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The section dedicated to dedicated to works by first and second-time filmmakers, Toronto International Film Festival have announced the twenty-three films in the Discovery Programme. The section will open with John Early‘s Maddie’s Secret. Among the film items we’ve been tracking we find the likes of Lucía Alenar Iglesias‘ Forastera – a project that was part of the 2021 Cannes Cinéfondation Residence and was the winner of the Prix Arte Kino Intl prize, this is set during holidays in Majorca de Cata, this is about a woman whose vacation is dramatically disrupted by the death of her grandmother.…...

Comedy actor and writer John Early has added director to his resume as he brings his first feature, Maddie’s Secret, to open the Toronto Film Festival Discovery sidebar for first-time and emerging filmmakers.

The film about Maddie, a Food Network content creator trying not to allow her dark past to pierce her perfect veneer, stars many of Early’s colleagues in the L.A. stand-up comedy scene, including Kate Berlant, Vanessa Bayer and Connor O’Malley.

In all, Discovery programmers have assembled 23 world premieres for their 25th edition. Also booked into the Toronto section is director Nadia Latif’s The Man in My Basement, which plays with the horror genre and stars Corey Hawkins as an African American man about to lose his family’s home, until a white businessman (Willem Dafoe) offers to rent his basement to clear his debts in a deal he chose not to refuse, but should have.

Twenty-three world premieres representing more than 30 countries have been selected for the Discovery programme at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, among them the directing debut of US alternative comedian John Early and three films from the UK.

Discovery showcases the first or second features by directors from around the world, with past participants having included Alfonso Cuarón, Julie Dash, Jean-Marc Vallée, Christopher Nolan, Yorgos and Barry Jenkins.

Early’s satire about content culture, Maddie’s Secret, is the opening night film in this year’s Discovery section, and one of only two US titles in the line-up.

Other...

“Maddie’s Secret,” the directorial debut of comedian John Early, will open the Discovery program at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. This section of the annual festival (celebrating its 50th year in 2025) premieres the first and second feature films from new directors. Every film in the section will have its world premiere at TIFF this September.

On the opening night, Early’s film “Maddie’s Secret” will screen, a satire of the current “content culture” that dominates the internet. The comedian has appeared in a number of films and television shows, though “Maddie’s Secret” marks his first movie in the director’s chair. Fellow comics Vanessa Bayer, Kate Berlant and Connor O’Malley also appear in the film.

Another entry in the section, “The Man in My Basement” stars Corey Hawkins and Willem Dafoe. Directed by Nadia Latif, the thriller adapts Walter Mosley’s novel of the same name. Latif...

A water pipeline worker made history after discovering a 200-year-old wooden boat in Old Town Dubrovnik, Croatia—the famous filming location for King’s Landing in HBO’s Game of Thrones.

While speaking with Associated Press, diver and undersea builder Ivan Bukelic revealed he was toiling on the water pipeline of Dubrovnik’s old port when he noticed a buried wooden boat on the ocean floor. The landmark is one of the most important trade ports in the Adriatic Sea in the Middle Ages, making it a protected heritage site.

As per marine archaeologist Irena Radić Rossi, they still cannot identify what type of vessel it was or its specific dimensions. However, after conducting radiocarbon analysis, they have confirmed that it was from the late 18th century.

Fascinating Facts About Game of Thrones Filming Locations That You Need to Know

Game of Thrones featured several stunning landscapes that were mostly...

In Ted Post's 1973 cop drama "Magnum Force" -- the second movie in the "Dirty Harry" series -- Clint Eastwood returns as Harry Callahan, this time paired with a partner, Earlington "Early" Smith, played by Felton Perry. The film follows the two detectives' investigation into a series of extrajudicial murders seemingly being performed by a motorcycle cop. One vigilante killing, they find, is linked to another, and then another. The murders eventually lead them to discover a vast, dark conspiracy within the San Francisco Police Department. It seems that the Sfpd is lousy with vigilantes hellbent on frontier justice, and have formed a pact to murder criminals on the street. Harry, disgusted by his own department, will have to find the death ring's leader, and end the violence once and for all. 

This was a great way to flip the script on the first "Dirty Harry" movie from 1971. That film was...

Negan has become essential to the DNA of the Walking Deadfranchise, but even creator Robert Kirkman acknowledges that for some fans, the foul-mouthed, barbed-wire-bat-swinging character has always been, and continues to be, a controversial addition to the zombie series. However, Kirkman offers a “counterpoint” to anti-Negan arguments, though he also admits that he is biased in favor of the character.

