“26.2 to Life” follows inmates at California’s San Quentin prison as they train and compete for a marathon. Filmmaker Christine Yoo explores how each prisoner strives for their personal best, seeking different forms of redemption.
"26.2 to Life" follows inmates at California's
The Opposition NDP is raising concerns about an Alberta Health Services report that shows a decline in the number of annual food safety inspections since 2018, as six children remain in hospital due to an E. coli outbreak at multiple Calgary daycares.
The 11 initial daycares shared a central kitchen, which is believed to be the source of any contaminated food and has been shut down indefinitely since the Sept. 4 outbreak.
The heath authority’s 2021-22 annual report, the most recent one posted online, shows there were 33,728 inspections from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 — down from 65,560 in 2018-19.
“The (United Conservative Party) formed government in 2019,” Diana Batten, the NDP’s critic for child care and child and family services, said in an interview Friday.
There were 48,247 inspections in 2019-20 and 26,171 in 2020-21, when there were public health restrictions in place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alberta Health Services says on a web page created for the E. coli outbreak that its public health inspectors do more than 40,000 inspections annually. It did not respond to a Wednesday request for more details.
Batten, a nurse who represents a Calgary constituency, said food safety inspections were immediately cut — even before the COVID-19 pandemic — and continued to decline until at least 2022.
“I can’t imagine that suddenly they hired 45 per cent more inspectors,” she said.
“They are nowhere near where they were before.”
Dr. Franco Rizzuti, chief medical officer of health for Alberta Health Services in the Calgary region, said last week during a media briefing on the E. coli outbreak that it continues to have a “robust public health team in place.”
There are 250 inspectors across the province, he said, up from 237 during the pandemic.
“Thirteen new positions were added provincially to ensure that critical violations were identified and corrected,” he said. “In Calgary zone, there are currently 64 public health inspectors and this is compared to 60 before the pandemic.
“AHS routinely inspects all food-permitted facilities. Thorough inspections are generally conducted once per year at minimum with risk-management inspections conducted to follow up on any violations found.”
An inspection report on the central kitchen linked to the daycares found three critical violations, including improper sanitation and a significant pest infestation, on Sept. 5 — the day after the E. coli outbreak was declared.
Previous inspection reports posted online also found violations dating back to July 2021. Those included cleanliness and sanitation issues, an expired food handling certificate and inadequate handwashing facilities.
Rizzuti said there were inspections at the central kitchen in July 2021, February 2022, October 2022 and January 2023 as well as several risk-management inspections to correct any problems.
“Before September, AHS last inspected this facility in April 2023,” he said last week. “Two infractions were found at the time and they were corrected the same day.
“As of April … there were no outstanding violations left at that site.”
Rizzuti, however, didn’t say how many total inspections were being conducted across the province and it appears to be just over 40,000 annually.
The NDP said the decline under the current government shows systemic issues.
“We just continue to identify areas where the UCP government … has actually degraded the public health-care system,” said Batten.
“They set up the system for failure, which we are seeing.”
Batten said it all points to a need for an independent public inquiry.
Alberta Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Premier Danielle Smith has previously said there would be some sort of review into the E. coli outbreak.
There have been 349 lab-confirmed cases of bacterial infections related to the outbreak and 38 of those people — 37 children and one adult — were hospitalized.
All of the six children still receiving care at the Alberta Children’s Hospital have hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication affecting the blood and kidneys, and two remain on dialysis.
There have been 29 cases of secondary spread and several other daycares have closed as a result.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
The Opposition NDP is raising concerns about
While Ryan Murphy has found success in the TV industry, he’s also faced his fair share of controversies.
Murphy is most well known for creating and producing several popular series including Glee, American Horror Story, Pose and more. Over the course of his career, he’s earned six Primetime Emmy Awards from 36 nominations, a Tony Award from two nominations and two Grammy Award nominations.
Along with his accomplishments, Murphy has also faced a series of controversies. Speaking about his time on Glee, Murphy described the days on set as the “the best” and “the worst time” in his life as he navigated behind-the scenes drama with the cast.
“There was a lot of infighting. There was a lot of people sleeping together and breaking up,” he recalled in a 2016 interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It was good training for being a parent, I’ll tell you that much. But I also made a mistake: We all got too personal.”
Keep scrolling to see Murphy’s ups and downs over the years:
Murphy, who got his start in TV by cocreating the 1999 WB series Popular, got his first taste of success after creating his FX show Nip/Tuck, which aired for six seasons. The drama series scored him his first-ever Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.
Five years after the prosperity of Nip/Tuck, Murphy returned to TV with Glee. He earned his first Emmy for directing the pilot episode. Throughout the show’s six seasons, it took home six Emmys, nine Golden Globes, 14 Teen Choice Awards, one SAG award and more. The popularity of the series led to the spinoff reality show, The Glee Project, which Murphy also created in an attempt to find new talent for the series.
Along with the musical dramedy gaining popularity the cast also faced several controversial and tragic events. While filming the series, Lea Michele was accused of toxic behavior and bullying on set. Ahead of shooting season 5 in 2013, Cory Monteith died at age 31 from an accidental drug overdose. After the show wrapped up in 2015, two more cast members died: Mark Salling, who by suicide in 2018, and Naya Rivera, who accidentally drowned in 2020.
Murphy went on to cocreate the critically acclaimed American Horror Story. The anthology series has earned four Critics Choice awards, 16 Emmys, two Golden Globes and more. As of 2023, AHS is in its 12th season. Murphy later created AHS’ sister show, American Horror Stories, in 2021.
Murphy continued to create more TV shows including Pose, 9-1-1 and its subsequent spinoff, 9-1-1 Lonestar. Murphy earned a series of praise for his work on Pose as the first season had the largest cast of trans actors in a network series. At the time, he revealed his plans to donate his profits from the LGBTQ drama to several non-profits involved in the community including the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, and Callen-Lorde Community Health Center.
“The thing that struck me in talking to so many of them, was how much they’ve struggled, how under attack they feel, how many of them find it difficult getting healthcare and finding jobs,” Murphy told Variety. “I just decided I need to do more than just making a show for this community. I want to reach out and help this community.”
In that same year, Murphy signed a $300 million deal with Netflix to create original content for the streaming service.
After news broke of Rivera’s tragic death, Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan announced they were putting together a college fund for the late actress’ son Josey. However, one year later, Naya’s father, George Rivera, claimed that Murphy did not honor his promise and never established a fund for Josey.
“When you are part of the Hollywood elite, some people treat others as they are ‘less than’ …. vocalize a good game, but it’s as shallow as the sets on stage, that they create,” he tweeted at the time. “Promises made in public, only to fade with time and excuses … even in an unexplainable tragedy.”
Murphy responded to the claims and shared that he had been in contact with the “appropriate executors” of Naya’s estate to create the fund.
Murphy’s Netflix show Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which chronicled the life of the infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmner, faced backlash amongst its viewers for how it portrayed the victims’ perspective. Several family members of Dahmer’s victims also argued that the Netflix program dramatized the truth. Despite the controversy, Murphy stood by the series.
“It’s something that we researched for a very long time,” he said at a Dahmer event at the time, per The Hollywood Reporter. “And we, over the course of the three, three and a half years when we were really writing it, working on it, we reached out to 20 — around 20 of the victims’ families and friends trying to get input, trying to talk to people and not a single person responded to us in that process.”
During the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, Murphy was criticized for allegedly refusing to halt production for AHS season 12 and also threatened to sue the former WGA strike captain Warren Leight. Following the backlash, Murphy launched a fund starting with $500k to support past and current actors and crew members in his projects during the strike.
In September 2023, Angelica Ross — who worked on Pose and AHS — claimed that Murphy had ghosted her over a potential AHS spinoff.
“Remember your idea about a HORROR season starring black women? Well I’m doing it,” Murphy seemingly wrote to Ross, according to the screenshot via X at the time. “Not sure of the story yet, but we will start a writers room in the fall.”
Ross shared her excitement about the project and let Murphy know she was interested and offered some suggestions for other potential cast members. In a separate alleged exchange, Ross reached out to Murphy to follow up about the project since she was still under contract with him and seemingly never heard back.
“Mind you, marvel had called twice now. I haven’t heard from him since,” she noted. “Please ask somebody about me. If I’m at the point of publicly showing receipts you can believe I don’t have any f—ks left to give when it comes down to it. And I’m not even done pulling out the receipts.”
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic While Ryan Murphy has found success
Microsoft came one step closer on Friday to completing its $69 billion purchase of the video game maker Activision Blizzard, in a deal that has become an example of how a company can successfully ride out stricter regulatory scrutiny of the power of tech giants.
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority, the last remaining agency that must sign off before Microsoft can complete the acquisition, said the companies had taken action that “substantially addresses” remaining antitrust concerns. The regulator initially tried to block the deal, saying it would undercut competition, but reversed course after Microsoft agreed not to buy a part of Activision’s business associated with so-called cloud gaming, a small but promising new area for the industry.
First announced in January 2022, the acquisition has been heavily scrutinized by antitrust officials around the world and held up as a test of whether regulators would approve a tech megamerger amid concerns about the industry’s power. The deal would upend the video game market, combining Microsoft’s Xbox business with Activision, a publisher of such hit video games as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.
But Microsoft, with experience in thorny antitrust disputes going back to the 1990s, was able to navigate its way through stiff regulatory resistance on both sides of the Atlantic. In July, the company won a court battle against the Federal Trade Commission, which had tried to block the deal. The European Union, typically an aggressive regulator of American tech firms, cleared the deal in May.
“Microsoft was very strategic in its approach in how it played the whole process from beginning to end,” said Ioannis Kokkoris, professor of competition law and economics at Queen Mary, University of London.
He said that it was incredibly rare for Britain’s C.M.A. to reverse course and that the agency had faced a lot of pressure to approve the deal after it cleared hurdles in other jurisdictions.
“When you are the last man standing, you cannot realistically block a deal when the U.K. represents less that 5 percent of the global revenues,” said Tommaso Valletti, a professor of economics at Imperial College Business School who used to work on antitrust cases for the European Commission.
On Friday, British regulators said Microsoft had satisfied their concerns. The C.M.A. initially blocked the deal because, it said, a merger between the maker of a top-selling console with the publisher of hit games threatened to stunt the development of the emerging area of cloud gaming technology. Although still a very small market, the technology allows people to stream games on phones, tablets and other devices, diminishing the need for traditional consoles.
Microsoft agreed to transfer the cloud streaming licensing rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft Entertainment, a rival game publisher. The arrangement lasts for 15 years, a move seen as preventing Microsoft from releasing Activision games exclusively on its own streaming service.
“The C.M.A. considers that the restructured deal makes important changes that substantially address the concerns it set out in relation to the original transaction earlier this year,” the agency said in a statement on Friday.
The regulator said it was now holding a “consultation” through Oct. 6 about the remedies Microsoft had proposed before making a final decision on whether to approve the deal.
“We are encouraged by this positive development in the C.M.A.’s review process,” Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Microsoft toward completing the regulatory review process,” Activision Blizzard said in a statement.
The companies have said they intend to close the deal by Oct. 18.
Government scrutiny of the tech industry’s growing power shows no signs of slowing down. This month, a trial began over claims by the U.S. Justice Department and a group of states that Google abused its power in the online search market. On Friday, E.U. regulators said they would reimpose a $400 million fine against Intel for abusing its power in the market for semiconductors. E.U. authorities are also investigating Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft for other anticompetitive business practices.
Mr. Kokkoris said Microsoft’s mix of fighting in court and offering business concessions provided a playbook for other tech companies to follow when making large acquisitions.
“This is definitely going to make Big Tech more willing to continue deal making, but the companies know now that they will have to give up something more than they thought before this case,” he said.
This week, Cisco agreed to buy the cybersecurity company Splunk for $28 billion. Broadcom, the semiconductor giant, is also getting closer to completing an acquisition of the software company VMware for $61 billion.
Microsoft came one step closer on Friday
Dublin-born musician-turned-writer/director John Carney’s latest film Flora and Son opens limited today, and goes wide on Apple TV+ next Friday everywhere but Ireland, where it will get a full theatrical release February 23. The film stars Eve Hewson, Jack Reynor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Oren Kinlan. Hewson plays a former wild child who is bored and barely communicates with her son, or her estranged underachieving musician husband. Fate smiles upon her when she finds a guitar in a dumpster, and when her son rejects the gift, she goes online for lessons to learn how to play the beat up six-string. Hewson is the daughter of U2 frontman Bono, and not surprisingly she sings like an angel and grounds another in Carney’s onscreen oeuvre of demonstrating the healing power of music. Flora and Son was the breakout his of last January’s Sundance, and Apple won it after a ferocious bidding battle.
No filmmaker has shown a propensity for taking the specifics of playing music and making it the basis for relate-able storytelling the way that Carney has. He began as bassist for the Irish rock band The Frames back in the ‘90s, playing alongside Glen Hansard, who debuted onscreen in The Commitments and starred with Czech musician Marketa Irglova in Carney’s breakout film, Once. Made for a minuscule $160,000, Once won the World Cinema Audience Award at 2007 Sundance, grossed $7 million and won the Oscar for Best Original Song for Falling Slowly.
Carney’s subsequent films included Sing Street and Begin Again (he’ll talk here about his eternal regret letting Harvey Weinstein talk him off his original superb title Can a Song Save Your Life?). The film starred Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Maroon5’s Adam Levine, James Corden and Hailee Steinfeld. Watch here how a Dublin kid and former busker used his passion for music to tell compelling stories onscreen.
Dublin-born musician-turned-writer/director John Carney’s latest film Flora
WGA picket lines on the West Coast swelled Friday in response to the call from guild leaders for a strong turnout on the streets as labor and management negotiators gathered for a third consecutive day of talks aimed at ending the more than four-month-long strike.
In Hollywood, Netflix and Paramount saw big crowds of WGA and SAG-AFTRA pickets gathered by 9 a.m. The past week has been chock full of rumors spread by social media and private online and text channels that a deal is in the offing. In West Los Angeles, a typically large crowd made the rounds outside of Fox Studios.
Many WGA veterans urged caution at getting hopes too high for what may come out of the AMPTP negotiating room later today, after a third day of talks between labor and management that involved four CEOs.
“I’m a realist,” said Amy Berg, a showrunner and WGA strike captain who has dubbed herself the “Lot Mom” of Fox Studios. “You want it to be done. But at the same time, we’ve gone through this before. A few weeks ago that everyone heard on a Friday that the strike was suddenly over, and that wasn’t the case.”
As a former negotiating committee member herself, Berg also noted that the contract bargaining process is a slog that doesn’t move quickly and can be tricky to navigate under pressure. Simply put, if the deal isn’t right, Berg feels there’s a strong will among members to stay out if need be.
“Even if we’ve agreed on any big points, there’s so much language that needs to be worked out. We have to negotiate in contract language, especially in this strike, to get the protections that we need,” she said. So I’m open to being out here much longer if that means everyone’s going to be protected.”
Billy Ray, a screenwriter who has hosted the “Strike Talk” podcast for Deadline since shortly after the work stoppage began on May 2, stressed that the studios should not count on starving out writers with a long strike.
“I think one of the things that the companies miscalculated was that life was so hard on writers and actors before the strikes that being on strike is not that big a step down,” Ray told Variety as he made the rounds outside Fox. “I think the will to do this for months is there.”
Writers’ views of the strike and union tactics can vary greatly, Ray acknowledged, but what he has found consistent during the labor action now on Day 144 is an understanding that the battle being waged by WGA and SAG-AFTRA is part of a larger labor movement in the U.S.
“People are now thinking aboutwWhere does this strike now these strikes sit in a larger conversation about the corporatization of America, the power of labor, the worth of the individual? These are eternal issues,” Ray said. “Like and this is a stand and fight moment. Everybody out here has a sense of it.”
Other writers on the line Friday expressed a range of emotions, from extreme skepticism to anger at the studios for the duration of the strike to hope that the sides were getting to the finish line.
“I’m feeling very hopeful, but I am also very much waiting for word from leadership, because I know that there are any number of strategies that can be employed in heightening optimism to try to pressure a deal,” said WGA member Eleanor Morrison (“Veep”). “I am trying to keep that in mind as I approach the vibe today.”
