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Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSMegalopolis.The 2025 Oscar nominations were announced late last week following multiple delays due to the Los Angeles fires. Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez (all films 2024) received the most nominations (thirteen) followed closely by Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist and Jon Chu’s Wicked (ten each). The New Yorker’s Richard Brody unpacks the assumptions underlying the Academy’s choices and posits an alternate list of nominees for five categories.London’s Prince Charles Cinema, a mainstay in the West End since the early 1960s, is facing a serious threat of closure after their landlords have demanded “a rent increase significantly above market rates” in their new lease. Zedwell Lsq Ltd and their ultimate parent company Criterion Capital have...

Film-maker known for provocative works Les Valseuses and Tenue de Soirée died at home in Paris on Monday

Bertrand Blier, the French film director with a long history of provocative offerings including Les Valseuses (Going Places), Tenue de Soirée (Evening Dress) and Trop Belle Pour Toi (Too Beautiful for You), has died aged 85. His son, Leonard, told Afp that the film-maker “died peacefully at home Monday night in Paris, surrounded by his wife and children”.

Blier achieved his greatest successes in the 70s and 80s with a series of outrage-baiting films, many featuring Gérard Depardieu, which concentrated on exposing wounded male machismo. In 2011 he told the Guardian: “I’ve always enjoyed shocking the bourgeois. I know I make buddy movies, but what intrigues me again and again is how male friendships are relatively unproblematic, and yet when men approach what they passionately desire, then their problems begin.”...

Bertrand Blier … "'an immense, non-conformist filmmaker, a passionate lover of creative freedom' Photo: UniFrance

The controversial and outspoken French film director Bertrand Blier, who gave Gérard Depardieu some of his best roles, has died peacefully in Paris at the age of 85, surrounded by his wife and family.

Bertrand Blier: 'Death is the only really interesting subject' Photo: UniFrance

The son of actor Bernard Blier he directed Depardieu in the 1974 cult hit Les Valseuses. The popular comedy known in English as Going Places established him as one of the most outrageous filmmakers with a trademark line in vulgar humour, no-holds barred sex and nudity.

The film which also starred Jeanne Moreau and Miou-Miou, gave Isabelle Huppert an early role while other actors with whom he collaborated on a regular basis, included Michel Blanc, Josiane Balasko and, of course, Depardieu with whom he went to make another comedy hit in 1978 Get Out Your Handkerchiefs...

Provocative French filmmaker Bertrand Blier, who scored hits with transgressive comedies featuring Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Huppert such as “Going Places” and “Get Out Your Handkerchiefs,” has died. He was 85.

Blier died on Monday night at his home in Paris surrounded by his wife and children, his son Leonard Blier told French news agency Afp.

“It is with great sadness that I learn of the death of Bertrand Blier. He was a genius of dialogue, in the tradition of Prévert and Audiard,” French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said on X.

Born in 1939 in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, Blier was the son of actor Bernard Blier and grew up was steeped in film and theatre. He made his directing debut with cinema-verité documentary “Hitler—Never Heard of Him” in 1963 which earned critical kudos.

“Going Places,” which came out in 1974 and involved two brutal young men who drift about France in...

Bertrand Blier, the irreverent French film director behind Oscar-winning romantic comedy Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, has died aged 85.

Blier left his mark on 1970s and 1980s French cinema with films known for their dark humour and cynicism.

He helped to launch the international career of now controversial actor Gerard Depardieu, who starred in the director’s 1974 comedy drama Going Places (Les Valseuses) with Miou-Miou and Patrick Dewaere, about two aimless thugs on a crime and sex spree across the country.

Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (Préparez Vos Mouchoirs),about a ménage-à-trois, won the best foreign-language film Oscar for France in 1979 and...

Bertrand Blier, the irreverent French film director behind Oscar-winning romantic comedy Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, has died aged 85.

Blier left his mark on 1970s and 1980s French cinema with his films known for their dark humour and cynicism. His helped to launch the international career of now controversial actor Gerard Depardieu who starred in the director’s 1974 comedy drama Going Places (Les Valseuses) with Miou-Miou and Patrick Dewaere about two aimless thugs on a crime and sex spree across the country.

Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (Préparez Vos Mouchoirs) about a ménage-à-trois won the best foreign-language Oscar for France in 1979 and...

Ernie Dingo, the Aussie adventurer, is back. This time, he’s crisscrossing the continent with the casual ease of someone flipping channels on a Sunday afternoon. In this installment of “Going Places,” Dingo tackles the rugged beauty of Coral Bay on Western Australia’s coast. Forget your standard tourist traps, Dingo’s opting for a 4Wd cultural tour, […]

Going Places with Ernie Dingo: Coral Bay, Denmark, Albert River...

Here’s the latest episode of The Filmmakers Podcast, part of the podcast roster here on Nerdly. If you haven’t heard the show yet, you can check out previous episodes on the official podcast site, whilst we’ll be featuring each and every new episode as it premieres.

