Everyone knows the George Gershwin song, “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off,” which features the classic lines, “You like potato, and I like potahto, You like tomato, and I like tomahto.”
What they often don’t remember are the lines that come after that couplet. “But oh, if we call the whole thing off, then we must part, and oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart.”
Bill Maher lead a discussion that touched on the core issues represented in that song and in Western Civilization on Friday’s Real Time on HBO. In a divided nation where hardened positions often prevent compromise on crucial issues, are there solutions?
That question is particularly apt in a week where so many were lamenting “Why does nothing get done” in the wake of the Texas shooting massacre, Maher posed that question to his panelists and got some on-point answers.
This week’s panel discussion featured Michael Shellenberger, a California gubernatorial candidate, cofounder of the California Peace Coalition, and author of San Fransicko: W,hy Progressives Ruin Cities; and Douglas Murray, columnist for the New York Post and The Sun, and author of War on the West: How to Prevail in the Age of Unreason.
Maher hit hard on the inaction of the Uvalde Texas police during the mass shooting. “What do you do about people who are paid to act and just don’t?” He added, “You are there to protect and serve. Once in a while, you have to ball up and do the job.”
Shellenberger cautioned against demonizing people when life or death decisions unfold quickly. His answer? More training.
Murray suggested the absurdity of being able to buy a gun at 18, but having to wait to enjoy a beer in a bar until you are 21. “Let’s switch those things around,” he said. Maher agreed. “We know how stupid we were at 18-21. It’s the least we could do.”
Shellenberger allowed how he was a liberal, a libertarian, and a conservative, depending on the issue. That applies to his approach to the homeless in California. “We have to shut down encampments,” and get them into rehab or other services. “It’s not fair to them. It’s not fair to us.”
Murray lamented the decline of San Francisco, where a liberal approach over the years saw one of the most beautiful cities in the world become a slum. That hands-off approach was “rolled out in city after city,” he said, “and everyone is getting used to the idea that this is normal.” He called it a “normalization of homelessness, mentally ill people, and people say that’s just part of life. It’s not normal.”
Maher said part of the problem of losing civilization is you fail to make judgments. Shellenberge agreed. “You can’t equivocate on the stuation.”
Murray added, “Sometimes, empathy isn’t enough.”
Part of the problem is that the country isn’t on the same page about solutions. “This country is about as divided as can be without a war,” Murray said. “If can’t agree about any of the past, that’s not good.” He concluded, “We should be self-critical, but shouldn’t be self-destructive.”
Earlier, Maher interviewed Eric Holder, former US Attorney General, who is now chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and coauthor of Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the Vote – A History, A Crisis, A Plan. They discussed voting rights and gerrymandering in election districts before Maher hit him with a big question: If you were still Attorney General, when evaluating what happened on Jan. 6 at the Capitol building, what would you do?
“Because of what we know, if you show me that Trump was involved in efforts to foment a coup, he has to be indicted,” Holder said. ” I can see where this one is going,” he added, predicting that many high-level Trump administration officials may be turning up in legal papers related to Jan. 6 in the future.
Pearpop, a creator content and collaboration platform, is launching a subscription comedy series hosted by the creator Jericho Mencke that will stream exclusively on TikTok’s live events platform.
In the series, Finding Jericho, Mencke will host comedic interviews with a range of characters — including a clown from Craigslist — as he explores broad themes like laughter, hobbies and confidence. The show is produced by Pearpop, the creator platform co-founded by Cole Mason, Spencer Markel and Guy Oseary. Pearpop executives Zack Bernstein and Austin Sokol, as well as Mencke, serve as executive producers.
After the first episode premieres on June 2 at 9 p.m. PT, subsequent episodes of the series will roll out on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 p.m. PT from the @Jercho1 and @pearpopofficial TikTok accounts. The entire series, which consists of eight 30-minute episodes, will cost $4.99 to watch, though the first two episodes will be released for free to all TikTok users.
The subscription series comes as TikTok has begun rolling out more tools to encourage creators to livestream on the platform and monetize their followings. Last month, TikTok launched a monthly subscription tool for select creators with more than 1,000 followers that gives their paying fans perks like subscriber badges, custom emotes and subscriber-only chat. The feature follows similar subscription offerings from social platforms like Instagram and Twitter.
“We’re thrilled to see this milestone of launching our first digital series for Pearpop with TikTok and what it will accomplish for the brand. I’m so excited about this first-of-a-kind comedy docuseries and proud to show the world what Jericho and Pearpop have created together,” Mason, Pearpop’s CEO, said in a statement.
Mencke is represented by Gersh.
June 3, 12:45 p.m.: Updated to clarify TikTok’s relationship to the show.
YouTube Music will now attempt to suggest which of your Cast-enabled speakers you want to stream music to. It’s a nice upgrade over the previous approach, where the app would simply list all of the Cast-enabled devices on your network in alphabetical order. If you’re anything like us, that could mean having to hunt through a list of half a dozen speakers, even if there’s only one you use on a regular basis.
Now, ChromeUnboxed has spotted that attempting to Cast from the YouTube Music app will bring up a new menu, with a “Suggested” device highlighted above the standard alphabetical list. Google spokesperson Paul Pennington confirmed the new feature in an email to The Verge, and said that suggestions are based upon usage, history, and the type of device.
The feature, which is specific to YouTube Music, has now rolled out to all users of the app on iOS and Android. Just be aware that you have to be a YouTube Music subscriber to be able to cast music from the app to an external device, unless it’s music you’ve uploaded yourself.
Despite his controversy last year over a video in which he used a racial slur, Morgan Wallen is among the recipients of special awards handed out by the Academy of Country Music, it was announced today.
The country musician, who faced numerous career consequences and saw his “involvement and eligibility” for the 2021 ACM Awards halted after a video surfaced in February 2021 of him yelling the N-word and other expletives, is set to receive the ACM Milestone Award, recognizing unprecedented or outstanding achievement in the field of country music during the last calendar year. The award, continuing a comeback for Wallen in recent months, honors the contributions of Gene Weed, who directed and produced the ACM Awards for more than 30 years.
Wallen’s latest album, Dangerous: The Double Album, topped the charts, spending 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and 60 weeks in the top 10, with more than four million copies sold. Dangerous was also named album of the year at the 2022 ACM Awards in March and Wallen performed on and received the country male artist of the year award at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards. Wallen had been banned from the 2021 Billboard Music Awards after his controversial video surfaced. He was also suspended from his record label and dropped by agency WME, with iHeartMedia, SiriusXM and Pandora dropping his music from their platforms.
Past recipients of the ACM Milestone Award include Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Willie Nelson, Blake Shelton, George Strait, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood.
Elsewhere, hit Paramount TV show Yellowstone will receive the ACM Film Award, recognizing a movie or series from the past year that prominently features country music.
Past recipients of the film award, which honors the contributions of actor-musician Tex Ritter, include A Star Is Born, Country Strong, Crazy Heart, Nashville, Walk the Line and O, Brother, Where Art Thou.
Miranda Lambert will receive the Triple Crown Award after winning ACM Top New Female Vocalist, Female Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year over the course of her career, receiving the final award at the 2022 ACM Awards. Only seven other artists have received the Triple Crown Award: Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Mickey Gilley, Merle Haggard, Barbara Mandrell and Underwood.
Chris Stapleton will receive the ACM Spirit Award, given to a singer-songwriter who is continuing Haggard’s legacy by following his or her own path, crafting great songs and epitomizing Haggard’s spirit through performances and storytelling. Shania Twain and Sonny Throckmorton will receive the ACM Poet’s Award, given to a songwriter for their contributions throughout their career, recognizing in part a song or song’s impact on the culture of country music.
Late ASCAP executive Connie Bradley will receive the ACM Icon Award, given to an artist or leader who has advanced the popularity of the genre through their work. ACM Lifting Lives board members Paul Barnabee and Dwight Wiles will receive the Lifting Lives award. And business manager Duane Clark will receive the ACM Service Award.
“ACM Honors is truly a special and unique night as the entire Country Music community comes together to celebrate the achievements of artists, musicians, and industry executives that have made a positive impact on the industry during the prior year or over their careers,” ACM CEO Damon Whiteside said in a statement. “Being the 15th anniversary of this event also makes it a night to remember some of the Academy’s pioneers who originally inspired these honors.”
The ACM special award recipients will be recognized at the 15th annual Academy of Country Music Honors on Aug. 24 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
These are the films that capture the essence of summer.
When you think of summer, you think of sunny skies, sandy beaches, and going to the movies.
Illumination / Via YouTube
There are countless movies that are perfect to watch during the summer, and here’s a list to help you choose. However, this list doesn’t focus on “summer blockbusters” but rather on films that best convey the essence of the season. With that all cleared up, here are the 15 best movies to watch over the summer.
15.
National Lampoon’s Vacation
Warner Bros.
In this classic Chevy Chase comedy, the Griswolds take a two-week-long road trip to an amusement park, and everything goes wrong in the worst way possible. But, of course, there wouldn’t be a film if the trip went smoothly. Written by the incomparable John Hughes, Vacation is packed to the brim with indelible lines and scenes that will keep you laughing all the way to Wally World.
14.
Caddyshack
Warner Bros.
We’ve all had to take a job over the summer, but I’m sure none of them were quite like this movie. This slapstick film follows a teenager caddying at the exceptionally snobby Bushwood Country Club, and all sorts of wacky antics ensue. Caddyshack is minute after minute of hilarious moments thanks to the top-tier performances of Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Ted Knight, Rodney Dangerfield, and a dancing gopher.
13.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Paramount
This film taught us how to make the most out of our day off. Ferris Bueller squeezes in an entire vacation in less than 12 hours as he ditches school with his friends, visits a museum, eats at a fancy restaurant, and goes to a ball game. We’ve all wished we could have a day of fun like Ferris and his friends, but watching him bluff his way through Chicago is entertaining enough.
12.
Independence Day
20th Century Studios
What better to celebrate the 4th of July than with the end of the world? This revolutionary blockbuster follows multiple people trying to fight off a worldwide alien attack. With a star-studded cast and unforgettable special effects, this film is the perfect way to celebrate Independence Day.
11.
The Sandlot
20th Century Studios
“You’re killing me, Smalls!” Even if you haven’t seen this film before, you’ve already heard someone quote it at least once in your life. The Sandlot follows a boy who joins a group of baseball-playing kids, which leads to them trying to recover a ball signed by Babe Ruth from a monstrous dog. Every member of the Sandlot is hilariously entertaining, and the film gives audiences a nostalgic and endearing story about growing up with childhood friends.
10.
Stand by Me
Columbia Pictures
Though Stephen King is usually known for creating horror, this story stands out as one of the writer’s finest. Directed by Rob Reiner, Stand by Me tells the classic tale of four friends hiking out to see a dead body during Labor Day weekend. Due to its terrific performances and engrossing story, Stand by Me remains one of the greatest coming-of-age films of all time.
9.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Columbia
Why go for fireworks when you can see flashy UFOs? In one of the greatest alien films ever, director Steven Spielberg depicts the tale of an everyman who becomes obsessed with aliens after seeing a UFO in the night sky. Even nearly a half century since its release, Close Encounters remains one of the most unique first contact films, particularly due to its visual effects, engaging mystery, and heartfelt story.
8.
Us
Universal
In a beach vacation gone wrong, a family of four finds themselves hunted down by their murderous doppelgängers in the middle of the night. But what starts out as a single home invasion escalates into a nationwide crisis as everyone’s clones emerge from underground to take over the surface. Following his smash hit Get Out, director Jordan Peele once again proved that he is a master of horror and suspense with this modern classic.
7.
It (2017)
Warner Bros.
In this Stephen King nightmare, seven kids face off against a shapeshifting monster terrorizing their town in the summer of ’89. While this film does feature some heavy moments, it achieves the right blend of horror and humor thanks in part to the performances of its child cast. All in all, It is the horror equivalent of walking through a carnival funhouse that will leave you with your head spinning long after it’s over.
6.
Rear Window
Paramount
In the middle of a Manhattan heat wave, a photographer bound to a wheelchair suspects that one of his neighbors has murdered his wife and becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth. Everyone knows what it’s like being stuck inside on a beautiful summer day, and Rear Window takes that feeling and intensifies it with Hitchcock’s trademark use of suspense in a cinematic masterpiece.
5.
Finding Nemo
Pixar
What screams summer more than swimming in the ocean? In this classic aquatic adventure, a clownfish travels across the sea to rescue his son after divers kidnap him. If you’re like me, you’ve had fond memories of enjoying this film growing up, and with so many enjoyable moments, you’ll never get sick of watching it.
4.
Moonrise Kingdom
Focus Features
This Wes Anderson classic follows two kids who fall in love and run away together and the adults and camp scouts trying to find them. Filled with the director’s quirky style and charm, Moonrise Kingdom is a beautiful and childlike adventure through the island of New Penzance that will make you feel like a kid back at summer camp.
3.
American Grafitti
Universal
Directed by George Lucas, this rockin’ comedy follows a group of California teens and their adventures during their last night together in the summer of ’62. Featuring big names such as Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, and Harrison Ford, American Graffiti is a landmark high school film often credited with helping the creation of the summer blockbuster. All in all, this Oscar-nominated picture is the ideal film for those looking to race back to the swingin’ ’60s.
2.
Jurassic Park
Universal
Some people decide to go to Six Flags or Disney World over the summer, but why not take a trip to Jurassic Park? Oh right, because of the dinosaur attacks. Well, you’ll find yourself enjoying this film from a safe distance, but Jurassic Park is such a realistic and immersive experience you’ll feel like you’re right in the action the entire way through.
1.
Jaws
Universal
This Spielberg classic is remembered as the quintessential summer blockbuster. On the week of the 4th of July, Amity Island is tormented by a great white shark who eats anyone who dares to go in the water. With terrific performances, excellent filmmaking, and an unforgettable score, Jaws is an entertaining and suspenseful thrill ride that will never cease to amaze you. However, you may be too scared to swim at the beach after watching this.
Do you agree with this list? Are there any other summer movies that I missed? Please let me know in the comments section below.
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Atlanta-based Fin-tech company FilmHedge has closed on $100M in debt financing to modernize Film and TV financing with its tech and data products.
The latest deal was with the private credit firm Coromandel Capital and follows a previous closing earlier this year between the company and another firm. Both transactions were $50M, giving FilmHedge $100M in total lending capacity.
FilmHedge is a fin-tech company providing short-term debt financing to borrowers working in Film, TV, and media. One of the company’s services is a lending platform that provides short-term financing (up to 12 months) to producers. The system determines the terms for loan offers algorithmically, based on the production finance plan and corporate agreements. The company also offers data products which track production spending in real-time, automate performance reports for investors, and financial transaction insights previously unavailable to media investors.
Coromandel Capital provides flexible, non-dilutive growth capital via senior secured lines of credit and term loans to specialty finance and FinTech’s that otherwise do not conform to the traditional credit boxes of banks and other financial intermediaries. A true partner, as opposed to a passive check, Coromandel Capital permits its clients to earn better terms over time, as well as provides operational advisory and outsourced capital markets.
