News

Sad news out of the world of film and television today as Maggie Smith has passed away at the age of 89.

The screen legend’s sons, Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin, confirmed the news of her death this morning.

According to the statement issued today by her family, Dame Maggie died in a hospital, surrounded by loved ones.

Maggie Smith speaks on stage during the “In Conversation With” chaired by Mark Lawson at the BFI & Radio Times TV Festival at the BFI Southbank on April 8, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Tabatha Fireman/Getty Images) Saying Farewell to a Legend

“She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September,” Maggie’s sons wrote.

“An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.

“We would...

Spoilers for "Strange Darling" follow.

Jt Mollner's "Strange Darling" lives up to its title as dolled-up sleaze (the make-up being 35mm film). Half-erotic thriller and half slasher, it's a 21st century "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" structured like "Pulp Fiction." The film plays with you by taking a cut-and-dry premise and experimenting with how far it can twist. The result, which never breaks, is one of 2024's best horror films. (Read /Film's "Strange Darling" review here.)

What will keep you especially glued to the screen is Willa Fitzgerald's performance as "The Lady," a bleeding and terrified woman seemingly in need of help. Fitzgerald (who has been acting since 2008) has earned fans for her parts in the MTV "Scream" series and "Reacher" season 1 as Roscoe Conklin. She was also in Mike Flanagan's "The Fall of the House of the Usher," where she played the young Madeline Usher. Even in that series' huge ensemble,...

The Netflix series Emily in Paris has captivated audiences with its blend of romance, fashion, and French flair. In its fourth season, the series introduced a new character that left viewers intrigued. Genevieve, stepdaughter to Sylvie and newcomer at Agence Grateau, took the fans for a ride with her mysterious and possibly evil character.

Thalia Besson, the actress behind the character, is not a new face in the industry. Born to French director Luc Besson and producer Virginie Besson-Silla, the actress is what we call a ‘nepo baby’. Her parents had previously collaborated in Scarlett Johansson’s Lucy while her father worked on Bruce Willis’s The Fifth Element. Both the movies were huge hits but not the only scores under their belts.

Family Affair: The Besson legacy in film and TV

Thalia Besson is gaining recognition for her role as Genevieve, the potential new antagonist in season four part 2 of Emily in Paris.

[This story contains major spoilers for Strange Darling.]

There was a period of time when Strange Darling filmmaker Jt Mollner didn’t want to give a detailed interview like this one. He intended for his thoughts on his six-chaptered, nonlinear thriller to correspond with a tight-lipped marketing campaign that sets a deviant predator in motion as he hunts his prey. And while the now-critically acclaimed film’s various marketing materials boil the premise down to Kyle Gallner’s “The Demon” and his tenacious pursuit of Willa Fitzgerald’s “The Lady,” Mollner eventually agreed with Magenta Light Studios’ marketing team about the necessity of tipping their hand ever so slightly. Thus, potential viewers were given an indication that Strange Darling wasn’t going to be another formulaic offering involving a final girl.

Venturing into spoiler territory, the film’s marketing and first few chapters may establish Fitzgerald’s character as the target of a serial killer, but...

[This story contains major spoilers for Strange Darling.]

Willa Fitzgerald’s former Reacher co-star Alan Ritchson once called her the best actor he’s ever worked with, and that was before he’d seen her critically acclaimed performance as The Lady in Jt Mollner’s Strange Darling. Fitzgerald’s bold turn is being hailed by many critics and viewers as the finest work of her career, and the opportunity was able to present itself because her tenure on the aforementioned Reacher was limited to just one season.

The popular Amazon Prime series takes its cues from Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book series and changes up its cast and setting with each passing season. Fitzgerald’s exit then opened the door to Strange Darling and Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher, but she’s never been fazed or frustrated over the fact that she had to depart a series that wound up being a smash hit.

Strange Darling is unusual for a 2024 genre release; loud, nasty, nuanced, not particularly scary, or particularly marketable. Its entire appeal hangs on not only knowing as little about its plot and various twists as possible, but being willing to happily ride along with one of the most vicious and deplorable characters in recent memory too. It’s a big ask; a bold swing towards something very rarely seen in genre circles this decade – genuine originality. But thankfully, something which writer/director Jt Mollner and his team pull off gorgeously.