For those unfamiliar with the series, The Filmmakers Podcast is a podcast about how to make films from micro-budget indie films to bigger-budget studio films and everything in between. Our hosts Giles Alderson, Dom Lenoir, Dan Richardson, Andrew Rodger and Cristian James talk about how to get films made, how to actually make them and how to try not to f… it up in their very humble opinion. Guests will come on and chat about their filmmaking experiences from directors, writers, producers and screenwriters, to actors, cinematographers and distributors.

The Filmmaker’s Podcast #423: From Fish Eyes to 10ft Testicles to...

CBS announced the next round of casting for Beyond The Gates. The soap will begin production in November. It’s slated to premiere on CBS in early 2025 and is from CBS Studios/NAACP Venture. The new cast members round out the extended families of the Duprees and key characters who influence their worlds.

More: See this exciting Btg detail.

Casting News

Those cast include Brandon Claybon, Timon Durrett, Sean Freeman, Marquita Goings, Maurice Johnson, Trisha Mann-Grant, RhonniRose Mantilla, Ambyr Michelle, Colby Muhammad and Arielle Prepetit. These nine join previously announced Btg stars Tamara Tunie (Anita Dupree), Daphnee Duplaix (Dr. Nicole Dupree Richardson), and Karla Mosley (Dani Dupree).

The Richardsons

Maurice Johnson stars as Ted Richardson, Dr. Nicole Dupree Richardson’s husband and father to Martin and Katerine “Kat.” Ted is a brilliant plastic surgeon with an ultra-exclusive private practice, and women clamor to put their faces and bodies in what they call his blessed hands.

Useful as it may be for facts and stats, an actor’s Wikipedia page isn’t ever the go-to place for a complete, nuanced description of their thespian essence, and so it proves for Isabelle Huppert. “Known for her portrayals of cold, austere women devoid of morality, she is considered one of the greatest actresses of her generation,” states the introduction, in a strikingly selective encapsulation of over half a century on screen. Huppert can certainly do froideur and severity with flair — she’s imposing beyond the bounds of her diminutive frame in such rigorous, chill-carrying films as Claude Chabrol’s “La Cérémonie,” Michael Haneke’s “The Piano Teacher” and of course Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle,” though whether these complex, conflicted women are “devoid of morality” isn’t a call for any one web editor to make.

But it does Huppert an injustice to paint her, however admiringly, as some...

Exclusive: Following a Tony season in which it collected 28 nominations and a number of notable wins, UTA has upped Patrick Herold and Rachel Viola to co-heads of its theater practice.

Based in the agency’s New York office, the pair will oversee day-to-day operations of the department and report to Jay Gassner, partner and co-head of talent; and Allan Haldeman, partner and co-head of TV lit.

Herold joined UTA in 2022 after nearly 20 years at ICM, where he was a partner and head of theater. His previous roles in the industry have included owning literary agency Helen Merrill Ltd. and holding the posts of associate general manager of Lincoln Center Theater, director of development at New York Theatre Workshop and trustee of Dramatists Play Service.

Herold’s clients include the estates of Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill, Sam Shepard, Horton Foote, Moss Hart, Tina Howe, Christopher Durang, and Wendy Wasserstein. He...

Out of all the winners (and also-rans) in the 26 competitive categories at the 2024 Tony Awards, 23 results stand out as particularly noteworthy when considered in the context of history. So what were this year’s most interesting facts, records, and milestones? Check out the complete list of winners here.

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1. The productions that received multiple Tony nominations, but went home empty-handed were “Back to the Future,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” “Doubt,” “Grey House,” “Here Lies Love,” “Lempicka,” “Mary Jane,” “Mother Play,” “The Notebook,” “Prayer for the French Republic” and “Water for Elephants.”

2. The individuals who had multiple nominations this year, but went home empty-handed were songwriter/orchestrator Will Butler (“Stereophonic”), lighting designer Isabella Byrd (“Cabaret” and “An Enemy of the People”), scenic designer dots (“Appropriate” and “An Enemy of the People”), songwriters/orchestrators Jamestown Revival (“The Outsiders”), lighting designer Natasha Katz...

There were a ton of “Hollywood names” at the 77th Tony Awards on Sunday night, which undoubtedly helped to elevate interest in a nationwide telecast that is always a bit of a tough sell, given that it celebrates shows that relatively few people outside — or even inside — the tri-state area have actually seen.

Among the A-listers on hand this year were Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, returning as the host for the third time; presenters such as Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Hudson, Oscar winners both; performers including Alicia Keys, Jay Z, Pete Townshend and yet another Oscar winner, Eddie Redmayne; and worthy honorees like Jeremy Strong (best actor in a play for An Enemy of the People) and Sarah Paulson (best actress in a play for Appropriate), each of whom has an Emmy at home, and Daniel Radcliffe (best featured actor in a play for Merrily We Roll Along), the...

