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Many movies feature scene-stealing performances by actors who make the most of limited screen time. But it’s the rare performer who can take over a film given just one scene. When a great actor gets a chance to chew on brilliant dialogue in a standout moment, all you can do is hold your breath and soak it in. If you’ve seen these films, you’ll definitely remember these performances.


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Ned Beatty

Warner Bros.

When a single scene results in an Oscar nomination, you know the actor made an impression. Ned Beatty received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance as Arthur Jensen in 1976’s Network. Corporate chairman Jensen gives crusading anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) a fiery dressing down in a dramatically-lit boardroom and Beatty has a field day with writer Paddy Chayefsky’s meaty dialogue.

Viola Davis

Viola Davis in Doubt
Miramax Film

Viola Davis received her first Oscar nomination for a single scene in 2008’s Doubt. She plays the mother of a boy who is the suspected victim of an abusive priest. Davis commands the screen in an extended conversation with none other than Meryl Streep. The actress has since gone on to be nominated for three additional Oscars, even winning one. In 2023, Davis became an EGOT winner.

Related: The Best Opening Scenes Of All Time, Ranked

Billy Crystal and Carole Kane

princess-bride-crystal-kane
20th Century Studios

Some of the best one-scene performances provide their movies with a jolt of energy in the form of comic relief. Billy Crystal and Carol Kane deliver sidesplitting turns in The Princess Bride (1987) as Miracle Max and his wife Valerie. Who among us hasn’t seen a friend off with a chipper “Have fun storming the castle!?” While there are plenty of iconic scenes in the movie, these two stand out.

Christopher Walken

christopher-walken-pulp-fiction
Miramax

Christopher Walken starts off quite somber as Captain Koons in 1994’s Pulp Fiction, telling a young boy the story of his late father’s gold watch. But halfway through, the story takes a hilariously profane turn and Walken sells every line beautifully. The scene serves as a perfect bridge between segments of Quentin Tarantino’s groundbreaking film.

Robert Downey Jr.

chef-robert-downey-jr
Open Road Films

Robert Downey Jr. delivered for his Iron Man boss Jon Favreau in the writer/director’s passion project, Chef (2014). As the ex-husband of chef Carl Casper’s ex-wife, Downey portrays the ultimate pompous blowhard, speculating about the father of his pregnant assistant’s baby while asking for Casper’s opinion on carpet samples.

Alfred Molina

alfred-molina-boogie-nights
New Line Cinema

Some scenes drop you in the middle of a nerve-fraying situation and increase the pressure until you’re ready to burst. In 1997’s Boogie Nights, Alfred Molina plays Rahad Jackson, a zany drug dealer who loves ’80s mixtapes. To the tune of Sister Christian, Jesse’s Girl, and 99 Luftballons, he psychologically terrorizes Mark Wahlberg’s Dirk Diggler and his friends.

Dean Stockwell

blue-velvet-dean-stockwell
Paramount Pictures

Roy Orbison’s In Dreams provides the backdrop to Dean Stockwell’s thoroughly creepy scene in Blue Velvet (1986). He plays an associate of Dennis Hopper’s deranged Frank Booth, and his lip-synced rendition of the ’60s tune offers an ironic soundtrack to a violent kidnapping.

Related: 10 Best Interrogation Scenes in Movies

Gloria Foster

The Matrix
Warner Bros.

Gloria Foster, as The Oracle in The Matrix (1999), tells Neo exactly what he needs to hear over a plate of homemade cookies. Her calming presence lends emotional heft to a movie flying high on its ideas and its visuals. There is plenty to look at in the film, but your eyes will be glued to her when she’s on screen.

Vanessa Redgrave

atonement-redgrave
Universal Pictures

Vanessa Redgrave delivers the haunting coup de grâce in Atonement (2007), detailing the main characters’ fates against a black backdrop. Her co-star Saoirse Ronan earned an Oscar nomination for playing a younger version of the character, and Redgrave lives up to that performance in her brief scene.

Brian Tyree Henry

brian-tyree-henry-beale-street
Annapurna Pictures

Brian Tyree Henry recalls the chilling experience of being a Black man in prison in 2018’s If Beale Street Could Talk. His extended monologue prepares the audience for the film’s devastating conclusion.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

hard-eight-hoffman
MGM

Philip Seymour Hoffman, in one of his earliest roles, plays a clownish, arrogant gambler shooting craps in Hard Eight (1996). He goes from taunting a veteran gambler played by Philip Baker Hall to offering him a measure of respect and creates an indelible character in the process.

Alfre Woodard

alfre-woodard-12-years-slave
Searchlight Pictures

Alfre Woodard has only a few minutes of screen time in 2013’s 12 Years a Slave but transforms them into one of the movie’s most memorable scenes. Her character defends her decision to marry a slave owner, assuring her enslaved guests that “the curse of the pharaohs is but a poor example of what waits for the plantation class.”

Related: These Scenes Have Some of the Best Needle Drops of All Time

Alec Baldwin

glengarry-glen-ross-baldwin
New Line Cinema

Alec Baldwin’s opening monologue in 1992’s Glengarry Glen Ross is funny, tense, and expertly written by David Mamet, who adapted his play for the big screen and added Baldwin’s character to start things off with a bang.

Glengarry Glen Ross follows a quartet of desperate real estate salesmen fighting to hold on to their jobs and their dignity. Baldwin plays a successful salesman sent from the head office to humiliate them into action. Baldwin was 34, just five years into his film career, when he was asked to verbally abuse the likes of Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, and Ed Harris.

Baldwin’s acting in this scene is so memorable it overshadows career-defining work by an ensemble that also includes Kevin Spacey and Al Pacino. To be best in show among a group of actors that talented is no small feat.

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Many movies feature scene-stealing performances by

Comics

Far across the sea is a beautiful island, wreathed in cherry blossoms and steeped in folklore. And now, for the first time, you can step foot on its shores.

Black Desert Online Shines Bright in Land of The Morning Light

The highly anticipated expansion for Black Desert Online, Land of the Morning Light, is now available globally. Fans and new players alike will be happy to know that this massive expansion offers a bevy of new content and an ambitious new take on MMO gameplay.

Set on an island that’s meant to give players a sense of being a traveler in a far-off land, the Land of the Morning Light offers beautiful new terrains, intricate architecture, and villages steeped in cultural traditions.

These environments are inspired by 15 real-world locations, and developers Pearl Abyss collaborated with 11 local Korean government agencies to ensure that historical landmarks in the game were as authentic as possible. Prime examples include the in-game Shimnidae Forest, inspired by Juknokwon (Bamboo Forest) and Nampo Gate, inspired by Sangdang Sanseong Fortress. But the attention to detail seeps into all aspects of the environment. From the clothes to the games to the music that filters through the towns you’ll gallop through.

Beyond the finely crafted environment, the Land of the Morning Light moves away from the familiar monster grind with the introduction of bosses, which can be fought in any order. Each of these bosses are inspired by Korean folklore and vary in character design and battle mechanics. Players new to the game can opt to fight the boss on lower tier difficulty while more experienced players can fight them at higher tiers for better rewards.

On top of these pure boss fights, Pearl Abyss has added a completely new competitive boss challenge called ‘Boss Blitz’. A leaderboard, organized by character class, will showcase players who beat the bosses with the fastest time. At the end of the week, players at the top will reap great rewards.

But what I’ve most enjoyed about the expansion so far is the non-linear quests lines the Land of the Morning Light offers. Each of the bosses you fight are part of a greater story, which you can discover through a series of rich quests. Players can expect 80 cutscenes, 40 vignettes, and 6,000 fully dubbed lines.

New players who are worried it might take them days or weeks to reach the Land of the Morning Light need not worry. New characters can be created and placed immediately in the Land of the Morning Light. From there, you can complete a set of tutorial quests which will equip you with all the items you’ll need to succeed in the expansion.

To celebrate the launch of Land of the Morning Light, all game packages, including the base game, are 50% off on Steam and the official website. The expansion can be played completely free if you own Black Desert Online.

I had a chance to tackle bosses, complete quests, and decorate my very own Korean-style mansion in the Land of the Morning Light a few weeks ago. Check out my complete impressions here: Black Desert Online: The Land of the Morning Light Preview | Step into a Korean Fairytale.

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Far across the sea is a beautiful

Festivals

As the American Black Film Festival kicks off its 27th edition in Miami Beach, Fla. on Wednesday night, the company behind the fest, ABFF Ventures, is announcing a rebrand.

The events entertainment company, led by founder and CEO Jeff Friday and president Nicole Friday, will now be called Nice Crowd, evoking the brand’s dedication to spotlighting BIPOC culture and achievements while emphasizing the power of gathering.

In addition to the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) and the annual ABFF Honors ceremony, Nice Crowd will expand its annual offerings to include comedy, health & wellness, food and fine art-focused events. The first new event under the Nice Crowd banner will be “Because They’re Funny” (BTF), a comedy festival showcasing comedic talent within BIPOC communities that will launch this October in Washington, D.C.

“We are so thrilled to announce our new comedy festival, Because They’re Funny, which launches in Washington, D.C., the hometown of many of today’s most beloved comedians of color,” the Fridays said in a statement announcing the rebrand. “While we proudly reflect on this festival and the company’s many accomplishments over the years, we look forward to an even brighter future, with even more incredible event offerings, as Nice Crowd.”

The inaugural comedy festival will take place from Oct. 6 to Oct. 8, with events held at the Anthem Theater and other premier venues along The Wharf, a popular entertainment hub on Washington, D.C.’s southwest waterfront. BTF is presented in partnership with Events D.C., the official convention and sports authority for the District of Columbia. Cadillac is the festival’s presenting sponsor and exclusive automotive partner.

Of the new partnership, Events D.C. CEO Angie Gates said: “Not only will the festival bring new, emerging and fantastic talent by people of color to our city, but it will support our local creatives, our theaters and performance spaces, their employees and the nation’s capital as a whole. We love welcoming visitors to our diverse and inclusive city while celebrating creativity and having a great time.”

Founded in 1997, the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) showcases Black filmmakers, actors, writers and stand-up comedians with a focus on discovering new voices. This year’s opening night selection is Netflix’s conspiratorial caper film “They Cloned Tyrone,” which stars John Boyega, Teyonah Parris and Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx. The film, directed by Juel Taylor from a script he co-wrote with Tony Rettenmaier, will make its world premiere at the festival. ABFF runs June 14 to June 18 in Miami Beach, presented in partnership with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, followed by a virtual program, available June 19 to June 25 on ABFF Play. Emmy-winning writer, actor and producer Lena Waithe serves as the 2023 festival ambassador.

About the rebrand to Nice Crowd, Connie Kinnard, GMCVB’s Senior Vice President of Multicultural Tourism & Development, stated: “This momentous occasion not only signifies growth and innovation for the organization but also highlights the immense inspiration ABFF has had on Greater Miami’s multicultural programming such as the Art of Black Miami. We welcome ABFF’s unwavering dedication in fostering meaningful connections and shining a spotlight on diverse talent. ABFF Ventures’ transformative impact to Greater Miami’s tourism landscape is truly remarkable and anything that grows their audience is also beneficial to the Miami and Miami Beach community.”

Following ABFF, the company will host an international screening series event in London, from Sept. 1-3. The ABFF Global Film Series visits a new city each year and is intended to “promote the universal appeal of Black content while encouraging collaboration between artists throughout the African Diaspora.” The 2023 edition will take place at the British Film Institute in the U.K. in partnership with S.O.U.L Fest.

The sixth ABFF Honors will be held in March 2024 in Los Angeles, saluting Black artists who have made significant contributions to the entertainment industry through their work and champion diversity and inclusion in Hollywood. The 2023 ceremony honored Kerry Washington, Courtney B. Vance, Janelle Monáe, Macro’s Charles D. King and Kasi Lemmons’ groundbreaking drama “Eve’s Bayou.”

Additional events — including a gathering of food enthusiasts, a festival centered on exercise and wellness and a multi-day gallery dedicated to showcasing contemporary Black art — are set to be announced for 2024.

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As the American Black Film Festival kicks

Film

Editor’s note: The following interviews were done outside of the FYC event series, as there was no panel or screening.

When it comes to assembling the quintessential ensemble cast for a series, it’s an art, not a science; an organic melding of faces and emotional forces. No more was this important than in the high stakes second season of HBO’s limited series White Lotus in which we’re pulled into the posh, sexy allure of those upper-class denizens on vacation only to relish in their deceitful sides and hijinks, warts and all. The limited series not only propelled fresh faces to the forefront such as Natasha Rothwell in season one, whose Hawaiian White Lotus resort spa manager is returning for the Eastern religion and spirituality set season 3, but it’s also shown a fresh, dynamic range of actors we’ve seen previously, i.e. Jennifer Coolidge and Alexandra Daddario among several others.

White Lotus’ casting director Meredith Tucker, who won a Limited Series Casting Primetime Emmy for season one on the Mike White created show, tells us in an interview for the Deadline FYC House + HBO Max event series that when it comes to putting together the right cast “it’s dealt with role by role” with the “specificity of the relationships always coming into play”.

This entails synching ages and likenesses for those characters who are connected to each other, i.e creating a believable age disparity between the grandfather-father-son Di Grasso family trio played respectively by F. Murray Abraham, Michael Imperioli and Adam DiMarco.

However, one of the more challenging roles for Tucker to cast was the role of Ethan Spiller, the earnest, enigmatic rich tech husband to Aubrey Plaza’s slippery Harper. White had originally written the role of Harper with Plaza in mind.

“That was the last part we ended up casting, and we were having a little trouble figuring that role out,” Tucker says. “It was really a hard role because it’s sort of a slow burn.” The part went to UK-based Will Sharpe, who has recently been blazing a trail as a writer and director on the HBO series Landscapers, and the British show Flowers. His most recent acting roles were in the Netflix series, Giri/Haji, and the BBC 2018-2019 series, Defending the Guilty as a barrister, parts which “could not be more different” than the introverted Ethan per Tucker and showed off Sharpe’s more extroverted, comedic sides.

Tucker came across Sharpe while going through IMDB and UTA’s client list. She had watched Landscapers and thought Sharpe was the right age for the role. It was key to match the proper age to Theo James’ privileged Cameron Sullivan; he and Ethan having been college roommates. Tucker immediately phoned White Lotus EP David Bernad, who coincidentally was also thinking of Sharpe.

Why Sharpe worked was “you’d buy him as a tech guy. There was something very cerebral and could see that he and Aubrey made sense as a couple,” Tucker explains. She could see from Sharpe’s demo reel of Giri/Haji and Defending the Guilty a chameleon sensibility, something the part of Ethan required.

“There’s a repressiveness to him, but you need to see him lash out,” Tucker explains, “We felt that he could be able to do that just from the other material that he had shown.”

Sharpe received the request to submit a tape for White Lotus. “I was so excited to get the request, but as I was taping it, I didn’t really think anything would come of it,” he tells us. He ultimately read for the role on zoom with Tucker and Bernad.

“It sort of felt very surreal to all of a sudden be in Sicily playing this part,” adds Sharpe who was stoked to play the nuances of a “morally gray character”.

“He’s neither sexy sweet nor an out-and-out baddie,” the actor explains.

(L-R) Meghann Fahy, Theo James, Aubrey Plaza, Will Sharpe

HBO

White Lotus season 2 begins with a floating body in the Sicilian waters, and we don’t know who died, or who was murdered. Frictions ultimately heat up between Cameron and Ethan, as the latter suspects the former of sleeping with Harper. Ethan ultimately bursts out at Cameron. Is Ethan bound to kill his old friend? Cameron no doubt envies Ethan’s success in tech.

On set Sharpe spoke with White about how mysterious Ethan should be. “He wanted the audience to wonder if Ethan is going to end up killing someone, and whether this nice guy thing is a misdirect. His sort of more problematic male behavior starts to bubble through.”

Sharpe was mindful that Ethan carried “the potential for real darkness, but also marrying that with the reality of the story, which is really the story of somebody who’s terrified about the stage of his marriage and he’s trying to confront that.”

The actor adds, “he’s worried about who he’s maybe becoming: He’s only recently made all this money and he finds himself sort of on vacation by mistake.”

The ennui ridden Ethan-Harper encounter the sexually free, no-rules-abiding Cameron and Daphne Sullivan (Meghann Fahy) “a very different couple who bring all these things to the surface” says Sharpe, “So, he’s questioning who he is and his behaviors shift in the last couple of episodes; it’s like he’s almost surrendering to the reality that he has to play the game by these different rules.”

In regards to the backstory of what was wrong in the house of Harper and Ethan, White told Plaza and Sharpe that the couples’ downfall was in that “they had been together for a long time; that was what was creating the problem; an atrophy set in because of the amount of time, and that’s what he thought would be relatable.”

Other intriguing takeaways from the casting process of White Lotus Season 2:

— Fahy had originally read for the role of Daddario’s Rachel Patton in season one. She didn’t get the part, but was promptly considered for the role of Daphne. “She was perfect for Daphne. There’s a sunniness to her, there’s a brightness to her versus Rachel who was a bit depressive,” Tucker tells us.