In fact, this writer would go so far as to say that Strange Darling is the most exciting genre movie of the year. The sort of electric, razor sharp, morally hideous one-off that forces you to remember exactly where you were and who you were with when you first laid eyes on it. Before desperately wanting to go back for seconds,...

“Do you have any idea the kind of risks a woman like me takes every time she decides to have a little bit of fun?” So says our female protagonist in writer/director Jt Mollner‘s Strange Darling, a film that dares us to question the roles men and women are expected to play. Are women just prudes who don’t love casual sex? Are men just rapist serial killers waiting for their next mark? What exactly are the boundaries of consent? Strange Darling asks these questions, making for a smarter-than-you’d-expect entry into the cat and mouse thriller genre.

Following an opening scroll informing us that the film we are about to see is a dramatization of the final known killings of a serial killer’s multi-state killing spree, we are introduced to “The Lady” who, in an extended slow motion sequence that plays over the opening credits, is...

An ambitious police detective attempts to solve a series of murders from a disused cinema in director Wei Shujun’s crime drama

Wei Shujun’s new film, adapted from a novella by Yu Hua, is a deadpan existential riddle presenting as noir crime, set in provincial China and taking its cue from Albert Camus’s Caligula: “There’s no understanding fate, therefore I choose to play the part of fate …” It’s a movie that wryly questions the thriller genre’s assumptions about the essential knowability of motive and agency; the idea that people commit crimes for clear reasons and their means and opportunity are governed by the equally explicable conditions of the physical world. But in this drama, chaos and meaninglessness keep peeping through – I can imagine David Lynch directing an alternative version.

Zhu Yilong plays Captain Ma, a smart and ambitious young officer brought in to solve...

In a new film, Lifetime dives into the major wins and losses of the television psychic known as Miss Cleo. “Miss Cleo: Her Rise and Fall” details the beginning of her career in the 90s and brings fans along on her entire journey. While detailing her downfall, the captivating movie shines a light on Miss Cleo’s side of the story for the first time. You can enjoy “Miss Cleo: Her Rise and Fall” on Lifetime on Saturday, Aug. 10 at 8 p.m. Et with a 7-Day Free Trial of Philo.

How to Watch ‘Miss Cleo: Her Rise and Fall’ When: Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024 at 8 p.m. Et. Where: Lifetime Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Philo. 7-Day Free Trial $28 / month philo.com About ‘Miss Cleo: Her Rise and Fall’

The Lifetime movie begins telling Miss Cleo’s story in the 90s. Single mom Youree Dell Harris needed a way to support her family,...

Spirited AwayImage: Gkids

Now that we’re used to HBO Max shedding the best part of its name to become just Max, we can concentrate on what really matters: the movies. Max’s impressive library includes most films released by Warner Bros., along with HBO original movies, plus titles from...

The Independent Iranian Filmmakers Association (Iifma) has written to AMPAS to protest the omission of murdered director Dariush Mehrjui from the In Memoriam segment of the Academy Award on Sunday night.

As per Oscar tradition, the Academy paid tribute to a select group of 51 film and entertainment figures who had died over the previous year, including actor Matthew Perry, director William Friedkin, actor-performer Jane Birkin and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto in a short In Memoriam segment.

Mehrjui was named instead on the Academy’s In Memoriam page on its website, alongside 279 recently deceased figures related to the film world, including the 51 people feted at the ceremony.

The director was stabbed to death alongside his screenwriter wife Vahideh Moahmmadifar in their home outside Tehran last October.

The unsolved killing came just months after he posted an online video blasting the Iranian government’s suppression of the film industry, raising suspicions that his...

The open road is a terrifying place for a young woman in the first look at “Strange Darling,” a horror-thriller from director J.T. Mollner set to premiere at this week’s Fantastic Fest.

Described as “one day in the twisted love life of a serial killer,” the project stars Willa Fitzgerald (Amazon’s “Reacher”) and Kyle Gallner. Fitzgerald, known only in the film as “The Lady,” barrels down a highway in a red Ford Pinto in a clip exclusive to Variety, escaping Gallner’s mad pursuit. After shooting out her back windshield and trying to mow her down with a pickup truck, the cat-and-mouse game moves on foot through the wilderness.

“This film was a sort of dream (or nightmare) that I was compelled to bring to life. So much about it – the colors, the music, the overall visual aesthetic, and the characters were all so clear before we even shot anything.

