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  • 11 films to watch this December

    11 films to watch this December

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    11 films to watch this December

    (Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

    Including Brendan Fraser’s Oscar-tipped performance in The Whale, James Cameron’s Avatar sequel and “a cross between Die Hard and Miracle On 34th Street” – Nicholas Barber lists this month’s unmissable releases.

    (Credit: Picturehouse Entertainment)

    (Credit: Picturehouse Entertainment)

    1 Tori and Lokita

    Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have always written and directed urgent dramas about social injustice, but Tori and Lokita is “the angriest movie the Dardenne brothers have ever made”, says David Ehrlich at IndieWire. The film’s teenage heroes, played by Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu, are African immigrants who live in a shelter in Belgium. They’re battling to avoid being deported, and they have to deliver drugs to pay off a gang of people traffickers, but they are sustained by their bravery, their quick wits, and their unbreakable friendship – for a while, anyway. “Never before have these implicitly political filmmakers so nakedly allowed a moral parable to burn into the stuff of mad-hot polemic,” says Ehrlich. “Its premise pulls tighter until even the simplest actions are endowed with breathless intensity.”

    Released on 2 December in the UK

    (Credit: Paramount Pictures)

    (Credit: Paramount Pictures)

    2 Babylon

    Damien Chazelle’s fascination with the golden age of Hollywood shone through his biggest film, La La Land, but the writer-director goes further in Babylon, a sprawling comedy drama that gives the film business of the 1920s and 1930s the full Boogie Nights treatment. It’s a wild cavalcade of sex-and-drugs-fuelled orgies featuring Brad Pitt as a boozy movie star, Margot Robbie as a cocaine-addled starlet, Diego Calva as a studio assistant, Jovan Adepo as a jazz trumpeter, and Jean Smart as a ruthless gossip columnist. They are all fighting for a place in “this makeshift society that had been built up really fast, in this kind of unbridled, reckless way,” Chazelle told Lauren Huff at Entertainment Weekly. “[Babylon] was a name used to describe Hollywood in those days – the idea of a sinful place, a city of decadence and depravity that was heading to ruin.”

    Released on 23 December in the US and Canada, and 20 January in the UK and Ireland

    (Credit: Sony Pictures)

    3 I Wanna Dance with Somebody

    In the decade since her death in 2012, Whitney Houston has been the subject of a Nick Broomfield documentary, a Kevin Macdonald documentary and a TV movie directed by Angela Bassett (who starred alongside Houston in Waiting to Exhale). All of these films focused on the singer’s relationship crises and battles with drug addiction, but the makers of I Wanna Dance with Somebody promise that their biopic, starring Naomi Ackie, is “a powerful and triumphant celebration… an inspirational, poignant – and so emotional – journey through Houston’s trailblazing life and career”. The director is Kasi Lemmons, who made 2019’s Harriet Tubman drama, Harriet, and the screenwriter/producer is Anthony McCarten, who scripted Bohemian Rhapsody, so they both know a thing or two about “powerful and triumphant” biopics.

    Released on 23 December in the US and Canada, and 26 December in the UK and Ireland

    (Credit: Mary McCartney/Disney+)

    (Credit: Mary McCartney/Disney+)

    4 If These Walls Could Sing

    The Beatles made it world-famous by naming an album after it. Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page played the guitar there on the title song of Goldfinger. John Williams conducted his score for Raiders of the Lost Ark there. And those are just three of the many reasons why London’s Abbey Road Studios deserve a documentary to celebrate their 90th anniversary. If These Walls Could Sing features the affectionate reminiscences of Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Elton John, George Lucas and crowds of other devotees. It’s a stellar line-up, but then, the director is Mary McCartney, a photographer who happens to be Paul McCartney’s daughter. She has “a hell of a shared Rolodex to draw upon in gathering the firsthand rock ‘n’ roll anecdotes you expect and want in a film like this,” says Chris Willman in Variety. “She’s also savvy enough to know that the guy working in the back gluing irreplaceable mid-century microphones back together deserves a few seconds of screen time, too.”

    Released on 16 December on Disney+

    (Credit: DreamWorks Animation)

    (Credit: DreamWorks Animation)

    5 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

    Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) was a swashbuckling, sword-swishing daredevil in the Shrek cartoons, and in his own solo film in 2011, but now the feline Errol Flynn has used up eight of his nine lives. The only way for him to restock is to find a magical wishing star, with the help of his love interest, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), while dodging the Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura). “He never experiences fear because he’s always so cool in every situation,” the cartoon’s director, Joel Crawford, told Total Film. “But now, he’s down to his last life, and there’s a lot of comedy that comes from him being on his back foot.” The animation has been updated to include 2D and 3D elements, much like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. But the really enticing part is that Goldilocks and the Three Bears are now Cockney gangsters voiced by Florence Pugh, Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman and Samson Kayo.

    Released on 23 December in the US and Canada, and 3 February in the UK

    (Credit: Universal Pictures)

    (Credit: Universal Pictures)

    6 Violent Night

    If you’ve ever wanted to see Santa Claus snarling, “Time for some season’s beatings,” and stabbing a baddie in the eye with a star-shaped ornament, then this is the year when your Christmas wish comes true. Violent Night is an aptly titled action comedy produced by David Leitch, one of the makers of Nobody, John Wick and Atomic Blonde. David Harbour (Stranger Things, Black Widow) plays a not-so-jolly old Saint Nick. One Christmas Eve, Santa is delivering presents to a multi-millionaire’s family when a criminal mastermind (John Leguizamo) and his mercenary gang break into their mansion and take them hostage. Cue lots of over-the-top fight scenes, explosions, and jokes about who’s on the naughty list. Harbour describes the film as a cross between Die Hard and Miracle On 34th Street. Let’s ho-ho-hope he’s right.

    Released on 2 December internationally

    (Credit: 20th Century Studios)

    (Credit: 20th Century Studios)

    7 Avatar: The Way of Water

    It’s been 13 years since James Cameron’s Avatar was released, but at last it’s time to return to the planet Pandora, where Jake Scully (Sam Worthington) has been living with Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and the rest of the blue-skinned Na’vi. Why the long wait? Cameron says that he has been writing not just one sequel but four: Avatars parts three to five are due to be released between now and 2028. Overall, he promises an epic science-fiction saga of a family’s growth through the decades. “It will be a natural extension of all the themes, and the characters, and the spiritual undercurrents [of the original Avatar],” Cameron told Rebecca Keegan at Vanity Fair. “Basically, if you loved the first movie, you’re gonna love these movies, and if you hated it, you’re probably gonna hate these. If you loved it at the time, and you said later you hated it, you’re probably gonna love these.”

    Released internationally from 14 to 16 December

    (Credit: Felix Vratny/IFC Films)

    (Credit: Felix Vratny/IFC Films)

    8 Corsage

    The “corsage” of the title doesn’t refer to the flowers pinned to a prom dress, but the corsetry that squeezes Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Vicky Krieps) ever more tightly. The year is 1877, and the Empress has just turned 40. Can she retain her status as a renowned beauty and fashion icon, or should she rebel against society’s constricting expectations? Maria Kreutzer’s playfully postmodern drama recalls Spencer, Pablo Larrain’s film about Princess Diana. “The Favourite and Marie Antoinette also spring to mind when watching this formally unconventional story of an unhappy royal,” says Anna Smith at Time Out. “But Kreutzer has her own style of revisionist feminist history, and aided by Krieps’s bold and brilliant turn, it’s riveting stuff.”

    Released on 23 December in the US and 30 December in the UK

    (Credit: Netflix)

    9 Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

    At the moment, directors love to make films that are blatantly about their own lives: Roma, The Fabelmans, Belfast, The Hand of God and The Souvenir are all part of the trend. Now Alejandro G Iñárritu is taking his turn. The director of Birdman and The Revenant has made a Fellini-esque comedy drama that dives into the memories and dreams of a lauded Mexican filmmaker (Daniel Giménez Cacho) as he prepares to accept a prestigious award. Three hours of navel-gazing will be too much for some viewers, but there are enough stunning, surreal sequences to make it all worthwhile. “This is deeply personal, immersive cinema,” says David Rooney at The Hollywood Reporter, “that evinces much soul-searching, about both individual and national cultural identity, creeping mortality, the price of acclaim, the conflicted heart of the returning expatriate, the porousness of time and the seductive labyrinth of memory.”

