In 1970, Ali MacGraw, then a relatively unknown model-turned-actress fresh off her debut role in “Goodbye, Columbus,” sat on the front steps of a Cambridge, Mass., duplex in deep winter, sobbing and shivering and blubbering the line, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” It was the non-apology heard ’round the world. While MacGraw,
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Over a decade in the making, The Actors Fund and Thomas Safran & Associates broke ground Thursday morning on The Hollywood Arts Collective, a $120-million project that will include 151 affordable housing units for artists. “With gentrification and rising rents in neighborhoods traditionally accessible to workers in the entertainment and arts community, The Hollywood Arts
It runs at only 12 minutes, but the animated short “If Anything Happens, I Love You” is a sweeping story of grieving parents after losing their daughter to gun violence. Devoid of dialogue, the 2D animation relies on a colorless world as a couple argues over dinner. Their shadows are dark and the world is
The part-documentary/part-drama “The Social Dilemma” deals in part with the spell that Silicon Valley tech companies have cast over a willingly mesmerized populace, and so Nina Simone’s version of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ classic “I Put a Spell on You” was brought in as a musical accent mark for the film. For the soundtrack album, producers
Many people would love the chance to climb into an RV and drive around the English countryside with Colin Firth for weeks. For Stanley Tucci, it was indeed fun — but also challenging. The two actors play longtime lovers on a final road trip in “Supernova,” which arrives on demand Feb. 12. Tusker (Tucci) is
China’s top broadcasting regulator said Thursday that it will ban BBC World News from the country, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The National Radio and TV Administration (NRTA) said that BBC World News was found to have “undermined China’s national interests and ethnic solidarity” because of its China-related reports that “went against the
The parallel between fast cars and high fashion is self-evident. Both modes operate in a luxury world that is sometimes unattainable, always aspirational, and downright sexy. LaQuan Smith lives in this world. But it wasn’t always like that. “Nothing was given to me on a silver platter,” Smith, 31, told ELLE. “I had hustle to
Natalie Hemby, one of the most well-liked and acclaimed songwriters in Nashville, has put her toe into the waters of being a recording and performing artist before, notably as a member of the alt-country supergroup the Highwomen. But now she’s jumping in whole-heartedly, having inked a deal with the Fantasy label that will see a
There’s a new queen in town. Variety can reveal the first look of “Queen & Slim” actor Jodie Turner-Smith as Tudor queen Anne Boleyn — the most notorious of Henry VIII’s wives, best known for her untimely demise by execution — in three-part psychological thriller “Anne Boleyn” for ViacomCBS-backed U.K. broadcaster Channel 5. The show
After news broke Wednesday that Bruce Springsteen was arrested in New Jersey on suspicion of drunken driving last November, uproar quickly ensued: Fans were baffled that such a thing would happen to the singer — who is not a teetotaler but has never been known to be a heavy drinker — and Jeep quickly removed
“Fearless” is being born again. Taylor Swift was not just talking a good talk when she vowed to independently re-record all six of the albums she originally released on her former Big Machine label: The singer announced Thursday morning that her blockbuster sophomore album from 2008 would be the first in a series of full-album
Simone Biles, superstar gymnast and Olympic champion, will be the subject of a new Facebook Watch original series following her as she gets ready to compete in the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games — expected to be her last run at a medal. “Simone vs Herself” is slated to premiere this summer, timed for the Tokyo
Like most art forms, recent music history is filled with artists whose music lots of people just don’t get — whether it’s the Grateful Dead or Tyler, the Creator, whether it’s Insane Clown Posse or Dave Matthews. Well, today Spotify is launching an audio show on that very subject: the awesomely titled “Bandsplain.” The Spotify
When Marvel Comics first launched the character of Black Panther, it was in the July 1966 issue of “Fantastic Four.” As explained in this exclusive clip from the upcoming Disney Plus documentary “Marvel’s Behind the Mask,” the character of T’Challa, the King of Wakanda, was presented just like any other Marvel superhero — attention wasn’t
Saudi Arabian exhibition chain Muvi Cinemas has forged a strategic partnership with local digital media studio Telfaz11, under which they will take an undisclosed stake in the expanding Saudi outfit that recently inked an eight-picture deal with Netflix. The partnership will see Muvi and Telfaz11 join forces to produce Arabic feature films for theatrical release,
M-Appeal has taken world distribution rights to Japanese filmmaker Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which has its world premiere In Competition at the Berlin Film Festival. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer. [embedded content] The film contains three stories, which share the theme of “coincidence and imagination,” the director said.
