The big news coming out of Hollywood yesterday was that Warner Brothers is delaying the release of Dune: Part Two from November 4, 2023, until March 15, 2024.
Warner Brothers’ decision comes as more and more studios are re-thinking releasing films this fall. If the strikes continue, blockbuster films will be bereft of their stars in the promotional lead-up to their releases.
Photo: Space
The delay of Dune: Part 2, however, may create an interesting opportunity for Disney when it comes to the release of The Marvels.
A Clear Path For ‘The Marvels’
The latest release from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is set to land on November 10, a weekend that will no longer feature competition from Dune.
Photo: Entertainment Weekly
Perhaps more importantly, however, is that Dune‘s delay will open up the IMAX market to The Marvels.
The Importance Of IMAX
Getting into IMAX theatres has become a critically important factor in the success of tentpole movies. In a box office environment that has grown increasingly competitive, studios and filmmakers vie for coveted showings in IMAX.
For blockbuster films, IMAX can account for as much as 30-40% of box office returns, despite the fact that they only make up 900 of the country’s screens.
Photo: IMAX
According to IMAX Chief Executive Officer Michael Gelfond, the company considers a myriad of factors when deciding which films to show in their theaters.
“In a situation where there’s an unavoidable conflict,” Gelfond says, “we’ll look at a number of factors. How the franchise has performed before, visuals, and our relationship to the filmmaker.”
The “relationship to the filmmaker” that Gelfond references means that IMAX gives priority to filmmakers who use the company’s cameras when shooting their films.
Photo: IMAX
Typically, IMAX rewards these filmmakers with a two-week exclusive window. If you were wondering why IMAX chose Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer over Barbie, for example, all you need to know is that Nolan uses IMAX cameras when shooting his movies.
An IMAX Opening Has Been Created
Like Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, the director of Dune: Part Two, also uses IMAX cameras. Thus, The Marvels was set to get stonewalled in the coveted theaters, as Dune got an exclusive extended run.
Photo: Warner Brothers
IMAX had previously been prepared for a Dune delay, with Gelfond telling investors that should Warner Brothers change Dune‘s release date, IMAX would turn to The Marvels.
“Right. Dune, specifically, I mean, there’s another great movie coming out around [that] time, which is The Marvels from Marvel, and we can’t play it because we are committed to ‘Dune’. So, ‘Dune’ moves will just go over to ‘The Marvels’. And having a Marvel movie as a backup is not the worst position to be in the world,” Gelfond said.
Photo: Entertainment Weekly
If The Marvels was going to soar as high as Captain Marvel did in 2019, the film was going to need to break into IMAX theaters. Now, it has a chance.
Decision Time For Disney
In a perfect world, the Hollywood strikes will soon end, and Disney will be able to release The Marvels in IMAX, with the full weight of its star-studded cast behind the film’s promotion.
If the strikes continue, however, Disney will have a decision to make. Is the IMAX window worth releasing a Marvel film without the promotion of its stars?
Photo: Marvel
We will soon find out.
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The current era of Doctor Who continues to move forward with more time and space traveling fun. There have been dozens of stories that explore this universe’s lore, teach valuable lessons, and are just plain odd. In the days of streaming and marathon watching, it’s not impossible for a new or casual fan to catch up on Doctor Who. But who really has the time to go through many seasons of action?
A seasoned viewer could help them out by explaining a few core concepts from the show. But even those basics become super complicated without any viewing context. Thankfully there are more than a few solid episodes that showcase the essence of Doctor Who, capture its wonderful energy, and are wholly entertaining (even if they aren’t “the best”) while taking fans through a range of complex emotions. Current fans delight in watching them, causal fans have probably heard of them, and new fans would be able to get a solid feel of the show, even if they don’t necessarily understand everything that is going on.
Of course, every essential episode can’t be listed in this post. But, these episodes should be on any essential watch list for the modern era to represent each numbered incarnation of The Doctor.
BBC Studios
The Essential Doctor Who Episodes for the Ninth Doctor
“Rose” (Season 1, Episode 1)
This one is quite obvious. “Rose” may not appear on most “best Doctor Who” episodes lists but it’s an essential watch for anyone who wants to get into the current era. It’s the best jumping on point; it sets up the show’s premise and establishes the Doctor. “Rose” is quirky, fun, a bit cheesy, and opens up this strange universe through the eyes of the very-relatable Rose Tyler.
“Father’s Day”(Season 1, Episode 8)
Many people would want to travel in the TARDIS to escape their boring daily lives, witness a historic event, or even get a peek into the future to satisfy their curiosity. However, human nature would tempt the best of us to alter the past or future in our favor.
Rose is a great companion, but her misstep in “Father’s Day” proves that 1) life-altering decisions should be left to the Doctor’s discretion; and 2) one person’s life or death really can alter the entire universe. This episode is a powerful way to introduce just one example of the feels that Doctor Who fans can’t get enough of. We love to be emotionally destroyed.
BBC Studios
“The Parting of the Ways” (Season 1, Episode 13)
The Ninth Doctor introduces Rose—and by extension new fans—to the concept of regeneration in such a caring and gentle way. His optimistic attitude and reassurance that he is the same person with a different physical appearance makes the blow of “losing” him a bit less severe. Regeneration aside, “The Parting of the Ways” also shows how powerful and complex the bond between Doctor and companion can become over time.
Honorable Mention: “Dalek” (Season 1, Episode 6)
By the end of this episode, new fans will definitely understand that this villain and The Doctor have a long and complicated history. The Ninth Doctor and Rose’s relationship is quite solid at this point as she guides him away from making a terrible decision. And, if nothing else, it is interesting to see what Doctor Who thought 2012 would be like versus what it was actually like 8 years ago.
The Essential Doctor Who Episodes for the Tenth Doctor
“School Reunion” (Season 2, Episode 3)
Rose may have been the first companion for a lot of fans but she was simply the latest in a long line of TARDIS travelers. “School Reunion” provides a perfect gateway to help new fans connect the current era with the show’s classic episodes via Sarah Jane Smith—one of the most popular companions of all-time.
Casual and modern-era only fans will want to dive into the show’s original run after this episode. “School Reunion” explores what happens to a companion years after they stop traveling with the Doctor. How do they go back to a normal life? Does the Doctor simply forget them and move on? How would they handle seeing the Doctor with a new face? Those questions get answers here. Yes, there is some childish cattiness for a bit but Sarah Jane still rules.
“Blink” (Season 3, Episode 10)
A Doctor Who essential episodes list isn’t valid without “Blink”. Many fans and critics alike say it’s one of the best episodes ever—and they aren’t wrong. “Blink” introduces the terrifying Weeping Angels, wallops viewers with feels, and shows how vital a side character can be in the Whoniverse. Interestingly, the episode is both Doctor-lite and companion-lite, but that’s not a problem. It’s a terrifying and thrill
BBC Studios
“Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead” (Season 4, Episodes 8 and 9)
Considering a two-parter as one entry might be cheating a bit but oh well. Ten and Donna are a companion match made in heaven and these episodes are awesome.
There’s the introduction of River Song, who will play a vital role in upcoming seasons, the Vashta Nerada, and a very emotional storyline for Donna Noble. Doctor Who’s trademark ingenuity and drama shine bright here, thereby making it a “must-watch” episode.
ing ride that shows Doctor Who at its absolute best.
Honorable mention: “The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End” (Season 4, Episodes 12 and 13)
We love a group effort. The Tenth Doctor gathers all his companions, some of their family members, Sarah Jane, Jack Harkness, and more for an epic adventure. There’s a lot to learn here about Davros and the Daleks as well as the power of the TARDIS. It’s a great sendoff for a ton of characters and a reminder that The Doctor must keep moving forward—even if they are alone.
The Most Essential Doctor Who Episodes for the Eleventh Doctor
“The Eleventh Hour” (Season 5, Episode 1)
BBC Studios
“The Eleventh Hour” is another modern Doctor Who episode that would serve as a great starting point. Eleven’s introduction to Amelia Pond as a whimsical and weird figure, their reunion many years later, and his ability to save the world with his words all encompass the show’s lore and excitement. Oh, and don’t forget about the TARDIS and her amazing upgrade.
“Vincent and The Doctor” (Season 5, Episode 10)
THE FEELS. THE FEELS. This episode doesn’t require any real knowledge about the series to love it. It’s confirmation that this time-traveler definitely meets famous people from the past.
And sometimes it is fine to give someone a glimpse of their own future. Tony Curran’s portrayal of Vincent van Gogh is sheer perfection, there are dark forces afoot, and the final moments of this episode hurt in the best way possible.
“The Snowmen” (Season 7, Episode 6)
This episode dives in The Doctor’s psyche in a wonderful way. Eleven is reeling from a major loss and hiding in (Early? Late?) retirement. But, evil snowmen and a brilliant governess bring him out of his funk and back into his old life. Doctor Who and Christmas specials are a staple in this era and this is perhaps one of the best ones yet with great storytelling, dialogue, and the beginning of a new companion arc.
Honorable mention: “The Pandorica Opens” (Season 5, Episode 12)
This episode is all about going big or going home. Doctor Who isn’t always the best at continuity but this has quite a few ties that come together here. There’s so much going on here and some of it is frankly confusing but the ride is fun and wild—basically a way of life as a Doctor Who lover.
The Essential Doctor Who Episodes for the Twelfth Doctor
“Dark Water/Death in Heaven” (Season 8, Episodes 11 and 12)
Helloooo Missy. Doctor Who may be seen by outsiders as some silly little sci-fi series but its much darker than they could imagine. “Dark Water” brings back a couple of great antagonists and has an underlying morbidity that sets up an equally somber conclusion in “Death in Heaven.”
“Heaven Sent/Hell Bent” (Season 9, Episodes 11 and 12)
BBC Studios
This one is pretty obvious. There are sweeping monologues from a very angry Doctor, Time Lord and Gallifrey action, and a great conclusion for the Doctor’s companion, Clara. These two episodes are pretty much perfect across the board and close an important chapter in Who history before the show’s soft “reboot” in Season 10.
“Thin Ice” (Season 10, Episode 3)
BBC Studios
“Thin Ice” has so many wonderful things. Bill in a Regency era dress. The Doctor admitting that history was whitewashed. Bill taking the Doctor to task about his actions. The Doctor punching a racist for Bill.
There’s also some business about a big fish or something but that’s not what is really important here. “Thin Ice” won’t reveal anything new about the series but it’s a fun historical that tosses in lots of Easter eggs for current fans.
Honorable mention: “The Eaters of Light” (Season 10, Episode 10)
This episode is one of many (“Flatline,” “Turn Left“) that allow the companion to shine separately from the Doctor. “The Eaters of Light” combines real-life history with sci-fi and shows Bill rallying scared and young troops towards a fight.
There’s some social commentary sandwiched perfectly into all the drama that doesn’t detract from the story. And, the episode’s writer, Rona Munro, is the first writer to write for the classic and revived series.
The Essential Doctor Who Episodes for the Thirteenth Doctor
“Rosa” (Season 11, Episode 3)
“Rosa” takes Doctor Who in a new direction. It blatantly addresses the racism of Rosa Parks time period, accurately showing how the Doctor’s TARDIS team would be treated during that time.
There’s some great character development for Ryan and important conversations among different members of the team. This episode takes Doctor Who back to its original premise—an education series with some otherworldly elements thrown into the mix.
“Fugitive of the Judoon” (Season 12, Episode 5)
This episode is simply mind-blowing with Black woman incarnation of the Doctor, the return of the Judoon, and other great surprises. It causes the Doctor to rethink everything she knew to be true and shows how this show can quickly go in a new direction to throw everyone for a loop.
“Haunting of Villa Diodati” (Season 12, Episode 8)
BBC Studios
This is one of the best episodes (so far) in Thirteen’s run. A famous historical figure, a haunted house of horrors, an unexpected version of a well-know villain, and The Doctor having to dress down her companions for thinking that they know best in these high-stakes situations. Doctor Who can get caught up in a lot of lore and twisted storylines but this feels simply like a good ghost story.
Honorable mention: “Demons of the Punjab” (Season 11, Episode 6)
“Demons of the Punjab” made more history with a story that focused on South Asian characters. Representation and Doctor Who have always had a complicated relationship but the show certainly got it right this time.
This tragic love story infused with odd will make many fans do some Googling to learn about the partition of India and expand their horizons. Doctor Who is fun and entertaining but it’s also an avenue to teach us more about the world around us and ourselves.
Of course, this is just a sample of episodes out of many. But this list is a great start to dipping into the wonderful (and weird) world of Doctor Who.
Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 4, like every season since NPCs were introduced, has a new collection of characters to meet, battle, and buy from. This season’s NPC locations will once again take you all across the map in search of friendly–well, usually friendly–new faces to meet and greet. Most of them even offer helpful items, like heals and weapons, or services, like becoming your bodyguard or giving you storm circle intel. If you want to meet every NPC this season, use our guide below which highlights every name, number, and location for every Chapter 4 Season 4 NPC.
Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 4 NPCs and locations
There are currently 16 NPCs on the island in Chapter 4 Season 4, one of which is even a new skin that have not yet been seen in the game or shop. Each of them offers their services or helpful items in exchange for gold bars. Below is both the in-game map showing all NPC locations, as well as a table listing what goods or services they provide.
Every NPC in Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 4.
It’s also worth pointing out a few other things. For one, Nolan Chance (NPC 1) does not appear on the map in this image. That’s because he’s precisely located in the same spot as Antonia (NPC 4). Both of them are in the big barn at Frenzy Fields. Also, this season adds new Character Rep, an in-game rating of how familiar you are with a character.
To increase Character Rep, you need to complete Snapshot Quests in the game’s challenge menu. At launch, Nolan Chance’s Snapshot Quests are available and will allow you to unlock all of his goods and services, so prioritize doing those to increase his effectiveness as an NPC ally. More Snapshot Quests will arrive throughout the season. For everything else you need, check out the detailed table below.
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Movie genre and TV genres are how we pick what we want to entertain us or inspire us.
We’ve all logged onto Netflix or Amazon, even wandered the Blockbusters of old, peering up and down aisles or scrolling through endless topics, trying to decide on the genre of film or television we want to watch. The genre we wind up picking depends on our mood, the day we’ve had, and sometimes it depends on what we’re working on day to day.
