Month: December 2021

The Jared Padalecki-fronted “Walker” on The CW, consistently a top television ratings performer for the network, is about to achieve “universe” status. Padalecki will executive produce a “Walker” origin story entitled “Walker: Independence,” along with story co-writers Seamus Fahey (“American Gods”) and Anna Fricke (“Valor,” “Dynasty”) via her Pursued By a Bear banner. Both are
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This year’s YouTube Streamy Awards, honoring the top digital creators and content of 2021, will feature special musical performances by Ari Lennox and Måneskin. For the Dec. 11 event, which will stream free on YouTube, R&B singer-songwriter Ari Lennox will perform her hit “Pressure” and Italian rock band Måneskin will perform their global chart-topping single
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Slamdance has announced the full film lineup lineup for its 2022 edition, with a feature film competition that boasts 23 premieres, including 13 world premieres, six North American premieres, and four U.S. debuts. The independent film festival, known for its “by filmmakers, for filmmakers” mentality, will showcase a total of 28 features, 79 shorts, and
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Prominent Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region indie distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has formed a partnership with Beirut-based outfit Operation Unicorn (OU) in a move aimed at ramping up its production of Arabic film and TV content. In a deal finalized and announced during Saudi Arabia’s ongoing Red Sea Film Festival, Front Row
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Female rage is powerfully distilled and expertly distributed in “Rehana Maryam Noor,” a riveting social drama about a female doctor who demands justice in a case of sexual assault at a Dhaka medical school. The second feature by Abdullah Mohammad Saad (“Live From Dhaka”) features a superb lead performance by Azmeri Haque Badhon as the
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Def Leppard and lead singer Joe Elliott, Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon and John Taylor, Living Colour, Rob Thomas, Gary Oldman and more are among the artists joining the second annual “A Bowie Celebration,” set for January 8, 2022, what would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday. The event, like last year’s inaugural live stream,
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Nothing beats a little sparkle and shine when it comes to gift giving. Presents that inspire daydreaming and get them excited to dress up again are the pick-me-up we all need (nay, deserve). ELLE.com Beauty Director Chloe Hall is welcoming a return to glamour this holiday season with luxe picks they can wear and use
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BAFTA has unveiled its 2021 BAFTA Breakthrough cohort, including “It’s a Sin” star Lydia West and “Censor” director Prano Bailey-Bond. Supported by Netflix, the annual talent initiative, which originally launched in 2013 as “Breakthrough Brits,” was renamed BAFTA Breakthrough in May 2020 and expanded to include the U.S. and India. Previous participants have included Paapa
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FESTIVAL NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), with presenting partners The Arab Film and Media Institute and Dutch Culture USA are partnering for a short film festival that runs across the Dec. 10 and 11 weekend. The annual event, titled NFMLA Film Festival InFocus: Middle Eastern, Arab
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Travis Scott denies allegations, including negligence, in the multiple lawsuits that have been filed against him for the Astroworld Festival tragedy, CNN states, citing court documents filed by Scott’s attorneys. Nearly 150 lawsuits have been filed in the Nov. 5 tragedy, in which 10 people died after the crowd rampaged during Scott’s headlining set at the festival.
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All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. It’s beginning to look a lot like the holiday season, which means different things to different people. For
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UPDATED: Roku and Google have buried the hatchet, announcing a multiyear extension for both YouTube and YouTube TV apps on the Roku streaming platform. The companies reached the agreement just days before their previous deal covering YouTube on Roku was set to expire Dec. 9. In April 2021, Roku’s deal to distribute YouTube TV expired and Roku
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ViacomCBS International Studios and Wattpad Webtoon Studios revealed a global partnership to source emerging content and creative talent from around the world to develop a slate of original series based on hit Wattpad and Webtoon stories. Wattpad Webtoon Studios and ViacomCBS International Studios’ production arm, VIS, will coproduce content for ViacomCBS’ networks and platforms, including
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Controversial drama “Nitram” dominated the prizes at the Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts (AACTA) film awards on Wednesday. Leaving little room for celebration of any other achievement in the past year, “Nitram” swept to eight awards. These included the most major prizes — best film, best directing and best original screenplay — as
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New Regency is expanding in Asia-Pacific with the hire of Ben Bishop as VP of international sales for the region, based out of Sydney. Prior to joining New Regency, Bishop served as president of international distribution at Vortex International, and international VP of TV sales for Asia-Pacific at “Narcos” producer Gaumont. Before Gaumont, he worked
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Equity, the U.K. trade union for performing arts workers, has called on theater venues and producers to enforce mask-wearing among audience members. The request is in light of a surge in the Omicron variant of coronavirus, of which the U.K. already has 437 detected cases. “The new Omicron variant of coronavirus threatens the fragile return
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International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) will be hosting its popular industry events, CineMart and Rotterdam Lab, online due to the surge of COVID-19 cases in The Netherlands. The festival said on Wednesday that a dedicated announcement about the Pro Days, including the CineMart selection, will be unveiled on Dec. 16. The full IFFR 2022 lineup
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Those uncertain just how seriously Paul Verhoeven intended us to take the alternately earnest and lurid nunsploitation of “Benedetta” will be even more flummoxed by Mickey Reece’s “Agnes.” The prolific, idiosyncratic Oklahoma auteur’s latest is half exorcism thriller, half character drama of lost faith. But those two sharply differentiated parts add up to much less
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There are lost-at-sea thrillers that make a virtue of the leanness of their narratives. J.C. Chandor’s “All Is Lost,” Wolfgang Fischer’s “Styx” and Chris Kentis’ legitimately traumatizing “Open Water” (not to mention Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” if we switch in space for ocean) all spun gripping tales of survival — or not — using minimal dialogue
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