Also known as The Lady Dragon, Cynthia Rothrock first started acting in Hong Kong films in the 1980s following a very successful career as a competition martial artist. She holds 5 black belts and is ranked 8th Dan Grandmaster. She competed against men for a good part of her competition days due to there not always being a women’s category, where she won many times over. Her achievement in the martial arts world got her the first female cover of Karate Illustrated and her film career is filled with action and a bit of humor. Here are 5 of the best Cynthia Rothrock movies:

Yes, Madam (1985)

Her very first movie role, the part of Inspector Carrie Moss was designed for Rothrock and her skills, or so it would seem while watching the film. Directed by Corey Yuen and co-starring Michelle Yeoh, a woman who needs no introduction at this point, the...

Michelle Yeoh played Burmese pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, in The Lady (2010), directed by Luc Besson Photo: UniFrance

After winning the Oscar for Best Actress for superhero comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once at the Academy Awards, Michelle Yeoh will be strutting her stuff at the Cannes Film Festival as the latest recipient of the 2023 Women in Motion Award, sponsored by luxury brand Kering.

Michelle Yeoh: "It’s vital that women - in front of the camera and behind it - keep playing roles and telling stories that reflect the diversity and complexity of the world.” Photo: UniFrance

Born in Malaysia, Yeoh was first person of south-east Asian descent to win the Best Actress Oscar, for her role as laundromat manager Evelyn Wang, who stumbles across a 'multiverse' of alternative realities.

Yeoh defeated strong competition for the Oscar, including Cate Blanchett for Tár and Michelle Williams for The Fabelmans.

The Malaysia-born Oscar winner, who has become the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for her multifaceted performance, survived the deadly earthquake that struck Nepal while she was visiting the landlocked Himalayan nation in April 2015. Survivor of the devastating earthquake, actress Michelle Yeoh, famous for her roles in James Bond film ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ and ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, has won the Academy Award for Best Actress and made history for her role in ‘Everything, Everywhere All At Once’.

Michelle Yeoh has an India connect too. In the ‘background’ of her life is Buddhist leader Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the Drukpa Order based in India with over 1,000 monasteries across the Himalayas.

A disciple of His Holiness, in 2015, Michelle raised charity from Hollywood for Nepal earthquake victims on the advice of Gyalwang Drukpa for his ‘Live to Love’ foundation.

At that time she was...

For the season finale of the first “The Walking Dead” anthology series, “Tales of the Walking Dead” delivers an unexpected supernatural haunted house story set amidst the zombie apocalypse. Directed by Deborah Kampmeier (“Clarice”), “La Doña” follows a survivor couple – Eric (Danny Ramirez) and Idalia (Daniella Pineda) – as they make an eerie, candle-lit home their new place of sanctuary away from the undead. With the shambling corpses of the outside-world at bay, the duo must face off against a new set of horrors nestled within their humble abode.

“La Doña,” which translates to “The Lady,” makes use of cultural elements to set the scene for its chilling main location. Candles, crosses, Jesus statues, and other spiritual objects line every nook and cranny of the episode’s setting. Aside from Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), the world of “The Walking Dead” hasn’t explored many other cultural and religious reactions to the rising of the dead.

“The Lady of Heaven” executive producer Malik Shlibak has voiced his disappointment over Cineworld’s decision to pull his film from U.K. cinemas following protests.

The first-time feature producer, who is also chairman of non-profit organization The Rafida Foundation, told Variety he is “very, very disappointed” by the decision, adding: “This is sending a creative message to any group or groups like this that any time you have any slight mild offense feel free to demand everyone to cave into your way of thinking.”

The film was made by U.K.-based Enlightened Kingdom, where Shlibak is a company director, and sold at the Cannes Marché du Film last year by sales agent Hannibal Pictures. The response at Cannes was “overwhelmingly positive,” Shlibak told Variety. “It was very much welcomed by Muslims, non Muslims, all sorts of people over there in Cannes.”

“Enlightened Kingdom will fight this battle in...

Producer and entrepreneur Alex Lieberman has launched Bright West Entertainment, a new film finance and production company with a special focus on backing documentary content.

The company is making a big splash this month. Three of its next feature documentaries — “On the Line: The Richard Williams Story,” “Subject” and “Rudy! A Documusical” — are set to world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday.

