From a story by star Josh Tonks and writer-director Alexander McGregor Birrell, The Latent Image is about thriller author Ben (Tonks) seeking inspiration in a cabin in the woods. Well, at least that’s what he tells himself for the retreat. See, his partner, Jamie (William Tippery), and Ben have been going through a rough patch, so the trip allows them both to reset themselves and their expectations going forward.
The good news is that Ben is making real progress on his latest novel. But he awakens to find a Man (Jay Clift) injured and sprawled out on the couch. The stranger claims to be a hunter, and Ben agrees he can stay to heal up. But the Man makes himself a little too comfortable, taking to reading the writer’s unfinished manuscript. This actually proves helpful as he’s able to challenge Ben to truly revel in his fictional killer’s mindset. How exactly does the Man know so much about murder and death? Why is Ben so drawn to him despite the creepy red flags all over the place?
The Latent Image is a compelling thriller, though not without a few flaws. Well, only one, really, but it’s annoying. The narrative relies on the whole “previous scene was a dream” trope to the point of undercutting what’s happening. The film is a tight 83 minutes long, but that tired cliche is used at least half a dozen times. It makes it very difficult to get into what happens next, as one expects it all to be another dream.
“…able to challenge Ben to truly revel in his fictional killer’s mindset.”
With that said, individual moments do gather up quite a bit of tension, largely thanks to the cast. Clift makes for an enigmatic, eerie figure, while Tonks is easy to root for. The two of them have a wonderful push-me-pull-me repartee that adds to the creepy atmosphere. Tipperary doesn’t have a huge role but proves memorable and shares real chemistry with his on-screen love. This trio allows audiences to stay invested in their characters even when the plot is on unsteady ground.
Beyond the performances, The Latent Image intrigues all watching because of the cinematography and music. For essentially being a one-setting story, director of photography Michael Elias Thomas makes the cabin a foreboding place. Each room is lit to maximize its uncomfortable qualities, meaning Ben can never feel at peace within the rental. Alex Gregson and Jack Hughes have composed music that unnerves as much as the visuals. The score adds to the general sense of unease in a big way.
Then there’s the ending. The final 10 minutes or so, revealing all the cards in play, are stupendous. For all its flaws, the plot wraps things up in a succinct, moody way that has some impressive staying power.
The Latent Image relies too heavily on the “it’s all a dream” to the point of the plot being a bit messy. But creepiness wins the day, thanks to decent characterizations and a strong cast. When coupled with the music and cinematography, Birrell’s sophomore feature film has more to recommend than not.
A prominent advocate for a separate Sikh nation, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was shot dead by two masked gunmen in British Columbia in June. Sikh separatists took to the streets of Toronto to protest against the Indian government, accusing Delhi of being responsible for his death. India has denied the allegations and the killing is still under investigation.
“It’s really nice to be with someone who doesn’t have any ‘special requirements’ before we get married,” Christine, 51, wrote via Instagram on Monday, September 11, alongside photos of herself and David, 63, celebrating the start of football season. “I love being loved for just being who I am. I Love you @david__wooley! #marriage #soulmates #loveofmylife #blessed.”
Christine, who spiritually married Kody, 54, in 1995, decided to end her marriage to the patriarch and relocate to Utah in November 2021. That March, she exclusively told Us Weekly that she felt like she’d lost her voice in the family.
“Anytime we’ve had major decisions, I go through a time where I’m like, ‘Does my opinion really even matter here?’ That’s when we struggle the most … is when I feel like I don’t really have a say or I don’t really have an opinion,” she said at the time.
Fans of Sister Wivesare well aware of Kody’s “special requirements” for his wives, which have been mentioned at various times during the TLC series and include modest clothing and little to no alcohol consumption. There is also the idea of “sacred loneliness,” which requires the women to spend time alone while he splits his time between them.
The concept of “sacred loneliness” was revisited by Christine on the most recent episode of Sister Wives, which aired on Sunday, September 10, and was filmed in December 2022. Meri, 52, celebrated Christmas Eve with Kody, 54, and Robyn, 44. Christine arrived at the vacation rental later, where she stayed for several days.
“Sacred loneliness? Like you’re supposed to honor the fact that you’re lonely?” she quipped during the season 18 episode. Kody, for his part, clarified the “special requirements” were only for Christine, and Janelle, 54, because they asked to join the family and were not “courted” like Meri, 52, and Robyn, 44.
Courtesy of Christine Brown/Instagram
Kody and Christine share daughters Aspen, 28, Mykelti, 27, Gwendolyn, 21, Ysabel, 20, and Truely, 13, and son Paedon, 25. In addition to his children with Christine, Kody shares son Solomon, 11, and daughter Ariella, 7, with wife Robyn Brown and adopted her three children from a previous marriage: son Dayton, 21, and daughters Aurora, 21, and Breanna, 19. He is also father to six kids — Logan, 29, Madison, 27, Hunter, 26, Garrison, 25, Gabriel, 21, and Savannah 18 — with ex Janelle Brown and shares 27-year-old Leon with ex Meri Brown.
After filming the holiday episodes of Sister Wives, Janelle and Meri also announced their respective splits from Kody in December 2022 and January 2023, respectively. Janelle confirmed in December 2022 that she and Kody had been “sported” for several months. Meri, meanwhile, released a joint statement with the patriarch in January stating they decided to “permanently terminate” their marriage.
Thank You!
You have successfully subscribed.
Christine, meanwhile, announced her engagement to David in April after less than one year of dating. “David treats me like a queen and tells me I’m beautiful everyday,” she told Us in a statement at the time. “I’ve never been in love like this before and the world seems like a brighter place with him in it. I’m so excited for the wonderful adventure we are going to embark on for the rest of our lives.”
Sister Wives star Kody Brown has his hands full with wife Robyn Brown and his three former partners, Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Christine Brown. Kody’s family — which includes 18 total children— was thrust into the spotlight in September 2010 when Sister Wives premiered. At the time, Kody was courting his fourth wife, Robyn, […]
Amid her new romance, Christine reflected on how her opinion of plural marriage has changed over time. “For years, I cared. Whatever he needed, whatever he wanted — I wanted to be the best wife ever,” she shared in an August episode of the show. “Even when it didn’t matter to him, I would have done anything he needed me to do. But I’m done.”
Routine keeps Anne, the protagonist of Jessica Yu’s endearing comedy Quiz Lady (played by Awkwafina), safe. The 30-something lives alone in the suburbs of Philadelphia with her pug Mr. Linguini and rarely goes off script. She spends most of her waking hours crunching numbers as an accountant. She sets two alarms: One tells her to stand up occasionally in the office so she won’t get blood clots and die; the other reminds her to tune into her favorite program, Can’t Stop the Quiz.
The game show and its Alex Trebek-style host Terry McTeer (a scene-stealing Will Ferrell) have been the most consistent parts of Anne’s life. In a zippy intro, major moments of the quiet woman’s existence — her parents getting divorced, her sister leaving home — unfold as she sits watching episodes of the show. When parked in front of the television, Anne loses herself in the categories and the questions. She whispers answers to herself while gently stroking her dog. Anne loves Can’t Stop the Quiz,and in Quiz Lady she harnesses that love to save her family.
Quiz Lady
The Bottom Line
A dynamic duo.
Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations) Release date: Friday, Nov. 3 Cast: Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Jason Schwartzman, Holland Taylor, Tony Hale, Jon “Dumbfoundead” Park, Will Ferrell Director: Jessica Yu Screenwriter: Jen D’Angelo
Rated R,
1 hour 39 minutes
If it were up to Anne, that last part wouldn’t be true. Quiz Lady opens with a bunch of bad news. Anne gets a call that her mother is missing from her nursing home, having absconded to Macau to avoid her massive gambling debt, and her growing number of infractions means she can’t return to the center. It turns out that the home attendees called Anne’s sister Jenny (Sandra Oh), too, forcing an unlikely and unwanted sororal reunion.
The women haven’t seen each other in years, and their personalities couldn’t be more different. Where Anne wears slacks and hates to be noticed, Jenny is an itinerant soul whose clothes correlate with whichever life dream she’s decided to pursue. The chemistry between Awkwafina and Oh proves to be more layered and touching with each leg of their characters’ zany mission. Anne and Jenny’s problems start with the nursing home and escalate when their mother’s bookie (Jon Park) kidnaps Mr. Linguini as collateral. In order to get Anne’s dog back, the sisters must pay their mother’s debt in two weeks.
Quiz Lady is a film that wears its silly contrivances and heart proudly. It may not be consistently funny — the jokes start to feel one-note by the end — but fine performances from its stacked cast will make it an appealing Friday night option when it premieres on Hulu in November.
Recently inspired to become a life coach, Jenny decides to kill two birds with one stone. She makes a viral video of her sister watching Can’t Stop the Quiz, often answering the questions correctly before the contestants, in hopes that the show’s producers will invite Anne to audition. They can win the money to pay their mother’s debt and Anne could boost her self-esteem by taking a risk. The plan works and Anne — after a faux kidnapping, a nearly fatal crash and an explosive roadside argument — grudgingly agrees.
Awkwafina and Oh let loose and tackle their roles with an infectious enthusiasm, but the repetitive nature of the humor and the strained physical comedy can sometimes edge their characters toward caricature. Awkwafina slumps her shoulders and delivers most of Anne’s lines in trademark deadpan style. To capture Jenny’s dramatic nature, Oh indulges in a hyperfemme style (costume design is by Brenda Abbandandolo) and shrieks whenever her character has an aha moment.
The pair’s performances are most impactful when the screenplay doesn’t force them to play up their differences so heavy-handedly. One scene in which Jenny responds to her sister sharing a secret — Oh widens her eyes, furrows her brows and curves her lips into a faintly disgusted frown — more pointedly reflects her occasional lack of tact than the jokes about her grifts.
Anne and Jenny’s journey to California, where the quiz show is taped, forces the sisters to confront family history and their own years of poor communication. The pair also encounter a band of zany characters, from Anne’s curmudgeonly neighbor (Holland Taylor) to a Benjamin Franklin impersonator (Tony Hale) to an undefeated Can’t Stop the Quiz contestant (Jason Schwartzman). Each helps Anne and Jenny rekindle their relationship, shepherding Quiz Lady to its heartfelt conclusion.
Full credits
Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations) Distributor: Disney, Hulu Production company: Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations) Cast: Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Jason Schwartzman, Holland Taylor, Tony Hale, Jon “Dumbfoundead” Park, Will Ferrell Director: Jessica Yu Screenwriter: Jen D’Angelo Producers: Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, Maggie Haskins, Itay Reiss, Jen D’Angelo, Awkwafina, Sandra Oh Executive producer: Alex Brown, Erika Hampson Cinematographer: Adrian Peng Correia Production designer: Jeff Mann Costume designer: Brenda Abbandandolo Editors: Nat Sanders, Susan Vaill Composer: Nick Urata Casting director: Nicole Abellera, Jeanne McCarthy
Rated R,
1 hour 39 minutes
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day
Director: Thea Sharrock Screenwriters: Jonny Sweet Logline: Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley play neighbors who get on each other’s nerves in this dark comedy about a small English town where residents start receiving anonymous, expletive-laden letters, igniting a scandal in their community.
Panelists: Thea Sharrock (director), Graham Broadbent (director), Ed Sinclair (producer) First Screening: September 9, 8:30 p.m. EST, Royal Alexandra Theater Key Quote: “It’s the sense that truth is stranger than fiction. If this story wasn’t true, but you were trying to pitch it to a studio to make a film of it, everyone would go, ‘This is ridiculous nonsense.’ But I think there’s an authenticity in it and a natural comedy in the fact that it really was true and slightly absurd, and brilliantly enjoyable.” – Graham Broadbent
JERUSALEM — Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Israel’s government quarter here Tuesday for a much-anticipated legal clash between lawyers defending and opposing the recent explosive parliamentary vote to limit Supreme Court powers — in front of the Supreme Court itself.
Demonstrators continued to flow into surrounding streets even as counsel for both sides began laying out arguments shortly after 9 a.m. The arguments are being heard by all 15 justices, an unprecedented seating of the entire court.
Their decision, which could take months to reach, will represent a landmark moment — and a possible constitutional crisis — whether they uphold the narrow vote or reverse it. A Tuesday editorial in the daily Haaretz called it “the most important Supreme Court hearing in Israel’s history.”
The moment, which arrived despite efforts to negotiate a last-minute compromise, marks a shift in the tumultuous, divisive battle over the conservative government’s campaign to remake Israel’s judiciary. Following eight months of near-weekly street protests, strikes and road blocks, the issues are now distilled into legal arguments over the division of powers in a country with no written constitution and little legislative oversight of government actions.
The court has effectively been asked to judge its own fate by petitioners who claim the government vote was a power grab at the expense of judicial independence. Specifically, the 120-member parliament decided by a four-vote margin to eliminate the court’s ability to rescind government actions that it deemed “unreasonable.”
Whichever way the court rules, the prospects for a crisis in governance are high as some key ministers have said they will not obey a ruling that reverses their July vote to trim the court’s powers of judicial review. Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to clearly say he would comply.
If the court strikes the law down, it will be the first time it has reversed a legislative change to a “a basic law,” a protected category of statute that is equivalent to a constitutional amendment. If the court upholds the action, critics say one of the few checks on government power would be eroded.
“The constitutional crisis is already here,” Tzipi Livni, a former justice minister and opponent of the judicial changes, said at a mass rally outside the court Monday night.
The controversy has wreaked havoc on Israeli stability, causing the currency to drop, investors to flee and a split in military ranks that led commanders to warn of a readiness crisis in parliamentary testimony.
Demonstrators filled central in Jerusalem the day before the Supreme Court session, pouring out of the train station and packing the streets around the court, the Knesset (as the parliament is known) and the prime minister’s office. Police pushed back on their attempts to surround the court Sunday.
Some protesters camped near the court, and by the time the session began Tuesday, demonstrators had returned in swelling numbers. Amid a heavy police presence, the crowd beat drums and blew horns.
The hearing began with extra security around the court building and inside. The government is presenting its arguments first, followed by lawyers for opponents.
“Who will ensure that politicians act reasonably?” Supreme Court President Esther Hayut asked one of the government lawyers.
Attendees packed into the narrow hearing room, among them Amit Becher, the head of the Israel Bar Association and one of the petitioners against the judicial law.
“The struggle is long but in the end democracy and Zionism will win,” Becher said Tuesday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Supporters of the law were also out in force, both at the court and online.
“The hearing is a fatal blow to democracy and the status of the Knesset,” Justice Minister Yariv Levin said in Facebook post. “The people are the sovereign, and their will is expressed in the basic laws enacted by the Knesset.”
The critiques illustrated a pervasive split in how Israelis view the high court. The right denounces the court as an elitist, leftist, secular institution that has acted as an obstacle to government policies that it says reflect the will of the voters.
The left sees it as one of the last democratic pillars, a guardian of minority rights.
Netanyahu was not at the court Tuesday, instead convening an unusual session of the full cabinet, a meeting that included his chief legal adviser.
