J Noa, the Dominican teen rap dynamo, drew expressions of wonder and joy from a quartet of rap’s founders with an intricate, sometimes lightning-paced freestyle that stretches on and on. In video, filmed at the birthplace of hip-hop in the Bronx this week, she went off verse after verse, boasting about her freestyle skills, how no one can compare to her, and how she’s always repping the Dominican flag.
Her audience included DMC, Grandmaster Caz, the Funky 4 + 1’s Sha-Rock, and the Fearless Four’s Mighty Mike C — four of the genre’s trailblazers who were also visiting the site. The meeting was unplanned.
As she raps, DMC nods his head and looks her in the eye, his smile widening as the video goes on, and Caz get into the groove. Sha-Rock, who, it should be noted, was rap’s first female MC, smiles and leans forward as she watches. J Noa, her ballcap reversed (like her hip-hop forefathers), bends slightly at the knees and gesticulates each word. After a minute, she kicks things into fourth gear and spits a warp-speed verse that would impress J.J. Fad. When she ends, the hip-hop luminaries break into applause and cheer, as Mighty Mike C introduces his friends. “This is what hip-hop does,” he says.
Trending
J Noa, who is only 17, has been one of the leading emcees in the Latin rap scene since bursting out of the Dominican Republic. A couple of months ago, she released a new EP, Autodidacta, which contains seven songs, including some verses at her signature whiplash-inducing velocities.
“I feel like I came to revive rap,” she told Rolling Stonerecently. “To me, most rappers should be intentional about what they write, about what they recite. Otherwise, why would rap serve them, or why would they be considered rappers if they don’t live the reality of what they’re rapping about?”
Ananya Panday, Aditya Roy Kapur Spotted Cozying Up At A Holiday; Shah Rukh Khan Wants To Book First Jawan Ticket for Salman Khan.
From Shah Rukh Khan wanting to buy tickets to Salman Khan for Jawan to Ananya Panday and Aditya Roy Kapur being caught in their PDA moment in Lisbon, here are the biggest headlines of the day.
Shah Rukh Khan sent his love to Salman Khan after the latter gave a shoutout to Jawan prevue. On Tuesday evening, Salman took to Twitter and declared that he will be catching a show on the first day of Jawan. Replying to his tweet, SRK said, “Pehle Bhai, issi liye aapko hi dikhaya tha!! Thanks for your wishes and booking the first ticket already. Love you.”
Looks like Aditya Roy Kapur, 37 and Ananya Panday, 24, are going strong and their status isn’t ‘rumoured’ anymore. The couple, who has, so far evaded questions on dating, have been spotted on a romantic holiday in Lisbon and the pictures are going viral on the internet. In one picture, the actor can be seen holding ladylove Ananya close as they watched the skyline. In another, both can be seen posing with fans.
Kim Kardashians had a moment of surprise when she noticed a spooky shadow in the background of one of her recent selfies. She wrote, “Soooo I took this pic last week when I was alone and now going through my phone I am freaking out noticing a woman in the window.” Closer home, Shraddha Kapoor, who’s shooting for Stree 2 in Chanderi, shared the post on her Instagram Stories. Taking a dig at Stree’s now-famous dialogue ‘Woh Stree hain’, she wrote, “Woh Stree hai.. Woh Kahin bhi pohonch sakti hai.”
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, refused to hear an urgent plea against an order by the Allahabad High Court which summoned the makers of Prabhas starrer Adipurush to appear before it on July 27. The apex court will now hear the case on Thursday, July 13. The Allahabad high court had earlier ordered Adipurush director Om Raut, producer Bhushan Kumar, and dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir to appear before it on July 27. The court had also asked the central government to form a five-member committee to look at the controversies surrounding the movie.
After the success of The Kashmir Files, Vivek Agnihotri is currently working on his upcoming movie The Vaccine War. Recently, the filmmaker held an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session on social media when a user dared him to release his movie with Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan if he ‘has guts’. However, Vivek Agnihotri responsed to this saying he does not believe in Bollywood box office clashes. Not just this, the filmmaker also shared that he is sure Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan will be an ‘all-time blockbuster’.
Aditi Giri, Senior Sub-Editor at News18. She is a Bollywood and Biryani enthusiast. She loves talking to your favourite BTown celebrities, and brings …Read More
For over a decade, Robert Downey Jr. was Iron Man.
The veteran actor’s performance as Tony Stark in 2008’s Iron Man would go on to launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while Downey Jr. and his fellow Avengers became pop culture phenomena.
Source: polygon.com
After portraying Iron Man in ten films over 11 years, Tony Stark died saving the world in Avengers: Endgame, ending Downey Jr.’s Marvel run. While the actor has only ever said good things about his time working with Marvel, he admitted in a recent interview that he did have some concerns about playing the same character for over a decade.
Stretching Other Muscles
“You start to wonder if a muscle you have hasn’t atrophied,” Downey Jr. said.
Downey Jr. is set to star as Lewis Strass in the upcoming Christopher Nolan epic Oppenheimer.
Photo: Universal Studios
When asked if he was worried that his acting skill suffered after being focused on Marvel for so long, Downey Jr. admitted that he was.
“Yes. 100%, and I knew there was a point where Christopher Nolan was endorsing, let’s work those other muscles, but let’s do it while rendering you devoid of your usual go-to things.”
A Different Robert Downey Jr.
A key point of emphasis, when it came to Nolan’s vision for Downey Jr.’s Oppenheimer performance, was that he didn’t want the actor relying on his trademark charm.
According to Downey Jr., he had to stay away from “usual go-to things,” which Downey Jr. described as “fast-talking, charming, unpredictable, blah, blah, blah.”
“He’s one of our great actors, and though a generation of kids know what a great movie star he is, they’ve not seen his subtlety and brilliance,” Nolan recently told the Los Angeles Times about casting Downey Jr. “I wanted to get him to do something completely different, to lose himself in another human being. When was the last time we’ve seen that? ‘Chaplin’? Directors are very aware of how talented Downey is, but because of his incredible energy that can punch through the screen, finding the right thing for him is difficult.”
Photo: SlashFilm
Oppenheimer will open in theaters nationwide on July 21.
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Superman: Legacy casting is far from over, with Anthony Carrigan boarding the DC Universe movie as another Justice League hero, Metamorpho. The new DC Universe is on its way from James Gunn and Peter Safran, who are serving as co-CEOs of DC Studios. The first major movie is currently in the works, Superman: Legacy, featuring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel.
It turns out that Superman: Legacy’s hero recruitment isn’t over yet, as THR has revealed Anthony Carrigan has been tapped to play Metamorpho. This isn’t the first time the Barry star has portrayed a DC character as Carrigan also played Victor Zsasz on FOX’s Gotham and The Mist on The CW’s The Flash. James Gunn tweeted confirmation of Carrigan’s casting:
“I am unbelievably excited for Metamorpho,” Gunn wrote, before adding, “and this opportunity to work with Anthony Carrigan.” The news comes only a day after the casting of Green Lantern and more heroes in Superman: Legacy.
Created by Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon in January 1965, Rex Mason, aka Metamorpho, has been a long-time member of the Justice League, as well as other notable teams in the DC Universe. Rex’s history begins when he was aiding Stagg Enterprises CEO, Simon Stagg, in finding the Orb of Ra. However, Simon tried to have him killed when he found out that Rex was dating his daughter, Sapphire.
When Rex gets exposed to a radioactive meteorite, he becomes a powerful metahuman, the Element Man, better known as Metamorpho. Rex gains the ability to shape-shift into elements and is basically invulnerable whenever he is in an alternative state. Superman: Legacy will mark the hero’s live-action debut after having appeared in numerous DC animated projects.
With the addition of Metamorpho, Gunn continues to show how different Superman: Legacy will be in comparison to past Superman movies by really getting an early start in showcasing his new DC Universe. Time will tell when more casting will come for Superman: Legacy, given that a potential SAG-AFTRA strike is looming. Hopefully, Gunn will have more characters ready to reveal for Superman: Legacy before the year is over.
LG’s thin 55-inch G3 OLED Evo 4K TVs are discounted as part of Amazon’s Prime Day 2023 event and Best Buy’s Black Friday In July sale. The savings is nearly identical between the two retailers–you can grab the 55-inch LG OLED Evo for $1,497 at Amazon or $1,500 at Best Buy (normally $1,900).
The LG G3 OLED Evo 4K smart TV runs on webOS 23, which supports virtually every major streaming app. It’s also a great option for gaming thanks to its four HDMI 2.1 ports, 120Hz refresh rate, and low 0.1ms input latency. It also supports Dolby Vision HDR for video content and variable refresh rate (VRR) for gaming via Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync, and features a built-in Game Optimizer mode and Game Dashboard.
Along with the 55-inch model, several other LG G3 OLED Evo TVs are also on sale at Amazon and Best Buy at similar discounts. The 43-inch option, for example, is down to $1,196 at Amazon and $1,200 at Best Buy (normally $2,000), while the larger 77-inch model is down to $3000 at both Amazon and Best Buy (normally $3,600). Several other sizes are available, so be sure to check the listing at both retailers to see all the deals.
If you’re interested in other TV deals happening this week, be sure to check our roundup of the best Prime Day 2023 deals for more discounts at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and more. And keep an eye on our Prime Day 2023 news hub for all the latest sales.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
John Ridley is the Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave writer, writer/director of Five Days At Memorial, and the Eisner-nominated writer of the DC Graphic novel series GCPD: The Blue Wall, which premieres in September about systemic injustice in the Gotham City PD. He’s been working in Hollywood long enough to witness the the ebbs and flows of diversity initiatives, and he fears the inclusion momentum that came after the death of George Floyd and opened opportunities to new filmmakers, could well turn into a forgotten fad as the urgency fades.
History doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes. Mistakes made in the past arrive again in the present, slightly re-dressed but always familiar.
The Supreme Court’s recent decision gutting “Affirmative Action” in college admissions is, sadly, the latest ebb in the flow toward social equality endured by people from traditionally marginalized communities.
This cyclical roll back of gains made is currently happening in politics.
It’s happening in the business world.
It’s happening across entertainment.
When I first hit Hollywood in 90s, upstart networks Fox and UPN (later the WB) were trying to build market share by focusing on what they euphemistically called “urban audiences.” It was, largely, the first time networks really focused on representation both in front of, as well as behind the camera. I can remember sitting in the almost exclusively BIPOC writers’ room on The Martin Show thinking that was just the first of what would be any number of opportunities waiting for all of us.
But once Fox and the WB built their market share, both networks did a pivot to more “upscale” audiences largely abandoning shows that led with representation. Through the 90s into the early 2000s TV became a desert that lacked real representation.
In 2002 I remember real distinctly the historic night Halle Berry and Denzel Washington took home well-deserved Oscars. The first time that both lead acting awards had gone to Black performers. It was on a night made all the more poignant when Denzel presented Sidney Poitier with an honorary statue. I don’t think I was alone in believing Hollywood had arrived to a watershed moment.
Then, #OscarSoWhite.
No. History doesn’t repeat. It’s 2023, and it feels like Hollywood is about to give us a new verse of the same old song.
Really doesn’t seem that long ago when, in a matter of days over the summer of 2020 – in the wake of the assassination of George Floyd – our son was out (peacefully) protesting against systemic bias just feet away from armed police officers, I was writing an open letter encouraging context to be added to the opening of Gone with the Wind on HBO, and Hollywood was promising to do a better job of elevating “diverse” voices within the industry.
So, what happened? Other than some context being added to the opening of Gone with the Wind (I mean, I think it’s still there. To be honest I haven’t checked, and I understand there’ve been some changes in leadership at the joint) not much.
According to the 2022/2023 UCLA Hollywood Diversity Reports, Hollywood remains a hostile environment for traditionally underrepresented groups. Despite minorities making up 43.1 percent of the U. S. population in 2022, the report finds that people of color “remained underrepresented on every industry employment front (emphasis added) during the 2020-21 television season”.
Some of the more painful “lowlights” of the reports:
Only 2.5 out of 10 show creators in digital scripted TV are people of color.
Only 3.8 out of 10 lead actors in digital scripted TV are people of color.
Only 3.3 out of 10 credited writers in digital scripted TV are people of color.
Shows created by people of color and women tended to receive smaller budgets than those created by white men, particularly in the digital arena.
About 2.2 out of 10 lead actors in theatrical films are people of color.
And stunningly:
Only 1.7 out of 10 theatrical film directors are people of color.
Only 1.5 out of 10 theatrical film directors are women.
Only 1.2 out of 10 theatrical film writers are people of color.
If you’re a writer of color, and you know another writer of color who’s on a film, you’re only got a .2 chance of getting a job. Sad.
Despite the lack of representation, the reports find that “In 2022, median global box office receipts peaked for those that had diverse casts — from 31 percent to 40 percent minority. For the top films released via streaming platforms in 2022, ratings for most groups were also highest for films with casts that were from 31 percent to 40 percent minority.” Similar was true with the “success rate” for television, and in all circumstances these “diverse” projects were more likely to be reflective behind the camera as well.
So much for “go woke, go broke.”
Same as in every business sector, we – the traditionally marginalized – support commerce with our dollars even when we do not get the support we need for advancement. And the support that is in present is eroding at the same speed it was hastily put into place. Reports abound on the exodus of BIPOC execs – most of them women – from leadership positions in Hollywood and the seeming indifference from the upper levels of the various content providers. Having BIPOC execs in place doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing for creators of color (ooooh, trust me. I know that from experience) but I have lived through and heard way too many stories of creatives having to “prove” to execs that the nuances of our lived experiences matter in storytelling. That, as opposed to taking meetings with people who have an innate understanding of where we’re coming from the jump.
This is not meant to be an “us vs. them” indictment. The opportunities I had early in my career – probably more opportunities than I deserved – were provided by guys who were dead center of the Prevailing Culture: John Wells, Mitch Hurwitz, Jordan Moffat, and the late and I really, really mean great John Bowman. While these guys are not unicorns, the stats show that – no pun intended – they are in the minority. And If the gatekeepers don’t feel the moral imperative to do better, maybe it’s time to stop wishing for change and start insisting on it.
This current work stoppage Hollywood’s going through has revealed legit grievances surrounding pay, contracts and transparency. At the same time there’s a demand to mandate a formula for the size of writers’ rooms. So, if one can mandate the number of writers in a room, where’s the push to mandate the demographic make up of rooms? And I don’t want to hear “you can’t mandate “diversity.”” A mandate, is a mandate, is a mandate. If all that is being mandated is the status quo, that doesn’t cut it. I’ll be straight: I don’t believe in any room mandates. Bad idea. But considering the state of Hollywood – considering the demonstrative lack of progress even in 2023 – mandates that don’t make allowances for the traditionally marginalized are just codifying privilege. Affirmative Action without the “Affirmation.” For the dollars spent by “our” communities, we deserve better.
The truth is the way forward is not easy, it’s not always going to be pleasant, it’s not going to work for everyone, but it will surely work better than what’s been served up in the past.
In her dissent of the Supreme Courts ruling on “Affirmative Action” in college admissions, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote: “The only way out of this morass—for all of us—is to stare at racial disparity unblinkingly, and then do what evidence and experts tell us is required to level the playing field and march forward together, collectively striving to achieve true equality for all Americans.”
While I hope and pray Justice Jackson never leaves the Court, if she did we could desperately use her as an exec here in Hollywood.
Imax announced Wednesday that it plans to spend $124 million to get full ownership of Imax China. The subsidiary was listed on the Hong Kong exchange and was established in 2011 by Imax to oversee its business in Greater China, which has become a key market for the exhibition company. Imax creates wide-screen technology that enables theater owners to charge premium prices — it is also a favorite with filmmakers such as Christopher Nolan and Michael Bay, who its proprietary cameras to produce their movies.
Since COVID, Hollywood films have struggled to attract the same level of business as they did pre-pandemic, but local-language titles such as “The Wandering Earth 2” and “Lost in the Stars” have been huge hits when they have screened in Imax.
As part of the proposal, Imax will buy the outstanding 96.3 million shares in Imax China. The offer represents an approximate 49% premium on the 30-trading day average closing price. Upon approval of the offer, Imax Corporation will own 100% of Imax China.
Imax predicted that the transaction will unlock approximately $2 million of annual cost savings as well as lead to tax efficiencies. It will finance the deal by tapping its current cash reserves and possibly through debt financing.
“This deal is a win-win for Imax Corporation and Imax China, as it unlocks significant financial benefits for Imax while offering Imax China investors a meaningful premium to current market prices,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of Imax Corporation. “The public listing of Imax China raised capital to help fuel a period of tremendous growth for Imax in China, and this transaction has the potential to usher in a new era of expansion for our brand and technology in this thriving market for entertainment.”
Morgan Stanley is serving as Imax Corporation’s financial advisor, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is acting as Imax Corporation’s legal advisor.
Anthony Carrigan had much to celebrate on Wednesday. Not only did he earn a third Emmy nomination for his work on “Barry,” but he’s been cast as the character Metamorpho in James Gunn’s upcoming DC reboot “Superman: Legacy.”
“I’m so pumped,” Carrigan told TheWrap about working with Gunn. “I’ve been really excited to work with James for a while now. I think James is one of those few directors that has the magic touch that can take difficult source material and just elevate it and make it so watchable and magical and so fun to watch. I’m excited to collaborate and bring my spark to it and just light it all up.”
The Noho Hank actor said he wasn’t able to read a full script for the “Superman” film and said he’s “kind of in the dark” on how big his role in the DC film will be, but he’s excited to be part of this fresh new chapter for the DC Universe.
Metamorpho, also known as Rex Mason, is a superhero in the DC Comics universe that was created in 1965 by writer Bob Haney and artist Ramona Fradon. Metamorpho possesses the power to shape-shift his body into various forms using the elements contained within the human body.
Carrigan joins a cast that includes David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific.
Gunn’s film kicks off a new era for DC characters at Warner Bros. that will also include a new Batman film called “The Brave and the Bold,” which Andy Muschietti (“The Flash”) is attached to direct.
“Superman: Legacy” is slated for release on July 11, 2025.
The 2023 Emmy nominations are in, and Ted Lasso has emerged as one of the shows getting a lot of attention. The popular comedy series accessible to Apple TV+ subscribers has scored six nominations for the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, which includes Brett Goldstein once again getting a nod for his performance as Roy Kent, as well Phil Dunster, who plays Jamie Tartt, scoring his first nom. While reacting to his third Emmy nomination for Ted Lasso, Goldstein made sure to throw in some recognition for his co-star.
Both Goldstein and Dunster being nominated for Emmys in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category comes roughly a month and a half after Ted Lasso Season 3 concluded, with that batch of episodes seeing Roy and Jamie finally forming a friendship, or at least something close to that, after years of bickering and fighting. So it’s only fitting that Goldstein showed Dunster some love in the official statement he released following the Emmy nominations announcement (via TV Line), saying:
Ahhhhhhhh f—k yeah! This is amazing! To be nominated once is insanity, twice is nuts but for this to be a hat trick feels silly and proof that we live in a simulation. It makes me feel incredibly lucky, especially when it’s in the company of genuine acting legends. What an incredible list to be on and, at long last, it is wonderful to see my fit friend and extraordinary talent Phil Dunster be added to that list. Thanks as always to [Ted Lasso co-creators] Jason [Sudeikis], Bill [Lawrence], Brendan [Hunt] and Joe Kelly for inviting me onboard. I’m nothing without them and my fellow Greyhounds. What a ride this whole Lasso train has been, filled with magic. Thank you to the Television Academy for making life a dream. I’m moved as f—k.
It’s only appropriate that Brett Goldstein and Phil Dunster are up for Emmys the same year that Roy Kent and Jamie Tartt are finally on pleasant terms with one another. Granted, they did get into a literal fight in the Ted Lasso Season 3 finale over Juno Temple’s Keeley Jones, but for the most part, they’re unquestionably in a much better place with one another compared to when Jason Sudeikis’ title character arrived to coach for AFC Richmond in the Season 1 premiere. More importantly for right now though, it was nice of Goldstein to bring Dunster up while commenting on his latest nomination, feeling that his co-star/friend is just as deserving of this recognition. Now we wait to see if Goldstein will walk away with his third Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy, if Dunster will take home the trophy or if one of their competitors will walk away with the trophy.
Speaking of those competitors, the other nominees in that category this year include Barry actors Anthony Carrigan and Henry Winkler, The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Abbott Elementary’s Tyler James Williams. Meanwhile, turning our attention back to Ted Lasso, both Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham, the latter of whom plays Rebecca Welton, have been nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series category, while the show itself has been nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series. Since premiering in 2020, Ted Lasso has collected eight Emmy wins total, along with 15 other nominations. Its other accolades include winning two Golden Globes and being nominated in four other categories.
We’ll see see how things go for Brett Goldstein and Phil Dunster when the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards air September 18 on Fox as part of the 2023 TV schedule. As for Ted Lasso, it still hasn’t been cleared up if the show is truly done, if it will continue into Season 4 or if a spinoff will move forward, though Juno Temple certainly has thoughts about that final option.
Bob Iger‘s contract as CEO at Disney has been extended another two years through 2026, the Walt Disney Company announced Wednesday. The decision by the board was unanimous.
Though Iger had said time and again that his return would only be for a two-year stint since he came back to Disney in November, leading to more questions about a successor, he’ll have an additional two years to accomplish and solve the problems for which he was brought back to fix in the first place.
“Time and again, Bob has shown an unparalleled ability to successfully transform Disney to drive future growth and financial returns, earning him a reputation as one of the world’s best CEOs,” Mark G. Parker, chairman, The Walt Disney Company, said in a statement. “Bob has once again set Disney on the right strategic path for ongoing value creation, and to ensure the successful completion of this transformation while also allowing ample time to position a new CEO for long-term success, the Board determined it is in the best interest of shareholders to extend his tenure, and he has agreed to our request to remain Chief Executive Officer through the end of 2026.”
Iger’s contract extension keeps him onboard as CEO through that time — not as a consultant or chairman or other title. And as of now, no successor for Iger has been selected, though the Disney board has a committee to find the next person for the job.
“Because I want to ensure Disney is strongly positioned when my successor takes the helm, I have agreed to the Board’s request to remain CEO for an additional two years,” Iger added in a statement. “The importance of the succession process cannot be overstated, and as the Board continues to evaluate a highly qualified slate of internal and external candidates, I remain intensely focused on a successful transition.”
Iger’s shocking return as CEO back in November 2022 and the ouster of Bob Chapek came after the company suffered a $1.5 billion loss in its direct-to-consumer (streaming) division for its fiscal fourth quarter. In the time since he’s returned, Iger has aggressively cut costs, including laying off 7,000 Disney employees and restructuring the company from the format established under Chapek, including dismantling the DMED division, or Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, the company’s tech and product team.
Iger also installed Dana Walden (considered by analysts and industry types as an internal candidate for the next CEO) and Alan Bergman as the new heads of Disney General Entertainment and separated their business from Disney’s theme parks and from ESPN. He’s also announced plans to integrate Hulu as a tile into Disney+, and he’s also overseen as Disney+ has removed dozens of titles from its service in another cost-saving move.
He’s also contended with added pressure from Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida over the conflict around the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation dating back to March 2022 when Chapek was still in charge. And Disney has had to grapple with some underperformance at the box office for titles like “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Elemental,” and most recently “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”
Iger originally served as CEO between 2005-2020 and was responsible for the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox. He’ll next be tasked with determining whether to buy out Comcast’s stake in Hulu, which seems highly likely at this point.
AMAZON ORIGINAL REVIEW! In Matteo Pilati’s romantic feature, The Hottest Summer, the summer heat ignites passions and melts a few brain cells against the romantic Italian landscape.
Summer has begun, and a small village along the southern coast of Sicily is experiencing an excruciating heatwave with record temperatures. Our story centers on best friends Lucia (Nicole Damiani) and Valentina (Alice Angelica), who are spending their last summer together helping Don Carlo (Nino Frassica) run his parish’s summer camp for the local children.
The summer starts a bit tense as tension builds between the two best friends because Lucia will soon start school in Rome, leaving Valentina behind, as well as her boyfriend, Omar (Mehdi Meskar), who is going away to live with his father in Egypt for the summer. On the other hand, Valentina will miss Lucia, but she’s a bit more obsessed with not having a boyfriend.
Just as summer camp begins, Don Carlo enlists the help of a priest-in-training, Nicola (Gianmarco Saurino). Valentina instantly falls for the forbidden Nicola and makes every attempt to grab his attention, like an awkward game of tag and a bikini malfunction.
As Lucia is one of the counselors in charge of the camp, she promises to spend time with Nicola and say nice things about Valentina. Over time, Lucia and Nicola learn they have much in common, and their defenses begin to wane along with the heat.
“…Valentina instantly falls for the forbidden Nicola and makes every attempt to grab his attention…”
The Hottest Summer is a romantic comedy that leans heavily into romance and focuses primarily on the unrequited love between Lucia and Nicola. At the story’s spine is that moment love, lust, and passion take over, and our lovers are now placed in a complicated situation. Both Lucia and Nicola are in a relationship with Omar and God (respectively). On top of that, barriers of religious propriety are crossed with Valentina and a bit of nudity, plus Lucia perceived betrayal of her forbidden crush.
Romantic comedies, like The Hottest Summer, are pretty standard fare in we all love to fall in love. We want our characters to fall for one another and try to figure out all the complications later on. The Hottest Summer works primarily because of our leads in Nicole Damiani, Alice Angelica, and Gianmarco Saurino. Three very pretty people caught in the throws of passion and sweaty bodies rubbing against each other…we are in a heat wave, for crying out loud.
Tonally, the comedy in The Hottest Summer is light. Our characters find themselves in awkward situations at the most inappropriate times. Our young leads are pretty h***y, but ultimately the conflict is about the unselfish nature of love that butts right up against its lusty side. Now, added to the comedy is the disapproving older set, including Don Carlo and the nosy Carmen (Stefania Sandrelli). Also, add Omar’s very conservative parents. They act as the B-level antagonists with a dark side of their own.
You’ll enjoy The Hottest Summer for what it is—a light-hearted and slightly h***y rom-com with very beautiful people at the forefront. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but if this is your beverage of choice, drink it all in.
The athletic couple met through the former NFL player’s brother Guy East when the gymnast was in London to be a sports commentator for the 2012 Olympics. (Guy, for his part, was competing in the cycling events.)
“He starts to go on this tangent about this little brother of his and how I have to meet him,” Johnson recalled in a 2018 vlog. Andrew, who was attending Vanderbilt University in Nashville at the time, was intrigued by the idea that the gold medalist was thinking of going to the same school.
“@ShawnJohnson I hear you met my brother Guy! Hopefully you can come to Vandy and the Easts could show you what its all about,” Andrew tweeted at Johnson following Guy’s encounter.
The football player then flew to Los Angeles to meet the highly-decorated athlete, who was filming Dancing With the Stars season 15 after Johnson previously won the mirrorball trophy during season 8). The couple went on their first date, and three years later, Andrew popped the question at the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field. They wed in 2016.
Throughout all of the happiness in their relationship, the Easts endured a difficult time when Johnson suffered a miscarriage in 2017 while trying to get pregnant. Their rainbow baby, daughter Drew Hazel, arrived two years later. Johnson and Andrew later welcomed son Jett James in July 2021.
Keep scrolling to see Johnson and Andrew’s complete relationship timeline:
When we — Brian X. Chen and Mike Isaac, both longtime tech journalists — got an assignment from our editor last week to review Threads, the new social network from Meta, it was like a blast from the past.
Both of us have written about social networks for over a dozen years. In the last half dozen of those years, the social media landscape has been largely static — with the exception of the rise of the short-video app TikTok — and was dominated by Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook.
The arrival of Threads, which was spun out of Instagram and is aimed as a prime place for public, real-time conversations, shakes up that scene. While the new app could end up a fad, it could also be a potent threat to Twitter, which has retained its crown as a hub of conversation for more than a decade.
But how many of us will hang out on Threads? We wondered how we would take to it since one of us — Brian — is a casual Twitter user, and the other — Mike — is a longtime Twitter addict, which might affect our experience with Meta’s new app. Here’s what we found about Threads’ pros and cons and whether it might become a part of your life.
BRIAN Hello, Mike! It’s been a while since we did a collaborative review. Years ago we nerded out on the new PlayStation and Xbox releases. And now we’re back together — why, again?
MIKE Yes, we’re back, this time to peruse the hottest social app of the moment, Threads, which is made by Meta. After playing with it for a few days, I’m starting to wonder if I can kick my Twitter addiction by replacing it with a “friendlier” social network crafted by Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief.
So far, I’m enjoying it. But it definitely feels like a stripped-down version of Twitter. No hashtags, heavy on the influencers — and the worst part is, a lot of the people in my replies don’t seem to get my jokes that usually do well on Twitter.
Brian, I’m worried that all the people coming to Threads from Instagram just don’t know how to post.
BRIAN Well, that’s the interesting thing. Threads is a Twitter clone, but Meta is introducing the concept to never-tweeters who have been on Instagram. So there’s going to be an awkward phase of acclimating.
But let me back up for a second. Threads is a free app you download from the Apple or Google app store. To set it up, you connect it with your Instagram account. Threads then invites you to follow all your friends on Instagram.
From there, it shows a timeline of posts, and you can compose short memos that get published for the public to see. You can embed photos, too, but the focus is text, just like on Twitter.
What are the differences from Twitter that you immediately noticed?
MIKE It feels like Twitter, but on easy mode.
For one, Threads is algorithmically curated, just like Facebook or Instagram. That means when you come in, you see a bunch of different posts based on your interests, whether they were posted five hours ago or five minutes ago. (Is it posted, or is it threaded? Have we decided on the verbiage yet?)
That’s a departure from what we’re used to with Twitter, where the marquee feature is the reverse chronological timeline. That means you see every single post from people you follow in reverse order, which made Twitter indispensable for breaking news and live events.
With Threads, I think the algorithmic curation is intentional on Instagram’s part. They have said they want to make Threads “friendly” as people enter. It feels a bit sterile to me, but I’m also not being bombarded with hate speech and racist tirades, which I consider a big plus.
BRIAN To me, Meta’s interest-based algorithm is a major turnoff. It’s made my Threads feed a pile of posts from accounts I don’t follow, primarily influencers and brands advertising their products. I see very few posts from my actual friends.
To be fair, Twitter’s timeline isn’t great, either. The quality is deteriorating because of changes that affect what people read on the site, including the requirement to pay $8 a month for a Twitter Blue subscription for your posts to show up on others’ timelines.
One other big difference between Threads and Twitter: The character limit on Threads is 500 characters, whereas on Twitter it’s 280 characters for free accounts.
Are more characters a good thing?
MIKE I don’t think so. Brevity is the soul of wit, right? A banger of a tweet comes in short form, in my opinion, not writing a blog post inside of what’s supposed to be a brief message.
Twitter has tested this paid Twitter Blue option where people can post insanely long tweets of 10,000 characters. I feel like that’s getting away from the original point of Twitter’s short-form messages. But maybe I’m just a curmudgeon.
I’m curious: How has it been for you on Threads, overlapping your Twitter-self with your Instagram following?
It’s been a jarring experience for me. I’m very different on my Insta than on Twitter. On Insta, I’m usually posting things I’ve cooked that week or the latest concert I’ve attended. Twitter is more my space for writing about work and the tech industry, while occasionally posting snippets from my personal life. Threads feels like a hybrid of both — at least for the moment.
BRIAN It’s been tricky for me, too, so I haven’t posted much. Like many people, I converted my Instagram into a private account years ago because I didn’t want the public to see photos of my family. It became a “friends-only” network.
With Threads, I now have to think again about what I would share publicly. It’s a trip.
MIKE Totally hear you. I’m still going to try it, but I’m curious if you think this is going to be the next big thing? Especially given that you’re somewhat less active on Twitter than I am.
BRIAN I don’t place bets on tech products as if they are horses. But based on my reporting about how everyday people — who use tech but don’t obsess over it — engage with social networks, they probably won’t post much on Threads.
The truth is Twitter isn’t a social network, and neither is Threads. Both are broadcasting platforms for big brands, celebrities, politicians and media outlets to share information with their followers.
This type of network isn’t conducive to how people actually socialize in communities. In social clubs, people congregate in smaller groups around shared interests. They don’t crowd into an enormous conference room and shout like we do on Twitter and now Threads.
MIKE Absolutely. I have a decent Twitter following that mostly knows what it’s going to get from me and understands when I’m joking. But I’m very aware that when a tweet of mine goes viral and travels outside that sphere of people who know me, I am 100 percent going to get misinterpreted — and probably insulted. We call that “context collapse.”
