Paramount Pictures is the latest Hollywood studio to pause the theatrical release of its upcoming films in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine last week. “As we witness the ongoing tragedy in Ukraine, we have decided to pause the theatrical release of our upcoming films in Russia, including ‘The Lost City,’ and ‘Sonic the
Avril Lavigne, Maren Morris, Alicia Keys and other artists will appear in “iHeartRadio SeeHer Hear Her: Celebrating Women Who Make Music and Culture,” a celebration on the radio network taking place on International Women’s Day on March 8. The event will highlight successful and influential artists in music during a live one-hour special that will
The European Film Academy (EFA) has issued an unequivocal condemnation of President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and excluded Russia from the European Film Awards. In a statement released on Tuesday, the EFA said: “The Academy strongly condemns the war started by Russia – Ukraine’s sovereignty and territory must be respected. Putin’s actions are atrocious and
Russia’s war in Ukraine has drawn swift and wide-ranging condemnation from the international community, which has imposed unprecedented sanctions against President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle and pushed the Russian economy to a breaking point, with the ruble plummeting to historic lows on Monday. Amid calls for a boycott of Russian films that have
BBC Studios and Sky Deutschland have agreed an output deal for factual content in Germany. The long-term partnership agreement will see Sky Deutschland as the pay TV home for BBC Studios premium factual content in Germany, which will include 150 hours of factual titles from the BBC Studios catalogue. The factual output from BBC Studios
Meta, the tech giant that controls the Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram social media platforms, said that it has restricted access to Russian state media within the European Union. The moves are intended to limit the spread of Russian propaganda during the country’s invasion of Ukraine. “We have received requests from a number of governments and
The Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX) has announced its full program, which includes some 200 new films and a whopping 76 world premieres. A dozen documentaries are competing for the top prize in the main Dox:Award competition, a quarter of which were shot in Russia and Ukraine – a testimony to the organizers’ desire
The Hollywood Critics Association held its fifth annual awards on Monday in person at the Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles, Calif. Siân Heder’s “CODA,” which won for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture at the SAG Awards Sunday, took the top award for best picture, with Heder winning for adapted screenplay and
Folklore, feminism and film noir come together in Pushpendra Singh’s meticulously crafted fourth feature “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.” Set in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region in Northwest India, this moody fable about an unhappy young bride plotting her escape from tradition and patriarchy is a gripping character study that stutters slightly in
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Fairytale Wedding,” the Feb. 28 episode of NBC’s “The Endgame.” NBC’s new high-octane crime drama “The Endgame” aired its second episode Monday, revealing many more compelling details about its leading ladies — Morena Baccarin’s international arms dealer/crime boss Elena Federova and Ryan Michelle Bathé’s FBI
Entrepreneur Karnesh Ssharma is launching Clean OTT, a streaming service focusing on female-oriented original content, in the first quarter of 2023. Female actors, directors and producers will be at the heart of the service, which aims to move away from the male gaze that plagues Indian content and to create a sustainable platform for female
The music of “Encanto” is casting an enchanting spell that’s hard to break. The soundtrack album is No 1 on the Billboard 200 for a seventh week, while the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has landed a fifth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Those positions have remained safe because it’s
The Set Decorators Society of America has penned an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expressing its “extreme disappointment” regarding the decision to not broadcast certain categories — best production design, particularly — live during this year’s Oscars ceremony. The letter, addressed to Academy president David Rubin, CEO Dawn Hudson,
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “In the Unlikely Event of an Emergency,” the Feb. 28 episode of “9-1-1: Lone Star.” Gwyn Morgan (Lisa Edelstein) went as far as she could with her son, T.K. Strand (Ronen Rubinstein), on Monday’s “9-1-1: Lone Star” before leaving him to go the rest of