By 10:30 a.m., the crowd of protestors outside Paramount had grown to about the same numbers as the first day of the WGA strike, which began May 2. The mood was upbeat and playful — it helped that by sheer coincidence, it was “puppet” day on the line, with many picketers marching with felt hand puppets or intricate marionettes — as guild members struck a tone of guarded optimism.
Peter Murrieta (“The Wizards of Waverly Place”), who was a strike captain during the 2007-08 WGA strike and served on the 2000 negotiating committee, echoed those sentiments. “When I read the reports that say things are this way or that way, I feel like that has to be probably coming from the other side of the negotiations,” he said. “So I take it all with a grain of salt. I’m very pumped up and ready to keep going.”
For Jamie Denbo (“Grey’s Anatomy”), the most important deal points were protections for AI and data transparency allowing for success-based residuals. “They are the most existentially threatening to business and society as a whole,” she said. “And if this business has to be the example for why that is important, then so be it. I’m here to fight those fights.” As for one of the biggest sticking points, writers room minimums, Denbo was candid.
“I work in a room that’s really big, because it’s an older model that has worked and continues to work, so I’m an example of that,” she said. “But I also do respect creators that have a single voice. I always think it should be an option. They have the fucking money, so give us a room minimum, and whether you want to use all those writers or not should be up to the creative.”
Denbo remained optimistic about a both sides reaching a deal — even if the underlying issues that have fueled the labor actions across so many business sectors remain unresolved.
“This whole fight is so symbolic of the ills of capitalism and corporatization without guardrails,” she said. “Do I think that we’ll be able to get a band aid that will hold this business together a little bit longer? Yes. Eventually we will. Because guess what, people still want ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ And they should, because it’s still good. And I write on it. And I’m a co-EP — put that in there. But I don’t think that this fight is going to end necessarily for a long time.”
At Netflix, writer Jane Anderson spoke for many veteran members when she emphasized that for her, the strike is about securing a solid future for younger writers. The strike has not been as hard on her as it has on younger and less experienced scribes.
“The spirit is so high,” Anderson said, noting that the onset of the SAG-AFTRA strike in mid-July was a jolt of energy that helped writers get through the past two months. “There was a big slump in July when it got super hot, and everyone was dragging,” she noted.
“I don’t suffer because I became a writer decades ago when I could make a great salary. I’m really doing this for the younger writers. I want them to be able to buy a house and support their families,” Anderson said.
Michael Cobian (“Power: Book IV”), who also came out to Netflix, was willing to express some hope but leavened with caution.
“It feels good that [negotiators] can speak back and forth, and that gives us hope,” Cobian said. “But obviously, just because we’re talking it doesn’t mean that the things we’re asking for in the next contract are going to happen just yet. I take it all day by day, just trying to get work done and stay positive.”
Travis Adam Wright is also encouraged to see the involvement of senior studio leaders — Disney’s Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley.
“It’s created a lot of positive noise,” Wright said as he picketed outside Netflix. “My fear is always that it’s just them positioning to say, ‘Oh well, we offered them better terms and they turned us down and we were so reasonable.’ The idea of making it seem like writers are greedy or actors are greedy — it’s just ridiculous to think we’re asking for too much.”
Adam Benic, another WGA foot soldier outside Netflix, emphasized that the core issues that sparked the walkout in May have not gone away and need to be resolved. As a writer who is on the middle rungs of his career, Benic said he feels stymied in his abilty to advance by the changes in the nature of writers rooms and TV series employment in recent years.
“Mini rooms and minimum staffing are big issues for me,” Benic said. “We need to have a minimum pathway for people like me who are mid- to lower-level to be able to graduate up because otherwise, they’ll just hire two showrunners and no one else.”
At the same time, he added, “I’m glad the CEOs are engaged, as they should be. It should have happened sooner, but better late than never.”
Peter Hankoff, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker who has been a regular presence outside Fox, said he feels the pressure from the near-historic duration of the WGA strike is weighing harder on the studios and streamers than it is on guild members. The longest work stoppage in WGA history was the 154-day strike that stretched from early March to early August in 1988.
“I don’t think the AMPTP wants to have the longest strike on record be on their backs. I think that they’re going to want to end this strike before Day 153. Because even though it’s a Pyrrhic victory, if they let the strike go on more than 153 days, they set the precedent for the longest strike in history. They’re also setting the precedent for the next strike to be even longer,” Hankoff said. “If I was [AMPTP president] Carol Lombardini, I would want to get this thing done. We’re their business partners, we’re not their adversaries, and people forget that.”
Hankoff firmly believes that writers retain enormous leverage because they are uniquely skilled labor. “People in the AMPTP have the power to say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ But only writers have the power to say the words that go between ‘Fade in’ and ‘Fade out,’ ” he observed.
WGA picket lines on the West Coast
Srishti Dixit plays Vicky Kaushal’s brother in The Great Indian Family.
After taking on myriad roles on social media, Srishti Dixit is all set to make her big-screen debut with The Great Indian Family, starring Vicky Kaushal and Manushi Chhillar in lead roles, where she portrays Vicky’s sister. In an exclusive conversation with News18, she discussed her debut, her bonding with Vicky Kaushal and how the entry of other digital creators into the film industry only makes her prouder.
Talking about the shooting experience during Covid, Srishti shared, “The shooting experience was amazing. It was just when the first lockdown was lifting and we were all very excited to get back to work. We would only take our masks off during scenes.
For Srishti, looking at veterans actors – how they read their lines, how they go into a scene, how they interpret their dialogues and think like their characters was pretty surreal. “I am actually glad that I had a smaller part in the film and I didn’t have to do too much because I don’t think I was ready for a full-fledged acting role at that point,” she said.
Srishti was all praise for her co-star Vicky Kaushal too. Dubbing him the most approachable star on the sets, she said, “He plays my brother in the film and our bonding, both on and off the sets, was pretty nice. We would often joke with each other and have fun on the sets. We would all eat together much like the joint family we play on the screen. Vicky is extremely helpful. He’s such a kind, warm person. I was very nervous to even speak to him, but when I did, I realised that he’s like a guy next door. He is very approachable, very easy to talk to and has no starry airs. He was the most hard-working, warmest and approachable person on sets. I wish I could learn that skill from him.”
Srishti’s good friends – fellow content creators Kusha Kapila and Dolly Singh – are also making their debut on the big screen. Speaking of competition, she said, “Honestly, I don’t feel any kind of competition, because any content creator who has gotten acting opportunity, has got it on merit. For my creator community, it’s always a big deal. I feel great that a Kusha Kapila has two releases – Sukhee and Thank You For Coming on the horizon. The same goes with Dolly Singh and Viraj Ghelani. If we make the best of these opportunities, only more will come our way. I am genuinely very close friends with all of them and I want them to do very well.”
Srishti Dixit plays Vicky Kaushal's brother in
Slick epic from Netflix and Nollywood
Slick epic from Netflix and Nollywood Source link
Following recent developments in Hollywood and at Marvel Studios, the MCU’s Phase 6 slate is in jeopardy of getting delayed.
Marvel Studios announced its Phase 5 slate at 2022’s San Diego Comic-Con, but since then, there have been some massive changes and delays.
Even after getting past the COVID-19 delays in 2020 and 2021, the backlash to Phase 4 led to some major behind-the-scenes changes to ensure a quality-over-quantity approach.
And even now that things are getting back on track, Hollywood is now suffering through a writers’ and actors’ strike, spurring further pushes.
The MCU recently made some major release adjustments to its Phases 5 and Phase 6 slate due to the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes, thus pushing back the releases of the upcoming Disney+ shows Echo, Ironheart, Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, and Daredevil: Born Again.
At the time of the Phase 5 slate announcement at July 2022’s San Diego Comic-Con, Agatha: House of Harkness was set for release in Winter 2023/24, but the show, now going under the Agatha: Darkhold Diaries title, has since moved to Fall 2024.
Additionally, Echo, which was originally set to debut as Phase 5’s second of six Disney+ shows in Summer 2023, has now moved to January 2024 and will be the MCU chapter’s third show instead, jumping over Loki Season 2.
The four live-action MCU shows set for Phase 5 releases in 2024 and beyond include six episodes of Ironheart, nine episodes of Agatha, 18 episodes of Daredevil, and six episodes of Echo. Echo is also set to have all six of its episodes drop on the same day, marking a first for any live-action MCU series.
With roughly 34 weeks of content releases between the shows, it seems unlikely they will all make their way to Disney+ in 2024, especially with production on Daredevil: Born Again incomplete and at a standstill for now.
The release dates for Daredevil and Ironheart are now completely uncertain – even with the latter having finished production long ago – having once been dated for Spring 2024 and Fall 2023, respectively.
While Phase 5 was once set to conclude with Thunderbolts in July 2024, that movie has since shifted to December. With several of Phase 5’s Disney+ shows unlikely to be done by the end of 2024, and even Thunderbolts‘ December release seeming less likely, the MCU chapter ought to continue well into 2025.
That had already become somewhat apparent when Blade jumped over Thunderbolts from November 2023 to February 2025, although it’s unclear whether that still falls into Phase 5 or now Phase 6.
The Phase 6 slate from Comic-Con had an untitled first project set for Fall 2024 and Fantastic Four planned to release in November. So, it now appears likely the Multiverse Saga’s final Phase will begin around Summer 2025 after Blade.
Most were expecting the Fall 2024 date to go to the Wonder Man series, which was forced to pause production and will now likely be pushed back a while, thereby moving the Phase 6 start to around late Spring to early Summer 2025.
But even that relies on the ongoing Hollywood strikes closing out in the not-too-distant future and not pushing these projects back even further. It also appears the Phase 5 line-up has expanded, with Deadpool 3 currently dated for May 2024 and now coming before two of the slate’s original movies.
The Phase 6 slate currently remains a mystery, with only Fantastic Four, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and Avengers: Secret Wars officially announced for the slate.
The timeline showcased at 2022’s San Diego Comic-Con left eight spaces for unannounced projects, one of which will go to Wonder Man. As the studio has claimed three 2026 release dates for February 13, July 26, and November 6, that would point to four more Disney+ series to join the roster.
With regard to the three movies, Don Cheadle’s Iron Man spin-off Armor Wars is all but certain to claim one of them, with the other two likely to go to Shang-Chi 2 and Doctor Strange 3, both of which reportedly arrive in this saga, leaving Eternals 2 pushed past Secret Wars into the next saga.
Additionally, Spider-Man 4 is expected to arrive at some point in Phase 6, although that wouldn’t be included in the slate revealed by Marvel Studios as that will be distributed by Sony Pictures, even though it fits into the MCU. Based on current predictions, the movie could hit on June 27, 2025.
Turning attention to the four Disney+ series likely to claim those slots, Ms. Marvel and Moon Knight Season 2 both seem like a no-brainer, along with the Vision Quest spin-off to WandaVision in development. The fourth show is really anyone’s guess for now, but She-Hulk Season 2 could be one option.
Obviously, many are wondering what will become of Deadpool 3 as it was committed from the original slate announcement, but the placement of its release would point to it joining the Phase 5 slate as a late addition.
Then again, the lines between MCU Phases have certainly become blurred over recent years, with no clear separation in storylines between the chapters in the Multiverse Saga as there was in the Infinity Saga.
One has to wonder whether that lack of build-up in several-year periods may have factored into the reduced interest in the larger MCU storyline. After all, while a new Avengers blockbuster may have once only been around three years apart, the wait between Endgame and The Kang Dynasty will be about seven years.
The first officially dated Phase 6 project is Fantastic Four, which hits theaters on May 2, 2025.
The DCEU kicked off with 2013’s Man of Steel, and now, ten years after the film’s 2013 release, new information recontextualizes Superman’s most controversial scene in the movie. After each of Superman’s previous cinematic outings focused on a more “classic” boy-scout version of Superman, Man of Steel was a marked departure. The movie’s more muted color palette and visceral fight scenes matched director Zack Snyder’s usual flair, and Jonathan Kent’s more apprehensive parenting style caught some off guard.
However, perhaps no scene in the entire DCEU movie timeline is as controversial as Superman snapping General Zod’s neck to stop his campaign of destruction on Earth. Superman has certainly killed before in DC Comics and other films, but it’s seldom been so personal and realistically unceremonious. Part of the problem is that the death seems to come a bit out of the blue, but a newly revealed deleted scene would have given more context and gravitas to Superman’s killing blow.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Man of Steel screenwriter David S. Goyer revealed a scene he wrote for early in the movie featuring a young Clark Kent and his adoptive father, Jonathan. In the scene, the father-son pair goes hunting, and Clark shoots a deer. While he hits his target, the deer is wounded but remains alive. His father approaches the animal and kills it, which visibly distresses young Clark.
The scene is most important for what happens next. Jonathan has a heart-to-heart with his son about the responsibility of taking a life. While killing a deer up close may be emotionally challenging, the alternative – letting it suffer after a poorly placed shot – ultimately causes more pain and suffering than putting the creature out of its misery. The scene sounds emotive in and of itself, and Goyer “…always wished that seen could have made it in the movie because I felt like that was also a bit of a tee-up into what happens at the end.“
Man of Steel does a decent job of contextualizing why Superman has to kill Zod. Not only are people in immediate danger as the villain attempts to use his laser vision on civilians, but his plan to terraform Earth would mean the deaths of billions. However, Clark’s experience and conversation about death and killing with his father would have added more context to Superman’s decision to kill Zod and the immense grief he feels immediately after. It would have helped qualm concerns that Superman is too quick to resort to lethal means.
Killing Zod may not be an act of mercy as it is to stop an animal’s suffering, but the larger point about the complicated emotional weight involved with death is clearly applicable. Moreover, including the scene and presenting its payoff would also help smooth out the DCEU’s controversial characterization of Jonathan Kent overall. Usually a moral compass for Clark, Man of Steel‘s version of Jonathan Kent was much less steadfast in pursuit of a greater good. Most notably coming under fire for suggesting that Clark should perhaps let people die to hide his identity, Man of Steel‘s cut scene would give him a more positive enduring legacy.
Summary Man of Steel's controversial
Few industry observers would have put money on Baldur’s Gate 3 being one of the year’s biggest hits.
That’s according to Larian Studios director of publishing Michael Douse, who leapt to Microsoft’s defence after it emerged that the platform holder had seemingly heavily underestimated how well the game might perform.
It turns out that in May 2022, over a year ahead of Baldur’s Gate 3’s release, Microsoft thought it might be able to secure the game as a day one title on Game Pass for as little as $5 million.
The estimate was included in a leaked email conversation between top Xbox executives, who were looking for ways to plug what Microsoft’s head of gaming, Phil Spencer, referred to as “a huge hole” in its software line-up due to Starfield’s delay.
It revealed that Microsoft had assessed how much it might have to spend to secure a range of third-party titles for Game Pass on the day of their release.
At the top end of the estimates was EA’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor ($300 million), around the middle was Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage ($100 million), and at the bottom of the scale was Baldur’s Gate 3 ($5 million).
Given the latter’s success, Microsoft’s $5 million estimate now looks like a gross miscalculation, but Larian’s Douse wasn’t taken aback by the figure. Commenting on a report stating that Microsoft “completely misjudged Baldur’s Gate 3”, he said the Xbox maker wasn’t alone.
“In their defence, so did everyone else,” he wrote. “Same with DOS2. Comes with the genre, and the way we approach things, and the way we execute things.
“There just isn’t any existing data that could have told anyone how BG3 was going to perform. We just had to take giant spooky leaps.”
Following Baldur’s Gate 3’s PC release in August, the PS5 version launched in early September. And a delayed Xbox version of Baldur’s Gate 3 will arrive later this year after split-screen co-op was removed as a feature on Series S.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s latest major patch will launch today, introducing the ability for players to change their character’s appearance, among other features.
Few industry observers would have put money
US film box office revenues in China are declining and only two films from the US were among the top ten hits in China last year. The lion’s share of the Chinese audiences seems to have shifted their preference to domestic films. Before the pandemic, it was expected that in any given year at least five US films would be among the top 10 movies in China. The available data from 2014-2018 confirms this. However, in 2019 only two US films achieved the same success. The same held true in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, there has been just a single US film thus far among the top ten. Of the top grossing 15 films in 2019, ten were made locally. In 2020 foreign film revenue in China had slipped to 16%. With the abandonment of Xi’s zero covid policies and the embrace of domestic themes, the rapid expansion of the Chinese film industry in all sectors from production, theatrical distribution to streaming has resumed and expanded. Film tickets were also discounted by the Chinese government to encourage more theatergoing. Industry experts estimate that China will return as the largest global film market, a position it held several years ago, though other counties like the US, Korea, India, and France released more films in 2022 than the 240 productions from China.