BRIAN Meta knows this, too. You reported a few years ago that Mark Zuckerberg said people were increasingly shifting away from the big social media platform toward smaller, more siloed networks. Those included private Facebook groups and messaging apps.
MIKE Shout out to the private Slack and Discord groups I’m in that only contain a handful of close friends.
BRIAN And that all makes sense. People have learned that it’s not a great idea to share lots of personal information in the public sphere.
Also, if I want to talk to you, why would I @ you publicly rather than message you? That’s probably the biggest thing Threads lacks compared with Twitter — direct messaging — which makes Threads an inferior product at the moment. But it’s a matter of time until that’s added, since that feature is already part of Instagram.
MIKE I do think there’s a sort of performative element to talking in the public sphere, where my conversations with you take on a different tone and meaning — sort of like we’re talking onstage in front of an audience. There’s something fun about that. But it often can get very unfun very quickly. Messaging, as you note, helps circumvent that.
BRIAN For engaging with brands and influencers, text has also already lost the battle. The growing popularity of TikTok and Instagram’s Reels is evidence that casual tech users, especially young people, would rather see videos of the celebrities and influencers they follow and not read their bite-size text.
At the end of the day, comparing Twitter and Threads is tough since Threads is part of Instagram, which is much larger than Twitter. If the features improve, I could see myself switching to Threads from Twitter eventually because of Instagram’s sheer size, which could bring me more followers. (I’m @bxchen on Threads, by the way.) But like others, I probably won’t spend much time hanging out with friends there.
What about you?
MIKE Right now I’m doing the inconvenient juggling act of trying to post different things to six different networks, and it is not exactly fun. But I assume at least something will die off eventually and I can stop churning out the posts. At least, I hope so.
After giving a partial look at its slate during the upfronts, The CW has announced the official dates and premiere times for its 2023 fall schedule. “All-American,” “61st Street” and the “I Am” film series, which were previously announced to premiere in the fall, have been moved to midseason.
The network once known for its young adult programming is currently in the midst of a massive rebranding following Nexstar’s acquisition last year.
Here is The CW’s full fall 2023 schedule:
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
8:00-9:00PM INSIDE THE NFL (Season Premiere)
9:00-10:00PM THE SWARM (Series Premiere)
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4
8:00-9:00PM SULLIVAN’S CROSSING (Series Premiere)
9:00-10:00PM THE SPENCER SISTERS (Series Premiere)
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12
8:00-10:00PM FBOY ISLAND (Season 3 Premiere)
MONDAY, OCTOBER 16
8:00-8:30PM SON OF A CRITCH (Original Episode)
8:30-9:00PM RUN THE BURBS (Original Episode)
9:00-9:30PM CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING (Original Episode)
Despite all the musical superstars who entered this year’s Emmy competition, only one – Ed Sheeran – managed to score when the 75th annual Emmy Award nominations were announced Wednesday.
Sheeran was nominated (along with co-writers Max Martin and Foy Vance) for the song “A Beautiful Game” for the season 3 finale of “Ted Lasso,” one of two songs from the popular Apple TV+ series that made it into the music-and-lyrics category.
Emmy’s 550-member music peer group ignored the original songs entered by Dolly Parton, David Byrne, Steve Martin, Kid Cudi, Donald Glover and Lainey Wilson, as well as those from such Oscar-winning tunesmiths as Alan Menken, Steven Schwartz, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.
Among the seven music categories, a surprising number of first-time nominees was recognized, and more than one-fourth of all the nominees in the five composition and songwriting categories are women, another positive sign of change in the Hollywood musical landscape.
The shocking omissions among this year’s nominees included any recognition for the music of “Queen Charlotte,” “House of the Dragon,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (including its John Williams theme, considered a shoo-in) or any of the songs in the acclaimed “Daisy Jones & the Six.”
The multiple nominees were predictable, and all are previous Primetime Emmy winners: three nominations for Nicholas Britell (“Succession,” “Andor”), two each for Danny Elfman (“Wednesday”), Laura Karpman (“Ms. Marvel”) and music director Adam Blackstone (“Super Bowl Halftime Show,” “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”).
Composers better known for their work in feature films scored a surprising number of first-time nominations: Gustavo Santaolalla (“Brokeback Mountain”) earned his first Emmy nod for music for HBO Max’s “The Last of Us,” while Howard Shore received his first for the theme for Prime Video’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and John Powell, his first for music for the Apple TV+ documentary “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.” Shore’s three Oscars are for “Lord of the Rings” movies.
In the most-watched music categories, those of “original dramatic score,” six of the 15 nominated programs — more than a third — feature first-time Emmy nominees. Cited for their series composition work are Britell (the Logan’s-death episode of “Succession” and the finale of “Andor”), Santaolalla (episode 3 of “The Last of Us”), Elfman and Chris Bacon (episode 2 of “Wednesday”) and Cristobal Tapia de Veer (episode 4 of season 2 of “The White Lotus”).
Nominated for composition for a limited or anthology series, movie or special are two previous Emmy winners – John Debney (“Hocus Pocus 2”) and Laura Karpman (“Ms. Marvel”) – and four first-timers in the competition: Sarah Schachner for “Prey,” Ariel Marx for “A Small Light” and the team of Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”
Most of the nominees for scoring a documentary series or special have been to the Emmys before: Tony Morales (“Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico”), James Newton Howard (“Light & Magic”), Blake Neely (“Pamela, A Love Story”) and Hans Zimmer (“Prehistoric Planet”). Zimmer’s co-writers on “Prehistoric Planet” – Anze Rozman and Kara Talve – are newcomers, as is Powell for “Still,” the Michael J. Fox doc.
A surprising 11 of the 14 songwriters nominated in the original music-and-lyrics category are freshman nominees. They include: Lili Haydn and Ben Bromfield for “Ginny & Georgia” (song “Marriage Is a Dungeon”); Heather McIntosh, Taura Stinson and Allyson Newman for “The L Word: Generation Q” (song “All About Me”); Al Yankovic for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” (song “Now You Know”); and Sheeran, Vance and Martin for “Ted Lasso.”
Tom Howe, “Ted Lasso’s” composer, was nominated (along with newcomers Jamie Hartman and Sam Ryder) for another “Lasso” song, “Fought and Lost,” while Curtis Moore and Thomas Mizer were singled out for their song “Your Personal Trash Man Can” from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Moore and Mizer have been to the Emmys twice before, also for “Maisel” songs.
Three of the nominees in the main title theme music category are previous Emmy winners: Britell (“Andor”), Karpman (“Ms. Marvel”) and Elfman (“Wednesday”). Joining them, along with Shore for “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” is first-time nominee Holly Amber Church for “Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.”
Blackstone’s dual nominations in the music direction category – “Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show Starring Rihanna,” with Omar Edwards, and “2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony” – place him up against previous winners and nominees: Greg Phillinganes for “Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song: Joni Mitchell,” Rickey Minor for “The Oscars,” and the “Saturday Night Live” team of Eli Brueggemann, Leon Pendarvis and Lenny Pickett for last December’s Austin Butler episode.
The music supervision category is a mix of veterans and newcomers: Frankie Pine for “Daisy Jones & the Six,” and Tony Von Pervieux and Christa Miller for “Ted Lasso” are the fresh faces in the competition. Gabe Hilfer, for “The White Lotus,” has been nominated before, while Robin Urdang (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) is a three-time winner and Nora Felder (“Stranger Things”) has won once.
All seven music categories will be awarded at the Creative Arts Awards, currently scheduled for Sept. 9-10, although those dates are subject to change depending on what happens with the actors and writers in the days and weeks to come.
‘Joy Ride’ is an R-rated comedy about four Asian-Americans in their 20s taking a ridiculously chaotic trip through Asia, in theatres now. It’s a hilarious caper that’s next-level raunchy, like all good summer girl’s trip movies should be. Featuring rising stars Ashley Park (from “Emily in Paris”), Stephanie Hsu (from “Everything, Everywhere All at Once”), Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu, this latest addition to the friends-trip-gone-wrong canon is getting rave reviews, including a 91 per cent Rotten Tomatoes rating.
One review in particular has the meme machine in overdrive, though: Jackson Murphy of Lights Camera Jackson deemed the film “embarrassing,” stating it “objectifies men, targets white people.” This prompted director Adele Lim to clap back that she’d like to wear that phrase on a T-shirt. Hilarious stuff.
The Kit’s Renée Tse watched an early Canadian screening of ‘Joy Ride’ with Lainey Lui, eTalk senior correspondent, The Social co-host and LaineyGossip.com founder. They laughed, they cried, then they had a deep discussion about exactly how ‘Joy Ride’ represents Asians in a refreshingly radical way. Here, Lui’s take on the summer’s best road trip film.
‘Joy Ride’ defies stereotypical depictions of Asians
“It’s one of the few times in a western movie that Asian women are being raunchy, rude, disrespectful and messy, and that directly attacks the stereotype of what Asian women should be. The meek Asian subservient stereotype? That’s out the door. The uber polite, mannered, nonassertive Asian? That’s out the door, too.
You have the stereotype of the overachieving Asian, which is Ashley Park’s character (Audrey Sullivan), but it’s juxtaposed by Lolo (Sherry Cola), and she’s a mess. She’s an artist. One of those stereotypes is that in an Asian family you’re only supposed to be a lawyer, a doctor, a banker or whatever, and in a sense, that’s a little bit true, but the movie is very self-aware of all these stereotypes and it actively pushes back against them in a confrontational, provocative way.
As you can see from the reaction of that one critic, that provocation worked. That critic was probably like, ‘I’m not used to seeing my Asian women like this. Sorry, Asian women are raunchy? They’re not subservient and kowtowing to the white person? They’re not being uber respectful to white people? Wait a minute.’”
‘Joy Ride’ dispels the Asian monolith myth
“There was a hilarious moment in the airport where the main cast points out different types of Chinese people from different regions. We’re not a monolith, and we can identify them. ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ did that a little bit, but ‘Joy Ride’ went even deeper. You could hear the different Chinese dialects. The dialects were woven in organically without needing to be explained to the audience. If you know, you know, but it doesn’t affect the experience if you don’t know.
The film authentically represents what you encounter in China from block to block or conversation to conversation. You’re going to hear Mandarin spoken slightly differently, and you’re going to hear a different dialect, and if you have the ear for it, you’re going to know.”
On racism in families
“In Lolo’s hometown, you meet her aunties and uncles and all the villagers. That’s a snapshot of what it’s like to 返鄉下 (go visit your hometown), and if you’re Chinese, you would know what it means to go back to your hometown. And in your hometown, you’ll have people who are hicks, a little bit.
There was one scene where one of the elders was a little bit racist and Deadeye bluntly calls out, ‘That’s so racist.’ The movie isn’t saying being Asian or specifically Chinese is being better than anybody else, but it’s saying, ‘Hey, we’re messy, and we’re sloppy and we have elders saying inappropriate things, too — even against other Asian people. But this is who we are. We’re complicated and we’re layered.’
‘Joy Ride’ lets women be unapologetically raunchy
“Sherry Cola making those sex sounds in that one scene? That’s the s — t I love. It’s so hilarious to me that they went there. I also thought Stephanie Hsu did such a good job when she was so horny that you could see it in her facial expressions — she couldn’t hold herself back. That is one hundred per cent the level of horny that I want to see, not just from an Asian movie, but from a movie about women.
In every culture, there’s a stigma against women loving sex, wanting sex and being horny, needing to rub one out. And it’s not just sex raunch — the drug scene on the train is the kind of raunch you see with men all the time, like in ‘The Hangover.’ Those guys did three movies in which the whole film was getting wasted and doing s — t they don’t remember. I can’t remember if I’ve seen a movie where four women get high as f—. Not drunk, I’m talking about cocaine. And nobody feels guilty about it. Nobody needed to apologize or felt bad about themselves. Ashley Park’s character basically said she needed some more. It was unapologetic. I can’t remember seeing that level of excess from a women-led cast.”
On gender identity and queerness
“I think it was really important to have a non-binary character like Deadeye (Sabrina Wu) in the mix. But it wasn’t done in an obvious way; there was no point in the movie where we were like, ‘Hey, you’re non-binary.’ They didn’t need to do a side story and figure out their identity. It was, ‘Deadeye is non-binary,’ and that’s it. And in an Asian movie? We’re not seeing a lot of non-binary or queer people. All of our cultures, but mostly Asian cultures, have a very complicated relationship with queerness. It’s not even tolerated. We don’t talk about it. And here’s Deadeye and they’re the most hysterical character. They covered Deadeye’s non-binary-ness through K-pop, like, ‘This is a community that accepts me for me.’ It was a testament to why people love K-pop.”
On what’s next
“I think true progress is that we don’t have to categorize what comes next and check boxes. It should be whoever wants to tell a story should tell that story. Period. But I guess the most obvious and simple answer to that question is we need a sequel. They built it in, saying they should make this an annual girls trip. Where do the four of them go next? Who’s going on this next adventure where they can get up to their hijinks again?
Same with ‘Girls Trip.’ Shout out to ‘Girls Trip’ because that was such a great movie, and it doesn’t have a sequel and we should have it. Why is ‘The Hangover’ getting 80 sequels and Girls Trip hasn’t gotten one and ‘Joy Ride’ hasn’t gotten one? People love this movie.”
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Britney Spears is speaking out again after accusing a member of Victor Wembanyama‘s security detail of striking her in the face last week in Las Vegas.
The “Hold Me Closer” singer posted an Instagram video Tuesday criticizing an unnamed radio station for allegedly saying she “deserved to be hit” by the basketball phenom’s security guard.
Damian Smith is accused of striking Spears. He’s the director of team security for the San Antonio Spurs, which drafted Wembanyama as the NBA’s No. 1 overall pick last month.
“I heard … this radio station talking smack and talking s— … saying that I ‘deserved to be smacked. Security was doing their job and protecting their client,’” Spears said in the clip.
“I’ve been with the most famous people in the world — ’N Sync at one time. Girls would literally throw themselves at them. On my way into the [hotel in Vegas] actually I was knocked down by three 12-year-olds trying to get my picture. My security, not one time, touched them or even came near them. Point being is: I didn’t appreciate the people saying that I deserved to be hit because no woman ever deserves to be hit.”
The Grammy winner proceeded to repeat her account of what happened. She maintains that she had approached the 19-year-old athlete at the Aria Resort & Casino and “tapped him on the back” in an effort to get his attention when Smith “backhanded” her.
“I did get an apology at my table 30 minutes later,” Spears said Tuesday. “But I have yet to receive a public apology.”
While discussing the incident with KENS 5 reporter Nate Ryan last week, Wembanyama claimed that Spears “grabbed” him from behind.
“Not on my shoulder, she grabbed me from behind,” he said.
“I just know the security pushed her away. I don’t know with how much force, but security pushed her away. I didn’t stop to look so I could walk in and enjoy a nice dinner.”
The 7-foot-4 NBA star added that he wasn’t aware at the time that the person trying to get his attention was Spears.
“I am aware of the player’s statement where he mentions ‘I grabbed him from behind’ but I simply tapped him on the shoulder,” Spears maintained in a statement issued last week.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department recently concluded its investigation into the incident after Spears reported it that night. The department confirmed in a statement that “no charges will be filed against the person involved.”
According to a police report obtained by The Times, members of Wembanyama’s security team denied that Smith struck Spears in the face and claimed that he simply pushed the pop musician’s hand off of the player — a “standard response for most security/bodyguards.”
The report also noted that officers and police detectives reviewed surveillance footage that showed Spears tapping Wembanyama on the shoulder before the guard pushed “her hand off of the player without looking which causes Britney’s hand to hit herself in the face.”
“Due to the fact that [Smith] DID NOT willfully or unlawfully use any force or violence upon Britney and probable cause did not exist an Arrest was not made and a Citation was not given,”an officer wrote in the report.
Times staff writer Nardine Saad contributed to this report.
Marvel Studios just confirmed that a former Avenger has secretly been a Skrull this whole time.
The MCU’s recent Disney+ show, Secret Invasion, relies on one key concept: shape-shifting aliens secretly walk among us, and they could be anyone—even someone’s closest friends. It’s what makes the Skrulls so intimidating; who knows where they could be hiding.
In that vein, fans were expecting the Disney+ series to tell them a familiar MCU character has secretly been a Skrull.
Warning – The rest of this article contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Secret Invasion.
