Drew Barrymore Among Talk Shows Under Contract to Film During Strikes

As Drew Barrymore digs herself into a deeper hole regarding the return of her daytime talk show, lost in the debate is a conversation about the peculiar nature of syndicated TV.

One week ago, Barrymore ignited a firestorm when she announced her talk show would be returning amid the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. In the week since, tensions worsened and Barrymore, normally well-liked for her good-natured personality, intensified that criticism when she doubled down with a second, now-deleted , video message. If anything, her attempt to quell any criticism had the opposite effect.

Barrymore is at the eye of the storm, but she is not the only daytime host returning this upcoming week. “The Jennifer Hudson Show” and CBS’ “The Talk,” which is not syndicated, will launch new seasons on Monday, Sept. 18, as well as Sherri Shepherd’s “Sherri” and Karamo Brown’s “Karamo,” though those two shows are not struck or covered by the WGA, like “Tamron Hall” and “Live with Kelly & Mark,” which have already been back on the air. And ABC’s “The View,” which employs WGA writers, never ceased production during the strike, at a time when many others, like “The Talk” and “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” immediately halted last spring.

Some of those shows have received some heat for returning (including picketing outside a taping of “The Talk” this week, and White House Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pulling out of an appearance on “The View,” citing “respect for striking writers”). Barrymore, however, was the only host to attempt to get ahead of her return beforehand on social media — declaring that she’d be working during the strikes — immediately making her a target.

Strangely, this wasn’t part of Barrymore’s attempt to explain her return: Syndicated TV shows have contractual obligations to deliver new episodes to their local station partners. Unlike network shows – like “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” or “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” which have permanent real estate on a network’s schedule – nationally syndicated daytime talk shows like “The Drew Barrymore Show” are required to produce a certain amount of episodes to more than 200 local stations throughout each television season.

In other words, this was a business decision — and not one that Barrymore made alone. Hosts like Barrymore are under contract with major media production companies to perform their hosting duties, and like any regular job, they eventually have to show up to work. Syndicated talk shows are typically required to deliver 35 to 40 weeks of new episodes to their station partners. If they don’t, they can lose their show.

“We have 200 clients that we have to deliver original episodes to. It’s not a network show,” a daytime talk show employee says. “With late night, you have one client: the network.”

Now, shows like “Drew” and “Jennifer Hudson” could have pushed back their premiere dates and reconstructed their yearly production schedules, in hopes that the strikes would soon come to an end. But with no end seemingly in sight in the current WGA and AMPTP impasse, local stations — and advertisers — are expecting original content this fall from the shows for which they are paying a hefty license fee to carry.

“In theory, you could push back your debut, if you’re concerned about the strike,” says Frank Cicha, executive vice president of programming for Fox Television Stations, the station group that carries many national syndicated talk shows, including “The Jennifer Hudson Show.” But, he adds, “there are already more repeats than anybody needs, so the idea of your main talk shows not coming back, that gets a little scary.”

Indeed, in 2023, when streaming attracts more viewers in the U.S. than linear programming, the talk show market is fractured. Daytime lineups are now filled with repeat strips of “The Dr. Phil Show,” “Judge Judy,” “Jerry Springer,” “Maury” and more shows from the past. Those old episodes may seem stale, but they boast familiar faces and are easy money — and ratings — for distributors.

Original talk shows like “Drew,” “Jennifer Hudson,” “Kelly Clarkson,” “Tamron Hall,” “Sherri” and “Live With Kelly and Mark,” on the other hand, are expensive productions for an era when fewer people are watching in daytime. (“Live,” “Sherri” and “Tamron Hall” are non-WGA shows.)

“More repeats would just be a quicker death march for syndication,” says Cicha. “It’s a critical time, and if there’s not a way to do original programming, then you can see the end of national syndication.”

But for the writers, who also feel they are on a death march, it’s important to note that they’re fighting for better wages and working conditions in a strike that has now surpassed four months.

Barrymore’s own writers have spoken out against production returning, while her comments have been flooded with quips such as, “We need E.T. to tell her to go home again.” Comedian Andy Richter posted, “A talk show is not a charity or a humanitarian campaign, it is a money-making machine that can be a fun way to spend an hour. The reason every talk show exists it to publicize products; their primary function is to be the attractive commercial filling in between actual commercials. To act otherwise, especially during a strike, is just carrying water for the bosses in a deluded self-important bucket.”

But for those working in daytime, their livelihood depends on these talk shows — each of which employ anywhere from 150 to 200 staffers, including two to four writers on the team.

In releasing a statement to support their host, CBS Media Ventures, which distributes “The Drew Barrymore Show,” said the show is moving forward “with important consideration to our staff and crew comprised of over 150 people, as well as our loyal viewers.”

Staffers from other talk shows feel the same. “We have to come back, or else hundreds of people are out of work,” an employee on a current talk show tells Variety. “Stations will pull us right off the air — they’ll put us in the middle of the night, and we’ll stay in the middle of the night. That’s just how it works.”

An employee from a different daytime show echoes this sentiment: “If even one major station group pulls out and says they’re not going to run our show, even if they have repeats, that affects ratings and advertising. It affects everything. Why would we risk letting a show die and letting people lose their jobs permanently if we can do a show without violating rules?”

“The strike doesn’t look like it’s anywhere close to being settled. The two sides can’t even agree who owes who the next offer,” this individual adds, referring to the WGA and AMPTP. “Are we supposed to wait around forever?”

All syndicated and non-syndicated talk shows covered by the WGA that are premiering next week or have already returned — “Drew,” “Jennifer Hudson,” “The View” and “The Talk” — have said that they are working in compliance with the unions and are returning without writers who will be back once a new WGA contract is in place. The hosts are all cleared under SAG-AFTRA’s Network Television Code to perform their hosting duties.

But the WGA says otherwise. A spokesperson for the union tells Variety, “Drew Barrymore should not be on the air while her writers are on strike fighting for a fair deal. In reality, shows like this cannot operate without writing, and that is struck work.”

Talk show staffers who have spoken with Variety anonymously, in order to protect their shows and their jobs, have expressed confusion with the WGA’s messaging over the past week that all work on talk shows requires writers.

Certain daytime shows — like “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” — are more comedy-heavy, which would require heavy lifting from a larger writing team, but many talk shows — like “The View” — are heavily unscripted and off-the-cuff, these staffers say. On talk shows, it is typical for producers to create bullet points from research or craft questions for guest interviews, and those roles have never been the responsibility of WGA writers on talk shows, who typically are tasked with writing jokes, monologues, sketches and extended intros. (Those elements have now been scrapped from talk shows until writers return.)

But WGA members believe that any form of writing — even notes written by producers — are a violation, though when asked by Variety, a spokesperson for the union was not able to provide any specific language from the current WGA agreement to support this.

“Since the beginning of time, interviews have always been written by producers,” says a talk show veteran. “They are bullet points.”

While this is the most contentious writers strike, largely in part due to immediate reaction on social media, this is not the first time unions have been at war with talk shows. Back in 2007, popular hosts like Oprah Winfrey, Rachael Ray and Dr. Phil McGraw returned to the airwaves during the WGA strike, but no one got more heat than DeGeneres, who at the time was four years into her show that would last nearly two decades.

At the time, Telepictures Productions, which produced “Ellen,” said it had “contractual obligations to continue to deliver original programming to the 220 stations that carry the program.” One of DeGeneres’ writers even had some compassion on the picket line, saying of the host, “She had no choice… She’s in a very bad position.”

Talk show veteran Hilary Estey McLoughlin — who oversaw “Ellen” as president of Telepictures from 2006 to 2013, and was also in charge of “The Tyra Banks Show” and “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” — recalls the pressure the show faced to return in 2007, in the height of daytime talk’s popularity.

“The business certainly wasn’t in the same kind of turmoil and volatility as it is now. It was a different world we were living in,” says McLoughlin. But, “we were concerned about Ellen and how she was going to be perceived, and how we could move forward and be sensitive in trying to figure that out. The other concern we had to face is that there were so many people that were going to be out of work, if we didn’t continue to do the show – hundreds and hundreds of people. We were in the same position [as today].”

McLoughlin — who is now founder and co-CEO of NY27 Productions — has never met Barrymore, but believes that bringing back her show, like other talk shows, was likely a large conversation with the sales and distribution team, station partners and advertisers. Ultimately, it is a business decision and not a choice that is made on a whim.

“There’s no way that the host is deciding that alone,” McLoughlin says. “If anything, the host is always the one that you’re the most concerned about because they’re going to be the lightning rod for controversy. People blame them.”

Michael Teicher — who was exec VP of media sales at Warner Bros. Domestic TV Distribution, which handled “Ellen,” and is now founder of the consulting firm TripleT Consulting — recalls conversations with advertisers during the 2007 strike. “I wouldn’t say our advertisers were pressuring us, but they were certainly concerned and weren’t shy to express what kind of impact this could have,” he says.

“There are certain ratings guarantees that are promised to advertisers, and repeats certainly don’t garner as high of ratings as originals,” Teicher adds.

While most talk shows are returning on Monday, “The Kelly Clarkson Show” will not. The show, which has moved cross country from the Universal lot to 30 Rock for its upcoming fifth season, is currently in pre-production and building its new set in New York. A source close to the Clarkson show says no writers are working and filming has not begun for the new season, and a spokesperson for NBCUniversal confirmed that an airdate has not been announced yet.

“All the shows are going to probably end up coming back because they have to, based on their contracts and the fact that the stations will have a big gaping hole otherwise. Their contracts commit them to actually going on the air,” McLoughlin says.

Late night shows have the luxury of not responding to station groups, given that they are not syndicated, but they do have to respond to advertisers and they do have staff members out of work. So far, the late night broadcast hosts have not discussed any plans to return, but this week, Bill Maher announced that his show “Real Time” would be returning to HBO without his writers — a decision that the WGA called “disappointing,” stating that it seems impossible for Maher, a WGA member himself, to not conduct any writing duties.

Maher said he will “honor the spirit of the strike” by not doing a monologue or other written pieces, and acknowledged that his show will not be as good without his writers. “It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work,” Maher wrote. “The writers have important issues that I sympathize with, and hope they are addressed to their satisfaction, but they are not the only people with issues, problems, and concerns.”

With no imminent end in sight for the strike, more late night hosts may have to grapple with when — or if — they will return without their writers, like Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert did during the 2007-2008 strike. But for now, all eyes are on daytime.

“It’s a very difficult decision to try to figure out how to how to move forward, even if you are within the range of what’s acceptable within the [union],” McLoughlin says.

“When you have an obligation to the stations, it’s very difficult to take a stance and say you’re not going to go back on,” she adds. “It’ll be a contractual breach, at some point.”

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September 16, 2023

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As Drew Barrymore digs herself into a

What to Watch

Is ‘I AM A KILLER’ on Netflix UK? Where to Watch the Documentary

Great news! “I AM A KILLER” is available to watch on Netflix UK!

Date Added: 3rd August 2019

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

Want to keep forever? Try looking for ‘I AM A KILLER’ on Amazon (paid link)

History:

03/08/2019: 1 Season (2018)

18/01/2021: 2 Seasons (2020)

30/08/2022: 3 Seasons (2022)

21/12/2022: 4 Seasons (2022)

14/09/2023: 3 Seasons (2022)

15/09/2023: 4 Seasons (2022)

Description:

Death row inmates convicted of capital murder give firsthand accounts of their crimes in this documentary series.

Certificate: Suitable for adults only

Year: 2022

Duration: 4 Seasons

Available Seasons: Season 4 (6 Ep), Season 3 (6 Ep), Season 2 (10 Ep), Season 1 (10 Ep)

Audio: English – Audio Description, English [Original], European Spanish, French, Hindi, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese

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

Episode Length: 47min

English Audio Description Available – English Audio Description

Cast and Crew

Production & Season Details:

Status: Returning Series”I AM A KILLER” is a TV show produced by Sky Vision Productions and Transistor Films. The show was originally broadcast on Netflix and Crime + Investigation (United Kingdom) and premiered on May 29th 2018. So far there have been 4 seasons (comprising of 32 episodes) of “I AM A KILLER”. The most recent episode aired on December 21st 2022 and more seasons are expected in the future.

Watch the trailer for “I AM A KILLER”

RATINGS:

IMDB rating 7.4/10

The Movie Database rating 69%

Average Rating Average rating 71.5%

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This title is available on Netflix UK

Where else can you watch ‘I AM A KILLER’ on Netflix?

Want to keep forever? Why not rent or buy ‘I AM A KILLER’ from one of the online services below?

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September 16, 2023

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Awards

Disneyland Expansion Plans Clear Another Hurdle, As Environmental Impact Report Released – Deadline

Anaheim, the Southern California city that’s the home of Disneyland, has released a report on how the theme park’s proposed expansion would impact the environment.

On Thursday, Anaheim released a 17,000-page environmental impact report for Disney’s proposed expansion, known as “Disneyland Forward.” There was good and bad in the outlook. The report claims the expansion would significantly impact air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and noise, but would inflict minimal impact on transportation and neighborhood aesthetics.

Greenhouse gas emissions were not studied in the 1990s, when the last master plan for the resort was approved, the report stated. Previous reports indicated the project’s impact on energy, water conservation, waste reduction and sustainability efforts, many of those conservation measures already in place.

Disney would also have to build temporary sound barriers during construction and permanent 12-foot-tall noise barriers along property lines. Fireworks would also be prohibited in expansion areas to avoid excessive noise levels in the surrounding communities, according to the report.

Disney guidelines include such as not building certain rides within 200 to 300 feet of homes.

The Disneyland Forward project details that new attractions, shops and restaurants are being considered within the park’s existing footprint. But no specifics have been revealed. The park footprint will not change, but would instead focus on underdeveloped areas around the resort, which the company already owns.

No cost estimates were provided on the plans, which will be privately funded.

Disney hopes to have the project reviewed by the Anaheim City Council and receive approval before the end of 2024.

A public workshop discussing the Disneyland Forward environmental plan will be held on Oct. 9 at Anaheim City Hall, the Orange County Register reported.

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September 16, 2023

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Anaheim, the Southern California city that’s the

Music

Melissa Etheridge Is Ready to Rewatch ‘Barbie’

Melissa Etheridge has lived a lot of life. So much so that the early version of her autobiographical show was four or five hours long.

“I had to snip out a lot of the story lines,” Etheridge, 62, said in a phone interview from her home in Los Angeles. “And then even more so for Broadway. It was taking out some of my really early childhood stuff, tightening up some of the stories.”

But there was one moment in the show, “Melissa Etheridge: My Window” — which will have its Broadway opening on Sept. 28 after a well-reviewed run at New World Stages last year — that she knew she couldn’t cut, even though it’s the toughest part to get through: Her son’s death at 21 from a drug overdose.

“I’m still working through it,” the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter said of losing her son, Beckett Cypher. “But that’s how I knew I had to wrap it up — show people what I’ve learned about myself, and being a mother, and about addiction and not taking guilt on.”

Before relocating to New York to begin “My Window” rehearsals, Etheridge shared her cultural essentials, including the album that made her a fan of Taylor Swift and her love for the Kansas City Chiefs. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Lululemon Pants

I was a jeans girl, and then the pandemic hit, and I became a sweatpants girl. Now my daughter and my wife have got me hooked on Lululemon. I found this pair of pants — they’re sweatpants, but they’re really thin, but not like yoga pants that are like “Oh, here’s my ass” — and I was like, “These are fantastic.” Once you get into your 50s, it’s all about comfort.

Kansas City Chiefs

I was born and raised in Leavenworth, Kan. I was 8 when we won the Super Bowl in 1970 and have been a fan ever since. I’m beyond crazy about the Chiefs. My house is kind of a Chiefs shrine — I have a pool table with the team logo on it and a Chiefs guitar strap.

Xeriscaping

When we had our huge drought in Southern California, I looked at my big, beautiful yard with all this grass and I’m like, “Why do I have big, thick grass in a desert? And why am I watering it constantly?” So I turned to xeriscape, which is going back to native, drought-tolerant plants.

Quinton Hypertonic

I’m always looking for ways to get enough electrolytes and magnesium. My tour manager, who’s even more of a health nut than I am, said “These are great, try this.” Plus, it makes my water taste really soft.

Esther Hicks

When I went through cancer 19 years ago, it was a big wake-up call about health and life. I came across her early law of attraction stuff — the idea that we’re creating our reality and that our joy and our happiness creates more joy and happiness — and it really spoke to me. It makes more sense than any religion.

My Gibson Chuck Berry 1970s ES-355 Replica Murphy Lab Guitar

I recently went down to Nashville with my band and my crew, and we all went to the Gibson Garage. They took me back into the vault, which dazzled me. They said, “Here, you can borrow this guitar for your tour,” and I started playing it and was like, “OMG, this is the greatest thing! I have to have it.” I think I’ll use it in the last few numbers of the show.

Smoking With Strangers Outdoors

I love that cannabis is finally legal in New York City. The last time I was there over the summer, looking for a place to smoke, I saw some women sitting on a bench in Washington Square Park smoking, and I asked, “Do we just sit and smoke now?” And she was like, “Yeah, it’s great.”

Taylor Swift

It was my daughter who got me hooked — I used to drive her up to boarding school, and we’d listen to the whole “1989” album. Then I went to a show in Chicago with her in June, and I looked around at the audience and said, “This is amazing.”

Springbok Puzzles

I’m a huge puzzler. It started 20 years ago when I was undergoing chemotherapy and didn’t have the energy to do anything else. It helps keep my mind sharp and relaxed. I love Springbok puzzles not only because they’re from my home in Kansas City, but because the pieces are unique — I don’t like the puzzles where all the pieces look the same — and the quality is fantastic.

Dine-In Movie Theaters

I love this new trend of really fancy theaters. Here in Westlake we have one called Cinépolis where they bring you dinner in the theater — and this is actual real food; you can get a hummus platter or a nice salad. I saw “Barbie” on the road recently at a dine-in theater in Lexington, Ky. I loved it! It made me laugh so hard. I’m ready to see it again.

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September 16, 2023

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Melissa Etheridge has lived a lot of

Docs

‘The Contestant’ Director Clair Titley on the Fallout From Reality TV

Long before Bethenny Frankel began fighting for reality stars’ rights, there was “Denpa Shonen: A Life in Prizes,” a Japanese reality show that began airing in 1998.

The show starred aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi. In a room by himself and naked, Nasubi had to fill out contest coupons in order to win what he needed to survive. What Nasubi didn’t realize was that his experiences were being broadcast to more than 15 million people.

The true story of the show and Nasubi’s unwitting involvement are explored in Clair Titley’s “The Contestant.” The docu, which made its world premiere at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival earlier this month, recently screened at the 19th edition of the Camden Intl. Film Festival.

“Camden feels like such filmmaker’s film festival,” Titley says. “It’s wonderful when people love your film, but when your peers love your film and people in the industry that you respect say that they love your film, that’s the ultimate accolade.”

The U.K.-based documentary filmmaker began working on “The Contestant” seven years ago. In the film, Titley interviews Nasubi, his family, and Japanese television producer Toshio Tsuchiya to reveal the “reality” behind what happened more than two decades ago.

Variety spoke to Titley about “The Contestant.” The film is seeking distribution.

In the film, Nasubi is very candid about what happened to him. How did you convince him to relive such a painful period in his life?

Titley: From the beginning, consensus has been a really big part of this project, not least because of what happened to Nasubi. So, we always talked about this film as being a collaboration to an extent. Nasubi knew that he didn’t have editorial control, but I definitely wanted to make the doc with him. I told him what we were doing and why, and we even sought his ideas.

Why do you think Nasubi ultimately decided to participate?

Titley: I really didn’t want to make this film and re-traumatize him, and I was very aware of that from the start. I made him aware that he would have to watch this old footage and that this old footage would be rebroadcast in (my film). But I think the reason that he did this film now is that he has got to a point where he was ready to close this chapter, and he was ready to go there and explore it. I don’t want to speak on his behalf, but I think he found the whole process quite cathartic to an extent.

Last night, after the CIFF screening, you read a statement that Nasubi wrote for you to read out loud to the audience. Can you read it again?

Nasubi statement, read by Titley: “I’m in a complicated state of mind mixed with anxiety and expectations about how the people who watched this movie feel. I think this kind of work is probably often made after the main character’s death, but fortunately, I’m alive and well. And many people may think that I am an unhappy and poor person who lives a life hit by tragedy. But I’m never an unhappy person. Because I know that if I have a reliable friend who shares just an inch of happiness and that small happiness and supports me, I can live well with a smile. I hope that people who have seen this movie will think about what is important in living and live a rich life even a little.”

Japanese culture is part of the doc. As a U.K.-based filmmaker, was there any hesitancy around examining that culture?

Titley: I don’t think it’s a film about Japanese culture. I think that’s an accidental theme. I’ve been really, really cautious of the fact that I’m a Western filmmaker making a film about two Japanese men that is based in Japan. I worked very closely with Japanese producer Megumi Inman on this film. I spoke with her and Nasubi about what I felt my responsibilities were. I’m also very aware of Western media being very guilty of looking at Japanese culture and pointing and laughing, and I really didn’t want to do that. I also didn’t want to have a Western voice of God or a narrator who told an audience what to think or tried to explain things.

What do you hope audiences discuss after seeing this doc?