The genre we decide to write has to be the one we live in for several months. It also has to be the one we continue to study over and over so we can create a fresh an interesting entry into the canon.
But how do you know what genre you’re writing? And how can you become an expert in film and television genres so you can subvert and mash them up at will? Also, what is a film genre? And what determines that genre on television as well?
We’ve taken the liberty of providing you with a list that highlights the tropes and expectations of each movie genre definition (and TV too!) as well as lists several seminal films and television shows within each as examples of the best they have to offer.
Let’s get started looking at movie genres and TV genres.
What does “genre film” or “genre tv?” mean?
A lot of people toss around the phrase these days without clearly defining it.
A genre film is one that is easily categorized film accepted film and TV genres based on similarities in narrative elements or the emotional response to the piece of work. That means these works are judged by who’s in them, how they are shot, and aspects of their screenplays.
We’re writing you a film genre list to keep track of everything and help you when it comes to pitching. Having knowledge of the basic film and tv genres will help you in the long run.
Knowing the type of films out there will help you get producers on your side. You can communicate with them and they can see the trailer and marketing materials within their heads.
The Complete Movie and TV Show Genre List
This is our attempt at assembling a comprehensive movie genres list and tv genres list. These types of movies and categories are not strict.
There are plenty of chances to mash them together, but much like our character archetype post, we wanted to give you the basics so you could subvert and refine as you work.
Action movies require stunts, set pieces, explosions, guns, and karate. They are usually about a clear hero and a clear villain.
Action movie stakes are huge, like saving the world or the universe. They’re often bombastic and move quickly. Their pacing and structure are built around scenes like car chases and their climaxes often have the biggest set pieces.
Tropes and Expectations:
A clear division between good and evil. Lots of fighting and set pieces.
Examples:
James Bond, The Fast and The Furious franchise, Arrow, and Marvel movies.
Adventure movies are usually built around a quest. They take place in faraway lands or jungles.
Many adventures may be period pieces, although more contemporary adventure stories are coming back to the forefront. They can be swashbucklers or treasure hunts.
Tropes and Expectations:
Characters like explorers, native people, and even pirates dominate these plots. They usually involve ancient cultures, hidden maps, gold, and traps. Characters usually have to rely on both their wits and their strengths.
Examples:
Indiana Jones franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Adventure Time, The Goonies, and Tomb Raider.
There’s something magical about imagining getting away with it. Henry Hill thought so, and so does lots of criminals across the film and TV world.
Mobsters, bank robbers, serial killers, detectives, sheriffs, and the FBI usually populate the pages of this genre. They can have a whodunit plot or we can be following the antagonist’s perspective
Tropes and Expectations:
We often see a courtroom scene, gunplay, violence, and ruthless tactics. There are times the law can be seen as good and bad, depending on who you root for and when the movie was released. Movies released with the Hays Code usually show bad guys getting punished for their actions.
Examples:
Goodfellas, American Gangster, Hell or High Water, The Sopranos, and Widows.
These are serious stories that hinge on events that regularly happen in everyday life. They usually focus on character and how these people arc over time.
Drama is regularly mashed up with other genres because most movies and tv rely on character-driven stories to keep the audience involved.
Tropes and Expectations:
Dramas frequently follow characters you’d see as your friends, neighbors, and family dealing with the struggles of everyday life.
They usually take place in a home, office setting, or with a group of characters forced to interact day to day.
Examples:
Ordinary People, Parenthood, Manchester By The Sea, and Mad Men.
This is a non-narrative expansion of what you can do within the medium. Experimental film and television don’t conform to what we normally see in any of these genres.
They are purely artistic achievements meant to elicit emotion and thought from the viewer.
Tropes and Expectations
There’s nothing you can really expect from experimental, except maybe people calling it “artsty.”
Examples:
Tree of Life, La Jetee, Dogville, and Love, Death, and Robots.
Mythic Realms, talking creatures, swords, magic, and knights. These movie and television series take place outside of earth or at a time when magical things roamed the earth or Middle Earth.
They are usually combined with an adventure or drama, but often involve the traditional hero’s journey.
Tropes and Expectations:
These kinds of movies and tv shows usually have mysticism, some sort of royalty, humanoid creates like Elves, Orcs, and Hobbits, and joys of magic. You can expect sorcery and some great set pieces.
Examples:
Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Dark Crystal, and The Wizard of Oz.
As we’ve mentioned in our movie ideas post, history is a great place to mine for ideas. Historical epics or period pictures emphasize costumes, sword & sandal, and usually cover a particular figure or series of events.
They can be based on an epic poem or a novel as well.
Tropes and Expectations:
Many of these are based on a true story. They prioritize the scope and scale of a story and have sweeping musical scores.
Examples:
Braveheart, Lincoln, Cleopatra, Turn, Ben Hur, and Vikings
Ghouls, ghosts, slashers, creatures, and body disfiguring.
Horror film and television focus on adrenaline rides for the audience that dial in the gore, scares and creative monsters. Horror is always re-inventing old classics, like adding fast zombies, and CGI creatures.
It also is seen as the most bankable genre with a huge built-in audience.
Tropes and Expectations
The final girl, the “not dead yet” scare, and the dystopian endings. Horror is famous for having story beats that we come to expect like jump scares.
Lean into them and find ways to subvert. You have subsets like haunted houses, slashers, zombies, evil creatures, and other subgenres.
Examples:
Nightmare on Elm Street, American Horror Story, Get Out, and The Descent
Musical Genre
‘Singing in the Rain’
Warner Bros.
People sing in every scene. That’s pretty much it. But Musicals usually attach themselves to another genre on this list. They can be dramas, comedies, horror, or anything. But if they’re singing, it’s a musical.
Tropes and Expectations
Huge dance numbers, excellent choreography, and bellowing vocals. You can even throw in concert films here.
Examples:
My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, La La Land, Glee, West Side Story, and Les Miserables.
Love is a universal language. Romance movies are about people coming together, falling apart, and all the hurdles in between.
They can be paired with comedy and ram, but a straightforward romance focuses on two characters or an ensemble falling in love.
Tropes and Expectations
The meet-cute stands out the most, followed closely by the breakup scene. There are always friends counseling the protagonists in question and even tempters and temptresses trying to woo them away.
Examples:
When Harry Met Sally, Indecent Proposal, An Affair to Remember, and Poldark.
Science fiction needs to shine a light on the world the way it could be or the way we think it might happen. It takes us on adventures into the near and distant future.
The problems in science fiction can be extraordinary and take us for a ride with new gadgets and vehicles.
Tropes and Expectations:
Aliens, spaceships, time travel, and technology. This genre needs to tell us if we are worth saving or maybe the machines need to take over. Science fiction addresses our society and its problems. It seeks to tell us about the way we can handle it if we only listen in the present.
Examples:
2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek, Alien, and Lost in Space.
What would you do when you were over your head? This is usually linked with horror, action, and drama, but thrillers are about exciting situations that have constant danger.
They’re about stressed characters, corrupt investigators, and criminals living on the edge.
Tropes and Expectations:
If you go to a thriller you want excitement, peril, and edge of your seat situations. Thrillers need to be…thrilling. So make sure the suspense, mystery, and anxiety rule your pages.
Examples:
Silence of the Lambs, The Fugitive, The Americans, and Vertigo.
Mankind’s capacity for violence is well-known. But the modern world is the way it is because of the sacrifices men and women have made throughout the centuries.
War movies are about POWs, men in foxholes, tanks, and planes. They’re about people finding commonalities, differences, and sacrificing their lives.
Tropes and Expectations:
As I mentioned above, sacrifice is key. Battle and war are about what you’re willing to give up for freedom. In cinema and television, this genre can be about the best and worst of us. And shines a light on this and the era to let us know important facts and legends.
Examples:
Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, Dunkirk, and The Pacific.
West, Jim West, desperado. Just kidding. You know what a western is. You just do. They have cowboys, draws at noon, and are about the taming of America.
Westerns were a staple of early Hollywood but have evolved over time. They’ll always be a stable genre that talks about society and the way we fit together.
Tropes and Expectations:
Westerns are built on the idea that some parts of the country need to be pacified. We get used to lone gunmen, mixed teams, and sweeping cinematography.
Examples:
Unforgiven, 3:10 to Yuma, Deadwood, and Justified.
Summing up the genres of film and TV
Now that you’re a master of movie types and the list of film genres and television categories, you can successfully take this knowledge out into the world or work it into your next outline or beat sheet.
You have all the movie genre definitions, now use them in your next screenplay or pilot.
SZA’s new music video for her hit “Snooze” will keep you awake: It features cameo appearances by Justin Bieber, Beef actor Young Mazino, Power Book II: Ghost star Woody McClain and songwriter-producer Benny Blanco.
SZA released the video Friday, which features the famous men playing her love interests. The pairs are shown doing everything from lying on the grass in the park and rolling a joint in bed to feeding horses and arguing with her man (McClain) while he plays video games. SZA directed the clip with Bradley J. Calder.
SZA and Bieber have yet to collaborate musically, but the singer and wife Hailey Bieber enjoyed a date night in March at SZA’s Los Angeles concert. Mazino is a rising star who recently earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie for Beef, while McClain’s credits include The Harder They Fall, The New Edition Story and The Bobby Brown Story. Blanco is best known for writing and producing hits for Bieber, Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and Kesha; he worked on two tracks from SZA’s sophomore album SOS.
“Snooze,” the fifth single from SOS, has reached double platinum status and achieved 700 million streams worldwide. The song recently hit the Top 10 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, marking her fifth Top 10 hit from her latest album, and the groovy tune is spending its fifth week on top of the Hot R&B songs chart.
SZA wrote “Snooze,” which was produced by Babyfaxe, BLK and The Rascals’ Leon Thomas and Khris Riddick-Tynes.
So far SOS, released in December, has achieved eight billion streams worldwide, reached triple platinum status and has spent 10 weeks on top of Billboard’s 200 albums chart. Hits from the album include “Kill Bill,” “Shirt,” “I Hate U,” “Good Days” and “Nobody Gets Me.”
On Friday SZA also released a “Snooze” four-track bundle, which includes sped-up and instrumental versions of the track.
The best romantic movies are the ones that you can watch over and over again, even when they hit a little too close to home. That’s because whether you’re single, in a new relationship, divorced, or something in between, there are so many movies about relationships that reflect every stage of your love life—past, present, and future.
While we can’t promise that watching these love stories will help you solve any current relationship problems you might have, we can tell you that you’ll be able to relate to at least one. Whether it’s Rose’s goodbye to Jack in Titanic or that rain-kissing scene in The Notebook, there are some film moments that are so iconic they’ve transcended pop culture and have become part of the way we live and think about love. I mean, tell me you watched those couple interviews in When Harry Met Sally and didn’t wish that would be you someday. You can’t!
Star Wars is so much fun. At its best, Star Wars shows and movies are able to transport you not only to a galaxy far, far away, but to a simpler and less cluttered state of mind. These are, after all, fairy tale adventures of good versus evil with noble knights, comical sidekicks, and evil wizards. Star Wars can adapt to other genres, sure, like…
Priscilla Presley may be the former wife of the King of Rock ‘n Roll, but Sofia Coppola is the daughter of the Godfather of Cinema.
Coppola, who wrote and directed “Priscilla” based on Presley’s 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me,” told The Hollywood Reporter that she could relate to Presley’s story of living in someone else’s shadow. Coppola is, of course, the daughter of Oscar winner Francis Ford Coppola.
“Oh, it would be a juicy, glamorous story,” Coppola said of reading Presley’s memoir. “But then I was struck by how much I connected with it emotionally. I thought it was just going to be a fun adventure, and I was surprised by how relatable her story was.”
The “Virgin Suicides” director continued, “I know from my family what it’s like to be inside a show business family. I know that growing up, people are looking at you in a different way. And also living in a house with my dad, this big personality, a great artist and a lot of our life revolving around that. And seeing my mom’s life, how she was trying to find her way within his, I could relate to that.”
Presley addressed the common ground felt between her and Coppola, saying, “I just got who she was and I felt that she could get me. I thought, we have different stories, but she could understand this better than any writer because she kind of lived it in her own way.”
The film, which stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Jacob Elordi as Elvis, is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival before screening as the Centerpiece selection at the New York Film Festival.
“When I saw the movie, I tried to separate myself and live it as if I was just a fan or just someone that’s wanting to see the movie,” Presley said. “At the end, I actually, I was quite emotional. Only being 14 [the age Presley was when she met Elvis]. You look back and you go, ‘Why me? Why am I here? Why am I driving in a limo, going through the gates of Graceland with Elvis?’”
Coppola previously addressed growing up inside her own version of Graceland, with her early memories being on the set of “Apocalypse Now” and having a small role in “The Godfather Part III.” Coppola told The Guardian in 2017 that she is “proud” to be the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola.
“I learned to have balls from him, and integrity,” Coppola said. “But I have a body of work now, and it has its own identity. He’s a great master, but I’m happy to carve out my own way of working.”
The Armed unveiled their fourth album, Perfect Saviors, with an Iggy Pop–starring video for the Julien Baker collaboration “Sport of Form,” along with an unmasking of the enigmatic Detroit collective’s contributors. Fronted by Tony Wolski, an ad man for McDonald’s and Jeep, the noise-oriented pop group enlisted the likes of Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Matt Sweeney, and Josh Klinghoffer for the LP, which Wolski, in press materials, called, a “completely unironic, sincere effort to create the biggest, greatest rock album of the 21st century.”
Country singer-songwriter Zach Bryan has released the follow-up to 2022’s American Heartbreak and its hit single “Something in the Orange.” He produced his own self-titled album, which has contributions from Kacey Musgraves, Sierra Ferrell, the Lumineers, and more. Ahead of the LP’s release, Bryan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “if u come into this album thinking it will be a chart topper or if you think that was my intent in it at all you’ll be severely disappointed and I am not sorry (respectfully).”
Alice Cooper recently came off a two-month tour with his Hollywood Vampires bandmate Johnny Depp, yet he says they never spoke about Depp’s widely publicized defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.
“I don’t think it was ever mentioned on the tour because nobody cared,” Cooper said in an interview with Vulture. “I never watched a moment of the trials. It was so blown out of proportion. It was such a Hollywood thing. I knew Johnny was gonna win because how many people have other exes literally on their side testifying for him? That never happens. I turned it right off and said, ‘Well, you know, Johnny will weather this storm and when he’s onstage, he’s our guitar player.’”
Cooper formed Hollywood Vampires with Depp and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry in 2012. The group toured across the U.K. and Europe from June to July, one year after the televised defamation trial.
When asked if there was hesitancy to bring Depp on tour, given the domestic abuse allegations against him, Cooper said, “Not at all.”
“If you talk to Johnny about it, it was something that happened,” he said. “He was just like, ‘Yeah, yeah, what’s the next song?’ For Johnny, it was one of those things where… you can’t say it got blown out of proportion, but I don’t know why they would televise the proceedings, right? It’s because of the fame of both people.”
Cooper added, “The best thing I said about the whole thing was, ‘They should do a remake of “War of the Roses” with Johnny and Amber.’ Who’s not gonna go see that? I’m going to see that! To make it even better, make their lawyers Angie and Brad. All you need is a really funny director, and that’s gonna be a monster hit.”
In June 2022, a Virginia jury found that Heard had defamed Depp when she wrote a 2018 Washington Post op-ed alluding to her past claims of domestic violence. The jury also found that Depp defamed Heard in the course of fighting back against her charges.
Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages, plus $5 million in punitive damages — which were reduced to $350,000 in accordance with the state’s statutory cap. The jury awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages for her counterclaim.
A Guelph man has been charged after police said his car was falsely reported stolen earlier this month.
On Saturday, a man told authorities his vehicle had been stolen from an address on Dawson Road five days before, and that it had since been involved in a hit-and-run collision outside of the city.
The following day, the car was found parked where the man last saw it and police said they noticed fresh damage.
After reviewing surveillance video, investigators said the car did not move during the time the man claimed it had been stolen.
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A 33-year-old was arrested and charged on Thursday.
He’ll make an appearance in a courtroom in Guelph on Oct 6.
Madix, 38, sat down to discuss the three-part interview on the Friday, August 25, episode of BFF Scheana Shay‘s “Scheananigans” podcast. While Madix confessed that she “did not listen” to Frankel’s conversation with her costar, she acknowledged that it was difficult to read about what was said.
“I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with or anything bad about Rachel going on anything to do any interview,” she explained, using Leviss’ legal name. “Obviously, she was going to at some point … but some of the things that were said made me really sad, made me really angry.”
Despite her bumpy history with Leviss, Madix was left feeling more upset with Frankel and claimed: “I feel like [she] should’ve known better.”
Madix slammed the former Housewife for alleging that she had “forgiven” her ex Tom Sandoval for his affair with Leviss. “I’m like, ‘Why are you speaking for me?’ I don’t know you,” she said. “You don’t know what the f–k you’re talking about, lady.”
Shay reminded her listeners that Frankel admitted she hadn’t watched the majority of Vanderpump Rules — apart from the season 10 reunion — before the sit-down. She asked Madix how she felt about criticism of her behavior toward Leviss and Sandoval during the reunion, which was filmed just three weeks after news broke of the cheating scandal.
Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss attend the “Vanderpump Rules” Party For LALA Beauty Hosted By Lala Kent at Beauty & Essex on June 30, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.Amy Sussman/Getty Images
“I believe that my response to what was done to me in that moment was exactly what I would think any person would respond with in that moment,” Madix argued.
While speaking to Leviss on her “Just B” podcast earlier this month, Frankel read aloud some of the insults hurled at her by the Pump Rules cast — mainly Madix — during the season 10 reunion special. Frankel got emotional and said her experience as a mother made her empathize with Leviss. (She shares daughter Brynn, 13, with ex Jason Hoppy.)
The cast of Vanderpump Rules are no strangers to controversy. The staff of Lisa Vanderpump’s West Hollywood restaurant SUR made their debut on Bravo in 2013 as part of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills spinoff. The season 1 cast included Vanderpump, Stassi Schroeder, Jax Taylor, Katie Maloney, Tom Sandoval, Kristen Doute and Scheana Shay. […]
“Hearing Bethenny say something about like, ‘If that was my child, I would’ve murdered someone,’ based on some words that were said in response to what I endured … I would like to say that I have a mother who feels pretty strongly about what was done to me for seven months behind my back,” Madix said on Friday. “[My mom] certainly doesn’t think that me responding to all of the with some harsh and warranted words is the worst thing that could happen.”
Madix, however, acknowledged that she would “probably not” say the same things to Leviss now that she did in the immediate aftermath of the scandal. “But I was only going to speak to her that one time and never again,” she explained.
Leviss’ appearance on Frankel’s podcast marked her first interview since she left a mental health treatment facility, which she checked into in order to cope with the backlash of Scandoval. Along with confirming that she would not be returning for season 11 of Pump Rules, Leviss attempted to downplay her friendship with Madix pre-affair.
Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval faced major backlash for their cheating scandal — and their Vanderpump Rules costars have been front and center throwing shade. The couple made headlines in March 2023 when Us Weekly confirmed that Sandoval and Ariana Madix called it quits after nearly a decade together due to his infidelity. The beauty […]
“That was very hurtful … [and] a very obvious lie,” Madix alleged, noting that Leviss’ comments “could be so easily refuted” by photos and other examples. “I was very much under the impression that we were, like, really good friends. And I didn’t come to that impression lightly. … It wasn’t fake to me.”
“I feel like she’s still going along with some things that were told to her over the last year or so from the other party in said affair, and I think that made me really sad,” she noted. “She put a lot of weight onto what was being told to her. … The two of them, they didn’t care about me at all.”
Sandoval, for his part, has not publicly reacted to Leviss’ interview.
There isn’t any mystery as to how a producer of Nancy Drew feels about the show being axed. While fans have known The CW series was ending since last October, the creative team apparently wasn’t given enough heads up during the production process by The CW’s new management to craft a more proper ending for […]
Google is testing a new YouTube feature that lets you hum or record a song to search for it.
If you’re part of the YouTube experiment for the feature, you can hum or record three or more seconds of a song so that Google can try to identify it, according to a support page. Once YouTube identifies the song, it will show you relevant content about that song. Basically, it’s a Google-y take on Shazam, which is owned by Apple.
Not everyone will have access to the experiment at first, though. Google says it’s rolling out to “a small percentage of people across the globe who watch YouTube on Android devices.”
Google says it’s also testing a YouTube feature that bundles multiple uploads in “a short amount of time” from a single creator into a special “channel shelf” in your subscriptions feed. “We’re experimenting with this for a few reasons — as a way to make it easier for viewers to find the content they’re looking for, to put less pressure on creators to upload multiple times a day, and to make it simpler for viewers to engage with the content in the shelf and / or navigate to other content while scrolling in their feed,” Google says. The feature will be available first to a “small percentage” of people.
If “Retribution” had been the kind of standard-issue VOD drag—the kind headlined by someone with a vaguely recognizable name whose career never quite panned out—I suppose that might have been easier with the complete chintziness “Retribution” demonstrates on virtually every level. But that’s not the case here. When given material worthy of his talents, Neeson can still deliver strong and stirring performances, and Davidtz and Modine have also done impressive work in the past.
Antal is not exactly a slouch either—he did a very interesting 2003 film called “Control,” worked on a couple of episodes of “Stranger Things,” and I know people who will stand by such earlier features as “Vacancy” (2007), “Armored” (2009) and “Predators” (2010). These are all talented people working on “Retribution.” I suppose it’s a measure of their dogged professionalism (if not their taste in material) that they could drag themselves back to the set day after day, long after they must have known there was virtually no chance it would result in something even remotely passable.
“Retribution” is a dud destined to be erased from our cultural memory once it presumably departs theaters in a couple of weeks. According to the press release, the film promises “an immersive ticking clock thriller that straps audiences in for a high-octane ride of redemption and revenge.” It pretty much fails to deliver on all counts. Look, if you want to see a thriller remake starring Neeson that’s worth your time this weekend, allow me to point you toward “Cold Pursuit,” in which Neeson plays a snowplow driver in a small Colorado town who uses his skills to destroy the drug ring that murdered his son. Although no masterpiece, it gave Neeson things to do, and the oddball combination of action, drama, and Coen Brothers-style dark humor made for sturdy B-movie entertainment. In comparison, “Retribution” seems even more of a complete waste of time, effort, and energy than it already is.
The comedy “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah” follows the debut of Stacy Friedman (Sunny Sandler), a preteen who is obsessed with the parties that accompany her Hebrew school cohort’s coming-of-age ceremonies.
This joyride to adulthood is a real-life family affair: Sunny stars, and her father, Adam Sandler, amiably rides in the back seat as Stacy’s bewildered dad, Danny. But despite the support Stacy gets from her family (including Idina Menzel as Stacy’s mother, Bree, and Sadie Sandler as her sister, Ronnie), the friendship between Stacy and her best friend, Lydia (Samantha Lorraine), is the film’s emotional core.
Stacy and Lydia have planned their parties and their lives around each other, but their friendship is tested by the most challenging trials of middle school: cute boys, cool girls and menstruation. When Stacy walks in on Lydia kissing their mutual crush, she can’t bring herself to consider her friend’s happiness with the mitzvah season’s rabbi-encouraged maturity. Instead, Stacy disinvites Lydia from her bat mitzvah, and she sets out to redefine what her first steps into womanhood should look like now that she intends to take those steps solo.
The young cast proves deft with the film’s clever script, by Alison Peck (based on the 2005 novel by Fiona Rosenbloom), and the director Sammi Cohen indulges the virgin-mojito passions of preteens while avoiding nostalgia, thankfully. In one of the film’s best jokes, a partygoer requests a dusty mothball on the dance floor: Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” For a split second, the movie’s easygoing, contemporary appeal hangs in the balance. And then with delightful rudeness, the film’s middle-aged, disco-ball-helmeted disc jockey, DJ Schmuley (Ido Mosseri), rejects the song, spitting out, “Let Schmuley handle the vibe around here!” A Selena Gomez song fills out the score, and this goofy charmer of a movie bounces on.
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah Rated PG-13 for language and middle-school bathroom humor. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. Watch on Netflix.
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Anne Lister has been having a moment. Widely acknowledged as one of the first public lesbians of the modern era, she blazed a trail through 19th-century England, acquiring lovers, books and properties and traveling throughout the world. She left behind a diary of some 5 million words, now parsed and studied by those seeking insights into her life and times. She was played by a swaggering Suranne Jones in the acclaimed BBC/HBO miniseries “Gentleman Jack,” which ran from 2019 to 2022.
But when Emma Donoghue decided to take on Lister in her new novel, “Learned by Heart,” she wanted to focus on a lesser-known chapter of Lister’s life, a formative period before the girl became a woman. Donoghue, a prolific historical novelist who was nominated for an Oscar for adapting her own book, “Room,” into a 2015 film, zoomed in on the 14-year-old Lister’s brief time in a York boarding school — and her torrid romance with her roommate, Eliza Raine.
Lister, a precocious tomboy who seemingly knows something about everything, and Raine, a half-Indian heiress born out of wedlock, were fellow outcasts who found each other at the Manor School in 1805. Their first love left Lister emboldened, while its premature end left Raine devastated.
For Donoghue, who poured her usual volumes of research into the novel, Lister proved fine company. But Raine was the real revelation.
“Lots more people have heard of Lister than was true even five years ago,” Donoghue says over video from her home in London, Canada. “In the wonderful ‘Gentleman Jack’ series, she’s a really vivid character in her 40s, and more and more of her work is being transcribed and published. But Eliza remains this truly mysterious figure, and she’s so interesting. She’s got the fortune and the education and the beauty, and yet she’s from India and she’s illegitimate, which I think really would’ve counted against her at that time.”
When they first meet in the novel, Raine is a little puzzled by her new friend. “I’m rather an enigma even to myself,” Lister tells her. “Nature was in a funny mood the day she made me. Perhaps I’m the connecting link between the sexes.” Soon, however, Raine grows enchanted. As Donoghue writes, “What’s between them grows like a creeper that covers the ugliest bricks and drainpipes in living green.”
Donoghue depicts this youthful affair as an all-consuming force, hidden among the regimented lessons and strict propriety of the school. From the start, she lets us know Raine won’t emerge unscathed, mixing in desperate letters written later from an asylum among the present-tense ecstasy of the relationship. “I was only 14 when I first tasted that intoxicating draught,” Raine writes Lister in one missive, “and I must have drunk too deep.”
Known for her relentless digging through historical records and archive material, Donoghue also relied on her own emotions and memories as an adolescent realizing she was queer in 1980s Ireland.
“With historical fiction, I think it’s often underestimated how you bring in things from different eras — including your own life,” she says. “So with this novel, I really tried to channel my being 14 in a Catholic convent school and falling madly in love with a girl, and how it just completely rocked my world. I didn’t think I was actually going to hell, but I did possibly think I would be sent off to the psychiatrist or the priest. … So two centuries after Eliza, I think many young queers still have that feeling of, ‘Oh, my God, this has transformed and filled my life with joy, but also terror.’”
Donoghue, 53, doesn’t always live in the past; “Room,” the story of a young woman and her son held captive by a madman, is a contemporary tale, and probably her most popular and best-known novel. But she often finds herself mining history. “Slammerkin” (2000) was inspired by an 18th-century newspaper story about a servant who murdered her mistress in Wales. “The Sealed Letter” (2008) recounts a 19th-century British divorce case. “Haven” (2022) is about monks following a mystical vision in 7th-century Ireland.
“It’s a funny business,” Donoghue says. “You’d think if I really cared about the truth so much, I wouldn’t be interested in fiction and vice versa. But I seem to like them both.”
Naturally, she’s happy to be plying her craft at a time of unprecedented access to information — digitized newspaper scans; helpful social media contacts; transcribers just a mouse click away. “I reached out to one guy on Twitter about a quote, and he looked up the source and transcribed it and sent it back immediately,” she says. “That kind of almost telepathic, rapid contact with a friendly stranger wasn’t possible 20 years ago even.”
Inspired by history and abetted by modern technology, “Learned by Heart” is nevertheless preoccupied with timeless things, revealing how little has changed.