Following Secret Invasion‘s fourth episode, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige talked to Marvel.com about the big revelation that Colonel James Rhodes is actually a Skrull working for Gravik.
Feige shared how they needed “a character that one would not expect to be a Skrull,” something Don Cheadle himself “was on board for:”
“We needed to have a character that one would not expect to be a Skrull… Don [Cheadle] was on board for this reveal of playing and revealing another side of Rhodey and revealing that, yeah, Rhodey has been a Skrull.”
Feige shared that the idea was pitched to Cheadle in the “very early days:”
“When we have amazing actors, like Don, that have been with us for so many years, we very much treat them as partners in the creative collaboration… It was very early days when we pitched this concept to Don, and he very much was into it and into being able to play with different sides of Rhodey that we haven’t seen before.”
While Feige didn’t reveal exactly how long the character’s been in disguise, the Marvel boss teased that fans will come to “understand exactly how long he’s been a Skrull” before hinting that Cheadle’s Rhodes has been a Skrull in “some” of his previous MCU appearances:
“We like the idea of fans going back and watching some of the other appearances of Rhodey and realizing that that wasn’t him.”
Prior to Secret Invasion, Cheadle’s Rhodes appeared in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (which even earned him an Emmy nom!)
Marvel then double-downs on the twist when audiences see Rhodey shape-shift into a Skrull during his morning routine.
Disney+
While this Skrull’s name isn’t spoken during the episode, her name is revealed as Raava thanks to the credits.
Marvel
How Long Has Rhodey Been a Skrull?
Such a big twist like this can be hard for audiences to swallow. This is especially true when Marvel seems to be claiming that someone like War Machine has been a Skrull for a long time.
With Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige mentioning fans going back and watching previous Rhodey appearances, that alone indicates Raava was in disguise for quite a bit.
What’ll make it hard for viewers to accept is that this could mean War Machine, who was with the Avengers for five years and saw his closest friend die, was actually a Skrull and not the real deal. Many will feel like such a reveal cheapens all of those moments.
It also means that all of those fun interactions between Rhodey and the wider MCU cast were never actually him.
It’ll certainly give Rhodey an interesting place to start for Armor Wars. The poor dude is going to have a lot of catch-up to do when he comes out of his Skrull-orchestrated hibernation.
The latest trailer for the upcoming DCU film Blue Beetle has officially dropped, and it showcases more of the powers granted to Jaime Reyes by the Scarab, Khaji Da. It presents fans with a fantastic display of what to expect when the film comes out, what the tone will be, as well as a little bit of what the story will be.
Check out the trailer below:
Xolo Maridueña takes on the role of Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle, and in this trailer we see his journey to becoming a superhero. After bonding with an ancient alien scarab, Jaime is transformed into the Blue Beetle. We get to see more of his amazing abilities than we did in the first trailer, and how his relationship with the Scarab will grow. Susan Sarandon pops up again in this trailer as one of the film’s villain, Victoria Kord, who, in the comics, is the sister of the previous Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, as does Carapax the Indestructible Man, played by Raoul Trujillo, in a very comics accurate suit.
The movie will follow recent college grad Jaime Reyes as he returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero BLUE BEETLE.
The film stars Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle, with Susan Sarandon set to play the film’s main villain, Victoria Kord. Belissa Escobedo is set to play Jaime’s sister Milagro Reyes, while Brazilian star Bruna Marquezine has signed on to play Jaime’s love interest Penny. George Lopez will be playing Jaime’s uncle Rudy and Raoul Trujillo is set to play a secondary villain in Carapax the Indestructible Man. Harvey Guillén is also set to appear.
Angel Manuel Sotodirects from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, based on characters from DC.
Blue Beetle is set to hit theaters on August 18, 2023.
Have you ever wondered what Pokemon you sleep the most like? Well, you probably haven’t, but that hasn’t stopped The Pokemon Company from putting out a quiz to tell you exactly that.
After answering a number of questions based on your sleep habits, the quiz will generate a Pokemon and sleep type to assess your deepest secrets.
This Pokemon Sleep Quiz Will Call You Out On Your Bad Habits
You can take the quiz here. Pokemon Sleep is a new app coming out this summer that will gamify going to bed and being a real human. It’s an odd game that many thought was a joke when it was first announced back in 2019.
It might even insult you! It called me a pile of rocks because I have most of my energy at night. You can check out the results below.
Pokemon Sleep features roughly 100 Pokemon and will add more as time goes on. Much like any other Pokemon game, it takes a lot of time to add over 1,000 weird little monsters to the game.
The quiz will walk you through many of your habits when going to bed, like what time you go to bed on weekdays, days off, and when you feel the most energized. It certainly doesn’t take into account all of the cups of coffee you’ve had Detective Pikachu style.
There are many different options for Pokemon and sleep type, so be sure to share it with your friends and see what everyone gets.
The Pokemon Sleep app is coming sometime this summer. So be sure to stick around Prima Games to learn exactly when you can download the game and try it out for yourself. Who knows what Pokemon you’ll catch in your dreams.
About the Author
Jesse Vitelli
Jesse loves most games, but he really loves games that he can play together with friends and family. This usually means late nights in Destiny 2 or FFXIV. You can also find him thinking about his ever-expanding backlog of games he won’t play and being constantly dehydrated. Do not contact him.
“The visions of yesterday have all caught up to us and we must start looking towards the next visions,” stated moderator and veteran TV writer and producer Wendy Calhoun (Station 19, Empire) emphasizing a recurring theme of the June 22 Sloan Salon panel “Storytelling and Tech: Crafting Human-Centered Stories About Technology.”
The online conversation delved into timely subjects such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT, raising ethical questions about how we represent technology in stories and highlighting some optimistic views on where it could all be headed.
This dynamic discussion was made possible due to Film Independent’s exciting 15+ year partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that encourages filmmakers to create more realistic and accurate stories about science and technology that challenge existing stereotypes about scientists and engineers in the popular imagination. Learn more about Film Independent’s Sloan-supported programs and grants here.
The panel featured Sloan-supported storytellers writer/director Kogonada (After Yang, Columbus) and writer Rom Lotan (Code of Virtue) discussing how they develop stories that responsibly highlight our relationship with technology. Karim Jerbi (Professor, Canada Research Chair, Computational Neuroscience and Cognitive Neuroimaging, University of Montreal) rounded out the panel to share his expertise working at the forefront of technological innovation and discuss the importance of telling inspiring stories with scientific accuracy.
Filmmaker Kogonada at the 2022 Sloan Film Summit (source: Getty Images)
On his initial interest in the intersection of storytelling and technology, Kogonada referenced two books, Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, as works that got him thinking more consciously about technology and how it impacts society in ways both overt and subtle. On McLuhan’s 1964 work, he said: “It was the first time I thought it’s not just content, but it’s the technology that shapes us. We don’t just use technology, but technology can alter us and society.”
During his formative years growing up in Tel Aviv, Rom Lotan described how he loved sci-fi and ultra-futuristic stories featuring advanced technology such as Blade Runner. In the process of refining his early writing projects however, he was more drawn to grounded and realistic technological and science narratives such as 2014’s The ImitationGame, which received funding from the Sloan Foundation. 2001’s A Beautiful Mind, based on mathematician John Nash, was another film he referenced as inspiring in a similar way. Karim Jerbi became excited about science around age 10 by the possibility of creating an actual dream machine. “My dream was to build this machine that would allow us to watch our dreams in real time as they unfold. Some 30+ years later this process, now known as brain decoding, is becoming quite close to reality. He went on to talk about how what seemed like impossible science fiction from a technological perspective just a decade ago is now possible and forces us to constantly reconsider what the genre should be moving forward.
‘After Yang’ (2022, dir. Kogonada)
From there, the conversation flowed into quite a few fascinating directions. Through his exploration of Asian and Eastern science fiction works, Kogonada had several revelations on how AI is presented in Western media. “In a dominant white male narrative, traditionally anything that’s ‘other’ is vilified. It is a threat. There’s been a real history of treating otherness as an immediate threat to whatever is dominant.”
He went on to explain how, in Eastern sci-fi, ]the emphasis is more concentrated on understanding the other and its intent rather than condemning it without thoughtful evaluation. This thought process informed his writing on After Yang and how he presented the titular character, an Asian robot.
Lotan echoed the sentiments of Kogonada (“K” as the group warmly referred to him) about blindly viewing AI as a destructive force. Collectively, they felt a more philosophical approach was productive. “Tech, like any other tool, isn’t bad or good in and of itself. It’s about how people harness and use it. It’s the same with the atom bomb, or with the knife, or with AI. It’s important to identify who is behind the technology and for what purpose it is being used.”
What concerns Lotan is the fact that the public is not a part of the conversation with AI or other emerging technologies. Even decisions such as what type of literature AI is programmed on are important ones that can be made with ill intent if diverse voices are not represented.
Jerbi and Calhoun both decided to take time to discuss optimistic aspects of the future of AI. While the fear of AI replacing human creativity with large language models like ChatGPT is certainly real, Jerbi believes collaboration can exist and enhance creativity overall. “There may be new roots of co-creativity between humans and machines, synergistic approaches.” He went on to discuss how we’ve always incorporated technology into our daily lives and professions, so it is more about figuring out where each new tools fits into the process.
Calhoun spoke to a welcomed byproduct of now-engrained technologies such as social media and how they have been able to act as at times as democratizing forces. “It has done some very positive things for people who weren’t heard, who weren’t seen, who were othered. It has brought them in to a part of the social discourse that they weren’t in before because I think some gatekeepers may kept them and their stories from being heard.” While emerging technologies present inherent threats to society, there are reasons to be hopeful as well.
The Film Independent Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant rewards $120,000 annually through four grants to projects at various stages of development. Past recipients of the grant include The Who Knew Infinity, Future Weather and The House of Tomorrow, among others.
Film Independent promotes unique independent voices, providing a wide variety of resources to help filmmakers create and advance new work. Learn more online and become a Member of Film Independent today.
The FBI wants Swifties to know snitching is actually cool
At this early stage, it’s less of a question of whether any of the actors from these series will take home trophies, but rather which ones. Brain Cox, Jeremy Strong, and Kieran Culkin all earned nominations in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama category—the first time three actors from a single show have been nominated in the field. Meanwhile, in the supporting category, Succession and The White Lotus shut out actors from any other series.
But there is still plenty of other gold to go around. For many of the shows nominated, including other recently concluded series like Barry, Ted Lasso, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Dead To Me, and Better Call Saul, this marks their final chance to take home trophies. All of these shows have been critical darlings ahead of the final seasons, and most have taken home multiple Emmys previously. Better Call Saul stands apart, though, as leads Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn never earned Emmys over the course of the show’s six seasons. Despite the fact that the show ended a year ago, the season being released in two parts allowed a little loophole for Saul to sneak through.
There weren’t too many outrageous surprises within the full list of nominees. The White Lotus had another great year, while the freshman seasons of The Bear and The Last Of Us also got plenty of love. The year’s surprise hit Jury Duty got an outstanding comedy nod, while Rian Johnson’s Poker Face missed out. (Star Natasha Lyonne, however, was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.) Check back on The A.V. Club later for our full list of snubs and surprises.
Breaking it down by network, HBO/Max came out, unsurprisingly, on top with 127 total nominations. Netflix racked up 103. Also unsurprisingly, Succession was the most nominated series of the year, netting 27 nominations, up from last year’s 25. The Last Of Us followed with 24, and The White Lotus earned 23. Behind that, Ted Lasso scored 21 noms, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel snagged 14, and The Bear, Beef, and Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story all earned 13.
The ongoing WGA strike, as well as the possibly imminent SAG-AFTRA work stoppage, figure to impact the lead-up to the Emmys, and possibly on the ceremony itself. Should the actors walk out, neither the performers nor writers will be able to do press for their series. And should the strike(s) continue through September, there won’t be anyone to write the Emmy show nor, possibly, anyone there to accept awards. As such, rumors have already begun that the Television Academy might delay the ceremony to as late as January. One way or another, it’s sure to be a historic Emmys. You can see the full list of nominations here.
Russell Crowe is standing on a stage, playing an electric guitar. He’s singing “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash, accompanied by a trumpetist, a drummer, someone at a keyboard, another guitarist, and even four backing singers. He starts rocking out to the instrumental section. The crowd, full of Czech film industry insiders, international critics, and fans, is undoubtedly entertained.
This is not yet another remake of “A Star Is Born,” but simply the kind of event you can expect to witness at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, taking place every summer in the Czech city and welcoming talent from all over the world.
First established in 1946, KVIFF went through a transformation in the early 1990s following the fall of communism. Karel Och, working at the festival since 2001 and its artistic director since 2011, thinks this shift explains how spectators themselves have changed.
“They didn’t really react at Q&A’s,” he told IndieWire. “They had the tendency to keep their sensations inside. But now, you can see a forest of hands immediately after the screening. They like to ask very sophisticated questions, which is a really interesting mirror of what’s going on in [our] society.”
Most screenings are indeed sold out, whether they be for films that played in Cannes, such as Karim Aïnouz’s “Firebrand,” which opened the Czech festival (with star Alicia Vikander present), or for smaller films having their world premieres, most intriguing amongst them this year being Luka Beradze’s “Smiling Georgia,” a 62 minute-long documentary about an infamous political campaign during which a candidate convinced poor Georgians to have their rotten teeth pulled out and promised them new ones, only to leave them toothless after his defeat.
Stars like Crowe have always been part of the festival experience, with even Rita Hayworth attending the inaugural edition. A private company, the festival needs to please sponsors: “They’re like us in a way, you know? We like to spend time near the stars because if you love cinema, you’re inevitably in love with its glamour as well,” said Och.
The opening night gig was a way to attract Crowe in his music-man era, as are the career awards that the festival gives out every year — Robin Wright and Ewan McGregor were also welcomed at this 57th edition, each selecting a film from their respective careers to be screened.
Russell Crowe performs with his band Indoor Garden Party during the “Firebrand” Premiere and Opening Ceremony for the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film FestivalGetty Images
In addition to receiving statuettes, recipients of the Crystal Globe are also asked to participate in the shooting of a trailer for the festival, typically directed by a Czech filmmaker working in black and white and poking fun at the very concept of awards. In a questionable move, the festival decided to shoot one such trailer with Depp as well, this time in color, in which the star shows off a Crystal Globe he stole and stuck his name onto.
KVIFF isn’t the only film festival unsure of what to do with filmmakers under scrutiny (TIFF, a much bigger festival, canceled the premiere of Ulrich Seidl’s “Sparta” at the last minute last year, and this year’s Cannes Film Festival opened with a film starring Depp and whose director has been sued for assaulting a journalist) but this indecisiveness is a real shame for a festival that has plenty to offer beyond glitter.
This year’s winner of the Crystal Globe Competition, featuring world or international premieres of fiction and documentary works, was the darkly funny and gut-wrenching “Blaga’s Lessons” by Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komandarev, which follows a 70-year-old woman trying to rebuild her savings after falling prey to a phone scam. Such bold Eastern European cinema is Karlovy Vary’s true specialty and the festival has become key for the Czech film industry, with filmmakers fitting their post-production schedules to the festival’s deadline.
The Proxima section presents debuts as well as audacious films from accomplished filmmakers. This year’s highlight for this writer was British production “In Camera,” directed by Naqqash Khalid, an almost experimental exploration of identity and survival in our modern world through the experience of a struggling actor. The main cast and crew of this small debut were invited to attend — as Och explained, filmmakers love the festival for “doing things partially the old way, honoring the fact that festivals are here to facilitate the encounter of the filmmaker with the audience.”
Even filmmakers whose works premiered in Venice or Cannes now want to support their work at KVIFF “because they don’t have that many opportunities anymore to meet those for whom they make films.”
The eclectic film selection stems from pure intuition. “What one of my professors at the faculty told us was to really sit down in the cinema and not think about anything, to just let the movie work you,” said Och, “and to just rely on the years of doing this job. Because the more movies you watch, the better you know your instincts, and ultimately, it’s the instincts that decide.”
Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender attend the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on June 30, 2023 in Karlovy Vary, Czech RepublicGetty Images
This same genuine curiosity determines each year’s retrospective section, with the wild works of post-war Japanese filmmaker Yasuzô Masumura chosen this year by curator Joseph Fahim and screening to packed audiences. And if the team’s cinephilia remained in doubt, it’s worth noting that Och also allows himself to use his privileges as creative director to screen one film by John Cassavetes each year (“Minnie and Moskowitz” this time), simply for the pleasure of it.
