SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 4, Episode 9 of “The Masked Singer,” which aired Nov. 26 on Fox. Paul Anka is thankful for his time on “The Masked Singer,” even though he was the latest celebrity to be revealed on the hit competition series. On a special Thanksgiving
Aimee Mann knows a sinking ship when she sees one. And she saw the holes in the ballast back at the turn of the century when she asked for her release from her record company so that she could release “Bachelor No. 2 or, The Last Remains of the Dodo” herself. It’s not so much
Emily J. Hoe took over as executive director of the Singapore International Film Festival just as the world was waking up to the coronavirus as a full-on pandemic. A calm head helped prevail and deliver a slimmed down, but still familiar, event that is presented in physical form and partially online. Variety: You have a
Fanny Chotimah’s Indonesian documentary “You and I,” which won the Asian Perspective Award at Korea’s DMZ Docs Festival, is one of the highlights of the Singapore International Film Festival’s Asian Vision strand. The film tells the story of the friendship between Kaminah and Kusdalini, which existed for more than 50 years since they met as
Indian arthouse filmmaker Pushpendra Singh’s latest effort, feminist fable “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs” (Laila Aur Satt Geet) is bowing at the Singapore International Film Festival after plaudits at Berlin, Hong Kong and Jeonju. The film, based on renowned Rajasthani writer Vidaydan Detha’s story of a woman discarding all identities society wants to impose
For Ingrid Andress, becoming the designated face of country music in this year’s Grammy nominations just seven months after her debut album came out is “mind-blowing.” Among country artists, she’s tied with Miranda Lambert for the most overall nominations, with three. But one of Andress’ nods was for best new artist — and she’s not
He’s “Young Dumb & Broke” no longer. After winning a Grammy and collaborating with hitmakers Benny Blanco, Halsey, and Billie Eilish, not to mention becoming one of the most popular Spotify artists with about 50 million monthly listeners, mononymous 22-year-old singer-songwriter Khalid — Khalid Donnel Robinson to his mother — has already outgrown his starter
“Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek is still inspiring fans, even three weeks after he died at 80. The beloved TV personality had taped enough episodes of “Jeopardy” to last until the week of Jan. 4. Although Trebek was in the late stages of pancreatic cancer, he was still hosting new episodes of the show up until
When his students express their weariness of constant lockdown drills, a sympathetic New York City math teacher offers them some cold comfort. Statistically, he says, they’re likelier to be hit by a car than they are to die in a school shooting. But traffic collisions don’t get constant media coverage, counters a teenage girl: Vigilant
In the animated feature “The Croods: A New Age,” which bowed Nov. 25 in select theaters, the first prehistoric family encounters the Bettermans, a family a few steps evolved beyond the cave people. When the Croods stumble on their lush treehouse compound, it looks like paradise to them. It’s so appealing, in fact, that even
Iranian director Firouzeh Khosrovani has won the IDFA award for best feature-length documentary with “Radiograph of a Family,” a film that uses an intimate study of her parents’ marriage—her father was secular, Westernized and progressive, while her mother was a devout, traditional Muslim—to explore the divisions in Iranian society both in the run-up and aftermath
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the first three episodes of “12 Dates of Christmas,” streaming now on HBO Max. In 1965, Maria von Trapp (Julie Andrews) stepped into Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, Austria and fell in love in “The Sound of Music.” Now, 55 years later, two new men and
There’s no better time than the first time, at least when it comes to actors debuting in their inaugural feature films. In the history of the Oscars, more than 25 actors have been nominated for their feature debuts across all four acting categories. Among them are winners like Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave”) and
On Wednesday night, G4, the gaming network that aired from 2002-2014 and recently announced a revival, held a charity special that saw its previous lineup of hosts — Olivia Munn, Kevin Pereira, Adam Sessler, Morgan Webb, Kristin Adams and Blair Herter — reunite for a night of nostalgia and reminiscing. But, at the very end
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the first three episodes of “The Flight Attendant,” streaming now on HBO Max. When you pick up Chris Bohjalian’s 2018 novel “The Flight Attendant,” one of the first things you notice about its titular character Cassie is that she has a deep sense of