The Walking Dead Deluxe #114, written by Robert Kirkman, with art by Charlie Adlard, features the latest installment of the fan-favorite “Cutting Room Floor” section, in which the author takes a retrospective look at the series, through the eyes of a more experienced creative veteran.

With Negan’s initial villainous arc truly starting to heat up at this point in the series, Kirkman took a moment to cite complaints about the character, and The Walking Dead in general, from the time of the issue’s initial release, though not without further explaining the virtues of Negan,...

[This story contains major spoilers from the season four finale of Power Book III: Raising Kanan.]

It’s been an intense ride for Power Book III: Raising Kanan, Starz’s other spinoff series from its massive network redefining Power franchise launched in 2021. Unlike Power Book II: Ghost which was a continuation in the aftermath of Ghost’s death and the departure of Omari Hardwick, prequel Raising Kanan was charged with exploring a younger Kanan, the character Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson played in the flagship of the Power franchise that he and co-creator Courtney Kemp launched in 2014.

In the series spearheaded by showrunner Sascha Penn is a backstory that sought to explain how Kanan became the monster fans saw in the original. That meant bringing in Mekai Curtis as 15-year-old Kanan to play opposite Tony winner Patina Miller as his ambitious, drug-dealing mother, Raquel “Raq” Thomas, who led the family drug business with her older brother, Marvin (London Miller) and youngest brother...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but….

ABC’s Will Trent and The Rookie — which air their season finales tonight, starting at 8/7c — will not be premiering their new seasons until early next year.

More from TVLineIs <em>Will Trent</em> Saying Goodbye to Two Original Cast Members? EPs Tease What to Expect in Season 4<em>The Rookie</em> Boss Talks Bright Side of Finale’s Big #Chenford Tease, Ramifications of (Spoiled) CameoThe Rookie Trio Ponders Tim's Next Move ('He's Whipped!'), Fights Over Season 7 Highlights - Watch

Stop me if you’ve also heard this one before, but… TVLine has...

That may have been Power Book III: Raising Kanan‘s best hour.

That may have been one of the best hours in the whole damn Power Universe.

And we still have one more hour to go this season.

(Courtesy of Starz)

As we approach the end of Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 4, ten different storylines are in motion, and that’s how Power has continuously operated.

Various characters and story arcs are being juggled, and at a certain point, many of them start to merge, which we are starting to see here.

This was the first hour we saw Kanan and Unique interact, the number one Raq haters, and Stefano turn on Raq, and Lou-Lou make a decision about his future.

Fox Popped Rescue Hi-Surf’s Bubble, But It’s Not What You Wanted to Save Mostby Jasmine Blu CBS Cancels Hits — Because Who Needs Viewers, Right?by Paul...

Did you ever imagine that WWE wrestlers, who are known for breaking bones and tables, would shatter records too? Well, apparently, as it goes, there are around 15 wrestling stars who have managed to carve out their names into the Guinness Book of World Records, not just with their in-ring achievements, but even for their talents beyond the squared circle.

Whether it’s John Cena granting more wishes than a genie or The Rock breaking records by snapping selfies, WWE stars have done it all. So, if you thought title belts were their only claim to fame, think again. Meanwhile, get ready to rumble through a list where history meets hilarity—Guinness style!

1. Brock Lesnar – The Beast Who Beat Records Early Brock Lesnar | image: WWE

When Brock Lesnar storms into the ring, you feel it—because over the years, he has created that aura. But did you know even as a youngster,...

He’s baccccck!

Well, we’ve known Unique was back since Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3 Episode 10, but Raq didn’t.

She, and everybody but Early and a veterinarian, thought Unique was long gone, no longer a threat on the Southside. She and everyone thought wrong.

(Courtesy of Starz)

I was starting to worry about how long they would keep Unique hidden because there’s only so long you can hide in plain sight.

With each move Unique made, he was putting himself out there more and more, and at some point, somebody was going to see him and realize, “Damn, you look a lot like Unique.”

Unique would then open his mouth and make a quip about coming back from the dead, and the jig would be up.

Tracker Season 2 Episode 16 Puts Colter in the Snow with No Service, No Plan, and a Family from Your Nightmaresby Whitney Evans...

When this hour started with a flashback to a young Famous and his family, I knew where this story was headed. And knowing that didn’t make it hurt any less.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 4 Episode 5 was all about people making moves, various moves to set them up in the future, but this is Power. Everything Will come to a head at some point.

And when it does, who will come out on top?

(Courtesy of Starz)

Raq’s partnership with Quan has been on shaky ground for a minute now, and Unique’s revenge plan has been damaging Raq from every angle.