The prime minister has reportedly spent recent days in search of compromise that would head off the need for a controversial court ruling, or least postpone it. Rumors swirled Monday that Netanyahu was trying to enlist the support of President Isaac Herzog for a deal in which the “reasonableness” legislation would be watered down. No agreement was announced before the hearing began, although Israeli media reported that attempts to find a compromise were continuing.
Big B showers warmth towards his contestants on KBC.
Amitabh Bachchan gifted his jacket to one of the contestants at the show because he was feeling cold.
Kaun Banega Crorepati is one of the most-loved Indian television game shows. It is hosted by superstar Amitabh Bachchan. He prominently works in the Hindi film industry and is known for his notable performances in films like Black, Pink, Mohabbatein and Baghban. Currently, he is hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati season 15. Recently, in a sweet gesture, he gifted his jacket to one of the contestants at the show. The incident was revealed in the show’s new promo, which was released on social media.
In the clip, a male contestant was seen complaining that he was feeling cold on the sets of KBC 15. The contestant stated, “Itni thand hai yahan pe, mera hath bhi kaam nahi kar raha hai(It’s so cold here that my hands have stopped working).” Following this, Amitabh Bachchan said, “Thandi ko kaam karna hai, yeh boliye humko, hum karwa denge (You are feeling cold; I will look into this matter).” Immediately, Big B asked the crew member to bring his jacket; which was in his car. He mentioned that he was wearing this jacket earlier in the day.
Amitabh Bachchan was seen instructing the crew, “Yahin gadi se leena hai, ghar nahi jana hai usko (It’s there in my car; no need to visit home).” When the jacket arrived, Big B gave it to the contestant, stating it was a gift from him. The jacket was in white and black print. The contestant was seen elated after receiving a gift from the legendary actor.
Further, Big B also stated, “Iss Khel k floor manager hum hai (I am the floor manager of this game show).” Later, in admiration, the contestant was seen joining hands and thanking Amitabh Bachchan.
The makers had captioned the video on their social media handle as, “AB’s Warmth of Love, Thand ho yah badalta Mausam, Amitabh Bachchan ji har moment ko banate hain awesome (be it cold or any other changing season, Amitabh Bachchan can make every moment awesome).”
Thand ho yaa badalta mausam, #AmitabhBachchan ji har moment ko banate hain awesome! ?? Dekhiye #KaunBanegaCrorepati aaj raat 9 baje, sirf… | Instagram
This sweet gesture is receiving love and wishes from Amitabh Bachchan’s followers and admirers on social media.
KBC 15 is airing on Sony TV, every Monday to Friday at 9 pm.
Entertainment Bureau brings you all updates from the world of entertainment — breaking news, Twitter trends, features, movie reviews, exclusive inter…Read More
“Knox Goes Away” is a silky and entrancing thriller directed by its star, Michael Keaton — but as soon as I heard the film’s premise, I’ll admit I was skeptical. Keaton plays an underworld hit man who is diagnosed with dementia. That sounds a bit trendy, and more than that it sounds like a stunt premise. One almost automatically envisions it in somewhat comic terms. But “Knox Goes Away” doesn’t traffic in comedy — or exaggerated reality. In addition to being a noir that holds you exactly the way a noir should, it may be one of the best dramas about dementia I’ve ever seen.
We meet John Knox (Keaton), a contract killer with manners as soft as his heart is hard, just as he’s starting to experience symptoms. At a diner with his fellow hit man, the gnarly but loyal Muncie (Ray McKinnon), he asks the waitress for a cup of coffee, forgetting that there’s one right in front of him.
But he knows something is up. That’s why he’s flying to San Francisco the next day for an appointment with a noted neurologist. After administering memory tests and a CT scan, the doctor has a diagnosis: Knox is in the early stages of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, a neurodegenerative disorder for which is there is no cure. What’s more, it’s a rapidly progressive syndrome; the doctor gives him not months but weeks before his mind is gone. The news is devastating (the film doesn’t shrink from the emotional toll this takes on its hero), but it also lends the story the quality of a gently ticking time bomb.
Keaton just turned 72, and with his sandpaper skin and gray AstroTurf hair, he looks, from certain angles, a bit more wizened than he once did. Yet he’s still spry, with a gleam of ice-pick authority. And he’s still a fantastic actor. In “Knox Goes Away,” Keaton gives a beautifully psychological performance, always cueing us to what the hit man is thinking, and to the subtle ways he compensates for his moments of mental confusion. For Knox is going on one last mission, and it’s not a professional assignment. He needs to save his son, who has just committed a murder. The script, by Gregory Poirier, is tautly clever and original, and Keaton directs it with a cunning and skill that are quietly hypnotic. Sometimes actors make good filmmakers; in “Knox Goes Away,” Michael Keaton is a total filmmaker.
Early on, Knox and Muncie are headed out for a job, and when Knox enters the bathroom where the target is, there’s another person there (a woman the target picked up), but he kills her too, because that’s the way these things go. You’re trigger-ready or you’re dead. But then Knox carries that attitude over to the moment when someone else enters the apartment — and just like that, he has killed his partner. Because he forgot he was there.
This is the sign that he’s got to call it quits. He’s going to cash out. But “Knox Goes Away” is a noir, so you roll with the extravagant events the way you do in a ’40s noir. Miles (James Marsden), the estranged son Knox hasn’t seen in years, arrives at his door with his bloody hand wrapped in a towel. Some scurrilous fellow met Miles’ 16-year-old daughter, Kaylee (Morgan Bastin), online and got her pregnant, and when Miles paid a visit to this statutory predator, he wound up stabbing and killing him. His blood and fingerprints are all over the place. The police will be at the crime scene before you know it. But Knox, while he still has more memory than not, is going to do what he does. He’s going to take the ugly situation and fix it.
His plan is spectacularly ingenious — and part of it is that we see him doing it, visiting the apartment of the murdered predator, knocking out the security guard in the surveillance booth and changing the time code on key footage, then taking the bloody kitchen knife, a glass, and strands of hair and putting them all in baggies. Yet even as we monitor this meticulous “clean-up,” we don’t understand what he’s doing. Especially when he takes all that evidence and plants it…inside the home of his son. We think: Wait a minute, his son committed this gruesome killing, and now Knox is “saving” him by framing him for that very murder?
Keaton stages all of this with maximum intrigue. Suzy Nakamura is sharp and witty as the police detective in charge of both cases (the hit that killed three people, which Knox has hastily set up to make it look like they all killed each other, as well as the predator murder). She tacks the clues together right along with the audience. But Knox, a Gulf War veteran with degrees in English and history (he’s a sociopath with hidden layers of character), is always a step ahead. Keaton makes him a hit man whose mind is slipping away but what’s left of it is still faster than anyone else’s.
He keeps forgetting obvious things: names, a word as simple as “address” (he fumbles around and says “number”), what his car looks like, the afternoon appointment with the Polish sex worker (Joanna Kulif) he has kept every Thursday for the last four years. He’s losing it, and fast, yet in a strange way the incipient dementia focuses him, the way that Leonard Shelby’s amnesia focused him in “Memento.” Every brain cell Knox has left is concentrated on carrying out his master plan, every step of which he has written down in a notebook, so that he follows his own (forgotten) orders.
As a hit-man thriller, “Knox Goes Away,” in my opinion, leaves David Fincher’s meticulously engineered but rather hollow “The Killer” in the dust. That’s because Keaton, in every scene, blends execution with humanity. There’s a powerful sense of unstated sadness at the core of his performance: regret for the life he’s losing, but also for the life he already lost — the life with his ex-wife (Marcia Gay Harden) and son that he could have had. “Knox Goes Away” is an absorbing entertainment, but part of the reason it’s such a good movie about dementia is that so much of it isn’t about dementia. We’re plugged into the finesse of Knox’s plan, the brain power that put it together. It’s our moviegoing pleasure centers that don’t want to see that slip away.
Instead of having its binge-style release come on November 29, the series will now shift to January 2024, becoming the first live-action MCU release of the new year. While the specific release date is unknown, the report noted that all six episodes will still drop on the same day.
Though Daredevil won’t be back in the MCU in 2023, fans won’t have to wait too much after the year’s end until they see Charlie Cox back on their screens.
After that, he’ll be ready for a starring role in his own solo series, although Daredevil: Born Again ended up as one of a few titles that were delayed due to the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes.
Originally slated for a Spring 2024 release, Born Again now goes undated due to the show not having finished filming. Therefore, it’s now unclear when Daredevil’s solo series could debut on Disney+.
Looking at the all-star cast of names coming back in Born Again, there’s no question that anticipation is high for Cox’s biggest return to date after getting just a tease of him in the MCU the past couple of years.
But with the inevitable delays Marvel had to bring about, even after recent reports noted that this wouldn’t be the case, fans will have to keep waiting to see just how the Man Without Fear is worked further into the MCU narrative.
Echo is now set to debut on Disney+ in January 2024, while Daredevil: Born Again doesn’t have an official release date.
My Adventures With Superman 1×01: Clark Kent and his best friend Jimmy Olsen navigate their first day through their internship at the Daily Planet. Meeting the beautiful and fearless Lois Lane, the trio fast develop a friendship–all while trying to survive being destroyed by robots!
Positives
I must admit, I had my reservations about this show, but that was mainly due in part to my feelings about Superman: The Animated Series, which still resonates with me to this day. However, My Adventures With Superman quickly shows you just how different it is, but in a good way.
The animation style is great, and the introduction of Jimmy and Lois don’t feel forced, even though it was the first episode. Jack Quaid seems to be a great choice for the voice of Superman as you can tell he’s a young man still trying to figure out this entire destiny of being a hero. Still testing the limits of his powers and learning how they work is a completely new avenue for this show to explore, and I’m eager to see where it goes.
Negatives
I have no issues with this episode at all. Top notch premiere!
Verdict
My Adventures With Superman 1×01 was a great episode and I can’t wait to see the next. I love the dynamic between Lois, Clark, and Jimmy and the fact that they’re all interns at the Daily Planet. This show is really doing everything from the ground up and I’m sure its going to leave us with plenty of room for fantastic storytelling.
Ubisoft has delayed XDefiant’s release after the free-to-play FPS failed Microsoft’s and Sony’s console certification tests.
While the game was previously targeting a summer launch, executive producer Mark Rubin said in an update published on Wednesday that an October release now appears “likely” as additional work is required to ensure the game meets the platform holders’ requirements.
The hold-up in releasing the game is due to the discovery of unspecified compliance bugs, rather than any gameplay issues, he said.
“Compliance bugs are ones that relate to the systems and overall experience that the first parties expect from games on their platform. (e.g., Are trophies being properly tracked, is my friend’s list being properly updated with game status, etc.),” Rubin wrote.
He said Ubisoft San Francisco was planning to submit an updated version of XDefiant for certification in the next couple of weeks with a view to potentially releasing the game this month.
“There is however a likely scenario where we get a conditional Pass meaning we have to do a Day 1 patch with some final fixes to ensure compliance. If we do need to do a Day 1 patch, then that pushes our date out to early/mid-October.”
But in March 2022, Ubisoft announced that it was dropping the Tom Clancy branding and introducing additional factions from its wider catalogue of IP, including Far Cry.
Disney’s Korean superhero thriller Moving heads the nominations for this year’s Asia Content Awards at Busan International Film Festival with nods in six categories, followed by Tencent Video’s The Long Season with five nods.
Moving picked up nominations for best creative, best writer (Kang Full), three acting categories and best visual effects. Crime thriller The Long Season was also nominated for best creative, along with best director (Xin Shuang), two acting categories and best visual effects.
Netflix’s The Glory and Delete, from Thailand’s GDH 559 Company, also scored highly, racking up four nominations apiece (see full list below).
Busan’s awards to recognise streaming and TV content, now known as the Asia Content Awards and Global OTT Awards, recently joined forces with the International OTT Festival, hosted by Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT and Busan Metropolitan City, to open up its nominations to global content. As a result, the awards categories have increased from 12 to 17, across both competitive and non-competitive categories.
Nominees in the newly added Best Reality & Variety category include Netflix’s Physical: 100 and Let’s Feast Vietnam, the latter produced by BHD Vietnam Media Corp, as well as the Korean version of Saturday Night Live, SNL Korea, which streams on Coupang Play. Shows from Korean streamers & telcos Wavve, TVing and LG Uplus, as well as the Philippines GMA Network, are also nominated in this category.
The nominations jury commented: “In the process of narrowing down the field from over 200 submissions to around 30 finalists, it was challenging to exclude many outstanding works. This year, the influence of global OTT platforms like Netflix and Disney+ remained significant. We made careful efforts in the judging process to maintain a balance with the remarkable local contents from various Asian countries.”
The 2023 Asia Content Awards & Global OTT Awards will be held at Busan Cinema Center on October 8.
2023 Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Nominees:
Best Creative The Glory, Netflix Little Women, Studio Dragon The Long Season, Tencent Video Moving, The Walt Disney Company Special Ops: Lioness, Paramount+ Korea
Best OTT Original Get Rich, PCCW OTT The Knock Out, iQiyi & CCTV 8 Shadow Detective, The Walt Disney Company Wave Makers, DaMou Entertainment Weak Hero Class 1, Content Wavve
Best Asian TV Series The Black Yard, Salem Social Media Delete, GDH 559 Company Not Others, KT Studiogenie Scoop, Netflix Taiwan Crime Stories, Sixty Percent Productions, CalFilms & Imagine Entertainment
Best Reality & Variety Bloody Game 2, Content Wavve Food Chronicle, TVing Let’s Feast Vietnam, BHD Vietnam Media Corp One At Heart, Jessica Soho: Wounds Of Woes, GMA Network Our Game : LG Twins, LG Uplus & Studio X+U Physical: 100, Netflix SNL Korea Season 3 & 4, Coupang Play
Best Director Han Jun-Hee – D.P.2, Netflix Kanchiku Yuri – First Love, Netflix Parkpoom Wongpoom – Delete, GDH 559 Company Xin Shuang – The Long Season, Tencent Video
Best Writer Bakarhythm – Rebooting, Nippon TV Chung Seo Kyung – Little Women, Studio Dragon Kangfull – Moving, The Walt Disney Company Kim Eun-Sook – The Glory, Netflix Taylor Sheridan – Special Ops: Lioness, Paramount+ Korea
Best Lead Actor Arjo Atayde – Cattleya Killer, ABS-CBN Fan Wei – The Long Season, Tencent Video Nat Kitcharit – Delete, GDH 559 Company Ryu Seung Ryong – Moving, The Walt Disney Company Satoh Takeru – First Love, Netflix Yagira Yuya – Gannibal, The Walt Disney Company
Best Lead Actress Emily Chan – The Patient, Astro Malaysia Karishma Tanna – Scoop, Netflix Rebecca Lim – Third Rail, Ochre Pictures Song Hye-Kyo – The Glory, Netflix Zoe Saldana – Special Ops: Lioness, Paramount+ Korea
Best Supporting Actor Hsueh Shih-Ling – Taiwan Crime Stories, Sixty Percent Productions, Calfilms & Imagine Entertainment Jo Woo-Jin – Narco-Saints, Netflix Nichkhun Horvejkul – Finding The Rainbow, PCCW OTT Sometani Shota – Sanctuary, Netflix
Best Supporting Actress Buffy Chen – Wave Makers, Damou Entertainment Charlette Wasita Hermenau – Delete, GDH 559 Company Gyeong Sujin – Shadow Detective, The Walt Disney Company Kutsuna Shioli – Sanctuary, Netflix Lim Ji-Yeon – The Glory, Netflix
Best Newcomer Actor Lee Jung Ha – Moving, The Walt Disney Company Park Jihoon – Weak Hero Class 1, Content Wavve Prudtichai Ruayfupant M – Nobody’s Happy If I’m Not, BEC World Public Co Wen Junhui – Exclusive Fairy Tale, iQiyi, Ningbo Three Magpies Culture Technology & Jiangsu Qijia Film & TV Culture Media
Best Newcomer Actress Gini Chang – Last Madame: Sisters Of The Night, Ochre Pictures Go Youn Jung – Moving, The Walt Disney Company Li Gengxi – The Long Season, Tencent Phantira Pipityakorn – Get Rich, PCCW OTT Yagi Rikako – First Love, Netflix
Best Visual Effects Big Bet, The Walt Disney Company Moving, The Walt Disney Company The Long Season, Tencent Three-Body, Tencent
Pain Hustlers — David Yates’ entertaining crime drama about Big Pharma’s shadowy sales practices — opens with a character differentiating his company’s misdeeds from a familiar pharmaceutical titan: “We’re not Purdue Pharma. We didn’t kill America.” Sure, the employees of Zanna Therapeutics, a fictional drug company, didn’t peddle their opioid painkiller to the same degree as Purdue, but that doesn’t make them any less culpable.
