling. The easy accesses do not make online gambling websites and apps totally safe because there are also scams and frauds. Thus, now there is some assistance to avoid the risks and problems in playing online gambling and Gamstop is one of them. Gamblers can subscribe to the Gamstop and they will get restriction to certain gambling websites. With the restrictions, it can become ways to avoid risks. At the same time, it becomes solution to control the gambling habit that may be destructive when it is not controlled well.
The Gamstop provides accesses and solutions for safer gambling experiences. However, it still has its cons, and one of them is about the subscription policy. Once someone subscribe the services of Gamstop, they will not be able to undone it anymore in the future. It means that they will keep getting restrictions when they open the websites listed in the services. That is why there are choices of non gamstop betting websites. These still can allow them to enjoy gambling. These also become chance to enjoy playing various games as what is found in various movies. It may give chances to become real god of gambler.
Boris Johnson is to face a vote of no confidence on Monday evening after the threshold of 54 letters from Conservative MPs seeking his departure was reached.
In a statement sent to Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee that represents backbench Tories, said the threshold of 15% of MPs seeking a confidence vote, numbering 54, had been reached.
“In accordance with the rules, a ballot will be held between 1800 and 2000 today, Monday 6 June,” it continued.
To stay in office, Johnson needs to win the support of at least 50% of all Tory MPs plus one, totalling 180. If he does win he is theoretically safe from such a challenge for a year – although the rules can be changed.
Brady would have told No 10 in advance of the announcement and liaised over the timing of any vote. The fact it is taking place so quickly is likely to be the choice of Downing Street, hopeful that disparate groups of rebels will be unable to coordinate or campaign.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “Tonight is a chance to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on, delivering on the people’s priorities.
“The PM welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs and will remind them that when they’re united and focused on the issues that matter to voters there is no more formidable political force.”
Tory MPs opposed to Johnson were confident they had breached the 54-letter mark but remain uncertain as to whether they would win a confidence vote. It is held in person but as a secret ballot.
Sajid Javid, the health secretary, sent out on Monday’s broadcast round for the government, pledged that Johnson would “stand and fight his corner” if he did face a confidence vote.
“If this threshold of 54 letters is reached there will be a confidence vote and in that case there should be. There may well be one,” Javid told Sky News before confirmation of the vote. “If there is, the prime minister will stand and fight his corner with a very, very strong case. So let’s just wait and see what happens.”
Just before the vote was announced, another former minister, Jesse Norman, released a condemnatory letter saying he had also sent a letter.
Johnson had “presided over a culture of casual law-breaking at 10 Downing Street in relation to Covid”, said Norman, a former Treasury minister. For Johnson to describe himself as vindicated by last week’s Sue Gray report was “grotesque”, he added.
Breaching Northern Ireland protocol “would be economically very damaging, politically foolhardy and almost certainly illegal”, Norman wrote, while the policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda policy was “ugly, likely to be counterproductive, and of doubtful illegality”.
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In the week and a half since the Gray report into No 10 parties was published, many Conservative MPs moved from not expecting a confidence vote against Johnson until the aftermath of two crucial byelections on 23 June, at the earliest, to becoming almost certain one would be held this week.
In the previous such vote, in December 2018, Theresa May won by 200 votes to 117, but having more than a third of her MPs oppose her forced May to set a timetable for her departure only five months later.
John Oliver delivered an impassioned plea on tonight’s Last Week Tonight in opposition of the inevitable rise of support for increased police presence on school campuses.
In the wake of the Uvalde shooting several weeks ago, Oliver took conservative pundits to task over their solutions to the increase of school shootings.
Despite the presence of police officers on both the campuses of Robb Elementary School and Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where shootings cumulatively took the lives of over 30 students, Fox News personalities endorsed a variety of measures in lieu of gun control. One even advocated for the use of artistic ballistic blankets to be hung on school windows.
“What are you talking about? ‘Use a blanket’ is not a strategy for stopping deaths during a school shooting,” Oliver said. “It’s barely a solution for ‘there’s a bird in the house.’”
Though he personally believes the only thing to do is to legislate meaningful gun control, Oliver spent the rest of the segment dispelling the notion that increased police presence will actually prevent school shootings.
Citing a 2019 study from the Journal Of Adolescent Health, no evidence could be found across 179 school shootings that campus police lessened the severity of a incidents.
