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As we all know by now, it is a Taylor Swift world. USA Today is hiring a full-time Taylor Swift reporter; MTV dedicated a camera operator to her during Tuesday’s VMA Awards, where 865,000 people watched her win nine Moonpeople, the most for a female artist in a single evening; and MTV was rewarded with its highest ratings in three years.
That’s the context for the disruption that is “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” the filmed concert event that debuts October 13 in theaters worldwide. It’s already sent the October release schedule into a tailspin, but the impact goes much deeper.
There’s the strange role played by AMC Theaters Distribution; the unusual rules imposed on the theaters that play the film; the bypassing of studios. Finally, there’s this: Three months after the world celebrated successful simultaneous openings of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” why did everyone demur an opportunity to do that again?
“The Exorcist: Believer” (Universal),” which was the only major studio release set for October 13, responded to “Eras” by moving up its date one week to October 6. AMC’s August 31 Swift announcement blindsided Universal; moving a marquee title’s release date six weeks before launch is an expensive decision. (At least “Believer” now has on a holiday weekend; Monday October 9 is Indigenous Peoples/Columbus Day).
“Eras” and “Believer” could have coexisted, but Universal made the smart choice. The issue isn’t audience overlap — some, but not enough to stymie the Blumhouse sequel. The real problem is access to the largest screens, including IMAX and other premium presentations. And there’s no scenario in which Satan defeats Swift for media coverage.
With a packed summer schedule, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” had no alternative to coexistence. Any date meant top-level competition. As it turned out, after a sequel-heavy summer, this date was ideal for both and created the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon to boot.
On October 20, Paramount handles the theatrical release of Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” for Apple. The 206-minute film demands premium screens and significant seating, Scorsese will now face the second weekend of Swift. Both films want to claim prime presentation and the higher prices that go with it.
The Swift team filled a void created by the strikes. (She’s a SAG member; the film got a waiver.) If “Eras” grosses $200 million, as some say is possible, does it suggest a new kind of theater programming — or is Swift sui generis?
The need for new revenue streams may be consistent, but there’s few other properties that could match her popularity. Exhibitors bent their norms: Distributors aren’t supposed to dictate ticket prices, and pricing varies widely by region and theater, yet here it’s one size sets all at $19.89, $13.13 for children.
Theaters also accepted the film’s terms around scheduling, with no shows permitted Monday-Wednesday. Studios took note of how exhibitors bowed to Swift’s requirement that loyalty memberships didn’t apply to “Eras.” If Swift can do it, why not Marvel?
This is the biggest film in the history of AMC Distribution — a label that occasionally handles small one-offs — but it’s unlikely to position the division as a significant player. While it’s the distributor of record, AMC is not doing any heavy lifting in the form of acquisition, marketing, release strategy, publicity, and negotiation. That’s tightly controlled by Team Swift, along with content creation; theater selection and film rental collection were assigned to Variance Films.
AMC and CEO Adam Aron get credit for guaranteeing a quick turnaround into theaters — and significant discredit for blindsiding rival theaters and studios, along with an initial press release that suggested the film was unique to AMC. It may have hoped to benefit their falling stock price; it didn’t work. On August 30, the day before the surprise announcement, it closed at $12.73; as of today’s close September 14, it’s 36 percent lower at at $8.14.
The release of “Eras” comes two weeks after the re-release of “Stop Making Sense,” Jonathan Demme’s 1984 Talking Head’s concert film. And maybe that’s the biggest disruption: Both are concert films, but Demme’s work is regarded as a masterpiece of filmmaking. “Eras” was shot during three shows of Swift’s six-night stand in Los Angeles between August 3-9. Three weeks later, Swift and AMC announced the film’s October 13 release date. Theaters now know that they can sell content as well as movies, and stand to make a lot more money along the way.
As we all know by now, it
The Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page is the envy of guitar players, and nonplayers, the world over. Mike D of the Beastie Boys expressed the wishful thinking of many when he boasted in a rap, “If I played guitar I’d be Jimmy Page.”
No one understands this better, it happens, than Akio Sakurai, a Japanese musician who has devoted decades to playing guitar in the varying modes that Page applied in his years as Led Zeppelin’s lead instrumentalist. He recalls one day off from his job as a kimono salesman, seeing the Zep concert film “The Song Remains The Same,” and being mesmerized by the power of Page’s playing. He became obsessed with recreating it.
The first hour of the movie contains lots of guitar wonkiness as Sakurai, nicknamed “Mr. Jimmy,” consults with technicians, working on getting his own axes and amps as close to Page’s gear as he can. After Mr. Jimmy elaborates on the idiosyncrasies of Les Paul guitar pickup guards, one of the artisans he works with comments, “We understand Jimmy’s obsession. It’s very Japanese.”
The film, directed by Peter Michael Dowd, centers on Sakurai’s upending his life to move to Los Angeles and install himself in a Zep tribute band; he lasts a couple of years, leaving because the other members didn’t share his single-mindedness in reproducing Page’s onstage work.
“That is the meaning of tribute. Not showing myself at all. There is no ‘me’ to begin with,” Sakurai, who is now 59, says at one point. This is a terrifying notion, but the movie doesn’t choose to run with it, instead sticking to Mr. Jimmy’s career travails in the States before landing with a “Spinal Tap”-redolent happy ending.
Mr. Jimmy
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes. In theaters.
The Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page is
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! A sci-fi fantasy film like Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast (La Béte) greatly benefits from the beautiful face of an actress like Léa Seydoux. She allows the viewer to become emotionally connected and invested in discovering what is haunting her character, Gabrielle, over the span of a century. A dystopian tale told over A.I.-induced hypnosis to recall her past lives from 1904 to 2014, this dizzying non-linear story would be more cohesive if just one of those years were the primary focus.
Gabrielle lives in the year 2044, where artificial intelligence controls humanity and suppresses their emotions. In this futuristic world, human emotions threaten the peace A.I. has created. An unknown global catastrophe, probably climate change related, has occurred that has humans living in a world where they are a shadow of the former glories from just a few decades earlier. The population is minuscule, and the landscape is minimalistic and naturalistic. It recalls The Time Machine (1960), where humans hundreds of centuries into the future are simple-minded livestock waiting for the next day. The A.I. entities are using past life regressions to ferret out the emotional trigger that makes Gabrielle cling to that trauma, and she becomes the .07% who fail to cleanse their DNA of it.
“The key connection to Gabrielle’s past is her love for Louis…”
The key connection to Gabrielle’s past is her love for Louis (George MacKay), her brave and protective French love in 1904 but a dangerous stalker incel in Los Angeles in 2014. The character is more interesting as the stalker reincarnation because his insanity is funny and scary, and the actor perfectly juxtaposes his outrageous behavior and attitude with little effort. Gabrielle’s life ends in the same watery grave in both eras, but Louis is at fault for her death in one of them. When they meet up in 2044, they both feel a deep connection, but neither understands what it means. However, it appears that Gabrielle is the one who is more affected by the trauma of one, or perhaps both, of her deaths because Louis was there. The beast of The Beast refers to is a metaphor for Gabrielle’s paranoid, foreboding feeling of impending doom, which is the lingering trauma of her death along with and at the hands of Louis.
Screenwriters Bonello, Guillaume Bréaud, and Benjamin Charbit analyze how love survives three reincarnations and how people can be interconnected on an emotionally visceral molecular memory level, which A.I. can manipulate to suppress and control humans. Seydoux is bedazzling as her early 20th-century high-society French dollmaker and a model in L.A. in her second life. She’s believable in both lives as her beauty, charisma, and intelligence span both lives and shines. The camera loves her face as she is speaking into the camera, answering questions from an unseen entity, revealing all the wariness, pain, and dread her DNA is burdening her with currently.
The Beast is a bold, creative, and heady dystopian film that clocks in way too long at 145 minutes. There were walkouts at my screening due to its massive length. Even still, I would watch this again to get a better appreciation for the scale of this beautiful-looking film and the futuristic aesthetics of the world only 20 years from now.
The Beast screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! A
City workers in the city of Prince Albert, Sask., are on strike for the fifth official day as of Friday. The union and the city have been at odds for months over wage agreements.
Some city workers have been on the picket lines since Monday, Sept. 11. Before the strike began on Monday, the union said they had given the city a two-week notice.
According to CUPE 882 vice-president Cara Stelmaschuk, the strike could have been avoided if the city was willing to meet at the bargaining table.
“We tried to reach out for multiple meetings, but we did not get a lot of responses. There was a very last-minute meeting scheduled for last Thursday. At that meeting we were told that if we changed our proposal, they would still consider it,” Stelmaschuk said.
“So, we got some costings, change the proposal around, dialed back a few things and then it was just rejected again.
“It’s been abundantly clear that they are not willing to bargain, which is a real shame. That’s our right as a union. This is how these jobs get done. They’re done at the bargaining table. It’s only going to happen if we’re at the bargaining table, for sure.”
Those who work inside city hall, such as departments including city payment services and front-line facility staff, are the ones majorly affected.
Stelmaschuk believes the strike is making some impact because city hall, the Alfred Jenkins Field House and all city-run facilities are missing front-line employees.
“City hall is completely different this week, because a lot of the people at the front line, for instance those who you request information from, like fines, tickets, building permits and more, those people are out on the picket lines right now. The phones are answered by people who are not used to dealing with those kinds of calls,” Stelmaschuk said.
What the union is asking for will cost the city an additional $48,000. Stelmaschuk believes the city can handle it.
“Well, 12 per cent seems completely reasonable to us. One per cent isn’t that big of a deal. And as far as the beginning, it’s a four-year rollout — the beginning of our counteroffer, or our offer to settle, is the same. So, the one-per cent difference isn’t even for last year or this year, it’s $48,000 that they can budget for later,” Stelmaschuk said.
Kiley Bear, director of Prince Albert Corporate Services, says the city believes that 11.5 per cent is the best offer from the province and even from among Saskatchewan cities.
“It’s also one of the best offers in Canada right now. That’s a generous offer. And we would like to see the union get within that value and have those conversations. We are willing to talk to them about priorities within that,” Bear said.
Bear says the union is simply asking for too much, and giving more would impact taxpayers in the city.
“We very much value the work of our employees, but we also value the contribution that our community makes to the city of Prince Albert to pay these employees, keep these facilities open and run the city,” Bear said.
“It is a balance for us. We have to balance the needs of our employees against the needs of our community who pay for these services, and that’s what we’ve been doing. That’s what we’re committed to continue doing.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
City workers in the city of Prince
UPDATED with details of Byron Allen bid. As Deadline reported Thursday, Byron Allen is interested in Disney’s linear TV assets, and overnight that interest progressed to a formal offer.
Sources familiar with the discussions said Allen late Thursday offered $10 billion for ABC, Disney’s eight local TV stations, FX and the National Geographic Channel. Bloomberg and Reuters are among the media outlets reporting the official offer.
The offer is pegged at eight times EBITDA, but it uses estimated financials and could be adjusted, sources said. Strategically, the notion of removing FX and Nat Geo — both of which are embedded within Disney streaming outlets Hulu and Disney+ — from Disney control raises a number of questions. But the Charter carriage renewal earlier this week, which left networks like Freeform and FXX without distribution on the No. 2 pay-TV service in the U.S., indicate the climate change in the media business.
Allen joins Nexstar in being interested in Disney’s linear TV assets, which CEO Bob Iger said in July “may not be core” to the company. That comment set off a wave of interest from a range of parties, including private equity firms.
Disney issued a statement on Thursday afternoon pushing back on reports it had held talks about ABC and the stations, saying the company had “made no decision” on the matter but was keeping its “strategic options” open.
PREVIOUSLY:
Disney is pushing back on reports that the company is talking with Nexstar Media Group about a potential sale of ABC and its eight local ABC stations.
Chatter is continuing however, especially in light of comments by Tom Carter, a former Nexstar exec who is now a senior advisor to the CEO and board of directors. Speaking at a BofA Securities conference in New York on Wednesday, Carter said Nexstar could acquire the ABC stations with “little friction.” He did not say talks were happening and in fact noted that Disney has not clarified what it intends to do with the linear TV assets that CEO Bob Iger has said “may not be core” to the company.
“While we are open to considering a variety of strategic options for our linear businesses, at this time The Walt Disney Company has made no decision with respect to the divestiture of ABC or any other property and any report to that effect is unfounded,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement provided to Deadline.
There has no formal dealbook circulated or formal process initiated in the wake of Iger’s comments, sources have told Deadline. The carriage renewal reached with Charter this week, which saw eight networks jettisoned from Spectrum cable TV systems, indicates the state of linear networks and Disney is apt to ramp up efforts to rearrange those assets in the corporate fold.
Nexstar declined to comment Thursday when contacted by Deadline.
The list of interested suitors for Disney linear holdings includes Allen Media Group, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The company has taken part in a number of M&A deals in recent years, buying the Weather Channel and bidding for BET before Paramount paused the process of seeking minority stakeholders in it.
Iger delivered his remarks about linear assets to CNBC in July during the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, ID.
Given that Nexstar has grown via dozens of M&A deals to become the largest owner of local TV stations in the U.S., acquired control of The CW and has a strong balance sheet, there is a logic to the notion it could be in a position to buy select Disney assets. A person familiar with the company’s thinking said the two companies have had on-and-off discussions over the past three years, though the talks have never heated up to a full negotiation.
UPDATED with details of Byron Allen bid.
“Baahubali” star Rana Daggubati who also serves as a board member of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, has revealed plans to engage with South Asian independent filmmakers at this year’s edition.
The festival, which was hitherto focused on discovering Indian films and filmmakers, has pivoted to becoming one that spotlights South Asian talent, meaning films from India’s neighbors will also be showcased.
Daggubati is uniquely placed to foster the burgeoning independent cinema scene via several companies that he is involved in. His first film as an independent producer was “A Belly Full of Dreams” (2006) with which his company Spirit Media was launched. The company is currently working with leading platforms and studios on new projects. He has also invested in tech companies like game development studio Gamezop and Iknoz Club, a metaverse company for established Indian film and pop-culture IPs. He set up media-tech accelerator Anthill Studio with venture capital firm Anthill Ventures and has also launched SouthBay, a pop-culture marketplace that is driven by setting new narratives in cinema, showbiz, music and marketing.
In addition, Daggubati’s family business Suresh Productions, established in 1964, has produced some 170 films in 13 Indian languages, operates a film distribution company with 400+ theaters, has three studio spaces in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam and a film school in Hyderabad.
“There’s no dearth to cinema that’s being made in each region but what happens is mostly it stops in the region. It doesn’t go beyond the language, like a Telugu independent film usually stays in Telugu and finishes its life cycle within the theatrical and digital broadcast windows,” Daggubati told Variety. “With MAMI, we’re trying to encourage a larger ecosystem of this and primarily different stories being told, which are possible now more than ever before.”
What Daggubati hopes to achieve at the festival via his companies is to break the independent cinema circuit out of its debt-ridden shackles, where financing in many cases is from high-interest loans, and ease it into a space where exposure and sales can be achieved.
“I love the initiative of being South Asian. There is so much more cinema and the penetration of that cinema in India has gotten pretty phenomenal, whether it’s key drama films, or them coming directly to streamers and theaters, I just feel like there needs to be a different search,” Daggubati said. “It’s been too much of just big spectacle, Hollywood films that came to India, and even the independent American films don’t land up here anymore. So we just feel like that ecosystem should flourish and grow. Because that’s the cinema that we watched growing up. And so whatever films that we are able to distribute, we’re able to co-produce, co-finance, we’d definitely be interested.”
Via his tech and culture companies, Daggubati is building IPs from nonfiction and subcultures. “We’re constantly in this progress and hunt for newer ideas and filmmakers. There’ll be a large team from all of the organizations, whether it’s Spirit or Suresh Productions or SouthBay at the festival and just trying to do that,” Daggubati said.
“Baahubali” star Rana Daggubati who also serves
‘Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake’
When to watch: Now, on Max.
This new spinoff of “Adventure Time” is a reintroduction to the franchise’s magical realms and enchanting sense of humor. It’s also a gender-flipped version of the original: Finn is now Fionna, and Jake the Dog is now Cake the Cat. If diving into the ocean of “Adventure Time” feels like too big an undertaking — 10 seasons, another spinoff, video games, more lore than some religions — dip your toes in with “Fionna,” which is set in the same world and revisits some of its characters but is also a smooth on-ramp for new viewers. If you want something droll and dreamy, and absolutely packed with surprising one-liners, watch this. Six episodes are available now, and two new episodes arrive on the next two Thursdays.
‘The Gold’
When to watch: Begins Sunday, on Paramount+.
This six-part mini-series is based on the true story of a London robbery gone sideways: In 1983, gunmen set out to steal a bunch of cash but wound up stealing £26 million of gold bullion. Then they had to figure out how to launder it — smelting fans to the front! — and eventually the cache injected an awful lot of money into both the legal and illegal economies. The chemistry and banter among characters is sharper and livelier than in your typical chase-the-bad-guys show. Sure, each character eventually delivers a grandiose monologue about the British class system, but “The Gold” has a real pep in its step.
If you like when a lower-class British woman animatedly holds a cigarette and explains to her doofus lowlife boyfriend how crimes work, while the sun streams into a dingy kitchen, this is for you. The first two episodes arrive Sunday and then weekly after that.
‘Wilderness’
When to watch: Arrives Friday, on Amazon.
Jenna Coleman stars as Liv, the scorned wife, in this zippy, bingeable vengeance mini-series. Liv moved to America for her hunky husband, sacrificed her dreams for his, only to discover he had been cheating on her and was dumb enough to leave a corporate email trail. Now they’re setting out on a romantic road trip through some national parks to heal their relationship wounds, but Liv has different plans for all those cliffside vistas — and those plans get even wilder when the other woman shows up on a hiking trip of her own. If you want something like “You” or diet “Gone Girl,” but digestible enough for the recently concussed, try this.
