Luckily for Hirway, when it came to the start of each episode of the new “Song Exploder” Netflix documentary series, he already had a solid foundation. Like so many other aspects of the TV project, it was a matter of building on what was already there. “The theme music for the TV show is actually the same opening from the podcast, but with other stuff added on top of it,” Hirway told IndieWire....
For the first three seasons of the FX hit “Snowfall,” charismatic drug kingpin Franklin Saint (Damson Idris) seemed to have everything under control as he expanded his empire. But Season 4 of the drama found Franklin dealing with a level of chaos he’s never experienced, both from outside forces and within his inner circle, culminating in the ultimate betrayal. A key element in this season was exploring the relationship between Franklin and his father Alton (Kevin Carroll), a former Black Panther who became estranged from his family only to take hesitant steps to reconnect with his son....
“Honestly, one of the most traumatizing experiences of my entire life,” Stevens said of his live performance at the 90th annual Oscar ceremony that he likened to “a horrifying Scientology end-of-year prom.” The Oscars, he said, represent “everything I hate about America and popular culture.” With 26 million viewers, the Oscars represented massive exposure for the shy musician revered for his plaintive and experimental folk-electronic music. Even so, it’s an experience he doesn’t want to repeat....
Blerta Basholli’s “Hive” won three awards in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition: the Directing and Audience awards and the Grand Jury Prize. Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s “Writing with Fire” earned two World Cinema Documentary awards. A total of 72 features screened over the last week, along with 50 shorts, four Indie Series, and 14 New Frontier VR/new media projects. Those projects were judged by a jury made up of Zeynep Atakan, Raúl Castillo, Ashley Clark, Julie Dash, Tacita Dean, Cynthia Erivo, Isaac Julien, Inge de Leeuw, Kim Longinotto, Laura Mulleavy, Kate Mulleavy, Joshua Oppenheimer, Mohamed Ouma Saïd, Jean Tsien, Daniela Vega, Lana Wilson, and Hanya Yanagihara....
The more impressive 2021 figure, however, is $71.9 billion came from digital and discs — a category that includes VOD and streaming across all major studios and Netflix. In 2020, when theaters experienced global shutdowns, digital represented $61.8 billion; in 2019, that figure was $58.8 billion. The digital share was slightly lower in 2021, 72 percent vs. 76 percent in 2020. In pre-Covid 2019, streaming represented $58.8 billion, or 46 percent....
Telluride is always a treat because the event gathers tastemaking audiences at the start, rather than the middle or end, of the awards season, where the spirit of discovery is still in the air and folks aren’t beaten down by the oversaturation of awards campaigns that last the course of six months. Instead, the event, while it does push many of the awards contenders to come out of the gate, is about the pure love of the movies....
Icebreakers don’t work with Richard Jenkins, at least not in the way one might expect. They don’t need to: He’s always present and ready. Still, they don’t hurt, and when the lauded character actor and two-time Oscar nominee popped into a recent Zoom with IndieWire, attempts were made to allay light dismay over technical difficulties — this interviewer was not, unfortunately, popping into frame as quickly as Jenkins — with a question about a wholly unexpected topic: His turn as an assassin in Clint Eastwood’s 1997 drama “Absolute Power....
At the risk of grading “The Sea Beast” on too generous a curve, Williams’ film would stand out from the annual flood of sub-Pixar kiddie fare and generic subscription fodder even if it had nothing to offer beyond its self-belief. It tells a simple but epic story against the backdrop of a well-realized fantasy world, it does so at a measured pace that provokes the imagination rather than pummeling it into submission, and it stays on course by leveraging spectacular action (highlighted by several blistering pirate fights and a PG-rated kaiju brawl) into an effective fable about the perils of inherited prejudice....
“The Suicide Squad” has the potential for a $40 million opening, and the strong likelihood of more. It opened last weekend in the U.K./Ireland opposite “Jungle Cruise” and beat the Disney title by 50 percent. In that territory, “Suicide” is theater only, while “Jungle” had Disney+ availability — with less PVOD penetration. Related ‘The Suicide Squad’: James Gunn Had Just Two Conditions for Making His R-Rated Superhero Film ‘The Suicide Squad’: How Cancellation of ‘Akira’ Allowed James Gunn to Cast Taika Waititi Related Nightmare Film Shoots: The Most Grueling Films Ever Made, from ‘Deliverance’ to ‘Mad Max’ to ‘Avatar 2’ Oscars 2023: Best International Feature Film Predictions Obstacles for “The Suicide Squad” include its R-rating (per MPA, for “strong violence and gore, language throughout, some sexual references, drug use, and brief graphic nudity”)....