Titley: Although I know that the film documents the start of reality TV and that is a central theme, I haven’t set out to make a film about the beginning of reality TV. It’s a film about Nasubi and his journey. I hope that people will question their roles in that journey. We are all complicit to a certain extent in these narratives.

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September 16, 2023

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Long before Bethenny Frankel began fighting for

A reusable cup is returned to a 'borrow a cup' return bin in Arizona on June 7, 2023. (Ross D. Franklin / AP)

Global

Starbucks Wants to Overhaul Its Cup in Sustainability Move

Starbucks Wants to Overhaul Its Cup in Sustainability Move | Time

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September 16, 2023

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Starbucks

Tech

The iPhone 15 upgrade you’re looking for: A new style to make your phone stand on its own

The new iPhone 15 is here, and while it might be the hot product to get, it still has its shortcomings. The sleek glass on the front and the back are still susceptible to breaking, and the wide grab and smooth metal edges can make it hard to hold onto, especially in the many positions you’re likely to hold it throughout the regular course of use. Whether you’re an adventurer looking to make sure your phone can hang with you, a content creator looking to get all the flexibility you need from your phone, or you just want a phone that’s a bit more secure and easy to use, the new UPRO Ostand, Lstand, and Pstand cases from TORRAS offer an effective solution. And (bonus!) each adds an extra-handy kickstand to your phone that’ll let you go hands-free whenever and wherever you want.

If you want a case that does it all, the UPRO Ostand has you covered. Its circular kickstand sits at the middle of the phone, offering a boost to the iPhone 15’s own magnets so you can get even more reliable wireless charging. The stand is made of aerospace-grade aluminum and can open up into three different positions, letting you prop your phone up in portrait or landscape position, and you can slide your fingers through the ring for an easy, secure hold on the phone. The case also adds extra protection to your phone with a snug fit that keeps dust out, a silky-smooth but hard and firm polycarbonate back plate, and grippy rubber edges that can absorb the impact from drops and protects the phone on all sides.

(Image credit: Torras)

When each day throws something new at you, you need to adapt, and you need a case that can adapt with you. The UPRO Ostand R brings this extra flexibility. Its robust stand is ring-shaped like the standard Ostand, but it adds 360-degree rotation, so you can swivel it around to any angle you need — portrait, landscape, or anywhere in between. Just like the Ostand, the kickstand can also serve as a grip, and it offers 18N of magnetic force, letting you attach it not just to MagSafe chargers but also metallic surfaces for effortless, hands-free use all over. While it’s unlikely to fall, the sturdy build of the case provides protection for falls up to 12-feet, so it’s not the everyday accident that’s going to put your new phone in peril.

And for the hardcore adventurers who plan on putting their phone through the harshest conditions on the most epic journeys, TORRAS has the Ostand SS. This model incorporates TORRAS Lab’s ShockMAT Airbag Tech to combine the rubber case exterior with internal air gaps that can absorb 98% of the impact of a fall and protect your phone from falls up to 18-feet. It still has the kickstand ring of the other Ostand models, and the sandblasted TPU material of the case offers a tactile grip. That clear design will let your iPhone stand out for its style even as you explore the corners of the earth.

UPRO Pstand kickstand case — (Image credit: Torras)

For subtle style you can flex at the office and out on the town, the UPRO Pstand is on deck. It features an understated design that still shows off some of your phone’s aesthetic. Its hard back and silicone edges provide grip and protection, absorbing enough shock to keep the phone safe from even 12-foot falls while offering a soft and silky feel in the hand. A busy lifestyle can be a drain on your phone’s battery, so the thoughtful design and powerful Halbach magnets in the case allow you to keep using the phone with a MagSafe charger even while you use the kickstand. That stand is discreet and crafted from aluminum, giving you a sturdy platform for portrait and landscape use.

Torras UPRO Lstand kickstand case — (Image credit: Torras)

If you’re an especially heavy phone user, you’ll want the TORRAS UPRO Lstand case. This case puts an emphasis on helping you keep your phone fully charged. With its aluminum kickstand built around the camera housing instead of the MagSafe section of the phone, you can keep MagSafe chargers attached at all times, whether the phone is standing up or laying down. TORRAS ensured the kickstand doesn’t get in the way of using the camera either, only further enhancing the protection of one of the phone’s key components. Opened fully, the stand can also help you line up wide-angle photos for hands-free shots with all of your friends. The UPRO Lstand comes in transparent and semi-transparent designs so you can show off the looks of your new phone, but you won’t be sacrificing security, as the X-Shock 3.0 protection can shield the phone from falls up to 8 feet.

You’ll find all of these cases and more accessories from TORRAS available for sale on Amazon here.

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September 16, 2023

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The new iPhone 15 is here, and

Entertaintment

Conan O’Brien Says Trump Jokes Aren’t Funny – Deadline

Have you heard the one about Donald Trump? Conan O’Brien has, and as he told journalist Kara Swisher on her podcast, Trump jokes just aren’t funny.

It’s not that the red-haired former talk show host has great love for No. 45.

“So I always thought when Trump came along, what a lot of people have to revert to is: ‘Doesn’t he suck? I hate that guy. He’s an a**hole . . . And those aren’t jokes.”

He added, “I think the January 6 thing is a blip compared to how much he’s hurt comedy.”

O’Brien said jokes about Trump are akin to parodying The National Enquirer.

“If you go and buy a real National Enquirer, it says, ‘Elvis sighted in UFO; he has tentacles for arms. Ghost baby turns into vampire and attacks Michael Jackson’s ghost. There’s no way to parody that. You can’t parody something that already has that crazy irregular shape. It’s not possible.”

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September 16, 2023

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Have you heard the one about Donald

Movies

‘Outlaw Johnny Black’ Review: A Gravel-Toned Gunslinger

A gravel-toned gunslinger rolls into town. He’s got a bullet with his nemesis’s name on it and vengeance on his mind. It’s a familiar image that “Outlaw Johnny Black,” directed by Michael Jai White, intends to spoof, but the punchlines don’t quite land properly in this misguided Western parody.

This is the second movie that White has written with Byron Minns; the first was “Black Dynamite,” the 2009 Blaxploitation spoof that White also starred in. But whereas the latter understood the specific visual language and tricky tone of its genre satire, “Outlaw Johnny Black” struggles to establish a consistent comedic rhythm.

Much of the flaws come from its bagginess and lack of expositional focus (plus several needlessly cringe-worthy scenes involving Native American characters). The first third of the film — which concerns the relationship between the titular Johnny Black (White) and Brett Clayton (Chris Browning), the man who killed his father — becomes practically irrelevant after Johnny winds up in a small town impersonating a preacher and enmeshed in political schemes over oil-rich land.

There are some funny moments in this stretch, particularly when the actors are allowed to run with some of the purely inane gags. But the laughs are lost within an overly long, meandering plot and scenes that miss visual polish or comedic concision. The gunslinger can land a punch, but the film doesn’t pack any.

Outlaw Johnny Black
Rated PG-13 for violence, strong language and some sexual material. Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes. In theaters.

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September 16, 2023

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AI is no match for humanity’s strength in Latino sci-fi film

One afternoon, Tita (Laura Patalano), an elderly fieldworker who works picking strawberries, opens her front door. An artificial intelligence humanoid (Nico Greetham) is at the door, its eyes gleaming with an adjusting camera. Tita analyzes the futuristic invention before letting it in.

Tita has hired the humanoid to help her with her work, as she is getting older and isn’t as agile as she used to be. But she soon will prove that an AI can’t replace her humanity and strength.

This story is immortalized in the film “The Ballad of Tita and the Machines,” directed by Miguel Angel Caballero and co-written with Luis Antonio Aldana. It premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival and will make its way to Los Angeles at the NewFilmmakers Los Angeles InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Film Festival, co-hosted by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, on Sept. 23. (Disclaimer: I will be moderating a panel at this year’s NFMLA.)

NFMLA is a monthly festival that aims to foster fresh voices by providing industry resources to the artists behind the chosen films. The InFocus Latinx & Hispanic Film Festival, in partnership with AMPAS, coincides with the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month. This year’s iteration welcomes 24 new films, including “The Ballad of Tita and the Machines.”

Caballero was one of 10 filmmakers chosen to create a project for Indeed’s Rising Voices program, which financed short films on the theme of “the future of work.” He was selected for the program in December, then he went into two months of development at the beginning of the new year. From there he gathered a team of filmmakers to assist in what would become “The Ballad of Tita and the Machines.”

“The Ballad of Tita and the Machines” centers on a farmworker.

(Miguel Angel Caballero)

The story of the film came with the help of Aldana, whom Caballero met while working in the Latino Theater Lab with the Latino Theater Company. They bonded over being queer Latinos from immigrant families. (Caballero’s family lived in Oxnard and Aldana’s called Huntington Park home.) While at LTC, they contributed to the creation of 2007’s “Melancholia,” a play that told the story of a young marine who returns home from the Iraq War and struggles to readjust to his old life.

In their latest work for Rising Voices, Aldana suggested they dive into the history of their own families who immigrated to the U.S. to find work. They took the story they were familiar with and added a futuristic twist: What if AI couldn’t keep up with what their families had endured?

“It’s a bit of an homage to our working-class families and community that very often are rendered invisible in this country,” Caballero said of the film.

Caballero’s mother, father and older siblings worked in fields, picking fruits like grapes, oranges and strawberries — the same fruit that Tita picks throughout the short film.

He then mulled on the concept of essential workers, a term that became commonplace at the start of the pandemic to describe people who worked in positions crucial to helping society stay afloat, such as grocery workers, farmworkers and fast food workers. Picking, something often considered “unskilled work,” suddenly held a new importance.

“It’s a very specific skill that machines cannot do,” Caballero said.

The duo chose to pit humans against AI because the emerging technology had been a big part of the discourse at the beginning of the year. “We didn’t realize it was gonna be so prevalent now,” Caballero said.

Bojana Sandic, programming director of NFMLA, says she chose to include Caballero and Aldana’s film in the InFocus festival because of its relevance and wit, introducing humor to address the dehumanizing nature of AI.

“The conversation is moving forward so quickly and there are lots of people who are pushing back on that narrative,” Sandic said. “I think this film does that in a way that is pointing out the ways in which all types of human labor are discounted in that process.

“It can not only be unethical but also impossible when you don’t account for humanity,” she added.

Even in today’s context — ongoing strikes against Hollywood calling for industry leaders to steer from relying on AI to replace human creativity in screenwriting and acting — the film itself highlights the importance of supporting the work of living people.

“I think that there is a prediction in this that is already starting to be borne out in some places, and I think we will see it borne out more and more,” Sandic said.

A woman sits at a table talking to a hologram of her daughter.

Aldana, an avid sci-fi fan, wanted the film to be more than just another dive into AI. He wanted to subvert the stereotypes of sci-fi. Oftentimes, the hero of these tales is white and aids the working-class characters on the sidelines. This time around, he made the working-class character the hero.

“It’s a testament to our lens as children of immigrants and queer filmmakers,” he said.

The duo’s perspectives in the sci-fi genre adds nuance to Latino filmmaking. Their goal was to represent the voices of queer Latinos in California. Caballero pointed out that the Latino experience in the U.S. is more diverse than the usual narratives told by Latinos outside the U.S. They sought to depict a multitude of experiences in “The Ballad of Tita and the Machines” through small exchanges onscreen.

For example, Tita holds up a picture of her late wife (portrayed by a photo of Aldana’s mother), and she speaks to her daughter in Spanish while her daughter responds in English. These moments feel small, but for other Latinos who grew up in the U.S., the experience is familiar.

“We’re writing stories about our reality,” Caballero said. “Our mothers spoke Spanish and we spoke to them in Spanish and English. We’re writing from that reality.”

The short film, like many others in the festival, spotlights Latino talent in cinema, a long-underrepresented group in entertainment. Patalano told Caballero that she had been in the industry for almost 40 years and “The Ballad of Tita and the Machines” was her first leading role.

“She said, ‘Yeah, Hollywood doesn’t write roles for leading women that look like me with my skin color,’” he recalled. “It was a very happy moment but it broke my heart.”

In casting the film, Caballero sought to bring in talent that had close proximity to fieldwork. He cast his older brother and sister, who worked in the fields with his parents and donned the regalia once again — this time for the camera.

“We made a huge effort that everybody that we had as an extra either had to be a current field worker — which we had quite a handful of them — had to be children of field workers, or past field workers,” Caballero said.

Caballero found it “beautiful” to represent working-class folks as three-dimensional characters like Tita, who portrays both a sweet childlike joy and a defiance against technology threatening her livelihood.

In “The Ballad of Tita and the Machines,” the story tells of a reality that is not only filled with expansive technological advances but also a future where someone like Tita stands in front of an AI, holding undeniable power over it.

“It’s high time that we had a sci-fi movie with a brown, queer Mexicana in the lead existing in this hyper-futuristic world,” Aldana said.

‘The Ballad of Tita and the Machines’

Where: Linwood Dunn Theater, 1313 Vine St., Los Angeles

When: 5:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23.

Cost: $10 to $30

Info: newfilmmakersla.com

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One afternoon, Tita (Laura Patalano), an

DCU

10 Best Superman Fight Scenes In DC Movies & TV

Summary

Superman’s fight against an army of mechanical monsters in the Fleischer Superman cartoons is a standout action scene that showcases his superhuman strength.
The brief but intense battle between Superman and his doppelgänger, Bizarro, in Superman & Lois demonstrates Superman’s approach to fighting new opponents.
Superman’s fight with Henry Miller, an American neo-nazi, in Superman & Lois highlights his unwavering strength and shows his commitment to protect innocent civilians.

Throughout his selection of DC film and TV adaptations, Superman has been in numerous fight scenes, with 10 melees distinguishing themselves as particularly exciting. Since his 1938 comic debut, Superman’s adventures have been renowned for their action sequences, which complement the heavily allegorical qualities of the Superman mythos and Superman himself. Co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster intended Superman to be, among other things, an incorruptible hero whose physical abilities are as unbeatable as his morals. In his earliest stories, Superman would contend with realistic evils, from corrupt entities to organized crime and white supremacist groups, but his adventures soon pitted him against fantastic foes who could credibly trade punches with him.

Similar to some Marvel superheroes like Spider-Man and Iron Man, sheer fighting skills are, more often than not, unnecessary for Superman to beat most opponents, even if their strength is comparable to his. Even many live-action iterations of Superman lack formal combat training, as Clark Kent’s Kryptonian physiology, which is enhanced by Earth’s yellow sun and the gravity and atmospherics of Earth itself, grant him almost incalculable strength, speed, reflexes, durability, and enhanced cognitive abilities, in addition to numerous other superpowers. Still, this does not prevent Superman from having compelling fight scenes throughout his screen adaptations, with the following 10 scenes being his best.

10 Superman Vs The Mechanical Monsters (Fleischer Superman Cartoons)

The iconic Fleischer Superman cartoons have had a strong influence on DC’s animated adaptations and even the comics themselves. Not only did the cartoons inspire the Batman and Superman animated shows in the 1990s, but they even gave Superman his famous ability to fly in the comics and all subsequent adaptations. The second Fleischer short, titled “The Mechanical Monsters,” includes the best action scene in the series, pitting Superman against an army of the titular robots. Despite enduring an onslaught of strikes from their fists and flamethrowers, Superman endures, destroying the robots with his superhuman strength.

9 Superman Vs Bizarro (Superman & Lois)

The Arrowverse’s Superman & Lois introduced its own version of the classic Superman villain Bizarro in season 2. This iteration takes inspiration from Bizarro’s Silver Age incarnation, establishing him as a doppelgänger of Superman from an “inverse” version of Earth (Bizarro World). In the episode “Girl… You’ll Be A Woman, Soon,” Bizarro and Superman battle, with Superman using minimal force to subdue his counterpart. When he realizes that Bizarro is every bit as powerful as he is, Superman takes their fight to the Shuster Mines and, armed with X-Kryptonite, beats Bizarro unconscious. The fight is brief, intense, and an excellent demonstration of Superman’s approach to fighting new opponents.

8 Superman Vs Henry Miller (Superman & Lois)

Superman fights Atom-Man in Superman and Lois season 3

Superman is, intrinsically, a metaphor for American Jewish immigrants and their descendants at the turn of the century, with Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster both being Jewish creators with strong anti-fascist ideals. Naturally, some of Superman’s villains are nazis and other white supremacists, with Heinrich Melch – also known as Henry Miller or Atom-Man – being one example. Henry Miller is reimagined as an American neo-nazi in Superman & Lois, and his fight with Superman in the episode “Closer” is one of the best in the series. Despite Miller receiving superpowers, Superman is unphased by his opponent, taking the quick and brutal fight as far away from civilians as possible.

7 Superman Vs Darkseid (Justice League Unlimited)

Darkseid Animated World Of Cardboard Superman Justice League Unlimited

The DC Animated Universe’s version of Superman was partially inspired by John Byrne’s Modern Age Superman comics, depicting a more vulnerable Superman who had a degree of difficulty performing certain feats of strength. In the series finale of Justice League Unlimited, however, Superman retroactively reveals that he has been holding back his true strength all along. In a final grudge match with his bitter rival, Darkseid, Superman delivers a now-famous speech about “cutting loose” and makes short work of the Apokoliptian warlord with little effort, forcing Darkseid to resort to incapacitating Superman with an advanced Apokoliptian weapon out of desperation.

6 Superman Vs Lex Luthor (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies)

Superman vs Lex Luthor in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.

Superman and Lex Luthor’s clashes are typically not physical, but Superman’s pre-Crisis comics gave his greatest enemy the means to fight him in hand-to-hand combat. Lex Luthor developed an advanced armored and weapons-laden suit that makes his strength and durability comparable to Superman’s. The suit has appeared in numerous Superman adaptations, including Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. In a film already packed with fight scenes, the movie saved its best for last, pitting Superman against Lex Luthor, with the latter’s suit giving him the upper hand at first. When Batman seemingly sacrifices himself to stop Luthor’s plot, however, Superman “cuts loose” again, explosively and methodically overpowering Luthor and disabling his suit.

5 Superman Vs General Zod, Ursa, & Non (Superman II)

The classic Superman films from the 1970s and 1980s are beloved by filmgoers as well as accurate representations of Superman’s pre-Crisis incarnation in the Silver and Bronze Ages. Superman’s battles with General Zod, Ursa, and Non in Superman II bring these eras to life, with a highly destructive melee between Superman and the Kryptonian criminals taking place in Metropolis. While Superman cannot overpower them in this clash, he outwits them in their next engagement in the Fortress of Solitude, tricking them into extinguishing their powers.

4 Superman Vs Batman (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice)

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice gradually develops a rivalry between its iterations of Superman and Batman who, ultimately, are being manipulated by Lex Luthor. When Batman’s paranoia and Superman’s desperation to save his mother bring them to fisticuffs, the result is a brutal and destructive fight, with Batman using advanced armor and a supply of Kryptonite to weaken Superman. The physical fight is won by Batman, who overpowers the radiation-sick Superman and nearly kills him. The ideological fight, however, is a clear win for Superman, who holds back from using his true strength and, with Lois Lane’s help, convinces Batman to recognize Superman’s altruism and end his near-turn to villainy.

3 Superman Vs Faora & Nam-Ek (Man of Steel)

Superman’s first fight scene in 2013’s action-packed Man of Steel pits him against the nefarious General Zod’s two best soldiers, the skilled Faora and the hulking Nam-Ek. Superman is somewhat outmatched in the fight, lacking fighting experience and still struggling to use his full strength. To make matters worse, the US Military attacks both parties, thinking that Superman is just another hostile. Thanks to Superman’s prolonged and complete exposure to Earth’s sun and atmosphere, however, he prevailed against Faora and Nam-Ek, who retreated. The US Military, meanwhile, finally recognized Superman as an ally at the end of the fight.

2 Superman Vs Steppenwolf (Zack Snyder’s Justice League)

Superman stands in front of Steppenwolf's axe in Zack Snyder's Justice League

Following his death in Dawn of Justice, Superman is resurrected in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. With a black, regenerative, variation of his classic blue suit, Superman’s strength returns and he arrives in Pozharnov to assist his beleaguered friends. Steppenwolf, an Apokoliptian herald of Darkseid, has already proven deadly enough to overpower Amazons, Atlanteans, and much of the Justice League itself, yet the resurrected and regenerating Superman makes short work of him in their brief fight. Saving Cyborg’s life, Superman unleashed a spectacular display of his powers, creating an opening for Wonder Woman and Aquaman to join him in defeating Steppenwolf, with Wonder Woman landing the final, decisive, strike.

1 Superman Vs General Zod (Man Of Steel)

At the end of Man of Steel, Superman chooses Earth and humanity over Krypton, destroying the Fortress of Solitude’s Genesis Chamber and preventing General Zod from terraforming the planet. This leaves Zod with no purpose left but that of a savage revenge against humanity and Superman. Still holding back his strength, Superman is viciously beaten by Zod in a destructive brawl that destroys numerous buildings and kills many Metropolis citizens. Superman does all he can to subdue Zod, but the fight ends with the General attempting to immolate a family, leading Superman to kill Zod. The fight is ferocious, with its destructive side effects emphasizing the intensity of the battle, while still remaining decidedly character-driven, making it the best Superman fight scene on film or TV.