On the whole, Oliver showed that school police, an entity that has arrested a total of 54,321 students in a calendar year, often misdirect their power towards the disabled and students of color, mentioning an example of an autistic teenager being arrested for carving his name into the sidewalk.
Oliver advocated to channel school police funding towards more counselors, nurses and resources that protect students.
“When we throw more cops into schools as an easy way out of that difficult and necessary conversation, we not only fail to keep our kids safe from gun violence we condemn them to a system that criminalizes the very essence of childhood,” Oliver said.
“Kids deserve to be annoying without being arrested, to be sad and angry without being body slammed. They deserve to have tantrums, throw carrots, do science experiments, talk s*** and carve their names into stuff without risking being in the back of a police car.”
“They definitely deserve better than the fundamental lie the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy who can arrest a five year old.”
Apple’s WWDC 2022 kicks off today, with Apple CEO Tim Cook’s eagerly-anticipated keynote, at 10AM PDT / 6PM GMT.
It’s an exciting moment in Apple history for many reasons. This is Apple’s first partially in-person World Wide Developers Conference since 2019. While the majority of people will watch the event and attend sessions virtually, a small group of developers, analysts, and media (including our own Lance Ulanoff and Matt Hanson) will be in attendance at Apple Park in Cupertino, California.
As for the keynote and two-day conference, it will be packed to the gills (maybe more so than ever) with platform update announcements and surprises. We’ll almost certainly learn more about iOS 16, a new iPad OS, macOS 13, watchOS 8, further updates on Apple TV, very likely new MacBooks and even a new mixed reality headset (although that doesn’t seem as likely any longer).
iOS 16 could bring a world of change to your iPhone with redesigned stock apps, updated notifications, and always-on screen support.
macOS 13 will get a cool name (many expect Mammoth) but, aside from more features that help it work with iPad OS and other mobile apps, we may not see a world of changes on the Mac desktop.
It’s been a while, WWDC. (Image credit: TechRadar)
Of greater interest for desktop and laptop fans might be the introduction of the M2 chips, the follow-up to Apple’s M1. Apple Silicon is now a major player in the CPU (desktop and mobile) space and that’s largely due to the incredible performance of the M1 lineup. Expect exciting things from M2 – if it does arrive.
If we see an M2 chip, it has to go somewhere, and our money is on a new MacBook Air.
watchOS 8 could bring some interface adjustments and maybe even hint of health-related features to come with the next Apple Watch, but few are expecting significant changes.
Perhaps the biggest what-if of the WWDC keynote is realityOS and Apple AR glasses. Many now believe we’ll see the glasses for the first time during the keynote and learn a lot about what is expected to be Apple’s bespoke VR/AR platform for both its AR glasses and a possible VR headset.
Whatever happens, you have come to the right place. Just sit back and find out how close our guesses match Apple’s upcoming development reality – and you don’t even need to do anything as this page refreshes automatically.
The “Game of Thrones” author had particular praise for Paddy Considine’s performance in the upcoming spinoff.
HBO’s upcoming “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon” is still months away from premiering, but it will almost certainly be one of the most scrutinized TV shows of the year. Any follow-up to the fantasy blockbuster would have sky high expectations to contend with, and the original show’s polarizing ending left many fans particularly wary about future Westeros projects.
One person who is not concerned about the series? “Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin, who once again took to his blog this week to praise the spinoff.
“I’ve now watched rough cuts of nine of the ten episodes, and I continue to be impressed,” Martin wrote. “I cannot speak to the SFX, many of which are not in yet, but the look of it is great, and the acting, the directing, and writing are first rate. And yes, for all you book fans, it IS my story. Sure, there are some changes from ‘Fire & Blood’ — we could not present three alternative versions of every major event, not and keep our sanity — but I think Ryan Condal and his writers made good choices. Even some improvements. (Heresy, I know, but being the author, I am allowed to say so).”
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He singled out Paddy Considine’s performance as particularly impressive, but he had praise for the entire cast and predicted that “Game of Thrones” fans would eventually fall in love with the ensemble.
“For years, as some of you may recall, I have been saying the TV version of Shae, as portrayed by Sibel Kekilli, was a deeper, richer, and more nuanced characters than the Shae in my novels,” he wrote. “In a similar vein, I am vastly impressed by the show’s version of King Viserys, played by Paddy Considine, who gives the character a tragic majesty that my book Viserys never quite achieved. Kudos to Paddy, Ryan and his writers, and Miguel and the other directors. (There are a lot of great performances in ‘House of the Dragon’ — or ‘HOT D,’ as I hear some are calling it. You may never have heard of some of our actors, but I think you will learn to love them, just as you did with the cast of ‘Game of Thrones’).”