“Writing about first love was hugely enjoyable,” Donoghue says. “You always want your characters to be going through some astonishing change, and that’s easier to achieve when they’re 14. When your characters are older, you have to work a bit harder on slapping them awake.”
Lister, it would seem, slapped a lot of people awake. “Learned by Heart” tells the story of the first strike.
The highly anticipated sequel will see the return of both Peter Parker and Miles Morales as they take on the likes of Kraven the Hunter—a vicious killer who has come to pull off his greatest hunt yet.
Peter’s struggle with the Symbiote costume is a classic Spidey story, and this time around, Insomniac “looked at addiction in people” when figuring out how to portray the hero in his struggle against the alien parasite.
The explanation given by the ESRB teased gameplay with “special symbiote-based and electricity-based attacks” and how some of the game’s many attacks “result in small splashes of blood.”
Cutscenes will include sequences that see “a character choked to death… a dead body turned over” and “blood drops on a leaf.”
The full rating description can be read below:
“This is an action game in which players assume the roles of Peter Parker and Miles Morales/Spider-Men as they attempt to save New York City from a new threat. From a third-person perspective, players fight crime, swing around buildings, and engage in melee-style combat with enemies. Characters mostly punch, kick, and throw each other during fights; central characters can use special symbiote-based and electricity-based attacks on enemies. Some enemies use pistols and/or machine guns during combat; gunshots sometimes result in small splashes of blood. Cutscenes depict further instances of violence/blood: a character choked to death; a dead body turned over; blood drops on a leaf. In some crime missions, characters can be seen trading unnamed drugs for weapons; drug packages can be seen in a car trunk. The words ‘pr*ck’ and ‘a*s’ appear in the game.”
Spider-Man 2’s Darker Themes
While the T-rating isn’t a surprise in the slightest, and it remains unchanged from previous entries, fans should still expect Marvel’sSpider-Man 2 to be darker than the previous games.
Whenever the symbiote is involved with Spidey’s lore, the story tends to get darker. With Insomniac using addiction as inspiration for how Peter Parker acts, the hero will no doubt be in for a rough patch in his life.
It could get so bad that his relationship with Mary Jane could be seriously damaged—a constant trend for poor Peter Parker. Maybe his friendship with Harry Osborn might fare better.
Once Kraven the Hunter is added, someone who wants nothing more than to kill the Spider-Men for sport, fans will be left with a story that’s anything but light and breezy.
Of course, while things will be darker, fans should not have expected something M-rated. Spidey’s never one to have been ripping off limbs or pulling heads clean from their shoulders.
The first trailer for Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon confirms that his planned Justice League trilogy will likely never be made available for public viewing.
Snyder’s departure from the DCEU is considered a turning point in the franchise’s downfall, and the buzz surrounding Rebel Moon suggests he has moved on from DC Studios.
Rebel Moon gives Snyder more creative control and freedom to push boundaries, allowing him to develop his full vision best in this new format.
The first trailer for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Rebel Moon proves that the director doesn’t need to complete his planned Justice League trilogy. When Zack Snyder was hired to direct Warner Bros. Superman reboot Man of Steel, he began to develop an overarching plan for the new DC Extended Universe, which would have encompassed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and a trilogy of Justice League films. Snyder left production of Justice League after his daughter’s death, however, leaving superhero film veteran Joss Whedon in charge of post-production. After Whedon’s Justice League fell flat, there were calls for Snyder to return to bring his own Justice League plans to fruition.
A director’s cut, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, finally released in 2021, and spurred more desire for Snyder to develop his entire Justice League trilogy as it had originally been planned. With more recent DC-related projects from Warner Bros. being met with poor responses and disappointing box office totals, many attribute Snyder’s departure from the franchise as the turning point in the DCEU’s downfall. Even so, the newly-released first trailer for Zack Snyder’s upcoming Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire solidifies Snyder’s absence from Warner Bros. and DC Studios, suggesting his planned Justice League trilogy will never be made available for public viewing.
Rebel Moon Shows Zack Snyder Has Moved On From The DCEU
Following Snyder’s departure from Justice League in 2017, and the subsequent lackluster performance of the theatrical crossover film, the hashtag #ReleasetheSnyderCut was used en masse to bring Snyder back into the world of DC and correct Joss Whedon’s mistakes. However, while this hashtag has morphed into the #RestoretheSnyderverse hashtag, urging the director to develop his plans for the entire Justice League trilogy, the release of Rebel Moon’s trailer and the buzz surrounding Snyder’s new franchise proves that his DC days may be behind him. While this may disappoint many, it could actually be the best decision for Snyder, DC Studios, and the Justice League themselves.
Snyder has developed Rebel Moon with Netflix rather than working directly with a studio such as Warner Bros., which means that he has a much wider scope of creative control over this new story. While Snyder directed Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League, and co-wrote the latter’s story, his roles with Rebel Moon see him directing, writing, producing, and acting as the director of photography, much like he did on his previous Netflix project, Army of the Dead. This creative freedom means Rebel Moon can push boundaries more than Justice League ever could, and Snyder can develop his full vision best in this format.
Justice League 2 & 3 Would Compete With James Gunn’s DCU
While Zack Snyder developing his Justice League sequels in the DC Extended Universe may have helped to boost the popularity of the faltering franchise, in the new landscape of DC Studios, it wouldn’t make sense for him to return. James Gunn and Peter Safran were hired as co-CEOs of DC Studios in November 2022, and since then have made many changes, including setting up a reboot of the DCEU into the new DC Universe. Gunn revealed DC Studios’ plans on January 31, 2023, which included revealing planned projects featuring new actors as Superman, Batman, and other iconic DC heroes, so it’s unlikely that Snyder will return to continue his old continuity.
It could be argued that Snyder’s Justice League trilogy could be released as DC Elseworlds projects, akin to Matt Reeves’ The Batman and Todd Phillips’ Joker franchises. However, since Snyder’s Justice League plan would continue the DCEU, which was thought to be reset in 2023’s The Flash (though this has also caused some confusion), it would be directly competing with the new DC Universe. With David Corenswet assuming the role of Clark Kent in Superman: Legacy, and a new actor becoming Batman in The Brave and the Bold, it’s possible that the DC Universe could culminate in a new Justice League project, so Snyder’s return would only confuse things further.
What Zack Snyder’s Justice League 2 & 3 Would’ve Been About
Speaking to Vanity Fair in 2021, Zack Snyder revealed that Justice League was intended to be the middle piece of a “five-part trilogy” that started with Man of Steel and was set to culminate in two Justice League sequels. Snyder revealed that the entire storyline had been planned out by himself and DC Comics artist Jim Lee, with Justice League 3 featuring the death of Bruce Wayne and the stepping-up of a new Batman. Zack Snyder’s Justice League left several loose ends that would have been revisited in future films, including the reveal of Martian Manhunter, Lex Luthor meeting Deathstroke, and the exploration of Bruce Wayne’s Knightmare scenario.
Justice League 2 would have seen Darkseid, the villain Steppenwolf’s boss, come to Earth to engage in a battle with Superman, and the Man of Steel would ask Batman to keep Lois Lane safe while this battle ensued. Receiving a tip from Luthor, Darkseid would kill Lois after Batman became distracted, and this could have also introduced the idea of a romantic relationship between the pair, during the time that Superman was presumed dead. With Lois dead, Superman would lose the will to fight, allowing Darkseid to seize control of the superhero using the Anti-Life Equation, which would later culminate in the deaths of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and countless others.
This was seen during the Knightmare scenario in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, as the rag-tag team faced a corrupted Superman. Justice League 3 would have acted as a do-over for the DCEU, as Barry Allen would have traveled back in time to warn Batman of the future – leading to that strange portal scene in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This would have led to Bruce Wayne sacrificing himself to save Lois instead of letting her die, reshaping the franchise from then on, with the returned heroes leading an epic battle against Darkseid, and a new Batman would emerge in the form of Lois and Clark Kent’s adult son.
How Zack Snyder Can Finish His DC Story Elsewhere
Even though Zack Snyder’s plans for Justice League 2 and 3 might never come to fruition in an actual Justice League story, they could easily be repurposed for a variety of other media. Snyder revealed to Vanity Fair that he would be interested in forming his Justice League plans into a book, or alternately they could be integrated into DC Comics. This would allow audiences to still understand Snyder’s full storyline, as Zack Snyder’s Justice League left many questions unanswered. Even so, it seems very unlikely that Gunn and Safran would accept Snyder’s return to develop his own Justice League stories, as the new DC Universe needs to develop now.
Snyder could also integrate pieces of his Justice League story into the Rebel Moon franchise, even though the two projects are vastly different. Rebel Moon started as a pitch for a more mature Star Wars project, but was redeveloped into a separate entity that allows Snyder more freedom when it comes to plot, character, and world-building. It’s possible that the concepts of the Anti-Life Equation, unintended romances, the Knightmare future, and time travel antics could be introduced into Rebel Moon, as the film’s heavy reliance on science fiction creates the opportunity for some wild storylines. In this way, Zack Snyder’s original Justice League plans might not be completely dead.
It seems that while Jagex has been taking community feedback into consideration as of late, it is one step forward and two steps back regarding the significant nerf to experience gained during Necromancy’s ritual disturbances. There is a little bit of time for players to make the most of the current XP rates though as the nerf will not be arriving this coming Monday but in the near future. Many players were quick to take to social media to share their displeasure at the choice.
It was Mod Luma who brought up the nerf at this point in the Necromancy Feedback and Discussion livestream. She stated that the team has had a look at the data that has come in over the three weeks since Necromancy first launched, and that they are not happy with the high rate of XP gained through this method as opposed to the other methods. The stated reason was for the long-term health of the skill.
Players were quick to question why this choice was being made three weeks after the launch of the skill, as the XP rate was clearly evident within a day or two of the initial launch. Players were quick to determine that Jagex had left the XP rates as they were due to the fact that there was a large social media push for the race to the top of the Necromancy high score table. This was being streamed on Twitch, and the results published across all social media platforms. In a way, it is seen as something that they ignored for the benefit of streamers and are now pushing out for the average player. This has many players claiming that it is unfair due to the fact that they are unable to play to the extent that the top players are able to and are essentially being punished for their life outside of the game.
As of the time of writing, there are over one thousand players who have already achieved the max amount of XP in Necromancy – two hundred million. This is an insane amount of XP that the average player will never achieve. The game used to be about getting to level 99. Then, some players went beyond and continued to gain XP. Eventually, some skills were leveled up to 120.
For a quick rundown on the sheer amount of XP this is.
Level 99 takes 13,034,431 XP.
Level 120 takes 104,273,167 XP.
So, 200 million is far beyond this and is nothing more than high score status. With a large number of players already achieving 200 million in Necromancy, some players do understand why RuneScape would want to protect the longevity of their brand-new skill. But it seems that the consensus from the majority of posts online is that this can be handled in a better way. By either moving the nerfed XP rates to a different method of leveling Necromancy, or by not nerfing the skill at all and just creating content for it that keeps players wanting to participate in it.
Screenshot by Prima Games
Mod Luma has replied to some of the threads on Reddit to confirm that they are listening to all of the feedback and opinions of the community and will be taking them into consideration when rolling out the Necromancy update. She stated that announcing it early so that they could receive feedback was always her plan, although it sounded like a done deal when she spoke about it in the livestream a day earlier.
Nevertheless, it won’t be long until players discover how Necromancy will be altered in the future. If it continues as it was first introduced, it will be a kick in the teeth for the fast majority or players. However, if Jagex listens to the community and implements changes in a way that takes their feedback into account, everyone will have the same opportunities to level the skill in a timely manner.
About the Author
Priscilla Wells
Priscilla is a weekend editor and freelance writer for Prima Games. She is an Australian living in the United States with her family. Priscilla has grown up playing video games, and most often plays her PS5 and Nintendo Switch consoles.
Submissions end December 31st, 2023, submit through filmfreeway.com, or through the festivals website, myrtlebeachfilmfestival.com Selected by Movie Maker Magazine as one of the top 25 film festivals worth the submission, one of the top festivals in the world by Film international and touted by many as one of the most important independent film festivals in the circuit. We are passionate about film and it shows!
The MBIFF screens projects in a multi-million dollar theater, housing state of the art technology.
The 2023 edition of the Edinburgh TV Festival is drawing to a close after four days of intense industry talks, gossip and Louis Theroux lectures. The halls of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre were buzzing as UK execs, creatives and talent took the chance to get together and talk shop. Here, we outline
“Ripple effect” of the strikes
No TV industry confab would be complete at present without a bit of strike chatter. As the writers strike moves way beyond 100 days and the actors’ action rumbles on, the “ripple effects” continue to be felt around the world, according to Lindsay Salt, the BBC’s new Drama Director. There was a small American presence at Edinburgh plus numerous UK commmissioners from the U.S. streamers’ hubs but, somewhat surprisingly, the labor action was not raised during panel sessions with both Netflix and Disney execs. Universal’s Pearlena Igbokwe, however, did tackle the elephant in the room, stating that CEOs and top senior leaders are “invested and committed to figuring out a deal that is fair and equitable for everybody.” In the busy halls of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, attendees that Deadline spoke with off record had mixed feelings about the strikes, which are biting at the same time as an unrelated commissioning slowdown driven by the economic crisis (more on that later). While there was a general feeling of solidarity coupled with knowledge that a good deal for the U.S. is a good deal for the UK, there were frustrations over loss of work caused by a labor action happening thousands of miles away. Equity boss Paul Fleming threw his weight behind SAG-AFTRA’s plight during a webinar to hundreds of union workers on Monday but the feeling of loss of work was compounded by a petition launched this week calling for the UK government to create an “income replacement scheme” for those who have lost work, which has amassed 25,000 signatures. Yesterday afternoon, The Late, Late Show with James Corden executive producer Ben Winston said his company, Fulwell73, had lost a premium unscripted order in the U.S. due to budget concerns related to the strikes. The longer the twin disputes rumble on, the more the freelance community may feel its patience beginning to wear thin.
How fast is the slowdown?
