WGAW President Meredith Stiehm says there’s a distinction in the backlash and anger over talk show hosts like Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Hudson and Bill Maher returning, and that is that only one of them is a Writers Guild member.
During a brief interview on Thursday for CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, Stiehm addressed the criticisms that multiple Hollywood hosts have faced as they’ve announced plans to resume production on WGA-covered shows nearly 140 days into the ongoing strike.
For the WGA leader, backlash and accusations of scabbing are different for those like Maher and SAG-AFTRA member Barrymore, who on Friday offered another, equally criticized, statement on her decision to return her self-titled daytime talk show to air despite the AMPTP and WGA not yet having a new contract.
“There is a distinction between Bill Maher and the others because he is a Writers Guild member. The others, I believe, are SAG members, and they may have waivers to do the shows. I’m not sure. But he’s a Writers Guild member, and he’s going back to work, so yes, a lot of people are saying that’s scabbing,” she said. “There’s definitely some anger that he’s doing that.”
Stiehm went on to echo a point in response to certain hosts’ decisions to resume amid an ongoing work stoppage after hosts like Maher, and Barrymore again today, have pointed to wanting to get their lower-paid crew members back to work despite other shows and their workers having to remain paused.
“There are other hosts of shows that are taking care of their shows by paying for them themselves,” she told Tapper. “We’re all worried about our crews, and the ripple effect that the work stoppage has created.”
On Wednesday, Maher announced over X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), that his show Real Time would be coming back “sans writers or writing.”
“It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work. 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,” he wrote. “I’m not prepared to lose an entire year and see so many below-the-line people suffer so much.”
Maher added that when the show returns, he plans to “honor the spirit of the strike by not doing a monologue” and other scripted elements like the “New Rules” segment.
Within the last week, Maher, Barrymore, The Jennifer Hudson Show and The Talk, which are all WGA-covered shows, have announced that they will begin production once again despite the work stoppage which began on May 2. The Drew Barrymore Show and The Talk have already been met with pickets, with pickets for The Jennifer Hudson Show anticipated.
In a previous statement responding to Maher’s announcement, the WGA said the Real Time host’s “decision to go back on the air while his Guild is on strike is disappointing.
“If he goes forward with his plan, he needs to honor more than ‘the spirit of the strike,’” it continued. “As a WGA member, Bill Maher is obligated to follow the strike rules and not perform any writing services. It is difficult to imagine how Real Time can go forward without a violation of WGA strike rules taking place. WGA will be picketing this show.”
Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan danced to Not Ramaiya Vastavaiya.
Even eight days after its release, Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jawan has refused to slow down at the box office.
Following the huge success of Atlee’s Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan is all set for a media meet at the YRF studios today. Ahead of the big event, his manager, Pooja Dadlani, took to Instagram to share his look. Shah Rukh Khan can be seen in a crisp, white shirt paired with a black blazer with a belt detailing near the waist. He pulled his long locks back in braids. Deepika Padukone slipped into a white chiffon sari with black, sequined border, and a halter-neck blouse. At the press conference, Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone also shook a leg to Jawan’s hit romantic song, Chaleya, as music composer Anirudh Ravichander, crooned the song.
But the star performance for the night was reserved for the end of the event. Shah Rukh Khan along with the girl squad including Ridhi Dogra, Sanya Malhotra and Deepika Padukone, shook a leg to Not Ramaiya Vastavaiya. Sunil Grover, director Atlee and Anirudh, too, joined them. Check out the video right here:
Before drawing the curtains on the event, Shah Rukh khan said, “Jawan is a feeling that every Indian has, an emotion, jawan is an Indian soldier, an Indian mother, an Indian girl and an Indian vigilante. And Jawan, on many times, is weak like all of us. And many times, he’s ready for a fight.” He also said, “I am working harder than I have worked in 29 years and I hope I can continue to do the right films. God has been kind with Pathaan and even kinder with Jawan.
Even eight days after its release, Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jawan has refused to slow down at the box office. The film continues to earn in double digits and is now inching close to Rs 400 crore mark.
Shreyanka Mazumdar is Chief Sub Editor of the entertainment team at News18. With an unbridled passion for all things Bollywood, music and fashion, she…Read More
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Starting with the iPhone 12 release in September 2020, Apple began shipping its smartphone models without a wall charger and earbuds, citing environmental concerns from excess packaging. While most people eventually bought these accessories to pair with their phones, you may have to pick up a few additional items now, with the unveiling of Apple’s new iPhone 15.
The iPhone 15 — and its new USB-C port for charging and data transfer — means many iPhone users will need a new wall charger to power up their phone. The iPhone 15 also once again does not come with earbuds — or even a slot to plug in wired earbuds — so you’ll have to find a workaround for that as well.
Whether you need phone add-ons or peripherals, or you’re just looking for extras, we put together a handy roundup of the best iPhone 15 accessories to help you get the most out of your new smartphone. Ahead, you’ll find our recommendations for wall chargers, earbuds, cables and cases for the iPhone 15.
Best Chargers for iPhone 15
Anker 511 Nano Pro USB-C Wall Charger
The Anker 511 Nano Pro USB-C Wall Charger will do the trick to power up your iPhone 15 smartphone. It supports fast charging up to 20 watts and it’s on sale for $13.99, or 27% off at Amazon, which is cheaper than Apple’s own charger. It’s compact and lightweight too at just over one ounce in weight, so you can take it anywhere.
Why charge one device when you can charge two at the same time? The Spigen Dual USB-C Charger comes with two USB-C ports that both support fast charging up to 40 watts (each port caps out at 20 watts). However, if you use just one port at a time, you can get up to 30 watts of fast charging for devices that support those speeds.
On sale for 40% off at Amazon (as of this writing), the JBL Tune 130NC True Wireless Earbuds feature premium audio that’s full and rich. They have noise-canceling features to block out the outside world, so you can really enjoy your favorite music and podcasts.
From JBL’s line of editor-approved picks, these earbuds have a long battery life of up to 40 hours, which is nearly two days of use before their next charge. In a pinch? Get two hours of juice after just 10 minutes of charging.
If you’re looking for something that’s stylish with top-of-the-line audio, then the Beats Powerbeats Pro are for you. They have a snazzy and bold hook design that goes around each ear, so they won’t suddenly fall out when working out or going for a run.
And since Apple owns Beats by Dre, these wireless earbuds have the same seamless syncing technology as the Apple AirPods, but with richer audio with deep bass. The Beats Powerbeats Pro also come in three colors: Black, Ivory and Navy.
Want a way to connect your wired earbuds or headphones to your phone? The iPhone 15 does not have a headphone jack, so you’ll want to pick up the Apple USB-C to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter, which is one of the best ways to plug in your headphones into the iPhone directly. Plug in one end of the adapter jack into the smartphone and then plug in a pair of wired earbuds or headphones to start rocking out to your favorite tunes.
Although the iPhone 15 already comes with a charging cable in the box, it’s a good idea to pick up a “just in case” cable for the office, your backpack or purse, or your car. The tough and durable Belkin USB-C to USB-C Cable is 3.3-feet in length, supports fast charging and is compatible with just about any device with USB-C ports, including Apple iPad, Apple MacBook Air, Samsung Galaxy S23, Google Pixel 7 and much more.
The iPhone 15 is a pretty expensive investment with prices starting at $799. So why not protect it from scratches and dents with a premium phone cases? The Totallee Clear iPhone 15 Case is slim and minimal, while it protects the smartphone in style with a transparent finish. It also gives the iPhone 15 some grippiness, so it won’t slide out of your hands.
Want something more heavy duty? Made from flexible Thermoplastic Polyurethane plastic, the Ego Tactical Rugged Shield iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro Case is tough and strong, while it can stand up drops, dings and other accidents. In fact, this phone case meets military drop-test standards for durability.
Using your iPhone case as a wallet is smart and practical since you only have to carry one item instead of two. The Cardpakee Wallet Phone Case for iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro comes with two card slots for credit cards and a driver’s license, while there’s an additional slot on the side for another card or some cash. The case is even foldable to keep your valuables hidden away until you need it.
Blue Beetle had a solid opening weekend with $3.3 million from previews, but it may fall short of the projected $30 million mark.
Despite facing competition from Barbie, Blue Beetle is expected to finish in first place at the box office this weekend.
The film needs to perform well in the coming weeks as more big releases are predicted, including The Equalizer 3 and The Nun II.
It looks like Blue Beetle won’t get stepped on, or squashed, during its opening weekend. The new DC flick from director Ángel Manuel Soto began its theatrical run with previews on Thursday, August 17. And the film brought in $3.3 million domestically from those early screenings. However, it looks like the superhero film may not reach the $30-million mark as some projections suggested.
On Friday, August 18, Blue Beetle’s early returns show the movie brought in about $9.8 million (per Deadline), which suggests Soto’s venture will more likely come in at around $25 million when the weekend is over. By comparison, another DC film, The Flash, opened back in June to $55 million during its first three days in theaters. However, Warner Bros. will come out the winner regardless, as Blue Beetle and the studio’s monster hit Barbie are both projected to finish in first and second place this weekend.
Blue Beetle opened in 3,871 theaters today, while Barbie still sits comfortably in just over 4,000 during its fifth weekend of release. Projections have Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the Mattel doll doing tremendous business once again to the tune of a $20-million haul. Getting lost in the shuffle of Warner’s winning combination is Will Ferrell’s R-rated, live-action comedy Strays, which made $1.1 million during its Thursday previews.
Blue Beetle should make enough money to squeak by Barbie for the No. 1 spot at this weekend’s box office. But it’s going to be a closer race than some might think. Thursday’s modest $3.3-million take could be a red flag for Ángel Manuel Soto’s film. The reason: Barbie closed out its fourth full-week in theaters with $3.9 million of its own on Thursday — beating Blue Beetle.
On Friday, though, the tide changed. Barbie brought in only $6 million, which gave Blue Beetle’s $9.8 million the edge. It also appears that Strays won’t find a home in third place because Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is predicted to drop a nearly $11-million bomb on the box office over the weekend, which means Will Ferrell’s raunchy comedy Strays will have to settle for fourth place with around $8.5 million.
Gran Turismo finally races onto the scene next weekend. So, Blue Beetle needs a strong week because Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer 3 is predicted to dominate with $35 million over the Labor Day holiday. Beyond that, The Nun II is forecast to terrorize cinemas the following weekend with a $30-million take of its own. So, Blue Beetle needs to pray for a little assistance at the box office over the early course of its theatrical run.
Google will pay it reached with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, resolving allegations that the company’s location-privacy practices violated the state’s consumer protection laws. The California Department of Justice claimed that Google was “collecting, storing, and using their location data” for consumer advertising purposes without informed consent.
The complaint alleges that Google continued to collect consumer data related to a user’s location even when a user turned the “location history” feature off. The company settled similar and for illegally tracking consumers.
In addition to paying $93 million, Google agreed to “deter future misconduct.” This settlement, which won’t really hurt Google’s deep pockets, is important because the tech giant generates the majority of its revenue from advertising and location-based advertising is a critical feature of its advertising platform.
Moving forward, the California AG is asking Google to provide additional transparency about location tracking by providing users with detailed information about location data it collects. The company must also provide disclaimers to users that their location information may be used for ad personalization.
Engadget reached out to Google for comment but didn’t receive a response.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON: 20th Century Studios/Disney’s A Haunting in Venice is looking to perform slighty better than expected with a $5.3M Friday, inclusive of previews, and a 3-day of $14M.
That’s a slightly better start than Death on the Nile’s $12.8M opening, but not as glamorous as 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express‘ $28.6M among Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot adaptations. Pic is playing at 3,305 theaters.
A Haunting in Venice isn’t really scaring that much excitement up on social media either per RelishMix with social media universe across Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok at 79.1M — 59% under horror and previous Branagh Agatha Christie norms. The campaign per RelishMix skews 25+ “running off of the 20th Studios social network at 44.8M fans and cross promoting on Death on the Nile pages in lieu of launching unique official pages for the film.”
Adds RelishMix in regards to chatter online, “Social buzz on Haunting prior to opening runs mixed-leaning-positive on this third installment, spinning into horror. Fans are exclaiming, ‘Mixing horror and a Hercule Poirot murder mystery? Let’s see.’ and curious about by the casting of Tina Fey, although she’s in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. Kenneth Branagh’s consistent portrayal of Poirot coupled with his transition into horror directing gets mixed curious, sentiment from praise to skepticism. Amidst the chatter, some are referencing dim cinematography and past Agatha Christie disappointments.” Oy vey.
more….
Tina Fey and Michelle Yeoh in ‘A Haunting in Venice’
20th Century
FRIDAY AM: 20th Century Studios’ A Haunting in Venice, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, scared up $1.2M in previews. The weekend outlook for the feature adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel Hallowe’en is $12M+, similar to what Branagh’s take on the author’s Death on the Nile did on its first weekend last year, $12.8M.
Comps for the expected older-female-skewing A Haunting in Venice include 2019’s Doctor Sleep, which did $1.4M on its Thursday before a $14M opening weekend; the 2018 Jennifer Lawrence Russian spy flick Red Sparrow ($1.2M Thursday previews and $17M opening); and last year’s Ticket to Paradise ($1.1M previews, $16.5M opening) and Death on the Nile ($1.1M previews).
As we mentioned, working in A Haunting in Venice‘s favor is that it’s the best reviewed of Branagh’s Hercule Poirot movies at 77% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes vs. 61% for Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. The downside is that Haunting isn’t tricked up with stars like Murder was; the only big names here outside Branagh are Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh and 30 Rock‘s Tina Fey.
A Haunting in Venice could win the weekend if New Line’s The Nun 2 takes an enormous tumble deeper than 60%.
Haunting is booked at 3,305 theaters and also has the benefit of Imax and PLF ticket upcharges. Previews are composed of Imax Wednesday fan screenings as well as showtimes that began at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express earned B CinemaScores, so we’ll see how Branagh’s latest comes in. The third movie here, given its less-starry cast, cost a reported $60M before P&A versus Death on the Nile‘s $90M.
‘The Nun 2’
The Nun 2ends its first week at 3,728 theaters with $41.7M after a $1.7M Thursday, -15% from Wednesday.
Sony’s The Equalizer 3at 3,965 ends Week 2 with $16.6M after a $936K Thursday, -14% from Wednesday, for a running total of $66.4M.
Focus Features’ My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 at 3,650 ends Eeek 1 with $13.8M after a $735K Thursday, -11%.
Warner Bros’ Barbie, booked at 3,281 theaters — and on PVOD and digital sellthrough now — saw an eighth week of $7.5M after a $390K Thursday, -16% for running total of $622.1M. This weekend she takes over The Avengers ($623.3M) as the 11th-highest-grossing movie ever at the domestic box office.
Yash Raj’sJawansaw a Thursday of $367K, -20%, bringing its first week to $8.3M and a running total of $9.7M.