The Tony Awards are being handed out Sunday night.

Ariana DeBose is hosting the live broadcast from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. The ceremony airs live from 8-11 p.m. Et/5-8 p.m. Pt on June 16 on CBS and streams on Paramount+ in the U.S. (See the red carpet photos.)

Among the noteworthy winners so far are Daniel Radcliffe and Jeremy Strong, who both took home their first Tonys, and Dede Ayite, who became the first Black woman to win a Tony for best costume design of a play.

Set to perform at the ceremony are the casts of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Hell’s Kitchen, Illinoise, Merrily We Roll Along, Stereophonic, Suffs, The Outsiders, The Who’s Tommy and Water for Elephants.

Presenters will include Utkarsh Ambudkar, Nate Burleson, Cynthia Erivo, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Josh Gad,...

The best of Broadway will gather together on Sunday, June 18 for the 77th Tony Awards. The annual celebration of theatre will take place live from Lincoln Center beginning at 8 p.m. Et. Following a historically crowded season, this year’s Tonys feature a tight race for the biggest honor of the night, Best Musical. Hosted for the third-straight year by Tony nominee and Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, the evening promises to supply performances, celebrities, and surprises that theatre fans of all kinds won’t want to miss. You can watch with a Free 3-Day Trio Trial of Hulu Live TV.

How to Watch 2024 Tony Awards When: Sunday, June 18, 2024 at 8 p.m. Et TV: CBS Stream: Watch with a Free 3-Day Trio Trial of Hulu Live TV. Free 3-Day Trio Trial $76.99+ / month hulu.com

You can also stream the event live with a subscription to Paramount+ With Showtime or on-demand with Paramount+ Essentials.

With important discussions raised recently about whether (and which) new categories should be added to the Tony Awards competition — Hair, Wig & Makeup? Casting? Ensemble? Projections? — allow me an unimportant one: Best Coin Toss, because that’s what so many predictors will rely on for a season crammed with excellent nominees.

Sarah Paulson or Jessica Lange? Coin toss. Appropriate? Purlie Victorious? An Enemy of the People? Coin toss, coin toss, coin toss. Five cast members of Stereophonic? Get plenty of change.

But Tony predictions are as much a part of the annual Broadway tradition as red carpets and go-for-broke musical numbers. So with that in mind, I’ll get on with the coins, the hair-splitting and more than a few passionate opinions. Here is Deadline’s annual roster of predictions for the 2024 Tony Awards, airing this Sunday evening on CBS.

Best Play

Will win: Stereophonic

Should win: Stereophonic

The cast of...

After an extraordinary season boasting 36 productions of musicals, plays, and revivals, Broadway will toast its nominees and crown new winners at the upcoming 77th annual Tony Awards. If predicting the winners seems overwhelming with so many terrific contenders to choose between – especially one of the most competitive Best Musical races in recent memory – check out our official odds below for all 26 categories with our projected winners highlighted in gold.

These official odds for the Tonys are derived from the predictions from our Experts who write about theatre year-round, our in-house team of Editors, the Top 24 Users who did the best predicting last year’s ceremony, the All-Star Top 24 who have the highest scores when you combine predictions from the last two years, and all our Users who make up the largest and often savviest bloc of predictors.

Watch 37 exclusive interviews with Tony Award nominees from acting, directing, crafts categories and...

When Tony voters looked at their ballots for best musical in 1960, they must have felt lightheaded. They were tasked with choosing a winner among the latest Rodgers and Hammerstein (The Sound of Music), a political drama that would go on to win the Pulitzer (Fiorello!), a new kind of psychological biography (Gypsy), and an uproarious fairy-tale comedy (Once Upon a Mattress). I’m not sure if any of the 2024 nominees for best musical will stand the test of time quite like that stunning lineup. But as was true 64 years ago, there are at least four celebrated contenders vying, all equally convincingly, for the top prize.

Part of what makes this season’s best musical category particularly tricky to predict is the volume of productions that aren’t on the ballot here: At various moments throughout the season, in which 15 new musicals opened (and six have already closed), it would have...

Pat Sajak finishes his final week on Wheel of Fortune this week. This has allowed him to have a few more memorable contestant moments, some fun and snark, and one last chance to remind everyone why he has hosted the show for four decades. However, not everyone is happy about how Pat’s final season has gone.

Many fans feel this has been the “worst season ever” and want a change before Pat leaves. Here is what they had to say.

Some Fans Feel This Is The “Worst Season Ever” Of Wheel Of Fortune

This final season of Wheel of Fortune for Pat Sajak has had a lot of memorable moments. He has joked with contestants. He has called some out. He has even helped some of them win their puzzles with perceived second chances. However, some fans don’t like the recent gameplay of the show.

Pat Sajak – Wheel Of Fortune...

Tony Award winner Lachanze is launching her own multimedia production company.

The company, Lachanze Productions, will seek to produce Broadway and other commercial theater projects, with an eye to original works that bring new talent to the stage. All current projects in development are plays and musicals, but the company also plans to expand into film and television as well.

Lachanze, a Tony Award winner for her role as Celie in the original 2005 production of The Color Purple, has appeared on Broadway numerous times, including originating the lead role in Once on This Island in 1990 and most recently starring in the 2021 revival of Trouble in Mind.

In recent years, Lachanze has also been producing on Broadway. She served as a co-producer of Kimberly Akimbo, which won the 2023 Tony Award for best musical; TopDog/Underdog, which won the Tony for best play that same year; and this season’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,...

Alex Edelman is among the honorees being presented a special Tony Award for his comedy show, Just for Us, which debuted on Broadway in June 2023.

Edelman’s one-man show, which ran through August at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre, saw the comic, who is Jewish, recounting a night attending a white supremacist meeting. In addition to Edelman, special Tony recipients include Abe Jacob, a sound designer who has worked on dozens of Broadway shows including the original production of Hair, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Who’s Tommy, and mentored the next generation. Nikiya Mathis, a hair and wig designer fighting back against hair discrimination for Black actors and who worked on shows such as JaJa’s African Hair Braiding, Top Dog/Underdog, Death of a Salesman and more.

Special Tony Awards are given to productions, artists and organizations that do not fall into any of the competitive categories.

“We are...

Alex Edelman, the comedian, actor and writer who made his Broadway debut last year in his solo show Just For Us, will receive a Special 2024 Tony Award for the production, the Tony Administration Committee announced today.

The committee revealed today that Edelman will be one of three Special Tony recipients this June, along with longtime sound designer Abe Jacob and Jaja’s African Hair Braiding hair and wig designer Nikiya Mathis.

Special Tony Awards are presented to outstanding productions, artists and organizations who do not fall into any of the competitive categories.

In addition to the Special Tonys, five recipients of this year’s Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre were named: Projection designer Wendall K. Harrington; arts leader Colleen Jennings-Roggensack; retiring Playwrights Horizons board chair Judith O. Rubin; the Dramatists Guild Foundation; and the Samuel J. Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts.

Regarding the Special Tony recipients,...

The 2024 Tony Awards nominations were announced on Tuesday, April 30. Out of all the nominees spread across 26 categories, 23 fascinating facts, stats, trivia and achievements stand out as particularly noteworthy.

1. The following shows only received one Tony nomination: “The Great Gatsby,” “Gutenberg! The Musical!,” “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” “Patriots” “Uncle Vanya” and “The Who’s Tommy.”

2. The following Broadway productions from this past season were completely snubbed: “The Cottage,” “Harmony,” “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” “How to Dance in Ohio,” “I Need That,” “Once Upon a One More Time,” “The Shark is Broken” and “The Wiz.”

3. The following individuals nominated last year are recognized again this year: Kai Harada, Tim Hatley, Amy Herzog, Brian d’Arcy James, Natasha Katz, Bradley King, Tom Kitt, Gareth Owen, Emilio Sosa, Jessica Stone, and Kara Young.

SEETony Awards snubs: ‘Patriots,’ Steve Carell, Chip Zien …

4. Some noteworthy names who happen to be nominated for producing at least one...

A musical inspired by the life of Alicia Keys and a play that loosely draws on the story of Fleetwood Mac — Hell’s Kitchen and Stereophonic, respectively — cleaned up at the 2024 Tony Awards nominations. Both received 13 nominations, more than any other show this year.

Hell’s Kitchen was nominated for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (for Kristoffer Diaz), Best Direction (Michael Greif), and Best Choreography (Camille A. Brown), while its stars Maleah Joi Moon, Shoshana Bean, and Kecia Lewis all picked up acting nods. But despite its impressive haul,...

The Alicia Keys musical Hell’s Kitchen and new play Stereophonic, about a fictional band in the 1970s, led the Tony nominations with 13 nominations each.

The Outsiders, a musical based on the 1967 S.E. Hinton book, followed with 12 nominations and the revival of Cabaret, starring Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin, followed with nine nods.

With its 13 noms, Stereophonic set a record for the most Tony nominations for a play, surpassing previous record holder Slave Play’s 12 noms in 2020.

Stereophonic‘s surprisingly strong performance even included a best score nomination despite it being a play.

In the best musical category, Hell’s Kitchen and The Outsiders were nominated, alongside the dance-based show Illionise, with music from Sufjan Stevens’ album and a book by Justin Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury; Suffs, a musical about the women’s suffrage movement with a score and book by Shaina Taub; and Water for Elephants, based on the 2006 novel,...

Broadway fans: the 2024 Tony Award nominations are finally here!