It’s been a slow old summer in the world of UK TV commissioning. Ever since Deadline revealed Channel 4 had canceled a high-profile Four Weddings reboot due to budget constraints, freelancers and execs alike have been feeling the heavy weight of the commissioning slowdown, driven in the main by the ad slump. Channel 4 has been in the eye of the slowdown storm and programs boss Ian Katz was forced onto the defensive during his spotlight session by a volley of tricky questions about the network’s finances. He fought fire with fire when claiming Channel 4 has “perhaps been a bit more honest” than rivals about the slowdown, as he pushed back on the perception that C4’s financial picture is “more dramatic than elsewhere.” The previous day, Katz’s ITV counterpart Kevin Lygo said he would not be dropping ITV’s program budget during the slowdown. “I hear Channel 4 shut the gates or something but we are not doing that,” Lygo added, refusing to mince his words as ever. The BBC, for what it’s worth, may not be funded by ads but is certainly not immune from the slowdown’s clutches following two years of a frozen licence fee. Content boss Charlotte Moore backed the pubcaster’s long-established ‘fewer bigger better’ approach, which she said is a “good thing in today’s market.”
Freelancer woes
Swathes of the UK’s freelance community attended Edinburgh as per but the collective atmosphere was muted. The aforementioned commissioning slowdown has meant a seriously tough few months, with the Film & TV Charity revealing the shocking statistic Monday that applications for financial help rose 800% in July 2023 compared to the same time last year. Execs debated the situation and presented more research – such as this gobsmacking BAFTA survey finding that a third of its members are quitting the TV industry – but few genuine solutions were forthcoming. The situation represents a complete 360 from the previous year, when it felt as if the freelance workforce was virtually at full employment. During the opening Power of TV debate, chaired by Deadline’s Jake Kanter, incoming Film & TV Charity CEO Marcus Ryder urged a change in industry structures akin to the changes which caused a flood of investment in Scottish TV around 15 years ago – establishing what would become a thriving production sector. Storyville boss Emma Hindley floated a number of “wacky ideas” such as bosses paying 1% of their bonuses to the charity’s donation fund, or celebraties giving a day’s earnings, but the situation is far from resolved and will require a huge collective effort until commissioning returns to something akin to normal once again.
Presenters, behave
The behavior of presenters when the cameras are turned off has been placed firmly in the spotlight this year due to high-profile scandals invloving Phillip Schofield and Huw Edwards, along with Deadline’s investigation into TV chef James Martin. Avalon boss Jon Thoday returned the Schofield drama to the fore during the opening debate when he exclaimed “surprise” that ITV bosses didn’t know about the former This Morning host’s affair with a much younger runner. “If you run a business and someone is doing something wrong it’s unusual for [management] not to know about it,” mused Thoday, coming a few weeks after ITV CEO Carolyn McCall said “no evidence” was ever presented to her team about the affair. ITV’s Lygo updated on the independent Schofield review during his controller session, which he said is on track to publish next month, with the lawyer leading the review having “talked to everyone involved, taken our phones and looked at every text we’ve sent, including emails and WhatsApps.” Lygo urged people not to rush to “hasty judgement” before publication, citing “enormous pressure from press and social media” attached to the saga. The BBC’s joint reviews sparked by the Edwards scandal are also both due in the coming weeks and it is unlikely this topic will be exiting the headlines anytime soon.
All eyes on AI
On Wednesday, producers crammed into a fun (and alarming) session on how AI will impact TV making in the future. TV producer-turned-academic Alex Connock, maths professor and broadcaster Hannah Fry and BBC Commissioning Editor Muslim Alim took to the stage to reveal the dos and don’ts of using AI in the future. Connock, a Fellow at the Said Business School and co-founder of Bob Geldof’s Ten Alps TV, warned those working in development that while AI could help speed up their processes and fuel creativity, many copyright infringement cases are already stemming from the use of generative machines, which are usually created and programmed by scraping existing work from the internet and regurgitating it. In an email he sent Deadline after the session, Connock predicted it would become standard practice for actors to monetize their likeness in the future and, provided it’s regulated properly, won’t be the disaster situation that many believe is developing. With AI one of the bitterest elements of the actors strike, the idea the future isn’t so dark is a soothing one. However, Connock said actors were right to be worried about their voices being used without explicit permission, and in datasets. “If I were acting for the actors, voice synthesis would be a hill I would be prepared to die on, in negotiation point terms.” TV companies are certainly taking AI seriously: just this week Banijay launched the AI Creative Fund, which will allow producers and labels across the super-indies production footprint to showcase ideas with technology and innovation at their heart.
Can I take your orders?
Edinburgh is traditionally the week when the UK’s networks and streamers reveal their latest slate. With commissioning becoming less structured and formulaic, the number of announcements has fallen in recent years but there was plenty to digest in any case. Netflix got in first, unveiling doc series Einstein and the Bomb. Clearly influenced by Oppenheimer‘s success, the John Boyega-narrated series will look at the devastating after effects of the atomic bomb the U.S. dropped on Japan in World War II. Disney+’s UK team have been focused on local stories such as their upcoming Coleen Rooney ‘Agatha Christie’ doc series, but the greenlight of World War Shoe: Adidas vs. Puma (w/t), a doc series from Pretty Boat Rocker’s Baby: Brooke Shields producer Matador Content, and David Beckham’s Studio 99, was more overtly a global streamer order. The series will explore the inner workings of the two major sports brands, which have a unique shared history and rivalry having been created by feuding brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler. ITV revealed its reboot of Big Brotherwill run for at least two seasons and Sky revealed House of Kardashian, a doc series about the famous reality TV family directed by Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story director Katie Hindley. Prime Video had little in the way of new commissions but its exec did address the future of Clarkson’s Farm after its star, Jeremy Clarkson, wrote an article about Meghan Markle that was so vicious and aggressive that it has become the most-complained about column in UK press history. Elsewhere, the BBC ordered another drama from Happy Valley scribe Sally Wainwright, titled Hot Flush. Channel 4 made several program announcements, including a further season of Everyone Else Burns, a Rosie Jones comedy series titled Disability Benefits and doc The Murder Retrial (w/t).
The star-studded Korean spy series Moving has become Disney+ and Hulu’s most-watched K-drama ever — in the U.S. and globally — within just seven days of release. The show launched on Disney’s streaming services on Aug. 9 and has become the company’s most popular series in any language, based on hours streamed, across the Asia Pacific region, including in Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. That means viewers in Asia have already watched Moving more than Disney’s core franchise series like The Mandalorian. (Disney declined to share more precise viewership data.)
“The global consumer response towards the first 11 episodes of Moving has exceeded our expectations,” said Carol Choi, Disney’s executive vp of original content strategy in APAC. “From the U.S. to all across APAC, it is fast becoming a breakout hit with its captivating storyline, world-class cast and incredible post-production effects — all coming together to deliver exceptional storytelling.”
Moving is an adaptation of a popular webtoon created by the influential Korean artist Kang Full, whose works have been adapted into several local films. The show stars some of the biggest names in Korean film and television, including Ryu Seungryong (Miracle in Cell No. 7), Han Hyojoo (20th Century Girl) and Zo Insung (Smugglers) in his long-awaited return to the drama series format.
Moving tells the story of a group of South Korean spies working to protect their super-powered children from harm and exploitation at the hands of malicious government agencies. Initially recruited because of their extraordinary abilities including flight, instant healing and enhanced senses, the spies disappeared without a trace after being tasked with carrying out increasingly dubious missions. Now with their children exhibiting similar abilities and a dangerous assassin rapidly picking off super-powered individuals, the parents must leave their peaceful lives behind to become the “monsters” they once were.
The first 11 episodes of Moving are now available on Disney+ and Hulu, with two new episodes dropping every Wednesday. A three-part season finale is slated for Sept. 20.
Disney+ launched in South Korea in November 2021 and has steadily ramped up its local content output to tap into the surging global popularity of K-drama. Some of Disney’s most well received Korean titles include the Blue Dragon Series Award-winning Big Bet, starring Korean screen icon Choi Minsik (Oldboy) as a law-breaking casino operator; The Zone: Survival Mission; Soundtrack #1, Snowdrop, and various others.
Though Jaeda King (Naturi Naughton) practices martial arts, she isn’t your prototypical hero. The married mother is a judge, and she’s presiding over the biggest case of her career. Despite his pleas of innocence, Sean Samuels (Jason Mitchell) has already been convicted of murder and his sentencing is imminent. However, Sean’s brother, Gabriel (Lance Gross), isn’t waiting for the outcome. Armed with a fleet of gunmen, Gabriel, a.k.a. Black Caesar, storms the courthouse to spring Sean. And Jaeda — let’s call her King — uses more than her gavel to fight back.
King winds through the baddies with the prowess of Foxy Brown and the confidence of Shaft. But the director Wes Miller’s film is also an origin story of sorts. King’s fight isn’t only with Black Caesar and his crew, but also with the broken justice system itself, and the way it both targets Black people and pits them against one another. Along the way, the nimble Naughton announces herself as a bona fide action star.
Dreamlike and visually expressive, this film by the Chinese writer-director Yang Bingjia takes delight in exploring the formula associated with swordplay movies. It has the cool mythological man of few words: in this case, Blind Cheng (Xie Miao), a visually impaired bounty hunter. It has the innocent maiden: Ni Yan (Gao Weiman), a wine merchant in need of saving from the big bad, He Qufeng (Ben Liu). And just for added flavor, Lady Qin (Zhang Di), Blind Cheng’s unrequited love, acts as femme fatale.
“Eye for an Eye” would be entertaining even if it only relied on those tropes. But its delectable kills elevate it even higher. Take the torture scene where Blind Cheng plies a goon for answers not by beating him, but by tying the villain’s every limb to an elaborate array of sharpened liuqin strings. Another character endures the punishment of having arrows slowly pulled from her body. The culminating face-off between Blind Cheng and He Qufeng, a scene bathed in ethereal lighting — blinding white snow amid a pitch-black setting — gives this gore-and-guts film a rare, spellbindingly poetic quality.
At first, the writer-director Julian Hampton’s film seems like a simple cop drama. Adhering to his wife’s wishes, the SWAT officer Charles Biddle (Devinair Mathis) retires to a seemingly safe line of work as a cameraman for a dogged investigative reporter (Anaya T. Kaur). Their assignment turns deadly, however, when men in silver masks appear, leaving Biddle’s fate in the balance. Biddle’s grief-stricken brother, Rucker (Leslie A. Jones), himself an ex-officer, searches for answers. While the title might be a tiny giveaway, it’ll still be difficult to guess where “Fighting Olympus” goes next.
Similar to the Boots Riley film “Sorry to Bother You,” Hampton opts for an ingenious premise to critique white supremacy. This one involves a descent into hell, as well as encounters with dangerous gods and misunderstood demigods alike. Hampton works around the film’s low budget by creating compelling characters. Medusa (Haley Jackson), for instance, is a Black woman. The white Athena (Caroline Hallum) stole her child, and then rewrote history to portray Medusa’s Black hair as deadly and ugly. With Medusa’s help, Rucker fights off mask-wearing, gold-sniffing henchmen in a series of obstacles that make “Fighting Olympus” one of the year’s most original action flicks.
Yi Nan (Shin Hyun-joon) was once Korea’s deadliest assassin. But heart problems ended his career, making him vulnerable to an unnamed spirit who wants him dead. Hunted and rendered a lonely pauper traveling the countryside in search of a mythical plant rumored to cure such ailments, he stumbles upon bandits attacking Seon Hong (Kim Min Kyung), a widowed tavern owner. He helps the woman; in return she offers him a job as a server. His peace in this quaint village is short-lived after he murders bandits who work for Yi Bang (Lee Moon-sik), an opium dealer, gang leader, government official, and all-around slimy guy.
In the writer-director Kwak Jeong-deok’s film, punchy comedy via harsh zooms gives way to kinetic fights as Yi Nan works to protect Seon Hong and her young son from terror. Kwak adds new flavors to swordplay scenes by mounting a camera on Shin for point-of-view shots. The result, particularly in the final battle, which features Yi Nan against so many men his heart might explode, is a ferocious whiplash of splayed, bloody bodies.
From a nostalgic score with hints of a John Williams influence to the soft, kind lighting, “Supercell,” the director Herbert James Winterstern’s preposterous disaster flick, is in conversation with films from the 1990s like “Twister” and “Jurassic Park.” Using a journal that belonged to his deceased storm-chasing father, the teenage William (Daniel Diemer) leaves his mother (Anne Heche) for West Texas to find his Uncle Roy (Skeet Ulrich). Once reunited with his uncle, William hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps by building a radio capable of detecting storms (an unrealized invention previously taken up by his dad).
In the deep ensemble, Jordan Kristine Seamón plays William’s girlfriend Harper, while Alec Baldwin portrays the head of a tourist company who takes storm enthusiasts as close to danger as possible. Rather than living a dream, William finds his disgraced Uncle Roy reduced to the nightmare of driving for Baldwin’s outfit. This big, dumb disaster flick not only features mega-tornadoes as the background to William’s coming-of-age, but it also ends on one of the funniest deaths ever in a film that manages to balance family ache with a wide adventurous canvas.
Donald Trump returned to the platform now known as X with a splash for cash on Thursday, tweeting out his angry mugshot and asking supporters to send money.
While his supporters and Fox News hosts have been complaining all week about how demeaning it was for Fulton County, Georgia, officials to require fingerprinting and the mug shot, the former president looks intent on turning it into a fundraising jackpot.
The tweet includes a link to a website where Trump is asking supporters to donate between $24 and $3,300 (or more).
It was Trump’s first tweet since Jan. 8, 2021, a span of 958 days. After his Twitter account was suspended in 2021 for “risk of further incitement of violence,” Trump limited his social media presence to his own platform, Truth Social. Elon Musk reinstated Trump’s Twitter account after he bought the platform.
After one hour, the tweet had 9.6 million views and 144,000 likes.
Following his usual narrative, Trump told his supporters that Democrats and the government are coming after “You” but promised to defend them.
“But today, I walked into the lion’s den with one simple message on behalf of our entire movement: I WILL NEVER SURRENDER OUR MISSION TO SAVE AMERICA,” Trump posted.
Doja Cat is purring along as “Paint The Town Red” (via RCA/Sony) climbs all the way to No. 1 in Australia.
