Al Ruddy, two-time Oscar winner for producing “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby,” died May 25 at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Ruddy was also co-creator of “Hogan’s Heroes” and of “Walker, Texas Ranger.” He was 94.
After the success of sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes,” Ruddy went on to produce “Little Fauss and Big Halsy” and “Making It” before coming on to Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather,” which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.
Al Pacino said in a statement, “Al Ruddy was absolutely beautiful to me the whole time on ‘The Godfather’; even when they didn’t want me, he wanted me. He gave me the gift of encouragement when I needed it most and I’ll never forget it.”
After “The Godfather,” he produced his own story treatment for “The Longest Yard.”
Ruddy went on to produce notable films including “The Cannonball Run.” Other features he produced included “Matilda,” “Coonskin,...
After the success of sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes,” Ruddy went on to produce “Little Fauss and Big Halsy” and “Making It” before coming on to Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather,” which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.
Al Pacino said in a statement, “Al Ruddy was absolutely beautiful to me the whole time on ‘The Godfather’; even when they didn’t want me, he wanted me. He gave me the gift of encouragement when I needed it most and I’ll never forget it.”
After “The Godfather,” he produced his own story treatment for “The Longest Yard.”
Ruddy went on to produce notable films including “The Cannonball Run.” Other features he produced included “Matilda,” “Coonskin,...
- 5/28/2024
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
After setting a record for views on Netflix after its premiere, Bridgerton has finally returned with a third season.
If you've already binged a new chapter in the life of an influential family and can't wait for the second part, then it's time to check out other historical shows that will help you pass this month.
1. Sanditon, 2019-2023
Based on Jane Austen's unfinished novel, this costume drama follows Charlotte as she moves to the small seaside village of Sanditon. Here she is destined to meet Sidney, a proud and cold young man.
The British series has plenty for Bridgerton fans – from dramatic twists to stunning costumes. An interesting fact is that after Bridgerton was released, Sanditon experienced a surge in popularity, which helped the show stay afloat.
2. The Buccaneers, 2023-...
Based on Edith Wharton's unfinished novel, this series takes viewers back to the 1870s. Freedom-loving New Yorkers invade...
If you've already binged a new chapter in the life of an influential family and can't wait for the second part, then it's time to check out other historical shows that will help you pass this month.
1. Sanditon, 2019-2023
Based on Jane Austen's unfinished novel, this costume drama follows Charlotte as she moves to the small seaside village of Sanditon. Here she is destined to meet Sidney, a proud and cold young man.
The British series has plenty for Bridgerton fans – from dramatic twists to stunning costumes. An interesting fact is that after Bridgerton was released, Sanditon experienced a surge in popularity, which helped the show stay afloat.
2. The Buccaneers, 2023-...
Based on Edith Wharton's unfinished novel, this series takes viewers back to the 1870s. Freedom-loving New Yorkers invade...
- 5/25/2024
- by zoe-wallace@startefacts.com (Zoe Wallace)
- STartefacts.com
Bridgerton has become an obsession for nearly everyone watching the series and it is no surprise because it has romance, drama, and political intrigue all in a beautiful period setting. Netflix’s Bridgerton recently aired its third season and so far fans seem to enjoy it. With the fourth season already renewed the fans just have to wait until it comes out but while you wait here are the best similar shows you should check out after binging Season 3.
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix) Credit – Netflix
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is a prequel series to the Netflix hit series Bridgerton. Created by Shonda Rhimes, the Netflix series is loosely based on the rise of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in the late 18th century and her epic love story and married life with King George of England. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story stars India Amarteifio in the lead role with Adjoa Andoh,...
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix) Credit – Netflix
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is a prequel series to the Netflix hit series Bridgerton. Created by Shonda Rhimes, the Netflix series is loosely based on the rise of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in the late 18th century and her epic love story and married life with King George of England. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story stars India Amarteifio in the lead role with Adjoa Andoh,...
- 5/17/2024
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
Taylor Swift has royal ties in her blood. The singer-songwriter will love this revelation. New ancestry roots have been revealed. Keep on reading to learn more.
Taylor Swift – Related To Emily Dickinson
Taylor Swift penned a poem for the release of her album, Reputation. She released her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, on Friday, April 19.
The 31-track project has already broken new records since its release. It sold over 2 million albums. In a timely fashion, it was reported that Swift is related to American poet Emily Dickinson.
Per a report via Today, the genealogy company Ancestry learned that Swift and Dickinson are sixth cousins, three times removed. That doesn’t mean much. However, they do have blood ties.
“Swift and Dickinson both descend from a 17th-century English immigrant…” Ancestry shared in a statement. “Taylor Swift’s ancestors remained in Connecticut for six generations until her part of the family eventually settled in northwestern Pennsylvania,...
Taylor Swift – Related To Emily Dickinson
Taylor Swift penned a poem for the release of her album, Reputation. She released her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, on Friday, April 19.
The 31-track project has already broken new records since its release. It sold over 2 million albums. In a timely fashion, it was reported that Swift is related to American poet Emily Dickinson.
Per a report via Today, the genealogy company Ancestry learned that Swift and Dickinson are sixth cousins, three times removed. That doesn’t mean much. However, they do have blood ties.
“Swift and Dickinson both descend from a 17th-century English immigrant…” Ancestry shared in a statement. “Taylor Swift’s ancestors remained in Connecticut for six generations until her part of the family eventually settled in northwestern Pennsylvania,...
- 5/6/2024
- by Chanel D. Adams
- Celebrating The Soaps
“Dickinson” showrunner Alena Smith detailed the challenges of making the Apple TV+ period drama show starring Hailee Steinfeld as its queer female lead, playing poet Emily Dickinson. Apple kept her in the dark about the show’s success, Smith said, which made creating the show significantly more difficult.
The first season of the series arrived on the streamer in 2019, the second one on Jan. 8, 2021. Season 3 concluded the arc Smith envisioned for the project and came out Nov. 5, 2021.
Describing what drove streaming services to make creative projects, Smith explained to Harper’s Magazine that streamers were looking to grow their subscriber numbers by taking big creative swings that pulled in new audiences.
“It’s like a whole world of intellectuals and artists got a multibillion-dollar grant from the tech world,” Smith said. “But we mistook that, and were frankly actively gaslit into thinking that that was because they cared about art.
The first season of the series arrived on the streamer in 2019, the second one on Jan. 8, 2021. Season 3 concluded the arc Smith envisioned for the project and came out Nov. 5, 2021.
Describing what drove streaming services to make creative projects, Smith explained to Harper’s Magazine that streamers were looking to grow their subscriber numbers by taking big creative swings that pulled in new audiences.
“It’s like a whole world of intellectuals and artists got a multibillion-dollar grant from the tech world,” Smith said. “But we mistook that, and were frankly actively gaslit into thinking that that was because they cared about art.
- 4/15/2024
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
Hailee Steinfeld, who voices Gwen Stacy in the acclaimed Spider-Verse movies, will star opposite Michael B. Jordan in Ryan Coogler’s untitled supernatural thriller being made by Warner Bros. Pictures.
The buzzy project, the object of a high-profile bidding war in January, heads before cameras later this month in New Orleans and has been furiously casting up. Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo and Jack O’Connell, among others, make up the heady call sheet.
Little is known about the project — and what is known has yet to be confirmed by either the studio or Coogler. Insiders say the feature is set in the Jim Crow-era South and possibly involves both vampires and Southern supernatural traditions. Jordan may even be playing dual roles — as twin brothers.
However, some hazy casting details have leaked. Mosaku might be playing Jordan’s romantic interest (but of which twin?); O’Connell might be a racist antagonist; and Steinfeld...