Each year, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre (aka the Tonys), celebrates the best on Broadway. The nominations were announced by two past Tony winners: Take Me Out‘s Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Hamilton‘s Renée Elise Goldsberry.

This year, the Tonys will be held on June 16, 2024 with host Ariana DeBose returning to host for a third time. Just Jared will be live updating throughout the entire event, so stick with us that night!

Head inside to see the full list of Tony Award nominations…

Scroll down for the full list of Tony Award nominees…

Best Musical

Hell’s Kitchen

Illinoise

The Outsiders

Suffs

Water for Elephants

Best Play

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

Mary Jane

Mother Play

Prayer for the French Republic

Stereophonic

Best Revival of a Play

Appropriate

An Enemy of the People

Purlie Victorious: A...

A decade ago, Gerard Depardieu played a character inspired by Dominique Strauss-Kahn — the disgraced former head of the International Monetary Fund who was accused of assaulting a hotel maid — in Abel Ferrara’s “Welcome to New York.” In an ironic twist, the iconic French actor has now become the poster boy for the country’s #MeToo movement, having been charged with rape and faced with over a dozen sexual assault allegations.

But the French remain divided over him due to his profile as a mascot of the country’s cinematic history. He’s starred in over 150 films, including classics such as Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s “Cyrano de Bergerac,” François Truffaut’s “Le Dernier Metro” and Bertrand Blier’s “Going Places.” However, the tide is starting to shift — while French President Emmanuel Macron refused to revoke his Legion of Honor, the Paris wax museum went ahead and removed his statue on Dec.

Broadway box office took a 7% slide in the week before the Thanksgiving holiday, with the 29 shows settling in at a total $27,060,113 in receipts.

Attendance for the week ending Nov. 19 was 228,423, about 86% of capacity and a slip of 3% from the previous week. The attendance figure is 12% lower than last year at this time.

Most of the productions saw drops in box office, including Harmony in its first full week of post-opening performances. The Barry Manilow-Bruce Sussman musical at the Barrymore was down by $18,483 to $625,411.

Spamalot, with four previews and four regular performances – lots of press seats and opening comps – was off $74,565 to $678,666 at the St. James.

Ending their runs were Melissa Etheridge: My Window, up $43,239 to $371,784 for five performances; The Shark is Broken and Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, up $48,986 to $425,253 (receipts from the live simulcasts of Nov. 14-Nov. 19 not included).

Also posting gains was Merrily We Roll Along,...

Academy Award singer and songwriter Mitski will pen the score to the stage adaptation of The Queen’s Gambit, which is currently in development.

In addition to Mitski, the creative team will include Eboni Booth, playwright of Primary Trust, which recently ran Off-Broadway starring William Jackson Harper, as the book writer. Whitney White, director of JaJa’s African Hair Braiding, currently running on Broadway, will direct.

Adrienne Warren (Tina, The Woman King) joins the producing team, alongside Mara Isaacs (Hadestown), Lawryn Lacroix and the previously announced Level Forward.

The musical adaptation, based on the 1983 novel that inspired the Netflix adaptation, was first announced in 2021. Details about the timeline for the musical’s world premiere production will be announced at a later date, according to the production.

The story follows chess prodigy Beth Harmon as she rises from playing chess in an orphanage to competing in the U.S. Open Championship and on the world stage.

Broadway box office held steady last week with total grosses for 28 shows tallying up to $28,106,860, with 224,832 ticket buyers paying an average $125.01 per seat.

A healthy chunk of those total numbers were contributed by such recent arrivals as Merrily We Roll Along and Gutenberg! The Musical, which had its best week to date with a take of $932,436 at the James Earl Jones, that despite significant post-opening press comps.

(Gutenberg!, starring Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, has been surprising audiences with special unbilled appearances near the end of each performance, secret cameos that might not contribute to box office but can’t hurt word of mouth enthusiasm: Following Nathan Lane’s appearance on opening night, the cameos last week included Ashley Park, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Stamos, Rory O’Malley, Christian Slater, Amber Ruffin and, in a stroke of some kinda genius,...

Fiona and Carl Gallagher actors from Shameless, Emmy Rossum and Ethan Cutkosky, reunite in a new image. Rossum and Cutkosky appear all grown up compared to when they started on Shameless, with successful careers since the show's conclusion. Shameless served as a launching pad for the cast's careers, with co-star Jeremy Allen White earning an Emmy nomination for his role in The Bear.

After Shameless ended two years ago, Fiona and Carl Gallagher actors reunite in a new image. Played by Emmy Rossum and Ethan Cutkosky, respectively, Fiona and Carl were siblings in the Gallagher family on the popular comedy. Shameless ran for 11 seasons on Showtime across a decade, finally concluding in 2021. Rossum left Shameless after season 9 whereas Cutkosky stayed throughout the series.