“Our mission at FilmHedge is to make media investing more efficient, faster, and more scalable. You can’t really do that if you’re a film fund, a bank, or a private equity shop. Those models require too many decision-makers to sign off on a deal, which means they are slow,” said Jon Gosier, FilmHedge’s Founder and CEO.
“This is why alternative lenders like Coromandel make great partners for us. We offer a tech-first, passive way for them to generate returns from an asset class they weren’t exposed to,” he continued.
“We are looking forward to partnering with Jon, Josh, Mickey, and the rest of the FilmHedge team in addressing the unmet financing needs within the film industry. The team has tremendous experience, robust and proprietary customer acquisition channels, as well as the savvy to effectively underwrite and mitigate risk,” said Rob McGregor, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Coromandel Capital.
As the company’s latest institutional financing partner, Coromandel’s investment will allow the company to expand into new areas of financing supported by new features of automation.
“Our platform allows our staff to digitally underwrite films the same way a bank might. This includes analyzing pre-sale agreements, distribution agreements, completion guarantees, and legal documents. We’ve codified a lot of these documents and have features in development that will allow us to use machine learning and other fancy algorithms to greatly speed up transactions,” Gosier continued. “Faster underwriting means more qualified deals which translates to faster, and in some cases larger, returns.”
Pictures:
Jon Gosier CEO – Mickey Vetter co-founder at FilmHedge
Jérôme Paillard Marché du Film Executive Director – Jon Gosier
Mickey Vetter CGO – Josh Harris CFO – Jon Gosier CEO
Khloé Kardashian took a page out of Kim Kardashians’ fashion playbook in a skintight dress similar to her sister’s iconic latex moment of 2015.
On June 2, Khloé was photographed attending dinner with Kendall and Kris Jenner at Craig’s in West Hollywood wearing a nude-pink latex maxi dress by Atsuko Kudo with a high neckline. She paired the look with a pink Fendi purse and PVC pumps. If the dress in and of itself did not cause déjà vu, maybe the way Khloé styled the look feels familiar. In 2015, Kim wore a knee-length version of the same Atsuko Kudo dress with a pair of PVC sandals and a fur coat. You can see both looks here.
Khloé Kardashian isn’t the only one taking inspiration from Kim’s past looks. On May 21, Kourtney Kardashian arrived at a pre-wedding lunch at Abbaye San Fruttuoso de Capodimonte on the Italian Riviera wearing a black minidress from Dolce & Gabbana’s 1998 collection featuring a bustier-style bodice and an image of the Virgin Mary.
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Though she styled the look with a black veil and blue lace trim, it was not lost on many that the dress looked strikingly similar to a dress Kim wore in 2017. Kim’s Dolce & Gabbana dress from the same collection was slightly more casual and made of a sheer, stretchy material without any underwire or boning. You can see the pic here.
Even Kim Kardashian is copying Kim Kardashian. Following her sister’s wedding, the SKKN founder revealed she re-wore a dress from 2011 for the Italian ceremony. “When I knew I was going to Italy (LOVE a theme for a trip) I pulled all my Dolce & Gabbana clothes to try on again and see if I could rewear anything,” she shared in an Instagram story. To make the look feel more “modern,” Kim wore the black gown over a sheer lace Vetements dress with a high neckline and glove details.
Diplo and Swae Lee are set to take the stage at the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards for the first live televised performance of Elvis soundtrack single “Tupelo Shuffle.”
The track, from the forthcoming Baz Luhrmann film about the King of Rock and Roll in theaters June 24, also features Elvis cast members Austin Butler, who plays Elvis Presley himself, and Gary Clark Jr., who plays Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup in the film. The film also stars Tom Hanks as “Colonel” Tom Parker.
Like Presley, Diplo and Swae Lee also hail from Tupelo, Mississippi. Listen to the song here. “Tupelo Shuffle” will be included on the Elvis soundtrack, also set for a June 24 release.
The MTV Movie & TV Awards announced earlier today that Jennifer Lopez would receive the Generation Award, given to actors whose work in film and TV have made them household names. She joins previous recipients Scarlett Johansson, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Chris Pratt, Will Smith, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Downey, Jr., Mark Wahlberg, Sandra Bullock, Jamie Foxx, Johnny Depp, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey and the entire Fast & Furious franchise.
It was previously announced that Jack Black would receive the Comedic Genius Award.
The 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards, hosted by Vanessa Hudgens, is set to air live from Los Angeles’ Barker Hangar on Sunday, June 5 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Presenters include Awkwafina, Billy Eichner, Chase Sui Wonders, Chris Evans, Eduardo Franco, Glen Powell, Lana Condor, Jamie Campbell Bower, Jay Ellis, Jenna Ortega, Joe Keery, Joseph Quinn, Maria Bakalova, Pablo Schreiber, Rachel Sennott, Riley Keough, Sarah Shahi and Sydney Sweeney.
The show will be immediately followed at 10 p.m. by the Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted, hosted by Tayshia Adams, celebrating the best in reality TV, talk shows and documentaries. During that portion of the evening, Bethenny Frankel will receive the Reality Royalty Award.
Both shows will air on MTV and various other Paramount channels including BET, Comedy Central, MTV2, Paramount Network and VH1.
Spider-Man: No Way Homeleads this year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards nominees with seven nods, followed by Euphoria with six nominations and The Batman with four nods. RuPaul’s Drag Race leads the nominees for Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted with four nods, followed by triple nominees Selling Sunset and Summer House.
Executive producers for both the MTV Movie & TV Awards and Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted are MTV’s Bruce Gillmer, Wendy Plaut and Vanessa Whitewolf and Den of Thieves’ Jesse Ignjatovic and Barb Bialkowski.
Karen O is the most flamboyant spitter in rock history. When Yeah Yeah Yeahs first smashed into New York City’s music scene in the early 2000s, one of the singer’s signature onstage maneuvers had her downing a pint of beer only to spray it back out in a fine mist, like a dragon marking its territory. This move, which was immortalized in a frantic blur on the cover of the essential oral history Meet Me in the Bathroom, perfectly summed up the band’s playful and antagonistic anarchy. They went on to call their debut 2003 album Fever to Tell, matching the urgency of post-9/11 New York. “You never knew how long anything was going to last,” Karen once said of that era.
Two decades later, Yeah Yeah Yeahs are still here, and Karen is still spitting. On their first new song since 2013’s career low Mosquito, the trio is back in rarified form. “Spitting Off the Edge of the World” is a classic YYY power ballad, where Karen clears her throat and sheds a tear in the face of impending climate collapse. It’s from their forthcoming fifth album, Cool It Down, which cribs its name from a Velvet Underground track and suggests that our collective fever has gotten completely out of control. With longtime producer Dave Sitek behind the boards, “Spitting” is set off by the kind of horizon-expanding synths you’d expect to find on an opus by M83 or Vangelis. Karen’s delivery is painfully vulnerable one moment and strident the next, pinging between existential hopelessness and mighty resistance. The song’s titular refrain nails this internal conflict—a small act of defiance hocked into a bottomless abyss.
All of this—the nostalgia, the triumph, the eccentricity—becomes even more potent in the phantasmagoric video. It peaks with Karen standing atop a spiky, gas-guzzling, Mad Max-style limo as guest star Perfume Genius, replete in undead makeup that Beetlejuice would approve of, steers down the highway. The clip ends with a divey YYY performance that harkens back to those bygone days of scuzz and saliva. When Karen tilts her head back to spray once again, the effect is powerful enough to douse a wildfire.
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Big World Pictures has taken distribution rights in U.S. and Canada to Salomé Jashi’s documentary “Taming the Garden,” which competed at the Sundance Film Festival, and also played in the Forum section of the Berlinale. World sales are being handled by Toronto-based Syndicado Film Sales.
In her review for Variety, Jessica Kiang described the film as “quietly magnificent and strange,” adding that it is “surreal, serene and maybe just a little bit sacred.”
The opening shot of this environmental tale captures a tree as tall as a 15-story building floating on a barge across the Black Sea. Its destination lies within a garden countless miles away, privately owned by a wealthy man whose passion resides in the removal, and subsequent replanting, of trees into his own man-made Eden.
With striking cinematic style, the film tracks the surreal uprooting of ancient trees from their locales in the Republic of Georgia. With each removal, tensions flare between workers and villagers. Some see financial incentives – new roads, handsome fees – while others angrily mourn the loss of what was assumed an immovable monolith of their town’s collective history and memory.
In a statement, the director said: “To me, the film does not have a one-dimensional line as to what it is about. The material spoke of many different aspects of life, which found symbolic expressions in the film, such as the idea of manhood, or forced migration, or uprooting, which is not just a physical process.
“I also relate the theme of uprooting to my country, where values and a sense of stability is constantly floating. I see the film as an evocative journey into a surreal world, which paradoxically is also factbased.”
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s president has claimed the leftist candidate in Colombia’s presidential race faces “a dirty war” by “conservatives,” leading the Colombian government to tell President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Friday to stay out of its domestic politics.
López Obrador makes a big point of saying he doesn’t interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, and has used that as an excuse to avoid criticizing non-democratic regimes like Nicaragua and Cuba.
But on Friday López Obrador blasted the opposition to front-running presidential candidate, the leftist Gustavo Petro. López Obrador claimed Petro faces a scare campaign, trying to depict him as dangerous radical, something similar to a campaign used against López Obrador in a failed presidential bid in 2006.
“I want to say I’m sending a hug to Petro,” López Obrador. “Why a hug? Because he is facing a dirty war of the most cowardly and undignified kind, everything we suffered in Mexico. All the conservatives are united, unethically.”
Colombia’s foreign relations ministry shot back on its social media accounts, saying the Mexican president’s comments were “an offensive interference in our country’s internal affairs.”
“We ask him to respect the autonomy of the Colombian people to choose their next president without interferences that try to influence voters,” the ministry wrote.
Last week Colombian voters chose Sen. Petro, a former rebel, to run in a second round against real estate tycoon Rodolfo Hernández, an outsider populist businessman.
Petro led the field of six candidates Sunday with just over 40% of the votes, while Hernández, who has no close ties to any political parties, finished second with more than 28%.
Its been a year since the long speculated relationship between Zendaya and Tom Holland became a reality and fans around the world cheered in celebration. The couple was shipped together since 2017 when the two actors starred in their first film together, Marvel’s Spider man: Homecoming. Last year the two were photographed together for the first time revealing their romantic status.
Yesterday on June 1, Zendaya shared a sweet picture and an even sweeter message for her significant other on Instagram . The picture showed the two locked in embrace with Zendaya smiling and Tom looking directly into the camera while the caption underneath the picture read, “Happiest of Birthdays to the one who makes me happiest
This was a rare occurrence on Zendaya’s social who normally does not like to post about her relationship or any aspect of her private life but fans were all for it. Tom’s social media on the other hand has a picture of Zendaya after every two posts. This Spider Man can’t get enough of his MJ.
The PDA of Zendaya and Tom is still hard to find but over the past year several photographs have surfaced of the young couple. The couple are mostly seen showing up to each other’s projects to show their support. In April 2022, Tom showed up in Boston to support Zendaya on her upcoming project, “The Challengers.” The pair was also found in Italy for reasons unknown, possibly a vacation.
Though vacation time is probably limited for the young power couple who are making strides in the industry dropping blockbuster after blockbuster. Zendaya took the world by storm in her HBO hit series Euphoria, while Tom starred in the hit film Uncharted and the two of course came together for what was possibly the biggest film of 2021 and one of the biggest films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Spider Man: No Way Home.
In addition to the successes of their mutual and individual projects, Zendaya was also named among the Top 100 most influential people by Time Magazine. The pair are well on their way to becoming the biggest stars in the world and doing it together would make the romance all the more magical.
Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, plans to cut 10 percent of the electric carmaker’s salaried work force, he told staff in an email on Friday.
The job cuts will not apply to employees who build cars or batteries or who install solar panels, and the number of hourly employees will increase, Mr. Musk said in the email, a copy of which was reviewed by The New York Times. “Tesla will be reducing salaried head count by 10 percent, as we have become over staffed in many areas,” he said.
Reuters reported the news earlier, citing a different email that Mr. Musk sent only to Tesla executives. The automaker’s share price closed on Friday down about 9 percent after that article was published.
Tesla’s staff has grown substantially as sales have surged and it has built new factories, including two that opened this year near Berlin and Austin, Texas. The company employed more than 99,000 workers at the end of last year. Just two years earlier, Tesla had 48,000.
Mr. Musk and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
Earlier this week, Mr. Musk told employees at Tesla and SpaceX, his rocket company, that they were expected to spend at least 40 hours per week at their offices.
“The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence,” Mr. Musk said in an email to SpaceX employees on Tuesday. “That is why I spent so much time in the factory — so that those on the line could see me working alongside them. If I had not done that, SpaceX would long ago have gone bankrupt.”
That announcement thrust Mr. Musk and his companies into a hotly contested debate over the right approach to restoring normalcy after two chaotic years of the pandemic. It also invited concern that he may drive away top performers who would prefer to continue working remotely some or all of the time.
The new layoffs won’t be the first ones at Tesla. The automaker also dismissed some workers in 2017 and 2018.
In recent weeks, investors have begun questioning the company’s sky-high stock price. The market values the company at more than $728 billion, more than several other large automakers combined. Tesla’s shares are down about 40 percent from their high at the end of last year, bringing attention to the risks the company faces from growing competition, accusations of racial discrimination and production problems at its factory in Shanghai.
Some critics view Mr. Musk’s bid to buy Twitter as yet another distraction that could hurt Tesla. One big concern for some investors is that the automaker’s board lacks enough independence from the chief executive to serve as a check on him and his impulses.
How Elon Musk’s Twitter Deal Unfolded
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A blockbuster deal. Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, capped what seemed an improbable attempt by the famously mercurial billionaire to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion. Here’s how the deal unfolded:
The initial offer. Mr. Musk made an unsolicited bid worth more than $40 billion for the influential social network, saying that he wanted to make Twitter a private company and that he wanted people to be able to speak more freely on the service.
“From a corporate good-governance perspective, Tesla has a lot of red flags,” Andrew Poreda, a senior analyst who specializes in socially responsible investing at Sage Advisory Services, an investment firm in Austin, told The Times last month. “There are almost no checks and balances.”
Mr. Musk’s management style and success — he is listed as the world’s richest man by Bloomberg and Forbes — have earned him admirers but have made him a lightning rod. Tesla has lost a number of top executives in recent years, many of whom have gone on to top jobs at other automakers, tech companies and battery makers.
Recently, Mr. Musk praised the work ethic in China, where labor conditions can be harsh or even abusive, suggesting that workers in the United States were lazy. “They won’t just be burning the midnight oil. They’ll be burning the 3 a.m. oil,” he said about Chinese workers in an interview with The Financial Times. “So they won’t even leave the factory type of thing. Whereas in America, people are trying to avoid going to work at all.”
Still, some analysts remain bullish about Tesla’s prospects. “In our view, Tesla likely does not need to hire any more employees to maintain its growth, and we think the plan to reduce the work force likely shows that Tesla over hired last year,” Seth Goldstein, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, said in a note on Friday.
A column chronicling events and conversations on the awards circuit.