“House of the Dragon” premieres on Sunday, August 21 on HBO.
Paris Hilton, who said Frankel was her nanny when Frankel first moved to Los Angeles, introduced the reality star before a sizzle reel played of Frankel on The Housewives of New York City.
“She is the kind of woman who makes you crack up laughing, isn’t afraid to get deep and is fiercely loyal unless you cross her,” Hilton said. “She’s also an incredibly successful entrepreneur and a philanthropist with a huge heart, who always looks for ways to share her good fortune with others. She once said, ‘You cannot show only the petals and not the thorns. It’s not fair to them.’ So Bethenny, it’s time for us to give you your flowers, thorns and all.”
“This is full circle,” Frankel said, joking. “I took care of Paris when she was barely out of diapers. This is actually the announcement for our new reality show where Paris changes my diapers. It’s called That’s Not Hot.”
Getting serious, Frankel said, “Thank you, MTV. Thank you to the audience who has invested in a flawed yet always transparent person. I have overshot the mark. All I ever wanted was to make a difference in some way. Leave a mark. I was a late bloomer. I wasn’t successful by any definition, and was broke and bouncing checks well into my late 30s. Reality television gave me a platform to authentically be myself, be honest about my flaws, my struggles being broken, alone and with no safety net, a place to mention it all.”
She continued, “It’s accessible if you take it one mistake at a time and create your own authentic journey. Being honest, flawed and unique is beautiful. I’m here by living truthfully and doing what’s important to me on my own terms. You have taught me so many life lessons and have been on this incredible journey with me since day one. You have given me and my daughter a life I couldn’t have dreamed of. I am grateful to you and to my team who supports me when it’s rough and exhausting and we all want to quit. Thank you to Bravo, Andy Cohen and that first crazy and amazing cast of New York Housewives. You gave me a runway from which to soar. Success comes from working hard and solidifying relationships and a level of trust and the right people betting that you are the horse that can run the distance… Thank you to Paul, the most loyal and loving partner I could ever have dreamed of. To Bryn, my sweet peanut, I have given you everything and you’ve given me back infinity. You are the little girl in people’s dreams. I love you. To my daughter and to all of you who have a dream, make good choices, play the long game. We have to play checkers every day but this whole ride is one gigantic chessboard, choose your moves wisely. And don’t go for the low hanging fruit. The shiniest apple is sitting at the top. This is all a dream. You all go for yours.”
She is the second person to win this award after the cast of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation was the first recipient in 2021.
In 2005, Frankel starred on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, on which she came second. Then she was on Bravo’s The Housewives of New York City for eight seasons. She’s also starred in many other shows include a Bethenny Ever After spinoff and hosted her own talk show, Bethenny. In 2021, she launched Big Shot With Bethenny, a reality competition series on HBO Max in which she searched for her second-in-command at her Skinnygirl company.
The chairs on the deck of Warner Bros. Discovery continue to shuffle now that chief David Zaslav is settling in and putting his stamp on the company’s overall structure. Changes have been occurring rapidly at the media giant, with ramifications affecting Discovery and HBO Max and an intense focus being placed on deals made at the studio level (including legacy projects with filmmakers like Clint Eastwood who are loyal to the studio, but far from profitable). Names at the top of the masthead were expected to change once Zaslav got his people in place, and it’s now being reported that Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Chair Toby Emmerich is out at the studio, and will be replaced by the combined team of Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.
Toby Emmerich was appointed chairman of Warner’s film division in 2018, and presided over a tumultuous period in the studio’s history – notably because it went through two major corporate shakeups. As reported by Variety, WB first was sold to AT&T, followed by the telecom giant selling the studio to Discovery and the formation of this new entity.
Emmerich was promoted at Warner Bros. following his successes at New Line. He oversaw major franchises such as The Conjuring and the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series, but will forever be linked to the troubles plaguing WB’s flagship DC Comics IP… and his inability to properly figure out what to do with all of those valuable properties.