A cavalcade of books, films and television shows have already revealed the greedy foundations of America’s pharmaceutical industry. Patrick Radden Keefe’s book Empire of Pain and Laura Poitras’ documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed tackled the Sacklers, chronicling the impact of the philanthropic family’s decision-making. The miniseries Dopesick, based on Beth Macy’s book of the same name, dramatized the Purdue clan’s manipulation. And Alex Gibney’s two-part documentary The Crime of the Centurypresented a damning narrative of both families’ contribution to the opioid epidemic and looked at the commercialization of fentanyl by lnsys Therapeutics.
Pain Hustlers
The Bottom Line
Bolstered by committed performances.
Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations) Release date: Friday, Oct. 20 (Theaters); Friday, Oct. 27 (Netflix) Cast: Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, Catherine O’Hara, Chloe Coleman, Jay Duplass, Brian d’Arcy James Director: David Yates Screenwriter: Wells Tower
Rated R,
2 hours 2 minutes
Adapting Evan Hughes’ The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup, Yates shapes a fast-paced, fast-talking feature that puts the spotlight back on Insys (the loose inspiration for Zanna). The startup’s employees, including its eccentric billionaire founder John Kapoor, were charged in 2019 with racketeering conspiracy. The case was critical in the federal government’s attempt to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for their contributions to overdose deaths. But at its peak, Insys was also a fascinating study in how a nonentity could become a major player by using institutionalized practices. It proved that the system was designed to reward drug companies and medical practitioners at the expense of patients.
A cold open establishes Pain Hustler’s framework. The convicted employees of Zanna are being interviewed by an unseen director for a documentary about the company. Snippets of these conversations — filmed in black and white — appear throughout Pain Hustlers, which uses them to contextualize actions in the main narrative. When asked how the startup, initially on the verge of failure, became a pharmaceutical behemoth in a matter of months, the subjects cite one name: Liza Drake.
Emily Blunt plays the single mother who quickly climbed the corporate ladder after convincing a key pain management doctor (Brian d’Arcy James) to start prescribing Zanna’s pain medication over a rival drug company. But before she helped make Zanna millions of dollars, Liza struggled to earn a livable wage. We meet this determined character, a deceptively doe-eyed woman with a faint Southern twang, while she’s arguing on the phone with her ex-husband about their daughter Phoebe (Chloe Coleman). Before she can enter a full state of rage, Liza hangs up and struts, with cool determination, into a Florida strip club where she works as a dancer.
It’s unclear how long Liza has been employed at the club, but the job is a bad fit. There’s an absorbing sequence in which Yates and editor Mark Day move — with increasing speed — between frames of an overwhelmed Liza awkwardly handling the pole and another dancer who contorts her body around the metal rod with grace and precision. Pain Hustlers is filled with compelling flashes like these, where narrative, performance and technique harmonize especially well. They are glimpses of the power the film, with its well of spirited and convincing performances, could have harnessed with a tighter focus.
Blunt is especially committed as Liza, a high-school dropout who meets Pete Brenner (Chris Evans, fully inhabiting his role as a morally dubious salesman) at the strip club that night. Their conversation reveals Liza’s sly perception and ability to maneuver a situation in her favor. Impressed and attracted to her, Pete offers Liza a job as a sales representative at Zanna. He doesn’t tell her the company is on the verge of failure, but it wouldn’t have mattered to Liza, who, right after their conversation, moves into a dilapidated motel with her daughter.
The first act of Pain Hustlers chronicles Liza’s ascent and, in structure, resembles Adam McKay’s The Big Short with its dramatic freeze frames and close-ups. Yates collaborates with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledorecinematographer George Richmond again to mimic the dizzying high of Zanna cinching a crucial deal and Liza moving into a different tax bracket. Voiceovers — most of them by Blunt — add background info, explaining how Pete and Liza teamed up to bribe doctors into prescribing their drug.
Soon they are recruiting practitioners across the Southeast and raking in millions of dollars. Liza hires her mother (Catherine O’Hara), who quickly becomes a liability. The relationship between mother and daughter is captured in a handful of poignant scenes, but some feel too unmoored to have the desired impact.
Zanna’s success unlocks new levels of greed, and soon their CEO Jack Neel (Andy Garcia) starts pressuring Liza and Pete to push doctors to write prescriptions for minor pain management instead of cancer patients. Liza, who up until now has been on board, starts to second guess the company’s aims. Despite Blunt’s gripping performance, the shift between Liza’s own desire to make money fast and her change of heart comes across as too abrupt to buy.
That awkwardness between ascendance and comeuppance also means that Pain Hustlers doesn’t quite reach its full emotional apex. The film returns to its documentary framework, pausing the narrative to give each character — including patients whose lives were changed by Zanna and their doctors’ malpractice — a chance to tell their story. In theory these moments allow viewers to acknowledge the toll of the epidemic, but in practice they risk dividing attention.
Pain Hustlers is strongest when it focuses on Liza and maps her complicated web of desire and integrity. In a landscape of stories about a manufactured crisis, its victims and the malevolent actors, the perspective of the middlemen, those trying to survive in a country with a crumbling support system, is a compelling thread worth exploring. It poses an uncomfortable and urgent question: How many of us would capitalize on an opportunity to change our lives knowing, deep down, the cost could be fatal?
Left with the unfortunate task of promoting his upcoming Willy Wonka prequel after we’ve all seen what Hugh Grant looks like, Wonka director Paul King is doing what anyone else in his situation would do: Heaping praise upon Timothée Chalamet’s abilities as a song-and-dance man. Speaking with Total Film, King says that Chalamet has a “beautiful singing voice” that he’ll presumably use to teach children about selfishness in the film. “The person it reminded me of was Bing Crosby,” King said. “There’s quite a range because it does go from a couple of bigger, showstopper-y sort of things to moments of real, pure emotion, and he can do it all. I’m going to sound like a crazed fan.”
Christopher Walken joins “Dune: Part Two”
Unlike Chalamet’s other major Warner Bros. project, Dune: Part Two, Wonka is still slated for release this December. Warner Bros. Discovery recently moved Dune: Part Two to the ides of March (March 15, 2024), which we presume will go better for Paul Atredis than Julius Caesar, but we won’t know for sure until Warners releases the freaking movie. Of course, the studio’s reason for the push is the SAG-AFTRA strike, which seems destined to continue into the fall despite the AMPTP’s power to end it immediately. Though considering the Wonka factory’s history of labor law violations, it’s probably not a great time for the Wonka movie anyway.
Until the strike ends, though, Mr. King will be promoting his chocolatier movie without his stars by his side. Nevertheless, he’s doing his best to sell us on the movie’s musicality, assuring us it won’t be like one of those illogical musicals where people burst into song for no reason. “The Oompa Loompas sing a lot in the book, and Dahl always uses poetry,” King explained. “But I didn’t want it to just become a musical where people are singing dialogue to each other for no discernible reason. I felt like it was more like a movie with songs than a musical.”
As we know, Mr. King is doing way too much work. We’ve all seen Lil’ Timmy Tim, which King says got Chalamet the job in the first place. Just send the video to any haters and enjoy the boffo B.O. Lil’ Timmy Tim’s got it from here.
NBCUniversal’s Global Advertising and Partnerships division is leveraging talent and IP from the company’s networks for a custom ad campaign produced in-house for Israeli gaming startup Candivore’s launch of its flagship game Match Masters in the U.S.
The campaign, tag-lined “All The Drama You Need,” will consist of three custom 30-second spots, featuring Real Housewives star Dorit Kemsley, former pro wrestler and Barmageddon host Nikki Garcia, and influencer and former Top Chef VIP contestant Chiky BomBom playing the so-called “match-3” game, a puzzle game in which players must match tiles/objects to make them disappear. The promotion, touted as ensuring brand safety, willrun for 13 weeks on linear TV networks and for one month on digital, beginning today, Tuesday.
The goal is to introduce Match Masters to a U.S. audience and showcase how the gameoffers a fun escape from daily drama by putting it in the hands of NBCU unscripted talent used to drama-filled surroundings.
“NBCUniversal’s collaboration with Candivore exemplifies the potential for brands to tap into owned IP and talent to create a deeper connection with fans who are also consumers,” said Maggy Chan, managing director & executive vp, global advertising & partnerships, NBCUniversal. “We saw a unique opportunity with this partnership to leverage the unmatched fandom associated with our content, combining the authenticity of influencer marketing with the paramount importance of brand safety.”
Added Ilya Agron, COO at Candivore: “From a global perspective, leveraging NBCUniversal’s library of premium content and programming was a sure and brand-safe way to tap into high-profile U.S. talent and the fandom associated with them.”
In one of the ad spots on Bravo, Kemsley is seen during a luxe party full of Housewives disagreement, but she is only focused on the game. In a second spot on E!, Garcia’s attention is on winning a Match Masters showdown despite a chaotic dressing room scene unfolding around her. In the third spot on Telemundo, Chiky BomBom plays the game in a pro kitchen even as a fire breaks out.
All that glitters really is gold when it comes to Blake Lively’s latest look.
The newly minted 36-year-old went for all the retro vibes at Michael Kors’s New York Fashion Week runway show on September 11, hitting up the Brooklyn venue in a sparkling nude-color fit-and-flare jumpsuit, which she played up with a loose take on disco curls. While the “Dancing Queen” aesthetic is always going to be a perfect fit for Lively, who famously acts as her own stylist, this is one of her best looks to date in terms of sheer simplicity. No, I can’t believe I just described a head-to-to sequin jumpsuit as simple, either, but hear me out.
For one, Lively lets the skintight playsuit do all the work by keeping tailoring to a minimum. In fact, it seemed the Gossip Girl star took a page out of Amal Clooney’s book by allowing the pants legs to drape to the floor, adding even more length to her 5’10” frame. As for accessories, Lively opted for minimal styling, save for earrings, some funky rings, and a skinny nude belt.
Blake Lively attends the Michael Kors fashion show on September 11, 2023.
Gotham
The belt, by the way, has to be my favorite part, given the wave of big, chunky belts and hefty metal buckles that have been coming back into style in 2023. There’s nothing wrong with that look—see J.Lo at the Ralph Lauren show!—but it’s nice to see a celebrity like Lively consistently choosing what appeals to her most over what’s trending at any given moment.
In the film, badass secret agent Sam is tasked with one of her hardest missions to date – being maid of honor for her childhood best friend. Out of her comfort zone, and with fellow bridesmaids judging her every move, she struggles to maintain her cover. But when a team of mercenaries take the uber-wealthy guests hostage, it’s up to Sam to do what none of the other bridesmaids can – wage war on anyone who would ruin the most important day of her best friend’s life.
The film is directed by Simon West (“Boundless,” “Con Air”). The cast also includes Anna Camp (“Pitch Perfect”), Stephen Dorff (“Blade”), Justin Hartley (“This is Us”), Anna Chlumsky (“Veep”), Gigi Zumbado (“Pitch Perfect 2”) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Idol”).
It is produced by Joel David Moore and Max Osswald (“Immaculate Room,” “Some Other Woman”) of Balcony 9, Colleen Camp (“Knock Knock”) alongside Cassian Elwes (“Mudbound”) and Jason Ross Jallet (“Big Gold Brick”).
The deal was negotiated between Signature Entertainment CEO Marc Goldberg and WME Independent.
Signature’s director of acquisitions and TV, Elizabeth Williams, said: “The hilarious team-up of Rebel Wilson and Anna Camp combined with the action expertise of Simon West made ‘Bride Hard’ immediately very appealing to us. We can’t wait for U.K. audiences to watch secret agent Sam turn this white wedding into a fight wedding.”
Irish rugby fan abducted and gang-raped while in Bordeaux for the World Cup was found in a distressed state in the street by Welsh supporters it emerges as manhunt continues for her attackers
The Irish rugby fan who was abducted and then gang-raped by three men while in Bordeaux for the World Cup was found in a distressed state in the street by Welsh supporters, it has emerged.
The 37-year-old woman was attacked around midnight on Saturday on rue de la Rousselle in the heart of the city, close to where she was staying, according to French reports.
French police are continuing their manhunt for the three men who allegedly carried out the barbaric attack, with one of the suspects being described as ‘very athletic’.
The woman was walking near her accommodation when she was allegedly attacked by the three man who dragged her into an alleyway, reports say. According to Le Parisien, she was also driven in a car by the men, but did not leave the Saint-Paul district.
Nearby residents alerted the police, but the suspects had time to flee the scene.
The victim was reportedly discovered in the street in a distressed state by a group of Welsh fans, who had been in the French city to watch their opening game against Fiji, according to the Irish Independent.
An Ireland rugby fan was abducted and then gang-raped by three men while in Bordeaux to watch her national team in the World Cup (file image of Irish fans in Bordeaux)
The woman was able to return to her accommodation, but was in a state of shock and was initially unable to report the attack to French police, who found her ‘traumatised and prostrate’, according to L’Independant.
French officers called their Irish colleagues who were in the city as reinforcements for the on-going Rugby World Cup, which is being hosted by France.
The woman is understood to have been in the city to watch the match. She was attended to by the Irish officers before being taken to Bordeaux University Hospital.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the alleged rape, and police are said to be seeking three Caucasian men, one of whom is described as ‘very athletic’.
‘The investigations are underway and in particular the genetic examinations on the victim and the clothing, the collection of testimonies and the study of the video protection of the neighborhood,’ police told Le Parisien in a statement.
