Month: June 2020

On Monday, a day after apologizing for 2012 Tweets that many considered sexist, 5 Seconds of Summer guitarist Michael Clifford denied an accusation of sexual misconduct that were made from a since-deleted Twitter account early on Monday, saying that they are “BEYOND untrue.” A poster using the handle @knowyoureta claimed that Clifford, now 24, “used to
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The mission and shortcomings of “Love, Simon” were laid bare in its very first line. “I’m just like you,” says Simon (Nick Robinson), an affable white high school kid who promptly introduces us to his happily married parents and upper middle-class home. The thing that sets him apart, he continues, is that he’s secretly gay.
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The bad news for Quibi continues, as the struggling Jeffrey Katzenberg-founded video startup is in danger of massively missing its first-year target for paying subscribers based on slowing app-download figures, according to a Wall Street Journal report. An unflattering piece published Sunday by the Wall Street Journal detailed infighting between Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman
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Multi-territory streaming platform Viu, and regional pay-TV operator HBO Asia Monday begin airing a second localized season of Endemol Shine Group’s crime series “The Bridge.” The Asian adaptation of Nordic noir “The Bridge” (aka “Bron,” aka “Broen”) is produced by Viu in association with HBO Asia. The 10-part Asian second season is directed by returning
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WestEnd Films has launched international sales on “Lamya’s Poem,” an animated feature by Alexander Kronemer, which will be part of Annecy’s Works in Progress panel at the digital version of the world’s largest animation festival and market that begins Monday. WestEnd builds on an established reputation representing prestigious independent arthouse animated features, such as Oscar-nominated
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Celebrated Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan, winner of the Cannes Palme d’Or in 2014 for “Winter Sleep” among many other accolades, is known to be rather reclusive. But he had no hesitation in accepting to preside over the jury of the International Migration Film Festival’s first edition, thus contributing significantly to its launch. He took questions
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As the Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival deals with the benefits and struggles of going digital, perhaps no American studio has backed 2020’s online version more than Netflix, which will host three highly-anticipated panels for upcoming projects, among them a masterclass from stop-motion master Henry Selick and his composer Bruno Coulais. An unannounced surprise, the
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COVID-19 looks set to accelerate the biggest paradigm shift in French animation in the last two decades: Global streaming platforms’ ever larger presence in finance and distribution. How France’s auteur-driven animation movie and TV industry dovetails with the market interests and industry practices of Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Warner Media and Apple TV Plus
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Sandcastle Studios’ “Jungle Beat: The Movie,” produced in collaboration with South Africa’s Sunrise Productions, had big theatrical plans for its post-festival life. But all that changed when the world went into lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “When the pandemic came, we realized theatrical wasn’t going to happen, so we started thinking about putting
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Whether in “I Lost My Body,” a boy-girl love story which takes place as the suitor’s severe hand crawls towards its owner, or with “The Summit of the Gods,” an epic account of two crazed climbers’ attempt to scale Everest’s South-West face in winter without oxygen, France is pushing back the boundaries of animation as
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After selling her attractive Los Feliz home to Oxycontin heiress Madeleine Sackler, prolific pop music songwriter Ali Tamposi has has abruptly shifted residential gears, trading the hipster-approved chicness of L.A.’s Eastside for the relaxed surfer bro vibes of Malibu’s heavily celebrified Point Dume neighborhood. Property records reveal the 30-year-old Florida native has paid nearly $4
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Rather than celebrate President Trump’s birthday on Sunday, many Twitter users used the day to honor President Obama with the hashtag “All Birthdays Matter.” Several phrases began trending on Twitter early on Sunday, including “Obama Day June 14th,” “Obama Appreciation Day,” “Obama Day USA” and “Happy Birthday Obama,” in addition to “All Birthdays Matter.” Some
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