From career milestones and new music releases to major announcements and more, Billboard editors highlight the latest news buzz in Latin music every week. Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
Bad Bunny’s new restaurant
The Puerto Rican can now add restaurateur to his list of titles. Bad Bunny has partnered with David Grutman of Groot Hospitality to open a new Japanese steakhouse and sushi restaurant called Gekko in Miami. Set to make its grand opening next month, the restaurant will be located in the bustling Brickell neighborhood.
“I think I’ve reached a point in my career where I can venture off into new projects,” Bunny told website Highsnobiety. “I have a passion for food, and I’m going to take my time. The thing I look forward to the most, after a day of meetings, interviews, filming, touring, or all of the above, is going out to eat.”
According to Highsnobiety, Gekko will feature “plush, jewel-toned decor throughout, seating up to 185 diners across an indoor-outdoor flow. There will also be an exclusive omakase bar.”
Nelly Furtado’s musical trip to Colombia
Nelly Furtado is in Colombia, where she’s reportedly recording new music and collaborating with Colombian artists. On her official Instagram account, the Canadian singer-songwriter has only two posts (from 2020 and 2021); however, she’s documenting her journey in the South American country on her Instagram Stories.
Furtado recorded a couple of videos from Papaya Studios, where she was hanging out with Li Saumet, lead singer of electro-tropical Bomba Estéreo. On another slide, she posted a selfie with the word “gracias” (thank you). Indie singer and musician Lido Pimienta also confirmed that she’s collaborating with Furtado.
Comiendo arroz de frijol, salpicón con plátano y jugo de mango fresco, hecho por mi tía Maritza, quien no quiso que estuviéramos en el aeropuerto sin comer comida Guajira hecha en casa.
El detalle de comer con la comadre Nelly, en quilla en icopor, no tiene precio!
The Brazilian star unveiled her very own Madame Tussauds wax figure, a life-size replica of “The Girl From Rio.” Anitta’s figure sports a cropped T-shirt revealing toned abs and a bejeweled G-string, ripped jeans, and denim pointed boots — an outfit that was donated to Madame Tussauds by the “Envolver” singer. According to a press release, Madame Tussauds artists worked closely with Anitta and her team of makeup artists and hairstylists to capture her exact hair color, eye color, tattoos and skin tone.
“It’s amazing to be a part of this project! At first I couldn’t believe I was actually invited,” the “Gata” singer said at the unveiling in New York. “I mean, I never thought that a wax figure of me could be next to some of the biggest stars ever at Madame Tussauds. A lot of hard work from the museum team came into this, so I am very proud and excited for the world to see it.”
Gaby Moreno’s benefit concert for Uvalde
The Guatemalan singer-songwriter’s upcoming show in L.A. today (June 4) has turned into a tribute concert with 100% of the proceeds going toward the Uvalde victims’ families. “I knew I had to do something about it,” Moreno told Billboard. “I just couldn’t sit … My heart was breaking and it still is. I’m also thankful to all the musicians who will be part of this concert and they’re donating their time and fees.”
Moreno also shared that after living in the U.S. for 20 years as a resident, she’s applying for citizenship. “My decision was directly related to what happened with this attack. I want to vote. I want to have a say. Enough is enough! I’ve lived in this country for way too long and what’s happening is now affecting all of us. In this case, directly affecting my Latino community.”
Pride Month kicks off
Throughout the years, Latin music has delivered songs that touch upon same-sex love, showcasing inspirational and beautiful stories about the LGBTQ community. Most recently, it was Mexican singer-songwriter Sofía Reyes who released the official music video for her track “24/7,” which is part of her latest album Mal de Amores. In the video, Reyes’ friends Nicole Zignago, Peruvian singer-songwriter, and photographer Fernanda “Fer” Piña give an intimate glimpse at their real-life relationship
In addition to Reyes, many artists — such as Anitta, Bad Bunny, and Calibre 50 — to name a few, have championed LGBTQ couples in their music videos. Check out some clips here.
“Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres” profiles the music journalist known for his insightful interviews. Filmmaker Suzanne Joe Kai weaves Fong-Torres’ own story in with his encounters with legends such as Jim Morrison, Ray Charles, Tina Turner and many others.
Toronto police are looking for a man wanted in connection to a gunfight during the Victoria Day long weekend in North York last year.
According to a statement issued by police, emergency crews were called to 17 Shoreham Court, in the Jane Street and Steeles Avenue West area, for reports of a shooting at around 9:45 p.m. on May 23, 2021.
Police are warning the public that if they see the suspect, to not approach him and call 9-1-1 immediately, as he is considered armed, violent and dangerous, the statement read.
The service is asking anyone who may have more information on this investigation to call police at 416-808-2510 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.
Stabbing, 5 arrests at Toronto Victoria Day fireworks
Stabbing, 5 arrests at Toronto Victoria Day fireworks – May 24, 2022
“If I may get a little graphic, the minute the fingering in the kitchen happens, people didn’t know what was coming next,” says Michael Patrick King.
Indeed! King — the longtime “Sex and the City” executive producer, who runs “And Just Like That” for HBO Max — thinks the show’s fifth episode was a turning point for viewers on the matter of Che Diaz (Sara Ramírez), who became a divisive presence among the show’s fandom. During that episode, titled “Tragically Hip,” Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) gets hip surgery, and has to rely on her friends to take care of her during her recovery. As Carrie naps in her apartment while being overseen by Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Che stops by — and after doing shots, a smitten Miranda and Che spontaneously have sex in the kitchen. Carrie, meanwhile, wakes up and needs Miranda’s help to go to the bathroom, but because Miranda is otherwise occupied, she ends up essentially pissing the bed.
King believes that scene was too much for certain fans. “That was Episode 5, and I think they spent the next five episodes some level of terrorized,” he says.
“Combo plate with Carrie peeing in the bed!” King continues in a shout. “I think when you do something unknown or for the first time, people look at it like, ‘I don’t know what this is, and I’m uncomfortable.’”
Ramírez was also shocked when they read that scene: “My jaw was on the floor. I was terrified for how the audience was going to handle that. I really felt for Carrie, and I was really excited for Miranda.”
During an interview for Variety’s Power of Pride cover story, Ramírez says they worked closely with the show’s intimacy coordinator to try to get the scene right — especially knowing the importance of what the intense sexual encounter would mean for the two characters going forward. And because Miranda has been drinking too much in general, and is drunk during the scene, and because Che is high, those factors added more layers of nuance.
“It was important for me that Che gets consent from Miranda for what Che is doing,” Ramírez says. “Just to allow for these two people to both equally participate in what’s happening, instead of one person just leading the entire thing. I wanted both characters to be responsible for what they were doing, even if it was under some kind of inebriation context. It was still important that they each take responsibility for why they’re there.”
And since Che is a player — and they had just stopped by Carrie’s apartment for a minute, and is in a rush — Ramírez also wanted to portray that their character is being unexpectedly swept away.
“How do I put this?” Ramírez asks rhetorically. “I wanted to allow for Che to be completely wrapped up in the moment — so much so that they lose track of time, and that they are kind of surprised by that. Because we’re building a relationship.”
Nixon says it was easy for the two of them to find their chemistry together, and their groove. “You don’t find that many people that are that gorgeous, and that diversely talented,” Nixon says. “Usually the more beautiful people just kind of coast, you know?”
Their acting styles, however, are very different, Nixon says: “Sara is a processor; I’m not. I’m like, ‘Let’s go.’”
“With the sex scene that we had, Sara spent a lot of time talking to the intimacy coach,” Nixon continues. “I did not! I was like, ‘I appreciate that you’re here. If I have a question, I’ll ask you. I don’t want to sit here and talk about my levels of comfort or whatever. My level of comfort is complete.’”
She laughs as she remembers. “Like, I have nothing but comfort!”
Nixon is looking forward to seeing what happens with Miranda and Che in the second season of “And Just Like That,” which King says will begin three weeks after the events of the finale. We’ll see Che and Miranda in Los Angeles, where Che is working on a pilot. King says one note he agreed with from viewers about Season 1 was the unresolved question of what happened in Cleveland after Miranda told Steve (David Eigenberg) that she was divorcing him, and decided to surprise Che at their comedy concert in Cleveland.
“We set up a thing, and then production happens every now and then, and you go, ‘Well, we can’t really do Cleveland, even though we did have an idea,’” King says. “So I do understand the idea of giving people what they’re expecting to see, which is Miranda Hobbes with red hair, going out with a narcissistic stand-up comic in Los Angeles.”
The missing Cleveland scene confused Nixon, too, but as she points out, “It seemed to have gone well!”
She expects Miranda in Los Angeles to be a “full-on groupie” of Che now, having sacrificed a prestigious internship in order to go there to be with them for the summer.
“And she knows what the requirements of a groupie are,” Nixon says. “Which are: you’ve got to look hot for your person who is the celebrity. So I’m looking forward to Miranda’s I’m-with-the-band L.A. look.”
We’re not far off the expected launch date of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, and we’ve got new leaks around the most crucial parts of these foldable phones: the hinges and the creases.
We’ll start with the most recent leak, which is a tweet from the usually reliable tipster Ice Universe (opens in new tab). It says that the crease on the Z Flip 4 will be shallower than the one on the Z Flip 3, and that “most people will be satisfied” with the improvement.
This follows up on an earlier tweet (opens in new tab) from the same source showing some of the cases that have been developed for the Z Flip 4: they reveal that the hinge is now more compact as well, offering another design improvement over the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3.
The other foldable
Not to be left out, it seems a similar aesthetic upgrade is in line for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 as well. A couple of weeks ago we heard that the crease would be less prominent on this foldable phone too, so Samsung is improving the implementation of this technology across the board.
As for the hinge, we’re once again indebted to Ice Universe (opens in new tab) for a tweet a few days ago that showed off a more compact hinge on the Z Fold 4 compared to the Z Fold 3 – the same kind of improvement being talked about for the Z Flip 4.
Apparently the Galaxy Z Fold 4 design has “changed a lot” according to the tipster. We don’t have long to wait to find out: Samsung hasn’t confirmed the existence of the phones or any launch date, but it’s thought that the handsets will be unveiled in August.
Analysis: a steady rate of progress
Foldable phones we’re always going to get better in terms of both form and function: just look at how smartphones in general have progressed over the last decade. The technology, the materials, the manufacturing processes all get better over time, and that leads to phones that look better and work more reliably.
It sounds as though we’re going to see more of that progression with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 in August. We were pretty impressed with what we saw last year from these foldables, and with Samsung’s years of experience, it’s going to be a tough ask for Apple and Google to match up to them with their own folding devices.
Having less noticeable creases and more compact hinges would of course be welcome this time around – provided that there are no problems with reliability – but for foldables to really break into the mainstream, the prices of these phones have to drop further. That might be where the real challenge for Samsung lies.
If you can’t wait another two months to see these phones for real, you may be interested in all the leaks and rumors we’ve heard so far: we now have full spec leaks for both the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, so you can decide in advance if one of these foldables is the right phone upgrade for you.
“Cobra Kai” stunt coordinator Ken Barefield has been on the show since day one. But to pull off the movie-style stunts, he doesn’t have the luxury of time. Barefield says, “TV time is a blink of an eye. I would have these kids come in from set when they’re in their wardrobe on a day with no stunts, coming into the dojo, training in their cast wardrobe and getting all sweaty and then going back and forth.”
The “Crafts: Behind the Camera” panel was presented as part of Variety and Sony Picture Television’s Virtual FYC House. It also included Stephan Olson, production designer on “Live in Front of a Studio Audience”; Mike Gunn, production designer on “Outlander”; Mindy Zemrak, the casting director on “Shark Tank” and Cort Hessler, stunt coordinator on “The Blacklist.” Moderated by Variety’s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay, the group of artisans discussed their processes when it comes to quick TV turnarounds.
“We have time restrictions being in TV, and that’s the thing that’s evolved through this whole industry as far as our category of work,” Hessler, who has received 11 Emmy nominations, said. “TV has become more prevalent with the streaming and network and non-network shows and stuff that they want feature action sequences, but on TV time. The time hasn’t changed, but what they expect from us has. So, we work close closely with our visual effects teams and our special effects teams also to create these movie-type action sequences and produce them weekly on TV.”
As for “Shark Tank,” when it comes to casting, Zemrak receives 20,000-plus applicants from would-be entrepreneurs each season.
In breaking through the noise, Zemrak and her team seek to find the best products and entrepreneurs to put in front of the sharks. She says, “We look at different types of companies that come through, what kind of stage they’re at, how much funding they’ve done, what their backstory is. Because the entrepreneurs that come on our show, it’s 50% about their business or product and 50% about how they came up with it.”
Olsen was aware of the nostalgia factor for “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” but recreating the renowned sets for the special proved to be a true challenge. “’Diff’rent Strokes’ was done in 1978. It’s difficult to find any drawings to recreate. So, you do a lot of screen grabbing,” Olsen said. “You go through episodes and you screengrab all the details. What you want to try to do is capture not just exactly what it was maybe for that episode, but what you remember it being.”
“Outlander” production designer Gunn was new to the game this season for the fan-favorite show, and had to adjust to the speed of the set. “We had eight episodes, and in those eight episodes, we had 102 sets,” Gunn explained. “We had a 96-day shooting period and we’ve got 102 sets. So, we’re doing more than one set per day.”
Register now for a VIP pass to explore the full Variety and Sony Pictures TV Virtual FYC House now through June 27: Variety.com/SonyFYCHouse.
Tiger King star Doc Antle is arrested by FBI on ‘money laundering charges’ in South Carolina… after previously being indicted for animal cruelty and trafficking
The 62-year-old was booked in Horry County just after 3:30 p.m. local time Friday
According to TMZ, federal law enforcement sources confirmed ‘the charges have to do with money laundering’
The owner of Myrtle Beach Safari – born Bhagavan Antle – is set to appear in court next week
Antle found worldwide fame after he was featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary Tiger King, which premiered in March
In October 2020, the animal trainer was indicted for felony wildlife trafficking in Virginia, after he allegedly trafficked lion cubs between South Carolina and Virginia
He’s also faced criticism from PETA for allowing celebrity guests like Beyoncé, Floyd Mayweather, and Larsa Pippen to physically interact with wild animals
Doc Antle, a wild animal trainer featured in the popular ‘Tiger King‘ series on Netflix, has been arrested by the FBI in South Carolina on money laundering charges.
According to TMZ, the 62-year-old was booked in Horry County just after 3:30 p.m. local time Friday, with federal law enforcement sources confirming ‘the charges have to do with money laundering.’
The owner of Myrtle Beach Safari – born Bhagavan Antle – is set to appear in court next week.
Arrested: Tiger King star Doc Antle, 62, has been arrested in South Carolina earlier today on money laundering charges according to TMZ, and is set to appear in court next week
This is not the first legal issue Antle – who has long been the target of criticism over his wildlife tropical preserve – has faced.
In October 2020, the American animal trainer was indicted for felony wildlife trafficking in Virginia, after he allegedly trafficked lion cubs between South Carolina and Virginia.
As per the state’s attorney general, Doc was charged with one felony count of wildlife trafficking, one felony count of conspiracy to wildlife traffic, and 13 misdemeanor charges relating to animal cruelty and the Endangered Species Act.
Legal issues: In October 2020, the animal trainer was indicted for felony wildlife trafficking in Virginia, after he allegedly trafficked lion cubs between South Carolina and Virginia
Doc’s daughters, Tawny Antle and Tilakum Watterson, were also charged with misdemeanors.
Tawny was charged with one misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals, while Tilakum was charged with two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and two misdemeanor counts of violating the Endangered Species Act.
Doc told TMZ at the time: ‘I am terribly shocked and disappointed at the charges that have been filed against me by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and how they have sought to involve my daughters in this matter.’
Ongoing criticism: He’s also faced criticism from PETA for allowing celebrity guests like Beyoncé, Floyd Mayweather, and Larsa Pippen to physically interact with wild animals
He went on to ‘categorically deny’ the charges as well as ‘any act or conduct that could ever be considered as ‘animal cruelty.”
He’s also faced criticism from PETA for allowing celebrity guests like Beyoncé, Floyd Mayweather, and Larsa Pippen to physically interact with wild animals at his park.
Antle found worldwide fame after he was featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary Tiger King, which premiered in March.
The show follows the bitter rivalry between Joseph ‘Joe Exotic’ Maldonado-Passage – who is the currently imprisoned founder of the infamous Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma – and Carole Baskin, the owner of Big Cat Rescue in Florida.
His claim to fame: Antle found worldwide fame after he was featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary Tiger King, which premiered in March
Antle is portrayed as Joe’s mentor. He is also shown to have a cult-like approach to business, as a polygamist with a string of devoted female employee followers.
The California native was also part of Britney Spears’ iconic 2001 I’m a Slave 4 U VMAs performance, during which he was the animal handler.
Spears, 40, started the show inside a cage with Antle and a liger – a hybrid of a tiger mother and lion father – then walked onto the stage where she danced with a python wrapped around her shoulders.
According to his website, he has also worked as an animal handler on films including Ace Ventura, Dr. Doolittle, Mighty Joe Young and The Jungle Book.
The film marks his first effort as a director since 2017’s “I Love You, Daddy,” which was scrapped after the comedian admitted to sexual misconduct.