This weekend I have … a half-hour,
Editor’s note: BuzzFeed does not support discriminatory or hateful speech in any form. We stand by the LGBTQ community and all fans who found a home in the Harry Potter series and will work to provide a safe space for fans. If you, like us, feel impassioned about trans rights, learn more or donate here.
Editor’s note: BuzzFeed
In 1981, a 21-year-old Tony Goldwyn met a 23-year-old Tony Spiridakis at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts, where the aspiring actors developed a fast friendship that has seen them take on the role of best man at each other’s weddings and godfather to each other’s children. Forty-two years later, Goldwyn and Spiridakis have reunited professionally with a big-hearted, multigenerational family drama that made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
Directed by Goldwyn and written by Spiridakis, “Ezra” follows Max Bernal (Bobby Cannavale), a late-night comedy writer turned stand-up comic who decides to take his 11-year-old autistic son, Ezra (William A. Fitzgerald), who has been ordered to attend a special school, on a cross-country road trip without the permission of his ex-wife, Jenna (Rose Byrne), or his own father, Stan (Robert de Niro). It’s a deeply personal story for Spiridakis, who went on a similar journey of acceptance with his young autistic son, Dimitri, over a dozen years ago. (Goldwyn is the godfather of Spiridakis’ first-born son, Nikos.)
Goldwyn, who had read several drafts of Spiridakis’ screenplay over the years, signed on to direct the film in 2021. From the outset, Goldwyn, Spiridakis and their creative team were adamant about casting an actor with autism in the title role and hiring cast and crew members who had a personal experience with neurodivergence. They spoke with other parents who had children with autism, including producer William Horberg and “Parenthood” creator Jason Katims, and enlisted the help of Alex Plank (the founder of WrongPlanet.net) and acting coach Elaine Hall (creator of a Los Angeles theater group called the Miracle Project).
“We wanted to bring the community in and make them a part of our process,” Goldwyn says. “I wanted to get it right, but there is no ‘right.’ The right is if most people connected with that community watch this movie and say, ‘Yeah, that felt honest to me.’”
Seated in a dark green barrel chair at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto, Goldwyn speaks animatedly about working with his best friend on his latest directorial outing and creating a heartfelt love letter to fathers and sons.
Beyond your personal connection to the Spiridakis family, what did you find most appealing about the screenplay for “Ezra”?
I’ve always loved Tony’s writing. His dialogue is always so alive. It is always very emotionally honest. It has tremendous heart, and he always finds the counterpoint with humor and drama. Nothing takes itself too seriously, and at the same time, it’s not too cute and slick and trying to be funny.
On a more objective level, the multigenerational aspect really appealed to me — these three generations of men trying to figure out how to be fathers. As a father myself, I really identified with that. What Tony wrote is very universal; whatever your situation is, whatever your family structure is, everybody’s trying to get it right and failing. This movie, to me, is about the power of love in and of itself to be the transcendent quality in all families.
In your capacity as the director, how did you further develop the central relationships between the three generations of Bernal men? What were the keys to creating those lived-in bonds between these three actors who seem to share a similar acerbic wit?
The joy of directing for me, being an actor myself, is when you cast something right, you really just give it over to the actors. Bob, Bobby and William had such natural chemistry that I really had to just try and stay out of the way or help however I could. But the most important thing as a director is to create something that’s real and emotionally honest and not performative. Tony rewrote this character of Stan because Bob had just incredibly insightful notes about how to make Stan a more substantive, deeper character, and it really, for me, was a key to unlocking the potential and tone of the movie, so I really credit Bob for that.
I learned a tremendous amount about directing from working with William, who is an autistic boy of 14. He looks much younger, so he plays 11 in the movie, but William had never acted before. He’s incredibly naturally gifted and super smart, and while he has many sensitivities as many people on the autism spectrum have, he is fearless in other ways. His mind is so sharp. I realized that my assignment with him was to be as absolutely clear as possible with as few words as possible about what I needed and then let him go, because he would get way ahead of me if I started talking [too much].
Ezra knows exactly what he needs to feel safe — and that includes not wanting to be touched or hugged without permission — but his parents, Max and Jenna, each use different behavioral cues to help ground Ezra, like touching his ear lobes or stroking his hair. What parts of Max and Ezra’s life were taken directly from Tony’s own experiences with Dimitri?
I would say that many of the incidents in the film were suggested by situations that Tony experienced in his life. His son really had an issue with hugging as a child. I think he still probably doesn’t like it, but he always gives me a hug when I see him. I don’t know if it is physically painful for him anymore, but it’s something he taught himself to do because he knew it was important to the people that he loved and it was a way of communicating, and that’s very much a workaround for Ezra [in the film]. He knows his dad needs [to hug].
That fight-or-flight [response in the film] is a very common thing; [Dmitri] would take off when he got stressed. The issues with the medication and the school were also a big thing in the family. In Tony’s case, he lost that battle. He did not want his son to go to this school for autistic kids, and it ended up being an extraordinary thing for his son. He ended up going to Bard College and is now this extraordinary painter, and it was actually very helpful for him.
Max uses humor as both an outlet to process his feelings and a place to hide from the reality of his day-to-day life, when those feelings become too much for him to handle. The arc of the film, for me, is Max learning to love and embrace what makes his son different, rather than insisting on treating him like any other child.
Max has always used humor as a protective mechanism, as a lot of comics do, and there’s a fair amount of repressed anger in his comedy. Max tells this story of how he went after a dog when he and Grace [an old childhood friend, played by Vera Farmiga] were kids to protect her, and she says to him, “Max, you’ve got to stop biting the dog. Not everyone is trying to bite you.”
Max’s solution was always to fight, to mock, to make fun of. Something he’s inherited from his father, Stan, is that one needs to have one’s fists up all the time because the world is attacking you — and whether Max and Stan are on the autism spectrum or not is kind of irrelevant. We all have our struggles and our sensitivities, but Max has been predisposed to assume that the world is out to get him, and, therefore, the world is out to get his son.
Ezra realizes he’s at his most powerful when he’s allowed to be himself, and through this ordeal, he ends up becoming the parent at the end. At the very moment when Max is no longer able to protect his son, it’s laid bare for him that he never had to do it in the first place.
And that’s what the original song, written by Adrienne Ackerman and performed by Rae Isla, is trying to convey in the line, “So let yourself be Ezra, we’ll sing the words to your song …”
That’s what I loved about Adrienne’s lyrics. She got it exactly. What I also love about the story is Ezra learns certain strategies to move more comfortably through the world, and he has to learn maybe not to be quite so reactive, but he is who he is. And that’s a very beautiful thing.
This is your first feature as a director in over a decade and the 23rd time you’ve directed any kind of project for the screen. What spurred your initial interest in directing? Did you always know you wanted to work behind the camera?
I thought I definitely did not want to direct. I had worked with some great directors and I was like, “I could never do that,” and I was very tunnel visioned about wanting to be an actor. Honestly, after about seven or eight years being a professional actor, I had some big success and then experienced the ups and downs. After I did the movie “Ghost,” I was super hot and I thought, “OK, now it all happens, and I’ll just sit back.” And then I realized the next movie I did didn’t make too much money, and suddenly I wasn’t as hot as I had been the previous year. [Laughs.] And I thought, “Whoa, I’m not sure I want to spend my career waiting for someone to give me an opportunity.” So I decided to take more control over my career.
I thought initially that meant producing stuff for myself to act in. I found a script that I fell in love with, worked on it for a few years with the writer and didn’t really want to act in it, but I was afraid to give it to somebody else, and it suddenly occurred to me I needed to direct it myself. I took on that challenge and then miraculously it came together, and my first film [as a director] was “A Walk on the Moon.” As soon as I started doing that, I thought, “Oh, I know how to do this.” I just loved the job.
In 1981, a 21-year-old Tony Goldwyn
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of the most influential shows of the past 25 years. But ever since it went off the air twenty years ago (followed by its spin-off Angel one year later), fans have wondered if the Buffyverse would continue in any form. In that time, all we’ve had is comic books and novels. But now, many members of Buffy cast are coming back together at last for an audio adventure. According to Entertainment Weekly, a new audio drama called Slayers: A Buffyverse Story is coming via Audible. And it centers on none other than our personal favorite vampire with a soul, Spike, once again played by James Marsters.
Along with Marsters returning as William the Bloody, Slayers also sees the return of Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Anthony Head (Rupert Giles), Juliet Landau (Drusilla), Emma Caulfield Ford (Anya), Amber Benson (Tara), James Charles Leary (Clem), and Danny Strong (Jonathan), as well as newcomer Laya DeLeon Hayes. Slayers is written by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden, writer of many Buffy novels, and directed by Benson, Golden, and Kc Wayland. In a statement, Marsters said “I’m ecstatic to be back with my dear friends for this next chapter in the Buffyverse, as we take listeners on a familiar but unexpected journey chock full of horror, passion and mischief.”
The audio drama takes place some 20 years after the events of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer finale, “Chosen.” Spike goes deep undercover in Los Angeles, convincing the forces of darkness that he’s back to his evil ways. 16-year-old Indira Nunnally (Hayes) compromises his cover, and Spike finds himself on baby-slayer-sitting duty once more. While he attempts to track down a watcher for his eager new protégé, their paths collide with the veteran Slayer of a parallel reality where Buffy Summers never existed, and Cordelia Chase is the one-and-only Slayer. And Cordy needs Spike’s help with a classic big bad terrorizing her world… his old flame, Drusilla (Landau).
This synopsis explains how so many characters that were dead in the Buffyverse, like Cordelia, Tara, and Anya, are still alive in this story. They are all likely from the “Cordelia the Vampire Slayer” universe. This will be the first major Buffyverse project without its creator Joss Whedon, and its star, Sarah Michelle Gellar. Whedon has been mired in controversy since allegations of on-set abuse have come out about him recently. And Sarah Michelle Gellar has said many times she’s fine leaving Buffy Summers in her past. But with Disney now owning the Buffy IP, could this lead to more Buffyverse continuations? Certainly, the series finale opened up a door to a world with hundreds of Slayers in it.
Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, premieres Oct. 12. Fans will get a sneak peek at New York Comic Con with a panel on Oct. 13 at 1:30 p.m., and there will be a Slayers-themed activation at NYCC all weekend long.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of
Less than a month and a half before the release of Spider-Man 2, the latest trailer showcased in the September State of Play reveals how far you can customize both of our heroes in the sequel to the original title. Featuring 65 suits for you to choose from, you can also take another step and customize them in any way you want.
This is a huge step up from the previous game, which featured only 28 suits in total. Each of them enhances a different ability for either Peter or Miles and thanks to the Suit Stylize system, you can use any of them with your preferred looks without losing any perks. According to the trailer, players can customize them in more than 200 different, unique ways.
According to the trailer, these suits come from basically all Spider-Man media up until now. We got suits from the comics, from movies, and even some special designs here and there, so there’s something for everyone here. And I can’t even imagine how interesting things will get once players get their hands on customizing them.
We also got to see a little bit more of the new, expanded New York exploration, which is stated to be double the size of the previous game. This huge city is filled to the brim with activities and mini-quests you can tackle to make the protagonists stronger and/or get some small unlockables.
Later in the showcase, we got another trailer focused on some of them. Peter and Miles will get 5 unique suits each. Some of them include the Tactical Suit for Peter and the Red Spectre Suit for Miles. These are exclusive to the Digital Deluxe edition, which also features a few early unlocks for the Spider heroes.
Spider-Man 2 releases on October 20 exclusively for the PS5. No announcements for a PC have been made yet, but the title will likely swing its way onto Steam and other game services after some time.
Less than a month and a half
The Venice Production Bridge, an integral part of the 80th Venice International Film Festival, and a specialized hub where film professionals can converge to advance and finalize their projects, is being held from August 31st to September 8th, 2023.
The Venice Production Bridge receives the support of the European Commission through its Creative Europe and MEDIA programme.
The figures of the 2023 VENICE PRODUCTION BRIDGE in comparison to 2022 and 2021:
|
INDUSTRY DELEGATES 05/09/2021 |
INDUSTRY DELEGATES 05/09/2022 |
INDUSTRY DELEGATES
|
|
COLLECTED PASSES |
COLLECTED PASSES |
COLLECTED PASSES |
|
Industry Gold 1001 |
Industry Gold 755 |
Industry Gold 1043 |
|
Industry Trade 625 |
Industry Trade 492 |
Industry Trade 752 |
|
Industry Professional 784 |
Industry Professional 495 |
Industry Professional 682 |
Total: 1742 Total: 2477 Total: 2903
VENICE GAP- FINANCING MARKET (1 – 3 September)
The Venice Gap-Financing Market celebrated its 10th edition in 2023.
For this edition, 283 projects were submitted to the pre-selection of the Venice Gap Financing Market (244 in 2022) directed by 308 filmmakers, including 102 by female directors, 6 by non-binary directors and 200 by male directors. 48 projects directed by 51 filmmakers were selected, out of these 34 Fiction and Documentary and 14 Immersive Story projects. Out of these 22 by female directors and 28 by male directors.
The 48 Fiction and Documentary and Immersive Story projects, plus 11 Biennale College VR and 3 Biennale College Cinema (fiction) projects, including the projects in the framework of Focus on Germany supported by German Films and Focus on Quebec supported by SODEC, were presented across 3 days and 1311 one-to-one meetings have been organised (1074 in 2022).
BOOK ADAPTATION RIGHTS MARKET (1 – 3 September)
40 publishing houses and literary agencies, including those selected within the framework of Focus on Germany and Quebec,participated in the 8th edition of the Book Adaptation Rights Market (32 in 2022). More than 560 one-to-one meetings (450 in 2022) were organised with producers for the adaptation from page to the screen of literary rights.
Every year the Book Adaptation Rights Market highlights a literary genre. This year it has been Children’s and Young Adult Literature with dedicated publishing houses and literary agencies.
FINAL CUT IN VENICE (3 – 5 September)
The Venice Production Bridge has organised the 11th edition of its programme, Final Cut in Venice (September 3 – 5), the workshop to support films in post-production from Africa and Arab countries (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria).
72 projects directed by 77 filmmakers were submitted (26 by female directors and 51 by male directors), out of which 7 projects were selected (2 by female directors and 5 by male directors).
Between the 3rd and 4th of September, the 7 works-in-progress, including the projects in the framework of Focus on Germany supported by German Films, were presented in Sala Pasinetti (Palazzo del Cinema), followed by a Q&A, while on the 5th of September 30 one-to-one meetings were organised for the 7 selected projects with potential financiers.
MEET THE STREAMERS (3 September)
9 European and international streaming platforms participated in the market, taking 96 one-to-one meetings to propose their services to accredited (Gold or Trade pass-holders) international distributors, rights holders and AV professionals.
NOTABLE DECISION MAKERS ATTENDING THE VPB
The VPB has once again welcomed a considerable number of key Industry players and decision makers in order to cover all the initiatives. The professionals who participated in the one-to-one meetings of the Venice Gap-Financing Market, Book Adaptation Rights Market, Final Cut in Venice, Meet the Streamers and VPB Market screenings were producers, distributors, financiers, institutions, broadcasters, sales agents, VR/XR – Immersive experts from companies such as A24, Academy Two, Amazon Prime, Amazon Studios, Arte France, Atlas V, Augustus Color, Aurora Films, BIM Distribuzione, Creative Artists Agency, Canal+, Cattleya, Cercamon, Charades, China Int. Television, Cinéart, Cinecittà Studios, Cinemien, Cinephil, Curzon Artificial Eye, Diaphana, Epic Games, Fandango, Film4, Films Boutique, Film Movement, Floréal, Filmin, Focus Features, Frakas, Fremantle Media, Haut et Court, Iconoclast, I Wonder, Indiana Production Imagine Film Distribution, Ingenious Media Investments, Intramovies, Kinology, Les Valseurs, Lucky Red, Lumière, Madmen Distribution Magnolia Pictures, M-Appeal, Medusa Film, Memento Films Distribution, Meta, MK2, Minerva Pictures Group, Modern Films, MUBI, Netflix, New Europe Film Sales, Palomar, Playtime, Pluto Film, Pyramide International, Rai Cinema, Searchlight Pictures, Sandman Studios, StudioCanal UK; Sky Italia, StudioCanal, TAICCA, Teodora, The Match Factory, The Party Film Sales, True Colours, TrustNordisk, Urban Sales, Usheru, Vision Distribution, Vive, Vivo Film, Wild Bunch, ZDF Enterprises.
These were joined by representatives from major festivals, markets and institutions, such as Austrian Film Commission, Berlinale, British Film Institute, BFI: Flare, Cannes Film Festival, Catalan Films, CineKid, Danish Film Institute, DFFC, Doha Film Insitute, Eurimages, El Gouna Film Festival, European FilmMarket, Europa Distribution, European Film Academy, Film Fund Luxembourg, Film Fest Hamburg, Film und Medienstiftung NRW, Filmfonds Wien, FFA – German Federal Board, German Films, Goteborg Film Festival, IDFA, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Internationale Münchner Filmwochen, Indonesia Film Board, Jeonju International Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Mar del Plata, Marché du Film Cannes, Luxembourg Film Fund, Marrakech Film Festival, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg, MOIN Film Fund Hamburg, Mongolian Film Council, Movies that Matter, Netherlands Film Fund, Onassis Foundation, PHI Centre, Red Sea International Film Festival, San Sebastian Film Festival, SODEC, Sundance, SXSW, Swiss Films, TAICCA, The Gotham, Thessaloniki Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Unifrance, Viennale, Vision du Réel, amongst many others.
EUROPE IN FOCUS (2 September)
In association with the European Commission and Creative Europe MEDIA Programme, La Biennale di Venezia organised the Europe in Focus (2 September), an event which gathered key industry leaders from all over the world through a panel on the themes of IP In A Transmedia World – Boosting Creativity And Audiences.