To that end, and with an eye toward the future, The Hollywood Reporter mentions in its reporting on Toby Emmerich that David Zaslav has made DC Films a top priority, and recently asked Joker director Todd Phillips to do more in the DC universe, and even come on board at the company as some sort of advisor on the DC properties. THR goes so far as to say Phillips and Zaslav have established a positive rapport. And why not? Joker was an enormous hit for Warner Bros., earning more than $1 billion worldwide and 11 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Director and Actor. The trade goes on to state that Phillips would not serve as an executive at WB.
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)
It’s no secret that Warner Bros. and DC under Tony Emmerich wanted to, but failed to, find a Kevin Feige type to oversee all of the films and television projects in play for the studio. There was a time when Zack Snyder tried to connect his DC characters in movies like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, and David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. When that universe failed to catch on, DC pivoted to director-driven standalone films like Joker, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, and Matt Reeves’ The Batman, caring less about continuity. Though there are a number of upcoming DC films on the studio’s slate, fans tend to feel there’s no overarching plan with DC, so Zaslav likely wants to establish a braintrust that can lead DC Films into the future.
The dust likely will be settling on this one for days as analysts figure out what Toby Emmerich’s exit means for the future of the Fantastic Beasts films, the possibility of more Justice League movies, and the direction of DC Films, in general. We’ll continue to report on developments as they happen.
There are certain films that manage to become particularly difficult to review for the simple fact that revealing nearly any plot point would be giving too much away. Blumhouse Television and Epix’s latest venture, the teen horror/comedy zombie film Unhuman, falls into this category by throwing multiple curveballs throughout the movie, all of which are integral to the progression of the overall story. While this translates into a review that will be obliged to tread considerably lightly, there’s still plenty to speak about in regards to performance, tone, and pacing.
Early on, this movie makes it evident it’s going for a Breakfast Club meets Dawn of the Dead vibe by pitting a group of divergent teens against amped up zombies after the field trip they are on quickly descends into manic, bloody chaos. We are briefly introduced to lead Ever (Brianne Tju), and her snarky best friend, Tamara (Ali Gallo), who spend an unnecessarily lengthy amount of time bickering in dialogue that feels overly cringey and unnatural.
Nonetheless, they are quickly joined with the rest of the young cast, who all very obviously represent the typical High School class stereotypes as they board their school bus for an educational day trip. Their destination is never reached, however, before all hell breaks loose in the form of crazed zombies intent on feasting on a Gen Z buffet.
From this point, the action and pacing stay at a consistent high-speed level, never wavering for longer than a handful of brief moments, as the group attempts to survive, find safety, and fight back. At times, this can feel overly done, as it never truly settles down for those slower, quieter moments of character interaction. The few occasions that these are provided, it ends up feeling too little, too late, as the major plot points overshadow the ability to focus on anything else.
Despite this, there are ample opportunities for deranged, messy, humorous fun as the group begins to piece together what exactly is going on. The tension between the characters is one of the strengths of Unhuman, but the dialogue never quite hits the mark on believability, especially when taking into consideration this is a group of teens. The cast does their best with the direction and writing they are given, though, particularly since they all must carry the entirety of the film on their shoulders.
Tju most notably stands out by portraying a young lady who truly comes into her own in a markedly short span of time. It’s refreshing to see a lead who doesn’t end up typecast as either frail, inordinately nerdy, prudish, or promiscuous, who simply is determined to trudge through difficult circumstances. She earns her badge as Scream Queen in a natural way, and will undoubtedly be seen in future projects.
Unhuman is written by Saw franchise alums Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, whose other works include Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and The Collection. While horror is surely their wheelhouse, this is their first foray into the realm of mixing comedy and Gen Z leads, and while the concept and technique are compelling, it ultimately feels as though it falls short on some points. This is mostly due to feeling rushed and too chaotic in delivering those aforementioned plot points, when it could have benefitted from slowing down just slightly for the audience to fully enjoy the ride it takes you on.
All that said, this is a film that provides enough outrageous and unique moments to still make it an entertaining watch. It’s more campy than scary, and leans heavily on the unbelievability factor, but it’s a film that can unequivocally boast that it captures a unique take on the oversaturated zombie genre.
Lionsgate has released a teaser trailer for The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes well over a year before its release date.
Lionsgate has unveiled the first teaser for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the prequel film to the hit YA franchise. Released in 2020, ten years after the publication of Mockingjay, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was the highly anticipated prequel to Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Game book series. The story is set years before the original series and focuses on a young Coriolanus Snow, who grows up to be the villainous President Snow. He was played by Donald Sutherland in the Hunger Games films.