    Released on 16 December on Netflix

    (Credit: Searchlight Pictures)

    (Credit: Searchlight Pictures)

    10 Empire of Light

    After two Bond movies and one all-action war thriller, 1917, Sam Mendes changes pace with a gentler, more personal project: Empire of Light is the first film he has scripted himself, without any co-writers. Set in and around a fading cinema in an English seaside town in the early 1980s, Mendes’s bittersweet comedy drama tells the stories of its troubled deputy manager (Olivia Colman), her lecherous boss (Colin Firth), and a handsome new recruit (Micheal Ward) who has to deal with racist abuse. “Sam Mendes’ beautifully old-fashioned, emotional ode to cinema, and the cinemas of his youth… is a treasure worthy of its own magnificently crumbling Art Deco Screens 1 and 2,” says Fionnuala Halligan in Screen International. “Its message of love, tolerance and finding family wherever you can should make an impact in darkened rooms wherever it plays.”

    Released on 9 December in the US and Canada, and 13 January in the UK and Ireland

    (Credit: A24)

    11 The Whale

    You never know what’s going to happen at the Oscars, but it would be a major upset if Brendan Fraser didn’t snag a best actor nomination for his touching performance in The Whale, a chamber piece directed by Darren Aronofsky, and adapted from the play by Samuel D Hunter. Fraser plays Charlie, an English lecturer who is so obese that he can barely get out of his chair, let alone his apartment. Various visitors, including his loyal carer (Hong Chau) and his bitter estranged daughter (Sadie Sink), realise that if he doesn’t change his life, he will die within the week. “Fraser – in his first major role for almost a decade – imbues Charlie with warmth and optimism despite the layers of make-up, prosthetics, and video effects,” says Hannah Strong at Little White Lies. “He captures Charlie’s deep guilt and sadness around how he has lived his life, and an aching desire to love and be loved.”

    Released on 9 December in the US and Canada, and on 3 February in the UK and Ireland

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  • Spielberg’s The Fabelmans review: An emotional crowd-pleaser

    Spielberg’s The Fabelmans review: An emotional crowd-pleaser

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    Making crowd-pleasing movies is Steven Spielberg’s superpower, and sometimes his biggest flaw, pulling him toward a tear-jerking (“ET go home”) tug of sentimentality. His autobiographical The Fabelmans is definitely a crowd-pleaser. It won the Audience Award at the Toronto Film Festival, instantly vaulting it to the top of the Oscars race. But this fictional version of his childhood and adolescence is also among his most rigorous and emotionally honest films, largely avoiding self-indulgence. Infused with family warmth, but with a knowing adult eye on the loss of innocence, it is one of the year’s most genuinely heartfelt films.

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    Spielberg is, of course, famous for stories about broken families, but this one has no adorable extra-terrestrial or UFO to drive the plot. Instead, it relies on Spielberg’s strength as a master storyteller, as we follow Sammy, the Spielberg stand-in, through his beginnings as a filmmaker and his parents’ divorce. Spielberg has revealed much of that story in interviews over the years, so it is clear that The Fabelmans is very close to reality. It begins on a snowy night in 1952 when Burt (Paul Dano), a practical-minded computer engineer, and Mitzi (Michelle Williams), the imaginative parent, take Sammy to the movies. Seeing Cecil B DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth, as the young Steven really did, is awe-inspiring, frightening and life-changing for the wide-eyed small boy (Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord). Spielberg, whose films have a technical crispness even when loaded with fantastical elements, has evidently inherited aspects of both parents.

    The family – including Sammy (played as an adolescent by Gabriel LaBelle) and his three sisters – follows Burt’s job from New Jersey to Arizona to California, but Mitzi is the human dynamo driving the film. Williams captures all her energy and underlying sadness as a suburban homemaker who could have had a career as a pianist. With blonde pixie hair, lacquered red nails and Peter Pan collars – the period details are vibrant and exact – she is adored by everyone around her, yet is also the ultimate disruptor of the family. Her enthusiasm for life and her recklessness seem inseparable. She piles her children into the car and drives toward a tornado because it’s exciting, only later realising the danger they were in.

    It would have been easy for her to run away with the film, but Spielberg never loses sight of the tightly knotted family dynamic. Burt is meek and quiet next to his flamboyant wife, and the role much less flashy. But Dano’s beautifully subtle performance captures Burt’s profound decency. Dano also lets us glean that as the marriage begins to crumble, Burt sees what he doesn’t want to admit even to himself.

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  • Organization surprises Kaukauna Gold Star family with mortgage payoff

    Organization surprises Kaukauna Gold Star family with mortgage payoff

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    Gold Star family has mortgage paid off

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  • Brendan Fraser says he won’t participate in Golden Globes

    Brendan Fraser says he won’t participate in Golden Globes

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Brendan Fraser, whose performance in “The Whale” has made him a likely awards candidate this year, says he won’t attend the Golden Globes in January if he’s nominated.

    In 2018 , Fraser said that the was groped by longtime Hollywood Foreign Press Association member Philip Berk, a former president of the organization behind the Globes. Fraser said the incident took place at a Beverly Hills, California, luncheon in 2003. Berk, a member from South Africa, was expelled from the HFPA last year after calling Black Lives Matter “a racist hate movement.”

    Last year’s Golden Globes were all but canceled after the organization was plunged into scandal over ethical indiscretions and the revelation that the group then included no Black voting members. Many stars, publicists and studios said they were boycotting the Globes. Earlier this year, the HFPA, after reforms, said the 80th Golden Globes will be broadcast January 10 on NBC.

    But Fraser won’t be there.

    “I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Fraser told GQ Magazine in an cover story published Wednesday. Asked whether he’ll be involved with the ceremony if nominated, Fraser said, ”No, I will not participate.

    “It’s because of the history that I have with them,” Fraser added. “And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. You can call me a lot of things, but not that.”

    In Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” which opens in theaters Dec. 9, Fraser plays a reclusive English teacher living with obesity who attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter. He’s nominated for outstanding lead performance at the upcoming Gotham Awards and is widely considered a likely best actor nominee at the Academy Awards.

    After an internal investigation, the HFPA concluded that Berk “inappropriately touched” Fraser, who in 2003 had recently starred in the acclaimed drama “The Quiet American.” But the HFPA said it “was intended to be taken as a joke and not as a sexual advance.” Berk remained a member of the group until his expulsion in 2021.

    “I knew they would close ranks,” Fraser told GQ. “I knew they would kick the can down the road. I knew they would get ahead of the story. I knew that I certainly had no future with that system as it was. … I think it was because it was too prickly or sharp-edged or icky for people to want to go first and invest emotionally in the situation.”

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  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever review: Overshadowed by loss

    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever review: Overshadowed by loss

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    What is lacking is a plot that will grip anyone who isn’t already deeply invested in the geopolitics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Without one central character to follow, it roams all over the place without picking up the breakneck momentum that the best superhero blockbusters have. It pauses for long discussions about the future of Wakanda and the history of Talokan. It checks in on old characters, such as Martin Freeman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s CIA agents. And it spends plenty of time introducing new characters, such as a teenage Iron Man wannabe played by Dominique Thorne, and a Wakandan warrior played by Michaela Coel, the creator of the hit BBC series I May Destroy You. All four of those characters could have been edited out without much difficulty. An over-stuffed soap opera that lasts almost three hours, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever might have worked better if it had been turned into a six-part series for Disney Plus.

    One issue is that, after a couple of scenes set on US soil in the first half, the world as we know it is largely forgotten. Everything leads to a battle between Wakanda and Talokan – and as both countries are invented, and both seem like wonderful places to be, it’s hard to root for a victory on either side. You can sit back and admire the tremendous craftsmanship involved, but don’t expect to be drawn into the story. The hole left by Boseman hasn’t quite been filled.

    ★★★☆☆

    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is on general release from 11 November.