Deadline
Just two weeks to go before nomination balloting begins for the Emmys, and there can be no doubt this year feels fully back to normal with so many FYC events going on all over town it is as impossible for Television Academy members to keep track of them — just as it is to actually watch the shows they are pushing. And if you need a reminder of what you need to see, the swag arriving daily will do that for you.
Arriving home from spending much of May on the road, first in NYC, then in Cannes, there was everything from a box of candy touting the Hulu limited series called, well, Candy, to another limited series The Offer, about the making of The Godfather, which offered an appetizing horse-head cookie to chew on while watching the show. For sports activities, Apple TV + sent along a Magic Johnson basketball to tout its docu on the Lakers great, and this week more cookies were the order of the day, this time touting all the shows from MTV Entertainment Studios, each one branded into a cookie of their own. Oh, and if you are into Schmigadoon! like I am, a picnic basket with ingredients to make “corn puddin’” was all there along with sheet music for the signature musical number of the same name. That series on Apple TV+ is one of the more original offerings on view this Emmy season, a takeoff on the 1954 MGM musical Brigadoon that has been turned into a wacky six-episode comedy series. I haven’t seen anything official yet on a renewal for a second season of the show starring Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong, but on this week’s episode of The Actor’s Side, Martin Short, who plays the Leprechaun, tells me it is indeed coming back for more — and so is the Leprechaun.
Emmys aside (and we will be getting into those more closely as voting nears), as aforementioned I have spent much of last month at another event that was fully back to normal after being canceled in 2020 and dialed down in 2021. That of course is the Cannes Film Festival where I, and our Deadline team, turned out one review after another of the myriad cinematic offerings on display at the world’s most famous festival. Now that I am back, it’s time to assess whether this 75th anniversary edition of Cannes was a movie feast in and of itself or, as it proved in 2019, a major indicator of which way the nascent Oscar winds might be blowing.
You recall that year, when Cannes discovery Parasite went all the way from winning the Palme d’Or to the Best Picture Oscar, a feat achieved only once before in the fest’s history with 1955’s Marty. On top of that, Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood also was unveiled first in Cannes and went on to 10 nominations and two wins. And even at the truncated 74th Cannes last July, Japan’s then-little-heralded competition entry Drive My Car won praise and the screenplay prize before going on to an unprecedented four Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and International Film, winning the latter. There was a time when it was thought that premiering your movie in Cannes might dim its chances for Oscar glory 10 months later, but that seems to be changing. So what coming out of this year’s just-concluded fest that has real potential to show up at the 95th Academy Awards?
Let’s start with Palme d’Or winner, Triangle of Sadness, which marks the first English-language film from Swedish director Ruben Ostlund — and his second Palme d’Or after 2017’s The Square. This wild and hilarious satire on the foibles of a disparate and very rich group gathered together for a holiday on a $250 million yacht turns into a fascinating and pungent commentary on class and wealth when the tables eventually are turned. Its director says his inspiration was the absurdist cinema of Luis Buñuel, but I would also throw in Billy Wilder and Monty Python for this 2½-hour stew that is as funny as it is pertinent. Will Oscar voters agree?
Neon, which won the Triangle of Sadness bidding war, has a lot of experience in this realm, having steered Parasite‘s similar divide between upper and lower class. It paid $8 million for its third Palme d’Or winner in a row. True that Oscar dreams didn’t work out for its second, last year’s Titane, but it was obvious that extremely violent French film was too much to stomach for the Academy’s international film committee, which didn’t even put it in the top 15 semi-finalists.
Triangle of Sadness has the goods to compete in several categories including Picture, Director, Screenplay and, without question, Best Supporting Actress for Filipino star Dolly DeLeon, who plays the yacht’s Toilet Manager. She gets a chance to turn things upside down by film’s end and, in so doing, at this point has to be a front-runner to win. The downside for the film is some troubling comments Ostlund made after winning last weekend that in fact he plans to make the theatrical release longer, meaning not the cut that took Cannes by storm. Tonally the film already is teetering on the edge, so disturbing that balance could be risky, and making it longer than the current already-long cut is dicey, but this guy is so talented that you have to have faith. However, there is one scene toward the end involving a donkey who is about to become dinner that is way off the mark and briefly popped the air out of the balloon, at least with the packed Cannes crowd with whom I saw it. If you want my two cents, cut the whole donkey scene while you are back in the editing room.
For all its brilliance Triangle of Sadness, was my favorite, but a close second is another film I think has enormous Oscar potential: Belgium filmmaker Lukas Dhant’s moving and masterful Close, a story of the friendship between two young boys that turns tragic. This one not only has to be Belgium’s selection for International Film but, a la Drive My Car, could well find its way into several other major categories including Best Picture and even Best Actor for its 15-year old-lead Eden Dambrine. It has the emotional weight Oscar voters gravitate toward, and that is important, plus AMPAS has quite a few more members from around the globe these days.
Close tied for the Grand Prix (second place) and, trust me, it has Oscar written all over it, and A24, which picked it up, will know just how to position it. Ironically it has to compete for the International berth with another Belgium Cannes prize winner, Tori and Lokita from Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. The Belgian brothers are frequent winners at Cannes but never have landed in the Oscar race. Were it not for Close, this devastating look at a pair of West African young people caught up in Belgium’s bureaucratic immigration system would be their ticket to the Dolby. Tough decision time ahead in Belgium (which also had another prize winner this year with the very fineThe Eight Mountains) and further proof the Academy should amend its entry rules and allow more than one worthy film from each country to compete.
‘One Fine Morning’ (Un Beau Matin) Les Films Pelléas
Bottom line, no matter what the year, Cannes generally sets the table for other festivals — and the Oscars — when it comes to the International Film race. This year there was a banquet of films likely to be entered for Oscar including Poland’s EO, Romania’s RMN, South Korea’s Decision to Leave from the legendary Park Chan-wook, Iran’s Leila’s Brothers, Japan’s Broker (a film set in South Korea but directed by Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda) and many more across the other competitions.
Ironically it was France that came up short with not-so-hot entries in the official competition including a disappointing Arnaud Desplechin film called Brother and Sister and the dreadfulForever Young from Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. On the other hand, there was some excellent French films on display in the other sections, most notably Mia Hansen Love’s wonderful romance One Fine Morning that appeared in Directors’ Fortnight and stars Léa Seydoux in her most luminous performance to date (Sony Pictures Classics bought it), as well as yet another excellent French offering in Fortnight called Paris Memories from Alice Winocur that dealt with a survivor of the 2015 terrorist attacks in that city. And in Un Certain Regard there was Emily Atef’s terrific More Than Ever (Plus Que Jamais), poignantly representing Ulliel Gaspard’s final film after he died in a skiing accident this year and with a performance from Vicky Krieps that deserves serious Oscar consideration (she won the acting prize at Un Certain Regard but inexplicably for the lighter Corsage). All three of the aforementioned French films are directed by women and would have been much better than France’s films in the main competition, as well as being potential entries into the Oscar race. We’ll see what happens. Politics can enter big time into all this, so it can be frustrating.
Among the English-language films at Cannes from high-profile directors, I would expect Armageddon Time, James Gray’s wonderful memoir of growing up in Queens circa 1980, to make an impression on Academy voters when it is released this fall. The film stars Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong and features a typically fine and beautiful performance from Anthony Hopkins. It got no prize at Cannes despite being Gray’s fifth time around the block. He also has yet to conquer the Oscars, but maybe Focus Features can turn this memory play into another Belfast and get him the recognition he deserves (2016’s The Lost City of Z remains my favorite Gray film, as haunting as anything I have ever seen).
George Miller, an Oscar winner for the animated Happy Feet whose Mad Max: Fury Road received 10 nominations and won six, had the out-of-competition Three Thousand Years of Longing at Cannes. It opens August 30 through Amazon and MGM and might not be to everyone’s taste, but I have to say I fell under its spell and its two wonderful stars Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba. I wouldn’t be shocked to see it play even better for the Academy, should Amazon give it a real push. The story of a genie released from his bottle after 2,500 years is decidedly intellectual and quite talky in its first half, but it grabs you by the heart before end credits roll. On the opposite scale, David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future is the most Cronenbergian (and actually fun) of his films in a while, and actually opens today, but as in Cannes I see no prizes come Oscar time.
Critics Week winner Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun with Paul Mescal certainly had its admirers in Cannes and was picked up by A24 but seems to too slight to eventually get a lot of Oscar love. However, Mescal was in another film at Directors’ Fortnight, God’s Creatures (also acquired by the very busy A24), that I think will deservedly put the always great Emily Watson smack back into the Best Actress conversation once it is released stateside. She can say more with her eyes in one close up than some actors can with 120 pages of dialogue.
And finally, what about Oscar chances for the two major studio splashes at Cannes this year: Elvis and Top Gun: Maverick? Baz Luhrmann, who has directed only a half-dozen movies in 30 years, saw great success in getting Oscar nominations (and some wins) for Moulin Rouge! and Gatsby after they both premiered in Cannes, will, if Warner Bros has anything to say about it, do it again with Elvis, a sweeping look at the life and career of Elvis Presley as seen through the eyes of his shady manager Colonel Tom Parker. Both below the line for its luscious visuals and above the line for the performance of Austin Butler as the King, this would seem to be a big Oscar player coming in the first six months of the year (it opens June 24). As for Tom Hanks, who plays Parker, reviews were mixed from critics who couldn’t get over his weird Dutch accent, but for me I think he nailed who the real Parker actually was and, not least because it was a risk realized, remains in my head ever since seeing the movie. Hanks is a great character actor, if we will just let him be one.
Finally, there was the pomp and Cannes circumstance of Top Gun: Maverick. This one actually debuted in late April at CinemaCon, where I immediately waxed rhapsodic about its Oscar chances, something no one saw coming until the film was actually seen. Its San Diego world premiere cemented the sentiments that this was a serious Best Picture contender and a movie likely to bring star Tom Cruise his fourth Oscar nomination, and maybe even a win this time. By the time it hit Cannes, with a 97% Fresh Critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and now an undeniable box office phenomenon with an A+ Cinemascore to boot, this sequel 36 years in the making looks like it has true Oscar mojo. It just simply has to hang on to it for another six months.
I got a clue of its impact on your average veteran Oscar voter at the Netflix premiere of Hustle (which features an exceptional Adam Sandler turn) Wednesday night. The streamer had invited its list of Academy members to attend the movie in Westwood and afterparty at a Brentwood restaurant, where a longtime member of the Actors branch simply brought Top Gun: Maverick up out of the blue when we were talking. “I can tell you this right now: Tom Cruise has my vote,” they said. Yes, that is just one person but who over the years has really had their finger on the pulse of the way those Oscar winds can blow. The unexpected emotional hook of this film appears to be taking hold, and this blockbuster undoubtedly will be one of the young Oscar season’s most interesting stories to follow.
Did I just say Oscar season? Let’s take a pause until September. Now on with the Emmys and Tonys, even the MTV Movie & TV Awards this weekend. It never ends.
The world’s favorite blue hedgehog is back for a next-level adventure in SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2. After settling in Green Hills, Sonic is eager to prove he has what it takes to be a true hero. His test comes when Dr. Robotnik returns, this time with a new partner, Knuckles, in search for an emerald that has the power to destroy civilizations. Sonic teams up with his own sidekick, Tails, and together they embark on a globe-trotting journey to find the emerald before it falls into the wrong hands.
Today’s trailer roundup includes Hulu’s The Princess and Prime Video’s Anything’s Possible.
Joey King (The Kissing Booth) stars as a strong-willed princess who refuses to marry a cruel sociopath (Dominic Cooper) determined to steal her father’s throne. The Princess must use her wits and fierce fighting skills to protect her family, friends and her father’s kingdom. Le-Van Kiet directs a screenplay written by Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton (Final Fantasy, Winter’s Knight).
The Princess premieres on Hulu on July 1.
Emmy-award winning actor Billy Porter (Pose) goes behind the camera in his directorial debut in the teenage romance Anything’s Possible, premiering on Prime Video on July 22. Eva Reign plays Kelsa, a trans teenager who experiences the highs and lows of first love with Khal (Abubakr Ali).
“In the Loop” was produced by Aramid Entertainment Fund and BBC Films. With it’s initial release on January 22nd 2009 it made approximately $6.15m at the Box Office.
Chris Miller came up with the idea for The Afterparty years ago, when he knew he wanted to create a murder mystery that showed different perspectives from the witnesses. Although the project was put on the back burner as he worked on films like The Lego Movie and 22 Jump Street, the time span allowed Miller to come up with the unique idea of telling the story of each witness in a different genre. The new idea sparked interest from Apple TV+, which ordered an eight-episode series, and the show’s success has led to a second season with 10 episodes.
The Season 1 finale titled “WhoDannert?” is the latest installment of It Starts On the Page, Deadline’s annual series that highlights the scripts that serve as the creative backbones of the buzzy shows that will define the now-underway TV awards season. The scripts in our series are all being submitted for Emmy Awards consideration this year and have been selected by Deadline using criteria that includes critical acclaim, selecting from a wide range of networks and platforms, and a mix of established and lesser-known shows.
Created and directed by Miller and executive produced by his producing partner Phil Lord, the murder mystery comedy takes place at the afterparty of a high school reunion. Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) is called to the scene when the body of pop star Xavier (Dave Franco) is found at his home. Each episode has a different character’s perspective on the story, with their own genre of storytelling.
“WhoDannert”, written by Miller, begins with Maggie (Everly Carganilla) sitting in the chair opposite Detective Danner. After hearing all of the stories from the people at the party, Danner realizes that Maggie has appeared in every one, and she may have the key to cracking the case. Maggie’s flashback is told in the the genre of a “high-speed, frenzied kids’ show.”
Milwaukee-born, Atlanta-based artist Lakeyah recently signed with Motown Records, and, today, she’s sharing her latest release on the label. She’s enlisted Latto for a new track called “Mind Yo Business,” which arrives with an accompanying music video. Watch Lakeyah and Latto swap bars in a garden filled with animal-shaped hedges below.
“Mind Yo Business” follows Lakeyah’s recent single “I Look Good.” The rapper signed with Atlanta-based label Quality Control Music prior to inking a deal with Motown. Read more about Lakeyah in “An Introduction to Milwaukee’s Fast-Emerging Rap Scene” over on the Pitch.
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“Joe Papp in Five Acts” profiles the founder of New York’s Shakespeare in the Park and the Public Theater. The film includes interviews with Meryl Streep, James Earl Jones, Martin Sheen and others who explore Papp in all his complexity.
The Tiger-Cats walked off with a win last Saturday when Tadhg Leader kicked a game-winning field goal on the last play of the game at Tim Hortons Field, but the Cats could not hold on to a 17-15 lead late in the game.
Ticats QB Jamie Newman threw a 34-yard touchdown to Anthony Johnson in the third quarter to put Hamilton ahead 16-15 and Lawrence Woods opened the scoring for Hamilton at Alumni Stadium with an electrifying 99-yard punt return for a touchdown about six minutes into the contest.
Seth Small converted his third field goal attempt of the preseason when he kicked a 51-yarder in the second quarter that put Hamilton ahead 10-6.
