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Not all of the breakout stars of the Paris Olympics took home the gold. For every photo of champs Simone Biles and Sha’Carri Richardson, the world’s collective attention was also caught by a bizarre breakdancing routine and, yes, that pole vault guy.

Here, in no particular order, is TheWrap’s list of the biggest viral stars of the games.

Snoop Dogg wears a shirt featuring Olympian Noah Lyles (Credit: Getty Images) Snoop Dogg

Whether he was wearing riding gear with Bff Martha Stewart or proudly promoting various athletes like gold medalist Noah Lyles via custom Olympic gear, the Doggfather, who was also an NBC commentator in Paris, was clearly having the time of his life. One picture in particular, of a startled-looking Snoop in the stands, quickly became the “surprised” meme du jour.

Simone Biles after finishes her routine on the uneven bars on Day 2 (Credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty...

Bent Hamer’s films are known for their deadpan humour but nothing funny – nor sad, nor plausible – happens in this film about a man whose job is to break the news to those whose relations have been killed

Bent Hamer is a Norwegian film-maker who began his career with quirky absurdist movies in the 00s such as Kitchen Stories and O’Horten, and also his rather tougher film Factotum from 2005 – a fictionalised study of Charles Bukowski starring Matt Dillon. Perhaps Hamer’s career benefited a good deal from international festival juries having a soft spot for his kind of goofy deadpan humour, but I was never entirely sure exactly how funny or meaningful his creations ultimately were. However, his film-making had a certain rigour and poise.

The same, sadly, can’t be said for his new film, set in some featureless anytown in North America, in which a bland young guy...

Mondo Macabro and Cav present A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse – The world Blu-ray premier of a rare Japanese cult horror film. A Haunted Turkish Bath House 1 Blu-ray disc Label: Mondo Macabro Preorder: 12/13/22/22 Release: 1/10/23 Msrp: $29.95 Upc: 843276026295 Catalogue #: MDO262 Genre: Horror Color 102 minutes in Japanese, with English subtitles MPAA Rating: …

The post Mondo Macabro and Cav present A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Early on February 6, two earthquakes struck Turkey, the first with a 7.8 magnitude and the second with a 7.5 magnitude. The incident caused widespread destruction in the country and Syria, with an estimated death count of over 3,000 and rising and a reported 14,000 suffering injuries.

Following the news, actors, filmmakers, and artists worldwide responded in support of those affected by the tragedy. Cat Stevens, Kerry Washington, Antonio Banderas, and Mark Ruffalo were among those who showed support for victims of the earthquake on social media:

So sad to see another disaster fall upon the Turkish and Syrian people. Many refugees are in those areas. May God grant ease and security and receive the souls of those killed into eternal peace#Turkiye #Syria #earthquake #Turkey pic.twitter.com/f7sVVg67Ka

— Yusuf / Cat Stevens (@YusufCatStevens) February 6, 2023

Dear Lord. So devastating. Praying for everyone in Turkey and Syria. Please share info on how to help if you have it.

After being forced to pivot entirely online last-minute due to a Covid spike, Bosnia’s Sarajevo Film Festival is coming to a close and has unveiled its prize winners for this year’s edition.

A jury chaired by Michel Hazanavicius and featuring Berlinale director Carlo Chatrian, actress Jadranka Đokić, director Srdan Golubović and the Morelia Film Festival’s Andrea Stavenhagen, awarded the festival’s top prize, the Heart of Sarajevo, to Visar Morina’s Exile. The pic stars Misel Maticevic and Sandra Huller in the story of a chemical engineer of foreign origin who plunges into an identity crisis. It debuted at Sundance this year.

The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Director went to Ru Hasanov for The Island Within, while Best Actress went to Marija Škaričić for Mare, and Best Actor went to Vangelis Mourikis for Digger. You can see the list of awards below, as well as the festival’s industry winners.

Hollywood Film Festival

Scandinavian filmmakers are known for making somber, heavy opuses drenched in angst and metaphysical meditations, like the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. But the truth is there has always been another strain of Scandinavian films, whimsical comedies like Kitchen Stories and the Oscar-nominated Elling, directed by Norwegian filmmaker Petter Naess.