Now, Shameless actors reunite once more in a new image from Rossum’s Instagram. The actors posted two photos together, both selfies. In the first, Rossum and Cutkosky beam at the camera,...

Exclusive: Entertainment company Madison Wells Live, Lachanze and Taraji P. Henson have joined the producing team of Manhattan Theatre Club’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, a world premiere play written by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Whitney White heading to Broadway this fall.

The partnerships were announced today by Mtc’s Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Chris Jennings (Executive Director).

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding will begin previews on Tuesday, September 12 and open on Tuesday, October 3, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

The play is set at a hair braiding salon in Harlem where a lively and eclectic group of West African immigrant hair braiders create “masterpieces on the heads of neighborhood women.” According to the synopsis, “During one sweltering summer day, love will blossom, dreams will flourish and secrets will be revealed.”

Both Bioh, the Ghanaian-American playwright of School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, and White...

Los Angeles, July 17 (Ians) Singer Taylor Swift continues to make her mark in history and the release of ‘Speak Now’ (Taylor’s Version) has given the songstress a major win.

The re-recorded ‘Speak Now’ made its debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart joining three other Swift albums in the Top 10. Swift’s achievement marked the first time a woman has ever done this in 60 years and only one of three living artists to have ever scored such a feat, reports Deadline.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) moved 716,000 album-equivalent units during its first week, according to Billboard. Swift’s other three albums in the Top 10 are Midnights(2022) at No. 5, Lover (2019) at No. 7 and Folklore (2020) at No. 10.

Previously, Herb Alpert had four albums in the Top 10 with Going Places at No. 2, Whipped Cream & Other Delights at No. 3, South of the Border at No. 9 and The Lonely Bull at No. 10. The other...

Taylor Swift continues to make her mark in history and the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has given the songstress a major win.

The re-recorded Speak Now made its debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart joining three other Swift albums in the Top 10. Swift’s achievement marked the first time a woman has ever done this in 60 years and only one of three living artists to have ever scored such a feat.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) moved 716,000 album-equivalent units during its first week, according to Billboard. Swift’s other three albums in the Top 10 are Midnights (2022) at No. 5, Lover (2019) at No. 7 and Folklore (2020) at No. 10.

Previously, Herb Alpert had four albums in the Top 10 with Going Places at No. 2, Whipped Cream & Other Delights at No. 3, South of the Border at No. 9 and The Lonely Bull at No. 10. The other artist that accomplished this feat was Prince,...

Taylor Swift has broken yet another record with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).

The superstar is the first living artist in nearly 60 years to have at least four albums at the same time in the top 10 on Billboard’s 200 chart. Midnights, Lover and Folklore join Swift’s newest album on the chart, where it sits at No. 1.

The only other living artist to do so was Herb Alpert in 1966 with his albums Going Places, Whipped Cream & Other Delights, South of the Border and The Lonely Bull, according to Billboard. Following Prince’s death in 2016, the star had five albums in the top 10 — The Very Best of Prince, Purple Rain, The Hits/The B-Sides, Ultimate and 1999.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) marked Swift’s 12th No. 1 album on Billboard’s chart and her third rerecorded and rereleased album, which includes hits like “Mine,” “Dear John,” “Back to December” and “Ours.”

The...

With the HBO media empire tragicomedy "Succession," the damaged and destructive adult children of billionaire mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) take center stage. For every shareholder meeting or tense bit of boardroom drama, the show spends much more time digging into the cyclical journeys of self-discovery or delusion that the children undergo. And none of them, not even megalomaniacal "#1 Boy" Kendall (Jeremy Strong), are as delusional as eldest son Connor (Alan Ruck).

If Alan Ruck's performance as Connor reflects anything, it's that against all odds he will find a way to dominate a given episode or storyline. For a character with a small role at the series' outset, he's become something of a fan favorite, whether it's rightfully fighting for his share of the pie as "the eldest son" or his Leonard Cohen karaoke choice. His romantic relationship and eventual marriage with former escort Willa (Justine Lupe) is as unsettling as it is surprisingly warm,...

The Big Lebowski may not have been a big success upon its release 25 years ago (seriously?!) but the movie has since become a huge cult favourite for millions of fans. There has also been talk of a Big Lebowski sequel every so often, and although the likelihood of it happening is slim, Jeff Bridges is keen to return.

Jeff Bridges told People he’s open to a Big Lebowski sequel, but only if Joel and Ethan Coen are involved. “Oh God! If the brothers were involved, I certainly would,” Bridges said. “The brothers, they’re mysterious and full of surprises. You don’t know what they’re going to do, so since they’re surprising, I don’t think they’ll make a sequel. But like I say, they’re surprising, so maybe they’ll surprise me and make a sequel.” This isn’t the first time that Jeff Bridges...

The Dude is down for a “Big Lebowski” sequel 25 years after its release.