In 2017, Louis C.K. was set to return to filmmaking in a major way with “I Love You, Daddy,” an art film he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in. But in the months leading up to the controversial movie, multiple female comedians accused the comic of sexual misconduct. The charges, which he ultimately admitted to, caused the film’s release to be scrapped and the comedian’s career was temporarily derailed.
Now, five years later, Louis C.K. is gearing up to release another film. The comedian announced today that he has written, directed, and starred in a new feature titled “Fourth of July,” which is set to hit theaters this summer.
The film tells the story of a recovering alcoholic and jazz pianist in NYC who confronts his acerbic family during their annual Fourth of July vacation. In addition to C.K., the cast includes Sarah Tollemache, Paula Plum, Robert Walsh, Robert Kelly, and Joe List, who also serves as a co-writer.
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C.K. also announced plans to roll the film out through a series of in-person events featuring the scandal-plagued comedian. He will screen the film for one night only engagements in New York City (Beacon Theater, June 30), Boston (Shubert Theater, July 1), and Chicago (The Vic, July 2), appearing for live Q&A sessions after each screening. That effort will be accompanied by a traditional theatrical release, though he has yet to announce the theaters that will be screening the film.
Louis C.K. has been largely absent from the film and television worlds since stories of his misconduct surfaced, although he has resumed his successful stand-up comedy career. Some of his first live performances were criticized for his refusal to address his sexual misconduct (which many found particularly unusual, considering C.K. was famous for his brutal honesty), but he soon rebounded. In the years since, the comic has regularly sold out theaters and released two stand-up specials, “Sorry” and “Sincerely Louis C.K.,” the latter of which won him a Grammy for Outstanding Comedy Album.
While limited details about the film’s release have been announced, “Fourth of July” is slated to hit theaters on July 1. Watch the trailer below:
Wyatt Russell tried to keep his portrayal of Dan Lafferty in Under the Banner of Heaven as authentic as possible, but there were times when he had to take a bit of creative license with the character.
The FX limited series is based on the true story of the 1984 murders of Brenda Wright Lafferty (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and her 15-month-old daughter, Erica, at the hands of her brother-in-laws Dan and Ron Lafferty (Sam Worthington). Andrew Garfield plays the investigating detective.
When taking on the role of Dan, Russell says he wanted to do the story justice, help showrunner Dustin Lance Black make the story he needed to make and ensure that he played Dan honestly.
“Being that it’s a true story, you don’t want to veer too far off of what the character was like,” Russell tells The Hollywood Reporter of the true-crime drama, which is based on the Jon Krakauer bestseller. “I had a pretty rooted idea of what Dan was like because there was a lot of source material that was out there about Dan. So, you want to keep it as authentic to what you believe the reality is and was.”
But there were times, even with hours of footage, that Russell wasn’t sure what Dan’s truth was, or if he still believed a lot of the things he said back then. “It’s adding a couple things together and reading between the lines a little bit,” Russell explains.
In the below interview with THR, Russell opens up about getting into the mindset of a character who is “somewhat of a sociopath” and his experience in unlikable roles.
How would you describe Dan Lafferty’s journey in Under the Banner of Heaven?
The actions that he took are almost impossible to put into words, especially playing the person. So, the way that we were able to do it without encroaching too much into the gore aspect of what these things can be portrayed as sometimes — remembering they’re real people who died, that lives were lost — it was all about trying to portray him honestly. That came with him being a really nice guy. People really sort of liked Dan. You don’t follow people you don’t like. Those maniacal, manipulative cult leaders, they’re not people who people don’t like. It was important to see why Brenda and why these other people, his family included, would have been like, “OK, yeah.”
One of the things that I came across was my own feeling or finding, probably about halfway through, that I don’t think Dan even really knew what he was doing. I think Dan’s just a manipulative person who wanted his dad to love him and wanted to feel secure in the afterlife. He wanted to have some sort of security in life, and that was that, “All I have to do is be as true to the text as possible” thinking, and that assuaged a lot of his fears. He just tried to keep people at bay by manipulating them. Then, whatever crazy thought they had, a great manipulator will then say, “That’s a great idea. Sure, go. It’s not my idea, it’s your idea.” You just kind of keep going down that road until all of a sudden … I don’t even think he knew how he got there. There’s equal parts manipulative behavior and sort of evil and wrongdoing in him, and then equal parts where I don’t think he had any idea what he was doing.
Wyatt Russell as Dan Lafferty.
Courtesy of Michelle Faye/FX
How did you get into the mindset of playing someone like that?
It was odd at times and difficult, because there’s humor in it, right? It’s inherent. Mormons, their positivity and how they can come across, it can be funny because it’s so positive. There are a lot of great qualities to that, but for people who aren’t used to that, it can be funny. So, it was important to remember that it’s still humorous. Life is still humorous in the most horrible, evil, maniacal spots. People react in very different ways. I thought that was important, all while keeping the serious nature of what ends up happening. That was the reality. It’s stranger-than-fiction type stuff. And that balance of getting Dan down that rabbit hole. It wasn’t like you had the entire show to do that with Dan, specifically. So, it was latching on to each little moment that you could try to subtly maneuver him in ways that weren’t going to be overt down that rabbit hole.
What were your initial thoughts of Dan when you read the script and the book?
I read the book first years ago and then read the script. My initial thoughts about him were that of any sort of cult leader: he’s obviously very magnetic. Everything starts off with a kernel of goodness. He’s doing it in his heart out of love. It’s not out of pure hate. He thinks this is the only way they’re going to get to heaven, and that’s really the truth. That’s what he thinks. It’s sort of unbelievable how someone can get to that sense of this being the only way. My brain went to, “How can someone be so sure of something they don’t know, and what leads you down that road?”
With Dan, I think it all comes back to Dad. He wanted to please Dad. He wanted his dad to love him and wanted his dad to think he was doing a good job. If his dad would have been like, “You’re doing a great job, man. I know it’s hard, but you’re doing great. You’re dope,” I think things would have been very different. I think Dan’s brain and personality is also set up to be somewhat of a sociopath in a lot of ways. So, interesting guy, I mean, can’t say he’s not interesting. But, not a nice guy.
How did you wrap your head around being a part of such a chilling real-life story?
You take it for what it is. When it’s a true story, you want to do it justice; do your character justice, that’s all you really can do. You help the filmmaker make the movie or show they need to make. Lance is the one who’s got his fingers on all the buttons, and you need to be able to be the right button for him to use when he needs it. Being that it’s a true story, you don’t want to veer too far off of what the character was like. I had a pretty rooted idea of what Dan was like because there was a lot of source material that was out there about Dan. So, you want to keep it as authentic to what you believe the reality is and was.
There are times where, in these things that Dan had said in interviews and stuff, you don’t know if it’s the truth or not, or if what he believes now is different than what he believed then. So, it was trying to thread a needle sometimes where there is a bit of license where you’re like, “I think this is how he would have gotten there,” because it’s not exactly what he said. It’s adding a couple things together and reading between the lines a little bit.
Russels as Dan with Daisy Edgar-Jones as Brenda.
Courtesy of Michelle Faye/FX
What were some of the things you learned in playing Dan that you think you’ll take into future projects?
I have to understand the thought process of the line. Otherwise, it’s just remembering words, and then it doesn’t come out as good. This was really hard because I didn’t understand it. I’m not Mormon. I don’t know anything about it. So, I had to do a little bit more research than I normally would, and be like, “What the hell do I actually mean here? What am I really fucking saying?” It was really beneficial, and it’s something I will do even more now moving forward and really being able to forget that you’re saying lines, you’re just understanding the thoughts. That thought process was really important to wrap my head around, and it’s something I’ve tried to do in every project, but this one specifically highlighted that. I think I’ll try and take that into everything that I do even more now.
What’s it like taking on a character who’s not exactly likable?
I’ve been around for a while now, going on 13 to 14 years and, it’s funny. You’re around long enough, and you hear it all. There was a time where it was like, “Well, he’s the stoner. Everyone loves him as the stoner guy,” and I couldn’t get a fucking job as anybody else. (Laughs.) Then it was like, “Oh, he’s a green, young detective type.” Then, I do 22 Jump Street, and it’s like, “He’s a jock, friends with Channing Tatum.” I’ve been defined as many things many times in a pretty short career, which I take as a compliment.
[Unlikable] characters are fun to play because there’s a lot to them. You have a lot to do, and it’s always a challenge to be able to play someone like that and be able to make someone unlikable understandable. That’s an important part of playing somebody who is “unlikable.” The most unlikeable person in the world, Donald Trump, right? There’s a lot of people who like Donald Trump, and there’s reasons for that, and understanding why people like that person is an important part of understanding why those people are that way.
There’s a lot of people that are going to look at Dan on certain things he says, and be like, “Fuck, yeah.” That’s the reality. And whether or not you do or don’t, it’s just a matter of your understanding of how you’re looking at a certain subject or being able to really have a conversation or understand somebody. To really have a meaningful interaction with somebody, you have to understand where they’re coming from. So, that’s been the interesting part of playing people like Dan. And then trying to understand where they’re coming from when I don’t see it, but need to be able to portray it. And it usually comes from being heard, feeling misunderstood or not feeling heard.
Dan Lafferty.
Courtesy of Michelle Faye/FX
What do you feel is the biggest takeaway of Under the Banner of Heaven?
In a show like this, I don’t love telling people how to feel. It’s not my job as an artist. But what I came away with, having done it, was thaat when you think you know the answer and you are 100 percent sure, and you feel that seed of doubt creep into your life or that seed of doubt creep into your thought process about whatever it is that you’re thinking about, let it creep in. It’s OK to doubt yourself. It’s what you should do. Look at yourself in the mirror and say, “Am I really going down the right road? Am I really sure about this?” We’ve all done it. We’ve all been like, “I know I’m 100 percent sure I fucking know.” And then you look it up 10 seconds later and you’re like, “I was wrong.” Right when you think you know, just double-check.
You and co-star Andrew Garfield have the MCU in common. Would you ever want to see a U.S. agent-Spider-Man crossover?
Sure. I’ll let you pitch that to Kevin Feige. If you come to Marvel, you can go pitch that to Kevin Feige and see if he likes it. I’ll do a crossover with anyone they tell me to do a crossover with.
I really enjoy playing the character and my experience working with Marvel was an unbelievable working experience and collaborative, working with Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan and Kari Skogland. The teams they have there are unbelievable, it’s why they make great things. So, anytime I get the opportunity or hear about the chance to reprise a character or work for Marvel again, it’s very exciting because the people are wonderful. So, hopefully, I’ll get to do it again. We’ll see.
Interview edited for clarity.
Under the Banner of Heaven is available to stream on Hulu.
Ever have a bad day at work and just wanted to go home and watch a movie to help you forget about your problems?
Those are called “Feel Good Movies” and everyone has their favorite film that makes them happy.
So, if you are looking for a movie to put you in a better mood, here is a list of some fun films that will be sure to put a smile on your face.
Let’s begin!
The story follows a cheerleader (Rebel Wilson) who wakes up after a 20-year coma and returns to high school to try to regain her status and claim the prom queen crown that eluded her.
The story follows a cheerleader who wakes up after a 20-year coma and returns to high school to try to regain her status and claim the prom queen crown that eluded… Read the Plot
Two women, one from the United States (Cameron Diaz) and one from the United Kingdom (Kate Winslet), swap homes at Christmastime after bad breakups with their boyfriends. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.
College student Beca (Anna Kendrick) knows she does not want to be part of a clique, but that’s exactly where she finds herself after arriving at her new school. Thrust in among mean gals, nice gals and just plain weird gals, Beca finds that the only thing they have in common is how well they sing together.
She takes the women of the group out of their comfort zone of traditional arrangements and into a world of amazing harmonic combinations in a fight to the top of college music competitions. Also starring Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, and Brittany Snow.
Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) used to be a typical sports agent: willing to do just about anything he could to get the biggest possible contracts for his clients, plus a nice commission for himself. Then, one day, he suddenly has second thoughts about what he’s really doing. When he voices these doubts, he ends up losing his job and all of his clients, save Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), an egomaniacal football player.
Fired from his band and hard up for cash, guitarist and vocalist Dewey Finn (Jack Black) finagles his way into a job as a fifth-grade substitute teacher at a private school, where he secretly begins teaching his students the finer points of rock ‘n’ roll. The school’s hard-nosed principal is rightly suspicious of Finn’s activities. But Finn’s roommate remains in the dark about what he’s doing.
Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school’s pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai (Brittany Murphy) a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-stepbrother was right about how misguided she was — and falls for him.
When a young boy (David Moscow and Tom Hanks) makes a wish at a carnival machine to be big—he wakes up the following morning to find that it has been granted and his body has grown older overnight. But he is still the same 13-year-old boy inside. Now he must learn how to cope with the unfamiliar world of grown-ups including getting a job and having his first romantic encounter with a woman (Elizabeth Perkins).
After high school slacker Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) and best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck), all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.
In this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) and the dashing Westley (Cary Elwes) must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid a six-fingered swordsmen (Christopher Guest), a murderous prince (Chris Sarandon), a dangerous Sicilian (Wallace Shawn), a man searching for his father’s killer, (Mandy Patinkin) a giant (André Roussimoff), and rodents of unusual size. But even death can’t stop these true lovebirds from triumphing.
The knee-slapping quips and archery antics of Clint Barton and Kate Bishop in the MCU’s “Hawkeye” series have been submitted for Emmy attention in the comedy categories, instead of the presumed limited series field. With the switch in categories, all signs indicate that a potential second season of the Hawkeye superhero saga is in the future for Disney+, though no official announcement has been made.
In addition to seeking love for outstanding comedy series, stars Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld will angle for lead actor and lead actress consideration. In the supporting categories, Disney has submitted Vincent D’Onofrio, Fra Free, Tony Dalton, Alaqua Cox, Florence Pugh and Vera Farmiga.
The MCU has its hands full this television awards season. Variety exclusively reported “Loki” would be submitted in the drama categories, while “Moon Knight” will now fly solo in the limited series realm. The race for outstanding comedy series is incredibly stacked this season, with former Emmy winners and contenders returning for bouts like “Barry” and “Ted Lasso.”
Renner has the Paramount+ freshman series “Mayor of Kingstown” that is angling for love in the drama categories. Steinfeld will also be battling with herself in the lead actress comedy race, with the final season of Apple TV+’s “Dickinson” looking for one last shot at recognition after three seasons.
The producing team of “Hawkeye” consists of Kevin Feige (executive producer), Louis D’Esposito (executive producer), Victoria Alonso (executive producer), Trinh Tran (executive producer), Brad Winderbaum (executive producer), Rhys Thomas (executive producer), Jonathan Igla (executive producer), Trevor Waterson (co-executive producer), Elisa Climent (supervising producer), Andrew Guest (consulting producer), Matt Fraction, (consulting producer) and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (consulting producer).
The directing duo Amber Templemore-Finlayson and Katie Ellwood, better known as Bert & Bertie, along with Rhys Thomas, will angle for recognition for helming their respective episodes. Jonathan Igla, who penned the first episode titled “Never Meet Your Heroes” has been submitted in the writing categories. He also co-wrote the season six finale, “So This is Christmas?” with Climent.
The show holds a strong chance at landing recognition in the artisan categories including cinematography (for Eric Steelberg and James Whitaker), production design, costumes, casting, main title design, editing, sound editing, special visual effects, stunts, original music and lyrics (for the song “Save by City” by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman) and music composition (Christophe Beck and Michael Paraskevas).
Getting a film from script to screen has never been a walk in the park, but the process needed to do so has changed over the history of cinema, and specifically in recent years. Today, the industry is shifting from the theater-based model of old and moving towards the home streaming market. This has increased the opportunity for budding filmmakers with few connections to gain recognition, but it has also increased the competition.
Netflix is the most popular streaming service in the world, with well over 200 million subscribers as of August 2021. If you are a filmmaker or screenwriter, getting your film on Netflix is a surefire way to make sure that it gets a wide audience. But what does it take to get your film on Netflix? In this guide, we will explore 6 steps you can take to succeed.
Can you submit a film to Netflix directly?
So, you’ve got a completed screenplay (or even a completed film!). You’ve done the hard work, now you just need to show it to the right people and sit back as your film appears on the Netflix library of households all over the world. Sounds simple, right?
Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Netflix does not accept what it calls “unsolicited submissions.” There’s no “Submit” button to click or email address to email to get your film considered for streaming.
Netflix only accepts submissions from industry types (e.g., entertainment executives) that they have an existing relationship with. In this regard, it is to a certain extent about “who you know.”
However, this doesn’t mean that there is no path to successfully submitting a film to Netflix.
6 steps to getting your film on Netflix
Here are 6 steps to a successful submission. You may not need to do all of them, or in this exact order, but they are well worth following if you want to get your film on Netflix.
Make sure your film is perfect
Of course, the first thing to do is to make sure your film is as good as it can be. While there have been examples of half-formed ideas or vague concepts that have been pitched and then made, first-time filmmakers usually have to prove themselves and pitch a film that is as complete as possible.
Shooting and editing a film is no easy task, and there are too many tips to get into in any detail here. If you are just submitting a screenplay that you have written, make sure that you have redrafted it multiple times and had plenty of feedback from people you know.
