All posts tagged: entertainment

‘The Odyssey’ Is Almost Here, and the Cast is Insanely Stacked

‘The Odyssey’ Is Almost Here, and the Cast is Insanely Stacked

Published by Jenni Sidey

This story contains spoilers for The Odyssey, a 2,700-year-old epic poem, and potentially for the forthcoming movie adaptation of that poem. The shore is in sight: We are less than two months from being seated for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey in glorious 70-millimeter IMAX. Since last summer, we’ve had little to go on except a poster and a trailer, both fairly opaque in classic Nolan fashion. But on May 12, the maestro showed up on the cover of Time and info-dumped a few additional morsels of information regarding his thirteenth feature film, in a story that also resolves a few lingering casting mysteries. Let’s go over all the information we currently have on the film, from the actors confirmed to be part of The Odyssey‘s cast to the ways in which the movie might deviate from its hallowed source material. What is The Odyssey About? Ivy Close Images/Getty Images After eight months of post-Oscar rumors flying concerning what Nolan’s next project might be (RIP, at least for now, to the dream of a Chris Nolan …

‘28 Years Later Part 3’ Could Be the Zombie Movie of the Century—If It Actually Gets Made

‘28 Years Later Part 3’ Could Be the Zombie Movie of the Century—If It Actually Gets Made

Published by Jenni Sidey

After more than two decades, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland finally reunited for 28 Years Later, the long-awaited third sequel in the 28 Days Later franchise last year. From the outset, the expressed plan was for a trilogy: three movies, beginning with 28 Years Later and The Bone Temple, that would tell the story of Spike (Alfie Williams), the young protagonist who we’ve watched come of age against the backdrop of rage-virus-infected England. And in the next installment, Cillian Murphy would reprise his role as original series lead Jim, apparently still stuck in the quarantined UK, almost thirty years after he woke up in that hospital in a deserted London. It was all setting up a horror blockbuster at a scale we’ve seldom seen in the streaming age. After all, how many genre movies boast the name of a recent Oscar winner on the poster? Such was teased in the prologue of The Bone Temple, when we finally see Murphy on screen again: Jim now lives in an isolated cottage with his teenage …

Ruben Östlund Shoots New Scene of ‘The Entertainment System Is Down’

Ruben Östlund Shoots New Scene of ‘The Entertainment System Is Down’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Ruben Östlund may not be competing at Cannes this year — the two-time Palme d’Or winner (The Square, Triangle of Sadness) took his new, still-unfinished film, The Entertainment System Is Down out of contention for the 2026 fest — but he still found time for a quick trip to the Croisette. The Swedish filmmaker told The Hollywood Reporter he is still deep in post-production for the film, and does not expect it be done before the end of the year. Kirsten Dunst, Daniel Brühl, and Keanu Reeves are among the starry cast in Östlund’s new satire, set on a long-haul flight between England and Australia where the entertainment system fails and passengers are forced to face the existential horror of boredom. Östlund said he continues to tweak the movie, including adding a new sequence with Succession star Nicholas Braun. “I’m going to Amsterdam. We’re going to shoot a little additional scene that came up during the editing,” he said. “I got an idea during the editing that I think is really great so we’re going …

Owner of ‘Peanuts’ Music Sues 3 Companies and US Government Alleging Illegal Use of Its Catchy Tunes

Owner of ‘Peanuts’ Music Sues 3 Companies and US Government Alleging Illegal Use of Its Catchy Tunes

Published by Sam Flores

Lee Mendelson Film Productions filed the suits in federal courts in New York and Washington, D.C. The defendants also include a video game company, an auction house and a belt-maker. One lawsuit argues the Interior Department did not have permission to use Guaraldi’s arrangement of “O Tannenbaum” from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in a digital holiday card posted to social media. The department said in an email to The Associated Press that it does not comment on litigation. Another lawsuit alleges Heritage Auctions illegally used “Linus and Lucy” — the beloved non-Christmas song the kids dance to in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” that has become the de facto “Peanuts” theme — in posts on Facebook and Instagram promoting an auction of collectibles. Similar claims of social media misuse come in another suit against Buckle-Down Inc., a belt company that makes “Peanuts” themed products. Christina Rees, a representative of Heritage Auctions, said in an email, “At this time, Heritage has not been served with or reviewed the complaint. If and when we receive it, we will …

Apple’s Eddy Cue to Receive ‘Entertainment Person of the Year’ Award

Apple’s Eddy Cue to Receive ‘Entertainment Person of the Year’ Award

Published by skeptic

Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue will be honored as “Entertainment Person of the Year” at the Cannes Lions festival next month, recognizing his leadership of the company’s entertainment and services business (via Variety). Cue will deliver a keynote on the opening day of the festival, which runs from June 22 to June 26 in the south of France. He will be joined by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, whose film “F1: The Movie” was released by Apple last year. In a statement, Lions CEO Simon Cook said: Eddy Cue has consistently pushed the boundaries of entertainment and storytelling, building platforms and experiences that have redefined how audiences engage with culture. Under his leadership, Apple has not only produced world-class content but has also shaped the future of entertainment through innovation, creativity and an unwavering commitment to quality. We’re delighted to honor Eddy as our 2026 Entertainment Person of the Year. Cue told Variety last year that as streaming platforms multiplied, Apple saw an opportunity to focus on quality over volume. “We saw that the world was …

Cannes 2026’s Big Hit is Jordan Firstman’s Internet-Brained, Big-Hearted ‘Club Kid’

