Controversial peripheral company Dbrand has released a set of Zelda-themed decals which say “go fuck yourself lawyers” in code on the Dock.
The ‘Clone of the Kingdom’ set gives players a set of Joy-Con, Switch Dock and Switch back stickers for either their Switch or Switch OLED, to make it look like the recently released Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom limited edition console. There’s also a set available for the Steam Deck.
Although it’s not an exact replica, a quick glance could fool people into thinking it’s the official Tears of the Kingdom system.
The website for the decals include a section titled “The Power of Plagiarism,” in which it criticises Nintendo‘s decision to release a Zelda-themed console and says this is a cheaper alternative.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom review | VGC
“Contrary to popular belief, you need to spend money to save money – specifically, by giving it to us,” the outspoken company says.
“You see, when one of the world’s most litigious companies announces a $359.99 price tag to replace your Switch with a limited edition variant, only Dbrand is up to the challenge of charging you slightly less for a ‘creative reinterpretation’ of their overpriced novelty console.
“If a dollar saved is a dollar earned, Clone of the Kingdom is the easiest $310.04 you’ve ever made.”
The dock design has a code written on it, and the code on the left appears to say “GO FUCK YOURSELF LAWYERS”.
The code around the logo says “THIS FUNDS OUR LEGAL DEFENSE”.
This is not the first time Dbrand has courted controversy by actively boasting about how legally questionable its products are.
In February 2021, the company started selling custom PS5 faceplates, which it called ‘Darkplates’. Asked be a Reddit user if it feared legal action, it replied: “We encourage them to try”. A caption on its Reddit post added: “Sue us, Sony.”
It claimed the new design was different enough that it “successfully closes the loop on this dispute and neutralises any future infringement claims from Sony”, adding that its decision to add vents to the side of the plate to help with cooling distinguished it further.
“Happy to license this design to you, Sony,” the company teased. “You’ll find that our rates are outrageous.”
It’s not yet clear how Nintendo will respond to these Clone of the Kingdom decals.
Should it matter how many social media followers you have to help you land a role?
The pressure to stay relevant seems like an essential part of Hollywood these days. Whether that is knowing what people want to see from the culture or keeping your name fresh and in the minds of the audience, relevancy seems to be the fuel behind a successful career in the industry.
But not everyone believes this to be true. Despite starring in modern cult films and leading two major studio franchises, 25-year-old actress Elle Fanning doesn’t feel the heat to stay current in peoples’ minds.
During a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Fanning was asked if there is pressure on her career to join big studio franchises to stay “relevant” as an actor.
“I don’t feel that [pressure]. I don’t,” Fanning said, while also acknowledging that joining the likes of Marvel, Star Wars, or DC “does something” for other actors’ careers. “But you also don’t know if they’re going to work sometimes, which is scary,” she added.
Instead, the pressure to stay relevant falls on the mindset of the studios who are looking for actors who can draw in an audience. While the days of the big movie stars might be in the middle of a massive shift as the older generation becomes… Well, older and new talent emerges, and studios are trying to find faces that people recognize. What better way to see if someone is recognizable than checking the number of followers they have on social media?
Fanning confirmed that this has happened to her when she had auditioned for a big franchise movie and lost the role because her social media wasn’t sufficient enough for the studio.
“I did try out for… I’m not going to say what it was, but I didn’t get a part once for something big because – it might not have just been this reason, but this was the feedback that I heard – was because I didn’t have enough Instagram followers at the time,” Fanning said. “So that was a little like… I firmly don’t believe in not getting a part [for that]. It was for a bigger thing, a franchise thing.”
For context, Fanning’s Instagram currently has 6.2 million followers, which is a fairly healthy amount of social media followers if you asked me. However, studios seem to have higher expectations and are almost unrealistic for everyone who works on sets these days, including talent. Why hire someone who can’t bring you the biggest audience possible? That would require work from the studio’s market team, which studios eagerly don’t want to spend money on.
‘Neon Demon’Credit: Amazon Studios
Fanning’s The Great co-star Nicholas Hoult has been more vocal about this shift in hiring actors based on performance and social media following. Hoult has stated in interviews with the Guardian and GQ España that he missed out on franchise films like Top Gun: Maverickand Matt Reeves’ The Batmanbecause he didn’t have the audience that the studios were looking for.
“I would never say no to those things, but I would have to have a meeting and really talk to see what it is,” Fanning added about joining a franchise. “I didn’t have to go through what Nick did… they made him try the [Batman] suit on. You need a balance. If you want to do your indie work, especially in producing now… [having a big franchise] does make you breathe better.”
Casting has become a strange game for the industry. While finding actors who fit the role and have a decent online following helps create a larger audience for indie films, it is mind-numbing to me that studios are not giving new actors a chance to lead a great story simply because they don’t have the audience the studio wants.
As this shift in the industry continues, I hope that more actors get a chance to showcase their talents despite not having a massive online following.
Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments below!
Welcome to What’s On, our weekly picks of must-watch shows. Here’s what you need to watch from Sunday, May 14, to Thursday, May 18. All times are Eastern. [Note: The weekend edition of What’s On drops on Fridays.]
“Shrinking” star Christa Miller on Harrison Ford and that “Clone High” revival
The biggies
High Desert (Apple TV+, Wednesday, 12:01 a.m.)
High Desert — Official Trailer | Apple TV+
Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette, who teamed on Severance, continue their collaboration for Apple TV+ with High Desert, which they co-produced. The show follows Arquette’s Peggy Newman, a former addict in Yucca Valley struggling after the death of her mother. She decides to start fresh by becoming a private investigator, and joins forces with an infamous PI, Bruce (Brad Garrett). The dark comedy is created and written by Nancy Fichman, Katie Ford, and Jennifer Hoppe-House, and the cast includes Matt Dillon, Rupert Friend, Bernadette Peters, Weruche Opia, and Christine Taylor.
XO, Kitty (Netflix, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)
XO, Kitty | Official Trailer | Netflix
Netflix’s charming To All The Boystrilogy is officially in its spin-off era. Author Jenny Han returns as an executive producer forXO, Kitty, which centers on Lara Jean Covey’s younger sister, Kitty (Anna Cathcart). Now a young adult, she moves to South Korea hoping to reconnect with her long-distance boyfriend. Naturally, she’s about to discover that relationships are more complex than she believed. John Corbett and Sarayu Blue reprise their roles from the movies, and cast additions include Yunjin Kim, Choi Min-young, Sang Heon Lee, and Gia Kim. Here’s a bit from The A.V. Club’s review:
By the end of episode five, it starts to come together, and you can feel the Han magic kicking in. There are a lot of balls in the air, and when they all land in the finale, you realize XO, Kitty is primed for a better, richer, more interesting season two.
And take an additional 10% off with a bonus coupon! Thanks to nothing short of a humongous sale on SGIN’s WiFi Digital Photo Frame, you can store and display literally thousands of photos and videos of your dog (up to 40,000 photos, in fact, with the included 16GB of storage!).
Hidden gems
Angel City (HBO, Tuesday, 9 p.m.)
Angel City | Official Trailer | HBO
HBO’s three-part docuseries Angel City unpacks how the titular Los Angeles-based professional women’s soccer team was created during the 2022 season. The team is notable for having majority female ownership, including Natalie Portman, Julie Uhrman, Kara Nortman, and Alexis Ohanian. Arlene Nelson directs.
Rainn Wilson & The Geography Of Bliss (Peacock, Thursday, 3:01 a.m.)
Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss | Official Trailer | Peacock Original
The Officestar Rainn Wilson is stepping out of Scranton, Pennsylvania’s shadow to find happiness in other parts of the world. He’ll lead Geography Of Bliss, a five-part travel docuseries where he travels around the globe to learn about different cultures and how they find happiness. The show is based on Eric Weiner’s book, The Geography Of Bliss: One Grump’s Search For The Happiest Places In The World. Wilson will journey to places like Ghana, Iceland, and his own backyard of Los Angeles to do some soul-searching. Watch The A.V. Club’s interview with him about the show and his new book.
I Survived Bear Grylls (TBS, Thursday, 9 p.m.)
I Survived Bear Grylls Premieres May 18 | Official Trailer | TBS
Anyone who’s survived Bear Grylls deserves to be the star of their own show. TBS taps into this concept with its latest competition series titled (quite literally) I Survived Bear Grylls. The famous survivalist challenges contestants’ adventurous abilities by giving them a tough competition in the wild. The winner will walk away with a cash prize and probably some scars for life. Look for The A.V. Club’s interview with Grylls on the site this week.
More good stuff
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me (Netflix, Tuesday, 3:01 a.m.)
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me | Official Trailer | Netflix
Directed by Ursula Macfarlane, You Don’t Know Me is a documentary that traces the life of model and actor Anna Nicole Smith, who died at the age of 39 in 2007. The film will feature previously unseen footage from home movies and interviews as it tries to get to the heart of who she was and how she handled her fame.
Queenmaker: The Making Of An It Girl (Hulu, Wednesday, 12:01 a.m.)
Queenmaker: The Making of an It Girl | Official Trailer | Hulu
If you’ve ever wondered whether Gossip Girlwas real in some form, Queenmaker is the docuseries for you. Directed by Zackary Drucker, it explores the rise of the popular mid-2000s gossip blog Park Avenue Peerage, which became famous when New York City’s It girls, including Paris Hilton and Tinsley Mortimer, took over a chunk of the media landscape. The blogger’s identity eventually shocked everyone. (Hint: she’s an outsider, much like Dan Humphrey.)
The Family Stallone (Paramount+, Wednesday, 3:01 a.m.)
The Family Stallone | Official Trailer | Paramount+
Kardashians who? A new family is ready to take on reality TV with The Family Stallone. The unscripted series follows the daily lives of actor Sylvester Stallone and his fam, including his wife and three daughters, who are all exploring their own career paths. Al Pacino and Dolph Lundgren will also make appearances.
“UglyDolls” was produced by STX Films, Huaxia Film Distribution, Original Force Animation, Reel FX Creative Studios and Alibaba Pictures Group with a budget of $45m. With it’s initial release on May 1st 2019 it made approximately $32.45m at the Box Office.
With “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” now out in theaters and James Gunn’s commitment to Marvel Studios complete, his full attention is now being turned to filling out the cast for his upcoming DC reboot “Superman: Legacy.”
Gunn is now watching audition tapes, and those in the mix for the role of Superman include Nicholas Hoult, David Corenswet (“Pearl”), Jacob Elordi (“Euphoria”) and Andrew Richardson (“A Call to Spy”), sources tell TheWrap.
Additionally, sources say Emmy-winning “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star Rachel Brosnahan delivered a “strong” audition for Lois Lane, with Emma Mackey (“Sex Education”) and Samara Weaving (“Ready or Not”) among those also auditioning for the part.
There’s another major role to fill as well: Lex Luthor. Sources indicate the antagonist role is labeled as “Apex” and that Gunn has been seeing Black actors for the part. In the comics, Apex Lex Luthor had a hybrid human/Martian body and could physically go toe-to-toe with Superman, although it’s unclear if the Lex Luthor in Gunn’s film is actually Apex Lex Luthor.
“Superman: Legacy” — which Gunn wrote and will direct — is slated for release on July 11, 2025 and will tell the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent. Per DC Studios, “he is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old fashioned.”
The film will kick off a new era of the DCU in earnest, as Gunn and Peter Safran are spearheading a new interconnected series of films and TV shows much like the Marvel Cinematic Universe as part of their duties as DC Films co-CEOS. Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” sequel will follow “Legacy” in October 2025, although the Robert Pattinson film will continue to exist in its own separate universe – an outlier in Gunn and Safran’s overarching plans.
Those plans also include an additional, separate Batman movie with a different actor in the lead role called “The Brave and the Bold,” a “Supergirl” movie, a “Swamp Thing” film from director James Mangold, and an animated series called “Creature Commandos” for which Gunn has written all the scripts. There’s also an Amanda Waller spinoff series starring Viola Davis that will include much of the cast from Gunn’s DC HBO Max series “Peacemaker.”
“There’s now a full #RedRubyDaSleeze video on YOUTUBE!!!! It’ll be everywhere else next week. Happy early MOTHER’S DAY,” she wrote on Instagram on Saturday.
The visual finds the rapper in her native Trinidad and Tobago for Carnival 2023. In the clip, she drops fiery rhymes as she frolics in a robe and bathing suits poolside flanked by the Caribbean sea. She also strolls down city streets and goes for joy rides at night. On the track, she calls out others who think they can rival her game. “Who the fuck told bitches they was me now?” she questions early in the track.
Later, she raps: “See the difference is: I run businesses/If I ain’t employ you, then what yo business is?/I’ll have staff roll up like what the business is?”
Trending
“Red Ruby Da Sleeze” is the rapper’s first solo single since last year’s massive hit, “Super Freaky Girl.”
Earlier in the month, Minaj teamed up with Kim Petras for their collaborative single “Alone.” In April, she joined Ice Spice to remix “Princess Diana,” an ode to the late royal.
The link between loneliness and physical health is well-established, with the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention saying it can lead to dementia, heart disease, stroke and even premature death.
“Loneliness is as bad for you as smoking,” said Dr. Jacques Lee, a staff physician at Mount Sinai Emergency Department, adding that it may actually contribute to 45,000 deaths a year in Canada, citing an ongoing clinical trial by Mount Sinai Hospital.
“Loneliness was here before COVID, (and it) certainly made it worse. But loneliness is not going to be gone after COVID,” he added.
Although isolation can affect all age groups, Less said he witnessed many elderly people suffering from loneliness, especially during the pandemic.
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During the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, Lee was working in the emergency room and said he met an elderly man. While the man previously had COVID-19, that’s not why he was at the hospital: the man felt he was dying from loneliness.
“He was in a nursing home and he’d fully recovered from COVID. I couldn’t understand why he had called an ambulance to come to the hospital,” Lee said.
How virtual reality technology is being used to combat loneliness among long term care home residents
“But what happened is they had basically locked him in the room and were leaving a meal tray. And he wasn’t allowed to leave his room, even though he had fully recovered.”
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Lee said he was isolated from the world for around three months.
“He said ‘Doc, I’m dying of loneliness, I can’t live like this’,” Lee explained. “I didn’t have a prescription for that, I didn’t know what to do for him,” he added.
After this encounter, Lee said he started to diagnose patients who came into the emergency room differently.
“Loneliness was not a vital sign I used to take. Before it was, ‘What’s your blood pressure? What’s the temperature?’ And definitely, since then, I’ve really tried to add that to my standard approach to people,” he said.
Now when he diagnoses a patient he will ask them questions regarding isolation, such as who they are living with or whether the patient has family.
“It’s highly stigmatized as well. People are ashamed of being lonely. People feel that it’s their fault if they don’t have people in their life,” Lee added.
‘Loneliness reshapes the brain’
One of the ways loneliness and isolation affect physical and mental health is by “altering people’s brains that contribute to disconnection,” Jake Ernst, a social worker and clinical director of Straight Up Health in Toronto, said.
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“It changes our executive functioning, which happens in the front of our brain, and it actually starts to impact the way that we can connect, think, plan, organize and socially engage with other people,” Ernst explained.
He cited a 2019 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, that found after a small group of crew members spent 14 months living on a remote research station in Antarctica, the extreme isolation shrank their brains.
A team of researchers scanned the crew members’ brains before and after the trip and found that certain places in the organ had shrunk during the trip, but mainly in the hippocampus region. This is the part of the brain needed for learning and memory. The researchers said the reason for the brain reduction may have been due to a lack of social stimulation.
“Our core fundamental being as a human species is a social one. We are deeply connected to each other because we need each other in order to survive. And so when we disrupt that process of connection, where we take that off the table for us, we start to deteriorate,” Lee explained.
Feelings of anxiety, depression and loneliness spike amid Omicron wave: CAMH study
“And I think that’s what we’re starting to see here, is that the brain is actually registering the sense of, ‘Oh, I guess we don’t need other people, we don’t need to be connected to other people. So we’re not going to use this part of the brain as much,’” he said.
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Ernst blames technology and social deterioration for this trend — meaning that people have fewer friendships and community connections, resulting in a state of isolation.
The decline in social connections and community ties is a troubling pattern in many countries, especially since the pandemic.
A 2022 survey released by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found that between July 2021 and January 2022, there were increased rates of anxiety, loneliness and depression among respondents.
For example, 25 per cent of respondents reported feeling moderate to severe anxiety, up from 19 per cent in July 2021.