Know your target audience
If you have written or made a film, you probably know at least a little about its intended audience. For example, if your film is a horror film, it will be for horror fans, and if it is a rom-com it will be for fans of that genre. Often, filmmakers will be creating a film that they would want to watch themselves, which is a fine foundation as long as you can identify and describe your audience to potential investors.
The film industry is a business, after all, and money is the bottom line when production companies, distributors, streaming platforms, and other investors are considering the viability of a film. Netflix has a tight business model, with marketing and things like customer journey touchpoints being considered. The industry types you will be pitching to will want to know the film’s target audience so they can predict its profitability.
If you are lucky enough to have had previous success and built a name for yourself, you may have an existing audience. The same goes for if you have managed to get a well-known name involved, such as a famous actor. However, most emerging filmmakers won’t have these yet.
Consider making a short film
If you are submitting a screenplay, it can be of benefit to also have something visual to show. Producers often want to see examples of how things may look on screen so that they can picture how a finished film may be.
A short film does not have to be particularly long or full of expensive special effects (in fact, new writers are recommended to write screenplays that can be made on as low a budget as possible). Take just one or two scenes from your screenplay that best demonstrate the film’s appeal as a whole, and consider filming them with actors.
If you can get your short film shown at a festival, this can also be especially beneficial. Many filmmakers have used this as a ‘foot in the door’ and gone on to have scripts commissioned and films made.
Find an agent
Even if you are the best filmmaker in the world, you may not know the ins and outs of the industry. Being successful as a filmmaker basically involves knowing how to manage a small business. The business being you and your films.
Thankfully, agents are there to help you. Agents know how the industry works, and are the ‘middlemen’ between a filmmaker and the people who decide which films get made and sold to streaming services.
Agents know what sells, and can help you tailor your pitch to what the industry currently wants. What’s more, they also have plenty of contacts in the industry. While agents do take a cut of your film’s earnings, they can be the difference between a film getting seen by millions, and it sitting on your laptop for just your friends and family to watch.
Use an aggregator
Netflix is a huge company, and countless aspiring filmmakers are competing for their attention. With so many to choose from, Netflix uses aggregators to narrow down the search for the next hit. Like call center services for small businesses, they outsource communications between the business (in this case the filmmaker) and the customer (in this case, Netflix buyers).
Aggregators are third-party services that pitch films to Netflix (and other streaming services) on behalf of producers. Aggregators work similarly to agents, keeping many films and filmmakers on their books and pitching directly to Netflix’s buyers when they think a film matches what the buyers are looking for at that time.
The aggregators typically charge either an upfront fee, a percentage of the film’s profits, or a combination of both. However, the filmmaker retains all intellectual property rights relating to the film.
Pitch your film
You may prefer to avoid aggregators and pitch your film yourself. If you are a screenwriter, you may be pitching to a production company, who will then go on to pitch to Netflix if they see potential in your film. If you have already made a film, you may be pitching to Netflix yourself using connections provided by your agent.
Pitches can happen in person or via a conference calling service. Although the odds are probably stacked against you, especially if you are a new filmmaker, pitching is your opportunity to really explain what makes your film worth investing in.
To give yourself the best chances, make sure you have a strong logline, target audience, specified genre and themes, character list, synopsis, and even images if relevant. The more you have to show, the better. As long as it is all high-quality.
Final words
There’s no way around it, getting a film onto Netflix is not easy, and there is plenty of competition. However, with plenty of self-belief, emotional intelligence, and the right amount of knowledge, you can go a long way. Don’t go in expecting instant results, as most filmmakers go through plenty of rejections before they land that commission. Keep persevering while improving your skills and industry knowledge, and you could well have the next Netflix hit.
Grace Lau is the Director of Growth Content at Dialpad, an AI-powered cloud communication platform for better and easier team collaboration. She has over 10 years of experience in content writing and strategy. Currently, she is responsible for leading branded and editorial content strategies, partnering with SEO and Ops teams to build and nurture content. Grace Lau also published articles for domains such as Tapfiliate and Easy Affiliate. Here is her LinkedIn.
Many middle-income and developing countries are now suffering from a combination of internal political dysfunction and external economic shocks generated mainly by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. Sri Lanka provides a powerful example and a warning for countries in other regions that will face similar predicaments.
Sri Lanka is not a poor country. When adjusted for purchasing power, per capita GDP in this nation of 22 million people is higher than in South Africa, Peru, Egypt, or Indonesia. But the country now faces a political crisis powered by severe shortages of food, fuel, electricity, and medicine. The currency is collapsing, and the government can’t afford imports or to make its debt payments. At times in recent weeks, violent protests have threatened to spiral out of control.
How did we get here?
A quarter century of civil war, which ended in 2009, has created a legacy of violence at the heart of Sri Lanka’s politics. In 2019, a terrorist attack by an ISIS-inspired Islamist group on minority Christians made international headlines. On Easter Sunday, a series of bombs detonated in churches and hotels killed and injured hundreds of people. Those attacks, and the sense of insecurity they created across the island nation helped elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a former defense minister with a reputation for toughness, later that year.
Gota, as the president is widely known, then named his older brother, Mahinda, a former president, as prime minister. A landslide election victory in 2020 gave the Rajapaksas a two-thirds parliamentary majority, which then allowed them to rewrite Sri Lanka’s constitution to give the president extraordinary new powers.
Then hubris kicked in. Family and friends were given important posts in government. A series of economic mistakes, including populist tax cuts, deprived the government of revenue and made it much harder to borrow money abroad.
External shocks have also played a big role in Sri Lanka’s troubles. COVID-19 devastated a tourism sector still reeling from terrorism, a sector that’s critical for government revenue and job creation in the country. The pandemic also cut deeply into remittances, money sent home by Sri Lankans working abroad.
The increasingly unpopular Rajapaksas refused to accept the need for government spending cuts and tax increases to help Sri Lanka avoid even tougher economic conditions. A ban on chemical fertilizers to push farmers toward organic farming in the middle of the economic crisis made matters worse for the country’s food supply.
Then came Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the damage it is now inflicting on global food and fuel prices. Russia and Ukraine are both leading exporters of grain, and the war has shut in much of that production. Russia and its ally Belarus, which also faces Western sanctions for allowing Russia to use his country’s territory as a launchpad for attacks on Ukraine, are leading producers of fertilizer. Higher prices for fuel are the natural result of supply worries that have pushed oil above $100 per barrel. Sri Lanka also imports more than 80 percent of its medical supplies. Donors in India and in Europe have helped, but there’s a limit to how much they are willing to do.
In Sri Lanka, public anger came to a head in early May. Economic pressures exacerbated infighting within the Rajapaksa family, particularly between the president and prime minister.After the government appeared to send counter-protesters to attack the mainly peaceful crowds that called for the prime minister to resign, bloodshed ensued. Enraged anti-government protesters then went on an arson spree, attacking the homes of Rajapaksa family allies, and threatening the prime minister’s own residence. The PM was forced to step down, and he needed the protection of security forces for a 4 AM evacuation of his home.
A state of emergency was declared across the county. Angry mobs have launched more attacks on politicians and their homes. Hundreds have been injured in recent weeks, and some have died. A member of parliament was killed in his car. Two more of President Rajapaksa’s siblings and a nephew have resigned their cabinet posts.
Late last month, Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt for the first time in the nation’s history.
What now?
President Rajapaksa, struggling to survive politically, has pledged to reverse some of the constitutional changes that gave him more power. He has accepted help for Sri Lanka’s economy from India and China, and he’s appealed to the IMF for a bailout. New Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesing, a political veteran, has been brutally honest in his public comments on the scale of the problems Sri Lanka faces and the need for bold action to solve them. He has said Sri Lanka will raise tax rates to earn a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. He then used a televised speech to call on protest groups to join in the process of reform. He pledged that parliamentary committees will allow lawmakers, young people and experts to work together.
For now, the protesters continue to demand President Rajapaksa’s resignation, though there don’t appear to be enough votes in parliament to impeach him, and the opposition looks to have little interest in sharing responsibility for cleaning up this mess by joining a government of national unity.
In short, a chastened Sri Lankan government will try to muddle through, hope the pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine end soon, and do its best to secure long-term financial health.
It’s a pattern that will be repeated in many developing countries in coming years.
Top journalists in the BBC news division are being required to attend “respect at work” training courses in a corporation crackdown on bullying and harassment, the Times reports.
Presenters and senior producers will have to participate in an internal course, intended to make BBC staff more aware of LGBT colleagues and those from diverse backgrounds, all part of making overall improvements to improve workplace culture.
The Times reports 508 formal cases of bullying and harassment at the BBC since 2013, when the broadcaster conducted a sweeping inquiry after the scandal of veteran presenter Jimmy Savile’s decades of abuse.
More recently, there has been a lack of confidence among BBC employees that any action would be taken if bullying concerns were raised. The Times reports the results of this year’s staff survey indicated that up to 40% of staff disagreed that their concerns would be addressed.
A BBC spokesman said: “The BBC is a modern and inclusive organisation and training courses such as these have run for a number of years.”
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity cardiothoracic surgeon best known for his Daytime Emmy-winning show, has been declared the winner of the Republican U.S. Senate Primary in Pennsylvania.
Oz’s leading opponent, ex-hedge fund executive CEO David McCormick, formally conceded on Friday after failing to catch up on Oz’s extremely narrow lead of 1000 votes after a recount that began May 17. Both candidates had earned 31% of the vote in a crowded GOP field after polls closed.
The Donald Trump-endorsed candidate seeks to fill the seat left behind by the retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey. He’ll face off against Democrat John Fetterman in November. Fetterman is currently Pennsylvania’s Lt. Governor.
It’s now clear to me, with the recount largely complete, that we have a nominee. And today, I called Mehmet Oz to congratulate him on his victory, and I told him what I always said to you, that I will do my part to try to unite Republicans and Pennsylvanians behind his candidacy, behind his nomination for the Senate. It is so important for Pennsylvanians, so important that we beat John Fetterman,” McCormick said Friday.
The TV personality announced his run last November, and was endorsed by Donald Trump in April.
Mark Rylance stars in the true story of the shipyard worker who lied his way into the British Open despite never having played golf before.
A light and lyrical feel-good tale about Mancunian golf legend Maurice G. Flitcroft — the shipyard crane operator who improbably managed to enter himself into the 1976 British Open and then, even more improbably, became an international folk hero for his resilience in the face of humiliating scores — “The Phantom of the Open” is exactly what you might expect from an underdog sports film scripted by “Paddington 2” writer Simon Farnaby (and based on the book that he and Scott Murray published about Flintcroft in 2010). It’s charming as hell, it has precious little patience for English classism, and it hinges on a child-like outsider whose supernatural guilelessness has a tendency to steamroll over the cynics and gits who get in his way. It even co-stars Sally Hawkins, as all “Paddington” movies have, and all other movies should.
If “The Phantom of the Open” lacks the same magic that Farnaby helped sprinkle over the masterful comedies he co-wrote about the world’s sweetest bear, well, what doesn’t? It’s enough that this heartfelt delight makes par on its premise; there’s a birdie here and a bogey there, but director Craig Roberts (“Eternal Beauty”) keeps a firm grip on the film’s whimsical tone from start to finish, the former “Red Oaks” star finding a way to have fun with his shots without risking his straightforward approach to the pin.
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Mark Rylance, whose post-“Bridge of Spies” performances in films like “Ready Player One” and “Don’t Look Up” have suffered from putting far too much sugar in a small cup of tea, embodies Maurice Flitcroft with such fidgety sweetness that he seems to be simpering toward self-parody by the end of the very first scene, and yet with “The Phantom of the Open” he’s found a movie that’s willing to meet the actor on his wavelength — a movie in which everything is so gently over-cranked that Rylance’s character feels more like a natural response to the world around him than he does an aberration from it.
Indeed, “The Phantom of the Open” works so well because Rylance’s all too legible affectations make it that much harder to parse Maurice’s heart. Does this doddering, workaday layman from the coal-gray shores of Barrow-in-Furness — a 47-year-old father of three who may have been totally oblivious to the mere existence of golf before catching a brain-snapping glimpse of a tournament on his family’s posh new three-channel TV — really believe that he can compete with the best players on Earth, or is he just having some kind of mid-life crisis prompted by Margaret Thatcher’s rise to power?
The film’s playful, almost fable-esque introduction to Maurice would suggest the former. It tells us of a young boy who was sent to Scotland during the war for his safety, and then returned to his dead-end town with a head so full of stars that not even several decades of blue-collar drudgery could dull its shine. To this day, his dreams still resemble deleted scenes from “A Matter of Life and Death.” And while Maurice’s cartoonish naiveté is a caricature of industrial simplicity, that exaggerated innocence is offset by the palpable hopes of a man who’s worked so hard for his sons to believe their dreams might actually come true — a man who’s proud that his teenage twins want to become professional disco dancers, and perhaps even prouder that his eldest, Michael (Jake Davies) has already climbed so high on the corporate ladder that his dad looks small from his perspective.
However you slice it, there’s more than a little eccentricity at play when Maurice decides to “have a crack at the British Open.” Sure, it’s a bit misleading when he checks the box labeled “professional” on the application, but it’s not his fault that the tournament administrators let him on the links (Rhys Ifans plays the stuffed shirt elitist who runs the Royal & Ancient Golf Course, and — despite being unfamiliar with anyone named Maurice Flitcroft, simply assumes that no one would be stupid enough to lie about their status).
And Maurice is, indeed, quite bad at golf. He’s able to make contact with the ball, which is a bit surprising given Rylance’s eyes-closed swing, but it doesn’t tend to go very far, and Farnaby’s script has zero interest in pretending that it ever did in real life. On the contrary, “The Phantom of the Open” delights in how unbothered Maurice is by his play; one of the film’s best scenes sets him up for a dramatic putt, adopting the rhythms and grammar of every inspirational sports movie ever made… and then sticking with it as Maurice duffs the putt four times in a row.
Whip-pans, dance interludes, and a killer period soundtrack highlighted by the likes of Billy Preston and Christopher Cross apply winning energy to a losing streak that doesn’t skip a beat even after Maurice is kicked out of the tournament and forced to sneak onto the course in disguise. The simple joy of this story isn’t found in Maurice’s imagined victory, but rather through his refusal of defeat — his refusal to wallow in the gutter and cede the stars to the people born just shy of heaven. This world is what we make of it, and everyone is capable of having their say.
In a moment so wry and affecting that it could single-handedly power this movie through its misshapen structure and the sweet but labored subplots that hold it together with scotch tape (the most important of which being the embarrassment that Michael develops in response to his father’s overnight fame), Maurice walks out of the shipyard at the end of a shift and tears off his dull work coat to reveal the argyle golf sweater below. His willingness to step out of line and grab his clubs by the handle is enough to make him a bonafide superhero, even in spite of his handicap(s).
“The Phantom of the Open” isn’t always able to dramatize Maurice’s self-determination — the trajectory of his career isn’t especially well-suited to a three-act feature, and a greater emphasis on the deception required to keep playing might have unbalanced a movie that can’t afford its wide-eyed hero to become a full-blown trickster — but Roberts and Farnaby celebrate Maurice’s accomplishments with such a sincere degree of fun that it’s easy to keep golf-clapping along even after the film runs out of story to tell. Kit Fraser’s textured cinematography and Sarah Finlay’s loving production design lend the whole thing an almost Kaurismäki-dry winsomeness that Hawkins’ performance is able to capitalize upon with even the smallest of gestures.
It all comes together into an affable movie that, like its affable subject, doesn’t have any measurable ambition beyond getting the ball in the hole. And yet it could still make hardened souls cry a few tears in the back of an airplane, pick the rest of us up on a gray Sunday afternoon, and remind anyone struggling through stubbornly existential feelings of helplessness — which is another way of saying everyone — that the world is their oyster, even when it looks a lot more like a barnacle.
Grade: B
“The Phantom of the Open” is now playing in select theaters.
Pat McGrath is makeup royalty. In fact in 2020 she was named a dame by Queen Elizabeth II, the first makeup artist to be so honored, for her achievements in beauty and diversity. But McGrath reached legend status long before damehood, due to her work with fashion’s biggest design houses and celebrities, from Schiaparelli and Versace to Naomi Campbell and Doja Cat.
With all her experience and expertise, it’s only natural that McGrath would branch out into skin care. The brand introduced the Divine Skin: Rose 001 Essence last month, making it the first-ever skin-care launch for Pat McGrath Labs. It promises McGrath’s signature glow in a bottle, with the same luxurious and sensorial qualities you can expect from a Pat McGrath product.
The essence is a milky-oil hybrid with key rose botanic—a rose blend packed with phytonutrients—along with fortifying rose petal extract, soothing damascena rose water, sweet almond oil, squalene, and hydrating botanical ceramide. This packed formula promises plump and luminous skin, creating the perfect base for both skin care and makeup.
Formulated for all skin types, the essence is noncomedogenic (meaning it won’t clog pores or cause breakouts) and contains no silicone, parabens, sulfates, or gluten. What else? It’s cruelty-free and contains 97% natural ingredients.
So how does the Pat McGrath Divine Skin: Rose 001 Essence stack up against three different skin types? We decided to put it to the test. Read on for our honest reviews.