PANELS AND EVENTS AT THE VPB MARKET
A total of 55 panels and events have been held (41 in 2022), of which 40 on the Venice Lido and 15 on the Venice Immersive Island.
5 Meet the Creators sessions were held on the Venice Immersive Island, supported by: SODEC; German Films (with Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, MOIN!, Hessen Film & Medien, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Nordmedia, FFF Bayern, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW); See NL – The Netherlands Film Fund and the Creative Industry Fund; Arizona State University’s Narrative and Emerging Media program and MIX Centre; Swiss Films.
VPB MARKET SCREENINGS
A total of 57 VPB Market Screenings (34 in 2022) took place this year. Per programme section there were: 19 screenings of films selected for Venezia 80, 3 Out of Competition, 1 Venezia Classici, 5 Orizzonti, 2 Orizzonti Extra, 2 Giornate degli Autori, 2 Settimana della critica, 7 Final Cut in Venice, and 16 screenings of films not in the Official Selection.
VPB WEBSITE https://veniceproductionbridge.org
From 19 July to 4 September:
2040 Industry registered delegates (1777 in 2022) had access to the restricted areas of the website.
Overall, the website had 4,326 unique users (2,958 in 2022), 7,626 sessions (7,068 in 2022) with 94,036 page views (54,135 in 2022).
The Venice Production Bridge, an integral part
If there’s one thing HBO’s Industry and the Oscar-winning The Big Short have taught me, it’s that no matter how many times characters explain the ins and outs of the stock market, I will forever remain immune to its intricacies. I kept thinking about those two projects while watching I, Tonya director Craig Gillespie’s Dumb Money, which manages to strike a chord somewhere between the two as it recounts the GameStop short squeeze phenomenon from January 2021, when a group of amateur traders waged war against hedge fund managers and made themselves rich by leveraging their collective buying power—all in the service of a business that started in strip malls.
At the center of Dumb Money is Keith Gill, a.k.a. Roaring Kitty (Paul Dano), an affable nerd whose penchant for kitty shirts and rambling live videos about his stock portfolio (which he records from his basement) unwittingly leads to an unlikely crusade when he pours all his savings into GameStop stock. What begins as blind faith in the brick-and-mortar business soon becomes a grassroots effort to defy the “smart money” traders and hedge fund managers who are hoping to short the stock and make millions in the process.
Wisely, Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo’s screenplay (adapted from Ben Mezrich’s book, The Anti-Social Network), doesn’t just focus on Keith’s bumbling attempts to corral the movement he begets. Indeed, the film rightly weaves in and out of the lives of many disaffected workers and students, who find in Roaring Kitty and the GameStop phenom a way to stick it to the man, fight a broken system, and, perhaps, get a piece of the pie they’ve so long been denied. Among them are Jenny, a.k.a. StonkMom (America Ferrera), a single mother of two whose nursing job is not enough to keep her family afloat; Marcus (Anthony Ramos) a GameStop employee barely eking out a living; and Riri and Harmony (Myha’la Herrold and Talia Ryder), college kids who go all in on Kitty’s principled stance. It is through them that we see how Keith’s videos and posts on a subreddit called WallStreetBets balloon out of control and briefly radicalize those who collectively start driving up GameStop’s stock beyond what anyone on actual Wall Street could have envisioned.
Dumb Money also gives us access to those who see themselves as above those petty retail traders. Everyone from the creators of the stock trading app Robinhood (played by Sebastian Stan and Rushi Kota) to movers and traders like Ken Griffin (Nick Offerman, in full rich asshole mode), Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen), and Steve Cohen (Vincent D’Onofrio) gets the spotlight as it slowly dawns on the trading establishment that the coordinated campaign that Roaring Kitty and his acolytes are waging may cost them millions. What follows is a fight between the haves (who spend their time trying to demolish the mansion next door to construct tennis courts to better pass the time during lockdown) and the have-nots (who’d rather not spend money on a Heineken when a local beer would do just as well).
In a cheeky move that reminds audiences how the financial world assesses all of us, every introduction to these various players is followed by their net worth. It’s but one of the many details wherein Gillespie makes sure to imbue Dumb Money with a welcome sense of humor that keeps this scathing true-life satire buoyantly alive. He’s helped, of course, by his game cast. Pete Davidson, as Keith’s DoorDash-driving brother, gets laughs from loud moments; my favorite is his attempt at impersonating New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Similarly, Ramos makes great use of his comedic physicality in easily the film’s most epic needle drop (to Megan Thee Stallion’s TikTok fave “Savage”), while Rogen and Stan both relish making their respective characters into laughable buffoons whose unearned confidence is only matched by their hubris.
But it’s Dano’s mellowed blend of wide-eyed melancholy and unintentionally deadpan humor that best captures Dumb Money’s tone. This is a uniquely American farcical tragedy about the perils and promises of late-stage capitalism that can only be told through gritted laughter lest we recognize just how depressing a portrait of a broken system the GameStop gasp of a moment was. Indeed, by the time we get the requisite title cards that tell us how each of our characters fared soon after, you’re bound to find yourself rolling your eyes and shaking your head at the impunity on display.
Given the subject matter and the sprawling cast of characters Gillespie is navigating, it’s a testament to Dumb Money’s script (not to mention its editing, courtesy of The Social Network’s Kirk Baxter) how briskly it moves. There’s just enough information to keep us in the know without it feeling like a TED Talk on stock brokerage investments, and I never stopped feeling fully invested in its characters—nor in the larger story they’re illustrating. Smart, playful, and perhaps efficient to a fault (there’s only so many times a rap song can be used as a narrative stitch to take us from one character to another), Gillespie’s latest is an enraging David vs. Goliath, ripped-from-the-headlines tale that deserves to be seen to be believed.
Dumb Money opens in theaters in limited release on September 22
If there’s one thing HBO’s Industry and
Charades has closed multiple deals on “There’s Something in the Barn,” Magnus Martens’s (“Fear the Walking Dead”) comedy horror movie from “Dead Snow” producers at 74 Entertainment and XYZ Films.
The English-language movie is headlined by Martin Starr (“Freaks and Geeks,” “Spider Man”), Amrita Acharia (“Game of Thrones”) and Jeppe Beck Laursen (“The Last Kingdom”). Both Starr and Acharia previously starred in “Dead Snow 2.” The film follows the Nordheim family who have happily moved to their old family farm in the Norwegian Mountain. They lives turn into hell and torments when they come across the trickiest Nordic folklore creatures known as the Barn Elf.
Ahead of its world premiere at Sitges and Fantastic Fest, “There’s Something in the Barn” has been pre-sold by Charades to a raft of major territories, including Germany (Telepool & Capelight), Spain (A Contracorriente) UK (Vertigo Releasing), Switzerland (Telepool), Portugal (Cinemundo), Scandinavia (Scandinavian Film Distribution, Poland (Monolith), Hungary (ADS), Czech Rep & Slovakia (AQS), Romania (ADS), Adriatics (MCF Megacom), Baltics (Best Film), Russia (Arna Media), Lebanon & Gulf (Falcon), French-Speaking Africa (Cinemundo), Australia and New Zealand (Kismet) and India (Pictureworks). The film will be released on Nov. 10
One of Norway’s best genre filmmakers, Martens previously directed multiple episodes of “Good Behavior,” “Fear the Walking Dead” and “Banshee,” among other shows.
Charades attended the Venice Film Festival with several films including Timm Kröger’s “The Theory of Everything” which world premiered in competition, and Sébastien Vaniček’s horror film “Vermin” which played at Venice Critics Week and has sold to Shudder.
Here’s an exclusive teaser:
Charades has closed multiple deals on “There’s
Well, just call Liv Taylor Annalise Keating because she got away with murder.
Actually, Analise never killed anyone, so that’s not a great comparison, but you get the point! She outsmarted the system! She outsmarted her husband! She spit in the name of authority! And blah, blah, blah.
Will succeeded in finally breaking Liv beyond repair during Wilderness Season 1 Episode 6, and she decided the only way out was to frame him for the crime she committed.
Wilderness was filled with terrible people from top to bottom.
People who weren’t afraid to hurt others, showed little remorse, and doubled down on their terribleness when given the chance.
I was a little surprised Cara’s death was blamed on Garth, but his unhinged jaunt to the Taylor residence did him no favors. Putting the guilty verdict on him really meant that Liv and Will had the chance to move forward.
But that meant two very different things to them.
It was comical seeing Will STILL fight to stay married to a woman who actively despised him and stopped pretending otherwise long ago. His refusal to give up on her was rooted in his fear of failure, but cry me a river, man.
Liv: A person can only take so much.
Rawlins: Yeah, a person can.
He did everything in his power to ruin what they had, and he was only ever trying to change because he got caught. And the thing was, his “changing” was buying her clothes and fancy dinners, but was that any different from what he was doing before?
He seemed to treat Liv like gold when he was with her, but he wasn’t a truthful and faithful person. He didn’t adhere to his vows, and thus, he made a mockery of their relationship.
And Liv was well within her rights to sever ties.
I’m glad Liv admitted that she wished she’d left him when she first found out. So many things that have happened could be traced back to those weeks right after she found out Will was an awful human being.
If she’d left on Christmas Eve, or even after she found all of Cara’s emails, that trip out west would never have happened, and Cara and Garth are both still alive.
But god help her, she loved Will. And then it became too complicated to leave.
Now, the complications were null, and she finally found the strength to move on, no doubt buoyed somewhat by finally having it out with her mother during Wilderness Season 1 Episode 5.
She was always terrified of being like her mother, but she had to realize now that she wasn’t like Caryl by leaving on her own terms.
Will should have just let Liv go, but his pride wouldn’t let him. And no matter how much he saw his wife morph into a shell of who she used to be, he couldn’t stop himself from pushing one last time and threatening her freedom.
I still marvel at how well Liv could quickly turn her emotions on and off and make people believe her, even when all prior evidence said they shouldn’t.
Will was so conceited that he expected Liv to fall in line and somehow found himself stunned when she did what she wanted instead.
Liv linking up with Marissa was the energy I wished Liv had the whole time. She officially reached her I don’t give a you know what era, and she didn’t care if she embarrassed Will or herself in the process.
She was so done with him at that moment, yet he STILL allowed himself to be tricked by her one last time.
The main reason why Liv was so keen to lie for Will in the first place was because she was helping herself. Everything she did under the guise of helping him was to protect herself from anyone looking too long in her direction.
And to be fair, in the immediate aftermath of the murder, I don’t think she wanted Will to go to jail. But once he threatened her peace, she went into full sabotage mode.
Everything fell perfectly into place for Liv since she could get the cop’s evidence of Will and Cara’s affair and also plausibly deny his whereabouts during the night Cara was injured.
It helped that Wiseman was a little bit obsessed with painting her into the box of sad, manipulated wife who just wanted to please her husband. Rawlins didn’t seem nearly as convinced, but even she couldn’t deny that the evidence was there.
And that forgotten raincoat finally came around to stick it to Will one last time.
We still never saw what happened after Will ran into Cara that night, but he must have given her the jacket at some point, and now he’ll be at Rikers for the next thirty years partly because of it.
This wasn’t really a traditional story about heroes and villains because no one was heroic in the slightest. Everybody, from Liv to Will to Cara to even Caryl, was driven by their selfishness.
It was just a story of bad people doing bad things, with some facing consequences and others simply not.
Will was the literal definition of a scoundrel. He ruined his marriage and had no one to blame but himself. But he wasn’t a murderer. He didn’t deserve to go down for a crime he didn’t commit.
Liv, on the other hand, was a good wife who found out her life was a lie and chose violence to settle the score.
I can’t possibly imagine sitting through this entire series and actively rooting for any of these people, but if there were someone to understand at all, it’d be Liv. Was there badness in her all along, like Caryl pointed out so callously when she was just a child?
Or was she a product of others turning her into the woman she became?
Will: Who are you?
Liv: I’m who you made me.
Wilderness makes you think about how much others impact who we are and our decisions. And how much can be blamed on those who do wrong versus those who seemingly drove them to feel like they had no other choice?
In Liv’s case, there were other choices. But the minute she decided Will’s death was the answer, there was no turning back.
Will putting the pieces together that Liv set him up to take the fall for Cara‘s murder was an excellent gotcha moment that was completely undone by the fact that even knowing that, he still wanted her to wait for him.
There aren’t enough words to drive home how delusional Will was throughout this whole thing, but never more so than when he was sitting there in handcuffs, staring at the woman he embarrassed.
Liv can’t be pregnant, right? Of course she could be, but it all felt too convenient. Though, when she was walking around Yosemite at the end of the hour, I kept expecting her to touch her belly.
Will would never touch her if he knew she was having his baby, his twisted sense of family still pervading his depraved soul even while looking at a lifetime behind bars.
Liv ending up back at the exact place she killed Cara and using it as a moment to berate a ‘get off my lawn’ man was an on-the-nose way of summing up Wilderness in a nutshell.
You box someone in long enough, and eventually, they snap. Suddenly, the hunted becomes the hunter, and things will never be the same.
Odds and Ends
Wilderness was certainly a ride! While it started strong, things hit a snag in the middle before coming back together in the end.
The actors put their hearts into these flawed characters and carried this show on their backs, even when the material was so-so at times.
Now that this story is all wrapped up, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the season overall.
What worked for you? And what didn’t?
Were you rooting for Liv?
Did any of your questions go unanswered?
Thanks for hanging with me this season, fanatics!
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
Well, just call Liv Taylor Annalise Keating
“It really is a fairy tale, an Oldenburg fairy tale,” says Torsten Ruether, speaking about his new movie Uppercut, “how this movie came together feels magical, somehow.”
Two years ago, Ruether was in Oldenburg, Germany’s leading indie film festival, presenting his debut feature, Leberhaken, a low-budget boxing movie with a distinctly Million Dollar Baby vibe: Newcomer Luise Großmann stars as a promising young pugilist who tries to persuade a disillusioned trainer (Hardy Daniel Krueger) to take her on as a pupil.
“We had the premiere, opening night, and at the party afterward a number of U.S. producers came up to me and said: ‘This is the kind of story American love. It’s been nearly 20 years since Million Dollar Baby. We want to redo this for the U.S.’”
Promises made over a few gin and tonics at an international film festival party aren’t usually the kind you can take to the bank but Ruether went to work on a script. He kept the basic plot but transferred the action from Berlin to New York, turned Luise Großmann’s character Toni (she reprises her Leberhaken role in Uppercut) into a first-generation German immigrant, and made the trainer character an African-American. The U.S. version also included a second timeline: Years later, we see Toni has become one of the very few successful managers in professional boxing.
“So we can see, even if we do compare the film to Million Dollar Baby, ours ends up in a completely different corner,” says Ruether. “At first, my American partners were very irritated because I was taking a very different approach. Instead of making the racial and social conflicts between this privileged, white girl and this working-class African American man the center of the story, I wanted to create an integrative story, where the main driving force was curiosity from both sides about the other.”
The script got sent around and famed casting director Michelle Lewitt (Transformers, Angels and Demons) set up a meeting to pitch a name for the role of Elliott Duffond, the African-American trainer.
“We were at Soho House and she said: ‘What do you think of Ving Rhames’? Ruether recalls. “I started to laugh. I told her I wanted a big name but I wasn’t thinking about a superstar.”
A quick conversation with his backers — Uppercut, like Leberhaken, was financed entirely independently, with no pre-sales, subsidy funding or studio money involved — and Ruether had the Mission: Impossible and Pulp Fiction star in a pay-or-play deal for a nine-day shoot in L.A.
“We did all the scenes with Ving and Luise there, in an old L.A. warehouse we did up to be the New York gym,” says Ruether. “Ving was nervous at first. After 20 years of shooting blockbusters, he was used to doing two lines a day. Here we did eight pages a day. It was a monster. He got out of his comfort zone. And I think he liked it.”
Ruether set up with two cameras, shooting dialog “theater style” and improvising elements like the training sessions between Toni and Elliott. The chemistry between the two leads, he says, was immediate.
“There was a real curiosity between the two that transferred to the screen,” he says, “on one take we were shooting a boxing session with the heavy bag. I was set to do a 30-40 second take but they were so into it, it was so mesmerizing, it was 40 minutes before I yelled cut.”
Ruether took the material from the first shoot back to Berlin to edit while he prepared for the second U.S. shoot, in the section, without Rhames, where Toni’s character is a successful boxing manager.
“There was so much material from the shoot with Ving and it was all so good,” says Ruether. “My editor, Nora Lüders, said: ‘I can make you a whole film from this.’ Which got me thinking: In music, you have the idea of Plugged and Unplugged versions of a song. Why couldn’t we do plugged and unplugged versions of our movie?”
Which is exactly what Ruether is doing. “We call them the still and sparkling versions because MTV has the copyright on plugged and unplugged,” he says, “but the version that Nora cut, the one that will premiere in Oldenburg, is the still version. It’s a quieter, more dialog-focused arthouse film. With a score by Sting’s guitarist Dominic Miller.”
The “sparkling” version of Uppercut, which Ruether describes as “more mainstream, box office” includes co-stars Joanna Cassidy and Jordan E. Cooper, includes a score by music collective Brass Against, and was edited by Savannah Bayse.
“She started from scratch with the same material as in the still version but without having ever seen it,” says Ruether. “And she didn’t pick a single take used in the first version. So I like to say these films aren’t twins, but they are siblings.”
The U.S. version of Uppercut was shot in the middle of the dual strikes with an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA. “I’m so proud of that, we had someone from SAG on set every day and I think they’re doing a fantastic job,” says Ruether. “And we are the kind of truly independent productions, with no studio, no big backers, they want to support.”
Uppercut, the sparkling version, will hit the festival circuit later this year. Ruether is currently shopping both films to world sales companies.