Perhaps most strikingly, KVIFF benefits from its charming setting in a spa town where romantic upholstery and pink, yellow, or blue buildings along the river and up the mountain create a sense of being out of time and space. “It might be obvious, but people probably don’t realize enough how important it is to have a festival in a city where the majority of the guests do not work nor live,” said Och, who is based in Prague. “It’s such a challenge to prepare a lineup of films which are often demanding, because we’re talking arthouse cinema, [that will enter] the life of people who spend the day at the office.”
By contrast, Karlovy Vary offers a break from everyday life in an atmospheric environment, aesthetically verging on Wes Anderson’s idea of 20th century Europe but full of diverse and exciting cinema old and new — and with additional score by Russell Crowe.
The trailer for This Fool Season 2 confirms the return of Hulu‘s critically acclaimed irreverent comedy. The half-hour series will premiere the new season in its entirety on Friday, July 28, continuing the binge-release format of the first installment.
Check out the official trailer for This Fool season 2:
What To Know About This Fool Season 2
“This Fool is an irreverent, cinematic half-hour comedy set in working-class South Central Los Angeles,” according to the official synopsis. “After Julio’s job and love life blew up at the end of last season, this season, new roommates Julio and Luis embark on finding new careers and romances with the help of Minister Payne, Chef Percy, and other former Huggers.”
The cast of The Fool season 2 includes Chris Estrada as Julio, Frankie Quinones as Luis, Laura Patalano as Esperanza, Julia Vera as Maria, Michael Imperioli as Minister Payne, Michelle Ortiz as Maggie, and Ivana Rojas as Ruby.
This Fool, which debuted to widespread acclaim in August 2022, is written and executive produced by Chris Estrada, Pat Bishop, Jake Weisman, and Matt Ingebretson. Jonathan Groff and Fred Armisen also serve as executive producers on the series. The Hulu Original comedy series is produced by ABC Signature.
“Morning Joe” wants President Joe Biden to use Eminem’s “8 Mile” strategy when it comes to questions about his age on the 2024 campaign trail.
Biden will be 81 going on 82 during the election cycle, and concerns about his age, stamina and mental acumen are already dogging the sitting president. MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” played a clip Wednesday of Democratic voters discussing the issue in a focus group, then threw to journalist and contributor Mike Barnicle, who said Biden should just get ahead of it with humor – like Marshall Mathers did during the final rap battle of the 2002 film “8 Mile,” when he riffed on his flaws before anyone had a chance to use them against him.
“I think the plan is, for the president and his campaign, is to more or less own his age, own the fact that he’s [80],” Barnicle said. “Own the fact that he doesn’t run as fast as he used to. He doesn’t look as agile as he used to because of his age. He has a troubled foot that makes his walk look … worse than it is.”
Barnicle said Biden has enough of his own record to make the case that he deserves a second term, and can simply use jokes and cheeky references to de-fang those who would focus on his advanced age.
“But given his age, and his vast experience in government, given his knowledge of the presidency, given the record that he has achieved, which arguably is better than Barack Obama’s first term, I think that’s what he has to campaign on,” Barnicle said. “Own your age! Say things like ”Hey, when Washington crossed the Delaware, I was there to help pull those boats in. That’s how old I am!’”
However, Barnicle seemed to think that when talking about himself, Biden could use a little bit of editing for length – then proceeded to suggest a longer laundry-list than we’re used to hearing:
“If he ends up doing it properly, from script, from his birth in Scranton, Pennsylvania, telling his life story, and a shorter version, a briefer version than he’s used to telling it, he can then say ‘I am you. I am the American citizen that you are. I have owned homes that I couldn’t afford. I have maybe almost had cars repossessed. I’ve put kids through school. I’ve carried the weight of an addicted child. I’ve lost some children. I’ve lost two children. I know the pain that you feel on a daily basis. I’m Joe Biden.”
“Morning Joe” Mika Brzezinski couldn’t have disagreed less.
“Exactly! I can’t agree more, and that focus group really reflected a conversation we might have had across a dinner table,” she said. “Or you hear across the country. People really care about him, he’s doing a great job, and he’s going to be 82 when he’s running.”
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – AUGUST 26: Taylor Swift performs onstage during the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center on August 26, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/VMN19/Getty Images for MTV)
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour has somehow gotten even bigger.
It wasn’t enough that Swift announced international tour dates to expand the ever-growing experience to a global audience. Fourteen additional dates have now been added to the rotation, giving even more Swifties the chance to see her perform live.
The artist announced the new European dates on Instagram, writing: “I can’t wait to see so many of you on The Eras Tour next year at these new international dates!”
While Swift won’t be going to any cities that weren’t previously announced, she’ll now be doing multiple shows in a number of locations. She has done this in multiple cities during the United States leg of the tour so far.
These additional dates mean The Ears Tour is expected to include over 130 shows in total by the time it (theoretically) ends in the summer of 2024. It’s her biggest tour yet — and not just in its reach. The tour is breaking records financially, too.
But Swift isn’t doing this alone. (She never does — our girl knows how to share the spotlight.) Paramore will tag along as her opening act for a number of these shows. Hayley Williams and Taylor Swift have been good friends for years — and now they get to share stage time!
Really can’t contain my excitement because… we’re adding 14 new shows to The Eras Tour. And I get to travel the world doing shows with @paramore!! Hayley and I have been friends since we were teens in Nashville and now we get to frolic around the UK/Europe next summer??? I’m… pic.twitter.com/kl1aijxR2o
Basically, this tour may never end. It just keeps getting better and better.
Listen, it’s not that we want The Eras tour to say its final goodbyes … ever. With U.S. shows wrapping up in August, we very well could have been gearing up for the final bow. But South America! Asia! Europe! Australia! Paramore! What’s next?
Technically, what’s next is another Taylor’s Version album — Speak Now (TV) to be exact, released July 7. If you were among the groups who saw Eras before this album came out, you’re finally going to get your Speak Now fill. It’s not a tour … but Paramore will still make an appearance.
It’s the Year of Taylor Swift. And it’s only July. What a time to be alive.
I can recognize as readily as the next person the need for all subsets of society to have the proper representation in cinema. I also fear that representation itself is being used as a crutch for many filmmakers in an attempt to bolster otherwise vanilla flicks. It’s difficult to watch writer-director Mariano Biasin’s LGBTQ+ coming-of-age romance Sublime and not worry if that’s the case. The discovery and negotiation of our sexual identity during adolescence (or later) is seemingly an endless well of inspiration for countless authors and filmmakers. That in itself simply isn’t enough in to separate any moviefrom the pack, though. One only needs to peruse any streaming service (especially in the month of June) to find numerous titles from around the world that share the same sensibilities as this.
Biasin’s film is centered on two aspiring musicians in an admittedly dreadful garage band in Buenos Aires. 16-year-old Manu (Martín Miller) is a gawky bass player with braces. Felipe (Teo Inama Chiabrando) is the aloof lead guitar player. Manu, whose full name is Manuel, develops feelings for the guitarist. The friends, maybe more, are fun to see on screen together. Their best moments involve a game of Either/Or in which they discuss various torture methods and which they would prefer, given a choice.
“…realize that they don’t like their girlfriends as much as they think they should.”
Their band prepares for a local concert by practicing a thorough setlist, with Manu and Felipe bonding during rehearsals. Their connection doesn’t happen at the outset as both have girlfriends, though the boys treat them as little more than accessories. As in various other movies in the same vein, the leads realize that they don’t like their girlfriends as much as they think they should. Manu is the first to confront his newfound feelings for Felipe, but will his admission cause the band’s break up?
The setup of Sublime is a fairly basic affair. Biasin takes too long to get moving with the plot machinations. We know what’s ultimately going to happen, so it’s prudent to get to the point more rapidly. The frequent glimpses of the band playing their songs are also tiresome. Anyone who has spent any period of time listening to high school garage bands will have an idea of the pain they may be in. The camera glides around the band playing their angst-ridden songs, making viewers aware of Biasin’s skill at photographing musicians. If only the level of music matched the quality of the filmmaking.
Just because I wasn’t vibing with much of Sublime (as kids of Manu and Felipe’s age would say) doesn’t mean I can’t admire it as a picture with a boundless heart. Miller and Chiabrando work well with what they’re given, and this story is bound to be relatable to plenty of adolescents navigating their sexuality in a world that may not be ready to embrace their identities. And just because it’s a story like many others we’ve seen before doesn’t suggest it can’t mean a lot to anyone struggling in a world still hostile to their way of life.
Ben Wallace today warned Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky that the West expects his country to show ‘gratitude’ for the weapons and other military aid it has been given to fight Russia.
The Defence Secretary said he had bluntly told told Kyiv officials ‘I’m not Amazon’ on a recent visit, after being presented with a shopping list of items they wanted to be supplied with after an 11-hour drive.
It came after the Ukrainian war leader had expressed his frustration at the reluctance of the 31 member states to agree a firm timetable for membership.
Joe Biden‘s administration has also told Ukraine that the US ‘deserves a degree of gratitude’ for its billions of dollars in military support to the war-torn nation.
In surprisingly strong remarks at the event in Lithuania, Mr Wallace told reporters in Vilnius: ‘There is a slight word of caution here which is that, whether we like it or not, people want to see gratitude.’
‘My counsel to the Ukrainians… you’re persuading countries to give up their own stocks. And yes the war is a noble war and yes we see it as you doing a war for not just yourself but our freedoms.
‘But sometimes you’ve got to persuade lawmakers on the Hill in America. You’ve got to persuade doubting politicians in other countries that it’s worth it and it’s worthwhile and they’re getting something for it. ‘Whether you like that or not, that is just the reality of it.’
However he was later brutally slapped down by Rishi Sunak. The PM told a press conference: ‘President Zelensky has expressed his gratitude for what we have done on a number of occasions, not least in his incredibly moving address that he made to Parliament earlier this year and he has done so again to me, as he has done countless times when I have met him.
The Defence Secretary said he had bluntly told told Kyiv officials ‘I’m not Amazon’ on a recent visit, after being presented with a shopping list of items they wanted to be supplied with.
It came after the Ukrainian war leader had expressed his frustration at the reluctance of the 31 member states to agree a firm timetable for membership.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today told Mr Zelensky he belonged in Nato as he assured him ‘real progress’ had been made on providing security guarantees for Kyiv.
The PM told a press conference that Ukraine was ‘enormously grateful … president Zelensky has expressed his gratitude for what we have done on a number of occasions’.
‘So I know that he and his people are incredibly grateful for the support we have shown, the welcome that we have provided to many Ukrainian families, but also the leadership we have shown throughout this conflict.’
Mr Sunak today told Mr Zelensky he belonged in Nato as he assured him ‘real progress’ had been made on providing security guarantees for Kyiv.
Mr Zelensky said it was ‘logical and understandable’ that Ukraine could not be admitted immediately as the struggle against Russia meant the conflict would develop into a world war.
But he said Nato had sent ‘signals’ that were ‘important’ when it came to Ukraine becoming a member state.
‘Already we can hear some confident statements (about) when the conditions will be met,’ said Mr Zelensky, who was speaking through a translator.
As well as holding talks with Mr Sunak, the Ukrainian leader also met other G7 heads of state, including German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
He is expected to meet US president Joe Biden later on Wednesday.
Labour’s shadow defence secretary John Healey said: ‘The Ukrainians are fighting for the future and the freedom of their country.
‘President Zelensky wants more military help yesterday, of course he does. What he doesn’t need is lectures on gratitude, especially when they overshadow a successful summit in which NATO is stronger and the support for Ukraine is greater.’
This morning US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan issued a thinly-veiled warning to Kyiv.
He angrily dismissed claims from Ukrainian anti-corruption activist Daria Kaleniuk that the president ‘was afraid of Russia’ by not setting out a timeline for Ukraine to join the Brussels-based military alliance.
‘The United States of America has stepped up to provide an enormous amount of capacity to help ensure that Ukraine’s brave soldiers have the ammunition, air defense, the infantry, fighting vehicles, the mine clearing equipment and so much else to be able to effectively defend against Russia’s onslaught and to take territory back as well,’ he said.
‘I think the American people do deserve a degree of gratitude from the United States government for their willingness to step up and from the rest of the world as well.’
In a thinly-veiled swipe at Zelensky’s criticism of his Western allies, Sullivan said some of the charges leveled against the U.S. were ‘entirely unfounded and unjustified.’
The United States is by far the largest donor of military support to Ukraine, offering more than $46 billion worth of hardware to Kyiv, according to data from a respected German think-tank.
Lawmakers in Congress have earmarked as much as $100 billion, but not all of that aid has yet been drawn down to help the Ukrainian government.
Most of the weapons shipped to Ukraine are also made in the U.S., boosting jobs in the country’s key defense sector.
The second largest donor, by contrast, is Britain, which has offered up just over $6 billion, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s Ukraine Support Tracker.
A new trailer for upcoming action brawler Hellboy Web of Wyrd has shown a little of what the game is about, and it largely seems to be about belting demons in the face using Hellboy’s big red fist.
While Hellboy Web of Wyrd was originally announced back in December 2022, being developed by West of Dead developers Upstream Arcade and being published by Monster Train publishers Good Shepherd. It wasn’t clear until now how the game would actually play, but now we know.
The trailer looks like a lot of fun and shows some fast-based combat alongside Lance Reddick voicing Hellboy in one of his last acting roles. Why not take a look?
There’s no release date yet for the game but it will be “coming soon” to Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC. We don’t know too much about the game’s story or setting, except that it’s an original storyline that is being pulled together in collaboration with Mike Mignola, the creator of Hellboy who has overseen the series and its spin-off titles since then.
What we do know is that Hellboy will be venturing through the eldritch and ever-shifting Butterfly House in the search for a missing B.P.R.D agent, with a mix of exploration and, well, punching.
EXCLUSIVE: We can reveal the first trailer and release date for Nicolas Cage action-comedy The Retirement Plan.
The Face/Off and National Treasure actor stars with Ashley Greene and Ron Perlman in the movie, which is due to hit theaters in the U.S. from August 25 via Falling Forward Films and Productivity Media.
In The Retirement Plan, when Ashley (Ashley Greene) and her young daughter Sarah (Thalia Campbell) get caught up in a criminal enterprise that puts their lives at risk, she turns to the only person who can help – her estranged father Matt (Nicolas Cage), a retired beach bum. Their reunion is fleeting as they are soon tracked down by crime boss Donnie (Jackie Earle Haley) and his lieutenant (Ron Perlman). The bad guys get more than they bargained for because Matt is not the wacky character he appears to be.
Also among cast are Jackie Earle Haley, Joel David Moore, Grace Byers, and Ernie Hudson. Pic is directed by Tim Brown.
“I am thrilled to be working with Falling Forward and Productivity Media on the theatrical release of this film,” said director Tim Brown. “I’m super grateful to Nic and the rest of the cast, and being able to watch this film in theaters is a childhood dream come true.”
“This film is destined to be another classic Nic Cage action-comedy,” added Scott Kennedy, President of Falling Forward Films. “We are big supporters of the theatrical experience and there is nothing better than to have the audience experience the laughter and the thrills of The Retirement Plan on the big screen.”
Oscar winner Cage is coming off Renfield and The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent and has thriller Longlegs in post.
Ticketmaster has once again cracked under the weight of a Taylor Swift ticket sale — this time in France.
As French fans prepared on Tuesday to purchase tickets to six concerts in May and June 2024 on Swift’s Eras Tour — four shows in Paris, two in Lyon — Ticketmaster’s website displayed a gigantic queue of customers ready to buy; one screenshot appeared to tell a fan that 1,023,504 shoppers were in line ahead of them.
Soon, Ticketmaster announced that sales for those shows had been placed on “pause.” The company said that a new on-sale time would be announced, and that “all codes not already used will remain valid.” But some fans’ social media posts seemed to show technical errors on Ticketmaster’s website, including a progress icon that “keeps spinning and spinning and spinning,” as one fan — speaking English with an American accent, but with 762 euros’ worth of tickets in their shopping cart — put it.
A few hours later, the French branch of Ticketmaster offered some more detail on social media, blaming the problem on a “third-party provider” that the company did not identify, and adding that tickets were still available. A representative of Live Nation Entertainment, Ticketmaster’s corporate parent, said that the provider works with Ticketmaster only in France.