When Sylvia Bugg rejoined PBS for a third stint in February 2020, the public broadcaster faced a conventional set of challenges. Then March happened, and everything became very unconventional. The onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. and the summer of social upheaval that followed had a dramatic effect on PBS. Now Bugg —
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. If you’re a “Star Wars” fan, or know one, here are the best gifts that are sure to
Andy Samberg gets raw and has a strong message for the Academy voters who have an issue with the Academy’s new diversity and inclusion standards set to take effect in 2024. Samberg recently spoke to Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast about his film “Palm Springs” – listen below! Samberg says “the parameters if you look at
Italian actor and screenwriter Daria Nicolodi, who played the prying journalist Gianna Brezzi in the Dario Argento cult classic “Deep Red”(Profondo Rosso), and was herself a cult figure, has died. She was 70. The cause of her death, announced by her daughter Asia Argento and Italian news reports, was not disclosed. Born in Florence in
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. “Friends” may have wrapped its final season over ten years ago, but the beloved ’90s sitcom is still
The Bangladesh Oscar Committee has selected acclaimed anthology film “Sincerely Yours, Dhaka” as the country’s entry to the 2021 Oscars’ international feature film category. “Dhaka” is a collection of 11 shorts set in Bangladesh’s capital city by 11 emerging filmmakers: Nuhash Humayun, Syed Ahmed Shawki, Rahat Rahman Joy, M.D. Robiul Alam, Golam Kibria Farooki, Mir
U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has announced a Global Format Fund that will invest in new British-created and produced formats with global potential that will initially be worth £30 million ($40 million) over two years. Channel 4 will guarantee minimum runs and recommissioning triggers up front for projects greenlit under this approach. The Fund will focus
An unlikely guest turned up amid the dozens of Broadway actors, “Today” hosts and other celebrities who regularly take part in NBC’s annual broadcast of “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.” In a two-minute ad from Comcast, actor Steve Carell took a turn at playing Santa Claus, part of an emerging tradition that has the Philadelphia cable-and-entertainment
Brazil’s controversial hit comedy troupe Porta dos Fundos is gearing up to release its annual Christmas Special, “The Edge of Theocracy,” on Dec. 10. A play on Petra Costa’s Oscar-nominated documentary, “The Edge of Democracy,” a trailer released Nov. 20 on its dedicated YouTube channel lured more than 300,000 views in three days. Porta dos
It’s time to go to prom. On Thanksgiving, Netflix debuted the first trailer for Ryan Murphy’s movie adaptation of the Broadway musical “The Prom,” set for release on Dec. 11. The 2018 Broadway musical is based on an original concept from Jack Viertel with music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguelin. The performance
Drake almost finds humor in the Grammys which inexplicably snubbed The Weeknd, essentially saying those little trophies really don’t mean crap. Drake said Wednesday night, “I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and just accept that what once was the highest
Over the summer, British indie pop star Ellie Goulding invited Vogue magazine over for a peek and a poke around the lovely London cottage where she and husband Caspar Jopling holed up during the COVID quarantines. Turns out, that cottage, a former hay loft in a historic mews in London’s Paddington area, is now for
Claire Denis, the versatile French auteur behind “Chocolat” and “High Life,” is set to direct Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon in “Radioscopie,” a movie set in the French radio world. Denis last directed Binoche and Robert Pattinson in “High Life,” an erotic space odyssey which garnered buzz at Toronto last year. Denis was supposed to
Italian screen legend Franco Nero is having a busy year. “Recon,” the Robert Port-directed World War II thriller in which he stars, opened theatrically on Veteran’s Day in the U.S. as an event release and since then has been playing well online. German courtroom procedural “The Collini Case,” in which Nero has the title role,
Grasshopper Film has picked up North American non-theatrical and digital distribution rights to Mo Scarpelli’s “El Father Plays Himself,” as the documentary of the Italian-American director and cinematographer screens at the 33rd IDFA Best of Festivals Selection – after having won a special mention for best international feature at Switzerland’s Visions du Réel. The New