“We have no pre-sales, we own them entirely so we can do what we want,” he says. “I think it could be a very sweet spot for independent films now because, at least by the winter, there will be a gap in the market, with fewer films getting made and the blockbusters being pushed to next year. People will be missing movies.”
“It really is a fairy tale, an
For Sam’s first journey, she took a ketamine lozenge, placed an eye mask over her eyes, and was instructed to relax and open herself to whatever came up—images, memories, feelings. Unlike a traditional therapy session, she did not talk about her struggles. Instead she was invited to observe whatever emerged during her trip.
“My therapist said I would depart from my conscious mind and enter a transformational space of…‘non-ordinary consciousness,’” Sam explains. “I was a little nervous, but I trusted her.”
As the ketamine started working, Sam says her body felt heavy and she slipped into what she describes as a “dreamy state.” She felt a little disoriented at first, until she remembered the words offered by her therapist and was able to settle deeper into the experience. She then recalls being greeted by a feeling she had never experienced: self-compassion. During her journey, she also saw herself as a baby and connected with her own sense of innocence. “I remember saying that I am lucky because I can mother myself.”
Similar insights may emerge in talk therapy, but this can take a long while because the human mind is trained to avoid thoughts and feelings that elicit discomfort. With ketamine therapy, however, there can be an “ego dissolution” that allows these repressed feelings and memories to rise to the surface without the mind becoming stuck in reactivity, rumination, or judgment.
Sam’s self-critical thoughts went on hiatus during her journey, allowing her to create a fresh narrative about her maternal experience. “It showed me a new way to think about myself,” she says. “Instead of spinning [in worry], I could listen to my gut feeling. I can’t even explain the freedom this shift has given me.”
Some experts call this fresh perspective “new mind,” and it can be one of the immediate upsides of KAP. The idea is that when mothers take a break from their worries, obsessions, and shame spirals, they can see that it’s possible to think and feel differently.
When treating PPD, talk therapy, medication, and group support are still frontline treatments because numerous studies show they’re successful. However, for women with severe or recurrent PPD, ketamine is another medicinal tool, Dr. Schultz says.
And while plenty of research suggests that antidepressants can alleviate maternal depression, Dr. Schultz says they are not for everyone. Unwanted side effects like drowsiness and weight gain can be challenging to tolerate. “Ketamine’s side effect burden is minimal, and when it works, it tends to work rapidly,” the psychiatrist adds. For this reason, it may be helpful for depressed mothers who haven’t found relief with therapy or medication alone.
Birth trauma or childhood trauma often underpins maternal suffering. In these cases, KAP can help a new mother process her trauma by providing the space and distance necessary to cease reexperiencing the frightening triggers.
Because ketamine is a schedule III substance, mothers may understandably worry about becoming dependent on the medicine. However, all psychotherapy work with ketamine is closely monitored by a prescribing physician or nurse practitioners. That said, KAP’s ability to treat PPD remains very new, so all mothers should consult with their obstetrician or a mental health provider before making a decision.
If you’re considering KAP, it’s important to know that it requires specialized training and is legally offered only by mental health professionals who work alongside a physician.
For Sam's first journey, she took a
TikTok has been fined €345 million — about $367 million — by an Irish regulatory agency, which ruled the app violated the EU’s data-privacy laws with respect to processing information on children users.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), in addition to the fine, ordered TikTok “to bring its processing into compliance” with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) within three months.
During an investigation into TikTok practices spanning the second half of 2020, the DPC found that the app’s signup process for teenage users resulted in settings that made their accounts public by default, allowing anyone to view and comment on their videos. In addition, the regulator said, TikTok’s “family pairing” feature, intended to let parents and guardians manage their kids’ accounts, failed to verify whether the user was actually the child user’s parent or guardian. In addition, the adult user could use the “family pairing” feature to enable DMs for child users older than 16, “thereby making this feature less strict for the child user,” according to the DPC’s investigation.
The DPC concluded that TikTok’s age verification process did not violate GDPR, but it found that TikTok had not sufficiently protected the privacy of children under 13 who were able to sign up for an account.
In a statement, TikTok said, “We respectfully disagree with the decision, particularly the level of the fine imposed. The DPC’s criticisms are focused on features and settings that were in place three years ago, and that we made changes to well before the investigation even began, such as setting all under 16 accounts to private by default.”
Meanwhile, earlier this year the U.K.’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) fined TikTok more than $15 million for allegedly failing to enforce rules under which children under the age of 13 are not allowed to use the social media platform without parental consent.
In 2019, TikTok paid a $5.7 million fine to settle FTC allegations that it violated the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Under the settlement, TikTok promised to come into compliance with the law.
TikTok has been fined €345 million —
How
Although Terry Dubrow, 65, suffered a mini-stroke just last month, his wife, Heather Dubrow, 54, was in a celebratory mood for his birthday on Sept. 14! The Real Housewives of Orange County star took to Instagram to share a carousel of photos with her husband of 24 years and their four kids. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY @drdubrow !!!! We all love you SO much … and this year I am even more grateful to be celebrating you,” she gushed, along with three heart emojis.
In the first slide of Heather’s birthday tribute, the proud parents posed alongside their four kids: Max, 19, Nick, 19, Kat, 16, and Ace, 12. The famous family enjoyed dinner at a restaurant together for the Botched star’s special day. The remainder of the post included photos of the beloved Bravo couple from moments on the hit reality show.
Soon after the brunette beauty shared the post with her 1.6 million followers, many of them took to the comments to wish Terry a happy birthday. “Love a Virgo!!!!!” The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Sutton Stracke, 51, gushed. Meanwhile, Heather’s RHOC co-star, Jennifer Pedranti, also chimed in to send Terry some love. “Happy Birthday Terry!!!” the blonde beauty penned. One of the sweetest notes was from Terry’s daughter, Max, herself who wrote, “i love you dad !!!! happy birthday.”
The birthday celebrations come just six weeks after Heather and Terry confirmed to TMZ that he suffered a mini stroke the week prior. When he recalled the health scare to E! News that same day, Terry made sure to credit his wife for being his life saver. “Listen to your partner. If they are concerned about something don’t argue, don’t ignore and get it checked out right away,” he told the mag after Heather insisted that he see a doctor despite his pushback. “What they see may be very different than what you perceive. Be grateful for those who love you. I love my wife, thank god for Heather and her persistence and insistence. She truly saved my life.”
Terry and his wife revealed that doctors discovered that he had a hole in his heart also known as a patent foramen ovale (PFO). Additionally, his medical team informed him that “a blood clot passed through the PFO, traveled to his brain and caused the TIA.” On Aug. 9, Heather shared a selfie with her husband and gushed over him in the caption. “I love this man with my whole heart. I’m beyond grateful that Terry’s ok, this could have gone very differently. If you see someone having stroke like symptoms- get them to the Hospital,” she captioned the post.
Image Credit: Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock Although Terry Dubrow, 65,
As the ongoing battles in state legislatures over classroom curricula indicate, history – or at least the curation of which stories to teach, and from which perspectives – is subjective. So too is Hollywood’s rich tradition of biopics, which imply to audiences whose lives are worthy of immortalizing on film. Whether in textbooks or onscreen, most of the protagonists of our shared cultural history have belonged to the same demographic: Elvis, Oppenheimer, Jobs, Zuckerberg, Hughes. Those individuals were undoubtedly impactful, but Hollywood has also devoted resources to spotlighting relatively lesser-known white men, such as Jordan Belfort, Frank Abagnale and Hugh Glass (and that’s just one movie star’s filmography).
Biopics about people of color exist, of course, particularly when it comes to undeniable icons like Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali. But one community – the second largest racial or ethnic group in the country – has been particularly underrepresented when it comes to history as told by Hollywood, which makes a number of this year’s releases all the more notable. Flamin’ Hot, A Million Miles Away, Cassandro and Radical are movies diverse from one another in genre, theme and tone, but what they all have in common is that they are based on the true stories of Latino men (specifically, of Mexican descent). And together, they offer to audiences new entries in the collective cultural canon.
“These films mean our true stories are finally being told – our stories, not tropes,” says National Hispanic Media Coalition president and CEO Brenda Victoria Castillo. “And not just another film about Cesar Chavez. We have so many Latino legends in our history, and it’s time the world sees who we are, how diverse we are and what we’ve accomplished. We’re a part of the American narrative, and they’re finally hearing about us.”
In June, Searchlight released Flamin’ Hot, a comedic take on the tale of marketing executive Richard Montañez, who invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos while he worked as a janitor at Frito-Lay. (In reality, Montañez’s claim to fame is actually in dispute, which just further underscores the potential of Hollywood’s mythmaking power.) Amazon has two movies during Hispanic Heritage Month: A Million Miles Away (premiering Sept. 15), the inspirational story of José Hernández, who worked as a migrant farmworker as a child before eventually becoming an engineer and NASA astronaut, and Cassandro (which had its world premiere at Sundance ahead of its Sept. 22 streaming release), a meditation on sexuality, faith and family through the life of Saúl Armendáriz, whose lucha libre alter ego was a pioneer of gay pride amid the macho wrestling scene. In contrast to the other three films, Radical, which is based on the transformative work of schoolteacher Sergio Juárez Correa, is an entirely Mexican (not Mexican American) story, but thanks in part to its star and producer Eugenio Derbez is expected to reach a crossover audience when it hits theaters in the U.S. and Mexico this fall, having already won the Festival Favorite Award at Sundance in January.
The effect of watching all four of these films in one week – as I did – is to be immersed in another vision of North American culture and history, one in which Latinos are found in fields and factories as well as boardrooms, classrooms, laboratories and space shuttles and possess, as Juárez Correa (Derbez) puts it to his students, limitless potential. More importantly, the movies are mostly devoid of an outsider’s gaze, although some of Montañez (Jesse Garcia)’s quippy voiceovers feel like a put-on for the benefit of gringos.
“I think we’re used to seeing a lot of Latino and Mexican representation done in a way to please the American audience,” says A Million Miles Away director Alejandra Márquez Abella, adding that migrant farmwork was one area she strove to depict authentically. “I was worried about portraying the fields as a horrible place, but I was also worried about making it like a romantic, pretty place that everyone enjoys, because that’s not the case either. It was a difficult balance to bring justice to those experiences.”
Márquez Abella, making her English-language and Hollywood studio directorial debut with this film, saves the inspirational feel-good vibes for Hernández’s remarkable personal trajectory. Under her careful direction, both migrant labor and the Hernández family’s upward mobility through the decades are depicted in a straightforward manner, without a camera fetishistically dwelling on the trappings of poverty or changing economic status. The effect of this matter-of-fact, culturally authentic representation is that the viewer is more easily able to tap into the emotional experiences of the characters without the distraction of exoticization or otherization.
“The more authentic and specific, the more universal [a movie] ends up being,” says Julie Rapaport, head of film creative and strategy at Amazon MGM Studios, which greenlit A Million Miles Away last February (the project was first set up at Netflix) and Cassandro in October 2020. Rapaport adds that contrary to the conventional wisdom that such stories, by virtue of their protagonists’ backgrounds, have been considered “niche,” Amazon leaned into the opportunity: “The fact that we’d be speaking to an audience who isn’t necessarily always highlighted was actually a positive.”
That these films are based on true stories can go a long way toward combating media stereotypes as well as public attitudes. “In media, migrant workers and immigrants more broadly are often reduced to their economic value or immigration statuses,” says Define American manager of entertainment partnerships and advocacy Dulce Valencia, who found in A Million Miles Away a depiction of immigrants as “human beings with hopes, fears, families, loves and dreams that are sometimes so big they go to space.”
Meanwhile, “wrestlers are like a mirror of how Mexicans see themselves; however, Mexican society is very sexist and misogynistic and still very Catholic,” says Armendáriz, who has been the subject of multiple documentary treatments, including 2018’s Cassandro, The Exotico! “I hope with this [narrative] film… that people through their screens will have the opportunity to know my true self.”
Cassandro is the first narrative feature from Oscar-winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams, who was inspired to pitch the movie after directing a 2016 New Yorker short doc about the luchador. “There’s a lot more freedom in the narrative space to reimagine Cassandro’s world, its implications and its outcomes, all of which invite the audience to examine their own lives and biases surrounding underrepresented or marginalized subjects,” Williams says. “I think this influences how we interact with and consider them in real life.”
There have been Latino-centered biopics before – including Stand and Deliver (1988), Selena (1997) and Frida (2002) – but they have until this year been few and far between. “When movies feature stories about Latinx people, they have historically been known to focus on trauma or on stereotypical themes involving drugs and crime. National news coverage doesn’t focus on how the majority of Latinxs living in the U.S. were born in the U.S. and how all Latinxs living in the U.S. contribute economically and culturally to the country,” says Ana-Christina Ramon, director of the Entertainment and Media Research Initiative at UCLA and one of the lead authors of the annual Hollywood Diversity Report, which found that in 2022 Latinos represented just 2.3 percent and 6.1 percent of theatrical and streaming film leads, respectively. “Stories about Latinx triumph and accomplishment are also largely missing from school textbooks. So it feels significant to see even a handful of films in less than a year with Latinx leads who are depicted with their own agency and aspirations.”
But this relative abundance of Latino representation – which also includes the superhero tentpole Blue Beetle and YA adaptation Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – comes at a time when screenwriters and especially actors are unavailable to promote their work as a result of the ongoing labor strikes, which means that the stakes couldn’t be more fraught. “I really hope that this is not just this year’s wave,” says Diana Luna, executive director of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, one of 27 Latino advocacy groups that came together to pen a joint open letter urging the public to #SupportLatinoCreatives during this pivotal moment.
The success of these films could open the doors to more biopics of exemplary, historically ignored individuals whose stories might otherwise be lost to the passage of time. Because I’m a product of the American public school system, I don’t even know who from Latino history to suggest, so I asked more informed sources to pitch somebody.
Jovita Idar, says Cruz Castillo, who works with his mother, Brenda, at the NHMC as its external relations and digital media manager. In Castillo’s telling, Idar was a journalist at the turn of the 20th century who stood up to the Texas Rangers when they tried to shut down her paper: “This Mexican woman came out against these white dudes on big steeds and told them to back the hell off.”
One can only hope that an industry constantly on the hunt for IP is paying attention.
As the ongoing battles in state legislatures
Welcome to the 230th episode of TV’s Top 5, The Hollywood Reporter’s TV podcast.
Every week, hosts Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) and Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic) break down the latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).
This week, we’re joined by THR media and business reporter Alex Weprin for a deep dive into the future of cable television. Here’s how this week’s show breaks down:
1. Mailbag
What shows are on our “list of shame”? Should Apple be promoting itself as a content hub for all streamers? Will ad-free plans vanish? Thoughts on those and more as we field questions from listeners.
2. Talk shows return
The Drew Barrymore Show, The View, The Talk, Sherri, Live, Tamron Hall and Bill Maher’s Real Time have all returned to production — sans writers. This segment looks at the why behind their returns and why Barrymore finds herself on the hot seat.
3. Strike Zone
We return to the Strike Zone for the latest updates as more top showrunners have seen their overall deals suspended while others are set to meet with writers guild officials.
4. Disney v. Charter, explained
Weprin joins us for an informative conversation about how the Disney-Charter carriage dispute could have long-term impacts on the future of cable networks like Freeform and Disney Junior, among other niche channels. Plus is this the beginning of the streaming bundle? All that and an explainer on why this story may be more important than the strikes.
5. Critic’s Corner
As usual, we end with Dan’s thoughts on this week’s new and returning series. In this episode, he weighs in on The Morning Show, Wilderness and Wrestlers.
Hear it all now on TV’s Top 5. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to never miss an episode. (Reviews welcome!) You can also email us with any topics or Mailbag questions you’d like addressed in future episodes at TVsTop5@THR.com.
Welcome to the 230th episode of TV’s Top
Published By: Chirag Sehgal
Last Updated: September 15, 2023, 18:11 IST
Hina shared a BTS video and left her fans curious.
Hina Khan, who has captured hearts with her acting prowess, has recently sent shock waves of excitement through her legion of fans. The actress, known for her impeccable performances on television and in films, dropped a tantalizing hint about working on a first-time-ever project, leaving her admirers overjoyed and eager for more details. Hina offered a glimpse into her upcoming project through a behind-the-scenes video.
The clip shared on her Instagram handle starts with her preparation for what seems to be a music video shoot. The actress looks stunning in a gorgeous magenta-pink off-shoulder gown, her flawless makeup and perfectly styled hair added an extra layer of glamour to her overall look. The video concluded with a cryptic message that left fans eagerly anticipating what’s “coming soon.”
In her caption, Hina Khan wrote, “Something special, which you all had requested many times is finally coming into reality. PRESENTING TO YOU MY FIRST EVER …#ComingSoon #Debut.”
Fans of the actress couldn’t contain their excitement, and the comment section was flooded with anticipation and exhilaration. Many fans guessed that this mysterious project might mark the actress’s debut as a singer. One user wrote, “Song sung by you,” while another user commented, “Debut as a singer.” A fan shared, “Song sung by Hina.” “Can’t wait for this one…release on ur bday,” wrote another user.
Earlier, the actress treated her fans to a breathtaking glimpse of her in traditional attire. Hina looked radiant in a captivating blue suit accentuated by elegant silver jhumkas. Her makeup allowed her natural beauty to shine, and her open hair added a touch of grace to the ensemble. In the caption she wrote, “My love for jhumkas.”
On the professional front, Hina Khan is set to grace the screens in a captivating short film titled Country of the Blind, directed by Rahat Kazmi. This promising film also boasts a stellar ensemble cast, including Shoib Nikash Shah, Ahmer Haider, Anushka Sen, Namita Lal, and Jitendra Rai, each playing pivotal roles in the narrative. While the film is currently in its post-production phase, the makers have chosen to keep the specifics under wraps, leaving fans in eager anticipation of what this cinematic gem may unveil.