Data from 2022 seems to indicate that mainland China is expanding its position among the most important film markets as expressed in tickets sold and screens operated. In India, 981 million tickets were sold, in China 709 million and in the US 699 million. China has approximately eighty two thousand (82,000) screens, as opposed to India’s eleven thousand (11,000), and the US’s forty thousand (40,000). Richard Brody from the New Yorker listed for the first time two films from China among the best 2022 films, SATURDAY FICTION by Lou Ye and A NEW OLD PLAY by QIU Jiongjiong. Both productions, acclaimed in numerous film festivals, can be screened on YouTube and Amazon Prime. The YouTube streaming service, like Netflix and a dozen other services, carry many Chinese and Hong Kong films as well as television programs in Mandarin, Cantonese, subtitled in English, and other languages. Netflix received the best rating for quality of image and sound of streamed Chinese genre films. In that context, one must keep in mind that there is no Chinese film festival in the United States.
Part of that problem may be that the bond between the 5.2 million people of mainland China origin, according to the US Census Bureau, and their homeland, is not as strong as the link of other Asian groups with the countries they came from. Among those of Chinese origin in the US, only 20% consider returning to China, the lowest return desire share of all Asian groups. Ironically, when Chinese features are shown here in the US, they tend to draw large audiences in limited theatrical distribution though there are is little publicity for these films dem reaching beyond Chinese groups.
Claus Mueller, New York
filmexchange@gmail.com
US film box office revenues in
When you first hear that a major studio like Legendary is taking on Troma’s The Toxic Avenger alarm bells begin to ring for a multitude of reasons. When you hear that Macon Blair is directing it, with Peter Dinklage, Elijah Wood and Kevin Bacon in tow, said alarm bells become def con 1 levels of […]
When you first hear that a major
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Michael Wolff’s highly anticipated book about the rise and fall of Fox News and its Murdoch family heirs will be released only a week after Rupert Murdoch announced that he will step down as the chairman of Fox and News Corp.
“The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty” peers inside what we now know are Murdoch’s final days at the head of the cable news giant. To be released Sept. 26, the book documents a particularly challenging stretch for Murdoch’s Fox News, buffeted by interpersonal drama and lawsuits by election-technology companies Dominion and Smartmatic. (The former suit was settled for some $787.5 million.)
In an interview with Variety, Wolff said his book might’ve played a role in Murdoch’s announcement. “Inside, they’ve been seeing the book as a bus aimed directly at him, and in order to avoid a direct hit, they acted first,” Wolff said. “I think that that is partly true. The book is pretty rough on the nature of what it’s like when a 92-year-old runs two public companies.”
He added that Fox might be looking to protect Murdoch from having to testify in the Smartmatic case, but said, “I don’t think it’ll work, he’ll be forced to testify anyway.”
Wolff is best known for his damning exposé on Donald Trump, “Fire and Fury,” in which the 70-year-old journalist used his extraordinary access to the West Wing to reveal what happened behind the scenes in the first nine months of Trump’s presidency.
Pre-order Wolff’s “The Fall” below:
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Great news! “Spy Kids: Armageddon” is available to watch on Netflix USA!
Date Added: 22nd September 2023
Want to keep forever? Try looking for ‘Spy Kids: Armageddon’ on Amazon (paid link)
Description:
When a game developer unleashes a powerful computer virus, the children of two secret agents must work together to save their parents — and the world.
Certificate:
Sequences of action
Year: 2023
Duration: 1hr 37m
Audio: German – Audio Description, German, English – Audio Description, English [Original], Spanish – Audio Description, Spanish, French – Audio Description, French, Mandarin (Guoyu)
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
– English Audio Description
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Cast: Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Connor Esterson, Everly Carganilla, D.J. Cotrona, Billy Magnussen, Joe Schilling, Solar Dena Bennett
“Spy Kids: Armageddon” was produced by Skydance, Spyglass Media Group and Double R Productions and was originally released on September 22nd 2023.
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For as long as New York City has been the de facto epicenter of American independent film, there have been scenes where a child that’s wise beyond their years strikes up a bond with a raggedy man on the street who knows a thing or two about life. It’s a quintessential stock scene that highlights everything about New York that filmmakers find so inspiring — the eat-or-be-eaten lifestyle forces everyone to mature and turn into philosophers, but the urban density simultaneously forces people to interact and see each other as humans.
It’s also a surefire sign that you’re watching a New York Movie, a category that only encompasses a small percentage of films that are set in New York. The iconography of directors like Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese has permeated culture so deeply that it’s become a rite of passage for certain filmmakers to recreate the cinematic version of the city that they grew up watching. Intellectual debates about romantic neuroses held over strolls through the Upper West Side probably don’t happen nearly as often as we’re lead to believe, but they’ve become a cinematic genre in and of themselves.
The latest addition to the genre of unapologetically indie, New York-set anthologies is “What Doesn’t Float.” Luca Balser’s directorial debut (produced by Pauline Chalamet) tells the interconnected stories of a diverse range of New Yorkers who all feel pushed to their breaking point by circumstances beyond their control. The hyper-brief stories range from a young woman who listens to her gut and withdraws consent after getting on a motorcycle with an endearing bad boy to a freelance car washer who can no longer lift his own bucket and a dock worker who resists confronting his declining abilities. When taken as a short story collection with a fixation on water, there’s a lot to enjoy. But its influences are so obvious that it’s hardly surprising when, yes, a mature kid inevitably befriends a wise old man on the street.
Despite the film’s occasionally painful reliance on familiar indie film tropes, “What Doesn’t Float” is executed at a higher level than most of its microbudget competition. Balser and his crew avoid the shaky, unvarnished cinematography that you’d expect from such a scrappy film in favor of a more elegant look that gives his characters’ struggles the cinematic flair they deserve. And while anthology films are often dragged down by choppy, episodic screenplays, Shauna Fitzgerald’s script is structured like a smooth “Mr. Show” episode, with side characters from each vignette offering seamless transitions into the next one. The skillful attention paid to small details makes it easy to see why “What Doesn’t Float” is enjoying a theatrical release while so many comparable films are undoubtedly languishing away at fourth-tier festivals.
Still, no amount of charmingly composed golden hour shots can fully atone for the cringe factor of a perv masturbating in his car at the beach while an orchestral score plays. Or a single tear rolling down the face of a Blue Collar Tough Guy as he falls asleep. The stylistic flourishes that make a film recognizable as “indie” (regardless of its financial structure or affiliation with a studio) are like salt for a young director — a small touch can add plenty of flavor, too much ruins the taste, and a large enough dose can be downright lethal. “What Doesn’t Float” never gets anywhere near the worst end of the spectrum, but Balser and Fitzgerald certainly over-season on multiple occasions.
But no matter how much the industry changes, there’s still a contingency of indie film kids who have devoted our lives to thinking this stuff is cool. And at times, “What Doesn’t Float” is very cool. Clocking in at a tight 70 minutes — a delightful run time that should be as socially acceptable as the three-hour epic — the film manages to cram in enough amusement to justify its existence without overstaying its welcome. The fact that it never reinvents the wheel might be an explanation for why this genre continues to flourish despite its familiarity: human life is fucking fascinating, and documenting slices of it on film remains a miracle worth pursuing.
Circle Collective will release “What Doesn’t Float” in select theaters on Friday, September 22.
For as long as New York City
The memorably wistful title track from the new Zach Bryan EP — which arrives just a few weeks after his most recent album — is a collaboration with Bon Iver, which means a couple of very pointed things. First, Bryan is making kin with fellow roots-adjacent cult heroes. Though he has become wildly successful improbably quickly, Bryan still fancies himself outside of the mainstream, stubbornly stomping to his own drum. That parallels the story of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, who likely could fill arenas if he was interested. Both singers are vividly emotional, too, building whole houses upon sadness. Where the two acts diverge is in tone — Bryan sings with raspy jabs, and Vernon buries himself behind echo and fog. Bryan is such a force, though, that he pulls Vernon in his direction on this song; when the two sing in harmony, Vernon sounds as if he’s chasing after Bryan ever so slightly, following his bark with moon-aimed howls. A lament followed by a hug. JON CARAMANICA
On her latest single, the warm, synth-pop tune “Into Your Room,” the English singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone oscillates between sincere yearning and wry, self-deprecating humor: “You’re the center of this universe, my sorry ass revolves around you,” she sings, begging forgiveness from someone she’s mistreated. There’s a casually tossed-off, conversational appeal to her lyrics and delivery, but when the chorus surges, she’s suddenly leading with her heart. LINDSAY ZOLADZ
Following the lusty thrill of his summertime single “Rush,” Troye Sivan starts catching feelings on “Get Me Started,” the second song released from his forthcoming album “Something to Give Each Other.” “He’s got the personality, not even gravity could ever hold him down,” Sivan sings atop an insistent, club-ready beat, aglow with the agony and ecstasy of a new crush. ZOLADZ
A disarmingly refined pop-punk debut single from Landon Barker — the son of Travis Barker, who plays drums here, and whose label is putting out the song. That teen-angst pop-punk became the de facto sonic landing place for the first wave of TikTok superstar pretty boys was about finding the safest available package of rebellion (and one that largely skirted issues of race). Barker is perhaps that movement’s third wave, following early adopters like Jaden Hossler and Chase Hudson, and then the mainstream carpetbagging of Machine Gun Kelly. Which is to say there is a lot to emulate — the blueprint is loud and easy to follow. It hardly almost matters who’s coloring in between the lines. CARAMANICA
“Stick it to the man,” Shakira advises, in English, at the beginning of “El Jefe” (“The Man” or “The Boss”), a brisk polka-ska hybrid that teams Shakira — the paragon of Pan-American crossover — with Fuerza Regida, a regional Mexican band from California. Backed by crisply syncopated guitars and horns, the song is a worker’s gripe, in Spanish, about a grueling, underpaid, dead-end job with a lousy boss; “I arrive on foot, him in a Mercedes,” growls Fuerza Regida’s lead singer, Jesús Ortiz Paz. It’s peppy class warfare. JON PARELES
Byron Messia’s breakout single, “Talibans,” is one of the year’s defining reggae songs, so saccharine you might miss its tough talk. Messia has a sweet voice that gets feistier the more clipped his singing becomes, and on his boastful new single “Mad Dawgs,” he comes almost all the way around to blustery, trading in much of his considered honeyed singing for a choppier rhythm more in key with the chest-puffing lyrics. CARAMANICA
The goth crooner Chelsea Wolfe conjures a thick atmosphere on “Dusk,” her first new solo track since composing the score for Ti West’s 2022 slasher flick “X.” Produced by David Andrew Sitek of TV on the Radio, “Dusk” is centered around a slow, methodical beat, murky guitar chords and Wolfe’s breathy, eerie voice. “I will go through fire to get to you,” she sings with a haunting determination. ZOLADZ
Laurel Halo has a gift for the hallucinatory. “Atlas,” her first new album in five years, is a submersion into abstract imagination, resembling a head-spinning dream that shifts between epochs, story lines and locations. The Los Angeles-based conceptualist has explored Detroit techno, musique concrète and even left-field pop in the past, and was recently appointed to the faculty of Composition and Experimental Sound Practices at CalArts. But “Atlas” traces a new path, slithering between the textures of jazz, ambient and classical. On the highlight “Sick Eros,” a bass trembles and creaks, beats shiver and gurgle, synths groan and swell. There’s a Hitchcockian foreboding — a sense that someone is about to open a shadowy door and never return, or trip over an edge that will lead to oblivion. Discordant strings ache and decay, stretching over waves of vibration. By the song’s end, you can almost picture yourself at the Dead Marshes in the “Lord of the Rings,” gazing upon the corpses floating in the swamp, their spirits emerging from the water with a ghoulish menace. ISABELIA HERRERA
A sense of peace is immanent to the music of Colleen, but especially the work she’s been making since putting aside her viola da gamba in 2017 and adopting an all-electronics approach, centered on modular synthesizers. Her new double LP, “Le Jour et la Nuit du Réel,” is a time-flattening work of minimalism, created with just a monophonic synth (that is, playing one note at a time) and two delay units. Toward the center of the album, the first of three short movements in “Be Without Being Seen” introduces a quizzical pattern of arpeggiated chords, and simply lets it hang in the air. GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO
Listeners to Immanuel Wilkins will recognize Micah Thomas’s piano playing almost immediately: the elastic-band rhythmic tension and snap, the gloriously spilled-out harmonic delivery, his imaginatively redistributed roles for the left and right hands. Thomas is both the binding agent and the stirrer of chaos in Wilkins’s quartet, which for the past few years has been the most praised young band in jazz. On “Eros,” from Thomas’s new trio album, “Reveal,” the bassist Dean Torrey and the drummer Kayvon Gordon cooperate at cross-purposes, a six-beat flow emerging beneath a web of syncopation. Let the drums guide the rhythm of your body; then see how it changes when you let the bass. Then find Thomas within that combination, absorbing it all. RUSSONELLO
The memorably wistful title track from the
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! With films like Election, About Schmidt, Sideways, and Nebraska, Alexander Payne is a director who knows how to put character front and center, hire amazing actors, and have just enough levity and plot to draw you along through the quirky characters’ defining life events. The Holdovers is no different, but here he’s going for kind of a 70s throwback vibe, setting the film in a New England boarding school during that time period and using music, titles, and camera work to evoke that place and time successfully.
“…insists on rigorous academic standards…no matter how rich or powerful their families may be.”
Paul Giamatti plays Paul Hunham, a teacher after my own heart (I’m a college professor), who insists on rigorous academic standards and ethical behavior from his students, no matter how rich or powerful their families may be. This, and perhaps his seeming lack of outside interests and body odor, make him extraordinarily unpopular with nearly everyone. The head cook at the boarding school, Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), at least tolerates him, but she’s barely getting by after the loss of her son, who was previously a student at the school. Over the winter break, these two lonely souls are tasked with watching a handful of students whose parents won’t let them come home for the holidays for various reasons. Eventually, one of the students’ fathers takes most of them on a surprise ski trip. Paul has to effectively babysit Angus (Dominic Sessa), a student with academic promise but serious behavioral issues.
Throughout much of The Holdovers, Angus and Paul have a battle of wills, with Paul trying to inflict strict discipline and Angus rebelling and acting out. But as Christmas day creeps closer, the duo and Mary can’t help but get to know a little more of each other’s secrets. They all have some dark things in their past that are keeping them apart from others. But can they open up enough to learn from each other?
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! With
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met on Friday with African leaders seeking to restore Niger’s democratically elected government to power, capping a week at the United Nations in which the Biden administration worked to deliver on promises of support amid high-profile crises elsewhere, like the war in Ukraine.
In a sign of the instability threatening Africa’s potential for economic growth and independence, several of the leaders spoke about a scourge of coups that has spread across the continent — eight in the past three years — as President Biden has tried to promote democracy.
On Tuesday, Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, told the annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly that the military overthrows reflect widespread failures to improve African lives. “The wave crossing parts of Africa does not demonstrate favor towards coups,” he said. “It is a demand for solutions to perennial problems.”
Mindful of complaints on the continent that the United States is consumed by the war in Ukraine and competition with China, President Biden spent much of his speech to the U.N. on Tuesday addressing topics of particular interest to African leaders, including food security, development aid and climate change.
U.S. officials said that Mr. Biden’s address drew an enthusiastic response from African leaders and diplomats in New York who appreciated his attention to their issues. That included Mr. Biden’s discussion of plans for a U.S.-sponsored corridor linking Angola with mineral-rich parts of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (a project in which the United States, dependent on rare-earth minerals, has a significant self-interest).
But officials from the 54-nation continent hardly speak with a unified voice. In remarks on Thursday, Col. Mamadi Doumbouya of Guinea, who announced himself as that country’s new leader after a coup in September 2021, condemned democratically elected African leaders “who cheat to manipulate the text of the constitution in order to stay in power eternally,” calling them “the real putschists.”