In April 2020, just a month before The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes‘ release, it was announced that Lionsgate was in development on an adaptation of the film with Francis Lawrence, who directed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and both Mockingjay adaptations, returning at the helm. Tom Blythe, who plays the lead role in the Epix original series Billy the Kid, has signed on as the young Snow. More recently, West Side Story star Rachel Zegler was cast in the pivotal role of Lucy Gray Baird, a young girl from District 12 who forms a connection with the future ruler of Panem.
Lionsgate has released an official teaser trailer for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. No live-action footage is shown, as the film has yet to begin principal photography, but the announcement trailer features a snowy forest where a golden songbird emerges – as well as a snake. The trailer promises audiences a return to the games in 2023. Watch the trailer for The Hunger Games prequel below:
While the trailer is listed as a reveal, it is unclear if Lionsgate intends to have it play in theaters. With Jurassic World Dominion releasing in theaters this week, putting the brief teaser in front of the highly anticipated blockbuster would put The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes on audiences’ radars, particularly those who are unaware of a new installment in the Hunger Games franchise being on the way. While it is over a year away from its release, the imagery in the teaser certainly evokes much intrigue as it sets up the tense dynamic between Snow and Lucy. One is a songbird, and one is a snake, and as the trailer hints, that leads to conflict.
By the time The Ballad of Songbirdsand Snakes arrives in theaters, it will have been eight years since The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, and Lionsgate likely hopes nostalgia for the series will carry the film to the franchise’s previous highs. The Hunger Games was one of the biggest film series in the early to mid-2010s, with each installment landing in the worldwide top 10 box office of their respective years. Lionsgate has set The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes for a November 2023 release date, the same pre-Thanksgiving Friday that propelled the latter three Hunger Games films from Lawrence to box office highs. Only time will tell if that can happen again.
Richard Fink is a news writer for Screen Rant. He graduated from Arizona State University in 2016 with a degree in Film and Media Production. He loves the finer things in life, like cold Diet Coke on a hot summer day. Richard is a fan of all things Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and Film History.
Atlanta rapper Trouble has died at age 34. Def Jam records confirmed the news on Sunday via Instagram.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the children, loved ones, and fans of Trouble,” the statement reads. “A true voice for his city and an inspiration to the community he proudly represented. RIP Skoob”
His ex-girlfriend Alexis Skyy also shared the news on Twitter. “Rip @TroubleDTE,” she wrote. “I’m so sorry this happen to you Skoob you didn’t deserve this I’m praying for your kids and family.”
Rip @TroubleDTE ???????I’m so sorry this happen to you Skoob you didn’t deserve this I’m praying for your kids and family ♥️? pic.twitter.com/fI3yRdzD7y
According to CBS 46, Trouble was fatally shot outside an apartment complex in Conyers. The shooting was called in around 3:20 a.m. local time on Sunday morning and when police arrived, the rapper was found lying on the ground. He was transported to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Authorities have named 33-year-old Jamichael Jones as a suspect and issued an arrest warrant for him in connection to the murder.
Trouble released his first mixtape December 17th in 2011, and later signed to Mike Will Made-It’s record label Ear Drummer Records through Interscope Records. He went on to released two albums: 2018’s Edgewood and 2020’s Thug Luv. Trouble also collaborated with Drake, The Weeknd, Lupe Fiasco, Quavo, City Girls, 2 Chainz, Jeezy, and more.
Mike Will Made-It, T.I., Gucci Mane, and more sent their condolences after hearing about Trouble’s passing. See their reactions below.
Damn trouble was somebody i use to really preach to and help spiritually. And he was learning how to be happy and live life. This one kinda hurt me i ain’t gon front
Note: the blow blog piece originally ran in March of this year. To see what other events we have coming up at Film Independent—both in-person and online—please go here.
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Andrew Garfield could run for President. That fact is supported not just by the 38-year-old actor’s sky-high (practically celestial!) approval rating, but also by the British Oscar nominee’s actual place of birth: Los Angeles, California. “I do feel a sort of strange comfort here,” said the …tick, tick, boom! star onstage to TCM Host and moderator Dave Karger at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. The career-spanning March 15 event marked Film Independent Presents’ first trip back to the venue since November of last year—with a sold-out audience eagerly listening under their KN95s.