The survey also found that Canadians between 18 and 39 years old reported the highest levels of moderate to severe anxiety, loneliness and feelings of depression of any age group (33.5 per cent for anxiety, 29.1 per cent for loneliness and 27.7 per cent for feelings of depression).
Another survey by Statistics Canada in mid-2021 found that more than 40 per cent of Canadians feel lonely some or all of the time, with the problem worst among single people and those who live alone.
If this trend continues, Lee believes people are going to continue to see a deterioration in their mental health.
Loneliness is as deadly as smoking
Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general, released a report on May 2, titled ‘Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation’, stating that loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually.
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Loneliness increases the risk of premature death by nearly 30 per cent, the report stated, adding that those with poor social relationships also had a greater risk of stroke and heart disease.
Additionally, the lack of social connection may increase susceptibility to viruses and respiratory illness, the report stated.
This isn’t the first report to draw a link between loneliness and physical health.
In 2015, researchers from Brigham Young University in Utah found that loneliness and social isolation are just as much a threat to longevity as obesity.
Mental health of kids deteriorates as pandemic rages on
“Current evidence indicates that heightened risk for mortality from a lack of social relationships is greater than that from obesity, with the risk from social isolation and loneliness being equivalent to the risk associated with Grades 2 and 3 obesity…. researchers have predicted that loneliness will reach epidemic proportions by 2030 unless action is taken,” the authors stated.
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The reasoning behind this, Lee explained, is that people tend to make “pro-health” decisions in a communal setting.
For example, a husband or wife may remind their partner to take medications or book a doctor’s appointment.
“When you’re on your own, the things we tend to do are not so healthy, such as smoke, eat poorly, sleep poorly, not go outside, not exercise — it’s really a perfect storm,” he added.
Lee and Ernst both agree that the loneliness crisis in Canada should be tackled the same way as anti-smoking campaigns.
“I think that social media litigation is going to become the next tobacco litigation,” Ernst said. “We are going to need to see some significant shifts from our policymakers in terms of social media if we want to repair the crisis of loneliness that is currently occurring.”
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In order to help fix the loneliness crisis, Ernst suggested starting with, “deep healing, deep therapy and deep connection.”
He gave the example of introducing small moments of reconnection, such as family dinners, stopping phone use before bed or sharing a meal with a friend.
“It is about returning to our innate core needs. As humans, we are a social species, which means that we need each other in order to be well. And when we are cut off from relationships or when there’s something in between us, like a phone or some sort of technology, then that just starts to erode our sense of connection to other people,” he said.
When soap legend Jacklyn Zeman died unexpectedly at 70 on May 10, many of her grieving fans wondered when they would get to see her final scenes as Bobbie Spencer.
Surprisingly, TVLine reports that Zeman’s last filmed “General Hospital” scenes have already aired — on April 27.
The site confirmed that Zeman’s last scenes as Bobbie aired that day as part of an hour devoted to the wedding of her character’s grandson Michael to Willow, who is battling cancer.
Zeman herself died of cancer, her family confirmed the day after news of her death rocked the soap world.
Zeman’s death was announced by “General Hospital’s” executive producer Frank Valenti, who tweeted, “On behalf of our ‘General Hospital’ family, I am heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Jackie Zeman. Just like her character, the legendary Bobbie Spencer, she was a bright light and true professional that brought so much positive energy with her to work.”
The show’s official account posted, “Jacklyn Zeman has been a beloved member of the ‘General Hospital’ and ABC family since she originated the iconic role of Bobbie Spencer over 45 years ago. She leaves behind a lasting legacy for her Emmy-nominated portrayal of the bad girl turned heroine and will always be remembered for her kind heart and radiant spirit.”
There is currently no word on how “General Hospital” might address Bobbie’s absence or Zeman’s death. The current writer’s strike could push any such acknowledgment down the road.
China has ordered Tesla, the world’s dominant maker of electric vehicles, to recall 1.1 million vehicles, citing an issue with the acceleration and braking systems of certain models manufactured in China and abroad.
China’s market regulator announced the decision after carrying out an investigation into a reported defect, according to a statement issued on Friday. The recalled vehicles include some imported Model S, Model X, Model 3 cars, as well as Chinese-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles that were manufactured between Jan. 12, 2019 and April 24, 2023.
The issue involves the vehicles’ regenerative braking system, which generates electricity from the car’s motion when the driver takes a foot off the accelerator. The State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement that the cars might not provide a warning when the driver presses hard on the accelerator for a long period.
The defect could lead to increased risk of collisions, the statement said.
Tesla said it would fix the vehicles with a software update sent wirelessly to the vehicles, the regulator’s statement said.
This is the second Tesla recall in China in recent months. In March, Tesla recalled 2,649 vehicles manufactured between October 2015 and August 2020 after China’s regulator said the hoods of certain imported Model S vehicles were at risk of opening while the vehicle was operating, increasing the risk of collisions.
China is a significant market for Tesla, with revenue from the country increasing to $18.2 billion last year from $13.8 billion in 2021. The recalls will begin on May 29, and Tesla will notify relevant car owners by mail or text.China’s regulator did not say how many of the recalled Teslas were imported.
The driver-assistance system, which can steer, accelerate, brake and change lanes on its own, allowed vehicles to travel above legal speed limits and through intersections in “an unlawful or unpredictable manner,” the agency said in documents posted on its website. It said Tesla was not aware of any deaths or injuries caused by the flaws the agency had identified.
In January, Tesla disclosed in a regulatory filing that the Justice Department had asked it for documents related to the company’s self-driving software, a potential setback for Elon Musk, the chief executive. As regulators investigate the safety of this technology, some Tesla owners have filed lawsuits on the grounds that Tesla’s self-driving software does not live up to Mr. Musk’s promises.
Starz has released the official Season 7 trailer for Outlander ahead of its June 16 premiere. The premium network also unveiled the key art depicting the American Revolution in full swing with the tagline “Our History is Now,” featuring Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitríona Balfe) on a battlefield. See below.
Season seven picks up from the harrowing events of the end of season six, with Jamie and Young Ian racing to rescue Claire before she’s tried and wrongfully convicted for the murder of Malva Christie. But their mission is complicated by the beginning of a geopolitical firestorm: The American Revolution has arrived.
In Season 7, Jamie, Claire, and their family are caught in the violent birth pains of an emerging nation as armies march to war and British institutions crumble in the face of armed rebellion.
The land the Frasers call home is changing – and they must change with it. In order to protect what they’ve built, the Frasers have to navigate the perils of the Revolutionary War. They learn that sometimes to defend what you love, you have to leave it behind. As the conflict draws them out of North Carolina and into the heart of this fight for independence, Jamie, Claire, Brianna, and Roger are faced with impossible decisions that have the potential to tear their family apart.
In addition to Balfe and Heughan, cast includes Sophie Skelton as “Brianna MacKenzie,” Richard Rankin as “RogerMacKenzie,” John Bell as “YoungIan,” David Berry as “Lord John Grey,” along with newcomers Charles Vandervaart as “William Ransom,” Izzy Meikle-Small as “Rachel Hunter” and Joey Phillips as “Denzell Hunter.”
Matthew B. Roberts, Ronald D. Moore, Maril Davis, Toni Graphia, Luke Schelhaas, Andy Harries, Jim Kohlberg, Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan executive produce.
Inspired by Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books, Outlander is produced by Tall Ship Productions, Left Bank Pictures and Story Mining & Supply Company, in association with Sony Pictures Television.
Season 7 premieres Friday, June 16 at midnight ET on the Starz app, all Starz streaming and on-demand platforms and internationally on the Lionsgate+ premium streaming platform in the UK. On linear, it will debut on Starz on Friday, June 16 at 8 PM ET/PT in the U.S.
This weekend I have … a half-hour, and I like spoofs.
‘Documentary Now!’ When to watch: Now, on Netflix or AMC+.
Season 4 of this brilliant, silly parody series is now on Netflix, and its targets include “My Octopus Teacher,” “The September Issue” and Werner Herzog, as played in a two-parter by Alexander Skarsgard. A giddy glee dwells in “Documentary Now!,” a sense that the show’s creators and audience are sharing in a deep and satisfying dorking out, where stylistic hyper specificity is a special currency. Even hilarious parodies are often shallow, but “Now!” can be startlingly evocative in its ridiculousness, and it is able to cram in the emotional arc of a feature into a short run time. Tragically, this season is only six episodes.
… 90 minutes, and I put music on shuffle.
‘Great Performances: Celebrating 50 Years of Broadway’s Best’ When to watch: Friday at 9 p.m., on PBS. (Check local listings.)
Sutton Foster hosts this special, honoring PBS’s “Great Performances” series with big numbers from the last 50 years of Broadway musicals. In the best possible way, it feels like the talent show on the last night of the most prestigious theater camp ever: Chita Rivera sings “All That Jazz”; André De Shields sings “So You Wanted to See The Wizard”; Donna McKechnie sings “The Music and the Mirror.” If your favorite part of the Tonys is the performances, or if greatest-hits albums are your love language, watch this.
… a few hours, and I love a beautiful crumb.
‘The Great American Baking Show’ When to watch: Now, on the Roku Channel.
“The Great British Baking Show” has fallen on if not hard times then at least bummerish times in recent seasons — less fun, less earnest, more contrived, racist. Thank goodness, then, for this season of “The Great American Baking Show,” which is a happy throwback to the glory days of the series, with well-calibrated challenges and endearing participants who can’t get over the fact that they’re on their favorite show. Technically, this is the American version’s sixth season, but it’s the first on the Roku Channel, the first with both Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith and the first with the hosts Ellie Kemper and Zach Cherry, who do a terrific job.
On Mother’s Day, Janhvi Kapoor paid tribute to her late mother, actor Sridevi, by sharing a throwback picture on Instagram.
On Mother’s Day, Janhvi Kapoor paid tribute to her late mother, actor Sridevi, by sharing a throwback picture on Instagram. In the heartwarming photo, Janhvi can be seen alongside Sridevi.
The old photo showcases a tender moment between Sridevi and a young Janhvi as they lovingly rest their faces together. In the picture, Sridevi is seen wearing a T-shirt, while Janhvi is seen sporting a printed white and blue frock. With a big smiles on their faces, the duo poses for the camera, capturing a precious moment frozen in time.
Sharing the photo, Janhvi captioned the post, “Running out of pictures but never out of memories. The best mumma in the world. You keep me going always. I miss you.” Reacting to the heartening post, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Sanjay Kapoor, Keerthy Suresh, Bhumi Pednekar, Maheep Kapoor and Natasha Poonawalla dropped heart emojis. Check out the post here:
Janhvi Kapoor, the eldest daughter of filmmaker Boney Kapoor and the late Sridevi, has a younger sister Khushi Kapoor. Sridevi passed away on February 24, 2018, tragically, while attending a family function in Dubai. The late actress is widely celebrated for her iconic performances in Hindi films, including unforgettable roles in movies such as Chandni, Lamhe, Mr India, Chaalbaaz, Nagina, Sadma, and English Vinglish, among others.
On the work front, Janhvi will be next seen in Ulajh. Directed by Sudhanshu Saria, this upcoming film will take audiences into the captivating and prestigious realm of the Indian Foreign Services (IFS). That apart, she also has Mr and Mrs Mahi, a sports drama. She will also headline director Nitesh Tiwari’s film Bawaal alongside Varun Dhawan and NTR 30. Khushi, on the other hand, will make her debut with Zoya Akhtar’s series, The Archies.
Once 2008’s Iron Man took the world by storm, fans began looking for ways to connect to their favorite heroes over the next 15 years, and one of those ways was through the ever-changing and mysterious Western Zodiac signs.
Marvel’s Avengers Zodiac Signs
That being said, ahead are the 12 most common Zodiac signs and the dozen Avengers characters from Marvel that tie most closely together based on birthdates.
Disclaimer – This article does not include horoscope predictions, rather focusing more on general profiles for each Zodiac sign.
Shang-Chi – Aries (March 21 – April 19)
Shang-Chi
One of the most internally strong signs on the spectrum, Aries are known for wanting to be the top dog while boasting qualities like stubbornness and hotheadedness. These people are usually bold and ambitious, jumping into challenging situations with no hesitation while winding up succeeding in their endeavors.
These are many of the characteristics shown by one of Marvel’s own Shang-Chi, who boasts the title of Master of the Martial Arts in the pages of Marvel Comics. Drawn and portrayed with a great deal of passion and a surefire fearlessness, this hero comes out as one of the strongest of the bunch in any number of situations.
Taurus personalities exude a great deal of confidence along with a knack for leadership, sometimes being described as “stubborn as a bull” for their tenacious nature. Determined and passionate in nature, Tauruses are hard-working people who take a practical approach to life, which also makes them reluctant to change even if they are dependable at the same time.
Almost no Marvel character embodies these traits more than T’Challa, the Black Panther and the protector of Wakanda, who is depicted as one of the best leaders that Marvel has to offer. Fiercely loyal to his country and people while being admittedly resistant to changing his ways which have been in place for generations, the Wakandan king is never one to back down from a challenge.
The late Chadwick Boseman brought all of these qualities and more during his time in the MCU, infusing that same passion and fire into the character in 2018’s Black Panther and his three team-up outings. And while the character was laid to rest after Boseman’s tragic passing, his personality and legacy both have a huge impact on Wakanda’s future in the MCU.
Moon Knight – Gemini (May 21 – June 20)
Moon Knight
Geminis are typically a curious bunch with an intellectual side of the world, being flexible and versatile in connecting with other people. They’re also heavily tied to the twin concept, many having two sides to their personality and being quite hidden with part of that personality.
For fairly obvious reasons, Moon Knight fits these characteristics almost perfectly, usually being depicted as a secretive mercenary who has to use his skills and intelligence to defeat his enemies and make his way through a changing world. On top of that, he’s literally shown as having dissociative identity disorder (DID) thanks to personalities like Steven Grant, Mr. Knight, and Jake Lockley, which he always has to work through in his daily life.
Although Cancers are more emotional and nurturing than other signs, they usually shield themselves with a hard shell that only opens up to a few people. They are heavily impacted by the people and situations that surround them, but that hard-to-crack nature also makes them tough to get close to at first.
These qualities align most closely with Captain Marvel, one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel universe but also one of the most guarded. Stepping up as a leader across her run in the comic books for different teams, including the Avengers, her dark past leaves her to be much harder to get to know as she mostly keeps her emotions under wraps.
This was seen heavily in Brie Larson’s original Captain Marvel movie, in which Carol Danvers suffered from amnesia as she tried to work through her unknown past life on Earth. Eventually warming up to her old friend Maria Rambeau along with Nick Fury, she would step up into a leading role in Avengers: Endgame, and she’s set to do the same thing in The Marvels later this year.
Iron Man – Leo (July 23 – August 22)
Iron Man
Leos usually boast qualities like creativity, enthusiasm, and a flair for the dramatic, being confident enough in themselves to easily assert their will and stand out from people around them. This often comes with a want for recognition, sometimes even bordering on arrogance or narcissism, but they are also extremely loyal and have a lot of love in their hearts.
Looking at the vast range of Marvel characters, nobody fits the description of that Zodiac sign more than Stark Industries CEO Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man. Always seen as just a little bit self-centered and incredibly passionate about his work as a weapons manufacturer, he’s never one to hide in any kind of crowd and feels more than comfortable taking the spotlight whenever the opportunity arises.
Robert Downey Jr. spent 11 years bringing that bold personality to life through his own time playing Iron Man, evolving from a lone-wolf-style captain of industry to one of the Avengers’ most important leaders. Embodying the charisma and confidence that Tony had in the comics, along with the pure emotion from all sides of the spectrum, Downey’s hero gave MCU fans a rollercoaster adventure until his sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame.
Spider-Man – Virgo (August 23 – September 22)
Spider-Man
The classic characteristics of Virgos are being able to assess any situation and find solutions to problems while also being hardworking and practical. These individuals value consistency and loyalty, investing a lot of themselves into their goals but also being self-critical and having some doubts if things don’t go according to plan.
Marvel has a character like this in Spider-Man, who’s one of the company’s smartest characters even though he’s always faced with self-doubt about his choices. Having to protect so many important people in his own life while facing a dangerous world as a teenager and young adult, he uses his smarts and will to succeed in any endeavor he faces.
