December 31, 2018 10:53AM PT Simon Lereng Wilmont’s deservingly Oscar-shortlisted doc evocatively filters Russo-Ukrainian conflict through the shifting perspective of a pre-adolescent boy. There’s rueful misdirection in the title “The Distant Barking of Dogs,” even if it isn’t strictly inaccurate: For much of Danish docmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont’s stoically compassionate fly-on-the-wall wartime portrait, a steady
Welcome back to Tune In: our weekly newsletter offering a guide to the best of the week’s TV. Each week, Variety’s TV team combs through the week’s schedule, selecting our picks of what to watch and when/how to watch them. This week, the Golden Globes airs and “The Titan Games” debuts on Fox. “Dick Clark’s
December 31, 2018 9:59AM PT Smart speaker maker Sonos seems to be readying a satellite speaker to bring true surround sound as well s voice control to its Playbar soundbar, if a new FCC filing is any indication. A Sonos spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The heavily redacted filing, which was
With his third studio album, “Daytona,” rapper, producer and GOOD Music label president Pusha T was convinced he’d made the perfect album — so much so, he all but billed it as such when it dropped on May 25. It’s not a boast if it’s true. Produced with Kanye West at Ye’s Wyoming ranch-studio facility,
December 31, 2018 9:23AM PT Live viewership of Seth MacFarlane’s Fox sci-fi dramedy “The Orville” fell sharply in its second season premiere on Sunday despite the lead-in boost provided from Fox’s NFL coverage earlier in the day. But “Orville” still delivered a credible number and posted improvements on its first season averages. The show got
December 31, 2018 9:15AM PT Ariana Grande has posted a number of tributes to her longtime boyfriend Mac Miller in the months since his death in September from an apparent drug overdose. She posted another on her Instagram story Sunday night — a shot of his hands playing a keyboard — but deleted it soon
December 31, 2018 9:00AM PT Variety will honor actress Emily Blunt at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 4 as part of their annual brunch with the festival at the Parker Palm Springs. The brunch is presented by AT&T. The “Mary Poppins Returns” star will receive the annual Creative Impact in Acting
December 31, 2018 8:38AM PT Lady Gaga’s “Enigma” Las Vegas residency has racked up some adulatory reviews since it premiered on Friday night — including a rave recap from Variety’s Chris Willman and a fevered tweetstorm from Ramin Setoodeh, who wrote our recent Gaga cover story — but few are quite as memorable as footage
Alfredo Calvino’s Habanero Film Sales has snapped up two dramas by Bolivia’s Gory Patiño, “The Goalkeeper” and “Pseudo,” after spotting them at Ventana Sur. “Habanero’s motto is ‘Awesome stories from Latin American & Caribbean filmmakers.’ We are always looking for films anchored in great storytelling; fresh and unusual perspectives that touch on important issues that
This New Year’s Eve, kick back on your couch with absolutely no fear of FOMO on the wild parties. The networks have got you covered with a long list of TV shows marathoning on TV for your binge watching pleasure. Classic shows like “The Twilight Zone,” “Friends” and “Sex in the City,” as well as newer
MADRID — “I was six-years-old when they came for my mother. People from the town, Franco supporters,” narrates an old lady, the white-haired, black-dressed Maria Martín, nearly 80 years later, as she is filmed at the beginning of “The Silence of Others” laying simple flowers by the side of a country road. Executed during Spain’s
The SouljaGame has met its quick and inevitable end. Rapper DeAndre Cortez Way, aka Soulja Boy, pulled his new line of emulator consoles from his website less than a month after he began selling them. Links to their product pages on SouljaWatch.com now result in a 404 error. “I had to boss up. I didn’t
December 31, 2018 6:51AM PT Mike “Beard Guy” Taylor, keyboardist and singer in the Canadian band Walk Off the Earth, died Sunday from natural causes, the group confirmed in a statement. “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved brother and band member, Mike ‘Beard Guy’ Taylor. Mike had a
WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced the formation of an exploratory committee to run for president in 2020, with plans to formally announce a bid for the Democratic nomination early next year. Warren made the reveal in a four-and-a-half-minute video, in which she said, “no matter what our differences, most of us want the
Disgraced comedian Louis C.K. has stirred more outrage after taking aim at Parkland shooting survivors and gender identity concerns in a recent set at a comedy club on Long Island. A 48-minute audio recording of C.K. surfaced late Sunday on YouTube. It was described as a set delivered Dec. 16 at Governor’s Comedy Club in