A garda spokesperson said: ‘Members of An Garda Síochána currently deployed in France for the duration of the Rugby World Cup tournament to assist Irish people visiting France are liaising with local authorities in relation to an alleged incident. The investigation is a matter for French police.
‘An Garda Síochána has no further comment at this time.’
A spokesperson for the Irish Rugby Football Union said: “The IRFU is aware of the disturbing news emanating from Bordeaux regarding an incident involving an Irish supporter at the weekend.
“We are shocked and extend our deepest sympathies to the victim.
“The IRFU wants all fans to have a positive experience supporting the team in France and we urge all travellers to take care and look out for each other.”
The 2023 NFL season has finally arrived and Thursday Night Football returns with a stacked lineup of games. While last Thursday’s season opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions aired on NBC, Week 2 will kick off Amazon Prime Video‘s second year as the exclusive home of TNF.
This Thursday, September 14, sees two of the NFL’s most exciting offenses as the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles stage their home opener against the NFC North Champion Minnesota Vikings. Kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field is set for 8:15 p.m. ET. Following the Vikings vs. Eagles matchup is a weekly lineup of 16 games featuring all 14 playoff teams, and the first-ever NFL Black Friday Game on November 24.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch Thursday Night Football on Prime Video, including the full schedule and game times.
How to watch Thursday Night Football live
Viewers in the U.S. can watch Thursday Night Football games live at home on Prime Video or on the go using the Prime Video app. Just go to the Prime Video app on your TV, computer, or mobile device, and you’ll see TNF games on the home page, Sports page, or under “live and upcoming events.”
Do I need an Amazon Prime membership to watch Thursday Night Football?
Prime members in the U.S. can watch Thursday Night Football on Prime Video for no additional fees. If you’re not a Prime member and haven’t been one in the last 12 months, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial of Prime now to catch the first four weeks of TNF.
After your trial, an Amazon Prime membership costs only $14.99 per month and includes all the benefits of Prime, including fast, free delivery, digital entertainment and shopping discounts. You could also save by paying for the annual membership of $139. f you’re looking to save more, and just want to watch TNF games without the other benefits of Prime, a Prime Video membership is only $8.99 per month.
Thursday Night Football games will also be available through the NFL mobile app via NFL+.
As the official streaming service of the National Football League, NFL+ allows you to live stream NFL games — including Thursday Night, Sunday Night, and Monday Night Football — on your mobile device. Starting at $40 per year (or $7 per month), NFL+ has access to NFL Network for live local and primetime regular and postseason games on your phone and tablet. You can also upgrade to NFL+ with NFL RedZone and watch up to eight NFL games simultaneously.
For a limited time, you can save 20% on a yearly subscription, which brings the cost of NFL+ down to $40/year. If you upgrade to NFL+ Premium for $15/month, you’ll get access to live local and primetime games on mobile, NFL RedZone, NFL Network, game replays and more.
What is Black Friday Football?
Prime Video and the NFL are coming together to create a new sports holiday tradition on the national sports calendar. In the first-ever NFL Black Friday game on November 24, fans will be treated to a classic AFC East showdown between the New York Jets, featuring four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, and their longtime division rivals, the Miami Dolphins.
Even if you don’t have a Prime membership, Prime Video is getting in the holiday season spirit and gifting football fans free access to this unprecedented NFL event.
2023-2024 NFL Season Thursday Night Football Schedule
Below, view the full schedule for Thursday Night Football during the 2023-2024 NFL football season with game times. TNF Tonight pregame coverage begins each Thursday at 7:00 p.m. EDT with TNF Postgame Show and TNF Nightcap providing post-game recap and analysis.
Play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and multi-Emmy-winning analyst Kirk Herbstreit call the main broadcast each week, with sideline reports from Kaylee Hartung. TNF host Charissa Thompson, along with analysts and former NFL stars Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman, comprise TNF’s pregame, halftime and postgame coverage.
Week 2
Thursday, September 14
Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles, 8:15 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)
Week 3
Thursday, September 21
New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers, 8:15 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)
Week 4
Thursday, September 28
Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers, 8:15 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)
Week 5
Thursday, October 5
Chicago Bears at Washington Commanders, 8:15 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)
Week 6
Thursday, October 12
Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs, 8:15 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)
Week 7
Thursday, October 19
Jacksonville Jaguars at New Orleans Saints, 8:15 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)
Week 8
Thursday, October 26
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Buffalo Bills, 8:15 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)
Week 9
Thursday, November 2
Tennessee Titans at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:15 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)
Week 10
Thursday, November 9
Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears, 8:15 p.m. EST (Prime Video)
Week 11
Thursday, November 16
Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens, 8:15 p.m. EST (Prime Video)
Week 12
Friday, November 24
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets, 3:00 p.m. EST (Prime Video)
Week 13
Thursday, November 30
Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys, 8:15 p.m. EST (Prime Video)
Week 14
Thursday, December 7
New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:15 p.m. EST (Prime Video)
Week 15
Thursday, December 14
Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas Raiders, 8:15 p.m. EST (Prime Video)
Week 16
Thursday, December 21
New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Rams, 8:15 p.m. EST (Prime Video)
Week 17
Thursday, December 28
New York Jets at Cleveland Browns, 8:15 p.m. EST (Prime Video)
A federal judge will start hearing claims this week from the Justice Department and a group of states that Google abused its power as a monopoly over online search services.
Google is synonymous with looking for information online and has leveraged its massively successful search tool to build a giant business spanning advertising, cloud computing and the online video powerhouse YouTube.
The outcome of the trial will have even broader implications than Google’s business. By putting decades of Silicon Valley practices under the microscope, it will provide an indication of how successful regulators in the United States will be in their efforts to rein in the power of Big Tech.
What’s this trial about?
A judge will consider whether, as the Justice Department and a group of states argue, Google abused its power as a monopoly. It’s the first monopoly trial against a tech giant since the landmark proceedings against Microsoft more than 20 years ago.
In the decades since, Google has amassed 90 percent of the search engine market in the United States and 91 percent globally, according to Similarweb, a data analysis firm.
Why does it matter?
If Google loses this case, the ruling could chip away at its stature and influence in the technology industry — something that could limit the way Google can compete in the marketplace and reshuffle power in Silicon Valley.
It is also a test for governments that say tech giants like Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, have too much influence over our online lives. The nation’s antitrust laws were first written more than a century ago, and this trial will show whether they can be used to rein in the fast-moving tech industry.
What, exactly, is Google accused of doing?
The Justice Department has accused Google, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., of illegally using partnerships with phone makers and internet browser companies to shut out rival search engines.
Thanks to agreements with companies like Apple, Samsung and Mozilla, Google has been the default search engine when billions of web users open a browser on their phones, tablets and personal computers. The government has argued that Google’s multibillion-dollar payouts to partners have prevented other search engines like Microsoft Bing and DuckDuckGo from accumulating a meaningful share of the online search market.
The Justice Department also claims Google’s practice of preloading its services on devices that use its Android software illegally helped the internet company maintain a monopoly.
What does Google say?
Google says that its business practices are legal and commonplace, and that when it pays to appear on Apple’s Safari browser or Mozilla’s Firefox, the agreement is akin to a maker of cereals paying supermarkets to stock its boxes at eye level.
The search giant has also repeatedly argued that it has numerous successful competitors in online search. The company points to companies like Amazon and TikTok as thriving competitors. Even though they do not operate general-purpose search engines, Google argues that they are rival destinations where consumers go to find products or content that bypasses Google entirely.
Google has also said that the government is using a flawed argument to target the company because of its popularity. The company believes it is successful because it makes the best search engine. Consumers have a choice to use other search engines, it argues, but choose Google because they find it most helpful.
What does the government need to prove to win its case?
The government has to show that Google has monopoly power over the areas of the economy at issue in the case. The government will try to convince the judge to take a relatively strict view of what a search engine is and to reject Google’s argument that e-commerce sites like Amazon and social media services like TikTok or Instagram are in the same market as Google’s search engine. The wider the market, the easier it is for Google to argue that it does not have monopoly power.
The government also needs to prove that Google’s commercial agreements meaningfully reduced competition among search engines by denying them a chance to forge similar deals with device makers or gain new customers. The Justice Department will also probably have to explain how these business practices directly or indirectly harmed consumers, which has for decades been an important bar for judges considering antitrust cases.
What will happen if Google is found responsible for violating the law?
The trial will have two parts. First, Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will determine if Google violated the law. If it did, then Judge Mehta will consider possible ways to fix the situation.
The Justice Department has not yet said what actions it would ask the court to impose on Google in the event of its victory.
“But it all starts with the court being convinced that Google has misbehaved,” said Bill Baer, a former Justice Department official.
Google’s president of global affairs, Kent Walker, highlighted the challenge of finding an appropriate remedy without forcing other companies that are not being sued, including Apple and Samsung, to change their business practices.
It is possible that the Justice Department will ask that Google be forbidden from signing exclusive distribution agreements to give other search engines more prominence on consumer devices.
What’s the broader context surrounding the trial?
The Justice Department’s case against Google focuses on whether the tech giant engaged in anticompetitive conduct to undermine other search engines, which rival the service that made the company a household name.
In the decades since Microsoft was accused of bundling its products together to prevent other web browsers from gaining traction in the market, the technology industry has drastically changed.
Google has emerged as the largest advertising business on the internet. Along with its success has come intensifying scrutiny from regulators around the world, questioning the company’s business practices and the competitive, political and social consequences of its popular products.
The European Union has been the most aggressive at trying to rein in Google’s power, and this case is the first in which the United States will square off against the company.
Director: Niclas Larsson Screenwriter: Niclas Larsson Logline: Three estranged children come together when their mother refuses to move from a couch in a furniture store, in this film boasting all-star talent including Taylor Russell, Ewan McGregor, Ellen Burstyn, F. Murray Abraham, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Rhys Ifans.
Panelists: Niclas Larsson (director) First Screening: September 9, 2:30 p.m. EST, Royal Alexandra Theater Key Quote: “[Ewan] is an incredibly sensitive actor and person, and we found each other on a beautiful emotional level… It takes courage for someone like Ewan, on his scale of stardom, to just let go and literally break down, but he was ready to do it, and I’m incredibly impressed.” – Niclas Larsson
Andrew Jeffrey joined Realscreen in 2021 as its news editor. Here, he helps to oversee assignment, reporting and editing for Realscreen’s daily newsletter. Prior to his work covering documentary and non-fiction film and TV, he worked as a reporter and associate producer for CBC Edmonton, and as a reporter for The Star Calgary, where he covered daily news on beats such as local and provincial politics, health care and harm reduction, sports and education. His work has appeared in other Canadian news outlets such as TVO, the Edmonton Journal and Avenue Magazine.
The hottest ticket at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was not for the new auteur film from Hayao Miyazaki or Ryusuke Hamaguchi, the latest vehicle for Kate Winslet or Sean Penn, or grand prizewinners at Cannes and Venice. No, the most feverishly in-demand screening was for a 39-year-old movie that everyone in its sold-out audience could have watched at home, at the push of a button.
But this isn’t just any 39-year-old movie. “Stop Making Sense,” directed by Jonathan Demme, is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of the form, a joyful documentation (and celebration) of Talking Heads’ 1983 tour supporting their album “Speaking in Tongues.” The Toronto festival screening marked the debut of A24’s new restoration of the film ahead of its theatrical and IMAX rerelease later this month.
But the real draw in Toronto was the band’s reunion for a Q. and A. conducted by Spike Lee after the screening (and simulcast to IMAX theaters across the globe). “This is the greatest concert film ever!” he enthused with the musicians sitting next to him. “I can say that! You might not want to, but for me, I’m going on record, around the world: this is the greatest concert film ever.”
The 25-minute chat was the first time the band members had appeared together since they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. That reunion was an event in itself, following what the frontman David Byrne recently described, with characteristic understatement, as an “ugly” breakup in 1991. His former bandmates haven’t been quite so delicate. In 2020, the drummer Chris Frantz published a memoir in which he accused Byrne of frequently diminishing the contributions of his fellow musicians, while the bassist Tina Weymouth referred to him as, among many other slurs, “a vampire.” (Byrne has since granted that he was “more of a little tyrant” in those early years.)
But in Toronto, it was all good vibes for Byrne, Frantz and Weymouth (who are married) and the keyboardist and guitarist Jerry Harrison. “I’m very grateful to be here tonight, and to be able to watch this and to enjoy it so much,” Frantz said warmly at the beginning of the conversation. Byrne concurred: “When I was watching this just now, I was thinking, this is why we come to the movie theaters. This is different than watching it on my laptop!”
And indeed it was. From the opening image — of Byrne’s scuffed-up white sneakers striding onto the stage, as he sets down a boombox and announces, “Hi, I got a tape I wanna play” — seeing “Stop Making Sense” in IMAX was like seeing it anew. The image, blown up from the original 35-millimeter negatives, was crisp and rich; the sound, an early digital audio recording, felt like it had been laid down last night. The restless, roving, participatory nature of Demme’s cameras make it much more than a standard concert documentary. It’s an exhilarating record of a group of talented people, at the peak of their considerable powers, having a great time making groundbreaking music that you can still dance to.
Demme, who died at 73 in 2017, was attracted to the material, Byrne recalled, because the show they’d assembled told a story, with a beginning, middle and end. The picture starts, quite literally, with the forming of the band, as Byrne is joined by each additional member, one by one, and their show is built out from the bare stage on which it begins. By the midpoint, this odd little man and his friends have become a family, and when Byrne sings the kind and welcoming lyrics of “This Must Be the Place” (“Home/is where I want to be/but I guess I’m already there”), it’s as heartfelt and moving an emotional beat as you’ll find in any narrative film.
Byrne recalled realizing that Demme, working with the editor Lisa Day, was actually making an ensemble film. “Like, you would have a bunch of actors in a location and you get to know each character, one by one,” Byrne explained, adding, “You get familiar with them, and then you watch how they all interact with one another. And I thought, I’m in my own world. But he saw that, he saw what was going on there.”
The sheer visceral impact of the filmmaking, when shown at IMAX proportions, was staggering as well. Demme’s striking, out-of-the-box lighting choices and close-up compositions are jaw-dropping on the big screen, and Byrne comes across as even more like a (seemingly impossible) movie star, from his first reveal in the iconic Big Suit (“It was really big tonight,” Frantz quipped) to his serpentine slithering during “Life During Wartime.” He’s aware of the camera and plays to it savvily — not just singing the band’s songs, but performing them (and understanding the difference).
But he’s far from the only attraction, and the detail of the IMAX restoration (coupled with Demme’s preference for long takes and wide shots) provides the viewer with plenty of opportunities to observe the dynamics, throughout the frame, between the group, additional musicians like the keyboardist Bernie Worrell, and the crew. The cameras capture their nonverbal communication, the little cues and asides and flashes of encouragement they’re throwing at one another through the entire show.
“There’s all these moments that he caught, where one of us looks at the other, looks over at Bernie or Bernie looks at us, all those little quick interactions,” Byrne marveled. “And I thought, that stuff is amazing.”
Harrison said that “one of the reasons for the lasting power of the film is you see that we are having so much fun onstage,” adding that “the audience is brought right into it. We say, you’re part of this too. And I think that every time anybody watches it, it brings back that wonderful emotion.”
