ShortList 2023: ‘Love, Barbara’ Sheds New Light on Queer Film Pioneer Barbara Hammer

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Becky G is a woman after my own heart — the “Mamiii” singer is a big Omar Apollo fan. “I love Omar Apollo,” the Latin music star tells me while promoting her new summer partnership with Patrón. “I adore him, and his creative mind is from another planet. I sat down with him, and it’s like, ‘Just talk. Please let it all out. Word vomit!’” Becky is also very into “What Was I Made For?,” Billie Eilish’s song on the “Barbie” soundtrack. “I’m obsessed with it,” she says. “It came in hot, poppin’. But I also love Billie in general. She’s incredible. She’s someone who kind of, like myself, started off very young in the industry. She’s such a beautiful soul, and I love the way she expresses herself.”

The Santa Barbara News-Press, which bills itself as the longest running daily newspaper in Southern California, has ceased publication.

Barbie is in on the joke in more ways than one.

Tim Chan If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The late Tony Bennett is being remembered in a new children’s book that chronicles the singer’s inspiring path to success, and the impact he left with his seven decade-long career.

Cable news was again a study in contrasts on Thursday: Fox News carried a big portion of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s testimony before a House committee, while CNN and MSNBC did not.

EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media has picked up North American rights to the sports documentary Big Crow from director Kris Kaczor, slating it for release on VOD platforms on August 1. 

Look what you made them do! Taylor Swift fans kept the party going after several attendees of her Denver concert ended up on the same delayed flight this weekend. In a now viral video shared to TikTok, passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight traveling from Denver to Salt Lake City broke out in a singalong of Swift's hit song "Love Story," as the track played on the plane's speaker system. A flight attendant can be seen walking down the middle aisle recording the entire thing.

Wedding bells were ringing for Dylan Sprouse!

Harry Styles' Love On Tour shows may be ending but fans will still have a chance to see him all around the world — in wax! Madame Tussauds announced seven new wax figures in honor of the «Golden» singer that will be placed in London, New York, Hollywood, Amsterdam, Berlin, Singapore, Berlin and Sydney. Each figurine will pay homage to some of the 29-year-old entertainer's most iconic looks and will feature poses showing off the GRAMMY winner's personality. Six of the figurines went on display on Monday. In New York City, Styles' statue rocks the rainbow bodysuit from his headlining set at Coachella.

Naman Ramachandran Writer-director Richard Curtis, known for iconic British romantic comedies “Love Actually,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “Notting Hill,” has revealed his next venture. “Christmas Actually” is a stage show encompassing live music, performance, poetry and comedy that will serve as a fundraiser for charity Comic Relief, BBC News reports. It is not a sequel to 2003 hit “Love Actually.” Comic Relief is a charity founded by Curtis and Lenny Henry in 1985 in response to the famine in Ethiopia. Since then the charity has raised millions to help those in need via fundraisers where British comedians perform. Its annual event Red Nose Day is its biggest fund earner.

Sophia Scorziello editor When director Anthony Caronna was pitched with making a series out of Elon Green’s 2021 book “Last Call,” about a string of queer-targeted murders in 1990’s Manhattan, he had some reservations. “I loved the book,” said Caronna. “But I passed on the project because I wasn’t interested at that time in doing true crime. My biggest concern was re-victimizing the community and possibly working against the community in a way.” True crime media is a true mixed bag. Each documentary, docuseries or podcast sits somewhere on a spectrum of educational and entertaining; while the latter might sound like a jarring way to describe the storytelling of real-life criminals and real-life victims, it’s not incorrect to say that some audiences find sensationalized crime stories enticing.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Monday that extends the state’s $330 million tax incentive for film and TV production. The program will be extended for five years through 2030. For the first time, the credit will be refundable, meaning that companies like Netflix that have little or no state tax liability can receive cash back from the state. That change has been estimated to cost $200 million. The bill is the result of more than a year of bargaining between Hollywood studios, entertainment unions and state lawmakers. In addition to extending the credit, the bill also includes an incentive for productions to hire a diverse workforce, both on screen and behind the camera.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Robert Downey Jr. has named the two most important films of his recent career.The actor, who is best known for playing Tony Stark aka Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, surprisingly didn’t name his most famous role when highlighting the most “important” films of his career over the last 25 years.Speaking to The New York Times, Downey Jr.

“Nowhere to Go but Everywhere” was selected as a finalist in this year’s ShortList Film Festival, presented by TheWrap. You can watch the films and vote for your favorite here.Yasuo Takamatsu, a devoted husband who tragically lost his wife in the Japanese Tsunami of 2011, is the emotional center of the excellent and moving documentary short film “Nowhere to Go But Everywhere,” which is a finalist in TheWrap’s ShortList Film Festival 2023. The catastrophic Tsunami, which left almost 20,000 people dead and nearly half a million homeless, was triggered by an underwater earthquake that occurred off the eastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011.

“Rest Stop” was selected as a finalist in this year’s ShortList Film Festival, presented by TheWrap. You can watch the films and vote for your favorite here.“Rest Stop,”, one of the finalists of TheWrap’s 2023 ShortList Film Festival, is a snapshot of the moment in life when a child realizes that their mother is also more than just mom. Written and directed by Crystal Kayiza, the 12-minute feature chronicles an attempted family reconciliation seen through the eyes of their pre-teen daughter.

“Cousins” was selected as a finalist in this year’s ShortList Film Festival, presented by TheWrap. You can watch the films and vote for your favorite here.To paraphrase one of the many quips Billy Crystal throws down in “When Harry Met Sally”: “In a city of 8 million people, you’re bound to run into your ex.” This is the shrewd setup for Karina Dandashi’s “Cousins,” a 13-minute, Brooklyn-set short centering on Layla (played by Dandashi) and Tarek (Ribal Rayess), two cousins whose reunion is turned upside down when Layla’s ex (Monica Sanborn) turns up at the same bar.“This is the first time I’ve actually done a comedy,” Dandashi told TheWrap.

When Midnight Cowboy came out in 1969, Miami Herald critic John Huddy heralded its arrival with a string of superlatives: “Staggering, shattering, heartbreaking, hilarious, tragic, raw and absurd.”

From Studio Ghibli leading the charge for the expansion of anime to BTS and BLACKPINK topping the music charts to TV series and films such as “Squid Games,” Parasite,” “Minari,” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once” dominating the awards circuit, the popularity of Asian culture and media has surged recently in the United States in recent years.

Sideshow and Janus Films have snapped up all US rights to Wim Wenders’ Cannes title Anselm, a 3D documentary about the celebrated contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer.