Variety

Toby Kebbell Joins Prime Video’s U.K. Crime Thriller Series ‘Dirty’ Alongside Samantha Morton and Phoebe Dynevor (EXCLUSIVE)

Toby Kebbell has joined the cast of Prime Video’s upcoming U.K. crime thriller series “Dirty” from “Bridge of Spies” writer Matt Charman. The British actor — who’ll next be seen playing Robert Chartoff in Amazon MGM Studio’s “I Play Rocky,” debuting this week at TIFF — joins the already announced Phoebe Dynevor and Samantha Morton in […]

entertainment  5d ago

The Guardian Culture

Call My Agent! The Movie review – the gang get back together and c’est formidable

The screwball French comedy is back as a film that actually works, thanks to putting Andréa and Noémie at the heart of chaotic events and bringing all the old faces backAt last: a beloved-TV-show-to-film-spinoff that doesn’t suck! The original French series is a screwball-speed office comedy about a boutique Parisian talent agency, and was a ratings and critical success in its homeland when it started back in 2015. Its acquisition by Netflix grew the audience internationally and spawned a stable

entertainment  5d ago

Variety

Jenny Slate and Christian Slater Act Out Their Hectic New York City Morning Routines in New Cole Haan Campaign

Cole Haan is putting Christian Slater and Jenny Slate in its shoes for fall. The footwear and accessories brand has tapped the two actors to star in “Comfortable Anywhere,” its fall 2026 global campaign, which rolls out Wednesday morning. The campaign centers on the idea that getting dressed shouldn’t require choosing between looking polished and […]

entertainment  5d ago

The Guardian Culture

You’re So Special review – painfully funny tragedy of a stardom seeker

Soho theatre, LondonA dance teacher for toddlers dreams of bigger things in Julia Grogan’s frantic one-woman showThe mind of a performer, hungry for her big break, is cracked open in Julia Grogan’s one-woman follow-up to her drama Playfight. At first, her dream is in motion: Miss June (played by Grogan) is on a chat show, giving breezy answers about her Oscar nominations and being recognised by monks in Holland & Barrett. And then, with one question from the audience – “Any advice for people

entertainment  5d ago

Variety

‘DAU’ Director Ilya Khrzhanovsky Responds to Ukraine Backlash at Venice: I Wish for the Ukrainian Government to ‘Save the Country and Win This War’

Dissident Russian director Ilya Khrzhanovsky, who is at the Venice Film Festival with competition title “DAU” countered claims by Ukrainian officials that the film has Russian state links and took a clear position on the ongoing war. “Look, my position about Russia-Ukrainian war has been very clear from the beginning of the war,” he said. […]

entertainment  5d ago

Variety

Law Kar-ying, Paw Hee-ching to Topline Sri Kishore’s Cantonese Opera Drama ‘The Grand Tribute’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Hong Kong screen veterans Law Kar-ying and Paw Hee-ching have been cast to lead “The Grand Tribute,” a Cantonese opera drama written and directed by Sri Kishore, the filmmaker behind 2021’s “My Indian Boyfriend.” “My Indian Boyfriend” was billed as Hong Kong’s first mainstream romantic drama with a South Asian male lead. “The Grand Tribute” […]

entertainment  5d ago

Variety

U.K. Broadcaster Channel 4’s Plan to Cut 28% of Workforce Prompts Parliamentary Scrutiny: ‘Today’s News Will Be Deeply Worrying’

Channel 4’s plans to cut over a quarter of its workforce are set to be scrutinized by a parliamentary committee. The British public service broadcaster confirmed Wednesday it planned to slash around 340 roles, equivalent to 28% of its headcount, within the next few months. The move is partly aimed at protecting the network’s already […]

entertainment  5d ago

Hollywood Reporter

Channel 4 to Slash Workforce by 28 Percent as Broadcaster Unveils “Long-Term Transformation Strategy”

Around 340 jobs at the U.K. public broadcaster will be axed by the end of the year.

entertainment  5d ago

The Guardian Culture

‘It detonated right outside our house’: the explosion that started an incredible podcast series

Josh Baker is the journalist behind the BBC’s smash hit I’m Not a Monster. He’s back with his most extraordinary investigation yet – to solve the mystery of Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria 14 years agoIn 2012, the US marine turned freelance foreign correspondent Austin Tice disappeared in Syria. If he’s still alive, he’ll be the second-longest detained journalist in the world. That, says Josh Baker (speaking to me from Wales), was the podcast he thought he was making: “We thought we were l

entertainment  5d ago

The Guardian Culture

Even better than the Real Thing? The overlooked Black music scene of 1970s Liverpool