The buzzy project, the object of a high-profile bidding war in January, heads before cameras later this month in New Orleans and has been furiously casting up. Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo and Jack O’Connell, among others, make up the heady call sheet.
Little is known about the project — and what is known has yet to be confirmed by either the studio or Coogler. Insiders say the feature is set in the Jim Crow-era South and possibly involves both vampires and Southern supernatural traditions. Jordan may even be playing dual roles — as twin brothers.
However, some hazy casting details have leaked. Mosaku might be playing Jordan’s romantic interest (but of which twin?); O’Connell might be a racist antagonist; and Steinfeld...
- 4/9/2024
- by Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Taylor Swift is one of the most influential celebrities of her time. The singer-songwriter is often a hot topic on the internet, whether it be for her music or personal life. As Swift prepares for the release of her new studio album, she is once again in the news, particularly because of her ancestry. According to a report, Swift is related to the 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson.
Taylor Swift (@taylorswift | Instagram)
However, the distant nature of their ancestral connection has left netizens scoffing at the link between the two famous women. As a result, internet users are brutally trolling Swift for her alleged relation to one of the most influential poets of American Poetry. Here is what netizens are saying about Taylor Swift being revealed to be a distant relative of Emily Dickinson.
Suggested“I don’t want to blow it”: Adam Sandler Thinks of Taylor Swift to be...
Taylor Swift (@taylorswift | Instagram)
However, the distant nature of their ancestral connection has left netizens scoffing at the link between the two famous women. As a result, internet users are brutally trolling Swift for her alleged relation to one of the most influential poets of American Poetry. Here is what netizens are saying about Taylor Swift being revealed to be a distant relative of Emily Dickinson.
Suggested“I don’t want to blow it”: Adam Sandler Thinks of Taylor Swift to be...
- 3/5/2024
- by Pratik Handore
- FandomWire
It all makes sense why Taylor Swift has turned out to be one of the most prolific wordsmiths of the 21st century as poetry seems to reside in her blood. Since embarking on her vocal journey two decades back, the Grammy Winner has cemented herself as one of the most successful pop stars of the modern era, and things aren’t looking to slow down anytime soon.
And following her lyrical chops, it comes as no surprise that the pop queen is linked to one of the most important figures in American literature, Emily Dickinson.
Taylor Swift in the music video of End Game
Taylor Swift Is the Late Emily Dickinson’s Cousin
While the legendary Emily Dickinson enjoyed little success during her lifetime, she went on to become one of the greatest figures in American poetry after her death. And per Genealogy company Ancestry, Dickinson is linked to the Shake it Off singer,...
And following her lyrical chops, it comes as no surprise that the pop queen is linked to one of the most important figures in American literature, Emily Dickinson.
Taylor Swift in the music video of End Game
Taylor Swift Is the Late Emily Dickinson’s Cousin
While the legendary Emily Dickinson enjoyed little success during her lifetime, she went on to become one of the greatest figures in American poetry after her death. And per Genealogy company Ancestry, Dickinson is linked to the Shake it Off singer,...
- 3/4/2024
- by Santanu Roy
- FandomWire
Looks like Taylor Swift’s lyricism might be hereditary!
On Monday, the genealogy company Ancestry revealed that it found historical documents that connect Swift’s family tree to American poet Emily Dickinson. Swift and Dickinson are sixth cousins, three times removed.
According to Ancestry, both Swift and Dickinson descend from a 17th-century English immigrant — Swift’s ninth great-grandfather, Dickinson’s sixth great-grandfather — who settled in Windsor, Connecticut.
Swift’s ancestors stayed in Connecticut for six generations until part of her family line moved to Pennsylvania, where they married into the Swifts,...
On Monday, the genealogy company Ancestry revealed that it found historical documents that connect Swift’s family tree to American poet Emily Dickinson. Swift and Dickinson are sixth cousins, three times removed.
According to Ancestry, both Swift and Dickinson descend from a 17th-century English immigrant — Swift’s ninth great-grandfather, Dickinson’s sixth great-grandfather — who settled in Windsor, Connecticut.
Swift’s ancestors stayed in Connecticut for six generations until part of her family line moved to Pennsylvania, where they married into the Swifts,...
- 3/4/2024
- by Tomás Mier
- Rollingstone.com
Taylor Swift has a very famous relative and it seems like they have something in common: writing amazing works of art!
The 34-year-old superstar was found to be a distant cousin of the late poet Emily Dickinson. This revelation comes on the heels of Taylor‘s upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Keep reading to find out more…
According to genealogy company Ancestry, Taylor and Emily are sixth cousins, three times removed (via the Today show).
“Swift and Dickinson both descend from a 17th century English immigrant,” Ancestry told the morning show. “Taylor Swift’s ancestors remained in Connecticut for six generations until her part of the family eventually settled in northwestern Pennsylvania, where they married into the Swift family line.”
Funnily enough, Taylor has publicly mentioned Emily before.
In 2022, while accepting the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International, Taylor said, “If my lyrics sound...
The 34-year-old superstar was found to be a distant cousin of the late poet Emily Dickinson. This revelation comes on the heels of Taylor‘s upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Keep reading to find out more…
According to genealogy company Ancestry, Taylor and Emily are sixth cousins, three times removed (via the Today show).
“Swift and Dickinson both descend from a 17th century English immigrant,” Ancestry told the morning show. “Taylor Swift’s ancestors remained in Connecticut for six generations until her part of the family eventually settled in northwestern Pennsylvania, where they married into the Swift family line.”
Funnily enough, Taylor has publicly mentioned Emily before.
In 2022, while accepting the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International, Taylor said, “If my lyrics sound...
- 3/4/2024
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
To further convince you that Taylor Swift belongs in the Tortured Poets Department, a new report has revealed that the singer is related to legendary American poet Emily Dickinson.
As reported by Today, Swift and Dickinson both descend from a 17th century English immigrant who settled in Windsor, Connecticut. The genealogy company Ancestry, who conducted the heritage test, found that Swift and Dickinson are sixth cousins, three times removed. “Taylor Swift’s ancestors remained in Connecticut for six generations until her part of the family eventually settled in northwestern Pennsylvania, where they married into the Swift family line,” Ancestry’s report reads.
As many Swifties know, Taylor has oft been inspired by 19th century poets such as Dickinson, and slyly referenced them in her pair of 2020 albums folklore and evermore. With her new album Tortured Poets Department set for release on April 12th, Swift is rumored to be reprising the softer folk sounds from folklore,...
As reported by Today, Swift and Dickinson both descend from a 17th century English immigrant who settled in Windsor, Connecticut. The genealogy company Ancestry, who conducted the heritage test, found that Swift and Dickinson are sixth cousins, three times removed. “Taylor Swift’s ancestors remained in Connecticut for six generations until her part of the family eventually settled in northwestern Pennsylvania, where they married into the Swift family line,” Ancestry’s report reads.
As many Swifties know, Taylor has oft been inspired by 19th century poets such as Dickinson, and slyly referenced them in her pair of 2020 albums folklore and evermore. With her new album Tortured Poets Department set for release on April 12th, Swift is rumored to be reprising the softer folk sounds from folklore,...
- 3/4/2024
- by Paolo Ragusa
- Consequence - Music
The Buccaneers is a period drama series created by Katherine Jakeways. The Apple TV+ series is based on an unfinished novel of the same name by Edith Warton, the series revolves around a group of young American women in 1870s London as both American and British cultures clash because of the wildly different approach to their traditions. The Buccaneers stars Kristine Frøseth, Alisha Boe, Matthew Broome, Josh Dylan, Barney Fishwick, and Aubri Ibrag. So, if you loved the Apple TV+ series here are some similar shows you could watch next.