UPDATED withWGA and CBS Media Ventures statements:Drew Barrymore has posted an emotional apology to the WGA over her decision to return to her daytime talk show amid the ongoing Hollywood strikes. But the scribes’ guild is not feeling very forgiving it seems.
“I believe there’s nothing I can do or say in this moment to make it OK,” Barrymore said on Friday afternoon, holding back tears in a video posted on Instagram. “I wanted to own a decision, so that it wasn’t a PR-protected situation, and I would just take full responsibility for my actions.”
“I know there is just nothing I can do that will make this OK to those that it is not OK with,” Barrymore continued. “I fully accept that. I fully understand that. There are so many reasons why this is so complex, and I just want everyone to know my intentions have never been in a place to upset or hurt anymore. It’s not who I am. I’ve been through so many ups and downs in my life, and this is one of them.”
“I deeply apologize to writers. I deeply apologize to unions,” Barrymore said.
“There’s a huge question of the why — why am I doing this?” she continued. “Well, I certainly couldn’t have expected this kind of attention, and we aren’t going to break rules and we will be in compliance. I wanted to do this, because as I said, this is bigger than me and there are other people’s jobs on the line.”
The Writers Guild of America also saw a bigger issue at play in Barrymore bringing her show back while picket signs are still up.
“Drew Barrymore should not be on the air while her writers are on strike fighting for a fair deal,” a guild spokesperson told Deadline today after the ET actress’ video went up. “In reality, shows like this cannot operate without writing, and that is struck work.”
A spokesperson for CBS Media Ventures, The Drew Barrymore Show producer and distributor, released a statement in response to WGA, saying they “are very mindful and sensitive to the complex circumstances surrounding the show’s return and we will be in full compliance with all our labor agreements and any strike rules.” CBS also noted its hosts work under a separate agreement with SAG-AFTRA that allows Barrymore and other daytime hosts to continue hosting their shows. “While our show has been largely an unscripted talk show from the beginning, the new shows we are producing this season will be completely unscripted until the strike ends,” the statement emphasized, adding “No one on our staff will fill a writing position.” You can read the entire statement at the bottom of the story.
While The View has been on TV uninturrupted since the WGA went out on strike on May 2, the likes of The Talk and Real Time with Bill Maher are now planning to join Barrymore and soon return to air. A member of the WGA himself, Maher pledges there will be no writers on his HBO show while the strike continues — though how that can be if the accredited and awards nominated writer Maher himself is on the show seems hard to fathom.
In her earlier statement in which she said was returning to her daytime show, Barrymore said “I made a choice to walk away from the MTV, film and television awards because I was the host and it had a direct conflict with what the strike was dealing with which was studios, streamers, film, and television,” Barrymore said in a statement she shared on Instagram. “It was also in the first week of the strike and so I did what I thought was the appropriate thing at the time to stand in solidarity with the writers.”
She continued, “And to be clear, our talk show actually wrapped on April 20th so we never had to shut down the show. However, I am also making the choice to come back for the first time in this strike for our show, that may have my name on it but this is bigger than just me. I own this choice. We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind. We launched live in a global pandemic. Our show was built for sensitive times and has only functioned through what the real world is going through in real time. I want to be there to provide what writers do so well, which is a way to bring us together or help us make sense of the human experience. I hope for a resolve for everyone as soon as possible. We have navigated difficult times since we first came on air. And so I take a step forward to start season 4 once again with an astute humility.”
The Drew Barrymore Show Season 4 is set to premiere on Monday, September 18, a choice that Barrymore said is all on her and will be in compliance with the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strike rules.
See her entire video message below:
Full statement from CBS Media Ventures:
“As The Drew Barrymore Show returns with original episodes on Monday we are very mindful and sensitive to the complex circumstances surrounding the show’s return and we will be in full compliance with all our labor agreements and any strike rules. Our host works under a separate agreement with SAG-AFTRA (“The Network Code”) that allows Drew and other daytime hosts to continue hosting the show. While our show has been largely an unscripted talk show from the beginning, the new shows we are producing this season will be completely unscripted until the strike ends. No one on our staff will fill a writing position. If you watch the show, it is obvious that Drew has always brought raw, unfiltered, spontaneous, open and honest conversations to her viewers and that will continue. The show also moves forward with important consideration to our staff and crew comprised of over 150 people, as well as our loyal viewers. We fully support Drew and her entire team 100%.”
The consensus for subscribers of Disney+ is that the streaming service is for kids and families. However, some movies seem to be more geared towards adults. Disney+ has about 500 movies available, from childhood favorites to newer options. Setting Star Wars and Marvel aside, there are plenty of other options for adults. Disney+ has expanded its audience base and has created some of the best dark series that should be excluded from any kid’s watch list. Gone are the days when adults need to ask if there is anything for them to watch on the streaming service.
Disney+ does create a lot of magical content with cute animations and amazing production quality. Since they are widening their audiences, they have begun creating several titles that are non-animated and tackle subjects like drama, loss, violence, and other adult topics that should probably not be shown to a kid. So, what are the movies that the adults should queue up next? Disney+ has recently added a bunch of movies exclusively geared for adults. Here are the top Disney+ movies for adults that need to be watched next.
Updated September 15th, 2023, by Sean Shuman: This list of Disney+ movies for adults has been updated with even more entries to keep the discussion fresh.
15 Deadpool (2016)
20th Century Fox
Deadpool is one of the few adult-oriented superhero films out there, and surprisingly enough, it’s currently streaming on Disney+. Featuring Ryan Reynolds playing our titular loud-mouth mercenary, this film serves as an origin story for Deadpool following his subjection to a military experiment. Now granted near-immortality, a permanently scarred visage, and a morbid sense of humor, he seeks revenge on those who conducted the experiment to begin with.
The film was a passion project for Reynolds, with development stemming as far back as 2004. After a particularly disastrous appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the character was given a second chance with his crass humor and mature content intact. It’s a film whose wanton violence and mature themes make it perfect for an older audience. Following Disney’s acquisition of Fox, you can also see Deadpool make his MCU debut in Deadpool 3 alongside Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.
14 Logan (2017)
20th Century Studios
Logan took everyone’s favorite adamantium-enhanced mutant and chiseled a mature story around him. Serving as the conclusion to the Wolverine trilogy that started with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, this dramatic send-off sees James “Logan” Howlett — aka, Wolverine — now plagued with a failing healing ability. Left to tend to an aging Professor X, Logan finds his world upended when the arrival of a new mutant sets off a powder keg of violence.
Directed by James Mangold, who directed the previous entry in the trilogy, The Wolverine, this exciting conclusion is as violent as it is saddening. It tackles some pretty lofty subjects, including aging and mortality, with a bittersweet ending adults can thoroughly appreciate. Of course, being an action film, Logan never skimps on Hugh Jackman slashing things with his claws. It’s widely considered to be one of the best comic book movies of the 2010s, on top of being one of the best Marvel movies period.
13 Isle of Dogs (2018)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Isle of Dogs may be another stop-motion Wes Anderson film, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s only for kids, Isle of Dogs feels more tailored for adults. Set in an alternate Japan, Isle of Dogs sees a city named Megasaki banishing its dog population to “Trash Island” due to the fear surrounding canine influenza. A young boy named Atari, the nephew of Megasaki’s mayor, ventures out to Dog Island to rescue his lost pet, all while rumors of misconduct back home start to take hold.
An ensemble cast comprised of Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Greta Gerwig, Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray, and more all lend their talent to Isle of Dogs. The film’s sense of humor, along with its overall tone, is surprisingly subdued given its outlandish premise. You can also expect Wes Anderson’s signature style to be present throughout, giving an extra layer of creativity through the medium of animation.
12 Miracle (2004)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
2004’s Miracle isone of the greatest sports movies ever made. As grandiose a statement as it is, you’d be hard-pressed to find people who disagree. Based on the true story surrounding the 1980 Winter Olympics, Kurt Russell stars as Herb Brooks, the coach for the United States men’s hockey team. With the United States set to compete against the Soviet Union he had to rally a group of underdogs together to create what would later become the famous “Miracle on Ice.”
Miracle will hit much harder for adults due to its historical context. Carried by its compelling performances and its incredible craftsmanship, what could’ve been a bog-standard success story is elevated into something truly compelling. Miracle is easily one of the most inspirational and unapologetically patriotic films of the mid-2000s.
11 Howard (2018)
Disney+
If you’ve grown up with classic Disney movies like Aladdin or The Little Mermaid, maybe you’d like to know how these terrific stories were brought to the big screen. Howard, an exclusive Disney+ documentary released in 2018, tells the story of the eponymous Howard Ashman, a lyricist noted to be one of the biggest contributors to the Disney Renaissance. After providing his talent to the ever-popular comedic musical Little Shop of Horrors, Ashman’s award-winning songs on The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast would cement his legacy before his tragic passing in 1991.
This documentary not only focuses on his musical contributions but also Howard’s involvement with the Disney Renaissance behind the scenes as well as his projects outside of it. This extensive collection of archival footage and interviews is also assembled under Don Hahn’s direction, carrying with it a similar style to his 2009 documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty. It’s an essential piece of behind-the-scenes Disney history that any fan of the company should consider seeing.
Though plenty of us saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit? as kids, there are still plenty of things within it to appreciate as an adult. A tribute to the world of classic animation, this wild film innovated by blending the worlds of live-action and animation almost seamlessly, with Bob Hoskins being subjected to the cartoon mischief of Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse in equal measure. Hoskins plays a detective, Eddie Valiant, who is tasked with clearing the manic cartoon Roger Rabbit’s name after he’s charged with murder. Valiant will have to overcome his prejudice against Toons to solve the case.
As time goes by, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? feels more and more appropriate for adults. Maybe it’s because of the older properties referenced throughout the film’s story, or maybe it’s because of its cartoony spin on the noir genre. Either way, it’s still thoroughly entertaining more than two decades later.
9 Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The long-awaited sequel to Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, was more than thirteen years in the making. Needless to say, the wait was worth it. Sam Worthington reprises his role as Jake Sully, who now happily lives among the Na’vi after successfully repelling the RDA’s invasion of Pandora. Though he has crafted a serene life for himself and his newfound family, the sudden return of the RDA to Pandora threatens the planet’s peaceful existence.
The Way of Water not only gives Jake something new to fight for, but it also gives him so much more to lose. There’s a good chance that after the lengthy gap in time between Avatar films, some who’ve seen the original now have children of their own. It’ll allow you to feel more connected to the film’s conflicts.
8 Remember the Titans (2000)
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
A white and a Black high school combine in suburban Virginia to create T.C. Williams High School. The integration of the schools wasn’t seen until the football team hit the field, and the Black school coach was hired as the head coach over the more experienced ones from the white school.
The team starts working and depending on one another to create one of the best teams the town has ever seen. Remember the Titans is a great movie that deals with some adult situations, re-creating the true story of the Titans for the big screen.
7 The Rookie (2002)
Walt Disney Pictures
Based on the true story of a high school baseball coach, Jim Morris is the oldest rookie in the major leagues. He makes a bet with his team to win the district championship after they continue to lose.
They do manage to win the championship, and Morris enters Major League Baseball at 35 as the oldest rookie in the majors. The movie stars Dennis Quad, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, and Brian Cox. The Rookie is the perfect inspirational movie for any adult.
6 Hidden Figures (2016)
20th Century Fox
Hidden Figures is a biographical drama based on a non-fiction book. Three Black women mathematicians became extremely important to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the Space Race.
They became the brains that contributed to the success of the first launch during the beginning stages of the US space program. These three women come center stage and are seen as heroes in one of Disney’s best movies.
Homer continues to have a series of unfortunate events in The Simpsons Movie. The movie comes from the long-running animated series and follows the family after Homer decides to adopt a pig that fills a silo in two days. The big bad of Springfield, Russ Cargill, hounds President Arnold Schwarzenegger to destroy the town.
Russ wants him to put a dome over Springfield to prevent anyone from leaving. Homer decides to take down Rustoto to save his home and family. The film’s stakes are notably higher than those found in the original series, giving each member of the Simpson family some tangible growth throughout this feature-length adventure.
4 Avatar (2009)
20th Century Studios
After his brother dies on the planet Pandora, former marine and paraplegic Jake is taken up to replace his brother. Jake is to continue the mission that his brother was involved in and use his avatar since their genetics are similar.
The marine quickly learns of the evil intentions the humans have against the indigenous Na’vi who want to use their precious natural resources for their gain. Contemporary critics called director James Cameron a king of special effects when he created the jaw-dropping world of Avatar, with the 2022 follow-up giving Jake additional depth as a member of the Na’Vi.
3 The Finest Hours (2016)
The Finest Hours is a true story of survival in this historical drama. Disaster strikes in 1952 on the coast of Cape Cod when a blizzard hits and the SS Pendleton gets lost at sea. The US Coast Guard gets the call and decides to put together a rescue plan in one of the worst conditions possible.
This quickly becomes the most daring mission they have ever put together and succeeds in saving those on the SS Pendleton. This film will have any viewer on the edge of their seat. The director of The Finest Hours, Craig Gillespie, would later direct the acclaimed film I, Tonya in addition to Disney’s Cruella.
2 Free Solo (2018)
National Geographic Documentary Films
Free Solo won the Best Documentary Feature at the 91st Academy Awards, making this a must-watch on Disney+. The film is not for the faint of heart to watch and might even scare most adults. Rock climber Alex Honnold prepares to climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park after years of plotting out his every single move.
The title refers to his style of climbing as he scales the entire steep and slick wall without any harness or rope. All Honnold has with him is a back of chalk to help him grip and hold on. It’s an inspirational story that’ll convince you to pursue your passions.
1 Hamilton (2020)
Disney+
The acclaimed Broadway musical, Hamilton, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda is based on the life of Alexander Hamilton. The musical includes hop, R&B, pop, and, soul as well as the traditional style of show tunes. The show does make some creative changes to actual events as non-white actors were cast as the Founding Fathers and other historical figures.
Miranda even stars in the show as Alexander Hamilton himself. The Broadway show has received high praise for its music and story while also reinterpreting Hamilton’s accomplishments through a modern context. With how Hamilton modernizes the story of its titular Founding Father, it’s a perfect musical for most adults.
scored its biggest audience since moving to streaming with its opening game of the 2023 season.
The Philadelphia Eagles’ 34-28 win over the Minnesota Vikings averaged 15.05 million viewers on Amazon’s Prime Video and local broadcast outlets in the teams’ home markets, according to Nielsen. That’s the largest audience, by about 2 million viewers, since the weeknight NFL showcase moved to Prime Video last year and up 15.5 percent from the previous high mark: 13.03 million for the opener last year.
And, per a customized report that integrates first-party streaming data with Nielsen’s national panel figures, the game averaged 16.6 million viewers across all platforms (including Twitch and NFL digital properties) and inclusive of computer and mobile devices.
