After being caught in successive regulatory delays for nearly two years, France’s new streaming service Salto finally launched at the start of November, right in time for a second national lockdown due to the pandemic. In an ironic twist of fate, Salto, a joint initiative between TF1, France Télévisions and M6, came out in France
This summer a new board of directors took the reins at the Greek Film Center (GFC), the body that oversees all aspects of the country’s film policy, from bolstering the development and production of local cinema to luring international film and television shoots to the Mediterranean nation. Despite recent years in which the GFC has
Iranian multi-hyphenate Babak Karimi is an actor, film editor, and academic who won the Berlin Silver Bear in 2011 for playing the judge in “A Separation,” one of several films in which he stars directed by his friend Asghar Farhadi. Karimi also appears in the drama “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness” by Massoud Bakhshi, which
SF Studios has inked a distribution deal with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) to release the studio’s film and television content across the Nordic and Baltic regions. Starting on March 1, the deal will cover a board range of content from Universal, notably the new instalments of the “Trolls World Tour,” the “Jurassic World” and
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the series finale of “The Good Lord Bird” on Showtime. John Brown’s (Ethan Hawke) journey may have come to a violent end, but his mission will live on in the young man he inspired, Henry aka Onion (Joshua Caleb Johnson). The series finale of
Reality TV is getting the behind-the-scenes treatment. E! has greenlit the limited event series “For Real: The Story of Reality TV,” hosted and executive produced by Andy Cohen, which will recall famous moments from “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” “The Bachelor,” “The Real World,” “The Real Housewives,” “Survivor” and other well-known unscripted series. The seven-part
Very few music boxed sets aspire beyond being gussied up digital repositories to becoming actual physical pieces of pop art. But opening up the new vinyl set from Elvis Costello, “The Complete Armed Forces,” feels like getting several Christmas mornings all at once, with a suitable-for-fondling nine records, seven paperbacks and various other ephemera intended
SpaceX successfully sent four astronauts on a six-month journey to the International Space Station on Sunday night, in the company’s second crewed mission for NASA. After the mission was delayed yesterday due to poor weather, a Crew Dragon spacecraft called “Resilience” launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on top of a Falcon 9 rocket at 7:27
Newsmax may be focused on conservative audiences, but it has very liberal views of where its business can go in the future as an independent news operation. The top executive of the news outlet said the company intends to move forward on its own, and noted Newsmax has little desire to turn the network, which
Ben Kouijzer, a music agent for CAA UK who represented electronic acts such as 808 State and Meduza, has died of kidney and liver failure after battling cancer. He was 36. Kouijzer was diagnosed last summer with malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, or MPNST, and underwent surgery and radiotherapy, according to his GoFundMe page. But
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-isolating again after being in contact with a person who has been tested positive for COVID-19. The U.K. National Health Service’s Track and Trace system informed Johnson that he had been in contact with an infected person. “The Prime Minister has today been notified by NHS Test and Trace
In the award show/live event genre, there really aren’t superstar director names like Spielberg, Tarantino, Coppola or others. It just doesn’t work like that… with the exception of my friend, Walter C. Miller, who passed at the age of 94 on Friday at home with his family around him. He was not only one of
In the age of streaming, the phrase “TV-movie” has been rendered all but meaningless. It now encompasses everything from a Disney Channel musical like “Zombies 2” to “My Dinner with Hervé” to “Mank.” But 30 or 40 years ago, the phrase “TV-movie” meant something specific — a two-hour drama made for one of the big
A New York man was arrested on Saturday in connection to last month’s unprovoked attack on “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” star Rick Moranis. On Saturday afternoon, the New York Police Department tweeted that a suspect had been “apprehended and charged,” attributing the discovery to “an eagle-eyed” NYPD Transit sergeant. Thanks to an eagle-eyed sergeant
Exclusive Benny the Butcher is the latest rapper to suffer a gunshot wound below the belt this week — this time, it happened out in Houston during what sounds like an attempted robbery. Houston PD tells TMZ … the New York rapper was in town Saturday and visiting a local Walmart with a couple friends