That was certainly the case in Toronto. The rowdy crowd applauded every number, cheered for the band’s introductions and clapped along with the breakdown in “Take Me to the River.” One guy hollered, “Encore!” when the movie ended.
Both “Once in a Lifetime” and “Burning Down the House” brought audience members to their feet, just like their onscreen counterparts, to dance in the aisles. To be fair, they’re very hard songs to not dance to. In the seventh row, at his aisle seat, David Byrne was on his feet with them, bobbing his head and rocking back and forth, once more, for old times’ sake.
After making his debut playing the character in Netflix’sDaredevil, D’Onofrio reprised his role as Wilson Fisk in 2021’s Hawkeye. In the series, it was revealed that the Daredevil villain has acted as a pseudo-uncle to Alaqua Cox’sMaya Lopez aka Echo.
Fans have been eagerly awaiting the grand return of Kingpin in the upcoming Disney+ series Echo, wherein he and Maya will reunite after she seemed to partially blind him in the Hawkeye finale.
Additionally, footage from the series shown at last year’s D23 convention teased that Fisk may also reunite with Charlie Cox’sDaredevil — the first time fans will see the characters interact since the finale of Daredevil‘s third season.
Kingpin Return on Disney+ Reportedly Postponed
Given the reported delay of Echo to early next year, fans will not see Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin in 2023 as originally expected.
Marvel Studios
The series was set to release all six episodes on November 29, but that date is now reportedly set for January 2024. Despite the move, the show will still premiere the entire season at once as was planned for the November date.
Marvel Studios
When it is released next year, Echo will continue the story from Hawkeye of Maya Lopez (Echo) and Wilson Fisk (Kingpin), following the 2021 series’ conclusion wherein Maya severely injured Fisk, who has essentially served as her adopted uncle while being a crime boss.
How Will Kingpin Fit Into the MCU?
With the confirmed reuniting of Kingpin and Echo and the all-but-confirmed reuniting of Kingpin and Daredevil as well, several old wounds are bound to resurface when the show drops next year.
First on a lot of fans’ minds is likely how Fisk escaped from prison, assuming he is the same version of the character from Daredevil. Following a brutal scene at the end of Daredevil, it seemed that Kingpin would be locked away for good, as escaping meant risking the safety of his beloved, Vanessa.
Given Kingpin’s escape, fans may be left wondering if Matt kept up his end of the deal or why Kingpin changed his mind about it.
Throughout Daredevil, it was made abundantly clear that Fisk truly did love Vanessa — hence why risking her safety on him staying locked up seemed to be a pretty airtight bargain. There is sure to be a story about how and why Fisk changed his mind or if Matt knows Kingpin is roaming the streets again.
The show itself will focus on the titular character, Echo, so it is possible that some of her whereabouts during the events of Daredevil will be revealed.
It will be interesting to learn both how Fisk fits into the relative story of Maya’s life (some of which fans learned in Hawkeye) and how Maya fits into the established backstory for Fisk from Daredevil.
Echo will reportedly be released in its entirety on Disney+ in January 2024.
My Adventures With Superman 1×02: Clark Kent goes back to the Kent farm to find answers about his true heritage. Meanwhile, Lois and Jimmy track down some tech thieves.
Positives
This episode shows how My Adventures With Superman isn’t afraid to be different. Aside from the obvious anime-inspired art style, the backstory of these characters is surprisingly different from what we have known, including Superman. In this case, I found it interesting that Clark isn’t able to understand the Kryptonian language, unlike in other shows. And it also seems there may be a nefarious purpose behind his arrival– will they explore that later, perhaps?
Negatives
I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan of this particular introduction of Livewire. It seems that a few of Superman’s enemies who traditionally have powers will instead have their powers via technology like Livewire does in this episode. However, with it being only the first season, I’m sure we’ll see some character development, even with Superman’s enemies, so maybe she’ll have some actual powers in future episodes.
Verdict
My Adventures With Superman 1×02 was an overall really good episode that will definitely lead to future consequences. Lois seems more determined than ever to get an interview with Superman, while Clark is only interested in getting closer to Lois. Also, it seems that a government organization has been introduced as well–and they make themselves known to Livewire. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Ubisoft’s XDefiant may not have an official release date yet, but it could be very close to release. In a new blog post, executive producer Mark Rubin has pulled back the curtain on what goes into a game’s release, explaining exactly where XDefiant is at in that process.
The blog goes into some detail on the submission process required to get games onto platforms like PlayStation or Xbox, with Rubin warning that “sometimes full transparency is like drinking from a firehose so hope you all are thirsty!”
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Now Playing: XDefiant: Game Overview | Deep Dive Trailer
Put simply, developers are required to submit a copy of their game to parties like Xbox and Sony, so their teams can check that the game is working properly from a platform perspective. After a game gets the green light through this process, it generally takes another week or two to get it ready for release. While XDefiant was submitted through this process in the end of July, it initially didn’t pass compliance.
Now Ubisoft is ready to submit the game again, leaving two possible outcomes. If the game passes without issue, XDefiant could release in mid to late September. It’s possible that it could get a conditional pass, however, which would mean XDefiant is cleared for release only if it comes with a day one patch to clean up any lingering issues. If this is the case, its release will be pushed back to early or mid October.
Rubin explains that most games tend to decide on a release date with plenty of wiggle room to allow for this process, but he didn’t want to take that path with XDefiant. “Like a lot of things with this game, we have not chosen the typical route,” Rubin explains. “So, when it comes to when we will release the real answer is ‘as soon as we can.’ And we will continue to update you with more info when we have it.”
XDefiant is an upcoming free-to-play shooter from Ubisoft that includes a number of its existing game franchises in the form of factions. The game has been compared to Call of Duty, with executive producer Mark Rubin known for his previous work on the CoD franchise. XDefiant will be released on PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
While it’s easy to imagine lawyers screaming “objection, your honor!” to the exaggerated courtroom theatrics of “The Burial,” good luck convincing audiences that this David v. Goliath legal showdown between a small-time Southern funeral home operator and an unethical Canadian billionaire should have played out any other way. Demonstrating talents far beyond her 2017 indie debut, “The Novitiate,” director Maggie Betts has a rousing old-school crowd-pleaser on her hands with this truth-based (albeit strategically embellished) drama featuring the most entertaining performance yet from Jamie Foxx, who makes a day in court feel like going to church.
Foxx plays Willie E. Gary, a Southern Baptist personal injury lawyer who channels the spirit of evangelical preachers every time he practices law — hardly the counsel you’d expect Jeremiah “Jerry” O’Keefe (Tommy Lee Jones), a 75-year-old business owner in Biloxi, Miss., to represent him. But then, that unlikely partnership between a charismatic Black man and an unpredictable good ol’ boy is what makes the dynamic of “The Burial” more fun than “Green Book.” And though audiences might not realize it at first, prying into the multi-billion-dollar “death care” industry at the center of this particular case reveals a lot about social hierarchies work in the U.S.
The script, which Betts co-wrote with Doug Wright from a 1999 The New Yorker article, isn’t shy about playing the race card. In fact, you could say it’s juggling a full-blown poker tournament, dealing sharp observations on race, class and gender in respectful yet entertaining ways throughout. “The Burial” opens with a re-creation of an actual episode of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” in which Willie shows off his Florida mansion, gorgeous wife Gloria (Amanda Warren) and private jet, which he christened “Wings of Justice.” His watch alone looks expensive enough to solve poor Jerry’s debt problems.
Jerry is a guileless family man with 13 children and eight funeral homes. Trouble is, he got suckered into a scam, investing money that regulators require him to have on hand for his burial insurance business, and now the government’s threatening to shut him down. That’s the only reason he instructs his longtime lawyer, Mike Allred (Alan Ruck, who gives a great love-to-hate performance), to pursue a deal with Ray Loewen (Bill Camp, equally loathsome), a callous Canadian investor who’s been buying out independently owned funeral homes all over the country. Ray’s plan: “to put myself in position of what I call ‘the golden era of death.’”
Most Americans don’t think about the high cost of burial or cremation until they actually lose a loved one, and yet, here’s a subject that’s destined to affect everyone sooner or later. Over the course of the case, it becomes clear that Ray’s conglomerate was gobbling up funeral homes in low-income areas and marking up prices on basic caskets in a way that directly impacted people of color. Early on, at the encouragement of junior counsel Hal (Mamoudou Athie), Jerry flies to Florida to watch Willie in action.
That monologue ranks as one of the film’s great scenes, as Foxx gives a fiery closing statement whose punchline is the $75 million price tag he’s seeking in damages — although my personal favorite comes later, when Willie has drinks with opposite counsel, Mame Downes (Jurnee Smollett). I’d put the delicate power struggle dramatized there on par with the tête-à-tête between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in “Heat.” Early on, Jerry must convince Willie and a team of well-dressed Black lawyers to take the job. Later, once Mame embarrasses him in court, Willie’s the one who finds himself bargaining not to be kicked off the case entirely.
Unlike “To Kill a Mockingbird” or “Matlock” (to name two Southern-fried legal dramas), the fate of this case does not rest in white people’s hands. Since the lawsuit was filed in Hinds County, which is two-thirds Black, both sides hire African American lawyers. Allred turns out to be a liability (for reasons one can guess by the way he addresses non-white characters as “son”), whereas Willie and Hal play to their audience — the judge (Lance E. Nichols) and eight of the jurors are Black, and all identify as Christian.
Meanwhile, Ray’s savvy enough to see what’s happening, which is why he hires Mame, who once clerked for Sandra Day O’Connor, and carries herself like a young Pam Grier. She’s a fictional character (of Betts’ invention) who brings a compelling gender dimension to an otherwise dude-heavy film. Where Mame is sophisticated, Willie is a glorified ambulance chaser with tacky nouveau riche taste, and though he makes a big deal in court of Ray’s boat (implying that Loewen is rich enough to afford multi-million-dollar damages), the fact they both have private planes suggests a certain level of hypocrisy on his part. The character who comes off looking like a hero here is Jerry, a model antiracist who seems bemused by Willie’s flamboyance.
Jones and Foxx are performers with polar-opposite energy levels, and yet, they mesh beautifully on screen. That just goes to show how far Betts has come since her debut, in which Melissa Leo (playing an unhinged mother superior) ran away with the show. Here, although Foxx gives a larger-than-life performance, Betts does a much better job of integrating his supernova energy into the overall ensemble. At times, she directs Foxx to dial it way down in order to let Jones be subtle, as in the meeting where both sides discuss a settlement, passing a scrap of paper with a very large (likely eight-figure) number scribbled on it back and forth. Betts doesn’t show the sum, but lets it play out on her characters’ faces.
While up-to-the-minute in its politics, “The Burial” feels like a throwback to Sidney Lumet-style courtroom dramas from an earlier decade — the kind where judges banged gavels and shouted, “Order in the court!” It’s hard to imagine the magistrate letting either Willie or Mame get away with preaching the way they do in his courtroom, but Betts orchestrates it in such a way that, even more than with “The Novitiate,” you want to clap your hands and shout “Amen!”
Archer‘s 14th and final season had just premiered the night before on FXX when on Aug. 31 all Disney cable networks, as well as the ABC owned-and-operated stations, went dark on Charter’s Spectrum cable system. Ten days and one new episode of Archer later, the bitter carriage dispute was resolved but FXX was not restored on Spectrum.
That is because, in exchange for getting wide distribution for its ad-supported Disney+ service, Disney made a concession on the linear side. Eight cable networks, including FXX, FXM, Freeform, Disney Junior, Disney XD and Nat Geo Wild, are being dropped from Spectrum, the No.2 cable operator in the U.S. with 14.7 million customers, with each net losing close to 20% of their reach.
While a significant portion of viewing for FX-branded programming comes from streamer Hulu, I hear FX brass are looking for ways to make the final season of Archer available to loyal fans of the show who have watched it on linear through Spectrum. A decision is expected soon as the next episode drops this Wednesday. The flagship FX network remains on Spectrum, so it is possible for the final batch of episodes to be made available there or through a VOD on the cable system or other means.
The situation is less pressing for FXX’s other flagship original series,It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, which recently aired its 16th season, with the next season at least a year away. (The veteran comedy has been renewed through Season 18.)
For YA-focused Freeform, digital consumption on Hulu by its young constituency dwarfs linear viewing, so no additional linear accommodations are expected for Freeform originals like grown-ish, which recently wrapped Part.1 of its final season, and Good Trouble, which is also inbetween the two parts of its current fifth season.
Disney Junior is the U.S. linear home of pre-school animated sensation Bluey, which, along with all Disney Junior originals, are available on Disney+. Spectrum customers on the Select plan will continue to have access to the shows as they are getting Disney+ Basic with ads through the new carriage deal.
Additionally, some Nat Geo Wild series are believed to be available on the main Nat Geo channel that remains on Spectrum.
“A lot of the programming on those channels is windowed to their cable channel siblings” as well as Disney+, Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden told Deadline in an interview today.
That does not apply to FXX and Freeform fare, with Hulu currently the only option for Spctrum customers who want to watch those series.
As for whether FXX, Freeform & Co. will continue to program originals, the answer appears to be yes, according to Walden, fellow Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro.
“Our commitment to all our brands and the people who work for them is unchanged,” the trio said in a memo today when referencing the eight networks dropped by Spectrum. “We will continue to program these channels and deliver the same high-quality shows to our fans.”
At a Toronto International Film Festival that saw its wattage dimmed by a SAG-AFTRA strike; it took a Talking Heads reunion at the 40th Anniversary of Stop Making Sense to crank up the festival’s volume to an 11 in Spinal Tap-speak.
Talking Heads’ David Byrne in ‘Stop Making Sense,’ 1984
Everett Collection
The new A24 re-release of the Jonathan Demme concert film, which moderator Spike Lee billed as “the greatest concert film ever,” is a 4K Imax restoration.
And the night literally lived up to the large format exhibitor’s slogan “Watch a movie, or be part of one” as Talking Heads bandmembers David Byrne, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz and Lee himself got up and danced during such numbers as “Burning Down the House” and “Once in a Lifetime” during the screening. Talk about a cinema-surround show.
Tina Weymouth, Everett Collection
Stop Making Sense played at Toronto’s Scotiabank auditorium No. 12 –a multi-storied Imax screen that’s on par with the size of the one that’s at Universal Citywalk. If you happen to see Stop Making Sense, see it on the biggest Imax screen possible. Tonight’s screening at TIFF was an Imax live event in 165 locations in North America and BFI Imax in London with all four Talking Heads members including guitarist and keyboardist Jerry Harrison joining in for a post-screening discussion led by Lee. The movie opens exclusively in Imax on Sept. 22 and gets an expansion on Sept. 29.
“While I was watching this tonight, I thought ‘This is why we go to movie theaters. This is different from watching it on my laptop,” beamed Talking Heads frontman and The Last Emperor Oscar winner Byrne.
The band largely spoke about the genesis for the pic; Demme was a huge fan of the band. They too adored him and his work, specifically Melvin & Howard. However, most of all as Byrne put it, their Stop Making Sense tour “seemed liked it had a progression to it, a story, it occurred to us, this could work for us as a film.”