Theo James and Meghann Fahy

Theo James and Meghann Fahy

HBO

— Theo James landing Cameron: “Theo was so successful in that he is so charming and that is what we needed in that character…the guy (Cameron) is reprehensible, but there’s no interest in hating a character immediately. You have to have some sort of investment in everyone. The charm allowed him to behave so abominably,” says Tucker.

Sam Claflin (Billy Dunne), Riley Keough (Daisy Jones)

— Daisy Jones & The Six‘s Sam Claflin was considered for the part of Cameron, but like most casting goes for projects in Hollywood, the actor wasn’t available.

White Lotus

Haley Lu Richardson as Portia in Season 2 – Episode 4

HBO

— Haley Lu Richardson landing the role of Portia, the assistant to Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya. Portia hooks DiMarco’s Albie Di Grasso and breaks his heart when she easily falls for the beefcake Jack (Leo Woodall) — who winds up being a whole other potentially dangerous headache for her. Tucker was a fan of Richardson’s having saw her in the movie Support the Girls. “There’s an openness to her in that part” says Tucker about Richardson as Portia, “and yet you still rooted for her.” Also, it was easy to buy Richardson as playing an outsider to the elites at the hotel, and as a young woman who drifts from Albie to another outsider, Jack.

To watch more videos from the Deadline FYC House + HBO Max event series, click here.

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Editor’s note: The following interviews were done

TV

The Television Academy today named broadcaster Stu Lantz as the recipient of the 75th Los Angeles Area Emmy Governors Award, recognizing his 36-year career as a broadcast analyst for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The award is presented to an individual, company or organization, selected by the Los Angeles Area Governors Award committee, that has made an outstanding, innovative and visionary achievement in the arts, sciences or management of television, as well as a substantial contribution to the greater Los Angeles area.

“For 36 seasons, Stu has served Los Angeles and Lakers fans across the globe with his vast knowledge, skill and passion for basketball,” said Frank Scherma, chair of the Television Academy. “His long career in broadcasting is a testament to both his professionalism and immense popularity, and we are thrilled to recognize him for his contributions to our television community.

Lantz has been a Lakers voicethrough eight championship runs, teaching fans about the game through his distinctive broadcasting style. ,

The former professional basketball player (Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz, and Lakers) began his radio and television career with the Purple and Gold in 1987 upon the recommendation of a Lakers broadcasting icon, Chick Hearn, who became his mentor and broadcast partner for 15 seasons. He currently works alongside Bill Macdonald as the broadcast analyst on Spectrum SportsNet.

Throughout his storied career, Lantz called games played by some of the greatest players in the game, including Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and now LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Lantz has been named by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association as the best television color commentator seven times, and in 2018 he was inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Lantz joins Southern California sports broadcasting icons Bob Miller (2016), Chick Hearn (2001) and Vin Scully (1991) as a Governor’s Award recipient.

Christie Lyn Lugo Leigh and Stephanie Hampton are the Los Angeles Area Governors.

The Los Angeles Area Governors Award will be presented during the 75th Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards Saturday evening, July 22 at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire, hosted by journalist Michaela Pereira.

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The Television Academy today named broadcaster Stu

What to Watch

XO, Kitty – ACE Entertainment / Netflix

After a romantic rollercoaster in South Korea, Kitty is returning to America, or is she? That’s what XO, Kitty fans, or hoping to learn from a second season which Netflix has now officially confirmed. Here’s what we know so far.

XO, Kitty is a Netflix Orignal romantic comedy series created, written, and produced by Jenny Han and the spin-off series of the popular To All the Boys film franchise.

Teen matchmaker Kitty Song Covey thinks she knows everything there is to know about love. But when she moves halfway across the world to reunite with her long-distance boyfriend, she’ll soon realize that relationships are much more complicated when it’s your heart on the line.

Article Continues Below…

XO, Kitty Season 2 Netflix Renewal Status

Official Renewal Status: Renewed (Last updated: 06/14/2023)
Our Renewal Prediction: Likely Renewal

On June 7th we gave the show a likely renewal prediction and just a week later, Netflix officially confirmed that the show would be back for a second outing.

xo kitty renewed for season 2

XO Kitty renewal sign

As the first spin-off show of one of its popular film franchises, it was always going to be interesting to see how XO, Kitty performs over the first few weeks, especially given the gap from To All The Boys. Netflix measures all of the analytics related to the series, such as weekly hourly viewing data, the percentage of subscribers starting and finishing the show, and more. We’ve covered how Netflix decides whether to renew or cancel a show here.

How well has XO, Kitty performed on Netflix?

Judging the performance of the show’s first four days and XO, Kitty has gotten off to a strong start on Netflix with 72,080,000 hours viewed. If it wasn’t for the success of Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Series, then XO, Kitty would be top.

Let’s begin with the Netflix hourly numbers for XO, Kitty. Every week on Tuesday, Netflix unveils their top 40 shows and movies broken down into English and Non-English language categories. So far the show has featured in those top 10s for three weeks pulling in 165.69M hours thus far.

Here’s how that breaks down week-to-week:

Week Period Hours Viewed(M) Rank Week in Top 10
May 14th, 2023 to May 21st, 2023 72,080,000 2 1
May 21st, 2023 to May 28th, 2023 63,780,000 (-12%) 2 2
May 28th, 2023 to June 4th, 2023 29,830,000 (-53%) 3 3

As you can see, the show put in a strong first week and even second weekend but notably dropped over 50% between weeks 2 and 3.

If we look at that number with the CVE metric (Completed Viewing Equivalent = taking the runtime of the show and divide by the number of reported hours) we can do an apples-to-apples(ish) comparison of how well the show has performed against other big Netflix shows in 2023:

queen charlotte vs other 2023 shows netflix cve viewership

As you can see, XO, Kitty is currently one of the better performing shows in 2023 thus far, pulling in a better CVE than That ’90s Show and The Diplomat, which were both renewed.

When we stack it all up, we can see that XO, Kitty compared to other renewed shows was a prime candidate for more especially since it sports a smaller budget.

renewed netflix shows

Looking at raw top 10s (captured by FlixPatrol), we can see the show is performing well around the globe with it performing best in non-US countries such as India, Latin America, and the Nordics.

flix patrol data for xo kitty netflix

FlixPatrol points graph vs global heat map of popularity

How about online engagement?

Thanks to TelevisionStats.com, they measure several demand metrics like Google Trends, Twitter, IMDb, Reddit, and Torrents. They rank the show as having “Good” engagement, and when compared to other renewed Netflix shows in 2023 the show puts in similar performances to The Night Agent and Ginny & Georgia in the first week, although it has dropped off much faster.

The show, as of June 7th, also ranks as the 31st biggest show in terms of online engagement since January 1st, 2022.

televisionstats performance for xo kitty

Online engagement for XO, Kitty vs other renewed Netflix shows in 2023

In conclusion, all stats thus far are quite strong for XO, Kitty but we’ll continue to track the show’s evolution using various metrics in the coming weeks and months.

What to expect from XO, Kitty season 2?

Kitty has a lot on her plate heading into a second season.

Kitty x Yuri

After going to Korea in order to be closer to her long-distance boyfriend Dae, by the end of the season, Kitty found herself with feelings for somebody else, Yuri.

However, before Kitty had the opportunity to reveal her feelings for Yuri, she was interrupted by the appearance of Juliana, the girl Yuri is in love with. Rather than confessing her feelings, Kitty boarded her plane back to the US.

With her expulsion from KISS, Kitty is under the impression she will never see Yuri again, but, little does she know that Yuri is trying to convince her mother, Jina, to reinstate her. If Kitty is allowed to reattend KISS then she’ll be reunited with Yuri.

yuri and kitty xo kitty season 2 on netflix renewal status

Picture: Gia Kim (left) and Anna Cathcart (right) – ACE Entertainment / Netflix

Min Ho x Kitty

When Kitty boarded her plane, she was surprised to find she was on the same plane as Min Ho. Learning from Kitty that she and Dae were no longer together, and that Kitty was returning to America, the young man had nothing to lose and confessed his own feelings for her.

Kitty has feelings for Yuri, and she just broke up with Dae, so even if she returns to KISS it’s unlikely she’ll reciprocate Min Ho’s feelings.

min ho and kitty xo kitty season 2 on netflix renewal status

Picture: Sang Heon Lee (left) and Anna Cathcart (right) – ACE Entertainment / Netflix

Who is Simon?

Jina gave the letter that Kitty’s mom, Eve, had written for her to Kitty. After reading the letter, Kitty discovered the name of the mysterious Simon, her mother’s potential first love.

Expect Kitty to go back to Jina and question her all about “Simon” and Jina’s friendship with her mother.

Will Dae lose his place at KISS?

Dae’s scholarship relies heavily on his performance at school, and he is expected to be the top-performing student. However, thanks to Florian cheating on his exams, Dae loses the top rank. Unless Florian is caught, or Dae can improve his grades to perfect levels, Dae’s scholarship at KISS is under serious threat.

dae xo kitty season 2 on netflix renewal status

Picture: Anna Cathcart (left) and Minyeing Choi (right) – ACE Entertainment / Netflix

When could we expect to see a second season of XO, Kitty on Netflix?

Filming for the first season took place between March 28th, 2022, and June 7th, 2022. That means between the start of filming, and the show being released was a period of fourteen months.

Assuming the show is renewed, it could take at least fourteen months between filming, and release. That means even if filming was to begin in June 2023, at the earliest we’d be waiting until August 2024.

At the earliest, a realistic release date could be in late 2024.

Would you like to see a second season of XO, Kitty on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!

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XO, Kitty – ACE Entertainment / Netflix After

Awards

Tom Holland swears he’s best known for his iconic “Lip Sync Battle” performance to Rihanna’s “Umbrella” across his career accolades.

The “Spider-Man: No Way Home” actor told The Hollywood Reporter that his May 7, 2017 lip sync rendition to the beloved track is what he may be most recognized for. However, Holland would never sign on to do a follow-up battle against longtime girlfriend and MCU co-star Zendaya.

“I’ve really worked hard in my career and I’ve really been calculated in deciding what it is I do and when I do it. And for all the movies that I’m incredibly proud of, the ‘Lip Sync Battle’ is what I get the most compliments for,” Holland said. “I’m proud of it. I like that it left a lasting impact. It was an amazing time.”

He reflected on the year itself, “My life was changing before my eyes. ‘Spider-Man’ was coming out. I was on the up. I was getting offers and turning them down for the first time, which was really crazy. I was meeting producers and directors and going to L.A. by myself. I was finally at that stage where I could say, ‘Can I bring my friends?’ And they’d say, ‘Yeah.’”

Holland shut down claims that his two-minute fishnet-clad dance routine was a commentary on toxic masculinity, crediting the “Lip Sync Battle” costume designer for coming up with the look for the performance.

“I don’t give a fuck. I’ve grown up in the most non-toxic-masculine environment possible. I didn’t realize what I was doing was so forward-thinking,” he said. “I was just like, ‘Yeah, fuck it, I’ll put some fishnets on and dance in the rain. That’ll be really fun. I don’t care.’”

The “Crowded Room” actor added, “But you’d never catch me doing that now. Just because I don’t want to do a fucking TV show that I don’t need to do. I’d rather go and play golf and live my little private life.”

Holland recently opened up about his year-long acting break that began more than eight months ago. “I’ve been chilling at home in London, going to Grand Prixes, playing golf,” Holland said, adding of the intensely “tough” role in his Apple TV+ series, “I feel so grateful that I have a wonderful community of people that support me and are there for me, so I’m honored and really excited for the rest of the show to come out.”

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Tom Holland swears he’s best known for

Music

Members of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) sued Twitter for copyright infringement in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee, today (June 14), the New York Times reports and documents viewed by Pitchfork can confirm. The NMPA, a trade association charged with protecting and advancing the interests of songwriters and publishers, claims that “Twitter has repeatedly failed to take the most basic step of expeditiously removing, or disabling access to, the infringing material identified by the infringement notices,” and that “Twitter profits handsomely from its infringement of Publishers’ repertoires of musical compositions.” 

The NMPA included in the suit an exhibit listing nearly 1,700 infringed works—including songs by Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, the Notorious B.I.G., and Destiny’s Child—seeking close to $250 million in damages. NMPA members in the suit include some of the world’s largest music publishers, including Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell, BMG Rights Management, Kobalt, and Hipgnosis. The suit does not include owners of mechanical licenses, rights related to the specific recordings of the copyrighted songs uploaded to Twitter. 

Other social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Snap, and TikTok, have signed agreements with rights holders to license music on their platforms to the tune of billions of dollars per year. In 2021 Twitter entered negotiations with the three major label groups —Universal, Sony, and Warner—but talks stalled after Elon Musk’s $44 billion leveraged buyout of the social network, which was followed by several extreme cost-cutting measures. A request for comment to Twitter’s communications department returned an auto-reply with a single poop emoji. 

The NMPA’s lawsuit argues that Twitter is, by design, a destination for multimedia content, and that their copyrighted audio and video recordings both attract and retain users and drive engagement, furthering Twitter’s advertising business and other revenue streams. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) generally protects social media platforms from liability for copyrighted content uploaded by its users, but it also provides guidelines for the removal of said content. The NMPA argues that Twitter either delayed or ignored its requests to have the copyrighted material removed from the platform.

Earlier today (June 14), NMPA president and CEO David Israelite said at the organization’s annual meeting that total U.S. publishing revenue rose 19 percent to $5.6 billion in 2022 from $4.7 billion in 2021. That increase does not include addition revenue expected to be owed to publishers after the Copyright Royalty Board upheld a rate increase for streaming services, to be applied retroactively to the 2018-2022 period. 

How Twitter Changed Music

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Members of the National Music Publishers’ Association

Docs

Karen Bryson’s short film, Monochromatic, tackles the issue of racism through the eyes of a child. Grace (Kenedy McCallam-Martin) is a six-year-old black girl. While playing in her backyard, Grace decides to sneak out and falls, cutting herself along the broken glass-strewn walkway. To her mother’s horror, Grace is returned home by a youth man wearing a Neo-Nazi t-shirt.

From this point, Grace is slowly exposed to the mere existence of racism in London. It starts with observing the city wall spray painted with “White Power” and repeating the phrase without a thought to its meaning, to her mother and aunt secretly discussing their encounters with the militant white locals and the subtle microaggressions from a white lady at her church.

“…Grace is returned home by a youth man wearing a Neo-Nazi t-shirt.”

Monochromatic is set in 1977 London, England, and opens with a passage from white supremacist and skinhead Enoch Powell’s
“Rivers of Blood” speech, calling for the repatriation of immigrants and appealing to racial hatred. Bryson’s short takes us to this time, seen through the eyes of young Grace as the camera places us directly into her shoes and gives us a first-person perspective through Grace’s eyes. This cinematic device is always an interesting choice in movies like Maniac, yet it’s especially effective thanks to cinematographer Tristan Chenais. It never feels like a gimmick and hits all the emotional moments in Karen Bryson’s story.

What Bryson brings across in her story is that moment when a young girl realizes that she is different and treated differently because of her skin color. It’s that moment when childlike innocence is lost due to a serious dose of reality and can no longer be shielded by the truth. Monochromatic tells a powerful and thought-provoking story that will sit with you for a long time.

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Karen Bryson’s short film, Monochromatic, tackles the

Global

Silvio Berlusconi’s five children have united to bid a tearful farewell to their father at Milan’s gothic cathedral today as Italians held a national day of mourning for their former prime minister.

The children, from Berlusconi’s two marriages, were joined by thousands of mourners at the main square outside the Duomo to say their final farewell to the one-time cruise ship crooner turned billionaire media tycoon and politician.

Marina, 56, and Pier Silvio, 54 – from Berlusconi’s first marriage to Carla Elvira Lucia Dall’Oglio – and Barbara, 38, Eleonora, 37, and Luigi, 34 – from his second marriage to Veronica Lario – have been thrust into the limelight since their father’s death as rumours circulate about who will take on his empire valued at around £5.4 billion ($6.8 billion).

The late tycoon’s children were joined by Berlusconi’s 33-year-old partner Marta Fascina on the front bench of the Cathedral, as the former Italian prime minister was commemorated with a solemn state funeral.

The service for the 86-year-old billionaire attracted politicians and business leaders, as well as TV starlets, soccer players, soccer club chairmen, placard-waving fans of AC Milan, a club he owned for around three decades, and thousands of ordinary members of the public.

Marina, Berlusconi’s eldest daughter and the head of family holding Fininvest, held Fascina’s hand as they both wept as the coffin was placed before the altar.

Berlusconi’s daughter Eleonora Berlusconi, daughter Barbara Berlusconi, son Luigi Berlusconi, daughter Marina Berlusconi, son Pier Silvio Berlusconi and brother Paolo Berlusconi stands in front of the coffin at the end of Italy’s former Prime Minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi funeral outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan

Italian President Sergio Mattarella stands near the coffin during the state funeral of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at Duomo Cathedral in Milan, Italy June 14

Italian President Sergio Mattarella stands near the coffin during the state funeral of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at Duomo Cathedral in Milan, Italy June 14

Marta Fascina cries at the state funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi outside the Duomo Cathedral earlier today

Marta Fascina cries at the state funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi outside the Duomo Cathedral earlier today

Fascina had an established place in the family. She and Berlusconi never married, but last year they exchanged rings in a symbolic ceremony and he publicly called her his ‘wife’.

Unable to hold back her tears, she was seen again crying outside as the coffin left the building, on its way to be cremated.

The occasion has proved controversial in Italy, with many furious that such an honour is being bestowed upon a three-time Prime Minister and media mogul tarnished by scandals – including his famous Bunga Bunga sex orgies.

Nevertheless, tens of thousands of Berlusconi’s supporters gathered in the square in front of the Duomo to watch the proceedings live on giant screens, and applauded as the casket was carried up a flight of stairs and through the cathedral’s doors.

A further 2,300 people – made up of Italy’s business and political elite, including the president and three former premiers – gathered alongside Berlusconi’s children and companion, who openly wept as the casket was placed in front of the altar.

Today is also national day of mourning to mark the passing of the man that most Italians identify as the most influential figure in Italy over recent decades.

Silvio Berlusconi's 33-year-old partner Marta Fascina (pictured) wept as the former Italian premier's coffin was carried into Milan's vast Gothic Duomo today for his state funeral

Silvio Berlusconi’s 33-year-old partner Marta Fascina (pictured) wept as the former Italian premier’s coffin was carried into Milan’s vast Gothic Duomo today for his state funeral

Marta Fascina reacts on the day of the state funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi outside the Duomo Cathedral, in Milan, Italy June 14

Marta Fascina reacts on the day of the state funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi outside the Duomo Cathedral, in Milan, Italy June 14

Partner of Silvio Berlusconi Marta Fascina wipes away a tear as she leaves the funeral for Silvio Berlusconi, outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Partner of Silvio Berlusconi Marta Fascina wipes away a tear as she leaves the funeral for Silvio Berlusconi, outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Italy's former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Italy’s former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Berlusconi's daughter Marina Berlusconi (left) and 33-year-old partner Marta Fascina (right) pay their respect at the end of the funeral for Italy's former Prime Minister and media mogul outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Berlusconi’s daughter Marina Berlusconi (left) and 33-year-old partner Marta Fascina (right) pay their respect at the end of the funeral for Italy’s former Prime Minister and media mogul outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

The media tycoon, soccer entrepreneur and three-time former Prime Minister – adored and loathed by Italians in equal measure – had been ill for several years, though he remained the official head of his right-wing Forza Italia party, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government.

Berlusconi’s legacy – positive or negative – was being hotly debated among Italians in the run up to the event. 

Italians are split over whether the former premier merits all the fuss and ceremony that will be on display in Milan.

His family held a private wake Tuesday at one of Berlusconi’s villas near Milan, the city where he made his billions as the head of a media empire before entering politics in 1994. They were seen together again inside the Duomo today.

Marta Fascina, an MP and Berlusconi’s final partner, could not hold back her tears. Those around her, included her partners older children, comforted her.

She was at his bedside as he succumbed to a rare type of blood cancer.

His two eldest children Marina and Pier Silvio were also front-and-centre during the ceremony. Marina, presumed to be the primary heir to Berlusconi’s media empire  also wiped away tears as the ceremony got under way. 

Fascina – 53 years Berlusconi’s junior – never officially married the tycoon, but they held a ‘fake’ ceremony in 2022 – making him his third ‘wife’. His ex-wives are understood to have been in attendance inside the cathedral too.

Some reports have suggested that Marina did not approve of Fascina and Berlusconi’s plans to get married. Nevertheless, she was seen comforting her father’s ‘widow’ all the same as the pair walked into the Duomo together.

Outside, large wreaths in the colours of the Italian flag stood along the front of the Duomo, where the ceremony began at 3:00 pm (1400 GMT).

It was presided over by Archbishop of Milan Mario Delpini. The cathedral was packed, but many more gathered in the square.

Delpini did not gloss over Mr Berlusconi’s complicated legacy in his eulogy.

Thousands gathered in Milan today as Italy said farewell to Silvio Berlusconi with a controversial state funeral that has divided the country after his death, with his coffin (pictured) being carried into Milan's vast Gothic Duomo cathedral

Thousands gathered in Milan today as Italy said farewell to Silvio Berlusconi with a controversial state funeral that has divided the country after his death, with his coffin (pictured) being carried into Milan’s vast Gothic Duomo cathedral

Berlusconi's son Pier Silvio Berlusconi, daughter Barbara Berlusconi, brother Paolo Berlusconi, daughter Marina Berlusconi, son Luigi Berlusconi and partner of Silvio Berlusconi Marta Fascina follow the pallbearers carry the coffin of Italy's former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi at the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Berlusconi’s son Pier Silvio Berlusconi, daughter Barbara Berlusconi, brother Paolo Berlusconi, daughter Marina Berlusconi, son Luigi Berlusconi and partner of Silvio Berlusconi Marta Fascina follow the pallbearers carry the coffin of Italy’s former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi at the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Italian President Sergio Mattarella greets Berlusconi's partner Marta Fascina and children Pier Silvio Berlusconi, Marina Berlusconi and Paolo Berlusconi in Milan, Italy June 14

Italian President Sergio Mattarella greets Berlusconi’s partner Marta Fascina and children Pier Silvio Berlusconi, Marina Berlusconi and Paolo Berlusconi in Milan, Italy June 14

Pictured: Thousands gather outside Milan’s Duomo cathedral ahead of the funeral

Pallbearers, followed by family membres, carry the coffin of Italy's former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Pallbearers, followed by family membres, carry the coffin of Italy’s former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

The coffin of the late former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi leaves Milan Duomo Cathedral following his funeral on June 14

The coffin of the late former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi leaves Milan Duomo Cathedral following his funeral on June 14

Berlusconi (pictured in 2018) died at the age of 86 on Monday in a Milan hospital where he was being treated for chronic leukemia

Berlusconi (pictured in 2018) died at the age of 86 on Monday in a Milan hospital where he was being treated for chronic leukemia

He said he was a businessman who found success and failure, a politician who won and lost, and a notoriety-seeking personality who had admirers and detractors, ‘those who applaud him and those who detest him’.

‘When a man is a politician, then he tries to win. There are those who exalt him and those who cannot stand him,’ Delpini said in his homily.

‘When a man is a protagonist, then he is always on stage. He has those who applaud him and those who detest him,’ he said.

‘But in this moment of farewell and prayer, what can we say about Silvio Berlusconi? He has been a man: a desire for life, a desire for love, a desire for joy,’ he said. 

‘He is a man and now he meets God.’

With family members, political allies and opponents also sat in the pews inside.

Hungarian President Viktor Orban, Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid were among the highest-ranking foreign dignitaries attending.

Ms Meloni, who got her first government experience as a minister in a Berlusconi coalition, also attended, along with League leader Matteo Salvini, whose party has long been allied with Mr Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella was there too, while the European Union was represented by its economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella and former Premiers Matteo Renzi, Paolo Gentiloni and Mario Draghi were on hand, as well as other politicians, in a show of respect for a political figure with whom many had sparred. 

AC Milan legend and former England manager Fabio Capello was seen arriving to the cathedral earlier too. Berlusconi owned the Milan club from 1986 to 2017 through a sustained period of success – winning him adoration among the fans.

Among the crowd outside the Duomo was Lucia Adiele, a member of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia who travelled nearly 1,000 kilometres from her home in Altamura, southern Italy, to bid farewell to her favourite politician.

‘I was lucky enough to be a part of Forza Italia for 18 years. I was also lucky enough to meet him. The least I could do was to be here and say goodbye for the last time,’ she told Reuters TV. 

Fellow supporter Luigi Vecchione, 48, said Berlusconi was ‘my first and last political love. It’s a very sad day for Italy’. 

Not everyone in the crowd was a devotee, however. Amateur photographer Gianfranco Diletta, 65, said he had come to ‘immortalise this mass phenomenon’.

‘I never voted for Berlusconi, who embodied for Italy the modern populism of the 1990s… and was a friend of Putin’s to the end, a strategic error which put Italy’s national security in danger,’ he said.

The ceremony finished around an hour and a half after it began, with the coffin seen leaving the cathedral on its way to be cremated. 

Berlusconi’s ashes will be taken to the family mausoleum in the grounds of his villa in the northern town of Arcore, a source close to the family told Reuters news agency.

After a state funeral on Wednesday, the coffin will be returned to Villa San Martino, near Milan, to await the cremation which will take place at the Valenziano Panta Rei Crematorium Temple, near the city of Alessandria.

Berlusconi, who died on Monday at the age of 86, hired sculptor Pietro Cascella to build the mausoleum in the early 1990s.

Berlusconi originally built it to bury himself, his family members and friends, but then found out the law only allows bodies to be buried in public cemeteries, his long-time friend and art critic Vittorio Sgarbi told AdnKronos news agency.

Ashes can be placed in the mausoleum however.

Italian media described it as a white marble structure with an underground mortuary. A sarcophagus made for Berlusconi stands at the centre and a frieze representing chains is carved on the walls, with the tied rings seen as a symbol of family union.

The casket of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi is carried for his state funeral in Milan's Duomo Gothic-era Cathedral, Italy, Wednesday, June 14

The casket of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi is carried for his state funeral in Milan’s Duomo Gothic-era Cathedral, Italy, Wednesday, June 14

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Italy's former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi in the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Italy’s former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi in the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

A view shows a screen displaying a live broadcast of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni inside the Duomo cathedral, at Piazza Duomo in Milan on June 14

A view shows a screen displaying a live broadcast of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni inside the Duomo cathedral, at Piazza Duomo in Milan on June 14

People get up the equestrian statue of Vittorio Emanuele II at Piazza Duomo in central Milan on June 14, 2023 to follow on giant screens the state funeral for Italy's former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi

People get up the equestrian statue of Vittorio Emanuele II at Piazza Duomo in central Milan on June 14, 2023 to follow on giant screens the state funeral for Italy’s former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi

Wednesday, which is also a national day of mourning, will see the funeral hosted in Milan’s vast and grand Gothic-era Duomo cathedral. Pictured: Wreaths are seen outside the cathedral

Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and partner Francesca Verdini walk in front of the Duomo cathedral on June 14 ahead of Berlusconi's funeral

Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and partner Francesca Verdini walk in front of the Duomo cathedral on June 14 ahead of Berlusconi’s funeral

AC Milan's former coach Fabio Capello arrives at the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14. Capello also managed the England national team from 2007 to 2012

AC Milan’s former coach Fabio Capello arrives at the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14. Capello also managed the England national team from 2007 to 2012

Pictured: A tearful woman holds up a copy of Italian evening newspaper Corriere della Sera as people gather in Milan ahead of Silvio Berlusconi's funeral, June 14

Pictured: A tearful woman holds up a copy of Italian evening newspaper Corriere della Sera as people gather in Milan ahead of Silvio Berlusconi’s funeral, June 14

Pictured: A mourner is seen in Milan today ahead of Berlusconi's funeral

Pictured: A mourner is seen in Milan today ahead of Berlusconi’s funeral

Berlusconi's legacy - positive or negative - was being hotly debated among Italians in the run up to the event, with many furious at such an honour being bestowed upon the man tarnished by scandals - including his famous Bunga Bunga sex orgies. Pictured: People wait for the funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in Milan, Italy June 14

Berlusconi’s legacy – positive or negative – was being hotly debated among Italians in the run up to the event, with many furious at such an honour being bestowed upon the man tarnished by scandals – including his famous Bunga Bunga sex orgies. Pictured: People wait for the funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in Milan, Italy June 14

Invitees are seen filing into the Milan cathedral to attend Berlusconi's funeral today

Invitees are seen filing into the Milan cathedral to attend Berlusconi’s funeral today

A general view shows people gathering at Piazza Duomo to follow the state funeral for Italy's former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, on June 14

A general view shows people gathering at Piazza Duomo to follow the state funeral for Italy’s former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, on June 14

A live broadcast shows the hearse transporting the coffin of Silvio Berlusconi on a giant screens, installed at Piazza Duomo in Milan, on June 14

A live broadcast shows the hearse transporting the coffin of Silvio Berlusconi on a giant screens, installed at Piazza Duomo in Milan, on June 14

People gather outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14 ahead of Berlusconi's funeral

People gather outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14 ahead of Berlusconi’s funeral

People with AC Milan football club and Forza Italia party flags gather in front of Milan's Gothic Cathedral ahead of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi's funeral, Italy, Wednesday, June 14

People with AC Milan football club and Forza Italia party flags gather in front of Milan’s Gothic Cathedral ahead of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi’s funeral, Italy, Wednesday, June 14

AC Milan supporters attend the funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the Duomo Cathedral, in Milan, Italy June 14

AC Milan supporters attend the funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the Duomo Cathedral, in Milan, Italy June 14

A woman holds a signed picture of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on the day of his funeral, in Milan, Italy June 14

A woman holds a signed picture of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on the day of his funeral, in Milan, Italy June 14

People sit at a cafe's terrace outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

People sit at a cafe’s terrace outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Wreaths of flowers are being brought to the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Wreaths of flowers are being brought to the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Reporters, journalists and cameramen wait outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Reporters, journalists and cameramen wait outside the Duomo cathedral in Milan on June 14

Preparations are seen ahead of the state funeral for former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on June 14

Preparations are seen ahead of the state funeral for former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on June 14

A woman wears an AC Milan shirt ahead of the state funeral for former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on June 14

A woman wears an AC Milan shirt ahead of the state funeral for former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on June 14

The longest-serving premier in Italy’s postwar history, and re-elected to the Senate last year, Berlusconi was famed for controversial gaffes on the international stage.

Political opponents are questioning not only the decisions of Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government to hold a state funeral – an honour that can be afforded to all former premiers – but to also declare a national day of mourning.

National days of mourning are more rarely invoked. 

As part of the latter, flags were lowered to half mast on all public buildings from Monday in tribute to a leader whose influence extended well beyond politics, thanks to his extensive TV, newspaper and sporting interests.

Parliament was suspended for three days and the government declared a national day of mourning for Wednesday – the first time for an ex-prime minister.

But the decision was criticised by Berlusconi’s detractors, who accused him of cronyism, corruption and pushing through laws to protect his own interests.

Senator Andrea Crisanti said he was ‘strongly against’ such national honours for ‘someone who had no respect for the state’, pointing to Berlusconi’s definitive conviction for tax fraud in 2013.

Rosy Bindi, former head of the Antimafia Commission, said it was ‘inopportune’ for ‘a person as divisive as Berlusconi’.

Repubblica daily said the ‘institutional shutdown’ was ‘extreme’ and compared it to Britain’s protocol for Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

‘Berlusconi split Italy, he insulted adversaries for 30 years, he criminalised the magistrates and he didn’t recognise laws. What are we talking about?’ journalist Marco Travaglio, a long-time Berlusconi critic and co-founder of the il Fatto Quotidiano daily, told private La7 TV on Monday.

Berlusconi is widely recognised as a precursor to the type of populist politics that later would bring Donald Trump to power in the United States.

Both used their high profile as businessmen to springboard into the political arena, upending politics as usual along the way.

Supporters of Berlusconi’s legacy cite his success in unifying the Italian center-right after the collapse of the post-war political landscape with the 1990s ‘Clean Hands’ corruption scandal. 

They also see his years as leader as periods of stabilisation, after years of quickly rotating governments, while admiring his bold rule-breaking and irreverence, perhaps especially in the face of other global leaders.

‘He did many big and small things, while suffering a mediatic and judicial aggression that only Craxi before him had endured,’ Stefania Craxi, a senator in Berlusconi’s party and the daughter of late Italian leader Bettino Craxi told private TV La7.

People lay flowers and tributes outside Villa San Martino, the residence of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, in Arcore, near Milan, June 14

People lay flowers and tributes outside Villa San Martino, the residence of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, in Arcore, near Milan, June 14

People sit near the Monument to King Victor Emmanuel II outside the Milan Cathedral (Duomo) ahead of the state funeral for Italy's former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi

People sit near the Monument to King Victor Emmanuel II outside the Milan Cathedral (Duomo) ahead of the state funeral for Italy’s former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi

Pier Silvio Berlusconi, son of late media mogul and former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, stands at the entrance of Berlusconi's residence 'Villa San Martino' in Arcore near Milan, northern Italy, as he waits for Premier Giorgia Meloni, Tuesday, June 13

Pier Silvio Berlusconi, son of late media mogul and former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, stands at the entrance of Berlusconi’s residence ‘Villa San Martino’ in Arcore near Milan, northern Italy, as he waits for Premier Giorgia Meloni, Tuesday, June 13

Her father died in exile in Tunisia in 2000 after being convicted in absentia for involvement in illegal party financing.