Directing his comments toward Western nations, Mr. Doumbouya complained that “this democratic model that you have so insidiously and skilfully imposed on us” was not working for his continent.
The discord reflected just one of the challenges facing the Biden administration’s effort to follow through on pledges to focus American foreign policy more on Africa.
In the near term, Biden officials are working to address several broiling crises in Niger, Sudan and elsewhere.
On Friday morning, Mr. Blinken met with the leaders of several nations that are members of the Economic Community of West African States, a regional group that has been pressuring Niger’s military leadership to relinquish power under the threat of a military intervention. The Biden administration hopes to avoid a conflict that could spill across the region.
In a readout following the meeting, the State Department said that attendees “were united in their position that the National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland in Niger” — the country’s ruling military junta — “must release President Mohamed Bazoum, his family, and all those unlawfully detained.”
Mr. Bazoum and his family have been detained since July.
In a side drama this week, representatives of Mr. Bazoum’s government and from the junta both sought to address the general assembly.
Bakary Yaou Sangaré, Niger’s permanent representative to the United Nations, who was appointed under Mr. Bazoum, would have had the right to do so — had he not thrown his allegiance with the generals who seized power and who named him the country’s new foreign minister.
Under U.N. rules, that change of status means he will not be eligible to speak until next week, according to U.S. officials.
Even so, diplomats from Niger distributed Mr. Sangaré’s photo to journalists in the General Assembly hall on Monday, according to The Associated Press, along with a statement proclaiming that he would “reaffirm the nation’s sovereignty.”
U.S. officials also held meetings on the sidelines of the General Assembly in their ongoing effort to achieve a political settlement in Sudan, which has been rived for months by civil war.
And Mr. Blinken also attended meetings to rally support for an international, nonmilitary mission to support the Caribbean nation of Haiti, which the East African country of Kenya has agreed to lead.
The Security Council could vote as soon as next week to authorize such a mission, although U.S. officials said that China — which wields veto power — has been reluctant to do so.
On Thursday Mr. Blinken sat down with Kenya’s president, William Ruto, to discuss Sudan as well as Haiti, State Department officials said. “We must not leave Haiti behind,” Mr. Ruto told the General Assembly.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met
Now that fall is finally here, odds are you’ll be spending a little more time indoors soon. That means you’ll want your home to feel as cozy as possible before the temperatures really start to drop. A gorgeous rug can make any room feel like home, adding warmth and personality to your space — especially when it comes from the genius mind of Nepalese-American fashion designer Prabal Gurung.
In collaboration with Rugs USA, Gurung has designed an expansive collection of 28 stunning rugs in a range of patterns, sizes and price points that are just as covetable as his ready-to-wear collections.
Shop the Prabal Gurung x Rugs USA Collection
This collection marks Rug USA’s first-ever fashion collaboration. “I wanted to create this story of ‘West Meets East,'” said Gurung on the collaboration’s webpage. “I wanted to play with these two ideas: my homeland, Nepal, and my home where I found myself, New York, and bring those two together.”
From traditional medallion motifs to impressionistic floral patterns and contemporary abstract shapes, Prabal Gurung x Rugs USA offers a wide range of durable and comfortable styles that will elevate any space’s decor. The collection starts at just $85 and includes machine-washable rugs, handmade 100% wool rugs, rugs made from recycled materials and so much more.
Below, shop the mesmerizing collection of rugs designed by Prabal Gurung.
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Now that fall is finally here, odds
The green bubble: It’s a cultural divide that Google – by way of Android – has tried to address numerous times. Its insistence that Apple adopt the more modern RCS messaging standard in place of its continued reliance on SMS and MMS is well known. Now, a new ad poking fun, continues to apply pressure to a seemingly aloof Apple.
Last year, Google launched a Get The Message microsite on Android.com, detailing the many shortcomings that Apple‘s ongoing use of SMS and MMS creates when messaging with Android users, shortcomings that could be eliminated by the adoption of the newer and more comprehensive RCS standard (check out our full explainer on Rich Communication Services for more).
Don’t blame your Android friends for green bubble problems in the chat. It’s Apple using outdated messaging tech when texting with Android. Help Apple #GetTheMessage and upgrade to RCS ? Learn more at https://t.co/fs5jaitbks pic.twitter.com/YZyfXs2uksSeptember 21, 2023
Now, Google is back with a tongue-in-cheek ad for the “iPager” that (as highlighted by Neowin) clearly draws from legacy Apple marketing, like the iconic 1984 Macintosh ad and the original iPhone “Hello” launch ad from 2007.
While the ad centers around the comparatively archaic nature of what is dubbed “outdated messaging tech” in SMS and MMS, it specifically highlights the lack of encryption, group chat compatibility, heavily compressed media and, of course, green bubbles, which could be eliminated if Apple were to adopt RCS.
Although Google’s new iPager ad makes for an entertaining addition to its Get The Message campaign, so far there’s little indication that Apple is considering changing how it handles cross-platform messaging between iMessage and Android, with CEO Tim Cook formerly stating that “I don’t hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy [into RCS].”
While RCS would greatly expand the experience that iPhone users have when messaging their friends on Android, the recent release of the iOS 17 brings with it a host of upgrades for iPhone-to-iPhone chat experiences, through iMessage.
Along with improved autocorrect, Check In is now on-hand to help keep track of love ones on the cab ride home and Live Stickers can now come from practically anywhere to adorn your iMessage threads and beyond.
Check out our full iOS 17 review for a more in-depth look at what going iPhone gets you and for those, still standing on the green bubble side of the fence, we’ve got high hopes for Android 14 and the Google Pixel 8 series set to launch in a matter of days.
The green bubble: It's a cultural divide
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Apple’s virtual September event had some big surprises in store. The tech giant announced new iPhones, multiple new Apple Watches, and the latest Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) with a USB-C charging case, with most items available to order now online.
Preordering the iPhone is the best way to ensure you get one the day it’s released, or anytime soon. The iPhone routinely sells out on its launch day, but if you didn’t manage to pre-order one before today, we’ve still got you covered. Here’s a breakdown of each new Apple product unveiled, and where they’re available to order online.
Similar to previous Apple Watch generations, you’ll be able to track your calories, check your heart rate, take an EKG reading and even measure blood oxygen levels. While there’s a distinctive lack of impressive new features, the watch is now fitted with an S9 SiP, the biggest chipset upgrade for Apple’s wearables since 2020. Apple says this will give it a general performance boost and quicker Siri request processing.
Apple’s newest watch also features a Double Tap gesture, and Precision Finding, the ability to ping your iPhone and help you find it with on-screen directions (and brand-new, built-in haptic feedback).
Order the Apple Watch Series 9 today, available September 22.
Amazon
Buy Apple Watch Series 9 $389.99
The most rugged sports Apple Watch got another incremental update this year. It’s got the widest Apple Watch display yet and features all the same perks as the Series 9 (including the updated S9 SiP, Siri command processing, and Precision Finding for iPhone).
Its battery life is still the same, set to last up to an impressive 72 hours, but the Ultra 2’s screen can now light up to 3,000 nits of brightness. This will make it even easier to see the watch faces, GPS directions, and more in direct sunlight.
Order the Apple Watch Ultra 2 now, available September 22.
Amazon
Apple
There’s not much to say about the newest version of Apple’s AirPods Pro earbuds, probably because the only major upgrade here is its much-requested USB-C compatibility. The new AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) have a charging case with a new USB-C port instead of a Lightning port, also Apple aims to ditch the Lightning entirely over their next few releases. On top of the new charging capabilities, the earbuds have improved dust resistance and lossless audio, thanks to Apple Vision Pro.
Order the AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) With USB-C, available September 22. Note: the AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) are currently on sale for 20% off on Amazon.
Apple
With a revamped camera array, updated Dynamic Island, and Apple’s A16 Bionic chip, the new iPhones pack greater power than before, but with light updates.
The iPhone 15 will be available in five new aesthetic colors — Pink, Yellow, Blue, Black and Green — and features an upgraded 48-megapixel main rear camera with a 12MP telephoto lens, plus a TrueDepth front camera, made for snapping memories from far away to perfecting close-up shots.
The new Apple smartphone also features a Dynamic Island, which was previously only available in Pro models. The black bar-shaped section at the top of the iPhones’ display shares all kinds of info, consolidating your important notifications and alerts in one place.
The iPhone 15 and following iPhones will use new USB-C charging ports that replace the age-old Lightning socket. But that being said, both the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have the same screen sizes as their predecessors, at 6.1 and 6.7 inches, respectively, and Super Retina XDR displays.
Both models will drop at 11:59 PM PDT Friday, September 22 (2:59 AM EST on Saturday, September 23), available here online.
Apple
Apple’s most powerful new iPhones (the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max) introduces the “Action Button” — located on the side of your iPhone, it essentially replaces the mute toggle switch. This new customizable tool allows users to pick the action they want associated with the button press (but yes, you can still use it just to mute). But now you have the ability to use a button press to quick access to your phone’s camera, turn on the flashlight, engage accessibility tools, and more.
One big win is less about the software, and more focused on the actual build of the iPhones themselves. The Pro models now use a titanium design that makes them both much, much lighter than their predecessors. Apple also shrank the overall dimensions of the phones without affecting screen size too much (the iPhone 15 Pro has a 6.1-inch display and there’s a 6.7-inch screen on the iPhone 15 Pro Max).
They’re also packed with the latest A17 Pro chipset and new GPU — made for better ray-tracing capabilities, which should improve the overall gaming experiences on both new iPhones exponentially. The phones also feature an upgraded 48MP camera, which is 65% larger than the iPhone 13 Pro and better for low-light photos.
Both models will drop at 11:59 PM PDT Friday, September 22 (2:59 AM EST on Saturday, September 23), available here online.
The iPhone 15 starts at $799, the iPhone 15 Plus starts at $899, with the iPhone 15 Pro starting at $999, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1199. All models come with 128GB (gigabytes) of storage, with the option to get a higher capacity iPhone for more money.
There are several ways to preorder the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro; here are the most effective ones.
Unsurprisingly, Apple makes it very simple to order its new phones the minute the preorders go live, but there are two ways to do it.
Apple’s website allows you to “get ready” for an iPhone 15 or 15 Pro order by choosing the model you want, its color, storage capacity, your carrier, and whether you’re trading in an old iPhone. Your preferences will be saved, and you’ll be able to order your new iPhone in just one click.
If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can follow the same process inside the Apple Store app. I’ve had personal success getting an iPhone on the first day of its release using this method, and found that the app was easier to use than Apple’s site. That said, Apple recently redesigned its website, so that may no longer be the case.
All three of the major U.S. cellular carriers (AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile) allow you to order the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro online.
If you’ve ordered an iPhone through your carrier before, you may have entered into a special monthly payment plan agreement with it. If this is the case, placing an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro preorder through your carrier is the best bet.
Another reason to place a preorder through your carrier is that it may be running a special trade-in promotion, offering additional credit toward an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro if you give them your older device. The amount of credit you receive will depend on the age, storage capacity, and condition of your phone.
Many retailers are offering preorders of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro with similar payment plans and trade-in offers as the major U.S. Carriers.
Currently, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro will be available to order at Best Buy, Walmart, and Amazon. To sweeten the pot, Best Buy and Walmart stores are offering a $100 discount on all models because they only offer phones tied to a carrier plan.
If you’ve purchased previous iPhones through Best Buy or Walmart on one of their payment plans, your best bet is to purchase your new device through them as well.
There’s no certain way to determine how popular the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro are going to be, but Apple’s devices typically sell out in a matter of minutes. If you preorder later, you’ll receive your phone once more stock becomes available.
You’ll typically receive your phone within a month of its release if you preorder it on day one, but that may not be the case this time. Demand for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro seems to be higher than normal, but with global chip shortage as a result of Covid-19 beginning to recede, Apple may be able to manufacture new ones more quickly than usual.
If this is your year to upgrade your phone, and you want the latest and greatest iPhone, be prepared to place your order as soon as these products go live.
If you purchase an independently reviewed product
Moving to New York is almost always a decision informed partly by fantasy. It’s impossible to escape the fictional versions of the city that proliferate in books, art, music — and, perhaps most vividly, in movies and television shows, with their typically romantic (and typically misleading) depictions of rent-stabilized studios and affordable brownstones. To coincide with T’s New York-themed home-design issue, we asked a handful of designers, architects and other creative people about the film and TV interiors that shaped their vision of the city they now call home.
Toshiko Mori, architect: “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968)
Moved to New York in the late 1960s
I came to New York from Japan with my family to attend high school. One of my first assignments at the summer school I attended that year was to write an essay comparing the 1967 novel “Rosemary’s Baby” by Ira Levin with the film adaptation by Roman Polanski. The building in the movie is called the Bramford, but the exteriors, famously, were those of the Dakota on the Upper West Side. What struck me about the movie’s apartments was their aspect of interiority — the way they seemed to harbor secrets. I also remember their small, framed views of high-rise New York City buildings. Even though the film is, of course, a horror story and the building turns out to be cursed, “Rosemary’s Baby” only made me more excited about living in New York. Coming from Japan, I was used to stories about ghosts and evil spirits. So in an absurd way, it made the city feel more familiar.
John Derian, 60, designer and retailer: “Easy Living” (1937)
Moved to New York in 1992
I was a child who on Saturdays watched every old movie on TV: the 12 o’clock, the two o’clock, the four o’clock and, if I could get away with it, the six o’clock. One of my favorites was the screwball comedy “Easy Living,” starring Jean Arthur. The movie takes you all over New York through multiple dwellings, from a mansion on Fifth Avenue to a little room in a boardinghouse where Arthur’s character lives for seven dollars a week, culminating in an over-the-top Hollywood Regency-style suite at the fictional Hotel Louis with sky-high ceilings, a grand piano and an ornate plunge tub. “Wow,” I thought. “All this in one city? Sign me up!” I still love the smoke and mirrors of a good set, and I’m basically doing the same thing today in my shops, creating a little fantasy.
Stephen Alesch, 57, designer: “Batman” (1989)
Moved to New York in 1994
Growing up in Milwaukee and later in the Los Angeles area, I loved Batman comics. When Tim Burton’s “Batman” came out, I ate it up. The Gotham of the film was Manhattan exaggerated, and the neo-neo gothic sets blew me away. I loved the shadowy wet streets, the balconies up high in the mist, the buttresses and water towers. One interior that particularly struck me was Vicky Vale’s (Kim Basinger’s) penthouse, with its shiny tile walls and sweeping steel arch covered in rivets. During my first stay in New York in 1991, I couch surfed with friends and walked the streets for hours, taking in the Chrysler Building, Tudor City, the fire escapes of the Lower East Side. I couldn’t help seeing the city through a noirish lens. Within a few years I moved to New York for good, and I still push for rivets on projects and try to add a vaulted buttress wherever I see an opportunity.
Loren Daye, 48, interior designer: “She’s Gotta Have It” (1986)
Moved to New York in 1996
I was 21 and living in Chicago when I first saw “She’s Gotta Have It.” Much of the film takes place in Fort Greene, but the protagonist, Nola Darling (played by Tracy Camilla Johns), lives in a semi-empty loft in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, among scrap pieces of wood, buckets of paint and her collages. The loft is painted almost completely white and has incredible arched windows and geometric light fixtures suspended from the ceiling, the whole space anchored by her bed at the very center. The bed has a latticed headboard where she lights dozens of candles every evening — it’s like a shrine to her sexuality. That room was my dream, representing freedom, honesty and self-realization. A year after I saw the movie, I arrived in New York. In 2003 I finally found a place in Fort Greene and I’m still here.
Billy Cotton, 42, interior designer: “Interiors” (1978)
Moved to New York in 2000
When I moved to New York to study Russian history at Hunter College I had no inkling I would become a designer. But I do remember watching Woody Allen’s “Interiors” — I think my parents had the VHS cassette — when I was a kid in Burlington, Vt. The matriarch of the story is Eve, an interior designer played by Geraldine Page, and the film’s rambling, sparsely furnished apartments formed my idea of an extremely glamorous New York. Now, looking back at the movie’s spare, monochromatic interiors, I feel like they’re oddly prescient of the current trend for entirely beige, cream and white spaces. But they’re also sort of timeless. This city throws so much visual energy at you on a daily basis, and I love the idea of having just a couple good things you can take with you from place to place.