Oscar winner Jeff Bridges told People he would be open to reprising his iconic role of The Dude for a follow-up film, so long as writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen are involved.

“Oh God! If the brothers were involved, I certainly would,” Bridges said of returning to the 1998 comedy classic. “The brothers, they’re mysterious and full of surprises. You don’t know what they’re going to do, so since they’re surprising, I don’t think they’ll make a sequel. But like I say, they’re surprising, so maybe they’ll surprise me and make a sequel.”

“The Big Lebowski” also starred Ben Gazzara, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Sam Elliot, Tara Reid, John Turturro, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Bridges shared that he is in awe that it’s been over two decades since the film premiered.

Since the two Dragon Ball warriors first encountered each other, Goku and Vegeta have fought tooth and nail to claim the title of the universe’s strongest Saiyan. While it has gone back and forth a few times as to who can rightfully claim that top spot, one villain already confirmed that Vegeta is stronger than Goku.

While this seemingly abrupt conclusion may be hard to swallow, it was actually teased upon their initial battle, when Vegeta beat Goku, full-stop, and only lost in the end after being attacked by the combined might of the Z-Fighters all at once. After this battle, however, it wouldn’t be long before Vegeta joined the Z-Fighters, and in doing so, became a trusted ally and member of the family. While Vegeta and Goku both trained to be the most powerful fighter in existence, the two never got another chance to truly settle who was better.

Geordie Shore standout Nathan Henry finished runner-up on The Challenge: UK and seemed poised to make a deep run in World Championship as a Global Mvp. However, he was quickly medically disqualified. The reality TV star has since spoken about his early exit, admitting he was “absolutely gutted” to find out he couldn’t participate in the Paramount+ competition series.

Nathan Henry on early disqualification from ‘The Challenge: World Championship’

Geordie Shore 10 star Nathan Henry competed on The Challenge: UK, where he finished runner-up and returned for The Challenge: World Championship as a Global Mvp.

They faced off in a qualifier that determined how the newcomers would draft Challenge legends, with the last-place finishers headed straight into elimination. Presumably at the opening challenge, Nathan apparently sustained an injury, resulting in his medical disqualification from the series. Due to his exit, only a female elimination took place.

The British are coming!

In the wake of the box office and critical success of "Fargo," all eyes were on the Coen Brothers and their next film, "The Big Lebowski," which celebrates its 25th anniversary this week. Instead of following up their Oscar-winning black comedy with another richly profound crime film, the Coens made a stoner comedy starring Jeff Bridges as an easygoing slacker perfectly content to spend his days sipping White Russians and bowling with his buddies. Decades later, The Dude has become a cultural icon and "The Big Lebowski" is considered a bonafide comedy classic. When it was first released, however, it received a lukewarm reception in the States, save for a few diehard fans that understood its low-key greatness.

No one was clamoring for a sequel, except John Turturro who pleaded with the Coen Brothers to sign off on a spin-off centering around his character Jesus Quintana — the perverted rival bowler...

Even though Goku is famous for his signature attack, the Kamehameha, there is one Dragon Ball fighter who simply uses it better than he does–something that was proven true when this fighter-in-question used the Kamehameha to obliterate an opponent that was believed to be a god.

While Goku certainly made the Kamehameha his own over the years, the technique actually didn’t even originate with him. The attack was created by Master Roshi, and it took him fifty years to do it. Goku first saw the Kamehameha in action after asking Master Roshi to help extinguish the fires of Fire Mountain, and at that point, Goku knew he needed to train with this martial arts master and learn this technique. Before long, Goku mastered the attack to the point where he could fire it one-handed and even from his feet. Not only that, but Goku has been able to...

After years toiling in obscurity, two beloved icons, Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan, launched major comebacks this year with The Whale and Everything Everywhere All At Once. In light of their recent Oscar nominations, we thought it would be fun to brainstorm a list of other stars we think are overdue for a comeback.

Tia Carrere Photo courtesy of Emilie Black

While technically, she’s been around without a break in her career, her parts over the last decade and more have been mostly voice work and guest appearances on television shows and in lower budget movies. Her work is always stellar and her presence online during the pandemic was a breath of fresh air. Her Aloha Friday live posts were something that kept many in a positive mood. Anyone who has met her will most likely say the same thing, she’s a joy to meet and absolutely fantastic.

The popularity of Goku and the Dragon Ball knows no bounds as fans use any number of creative outlets, including rug making, to express their adoration and enjoyment of the Super Saiyan who saved the world.

After nearly 40 years, 58 volumes, more than 300 chapters, and over 260 million copies sold, Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball has achieved a measure of global popularity and influence that few other comic books can compare with, and just two other manga have surpassed. Naturally, a manga with such broad appeal has certainly attracted a large and diverse fandom, all of whom have different ways to show their enjoyment of the franchise such as through fan art. While fan art is commonly thought of as fan-created paintings, drawings, or even videos; fans are not strictly limited to these genres for their creative expressions.