“When I fly into LA, I immediately get infected with sort of the collective unconsciousness here. I start to care about what movies made more money over the weekend,” Garfield joked. It was a jovial start to an expansive, deep-dive survey of Garfield’s film career—from early highlights like The Social Network to this year’s awards-mongering triptych of Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Eyes of Tammy Faye and …tick, tick, BOOM!
Garfield even got emotional at times, particular when talking about shooting musical boom!’s climactic “Why?” number and it’s relationship to the recent death of his mother.
With the actor no doubt still in the Southland somewhere getting fitted for his tux for Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony (the man does know how to wear a suit!), here are some more of the evening’s highlights:
ANDREW GARFIELD
Andrew Garfield (L) and Dave Karger at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts for Film Independent Presents (Photo: Getty Images)
Heroes, peers and competitors. After brushing past his early love of Steven Seagal, Karger asked Garfield about his earliest acting inspirations. Garfield cited Mike Nichols’ HBO adaptation of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America (2003)—“That was on repeat in our shared house,” he said. Then there’s Mark Rylance, whose tenure Artistic Director at London’s Globe Theater overlapped with Garfield’s time in drama school. “We’d go kneel at the alter of Mark Rylance whenever we could; he’s our greatest living actor.” Though not great enough to beat Garfield at the 2018 Tony Awards, where Rylance was bested by his upstart countryman’s star turn in—what else?—Broadway’s revival of Angels in America. “That’s right,” Garfield said with irony, “I’m a better actor than Mark Rylance.”
Not bad for a beginner. After discussing his lead role in the British TV film Boy A (released theatrically in the states), Karger asked about Garfield’s first proper big screen role, in Robert Redford’s 2007 political drama Lions for Lambs. “I was Number Four on the call sheet—Number One was Robert Redford, who was also the director, Number Two was Meryl Streep and Number Three was Tom Cruise. This was my first movie? I was a tadpole!” His ultra-green nervousness on set was balanced out, he says, by Redford’s extremely relaxed veteran approach. “He was two hours late every day!” Garfield laughed.
(Photo: Getty Images)
Being “social.” Garfield recalled the process of being cast as ousted Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in 2010’s The Social Network—his breakout Hollywood role. “It was the greatest film script I had ever read,” he said of Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay. After initially reading for Mark Zuckerberg, Garfield says he was pulled aside by director David Fincher and told: “I have two actors who I think could play Mark and you’re one of them. But I only have one I think could play this other part [Eduardo], so I have to split you up.” Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg would later be nominated for an Oscar. “Do you wish you had played Mark?” Karger asked. “NO,” replied Garfield, emphatically.
Arachnophobia. On accepting the role of Peter Parker in director Mark Webb’s two-film reboot of Sony’s Spider-Man franchise (post-Tobey Maguire, pre-Tom Holland), Garfield said: “I had to sign on without having seen a script,” he said. “Spider-Man had been my first Halloween costume as a kid, [the character] was so important to me.” Was there any hesitation? Absolutely. “I had to think about it for about a week before I said yes to the screen test,” Garfield said, “There are so many things that could go wrong here; there are so many things that don’t feel good to me.” Yeah, but still: Spider-Man. “My rational voice was at war with a raging inner three-year-old going, Are you crazy?! There’s no way we’re not doing this!” he laughed.
Garfield in ‘…tick, tick, BOOM!’ (2021, dir. Lin-Manuel Miranda)
Getting back to work. Garfield said that he was already a fan of indie filmmaker Ramin Bahrani’s movies Chop Shop and Man Push Cart when he signed on to star in the director’s 2014 drama 99 Homes, about America’s recession-era subprime mortgage crisis. “I come from working class roots—you wouldn’t know it by my suit right now,” he said, glancing down at his cocoon of slim grey tailoring. “My father was a working-class Jewish American guy, my mum was a working class girl from Essex. It [Bahrani’s screenplay] just felt like Grapes of Wrath or Death of a Salesman updated.” The project, he said, was a welcome antidote to his disorienting and then-recent Spider-Man experiences.