The MCU has shown these doubts a few times for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, like the time he lost his Stark suit in Spider-Man: Homecoming or when he almost gave up on the mission to send the Multiversal villains back home in Spider-Man: No Way Home. But on the positive side, he’s shown immense loyalty to friends like MJ and Ned, and he’s always one to give his all to being a good friend and a hero at the same time.
Sam Wilson – Libra (September 23 – October 22)
Sam Wilson
Libras look to have peace and balance above anything else in life, striving for fairness while surrounding themselves with valuable and meaningful relationships and partnerships. This also leads them to be a little bit dependent on their social situations, although they also usually end up being gifted in communication and negotiation, looking for the best way to resolve any dispute peacefully.
Sam Wilson/Captain America is seen embodying these qualities on a regular basis in the comics, known for his innate ties to Steve Rogers during his time as the Falcon. And while his relationships are an important part of his life, he stands tall as one of the Avengers’ leaders when called upon, and he’s somebody that has great empathy for those in need of support.
Doctor Strange – Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)
Doctor Strange
Qualities of Scorpios include intensity and passion, described as “all or nothing” kinds of people who have a way of feeling powerful in certain relationships and situations. This leads to emotional extremes in terms of their feelings, as they crave intimacy and psychological depth above most else, also being quite fixed in their ways and relentless toward getting what they want.
When thinking of “all or nothing” characters in the Marvel universe, Doctor Stephen Strange fits that kind of personality almost perfectly, being one of the most intense and passionate characters that Marvel has to offer. Known as a brilliant but arrogant neurosurgeon before he becomes one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world, his intensity is seen on a regular basis, although he’s also in constant pursuit of close relationships that will help elevate his journey.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s take on the master magician exudes all of these same personality traits with his seven appearances in the MCU, showing an unwavering emotional depth after the accident that caused nerve damage in his hands. Fans have seen these traits through his interactions with Christine Palmer along with the Avengers, stepping into a leadership role right off the bat in movies like Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Kate Bishop – Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)
Kate Bishop
Sagittariuses are known to be adventurous and spontaneous, craving expansion and exploration while always being in search of new ideas and experiences that will teach them about themselves. But while these traits bring cheerful energy and a feeling of freedom, this also leads to them being somewhat impulsive and reckless at times.
In recent years, fans have seen many of these traits in one of Marvel’s top sharpshooters, Kate Bishop, who is about as free of a spirit as the comic company has to offer. Always looking to learn new superhero tactics, Kate is often seen as a reckless and impulsive character, getting herself into dangerous situations without thinking even though she manages to figure things out in the end.
Hailee Steinfeld’s portrayal of Kate Bishop shows those personality traits right from the get-go with her appearance in Hawkeye, especially in taking Clint Barton’s Ronin suit and taking on the Tracksuit Mafia right in Episode 1. She’s also determined to follow her passion of becoming the world’s greatest archer and, eventually, an Avenger, which will only take her to great places over the years.
Steve Rogers – Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)
Steve Rogers
Capricorns are most often classified as ambitious and reserved, wanting to build a life with a solid foundation, which most often pushes them to be hardworking and focused on creating career success. They also value strong long-term relationships, even though they are seen as less emotional and more practical due to their discipline and determination in life.
Arguably nobody in Marvel lore fits all of these qualities more accurately than Steve Rogers, one of the most determined and hardworking characters in existence. His drive to succeed in life, battle, and his duties helps him to be one of the most pivotal members of the Avengers in all forms of media, serving as a symbol of perseverance and morality in an oftentimes dark world.
This translated over perfectly to the MCU with Chris Evans’ depiction of the Star-Spangled Man with a plan, who’s known for the iconic line of dialogue stating “I can do this all day.” While this line is only said four times in MCU history, it’s become one of the most quotable moments in pop culture and one that sums up the Steve Rogers character to a point, especially inside this Zodiac sign.
Shuri – Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)
Shuri
Aquariuses are among the most intellectual and independent of the Zodiac, focused on their beliefs and hungry for knowledge in order to better understand society and the universe around them. While this comes with plenty of intelligence, it can also make them stubborn and close-minded, presenting them as unique and eccentric.
The Wakandan royal Shuri shows all of these qualities on a regular basis as one of the smartest characters in the universe, mostly functioning as the chief technological expert for the most advanced nation in the world technologically. Her brilliance makes her want to learn as much information and knowledge as she possibly can, and while she can empathize with people, she can mostly be found in her lab working on her latest piece of game-changing weaponry or tech.
The MCU took all of those character traits into account for Letitia Wright’s Shuri, who moved from her place as a tech guru in Black Panther all the way to rule over her nation in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever following T’Challa’s death. And even though she exuded those traits with her reclusiveness for a year after her brother’s passing, she learns how to adapt to be her own kind of leader while taking on new responsibilities as Wakanda’s leader.
Pisces – Ms. Marvel (February 19 – March 20)
Ms. Marvel
Pisces are best known for their imagination and emotion, often being described as old souls with a connection to mystical, spiritual, and creative experiences in life. Boasting a sense of compassion and sensitivity, Pisces usually put the needs of others before themselves, and they are shown as unafraid to reimagine their world for themselves.
Over the last few years, that creativity and imagination have been seen most often in Ms. Marvel, as Kamala Khan is portrayed as one of the most optimistic and positive heroes in the Avengers. Her everlasting desire to learn more about her favorite heroes combined with her need to do good in the world always brings those around her to new heights, and she’s never one to stop dreaming about what she could be.
MCU rookie sensation Iman Vellani brought a highly-celebrated portrayal of Kamala Khan to the small screen in her own solo Ms. Marvel show, and she already appears set to do the same thing later in 2023 with The Marvels. Fans have seen the youngster go through a whole range of emotions through her own series thus far, and with the future already confirmed to include Vellani, that desire to help others will continue to be a major theme for this powerful teenager.
Previously, Hoult was the runner-up to play Batman in Matt Reeves‘ The Batman before Robert Pattinson took the role, and Warner Bros. has reportedly had their eye on him since his appearance in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road.
Additional reports noted that three different actors were in the running to play Superman opposite Hoult, those being David Corenswet, Tom Brittney, and Andrew Richardson.
Shortly after THR’s report was published, Deadline insider Justin Kroll contradicted the Hoult news, claiming that the 33-year-old actor is actually in the running to play Superman himself, not the villainous Lex Luthor.
Will Nicholas Hoult Play Lex Luthor in Superman Reboot?
Nicholas Hoult is no stranger to the world of superhero movies, playing 20th Century Fox’s take on Beast in the most recent set of X-Men movies from 2011 to 2019.
And while he admitted to being open to a comeback in that role in Marvel Studios’ highly-anticipated X-Men reboot, playing Lex Luthor would put him on a new level with a chance to portray one of the most iconic villains in all of DC Comics.
At only 33 years old and boasting a fantastic resume already, Hoult would fit the mold for Luther excellently thanks to his towering presence at 6’3″ and his intimidating demeanor, which he showed on occasion as Beast.
The next few weeks will be especially interesting for the DC Universe as the franchise looks to get underway in 2024, with Chapter 1’s first project, Creature Commandos, already well into production before Superman: Legacy kicks off.
If you posted gameplay or fanart – or really, anything at all – about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild over the past six years, congrats: you may have had a small hand in influencing its sequel.
In a long interview published by Nintendo, producer Eiji Aonuma, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, and designer Satoru Takizawa talked about how the reaction to the previous game guided their approach to Tears of the Kingdom, and how it encouraged them to give players even more freedom.
When asked if they ever watch fan gameplay videos, Aonuma answered, “there was some talk about them among the development team.”
“The direction of giving players the freedom to do anything in this game came about precisely because of the reactions of people who played the last game,” he said.
“Even though it’s been six years since the last title was released, many fans still post drawings, comments and videos on social media,” Takizawa added. “Especially when the team is facing difficulties during development, these things light up the eyes of our staff and make them think, ‘Alright, let’s show ’em what we’ve got!’ “
“Letting players come up with their own solutions to puzzles gives them a stronger sense of being the only one to have figured them out.
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After all three thanked the fans, Aonuma went into more detail about how the reception to past Zelda games impacted their approach to Tears of the Kingdom’s puzzles.
“I’ve seen some fans say that the Legend of Zelda games make them feel like they’re the only player to have solved the puzzle, and that’s what they like about the series,” he said. “I think letting players come up with their own solutions to puzzles gives them a stronger sense of being the only one to have figured them out than if we got them to use pre-defined solutions. In a sense, this is something unique to the Legend of Zelda series, and I think it’s something that’s brought out even more in this title.”
Elsewhere in the interview, they also gave advice to those who’ve been eagerly awaiting to start playing tonight – especially since Aonuma has finished Tears of the Kingdom 20 times already.
That sense of freedom and exploration is certainly something that’s come up a lot around Tears of the Kingdom, with IGN’s Tom Marks writing in his 10/10 review that it “both revamps old ground and introduces vast new areas so immense it somehow makes me wonder if Breath of the Wild was actually all that big.”
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
EXCLUSIVE:Film Seekers has acquired international sales rights to dark-comedy-thriller ClearMindabout a virtual reality therapy experiment that takes a deadly turn for a Cannes sales launch.
The Northern California-shot drama revolves around old friends whose lakeside getaway is disrupted by the unexpected appearance of a grieving woman that they had dropped from their group.
She attempts to use VR therapy to avenge her sense of rejection and anger against them, but it backfires, and revenge turns from virtual to real.
It is the second feature by Rebecca Eskreis, after the Cinedigm acquisition What Breaks the Ice. Seana Kofoed (30 Miles from Nowhere) wrote the screenplay.
Toks Olagundoye (Frasier), Jenn Lyon (Dead Boy Detectives), Kadeem Hardison (Moonhaven), Rebecca Creskoff (Claws), Rob Benedict (Supernatural), Matt Peters (Orange is the New Black), Kofoed (NCIS: Hawai’i), Jessica Meraz (Drunk History), and Alec Mapa (Ugly Betty) make up the ensemble cast.
“We’re excited to be working on a thriller that flirts with anxiety and loss in a darkly-comedic way while navigating the blurring of lines between the virtual and the real,” said Film Seekers Managing Director Caroline Couret-Delègue.
“We’ve had great success with unique genre fare in the past and look forward to taking ClearMind on that journey, starting with Cannes.”
The film is produced by Kristin Tegtmeier Higgins and Kofoed, and executive produced by River Place Productions and Lisa “Woody” Challenger.
It received Women in Film’s ReFrame stamp for its commitment to gender-balanced hiring.
Kofoed said of Film Seekers: “Their great reputation among other filmmakers, and their appreciation for unique genre fare, made them the perfect-fit home for ClearMind“.
Couret-Delègue negotiated the deal on behalf of Film Seekers while Brian Tinkham represented the production.
GREENWICH ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES THE ACQUISITION OF NORTH AMERICAN THEATRICAL/TVOD DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS TO AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY HERE. IS. BETTER.
POWERFUL DOCUMENTARY INTERWEAVES THE INSPIRING STORIES OF MEN AND WOMEN VETERANS OVERCOMING PTSD WITH GROUNDBREAKING TREATMENTS AND BRINGING HOPE TO MILLIONS.
Greenwich Entertainment announced today the acquisition of North American theatrical and TVOD distribution rights toHERE. IS. BETTER, the award-winningdocumentary film with unprecedented access inside therapy sessions of men and women Veterans battling posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The film premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival and has gone on to pick up accolades across the country on the festival circuit.
Greenwich will release the film in theaters on June 23, 2023, with a VOD release to follow on all major platforms timed to National PTSD Awareness Day on June 27, 2023.
Dominic Patten of Deadline Hollywood called the documentary: “One of the most moving films I have seen in years, documentary or otherwise.”
A soldier’s story is always personal, but never more than in HERE. IS. BETTER. This powerful feature length documentary offers a uniquely hopeful and impactful perspective on a rising mental health crisis in America. Every year, nearly 13 million adults suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the U.S. alone. Veterans are up to three times more likely to have PTSD than civilians.
HERE. IS. BETTER. follows four of these Veterans, each with diverse backgrounds and service experience, as they undergo the most clinically effective, evidence-based trauma psychotherapies for PTSD. Individuals featured in the film include former presidential hopeful Jason Kander, who shocked many when he left the Kansas City mayoral race in 2018 to seek treatment; a Vietnam War Veteran still haunted by events that occurred over 50 years ago; and the voices of so often overlooked women Veterans, all seeking the keys to unlock their places of hurt and pain.
With unprecedented access to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, HERE. IS. BETTER. interweaves these inspiring stories of men and women Veterans overcoming the debilitating effects of PTSD with treatments that can work, bringing hope to millions.
“The struggles of four former US military service members haunted by traumatic memories, years and sometimes decades after the events, becomes a dramatic, cathartic and hopeful story in the hands of Jack Youngelson and his team as we see the Vets gradually respond to the surprisingly efficacious treatments that have only recently begun to provide relief from PTSD with vast implications for not just Veterans of past and future wars but anyone suffering from the psychological aftermath of trauma,” suggests Greenwich co-president Edward Arentz.
HERE. IS. BETTER. is directed by Emmy Award-winner Jack Youngelson, produced by Emmy Award-winner Sian Edwards-Beal and David Beal of Green Hummingbird Entertainment, and co-produced by Chloe Hall. The film is edited by Karen K. H. Sim with cinematography by Daniel Carter. It features a score composed by David Baron and Jeremiah Fraites of the GRAMMY-nominated band The Lumineers, an original song by Josin, and an original end credit song by David Kushner and Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers.
ABOUT GREENWICH ENTERTAINMENT
Founded in 2017, Greenwich Entertainment is an independent film distribution company specializing in distinctive, theatrical-quality narrative and documentary features. Past Greenwich releases include the arthouse hits Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice from Oscar winners Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman; Andrew Slater’s Echo in the Canyon; Isabel Coixet’s The Bookshop starring Emily Mortimer and Bill Nighy; and Madeleine Olnek’s Spirit Award nominee Wild Nights with Emily starring Molly Shannon. In 2018 Greenwich’s theatrical release of National Geographic’s Academy Award-winning documentary Free Solo by Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi’s earned $17 million in North American box office. Greenwich is led by an experienced management team that has overseen more than 200 theatrical releases generating over $125 million at the US box office and garnering 8 Academy Award Nominations and 2 Oscar Wins. www.GreenwichEntertainment.com
Sweden’s Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 on Saturday with her song “Tattoo.”
The contest was hosted in Liverpool, England, with “Ted Lasso” star Hannah Waddingham, British TV host Graham Norton, Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina of The Hardkiss, and singer Alesha Dixon, formerly of Mis-Teeq, hosting the event.
The finale came down to Finland and Sweden. “I can tell you that Sweden needs a minimum of 187 points to win. Sweden, the public has given you…” Norton teased with a dramatic pause. “243 points! We have a winner! Sweden you have won the Eurovision Song Contest 2023!”
You can watch that moment and her reaction below:
“You now enter the history books. Only the second person to win the Eurovision contest twice, Johnny Logan being the first now you,” Graham said as the trophy was handed to Loreen. “We’re so happy for you, Loreen, bringing Eurovision back to Sweden for Abba’s 50th anniversary year. It’s so, so special.”
She then performed “Tattoo” one more time, which you can see in the video at the top.”
Sweden and Finland were followed in the final results by Israel, Italy, Norway and Ukraine. As last year’s winner, Ukraine should have hosted the event but because of Russia’s assault, the venue was moved. Although political statements are strictly prohibited during the show, lyrics in several of the entrants hinted at the conflict.
You can watch and listen to all 37 songs in the competition in this video.
The 34th annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York doubled as a show of solidarity for the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike on Saturday night, as Jon Stewart, Fire Island writer-star Joel Kim Booster, GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre all shared messages of support before and during the show.
Stewart, who won for best variety or talk show episode with Apple TV+’s The Problem With Jon Stewart, was among the night’s first winners to make a statement. The writer, producer and actor did not appear during the show to accept his award, with Alex Schmider, GLAAD’s director of transgender representation, taking to the stage to accept on Stewart’s behalf.
“Jon is a member of the WGA. He would be here otherwise,” Schmider said. “GLAAD, of course, stands with Jon and all the WGA writers. Fair pay, fair working conditions and queer representation in writers rooms are urgent and necessary issues facing this industry.”
The statement was met with loud applause, like many of the shows of solidarity during the nearly three-hour event held at the Hilton Midtown. Ahead of Stewart’s statement, show host and What We Do in the Shadows star Harvey Guillén made a statement on behalf of GLAAD, clarifying that the event was “not a WGA show.”