Berlusconi’s detractors’ list of political damage is long.

It includes conflicts of interest relating to his media empire, dozens of trials mostly for business dealings, revelations of sex-fuelled Bunga-Bunga parties at his villa near Milan and questionable associations.

The most controversial is his enduring friendship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is subject to an international arrest warrant and cannot travel to Italy.

‘He is not a leader who helped us grow,’ said Beppe Severgnini, a long-time foreign correspondent and writer for Corriere della Sera. ‘He tapped all of our weaknesses: moral, fiscal, sexual, everything.’ 

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Silvio Berlusconi's five children have united to

Tech

As Season 10 of “Vanderpump Rules” winds down and the fallout from the Scandoval cheating scandal settles, the cast is moving on.

 

The undoubted “winner” was Ariana Madix. The bartender-turned-businesswoman was shocked when she discovered longtime boyfriend Tom Sandoval was cheating on her with her best friend Raquel Leviss in early March. Production on Season 10 had already finished, but cameras went back up to capture her confronting Sandoval about his infidelity. Since then, she’s landed a slew of endorsements and even opened NBC’s upfront presentation.

 

The three-part reunion filmed in late March, with the rest of the cast piling on Sandoval and Leviss. Production on Season 11 is slated for this summer. Here’s each Scandoval participant’s status at the end of Season 10.

 

Bravo will air a “secrets revealed” episode with additional dramatic moments behind the affair that jolted the zeitgeist on Wednesday, June 14, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. A supersized edition — as well as all episodes from Season 10 — stream on Peacock beginning Thursday, June 15.

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As Season 10 of "Vanderpump Rules" winds

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“We had no idea that the book banning of the ’80s was going to be anything but history, and suddenly the film is coming out and here we are all over again going through this, but worse,” said author Judy Blume, who’s the subject of the documentary “Judy Blume Forever.”

Blume is the beloved author of seminal young adult fiction such as “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” and “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.” “Judy Blume Forever” celebrates her legacy and how she changed the way young people look at themselves, their anatomy, growing up, sex and life.

“We’re all of this generation where our mothers and fathers really did not talk to us about sex,” producer Sara Bernstein said of herself and her fellow producers and co-directors Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok. “So, Judy was absolutely necessary.” Blume and the Imagine Documentaries filmmakers gathered for an Amazon FYC panel to discuss their personal new documentary.

The filmmakers looked at fan letters Blume received over the years and her longtime correspondence with them over several decades, and it even featured two of these women in the film. Pardo said they operated under the working title “Dear Judy Blume” because these letters were such a testament to the profound impact and legacy of Blume’s work.

“I was a very fearful kid, and even a fearful person,” said Blume. “But in thinking about it later, I was fearless in my writing. I didn’t know enough to be afraid.”

The documentary crew was almost entirely women because “We wanted to create this feeling of safety and intimacy,” Wolchok said. “We were like this family of crazy sisters.”

In this new age of Blume, one much different from the world in which she wrote “Blubber” and “Deenie,” a bright, new appreciation for the author has resurged

“My son told me that when the women have power in Hollywood, they are going to come calling. And he was right,” said Blume. And as the women who grew up reading her books get older, they periodically reach out to her asking for more. But Blume wants her books to forever be for those young readers looking for some answers and some comfort.

She said, “People write to me and say, ‘Judy, it’s time for Margaret in Menopause!’ And it’s like, no, Margaret will always be 12.”

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“We had no idea that the book

Entertaintment

Starbucks has been ordered to pay tens of millions of dollars to a former regional manager who sued the company for wrongful termination and said she was fired because she is white.

The former employee, Shannon Phillips, said in a 2019 complaint she became a scapegoat in the company’s damage control efforts after a viral video showed two Black men being arrested at one of its Philadelphia shops, sparking outrage across the country and leading the corporate behemoth to temporarily close down its operations to conduct an anti-bias training.

After a six-day trial, a unanimous federal jury in New Jersey on Monday awarded Phillips $25.6 million, including $25 million for punitive damages and $600,000 in compensatory damages, according to Console Mattiacci Law, which represents Phillips.

In a statement issued following the verdict, the law firm said Phillips proved “by clear and convincing evidence” that punitive damages were warranted under New Jersey’s anti-discrimination law, and that Phillips is also seeking damages for back pay as well as future pay, which will be decided by the judge. Laura Mattiaci, the lead attorney for Phillips, declined to comment Wednesday, saying the case is “still open.”

Starbucks has denied firing Phillips because of her race and declined to comment Wednesday.

The incident at the center of the case happened in April 2018, when Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, who are Black, went to a Starbucks in the Rittenhouse Square area of Philadelphia for what they said was a business meeting. Nelson said he asked to use a bathroom and was told it was for paying customers only. An employee came over to the men’s table and asked if they wanted to order drinks. Robinson said he told the employee they were OK and waiting for a meeting.

But a manager then called the police to report “two gentlemen at my cafe refusing to make a purchase or leave,” according to a recording of the 911 call obtained by “Good Morning America,” which interviewed Nelson and Robinson about the arrest.

Nelson and Robinson said they never heard the manager inform them they had to leave.

An eight-minute video of the arrest shows three police officers in bicycle helmets standing around Nelson and Robinson’s table, asking questions before eventually arresting the two men and leading them out of the store in handcuffs.

The video sparked national outrage, leading to protests inside and outside of the Rittenhouse store, and became a public relations crisis for Starbucks. Its CEO issued a public apology, and the company shuttered its stores for a day to hold anti-bias training for its 175,000 U.S. employees.

After the arrest, Phillips, who as the regional manager oversaw nearly 100 locations across Philadelphia, south New Jersey, Delaware and parts of Maryland, said in a 2019 complaint that she took steps to allay the community’s concerns and to keep staff and customers safe. She said those efforts included arranging a round table for CEO Howard Schultz in Philadelphia and organizing teams of management-level employees to work at the approximately 20 Philadelphia locations because hourly workers feared going to work amid all the protests.

A few weeks after the arrest and after the company reached a settlement with Nelson and Robinson in which it pledged to continue taking actions to address the incident, Phillips said she was ordered to suspend a white manager who oversaw some Philadelphia stores and was accused of discriminatory conduct. The manager did not oversee the Rittenhouse store. Phillips fought the allegations, which she said were “factually untrue.”

No action was taken against the manager of the Rittenhouse location, who is Black and who had promoted the store manager who made the call to the police, according to Phillips’ complaint.

Phillips said she was soon terminated for pushing back against the white manager’s suspension. The only reason she was given was that “the situation is not recoverable,” according to her complaint.

In her complaint, Phillips said her race “was a motivating and/or determinative factor” in her termination.

Starbucks denied firing Phillips because of her race. According to Console Mattiacci’s statement, the company claimed Phillips showed lack of leadership during the crisis.

Nelson and Robinson did not face charges in the arrest. The men reached an undisclosed settlement with the company and an offer to complete their college degrees through Starbucks’ covered college tuition program for employees.

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Starbucks has been ordered to pay

Movies

Pixar’s “Elemental” conjures a diverse metropolis where the elements — fire, water, earth and air — live like ethnicities mostly ghettoized from one other. For fire and water, especially, mingling can be combustible. A bad splash could consume fire; a strong flame could evaporate water. This is the rare kids’ movie where subway rides are actually more fraught with danger than in the real world.

“Elemental” is the 27th Pixar feature and the second from longtime studio veteran Peter Sohn (“The Good Dinosaur”). But in many ways, it feels like a spiritual sequel to the Disney Animation release “Zootopia,” a likewise gleaming urban tower of anthropomorphized racial metaphors with occasional interactions with municipal bureaucracy.

In “Elemental,” Ember Lumen (voiced by Leah Lewis) is the daughter of immigrants from Fireland: Ernie (Ronnie Del Carmen) and Cinder (Shila Omni), both of whom were handed English names while passing through an Ellis Island-like customs entry.

Like countless real-life immigrants before them, Ernie and Cinder have scraped together a thriving life and business, a bodega of literally hot foods that Ember is expected to inherit. Her temper is a problem. Ember, a red-haired flame capable of going “full purple,” can resemble Lewis Black’s Anger of “Inside Out.” But her more pressing issue is a basement leak out of which flows Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), a water person and building inspector who immediately spots a few dozen code violations that would shut the place down.

“Elemental” may not be anywhere near top-tier Pixar, but, with water and fire hazards everywhere, it’s certainly an insurance man’s dream.

So where does it slide into the Pixar canon? Probably in the lower half. But “Elemental” — sincere and clever, with a splash of dazzle — comes closer to rekindling some of the old Pixar magic than some recent entries.

Yet the marriage of elemental high concept with a classical immigrant tale never quite achieves alchemy. Aside from a beautiful elevated subway that splashes water below whenever a train glides through, Element City doesn’t come across a fully fleshed-out world. Despite basing the movie in the building blocks of life, there’s little feel for the natural world.

Opening on the heels of raging wildfires, “Elemental” manages to be a movie about fire and water without even a passing reference to today’s climate realities. Missed opportunities abound. Earth and air are relegated to bit players. Not a soul sings “The Eternal Flame.” Earth Wind and Fire go cameo-less.

But if the comic potential of “Elemental” goes untapped, its central story is more convincing and tenderly drawn. Ember, who travels the city with a stylish cloak to keep from igniting things in her path, is one of Pixar’s strongest protagonists. The sacrifice and burden of being a first-generation immigrant daughter is movingly rendered in her.

“Elemental’s” strongest scenes are with Ember and her father as they navigate a familiar crossroads. As responsible as Ember feels to her family, she’s pulled in another direction. Her real talent is glassmaking, which she can exquisitely do in a moment, with a few quick puffs. She’d be a runaway champ on “Blown Away.”

Ember, I think, would have been enough to build a movie around. But that’s not “Elemental,” my dear. Instead, Sohn’s film, scripted by John Hoberg, Kat Likkel and Brenda Hsueh, is too much given over to a “West Side Story”-esque romance between her and Wade as they rush around an Element City that, like “Chinatown,” has a water problem.

As they hurry to plug a mysterious leak, Wade is soon carrying a torch for Ember. The puns fly. “You’re so hot,“ he says. “Excuse me?” she replies. “No,” he strutters. “Like smoking.”

It’s a seemingly impossible love story; they fear even touching each other. And they come from much different worlds. Wade, who sort of resembles a watery Colin Jost, lives with his family in a doorman building. But as a match for Ember, he’s a bit of a drip. He gushes tears at the mere mention of butterflies and speaks wide-eyed about “embracing the light.” “Elemental” begins to push against a here-to-unknown threshold: There may be only so far you can take a romance when your leading man is a translucent blob named Wade.

An extra word, though, on the short that precedes “Elemental.“ “Carl’s Date” picks back up with Carl Fredricksen and the squirrel-chasing Doug. Here, Carl nervously prepares for his first date since the death of his beloved Ellie. Doug’s advice: “Bring a toy.” It’s both a fitting companion to “Elemental” (the boy from “Up,” Russell, was loosely inspired by Sohn) and poignant swan song for Ed Asner, who recorded his dialogue prior to his death in 2021.

“Elemental,” a Walt Disney Co. release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for Rated PG for some peril, thematic elements and brief language. Running time: 103 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

___

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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Latest News

Rock musician Jesse Malin, whose hardcore band was famously banned from “Saturday Night Live” in 1981, suffered a rare spinal stroke earlier this year, causing him to be paralyzed from the waist down, according to a report.

While out to dinner with friends on May 4 at an Italian restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village, Malin suddenly collapsed to the floor, according to Rolling Stone. The group was commemorating the one-year anniversary of the death of Malin’s best friend and former D Generation bandmate Howie Pyro.

Malin was hospitalized at Mount Sinai Hospital where he learned that he suffered a spinal cord infarction — a rare disorder when the main arteries supplying the spine with blood close off — affecting the use of his legs. After two weeks of undergoing spinal tests at Mount Sinai, he was transferred to a neurological care center at NYU Langone Hospital where he continues to recover, according to a fundraiser set up in his name, adding that the condition is inoperable.

“This is the hardest six weeks that I’ve ever had,” he told Rolling Stone in a phone call from the rehab center. Malin announced his diagnosis with a screenshot of the Rolling Stone story onto his Instagram account Wednesday morning.

“I’m told that they don’t really understand it, and they’re not sure of the chances,” he continued. “The reports from the doctors have been tough, and there’s moments in the day where you want to cry, and where you’re scared. But I keep saying to myself that I can make this happen. I can recover my body.”

Malin is known for his energetic performances, during which he often jumps down from the stage to perform among the audience. Among the first of such raucous performances came when he was a teenager. As a member of the hardcore rock band Heart Attack in 1981, he performed on “SNL” after an invite from the late comedian John Belushi. The performance prompted a mosh pit among the audience, which led to the crowd breaking production equipment and someone throwing a pumpkin at a show producer. The band was later banned from performing at the sketch comedy show.

Jesse Malin performing benefit concert in New York in 2014.

(Stephen Chernin / Invision / Associated Press)

Malin became the lead vocalist for punk rock band D Generation throughout the 1990s. After going solo in 1999, Malin started recording and performing folk-rock, which The Times once described as “somewhere between Paul Westerberg and early Bruce Springsteen.” His most recent success has come as a songwriter, co-writing with Lucinda Williams a sorrowful ballad to a New York of the past, “New York Comeback,” which charted at No. 1 on the Americana Music Association singles chart.

In his interview with Rolling Stone, Malin called his rehabilitation “very humbling,” though he remained hopeful that he would eventually regain use of his legs.

“Even though I really believe it’s a temporary state, I’m not going to walk out of here tomorrow with a leather jacket and a cane and go hang out at the bar,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of being in a wheelchair.”

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Rock musician Jesse Malin, whose hardcore

MCU

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania‘s episode of Assembled on Disney+ faced a delay in the midst of star Jonathan Majors’ legal controversy.

After Ant-Man 3 and Creed III put Majors into the worldwide spotlight, the actor’s ongoing assault trial put his future in the MCU and his entire career into serious jeopardy.

Majors was already omitted from the marketing campaign for Creed III as it moves to its home release, but with the MCU still being the biggest pop culture franchise in the world, his place there is a much more difficult challenge to handle.

Disney+ Delays Ant-Man 3 Special

Marvel

Following Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania‘s debut on Disney+, the film’s Assembled special was set to debut on Wednesday, June 14.

Now, the special has been delayed indefinitely, with no signs pointing to when Disney will put it on its streaming service.

While no reason was given for this delay, some fans have speculated that it’s tied to star Jonathan Majors’ ongoing assault case, which could mean trouble for the Assembled episode if the cast and crew speak highly about him and offer praise for his performance.

This comes after Majors was actually used in promotional material for Ant-Man 3 in late April, although that’s the only time he’s been seen in marketing material since the assault charges first became public.

As for the trial itself, Majors was reportedly set to take part in another court date on June 13, but no updates were offered if and when that took place.

When Will Ant-Man 3 Assembled Episode Debut on Disney+

With the Jonathan Majors controversy still hanging over Ant-Man 3, it’s difficult to say when the movie’s Assembled special will hit Disney+, although it will likely be held until more progress is made in the actor’s trial.

This also comes as Marvel Studios looks to figure out what to do with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which is set to center largely on Majors’ Kang the Conqueror when the Avengers assemble for their next major outing.

At this moment, Marvel hasn’t made any kind of statement about Majors’ situation, although the actor himself has been adamant about his innocence during trial proceedings.

But with Kang being such an enormous part of the MCU’s plans in the next few years, his status will be something important to follow as the Multiverse Saga continues to expand.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is now streaming on Disney+.

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DCU

The Sonic the Hedgehog live-action renaissance continues with Knuckles, a Paramount+ series with Idris Elba reprising his role as the red ball of Echidna fury. Well, he’s not so angry now but don’t test him. We’ve known about the Knuckles spinoff series for a while; however, we are finally getting some new casting information. Not only is Tika Sumpter reprising her role as Maddie in the Knuckles TV series, but Adam Pally will also join the cast as Wade Whipple. In case you forgot, he’s a Green Hills police officer and Tom’s BFF. 

Paramount Pictures

According to Variety, Knuckles will take place between the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the upcoming third installment. The next Sonic adventure will hit theaters on December 20, 2024. In this series, Wade will become Knuckle’s protégé as he learns “the ways of the Echidna warrior.” Why is this happening? We don’t know, and we do not care. We just want to see more Knuckles on our screen, especially if he is playing base of ball. It’s not clear when this series will drop, but it is in production as of April 2023. So maybe we will see it later this year or even early next year.

We don’t know if James Marsden will reprise his role as Tom or not, but a few others are joining Sumpter. The Knuckles series cast includes Edi Patterson, Scott Mescudi (known as Kid Cudi), Ellie Taylor, Rory McCann, Christopher Lloyd, Cary Elwes, Paul Scheer, Stockard Channing, and Rob Huebel. Either way, Knuckles is back on the scene and getting the solo love that he so deserves (no shade to Sonic) in his own spinoff series.