Pat McGrath Divine Skin: Rose 001 Essence
Bella Cacciatore, associate beauty editor
I am generally not one for essences—I don’t really see the point, to be honest—but I will put on whatever Mother McGrath creates. My blind trust in her has never let me down, and this was no exception. The milky essence soaked right into my combo skin, leaving a light veil of moisture with no greasy residue. My skin instantly felt plumper and brighter, and it felt like my moisturizer soaked in better afterward. It also helped my makeup apply smoother, and kept my skin hydrated all day long. I was worried the oils would make me break out, but I’ve had no issues so far, and the light rose scent didn’t irritate my sensitive skin. And like every Pat product, it looks killer in my bathroom.
The MTV Movie & TV Awards are back! The MTV broadcast, which honors the best in movies and television from the past year, will be hosted by Vanessa Hudgens. The awards show will be broadcast on MTV and sister channels VH1, BET, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, and MTV2. Here is what you can expect on January 9.
The MTV Movie & TV Awards are back.
Not only will Snoop Dog be performing, but the night will be filled with Hollywood favorites. Presenters include Chris Evans, Awkwafina, Rebel Wilson, Glen Powell, Billy Eichner, Riley Keough, Jay Ellis, Jenna Ortega, Joe Keery, Chase Sui Wonders, Jamie Campbell Bower, Lana Condor, Sydney Sweeney, Pablo Schreiber, Rachel Sennott, Sarah Shahi, Eduardo Franco, Joseph Quinn, and Maria Bakalova.
Jennifer Lopez is also set to receive the Generation Award. The Generation Award honors actors “whose diverse contributions to film and television have turned them into household names.” Having most recently starred in Hustlers, Lopez joins fellow winners that include Sandra Bullock, Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pratt, and Johnny Depp.
The second significant award of the night is set to go to Jack Black. Black will receive the Comedic Genious Award. The Comedic Genious Award honors actors who have made contributions to the world of comedy, providing influence in the genre and Hollywood alike. Previous award winners include Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Melissa McCarthy, and Sasha Baron Cohen.
After the awards show, MTV will air Movie & TV Awards: UNSCRIPTED, which will give fans a deeper look into the creation of the awards show and its history. New categories will also be awarded Best Reality Return, Best Music Documentary, Best Reality Romance, and Best Reality Star.
With many awards show coming back after years of being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic or airing without an audience, it will be a big night!
The MTV Movie & TV Awards will air live from Los Angeles’ Barker Hangar on Sunday, June 5 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Guy Pearce is the latest big name to be returning to his soap alma mater of Ramsay Street, with the Memento star joining the cast for the grand finale of Australian soap Neighbours.
Pearce will join a list of stars including Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan appearing in the show after absences of several decades to mark its final farewell.
The Australian actor is among the most successful of his many castmates, with roles in in films including LA Confidential, The King’s Speech and a recent appearance in TV’s award-winning The Mare of Easttown.
The very last episode of the show is set to air on August 1, bringing to a close Australia’s longest-running TV soap after 37 years.
Pearce told London newspaper Metro: “It is very exciting and surreal at the same time being back on set again, however it feels like coming home.
“It’s where it all started for me professionally. I’ve been asked to come back on occasions over the years and wondered if it was the right thing to do, but once I knew the show was finishing, I knew I had to do it.
“While I’ve caught up with many of the cast I worked with on the show over the years, there is nothing like being here all together again.”
Jason Herbison, Neighbours’ Executive Producer, said: “I’m incredibly honoured that Guy is returning to the show for a very special story arc.
“Having him back on set has been poignant for him and for us. He’s been very involved in the storyline, and I can’t wait to finally answer the question for viewers – who is Mike Young today?”
Pearce is just one of several Australian stars to get their big break on the Australian soap. Other names include Margot Robbie, Jesse Spencer, Alan Dale, Liam Hemsworth and Russell Crowe. Natalie Imbruglia went on to musical success, scoring two Brit Awards and three Grammy nominations.
Only the best deals on Verge-approved gadgets get the Verge Deals stamp of approval, so if you’re looking for a deal on your next gadget or gift from major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and more, this is the place to be.
This deal will sound familiar to some prior ones from Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and you may be eligible even if you’ve taken advantage of previous promos from Hulu. You have until May 27th at 11:59PM PT to claim it, and it’s available to entirely new subscribers as well as returning subscribers who canceled over one month ago.
After the $1 per month promotional rate ends, your account will automatically continue at the usual monthly $6.99 price. Just be sure to set a reminder to cancel before that if you plan to only binge what you can during the cheaper period.
You can get three months of Hulu’s ad-supported service for just $1 per month and get access to all Hulu’s TV shows and movies on a TV, streaming media player, tablet, laptop, console, and other devices. Two people are also allowed to stream on this plan at the same time as well.
This weekend is all about auteurs, both rising and long-standing, from Cronenberg to Hart, Davies to Williams, Ahn to Okuno.
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As theaters begin showing signs of life and streaming and VOD options stay hefty, there are more movies (and platforms to watch them on) than ever to sift through, and IndieWire is here to help you do just that each week.
While the box office might still be (rightly) buzzing about the high-flying, high-octane, high-pressure hit that is “Top Gun: Maverick,” this week’s pack of new releases offer plenty of their own special charms. Mostly, it’s a week all about auteurs, from the proven qualities like David Cronenberg and Terence Davies (who both arrive at the multiplex with bonafide IndieWire Critic’s Pick designations), to rising stars like Andrew Ahn, Julia Hart, and Chloe Okuno.
Each film is now available in a theater near you or in the comfort of your own home (or, in some cases, both, the convenience of it all). Browse your options below.
Week of May 30 – June 5
New Films in Theaters
As new movies open in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, IndieWire will continue to review them whenever possible. We encourage readers to follow the safety precautionsprovided by CDC and health authorities. Additionally, our coverage will provide alternative viewing options whenever they are available.
“Benediction” (directed by Terence Davies) — IndieWire Critic’s Pick Distributor: Roadside Attractions Where to Find It: Select theaters
With “Benediction” — another spectacular and terribly sad biopic about a poet cursed with the ability to express a private agony they could never escape — Terence Davies has once again made a film that feels like the work of someone flaying their soul onscreen. Last time it was Emily Dickinson who provided the prism through which Davies could refract his own wants and wounds, and here it’s the English poet Siegfried Sassoon, an openly but resentfully gay man desperate for a peace of mind he only knew how to look for in other people.
Davies has more in common with Sassoon than Dickinson — their lives even overlapped for a time — but viewers don’t have to know a single thing about the director’s work to sense his wounds bleeding through Sassoon’s aching story. This is a film that trembles with a need for redemption that never comes, and the urgency of that search is palpable enough that you can feel it first-hand, even if “Benediction” is never particularly clear about the nature of the redemption it’s hoping to find. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“Crimes of the Future”
screenshot/NEON
“Crimes of the Future” (directed by David Cronenberg) — IndieWire Critic’s Pick Distributor: Neon Where to Find It: Select theaters
Whether you have the stomach to survive “Crimes of the Future” would seem to be a more complicated matter. At a time when holy shit, you have to see thisinsanity has become the fastest shortcut for arthouse fare to get around the always-suffocating layers of superhero movie hype, it was inevitable that Cronenberg’s first movie since “Maps to the Stars” would be positioned as some kind of sick endurance test that found him revisiting the familiar preoccupations of body horror classics like “Dead Ringers” and “The Fly” so that he could combine all of their gnarliest moments into a career-spanning orgy of squelching latex.
The tone of the press coverage leading up to the film’s Cannes premiere was basically “any upstart auteur can fuck a car, but only OG daddy Cronenberg can make love to it.” The director himself even suggested that people would start walking out within the first five minutes. What Cronenberg neglected to specify is that those imagined audience members — as implausible as the crowds who supposedly fled in panic when the Lumière brothers aimed a train at them — would be stampeding up the aisles in response to tragedy, and not gore. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“Neptune Frost” (directed by Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman) Distributor: Kino Lorber Where to Find It: Select theaters
If the noblest aim of the artist is to become a vessel for divine connection to creative source, then Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman are truly touched. The sheer amount of hypnotic imagery and music on display in “Neptune Frost,” the film chapter in the multifaceted project “MartyrLoserKing” which includes three albums and a graphic novel, is bursting with enough life and ingenuity to fill a solo exhibition.
In this fantastical Afrofuturist universe, characters with names like Memory and Psychology traipse amongst whimsical sculptural sets, draped in art-piece costumes and makeup so eye-popping it makes the looks on “Euphoria” seem conventional. The music is alive and thrumming, tapped into a twin spirit of joy and protest. While these elements never fully cohere to form a discernible narrative in “Neptune Frost,” there is fun to be had in surrendering to the fluidity of its ingenuity. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“Neptune Frost”
Kino Lorber, exclusive to IndieWire
“The Phantom of the Open” (directed by Craig Roberts) Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics Where to Find It: Select theaters
A light and lyrical feel-good tale about Mancunian golf legend Maurice G. Flitcroft — the shipyard crane operator who improbably managed to enter himself into the 1976 British Open and then, even more improbably, became an international folk hero for his resilience in the face of humiliating scores — “The Phantom of the Open” is exactly what you might expect from an underdog sports film scripted by “Paddington 2” writer Simon Farnaby (and based on the book that he and Scott Murray published about Flintcroft in 2010). It’s charming as hell, it has precious little patience for English classicism, and it hinges on a child-like outsider whose supernatural guilelessness has a tendency to steamroll over the cynics and gits who get in his way. It even co-stars Sally Hawkins, as all “Paddington” movies have, and all other movies should. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“Poser” (directed by Ori Segev and Noah Dixon) Distributor: Oscilloscope Where to Find It: Select theaters
Lennon looks the part: teal-tinted hair, cool tattoos, a punky sartorial sense, big headphones. As she sulks around the edges of a gallery opening on the arty side of Columbus, Ohio, she seems to fit in, until you notice… Why isn’t Lennon talking to anyone else? How come no one has said hello to her? And why is she recording the incredibly basic party chatter around her instead of actually partaking in it?
Cut to a title card that, amusingly and painfully, lets us in on the surface truth of Lennon’s existence: The film is called “Poser,” and that is exactly what Lennon is. While the elevator pitch of Ori Segev and Noah Dixon’s prickly feature directorial debut is simple enough — it’s “Single White Female” set in the vibrant Columbus indie scene, with a generous dash of podcast humor — the film’s fascinating setting and a pair of breakout lead performances set it a cut above other films like it. Spiky, funny, feverish, and more than a little nail-biting, “Poser” is an auspicious debut and proof that this seemingly well-tapped sub-genre isn’t done chilling audiences just yet. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“Watcher”
IFC Films, exclusive to IndieWire
“Watcher” (directed by Chloe Okuno) Distributor: IFC Midnight Where to Find It: Select theaters
Chloe Okuno could have struck gold when production of “Watcher” was relocated from New York to Bucharest, Romania. The Eastern European city’s mix of bleak, brutalist architecture and baroque government buildings only add to the isolation that the film’s protagonist, Julia (Maika Monroe), feels as she tags along when her half-Romanian husband is transferred there for work. Add to that a stark language barrier and a neighbor who may or may not be spying on her from across the street, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a taut paranoid thriller.
When writing the script along with Zack Ford, Okuno was inspired by filmmakers like Roman Polanski and Sofia Coppola, both masters at depicting what it’s like to be an outsider in a foreign place. But instead of leaning into the ambiguous tensions and uncanny experiences, “Watcher” fails to live up to its inspirations, ending up a heavy-handed, predictable trip through genre tropes with a rather lifeless cast at its core. Read IndieWire’s full review.
Also available this week:
“Frank & Penelope” (directed by Sean Patrick Flanery) Distributor: Redbud Studios Where to Find It: Select theaters
“The Overnight” (directed by Kevin Rhoades and Bobby Francavillo) Distributor: Vertical Entertainment Where to Find It: Select theaters, plus various VOD and digital platforms
“The Passenger” (directed by Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez) Distributor: Dark Star Pictures, Bloody Disgusting Where to Find It: Select theaters
“Small Town Wisconsin” (directed by Niels Mueller) Distributor: Quiver Distribution Where to Find It: Select theaters
“White Elephant” (directed by Jesse V. Johnson) Distributor: RLJE Films Where to Find It: Select theaters and streaming on AMC+
New Films on VOD and Streaming, Including Premium Platforms and Virtual Cinema
“Fire Island” (directed by Andrew Ahn) — IndieWire Critic’s Pick Distributor: Hulu Where to Find It: Streaming on Hulu
A true ensemble piece, the movie is filled with the joy and camaraderie of that cheesiest of queer epithets — chosen family. But under the Day-Glo sheen of the carless beach town filled with glistening shirtless queers, it all feels genuinely dreamy. (Or maybe it’s the Ketamine.) Directed by Andrew Ahn (“Spa Night,” “Driveways”) and starring “Saturday Night Live” darling Bowen Yang opposite Joel Kim Booster, “Fire Island” marries the promise of the queer comedy boom with the artistic arrival of Asian American cinema. Gorgeously intersectional, subtly political, and a damn good time — it’s a guaranteed instant classic. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“Hollywood Stargirl”
Disney+
“Hollywood Stargirl” (directed by Julia Hart) Distributor: Disney+ Where to Find It: Streaming on Disney+
Don’t let the name fool you: Stargirl isn’t looking to break into the Hollywood stratosphere. Mostly, she’s looking for some friends beyond her harried mom and adorable pet rat Cinnamon. For a gal as charming as Stargirl, as good-hearted and caring as she is, that shouldn’t be too much to ask, right? In the world of “Hollywood Stargirl,” a brightly lit and candy-colored place that verges on the fairy tale — if only because everyone who populates it is also charming, good-hearted, and caring — it’s not, with some caveats, the kind happily wrapped up in a fanciful package.
Filmmaker Julia Hart follows her first “Stargirl” feature film — a 2020 Disney+ outing based on Jerry Spinelli’s bestselling YA novel of the same name — with a suitably quirky and sweet sequel that builds on the Stargirl mythos with nothing but good intentions. Picking up soon after the events of the first “Stargirl” concluded (quick catch-up: Stargirl, played in both films by Grace VanderWaal, is an offbeat sweetheart who encourages people to embrace their true selves, a concept that went a bit topside in her former American high school, a place where individuality goes to die), “Hollywood Stargirl” finds our heroine again setting out on a new adventure. Read IndieWire’s full review.
“It’s what you do in life that’s important, not how much time you have,” a voiceover of David Bowie says in the trailer for the new film about his life, Moonage Daydream.
The words are especially haunting and poignant, coming from the singer himself, who died from liver cancer in January 2016, just two days after the release of his last album Blackstar. Bowie packed a lot of life into his 69 years on earth, earning a legendary reputation for reinvention in his lengthy and innovative career in music and film. That career and enigmatic ability to confound and enthrall his audience is being celebrated in the new film, which premiers at the Cannes Film Festival on May 23.
As per Pitchfork, the film was directed, written, and produced by Brett Morgen. He is no stranger to telling the life story of a famous musician through archival footage. He also helmed the Kurt Cobain documentary Montage of Heck, which utilized Cobain’s journal entries and animation to tell the Nirvana frontman’s story. Moonage Daydream’s music producer was Tony Visconti, the longtime producer of several of Bowie’s albums. Along with Bowie’s last album, Blackstar, Visconti produced some of Bowie’s most successful classic albums, such as Low, Heathen, Lodger, and Young Americans.
Moonage Daydream is set to be neither a traditional documentary nor biopic but, according to Variety, “an immersive cinematic experience built, in part, upon thousands of hours of never before seen material.” Morgen worked for four years on the film, which draws heavily on live concert footage to tell Bowie’s story. The film was made with the full cooperation of Bowie’s estate.
With the collaboration of Visconti and the inclusion of archival footage of Bowie’s live performances, the film seems set to be a celebration of Bowie’s music. Spanning the space-age psychedelia of his breakout single “Space Oddity,” the upbeat dance-pop of his hit 1980s album Let’s Dance, to his 1990s collaborations with Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor, Bowie created decades’ worth of indelible music.
Moonage Daydream is set to hit theaters in September 2022 and be available on HBO and HBO Max in spring 2023.
MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL 2022 REVIEW! Writer/director Holly Morris takes her cameras along to follow the first-ever all-women expedition team to the North Pole in her documentary, Exposure. Led by veteran polar explorer Felicity Aston, a group of eleven woman adventurers embarks on this harrowing journey, years in the making. Bringing together the women from the Arab countries and the West, the team includes Aston, Natasa Briski (Slovenia), Susan Gallon (France), Mariam Alabbas Hamidaddin (Saudi Arabia), Misba Khan (U.K.), Lames Nijem (Kuwait), Ida Olsson (Sweden), Anisa Al Raissi (Oman), Olga Rumyantsteva (Russia), Stephanie Solomonides (Cyprus), and Princess Asma Al Thani (Qatar).
Going to the North Pole is not something you just do. It takes years of training, and the documentary starts with the team getting used to their equipment in Iceland. Here, they experience just a fraction of the harsh realities of their journey. They then travel to the extreme opposites of the Saudi Arabian desert to train on the dunes as they haul all their gear and supplies on sleds, tethered to them by a single cable.
The team would ultimately arrive at an outpost on the Russian side of the Arctic in 2018. The exploration window is open for only ten days, and Exposure gives us the chance to truly see how considerable an effort it is to traverse the Arctic. First established is the ice station Barneo. Next, planes have to fly overhead, search for a location to create a landing strip, and drop bulldozers to flatten the new runway without falling through the ice.
