The Cranberries’ poignantly titled “In The End” received a Grammy nomination for best rock album. It’s the Irish group’s first ever recognition by the Recording Academy and comes nearly two years after the death of lead singer Dolores O’Riordan in January 2018. The band’s surviving members, Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan and Fergal Lawler, initially had
Eko is launching its most ambitious bet yet to close the loop between interactive entertainment and ecommerce, with partner and investor Walmart. The interactive-video platform company debuted four original scripted series Thursday (Nov. 21). Two of them — EffinFunny’s “Wizard School Dropout” (pictured above), set in a Harry Potter-esque world, and “Timeline” from Olive Bridge
The Players’ Tribune, the media company founded by Derek Jeter dedicated to serving up first-person content from athletes, has been acquired by Minute Media — the latest roll-up play in a wave of consolidation in digital media. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions
Local stars and talents from Asia studded the opening night red carpet event of the Singapore International Film Festival on Thursday. They were lead by hometown filmmaker Anthony Chen, who made a global impact with debut feature “Ilo Ilo,” and is again making a splash with “Wet Season.” For its 30th edition, the festival runs
Verizon, in its ongoing quest to find killer applications for 5G wireless, has signed Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, as a new tech development and marketing partner. Under the pact, the companies said, they will work together at Verizon’s 5G Labs to create new augmented-reality feature and experiences for consumers, including new ways to
Pepsi is known for its Super Bowl half time show and celebrity-laden commercials. Now it wants to burnish a reputation for holiday cheer. The soda-maker will help consumers give cash gifts to friend and family members through a digital scratch-off game that can be sparked via QR codes found across 12 packs of Pepsi, Diet
Composer John Williams received two Grammy nominations, as announced yesterday, bringing his grand total to 71 nominations, with 24 wins to date. Williams was nominated in the composing and arranging field. His “Galaxy’s Edge Symphonic Suite,” written for the new “Star Wars”-themed park at Disneyland, was nominated for best instrumental composition, while his arrangement of
Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” is a wickedly funny, fiendishly clever, and surprisingly prescient murder mystery. It succeeds as both a brilliantly constructed puzzle-box of a whodunit, offering up a big reveal that’s extremely satisfying, and as a incisive comment on the class divisions and prejudice that are roiling America. If that sounds medicinal, fear not.
November 21, 2019 4:43AM PT Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has said the band will not go on tour, including to support their new album, for environmental reasons. Martin told the BBC that the group is taking time off from the road to figure out how to make touring sustainable. The band’s new record, “Everyday Life,”
She’s collaborated with Usher and Tyler the Creator, but when it comes to her personal style icons, Malaysian singer/songwriter Yuna is strictly with the girls. A little Gwen Stefani and a lot Audrey Hepburn, the pop star (who boasts more than 750,000 followers on Instagram alone) looks to these women, plus the ‘90s and ‘00s
November 21, 2019 5:04AM PT CNN said it will simulcast the Democratic debate slated to take place in December that is being hosted by PBS NewsHour and Politico, a move that will likely bring more attention and audience to the event. PBS plans to broadcast the debate December 19 from Loyola Marymount University in Los
Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite,” which earlier this year won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, on Thursday added the Asia Pacific Screen Award for best film to its burgeoning trophy cabinet. “Parasite” producer Jang Young-hwan was on hand to accept the award at the end of a ritzy ceremony in Brisbane, Australia. The APSAs,
The team behind the award-winning controversial Hong Kong dystopian drama “Ten Years” has launched a new streaming platform focusing on short films about the ongoing protests that have gripped the city since June. Backed by Next Digital, which publishes Apple Daily and Next Magazine, Next Film is headed by Jevons Au, one of the co-directors
Directors UK, the professional guild for screen directors in Britain, has launched guidelines for directing nude and simulated sex scenes to prevent unprofessional conduct in film and TV. Described as the “first of their kind in the U.K.,” the new guidelines “are born of the need to set clear and shared professional expectations that apply
November 21, 2019 2:44AM PT Three programmers who have headed the Jeonju International Film Festival, South Korea’s second largest festival, resigned en masse on Tuesday. They say they are protesting the encroachment on their independence by the board of directors and city authorities. The three – Kim Young-jin, Lee Sang-yong and Jang Byeong-won – have