Inclusive Sports Field in Cape Breton Closer to Becoming a Reality
Inclusive Sports Field in Cape Breton Closer to Becoming a Reality
Toronto’s only touchdown came from QB Chad Kelly who tossed a six-yard strike to Isaiah Wright that put the Argos ahead 15-10.
Hamilton will open the regular season on the road against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on June 11.
Jenna Ushkowitz is a mom! The 36-year-old Glee star welcomed her first child, a girl, with husband David Stanley, she confirmed on June 3. To announce the exciting news, she shared a black-and-white photo of herself cuddling her newborn, whose tiny fingers could be seen peeking out from under a blanket, on Instagram. The new mom was dressed in her hospital gown and had a sparkling necklace that read “mama” around her neck. “Our hearts have burst wide open,” she captioned the photo.
Jenna announced she was expecting in January with a black and white photo of herself grinning down at her growing belly. David smiled proudly at the camera as he touched his wife’s bump with one hand. “Our hearts are so full… Baby Girl Stanley coming soon,” she captioned the post.
Jenna and David tied the knot in July 2021 in an intimate ceremony in Los Angeles, per Brides. “We were elated and so grateful that we didn’t have to push our wedding [due to the coronavirus pandemic] and that we got to have the day of our dreams,” Jenna told the publication. “It was such a gift that we were able to share it with our friends and family.” They met on Hinge in 2018 and got engaged during the pandemic. They kept their engagement casual, as David popped the question while they were on a walk with their dogs. “Yes, a million times, yes,” she captioned her post announcing her engagement.
Just three days before her birth announcement, Jenna shared a bump pic and wrote with it how happy she was feeling in her pregnant body. “Woke up today feeling grateful for my body, my health and my incredible support system. What are you grateful for today?” she captioned the positive post. In the photo, she wore a black leggings and sports bra set.
She echoed her gratitude in a post from May 16, in which she shared an official maternity photo and cradled her belly. “I was told by many women that I’d want some maternity photos, even if I didn’t feel like getting photographed in my undies at 7-8 months pregnant ….and they were absolutely right,” she frankly wrote. “I’m so grateful to have these to look back on, my body is doing amazing, miracle like things and I want to honor that.”
Sega is going retro again as it unveiled its old-is-new-again Mega Drive Mini 2.
The Mega Drive Mini 2 was revealed (opens in new tab) in a rather bizarre live stream on Sega’s Japanese YouTube channel. Strange introductions aside, the new mini console is based on the Mega Drive Model 2 which came out back in 1994.
The Model 2 was unique in that it supported the Mega-CD add-on (better known as the Sega CD in North America) giving gamers access to a new set of games. Mirroring the past, the Mega Drive Mini 2 will have Sega CD games on it.
The Mega Drive Mini 2 will launch in Japan on October 27. Given the popularity and critical acclaim the first mini console garnered (opens in new tab), it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect an international release similar to the Genesis Mini 2. The mini-console will have a starting price of 9,980 yen which is around $75.
On the surface, the Mega Drive Mini 2 appears to offer a cartridge slot with working flaps, but if it’s anything like the first Mega Drive Mini, that’s purely decorative. There are also power and reset buttons, which are also found on the old mini model and work as expected here.
Included with the Mini 2 are one controller, an HDMI, and a USB cable. If the old mini console is anything to go by, the HDMI cable is to connect to TVs and the USB is for power.
There will also be an accessories kit to decorate the Mini 2, including a Mega-CD add-on. No games are included in the kit; rather it’s all decorative pieces for players to replicate the old console they once had. The Mega Mini Drive 2 houses all the games within it. The accessory kit has a 4,500 yen price tag (like $35) and includes a toy cartridge plus a mount.
Inside the Mini 2 are 50 games that will span the Mega Drive and Mega-CD libraries. Only 10 games have been revealed at this time, which you can view on Sega’s website (opens in new tab). Their names are in Japanese, but some are in English. Confirmed games include Popful Mail, Sonic CD, Virtua Racer, Bonanza Brothers, and Shining Force CD.
Analysis: Future mini consoles
This is a pretty cool console for retro gaming fans and leads us to wonder what’s next. The Sega Mega Drive also had the 32X add-on which expanded the console’s library; however, it was considered a total flop. It’s doubtful Sega would release those titles or spend time on creating a mini-32X.
But there may be a Dreamcast mini. According to Video Games Chronicle (opens in new tab), a Sega producer expressed interest in releasing a smaller Dreamcast console in the same vein as Mega Drive Mini. The console certainly has the library.
Note: “Stranger Things” Season 4 Volume 1 spoilers follow below.
If you’re here, that means you’ve reached the “Stranger Things” Season 4 Volume 1 ending – and for that you should be applauded. The seven new episodes clock in at a mammoth runtime, serving up fans with super-sized episodes including a humdinger of a finale.
Speaking of which, that ending leaves things on a pretty massive cliffhanger, with a huge reveal regarding the season’s main villain Vecna as well as some backstory filled in for the “Stranger Things” mythology overall. If you’re a bit confused as to how it all connects, what it means and how it’s setting up the final two episodes (Volume 2 will be released July 1), read on below.
Exiting the Upside Down
Netflix
As things wind down in the final episode of Volume 1, our Hawkins group – Steve (Joe Keery), Robin (Maya Hawke), Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Eddie (Joseph Quinn) – are finally making their way out of the Upside Down with the help of Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max (Sadie Sink) on the other side.
They’ve discovered that every place Vecna killed someone, he opened a gate to the Upside Down. But you’ll notice as the Upside Down folks are biking their way through the alternate Hawkins, they notice those creepy bat creatures corralling around Creel House – foreshadowing things to come.
Once at the trailer park where Chrissy (Grace Van Dien) was killed, they discover there is indeed a gate, and the gang makes their way back to the real Hawkins. One by one they exit, until only Nancy and Steve remain in the Upside Down. But as Nancy makes her way up the rope, she comes out the other side and is suddenly transported to… her backyard swimming pool.
Yes indeed, Nancy finds herself at the site of her own trauma (you know, the stuff Vecna feeds on), as dearly departed Barb (or at least her corpse) makes an appearance, taunting Nancy. We cut back to Steve to see that Nancy hasn’t actually grabbed onto the rope, and her eyes are rolling back into her head just like all of Vecna’s other victims.
In the Upside Down, after crawling out of the pool, Nancy finds herself at the same discombobulated version of Creel House that Max happened upon earlier in the season. Vecna taunts Nancy, telling her she was close to the truth, and asking how “old, blind, dumb Victor” was when they visited the institutionalized Victor Creel.
This here is the cliffhanger on which we leave this particular group…
The Massacre at Hawkins Lab
Meanwhile, as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is still in the tank remembering her own traumatic event, we flashback to her time at Hawkins Lab during the bloody incident that has been teased all season. Peter Ballard (Jamie Campbell Bower), the orderly who’s been so kind to Eleven, tricks her into removing his tracking device (which also apparently served as something of a powers-inhibitor), and he’s the one who murders everyone at the lab. He is also, he reveals, the very first of Dr. Brenner’s (Matthew Modine) patients.
Yep, Peter is 001.
This builds to a confrontation between Peter and Eleven in the playroom, in which Peter – who’s now taken on a different demeanor – calmly explains his backstory. You see, that whole Creel House murder mystery has ties directly to Peter. He was the young son of Victor Creel, and as a kid, he knew he had some kind of psionic powers – powers that scared his parents.
Feeling like an outcast (“Something was wrong with me,” Peter says. “All the teachers and the doctors said I was ‘broken’”) and oppressed by the world – and finding inspiration in the black widow spider, of all things – he started exploring his own powers. He realized he could not only cause physical harm, but also reach into the memories and minds of others.
He reached into his parents’ minds and saw them “as they truly were,” noting that while they presented themselves as “good, normal people” to the world, it was all a lie. “They had done things,” Peter says. “Such awful things.”
He began mentally tormenting his parents, riddling their minds with terrible memories, and while his father was convinced it was a demon, his mother “somehow knew” it was actually her son doing all this. She called a doctor to lock him away, so Peter took matters into his own hands — he killed his sister and mother and pinned the crimes on his father. Not yet familiar with the limits of his powers, however, he passed out and was then mistaken by authorities as an attempted victim of his father’s. “It nearly killed me,” he tells Eleven.
Netflix
It was then that he was taken into the custody of the aforementioned doctor – Dr. Brenner. This is how 001 was born.
He says Brenner didn’t just want to study Peter, he wanted to control him. “When Papa realized he could not control me, he tried to recreate me,” he says. “He began a program, and soon others were born. You were born.”
In a true Kylo Ren/Rey moment, Peter tries to get Eleven to join him. “You are better than they are,” he says. “Superior. That is why you frighten [Papa]. If you come with me, for the first time in your life you will be free. Imagine what we could do together. We could reshape the world, remake it however we see fit.”
A fight between the two ensues (no lightsabers, alas) and while Peter initially has the upper hand, Eleven finds her strength in a memory of love (not pain, as Peter previously suggested) from her birth mother and launches Peter into the wall.
The Upside Down Is Born?
Eleven continues pushing and pushing 001 until he begins dissolving into a flurry of ash. As the intensity grows, a red gate portal materializes behind him – seemingly the first gate into the Upside Down. It begins to close as we follow 001 into this alternate dimension, which is full of lightning and fire and mountains (and does not yet mirror Hawkins exactly… hmm…)
Netflix
As the lightning strikes 001 and he continues to fall, his body grows more and more disfigured, until it becomes crystal clear that we’re witnessing the creation of Vecna. The scene hard cuts to Vecna in the Upside Down in the present-day, and zooms in on his arm to reveal his “001” tattoo.
Peter is 001, and 001 is Vecna.
And that’s the end of “Stranger Things” Season 4 Volume 1.
Unanswered Questions
This cliffhanger leaves us with a number of questions leading into Volume 2 — namely, did we just witness the origin story of the Upside Down? Did Peter, aka 001, aka Vecna “reshape the world” as he promised Eleven, except in an alternate dimension?
And where does the Mind Flayer come in? Dustin theorizes that Vecna is a Captain in the Mind Flayer’s army, but could the Mind Flayer himself be Vecna? And is there hope for Vecna to turn good in the end? And why is he opening up so many gates? What is his endgame?
There’s much to chew on, but we now leave Volume 1 knowing Vecna’s identity and with Eleven likely gaining all of her powers back, so it seems to be setting up another (more spectacular) showdown between Eleven and her old pal at some point either in Volume 2 or “Stranger Things” Season 5, which will be the final season of the series.
Luckily we don’t have long to wait to find out what happens next. “Stranger Things” Season 4 Volume 2 is due to premiere on Netflix on July 1.
The Producers Guild of America has announced that the 34th Producers Guild Awards will take place at the Beverly Hilton on Feb. 25.
Nominations for documentary motion pictures will be announced Dec. 12; for sports, children’s and short form on Dec. 8, and for theatrical motion pictures, animated motion picture, TV series/specials, streamed or televised motion pictures on Jan. 12.
The Producers Guild recognized films including “CODA,” “Encanto,” “Summer of Soul,” “Ted Lasso,” “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” at the 2022 ceremony. Also at this year’s event, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy were honored with the Milestone Award; Rita Moreno with the Stanley Kramer Award; Mary Parent with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures; Greg Berlanti with the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television; and Issa Rae with the Visionary Award.
The Guild will also host East and West Coast Celebrations of the nominees and producing teams the week of Feb. 20.
Prentice Penny Launches Program for Writers of Color at USC
Producer, writer and director Prentice Penny and his a Penny For Your Thoughts company have launched the First Up program for writers of color at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
The First Up program will kick off this summer, selecting three SCA writers in their final year of undergraduate or graduate studies to participate in the year-long program.
Penny, who graduated from USC in 1995, was SCA’s Mary Pickford Award recipient at this year’s commencement ceremony. He created the program with the goal of giving BIPOC writers real-world experience and the opportunity to have their work seen.
“One of the aspects that has always set our school apart is the way our alumni use their unique platforms to actively support students and help them launch careers in our industry. Prentice Penny is one of our most esteemed alumni, and has dedicated his production company to creating hit content that centers upon people of color, but finds fans in everyone. For him to provide this level of guidance to students with similar goals is extraordinary,” said Dean Elizabeth Daley.
Penny will also create a database for students’ work to allow industry members to access the projects.
“The Civil Dead,” “Tel Aviv” Take Home Top Prizes at Mammoth Lakes Film Festival
“The Civil Dead,” “Tel Aviv,” “A Woman on the Outside” and “Eternal Spring” received the top honors at the 8th annual Mammoth Lakes Film Festival.
The news was announced at the closing night awards ceremony of the California-based film festival on May 29. The festival, held from May 25-29, screened over 90 feature and short films, and over $45,000 dollars were provided to the various winners.
In the juried awards, “The Civil Dead” won best North American narrative feature, while “Tel Aviv” won best international feature. “A Woman on the Outside” won best North American documentary feature, while “Eternal Spring” won best international documentary feature. Other winners of the juried awards included “Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege),” “Saw the Forest,” “Birds,” “Be Somebody,” “Ali and His Miracle Sheep,” “The Fourth Wall” and “Point and Kill.”
In the audience awards, “Tel Aviv” and “Eternal Spring” again triumphed in international narrative feature and documentary feature categories. The audience award for North American narrative feature went to “Kickin Knowledge,” while “The Pez Outlaw” won best North American documentary feature.
Mary Coleman Named Chief Creative Officer at Locksmith Animation
Mary Coleman has been named as chief creative officer at Locksmith Animation.
Coleman joins the company from Pixar Animation where she was head of creative development.
Coleman worked closely with Pixar’s directors from original concept through final draft, supporting their vision. During her tenure, Pixar created a legacy of modern classics including “Monsters, Inc” and “Finding Nemo.”
“Having someone of Mary Coleman’s professional stature come on board Locksmith as Chief Creative Officer is a milestone in our company’s journey,” said Locksmith CEO Fischer. “Her keen eye for material and her strong relationships with filmmakers were top of mind as we searched for the perfect CCO. We feel honored for her to join Locksmith Animation as we bolster our development slate, widen our artistic vision and expand our appetite for success in the animation space.”
“Ultimately, what drew me most to Locksmith is that between Julie Lockhart’s two decades working with Aardman and Natalie Fischer having helped launch and then worked with Illumination for a decade and my two decades at Pixar, the three of us have helped to build wildly successful studios. Locksmith’s vision is ambitious and its slate is already full of potential. I’m thrilled that they have asked me to help them deliver on their promise of creating compelling entertainment for families around the world.”
Locksmith recently announced it has awarded the digital production of its second animated movie “That Christmas” to DNEG Animation. The film is based on the successful series of children’s books by British filmmaker Richard Curtis (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”).
National Board of Review Awards Set Awards Date for 2023
The National Board of Review has announced its annual awards gala will take place on Jan. 10, 2023, in New York City.
As always, there are expected to be a plethora of potential awards contenders for the group to consider, which include films from Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”), Florian Zeller (“The Son”), Alejandro González Iñárritu (“Bardo”), Damien Chazelle (“Babylon”), Todd Field (“Tár”), Maria Schrader (“She Said”), Sarah Polley (“Women Talking”) and Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Woman King”).