Despite the city’s backdrop of deprivation and racism, vibrant nightclubs and daring artists thrived – but after No 1 success for the Real Thing, why was the scene ignored?Months before the Real Thing’s You to Me Are Everything became a UK No 1 hit in 1976, lead singer Chris Amoo took the unreleased song to the Timepiece, a nightclub devoted to Black music tucked in between bars on Liverpool’s Fleet Street. His DJ friend Les Spaine stuck it on, and the empty dancefloor “just filled up, and nobod

entertainment  5d ago

The Guardian Culture

‘This is not sustainable’: London’s Gate theatre to close after nearly 50 years

Formerly based above a Notting Hill pub, the theatre earned a reputation for radical plays with new talent yet had a 100% loss of Arts Council England funding in 2022The Gate theatre in London, which has punched above its weight ever since it was founded above a Notting Hull pub in 1979, is to close permanently next month.The announcement comes four years after the theatre had what it described as a “devastating” 100% cut to its Arts Council England funding of just over £300,000, losing its stat

entertainment  5d ago

Variety

‘Place to Be’ Helmer Kornél Mundruczó on Directing Ellen Burstyn, Taika Waititi and a Pigeon in an Unlikely Love Story

Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó first worked with Ellen Burstyn on his 2020 drama “Pieces of a Woman,” and immediately knew he wanted to make another movie with her. “She was [on set] for two or three days only, and I loved her,” Mundruczó tells Variety over Zoom from Budapest. “Of course, I love her movies, […]

entertainment  5d ago

The Guardian Culture

Inglourious baristas: why is Brad Pitt making coffee for 16 abusive dogs?

In new film The Heart of the Beast, the A-lister’s bond with his loyal mutt proves crucial. In Spike Jonze’s new advert, Pitt is rather more subservient Brad Pitt has a new movie out this month, The Heart of the Beast, about an emotionally damaged man who forms a life-saving bond with a dog. If that sounds familiar, maybe it is because you have seen The Call of the Wild. Or maybe it is because you have seen A Dog’s Way Home. Or maybe it is because you have seen Dog. Or, look, you get the idea.Bu

entertainment  5d ago

Hollywood Reporter

Netflix’s South Africa Content Slate Includes Reality Shows and Comedy ‘How to Ruin Diwali: Meet the Parents’

’Love Is Blind: South Africa’ gets a power couple as hosts, while a wedding docu soap, film sequels and returning series are also part of the content mix.

entertainment  5d ago

Variety

Netflix India Chief Monika Shergill Says ‘Specificity Can Be a Strength’ as Streamer Unveils Expanded Comedy Slate (EXCLUSIVE)

Monika Shergill, VP, content, Netflix India, says the streamer has moved comedy from a series of individual bets to a long-term programming pillar because of how many different audience needs the genre can serve. “Comedy is deeply personal and subjective. What makes one person laugh may not work for another, so our job is to […]

entertainment  5d ago

The Guardian Culture

Blue Film review – polarising sex worker drama is well-acted and deeply disturbing

A camboy meets up with a convicted paedophile who turns out to be his old English teacher in Elliot Tuttle’s uncomfortable dramaThere have reportedly been audience walk-outs at screenings of this indie drama from young American film-maker Elliot Tuttle, a two-hander about a sex worker hired for the night by his former English teacher, a convicted paedophile. In interviews Tuttle has said his film was rejected by several major festivals. What makes it so uncomfortable is not the sex; mostly what

entertainment  5d ago

Variety

France Untold: ‘Swapped’ Team Discusses Collective Drive Behind Trailblazing Period Thriller

It all began with a family story from the little-known French region of Morvan. Vincent Robert’s family, to be precise, as his great-grandmother had been a wet nurse herself. While investigating his own past, the seasoned writer learned more and more about what would be the grounds of “Swapped,” (aka “Sorority”) a six-part, high-end period […]

entertainment  5d ago

Variety

Ventana Sur Founder Bernardo Bergeret, Showrunner Joanna Lombardi and TV Film Exec Karina Dolgiej Comprise First Selection Team of Iberseries Co-Production Forum

For the first time in the five-year history of the Iberseries & Platino Industria’s Co-Production and Financing Forum, a selection committee has been formed, comprising Ventana Sur/BloodWindow founder Bernardo Bergeret, showrunner Joanna Lombardi and TV Film International partner Karina Dolgiej. According to the forum’s general coordinator Rodrigo Ros, the new committee “shortlisted 40 projects based […]

entertainment  5d ago

Variety

‘Drishyam: The Conclusion’ Director Abhishek Pathak Says Ajay Devgn’s Vijay Salgaonkar Turns Darker, as Franchise Continues Global Journey (EXCLUSIVE)

Abhishek Pathak, director of “Drishyam: The Conclusion,” says the Hindi franchise’s third installment tells an entirely new story unconnected to the Malayalam original, with Ajay Devgn returning as Vijay Salgaonkar for what Pathak calls the character’s darkest chapter yet. The “Drishyam” franchise centers on a family man who covers up an accidental killing to protect […]

entertainment  5d ago

Variety

‘Blindspot Berlin’ Zooms in on ‘Systemic Failures and Human Errors’ That Led to the Infamous Christmas Market Terrorist Attack: ‘We Were Just Shaking Our Heads’

You might already know the ending of “Blindspot Berlin,” a new series about the infamous December 2016 attack at the Christmas market in Berlin. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch it.   “It was the only way to tell the story,” says David Nawrath, who directed and co-wrote the show. Producer Simon Amberger adds: “We […]

entertainment  5d ago