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Summary Superman's fight against an army

Comics

NASCAR Arcade Rush Out Today On PC & Consoles

Experience high-speed family fun with wild spins on NASCARs most iconic tracks in NASCAR Arcade Rush!

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September 16, 2023

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Experience high-speed family fun with wild spins

Festivals

Russell Brand Accused of Rape, Sexual Assault, Emotional Abuse – Reports – Deadline

A joint investigation by UK media outlets the Sunday Times, the Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches said Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse during a seven-year period.

The reports emerged after the 48-year-old actor had already issued a video Friday night to deny what he called “very serious criminal allegations.”

He insisted his relationships had always been consensual.

“The relationships that I had were absolutely always consensual,” Brand said. “I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent. And I’m being transparent about it now.”

He claimed that this openness was being “metastasized into something criminal” and suggested that it was a “serious and concerted agenda” to silence him.

Brand has in recent years reinvented himself as a counter-culture guru, who questions mainstream media reporting and endorses conspiracy theories.

“It’s been clear to me, or at least it feels to me, like there’s a serious and concerted agenda to control these kind of spaces and these kind of voices,” he continued.

“I don’t mind them using my books and my stand-up to talk about my promiscuous consensual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations.”

Brand claimed that he was aware of witnesses whose evidence “directly contradicts the narrative that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct.”

According to the reports, Brand entered into a relationship with a 16-year-old schoolgirl. In another instance, he was accused by a woman of raping her in his Los Angeles home,

A third woman said Brand sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in Los Angeles

The reports said several others had accused Brand of physical and emotional abuse, sexual harassment and bullying.

Most of the women wanted to remain anonymous. A documentary will be released today on Channel Four’s Dispatches series.

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A joint investigation by UK media outlets the

Film

Roger Ross Williams on Casting Gael Garcia Bernal – IndieWire

There are a few documentarians who dabble in feature filmmaking: R.J. Cutler (“If I Stay”), Matt Heineman (“A Private War”), even Werner Herzog (there are many). To their ranks we can now add Oscar-winner Roger Ross Williams (“Music By Prudence”), and he’s all in on making it work.

At Telluride, Williams screened his well-reviewed Sundance feature “Cassandro” (September 15, Amazon Studios); saw the world premiere of “Stamped from the Beginning” at the Toronto International Film Festival (November 15, Netflix); and Apple TV+ will air his four-part docuseries “The Super Models” September 20.

It’s an eclectic and vibrant collection of work and none of it was straightforward or easy. “Cassandro” is based on the true story of Luchador Saúl Armendáriz (Gael García Bernal in a career-best performance) who finds his true identity as the cross-dressing El Exotico on the Mexico wrestling circuit. Williams met his subject on the Amazon documentary short “The Man Without a Mask” (2016).

Natalie Portman at the Cannes premiere of "The Zone of Interest"

“I knew that story inside out,” he told me. “We went to Juarez, one of the most dangerous cities in the world due to the cartels, where there was a huge Lucha Libre match. The show starts in this huge stadium with 1,000 people and ‘I Will Survive’ comes on: That’s his theme song. And he’s in full drag. And he comes up to stage, people are holding their kids up to him. He’s kissing them. People are loving him, and they’re all singing ‘I Will Survive,’ and I burst into tears. I was lost. ‘Man, I gotta gotta harvest this magic.’”

Williams fell for Armendáriz. “He had this beautiful, incredible inner life,” he said. “He was so inspiring, but he was also charismatic. And I saw that an actor who was equally charismatic could harness that and it could be an incredible character study on the screen.”

Discussing the idea of who might portray Cassandro, he and his documentary crew determined the perfect actor. Cut to: Williams, then a governor for the Academy’s documentary branch, stalking Gael García Bernal at Academy events. When the agents finally set up a meeting, the actor immediately agreed to play the shape-shifting gay man in a male world who confronts machismo head-on and wins by embracing his own identity.

It took years to get the script into shooting shape and Williams turned to his “Life, Animated” editor David Teague. He’d never written a script, but Williams told Teague: “Editing is writing in documentary. So you’re an incredible writer.”

It took several tries to get the script into the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Williams was crushed when he was rejected, but he kept trying and got into both the writing and directing labs. “I created an over-the-top spectacle movie and wasn’t seeing the true heart of the movie, the relationship with his mom and his father,” he said. “It’s a deeply personal, emotional story.”

During the directors’ lab, Williams found a more naturalistic tone that let the emotional scenes carry the fun wrestling performances. He shot in Mexico City, which kept the budget down to $10 million.

“It was really crafted in the edit with Affonso Gonçalves [‘Carol’],” Williams said. “It was amazing to see what he could do. He could change the whole tone of the scene and calibrate a performance.” Inevitably, “Cassandro” wowed audiences at Sundance 2023 and again at Toronto, building Oscar buzz for Garcia Bernal.

Williams can’t stop working. He founded a Brooklyn production company, One Story Up Prods., after his “Life, Animated” was nominated for the 2018 documentary feature Oscar. He produces many projects that he does not direct and loves promoting BIPOC talent like cinematographer-turned-director Nadia Hallgren (“Civil”).

Williams pushes people into new experiences. “I made a very clear mandate that the company is made up of mostly filmmakers who don’t have the same opportunities,” he said. “The buyers were calling me: ‘If you can vouch for them and mentor them and oversee them, we will take the project.’”

Some projects pay the bills, such as “The Super Models” and Donna Summer documentary “Love to Love You, Donna Summer” (HBO Documentary) co-directed with Summer’s daughter Brooklyn Sudano. Producers Fabienne Toback and Karis Jagger brought in Williams to direct the well-regarded food series “High on the Hog: How African Cuisine Transformed America,” which generated a 6,000-word profile in The New Yorker.

And Williams, Oprah Winfrey, and Pulitzer-Prize-winner Nikole Hannah-Jones collaborated on the hugely popular Hulu Originals docuseries “The 1619 Project,” based on “The 1619 Project” initiative created by The New York Times Magazine. That yielded not only an additional ABC two-part special featuring the two episodes directed by Williams, but also a podcast with 40 million listeners.

Netflix documentary “Stamped from the Beginning” is a hybrid documentary/scripted feature adapted Ibram X. Kendi’s National Book Award-winning bestseller “How to be an Antiracist” that took off during the George Floyd “Black Lives Matter” movement. “[The book] defined America’s racial reckoning,” said Williams. “It’s very American. And everyone in the world is asking, ‘What is going on?’”

In the movie, the people who answer that question are not only Kendi but Black women historians and academics who guide viewers through reenactments of well-known and obscure historic figures such as Harriet Jacobs (Alexa Rachelle Jennings) as well as vivid animation and illustrations of racist tropes and imagery. “When I was doing research, the people doing this work on racism in America were Black women at Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale,” said Williams. “When I started talking to these folks, they said, ‘We have to do this work because we have no choice. We’re dealing with this reality in our lives.’”

Williams will collect the Critics Choice Impact Award at its Documentary Awards on November 12 not only for his influential films and television work but also for his two-term, six-year tenure as an Academy governor representing the documentary branch. He helped the Academy transition from a board with two Black governors out of more than 50 to a much more diverse organization.

For the documentary branch, “I made it my mission to reach gender parity,” he said. “And we were the first branch to reach gender parity, it was really exciting. And we’re the most diverse. And that was also a passion of mine. I was able to bring in giant groups of people from around the world — Africa, Latin America, and Asia — and just put them through. It’s international now. I get to take the victory lap around the boardroom.”

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There are a few documentarians who dabble

Michael Jai White on Outlaw Johnny Black and his favorite Western movie

8 Best New Movies and Series Added to Netflix This Week: September 16-17, 2023

Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction – Picture: Netflix

There’s a lot of binging ahead for Netflix subscribers this weekend, thanks to the addition of HBO’s Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Here’s a roundup of the best new titles on Netflix US this week.

If you missed any of the new releases, you can see what’s new on Netflix (specifically in the US) via our new on Netflix hub.

Featured Videos – Article Continues Below…

If you’re looking for even more watch suggestions, we’ve also picked out ten movies that will be departing Netflix at the end of this month.

N = Netflix Original

Band of Brothers (Limited Series)

New Episodes: 10
Genre: Action, Drama, History | Runtime: 60 Minutes
Cast: Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Shane Taylor, Scott Grimes, Neal McDonough

Arguably one of the greatest television shows ever made, and one of the greatest stories told from WW2, HBO’s Band of Brothers is available to stream on Netflix for the very first time.

“The story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.”

The Pacific (Limited Series)

New Episodes: 10
Genre: Action, Drama, History | Runtime: 60 Minutes
Cast: James Badge Dale, Joseph Mazello, Jon Seda, Ashton Holmes, Josh Helman

The sister series of Band of Brothers shifts the focus from the European Theatre of War to The Pacific Front as the US Marines and Naval forces waged war against the Japanese Empire.

“Track the intertwined real-life stories of three U.S. Marines – Robert Leckie, John Basilone, and Eugene Sledge – across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theater during World War II. A companion piece to the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers.”

Love at First Sight (2023) N

Director: Vanessa Caswill
Genre: Drama, Romance | Runtime: 90 Minutes
Cast: Haley Lu Richardson, Ben Hardy, Rob Delaney, Katrina Nare, Jamella Jamil

We expect Love at First Sight to be one of the most-watched movies on Netflix this weekend and despite having mixed reviews on the whole, our movie critic loved the new rom-com entry.

Based on the book The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, the movie sees Hadley and Oliver strike up an unlikely romantic relationship while on a red-eye flight from New York to London. Can they keep the magic alive after they land? You get to find out in this excellent hour and a half movie.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Director: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Comedy, Crime | Runtime: 180 Minutes
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler

One of the best performances of Leonardo DiCaprio’s career, The Wolf of Wall Street continued the actor’s incredible track record of working with Martin Scorsese.

“A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, the corporate banking world and mob infiltration. Based on Jordan Belfort’s autobiography.”

Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction (2023) N

Director: Billie August
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance | Runtime: 94 Minutes
Cast: Alice Bier Zanden, Emil Aron Dorph, Kit Eichler, Asger Falck, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard

One of the most anticipated Danish titles on Netflix, there shouldn’t be a single subscriber sleeping on Ehrengrad this weekend. If you love Bridgerton (and still are waiting for season 3) or The Crown, this lavish period drama is for you.

“In the fairytale kingdom of Babenhausen, a young, self-appointed expert on love, Mr. Cazotte, is hired by the scheming Grand Duchess to help her secure an heir. While searching for a suitable future Princess, Mr Cazotte teaches the timid and introverted Crown Prince Lothar the art of seduction and lovemaking. But their plan soon backfires, when an heir is conceived out of wedlock and the royal family has to seek refuge in the castle of Rosenbad. Here, as rivals within the royal family close in on their scheme, Cazotte himself falls in love with Ehrengard, the maid of honor, and gradually learns that in fact, he’s no expert on love at all.”

Class Act (Limited Series) N

New Episodes: 7
Genre: Drama, History | Runtime: 65 Minutes
Cast: Laurent Lafitte, Frank Molinaro, Joséphine Japy, Patrick d’Assumçao, Hakim Jemili

A fictionalized biopic about Bernard Tapie, the drama is likely to grab the attention of many French subscribers this weekend.

“A relentlessly ambitious working-class man becomes one of France’s most controversial public figures”

El Conde (2023) N

Director: Pablo Larraín
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, History | Runtime: 110 Minutes
Cast: Alfredo Castro, Stella Gonet, Catalina Guerra, Paula Luchsinger, Diego Muñoz

One of the most visually striking movies to land on Netflix this week, El Conde is another Netflix Original inspired by a controversial historical figure.

“Centers on Augusto Pinochet who is not dead but an aged vampire. After living 250 years in this world, he has decided to die once and for all.”

Wrestlers (Season 1) N

New Episodes: 7
Genre: Documentary, Sport | Runtime: 60 Minutes
Cast: Al Snow, Elizabeth Hile, Justin Coburn, Blanco Loco, Daniel Spencer

“The Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville, Kentucky, use to be a glorious grad school for young wrestlers with hopes of a shot at a career in professional wrestling, yet things aren’t like they used to be.”

What movies and TV shows will you be watching on Netflix this week? Let us know in the comments below!

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September 16, 2023

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Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction – Picture:

(L-R): Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver and Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in 20th Century Studios' A HAUNTING IN VENICE. Photo by Rob Youngson. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Awards

Box Office: ‘A Haunting in Venice’ Racing ‘Nun 2’ in Opening Weekend

Hercule Poirot is back on the case this weekend, with Kenneth Branagh’s “A Haunting in Venice” hoping to best a very quiet box office in its opening. The horror-tinged whodunnit scored $5.5 million from 3,305 theaters on its opening day, a figure that includes $1.2 million in Thursday previews. The film gets a boost from increased ticket prices for premium large formats like Imax.

“Haunting” is pacing a bit ahead of last year’s “Death on the Nile,” which opened to $12.8 million on Super Bowl weekend after some prolonged shuffles around Disney and 20th Century Studios’ schedule due to the COVID pandemic. “A Haunting in Venice,” the third Agatha Christie adaptation from Branagh, arrives with less of a financial burden — the production budget of $60 million is a notable drop from its predecessor’s $90 million. There’s a less starry cast, a more intimate setting and Branagh went digital for this one after shooting on large format 65mm for the previous two entries.

There’s probably no expectation to reach the box office heights of Branagh’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” which opened to $28 million in 2017 before finishing with $102 million in North America and $352 million worldwide. But “A Haunting in Venice” has drawn the strongest reviews of the trilogy. It landed a middling “B” grade through research firm Cinema Score, but that’s also on par with Branagh’s previous entries. Along with the story’s seasonal supernatural edge and an aim for older audiences, 20th Century Studios will hope for Branagh’s film to have some staying power in the weeks ahead.

Branagh directs and re-dons that mustache to star in “A Haunting in Venice,” which is adapted from Christie’s 1969 novel “Hallowe’en Party.” This time Poirot must get to the bottom of a murder during a Venetian seance. The ensemble cast also includes this year’s Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey, Kyle Allen and Camille Cottin, while also reuniting Branagh with his “Belfast” boys Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill.

“The Nun II” still has a shot at besting “A Haunting in Venice” and keeping the top slot on domestic charts. The “Conjuring” spin-off showed $4.3 million on Friday, with rivals projecting a 58% or so tumble from its opening last week. That’s not too shabby a drop for a horror film. The Warner Bros. release should push to a $55 million domestic gross through the weekend.

“The Equalizer 3” is falling to bronze, projecting $7.3 million in its third weekend to push its domestic total to $73 million. The first entry in the Denzel Washington action series finished with $101 million in North America, while the 2018 sequel ended with $102 million. Perhaps the fates will intervene and the three-qualizer could wrap up with $103 million. If that pattern continued, Sony Pictures would have a billion-dollar grosser on its hands by the 1000th entry!

Moving on, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” is headed for fourth place, as the Focus Features release looks to drop 54% in its sophomore outing. Domestic gross should push beyond $18 million through Sunday — about half of the $36 million that “Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” earned in its first ten days.

Now available on premium video-on-demand, “Barbie” is still sticking around the top five. This weekend, the Warner Bros. release will surpass “The Avengers” ($623 million) to become the 11th-highest grossing North American release of all time.

Opening in limited release, Sony is putting Craig Gillespie’s ripped-from-the-headlines meme-stock comedy “Dumb Money” out in eight theaters in six markets, before expanding next weekend and going wide after that. The film earned $92,000 on its opening day — on its way to a roughly $200,000 haul for the three-day frame.

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September 16, 2023

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Hercule Poirot is back on the case

Music

Maren Morris Announces She’s Leaving Country Music: ‘It’s Burning Itself Down’

Maren Morris is taking “a step back” from country music after years of advocating for marginalized voices from inside the industry. “I thought I’d like to burn it to the ground and start over,” Morris told The Los Angeles Times in a candid new interview. “But it’s burning itself down without my help.”

For starters, the 33-year-old Grammy-winner will now release music through Columbia Records instead of their Nashville branch. “Obviously, being one of the few women that had any success on country radio, everything you do is looked at under a microscope,” Morris explained. “You’re scrutinized more than your male peers, even when you’re doing well. So I’ve had to clear all of that out of my head this year and just write songs. A lot of the drama within the community, I’ve chosen to step outside out of it.”

Morris says she became disillusioned with the industry after Donald Trump’s presidency. “After the Trump years, people’s biases were on full display,” she said. “It just revealed who people really were and that they were proud to be misogynistic and racist and homophobic and transphobic. All these things were being celebrated, and it was weirdly dovetailing with this hyper-masculine branch of country music. I call it butt rock.”

Most recently, Morris took aim at Jason Aldean’s controversial song, “Try That in a Small Town,” just a year after calling out his wife, Brittany Aldean, for transphobic comments in 2022. Morris argues the song’s popularity is more about identity politics than music. “People are streaming these songs out of spite,” she told the LA Times. It’s not out of true joy or love of the music. It’s to own the libs. And that’s so not what music is intended for. Music is supposed to be the voice of the oppressed—the actual oppressed. And now it’s being used as this really toxic weapon in culture wars.”

When asked if this “feud” with Aldean led her to change paths, she responded, “I’ve always been an asker of questions and a status quo challenger just by being a woman. So it wasn’t really even a choice.” She continued, “I didn’t think of myself as a political artist. I just wrote songs about real life through a lens of deep respect for my country heroes. But the further you get into the country music business, that’s when you start to see the cracks. And once you see it, you can’t un-see it. So you start doing everything you can with the little power you have to make things better.”

Maren Morris was awarded GLAAD’s Excellence in Media Award in May 2023.

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

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September 16, 2023

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Maren Morris is taking “a step back”

Docs

Arthur&Diana Featured, Reviews Film Threat

TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! The French master director Jean-Luc Godard. Believed passionately that ‘Everything was Cinema.’ He, of course, did this in many moments in his canon of work using non-actors, filming in live situations, and then with a small crew. The result was some brilliant works with a touch of realism, immediacy, and intimacy that flowed effortlessly. This German film Arthur&Diana enters that company with a subtle, humorous, often contemplative story of everyday life. Life becomes little dramas that connect into a joyous moment of reflection and thanks.

Goddard mainly worked in black and white film stock out of cost while the director, writer, and star of Sara Summa’s Arthur&Diana is photographed in glorious, subdued colour. Arthur (Robin Summa) & Diana (Sara Summa} are brother and sister. With Diana’s two-year-old son Lupo, the trio leave Berlin for a Paris trip to do the overdue safety inspection of their old Renault. The vehicle is of special significance since it symbolizes their youth and the passage of time. The trip is not relaxed at all as the journey becomes more of a trip or a cruise down memory lane for both. Revelations of youth and how they clash with the present day come out as Lupo needs constant care. As with children, Lupo demands sweets, food, and even, at one point, to have certain music played in the vehicle.

“Together with Diana’s two -old son Lupo, the trio leave Berlin for a Paris trip to do the overdue safety inspection…”

The picture features a documentary-style film, so the viewer becomes a combination eavesdropped companion, voyeur, and interloper depending on the moments that the camera intrudes on. Arthur, who is younger, with a carefree air about him, is the opposite of the cool, pragmatic, married Diane. A flat tire is discovered by Diana, who simply gets the light and checks herself. The police stop them on the way and find the safety check has not been done. Arthur talks the police into letting them go because they are heading to a funeral.

The cast includes unknown actors like Livia Antonelli, Claire Loiseau, and Ugo Fiore with lovely unobtrusive sets and backgrounds that make one feel you are on the trip with Arthur&Diana and all they meet.

The film is a visual and auditory treat with a beautiful score, music, and the ever-present theme of eating. Everyone eats in seemingly endless moments that often lead to a romantic interlude at a party for Diana to keep Lupo happy during adult time at get-togethers. Sound is also a key element in this as we get the real crunch of food, the swilling of wine, and even a housefly tormenting Arthur. Little moments of drama build into the togetherness of family and the bonds of friendship.

Arthur&Diana have freedom and flow to their story like the French New Wave. Comedy, as well as Diana, has a rather amusing encounter with a small weapon at a lake while trying to look tough. The ending of this is threatening framing of Diana toward the audience. The camera is used to convey observation and participation even up to the last shot of the picture. Real family offers a unique way to tell a story, with this one being fictional. Still, the immediacy of the actors is a joy to behold right up to the song that ends the picture. You may find yourselves joining in and looking at your little section of the world with a smile.

Arthur&Diana screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

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September 16, 2023

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TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! The

Trending

‘Coup!’ Review: Peter Sarsgaard Leads a Jaunty Class-War Comedy

That perky exclamation point sets the tone for “Coup!,” a story of murder, class struggle, One Percent entitlement and a global pandemic that nonetheless unfolds with all the eager, scrappy energy of an off-Broadway musical, minus most of the songs. The pandemic in question is not the one you’re thinking of — Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman’s puckish comic thriller unfolds against the dire backdrop of the 1918 Spanish Flu — but it also sort of is, as its study of wealthy exceptionalism in a time of national crisis is clearly intended to chime with more recent memories of regimented distancing and mixed safety messages from on high.

Starring Peter Sarsgaard as a wily cook entering the quarantined estate of Billy Magnussen’s upper-class journalist — and taking advantage of their isolation to start a servant uprising — this is quick, nippy entertainment that raises plenty of sociopolitical talking points without digging too deep into any of them. The closing film of this year’s Venice Days sidebar, “Coup!” even cultivates a faint air of adult pantomime with its confined setting and ripe performances — particularly from the wild-haired, hoop-earringed Sarsgaard, having a grand old time in a flamboyant role that is quite the opposite of his more prominent, prize-winning Venice turn in Michel Franco’s solemn “Memory.”

Magnussen, meanwhile, is still possessed of those frostily handsome features that casting directors are loath to consider for heroic leads — and duly plays both “Coup!’s” villain and its patsy, as hoity-toity national newspaper columnist Jay Horton, whose performatively progressive politics are somewhat at odds with his vast inherited fortune. As America suffers legions of deaths and grim economic downturn as the flu rages on, Horton receives much acclaim for his intrepid reporting from the urban frontlines of the epidemic, as he candidly criticises the Wilson administration for its inadequate protection of the people.

There’s just one problem: Horton isn’t anywhere near the danger zone, instead fabricating his supposedly first-hand dispatches from the safety of his walled-off country mansion on New York’s Egg Island. There, multiple servants (or staff, as their employers oh-so-magnanimously insists on calling them) attend to the needs of Horton, his wife Julie (Sarah Gadon) and their two children, while living in comparatively spartan quarters downhill. When — disaster! — the Hortons’ personal vegetarian chef succumbs to the flu, their ad for a replacement is answered by itinerant Southern rascal Floyd Monk (Sarsgaard), introduced vacating his former premises with some relish, and assuming the ID of the slain body beside him, setting the film’s driving mystery efficiently in motion.

Arriving at Egg Island sporting bohemian attire and a distinctly non-deferent attitude, Monk swiftly arouses the suspicions of Horton and his stuffy, servile housekeeper Mrs. McMurray (Kristine Nielsen). Julie and the children, however, are charmed by his rakish eccentricities, and his hold on them — akin to a Scotch-drinking, poker-playing, deer-hunting Mary Poppins — allows him to take previously forbidden liberties with his position, inspiring his downtrodden colleagues, Black maid Mrs. Tidwell (Skye P. Marshall) and Turkish valet Kaan (Faran Tahir), to follow suit. Soon enough, to Horton’s huffy consternation, Monk has moved into the mansion, is using the family’s indoor pool and is eyeing up Julie, all while demanding doubled wages; meanwhile, the journalist’s professional standing is also threatened, his lie increasingly at risk of exposure.

The ensuing alpha-male face-off between master and rebel is drawn in broad, enjoyably cartoonish strokes: In this case, both men have an impressive mustache to twirl. But if “Coup!” is unsubtle, its outcome is never exactly predictable, while its politics are intriguingly elusive. Horton’s slimy champagne socialism may be a straightforward satirical target, but Monk turns out to be a pretty self-serving man of the people; one way or another, as Mrs. Tidwell bitterly notes, the servant class can never emerge triumphant. Viewers seeking to map the film’s pandemic portrayal onto recent events, meanwhile, won’t find any unambiguously sympathetic stance between Horton’s hypocritical public interest and Monk’s hint of anti-lockdown individualism.

It all arguably evens out into a pointed allegorical jab at the privileged American classes who advocated for a spirit of severe national sacrifice during COVID while sheltering in plush comfort — and if so, fair enough. But over and above such implied messaging, “Coup!” functions first as a romp: fleet and frisky at just 97 minutes, tidily but not ostentatiously crafted, and in thrall to the pleasurably low-stakes sport of watching one scoundrel outwit another. Here, even the last man standing is hardly a winner.

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September 16, 2023

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That perky exclamation point sets the tone

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 9: Rapper Drake performs onstage during "Lil Baby & Friends Birthday Celebration Concert" at State Farm Arena on December 9, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage)

Tech

Drake Postpones ‘For All the Dogs’ Album Release

UPDATED: Drake has postponed the release of his eighth studio LP, titled “For All the Dogs,” due to his ongoing It’s All a Blur Tour with 21 Savage. The album is now scheduled to drop Oct. 6.

Drake announced the new release date on his Instagram Story late Friday night: “Okay my dilemma I am faced with is either cancel shows to finish the album or I complete the mission and drop the album before the last show. I owe you all these memories we are building and anywhere we have missed to-date we will be spinning back for sure. ‘For All the Dogs’ October 6th. It’s only right…”

Drake shared the initial release date on his Instagram on Sept. 6 alongside video footage of his father Dennis Graham. The album was originally scheduled to drop Sept. 22.

The new full-length project comes after weeks of teasers from the Toronto rapper and serves as the follow-up to his and 21 Savage’s “Her Loss.” It also comes as both Savage and Drake are on a co-headlining tour across the United States.

Back in June, Drake announced the project as part of a promo campaign for his poetry book, “Titles Ruin Everything,” which he co-wrote alongside songwriter Kenza Samir; “I don’t know if I have ever wanted people to buy or support something more in my life,” he wrote in the announcement post. The social media blast also included a link where the album’s impending arrival was initially revealed. “They say they miss the old Drake girl don’t tempt me. For All The Dogs,” he added.

In the weeks leading up to the project, Drake was spotted wearing dog masks in New York City and hinted that the set would include a feature from Nicki Minaj during his Detroit tour stop on July 8. He also shared the cover art, drawn by his son Adonis, on Instagram on Aug. 21.

“Me and Nicki Minaj did our first song together in, like, a really long time. I got a lot of love for her,” he said. The Young Money duo last appeared on Minaj’s 2021 track “Seeing Green,” which also featured Lil Wayne.

Drake has released a solo full-length album each year for the past three years. “For All the Dogs” follows 2022’s “Honestly, Nevermind,” and 2021’s “Certified Lover Boy,” both of which topped Billboard’s albums chart with impressive streaming numbers. During his Apollo concert earlier this year, the Canadian-bred rapper said he was thinking about releasing another album simply because he “might get bored and make another one, who knows?”

He made a similar assertion about his workflow during the opening night of his tour: “I don’t know about these guys that go away for three, four, five years, [and] wanna chill out and all that shit. That’s not me,” he told fans.

Drake will be on tour with 21 Savage through early October, wrapping with two back-to-back dates in his hometown of Toronto. See the full schedule here.

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September 16, 2023

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UPDATED: Drake has postponed the release of

Entertaintment

‘Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person’ Review

The unkillable vampire legend gets one of its frequent cinematic resurrections (this Venice Film Festival alone boasted three more: “El Conde” in competition, “En Attendant la Nuit” in Horizons and “The Vourdalak” in Critics’ Week) with Québécois director Ariane Louis-Seize’s sweetly gothy Venice Days winner, a film wittily — if too comprehensively — described by its title: “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person.” The idea of a vampire who doesn’t want to kill is hardly without precedent. But Louis-Seize’s eager debut, intentionally or otherwise, plays to a relatively vamp-starved demographic, providing continuity to kids who have long outgrown the “Sesame Street” version, but are still a bit young for the emo lustiness of the “Twilight” franchise. It’s more fairy tale than scary tale.

It is, however, a fine showcase for the witchy charisma of star Sara Montpetit who, after playing the doom-fixated object of a first crush in Charlotte Le Bon’s terrific “Falcon Lake,” seems hellbent on cornering the market in gloomy Francophone teenagers navigating an entree into adulthood in which sex and death are intertwined. Only here as Sasha, the 62-year-old vampire who presents as a teenage girl, she is not only death-obsessed but actually undead, and has been, it is implied, since birth.

Sasha has always been different from her blithely bloodsucking kinfolk. On her birthday, little Sasha (Lilas-Rose Cantin) is being entertained by a party clown, only to quail when it becomes clear that the man in the wig and the red nose is there to be both dinner and a show. Some years later, Sasha (Montpetit) has never developed fangs and survives on the largesse of her doting father (Steve LaPlante) and less indulgent mother (Sophie Cadieux). They stock the fridge with baggies of blood drained from their kills, which Sara sucks down like Capri-Sun.

At night she mopes around Montreal, which is here a kind of Buffyverse where ordinary people are ostensibly unaware of the undead menace, but don’t seem terribly surprised when they encounter it. On one of these nocturnal recces, she sees Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard) perched on the roof of the bowling alley where he works, contemplating jumping. Paul is a troubled, sensitive high-schooler whose loving but distracted mother is unaware that he is the target of daily bullying. And though, this night, he decides to come down off the roof the long way, he has the look of someone postponing rather than cancelling. Sasha is intrigued. The next time she sees him, he sees her too, and is startled enough to run into a wall, drawing blood. Sasha feels her fangs break through her gums and flees.

Discovering that she’s now equipped to do her own murdering, her parents cut off her blood supply, sending Sasha to live with her cousin Denise (Noémie O’Farrell) a snarling redhead with as few qualms about killing as Sasha has kills. But the connection that Sasha and Paul have formed suggests a different, more mutually desirable way out — if only feelings don’t get in the way. When Sasha offers willing victim Paul a reprieve of one last night, to spend together avenging all the wrongs against him, it’s clear she’s looking for a way to postpone the deed. Because she like, like likes him.

Louis-Seize’s eye for style and Shawn Pavlin’s darkly fragrant cinematography lend a graphic-novel coolness to “Humanist Vampire,” especially in the tightly framed two-shots or the heroizing stances that Sasha is caught in, standing atop shipping containers with her bolt of silken hair twitching up at the tips like irritated-cat tails. But it is also slightly wasteful how Louis-Seize and co-writer Christine Doyon’s schematic screenplay takes a myth as rooted in kink as the vampire legend and scrupulously, chastely unkinks it, delivering little gore and a romance mostly confined to burning glances and hesitant hand-holding.

That’s not to suggest there is no moral iffiness here. There’s the oddly absolutist idea that because the first guy Sasha actually kills is a nasty fellow, the moral injunction against murdering him is lifted. And the notion of consent in the suicidal isn’t closely investigated either: there’s no discussion of whether a depressive mental state might render such “consent” dubious, not to mention all those potential suicides who should be helped in off the ledge, rather than shown a more convenient way to jump.

But “Humanist Vampire” doesn’t want us to think too deeply, and aims mostly to charm. Largely it succeeds, which is its own kind of critique in this post-“Titane” and “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night” era, when some viewers might expect provocation or transgression from their horror archetypes. “Humanist Vampire” is bad news for them, but as a good-natured, dark-tinged, teen-rom-com dressed up in a stylish Halloween costume, it’s good news for “Wednesday” fans, and any others who want Nosferatu to be more awww than aaaargh.

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September 16, 2023

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The unkillable vampire legend gets one of

Movies

13 Celebs Who've Been Accused Of Scabbing Or Criticizing The WGA And SAG-AFTRA Strikes (And How They've Responded)

Kim Kardashian, who’s set to star in the next season of American Horror Story, was called out for physically crossing the WGA picket line to get to set.

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September 16, 2023

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Kim Kardashian, who's set to star in

Russell Brand ‘Absolutely Refutes’ Sexual Assault Allegations

Russell Brand has been accused of “rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse” in a new report by The Sunday Times of London.

The joint investigation with Channel 4’s documentary team “Dispatches” published on Saturday afternoon in the U.K. “Dispatches” will air its 90-minute documentary on the allegations on Saturday evening on U.K. network Channel 4.

According to The Sunday Times, the British comedian, who originally found fame as a host on MTV U.K. before starring in Hollywood films such as “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek,” has been accused of sexual assault by four women between 2006 and 2013.

He was married to singer Katy Perry between 2010 and 2012.

The newspaper reported that one alleged victim said Brand assaulted her when she was 16 (he was then in his 30s) during a three-month “emotionally and sexually abusive” relationship that included one incident where he “forced his penis down her throat,” causing her to choke. In another incident she said he removed a condom during intercourse without her knowledge. The woman also said Brand nicknamed her “the child,” asked her to read passages from Vladimir Nabokov novel “Lolita” during their time together and once kissed her mother “on the mouth.”

Another alleged victim told the outlet she was raped by the comedian in his Los Angeles home in 2012 while a third, who was working with him in L.A., said he sexually assaulted her at his West Hollywood home in 2013 and threatened to take legal action if she ever spoke about the incident publicly.

The Sunday Times has anonymized the victims’ names.

Other allegations detailed in the report include:

A 24 year old runner claimed Brand once “flashed his penis” when she went into his dressing room and “insinuated that she could give him oral sex.”
Brand’s former personal assistant, Helen Berger, told the newspaper she witnessed Brand showing “intimate pictures of women” to his friends, including pictures of a woman she knew.
A female comedian said Brand would repeatedly “bite my face” whenever she saw him while a male comedian, Daniel Slott, told the newspaper he was aware his female counterparts had been “warning each other about Russell” for years.

Brand, who is due to perform a live show at the Wembley Park Theatre in London on Saturday evening, pre-emptively denied the allegations in a YouTube video titled “So, This Is Happening,” which he posted on Friday evening U.K. time. In the video Brand said he “absolutely refutes” the “litany of astonishing, rather baroque, attacks.”

“These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream media, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. And as I’ve written about extensively in my books I was very, very promiscuous. Now during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that then — almost too transparent — and I’m being transparent about it now as well.”

Brand has encountered a number of controversies during his career. In his numerous autobiographical works he has described how he was fired from his MTV hosting gig after coming to work the day after 9/11 dressed as Osama bin Laden and bringing his drug dealer to the studio. He has also written at length about his prolific drug use and sex life.

In 2002 Brand was reportedly sacked from U.K. radio station Xfm for reading pornographic material on air and in 2008 he was suspended and then resigned from his BBC Radio 2 show after he left voice mails for “Fawlty Towers” actor Andrew Sachs saying he’d had a sexual relationship with Sachs’ granddaughter.

In 2019, Brand appeared as a celebrity guest on a spin-off version of “The Great British Bake-Off” during which he cooked biscuits in the shape of his wife’s nether regions.

Over recent years, Brand has moved away from mainstream media and entertainment, instead reinventing himself as a “wellness guru” via direct-to-audience engagement through social media and live events, where he frequently attacks the media and political establishments. He has been accused of peddling conspiracy theories and COVID-19 misinformation.

Variety has reached out to Brand and his reps, past and present, for comment.

Read Brand’s full YouTube denial below:

This isn’t the usual type of video we make on this channel where we critique, attack and undermine the news in all its corruption, because in this story I am the news.

I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters — or a letter and an email — one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper, listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks as well as some pretty stupid stuff like my Community Festival should be stopped, that I shouldn’t be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel, but amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.

These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. And as I’ve written about extensively in my books I was very very promiscuous. Now during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual I was always transparent about that then — almost too transparent — and I’m being transparent about it now as well.

And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question is there another agenda at play, particularly when we’ve seen coordinated media attacks before like with Joe Rogan, when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn’t approve of and we saw a spate of headlines from media outlets across the world using the same language. I’m aware that you guys have been saying in the comments for a while ‘Watch out, Russell, they’re coming
for you, you’re getting too close to the truth. Russell Brand did not kill himself.’

I know that a year ago there was a spate of articles: ‘Russell Brand’s a conspiracy theorist,’ ‘Russell Brand’s right wing.’ I’m aware of news media making phone calls, sending letters to people I know, for ages and ages. It’s been clear to me — or at least it feels to me –like there’s a serious and concerted agenda to control these kind of spaces and these kind of voices and I mean my voice along with your voice.

I don’t mind them using my books and my stand up to talk about my promiscuous, consensual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations. Also it’s worth mentioning that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narrative that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct apparently in what seems to me to be a coordinated attack.

Now I don’t want to get into this any further because of the serious nature of the allegations but I feel like I’m being attacked and plainly they are working very closely together. We are obviously going to look into this matter because it’s very very serious. In the meantime I want you to stay close, stay awake, but more important than any of that if you can please stay free.

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September 16, 2023

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Russell Brand has been accused of “rape,

Previews Bring in $3.3 Million on Thursday, Film Kicks Off Weekend With $9.8 Million

DCU

DC’s Blue Beetle Gets Positive Debut Boost on Rotten Tomatoes

Summary

Blue Beetle is receiving positive reviews from critics, with an 86% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Critics praise the film’s colorful and crowd-pleasing nature, setting it apart from other contemporary superhero films.
The film captures and honors Latino culture, offering more than surface-level representation, according to one critic.

Blue Beetle is bugging out in the best possible way on Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, somewhere between the remnants of the DC Extended Universe’s old regime and James Gunn & Peter Safran’s DC Universe lies director Ángel Manuel Soto’s latest film offering. And even though there are only a handful of reviews from the critics available, Blue Beetle is starting positively on Rotten Tomatoes.

The superhero movie debuted on RT with an 85% Tomatometer rating, for its first reviews. Since Soto’s superhero adventure doesn’t begin its previews until Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. EDT, it’s far too soon for either the audience score or CinemaScore ratings to be available. However, there’s definitely a lot of praise being offered up by some of the top critics featured on RT. Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com wrote:

“This heartwarming, crowd-pleasing comic book flick is less serious and more colorful than the tonally dour mood of many contemporary superhero films.”

Movieweb’s own Julian Roman recently had the chance to review the movie, opening his appraisal with:

“The DC Universe gets a much-needed Latino infusion with a superhero origin story based on the importance of family. Blue Beetle breaks the comic book adaptation mold by giving a young Mexican protagonist the blockbuster popcorn cinema treatment. Xolo Maridueña lights up the screen with an endearing and awkward personality. He gets narrative help from a slew of busybody relatives who have his back when the going gets tough. This also works against the film, as one character in particular strays too goofy and annoying for my taste. That said, a winning combo of an encouraging lead, solid action scenes, and sharp visual effects deliver a fun summer ride.”

Reyes, aka the Blue Beetle, faces off against Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) in Soto’s first entry in the DC cinematic mythology. Gunn visited his friend Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of you Podcast back in June. And he confirmed where Soto’s Blue Beetle film stands, in terms of his DCU. “The first DCU character for sure is Blue Beetle,” Gunn told Rosenbaum. “And the first full DCU movie is Superman.” However, it doesn’t seem to matter to critics which universe the character is a part of.

Blue Beetle Debuts With an 86% Score on Rotten Tomatoes

Warner Bros. Pictures

The starting gun has been fired, and the critics are off and running with their Blue Beetle reviews. It’s very early on in the grand scheme of things, prior to the superhero film’s theatrical release, but the Xolo Maridueña-led flick is already faring far better than the other DC entry, The Flash, which opened back in June.

At the time of this writing, The Flash holds a 64% Tomatometer rating, courtesy of 370 reviews. But it’s not been all positive for The Flash’s competition, Blue Beetle, either. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times seems less enthused than some of the other top critics featured on Rotten Tomatoes. Roeper wrote:

“This is a mostly by-the-numbers origin story with underwhelming VFX, a disappointingly cartoonish villain and a final battle sequence and epilogue that follow the pattern of a dozen or more previous superhero origin stories.”

Yolanda Machado of Entertainment Weekly sided with the positive reviews, as opposed to Roeper. Machado said:

“Blue Beetle never loses sight of the community it seeks to honor, not once pandering nor offering surface-level representation of what it means to be Latino.”

Blue Beetle is currently tracking to make somewhere between $25 million and $30 million domestically over its opening weekend. Theoretically, and in almost any other summer than 2023, that would probably be good enough to take the No. 1 spot at the box office.

Interestingly enough, though, Barbie is forecast to bring in another $15 million to $20 million during its fifth weekend of release. And the two Warner Bros. movies may end up in a much closer race than previously expected, as they fight it out in cinemas. However, it’s most likely that Blue Beetle will finally be the one to dethrone Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster.

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September 16, 2023

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Summary Blue Beetle is receiving

Comics

Creator of The Wolf Among Us universe releases it to public domain

Bill Willingham, the creator of the comic book series Fables, says you now own his work, fully and for all time. Willingham has released his work, which served as the basis for Telltale Games’ The Wolf Among Us, to public domain — mostly because he can’t afford to sue DC Comics. In a lengthy post on his Substack page, the artist went pretty in depth in explaining his beef with the publisher. He said the people he negotiated with 20 years ago had already been replaced by people “of no measurable integrity, who now choose to interpret every facet of [their] contract in ways that only benefit DC Comics and its owner companies.”

Based on Willingham’s account of what happened, DC would routinely overlook his input on things like artists for covers or formatting for new collections. That’s pretty innocuous compared to his other allegations, though, including getting royalties late or DC under-reporting royalties so as not to pay him what he’s owed. But the artist said that the company recently went beyond these “mere annoyances” and tried to forcibly take Fables’ ownership from him.

He mentioned Telltale Games in particular, when he talked about how DC execs allegedly admitted that they believe they could do anything with the property. That’s including not protecting the integrity of its stories and characters from third parties — Telltale Games, in other words — that want to radically alter them. Further, he apparently gets no money from DC licensing his work to third parties.

While Willingham knows that he’s still bound by his contract with DC and cannot release anything Fables related without the company’s consent, he argued in his post that you’re not. “[Y]ou have the rights to make your Fables movies, and cartoons, and publish your Fables books, and manufacture your Fables toys, and do anything you want with your property, because it’s your property,” he said.