The Buccaneers (BritBox & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – BBC One
Synopsis: A lavish, star-studded adaptation of Edith Wharton’s final book. In London for the season, four beautiful Americans charm the impoverished English aristocracy with their vivacity and wealth. But it all turns to ashes.
Gentleman Jack (Max & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – HBO
Synopsis: Set in the changing world of 1832 England...
The Buccaneers (BritBox & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – BBC One
Synopsis: A lavish, star-studded adaptation of Edith Wharton’s final book. In London for the season, four beautiful Americans charm the impoverished English aristocracy with their vivacity and wealth. But it all turns to ashes.
Gentleman Jack (Max & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – HBO
Synopsis: Set in the changing world of 1832 England...
- 11/13/2023
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
From Distant Voices, Still Lives to Benediction, the lyrical work of the late director was suffused with the ‘ecstasy’ of cinema – and his fraught Liverpool childhood
Last month, British cinema lost one of its greatest and most distinctive screen poets. From an astonishing trilogy of early short films (Children; Madonna and Child; Death and Transfiguration – all available on BFI Player) to his final feature, Benediction (2021), Terence Davies seamlessly blended personal recollections with wider universal truths. His subjects ranged from autobiographically inspired portraits of postwar working-class life in Liverpool to sweeping literary adaptations and intimate portraits of real-life authors, most remarkably the American poet Emily Dickinson, brilliantly played by Cynthia Nixon in A Quiet Passion, 2016. Yet each of his films felt deeply, distinctly personal. No wonder Jack Lowden, who played Siegfried Sassoon in Benediction, told me that after immersing himself in his subject’s diaries in preparation for the role, he...
Last month, British cinema lost one of its greatest and most distinctive screen poets. From an astonishing trilogy of early short films (Children; Madonna and Child; Death and Transfiguration – all available on BFI Player) to his final feature, Benediction (2021), Terence Davies seamlessly blended personal recollections with wider universal truths. His subjects ranged from autobiographically inspired portraits of postwar working-class life in Liverpool to sweeping literary adaptations and intimate portraits of real-life authors, most remarkably the American poet Emily Dickinson, brilliantly played by Cynthia Nixon in A Quiet Passion, 2016. Yet each of his films felt deeply, distinctly personal. No wonder Jack Lowden, who played Siegfried Sassoon in Benediction, told me that after immersing himself in his subject’s diaries in preparation for the role, he...
- 11/4/2023
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
When Taylor Swift released the long-awaited rerecording of her genre-leaping album 1989, fans eagerly pored over vault tracks, theories of double albums, and limited edition vinyl releases that could predict Swift’s next re-record. But for Gaylors, a dedicated Swift fanbase that’s existed for over a decade, Swift’s prologue and a mention of her feelings surrounding speculation about her love life have dampened what should have been an exciting release.
Thinking about the 24-year-old she was when 1989 was released, Swift writes, “I swore off dating and decided to only focus on myself,...
Thinking about the 24-year-old she was when 1989 was released, Swift writes, “I swore off dating and decided to only focus on myself,...
- 10/27/2023
- by CT Jones
- Rollingstone.com
Gillian Anderson paid tribute to Terence Davies, the British filmmaker who directed one of her most acclaimed performances for “The House of Mirth,” crediting him with giving her “my first ‘proper’ film job.” Davies died on Oct. 7 at the age of 77 following a short illness.
“The House of Mirth,” an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel of the same name, saw Anderson portray Lily Bart, a tragic socialite whose quest for love and financial security leads her to ruin. Davies wrote the script, in addition to directing the film.
The role came to Anderson at a time when she was best known for portraying FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the paranormal series “The X-Files.” The film provided an opportunity for the actor to showcase her range with a meaty role in a period piece. It was also good news for Davies, with “The House of Mirth” representing a significant...
“The House of Mirth,” an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel of the same name, saw Anderson portray Lily Bart, a tragic socialite whose quest for love and financial security leads her to ruin. Davies wrote the script, in addition to directing the film.
The role came to Anderson at a time when she was best known for portraying FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the paranormal series “The X-Files.” The film provided an opportunity for the actor to showcase her range with a meaty role in a period piece. It was also good news for Davies, with “The House of Mirth” representing a significant...
- 10/9/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmaker died after a short illness, according to his family.
Acclaimed UK filmmaker Terence Davies died today (October 7) aged 77 after a short illness, according to a social media post from his family.
Davies’ best known works include autobiographical films Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) and The Long Day Closes (1992); and literary adaptations The House Of Mirth (2000) with Gillian Anderson, which won the Bafta for best British film; and The Deep Blue Sea (2011) with Rachel Weisz.
His other projects include documentary Of Time And City, which premiered at Cannes in 2008, and A Quiet Passion (2015), based on the life of Emily Dickinson.
His...
Acclaimed UK filmmaker Terence Davies died today (October 7) aged 77 after a short illness, according to a social media post from his family.
Davies’ best known works include autobiographical films Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) and The Long Day Closes (1992); and literary adaptations The House Of Mirth (2000) with Gillian Anderson, which won the Bafta for best British film; and The Deep Blue Sea (2011) with Rachel Weisz.
His other projects include documentary Of Time And City, which premiered at Cannes in 2008, and A Quiet Passion (2015), based on the life of Emily Dickinson.
His...
- 10/7/2023
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Terence Davies, the British filmmaker known for “Distant Voices, Still Lives,” “The Deep Blue Sea” and “The Long Day Closes,” has died. He was 77.
The news of Davies’ death was shared on his official Instagram page: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Terence Davies, who died peacefully at home after a short illness, today on 7th October 2023.”
Davies was admired for his period films as well as his early autobiographical trilogy about growing up in Liverpool.
“Being in the past makes me feel safe because I understand that world,” he told the Guardian in 2022.
Though his films were widely recognized for their sensitive depictions of gay life, Catholicism and other frequent themes, they didn’t amass a huge number of awards, which he considered in his typically philosophical way. “It would have been nice to be acknowledged by Bafta. Again, there’s also part of...
The news of Davies’ death was shared on his official Instagram page: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Terence Davies, who died peacefully at home after a short illness, today on 7th October 2023.”
Davies was admired for his period films as well as his early autobiographical trilogy about growing up in Liverpool.
“Being in the past makes me feel safe because I understand that world,” he told the Guardian in 2022.
Though his films were widely recognized for their sensitive depictions of gay life, Catholicism and other frequent themes, they didn’t amass a huge number of awards, which he considered in his typically philosophical way. “It would have been nice to be acknowledged by Bafta. Again, there’s also part of...
- 10/7/2023
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
Terence Davies, the Liverpool-born director of autobiographical memory pieces like “The Long Day Closes” and “Distant Voices, Still Lives,” has died. He was 77. The English filmmaker passed away peacefully in his home after a short illness on October 7, as confirmed on his official social media pages.
Davies directed several masterpieces in his lifetime, from the sorrowful “The Deep Blue Sea” starring Rachel Weisz as an eternally unhappy seeker of love to his debut feature “Distant Voices,” built on his own closeted working-class British upbringing. You could even say the same about his last film, “Benediction,” starring Jack Lowden as the queer poet Siegfried Sassoon, wrapped around by a coterie of Bright Young Things. He received great acclaim for films like “A Quiet Passion,” starring Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, as well as the Edith Wharton adaptation “House of Mirth,” led by Gillian Anderson. Serious actors loved working with him,...