“…follow[s] the first-ever all-women expedition team to the North Pole…”
From here, every piece of equipment is packed, rigorous medical exams are conducted, and the meaning of team and teamwork is embraced more than ever. From here on out, any small mistake means failure or, worse, death. These women are truly stranded in the middle of nowhere, so rescue is far, far away.
As a documentary, Exposure beautifully captures that spirit of pushing oneself to the limit physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, all specifically from a woman’s perspective. As much as a big deal is made that this is an all-female expedition, the team doesn’t make a big deal of it. The challenges they encountered were no different than the ones men faced. It all boils down to an extraordinary accomplishment by eleven individuals.
The film is a visually stunning adventure to one of the most extreme locales in the world. The stories of these brave women are inspiring, though not enough to make me want to do it. Getting there is not just a simple matter of dragging sleds across the snow. There are icy grounds over water that barely supports the team’s weight. Frozen crevasses spanning a few feet become impossible to cross on foot. Then there are the giant cracks across the camp’s runway, which essentially stranded an injured teammate with no hope of rescue.
Morris masterfully cuts together a beautiful documentary extolling the human spirit to conquer the unconquerable. With Exposure, she captures the beauty of untouched nature and weaves together a story of suspense and thrills. There’s no guarantee that the team will make it, but you’ll be rooting for them.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada is more resolute than ever in its support for Ukraine as its war with Russia continues after 100 days.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, she said Canada would continue to provide weaponry and other help while applying pressure on Russia with fresh rounds of sanctions.
“Our goal is to make sure we put maximum pressure on Putin’s regime,” she said.
Canada has been inspired by Ukraine’s resolute defence of its country, she said, and would continue to back the beleaguered country as the war reaches its “third phase.”
“The will Ukrainians have demonstrated is incredible and inspiring,” she said. “Nobody thought that Ukraine at the beginning of the war would be able to fight back as they have been able, and are still fighting back and they are not backing down.”
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Russia-Ukraine conflict: 100 days in, Zelenskyy pledges that ‘victory will be ours’
Russia-Ukraine conflict: 100 days in, Zelenskyy pledges that ‘victory will be ours’
After talks with counterparts from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in Quebec City, Joly confirmed on Friday that Canada has increased the deployment of Canadian troops to Latvia, which borders Russia.
The intention to boost Canadian Forces in the Baltics was announced by the prime minister in February. Canada leads a multinational NATO battlegroup in Latvia, one of four in the Baltic states and Poland designed to deter a Russian attack.
“We had 700 troops and we are increasing that now by 450,” Joly said. “We are now 1,300 troops in Latvia. We also increased our presence by making sure there is another frigate in the Baltic Sea.”
Joly said Canada is also preparing “to put 3,400 soldiers on standby for NATO.”
She said Canada is playing a key diplomatic role in support of Ukraine to “keep a strong unity” with the United States, European Union and other allies.
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U.S. President Joe Biden this week said he would supply Ukraine with longer-range rocket systems, while Germany promised to send an air defence system.
Ukrainian village of Vilkhivka recalls brutality as country marks 100 days of Russia’s invasion
Ukrainian village of Vilkhivka recalls brutality as country marks 100 days of Russia’s invasion
Joly said it “was important for the U.S. to send heavy weaponry this week” and Canada would also send more weapons.
She said she has held talks with the United Nations, EU and G7 about a possible diplomatic solution to help Ukraine get millions of tonnes of grain out of its port of Odesa, which is being blockaded by Russia.
Countries in Africa and the Middle East that rely on Ukrainian wheat as a staple food are facing hunger, the UN World Food Program has warned.
Joly said Ukraine needed “to be comfortable with the diplomatic solution because their own security must be ensured.”
She said Canada was prepared to send vessels to Romanian ports to ship out the grain and to support its transport by rail and barge to neighbouring European countries.
The minister said she spoke about further support for Ukraine with Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s foreign affairs minister; Zanda Kalnina-Lukasevica, Latvia’s parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs; and Eva-Maria Liimets, Estonia’s foreign affairs minister.
The Baltic states were invaded by the Soviet Union in 1940, and then by Nazi Germany in 1941. They were reoccupied later on in the Second World War, becoming part of the Soviet Union until 1991.
“Because they are at the edge of Russia, they understand and feel it every day the threat that Russia poses,” Joly said.
Kristen Stewart doesn’t care too much about people who can’t digest her latest project. The actress, who starred in David Cronenberg’s horror film Future Crimes, didn’t seem upset that several viewers left the film’s press screening at once. Instead, people came out of the theater during scary scenes in the film. The tape tells about an artist who grows unnecessary organs, and he gets rid of them in front of the audience, arranging terrible performances. Discussing the film at a press conference the next day, Stewart, who plays an investigative surgeon working for the National Organ Registry, said:
“Everyone loves to talk about how difficult Cronenberg’s films are to watch, and it’s funny to talk about people walking out of a screening at Cannes . Every gaping, weird moment in his films makes me gasp. You want to get close to it, and it never disgusts me. I feel this is due to a visceral desire, and that’s the only reason we’re alive,” the actress summed up. Stewart, 32, also recalled that the Canadian director and screenwriter received similar reviews for his films The Fly and Shivers. But in general, in Cannes, they favorably reacted to his new creation. Crimes of the Future is the opposite of Kristen Stewart’s last major film role. Recall that in the 2021 film Spencer, she embodied the image of Princess Diana herself and received her first Oscar nomination for this. Before her appearance at the ceremony in March this year, Stewart spoke about how she handled the role: “I played her when it was hard and sad, but she also has an unstoppable light. And even just trying to touch it, I learned a lot. In particular, I felt like I was allowed to grow as a person. Even if it was in my imagination, I completely convinced myself that all of a sudden I had this superpower that she had – to make people feel good,” the actress shared.
Dave Clark, Amazon’s CEO of Worldwide Consumer, is resigning from the ecommerce powerhouse after 23 years.
He will leave Amazon effective July 1, 2022. Clark is the highest-profile executive departure for the company since Andy Jassy took over as CEO in July 2021, when founder Jeff Bezos relinquished the reins.
Clark, in announcing his departure Friday on Twitter, wrote, “I’ve had an incredible time at Amazon but it’s time for me to build again. It’s what drives me. To all I’ve had the honor of working with: thank you for making it so much fun to come to work every day for 23 years to invent cool, amazing things for customers.”
In an email to his team, which Clark also posted, he wrote, “For some time, I have discussed my intent to transition out of Amazon with my family and others close to me, but I wanted to ensure the teams were set up for success.”
Amazon doubled the capacity of its warehouse and fulfillment network over the course of the pandemic when ecommerce demand spiked. But now the company has an excess of capacity as orders slowed back down: On the April earnings call, CFO Brian Olsavsky said the overcapacity resulted in $6 billion in incremental costs in the first quarter of 2022 with $4 billion expected in Q2.
Clark had served as Amazon’s CEO of Worldwide Consumer since January 2021, taking over for longtime exec Jeff Wilke. During Clark’s time at Amazon, he held a variety of positions, including SVP of worldwide operations, VP of global customer fulfillment, and VP of North America operations. Clark holds an MBA from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree in music education from Auburn University.
In a memo to Amazon staff Friday, Jassy wrote that he expects to provide an update on succession plans for the consumer group following Clark’s exit.
“As we shared last week during our annual shareholder meeting, we still have more work in front of us to get to where we ultimately want to be in our Consumer business,” Jassy wrote in the email. “The past few years have been among the most challenging and unpredictable we’ve faced in the history of Amazon’s Consumer business, and I’m particularly appreciative of Dave’s leadership during that time.”
Read Clark’s memo to his team:
I’ve had an incredible time at Amazon but it’s time for me to build again. It’s what drives me. To all I’ve had the honor of working with: thank you for making it so much fun to come to work every day for 23 years to invent cool, amazing things for customers.
Sometimes it’s a little too obvious when a company is launching a big advertising campaign on YouTube. If you’re a regular viewer, you may end up seeing the same ads over and over again. This week, though, YouTube announced that it’s expanding the power of tools that let brands control how often their ads are shown to specific users.
Google’s Display & Video 360 platform previously launched a tool in February to cover ad campaigns running across different smart TV apps, including YouTube’s app and apps from rivals like Hulu. This week, YouTube launched its own complementary tool, YouTube Frequency, which counts ads shown not only on YouTube’s smart TV app, but also across its mobile and desktop platforms. Combined, these programs should mean less ad spam for viewers.
But why does YouTube care? Well, because seeing the same advertisements over and over isn’t just a pain for consumers — it’s bad for companies, too. They want to know not only that they’re not annoying would-be customers, but that they’re not wasting money by showing the same person the same ad too many times.
Now, you can compliment your reach by actively setting your weekly frequency goal – a solution only YouTube can provide. Combining our unmatched audience reach and leading machine learning capabilities, advertisers will now be able to optimize how many times viewers see their ads in a week. Not only does this mean more efficient spend, but crucially, a better experience for viewers.
It’s up to brands to impose those limits, of course, but here’s hoping they know the best ad campaigns aren’t the ones that hammer you over and over again with the same message.
Correction, May 19th, 11:39AM ET: This story incorrectly stated that two separate ad frequency tools were part of the same program. Google’s Display & Video 360 platform covers smart TV apps from YouTube and other services, while YouTube Frequency manages ad frequency across its desktop, mobile, and smart TV apps.
Though the audio sounds better than ever, it’s best experienced alongside the stunning concert footage, which has been meticulously rescanned from the original film and color corrected. Purple Rain’s visual hallmarks—the big hair, the ruffled coat, the purple crushed velvet—would become just as important as its signature sound. Live places the experience in the totality of its context: as a companion piece not only to the studio album, but also to Purple Rain, the film. No expense was spared for the cutting-edge lighting and effects, and everyone on stage donned the role of thespian as well as musician, playing their part in elaborate set pieces inspired by the movie.
Prince leads into “Purple Rain” B-side “God” with a dramatic confessional, simulating the Holy Spirit’s thunderous wrath by smashing against the keys of his piano while a blinding spotlight acts as a heavenly stand-in. Then-unreleased vault curiosity “Possessed” takes on a separate identity from its studio versions, becoming a full-on tribute to Prince’s idol James Brown. The band locks into a propulsive funk groove while Prince gives his best impression of the godfather of soul—imitating his iconic mic stand kick and exclaiming “good God!”—with saxophonist Eric Leeds acting as his Maceo Parker. And, of course, there are plenty of risqué moments, such as when he turns his backside, draped in a pair of see-through pants, to ask the crowd “Does your man have an ass like mine?” The Revolution are in top form, twisting and twirling in perfectly choreographed lockstep with their bandleader while nary dropping a note. (A feat which, while impressive, was rough on the band: “It ruined my back for the rest of my life,” keyboardist Lisa Coleman admitted to Rolling Stone in 2017.)
The Purple Rain Tour was a herculean triumph, made possible by a tangled web of people carefully managing every aspect of the show each night, from staging to lighting to costuming to music. This fact wasn’t lost on Prince; he used the increased visibility of the Syracuse show to give thanks to as much of his entourage as he could. “Baby I’m a Star” evolved into a long, formless jam session, and everyone on hand was brought up to the stage. (Protégé group Apollonia 6 were even flown in to appear, despite not being part of the tour.) Prince placed immense trust in his collaborators, occasionally setting his instrument aside and counting on his band to keep things going so that he could focus on getting the theatrics just right. When he finally holds his guitar for longer for a few minutes—to play an extended encore of his spiritual communion, “Purple Rain”—time bends to his will and a third of an hour goes by in a blink. He’s giving us a firm reminder of what we already knew: “My band is great, but I’m still the greatest.”
Spider-Man: No Way Home Director: Jon Watts Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch.
This is a spoiler-free review of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
In the last two decades since Tobey Maguire first donned the red-and-blue costume, we’ve had eight live-action Spider-Man films, making Peter Parker among the most prolific superheroes around. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man turns 20 next year and it just reminds us how long cinema has been obsessed with New York’s friendly neighbourhood webslinger.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is a film meant to do a lot of things. It’s the third film in the Jon Watts-directed MCU trilogy of Spider-Man films, concluding a storyline for Tom Holland’s incarnation of Peter Parker. It’s a direct sequel to Spider-Man: Far From Home, picking up where the cliff hanger credit scene of the 2019 film left off. It’s the continuation of the overarching Marvel Cinematic Universe and its “phase four” story arc. And to put it in simple words, it’s a tribute to the past 20 years of Spider-Man movies.
The story begins with Parker’s identity being revealed. He goes to his fellow Avenger Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and asks for his help. But things don’t go as planned. The spell cracks open the multiverse and spills out villains from Sony’s previous five Spider-Man movies spanning almost two decades: Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe, reprising his role from Spider-Man), Doc Ock (Alfred Molina, Spider-Man 2), Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church, Spider-Man 3), Lizard (Rhys Ifan, The Amazing Spider-Man), and Electro (Jamie Foxx, The Amazing Spider-Man 2).
Spider-Man: No Way Home is a really good movie. Not just a good superhero movie, for it is the best by far in the genre, but simply a wonderful bit of Hollywood Christmas cinema. It is a classically entertaining film setting filmmaker Jon Watts on par with some of the prolific mainstream storytellers pouring forth action/emotion on the screen and using some of the best VFX, giving it’s viewers moments of celluloid joy. To top it all, Tom Holland plays the superhero to perfection. He brings in the right amount of emotions in between the meta-moments and anchors the film.
Comic-book lovers will freak out over this movie. But even for one who has never read a comic book, this is a truly enjoyable experience, a tremendous popcorn flick with heaps of humour, action, romance, some amazing VFX and the one thing that sets a good film apart: a good story. A special mention to the action sequences which will make sure that at no point of time the audience will be able to take their eyes off from the screen. The final act is of epic proportions, something that we have only seen in the ‘Avenger’ movies.
Spiderman’s uncle Ben once told him, ‘With great power comes great responsibility,’ which became an iconic dialogue and somehow it fits so perfectly in this film. Buckle up as Spider-Man: No Way Home is not only an enthralling, thrilling ride, but also a celebration of Spidey fandom. A moving adventure and an emotionally riveting drama it is surely going to swing you in the right way. There were some audible gasps of joy and a few tears among the audience when I saw it. It’s a perfect film for a family outing this holiday season
NOTE: Stay all the way through the credits for two extra scenes which probably is the longest post-movie scenes in the MCU unit and is surely leave your jaws dropped.
The sun is shining, temperatures are rising, and we’re in a big, happy mood—Pride Month is here. When you’re celebrating, the best Pride collections can help you show the world exactly who you are—and provide real support to the LGBTQIA+ community while you’re at it.
While a ton of brands release Pride-inspired collections—many of which offer vague promises to give back a portion of profits—a few stand apart by pledging donations to advocacy organizations with real dollar amounts attached. (And no, a simple Instagram post doesn’t cut it, either.) To claim to make a genuine difference, we need to see the receipts first.
To help you use your spending power as effectively as possible—and pick out a cute outfit for any Pride celebrations while you’re at it—we searched far and wide for the best Pride collections that actually give back to the communities they represent. These are the Pride capsule collections you can feel good about buying.
The Levi’s 2022 Pride collection is filled with timeless pieces you’ll want to wear year-round, including denim skirts, jackets, and corsets. The heritage jeans brand is making a $100,000 donation to OutRight Action International, an organization working to advance the human rights of LGBTQIA+ people worldwide.
The brand just reinvented its most popular slippers in colorways inspired by the Pride and Transgender flags, plus rainbow-colored socks, shirts, and jackets. This month, Ugg will donate $125,000 to support The Trevor Project, a nonprofit dedicated to suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ youth.
While the brand made its name off of exclusivity, Abercrombie is now more committed to inclusion than ever—and its $400,000 donation to the Trevor Project this June proves that. Its Pride collection is stocked with low-key, gender-neutral pieces that’ll fit in with any wardrobe.
To celebrate Pride this year, Vans tapped three artists from the LGBTQIA+ community to design its merch—and set aside $200,000 for three organizations, including the Tegan and Sara Foundation, which provides scholarships and support to queer summer camps.
This month, the classic shoe brand is continuing its annual grants to seven organizations, including the It Gets Better Project (which uplifts LGBTQ+ youth around the world) and the Ali Forney Center (which protects LGBTQ+ young people from homelessness). Converse has donated over $1.65 million to various nonprofits since 2015—and its 2022 Pride capsule also happens to be pretty great.
Morphe’s Pride merch includes two eyeshadow palettes inspired by the rainbow flag, plus a brush set. On top of donating 100% of net proceeds from the collection to the Trevor Project, the makeup brand is also presenting the nonprofit with a $50,000 donation.
Under Armour’s annual Pride-themed products rarely disappoint, and this year we’re vibing some black bike shorts and a pair of tinted sunglasses that literally let you look at the world through a rainbow. The brand will be giving out various $10,000 Under Armour Pride Grants to create safe places for LGBTQ+ athletes to practice and compete—you can apply for a grant here.
The Dr. Martens Pride drop is small but considered: a pair of gender-neutral shoes featuring with the Pride flag, plus matching socks. This year, the brand has also pledged $200,000 to The Trevor Project as part of its annual partnership.