Tal Schori, 43, architect: “The Hunger” (1983)
Moved to New York in 2003
I grew up in the New York suburbs in the 1990s and the city always held a somewhat intimidating allure for me. This was epitomized in the noirish vampire movie “The Hunger,” which I first saw as a teenager. David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve play the undead lovers John and Miriam Blaylock, who live in a luxurious prewar townhouse near Central Park. Dramatically lit through sheer curtains, the house, with its high ceilings, elegant French doors, paneled walls, ornate moldings and opulent stone cladding, exuded a certain languid luxury and dark transgressiveness. I was seduced. By 2003, I had arrived in New York, renting a modest one-bedroom in a 1960s brick co-op in Ditmas Park.
Jared Blake, 33, furniture designer and retailer: “Hey Arnold!” (1996-2004)
Moved to New York in 2005
To me, Arnold’s room in the Nickelodeon series “Hey Arnold!” is legendary. The show is set in a fictional city called Hillwood, but there’s no doubt in my mind it’s modeled on New York. Arnold had a Murphy bed, a skylight, track lighting, a giant water dispenser and a funky red rug kind of like the one in “The Shining” (1980), but more mod. I was born in New Jersey and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., when I was 7, but I visited New York four times a year to see my dad, who lived in Harlem. I think I knew early on that the city was where I was meant to end up. It’s been 16 years since I arrived, and I’m realizing now that I may have subconsciously created my version of Arnold’s room in my apartment in Ridgewood, Queens. I have a Murphy bed and track lighting, and the whole vibe, like Arnold’s, is very eclectic. I’m just missing the skylight.
Farrah Sit, 41, furniture designer: “9½ Weeks” (1986)
Moved to New York in 2005
I grew up in Kingston, N.Y., just two hours away, and when I was a kid, the sensory overload of New York City — the noise, the stink, the heat — was intense for me. So the interiors in “9 ½ Weeks” were a revelation: an expression of austere minimalism and an aspiring art school kid’s dream. Elizabeth’s art gallery loft was a light-filled box that seemed to float above the chaos of the city. John’s monochromatic, museumlike penthouse, with its furniture by Marcel Breuer and Richard Meier, was luxurious and restrained. These spaces played with light, shadow and texture, expressing an aesthetic that resonates with me to this day. After 18 years living in New York, I still respond to the intensity of the city by creating a feeling of serenity in my work.
Fabiana Faria, 37, retailer: “The Hours” (2002)
Moved to New York in 2007
Meryl Streep character’s in “The Hours,” Clarissa Vaughan, lives in a rustic, rambling, flower-filled home in downtown New York where she often hosts parties. I first saw the movie when I was 14 and living with my parents in Caracas, Venezuela. I wanted to believe that one day I would have a home in New York like that where I would host gatherings of interesting people and be able to walk everywhere, dropping by the butcher or the florist, who both knew me. There are several scenes in Clarissa’s wonderful open kitchen, which has a big stove, hanging pots and wood floors. When I moved to the city I had no illusions of living in such luxury — I shared a two-bedroom with three other roommates on Roosevelt Island — but I held on to that vision of a warm, lived-in, well-loved New York apartment.
Luam Melake, 36, furniture designer: “Party Girl” (1995)
Moved to New York in 2011
When I first saw “Party Girl,” I was 22 and living in San Francisco. Posey’s character, an aspiring librarian who prioritizes fashion and parties, struck me as a shinier reflection of my life as a clothing-obsessed pseudo-librarian — I worked at a bookstore — who earned a living basically just to dress up and hang out. Posey’s character lives in a dingy loft in Chinatown that mainly houses her wardrobe and record collection. It’s a flexible space that she transforms for each party. When I was 24, I moved to New York with just my books and clothes and lived in a series of odd spaces around Chinatown. I was always out — and absolutely thrilled to be here. I’m still a fashion-forward librarian now, at Parsons, and I make flexible furniture designed for better social interactions. I spend less time at parties and more time imagining them.
Minjae Kim, 34, artist and designer: “Basquiat” (1996)
Moved to New York in 2015
I was in high school in Korea when I first saw the artist Julian Schnabel’s “Basquiat,” a movie about navigating the New York art scene that feels more and more authentic to me as time goes by. I was struck by Basquiat’s East Village apartment, covered wall to wall with his own work, and by the loft apartment of the fictional artist Albert Milo (played by Gary Oldman), where art handlers carried around paintings big enough to be theater backdrops. I was captivated by the romance of living among one’s own work, in a space oriented around the creation of art. The film was inevitably a reference for me when I moved from Seoul to Spanish Harlem and even again last year, when I moved to Bed-Stuy, into my first apartment by myself.
Eny Lee Parker, 34, furniture designer: “Friends” (1994-2004)
Moved to New York in 2018
I grew up in Brazil and, like many middle-school-aged millennials around the world, I religiously watched “Friends” to learn English. The décor of the apartments — the purple walls in Monica’s apartment, the La-Z-Boy chairs in Joey and Chandler’s — didn’t exactly provoke design envy. But I loved how the spaces were a safe, warm environment for these six friends to be themselves. I moved to Williamsburg after grad school, and funnily enough, it was much like “Friends.” Me, my then-husband, my best friend and her then-boyfriend shared a unicorn of an apartment: a rent-controlled three-bedroom, three-bathroom with a private rooftop. We hung out, ate our meals together and threw a few parties. I still love the idea of having friends over, ordering Chinese food and sitting around the coffee table while we eat from takeout containers.
Moving to New York is almost always
For gamers, Microsoft acquiring Nintendo sounds as far-fetched as Netflix buying Disney.
Yet such a prospective purchase was discussed by Microsoft executives in a trove of emails accidentally leaked this week as part of an FTC inquiry into the tech giant’s acquisition of another major gaming company, Activision Blizzard.
The emails, dating from late 2019 through 2022, provide unique insight into Microsoft’s strategy for its video game division in direct communications from chief Phil Spencer, who oversees the Xbox brand as Microsoft’s executive vice president of gaming.
The email chain about Nintendo is dated Aug. 5, 2020, months after sales skyrocketed for Nintendo’s hit game “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fellow Microsoft executive Takeshi Numoto said Nintendo offered “a rich set of franchises that can help us shore up our content” for one of Microsoft’s other major goals: cloud gaming.
Spencer responded by calling Nintendo “THE prime asset for us in Gaming” and referenced “numerous” conversations about the prospective acquisition. He said Microsoft was in the best position to acquire Nintendo, but several challenges existed to the proposition, such as Nintendo’s obstinate board of directors. He mentions former Microsoft board member Mason Morfit had been buying up Nintendo stock, which Spencer said “could create more opportunities for us.”
“Without that catalyst I don’t see an angle to a near term mutually agreeable merger of Nintendo and MS,” Spencer wrote. “I don’t think a hostile action would be a good move so we are playing the long game.”
The emails also confirmed rumors from earlier this summer that Microsoft had targeted another Japanese video game company, Sega, best known for its “Sonic the Hedgehog” games. A strategy deck circulated by Spencer in November 2020 outlined several key business elements of Sega and how its assets appealed to Microsoft.
“We believe that Sega has built a well-balanced portfolio of games across segments with global geographic appeal, and will help us accelerate Xbox Game pass both on and off-console,” Spencer said in the email.
A Sega executive later denied rumors of a sale in an interview with Bloomberg Japan.
While these acquisition targets never came to fruition, the emails show Microsoft’s years of coveting Activision Blizzard leading up to its $69-billion proposed acquisition last January.
For instance, a “state of the business” presentation deck from October 2019 said that Activision Blizzard’s “Call of Duty” mobile game reached 100 million downloads in its first week of release and “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” generated $600 million in its first weekend.
Another email from January 2020 showed internal discussion of Activision Blizzard’s exclusive partnership with Google for its gaming cloud and streaming rights.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella weighed in, inquiring how Microsoft could better appeal to Activision Blizzard using Microsoft’s Azure cloud system, such as a proposed 90-10 revenue split in comparison with Google’s rumored 80-20. Spencer responded that what Microsoft lacked in mobile gaming infrastructure at the time would be made up for with its cloud gaming system.
Another concern Spencer expressed in the emails was with Microsoft’s catalog of games offered via Xbox Game Pass, its game streaming service. With development of major titles often taking years, Spencer said in a May 2022 email that its 2023 lineup was sparse.
“I feel we are in a huge hole with our games lineup both for platform marketing/differentiation and our Gamepass content,” Spencer wrote.
After Microsoft’s emails were publicized earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley issued an order Tuesday saying the emails were submitted by Microsoft as unredacted exhibits for the case.
“The parties have notified the Court that the version of the exhibits provided contained non-public information and the Court has removed the trial exhibits from the internet,” the order read. The documents were pulled from the court website the same day.
Spencer acknowledged the leaks in a memo to staff on Tuesday, saying they were “disappointing, even if many of the documents are well over a year old and our plans have evolved.”
“We’ve seen the conversation around old emails and documents,” Spencer wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “It is hard to see our team’s work shared in this way because so much has changed and there’s so much to be excited about right now, and in the future. We will share the real plans when we are ready.”
For gamers, Microsoft acquiring Nintendo sounds
A freshly-revealed action figure in the ever-popular Marvel Legends toy line from Hasbro brings Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock into plastic form.
The Charlie Cox-led Marvel series Daredevil: Born Again might’ve gotten pulled from the release calendar due to the Hollywood strikes, but true believers can take solace in the fact that the show will come out at some point.
Plus, Ol’ Hornhead can also be seen in MCU canon in two episodes of Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and a key scene from Spider-Man: No Way Home (he’ll also be a supporting character in 2024’s Echo).
Revealed at Hasbro’s online Pulse Con event was a new wave of Marvel Legends six-inch-scale action figures based upon Spider-Man: No Way Home. Among the figures shown was Matt Murdock, from his cameo in the film.
This marks the first time that Marvel Studios’ version of Murdock has been produced in the Legends line:
The Marvel Legends offering includes a fully articulated suited body and a cane.
Matt also comes packed with a brick to recreate the scene where he catches one that gets lobbed through a window.
The figure has a head sculpted with a likeness of Charlie Cox, even if the resemblance is a little obscured by his glasses. He’ll be sold on a blister card and will likely arrive in the hands of collectors sometime later this year or early next.
Make no mistake, this might be the only civilian Matt produced in the Marvel Legends line so far, but it is far from the only Daredevil figure they’ve released.
A figure based on his appearance in his self-titled Netflix series was done back in the halcyon days when new episodes were still being produced. And there have been quite a few comic book-based Daredevil Legends put out in the line’s 21-year history, in a variety of his iconic costumes and looks.
What’s more is that with roles in the MCU going forward, Hasbro will have even more ammunition for additional Daredevil figures based on future projects. The toymaker hasn’t even gotten around to his ketchup-and-mustard-colored armor from She-Hulk.
All of Charlie Cox’s Daredevil appearances can be streamed on Disney+.
Whether you love or hate him, no one can deny that Zack Snyder always goes big. His director’s cut of Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice ran three hours, while his complete vision of Justice League clocked in at four. Both movies had huge, sprawling stories and big personalities and were teeming with grim visuals and special effects. Snyder is an ambitious filmmaker with a brevity problem, but overall, he makes an entertaining movie.
Snyder’s follow-up to the sprawling opus of Justice League and his zombie romp Army of the Dead is Rebel Moon. The film is described in short as an “epic space opera,” not dissimilar to the label of a certain galaxy far, far away. A Netflix production, Rebel Moon boasts an impressive ensemble cast of notable actors and actresses. It is now shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of the holiday season.
While audiences might be tempted to go see Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Wonka, The Color Purple, Ferrari, or Migration in theaters, Rebel Moon will be the offering for audiences at home during the holidays. Here is everything we know about the upcoming sci-fi film that has the potential to be an epic franchise.
Update September 22, 2023: This article has been updated with more information regarding Rebel Moon following the trailer’s release.
The story behind Rebel Moon is a familiar sci-fi/action backdrop. The official synopsis:
“A peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical regent named Balisarius. The desperate civilians dispatch a young woman who has a mysterious past to seek out warriors from nearby planets to help them challenge the regent.”
Digging deeper into the story, our protagonist colony consists mostly of farmers just going about their lives. But then, a tyrannical and corrupt government known as Mother World swoops through their atmosphere lands and demands the farmers donate their crops to their forces. Sound familiar? How about the fact that their army is called The Imperium? Of course, the story is not completely derivative of a galaxy far, far away. The main character is going to gather a crew of warriors and mercenaries to fight back against Mother World.
The storyline is the brainchild of Snyder himself. He and writing partner Kurt Johnstad fleshed out the script along with writer Shay Hatten. On Philadelphia’s The Preston and Steve Show, Snyder described the action as follows:
“I’m just really excited about doing some sci-fi battle, ‘Endor’ action sequences. I’ve never really done that, so it was really fun to sort of dive into that with both feet. Also it’s really fun to imagine these worlds, and kind of build out this brand-new mythology – brand-new and fresh cultures and planets and everything.”
Rebel Moon is based on an idea Snyder had for a Star Wars film, one that would be heavily inspired by the film Seven Samurai. Snyder pitched the idea to Lucasfilm shortly after Disney purchased the company. It was intended to be a more mature take on the Star Wars franchise. This is fitting as Star Wars itself was conceived by George Lucas when he could not get the rights to Flash Gordon. Like George Lucas said regarding the prequels, “It’s like poetry; it rhymes”.
Zack Snyder drew in an impressive cast for Rebel Moon, replete with some big names. Sofia Boutella will be playing the lead role of Kora. Boutella actually has experience starring in intergalactic adventures when she portrayed Jaylah in Star Trek: Beyond. Since then, Boutella has built up an impressive filmography, starring in films like The Mummy, Hotel Artemis, and Fahrenheit 451. However, she actually got her first role in a major film as the blade-legged assassin Gazelle in Kingsmen: The Secret Service.
The cast is rounded by Ray Fisher, who’s reuniting with Zach Snyder from Zack Synder’s Justice League as Darrian Bloodaxe, a warrior recruited by Kora. Djimon Hounsou, who’s also familiar with intergalactic and fantasy roles from starring in Guardians of the Galaxy and Shazam!, will play General Titus. Ed Skrein, playing another antagonist role similar to his appearances in Deadpool and Alita: Battle Angel, will play Admiral Atticus Noble, the righthand man of the tyrannical ruler of the Imperium. In case that wasn’t enough, one Anthony Hopkins is lending his voice as sentient war robot JC1435.
Other notable cast members include Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Jena Malone (Donnie Darko), Starz Nair (Supergirl), and Doona Bae (The Host), who round out the cast of colorful warriors recruited by Kora. Snyder has gathered an ensemble to be reckoned with in his effort to bring his vision to life. If nothing else, Snyder is great at picking the right actors and actresses for his roles. He nailed his titular team in Justice League, so between this knack for casting and the names themselves, Rebel Moon has promise.
Snyder is not only the director and co-writer of Rebel Moon, but he is also acting as the cinematographer. Filming lasted 152 days, beginning on April 19, 2022 and concluding on December 2, 2023. The massive shoot was because Snyder filmed two movies worth of material back to back.
Snyder is reuniting with composer Junkie XL, who is set to compose the score for Rebel Moon. Junkie XL notably did the score for Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and Army of the Dead.
Rebel Moon is set to premiere on Netflix on December 22, 2023. Snyder has confirmed that the film will also have an extended R-rated cut alongside the original cut. Rebel Moon is also the first film; the movie was so massive it was split into two parts, similar to Snyder’s plans for Justice League. The film will have the subtitle, Part One: A Child of Fire.
Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver will premiere on Netflix on April 19, 2024. In addition, Snyder revealed he plans to develop a TV series focusing on Balisarius, the main villain of the film, who will be played by Fra Fee, who is best known for playing Kazi in Hawkeye. It appears Netflix is planning an entire multimedia franchise based around Rebel Moon.
Whether you love or hate him, no
Thor’s hammer is called Mjolnir, but the director of the first Thor film, Oscar-winner Kenneth Branagh, apparently did not originally want to call it that. Writer Zack Stentz told Vanity Fair that Branagh “didn’t like the name Mjolnir because it’s difficult to pronounce.”