“We thought who could direct this? Who could pay for it?” quipped Byrne.
Demme shot their performance at LA’s Pantages theater over the course of a week in December 1983.
Drummer Frantz pointed out that Demme “understood what we were about and helped us to celebrate; celebrate the music. Because when you get right down to it, the music is greater than the band even. We might be dead, but the music continues.”
Harrison said after they were done, the band continued on to Australia and New Zealand. “It was a sprint,” he said with the movie coming out in April 1984. “So many projects are interrupted, and you have to take a break. We never took a break. It flowed and it was finished,” Harrison added.
The concert pic stands apart from all others in its avant-garde and intimate camera shots, as well as a production design that’s built gradually during the pic’s opening numbers, going from Byrne’s solo performance of “Psycho Killer” on a bare stage, to an eventual full-bodied penultimate finale of “Take Me to the River”.
Two of the key below-the-line crewmembers who received shoutouts were Demme’s editor Lisa Day who was keen to capture nuanced interactions between the bandmembers. However, also an ingredient in that was visual consultant Sandy McLeod who has Weymouth described “was on tour and took notes, she mapped out every shot ahead of time. She took notes on every song, what each player was doing, who was moving, who was where, and I think that really helped the team when it came time to shoot.”
Byrne believes that up to 18 cameras were used during the production.
Weymouth joked that her contribution to the film as a bass player was “I never turned my amp up past three, and that left room for everyone to shine, because if the bass player gets too loud — forget about it.”
Everett Collection
Revealing the origin of the fat suit, which Byrne dons during the “Girlfriend Is Better” number, he said it came to him during a stopover in Japan between tours after talking to a designer. “(He said) ‘Well, David, in the theater, everything is bigger than in real life.’ He was referring to gestures and how you sing louder. I thought, ‘Oh, my suit should be bigger, too.’”
Said Frantz making a pun on Imax: “It was really big tonight.”
The last time the Talking Heads got together was at the 2002 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Is this latest reunion a sign of more get-togethers to come?
We caught up with Byrne later tonight following the screening, and the unfortunate answer is a continued “No.”
Helena Deland’s 2020 album, Someone New, studied the genesis of a relationship and the experience of dissociating along with it. All of it was lovely and intense, leaning on thudding synthesizers and heady, abstracted lyrics where Deland’s coo of a soprano is the centerpiece. “Bright Green Vibrant Gray,” the new single off of her upcoming second record, Goodnight Summerland, has a different texture. Where the songs on Someone New shared a phenotype with the velvety, sensual trip hop of Portishead, “Bright Green Vibrant Gray,” is wispier, folkier.
The song is concerned with new loves, the loss of a parent, thinking of human existence as something geological. To do this, Deland explores naturalism in her images: a journey along the Saint Lawrence River in Québec with icy filtered light, packed snow on the ground where your footprints linger there for days. Jars of powder, ready to be mixed into paints. “Take my hand and run me to the shore,” Deland sings, “Dune grass cool wind blows.” The instrumentation mirrors this lyrical pastoralism: the way the drums turn it all into a sleepy sort of waltz, the way the guitars turn like the tides. It is an exquisite, small song. Something to rub your eyes to as you greet the day, remembering how the world is very big and old.
If you are an anime film enthusiast and want to learn about Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, you are in the right place. Discover its storyline, themes and why it is a must-watch.
New Hayao Miyazaki Anime “Boy and the Heron”
We all thought the Academy Honorary Award winner Hayao Miyazaki had retired after The Wind Rises release, which was ten years ago. But anime fans were glad to learn that the masterful storyteller is back and ready to lift their spirits with one more project called The Boy and the Heron. In this article, we’ll jump into the world of this 2023 Japanese animated fantasy film to help you learn about what it entails and why it might be one of his best works.
The Boy and the Heron Details
Here are the main highlights of the upcoming anime:
Director
Hayao Miyazaki
Writers
Hayao Miyazaki
Producer
Toshio Suzuki
Inspired by
Genzaburô Yoshino’s 1937 novel “How Do You Live?”
Cast
Soma Santoki, Takuya KimuraKo, Shibasaki, Shōhei Hino,Yoshino Kimura, Aimyon, and Masaki Suda
Genre
Anime, adventure, drama, fantasy
Art Direction by
Noboru Yoshida and Yôji Takeshige
Music by
Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography
Atsushi Okui
Assistant Director
Kazuyoshi Katayama
Running Time
124 minutes
Production Company
Studio Ghibli
Release Date
14 July 2023 in Japan
Expected to be released in US theatres on 8 Dec
The Boy and the Heron Release Date
Written and directed by Miyazaki, this anime was originally released by Toho on 14 July 2023 for the Japanese audience. This anime was screened in theatres, IMAX and other premium formats. Its release didn’t have promotions because the producer, Studio Ghibli, decided not to release any images, synopsis, trailers or the film’s casting details before its Japanese premiere. But it grossed over £41 million in Japan and received critical acclaim.
The Boy and the Heron premiered internationally as a teaser trailer on 8 September 2023 at the 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival. Sneak previews are set for 22 November, while its release date in the US is 8 December 2023.
Plot Summary
The story starts in Tokyo in 1943, amid the Second World War, after a hospital fire kills Mahito Maki’s mother (Hisako). He’s then sent to a quieter estate located in the countryside. Here, he learns that his father, who is the owner of an air munitions factory, has remarried. He is surprised to learn that his new wife is Natsuko, his late wife’s younger sister. What’s more? She’s pregnant with his child.
Mahito tries his best to make the new town his home but struggles with the grief of his late mother while enduring a tense relationship with Natsuko. Additionally, he encounters a mysterious grey heron that continually pesters him.
The heron eventually speaks to Mahito and promises to take him to his mother; it also assures him that his mother is still alive. Mahito gave in to the heron’s requests after Natsuko was kidnapped and had to follow it into another world.
Heron Symbolism
Heron symbolises sorrow and love that has been lost or found. It is linked intrinsically to blurred boundaries, tied to the changing seasons and regarded as divine because it can move across the elements. As such, these transient qualities and relationship with love and sadness indicate that the heron will be Mahito’s guardian; it led him through the afterlife and helped him accept the loss of his mother. It is a fitting farewell for Miyazaki, especially when you understand the final layer of the story.
Where Did Miyazaki Get Inspiration?
The film drew inspiration from How Do You Live? by the Japanese author Genzaburō Yoshino, which is Miyazaki’s favourite childhood book. The name of this 1937 novel is the literal translation of the title of this film in Japan.
Miyazaki vividly drew lines from what inspired his younger self to how he hopes he has inspired many people over the last four decades. How Do You Live follows the story of Junichi Honda, a 15-year-old boy, and his uncle as he deals with poverty, spiritual growth and the overall experience of life. While Miyazaki was deeply moved by this novel, his new film is not an adaptation.
Visual Delights
Every moment in The Boy and the Heron is stunningly animated. You won’t find any frame of this film that looks like it does not belong to a canvas. It indulges in the beauty of each creature and landscape. The long stretches without dialogue allow you to take in the magnificence of the imagery. Some of the things that are visual delights include:
Fish guts
Delectable food
Gorgeous clouds
Even the more unpleasant imagery is presented dazzlingly. You could freeze a frame and slap it on your wall. Indeed, the pastoral backgrounds resemble oil paintings. The characters in the film move with quivering naturalism, with clothes ever creasing and hair constantly in motion.
The Boy and the Heron’s magical world will keep the audience glued to their screens. It will take some time after this masterpiece to redefine your life and your thoughts. While doing this, relax and have some spare time by playing some casino games with 50 free spins no deposit no wager.
Online casinos that offer a 50 free spins no deposit bonus give new UK customers a chance to play specific slot games and win real money without funding their account. You can get between 10 and 500 free spins after adding a bank card to your gaming account. The 50 free spins no deposit offer comes with specific terms and conditions that you must meet. This includes wagering requirements, maximum win limit and allowed games.
What Are the Themes of The Boy and the Heron?
The film has autobiographical features. That means it’s a semi-autobiographical story partly based on Hayao Miyazaki’s life. The movie shows viewers how a child must overcome his selfishness by learning to live for others. Let’s look at some examples highlighting that The Boy and the Heron narrates the story of this Japanese animator and manga artist:
Mahito is modelled after the childhood of Miyazaki.
Mahito’s and Miyazaki’s father worked at a company that manufactured components of fighter aircraft.
The hospital fire evokes personal similarities with Miyazaki’s loss of his mother, who was a source of inspiration for some of the female characters in the film.
During the war, Miyazaki’s family evacuated from the city and settled in the countryside.
The emotional connection of Mahito with his mother resembles the love that Miyazaki has for his mother.
The film has a strong message of using your hands to create a world that doesn’t have conflict. Miyazaki steps back into his unique style, which mixes serious themes with impish humour. The animation is naturalistic until the characters embark on a journey to the parallel realms, where stunning visuals take centre stage.
Final Thoughts
The Boy and the Heron has set a high bar for its engaging story. It marks Miyazaki’s eleventh feature film and tenth movie with Studio Ghibli, which he co-founded. The film features hand-drawn animation by Miyazaki, and many people believe it is his final project before he returns to retirement.
Tokuma Japan Communications released the soundtrack in Japan on 9 August 2023. Joe Hisaish was the composer of the music tailored to this film. There’s so much to unpack narratively and thematically in this film. With memorable characters and stunning animation, this is undoubtedly a masterpiece and a testament to why Miyazaki is one of the most influential people in the world.
Users with the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) can run AI jobs on the organization’s Perlmutter supercomputer for half-price this month.
In the midst of a lack of worldwide availability of computing horsepower for AI workloads, the facility – which operates on behalf of the US Department for Energy’s Office of Science – is changing the equation.
Between September 7 and October 1, those registered with the organization will be charged half the normal charges. For example, a three-hour job that normally runs on seven nodes would incur a charge of 21 GPU node-hours – but throughout September, it will be charged 10.5 GPU node-hours.
Perlmutter’s A100 GPUs
“Using your time now benefits the entire NERSC community and spreads demand more evenly throughout the year, so to encourage usage now, we are discounting all jobs run on the Perlmutter GPU nodes by 50% starting tomorrow and through the end of September,” wrote user engagement group leader, Rebecca Hartman-Baker.
Hartman-Baker also pointed to additional help that NERSC will be offering users. This may be of use to those who are getting bad performance and need help making sure their script is up to scratch, or just those who want to try out code but aren’t sure where to start, among other potential uses.
Established in 2021, Perlmutter is an HPE Cray EX supercomputer that uses AMD Zen 3 Epyc CPUs as well as Nvidia A100 Tesla Core GPUs. The first phase of development saw the machine fitted with 1,536 GPU-accelerated AMD CPU nodes, each including four A100 GPUs, complemented with 35PB all-flash Lustre-based storage. The second phase saw the supercomputer augmented with 3,072 CPU-only nodes, each with two AMD Epyc processors and 512GB memory.
The supercomputer itself is largely used for nuclear fusion simulations, climate projections, as well as material and biological research. The first workloads run on Perlmutter included a project to discover how atomic interactions worked – which may lead to better batteries and biofuels.
GPU capacity to run AI workloads is hard to come by, and the offer is sadly only applicable to members of NERSC. It was originally pointed out by a Microsoft high-performance computing (HPC) specialist Glenn Lockwood, who pointed out NERSC could “make a killing” by backfilling idle capacity with commercial workloads.
This would be particularly applicable during the summer months when academics are largely away. There are, however, alternative means of renting GPUs, including through Akash’s decentralized Supercloud for AI network.
Director: Chelsea McMullan Logline: Inside the National Ballet of Canada’s 2022 production of Swan Lake, directed and staged by the legendary Karen Kain.
Panelists: Chelsea McMullan (director), Neve Campbell (EP), Sean O’Neill (co-creator/ writer/ producer), Karen Kain (former ballerina, artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada First Screening: September 9, 2 p.m. EST, Roy Thompson Hall Key Quote: “A big point in this film is that ballet is changing and it needed to change, and there’s an awareness that there’s a level of racism in the ballet world for a very long time and that needed to shift and certainly I think there is a lot more diversity happening in schools and it’s growing. We need to see more of that. A big part of what Karen wanted with this [production of] Swan Lake is to make a big change. She has this in the film where she asks the dancers not to wear tights anymore, that we get to see their skin, that we get to see their differences, and see that as a beautiful thing.”
A$AP Rocky‘s attorney went way too far in his defense of the rapper after his 2021 shooting incident … at least according to the alleged victim, A$AP Relli, who’s now suing Rocky and his high-powered attorney, Joe Tacopina.
According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Relli claims Tacopina went on a press campaign after he was allegedly shot by A$AP Rocky …. and Relli was defamed in the process.
Relli claims he was painted by Tacopina in the media as a liar, a money grabber, and an extortionist … and he believes this was all the direction of A$AP Rocky.
The suit claims Tacopina spoke to various outlets, including TMZ … in one story, Tacopina said, “Rocky didn’t commit a crime. It was an extortion attempt by a former associate, who threatened to make false, criminal accusations if Rocky didn’t pay him.”
9/16/22
TMZ.com
Relli claims as a result of the alleged attack on him, he received several death threats and has been the subject of ridicule. He’s asking for unspecified damages.
As for Rocky … his case is still pending. He has pled not guilty.
Joe Tacopina tells TMZ … “This is actually nothing more than a publicity stunt which is going to backfire badly. I more than welcome this lawsuit especially because the resolution of the criminal case has not happened yet. This opens up this extortionist to depositions under oath now before the resolution of the criminal case. It will expose the fraud he committed and unfortunately for his lawyers, it will cause them to be responsible for legal fees in this case. They don’t know the facts of this case or the actions taken by their client. But, I will be more than happy to educate them.”
“What I don’t like is the spin that [Joe Jonas] is taking care of the kids. I’m sorry — is this an immaculate conception?” —Women of The View about Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas’ divorce.
Josh Duhamel and his wife, Audra Mari, have a new addition to the family “coming soon.”
The “Shotgun Wedding” star, 50, and Miss World America pageant queen, 29, announced they were expecting their first baby together in a joint Instagram post Monday.
A photo shows Mari’s manicured hand holding an ultrasound photo next to a white stargazer lily. The caption reads, “Baby Duhamel coming soon ?.”
This will be the first baby for the couple, who tied the knot last year in an intimate ceremony in Mari’s hometown of Fargo, N.D., and the second for Duhamel, who shares son Axl, 10, with his ex-wife, “Black Eyed Peas” hit maker Fergie. Duhamel is also a native of the state.
Fergie was quick to congratulate the couple in the comments section, writing, “I am truly happy for you guys?? Axl can’t wait to be a big brother.”
Since their amicable split in 2017, Fergie and Duhamel have been supportive in co-parenting their son. Fergie opened up to “The Talk” shortly after their split, expressing her appreciation of Duhamel. “The good thing is, we don’t lose each other as parents.
“I love Josh,” she continued. “We’re making it work. We’re both working full time right now. We are just making it happen. We’ve got Axl, and we’re just working parents.”
