David and Victoria Beckham are determined to come out on top amid their bitter feud with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry!
18.05.2024 - 00:27 / variety.com
Carlos Aguilar Closer in tone to the sharp adult series “BoJack Horseman” than to Illumination’s bland “Sing” franchise, Netflix’s “Thelma the Unicorn” avoids being rendered completely unoriginal by its overly familiar premise thanks to consistent splashes of acid humor and a plethora of wacky supporting characters. Reimagined from the popular 2015 children’s book by Aaron Blabey, this bright-colored fable concerns a female pony chasing musical stardom disguised as a horned magical creature. But by changing her identity to chase those ambitions, Thelma betrays herself and those who truly know her.
The adaptation marks the animated feature debut for co-directors Jared Hess and Lynn Wang. Hess, still best known for co-writing and directing the 2004 indie hit “Napoleon Dynamite,” received an Oscar nomination earlier this year for the handcrafted animated short “Ninety-Five Senses” about a Death Row inmate. He shared the accolade with his wife and careerlong collaborator Jerusha Hess (also his co-writer on “Thelma”).
That honored work is a far cry from this universe where humans coexist with talking animals. Former Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard voices the conflicted singing heroine. There’s an appealing dissonance between the look of the stubby pony and the performer’s potent pipes, which seem better suited for soulful rock tunes than vapid pop.
Howard’s privileged voice gets the point across that regardless of Thelma’s physical appearance, it’s her talent that should earn her the audience’s attention. Interestingly, one key departure from the source material is Thelma’s design, which likely took its cues from Howard’s hair and personality. Though it appears animals in this world are not subservient to humans,
.David and Victoria Beckham are determined to come out on top amid their bitter feud with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry!
Jax Taylor is hitting back at dating rumors!
Jax Taylor is opening up about the parameters of his separation with wife Brittany Cartwright.
Lisa Kennedy Just because Celestina, the soon-to-be young wife in the “The Young Wife” told friends and family that while the honor of their presence was requested, they would be attending a party, not a wedding, doesn’t make it so. The weight of family, community and ritual aren’t so easily evaded.
was once married to her sister.On a flight from Madrid to New York City in November 2012, the book reports, artist Cristobal Toral spotted Queen Letizia traveling with a man believed to be del Burgo.But as Toral passed by the royal on his way to the bathroom, she discreetly hid her face.“The fact that she covered her face made him doubt who it was, even though a relatively short time before they had met each other at the UN Spanish Embassy where they chatted with her demonstrating that she had great admiration for his painting,” writes Peñafiel.“Intrigued, he decided to repeat his trip to the bathroom. When he returned again to his seat, she not only covered her face but turned to face the window.”Peñafiel claims that Felipe, 56, has been left “crushed and destroyed” by his wife’s alleged “betrayal” and “wants to get out” of their marriage.“As far as Felipe goes … the damage is not in the sex with which Letizia has been unfaithful to her husband, but in the ruthless feeling,” the author writes.“Letizia’s Silences” delves into the past of Queen Letizia, a former journalist who was born Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano in Oviedo, Asturias,It tells how she worked as a cigarette seller while living in Mexico, and how Spanish government officials tried to suppress a topless picture of her painted by Cuban artist, Waldo Waldo Saavedra, before her wedding to Felipe.In Peñafiel’s 2023 book “Letizia & I,” del Burgo alleged that he met Letizia Ortiz before 2000, when she was a news anchor.
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic When you sit down to watch a documentary about the Beach Boys, you know what you want: to be immersed in the California dreamin’ of the group’s early surfin’-hit days, in the jaunty beauty of songs like “I Get Around” and “Help Me Rhonda,” and in the story of how Brian Wilson began to figure out a way to turn pop songs into miniature symphonies. You want to be immersed in the recording of “Pet Sounds,” in the Beach Boys’ rivalry with the Beatles, in the derailed masterpiece that was “Smile,” and in how Brian’s mental and emotional problems began to tear himself and the group apart.
CANNES – After screening “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” a world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, one has to breathe a sigh of relief that director and screenwriter Mohammad Rasoulof is safely out of Iran. A victim of a politically motivated jail sentence for supporting the 2022 Masha Amini hijab protests, Rasoulof‘s latest feature will likely anger the Iranian government even more.
Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic For more than two decades, Iman (Misagh Zare) has functioned as a civil servant, doing work that his kids — who represent Iran’s younger generation — would be ashamed of. Better to keep them in the dark. At last, for his loyalty, Iman has been given a promotion, not to judge (the job he wants) but to inspector (a job no one wants).
Woman, life, freedom. Down with theocracy! The slogans shouted in the bloody streets of Tehran over the past year echo through The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Mohammad Rasoulof’s long, heartfelt story of an Iranian family that starts to tear at the seams when Iman’s two daughters are told what he really does at the office.
