Month: August 2019

Google’s skunkworks lab Area 120 has been quietly testing an events-centric crowdfunding service for YouTubers, Variety has learned. Called Fundo, the service allows creators to invite their fans to virtual meet & greet sessions and other paid online events. A Google spokesperson confirmed the testing in a statement provided to Variety: “One of the many
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Viacom’s cable portfolio was once a shining example to the rest of the industry, but the company has been struggling to revitalize its most important brands for years. With the merger between Viacom and CBS now officially underway, the health of those brands is more important than ever. When Bob Bakish took over as president
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Apart from having one of the all-time greatest album-sequel titles, “Ugh, Those Feels Again” — which follows this R&B-leaning Swedish-Persian singer’s 2017 debut full-length, “Feels” — succeeds on a far more complex level: making familiar sounds unfamiliar. Snoh Aalegra signed to Sony when she was just 13 and released a more pop-leaning album under the
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Warner Bros. has nabbed global rights to “Western Stars,” the upcoming music documentary co-directed by Bruce Springsteen. The film will be released on the big screen and will open in theaters this fall after its world premiere at September’s Toronto International Film Festival. “Western Stars” is Springsteen’s first studio album in five years and the
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August 16, 2019 9:00AM PT Netflix, on the 42nd anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death, announced that it has ordered the adult animated action comedy series “Agent King” from Priscilla Presley and John Eddie. Authentic Brands Group, Sony Pictures Animation, and Sony Pictures Television are also partners on the show. In the forthcoming series, “Elvis Presley
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There’s Insta “baddies” with their on-fleek eyebrows, alt “e-girls,” who wear mesh shirts with Sailor Moon skirts, and, more recently, “soft girls,” twirling around in pastel sundresses to Lana Del Rey. But a new tween-girl Internet lifestyle subculture has entered the lexicon—and she comes with a metal straw in tow. Meet “VSCO girl.” Who is
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Goran Stanković and Vladimir Tagić, the creators of hit Serbian TV drama “Morning Changes Everything,” are developing a political thriller revolving around the 2003 assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and a reporter’s investigation of the murder. “Sabre” is one of five projects in early development taking part in the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink
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Bruce Springsteen’s music has always been cinematic, which is one reason why so many of his songs strike a chord at the movies. Friday is the premiere of the film, “Blinded By The Light,” which tells the story of a British-Pakistani teenager and his journey after discovering the Boss’ music. Based on the book, “Greetings
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Universal’s raunchy comedy “Good Boys” has launched solidly with $2.1 million at 2,600 North American locations in Thursday night previews. The “Good Boys” number is well above last year’s R-rated “Blockers,” which took in $1.5 million in previews on its way to a $20 million opening weekend and a $60 million domestic total for Universal.
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“Vienna Blood” is set to spill on the BBC after the U.K. pubcaster picked up the Austrian-set crime thriller, which is based on the best-selling Liebermann novels by Frank Tallis. Steve Thompson, whose writing credits include the BBC’s “Sherlock” and Fox’s international thriller “Deep State,” penned the series. Starring Matthew Beard (“The Imitation Game”), and
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August 16, 2019 6:26AM PT Steve Kelly’s soccer-fixated coming-of-age comedy is mild, good-natured and never quite funny enough. There’s a sweet message at the heart of “The Bromley Boys” about finding the heroism in mediocrity, thought it’s one not best served by the film being entirely mediocre itself. Adapted from a sepia-tinted memoir by British
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August 16, 2019 6:00AM PT Effectively a Sino version of ‘Dallas Buyers Club,’ this Chinese box-office sensation tells the fact-based story of an unlikely medical hero. A moneymaking scheme turns into a life-changing crusade in “Dying to Survive,” a dramedy loosely based on the true story of a Chinese man whose illegal importation of affordable
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As it brings its fourth feature, Paola Ochoa’s “Hermanas,” to Sanfic’s works in progress, Amplitud has unveiled a new production,“Farruca” from Spain’s Ian de la Rosa. Based in L.A., the upstart production company was born from a desire to foster co-production between Latin American countries and the U.S. with a specific focus on queer and/or
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With the fiftieth anniversary of Woodstock comes a new look for flower-child fashion. Here the era’s exaggerated florals and bold tie-dye meet beachside staples for a truly far-out trip. Shirt, jumpsuit, both Versace. Andreas Sjödin Top, pants, both, Etro. Belt, seashell bandanna, all A.N.G.E.L.O. Vintage Archive. Messenger bag, all, Dior. Wedges, Michael Kors Collection. Andreas
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MADRID  —  In a sign of one direction Latin America’s film industry is going, building ever more significant production partnerships on banner art films around the region, premier Brazilian production house Gullane has boarded Benjamín Avila’s “The Cardinal.” Already produced by Chile’s Storyboard Media and Argentina’s Magma Cine, “The Cardinal” has just been selected for
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Running over Aug. 19-Aug. 26., the Santiago International Film Festival (Sanfic) will host the sixth Santiago Lab, a training and promotional event for projects from across Latin America. This year, 34 titles – 21 fiction and 14 documentary – were selected from more than 300 submissions, a testament to the lab’s ever-increasing importance. It’s also
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Variety has exclusive access to the English-language trailer for Norwegian feature “Disco” by Jorunn Myklebust Syversen, set to world premiere in Toronto’s Discovery program, before heading off to San Sebastian’s New Directors’ competition. Syversen’s sophomore feature after “Tree Feller” is sold by New Europe Film Sales. Toplining the cast is “Skam” actress Josefine Frida who has
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Both “The Exorcist” and “Enter the Dragon” came out in 1973, igniting their respective genres at the box-office as never before. So you’d think more than a few enterprising souls would have tried to combine demonic-possession chills and fighting-action thrills. But apart from 1984’s flabbergasting camp classic “Ninja III: The Domination” — with Lucinda Dickey
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August 16, 2019 1:00AM PT Lively performances and lusty action feature in the entertaining adaptation of Yasuhisa Hara’s long-running manga. A dose of 21st century attitude mixes nicely with other winning ingredients in “Kingdom,” a thoroughly entertaining adaptation of Yasuhisa Hara’s hugely popular manga set in China, 245 B.C. Centered on two orphan boys who
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