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of “Euphoria,” which aired on HBO on Feb. 27. Played by 15-year-old Javon Walton, Ashtray is simultaneously the cutest and the scariest thing about “Euphoria.” The unofficially adopted brother of Fezco (Angus Cloud) is a whiz kid when it comes to selling drugs, converting black
Warner Bros. has announced that it has halted its plans to release “The Batman” in Russia. The DC adaptation was set to release in the country on Friday. “In light of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, WarnerMedia is pausing the release of its feature film ‘The Batman’ in Russia,” a spokesperson for WarnerMedia said in
Writer-director Geeta Malik’s “India Sweets and Spices” is set in the milieu of the Indian community in a New Jersey suburb, where the wealthy families with their weekend parties look down on the working-class fellow South Asians. The pic opened at Tribeca last year and played in theaters and will be on Hulu after March
Leo T. Reed, an offensive lineman in the American Football League who went on to lead Teamsters Local 399 for 24 years, died on Sunday at the age of 83. Reed was appointed secretary-treasurer of the union in 1988, representing Hollywood studio drivers and other workers for eight terms. He was also chairman of the
If it wasn’t for Chris Licht, you might not see Gayle King on TV every weekday morning. King wasn’t the typical host of a national morning-news show. She had worked for nearly two decades at a Hartford TV station before trying her hand at daytime TV. When Licht, who was starting a new morning program
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of “Euphoria,” which aired on HBO on Feb. 27. Eric Dane is having the time of his life on “Euphoria,” HBO’s wildly popular drama from Sam Levinson. “There aren’t words to describe how much I love the show,” he tells Variety on the Monday
The Walt Disney Company announced on Monday that it will be pausing all theatrical releases in Russia, including that of “Turning Red,” which was previously set to premiere in the country March 10. “Given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, including
The cast of “Ted Lasso” may not have been able to make it the SAG Awards this year, but they did get together to appear remotely from the five-star Claridge’s Hotel in London. Nominee Hannah Waddingham absolutely glowed from across the pond in a gold and bronze Dolce & Gabbana fishtail gown. And Variety has
Matt Barr, who stars in The CW’s “Walker” as Hoyt Rawlins, is set to play another character with the same name in the upcoming pilot “Walker: Independence.” “Walker: Independence” is an origin story set in the late 1800s following Abby Walker, an affluent Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes while on their journey
Howard Stern launched into a tirade against Vladimir Putin during Monday’s episode of his SiriusXM radio show (via Yahoo). The host condemned members of the Republican Party for supporting Putin amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, most notably Donald Trump. While Trump said at CPAC over the weekend that Russia’s attack on Ukraine is “appalling,” he
Ralph Ahn, who played the fan-favorite “New Girl” character Tran, died on Feb. 26, the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles reported. He was 95. Ahn appeared in seven episodes of the sitcom alongside Jake Johnson, who played Nick Miller. A man of very few words, Tran serves as a friend and grandfather figure. Through
February in the U.K. music industry is traditionally dominated by the BRIT Awards, and this year the ceremony returned to its customary slot, having been forced to move to May in 2021 by the pandemic. But, despite resuming its rightful place in the calendar with a star-studded line-up including Adele, Ed Sheeran and Liam Gallagher,
Bill Livek plans to retire as CEO of Comscore, capping a career in media measurement spanning more than 40 years. Comscore said its board of directors will consider external and internal candidates to succeed Livek as CEO and has engaged headhunting firm Spencer Stuart for the search. Once a replacement is named, Livek plans to
In Hollywood, it’s easier to sell a movie if you can say, “It’s like a new take on ___” and fill in the blank with a box office hit. But the films that get nominated for director are usually the result of a singular vision, one that’s hard to pin down and categorize. Still, just
Josh Gad recently told The Independent that he has some regrets over how Disney’s 2017 live action “Beauty and the Beast” remake handled making his character a gay man. Gad starred in the film as LeFou, the long-suffering sidekick to Gaston (played by Luke Evans in the film). The movie’s director, Bill Condon, announced in
In my younger and more vulnerable years, I was under the impression that by the time I could legally refer to myself as an adult I’d simultaneously be granted the luxury of self-confidence. That “self-confidence” would theoretically come both because of, as well as alongside, a physical and emotional maturity. However, as time passes, I