Jessica Kiang The dogged pursuit of the relationship unicorn that is the good break-up informs the wit and winking wisdom of Jonás Trueba‘s “The Other Way Around,” a delightful showcase for the Spanish director’s lithe, airy style, here accented with glistening strands of Madrileño meta-melancholy. A hip, popular twosome decide to call it quits after 14 years, cuing a very funny yet properly grown-up portrait of the ideal couple trying to smoothe, and even to celebrate, their transition into ideal exes. It’s the celebration aspect that will prove their undoing.
Paolo Sorrentino has done a wide range of films but until his most personal, The Hand Of God two years ago (a prize winner in Venice) he had not returned to Naples, the land of his youth except for the very first feature he made, 2001’s One Man Up. Since then though he has been to Cannes with his films 6 times, and his impressive list of movies have included The Consequences Of Love, Il Divo, Loro, and his Oscar winning The Great Beauty. There have been more mixed reactions for his starry English language films as well like Youth and This Must Be The Place, but Italy seems to drive his creative mojo and may be closest to his heart is the current phase of his filmmaking career when he has found new inspiration by going back to his youth, first in The Hand Of God which closely reflected his own coming of age in Naples, and now his latest, Parthenope which reflects the youth he wished he had experienced. Instead he moved away to a whole new career in film (that was indicated at the end of Hand Of God). It had its World Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival Tuesday night.
Tatiana Siegel On Monday night, all eyes in Cannes will be on the launch of “The Apprentice,” the high-profile drama that stars Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump. The filmmakers and stars haven’t done any press on the ground at Cannes ahead of the film’s world premiere, and few have seen it, with plot details shrouded in mystery. But one person who has seen it is Dan Snyder, the billionaire former owner of the Washington Commanders who is an investor in “The Apprentice.” And he isn’t happy.
Carlos Aguilar For about the first hour of their documentary “The Falling Sky,” Brazilian directors Eryk Rocha and Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha introduce us to the traditions and ongoing plight of the Yanomami Indigenous people — namely, fending off invaders — without making their presence known. There are no title cards stating where we are and why, and the only voiceover we hear comes directly from the Yanomami, most often Davi Kopenawa, their current leader and co-author of a 2010 book bearing the same title as the film.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Brazilian directors Eryk Rocha and Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha’s “The Falling Sky” delves into lives of the Amazonian Yanomami people, who live in the heart of the Amazon rainforest where they are contending with a harsh humanitarian crisis caused by the massive invasion of wildcat miners searching for gold and cassiterite, a mineral used in electronics. This unique doc – which launches in Directors Fortnight – is inspired by the thoughts, expressed in an eponymous book, of Davi Kopenawa, a shaman and spokesman for the Yanomami who performs the reahu ritual, a collective ceremony to hold up the sky and prevent it from falling.
How can you be a leader to your people if you’re on the run from them? It’s a fascinating question, one that could serve as the basis for a great book or film, but one that’s hard to embed in a six-part mini-series, a format that proves the wrong one for the story of how a fake movie played a role in the life of Black Panthers leader Huey P. Newton.
There have been countless books written about the immortal star, Elizabeth Taylor, even some credited to her as both memoir or autobiography including 1989’s “Elizabeth On Elizabeth”. But a book released on January 1, 1965 probably comes closest to a pure autobiography, and looking at the cover it simply says “Elizabeth Taylor by Elizabeth Taylor”. It is a by the numbers account of her life through her own words up until that point, but the fact is it was actually written by Richard Meryman, a journalist credited with among other things the last interview with Marilyn Monroe (published two days before her August 4, 1962 death). Meryman got Taylor to sit for some taped recorded sessions in 1964 out which he would be able to write the book as if Taylor did it herself. Now exactly 60 years later those presumed “lost” tape recordings have been found and cleared for release by Taylor’s and Meryman’s estates. They have been in fact in Meryman’s wife’s possession all these years, but now filmmaker Nanette Burstein (Hillary, The Kid Stays In The Picture) has rediscovered a treasure trove of about 40 hours of interview in order to produce the new HBO Documentary, Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes“.
A Place in the Sun buyer has revealed how her dream home completely transformed her life after a night out. The Channel 4 show's host, Sara Damergi, was on hand to help Donna find her perfect holiday home abroad in Wednesday 15 May episode. Joined by her best friend Savannah, Donna was on the hunt for a two-bedroom apartment in Roquetas de Mar, Spain, with a budget of £70,000.
Cannes is not lacking for glamor this year, even in the documentary lineup.
EXCLUSIVE: It came down to the wire but the last outstanding scripted series on the Big 4 broadcast networks has learned its fate. Fox has handed a Season 4 renewal to The Cleaning Lady, starring Élodie Yung. According to sources, the order is for 12 episodes.
EXCLUSIVE: Sources tell us that 20th Century Studios‘ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is off to a good start with previews around $6.5M. That’s comprised of Thursday night money which began accruing at 3PM and around $1.6M from Wednesday fan shows that began at 7PM.