The group has yet to announce when the winners will be selected, which has typically been one of the first to kick off the awards season.
Last year, due to the spike in COVID-19 cases, they postponed their gala, moving it from January to March 15.
Over the last 30 years, the winner of best film has gone on to receive an Oscar nomination for best picture, with exceptions once every decade — 2014’s “A Most Violent Year,” 2000’s “Quills” and 1998’s “Gods and Monsters.”
NBR’s most recent best film selections were Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods,” Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” and George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Last year, the group went heavy on Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” awarding it best film, director and breakthrough performance, shared between Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman. The film was nominated for three Oscars for picture, director and original screenplay.
The NBR honors are voted on by film enthusiasts, professionals, academics, filmmakers and students.
Academy Partners with LALIFF for Film Accelerator Program
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a partnership with the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF), in launching the 2022 Academy Film Accelerator.
A five-week program that will provide filmmakers from Latino communities with education, resources and mentorship focused on the business of filmmaking.
The program is part of Aperture 2025, the Academy’s ongoing commitment to inclusion, representation and equity, and is supported by TelevisaUnivision’s new global streaming service, ViX.
“This partnership with the Academy marks another important step in ensuring that Hollywood truly represents the diversity and richness that the Latino community has to offer,” said Edward James Olmos, co-founder of LALIFF.
The participants will be acknowledged at this year’s LALIFF. They are: Miguel Angel Caballero, Lorena Durá, Michael Flores, Justin Floyd, Gabriela Garcia Medina, Monica Moore-Suriyage, Gabriela Ortega, Kase Peña, Tamara Shogaolu and Maite Zubiaurre.
In one of the first few scenes, we see a character based on Indira Gandhi showing her hand to palmist Vikramaditya (Prabhas) as he predicts that she is going to declare emergency in the near future. There is another scene where we see a photograph of singer-songwriter John Lennon taking Prabhas’ autograph as he is a world famous palmist often compared to French astrologer Nostradamus.
A romantic drama which features Pooja Hegde as the heroine, Radhe Shyam is so ambitious in its scale that it almost fools you into believing it’s a great film. Unfortunately, it doesn’t even come close to being great and is just a yawnfest. The film ends up as one of those big budget attempts that’s highly ambitious and silly at the same time. While Prabhas tries to hold it together in whatever way possible, the film is mostly underwhelming if not for the grandeur and couple of some amazing visuals.
Director Radha Krishna Kumar, along with the makers, ensured the trailers made it seem like the film is a rom-com, with some tragedy. It takes only 15 minutes into the film to burst that bubble. The tag line reads: Witness the biggest war between love and destiny. I was seriously left looking to witness something in it’s almost two-and-a-half hour run time.
Set in 1976, the story is about palmist Vikramaditya who believes that astrology is a science that is 100% correct. On the other hand, his guru Paramahamsa (Sathyaraj) has a theory that astrology can predict up to 99 percent, not 100 percent. The remaining one percent of people write their fate and create history, says Paramahamsa, with which Vikramaditya differs.
Also, he doesn’t have a love line and so he doesn’t believe in relationships. He only believes in ‘flirtationship’. But he meets Prerana (Pooja Hegde) and falls for her instantly. She is a doctor working in a general hospital in Rome and is suffering from a life-threatening disease. When Vikramaditya sees her palm, he predicts that she will live for 100 years. But he decides to leave her and move far away from her. The rest of the story takes you through the journey of these two lovers and how destiny and karma play a part.
The film lacks two essentials. First, there is no visible chemistry between Prabhas and Pooja. Their journey of falling in love is often cut rather abruptly to add some comic scenes which don’t evoke any kind of laughter. Second, the love story isn’t palpable enough. It’s no wonder then that the convoluted mess, which goes on for over two hours, fails to tug at one’s heart. There are many pointless scenes and characters which don’t make any sense.
Talking about the positives, the film is shot beautifully and in a grand scale through some amazing locations of Europe. The climax sequence of the ship has been executed really well for which the VFX team surely derivers a round of applause. But despite all of it, the film sinks completely like the ship.
I wish director Radha Krishna Kumar should have shown his hand to some palmist before making the film who probably would have predicted the future of the film and would have advised the producers against investing Rs 300 crore into making this bore. For now, the future of the film is full of grim.
If you’ve got a love for the golden age of video stores and VHS movies, you might just want to look out for a new podcast from Quentin Tarantino and his Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary. The Video Archives Podcast will launch via SiriusXM’s Stitcher platform on July 19th and find the pair reminiscing about their days working at Video Archives in Manhattan Beach, California as they watch cult VHS movies.
Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary both worked at Video Archives back in the day, and when the store closed in 1995, Tarantino bought its entire library. In a joint statement, Tarantino and Avary said:
We never imagined that 30 years after we worked together behind the counter at Video Archives, we would be together again doing the exact same thing we did back then: talking passionately about movies on VHS. Watching movies was what originally brought us together and made us friends, and it’s our love of movies that still brings us together today. So we surrounded ourselves with the original Video Archives collection, where we both worked before we became celebrated filmmakers, and time-traveled ourselves back to the golden age of VHS. We love to discuss movies, and we want to welcome you into the Video Archives Podcast to hang with us and Archives’ new employee Gala, and discover the hidden VHS gems on our shelves.
Each episode of the podcast will find Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, and Avary’s daughter Gala watching one movie from the Video Archives’ VHS collection and discussing it. Some of the movies they’ll be covering include Moonraker, Dark Star, Demonoid: Messenger of Death, and Piranha, but if it doesn’t have a VHS release, they won’t be watching it. “We’re watching the videocassettes,” Tarantino said. “We’re not watching the Blu-rays. And if they don’t have a videocassette, they can’t be counted as a movie. It has to be from the collection.“
As video stores are rather scarce these days, it’s been a hell of a long time since I’ve been in one. But I still fondly remember walking up and down the aisles when I was young, trying in vain to decide what one movie I could rent that week. Now I spend an hour scrolling through streaming services before just watching Goodfellas for the hundredth time.
During the show’s FYC panel in New York City’s Steiner Studios on Thursday, moderator Danny Strong revealed that he remembered having a conversation with creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino before filming began about how they hadn’t found their star yet. The Palladinos told Strong that if they didn’t find the right person for the role of Mariam “Midge” Maisel, they wouldn’t do the show.
They eventually found the right person in Rachel Brosnahan.
“The thing about Rachel is she’s one of the most gifted, if maybe the most gifted, actress, I’ve ever had the chance to really work with this closely, and she can inhabit anything,” Sherman-Palladino said during the panel. “There’s nothing she can’t do. That’s just the bottom line.”
One of the things about Brosnahan’s audition that most stood out to the series creators was that she was the only person who knew that as a stand-up comic, you have to lean into the microphone.
“If you don’t have the balls to do that, you gotta get off the stage,” Sherman-Palladino continued. “The minute she did that, we were kind of like, ‘We’re sold’ ’cause it didn’t matter what happened after that. All we knew is she was the one who had the balls. She had the toughness. She understood the basic thing about comedy, which is you’re up there alone. It’s fucking awful. If the audience turns on you as a stand-up, they’re turning on you.”
During the panel, the Palladinos also revealed that Gilmore Girls fan-favorite Milo Ventimiglia, who made a brief but important appearance in season four, may come back for more in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel‘s fifth and final season, which is in production now. Ventimiglia played a man Midge met in Central Park, whom she chatted with on several occasions before finally going back to his place and having sex, only to find out that he’s married.
“He might be back,” Palladino teased. “And that’s going to be another kind of big crazy sequence for him and one of the people here,” joking, “Tony Shaloub.”
Palladino added that Ventimiglia’s role in the season needed to matter to some degree, it couldn’t just be a tip of the hat, and that’s how they settled on Ventimiglia’s “Handsome Man.”
Sherman-Palladino touched on another important man in Midge’s life, her ex-husband, Joel (Michael Zegen), explaining that the way she sees it, Zegen has the hardest role in the series.
“When you are the person that shot Bambi’s mother in the pilot, and then you have four years of having to win an audience over when you start from that position, it is extraordinarily hard to do and only an incredibly skilled actor is going to be able to do that, and that is just the God’s honest truth,” she said. “Michael Zegen is my fucking secret weapon.”
She went on to say that Zegen has taken the character of Joel from an immature man to a person who is constantly working to improve himself and prove himself to those around him. As much as people may argue that a good actor is a result of a good script, Sherman-Palladino argues otherwise.
“You can say it’s good writing or whatever,” she said, “but you can put any word on the page, and if someone doesn’t show up and humanize that and make that something deep and rich, it’s just fucking words.”
Over the course of the panel, there was a running joke between the cast and the show’s creators about how the Palladinos never give the stars the scripts way in advance, so they don’t know their characters’ overall arcs or what’s coming next for them.
Brosnahan called not knowing her character’s future a “trust fall,” explaining that she and the cast feel it’s helped them grow a lot as actors.
“I’ve had the opportunity to grow up on this show and with this person and to get to do something that I never in 1,000 years could have seen coming,” Brosnahan said. “This is a dream I didn’t know I had.”
Being cast as Midge in Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was a big deal for Brosnahan, as well as for the Palladinos. She had been trying to break into comedy for a while and was continuously told she wasn’t funny and should consider auditioning for more serious roles.
“Literally the day I found out I was going to be their Midge, [I] lost a role that morning because I wasn’t funny enough,” she said. “It’s been perpetually terrifying in the most incredible way that I wish on everyone in this room. I wish you all the experience of being scared because of something you love every day.”
Ahead of the panel, guests were treated to a burlesque show at The Wolford, the club where Midge spends most of her time in season four as an emcee, and a screening of the first episode of the season. The FYC event took place inside the soundstage where the series films, complete with sets of Susie’s (Alex Bornstein) office, The Wolford’s dressing rooms and more. Small buckets of popcorn, bowls of sour candies and funnel cakes on an umbrella were handed out over the course of the event.
On the red carpet before the screening, the cast all agreed on one thing: They’re going to miss each other dearly when the show finally wraps.
Marin Hinkle, who plays Midge’s mother Rose, said the cast and crew have become her family.
“I am madly in love with this cast,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I have one child in my life, wanted to have a brood, and now I have a family that’s larger. It’s everything I dreamed about. I have a daughter and Will [Brill] plays my son, so I actually have extra children.”
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel hasn’t just been a personal journey for Hinkle; Bornstein said there was a scene in season four that especially resonated with her: the funeral of her dear friend, where she gives an impassioned, emotional speech about the role he played in her life.
“We’d lost a cast member, but I also had lost a very dear friend,” Bornstein said. “When Amy wrote that piece, she knew that I had lost this friend, and really she weaves a lot of Brian [Tarantina] and a lot of this friend that I lost.” She choked up a bit, then continued, “it was very difficult, but I felt stronger after having had to try doing this.”
As for Stephanie Hsu, who plays Joel’s girlfriend Mei, Maisel showed her that she could be a part of a period piece, which is something she never thought was possible.
“This has made me break out of my own fears that other people stereotype me a certain way,” Hsu told THR. “It’s given me an opportunity to break a mold that I didn’t even know was there, so much so that anytime another project comes to me and I’m like, ‘Oh, well, they would never have someone who looks like me play that role,’ I immediately stopped myself, and I just say, ‘That’s not true.’” I know that now, that it’s not true, and I’m a part of creating that space for other people who look like me.”
Happy Friday and welcome to your daily recap of what’s new on Netflix for June 3rd, 2022. There are 8 new additions today but fair warning, most are international releases and quality varies dramatically. Here’s what’s new and what’s trending as we head into the weekend.
On the removals side, The Night Clerk (2020) starring Ana De Armas should be on your watch list if it isn’t already. That leaves Netflix on Monday.
Best New Movies and Shows on Netflix for June 3rd
Interceptor (2022)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama Director: Matthew Reilly Cast: Elsa Pataky, Luke Bracey, Aaron Glenane Writer: Stuart Beattie, Matthew Reilly Runtime: 96 min
This movie won’t be taking home any awards but following Netflix’s trend of creating serviceable action movies comes a new one here headed up by Elsa Pataky perhaps best known for her role in the Fast and Furious franchise.
Here’s what you can expect:
“At a remote military base tasked with intercepting nuclear missiles, attackers try to breach the command center. One brave officer stands in their way.”
Chris Hemsworth, who has his own big movie coming out later this month in the form of Spiderhead, serves as executive producer on this movie and notably cameo’s in several sequences too as a humble TV salesman.
Floor is Lava is like Total Wipeout but instead of water you’re being dunked into its lava. The Netflix game show which first premiered over the pandemic is back now with what Netflix promises are bigger courses for contestants to tackle and bigger dunks.
Surviving Summer (Season 1)
Genre: Drama, Family Cast: Sky Katz, Kai Lewins, Lilliana Bowrey, Joao Marinho, Savannah La Rain, Chris Alosio Writer: Josh Mapleston, Joanna Werner Runtime: 27 mins
Another one for families here is the new drama series Surviving Summer which has seemingly came out of nowhere to drop onto Netflix today.
Here’s the synopsis for the Aussie produced series:
“Expelled from school and exiled to Australia, a rebel New York teen makes waves among a young surfer’s inner circle — and leaves a mess in her wake.”
Full List of New Releases on Netflix for June 3rd, 2022
1 New Movies Added to Netflix Today
Interceptor (2022) Netflix Original – TV-MA – English
7 New TV Series Added Today
As the Crow Flies (Season 1) Netflix Original – TV-MA – Turkish – A young fan maneuvers her way into a seasoned anchor’s newsroom but soon confronts the dark side of ambition, envy and the desire to be seen.
Change Days (Season 1 – New Episodes Weekly) – TV-PG – Korean – At a romantic getaway, real-life couples on the brink of breaking up choose between mending their current relationships or pursuing new flames.
Floor Is Lava (Season 2) Netflix Original – TV-Y7 – English – Teams compete to navigate rooms flooded with lava by leaping from chairs, hanging from curtains and swinging from chandeliers. Yes, really.
Mr. Good: Cop or Crook? (Season 1) Netflix Original – TV-14 – Norwegian – In this riveting docuseries, when Norway’s top cop is suspected of drug trafficking, investigators must ask: Is he a good officer or a major criminal?
Surviving Summer (Season 1) Netflix Original – TV-PG – English
The Perfect Mother (Season 1) Netflix Original – TV-MA – French – Convinced of her daughter’s innocence in a homicide, a devoted mother soon uncovers unsettling truths as the line between victim and perpetrator blurs.
Two Summers (Season 1) Netflix Original – TV-MA – Dutch – A close circle of friends reunites for a lavish holiday — decades after one of them was the victim of a sexual assault committed by others in the group.
Top 10 Movies and Shows on Netflix for June 3rd, 2022
#
TV Shows
Movies
1
Stranger Things
The Amazing Spider-Man
2
All American
Disappearance at Clifton Hill
3
The Lincoln Lawyer
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
4
Ozark
We Die Young
5
Wrong Side of the Tracks
Senior Year
6
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
A Perfect Pairing
7
CoComelon
RRR
8
The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
9
The Circle
Home
10
Love on the Spectrum U.S.