Yuni Hadi, executive director of the Singapore International Film Festival, says South East Asian cinema contains exciting talent. And that the way forward involves cooperation with the video streaming platforms. What have been the high and low points of the cinematic year for Southeast Asian cinema?“There are some amazing short films and documentaries that show
Global streaming giant Netflix has struck a multi-year deal with Studio Dragon, a three-year old production company that has become one of the hottest content houses in Korea. The deal is described as a three-year strategic partnership, highlighted by a multi-year content production and distribution agreement, that begins from 2020. Studio Dragon’s parent company, CJ
When the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke two years ago, the news was mostly met in France with a Gallic shrug. Screen icon Catherine Deneuve even denounced the #MeToo movement as creating a “totalitarian” environment. But bombshell accusations this month from actors Adèle Haenel and Valentine Monnier may finally have turned the tide in the local film
Even before “Richard Jewell” premiered on Wednesday night at AFI Fest, the Clint Eastwood drama was already a part of this year’s Oscar conversation. Not only is it the 40th film directed by the 89-year-old Hollywood legend, but it tells the true story of Richard Jewell, the security guard who was targeted by the FBI
November 21, 2019 12:33AM PT Britain’s competition watchdog will investigate Hasbro’s $4 billion takeover of Entertainment One. The Competition and Markets Authority said Thursday that it would examine whether the intended acquisition of eOne would result in a “substantial lessening of competition” under U.K. rules. The CMA was deeply involved in scrutinizing the sale of
An interesting feature of documentary film festival IDFA, which opened in Amsterdam Wednesday, is that although the majority of the films on offer either deal with the world as it is today or how it used to be, a significant portion of the festival’s appeal is the way that it acts as a hothouse to
November 20, 2019 11:30PM PT Olga Kurylenko battles bad guy Gary Oldman’s hitmen in this loud, witless actioner. You don’t expect subtlety from a movie whose very first second consists of the heroine getting a fist to her face, or whose poster suggests the real “star” is her leather-clad posterior. Still, a bagful o’ hammers
Can you recall who was responsible for 1996’s Centennial Olympic Park bombing? Three days after the incident, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (accurately) reported that Richard Jewell, the security guard who discovered a backpack containing three pipe bombs and tipped the police, sparing the lives of innumerable concertgoers, had become the FBI’s main suspect. But was it
If, like me, you’re an absolutist about the right to free speech, not just the legal letter of it but the stubborn spirit of it (as in: bring on the people I hate the most and let them speak, speak, speak until they’re blue in the face), then when you watch “No Safe Spaces,” a
November 20, 2019 9:18PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv, Walt Disney Animation claims the top spot in spending with “Frozen 2.” Ads placed for the animated film had an estimated media value of $6.29 million through Sunday for
The Democratic party primary debate in Atlanta ran long (by about 20 minutes) and had a crowded stage of 10 candidates — and yet, relatively speaking, flew by efficiently. After a passel of debates that had been wildly oversubscribed and caught fire more for personality conflict than policy difference, the MSNBC and Washington Post debate
The Essel Group is to sell a further 16.5% stake in Zee Entertainment Enterprise Limited, India’s largest private sector broadcast group. The debt-reduction move comes just months after Essel auctioned off an 11% tranche of ZEEL. “The Group seeks to sell up to 16.5% stake in ZEEL to financial investors, in order to repay loan
November 20, 2019 8:33PM PT The long-anticipated release of Awkwafina’s drama “The Farewell” in mainland China has been delayed. The holdup came just two days before the film’s scheduled outing this Friday. The film, about a Chinese American family who hide their aging matriarch’s cancer diagnosis from her, was scheduled to be released in China
Sen. Elizabeth Warren rolled out her two-step approach to achieving Medicare for All for the first time in Wednesday night’s debate, while the more moderate candidates continued to argue that her plans are too expensive. The fifth Democratic primary debate — hosted by the Washington Post and MSNBC — comes at a pivotal moment in
In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announces the Fuller House’s final season premiere date, HGTV provides a Variety exclusive to the reboot of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and Freeform announces the premiere date for Josh Thomas’ new comedy “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay.” DATES HGTV provided Variety with an exclusive trailer for the reboot of “Extreme Makeover: