“Buffalo, you’ve been so kind to us,” Todd Rundgren said toward the end of his tour-opening show Sunday night. He was actually performing in Chicago, as most fans watching the pay-per-view livestream knew, but this was not a senior/Spinal Tap “Hello Cleveland!” moment. The current Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee’s entire 25-date “tour”
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Netflix’s “Dick Johnson Is Dead” is a profound and deeply personal portrait of the director Kirsten Johnson’s examination of her father, Richard Johnson (lovingly known as “Dick”), a retired clinical psychiatrist who is suffering from dementia and his inevitable end. Beginning as an attempt to make the impending loss of her father bearable for both
The Writers Guild of America Awards announced their nominations where big boosts were given to films like “Judas and the Black Messiah” from Shaka King, “Palm Springs” from Max Barbakow and “The White Tiger” from Ramin Bahrani. Missing from the lineup, that was eligible, are “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” in the original screenplay category and
Spotify announced Tuesday that Mona Sutphen will join its board of directors in April, subject to shareholder approval. Sutphen is a private equity advisor and a co-founder/advisor for several technology start-ups, and was a senior White House official during the Obama Administration. She is currently a Senior Advisor at The Vistria Group, a Chicago-based private equity
Filmmaker Roger Ross Williams, an Oscar and Emmy winner, has signed with UTA. The director and his One Story Up production banner will be represented by the agency in all areas. In 2010, Williams became the first African American director to win an Academy Award for his documentary short film “Music by Prudence.” The director,
Aaron Eckhart has signed on to play President Gerald Ford in the upcoming Showtime anthology series “The First Lady.” Formerly known as “First Ladies,” the show is described as a reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House. Eckhart joins previously announced series stars Viola
A year after KROQ owner Entercom shocked the radio biz by yanking the station’s morning program, “Kevin in the Morning with Allie & Jensen” (the successor program to three-decade staple “Kevin & Bean”), host Kevin Ryder is prepping a return to the Los Angeles airwaves. Ryder announced this morning that he’ll be joining Doug “Sluggo”
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been an organization that has had noteworthy recognitions in its history, especially in the comedy categories (i.e., “The Hangover” winning best picture in 2009) and undoubtedly some questionable judgment calls (i.e., “The Tourist” nominated for best picture in 2010, and even this year with Sia’s directorial debut “Music”). Oftentimes,
Facebook has launched We the Culture, a new content initiative created and managed by a team of Black employees that is investing in and amplifying content from Black creators. The company announced an inaugural class of over 120 creators for We the Culture, including Danielle Young, Lauren “Lolo” Spencer (“Sitting Lolo”), Cameron J. Henderson, Lazarus
The 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival is planning to screen its slate via two beachside drive-in theaters. The festival, taking place March 31 through April 10 at Santa Barbara City College, will include more than 80 film screenings. Admission to the beachside drive-in theaters is free with a required RSVP. “It’s imperative we bring
Kenan Thompson’s been on television for the better part of three decades. His broad smile and enthusiastic delivery immediately broke him out from the crowded cast of Nickelodeon’s “All That” years before he did the same on “Saturday Night Live,” the adult inspiration for the show that first made clear he was a star. Almost
If the fix isn’t broke, don’t fix it. That is the plan for the 56th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which for the second year in a row will steer clear of the show’s longtime Las Vegas home base and instead settle in to three iconic Nashville locations, the Grand Ole Opry House, the
Consumers are far from done with Morgan Wallen, even if he’s in temporary exile from radio and most other mass media. His “Dangerous: The Double Album” is No. 1 on the album chart, with no sign of being budged from that spot any time soon — even if Wallen did issue a video apology this
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s hopes of entertainment venues benefiting from rapid testing when the country begins to reopen after coronavirus lockdown is not practical, at least for cinemas, says U.K. Cinema Association chief executive Phil Clapp. On Monday, during a coronavirus briefing, Johnson had suggested the rapid lateral flow tests, in combination with the
The charges made against Woody Allen by Dylan Farrow, his daughter, and Mia Farrow, her mother, have resonated throughout American culture for decades. But it took a while for them to really be heard. That — the story of their finally being metabolized — makes for the narrative arc of “Allen v. Farrow,” a new