With Terry sitting on her product and Quan showing her absolutely no respect, she knew she had to make a move, so she put everything into motion with Hafiz during Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 4 Episode 4.

Raq is a very perceptive person, and she...

The way everyone this season is united in their hatred for Raq would be impressive if it weren’t also annoying.

Is Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 4 going to make me root for Raq? Say it ain’t so.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 4 Episode 4 had a lot going on, so let’s go through the hour scene-by-scene in this recap!

(Courtesy of Starz)

Traymont is enjoying the good life in the penthouse suite of a hotel when he’s unceremoniously knocked out by Marvin, who’s waiting in his room and disguised as a hotel worker. Complete with lollipop in mouth, Marvin wheels him out of the hotel with no one the wiser.

Raq and Joyce go at it, as Raq’s still upset about how Joyce shared her diagnosis. Raq blasts her mother for never being a good mother and not caring about her kid’s feelings,...

“Raising Kanan” occupies a distinct niche within its parent series—a prequel that sheds light on the origins of a storied world, one marked by familial strife and streetwise ambition. This installment unspools in the gritty maze of 1990s New York City, a setting that leaves its imprint on every scene (the neon-lit streets and authentic fashion choices evoke a raw urban pulse).

The show reclaims the narrative spotlight by shifting its temporal lens, rewinding events with a flashback that resets our expectations and introduces fresh twists—most notably, the startling reappearance of a character presumed gone, stirring unrest within the family dynamic.

The series situates its characters in an environment where the past is a persistent echo in the present. The choices made by its figures (from the hardened expressions of its leading cast to the intricate family hierarchies) mirror historical episodes of conflict and survival that many cities have witnessed.

Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers for “Laid.”

“I don’t know anything about love,” laments Stephanie Hsu’s character Ruby at the conclusion of Peacock’s new romantic comedy series “Laid.” The eight-episode season dropped in its entirety on December 19 and follows’s Hsu’s Ruby as she realizes everyone she’s ever slept with, including Michael Angarano, pro wrestler Ettore “Big E” Ewin and, inexplicably, John Early, are dying.

Ruby goes on a journey to find out why this is happening and, in the process, find herself amidst her past conquests, with the help of her best friend and roommate, Aj, played by Zosia Mamet, who puts her true crime obsessive skills to good work tracking down Ruby’s exes and figuring out a timeline: “I wanted to do something for the person I love most. And that’s you.”

It’s a grand gesture for the ages,...

With news that the much-loved sitcom Cheers is set to receive a British remake, fans of cozy, character-driven comedy might be surprised to learn that this revival already exists in the form of the 2000s hidden gem Early Doors. Cheers is remembered for its lovable ensemble, the camaraderie of its Boston bar setting, and for being one of the all-time great workplace sitcoms. Meanwhile, Early Doors masterfully captures similar themes through a distinctly British lens.

This nearly twenty-year-old BBC sitcom not only feels like a spiritual successor to the iconic Ted Danson spinoff but also provides a blueprint for how a Cheers remake could work, albeit with key differences catering to British humor and sensibilities. If the new Cheers UK remake can apply these lessons, there’s every reason to believe it can captivate audiences both familiar with the original and those discovering the magic for the first time.

Cheers'...

Since the success of Netflix’s Bridgerton, Jonathan Bailey has been popping off on the mainstream scale, with his recent big hit being Wicked, one of the most celebrated movies of the year. Although it’s easy to see why one might credit Bridgerton as his breakthrough project, given it did earn him mainstream appeal, the actor himself doesn’t consider it to be true.

Wicked | Credits: Universal Pictures

In fact, per the Wicked star, his breakthrough moment in acting came in 2013’s Shakespearean play, Othello, which not only kickstarted his illustrious run on stage but also assisted him in dealing with his insecurities.

Jonathan Bailey deemed Othello his biggest break Jonathan Bailey in Bridgerton | Credit: Netflix

For the unversed, prior to making it big on the silver screen, Jonathan Bailey had already crafted a name for himself in the realm of theatres and is now set to mark his...

The fifth episode of Dragon Ball Daima undoubtedly excited fans who were displeased with Bulma once again taking a backseat when the series clearly positioned Goku's new companion, Panzy, as the next Bulma. Skeptics are more wary of this development, however, because Bulma is not so easily replaceable.