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  • Dream Catcher Foundation Hosts Online Charity Art Exhibition & Auction Supported by Indigenous Celebrities

    Dream Catcher Foundation Hosts Online Charity Art Exhibition & Auction Supported by Indigenous Celebrities

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    Peace Love Art: Indigenous Collective — Supporting Indigenous Contemporary Artists and Causes Throughout the U.S. and Canada

    Press Release
    –

    Oct 31, 2022 09:00 EDT


    THONOTOSASSA, Fla., October 31, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Dream Catcher Foundation (https://www.dreamcatcherfdn.org) is hosting the first annual Peace Love Art: Indigenous Collective – an online charity art exhibition and auction from Nov. 1 through 20, 2022. Over 110 contemporary Native American and First Nations artists throughout North America will display and auction 225 works including paintings, drawings, pottery, sculpture, jewelry, beadwork, fashion, and more. The event launches Nov. 1, 2022 at 10 a.m. EST and bidding will be open until Nov. 20, 2022 at 10 p.m. EST. The link to the event is https://PeaceLoveArt.givesmart.com.

    “We are excited to showcase and support Native and Indigenous artists and charities that are on the front line of causes that are important to Indigenous communities,” said professional cyclist and Dream Catcher Foundation co-founder Shayna Powless (Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin). Shayna’s fiancée and co-founder, Buffalo Bills Defensive Lineman Eli Ankou (Ojibwe – Dokis First Nation, Ottawa) added “Our foundation started as a way to impact and inspire Indigenous communities and youth through sports, but over the past year we expanded our platform to support other causes that are critical to Indigenous peoples.”

    Eli and Shayna recruited other well-known Native American and First Nations celebrities and leaders to expand the Dream Catcher Foundation’s platform and reach. The “Dream Catcher Council” was created and includes actress/model Ashley Callingbull (Cree First Nations), actress Alyssa Wapanatâhk (Cree), MLB Pitcher Brandon Bailey (Chickasaw), singer/actor Brooke Simpson (Haliwa-Saponi), musician Cody Coyote (Ojibwe), actor Eugene Brave Rock (Kainai Nation Blackfoot), professional volleyball player Lauren Schad (Cheyenne River Sioux), professional lacrosse player Lyle Thompson (Onondaga Nation), professional basketball player Michael Linklater (Nehiyaw/Cree), pro cyclist Neilson Powless (Cherokee & Oneida), and storyteller Sarain Fox (Anishinaabe from Batchawana First Nation).

    Eugene Brave Rock, best known for his starring role as “The Chief” in Wonder Woman is not only passionate about Indigenous art, but recognizes there are many worthy causes that are critical to Native communities, including his own passion for preserving Indigenous languages through the Oki Language Project. “Native and First Nation artists do such a great job reinforcing and preserving the culture of our various peoples” said Gene. “This event not only helps share the amazing work of talented artists, but the proceeds from any sales are shared equally among the artists and charities, including Dream Catcher Foundation, Oki Language Project, and others.”

    Dream Catcher Foundation (www.dreamcatcherfdn.org) operates under A+C Foundation (Athletes/Artists + Causes), a 501(c)(3) public charity.

    Source: Dream Catcher Foundation

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  • Shonda Rhimes tells her 1.9M Twitter followers, ‘Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye.’

    Shonda Rhimes tells her 1.9M Twitter followers, ‘Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye.’

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    Shonda Rhimes isn’t impressed with Elon Musk’s plans for Twitter, and she isn’t stick around. Best known for creating and writing Grey’s Anatomy, the TV mogul shared what might be her last tweet Saturday, telling her nearly 2 million followers, “Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye.”

    Musk, a self-described free-speech absolutist, completed his $44 billion takeover of the social media platform on Thursday and promptly fired top executives he had criticized for being too suppressive. 

    While he was quick to reassure advertisers on Thursday that the platform wouldn’t become a “free-for-all hellscape,” not everyone was convinced. General Motors said it would temporarily pause advertising on Twitter, adding, “We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership.” 

    Advertisers, of course, are not keen on appearing near offensive content, and there’s been a sharp increase in that since Musk took control, with Twitter trolls flooding the platform with racial slurs and Nazi memes.

    “The danger here is that in the name of ‘free speech,’ Musk will turn back the clock and make Twitter into a more potent engine of hatred, divisiveness, and misinformation about elections, public health policy, and international affairs,” Paul Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, told the Associated Press.

    On Friday, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO tweeted, “To be super clear, we have not yet made any changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies.” That followed him tweeting earlier: “Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints. No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.” 

    He also offered glimpses into his thinking about the platform’s future on Friday and early Saturday while replying to Twitter suggestions. When a user noted Facebook has something similar to the content moderation council but still angers both the left the right, Musk replied, “Good point. Being able to select which version of Twitter you want is probably better, much as it would be for a movie maturity rating. The rating of the tweet itself could be self-selected, then modified by user feedback.”

    As Musk toys with ideas, however, an increase in hateful content may in the meantime drive some users away from the platform—including prominent ones like Rhimes.

    According to the Network Contagion Research Institute, which analyzes social media content and predicts emerging threats, instances of the N-word increased by nearly 500% in the 12 hours immediately after Musk’s takeover was finalized. 

    Rhimes, an African-American, didn’t elaborate on why she was leaving the platform. But up until now she’s been a prolific user of Twitter, building a large following since joining the platform in November 2008.

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  • 10 of the best films to watch this November

    10 of the best films to watch this November

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    10 of the best films to watch this November

    (Image credit: Warner Bros)

    Including Rian Johnson’s follow-up to Knives Out, Steven Spielberg’s autobiopic The Fabelmans, and cannibal drama Bones and All starring Timothée Chalamet – Nicholas Barber lists this month’s unmissable releases.

    (Credit: Netflix)

    1. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

    How often these days does Hollywood make a sequel to any film that isn’t a cartoon, a horror movie or a CGI-heavy action blockbuster? The answer is: not often at all. But Knives Out was so ingenious, and its central character was so delightful, that Rian Johnson has written and directed another murder mystery in the same gloriously complicated vein. Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc, the brilliant detective with an extravagant vocabulary and an even more extravagant Southern drawl. As in Knives Out, he’s sniffing out a killer among a group of wealthy, entitled Americans, but this time the setting is a private Greek island and the suspects (played by Ed Norton, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe and others) have made their millions from tech and social media. BBC Culture’s Caryn James says that “this hugely entertaining follow-up [is] filled with delicious cameos and loaded with more comic moments than the previous film”.

    Released in UK and US cinemas on 23 November, and on Netflix internationally on 23 December

    (Credit: Warner Bros)

    2. Bones and All

    Luca Guadagnino and Timothée Chalamet, the star and director of Call Me by Your Name, reunite for another tender tale of budding romance, adapted from a novel and set in the 1980s. But Bones and All is different in one key respect: its young lovers can’t resist eating human flesh. One of them, the 18-year-old Maren (Taylor Russell), thought she was the only person with this unconventional dietary requirement, but as she drives around small-town America, she finds that “eaters” are surprisingly common. Among her cannibalistic new acquaintances are the handsome Lee (Chalamet) and the horribly menacing Sully (Mark Rylance). “Guadagnino has created an effective and gruesome shocker,” says John Bleasdale at Sight & Sound. “But Bones and All is also the tale of a lost young pair, finding each other and themselves. It is wryly funny, gleefully entertaining and oddly touching. Delicious and nutritious.”

    Released internationally on 23 November

    (Credit: Alamy)

    3. The Fabelmans

    Roma, Belfast, The Hand of God… there’s a trend at the moment for films about their directors’ own formative years. The latest example is Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, a tender, autobiographical coming-of-age drama that has been widely tipped as a best picture contender at the Oscars. Its young hero has been renamed Sammy Fabelman (played by Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord, and then by Gabriel LaBelle), but his life story follows Spielberg’s own, as he falls in love with cinema, moves from New Jersey to Arizona to Northern California, and witnesses the marital problems of his father (Paul Dano), a computer engineer, and his mother (Michelle Williams), a pianist. “This is the movie we’ve been waiting 45 years for him to make,” says David Fear at Rolling Stone. “It’s one man’s thank you to the movies for saving him. And it’s a great American artist utilising his skill as a great storyteller to finally tell his own… It’s one of the most impressive, enlightening, vital things he’s ever done.”