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Stax Music Academy, Concord — which owns the legendary soul label Stax Records — has announced the Concord Stax Scholarships, which will provide full tuition to at least 20 students in each year over the next five school years. According to the announcement, Concord has pledged “a minimum of $1 million through donations from its
Warner Music Group has announced an investment in the Arab world’s largest independent record label, Rotana Music, which is part of Rotana Group, widely considered the largest entertainment company in the region. According to the announcement, “the deal will expand WMG’s presence in the rapidly growing Middle East and North African region, while driving cross-cultural
“Mother Tongue,” a suspense thriller directed by two-time Academy Award nominee Mike Figgis (“Leaving Las Vegas,” “Internal Affairs”) starts shooting in Hong Kong this week. It stars and is produced by actor-singer-producer Josie Ho (“Contagion,” “Lucky Day”). Figgis and Ho will hold a start-of production ceremony Wednesday at Hong Kong’s Shaw Studios. Production is expected
Indie Sales has acquired Jimmy Keyrouz’s feature debut “Broken Keys,” which was part of Cannes 2020’s official selection and represented Lebanon in the Oscar race. “Broken Keys” is a follow-up of Keyrouz’s short “Nocturne in Black,” winner of a flurry of international awards, including the BAFTA Los Angeles Student Film Award. The movie was scored
The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) has selected Mariah Carey, George C. Wolfe, Stacey Abrams’s “All In” and Netflix as its special achievement award honorees for the 12th annual AAFCA Awards. Carey will receive the Innovator Award, while Wolfe earns the Salute to Excellence. Netflix is the Cinema Vanguard recipient, while the Stanley Kramer
“Calamity Jane,” Rémi Chayé’s critically acclaimed animated feature vying for an Oscar nomination, is set to roll out on The Animation Showcase, a streaming service dedicated to the industry. The hand-drawn “Calamity Jane,” which marks Chayé’s follow up to “Long Way North,” will be the first animated feature film to be available worldwide on the
Ryan Murphy will be honored for his body of work at the 25th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards in April. The writer, director and producer of TV shows and movies include “Hollywood,” “Pose,” “The Politician,” “The Prom,” “Glee,” “American Horror Story,” “The Boys in the Band” and most recently “9-1-1,” will receive the Cinematic Imagery
Cinemas in Hong Kong are set to reopen on Thursday after a hiatus caused by the city’s fourth wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. As the number of infections has dropped to only single figure daily increases, the government announced on Tuesday permission to reopen previously shuttered public places including cinemas and theme parks. Theme parks
Larry Kudlow spent nearly three years advising former President Donald Trump on economic policy. Now he’s taking to Fox Business Network, where he will get to comment as a new Commander-in-Chief is likely to dismantle much of what his predecessor wrought. Can he do so in an objective manner? “I’ve said good and bad things
Reel Suspects has acquired world rights to Renata Pinheiro’s sci-fi thriller “King Car,” which recently world premiered at Rotterdam in the big screen competition. The elevated genre movie revolves around Ninho, the son of a taxi company owner who has an extraordinary connection with cars and can talk to them. Ninho became friends with the
ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS) has boarded Amazon Prime Video and RTVE’s resurrection of Chicho Ibáñez Serrador’s legendary Spanish horror series “Historias Para No Dormir,” (“Stories to Stay Awake”), which started filming this week in Madrid. Set as a four-part anthology miniseries, “Historias Para No Dormir” boasts a superstar cast and crew on either side of
San Sebastian’s Tabakalera, a former tobacco factory repurposed as a hub of cultural activity for the Basque region with close ties to the city’s film festival, has launched the 2deo Serieak, an ambitious, international program developed to tutor, guide and support projects from TV series creators, producers and scriptwriters. The new initiative is backed by
Movie industry shares soared in Hong Kong on Tuesday in response to the bumper revenues being earned at the mainland China box office over the Chinese New Year holidays. Leading the gains were Imax China and Alibaba Pictures, both of which have direct stakes in the box office boom. Imax China stock climbed by 31%
The Locarno Film Festival is adding a new competitive section dedicated to shorts by established filmmakers, in one of the first moves made by new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro. Nazzaro, a former Venice Critics’ Week chief who was appointed at Locarno’s helm in November, is starting to put his stamp on the prominent Swiss
Director Robert Connolly (“Balibo”) and star Eric Bana (“Hanna,” “Hulk), both currently riding high at the Australian box office with “The Dry,” will reunite on “Blueback,” a film billed as a family-friendly, ecologically activist celebration of the natural world. Connolly has been developing the project for more than two decades. At one stage it was