Although a clear homage to Gt, Daima is also lauded for being a retelling of the classic Dragon Ball series. In fact, some viewers have drawn comparisons between Panzy's father, Kadan, and the Ox King, especially since Kadan promised his daughter's hand in marriage to Goku, just like what happened with him and Chi-Chi. However, these comparisons are problematic because Panzy's personality clearly diverges from Bulma at the time of her debut, even though the Majin has claimed that her specialty is "tinkering with machines."

Bulma's Early Depictions Were Much Different From Today's Panzy Is a Completely Different Character From Early...

When Eric Earley isn’t fronting indie-rock darlings Blitzen Trapper, he’s been spending his days working full-time at a homeless shelter in Portland, Oregon, a job he’s held since 2018.

“You’re trying to help them have a roof over their heads, help them with paperwork,” Early tells Rolling Stone. “I just started doing night shifts to make some extra cash ‘cause I wasn’t touring as much.”

On this day, Blitzen Trapper is very much on tour, promoting their latest album, 100’s of 1000’s, Millions of Billions. Sitting...

Exclusive: Motion picture agent Bryan Diperstein is leaving CAA to join literary-focused management and production company Adventure Media as a partner.

Diperstein is expected to continue to represent many of his existing lit clients in his new role as a manager as well as help further expand Adventure’s business into sports and broadcasting representation. Agency-wise, his clients are all expected to stay at CAA.

The move reunites Diperstein with Adventure Media founding partners Chris von Goetz and James Robins Early as well as fellow Adventure Media partner Melissa Orton-Cortez. All four were agents at ICM. Von Goetz and Robins Early left on the eve of the agency’s acquisition by CAA in 2022 to launch Adventure while Orton-Cortez and Diperstein transitioned to CAA. She departed the agency to join Adventure last year.

“We are thrilled to welcome our longtime friend Bryan ‘Dip’ to the team as our partner,” Orton-Cortez, Robins Early,...

It’s a sunny afternoon at the end of August in a crowded Echo Park cafe, and John Early is telling me, unprompted, about his pulled groin.

I have to admire this spontaneous confession from the mischievous blond actor and comedian, given our lack of privacy. This is of a piece with Early’s standup act, which can feel like gossip about information that’s supposed to be confidential, or that we’d rather not acknowledge. Take his warning that if you let your boyfriend go to therapy, “they are...

If your movie ever needs a messy central figure around which to build, its hard to think of anyone better and more committed to playing them than John Early. Whether it was in the series Search Party, his recent comedy special Now More Than Ever, or basically anything he has ever done, hes shown a wonderful ability to bring just the right amount of concentrated absurdity to make everything sing. Even as being goofy and unhinged is an underappreciated art that can be too easily dismissed as easy, or even worse, annoying just for the sake of it, when done well, it can really be something special. While such recognition matters little when the work already speaks for itself, that performances with a more comedic sensibility find themselves undervalued every year come awards season is still unfortunate as there is so much good work just waiting for its moment in the sun.

Ghostwatch, a 1992 BBC film, blurred the line between fact and fiction, influencing films like Late Night with the Devil. The film presented a live investigation into a haunted house, using real BBC personalities and advanced technology to create a sense of reality. Ghostwatch sparked mass panic in England, leading to its banning and the tragic death of a teenager who believed the film's demonic entity possessed him.

In the early days of cinema, the dividing line between fact and fiction was crystal clear. Outside the odd occurrence like the infamous War of the Worlds controversy instigated by a young Orson Welles in the 1930s, audiences generally took for granted that what they heard on the radio and what they saw on television was, more often than not, make-believe. As technology (not to mention storytelling ingenuity) advanced, that line became harder and harder to differentiate.

Many will point to a film...

“This Film Should Be Played Loud Bitch!” reads an opening title card in John Early‘s Max special, John Early: Now More Than Ever, an explicit reference to the beginning of The Band’s iconic concert documentary, The Last Waltz. “The struggle with filming a live show is that when you put a camera on something, it loses all of its life,” laughs Early in TV Insider’s video, above. With his special, he and his collaborators decided to go with a “shaky, gritty, New York-y rock doc style” to capture the “sweatiness” of his live shows. Early’s special, which came out last June, is reference-heavy. We asked him to break down some of our (and his) cultural touchstones in Now More Than Ever. He sings four songs in the special: “Oops (Oh My)” by Tweet featuring Missy Elliott, “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer, “After the Gold Rush...

John Early and Olga Merediz have joined the cast of A24’s “Eternity.”

The romantic comedy, in which people must decide who they want to spend eternity with, also stars Miles Teller (“Top Gun: Maverick”), Elizabeth Olsen (“WandaVision”), Callum Turner (“Masters of the Air”) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”).