    Released on 23 November in the US, 24 November in Portugal, 25 November in Poland and Turkey, and 27 January 2023 in the UK

    (Credit: Netflix)

    4. The Wonder

    In a remote Irish village in 1862, an 11-year-old girl (Kila Lord Cassidy) is said to have survived for months without food, so a sceptical English nurse (Florence Pugh) is sent to observe her. The local bigwigs (Ciarán Hinds, Toby Jones, Tom Burke) want answers: is she a miracle or a cheat? A mastermind or a pawn in someone else’s game? Adapted from the novel by Emma Donoghue (Room), Sebastián Lelio’s “eerie and unusual period drama is a magnetic and mysterious little marvel rich in atmosphere and allure”, says Benjamin Lee in The Guardian. But the real miracle in this “incredibly involving” film is Pugh, who is “never less than utterly, mesmerically convincing. She’s so totally in command here that it almost feels as if she’s directing the film from within”. Don’t be surprised if she picks up several best actress nominations this awards season.

    Released on 16 November on Netflix

    (Credit: Netflix)

    5. Lady Chatterley’s Lover

    Having won a Golden Globe for playing Lady Diana Spencer in The Crown, Emma Corrin stars as Lady Constance Chatterley in Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s film of DH Lawrence’s groundbreakingly torrid novel. (Is this the kind of book “you would wish your wife or servants to read,” asked the prosecutor in the British obscenity trial of 1960.) Jack O’Connell co-stars as Oliver Mellors, the rugged gamekeeper who gives the Lady the physical attention she craves after her husband, Sir Clifford (Matthew Duckett), is paralysed from the waist down in World War One. And Joely Richardson, who played Lady Chatterley alongside Sean Bean in a 1993 television series, is Sir Clifford’s nurse, Mrs Bolton. Tomris Laffly at The Wrap says that the film is “a handsome introduction to this feminine saga of sexual awakening, laced with both something old and something new, and plenty of frank, tastefully choreographed and actually steamy eroticism dearly missed in today’s increasingly sterile mainstream cinema”.

    Released in UK cinemas on 25 November, and Netflix internationally on 2 December

    (Credit: Searchlight Pictures)

    (Credit: Searchlight Pictures)

    6. The Menu

    This month’s other satirical tale of the super-rich getting their comeuppance on a private island (see also: Glass Onion), The Menu features Ralph Fiennes as a devilish celebrity chef who presides over one of the world’s most exclusive restaurants. Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy play two of the gourmands who have signed up for the $1250-a-head fine-dining experience. But they soon find that while the chef’s “molecular gastronomy” (including a rock covered in bits of seaweed) is not exactly lip-smacking, the way he treats his customers is even worse. “The rarefied world of haute cuisine is not exactly a hard target to satirise,” says Wendy Ide at Screen Daily, “but this deliciously savage comedy from Succession director Mark Mylod makes every bitter mouthful count. A bracingly spiteful and very funny picture.”

    Released internationally on 18 November

    (Credit: Amazon Prime)

    7. Good Night Oppy

    Nasa’s Mars exploration rover, Opportunity, landed on the Red Planet in 2004. It was expected to function for just 90 days, but the solar-powered, remote-controlled robot kept trundling around, analysing minerals, for 15 years. (Fifteen Earth years, that is, which translates as eight years on Mars.) It’s little wonder that scientists started to see it – or her – less as a machine than as a friendly relative of R2-D2 and Wall-E. Viewers of Ryan White’s documentary might have similar feelings. Alongside Nasa’s own footage, White uses computer-animated sequences to show Oppy’s Martian travels. That means that the “inspirational and wonderfully engaging… Good Night Oppy is more than just a documentary,” says Peter Debruge in Variety. “It’s an animated film as well – and a hugely entertaining one at that.”

    Released in UK cinemas on 4 November, and Amazon Prime internationally on 23 November

    (Credit: BBC Film/BFI)

    8. Aftersun

    Charlotte Wells’ debut as a writer-director is one of the most acclaimed films of the year. Essentially a two-hander, the wistful, intimate Aftersun stars Francesca Corio and Paul Mescal (Normal People) as an 11-year-old girl on a rare holiday with her 30-year-old father in the late 1990s: she still lives with her mother in Scotland while he has moved to England, with no intention of returning. They tour the discos, amusement arcades and karaoke bars of a fading Turkish resort, but it becomes clear that Calum isn’t quite the happy dad he is struggling to be. “Deftly constructed and utterly heartbreaking,” says Pat Brown at Slant Magazine, “Aftersun announces Wells as an eminent storyteller of prodigious powers.”

    Released on 18 November in the UK and Ireland

    (Credit: Walt Disney Studios)

    (Credit: Walt Disney Studios)

    9. Strange World

    Don Hall and Qui Nguyen, the director and writer of Raya and the Last Dragon, use their latest Disney cartoon to pay homage to the classic science-fiction adventure yarns of Jules Verne and HG Wells: the cartoon’s explorer heroes, voiced by Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal and Gabrielle Union, discover a land of weird and wonderful flora and fauna under the Earth’s surface. But like The Incredibles, among other Disney and Pixar films, Strange World is also about family life. “We know this is about Don [Hall] and his dad,” Nguyen told Jamie Jirak at ComicBook.com, “about his children, and what he thinks is important to the world and what he wants to give to the world as a legacy… it’s our love letter to our kids as both fathers and sons.”

    Released internationally on 23 November

    (Credit: Walt Disney Studios)

    (Credit: Walt Disney Studios)

    10. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

    Chadwick Boseman was so revered as King T’Challa of Wakanda, aka Black Panther, that when he died of cancer in August 2020, executives at Marvel Studios knew that they couldn’t recast the part. Instead, Ryan Coogler, the film’s director, made a sequel which pays tribute to Boseman. In part, the film is about T’Challa’s Wakandan friends and relatives battling the aquatic armies of Namor, the Sub-Mariner (Tenoch Huerta). But it is also about a nation grieving for its lost king. “I dreaded the start of this shoot because I could not imagine how we would proceed without Chadwick,” Lupita Nyong’o told Devan Coggan at Entertainment Weekly. “It was unfathomable to me. But Ryan managed to honour his life and his role in both the film and our lives with his moving, truthful, and clear vision.”

    Released internationally on 11 November

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  • The 30 Best 80s Movies That Are Still Totally Bodacious Today

    The 30 Best 80s Movies That Are Still Totally Bodacious Today

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    The key to appreciating Purple Rain beyond its obvious surface pleasures is to take it in as a spin on a 1930s musical. Think of it set in an old time vaudeville theater, and the story of Minneapolis’s First Avenue concert venue with its house bands that practically live there starts to make more sense. But, hey, no one has really loved this movie for its story (or, let’s face it, its acting.) It’s Prince’s score, and the outstanding performances by The Revolution (and Morris Day and the Time) that have cemented this as an 80s musical classic. The final medley of “I Would Die 4 U” into “Baby I’m A Star” is why they invented cameras and lenses. Prince was a charisma machine, and, sure, the scenes with his feuding parents don’t quite work, but any close-up of his eyes reminds you that this was a man who owned any room he entered.

    Back to the Future (1985)

    “Great Scott!” “Think, McFly, think!” “1.21 gigawatts!” Boy, there sure are a lot of out-of-context lines burned into our collective unconscious thanks to Robert Zemeckis’s classic 80s movie, this family-friendly sci-fi adventure. Michael J. Fox is the lovable teen who rides a DeLorean souped-up with a Flux Capacitor burning Libyan plutonium and ends up in 1955 … and accidentally paradoxes himself out of existence unless he can get his father to take his mother to the Enchantment Under The Sea dance. Along the way he invents rock ’n’ roll, freezes the clock tower, and kills a baby pine tree, forever changing the name of a shopping mall. It’s not only one of the best 80s teen movies, but a big, enjoyable hit that still works with audiences of all ages.

    Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

    Considering that Madonna was one of the biggest pop stars of the 80s (and 90s, and onward) it’s fun to look back at her first film and see how scrappy and downtown it was. Shot and set in New York’s underground art scene (the cameos from Rockets Redglare to Arto Lindsay to Annie Golden and many more are incredible!), this madcap swapped-identity comedy from Susan Seidelman is one of the most breezy, fun, and romantic movies of the 80s. Rosanna Arquette is a bored New Jersey hausfrau who takes a trip to Oz after stalking the freewheeling Susan (Madonna) whose sartorially-innovative lifestyle includes eating Cheez Doodles and crossing state lines with stolen earrings from ancient Egypt. Don’t worry too much about the plot, but do look on in wonder at Santo Loquasto’s production and costume design, which made its mark on pop culture and in music videos for years. Whenever anyone says there aren’t good 80s movies, point them this way.

    Ran (1985)

    Japanese master Akira Kurosawa was basically blind by the time he directed this adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, but he’d been painting the storyboards for a decade. The result is a film that’s epic in scope, ranging from battle scenes of brutal realism to dreamlike sequences of natural splendor. (Rarely can one legitimately cite “wind” as a character in a movie.) The Lear story is switched here to three sons, and when things get dicey between them, things turn bloody. Battling factions fly bright, primary-colored flags, making this one of the more sumptuous displays in filmmaking, even if people are killing one another horribly. Tatsuya Nakadai, who starred in five of Kurosawa’s films as well as Japanese classics The Face of Another, Kwaidan, and Portrait of Hell, is mesmerizing as the 16th-century feudal lord slowly losing touch with reality as he transitions between this world and the next.

    Aliens (1986)

    Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley wasn’t the very first science fiction hero to wear a mech suit, but she was certainly the one that made the most lasting impression. While Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien is surely the best horror movie in space, James Cameron’s Aliens can make a good case for itself as the best action-adventure movie in space. The premise here (and every forthcoming Alien movie) is basically the same—“The Company” is stupid enough to think it can trap, contain, and exploit the power of these vicious interplanetary beasties, and it doesn’t care how many of their people die trying to get the job done. Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, and more co-star as Xenomorph fodder, and things get truly gross by the end, making it one of the more popular 80s movies. Weaver’s badassery turned a corner for women in gun-toting action roles in a way that felt natural, and racing through air conditioning vents has never been the same.

    Blue Velvet (1986)

    Before the invention of the internet, it took special flames like a David Lynch movie to draw all the freaky moths together. Blue Velvet, which drinks from a similar well as Lynch’s magnum opus Twin Peaks, is a hyper-stylized psycho-sexual thriller blending kitschy comedy with brutal violence and dark impulses. Kyle MacLachlan is a college student visiting his small-town home who discovers a severed ear crawling with ants amid the manicured lawn. Clearly, the picturesque locale (is this set in the 1950s? It’s hard to say) is hiding a layer of human cruelty, and as the mystery widens we meet the gas-huffing Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) and the imprisoned lounge singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rosselini). In between scenes of film noir-style suspense are moments of surrealist comedy and inexplicable moments of dread. Yet for all the weirdness, this is one of Lynch’s more straightforward projects. A good on-ramp, or maybe the end of the road, depending on your tastes.

    Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

    Michael Caine and Diane Wiest both won Oscars in this sprawling masterpiece of interpersonal dynamics loosely based on Chekhov’s Three Sisters. At its center is Mia Farrow, in peak form as a caring wife, mother, daughter, and sister trying to keep a widening group of psychologically spiraling people together. Farthest in orbit is her ex-husband, played by Woody Allen, who won another Oscar for his screenplay. This movie, perhaps more than anything else he’s done, has its legacy felt in a generation of comedies rooted in complex human interaction. Barbara Hershey, Carrie Fisher, Maureen O’Sullivan (Farrow’s mother), and Julie Kavner round out the tremendous cast. Max Von Sydow’s monologue as a grumpy painter flipping channels on television is perhaps the funniest scene from any 80s comedy movie.

    Moonstruck (1987)

    By MGM/ Everett Collection.

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  • BFI Inclusion Chief To Spearhead New Film And TV Anti-Bullying Body

    BFI Inclusion Chief To Spearhead New Film And TV Anti-Bullying Body

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    The U.K.’s new anti-bullying body for film and TV – The Independent Stands Authority (ISA) – has appointed its interim CEO in the BFI’s current director of culture and inclusion, Jen Smith.

    The new organization has confirmed financial support from major U.K. broadcasters in the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, as well as Sky.

    The specific remit of the entity will be formalized and announced for a planned 2024 launch with an eye to also widening the reach of its authority by also overseeing other industries such as music, theater, fashion, and advertising.

    Smith, who is seconded at ISA until a permanent CEO has been found, said that the organization will “have the power to lead investigations and will do so without fear or favor.”

    Smith has been on a trajectory to do more in this area for some time now. As recently as last year she helped head an action list with BAFTA and several other companies across media and entertainment to help prevent racism, bullying, and harassment in the workplace.

    “For too long the creative industries have failed to provide an independent place for people to report experiences of poor behavior, bullying and harassment,” Smith said. “The establishment of the ISA will be transformative in helping address this void. We know we are standing on the shoulders of many who have made significant efforts to drive positive change to improve our workplace culture and will continue to build on this courageous leadership.”

    Brandy Ferrer, CEO of Pathfinder Strategies, an organization set up for consultancy on HR-related matters for companies as well as ethics and leadership stated that it’s “certainly needed” in the industry in the wake of multiple and consistent scandals being revealed.

    “If there’s any industry that needed a body like this it would be the entertainment industry,” she said. “Hearing the horrific stories about Harvey Weinstein and others showed that there has been a lack of fear in being accountable for executives and high-level talent, as well as a clear lack in the understanding of professionalism in a work environment.”

    “It’s very easy to work in the entertainment industry and to feel that the rules of an office don’t apply because of work on sets or stage and the creative nature of the sector. The ISA will help make sure that the rules apply to everyone irrespective of standing, stature, or circumstance.”

    The other element that Ferrer opined on was leadership. Commenting that Pathfinder teaches that leadership often comes from the top and trickles down, and that leadership must be strong and have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying in all forms whilst fostering a healthy environment.

    “Accountability is key. When something gets off track, before looking around for someone or something to blame, take a look at yourself. Ask yourself, ‘was I clear on expectations?’, ‘Did I do a good job supporting this person on this project?’ ‘Did I ask questions to check for understanding?’ ‘What could I have done better or differently for a different outcome?’

    “We’re all humans. Not one of us is perfect. Not one of us is infallible. Have grace with yourself. Have grace with others.”

    “Great leadership equals managing the work positively and empowering people to make the right decisions.”

    On the task that the ISA has to accomplish in helping to fix the issues the industry has, Ferrer concluded that it’s not just putting out fires and holding people accountable, but also fire prevention and teaching people the right way to do things.

    “These were the circumstances I was dealing with when I quit my corporate job and founded Pathfinder Strategies. I witnessed first-hand the impact of great leadership and healthy cultures. I loved going to work, the people I worked with were hard-working and goal-focused, I had a hand in innovating products and processes, and I got to shine and grow and advance in my career. I also experienced ineffective leaders and toxic cultures. Working in environments full of suspicion, lacking communication and accountability, which ultimately led to subpar outputs.”

    She added: “I knew cultivating healthy cultures and great leaders did not have to be a big expensive undertaking, but rather could be addressed incrementally with guidance, support and practice.”

    Founded in partnership with the BFI, BAFTA, Time’s Up U.K. and its chair Heather Rabbatts, the ISA hopes to answer the persistent call for a body to help prevent conduct breaches throughout the world of entertainment.

    Rabbatts said of Smith that she had been, “so important in leading the work on the prevention of harassment and bullying with industry partners over recent years.”

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  • Ralph Lauren draws A-list Hollywood crowd for sumptuous show

    Ralph Lauren draws A-list Hollywood crowd for sumptuous show

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    SAN MARINO, Calif. (AP) — Bronx-born Ralph Lauren, a quintessential New Yorker, had never staged a runway show on the West Coast before. So clearly, with his first show in sunny California, he was going to go big — or, well, stay home.

