Juno Films Picks Up North America on Gaelic Feature ‘Róise and Frank’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Cecilia Miniucchi’s “Life Upside Down” which stars Emmy-award winning actor Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”), Radha Mitchell (“Pitch Black) and Danny Huston (“21 Grams”). The movie world premiered at Venice in the Giornate degli Autori sidebar. IFC Films will release the film in select theaters and VOD on Jan. 27 and will stream exclusively on AMC+ in April 2023. “‘Life Upside Down’ is a romantic comedy following three couples, connected by friendship, love and work, who are each stuck in their respective homes in Los Angeles during the beginning of lockdown. Finally forced to face their spouses, friends, lovers, and eventually themselves head on, their lives turn slowly but surely upside-down.

A San Francisco city council member who suggested that the Blue Angels should be banned from the city’s airspace expressed his frustration Sunday about outside criticism of the city and its policies.  District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, a self-described Democratic socialist, asked why so many outside San Francisco – with no connection to the Bay Area – are "so focused on San Francisco housing policy and constantly attacking SF tenants, BIPOC residents, and progressive local elected officials? It’s really strange."  FILE: The Transamerica Pyramid and Sales Force tower are seen at sunset in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022.

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based Urban Sales has sold Japanese director Chie Hayakawa’s dystopian drama Plan 75 to KimStim for North America, in addition to several other territories. The film won a Camera d’Or Special Mention when it premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year, and is also Japan’s submission to the Best International Feature category of the Oscars. 

North Korea has fired two short range missiles toward its eastern coast hours after the U.S. military concluded military training exercises with South Korea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement they detected the two missiles launched between 1:48 a.m.

Magnolia Network star Joanna Gaines has become hugely popular alongside her husband Chip Gaines.MORE: Magnolia Network star Joanna Gaines shares adorable family video that has fans saying the same thingBut the home renovation star and businesswoman has also suffered from anti-Asian hatred after growing up in Texas as half-Korean.WATCH: Fixer Upper: The Castle coming soon on Magnolia Joanna shared in 2021, at a time of rising anti-Asian rhetoric in America, that she remembered "as a little girl being out with my mom and seeing how in a moment, a person's harsh look or an underhanded comment would attempt to belittle her rich story and her beautiful culture"."We can't take lightly the power that our words and actions carry. The world needs who we were ALL made to be and all the amazing and beautiful differences we each bring with us," she continued in an Instagram post alongisde a throwback picture of her and her mom.MORE: Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines shares how she 'nurtured' herself back from a place of 'unbalance'MORE: Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's lavish Nashville home could rival a palace"Maybe if we say it enough, it will ring true and become the message that softens even the hardest of hearts," she concluded.Joanna's words came as she annunced her second children's book The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be had been transalated into Korean.

Manori Ravindran International Editor An uplifting documentary about an Irish teacher who uses Plato’s teachings to defuse violence among his young pupils is set to be adapted into a feature film by The Bureau, the producers of “Supernova.” Directed by Neasa Ní Chianáin (“School Life”) and Declan McGrath and produced by David Rane for Soilsiú Films, “Young Plato” was recently released in U.S. cinemas following a major 40-festival run. The film has won nine Irish and international awards, including the George Morrison Feature Documentary Award at the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Awards, the ICCL Human Rights on Film Award, the Special Jury Award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, and an Honorable Mention at Greenwich IFF.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pulsar Content and XYZ Films have dropped the trailer for “Tropic,” Edouard Salier sci-fi drama which world premiered at Fantastic Fest and will next play in competition at Sitges on Oct. 9. Penned by Salier and Mauricio Carrasco, the film follows Lázaro and Tristán, two twin brothers and best friends who are training together for the Astronaut Academy entrance tests. One day, Tristán is contaminated with some mysterious residue which makes him monstrous physically and weakened mentally. This disaster forces Lázaro to let go of how he remembers his brother and learn to love him as he is now, in a world where there is no room for monsters.