Related: Goku’s First Saiyan Transformation was So Powerful, It Broke the 4th Wall...

This article contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Super chapter 87!When Frieza was first introduced in Dragon Ball, he would be absolutely repulsed by the idea of wielding a power that was even remotely similar to that of a Saiyan as he saw himself as a being far superior to the race of ‘monkeys’ as he so insultingly called them. Though his latest power-up in the pages of Dragon Ball Super was seemingly stolen from Goku as it shares a striking resemblance to the Saiyan’s darkest transformation.

In Dragon Ball Super’s “Future” Trunks Saga, Trunks travels to an alternate past in an effort to recruit Goku and Vegeta and bring them back to his future timeline to help him defeat a seemingly unstoppable foe: Goku Black. Goku Black actually isn’t Goku at all but a Kai named Zamasu who turned his back on the mortals he was tasked...

Tonight on “The Challenge: USA,” the remaining 11 CBS reality titans fight to secure a spot in the final battle. Only one will survive the brutal conditions and host T.J. Lavin’s twists and turns to win the 500,000 prize. Follow along tonight’s two-hour finale with our live blog of Season 1 Episode 11 beginning at 9pm Et/ 8pm Ct on CBS.

See ‘Big Brother’ winners list: All seasons, plus spin-offs

MTV’s original competition series “The Challenge” got a CBS-style facelift with more than two dozen former contestants from “Survivor,” “Big Brother,” “The Amazing Race” and “Love Island” competing against each other in a brand new reality TV show titled “The Challenge: USA.” T. J. Lavin hosts the grueling program, which will air every Wednesday night on CBS (and stream on Paramount Plus) throughout the summer. Click through our photo gallery of “The Challenge: USA” cast photos to see which 28 all-stars are competing.

The Challenge: USA brought out another classic elimination for the penultimate episode of the season: Balls In. And by the end of it, both players — Big Brother‘s David Alexander and Enzo Palumbo were exhausted. Yes, the friends faced off, despite Alexander, who lost the daily, trying to appeal to the daily’s winners Big Brother‘s Angela Rummans and Survivor‘s Ben Driebergen to send in Survivor‘s Tyson Apostol or Domenick Abbate. And in the end, it was Alexander who was eliminated. Alexander opens up about that elimination, why he wants to do another season, and more. There seemed to be a real division in the house, with you and Enzo separate from the others. How were you feeling about your standing? David Alexander: I didn’t feel that huge alliance. I know that Alyssa wasn’t as strong with me because I sent Derek home. She was really,...

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, a new play written by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Whitney White, will make its Broadway debut in a world premiere production by the Manhattan Theatre Club next fall.

The play will be the first production of Mtc’s 2023-2024 Broadway season at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

Performance dates, casting, and creative team will be announced at a later date.

The announcement was made today by Lynne Meadow, Mtc Artistic Director, and Barry Grove, Mtc Executive Producer. The play is set at a hair braiding salon in Harlem where, as Mtc describes, “every day, a lively and eclectic group of West African immigrant hair braiders are creating masterpieces on the heads of neighborhood women.

“During one sweltering summer day, love will blossom, dreams will flourish and secrets will be revealed. The uncertainty of their circumstances simmers below the surface of their lives and when it boils over,...

From honoring the cattiest fights to the best TV personality return, the MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted ceremony honored all things reality.

“The Bachelor” star Tayshia Adams hosted the show, where awards were presented to Paris Hilton, Kelly Clarkson and shows like “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

The night also spotlighted reality star and entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel with the Reality Royalty Award.

Read on to find out who took home the golden popcorn.

Paris Hilton attends the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images) Also Read:

Jack Black Somersaults Onstage to Accept Comedic Genius Honor at MTV Movie & TV Awards

Best Docu-reality Series

“Jersey Shore: Family Vacation”

“Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta”

“Selling Sunset” (Winner)

“Summer House”

“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”

Best Competition Series

“American Idol”

“Dancing with the Stars”

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” (Winner)

“The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies”

“The Masked Singer...

The MTV Movie & TV Awards are back, with Vanessa Hudgens hosting the ceremony live on MTV. Tayshia Adams took over hosting duties for the second part of the show, honoring the best in unscripted television.

Zendaya and Tom Holland won big, with each scoring a performance nod for their respective roles in “Euphoria” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which also won best show and best movie. Scarlett Johansson won best hero for her turn as Black Widow, while Daniel Radcliffe took home the best villain award for his performance in “The Lost City.”

Jack Black took home the Comedic Genius Award, while Jennifer Lopez accepted the Generation Award and delivered an emotional speech, in which she thanked her kids, the people who gave her joy and her manager Benny Medina, as well as “all the people who told me to my face or when I wasn’t in the room...