Originally published on April 17, 2023.

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The Sonic the Hedgehog live-action

Comics

meanmallard1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

So basically what he is saying is don’t expect any of the games they showed without release dates to come out next year. Heck, he was just talking about how Perfect Dark and other games are still 18 months away from even being able to show any real gameplay, which means they probably won’t launch until 25-26.

Microsoft is getting all its media shills to write these articles about how it’s Microsoft who has the games… but the games they’re showing are still years away.

And with Starfield 30 FPS announcement we’ll see how that turns out since despite what anyone tries to say 30 FPS means only one thing, they didn’t do a lot of optimization.

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meanmallard1h ago(Edited 1h ago)So basically what he

Festivals

Streaming is not forever. 

When streaming first debuted, I thought it was going to be incredible for cinephiles. In my naivete, I thought every studio would make its entire catalog available and we could watch as much as we wanted. 

But that’s not remotely what’s been happening. 

We’ve seen streamers remove titles at random, actually take things off after a while to avoid costs, and not make things available for a while to make sure they don’t have to pay residuals. 

These streamers are trying to do a few things. First, they’re trying to license content to get people to watch. That’s why The Office used to be on Netflix, then moved to Peacock. That’s why New Girl bounced from Netflix to Hulu. Companies are always looking for older shows and movies they can pay a lot of money for to then broadcast for a limited amount of time. 

They bolster that by making original streaming content. This original content would supposedly sit on their platforms forever, creating a deep catalog for its users. 

But what’s happened lately is that these original shows and movies are taken out of circulation to cut costs. 

I find myself wondering if this is really that good for business. Could they really be saving that much money? Especially when we know they’re not paying that much, if anything, in residuals on those shows right now. 

CNBC tried to get to the bottom of this, and the figures they pulled were not that thrilling. They found that removing original streaming content saved “tens of millions of dollars.” 

Another move they have is selling the shows and movies they removed to other places. Hypothetically, you could move Westworld off Max, and then sell it to Netflix if you wanted, in an attempt to recoup any costs. This is not happening that much but might represent a carousel of titles in the future. 

The studios will also tell you that, usually, they’re only removing one or two percent of their catalog at a time, so a wide array remains available. Still, it can be upsetting to fans who return to platforms to watch shows they want, and terrible for writers and directors who might get their stuff on the air and then suddenly have it taken away without any means of anyone being able to find it to watch it.

Plus, those companies are supposed to pay some sort of residuals, which completely goes away if your show does as well. 

Again, it’s hard to put a number on exactly how much it saves to move one of these shows off the platform, it might be millions, but in the grand scheme of building a library and fan bases, that doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal in a business in the billions. 

We’ll keep an eye on where this might go.      

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Streaming is not forever. 

Film

Elliot Page writes in his new memoir, “Pageboy,” that filming the 2017 “Flatliners” remake was “a true mess from the very beginning” and a “shit show” due to unsafe stunt work and instances of racism and queerphobia on set (via Entertainment Weekly). Or, as Page puts it: “It went off the rails.”

In an entire chapter devoted to the making of the Niels Arden Oplev-directed thriller, Page alleges he and co-star Kiersey Clemons were put in unsafe working conditions during one stunt scene.

“We were getting ready for a car stunt when Kiersey and I realized that everyone had a built-in thick seat belt, except for us,” Page writes. “No restraints, a basic safety measure of the carefully orchestrated, expensive and elaborate stunt that hadn’t been thought through… We looked to the various stunt crew members strapping the others in, perplexed, questioning why we weren’t being secured for the scene. ‘Why does everyone else have a safety belt but not us?’ we’d inquired.”

Stunt coordinators allegedly told Page the two actors would be “fine” and that it would be “even better if you aren’t strapped in.” Page writes the actors were “flailing” around when the cameras started filming the scene, and they were left “speechless, staring at our shaking hands.” During a second take, a car found its way onto the closed set and forced the stunt car the actors were in to slam on the breaks.

“Luckily, everyone was fine, but I think back to how reckless and dangerous that was,” Page writes. “How Kiersey and I were treated with such flippancy and disrespect. Regardless of a stranger’s car making it onto the closed set of a car chase, what if something just… went wrong?”

Elsewhere during the making of the film, Page alleges that “someone approached Kiersey on set” and told her, “You only have this part because you’re Black, you know.” He also writes that producers wanted his character to dress “more like a girl” and “less queer” by wearing heels and skirts. Page was openly gay during the making of “Flatliners.” He later came out as transgender.

“[The characters] were medical students in residency at an intensive care unit,” Page writes. “There was categorically no rationale for the character to wear heels or a skirt.”

Page eventually got producers to settle on him wearing “fancy blouses, tight jeans and boots with a heel,” but writes that “one of the heads of production” later confronted him about the ordeal.

“‘Are you mad that this character isn’t gay?’ he asked me,” Page writes, saying he responded: “‘Are you asking me this because I did not want to wear a skirt?’ His face remained the same, an annoying grin with a glinting youthfulness in the eyes, but I pressed on. ‘Are you really asking me if I am angry about this character not being gay because I am not wearing a fucking skirt?’ He looked on inscrutably, as if being pleasant means you are not queerphobic. ‘Your view of women is egregiously narrow,’ I said to the man, reminding him lesbians wear skirts, too.”

Variety has reached out to Sony Pictures for comment. “Pageboy” is now available for purchase.

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Elliot Page writes in his new memoir,

TV

“Black Mirror” has shocked, creeped out and warned audiences of the dangers of technology for more than a decade, and it’s returning with Season 6 on Netflix on June 15 after a four-year wait.

Originally conceived as an anthology program on the British outlet Channel 4, “Black Mirror” moved to Netflix starting with Season 3 and has released 22 episodes and one film so far. With Season 6, fans of bleak, sci-fi drama and twist endings will get five more episodes to entertain themselves.

Charlie Brooker created “Black Mirror” and has written almost every episode by himself, with some help along the way. Each standalone story revolves around some kind of near-future technology, dystopian future or cultural obsession that wreaks havoc on characters’ lives, usually to a twisty, violent ending — with some exceptions! Almost every episode ends in tragedy, heartbreak or brutal death for the cast, but some, like “Hang the DJ” and “San Junipero,” end things on a lighter note.

One hallmark of “Black Mirror” is its cast. Several big-name stars got an early break on the series, like Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Whittaker and Letitia Wright, while later episodes spotlighted actors like Jon Hamm, Miley Cyrus, Will Poulter and more. Season 6 ups the star power with Salma Hayek, Michael Cera, Aaron Paul and Kate Mara.

As social media, artificial intelligence and technology still have a hold over our world, “Black Mirror” seems more relevant than ever. In celebration of Season 6, here are the 10 best episodes of the series, ranked.

Honorable mentions: “Fifteen Million Merits,” “Be Right Back,” “Shut Up and Dance” and “Black Museum.”

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“Black Mirror” has shocked, creeped out and

What to Watch

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Awards

This story about Zazie Beetz and “Atlanta” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

No Emmy-caliber new series relies as heavily on its ensemble of guest actors as “Poker Face” — and fewer still boast the caliber of talent assembled by creator Rian Johnson, star-executive-producer-director Natasha Lyonne and showrunners Lilla and Nora Zuckerman.

Lyonne stars in the Peacock comedy as our woebegone hero Charlie Cale, an off-the-grid, muscle car-driving ex-casino worker who’s on the run from a mafioso (Adrien Brody) who wants her head after she learns the truth about the mysterious death of her coworker (Dascha Polanco). An enticing enough premise on its own, there’s another twist: Charlie is, inexplicably, a human lie detector — a skill that makes her a very good gambler and a rough-and-tumble vigilante detective. That’s where our guest stars come in.

Each of the series’ 10 episodes is structured around a murder-of-the — week format, akin to ‘Columbo’ and other episodic shows of yesteryear. While Charlie bounces from major metropolises to desert-nestled one-horse towns, she encounters ne’er-do-wells while working odd jobs and catching them red-handed. From Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Stephanie Hsu, Clea DuVall to Ron Perlman, a veritable who’s-who of famous faces and character actors play the murderers, schemers and victims.


“It’s really cool to kind of come in and get to tell a whole story but in a really short amount of time. You don’t ever really get to do that,” Danielle Macdonald, who stars as a barbecue murderess in the episode “The Stall,” said. “This was amazing to just be able to do a quick little pocket episode.”

Macdonald and Lil Rel Howery play the wife and brother of a barbecue wunderkind who plot to pass off his death as a suicide so they can continue the family business.

“To be one of the guest stars is kind of a dream come true,” Howery said. “And I got to play a bad guy! I’m always playing a hero or somebody’s favorite somebody, so to be a murderer was fun.” It’s the strength of these guest stars that keeps “Poker Face” so fresh, episode to episode.

‘Poker Face’ Renewed for Season 2 at Peacock

In “Time of the Monkey,” Judith Light and S. Epatha Merkerson are a pair of ex-radical political activists who off a newcomer (Reed Birney) to their retirement home after discovering that he is a friend from their past who betrayed them. Sporting bad wigs and swearing like sailors, the two television vets lean into physical hijinx and capital-v Villainy, turning their atrocities (like planning to kill kids in an act of domestic terrorism) into pitch-black, very funny comedy. Just ask Howery, who cited the episode as one of his favorites: “It was so insane!”

There is also Tim Blake Nelson, who pops up as an aging race car driver facing off against his hotshot younger nemesis (Charles Melton). Cherry Jones is at her conniving best as a film producer with a guilty conscience and a score to settle with Nick Nolte’s special effects whiz. Clad in a corset, Chloë Sevigny electrocutes her band’s drummer in the middle of a live set. And in one of the most inspired strokes of casting magic in the entire series, Hong Chau slaps on a gruff southern accent and a cowboy hat as a nomad trucker who gives Charlie some key living-on-the-lamb pointers. They all give pitch-perfect performances. And they all look like they’re having the time of their lives.

Ellen Barkin truly was. In “Exit Stage Death,” the Emmy winner plays, in her words, a “washed up,” “desperate” actress who “was on a bad TV show like ‘Baywatch’” and is now clawing her way to a comeback via dinner theater opposite Tim Meadows’ equally down-on-his-luck thespian. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in that creative of an environment,” Barkin said. She praised the episode’s director, Ben Sinclair (“I don’t know when I was treated that well, I really don’t”) and the force of nature holding the whole show together. “I see Natasha Lyonne, I see actress,” Barkin said. “Then I watch her on set and I’m thinking, Wow, she’s really doing a lot of work. And she’s doing a great job.”

Howery agreed. “You’re like, they can’t be that cool for real in real life. But she really is so cool,” he said. “And so funny.”

Read more from the Comedy Series issue here.

Why Comcast Needs to Enter the M&A Game: Buy Out Hulu or a Competitor | Charts
Comedy Series Cover, Selena Gomez
Photographed by Jeff Vespa

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This story about Zazie Beetz and “Atlanta”

Music

Tracy Chapman rises from No. 3 to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Songwriters chart (dated June 17), leading for the first time, thanks to Luke Combs’ cover of her classic hit “Fast Car.”

Combs’ version of the song, on which Chapman is the sole credited writer, holds at its No. 2 high on the Hot Country Songs chart and jumps 8-4 on the Billboard Hot 100 – out-peaking Chapman’s original recording, which reached No. 6 on the Hot 100 in 1988.

Combs’ cover hits new heights with 34.2 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 30%), as it surges at country, pop and adult formats; 20.2 million U.S. streams (up 1%); and 9,000 downloads sold (up 4%) June 2-8, according to Luminate.

Chapman has tallied five entries on the Hot 100 as a billed recording artist: “Fast Car” (No. 6 peak in 1988), “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” (No. 75, 1988), “Baby Can I Hold You” (No. 48, 1988), “Crossroads” (No. 90, 1989) and “Give Me One Reason” (No. 3, 1996).

Combs’ “Fast Car” is the third version of Chapman’s breakthrough song to chart on the Hot 100. It follows Chapman’s original and Jonas Blue’s dance cover, featuring Dakota (No. 98 peak, 2016).

Notably, as Chapman crowns Country Songwriters, she earns her first No. 1 placement on a Billboard chart since 2000, when her single “Telling Stories (There Is Fiction in the Space Between)” topped the Adult Alternative Airplay chart for eight weeks. Before that, she ruled the Billboard 200 with her debut self-titled album in August 1988, as well as Adult Pop Airplay for eight weeks in 1996 with “Give Me One Reason.”

Chapman’s eponymous debut album marked her first chart appearance when it entered the Billboard 200 chart dated April 30, 1988. “Fast Car” followed on Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock Airplay that May, and then the Hot 100 that June. She has won four Grammy Awards, including best female pop vocal performance for “Fast Car” and best rock song for “Give Me One Reason.”

Billboard launched the Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, as well as genre-specific rankings for country, rock & alternative, R&B/hip-hop, R&B, rap, Latin, Christian, gospel and dance/electronic, in June 2019, while alternative and hard rock joined in 2020, along with seasonal holiday rankings in 2022. The charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot 100. The genre-based songwriter and producer charts follow the same methodology based on corresponding “Hot”-named genre charts. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).

The full Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts and genre-specific rankings can be found on Billboard.com.

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Tracy Chapman rises from No. 3 to

Docs

There’s just this joy I feel knowing that good science fiction films are no longer in the hands of the big studios and that current off-the-shelf technology allows emerging and indie filmmakers their space in this genre. This is true for Anthony Ferraro’s sci-fi short, Wakener.

Our story takes place on a space station in the far future. Approaching the station is an “ancient” space ship approaches, fueled and armed by nuclear power and weapon. Not wanting to raise the alarm, a broken and frustrated ship’s technician and a member of the military guard are sent to investigate and send the ship in a different direction. Our heroes uncover a sinister secret throughout their investigation that sends the entire mission plunging toward catastrophe.

“…our heroes uncover a sinister secret that sends the entire mission plunging toward catastrophe.”

Let me get the downer part out of the way first. Wakener is a straightforward story about an impending disaster and the government cover-up to brush the incident aside. Outside of the narrative, there’s not much depth. Also, the acting feels scripted…meaning the actors are reciting lines and dialogue without drilling that dialogue into the story’s lore. This happens a lot in sci-fi because the words and phrases fall into the world of fantasy. Making it sound authentic, normal, or like everyday conversation is hard.

Where Wakener shines is its use of CG effects. Outer space looks fantastic, with its ships and research stations navigating the void of outer space set against a starry backdrop. It all moves well, and we always have a sense of space and context. The practical sets, costumes, and futuristic props are high quality for an indie production. Let’s also be real that because of its indie budget, the overall production quality is best compared to television sci-fi of old, like early TNG and Stargate, and not the dark and gritty Aliens.

Running at sixteen minutes, Anthony Ferraro has stitched together a good-looking sci-fi thriller and shows he can tell a story. I can’t wait to see what is next in the pipeline and how far he pushes indie sci-fi tech and storytelling.

For screening information about Wakener, visit Anthony Ferraro’s official website.

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre were set to meet Wednesday to discuss terms for a possible public inquiry on foreign interference, as the prime minister praised opposition parties for behaving in a less-toxic manner.

A spokesperson for the Conservatives said Poilievre’s office first reached out to Singh on Tuesday, and confirmed the two would speak Wednesday evening by phone.

Poilievre sat down with Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet on Tuesday.

“We mainly discussed the fact that we were not to discuss publicly what we discussed,” Blanchet said on Wednesday.

The New Democrats were more forthcoming, saying they would be recommending that main federal party leaders or their representatives sit at a table to discuss terms of reference for an inquiry — or that the discussion happen at the procedure and House affairs committee, which has been studying foreign interference.

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Singh said the former option would be similar to what the province of Ontario does when electing a legislative officer.

A committee could be struck that would include a member from each political party and be chaired by a non-voting person, such as the Speaker of the legislature.  They would evaluate candidates and come to a unanimous decision together on the best person for the job and what they would be tasked with.


Click to play video: 'RCMP confirms more than 100 foreign interference inquiries, including threats of elected officials'


RCMP confirms more than 100 foreign interference inquiries, including threats of elected officials


“Our concern is that what the government has done is said, ‘Every party leader, give us your thoughts on it.’ They’re going to receive basically different letters from each leader and say, ‘Oh, there’s no consensus, this can’t go forward,’” Singh said.

“I want to avoid the Liberals having that excuse.”

Singh suggested that the Bloc has already fallen into that trap, after Blanchet put forth a list of names to the government on Tuesday that could lead a public inquiry.

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The Bloc’s list included former Supreme Court of Canada justice Louise Arbour, who was recently tasked with reviewing sexual misconduct in the Canadian military.

Singh noted that Arbour has a past connection to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, “which was the major critique of the Bloc for (David) Johnston.”

Opposition parties agree that the 2019 and 2021 federal election results were not compromised, but they believe a public inquiry is the only way for Canadians to feel confident in their electoral system amid allegations that Beijing tried to interfere in both contests.