Duhamel echoed Fergie’s sentiments when appearing on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” in December 2018. “Fergie and I had a great relationship,” he said. “I love that girl, and I always will. Unfortunately, we didn’t work. But I will always have her back, and she is the mother of my baby.”
In the same interview, Duhamel expressed that he wanted to have more children and hoped to settle down with a woman he could “be with and have a family with.”
Over the weekend, Mari and Duhamel celebrated their first wedding anniversary. Mari shared a photo of the two holding hands as they exchange vows on their wedding day to commemorate the occasion. “Happy First Anniversary sweet man ?,” she wrote in the caption of the Instagram photo. “oh how I prayed for you.”
Travis Scott revealed the MCU Phase 5 movie he wants to collaborate with Marvel Studios on the soundtrack for.
“SICKO MODE” artist Scott is currently the 12th most-streamed artist on Spotify with 68.5 million streams monthly.
The hip-hop artist is best known for his work on albums ASTROWORLD, UTOPIA, and more. Scott has also collaborated on Hollywood soundtracks for Black Panther, Tenet, and Game of Thrones.
Travis Scott Wants to Work on the MCU’s Blade Reboot
Travis Scott
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), rap sensation Travis Scott revealed his hopes to collaborate with Marvel Studios on an upcoming movie soundtrack.
Scott teased how he “would love to do” the soundtrack for Blade– which will star Mahershala Ali and is set to hit theaters in February 2025:
“Woke up thinking I would love to do the soundtrack to ‘Blade'”
The hip-hop artist has actually collaborated with Marvel Studios before on the album for Black Panther as he featured on the track “Big Shot” alongside the soundtrack’s curator, Kendrick Lamar.
Out of the MCU’s movies, the Black Panther franchise is by far the most famous for having a soundtrack filled with hit artists – including Scott, Lamar, Rihanna, Khalid, Future, The Weeknd, SZA, and more.
Blade currently has a release date set for February 14, 2025, although the Yann Demange-directed blockbuster has already been delayed multiple times. Prior to the Hollywood strikes, the movie replaced its writer and put a halt to pre-production, leading to the latest shift in release date.
Will Travis Scott’s Blade Hopes Become Reality?
Travis Scott became involved in significant controversy in 2021 after his Astroworld music festival, which took place in Texas, resulted in hundreds of injuries and several deaths. A lawsuit filed against the artist – via People – alleged Scott offered “express encouragement of violence,” leading to the tragedy.
But that controversy shouldn’t be enough to deter Scott’s chances of reuniting with Marvel Studios for another movie soundtrack. Having previously worked with Lamar on a track for Black Panther, the artist already has some connection to the studio and hopefully the music industry clout to make this dream a reality.
If Scott were to land an MCU Phase 5 collaboration for Blade, the artist would likely find himself, similarly to Lamar, assembling a stacked team of singers, rappers, and producers to bring an album to life in time for 2025.
Having just released his new album UTOPIA four years after his last project debuted, Scott certainly ought to have more time on his hands to tackle a venture such as the soundtrack for the MCU’s Blade reboot.
It should be noted that Marvel Studios certainly doesn’t hand out these massive star-studded original soundtracks liberally, with the Black Panther franchise currently receiving only ones to date. But with Blade being another major movie with a Black lead, it may stand a chance at receiving the same treatment.
But alas, for now, Scott’s hopes of working on the Blade soundtrack remain just that, hopes. Only time will tell whether anything will come of this, but, either way, fans shouldn’t expect any news on the matter for some time.
A teaser trailer for the upcoming DC sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, offers our first glimpse at Jason Momoa’s return as the underwater superhero. Released courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is one of the final installments in the DC cinematic universe before the franchise is renewed into the DCU by filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran. Check out the teaser trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom below.
Directed by James Wan from a screenplay written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldric, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom finds Momoa’s Arthur Curry fighting the good fight once again when an ancient power is unleashed. Aquaman must forge an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally to protect Atlantis, and the world, from irreversible devastation.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will reunite several members of the cast from the first movie, including Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Orm Marius/Ocean Master, Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus, Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry, Arthur’s father, and Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, Arthur’s mother and the former queen of Atlantis. The DC sequel will also add the likes of Randall Park, Vincent Regan, Jani Zhao, Pose breakout star Indya Moore, and Pilou Asbæk, with Ben Affleck reprising the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
Will Jason Momoa Leave Aquaman Behind in Favor of Lobo?
Art: BossLogic
While we await Jason Momoa’s return as the DCU superhero Aquaman, the actor may have already moved onto another role in the franchise – the antihero Lobo. Though nothing has been confirmed as yet, there been rumors circulating for some time that Momoa will change roles for the newly recalibrated DCU. A report by THR has claimed that Momoa will walk away from playing the underwater hero following the release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and stepping into the big boots of Lobo instead.
“Momoa, meanwhile, could emerge as a pivotal figure into the new plans, according to several sources,” the report reads.”In one scenario, the actor would wrap up his days as underwater hero Arthur Curry with Lost City, due out Dec. 25, 2023, which would be the final movie released that was made by the previous regime. But it would not spell the end of the actor’s involvement with DC, with sources saying the actor would lead another movie or franchise. The character of Lobo, a foul-mouthed cigar-chomping intergalactic bounty hunter, has been mentioned in connection with Momoa.”
Lobo is certainly a role that Momoa would suit, and arguably suit better than Aquaman, as well as being a character that the actor loves. There are still several projects in the first chapter of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU that have yet to be announced, with many thinking it will indeed be a Lobo project fronted by Momoa. Of course, this is unlikely to be revealed until after the release of the Aquaman sequel.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is scheduled to be released on December 20, 2023
Today, in a surprisingly in-depth blog post, Mark Rubin, XDefiant’s Executive Producer gave us a release window of late September/early October.
The blog post goes very in-depth on the nitty-gritty of game development, so you can read it on Ubisoft’s site if you want the full rundown. In summary, the game was submitted to major console companies like Sony and Xbox back at the end of July. This process is done to make sure everything works correctly on each console and takes a ton of time for the QA teams to get prepared for. Unfortunately, this process came back as a Not Pass in mid-August which meant the team has had to spend the past month or so correcting the issues that caused it not to pass.
That brings us to where the team is today. As of the blog post, they’re validating something called a “Candidate Master” or CM. This is the game’s final version that they believe is ready to ship, barring any fixes that would come as part of a Day 1 patch. They’ll submit this back to major console developers in the next week. If that goes well, we could look at a mid-late September release. There is a likely scenario that there will need to be some fixes in a Day 1 patch so that it passes cleanly. If so, the game will be slated forearly-mid October.
As for why the team didn’t provide any details regarding a release date previously, Rubin said the team has “not chosen the typical route” with many aspects of the game’s development. The different betas they hosted previously were meant to take serious feedback from the community and spend the time making changes the players asked for. While it looks like things are taking a long time from the outside, this is all relatively normal for game development and was merely the result of extra transparency.
While this means we still have at least a month to wait before XDefiant is in our hands, I’m willing to wait. I’m already knee-deep in a handful of games myself, so I can keep busy, and I’d rather see the game release in a complete state with as few bugs as possible.
About the Author
Shawn Robinson
Shawn’s been playing games for a decade and a half now, dabbling in many genres though finding his niche in FPS games and RPGs. If he’s not being one of the five people that still plays Heroes of the Storm, he’s probably sinking his teeth into a new singleplayer experience.
Modern cameras all strive for three things. Image quality, ergonomics, and affordability (except for ARRI). This is great but has the unfortunate effect of making all cameras feel exactly the same.
That’s why cameras like the Canon R5 C, Sony FX3, and BMPCC 6K feel so unique. They also strive for the above three things but approach them in unique ways.
For this “Deals of the Week,” we found three cameras on sale that may for you to rethink your creativity.
BMPCC 6K G2
The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera series has been one of the coolest cameras to come out over the past 10 years. The initial release was super tiny but packed an image the punched well above it’s weight. The most recently addition to this line is the BMPCC 6K G2, which offered extra affordability in an already budget friendly camera. If you want a great codec (BRAW), funky ergonomics, and a gorgeous image at a price that won’t make you sweat, this is the camera for you.
The BMPCC 6K G2 is a cine-style camera that features the same 6K S35 sensor, recording features, dynamic range, interface ports, and controls as the 6K Pro, but pares a few features to create a more affordable form. Features include a 5″ tilting touchscreen LCD, Pro EVF, and battery grip options, dual mini-XLR audio inputs, an NP-F570 L-series battery slot, and the updated Gen 5 color science.
In my opinion, this has to be one of the coolest cameras I’ve ever had the chance to use. It’s an amazing medium format photo camera that can shoot 4:2:2 10-Bit or BRAW/ProRes RAW on an external recorder. This is as close as Fujifilm will get to making a cinema camera. It has one of the biggest sensors on the market that can shoot RAW. The only cinema camera with a bigger sensor is the ARRI Alexa 65, and you can only rent that. If medium format cinematography is something you want to explore, this is a camera you don’t want to sleep on. And for the price, it’s an absolute steal.
The FUJIFILM GFX 100S redefines medium format. It pairs an ultrahigh resolution 102MP sensor with a compact mirrorless camera body design for 16-bit raw imagery with a broad dynamic range, low noise levels, and sensitivity to an ISO 12800. In terms of video, DCI and UHD 4K video recording is possible at 4:2:0 10-bit internally, 4:2:2 10-bit via HDMI, or raw 12-bit if recording externally.
In a world of cinema cameras in DSLR and mirrorless style bodies, why would you even consider a camcorder. But for some applications like docs, live-events, and sports, where having too much gear can be a detriment to your final product, a camcorder could be the right answer. I cut my teeth shooting on the predecessor to the XA60 and it was an amazing tool to have. Before jumping into a mirrorless or cinema camera, consider if your project would best be suited by a camcorder, especially for the price.
The Canon XA60 4K Camcorder is a compact, lightweight camera that features many similarities to its XA45 predecessor, including UHD 4K capture, a 1/2.3″ CMOS sensor, two XLR audio inputs, and one mini-HDMI output, making it suitable for the ENG category for documentary or journalism-style productions.
Early in his career, comedian Kumail Nanjiani did a bit about a new drug called “cheese,” which, if you break down the ingredients, turns out to be Tylenol PM mixed with heroin. “So really, it’s heroin,” he joked. “Heroin’s doing the heavy lifting.”
That line was going through my mind as I watched “Pain Hustlers,” a garish and, yes, mostly painful Big Pharma satire from director David Yates, who (“The Legend of Tarzan” aside) spent the last 15 years making increasingly convoluted Harry Potter movies. “Pain Hustlers” is the starry, mostly-true story of a company called Insys, a key player in America’s ongoing opioid crisis. In 2012, Insys launched a fast-acting spray called Subsys whose active ingredient was fentanyl. Guess what happened. People got hooked. People died. Insys got rich.
Liberally adapted by Wells Tower from Evan Hughes’ reporting on Insys, “Pain Hustlers” takes an off-putting mock-documentary approach to this tragedy, focusing on a handful of sleazebag salespeople who bent the rules to incentivize doctors to prescribe Lonafin (the film’s fictional Subsys substitute) first for treating cancer pain, and later for conditions as mild as migraines. They used one of the industry’s more ethically dubious tactics, inviting doctors to participate in sketchy speaker programs — once a legitimate peer-to-peer marketing strategy, but effectively just a scam to siphon generous “honorariums” directly into the pockets of prescription-writing MDs (which, in Subsys’ case, included dentists and podiatrists).
In the film’s opening minutes, we meet Liza Drake (Emily Blunt), her mom Jackie (Catherine O’Hara) and an especially gross drug rep named Pete Brenner (Chris Evans), all pretending to be interviewed by an artsy documentary crew (resulting in an obnoxious black-and-white format). A proper documentary treatment of the subject would be preferable, whereas Yates merely wants to establish the film’s irreverent tone, channeling Michael Bay as he shows Liza driving her convertible across Florida’s Seven Mile Bridge. Liza’s character seems to be based on a line from Hughes’ New York Times Magazine story, in which it’s revealed that Evans’ and Jay Duplass’ characters “hired a former exotic dancer named Sunrise Lee as a sales manager, and she helped court [a shady doctor] as an Insys speaker.”
Pete and Liza meet at the strip club, where she dazzles him with her powers of deduction (in a scene with zero charm and less chemistry, it takes her less than a minute to figure out his hustle). Emily Blunt is and can easily play a bright young woman, but the character’s white-trashy side — the seductive-dressing, pink-Caddy-driving dimension that makes Liza interesting — feels like more of a stretch. It feels suspiciously like Blunt and/or Yates wanted to prove that Liza could be running this company, if only her upbringing had allowed her to get an Ivy League education, but that approach undermines the joke that the dudes running the company were using escorts as sales reps. (To make that point, the film inexplicably has the unscrupulous son of a doctor do all the seducing.)
Liza is all business, and her instincts help Insys hook their first big fish. In order to keep her new job, her task is to get a single doctor to prescribe Lonafin before the company goes under. (The movie briskly mentions that every Lonafin prescription they book is worth $40,000 a month.) In the last hour of her last day, Liza snags a whale named Dr. Lydell (Brian d’Arcy James), who runs a high-volume pill mill from his strip-mall clinic. Lydell is every bit as cartoonish as the film’s other characters, all of whom turn their easy-come wealth into conspicuous upgrades. In his case, Lydell gets hair implants and a flashy new sports car. Liza ditches the Mary Kay mobile, clears her debts, buys a two-story beachfront apartment and agrees to pay double tuition to send her daughter Phoebe (Chloe Coleman) to private school.
Phoebe has an abnormal growth in her brain, which will likely require operating. It’s a strange subplot in a movie about pain medication that gets your brain racing ahead of the story: Will Phoebe require a Lonafin prescription that will get her hooked, until her teeth fall out and she dies of an overdose? No, that fate is reserved for another of Liza’s acquaintances (something has to give her a conscience). What Phoebe’s condition does is effectively force the audience to sympathize with Liza, while also presenting her with a huge medical bill weeks before her stock vests. While everyone around her — most notably the increasingly kooky billionaire (Andy Garcia) who bankrolled the company — is angling to expand the use of Lonafin by any means necessary.
If the characters could justify their chicanery before by saying that they were offering pain relief to cancer patients, well, that’s no longer the case when they start to go “off-label” — meaning, prescribing the drug for treatments not yet approved by the FDA. As everything starts to collapse, Yates brings the film back around to that ridiculous mock-doc framing device. “This is all bullshit,” Liza says, turning the tables back on the imaginary filmmaker. “You got your story. So what are you gonna do?”
Does Yates really think his shrill satire has gotten audiences so riled up that “Pain Hustlers” will compel them to change the world? Nearly 200 Americans die of opioid overdoses every day. And fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin, so whether you say “cheese” or Subsys or something else, we’re talking a highly addictive, potentially lethal substance made to ease the pain, but marketed to do a world of harm.