The U.S. artist nabs her first leader in the land Down Under, as “Paint The Town Red” completes the leap 6-1 in its third week, eclipsing the No. 2 peak for her previous best, “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA, which hit No. 2 in 2020.
Luke Combs is currently on the road in Australia, and his fans reward him with bumps on the latest ARIA Charts, published Friday, Aug. 8. The U.S. country star’s cover of “Fast Car” (Columbia/Sony) motors 8-2, for a new peak position. “Fast Car” previously parked at No. 3 in June, topping Tracy Chapman’s original, which maxed-out at No. 4 in 1988.
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Several Combs tracks are on the up, including “The Kind Of Love We Make” (up 21-16) in its 62nd week on the chart, for a new peak; “When It Rains It Pours” (31-24); and “Beautiful Crazy” (39-34).
Completing the podium on the ARIA Singles Chart is Dave and Central Cee’s former leader “Sprinter” (Virgin Music Australia/Universal), down 2-3.
Over on the ARIA Albums Chart, Genesis Owusu, the Canberra, Australia-raised talent, secures a top 10 start and a new career high for his sophomore album, Struggler (AWAL).
Struggler bows at No. 4, besting the No. 27 peak for 2021’s Smiling With No Teeth, an album that snagged almost every award possible in these parts, including the Australian Music Prize, ARIA Awards, AIR Awards and more. Smiling With No Teeth peaked at No. 27 on the official, national tally.
Hozier returns with Unreal Unearth (Columbia/Sony), the Irish singer and songwriter’s third studio album. It’s new at No. 13, and follows the No. 3 peak for his debut, self-titled LP from 2014 and the No. 8 best for its followup, Wasteland, Baby from 2019.
Also new to the chart are albums by one-time ARIA male artist of the year Dan Sultan (Dan Sultan at No. 15 via Liberation/Universal), celebrated Aussie singer and songwriter Gretta Ray (Positive Spin at No. 17 via EMI) and K-pop boy band NCT Dream (ISTJ – The 3rd Album new at No. 20 via Universal).
At the top of the tally, Barbie The Album (Atlantic/Warner) lifts 2-1, ahead of Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal) and the Weeknd’s The Highlights (Universal), respectively.
From swimming pools and castle dungeons to the Apple Store, some of the most famous albums have been recorded in truly weird spaces. Heavy metal band, Black Sabbath, for example, recorded their album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in Gloucester’s Clearwell Castle; members saw ghosts there, serving as inspiration for several songs. And, alternative rock band They Might Be Giants — known for their experimental style — recorded their song I Can Hear You in a science lab using Thomas Edison’s 1890 wax cylinder recorder. So, although fancy studios help guarantee excellent film soundtrack recordings, sometimes opting for an unusual space is key to pushing boundaries and creating innovative sounds. By taking care to find the best-sounding spot for your instruments, you can get the most out of any unconventional recording space.
Check how the room sounds
Before committing to an unusual recording space, it’s important to check how it sounds first. The process is fairly straightforward: simply walk around the edge and centre of the room while clapping your hands. You’re looking for a spot that has a smooth and steady reverb decay. On the other hand, if you hear a flutter echo — generally defined as multiple ringing echoes repeated in quick succession — you’ll know to avoid this space, as this sound will also be heard during your recording. However, if you’re short on options, and recording somewhere with a flutter echo is unavoidable, you can take steps to quieten it. For instance, position the instrument in a spot where the flutter echo is heard the least, and cover the walls with soft, insulative material — either acoustic foam or panels or carpet padding, for example — to minimise the echo.
Choosing the best equalizer setting on your digital workstation is also a key consideration that drastically impacts your sound. An equaliser essentially lets you enhance or minimise select frequencies as needed. As a result, instruments with similar frequencies are prevented from clashing, and you’re better able to perfect the overall sound.
Choose the best position for your instruments
By choosing the right position for your instruments, you can ensure optimal sound. Keep in mind, high ceilings are usually conducive to the best sound, while low ceilings are usually prone to flutter echoes. So, if you can record in a spot with a higher ceiling, the better it’ll sound. If you’re dealing with a vaulted ceiling that angles upward, aim to position the instruments under the highest part of the vault. Also, remember to avoid corners as they’re prone to bass loading — something you usually want to avoid. Bass loading strengthens low frequencies and notes, causing them to boom. On the drum kit, in particular, bass loading can result in a sympathetic tom ringing and snare buzzing. It’s also important to stand a good distance away from the wall. Sound reflections, echoes, and reverbs can be more of a problem the closer you are to walls. So, aim to stand in the middle of the room instead.
Finishing touches for better sound
Simply placing a rug underneath the instrument (or vocalist) can improve the sound. This is because hard floors often result in unwanted echoes and reflections — something which a rug can largely prevent. Yet, in some cases, you may prefer the sound provided by hard flooring. So, try both ways to see which sounds best. You can also raise your amp above ground level to create a clearer sound as this minimises phase cancellations. So, try positioning your amp on a chair, for instance. Also, don’t forget to steer clear of glass in your recording space — another key driver of echoes and reflections that can alter the type of sound you’re after. If positioning your instruments near glass is unavoidable, you can try aiming them at an angle of about 45 degrees to the glass — this can be an effective way to redirect and minimise unwanted echoes and reflections.
Sometimes recording music in unconventional spaces is what’s needed to create a unique and memorable sound. By taking care to choose the best-sounding spot in any unusual recording space, you can unlock your creativity and create a fantastic-sounding film soundtrack.
Jennifer D. Allen is a passionate musician and writes for a living. Writing about music and musicology is her favourite area and she hopes to release her first book in the coming years. When not rising, she loves to perform in local venues and attend as many shows as possible.
Within minutes of the picture being released, it appeared on Mr Trump’s website along with a statement saying he had been arrested despite committing no crime. “What has taken place is a travesty of justice,” it said, along with a call for campaign contributions.
Jann Mardenborough can vividly recount the first time he ever played Gran Turismo, the popular racing video game that would completely alter his life.
While seeking refuge on Bonfire Night, a British holiday full of firework celebrations, an 8-year-old Mardenborough stumbled upon the game at his neighbors’ house. He selected a violet Mitsubishi 3000GT and began racing on the Autumn Ring track. Mardenborough went on to play the game all night, and then every day after that, showing up at his neighbors’ door immediately after school.
“They got so fed up with me turning up at their house, one day the wife came across the street, knocked on our door and had in hand the PlayStation and GT 1, and gave it to my parents,” the 31-year-old racecar driver recently recalled during an video interview.
It’s the origin story to the other origin story: the true, improbable one depicted in the film “Gran Turismo,” which was directed by Neill Blomkamp and opens on Friday. The movie dramatizes Mardenborough’s journey, from gaming in his bedroom to winning the 2011 GT Academy — an annual competition that, from 2008 to 2016, put the game’s best players in real vehicles — to driving formula cars professionally.
The eight main games in the Gran Turismo franchise, which debuted in Europe and North America in 1998, are known for their scrupulously reproduced cars and exacting racing simulations. In the months before he attended GT Academy, Mardenborough upgraded from a plastic PlayStation controller to a homemade wooden racing frame along with a steering wheel and pedal that he bought with money his parents gave him for good grades.
The competition was a godsend for Mardenborough, who was trying to sell car parts on eBay after losing a retail job; he had dropped out of college after realizing that studying motor sport engineering did not mean he could actually drive the cars.
Even so, Mardenborough said he was skeptical of his chances. He had played Gran Turismo no more than an average teenage gamer after his initial fixation, had never competed in a tournament and had barely any experience driving a normal car. The first time he brought his rickety 1991 laser blue BMW E30 onto a highway was on his way to the competition.
Mardenborough’s perspective took a visceral turn when he qualified for racing camp — a stretch depicted in the film that follows the finalists training in actual cars — and was given his first taste of the track.
“After my first few laps, when I got out the car, I remember thinking, ‘I don’t want to go through life never experiencing that again,’” said Mardenborough, who served as a producer on “Gran Turismo” and as the stunt double for his own character.
Mardenborough can eagerly describe the technicalities that distinguish game from reality — the sensation, for instance, of the vibration through the car seat — but said that much of the real-world feeling and reactions mirrored Gran Turismo.
“When you race against real people,” he said, “everything is real.”
Mardenborough, who is played by Archie Madekwe in “Gran Turismo,” went line by line with Sony over early drafts of the script, which he noted is mostly true to his life. The characters played by David Harbour and Orlando Bloom are both fictionalized but loosely based on real people. And a crash involving Mardenborough in Germany that left a spectator dead really happened, although detractors have complained about how the tragic event was translated to the screen.
In the film, the crash occurs right before Mardenborough returns to the track for a podium finish at Le Mans, the famous endurance race in France — back-to-back events that form an emotional arc of setback and triumph. In reality, Mardenborough’s crash in Germany came two years after that podium finish, leading to criticism that the film’s timeline was edited to serve a narratively pat movie ending.
“The order is the order, but those events happened in my life,” Mardenborough, who avoided serious injuries, said in response. “This isn’t a documentary.” He did race in Le Mans one year after the crash, and Mardenborough said the emotional battle the film constructed was consistent with his feelings.
“When you believe the reason why you’re put on earth is to race a racing car, and then you’re asking yourself, ‘Do I still want to do this?’” he said. “It’s not a pleasant question to ask.”
Mardenborough last competed in May and is talking to teams about potentially racing in the United States next year. And occasionally, the driver who fidgeted with a gaming steering wheel during our interview will still play Gran Turismo.
If he were to race against his 19-year-old self in the game right now, who would win? Mardenborough thought for a moment.
“Me,” he said with a competitive smirk. “If I put in the amount of hours I did back then, considering my experience in real life, I would be quicker. But all it is is hours.”
As Donald Trump’s mug shot from his arrest in Fulton County, Georgia, took off online Thursday night, spawning memes of every shape, stripe and color, one compilation stood out among the rest.
And while the rousing meme sent Trump up in appropriate fashion — and certainly wasn’t alone in that regard — it served a dual function, proving that while the legendary director Stanley Kubrick is no longer with us (he died in 1999), his legacy has stood the test of time.
In the meme, Trump as jail bird joins a photo montage of villains from three of Kubrick’s Warner Bros. classics — Malcolm McDowell as Alex in 1971’s “A Clockwork Orange,” Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance in 1980’s “The Shining” and Vincent D’Onofrio as Private Pyle in 1987’s “Full Metal Jacket.”
“‘The Kubrick Stare’ is one of director Stanley Kubrick’s most recognizable directorial techniques,” the X user Cry-Baby Chloe’s tweet reads atop the montage. “A method of shot composition where a character stares at the camera with a forward tilt, to convey to the audience that they are at the peak of their derangement.”
It remains uncertain whether Trump’s denouement is upon him, but one thing seems clear — Cry-Baby Chloe is onto something.
Trump turned himself into the Atlanta jail Thursday night on state charges of interfering with the 2020 election. It became the fourth criminal case he faces and the fourth time he has turned himself in.
But it was the first time a mug shot was required.
“The Kubrick Stare” is one of director Stanley Kubrick’s most recognizable directorial techniques. A method of shot composition where a character stares at the camera with a forward tilt, to convey to the audience that they are at the peak of their derangement pic.twitter.com/qd2XWc3oHU
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.
11 Sequels, Prequels, And Remakes That Bombed At The Box Office
It seems like a lot of movies these days are remakes, sequels, and prequels, but that isn’t always a recipe for success. Occasionally, adding another film to an already-loved franchise can be a big financial mistake.
So, here are 11 prequels, sequels, and reboots, that bombed at the box office:
11.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
When has a sequel, prequel, or remake really disappointed you? Let us know in the comments below!
Windham Rotunda, known better as WWE wrestler Bray Wyatt, has died at age 36.
Rotunda died unexpectedly on Thursday, according to WWE CCO Triple H.
Just received a call from WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda who informed us of the tragic news that our WWE family member for life Windham Rotunda – also known as Bray Wyatt – unexpectedly passed earlier today. Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their…
In a post to Twitter, Triple H wrote: “Just received a call from WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda who informed us of the tragic news that our WWE family member for life Windham Rotunda – also known as Bray Wyatt – unexpectedly passed earlier today. Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their privacy at this time.”
Im heartbroken over the news of Bray Wyatt’s passing. Always had tremendous respect and love for him and the Rotunda family. Loved his presence, promos, in ring work and connection with @wwe universe. Very unique, cool and rare character, which is hard to create in our crazy… pic.twitter.com/i9zlbJIOL3
Dwayne Johnson took to Twitter to share his condolences. “Always had tremendous respect and love for him and the Rotunda family. Loved his presence, promos, in ring work and connection with @WWE universe,” he wrote. “Very unique, cool and rare character, which is hard to create in our crazy world of pro wrestling.”
Rotunda came from a family of wrestlers, including his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan, his father Mike Rotunda and his younger brother Bo Dallas. Rotunda made his debut in the ring in February 2009 and later made his television debut in June that same year. From 2013 to 2019, Rotunda led WWE’s Wyatt Family and would enter the arena with a lantern to light his way and await a crowd chant of his signature catchphrase “follow the buzzards.”
Rotunda went on to create an alter ego to Bray Wyatt called the Fiend and in 2022 debuted another character called Uncle Howdy, said to be inspired by the same-name character from 1983 film “Hysterical.”
When The Marvels hits theaters this November, fans will be introduced to the MCU’s newest super hero team. After their powers become entangled, the film will bring together Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel and Monica Rambeau to stop the latest villain threatening Earth.
Due to the team-up nature of the film, The Marvels will serve as a sequel to not only 2019’s Captain Marvel, but also 2021’s WandaVision, 2022’s Ms. Marvel, and 2023’s Secret Invasion.
Photo: Also Entertainment Weekly
While The Marvels plot details have been largely kept under wraps, fans have already begun wondering what the future of the film’s three main leads could hold. Will “The Marvels” become a permanent team? Or will its three members still forge adventures of their own?
Nia DaCosta Plots A Future
In a recent interview with Total Film Magazine, The Marvels director Nia DaCosta revealed that she has pestered MCU head Kevin Feige with possible future adventures for all three lead characters. Interestingly, Feige has given conflicting responses to her ideas.
Photo: Entertainment Weekly
“I’ll pitch Kevin 17 versions of what can happen with all these women, and why and how, and this and that. And he’s like, ‘Okay, girl’, and sometimes I think I’ve really got a movie going after this. And then other times, I’m like, ‘Oh, they have this whole other plan that I’m not a part of.’”
DaCosta, a self-proclaimed “comic nerd,” has often talked about her dedication to Marvel’s lore. The director would seemingly be the perfect fit to continue The Marvels principal characters’ stories.
Photo: Entertainment Weekly
Captain Marvel Paved The Way
The 2019 success of Captain Marvel proved that female-led superhero films could hold their own. After grossing nearly $1 billion at the box office, Captain Marvel paved the way for future MCU heroines. Subsequently, Black Widow, Wanda Maximoff, and yes, Ms. Marvel, would all get their chance to shine.
When discussing the potential future of women-led Marvel films, DaCosta insists it is all about quality.
Photo: Entertainment Weekly
“In terms of women-led films and women as superheroes in particular, and excitement around that, I think it’s really just about whether or not the movie’s good. Especially now we have more and more films that are female-led that are action-based or superhero-based. But I think for women-led superhero films, as long as the quality stays up, that’s what’s gonna keep the audience coming back.”
If The Marvels can resonate with audiences this fall, it seems like the MCU will have just scratched the surface of where these characters can go.
The Marvels will hit theaters on November 10, 2023.
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Studio: Warner Brothers Starring: Xolo Mariduena, Bruna Marquezine, George Lopez, Belissa Escobedo, Raoul Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, Damian Alcazar, Adriana Barraza, Elpidia Carillo Director: Angel Manuel Soto
Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd
Summary
A mysterious scarab of alien origin bonds with new college graduate, Jaime Reyes giving him powers and abilities he has to learn to control. With his family behind him, he learns about the Blue Beetle legacy and that of the scarab and the history of Kord industries and a sinister plot to take over the world.
Positives
Like so many things that are good, Blue Beetle is a lot of fun and has a lot of heart. And, the heart leads to the fun. That heart can be found in the cast as well as the story that relies on the idea family. The movie gives us two families, the Reyes family and the Kord family, and they couldn’t be more different. However, it’s the intersecting of these two families which brings about Jaime’s turn into the Blue Beetle.
The cast brings these families to life, and there isn’t really a weak performance in the lot. Xolo Mariduena turns in a great job as the lead and it’s easy to imagine him in future appearances as Jaime Reyes. He brings energy, believability and the right amount of self doubt. The rest of the cast is equally good. Mariduena has a real chemistry with Bruna Marquezine who plays Jenny Kord. George Lopez’s Rudy is the humorous outlet, but he also has a genuine emotional connection with his nephew Jaime. Susan Sarandon, while a well known experienced actress for nearly five decades fills the villain role of Victoria Kord effortlessly.
While Jaime’s family rallies around him, Jenny’s aunt, Victoria has no redeeming qualities and is literally out to get Jenny, pushing her closer to the Reyes family. This contrast is subtle, but a well executed use of the family theme. The importance of the family shakes out differently than in most superhero fare, Jaime’s family knows his secret and it becomes essential to Jaime’s character.
Positives Cont’d
The presence of the Kord family in this movie is more than just an Easter Egg for comic book fans. Ted Kord is the second person to use the Blue Beetle moniker in the comics, (although there are arguable two separate Dan Garrett characters, making Ted the third!) and his shadow looms large throughout Blue Beetle. Victoria is Ted’s sister and Jenny is his daughter, and we learn that Ted is missing. The filmmakers do a great job of incorporating the Blue Beetle legacy into the story and Jaime’s turn as the hero. It would have been possible to make a Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle film and ignore the history of the character, but making it integral to the story goes a long way for comic fans. The appearance and use of Ted’s Bug ship is absolutely fantastic, as well. Well done!
I’ve never been one to get hung up on CGI to the point that it’s going to ruin a good story and character if not done well. There isn’t a moment in this film that seemed the least bit wonky. This summer’s The Flash (even if it was purposeful) had lot more questionable CGI oddities. Additionally, using a practical suit for Meriduena works really well. He has a real presence in scenes that just feels better than a full CGI character. He’s able to interact more believably with other characters especially in the action scenes.
There are some real stakes in this film as Jaime’s family is imperiled and not all of them survive. There is some nuance to Victoria Kord’s muscle, Carapax, and you won’t believe what Nana was doing in her teenage years! Additionally, there is a throwback feel to some of the film that in-story seems to stem from Ted Kord’s turn as the Blue Beetle. The music by Bobby Krlic gives a Stranger Things vibe and at the same time the script leans even harder into the family theme in the thrid act. Jaime’s family (and Jenny) exhibit the same kind of camaraderie and commitment to each other that we’ve come to expect from Will, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Eleven.
There is a great deal of world building in this film that is tied to Jaime’s family, their personal stories as well as Jenny Kord and her father’s heroic legacy. La Palmera City feels unique, as well. While Blue Beetle ostensibly takes place within the DC Universe, the film is far enough removed from what we already know about that world that it feels like its own place. One of the reasons it works is that Blue Beetle is not an original DC character. He has a long comic book tradition going back to the Golden Age with his debut in Mystery Men Comics #1, August 1939. DC bought the character from Charlton Comics in the mid-1980’s. It makes sense that he has his own world, and it’s not hard to imagine the other Charlton Action Heroes popping up along side Jaime- take that Watchmen!
Negatives
It would be easy to start rattling off inconsistencies with the comic book, and the most glaring is the absence of Jaime’s friends Paco and Brenda. This may bother some fans, but the connection to the Blue Beetle legacy feels like a more important comic book aspect to get right. Along the same lines, when Jaime is first introduced in the comics, he lives in El Paso, TX. The movie gives us a fictional city, La Palmera City. It’s first appearance in the comics is Blue Beetle: Graduation Day #2, and it seems to come from the movie. DC has a long tradition of fictional cities, but La Palmera City, while supposedly in Texas feels like Miami, and seems to inform the feeling of Hispanic influence on the city.
I’ve spent time in both Miami and El Paso, and the feeling of the cultures is very different. Jaime’s family is identified as Mexican and some of the slang used in the film is recognizable as such. Yet, the city itself looks and feel like Miami which creates a bit of an inconsistency in the representation in the film. You know it’s supposed to be Texas and a Mexican immigrant family, but it looks and feels more like Miami and Cuban culture.
Some will say there are derivative elements to Blue Beetle, but comics have been doing that for years. The uniqueness in Jaime’s story comes from his heritage, family and the legacy of the Blue Beetle which he will hopefully get to investigate in another outing. Furthermore, this film gets these familiar elements right and makes them fun and enjoyable. The tease in the early credits scene is expected, but still exciting.
Verdict
Even if you feel like you’ve seen some of this before, Blue Beetle is a fun film that is done well. Blue Beetle has something unique to offer in its use of the family theme which gives it a lot of heart. It’s a significant step up from recent DC movies and genuinely comes across as the start of something new and exciting.
I haven’t seen any evidence to support people even wanting to play these sprawling epic adventures on phones with touchscreen controls. I see people playing clash, chess, mini-games, etc. I think 5-10 years from now when everyone is walking around with AR enabled glasses, it will be a different story and you can get a big virtual display right in front of you and you can sit on a bus with your normal size controller, but until then playing on a small touchscreen won’t cut it, even if you can get past the streaming challenges
A task force formed to halt a wave of “flash mob” robberies at high-end stores has arrested 11 more alleged participants in the thefts.
The Los Angeles Police Department announced arrests related to robberies at the Glendale Americana at Brand mall of a Yves Saint Laurent store, a Warehouse Shoe Store in Highland Park, a Nordstrom in Canoga Park, and a Versace in Beverly Grove.
The thefts repreented well more than $500,000 in merchandise.
No information on the suspects has been released Thursday. Previously, the first arrest of a suspect in the Glendale robbery was nabbed, and police identified another suspect that they were searching for.
The flash mob robberies involve waves of criminals coming into high-end stores and simply grabbing whatever merchandise they can in a short period. They then flee the scene in multiple vehicles. Authorities believe at least some of the thefts may be tied to the same group.
The LAPD is working with the Glendale Police Department and the Beverly Hills Police Department, among other law enforcement agencies.
The task force is investigating nine robberies, some of which appear to be linked, the LAPD said Thursday.
Disney+ has scored the next breakout hit from Asia after “Squid Game.”
Star-studded international espionage series “Moving” has become the most watched Korean original on Disney+ globally and Hulu in the U.S., based on hours streamed after seven days.
In its first week since launch on Aug. 9, the series also became the most watched series on Disney+ across Asia Pacific, including in Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan – based on hours watched – and the biggest premiere on Disney+ in Korea to date, based on hours streamed in the first week since launch. “Moving” launched globally on Disney+ in 65 markets and countries and Hulu in the U.S.
Featuring stars who are household names in Korea, including Ryu Seung-ryong (“Life is Beautiful”), Han Hyo-joo (“20th Century Girl”) and Zo In-sung (“Smugglers”), “Moving” is based on Kang Full’s hit webtoon. It tells the story of a group of South Korean spies working to protect their super-powered children from harm and exploitation at the hands of malicious government agencies. Initially recruited because of their extraordinary abilities including flight, instant healing and enhanced senses, the spies disappeared without a trace after being tasked with carrying out increasingly dubious missions. Now with their children exhibiting similar abilities and a dangerous assassin rapidly picking off super-powered individuals, the parents must leave their peaceful lives behind to become the “monsters” they once were.
“The global consumer response towards the first 11 episodes of ‘Moving’ has exceeded our expectations,” said Carol Choi, executive VP of original content strategy, The Walt Disney Company APAC. “From the U.S. to all across APAC, it is fast becoming a breakout hit with its captivating storyline, world-class cast and incredible post-production effects – all coming together to deliver exceptional storytelling.”
The first 11 episodes of “Moving” are now available. Two new episodes are set to release every Wednesday, with a three-part series finale slated for Sept. 20.
Korean content now available on Disney+ includes the Blue Dragon Series Award-winning “Big Bet,” starring popular actor Choi Min-sik (“Oldboy”) as a serial entrepreneur who repeatedly breaks the law to help bolster his burgeoning casino business; “The Zone: Survival Mission”; and “Soundtrack #1.” The streamer also has a robust Asia slate.
The 76-year-old guitar God apologized today when anti-transgender comments that he made during a July New Jersey concert resurfaced in a social media video post.
“When God made you and me, before we came out of the womb, you know who you are and what you are,” the guitarist is seen saying in the clip.
He continued, “Later on when you grow up, and you see things and you start believing that you could be something that sounds good, but you know it ain’t right, because a woman is a woman and a man is a man — that’s it.”
“Whatever you wanna do in the closet, that’s your business, I’m OK with that,” Santana added. He then mentioned his “brother Dave Chapelle,” who has also made some controversial remarks on transgender issues.
Today, Santana posted to his Facebook page in an effort to make amends.
“I am sorry for my insensitive comments,” he began.
“They don’t reflect that I want to honor and respect all person’s (sic) ideals and beliefs. I realize that what I said hurt people and that was not my intent. I sincerely apologize to the transgender community and everyone I offended,” his statement continued.
Santana claimed that his “personal goal” is to “honor and respect all person’s (sic) ideals and beliefs whether they are LGBTQ or not. This is the planet of free will and we have all been given this gift. I will now pursue this goal to be happy and have fun, and for everyone to believe what they want and follow in your hearts without fear.
“It takes courage to grow and glow in the light that you are and to be true, genuine, and authentic. We grow and learn to shine our light with Love and compliments,” he concluded.
What happens when fire and water mix? In Elemental City, it sparks an unlikely connection between two of its residents – Wade and Ember.
The elements Fire, Water, Earth, and Air come to life in Pixar’s animated feature ‘Elemental,’ following the journey of Ember as she works towards her goal of taking over her parents’ convenience store – Fireplace. Due to her fiery personality, Ember has a hard time controlling her outburst when it comes to interacting with the customers, further delaying her desire to take over the family store.
In the midst of Ember’s predicament, she meets Wade in the most unexpected way, which results in the store being on the verge of shutting down. As Ember and Wade work to get the store up to code, they discover something even more alarming that could cause devastating destruction to parts of Elemental City.
The story of Ember and Wade gives us all the warm and fuzzy feeling of a romantic comedy – the unexpected meeting, their clashing personalities (playing into how fire and water don’t mix), and how they have to put aside their differences to save their city.
“Disney and Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ is an all-new, original feature film set in Element City, where Fire-, Water-, Earth- and Air-residents live together. The story introduces Ember, a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live in.”
‘Elemental’ first premiered at the 76th Canne Film Festival as the closing film. It held its world premiere on June 10, 2023 at the Tribeca Festival. Prior to the festivals, the first twenty minutes of the film was screened in 3D at the 2023 CinemaCon and was positively received by critics.
The animation style for ‘Elemental’ was quite a challenge for director Peter Sohn’s team. To bring Ember and Wade to life, it required about 10,000 controls, whereas the average Pixar character has about 4,000. The animators needed additional controls in order for the characters to act like elements, which also included layers of effect on top. For example, Ember couldn’t have shadows because she is a Fire elemental. With Wade, having too little light meant you couldn’t see him.
Director Peter Sohn at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. Photo by Deborah Coleman/Pixar.
The story of Ember and her family is inspired by Sohn’s own experience. He is a son of Korean immigrants, and his parents opened a bodega-style store in the Brox, much like Ember’s family in the film. There are also beats that will resonate with the immigrant experience – Bernie and Cinder changing their names because their birth names proved to be too hard for an Elemental City immigration officer to pronounce.
The film touches on the pressure of being a child of an immigrant as well – Ember’s dad, Bernie, recounts how disappointed and disapproving his own father was when he chose to leave his hometown. When Bernie bowed to his father as a final farewell, his father did not bow in return. Bernie carried that burden of his father’s disapproval for the rest of his life and vowed not to do the same to his daughter.