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Party leaders have said they are not interested in replacing Johnston, who had been appointed as a special rapporteur on foreign interference.


Click to play video: 'Foreign interference: Poilievre says Johnston replacement should have ‘no ties’ to Trudeau family'


Foreign interference: Poilievre says Johnston replacement should have ‘no ties’ to Trudeau family


He announced last Friday that he would resign by the end of the month, citing a hyper-partisan atmosphere around his work. He was accused of being too close to both the Trudeau foundation and the Trudeau family.

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In an initial report last month, Johnston suggested that holding a formal public inquiry on the issue wouldn’t make sense because too much information would need to be kept confidential. He had planned instead to hold a series of public hearings over the summer.

The Liberals have said they are open to a public process to evaluate reforms needed to combat foreign interference, and suggested a formal inquiry is not off the table.

But they have punted the decision-making around a potential inquiry to opposition parties in what they say is an attempt to lower the partisan temperature.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters during an event in Quebec that he’s happy to see opposition parties working together and in a less-toxic manner.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc has said he would like opposition parties to come to a decision by the end of next week, but has also said he wants a decision this month.

&copy 2023 The Canadian Press

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Leader

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Tom Cruise is praising The Flash, the film starring Ezra Miller and directed by Andy Muschietti. The Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning star got an advanced screening of the DC superhero movie and gave Andy and his sister Barbara Muschietti a “confidence boost.”

“[We got] more confidence in the thing that we did, because the movie was finished by the time that [Cruise] saw it, so it was a confidence boost if anything,” Andy told Games Radar.

Producer Barbara added, “It’s a very cynical industry, and to hear people that really have no skin in the game, because they have nothing to gain, just say something that lovely –  in the case of Tom Cruise, he called us, talked for 15 minutes, praising Andy, praising the film, and it just feels very good because we really work very hard to make these movies.”

Andy also opened up about reaching out to Zack Snyder to assure he was being respectful of the universe he had initially built with Justice League.

“I talked to Zack, but it wasn’t technical or narrative or anything,” he said. “I just wanted to reach out and say, ‘Hey.’ Because we haven’t met before, and I just wanted to tell him that we would be respectful to the stuff that he did before.”

He continued, “Man of Steel obviously is foundational to this movie because the big threat of Zod coming to Earth is a big twist in this story, and it’s something that most DC fans know very well. And that’s one of the great things that can form the narrative of this movie.”

The Flash opens in theaters on June 16.

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Tom Cruise is praising The Flash, the

Tech

European Union lawmakers on Wednesday took a key step toward passing landmark restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence, putting Brussels on a collision course with American tech giants funneling billions of dollars into the burgeoning technology.

The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved the E.U. AI Act, a sweeping package that aims to protect consumers from potentially dangerous applications of artificial intelligence. Government officials made the move amid concerns that recent advances in the technology could be used to nefarious ends, ushering in surveillance, algorithmically driven discrimination and prolific misinformation that could upend democracy. E.U. officials are moving much faster than their U.S. counterparts, where discussions about AI have dragged on in Congress despite apocalyptic warnings from even some industry officials.

The legislation takes a “risk-based approach,” introducing restrictions based on how dangerous lawmakers predict an AI application could be. It would ban tools that European lawmakers deem “unacceptable,” such as systems allowing law enforcement to predict criminal behavior using analytics. It would introduce new limits on technologies simply deemed “high risk,” such as tools that could sway voters to influence elections or recommendation algorithms, which suggest what posts, photos and videos people see on social networks.

The bill takes aim at the recent boom in generative AI, creating new obligations for applications such as ChatGPT that make text or images, often with humanlike flair. Companies would have to label AI-generated content to prevent AI from being abused to spread falsehoods. The legislation requires firms to publish summaries of what copyrighted data is used to train their tools, addressing concerns from publishers that corporations are profiting off materials scraped from their websites.

The threat posed by the legislation to such companies is so grave that OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, said it may be forced to pull out of Europe, depending on what is included in the final text. The European Parliament’s approval is a critical step in the legislative process, but the bill still awaits negotiations involving the European Council, whose membership largely consists of heads of state or government of E.U. countries. Officials say they hope to reach a final agreement by the end of the year.

OpenAI embraced regulation— until talks got serious in Europe

The vote cements the E.U.’s position as the de facto global leader on tech regulation, as other governments — including the U.S. Congress — are just beginning to grapple with the threat presented by AI. The legislation would add to an arsenal of regulatory tools that Europe adopted over the past five years targeting Silicon Valley companies, while similar efforts in the United States have languished. If adopted, the proposed rules are likely to influence policymakers around the world and usher in standards that could trickle down to all consumers, as companies shift their practices internationally to avoid a patchwork of policies.

“We have made history today,” co-rapporteur Brando Benifei, an Italian member of the European Parliament working on the AI Act, said in a news conference. Benifei said the lawmakers “set the way” for a dialogue with the rest of the world on building “responsible AI.”

The European Union for years has taken a tough line against American tech giants, bringing fines against companies that abuse their dominance and serving as a global laboratory for new forms of data privacy regulations. The 27-member bloc’s aggressive posture toward Silicon Valley was largely criticized by U.S. politicians during the Obama administration, who portrayed Brussels’s moves as an assault on American innovation. But a transatlantic alliance on tech regulation has developed in recent years, accelerating as the Biden administration seeks a harder line against tech giants’ alleged abuses.

The increasing alignment among regulators was evident in a separate announcement Wednesday, as Europe’s top antitrust regulator announced its preliminary finding that Google’s advertising technology business violated its competition laws, proposing a breakup of the company’s lucrative services. The European Commission alleges that Google’s grip on the high-tech tools that publishers, advertisers and brokers use to buy and sell digital advertising gives the company an unfair advantage over rivals. Brussels’s findings mirror the Biden Justice Department’s landmark antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant, which also seeks a divestment of this critical revenue driver.

Google has pushed back on the complaints, criticizing the European Commission’s filing as “not new.”

“It fails to recognize how advanced advertising technology helps merchants reach customers and grow their businesses — while lowering costs and expanding choices for consumers,” said Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of global ads.

European policymakers and their counterparts are increasingly in communication about how to address the power of Silicon Valley giants. Dragos Tudorache, a Romanian member of the European Parliament who served as co-rapporteur on the AI legislation, said he has been talking to U.S. lawmakers about artificial intelligence for years. During a recent trip to Washington, he attended a private briefing with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and members of Congress, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif), and he said he sensed a greater urgency on Capitol Hill to regulate AI.

“Something has changed now,” he said. “In the last six months, the impact of the rapid evolution of ChatGPT and large language models has really elevated the topic and [brought] these concerns for society up to the fore.”

Unlike lawmakers in the United States, the E.U. has spent years developing its AI legislation. The European Commission first released a proposal more than two years ago and has amended it in recent months to address recent advances in generative AI.

The E.U.’s progress contrasts starkly with the picture in the U.S. Congress, where lawmakers are newly grappling with the technology’s potential risks. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is leading bipartisan efforts to craft an AI framework, said lawmakers probably are months away from considering any legislation, telling The Washington Post they would “start looking at specific stuff in the fall.”

Schumer’s push is also motivated by national security concerns, as lawmakers warn that if the United States doesn’t act, its adversaries will. Schumer announced his plans for a legislative framework in April, after China unveiled its plans to regulate generative AI.

Meanwhile, the E.U. bill builds on scaffolding already in place, adding to European laws on data privacy, competition in the tech sector and the harms of social media. Already, those existing laws affect companies’ operations in Europe: Google planned to launch its chatbot Bard in the E.U. this week but had to postpone after receiving requests for privacy assessments from the Irish Data Protection Commission, which enforces Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation. Italy temporarily banned ChatGPT amid concerns over alleged violations of Europe’s data privacy rules.

CEO behind ChatGPT warns Congress AI could cause ‘harm to the world’

In the United States, Congress has not passed a federal online privacy bill or other comprehensive legislation regulating social media. On Tuesday, Schumer hosted the first of three private AI briefings for lawmakers. MIT professor Antonio Torralba, who specializes in computer vision and machine learning, briefed lawmakers on the current state of AI, covering tools’ uses and capabilities. The next session will look at the future of AI, and the third session, which will be classified, will cover how the military and the intelligence community use AI today.

Thirty-six Democrats and 26 Republicans attended the briefing, according to Gracie Kanigher, a spokeswoman for Schumer. Senators said the strong attendance signaled the deep interest in the topic on Capitol Hill and described the briefing as largely educational. Schumer told The Post that Congress has “a lot to learn.”

“It’s hard to get your arms around something that is so complicated and changing so quickly but so important,” he said.

American companies, including Microsoft, OpenAI and Google, are aggressively lobbying governments around the world, saying that they are in favor of new AI regulations. Since the beginning of the year, they have run a blitz calling for greater transparency around AI and responsible uses of such technology. Top technologists and academics, including Elon Musk, in March signed an open letter warning of “profound risks to society and humanity” and calling for a six-month pause in the development of AI language models.

But despite companies’ overtures supporting regulatory action, they have opposed aspects of the E.U.’s approach. Google, Microsoft and OpenAI declined to comment on Wednesday’s vote.

Google, for instance, has repeatedly called for AI regulation in recent months, this week filing a proposal with the Commerce Department outlining ways to advance “trustworthy” AI. In that filing, the company took aim at the E.U.’s AI proposal, warning the provisions intended to create greater transparency come with significant trade-offs.

“In many contexts, AI source code is highly sensitive information and, where compelled, disclosure could both compromise trade secrets and create security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by criminals and foreign adversaries,” the company said.

Microsoft won over Washington. A new AI debate tests its president.

Several Democratic lawmakers said they are wary of once again falling behind Europe in setting rules of the road for technology.

“The United States should be the standard-setter. … We need to lead that debate globally, and I think we’re behind where the E.U. is,” said Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.).

But Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who is working with Schumer on AI, said he is less concerned about falling behind in setting new guardrails than he is about ensuring that the United States can stay ahead globally in developing tools such as generative AI.

“We’re not going to lose that lead, but what we do with legislation, our goal, is to make sure that we incentivize the creation of AI, allow it to grow more quickly than in other parts of the world … but also to protect the rights of individuals,” Rounds said after the briefing.

As Congress debates legislation, federal agencies including the Federal Trade Commission are weighing how they can move quickly to apply existing laws and regulations, especially those governing civil rights, to artificial intelligence systems — potentially outpacing Europe. If the E.U. adopts the AI Act, it probably will take at least two additional years to come into force.

Alex Engler, a fellow at the Brookings Institution studying AI policy, said the E.U. AI Act has the world’s attention. But he warned that no single law will solve the problems presented by AI.

“This is going to be decades of adaptation,” he said.

correction

A previous version of this article incorrectly reported that the bill would bar AI companies from publishing summaries of copyrighted data. In fact, the bill would require companies to publish summaries of such data. This version has been corrected.

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What do shows like “Beef,” “Stranger Things,” and “Wednesday” have in common? Aside from being some of the buzziest Netflix shows to hit the streamer in the last year, all of them boast impressive work from crafts teams that elevate the already great material to even greater heights.

At IndieWire’s Consider This Event June 3, several members of each show’s production team joined crafts reporter Jim Hemphill for an on-stage panel discussion on bringing the projects to life. On stage at the NeueHouse Hollywood were “Beef” editor Laura Zempel and composer Bobby Krlic, “Stranger Things” re-recording mixer/supervising sound editor Craig Henighan, and “Wednesday” composer Danny Elfman along with his co-composer Chris Bacon and music supervisor Jen Malone. After the panel, various participants — including Henighan, Zempel, Elfman, and Bacon — sat for one-on-one interviews with Awards Editor, Crafts and Animation Bill Desowitz, to discuss the process behind the shows in even more depth.

“Stranger Things”

For Season 4 of “Stranger Things,” Henighan’s two main tasks were creating the voice of the episodes’ main antagonist Vecna (Jamie Campbell-Bower), as well as the ticking grandfather clock that signals his arrival. For Vecna’s voice, he used some manipulation to alter Campbell-Bower’s voice, but mainly focused on dropping out all other sound from the show in order to convey how larger than life the character is.

“I wanted him to go down as one of the bad guys in history,” Henighan said. “I wanted his voice to be able to permeate every speaker when you’re watching it, so all the other sounds go away. The first scene we worked on was in episode one, so all sounds go away and all you hear [is] ‘Chrissy,’ and that whole voice is in every speaker and just takes over the soundstage.”

For the grandfather clock, Henighan started with just the script, which simply said “tick tok.” To make the sound distinctive, he used a cello string as the grandfather pendulum to give a creaky sound, and pitched down the chime of the clock and added a pitch envelope to give a gong-like sound. He later added a different, distorted chime recommended to him by show creators Matt and Ross Duffer, which completed the essential sounds of the clock.

“Per scene, it has a different vibe,” Henighan said. “Maybe we put a little more reverb on it, maybe we sort of highlight something.”

“Beef”

After nine episodes of cross-cutting between the stories of main characters Danny (Steven Yeun) and Amy (Ali Wong), “Beef” brings the complicated duo together for its finale, which also brings some unexpected surrealism to the storyline. For Zempel, editing the episode was enjoyable due to being able to work with Yeun and Wong together, but it also presented new challenges as an editor.

“As soon as I got the script and it started with two crows talking to each other, I knew we kind of had free rein to do whatever we want. So we had a great time experimenting with form and trying new things, but still keeping the core of our characters at the center of that episode,” Zempel told Desowitz.

Because the episode only focuses on one storyline, Zempel was able to focus intensely on the way that Amy and Danny’s dynamic changes, as the two go from enemies to friends. Zempel said that during editing, she tried to keep in mind the pair’s emotional state, as they’re stranded in the middle of nowhere hallucinating, and cut the episode in a way that kept the stakes of the situation apparent.

“We did a lot in the room working with [Lee Sung Jin], our showrunner, of moving some scenes around, and trying to just build their relationship that felt honest and authentic,” Zempel said. “It was just keeping the whole episode almost like a short film, because it was so different from the previous episodes of the season, we really focused on beginning to end.”

“Wednesday”

“Wednesday” represents the first time Elfman, who has done themes for shows like “Desperate Housewives” and “The Simpsons,” has composed the episodic score of a TV series. The experience reunited him with his frequent collaborator Tim Burton, although Elfman says there wasn’t much difference between making a show with Burton as opposed to making a film.

“It’s always a process of experimentation, in the beginning he doesn’t like to talk about his work, his projects at all,” Elfman said. “It’s kind of like just ‘do stuff, and let him respond.’ And since we’ve done this for 38 years, I kind of expect it. ‘Oh right, I’m starting from god knows where, and out of that god knows where I’m going to be doing a lot of different ideas and narrow him down to okay this seems to be working.’ It’s always a process, people think after this time we have a shorthand and it’s a piece of cake, but it really isn’t, even after all this time I still don’t know what’s going on in his head. It’s a very strange and interesting place.”

Bacon has also collaborated with Elfman numerous times on films such as “Dumbo” and “Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness,” and brought experience composing for shows like “Bates Motel” to the show; he quipped that his subcredit on “Wednesday” was “the Danny whisperer.” He explained that, while working on the show, their collaboration was similar to the ones they did on films, where he built on the foundation that Elfman and Burton provided.

“Danny and Tim were given a lot of deference, rightfully so,” Bacon said. “When I came on, it was kind of the same thing. Danny and Tim established what the tone was going to be. The very first thing I heard was the main title to ‘Wednesday,’ and I was able to take that and build many things off of that.”

Check out more stories from IndieWire’s Consider This event here.

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Movies

Critics and audiences have long despaired: Where have all the romantic comedies gone? The freewheeling effervescence of bygone Harrys and Sallys and Bridget Joneses; the bright aspirational gloss of a Nancy Meyers production (her latest was dropped by Netflix in March when its price tag reportedly sailed past the $130 million mark).

Instead, what modern viewers mostly get are pale, labored imitations — the frenetic Jennifer Lopez-Josh Duhamel caper “Shotgun Wedding,” the hollow-core Ana de Armas-Chris Evans vehicle “Ghosted.” In projects like these, romance is an empty gesture; chemistry, a distant dream. (“Your Place or Mine,” a dry kiss of long-distance courtship released earlier this year, literally couldn’t stand to keep Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher in the same frame physically for more than three scenes.)

Moviegoers starved for something unabashedly adult and, the film gods willing, actually fun, will probably have better luck finding it this summer in the revival of another languishing genre: the rom-com’s hornier cousin, the sex comedy. Though what hard-R shenanigans look like in 2023 — post-#MeToo, post-pandemic, mid-online culture wars — may necessarily be a very different thing than in 1993, or even 2013.