DC, however, has disagreed with Willingham and his interpretation of their contract and copyright law. “The Fables comic books and graphic novels published by DC, and the storylines, characters, and elements therein, are owned by DC and protected under the copyright laws of the United States and throughout the world in accordance with applicable law and are not in the public domain,” the company told CBR in a statement. “DC reserves all rights and will take such action as DC deems necessary or appropriate to protect its intellectual property rights.”

It’s unclear if this development will have any effect on Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us 2, which is scheduled for release in 2024. The game was supposed to be available this year, but the developer chose to push back its launch, because it needed time to switch from using Unreal Engine 4 to 5 and that involved changes to personnel and the development process.

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September 16, 2023

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Bill Willingham, the creator of the comic

Festivals

‘Mother, Couch’ Review: Ewan McGregor Takes a Beating in Surreal Drama

What happens when an immovable object meets a fatigued force that keeps whacking its head against said object in defeated frustration? That’s the question proposed by ’s debut feature, “Mother, Couch.” Executive produced by and starring the once-boyish, now often forlorn Ewan McGregor, the film follows David, a frumpy middle-aged family man whose mother (Ellen Burstyn) plants herself on an old couch in the storage room of a furniture outlet, flatly refusing to vacate the premises. Though Larsson builds from the increasingly existential dilemma in striking ways, “Mother, Couch” finds itself caught running in place before grasping for sentimentality in its final minutes.

The central kerfuffle kicks off as David surveys the far-flung outlet Bob’s Furniture, tagging along with his older brother, Gruffudd (Rhys Ifans). The dim swamp of a business lays out an absorbing, homely stage for the drama, with awkwardly arranged floor plans and dusty stacks of boxes matching the emotional clutter that David has accumulated by overexerting himself through decades of affirmation-seeking among his family. As the screws tighten on him, more relatives enter David’s orbit, who hope to help him resolve the situation but provide some unwelcome reminders of his own lifelong sense of alienation.

As with the ascending chords of Christopher Bear’s harsh, plinky score, Larsson directs “Mother, Couch” as an unforgiving climb, with David battered around by others until his will to hold things together reaches a breaking point. McGregor makes for a compelling punching bag, at first showing small but acute chinks in temperament until it all unspools at once in unattractive, soul-baring fashion. A grown-up haunted by childish insecurities, it’s a performance that recalls William H. Macy’s brooding prodigy-turned-loser in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia.”

Larsson also plays some fun musical chairs with a diverse cast of characters — though David’s wife (Lake Bell) and two kids mostly appear to be an afterthought for the film (as they are for David). Ifans’ affable but gruff demeanor demonstrates an essential kind-hearted nature that also seems to be ever so slightly inaccessible to David. Lara Flynn Boyle adds a rough edge as the eldest sibling, Linda, who smokes like a chimney and has long since abandoned feigning any semblance of affection for her mother.

But it’s Taylor Russell who emerges as the film’s sharpest barb. As Bella, the bright and conspicuously young daughter to the store’s owner (F. Murray Abraham), Russell brings an element unlike anything else in the film. She befuddles and then unsettles David, who interprets her candor as nymphishness and has no clue how to appropriately field it.

That Bella, the character most removed from the family squabble, is far and away the most destabilizing force in “Mother, Couch” foretells the script’s larger disinterest in exploring the complexities of its most weighted relationships. The film hums along as nearly every scene builds to some new defeat for David, small or large, but Burstyn’s looming ice queen remains too oversimplified an adversary. Her self-imposed crusade has an immediately obvious worst-case scenario ending that Larsson seems hellbent on arriving at. Though he constructs some unease, things are kept on a tight leash. The tension shows. The film seems afraid to attempt an actual shock factor and David’s failures register as less and less consequential.

After the saga of emasculation pushes David to the brink, “Mother, Couch” attempts a flagrant change of pace and fully tips into the surreal for its denouement. It’s a bold gesture, but one that seems like a retreat, prescribing a one-size-fits-all resolution for a series of promising dramatic arcs. Grandly unveiling the extent of its aesthetic ambitions, the film somehow becomes thinner. The characters have hardly been given opportunity to evolve beyond their first impressions. The determined, one-way dramatic escalation has built to a lot of dress-up for what is, functionally, a pat on the back.

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September 16, 2023

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What happens when an immovable object meets

Film

How to watch Hallmark’s latest romance film ‘A Very Venice Romance’

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 23: Stephanie Leonidas attends the red carpet event and world premiere of National Geographic Channel’s “Killing Jesus” at Alice Tully Hall on March 23, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for National Geographic Channel)

Looking for a romantic getaway film to kick off the fall weather? You’ll want to add one of Hallmark’s latest releases, A Very Venice Romance to your list!

The TV movie stars Stephanie Leonidas (Defiance, Snatch) and Raniero Monaco Di Lapio as Amy and Chef Marcello respectively. Amy is a New York City executive who has been trying to launch health-forward deliverable meal prep kits with supplements. Doing research, she finds, Italian Chef Marcello. Initially, Marcello declines to hear Amy’s offer, so she travels to Venice, Italy to make her case in person. While there, she meets an assortment of charming and quirky tourists as they learn to cook and travel the island. Marcello shows Amy the slow-paced pleasures of Italy and shows her how the kits can be healthy by using fresh ingredients, not supplements. Amy’s boss isn’t convinced, and Amy risks losing her job if she doesn’t stay on-brand. Will Amy follow her instincts and heart, or will she stay quiet to keep her job?” A Very Venice Romance is a part of the network’s annual “Fall into Love” programming event. If you want to know more about when and where you can watch A Very Venice Romance, read on to find out!

How to watch Hallmark’s latest film ‘A Very Venice Romance’

If you’re wondering how you can watch Philo channels of shows, movies, and more, Fubo, Sling (try today), and DIRECTV Stream. Hallmark Movies Now will be the streaming home of the film so be sure to stay subscribed so you can watch A Very Venice Romance when it premieres. Of course, you can also watch the movie when it premieres on the cable television channel, The Hallmark Channel!

See the promo for the Fall Into Love programming event below on Hallmark’s official YouTube channel:

On the Hallmark Channel, you can watch A Very Venice Romance on Sept. 30 at 8/7c. You can stream the movie Hallmark Movies Now with a subscription! Keep up to date with Culturess for more Hallmark programming news and coverage.

Published on 09/16/2023 at 10:00 AM EDT
Last updated on 09/16/2023 at 10:00 AM EDT

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September 16, 2023

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NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 23: Stephanie

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September 16, 2023

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How ‘Yellowstone’ on CBS Will Look DifferentUp

The Wonder Years TV show ABC: season 2 ratings

What to Watch

The Wonder Years: Season Two Ratings – canceled + renewed TV shows

Published: September 16, 2023

ABC’s current incarnation of The Wonder Years debuted in Fall 2021, and the first season performed pretty well. Likely because the network had more shows than timeslots, season two was held back until this summer. As a result, there’s been a year gap between seasons. Has Wonder Years’ audience forgotten about it or, are the viewers out enjoying the summer weather instead of watching television? Will the comedy be cancelled or renewed for season three? Stay tuned. *Status Update Below.

A coming-of-age comedy series, The Wonder Years TV show was inspired by the original 1988 series. This incarnation stars Don Cheadle, Elisha “EJ” Williams, Dule Hill, Saycon Sengbloh, Laura Kariuki, Julian Lerner, Amari O’Neil, and Milan Ray. Guests in season two include Patti LaBelle, Wayne Brady, Tituss Burgess, Donald Faison, Phoebe Robinson, and Bradley Whitford. Set in the late 1960s, the series takes a nostalgic look at the Williams family — Black middle-class residents of Montgomery, Alabama. The story is told through the point of view of Dean (Williams), the imaginative 12-year-old son of Bill (Hill) and Lillian Williams (Sengbloh), and the younger brother of Kim (Kariuki). Dean’s friends include Cory (O’Neil), Brad (Lerner), and Keisa (Ray), Dean’s secret crush. Dean narrates the story, looking back at his childhood as an adult (Cheadle). His hopeful and humorous recollections of his past spotlight the ups and downs of growing up in that time and place and the friendship, laughter, and lessons Dean encountered along the way..

The ratings are typically the best indication of a show’s chances of staying on the air. The higher the ratings, the better the chances of survival. This chart will be updated as new ratings data becomes available.

8/17 update: You can see the latest night’s ratings in context.

Note: If you’re not seeing the updated chart, please try reloading the page or view it here.

For comparisons: Season one of The Wonder Years on ABC averaged a 0.42 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 2.36 million viewers.

Note: These are the final national ratings, including all live+same day viewing and DVR playback (through 3:00 AM). Early fast affiliate ratings (estimates) are indicated with an “*”. While these numbers don’t include further delayed or streaming viewing, they are a very good indicator of how a show is performing, especially when compared to others on the same channel. There can be other economic factors involved in a show’s fate, but typically the higher-rated series are renewed and the lower-rated ones are cancelled.

*9/16/23 update: The Wonder Years has been canceled after two seasons.

What do you think? Do you like The Wonder Years TV series on ABC? Should it be cancelled or renewed for a third season?

Check out our ABC status sheet to track the alphabet network’s new series pickups, renewals, and cancellations. You can find lists of cancelled shows here.

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September 16, 2023

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Published: September 16, 2023ABC’s current incarnation of

Awards

TV’s Weirdest Hit? Look No Further – IndieWire

[Editor’s Note: The following review contains light spoilers for “The Wheel of Time” Season 2.]

If you’ll spare a weary critic a moment of vulnerability, I must admit: I do not understand “The Wheel of Time.” Not enough, anyway, though not for lack of trying. I’ve now seen the first season of Amazon Prime Video’s fantasy adaptation twice. I’ve read the Wiki pages as well as reviews from my fellow critics. I’ve screened the available Season 2 episodes, while poking around in recaps and social media reactions. The books remain unopened (since, in addition to time constraints, I don’t believe you should have to consume every version of a story to appreciate one telling of it), but I’ve gone over their synopses and summaries, so I feel I’ve done my due diligence. I have given “The Wheel of Time” a spin, a fair shake, and a hard look.

Nevertheless, I don’t get whatever is going on here. In Season 2, Mom and Dad are fighting, but I can’t quite pinpoint how Lan (Daniel Henney) “failed” Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), or if it’s just a limp excuse for added drama. The Dragon Reborn (who’s almost certainly not the Dragon Reborn, right?) is still in hiding, but he’s happily banging an innkeeper (who’s definitely not an innkeeper) to keep him from thinking about his one true love, Egwene (Madeleine Madden), who he’s decided to never see again but desperately wants to remember? Speaking of Egwene, she’s in training at the White Tower with Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), which is a perfect opportunity to explain how the magic in “Wheel of Time” actually works, and yet the Aes Sedai’s abilities remain conveniently fluid and frustratingly opaque. (They can conjure water out of the walls and air, so is that why Moiraine takes so many baths? Because they’re always available?)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 26: Drew Barrymore attends the 2023 Time100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 26, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Then there’s Mat (Barney Harris in Season 1), who goes through an unacknowledged physical transformation that no one’s going to mention? OK, OK, I know how recasting works (Dònal Finn takes over the role in Season 2), but that it’s entirely believable for a character to shapeshift only furthers my point: The rules in “The Wheel of Time” are very loosely defined, whether emotional or practical, and both are beyond a casual viewer’s comprehension.

That could be a problem, because Prime Video has a bonafide hit on its hands. When “Wheel of Time” premiered in November 2021, its first three episodes netted 1.16 billion minutes of viewing time — in its first week. That was Amazon’s best Nielsen performance to date and compares well with the streamer’s next fantasy epic, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” which pulled in 1.25 billion minutes in its debut. (Both were surpassed by “Reacher,” but that’s another story.) “Lord of the Rings” went on to tally 7.52 billion minutes across its seven-week run, while “The Wheel of Time” tallied around 4.5 billion minutes in its own seven-week span. That’s a significant difference, but an expected one: “The Lord of the Rings” is a proven franchise in Hollywood, thanks to the beloved blockbuster film series, whereas “The Wheel of Time” is just getting started.

Also worth noting in all those streaming numbers: “The Wheel of Time” barely lost any audience at all in the week after its finale. Typically, shows with a weekly release see a sizable drop-off once the last episode is released, but “Wheel of Time” only lost 1 percent of its finale-week views. Comparatively, the heavily hyped “Lord of the Rings” saw a post-finale dip of 50 percent. There are a few ways to interpret the data — for instance, given its popularity, “Lord of the Rings,” fans may have watched the ending as soon as possible to avoid being spoiled — but one could also argue “The Wheel of Time” was steadily growing its audience. Good word-of-mouth draws new viewers throughout the Season 1 rollout, which would help explain the near-identical post-finale viewership.

For a series debut — even decades-old I.P. with an established fanbase — that’s an impressive first season. But if good word-of-mouth can propel a series forward, what happens if the second season disappoints? “The Wheel of Time” Season 2 premiered September 1, so no viewership data is available yet. (Nielsen ratings for streaming originals are released on a three-week delay.) It’s hard to spot, let alone verify, any emerging rancor among the fandom. Reviews remain mixed, though there are far fewer for Season 2 than there were for Season 1 (a common occurrence when a show isn’t a critical favorite, or simply doesn’t demand continued coverage beyond fan sites).

Wheel of Time Season 2 Madeleine Madden (Egwene al'Vere), Zoë Robins (Nynaeve al'Meara), Ceara Coveney (Elayne Trakand) — “The Wheel of Time”Courtesy of Jan Thijs/Prime Video

Still, while I may not understand everything about “The Wheel of Time,” I can spot benchmarks of a Season 2 slump without any help from the One Power. The once-united ensemble has been scattered to the wind. Fan-favorite pairings are being kept apart — be it Moiraine and Lan, Lan and Nynaeve, Rand and Egwene, Rand and Mat, the list goes on — as each member of the original cast is asked to help introduce new characters needed to expand the story. Some of the newbies are welcome enough (it’s great to see more of Kae Alexander’s Min, a clairvoyant bartender who’s now Mat’s keeper), but too many others are too shallow to explain their screentime. It takes way too long for Selene’s (Natasha O’Keeffe) true purpose to be revealed, and Elayne (Ceara Coveney) feels like a sounding board meant to keep Egwene busy until her plot is ready to start rolling.

Speaking of plots, I cannot believe how long they’ve drawn out Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) and his identity as a “Wolfbrother.” Remember when his eyes turned yellow, like a wolf’s, when he was being tortured? Remember when he had a special connection with the wolves outside? Yeah, that was in Episode 5 of the first season — and he’s only now asking questions like, “Am I going to turn into a wolf?” (Also, I’m sorry, but this show has not earned the right to laugh off a bizarre question like that, not when Season 2 starts with a little girl petting a Trolloc.)

Early on, one of “The Wheel of Time’s” strongest traits was its willingness to embrace an episodic structure while plowing ahead with its story. Change happened fast. Decisions had to be made in a hurry. Despite all the necessary exposition about who people are, what powers they have, and where they need to go, episodes worked to fit it all into traceable narratives (the episode with the fake Dragon Reborn, the episode where Moiraine is on trial, etc.) Season 1 felt like it was moving. Season 2 feels like someone jammed a stick in its spokes.

For readers, it probably doesn’t feel so static. Knowing what it means for this character to pop up or for that action to take place can be comforting; you already know the story and can thus recognize how the TV show is choosing to tell it. Genre fans, who love learning the language, admiring the world-building, and spending time in a lavishly realized fantasy realm may also be perfectly happy with how Season 2 is taking shape. “The Wheel of Time” offers all of that and then some — and that’s great! Not every show has to be for everyone! This “Wheel” could run for seven seasons and never get a spinoff or sequel or prequel, and those who’ve been behind it since the beginning would likely be satisfied.

It’s just… that’s not really how TV works anymore. “The Wheel of Time” appears to be a sizable hit, and while it’s not Prime Video’s top priority — the company has invested far more in “Lord of the Rings” — hits tend to become tentpoles, so long as the audience continues to grow. And grow it should. It should just also try to improve. Given the flashes of potential onscreen and what’s still to be mined in the original source material, there’s a version of this show that can do right by die-hard fans and curious newcomers. But for that to happen, I’d contend casual viewers need to like what they see. Or, at least, understand it.

Not all shows have to make sense. Plenty get along just fine living in chaos. “The Witcher” is pure chaos, yet Henry Cavill provided enough grand brooding to make three seasons of monster-hunting worth sitting through. Then there’s chaos generators like “The Morning Show” and “And Just Like That,” which are meant to share a reality with their viewers, yet characters and actions often feel relegated to a bizarro universe lacking rational thought and common sense. What matters, though, is when the inexplicable happens, it’s half-infuriating, half-astonishing, and fully captivating. Carrie Bradshaw wants to date an ex-boyfriend who refuses to step foot in her home? Seems like a terrible idea, but sure, let’s see how it plays out! Reese Witherspoon– whoops, sorry, Bradley Jackson (played by Reese Witherspoon) was inside the Capitol on January 6? I mean, sounds a little convenient, but I’ll go along with it. Both shows lean into batshit insanity for the sake of good old-fashioned entertainment, teasing juicy drama or ludicrous twists that can be satisfying when a bit of fun is all you’re looking for.

The Wheel of Time Season 2 Perrin Aybara actor Marcus Rutherford — Marcus Rutherford in “The Wheel of Time”Courtesy of Jan Thijs / Prime Video

“The Wheel of Time” isn’t leaning in; it’s reaching out — outside the bounds of narrative cohesion, into a place that feels too loosey goosey to keep up with. Go nuts. Raise a little hell. Get back to the friendship and fighting that gave Season 1 a boost. Why? For the sake of the story, of course, but also because if too many viewers tune out in Season 2, Amazon risks losing a pillar of its original programming. “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is far from the streamer’s only long-term franchise. “The Boys” has long been a hit, and its spin-offs — even in one-and-done efforts — make it clear the superhero satire can sustain more stories. “The Terminal List” is anything but D.O.A., as a second season of the Chris Pratt action series has been renewed, along with a spin-off starring Taylor Kitsch. “Citadel” is a thing, apparently, while “Reacher” — Prime Video’s most-watched first season to date — certainly won’t end anytime soon.

But outside of “The Boys,” none of these programs have proven they can copy their initial success. Prime Video (along with the rest of television) wants franchises, and “The Wheel of Time” is begging to be exactly that. Robert Jordan’s book series ran for 14 volumes — 14! And that’s not including a prequel and two companion novels. If Amazon can make two shows out of “watch Chris Pratt kill people” then how many should it be able to engineer from a massive ensemble, an entire fantasy world, and more than 4.4 million words of source material?

The answer is “a lot,” but before an exact figure can be pinned down, “The Wheel of Time” has to build demand. Despite what executives would have you believe, franchises can’t exist without demand, and demand typically doesn’t just spring up out of nowhere. (“Citadel” and its pre-planned franchise — built from nothing more than the Russo Brothers’ names and two words of plot: “super-spies” — aims to be the exception to that rule.) Fandoms have their own guiding principles, and there are undoubtedly many, many fans of Jordan’s books who tune in just to see how his stories will be realized onscreen.

But as a critic — no, as a massive fan of television, I have a hard time seeing how “The Wheel of Time” can roll out decades of storytelling modeled after what we’re seeing this year. Hit shows typically aren’t this hard to track, and even when they are, there are clear, immediate reasons people are willing to put in the work. (Reasons like, “I love ‘Sex and the City’ too much to let go,” or “Damn, they cast Jon Hamm in this now?”) I’ll be more than happy to be proven wrong — again, I do not pretend to understand the widespread appeal or narrative intricacies of this show — but it sure seems like this “Wheel” needs to offer a smoother ride.

Grade: C-

“The Wheel of Time” is available on Amazon Prime Video. The Season 2 finale will be released October 6.

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September 16, 2023

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[Editor’s Note: The following review contains light

Music

“Your Kiss” | Pitchfork

“You’ll go, and I’ll get swallowed/By someone else’s spit,” goes the roiling refrain of Ian Sweet’s 2018 song “Spit,” a bristling lo-fi rock track in which Jilian Medford was in knots over the future. In contrast “Your Spit,” the lead single of her upcoming album Sucker, tries not to sweat what’s next. Over a blissed-out, blown-out guitar riff, Medford captures the glow of sharing a moment with someone you like like. “Make me believe it/Kiss me like you’re leaving,” she sings. The song doesn’t quite have the juice to soundtrack a truly monumental romance. But after the intense yearning of Medford’s magnificent 2021 full-length, it’s fun to see her revel in just making out. Medford has written often about losing, then longing for, real intimacy. “Your Spit” takes a lighter approach: Why not sing into your hairbrush about it while you can?

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September 16, 2023

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“You'll go, and I'll get swallowed/By someone

Docs

Andrea Riseborough, Domhnall Gleeson in ‘Alice & Jack’ First-Look Clip

Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson play a quirky couple in upcoming drama series “Alice & Jack,” which world premieres on Saturday night at Toronto Film Festival in its Primetime section.

According to the show’s official synopsis, “When Alice (Riseborough) and Jack (Gleeson) first meet, they’re bound by a connection so powerful it seems nothing can break it, but will their path lead them to a place of happiness and togetherness? Or will life and their own emotional complexities get in the way? Honest, intimate and surprisingly funny, the series shows love in all its unexpected, technicolor, kaleidoscopic beauty.”

Viewers can get a taste of Riseborough and Gleeson’s chemistry in a first-look clip above, in which Jack tells Alice, “I’ll call you,” to which she replies, “Thank you, but if it’s OK with you I’d rather you didn’t.” “I’ll text you?” Jack offers, before the two share an emotional kiss.

“We unite in yearning to see evidence of real love, and, too, are soothed to share with one another the ache of its inevitable imperfection,” Riseborough said of “Alice & Jack” in a statement. “This story is for anyone who could or couldn’t make the sacrifice that love demanded, for anyone who battles and accepts the one who makes their soul soar, for anyone who longs to feel, who has felt, and who feels the tingling anticipation of love’s joy.”

Gleeson added, “The only work I’ve wanted to watch and do since the pandemic is work about connection and love, and work with a sense of humor. Alice and Jack keep coming back to each other because they can’t help themselves — they find in each other something that they don’t have on their own. I think they’re soulmates, I think it’s bigger than just the two of them. Their story centers on connection and love in the most beautiful way and reminds us that we are always allowed to smile — even if it’s through the tears.”

Created and written by Golden Globe and Cannes Bronze Lion winner Victor Levin (“Mad About You,” “Mad Men”), “Alice & Jack” also stars Aisling Bea, Aimee Lou Wood and Sunil Patel. The series is directed by Cannes Grand Prix winner Juho Kuosmanen (“Compartment No. 6”) and Sundance prizewinner Hong Khaou (“Monsoon”). “Alice & Jack” is produced by Fremantle, Me + You Productions, Groundswell Productions and De Maio Entertainment in collaboration with Channel 4.

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September 16, 2023

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Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson play a

TikTok Shop, Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China, on September 13, 2023. (Photo credit should read CFOTO—Future Publishing/Getty Images)

Global

TikTok Plans Holiday Discounts, Bringing Amazon Price War

TikTok Plans Holiday Discounts, Bringing Amazon Price War | Time

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September 16, 2023

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Newfest Reveals Full Lineup For The New York LGBTQ Film Festival’s 35th Anniversary – Deadline

NewFest has announced its full lineup for the 35th milestone anniversary year of its annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival. The announcement was made today by NewFest’s Executive Director David Hatkoff and Director of Programming Nick McCarthy.

The 2023 special 35th anniversary edition of NewFest’s flagship festival will remain hybrid and take place from October 12 – 22 in theaters within New York, and virtually throughout the United States on NewFest’s on-demand platform through October 24. The festival’s in-person premieres will take place in Manhattan at SVA Theatre and The LGBT Community Center, and in Brooklyn at Nitehawk Prospect Park and The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).

“Sharing LGBTQ+ stories in a space designed specifically for queer audiences is, in a word, magical,” said Executive Director David Hatkoff. “For 35 years – starting at the height of the AIDS crisis and continuing through today’s essential fight for trans rights – NewFest has provided a safe and joyful environment for the queer community to see themselves on screen. During this year’s thrilling anniversary edition of the festival, we will reflect on our legacy, assess the current moment with clear and lovingly critical eyes, and gaze toward the future of our community and art form, confident in the knowledge that visibility, authentic representation, and connection will continue to change and save lives for a long time to come.”

“This year’s momentous lineup propels NewFest’s ongoing mission to celebrate cinema and our community on a local and global scale,” said Director of Programming Nick McCarthy. “We’re excited to amplify a range of audacious debut work alongside award-winners from venerable international festivals, from social justice docs to prestige films. Each film in our vibrant program exists in dialogue with one another, and we can’t wait to connect an expanse of artists in conversation – whether pioneers of New Queer Cinema or emerging new filmmakers, to paint a fuller portrait of our community. Our slate proves our identities can’t be boxed in, as they are strands within the fabric of everyday life and humanity. We invite all to fill our venues with electric energy as we reaffirm that queer cinema and our stories are not just the past and present — they’re the future.”

As announced last week, the 35th Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival will launch on October 12th with the New York City premiere of DGA Award-winning director George C. Wolfe’s film RUSTIN, starring Emmy Award-winner Colman Domingo in the lead role, alongside Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Aml Ameen, Jeffrey Wright, Audra McDonald, CCH Pounder and more. The film’s score was composed by 3-time Grammy-winning saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and music historian Branford Marsalis. Multiple Grammy Award winner Lenny Kravitz also contributed an original song, “Road To Freedom.”

The festival will close with the highly acclaimed romantic drama ALL OF US STRANGERS, from Andrew Haigh (director of the beloved queer film WEEKEND, which was the Narrative Centerpiece at the 23rd edition of NewFest in 2011), starring Emmy Award nominee Andrew Scott (1917, “Fleabag”), Academy Award® and Emmy Award nominee Paul Mescal (AFTERSUN, THE LOST DAUGHTER), BAFTA Award-winner Jamie Bell (FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL, BILLY ELLIOT), and Emmy Award-winner Claire Foy (WOMEN TALKING, “The Crown”).

The festival’s announcement today reveals three highly anticipated Centerpiece titles. The U.S. Centerpiece film will be the New York City premiere of NYAD from Oscar-winning directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, which stars Annette Bening, Jodie Foster and Rhys Ifans and tells the remarkable true story of athlete Diana Nyad who, at the age of 60 and with the help of her best friend and coach, commits to achieving her life-long dream: a 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida. Netflix will release the film in select theaters on October 20th and on Netflix November 3.

The festival’s International Centerpiece film will be the New York City premiere of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s MONSTER, a nuanced multi-perspective drama set in Japan about the mystery surrounding a puzzling incident at an elementary school, which received Best Screenplay and the Queer Palm at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

NewFest35’s Documentary Centerpiece will be the World Premiere of the long-awaited BEYOND THE AGGRESSIVES: 25 YEARS LATER. Five years in the making, this powerful documentary follow-up to 2005’s groundbreaking THE AGGRESSIVES revisits the lives of four queer masculine-presenting BIPOC folks as they challenge conceptions of gender identity while navigating life’s hardships and triumphs. In addition to hosting the World Premiere of BEYOND THE AGGRESSIVES: 25 YEARS LATER, which follows in the tradition of Michael Apted’s pioneering UP anthology series, the festival will also screen the original groundbreaking doc THE AGGRESSIVES (2005) earlier in the festival to celebrate the ongoing legacy of the film, which had its New York premiere at NewFest in 2005 and was recently featured within The Criterion Channel “Masc” series.

As previously announced, the festival’s New York Centerpiece film will be the World Premiere of Emma Fidel’s QUEEN OF NEW YORK, an inspiring documentary that follows activist and drag queen Marti Cummings’ historic campaign to be the first non-binary candidate elected to New York City Council.

For its 2023 edition, the festival is proud to present legendary filmmaker Todd Haynes with the NewFest Queer Visionary Award at the festival on October 19, followed by a special screening of Haynes’ upcoming film MAY DECEMBER, a deliciously witty film about an actress (Natalie Portman) who heads to Savannah, Georgia to research a part for a new film about a married couple’s past (Julianne Moore, Charles Melton). The film had its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year, and Netflix will release the film in select theaters on November 17.

Narrative highlights from the 2023 festival lineup include the New York premiere of NATIONAL ANTHEM, by director Luke Gilford starring Charlie Plummer, Eve Lindley, Mason Alexander Park and Robyn Lively, about a young man from the New Mexico plains who joins a utopian community of queer ranchers and rodeo performers; the New York City premiere of director William Oldroyd’s adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh’s acclaimed novel EILEEN, following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, about Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie), a disillusioned secretary working at a juvenile prison whose world is transformed by the arrival of Rebecca (Anne Hathaway), a new counselor from Cambridge; and the North American premiere – following its World Premiere in Locarno – of writer-director Mauricio Calderón Rico’ ALL THE FIRES about a pyromaniac teen who runs away from home in search of a girl he met online who helps him confront his grief and burgeoning sexual identity.

Additional narrative highlights include the New York premiere of acclaimed filmmaker Goran Stolevski’s HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS, a Focus Features title coming to NewFest fresh from its world premiere at Venice where it won the Queer Lion, about a queer woman who cares for her girlfriend’s kids and a group of outcasts, forging an unconventional family that must fight to stay together; the New York City premiere of Erica Tremblay’s Sundance Institute-supported indigenous narrative FANCY DANCE, starring Lily Gladstone (soon to be seen in Martin Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON) as an indigenous woman who journeys with her niece from an Oklahoma reservation across the heartland to find a missing family member in time for an important powwow; the New York premiere of Babatunde Apalowo’s Berlinale Teddy Award-winning film ALL THE COLOURS IN THE WORLD ARE BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE, about two men who fall tentatively in love amid societal taboos in Lagos, Nigeria; the New York Premiere of Hannah Pearl Utt’s wry comedy CORA BORA, led by breakout star Megan Stalter as a messy millenial musician; and fresh from TIFF, the New York City premiere of director Janis Pugh’s star-crossed romance musical CHUCK CHUCK BABY about two working-class women (Louise Brealey, “Sherlock” and Annabel Scholey, “Being Human”) who learn to live life to the fullest after reuniting at a chicken factory in industrial North Wales.

NewFest’s documentary program highlights include Special Jury Prize and Teddy Award winner at the Berlinale, ORLANDO, MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY by trans activist, writer, and director Paul B. Preciado who brings Virginia Woolf’s Orlando to life with an ensemble of all-trans and gender non-conforming performers, fresh off buzzy screenings at Telluride, TIFF and soon to be at NYFF; MOTHER SAIGON, Khoa Lê’s intimate peek into a mosaic of LGBTQ+ lives in Saigon, a city as liberating as it is oppressive; the New York Premiere of TRUTH BE TOLD by Emmy Award® winner and NewFest alumna Nneka Onuorah (NewFest27 Audience Award winner, THE SAME DIFFERENCE), which is a call of faith and resilience in the fight for safe LGBTQIA+ spaces within the Black church; as well as jury and audience award-winning films from distinguished international festivals such as Sundance (GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT), Berlinale (HUMMINGBIRDS), IDFA (BLUE ID), CPH:DOX (QUEENDOM), and Venice (ANHELL69).

The series titles being shown at the festival include the highly anticipated SHOWTIME limited series “Fellow Travellers”, an epic love story and political thriller chronicling the clandestine romance of two men who meet in McCarthy-era Washington. Created by Oscar nominee Ron Nyswaner (“Philadelphia”, “Homeland”). NewFest will screen the first episode of “Fellow Travellers”, which is based on the novel by Thomas Mallon and stars Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey. The festival will also offer an advance screening of Season 2 (Episodes 6 & 7) of Max’s “Our Flag Means Death”, the comedy series based (very) loosely on the true adventures of 18th century would-be pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), from creator-showrunner David Jenkins, Emmy®-nominated executive producer and star Taika Waititi, and Emmy®-nominated executive producer Garrett Basch.

NewFest35’s legacy programming features the New York premieres of two exciting new 4K restorations of films that screened in NewFest past: YOUNG SOUL REBELS and CHOCOLATE BABIES. Iconic New Queer Cinema director Isaac Julien’s queer 1991 classic YOUNG SOUL REBELS, weaves an improbable romance set to a pulsating soundtrack featuring X-Ray Spex, Parliament, The Heptones, and Sylvester, between two underground DJs who seek community and romance in 1970s London. Stephen Winter’s wild guerilla 1997 satire, CHOCOLATE BABIES, centers a collective of queer, self-described “raging, atheist, meat-eating, HIV-positive, colored terrorists,” who fight back against conservative politicians on the streets of NYC. And to commemorate the life of Urvashi Vaid and the LGBTQ+ community’s ongoing fight for justice, NewFest will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation with a screening of JEB (Joan E. Biren)’s 1993 documentary A SIMPLE MATTER OF JUSTICE that features footage from the march’s more than one million participants, activists, organizers, and celebrities.

The festival’s 35th edition will screen a total of 132 films from 26 countries. The lineup includes 25 narrative features, 15 documentary features, 5 legacy retrospective features, 7 episodic series, and 12 shorts programs including the annual New Voices Filmmaker Grant showcase. For the 2023 edition of the festival, 56% of films are directed by Women, Non-Binary, Trans, and Two-Spirit Filmmakers, and 71% of the lineup is by and about underrepresented voices in the queer community (Women, People of Color, Trans, Non-Binary, Indigenous, Bi and Disabled).

All-access virtual and in-person passes are on sale now at www.newfest.org. In-person and virtual individual tickets for films go on sale to the general public today at 12PM EST. For more information, to purchase tickets/passes, or to become a member, go to www.newfest.org.

NewFest’s 2023 edition of The New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival is supported by Signature Sponsor Warner Bros. Discovery; Premier Sponsor Gilead Sciences, Inc.; Official Sponsors Amida Care, Grey Goose Vodka, Hurtigruten Norway, Jack’d, JPMorgan Chase & Co., MUBI, New York Film Academy, and Paramount; Supporting Sponsors Comcast NBCUniversal, The Consulate General of Canada in New York, The Ron Lense Team at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, Mount Sinai’s Institute for Advanced Medicine; Industry Partner Wolfe Video; Contributing Partners Allagash Brewing Company and T. Edward Wines & Spirits; and Government Sponsors NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council of the Arts, NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. Media Sponsors include Deadline, EDGE Media, Equal Pride, Gay City News, The Hollywood Reporter, and Queerty.

The full 2023 lineup selections are as follows:

OPENING NIGHT FILM & PARTY
Thursday, October 12th at 7pm (SVA Theatre)

RUSTIN, directed by George C. Wolfe. (USA)
Star-studded biopic shines a long-overdue spotlight on Bayard Rustin, the extraordinary activist and organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. New York City Premiere.

CLOSING NIGHT FILM & PARTY
Sunday, October 22th at 7pm (SVA Theatre)

ALL OF US STRANGERS, directed by Andrew Haigh. (UK)
A solitary writer discovers that his dearly departed parents have reappeared at his suburban childhood home.

U.S. CENTERPIECE SCREENING
Sunday, October 15th at 7pm (SVA Theatre)

NYAD, directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (USA).

A remarkable true story of tenacity, friendship, and the triumph of the human spirit, recounting a riveting chapter in the life of world-class athlete Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) who was supported by her best friend and coach Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster). New York City Premiere.

INTERNATIONAL CENTERPIECE SCREENING
Saturday, October 21st at 6pm (SVA Theatre)

MONSTER, directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu (Japan).

When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, Saori begins to unravel a puzzling mystery in this multi-perspective Cannes award winner from celebrated filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-ada, featuring the final score by the late legendary composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. New York City Premiere.

DOCUMENTARY CENTERPIECE SCREENING
Wednesday, October 18th at 7pm (SVA Theatre)

BEYOND THE AGGRESSIVES: 25 YEARS LATER, directed by Daniel Peddle (USA).

Four queer, masc-presenting BIPOC protagonists reunite after 20 years in this follow-up to the groundbreaking 2005 documentary. World Premiere.

NEW YORK CENTERPIECE SCREENING
Monday, October 16th at 7:30pm (SVA Theatre)

QUEEN OF NEW YORK, directed by Emma Fidel. (USA)

Follow nonbinary drag artist Marti Cummings in their groundbreaking run for New York City Council. World Premiere.

SPECIAL EVENTS + ADVANCE SCREENINGS

NewFest35 Queer Visionary Award (Todd Haynes) + screening of MAY DECEMBER

Thursday, October 19th at 7:30pm (SVA Theatre)
Prior to the special screening of MAY DECEMBER, NewFest will host Academy Award® nominated director Todd Haynes in a conversation and present him with the NewFest35 Queer Visionary Award. NewFest will be honoring Haynes for his legacy and contributions to cinema — from New Queer Cinema and beyond, including his canonical directorial achievements such as POISON, VELVET GOLDMINE, FAR FROM HEAVEN, and CAROL (NewFest27’s Centerpiece Film).

2023 New Voices Filmmaker Grant Showcase
Tuesday, October 17th at 7:30pm (Nitehawk Cinema – Prospect Park)

Celebrate the four recipients of the 2023 New Voices Filmmaker Grant, a program NewFest launched last year in partnership with Netflix as part of the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, with a screening of their recent short films and exciting works-in-progress. Join us as we share the auspicious work from 2023 grantees Terrance Daye, Drew de Pinto, Emily May Jampel, and LaQuan Lewis, and hear what’s to come in their future projects and emerging careers.

3rd Annual Film Feast: GODS AND MONSTERS, directed by Bill Condon (USA).
Wednesday, October 18th at 6:45pm (Nitehawk Cinema – Prospect Park)

Join NewFest at Nitehawk Cinema Prospect Park for our third-annual Film Feast and enjoy a contemporary classic paired with a themed, multi-course meal. Don’t miss this chance to sip and dine along to this delirious, delicious melodrama — winner of the 1998 Academy Award® for Best Adapted Screenplay — in its 25th-anniversary year.

FELLOW TRAVELERS, directed by Daniel Minahan (USA).
Saturday, October 21st at 8:45pm (SVA Theatre)

Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey star as two men who begin a clandestine romance in McCarthy-era Washington. In partnership with Showtime/Paramount Plus. Written for Television by Ron Nyswaner. Advance Screening.

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH: Season 2 (USA).
Monday, October 16th at 7:30pm (Nitehawk Cinema – Prospect Park)

Season 2: Episodes 6 & 7 of the hit Max Original comedy series based (very) loosely on the true adventures of 18th century would-be pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and starring Taika Waititi as Captain Blackbeard. Season two is executive produced by Academy Award® winner Taika Waititi, alongside creator-showrunner David Jenkins. Garrett Basch, Dan Halsted, Adam Stein, and Antoine Douaihy also serve as executive producers. Season two was filmed in Auckland, New Zealand. In partnership with Max. Advance Screening. Advance Screening.

LEGACY SCREENINGS
THE AGGRESSIVES (2005), directed by Daniel Peddle (USA).
Sunday, October 15th at 4pm (Brooklyn Academy of Music – BAM)

Filmed over the late ’90s and early 2000s, this observational doc provides an intimate look at masc-presenting QTBIPOC New Yorkers who are defying societal norms and embracing their inner selves in an outward statement of visibility. Initially screened at NewFest in 2005.

CHOCOLATE BABIES (1996): 4K Restoration, directed by Stephen Winter (USA).
Tuesday, October 17th at 7:30pm (Brooklyn Academy of Music – BAM)

An underground band of radical Black queer HIV+ activists and rebels take to the streets of New York City to combat conservative politicians and government apathy towards AIDS. New York Premiere of 4K Restoration. Initially screened at NewFest in 1997.

A SIMPLE MATTER OF JUSTICE: The 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights & Liberation (1993): 30th Anniversary, directed by JEB (Joan E. Biren). (USA)

Saturday, October 14th at 3pm (The LGBT Community Center)
Documentary that captures the LGBTQ+ movement for equality in the early 1990s through the historic 1993 march, which included nearly a million participants, including Urvashi Vaid, Larry Kramer, Kathy Najimy, Cybil Shepard, Jesse Jackson, Ian McKellan, RuPaul, Barney Frank, Lea Delaria, and Eartha Kitt. The 1993 feature-length doc will be preceded by the New York Premiere of the new short doc THERE ARE THINGS TO DO about the life and legacy of Urvashi Vaid. “Urvashi Vaid and the Ongoing Fight for LGBTQ+ Justice” (Screening + Conversation) will be presented in partnership with the American LGBTQ+ Museum.

YOUNG SOUL REBELS (1991): 4K Restoration, directed by Isaac Julien (UK, France, Germany, Spain).
Friday, October 13th at 7:30pm (Brooklyn Academy of Music – BAM)

New 4K restoration of Isaac Julien’s queer classic, in which two underground DJs seek community and romance in 1970s London. East Coast Premiere. Initially screened at NewFest in 1992.

NARRATIVE FEATURES
ALL THE COLOURS OF THE WORLD ARE BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE, directed by Babatunde Apalowo (Nigeria).

Two men fall tentatively in love amid societal taboos in Lagos in 2023’s Berlinale Teddy Award winner. New York Premiere.

ALL THE FIRES, directed by Mauricio Calderón Rico (Mexico).
A pyromaniac teen runs away from home in search of a girl he met online who ends up helping him confront his grief and burgeoning sexual identity. North American Premiere.

ALMAMULA, directed by Juan Sebastián Torales (Argentina).
A repressed teenager and his family relocate to a remote town haunted by a mythic forest creature. New York Premiere.

BIG BOYS, directed by Corey Sherman (USA).
Jamie’s unexpected crush on his cousin’s boyfriend turns a dream camping trip into a weekend of self-discovery. New York Premiere.

CHESTNUT, directed by Jac Cron (USA).
Recent college grad Annie hesitates to leave Philadelphia for a new job across the country after falling for party girl Tyler. New York Premiere.

CHUCK CHUCK BABY, directed by Janis Pugh (UK).
Two working-class women learn to live life to the fullest after reuniting at a chicken factory in industrial north Wales in this delightful (and musical!) story of star-crossed romance. New York City Premiere.

CLASHING DIFFERENCES, by Merle Grimme (Germany).
Chaos reigns as a group of BIPOC and queer women discover the real issues that unite them at a retreat organized by white feminists. East Coast Premiere.

CORA BORA, directed by Hannah Pearl Utt (USA).
In this wry comedy, Megan Stalter stars as Cora, a messy millennial musician who heads home to salvage her rocky relationship with her girlfriend. New York Premiere.

EILEEN, directed by William Oldroyd (USA).
Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway star as two women who forge a mysterious bond in 1964 Massachusetts. New York City Premiere.

FANCY DANCE, directed by Erica Tremblay (USA).
Lily Gladstone stars as an Indigenous woman who journeys with her niece from an Oklahoma reservation across the heartland to find a missing family member in time for an important powwow. New York City Premiere.

GOLDEN DELICIOUS, directed by Jason Karman (Canada).
When an openly gay, basketball-loving teen moves in across the street, Jake tries out for the team to get his attention. New York Premiere.

HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS, directed by Goran Stolevski (North Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Poland, Kosovo). Reluctant Dita cares for her girlfriend’s kids and a group of outcasts, forging an unconventional family that must fight to stay together. New York Premiere.

LIE WITH ME, directed by Olivier Peyon (France).
A celebrated novelist reminisces about his secret teenage romance during a nostalgic return home in this adaptation of Phillipe Besson’s beloved novel. New York City Premiere.

THE LOST BOYS, directed by Zeno Graton (Belgium, France).
Passion blossoms between two young men in a juvenile reform center who thought their lives had been put on hold. New York Premiere.

THE MATTACHINE FAMILY, directed by Andy Vallentine (USA).
Nico Tortorella and Emily Hampshire are among the famous faces in this story about a queer married couple whose life unravels when their foster child is returned to his birth mother. New York Premiere.

MAY DECEMBER, directed by Todd Haynes (USA).
The new work from director Todd Haynes (recipient of the NewFest35 Queer Visionary Award) stars Academy Award® winners Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore in a deliciously witty film about performance and exploitation that juggles surreal melodrama with humane perception.

NATIONAL ANTHEM, by Luke Gilford (USA).
A young man from the New Mexico plains joins a utopian community of queer ranchers and rodeo performers. New York Premiere.

A PLACE OF OUR OWN, directed by Ektara Collective. (India)
Two trans friends search for a new home after being evicted by their landlord in central India. New York Premiere.

SOMETHING YOU SAID LAST NIGHT, directed by Luis De Filippis (Canada, Switzerland).
A young trans woman’s beach vacation with her family unfolds into a journey of self-affirmation. New York Premiere.

SUMMER SOLSTICE, directed by Noah Schamus (USA).
A trans man and his cisgender, straight friend take a spontaneous weekend trip that pushes the limits of their longtime friendship New York City Premiere.

THIS PLACE, directed by V.T. Nayani (Canada).
Two young women in Toronto connect across identities as they reconcile complicated feelings about family and heritage. New York Premiere.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

ACSEXYBILITY, directed by Daniel Gonçalves (Brazil).
Hear the stories of folks who explore the intersection of sexual liberation and disability within the queer space. New York Premiere.

ANHELL69, directed by Theo Montoya (Colombia, Romania, France, Germany).
Spotlights the young queer scene of Medellín, Colombia, and explores their dreams, doubts and fears as they struggle to carry on making cinema. New York Premiere.

BLUE ID, directed by Burcu Melekoglu & Vuslat Karan (Turkey).
Rüzgar Erkoçlar, a former famous Turkish actor, navigates self-realization and acceptance as a trans man while under media scrutiny in this IDFA Audience Award winner. East Coast Premiere.

COMING AROUND, directed by Sandra Itäinen (USA).
A young queer woman stands at a crossroads with her devout Muslim mother in a clash between identity and tradition. East Coast Premiere.

GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT directed by Michèle Stephenson & Joe Brewster (USA). A bold and unapologetic portrait of poet and activist Nikki Giovanni’s life through pivotal decades in American history.

HIDDEN MASTER: THE LEGACY OF GEORGE PLATT LYNES, directed by Sam Shahid (USA).
Explore the life and legacy of a pioneering, openly gay American photographer ahead of his time in the early-to-mid 20th century. New York Premiere.

HUMMINGBIRDS, directed by Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras (USA).
In this late-night summer self-portrait, Silvia and Beba make magic of everyday moments coming of age on the Texas-Mexico border. New York Premiere.

IT’S ONLY LIFE AFTER ALL, directed by Alexandria Bombach (USA).
Get ‘Closer to Fine’ with this celebrated Sundance doc about Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, the musicians and activists that make up the iconic folk-rock band Indigo Girls.

MOTHER SAIGON, directed by Khoa Lê (Canada, Vietnam).
Má Sài Gòn is a cinematic love letter – a bittersweet ode to a comforting yet disturbing mother, to a city that is as liberating as it is oppressive. U.S. Premiere.

ORLANDO, MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY, directed by Paul B. Preciado (France).
Trans activist Paul B. Preciado brings Virginia Woolf’s Orlando to life (over and over again) with an ensemble of gender non-conforming performers in this Teddy Award-winning film.

QUEENDOM, directed by Agniia Galdanova (USA, France).
21-year-old artist Gena stages radical, otherworldly performances on the streets of Russia in protest against Putin’s government. New York Premiere.

TRUTH BE TOLD, directed by Nneka Onuorah (USA).
A call of faith and resilience in the fight for safe LGBTQIA+ spaces within the Black church from Emmy Award® winner Nneka Onuorahl. New York Premiere.

SHORTS PROGRAMS

SHORTS: AFTERNOON DELIRIUM
A genre-fluid, gender-bending program that’ll make you arise as if from a dream

SHORTS: DRAMA QUEENS
Outsized personalities, emotions, and imaginations take center stage in this heightened shorts program

SHORTS: FRISKY FRIDAY EPISODICS
Vibrant storytelling and desire are key in this scintillating showcase of binge-worthy and thirsty episodic series.

SHORTS: LOOKING FOR MISTER RIGHT NOW
Boys, men, and masculine bodies meet each other in explosive encounters that range from sexy to tender, and are as ephemeral as they are meaningful

SHORTS: MAKE ’EM LAUGH
Take a break from the stresses of life and dive into this delightful and darkly comic collection of laugh-out-loud shorts

SHORTS: POP! GOES THE CULTURE
This sensational shorts program showcases the unbreakable link between queerness and pop culture

SHORTS: QUEER TEEN MAGIC (with the NYC Department of Education)
For the sixth consecutive year, NewFest and NYC’s Department of Education present this cheerful and affirming shorts program for GSAs and LGBTQ+ high school students & staff

SHORTS: TRANS+ REALISM
This powerful program expands beyond genres, identities, and preconceptions for an augmented expression of our Trans+ (trans, non-binary and intersex) community

SHORTS: WAKE & BAKE BRUNCH
Gather your buds and sink into your seat with this canna-bliss mixtape of queer stoner shorts at our annual Brooklyn Brunch

SHORTS: WE CARRY THE LOVE
A perceptive program highlighting the ties that bind — exploring a variety of ongoing connections between parents, siblings, and partners

SHORTS: WOMEN’S NIGHT OUT REMIX
A surprising and sizzling collection of sapphic short films, all directed by women and nonbinary filmmakers — followed by our Women’s Night Out Party!

For the full list of all short films at NewFest, visit https://newfest.org/events/.

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September 16, 2023

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NewFest has announced its full lineup for

Tech

‘Paranormal Activity’ Stage Play in the Works – The Hollywood Reporter

Get ready for Paranormal Activity, the stage play.

Simon Friend, the veteran producer who brought Life of Pi to Broadway, has picked up the license to the Paramount horror movie series with the intent of bringing it to the West End via his Simon Friend Entertainment.

Levi Holloway, who wrote the horror-tinged Broadway play Grey House, is on board to pen the stage adaptation, which is described as being in early development.

Created by Oren Peli, who wrote, directed, and shot the initial installment, Paranormal is a horror movie series focused, in most outings, on a family terrorized by a demon. The bulk of them were made between 2009 and 2015. The movies capitalized on the growing proliferation of video and cellphone cameras to tell spooky and jump-scare-filled tales to great effect.

Made on microbudgets, the movies were massive moneymakers, with the first one considered to be among the most profitable movies ever made, grossing $193.4 million globally. The most recent movie, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin, was released in 2021 on Paramount+. Theatrically, the movies have grossed almost $900 million.

Friend is a veteran with plenty of experience bringing movies to the stage, both on Broadway and the West End, with The Da Vinci Code and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel among the better-known titles. Pi, meanwhile, won five Olivier Awards and, earlier this year, three Tonys. The story is based on the Yann Martel novel that was adapted into an Oscar-winning feature directed by Ang Lee.

Friend has also branched out into TV and feature production, and produced the 2020 drama The Father for which Anthony Hopkins won a best actor Oscar.

Holloway is a Chicago-based playwright whose Grey House opened in the Windy City and hit Broadway earlier this year. The production, which closed mid-summer, starred Tatiana Maslany, Paul Sparks and Laurie Metcalf and tells of a couple who take shelter during a blizzard in a cabin occupied by a mysterious old lady and her teenage girls. Millicent Simmonds and Sophia Anne Caruso were also on the playbill.

Holloway, repped by CAA, was also part of the Steppenwolf Theatre and co-founded Neverbird Project, a deaf and hearing youth theater project.

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September 16, 2023

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Get ready for Paranormal Activity, the stage

Entertaintment

This Is So Hard For Me! | Perez Hilton

It had been FAR TOO LONG! Thank you, @tommymbassett!!

The post This Is So Hard For Me! | Perez Hilton appeared first on Perez Hilton.

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September 16, 2023

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It had been

Movies

Vicky Kaushal On Married Life With Katrina Kaif: ‘She Now Loves Parathas With White Butter, I Like Pancakes’

Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal tied the knot in December 2021.

Vicky Kushal said that while didn’t understand pancakes earlier, he likes him now and similarly, Katrina has developed a liking for parathas.

Vicky Kaushal is occupied with the promotion of his film The Great Indian Family. However, it is his family in real life that netizens cannot stop gushing about. Vicky and Katrina Kaif’s marital bliss is the only thing that people can talk about when either of them shares adorable anecdotes about their life together. Recently, Vicky spoke about how the couple, who come from different cultural backgrounds, have developed a liking for each other’s food.

Talking to ANI, Vicky said, “Earlier, only I loved white butter and parathas and now Katrina also loves it too. Earlier, I did not understand pancakes, but now I like pancakes. So, that’s what has happened.” Vicky had earlier described his marriage as “parathas weds pancakes”, alluding to the idea that while they may seem distinct from one other, they are essentially the same.

During his appearance on We Are Yuvaa’s Be A Man Yaar, Vicky revealed that he initially couldn’t believe that a superstar like Katrina was giving him attention. He told host Nikhil Taneja, “Those factors were never the reason why I fell in love with Katrina. When I got to know the human side of her, I fell in love with her. When I got to know her, I was fully in love with her, and I knew that I would want to have her as my life companion. Nothing else matters.”

“First, I used to feel odd getting attention from her. I used to be like ‘Heh? Are you okay?’ Not that I wasn’t giving a lot of attention, it was mutual. For me also, being from the outside and not knowing her as a human being, she was a phenomenon. She still is. It’s just that the human side also added,” he added.

Vicky and Katrina tied the knot in December 2021 after two years of dating each other. Meanwhile, on the work front, Vicky has Meghana Gulzar’s Sam Bahadur in the pipeline, whereas Katrina will soon be seen in Tiger 3 with Salman Khan and in Merry Christmas with Vijay Sethupathi.

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September 16, 2023

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Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal tied the

John Waters’ trash has become the Academy Museum’s treasure

With its latest exhibit, “John Waters: Pope of Trash,” the Academy Museum has paradoxically found a way to revere the irreverent.

The show, which opens to the public on Sunday, Sept. 17, and runs through August 2024, embodies the equally self-serious and campy sensibility that characterizes the Baltimore-born writer and director of “Hairspray” and “Multiple Maniacs.”

Taking his playful moniker in earnest, visitors are greeted with a space that welcomes you to sit at the altar of Waters — literally. A portrait of the thin-mustachioed director as a saintly figure sits alongside stained glass recreations of some of his most famous collaborators, including Divine and David Lochary, in a chapel-like antechamber. Church pews face a screen that plays a quick-cut montage featuring some of the most iconic moments from Waters’s six-decade (and counting) career.

From the start, “John Waters: Pope of Trash” announces itself as a lovingly mounted celebration, one that does so with a wink. Before visitors exit, they’re ushered into the pink-hued “Filth Shop” adorned with a quote from Waters that sums up the tension at the heart of the exhibit: “I’m so respectable, I could puke.” For someone whose career was built on outlaws, outliers and outsiders, Waters is very much at home within the hallowed halls of the Academy Museum.

“Well, I’m used to strange things happening in my life by now that you never imagined would happen,” the director told The Times on Thursday morning, after strolling through his takeover of the fourth floor. Props, scripts, costumes and even a replica of the trailer from 1972’s “Pink Flamingos” serve as an immersive, chronological précis of Waters’s cinematic work.

He had no irony to dispense when faced with such a gracious tribute, even when he first got the call about the exhibition years ago.

“I was incredibly excited about it and only a little melancholy that Divine would have been so proud to be here today,” Waters said. “But I was just thrilled, absolutely.”

Filmmaker John Waters, photographed among the many costumes at the Academy Museum’s exhibit, including the “Hairspray” roach dress.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Waters’ muse Divine, the drag performer who was transfixing on screen whether playing a criminal vixen or a put-upon suburban mom, passed away in 1988. But she rightly remains the beating heart of this retrospective. Her visage (arched penciled eyebrows, a killer lip) and demeanor (an unmatched go-for-broke approach to performance) loom large over more than 400 works on display. Taken as a whole, they trace how a young boy who once orchestrated violent puppet shows and began making ridiculously outré 8mm films with his friends in the 1960s, became a fixture of American pop culture thanks to his self-described “filthy” creations.

“We were like a terrorist cell against the tyranny of good taste,” Waters says about his early days working with his self-dubbed Dreamlanders, the ragtag group of artists who helped bring the director’s delightfully deranged visions to life. In his films, the world of polite society — of suburban picket fences and parochial worldviews — was ripe for skewering.

“I was raised in the tyranny of good taste and that’s thankful because you have to know the rules,” he says. “If you’re going to parody any genre of films, you have to know that genre. That’s why I never made a science-fiction movie, because I’m not a fan of that genre. And I always made fun of the rules of the outlaw world that I was lucky enough to hope to live in.”

To walk through “John Waters: Pope of Trash” is to appreciate those various parodies (of melodramas, as with 1981’s “Polyester,” or true-crime courtroom dramas, as in 1994’s “Serial Mom”) as works of art given enough room to exist as cinematic experiences while still brimming with outrageousness.

A man stands in front of a pink trailer.

At 77, Waters knows how lucky he is to see this career-spanning retrospective during his lifetime. “Debbie Harry and I talked about this, because things are going great in her career right now,” he says. “I said, ‘Aren’t we just glad to have grown up to get to see this?’ And she agreed. It’s just amazing when so many other people from that circuit that we know aren’t.”

He gets a kick knowing the curators pored over objects that would have otherwise been forgotten (even by himself), and are now displayed for the enjoyment of diehard fans and Waters neophytes alike. “I like the little things, like Mink’s glasses from “Pink Flamingos,” enthuses Waters. “They were rotting in an old box and now they’re restored. I just think it’s great. And I think, then, of all the things that have happened in between.”

It has been a career of ups and downs, successes, scandals, spotty financing and everything in between.

“I always had a backup plan,” Waters remembers. “If I couldn’t make a movie I would write a book or do a spoken-word show. You always have to have a backup plan because nothing lasts. And I think I’m not mean — that’s the most important thing. I have made fun of myself first, from the very beginning.”

Don’t mistake his mood for wistfulness. “I do not have nostalgia,” Waters assures me. “I’m always working for the future. This is not my end, you know? I plan more. So I’m reasonably nostalgic, but not completely.”

For starters, he never wants to find himself undermining the fights of younger generations with a rosy-colored vision of his radical past.

“If you say we had more fun than they did, you’re dead wrong,” Waters says. “They’re shocking us now with this new sexual revolution. I don’t look back and think we had more fun. Youth’s job is to surprise me. And they’ve really done it.”

Surprise has long anchored his work, as has shock. The most talked-about scene of all his movies remains the one in “Pink Flamingos,” in which Divine eats dog feces. (Sadly, it wasn’t faked.)

But shock, Waters always knew, wouldn’t be enough.

“It’s easy to shock,” he explains. “It’s not easy to startle and make laugh and change things. I learned at school the term shock value. You say something outrageous to get someone’s attention and have them listen. I knew it worked. But I never tried to top the shock of ‘Pink Flamingos’ once I won. And I did win. It’s easy to shock people. But that doesn’t mean it’s funny or witty or good.”

Shock needs to be a jumping off point, never the point itself. “Everybody can be disgusting — it has to be disgusting and funny,” he adds.

And Waters has been both. His filmography is riddled with a brazen attitude toward everything from fame and crime to racial segregation and sexual revolutions, anarchy and ennui. Sex, too. “Yet no one has masturbated to one of my films,” he jokes.

But his satires have infiltrated the lexicon of American popular culture precisely because their humor is rooted in a desire to subvert. The exhibit playfully follows suit. A peephole (designed to spy on other gallery attendees) sits next to more staidly staged props, like Waters’s WGA career achievement award or a pair of shoes worn by Edith Massey. There’s even an animation cell from the director’s famous 1997 episode of “The Simpsons.”

“The very fact that the Academy is giving me a show just shows how things change,” says Waters. “Everything that lasts causes trouble at first. I built a career on bad reviews. We got a great review in Variety for ‘Female Trouble’ that I remember just warmed my heart. But then I got mean ones. You tend to remember those.”

He’s long followed his mother’s advice on that front: Read the bad ones once, the good ones twice. And then put them away.

And away they’ve gone, into his archive at Wesleyan University, where many of the artifacts that make up “John Waters: Pope of Trash” are normally housed.

“And now they’ve ended up at a museum,” he adds, almost disbelievingly.

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September 16, 2023

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With its latest exhibit, “John Waters:

DCU

Tim Burton Throws Shade at The Flash’s Nicholas Cage Superman Decision

Tim Burton found fault with The Flash movie co-opting aspects from his canceled past DC projects, specifically Nicolas Cage’s canceled Superman outing.

Many DC fans know that Tim Burton made two Batman films in 1989 and 1992. They might also be aware that, back in the ’90s, the director was developing a movie based on the Man of Steel called Superman Lives.

That film, which would’ve starred Nicolas Cage, wound up in development hell for several years before it was ultimately canceled. Then, in 2023, noted box office bomb The Flash used digital effects to bring Cage’s Supes into its climactic Multiverse scene. The reaction from fans and critics… wasn’t great.

Tim Burton Calls Out Warner Bros. Over the Flash

Veteran director Tim Burton spoke to the British Film Institute about the use of his and Nicolas Cage’s Superman in The Flash. The 2023 superhero movie, which also contained an appearance by Burton’s Batman (Michael Keaton), saw Cage’s Superman battling a giant spider as the Multiverse began to collapse.

When asked whether he had any regrets over the cancellation of Superman Lives, Burton remarked that he had none, but the fact that he didn’t get to make the film resulted in a lasting impact:

“No, I don’t have regrets. I will say this: when you work that long on a project and it doesn’t happen, it affects you for the rest of your life. Because you get passionate about things, and each thing is an unknown journey, and it wasn’t there yet. But it’s one of those experiences that never leaves you, a little bit.”

Burton proceeded to throw a bit of shade Warner Bros. and DC’s way, noting that he’s in “quiet revolt” due to what he deems a “cultural misappropriation” of the Superman and Batman that he had a hand in bringing to life through their inclusion in The Flash:

“But also it goes into another AI thing, and this is why I think I’m over it with the studio. They can take what you did, Batman or whatever, and culturally misappropriate it, or whatever you want to call it. Even though you’re a slave of Disney or Warner Brothers, they can do whatever they want. So in my latter years of life, I’m in quiet revolt against all this.“

The Negative Reaction to Flash’s Multiverse Cameos

Previously, Nicolas Cage himself labeled his cameo in The Flash as “satisfying” but “quick.” It’s worth noting that the Superman that actually shows up in the film is actually a CGI stand-in that some might call unsettling.

In fact, that entire sequence was chock full of appearances from previous incarnations of famous DC heroes, all ghoulishly recreated through the use of computer-generated imagery.

This included Helen Slater as Supergirl along with Christopher Reeve and George Reeves’ Supermen from the 70s and 50s, respectively. George Reeves’ role was particularly egregious considering that he ended his own life in 1959 over being rigidly typecast from his time spent wearing the cape.

So, naturally, Tim Burton, who has long marched to the beat of his own drummer, had his own unique manner of expressing displeasure over his characters being capitalized upon in Flash. And so did many others who watched the film.

DC’s The Flash can be streamed on Max and purchased wherever movies are sold.

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September 16, 2023

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Comics

Baldur’s Gate 3’s next major patch and full Mac support are coming next week

Baldur’s Gate 3’s next major update will be released next week, Larian Studios has confirmed.

Patch 3 will launch alongside full support for Baldur’s Gate 3 on Mac, it said.

Larian had originally hoped for the Mac version of the RPG to leave Early Access on September 6, when the game was also released for PlayStation 5.

“Thank you from the fiery infernal engine we keep in place of our heart,” Larian said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better response to Baldur’s Gate 3.

“Patch 3 is coming September 21 with full support for BG3 on Mac.”

Baldur’s Gate 3 has received two major updates since it debuted on PC on August 3.

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.

Larian recently confirmed that it plans to support Baldur’s Gate 3 PC and console cross-play in the future.

Larian senior product manager Tom Butler said last month that the studio was discussing the possibility of expanding Baldur’s Gate 3 with DLC, but that its current focus was on releasing the console version and improving the base game.

“We’ll carry on patching for a while and then we’re all going to take a holiday and then we’ll figure out what we do next,” he told IGN. “But at the moment, we genuinely have discussions. We want to do more. We don’t know what yet.”

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September 16, 2023

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Baldur’s Gate 3’s next major update will

Festivals

Adobe Unveils Even More AI Features Coming to Premiere Pro and After Effects

Another year, another International Broadcasting Convention came and went in Amsterdam. And man, while we’ve covered some big conferences in years past, this year’s IBC brought quite a bit of news and releases from pretty much all the major players in film and video.

However, while AI might have been the biggest story of NAB this year, IBC was actually a bit more diversified with camera releases and tech updates that weren’t all just about artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Even looking at the latest from Adobe, while there are certainly new AI features to report, Premiere Pro, After Effects and Frame.io are all getting helpful new tools and features that might be AI-powered, but are overall also diversified as well.

Let’s take a look at the latest tools and features set to come to Adobe filmmaking and video editing products and apps.

Premiere Pro Updates

While Adobe’s AI tool Firefly might still be getting headlines for all of its Photoshop features like Generative Fill, it’s nice to see that Premiere Pro is getting a fair amount of updates of its own. In particular, the Enhance Speech feature (which is currently in beta) is set to launch which will use AI to magically remove noise and improve the quality of dialogue in your voice recordings.

This Enhance Speech tool will ultimately help all of your audio tracks sound as if they were recorded in a professional studio, even if you were pulling soundbites from the field or — worse yet — from your camera’s built-in audio recorder (or perhaps an iPhone).

On top of that Adobe has also announced a new AI-based Filler Word Detection feature in their Text-Based Editing tool (which is also currently in beta) to instantly remove all of your “uhs” and “ums,” from your dialogue or interviews.

After Effects Updates

As for After Effects, Adobe has a cool new AI-powered Roto Brush tool to show off that should save hours of tedious rotoscoping work with the help of their machine learning algorithms. This tool will focus on finding hard-to-isolate objects such as overlapping limbs, hair or other transparencies by separating them from their backgrounds with ease.

With this addition, editors, motion designers and VFX artists of all types will be able to shave hours off of rotoscoping work and instead focus on the more nuanced (read that as human-proof) of VFX and motion graphics.

After Effects will also see a new true 3D workspace for the first time which should open the door to an entirely new way to design in motion. With this 3D workspace you’ll be able to add depth and dimension to compositions in a unified space with native import of 3D models.

Plus, with Image-Based Lighting you’ll be able to realistically place said models into a scene with complementary lighting and shadows using any image as a light source. This should unlock plenty of beautiful 3D motion graphic possibilities where you can add effects that reference another layer like Displacement Map, Vector Blur or Calculations.

Overall Performance Optimization

Overall though, Adobe touts this latest batch of updates as focused on holistic performance optimization. Premiere Pro in particular should see massive timeline improvements for up to 5x faster performance, as well as new tools such as Effects Manager to help users find incompatible plug-ins to optimize system performance.

There are also color improvements with new color preferences and consolidated settings coming to the Lumetri Color panel plus improved LUT management and relinking. Frame.io is also getting new camera-to-cloud integrations for FUJIFILM GFX-100ii, Atomos Ninja and Accsoon SeeMo devices as well as a Storage Connect feature for enterprise host assets.

Availability

All of these new updates and features are now available in beta and are planned to be released to the general public later this fall. For more info you can check your Adobe products or visit the app pages for Premiere Pro (beta) and After Effects (beta).

From Your Site Articles

Meghan Markle Just Sold Out the Perfect Fall Office Dress—But There’s Good News

The Meghan Markle Effect can no longer be denied. For at least the second time since setting foot in Düsseldorf, Germany, for the 2023 Invictus Games, the Duchess of Sussex has sold out a fall wardrobe essential.

On September 12, the 42-year-old royal wore a black pleated Banana Republic shirtdress, which originally retailed for $140 on its website…until it sold out after Markle’s public appearance. But don’t worry—there’s some good news for those of you who already had your wallets out. Before we get into that, though, let’s talk about what makes this particular outfit so covetable.

The shirtdress takes all the guesswork out of dressing in the morning, while looking extremely put together. Markle proved this point with very little styling, simply throwing on a braided belt and a pair of black pumps, as you can see below. Her outfit formula works because it’s so intuitive: monochrome + slightly structured fit = corporate slay.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

As for jewelry, Markle stuck with minimal arm candy, including a vintage-style watch and a friendship bracelet that did not sacrifice the streamlined look. (Side note: Thank you to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour for making friendship bracelets a thing adults seem to be exchanging at all sorts of events now.)

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

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September 16, 2023

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The Meghan Markle Effect can no longer

Iranian Road Trip Drama Shows Filmmakers in Danger – IndieWire

The ongoing plights of Iranian filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof — who were both released from prison earlier this year after months of detainment for crimes relating to their criticisms of the nation’s government — prompted renewed concerns about Iran’s authoritarian policies from the global film community. But the larger philosophical and geopolitical concerns about censoring filmmakers can make it tempting to view these men as mere symbols, ignoring the spiritual price they end up paying for their work.

Panahi’s latest film, “No Bears,” made the rounds on the international festival circuit in 2022, and he used the platform to issue frequent statements about the dangers faced by Iranian filmmakers who try to express themselves freely. Panahi and his many supporters often spoke about the paradoxical reasoning that allowed filmmakers to keep focusing on the very art that was putting their freedom in jeopardy. Being creative in an environment that actively discourages it (and sees any form of nuance as blasphemous dissent) often feels like an impossible task. It can seem as if the only two “sensible” choices for these persecuted artists are to flee their home for the relative comfort of making films in Western nations, or remain in Iran and abandon their vocation altogether. But for artists like Panahi, a visceral connection to one’s homeland and the same inexplicable draw to create that has prompted so many filmmakers to make impractical decisions have been reason enough to persevere against staggering odds.

While these dissenting Iranian filmmakers have rightfully been held up as heroes, nobody would have blamed them if they had decided that the juice was no longer worth the squeeze. “Achilles” explores that very scenario, blending compassion for those pushed away from making art with an urgent cry for them to get back in the game anyway.

Farhad Delaram’s debut feature follows a broken down Iranian filmmaker who doesn’t have the benefit of martyrdom from the international press. Years of political oppression prompted him to abandon his craft years before it resulted in anything resembling success (and the question of whether it ever would have is beside the point). By stripping him away from the political archetype of the censored artist, “Achilles” is able to explore the costs of creative repression on an individual scale. The Tehran-set film is a call for those in authoritarian settings to pick up their cameras and keep making films — not because the world needs it, but because their souls do.

When we meet Farid (Mirsaeed Molavian), he’s already a shell of his former self. Years after abandoning filmmaking, he’s been reduced to working nights as an unlicensed orthotist at a hospital that provides him the anonymity he craves. His nickname “Achilles” ostensibly comes from the fact that he repairs damaged joints, but it’s also a reminder that he got hit in the one place that makes recovery impossible. The revolutionary zeal that once fueled his art is long gone — even polite-but-firm disagreement seems like a distant memory at this point. After a lifetime of living under a regime that shows no signs of changing, utter apathy has emerged as his survival mechanism of choice.

But even the nightshift at a tiny hospital doesn’t provide a total escape from the realities of Iranian life, as the facility is often used to treat political prisoners. When Farid begins to converse with some of his latest patients about the “crimes” that they committed, his facade of apathy is no match for the pain that he witnesses. He soon forms a bond with Hedieh (Behdokht Valian), an institutionalized prisoner who has been held captive for so long that she’s begun to lose her grasp on reality. For reasons that he might not even be able to explain, Farid decides to take her out of the hospital and drive her across Iran.

Road trips are often held up as the quintessential cinematic depiction of freedom, but Farid and Hedieh’s drive is consistently weighed down by reminders of how imprisoned they remain. As they meander through the country and meet other forgotten fugitives with similar plights, the gravity of how much has been taken away from them truly sets in. Farid cut his entire family out of his life when he went into his depressive state after quitting filmmaking — and while it wasn’t entirely his fault, the years that he lost with them are real and impossible to replace. Hedieh sacrificed even more, and is eventually forced to reckon with what may be an irreparable relationship with her daughter.

The film is realistic about the role that art can play in overthrowing an oppressive regime, but ultimately reaches the conclusion that we should pursue it anyway. Movies might never be the thing that stops evil from triumphing, but making them might stop it from using you as a vessel.

Grade: B+

“Achilles” premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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September 16, 2023

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The ongoing plights of Iranian filmmakers Jafar

What to Watch

‘Heels’ Recap Season 2 Finale Episode 8 — Is Jack Spade [Spoiler]? – TVLine

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September 16, 2023

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‘Heels’ Recap Season 2 Finale Episode 8

Awards

Dire Impact Of Strikes On Chicago IATSE Local’s Health Plan Could Be An Omen – Deadline

The long-running strikes by the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA are having a devastating impact on union health plans throughout the entertainment industry. With a lack of contributions and a slew of claims pushing its Health & Welfare reserves to the breaking point, IATSE Studio Mechanics Local 476 in Chicago is taking drastic measures, including freezing banked hours and changing eligibility while threatening to leave many of its 2,000 members without coverage.

“I’m unable to pay the self-pay rate, and I’ll get kicked off the plan on October 1st and lose all my banked hours,” a Local 476 member posted on social media earlier this week. “My wife’s pregnant too and due in February.”

Local 476, representing crew members who work on films and TV shows shot in the Windy City, might be the canary in the coal mine for what’s to come. According to a September 8 letter sent to members by the local’s Health & Welfare Fund, which acknowledges the “unprecedented job loss and economic suffering” created by the strike-related production shutdown, employer contributions to the much larger health plan covering IATSE’s West Coast locals “are reportedly down $150 million” during the strikes.

Employer contributions to the local’s health plan – which is not part of IATSE’s West Coast Motion Picture Industry Health Plan or its National Benefits Fund – are based on hours worked, and with little or no work, reserves for the Local 476 plan are quickly drying up, and trustees have had to take action to keep it going.

“As we are all well-aware,” the letter says, “the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are having a detrimental impact on bargaining unit work, and as a direct consequence, on the Local 476 benefit funds. Due to the strike, work is down more than 510,000 hours as of August 31, 2023, compared to August 31, 2022. Obviously, the strike started in May, and hours were on track to beat 2022 numbers up until May.”

The letter notes, however, that “the recent impact” of the strikes “is severely understated – hours worked for July and August were approximately 10,000 hours. Based on the 510,000 hours deficit alone, the Health & Welfare Fund is down more than $3.4 million in contributions. This is not surprising and not limited to our Funds. The West Coast IATSE locals, for example, are reportedly down $150 million in Health & Welfare contributions.”

The letter goes on to tell participants that “the Local 476 office would be remiss to not acknowledge the extreme hardship you and your families are facing. The work stoppage brought upon us by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes has created unprecedented job loss and economic suffering. It is also impacting our benefit funds and has most dramatically impacted our Health and Welfare fund.

“We understand that the added Health and Welfare expense many of you are facing adds to the stress, concern, and uncertainty. It is the priority of this office as the union negotiating for these benefits in contract negotiations and, for some, as Trustees, to secure the health plan now and into the future. To accomplish this, difficult measures had to be taken. However, we want to give assurances that we hear and feel your anger, frustration, concerns, and questions over the recent changes. We are doing everything within the power of the office to achieve a favorable, equitable, and prosperous outcome.”

“Since the strike started and the majority of the Health & Welfare participants are not working, medical claims and prescription claims have sky-rocketed at a time when almost no contributions are coming into the Fund,” the letter says.

Even in normal times, work can be irregular, and the Fund allows participants to bank hours and self-pay as long as they’ve worked 30 days in the previous year. “When a participant uses banked hours, there is no money coming in to the Fund – but the participant continues eligibility,” the letter notes. “This has been happening since the strike started, but the impact over the last four months is becoming more than the Fund can withstand.”

“At this time,” the letter continues, “Health & Welfare reserves are at all-time lows and the Board of Trustees has had to implement cost-saving measures in an effort to maintain financial solvency.” The letter goes on to say that “There may need to be further changes.”

Changes to Local 476’s health plan include a freezing of banked ours that could normally be used as credit towards the hours needed to qualify for health insurance during work slowdowns.

“Use of banked hours will be frozen for the fourth quarter of 2023, and the first quarter of 2024,” the letter says. “While participants will still accrue banked hours in accordance with the normal plan rules, participants will not be able to use banked hours to maintain eligibility.”

The local’s health plan is also making it harder to qualify for coverage. “Initial eligibility requirement is being changed from 300 hours during one quarter to 600 hours during two consecutive quarters,” the letter says. Co-pay for prescription drugs is also being increased significantly.

“These changes would not have been made if they were not absolutely necessary to preserve the fund, including the banked hours members have worked so hard for,” the letter says, noting that the trustees are “working with all service providers to try and cut costs and take any other available action.”

The local’s pension fund, however, is not in trouble.

Deadline reached out to Local 476 but has not heard back. Attempts also were made to reach the Motion Picture Industry Health Plan.

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September 16, 2023

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The long-running strikes by the Writers Guild

Docs

One Life Featured, Reviews Film Threat

TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! One Life, directed by James Hawes and written by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, is based on the true story of Nicholas Winton. He was a British stockbroker who saved hundreds of children from death at the hands of the Nazis during World War II. Anthony Hopkins plays Nicky as an older man in the late 1980s, when his wife, Grete (Lena Olin), gets annoyed at him for being too much of a pack rat. When his wife goes away, Nicky decides to surprise her by cleaning out his office, which stirs up old memories.

We then flashback to Nicky (Johnny Flynn, bearing just enough resemblance and intensity to a young Hopkins to be plausible) as a younger man. After hearing about refugees fleeing the Nazis and ending up in Prague, he investigates. Once there, he sees children suffering and dying in refugee camps and concocts an audacious plan to get the children out by train and adopted temporarily by foster families in the UK.

Nicky is aided in England by his tenacious mother, Babette (Helena Bonham Carter), who harangues the bureaucracy enough to give the plan a chance for success. Meanwhile, over in Czechoslovakia, other volunteers are working to get the paperwork and logistics done to get the children on the trains. Meanwhile, some of the most dangerous work was done by Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp) because he had to secure visas from the Gestapo.

“…concocts an audacious plan to get the children out by train and adopted temporarily by foster families in the UK.”

While you’d think all the drama would lie in the WWII era, One Life is split fairly equally between the two timelines. This is partially because Hopkins is astounding at portraying a man of subtle reflection. His scenes in the present are completely convincing for what an Englishman several decades removed from the war would be like. The writing and directing deserve a tremendous amount of credit for the restraint shown. This grounds the story and sets it up for profound scenes, which I won’t spoil. It is particularly impressive that this is Hawes’ first feature, though he’s had a remarkable TV career, having directed episodes of shows such as Black Mirror and Slow Horses.

The film can’t help but have echoes of Schindler’s List — after all, this is a man who saved hundreds of people from certain deaths and yet can’t help but regret that he couldn’t have done more. Yet, the drama is far from a Spielberg affair. By that, I mean there is no artifice, no apparent hand of the director telling you what you should think.

Of course, this is an illusion — this is a movie, and its stock and trade is getting to us emotionally. One Life accomplishes this by believing in its source material. The story itself is so powerful it needs no amplification. The director trusts Sir Anthony Hopkins to step in and deliver, which he does. He plays it so subdued at the beginning that when the emotional dam breaks, the audience cries like a baby. It is impossible not to, but it isn’t all sadness. You will cry tears of joy at witnessing the incredible potential of the human spirit.

One Life is a perfect movie. I can easily see Anthony Hopkins getting a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for it. But that doesn’t matter; I only mention it so people realize this is an important film they must see. It will give you a new appreciation for humanity at its greatest. That’s something we could all use a little of.

One Life screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

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September 16, 2023

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TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! One Life,

Global

What to look for to ensure a daycare is safe – National

An E. coli outbreak at several daycares in Calgary has infected more than 300 people and sent more than 20 children to hospital.

Many of those infected are children and have contracted hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe kidney complication.

Dr. Iris Gorfinkel, a family physician, told Global News’ The Morning Show on Friday that it’s a “very frightening disease because it can take a well child and turn them very sick, put them on dialysis as we’ve seen, and even be responsible for chronic kidney failure.”

It’s a nightmare for any parent.

Martha Friendly, executive director of the think-tank Childcare Resource and Research Unit, said there are several things parents should look for at daycares if they are wondering whether their centre is safe.

But she also stressed E. coli goes beyond regular daycare safety issues, telling Global News that the outbreak is not normal.

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“Basic kinds of things like basic health and safety, like whether the food is safe, for example, are so basic that they should be givens,” she said, speaking from Toronto.

Click to play video: 'E. coli cases from Calgary daycares increase, but fewer serious patients'

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E. coli cases from Calgary daycares increase, but fewer serious patients

Alberta health inspectors visited the central kitchen for the Fueling Minds daycare network, the kitchen where the outbreak started, four times in 2023 before people got sick, with two violations noted and fixed.

Inspectors visited again after the outbreak and discovered two live cockroaches and at least 20 dead cockroaches near the dishwashing area, among other violations.

Investigators haven’t yet determined the exact cause of the E. coli outbreak, though Friendly said oversight should be stronger.

She said parents can look up health inspections on provincial health ministry websites, as well as licensing information.

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Click to play video: 'E. coli outbreak: Calgary mother blasts ‘morally corrupt’ child-care provider'

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E. coli outbreak: Calgary mother blasts ‘morally corrupt’ child-care provider

In terms of non-food contamination concerns, she told Global News parents can look for several positive signs, including staff education.

“Staff should have qualifications in early childhood education, which is training for the job, that they should have decent employment and working conditions,” she said, adding good communication between the operators and parents is also a good sign.

Friendly’s organization also lists cleanliness and the nutritional value of the food, alongwith clear procedures for food allergies, among a list of important factors in determining the quality of a daycare.

To some extent, she cautioned, it can be a case of “buyer beware.”

“Parents really do need to inform themselves before they decide if they’re going to trust a childcare centre,” she said.

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“Parents do have a role, but they should expect public oversight.”

— with files from Adam Toy and Stephanie Swenrude

&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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September 16, 2023

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An E. coli outbreak at several daycares

Trending

Teresa Giudice Celebrates Daughter Audriana’s Fourteenth Birthday – Hollywood Life

Image Credit: Dave Allocca/StarPix/Shutterstock

All grown up! Teresa Giudice, 51, celebrated her youngest daughter, Audriana, by posting a special birthday tribute in honor of her 14th birthday on Sept. 14. The Real Housewives of New Jersey star took to Instagram to share a video montage of her teen and gushed over her in the caption. “Happy birthday to my beautiful, smart, kind, amazing daughter!” Teresa began in the caption of the clip.

The mother-of-four went on to express her emotions over her youngest daughter reaching the milestone age. “I can’t believe my last born is 14 You impress me everyday [sic]!” Teresa went on. “Keep being your authentic self. I hope this year brings you nothing but joy and happiness. I love you to the moon and back #happybirthday #goldenbirthday #14 #loveyou.”

In the post, the Bravo personality shared a series of photos of Audriana from her younger days to now. She also made sure to add photos with the 14-year-old’s dad, Joe Giudice, 51. Audriana’s sisters Milania, 17, Gia, 22, and Gabriella, 19, were also featured in the roundup of throwback photos. Joe took to the comments to share his love for his daughter and added a series of red heart emojis.

Soon after Teresa shared the photos, many of her 2.3 million followers took to the comments to wish Audriana a happy birthday. “Such a rockstar,” Teresa’s Namaste Bitches co-host, Melissa Pfeister, penned. In a separate comment, RHOA alum Phaedra Parks made sure to send her best to Teresa’s daughter. “Happy Birthday beautiful,” she wrote, along with a cake emoji. Teresa’s former RJONJ co-star, Jacqueline Laurita, couldn’t help but react to seeing Audriana all grown up. “Our babies are growing up too fast! She’s beautiful. Happy birthday Audriana!” she gushed.

The 51-year-old’s birthday tribute for Audriana comes just one week after she took to Instagram to commemorate her daughters going back to school. Teresa shared a photo of Audriana and Milania, as the two headed off into their first and final year of high school, respectively. “My Beautiful Daughters back to school. Milania cannot believe ypu [sic] are a senior and my baby Audriana cannot believe you are going to be a freshman in high school,” she gushed in the caption. “So proud of both of you. Reach for the stars in everything you both do in life. Love you both so much more than I can say. Have the best school year ever.”

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September 16, 2023

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Image Credit: Dave Allocca/StarPix/Shutterstock All grown up! Teresa Giudice,

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