Target’s massive Pride collection, which has received a stamp of approval from TikTok, has T-shirts, hoodies, and tote bags galore, plus collaborations with queer-led brands like TomboyX and the Phluid Project. (And this “Ask me about my pronouns” mug.) Like it has for 11 years now, the retailer is also donating $250,000 to GLSEN, an organization aiming to create accessible and antiracist spaces for LGBTQIA+ students.
Bath & Body Works just released candles, body washes, lotions, mists, and home decor covered in rainbow brushstrokes to complement its $150,000 donation to the It Gets Better Project.
Inspired by the activists of the Stonewall Uprising, the Adidas 2022 Pride collection is an explosion of color and energy. Alongside its merch, the brand has also partnered with Athlete Ally and Stonewall UK to further LGBTQ+ empowerment and fight homophobia and transphobia in the world of sports and beyond.
Flipping the popular slogan “love is love” into the phrase “this is love,” Calvin Klein’s Pride lineup includes tons of Technicolor underwear, tie-dye shirts, and gender-inclusive dresses. It’s also distributing $400,000 among various LGBTQ+ organizations.
In honor of Pride month, beauty brand Ouai is pledging $50,000 to PRISM, a Florida organization fighting the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, a nonprofit providing healthcare, social services, housing, and more to LGBTQ+ people. And with a minimum donation of $30 to these groups, the brand will send you a shirt for free.
This June, Kiehl’s will be making a $150,000 minimum donation to The Trevor Project. And on top of that, any additional proceeds from its Pride-themed skincare offerings will be added to that total.
The brand will be donating a flat $150,000 to The Trevor Project to support the mental health of queer youth this month, plus a minimum of $50,000 extra from the sales of its 11-piece Pride collection.
The North Face went simple with its Pride capsule, adding a rainbow logo to selects tanks and its iconic puffer jacket. Alongside the collection, the brand is donating $100,000 to Brave Trails, a summer camp in California and Maryland for LGBTQ+ kids.
The sandal brand’s new Pride collection includes footwear that’s as loud (or as low-key) as you want it to be, since the straps are now the colors of the rainbow. Teva is also making a $25,000 donation to the Trevor Project.
Pura Vida’s subtle accessories can help you be proud on the daily. For every bracelet sold, 5% of the purchase price goes toward the Trevor Project—and it’s a $25,000 minimum gift. Meaning, the more you buy, the more is donated.
The activewear brand is donating $25,000 to GLAAD, an organization working for greater acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, this month. It doesn’t hurt that its limited-edition sports bras and leggings are gender-inclusive and so, so cute.
Bombas hasn’t exactly pledged a monetary donation, but for every item from its Pride collection purchased, the brand will be donating one equal item to unhoused LGBTQIA+ youth—a population disproportionately affected by homelessness.
Mehmet Oz, known professionally as Dr. Oz, won Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary election on Friday after opposing candidate Dave McCormick conceded.
According to the Associated Press, McCormick realized that despite an ongoing state recount, he would not receive enough votes to beat Oz. “It’s now clear to me with the recount now largely complete that we have a nominee,” McCormick said, according to the AP. “Tonight is really about all us coming together.”
Since the recount remains underway, the race has not officially been called by the AP. Oz’s political victory comes after an extremely tight race between himself and McCormick, a former hedge fund executive, that saw results finalized days after the elections was held over two weeks ago.
A victor could not be immediately declared on the May 17 election night, leading to a recount of the 1.1 million votes cast to determine the winner of the primary. As required by Pennsylvania law, a recount is ordered if the margin of victory for a candidate falls below 0.5% of the votes tallied.
Oz’s political campaign benefited from the endorsement of former president Donald J. Trump, though Oz has refuted claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Trump — an unsubstantiated theory that has grown popular among the GOP base and has been perpetuated by Trump himself.
Oz will now go on to face Lt. Governor John Fetterman, the Democratic Party nominee for the senate seat, in November. Fetterman emerged from the primary election with a comfortable victory over competitors Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta. As Pennsylvania is considered a swing state, the state’s senatorial race is seen by many as one of this November’s most pivotal races.
Celebrity physician Oz concluded “The Dr. Oz Show,” his popular daytime television series, at the end of January in order to devote attention to his senatorial campaign, concluding a 13-season run that garnered 10 Daytime Emmy awards over the years.
Everything Coming to Hulu in June 2022 | Cord Cutters News
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Hulu is bringing new TV shows and movies to subscribers all month long in June. “Fire Island,” a modern-day rom-com inspired by Pride & Prejudice, premieres June 3. The final season of “Love, Victor” will be available on both Disney+ and Hulu on June 15 and will see Victor and his friends facing new challenges as they prepare for life after graduation. And, if you aren’t attending Bonaroo in person, you can catch the livestream on Hulu on June 16-19.
Here’s everything coming to Hulu in June.
Wednesday, June 1
America’s Got Talent: Season 17 Premiere
Dancing With Myself: Series Premiere
Fantasy Island: Season 2 Premiere
Lego Masters: Season 3 Premiere
Glee: Complete Series
THE 6TH DAY (2000)
30 MINUTES OR LESS (2011)
50 FIRST DATES (2004)
A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (2013)
ALIEN (1979)
ALIENS (1986)
ALIEN 3 (1992)
ALIEN: RESURRECTION (1997)
ALIEN V. PREDATOR (2004)
ALIEN V. PREDATOR: REQUIEM (2007)
THE AMERICAN (2010)
AN EDUCATION (2009)
BEWITCHED (2005)
BRIDESMAIDS (2011)
BURN AFTER READING (2008)
CABIN FEVER (2003)
COMPADRES (2016)
COUNTRY STRONG (2010)
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006)
DICK (1999)
DIE HARD (1988)
DIE HARD 2 (1990)
DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (1995)
THE DILEMMA (2011)
DISTURBING THE PEACE (2020)
DON JON (2013)
THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997)
FRED CLAUS (2007)
FREDDY GOT FINGERED (2001)
GET LOW (2010)
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (2004)
GO FOR IT (2011)
GRIDIRON GANG (2006)
HAPPY FEET (2006)
HAPPY FEET TWO (2011)
IN THE LINE OF FIRE (1993)
THE LAST TOURIST (2021)
LEMON (2017)
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (2007)
MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (2011)
MASTERMINDS (2016)
MUPPETS FROM SPACE (1999)
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (2004)
NEW YEAR’S EVE (2011)
THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (1996)
NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS (2000)
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (2008)
PREDATOR (1987)
PREDATOR II (1990)
PREDATORS (2010)
THE PROFESSIONAL (1994)
PROMETHEUS (2012)
PUSH (2009)
REIGN OVER ME (2007)
RESULTS (2015)
ROBOTS (2005)
RV (2006)
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (2008)
THE SMURFS (2011)
THE SMURFS 2 (2013)
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY (1998)
TOMCATS (2001)
TRY HARDER! (2021)
TYLER PERRY’S MEET THE BROWNS (2008)
UNTRACEABLE (2008)
VACANCY (2007)
THE WEDDING PLANNER (2001)
WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S (1989)
WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (2006)
WHITE GOD (2014)
YOUR HIGHNESS (2011)
Thursday, June 2
The Croods: Family Tree: Complete Season 3
The Orville: New Horizons: Series Premiere
THE DUFF (2015)
Friday, June 3
Fire Island (Hulu Original)
Sunday, June 5
INTRIGO: DEAR AGNES (2019)
Monday, June 6
Hotel Hell: Complete Series
Tuesday, June 7
American Ninja Warrior: Season 14 Premiere
Vida: Complete Seasons 1-2
THE ACCURSED (2021)
BETWEEN ME AND MY MIND (2019)
QUEENS OF PAIN (2020)
Wednesday, June 8
Killer Cases: Complete Season 2
Thursday, June 9
THE DOG KNIGHT (2021)
INDEMNITY (2021)
Friday, June 10
Undercover Boss: Complete Seasons 8, 9, 10
Saturday, June 11
HERE BEFORE (2021)
WARHUNT (2022)
Sunday, June 12
Monday, June 13
THE FREE FALL (2021)
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (2021)
Wednesday, June 15
Love, Victor: Complete Final Season
Accused: Guilty or Innocent?: Complete Season 2
Alone: Complete Season 8
American Pickers: Complete Season 1
Ancient Aliens: Complete Season 17
Assembly Required: Complete Season 1
Backroad Truckers: Complete Season 1
Crime Beat: Complete Season 1
Crime Beat: Complete Season 2
Crime Beat: Season 3A
Dance Moms: Complete Season 3
Dance Moms: Complete Season 4
Dirty Rotten Cleaners: Complete Season 1
Duck Dynasty: Complete Season 1
Duck Dynasty: Complete Season 2
Duck Dynasty: Complete Season 4
Hoarders: Complete Season 5
Hoarders: Complete Season 7
Hoarders: Complete Season 8
Hoarders: Complete Season 9
Hoarders: Complete Season 13
Kids Behind Bars: Life or Parole: Complete Season 2
Leave it to Geege: Complete Season 1
Lost Car Rescue: Complete Season 1
Married at First Sight: Complete Season 13
Married at First Sight: Couples’ Cam: Complete Season 3
Paramount+’s “iCarly” revival may be another oft-touted example of repackaged IP for these nostalgia-driven times. But stars Miranda Cosgrove and Nathan Kress see it as both an homage to the beloved Nickelodeon original and its fans, as well as an exercise in “realism” rather than plain fanfare.
“We’ve gone through our early to mid-20s, and we’re heading into our 30s and that’s freaky,” Kress, who plays Freddie, told TheWrap. “We’re able to use that as a basis for realism in this entire show, and I think, fortunately, that’s what made it relatable to our audience because they were growing up right there with us. We weren’t just trying to stay in this box of, ‘We’re a kids show so we’re gonna stay forever youthful and naive and just happy all the time.’”
The rebooted series is a far cry from its original premise, which initially would have featured a more child-friendly plot where Carly (Cosgrove) and her brother Spencer (Jerry Trainor) host a TikTok-inspired “Hype House,” teaching their skills to a new generation of influencers. For both the cast and viewers who grew up with them, the sequel — which features everything from passing references to threesomes, some mild cursing and even a thinly veiled dig at original series creator Dan Schneider’s infamous and alleged foot fetish — is a fun romp of a blessing that’ll continue as long as there’s a story to tell.
“Even now that we’ve done two seasons, I feel like there’s a lot of questions that we haven’t answered,” Cosgrove said. “And we don’t really know exactly the timeline of everything for all of our characters over the last eight years.” (For one, last season established Freddie as a two-time divorcee.)
Below, TheWrap chatted with Cosgrove and Kress about Season 2’s antics and what the season’s game-changing cliffhanger means for “Creddie,” plus what they hope to see next in the show. The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What’s it like revisiting these characters and this world after all this time? Is it surreal? I know so many viewers like myself grew up with these characters, as did you.
Lisa Rose/Paramount+
MC: Yeah, definitely. It was kind of crazy the first season. I feel like, by the second season, we kind of got into the swing of things again, and it didn’t feel so weird, but for me, when I came back the first season, I feel like it took me a couple episodes to kind of figure out who the character is now that eight years have passed, and it just took a minute to get used to being back on the set and everything, but it was really exciting, and it’s been really fun getting to work with Nathan and Jerry again.
NK: I think one of the most fun and like Miranda said intimidating things about coming back was figuring out how to give these characters a voice after so much life has happened to them. And especially, you know, Freddie went through a lot, so figuring out what that has done to his character and his personality was sort of a fun challenge, and what I think a lot of us kind of realized was that, in a lot of ways, at least for me, personally, I feel like we’re pretty similar to our characters and a lot of our own personalities came through.
A lot of life has just happened to us in the last decade, and we’ve become adults. We’ve gone through our early to mid-20s, and we’re heading into our 30s and that’s freaky. We’re able to use that as a basis for realism in this entire show, and I think, fortunately, that’s what made it relatable to our audience because they were growing up right there with us. We weren’t just trying to stay in this box of, “We’re a kids show so we’re gonna stay forever youthful and naive and just happy all the time.”
How was it reuniting with some fan-favorite guest stars like Lewbert (Jeremy Rowley) and Chuck (Ryan Ochoa) this season?
Lisa Rose/Paramount+
NK: It’s always a blast. A lot of the time you go to an event and you hope that you run into those people, and you can at least relive some memories but it’s even better when you get to have them as their characters back on the show. And I think that was a really effective anchor for the first and second season and something that we hope to do for every season that we get.
The only regret that I have is that we can’t give them enough screen time. They were so iconic and so classic in the show, I wish that we had more episodes. I wish that we had longer episodes so that we could really give all of them a full episode of a full story.
MC: It’s just so much fun getting to see everybody again, and I think one of my favorite episodes of the season was the Lewbert episode, getting to be in court the whole time and just getting to see Jeremy again. Mrs. Benson [Mary Scheer] is one of my favorite characters from the series, so anytime she comes back, it’s always awesome. Ethan Munck came back, Gibby’s little brother on the show — and they’re actually brothers in real life — so that was crazy getting to see him because he was, like, 6 when we did the original series, and he’s 18 now. It’s kind of like a little reunion every time someone comes on again.
“iCarly” has always been off-beat, especially when animals are concerned. Nathan, how did you prepare to play off of a monkey?
Robert Voets/Nickelodeon/CBS Studios
NK: By really just leaning on the professionalism of my co-star in that episode. Crystal, the monkey, has probably more credits than I will ever have in my entire life.
Is that the same monkey from “Night at the Museum” and—
NK: “The Hangover,” yeah. Do you understand the level of pressure that I felt when I found out that Crystal, the effing monkey, was going to be in this episode and that I had to live up to her? She’s a friggin rockstar, so I was freaking out when I found out that we were gonna get her. It’s so funny, we keep talking about all these big fun guest stars we had — she’s one of our biggest guest stars if you really think about it, in terms of pure credits, so she was just insanely talented and a really good sport. We threw a lot of gags at her and a lot of attempts to do different things — things that when I read the script, I was like, “There’s no way. There’s absolutely no way that this monkey is going to be able to do this.” But doggone-it if she did do it, and with relative ease, I might add.
There’s no way to prepare because you kind of just have to go with it because she doesn’t exactly do the same thing every time. You sort of just have to wing it. I think one of my favorite outtakes of the entire thing is when I get slapped in the apartment, because the monkey does not like to be called cute. What’s funny is when we rehearsed, that little monkey — she hurts, she does not hold back. There is some heft and girth in that hand. The first time was just sort of a little [makes sound effect] bop, and I was just, [exaggeratedly holding cheek] “Oh!” It was shocking how strong that monkey is. What ended up happening is over the course of the week, we kind of bonded a little bit and she’d come sit and hang out with me and we’d get to know each other. And in one take, instead of hitting me, she came over and kissed me right on the face. It was so cute.
So one of my claims to fame now is, I made Crystal the monkey fall in love with me. That’s gonna go on my gravestone. That’s one of my favorite things that’s ever happened to me in my life. And I hope that I get a copy of that outtake somewhere because I need that for my own personal records.
Miranda, you’re working as an executive producer behind the scenes. What’s your favorite part about being off-camera?
MC: One of my favorite things is getting to be in the writers room and just hearing all the ideas that are thrown around about the possible episodes and places that the characters can go. And then also editing has been really fun because I knew nothing about it and I’ve never done anything like that in my life. Just getting to learn a new skill and be a part of that has been really exciting.
NK: I’m trying to think because I’ve got children at home.
MC: I don’t think I’ve ever heard you cuss in, like, 15 years.
NK: It’s pretty darn rare. I would say “fart nugget” is probably one of the big ones.
MC: I’m not sure that counts.
NK: In my house, it’s a swear word. So what I’m saying is in the Kress vernacular at home.
Now, the other thing that I love that my wife says is “blast” because it sounds like Luke Skywalker and she didn’t know that, but she started saying that when we were dating and that was one of the reasons why I fell in love with her.
Where would you like to take these characters next, if given the chance? We end on a cliffhanger of sorts that’s great for Creddie fans, potentially, with Freddie’s girlfriend Pearl saying that Carly and Freddie are in love with each other.
Lisa Rose/Paramount+
MC: Yeah, we definitely leave the season off on a cliffhanger. We were even confused about how our character should be reacting because we don’t know where it’s gonna go next season. So we kept asking, you know, “How are we supposed to be feeling? How are we supposed to react? It made it a little difficult, not knowing where it’s headed.
NK: I think we had to shoot a bunch of different versions. There was the shocked version and the “No!” version and the “Well, maybe?” version. Because I don’t think they [the executive producers] even know what exactly they want this to be.
For fans’ sake, we’re gonna need to get some closure here at some point. So I think that question has been bubbling under the surface for a while and now that it’s just out in the open, we have no choice but to answer it — one way or another. That’s, I think, what the third season would be about, deciding, “Is this a thing or not?” And I know that’s going to be kind of weird because, at least for Freddie, he’s done a pretty good job of trying to let that part of the relationship die a little bit and really put a lot of effort into moving on and finding a relationship that works for him — and he really tried in this season.