TNF averaged about 9.6 million viewers last season in Nielsen’s ratings, somewhat below prior years when telecasts aired on Fox and the NFL Network (with the latter having a handful of exclusive contests). Amazon’s own figures for the games, which combine proprietary data with the Nielsen numbers, were somewhat higher, but the ad business for the games is determined by the Nielsen figures.
Nielsen had planned to incorporate some first-party data into Thursday Night Football‘s national ratings this season, but delayed implementing the combined numbers after criticism from other NFL broadcasters and an industry trade group, as well as the fact that the plan had yet to receive approval from the Media Rating Council, a regulatory body that accredits media measurement companies.
The higher number for Thursday’s game is Nielsen calls a custom integrated live streaming report. It combines Nielsen’s panel-based measurement with data from Amazon’s first party viewing signal, which is aggregated from connected TV devices.
Earl Sweatshirt and the Alchemist releasedVoir Dire through Gala Music in August. The album will get released across digital streaming platforms on Friday, October 6. The new edition will include “The Caliphate” and two other previously unreleased tracks, “Heatcheck” and ”Mancala.”
Earl Sweatshirt and Vince Staples have a long collaborative history that stretches back to the 2010 Earl mixtape. One of Staples’ biggest early features also came on the 2013 Doris single “Hive.” And, while Staples included “New EarlSweatshirt (Interlude)” on 2018’s FM!, the artists had not collaborated in earnest since 2015’s “Wool.”
On October 6, Earl Sweatshirt and the Alchemist will play the first show of their Voir Dire Tour.
A meeting that had been scheduled for today between the leaders of the Writers Guild of America and a group of concerned showrunners has been postponed as the guild prepares to resume contract bargaining talks with Hollywood’s major studios next week.
The meeting was set to take place on Friday. Kenya Barris, Noah Hawley and Sam Esmail have been among the showrunners seeking insight from WGA leadership to restart talks and bring an end the strike, which is now in its 137th day. The guild’s back-and-forth with showrunners came as the WGA also connected with the AMPTP on resuming bargaining negotiations next week. In that context, it’s understood that the sides agreed that the WGA should focus on preparing for negotiations. The approach of the Rosh Hashanah holiday this evening also complicated the effort for a Friday sit-down at WGA West headquarters.
The showrunners group has been active since Labor Day in trying to sit down with David Goodman and Chris Keyser, the co-chairs of the WGA negotiating committee, to express the urgency of resuming negotiations.
The meeting was first set for Sept. 8. It was rescheduled to Sept. 11, then canceled, then rescheduled again for Sept. 15.
Nevertheless, rumors about the meeting have circulated widely since last week, and may have added to the pressure on WGA leaders to return to the bargaining table.
On Wednesday, the WGA reached out to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to restart talks, according to the studio alliance. The WGA confirmed that the two sides are working on scheduling a resumption in talks, but did not comment on who made the first call.
Despite rising restlessness within the guild, there are no signs of open revolt or an effort to sideline leadership. All sides are in fact at pains not to be seen to be in disagreement, as the WGA has emphasized its rock-solid solidarity.
WGA leaders have put out the word that a showrunner meeting would be no big deal, as they talk with members all the time. And the showrunners themselves have sent a message that they are trying to be helpful, and are not trying to divide the guild.
The WGA has said that the latest offer from the AMPTP, which was made on Aug. 11, is not “nearly enough,” and has laid out deficiencies and loopholes in a half dozen areas. The WGA countered on Aug. 15, making slight moves from its previous position in a couple of areas.
The union and the studios spent the last three weeks waiting for the other to make a move. The WGA told members that a new offer from the studios would be coming, while the studios have said it’s the WGA’s turn to respond.
This week, several talk shows have announced they are returning for the fall season. Drew Barrymore drew sharp criticism for her announcement on Sunday that she would resume taping episodes without her three WGA writers. Bill Maher made a similar announcement on Wednesday. “The View” has also been taping since May without its two WGA writers.
The hosts are following the pattern set by Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Ellen DeGeneres, and others in the 2007-08 writers strike. Those hosts all returned to the air within a few weeks of the commencement of the strike, but without pre-written material.
Lifestyle content creator Kristy Scott has signed to Range Media Partners for representation, following this year’s release of her clothing line Vayra.
Scott’s lifestyle content on TikTok and Instagram showcases her life as a business owner and mother of two boys, while her family’s YouTube channel It’s The Scotts chronicles Scott’s family life in Houston, Texas featuring her husband Desmond Scott.
“I am thrilled that people are enjoying my content and are supportive when I launch new passion projects,” said Scott in a statement. “And I couldn’t be more excited to now have a partner like Range at my side to help me continue to realize all my aspirations, from collaborations to new businesses I want to build.”
Along with Vayra, Scott has also recently collaborated with eyewear company Diff, launching her own line of sunglasses. She has previously signed deals with companies like Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, Pantene, Bobbi Brown, Garnier, Clinique, State Farm, Kroger, Hilton and Google. This year, Scott was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for social media influencers.
“Kristy’s rapid growth and popularity in a short amount of time is a true testament to her work ethic, personal drive and genuine relatability. Beyond supporting her existing efforts, we are so excited to help expand her career into new areas. This is truly just the beginning,” said Eman Redwan, partner & co-head of digital at Range.
In addition to her new representation by Range Media Partners, Scott will continue to be repped by A3 and Nixon Peabody.
Autoworkers walked off the job on Friday at three factories that produce some of the Detroit carmakers’ most popular vehicles, the opening salvos in what could become a protracted strike that hurts the U.S. economy and has an impact on the 2024 presidential election.
Nearly 13,000 members of the United Auto Workers at plants in Ohio, Michigan and Missouri joined early Friday in what the union described as a targeted strike that could expand to more plants if its demands for pay raises of up to 40 percent and other gains were not met.
The union’s four-year contracts with three automakers — General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Jeep and Ram — expired Thursday, and the companies and the union remained far from striking new deals.
The U.A.W.’s president, Shawn Fain, used sweeping language on Thursday to describe why his members were going on strike against all three automakers at the same time — something the union had never done in its nearly 90-year history.
“This is our generation’s defining moment,” Mr. Fain, the union’s first leader elected directly by members, said in an online video. “The money is there, the cause is righteous, the world is watching, and the U.A.W. is ready to stand up.”
The union and the companies did not negotiate on Friday, and the U.A.W. said it planned to resume bargaining on Saturday. President Biden dispatched two senior administration officials to Detroit on Friday to encourage the companies and union to reach agreements.
At a Ford plant in Wayne, Mich., west of Detroit, strikers waved placards — one read, “Record Profits; Record Contracts” — and gave thumbs-up to honking vehicles. A metal sign on a chain-link fence read, “Absolutely NO foreign cars allowed.” The protesters were assigned to a six-hour shift on the picket line. If the strike continues, they will be called to one shift per week.
While first and foremost a battle between autoworkers and automakers, the conflict could have far-reaching consequences. A lengthy strike would reduce the number of new cars available for sale, which could fuel inflation and force the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high.
A strike also presents a quandary for Mr. Biden, who has called for rising incomes but must also be mindful of the strike’s economic impact and his goal to promote electric vehicles as a solution to climate change.
Speaking at the White House on Friday, the president strongly supported the union. “Over the past decade, auto companies have seen record profits, including in the last few years, because of the extraordinary skill and sacrifices of U.A.W. workers,” he said. “But those record profits have not been shared fairly.”
The U.A.W. says its pay demands roughly correspond to the increases in the compensation of the top executives at Ford, G.M. and Stellantis. The raises are also meant to help compensate workers for the ground they have lost to inflation and big concessions the union made to the automakers after the 2007-8 financial crisis, when G.M. and Chrysler were forced to restructure themselves in bankruptcy court.
But auto executives say they already pay production workers substantially more than rivals, like Tesla and Toyota, whose U.S. workers are not unionized. The companies also contend that such big raises would undermine their efforts to develop electric vehicles and remain relevant as the industry makes a difficult and costly shift from gasoline cars and trucks to electric vehicles.
Ford, which employs the most union members, reported a profit of $1.9 billion in the second quarter, equal to 4 percent of its sales. Tesla made $2.7 billion in the same period, about 11 percent of its sales.
Mary T. Barra, the chief executive of G.M., said the strikes would hurt the industry. “I’m extremely frustrated and disappointed,” she told CNBC on Friday. “We don’t need to be on strike right now.” She said the company had “put a historic offer on the table” that included better job security and “world-class health care.”
Mr. Fain’s decision to shut down just three factories is also a departure for the union, which in previous strikes typically walked out of all the factories of a single automaker. By interrupting production of some of the most profitable vehicles, while allowing most plants to keep operating, the union hopes to inflict pain on the carmakers while allowing most of its members to continue collecting paychecks.
Fewer than 10 percent of the nearly 150,000 U.A.W. members at the three companies are on strike. Limited strikes could allow the union to maintain the pressure longer by preserving its strike fund of $825 million. The union will pay striking workers $500 a week and cover their health insurance premiums.
In addition to the Ford plant in Michigan, which makes the Bronco and the Ranger pickup truck, workers shut down production at a G.M. plant in Wentzville, Mo., near St. Louis, that makes the GMC Canyon and the Chevrolet Colorado, and a Stellantis complex in Toledo, Ohio, that makes the Jeep Gladiator and Jeep Wrangler. If no agreement is reached, the union is expected to target additional factories in weeks to come.
The union is also seeking cost-of-living adjustments that would protect workers if inflation flares up again. And it wants to reinstate pensions that the union agreed to do away with for newer workers after the financial crisis, improved retiree benefits and shorter work hours. The union also wants to eliminate a wage system that starts new hires at much lower wages than the top U.A.W. pay of $32 an hour.
As of Friday last week, the companies had offered to raise pay by around 14.5 percent to 20 percent over four years. Their offers include lump-sum payments to help offset the effects of inflation, and policy changes that would lift the pay of recent hires and temporary workers, who typically earn about a third less than veteran union members.
In a last-minute attempt to keep assembly lines running, G.M. offered its employees a 20 percent raise late Thursday and said it was willing to pay cost-of-living adjustments to veteran workers. The 20 percent increase would be far more than employees had received in decades. But the union rejected the offer, which it says would barely compensate for inflation.
Leaders of the automakers have criticized the U.A.W.’s tactics, focusing on Mr. Fain, who became president in March and declared an end to what he said were overly friendly relations between union leaders and auto executives. He took office after a federal corruption investigation resulted in prison terms for two former U.A.W. presidents.
Carlos Tavares, the chief executive of Stellantis, has called Mr. Fain’s strategy “posturing.” Ford’s chief executive, Jim Farley, said the two sides should be negotiating instead of “planning strikes and P.R. events.” And Ms. Barra of G.M. said that “every negotiation takes on the personality of its leader.”
If the autoworkers are successful, they could inspire workers in other industries. Union activism is on the rise: Hollywood screenwriters and actors have been on strike for months. In August, United Parcel Service employees won their biggest raises ever in a contract negotiated by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
“Workers have been squeezed for too long and now are realizing they can do something about it,” said Mijin Cha, an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who studies the relationship between labor’s interests and the fight against climate change. “People see there is a pathway to more economic security and workers do have power together.”
The strikes come as auto production is still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, which caused shortages of semiconductors and other components. Car prices and wait times have come down, but dealer inventories remain low and a lengthy strike could eventually make it hard to find popular U.S.-made models.
“We’re not back to speed inventory-wise,” said Wes Lutz, the owner of Extreme Dodge, a car dealership in Jackson, Mich.
Scarcity is not always bad for carmakers. It allowed them to earn higher profit margins during the pandemic. And it would benefit any carmakers that were having trouble moving some models. Pat Ryan, chief executive of the car-shopping app Co-Pilot, said that Stellantis had at least 100 days of inventory for brands like Dodge and Chrysler, and that a strike could help it clear many dealers’ lots.
Still, if prices for popular models rise, that will be yet another speed bump in the Federal Reserve’s road to lowering inflation, and a political liability for Mr. Biden. The president, who has no formal role in the negotiations, said Friday that he had been in touch with union leaders and auto executives, in addition to dispatching the two administration officials to Detroit.
It is unclear how much of an effect the administration’s intervention will have on automakers or the union.
Despite Mr. Biden’s pro-union statements, Mr. Fain has withheld the U.A.W.’s endorsement for president despite generally backing Democrats, and he criticized federal incentives and loans to automakers for electric vehicle and battery production that do not require new factories to be unionized.
Former President Donald J. Trump, the front-runner in the Republican primary race, has been courting U.A.W. workers and attacked Mr. Biden’s electric vehicle policies as bad for workers and consumers.
Reporting was contributed by Neal E. Boudette, J. Edward Moreno, Santul Nerkar and Jeanna Smialek.
Logline: When a freak heatwave hits Rome in January, the lives of several very different people become unexpectedly intertwined.
International Sales: The Match Factory
Panelists: Ginevra Ellkann (director)
First Screening: Sept. 10, 2023.
Key Quote: “This film stems from my anxiety about summertime in Rome. It gets very, very hot, and I started to wonder, ‘What if we’re just going to be hot like this all the time? What if the world is just going to turn yellow, and it’s not going to be green anymore?’ Everyone was talking about it, so I was interested in making a film with different characters in the same situation. They’re all very different characters. There’s a mother who’s an alcoholic, and she’s lost her child, who’s living with the dad. There’s a porn star who was very big in the ‘80s and who’s addicted to plastic surgery. She has a stalker, a woman who is a crazy for God, and then there’s a young girl who’s bulimic. She works for an older lady, who’s addicted to TV shopping, and there’s a priest who’s an ex-heroin addict. So there’s something for everyone! They’re all crazy and lovable people.” – Ginevra Ellkann
EXCLUSIVE: Julia Fox is getting her own fashion design competition series.
The controversial star, who featured in Adam Sandler-fronted movie Uncut Gems and dated Kanye West, is set to host a series that is in the works at NBCUniversal. It’s not been decided which network or platform the show is being developed for but NBCU operates cable networks including E! and Bravo.
The series – OMG Fashun – comes from Scout Productions, the production company behind Netflix’s Queer Eye and Peacock’s The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, which is exec produced by Amy Poehler.
Fox revealed she was currently casting the series. “Do you know what’s missing from fashion design competitions? Me. Guess what? I’m going to be hosting one on a major TV network. I can’t believe those words just came out of my mouth. Now the fun part. I’m looking for you. Are you a fashion disrupter? A savant? Do you upcycle? Do you make dresses out of seashells or leaves or tampon applicators but make it fashion? Then you are who I’m looking for,” she said on TikTok.
Fox is known for her eccentric style; she started as a clothing designer and had a successful women’s knitwear line Franziska Fox with her friend Briana Andalore. She has also appeared in fashion campaigns for companies including Diesel, Coach and Supreme.