For those unaware, Hina Khan has been in showbiz for 14 years, beginning with her iconic role as Akshara in the TV series Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai. She has since graced the screens in numerous popular TV and web series and even made glamorous appearances at prestigious international events like the Cannes Film Festival.
Published By: Chirag SehgalLast Updated: September
When first-time documentary director Leonard Manzella premieres his award-winning “Shoe Shine Caddie” at the Portobello Film Festival in London on September 16, it will represent a kind of return to the former actor’s roots in the international film scene.
A professional family therapist for the past 30 years in California, Manzella’s earlier career began when the native Angeleno left Los Angeles for Rome in 1968 “when everything was burning.” In his early 20s and armed with “no contacts and about $50 bucks in my pocket,” a fortuitous introduction to American actor Brett Halsey got Manzella into movies, first as an extra and eventually as a leading man.
Halsey, who landed in Rome in the ‘60s and worked steadily in Euro crime thrillers and in the burgeoning spaghetti western scene, often toiled under the moniker Montgomery Ford and Leonard Manzella became famous as Leonard Mann.
Courtesy Leonard Manzella
“I went to Rome to study political science, but a friend in L.A. told me to call Halsey, and through him I got my first job in film, working ten days as an extra. On my first movie, ‘Youth March,’ there was a young cinematographer named Vittorio Storaro and we were both coming up,” recalls Manzella. “This was 10 years before he started winning Oscars!”
In his early days in Rome, Manzella also met most of the legendary Italian auteurs of the era, including Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti and Vittorio De Sica, whose early Italian neo-realist masterpiece “Umberto D” would prove to have a decisive influence on Manzella.
During his time on the continent, Manzella found himself starring opposite such leading Euro stars as Laura Antonelli and Marcello Mastroianni (in the torrid 1977 romantic drama “Wifemistress”) and alongside cult film legend Klaus Kinski in “Vengeance is a Dish Served Cold,” which is cited as a major influence on another Italian-American filmmaker, Quentin Tarantino.
Manzella became disenchanted with the film business in Europe, which he recalls faced tremendous economic challenges created by one of Italy’s regular changes in governments.
“They switched from the far left to the far right and the taxes suddenly cratered Italian cinema. It wiped out the major producers like Carlo Ponti and Dino De Laurentiis.”
Thus, Manzella returned to Southern California where he acted in the hit TV show “Charlie’s Angels,” and starred in routine thrillers such as “Night School” and with Harvey Keitel in “Order of Death.”
One great creative partnership did blossom out of that rough patch when Manzella eventually switched gears in the ’80s and became a practicing family therapist, the field that he and his fellow family therapist wife, Lynne, have pursued in the San Luis Obispo area for three decades.
“I became friends with director Monte Hellman, who was living in a house in Malibu that was owned by my brother Ray. Monte was really the spiritual heir of those European directors I admired. Where De Sica made a narrative film, ‘Umberto D,’ that looked and felt like a documentary, Monte was inspired by the Italian neo-realists like De Sica and Ermanno Olmi.”
Manzella missed the chance to work with Hellman early on, as he was committed to work on a Pirandello play in Sicily in 1978 when Hellman made his one, rather late, spaghetti western “China 9, Liberty 37” with Italian star Fabio Testi in Spain and Rome.
But Hellman and Manzella became friends and filmmaking collaborators, with Manzella popping up in Hellman’s 1989 horror thriller, “Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out,” and they toiled on several screenplays together that to date haven’t found their way onto the screen.
Their friendship and partnership included constant filmgoing and constant conversations about films and filming.
“Monte took me to some screenings of his films ‘The Shooting’ and ‘Ride in the Whirlwind’ and just like with De Sica, I was mesmerized by his movies. They were so simple and to the point. He was forcing me to see things that normally I wouldn’t take time to look at. There’s a dinner scene in ‘Ride,’ where no one talks, and it made me nervous. It reminded me of my family!”
For Manzella, show business in L.A. in the ‘80s didn’t have the magic lure of Rome in the ‘60s. “In Rome, it was about living, about women, about books and politics, and everything great about being young and committed to art. In L.A., everything was just the next fucking deal.” That dissatisfaction with the industry led to family counseling.
Living in Central California, Manzella and Hellman, still in L.A., remained close and Manzella came close to production on a film version of his play “Cages,” which was borne out of his psychodrama therapy work with death row inmates in the California penal system.
Then Hellman, at the age of 91, passed away in 2021.
Courtesy Leonard Manzella
“’Shoe Shine Caddie’ happened because of something Monte Hellman used to say: ‘If it moves you, it will move the audience.’ So ‘Shoe Shine Caddie’ came out of my curiosity about Adrian Spears, a man I saw shining shoes for the lawyers in front of the San Luis Obispo County Courthouse. I saw him from 100 feet away, wearing a bright red apron, a starched shirt, and he was often dancing, wearing a bowler hat. I wondered, ‘Who the eff is that?’ and I had my shoes shined. I didn’t know he was homeless. San Luis is such a Wonder Bread town, so he really stood out.”
Manzella convinced Spears to tell his story on film. Spears was homeless and kept his immaculate clothes in a storage unit out of town. He was trying to gain shared custody of a young daughter he had fathered in a casual relationship.
“From the beginning, Adrian was a trooper” recalls Manzella. “I told him ‘I’m going to have my head up your ass’ and he understood what was involved, but he thought the film might help his cause by giving him some local exposure. And he just thought I was some old fart who thought he was Spielberg. He figured I was full of baloney, but why not give it a try.”
Manzella the filmmaker encountered challenges as Spears struggled in both his custody fight, which (spoiler alert) he ultimately lost, and with his lifelong battles with alcohol abuse, which as is well known, is a day-at-a-time fight.
“Adrian would fall off the rails and drink, but he would always come back. You see this, and you want to put the camera on your subject and let life happen and you don’t want to get in the way, but you want to get in the way. It wasn’t easy for the therapist in me, but I knew in my heart I had to stay out of that role and just be an observer.”
The result of their many months of candid interviews and quiet, insightful observation is a small gem that premiered in the San Luis Obispo Film Festival and won first prize for Best Central California film, which in essence was an audience award.
Courtesy Leonard Manzella
This led to a three-week run at the town’s arthouse, the Palm Theater, and all proceeds were donated to the 40 Prado Road homeless shelter. It also placed in the Top Ten Best Films at the recent Maine International Film Festival and will play again this November in Waterville, Maine as a fundraiser, this time for a local Maine homeless shelter.
As for Adrian Spears and the daughter he fought so hard to have in his life, the hard-working Spears no longer lives on the streets and now resides in what Manzella describes as a “very nice” publicly-assisted apartment. And Manzella happily reports “the family who adopted his daughter has let Adrian remain in her life. He came to understand what was best for her, but he begged them, ‘Please don’t cut her out of my life.’ This film has made me see the issue of homelessness in a completely different way, but I think the real impact may be this: Someday this little girl will grow up and there will be a film for her to see and learn about who her father was and how much he loved her and how hard to fought to stay in her life.”
When first-time documentary director Leonard Manzella premieres
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s plot shares some similarities with one of the least popular MCU movies, Thor: The Dark World. Not only did James Wan’s 2018 Aquaman earn the top spot in the DCEU’s box office rankings, but it also remains the highest grossing DC movie of all time. In comparison to the rest of the DCEU’s characters, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman has stayed quite clear of controversial changes and decisions. And despite DC’s recent failures at the box office, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom aims to replicate Aquaman‘s resounding success.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s first full trailer reveals that Aquaman has enjoyed a few years of tranquility between Atlantis and the surface world. He has welcomed a son and fulfilled his responsibilities as King of Atlantis. However, Black Manta will force him to reconcile with his exiled brother Orm, and together they will try to protect Atlantis from an ancient threat unleashed by Aquaman’s archnemesis. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s story takes Aquaman down a brand-new path, but it also resembles a poorly received Marvel movie in various ways.
Like Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Thor: The Dark World features the main hero joining forces with his estranged brother, who has been cast away from his fantastical kingdom after trying to gain power by force. Together they try to stop a villain who wields an ancient curse and intends to weaponize it against the kingdom. The villain’s plan ultimately fails, but not before killing one of the main hero’s closest relatives.
In Thor: The Dark World, Thor reunites with Loki, faces Malekith, stops the Aether from destroying Asgard, and mourns his mother Frigga. In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Aquaman reunites with Orm, faces Black Manta, and tries to stop Black Manta’s Black Trident from destroying Atlantis’ seven kingdoms. Since Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom introduces Aquaman’s son, it’s possible that Arthur Curry Jr. will be the relative Aquaman will have to mourn, just as he did in DC’s Death of a Prince storyline, where Black Manta killed the baby.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Thor: The Dark World may have very similar stories, but that doesn’t mean that one is a copy of the other, or that this specific plot structure is bound to be as disappointing as Thor’s second MCU movie. All stories across every medium, genre, and era share similar templates and tropes. For instance, origin stories are commonly followed by sequels where the main character briefly loses their powers, learns to be a vulnerable hero, and then regains their abilities having accepted their responsibility a second time: Spider-Man 2, Superman II, Iron Man 3, among others.
Other superhero movies have already implemented the hero-villain team-up idea. For example, Fox’s X-Men movie franchise used it repeatedly with Magneto and Charles Xavier, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League revealed a future where heroes like Batman, Mera, and the Flash found themselves forced to join forces with villains like Deathstroke and the Joker to defeat Superman and Darkseid. So, while Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Thor: The Dark World share various plot elements, the Aquaman sequel has all the freedom to avoid the MCU’s early Thor failures and deliver a unique story starring the King of Atlantis and his redeemed brother.
Summary Aquaman and the Lost
Armored Core VI is the latest instalment in From Software’s mecha shooter series. Does it live up to the developer’s usual standard? JDR straps in for today’s review.
Armored Core VI is the latest instalment
Eccho Rights’ co-founder Fredrik af Malmborg has stepped down from his CEO role.
Herbert L. Kloiber, Chairman of the Eccho Rights Board and CEO of Eccho’s mother company Night Train Media, will assume the role on an interim basis as Eccho integrates into the wider group. Night Train acquired Eccho in July last year, in a major move for a relatively quiet international distribution M&A market.
Kloiber said: “I would like to express our profound gratitude to Fredrik. His vision and determination have been the driving force behind Eccho Rights’ reputation and success, particularly in building a vast content catalogue and a trusted brand for Turkish drama series around the world.”
The news comes ahead of Mipcom Cannes next month, and a day after we revealed another long-serving European sales chief, Stuart Baxter, was leaving his post at eOne.
As part of the changes, Oskar Malmquist, Eccho’s Head of Business Affairs, has been promoted to the role of COO.
Furthermore, Eccho’s co-productions and acquisitions chief Adam Barth will join Night Train’s content team. He will now also lead the sales team for English-language content under a new title, Director of Co-productions and Distribution.
Eccho’s distribution will continue under the Eccho Rights banner, with all Eccho sales executives in unchanged roles. We recently revealed Tess Charman had joined the company as Director of Sales for Continental Europe.
Af Malmborg’s business partner Nicola Söderlund stepped down last year after the Night Train deal.
In 2004, the pair founded Sparks Network, which would become Eccho Rights in 2012. The distributor has a catalog of more than 7,000 hours of international television drama, and licenses more than 17,000 hours annually from its offices in Stockholm, London, Istanbul and Madrid.
Night Train said Eccho Rights will be “doubling down” on Turkish drama, which has become a big money spinner for the company. Handan Özkubat will continue to lead as Director of Turkish Drama.
Eccho Rights’ co-founder Fredrik af Malmborg has
THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES follows a young Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from the impoverished District 12. But after Lucy Gray’s charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates. With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, Snow unites with Lucy Gray to turn the odds in their favor. Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake.
The posters feature Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage,
Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Jason Schwartzman, and Viola Davis.
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THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF
Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) began Veronica Mars as the school’s “obligatory psychotic jackass,” a super-spoiled bully whose antics bordered on the extreme. (Setting up a bum fight? Not Logan’s finest moment.) He was so extreme, in fact, that he was a prime suspect in Veronica’s (Kristen Bell) investigation into the murder of his girlfriend, Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried). Yet even in the first season of the show, Logan showed signs of redemption. He came from an impossibly broken home and suffered his fair share of tragedy, but he always rushed to protect Veronica even when they were on the outs. Throughout the first two seasons he teetered on the line between villain and hero, and his tendency to lash out with cruelty came between him and Veronica time and again. But by the third season, he started to learn to make healthy decisions for himself, and when we revisited him in the 2014 movie and the 2019 Hulu revival he’d gone straight, becoming a Naval Intelligence Officer and regularly attending therapy. Though Veronica, maladjusted as she could be, might have missed the bad boy “Old Logan,” the new, redeemed Logan still maintained the snarky, sharp demeanor that made us fall in love with him. And that edge of violence never fully went away—it was just put to good use, as when he saved the life of Congressman Daniel Maloof (see above). [Mary Kate Carr]
Veronica Mars 402 Logan Fight sceneLogan Echolls
Diane Lane, Under the Tuscan Sun legend, brings another romantic classic with Must Love Dogs, her 2005 release about a recent divorcée who tries out online dating after the end of her marriage. This being the early aughts, online dating is practically unrecognizable from today’s Tinder hellscape, but that’s all part of Must Love Dogs‘ charm. As Sarah, Lane signs up for a dating website and connects with Jake (John Cusak), who is also looking for love again after the end of his own relationship. After a dog park first date, the two click, but the addition of Bob (Dermot Mulroney, playing the charming dad of one of Sarah’s preschool students) as another potential love interest complicates their relationship. With Elizabeth Perkins as Sarah’s wise-cracking sister and Christopher Plummer as her advice-ready dad, Must Love Dogs fills every early-200s rom-com trope in all the best ways.
Photo: Everett Collection
By Greta Bjornson Diane Lane, Under the Tuscan Sun legend, brings
Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here with your weekly dose of the biggest headlines, analysis and deep-dives of the week. Read on, and sign up here.
Netflix
Records don’t last long: There was a bittersweet feeling after UK producer trade body Pact’s Census 2022 press briefing on Tuesday. Spotlighting full-year 2022, the briefing showed how the UK TV production sector hit record highs of nearly £4B ($5B) last year, driven by the streamers, who upped spend by a whopping 133% to £700M. Big hits to land included Heartstopper and The Crown Season 5. Multiple records were broken in a year in which the UK TV industry was virtually at full employment, but, during the briefing, most questions to Pact CEO John McVay focused on the here and now, as things feel very different today for many producers. McVay was honest in his assessment of 2023 and years to come, with a view that full-year 2023 will be “tough” and 2024 will likely be “shaky” before things return to a calmer growth trajectory.
Tough times: It certainly doesn’t feel like boom time at present, and McVay acknowledged the difficult combination of the economic crisis, ad recession and U.S. strikes, which have led to a situation where three-quarters of the freelance below-the-line workforce is out of work, according to a recent Bectu survey. In future, he urged local broadcasters not to get “carried away” during the good times but be mindful of bad times to come, and chided Channel 4 for not being honest early enough about their particular struggles. The hope is that commissioning will pick up over the coming weeks as the ad markets returns to something more like normality, while fingers are crossed that the U.S. labor action will end swiftly (talks will finally resume between the WGA and AMPTP next week). In the interim, producers fear dozens of freelancers could vacate the industry in a bid to find work, and Bectu has written to the AMPTP urging financial assistance for UK crew suffering during the strikes. Patience is wearing thin.
Pact vs Equity: Speaking of the labor action, McVay had a few choice words for British actors union Equity’s General Secretary Paul Fleming. Never one to mince words, McVay branded Fleming’s recent remarks that there could be industrial action in the UK in the next 12 months “unhelpful,” adding that Fleming’s comments “may have warmed the cockles of his union colleagues but we’re always trying to fix things and want to keep everyone working.” Pact and Equity are about to start thrashing out a new deal for which Equity’s demands are similar to that of SAG-AFTRA’s, and, at the time the newsletter hit your inbox, Equity hadn’t responded to McVay’s riposte. Both Equity and Writers Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) reps were at the annual Trades Union Congress this week, and WGGB President Sandi Toksvig used the opportunity to lay down a WGGB motion urging streamers to end their practice of “buy-out agreements” and embrace residuals, which aligns with the WGA’s demands. The U.S. labor action is most definitely being felt on this side of the pond, and at present there is little end in sight.
Getty
‘Stop Making Sense’: The Toronto International Film Festival closes this Saturday with Sylvester Stallone’s Netflix doc Sly. Across two packed weeks, TIFF has debuted an assortment of new features, including Hayao Miyazaki’s final film, The Boy and the Heron (Kimitachi wa Dou Ikiru Ka), which opened the fest. Other highlight premieres from this year’s slate included The Dead Don’t Die, directed by Viggo Mortensen and starring Vicky Krieps; Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario with Nicolas Cage; Ellen Kuras’s film Lee, starring Kate Winslet; Daddio, starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn; Dominic Savage’s Close to You, starring Elliot Page; and A24’s restoration of The Talking Heads’ classic concert movie, Stop Making Sense. Directed by the late Jonathan Demme, the restoration appeared to be the hottest ticket in town as David Byrne and co turned up with director Spike Lee to open the film. Stop Making Sense is “the greatest concert film ever,” Lee proclaimed as he opened the film. Later in the week, Imax reported that the pic was now its highest-grossing live event after taking $640,839 from 25 simultaneous TIFF screenings across 165 Imax locations in North America and the BFI Imax in London. On the industry side, business has been relatively quiet, meanwhile. We revealed the first major acquisition deal on the ground here with Netflix closing on Woman of the Hour, the fact-based thriller that marks the directing debut of Anna Kendrick. The deal is said to be around the $11 million mark. You can check out all of our TIFF reporting here and Deadline’s reviews from Canada here.