“It is a fundraiser for GLAAD, which is a nonprofit organization powered by your contributions,” he continued. “But we stand in solidarity with the guild writers, especially those who get LGBTQ shows and characters on the air.”
Later in the evening, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took a moment out of her speech, which was more broadly aimed at discussing the importance of LGBTQ representation across industries and support for the country’s trans youth, to note the significance of showing support for writers.
“I want to say one other really important thing. Nights like these are the reminder of stories and the importance of treating storytellers with dignity, respect and the value they deserve. I sincerely hope the writers strike gets resolved and the writers are given a fair deal they deserve as soon as possible.”
She added, “We need all writers and workers and everyone involved to tell the stories of our nation and the stories of all of us.”
While accepting the award for best streaming/TV film on behalf of the Fire Island cast, writer and star Joel Kim Booster shared that he was “so proud to be a member of the Writers Guild of America,” which earned a roar of applause, before adding that writing has not only been “just a hobby, but life changing for me.”
“I hope that you’ll stand in solidarity with us as we move forward in this,” he continued. “Labor issues are queer issues.”
On the event’s red carpet, Fire Island director Andrew Ahn also showed support for the WGA strike and Booster, telling The Hollywood Reporter that the work stoppage is about finding ways to support voices that are marginalized and “were the first ones to get hit, so let’s find a way to stop that from happening.”
“I think the U.S. has been built on capitalism and systemic racism and I think what the writers strike is trying to do is make this about artists, make this about people, about creating a livelihood for us to thrive and succeed and not have it just be about dollars and cents,” he said. “So for me, I’m not a part of the WGA, but I think it’s so important that we support the WGA. WGA strong for me.”
Bob the Drag Queen offered a long-term perspective ahead of their outstanding reality series win for We’re Here, saying, “This is one of those things where people now may be taking a pay cut or losing money, but down the line we’ll reap the benefits, and that’s really important.”
Ahead of a rousing speech that addressed The New York Times coverage of the trans community and Bob Iger and Disney’s ongoing battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, GLAAD’s CEO and president Sarah Kate Ellis also spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the significance of the strike for LGBTQ writers and stories.
“Until we all have a fair and equal seat at the table, we need to see more,” she explained. “Hollywood’s always looking for the next great story — the new way of telling a story — yet they still stay with the same old, same old. These folks are bringing new stories and new ways of telling stories and I think an industry would invite that in, not shut it out.”
The night showcased how various artists within Hollywood’s writing community are approaching bringing attention to the WGA strike. While Stewart drew attention for his abscence, Fire Island‘s Matt Rogers told THR while on a picket line in New York on the second day of the strike that the decision for multi-hyphenates with other platforms that don’t clash with WGA strike rules was “a delicate walk.”
But that he, at least, wanted to use platforms like the GLAAD Awards to speak on behalf of fellow writers. “I think if you can be somewhere where you can use your platform to push our agenda here and get everyone listening to what we need, that’s fine,” he said.
And Just Like That… star and executive producer Cynthia Nixon agreed. “I certainly feel like I’m going to make statements about supporting writers anywhere and everywhere I go,” she told THR before sharing she planned to interview the HBO Max series’ writer Samantha Irby at Symphony Space and discuss the strike.
The WGA work stoppage — the second in 15 years — began on May 2 after the guild and The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach an agreement on a new contract by the May 1 deadline. Among the issues on the table are pay increases, minimum staffing, AI, residuals and shorter exclusivity deals.
The 2023 GLAAD Media Awards in New York honored Maren Morris and Jonathan Van Ness with special awards and featured a performance from Idina Menzel singing her new single “Move.”
When you are starting out as a filmmaker, money is generally an issue. That’s why there are so many low-budget feature films. Thus the importance of short films. Study these filmmaker careers launched by shorts. See what you can learn for your own filmmaking career.
Filmmaker Careers Launched By Shorts
1.Neill Blomkamp
Neill Blomkamp worked as a visual effects artist and animator before transitioning to directing. His breakthrough came with a series of sci-fi short films, including “Alive in Joburg,” which caught the attention of Hollywood. As a result, he was given the opportunity to direct the feature film “District 9” in 2009. The film was a critical and commercial success, earning four Academy Award nominations and establishing Blomkamp as a promising director in the sci-fi genre.
Wes Anderson began his career as a writer, and his first job was as a cinema ticket-taker.
He is a highly acclaimed filmmaker known for his distinctive visual style and storytelling approach. While he did start his career as a writer, his foray into filmmaking has left a lasting impact on the industry.
Anderson’s films are known for their symmetrical framing, vibrant color palettes, meticulously designed sets, and idiosyncratic characters. His work often explores themes of family, love, childhood, and the human longing for connection. Anderson’s distinct visual and narrative style has him a celebrated figure in contemporary cinema.
Some of Anderson’s notable feature films include:
Rushmore (1998):
The Royal Tenenbaums(2001)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012):
Wes Anderson’s breakthrough film was “Bottle Rocket” (1996), a crime comedy that he co-wrote with Owen Wilson, who also starred in the film. It gained critical acclaim and laid the foundation for Anderson’s signature style.
2.Taika Waititi
Waititi initially worked as a painter and photographer before venturing into filmmaking.
A notable short film he directed is titled “Two Cars, One Night” (2004). The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
“Two Cars, One Night” is a charming and understated 11-minute film set in a rural New Zealand pub’s car park. It revolves around three children who find themselves waiting in their respective family cars while their parents are inside the pub. As they interact and pass the time, a sweet and innocent connection develops between two of the children. The film captures the essence of childhood curiosity and the simple moments of connection that can occur between strangers.
The short film showcases many of the qualities that have become hallmarks of Waititi’s storytelling style: a focus on characters, a mix of humor and genuine emotion, and a distinct New Zealand flavor. “Two Cars, One Night” helped to establish Waititi’s talent and set the stage for his subsequent success as a filmmaker.
3.Danny Boyle
Boyle began his career in the theatre industry before transitioning to filmmaking. He directed the cult hit “Trainspotting” and is a highly acclaimed British filmmaker known for his versatile filmography and distinctive directorial style. Throughout his career, he has explored various genres and tackled a wide range of subject matter, showcasing his ability to bring captivating stories to the screen.
He directed the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics, famed for the portrayal of James Bond and Queen Elizabeth parachuting into the Olympic Stadium.
Boyle is known for his dynamic and visually striking filmmaking style. He employs inventive camera angles, kinetic editing techniques, and vibrant cinematography to create energetic and immersive cinematic experiences. His films often feature bold color palettes, innovative use of music, and stylised visuals that enhance the storytelling.
Boyle’s films frequently incorporate social and cultural commentary. He delves into relevant issues and explores themes such as addiction, poverty, identity, societal pressures, and the human capacity for resilience. Boyle uses his films as a platform to shed light on important subjects and provoke thought. He is also known for dynamic soundtracks:
Although not technically a short, he did direct the music video for Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life
4.Terry Gilliam
Gilliam started as a cartoonist and animator, working with the Monty Python comedy troupe. He transitioned into filmmaking and directed visually stunning films such as “Brazil,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” and “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.”
His legendary sketches for the Monty Python’s Flying Circus contain his brilliant animation. Storytime” (1968): This was one of Gilliam’s earliest short films, which he made while he was still a member of the Monty Python team. It features his distinctive animation style and absurd humour.
Terry Gilliam received the Auteur Award at Raindance in 2018
5. Shane Meadows
Meadows began his filmmaking career in the 1990s, starting with short films and then moving on to feature films. He has made over 400 short films.
In 1996, raindance held a retrospective of his early work in a short film programme he titled: ‘Crappy Shorts’. One of these earlt no-budget shorts was sent to the producer Steve wooley while he was editing “Michael Collins. Wooley was so impressed heproduced one of Shane’s notable early works is the 1997 film “Twenty Four Seven,” starring Bob Hoskins. The film tells the story of a man who opens a boxing club to help troubled youth in his community.
6. David Lynch
David Lynch is a renowned filmmaker known for his distinctive and surreal style. While he is primarily known for his feature films like “Eraserhead,” “Blue Velvet,” and “Mulholland Drive,” he has also created several short films throughout his career. One notable example is his short film titled “The Alphabet,” released in 1968.
“The Alphabet” is a seven-minute experimental short film that showcases Lynch’s early fascination with dream-like imagery and unsettling atmospheres. The film is a combination of animation, live-action footage, and sound design that delves into the subconscious and explores themes of fear, anxiety, and the mysteries of language.
Fade Out
One of the best ways to learn about filmmaking is to watch short films. Do you have a short film or screenplay that you would like to get noticed? Why not submit to the Raindance Film Festival?
“They’re completely different engines,” Rhimes told Vulture in an interview. “ABC was a very powerful, very storied institution. There’s a ton of bureaucracy. The process was you get answered ‘no’ initially and then you have to find your way.”
Rhimes continued, “Even getting Scandal to start what was live-tweeting, they were like, ‘Why would anybody do that? No.’ And then they came around to a ‘yes,’ but we just did it on our own until they saw it. We accomplished a lot in terms of exploring a woman’s right to choose, stuff I thought was just storytelling but turned out to be a real sort of quiet battle on my part to make happen on TV.”
The Shondaland production company founder signed a multi-million deal with Netflix back in 2017, which she extended in 2021 to cover films, gaming and VR content, in addition to TV. As opposed to network television, Rhimes said that “Netflix was a baby in this business” when she started working with them.
“They start with ‘yes’ and then figure out how to make something happen. And the attitude of a place that says ‘yes’ has a lot to do with your enthusiasm for doing the projects,” she added.
In terms of budget between the two, Rhimes said she “was so obsessed with Netflix in the beginning” was because someone told her that The Crown had a budget of $12 million per episode.
“I just couldn’t get over it. That is so much money. Think about what you could do with a much bigger playground,” Rhimes said.
Most of the shows that Rhimes has created drive conversations on social media and with a vocal fan base suggesting ideas of what the characters should do next, things could get tricky. However, the producer and writer doesn’t let fans dictate her creative decisions.
“I think I’m pretty famous for being a person who says I don’t pay attention to fans,” she revealed. “I don’t mean that in a bad way; I mean, the only way I know how to tell a story is to sort of be its keeper, and I therefore can’t take in all the outside influences from people’s reactions to the story. It doesn’t help me in figuring out a way to be creative in my job.”
It’s time for your daily dose of Quordle hints – now with added Daily Sequence answers!
Yes, that’s right: the makers of Quordle have a new game, which sees you complete four Wordle puzzles consecutively. The twist is that the letters you’ve already used on the first game are repeated on the second and so on.
It’s good fun, but also difficult – so if you already find yourself searching for Wordle hints, you’ll probably need some for Quordle and the Daily Sequence too.
I’m a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who’s been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #475 and the answers to the Daily Sequence.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
Your Quordle expert
Your Quordle expert
Marc McLaren
Marc is TechRadar’s UK Editor in Chief and has been playing Wordle and Quordle for more than a year. He’s authored dozens of articles on the game for TechRadar and its sister site Tom’s Guide, including a detailed analysis of the most common letters in every position. His Wordle streak recently reached the 450 mark and he’ll be inconsolable if he loses it. Yes, he takes it all too seriously.
Quordle today (game #475) – hint #1 – Vowels
How many different vowels are in Quordle today?
• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.
* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).
Quordle today (game #475) – hint #2 – total vowels
What is the total number of vowels in Quordle today?
• The total number of vowels across today’s Quordle answers is 5.
Quordle today (game #475) – hint #3 – repeated letters
Do any of today’s Quordle answers contain repeated letters?
• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.
Quordle today (game #475) – hint #4 – total letters
How many different letters are used in Quordle today?
• The total number of different letters used in Quordle today is 13.
Quordle today (game #475) – hint #5 – uncommon letters
Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?
• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today’s Quordle answers.
Quordle #455, Monday 24 April: DEUCE, BEAST, NOISY, YOUNG
Quordle FAQs: Everything you need to know
What is Quordle?
Where Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day, Quordle presents you with four puzzles to solve. And rather than complete them in turn, you do so simultaneously. You get nine guesses, rather than the six for Wordle, but the rules are otherwise very similar.
As with Wordle, the answers are the same for every player each day, meaning that you’re competing against the rest of the world. And also as with Wordle, the puzzle resets at midnight so you have a fresh challenge each day.
The website also includes a practice mode – which I definitely recommend using before attempting the game proper! – and there are daily stats including a streak count. You also get Quordle Achievements – specific badges for winning a game in a certain number of turns, playing lots of times, or guessing particularly hard words.
Oh, and it’s difficult. Really difficult.
What are the Quordle rules?
The rules of Quordle are almost identical to those of Wordle.
1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.
2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow.
3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray…
4. …BUT the word you guess appears in all quadrants of the puzzle at the same time, so an A could turn green in one square, yellow in another and gray in the final two.
5. Answers are never plural.
6. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.
7. Each guess must be a valid word in Quordle’s dictionary. You can’t guess ABCDE, for instance.
8. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses and there is no equivalent of Wordle’s Hard mode.
9. You have nine guesses to find the Quordle answers.
10. You must complete the daily Quordle before midnight in your timezone.
What is a good Quordle strategy?
Quordle needs to be approached in a different way to Wordle. With four puzzles to solve in nine guesses, you can’t blindly throw letters at it and expect to win – you’ll stand a far better chance if you think strategically.
That’s the case in Wordle too, of course, but it’s even more important in Quordle.
There are two key things to remember.
1. Use several starting words
Firstly, you won’t want just a single starting word, but almost certainly two or three starting words.
The first of these should probably be one of the best Wordle starting words, because the same things that make them work well will apply here too. But after that, you should select another word or possibly two that use up lots more of the most common consonants and that include any remaining vowels.
For instance, I currently use STARE > DOILY > PUNCH. Between them, these three words use 15 of the 26 letters in the alphabet including all five vowels, Y, and nine of the most common consonants (S, T, R, D, L, P, N, C and H). There are plenty of other options – you might want to get an M, B, F or G in there instead of the H, maybe – but something like that should do the trick.
If all goes well, that will give you a good lead on what one or sometimes two of the answers might be. If not, well good luck!
2. Narrow things down
Secondly, if you’re faced with a word where the answer might easily be one of several options – for instance -ATCH, where it could be MATCH, BATCH, LATCH, CATCH, WATCH, HATCH or PATCH – you’ll definitely want to guess a word that would narrow down those options.
In Wordle, you can instead try several of those in succession and hope one is right, assuming you have enough guesses left. It’s risky, but will sometimes work. Plus, it’s the only option in Hard mode. But in Quordle, this will almost certainly result in a failure – you simply don’t have enough guesses.
In the scenario above, CLAMP would be a great guess, as it could point the way to four of the seven words in one go.
Linda Yaccarino sent out her first tweets Saturday night since being named Twitter CEO, saying she has “long been inspired” by Elon Musk and sharing her aim of building “Twitter 2.0.”
“I see I have some new followers,” Yaccarino tweeted to her more than 319,000 followers along with a wave emoji. “I’m not as prolific as @elonmusk (yet!), but I’m just as committed to the future of this platform. Your feedback is VITAL to that future. I’m here for all of it. Let’s keep the conversation going and build Twitter 2.0 together!”
Yaccarino was initially replying to Musk’s welcome tweet in which he announced her appointment. “I’ve long been inspired by your vision to create a brighter future. I’m excited to help bring this vision to Twitter and transform this business together!” she wrote.
In a tweet on Friday, Musk announced that Yaccarino – who shockingly stepped down as NBCUniversal chairman of global advertising and partnerships — would serve as Twitter’s new CEO focusing on business operations, while he will transition to the role of executive chairman and CTO, focusing on “product design and new technology.”
“It has been an absolute honor to be part of Comcast NBCUniversal and lead the most incredible team,” she said in a statement. “We’ve transformed our company and the entire industry—and I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and grateful to my colleagues and mentors, especially Brian Roberts, Mike Cavanagh and the entire NBCU leadership team.”
Yaccarino will start at the social media giant in about six weeks, Musk said.
The Little Mermaid composer Alan Menken is offering an explanation for why one song from the original 1989 animated classic is not part of the new live-action film’s world.