She is best known for dating Kanye West after his split from Kim Kardashian. She later said that she dated the rapper to “give people something to talk about” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
After a long day on the set of “A Haunting in Venice,” the latest Kenneth Branagh murder-mystery based on Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot stories, the hair and makeup designer Wakana Yoshihara would leave the crew, find a quiet space and sit down with the detective’s prodigious mustache, a sweeping half-moon of lush gray hair and attendant soul patch.
“It was my ritual every night after the shoot,” Yoshihara said recently in a video interview. “Me and the mustache sit together. Sometimes I have a conversation with the mustache. It was very therapeutic, when you get into that space. The mustache became like a friend.”
Yoshihara takes facial hair very seriously. The hair and makeup designer for “Death on the Nile” (2022) and “A Haunting in Venice,” opening Friday, she is responsible for creating, styling and maintaining Poirot’s whiskers — a painstaking work of craftsmanship that is perhaps the most important detail in these period films. “This mustache is serious business,” the director and star Branagh said when he took on the famous role for the 2017 “Murder on the Orient Express.” Yoshihara has made that business her own, and she does not take it lightly.
The first iteration of Branagh’s Poirot mustache was created for “Orient Express” by the designer Carol Hemming, with whom Yoshihara worked closely as the head of the hair and makeup departments. The colossal gray swath of hair was meant to pay tribute to Poirot’s military background and the vogue after World War I.
But while the mustache looked suitably grand, it was heavy and ungainly, and presented many practical difficulties for Branagh as a performer. The star (who also directed but couldn’t be interviewed because of the current actors’ strike) was unable to open his mouth wide or laugh heartily without the hairpiece drooping or falling out of place. “You couldn’t make jokes around him on set,” Yoshihara said.
When Yoshihara took over for Hemming on the sequel, “Death on the Nile,” the first thing she discussed with Branagh was what they were to do about the mustache this time. “We talked about downsizing,” she said. “It can be smaller but still big enough for him to have the signature of being Poirot. We took some off both sides and kind of narrowed it down so it doesn’t quite cover his mouth.”
For “Venice,” Branagh initially wanted to grow his own mustache to Poirot length to obviate the need for the prosthetic. While the length was adequate, Yoshihara ran into problems with the styling. To get the look right, she said, “I would have to use a perm, and I can’t really use a hot stick so close to his face, because I might burn him.” In the end, she opted to have him shave what he’d grown, and the two went back to the usual method — albeit with more refinements.
Yoshihara and Branagh revised the false mustache even further for “Venice,” making it slightly smaller again and blonder. (The hue was meant to give Branagh a “more youthful” appearance that would stave off the impression Poirot was getting older and older between films.) She explained that Poirot was on vacation in the desert in “Nile,” which gave the mustache a windswept, natural character, but in “Venice,” Poirot is retired with more freedom to attend to his grooming. “We made it look like he had lots of time on his hands,” she said. “It’s more sculpted. It’s neater. It’s like Poirot has finally found his best style.”
The false mustache itself is a combination of human and yak hair. The human kind “is a bit too silky” and soft, she said, but the yak addition results in a bushier, more bristly look appropriate for a mustache. The strands are meticulously woven into a thin strip of silk. When she receives that woven strip from the wigmaker, Yoshihara said, “it looks like a cave man’s hair, very long, so you have to cut it and style it.” Yoshihara works from a plaster model of Branagh’s head to get the mustache exactly symmetrical. Then, when it’s time to film, she applies it directly to Branagh’s face with a special adhesive similar to super glue.
Despite the effort involved in creating and applying the prosthetic, the result should still “look natural and not made up,” as if the hair were really growing on his face. Striking the right balance between naturalistic and theatrical meant dozens of screen tests with sample mustaches, each of a slightly different length, shape and shade. “You need that trial and error to know what looks wrong and what looks right,” she said. On “Death on the Nile,” she said, they went through so many options that they didn’t ultimately decide on one until the first day of the shoot.
Branagh kept his false mustache on during the long days of shooting “Orient Express,” but found it challenging to eat. “Egg yolk is the killer. Or any noodles,” Yoshihara said, adding, “It took so much time to eat that on this film we decided it would be faster to just remove the mustache at lunch and reapply it after lunch. I had to hover around Ken during meals.”
The prosthetic was removed by gently applying isopropyl alcohol to the adhesive. “You can get drunk just sniffing it,” she said, “so you have to be very careful.”
One of the biggest challenges on “Venice” was the introduction of a new enemy, one of the biggest nemeses of any hairpiece: water. At one point, Poirot is plunged underwater and thrashes about for his life. It caused Yoshihara a great deal of stress on set. She remembers the first assistant director, Martin Curry, teasing her relentlessly as they were preparing to shoot the sequence. “He was laughing at me, like, ‘Wakana, the mustache will get wet! What are you going to do?’” Because the hair and the adhesive could only withstand so much wetness and still keep its shape, the crew had to minimize the number of underwater takes. “You could only shoot that two or three times, no more,” she said.
Yoshihara did have backup mustaches in case her favorite suffered too much wear and tear during the shoot. But she said it was impossible to make each one exactly alike. “We used that one until we killed it,” she said. “It got so floppy that we couldn’t use it anymore.” Of course, having developed such a close bond with the mustache, she said, watching it deteriorate wasn’t easy.
“I would feel so sad when the mustache was dying,” she said. “Because the mustache had a life — and he’d had enough.”
Heard even stated herself that Warner Bros. wasn’t going to feature her in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in any capacity, specifically saying, “They didn’t want to include me in the film.” However, the latest reports stated that she would at least have a little bit of screen time.
Amber Heard’s Appearance in Aquaman 2 Trailer
After a long delay, DC Studios released the first trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
The footage featured Jason Momoa’s Aquaman extensively throughout, as well as the underwater city of Atlantis and the villainous Black Manta.
However, the trailer noticeably showed barely any footage of Amber Heard’s Mera.
The actress can be seen in only one shot, in which she looks quite angry.
DC
In the quick blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, the footage showcased her character underwater trying to break through a panel of glass.
DC
This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, however, considering previous reports stated that she would only have around 20 minutes of screen time in the upcoming film.
The full trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom can be seen below:
Did the Aquaman 2 Trailer Confirm Amber Heard’s Screentime?
The trailer really tells fans all they need to know when it comes to how Heard will be featured in Aquaman 2.
Her character, who played an extremely important role in the first movie, was literally only featured for about one second in the entire two-and-a-half-minute teaser.
The film’s director, James Wan, previously stated that Aquaman 2“was always going to be Arthur and Orm,” implying that Mera was never planned to be heavily included in the film.
However, one has to assume that her off-screen legal battles had to have some sort of impact on the extremely small amount of screen time that she had in the trailer, which will likely transfer over to the final cut of the movie as well.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be released in theaters on December 20.
Given Rebirth only has a three-month PS5 exclusivity period, it’s possible PC players might have a relatively short wait to play the sequel, which isn’t coming to PS4.
During a subsequent interview with IGN, Xbox boss Phil Spencer wouldn’t be drawn on whether other PlayStation exclusives like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 16 will also come to Xbox, but he said the Japanese publisher’s commitment to Microsoft‘s consoles was “really important”.
“Although there are some changes in the order of the locations, the locations depicted in this title extend up to The Forgotten Capital, where the greatest fate of Final Fantasy VII awaits you,” he told the PlayStation Blog.
CAA has signed Alix Traeger, the popular food and lifestyle content creator, for representation.
Traeger began her career working for Tasty, the Buzzfeed brand dedicated to food coverage with an emphasis on video. She began at the company in 2016 as an intern, and eventually rose to a lead producer and host role, working on brand franchises including “I Draw, You Cook,” “Eat Your Screen,” “Can You Follow a Recipe in a Different Language?,” “Behind Tasty” and “Make it Fancy.”
Traeger became a breakout name among Tasty talent, and left the brand to become an independent content creator in 2019. Though she continued to producing content for Tasty on a freelance bases, Traeger now develops and and publishes recipes while producing social media content centered on food and lifestyle.
Along with her girlfriend Zoya Biglary, Traeger now serves as host of “Star Dish,” a series on Gordon Ramsay and Fox’s digital network Bite. In the series, which premiered on Sept. 14, Traeger and Biglary create recipes based on astrology logical signs. She also serves as chief creative officer of Fysh Foods, a company that producers plant-based raw fish alternatives intended for sushi, ceviche, lox and more, which was founded by Biglary.
Additionally, Traeger has appeared on “Target Takes On,” a how-to webseries that featured Target products. Her other brand partnerships have included Kraft, General Mills, Capital One, and Coca-Cola. The Cheesecake Factory added a delivery exclusive “hack” to its menu after Traeger and Biglary posted about a substitution they requested on a the restaurant chain’s Caesar salad.
Traeger continues to be represented by Settebello Entertainment.
In a major report at Deadline, “Dune: Part Two” and “Oppenheimer” VFX firm DNEG is asking staff to either take up to a 25% pay cut or join a loan scheme to lower costs.
Sources for the outlet say DNEG’s 10,000+ employees across the globe have been given 11 days to make the choice, and insiders: “believe their contracts will be terminated if they don’t agree to the measures.”
The cuts will largely be determined based on salary with most expected to 20-25% for seven months. The loans are being presented as an option for those who can’t afford to take such a large cut at this time and ultimately work out to a similar % amount in terms of salary cut.
According to a lengthy DNEG statement sent to the outlet, the move will: “enable us to maintain the maximum number of jobs through this period”.
The pay cut is similar to those imposed during the early months of the pandemic at multiple firms, including DNEG. The dual strikes have led to a major loss of work for multiple VFX firms.
The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union’s (BECTU) VFX and animation branch in the UK is set to hold a Zoom meeting to discuss what happens next and reminds workers DNEG can’t legally force a reduction in pay without their consent.
One employee tells the outlet: “We feel like DNEG is not offering anything to compensate but are instead pushing all the weight and risk on the employee.”
This all follows on from DNEG laying off around 7.5% of its London HQ workforce in July.
Veteran executive Peter Oillataguerre is returning to Amazon MGM Studios in the newly created role of head of feature film production. Studio chief Jennifer Salke announced Oillataguerre’s hiring in a memo to staff on Friday.
“With more than 20 years of industry experience, Peter is a seasoned executive with considerable expertise in the world of production,” Salke wrote. “In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the feature film production cycle for the Amazon MGM Studios film group.”
Oillataguerre begins his role on Sept. 18. He will report to Dan Scharf, head of global business operations, and will work closely with Courtenay Valenti, head of film, streaming and theatrical, and the studio’s film teams.
The move marks a return to Amazon MGM Studios for Oillataguerre after his tenure as president of production for Spyglass Media Group, where he oversaw the blockbuster relaunch of the “Scream” franchise, among other titles.
Before moving to Spyglass in 2020, Oillataguerre spent nine years as the president of physical production for MGM Studios, overseeing all aspects of physical production across the feature film and television units, including the James Bond films “Skyfall,” “Spectre” and “No Time To Die” and the revival of the Rocky franchise with the “Creed” films. He also oversaw the television series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Fargo,” “Vikings” and “Get Shorty.” Oillataguerre is also a veteran of Universal Studios.
Read Salke’s full memo below:
Hi team,
As summer comes to an end, I’d like to thank you all for the tireless work and passion you bring to our business every day. While we are currently facing unprecedented challenges in our industry, I am always so impressed and proud of how much we have accomplished. Across Amazon MGM Studios, we remain committed and focused on creating and licensing the best content for our customers across our global slate for Prime Video, Freevee & MGM+, along with our theatrical launches and titles on outside platforms.
To that end, and our continued focus on building a world-class global film slate, I am pleased to announce that Peter Oillataguerre will be joining us as our new Head of Feature Film Production for Amazon MGM Studios! Peter will be joining us on September 18 and will report to Dan Scharf, Head of Global Business Operations, and work closely with Courtenay Valenti, Head of Film, Streaming and Theatrical, and the film teams. With more than 20 years of industry experience, Peter is a seasoned executive with considerable expertise in the world of production. In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the feature film production cycle for the Amazon MGM Studios film group.
Peter brings a wealth of film production experience, having most recently served as the President of Production at Spyglass Media, responsible for the numerous blockbuster titles including Scream, Hellraiser, The Upside, and Incoming, as well as the long-running fashion competition series Project Runway. Prior to that, Peter worked at Universal Studios and our very own MGM Studios, working on tentpole titles like the Bond franchise, including Skyfall and No Time To Die; the Creed franchise; RoboCop; The Magnificent Seven and Along Came Polly to name a few.
Please join me, along with Dan, Courtenay and the rest of the teams in welcoming Peter to the Amazon family!
An aspiring writer deep in debt encounters a young man with no memories and strange abilities. Together they fight injustice and form an unlikely bond.
Certificate:TV-14 Parents strongly cautioned. May not be suitable for ages under 14.
Year: 2023
Duration: 10 Episodes
Audio: Korean [Original]
Subtitles: German, English, Spanish, French, Simplified Chinese
Peter Oillataguerre has been appointed to the new role of Head of Feature Film Production at AmazonMGM Studios, studio head Jennifer Salke announced to staffers via email on Friday.
Oillataguerre joins from Spyglass Media Group, where he served for three and a half years as President of Production, and in his new role will oversee all aspects of the feature production cycle for Amazon MGM Studios film group. He starts this coming Monday, September 18 and will report to Head of Global Business Operations Dan Scharf, while working closely with Courtenay Valenti, Head of Film, Streaming and Theatrical, and the film teams.
Boasting 20 years of industry experience, Oillataguerre prior to Spyglass held roles at Universal, and even MGM Studios, working at the latter on everything from the Creed franchise to the James Bond series.
Amazon closed its $8.5B acquisition of the MGM movie studio last March, in the last year pivoting back toward an embrace of theatrical, and bringing Amazon Studios and MGM together under one label, as far as theatrical distribution, around the same time.
View Salke’s note welcoming Oillataguerre to the company below.
Hi team,
As summer comes to an end, I’d like to thank you all for the tireless work and passion you bring to our business every day. While we are currently facing unprecedented challenges in our industry, I am always so impressed and proud of how much we have accomplished. Across Amazon MGM Studios, we remain committed and focused on creating and licensing the best content for our customers across our global slate for Prime Video, Freevee & MGM +, along with our theatrical launches and titles on outside platforms.
To that end, and our continued focus on building a world-class global film slate, I am pleased to announce that Peter Oillataguerre will be joining us as our new Head of Feature Film Production for Amazon MGM Studios! Peter will be joining us on September 18 and will report to Dan Scharf, Head of Global Business Operations, and work closely with Courtenay Valenti, Head of Film, Streaming and Theatrical, and the film teams. With more than 20 years of industry experience, Peter is a seasoned executive with considerable expertise in the world of production. In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the feature film production cycle for the Amazon MGM Studios film group.
Peter brings a wealth of film production experience, having most recently served as the President of Production at Spyglass Media, responsible for the numerous blockbuster titles including Scream, Hellraiser, The Upside, and Incoming, as well as the long-running fashion competition series Project Runway. Prior to that, Peter worked at Universal Studios and our very own MGM Studios, working on tentpole titles like the Bond franchise, including Skyfall and No Time To Die; the Creed franchise; RoboCop; The Magnificent Seven and Along Came Polly to name a few.
Please join me, along with Dan, Courtenay and the rest of the teams in welcoming Peter to the Amazon family!
With all the music that gets released every week, sometimes it’s hard to keep track — and nobody wants to miss out when one of their favorite artists drops a new album.
However, we’ve made it easier for you by compiling the major new music releases of the year, organized chronologically by week. From pop and hip-hop to alternative, K-pop, country and more, 2023’s upcoming releases have something for every type of music lover. Not to mention that besides full-length albums, there are a bunch of EPs, vinyl releases and re-releases to enjoy.
Below, see Billboard‘s running monthly calendar of upcoming releases, and check back often for updates to our schedule of albums to look forward to each week.
September
Sept. 22
Drake, For All the Dogs
Doja Cat, Scarlet
Chappell Roan, The Rise & Fall of a Midwest Princess
Kelly Clarkson, Chemistry (Deluxe)
Kylie Minogue, Tension
Sept. 29
Ed Sheeran, Autumn Variations
October
Oct. 6
Darius Rucker, Carolyn’s Boy
Dogstar: Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees
Reba McEntire, Not That Fancy
Oct. 13
Offset, Set It off
Troye Sivan, Something to Give Each Other
TOMORROW X TOGETHER, The Name Chapter: FREEFALL
Oct. 20
Devo, 50 Years of De-Evolution
Salt n Pepa, Very Necessary (30th Anniversary Edition)
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! Brothers and co-directors Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng’s 100 Yards begins in the way any serious martial arts movie should, with a duel. But, rather cleverly, the fight is utilized to foreshadow every aspect of the film’s personality. In a nod to the wuxia classics, it’s a showdown between estranged hero and villainous apprentice, overseen by an aged master. But it is also realized with an ethereal falling snow aesthetic and offers an amuse-bouche of tantalizing kung fu. It even has unexpected repartee.
100 Yards tells the story of An (Jacky Heung), the wayward son of an aging kung fu master. When the grandmaster suddenly dies, his academy, the Tianjin Kung Fu School, is bequeathed to the school’s top student, Qi Quan (Andy On). Determined to show that he is the true heir of both the academy and his father’s martial lineage, An sets out to showcase his skill to the academy’s elders.
From its very first frame, the film is riveting. The sets are sumptuously colored and extraordinarily intricate, often featuring dozens of people and objects, all moving and interacting with a kind of dreamlike realism. Adding to this effect is the tremendous costume work, which infuses each character with personality and an idealized coolness. Interestingly, the Xu brothers use this visual “coolness” to flick seamlessly between various genres, from wuxia to western to noir.
“Determined to show that he is the true heir of both the academy and his father’s martial lineage…”
Shao Dan’s cinematography further underscores the film’s visual identity. Throughout, the camera moves in a remarkably unrestrained way, exploring the sets like a bird in flight. During fight scenes, the camera becomes a sort of dance partner that revolves around the combatants, offering an intimate glimpse into every strike and action. And the film features dozens of immaculately choreographed and viscerally rendered battles. Heung and On are brutal and elegant, the fluidity of their pairing coming from years of training together. But the Xu brothers, seemingly displeased with adequacy, constantly intensify the complexity of the fights. Combined with its sheer beauty, these scenes become a banquet of classical aestheticism.
However, being a wuxia martial arts film, 100 Yards often over-relies on aged narrative beats. For a movie that aspires to expand kung fu cinema to the international market, some moments can seem nearly incoherent. While not poorly plotted by any means, the story is simply stretched too thin. And yet, this is the most nominal of criticisms, especially to those with knowledge of the genre.
100 Yards is undeniably excellent. Even more, it extends the legacy of the Bruce Lees, the Jackie Chans, and the Donnie Yens, all with sophistication, wit, and an enormous amount of style. Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng have composed a remarkably modern martial arts film. All at once, it pays homage to the past, faces the future, and revels in its own confident style.
Rebecca Mayrhofer said she felt “100 per cent frustrated” when she heard about a triple stabbing in Vancouver’s Chinatown on the weekend, that police allege was committed by a man on day release from psychiatric detention.
Searching for accountability in Chinatown stabbing
“These are things that should not be happening … None of these. Not with this person on the weekend. Not with Ken. They are preventable,” Mayrhofer said.
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“Ken” is Kenneth Barter, who killed Mayrhofer’s brother Nathan Mayrhofer with a hammer in 2010 during a psychotic episode in Vernon, B.C. He then dismembered his friend, double bagged the remains and put them in his refrigerator.
Like Donnelly, Barter was found not criminally responsible for the killing, and was confined to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, before decisions by the B.C. Review Board allowed both men to return to the community unescorted.
Like Donnelly, Barter would be re-arrested. He was charged with assault and assault with a weapon in 2022. Those charges were stayed this year, and he remains in the community because of an absolute discharge by the review board in 2019.
Furor over Chinatown stabbing suspect’s day pass from Coquitlam facility
Barter could not be reached for comment.
Rebecca Mayrhofer and other victim advocates have long sought reform of the system handling offenders deemed not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder. She said the “system is broken” and it “desperately needs a change.”
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“I don’t want to see other people go through what happened last weekend and what happened with Ken,” said Mayrhofer.
Critics say the system doesn’t prioritize community safety or justice for victims, and some offenders are left without adequate supervision, or any at all. But lawyers working within the system say risk assessments aren’t made without careful consideration, and they cautioned about a knee-jerk response to the Chinatown stabbings, that have put the system into sharp focus.
Anita Szigeti, president of the Law And Mental Disorder Association, an advocacy organization of about 200 lawyers working in the field of mental health law, said the Chinatown stabbings were “extremely unfortunate.”
“One-off situations (are) quite tragic, but they are not the norm,” she said. “They are not common, they are not frequent. They are not typical, they are not to be expected.”
Decisions about the detention of not-criminally-responsible offenders are generally made annually by a review board panel at the hospital. Offenders can be represented by lawyers. Also present are their doctors and a representative of the attorney general, and victims and relatives can attend.
Chinatown festival stabbing victims recount attack
The board decides whether to continue to detain a person, whether they can be allowed time in the community and under what conditions, or whether to give them an absolute discharge without any ongoing conditions.
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“On the day of a scheduled outing, the patient is assessed to decide whether they are stable and well enough to visit the community. If not, the outing is cancelled or postponed,” read a statement from BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services, adding that a critical incident review of Donnelly’s handling was underway by the Public Health Services Authority.
In Donnelly’s case, the board ruled in April that he remained a “significant” threat to public safety. He had stabbed a friend while on previous day release in 2009 after a cocaine binge, then in 2017 he attacked a fellow detainee at the Coquitlam hospital with a butter knife shortly after returning from another day pass, a board decision said.
But he was nevertheless allowed more unescorted time in the community, including overnight stays of up to 28 nights at his doctors’ discretion.
The board’s reasons for their decision, leaked to local media and put online by CHEK News, describe mistakes in Donnelly’s care.
At one stage last year, he was moved to transitional accommodation on the grounds of the former Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam. But his time there included days in an unstaffed cottage, something that occurred without his doctors’ knowledge and failed to provide the “high-level” supervision Donnelly required.
Donnelly has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault after Sunday’s attack at the Light Up Chinatown! festival, which left three people with severe wounds.
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He was in B.C. provincial court on Friday via video from the psychiatric hospital. He appeared wearing a red prison-issued jumpsuit with a blue shirt wrapped around his neck.
A publication ban has been imposed on his case and he’s been remanded in custody until at least his next court appearance Sept. 27.
Community reaction to Chinatown stabbings
B.C. Premier David Eby has appointed former Abbotsford police chief Bob Rich to look into how “such a dangerous person” as Donnelly could be allowed into the community unescorted, and whether other such cases exist. Eby said this week he was “white-hot angry” about Donnelly’s release.
But longtime defence lawyer and former prosecutor Juan O’Quinn said the premier, as former executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and attorney general, should better understand how the process works.
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“He (spent) years lobbying on behalf of people under human rights legislation and so to now act surprised is somewhat surprising,” he said.
O’Quinn, an associate at Murphy Battista in Kelowna, said in his experience review board members were well educated and decisions are “not flippantly made.”
“These are decisions that are made with extensive consideration, with contemplation for the safety of the public, made by educated professionals, and unfortunately this individual was gauged to be safe and (allegedly) proved not to be,” he said.
“This is not something that happens every month or two, but when it does happen in such an extravagant fashion, as terrible as it is, it garners a lot of attention.”
He said the general population doesn’t understand the not-criminally-responsible defence and thinks someone can just say they are mentally ill and quickly be released, when in fact years of work goes into determining whether someone should be allowed back into the community.
Man charged in Chinatown festival attack has long history of violence
“This government is trying to make an issue out of trying to find out how this happened. Well, the premier knows how it happens, he was the attorney general when people were being appointed to those boards,” O’Quinn said.
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O’Quinn previously represented Barter. He says there’s “nothing you can say to relieve the pain” felt by Mayrhofer’s family.
But Barter was entitled to representation and “the opportunity to take advantage of the legislation that was there.”
There have been previous efforts to tighten the system.
The mother of Tim McLean — who was killed and cannibalized on a Greyhound bus in 2008 by Vince Li, who was found not criminally responsible — spent years calling for reforms to a system she said provided “minimal assurances that the criminal behaviour will not be repeated.”
In 2014, the Conservative government of Stephen Harper passed the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act. It created a new “high risk” designation for some offenders, that saw the period between their reviews extended to three years.
But Rebecca Mayrhofer says some offenders need permanent supervision if they are allowed into the community.
“I do have a lot of sympathy with people with mental illness. It’s a very hard thing to struggle with, but when you have this small percentage of violent people, you need to really keep an eye (on them) and make sure that the public is kept safe from them,” said Mayrhofer.
Mayrhofer said she had been writing to different levels of government, advocating for permanent monitoring and psychiatric supervision to ensure such offenders take prescribed medication.
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“I think that for people who have violent crimes, there should be a lot stricter guidelines for them as far as letting them go on day passes and letting them go on outings.
“If they do eventually get a discharge like (Barter), they should have to always go to check in with a psychiatrist.” said Mayrhofer.
She described her brother Nathan as a “gentle soul” with a “really big heart.”
Suspect charged in Vancouver Chinatown’s triple stabbing
Lawyer Szigeti said it was extremely rare to see someone reoffending while on authorized leave from the hospital, and the review board’s experts “tend to be quite conservative in their risk assessment.”
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years, I’ve had maybe 10,000 of these hearings … the system generally works extremely safely.”
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She said incidents like the Chinatown stabbings result in a “knee-jerk response” from legislatures, government, and the public.
“And I worry that there’s going to be a disproportional, grossly outsized negative adverse impact on all of my clients’ liberty because there’s always some kind of backlash and it’s an emotional nature response that’s usually quite ill-informed or uninformed,” said Szigeti.
Mayrhofer said there’s a lack of adequate funding and resources at the psychiatric hospital. The Donnelly ruling refers to possibly placing him in an enhanced program, but it couldn’t happen until funding and staffing became available.
Chinatown community leaders react to attack at festival
Mayrhofer said she doesn’t doubt review board members are well-educated and intelligent, but she said they sit through so many hearings it was impossible for them to get to the root of every offender’s problems.
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She and Nathan’s father, John Mayrhofer, aren’t so forgiving.
Mayrhofer, 72, said his son’s death and its manner still pain him, and Barter was a “sociopath.”
“And the review board is a bunch of idiots. They couldn’t see that,” he said.
Barter and people like him needed lifetime monitoring, John Mayrhofer said, and not an unconditional release.
“He didn’t have to go see a psychiatrist. He doesn’t have to take pills. He’s unmonitored. That is what pisses me off the most. They just let them go. Nothing happens.”
Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Elon Musk includes a number of intriguing vignettes involving everyone from Bill Gates to Google co-founder Sergei Brin. Two in particular involve Endeavor chief Ari Emanuel, who reportedly proposed running Twitter for $100 million, not long after Larry David had chastised Musk to his face after officiating Emanuel’s wedding. (For more about both, read on.)
Inherent public curiosity about the Tesla/X/SpaceX billionaire — which pushed a previous biography up the best-seller list in 2015 — has been stoked further by Isaacson’s access and status. The author, formerly the editor of Time and head of CNN, followed Musk for two years and interviewed him and many others in his orbit. He has also written well-regarded biographies of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and others.
Isaacson’s pedigree has evidently helped give an early commercial boost to the 688-page Simon & Schuster title, which is already No. 3 on the Amazon charts. Yet its publication Tuesday has also been greeted by many strikingly negative reviews. Novelist Gary Shtyngart, writing in The Guardian, panned the book as an “insight-free doorstop,” while Brian Merchant in the LA Times assailed what he felt was Isaacson’s bias, concluding that “it’s time to retire the entire genre of ‘great innovator’ biographies.” Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway also tore into the book on their top-rated podcast Pivot. “I wanted a little more analysis, from the smart person that Walter is,” Swisher observes. “It actually makes Elon boring … and it doesn’t feel soaring in any way.” Galloway complains that the book’s “idolatry” ends up marginalizing or excusing cruelty, misogyny, anti-Semitism and other dark aspects of the story.
Of course, the review game is not what it once was, and vox populi support tends to drown out establishment criticism, just as it is in the movie business and elsewhere. On Goodreads and Amazon, the book currently has 4.5 stars out of 5, with most readers having a similar response to that of Will Oremus in his review for the Washington Post. “Isaacson prioritized revealing anecdotes and behind-the-scenes reportage over a sophisticated critical lens,” he wrote in a mixed-to-positive notice.
Emanuel plays a part in two of the book’s most eye-popping passages, at least to readers of this website. After Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last year, a period of chaos ensued as thousands of employees were cut loose, including the former executive management team. Amid doomsday predictions and damning accounts from insiders, Emanuel delivered a pitch to Musk, a longtime friend who for a time had a seat on the board of directors of Endeavor Group Holdings. For a fee of $100 million, Isaacson writes, Emanuel said he and a group from Endeavor, would run Twitter. The hired hands would cut costs, repair relations with advertisers and overhaul the corporate culture.
The response? Musk lieutenant Jared Birchall quickly shot down the idea, according to the book, calling Emanuel’s outreach via the encrypted text service Signal ““the most insulting, demeaning, insane message.”