Stentz said Branagh asked the production team, “Do we have to call the hammer ‘Mjolnir’?” Branagh suggested calling it “Uru” instead, based on the metal it’s made out of.
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige was said to be present at this meeting, too, and he put his foot down and stressed that it needed to be called “Mjolnir.” Otherwise, dedicated fans might get upset, Feige reportedly reasoned.
“‘Ken, the fanboys would string you up.’ ‘Alright. We won’t be doing that, then,'” Stentz said he recalls the conversation between Feige and Branagh playing out.
They stuck with Mjolnir, and the hammer played a key role across the entire Thor and Avengers movie installments. Hela destroyed Mjolnir in Thor: Ragnarok, but it wasn’t gone forever, as Jane Foster wields the weapon in Thor: Love and Thunder.
No new Thor movies have been announced, but given the popularity of the series, a fifth entry in the main series is expected. Whether or not Chris Hemsworth would come back, however, is unknown, as he has said he does not want to overstay his welcome.
Also in the Vanity Fair piece, Captain America actor Chris Evans revealed why he was originally hesitant to star in the series.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
Stop Making Sense, the remastered concert film that sowed delight at TIFF, opens on 300 Imax screens in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland. Locations Stateside number 260 ahead of a nationwide release next week.
The 1984 Talking Heads extravaganza from Jonathan Demme is presented in its new iteration by A24 — meaning the decades-old movie can now extend its reach to a new, younger audience that is A24’s core fan base. Opening numbers are hard to gauge since there aren’t many comps but there are parties, discos, stars and sellouts with film looking at about $1.5 million, including Thursday previews.
A 40th anniversary large-format special premiere screening at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month had people dancing in the aisles and broke Imax records. It was the company’s highest grossing live event, earning $640.8k and selling out 25 screens across 165 Imax locations in North America and the BFI Imax in London. The film opens into a surprisingly crowded weekend for specialty fare.
Neon presents It Lives Inside, a horror/thriller from first-time feature director Bishal Dutta, opens on 1,985 screens. Written by Dutta and Ashish Mehta, it follows Sam (Megan Suri), a culturally insecure Indian-American teen and her estranged friend, Tamira (Mohana Krishnan), who carries a mysterious, empty mason jar with her at all times. In a moment of anger, Sam breaks Tamira’s jar and unleashes an ancient Indian demonic force.
IFC Films presents The Origin of Evil on 206 screens. By Sébastien Marnier and starring Suzanne Clément, Laure Calamy, Doria Tiller, Jacques Weber, Dominique Blanque. A woman is sucked into a world of secrets and betrayal as the battle over her estranged father’s massive estate reveals him to be more than the genial patriarch she’d assumed in this twisted satire. Premiered at Venice last year, Deadline review here.
Music Box Films presents My Sailor, My Love by Klaus Härö on 37 screens in 21 markets including the Regal Essex Crossing in NY and Monica Film Center, Laemmle Town Center, Regal Long Beach in LA plus a mix of independent and chain locations in Philadelphia, Boston, DC, Houston, Seattle, Phoenix, Tampa, Orlando, Sacramento and elsewhere. Howard (James Cosmo), a grumpy retired sailor and widower lives in a house by the sea. When adult daughter Grace (Catherine Walker) hires a caretaker, Annie (Bríd Brennan), he rejects her company but eventually opens his heart. Written by Jimmy Karlsson, Kirsi Vikman
AppleTV+ presents Flora And Son in limited release. Debuts on the streamer 9/29. The Sundance charmer by John Carney stars Eve Hewson as a single mom, Flora, at a loss about how to deal with her rebellious teenage son, Max (Orén Kinlan). Encouraged by the police to find Max a hobby, Flora tries to occupy him with a beat-up acoustic guitar. With the help of a washed-up LA musician (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Flora and Max discover the transformative power of music. Deadline review here.
Relax, I’m from the Future from Blue Fox Entertainment is out on 45 screens. Directed by Luke Higginson, it stars Rhys Darby as a man from the future now trapped in the past, who tries to make a life for himself oblivious to the consequences he has set in motion.
Man On The Run, a doc about the the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) scandal and the fund’s alleged mastermind, international fugitive Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, premieres in NYC at Village East, expanding to LA (Laemmle Monica Film Center) next weekend. The film by Cassius Michael Kim follows Jho Low, born to a rich family in Penang Island, Malaysia, he studied at the Harrow School in London and Wharton in the U.S. Before becoming a wanted man for his role in the 1MDB scandal, the 40-year-old businessman and financier led a glamorous life, partying with celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and dating supermodel Miranda Kerr. He was involved in the financing of Martin Scorsese hit The Wolf of Wall Street and has been dubbed “the Asian Great Gatsby.” The doc is presented by The Smoking Section/Evergreen Media.
Circle Collective presents What Doesn’t Float from the new production shingle Gummy Films (Luca Balser, Rachel Walden and Pauline Chalamet) in NYC at the Roxy Cinema with multiple sellouts and more showings added for next week ahead of the film’s LA opening on 10/6 at Brain Dead and a theatrical and festival tour throughout October. The NYC opening features support from Posteritati, Red Hook’s iconic ‘Record Store’ owned by Bene Coopersmith — the film was shot throughout Red Hook and NYC. The indie film was granted a SAG-AFTRA promotional waiver. Pauline Chalamet (Sex Lives of College Girls) produced and stars along with Larry Fessenden (Depraved) and Keith Poulson (PVT Chat) as New Yorkers at their wit’s end.
Cohen Media Group presents documentary The Storms of Jeremy Thomas at the Quad, expanding to LA and about ten other markets next week. The prolific and sometimes transgressive producer (The Last Emperor, Sexy Beast, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, Crash), on his annual drive from the UK to the Cannes Film Festival, talks cinema and his career with director Mark Cousins. Premiered at Cannes 2021. This week, Thomas took another drive, from TIFF to NYC for a special screening and Q&A with Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker. The Quad is featuring a retrospective of his work.
UnCharitable from Abramorama, directed by Stephen Gyllenhall, premieres at NYC’s Village East, hitting LA’s Laemmle Royal Sept. 29. The documentary based on the book and TED talk by AIDS Rides and Breast Cancer Walk founder Dan Pallotta exposes that dark side of philanthropy. After three of the most dynamic and successful U.S. charities were shut down by conservative watchdogs, destroying lives and cutting off precious resources, many of the top influencers in the field knew something had to be done to overhaul the nonprofit sector. Beginning with Pallotta, whose Ted Talk on the subject has inspired top philanthropists and changemakers, the feature introduces a radical new way of giving, demanding that charities be freed from traditional sackcloth-and-ashes constraints. Interviews with TED CEO Chris Anderson, Steve Nardizzi (co-founder, Wounded Warrior Project), Darren Walker (Ford Foundation president), and actor Edward Norton (Crowdrise Founder).
Stop Making Sense, the remastered concert film
There are some great looking items here.
Coming this Spring: AEW, Star Wars, Rebel Moon and More!
It’s almost October, which means it’s time for the October Previews catalog to unleash its pre-order goodness on an unsuspecting public! This month, there are a variety of items from Diamond Select Toys and Gentle Giant LTD, including more AEW Minimates, a new Indiana Jones statue, their first Rebel Moon action figures, a new Matrix diorama, new Pacific Rim action figures, and the usual goodies from Marvel and Star Wars! Read on for details, then pre-order through your local comic shop (find one at comicshoplocator.com) or order online at diamondselecttoys.com and gentlegiantltd.com!
AEW Minimates Deluxe Wrestling Ring Playset
A Diamond Select Toys release! Get ready to take your opponent apart in the ring! With Series 2 of All Elite Wrestling Minimates on its way, now is the time to give them a place to wrestle! This 6” by 6” wrestling ring playset includes chairs, bats, ladders and more, as well as an exclusive 2-inch Minimate of masked announcer Excalibur, featuring 14 points of articulation and fully interchangeable parts! It comes packaged in a full-color window box! Designed by Barry Bradfield! SRP: $24.99
https://www.diamondselecttoys.com/aew-wrestling-ring-minimates-playset/
Indiana Jones Temple of Doom Premier Collection 1/7 Scale Statue
A Gentle Giant LTD release! Will you dare enter the Temple of Doom? Indiana Jones is seriously considering it in this all-new statue inspired by the legendary sequel’s iconic movie poster! Measuring approximately 15 inches tall, this 1/7 scale statue depicts Indy in his torn shirt, holding a whip in front of a vine-draped pillar. Limited to only 1000 pieces, it comes packaged with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a full-color box. SRP: $300.00
Marvel Gallery Comic Chasm PVC Diorama
A Diamond Select Toys release! With a new Spider-Man villain comes a new Marvel Gallery Diorama! Former Spider-Man Ben Reilly has turned on the hero he was cloned from, and has gained new powers from a tragic lab accident. Now, he stalks the rooftops as Chasm, surrounded by shifting energy, in this 10-inch PVC sculpture! Featuring detailed sculpting and paint applications, as well as translucent energy effects that catch the light, this dynamic diorama comes packaged in a full-color window box. Designed by Nelson X. Asencio, sculpted by Alterton! SRP: $59.99
https://www.diamondselecttoys.com/chasm-gallery-diorama/
Marvel Animated X-Men Psylocke 1/7 Scale Mini-Bust
A Diamond Select Toys release! The X-Men’s resident ninja is coming to the animated universe! Joining the long-running line of mini-busts based on the classic 1990s X-Men: The Animated Series, this approximately 6-inch resin bust depicts Betsy Braddock with her signature psychic blade ignited, ready to face off with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Limited to only 3,000 pieces, and featuring cartoon accurate paint applications, it comes packaged with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a full-color window box. Designed by Barry Bradfield, sculpted by Michelle Varner! SRP: $90.00
https://www.diamondselecttoys.com/x-men-the-animated-series-psylocke-animated-mini-bust/
Marvel Comic Black Panther 1/7 Scale Mini-Bust
A Diamond Select Toys release! DST’s comic-based line of Marvel mini-busts is traveling all the way to Wakanda for their next release! Depicting T’Challa in his gold-trimmed Black Panther gear, this regal mini-bust sits atop a gold ornamental base and measures approximately 5.5 inches tall. It is limited to only 3,000 pieces and comes packaged with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a full-color window box. Designed by Nelson X. Asencio, sculpted by Juan Pitluk! SRP: $90.00
https://www.diamondselecttoys.com/black-panther-comic-mini-bust/
Marvel Iron Man Iron Man MK1 1/6 Scale MIni-Bust
A Diamond Select Toys release! Witness the birth of Iron Man! The newest movie-based Marvel mini-bust is none other than the Invincible Iron Man himself, in his very first big-screen appearance! Wearing the handmade suit of armor he used to escape his captors, Tony Stark fires a burst of flame as he makes his getaway. Standing approximately 7 inches tall, this 1/6 scale mini-bust is limited to only 3,000 pieces and comes packaged with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a full-color window box. Designed by Nelson X. Asencio, sculpted by Juan Ramos! SRP: $130.00
https://www.diamondselecttoys.com/marvel-studios-iron-man-iron-man-mk1-mini-bust/
Matrix Gallery Morpheus Deluxe PVC Diorama
A Diamond Select Toys release! There is no spoon! Morpheus rises to battle the Matrix in this second piece in the Matrix Gallery Diorama series! Depicting the resistance fighter leaping from the ground to deliver a deadly attack, this approximately 12-inch sculpture is made of high-quality PVC and features detailed sculpting and paint applications. It comes packaged in a full-color window box. Designed by Nelson X. Asencio, sculpted by Jorge Santos Souza! SRP: $80.00
https://www.diamondselecttoys.com/morpheus-gallery-diorama/
Pacific Rim Uprising Special Ops Deluxe Action Figures Series 3 Asst
A Diamond Select Toys release! Un-cancel the apocalypse! The Jaegers and Kaiju of Pacific Rim: Uprising, are back, and they’ve got new color schemes and new specialties! Titan Redeemer (Desert Combat) and a Kaiju Drone (Breach Energy) each feature multiple points of articulation and stand approximately 7 inches tall. Each comes packaged in a full-color window box. Designed and sculpted by BigShot ToyWorks! SRP: $29.99/each
Rebel Moon Deluxe Action Figures Series 1 Asst
A Diamond Select Toys release! The sci-fi event of the year is almost here! Zack Snyder’s sure-to-be-epic Rebel Moon movie is getting ready to launch on Netflix, and DST is launching a new series of action figures to celebrate! The first series includes warrior Nemesis and robot Jimmy, and each 1/10 scale action figure features multiple points of articulation, as well as character-specific accessories. They come packed in full-color window boxes. Sculpted by Gentle Giant Studios! SRP: $24.99/each
Star Wars The Mandalorian Milestones 1/6 Scale Statue
A Gentle Giant LTD release! Din Djarin is back, and he’s the newest 1/6 scale Milestones statue from GG LTD! Standing approximately 13 inches tall atop a rocky base, this resin statue of the Mandalorian himself depicts him prepared for battle in his Beskar armor, with a blaster in one hand and the darksaber in the other! Limited to only 1,000 pieces, it comes packaged with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a full-color box. SRP: $250.00
https://www.gentlegiantltd.com/star-wars-the-mandalorian-din-djarin-milestones-statue/
Star Wars The Clone Wars Hondo Ohnaka Animated 1/7 Scale Mini-Bust
A Gentle Giant LTD release! The Outer Rim pirate Hondo Ohnaka makes his debut in the animated-style Clone Wars mini-bust line from GG LTD! Depicting the touch Weequay with a friendly grin, but hiding a blaster behind his back, this approximately 6-inch resin mini-bust is limited to only 3,000 pieces and comes packaged with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a full-color box. SRP: $90.00
https://www.gentlegiantltd.com/star-wars-the-clone-wars-hondo-ohnaka-animated-mini-bust/
Star Wars Return of the Jedi Darth Vader (Unhelmeted) 1/6 Scale Mini-Bust
A Gentle Giant LTD release! There is still good in him! From the closing scenes of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, this 1/6 scale mini-bust depicts Darth Vader with his helmet removed, revealing the scarred face of Anakin Skywalker! Measuring approximately 6 inches tall, this realistic mini-bust is limited to only 3,000 pieces and comes packaged with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a full-color box. SRP: $130.00
https://www.gentlegiantltd.com/star-wars-return-of-the-jedi-darth-vader-unhelmeted-mini-bust/
gareth Syndicated movie & game critic, writer, author and frequent radio guest. His work has appeared in over 60 publications worldwide and he is the creator of the rising entertainment site and publication “Skewed and Reviewed”.
He has three books of film, game reviews and interviews published and is a well-received and in demand speaker on the convention circuit. Gareth has appeared in movies and is a regular guest on a top-rated Seattle morning show.
He has also appeared briefly in films such as “Prefountaine”, “Postal”. “Far Cry”. and others. Gareth is also an in-demand speaker at several conventions and has conducted popular panels for over two decades.
Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy may be one of the best, most surprising superhero tales of all time, but—according to co-creator David S. Goyer—it almost looked very different. Instead of Christian Bale’s gritty, brooding take on the titular vigilante, we could have had Jake Gyllenhaal’s… probably equally heady take on the character. This is still a Christopher Nolan film, after all.
“There were a number of people who screen tested, and I had advocated for Gyllenhaal,” said Goyer—who co-wrote Batman Begins and story-crafted The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises—on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via Variety). “I mean, Gyllenhaal is amazing. Christian Bale is amazing. So who knows,” he clarified.
Jake Gyllenhaal wasn’t the only actor denied entry to Gotham. “After The Dark Knight, the head of Warner Bros. at the premiere said, ‘You’ve got to do the Riddler. Leo as the Riddler. You’ve got to tell Chris, Leo as the Riddler,’” Goyer recalled. “I was like, ‘Dude, that’s not the way we work.’” (That’s “taking nothing away from [DiCaprio],” of course, according to Goyer.)
Nolan, who Goyer called “very process driven,” was vehemently against “the sense that, with the Spider-Man movies or when superhero movies started getting made… that the studios would alway say, ‘Who’s our villain of the next movie going to be? Let’s build a movie around that.’” Nolan apparently preferred a much more “naturalistic” approach, in which he and Goyer would “figure out what kind of story we want to tell… and then figure out a villain that fits that story.” It’s “one of the things that in hindsight was revolutionary,” Goyer said.