Gratitude. Closing with a clip from …tick, tick, boom! of Garfield’s solo piano performance of “Why?” Garfield got emotional, talking about how the moment helped him process his mother’s death from cancer, which happened immediately prior to shooting. “I cried watching that, not because of what I’m doing, but because of…” teary-eyed, the actor struggled to continue, “I’m singing for my mother in that. I’m just so grateful that I got to do that—that’s loss, trying to deal with it and trying to move forward,” adding, of the song: “It was a message in a bottle for my mum, from my mum, for Jonathan [Larson], for Jonathan’s community—it was this container of grief, and for the longing for more life.”
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Audrey Roloff starred in the reality TV show on Hulu named Little People, Big Worlds and since then has gained quite a bit of following on her social media pages but her social media has stirred up something of a controversy among her followers as she has continually promoted the use of essential oils and other questionable parenting advice for the health of babies using her own children as examples and people were not happy about the occurrence.
In a recent post by the reality TV star, she talked about how her baby is only just beginning to get started on solid foods and advised all of her followers that if their child is beginning to eat solid foods as well then they need to get their hands on a particular essential oil. She went on to show how the application of the oil needs to be done around the belly button and didn’t exactly mention what results the application would produce.
People all over her social media were quick to criticize her and talked about the complete and utter lack of evidence that essential oils enact anything along the lines of healthy treatment. One of the users even questioned the fact that essential oils or any oils for that matter can just be absorbed through the skin.
People criticized Audrey accusing her of using her children to promote brands of essential oils. This isn’t the first time people are criticizing Audrey for picking the wrong subject or the wrong way to promote a product.
Previously, when Oregon was covered in wild fires, Audrey took to her stories to talk about the different type of oils that people could use to prevent their house from smelling like smoke.
There has also been an incident where Audrey covered her child in a particular blanket and dressed him in particular clothes which all came from the same brand. While there is nothing harmful nor questionable about this practice, people were not very happy that Audrey was using her children to make social media proposals.
In true Jack Black fashion, the veteran comedic actor somersaulted his way onstage in a panda suit — seemingly in a tribute to his iconic “Kung Fu Panda” character Po — to accept the MTV Movie & TV Awards’ Comedic Genius Award.
“I don’t deserve this but I will take it,” Black said. “Thank you, MTV. This is for all the ‘School of Rock-ers’ out there, and for all the ‘Tenacious D-sciples’ and, most of all, my amazing wife Tanya [Haden] and our two incredible boys, I love you.”
The “Nacho Libre” star began his short and sweet speech joking about all of the films he’s been in: “Are you kidding? For what? ‘School of Rock,’ ‘Jumanji,’ ‘Kung Fu Panda,’ ‘Goosebumps,’ ‘Nacho Libre,’ ‘Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny,’ my sweet dance moves on TikTok? What are we talking about? It’s ridiculous!” he said, which prompted huge cheers from the audience.
Black is the fifth recipient of the honor, joining previous honorees Melissa McCarthy, Kevin Hart, Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen. A consummate actor, he will reprise his cherished role as Po in Netflix’s spinoff series “Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight,” currently in postproduction.
A frequent collaborator of filmmaker Richard Linklater’s, Black also starred in 2011’s “Bernie,” which garnered him his second Golden Globe nod. Most recently, he was in Netflix’s “Apollo 10 ½,” also helmed and written by Linklater. In 2018, he received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
On Twitch, this behavior is called a raid. On one hand, it’s a good way to help grow audiences and find new content, but it has also been a conduit for harassment on the platform as “hate raids” would target marginalized streamers with abuse from hundreds of accounts at a time.
YouTube Live Redirect example flowImage: YouTube Support
Creators: Live Redirect is here! Help each other grow by redirecting ➡️ your viewers to other creators’ live streams & Premieres as soon as yours ends.
YouTube clearly took note of the issues Twitch has struggled to contain and is launching Live Redirects with settings that could make bot-fueled harassment something streamers don’t have to worry about as much.
On Twitch, by default, channels are set to allow raids from anyone, and while users can change that setting to only allow raids from “friends, teammates, and followed channels,” many don’t do it. From the start, however, YouTube Live Redirects can only point to channels that subscribe to the streamer or that have explicitly added that channel to an allowed list. In addition, only channels with more than 1,000 subscribers and no active community guideline strikes can send a Live Redirect.
Now that the feature is live, we’ll be able to see how streamers use it, but building in default settings that give streamers one less thing to worry about should be a good start. YouTube previewed Live Redirects in a March video along with several other new features that are coming as it tries to convince creators that this is the platform they should use instead of competitors like Twitch, Facebook, or TikTok.