During an interview with Comicbook.com that published Saturday, the Oscar-winning songwriter said that the team behind Disney’s forthcoming feature that hits theaters May 26 opted against including the song “Daughters of Triton.” In the 1989 film, the number is performed by Ariel’s sisters toward the beginning of the story and features King Triton realizing that his youngest daughter is not with the rest of the family as planned.
According to Menken, it was a bigger priority to create more of a buildup to Ariel’s performance of “Part of Your World,” which is widely regarded as one of the initial film’s signature songs. “I think the thought process was a) we didn’t it need in this particular version,” Menken said about “Daughters of Triton” getting nixed. “And we definitely wanted the film to start with a much more of a live-action feel of the ocean and meeting Ariel, and then we wait a little bit, make you wait until we get to ‘Part of Your World.’”
He continued, “And I think that was, you know, it was an amazing choice because it just builds the power and anticipation. And part of that is also knowing you’re adapting something that’s already beloved. So you want to say, ‘Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it — and here it is.’ And when it comes, God.”
Another tune from the original film that is not included on the track list for the new version’s soundtrack — which is available for pre-sale on Spotify — is “Les Poissons,” performed in the animated movie by the character Chef Louie as Sebastian finds himself trapped in the kitchen. The 2023 film’s soundtrack also includes three new songs composed by Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Jacob Tremblay, who voices Flounder in the live-action The Little Mermaid, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s recent premiere about another change from the original, namely the look of his character. “I thought it was really cool because I like how they’re doing it to make them look like real animals,” the performer said about Flounder’s new look, which had been the subject of some criticism on social media. “I think people should see the movie, and then they can judge.”
The cast of the new Little Mermaid includes Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Noma Dumezweni, Javier Bardem and Melissa McCarthy. Disney releases the Rob Marshall-directed film May 26.
When Peter “Star-Lord” Quill, while inspecting a murky extraterrestrial region, pressed play on Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love“ in the first “Guardians of the Galaxy,” it would have been hard to imagine that James Gunn’s space opera would ultimately lead to something as sincere, poignant and kinda cornball as the trilogy-ending “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”
But as Gunn has showed over over the course of these increasingly soupy sci-fi spectacles, the genetically spliced DNA of his chaotic, cartoonish cosmic vision is a double helix of opposites. Breezy ‘70s rock papers over extreme violence. Cynical exteriors cloak sentimental emotions. A ragtag group of outcasts, more so than even the cast of “Fast and the Furious,” talk a lot about “family” and “friends.” Against the odds, “Come and get your love” has turned out to be a legit invitation.
“Vol. 3” is a messy, overstuffed finale. But you rarely question whether Gunn’s heart is in it. Sometimes it spoils some of that effect by trying too hard to juxtapose tonal extremes, and show off its brash juggling act. Yet whatever this sweet, surreal sci-fi shamble is that Gunn has created, everyone here seems to believe ardently in it. And for even a movie that sends a golden-hued Will Poulter shooting through space to the tune of Heart’s “Crazy on You,” that earnest belief goes a long way.
The song, though, that kicks off “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is not an upbeat one. Radiohead’s “Creep” casts a sour mood over the Guardians, who we find in a lethargic state of disarray in the spaceport Knowhere following their 2017 “Empire Strikes Back”-esque second chapter.
Whether “Guardians of the Galaxy” is best suited to strike these solemn notes, or reach for such last-chapter poignancy in “Vol. 3” is debatable. I’ve always liked these films at their most cartoonish. Donning a degree of self-importance is probably the most Marvel thing about this “Guardians.“ Gunn’s films — which, unlike most of the comic-book studio’s releases, are both written and directed by him — have always stood out for their distinct lack of Marvel house style. “Guardians 3,” unfortunately, has contracted a touch of “Endgame“ grandiosity.
The group — including Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) — is quickly sent into emergency mode. Adam Warlock (Poulter), an artificial being created by the High Priestess Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), comes careening into their lair, leaving Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper and played in motion capture by Sean Gunn) on his deathbed. To save Rocket, a cybernetically enhanced raccoon, the Guardians must hurriedly resuscitate him with his original programming.
This means traveling to the lab he was created in years before by the High Evolutionary (a sensational Chukwudi Iwuji, an all-time Marvel villain), a Doctor Moreau sort who’s been toiling to craft a “perfect” race of hybrid creatures to populate a copy of planet Earth. As the Guardians seek to infiltrate his realm, “Vol. 3” repeatedly flashes back to Rocket’s experience with the High Evolutionary: his transformation from raccoon, his joyful experience with other experimental creations and his harrowing escape.
It’s telling that in this “Guardians” swan song that Gunn centers Rocket and less so Quill, whose father-son drama dominated “Vol. 2.” (Here, he’s mostly in save-my-friend mode when not wrestling with the heartbreak of this version of Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora. Thanks to some “Avengers” events, she no longer even knows him.)
These are foremost epics of orphandom about distinctly un-superhuman characters. Mother and father figures float in and out, while the Guardians attract one forlorn figure after another. In “Vol. 3,” it’s both comical and even a little stirring just how far empathy reaches for all of God’s — and Marvel’s — creatures. Gunn has taken a woebegone B-team or C-team of comic book oddballs and cast them into a cosmic tapestry of weirdos and misfits, ranging wildly in size, shape, color and dancing ability.
In “Vol. 3,” Gunn really lets the freak flag fly, putting the Guardians in battle with not just the High Evolutionary but the notion of perfection. It’s not a coincidence that this “Guardians” film arrives, finally, in the suburbs — or at least some slightly warped version of it.
Gunn, a B-movie director at heart, fills these films with more sinewy than sleek worlds, full of florid beauty and opulent grotesquerie. (“Vol. 3,” more than the last two films, reminded me of “The Fifth Element,“ a good thing.) It’s often clear that his ambitions are sometimes just a bit too much; this, like his DC film “The Suicide Squad,” “Vol. 3” could have used a firmer editor to corral some of Gunn’s impulse for excess.
This installment, of course, nearly didn’t happen after Gunn’s firing years ago. And partially because of that forced hiatus, he’s now ruling an even larger, more mainstream superhero cosmos at DC. That surely has something to do with the sense of parting that permeates the final act of “Guardians 3.“ After so many speeches about friendship and togetherness, “Vol. 3” ends curiously elegiacally, and with one last dance.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” a Walt Disney Co. release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for intense sequences of violence and action, strong language, suggestive/drug references and thematic elements. Running time: 159 minutes. Three stars out of four.
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DragCon LA kicked off Friday morning with a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by RuPaul and 30 dazzling queens from the now ubiquitous “RuPaul’s Drag Race” franchise. Cackling to himself that he didn’t immediately see a ribbon to cut at all, the Emmy-winning host and supermodel of the world was in good spirits, kicking off a weekend designed to uplift and celebrate drag.
The Los Angeles Convention Center, adorned with signs like “Sissy That Walkway” and “Slay Ave” that helped orient fans around the con’s many booths and vendors, offered itself up as a welcome space for fans of Ru and his legendary children. To walk around DragCon is to experience drag not just as entertainment but as a booming cottage industry in which merchandise, photo-ops and branded experiences are de rigueur.
Heidi N Closet poses for a portrait during RuPaul’s DragCon LA at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
For Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, who have helped shepherd the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” brand to its meteoric mainstream success as the show’s producers, the convention is but an extension of their desire to champion drag’s artistry and to avoid it from becoming an easily ignored fad. Keenly aware of a political climate that seeks to vilify drag queens, the entrepreneurial pair hope to continue to provide a platform for this most fabulous of art forms.
“At a time like this, just being visible is important,” Bailey tells me. “Drag is not threatening anyone. It just is; and it celebrates people in their infinite variety.”
Amid plenty of sequins, numerous and colorful wigs and many a feathered boa — not to mention a bevy of shirtless skirted boys hawking underwear on the pink carpet — the attendees at this year’s DragCon LA didn’t disappoint when it came to serving looks. Nor, as it happens, in their ability to remind us of the self-actualizing power drag can have on even its most casual fans. Here are some of the faces from DragCon.
The comic book movie trilogy is a coveted run for a whiz-bang IP that allows fans to look at a character’s arch as opposed to one movie at a time. Some trilogies like Captain America and Iron Man are foundational pieces of the Infinity Saga. Others are character-focused like the Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man.
TheAvengers run would unquestionably be near the top of this list had it been eligible for voting. While there will be franchises on this list with more than three movies, the Avengers franchise is different because of the Part 1/Part 2 nature of Infinity War and Endgame.
Because both of those classics were originally announced, produced, and delivered as a two-part event, it would be unfair to consider them alongside other three-movie trilogies.
Regardless, the story told in these three movies is one of the most important in comic book movie history. The Avengers created the modern crossover event on screen and will forever be revered. It is almost a ceremonious omission as the Avengers is the product of each of these other trilogies coming together.
Not even the biggest Ant-Man fans in the world would have guessed this trilogy to land high on this list. No other trio of movies in the MCU has been affected more by their placement in the timeline than Peyton Reed’sAnt-Man trilogy.
Ant-Man was the first movie post-Avengers that introduced a new character on Earth that wasn’t a part of the Avengers. This was a refreshing small story (rimshot) that slowed things down after Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it introduced one of the most beloved characters in the MCU, Scott Lang.
Then, Ant-Man and the Wasp unfortunately was set between Infinity War and Endgame, which managed to creep into the movie with the necessary groundwork of the Quantum Realm. While the sequel still has many redeeming qualities, it teeters between being an Infinity Saga tie-in and a follow-up to the original.
Then comes Quantumania,which had a different type of identity problem. The third of the trilogy largely acted more as a proper introduction to Kang the Conquerer than anything else. While those elements of the movie were pretty great, the uncertainty of that character has created a dark fog over what was already a bottom-tier MCU entry.
The Infinity Saga Thor trilogy is one of the most interesting on the list. It is a rare sight to see in blockbuster trilogies where the third entry is the best of the group.
Thor and Thor: The Dark World are perpetually found in the bottom 12 of MCU rankings across the board, while Thor: Ragnarok is hard to find outside the top 15. By any and all metrics, Ragnarok carries this franchise in a big way as the rebooted Thor shined brighter than any of Chris Hemsworth’s previous appearances.
Much like the Ant-Man faithful, few Thor fans are going to get upset that this trilogy is not ranked higher on the list as there is only one game-breaker in the group.
Much like the Thor franchise, the Iron Man trilogy is largely carried by its most successful and beloved movie. Iron Man in 2008 changed comic books and blockbuster movies forever as Robert Downey Jr. made Tony Stark a household name.
It feels like this trilogy, more than anything, is a sign of the times as it is the only franchise in the MCU that has a sequel release with only one entry in between (Iron Man > The Incredible Hulk > Iron Man 2). For a franchise that is so embedded into the overall MCU narrative, Iron Man 3 is over just as Tony Stark’s story had begun being told.
It is a blessing and a curse because after the Iron Man trilogy was over, Robert Downey Jr. took complete control of the Avengers franchise and managed to have a Lebronian second career continuing his run as the face of the MCU.
Spider-Man is one of the biggest IPs that has ever come across Hollywood’s desk. The Jon WattsHomecoming trilogy is the lessons learned over 15 years of web-headed big-screen movies.
The arc of this Peter Parker is widely considered one of the brand’s best. Something that makes this trilogy special is its ability to give Tom Holland’s Spider-Man a great story while also incorporating some of the best fan service in the MCU. It is a true Endgame-level event.
This was the pairing that comic book fans have been dreaming of for 80 years. Marvel Studios had a proven track record of adapting comic book characters better than any other studio. Spider-Man had been the darling of the genre for more than a decade.
This trilogy is a love letter to one of the greatest superheroes of all time and a preview of what is possible with the X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
For years, the Captain America trilogy was the only comic book trilogy ever made that could compete with Christopher Nolan’sBatman trilogy. This trilogy has everything from the grounded solo origin story, the team-up sequel, and the crossover final act that spearheaded the greatest run in MCU history.
No franchise in the MCU benefits more from the world-building of the universe than Captain America. Every entry in the trilogy features characters and storylines that heavily contribute to and rely on other MCU films more and more. This is true all the way through Civil War, which many consider Avengers 2.5.
The Steve Rogers story across all Captain America and Avengers movies is the bar set in the Infinity Saga for character development. The Captain America trilogy cannot exist without the MCU, and the MCU could not exist the way it is without this trilogy.
One of the few trilogies directed by one director, James Gunn was able to build a corner of the universe that stands on its own colorful and outrageous table while also being a major factor and contributor to the greater story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
From the moment Chris Pratt’sStar-Lord hits play on his Walkman in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, something about these movies grabbed the attention of audiences on a scale hitherto undreamt of. The comedy, music, chemistry, heart, and elite-level CGI (in the environment, effects, and characters) make this trilogy stand out among the rest.
The Spider-Man trilogy was able to capitalize on the icon that is Peter Parker, and the Captain America trilogy was able to take advantage of the greater MCU being built around it. All Guardians had to work with was a talking raccoon and tree that no one had ever heard of, a former WWE World heavyweight champion, the daughter of the big bad that had been on screen for three seconds, and the goofy kid from Parks and Rec.
With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 being one of the most satisfying and universally beloved final chapters in the MCU, this trilogy is able to compete with any other blockbuster trilogy to ever grace the big screen.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a stacked list of blockbuster franchises, filled with some of the best movie trilogies in cinematic history. Here is a recap of our list of the best MCU trilogies from best to worst:
There have been rumors and rumblings of the Fast and Furious franchise branching out with a female-led spinoff film, and Brie Larson is getting in on the campaign to make it happen. A big fan of the movie series, Larson had publicly pleaded with Vin Diesel for a role in Fast X that would wind up coming to fruition with her casting. Now, as she tells Entertainment Tonight, she hopes the next step for her will be to join some of her new co-stars from Fast X for the potential spinoff.
“I don’t think we’d be mad about anything that involved ladies all together,” Larson said. “It was very clear that we would love to spend more time together.”
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAYSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
“There’s nobody better,” added Michelle Rodriguez, who’s been a part of the franchise since the original film in 2001. “I’m all about it! Bring it!”
Jordana Brewster, who also joined the Fast and Furious series in the original film and returns in Fast X, added, “Here’s what I would like to see. I would like to see Charlize [Theron], me, Natalie [Emmanuel], Michelle, Brie. I would like to see us all kick some ass together!”
Theron was also asked by ET about the spinoff following these comments. She credited Rodriguez for doing the most to get her cast in the franchise in the first place and is stoked to see that she’s also been pushing for the potential female-focused spinoff to happen as well.
“[She] was really the push behind [my casting], and has been for I think all the females that have joined this cast so I’m really grateful to her putting it out there, saying we should do this,” Theron said.
Fast X Will Be the Second or Third to Last Fast and Furious Film
Universal Pictures
Perhaps Vin Diesel and Co. are trying to wrap up the main series before focusing on any of the other spinoffs. Fast X was intended to be the penultimate installment of the main movie series with one more movie planned to wrap things up. However, it’s now being teased that Fast X could in fact be the first of a trilogy of films, so perhaps the gas in the tank isn’t running out just yet.
In any case, the future of the Fast and Furious films does not necessarily have to be all mapped out for another spinoff to happen. The series has already had one spinoff with Hobbs & Shaw, focusing on Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, which was released in 2019. For what it’s worth, Universal Pictures film boss Donna Langley has also said she’s totally up for seeing the franchise branch out with the female-led spinoff that Larson and the other ladies of the franchise want to see.
“I would love to see a female Fast,” Langley said last fall. “So would Vin [Diesel]. We have so many great and amazing female characters in our franchise and now there’s the new addition of Brie Larson to add to the incredible roster. I would love to see us do a female Fast.”
Fast X will speed into movie theaters on May 19, 2023.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Tsutsu-Um Shrine Puzzle is somewhat akin to a pinball machine where a ball rolls along a path, only to bounce off obstacles. However, we could just cheese that part completely. Here’s our guide to help you solve the Tsutsu-Um Shrine Puzzle in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
How to solve the Tsutsu-Um Shrine Puzzle in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Tsutsu-Um Shrine is found further southwest of Hyrule Field. If you’re already done the Mayachin Shrine Puzzle, then keep going southwest. You should see it on a rock formation overlooking the Outskirts Stable.
Tsutsu-Um Shrine location
Once inside, take a look at the area:
Beyond the gap, you’ll see the main puzzle, as well as the rolling ball and the bullseye target.
To your right, you should see two plates.
Attach these to the Stake along the moving pillar, then jump to reach the other side. There’s also a chest here with a measly 5x Arrows.
