Lisa Cooke Re-elected Chair Of Visual Effects Society; Women Now Hold Top 5 Posts

 -- and for millions of viewers, it is. But for stars Kyle Cooke and Amanda Batula, reliving the months leading up to their wedding last September is proving  so fun.«It's been challenging,» Amanda confesses to ET, Zooming in alongside Kyle from the New York City apartment they share.

A “pandemic of suicide ” exists at one of the Army’s largest military barracks, according to soldiers inside the base.

“The Cable Guy” is back in business after 25 years.

Douglas Trumbull was a visual effects legend and filmmaker who created groundbreaking effects for films including “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Blade Runner.”Trumbull was new to the field of visual effects when he was hired to work on “2001” – his sole previous credit was a short about spaceflight for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, “To the Moon and Beyond.” But he created visual magic for “2001” as he built memorable effects including the “Star Gate” sequence. Trumbull innovated the use of slit scan photography for the sequence.

mxmtoon has released ‘mona lisa’, a new single from her sophomore album that will be released later this year. The artist known as Maia has also announced North American tour dates – find those below.The single was released on streaming platforms on February 8 alongside art depicting the singer as the iconic Leonardo da Vinci painting.The ukulele-driven song invites the listener to daydream, mxmtoon checking off references to several famous artists, including William Shakespeare and Frida Kahlo, as she sings: “I wanna be a Mona Lisa / The kinda girl that you can dream of”.Listen to mxmtoon’s ‘mona lisa’ below.The single is taken from mxmtoon’s upcoming sophomore album, which has yet to be given a release date.In a statement, she said, “As someone who usually writes songs about other people, one of my ongoing questions is ‘will anyone ever write songs about me?’”“‘mona lisa’ is about wanting to be the subject of the art for once instead of being the creator.

Robert Blalack, a towering figure in the world of visual effects, died on Wednesday. His wife Caroline Charron-Blalack confirmed the news to Deadline. He was 73.

Andy Cohen officially has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

Andy Cohen is earning his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Bas van der Ree has been elected chairman of the Association of Film Commissioners International, becoming the first European to chair the organization in more than a decade. Van der Ree, who has been the Netherlands Film Commissioner since 2014 when the nation’s film production incentive was launched, previously served as AFCI’s 1st vice chair.

Little Mix star Perrie Edwards has shared a string of adorable photos with her adorable baby.The blonde star, who recently shared her hair loss fears, looked lovingly at her baby son Axel in the first snap, as they enjoyed a day out on the beach. "You are my sunshine," the doting mum penned on the snap, followed by a sunshine emoji. In another photo Perrie, 28, sat on the sea shore with her tot as they watched the waves come in and out.

Ed Meza @edmezavarIn making “Moonfall,” his latest world-destroying sci-fi epic, Roland Emmerich once again tapped talent from his native Germany to bring his apocalyptic visions to life.“Moonfall” follows two former astronauts and a brilliant but discredited scientist, played by Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry and John Bradley, who team up on a mission to save the planet after the moon is knocked out of its orbit and begins hurling toward Earth, creating catastrophic environmental devastation in the process.Of the four VFX companies that worked on the film’s massive action sequences, two originated in Germany, Scanline VFX and Pixomondo, while the others, DNEG and Framestore, are British.Scanline, which is being taken over by Netflix, has been a regular partner for Emmerich since the 2009 disaster film “2012.” That project coincided with Scanline’s arrival in Hollywood, says Stephan Trojansky, the company’s president and senior visual-effects supervisor. Scanline had also just made a major splash with its proprietary fluid effects software Flowline, which won the company a Scientific and Technical Achievement Academy Award in 2008.“That was just when I arrived in Los Angeles and Roland had this little movie called ‘2012,’” Trojansky recalls.

“Eternals” feels completely different from every other Marvel Studios release, and much of that has to do with writer-director Chloé Zhao’s unique approach to the material – largely skipping green screen sets in favor of natural locations, favoring outdoor lighting, and a generally more philosophical approach to the material and characters that is mostly missing from other Marvel Studios productions. Watch any five minutes of the movie, and you can tell how unique it is – both in the Marvel Studios ecosystem and in big budget filmmaking in general.And this approach can be felt in the visual effects as well, which somehow have an earthier texture too.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorThe Visual Effects Society has announced its 2022 Board of Directors officers, and in a historic first, the five-member executive committee is made up of all women.The officers include Lisa Cooke, who was re-elected as board chair and is the first woman to hold this role since the Society’s inception.“It is my honor and privilege to continue to chair this society of outstanding artists and innovators and I appreciate the trust placed in me,” Cooke said. “I’m proud to work amongst an exceptional group of impassioned and talented leaders, who are committed to advancing our mission and serving our members worldwide.

Andy Cohen speaking out about Jennie Nguyen‘s controversial social media posts that recently resurfaced.

For Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, VFX supervisor Sean Walker, along with his team at Weta, was tasked with bringing the Great Protector and the Dweller-in-Darkness to life. “The most challenging part with these insane, massive, mystical and mythical creatures, is that the human mind knows that these things can’t possibly live,” says Walker. “They can’t possibly be real, so everything that we do has to make it feel like you can touch them.”