North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Thursday morning local time, just two days after Pyongyang sent an intermediate-range ballistic missile flying over Japan, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.  About 40 missiles have been launched by North Korea this year, including six in the past two weeks, but Tuesday's test marked the first time in five years that the country has sent a missile over Japan.  The U.S. and South Korea staged joint drills on Wednesday in response, with the USS Ronald Reagan moving into waters east of South Korea.

Rage Against The Machine have cancelled their forthcoming North America tour dates in 2023.The band were due to hit the road in Portland on March 23 for their ‘Public Service Announcement’ tour before going on a run of dates which wrapped up in Detroit on April 2.But frontman Zack de la Rocha‘s leg injury, which happened during the second show of their previous North American leg in Chicago on July 11, has now forced the band to cancel further forthcoming dates.In a statement on RATM’s social media pages, which you can view in full below, the frontman confirmed that he has torn his Achilles tendon.He said: “It’s been almost three months since Chicago, and I still look down at my leg in disbelief. Two years of waiting through the pandemic, hoping we would have an opening to be a band again and continue the work we started 30 some odd years ago.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Grasshopper Film has acquired the North American distribution rights to “Rewind & Play,” Alain Gomis’ feature documentary on the late jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. The film is set to screen at the 60th annual New York Film Festival later this month, and will open in theaters early next year. The doc uses an interview with Monk in France from 1969, which many would now consider to be deeply problematic, as its centrepiece. In December 1969, Monk arrived in Paris for a concert at the tail end of a European tour. While there, he was invited to appear on a television interview program, where he was to answer questions in an intimate, one-on-one studio stage.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In a telling example of the state of the touring industry in 2022, indie artist Santigold has canceled her upcoming North American tour, citing the “devastating” costs due to inflation, soaring costs and the glut of artists on the road after pandemic restrictions lifted early this year.  “As a touring musician, I don’t think anyone anticipated the new reality that awaited us,” she wrote in a long and impassioned post on Instagram. “After sitting idle (not being able to do shows) for the past couple years, many of us like everyone else, earning no or little income during that time, every musician that could, rushed back out immediately when it was deemed safe to do shows. We were met with the height of inflation — gas, tour buses, hotels, and flight costs skyrocketed — many of our tried-and-true venues unavailable due to a flooded market of artists trying to book shows in the same cities, and positive test results constantly halting schedules with devastating financial consequences.

President Biden on Friday night will host a concert by superstar Elton John on the White House lawn — providing the exclusive venue for the filming of a TV special.Biden and first lady Jill Biden will speak at the 8 p.m. concert put on by A&E Networks, which will then air the special at an undisclosed future date.“Tonight, as you all know, we will be welcoming Sir Elton John,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at her regular press briefing — after journalists heard mic checks from the adjacent driveway.

Minari has been released by A24, available in both English and Korean translations.The 320-page book features director and writer Lee Isaac Chung’s never-before-published alternate ending to the 2020 film, which starred Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Youn Yuh-jung and Will Patton.Other contents in the book include an original essay by Vietnamese American poet Ocean Vuong, a poem by Claude Wilkinson, and annotated photographs from Chung’s own childhood family albums.Yeun, who plays Jacob, also provides a foreword, which reads: “Isaac is a beautiful writer. When I first read his script, I remember feeling so moved.

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has acquired worldwide rights to Scrambled, written by and starring Leah McKendrick, who makes her feature directorial debut on the comedy, which just wrapped filming.

Pale Waves have cancelled the remaining dates on their North America tour due to “logistical and safety issues” with their tour bus.The band had dates booked up until October 7 in the US, but said they are now unable to fulfil the remainder of the tour.In a post on Instagram, they said: “We are hugely disappointed to say that due to logistical and safety issues with our tour bus, we are unable to complete the remainder of our North American tour. We’ve exhausted every possible option to find a new bus, but have been left with no option but to cancel these remaining dates.“We’re so sorry to everyone who has purchased tickets – we’re working with our booking agent to arrange rescheduled dates and will share more details as soon as we possibly can.