So the fact that that’s been blown open, and this whole thing is getting resurfaced, we have to decide how Freddie even feels about that, and how Carly feels about that. That hasn’t really been discussed in a decade, it’s just been sort of there in the background. So now that the question has been asked, the rubber has met the road. It’s just a question of, at least on Freddie’s part, whether he’s even willing to open that can of worms again, because it didn’t go great the first time.
How long would you ideally like to continue with the show, or is it just as long as there are stories to tell?
NK: For me, personally, I think that’s it. As long as there is a story and there’s a flow and there’s an arc that’s discernible and concrete and doesn’t feel like we’re just dragging it along for the sake of making content.
From the very beginning of even doing the show, I think me and Miranda and Jerry, the whole point of this was to make sure that we’re doing the characters justice. They’re so beloved by so many people from our generation and we don’t want to mess that up. We don’t want to insult their memory. We would make sure that we go for as long as we can without wearing out our welcome. I think the cool part about becoming adults is there’s a lot of runway — adulting never stops.
Unfortunately.
NK: Yeah, unfortunately. We’ve got like 60 years left! There’s a lot of things that can happen. It’s just a question of whether or not it continues to resonate, whether we — every single season — step up our game, find new things, increase our quality, and distill down the stuff that people love the most and give them what they want. So, as long as we’re doing that, then I’m down to keep going.
MC: I feel the same way. I mean, it was really exciting the first season coming back because it just felt like there were endless possibilities for the characters. Even now, I feel like there’s a lot of questions that we haven’t answered. We don’t really know exactly the timeline of everything for all of our characters over the last eight years, like Freddie’s two divorces. Even with Spencer and Carly’s mom, I know that’s the question that’s been left unanswered the entire series from the first series until now, so I think there’s still a decent amount of stuff to touch on and we’re just having a really good time doing it. So, selfishly, I’d like to keep doing it because I enjoy it.
Batwoman returned from a one week break on Sunday night with Batwoman continuing her pursuit of the False Face Society and Jacob Kane’s struggles with losing Beth (aka Alice) becoming too much.
In case you missed it, here’s a recap of how things went down.
Jacob’s grief turns addictive
The main plot of the episode revolved around Jacob and his grief becoming truly addictive. He gets kidnapped and drugged with Snake Bite. This causes him to dream that he saved Beth from a life of crime by rescuing her from the Cartwright house all those years ago.
Later, he meets with Dr. Evelyn Rhyme — Enigma’s civilian identity — and she realizes Jacob has become addicted to the drug. Jacob admits he’s addicted to Dr. Rhyme and he cannot stop because it allows him to live in a world where he did save Beth.
Roman Sionis visits Jacob and provides him with a sample of Snake Bite, not knowing that he’s become addicted. Sionis asks Jacob to investigate the source, but we all knew this was unlikely to happen. Instead, he goes to visit Mary and asks her to help reopen his clinic but she declines his offer. This pushes Jacob to use the Snake Bite that Roman gave him earlier.
Episode Notes
The other plot in the episode revolved around Batwoman’s pursuit of the False Face Society while trying to find out Black Mask’s identity. Ryan visits Angelique in prison, and asks her to confess. Eventually, she does and Ryan promises to protect her from Black Mask.
Julia investigated why she’s been having memory lapses and connects the dots to Enigma. Alice and Julia work together with the agreement that Alice will leave Gotham forever if Enigma is found. Alice says that she wants Enigma to erase all of her memories of Kate but later Enigma drugs Julia and wipes her memory again.
The episode ended with Angelique calling Ryan to thank her for her help in getting her free. But in the middle of the call, Angelique is kidnapped by The Crows.
What did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments below!
From Olivia Colman’s fraught sojourn to the Greek Isles in The Lost Daughter to Jessie Buckley’s terrifying trip up the M5 to the English countryside in Men, taking a little “me time” away from home is often the single biggest mistake any movie character could possibly make. Horror, psychological drama, comedy, mystery, rom-com; the genre hardly matters. In film, the simple act of taking a vacation is rarely the relaxing, restorative interlude one hopes that it might be, placing uneasy personalities in uncertain—even harrowing—circumstances.
With Memorial Day looming, it’s a fair guess that right now a lot of us are dutifully planning out our upcoming summer holidays, despite the fact that health and safety and conditions around the world are as unstable as ever. And with travel advisories a moving target and hot spots both home and abroad getting hotter by the minute, it’s no surprise that many of us are eyeing these upcoming escapes with more than a little bit of skepticism. But hey—at least we’re not gonna have to fight off any demonic Rorys Kinnear… right?
Here now are seven of our favorite—and most uncomfortable—“vacation gone wrong” movies that put a dark spin on fun times and desirable destinations and prove that getting away from it all is sometimes very, very bad.
JAWS (1975)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb
Producers: David Brown, Richard D. Zanuck
Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
Why We’re Excited: For better or worse (spoilers: worse) no film has ever demonized an entire species as completely as Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, which turned the shark into an enduring source of fear and fascination demanding 30 straight years’ worth of Discovery Channel theme weeks. Sure, the permanent residents of Bruce-plagued Amity Island may not fit our list’s “vacationers” motif, but try telling that to Roy Scheider’s Martin Brody, the nerve-wracked city cop transposed to the cloistered resort community to serve as Amity’s harried Sherriff. Famously, VFX malfunctions kept the titular chum-chomper off-screen for the majority of production, allowing the creature’s menace to seep (effectively, it turned out) into the ambient excitable energy of summertime itself. Merging elements of horror and seafaring adventure, Jaws was a landmark moneymaker that dragged all of Hollywood nearer to where it stood—or swam.
Where You Can Watch: Peacock
SEXY BEAST (2000)
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Writer: Louis Mellis, David Scinto
Producers: Jeremy Thomas, Denise O’Dell, Mark Albela
Starring: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane
Why We’re Excited: Before he handed an extraterrestrial Scarlett Johansson a fur coat and a MapQuest printout of directions to Glagsgow’s dampest, dreariest neighborhoods for Under the Skin, UK filmmaker Jonathan Glazer burst onto the film scene (following a successful music video career) with this Continental neo-noir, which finds ultratan mob retiree Gal (Ray Winstone) rudely yanked from his poolside reverie in the Spanish countryside to assist on one final heist, all at the behest of terrifying attack-dog enforcer Don Logan (Ben Kingsley, Oscar-nominated for the role). The caper scenes set in modern, hip London are fine, but what really intrigues is Gal’s sun-soaked embrace of leisure—the film’s most iconic image being that of a well-broiled Winstone sinking into the deck chair that Logan’s intrusion will force him to abandon.
Where You Can Watch: SVOD rental (multiple platforms)
THE RIVER WILD (1994)
Director: Curtis Hanson
Writer: Denis O’Neill
Producers: David Foster, Lawrence Turman, Denis O’Neill
Starring: Meryl Streep, David Strathairn, Kevin Bacon
Why We’re Excited: The exact sort of crackerjack middlebrow studio thriller Hollywood no longer cares to make, The River Wild steers (or is it paddles?) hard into a classic man vs. man vs. nature tale in the mold of Deliverance, about a testy city couple (Meryl Streep and David Strathairn) who head out for a family rafting excursion down Idaho’s Salmon River. Soaked socks become the least of their worries when the other adventurers on their trip turn out to be a trio of well-armed criminals on the lam following a highly publicized robbery. Making their escape down the river with bad guys in hot pursuit and deadly rapids looming up ahead, the Hartman family’s attempt to catch a little R&R leaves them wishing they’d just stayed home.
Where You Can Watch: HBO Max
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL (2008)
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Writer: Jason Segel
Producers: Judd Apatow, Shauna Robertson
Starring: Jason Segel, Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Russell Brand
Why We’re Excited: One of the highlights of the (seemingly never-ending) Judd Apatow comedy era, Forgetting Sarah Marshall juxtaposes the ebullient atmosphere of its Hawaiian resort setting with the emotional collapse of its protagonist. Following his breakup with the titular cutie-pie TV star (Bell), sadsack musician Peter (Segel, also screenwriter) absconds to O’ahu determined to shake off the embarrassment of his ignominious dumping. Unfortunately, it turns out that Sarah is in residence at the very same resort with her new beau, gregarious pop star Aldous Snow (Brand). Torn between stalking his ex vs. avoiding her at all costs and making a last-ditch attempt to save the relationship vs. moving on, Peter finds comfort in the advice of low-key local Rachel (Kunis) en route to his eventual destiny as author of a hit vampire puppet musical.
Where You Can Watch: Starz, SVOD rental
SWIMMING POOL (2003)
Director: François Ozon
Writer: François Ozon, Emmanuèle Bernheim
Producers: Oliver Delbosc, Mar Missonnier, Timothy Burrill
Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance
Why We’re Excited: At some point in their career all artists require a bit of solitude. Or at least they think they do. The fantasy of having the run of a private, preferably luxurious space from which to lounge and create is certainly an eternal and alluring one—just ask Jack Torrance and the Overlook Hotel booking agent. It’s just this sort of fantasy that draws British crime novelist Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling) to her publisher’s villa in the south of France. All is going according to plan, when an interloper suddenly appears in the form of the publisher’s sexually liberated daughter, Julie. The young woman and her parade of one-night stands prove to be too big of a distraction for Sarah, reflecting, echoing and distorting her own insecurities and guarded memories. The simmering psychodrama between the two women only intensifies when questions about Julie’s true identity arise—and Sarah finds that she’s suddenly wandered into the deep end, way over her head.
Where You Can Watch: SVOD rental
THE HEARTBREAK KID (1972)
Director: Elaine May
Writer: Neil Simon
Producer: Edgar J. Scherick
Starring: Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, Jeannie Berlin
Why We’re Excited: There’s no anxiety quite like “ruined vacation anxiety”—the slowly dawning realization, when mired in underachieving holiday, that too much time and too much money has been wasted trying to have too little fun. No film quite captures this sinking-ship realization like Elaine May’s 1972 cult favorite The Heartbreak Kid, which portrays Jewish newlyweds Lenny and Lila’s (Charles Grodin, Jeannie Berlin) Florida honeymoon as series of Old Testament trials. With Lila confined to their hotel suite following a nuclear-grade sunburn, Lenny’s restless affections calcify into an unshakable infatuation with college shiksa Kelly (Cybil Shepherd), whose family of Minnesota WASPs is vacationing at the same resort. The result is a cavalcade of cringe as Lenny’s paper-thin moral fiber leads to an escalating series of lies, embarrassments and betrayals.
Starring: Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick, Patrick d’Assumçao
Why We’re Excited: Trips in search of rest and relaxation are often undertaken with a desire to relinquish control of one’s routines, relationships and environments and embrace (at least theoretically) a new sort of “go-with-the-flow” attitude. Those same impulses often inform our sexual desires too, frequently against our better judgment. Which explains why French filmmaker Alain Guiraudie’s erotic thriller Stranger by the Lake manages to paint such a complicated psychological portrait of protagonist Franck, a young professional taking some time off to relax lakeside at his favorite nude beach (which naturally doubles as a popular cruising spot for the local gay population.) When Franck spies—or thinks he spies—his crush drowning one of his lovers, Franck begins to pursue the suspect both sexually and out of a sense of vague investigative duty.
Where You Can Watch: SVOD rental
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TAIPEI, Taiwan — For decades, a large candlelight vigil was held in Hong Kong each June 4, to commemorate those killed when Chinese soldiers crushed the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.
On Saturday, smaller crowds gathered in Taipei and other cities around the world — this time mourning not just the people slain 33 years ago, but also the fate of Hong Kong, where the smothering of dissent has put an end to the vigil in Victoria Park, the world’s most prominent public memorial to the victims of 1989.
“Now it’s about the two things together — Hong Kong as well as what happened on June 4,” said Francis Tse, a former Hong Kong resident who was one of about 400 people commemorating the anniversary in downtown Sydney, Australia. He and many others carried signs calling for the release of activists imprisoned in Hong Kong.
“We don’t have the chance to go to Victoria Park anymore,” Mr. Tse said, “but now there are many Victoria Parks like this across the world.”
On Saturday, those who joined the commemorations in Taipei, Sydney and elsewhere — another was scheduled for London — said they had also come to denounce the erasure of political freedoms in Hong Kong, as well as China’s draconian policies in two other regions, Xinjiang and Tibet.
“Now Hong Kong can no longer tell the truth and the real history, we must pass on this history even more in Taiwan,” said Henry Tong, a 41-year-old from Hong Kong who moved to Taiwan last year and attended this year’s vigil in Taipei. “Because of Hong Kong’s prohibition and suppression, it has blossomed everywhere.”
By dusk in Taipei, hundreds of people had gathered in the city center, placing electric candles on a banner showing the date of June 4, 1989. People conversing in Cantonese — the language of Hong Kong — were numerous. Organizers in Taipei also screened a film, banned in Hong Kong, about the pro-democracy protests that swept the city in 2019, before the authorities used the security law to stamp them out.
“Though the city of Hong Kong fell, we didn’t fall for nothing,” said Kacey Wong, an artist from Hong Kong whose work was featured in an exhibition held alongside the Taipei vigil. He said the protest movement of 2019 had “served its purpose: to warn other nations to take cautions against the Chinese Communist Party.”
In 1989, many Hong Kongers were galvanized by the pro-democracy protests in mainland China — which centered on Tiananmen Square but spread across the country — creating a political crisis for the ruling Communist Party.
Troops started flooding into Beijing on the evening of June 3. They shot dead hundreds, some say thousands, of people before reaching the square and clearing it. Killings and bloody standoffs with protesters also erupted in other Chinese cities.
Hong Kong’s vigil, the only major memorial for the victims on Chinese soil, was long seen as proof that civil rights had been preserved in the former British colony since its return to China in 1997. Every year, tens of thousands gathered to light candles and hear speeches by local pro-democracy figures, Tiananmen activists and relatives of those killed in 1989.
Prominent activists who gathered anyway, or tried to, were jailed under illegal assembly laws. The vigil’s organizer, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, disbanded last year.
“There’s this blending happening of the Hong Kong story and the Beijing story,” said Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, a historian of modern China at the University of California Irvine and the author of “Vigil,” a study of the clampdown in Hong Kong.
“Hong Kong was where you kept alive the memory of what had happened in Beijing in 1989. But now June 4 is also keeping attention back on Hong Kong at a time when the world’s moving on from that,” he said. “It’s also becoming the commemoration of the Hong Kong commemoration.”
This year, too, the Hong Kong government has seemed determined to prevent any public Tiananmen memorial. Outdoor public gatherings continue to be limited to four people under coronavirus pandemic measures. Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, warned that any such gathering would be subject to both the security law and social distancing restrictions.
The authorities closed much of Victoria Park, and the police warned that anyone who tried to meet there could face unauthorized assembly charges.
Local leaders of the Catholic Church said memorial masses would not be held on Saturday, for fear of violating the security law. “Just praying for the deceased in private or in small groups will also be very meaningful,” the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong said.
Lee Cheuk-yan, a former leader of the Hong Kong Alliance who is now in prison for illegal assembly, planned to fast on Saturday and light matches in the evening to remember those killed in 1989, he said in a written interview with the Ming Pao newspaper.
Over the past year, universities in Hong Kong have removed prominent Tiananmen memorials. In December, the University of Hong Kong took down the “Pillar of Shame,” a 26-foot statue by the Danish artist Jens Galschiot. A depiction of writhing corpses signifying those killed in 1989, it had been at the campus since the late 1990s, becoming a symbol of defiance against the Chinese authorities.
Since its removal, Prague and other cities have hosted replicas of the statue, and a smaller version of it was set to be unveiled in Taipei on Saturday.
Another statue — modeled after the “Goddess of Democracy” erected by students in Tiananmen Square in 1989 — was removed from the Chinese University of Hong Kong campus late last year. In recent days, anonymous activists, determined to commemorate June 4 however they can, have left four-inch replicas of it around the campus.
John Liu reported from Taipei, Chris Buckley from Sydney, Australia, and Austin Ramzy from Hong Kong. Isabella Kwai contributed reporting from London.
Image Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock for SAG Awards
Nicole Kidman gave some juicy details about the barely there outfit she chose to wear by designer Miu Miu on a February 2022 issue of Vanity Fair. According to a May 28 interview she gave with Moulin Rouge!co-star Baz Luhrmann via Vogue Australia, she came up with the idea to rock the scandalous garments herself. The topic of conversation came up after they discussed the difficulty of aging for women in the entertainment industry, when Baz praised the 54-year-old-actress for owning her image.
Nicole Kidman at the SAG Awards (David Fisher/Shutterstock for SAG Awards)
“I showed up and they had another outfit for me and I was like, ‘No, no, I like this one! Am I allowed to wear that?’ And [the stylist] Katie Grand, who’s just fantastic, was on Zoom, and Katie was like “You’re willing to wear that?!’ And I said, ‘Wear it?! I’m begging you to wear it!’” The Australian actress said.
The raunchy photoshoot was to promote Nicole’s Lucille Ball biopic, titled Being The Ricardos, and was apart of the publication’s 28th Annual Hollywood Issue. On the cover, Nicole posed outdoors in some gorgeous green scenery while she stood in the middle of an open golden gate, gripping the bars with both hands on each side. The tiny getup consisted of a black pleated crop top and matching mini skirt, while she sported long gray socks and pointed loafers. Her signature strawberry blonde locks were undone in tousled, beachy waves, and she rocked subtle cherry red lipstick and a matching manicure.