    Big he went, staging a sumptuous display of his well-honed ethos of casual luxury, with strong Western accents like cowboy hats and boots, against a setting sun at the grand Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, near Los Angeles.

    Rivaling his lavish 50th anniversary show in New York’s Central Park in 2018, Thursday’s extravaganza brought in a slew of movie stars — including newlyweds Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck — to watch more than 120 models strut the runway, including some adorable tots in Lauren’s childrenswear who had the fashionable crowd gasping with delight.

    “We’re in show business,” the 83-year-old designer said simply in a post-show interview, standing next to the endlessly long, candlelit tables where guests dined post-show on Polo Bar burgers, grilled branzino and other specialties from his restaurant in New York.

    Lauren explained that early on, he had felt LA wasn’t his style, but that changed and he finally decided, “OK let’s do something in LA, but let’s do it great.”

    Always a celebrity magnet, Lauren brought out a slice of A-list Hollywood with Lopez and Affleck, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, Sylvester Stallone, John Legend, Diane Keaton, Jessica Chastain, Laura Dern, Chris Pine and James Marsden, to name a few.

    The intimate affair for some 200 people began with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres like tuna tartare on a patio overlooking the lush lawns and gardens of the Huntington, which once housed Gilded Age tycoon Henry Huntington. Celebrity guests mingled along with TikTok influencers and Lauren customers.

    As the sun sank lower, guests were summoned to the tiled entrance of the museum, where models strutted to a soundtrack of California-themed songs like “California Dreamin.”

    There were plenty of cowboy hats, worn-in jeans and boots to begin with, gradually morphing into fancier wear like long, bright skirts and slinky cut-out gowns for the women.

    A gasp traveled through the crowd as two small children appeared, each holding one hand of their accompanying adult, dressed in classic Lauren looks of tweed jackets, sweater vests, pinstriped button-downs and white shorts.

    More children followed, including a little boy in bright green trousers who stole the moment by insisting on high-fiving everyone he passed.

    The show, which featured designs from several Ralph Lauren lines including menswear and childrenswear, finished with the models all returning to gather on the patio, joined by Lauren as he emerged to cheers.

    Over dinner, Kushton and Kunis chatted with Legend, who said in an interview before the show that Lauren is “obviously an icon in the fashion business and has meant so much to style for such a long time.”

    Lopez noted that Lauren had dressed her and Affleck for their recent nuptials. “Ralph did our wedding, so we’ve become quite close,” the pop star said. ”And we really love his aesthetic.”

    And singer Maggie Rogers noted she had grown up as a fan of the brand. “I have been watching them for the last couple of years and to me they represent such a timeless American style, and I always try and bring that … classic thing to my music,” she said. “So it feels like the perfect match.”

    The show’s soundtrack ended with a song that seemed to acknowledge Lauren’s divided feelings, geographically speaking. “Well I’m New York City born and raised,” went the Neil Diamond song “I Am … I Said,” “but nowadays I’m lost between two shores. L.A.’s fine, but it ain’t home. New York’s home but it ain’t mine no more.”

    ___

    Associated Press journalist Krysta Fauria contributed to this report.

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  • Nikki Finke, Renowned Blunt Hollywood Columnist, Dies At 68

    Nikki Finke, Renowned Blunt Hollywood Columnist, Dies At 68

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Nikki Finke, the veteran reporter who became one of Hollywood’s top journalists as founder of the entertainment trade website Deadline.com and whose sharp-tongued tenacity made her the most-feared columnist in show business, has died. She was 68.

    Finke died Sunday in Boca Raton, Florida, after a prolonged illness, according to Deadline.

    A famously reclusive blogger, Finke began writing LA Weekly’s “Deadline Hollywood” column in 2002 and made it essential reading for gossip and trade news. Four years later, she launched Deadline Hollywood Daily as a website.

    Blogging at Deadline.com, Finke made a pugnacious media empire of scoops and gossip, renowned for her “live-snarking” award shows and story updates that blared “TOLDJA!” when one of her earlier exclusives proved accurate.

    Finke’s sharp-elbow style earned her plenty of enemies in Hollywood. But the Long Island native’s regular drumbeat of exclusives proved her considerable influence with executives, agents and publicists. In 2010, Forbes listed her among “the world’s most powerful women.” Finke was unapologetic, declining to soften her approach for the most glamorous stars or the most powerful studio executives.

    “I mean, they play rough,” Finke told The New York Times in 2015. “I have to play rough, too.”

    Finke did it all largely from the confines of her apartment in west Los Angeles, not schmoozing at red-carpet premieres or cocktail parties. But from her reclusive remove, Finke could ruthlessly skewer executives whose decision making she disapproved of. She once called Jeff Zucker, then-president of NBC Universal, “one of the most kiss-ass incompetents to run an entertainment company.”

    “I can’t help it!” Finke told The New Yorker in 2009. “It’s like meanness pours out of my fingers!”

    In 2009, Deadline Hollywood was purchased by Jay Penske, whose company, Penske Media Corporation, would later also acquire Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Finke often quarreled with Penske, particularly after his purchase of the Deadline rivals. She departed the site in 2013 after months of public acrimony, but remained under contract as a consultant. “He tried to buy my silence,” Finke wrote at the time. “No sale.”

    “At her best, Nikki Finke embodied the spirit of journalism, and was never afraid to tell the hard truths with an incisive style and an enigmatic spark. She was brash and true,” Penske said in a statement Sunday. “It was never easy with Nikki, but she will always remain one of the most memorable people in my life.”

    After her departure, Finke played with various projects but never returned to entertainment journalism. Her deal with Penske reportedly prohibited her to report on Hollywood for 10 years, though she at one time threatened to go solo again with NikkiFinke.com. Instead, she debuted HollywoodDementia.com, with fictional showbiz tales instead of real ones.

    Before her notoriety with Deadline, Finke had spent years as a reporter for The Associated Press, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, the New York Post and the New York Observer. She inspired a 2011 HBO pilot that starred Diane Keaton as reporter Tilda Watski.

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  • Harvey Weinstein Set To Go On Trial For Sexual Assault Charges In Los Angeles

    Harvey Weinstein Set To Go On Trial For Sexual Assault Charges In Los Angeles

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Five years after women’s stories about him made the #MeToo movement explode, Harvey Weinstein is going on trial in the city where he once was a colossus at the Oscars.

    Already serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in New York, the 70-year-old former movie mogul faces different allegations including several that prosecutors say occurred during a pivotal Oscar week in Los Angeles. Jury selection for an eight-week trial begins Monday.

    Weinstein has been indicted on four counts of rape and seven other sexual assault counts involving five women, who will appear in court as Jane Does to tell their stories. He has pleaded not guilty.

    Four more women will be allowed to take the stand to give accounts of Weinstein sexual assaults that did not lead to charges, but which prosecutors hope will show jurors he had a propensity for committing such acts.

    Starting in the 1990s, Weinstein, through the company Miramax that he ran with his brother, was an innovator in running broad and aggressive campaigns promoting Academy Award nominees. He had unmatched success, pushing films like “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Artist” to best picture wins and becoming among the most thanked men ever during Oscar acceptance speeches.

    Miramax and its successor The Weinstein Co. were based in New York, where Weinstein lived and did business, but that didn’t diminish his presence in Hollywood.

    “He was a creature of New York, but he was also a creature of Los Angeles,” said Kim Masters, editor at large for The Hollywood Reporter and a longtime observer of the movie industry. “He had this huge Golden Globes party that was always well beyond capacity when he was in his heyday. He was the King of Hollywood in New York and LA.”

    It was during Oscars week in 2013, when Jennifer Lawrence would win an Academy Award for the Weinstein Co.’s “Silver Linings Playbook” and Quentin Tarantino would win for writing the company’s “Django Unchained,” that four of the 11 alleged crimes took place.

    Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

    Etienne Laurent/Pool Photo via AP

    Like most of the incidents in the indictments, they happened under the guise of business meetings at luxury hotels in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, which Weinstein used as his California headquarters and where he could be seen during awards season and throughout the year. He was treated as more than a VIP. At a pre-trial hearing, the chauffeur who drove Weinstein around Los Angeles testified that even he was allowed to take as much as $1,000 in cash in Weinstein’s name from the front desk of the hotel where the mogul was staying.