Jackass 4.5
What are you watching on Netflix over the weekend? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back via our what’s new on Netflix section on Sunday for a full recap of the week’s new releases.
Danny McBride and the “Righteous Gemstones” writers’ room began shaping Season 2 of the HBO megachurch comedy in the fall of 2019. They started shooting in March 2020, but after two days, the COVID-19 pandemic halted production. What started as a weeks-long delay soon turned into almost a year, and McBride — stuck in lockdown — couldn’t help himself but tweak what he had. And so he rewrote the entire season.
“I ended up pulling out whole storylines and characters that didn’t make it into the season,” McBride tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit podcast. “There are things I’ll probably push maybe into [the third] season, but with a little bit of perspective and a little bit of […] rest in between seasons, it just helped me sort of solidify what I really wanted to do with this season.”
Listen below!
McBride says one of the plot lines that changed the most post-rewrite was Eli Gemstone’s (John Goodman) story with Junior (Eric Roberts), which was cleaned up and simplified. But even after his rewrite, McBride says the scripts for “The Righteous Gemstones” are never set in stone. “We constantly are challenging [the scripts],” he says. “We’re constantly pivoting when things show up on set that are unexpected.”
While “Gemstones” boasts a powerhouse comedic ensemble whose resumes include Second City and the Groundlings, McBride admits there isn’t much improvisation on the set. Still, “sometimes we get to set and do what was written like once or twice… and then it would just devolve into us riffing and trying to make each other laugh,” he says.
“The Righteous Gemstones” stars McBride as Jesse Gemstone, the eldest son of the titular megachurch family. The series, which was recently renewed for Season 3, also stars Goodman, Adam DeVine, Edi Patterson, Cassidy Freeman and Tim Baltz.
On paper, deep-pocketed pastors are not necessarily the most relatable protagonists. But McBride emphasizes that “even if you might not be as depraved as the Gemstones, the idea of struggling to be the best version of yourself is something that I do feel is universal.”
As co-creator and star of HBO comedies “Eastbound & Down” and “Vice Principals,” McBride is no stranger to bringing comedic character-based ideas to life. But with extravagant sets and outlandish storylines, the world-building of “The Righteous Gemstones” is a whole new ball game.
“This show is a lot of fun because [the Gemstones] have such obscene wealth that they can sort of do whatever the hell they want with it,” McBride says. “And so the idea of buying amusement parks and flying to China to do baptisms in wave pools… as a writer there’s like nothing off the table.”
While McBride credits HBO for trusting him and the team to make “creatively sound decisions,” and supporting “Gemstones” with the necessary resources, it’s no easy feat to “pull off an ending in Alaska in the middle of the summer” in Charleston, S.C., where the series shoots.
“Every time that you are presented with some sort of limitation is an opportunity for people to step up creatively,” McBride says. “And that part of it is a lot of fun.”
Teasing what’s to come, McBride says Season 3 will expand the “strange Gemstone world” and “dive deeper into who this family is and how they got here, meeting some new characters from the past to the present.”
Meanwhile, on the Awards Circuit Roundtable, Variety’s Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta and Michael Schneider are back to discuss the state of Emmy FYC, and in particular, the drama race.
Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, produced by Michael Schneider, is your one-stop listen for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each week “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives; discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines; and much, much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts. New episodes post every Thursday and Friday.
“Simple City” is the name locals gave to Benning Terrace, a housing project in southeast D.C. shouted out by local go-go artists and once recognized as one of the most active sites of gang violence in the country. Growing up a half-mile over the Maryland border, rapper IDK became childhood friends with a boy from the projects, and as his rap career opened up a world of new possibilities to him, he also sought to open doors for his friend. His latest project, a joint EP with DJ/producer Kaytranada, pays homage to the D.C. neighborhood and shows that life there is anything but Simple.
The music video for “Taco”—the debut single off the EP—is set in Simple City and shot almost entirely in black-and-white. IDK’s outfit only adds to the contrast of the video. Looking like he didn’t change after his last European shopping spree, he sports a trench coat, combat boots, and a colorful print scarf tied around his head as men with blurred faces and flexing automatic weapons cut in and out of the background. Tying together the scene is a groovy, upbeat instrumental that keeps the video in motion, through IDK’s dance moves and the quick cuts of the editing.
Simple is Kaytranada’s first collab project with another artist, though the Haitian-Canadian producer has worked with a diverse group of stars throughout his career, including Pharrell, Alicia Keys, Kendrick Lamar, and Mach Hommy. His range of production, from pulsing house synths to syncopated breakbeats, made him a cheat code for artists looking to move away from their usual sound. Though IDK falls largely in the former category, he has never shied from different musical approaches–across his sophomore album, 2021’s USEE4YOURSELF, he bounces between trap songs with Young Thug and Offset and R&B ballads with Sevyn Streeter and Lucky Daye.
The album is structured around the contrast shown in the “Taco” video, capturing fleeting moments between flights from “Southeast to Paris” and “Paris to Southeast,” the two interludes on the eight-track, 18-minute EP. On “Dog Food,” featuring frequent IDK collaborator Denzel Curry, IDK contradicts himself on the chorus, breaking from a monotone chant of “the block is hot” for a melodic interlude: “Cold in the wintertime/cold in the summer/Cold when the wind blows/Cold like December.”
Amidst all the EP’s contradictions, “Breathe” is a welcome respite. “Let me catch my breath,” he chants over an entrancing beat as electric guitar riffs and the sound of people panting and moaning float in and out of the background. It’s as surreal as any of the juxtapositions on the album – in the music video IDK and a troupe of cyclists float above the streets of Paris – but keeps a cohesive sound to match its message of inner balance between “the highs and the lows…the love and the hate in the air.”
Despite its title, Simple is a multifaceted project, revisiting IDK’s childhood haunts while he explores new musical terrain alongside a first-time collaborator. For Kaytranada, it may represent a turning point in his collaborative approach, or open doors to albums with other artists. Even at face value, the project highlights the depth and versatility of both artists’ musical styles.
Anyone who’s ever created something worth sharing knows that lightning doesn’t just land in a bottle of its own accord, not even for a select few. Every artist hits a slump once in a while.
For the imagination to flourish, it needs time to reset itself – and that’s exactly what burnout is. It’s not a sign of artistic decline, or a hint that you’re losing your touch.
It’s simply the mind catching its breath and preparing for another round of mental exercise, and it’s an essential part of the creative process.
But, of course, as a working creative, there are times when burnout is, at best, an inconvenience, and at worst, a very large spanner in the works of an important long-term project.
Sometimes, we simply can’t afford to have a dry spell, and on these occasions it helps to have a few tricks handy to deal with it. But first thing’s first.
Accept that burnout can actually be a good thing
This might seem counterintuitive. We see a lot of blog posts and life coaches telling us that burnout is the enemy and that we should take all possible steps to avoid it.Scaremongering about burnout only serves to perpetuate the idea that people experiencing it are going through something negative, and that they should dread feeling this way.
But the truth is that burnout is neither inherently good or bad. It’s simply another way for our brain to tell us that we need to take a break. We need to acknowledge that there is nothing wrong with feeling drained of energy or empty of new ideas.
Immerse yourself in art
Remind yourself why you love what you do. It’s easy to become disenfranchised by your work. It can start to lose its shape and colour, making you feel as though all of your creative output is very similar.
Experiencing new artforms, or even just reliving the past comforts of familiar favourites can reignite your passion and put you back on the right track.
Occasionally, however, observing your favourite art can burn you out even more. We can start to compare ourselves to past masters and lose faith in our abilities. In these situations, it helps if you can surround yourself with the type of work you aspire to create. This can be anything from a series of films, a good book, or even a tutorial on sculpting clay.
Immerse yourself in art about art
A creative drought can be a vicious cycle. You draw a blank, scold yourself for drawing a blank, and as a result you draw more blanks. And so on and so forth. You’re not alone in this. We have long been fascinated with recording the creative process. Documenting the lives of musicians, writers, and filmmakers.
These can be documentaries, like the recent Get Back (2021), an exhaustive investigation into the lives of The Beatles, warts and all, as they prepared for their famous rooftop concert. They can be science fiction, like the episode of Doctor Who, ‘Vincent and the Doctor’ (2010), which opened a window into the life of Vincent Van Gogh, showing the emotional and mental toll that often accompanies creativity. Maybe they’re biopics, like the film Judy (2019), which painted a tragic image of the legendary performing talent that was Judy Garland.
These works are all informative and often poignant, but they serve the burnt out artist by taking the prodigies and virtuosos we admire off of their pedestals, and presenting them as normal, broken people who are more than capable of falling short. And that’s exactly the message we need to hear when we get cold feet about a project or doubt our own talents.
Listen to a podcast
There are some amazingly talented and intelligent people out there spilling the beans on life, the universe, and everything in between, to anyone who’ll listen, for free.
Not only is it a huge relief to take a break from the mad ramblings of your subconscious and hear someone else speak, but it can also be incredibly stimulating for creative brains.
And it doesn’t even have to be a podcast related to what you’re working on. Even a podcast about advances in business technology or hosted telephone systems might send you down a rabbit-hole of possibilities.
Allow yourself to lose focus; let your mind run off with whatever thought or memory is sparked within you. You never know, it might just solve that ultra-specific issue you had with that scene you were writing.
Forget structure and forget rules (…just for a little bit)
It’s so easy to use pre-established structure and rules as a crutch when engaging in any long-studied art form. And that’s not a bad thing, as it’s great that we have the resources to help guide us in our creative careers.
But if you focus too much on the process and the ‘right way’ to do something, you can lose sight of the creativity itself. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t come back to the rule book every once in a while to check that your script or short film still functions in the way it’s intended to, just don’t keep interrupting your flow to flip to page 37 of your screenwriting manual.
Have the courage to make something messy first, and then worry about polishing it later. Nothing burns you out quite as fast as trying to make something perfect before you’ve even done a basic first draft.
Create for yourself first, and for your audience second
It’s hard to be truly creative when you’re constantly analyzing what your audience wants. And I get it, ignoring your target audience sounds crazy. After all, how is your work supposed to be focused if you don’t have an audience in mind?
But as it is with rules and structure, an over-developed awareness of what people expect from you will stifle the original voice that audiences want to hear.
Like data silos, we store little bits of public opinion in our brains, and let it influence our work. But these individual opinions and preferences are often so dependent on personal experience that they’re no good to us as creators.
If you’ve hit a creative wall and you’re struggling to scale it, it may just be that you’re putting too much importance on the opinions of others. Ask yourself what your project means to you. Sum it up in a sentence and make that one sentence your mantra. Do this, and I’d wager you’d get burnt out far less.
Simply do something else
The creative brain is sometimes like an old lawnmower, and needs a bit of encouragement to get going. Especially if you’ve lost a bit of passion for what was once so exciting to you.
But don’t keep banging your head against the wall. Write a poem, or draw your emotions in a sketchbook. Express yourself in the most minor way possible to normalize that feeling of expression. Sometimes all you need is to put on your best headset for virtual meetings and get lost in an online video game with friends. It’s not procrastination if it helps your mind recuperate.
Many people are mentally stimulated simply by talking through their ideas with other creatives. Make sure to record phone conversations so that you have a record of the things you talked about. This can go a long way to getting the gears in your mind turning again.
By engaging in something completely unrelated to your current project you can reset your focus and regain the creative flare that went walkabout.
The Takeaway
When inspiration strikes it doesn’t tend to stick around permanently. But by using these simple techniques you can create a strong and healthy foundation from which new ideas can grow.
And if all that fails? Just call it a night and go to bed. You’d be surprised how much of a difference a good night’s rest can make. Today you might be burnt out, but tomorrow a different you will pick up the pen, and there’s a good chance they’ll have something new to write.
Jessica Day is the Senior Director for Marketing Strategy at Dialpad, a modern phones for enterprise that takes every kind of conversation to the next level—turning conversations into opportunities. Jessica is an expert in collaborating with multifunctional teams to execute and optimize marketing efforts, for both company and client campaigns. Jessica Day also published articles for domains such as Kanbanize and AirDroid. Here is her LinkedIn.
THE NEW Netflix docuseries Mr Good: Cop or Crook premieres on June 3, 2022.
The show features the notorious Scandinavian cop and convicted drug trafficker, Eirik Jensen, who plays himself.
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Eirik Jensen was convicted in 2017 on drug smuggling and corruption chargesCredit: NETFLIX
Who is Eirik Jensen?
Eirik Jensen joined the police force in 1977 and was quickly promoted to superintendent, overseeing the crimes division.
He had a reputation as the best officer in Oslo, Norway, and had been a police officer for 30 years when he was accused of drug trafficking in 2013.
He was accused of smuggling hashish between 2003 and 2012 and prosecutors claimed that Jensen had taken bribes and aided drug smugglers.
Jensen vehemently denied the accusations against him and left the force a year later.
He officially retired in 2016, shortly after he was indicted for drug trafficking and corruption.
In 2017, Jensen was tried and convicted on all charges, becoming the first high-profile case involving a police officer in Norway.
Reuters reported that the court found Jensen received at least 667,800 kroner, or approximately $70,744, in bribes for him to smuggle tonnes of hashish into the country.
He was given the maximum prison sentence of 21 years, and when reading the verdict, Oslo District Court Judge Kim Heger said, “This case is unique in Norwegian legal history.
“Jensen has actively and deliberately contributed to a well-organized and extensive import of hashish.”
Jensen’s attorney John Christian Elden told reporters, “We lost the battle, but we hope to win the war,” adding, “There will be an appeal.”
They did appeal the conviction, but in 2020 Jensen was still found guilty of all charges and his sentence was reimposed without the option for another appeal.
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Eirik Jensen joined the police force in 1977Credit: Audun Fjeldheim / Netflix
Where is he now?
Jensen, now 64 years old, is serving his 21-year sentence at Kongsvinger Prison in Norway and since his conviction, he has penned an autobiography.
The book was published in 2015 and is titled På innsiden, which translates to On the Inside.
He wrote and published his second book, a crime novel titled Attentatet (The Assassination), a year later.
Jensen will now appear as himself in the new Netflix four-part docuseries, Mr Good: Cop or Crook which airs on June 3, 2022.
The series will look into the crimes for which Jensen was convicted and delve into his story.
“The story of Eirik Jensen has fascinated the Norwegian population for many years,” Producer Bendik Mondal told The Sun.
He added, “We believe that this story deserves to be told with a broad framework, and we are very excited to partner with Netflix.
This series is a portrait of a man as well as an insight into one of the most talked-about criminal cases in Norway in recent times.”
Where can I watch Mr Good: Cop or Crook?
The docuseries Mr Good: Cop or Crook airs exclusively on Netflix on June 3, 2022.
The Netflix synopsis says viewers will be gripped by the question plaguing Norway since 2013. “Is Eirik Jensen the best policeman in Norwegian history or is he in fact the biggest drug trafficker Scandinavia has ever seen?”
It adds, “With unique access to both Eirik Jensen, this doc series features charismatic, colorful characters and tells their unbelievable story from their first encounter in the 90s to their potential downfall in the courtroom in 2020.