The controversial photo was not well received by many fans, according to Page Six. However, the movie star did not let the negative backlash phase her. “I mean, I did walk away when I shot Vanity Fair thinking, ‘What was I thinking?! That was ridiculous! What were you doing, Nicole?!’ And then I went, ‘Eh, oh well!’” she exclaimed.
After Baz further praised her daring choices, Nicole went on to elaborate on her spontaneous and care free life philosophy. “Cause you know that part about me where I’m like, ‘I’m just going to do what I want to do, ultimately!’ And just have some fun. And just commit, like really commit when I show up, do it. But there’s got to be some fun. And sometimes it’s going to work, and sometimes it isn’t. But I love the idea of being bold and not fitting into a box,” Nicole added, clearly someone who likes to live in the moment.
Warner Bros. is continuing its experimentation in the NFT (non-fungible token) business, with the characters from Looney Tunes being the next company IP to get the NFT treatment. The company is once again working with the NFT platform Nifty’s on the project, which will be called “Looney Tunes: What’s Up Block?” and go on sale later this summer. Tweety bird, who will turn 80 this year, is the first Looney Tunes character to be featured (others, including Bugs Bunny and Marvin the Martian, will follow).
This time, the companies are leaning into the storytelling aspect of the IP, hoping to engage buyers. The project will also incorporate access to unique events, merchandise discounts and other “real world” rewards for NFT owners.
“We think that blockchain and NFTs and web3 in general is going to be a great evolution in entertainment,” says Josh Hackbarth, head of NFT commercial development for Warner Bros. “It doesn’t need to be really deep, deep storytelling; it is about gags and gimmicks and really recognizable characters, so it was a fun one to dig into.”
“Looney Tunes is not afraid to make fun of itself, or the broader pop culture as a whole,” he adds. “It will be a bit tongue in cheek with how we are playing with blockchain technology, but what is more exciting is that we can use that to bring people into a new space to play.”
Looney Tunes is the third piece of Warner Bros. IP to get reimagined as NFTs, following Space Jam: A New Legacy and The Matrix last year. Like the Matrix project, the Looney Tunes NFTs will take the form of digital avatars that the owner can use on their social platforms. Usually called PFPs (it stands for “picture for proof”), these NFT projects have become some of the most popular out there, with NFT programs like the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Cryptopunks breaking through into the popular culture, and with celebrities changing their social media avatars to match their latest digital acquisitions.
Unlike the Matrix NFT project, however (where the avatars were unique characters created specifically for the NFT program), the Looney Tunes project will be selling avatars of the recognizable characters themselves, with Nifty CEO Jeff Marsilio saying that he thinks it is the first major NFT avatar project to be launched using such characters.
As with the Matrix and Space Jam NFTs, the Looney Tunes project will use blockchain technology from the Palm NFT Network.
“There are lots of NFT projects, but there is only one Looney Tunes, so if we do it right and respect the IP, and respect the existing community, I think there is a large fandom to it,” Marsilio says, adding that “when you own one of these avatars, that is sort of your membership in this community.”
And it is that community that will get access to the events (like virtual meet-and-greets), merchandise, exclusive content, and other “drops” that provide the value needed to sustain the project.
“When you mint an NFT, you mint a community,” Marsilio adds. “The key to value in the NFT space comes from this idea of community … A community where not only are you being social, but you are getting new opportunities to experience the IP that you love, and you are being rewarded for that participation.”
“It’s more about, what are you buying into as a fan? And how is that different than what I could find on YouTube or somewhere else” Hackbarth says. “We are crafting a story that will only be told through this program, so for each subsequent drop, and activity that we do with the program, there’s an overarching story component that ties it all together. It is really about keeping people engaged along the way.”
NFTs have become a hot commodity in Hollywood, with major studios, media companies and filmmakers all exploring the space. Among the notable recent projects are a set of Tom Brady NFTs from ESPN and Brady’s Autograph platform, and Spike Lee’s set of She’s Gotta Have It NFTs.
The numbers are in for Monday night, and Victoria’s Secret beat the NFL. The CBS Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show won the Nielsen Social Content Ratings for the night, besting the ESPN Monday Night Football contest between the Colts and the Jets. (If you can call a 41-10 win by the Colts a “contest.” Even Jets fans gave up on this one early.) Here are the charts:
Actor Prabhas had the sweetest wish for his Salaar director Prashanth Neel on his birthday today, June 6. The Baahubali actor took to his social media handle to share a photo where he is seen hugging Prasanth amid a crowd of people. Sharing the photo, he penned, “Here’s wishing a very Happy Birthday to you @prashanthneel! To happiness and success, always. See you soon! #Salaar.”
Take a look at the photo:
The actor-director duo are shooting for their film Salaar, which is one of the most anticipated pan-Indian films. The film also stars Shruti Haasan, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Jagapathi Babu.
Prabhas’s last film Radhe Shyam, which had Pooja Hegde as the leading lady, was a failure at the box office. The film’s plot was described as “outdated”, and the audience lamented the limited screen time between the lead pair. Apart from Salaar, Prabhas has Adipurush, which is expected to clash with Vijay’s Thalapathy66 on Sankranthi 2023. Adipurush is a retelling of the Ramayana with Prabhas in the role of Ram, while Saif Ali Khan, Kriti Sanon and Sunny Singh play Raavan, Sita and Lakshman respectively. The film is set to release on January 12 next year.
He will also be seen in Nag Ashwin’s sci-fi Project K, which will see him opposite Deepika Padukone. Apart from Saalar and Project K, Prabhas has also collaborated with Sandeep Vanga for Spirit and another comedy entertainer with Maruthi.
Meanwhile, Prasanth is still collecting praises and appreciation for his latest film KGF Chapter 2 which starred superstar Yash and Sanjay Dutt. Next, the filmmaker will direct Jr NTR for another action movie, after his completion of Salaar.
The writers of the next Deadpool sequel are confident that the franchise will remain as irreverent as ever.
Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who have writing credits on the first two Deadpool films and are working on Deadpool 3 for director Shawn Levy, told Den of Geek that joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe will not change the overall feel that fans loved about the previous movies. The upcoming film will be the first since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, which released Deadpool (2016) and its 2018 sequel.
“It’s a thrill,” Reese said about the Ryan Reynolds-fronted franchise entering the Marvel fold. “It’s an absolute thrill to have the band back together, to have a new backdrop in the MCU with new characters, new villains, that kind of thing. You know, it’s never a marriage we necessarily saw coming — Fox and Disney, that was an external thing [separate] from our storytelling process. But we’re absolutely finding the serendipity and the gold in that situation, or we’re trying to.”
Wernick added, “Deadpool is gonna be Deadpool,” which led Reese to confirm that fans needn’t worry about the studio trying to make the tone more family-friendly for the new film.
“They’ve been very supportive with regard to that,” Reese said. “Now when it comes to a particular joke, if we cross a line, maybe we’ll hear at some point, ‘Maybe not that joke.’ But I think they’ve been incredibly supportive of what we’re doing, because obviously we were doing it separate from them for a long time, and I think they’ve seen the success and they’ve had their own even greater success. So hopefully it’ll be a marriage made in heaven. But we’ve definitely got their support, and that’s a great thing to feel.”
As for whether the screenwriters started fresh or will incorporate aspects of a previous draft written by Bob’s Burgers’ Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, Reese said, “We have an answer.” He then continued, “But we’re really not supposed to divulge any plot details.”
Reese also joked that the writing pair, who wrote Netflix’s upcoming Spiderhead starring Chris Hemsworth, has been holed away in a “secret vault under an ocean somewhere” to work on the Deadpool script.
The Hollywood Reporterexclusively reported earlier this year that Levy, who previously directed Reynolds in Free Guy and The Adam Project, would be helming Deadpool 3 and that Reese and Wernick would return to the franchise. Tim Miller directed the first film, while David Leitch helmed Deadpool 2.
Dermot MulroneyPhoto: Frederick M. Brown (Getty Images)
At long last, the Scream franchise is getting what it’s always needed: An older dude with nice hair who suggests to all involved that everyone will be okay if we just take a minute to breathe, and think about this whole “random murderer” situation in a calm and collected fashion.
That’s right, folks: Dermot Mulroney is coming to Woodsboro (or wherever this latest film is going to be set).
This is per The Hollywood Reporter, which notes that Mulroney is the latest actor to sign on to the upcoming sixth movie in the long-running slasher franchise, said sequel having been announced roughly five minutes after it was confirmed that 2022’s Screamwas a low-budget horror success. (Ah, horror: Where $140 million box office on a $24 million budget is actually viewed as sustainable movie-making.)
Most of the previously announced additions to the cast of Scream 6 (or Scream 2022 2, or whatever they’ll call it) have been legacy hires; most notably, Hayden Panettiere has been tapped to return to the franchise after co-starring in Scream 4; Courtney Cox and Neve Campbell are both already on board to return, as are Scream (2022) stars Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, and Jenna Ortega.
Mulroney, meanwhile, is a newcomer to the franchise, which usually means he’s one of the new movie’s killers, or obvious Ghostface bait. (Or both, because it turns out spree killers are often terrible creative partners.) Mulroney has worked steadily in recent years, co-starring in Sandra Oh’s Umma and playing one of the antagonists of Amazon Prime Video’s Hanna TV show. His horror bona fides include Umma, a short turn on American Horror Story in 2017 (presumably intended as away to keep people who continuously confuse him with Dylan McDermott on their toes) and a starring role in 2015’s Insidious: Chapter 3.
Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jesse Williams, Patti LuPone, Sutton Foster and Beanie Feldstein are among the winners of the 2022 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards.
Announced Wednesday, the annual awards — presented by The John Gore Organization and now in its 22nd year — celebrate Broadway and touring audiences’ favorite performances and productions each season, with fans voting in a Broadway.com survey across 22 competitive categories to select winners.
This year’s winners list was dominated in major categories by Hollywood stars who made their return to Broadway largely in the spring. The Music Man’s Jackman and Foster took the honors of favorite leading actor and actress in a musical, with the duo also awarded favorite onstage pair. On the play side, Macbeth’s Craig and Plaza Suite’s Sarah Jessica Parker won for favorite leading actor and actress.
Take Me Out’s Jesse Williams and Clyde’s star Uzo Aduba won in the favorite featured actor and featured actress in the play categories, for performances in their respective Second Stage Theatre productions. Company took wins for favorite featured actor and actress in a musical, going to Matt Doyle and Patti LuPone, respectively.
The honors for favorite breakthrough performance went to Williams in the male category as well as Feldstein in the female category for her leading role in Broadway’s Funny Girl revival.
Six the Musical was awarded the title of favorite new musical, while POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive won for favorite new play. In the revival categories, The Music Man was honored for favorite musical and for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf for favorite play.
LuPone took home the highest number of awards of any performer, for her role as Joanne in Marianne Elliott’s gender-swapped Company, with three wins total. Jackman, Foster and Williams followed, winning two awards each. Company and The Music Man tied for the highest number of wins for a single production with four each, with Six the Musical, Take Me Out and Wicked all garnering two each.
A full list of winners follows.
FAVORITE NEW MUSICAL Diana the Musical MJ Mrs. Doubtfire Six the Musical (WINNER) A Strange Loop
FAVORITE NEW PLAY Birthday Candles Chicken & Biscuits The Minutes POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive (WINNER) Thoughts of a Colored Man
FAVORITE MUSICAL REVIVAL Caroline, or Change Company Funny Girl The Music Man (WINNER)
FAVORITE PLAY REVIVAL for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (WINNER) How I Learned to Drive Macbeth Plaza Suite Take Me Out
FAVORITE LONG-RUNNING SHOW Come From Away Dear Evan Hansen Hadestown Hamilton Wicked (WINNER)
FAVORITE TOUR Come From Away Dear Evan Hansen Hadestown Hamilton (WINNER) Wicked
FAVORITE LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL Billy Crystal, Mr. Saturday Night Ramin Karimloo, Funny Girl Myles Frost, MJ the Musical Hugh Jackman, The Music Man (WINNER) Rob McClure, Mrs. Doubtfire
FAVORITE LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL Sutton Foster, The Music Man (WINNER) Beanie Feldstein, Funny Girl Adrianna Hicks, Six the Musical Brittney Mack, Six the Musical Abby Mueller, Six the Musical
FAVORITE LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY Matthew Broderick, Plaza Suite Daniel Craig, Macbeth (WINNER) Laurence Fishburne, American Buffalo David Morse, How I Learned to Drive Sam Rockwell, American Buffalo
FAVORITE LEADING ACTRESS IN A PLAY Debra Messing, Birthday Candles LaChanze, Trouble in Mind Ruth Negga, Macbeth Mary-Louise Parker, How I Learned to Drive Sarah Jessica Parker, Plaza Suite (WINNER)
FAVORITE FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL Remy Auberjonois, The Music Man Peter Bartlett, Mrs. Doubtfire Matt Doyle, Company (WINNER) Gino Coscullela, The Music Man Jared Grimes, Funny Girl
FAVORITE FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL Shoshana Bean, Mr. Saturday Night Jayne Houdyshell, The Music Man Patti LuPone, Company (WINNER) Jane Lynch, Funny Girl Jennifer Simard, Company
FAVORITE FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY Patrick Adams, Take Me Out Darren Criss, American Buffalo Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Take Me Out Norm Lewis, Chicken & Biscuits Jesse Williams, Take Me Out(WINNER)
FAVORITE FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY Uzo Aduba, Clyde’s (WINNER) Lilli Cooper, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive Rachel Dratch, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive Julianne Hough, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive Vanessa Williams, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
FAVORITE ONSTAGE PAIR Patrick Adams and Jesse Williams, Take Me Out Terence Archie and Patti LuPone, Company Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, Plaza Suite Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, Macbeth Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman, The Music Man (WINNER)
FAVORITE FUNNY PERFORMANCE Matthew Broderick, Plaza Suite Billy Crystal, Mr. Saturday Night Beanie Feldstein, Funny Girl Patti LuPone, Company (WINNER) Jane Lynch, Funny Girl
FAVORITE DIVA PERFORMANCE Beanie Feldstein, Funny Girl Adrianna Hicks, Six the Musical Patti LuPone, Company (WINNER) Brittney Mack, Six the Musical Vanessa Williams, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
FAVORITE BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE (MALE) Myles Frost, MJ the Musical Jared Grimes, Funny Girl Benjamin Pajak, The Music Man Jaquel Spivey, A Strange Loop Jesse Williams, Take Me Out (WINNER)
FAVORITE BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE (FEMALE) Beanie Feldstein, Funny Girl (WINNER) Adrianna Hicks, Six the Musical Brittney Mack, Six the Musical Samantha Pauly, Six the Musical Anna Uzele, Six the Musical
FAVORITE REPLACEMENT (MALE) Eric Anderson, Moulin Rouge! Jordan Barrow, Wicked Jin Ha, Hamilton Joshua Henry, Waitress (WINNER) Nik Walker, Hamilton
FAVORITE REPLACEMENT (FEMALE) Pamela Anderson, Chicago Heidi Blickenstaff, Jagged Little Pill Brittney Johnson, Wicked (WINNER) Jennifer Nettles, Waitress Ciara Renee, Waitress
FAVORITE NEW SONG “All You Wanna Do” – Six the Musical (WINNER) “Don’t Lose Your Head” – Six the Musical “Ex-Wives” – Six the Musical “Get Down” – Six the Musical “Six” – Six the Musical
Kate Bush in 1979Photo: Rob Verhorst/Redferns (Getty Images)
Art pop’s eclectic mom is having a moment. Again. Kate Bush has once more entered the cultural zeitgeist, thanks to the “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” needle drop on the newest season of Netflix’s Stranger Things. While Bush has been an enduring presence in queer spaces, she’s currently enjoying the kind of widespread popularity she hasn’t seen since the ’80s, largely because of Gen-Z’s sudden acknowledgement of her alt-pop prowess.
While Bush continues her quiet existence in some faraway, reclusive castle, “Running Up That Hill” is running circles around new songs from Bad Bunny and Harry Styles on the charts and in listener’s hearts. The Hounds Of Love single has a chance to hit greater heights on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this time around than it did when the song was first released in 1985. The track has even received the internet’s highest honor by becoming a viral TikTok sound.
“Running Up That Hill” can serve as the gateway song for younger generations into Bush’s wider (and phenomenal) discography. This Power Hour will carve out additional essential listening for burgeoning Bush fans, and for those who have long been in the know, well, there’s never a bad time to re-spin the classics. You also get to spend the next hour watching Kate Bush music videos, which is truly a delight.
Kenny and Robert begin the show discussing recent scores they’ve been checking out including Jordan Peele’s take on Candyman by composer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe and HBO’s popular series The White Lotus by composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer.
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Then, 9x Oscar-nominated composer and friend of the show James Newton Howard (News of the World, Jungle Cruise, Raya and the Last Dragon, Fantastic Beasts series, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, King Kong, The Hunger Games series, The Sixth Sense, Signs) joins the show sharing why he dropped out of USC after three months on a music scholarship, revealing a question he once asked that immediately got him fired from an early film scoring gig, discussing how he connected with Metallica to collaborate for Jungle Cruise and why that may not be the last time they work together, and defining the most important skill a film composer should master.
This episode is presented by Spitfire Audio
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