Naess' new film Gone With the Woman is in much the same sly comic mode. It has enough appealing touches to score on the festival circuit, though it's a little too mild and precious to capture any significant audience in American theaters. The film is Norway's official submission for this year's foreign-language Oscar.

Woman begins with a gob of narration by the sad-sack hero (Trond Fausa Aurvag) describing the strange onset of his romance with Marianne Marian Saastad Ottesen), who moves in with him despite his indifference. After a series of misadventures, the hero (who is never named) announces, "I decided to fall head over heels in love with her. I would start in the morning."

The course of true love never did run smooth, and after the hero meets an enticing new flame during a whirlwind trip to Paris, and after Marianne takes up with a lover of her own, matters finally wind their tortuous way to the right romantic conclusion.

The story progresses in fits and starts, too often propelled by verbose narration. But Woman benefits from an appealing cast. Aurvag has an off-center charm; he makes us feel for the character's befuddlement. Ottesen is alternately endearing and maddening, and Louise Monot is lovely as the hero's Parisian amour. Peter Stormare provides some of the best moments as the hero's no-nonsense swimming buddy and confidant; the swimming pool and sauna scenes are among the movie's brightest comic interludes.

Naess has unmistakable visual talent, and there are striking images, alternately ironic and idyllic, throughout the movie. There's even a deft bit of animation marking one of the key transitional sequences. Technical credits are strong, and the use of music is inventive. But the whimsy, which might appeal to lovers of films like the cloying Amelie, does get a bit thick. Despite its likable cast and inventive visuals, the film desperately needs a few bold laughs in addition to its mild chuckles.

GONE WITH THE WOMAN

Monster Film

SF Norge, Guttorm Pettersom and Norsk Filmstudio

Credits:

Director: Petter Naess

Screenwriters: Johan Bogaeus, Petter Naess

Based on the novel by: Erlend Lee

Producer: Olav Oen

Director of photography: Marius Johansen Hansen

Art director: Bettina Schroeteler

Music: Aslak Hartberg

Costume designer: Karen Fabritius Gram

Editor: Inge-Lise Langfeldt

Cast:

Hero: Trond Fausa Aurvag

Marianne: Marian Saastad Ottesen

Glenn: Peter Stormare

Mirlinda: Louise Monot

Lollik: Trude Bjercke Strom

Tor: Henrik Mestad

Nidar-Bergene: Anna Gutto

Oberst: Sten Ljunggren

Running time -- 92 minutes

No MPAA rating...

NEW YORK -- "Flabbergast" is not a foreign word -- it's etymology is unknown -- but it certainly can be used to describe some of the likely reactions to choices -- and omissions -- the Academy made this year in the foreign-language film category. Canadian helmer Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions (Miramax Films) and Ondrej Trojan's Zelary (Sony Pictures Classics) from the Czech Republic had been bandied by those following the foreign film race as likely shoo-ins to nab nominations. But Wolfgang Becker's German feature, Good bye, Lenin! was also expected to find a place in the class photo too, but it was nowhere to be found when the noms were unveiled. In fact, a whole host of titles that have begun developing a following were among the missing. Among them, Bent Hamer and IFC Films' Kitchen Stories (Norway); Byambasuren Davaa, Luigi Falorni and ThinkFilm's The Story of the Weeping Camel (Mongolia) and Kim Ki-duk's and SPC's Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring (Korea).

Norway, the Czech Republic and Hungary have announced their respective contenders for this year's foreign-language Oscar race. Kitchen Stories, Bent Hamer's comic look at Norwegian scientists' attempts to design the perfect kitchen, has been chosen as Norway's official contender. The Czech Film and Television Academy has announced the selection of Zelary, a wartime drama produced and directed by Ondrej Trojan. Eva Vezer, head of Hungary's national film body FilmUnio, said Fores, directed by Beneduk Fliegauf, will be Hungary's contender.