The situation in France appeared to be a frustrating repeat of the problems that plagued Swift’s North American presale in November, when an influx of millions of fans — and bots — overwhelmed Ticketmaster’s systems, and fans reported issues like tickets in their shopping carts disappearing before they could be purchased. Ticketmaster shut down its public sale as a result, though the company also said it had sold more than two million tickets to the tour in a single day.
Problems like those at Swift’s presale in November — as well as long-simmering concerns over Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s market dominance — led to a brutal Senate Judiciary hearing in January. Senators from both parties flatly called the company a monopoly and were skeptical of an executive’s explanation that Ticketmaster was unable to defend itself against an onslaught of bots during Swift’s presale.
“This is unbelievable,” Senator Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, said at the hearing. “Why is it,” she added, “that you have not developed an algorithm to sort out what is a bot and what is a consumer?”
Yet the demand for Swift tickets has been extraordinary, with Swift selling out stadiums everywhere she plays and tickets going for thousands of dollars on the secondary market. She is scheduled to complete the North American leg of her tour next month, then play in Latin America, Asia and Europe.
The Justice Department has separately been conducting an antitrust investigation of Live Nation. The Justice Department has not confirmed that investigation, but Live Nation’s chief executive, Michael Rapino, has spoken about it openly.
In “The Lesson,” an amusingly taut British thriller playing now in American movie theaters, two novels result from the same events at an opulent country estate.
This chamber piece — a debut feature from both the director Alice Troughton, a regular of episodic television, and the comedian turned screenwriter Alex MacKeith — asks, both tacitly and explicitly: Can any creative endeavor be honestly attributed to a single source?
One of the film’s writers, J.M. Sinclair (a ferocious Richard E. Grant) is a consummate literary star, who hasn’t published a novel since his firstborn son’s suicide. The unscrupulous Sinclair, however, is about to write the final chapter in a new novel, “Rose Tree,” while staying true to his favorite aphorism, “Great writers steal.”
The other scribe, Liam Somers (the Irish actor Daryl McCormack), is a young upstart with writing ambitions of his own. Hired as a live-in tutor to Sinclair’s youngest child, Bertie (Stephen McMillan), to help him gain admission to Oxford University, Somers soon begins taking copious notes on the family, and becomes entangled with their secrets.
The larger narrative we witness — of a monstrous father willing to betray anyone in his life for a self-aggrandizing pursuit, and a stranger entering this isolated family unit to solve the central mystery around the elder son’s death — will eventually become Liam’s first book.
“I’d never been offered a part quite like that before,” Grant said recently by phone. “Playing anybody who has that amount of entitlement and monstrous ego, you long for them to fall apart.”
Given Sinclair’s twisted sense of ownership over his children, Troughton, the director, described the character as a toxic parent certain that “there’s nothing that your children can do that doesn’t belong to you, or come from you.” Francisco Goya’s graphic painting “Saturn Devouring His Son” served as the director’s key reference for understanding Sinclair’s behavior, she said in a video interview.
Yet the most influential scribe may be one who never puts pen to paper, nor fingers to keyboard, but orchestrates the events that help both the movie’s literary works come to fruition: Hélène Sinclair, a curator and wife to the overbearing patriarch, played by the French actress Julie Delpy. Hélène’s objective in allowing Liam inside the home is to unveil her husband’s secrets.
“She essentially functions as the detective with Liam operating as a vector for her,” MacKeith said. “When you underlay that with her motive of discovery, but also vengeance, her agency in the film and her orchestration does make her the author.”
For Delpy, who described her character as a “mother fatale,” answering the question of who deserves credit when a writer creates a story from actual events is less clear-cut.
“When you tell stories about people around you, are you using them, or are they partly authors, since you’re telling their story?” she asked in a recent phone interview. “Is the story solely the writer’s writing, even if based on someone else? What’s the limit between inspiration and coauthorship?”
Delpy, a writer-director herself, said she believed that the need for attribution depends on what’s being borrowed. She admitted to having stolen single lines, or small situations from strangers’ conversations she overhead in restaurants, which she then has transformed into stories.
The kind of intellectual theft Sinclair is happy to engage in, on the other hand, is far more insidious. Even his repeated aphorism is purloined from T.S. Eliot.
Inspiration for Sinclair’s ruthless appropriation of others’ writing, MacKeith said, came from the Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges’ short story “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote,” in which a writer plagiarizes Miguel de Cervantes’ masterwork word for word, and then claims it as his own.
Over the course of the film, it becomes hard to decipher precisely who is responsible for each story within the story. Liam’s novel is only possible as a side effect of Hélène’s machinations, and, early on, Sinclair decides to enlist Liam in his writing process for “Rose Tree.”
As for whose work “The Lesson” itself is, MacKeith said that after their close five-year collaboration to bring the film to screen, he and Troughton were joint authors. The seasoned director brought touches of horror, as well as the idea of redemption, to the piece, MacKeith said, which were in turn elevated by the ensemble cast and crew in every tense scene.
“As an actor, you have to create something beyond the script itself,” McCormack said. “I always hope that when I’m working alongside other people, that I can have a sense of being a co-author to the story in what I can do.”
For MacKeith, this idea of collective ownership of the movie extended to the viewers, who must draw their own conclusions from “The Lesson,” especially after an unsettling plot twist.
“The product itself is picture-locked,” he said, “but our discussion about it means that we as the audience can also have authorship of it in our interpretation.”
Matt Damon revealed on “Jake’s Takes” while promoting “Oppenheimer” that he once “fell into a depression” halfway through shooting a movie that wasn’t panning out how he hoped it would when he accepted the gig.
“Without naming any particular movies…sometimes you find yourself in a movie that you know, perhaps, might not be what you had hoped it would be, and you’re still making it,” Damon said. “And I remember halfway through production and you’ve still got months to go and you’ve taken your family somewhere, you know, and you’ve inconvenienced them, and I remember my wife pulling me up because I fell into a depression about like, what have I done?”
“She just said, ‘We’re here now’,” Damon continued. “You know, and it was like…I do pride myself, in a large part because of her, at being a professional actor and what being a professional actor means is you go and you do the 15-hour day and give it absolutely everything, even in what you know is going to be a losing effort. And if you can do that with the best possible attitude, then you’re a pro, and she really helped me with that.”
Damon did not name the movie in which he fell into a depression, but he has openly spoken out in the past about acting in films he knew were heading for disaster. One such movie was “The Great Wall,” Zhang Yimou’s poorly-reviewed 2016 monster movie that generated controversy for its white savior narrative. Damon played a European mercenary who is forced to team up with imperial Chinese forces to fend off an alien threat. The film didn’t make it past the $50 million mark in the U.S. despite a $150 million production budget.
“I was like, this is exactly how disasters happen,” Damon said on the “WTF” podcast in 2021 about filming “The Great Wall.” “It doesn’t cohere. It doesn’t work as a movie.”
Damon added at the time, “I came to consider that the definition of a professional actor; knowing you’re in a turkey and going, ‘OK, I’ve got four more months. It’s the up at dawn siege on Hamburger Hill. I am definitely going to die here, but I’m doing it.’ That’s as shitty as you can feel creatively, I think. I hope to never have that feeling again.”
In Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” Damon stars as Manhattan Project director Leslie Groves. The atomic bomb epic opens July 21 from Universal Pictures.
For the first time ever, Wolverine will wear his comics-accurate costume in Deadpool 3. The iconic yellow and blue suit will finally be worn on the big screen, when Hugh Jackman dons the outfit for his return as Wolverine.
For fans of Wolverine, seeming the character once again played by Hugh Jackman was enough to get excited. The fact that Jackman will be wearing the mutant’s iconic yellow battle suit makes it that much cooler.
Photo: GeekTyrant
As someone who grew up with not only the X-men comics but also the animated series, it is almost surreal to see Jackman in Wolverine’s original suit. This is the version of Wolverine that I remember, and also one that stays true to the character’s X-men origins.
What We Know About ‘Deadpool 3’
Although Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine met his end in 2017’s Logan, the actor is returning to play a version of the character set earlier in the timeline. So, fans need not worry that Jackman’s poignant sendoff of his character has been undone.
Photo: Marvel
Deadpool 3 is currently in production and may be looking to surprise fans in unexpected ways. In addition to Jackman and Reynolds, the film will star Jennifer Garner reprising her role as Elektra. Rumors have also been swirling about a possible return of Ben Afflack’s Daredevil or Halle Berry’s Storm.
Photo: Marvel
I for one can’t wait to see what Ryan and his cohorts cook up!
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That’s right, folks! James Gunn has officially cast Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, and Mister Terrific for his upcoming Superman film, Superman: Legacy.
The most notable of these castings has to be Guy Gardner, who will be played by longtime friend of Gunn, and pop culture icon, Nathan Fillion. This isn’t the first time Fillion has played a Green Lantern as he has voice Hal Jordan in numerous animated features.
Joining Fillion in the DCU’s take on the Man of Steel is Isabela Merced and Edi Gathegi as Hawkgirl and Mister Terrific, respectively. Merced is best known for her roles in Sicario: Day of the Soldado and as the titular character in the live-action Dora the Explorer movie, while Gathegi previously played Laurent in the Twilight films and Darwin in X-Men: First Class.
While not thought of as one of the most popular Green Lanterns, Guy Gardner definitely has a strong following, and can serve as a great way to introduce the Green Lantern Corps to a wider audience and bring it into a more favorable light, especially after the critically panned 2011 film starring Ryan Reynolds.
There is also a Green Lantern TV series slated for the DCU that will focus on Hal Jordan and John Stewart, so it’s likely that Fillion will reprise his role as Guy Gardner in that, with his role in Superman: Legacy possibly serving as a launching point for the series.
There have been many rumors of a possible film or series based on the superteam The Terrifics, and with the inclusion of that team’s leader, Mister Terrific, this may actually become a reality.
And Hawkgirl gained major popularity during the early 2000’s with the Justice League animated series, and bringing her into this universe may open several possible storyline doors going forward.
Gunn also recently revealed that David Corenswet would be taking on the role of Superman/Clark Kent, while Rachel Brosnahan would be Lois Lane, so the cast is really shaping up to be something special.
Superman: Legacy is scheduled for release on July 11, 2025.
Looking back on The Watermelon Woman 27 years later, indie and queer filmmaking royalty Cheryl Dunye reflects on narrative, form, and making your own history in cinema.
Queer cinema has been a foundation of film since the beginning. The genre offers a poignant vision that challenges normality, bringing to the screen a life that is bigger than what we have imagined for ourselves. There is mobility in queer cinema that highlights the spirit of independent filmmaking. From the DIY spirit of Derek Jarman in the 1980s to the pioneers of the New Queer Cinema movements of the ’90s from directors like Gregg Araki and Gus Van Sant, queer cinema’s power is undeniable as it shapes a new vision of Hollywood.
All of this was prevalent in Cheryl Dunye’s directorial feature debut, The Watermelon Woman. Written, directed, and fronted by Dunye, this film follows a young Black lesbian working in a video store as she fights to get her own dream project made. Balancing a breezy romantic comedy with a serious inquiry into the history of Black and queer women in Hollywood, the film rewrites long-standing constructions of race and sexuality on-screen, introducing an important voice in American cinema.
The Watermelon Woman holds the distinction of being the first feature film ever made by an out-Black lesbian filmmaker, and the path to making the film wasn’t easy. However, these obstacles seemed to excite Dunye, who seemed to make opportunities out of obstacles that challenges her creative process. Since releasing The Watermelon Woman, Dunye has released several more films and become a prolific TV director, helming episodes of series such as Dear White People, Queen Sugar, and the forthcoming Lovecraft Country.
The film, which now has a director-approved Blu-Ray special edition available on Criterion (which features six of Dunye’s early short films, a conversation between Dunye and artist-filmmaker Martine Syms, and more), has taken on a new life for Dunye. In a recent Zoom call from her home in Oakland, CA, Dunye reflects on The Watermelon Woman‘s legacy, how to show up to be in part of your creative world, and how to get yourself and your work out there for people to see.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
No Film School: Congratulations on this new edition of The Watermelon Woman coming out on Criterion. That’s such a massive thing in this world, so congratulations. I’m really curious about what your take is on this film now, after revisiting it 27 years later.
Cheryl Dunye: My take on the film is quite, you know, it’s, it’s the water. I mean, she’s 30 [years old] now, right? She’s lived a big old life. She’s a millennial. She’s [part of] Gen Z. She’s a part of me. So many things. I’m just amazed that it connects with people, that people are so wowed by it. I know that I was trying to wow people. Nobody else is doing the work to make a narrative film for lesbians, black lesbians, at the center of it, and not doing a coming out story, which is also important.
I guess I had to do it because it wasn’t there, you know, that type of thing. That it still has vitality, and people are just finding themselves in it. Not just recent audiences here in the States, but audiences in Bangladesh. I mean, I get screening calls for places all over the world. So the global impact of it, I’m just blown away by,
NFS: I’m curious about what motivates you to tell a mockumentary or like in your style of Duynementary.
Dunye: I play with form in narrative because I went to art school and I have an MFA in fine arts, and I was a video artist. I was playing with languages, storytelling. Martha Ross was one of my professors, and I come from an art background. So I was informed about how to make messages, how to make meaning, synapse words, structure, form the dark, Barbara Hammer, and all these kinds of crazy people. I was looking at their work, and being like, “Ooh, ah, they’re showing their bodies, they’re telling stories, they’re moving the frame. Optical printing.” You can use all that and still make a piece of work.
That’s where the form and the wanting to play with stuff came from. The wanting to be a narrative within the context of this sort of independent world that was happening was being in New York at the time when all my short work was leading up to me living in New York, me being an art curator. I did this show called Bad Girls at the New Museum and created a video showcasing my work that has been featured in a couple of biennials.
I was around the Sadie Bennings, the Christine Vachon, the John James Schamus Killer Films, the Good Machine, all that was bubbling around me when I was there. Sundance was just starting. I had shown one of my shorts at the USA Film Festival before it was even Sundance. So I knew that people were starting to pick at putting their own label on and making longer form work that was a narrative or played with narrative.
For me it was like, in my group of people that I knew in New York who were around me or buzzing around was Todd Haynes, I heard of Gregg Araki, Go Fish. So at the same time, I knew those people outside of the film world. I knew more about them in the lesbian world. Tom Caitlin, one of my favorites with Swoon, who really played with form. These are my colleagues, you know, my people I was acting up with and or some sort of meeting and then seeing them do their work. I knew that we could make something longer, something longer could be made, looking for work to look for my space in that there was nothing that was black and lesbian and narrative. I knew there was a doc by Michelle Parkerson on Audrey Lorde [A Litany For Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde], but I knew there was nothing in the narrative space.
‘The Watermelon Woman’Credit: First Run Features
NFS: You have that quote, too, in the film where it says, “Sometimes you have to create your own history.” That’s what this film is about. I feel like your storytelling is, and what Criterion is. It’s like preserving history and also creating the history that hasn’t been told.
Dunye: Especially in distribution, too. You see what’s happening today. So many people are just being thrown off streamers now, and they made work. They spent tons of money, and the world is shifting the dynamic of what is Hollywood and what’s not Hollywood. It is striking away right in front of us. I use the word strike, too. It’s just changing. Being able to be generative, being able to make your own work, and being able to make your own Hollywood is quite important. I sort of just did that and I continue to do that.
NFS: Well, I’m curious about how you made your own Hollywood. I know that Greetings Grom Africa was a great launching point for The Watermelon Woman, but what is your perspective on how you created your own Hollywood?
Dunye: Right. I mean, you know, I keep right-sized. I think that’s the one most important thing about being a director, writer, filmmaker, you know, multi-hat, multi-hyphenated type of person, is creating work that stays right-sized. You’re not, of course, looking at that “grain of salt,” inspiring stuff. Do your research. Citerion’s where research comes in for cinema. Knowing what has come before, knowing what is to come, combining or taking away from something, or that you keep your little checklist of stuff. Really dig into watching cinema, not just looking at Wiki or seeing little clips on YouTube.
Then form a plan of like, “How am I gonna do it?” Don’t run to make a feature. That’s why I keep saying, don’t run to make a feature first, but make it short.
There are so many outlets for it. Those are the initial steps for doing and showing up where you think you need to be. If you wanna fight for reproductive freedom and the vote or whatever, show up in those rooms, those Zoom rooms at these virtual rooms, you don’t have to be there physically at this point. There are so many ways for you to show up to be in part of your own world. You can easily show up for a free seminar or screening or Q&A with IndieWire or any magazine online, and get a sense of the language, the style, what people were doing, and whatnot. You already then just did what half of what film school’s about, you know what I’m saying [laugh], you can do it yourself.