The other moment occurred during Emanuel’s 2022 wedding to Sarah Staudinger in St. Tropez, France, Larry David officiated the nuptials, and Isaacson describes a scene in which David and Musk wound up seated next to each other at a table. Pleasantries were not exchanged; rather, a sequence worthy of Curb Your Enthusiasm reportedly unfolded — minus the comedy.
“Do you want to murder kids in school?” David asked Musk, according to Isaacson. The comment was referring to a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, TX, which killed 19 students and two teachers.
“His tweets about voting Republican because Democrats were the party of division and hate were sticking in my craw. Even if Uvalde never happened, I probably would have brought it up, because I was angry and offended,” David told Isaacson.
Honda is resurrecting an old scooter and bringing it into the modern day now sporting a suitcase-esque design called the Motocompacto.
Directly inspired by the MotoCompo from the 1980s, the new electric scooter is compact measuring 21.1 H x 29.2 L x 3.7 W inches when folded allowing it to easily fit in the back of a car. It even has a leather strap on top for easy carrying although you may have a tough time lugging it around.
The Motocompacto clocks in at 41.3 pounds putting it on the heavier side among the best e-scooters out there. When you’re ready to ride, you can pop out the handlebars, seat, wheels, and a few other components, and unfolding it increases the overall size to 35 H x 38.1 L x 17.2 W inches.
Additionally, the handlebars feature an integrated LED screen displaying the speedometer next to the battery level, according to The Verge.
Features
As a vehicle, it’s not going to take you very far. The company describes the Motocompacto as a “fun-to-ride ‘first and last mile’ solution”. In other words, you’re meant to use the scooter to help get around your neighborhood. Its 490W electric motor has a top speed of 15 mph with a maximum range of up to 12 miles. Also it can accelerate to 15 mph in seven seconds. You won’t be able to go across town, however if you need a quick ride from point A to point B, the Motocompacto can get the job done.
There is, however, one potentially problematic aspect to Honda’s scooter. It will take 3.5 hours to fully charge so your next ride will take a while. But when compared to the other e-scooters like the NIO KQi3 Pro which has a charge time of six hours, three hours isn’t all that bad. Plus, the Motocompacto comes with a 110v plug which is your standard three-pronged input Americans will be most familiar with. You can just plug the scooter into any old outlet to charge.
Availability
The Motocompacto e-scooter launches this November in the United States for $995 where it will be available for purchase online or at select “Honda and Acura automobile dealers.” The company does have plans to release a “clever phone app” that’ll let riders adjust the personal settings, lighting configuration, and ride modes via Bluetooth, though no release date for the app has been given.
From what I’ve seen of it, the Motocompacto is a pretty cool scooter even if it is a little silly looking, but its meant to be fun, not flashy. What’s more, the blank white sides leave it open for all sorts of customization options like stickers, decals, and the like. As seen in the official trailer, you can do a lot with its blank canvas-like sides.
It doesn’t look like the Motocompacto will be going international, unfortunately. A company representative told TechRadar that since the scooter was an “American Honda-led development”, it’s only going to be available in the US. They have no plans for “other markets at this time.”
Logline: On his way home to a family reunion, a chance encounter with an old friend (Hillary Baack) forces Sam (Elliot Page) to confront some long-buried memories.
International Sales: U.T.A.
Panelists: Dominic Savage (director), Elliott Page (actor), Hillary Baack (actor).
First Screening: Sept. 10, 2023.
Key Quote: “I was just thrilled to get to be a part of Dominic’s work. The first thing I saw of his was the film he did with Samantha Morton [I Am… Kirsty]. That just completely blew me away. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I couldn’t stop feeling it. And so we started talking about an idea. Dominic would go and write a bit, and then he’d share it and we’d talk about it. The next thing we knew, we were on set, improvising this whole movie, and I was having one of the most special and unique experiences I’ve ever had as an actor — if not the most.” – Elliott Page
In a new profile on Paul Danopublished by The Guardian, his “The Batman” director Matt Reeves confirms they filmed “70 or 80 takes” of the Riddler and Batman’s final confrontation in the 2022 DC comic book tentpole. Dano starred as the film’s villain opposite Robert Pattinson as the eponymous superhero. The film earned rave reviews (it was named the third best film of 2022 by Variety) and was a box office hit with $771 million worldwide. A sequel is set for release in 2025.
“Paul loves doing a lot of takes, as do I,” Reeves said. “We took two days on the final scene between him and Robert Pattinson as Batman, and we must have easily done 70 or 80 takes. Paul loves exploring. He’s obsessive that way.”
“There were all these moments as the Riddler where he’d be tickled by something and then fly into a rage, and you never knew from take to take where that switch would come,” Reeves continued. “I’d be sitting there with the headphones on, trying to stifle my laughter because he’d always do something surprising. Paul would ask me: ‘Was that crazy? Was that too much?’ I’d say: ‘No it’s fantastic. Let’s do another.’”
Dano earned strong reviews for his performance as the Riddler. Reeves revealed last year that for one scene that required Dano to record his voice when the Riddler is heard over the phone, the actor recorded 200 takes.
“[Paul Dano] goes, ‘OK, let me try one where I’m off camera and I stick my head in. Let me try one where I’m already sitting there,’” Reeves said at the time. “He’s directing this one-person play on an iPhone…It was the giddiness [of Dano] that really got to me. Calling out the passing time, like he was a game show host. He was so inventive and creative. He’s also very critical of himself.”
Given that Dano’s Riddler ended “The Batman” imprisoned next to the Joker (Barry Keoghan), it’s likely he might pop up in the film’s sequel. “The Batman Part II” is set for release Oct. 3, 2025 from Warner Bros.
In a statement to the Wrap, a spokesperson for the show said, “We regret that two audience members were not permitted to attend or were not allowed access. Drew was completely unaware of the incident and we are in the process of reaching out to the affected audience members to offer them new tickets.”
The stock market can often seem less like a financial index and more like an opaque narrative, one with winners and losers, risk and reward, and not necessarily linked to any company’s inherent, real-world value.
What happened in January 2021 with the pandemic-threatened mall chain GameStop, the subject of Craig Gillespie’s enjoyable finance comedy “Dumb Money,” is a case in point: a struggling business’s share price becoming a proxy class war between secretive hedge-funders counting on its doom to line their pockets, and a scrappy, social media culture of low-level investors trying to boost its value and destabilize Wall Street. The gambit and its fallout provoked awe, speculation, bankruptcies and even congressional hearings.
The movies love a good David-vs.-Goliath story, which gives “Dumb Money” (named for how hedge guys insultingly tag day traders) a satisfying populist tinge to go along with its Altmanesque multi-character comic vibrancy. After the rollicking but hero-deficient “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “The Big Short,”Paul Dano’s nerdy warmth makes for a sweetly centering tonic as this tale’s headband-sporting analyst Keith Gill, whose earnest, basement-recorded YouTube posts under the moniker Roaring Kitty turned GameStop into a rallying cry against a rigged financial system. A year after risking his life savings ($53,000) on a business he viewed as undervalued — yet many assumed was as dead as Blockbuster Video — a frenzy of buying saw Gill’s positions in GameStop reach $48 million.
The screenplay by Rebecca Angelo and Lauren Schuker Blum, adapting reporter Ben Mezrich’s 2021 book “The Antisocial Network,” is a model of how-it-went-down storytelling, detail-rich but personality-driven. What’s impenetrable about the stock market — the manipulations, the rule-changing, the clandestine deals — is made crystal-clear.
Gill’s benevolent steadfastness is supported by his loving, tolerant wife (Shailene Woodley) but mocked by his shiftless brother (a very funny Pete Davidson), who urges him to cash in. And while nervous hedge fund short-seller Gabe Plotkin (a shrewdly against-type Seth Rogen) sweats things out in his Florida mansion while staying connected to his billionaire mentors (Vincent D’Onofrio and Nick Offerman), an orbit of likable, ordinary GameStop investors rides a wave that feels like a movement.
America Ferrera in the movie “Dumb Money.”
(Claire Folger / Columbia Pictures)
Every tap of “buy” on a smartphone feels like a vote for meaningful change: There’s a cash-strapped Pittsburgh nurse and single mom (America Ferrera), a savvy GameStop cashier (Anthony Ramos), and a pair of college students and ardent Roaring Kitty fans (Talia Ryder and Myha’la Herrold). Straddling the middle is user-friendly brokerage company Robinhood, whose smooth-talking co-founder Vladimir Tenev (Sebastian Stan) comes under scrutiny for consequential actions during GameStop’s meteoric rise.
As with his deftly empathetic handling of “I, Tonya,” Gillespie captures a hot-topic milieu of desperation and excitement populated by schemers. His love of actors is a plus, but his understanding of how they mix foibles, charms, and fears is uncommonly good. It’s also what makes “Dumb Money” memorable as a depiction of life during the pandemic, both how we interacted with each other — masked and cautious, locked down and lonely — and why a starkly clarifying atmosphere of isolation and indignation could create a groundswell of righteousness. It’s a feeling distilled in a wonderfully handled late-night gas-pump exchange between Ferrera and another customer. When the world’s telling you to be alone, even friendly small talk with a stranger can seem like its own essential refueling.
In the end, “Dumb Money” wants us to believe a revolution was afoot , but it’s too low-key (even with “WAP” as an unofficial needle-drop anthem) to truly convince us, especially with how things played out. But in its thumbnail sketches simmering with risk, humor, and melancholy, illuminating a world of worsening disparities but spikier solidarity, it entertainingly takes stock.
‘Dumb Money’
Rating: R, for pervasive language, sexual material and drug use
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis’s NFT-funded animated series Stoner Cats has been fined $1 million by the SEC for misleading investors.
The SEC found that Stoner Cats violated the Securities Act of 1933 by offering unregistered crypto asset securities to the public.
The company behind Stoner Cats emphasized the benefits of acquiring NFTs and the involvement of well-known actors to attract investors and raise the resale value of the NFTs.
A new report from Entertainment Weekly reveals that Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis’s NFT-funded animated series Stoner Cats has been fined $1 million dollars by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for misleading its investors.
The adult-animated series Stoner Cats was created by Ash Brannon, Chris Cartagena, and Sarah Cole and stars Kutcher, Kunis, Chris Rock, Jane Fonda, and others. The show follows a group of house cats who gain a higher consciousness after being exposed to medical marijuana.
According to the SEC, the animated series sold over 10,000 NFTs and earned a profit of $8 million to finance Stoner Cats. In a press release, the SEC states that these actions violated the Securities Act of 1933 by “offering and selling these crypto asset securities to the public in an unregistered offering that was not exempt from registration.”
Reports additionally claimed that the team behind the animated series focused on the benefits of acquiring one of its NFTs, with one example of exploits being the option to later re-sell the NFT for a greater profit. The SEC’s statement added that it also “emphasized its expertise as Hollywood producers, its knowledge of crypto projects, and the well-known actors involved in the web series, leading investors to expect profits because a successful web series could cause the resale value of the Stoner Cats NFTs in the secondary market to rise.”
The SEC additionally concluded that the company had also constructed the NFTs in a way that ensured it provided a 2.5 percent royalty every time that the original was later bought online, resulting in the buyer spending more than $20 million on a minimum of 10,000 transactions.
The SEC Stated That “SC2 Agreed to a Cease-And-Desist Order and To Pay a Civil Penalty of $1 Million”
Fox
The Securities and Exchange Commission stated, “Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, SC2 agreed to a cease-and-desist order and to pay a civil penalty of $1 million. The order establishes a Fair Fund to return monies that injured investors paid to purchase the NFTs. SC2 also agreed to destroy all NFTs in its possession or control and publish notice of the order on its website and social media channels.”
Their statement added, “Registration of securities, including crypto asset securities, protects investors by providing them with disclosures so they can make informed investing decisions. Stoner Cats wanted all the benefits of offering and selling a security to the public but ignored the legal responsibilities that comes with doing so.”
The website for the adult animated series stated that after “Mila Kunis and her Orchard Farm Productions heard this story, they knew that a hilarious and intimate story like this needed to have deep direct engagement with its audience. So they formed a formidable collective of voice talent, animators, and creatives of all kinds to come together with technology and NFT experts (including the brilliant minds behind CryptoKitties) to bring this story to life using NFTs.”
The site added that, “Stoner Cats NFTs gave holders access to the content creators of the show, making it one of the first projects to use NFTs to create a community of holders who get to see behind the curtain as an animated series is made and interact directly with top-level Hollywood talent.”
Now Playing: FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH – Release Date Announce Trailer
When it came to Hamaguchi’s statement, he seemed keen on expressing how Rebirth will embrace the concept of “free exploration” now that Cloud and his companions are outside the steel walls of Midgar that defined Final Fantasy VII Remake.
“While the main storyline is bigger and more ambitious than the previous game’s narrative, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth also embraces the concept of ‘free exploration,’ with compelling stories, fun mini-games, powerful monsters and so much more to find throughout the world map,” Hamaguchi said. “We hope you will explore this world in great detail, as nearly 100 hours of adventure awaits.”
Much of what Hamaguchi described can be seen in the game’s latest trailer, which teases the various minigames of the Golden Saucer, iconic locations like Costa del Sol, and even the appearance of Weapons, powerful optional bosses that appeared in the original Final Fantasy VII. In a Q&A with the official PlayStation Blog, Hamaguchi said that the amount of side content in Rebirth is nearly double that of the game’s main story.
“The world map is vast and expansive, so not all of the locations on it will be used in the main story alone,” Hamaguchi said. “In fact, volume wise, the amount of side content in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is nearly double that of the main quest content. Players who want to enjoy Final Fantasy VII setting on an even deeper level can explore all the corners of the world, discovering many different and exciting experiences such as new stories, battles, and mini-games to play. It will also be possible to return to any of the regions in the world even after the main quest moves on from that area, so you don’t have to worry about leaving things behind or unfinished.”
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Lighting can set the mood, convey emotions, and guide the audience’s attention. And where you place, the lights are motivated by what you want out of the scene.
In this article, we’ll delve into the definition of motivated lighting and explore some key techniques to help you use it effectively in your filmmaking endeavors.
An Easy Way to Make Your Lighting More “Cinematic” – Motivated Lightingwww.youtube.com
Motivated Lighting Definition
‘Atomic Blonde’
Credit: Focus Features
Motivated lighting is a lighting technique in filmmaking that strives to make the light sources within a scene appear natural and justified.
In other words, it mimics the way light would naturally interact with the environment and the characters within it.
Why motivate your light? The aim is to create a sense of realism and authenticity in the lighting, helping the audience to immerse themselves more deeply in the story.
What Are The Principles Behind Motivated Lighting?
‘Blood Simple’
Credit: Circle Film
Motivated lighting operates on the principle that light sources should be motivated by the setting and the narrative.
This means that any light you see on screen should have a logical source within the story’s world, whether it’s the sun streaming through a window, a table lamp, or a car’s headlights.
