‘Saturn Return’ Director Isaki Lacuesta Discusses the Rock ‘n’ Roll Myth of Los Planetas, ’90s Aesthetics, Ambitious Flamenco Project

NME, actor Lucy Liu and director Eloise Singer have discussed bringing notorious Chinese pirate Chen Shih to life in VR game The Pirate Queen: A Forgotten Legend.Set in 19th-century China, The Pirate Queen: A Forgotten Legend follows Chen Shih – a real-world pirate who commanded hundreds of ships – on the night she rose to power.Chatting to NME from New York, Singer shared that she felt “compelled” to share Shih’s story upon realising that it wasn’t very well-known.“When I first discovered more about Chen Shih’s story, I was fascinated,” said Singer, pointing to Shih leading 70,000 men in the lead-up to the Opium Wars. “She [also] created a code of laws that meant men and women had to be treated equally on her ship, which was phenomenal.”Originally a courtesan, Chen Shih took control over a large confederation of pirates when her husband fell overboard.

A cyber forensics expert has been branded a danger to children after he was caught with a 'horrific' stash of child pornography on his computer.

Ethan Shanfeld Alex Russell, whose writing credits include FX’s “Dave” and “The Bear” and Netflix’s “Beef,” is making his directorial debut with the upcoming thriller “Lurker,” starring and Théodore Pellerin (“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”) and Archie Madekwe (“Saltburn”). Havana Rose Liu, Sunny Suljic, Daniel Zolghadri and Zack Fox round out the cast of “Lurker,” which follows a retail employee (Pellerin) who infiltrates the inner circle of an artist on the verge of stardom (Madekwe).

El Viaje Films, has moved into production on “La Lucha,” a feature film set against the background of lucha canaria wrestling, a contact sport dating back to ancient times. “La Lucha” marks the latest title from Tenerife-based El Viaje Films, behind 2015 international breakout “Dead Slow Ahead,” “Undergrowth” which took two prizes at this month’s Malaga Festival, the standout 2021 “They Carry Death,” selected for Venice’s Critics Week, as well as serving as the Spanish producer on Chile’s Oscar entry “White on White,” a 2019 Venice Horizons best film and director entry. Just a decade back, “La Lucha’s” shoot would have been notable for its very existence.

Emily Blunt opened up about the development of her character in her new movie The Fall Guy.

The second day of Dublin’s Storyhouse screenwriting festival kicked off with a bang on Friday as established writer-directors Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider), Mounia Akl (Costa Brava Lebanon) and Stacey Gregg (Ballywalter) all discussed at length the process of how they achieve their best work and how they balance the writer-director relationship. 

explosive new “dueling trailers” released Thursday for the next season of “House of the Dragon.” The trailers also revealed the Season 2 premiere date: June 16. The hit HBO prequel to “Game of Thrones” follows Daenerys Targaryen’s (Emilia Clarke) ancestors through a civil war, roughly 200 years before the events of “GoT.” “House of the Dragon” aired its first season in August 2022. It was a hit, with 29 million viewers reportedly tuning in each week.

First Lady Jill Biden will make a fundraising swing through Southern California later this week, as she headlines events in Los Angeles and the Palm Springs area. She also will speak at the Human Rights Campaign Los Angeles dinner on Saturday.

HBO was built on the back of showrunners such as David Chase, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and Jesse Armstrong but is now facing a new dilemma involving directors.

Holly Gleason Mojo Nixon has left this earth, but he hadn’t quite left the building, when it came to Austin’s Continental Club hosting one last edition of his annual “Mojo’s Mayhem” gathering Saturday during South by Southwest, serving as a sort of raucous memorial six weeks after his untimely exit. There was a moment when they might’ve needed Crisco to get one more person onstage for the “You Can’t Kill Me” finale of the supposedly final Mayhem.

IVE‘s recent concert in Los Angeles.IVE – comprising Jang Wonyoung, An Yujin, Leeseo, Liz, Rei and Gaeul – are currently on the US leg of their first world tour ‘Show What I Have’. Their most recent show was held earlier this week on March 13 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, which was attended by television personality and model Heidi Klum.During the concert, Klum took to Instagram Stories with a series of photos and videos of her time backstage in what appears to be a VIP room, which included a buffet spread to celebrate IVE’s show in the city.

The Rock has been heating things up for WWE.

Emma Stone stepped up to the stage saying the back of her dress was broken. “Oh boy,” she joked, “I think it happened during ‘I’m Just Ken’, the big Ryan Reynolds number from Barbie that had unspooled previously.

Figures released by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) show that more than a thousand pubs across the UK closed their doors in 2023.

Saturn Return” (“Second Prize”), always a frontrunner, topped this week’s Malaga Festival winning its best picture, director (with co-director Pol Rodríguez) and editing (Javi Frutos) awards. The triple plaudit delivers further recognition for a feature which pulls off the double achievement of being formally radical and great fun at one and the same time.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Organizers of the Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards on Friday presented 25 finalists as part of the Malaga Film Festival’s Mafiz-Spanish Screenings Content Animation Hub section. The 25 works from seven countries will compete in 10 categories at the seventh edition of the Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards, taking place on May 11 in Tenerife.

In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo embraces the absurd to discuss the film “Problemista” with director and star Julio Torres (“Los Espookys,” “Saturday Night Live”) and co-star Tilda Swinton (“Doctor Strange,” “Michael Clayton”). In the A24 comedy, out now, Alejandro (Torres) is an aspiring toymaker who loses his job and falls in with an art-world outcast (Swinton) to maintain his work visa.

Alejandro Monteverde, whose Sound Of Freedom was the top grossing independent film of 2023, is back in theaters this weekend with Cabrini, also from Angel Studios, in wide release. The true story of an indomitable Italian nun on a mission to aid immigrants living in misery and poverty in late 19th century New York City, stars Cristiana Dell’Anna as waif-like Francesca Cabrini. She navigates a Pope, an Archbishop, the mayor of New York and the Italian Senate among others to build a charitable empire starting with one orphanage in the immigrant slum called Five Points (last seen in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York). Giancarlo Giannini plays Pope Leo; David Morse is Archbishop Michael Augustine Corrigan; and John Lithgow a villainous Mayor Gould — men Cabrini lectured, sparred with, cajoled and threatened to realize her life’s work. Canonized in 1946, she is the Patron Saint of Immigrants.

Ed Meza @edmezavar In her feature film debut, “As Neves,” writer-director Sonia Méndez follows a group of teenagers in a Galician village struggling with the disappearance of a friend following a drug-fueled party and heavy snowfall that has cut off Internet access, complicating the search. In her feature debut, which screens in competition at the Malaga Film Festival, Méndez was eager to explore a number of elements, she tells Variety, namely the youth of today, which she describes as the most hyper-connected generation — even when they live in such isolated areas as the mountain village of As Neves.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Eager to move into horror, Spanish director Miguel Martí is partnering with famed actress-producer Macarena Gómez and distributor Carlos Guerrero on an ambitious project to find their perfect hair-raising script. The trio’s respective, Madrid-based companies, Wonder Ficción, Cilantro Films and 39 Escalones, have launched the We Are Looking for Your Horror Script initiative, putting the call out to screenwriters with a penchant for chills, thrills and the macabre to submit their works from March 2 to April 16 via the website buscamostuguiondeterror.com.