As such, since the late Heath Ledger’s Joker had challenged Bruce Wayne “intellectually” in The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises needed a “brute,” which the team eventually found in Bane. Here’s another “dirty little secret of The Dark Knight Rises”: “It’s kind of modeled after Rocky III. You’ve gotta get knocked down to get back up.”
You can watch Goyer’s full “Happy Sad Confused” interview here:
Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy may be one
Great news! “Accused” is available to watch on Netflix UK!
Date Added: 22nd September 2023
Known expiry dates are shown above as well as on the Last Chance page.
Want to keep forever? Try looking for ‘Accused’ on Amazon (paid link)
Description:
After a young man is wrongly accused of a horrific crime on social media, violent vigilantes invade his family home–forcing him to fight for his life.
Certificate: Suitable for ages 15 and up
Year: 2023
Duration: 1hr 27m
Audio: British English – Audio Description, English [Original], Spanish – Audio Description, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese – Audio Description, Brazilian Portuguese
Subtitles: English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese
– English Audio Description
Director: Philip Barantini
Cast: Chaneil Kular, Robbie O’Neill, Lauryn Ajufo, Frances Tomelty, Jay Johnson, Nitin Ganatra, Nila Aalia
“Accused” was produced by Three Little Birds Pictures, XYZ Films and Sunrise Films and was originally released on March 31st 2023.
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This title is available on Netflix UK
Where else can you watch ‘Accused’ on Netflix?
Rupert Murdoch and son Lachlan received $22.9 million and $21.7 million in compensation packages from Fox Corp. in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023, the parent company of Fox News has revealed.
It will be the final full year in which Rupert Murdoch led the company as chairman, as he will step down and become chairman emeritus in November.
Rupert Murdoch, Fox’s chairman, received a compensation package worth $22.9 million in the latest fiscal year, compared with $18.4 million in the year before and $31.1 million two years ago.
Lachlan Murdoch, Fox’s executive chairman and CEO, received a pay package totaling $21.7 million, flat from a year earlier and down from $27.7 million in the year before that.
Fox also said that two of its board members, Anne Dias and Jacques Nasser, will also leave the board in November, and is nominating former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson to replace them.
Fox provided the compensation details for the Murdochs and other top executives, including chief operating officer John Nallen and CFO Steve Tomsic, in a regulatory filing. The company’s assets include Fox News, Fox Sports, the Fox broadcast network, TV stations and streaming service Tubi.
Rupert Murdoch also serves as chairman of News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal and a majority stake in Australian pay TV giant Foxtel, among others.
Rupert Murdoch and son Lachlan received $22.9 million and
Zendaya could make anything look good, but her most recent ’fit may inspire you to think about your fall wardrobe in a whole new way.
On September 21, Zendaya posted a ’fit check to Instagram, mixing last season’s most comfortable trend with this season’s hottest shoe. In the car-window selfie, the 27-year-old Emmy-winning actor wore a slightly oversized gray T-shirt with a pair of rolled-up white boxers—a trend that had the girlies purchasing men’s underwear packs in droves this summer. She topped off the look with a navy “Warriors” cap, black sunglasses, and a pair of slouchy calf-high boots in a warm cognac color.
By pairing boots that are practically designed to be worn while sipping a pumpkin spice latte with a breezy pair of boxers, Zendaya took the style from a staples of the Christian girl autumn look to an It girl must-have in zero seconds flat. Zendaya didn’t just prove the validity of the wrong -shoe theory; she made a strong argument for the wrong-everything theory.
Yes, sports merch also goes with leather boots and a giant pearl ring. No, that doesn’t mean she’s engaged to Tom Holland—it just means she knows how to curate a nonchalant vibe. Either that or she just threw on the first items she saw before running errands and it just happened to work. Either way, it’s going on the Pinterest board.
Zendaya could make anything look good, but
Roach attends Manhattan School of Music, majoring at first in percussion before switching to composition.
He continues gigging professionally and recording with, among others, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Sonny Stitt, Charles Mingus.
1950-1953
1950-1953Roach attends Manhattan School of Music,
Canada Post will be conducting a review of its marketing program after the federal privacy watchdog determined it had broken privacy law by using Canadians’ personal information in an unauthorized manner.
The office of Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne said in a report this week that the data collected by Canada Post was used to create mail-marketing lists rented to businesses, in a program called Smartmail Marketing.
The data includes information about where individuals live and what kind of online shopping they do, the report says. However, it adds that Canada Post had not obtained consent from individuals to indirectly collect information from envelopes for the purpose of enabling its marketing program.
Therefore, the postal service was found to have violated section five of the Privacy Act — a finding Canada Post originally disputed.
Canada Post addressed the commissioner’s allegations in a statement Friday.
“We are trusted to handle Canadians’ personal information every day. There is nothing more important to us than maintaining that trust with Canadians. We therefore understand that Canadians may be concerned following the release of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s annual report,” Canada Post said.
Canada Post also said Friday that it is committed to the Privacy Act and the protections it places on personal data.
“We are therefore going to conduct a review of our data services program to ensure we live up to the standards that Canadians expect,” it said.
While the program is in review, Canada Post says they will be boosting transparency and awareness of their approach for using personal information. They will also be “streamlining and providing greater visibility” for their opt-out programs, it says.
“Through it all, we will continue to work closely with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner,” the statement says.
Section 5 of the Privacy Act “requires institutions to collect personal information directly from individuals and notify them of the purposes of collection, unless limited exceptions apply,” the commissioner’s report says.
The terms of “authorization” are not defined in the Act, but the commissioner’s view is that individuals must be aware of the practice that their information is being used and have taken an action “that can reasonably be inferred as giving permission for the practice,” the report says.
The commissioner recommended in his report that Canada Post stop using and disclosing personal information obtained from its own operational data for mail marketing purposes until it obtains Canadians’ consent.
However, the postal service had “refused” to take the recommended action, the report said.
The watchdog’s report says Canada Post disagreed with Dufresne’s conclusion that they had broken privacy law, explaining that it has had to continuously find new ways to diversify its revenue stream to make up for a declining volume of letters over many years.
The office of Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, says they were concerned to hear about the allegations regarding Canada Post.
“As soon as the Minister was made aware of the situation, he called M. Ettinger, the President and CEO of Canada Post, to reiterate that the protection and preservation of Canadians’s [sic] right to privacy is of the utmost importance. M. Ettinger assured Minister Duclos that they were fully collaborating with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner,” a statement from the office to Global News said.
Canada Post is quoted in the commissioner’s report saying they do not view their “engagement in these activities as being in any way contrary to the public good.”
The report says the privacy investigation began when an individual received marketing material from a local restaurant in Toronto, addressed to him, with his name and full apartment address on the envelope.
According to the complainant, he was told by Canada Post that “the (marketing) program combines information about individuals that CPC has in its possession with publicly available information obtained from the phone directory and sells this to businesses interested in marketing to individuals,” the commissioner’s report writes.
The report notes that Canada Post does not directly provide businesses with the information.
Rather, for a fee, the personal data is disclosed to a third-party mail service provider that has a contract with Canada Post and disperses the mail on behalf of the businesses.
Ann Cavoukian is the executive director of the Global Policy and Security by Design Centre, and former Ontario privacy commissioner. She says Canada Post’s handling of personal information is “absolutely outrageous.”
She says all control over individuals’ data was lost once it was handed over to the third party.
“That’s the problem. You don’t know what it might be used for,” Cavoukian told Global News.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Canada Post will be conducting a review
Kylie Jenner attended the Prada Spring/Summer 2024 Womenswear Fashion Show in Milan.
Kylie Jenner attended the Prada Spring/Summer 2024
After a week of calling out “Pose” and “American Horror Story” executive producer Ryan Murphy, Angelica Ross has shared her salary and claimed that Murphy cursed her out after the production team “silenced her.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she also reiterates she is done with Hollywood and reveals she is moving to Georgia and going into politics.
The dispute with Murphy happened over a series of T-shirts a crew member was wearing. Ross described the shirts as “racist” and said they contained slogans such as “Build That Wall” and “I Don’t Kneel.”
One day while Ross was trying to focus on her scene, the shirts became too much for her. She left the scene, went into a production van and vowed she wasn’t going to come out until the man took off his shirt or turned it inside out. Producer John J. Gray later told Ross the shirts were a freedom-of-speech issue and that production couldn’t do anything about them. This prompted Ross to tweet, “It’s a shame that I do all this work out in the world on anti-Blackness and racism and have to come to a set and do the same work.”
Initially, executive producer Tanase Popa called Ross, asked her to take down the tweet and told her the situation was being handled.
“Two seconds later, Ryan Murphy calls me directly. So he was probably there for the whole conversation. He starts off not, ‘Are you OK?’ Not, ‘What’s going on?’” Ross said. “He starts off: ‘What’s your f–king problem?! Are you serious?!’ He goes, “You think that I would f–king silence you after all I’ve done and I’ve been an advocate and done nothing but uplift trans Black women?’”
Popa has disputed this account of what happened. According to Popa, after Ross accused him of “silencing” her, Popa said, “‘I am not silencing. You can post or say whatever you want, but what I’m saying is we should follow the proper protocol so that we can actually implement a solution on set instead of just going to Twitter first.’”
He also disputes that Murphy called her back “two seconds later,” instead claiming the conversation happened after about 10 minutes.
“Ryan was in the middle of several takes, and it took about 10 minutes. He then called her, he stepped outside. I was next to him. His assistant Sara Stelwagen was next to him and we did not hear him cuss at her or say, ‘After all I’ve done for you, why would you do this?’” Popa said in his statement. “He basically said, ‘I don’t understand why you would go to Twitter instead of coming to us.’”
When asked for comment, a representative for Ryan Murphy pointed TheWrap toward the comments Popa shared with The Hollywood Reporter.
After their conversation, Ross pointed out to Murphy that she was being asked to act as both an advocate and an actor after her work on “Pose.” “To co-opt that energy only so that he can wield my essence whenever he wants to take me out of his actor toolbox, it’s just another form of tokenization. Because he doesn’t really mean what he says that he means,” Ross said in the interview.
The former “AHS” star said that Murphy later agreed with her and apologized, emphasizing that he wanted to be her “biggest champion.”
Ross also shared that she was originally offered $28,000 an episode to appear on “American Horror Story.” After countering with $50,000, she threatened to walk away. Afterward, she was given a “significant bump” in pay, which is why she agreed to sign onto the series.
After sharing that she was “leaving Hollywood” earlier this week, Ross plans to return to her home state of Georgia and transition to a career in politics. Over the course of her acting career, Ross starred in “Pose,” the “1984” and “Double Feature” seasons of “American Horror Story,” “Transparent,” “Claws” and “Danger and Eggs.”
September 22, 2023 @ 12:52 PM After a
EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a trailer for The Sea Beyond, the Italian drama series headed for streamer MHz Choice.
The series is due to launch in the U.S. and Canada on October 17 after MHZ snagged the series from distributor Beta. MHz’s exclusive rights deal, struck earlier this month, spans four seasons.
Italian pubcaster RAI first ordered the show, which follows two young men, Filippo (Nicolas Maupas) and Carmine (Massimiliano Caiazzo), serving time in a juvenile detention center near Naples. Neither dreamt of a life of crime and are forced to fend off attacks from fellow detainee Ciro (Giacamo Giorgio), an up-and-coming crime boss. It stars Nicolas Maupas and Massimiliano Caiazzo.
The Italian-language series, which will be subtitled in English, is known for being a hit on Netflix Italy, where it has spent 30 weeks in the streamer’s Top 10. Locally, it’s know as Mare Fuori.
The Kino Lorber Media Group-owned MHz picked it up along with Camorra – Code of Honor and season three of Makari: Sicilian Mysteries. The streamer offers a multitude of international series.
Cristina Farina (Vivere) and Maurizio Careddu (Rocco Schiavone)’s show launched in Italy in 2020, with the second launching in November 2021 and the third through streamer RaiPlay in February this year. It comes from Rai in association with Picomedia.
Writers are Angelo Petrella (Resta con me), Luca Monesi (La Squadra), Peppe Fiore (The Young Pope) and Paolo Piccirillo (Blocco 181) and Carmine Elia (The Red Door, Sopravvissuti), Milena Cocozza (Romanzo Criminale) and Ivan Silvestrini (Zero) are the directors.
EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a trailer for The Sea
In an industry on track to drive around $400 billion in revenue this year, it might seem fine for gaming companies to let go of the reins every now and then when hit games take off. But Javier Ferreira, co-CEO of Scopely (a mobile-first video game developer) argues that it’s very much a business of planning. He says, “We think of games as forever businesses.”
Ferreira shared his thoughts on best practices for engaging with today’s gaming communities and the best IPs to invest at the “Big Business of Games with Scopely” panel during Variety’s Entertainment & Technology Summit Thursday. The conversation was moderated by Variety Intelligence Platform’s president and chief media analyst Andrew Wallenstein.
“I would speak of Scopely as a games company, not just a mobile games company,” Ferreira says. While the company focuses on developing games for the handheld screen, it doesn’t limit itself. Through intellectual properties like Monopoly which led to its hit-game MonopolyGo. Ferreira claims the game sees over 10 million players a day, a large number driven by “players cooperating to achieve shared goals.”
“Passionate communities deliver long term outcomes,” he says. This way, games can become that “forever business” with strong retention over many years. “We are always looking for a hyper passionate and hyper engaged community that is durable and consistent. Because those are the types of communities that allow us to build a play ecosystem that will last for many, many years,” he adds.
“Everybody really is a gamer today,” Ferreira says in terms of demographic spread. “What we monetize is not the install or access, what we really monetize is engagement. We monetize engagement on a daily basis, over a long period of time and over an incremental basis. So, it’s really about the duration of engagement.” Which is why Scopely is looking at collaborations with IPs from brands like Mattel and Mr. Beast.
Gaming companies like Scopely also have to focus on updating their games in accordance with user feedback. Looking forward he says his team’s “first focus is on our portfolio of live games. We think of them not so much as products but as services.” This means making sure the current service is evolving and continues to be fun and new for players.
“Making a game is not particularly complex,” he adds. “But what is difficult is making a game that engages players for years.”
Watch the full panel above.
In an industry on track to drive
17 Roles That Made Actors Want To
Ken Burns has made a statement after a photo surfaced of the documentary filmmaker with Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas and billionaire David Koch. While Koch has funded one of Burns’ documentaries, Burns maintains that he and the Supreme Court Justice have no connections or relationship.
“Around ten years ago, Ken was stopped and asked to take a photograph with a Supreme Court Justice and David Koch, who was a supporter of public television and would later provide some funding for his film, ‘The Vietnam War.’ So he took the photo, as he has done with many, many others. Other than the taking of that photograph and innocuous pleasantries, that’s the extent of his contact with Justice Thomas,” a spokesperson for Burns said in a statement to Variety.
“The Vietnam War” is a 10-part, 18-hour long PBS documentary piece that chronicles first-hand accounts from witnesses and participants from both sides of the war.
The photo began circulating Friday after a ProPublica article revealed insight into Thomas and Koch’s financial connections and details about their fundraising network. It was revealed that Thomas had attended two of Koch’s donor events, “which puts Thomas in the extraordinary positions of having served as a fundraising draw for a network that has brought cases before the Supreme Court, including one of the most closely watched of the upcoming term,” said ProPublica.
While Burns was not mentioned in the article, the photo appeared as the lead image which was said to have been taken at the Bohemian Grove during an all-men’s retreat in California.
Ken Burns has made a statement after
Disney and Marvel Studios apparently made a decision regarding whether Jonathan Majors will continue to play Kang the Conqueror in the MCU.
Majors was officially arrested in March on assault charges and has still yet to stand trial.
The actor already portrayed Kang the Conqueror and He Who Remains in multiple MCU projects, and before the controversy, had a bright future ahead of him.
Many fans wonder what Majors’ status will be for the future of the MCU. He is already set to play Victor Timely (a Kang Variant) in Season 2 of Loki, and he has already appeared in a Disney+ documentary, but his arrest caused many to assume Marvel Studios and Disney would recast his role for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.