When done right, motivated lighting enhances the storytelling, adds depth to characters, and enriches the visual experience. I think these shots are all really memorable and create movies with scenes that pop out in our heads.
Motivated Lighting Techniques
You’re definitely using motivated lighting in your projects. So, let’s go over a few techniques that will help you make sure the choices you make work best for your project.
Story-driven Lighting Design: The first step in creating motivated lighting is to analyze the script and the characters. Understand the mood of each scene and the emotional journey of the characters. This will help you determine the type and quality of light that best serves the narrative. For instance, a romantic scene may require soft, warm lighting, while a suspenseful moment could benefit from dramatic, harsh shadows.
Identify Natural Light Sources: Take a close look at the scene’s setting and identify the natural light sources within it. Is it daylight, moonlight, or artificial sources like lamps or candles? Once you’ve identified these sources, you can plan your lighting setup accordingly.
Lighting Continuity: Consistency is key to motivated lighting. Make sure that the lighting in a scene remains consistent from shot to shot unless there is a narrative reason for a change. Sudden, unexplained shifts in lighting can disrupt the audience’s immersion in the story.
Practical Lighting: Whenever possible, use practical lights that are visible on screen as light sources. This not only adds authenticity but also allows for creative storytelling. For example, a character turning on a lamp can signify a shift in the scene’s tone or reveal new information.
Use Light Modifiers: To control the quality and direction of light, employ various modifiers like diffusers, reflectors, and flags. These tools help you shape the light to fit the mood and atmosphere you want to convey.
Balancing Ambient Light: In some situations, you may need to balance the existing ambient light with your controlled lighting setup. For example, if you’re shooting a night scene in a room, consider how the moonlight from outside affects the interior lighting.
Motivate Camera Movements: Coordinate camera movements with your motivated lighting to enhance the visual storytelling. Move the camera in a way that showcases the light sources and their impact on the scene.
Test and Adjust: Always test your lighting setup before the shoot. Be prepared to make adjustments as needed to achieve the desired look and mood.
Motivated lighting is an essential technique that can elevate the visual storytelling in your films. By grounding your lighting choices in the narrative and the world of the story, you can create a more immersive and emotionally resonant cinematic experience.
Remember that each scene may require a unique approach to lighting, so stay flexible and creative in your lighting design. With practice and attention to detail, motivated lighting can become a powerful tool in your filmmaking arsenal.
Natalie Portman is weighing on the “reductive” concept of a female gaze onscreen.
Portman, who leads Todd Haynes’ “May December,” told Vanity Fair France (via Variety) that the gender of a filmmaker shouldn’t relate to their movie.
“Female directors should have the same opportunities as their male counterparts,” Portman said. “But the experience of working with a director has to do with the individual and it doesn’t relate to gender.”
She continued that “May December” helmer Haynes, for example, “has an in-depth understanding of human behavior. His female characters are complex and multidimensional.”
Earlier this year, Portman reflected on the legacy of the Time’s Up movement in Hollywood, of which she was a founding member. The organization and social campaign addressed sexual harassment in the workplace, namely in Hollywood. Kerry Washington, Brie Larson, Ashley Judd, Reese Witherspoon, and Shonda Rhimes were among the leading activists of the movement.
“It was really, really heartbreaking that Time’s Up dissipated the way it did,” Portman said, noting the CEO exiting in 2021. “I think a lot of people made mistakes, but mistakes are deadly for activism. You have to be so perfect in order to demand the change that you want to see, and I don’t know, maybe acknowledging all our imperfection as humans and saying that people can do something wrong and also be good at something else, having a little bit more shades of gray might actually let us get to more progress.”
She added, “There was something so powerful about just gathering women with similar experiences and sharing. And so many amazing things have spun off it that I think those relationships have persisted and have turned into incredible other projects, but it still is painful that Time’s Up doesn’t exist anymore as it was. For an entire movement to not be allowed to exist because of individual mistakes or even collective mistakes, I think that we have to be able to make mistakes and learn from them and allow that.”
Drew Barrymore understands that “there’s nothing I can do or say in this moment to make it OK” that she decided to return to her show without writers amid the ongoing strike. But she’s going to say a few things about it anyway, namely that one, she’s “deeply” sorry for doing it, and two, she’s still going to do it anyway.
Michael Cera randomly revived a long-dormant email chain from the original “Scott Pilgrim” cast
In a video statement posted to social media, Barrymore became emotional comparing the current backlash to the various public traumas she’s lived through. “I know there is just nothing I can do that will make this OK to those that it is not OK with. I fully accept that. I fully understand that,” she said. “There are so many reasons why this is so complex, and I just want everyone to know my intentions have never been in a place to upset or hurt anymore. It’s not who I am. I’ve been through so many ups and downs in my life, and this is one of them.”
Barrymore went on to explain, “There’s a huge question of the why—why am I doing this? Well, I certainly couldn’t have expected this kind of attention, and we aren’t going to break rules and we will be in compliance. I wanted to do this, because as I said, this is bigger than me and there are other people’s jobs on the line.”
Reiterating a sentiment from her initial statement, she added, “Since launching live in a pandemic, I just wanted to make a show that was there for people in sensitive times, and I weighed the scales and I thought if we could go on during a global pandemic, and everything that the world experienced through 2020, why would this sideline us? So I want to just put one foot in front of the other and make a show that’s there for people regardless of anything else that’s happening in the world because that’s when I think we all need something that wants to be there being very realistic in very realistic times.”
There are a few holes in her argument, starting with the fact that the pandemic and the strike are incomparable scenarios. While Barrymore’s show might have been a beacon for viewers as it aired in 2020, its return in 2023 is an active disappointment to some of her fans and especially her employees, like co-head writer Cristina Kinon.
“I personally understand that everybody has to make the best decision for themselves. I know that this show has a crew of hundreds of people who need to be paid, and I understand the perspective of wanting to protect your cast, your crew, and your staff,” Kinon told The Daily Beast in an interview earlier this week. With Barrymore’s eponymous talk show and others that employ WGA members heading back on air, Kinon said “it is frustrating, because it will prolong the strike, and we just want it to end.”
While, as Kinon notes, it’s an entirely valid concern for Barrymore to keep her crew employed, it also means that everyone going to work on the show and all their guests have to cross a picket line to do so. And even though Barrymore has insisted multiple times now that the show will be “in compliance” with the strike by not having any written material, moving forward without its writers means the show is replacing the work of its writers one way or another.
Barrymore was at pains to reiterate that returning to the show was her choice: “I don’t exactly know what to say because sometimes when things are so tough, it’s hard to make decisions from that place. So all I can say is that I wanted to accept responsibility, and now I don’t have a PR machine behind this. My decision to go back to the show—I didn’t want to hide behind people,” she said. “I won’t polish this with bells and whistles and publicists and corporate rhetoric. I’ll just stand out there and accept and be responsible.”
Barrymore should accept responsibility for the decision to move forward; after all, like the late-night talk show hosts, she could come up with alternate means to pay her staff’s salaries during the strike. However, her decision to be the sole person to “own” this choice puts her in the precarious position of shielding the AMPTP from its responsibility for creating the conditions that caused the strike in the first place. With two concurrent Hollywood strikes going on—and Barrymore is a member of one of the guilds striking—it’s a curious choice to martyr herself in this situation. (“if CBS is threatening to cancel, you should publicize that!” tweetedLast Week Tonight writer Liz Hynes.)
Last and least important: What are “realistic times”? Aren’t all times, by nature of being real, realistic ones? This is a case where a writer might have come in handy.
An aspiring writer deep in debt encounters a young man with no memories and strange abilities. Together they fight injustice and form an unlikely bond.
Certificate:Suitable for ages 15 and up
Year: 2023
Duration: 10 Episodes
Audio: Korean [Original]
Subtitles: Arabic, English, Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese
Not everyone is excited about the new cast of “Dancing With the Stars.” Following Wednesday’s announcement of the pros and celebrities set to compete on Season 32, former cast member Sharna Burgess expressed his disappointment in the casting of Adrian Peterson.
“There’s one person that I’d like to share that I’m really shocked is on there is Adrian Peterson, the football player… The man has been charged with child abuse of his four-year-old son in the way that he punishes him and that is just devastating for me,” Burgess said during the latest episode of iHeartRadio’s “Old-ish” podcast. “I’m telling you now if I walked into a room and that was my partner, I would turn around and walk right out. There is no way — now being a mother — I would be able to stomach that.”
The NFL running back has a history of legal woes. In 2014, he was charged with felony child abuse; he ultimately pleaded no contest and landed a reduced charge of misdemeanor reckless assault. In 2022, he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. The charges were later dropped.
Peterson will dance with pro Britt Stewart, whose Instagram account is now being flooded with comments about how disappointed people are in the network’s casting.
Burgess, who has been a pro on 14 seasons of “Dancing With the Stars,” previously expressed her disappointment over not being asked back for Season 32.
“Because it was such a shock, because I wasn’t expecting it, it was tough. It’s not the first time. My last five years on the show have been rocky — not because of the show. I love the show deeply, but we had a new executive producer come in, I think five years ago now. I had just won with Bobby Bones and he decided to not bring me back,” Burgess said on the first episode of “Oldish.”
During Thursday’s episode, she noted that she feels no ill-will toward the show, as she knows the decision wasn’t personal, and will keep watching this season, supporting her friends.
Happy New Music Friday! The weekend is here, which means more streaming, new playlists and the best that music has to offer — and ET has you covered for everything in between.
Conan O’Brien appeared Kara Swisher’s New York Magazine podcast (via Insider) and lamented Donald Trump for hurting comedy. The former late night host joked: “I’m really going on a limb here saying: That’s his greatest crime, that I think he’s hurt political comedy by being so outlandish himself. I think the January 6 thing is a blip compared to how much he’s hurt comedy.”
Jokes aside, O’Brien noted that “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 asshole.’ And those aren’t jokes.”
O’Brien compared trying to make jokes about Trump is a lost cause in the same way trying to parody The National Enquirer is a lost cause.
“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,’” O’Brien said. “There’s no way to parody that. You can’t parody something that already has that crazy irregular shape. It’s not possible.”
Back in 2019, O’Brien told Rolling Stone that “Trump’s superpower is constantly believing in the infallibility of Trump.” He added: “Humility is a weakness to him. Having performed two different White House Correspondents’ Dinners and seen Clinton and Obama sit there and laugh at themselves, I don’t think Trump can do that. Look at how Dana Carvey was able to lampoon George H.W. Bush and then George H.W. Bush invited him to the White House and they became friends. That was someone who was comfortable enough in his own skin to be mocked.”
“Growing up, you always put the president up on a pedestal,” he added at the time. “The minute the president is someone that you know, you think, ‘That guy can’t be president. I know that guy. I saw that guy steal towels at the gym. He can’t be president.’ That’s the feeling I think a lot of us have [about Trump.]”
Izzy Gleicherheld onto the biggest secret in the Big Brother 25 house, that being Cirie Fields and Jared Fields‘ family connection. Blue Kim knew this vital information as well, due to Jared’s loose lips, which Izzy found out about before she was evicted from the house on September 14. Izzy appeared on The Exclusive With Sharon Tharpthe day after her eviction and revealed that she didn’t end up telling Cirie that Blue is aware of the secret.
“He didn’t tell me that she knew exactly, but he told me at one point he was like, ‘Yo, I told Blue I had a secret.’ And I was ready to… I did not tell Cirie that,” Izzy told host Sharon Tharp. “I’m honestly frustrated by that and I was frustrated by a lot of things that Jared did and didn’t do. I’m pretty saddened by that, I gotta admit.”
The 34-year-old professional flutist explained that she doubts Blue will do anything with the powerful information that she has in her back pocket. “Blue has no idea what’s going on,” Izzy said. “I was gonna take her as far as possible because she ain’t gonna win.”
Throughout this season, fans have been critical of Izzy’s game for being so loyal to a mother-son duo who would likely choose each other over her. And Izzy confirmed that she intended to stick with Jared and Cirie until the end of the game — but she did have a plan to win.
Izzy was evicted from ‘BB25’ on September 14 (Photo: CBS)
“I was all in on the final three. I know that Cirie was gonna throw final HOH. I’m very confident that me and Jared would’ve been sitting in the final two seats and I frankly think I would’ve beaten Jared and not needed Cirie’s vote,” Izzy said.
“I thought about this a lot,” she added. “People that watch the feeds probably heard me talking about it a lot to myself. That was absolutely the plan and I can be confident about that.”
Izzy was evicted by a vote of 8-1 against her ally Felicia Cannon. Cirie was the only person who voted to keep Izzy. Izzy was the fifth person evicted from the BB25 house, after Kirsten Elwin, Reilly Smedley, Hisam Goueli, and Red Utley.
Of all the stories and sides of Leonard Bernstein that Bradley Cooper decided to leave out of “Maestro,” the most infamous is surely the “Radical Chic” episode. In 1970, a New York magazine cover story, written by Tom Wolfe and entitled “Radical Chic,” spent 20,000 words describing, in delectable you-are-there detail, a party thrown by Lenny and his wife, Felicia, at their Park Avenue apartment in order to raise funds for the Black Panthers. Several of the Panthers were there, mingling with the swells of aristocratic liberal New York, and Wolfe captured the contradictions of that evening in a tone of such scathing perception that it was as if he’d defined the concept of bourgeois political correctness, disemboweled it, and danced on its grave, all in the same moment.
In “Radical Wolfe,” a lively, impeccably chiseled portrait of Tom Wolfe, who died in 2018 (this is the first documentary about him), we hear how Wolfe came to write that essay. He happened to be standing, by himself, in David Halberstam’s office when he noticed an invitation to the Bernsteins’ party for the Panthers on Halberstam’s desk. Wolfe RSVP’d (even though he hadn’t been invited) and crashed the party, hanging out in an unobtrusive chair to observe and write down everything he saw. The piece was hugely controversial, and the documentary presents several viewpoints about it. There are testaments to its brilliance. The journalist Tom Junod, an avid admirer of Wolfe’s, thinks it’s the moment that he edged into “cruelty.” Jamal Joseph, who was one of the Black Panthers released from prison as a result of funds raised by the Bernsteins that could now pay his bail money, says, “It kind of put a derisive label on good work that was happening.”
I first read “Radical Chic” when I saw 17, and it instantly made me a Wolfe fanatic. But half a century after it was written, I would say that what’s staggering and timeless about the essay, and maybe more dangerous than ever, is that its true subject is the politics of narcissism. In mocking the Bernsteins and their set, Wolfe was really asking a question of daunting relevance: For public figures (and, in our own era, maybe for social-media crusaders who aren’t famous), where do you draw the line between caring about an issue and caring about the image you project in broadcasting how much you care about it? Which “caring” outweighs the other? That was the moral conundrum at the luscious provocative heart of “Radical Chic.” And it’s one that resonates now more than ever.