“Viewers will be wondering until the end – who is telling the truth?”
New couple alert! Dale Moss and designer Galey Alix (née Gravenstein) are dating, a source tells Us Weekly.
After fans snapped photos of the Bachelorette alum, 33, and social media influencer, 28, getting cozy after Moss’ Ted Talk on May 21, an insider has exclusively confirmed to Us that the two are officially an item.
The former Green Bay Packer was last linked to Florencia Galarza in January 2022, when the pair were spotted walking together in New York City. In a photograph obtained by Page Six, Galarza, 36, grasped Moss’ arm as they did some shopping.
“It’s very casual,” an insider exclusively toldUs of the football star and DJ at the time. “They aren’t officially dating.”
Moss’ outing with the soccer star came just four months after his split from ex-fiancée Clare Crawley in September 2021. The pair met on season 16 of The Bachelorette, which aired in 2020, when the hairstylist famously left the ABC series in week four after falling hard for the South Dakota native, who proposed to her during their last episode.
The former couple originally called it quits in January 2021, but Us broke the news that they were giving their romance another shot just one month later. “They’re engaged but still are working on building a solid relationship,” a source said in July 2021. “They’ve discussed future plans but aren’t necessarily wedding planning. They aren’t rushing to tie the knot.”
Seven months later in October 2021, the duo split for good. “It was best for them to go their separate ways at this time,” an insider revealed to Us at the time. “They will still support each other and have love for each other no matter what.”
Alix, for her part, moved from Connecticut to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2020, to start her own home renovation business after struggling with an eating disorder and breaking up with her ex-fiancé.
“I felt like my world had been rocked,” the former finance executive said during an interview with the University of Florida in May 2021. “I picked myself up, not just by going to therapy but also because I was surrounded by a village of people who kept telling me, ‘This will all make sense someday.’ That’s when I realized I had to give my pain a purpose.”
While the social media influencer has not publicly commented on her relationship status, she told Fort Lauderdale Magazine that same month that “if I’m dating somebody and he brings me red roses, I’m, like, ‘You don’t get me dude,’” adding that orange carnations are almost just as criminal.
“I’m going to look past the fact that these were dyed in a cup, but I’m noting that you thought I’d like orange flowers,” she teased about any potential future suitors.
Listen to Us Weekly’s Hot Hollywood as each week the editors of Us break down the hottest entertainment news stories!
“The Real Housewives of Atlanta” opened doors and now Cynthia Bailey says she’s putting in the work to break through in Hollywood.
Bailey said goodbye to “RHOA” in 2021. Since then she’s been adding to her acting resume and will next be seen on Season 2 of AllBlk anthology series “Terror Lake Drive.” The new season is titled “Terror Lake Drive: Single Black Female” and premieres on June 23.
As a Black woman over age 50, Bailey admits she feared Hollywood might not be welcoming.
“When I walked away from ‘Housewives,’ I’m a woman of a certain age, I’m a Black woman, who just turned 55 years old in the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house this year. This is a young industry, the entertainment industry is pretty much for young people, for the most part. So there was a little bit of doubt in my mind, like, ‘Oh, wow, I hope this works out,’” she told TheWrap.
But she was determined and cast her fears aside.
“It’s very scary to go into the unknown,” she explained. “But I prayed about it. I gave it up to God. And I just walked toward it, and I work hard every single day to just keep it going.”
We caught up with Bailey at the recent opening of her new CB Vior store at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. Her friends and fans snapped up hats, shirts and handbags at the grand opening as the drinks flowed and music filled the air.
Photo by Arnold Turner/Eclipse Content for CB Vior
Bailey, who spent 11 years on “RHOA,” said the Bravo juggernaut paved the way for a string of new opportunities, including her street wear line.
“I wanted to come up with a bag line, and just say urban kind of swag line that was stylish, unique, and affordable,” she said. “It started with our bags, and then we started doing sweatsuits, hats.”
Bailey started the line five years ago in Atlanta and is now branching out to Los Angeles.
The model and entrepreneur credits “RHOA” with giving her a platform and immense exposure.
“Bravo, NBC, Truly Original, they were always so generous with me just in terms of making sure all my business endeavors always made it onto the show. I got a lot of exposure,” she said.
Asked about some of the negativity surrounding the series — including criticism that it portrays Black women as always fighting and angry, and “RHOA” alum NeNe Leakes’ racial discrimination lawsuit against Bravo and the show’s producers — Bailey said she wants focus on the positives that came from appearing on the series.
“I would say, when I first joined the ‘Housewives,’ that was very negative. People thought very negatively of the show when I first joined it, but I feel like, you know, as time has gone on, reality TV is here to stay,” she said. “I think people can look at what the ‘Real Housewives’ does in terms of just being examples of Black women who are successful, who have businesses, who live behind gates, and are living the dream, and I’m saying it because that’s not everyone’s reality. So I’ve always focused on the positive part of the show. And I’ve always tried to be a positive example on show.”
After moving to Los Angeles with husband Mike Hill, Bailey said she’s focused on taking her acting career to the next level.
In March, she co-starred in the Lifetime movie “Cruel Instruction” alongside Emmy-winning actress Camryn Manheim, Morgan Taylor Campbell, Viv Leacock and Kelcey Mawema.
She just finished shooting a BET+ movie and Season 2 of AllBlk’s “Terror Lake Drive” premieres later this month.
“Now I’m able to really focus on [acting] and I am actually just blown away by the opportunities that are coming my way,” she said. “I’m all about doing the work. I don’t want anyone to give me anything. I want to work for it. I want to earn it and I want to be respected.”
Season 2 of “Terror Lake Drive: Single Black Female” premieres Thursday, June 23 on AMC Networks’ AllBlk
When production designer Mara LePere-Schloop first met with Soo Hugh in L.A. for Pachinko, she hadn’t yet read Min Jin Lee’s New York Times bestselling novel on which the series would be based. Her initial draw to the project, then, was the “magnetism” of the show’s creator, writer and EP, and her profound “passion” for the story it was telling.
LePere-Schloop began reading the book on her flight back home to New Orleans, and it was at this point that she started to ask herself what she’d gotten herself into. “The story was so incredible, but it’s so vast and epic. I was equal parts super excited and also horrified,” the production designer admits. “I was like, ‘This is going to be so hard.’ But I think at that point, I had bit. I was like, ‘I have to do this, but I think this might kill me.’”
Pachinko is a sweeping international drama series that spans generations and is told across three languages—Korean, Japanese and English. It chronicles the hopes and dreams of a Korean immigrant family across four generations as they leave their homeland in an indomitable quest to survive and thrive. Starting in Japan-occupied South Korea in the early 1900s, the story is told through the eyes of a remarkable matriarch, Sunja, who is intent on fighting for a better life, and triumphs against all odds. Minha Kim plays the teenage version of the character Hugh refers to as the show’s “beating heart,” with Yu-na playing a childhood version and Oscar-winning Minari star Youn Yuh-jung playing an older version. Hugh recently sat down with Kim and LePere-Schloop for a conversation as part of Deadline’s video series, The Process, to examine both the process of bringing the show’s world to life, and the experience of living within it.
In conversation on The Process, Hugh and LePere-Schloop discuss their intention of bringing a “gritty and visceral” reality to Pachinko, while treating the story with “dignity.” They also get into the “period of isolation and confusion early in the pandemic” and how it ended up benefitting the show; location scouts in Japan, Korea and Canada, which led to a shoot in the latter two countries; historical research, and minor miracles in set construction; shooting at a UNESCO World Heritage site, and building the show’s stunning ’80s Pachinko parlor “from scratch” in Vancouver; visualizing the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 for Episode 7; and their efforts throughout production to “get as much scope and detail into the series as possible.”
Kim speaks for her part to her favorite sets and Sunja scenes, seeing elements of history she’d only read about or heard about from her mother come to life before her eyes on set, working with the show’s global cast and crew to tell a specifically Korean story, the very different approaches that directors Kogonada and Justin Chon brought to their work on Pachinko, the joy of dancing barefoot in the series’ title sequence, and more.
Pachinko debuted to critical acclaim on Apple TV+ in March, and was renewed for a second season the following month. The series also stars Lee Min-Ho, Jin Ha, Soji Arai, Anna Sawai, Jimmi Simpson aand more. Hugh serves as showrunner and exec produces alongside Kogonada and Chon, Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer for Media Res, Theresa Kang-Lowe for Blue Marble Pictures, and Richard Middleton. David Kim and Sebastian Lee serve as co-executive producers.
Watch Hugh’s entire conversation with LePere-Schloop and Kim above.
Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes were devastated to learn that the Supreme Court may soon overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling legalizing abortion. The filmmakers had just screened “The Janes,” their documentary about abortion activists in the pre-Roe v. Wade era, at the San Francisco Intl. Film Festival when they learned about the leaked majority opinion that would turn back the clock on women’s reproductive rights nearly 50 years.
“I burst into tears when I found out” says Lessin, who with Pildes has been screening “The Janes” around the country since its Sundance premiere. “While I expected some sort of erosion of Roe and some people were even expecting the overturning of Roe, this decision was pretty shocking even to people who were in the know.”
The documentary, which will debut on HBO June 8, revolves around the Jane Collective, an underground organization that provided illegal abortion services in Chicago from 1969 until 1973. The women who ran it – the Janes — also advocated for the woman known by the pseudonym Jane Roe. She filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas, challenging a state law making abortion illegal except by a doctor’s orders to save a woman’s life.
Lessin and Pildes say that the activism that occurred nearly 50 years ago against Wade can be replicated despite a shifting landscape that includes social media. They point out that the battle can take shape in many ways.
“The thing that we learned in making this film is that you always have the option to do the decent thing and stand up for each other and support each other,” says Pildes. “When it comes to activism, some people’s contribution is going to be protesting in the streets. Some people’s contribution is going to be making a film and some people’s contribution is going to be direct action, like the Janes, that may be very illegal where they are doing it. But overall, I think it will look a bit different because the world is different.”
The battle to keep Roe v. Wade intact has been underway since 1976, Lessin notes. That’s when the Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortions, was passed.
“Only 10% of counties in this country have abortion care facilities,” Lessin says. “Who does that leave out? That leaves out rural and low income people and people who don’t have access to transportation or even public transportation. So, there are already networks set up. People have set up housing. People donate money to help subsidize travel costs. So, people need to plug into those already existing networks, and we all need to take to the streets and speak about our experiences very candidly so that we can destigmatize what is basic healthcare.”
The directors’ outreach campaign for “The Janes” will continue through the year. They are scheduled to screen the doc at several college campus in the coming months.
“We want young women and men to see this film and hear these women’s stories,” Pildes says. “They tell you what this country looks like when women don’t have the right to make this decision for themselves in vivid detail. That’s a pretty powerful thing. We hope that it contributes to the conversation and gives some clarity and some humanity to the human beings who are going to suffer and die because of these (new) laws.”
Lessin says that she doesn’t feel the responsibility “to change hearts and minds” of pro-life activists in Mississippi or Texas, where Roe v. Wade is being challenged.
“The vast majority of people in this country believe in the right to access safe abortions,” Lessin says. “We just need to engage people who already believe in accessing this basic healthcare right and help them engage and take action. We certainly want anyone and everyone to see this film, but we especially want people who have been silently fuming or who have been complacent to understand the high stakes and the threat of injury that hangs over so many people in this country because of the court’s looming decision.”
The teaser of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jawan has finally been released and has raised excitement among fans for the movie. The teaser features Shah Rukh Khan amidst a rugged backdrop, wounded and wrapped in bandages. The first look of the film sets the tone for what’s to come, a larger-than-life action entertainer. Jawan is produced by Gauri Khan and is directed by Atlee. It will hit theatres on June 2, 2023, in five Indian languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
Urfi Javed took to her Instagram stories and shared a screenshot of hate comments she has been receiving recently. In these messages, some netizens can be seen wishing death for Urfi Javed. One of the social media users mentioned how Urfi should have been shot instead of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala. Sharing the screenshot, Urfi mentioned that these death wishes are ‘scary’.
Days after KK’s death, Subhalakhmi Dey, who performed at the same venue just before KK revealed how the singer had refused to step out of his car considering the heavy crowd. “KK saw the crowd outside the auditorium and at first he didn’t want to get out of his car at Najrul Mancha,” Dey told India Today. She also claimed that KK had also asked the organisers to dim the stage lights during his performance.
In a recent interview, Akshay Kumar reacted to the South vs Bollywood debate and said that there shouldn’t be any divide between the two film industries. The 54-year-old superstar added that all the film industries should work together and deliver good films for the Indian masses. Interestingly, Akshay also said that Pushpa: The Rise fame Allu Arjun should work with him too.
Bollywood star and VJ Anusha Dandekar left netizens confused on Friday after she took to social media and shared some cutest pictures with a baby girl. The actress addressed her as an ‘angel’ and left netizens speculating if she has adopted a baby girl. While wishes started to pour in the comment section, the actress later clarified that the girl is not her daughter.
One of the most popular holiday songs of all time is being legally challenged by a country music songwriter who claims copyright infringement over “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
Mariah Carey and co-writer Walter Afansieff are named in the lawsuit by songwriter Andy Stone, who claims his “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Vince Vance & the Valiants from 1989 is being infringed. Stone filed his papers in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
While the songs have the same title, there is only a hint of Carey’s melody or lyrics beyond the title call-out.
Dennis Leupold
Carey’s song of the title came out in 1994 and has become a holiday staple on radio and the NBA’s annual slate of games on Christmas Day.
Stone claims his song received extensive airplay during the 1993 holiday season. He is asking for $20 million in damages. Stone claims Carey and Afansieff “intentionally engaged in a campaign to infringe” his copyright on the work.
The country songwriter faces an uphill battle to prove his claims.
Pamela Koslyn, a Los Angeles attorney specializing in music and intellectual property rights, noted there are 177 works, many of them musical compositions, with “All I Want For Christmas Is You” as the title.
Koslyn noted that she would have a different answer if all of the lyrics are “substantially similar” to Carey’s version.
“Song titles aren’t entitled to copyright protection,” Koslyn added. “That’s why there are 177 works using the same title. An even more popular title is “My Baby,” which has 4860 works registered with the Copyright Office. And that doesn’t even count “common law” (unregistered) works using the same title.”
The Carey version of the song has over 1 billion streams on Spotify alone. Last year, it became the first song to be a No. 1 hit in three separate runs on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.
Like it or not, network TV series typically live and die by their Nielsen ratings. Since most fans do not live in Nielsen households, the average person’s preferences aren’t taken into account, and that is frustrating. While we can’t change the system, we want to give you an outlet for your opinions, so we invite you to vote for your favorite 2021-22 network TV shows here. Which programs are the best or the worst? If it were up to you, which TV series would be cancelled and renewed?
ABC TV series this season (so far):Abbott Elementary, America’s Funniest Home Videos, American Idol, Big Sky, Black-ish, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, The Chase, The Conners, Dancing with the Stars, The Goldbergs, The Good Doctor, The Great Christmas Light Fight, Grey’s Anatomy, Holey Moley, Home Economics, Jeopardy! National College Championship, Judge Steve Harvey, Let the World See, A Million Little Things, Promised Land, The Rookie, Shark Tank, Station 19, Supermarket Sweep, Who Do You Believe?, Women of the Movement, and The Wonder Years.
