‘Veni Vidi Vici’ Scandalizes Sundance With Infanticide, Brangelina and Balenciaga

Annika Pham Once upon a time, there was the Swedish queen of crime Camilla Läckberg, steadily delivering international best-selling adult/children’s books, cook books and song lyrics. Some of her books have turned into series –“The Fjällbacka Murders” – or soon will be – “The Golden Age,’ optioned by Legendary Entertainment.

Marta Balaga Finnish director Tiina Lymi decided to “go big” for “Stormskerry Maja,” set in the 19th century. Based on a series of books by Anni Blomqvist, it has been selected for International Film Festival Rotterdam and Goteborg. “It had to be done this way.

Not since 2019’s crime thriller The Gentleman has Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey gotten a chance to thrill audiences, but it looks like he’s getting closer at finding his next project in a big way. Sources tell Deadline that McConaughey is in negotiations to star in Comet Films and Blumhouse’s The Lost Bus, with Paul Greengrass in negotiations to direct and Apple Original Films in discussions to board the film.

Love Island is set for drama tonight as though Georgia S is now getting to know Callum, she confronts Toby on a conversation he had with Callum about her. Georgia S asks Toby: “You said I could have had her on the outside so what’s the point?” Toby replies: “It was never like that” but Georgia S says: “Callum told me it was like that.” Tensions soon rise as Toby heads to speak to Callum, saying: “I don't get it.

Avril Lavigne has today (January 22) announced details of a greatest hits tour with support from All Time Low and Simple Plan.Pre-sale tickets for Lavigne’s North American ‘Greatest Hits’ shows will go on sale on January 24 at 10am local time while the general sale begins on January 26 at 10am local time.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Charley Crockett is known as one of the modern kings of country traditionalism, following in the footsteps of his heroes, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, the latter of whom is a pal and collaborator. And Crockett’s forthcoming album, the just-announced “$10 Cowboy” (due out April 26), offers plenty to chew on for fans of steel guitar-driven honky-tonk music.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The union representing Hollywood musicians begins bargaining on Monday with demands for streaming residuals and protections from artificial intelligence. The American Federation of Musicians kicked off the talks with a rain-soaked rally at the Sherman Oaks Galleria, home of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of the major studios. The musicians’ top issues are the same ones that forced Hollywood writers and actors to go on strike last year, paralyzing the industry for six months.

Titus Kaphar‘s Exhibiting Forgiveness premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer The Sundance Film Festival prides itself on being a place of innovation and discovery, and this year’s 40th anniversary celebration has an entry that could well check both boxes – “Ponyboi,” a genre-blending road movie featuring writer and star River Gallo. Gallo plays the titular Ponyboi, an intersex sex worker hustling to survive in New Jersey. His days are spent with pregnant best friend Angel (Victoria Pedretti) working a strip mall laundromat; his nights with his secret lover and aspiring pimp, Angel’s baby’s father Vinnie (Dylan O’Brien).

Spiritualized, The Mysterines and Benefits.This year’s event will be the 14th edition of the festival, and it will take place from May 9 to 11, and over 70 live acts have now been confirmed to appear. Tickets are available here.Other names on the bill include Deerhoof, Skinny Pelembe, Snapped Ankles, Melin Melyn, Flamingods, The Royston Club and Adwaith.A post shared by FOCUS Wales (@focuswales)FOCUS Wales claims to showcase more Welsh artists than any other regular event, and is sponsored by Creative Wales, a Welsh government agency that supports creative industries in Wales.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Sasquatch Sunset” is the kind of movie you need to see to believe. Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough star in the absurdist comedy, which premiered on Friday at the Sundance Film Festival and follows a family of Yetis over the course of a year. The film, with zero dialogue or narration but plenty of grunts, captures an immersive, “true” depiction of the daily life of the Sasquatch.

When is an aspiring sociopolitical satire so exasperated with what it’s supposedly lampooning that its anger and indignation threaten to undermine the irony of what it’s trying to ridicule? Directed by Austrian pair Daniel Hoesl and Julia Nieman, their Sahara dry, deadpan social satire, “Veni Vidi Vici” (Latin for “I came; I saw; I conquered”)— about the untouchable nature of the rich and powerful of the world, and how consequences for their actions have largely vanished — isn’t necessarily that film.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Hailing from the country that gave us such grim social critics as Michael Haneke and Ulrich Seidl (fittingly, the latter serves as a producer here), Vantablack Austrian satire “Veni Vidi Vici” opens with a senseless homicide. It’s a startling scene, no less upsetting than the Scorpio killing that kick-starts “Dirty Harry” — except that in this case, the incident is calibrated as the darkest sort of comedy.

Marta Balaga Veni, vidi, vici: “I came, I saw, I conquered,” reportedly said Julius Caesar after an especially swift victory. Now, his words echo in Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann’s satire about a family so powerful it can get away with murder. Literally.

Ben Croll Premiering out of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition, the impressionistic essay film “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” refracts the plot against Patrice Lumumba through a kaleidoscopic lens. Cutting between historical footage of the UN General Assembly and home movies shot in liberation-era Congo, weaving in a diverse set of perspectives, and setting the pace to a non-stop rhythm of bebop, rumba and classic jazz, director Johan Grimonprez evokes the euphoria of post-colonial possibility and the heartbreak of the dashed hopes and violent reprisals that would ensue.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The husband-and-wife duo the War and Treaty will have a big presence during Grammy week, parlaying their nomination for best new artist into multiple performances on- and off-screen throughout the days leading up to and including the telecast. But the Grammys were destined not to be the only awards show this season that would afford them a high profile.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Eugene Hernandez has reached the top of the mountain. The journalist turned nonprofit executive has spent decades rising through the ranks of the American independent film scene. This January he assumes his seat at its apex: as the director of the Sundance Film Festival.

The 75th annual Primetime Emmys, raring to go after an almost four-month delay due to the double Hollywood strikes last year, are set to take place Monday, January 15, 2024 in a live telecast on Fox. It will be available the next day on Hulu.

Love Island's Jake Cornish is returning to the villa for ITV's All Stars spin-off and he's in for a shock when he gets to South Africa - his ex Liberty Poole is also on the show.The reality star, 26, made his TV debut on Love Island's seventh series, on which he met Liberty. The pair were coupled up throughout the competition but broke up just days before the final, with Liberty choosing to leave the show. Ahead of Love Island: All Stars, Jake revealed how he felt about Liberty joining in the villa - and admitted that there was no chance of the pair rekindling their romance.

After months of waiting, TV’s best and brightest get to hit the red carpet and attend the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards. The event takes place at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live, and many of the afterparties will be in close proximity. There are also plenty of celebrations around town before the big event.