In a landscape so dominated by bloated blockbusters and soul-deadening sequels, it’s slightly depressing to acknowledge that fresh perspective can be signaled by something as simple, and as radical, as letting the lens be female. Still, there’s novelty in seeing the Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence sign on to a libidinous goof like “No Hard Feelings,” due June 23. She stars as a financially strapped Uber driver who agrees, for a fee, to seduce the awkward teenage son of a wealthy New York couple. The red-band trailer surpassed 45 million views in its first 24 hours online — a testament, perhaps, to moviegoers’ too-long-untapped appetite for cheerfully slapstick set pieces and “Can I touch your wiener?” jokes.

The similarly debauched “Joy Ride,” a sort of sunny “Hangover” redux starring and created by Asian American women, earned near-universal raves when it premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March. (It’s scheduled for wide release July 7.) Over 95 flamboyantly unhinged minutes, Ashley Park of “Emily in Paris” and the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star Stephanie Hsu lead a loose foursome to China on a journey of friendship and self-discovery, breaking several dozen statutes for class-A drugs and public indecency along the way.

Introduced that same week at SXSW, the scrappy lower-budget “Bottoms” (in theaters Aug. 25) was hailed as a queer Gen-Z twist on the classic high school virginity tale. Directed by Emma Seligman (“Shiva Baby”), the movie features “Shiva” star Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri from “The Bear” as teenage lesbians who start a fight club to woo the cheerleaders of their dreams. Hickeys and hematomas ensue.

The sex they’re all putting onscreen is screwball and messy and sometimes medically unsound. It also unapologetically centers female desire and pleasure of all kinks and stripes — “I’ll have what she’s having” to the nth degree. If these films succeed, they’ll join a short list of equal-opportunity raunch at the multiplex: Women-behaving-badly touchstones like 2011’s scatological lodestar “Bridesmaids,” the 2015 Amy Schumer hit “Trainwreck,” and the raucous 2017 ensemble “Girls Trip,” which turned Tiffany Haddish into a grapefruit-fellating meme overnight. (Think of “Easy A” (2010), starring a scarlet-lettered Emma Stone, as the PG-13 starter kit.) Those all had male and often middle-aged directors, though; far less common still are ones actually overseen by women, like Kay Cannon’s “Blockers” and Olivia Wilde’s “Booksmart.”

So some of the demographic shifts here seem worth singling out: “Joy Ride” is the directing debut of the Malaysian American screenwriter Adele Lim, who co-wrote “Crazy Rich Asians,” and the screenplay is by “Family Guy” alumnae Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsaio. Most of the players on both sides of the camera in “Bottoms” — which toggles breezily between references to bell hooks and mid-aughts Avril Lavigne — were born after the Clinton administration.

But audiences, of course, hardly measure their leisure time in diversity bona fides. Battered by Covid, spooked by a teetering economy, and finally cooling, perhaps, on endless Marvel tentpoles, their one directive seems to be: Entertain me. Given the option of heady but esoteric award bait like “Tár” and “Women Talking,” in which, respectively, a classical-music conductor spirals into self-imposed ignominy and Mennonite women debate rape in a barn, they’ve flocked instead to blithely ludicrous undercards like “M3gan” and “Cocaine Bear.” (The latter shares two of its three producers with “Bottoms.”)

Even wiener jokes, though, are freighted with the weight of history. Seth Rogen, whose career took root in the animal house that Judd Apatow built and who is credited as a producer on “Joy Ride,” has acknowledged in numerous interviews that much of his catalog doesn’t hold up to scrutiny today. A cursory rewatch of canon classics like “Porky’s,” “American Pie” and most films in the Apatow extended universe (“Knocked Up,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Superbad”) calls back moments of winky misogyny, casual racism and not-so-latent homophobia that seem like obvious third rails now.

How Hollywood can adapt in an era so strenuously aware of identity and isms — and a generation of young people reportedly having significantly less sex than their predecessors — feels like a continuing social experiment, as murky as the future of movies themselves. The gift of the most outrageous comedies, after all, is that they allow us, for an hour or two in a darkened room, to leave best behavior and safe spaces at the door. At a press preview in April, the co-stars Sydney Sweeney and Glenn Powell proudly sold their forthcoming “Anyone but You,” a modern riff on Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” due in December from the “Easy A” director Will Gluck, as a combative romance between “a real nightmare” and an ass, with no small amount of nudity. The internet swooned.

Those who fit a certain archetype, though, like Powell and Sweeney, will naturally be given more latitude than others to nudge the boundaries of mainstream taste. Projects that showcase more traditionally underrepresented groups — or anyone, really, who falls within the confines of not straight, not skinny, not white — are still often made to carry the full weight of representation. See the performative hand-wringing over the box office failure last year of “Bros,” a well-reviewed gay rom-com with an R rating and an out cast, after it was breathlessly touted as the first film of its kind to receive wide theatrical release.

Maybe for all those reasons, there are no teachable moments explicitly embedded in the delirious, rampaging teendom of “Bottoms,” even as certain life lessons sneak in sideways from the margins. Or in “Joy Ride,” which nevertheless features one major character in search of her Chinese birth parents, another who is nonbinary, and two more who treat sex like a kind of globe-trotting all-you-can-eat buffet. Here, the medium is the message; the rest is as nasty — and ultimately chaotic, tenderhearted, and yes, joyful — as it wants to be.

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Kevin Spacey alleged in a new interview with ZEITmagazin that people will start hiring him for more acting projects if he is cleared of sexual assault charges in London following an upcoming trial that is set to begin on June 28. The Oscar winner was charged one year ago in London with four counts of sexual assault, relating to alleged incidents that took place between 2005 and 2013.

“It’s a time in which a lot of people are very afraid that if they support me, they will be canceled,” Spacey said about his career. “But I know that there are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London. The second that happens, they’re ready to move forward.”

Spacey said he currently “draws resilience” from positive fan encounters on the street, adding, “The media have done their best to turn me into a monster, but from the people, I have seen nothing but affection.”

Spacey was first accused of sexual assault in October 2017 by the actor Anthony Rapp. A New York jury sided with Spacey in a $40 million civil lawsuit last October, finding that he did not molest Rapp when the latter was a teenager and is not liable for battery. Other U.S. assault charges against Spacey made in Los Angeles and Nantucket were dropped after one alleged victim died and another opted not to testify.

“I’m still processing it,” Spacey said of the many accusations against him. “I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”

The actor later said, “Everything happens for a reason. And even if that reason doesn’t display itself instantly or things don’t get resolved instantly, it will eventually all make sense.”

Spacey is the midst of writing scripts and short films, but he said he will not write about his experience being accused of sexual assault.

“I’m not trying to even the score,” Spacey added. “I have no interest in fighting something that’s not worth fighting against.”

While Spacey has no high profile projects on the horizon, he did lend his voice to the upcoming thriller “Control.” The film’s director, Gene Fallaize, told the publication about casting Spacey: “He has a ridiculously supportive fan base. They want to see Kevin acting. Nobody stops listening to Michael Jackson.”

Spacey said a voice role in “Control” is not the kind of project he would’ve considered before allegations were made, but noted: “Now, I often feel like I’m back at the beginning of my career, when nobody wanted me…Just because I was being benched for a while, I’m not going to stop working. I don’t want to get rusty. I’m ready.”

Head over to ZEITmagazin’s website to read Spacey’s profile in its entirety.

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Kevin Spacey alleged in a new interview

MCU

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe has continued to expand, it has frequently reached into the “Games of Thrones” cast to find new actors.

Now, Emilia Clarke is the latest Game of Thrones star to make her way into Marvel’s ever-broadening world.

Emilia Clarke

Source: hypebeast.com

In Marvel’s newest series, “Secret Invasion”, Clarke plays G’oaj, the daughter of the Skrull Talos, who holds a grudge against Nick Fury. The actress walked the red carpet at the show’s premiere on Tuesday, and was impressed by the whole event.

“It’s crazy. It’s big. I mean, it’s huge. This is huge. This, for a TV show, this is ridiculous,” Clarke said of the premiere, and the fan reaction for it. “I’m here for it! I’m definitely here for it.”

Secret Invasion

Image: Marvel.com

Portraying A Skrull

For those not caught up on Marvel lore, Skrulls are alien shapeshifters, meaning that when Clarke was not in her “human form” she had to wear a ton of prosthetic makeup.

According to the actress, it was hard work being an alien.

Secret Invasion Skrull

Photo: Marvel. Emilia Clarke plays a shapeshifting Skrull in “Secret Invasion”.

“”It’s a lot,” Clarke said of the makeup and costuming she had to wear in her Skrull form. “I get a little claustrophobic.”

“I have to take my contact lens out and put those [colored lenses] in and then you can’t hear anything because it’s all over here,” she said, pointing to her ears. “And then you kind of can’t breathe. Yeah.”

Emilia Clarke

Photo Credit: Marvel

“It’s intense, it’s really intense, so I prefer human makeup because, for this show, there wasn’t a lot of it.”

Following Other “Game of Thrones” Alum

While on the red carpet for the show’s premiere, Clarke, who famously starred as Daenerys Targaryen in HBO’s fantasy drama, was asked if she realized how many “Game of Thrones” actors had made the jump to the MCU. In addition to Clarke, that list includes Natalie Dormer, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Richard E. Grant, and Hannah John-Kamen among others.

“Oh my God. I did not know that,” Clark shared. “That seems like a lot! That’s a lot of people.”

Emilia Clarke

Image: HBO

“I’m trying to think of who the hell is in them now,” she added with a laugh.

Secret Invasion will premiere on June 21, exclusively on Disney+

Emilia Clarke

Photo Credit: Slash Film

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DCU

The Flash 2 is reportedly ready to go, but it will only happen if The Flash movie reaches a specific box office milestone. After many delays and behind-the-scenes issues, The Flash movie is arriving in theaters ahead of an upcoming DC Universe reboot. As such, whether The Flash 2 was a real possibility remained to be seen.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAYSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

Now, according to The Wrap, The Flash 2’s script is ready, and the film could happen at DC, but only if The Flash comes close to The Batman’s $770 million worldwide box office. According to the report, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who wrote Aquaman, penned the script for The Flash 2. Should a sequel happen, The Flash 2‘s story could perhaps exist outside of James Gunn’s DC Universe, working as a standalone story in the style of The Batman – Part 2 and Joker: Folie à Deux.


Will The Flash Be A Box Office Success?

The Flash movie is currently eying a $70 million domestic opening, which would put it close to Aquaman’s domestic opening weekend. Matt Reeves’ The Batman, a standalone film with no ties to the DCEU, premiered to $128.5 million at the domestic box office. Aquaman’s global box office was bigger than The Batman’s, though, as Aquaman had impressive legs and a strong overseas performance. In other words, despite the current opening weekend estimates, The Flash could still match The Batman’s box office.

However, if The Flash opens closer to Aquaman than to The Batman, it will have to have strong legs. The Flash currently has a 70% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, whereas The Batman finished its run with an 85% Rotten Tomatoes score. The Flash’s box office performance also depends on how the film will play out overseas. Aquaman, for example, grossed more than $813 million outside of the United States alone.

The Flash’s budget is reportedly around $200 million. That number is similar to The Batman’s final reported budget, which explains why the studio is aiming at The Batman’s box office for The Flash. A sequel to The Batman was announced not too long after the film finished its theatrical run. Therefore, whether The Flash 2 will happen will likely be settled shortly after the final numbers for The Flash’s box office are in.

Source: The Wrap

Key Release Dates

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The Flash 2 is reportedly ready to

Comics

Everyone needs a password manager. It makes it a cinch to juggle complex, unique passwords (you do have those, right?) for every service you use. NordPass is our pick for the best password manager with cross-platform availability. There’s a free option that largely does the trick, but there are premium plans that add some useful features. 

Right now, you can save 40 percent on a NordPass personal plan. For $42.96 ($1.79 per month), you’ll get two years of premium service. Opt for a two-year family plan, which includes six premium user accounts, and you’ll save 53 percent. That option costs $66.96, which works out to $2.79 per month.

NordPass

The free NordPass plan has no limits on how many passwords you can store. You can sync your data across devices, create automated backups and import information from other password managers. Autofill should make it faster for you to log in to sites and services. You can store notes and credit card details in NordPass, and you can organize your information into folders. There’s also passkey support.

NordPass uses the xChaCha2o encryption algorithm to secure your data. Two-factor authentication and biometric login credentials can help with security too. The only password you’ll really need to remember is your NordPass master password. 

Upgrade to a premium plan and you can stay logged in to NordPass when you switch devices. You can share information with people you trust and provide access to your passwords during an emergency. Perhaps most usefully, NordPass premium users are warned when they have old, weak and reused passwords. The service will also scan the web for data leaks that may pose a security risk to you.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

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Everyone needs a password manager. It makes

Festivals

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed Emmy Award-nominated, author, director, and Jeopardy! co-host Mayim Bialik for representation.

Bialik is widely recognized for her portrayal of Blossom Russo, the lead character in the 1990s NBC sitcom Blossom. More recently, she gained critical acclaim for her role as Amy Farrah Fowler in the CBS hit comedy The Big Bang Theory. She received two Critics Choice Awards and four Emmy Award nominations for her performance.

Sad Clown Productions, Bialik’s production company that produced the FOX series Call Me Kat, starring Bialik in the titular role, has just brought on Hayley Lozitsky Weisser as Executive Vice President, where she’s building a slate of smart and inspiring scripted and unscripted content to further Bialik’s brand. Lozitsky Weisser most recently ran Tyra Banks’ Bankable Productions, is a former VP at Spike TV and a former UTA Agent.

As of 2021, Bialik has been a co-host of Jeopardy! for which she was nominated for a 2022 Critics’ Choice Real TV Award. In film, Bialik made her directorial debut in 2022 with the film As They Made Us, which she also wrote and produced. The movie featured Dustin Hoffman, Candice Bergen, Simon Helberg, and Dianna Agron.

Bialik hosts the podcast Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown, where she engages in discussions about current issues concerning mental health while dispelling myths and misunderstandings. She holds a BS and PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA.

As an accomplished author, she has written several books, including two that achieved the distinction of becoming New York Times Best Sellers– Girling Up: How to Be Strong, Smart, and Spectacular and Boying Up: How to be Brave, Bold, and Brilliant.

Bialik will continue to be represented by ICON PR and Shep Rosenman at RGL LLP.

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EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed Emmy Award-nominated, author,

Film

Guillermo del Toro
Photo: Monica Schipper (Getty Images)

Guillermo del Toro has climbed the heights of gothic horror and thought-provoking monster cinema to nab the Best Director trophy at the Academy Awards, but his days as a live-action director are numbered. Coming off of a Best Animated Picture Oscar win for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, the auteur is about ready to pivot to animation full-time, he shared at the Annecy animation festival (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Guillermo del Toro on “Pinocchio”

“There are a couple more live-action movies I want to do but not many,” del Toro proclaimed. “After that, I only want to do animation. That’s the plan.”

The filmmaker has been insistent that the medium is not just for kids: “I believe you can make an adult fantasy drama with stop-motion and move people emotionally,” he reiterated at the festival. Blockbuster animated movies like Spider-Verse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Super Mario Bros. help give “a little more latitude, but there are still big fights to be had,” del Toro said. “Animation to me is the purest form of art, and it’s been kidnapped by a bunch of hoodlums. We have to rescue it. [And] I think that we can Trojan-horse a lot of good shit into the animation world.”

The Pan’s Labyrinth director is generally dismissive of “emoji-style” animation where everyone is “happy and sassy and quick,” preferring “to see real life in animation. I actually think it’s urgent. I think it’s urgent to see real life in animation.”

While he is currently working on an animated adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant, del Toro by no means has a blank check. “They still say no to me. In the last two months, they said no to five of my projects. So it doesn’t go away. Making movies is eating a sandwich of shit,” he warned the audience. “There’s always shit, just sometimes you get a little more bread with yours. The rate of productivity against your efforts will remain frustratingly difficult, and frustratingly long. And you will always encounter assholes. But have faith in the stories you want to tell and wait until someone wants to buy them.”

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Guillermo del ToroPhoto: Monica Schipper (Getty Images)Guillermo

Awards

The Writers Guild of America strike is putting the spotlight on key issues that are important to ensuring a future for writers, Succession creator Jesse Armstrong and colleagues told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday in central London where they participated in a show of support for the WGA strike on a “Global Day of Solidarity” that used the moniker and hashtag Screenwriters Everywhere.

Armstrong discussed such core hot-button issues in the labor dispute as pay, writers rooms and AI.

“Writers rooms need lots of different perspectives,” he told THR. And if you can’t make a living as a writer, we won’t get young people joining the industry.”

AI affects every area of life these days. “Anyone who works right now is thinking how they could be replaced by AI,” Armstrong explains. “For writers, there’s a particular concern that work that previous writers have done, or [we have done] ourselves, could be used to train AIs that then makes a certain kind of writing unpaid.”

His conclusion: “There needs to be compensation for where that work is coming from, because computers aren’t inventing it, they are taking it from stuff that other human beings have written at some point. So there needs to be a chain of money that goes back to keep the people alive for that hard work that happened at some point.”