The Pixar animated feature opened in theaters domestically on June 16, 2023, and is available in various formats, such as Dolby Cinema, IMAX, Real 3D, and 4DX. ‘Elemental’ is still playing in theaters, so be sure to check your local listings and Moviefone below for showtimes in your area. ‘Elemental’ has a total runtime of 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Disney and Pixar’s all-new theatrical short ‘Carl’s Date’ to release in front of ‘Elemental’ on June 16, 2023.
If you’re catching this in the theater, you’ll be treated to a delightful Pixar short film ahead of the feature called ‘Carl’s Date,’ which sees the return of Carl Fredricksen and Dug from ‘Up.’
“New adventure. Same wingman.”
Carl Fredricksen reluctantly agrees to go on a date with a lady friend—but admittedly has no idea how dating works these days. Ever the helpful friend, Dug steps… Read the Plot
Watch the official trailers for ‘Elemental’ below:
Can’t make it out to the theater? Don’t worry; the Pixar animated feature will surely make its way to Disney+. Additionally, Disney has announced the film will become available on digital on August 15, 2023. ‘Elemental’ will be available to purchase on platforms such as Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu, and more. The physical release will be on September 26, 2023.
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When Beyoncé asks for her crowd to sparkle, she shall most definitely receive. The Grammy-winning superstar’s Renaissance World Tour continues through Oct. 1, and the queen has requested that the BeyHive style themselves in silver at her shows during Virgo season.
“Virgo season is upon us. This tour has been such a joy and as we approach the last month, my birthday wish is to celebrate with you wearing your most fabulous silver fashions to the shows 8.23 – 9.22,” she wrote on her website. “We’ll surround ourselves in a shimmering human disco ball each night, everybody mirroring each other’s joy. Virgo season together in the House of Chrome.”
Below, find out how to get last-minute tickets to Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour, plus shop some of the best metallic looks for channeling your inner disco superstar.
Beyoncé Renaissance World Tour 2023 Schedule: North American Dates and Cities
Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour ends Oct. 1 in Kansas City, Mo. Below are the remaining tour dates and cities:
Aug. 24 State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, Ariz.
Aug. 26-27 Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev.
Aug. 30 Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, Calif.
Sept. 1, 2 and 4 SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif.
Sept. 14 Lumen Field, Seattle, Wash.
Sept. 21 AT&T Stadium, Dallas, Texas
Sept. 23-24 NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
Sept. 27 Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, La.
Oct. 1 GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.
Beyoncé Renaissance World Tour 2023 Schedule: Buy Tickets Online
What to Wear to Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour 2023
Looking for what to wear to Beyoncé’s Renaissance concerts? We’ve rounded up a handful of the best silver clothing and accessories from retailers including Nordstrom, Free People, FWRD, Saks Fifth Avenue and Amazon.
CINEQUEST FILM FESTIVAL 2023 REVIEW! Movies about sports, particularly boxing, are often about winning and climbing to the top. In writer-director Rob Margolies’ feature film, Bobcat Moretti, sport becomes a way of life, a road to salvation, if you will. Co-writer Tim Realbuto stars as Bobby Moretti, an obese and broken man recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Now living as a burden to his brother Charlie (Matt Peters) and wife Debra (Taryn Manning), Bobby is told in no uncertain terms that he needs to start paying rent and take responsibility for his life.
Dejected, Bobby walks into a boxing gym run by Jo (Vivica A. Fox). He asks her if she’s hiring. Even though Jo says no, Bobby offers to clean the sweat and blood off the boxing ring mats in exchange for being trained. Jo sees Bobby’s determination and reluctantly agrees. Just as he starts, Bobby meets Boots (Sheria Irving), and the two bond as underdogs in life.
Several months later, Bobby has lost a ton of weight and become a fixture at the gym, but he still carries the baggage of a loser, almost a mascot to the gym. He spends so much time there that he’s neglected his responsibilities to his brother and his family. He also stands back and watches Boots endure her abusive relationship with her baby daddy, Tony (Jay Hieron). Bobby also carries a few secrets of his own, such as why he chose Jo’s gym, his current marital status, and his fight with MS.
Bobcat Moretti is that inspirational film we’ve been waiting for all year. Inspiration comes from the relationship built between Jo and Bobby. Jo is more than a boxing coach; she’s practically his life coach. She uses the discipline of boxing to focus Bobby’s attention on tackling one problem after the other. Jo uses the ring as a metaphor for Bobby to fight through the problems of his life and figure out the answers. It’s almost spiritual in the way she views Bobby’s MS and must be seen to believe.
“…Bobby offers to clean the sweat and blood off the boxing ring mats in exchange for being trained.”
Yes, there is a big fight against Tony in which Bobby finds himself way over his head. This fight, though, is not the story we’ve seen in classics like Rockyand Creed. There’s a reality that’s placed in this story that becomes of film’s symbolic focal point.
Realbuto is put through the wringer as Bobby. Yes, he’s very obese at the beginning, and by the second act is cut down to a nice fighting size. He carries much of the film’s emotional weight and garners our sympathies beautifully. We want to root for him while never stepping into the realm of pathetic. We know Vivica A. Fox can act, and she holds nothing back as she takes her role as Bobby’s “sponsor” deadly seriously. Can she run a boxing gym? Hell yeah, and she brings the life experience and wisdom of a Mr. Miyagi to reach Bobby in his time of need.
Bobcat Moretti is a very independent story. When you see him, Tim Realbuto isn’t exactly the Tom Cruise type that Hollywood is looking for. He’s one of us, which makes one believe we could follow in Moretti’s footsteps to tackle whatever problem we face. If I were to call out a weakness, it’s the boxing-match cinematography. This is a low-budget indie, and this story is just about the actual boxing.
Bobcat Moretti speaks to everyone with its inspirational story. Our only limitations are the ones we place on ourselves. Yes, sports are about winning, but not necessarily coming in first place or strapping a championship belt around our waist. Winning in the sense of overcoming our weaknesses and coming out on top.
There were chaotic scenes at the BRICS conference in South Africa when a man thought to be Xi Jinping‘s translator was body-slammed by security staff as he rushed to the Chinese President’s side.
President Xi walked the red carpet at the event in Johannesburg on Wednesday where he was greeted by officials before the plenary conference session began.
As he entered the main area of the venue, a Chinese official lurched forward in an apparent attempt to catch up with his boss.
Security guards became suspicious and immediately jumped on the man, shoving him against the wall with full force before flinging the doors closed to stop him from following Xi inside.
The president repeatedly glanced back dumbfounded, possibly wondering what the commotion was about or questioning the whereabouts of his official.
President Xi walked the red carpet at the event in Johannesburg on Wednesday where he was greeted by officials before the conference session began
The president repeatedly glanced back dumbfounded, possibly wondering what the commotion was about or questioning the whereabouts of his official
Xi tried to maintain his composure as the bizarre episode unfolded, continuing to walk down the carpet despite the dramatic events going on just behind him
Xi tried to maintain his composure as the bizarre episode unfolded, continuing to walk down the carpet despite the dramatic events going on just behind him.
The footage went viral online as the BRICS countries – a bloc which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – met for their annual summit.
They agreed the admission of six new members, with Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates set to join the anti-Western alliance from January 1.
The footage went viral online as the BRICS countries – a bloc which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – met to for their annual summit
‘This membership expansion is historic,’ said Xi Jinping, whose nation is the most powerful in the group of large and populous non-Western economies.
‘The expansion is also a new starting point for BRICS cooperation. It will bring new vigour to the BRICS cooperation mechanism and further strengthen the force for world peace and development’.
It comes after President Xi unexpectedly skipped a speech at the business forum on Tuesday, with no reason given for his absence.
It’s time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off.
Quordle is the only one of the many Wordle clones that I’m still playing now, around 18 months after the daily-word-game craze hit the internet, and with good reason: it’s good fun, but also difficult.
What’s more, its makers (now the online dictionary Merriam-Webster) are also keeping it fresh in the form of a new variant called the Daily Sequence, which sees you complete four puzzles consecutively, rather than concurrently.
But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for Wordle hints, you’ll probably need some for this game too.
I’m a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who’s been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #578 and the answers to the main game and Daily Sequence.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
Your Quordle expert
Your Quordle expert
Marc McLaren
Marc is TechRadar’s UK Editor in Chief and has been playing Wordle and Quordle for more than a year. He’s authored dozens of articles on the game for TechRadar and its sister site Tom’s Guide, including a detailed analysis of the most common letters in every position. His Wordle streak recently reached the 500 mark and he’ll be inconsolable if he loses it. Yes, he takes it all too seriously.
Quordle today (game #578) – hint #1 – Vowels
How many different vowels are in Quordle today?
• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.
* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).
Quordle today (game #578) – hint #2 – total vowels
What is the total number of vowels in Quordle today?
• The total number of vowels across today’s Quordle answers is 6.
Quordle today (game #578) – hint #3 – repeated letters
Do any of today’s Quordle answers contain repeated letters?
• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.
Quordle today (game #578) – hint #4 – total letters
How many different letters are used in Quordle today?
• The total number of different letters used in Quordle today is 13.
Quordle today (game #578) – hint #5 – uncommon letters
Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?
• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today’s Quordle answers.
Where Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day, Quordle presents you with four puzzles to solve. And rather than complete them in turn, you do so simultaneously. You get nine guesses, rather than the six for Wordle, but the rules are otherwise very similar.
As with Wordle, the answers are the same for every player each day, meaning that you’re competing against the rest of the world. And also as with Wordle, the puzzle resets at midnight so you have a fresh challenge each day.
The website also includes a practice mode – which I definitely recommend using before attempting the game proper! – and there are daily stats including a streak count. You also get Quordle Achievements – specific badges for winning a game in a certain number of turns, playing lots of times, or guessing particularly hard words.
Oh, and it’s difficult. Really difficult.
What are the Quordle rules?
The rules of Quordle are almost identical to those of Wordle.
1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.
2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow.
3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray…
4. …BUT the word you guess appears in all quadrants of the puzzle at the same time, so an A could turn green in one square, yellow in another and gray in the final two.
5. Answers are never plural.
6. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.
7. Each guess must be a valid word in Quordle’s dictionary. You can’t guess ABCDE, for instance.
8. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses and there is no equivalent of Wordle’s Hard mode.
9. You have nine guesses to find the Quordle answers.
10. You must complete the daily Quordle before midnight in your timezone.
What is a good Quordle strategy?
Quordle needs to be approached in a different way to Wordle. With four puzzles to solve in nine guesses, you can’t blindly throw letters at it and expect to win – you’ll stand a far better chance if you think strategically.
That’s the case in Wordle too, of course, but it’s even more important in Quordle.
There are two key things to remember.
1. Use several starting words
Firstly, you won’t want just a single starting word, but almost certainly two or three starting words.
The first of these should probably be one of the best Wordle starting words, because the same things that make them work well will apply here too. But after that, you should select another word or possibly two that use up lots more of the most common consonants and that include any remaining vowels.
For instance, I currently use STARE > DOILY > PUNCH. Between them, these three words use 15 of the 26 letters in the alphabet including all five vowels, Y, and nine of the most common consonants (S, T, R, D, L, P, N, C and H). There are plenty of other options – you might want to get an M, B, F or G in there instead of the H, maybe – but something like that should do the trick.
If all goes well, that will give you a good lead on what one or sometimes two of the answers might be. If not, well good luck!
2. Narrow things down
Secondly, if you’re faced with a word where the answer might easily be one of several options – for instance -ATCH, where it could be MATCH, BATCH, LATCH, CATCH, WATCH, HATCH or PATCH – you’ll definitely want to guess a word that would narrow down those options.
In Wordle, you can instead try several of those in succession and hope one is right, assuming you have enough guesses left. It’s risky, but will sometimes work. Plus, it’s the only option in Hard mode. But in Quordle, this will almost certainly result in a failure – you simply don’t have enough guesses.
In the scenario above, CLAMP would be a great guess, as it could point the way to four of the seven words in one go.
“There’s a lot of very tense, heavy scenes with a lot of dialogue,” says cinematographer Natalie Kingston. “A lot of the times, it was about restraint. It was about not moving the camera and just letting the audience sit uncomfortably in this tense, awkward, creepy conversation… Sometimes when you don’t move the camera, you really increase that tension.”
Based on a true story, Apple TV+’s Black Bird stars Taron Egerton as Jimmy Keene, a charismatic young man who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for dealing drugs and weapons. Federal authorities offered to fully commute his sentence and wipe his record clean if he could get close to Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser) and convince him to admit to killing more than a dozen women.
Kingston is nominated for the third episode of the season, “Hand to Mouth”, where Jimmy and Larry meet for the first time. “I got the opportunity to shoot the whole series,” says Kingston, “and there’s stuff from all of [the episodes] I’m very proud of, but I picked three because I felt that it was the most representative of the look of the whole series. We get to our main prison location, Jimmy and Larry meet for the first time, so I felt that it was symbolic of the whole series.”
Restraint proved to be the most valuable asset for Kingston to bring a chilling tone to the series. “I think sometimes in heavy dialogue scenes, the impulse could be to move the camera because it needs something,” she says. “The idea was to do the opposite, to increase the tension by really sinking into that weird, dark dialogue, and then when we did move the camera… it really meant something and you felt it.”
Click the video above to watch the full interview.
Tim Gunn is comin’ to his pal Heidi Klum‘s defense after rumors spread her daily intake is a paltry 900 calories … a number he says she easily hits just between meals!
We got Tim at LAX and we asked him if he could confirm or deny the Heidi’s calorie count reports, and he’s certainly doing the latter here.
He playfully says one of Heidi’s snack breaks would add up to the bogus total folks are claiming … and applauds the supermodel for keeping her incredible physique while eating normal portions.
For those unaware, Heidi responded Tuesday to the noise on Instagram, denying the 900 calorie allegation. It all started when she got candid online about her weight earlier this week, and she says that’s when folks really ran with the phony number.
She also told her followers she’s never had to count calories before — which is a pretty big flex, BTW … especially considering how great she looks at 50!!!
‘Pirates of the Caribbean’CREDIT: Disney
‘Heat’Warner Bros. 
‘Mad Men’CREDIT: AMC
‘Love, Death & Robots’CREDIT: Netflix
‘Get Out’CREDIT: Universal Pictures
‘Blade Runner’
‘Vertigo’CREDIT: Paramount Pictures
‘Saving Private Ryan’Paramount