David Freyne is directing the movie; Pat Cunnane (“Designated Survivor”) wrote the script, which appeared on the 2022 Black List.

A24 is financing and distributing the rom-com, as well as producing with Star Thrower Entertainment and its founders Trevor White and Tim White. The film is currently in production.

Early was last seen in the 2024 pandemic comedy “Stress Positions,” from director Theda Hammel. On Monday, the comedian announced a fall tour and album to accompany his 2023 HBO special “Now More Than Ever.” Early is also known for “Search Party,” “The Afterparty” and his special with Kate Berlant “Would It Kill You to Laugh?...

John Early is back with news of a 2024 North American tour and the album release of his 2023 comedy special, Now More Than Ever.

Kicking off on September 9th in San Diego, Early’s tour will take him to cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago, New York, and more before wrapping in Durham, North Carolina on October 21st. Check out the full list of the upcoming dates below.

Get John Early Tickets Here

Tickets are first available via an artist pre-sale opening via Early’s website, before going on sale to the general public beginning on Friday, June 14th, at 10:00 a.m. local time.

As for the release of Now More Than Ever, it will arrive on September 13th via Lookin’ For My Denim Records/Thirty Tigers. Spanning 21 tracks, it will feature comedic and musical performances by Early and his band The Lemon Squares, including previously-unreleased material. New highlights...

Quick Links The Earliest Films About HIV/AIDS Philadelphia Examined Discrimination Against HIV/AIDS Victims HBO Joins the Battle With And the Band Played On HIV/AIDS Films Continue Into the 21st Century Rock Hudson's acknowledgment of his HIV/AIDS infection helped destigmatize the disease in the public eye. An Early Frost was the first major film to directly address HIV/AIDS, putting a widespread audience in the perspective of a person with AIDS. Films like Philadelphia and And the Band Played On continued to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, showcasing the disease's impact.

When Rock Hudson died of complications from AIDS in 1985, the virus had claimed its first-known Hollywood celebrity one who had starred in major romantic films and was a confidante of President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy. Only four years earlier, doctors began to diagnose the rapidly spreading retrovirus, mistaking its predominance in gay men for a hard,...

Wallace And Gromit return in feature length special Vengeance Most Fowl, a new 70 minute film coming this Christmas.

It’s a commonly held view among both animation aficionados and film fans in general that The Wrong Trousers is one of the best animated films ever made. Thirty perfect minutes crammed with character, jokes and the most well directed train chase sequence every committed to film, it won a BAFTA and an Academy Award.

It’s perhaps no surprise that for their big return to the small screen, Wallace and Gromit will face off against their iconic foe, Feathers McGraw, once more in Vengeance Most Fowl. The BBC has confirmed that the new film will be bigger in scope than its previous four short films – A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave and A Matter of Loaf and Death – and will in fact be a feature film closer...

Since the announcement that Akira Toriyama, the iconic manga artist responsible for the Dragon Ball series, passed away in March, fans have been rallying for a museum to honor his memory. Demand for such a museum has become so strong that the mayor of Toriyama's hometown has weighed in on the proposed gesture.

According to the Mainichi Shimbun, Hideaki Omuran, the governor of Toriyama's hometown in Aichi Prefecture, "personally completely agrees" with fans that a tribute museum should be built where the late manga artist was born. Takashi Matsuyama, a former official assistant and illustrator to Toriyama, also chimed in. "As a fan, I definitely want an Akira Toriyama Museum," the 66-year-old artist said. "Fans all over the world think so, too."

Related Dragon Ball Super Artist Tributes Two Fan-Favorite Characters (and Cars) in New Official Artwork

Dragon Ball Super artist Toyotarou presents his entry for Dragon Ball's 40th...

It goes beyond question that Pokmon is a pop cultural phenomenon that starts with the original anime series. With 251 pocket monsters that span across two generations, not to mention 274 episodes and a few specials and movies, Ash Ketchums journey has a lot of ground to cover in his epic quest to catch them all. His travels will take him from Kanto all the way to Johto. With so many different species out there, Ash and his friends end up everywhere, from virtual worlds to hot volcanic mountains.

However, not every Pokmon will get a chance to bask in the glorious spotlight, like Pikachu and Meowth frequently do in every single episode. A select few are very hard to find in both the games and the anime. Powerful legendaries may only show up in a feature length film, while even normal Pokmon end up debuting in episodes taken off syndication due to censorship.

First-time feature director Theda Hammel looks straight into the sun of the Covid summer of 2020 — PPE, GrubHub, lazy liberal gesturing, and all — with “Stress Positions.”

The Brooklyn screwball comedy, set around the Fourth of July weekend that year, asks us to relive the days of sheltering in place and banging pots and pans in solidarity with healthcare workers while doing little else but navel-gazing at our own misfortune indoors. With a chatty ensemble led by John Early as Terry, a gaping wound of an idler reeling from a herniated disc and an ongoing breakup with his husband, “Stress Positions” sounds on paper like the coronavirus indie we’d like to ignore so as not to re-traumatize ourselves. But where many of the Covid-reacting films we saw spin out of 2020 were tethered to Zoom, “Stress Positions” goes straight into the “hell mouth” of the moments lived off Zoom.

IndieWire spoke with Early and Thammel over,...

Photo: Courtesy of Neon Do you remember the summer of 2020? You might not want to, but unless you’re particularly gifted at repressing memories, you mostly likely do. It was a season of fear, of paranoia, of guilt. It’s also the season of Stress Positions, the debut feature from writer-director Theda Hammel,...

Theda Hammel and John Early on the set of Stress PositionsImage: Photos courtesy of Neon

Do you remember the summer of 2020? You might not want to, but unless you’re particularly gifted at repressing memories, you mostly likely do. It was a season of fear, of paranoia, of guilt. It...

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is the fourth installment in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series, featuring a massive cast of playable characters from the manga and anime. Trailers have revealed 25 separate characters in multiple variants, including staples like Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, and Majin Buu. Both classic manga characters and newer faces from Dragon Ball Super will appear, including Bergamo and Jiren.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is the fourth entry in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series, adopting the Sparking! moniker that was previously reserved for the Japanese versions. First teased at Db Games Battle Hour 2023, the game's title wasn't revealed until a new trailer that premiered during The Game Awards 2023. Sparking! Zero is expected to bring back the fighting series' signature, massive cast of playable characters, all taken from the Dragon Ball manga and anime.

Between the announcement trailer for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero and the later "Power vs.

Editor’s note: Running until the final general election results come in, the Deadline ElectionLine podcast spotlights the 2024 campaign and the blurred lines between politics and entertainment in modern America. Hosted by Washington bureau chief Ted Johnson and senior editor Dominic Patten, the podcast features commentary and interviews with top lawmakers and entertainment figures. At the same time, you can follow all the news in Biden & Trump rematch and more on the ElectionLine hub on Deadline.

“I really take into consideration how I digest my news now because I’m thinking about the people that are bringing it to me,” reveals The Girls on the Bus star Melissa Benoist today on the Deadline ElectionLine podcast.

Benoist and Girls on the Bus executive producer Amy Chozick join us this morning on the podcast – as you can hear above.

Having debuted its first two episodes on Max on March 14, the 10-episode first...

Early Smurfs comics depicted harmful behaviors like drinking and smoking, a stark contrast to their family-friendly image today. Smurfette's original storyline was problematic, portraying her as a creation of Gargamel for male entertainment. The Smurfs have delved into dark themes, including a disturbing Unicef commercial and a zombie attack episode, offering surprising social commentary.

The dark history of The Smurfs offers some surprisingly bizarre and sinister insights into the children's entertainment icons. The Smurfs, a Belgian comic franchise created in 1958 by the comic artist Pierre Culliford, working under the pen name Peyo, has captivated children and adults since its inception. The long-running franchise includes a comic strip, kids' toys, collectibles, television shows, countless parodies, and three major motion pictures from Sony Entertainment, not to mention the animated feature films from the '60s and '70s. The little blue forest dwellers and their adventures, language, and villains have permeated popular culture.

Jackie Loughery, the first Miss USA who segued from the pageant world to a career in film and television in the 1950s and ’60s, died Friday in Los Angeles. She was 93.

Her death was announced on social media pages of the Miss USA organization.

“It is with great sorrow that we share the news of Jackie Loughery’s passing, a pioneer who made history as the First Ever Miss USA in 1952,” the organization wrote. “Jackie Loughery will always be remembered as a trailblazer in the world of beauty pageants. Her grace, poise, and intelligence captivated audiences and paved the way for future generations of women to shine on the stage.”

Following her news-making pageant win in 1952, Loughery had small or uncredited roles in several films and series before appearing as a beautiful alien in 1953’s Abbott and Costello Go to Mars. Also that year, she had credited roles in Take...