Breaking News Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kevin Porter Jr. was arrested this weekend on a weapons charge — something the team says it’ll handle internally. Porter Jr. was picked by cops in Mahoning County Sunday morning and booked for improperly handling a firearm in a vehicle. No other information about what led up to the arrest
In a sudden reversal, Gucci Mane has replaced T.I. as Jeezy’s opponent in the Verzuz Season 2 opener, taking place Thursday (Nov. 19). The switch was announced late Saturday night. Jeezy and Gucci have had a long feud stemming from a 2005 home-invasion in which Gucci fatally shot Jeeyz’s friend Pookie Loc. Gucci was acquitted
HBO Max has released the first trailer for Meryl Streep and Steven Soderbergh’s highly anticipated film “Let Them All Talk.” The comedy follows a renowned author, Alice Hughes (Streep), who embarks on a journey with old friends in the hopes of healing old wounds. Her nephew also comes along to accompany the ladies, until he
“The Ride” begins with a scene of unexpected brutality, engineered by a racist, feral kid. Even so, its “inspired by a true story” promise at the start rings a little tinny. And early on, the BMX-meets-“love wins” drama about a boy whose white supremacist roots and abusive home life land him in juvenile detention has
Kevin Dillon will portray Warner Bros. Studios founder Jack Warner in Dennis Quaid’s upcoming “Reagan” biopic, Variety has learned. Production on “Reagan” in Oklahoma was halted for two weeks in late October and early November due to a COVID-19 outbreak among crew members. Shooting resumed on Nov. 5 and will be moving to California, according
After reports surfaced on Saturday that singer-rapper Jeremih had been hospitalized for COVID-19, musicians and celebrities took to Twitter to show their support for the 33-year-old rapper. Jeremih is currently hospitalized in the ICU in Chicago, Ill. and is being treated for COVID-19, according to TMZ. although his representatives did not immediately respond to Variety‘s
Over a week after the presidential election was called for Joe Biden by all major news organizations, President Donald Trump has acknowledged Biden’s victory – but still refuses to concede. In a series of tweets on Sunday morning, Trump continued his claims that the election was rigged, citing the media and faulty election equipment. “He
“Freaky,” a body-swap horror movie from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions, slashed its box office competition, debuting to $3.7 million over the weekend. In the coronavirus era, when nearly every movie scheduled for theatrical release has been postponed, those ticket sales were easily enough to nab first place on U.S. charts. The film played on
Dating back to her childhood in Greece, first-time director Janis Rafa has spent the better part of her life contemplating death. The title of her feature-length debut, “Kala Azar,” takes its name from the parasitic disease that swept through the country in the 1990s, ravaging the animal population. In Rafa’s childhood home, which included both
Taiwan’s legalization of gay marriage last year helpfully came in time for the real-world launch of the GOL Summit, Asia’s largest LGBTQ+ filmmaking conference. That in turn helped maintain the momentum for a second edition that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be a fully virtual affair. The event, which runs Monday and Tuesday (Nov. 16-17,
“Never Gonna Snow Again,” which was chosen as Poland’s Oscar submission prior to its world premiere in Venice, marks a further step in cinematographer Michał Englert’s long collaboration with Małgorzata Szumowska. It started in the 1990s with her short “Silence,” followed by her feature debut “Happy Man” in 2000, and continues with “Never Gonna Snow
Indian actor Soumitra Chatterjee, best known internationally for his long association with Oscar-winning filmmaker Satyajit Ray, died on Sunday in Kolkata after contracting coronavirus. He was 85. Chatterjee was born in Calcutta in 1935. While at university he developed an interest in theater and was subsequently mentored by Sisir Bhaduri, a doyen in the field.
“I wish you were here. It’s not the same. Because usually I sing this one along with you.” As Dave Grohl launched into Foo Fighters’ 2007 hit “The Pretender,” it was clear how much the band was missing its fans. Saturday night’s livestream from Sunset Strip haunt the Roxy was meant to shake out those
One of the most anticipated films of this awards season, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” emerges as one of the premier Oscar vehicles for Netflix. At its soulful core, the farewell performance of the late Chadwick Boseman is as invigorating as anticipated. His work as Levee may very well be his best and most spiritual gift
Justin Simien, writer and director of television’s “Dear White People” and the recent horror feature “Bad Hair,” spoke about the difficulties experienced by queer students during the Virtual Point Honors Los Angeles Gala on Saturday. “I’m not that far out from my college years at Chapman University, but I have been around long enough to