Despite a heat wave in London, Armstrong and Succession writers Jamie Carragher and Francesca Girardi joined an estimated more than 200 members of writers and other guilds, including such big-name writers as Russell T Davies (Doctor Who, It’s a Sin, A Very English Scandal, Queer as Folk), Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials), Charlie Brooker (Black Mirror), Dennis Kelly (Utopia, Spooks) and Alice Nutter and Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty), for a protest at a statue of William Shakespeare in London’s Leicester Square.

Among the signs that the protesters brought: “Try filming blank pages,” “Fair pay now,” “AI can’t write the big picture,” “The U.K. ONLY has minirooms. It sucks. WGA, don’t give in,” “We are the TV you love,” “Nobody can do their jobs until the writers do theirs,” “solidarity,” “In the beginning was the word,” and “Leave AI to scifi.” Among the chants filling the square were “fair pay now,” solidarity,” and “writers strong!”

The event was organized by the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) with the goal of standing “in support of the 11,500 members of Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East” who have been on strike since May 2. WGGB chair Lisa Holdsworth said in a speech that the WGA’s strike “is our fight.”

Asked by THR at Leicester Square if AI could create some of the “holy hell” moments in a show like Succession, Armstrong said that those “often (come up) in writers room, which AI can’t replicate right now.”

Added Carragher: “I also just like the idea of watching art that’s being created by people like a community that you get from watching a great TV show or a film. It feels good knowing that the individuals that made it are real people. Art is meant to reflect on life. And if it’s made by some sort of weird algorithm washing machine, I’m not so interested.”

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Music

Olivia Rodrigo Announces New Single ‘Vampire’ and ‘Twilight’ Star Taylor Lautner Has a Hilarious Reaction | Entertainment Tonight
































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How to Get a Famous Person to Recommend Your Movie

Ancient Zen Buddhist saying: “The destination is not the reward. The true reward is in the journey.”

I am proud to announce that Mariel Hemingway, the Academy Award and BAFTA nominated actress, the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, is now supporting and promoting my movie Yoko Grapefruit. How did this happen? 

Well, here is a good lesson for all filmmakers. 

Think about this: When you see a full page ad in the newspaper or a magazine that says, “This restaurant is the best! You should eat here!” Do you go to that restaurant? No.

But if a friend of yours says to you, “Hey! You know that restaurant over there? It’s really great. You should go there!” Then you would probably go, right?

And if a famous person, who lots of people love, say, “That’s a great restaurant. I highly recommend it!” You would probably definitely go.

This is called, “Third person recommendation.” It is the Holy Grail in Marketing to getting great word of mouth recommendations. And word of mouth recommendations are the most important factor in any success of any business. They cost nothing, but getting word of mouth is the key to all great marketing plans.

But how do you start to get good word of mouth especially from well known and popular artists, actors and actresses?

First off, if you are reading this, you are like me. I didn’t know any famous actors or actresses.

But I made a movie and I got the world famous Mariel Hemingway to recommend my movie. And I didn’t pay her a cent for the recommendation!

I made a movie about Yoko Ono, the movie is called Grapefruit. It is a short movie. It is a short movie as from the initial concept, I did not make this movie with a profit motive. I made it because I wanted to make art. Some people will hate the movie, some people might like the movie. That is good. I do not want anyone who sees the movie to have no opinion. They should love or hate this movie.

Before completing all the post production and editing, I wanted to find some sort of good charity to have my movie support. My thinking was: I will support your charity and you support my movie. I inquired with many people but just couldn’t seem to find the right person.

At this time, I heard that Yoko Ono is not well and is suffering from some sort of disorder. I began looking for a charity that supports people with depression or dementia or these types of disorders. I spoke with many people and asked, but nothing felt quite, “Right.”

Then one day, I was talking with a good friend in California named Jeremiah Higgins. Jeremiah is a world famous radio talk show host. He said, “You know Mariel Hemingway? She runs a charity for this sort of thing. Do you want me to ask her?”

Mariel Hemingway? Did he mean the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway? The Academy Award and BAFTA nominated actress? He offered to introduce me. Of course I said, “Yes!”

Soon, I had a Zoom call with Mariel and we hit it off very well. She told me about her charity’s needs, I told her what I wanted. I also told her I would support her charity if she would help promote my movie. Of course, she had to see the movie first. So, I gathered together all the data and sent it to her.

Finally, after waiting several weeks, she made a promo video for me and now I have it to help promote my movie and, in turn, promote her charity! Now isn’t that a win-win deal for everyone? And, now, because of Mariel, my motivation has changed a bit and if I sell the movie to some company, I will donate all the money to her charity. Why not? I didn’t intend to make money off this movie from the beginning. 

But even if I can’t send her a big fat check to support her charity, I can promote the charity and everyone who sees this movie will see her charity. How much would that have cost the charity? That is also a great way to get word of mouth promotion.

But ultimately, this partnership helps us help people who are so often in a situation with no one to turn to. 

So, you can do this too. Think and try to find a charity (hopefully in your own country) that you would like to support and that would like to support your project. Think out of the box. You don’t have to make a movie about the Amazon River to get like minded charities to support. Your movie could be a cerebral drama and there are many options for support from those charities. Think about it and look up those charities and see or find good ones that might have a famous person supporting them. Write to that famous person directly at that charity. 

You might be very surprised at the answer you get.

It takes a while and will take several tries, but why wouldn’t some famous person want you to help to support their charity? 

Actually, I wasn’t so surprised that Mariel agreed to help, my only concern was my movie! Maybe it is too weird and maybe a bit scary. But she loved it!

Many charities have a famous person who could make you a short video and you can use that to promote their charity and your movie! And it will cost you nothing.

And remember the old saying, “Asking doesn’t cost a cent!”

Grapefruit

Starring Natsuki Belleza, Hiroshi Matsumoto,

Written and directed by Mike Rogers,

Camera & Editing by Henry Morse,

Camera by Les Deciduous,

Sound design by Ken Nishikawa,

Produced by Hiroshi Matsumoto, Harrison Bates, Lance E. Lee, Koji Kamibayashi, & Ralph Saunders.

Thanks to Yuka Rogers, Junji Naito, Adam Feldpausch, Mariel Hemingway, Melissa Yamaguchi, and Jeremiah Higgins.

“Our Mission at The Mariel Hemingway Foundation is to compassionately help the patient navigate their mental illness by providing the best access to qualified practitioners, treatments, and technologies.” — Mariel Hemingway 

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WHEEL OF FORTUNE, 1975-, Vanna White, 1982-


WHEEL OF FORTUNE, (from left): Pat Sajak, Vanna White, (circa 1983), 1975-.


WHEEL OF FORTUNE, co-host Vanna White, (ca. mid 1980s), 1975-.

Image Credit: NINA PROMMER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock / MJ Photos/Shutterstock

  • Pat Sajak announced that he’s leaving Wheel Of Fortune on June 12.
  • Pat will stop hosting the show after season 41 wraps in 2024.
  • Vanna White is among the list of possible new hosts.

All good things must come to an end, including Pat Sajak‘s 41-year run as the host of Wheel of Fortune. Pat, 76, is leaving the beloved game show after the 2023 – 2024 season, which means someone else has to step into the role next year. Pat has been the face of Wheel of Fortune with his right hand woman Vanna White, 66, and he’s leaving behind a remarkable legacy. “It’s been a wonderful ride,” Pat said in his statement, where he broke the news of his big career change, “and I’ll have more to say in the coming months.”

Pat Sajak
Pat Sajak (Photo: Patrick Lewis/Starpix/Shutterstock)

Following Pat’s big announcement on June 12, speculation began as to who will replace him as host of the show. Could Vanna be promoted from her longtime sidekick position that she’s held since 1982? Or will an outsider step into the role that won Pat three Daytime Emmy Awards? Here’s the full list of possible candidates for the new host of Wheel of Fortune.

Vanna White

Vanna White
Vanna White (Photo: NINA PROMMER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Vanna is a natural frontrunner to replace Pat. She’s been on the show for over 40 years and even filled in as host for Pat for three weeks after he underwent emergency surgery in Nov. 2019. At the time, Vanna admitted she was “very nervous” for her last-minute hosting gig, but said that her “biggest concern” was Pat’s health.

After Pat announced he’s leaving the show, Vanna showed her support for her pal. “When we started @WheelofFortune who could have imagined we’d still be at it 41 seasons later?” she wrote on Twitter. “I couldn’t be happier to have shared the stage with you for all these years with one more to come. Cheers to you, @patsajak!”

Maggie Sajak

Maggie Sajak
Maggie Sajak (Photo: SplashNews)

Pat’s daughter Maggie Sajak, 28, could very well follow in her father footsteps and snag the job as host of Wheel of Fortune. After all, Maggie already works on the show as the social correspondent, which she began in 2021 ahead of the show’s 39th season. Maggie’s job is to share exclusive videos and behind-the-scenes clips, as well as interview the hosts, staff, crew, and contestants for Wheel of Fortune’s social media accounts. She’s also filled in for Vanna before, including when Vanna participated in the game as a celebrity contestant in May 2023.

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg (Photo: MJ Photos/Shutterstock)

Whoopi Goldberg, 67, declared that she’s interested in hosting Wheel of Fortune on the June 13 episode of The View. “I want that job! I think it’d be lots of fun,” Whoopi said. The EGOT winner and her co-hosts welcomed Jeopardy! co-host Ken Jennings on the show, when the topic of Pat’s retirement came up. Ken agreed that Whoopi would make a perfect fit for the show’s host. Whoopi previously served as a producer and the center square on the game show Hollywood Squares from 1998 to 2004.

Ryan Seacrest

Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest (Photo: David Fisher/Shutterstock)

Ryan Seacrest, 48, has held many jobs in his career — and Wheel of Fortune host might be next on his resume! Bloomberg‘s Lucas Shaw reported on June 12, after Pat’s announcement, that Ryan “has been talking” to producers about becoming the new host. “Some sources say he’s the frontrunner. Others say he is just one of many interested,” Lucas claimed on Twitter. Obviously, Ryan has plenty of hosting experience from American Idol, Live with Kelly and Ryan, and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.

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Tech

Studio71 has set a digital advertising and brand partnership pact with Andre Rebelo, a gaming creator better known to more than 20 million social media followers as Typical Gamer.

The deal calls for Studio71 to represent Rebelo and his four YouTube channels as well as his presence on TikTok, Twitch, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Studio71, the L.A.-based creator content development and production venture, will provide Rebelo with tech tools and advanced advertising tech options designed to improve the viewing experience for his fans. Studio71 also asserts that it helps its roster of creator partners monitor piracy and keep watch against “infringing uploads” of his original content from YouTube and TikTok.

Studio71 looks to bundling and scale opportunities to allow its creators to significantly increase their advertising revenue beyond the revenue splits offered from YouTube directly. Studio71 also pitches its ability to curate and emphasize the importance of finding brand-safe content for advertising clients when placing digital spots across its creator content networks.

“Studio71 has forged multi-year agreements with top media agencies, enabling us to offer premium advertising solutions to our clients,” said Matt Crowley, co-CEO of Studio71. “We’re excited to provide new revenue opportunities for Typical Gamer and our other gaming creators by connecting them with our network of top-tier brand partners.”

Typical Gamer joins an expanding roster of gaming creator talent to sign up with Studio71, including Lachlan (15 million YouTube subscribers), GamingWithGarry (2 million YouTube subscribers), TheGamersJoint (263 thousand YouTube subscribers), and LazarBeam (24 million YouTube subscribers). Typical Gamer and LazarBeam are managed exclusively by Night Media and have partnered with Studio71 as a Creator Services provider. 

Matt Barker, Studio71’s VP of creator relations and growth strategy spearheaded the deal with Typical Gamer and Night Media.

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Studio71 has set a digital advertising and

Video

YouTube will allow more creators to monetize their presence on the platform, including creators with smaller followings.

The company announced today it is lowering the eligibility requirements for the YouTube Partner Program and opening up a handful of monetization methods to smaller creators, including paid chat, tipping, channel memberships, and shopping features.

Under the new eligibility policy, the YPP will be open to creators once they reach 500 subscribers — half the number that YouTube previously had. Other benchmarks are changing, too: participating creators will need 3,000 valid watch hours instead of 4,000, or 3 million Shorts views compared to the original 10 million. The lower requirements will initially roll out in the US, UK, Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Smaller creators will still need to grow their footprint to cash in on ad revenue, with YouTube saying the existing YPP requirements will remain for revenue sharing (the company notes that creators won’t have to reapply to the program once they hit the higher requirements). YouTube has used its ad revenue sharing program to entice creators to make money, especially to bolster the company’s shortform content in recent months by introducing an ad revenue sharing program for Shorts.

Other platforms like TikTok have also lowered the bar for having access to creator monetization features. Earlier this month, the company announced that its video paywall feature, Series, would be available to creators with more than 10,000 followers but that users with 1,000 followers who met other requirements could also apply to participate in the program. Series gives creators the option to share premium content that fans can pay to access.

In both cases, smaller creators are getting a chance to make money from fans and followers who pay for additional content, interactions, or otherwise support creators financially. Monetization features like tipping or paywalls are available across other creator platforms and, in each case, require an audience that’s willing to spend money.

Other monetization streams are also opening up to a wider group of creators. The shopping affiliate program, previously available by invitation only to select creators, is now available to YPP participants in the US with at least 20,000 subscribers.

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YouTube will allow more creators to monetize

Entertaintment

The guy who accused Megan Fox of child abuse for letting her kids wear whatever they want is now getting an earful from the paparazzi agency that owns the pic he used to call the actress out … and they’re not happy.

Backgrid — the agency that owns the rights to the photo in question, showing Megan with her three sons — fired off a legal letter Tuesday to ex-GOP congressional candidate Robby Starbuck who used the pic this past weekend to claim MF was forcing girl clothes onto her boys.

robbie starbuck tweet on megan fox kids

The correspondence, obtained by TMZ, accuses Starbuck of infringing on their copyright to the picture — which they say Starbuck did not purchase or license before he published it.

Backgrid shuts down any potential claim to “fair use” … a legal doctrine that allows third parties to use copyrighted works without permission in certain limited circumstances.

They say Starbuck can’t argue the pic was for political purposes, which was clearly his intent here, and does not meet the legal standard to qualify as fair use … on multiple fronts, in fact. Bottom line — they say his fair use claim ain’t flying.

Backgrid is now demanding Robby comply with their demands — saying the photo he posted has been viewed by millions of people, without them seeing a dime — or else.

They take one final jab at him — and, presumably, Trump — with this … “While historically not always the case, we expect those who hope to serve as our elected representatives to lead by example and fully comply with federal law. Today, we demand you do so.”

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MCU

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller just spoiled a big part of where Gwen Stacy will go in the upcoming sequel, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

Before Sony Pictures’ Spider-Verse 3 hits the big screen, Hailee Steinfeld’s take on Gwen Stacy continues her exciting journey through the Spider-Verse alongside Miles Morales, Oscar Isaac’s Spider-Man 2099, and dozens of other wild web-slinger Variants.

Part of Gwen’s story this time around throws her into a love triangle with Miles once they meet up again, although there are plenty of other major developments in her story still to come as she progresses forward as well.

Gwen Stacy’s Story in Spider-Verse 3

Marvel

Speaking with the Crew Call with Anthony D’Alessandro podcast, producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller spoiled one specific part of Gwen Stacy’s story in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

When asked if there will be Multiversal Variants of Gwen Stacy in the future, Lord and Miller exchanged responses that confirmed this plot point would come to fruition:

Lord: “Currently, yes.”

Miller: “Currently, yes. I would say that, yes.”

Lord: “It’s on the page.”

Miller: “It is… I think that that… These things evolve as they go.”

While they wouldn’t offer any other details that might spoil the plot, Lord teased that there was “one [he’s] very excited about” that’s quite pivotal in Spider-Verse 3‘s plot:

Lord: “But there’s one I’m very excited about.”

Miller: “Yes, I know exactly the one you’re talking about.”

Lord: “You know the one I’m thinking of, which is based on… I’m not gonna say anything. I’m not gonna say anything.”

Miller: “But it is sort of plot-integral, I would say.”

The pair also both confirmed that this would impact her arc and her relationship with Miles when the third movie debuts:

Lord: “I would say, yes.”

Miller: “Yes.”

How Will Gwen Stacy Variants Impact Spider-Verse 3?

The end of Across the Spider-Verse set up a game-changing moment for Miles Morales on Earth-42 where he came face-to-face with a Variant of himself that had become the Prowler.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise at all that Gwen appears set to meet Variants of her own, whether they be in Earth-42 or from elsewhere across the vast changing Multiverse.

Producers on Spider-Verse 3 already teased that “the sky really is the limit” for what this threequel could bring to the big screen, with dozens of potential Spidey Variants potentially in play for inclusion alongside Gwen and Miles.

And while rumors are already floating about how long the new adventure will be and who will be included, plenty of work still remains before fans find out how this wildly-successful trilogy will come to an end.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters worldwide. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is currently set to debut on March 29, 2024.

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