News

New Zealand jangle-pop band the Chills will release a new album of previously unreleased songs in February. The album, Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs, arrives following the death of frontman Martin Phillipps. The singer-songwriter, who was battling liver disease, died in July at the age of 61.

Spring Board assembles 20 archival recordings, and song fragments that Phillipps was working to complete before his death last summer. Some of the songs were first written almost four decades earlier.

The Chills were formed by Phillipps in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1980 and achieved...

Netflix has tendered an invitation to Skull Island, by way of a release date and first teaser trailer for the animated series from Legendary Television.

Set to release all episodes on Thursday, June 22, Skull Island promises to take viewers on “a thrilling adventure as a group of kind-hearted explorers rescues Annie (voiced by Parenthood‘s Mae Whitman) from the ocean, unaware that their act of heroism will lead them to the treacherous Skull Island — home to bizarre creatures and terrifying monsters, including the mighty titan himself, Kong.”

More from TVLineNetflix Begins Password Sharing Fee for U.S. Users -- How Much Will It Cost?...

Filmmaker Jude Anthany Joseph’s critically and commercially acclaimed Malayalam-language film “2018,” which released on May 5, will bow pan India on May 26 in the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages.

The Hindi-language version of the film will be released via E4 Entertainment.

“2018” narrates the story of the devastating Kerala floods that occurred in 2018 when people from all walks of life came together to survive the calamity. The film aims to convey the message that humanity can win over adversity. It stars Netflix’s “Minnal Murali” lead Tovino Thomas alongside Indrans, Kunchacko Boban (Netflix’s “Ariyippu”), Aparna Balamurali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Asif Ali, Lal, Narain, Tanvi Ram, Sshivada, Kalaiyarasan, Aju Varghese, Siddique, Joy Mathew and Sudheesh. It released in its home state Kerala and in a few neighbouring states and has earned more than $16 million theatrically so far, including U.S. and U.K. box office.

Joseph said: “We are so delighted...

Disney’s seemingly successful efforts to outfox Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ power grab to control the area around Disney World are “not even worth the paper they were printed on,” according to a countersuit filed Monday by the GOP presidential aspirant’s replacement board.

“The District is entitled to a declaration that: (1) the Development Agreement is void, unenforceable, and/or invalid, and (2) the Restrictive Covenants are void, unenforceable, and/or invalid,” said the complaint placed in a Sunshine State court by the DeSantis handpicked Central Florida Tourism Oversight District against the House of Mouse. “The District is further entitled to an order enjoining Disney from enforcing the Development Agreement and the Restrictive Covenants,” the 188-page document declares (read it here).

Promised by the five-member board after a vote earlier Monday, the countersuit seeks to volley back against Disney’s initial...

MollywoodThe film is scripted by director Ratheesh Poduval, who made the popular and critically-acclaimed film ‘Nna Thaan Case Kodu’ last year.After the much-discussed Nayattu, director Martin Prakkat is making his next with actors Kunchacko Boban and Biju Menon. The film, yet to be named, is scripted by director Ratheesh Poduval, who made the popular and critically-acclaimed film Nna Thaan Case Kodu last year, starring Kunchacko. The news was announced by Kunchacko on his social media pages. "One of my dream Combos…!!! With some of my Best friends and Some of the Best in the Industry. The next Directorial venture of Martin Prakkat after @nayattumovie, scripted by Ratheesh Poduval, Visuals by Shyju Khaled and with my evergreen pair Biju Menon. Happy to let know that Udaya Pictures and Kunchacko Boban Productions will also be associating with the movie!! (sic)" Kunchacko posted on Instagram. He and Biju Menon had earlier paired...

OpinionOnce upon a time, toxic love was extensively romanticised on screen. But today, with such narratives under scrutiny, there have been attempts to address the intricacies of toxic relationships.During an interaction for an interview, scriptwriter Sanjay (one half of the Sanjay-Bobby duo) spoke about how liberating it is to no longer see heroes slapping heroines in Malayalam cinema. There was a time when one ‘tight slap’ was mandatory in most films (especially family dramas) to ‘tame’ the heroine so that she would go back to complete the patriarchal happy family picture. But with the political correctness lens firmly fastened on films by social media, writers and filmmakers are thinking twice before sitting complacently on their conditioned belief systems. Once upon a time, love was extensively romanticised and lopsided on screen. There were many instances of toxic love being normalised, as well as celebrated, without question. But today, with such narratives under scrutiny,...

New Delhi, Feb 9 (Ians) Amid declining Covid cases in the country, the Center on Thursday relaxed the travel norms for passengers from China and other six countries. However, the random testing of 2 per cent travelers coming to India will continue.

Updating the ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’, the Health Ministry has dropped the existing requirements of pre-departure Covid-19 testing and uploading of Self-Health Declaration for international travellers coming from/via China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, and Japan.

In a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Health Ministry has said: “As has been witnessed in the last 4 weeks, these countries are witnessing a sustained and significant decline in trajectory of Covid-19 cases. Further, as per World Health Organisation’s latest situational update on Covid-19, a decline of 89 per cent in the number of newly confirmed cases in the past 28 days has been noted globally as compared to 28 days prior to that.

Former Disney India head Siddharth Roy Kapur, producer of Oscar-shortlisted film “Last Film Show,” has an eclectic range of films and series due in 2023 from his Roy Kapur Films outfit.

Due in the first half of 2023 is war epic film “Pippa,” a coproduction with Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP, directed by Raja Krishna Menon (“Airlift”) and starring Ishaan (“A Suitable Boy”) and Mrunal Thakur (“Sita Ramam”) with music by A.R. Rahman. Arshad Syed’s film “Woh Ladki Hai Kahaan?,” coproduced by Junglee Pictures, is a screwball comedy starring Taapsee Pannu (“Blurr”) and Pratik Gandhi (“Scam 1992”). Another film, comedy-drama “Bas Karo Aunty!,” stars Ishwak Singh (“Rocket Boys”), is directed by debutant Abhishek Sinha, written by Nitesh Tiwari (“Dangal”), and coproduced by Tiwari’s Earthsky Pictures and RSVP for Disney+ Hotstar.

Returning series include the second seasons of “Aranyak” and “Rocket Boys,” on Netflix and SonyLIV respectively.

There are eight new series in various stages of development.

ListicleOf the many interesting women characters of south Indian cinema who graced our screens this year, here are our favourites.Sowmya RajendranThe year 2022 was when cinema bounced back to some semblance of what it used to be before the pandemic struck the world. There were many blockbusters from the south Indian film industries, and quite a few of them had interesting women characters as well. This was a welcome change in a male-dominated field, where most films are hero-centric and mass entertainers have seldom had memorable women characters. Quite a few small budget films this year too had impressive women characters, who broke onscreen conventions and surprised us. Here are our favourite women characters from southern cinema this year: Gargi from Gargi (Tamil) Gautham Ramachandran’s hard-hitting courtroom drama is about a young woman whose father is accused of sexually assaulting a minor. Gargi (Sai Pallavi) is convinced of his...

A new Broadway season has started, and there are currently seven productions of musicals set to open this fall. Could we be seeing any of them contend at next year’s Tony Awards? Below is an overview of the plot of each musical as well as the awards history of its author, cast, creative team, and the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.

“Almost Famous” (previews begin October 3; opens November 3)

In this stage musical adaptation of Cameron Crowe’s 2000 Academy Award-winning film, William Miller is an idealistic 15-year-old aspiring music journalist. When Rolling Stone magazine hires him to go on the road with an up-and-coming band, he is thrust into the rock-and-roll circus, where his love of music, his longing for friendship, and his integrity as a writer collide.

This musical has a book written by Crowe, who also co-wrote the score with Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tom Kitt.

It's been over a decade since Nicolas Cage last graced screens as "National Treasure"'s Declaration of Independence-stealing, president-kidnapping Benjamin Franklin Gates, but more thrill-seeking adventures are coming our way - this time, in the form of a new TV series! On Sept. 10, Disney+ unveiled the first full-length trailer for "National Treasure: Edge of History," and the show looks action-packed - plus, it includes plenty of nods to the original franchise.

While Cage isn't expected to appear in the series, the presence of his character, Ben Gates, is felt thanks to a fun Easter egg. In one scene from the trailer, a character discovers Benjamin Franklin's glasses - the same glasses Ben used in the 2004 "National Treasure." Additionally, the series will see Justin Bartha reprising the role of Riley.

At the heart of the new series is Lisette Olivera, who plays Jess, a young woman with a personal connection to...

