With the exception of the psychedelic misadventure “Their Satanic Majesties Request,” the Rolling Stones’ “Goats Head Soup” is probably the most maligned album of the group’s first 20 years. Released in 1973, it arrived as most of the bandmembers were entering their 30s and the group was entering its second decade (unheard-of for a rock
With each album since 2011’s “Finally Famous,” rapper Big Sean has run from the chipper insolence of youth (and away from being a Kanye protégé) into the arms of ruminative adulthood and all of its blessings and curses. The braggadocio and money behind success in hip-hop is always tempered with practicality for Big Sean. So
Live Nation and Ticketmaster were hit with another round of furloughs on Thursday, said to number in the hundreds, sources tell Variety. The cuts at the world’s largest live-entertainment company (Live Nation owns Ticketmaster) are said to reach across all business units, particularly regional offices. A rep for the company did not immediately respond to
The U.K.’s Embankment Films has launched worldwide sales ahead of the Toronto Film Festival on “Call Me Kate,” a feature documentary on Katharine ‘Kate’ Hepburn, the actor from Hollywood’s Golden Age. The feature documentary is from director Lorna Tucker (“Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist”) and produced by Salon Pictures, the producers of the BAFTA nominated “McQueen.”
When my father, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, I was 10 years old. Although I was heartbroken, I remember being moved to learn that members of the Pittsburgh Pirates, led by the great Roberto Clemente, refused to play in the days following the assassination out of respect for my father. Although other teams did
The Venice Film Market and Rome’s MIA mart are forging a tie in a spirit of Covid-19 era collaboration. The two entities which, in different incarnations over the years have been known to be at each other’s throats, are joining forces with a small but significant pact. It sees the 28 feature film and doc
At the 11th hour, Amazon has come on board as a partner for Disney Plus’ “Mulan” $29.99 early-access movie release. “Mulan” is available for purchase inside the Disney Plus app on Amazon Fire TV and Fire Tablet devices, an Amazon rep confirmed Friday. As previously announced, Disney Plus subs also can buy access to the
Leading figures in the U.K. film production sector told Variety Friday that they continue to have absolute faith in the measures being taken to keep cast and crew safe from COVID-19 on British sets. Production on “The Batman” has reportedly resumed at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, U.K., albeit without star Robert Pattinson’s presence, according
For today only — Friday, Sept. 4 — a compilation album with previously unreleased songs by R.E.M., Jamila Woods, Phoebe Bridgers, Angel Olsen, The National’s Matt Berninger, Rostam, Flume, Death Cab for Cutie, and many more will be available, exclusively from Bandcamp. 100% of the proceeds from the album, which is titled “Good Music to Avert
“Tenet” got off to a solid start on its debut in Chinese theaters on Friday. It opened on top of the box office and eased aside local champion “The Eight Hundred.”. By 7pm on opening day “Tenet” had earned RMB50 million ($7.31 million), according to the China Box Office service of Ent Group. Including earlier
Silvio Berlusconi has been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19. The Italian media-mogul-turned politician, who served three terms as the country’s prime minister, has been admitted to Milan’s San Raffaele clinic after he reportedly contracted the virus in Sardinia. Berlusconi, who is 83, spent the night in hospital in Milan where he has been diagnosed with being in
For nearly two decades, the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival has helped to grow and support Poland’s documentary community through an event that takes place simultaneously across seven cities each May. But Artur Liebhart, founder of the country’s largest documentary film festival, insists that this is a year-round effort. Liebhart, who is also the
“Tenet” got off to a solid start on its debut in Chinese theaters on Friday. It opened on top of the box office and eased aside local champion “The Eight Hundred.”. By 7pm on opening day “Tenet” had earned RMB50 million ($7.31 million), according to the China Box Office service of Ent Group. Including earlier
In an internal note seen by Variety, Gary Davey, CEO of London-based Sky Studios, has revealed to staff that Cameron Roach is to step down from his role as director of drama at Sky Studios in the spring. In his memo, Davey wrote: “Cameron has decided to take some time out and spend more time
The closure of Polish cinemas earlier this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, dealt a temporary blow to the 17th edition of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, which was slated to take place in May. But the organizers were determined to hit the ground running as they geared up for a fall reboot,
Viewed in a certain light, the noirish romantic thriller “Lovers,” which premiered on Sept. 3 at the Venice Film Festival, could be seen as something of a change in pace for co-writer and director Nicole Garcia. A love-triangle potboiler about an unhappy woman, her wealthy older husband, and the bad-news ex-boyfriend she can’t leave behind,
The Venice Film Festival’s market is kicking off preceded by a flurry of activity, with several significant deals already announced during the world’s first physical place to do business after lockdown. Though smaller than in past editions, the event – known as the Venice Production Bridge – has more than 800 mostly European accredited buyers,
It is, by common consent, the job from hell, but within days of starting as BBC director general, Tim Davie, achieved the impossible by generating positive headlines in outlets normally critical of the Beeb. He achieved this simply by reversing a decision not to sing “Rule Britannia” — a patriotic song linked to the United
Greta Thunberg documentary “I Am Greta” will get the big-screen treatment in cinemas across Europe, North America and Australia this fall. U.K. sales agent Dogwoof has secured a raft of sales and global territory releases for the Nathan Grossman-directed film about the young Swedish activist, which enjoys its world premiere in Venice on Sept. 4.