Wallace and Gromit's next movie will feature a robotic gnome villain. The movie will focus on Gromit's concern about Wallace's dependency on inventions, leading to a battle with a smart gnome with a mind of its own. Aardman Animations co-founder Peter Lord also hinted at a possible plot for Chicken Run 3 involving Mrs. Tweedy farming alligators for handbags.

The next Wallace and Gromit movie will feature a robotic gnome as the villain, Aardman Animations co-founder Peter Lord has confirmed. During a recent conversation with Radio 4's Loose Ends (via British Comedy Guide), Lord teased the "funny, funny idea" at the center of the next Wallace and Gromit adventure, which is expected to be released by Netflix this Christmas.

"Of course, it's set in Wallaceland, wherever that is, somewhere oop north, and there's beautiful industrial buildings and miles of terraces and canals and all kinds of stuff. And Wallace has gone completely bonkers,...

With the announcement of Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, several fanbases raised an eyebrow of curiosity. There are those who’ve loved the Dragon Ball franchise for years now, and there’s a new game that’s honoring some of the best anime characters the world has ever seen. Then, there are fans of Budokai Tenkaichi who are finally getting a new installment in the series.

Enough gameplay footage and screenshots suggest that Sparking Zero is indeed a game that’s willing to live up to these expectations, and there’s one character in the roster that’s hyping up the anticipation even more. Take a look at Vegeta (Super), the infamous Super Saiyan God.

Vegeta Is Essential to Dragon Ball’s Ongoing Legacy This version of Vegeta remains one of the most impactful in the manga and anime series.

Every character that’s part of the Sparking Zero roster has...

The year’s shortest month gets the biggest bang as Severin Films today announced their February 27th releases featuring uncensored 4K restorations of the infamous 1960’s western ‘roughies’ from the depraved minds of exploitation legends Bob Cresse and Lee Frost, Hot Spur and Scavengers.

‘“The Kings of esoteric boutique companies” (Video WatchBlog) are also proud to release – because Severin co-founder/president David Gregory considers it one of the best films he saw as a jury member at the FrightFest and Sitges Film Festivals – the North American disc premiere of director/co-writer Andrew Legge’s time-travel mind-bender, Lola.

Previous limited edition title Spider Labyrinth also enters wide release.

Here’s everything you need to know about Severin’s February 2024 lineup…

Hot Spur

Having struck gold with shockumentaries like Ecco and Mondo Bizarro, producer Bob Cresse and writer/director Lee Frost applied their distinctive sleaze aesthetic to a revenge western they advertised as “91 minutes of Freudian fury!

Stress Positions is a pandemic comedy that captures the chaotic energy of quarantine with accurate and relatable depictions. The main character, Terry, is a neurotic and high-strung individual navigating his relationships and boundaries during lockdown. The film explores existential crises and skewers issues of gender, race, and sexuality from a jaded millennial perspective.

John Early and Theda Hammel's Stress Positions may be the first truly hysterical pandemic comedy. Many films and shows centered on the pandemic have earnestly leaned into the tragedy of the 2020 lockdowns, while others, like Netflix's The Bubble, were hollow jabs at a real-life crisis. Either way, many of these shows came too soon. It's unclear if Stress Positions has arrived "too soon" but its proximity to the pandemic doesn't make it any less hysterical, even if it's hollow in other areas.

Stress Positions is a comedy film directed by Theda Hammel and initially premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

We officially entered the next generation of Budokai Tenkaichi game when Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero was announced in December. There's still no release date yet, but Bandai Namco teased more action and the first chunk of its sizable roster as part of the Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour celebration, and if you like Goku and Vegeta you're in luck. In fact, Goku and Vegeta are at the heart of the new trailer, which showcases their rivalry. Related: Dragon Ball Powers Up in Sparking! Zero Full Announcement Game Trailer From the looks of the teaser image below, there will be roughly 164 characters—or forms of characters in many cases—to choose from. That doesn't seem quite so implausible when the first batch consists of a bunch of variations on Goku and Vegeta. Here's the full lineup of the first 24 playable characters: Goku (Z - Early) Goku (Z - Mid) Goku (Z -...

A new trailer has been released for the upcoming Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero!, officially unveiled at the Dragon Games Battle Hour event in Los Angeles.

Dragon Ball fans have been awaiting more updates about Sparking! Zero since the reveal of the announcement trailer -- a short one-minute video that showcased exciting footage of Goku and Vegeta exchanging blows, eventually transforming into their super saiyan blue forms. The prefacing words "A new Budokai Tenkaichi begins" all but confirmed that the upcoming game would be the long-awaited follow-up to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, which came out in 2007. The new trailer, seen below, is just a brief showcase of what awaits fans in the long-awaited follow-up.