Cannes 2026’s Big Hit is Jordan Firstman’s Internet-Brained, Big-Hearted ‘Club Kid’

Published by Jenni Sidey

It’s been a fairly muted Cannes Film Festival this year. The closest thing to a starry, major-studio event was a 25th anniversary screening of The Fast and the Furious attended by Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez. There’s less than a week left to go, and so far the most-anticipated movies in the competition slate, from James Gray’s Russian mob drama Paper Tiger (reuniting Marriage Story alumni Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson) to Paweł Pawlikowski’s Sandra Hüller-starring Fatherland and Asghar Farhadi’s French debut Parallel Tales, have not been met with the enthusiastic reception we’ve come to expect from the launchpad for the biggest arthouse films of the year. Worst of all, the standing ovations are sometimes clocking in at a measly three minutes, which is the Cannes equivalent of being pelted with tomatoes. You have to venture outside of the heavy hitters for the true gems of the festival. The highlight? Jordan Firstman’s directorial debut Club Kid, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section on Friday and was just nabbed by A24 for an eye-watering $17 …

Excel Sports and WIN Artists Team Up on Sports Entertainment Deals

Excel Sports and WIN Artists Team Up on Sports Entertainment Deals

Published by Daniella Wilson

In an unusual tie-up between two management companies, Excel Sports Management and WIN Artists are forming a commercial partnership that will give Excel’s vast roster of athletes access to WIN’s expertise in media and entertainment across broadcast, digital media and content creation. As the worlds of sports and entertainment continue to blur, with active athletes hosting podcasts and becoming widely-followed in social media, and with retired athletes pursuing media ambitions of their own, the two companies will work together to maximize those opportunities. Excel, which was acquired by a division of Goldman Sachs last year, has a client roster that includes the likes of Tiger Woods, Nikola Jokic, Caitlin Clark, Derek Jeter, and Clayton Kershaw, among many others. WIN Artists, owned by Patrick Whitesell’s investment firm WTSL, is run by Josh Pyatt and counts clients like Bryson DeChambeau, Shaquille O’Neal’s Jersey Legends, Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, and Derek Jeter’s Cap 2. “While I know the partnership is unique, I do think this is one of those cases where one plus one is going to equal …

How ‘Forza Horizon 6’ Created the Most Realistic Open-World Japan in Gaming History

How ‘Forza Horizon 6’ Created the Most Realistic Open-World Japan in Gaming History

Published by Jenni Sidey

In the opening moments of Forza Horizon 6—the latest entry in Microsoft’s wildly popular open-world racing video game—the player’s guide, Mei, makes a promise: “Hey. I know you won’t hear this until you land… but you are going to love it here.” Playground Games—the team behind the Forza franchise—had the authority to make this claim. Previous games in the Forza Horizon series took players to locations such as Mexico, Australia, and the French and Italian Rivieras, earning the series a reliable fanbase among gamers who wanted to drive the world’s most impressive cars around the world’s most tantalizing sandboxes. But when polled, fans had repeatedly requested—if not begged—that Forza Horizon take them to Japan. The developers of the Forza Horizon franchise weren’t surprised. It wasn’t just that Japan had a robust car culture, obvious not just from industry giants like Toyota and Honda but in the long-running manga series Initial D. It was that the country also offered the diverse array of locations—massive cities, blooming fields, snow-capped mountains—that would make it a delight to speed …

Would Drake’s Flood of New Music Be Stronger as One Great 13-Song Album?

Would Drake’s Flood of New Music Be Stronger as One Great 13-Song Album?

Published by Jenni Sidey

So as a thought experiment, I wanted to see if I could accomplish the hypothetical challenge I had tasked Drake with. To consider these 43 tracks and chisel out a traditional, succinct, skipless, 13-song classic sequenced with intentionality that best captures the music produced by these sessions. Because this body of work is so wide and diverse, some of your favorite songs won’t be here, and candidly, even some of mine didn’t make the cut. The assignment was to make a single-sit long player that flows, and you can’t make a Blueprint without cracking a few “Addicted to the Game”’s. After several spins, I think my resulting cut—which I’ll be referring to as The Iceman Sessions—is a dynamic effort that unites the three projects, lends it shape, and sustains an aesthetic across 48 minutes that I can personally confirm passes both the car and cookout test. So habibis and habibtis, maids and grooms of honour, icemen and icewomen, gather around for my attempt to sculpt a more perfect Drake album. And if you think this …

‘Iceman’ Is Drake’s Best Album in 10 Years, If You Don’t Listen Too Closely

‘Iceman’ Is Drake’s Best Album in 10 Years, If You Don’t Listen Too Closely

Published by Jenni Sidey

The first sign that Drake actually pulled his comeback off? The music videos. Great, distinct, rich visuals, nearly 20 of them, from an artist who is typically extremely hit-or-miss in this area (give or take an “HYFR” and that time Karena Evans took over creative duties for an entire album rollout). But it’s deeper than thinking back to “Energy” or the limp short film that accompanied Views; just last summer Drake tried to jumpstart his Iceman rollout with a series of ambitious but increasingly conceptually-laborious livestream “episodes,” and the thematic vision (or lack thereof) for this album seemed concerning. I was expecting more bullshit like Drake personifying his 2024 beef loss as Pinocchio killers chasing him around Europe but instead, Iceman Episode 4 is more of a visual album of loosely connected videos. Despite being in Europe myself for the stream’s 9:45 ET drop, I’m glad I woke up for it; the unified visuals made the new music hit even harder, their cohesion and range—from thermal imagery, to explosion-porn, to an animated interlude—was almost as …