I think that’s one thing about seeing, how to embody it. Hollywood is constantly changing, you have to kind of constantly check in and reembody it. For me, making work allows me to do that. I do kind of keep one thing at the forefront of [my films]. Again, kind of trying to play with the form or storytelling and trying to highlight people that look like me or from my world, queer brown people of color, people of other, and people who create their own agency and live in that world. I’ll always be doing that, and that’ll always make me feel like I am “Hollywood.”
It’s not Hollywood. It’s feeling human. I am a human being who’s productive in what I do, and I’m just trying to take that journey.
‘The Watermelon Woman’Credit: First Run Features
NFS: During one of your most recent interviews, you talked about the value of the physical media of seeing yourself in photographs and feeling real in that. Creating your own Hollywood is putting yourself out there and making sure that you are telling your story the way you wanna tell it.
Dunye: Right. Again, form is not a Google search. It is not this piece of metal that was, you know, harmfully extracted and made by who knows what. We don’t even know the long-term effects of what this is gonna do to us, but we know that we are changing our brains. But at any rate, it’s shutting this down for an hour, two hours, three hours of a day, putting down the device, whatever you need to do, and going to the library, getting a library card gets you a Kanopy card so you can see more movies. People don’t know that, but that’s one of my favorite streamers. It’s not paying into the system, it’s paying to the public somewhere. I mean, somebody’s making money, of course, but people forget about books, but people don’t forget about books.
Going to the library is like the best thing, the journey of leaving your house, going to the library and coming back, add in the public transportation or riding a bike, not just driving. You can go live on that for days.
The realness of experiences, the realness of the world, of your journey in the world, is so important to take. Not just putting it in a file or storing in the cloud or, or whatnot. Your family has photos. You don’t even know. They’re just sitting there. I had those up and had to take them out. My God, there’s such a story there. There’s that human interaction that you wanted to have with an elder or a younger person in your world, and you’ve done therapy.
Right now, the biggest thing for me during the striking moment and whatnot beyond my own routines of health and fitness is to walk. I live in Oakland. There’s this thing called Lake Merritt, and there are tons of places. The Bay Area is filled with hiking trails. But walking Lake Merritt to me … it’s filled with diversity. You walk around these 3.3 miles. So I’m doing that as many times in a week as I can. I’m alive again in a different way. I can’t even describe what it means. Figure out a way to walk, just walk. Walk for your health, and walk for your fitness health. It really is about, again, being in public and, and understanding what public means and hearing stories.
‘The Watermelon Woman’Credit: First Run Features
NFS: The photos that you created, these fake truths within The Watermelon Woman. I was very curious if you could talk about creating these images that you are using as fake history that’s based on something that is real.
Dunye: It’s a twofold story, or maybe even more than that. We had our producing group, which is just like my girlfriend at the time, and a couple of volunteer students from Swarthmore, some people that she was teaching, and just friends. Zoe [Leonard], who’s actually a professor at the Claremont Colleges, when she was a graduate student or undergrad, I think Eve [Oishi] had just graduated from Swarthmore was helping us out for the summer. She went to the Library of Congress because we found an archive that we could use that matched the timeline of a black woman or whatever. She went down, got the pictures, and looked at them.
We had the sponsorship through Women Make Movies, but it cost money to license them to use, and we didn’t have the money, so we were like, “Oops, can’t do that.” Well, how are we gonna create? Let’s make our own pictures. I know I have … my mom has never thrown a pair of shoes away since the forties. I mean, we had everything. Wouldn’t it be great to just do that, and then we could sell the pictures? Yes. Let’s get the pictures sold at an art show and find an art artist collaborator. So it just turned to that. It was one of those group initiatives. I saw my brain firing and just thought I couldn’t serve my own purpose.
We got the pictures. Zoe collaborated with me to gather all our friends up and, then restaged all this stuff in Philly as well as in New York, some New York Street, too. We were about to put those up at AIA Gallery in 1994. It must have been ‘95. As an artist, it was like a collective gallery for women. You could get a slot and have an opening for like a week or something. That was the day we were doing it. It was also the day someone comes running in, saying “We got a message on the answering machine. I think it was that uh, the NEA grant for $31,500 that we applied for. We got it.”
We not only had a couple of people who bought some print there, I don’t think anybody wanted anything. It was just fun to have a little cocktail party and show the pictures off and hang out with some lesbians.
But it’s almost like you have to do the work to get things that happened. So that was number one on a long journey to, you know, saying that the pictures are their own project.
NFS: I love it. Do you have any advice for filmmakers who are looking to make that leap from a short format to a narrative feature?
Dunye: Keep making it short. Keep putting it out there. There are tons of film places to show your work. Keep showing. Show outside of the United States of America. Please submit your work to international film festivals. Our narrative, our scope of things in this country is insular. I mean, people don’t even know what we’re talking about when we talk about certain streamers. When I leave the bay, people don’t know about some apps I’m talking about from up here. So don’t forget that the world is not what we think about. To share your voice as a young dancer or whomever, whatever you’re doing in the world, making a short film is your ticket to the next level.
Again, look for opportunities outside of the US as well as the ones inside. Screen at those festivals. Go to those festivals, and create a docket of where you’ve screened at. Then, you’re off to have your own mobility and community and connect with those people to spark the next level. Show up where you need to be. There’s a film festival every day of the week. Affiliate yourself with them, see the work, and then figure out where you wanna be involved in the process of filmmaking.
Everybody’s not a director. Everybody’s not a writer. Everybody’s not an actor. There are people who are great at locations. There are people who are great at design. There are entertainment lawyers. You know what that means right now for some people who are in trouble. Agents, man, there are not enough agents that look like us or look like me. There are so many places that fit in the world of literature, intellectual property, and representing somebody’s writing. There are so many ways to show up in that industry that we call Hollywood or, or media or entertainment. It’s hella important to show up.
‘The Watermelon Woman’Credit: First Run Features
NFS: Do you have anything else that you wanna mention, um, before, before we end our conversation? Is anything exciting that is coming up for you?
Dunye: You know, I’m working on a project with Killer Films, developing a novel by Audrey Lorde for Orion right now. It’s a big journey. It’s a big one. That’s my next project.
Nobody’s told her story. She is what people look at me as in film. She was like the first black lesbian, mother, poet, warrior, and intersectional person who, when I read her work, I was able to do my work. For me to take it to the next level and tell her story, her Genesis story, it’s gonna be quite exciting.
It’s not every day you can snag Nordstrom beauty deals on beloved brands like Kiehl’s, Nars, and Dior, but the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2023 is the exception to the rule. The limited-time event opens up for members to shop this week (Icon early access starts July 11; Ambassador early access starts July 12; and Influencer early access starts July 13), and we’re already seeing slashed prices on hundreds of popular products.
This includes makeup that’s gone viral on TikTok, Glamour-editor-approved sunscreens for face and body, eyebrow growth serums that actually work, A+ concealers, medical-grade Augustinus Bader moisturizers, and hair tools you may not have felt comfortable bringing yourself to add to your cart at full price.
From cult-favorite skin care by Sunday Riley to summer fragrances our team loves, there’s a lot to take in. To make things easier, we narrowed down the most tempting Nordstrom Anniversary Sale beauty deals you won’t want to pass up in every category.
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2023: Skin Care Deals
Snag your favorite serums, expand your moisturizer selection, or recover from a day in the sun with the retailer’s long list of discounted skin care products. That means splurge-worthy brands with reviews to back the price tag, like Lancôme, Elemis, and La Mer—at a fraction of the price. Not sure where to start? We love Sunday Riley’s Radiance Duo—it’s a gift set that appears once or twice a year and includes its a full-size bestselling gentle exfoliator plus a potent vitamin C serum for a more radiant skin combo. Vacation’s beloved SPF products are also up for grabs in a cash-saving bundle, as is Lancôme’s cult-favorite eye makeup remover. If you’re dealing with hormonal acne—or sunscreen-induced breakouts—consider trying this foaming face wash from Kate Somerville, it will provide a deeper cleanse but not leave skin feeling tight or raw.
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2023: Discovery Beauty Kits
The best way to get a new brand—or score multiples for less—is through (you guessed it) discovery beauty kits. Nordstrom tends to have really great exclusive ones for the holidays and its big sale events, and after years of covering the Anniversary Sale, we’re happy to confirm these are truly some of the best we’ve seen. The NuFace Mini+ comes in an adorable baby pink with all the accouterments—ideal for a complete skin care system—while La Mer has put together a four-piece travel bag of four of its all-time bestsellers. (You might already love the cream, but the foaming cleanser is just as good and leaves you smelling like a fresh baby who lives by the sea.) For more luxe beauty offers, check out Sisley-Paris’s eye cream set, which comes with the tiniest massage tool for depuffing and contouring the small, tight corners around your eyes, temple, and nasolabial folds. Augustinus Bader is offering a two-for-one kind of deal with a regular and travel-size version of its legendary The Rich Cream. Both Dr. Dennis Gross and Osea have bundles that promise to leave your skin looking more radiant than ever: Dr. Dennis Gross’s Glow Up Bundle includes 90 (!) peel treatments of regular and extra-strength pads that will probably last you a few months (plus a pre-cleansing gel), while Osea’s body care essentials will nourish dry skin; the body butter is one of our editors’ go-to’s—in her review, she called it the “ultimate winter moisturizer.”
Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream Duo
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2023: Makeup Deals
Whether you like to go all-out glam or prefer a natural beat, do not sleep on Nordstrom’s staggering selection of makeup deals. Highlights in this section include a makeup set of Dior bestsellers (the clear lip balm is something you’ll always find in our bag); a Westman Atelier highlighter duo with the yummiest blendable gel-like formulas; Bobbi Brown’s beloved dual-ended creamy eye shadow stick that’ll let you create a legendary smoky eye look, and a complete kit of Anastasia Beverly Hills products for effortlessly smoothing or fluffing up brows.
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2023: Hair Care Deals
Give your hair some much-needed TLC with these editor-approved products from Olaplex, Bumble and Bumble, Briogeo, and Oribe. Slip’s silk scrunchies (and its pretty pillowcases, also on sale!) are a fail-safe buy; they don’t stretch out over time, are cute to wear, and surprisingly hard to lose! Plus, they make for great gifts when in a pinch. Briogeo’sclarifying shampoo and scalp massager will give your hair the deep cleanse it needs, while Oribe’s texturizing spray will give limp strands instant volume and body.
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2023: Hair Tool Deals
If you’re buying hair tools at full price, you’re slippin’. Just take a look at the array below. T3, GHD, and Dyson? It really doesn’t get any better. Shoppers sing praises for the Dyson Airwrap for its ability to curl, straighten, and add volume and shine for straight and curly girls—even ones with long hair. Our senior beauty editor, Ariana Yaptangco, wrote previously in a review that “it’s completely worth the price point”—and now you can score a Nordy exclusive red set for $60 less than normal. If the Dyson’s too intimidating for you, GHD’s 1-inch straightening iron is almost $100 off, and Drybar has a great blow dry brush that’ll let you create bouncy curls. Otherwise, there’s a simple (but no less effective) blow dryer from T3 on sale, though you can also splurge on the Dyson Supersonic—also available in limited-edition red—for $430 instead of $490.
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2023: Bath & Body Deals
Low on body wash? L’Occitane indulgent almond shower oil (plus refill!) is a must. If you decided to already stock up on your fave from Amazon Prime Day, consider snagging an XL bag of Kiehl’s body moisturizer (the jumbo size will probably last you until the next Nordstrom Anniversary Sale), pampering your body is always a good idea. If you’re skipping the beach this year but not your golden-hour glow, St. Tropez’ bronzing mousse delivers just that in under an hour sans streaks—no wonder our editor-in-chief re-ups on this popular self-tanner whenever it gets marked down. Elsewhere, Kopari’s gel moisturizer is the beach essential you didn’t know you needed in your raffia tote: It provides SPF 50 protection with lightweight hydration—instant love.
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2023: Perfume Deals
Give your fragrance stash a refresh with these unbeatable deals on iconic designer scents. Chloé’s signature scent is on sale for more than $50 off, alongside other legendary scents from Hermès, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent, and more. If you appreciate variety, you’ll be happy to learn that a bunch of discovery kits from Le Labo, Byredo, Diptyque, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, andJo Malone are also in the mix. Candles are also up for grabs; we’re especially fond of Diptyque’s 4-piece setsince it includes hero scents like Figuier, Baies, Roses, and Mimosa—though, you can never go wrong with a trio of tins from Voluspa.
The new trailer for the upcoming Ahsoka show teases a big change to Star Wars Rebels through the characters of Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger. Since the announcement of the Ahsoka series, many have assumed it will serve as Star Wars Rebels season 5. This was all but confirmed by Dave Filoni himself, especially bolstered by the centrality of the Star Wars Rebels characters of Sabine, Ezra, Hera Syndulla, and Grand Admiral Thrawn to the show.
With the new Ahsoka trailer finally released, more information has been revealed about the upcoming Star Wars adventure. Taking center stage in the trailer, besides the titular character herself, was Sabine Wren who seems to be the secondary protagonist of the show. Through what was seen in the new Ahsoka trailer concerning Sabine, it seems as though Ahsoka will feature some fairly game-changing retcons to Star Wars Rebels that also involve the character of Ezra Bridger.
Ezra Bridger’s Message In Ahsoka Is Very Different To Rebels
At the end of Star Wars Rebels season 4, Ezra uses the Force to keep Grand Admiral Thrawn enveloped in the tentacles of the Purrgil, resulting in both of them being stranded in the Unknown Regions. Before the Purrgil jump to hyperspace though, Ezra relays a brief message to his fellow Rebels. Ezra states that he has to see his battle with Thrawn through to the end and that it is up to his team now to carry on the fight against the Empire. Just as the Purgill enter lightspeed, Ezra remarks “And remember, the Force will be with you, always.”
In the official trailer for Ahsoka though, it seems as though one of Ezra’s messages is different to this as it is viewed by Sabine. In the trailer, Sabine plays a hologram of Ezra in which the Padawan states “As a Jedi, sometimes you have to make the decision no one else can. But I’m counting on you to see this through.” This seems to hint that Ezra left Sabine a personalized message before he left with another character also seen in the Ahsoka trailer: Grand Admiral Thrawn. The line that he is counting on Sabine to see this through links to how he told the Rebels crew that it is up to them after disappearing.
This means that Ezra likely left every member of the Rebels crew a more personalized message, as only he was aware of the involvement of the Purrgil in Star Wars Rebels season 4. This changes the meaning of Ezra’s final message significantly, especially regarding Sabine’s character arc. Alongside setting up Sabine’s fondness for Ezra and her resulting search for him, the Ahsoka trailer hints that Star Wars’ Sabine has the Force.
Sabine Definitely Wasn’t Force-Sensitive In Star Wars Rebels
Herein lies the potentially massive Star Wars Rebels retcon, as it was made abundantly clear in the animated show that Sabine did not possess the Force. This was established primarily in season 3, episode 15, “Trials of the Darksaber”. In the episode, Sabine obtains possession of the titular Darksaber – the black Mandalorian lightsaber wielded by Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze in The Mandalorian season 3 – resulting in her being trained by the Jedi Kanan Jarrus.
Throughout the episode, one of the recurring plot points is that Kanan was unwittingly training Sabine differently than he did Ezra because she did not have the Force. Similarly, Sabine was provided with Mandalorian gadgets from her ally Fenn Rau as a means of emulating the Jedi’s Force abilities. From an air blaster on her gauntlets to a rope-like whip to mirror a Force pull, Star Wars Rebels repeatedly made it clear that Sabine did not possess power over the Force.
However, throughout the new Ahsoka trailer, there are teases that this is being retconned. Ezra’s message to Sabine is certainly enough to suggest this, as his words seem to imply he was training her in the ways of the Jedi. Also, Sabine refers to Ahsoka as “master” during the trailer, teasing that Ahsoka began training Sabine as Ezra did. All of this seems to point towards Ahsoka introducing that Sabine has growing Force abilities, which informs the relationship between her and Ahsoka in the series.