A smirking (and heavily fictionalized) rise-and-fall story of American greed that aspires to do for fentanyl what “The Wolf of Wall Street” did for Steve Madden, Netflix’s seriocomic “Pain Hustlers” is the first magic and/or Tarzan-free movie that “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” maestro David Yates has directed since 1998’s “The Tichborne Clarinet.” On paper, that sound like a combination of tone, subject matter, and storyteller that probably shouldn’t work. On screen, it absolutely doesn’t.
The problem with “Pain Hustlers” isn’t that its approach to the opioid crisis feels glib (it does), or that Yates keeps digitally inserting Dobby the elf into scenes of pharmaceutical sales reps pushing their latest drugs on morally flexible doctors (he doesn’t), but rather that the film takes a golden opportunity to explore the desperate personal choices that compounded into one of our most dire national crises, and wastes it on the same kind of superficial crime drama that’s already been made about myriad other “victimless crimes” and get-rich-quick schemes just like it.
Long on voiceovers, short on specificity, and so high on the generic-brand Scorsese of it all that it glosses right over the gray areas that make its characters so tragic, Yates’ film is more focused on being easy to swallow than it is on meaningfully addressing the source of the pain.
Ironically, the strongest thing about this movie is the fictional character that Wells Tower’s script invented out of whole cloth in order to make its source material — Evan Hughes’ 2022 book, “Pain Hustlers: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup” — more digestible. A convincingly hard-nosed and tenacious Emily Blunt stars as Liza Drake, a single mom who’s struggling to make ends meet as a stripper in Florida circa 2011. It’s all sad lap dances and spectacularly disguising her British accent until the day a skeezy pharma sales rep named Pete Brenner (Chris Evans, desperately trying to mine a three-dimensional character from a role that never gets more complicated than “Boston grifter”), stumbles into her club and gives her a job opportunity in lieu of a tip.
Faster than you can say “remember when that movie ‘Love & Other Drugs’ kinda tried this as a rom-com?,” Liza is visiting the most unscrupulous doctors in the state — personified by Brian d’Arcy James’ slimy Dr. Lydell — and prevailing upon them to prescribe Zanna Pharmaceuticals’ new wonder drug Lonafen. So far as our cash-strapped heroine is concerned, her lucrative new gig almost sounds like a public service: Why should mouth cancer patients suffering from tremendous amounts of pain have to suck on a slow-acting fentanyl lollipop that causes lesions when they could be sublingually delivering the stuff into their bloodstream 10 times faster just by sticking it under their tongues? After all, billionaire Zanna CEO Dr. Jack Neel (Andy Garcia in hushed germaphobe mode), who lost his own wife to cancer, paid for a clinical study that suggested that the drug posed no risk of addiction to an overwhelming percentage of patients.
But if creating medicine is an exact science, practicing it is open to interpretation, and that’s where the trouble starts. Like so many businesses under capitalism, Zanna is convinced that it has to grow in order to survive; it treats cancer with a cancerous mentality. At first, that means creating a “speaker program” designed to get susceptible doctors on the payroll, but greed begets more greed, and it’s only a matter of time before Liza gets the go-ahead to begin promoting Lonafen for off-label uses. Have a headache? Try some fentanyl. Stubbed your toe? Take 10 milligrams and call back in the morning if you can still feel your face.
On some level, Liza knows that she’s breaking the law, but Pete likens it to driving 67 M.P.H. in a 65 M.P.H. zone. It’s a compelling analogy, and one that Liza clings to once her daughter is diagnosed with an epileptic condition that may require major (read: pricey) brain surgery. “Pain Hustlers” never completely lets its heroine off the hook, but it’s clear that the American healthcare system is the real villain here. For all its foolishness, Yates’ film knows that we live in a terminally ill society — a society where the money that people make is the ultimate painkiller that saves them from having to feel the ill-effects firsthand.
To the limited extent that “Pain Hustlers” works, it does so by focusing on the human aspect of profiting from addiction and misery. And to the limited extent that it makes Liza a compelling character, it does so by focusing on her desire to feel safe — not to get rich, but rather to lessen the nerve-shredding insecurity of having to care for her daughter and her judgmental mother (a solid Catherine O’Hara, whose casting reflects the movie’s unrealized comic ambitions). Those relationships aren’t poorly served by a script that shares Zanna Pharmaceuticals’ overeagerness to keep getting bigger and bigger at the expense of getting anything right, but Blunt is able to sell Liza’s self-conflicted morality just as effectively as Liza is able to sell Lonafen. But she eventually is forced to ask herself the same question that so many of her victims are never clear-headed enough to ask themselves: At what point does pain relief start to hurt?
It’s a question that “Pain Hustlers” isn’t much interested in answering, as the movie would rather ride the highs of Zanna’s initial success — and white-knuckle its way through the company’s reversal of fortune — than slow down long enough to clock what it all means. Self-delusion becomes a constant refrain (“I did it for the right reasons,” Liza insists during the hacky faux interviews that bookend the film), andscammy posturing stands in for character growth during almost every scene (“You sell what’s in your bag,” Pete offers as both a philosophy and an excuse), but all of this stuff is so over-the-counter that it might as well be about any racket in American history.
Our intrinsic greed is no doubt part of the point, but stories can only be so “timeless” before they no longer become worth telling, and the repeated use of Semisonic’s “Closing Time” is not, it turns out, a sufficient stand-in for mining less hackneyed material from scenes of drug pushers getting their comeuppance, least of all in a film that lacks both the stomach to look closer at the loss and heartache its characters left behind, and the vision required to dramatize how they managed to look the other way. “Pain Hustlers” is well aware that it’s telling a tale as old as America itself, but that ultimately leaves the film with even less of an excuse for not telling it better.
Grade: C-
“Pain Hustlers” premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Netflix will release it in select theaters on Friday, October 20, before making it available to stream on Netflix starting Friday, October 27.
Netflix is all-in on Roald Dahl. Not only have they expanded on their initial deal to bring Dahl’s works to life on Netflix, but they also purchased the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2021 for a deal worth more than £500 million. Here’s an updated guide to all the Roald Dahl adaptations on Netflix and what’s coming next.
As we mentioned, Netflix initially signed a deal in November 2018 to work with the Roald Dahl Company on new projects, which included the initial projects listed below but have yet to be released.
Featured Videos – Article Continues Below…
Among the titles Netflix had access to in 2018 included Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, The Twits, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, George’s Marvellous Medicine, Boy – Tales of Childhood, Going Solo, The Enormous Crocodile, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, Henry Sugar, Billy and the Minpins, The Magic Finger, Esio Trot, Dirty Beasts, and Rhyme Stew.
Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Roald Dahl was the son of Norwegian immigrant parents. The acclaimed author served in the RAF in WW2 and later worked on propaganda pieces. Despite writing many short adult stories, Dhal will forever be known as a beloved children’s author, which started with Gremlins in 1943 and ended with The Minpins in 1991.
Roald Dahl (Photo by Tim Jenkins/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Felipe Tewes serves as director of animation for the Roald Dahl franchise at Netflix having previously worked as director of international originals.
Roald Dahl Adaptations on Netflix
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (2022)
Book First Published: 1988 On-Screen Adaptations Before Netflix: 1 Netflix Release Date:December 25th, 2022
Picture: Netflix
The 1996 film Matilda is often remembered fondly by all those who were growing up during the 90s, and suffice to say it is still enjoyed by plenty of children today.
Teaming up with Working Title Films and Sony Pictures for distribution in the UK, Netflix released this all-star family musical on Christmas day in 2022.
The adaptation is of the Tony Award-winning musical of the same name by Tim Minchin, with Matthew Warchus directing.
Among the cast for the movie included Emma Thompson embodying perfectly Agatha Trunchbull and Alisha Weir put in a stunning performance as Matilda Wormwood. Rounding out the cast included Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham, and Andrea Riseborough.
Roald Dahl Movies and Series Coming to Netflix
Wes Anderson Shorts Collection
Over the course of one week in late September 2023, four Roald Dahl shorts will be released on Netflix, all directed by visionary Wes Anderson, who has dealt with Roald Dahl’s material before in the form of Fantastic Mr. Fox.
First premiering at the Venice Film Festival, this is the big 39-minute short that features the talents of Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel, and Richard Ayoade.
Here’s the synopsis:
“A rich man who learns about a guru who can see without using his eyes and then sets out to master the skill in order to cheat at gambling.”
The second of the shorts is a live-action one that also featured in the Henry Sugar collection of stories. It’s about a small/brilliant boy ruthlessly pursued by two large/idiotic bullies.
Rupert Friend, Asa Jennings, and Ralph Fiennes star in this particular short, which has a runtime of 17 minutes.
This stop-motion animated short has a runtime of just under 20 minutes and sees Ayoade, Fiennes, and Friend lend their voices.
The story wasn’t in the main Henry Sugar collection but rather featured in the Someone Like You and Sweet Mystery short story collections. The short is about a “professional rodent exterminator.”
This short story featured in More Tales of the Unexpected and Someone Like You, telling the story of a man who discovers a poisonous snake asleep in his bed.
Patel, Cumberbatch, Fiennes, and Kingsley all feature in this final live-action short.
Unsurprisingly, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was announced to be one of the first of the Road Dahl projects to get underway at Netflix. It took just over 16 months for the announcement, but we now have confirmation that Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit director Taika Waititi will write, direct, and executive produce both Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.
Taika Waititi the 2020 Oscar winner for Adaptive Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit photographed by Andrew Eccles on Feb. 10, 2020, at the H Club Los Angeles, CA
The beloved children’s novel was first published in 1964, making it almost 60 years old! Another mind-blower is the beloved classic adaptation, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder, now over 50 years old celebrating its 50th anniversary in August 2021.
Production is still ongoing on the animated project with many animators listing the project in production from 2022 through to the present.
Upon finding one of five sought-after golden tickets, Charlie Bucket is invited to take a grand tour of the world-famous Willy Wonka factory. Accompanied by his Grandpa Joe, Charlie is also joined by four other children, whose habits and mannerisms are far from delightful. What’s inside the factory will change Charlie’s life forever.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Copyright. Puffin Books.
Taika Waititi will also be responsible for the first on-screen adaptation of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Even though the beloved children’s novel is almost 50 years old, no one has taken on the project until now. Just like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator will be written, directed and executive produced by Taika Waititi.
The plot is far more outlandish than its predecessor, but if there’s anyone who can take on the bizarre and zany story and smash it out of the park, it must be Taika Waititi.
Pictured: Taika Waititi (left) and Chris Hemsworth (right).
After launching into the sky with the Great Glass Elevator, Willy Wonka, Charlie, and Grandpa Joe arrive at Space Hotel USA. The trio is mistaken for spies by approaching astronauts and the President of the United States. However, shortly after their arrival, they discover that the hotel has been taken over by dangerous, shape-shifting alien monsters known as The Vermicious Knids.
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator – Copyright. Puffin Books.
There were plans for many years to produce a feature film for The Twits, but the project was abandoned around 2012. John Cleese was set to write the script, along with Kirk De Micco. Disney would have produced the film alongside the animation studio Vanguard Film & Animation.
In July 2021, we first reported that the project was moving forward and had boarded Wreck-it Ralph writer Phil Johnston to join the project.
In 2022, The Wrap reported that the limited series plans for The Twits had been scrapped and were then being developed as a movie. We’ve seen numerous people attached to a movie project with Phil Johnston directing, which seems to stack up.
Mr. and Mrs. Twit, two retired circus trainers, are the nastiest and ugliest pair around, constantly pranking each other, each nastier than the last. From training a poor family of monkeys, the Muggle-Wumps, to capturing birds for their pies with superglue, the Twits are incredibly fiendish. When the family of monkeys is visited by the Roly-Poly bird, they devise a plan with their visitor to take down the Twits for good.
The Twits -Copyright. Puffin Books.
Upcoming Roald Dahl Theater Productions
Picture: Netflix
In May 2023, Netflix and Roald Dahl Story Company announced that they had three stage-theater productions in the works led by director Jenny Worton and executive producer Anna Schmitz:
A new musical for young audiences of The Enormous Crocodile, co-produced with Leeds Playhouse and Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.
A new theatrical reading of Roald Dahl’s The Magic Finger presented for online release for schools and families, co-produced with the Unicorn Theatre.
A spectacular large-scale circus, which is currently in development, inspired by Roald Dahl’s stories and featuring a range of beloved characters.
Which Roald Dahl animated series are you looking forward to most on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below.
From the Technicolor merch to the staging to the setlist, everything about Phoenix and Beck’s joint headlining Summer Odyssey Tour was breezy during a New York stop at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The strictly fun vibe was best illustrated by the featherweight “Odyssey,” a new tune the two acts released this year to commemorate the trek (sample lyrics: “We’ll fall into the ocean / I’ll be there / On an odyssey in the sun”).
Phoenix played a show heavy on the group’s breakout album, 2009’s “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” and newest record, last year’s “Alpha Zulu,” leading multiple singalongs about posh people falling in love. From millennial-approved party starters “Lisztomania” and “1901” to more reflective moments like live highlight “Sunskrupt!,” which mashes up “Bankrupt!” and “Love Like a Sunset” into a lengthy, trippy jam, Phoenix kept things moving. Even their newest songs recall the sugary highs of their popular work, so there was never a mass exodus to the beer line. The French group’s warm and synthy pop was anchored by the always-ferocious drumming of Thomas Hedlund, whose thunderous work kept the band in the pocket and fans dancing. Additionally, there was plenty of visual stimulation, from a barrage of nearly blinding strobe lights to the crowdsurfing of singer Thomas Mars.
Such a high-energy act seemed hard to follow, but Beck and his longtime backing band bounded onstage, turbocharged and ready to play a hit-filled set that ignored his most recent record, 2019’s “Hyperspace.” The first stretch of songs focused on his career-defining fifth LP, 1996’s “Odelay,” from the dirty guitar roar of opener “Devils Haircut” to the retro-cool “The New Pollution,” and radio hits “Mixed Bizness” and “Girl.” Any zigzagging look at Beck’s career is liable to cause whiplash, as he casually toggled through modes such as ironic rapper, serious guitar guy, pop savant and reflective acoustic artist. Yet the genre blend is pure Beck, and his infectious energy was the furnace behind all of the songs. In leather pants and sporting a flashy pair of dancing shoes, the singer busted out moves straight from the James Brown and Prince playbooks, getting as funky as possible to “Qué Onda Guero” and “Debra.”
Near the end, Phoenix and Weyes Blood, the evening’s opener, came onstage to play a peppy arrangement of Beck’s 2002 “Sea Change” tearjerker “Lost Cause,” adding a strange sense of pleasure to a wholly depressing classic. But next, the musicians started up “Odyssey,” with the audience happy to resume bopping around versus hearing a challenging night of music from either act. Beck ended the evening with “Odelay” classic “Where It’s At,” sending balloons into the crowd during the infectious “Bottles and cans / Just clap your hands” refrain. Although Beck made his name as a musical chameleon, it was a treat to see him enjoying himself in comfort food mode, getting a kick out of moving people and tapping into nostalgia.
Pictured, left to right: Beck, Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars and opener Weyes Blood
Facebook
Mastodon
Login or register for updates…
Facebook
Mastodon
Login or register to get email updates…