    By the time stories about him in The New York Times and The New Yorker in October of 2017 brought about his downfall, Weinstein’s power to seemingly will films to win awards had diminished, and his company had fallen into financial trouble.

    “His stature changed, he was no longer the king of Oscar, which was really what made him vulnerable,” Masters said.

    The Los Angeles trial is likely to be far less of a spectacle than the New York proceedings, and not merely because it’s a sequel and Weinstein is already serving a long sentence.

    Foot traffic is sparse and there is no grand entrance at the downtown LA courthouse that’s hosting the trial. Weinstein will not be visible to any media horde or protesters outside as he was in Manhattan, as he’ll be ushered into the courtroom straight from jail — once he’s changed form his prison garb into a suit — across a short hallway where no cameras are allowed that could capture him.

    Only a dozen reporters, including two sketch artists, will be allowed into the small courtroom each day, compared to several dozen in New York.

    Weinstein will also be represented by different lawyers in Los Angeles, Alan Jackson and Mark Werksman. They have expressed worries that the movies may play a role in trial.

    The film “She Said,” which fictionalizes the work of two New York Times reporters and their bombshell stories on Weinstein, is set to be released midway through the trial on Nov. 18.

    Weinstein’s lawyers lost a bid to have the proceedings delayed over the film, with the judge rejecting their argument that publicity surrounding it would prejudice a potential jury against him.

    “This case is unique,” Werksman said at a pretrial hearing. “Mr. Weinstein’s notoriety and his place in our culture at the center of the firestorm which is the #MeToo movement is real, and we’re trying to do everything we can to avoid having a trial when there will be a swirl of adverse publicity toward him,” Werksman said at a pretrial hearing.

    Weinstein’s trial is one of several with #MeToo connections that have begun or are about to begin as the fifth anniversary of the movement’s biggest moment passes, including the rape trial of “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson just down the hall from Weinstein’s and the New York sexual assault civil trial of Kevin Spacey.

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  • Disability Group Inks Deal With Hollywood Heavyweight

    Disability Group Inks Deal With Hollywood Heavyweight

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    RespectAbility and Norman Lear Center Unite to Help Hollywood Include People with Disabilities


    LOS ANGELES, April 23, 2018 (Newswire.com)
    –
    RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for people with disabilities, announces a new partnership with Hollywood, Health & Society (HH&S), a project of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center. The partnership will help educate, inform and support the success of the movie/TV industry in its work to ensure that people with disabilities are included on both sides of the camera in the stories that Hollywood tells. HH&S provides entertainment industry professionals with accurate and timely information for storylines on health, safety and national security. Both RespectAbility and HH&S recognize the profound impact that entertainment media have on individual knowledge and behavior – ultimately impacting society and lives at large.

    Positive, accurate portrayals of people with disabilities on TV and film play a role in decreasing stigma that prevents people with disabilities from gaining employment. Indeed, the partnership starts as new data reveals that 343,483 more people with disabilities joined the American workforce in 2016. This compares to only 87,201 in 2015. RespectAbility is on the front lines of enabling people with disabilities to achieve employment.

    Visibility and representation matters. We know that accurate and positive portrayals of diverse people with disabilities will not only empower and educate viewers and program creators but will ultimately lead to a more inclusive, responsive and healthier society.

    Jose Plaza, The California Endowment

    In addition to partnering with HH&S, RespectAbility recently launched The Hollywood Disability Toolkit: The RespectAbility Guide to Inclusion in the Entertainment Industry to help entertainment professionals who wish to ensure they are as inclusive of people with disabilities as possible.

    With Hollywood striving to boost diversity and inclusion, opening the inclusion umbrella for America’s largest minority – the one-in-five Americans with a disability – is the right thing to do as well as economically smart given that the disability market is valued at more than $1 trillion, according to Nielsen Research. The success of films like Black Panther, Wonder Woman and Coco prove that diversity wins. Fully 1.2 billion people on earth have a disability.

    The creation of this partnership and the toolkit would not have been possible without the financial support of The California Endowment. “Visibility and representation matters,” said Jose Plaza, who manages the grant for The California Endowment. “We know that accurate and positive portrayals of diverse people with disabilities will not only empower and educate viewers and program creators but will ultimately lead to a more inclusive, responsive and healthier society.”

    Media Contact: 
    Lauren Appelbaum
    Email: LaurenA@RespectAbility.org

    Source: RespectAbility

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  • Exceptional Minds Class of 2017 Defies Autism Odds

    Exceptional Minds Class of 2017 Defies Autism Odds

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    Eight young men and two young women graduated from Exceptional Minds vocational school for young adults on the autism spectrum on Sunday, the fourth such graduating class to defy the odds of a population known for its high unemployment rate and low expectations.


    Sherman Oaks, CA, June 7, 2017 (Newswire.com)
    –
     While an estimated 90 percent of young people with autism are under- or unemployed, the Exceptional Minds Class of 2017 joins the alumni of young adults on the autism spectrum who are pursuing meaningful careers in the fields of visual effects and animation.

    Exceptional Minds graduates — all in their 20s and on the spectrum — have gone on to work in studios such as Marvel, Stargate and Mr. Wolf, and on productions such as Game of Thrones, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Doctor Strange and for programmers such as Sesame Workshop.

    Your personal and professional achievements are inspiring. You’ve overcome obstacles others don’t have … but you also have many talents that others don’t have.

    Richard Goldsmith , CEO, Cyber Group Studios

    “Your personal and professional achievements are inspiring. You’ve overcome obstacles others don’t have … but you also have many talents that others don’t have,” said Richard Goldsmith during his commencement speech Sunday. Goldsmith has worked for The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., The Jim Henson Company, and Univision Communications as an executive specializing in family entertainment. He offered both encouragement and advice to the graduates. Steven Asidilla, Carter Capps, Matthew De Lorimier, Annie Leffe, Liam McClure, Jacob Olsen, Madeleine Petti, Tony Saturno, Chase Shirley, and Kenny Valdivia make up the Exceptional Minds Class of 2017.

    Also during the graduation, Exceptional Minds staff and students recognized a group of students with the Net Impact program at UCLA Anderson School of Management for their tireless work on a feasibility study that will determine the future location of the Exceptional Minds campus. 

    For the ten graduates, Sunday marked the end of their formal training and the beginning of their professional careers in the competitive fields of animation and/or visual effects.

    Following Sunday’s graduation, Matthew De Lorimier will begin his career in digital animation as an intern at Cartoon Network. “Three years ago, I was at a crossroads…1690240449 I will be working as an intern at Cartoon Network on the show Summer Camp Island,” said Matthew.

    Others from the Class of 2017 will begin their careers in the Exceptional Minds Studio, which is co-located in the same building as the school to provide them with paid work experience in animation, rotoscope and cleanup, green screen keying, simple compositing, object removal, tracking mark removal, and end credit composition.

    Since the studio opened almost three years ago, it has completed visual effects and end title credits for more than 50 productions for HBO, 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, and Annapurna, as well as animation for Sesame Street.

    Exceptional Minds opened its doors in 2011 with a first-year class of nine students and now has more than 30 full-time students, 38 part-time students and more than a hundred summer enrollment students. The school is a nonprofit organization funded privately through tuition, foundations and grants. Preceding graduation on Sunday, the school and its students awarded Adobe Vice President of Sustainability and Social Impact Holly Campbell with the Exceptional Hero Award. “Adobe is truly our hero. They’ve been with us from the beginning, offering software and support, without which we wouldn’t be here,” commented Yudi Bennett, co-founder of Exceptional Minds.

    The graduates completed Exceptional Minds’ comprehensive three-year program with professional certifications in the key software applications used for visual effects and animation work, including rotoscope and cleanup, green screen keying, simple compositing, object removal, tracking mark removal, end title credits, and character animation.

    More than a half million individuals with autism will enter adulthood in the next decade, the vast majority of whom are ill-prepared for meaningful employment. Exceptional Minds is the first and only school of its kind to prepare young people with autism for careers in visual effects, providing well-rounded instruction in soft skills and technical skills as well as job placement and work environment preparedness.