Davies directed several masterpieces in his lifetime, from the sorrowful “The Deep Blue Sea” starring Rachel Weisz as an eternally unhappy seeker of love to his debut feature “Distant Voices,” built on his own closeted working-class British upbringing. You could even say the same about his last film, “Benediction,” starring Jack Lowden as the queer poet Siegfried Sassoon, wrapped around by a coterie of Bright Young Things. He received great acclaim for films like “A Quiet Passion,” starring Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, as well as the Edith Wharton adaptation “House of Mirth,” led by Gillian Anderson. Serious actors loved working with him,...
- 10/7/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
[The following story contains spoilers from the Barbie movie.]
The playful rivalry between Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer continues.
Not only has the films’ release dates being on the same day, July 21, started a “Barbenheimer” phenomenon across social media but also the two movies, with completely contrasting themes, have some other similarities.
During a recent interview with the Associated Press, published online Thursday, Gerwig elaborated on why she chose to reference author Marcel Proust in the film.
“In ‘Remembrance of Things Past,’ in Swann’s Way, he is literally thrown back into his childhood through the taste of the madeleine,” she explained. “I thought, well, that’ll be a nice Easter egg for one person.”
The specific scene the director is referencing is when Margot Robbie’s Barbie steps inside her plastic packaging and makes a remark that the familiar smell is a Proustian memory. Will Ferrell’s Mattel CEO character then proceeds to say,...
The playful rivalry between Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer continues.
Not only has the films’ release dates being on the same day, July 21, started a “Barbenheimer” phenomenon across social media but also the two movies, with completely contrasting themes, have some other similarities.
During a recent interview with the Associated Press, published online Thursday, Gerwig elaborated on why she chose to reference author Marcel Proust in the film.
“In ‘Remembrance of Things Past,’ in Swann’s Way, he is literally thrown back into his childhood through the taste of the madeleine,” she explained. “I thought, well, that’ll be a nice Easter egg for one person.”
The specific scene the director is referencing is when Margot Robbie’s Barbie steps inside her plastic packaging and makes a remark that the familiar smell is a Proustian memory. Will Ferrell’s Mattel CEO character then proceeds to say,...
- 7/20/2023
- by Carly Thomas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Taylor Swift learned quickly that being on top meant a rougher landing at the bottom. The year after she released sophomore album Fearless should have been joyful: The album helped begin her transition from country wunderkind to veritable pop star thanks to the five Top 10 hits it birthed. She would find herself as often the youngest or only country star amongst mainstream pop, rap, and rock heavyweights — incuding at the MTV VMAs where “You Belong With Me” took home Best Female Video. She would even take home her first Album...
- 7/8/2023
- by Brittany Spanos
- Rollingstone.com
Ambiguous, Kafkaesque and with a deadpan wit, Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy’s debut feature explores a woman’s place in a man’s world
Egyptian film-maker Omar El Zohairy is a brilliant emerging talent with an impressive professional pedigree; he is a former assistant to Yousry Nasrallah (who himself started out as assistant to the celebrated Youssef Chahine) and has won festival prizes with this, his debut feature. It’s a comedy with a little of Woody Allen or Franz Kafka – though with not much of the famous Emily Dickinson quote about what hope is. It is also a social-surrealist parable about a woman’s place in a man’s world. Higher than the animals? Lower than the animals? El Zohairy conjures something elegant and mysterious with a deadpan wit, which coolly encases its compassion. He frames his shots with superb compositional flair – this film actually reminded me of another Egyptian film,...
Egyptian film-maker Omar El Zohairy is a brilliant emerging talent with an impressive professional pedigree; he is a former assistant to Yousry Nasrallah (who himself started out as assistant to the celebrated Youssef Chahine) and has won festival prizes with this, his debut feature. It’s a comedy with a little of Woody Allen or Franz Kafka – though with not much of the famous Emily Dickinson quote about what hope is. It is also a social-surrealist parable about a woman’s place in a man’s world. Higher than the animals? Lower than the animals? El Zohairy conjures something elegant and mysterious with a deadpan wit, which coolly encases its compassion. He frames his shots with superb compositional flair – this film actually reminded me of another Egyptian film,...
- 7/3/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Will Butler is teaming up with his backing band Sister Squares for a new album, naturally titled Will Butler + Sister Squares. The LP arrives September 22nd via Merge, and as a preview, the artists have shared the lead single “Long Grass.” The band have also mapped out North American and European tour dates for later this year.
Butler began working with Sister Squares — Miles Francis, Julie Shore, Jenny Shore, and Sara Dobbs — several years ago, when he first began putting out solo music. “I met Jenny — my wife! — in college, the year before I joined Arcade Fire,” he explained in a statement. “When I needed a band to tour Policy, I asked [Jenny’s sister] Julie to join because I trusted her musically. And I asked Sara, Jenny and Julie’s childhood friend, because I knew she was super talented.” Meanwhile, Buter met previous Antibalas drummer Francis when his band opened for Arcade Fire.
Butler began working with Sister Squares — Miles Francis, Julie Shore, Jenny Shore, and Sara Dobbs — several years ago, when he first began putting out solo music. “I met Jenny — my wife! — in college, the year before I joined Arcade Fire,” he explained in a statement. “When I needed a band to tour Policy, I asked [Jenny’s sister] Julie to join because I trusted her musically. And I asked Sara, Jenny and Julie’s childhood friend, because I knew she was super talented.” Meanwhile, Buter met previous Antibalas drummer Francis when his band opened for Arcade Fire.
- 6/27/2023
- by Carys Anderson
- Consequence - Music
According to our current combined predictions, Jodie Comer (“Prima Facie”) is the frontrunner to win Best Actress in a Play at this year’s Tony Awards with 12/5 odds. She already won an Olivier a couple of months ago for her work in the West End production. She would be the fifth Tony winner in this category for a one-woman performance.
In Suzie Miller‘s one-woman show, Comer plays Tessa, a barrister from working-class origins who must deal with an unexpected event that forces her to confront the patriarchal power and morality of the law.
When it comes to solo performances at the Tonys, four have prevailed in this category before. In 1977 Julie Harris won her fifth and final competitive accolade for her portrayal of Emily Dickinson in William Luce‘s “The Belle of Amherst.” In 1986 Lily Tomlin won for playing multiple characters in Jane Wagner‘s “The Search for Signs...
In Suzie Miller‘s one-woman show, Comer plays Tessa, a barrister from working-class origins who must deal with an unexpected event that forces her to confront the patriarchal power and morality of the law.
When it comes to solo performances at the Tonys, four have prevailed in this category before. In 1977 Julie Harris won her fifth and final competitive accolade for her portrayal of Emily Dickinson in William Luce‘s “The Belle of Amherst.” In 1986 Lily Tomlin won for playing multiple characters in Jane Wagner‘s “The Search for Signs...
- 5/29/2023
- by Jeffrey Kare
- Gold Derby
A world expert on William Shakespeare has compared Taylor Swift to some of history’s greatest writers – including the Bard himself – and said she is a “real poet”.
Scholar Sir Jonathan Bate, a former Shakespeare professor at Warwick University, said he believed the popstar is more than “just high-class showbiz” and has a “literary sensibility” that was apparent from her debut album.
In a piece for The Sunday Times Magazine titled Why Taylor Swift is a literary giant, he wrote that he had “one of the best nights of [his] life” at one of Swift’s concerts.
“Listening to her lyrics, which most of the rapturous (mainly female) audience seemed to know by heart, I came away with confirmation of a thought I first had 15 years ago: this isn’t just high-class showbiz, Taylor Swift is a real poet,” he said.
Sir Jonathan analysed how the singer has been inspired by...
Scholar Sir Jonathan Bate, a former Shakespeare professor at Warwick University, said he believed the popstar is more than “just high-class showbiz” and has a “literary sensibility” that was apparent from her debut album.
In a piece for The Sunday Times Magazine titled Why Taylor Swift is a literary giant, he wrote that he had “one of the best nights of [his] life” at one of Swift’s concerts.
“Listening to her lyrics, which most of the rapturous (mainly female) audience seemed to know by heart, I came away with confirmation of a thought I first had 15 years ago: this isn’t just high-class showbiz, Taylor Swift is a real poet,” he said.
Sir Jonathan analysed how the singer has been inspired by...
- 4/16/2023
- by Ellie Harrison
- The Independent - Music
MorDance celebrates its tenth anniversary performance season with two groundbreaking world premiere ballets centering themes of activism and humanity. Performances are April 28-29, 2023 at 7:30pm at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College as part of the Cuny Dance Initiative. Tickets are $30 for adults, and $20 for students and seniors. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://mordance.ticketleap.com/mordance/.
The program’s premieres are committed to dancemaking that embodies artistic excellence while promoting civic engagement and social awareness. Choreographer Morgan McEwen joins forces with composer Polina Nazaykinskaya to create a new work inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem They Shut Me Up In Prose, with live music by Konstantin Soukhovetski and Jesus Rodolfo. An additional partnership with composer Josh Knowles is influenced by visual artist Chris Jordan’s film Albatross. The much-anticipated revival of McEwen’s 2018 ballet Stabat Mater will round out this triple bill.
The program’s premieres are committed to dancemaking that embodies artistic excellence while promoting civic engagement and social awareness. Choreographer Morgan McEwen joins forces with composer Polina Nazaykinskaya to create a new work inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem They Shut Me Up In Prose, with live music by Konstantin Soukhovetski and Jesus Rodolfo. An additional partnership with composer Josh Knowles is influenced by visual artist Chris Jordan’s film Albatross. The much-anticipated revival of McEwen’s 2018 ballet Stabat Mater will round out this triple bill.
- 3/17/2023
- by Music Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Music
During the pandemic, Valentine’s Day will look noticeably different to previous years.
Many people in relationships will be separated by distance, or due to ongoing lockdown restrictions, while single people are also forced to put their lives on hold.
However, there are myriad ways to celebrate one of the most romantic days of the year. Take inspiration from the poets and musicians who have, through the centuries, managed to convey their affection by sending letters and notes to their loved ones, however far away they might have been.
Below are excerpts from some of the most famous love letters of all time:
1. Johnny Cash to June Carter Cash, 1994 (on June’s 65th birthday)
"Happy Birthday Princess,
We get old and get use to each other. We think alike.
We read each others minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit.
Many people in relationships will be separated by distance, or due to ongoing lockdown restrictions, while single people are also forced to put their lives on hold.
However, there are myriad ways to celebrate one of the most romantic days of the year. Take inspiration from the poets and musicians who have, through the centuries, managed to convey their affection by sending letters and notes to their loved ones, however far away they might have been.
Below are excerpts from some of the most famous love letters of all time:
1. Johnny Cash to June Carter Cash, 1994 (on June’s 65th birthday)
"Happy Birthday Princess,
We get old and get use to each other. We think alike.
We read each others minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit.
- 2/14/2023
- by Roisin O'Connor
- The Independent - Music
Image Source: Getty / Rb / Bauer-Griffin / Gc Images
There's a new TikTok queen in town. Jennifer Coolidge finally joined the app on Jan. 19, and her first post was a cinematic masterpiece, obviously. In the selfie-style video, the actor stands in front of a green screen and tells viewers, "Hi, this is my first TikTok, and I was trying to think of something cool to do, and I think I'm just gonna do a poem that I like." She proceeds to dramatically recite not Emily Dickinson, not William Shakespeare, but the chorus of Jennifer Lopez's 2002 hit "Jenny From the Block," inexplicably adding a few extra "Jennys" to the lyrics for good measure.
Coolidge then pans the camera over to none other than J Lo herself, who, perched in a chair nearby, says, "I like that. I really, really like that." The clip concludes by cutting Coolidge off as she wordlessly reacts to Lopez's praise.
There's a new TikTok queen in town. Jennifer Coolidge finally joined the app on Jan. 19, and her first post was a cinematic masterpiece, obviously. In the selfie-style video, the actor stands in front of a green screen and tells viewers, "Hi, this is my first TikTok, and I was trying to think of something cool to do, and I think I'm just gonna do a poem that I like." She proceeds to dramatically recite not Emily Dickinson, not William Shakespeare, but the chorus of Jennifer Lopez's 2002 hit "Jenny From the Block," inexplicably adding a few extra "Jennys" to the lyrics for good measure.
Coolidge then pans the camera over to none other than J Lo herself, who, perched in a chair nearby, says, "I like that. I really, really like that." The clip concludes by cutting Coolidge off as she wordlessly reacts to Lopez's praise.
- 1/27/2023
- by Victoria Messina
- Popsugar.com
Having its world premiere at the Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam, Georden West’s directorial debut “Playland” is an interdisciplinary film about the titular establishment, Boston’s oldest gay bar. “I was volunteering at an MIT event, like an archive hackathon, and I learned about People Before Highways, which was a grassroots movement against urban renewal and the construction of a highway through the middle of Boston, and they were successful,” says West of how they first came across the bones for the film. “I think it is a story of what happens when government intervention is very successful in a fringe subculture in erasing it. So I became quite impassioned, and that’s what led me initially to the archive to dig at the history project.”
Commenting on the ensemble-based format of the film, West says they were “interested in something that was polyphonic. Following a single protagonist through an...
Commenting on the ensemble-based format of the film, West says they were “interested in something that was polyphonic. Following a single protagonist through an...
- 1/26/2023
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
Season 2 of “Ginny & Georgia” is back and better than ever with a bevy of pop culture references and a killer soundtrack. Ginny’s love of literature, reading and writing was established in Season 1, and references to classic books and authors continue to thread through the show’s sophomore season.
As Ginny continues to unravel the layers of her mother Georgia’s (Brianne Howey) past, she still has to deal with an out-of-touch English professor who doesn’t exactly grasp the benefits of a diverse literary canon. Ginny’s bedroom is stocked full of classic and colorful book spines. Her dad Zion (Nathan Mitchell) also references a lot of literary figures.
Ginny’s English teacher Mr. Gitten (Johnathan Potts) challenges her to select a book to present for her AP English class; her selection should, in his words, be “anything that encompasses the Black experience in America.” The three options...
As Ginny continues to unravel the layers of her mother Georgia’s (Brianne Howey) past, she still has to deal with an out-of-touch English professor who doesn’t exactly grasp the benefits of a diverse literary canon. Ginny’s bedroom is stocked full of classic and colorful book spines. Her dad Zion (Nathan Mitchell) also references a lot of literary figures.
Ginny’s English teacher Mr. Gitten (Johnathan Potts) challenges her to select a book to present for her AP English class; her selection should, in his words, be “anything that encompasses the Black experience in America.” The three options...
- 1/14/2023
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
Variety has selected its list of 10 Brits to Watch for 2023, an honor the publication has been bestowing since 2013 on artists across all entertainment media. Past honorees include Harry Styles, Anya Taylor-Joy and Jodie Turner-Smith.
The honorees will be profiled in the Feb. 8 issue of Variety and feted at the seventh annual Newport Beach Film Festival U.K. Honors, to be held at the Londoner Hotel in London.
“With film and television production roaring in the U.K., the royals constantly garnering international chatter and the search for a new James Bond heating up, there’s another fact of U.K. entertainment life that shouldn’t be overlooked: the U.K. new-creatives well is fairly overflowing,” said Steven Gaydos, Variety‘s senior VP of global content and executive editor. “Always a dynamic source of exciting fresh voices, one look at Variety’s 2023 10 Brits to Watch proves that Britannia remains a vital center of artistic regeneration.
The honorees will be profiled in the Feb. 8 issue of Variety and feted at the seventh annual Newport Beach Film Festival U.K. Honors, to be held at the Londoner Hotel in London.
“With film and television production roaring in the U.K., the royals constantly garnering international chatter and the search for a new James Bond heating up, there’s another fact of U.K. entertainment life that shouldn’t be overlooked: the U.K. new-creatives well is fairly overflowing,” said Steven Gaydos, Variety‘s senior VP of global content and executive editor. “Always a dynamic source of exciting fresh voices, one look at Variety’s 2023 10 Brits to Watch proves that Britannia remains a vital center of artistic regeneration.
- 1/13/2023
- by Jenelle Riley
- Variety Film + TV
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival has set its jury, and among its members are “Coda” star and Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” director Destin Daniel Cretton and Jim Gaffigan.
Additionally, Jeremy O. Harris, Ramona S. Diaz and Petra Costa are among the filmmakers who have been appointed to this year’s competition juries for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, it was announced Wednesday.
After two years of virtual presentations, this year’s festival will return to in-person screenings and awards galas — with a concurrent online component for select films running Jan. 24–Jan. 29.
“The jury plays a crucial role in the Festival by amplifying breakthrough works and providing the audience with further opportunities for discovery,” Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente said in a statement. “We thank them for their dedication to artistic excellence and their thoughtful lens on cinematic expression and all that independent film offers.
Additionally, Jeremy O. Harris, Ramona S. Diaz and Petra Costa are among the filmmakers who have been appointed to this year’s competition juries for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, it was announced Wednesday.
After two years of virtual presentations, this year’s festival will return to in-person screenings and awards galas — with a concurrent online component for select films running Jan. 24–Jan. 29.
“The jury plays a crucial role in the Festival by amplifying breakthrough works and providing the audience with further opportunities for discovery,” Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente said in a statement. “We thank them for their dedication to artistic excellence and their thoughtful lens on cinematic expression and all that independent film offers.
- 1/11/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
It wouldn’t be the holidays without Phoebe Bridgers dropping her annual cover. This time, she’s released a delicate rendition of the Handsome Family’s “So Much Wine.”
“I had nothing to say on Christmas day,” Bridgers sings in the opening line. She keeps her version similar to the 2000 original, yet with slower, somber instrumentation. “There’s only so much wine you can drink in one life.”
She co-produced the track with her longtime collaborators Tony Burg and Ethan Gruska. It features her bandmates Marshall Vore and Harrison Whitford,...
“I had nothing to say on Christmas day,” Bridgers sings in the opening line. She keeps her version similar to the 2000 original, yet with slower, somber instrumentation. “There’s only so much wine you can drink in one life.”
She co-produced the track with her longtime collaborators Tony Burg and Ethan Gruska. It features her bandmates Marshall Vore and Harrison Whitford,...
- 11/17/2022
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
For a filmmaker who’s trained his camera on institutions as disparate as mental asylums, public libraries, and university campuses, no subject seems to have exerted a more lasting fascination on Frederick Wiseman than the human face. A Couple, the nonagenarian’s latest, is no exception. Whatever else it may be, the film is first and foremost a portrait of a visage: Sophia Tolstoy’s. Played by Nathalie Boutefeu, she’s A Couple’s protagonist and sole performer, and Wiseman follows her as she swans into an Eden-like garden, pausing every so often to address her husband Leo, an invisible and mute presence standing somewhere behind the camera and haunting every frame. Less a conversation proper than a series of monologues, star-cum-co-writer Boutefeu recites excerpts she and Wiseman stitched together from Sophia’s diaries and the letters the eponymous couple exchanged through the years. Both engrossing and vitriolic, A Couple...
- 11/10/2022
- MUBI
Ethan Hawke has a thing or two to say about misconceptions behind Method acting.
The “Last Movie Stars” director discussed the Method, as formerly taught at the Actors’ Studio by Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg using the Stanislavski Technique, during a PGA panel moderated by TCM host Ben Mankiewicz at the Warner Bros. Discovery offices in New York on Tuesday.
In the CNN Films and HBO Max docuseries about famed Method actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s marriage, respective careers, and acting practices, star Vincent D’Onofrio exemplifies a Method moment by reading a script with emotion, and crying on cue. D’Onofrio teaches at the Studio and even helped Hawke with his “Training Day” audition, with the role landing Hawke his first Oscar nomination.
“If you’re going to make a documentary about Miles Davis, I really want to learn something about music, not just about Miles Davis,” director Hawke explained of the scene.
The “Last Movie Stars” director discussed the Method, as formerly taught at the Actors’ Studio by Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg using the Stanislavski Technique, during a PGA panel moderated by TCM host Ben Mankiewicz at the Warner Bros. Discovery offices in New York on Tuesday.
In the CNN Films and HBO Max docuseries about famed Method actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s marriage, respective careers, and acting practices, star Vincent D’Onofrio exemplifies a Method moment by reading a script with emotion, and crying on cue. D’Onofrio teaches at the Studio and even helped Hawke with his “Training Day” audition, with the role landing Hawke his first Oscar nomination.
“If you’re going to make a documentary about Miles Davis, I really want to learn something about music, not just about Miles Davis,” director Hawke explained of the scene.
- 11/2/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Andrew Bird has enlisted the help of Phoebe Bridgers to create a tender folk interpretation of Emily Dickinson’s 1861 poem, “I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain.”
Bird and Bridgers recorded the song this fall, and the interpretation pairs Dickinson’s verses with soft guitar, light whistling, and drum patter, as well as strings that can feel rich and grand one moment, then cool and steely the next. Bird and Bridgers share vocal duties, trading verses and then coming together for some lovely harmonies, like on the final verse: “And...
Bird and Bridgers recorded the song this fall, and the interpretation pairs Dickinson’s verses with soft guitar, light whistling, and drum patter, as well as strings that can feel rich and grand one moment, then cool and steely the next. Bird and Bridgers share vocal duties, trading verses and then coming together for some lovely harmonies, like on the final verse: “And...
- 10/26/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
“Haters gonna hate...” but Taylor Swift’s influence over pop is undeniable. From her staggering back-catalogue to the public reclamation of her master recordings, the Grammy-winning US artist has, at 32, achieved an extraordinary level of success. Her songs have been compared to the revered works of artists as far apart as Beyoncé, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. And as she prepares to release her 10th studio album, Midnights, it seems as though she’s yet to reach the pinnacle of her songwriting prowess.
So how does she do it? Since the beginning of her career, she’s demonstrated her ability to balance the universal with the hyper-specific. Whether it’s the intensely detailed, semi-biographical ballad “the last great american dynasty” or the thinly veiled references to a fabled break-up call from her ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas in “Forever & Always”, Swift has an uncanny talent for reflecting the world’s emotional angst through her own lens.
So how does she do it? Since the beginning of her career, she’s demonstrated her ability to balance the universal with the hyper-specific. Whether it’s the intensely detailed, semi-biographical ballad “the last great american dynasty” or the thinly veiled references to a fabled break-up call from her ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas in “Forever & Always”, Swift has an uncanny talent for reflecting the world’s emotional angst through her own lens.