MANDOGA MEDIA/picture alliance via Getty Images
Me old China: China’s relationship with the international TV market has been full of promise, false starts, make ups and break ups over the years. Following the pandemic, things really cooled off, so the announcement this week that China would be Mipcom Cannes’ Country of Honour in October was a surprise. The Asian industrial powerhouse will put on a show in France next month, running a session presented by the China Pavilion on the country’s latest output, discussing Chinese TV’s evolution and holding masterclasses on successful format adaptations (those long enough in the tooth will remember when the only stories around China and international formats were based around allegations of theft and copycat programs). In total, more than 300 Chinese delegates are expected, the biggest figure since 2019, which was a year after China was last named Country of Honour. Most notably, as Mipcom kicks off on Monday, Tencent VP and Tencent Online Video CEO Sun Zhonghuai will deliver a keynote speech in the Palais des Festivals’ Grand Auditorium. He’ll reveal secrets of how art and technology shape streaming giant Tencent’s strategy and how international players can partner with the company in the future. Sounds like China wants to reunite with its old flames, and light up some new ones.
Walt Disney Co
Aussie cuts: To Australia, where Jesse reported on plans to ax several screen funding programs. “Hard to comprehend” and “disaster” were two of the less choice phrases uttered by Aussie producers body Screen Producers Australia. “It shows disappointing short-term thinking about the value of the screen industry,” added CEO Matthew Deaner. Australia’s Labor government, for what it’s worth, claims the cuts to the Made in NSW Fund (the Post Digital and Visual Effects, and Digital Games Development Rebate Program are also impacted) are necessary due to A$188M ($121M) being shorn from the Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade’s budgets by the previous incumbents. The likes of local drama Mystery Road, Mad Max 2: Furiosa, Mother and Son, Disney+’s The Artful Dodger and Thor: Love and Thunder have benefitted from the fund, which Screen Producers Australia says created “jobs and multiples of economic activity in in Sydney and regional areas of the state.” Prior to the cuts and U.S. strikes, Australian production had been experiencing something of a purple patch, with the streamers showing renewed interest and big-budget offerings such as Last King of the Cross selling around the world.
Amazon
Improved relations: Amazon is preparing for another season at Clarkson’s Farm. That’s right, the show that us TV trade journalists have been keeping a hell of a watchful eye on since that column is close to fourth season greenlight, per Jake’s report Thursday. Speculation has abounded since commissioner Fozia Khan said at last month’s Edinburgh TV Festival she had been “shocked and disappointed” by Clarkson’s remarks, while outgoing chief Dan Grabiner described the show as “bigger than Clarkson.” Clearly not big enough to boot the host out as of yet, it seems, with Jake reporting on those familiar with the matter saying discussions have been positive and there is ambition on both sides to bring the show back, with the former Top Gear troublemaker at the helm. We understand Grabiner has been influential over past months in the decision not to immediately cull Amazon’s most popular UK series, but he is off shortly to set up his own prodco, Orchard Studios, and attention now turns to the strategy of his replacement, Tara Erer. A few days after we revealed Grabiner’s exit, Amazon also revealed it was losing UK and Pan-English Scripted Head of Production Frank Murray, who is launching a Transatlantic film and TV production venture with an “eight-figure equity investment” from New York.
LinkedIn; eOne
?️ Hot One: eOne international sales boss Stuart Baxter (pictured) is exiting, according to Jesse’s report.
?️ Another One: A Man Called Otto producer SF Studios has shut its UK production arm as part of a restructure.
?️ Triple heat: Paramount+ UK unscripted boss Daniel Pearl is moving to Lion TV.
? Done deal: For Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron in the UK.
⛺ Festival latest: Jessica Chastain will be feted with Zurich’s Golden Icon Award.
? Awards latest: Oscar picks came in from the likes of France, Finland, Indonesia and Brazil.
? Setting up shop: President Obama photographer Anna Wilding has launched Broader Horizons Entertainment.
? Setting up another shop: Four film and TV music supervisors have banded together to create 45RPM. Read Diana’s interview.
? Oscars: ITV is the new UK home of the world’s biggest award ceremony, picking up rights after Sky’s 20 year run.
? Box Office: Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan thrilled at home and abroad, per Nancy’s latest.
? AI latest: Italian broadacster Rai has ordered a celebrity improv series in which a machine generates “unpredictable situations, rules and games.”
? Cash: Japan’s Visual Industry Promotion Organization and Japan Film Commission announced an incentives program for offshore film and TV productions shooting in the country.
? Trailer: For Nada, Hulu’s upcoming series in which Robert De Niro can be seen embracing colorful Argentine slang.
? Breaking Baz: Our roving International Editor-at-Large chatted to director James Hawes about working with Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn on One Life.
Zac Ntim and Jesse Whittock contributed to this week’s Insider.
Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here with
Genesis Owusu is no stranger to being an outcast. On his shape-shifting 2021 debut Smiling With No Teeth, the Canberra native dramatized his alienation by deploying the image of “black dogs,” a metaphor for the racism and depression that’s been chasing him since he was a child. On his second album Struggler, influenced by philosophers and writers like Albert Camus and Franz Kafka, he casts himself as an outsider known as “The Roach,” a pest that’s reviled and tormented for simply existing, but surviving nonetheless.
On the reggae-pop-rap highlight “What Comes Will Come,” Owusu grapples with this sense of powerlessness, first adopting a veneer of swagger (“Make some noise for your momma’s favorite agitator”) before admitting to his own fraudulence (“To survive, got me feeling like a fuckin’ faker”). Before his critics can push back against him, he’s beaten them to it: “Busy making new trauma so I got something to rap about, self-inflicted stabbing doubt, baby what’s that about?” As the song amps up with a tight, skittering breakbeat and additional synth flourishes, you might expect Owusu to unleash his rage. But he has accepted his fate, exposing himself, to quote Camus, “to the gentle indifference of the world.”
Genesis Owusu is no stranger to being
As new technologies emerge and evolve, the first question any filmmaker will rightly ask is “how will this make my life easier?”
Will it reduce costs, speed up processes, or boost creativity? In particular, with costs spiraling upwards, and budgets downwards, creators worldwide are keener than ever to jump on anything that will help keep spend down.
Whilst it was once the norm to hire a composer to score your entire film, more and more people are now turning to licensing platforms in a bid to cut costs – and speed up access and production. The great news for creators is that as these markets get more competitive, the tools available to them keep getting better. With particular (more visual) music licensing platforms like SphereTrax, you can now audition music against your video directly on the platform, saving time and thus helping to reduce costs further. You can also now incorporate smart search faders, as well as AI functionality, to help streamline the process of searching for the right music. This can save valuable time as well as money.
If the mention of the term AI just caused you a sudden twinge of anxiety, then don’t worry – you’re not alone. The sudden proliferation of AI has caused quite a stir, with many people fearing the potential ramifications, particularly in the creative industries. Whilst some are keen to get stuck in and find out what AI can do for them, there are plenty of others who see it as the beginning of the end of not just creativity, but civilisation as we know it. Talk about divisive.
There are of course valid points on both sides of the argument. However, some fears are fueled by misconceptions about what exactly the AI is being employed to do.
Content creators, as well as many other industries, may dread how AI can be used to essentially do our jobs for us. In a world where many are forced to go on strike to campaign for fair pay, it isn’t hard to believe that big corporations would be keen to let AI ‘do our jobs for us’ so they can save money, even if it is at the cost of degrading the art. If this is something that became commonplace it would leave us all without work – certainly not an ideal scenario. But this isn’t the only way AI can be employed.
Thus, we come to an important distinction – generative vs. assistive AI. Generative AI does indeed generate content, and is the sort of AI that will create a piece of music from scratch, or produce a title sequence for a major television show (looking at you, Disney+). Assistive AI, on the other hand, is designed to make our lives easier, assisting us in the tasks we undertake ourselves. Assistive AI takes a brief and helps point you in the direction of relevant human-made content. No composer wants to see freely generated AI music take away from their business, but an AI that can quickly direct people to your music? Now that’s something we can get onboard with.
Of course, AI isn’t the only technological innovation making waves at the moment. Another relatively new audio technology which is beginning to come to the fore is Dolby Atmos. Previously reserved for high end cinema experiences, Atmos is fast becoming industry standard – not just in theatres, but in homes too. Netflix for example now asks for all of its content to be Atmos-equipped, and it won’t be long before all streamers and channels do the same.
This exciting immersive format might previously have been out of reach due to the high costs of running such a set up, but now SphereTrax is bringing Dolby Atmos to the mainstream, giving all creators access at a more manageable cost and helping to empower independent filmmakers that need to equip their productions with immersive sound. Not to mention the empowering of indie musicians who haven’t had access to the high tech kit that masters their tracks in Atmos, ready for use in cinemas or home entertainment systems.
Traditionally, Hollywood film composers come with a hefty price tag, so unless you’re working on a blockbuster film for a major studio, you might struggle to find the budget to bring one onboard. The only way to overcome this without breaking the bank is licensing platforms powered by AI. Particularly ones that are Dolby Atmos equipped.
In recent years, the film industry has faced plenty of criticism over a lack of representation and diversity. This is an issue which still plagues many productions, and whilst it might usually be the actors who face the headlines, this is something equally as apparent in composers as well as the rest of the film crew.
Assistive AI-powered platforms like SphereTrax offer composers unbiased opportunities that they wouldn’t find in Hollywood, as well as a fairer payment system. It helps eliminate the “who you know” and instead asks the much more appropriate question: “how good is the music?”
With complex algorithms and AI technology being used to find the perfect track, discovering exciting new talent can become a breeze. And thankfully, unlike humans, AI is completely impartial. That means an equal footing for everyone, creating a fairer, more inclusive environment for all.
Diversification has more benefits for the industry as a whole. By offering opportunities to a wider variety of composers, we get more interesting and unique music in our films, and so our sound has a better chance of standing out and making waves. These exciting new talents help breed creativity and inspire greater results in our filmmaking. Combine this with new platforms making discoverability, music syncing, mixing, mastering, and more a whole lot easier and cheaper, this just goes to show how clever technology can ultimately (and finally) start to level the playing field across film production – wherever, and whoever, you are.
Sefi Carmel, Composer, Sound Designer, Producer and Mixer, and founder of Soundtrack Creation
Sefi Carmel is an award-winning London based composer, sound designer, producer and mixer. He has been creating soundtracks for films, TV, commercials and games for over a decade.
His diverse credits range from work on A list Hollywood feature films with the likes of Ridley Scott, John Woo, Chris Columbus and Kevin Reynolds; to mixing, remixing and mastering tracks for David Bowie, Phil Collins, Bruno Mars, Michael Bublé, Massive Attack, BB king and many more.
He has enjoyed success creating scores and soundtracks for Disney, Universal, Buena Vista Miramax, Scott Free, BBC, MTV, ITV, National Geographic, Discovery, Sky, Five, Channel 4, BskyB’s cross platform gaming channels and many more.
Advertising clients include top agencies such as Publicist and M&C Saatchi, and top brands such as Mercedes, BMW, Samsung, and many more.
For more than a decade, Sefi has been mixing all the audio for Steam Motion and Sound. Steam is a high-end creative agency with offices in London, New York, and Sydney. Sefi has mixed hundreds of cinema and TV commercials and trailers for Steam, working for A list clients such as Cameron Macintosh, Warner Bros, Decca, Universal, Vodafone and many more.
His soundtracks are an exciting hybrid of epic, cinematic orchestral and cutting-edge electronic music, using superb live musicians coupled with larger-than-life sound design, mixed in earth shattering 5.1 surround, to create that big cinema experience.
As new technologies emerge and evolve, the
Spanish prosecutors have requested that Luis Rubiales is banned from going within 500 metres of women’s World Cup player Jenni Hermoso or contact her as he made his first court appearance for allegedly forcibly kissing the footballer.
Rubiales, 46, was summoned to Madrid’s Audencia Nacional court to where he denied allegations of sexual assault and coercion filed by Hermosa, the prosecutor leading the case said.
State prosecutors asked Judge Francisco de Jorge to consider issuing a restraining order to prohibit Rubiales from coming within 500 meters or Hermoso or trying to communicate with her, as well as a requirement for him to check in with a court every 15 days to ensure he does not flee the country.
The judge will have to decide whether to apply those measures.
Rubiales, wearing a navy suit and white shirt, did not speak when arriving or leaving the courthouse with his lawyer. He testified before Judge Francisco de Jorge – who is leading the investigation into the kiss. Hermoso will also be called to testify at a later date.
Spanish state prosecutors formally accused Rubiales last week of alleged sexual assault and an act of coercion when, according to Hermoso, he pressured her to speak out in his defence immediately after the scandal erupted.
The state prosecutors’ office said Rubiales denied both accusations when answering questions by the judge in an hour-long hearing that was closed to the public.
Rubiales sparked outrage when he grabbed the midfielder and kissed her on the lips in front of horrified spectators after Spain defeated England 1-0 in the World Cup final on August 20.
Spanish prosecutors have requested that Luis Rubiales (pictured leaving the court today) is banned from going within 500 metres of women’s World Cup player Jenni Hermoso or contact her as he made his first court appearance for allegedly forcibly kissing the footballer
Rubiales, wearing a navy suit and white shirt, did not speak when leaving the courthouse with his lawyer
Carla Vall (centre), the lawyer acting on behalf of Spanish player Jenni Hermoso, smiles outside the court in Madrid after Rubiales’s court appearance today
Five days after resigning as Spain ‘s football chief, Rubiales is due in court on sexual assault charges over forcibly kissing women’s World Cup player Jenni Hermoso
Rubiales, who was head of Spain’s RFEF football federation at the time, has repeatedly insisted the kiss was consensual.
But Hermoso has said it was not and left her feeling like the ‘victim of an assault’.
Neither Rubiales or his defense lawyer, Olga Tubau, spoke to the media outside the National Court.
Hermoso’s lawyer, Carla Vall i Duran, said they were satisfied with the hearing.
‘We can continue to affirm that the kiss was not consented to, which is what we have said from the very beginning,’ Vall i Duran said.
‘Thanks to the (images of the kiss), the entire world, the entire country, has been able to observe there was no type of consent. And we are going to prove that in the courtroom.’
Jude De Jorge on Monday admitted a complaint against Rubiales filed the previous week by the public prosecutors’ office, citing alleged ‘offences of sexual assault’ and ‘coercion’.
Under a recent reform of the Spanish penal code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a category which groups all types of sexual violence.
Judge De Jorge is carrying out the preliminary investigation into the accusations against Rubiales, and will then decide whether the case should go to trial.
If found guilty of sexual assault, Rubiales could face anything from a fine to four years in prison, sources at the public prosecutors’ office have said.
In their complaint, prosecutors said they had included the offence of coercion because of Hermoso’s statement in which she said ‘she and those close to her had suffered constant ongoing pressure by Luis Rubiales and his professional entourage to justify and condone’ his actions.
The global furore over the incident all but eclipsed the victory celebrations for Spain’s World Cup champions.
After three weeks of refusing to resign over the kiss, Rubiales, who was suspended by FIFA on August 26, stood down late on Sunday but continued to insist the kiss was consensual in a TV interview with Britain’s Piers Morgan.
Rubiales arriving at the high court in Madrid today to face sexual assault charges
Rubiales, the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, was pictured arriving at the courthouse in Madrid this morning
The 46-year-old has been summoned to Madrid’s Audiencia Nacional court where he will appear before Judge Francisco de Jorge who is heading up the investigation
Former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales arrives at the high court in Madrid today
‘What we had is a spontaneous act, a mutual act, an act that both consented to, which was driven by the emotion of the moment,’ he said, describing the kiss as ‘100 percent non-sexual’.
He claimed the fury over the kiss is due to a misunderstanding of Latin culture and insisted he would have done the same to a male player.
Rubiales said: ‘We were both emotional. We congratulated each other, I asked her ‘can I give you a quick peck?’ – which is normal in our country – I give her a quick peck, I think she gave me one or two slaps in my side and that was it.
‘No intention of course, no sexual connotation or anything, just a moment of happiness, just great joy in that moment.’
The hearing comes with new coach Montse Tome, the first woman to lead the team, set to announce her squad on Friday for UEFA Women’s Nations League matches against Sweden and Switzerland on September 22 and 26.
He claims the fury over ‘kissgate’ is due to a misunderstanding of Latin culture in a TalkTv interview with Piers Morgan
Rubiales is facing sexual assault charges for kissing Spanish player Jennifer Hermoso on the lips without consent after Spain’s 1-0 win against England in the World Cup final on August 20
Her first job will be to try and convince the 23 world champions to don the red jersey again after they and dozens of others said they would not play for the national team without significant changes at the head of the federation.
The players have not yet said what they will do following Rubiales’ resignation although the situation has changed since the RFEF sacked their controversial coach Jorge Vilda, named Tome in his stead and pledged further internal reforms.
‘We have had discussions.. I don’t think there will be any problem,’ Rafael del Amo, head of the RFEF’s women’s football committee told Cope radio on Tuesday.
‘I think things will move forward.’
Spanish prosecutors have requested that Luis Rubiales is
David Foster and Katharine McPhee are still grieving the loss of their 2-year-old son Rennie’s nanny, Yadira Calito.
“It’s been tough for [Katharine],” Foster, 73, told Entertainment Tonight in a joint interview with McPhee, 39, on Thursday, September 14. “Yeah, it’s been tough. She’s managing.”
In August, McPhee announced that she would be missing the final two shows of her and Foster’s Asia tour due to a “horrible tragedy” in their family and she needed to rush home.
“Please know how sorry I am and how much I wish to return one day and perform for you all. Love, Katharine,” she penned at the time.
There’s a song in Katharine McPhee’s heart! The American Idol alum and David Foster were friends for years before they were spotted getting cozy in Malibu in May 2017. “When Kat talks about David, her face lights up. She’s really so happy. They’re actually so sweet together,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in November […]
It was later revealed that Calito died earlier that month after being run over by an elderly woman at a Toyota dealership. The Los Angeles Police Department told Us in a statement that an 84-year-old woman drove a car into the customer reception area of the dealership. Calito was reportedly pinned under the vehicle and dragged for 20 feet. She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead. She was 55.
Following the accident, the Hamber Toyota dealership shared their condolences for Calito and her family.
“We extend our deepest condolences to Yadira’s family, friends, and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” Megan Maybee, the dealership’s director of communications, told Us in a statement on August 17. “The loss of such a vibrant life in such tragic circumstances is a heavy burden to bear, and we share in their grief.”
Katharine McPhee’s cutie! While the singer keeps her and David Foster’s son Rennie’s face hidden, she has given many glimpses of the little one since his arrival. News broke in October 2021 that the American Idol alum was pregnant with her and the composer’s first child together. (The Canada native is also the father of […]
Later that month, a source exclusively told Us that McPhee was “beyond devastated” about Calito’s death. “They were all very close and considered their nanny to be a part of the family,” the insider shared. “They are doing anything they can to support her family and are helping to make arrangements for her family or have at least offered to.”
The source also noted that McPhee was staying put by Rennie’s side as they were in mourning.
“Katharine is not leaving her son’s side and isn’t leaving him unattended,” the insider explained. “Of course, he’s too young to absorb the reality of what happened, but it doesn’t take away from the pain that the situation has caused.”
Two weeks after Calito’s death, McPhee and Foster returned to the stage to perform alongside her former Waitress costar Erich Bergen.
“Singing Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons songs in Italy just seems appropriate. So great to perform with my friends @davidfoster @katharinefoster and @thelondonessentials,” Bergen captioned the post of the group on stage at a private event in Ravello, Italy.
David Foster and Katherine McPhee. Steve
The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to pause a novel and sweeping ruling from a federal appeals court barring many kinds of contacts between administration officials and social media platforms.
The case, a major test of the role of the First Amendment in the internet era, will require the court to consider when government efforts to limit the spread of misinformation amount to censorship of constitutionally protected speech.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled last week that officials from the White House, the surgeon general’s office, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the F.B.I. had most likely crossed constitutional lines in their bid to persuade platforms to take down posts about the coronavirus pandemic, claims of election fraud and Hunter Biden’s laptop.
The panel, in an unsigned opinion, said the officials had become excessively entangled with the platforms or used threats to spur them to act. The panel entered an injunction forbidding many officials to coerce or significantly encourage social media companies to remove content protected by the First Amendment.
In asking the Supreme Court to intervene, Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar said the government was entitled to press its views, both in public and in private.
“A central dimension of presidential power is the use of the office’s bully pulpit to seek to persuade Americans — and American companies — to act in ways that the president believes would advance the public interest,” she wrote.
Ms. Prelogar added that the platforms were private entities that ultimately made independent decisions about what to delete.
“It is undisputed that the content-moderation decisions at issue in this case were made by private social media companies, such as Facebook and YouTube,” she wrote.
Shortly after the administration filed its application, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who oversees the Fifth Circuit, issued a brief stay of the appeals court’s injunction, to Sept. 22. He ordered the other side to file its brief by Wednesday.
The case is one of several presenting questions about the intersection of free speech and technology on the court’s docket. On Oct. 31, the court will hear arguments on whether elected officials had violated the First Amendment when they blocked people from their social media accounts. And the court is very likely in the coming weeks to agree to hear appeals on whether the Constitution allows Florida and Texas to prevent large social media companies from removing posts based on the views they express.
The case decided by the Fifth Circuit last week was brought by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, both Republicans, along with individuals who said their speech had been censored.
They did not dispute that the platforms were entitled to make independent decisions about what to feature on their sites. But they said the conduct of government officials in urging them to take down asserted misinformation amounted to censorship that violated the First Amendment.
Judge Terry A. Doughty of the Federal District Court for the Western District of Louisiana agreed, entering a preliminary injunction against many agencies and officials. Judge Doughty, who was appointed by President Donald J. Trump, said the lawsuit described what could be “the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history.”
He issued a sweeping 10-part injunction. The appeals court narrowed it substantially, removing some officials from its ambit, vacating nine of its provisions and modifying the remaining one.
Judge Doughty had prohibited officials from “threatening, pressuring or coercing social media companies in any manner to remove, delete, suppress or reduce posted content of postings containing protected free speech.”
The panel wrote that “those terms could also capture otherwise legal speech.” The panel’s revised injunction said officials “shall take no actions, formal or informal, directly or indirectly, to coerce or significantly encourage social media companies to remove, delete, suppress or reduce, including through altering their algorithms, posted social media content containing protected free speech.”
Summarizing its conclusion, the panel wrote: “Ultimately, we find the district court did not err in determining that several officials — namely the White House, the surgeon general, the C.D.C. and the F.B.I. — likely coerced or significantly encouraged social media platforms to moderate content, rendering those decisions state actions. In doing so, the officials likely violated the First Amendment.”
Two members of the panel, Judges Edith B. Clement and Jennifer W. Elrod, were appointed by President George W. Bush. The third, Judge Don R. Willett, was appointed by Mr. Trump.
The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court
After two competition wins in Venice, filmmaker Matteo Garrone and the crew behind Io Capitano (Me Captain) visited the Vatican, where they were granted an audience with Pope Francis.
During the visit, Garrone and his cast held an intimate screening of their film for the Pontiff, who also posed for pictures with the Me Captain crew.
Me Captain is the first film Garrone — a two-time Cannes jury prize winner with Gomorrah and Reality — screened in competition at Venice. The film tells the story of the adventurous journey of Seydou and Moussa, two young men who leave Dakar to make their way to Europe. Synopsis reads: Me Captain is a contemporary Odyssey through the dangers of the desert, the horrors of the detention centers in Libya, and the perils of the sea.
Vatican Media via (Vatican Pool/Getty Images).
Garrone picked up the award for best director at Venice while lead Seydou Sarr won best young actor. The film was released in Italian cinemas on September 7 and comes amid fierce debate in Italy over government policy surrounding refugees and illegal immigration.
According to the Italian Interior Ministry, nearly 126,000 people reached Italy by sea this year. The figure is almost double what was recorded in the same period of 2022. Tunisia has become the launchpad to Italy for migrants this year, replacing Libya, where widespread abuse of migrants has been reported. The port city of Sfax is the central jumping-off point. Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island, is the first port of call for people making the risky boat journey across the Mediterranean. On Wednesday, Italian authorities reported that 1,850 people landed on the island. A five-month-old boy drowned during a rescue operation the same day.
Throughout his tenure, Pope Francis has often made public interventions about the treatment of migrants and has urged compassion toward people fleeing to Europe.
“Migrants are to be welcomed, accompanied, promoted, and integrated,” he said last year during a speech in the Italian city of Matera. “Let us renew our commitment to building the future in accordance with God’s plan: a future in which migrants and refugees may live in peace and with dignity.”
In his review out of Venice, Deadline’s Damon Wise described the Me Captain as a “gritty, heartbreaking study of migrant dreams.”
“Despite its technical elegance — and the film is near flawless in that respect — the biggest achievement in Garrone’s film is its casting. Using non-professionals found in an open call, it is authentic at every step of its audacious journey,” the review read.
Check out video footage from Garrone and his team’s visit to the Vatican above.
After two competition wins in Venice, filmmaker
Warner Bros. Discovery Germany boss Hannes Heyelmann has become the latest to exit from Gerhard Zeiler’s international team.
In an internal note sent out earlier today, Zeiler said “a final decision about the future leadership in the region” will be made in the coming weeks, with Heyelmann, who has been with the company for two decades, set to stay on till October.
Heyelmann originally joined Turner in Atlanta, quickly rising to SVP, MD for Central and Eastern Europe and International Original Programming Strategy and then EVP Programming, EMEA for WarnerMedia.
He was made EVP, General Manager for Germany, Switzerland and Austria last year when the team was restructured into territory blocks after the merger.
“I am extremely grateful to Hannes for his contribution and leadership in one of our most important, complex, and exciting regions, which as you know is close to my heart,” said Zeiler.
“And while it is always sad to say goodbye to highly talented and well-loved colleagues, I am thankful for the journey we have been on together. Reaching over 20 years in this business and being so successful in a variety of roles is an incredible achievement.”
Heyelmann is the latest to depart from Zeiler’s team following Priya Dogra, who was running EMEA, UK boss Antonio Ruiz and TV distribution chief Robert Blair.
Warner Bros. Discovery Germany boss Hannes Heyelmann
“Woman of the Hour” was an exercise in combining the right people in what Miri Yoon — one of several producers on the project along with Kendrick — likened to a kind of “math” problem. Kendrick, who was initially attached only to star, “really drove us over the line,” said Yoon, who recently worked on another major actor-director feature, “Don’t Worry Darling” from Olivia Wilde. It was the way Kendrick interpreted the Black List script by Ian McDonald — a quasi-biopic about the 1970s serial killer Rodney Alcala told through the eyes of women who crossed his path, including a “Dating Game” contestant (Kendrick) — that convinced everyone she should helm.
“We’re like, well, what are we doing?” Yoon said. “Why do we even bother going through this whole dog-and-pony show trying to figure out who else can do this movie? Let’s just go.” From that moment, it went fast — about six weeks after Kendrick was tapped to direct, the crew was in prep for a 24-day shoot — and it went hard, with a Vancouver winter standing in for a Los Angeles summer. Despite all of this, the first-time filmmaker was very deliberate, Yoon said: “There’s nothing arbitrary about Anna Kendrick.”
I suggested that Kendrick’s preparation might be due to the fact that she’s a woman in the director’s chair, with all the prejudices that entails. Yoon gestured that I had hit it on the nose. While almost half the actor-director films at Toronto are by women, everyone knows by now the challenges female filmmakers face behind the camera. As actress Eva Longoria recently told Variety upon the release of “Flamin’ Hot,” her feature directing debut, “I get one at-bat, one chance, work twice as hard, twice as fast, twice as cheap.”
No doubt aware of this calculus, Kendrick herself announced she was “heartbroken” at not being able to attend the Toronto festival for the premiere because of SAG-AFTRA rules. While some independent films have secured interim agreements if they agree to union demands, this year’s festival has seen few American filmmakers and actors doing promotion. Despite that, “Woman of the Hour” still landed the first major sale of the festival in a reported $11 million deal with Netflix.
Considering that the stability of Hollywood itself is in question, it is hard to determine whether directing confers more security than having to hang around waiting for an acting job. Neither of the producers I spoke to were able to give a definitive answer, with Yoon saying the industry was still finding its footing in “a landscape that is going through a seismic change.”
“Woman of the Hour” was an exercise
Last chance for Durbanites to experience SA's Mystery Ghost Tours
Last chance for Durbanites to experience SA's
121
Review: My Adventures With Superman 1×03 – “My Interview With Superman”
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers!]
Director: Jen Bennett
Writer: Aman Adumer
Starring: Jack Quaid, Alice Lee, Ishmel Sahid, Lucas Grabeel, Melanie Minichino, Kenna Ramsey, Catherine Taber, Vincent Tong
Reviewed by: Steven Brown
My Adventures With Superman 1×03: Lois wants to interview Superman and Clark must figure out how to help her while protecting his secret identity. Meanwhile, criminal ring INTERGANG gets their hands on unstable weapons, and a mysterious organization plots in the shadows.
Lois Lane’s determination to get an interview with Superman is one of the best parts of this episode and creates some amazingly humorous moments, especially considering the fact that she’s working right next to him as Clark Kent! It’s funny seeing Clark attempting to help Lois snag this interview, all the while trying to keep his secret hidden.
Intergang makes an appearance, but rather than being a mafia-type organization, they seem to be a bunch of teenagers who happen to have some very powerful weaponry. We don’t know yet how or when these teens got these weapons, but they’re enough to give Superman some problems.
I have no complaints about this episode.
Overall, I thought My Adventures With Superman 1×03 was a great episode, with plenty of action and some funny scenes throughout. This version of Lois and Jimmy are slowly becoming some of my favorite iterations of their characters. It seems that they might be going the route of Superman’s secret being revealed earlier in this season than in previous shows before. If they do go that route, I’m eager to see how the story goes with Lois, Jimmy, and Clark, and what it means for their friendship. At the end of the episode, Intergang seems to meet with someone who has plans for Superman. Hopefully, this will be revealed in the next episode.
121 Review: My Adventures With Superman 1×03 –
This week, Nintendo’s Direct livestream showcased a bunch of new games for the Switch, and an awful lot of them featured the company mascot (and movie star) Mario, if not his brother Luigi, and more . And this is all on top of the incoming .
To start, the company is bringing another classic Mario RPG to the Switch. The company plans to release an updated version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on the console in 2024, 20 years after the original game debuted on the GameCube. That’s not the only game getting remade: Mario vs. Donkey Kong, originally a GameBoy Advance game, is on its way and we’re waiting on Super Mario RPG’s remake too.
Nintendo revealed it’s also bringing back one of its oldest hits, space racer F-Zero, but with a twist. F-Zero 99 is the first new game in the series in nearly 20 years. We’ve had battle royale Tetris and Mario. Now, it’s F-Zero. 99 cars on a single track — chaos ensues. It’s available to play now for Switch Online subscribers.
And if you’re more a PlayStation gamer, then Sony’s State of Play revealed new PS5 colors and a Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth release date — and trailer!
— Mat Smith
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This is Honda’s Motocompacto, a throwback all-electric rideable inspired by the short-lived Honda Motocompo scooter of the ’80s. Yes, it looks like Muji toaster or something. Honda says its aluminum frame and wheels keep it “lightweight,” but at 41 pounds, it’s firmly in the same weight class as regular e-bikes. And with a range of “up to 12 miles,” it’s not getting you very far either. After you’ve used its 12-mile range, it takes 3.5 hours to rejoice.
After several months of betas, iOS 17 is about ready to launch to the public. The new software, landing Monday, September 18, includes significant upgrades to Messages, FaceTime, keyboard and more. FaceTime adds video voicemails, so you can let your friends see you as you leave them a message. iOS 17 also works with tvOS 17, so you can take FaceTime calls on Apple TV, using your iPhone or iPad as a camera. The update also includes a new StandBy mode that transforms your iPhone into a smart display when it’s charging on the horizontal. Meanwhile, Contact Posters give you customizable full-screen profiles that flash on your phone’s screen when friends and family call.
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 is a modest upgrade from its predecessor, the Galaxy Watch 5. There are some health tracking improvements and a slightly sleeker design. The caveat is that the Watch 6’s predecessors, dating back to the Watch 4, will have access to all these updates. So, if you have one of the previous two models, you might not need to upgrade.
Major League Baseball is ready to test its virtual ballpark for a regular-season game. Fans can enter the digital stadium on Wednesday, September 20, to watch the Tampa Bay Rays host the Los Angeles Angels.
The league debuted the digital park earlier this summer for a celebrity softball game, but next week’s game will mark the first non-exhibition game to deploy the metaverse-like digital park. The entire setup sounds like something you’d eventually use with a VR or AR headset, like the Meta Quest or Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro. While it may be a precursor to those more immersive experiences, you’ll access this game on flat screens through a web browser.
This week, Nintendo's Direct livestream showcased a
Toronto Film Festival gala presentation “Thank You for Coming” is that rarity – a Bollywood sex comedy that also serves as a patriarch-bashing women empowerment tale.
Bhumi Pednekar stars as Kanika Kapoor, a Delhi food blogger and serial monogamist, who has spent her adult life seeking a satisfying love match, both emotionally and physically, but has never had an orgasm. The morning after her engagement to a dull suitor, she wakes up satisfied, but can’t remember who’s responsible.
The film is written by two women, Radhika Anand (“Broken But Beautiful”) and stand up comic Prashasti Singh and directed by a man, Karan Boolani, making his feature directing debut. Boolani previously directed series “24: India” for Viacom18’s Colors channel and Netflix’s “Selection Day.”
“It’s a really fine line between sleaze and tease in this film, and to keep it in that tease and fun space is something that I think that we worked really hard on,” Boolani told Variety. “Bridget Jones” was an obvious reference point for the film Boolani said, as was “Moonlight.”
“When we were developing the script, obviously, I pushed myself away from it as [far as] possible, because inherently, I knew that it is an experience that I will never understand – at least, the female pleasure part of it,” Boolani said. “My only attempt was to make it feel like it wasn’t that man was the enemy, that man was also a part of this system and not just a victim, but maybe also somewhere, prey to this system, because the story is so strong from a woman’s point of view that it shouldn’t make another gender that is also trapped within this system, the enemy… the patriarchal system is our antagonist, and it’s invisible.”
Pednekar is celebrated for her films that advocate social change, beginning with her acting debut “Dum Laga Ke Haisha” (2015) that addressed the issue of weight shaming; “Toilet: A Love Story” (2017), which addressed open defecation; her character in “Bala” (2019) spoke out against skin color discrimination; and “Badhaai Do” (2022) sought to normalize LGBTQ+ relationships in India. In 2019 Busan selection “Dolly Kitty and Those Twinkling Stars,” Pednekar played the titular Kitty, a small-town girl who finds freedom and its attendant pitfalls in the big city.
Anil Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar – “Thank You for Coming”
Anil Kapoor Film and Communication Network/Balaji Telefilms
In “Thank You for Coming,” Pednekar’s character lives with her mother and grandmother and that echoes the actor’s real-life experience growing up in a house full of women. Pednekar describes her mother and sister as her “biggest cheerleaders” and “strongest support system.”