Related Dragon Ball's Goku Endorses One of America's Most Popular Cereals Dragon Ball's latest collaboration sees Goku, Vegeta, Future Trunks and more become the face of one of America's most popular cereals.

In the trailer,...

At its heart, Sundance is about discovery. Some of our brightest, biggest filmmaking stars — we’re talking Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, Ava DuVernay, Paul Thomas Anderson, Lulu Wang, Ryan Coogler, Aubrey Plaza, Catherine Hardwicke, Todd Haynes, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Eggers, the Duplass brothers, Michael B. Jordan, Amy Adams, Elizabeth Olsen, Brie Larson, Lakeith Stanfield, Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, and many, many more — first rose to acclaim by bringing their work to Sundance.

Some of the biggest films at this year’s festivals came to us through creators and stars we already know and love — it’s no surprise that Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are so wonderful in Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” or that “Worst Person in the World” star Renate Reinsve finds new dimension in both pitch-black comedy “A Different Man” and the off-kilter zombie drama “Handling the Undead” or that Kristen Stewart is riveting in...

Building on the promise of her short film “My Trip to Spain,” which played Sundance in 2022, filmmaker Theda Hammel returns to the festival with her feature debut, “Stress Positions.” Joined by favorite collaborator and lead actor John Early, she brings along the same wry sharp humor and the same incisive parody of her generation, only this time, Hammel is playing on a bigger canvas, directing a larger cast and tackling more topics and themes. Among other things, the film might be the first genuinely enjoyable film made about the pandemic.

Set entirely within a few days in the summer of 2020, “Stress Positions” follows Terry Goon (Early) as he navigates a rather stressful few weeks. Recently divorced and unemployed, he’s living in his ex-husband’s Brooklyn brownstone, scared out of his mind about getting infected with Covid. At the same time, he’s caring for 19-year-old nephew Bahlul (Qaher Harhash...

Theda Hammel’s latest dramedy at Neon, Stress Positions, stars Hammel, John Early, Qaher Harhash, Amy Zimmer, Faheem Ali and Rebecca F. Wright. It follows Bahlul, a queer Moroccan-American model that everyone wants to meet. While moments emerge showing the glimmer of an insightful character study, the film quickly dissolves into an endurance test drowned out by superficial noise. One must tip the cap to Hammel’s sheer feat of micro-budget production, but her organic style choices bewilder more than enlighten.

The film follows Bahlul (Harhash), a 20-year old spending his time in recovery from a broken leg with his uncle Terry (Early) in Brooklyn. Terry is not Moroccan but American and white, and they are family by marriage. The injured Bahlul meets a cast of eccentric characters including Terry’s best friend Karla (Hammel); Karla‘s girlfriend Vanessa (Zimmer); Terry’s husband Leo (John Roberts); Ronald (Ali), the local...

Not much is funny about those terrifying early days of Covid, when the world was cloaked in an apocalyptic doom and the president was telling us to inject bleach. But in “Stress Positions,” Theda Hammel miraculously finds the funny side of lockdown, mining the masks, Purell and social distancing that defined that unhappy era for physical comedy.

“Those gestures are like balloons, and they’re filled with the sense of danger and a sense of peril,” Hammel says of the Sundance-bound film that she directed and co-wrote. “And as soon as the urgency drains away, these behaviors seem ridiculous.”

“Stress Positions,” which follows a 30-something gay man named Terry (John Early) who is trying — and largely failing — to look after his injured Moroccan nephew Bahlul (Qaher Harhash) when the pandemic hits, also wants to use the all-too-recent past to skewer millennial mores. In Early, her friend and frequent collaborator, Hammel found the perfect muse.

Merry Christmas Box Office Collection Day 3 Early Estimates! (PC: IMDb)

Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif led Merry Christmas is slow but steady at the box office. The film, released on January 12, 2024, is the only new release in Bollywood, while there are a plethora of options in the South. The pre-release buzz was low; hence, the film is majorly dependent on word-of-mouth. Scroll below for early trends updates on day 3.

Upon release, Merry Christmas received praise from critics and audiences alike. It was touted as the best work of Sriram Raghavan, and many even claimed that it surpassed his last masterpiece, AndhaDhun. Leading actors Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif were also said to have delivered their best work to date. Despite such reviews, the film is yet to pick up the desired momentum at the box office.

Merry Christmas Box Office Collection

The first two days have been decent for Merry...

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After one of the most exciting championship wins of 2023, Sean Strickland is back in the octagon this weekend to defend his middleweight belt. He’ll be across from...