New local Chinese titles beat Hollywood heavyweights “Aquaman” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” at the box office this weekend, with a remake and a panned sequel leading the pack. Meanwhile, expensive Bollywood flop “Thugs of Hindostan” failed to redeem itself in China, with a weak opening weekend marking the first Aamir Khan flop in China
December 30, 2018 6:25PM PT Hector Xtravaganza, “grandfather” of the House of Xtravaganza and consultant for Ryan Murphy’s “Pose,” has died. The House of Xtravaganza announced his death in an Instagram post. “It is with profound sadness the House of Xtravaganza family announce the passing of our beloved Grandfather Hector,” the post reads. “He was
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The Birds and the Bees,” the ninth episode of “Outlander” Season 4. The latest episode of “Outlander” finally put on screen a scene book readers have been looking forward to for years. In the episode “The Birds and the Bees,” Brianna (Sophie Skelton) managed to
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The Birds and the Bees,” the ninth episode of “Outlander” Season 4. The latest “Outlander” episode continued to be quite the emotional roller coaster for poor Brianna (Sophie Skelton), who was just raped by Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers), then met her birth father and
Tribune Media is accusing Charter Communications of dragging its feet in negotiations as the clock ticks down on the New Year’s Eve contract renewal deadline covering 33 Tribune stations and cabler WGN America in New York, Los Angeles and other markets. Tribune asserts that Charter has not been in touch with the Chicago-based TV station
President Trump The Obamas Have a Wall … Now America Needs Its Own Too!!! 12/30/2018 4:20 PM PST This is bonkers … President Trump is using a brick wall the Obamas built outside of their D.C. rental home as justification for his own southern border wall. Seriously. Trump tweeted out the strange logic Sunday, saying
Kevin Spacey Tries the Domino(s) Effect with Pap … Ahead of Arraignment 12/30/2018 2:55 PM PST Kevin Spacey tried making peace with paparazzi who’ve been hounding him ahead of his criminal arraignment next week by breaking bread with them … or crust, more like. The disgraced actor was seen delivering a Domino’s pizza he’d apparently
Comcast is dropping Fuse, the music cabler owned in part by Jennifer Lopez, raising questions about the independent channel’s future as a linear cable offering. Fuse blasted the cable giant on Sunday for the decision, asserting that it “met Comcast’s financial demands and no other requirements were ever communicated to us.” Comcast said its subscribers were
Rap Groupie Celina Powell Arrested … Bounty Hunter Hurls N-Word 12/30/2018 2:27 PM PST EXCLUSIVE Celina Powell — who’s accused rappers like Offset, Snoop Dogg, and others of cheating and/or knocking her up — is currently in a jail cell thanks to bounty hunters … one of whom shamelessly dropped the n-word during the bust
Film-score buffs had a bonanza of riches to choose from in 2018 — notwithstanding the fact that the soundtrack business is almost unrecognizable from what it was even a decade ago. Instead of farming out their new scores to the traditional soundtrack labels, most studios now retain them for their own in-house labels and generally
With its jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum” made history, and with its current Golden Globes nod for best foreign language motion picture, the film is on its way to marking further milestones. “Capernaum” is on Oscar’s shortlist for foreign-language film, with nominations to be unveiled Jan. 23. The Globes ceremony
“Aquaman” continues to leave competitors in its wake, ruling the global box office for the fourth consecutive week. Warner Bros.’ DC superhero film — directed by James Wan and starring Jason Momoa — amassed another $85.4 million in 78 international territories this weekend, taking its overseas tally to a massive $560 million. The tentpole also
December 30, 2018 8:35AM PT Walt Disney and Verizon have struck a new carriage agreement, avoiding a showdown that might have taken popular ESPN college-football games away from subscribers of Verizon’s Fios service in the first days of 2019. “Verizon and The Walt Disney Company have reached a broad-based distribution agreement. Details will be released
“Aquaman” easily retained its reign in North American for the second weekend in a row, dominating box office charts with $51.5 million from 4,125 locations. That marks a decline of just 24% from its opening weekend of $72 million and brings the DC superhero tentpole past $188 million in the states. Since it’s a busy time
December 30, 2018 1:14AM PT Legendary Indian filmmaker, Mrinal Sen died of a cardiac failure in Kolkata on Sunday. He was 95. Sen was born in 1923 in Faridpur, British India (now Bangladesh). He debuted in 1955 with “Raat Bhore” and found local acclaim with “Neel Akasher Neechey” (1959) and “Baishey Shravana” (1960). He won