Make sure you bring the Stake and the small plates to the other side as well.
Tsutsu-Um Shrine starting area
Now, we have to look at the main puzzle itself. Here’s what you need to do:
Upon reaching the lower section, create a tall structure consisting of the small plates and a Stake driven through the ground.
Use Ascend to reach the higher section. Then, use Ultrahand to bring the plates up top.
Attach one plate to a Stake, then drive that into the wall to the left of the Stake that’s already there.
When the ball rolls, it will hit the plate and get stuck. You should be able to grab it.
Tsutsu-Um Shrine Puzzle solution
Drop the ball to the lower section and bring all the objects with you (i.e., the Stakes on the wall and the plates). You’ll want to attach the ball to the Stake.
Then, move close to the edge of the platform while lifting that contraption with you. Then, at the very edge, jiggle the right thumbstick to force the two objects to detach. The minimal force and gravity will cause the ball to fall and roll straight into the bullseye target.
Tsutsu-Um Shrine completion
This is how we completed the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Tsutsu-Um Shrine Puzzle, though a bit of trial and error might apply. Don’t forget to take a look at our Shrine locations main guide for other brain teasers.
There are numerous mechanics and facets to learn in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. For more information, you can visit our guides hub.
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It’s official: Sundance Film Festival 2024 is set to take place in-person (and online) on Jan. 18-28, returning to Park City, Utah to commemorate its 40th anniversary of celebrating independent storytelling on the screen. Submissions are open as of May 11, with deadlines for consideration contingent upon project categories.
This year, Sundance was held in-person for the first time since 2020, bringing along with it a wide array of programming. The Grand Jury awarded prizes to films “A Thousand and One” in the U.S. Dramatic category, “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” (U.S. Documentary), “The Eternal Memory” (World Cinema Documentary), and “Scrapper” (World Cinema Dramatic).
“Kokomo City” won the Next Innovator Award. The documentary explores the lives of four Black transgender sex-workers as they share their stories through intimate and candid interviews.
Joana Vicente, CEO of Sundance Institute, said at this year’s festival, “The artists that comprise the 2023 Sundance Film Festival have demonstrated a sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in independent film. Today’s award winners highlight our programs’ most impressive achievements in the current moment of cinematic arts. I hope you will join me in congratulating our winners, as well as thanking all artists across sections for sharing their stories with the Sundance community.”
From July 6-9, Sundance will bring a taste of Park City to the U.K. with the 10th edition of Sundance Film Festival: London. The festival will kick off with this year’s World Cinema Grand Jury prize winner “Scrapper” by Charlotte Regan, and close with A24’s “You Hurt My Feelings” starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Also featured in the London program are Gregg Araki’s “Mysterious Skin” and the newly-restored “Doom Generation.”
The full tweet reportedly read: “Our film was unique in that audiences went to watch it multiple times. It’s the only way we reached the billion-dollar mark with our opening. My guess is [The Little Mermaid] doesn’t cross the billion mark but will undoubtedly get a sequel.”
Your weekly horoscope is here. This week’s motto may as well be ‘never enough of a good thing’ as the planets pile up in Taurus, the sign of practicality and nature. Mercury switches out of retrograde mode, and lucky Jupiter kicks off a year-long foray in the sign of the bovine. Stick to the basics, and connect to your body with love and curiosity. Bring awareness to your senses and nourish them with pleasure.
Read on to discover your weekly horoscope and what’s in store for your sign during the week of May 14 through May 20, 2023.
Aries
As Jupiter bids farewell to its year-long stay in your sign, reflect on the unfolding growth and opportunities. Take a moment to appreciate your progress and all that you’ve learned. From here, secure or put what you’ve initiated into concrete form. It may be time to commit to a longer-term source of income; consider investing and focus on what will bear fruit rather than dispersing your energy on short-term novelty. Take a measured approach to both achievement and energy use, factor in rest, and go for a slow burn rather than blast then burnout. Set your intentions for abundance on Friday’s new moon with a simple abundance ritual or list of intentions.
Taurus
This week is host to a significant emphasis on your sign as Mercury turns direct, Jupiter sets up camp for the next year, and a new moon forms on Friday. Jupiter is the planet of luck, with fortune smiling on themes, areas, and activities ruled by the host sign. And for the next twelve months, that’s you, sweet Taurus; it really is your time to shine. And by shine, that may mean expanding or launching a business idea or project, learning a new skill, or teaching one you’ve mastered. Only you know what you’ve been cooking up, so back yourself with faith and make the most of any golden opportunity that comes your way. Dedicate a decadent ritual to your abundance over the coming year. Set intentions for your fiscal vision on Friday’s new moon.
Black Knight season 1 is now available to stream on Netflix
There’s a great selection of new TV shows to watch on Netflix this weekend. This week has seen the addition of Black Knight, an exciting new dystopian thriller, the return of the Justice League animated series, the final season of Ultraman, a fabulous new season of Queer Eye, and a true crime docuseries.
N = Netflix Original
Here are the best new TV shows on Netflix this week:
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Black Knight (Season 1) N
Episodes: 6 Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi | Runtime: 48 Minutes Cast: Kim Woo-bin, Song Seung-Heon, Kang You-seok, Esom
We’ve had to wait patiently for the arrival of Black Knight, the exciting new Korean action series from Project318. 22023 has already been a strong year for K-dramas, and hopefully, Black Knight will be another excellent showcase of why Netflix continues to invest billions of dollars into content from the Korean peninsula.
In 2071, where people depend on respirator masks to breathe. Only one percent of the human race has survived, and a strict social stratification has been established in the deserted lands of the Korean Peninsula. Delivery drivers play a crucial role within this system, and for refugees, becoming a delivery driver is their only hope for survival.
Fans of Ultraman were subjected to an extremely long wait between the first and second seasons of Ultraman. However, the wait for the third has been much kinder.
Set several years after the first Ultraman series, Shin Hayata, now a defense minister, has no memories of how he became Ultraman and saved the world from the Kaijus. Matsushiro Ide, his former personnel in the Science Patrol, tries to help him recover his memories in order to assist the Science Patrol eliminate new threats from the aliens. When the alien Bemular finds out that Hayata’s son, Shinjirou, starts showing superhuman strength, the Science Patrol risks everything to give Shinjirou the top-secret Ultrasuit to fight Bemular and save the world once again.
Queer Eye (Season 7) N
Episodes: 59 Genre: Reality | Runtime: 53 Minutes Cast: Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness
The Fab Five return for some beignets in the incredible city of New Orleans! This season, the boys will be helping transform seven heroes.
Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (4 Seasons)
Episodes: 81 Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure | Runtime: 21 Minutes Cast: Kevin Conroy, George Newbern, Michael Rosenbaum, Susan Eisenberg, Carl Lumbly
While some of the live-action DC movies leave a lot to be desired, there’s no denying the dominance that DC Animation has had on children and adults alike since the 90s. In particular one of the best-animated shows from the superhero brand has been The Justice League, which has seen some of the most famous stories of the franchise brought to the small screen.
If you’re looking for your next true crime fix, then Netflix has the perfect series for you this weekend. Following the officers of South Carolina’s sheriff department, as they investigate all of the missing persons who disappeared under strange and troubling circumstances.
What TV shows have you been watching on Netflix this week? Let us know in the comments below!
GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) announced recipients for 18 of this year’s 33 categories for the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. Maren Morris received the Excellence in Media Award, introduced by Cynthia Lee Fontaine and Alyssa Edwards, and Jonathan Van Ness received the Vito Russo Award, presented by ALOK at the star-studded ceremony at the Hilton Midtown in New York.
The New York ceremony for the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards was hosted by Harvey Guillén, and featured a special performance from Idina Menzel.
Outstanding Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia Logo’s Trans Youth Town Hall
Outstanding Kids & Family Programming – Live Action Heartstopper (Netflix)
Outstanding Kids & Family Programming – Animated Dead End: Paranormal Park (Netflix)
Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist Dove Cameron (Columbia Records)
Outstanding Broadway Production A Strange Loop
Outstanding Video Game Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment “HIV in the Deep South” In Real Life (Scripps News)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Long-Form “Pride | To Be Seen” Soul of a Nation (ABC)
Outstanding Live TV Journalism – Segment or Special “The Last Thing Before We Go: Stephanie Ruhle Talks Spirit Day” The 11th Hour (MSNBC)
Outstanding Print Article “Pediatricians Who Serve Trans Youth Face Increasing Harassment. Lifesaving Care Could Be on the Line” by Madeleine Carlisle (Time)
Outstanding Online Journalism Article “Alabama Is Trying to Raise the Legal Driving Age for Trans People to 19” by Nico Lang (TheDailyBeast.com)
Outstanding Blog Mombian
Outstanding Podcast TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones (TransLash Media) and Sibling Rivalry (Studio71) (TIE)
Outstanding Spanish-Language Online Journalism Article “Proyectos de ley anti LGBTQ+ en Florida son una ‘licencia para discriminar’ y reviven el dolor de Pulse, dicen grupos locales” por Jennifer A. Marcial Ocasio (OrlandoSentinel.com)
Outstanding Spanish-Language Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia “Las abuelas trans buscan dignificar su vejez” por Liliana Rosas y Silvana Flores (ReporteIndigo.com)
The Eurovision Song Contest grand final, held in Liverpool, England, on Saturday, was meant to be Ukraine’s party.
After Ukraine won last year’s edition of the beloved, campy singing competition, the country won the right to host this year’s spectacle. But with Russia’s invasion showing no sign of ending, the event was relocated to Liverpool.
In the midst of a war, and with millions watching live, Ukraine’s entrant, Tvorchi, was among the favorites to win this year’s edition of the glamorous and, often, oddball event — a sign of the European public’s ongoing solidarity with Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
Instead, Sweden crashed the celebration. Around midnight in the M&S Bank Arena, Eurovision’s hosts announced that the pop singer Loreen had won with “Tattoo,” a dance track that grows in intensity with each verse.
Loreen was the bookmakers’ favorite for the competition, thanks to both her catchy track and Eurovision pedigree, having won once before, in 2012. Her victory means that Sweden, a Eurovision-obsessed nation, will host next year’s contest.
Ukraine’s entry, the pop duo Tvorchi, finished in sixth place.
Eurovision, which started in 1956 and is now onto its 67th edition, is the world’s most-watched cultural event. Each year, entrants representing countries across Europe and beyond face off, performing original songs in the hope of securing votes from watching viewers and juries.
Britain’s public broadcaster, the BBC, which organized this year’s contest, promised it would host a party for Ukraine, and in Liverpool on Saturday, the war-torn country’s presence was inescapable. Eurovision fans walked the city carrying Ukrainian flags, and dozens of Ukrainian art installations could be seen in prominent locations around the city.
In Kyiv on Saturday, the event offered a diversion from the battlefield. At the Squat 17b bar in the city, Eurovision fans gathered to watch the show, dedicating their first round of applause to the Ukrainian Army.
Kyiv’s daily curfew starts at midnight, and the bar shut at 8:30 p.m. so that people could get home; fans could not watch the whole event there. Still, at one table, a group of friends sang along while they could.
“It’s a piece of happiness,” said Olha Tarasenko, 24. Tarasenko said she remembered Ukraine’s victory at last year’s event. When Kalush Orchestra, a rap-folk group, triumphed, “I was crying, and felt like everything is possible,” she said.
European solidarity with Ukraine was clear throughout Saturday’s spectacle in Liverpool. It opened with a video of Kalush Orchestra performing on a subway train in Kyiv, before the band appeared onstage to almost deafening cheers.
Later in the broadcast, Julia Sanina, one of the evening’s TV hosts, went into the audience and spoke with displaced Ukrainians living in Britain who had been given heavily-discounted tickets to the final.And, in a special guest performance, Duncan Laurence, a Dutch pop star, gave a rousing rendition of Gerry and the Pacemakers’ “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” accompanied by a choir in Kyiv via video. “Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,” the choir sang, “And you’ll never walk alone.”
The show’s hosts and competitors were careful not to actually mention or criticize Russia, which last year was banned from participating in the contest because of its invasion of Ukraine. Eurovision is meant to be a nonpolitical event, and overt political statements are banned.
On Friday, that rule stirred controversy in Britain after President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine asked to speak during the final, but was rebuffed. The European Broadcasting Union, which oversees Eurovision, said in a news release that “regrettably” an address by President Zelensky would have breached its rules.
Shortly after the union’s decision, a spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain told reporters that Eurovision’s apolitical nature wasn’t a good enough excuse. “The values and freedoms that President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for are not political, they’re fundamental,” the spokesman said, according to a report on the BBC.
Still, the nonpolitical rule was stretched to breaking point on Saturday night, with several participants performing songs that hinted at Russia’s invasion. During Tvorchi’s performance of “Heart of Steel,” the band sang lyrics including: “Despite the pain, I continue my fight.”
On Saturday night, even with Tvorchi’s sixth place finish, Ukrainian culture was on display right until the end of the spectacle.
After Loreen accepted the Eurovision trophy, Julia Sanina, the Ukrainian TV host, appeared onstage to thank Liverpool for being “an amazing host on behalf of Ukraine.” She then quoted the slogan of this year’s contest: “We will always be united by music.”
Avery Hayes and Tucker Robertson each scored twice and Londoner Michael Simpson made 51 saves as the Peterborough Petes evened the OHL Championship series at a game apiece with a 5-3 victory at Budweiser Gardens on Saturday night.
The Petes handed the Knights their first loss on home ice in the 2023 playoffs.
London carried a 3-2 lead into the third period, but three goals by Peterborough put the Petes back in front for the third time in the game and they held on from there as the Knights pulled goaltender Zach Bowen with over four minutes remaining in the game.
Peterborough scored the first first-period goal in the series when Robertson was able to take advantage of a miscue in centre ice, when two London players bumped into each other just outside the Knights’ blue line and the puck popped right to Brennan Othmann of the Petes. He crossed into the London zone and fed Robertson, who wristed in his sixth goal of the post-season.
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That goal ended a shutout streak by Bowen at 120 minutes and three seconds.
The second period was wild. All-caps WILD.
It had everything from the usual hits and blocks, a string of penalties and even a goal scored from centre ice.
The Knights tied the game on a one-timer from rookie defenceman Sam Dickinson at the 6:38 mark and then the run of penalty calls began.
Easton Cowan was given a roughing penalty after a whistle.
On the ensuing penalty kill, Sean McGurn skated toward the Peterborough net and was knocked to his knees. No penalty was called on the play, but McGurn was signalled for an unsportsmanlike conduct call as he skated back toward the play and the Petes cashed in on the 5-on-3 man advantage on a goal from the left side of the London zone by Avery Hayes. That made it 2-1 for the Petes at 10:46 of the second period.
McGurn served his penalty, came out of the box, broke up a play at the Knights’ blue line and turned up ice. The London co-captain crossed the red line and could have dumped the puck, but instead shot it on goal and it went in to tie the game 2-2 at the 12:38 mark.
The penalties were not finished there as Owen Beck caught London forward Denver Barkey with a high hit that was ruled a check to the head. Beck was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct.
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Logan Mailloux scored his seventh goal of the playoffs to put the Knights in front with just over five minutes remaining in the period on a hard shot that went over the glove of Simpson on the man advantage.
Peterborough defenceman Donovan McCoy knotted the game 3-3 at 8:14 of the final 20 minutes as he kept a puck in at the blue line that Bowen had wristed around the boards and shot it at the London net before Bowen could get completely set.
Less than two minutes after that Hayes lifted a pass ahead to a breaking Robertson. He deked to his backhand and put the puck across the goal line for a 4-3 Peterborough lead.
Hayes closed out the scoring with his third point on the night as he swooped around the Knight goal, past two defenders who had fallen, and beat Bowen with a high shot.
Hayes was named the game’s second star.
Robertson had two goals and two assists to lead all scorers.
London outshot the Petes 54-27.
Peterborough was 1-for-3 on the power play. The Knights were 1-for 6.
Jacob Julien missed the game with a non-COVID related illness.
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Brett Brochu remained out of the London lineup with a lower-body injury.
Petes captain Shawn Spearing was listed on the lineup and took warm-up, but did not play in the game. Spearing suffered a broken jaw in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. Petes forward Jonathan Melee also missed the game with a foot injury.
The OHL season extends through all four seasons of the year. It begins with training camps in the late stages of summer and wraps up right before summer starts again.
Ryan Winterton’s year has felt like three very distinct seasons. Winterton missed training camp and all of fall recovering from shoulder surgery. He was traded to the Knights by the Hamilton Bulldogs on Jan. 2 with Ryan Humphrey and made his London debut four nights later. By late January his timing was beginning to return and his offence picked up.
The Whitby, Ont., native ended the regular season with eight points in his last four games. Winterton has stepped those stats up even more in the playoffs. He recorded a seven-game point streak from the start of the Western Conference final through to Game 2 of the OHL Championship and has put up points in ten straight games overall.
Winterton has also acted as the ultimate closer for the Knights. He scored an empty-net goal in all four London victories in the Western Conference final (three of those from his own end) and then began the OHL Championship series with a Game 1 empty-netter against Peterborough.
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Petes defenceman Gauvreau set to return
Peterborough will get a major boost on defence back for Game 3 of the OHL Championship Series.
Defenceman Cam Gauvreau was suspended four games after being assed a major penalty and a game misconduct for a hit on North Bay Battalion forward in Game 5 of the OHL’s Eastern Conference final. Gauvreau turned 20-years old in March and has also played for North Bay and the Saginaw Spirit during his Ontario Hockey League career.
Petes captain Shawn Spearing suffered a broken jaw blocking a shot in Peterborough’s clinching Game 7 victory over the Battalion and although he was listed on the Petes lineup for Game 2 he did not play.
Up next
The OHL Championship Series shifts to Peterborough, Ont., for games three and four. Game 3 will take place on Monday, May 14 at 7 p.m., and Game 4 will be Wednesday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m.
The Petes are 7-1 on home ice in the 2023 post-season. London is 4-3.
The Knights led the Ontario Hockey League in road wins in the regular season with 23 in 34 games.
Coverage of Game 3 will begin at 6:30 on 980 CFPL, at http://www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.
Jason Sudeikis, 47, showed off his cute bond with his two children, Otis, 9, and Daisy, 6, during Otis’ soccer game this week. The actor, who shares his kids with ex Olivia Wilde, 39, was photographed cheering on his oldest child as he sat with Daisy, during the fun outing. He also spoke with Otis when he went over to him at one point.
Jason and Otis during Otis’ recent soccer game. (SL, Terma / BACKGRID)
During the game, Jason wore a red hoodie, khaki shorts, sneakers, and a black and yellow baseball cap. He also rocked sunglasses to keep the sun out of his eyes. Otis wore his dark blue soccer uniform with high top socks and sneakers, and Daisy wore a white T-shirt and pink shorts.
Jason and Daisy at the soccer game. (SL, Terma / BACKGRID)
Jason and the kids’ latest outing comes just one week after the Ted Lasso star was seen chatting it up with Olivia at another one of Otis’ soccer games. The exes appeared friendly and content to be around each other and even shared a hug. It was one of many games they’ve attended together since their split in 2020.
Although Jason and Olivia made headlines last year for being involved in a custody battle, it seems they have managed to healthily co-parent and have a good rapport together, despite no longer being romantically involved. The former lovebirds are still reportedly trying to come up with a settlement in the custody situation and just last month, it was reported that Olivia claimed Jason wasn’t paying child support and was requesting him to pay $500K in legal fees, in court documents.
Jason and Olivia, who were one of Hollywood’s hottest couples at one time, first started dating after reportedly meeting at a Saturday Night Live afterparty in 2011. They became engaged and it lasted seven years before they called it quits in Nov. 2020. Since then, Olivia was romantically linked to singer Harry Styles from Dec. 2020 until Nov. 2022. Jason was romantically linked to his Ted Lasso co-star Keeley Hazell from early 2021 until sometime in 2022.
The second and final batch of 2023 GLAAD Media Awards winners were announced on Saturday in New York City, with “Fire Island” and “Anything’s Possible” tying for Oustanding Film – Streaming/TV while Netflix’s “Heartstopper” won Outstanding Kids and Family Programming (Live-Action).
Outstanding Broadway Production went to “A Strange Loop,” while “The Problem With Jon Stewart” won Variety or Talk Show Episode. HBO’s “We’re Here” won Reality Series.
Maren Morris won the Excellence in Media award and in her speech, took a shot at Tucker Carlson who had mocked the singer-songwriter for standing up to transphobia.
“Maybe I felt a little badass taking Tucker Carlson’s calling me a lunatic for standing up to transphobia [and] turning it into a t-shirt and raising $150,000 for LGBTQ+ charities. That made me feel a little cool, but I don’t wanna gloat. I would never insult the recently unemployed.”
“What We Do in the Shadows” star Harvey Guillen hosted the event, which honors those in the media who have shown exemplary achievements for fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of the LGBTQ community and the issues that affect our lives.
Check out the full list of winners below.
Outstanding Film – Streaming/TV
“Fire Island” (Hulu) and “Anything’s Possible” (Prime Video)
Outstanding Reality Series
“We’re Here” (HBO)
Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode
“The Problem With Jon Stewart” (Apple TV+)
Outstanding Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia
“Proyectos de ley anti LGBTQ+ en Florida son una ‘licencia para discriminar’ y reviven el dolor de Pulse, dicen grupos locales” por Jennifer A. Marcial Ocasio (OrlandoSentinel.com)
Outstanding Spanish-Language Online Journalism – Video or Multimedia
“Las abuelas trans buscan dignificar su vejez” por Liliana
And here are the previously announced winners from the Los Angeles ceremony in March.
Outstanding New TV Series
“A League of Their Own” (Prime Video)
Outstanding Drama Series
“9-1-1: Lone Star” (Fox)
Outstanding Comedy Series
“What We Do in The Shadows” (FX)
Outstanding Film – Wide Release
“Bros” (Universal Pictures)
Outstanding Documentary
“Framing Agnes” (Kino Lorber) Outstanding Film – Limited Release
“The Inspection” (A24) Outstanding Music Artist
Fletcher, “Girl of My Dreams” (Capitol Records) Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
“The White Lotus” (HBOMax) Outstanding Comic Book
“Poison Ivy” by G. Willow Wilson, Marcio Takara, Atagun Ilhan, Brian Level, Stefano Gaudiano, Jay Leisten, Arif Prianto, Ivan Plascencia, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (DC Comics) Outstanding Original Graphic Novel/Anthology
“Young Men in Love” (A Wave Blue World) Outstanding Children’s Programming
The film, slated for release on September 8th, has the Academy Award winner playing Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.
Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael and Christopher Abbott also star in the pic penned by Lanthimos’ regular collaborator Tony McNamara (The Favourite). Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe produced for Element Pictures, along with Stone and Lanthimos.
Poor Things is set to open against Warner Bros’ horror thriller The Nun II and Focus Features’ My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3. Other films coming up for release by Searchlight Pictures include Eva Longoria’s directorial debut Flamin’ Hot, which on June 9th will become the first title to debut simultaneously on Hulu and Disney+, as well as their Sundance acquisition Theater Camp (July 14), the Taika Waititi-directed soccer dramedy Next Goal Wins (November 17) and Elijah Bynum’s Magazine Dreams (December 8) starring Jonathan Majors.
View the new teaser for Poor Things by clicking above.
Tom Holland and Dwayne Johnson are opening up about mental health battles they have experienced in life.
The Spider-Man: No Way Home star has been transparent about the importance of mental health. In August 2022, Holland announced he was taking a break from social media as he “spiraled” from reading negative comments about him on digital platforms.
Most recently, Holland said that filming his new Apple TV+ series The Crowded Room took a mental toll on him.
“I’m no stranger to the physical aspects of the job doing the whole action-movie thing,” he told EW in an interview. “But the mental aspect, it really beat me up and it took a long time for me to recover afterwards, to sort of get back to reality.”
Holland said it was difficult for him to detach himself from the character he was portraying in the series which caused him to have “a bit of a meltdown at home and thinking like, ‘I’m going to shave my head. I need to shave my head because I need to get rid of this character.’ And, obviously, we were mid-shooting, so I decided not to… It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.”
The actor credits his costar Sasha Lane for helping him get through some difficult moments as well as talking to professionals that have given him the tools to “recognize triggers” and “things that stress me out.”
Johnson was featured on The Pivot where he revealed when he first experienced depression citing the time he had a shoulder injury that ended his career in football.
“[I] didn’t want to go to school,” the actor said. “I was ready to leave. I left school. I didn’t take any midterms and I just left. But the interesting thing, at that time, is I just didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know what mental health was. I didn’t know what depression was. I just knew I didn’t want to be there. Wasn’t going to any of the team meetings. Wasn’t participating in anything.”
Johnson said he didn’t know he was battling depression and revealed he went through a second bout after his divorce not knowing he had it then either. It was until he sought help that made him realized what he had been going through.
The Black Adam star shared a clip from his interview on Instagram and encouraged fans in a similar situation to look for help.
“I’ve worked hard over the years to gain the emotional tools to work thru any mental pain that may come to test me. But years ago I didn’t know what mental health struggle was,” he wrote on Instagram. As men, we didn’t talk about it. We just kept our head down and worked thru it. Not healthy but it’s all we knew.”
Johnson continued, “If you’re going thru your own version of mental wellness turning into mental hell-ness, the most important thing you can do is talk to somebody. It can’t be fixed if you keep that pain inside. Having the courage to talk to someone is your superpower. I lost two friends to suicide. Talk to someone. Despite how you may feel, you’re never alone.”
Franklin Ritch’s feature starts off like a taut thriller: a couple of agents, Deena and Amos (Sinda Nichols and David Girard), are grilling Gareth (Ritch), who has created a digital little girl to bait and catch online predators. Cherry (Tatum Matthews) has the appearance of an 11-year-old and her software is so sophisticated that, as Gareth puts it, she is almost completely “on autopilot.” Her behavior is so humanlike that a troubled Amos wonders if Cherry has feelings, too.
We reconvene with these four characters a few years later. Cherry looks the same but has continued to evolve. She has been created for a noble purpose, but her seeming realness makes the whole endeavor feel icky to Amos, who points out that if Cherry has evolved into near-sentience, then she would need to be asked to consent to her mission. She disagrees: “You should disregard everything I feel,” Cherry says. “I’m not human — I’m a tool.”
Another fast-forward and the aging Gareth is now in a wheelchair (in a brilliant casting twist, he is now played by Lance Henriksen, who portrayed one of cinema’s most memorable androids in “Aliens”). We are in the last stretch and Ritch narrows his focus even further, so he ends up with a face-off between Cherry and her creator, as they discuss such weighty matters as agency, what’s considered real, the importance of the physical realm, whether humanity can result from coding — and if yes, should A.I. get rights?
“The Artifice Girl” is essentially a three-act play but Ritch has come up with something uncommon: a movie entirely about ideas.
Jonatan Etzler’s wonderful comedy is a godsend for lovers of time travel and time loops: It offers a mix of both in a candy-colored package, along with a surprisingly affecting conclusion.
The churlish Amelia (Hedda Stiernstedt) is 40 and going nowhere slowly in a small Swedish town. One day she’s hit by a truck and wakes up on the morning of her 18th birthday, back in 2002 — cue Juicy Couture tracksuits, AOL instant messenger and CDs. She looks like her adult self to the viewers but not to her friends, who see the time-traveling Amelia as their peer. After reliving her action-packed day, when she was happy and everything seemed possible, she wakes up on the same morning again, and again, and again. Her teenage years were, in hindsight, Amelia’s peak — she was her high school’s It girl — so she spends most of the film trying to figure out both how to break the time loop (she even watches “Groundhog Day” for tips) and how to course-correct to avoid a drab middle age.
Holding the key to both goals is Amelia’s former bestie, Fiona (Miriam Ingrid at 18 and Tove Edfeldt for the adult version), and what was hidden in the time capsule they buried when they were younger. While “One More Time” does not add anything new to the subgenre, it is an excellent example of it, and hits surprising grace notes.
The motto of Fairview Heights, the setting of Colin West’s sneakily affecting drama, is “Soar to new heights.” Cameron (the comedian Jim Gaffigan) has long taken it literally, with dreams of becoming an astronaut. They did not pan out, so he contents himself with looking at the stars and hosting “Above and Beyond,” a science show for kids airing on a local station. And then odd events begin to occur: a car crashes down from the sky next to Cameron; next is an old rocket. An actual former astronaut, Kent (Gaffigan again), moves to town and turns out to be a preening bully. At least his son is a sweet kid who befriends Cameron’s daughter (the actors Gabriel Rush and Katelyn Nacon have terrific chemistry).
For most of its running time, “Linoleum” reads like a study of a middle-aged man in slow-motion crisis: Cameron’s wife (Rhea Seehorn) has started divorce proceedings and he’s about to lose his beloved show to someone he hates. But West keeps dropping clues — and red herrings — that something else is off, really off. The eventual reveal is emotionally devastating, and may well send you back to the beginning of the movie to search for the trail of bread crumbs you had missed.
Clear and present danger is far from optimal, but the crew of the Sentinel military watch tower would probably take it to the elusive and slippery danger they face. Stationed in the middle of the ocean that covers the entire Earth (save for two warring continents) in 2063, the four soldiers scrutinize the horizon from their rig-like platform. Their two-year rotation ended three months earlier but they haven’t been relieved yet, so they’re anxiously on the lookout for help as well as potential attackers.
And then one day, a ship turns up — but is it friend or foe? “Last Sentinel” may remind fans of literary fiction of the Dino Buzzati novel “The Tartar Steppe,” which painted the existential futility of a remote outpost waiting in vain for the enemy to show up. Like most stories set in an isolated, self-contained locale, Tanel Toom’s film is at its best simply letting us witness the mission’s drudgery and the paranoia slowly taking over the crew (which includes Kate Bosworth as the lone woman onboard). It’s slow going, but fascinating.
It is fruitless trying to summarize this bonkers movie because to be frank, I’m not sure I understood what going on. Something-something about a weapon called the Arculon Destroyer that everybody wants and then there’s robot mayhem? On a planet? In another dimension? It all would give the screenwriting guru Robert McKee a conniption.
And yet Sam Gaffin’s latest entry in his Killer Robots! series is more ridiculously fun and certainly more distinctive than the formulaic fare filling out our virtual shelves. Operating out of Florida, Gaffin is keeping alive the tradition of midnight movies with his jury-rigged extravaganzas mixing C.G.I., models and puppets into bizarre video-game aesthetics, generously smeared with rambunctious humor and a relentless synth-pop soundtrack (the Killer Robots! is also a bombastic band led by Gaffin). This film looks and sounds like nothing else out there, and that’s good enough for me.
“Padatik,” a birth centenary homage to Indian auteur Mrinal Sen, is in post-production and is aiming to launch at a major film festival this fall. Sen is probably India’s most revered filmmaker after Satyajit Ray.
Sen was born on May 14, 1923 in Faridpur, British India, now in Bangladesh and died in 2018, leaving behind a glittering array of work, most of which are considered landmarks of Indian cinema, including “Neel Akasher Neechey” (1959), “Baishey Shravana” (1960), “Akash Kusum” (1965), “Bhuvan Shome”(1969), “Interview,” (1971), “Calcutta 71” (1972), “Padatik” (1973), “Mrigayaa” (1976), “Ek Din Pratidin” (1979), “Akaler Sandhane” (1980), “Kharij” (1982) and “Khandhar” (1983).
Sen worked in what was an extraordinarily fecund period for Bengali-language cinema, based in the eastern Indian film stronghold Calcutta (now Kolkata). His contemporaries included the globally lauded Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Tapan Sinha. Like Ray and Sinha, Sen was also feted at the world’s major film festivals, winning awards at Cannes, Venice and Berlin. In addition, Sen was accorded the Dadasaheb Phalke award, India’s highest film honor.
“The overarching influence of the Holy Trinity [Ray, Ghatak, Sen], as well as Tapan Sinha has been huge right from my childhood,” “Padatik” director Srijit Mukherji told Variety. Mukherji debuted with “Autograph” (2010), which was an homage to Ray’s “Nayak” (1966) and he says that the film-within-film portions of the feature draw from “Akaler Sandhane,” his favorite Sen film. “How the blurring of the line between reel and real can create dramatic and terse moments on celluloid is something which ‘Akaler Sandhane’ very definitely drives home,” Mukherji said. The filmmaker adds that “Akaler Sandhane,” “Kharij” and “Khandhar” have extensively influenced his body of work at a subliminal level, “Which is why on the centenary it was gurudakshina, a sub-continental tradition of paying tribute to one of the masters from whom you’ve learned your craft.”
Though he had roots in neorealism, Ray was considered a proponent of the classical school of filmmaking. Sen was anything but and used every technique at his disposal, often raw and edgy, to tell angry, urgent and political stories.
“He was, in a lot of ways what you call nowadays an indie filmmaker, a person who cocked a snook at conventions, bargained with producers to reduce his budget instead of increasing it, because he knew that with the increased budget would come increased interference. He took a camera and went onto the streets, had absolutely spontaneous, impromptu organic shooting methods,” Mukherji said. “Whenever I do guerrilla shoots on the streets of Kolkata or any city in the country, actually, a part of me celebrates Mrinal Sen – because that is something which is essential to his filmmaking, handheld camera, fourth wall breaking, guerrilla shoots, impromptu sequences and passages.”
Mukherji based the “Padatik” script on Sen’s journals, articles, essays and letters; books by Shiladitya Sen and Dipankar Mukhopadhyay; personal anecdotes from the upcoming memoir “Bondhu,” by Mrinal Sen’s son Kunal, who also contributed many more details of his father’s life; and personal accounts and oral history from discussions with film studies professor Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay, film collector Debasis Mukhopadhyay and actors who Sen had worked with, including Dhritiman Chatterjee, Mamata Shankar and Anjan Dutt.
In “Padatik,” Sen is played by noted Bangladeshi actor Chanchal Chowdhury. Mukherji had noticed the actor’s work in streamer Hoichoi’s original series “Karagar” and reached out to him. Prep time was limited because the idea was to get the film ready in time for Sen’s birth centenary. “Just being a lookalike is not enough for a biopic, especially one of a legend like Mrinal Sen,” Chowdhury told Variety. “My quest was to convey the sense of Sen’s inner man. I took up that challenge.”
The actor says that getting to know the real Sen, especially his ideals and principles, during his research for the role was his biggest reward during the process of making the film. “People may know Sen’s films, but not necessarily his principles and it was our responsibility to convey the sense of the creator to the audience,” Chowdhury said. The actor praises the efforts of the film’s producer Firdausul Hasan in bringing the project to life.
Hasan previously produced “Aparajito” (2022), a fictionalized biopic of Ray, and “Mahananda,” a fictionalized version of the life of author Mahasweta Devi.
“I am here driven by my passion and it’s not always that I make films for money. Film is my identity, I should make a good film that will have archival value,” Hasan told Variety. “For me film is not only entertainment, for me film is also art and culture.”
About “Padatik” Hasan says, “Visually people will experience Sen’s struggle, his life, his philosophy, his approach towards film, his hardships, his relationship with Ray and Ghatak,” Hasan said. “And people will be able to see that we have created that era, they can go back in a time machine and see how things were at that time.”
The “Padatik” team’s ambition is to reestablish Sen’s rightful place in the pantheon of Indian cinema in the year of his birth centenary.
“Unfortunately, in India, even in Bengal, he’s fast receded from the public memory, his effect has not been as long lasting or not that celebrated as Satyajit Ray,” Mukherji said. “I’m hoping that Kolkata and India will wake up to his films and recognize the person who started the Indian New Wave.”
“The great thing about him was the way he celebrated the city of Kolkata and enshrined and documented the political history of the city and in fact, the country is incredible,” Mukherji added. “He is socially and cinematically one of the giants of Indian cinema, a status, which should be celebrated, more so because this is a centenary, and I hope this film will be a small step in that direction.”
This comes with an all-new visual featuring a number of promotional photos and screencaps from the Ant-Man movies, showing off Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly’sHope van Dyne.
With the underwhelming success that Ant-Man 3 saw during its run in theaters, having its debut on Disney+ will at least help fans enjoy the film from the comfort of their own home.
But considering how controversial this movie is, along with all of the drama that took place behind the scenes, fans can only wonder when the shrinking Avenger will be back in play again after Quantumania.
Racing in VR also provides one of the best adrenaline-pumping experiences you can imagine. So if youre ready for the challenge, here are XR Source’s picks for the best.
How do I get out of this rut and make something again?
It’s been a crazy few years in Hollywood. The COVID-19 pandemic took so much out of people. Now, as we try to get back to our normal routines, it can be kind of hard to get out of the rut.
During this time, the only person it’s okay to write for is myself. But it’s been a little bit since I actually sat down and worked on a spec. As a filmmaker, I know how frustrating it can be to feel stuck in a creative rut.
The excitement and passion that once fueled your vision may seem to have evaporated, leaving you unsure of how to move forward.
In this post, we will explore the signs of a creative rut, the importance of overcoming these blocks, and expert tips for reigniting your filmmaking passion. We will also delve into new filmmaking techniques and styles, the value of collaboration, learning from the masters, and balancing personal life with your career. Finally, we will discuss the necessity of embracing failure as a stepping stone toward growth.
So, without further ado, let us embark on this journey to unleash your full filmmaking potential!
‘F9’Credit: Universal Pictures
Creative Ruts in Filmmaking
The first thing you need to know is that you’re not alone. We all go through these times. Whether it’s writer’s block, burnout,or something else, stagnation is part of the process.
A creative rut is a period of stagnation during which a filmmaker may struggle to generate fresh ideas or find the motivation to complete projects.
It’s important to remember, however, that creative ruts are a natural part of the artistic process.
Creativity is a resource that can be depleted over time, and periods of rest and rejuvenation are necessary for its replenishment. It’s a muscle that needs rest as much as it needs to be worked out. The key is to recognize when you’re in a rut and take proactive steps to overcome it, thereby unlocking your full creative potential.
Recognizing the Signs of a Creative Rut
What if you’re not sure about your slump? As a Philly sports fan, I feel uniquely able to point a rut out.
Are you struggling to generate new ideas? Have you lost the motivation to work on existing projects? Do you find yourself procrastinating or avoiding your creative work altogether? These are all telltale signs of a creative rut.
These are signs that you might just need a break.
Additionally, you may notice that your creative output has decreased significantly, or that the quality of your work has suffered. This decline in productivity and quality can be disheartening, but it’s essential to remember that it’s a temporary state that can be overcome with the right mindset and tools.
This is about getting in touch with yourself.
‘Back to the Future’ Credit: Universal Pictures
The Importance of Overcoming Creative Blocks
Look, I guess you could quit, but that seems dumb to me.
Overcoming creative blocks is crucial for both your well-being and the success of your filmmaking career. If you want to work in this industry, you must find ways to ride out the highs and the lows.
When you’re stuck in a rut, it’s easy to become discouraged and doubt your abilities. This self-doubt can be damaging to your self-esteem, and it can even prevent you from pursuing future opportunities or taking risks in your creative work.
A good therapist helps a lot!
Plus, nothing feels better than the spark that gets you out of the weeds. By overcoming your creative blocks, you’re investing in your future success and ensuring your work remains relevant and engaging.
So, what do the experts think?
Expert Tips for Reigniting Your Filmmaking Passion
I polled a ton of my friends and colleagues to come up with expert tips. I even scoured the internet to see how the professionals got out of their heads. These are the big things that I bet will help you.
1. Take a Break
Sometimes, the best way to overcome a creative rut is to step away from your work for a short period. This break can provide you with much-needed perspective and allow you to return to your projects with fresh eyes and renewed energy.
2. Change Your Environment
A change of scenery can work wonders for your creativity. Try working in a different location, or rearrange your workspace to create a more inspiring atmosphere.
3. Set Small, Achievable Goals
Breaking your work into smaller, more manageable tasks can help you regain a sense of control and make your projects feel less overwhelming.
4. Seek Feedback
Sharing your work with others and asking for constructive criticism can provide valuable insights and help you identify areas where you can improve.
5. Experiment with New Techniques
Trying out new filmmaking techniques or working in a different genre can challenge you and reignite your passion for the craft.
Exploring New Filmmaking Techniques and Styles
One of the most effective ways to break free from a creative rut is to explore new filmmaking techniques and styles.
By stepping outside your comfort zone and experimenting with different approaches, you can unlock new creative possibilities and reignite your passion for the medium. Switch up genres too!
Collaborating With Other Filmmakers for Inspiration
Collaboration is a powerful tool for overcoming creative ruts. By working with other filmmakers, you can pool your collective talents and resources to create something truly unique and inspiring.
Find a friend and work with them. See if you can bring out the best in one another.
Additionally, collaboration can help you gain new perspectives on your work and expose you to different ideas and techniques that you might not have considered otherwise. Don’t be afraid to contact fellow filmmakers for advice, support, or even the opportunity to work together on a project.
‘Forrest Gump’Credit: Paramount Pictures
Embracing Failure as a Necessary Step Towards Growth
We all fail! It happens. Everyone feels that together.
It’s crucial to recognize that failure is an inevitable part of the creative process and a necessary step toward growth. When your projects don’t turn out as planned or you encounter setbacks and obstacles, it’s essential to view these experiences as opportunities for learning and improvement.
All you can do is write on.
Instead of dwelling on your failures or allowing them to discourage you, focus on the lessons you can glean from these experiences and use them to inform your future work. As you embrace failure as a vital component of your creative journey, you’ll develop resilience and be better prepared to face the challenges that lie ahead.
Summing Up Unleashing Your Full Filmmaking Potential
Overcoming creative ruts is a crucial part of unlocking your full potential as a filmmaker. By recognizing the signs of a rut, taking proactive steps to overcome it, and embracing failure as a necessary part of your journey, you can reignite your passion for filmmaking and continue to grow and evolve as an artist.
Whether you’re experimenting with new techniques, collaborating with fellow filmmakers, or balancing your personal life and career, remember that the key to sustained creativity lies in your ability to adapt, learn, and persevere.
Arrow in the Head presents a list of the top 10 Best Horror Movies On Netflix Right Now! Psycho, Blood Red Sky, Hush, and more!
We here at Arrow in the Head try to keep up with the horror selections on the biggest streaming services around, and as part of that endeavor, we have gone through the horror options on Netflix US to put together a top 10 list of the Best Horror Movies On Netflix Right Now.
Take note of the “Right Now” part of the subject line, because some of these films are not Netflix Originals and therefore could be removed from the streaming service at any time. If you want to watch them, be sure to start streaming in a timely manner or they may be gone!
BLOOD RED SKY (2021)
The “vampire vs. airplane hijackers” horror action thriller Blood Red Sky is a project director Peter Thorwarth had been wanting to make for 16 years before it was finally released, and his dedication to the concept paid off: within a month of its Netflix debut, it had already been watched in more than 50 million households around the globe. That’s not surprising, as it’s a film that can appeal to both horror fans and action fans. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s well worth checking out. It’s fun, exciting, and at times emotional as we watch a vampire mother battle a group of dangerous criminals to keep her son (who is not a bloodsucker) safe during an international flight.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (1997)
Between the releases of Scream and Scream 2, we got another “whodunit” slasher movie from screenwriter Kevin Williamson. Based on a novel by Lois Duncan (which was not a slasher story), I Know What You Did Last Summer may not be as clever as Williamson’s work on the Scream films was, but it’s still a highly entertaining teen horror movie. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Ryan Phillippe play a group of youths who try to cover up a hit and run one summer… and the next summer, someone wearing a slicker and wielding a hook shows up to make sure they pay for what they did. Mind games and bloodshed ensue.
FEAR STREET (2021)
Here’s a three-for-one special, as Netflix has released an entire trilogy of Fear Street films (inspired by the R.L. Stine book series) that director Leigh Janiak made back-to-back-to-back. Over the course of the trilogy, Janiak shows us horrific things that occurred in the cursed town of Shadyside in 1666, 1978, and 1994, allowing for the series to bring to mind films like The Witch, Friday the 13th, and Scream at different points along the way. The films tell the story of an evil entity that, every couple decades or so, possesses Shadysiders and drives them to kill. Janiak and her collaborators crafted an engaging story with some good twists and turns, and she brought it to the screen with cool style and an awesome soundtrack.
CRIMSON PEAK (2015)
Crimson Peak is a haunted house movie from director Guillermo del Toro, but don’t expect a lot of the chills and thrills to come from the supernatural forces in the film. As del Toro has said (and as a character says in the movie), “It’s not a ghost story, it’s a story with ghosts in it.” The story is about the strangeness that occurs when aspiring author Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) moves into the titular, crumbling mansion with her new husband Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) and his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) – and it’s the performances delivered by Hiddleston and Chastain that really make Crimson Peak worth checking out. Sir Thomas and Lucille are much creepier and more dangerous than any ghosts that might be lurking around.
ZOMBIELAND (2009)
Directed by Ruben Fleischer (Venom) from a script by future Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Zombieland is a blast to watch, a horror comedy that follows four characters as they attempt to survive the zombie apocalypse. And locate some Twinkies. Jesse Eisenberg is frequently insufferable in movies, but he gives one of his best and most tolerable performances here, and has great chemistry with co-stars Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin. As is almost certainly common knowledge by now, Zombieland also features a show-stealing cameo by the great Bill Murray… playing Bill Murray. With a great sense of humor and some cool zombie moments, this movie a fun way to spend 88 minutes.
PSYCHO (1960)
I probably don’t need to tell you how amazing Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is. It’s not only one of the best horror movies on Netflix right now, it’s one of the best movies ever made, period. Everyone knows the story: Bates Motel is run by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who’s burdened with taking care of his homicidal old mother. That’s what he believes, anyway. Hitchcock’s direction, the performances of the actors, the screenplay by Joseph Stefano (based on a novel by Robert Bloch, inspired by real world killer Ed Gein), the fantastic dialogue, the shocking moments of violence… Psycho is a masterwork in every department. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should head over to Netflix right away.
HUSH (2016)
Mike Flanagan is one of the most interesting filmmakers we have working in the horror genre today, and thankfully he has a great set-up at Netflix. Their collaboration has given us the Stephen King adaptation Gerald’s Game, The Haunting of Hill House and Bly Manor, and the upcoming series Midnight Mass – and it all started with Netflix releasing Hush. Starring Kate Siegel (who also wrote the script with Flanagan), this is a very simple and straightforward home invasion slasher, but it stands out from the pack of other films like this due to the fact that Siegel’s character Maddie is a strong, interesting, easy-to-root-for heroine who also happens to be deaf, which her attacker (John Gallagher Jr.) uses to his advantage when sneaking around in her house. Flanagan has several great entries on his filmography, and this 82 minute story of Heroine vs. Slasher in one secluded location ranks as one of his best.
THE CONJURING (2013)
Not many great movies have come out of the “Conjuring Universe”, but the main Conjuring movies are leagues above most of the spin-offs that have been released over the years. Director James Wan delivered one of the best haunted house movies of this century, and the greatest thing about it is the chemistry between Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as married paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Their interactions alone would make The Conjuring worth watching, but then Wan surrounds them with masterfully crafted scenes of suspense and jump scares as they try to rid a family’s home of an evil spirit and dig into a back story of Satanism and witchcraft.
#ALIVE (2020)
Some of my favorite films are zombie movies, but the sub-genre has gotten really played out in recent years. When zombies can be seen in TV shows every week, it’s tough to work up enthusiasm when a new zombie project shows up. The secret to success is to make sure the audience cares about the characters who have been dropped into the zombie apocalypse scenario, and that’s what Cho Il-hyung did with the South Korean film #Alive. #Alive centers on gamer Oh Joon-woo (Yoo Ah-In) who is home alone in his family’s apartment when the zombie outbreak hits. Low on food and water, worried about his family, Joon-woo is about to give up – until he realizes there’s a young woman (Park Shin-hye as Kim Yoo-bin) trapped in the building across from his. These are very likeable characters, and it’s fascinating to watch them struggle to survive with a horde of flesh-eating creatures waiting just outside their apartments.
THE CALL (2013)
Session 9 director Brad Anderson crafted a really entertaining thriller with The Call, which is about a teenage girl named Casey (Abigail Breslin), who has been abducted by a serial killer and stuck in the trunk of his car. Luckily, Casey manages to call 911 from the trunk, getting in contact with a dispatcher Jordan (Halle Berry), who stays on the phone with her throughout her ordeal, trying to coach her through the situation while the police desperately try to track her down and catch the killer. Packed with thrills and tense situations, The Call is a riveting film that became the #1 movie on Netflix for a while when it reached the streaming service earlier this year, nine years after it was first released.
Do you think these are the best horror movies on Netflix right now? What are some of your favorites?
– English Audio Description
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“He was in a nursing home and he’d fully recovered from COVID. I couldn’t understand why he had called an ambulance to come to the hospital,” Lee said.
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