CBS TV series this season (so far): The Amazing Race, Beyond the Edge, Big Brother: Celebrity Edition, Blue Bloods, Bob ♥ Abishola, Bull, CSI: Vegas, The Equalizer, FBI, FBI: International, FBI: Most Wanted, Ghosts, Good Sam, Magnum PI, NCIS, NCIS: Hawai’i, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Neighborhood, SEAL Team, Survivor, SWAT, Tough As Nails, Undercover Boss, United States of Al, and Young Sheldon.
The CW TV series this season (so far):4400. All American, All American: Homecoming, Batwoman, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Dynasty, Great Chocolate Showdown, Killer Camp, Legacies, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Kung Fu, March, Nancy Drew. Naomi, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Superman & Lois, Tom Swift, Two Sentence Horror Stories, Whose Line Is It Anyway, and World’s Funniest Animals.
FOX TV series that have premiered (so far) during the 2021-22 television season:9-1-1, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Alter Ego, Beat Shazam, The Big Leap, Bob’s Burgers, Call Me Kat, The Cleaning Lady, Don’t Forget the Lyrics, Duncanville, Family Guy, The Great North, Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer, The Masked Singer, MasterChef Junior, Name That Tune, Next Level Chef, Our Kind of People, Pivoting, The Real Dirty Dancing, The Resident, The Simpsons, So You Think You Can Dance, and Welcome to Flatch.
NBC TV series this season (so far): America’s Got Talent: Extreme, America’s Got Talent, American Auto, American Song Contest, The Blacklist, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD, The Courtship, Dancing with Myself, The Endgame, Grand Crew, Home Sweet Home, Kenan, La Brea, Law & Order, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Law & Order: SVU, Mr. Mayor, New Amsterdam, Ordinary Joe, That’s My Jam, The Thing About Pam, This is Us, Transparent, The Voice, Weakest Link, and Young Rock.
What do you think? Which network TV shows do you rate as wonderful, terrible, or somewhere between? If it were your call, which TV series would be cancelled or renewed for another season? Don’t forget to vote, and please share your thoughts, below.
“This is not as simple as doing ‘When Harry Met Sally’ or some Hallmark Christmas movies and just swapping in two gay guys for the straight couple and having everything play out the same way.”
“Bros,” the meta all-queer rom-com from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” scribes Billy Eichner and Nicholas Stoller, wanted to find the next “openly gay Ryan Reynolds or an openly gay Paul Rudd” to play the love interest opposite Eichner’s lead.
Why?
“I just assumed that my love interest had to be played by a big movie star, which would mean a straight man because we don’t have any openly gay movie stars in America,” Eichner told Entertainment Weekly about casting the film, out September 20. “We have TV stars, a lot of openly gay actors, but a movie star…”
Eichner continued, “We’ve never had an openly gay Ryan Reynolds, or an openly gay Paul Rudd, or an openly gay Kevin Hart, they just do not exist. Hollywood did not allow for it.”
“Bros” stars an entirely LGTBQ+ cast and centers on Eichner playing a podcast host who is tasked with writing a romance film that appeals to straight audiences. Eventually, the jaded podcaster falls for Hallmark Channel alum Luke Macfarlane; the cast also includes Harvey Fierstein, Bowen Yang, Symone, Miss Lawrence, Guy Branum, Guillermo Diaz, Amanda Bearse, and Ts Madison. The film is produced by Judd Apatow.
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Eichner added that casting a straight male co-lead would not be the “right thing ethically” or creatively. “We’re doing a movie where you have this throughline about how LGBTQ people have been erased from history, so it would be so hypocritical,” Eichner said.
“Bros” also doesn’t shy away from showing real relationships onscreen, unlike the “two-dimensional and very not threatening” TV kind of male gay romances that Eichner described as “sexless.” Or, in a true vixen/virgin fashion, gay men are portrayed as “completely obsessed with sex and drugs” as another extreme.
“We’re not doing a sitcom. This is not as simple as doing ‘When Harry Met Sally’ or some Hallmark Christmas movies and just swapping in two gay guys for the straight couple and having everything play out the same way,” the “Billy on the Street” star explained.
However, there is a dash of classic rom-com sensibility: “You have scenes where Luke and I are walking around on the Upper West Side, on what really felt like a scene out of a Nora Ephron rom-com that I grew up loving, but were never about gay couples,” he continued. “We weren’t even on the sidelines in most of those movies — there wasn’t even a gay best friend at that point.”
Eichner added, “To think that there was this huge crew and a major studio budget that wasn’t enormous, but was much more than what LGBTQ people have gotten in the past…to know we had sweeping crane shots of me and Luke walking hand-in-hand on Central Park West, the way Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan did, was so moving for me.”
Dance Gavin Dance announced on Friday (June 3) that vocalist Tilian Pearson will be stepping away from the rock band to “seek professional help” following recent sexual misconduct allegations.
“The recent allegations against Tilian are something we take very seriously, and we have been in deep discussion regarding the appropriate action,” the statement shared to Instagram read. “Effective immediately, Tilian will be stepping away from the band in order to seek professional help.”
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The statement added that the rest of the band members will continue to perform at their scheduled tour dates this summer, and will also release their album Jackpot Juicer on July 29 as planned. “We all worked incredibly hard on this album, and it is also the last recorded body of work from Tim – we want to be sure we give it the full release attention that it deserves to honor his legacy.”
Tim Feerick, the longtime bassist for Dance Gavin Dance, passed away in April with no immediate cause of death given.
“We know that this is a very upsetting and trying situation for all those affected, and we ask people to please be as understanding as possible while everyone works through this,” Dance Gavin Dance’s statement concluded. “We appreciate you always.”
On June 1, a Reddit user shared a detailed account of her alleged interactions with Pearson leading up to Dance Gavin Dance’s performance at SwanFest in Sacramento, Calif., on April 23. The woman claims she got in touch with Pearson through a DM on Instagram, which she sent while she was “definitely under the influence of something.”
The two then exchanged numbers, according to her account, and agreed to meet to go on a “date” three days before the festival. She said that both she and Pearson were intoxicated from alcohol before they went back to the singer’s place of residence.
“I knew he was pretty drunk and going through an extremely stressful time, so I helped him through it, and I was genuinely happy to do so. I was comfortable enough now to finish what I started, but at one point this man had decided to straight up slap me across the face,” she alleged. “Obviously, it was in an attempt to be ~sexy~ but it ended up REALLY hurting. I voiced this like, ‘Hey, uh. That’s cool and all but could you ask next time, and maybe not do it as hard?’ He heard me, hesitated for a second, and then did it again. I mean. Hard enough to throw my hearing out of whack and have me black out for a few seconds – it wasn’t cool.”
Following SwanFest, the woman said she and Pearson kept in touch, and at one point, the singer urged her to meet up with him at his AirBnB while he was intoxicated. Pearson then made the woman physically uncomfortable, she alleged.
“He wouldn’t say anything, just grab me and put me back on,” she claimed in her post. “It physically hurt. It wasn’t okay, and I voiced that it wasn’t … After all that, I didn’t reeeeally want to stay the night with him, but he insisted. He gets into this weird ‘snuggling’ position and I … legitimately could not move. I was starting to get a little freaked out and tried to tell him I should leave, but again. He wouldn’t let me. He kept insisting I had to stay the night with him, and he wouldn’t let me go.”
Pearson denied the allegations in his own Reddit post, which has since been deleted but shared by Loudwire,saying that he was “very vulnerable” during the alleged encounter, and “every sexual act was purely consensual.”
“I take the subject of sexual assault seriously, and I want to firmly reiterate that there was no moment of anything happening that was not consensual,” he wrote. “I understand that in a new sexual relationship, there is a period of figuring each other’s preferences out, but there is not a doubt our physical contact ever crossed boundaries into anything resembling assault.”
MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL 2022 REVIEW! I don’t mind saying it. I’ve been a fan of Disney for as long as I can remember. The first movie I saw was Mary Poppins. I’ve been to Disneyland way too many times. Jeff Malmberg’s tribute documentary Mickey: The Story of a Mouse reminds us that it all started with a Mouse, and by “it,” I mean everything.
Mickey: The Story of a Mouse is the story and history of Mickey Mouse since his inception in 1928 and before he became a corporate icon. Walt Disney created him when Universal stole his prior creation Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. With Mickey firmly in his pocket, Walt built an entire animation studio around Mickey Mouse and revolutionized film, starting with the first sound-synched film Steamboat Willy.
If you’re planning to do a term paper or report on Mickey, Mickey: The Story of a Mouse is about as comprehensive a story as you can get. As Mickey evolved, he became too good and virtuous in the eyes of the public. So much so that Goofy and Donald Duck were created to enough mischief to tell a compelling Mickey Mouse story.
Mickey’s history runs parallel with veteran Disney animator Eric Goldbert, pulling out the old pencil to create a brand-new Mickey Mouse cartoon for this documentary. Dozens of animators would feverishly pull together a Mickey Mouse short or feature in the old days. Still, here it’s, a small crew reviving the medium of hand-drawn animation—now sadly on life-support.
“…the story and history of Mickey Mouse since his inception in 1928 and before he became a corporate icon.”
Malmberg’s documentary then explores the global impact of Mickey Mouse. Mickey was loved everywhere, even by Hitler and Mussolini…just before Mickey’s appearance supporting the war effort in WWII through a collection of U.S. War Propaganda short…and yes, it was war propaganda. Mickey even served as an image of hope during the Holocaust.
As you’d imagine, Malmberg highlights the corporatization of Mickey Mouse as an icon in merchandising, art, and shilling for the mega-corporation, The Walt Disney Company. While basking in a heavy haze of nostalgia, I couldn’t help but wonder what the Walt Disney Company did to Walt, the man? Did they put him back under ice? Some might question the current direction of the Walt Disney Company and its recently acquired intellectual property.
Walt’s DNA is indelibly ingrained in optimistic Mickey Mouse, and you see it in that small group of animators trying to hold Walt’s memory and legacy tightly through their short film. But where is that spirit of creativity now?
The most often asked question at Film Threat seems to be, “Is it woke?” There’s undoubtedly an element of it and handled better than most other Disney projects. For example, early in the pre-Snow White days, Mickey Mouse engaged in questionable behavior toward Minnie Mouse. Some, shall we say, #MeToo moments. I believe you can see some of this behavior at the Main Street Theater at Disneyland. However, it’s handled in a way that doesn’t hide or justify his actions as a product of its time, but at the same time, refuses to cancel Mickey for his youthful indiscretions outright.
If you are a fan of Mickey Mouse at any level, you will fall in love with the Mouse again in Mickey: The Story of a Mouse. It’s a fitting tribute to Walt and Mickey and makes you long for a time when storytelling was someone just telling a story.
Friday marks 100 days since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and for some of the refugees that have come to B.C. the arrival has been rocky.
Despite promises made by the federal and provincial government to help them get settled, accessing resources and finding a place to live has proven to be challenging, according to stakeholders.
At the Holy Eucharist Cathedral in New Westminster, the services are needed nonstop.
In order to meet basic needs, Pastor Mykhailo Ozorovych said for the first time in the parish’s history, they’ve had to hire people to help manage the crisis.
“Our capacity is already at the max. We are trying to expand so we can help a little bit more,” Ozorovych said.
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B.C. fundraiser helps bring Ukrainian refugees to safety
B.C. fundraiser helps bring Ukrainian refugees to safety – May 25, 2022
There are two volunteer teams working on resettlement and one has stopped taking registrations, according to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. The other may be full by the end of June.
Variety has named its 10 Comics to Watch for 2022. This year’s honorees will be profiled in the July 20 issue of Variety and be honored at this year’s Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, held in Montreal July 13-31. There will be a panel and cocktail reception held on July 29, followed by a performance showcase July 30.
Variety has been presenting the 10 Comics to Watch list since 2000 and has included such names as Tiffany Haddish, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt and Quinta Brunson.
The list is comprised of stand-up comedians, writers and content creators selected by a panel that includes Variety editors and those in the comedy community that scout, book, cast and represent comics.
Says Christine Walters, creative director, Just For Laughs ComedyPRO and ComedyCON: “We look forward to welcoming the hilarious new class of Variety 10 Comics to Watch in this, our 40th anniversary year of the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. The past few years have shown us how vital live comedy is to the human experience. We are so thrilled to be able to gather together again in person to celebrate this well-curated, gifted group of comics and creators.”
Adds Steven Gaydos, senior VP global content/executive editor of Variety: “At a time when comedians are the topic of op-ed columns about their physical safety — thanks to the onstage violence against Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle — the questions of tone, topicality and that all-aways elusive line between hilarious and hurtful have never been louder. This year’s lineup of Variety‘s 10 Comics to Watch are all deft and all are daring, a great sign that changing times are not intimidating the new generation of satirists and sacred cow punchers every free society desperately needs.”
This year’s 10 Comics to Watch are:
Rosebud Baker – A writer on “Saturday Night Live,” Baker’s special “Rosebud Baker: Whiskey Fists” is available on Comedy Central Digital and she’ll be seen on the Netflix series “That’s My Time With David Letterman.”
J.R. De Guzman – The winner of Stand-up NBC, De Guzman was a JFL New Face in 2017. He is currently on his theater tour “J.R. De Guzman: An Evening” and can be seen in “The Comedy Lineup” on Netflix. His comedy album “Dual Citizen” hit #1 on Billboard and iTunes.
Vanessa Gonzalez – Gonzalez is currently opening on Chelsea Handler’s “Vaccinated and Horny Tour” and has been seen on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” and “The Garcias.” Her comedy album “My Birthday’s Tomorrow” is now available on iTunes and Spotify.
Jay Jurden – An original staff writer on Apple TV+’s “The Problem With Jon Stewart,” Jurden has been seen on NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” and Comedy Central’s “Featuring.” His comedy album, “Jay Jurden Y’all,” debuted at No. 1 on iTunes.
Matteo Lane – An oil painter and opera singer before venturing into comedy, Lane can be seen on Netflix’s “The Comedy Lineup” and co-hosts the podcast “Inside the Closet” with Emma Willmann.
Claudia O’Doherty – The Australian comic previously appeared on Netflix’s “Love” and in the film “Trainwreck” and can currently be seen stealing scenes in Peacock’s “Killing It.”
Atsuko Okatsuka – Okatsuka’s show “The Intruder” is on tour through August, playing the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She recently made her late night stand-up debut on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” and can be heard on the show “Fairview.”
Blair Socci – Socci hosts the podcast “Dear Owen Wilson” for iHeart Radio and lends her voice to Comedy Central’s animated series “Fairview” and the upcoming “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” feature for Adult Swim.
Moses Storm – Having performed on “Last Comic Standing” and “Conan,” this year saw Storm’s HBO Max comedy special “Trash White,” which he wrote, designed, co-directed and co-edited.
Sheng Wang – A featured stand-up on HBO’s “2 Dope Queens” and a writer on “Fresh Off the Boat,” Wang will film his first Netflix special this summer, produced by Ali Wong.
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