Sara Bareilles’ voice is not a little one, but that hasn’t kept her from recording her own versions of the songs she contributed to the Apple TV Plus series. Ten of them are collected in the new album “More Love: Songs from Little Voice Season One,” which got a surprise drop as Thursday gave way
“The Boys” are back and badder than ever. The vigilante versus superhero series — based on the best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson and developed by Eric Kripke — is known for its violence, vulgar language and insightful critique of a world where superpowers aren’t always used for good. And when fans got
Eddie Vedder discussed working on new music during COVID-19 quarantine, memories from Pearl Jam shows with Robert Plant and Neil Young and why he finally joined Instagram during a wide-ranging call-in Q&A with listeners on the band’s SiriusXM channel yesterday (Sept. 2). Vedder said the members of Pearl Jam have not been in the same
Luckily, the world has already been exposed to the extent of whale violence occurring in season 2 of superhero series “The Boys.” In July, a first look clip of the season went viral due to a graphic scene involving a boat ramming into a computer-generated whale and killing it. When asked about the scene in
R. Kelly‘s alleged attacker just ID’d himself in court docs, claiming he’s the one who beat up Kelly behind bars … and he has gang ties and murders on his record. Jeremiah Shane Farmer filed legal docs, obtained by TMZ, claiming he’s the pissed off inmate who went on the attack and jumped Kelly in
If adultery was as drab and zestless a business as it’s made to look in “Lovers,” nobody would engage in it — in which case Nicole Garcia’s languid, boilerplate-stylish romantic melodrama would gain at least a measure of the novelty it so sorely lacks. Unspooling in competition at the Venice Film Festival, this French three-hander
There’s little false advertising to “Love, Guaranteed,” a romantic comedy about true love and the seemingly overblown promises of online dating. The shared fate of Susan Whitaker and Nick Evans — played by Rachel Leigh Cook and Damon Wayans Jr. — is all but assured by director Mark Steven Johnson’s pretty much by-the-numbers take. The
Edward Albee could write an argument. In “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” George and Martha rip into each other, showing how a couple with some wear on its tires knows just where to drive in the nail to inflict maximum damage. Screenwriter Zac Stanford is no Edward Albee, and his low-key lover’s-spat dramedy “The Argument”
In today’s TV news roundup, YouTube TV added the NFL Network to its roster of content, and Showtime shared a premiere date and trailer for its new documentary, “Kingdom of Silence.” FIRST LOOKS DreamWorks has shared an exclusive first look into the animated “Spirit Riding Free: Riding Academy Part 2” with Variety, introducing a new
Amazon is not moving forward on its series about conquistador Hernan Cortes after the show was forced to shut down production due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Variety has confirmed. The Spanish-language series, which starred Javier Bardem as Cortes, was intended to be a big-budget miniseries for the streamer comprised of four episodes. However, production barely got
It’s hard to believe nearly three years have passed since 66-year-old music legend Tom Petty unexpectedly died after slipping into unconsciousness at his Malibu home. Since then, Dana York Petty — the former educator who was Petty’s wife for the last 16 years of his life — has continued living at the same Malibu estate,