Ahsoka’s Relationship With Sabine Mirrors Baylan & Shin
These hints also imply that Ahsoka and Sabine’s relationship mirrors that of Baylan and Shin, Ahsoka‘s two villains. The Ahsoka trailer included many reveals about villains Baylan and Shin, one being that the former does not view himself as a Jedi. This directly links to Ahsoka, even in the way Baylan states “We are no Jedi”, just as Ahsoka insisted “I am no Jedi” to Darth Vader in Star Wars Rebels season 2. This provides almost a mirror image between Baylan and Ahsoka, two former Jedi who suffered in one way or another at the hands of the Order, leading both of them to forsake the title.
Given the hints of Sabine’s potential Force-sensitivity then, it could be revealed that Shin and Sabine are also mirror images of one another. Baylan is clearly training Shin in the ways of the dark side, ushering in another generation below him. Ahsoka is similarly doing the same with Sabine, as hinted at by her title of “master”. Therefore, the villainous Force-sensitive duo of Baylan and Shin could be countered throughout Ahsoka by the light-sided Force-sensitive duo of Ahsoka and Sabine, should the theories about the latter from the new trailer be proved correct.
What Does It Mean If Sabine Is Force-Sensitive?
This all begs the question of what it would mean for Ahsoka and Star Wars as a whole if Sabine is Force-sensitive. One of the more underlying meanings of the reveal would lie in reference to the Mandalorian-Jedi war. The Mandalorians and Jedi are ancient enemies, yet there has been one Mandalorian Jedi in the Star Wars galaxy: Tarre Vizsla. This character was mentioned at length in Star Wars Rebels as well as The Mandalorian as the creator of the Darksaber. Sabine becoming another Mandalorian Jedi is therefore a big possibility should the theory be true.
Also, on a more base level, Sabine being Force-sensitive simply means another powerful being going up against Thrawn. After Ahsoka, the New Republic, Ezra, and potentially even Luke Skywalker, Sabine adds another Force-sensitive being to a powerful line-up of heroes opposing Thrawn. Sabine’s potential Force-sensitivity could also provide the character, and the Ahsoka show, with bigger connections to The Mandalorian. Grogu’s journey in The Mandalorian has been centered on his split between being a Mandalorian and a Jedi, something Sabine could share. Not only is this a compelling character arc, but it connects Ahsoka and The Mandalorian before the inevitable merging of the shows in Filoni’s upcoming Star Wars movie.
According to the Writers Guild of Great Britain, 65 percent of respondents to a recent survey sent to its members said they thought the increased use of artificial intelligence would reduce their income from writing. Meanwhile, 61 percent said they were worried that AI could replace their jobs.
In response, the union has published Writers and AI, a policy position statement that outlines the challenges it feels are caused by AI and the risks that go with it, as well as the potential benefits of AI to the writing profession — such as its use in detecting copyright infringements.
Current concerns about AI identified in Writers and AI include decreased job opportunities for writers, the suppression of writer pay, infringements of copyright and the use of writers’ work without their permission, plus lack of adequate regulation from the Government. A total of 81 percent of respondents to the survey felt that writers should be paid a fee when their work is used by AI systems.
The guild claims that while AI systems are not yet sophisticated enough to accurately mimic the standard of writing produced by professional writers, this will be a likely future scenario. However, it said it did not believe that AI would ever be able to match the originality, authenticity, enthusiasm and humanity that professional writers put into their storytelling. It also suggested that potential benefits to AI include allowing writers to diversify and increase their income streams and sustain a writing career.
Within Writers and AI, the WGGB makes a number of recommendations that it says will help it inform its lobbying and campaigning work in the future.
These include:
AI developers should only use writers’ work if they have been given express permission to do so – reflecting the view of 80 percent of respondents to the WGGB survey.
AI developers should maintain clear and accessible logs of the information used to train their tool to allow writers to check if their work has been used – reflecting 82 percent of survey respondents who said developers should be transparent about what data they have used in creating AI systems, including where they have used writers’ work.
Where content has been generated, or decisions have been made by AI and not a human being it needs to be clearly labeled as such.
Where AI has been used to create content, AI developers should appropriately credit the authors whose work has been used to create such content.
59 percent of respondents to the WGGB AI survey believed that a new, independent regulator should be set up to oversee and monitor the expansion of AI and the union believes the government should set up a new regulatory body whose remits specifically cover AI, applicable to all future and previous AI development work, so that writers and others are able to assert their rights regarding work which has already been used without their knowledge or permission.
The Government should not allow any copyright exceptions to allow text and data mining for commercial purposes. This would allow AI developers to scrape writers’ work from online sources, without permission or payment.
There should also be clear, accessible and affordable routes for writers to challenge the practices of AI developers and bring claims regarding the use of their work.
“There have been some incredible advancements in AI, but as with any new technology we need to weigh the risks against the benefits and ensure that the speed of development does not outpace or derail the protections that writers and the wider creative workforce rely upon to make a living,” said WGGB deputy general secretary Lesley Gannon.
“Regulation is clearly needed to safeguard workers’ rights and protect audiences from fraud and misinformation. WGGB is proposing a series of sensible recommendations that will help protect and reassure the writing community, whilst allowing them to enjoy the benefits of this undoubtedly powerful tool.”
When classic TV series come and go from streaming services almost without reason, and it seems like every rerun on TV is The Big Bang Theory, it can be hard to indulge your nostalgia for great shows. Our suggestion? Load up on complete sets of great TV series during Amazon’s Prime Day event and own them forever. There are massive discounts to be found on great shows both new, old, and very old—be the first person on your block to own all 234 episodes of Leave It To Beaver! Don’t worry, Wally and The Beav aren’t our only recommendation: keep clicking to see The A.V. Club’s rundown of the best deals on complete TV series on DVD and Blu-ray available during Amazon’s two-day Prime Day blowout.
Lights, camera, emotions! In the realm of filmmaking, location scouting serves as the foundation upon which captivating stories are built, stirring emotions that ignite the hearts of audiences. But hold your breath, for a new era dawns. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful force, revolutionizing location scouting and unlocking a world of boundless creativity. Join me on this thrilling journey as we explore the extraordinary impact of AI-powered software, reshaping the landscape of filmmaking. Brace yourself for a rollercoaster ride of emotions as we unveil how AI technology is transforming the once arduous task of scouting locations, breathing life into storytelling like never before.
Harnessing the Power of Data
Deep within the DNA of AI-powered location scouting software lies an untamed spirit, thirsty for data-driven adventures. These cutting-edge tools sink their teeth into vast databases, devouring information on geography, climate, accessibility, and visual aesthetics. Guided by the magic of AI algorithms, filmmakers are bestowed with a treasure trove of location possibilities, each brimming with its own emotive potential. The days of endless research and tedious analysis are but distant memories, as efficiency and inspiration dance hand in hand.
Picture a filmmaker on the hunt for a location that resonates with despair and longing. With AI-powered software like Wrapal and StudioBinder, they journey through a labyrinth of choices. The software reveals locations that whisper of abandonment and decay through weathered facades, faded landscapes, and hidden depths. In that moment, a surge of emotions floods their soul as they stumble upon a dilapidated mansion embraced by towering trees, its eerie allure bathed in the haunting glow of twilight. They know, deep within, that they have discovered the perfect backdrop to unleash a torrent of sorrow and yearning upon the screen.
Visualizing Locations Virtually
Step into a realm where reality intertwines with imagination, where AI-powered software conjures vivid virtual worlds that breathe life into filmmakers’ dreams. Advanced 3D rendering and visualization techniques transport creators to boundless realms, eradicating the need for physical pilgrimages to every location. They don the veils of virtual reality, immersing themselves in ethereal landscapes, dancing beneath cascading waterfalls, and basking in the warm embrace of otherworldly sunsets. It is within these digital dimensions that filmmakers witness their creative flames ignited, exploring untold possibilities and uncharted territories.
Imagine a filmmaker yearning to immerse their audience in the pulsating heart of a bustling metropolis. AI-powered tools like Zync Render become their magic carpet, whisking them away to a digital playground of endless urban wonders. They wander through bustling streets, where neon lights paint eccentric characters with vibrant hues, their energy rippling through the veins of the city. The filmmaker’s heart swells with exhilaration as they bear witness to bustling markets, roaring traffic, and the symphony of life reverberating in every corner. They have discovered their cinematic haven, a place where stories intermingle, passions ignite, and emotions resonate within the souls of audiences.
Efficient Location Matching
In the heart of the script lies a dormant beast, craving to be unleashed upon the silver screen. Fear not, for AI-powered location scouting software emerges as the gallant knight, armed with algorithms
that pierce through the script’s core, matching it with locations that infuse it with life. The context, tone, and setting of the story become guiding stars, leading filmmakers to locations that evoke emotions and amplify the narrative’s impact.
Enter the world of a love that defies all odds. The filmmaker yearns for a location that mirrors the intensity and passion pulsating within their characters’ hearts. With AI-powered software like ScriptBook, they whisper the script’s secrets into the algorithm’s ear. It awakens, delving into its vast knowledge to unveil a selection of locations that epitomize the fiery essence of love. It reveals hidden gardens, where vibrant blooms entwine, and starlit rooftops where the characters’ souls unite. The filmmaker’s heart races with anticipation, knowing that they have discovered the perfect backdrop to ignite love’s battlefield and envelop audiences in an ocean of emotions.
Historical and Real-Time Data
Within the ever-evolving tapestry of our world, AI-powered location-scouting tools embrace the power of historical and real-time data. They unlock the secrets of the past and present, enabling filmmakers to navigate shifting landscapes with clarity and purpose. These tools analyse historical weather patterns, tourist traffic, and local regulations, offering filmmakers a glimpse into the intricacies that shape their desired locations.
Envision a filmmaker seeking to capture the essence of a quaint seaside village. AI-powered software like LocationsHub dives into the annals of history, unearthing the allure hidden within its depths. It whispers tales of gentle ocean breezes that caress the soul, vibrant festivals that ignite the spirit, and timeless charm that weaves its way through the cobbled streets. The filmmaker’s heart surges with anticipation as they uncover the beauty and essence of the village’s rich heritage. Armed with real-time data, they understand the ebb and flow of tourist seasons, ensuring they capture the village’s beating heart when it resonates with its fullest intensity.
Collaborative and Interactive Platforms
Platforms such as ProductionNext and StudioBinder become the vibrant hub of creative exploration. Filmmakers share their visions, uploading images that evoke emotions and stimulate discussions. Notes and comments transform into brushstrokes, weaving a tapestry of understanding and inspiration. The creative team engages in real-time discussions, their screens alive with the flicker of shared ideas. Within this digital sanctuary, emotions collide, and cinematic magic is born. The filmmaker’s heart swells with gratitude, knowing that their creative tribe has breathed life into their vision, emboldening them to embark on the emotional journey that lies ahead.
The world of filmmaking stands on the precipice of a seismic shift, as the emotive revolution of AI-powered location scouting takes centre stage. With AI as their unwavering ally, filmmakers unlock a realm where data, visualization, matching, and collaboration converge, weaving a tapestry of raw emotions that captivate hearts and souls. The future of location scouting pulsates with an edgy and emotional force, ensuring that the art of filmmaking thrives in uncharted emotional territories. Brace yourself for the journey ahead, where AI breathes life into stories, unleashes cinematic magic, and etches indelible emotions into the minds of audiences worldwide. The revolution is here, and emotions have never been more electrifying.
Andrew is the creative force behind a number of entrepreneurial projects. A passionate author who belives in the power of story telling to inspire and entertain readers. His own inspiration comes from ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Andrew lives with his fiancé and step-son splitting their time time between Wales and South of France.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat down with Volodomyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit Wednesday morning, a day after the Ukrainian president blasted the alliance for failing to extend a clear invite to his country.
The leaders exchanged pleasantries, with Zelenskyy thanking Canada for all of its support during the war and Trudeau pledging that will continue for as long as it’s needed.
It was a different tone than Zelenskyy took Tuesday, when he said it was absurd that NATO leaders did not set out a timeline for Ukraine to become a member.
The leaders say in a statement that Ukraine has some conditions to meet, including democratic reform and stamping out corruption.
But above all, NATO says, the war with Russia must end first.
Today also marks the first meeting of the new NATO-Ukraine Council, which will aim to deepen ties as Ukraine works toward meeting the alliance’s requirements.
Donald Trump’s legal team on Tuesday filed to delay his upcoming federal trial, on charges related to his unlawful possession of classified documents, until after the 2024 election. And later in the day, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes discussed the move in detail, ultimately comparing the legal strategy to “a chase movie, where he’s running from the law.”
Hayes’ point is that Trump’s plan is to win the 2024 election, and then kill the trial entirely, escaping any accountability for the crimes he has been charged with. And that makes this trial not just a matter of accountability, Hayes argued, but the literal health of America. “Can we actually hold this man this powerful man accountable, as if he were any other citizen?” he asked.
“Donald Trump is literally running for his freedom. He is running to be president to stay out of prison. Those are the stakes for Donald Trump and he understands them as such,” Hayes said on Tuesday’s episode of “All In.”
Judge Aileen Cannon “now has a monumental decision before her,” says @chrislhayes, discussing Trump’s request to delay the classified documents trial until after the election. “Has she learned anything? Will she further collude with Donald Trump’s scheme to stay out of prison?” pic.twitter.com/aTt5Q0dj4k
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) July 12, 2023
“And the key to achieve that end is to delay as much as possible. In fact, his team has already tried that in fighting this investigation,” Hayes continued, before detailing that earlier attempt.
“Remember last summer after the FBI executed that search warrant on Trump’s Florida beach club. One of the first things Trump’s lawyers did in response was to sue to stop the Justice Department from reviewing the documents it had found their own documents government documents, Trump argued the search was politically motivated and asked the judge to appoint a third party to review the C’s materials. In other words, that was his effort to delay the investigation, keep the FBI from looking at the evidence in this cockamamie legal theory,” Hayes said.
“And guess what? It worked for a time. Trump’s motion was granted by the same judge who is now overseeing this criminal trial judge, Aileen Cannon who herself was appointed by none other than Donald Trump, the defendant,” Hayes added.
Hayes worried that Cannon was assigned to the current case, as “back in August she gave him this completely unprecedented break from normal criminal procedure,” in which she appointed a Special Master to review the documents under dispute.
This, Hayes noted, “consequentially delayed the Justice Department’s access to some of that evidence for a few weeks, until an appeals court overturn the decision of candidate in a scathing absolutely eviscerating rule. But here’s the thing: I n this case, especially, every week matters. This guy, this twice-indicted ex-president, he’s gotta get to the election.”
“It’s like a chase movie, where he’s running from the law. Except what’s at stake here is not just Donald Trump’s prison time, but our own constitutional integrity. Can we actually hold this man this powerful man accountable as if he were any other citizens?” Hayes asked.
“And so here we are. We got 16 months on the clock. 16 months away from the 2024 election. Donald Trump has been indicted in this case on 37 felony counts. He lucked out and managed to get this same judge who gave him a break last year,” Hayes said. “And she now has been monumental decision before her.”
“Will she further collude with Donald Trump’s scheme to stay out of prison?” Hates wondered.
During Tuesday night’s edition of CNN’s 9 p.m. show “The Source With Kaitlan Collins,” the reporter pressed former Vice President Mike Pence once again on the events surrounding Jan. 6. And as he’s done a lot when asked, he stumbled a bit while trying to explain it.
“You testified in the January 6 investigation for more than five hours after a court fight. Do you think that your testimony could lead to an indictment?,” Collins asked Pence.
“Well, look, I can tell you that I had concerns about the unprecedented subpoena of a former vice president to testify about my duties under my role as president of the Senate… We went to court on that. We actually — we won that round. Actually, for the first time in history, a federal judge recognized that some of the protections members of Congress have do extend to the vice president.”
The vice president went on to further say, “There’s no mystery about what I talked about. And people can draw their own conclusions. I have told the story many times on your airwaves and others and, of course, on the printed page of my autobiography.”
Collins then asked Pence if he wished he had come forward and conceded the election sooner.
“Don’t you think it would have had an effect if you had come out in mid-December, when it was very clear the Electoral — the Electoral College had certified Biden’s win — if you had come out and publicly conceded the election? Why didn’t you do that?” Collins asked.
“Well, I wanted to be respectful. Remember, we had about 60 lawsuits that were working, some of which were still in the courts…” Pence said.
You can watch the whole exchange, and a whole lot of hemming and hawing from Pence, here:
Asked if he wished he had spoken up sooner, before Jan. 6, by coming out and publicly conceding the election in the weeks before it got to that, Pence says he’d hoped Trump would “come around” on the election. pic.twitter.com/SqLyLisB74
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