- 10/19/2022
- by Zoya Raza-Sheikh
- The Independent - Music
“Haters gonna hate...” but Taylor Swift’s influence over pop is undeniable. From her staggering back-catalogue to the public reclamation of her master recordings, the Grammy-winning US artist has, at 32, achieved an extraordinary level of success. Her songs have been compared to the revered works of artists as far apart as Beyoncé, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. And as she prepares to release her 10th studio album, Midnights, it seems as though she’s yet to reach the pinnacle of her songwriting prowess.
So how does she do it? Since the beginning of her career, she’s demonstrated her ability to balance the universal with the hyper-specific. Whether it’s the intensely detailed, semi-biographical ballad “the last great american dynasty” or the thinly veiled references to a fabled break-up call from her ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas in “Forever & Always”, Swift has an uncanny talent for reflecting the world’s emotional angst through her own lens.
So how does she do it? Since the beginning of her career, she’s demonstrated her ability to balance the universal with the hyper-specific. Whether it’s the intensely detailed, semi-biographical ballad “the last great american dynasty” or the thinly veiled references to a fabled break-up call from her ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas in “Forever & Always”, Swift has an uncanny talent for reflecting the world’s emotional angst through her own lens.
- 10/14/2022
- by Zoya Raza-Sheikh
- The Independent - Music
Plot: “Rosaline” is a fresh and comedic twist on Shakespeare’s classic love story “Romeo & Juliet,” told from the perspective of Juliet’s cousin Rosaline, who also happens to be Romeo’s recent love interest. Heartbroken when Romeo meets Juliet and begins to pursue her, Rosaline schemes to foil the famous romance and win back her guy.
Review: Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s classic romance, has been adapted so many times that recent years have seen animated versions (Gnomeo & Juliet), zombie versions (Warm Bodies), musical versions (Camp Rock 2), and cheerleading versions (Bring It On: In It to Win it) in addition to traditional takes (Julian Fellowes’ 2013 version). While this play remains required reading for high schoolers around the world, the iambic pentameter doesn’t prevent teens from relating to the hormonal urges of the titular Capulet and Montagues who find themselves as star-crossed lovers. Still, another retelling is here...
Review: Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s classic romance, has been adapted so many times that recent years have seen animated versions (Gnomeo & Juliet), zombie versions (Warm Bodies), musical versions (Camp Rock 2), and cheerleading versions (Bring It On: In It to Win it) in addition to traditional takes (Julian Fellowes’ 2013 version). While this play remains required reading for high schoolers around the world, the iambic pentameter doesn’t prevent teens from relating to the hormonal urges of the titular Capulet and Montagues who find themselves as star-crossed lovers. Still, another retelling is here...
- 10/12/2022
- by Alex Maidy
- JoBlo.com
“This award celebrates my family and my co-writers and my team. My friends and my fiercest fans and my harshest detractors and everyone who entered my life or left it.”
Taylor Swift took the stage Tuesday night at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to receive the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International at the Nsai’s annual ceremony. In her illuminating speech, the superstar naturally focused on the songwriting part of her creative process, revealing the three imaginary genres she thinks about when writing lyrics: Quill Lyrics,...
Taylor Swift took the stage Tuesday night at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to receive the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International at the Nsai’s annual ceremony. In her illuminating speech, the superstar naturally focused on the songwriting part of her creative process, revealing the three imaginary genres she thinks about when writing lyrics: Quill Lyrics,...
- 9/21/2022
- by Jason Newman
- Rollingstone.com
A humdrum thriller that clumsily digs into themes of sexual and emotional trauma, Amy Redford’s sophomore feature “What Comes Around” follows Anna (Grace Van Dien), an archetypal perceptive teenage girl on the cusp of maturity. Because she’s the observant kind who yearns for big ideas and possibilities outside of her small suburban world, it’s no surprise that it isn’t a square teenage boy from her school that romantically sweeps Anna off her feet, but a man of nearly 30 years of age she’s met online.
He’s the creepily mysterious Eric, someone who ignites Anna’s all-consuming emotions, shares her love of Emily Dickinson and notices (at least on the surface) the complexities of this young girl who wants to cross over to adulthood fast. But when he shows up at Anna’s doorstep uninvited all too abruptly after traveling hundreds of miles, he rattles the disturbed Anna,...
He’s the creepily mysterious Eric, someone who ignites Anna’s all-consuming emotions, shares her love of Emily Dickinson and notices (at least on the surface) the complexities of this young girl who wants to cross over to adulthood fast. But when he shows up at Anna’s doorstep uninvited all too abruptly after traveling hundreds of miles, he rattles the disturbed Anna,...
- 9/16/2022
- by Tomris Laffly
- Variety Film + TV
The idea of a grown man having sex with a teenage girl is disturbing. This is — sort of — the point of "Roost." I think? It's never really clear what the thriller is trying to say. To be honest, I may have just missed the memo: partway through this film, my urge to crawl out of my skin was so strong that I think my soul left my body. When it was all over, I stumbled out of the theater in a haze, mumbling apologies to those I bumped into, desperately searching for a dark quiet corner to silently scream in private.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, "Roost" is a drama about a young 16-year-old girl who falls in love with a much older man via FaceTime. Why she didn't clue in that he was older by the glaringly obvious signs is a mystery. Maybe she was blinded by his flattery of her poetry.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, "Roost" is a drama about a young 16-year-old girl who falls in love with a much older man via FaceTime. Why she didn't clue in that he was older by the glaringly obvious signs is a mystery. Maybe she was blinded by his flattery of her poetry.
- 9/16/2022
- by Sarah Milner
- Slash Film
In the tireless drive toward progress, it’s easy to forget the past. When it comes to queer history, discrimination and fear of persecution discouraged, if not actively erased, the documenting of queer life. Queer historians have had to fight tooth and nail to reclaim countless writers, artists, and musicians, even if they lived quite openly during their lifetimes. After all, if Emily Dickinson could write her “hot and feverish” letters to Susan without academia recognizing her queerness until recently, what chance was there for everyday queer people of yore?
Brilliantly, a nearly lost chapter of queer history has been delicately excavated in “Casa Susanna,” a sumptuous documentary about an oasis where trans women and crossdressing men found community throughout the 1950s and ’60s. Prolific French filmmaker Sebastien Lifshitz vividly brings the past to life through crackling archival footage, incredible photographs, and the golden memories of those who first found themselves there.
Brilliantly, a nearly lost chapter of queer history has been delicately excavated in “Casa Susanna,” a sumptuous documentary about an oasis where trans women and crossdressing men found community throughout the 1950s and ’60s. Prolific French filmmaker Sebastien Lifshitz vividly brings the past to life through crackling archival footage, incredible photographs, and the golden memories of those who first found themselves there.
- 9/3/2022
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
There are two clear themes that have emerged by now at this year’s Venice Film Festival: one is the concept of the lost soul and the other is the sometimes perilous consequence of letting big-name directors cut loose on their dream projects. At 92, Frederick Wiseman has earned the right to do whatever he wants, but anyone getting over-excited about the prospect of this, his fiction debut, ought to know that Un Couple a) isn’t strictly fiction at all, and b) is very much of a piece with his famously unhurried longform documentaries.
The lost soul in his Venice Competition film is Leo Tolstoy’s wife Sophia, played by French actress Nathalie Boutefeu reading a text assembled from various letters between her and her famous literary husband. Aside from Sophia’s hairstyle and dress, there aren’t really any clues to period,...
The lost soul in his Venice Competition film is Leo Tolstoy’s wife Sophia, played by French actress Nathalie Boutefeu reading a text assembled from various letters between her and her famous literary husband. Aside from Sophia’s hairstyle and dress, there aren’t really any clues to period,...