“Radical Wolfe” is only 76 minutes long, but as directed by Richard Dewey, it’s a highly entertaining movie that manages to pack in more or less every important thing you’d want to know about Tom Wolfe. He was truly a writer who revolutionized journalism, and maybe even how we think about things (the indelible catch phrases alone tell the story of his influence — the Right Stuff, the Me Decade, Masters of the Universe). Clearly, though, he had major company, and the film gives appropriate shoutouts to all the other legendary writers associated with the New Journalism (Hunter S. Thompson, Joan Didion, Norman Mailer, Gay Talese), leaving out, as these lists perpetually do, a writer I think belongs in that game-changing pantheon: the film critic Pauline Kael. (Her writing was strongly influenced by Wolfe, with some of the same tossed-off-prose-as-psychoanalytic-bebop spirit.) But it was Wolfe, more than anyone, who taught journalism to dance, and in “Radical Wolfe” the story of how he did it, and the heights he rose to, makes for an irresistible watch.
The documentary is full of photographs and film footage of Wolfe, and we see how vital his look was to the Wolfe mystique. I don’t just mean the famous white suit, with its roots in the Richmond, VA, of his youth. The look began with his face — strikingly handsome, all rakish charm and amusement, with those slightly pursed lips set off by a long sweep of light-brown hair that was total Southern gentleman yet edged him, in a funny way, right into the counterculture. That was true, as well, of the suit, the old-fashioned ties, even the white shoes. To say that it was all a uniform, that it made Tom Wolfe into a “character,” is obvious and has been said for 60 years. But it was bigger than that. The look almost made him a superhero — it was as if he’d arrived from another planet. You could say that it expressed his traditional, anachronistic, conservative side, yet the whole thing was: He wasn’t anachronistic. He was hipper than the hipsters. He had feelers that allowed him to see all. And this made him a fantastic paradox.
“He was a contradictory character,” says Talese in the documentary. “You would never know, from being with Tom Wolfe in person, that same guy could write that way. Such a polite person. Such a well-mannered person. With a pen in his hand, he could be a terrorist.” That was my experience of Wolfe in college when I got to spend a couple of hours with him after picking him up at the airport for a speaking engagement. He was so mild and pleasant and upbeat, so much calmer than his writing, that you couldn’t get him to dip into that side of his personality.
The story of how Wolfe’s celebrated style — the exclamation points!! The spontaneous but knowing word salad!! — came to exist is really one for the ages, and “Radical Wolfe” tells it better than I’ve ever heard. In 1962, he was working for the New York Herald Tribune when a newspaper strike happened, leaving him out of work. He needed money, so he went to Esquire magazine and sold them on the idea of a story about the new California culture of customized hot rods. Checking himself into the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, where he stayed for four weeks (running up an enormous bill), he found himself in the middle of this amazing world of “automobile expression” that he knew next to nothing about.
By the time he was done reporting it, he was still struggling to get a handle on the subject. Esquire needed to print the color pages of the article in advance (the custom-car photographs were beautiful), and Wolfe says, “I came back to New York and found myself utterly blocked. I could not write this story.” He wanted to drop the assignment, but the story was locked in; it would have cost $5,000 to $10,000 to pull it. So Byron Dobell, the editor of Esquire, said to Wolfe, “You give us your notes, and we’ll get some competent writer to put them together.”
Wolfe started typing up his notes at top speed for eight or nine hours and wound up with 50 typewritten stream-of-consciousness pages. He sent them in, and Dobell called him and said, “It’s a masterpiece.” They ran the story as is. The magazine ran Wolfe’s notes, and “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby” became the paradigm for a new day in American letters.
The article “made him famous,” recalls Dobell in the documentary. And rightly so. There was a joy in Wolfe’s writing that was singular, an electric kool-aid zest that made you feel: The person who wrote this is having the time of his life. And that connected to how Wolfe presented an image of peerless confidence, as if he’d transcended the knots of neurosis that so many writers have.
The truth was more complicated. He spent most of the 1970s working on “The Right Stuff,” figuring out how to write it, how to capture the heroism of the astronauts and, at the same time, touch something more humane and dimensional beneath. In this section, Wolfe compares being a writer to having arthritis — waking up, each day, with a small pain, and that pain is the question nagging at the back of your mind, about whether you’ll be able to do it again: not just write but write well. “Radical Wolfe” is based on Michael Lewis’s 2015 Vanity Fair article “How Tom Wolfe Became…Tom Wolfe,” and Lewis, interviewed throughout the film, says that “Wolfe, when he wrote, was a bundle of anxiety. He was capable of thinking, ‘I’ll never write another good word again,’ and just suffering, by himself.”
There was a side of him that wanted to slash and burn. According to the film, this was highly influenced by his years at Yale in the late ’40s and early ’50s, where the East Coast preppies looked down on anything from the South, and he cultivated a matching contempt for their establishment elitism. You feel that spirit at work in “Radical Chic,” and in “The Painted Word,” his attack on modern art (an essay you can love even if you don’t agree with it), and in “Tiny Mummies,” his inside skewering of the culture of The New Yorker.
Those pieces would have made Mark Twain smile, but Wolfe became a richer, deeper writer with “The Right Stuff.” And in “The Bonfire of the Vanities” (1987), where he took the leap to fiction with a success as dizzying as the book itself, he sought a kind of vengeance against the establishment that was larger than any institution. He was going to show the literary world that a novel, when reported, could beat the highbrow writers at their own game. With “Bonfire,” he dared to write an ambitious novel that was great fun, and I would say in more ways than not he proved his point. He did it even more with his fantastic follow-up, “A Man in Full” (1998), at which point a trio from the old guard (Mailer, John Updike, and John Irving) came after him with swords. But their attack looked like the sour grapes it was.
“Radical Wolfe” has good chapters on Wolfe’s marriage to Sheila Berger (“a nice Jewish girl from Long Island” who worked in the art department of Esquire) and the heart attack he suffered at the age of 66, which sunk him into a depression (says Wolfe, “After the bypass operation, you’re thinking, ‘My God, I’m so mortal it’s not funny any longer’”). And while several of the commentators, like Lewis and Junod, suggest that fame, and having to keep playing the “Tom Wolfe character,” took its toll on Wolfe and impacted his work in a negative way, the movie never quite demonstrates that that’s true — though maybe that’s because I profoundly disagree with the collective derision that greeted his 2004 novel “I Am Charlotte Simmons.”
That book was mocked for being Wolfe slumming his way into capturing the contemporary college experience. In truth, it had a subject more profound than that of any other piece of writing Wolfe ever did. The book is about how his heroine, a small-town Southern girl who enters an elite Northern college, ends up finding herself by losing who she is — letting her own identity melt away so she can meld with the values (or lack of them) she finds. It’s a haunting parable of the 21st century, of everything that was about to arrive. In one talk-show clip we see, Wolfe says, “If you’re going to be a writer, you’ve got to stand in the middle of the track to see how fast the train goes.” That’s where he stood for more than 50 years, always seeing the train that was coming, but more than that seeing where it was going.
Logline: A documentary portrait of an artist at work, following musician Paul Simon as he records his latest album, “Seven Psalms”, and, in a dreamlike fashion, looks back at his life and career.
Sales: UTA and AC Independent (U.S.), Altitude Film Sales (International)
Premiere Date: Sept. 10. 2023
Panelists: Alex Gibney
Key Quotes: “Paul actually reached out to me. He had seen a film I had done about Frank Sinatra, which he liked, and we talked about whether there might be an interesting film to be made about him. And then at some point the magic happened when Paul invited me to sit in and watch him while he made this new album, ‘Seven Psalms’, which really unlocked the whole thing.” – Alex Gibney
“Jason has the golden touch when it comes to real estate and business,” said Mayster and Brown in a statement.
“He has built a community of highly-engaged followers who he entertains and informs with his vibrant personality. Our team is excited to not only amplify his digital presence but also forge valuable partnerships with brands and products that align seamlessly with his personal and entrepreneurial vision,” the reps added.
Oppenheim is the president and founder of the Oppenheim Group, the real estate brokerage at the center of his two Netflix series. The group is responsible for high-end real estate deals across Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Calif., and now in Mexico as well. The brokerage recently revealed in “Selling the OC” Season 2 that it would be opening a new office in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Netflix’s “Selling Sunset” returned for its sixth season back in May, while “Selling the OC” returned just this month for its sophomore season. Oppenheim serves as executive producer on both shows.
Aside from his Netflix stints, Oppenheim has appeared on other shows like “MTV Cribs,” “Celebrity Family Feud,” “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles” and “Access Daily.” He has also collaborated with brands like Keurig, American Express, Samsung, Patron and Behr.
Atlee reveals Jawan’s budget. Aamir Khan’s son making his debut with a Netflix original.
Atlee spilled the beans on the budget of Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan. Aamir Khan’s son Junaid Khan will make his debut soon.
Following the huge success of Atlee’s Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan is all set for a media meet at the YRF studios today. Ahead of the big event, his manager, Pooja Dadlani, took to Instagram to share his look. Shah Rukh Khan can be seen in a crisp, white shirt paired with a black blazer with a belt detailing near the waist. He pulled his long locks back in braids. He accessorised the look with stacked bracelets. Deepika Padukone slipped into a white chiffon sari with black, sequined border, and a halter-neck blouse. She accessorised the look with emerald drop earrings and opted for dramatic, winged eyeliner. At the press conference, Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone also shook a leg to Jawan’s hit romantic song, Chaleya, as music composer Anirudh Ravichander, crooned the song.
Aamir Khan’s son Junaid is all set to make his debut with a one-of-a-kind David vs Goliath Story ‘Maharaj’. The production house YRF recently confirmed the same, while announcing their collaboration with Netflix for the same.
After the huge success of her recent film Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and her Hollywood release Heart of Stone, Alia Bhatt decided to take a well-deserved break. She, along with her husband Ranbir Kapoor and their darling daughter Raha, took off for a vacation in New York. Over the past few days, many photos of the couple emerged on social media. Some of these are delightful selfies taken with their fans, while others capture a fun moment where Ranbir Kapoor photobombed Hollywood actress Madelyn Cline during the 2023 US Open Tennis Championships. Now there is another viral photograph circulating on the internet that features Afghanistan cricketer Rashid Khan posing alongside the Bollywood actors.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap became a household name after the success of his Gangs Of Wasseypur franchise. However, he is also known for Bombay Velvet, a film that didn’t work well at the box office despite a talented star cast including Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma. However, Anurag recently revealed in an interview that Ranveer Singh was very keen to do the film but he couldn’t be signed due to budget constraints. Anurag said that he has never worked with Ranveer over the guilt he feels about not casting him in Bombay Velvet.
Over the years, fans have displayed their fervent support for their favourite artists. Unfortunately, there have been instances where overenthusiastic fans have thrown items onto the stage during performances, often failing to realise how dangerous and disrespectful this behaviour can be. During a recent Jonas Brothers’ performance in Sacramento, California, Nick Jonas had a similar experience while he was energetically singing Rollercoaster on stage. As Nick passionately sang, an overly enthusiastic fan threw a bracelet in his direction, catching him off guard. Despite the disruption, Nick maintained his professionalism and continued singing. However, the situation escalated when another fan also threw a bracelet towards him. Attempting to persevere with the performance, the singer had to eventually halt and firmly address the situation. While looking towards the fan responsible, he sternly said, “No. Stop.”
Yatamanyu is a multi-disciplinary Journalist & Photographer who dabbles in Films, Poetry, Music, Politics, Pop-Culture and everything in between. …Read More
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
The submission deadline for general categories is Nov. 18, 2023. Preliminary shortlist voting will begin on Dec. 18, with the results announced on Dec. 21. The voting period will run from Jan. 11-16, 2024, with the official nominations announcement on Jan. 23.
The 96th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 10.
***The list below is not final and will be updated throughout the awards season.
And the Predicted Nominees Are:
Ludwig Göransson — “Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures)
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, is Hollywood’s most prestigious artistic award in the film industry. Since 1927, nominees and winners have been selected by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Seventeen branches are represented within the nearly 10,000-person membership. The branches are actors, associates, casting directors, cinematographers, costume designers, directors, documentary, executives, film editors, makeup and hairstylists, marketing and public relations, members-at-large, members-at-large (artists’ representatives), music, producers, production design, short films and feature animation, sound, visual effects and writers.
Freshly shown pieces of merchandise from the upcoming X-Men ‘97 animated series showcased the main cast in chibi style.
Marvel’s X-Men ‘97 will serve as a continuation of the original X-Men: The Animated Series which was a childhood favorite for many. In fact, many of the original cast members are returning for this sequel series.
The show was recently pushed back to an early 2024 release date. Naturally, this was seen as a disappointment for fans, especially since X-Men ‘97 was announced almost two years ago.
New X-Men Keychains Feature Mutant Team
A new wave of Marvel-themed merchandise in the form of bag clips from Monogram was put up for pre-order (via Entertainment Earth). These clips are modeled after the main characters from the upcoming Disney+ animated show, X-Men ‘97.
The 11 clips in the assortment make up almost the entire team, but for some reason, Bishop is missing.
The small-scale keychains are made in a super-deformed chibi style, as seen with Cyclops.
Monogram
According to already released information for X-Men ‘97, Jean Grey will be pregnant in the series.
Monogram
The Wolverine clip has his adamantium claws extended and looks ready to rumble.
Monogram
Pop culture’s second-most famous Dr. McCoy is well-represented here with this Beast keychain.
Monogram
The sworn enemy of Marvel’s Merry Mutants, Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto, will work alongside the X-Men in the series.
Monogram
Shapeshifter Morph will make his comeback in these new animated X-Men episodes as well.
Monogram
Lenore Zann will reprise the role of the power-stealing Rogue, who she previously lent her voice to back in the ’90s.
Monogram
Ororo Monroe aka Storm will receive an update to her look in X-Men ‘97 that includes a stylish mohawk.
Monogram
Sunspot will seemingly serve as a newcomer to the team in the new series. His Mutant abilities are focused on heat.
Monogram
Jubilee joined up with the X-Men early on in the 1990s series, and here, she’ll be a seasoned member of the squad.
Monogram
The Ragin’ Cajun himself, Gambit’s bag clip holds a staff in one hand and playing cars in the other.
Monogram
The whole gang assembles on the packaging for the figures. They’re blind-bagged, so buyers won’t know who they’re getting until they open the packaging.
Monogram
Why X-Men ‘97 Should Be Worth the Wait
Despite getting announced back in November 2021, updates on X-Men ‘97 have been scarce. The series has been subject to delays as well.
The only substantial breakdown of the show came in the form of panels that Marvel Studios held at San Diego Comic-Con.
But even though there’s been limited news on the development of the series, it should still be good fun and a worthy successor to X-Men: The Animated Series, especially considering that the production brought back as many of the original cast members as it possibly could.
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