“Kanika Kapoor is an ode to all the female energies that I have in my life and I feel like that’s why I enjoyed playing her so much,” Pednekar told Variety. “Through my life, I’ve been body shamed. You’re constantly seeking validation as a woman growing up and [Kanika Kapoor] had that journey. That’s why I connected with her a lot.”
“The only thing that Karan constantly asked me and told me ‘the comedy is in the lines, where we have to find that moment of truth, we have to find that moment of honesty, that’s the only way this film will become whole, that’s the only way this film will be the most relatable,’ where he basically wanted every girl or anybody from the audience to look at Kanika and be like, ‘Okay, I’ve been there. That’s me. That’s my story,’” Pednekar added.
The film is produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta R. Kapoor for Balaji Telefilms and Anil Kapoor (who also has a cameo in the film) and Rhea Kapoor for Anil Kapoor Film and Communication Network. Rhea Kapoor has a strong track record of producing hit woman-centric romantic comedies including “Aisha” (2010), “Khoobsurat” (2014) and “Veere Di Wedding” (2018).
“There aren’t many female-led films that get made, especially mainstream movies that are made purely for entertainment. And I know why, it’s not easy,” Rhea Kapoor told Variety. “And I hope that these films empower more filmmakers to make these kinds of films because we really need them. We need that sense of joy and liberation and relief and all girls deserve to have a good time.”
Toronto Film Festival gala presentation “Thank You
14 Movie Plot holes And Continuity Errors
*Caution: Spoilers ahead!
After a rather low-key season thus far, Big Brother is finally heating up with a week filled with lies, getting called out for those lies, lying about other lies, and some staggeringly poor gameplay.
Going into Thursday’s live eviction night, Felicia Cannon and Izzy Gleicher found themselves on the chopping block, as their fellow houseguests fought back and forth trying to flip votes and shift the course of the game.
So, which houseguest got sent packing? Scroll down for the big reveal. Otherwise, here’s how everything that led up to and played out during Thursday’s live show.
After last week’s eviction, Cameron Hardin was named Head of Household — and he decided to really shake things up, regardless of whether or not it was good for his, or anyone’s games.
Cam kept his nominations secret but hinted that he was going to put both Jag Bains and Blue Kim on the block — like he did when he was HOH two weeks ago. Instead, he shocked everyone when he took a big swing at defacto house president Cirie Fields and nominated her two closest allies.
This move really got the gears turning and Cirie and her allies did what they could to keep them from getting kicked out. They all got it in their heads — and rightfully so — that Cirie would be Cam’s real target, and if they got taken off the block she’d get backdoored.
Izzy was such a loyal friend she even suggested that, if she won the Power of Veto, she wouldn’t use it on herself, just to protect Cirie. However, she didn’t have to worry about going down in history for doing that as the Veto Comp was won by Jared Fields — who is, unbeknownst to everyone in the house except Izzy, actually Cirie’s son.
Jared chose not to remove either Izzy or Felicia from the block, to insulate his mom. However, Cirie and Felicia were then given the Kayak Companions punishment — which meant they had to wear helmets and life vests and be tethered to a kayak for 48 hours.
The real downside was Cirie, the mastermind, wasn’t able to go around cleaning up Jared’s many, many gameplay messes. And Jared really didn’t waste any time trying to play hard, fast and loose with the truth or alliances.
After the Veto Comp, it generally looked like the vote was going to land in Izzy’s favor and send Felicia packing.
However, a massive turning point came when Jared got into a heated fight with Cory Wurtenberger, who called Jared out on lying to him, and basically everyone, over and over again. Jared tried to talk over Cory and to generally shut him up, but Cory stood his ground.
However, he still had his sights set on Felicia getting ousted, and possibly working with Izzy in the weeks to come. However, Cory’s showmance/ally America Lopez knew this was the time to really start playing this game and wake some people up.
After putting her full effort into waking people up to the powerful might of the Izzy/Cirie twosome, it seemed that America managed to get the ball rolling on a vote flip. Soon, Cory and Jag were in line.
By the time of Thursday’s live vote, it seemed the winds of fate were already blowing in Felicia’s favor — and Cirie and Izzy both sort of knew it. But that didn’t stop them both from giving it their best shots with their appeals to the house.
“This week has been long and exhausting, and I have survived, by the faith of a mustard seed,” Felicia shared. “At some point in this game, every person in here will have to be willing to make a decision and take the lead rather than following everybody else.”
“The winner of BB 25 is going to be the person that has the leadership and the courage to do just that,” she added. “That’s my theory, and I’m sticking to it.”
“Izzy was up next, and she appealed to her bravery and devotion to her allies to try and win over the other players.
“Houseguests, from the minute I stepped foot in this house, this has changed my life, and that’s because of all of you,” Izzy said. “You know that I care about this game deeply. I love everything about it… I have learned that I am a most brave and my most strong when I am fighting for others, and those people are the people that have chosen me no matter the mistakes I’ve made, because they trust that I will learn and grow so that I can continue to protect them and myself. So if you choose to keep me in this house, I will choose to be brave and strong for you, for the rest of this game, and that is something I’m proud of.”
Despite her impassioned plea, the votes fell against Izzy hard, with the only single vote cast to keep her coming from Cirie. Even Jared went against his mom to stay in whatever good graces might still exist for him among the other houseguests.
Now, the contestants are headed to The Wall, for a classic Big Brother endurance comp to determine who will be Head of Household next week — which will culminate in an epic double eviction night!
Big Brother now airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT and Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
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*Caution: Spoilers ahead!After a rather low-key season
(L to R) Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua and on the set of ‘The Equalizer 3.’ Photo: Stefano Cristiiano Montesi.
Director Antoine Fuqua is one of the most reliable and acclaimed filmmakers working today.
He first gained attention for his 1998 debut action movie ‘The Replacement Killers,’ and would go on to direct Denzel Washington to an Oscar for his performance in the now-classic ‘Training Day.’
Since then Fuqua has helmed such popular projects as the “‘Die Hard‘ in the White House” movie ‘Olympus Has Fallen‘ and the boxing epic ‘Southpaw,’ as well as reuniting with Washington on ‘The Magnificent Seven‘ remake, ‘The Equalizer‘ and ‘The Equalizer 2,’ which were based on the popular TV show of the same name.
In honor of the third installment of ‘The Equalizer’ franchise, entitled ‘The Equalizer 3,’ which opens in theaters on September 1st, Moviefone is counting down every movie of director Antoine Fuqua’s impressive career, including his latest.
NOTE: Fuqua has also directed several documentaries and television programs, but for this list we are only including his narrative feature films.
Let’s begin!
Landing in jail for a petty theft crime, Alvin (Jamie Foxx) finds himself sharing a cell with John Jaster (Robert Pastorelli), the incarcerated half of the pair of high-tech thieves responsible for the missing gold. His partner, Bristol (Doug Hutchison), is still at large. Alvin wants only to get out of prison and start fresh with his girlfriend, Lisa (Kimberly Elise), and when the Feds, led by U.S. Treasury investigator Clenteen (David Morse), set him loose on a sketchy deal, he thinks his luck has changed. Alvin has his freedom and the Feds have found their bait.
“Alvin Sanders is going to help the Feds catch a killer. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
57
1 hr 59 minSep 12th, 2000
Mark Wahlberg in ‘Infinite.’ ©2022 Paramount Pictures. All Right Reserved.
Evan McCauley (Mark Wahlberg) has skills he never learned and memories of places he has never visited. Self-medicated and on the brink of a mental breakdown, a secret group that call themselves “Infinites” come to his rescue, revealing that his memories are real.
“Many lives. Unlimited potential.”
67
1 hr 46 minJun 10th, 2021
The story of the Arthurian legend, based on the ‘Sarmatian hypothesis’ which contends that the legend has a historical nucleus in the Sarmatian heavy cavalry troops stationed in Britain, and that the Roman-British military commander, Lucius Artorius Castus (Clive Owen) is the historical person behind the legend.
“Rule Your Fate.”
63
2 hr 6 minJun 28th, 2004
A demoted police officer (Jake Gyllenhaal) assigned to a call dispatch desk is conflicted when he receives an emergency phone call from a kidnapped woman (Riley Keough).
“Listen carefully.”
64
1 hr 31 minSep 24th, 2021
A marksman (Mark Wahlberg) living in exile is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, he goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up, and why??
“Yesterday was about honor. Today is about justice.”
71
2 hr 4 minMar 8th, 2007
Enforcing the law within the notoriously rough Brownsville section of the city and especially within the Van Dyke housing projects is the NYPD’s sixty-fifth precinct. Three police officers (Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke) struggle with the sometimes fine line between right and wrong.
“This is War. This is Brooklyn.”
63
2 hr 13 minJan 16th, 2009
(L to R) Will Smith and Ben Foster in ‘Emancipation,’ premiering December 9, 2022 on Apple TV+.
Inspired by the gripping true story of a man who would do anything for his family—and for freedom. When Peter (Will Smith), an enslaved man, risks his life to escape and return to his family, he embarks on a perilous journey of love and endurance.
Navy SEAL Lieutenant A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis) and his elite squadron of tactical specialists are forced to choose between their duty and their humanity, between following orders by ignoring the conflict that surrounds them, or finding the courage to follow their conscience and protect a group of innocent refugees. When the democratic government of Nigeria collapses and the country is taken over by a ruthless military dictator, Waters, a fiercely loyal and hardened veteran is dispatched on a routine mission to retrieve a Doctors Without Borders physician (Monica Bellucci).
“He was trained to follow orders. He became a hero by defying them.”
68
2 hr 1 minMar 7th, 2003
Hired assassin John Lee (Chow Yun-fat) is asked by Chinatown crime boss Terence Wei (Kenneth Tsang) to murder the young son of policeman Stan Zedkov (Michael Rooker). Lee has the boy in his sights, but his conscience gets the better of him, and he spares the child’s life. Afraid that Wei will take revenge on his family in China, Lee seeks out expert forger Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino) to obtain the passport he needs to get out of the country, but a band of replacement killers is soon on his trail.
“Kill or be replaced.”
62
1 hr 27 minFeb 6th, 1998
Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.
Looking to mine for gold, greedy industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) seizes control of the Old West town of Rose Creek. With their lives in jeopardy, Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) and other desperate residents turn to bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) for help. Chisolm recruits an eclectic group of gunslingers to take on Bogue and his ruthless henchmen. With a deadly showdown on the horizon, the seven mercenaries soon find themselves fighting for more than just money once the bullets start to fly.
“Justice has a number.”
64
2 hr 12 minSep 19th, 2016
Denzel Washington stars as Robert McCall in Columbia Pictures ‘The Equalizer 3.’ Photo by: Stefano Montesi.
Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.
“Justice knows no borders.”
Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds… Read the Plot
Billy “The Great” Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), the reigning junior middleweight boxing champion, has an impressive career, a loving wife (Rachel McAdams) and daughter, and a lavish lifestyle. However, when tragedy strikes, Billy hits rock bottom, losing his family, his house and his manager. He soon finds an unlikely savior in Tick Willis (Forest Whitaker), a former fighter who trains the city’s toughest amateur boxers. With his future on the line, Hope fights to reclaim the trust of those he loves the most.
“Believe in Hope.”
74
2 hr 3 minJul 24th, 2015
When the White House (Secret Service Code: “Olympus”) is captured by a terrorist mastermind and the President (Aaron Eckhart) is kidnapped, disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) finds himself trapped within the building. As the national security team scrambles to respond, they are forced to rely on Banning’s inside knowledge to help retake the White House, save the President and avert an even bigger disaster.
“When our flag falls our nation will rise.”
Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), who serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, embarks on a relentless, globe-trotting quest for vengeance when a long-time friend (Melissa Leo) is murdered.
Denzel Washington as Detective Alonzo Harris in ‘Training Day.’
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop (Ethan Hawke) works with a rogue detective (Denzel Washington) who isn’t what he appears.
“The only thing more dangerous than the line being crossed, is the cop who will cross it.”
75
2 hr 2 minOct 5th, 2001
(L to R) Denzel Washington and director
The Toronto International Film Festival, CJ Cultural Foundation and the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), have unveiled the CJ & TIFF K-Story Fund. It is an initiative to foster, support and champion Korean Canadian and American filmmakers looking to develop their first or second feature film.
It will have an annual budget of $30,000 for a three-year period and support three creative teams. Applications begin in November, with the recipients set to be announced in 2024. In addition to receiving the development prize, the selected participants will each receive direct one-on-one mentorship on story development with CJ Cultural Foundation.
TIFF chief programming officer, Anita Lee, called the fund, “a groundbreaking initiative providing support for filmmakers from diasporic communities.”
“It is our hope that this fund helps filmmakers in North America who are of Korean backgrounds, unleash their creative potential,” said Heekyung Jo Min, head of corporate social responsibility at CJ,
“As a government agency, we also see this fund as an initiative to boost creativity in Korean and North American film industries, as well as to lay the groundwork for the prospective filmmakers,” said Park Kiyong, chairman of KOFIC.
Astro Productions, part of Malaysian pay-TV, local news and production giant Astro Malaysia Holdings, is to buy the assets of Basecamp Films, an award-winning visual post-production studio. Basecamp’s staff will be retained and the operation merged into a new unit Astro Sound+Vision, as the new parent expands into post-production.
Euan Smith, Group CEO of Astro said, “Astro Sound+Vision is being set up to offer a full suite of world-class audio and visual post-production services for video content including films; and TV series, shows and commercials.
Astro Sound+Vision services include high-quality cinema-based colour grading, Dolby Vision HDR post-production, full digital lab services and final output in 4K/HDR streaming to digital cinema, as well as audio engineering and recording, sound design, foley and final mix in surround and Dolby Atmos, for domestic and international feature films, broadcast TV productions, games and commercials.
U.K.-based Kaleidoscope Film Distribution has acquired international sales rights, outside Australia and New Zealand, to Australian documentary feature, “Disconnect Me,” about a man who disconnects from his smart phone for 30 days.
As well as examining the impact on the man himself, it also investigates the social impacts of the smartphone and social media on other. The protagonist and independent producer Alex Lykos interviews children, teenagers and adults as well as leading doctors and scholars in psychiatry and social behavior.
The film had its premiere last month at the CinefestOZ festival in Western Australia and was is selected for the NH Doc Film Festival, in Connecticut, U.S. in October. It will also have its Australia and New Zealand releases that month. Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment will release in the UK in coming months.
It was produced by Lykos Entertainment, Production Station and Bright Spark Media.
ITV Studios has secured an array of pre-sales for Season 2 of the BBC‘s Emmy-winning drama “Vigil,” produced by World Productions (Jed Mercurio’s “Line of Duty” and “Bodyguard”)
NBCUniversal’s Peacock has acquired the show the U.S. and Bell Media and TVA for Canada. In Europe, Arte has acquired broadcasting rights for France and Germany, with Denmark’s DR, Norway’s NRK, Finland’s YLE, Sweden’s SVT and Iceland’s RUV also picking up the show. Across Asia Pacific BBC Studios ANZ has acquired it for Australia, TVNZ for New Zealand and Now TV for Hong Kong.
“Vigil” Season 1 became the U.K.’s most-watched new drama launch since “Bodyguard” in 2018, with over 13 million viewers. The show won an International Emmy for Best International Drama. Season 2 follows investigators Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) and Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) into the world of drone warfare to solve a mystery surrounding multiple deaths at a Scottish weapons test.
The cast also features Romola Garai, Dougray Scott, Amir El-Masry, David Elliot, Chris Jenks, Tommy Sim’aan, Oscar Salem, Jonathan Ajayi and Hiba Medina.
TORONTO – KOREAN FUND ESTABLISHED The Toronto International
SZA has released a new, acoustic version of “Snooze” featuring Justin Bieber. The track appeared on her 2022 album SOS. Bieber appeared in the music video for the track, which SZA released in August. Listen to “Snooze (Acoustic)” below.
During a performance in New York on September 8, SZA teased a deluxe version of SOS—tentatively titled Lana—coming out sometime this fall. She has a new song with Drake, “Slime You Out,” due out at noon today (September 15). After concluding a European tour earlier this summer, she’ll head back out on the road at the end of September for a second set of North American shows in support of SOS.
Justin Bieber released his most recent album, Justice, in 2021. In January, he sold his music catalog to Hipgnosis for $200 million, marking the companies largest acquisition yet at the time. He featured on Skrillex’s February EP Don’t Get Too Close.
SZA has released a new, acoustic version
If you want to fulfill your dreams, just put it out there…in the magical ether. That’s exactly the story of Drew Horton’s I Want to Work with the Duplass Brothers.
In their attempt to live the Hollywood dream, Drew and Eli Horton are content creators doing what all content creators do, and that’s creating content. Drew is dressed in an island vacation outfit, lipsynching the ever-popular, overused, annoying Jiggle Jiggle song.
When Drew screws up the timing, Eli stops him, and before they can start it up again, Drew experiences an existential crisis.
He decides just to throw it out there, “I want to work with the Duplass Brothers!”
“He decides to just throw it out there, ‘I want to work with the Duplass Brothers!’”
I admired the chutzpah of the Horton brothers for making a Duplass-style short film as an attempt to actually garner the attention of the Duplass Brothers in hopes of working with the Duplass Brothers. You gotta do what you gotta do. Am I right? Far be it from me to crush a dream.
As you might guess, the short is about an authentic feeling, yet a scripted discussion about manifesting dreams…and not small dreams. We’re talking lottery-level dreams. This conversation is low stakes and fun to watch at times intentionally eye-rolling, but again…you gotta do what you gotta do. I can attest writer/director Drew Horton dug deep into this very self-aware comedic short with an ending that sort of gets him off the hook in a way. The final result is thirteen minutes of levity with a dash of silliness.
Drew Horton may never work with the Duplass Brothers, but he has a whimsical short film as a result.
If you want to fulfill your dreams,