- 9/2/2022
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
At the age of 92, Frederick Wiseman, the creator of long documentaries, has made a short fiction feature. This begs the question of whether his “A Couple” marks a break from a style established over nearly 60 years, or whether it is a continuation in every way, bar genre technicalities. Wiseman is known for his unobtrusive long takes, naturalistic observations, meticulous focus, and gentle humanism. Faith and patience is required of the viewer as he uses a method comparable to mosaic-building to, piece by piece, assemble a bigger picture of people, places, or institutions.
“’A Couple’ follows a long-term relationship between a man and a woman,” reads the film’s logline. This concept is distilled down into episodes of monologue assembled from diary entries by Sophia Tolstoy, wife of the legendary Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. Their relationship is entirely constructed through her eyes, with his part in things conveyed through the impression...
“’A Couple’ follows a long-term relationship between a man and a woman,” reads the film’s logline. This concept is distilled down into episodes of monologue assembled from diary entries by Sophia Tolstoy, wife of the legendary Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. Their relationship is entirely constructed through her eyes, with his part in things conveyed through the impression...
- 9/2/2022
- by Sophie Monks Kaufman
- Indiewire
Frederick Wiseman has been directing acclaimed documentaries for almost 60 years. His camera has tracked vast institutional forces as far-reaching as the mental hospital in 1967’s seminal “Titicut Follies” to more recent and equally intricate portraits of Jackson Heights, small-town Indiana, and the New York Public Library. With that record, it’s no surprise that when the Venice International Film Festival announced its 2022 lineup with Wiseman’s new film “A Couple” in competition, many assumed that it was another non-fiction project.
“That’s good,” Wiseman said in a recent phone interview with IndieWire from his home in Paris. He was eager to catch people off-guard. “You know that old bromide of Emerson, ‘Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds’? I don’t see why I need to be only categorized as a documentary filmmaker.”
Now he’s setting the record straight: “A Couple” is the rare Wiseman project that was entirely staged.
“That’s good,” Wiseman said in a recent phone interview with IndieWire from his home in Paris. He was eager to catch people off-guard. “You know that old bromide of Emerson, ‘Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds’? I don’t see why I need to be only categorized as a documentary filmmaker.”
Now he’s setting the record straight: “A Couple” is the rare Wiseman project that was entirely staged.
- 8/22/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
This Westworld review contains spoilers.
Westworld Season 4 Episode 7
After watching “Metanoia,” I sat down in the living room with my wife and attempted to explain to her just why Westworld is so much fun for me, and specifically why Ed Harris is such a joy to watch. I spoke about his obvious acting prowess; you don’t get nominated or win as many awards as he has without having chops. I talked a little bit about the character he’s introduced playing, the Man In Black, and how he relates to the fearsome Yul Brynner Gunslinger character from the 1973 film. I talked about how the character, in the fourth season, routinely talks to a Host version of himself about the nature of reality and the philosophical question of what it means to be human. I talked about all the violent set pieces. I talked about the ensemble cast, which only seems to improve every season.
Westworld Season 4 Episode 7
After watching “Metanoia,” I sat down in the living room with my wife and attempted to explain to her just why Westworld is so much fun for me, and specifically why Ed Harris is such a joy to watch. I spoke about his obvious acting prowess; you don’t get nominated or win as many awards as he has without having chops. I talked a little bit about the character he’s introduced playing, the Man In Black, and how he relates to the fearsome Yul Brynner Gunslinger character from the 1973 film. I talked about how the character, in the fourth season, routinely talks to a Host version of himself about the nature of reality and the philosophical question of what it means to be human. I talked about all the violent set pieces. I talked about the ensemble cast, which only seems to improve every season.
- 8/8/2022
- by Ron Hogan
- Den of Geek
Hailee Steinfeld is back with her first music in two years — and she’s getting a co-sign from no other than Anderson .Paak. On Friday, the “Most Girls” singer released her new single “Coast,” a vibey, electric guitar-backed pop earworm.
“This song is deeply personal to me and was influenced by my California roots and the music I grew up listening to with my family,” Steinfeld tells Rolling Stone.
On the beachy song, she sings, “You the wave upon my ocean/pounding rhythm and motion/it’s full moon kinda...
“This song is deeply personal to me and was influenced by my California roots and the music I grew up listening to with my family,” Steinfeld tells Rolling Stone.
On the beachy song, she sings, “You the wave upon my ocean/pounding rhythm and motion/it’s full moon kinda...
- 7/29/2022
- by Tomás Mier
- Rollingstone.com
Fandom is multifaceted, and each of these 10 novels has a unique take on how pop culture shapes our lives. There’s a ’90s classic about digital D&d alongside a contemporary account of game designers from the Oregon Trail generation. Historical fiction set during comics’ Golden and Bronze Ages gives way to a cautionary tale about superheroes’ collateral damage. And while cons can be the setting for geeky romance meet-cutes, they can also be the site of Misery-inspired thrillers.
Whether you’re at San Diego Comic-Con or staying home this year, these books will conjure up the lines, cosplay, and con friendships…
Fangirl
Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Every millennial who first explored the internet through fanfiction needs this charming coming-of-age tale about college freshman Cath, worshipped online for her Simon Snow stories but horribly awkward Irl compared to her twin and former co-author Wren. Rainbow Rowell...
Whether you’re at San Diego Comic-Con or staying home this year, these books will conjure up the lines, cosplay, and con friendships…
Fangirl
Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Every millennial who first explored the internet through fanfiction needs this charming coming-of-age tale about college freshman Cath, worshipped online for her Simon Snow stories but horribly awkward Irl compared to her twin and former co-author Wren. Rainbow Rowell...
- 7/23/2022
- by Natalie Zutter
- Den of Geek
In this hour-long mix devoted to musician Tôru Takemitsu’s soundtrack oeuvre, the Japanese master’s varied body of scoring sounds and collaborations is in full effect, offering a spectrum of different emotions and genres.Takemitsu was a pivotal figure in modern classical music and much of his work continues to influence the contemporary canon today. Early in his career the composer was exposed to Western sounds while working a job for the US Armed Forces, and many of his groundbreaking compositions synthesized Western and Eastern sensibilities. Membership in the avant-garde Jikken Kōbō (an experimental music workshop formed in Japan’s postwar 1950s) led to an interest in and passion for the work of John Cage and concepts such as musique concrète, which can be heard throughout Takemitsu’s singular sound. Additionally, images of Japanese gardens, water, and the poems of Emily Dickinson inspired the tonalities of Takemitsu’s sound,...
- 6/22/2022
- MUBI
Cynthia Nixon reprised her role as lawyer Miranda Hobbes on HBO Max’s “Sex and the City” follow-up “And Just Like That …,” this time adding in a new wrinkle to her character as a queer woman exploring romance with stand-up comic Che Diaz (played by Sara Ramírez). Her 2022 also included a turn in HBO’s “The Gilded Age.” Meanwhile, Bowen Yang brought his frank and fresh perspective to NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” where he completed his third season as a cast member.
Bowen Yang: I wonder how it must have felt to go back into playing Miranda as an actor who probably experienced closure many different times.
Cynthia Nixon: After the second movie, I was like, there will not be anything more. We’re done.
Yang: I believed you.
Nixon: I believed me, too. The only downside to Miranda is when you’re so identified with a character,...
Bowen Yang: I wonder how it must have felt to go back into playing Miranda as an actor who probably experienced closure many different times.
Cynthia Nixon: After the second movie, I was like, there will not be anything more. We’re done.
Yang: I believed you.
Nixon: I believed me, too. The only downside to Miranda is when you’re so identified with a character,...
- 6/18/2022
- by Daniel D'Addario
- Variety Film + TV
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