A recent report from Deadline detailed that both Disney and Marvel Studios are planning to keep Jonathan Majors in the MCU and that he will continue to portray Kang the Conqueror in Loki Season 2, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Trailers for Season 2 of Loki already featured the actor on-screen, which made many fans assume that he would at least be credited for that project.
However, since the Avengers films are so far off (The Kang Dynasty is set to come out on May 1, 2026, and Secret Wars will follow on May 7, 2027), something could change between now and when those projects begin production.
When Majors’ trial does officially come around (his next court date is scheduled for September 15), the outcome could sway Disney’s official decision.
Disney and Marvel Studios were put in a difficult situation in regards to Jonathan Majors’ arrest.
Majors’ inclusion in the MCU wasn’t just a one-off appearance. He was set to be the next big bad of the entire franchise and was even said to be the Thanos the the future.
Marvel Studios had enormous plans for Majors, even including his character’s name in the Avengers 5 title.
With all that being said, it is understandable that Disney doesn’t really know what to do about the entire situation.
After all, Majors pleaded not guilty to the four charges he faces, and until he stands trial and is found guilty, he technically is considered innocent.
It is important to remember that this information came from a report and not an official announcement from Disney or Marvel Studios.
If Majors is found guilty at his trial (which could result in him facing up to one year in prison), then the companies may end up changing their decision. However, as of now, it seems as though they plan on keeping him as the MCU’s main antagonist.
Cyberpunk 2077 has had quite a journey since its initial release. At first, it disappointed players more than it wowed. But slowly, the game has gotten itself closer to where gamers hoped it would go initially. The new trailer for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, the upcoming expansion for the game, certainly looks promising. If nothing else, the new Cyberpunk 2077 addition features Idris Elba. It’s hard to complain about that. But beyond that, the graphics look good, the gameplay looks exciting, and hopefully, Phantom Liberty will turn a new page for Cyberpunk 2077. Check out the official trailer and the special Idris Elba-focused one below.
Idris Elba plays a major character in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, “sleeper agent Solomon Reed.” But also, he performs the song played in the background of the trailer. That’s true multi-talent.
The Cyberpunk 2077 expansion trailers also offer a synopsis of the expansion, allowing us to understand more about what we can expect from the game. It shares:
Phantom Liberty is an upcoming spy-thriller expansion for Cyberpunk 2077. Return as cyber-enhanced mercenary V and embark on a high-stakes mission of espionage and intrigue to save the NUSA President. In the dangerous district of Dogtown, you must forge alliances within a web of shattered loyalties and sinister political machinations. Do you have what it takes to survive?
A release further notes that players will take the role of V, “a cyber-enhanced mercenary for hire who is pulled into the world of spies and political intrigue, joined by sleeper agent Solomon Reed who is played by Idris Elba.” Well, at least we’ll have Elba as our companion in a dangerous world.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will release on September 26. It will be available to play on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC. You can now pre-order your copy. Good luck surviving to you. And good luck to Cyberpunk 2077; hopefully, Phantom Liberty has what it takes.
Cyberpunk 2077 has had quite a journey
Zenless Zone Zero had its spot during the Tokyo Game Show 2023 in a showcase that ended with a hint of a new platform in which the urban Action RPG is set to be released. According to the snippet, the game will be released on Consoles, PC, and Mobile devices. However, while the specific consoles weren’t announced, we might have already seen the hint of a PlayStation release in the pipeline.
Gematsu spotted this information after it covered the Zenless Zone Zero Special Program at the Tokyo Game Show 2023. In it, Yuka Iguchi and Yumi Igarashi gave players an in-depth understanding of the worldview of New Eridu and provided some looks at the city and character designs. This was also the spot in which the console release was hinted at at the end of the program.
However, not long after the TGS trailer was dropped, Gematsu pointed out that in the game’s Gamescom trailer, there were hints that Zenless Zone Zero would be released on PlayStation. As such, the confirmation that the game would be released on consoles will, at the very least, strongly hint towards the inclusion of a PlayStation version.
Now, whether the game will be a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 exclusive or if the game will also be released on Xbox consoles is yet to be confirmed. However, this information might be surprising for some fans and may be worth examining other Zenless Zone Zero trailers to spot any hints that may have been missed.
Zenless Zone Zero is expected to be released in 2024.
Zenless Zone Zero had its spot during
The “John Wick” movies are known for their high-octane, guns-blazing action on the big screen, but now the franchise is heading to Peacock — and about 50 years in the past — to explore its origins in “The Continental.”
Across three episodes, the ’70s-set series dives into how a young Winston Scott (played by Colin Woodell) became the proprietor of the titular hotel, which is famous for throwing lavish parties and being a safe haven for assassins. But, as “John Wick” fans know, not everybody abides by the no-killing rule on Continental grounds.
The show, which premieres on Peacock Friday, starts with a bang — actually, a lot of them — thanks to stunt coordinator Larnell Stovall. Winston’s brother Frankie (Ben Robson) brutally kills a squad of henchmen while escaping The Continental with a stolen package. His exit route is up a crowded stairwell that soon drips with blood from the flurry of headshots and stabbings.
“We looked at multiple stairwells and found one that worked perfectly. The Budapest team and the U.S. team got back together at the gym and created our own version,” Stovall tells Variety. “We designed it, how many levels it’s going to be, how long the sequence is going to be, and we do our best make it exact.”
When planning the scene, Stovall had to make sure the stairwell could comfortably fit multiple fighters and that the camera could move nimbly around Robson’s 6-foot 4-inch frame to capture all of the bloody action.
“We wanted to create tension, drama, pressure, guys coming from up the stairs, guys coming from down the steps,” Stovall says. “It felt like ants coming at him and you didn’t know how he was going to make his way out of it.”
Everything had to be precisely coordinated because Stovall and the “Continental” team were shooting a film-level fight scene on a TV schedule. The entire stairwell scene ended up taking only one day to film.
“Our quality is a feature film, but our schedule was similar to a TV schedule,” Stovall says. “Some of the fight scenes in ‘John Wick’ may have three to five days to shoot that sequence. In TV, we have one day. You have to be very smart in how you design the action sequence because you don’t know if you’re ever gonna be able to go back and film again or have that location again. We nailed it. It was the first big one to let our audience know, ‘This is who we are and this is the type of action you can expect.’”
The “John Wick” movies are known for
Chris Christie’s conversation with Wolf Blitzer on CNN Thursday inevitably turned to the 2024 election and Donald Trump, who has taken to Truth Social and targeted Christie in recent days. In response to a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed “Why is Donald Trump Afraid to Debate?” Blitzer asked Christie the same question — and New Jersey’s former governor was only too happy to answer, “Look, if I had his record, I wouldn’t want to debate either.”
To back up his claim, Christie offered a list of what he saw as Trump’s failures and missteps as president of the United States. This included Trump’s claim that he would balance the nation’s budget (“He added seven-trillion dollars to the national debt,” Christie said), he would “build a big, beautiful wall” along the entire 1,954-mile length of the U.S.-Mexico border (“He built 52 miles”) and Trump’s claim he would “repeal or replace” Barack Obama’s landmark health care program.
“They’re not… that’s not a record to be proud of,” Christie concluded.
Trump has not addressed his apparent hesitation to join his fellow GOP candidates on the debate stage, either for this event or the first primary debate last month, but this is hardly the first election cycle in which he’s pulled this move. In 2016, Bill O’Reilly blasted the then-candidate for skipping a Fox News debate, especially after it appeared that doing so caused him to slide to second place against Sen. Ted Cruz.
The editorial board at the Wall Street Journal writes in the opinion piece that Trump might be worried about his messaging on hot-button topics such as abortion, the Jan. 6 riot in D.C. and the four federal indictments filed against him this year.
Perhaps if this were any other candidate, that suspicion would be founded, but as with all things Trump, it’s nearly impossible to know. Instead of taking the stage at the Reagan Library on Sept. 27, Trump instead plans to speak to former and current members of an autoworkers union in Detroit.
September 22, 2023 @ 11:44 AM Chris Christie’s
Bravo enthusiasts, get ready to mark your calendars! BravoCon, the annual extravaganza celebrating the world of Bravo TV, has just unveiled its thrilling programming schedule for the upcoming event, kicking off on Friday, Nov. 3, at the Caesars Forum, and running through Sunday, Nov. 5.
With fans of Bravo’s reality TV shows eagerly anticipating this star-studded event, the lineup for BravoCon 2023 promises to be a spectacular gathering of Housewives, Vanderpump Rules cast members and other beloved Bravo personalities. Here are some of the exciting highlights that attendees can look forward to:
The Real Housewives of Dubai Season 2 Premiere Screening
Choreography Session With Erika Jayne
Real Housewives of New Jersey Cast Panels
To make planning your BravoCon experience even more convenient, the complete schedule for the event is available on the official BravoCon 2023 website. Additionally, attendees can download the official BravoCon 2023 app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for real-time updates, event notifications, and exclusive BravoCon content.
BravoCon has become a yearly tradition for fans to connect with their favorite reality TV stars and immerse themselves in the Bravo universe. This year’s event in Las Vegas is expected to be the biggest and most exciting BravoCon yet, offering a unique opportunity for fans to celebrate their favorite Bravo shows, personalities, and moments.
Bravo promises the 2023 convention will “take over” Caesars with more than 150 Bravolebrities already confirmed to attend the larger-than-life weekend.
Watch What Happens Live star Andy Cohen will host five special episodes of “BravoCon LIVE with Andy Cohen!” at The Paris Theater including a first-of-its-kind awards show, The Bravos – a night honoring Bravo’s most iconic stars and unforgettable awards.
Fans can expect more than 60 live events featuring stars from the Below Deck franchise, Married to Medicine, Million Dollar Listing, Southern Charm, Summer House, Vanderpump Rules and — of course — all things Real Housewives. Plus, Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen will host five shows during the packed three-day weekend from Paris Las Vegas inside the Paris Theater. See below for a complete list of Bravolebrities who are confirmed to attend.
This year, Bravo plans to double down on its iconic Bravolebrity interactions with the Bravo Bazaar shopping experience, intimate VIP talent experiences, brand-new immersive activations, expanded photo opportunities, and much more.
ET spoke with Cohen at last year’s event, where he talked all things Bravo, particularly the many cast shakeups in the Real Housewives world.
“I think the key to the success of this thing, that it’s been going for 16 years, is that we take people out, we put people in, and we try to keep it fresh,” Cohen said of the long-running franchise.
BravoCon 2023 confirmed stars:
For more Bravo news, check out the links below.
RELATED CONTENT:
Bravo enthusiasts, get ready to mark your
Song of the Bandits (Season 1) is now available to stream on Netflix
From anime, K-drama, teen comedies, and a family film, there’s a little something for every Netflix subscriber from the best new movies and TV shows this weekend.
Here are the best new movies and TV shows added to Netflix this week:
We’re all in on Kam Nam Gil’s official Netflix debut! We’re yet to see a Korean western on the streaming service, and has all the potential to be a smash hit.
“An action-adventure set in the tumultuous period of Japanese colonial rule over Korea about a group of people who, for various reasons, end up in the lawless land of Gando and become united in protecting Joseon for the Korean people. Anticipation runs high for the intense drama that will unfold as different groups with their respective motives — including Japanese troops, the Korean Independence Army, hitmen, bandits, and Joseon migrants — face one another in the anarchic land of Gando during the 1920s.”
New Episodes: 4
Genre: Reality | Runtime: 48 Minutes
Hosts: Nicky Lachey, Vanessa Lachey
A new batch of hopeful singles will be looking for love in the most unusual place, as they attempt to form relationships without seeing each other until they are engaged. More episodes will arrive at the end of September, and even more in the middle of October.
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Genre: Action, Comedy, Family | Runtime: 108 Minutes
Cast: Connor Esterson, Everly Carganilla, Zachary Levi, Gina Rodriguez, Billy Magnussen
12 years after his last Spy Kids movie, Robert Rodrigue returns to the franchise for his fifth installment in the Spy Kids franchise. Armageddon sees the children of the world’s greatest spies unknowingly help a game developer unleash a virus on the world that gives him control of all technology. In order to save their parents and the world, they must become spies themselves.
New Episodes: 8
Genre: Comedy, Drama | Runtime: 45 Minutes
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Emma Mackey, Alistair Petrie, Gillian Anderson, Ncuti Gatwa
After four seasons Sex Education comes to an end on Netflix. The final season sees the former students of Mooredale attend Cavendish College, where Otis finds himself up against a second, and arguably more successful student sex therapist. Meanwhile, Maeve is in the USA attending a prestigious writing course with a famous author.
New Episodes: 22
Genre: Drama, Medical | Runtime: 43 Minutes
Cast: Ryan Eggold, Janet Montgomery, Jacko Sims, Tyler Labine, Freema Agyeman
While not a Netflix Original, this is the second series that has come to an end to land on the streaming service this past week. While not many medical dramas can live up to the longevity of Grey’s Anatomy, New Amsterdam had plenty going for it to make it popular amongst millions in the USA.
Set in the fictional hospital of New Amsterdam in New York City, a radical new director attempts to heal the soul of America’s oldest hospital.
New Episodes: 12
Genre: Action, Martial Arts | Runtime: 24 Minutes
Cast: Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Chô, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Junya Enoki, Rikiya Koyama
It’s been almost four years, but finally, a brand new season of Kengan Ashura has been released. The latest chapter in the story will see even more incredible fights as competitors seek to become champions.
New Episodes: 3
Genre: Documentary, Crime | Runtime: 45 Minutes
A true-crime documentary that is sure to grab everyone’s attention this week as even more shocking details are revealed.
Song of the Bandits (Season 1) is
Actors’ Equity Association announced today that it has organized Broadway production assistants, and that the PAs are seeking voluntary recognition from The Broadway League.
If the League – the trade organization representing theater owners and producers – does not recognize the request, the PAs will likely “overwhelmingly vote to unionize,” Equity said.
“We are thrilled to support the effort of Broadway’s production assistants to complete the unionization of Broadway’s stage management teams,” said Erin Maureen Koster, 3rd vice president of Actors’ Equity Association, who represents the union’s stage manager members, “and we look forward to achieving the fair and meaningful contract they have long deserved.”
Actors’ Equity is the national labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre.
In a statement provided to Deadline, the League confirmed the request for recognition from Equity and has told the union the League looks “forward to discussing it further with them.”
“The Broadway League and our members support the right of employees to lawfully choose a bargaining representative,” the League statement said.
PAs, the union says, are hourly employees who work as part of stage management teams “from pre-production through opening night, doing everything from preparing rehearsal materials to ensuring decisions made during rehearsals are recorded to being extra sets of hands and eyes during complicated technical rehearsals to efficiently running errands that keep the rehearsal productive.”
Many PAs, the union continues in the announcement, are early-career stage managers, and PAs “are among the only Broadway workers without current union representation.” The new bargaining unit includes both current PAs working on about ten productions as well as about 100 who have worked on Broadway the last two years.
If unionization would cover PAs who work as part of stage management teams on Broadway and sit-down productions produced by members of The Broadway League.
“Getting a Broadway production up and running is an enormous task,” said Koster, “and the work of Broadway’s stage management teams prior to opening night is fundamental to any show’s success. “Every one of these workers, whether their title is production stage manager, stage manager, assistant stage manager or production assistant, is a skilled professional and essential to the team. And yet, production assistants have stood alone for too long as the only members of these teams without the basic protections of union contracts – without safe and sanitary workplace requirements, without protections against harassment and discrimination, without living wages, without health and pension benefits.”
Actors’ Equity Association announced today that it
MGMT may be gearing up to return with new music, as Stereogum notes. The duo’s Andrew VanWyngarden posted a photo of a test pressing on the band’s subreddit yesterday, accompanied by a banana and the text “elf of soils.” Redditors speculate that it is an anagram (or bananagram) of the title of a new album, possibly Loss of Life, based on two earlier posts by VanWyngarden: one suggesting a new MGMT album is likely to come out in 2023, the other titled “Just got done cooking L.O.L.”
MGMT’s last new release was the 2020 single “As You Move Through the World.” They described the pandemic lockdown–era track as “a 7 and a half minute downtempo ambient instrumental track to listen to while we’re NOT moving through the world.” The group’s latest studio album, Little Dark Age, came out in February 2018, and they released 11•11•11, a recording of a 2011 concert, last year.
MGMT may be gearing up to return
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