Jennifer Lopez needed just one word and an emoji to reveal exactly how she felt about being quoted by Britney Spears in a since-deleted Instagram post.

The “Toxic” singer took to the social media platform on Friday and posted a throwback photo of her and “Marry Me” star at the 2001 MTV VMAs with a caption that touched on being equal and independent. Spears started her caption, “In a world where you have the right to use your feet… heart… mouth… eyes… and body… to express yourself however you may !!! Declaration of Independence… for equality and to be equal !!! Not even touching, covering, and holding me against my will for 4 months !!!”

Read More: Britney Spears' Lawyer Slams Kevin Federline Over Releasing Videos of Her With Their Sons

She then added, “As Jennifer Lopez once said ‘You look right down that camera and tell every little girl in the world to get...

Indian editor, writer, director, cinematographer and producer Mahesh Narayanan is attached to the province of Kerala where he was born and raised. After a significant ammount of films he signed as editor, Narayanan made his directorial debut in 2017 with the critically acclaimed drama “Take Off” about the ordeal of Indian nurses in the city of Tikrit, Iraq in 2014. With his latest feature length film in the International competition of Locarno Film Festival, Narayanan is the first Indian director whose work is shown in this prestigious festival since 2005, which was more than a reason enough to meet him in Locarno to discuss his idea for a movie inspired by true events, the environment he chose to set the story in, the position of women in Indian society and his very deep connection to Kerala.

“Declaration” is a film that shows the hardships a married couple working in a latex gloves factory...

A bitter battle for justice is in the core of the story of Mahesh Narayanan’s feminist drama “Declaration” that runs for the prestigious Pardo D’Oro award in Locarno Film Festival’s international competition. This is the first Indian film in 17 years to be screened in the main competition, and only the 4th in the history of the festival in Malayalam language.

“Declaration” screened in Locarno Film Festival

The seasoned editor, writer, cinematographer and producer from Kerala, re-enters the international film landscape after his success with the directorial feature debut “Take Off” (2017) that won the Audience Award in Los Angeles. “Declaration” is the third feature he signs as the director and in which he – yet again – turns to the milieu of skill workers that seek their fortune outside of their (and his) birth province.

The place the movie is set into is as hostile to the outsiders as an average European country.

Ariyippu Review — Ariyippu (2022) Film Review from the 75th Annual Locarno Film Festival, a movie written and directed by Mahesh Narayanan and starring Kunchacko Boban, Divya Prabha, Faisal Malik, Sidharth Bhardwaj, Loveleen Mishra and Kannan Arunachalam. From India comes the intriguing workplace drama, Ariyippu (Declaration). Filmmaker Mahesh Narayanan has crafted a superbly layered film [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Ariyippu: A Heavy Drama from India Which Raises a Lot of Important Issues [Locarno 2022]...

The team of director Mahesh Narayanan’s Malayalam film, ‘Ariyippu’, featuring actors Kunchacko Boban and Divya Prabha in the lead is thrilled with the reception their film has got at the Locarno Film Festival where it premiered on August 4. Taking to Instagram, actor Kunchacko Boban posted pictures of the team at the festival and said: […]...

Chennai, Aug 4 (Ians) Malayalam actor Kunchacko Boban, who is now in Switzerland to attend the 75th Locarno International Film Festival where his film ‘Ariyippu’ is getting screened, has asked filmmakers to not confine themselves to being pan-Indian but to go global. The actor, who posted pictures of himself in Switzerland a day before the […]...

Acclaimed filmmaker Mahesh Narayanan and popular actor-producer Kunchacko Boban are re-teaming for “Ariyippu” (“Declaration”), the first Indian film in Locarno’s international competition in 17 years.

The Malayalam-language film follows Hareesh (Boban) and Reshmi (Divya Prabha), an immigrant couple from Kerala working in a medical gloves factory near Delhi, who aspire to go abroad for a better life. During the Covid-19 lockdowns, when an old video resurfaces among the factory workers, it opens up a Pandora’s box that threatens the couple’s jobs and marriage.

Narayanan got the germ of the film’s idea from a newspaper article about a female bank employee who had approached the Mumbai high court demanding a “declaration” clarifying that a video which had been circulated in her bank was a look alike and not her. That idea travelled with Narayanan for a while until he hit upon the premise about a migrant couple working in a gloves factory.