    Source: Exceptional Minds

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  • TLC’s Star Whitney Way Thore on Moments With Marianne

    TLC’s Star Whitney Way Thore on Moments With Marianne

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    From the star of TLC’s My Big Fat Fabulous Life and the YouTube sensation “A Fat Girl Dancing” comes an empowering memoir about letting go of your limitations and living the life you deserve, catch the interview on Moments with Marianne.

    Press Release
    –

    Jul 1, 2016


    Denver, CO, July 1, 2016 (Newswire.com)
    –
    ​​​​From the star of TLC’s My Big Fat Fabulous Life and the YouTube sensation “A Fat Girl Dancing” comes an empowering memoir about letting go of your limitations and living the life you deserve.  Catch the soul inspiring interview on Moments with Marianne at Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network & WMEX 1510AM Boston.

    Whitney Way Thore stands five feet two inches tall and weighs well over three hundred pounds, and she is totally, completely, and truly . . . happy. But she wasn’t always the vivacious, confident woman you see on TV. Growing up as a dancer, Whitney felt the pressure to be thin, a desire that grew into an obsession as she got older. From developing an eating disorder as a teenager, to extreme weight gain in college, to her ongoing struggle with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), Whitney reveals her fight to overcome the darkest moments in her life. She holds nothing back, opening up about the depths of her depression as well as her resilience in the face of constant harassment and mistreatment.

    As I got older, I realized that I wanted to be something more than beautiful

    Whitney Way Thore, Star of TLC’s My Big Fat Fabulous Life & Founder of No Body Shame

    Now Whitney is on top of the world and taking no BS (Body Shame, of course). And she’s sharing the steps she took to get there and the powerful message behind her successful No Body Shame campaign. She even reveals her favorite “F” word (it’s probably not what you think), the thrill of doing it with the lights on, and the story behind the “Fat Girl Dancing” video that started it all.  

    The mission of the No Body Shame campaign is to help every individual overcome the debilitating effects of societal-induced shame. Supporters of No Body Shame have named weight, height, skin color, sexual orientation, gender, different abilities, and specific physical attributes as causes of shame. Whitney believes that when we commit ourselves to living our best lives now, accepting ourselves as we are even if others do not accept us, real changes in confidence and quality of life are not only possible, but imminent. 

    To learn more about Whitney Way Thore and No Body Shame visit: http://www.nobodyshame.com

    In a single moment your life can change!  “Moments with Marianne” is a transformative hour that covers an endless array of topics with the ‘best of the best.’ Her guest are leaders in their fields, ranging from inspirational authors, top industry leaders, business and spiritual entrepreneurs.  Each guest is gifted, and a true visionary!  A recognized leader in her own work, and while teaching others to develop, refocus, and grow; Marianne will bring the best guest, and sometimes a special surprise.  Don’t miss this – you never know just which ‘moment’ will change your life forever.

    Tune in Friday, July 1st at 5am & 5pm EDT & Thursday, July 7th at 5am & 5pm EDT on Moments with Marianne at Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network & WMEX 1510AM Boston.  Tune in LIVE 5am & 5pm EDT! http://rdo.to/DREAM7

    Source: Moments with Marianne

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  • Haining, the Hollywood of China’s Green Lotus Leaf Movie Culture & Production Co. Ltd Announces LA Reception June 6th

    Haining, the Hollywood of China’s Green Lotus Leaf Movie Culture & Production Co. Ltd Announces LA Reception June 6th

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    Haining’s Green Lotus Leaf Movie Culture & Production Co. Ltd Sets Hollywood, Haining East West Collaboration Celebration June 6th in Los Angeles

    Press Release
    –


    updated: Nov 7, 2022


    Hollywood, CA, May 30, 2016 (Newswire.com)
    –
    The Hollywood, Haining reception and celebration has been set for June 6th in Los Angeles drawing Hollywood celebrities, filmmakers, politicians and businesses eager to expand globally with the explosively growing film production friendly capital of Haining, China.    

    The Vice Mayor of Haining and China (Zhejiang) International Film Cooperation Experimental Zone of Haining City extends a goodwill invitation to those wishing to explore doing business with rising production capital Haining, China’s fastest growing film production center.

    “Haining City has the best film production incentives and tax credits in all of China” says George Yeh Yang.

    George Yeh Yang, Haining City economic adviser

    Haining City has been dubbed the Hollywood of China for its explosive growth in movie making. Decision makers, production liaisons and fixers from the regional film-making hot spot Haining welcome the Hollywood community for a cultural exchange extending the Asian Heritage Month celebration established by President Obama.

    Haining’s over 270 production companies generated 400 million in revenue in 2015 with this figure projected to double shortly says Haining City economic adviser George Yeh Yang, keynote speaker of the June 6th Los Angeles gala. “I will be on hand to answer questions directly about film funding, technology project funding, and production partnerships in Haining. “Haining City has the best film production incentives and tax credits in all of China” says George Yeh Yang.

    The Hollywood community is invited to expand with the rapid growth film market and production center Haining.   George Yeh Yang, the Haining City Advisor, will be on hand to discuss doing business in the production friendly and budget accommodating locale on the coast of China an hour by train from the further inland city of Shanghai. Haining City is already known as the center for the largest leather and fur shopping outlets in China and all of Asia.  Located on the Yangtze River Delta by the Qiantang River, Haining literally means calming of the waves.

    All those interested in doing business with the rapidly growing production friendly center Haining are invited. Please RSVP with your proposal on joint collaboration. All proposals and collaborative pitches are welcome to be forwarded to Booking@RCPRLA.com.

    Sponsorship packets are available to those wishing to expand their brand globally to this growing market beginning at $5,000 and open to discussion. For information on collaborating with the 400 million dollar industry please RSVP to Booking@RCPRLA.com

    About the June 6th Haining Delegation & Luncheon

    Scheduled to attend the June 6th gala are: Hu Yanzi, Vice Mayor of Haining City, Yin Jianwei, Deputy Director, Haining Service Industry Development Bureau, XuJianming, Director of Haining Bureau of Finance (Local Taxation Authority) and Director of Haining State owned Assets Administration Commission, Du Yingchi, Town Mayor of the People’s Government of Xucun Town, Haining City, ZhuangYuchang, Assistant Director of Haining China’s Leather Market Administrative Committee, RenYoufa, Board Chairman of Haining China Leather Market Co, Ltd., George Yeh Yang, Economic Adviser of Haining City and the CEO of Green Lotus Leaf Movie Culture & Production Co. Ltd.

    Haining is the International Experimental District of Film and Television Industry in China (authorized by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the People’s Republic of China.)  

    About Green Lotus Leaf Movie Culture & Production Co. Ltd 浙江青荷叶影视文化有限公司（海宁市）

    “Green Lotus Leaf Movie Culture and Production Co. Ltd is very proud to be selected from among the almost 300 entertainment companies in Haining City to become the official entertainment company to accompany leaders of Haining City to explore, and visit Hollywood and Los Angeles. GLL works hard to bring the best and most exclusive entertainment and movies to audiences in China and worldwide. Green Lotus Leaf Movie Culture and Production Co. Ltd invites and is open to entertainment and film co-production and collaboration with US companies and worldwide” says George Yeh Yang President and CEO of Green Lotus Leaf Productions.

    Mr. George Yeh Yang is the economic adviser for Haining City and CEO of Green Lotus Leaf Movie Culture and Production Co. Ltd of Haining City, Zhejiang Province.  “We are very proud to help both Haining City and the Green Lotus Leaf Culture and Production Co. Ltd grow, developing into major influencers in China’s entertainment Industry and worldwide” says George Yeh Yang in a statement from Haining City.

    With China co-productions the 80 million budgeted “Tetris,” Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson’s “Skyscraper” and “The Great Wall” starring Matt Damon in the works, George Yeh Yang also promises an official announcement on an upcoming 3-D animated Chinese feature film which has been government approved for release without limitations to all of China as well as over 100 Countries around the world during the June 6th Los Angeles event.

    Source: Green Lotus Leaf Movie Culture & Production Co. Ltd

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