Netflix has announced it will open a dedicated outpost in Canada with a local chief who will be in charge of commissioning domestic content. The news was announced on Thursday by Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos in a blog post. “Ten years ago, Canadians invited Netflix into their homes for the first time,” Sarandos wrote. “And
The team at indie Wall Street analyst house LightShed Partners has expanded beyond selling research into the venture-investing game. The analyst firm’s founders have formed LightShed Ventures, a new venture investment company targeting early-stage tech, media and telecom startups, that has closed an initial fund of $75 million. The LightShed Ventures Fund I will invest
Tim Richards, CEO of international cinema chain Vue, has been named chair of the British Film Institute (BFI). Richards will take over the role, which is appointed by the U.K. government, from interim chair and BFI governor Pat Butler from Feb. 16 and will serve a three-year term. He takes the reins from former Warner
China has issued a list of ten requirements and 15 prohibited acts that performing artists should use to “self-regulate” their own wayward behavior or else face punishments that include a lifetime ban from the entertainment industry. The regulations, issued by the government-backed China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA), are set to begin a trial phase
The Match Factory is taking a strong slate to the European Film Market, including two world premieres: Anne Zohra Berrached’s “Copilot,” which is in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section, and Christian Schwochow’s “Je Suis Karl,” which is in Berlinale Special. Also in the festival program is Dash Shaw’s “Cryptozoo,” the critically acclaimed adult animation
Actor Daniel Bruhl’s directorial debut and new titles from Radu Jude, Celine Sciamma, Hong Sangsoo and Xavier Beauvois are among the 15 competition titles in the Berlin Film Festival, all of which were revealed Thursday. Five of the titles are from female filmmakers (some of whom are co-directors on titles), on par with last year’s
Adventure reality show “Australian Survivor” is to shoot in Queensland, Australia following the injection of cash from the federal government’s Location Incentive Fund. The first five seasons of the show, which airs on Network 10, had previously lensed in Pacific island countries Samoa and Fiji. Preparations to shoot season six in Fiji had been under
Paris-headquartered Asacha Media Group has acquired a majority stake in U.K. production and distribution outfit WAG Entertainment. The WAG portfolio includes “What on Earth?” and “Strange Evidence” for Science Channel, “Weird Earth” for The Weather Channel, “Combat Dealers” for Quest and “War Factories” for UKTV. Following a transition period, WAG founder and CEO Martin Durkin
The ongoing disagreement between social networking app Twitter and the Indian government over the ongoing farmers’ protests around Delhi is reaching a crescendo. Earlier this month, the government sought the suspension of several Twitter accounts that had tweeted about the protests, alleging the spread of misinformation. Twitter initially complied but reinstated them after a few
Facebook’s Instagram kicked notorious anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off the platform for violations of its COVID-19 misinformation policy, while his Facebook account currently remains active. “We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement about Kennedy’s Instagram account. However, the company does
A throwback to all the B-grade knockoffs that followed such hit late ’80s/early ’90s household thrillers as “The Stepfather,” “Pacific Heights,” and “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” “Paradise Cove” will be nobody’s idea of an original movie, let alone a good one. Still, it provides a degree of schlock entertainment value, as a young
Now shortlisted in the international feature category, Tunisia’s ambitious entry “The Man Who Sold His Skin” from female writer-director Kaouther Ben Hania (“Beauty and the Dogs”) offers a provocative contemporary take on a Faustian bargain. An audacious but not always palatable mix of drama, tragedy, romance, satire and dark humor, the plot centers on Sam
A “True Lies” series adaptation has scored a pilot order at CBS, Variety has learned. Like the film of the same, an unfulfilled suburban housewife is shocked to discover that her bland and unremarkable computer consultant husband is a skilled international spy. She is propelled into a life of danger and adventure when she’s recruited to
Morgan Wallen has issued a more than five-minute video apology on his Instagram account, saying that the reason for the delay was that he wanted to issue personal apologies and meet with Black leaders before making more of a statement than he did the night the scandal over his uttering a racial slur broke last