On Thursday, Masterpiece on PBS announced that it had renewed “Sanditon,” the ITV series based on Jane Austen’s final, unfinished novel, for not one — but two — seasons. The news comes after an extensive fan driven online campaign for the show, starring Rose Williams as the heroine Charlotte Heywood, to be continued. It just goes to prove that greenlighting a show for a single season and ending with a bodice-ripping cliffhanger (“What do you MEAN she just rides off in the carriage after he came after her?...
It’s that spirit of artistic license that presents the biggest challenge for Miranda who, along with screenwriter Steven Levenson, opts to split the difference on this film version. While framing the action around a recreation (of sorts) of Larson’s original presentation, this “Tick Tick Boom” uses the freedom of a different medium to cut back and forth into the events that inspired those songs and stories. In both halves, Andrew Garfield plays Larson — past and also present, circa 1992 — as a struggling artist on the doorstep of 30 and then as the composer on the verge of fame....
In an exposé in The Hollywood Reporter, multiple industry insiders alleged that “Mission: Impossible 7” is now at the center of a distribution battle between lead star and producer Cruise and production company Paramount Pictures. After multiple COVID-related production delays on “M:I 7,” the studio is setting a 45-day theatrical window for the latest installment in its tentpole franchise before bringing it to Paramount+. Per sources, Cruise is set on a more traditional (but certainly outmoded in 2022) three-month window....
The first, Wilson rookie and Public Theatre director George C. Wolfe’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” will clean up at the Oscars. Even though it’s set in 1920s Chicago, it’s timely in the way that it shows how simmering pain and anguish can explode. Wolfe wisely moved away from winter and leaned into pushing the film’s sweltering heat. Actors will love Oscar winner Viola Davis (“Fences”) as the gold-toothed, hip-swaying, bosomy, sweat-drenched blues singer of the title, and never-nominated Chadwick Boseman (“Black Panther”) as her restless, go-getter trumpeter: he could follow Heath Ledger (“The Dark Knight”) and Peter Finch (“Network”) to win a posthumous Oscar....
After debuting in movie theaters in May, and on Disney+ Premier Access for $29.99, “Cruella” is now streaming on Disney+ at no extra charge to subscribers. Emma Stone stars as Cruella De Vil in the highly anticipated live-action film, which is a reboot of the classic “101 Dalmatians.” Directed by Craig Gillespie, “Cruella” is set in 1970s London and details how Estella (Stone) transforms from aspiring fashion designer into the nefarious dognapper....
“High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” is back! Season 2 of the fan favorite series premiered on Disney+ on Friday, just in time for the weekend. The new season finds East High’s Wildcats preparing to face off against their North High rivals in a prestigious theater competition. Naturally, the Wildcats want to blow the competition out the water with their rendition of “Beauty and the Beast” but who will come out on top?...
More than half a year after “Wonder Woman 1984” was supposed to hit theaters around the world, the film is finally here — the big-budget DC Comics sequel arrived in theaters and on HBO Max Christmas Day. Interested in settling down with your family (whether in person or virtually) and watching it together? Here’s how you can do that. Unlike another major 2020 streaming release, “Mulan” on Disney+, there is no separate, premium tier of service you’ll need to subscribe to in order to access “Wonder Woman 1984....
The total for the weekend was around $10 million, with 11 films. (Disney’s reissue of “Alien” tied with Focus Features’ “Half Brothers” for No. 10.) The same weekend last year totaled $132 million. At this writing, 59 percent of all theaters remain closed by COVID-19 regulations. That includes some theaters that reopened this week, mostly in Colorado. According to industry sources, there’s no indications that theaters will close again — but some are considering reduced hours, opening only on weekends, and other cost-saving options....
While “The Mandalorian” marks the character’s first live-action appearance, Ahsoka has become a staple part of the “Star Wars” franchise throughout the last decade and has appeared in a handful of popular animated television shows. Today, Ahsoka is one of the most popular “Star Wars” characters, but that wasn’t always destined to be the case. Ahsoka made her franchise debut via the 2008 critically-panned “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” film....
“Euphoria” breakout star Sydney Sweeney, who has become a darling of casting directors thanks to roles in HBO’s “Sharp Objects” and “The White Lotus,” opened up about feeling dismissed and overly-sexualized for her recurring nude scenes in the teen-centric drama. “This is something that has bothered me for a while,” Sweeney told The Independent (via E! Online). “I’m very proud of my work in ‘Euphoria.’ I thought it was a great performance....
“David said something that sounded like he was talking about [making more content],” Chase said about the future of “The Sopranos” franchise. “I said, ‘Wait wait, are you talking about a sequel?’ And he said, ‘Maybe.’” “Many Saints of Newark” is set in 1967 against the backdrop of the Newark, New Jersey race riots. The film tracks the relationship between a young Tony Soprano (played in the prequel by Michael Gandolfini, son of James Gandolfini) and his uncle, Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola)....