“I’m focused on financing interesting stories and trying to serve as a catalyst to help projects get made,” Lieberman tells Variety. “I don’t have a brand filter or a set type of story that I’m interested in making. It’s not original to say this, but I love human stories.”

Filmmakers who have worked with Lieberman say he’s committed to giving them the resources they need to get their projects finished and praise him for understanding the difficult road...

Beware Of Spoilers Below For The New Film:

“We were on this hilarious holiday for 10 days with all the cast and crew,” reveals actress Laura Carmichael about shooting some scenes in France for the new feature film “Downton Abbey: A New Era.” In our recent webchat she adds, “It felt like a holiday camp. We were altogether and unable to leave, but it was pretty amazing. There’s just something about that part of the world that’s so magical… The Crawleys are such a different environment, and it brings up all of this emotion for them. It takes them away from a stiffer world.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

See‘Downton Abbey’: 25 greatest episodes ranked worst to best

“Downton Abbey: A New Era” from creator Julian Fellowes is now playing worldwide in theaters following the great success of the first movie almost three years ago. Lady Edith...

Composer Geoff Zanelli is the man behind the music of Showtime’s “The First Lady,” the anthology series documenting the political lives of Michelle Obama (Viola Davis), Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson). Zanelli won an Emmy for his score of another historical project, 2005’s “Into the West” which focused on American expansion during the 1800s. However, the composer tells Gold Derby that the history is not what really interests him. “I’m not really a history buff,” he declares. “I’m a story buff and I’m a character buff, and that’s what I’m interested in.” Watch more of our exclusive video interview with Zanelli above.

Zanelli argues that he only needed to look at the performances of the three leads for inspiration. “I can’t think of a composer that wouldn’t want to get a phone call from someone saying we have...

Aisha Bywaters won a BAFTA Award for Best Scripted Casting last month for “We Are Lady Parts,” but just working on the groundbreaking musical comedy was already a win for her. “It was such a special experience working on this show,” she tells Gold Derby at our Meet the Experts: Casting Directors panel (watch the exclusive video interview above). “It was a chance to work with lots of people, lots of women who also came from similar backgrounds to me, people of color who’ve had similar experiences growing up in the U.K. It just felt like a really nice experience. You don’t have to explain all the time everything you’re doing, why you’re doing it and why it sort of feels important or authentic, and why you want to make work that people can watch and feel seen.”

Created by Nida Manzoor, the Peacock series follows Lady Parts,...

Netflix’s Fysee Space’s opening night ATAS panel on Sunday night showcased Shondaland’s Bridgerton season 2 and revealed big news about Season 3.

At the conclusion of the panel, star Nicola Coughlan was asked what Lady Whistledown can tell viewers to expect in season 3. The actress, who plays Penelope Featherington whose alter ego is Lady Whistledown, revealed that the next installment will be all about #Polin. It will follow her character Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton (played by Luke Newton) as their friendship potentially blooms into something more all while balancing her double life as Lady Whistledown.

“Like Lady Whistledown, I have been keeping a secret for quite some time and I can confirm to you all that season 3 is Colin and Penelope’s love story,” Coughlan said. “I have kept that secret since two weeks into season 2. This is the first time I am saying it here.”

The duo...

With “The Northman,” “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” and the continued success of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” this month has been about action-forward movies that are entertaining and worthy, but might fail to be taken seriously as real “achievements” in Hollywood. Timing has also proven to be an essential factor, and not just for releases, but for when a movie or performance starts gaining momentum.

Studios are only beginning to map out how to roll out their most promising contenders in the second half of the year. At this same point last year, most critics had seen the eventual best picture winner, “Coda” from Apple Original Films, after it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Obviously, we didn’t know how far it would go as “Belfast” and “The Power of the Dog” gained momentum. Timing and narratives are paramount, no matter where you think a film stands in the race.

“There’s definitely a younger version of me in Amina that I could channel,” says Anjana Vasan about the role she plays in the Peacock comedy series “We Are Lady Parts.” Vasan is an experienced stage and screen actress as well as musician. Her character Amina is a microbiology PhD student by day who must overcome crippling stage fright when she’s recruited to be the lead guitarist for a punk band. Vasan has never experienced anxiety “to the point that I’m throwing up like Amina,” but she can relate to that self-doubt. “It’s weird to go on stage and start speaking to hundreds of people.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Vasan above.

SEEExclusive Q&As: 2022 Emmy contenders

Shyness isn’t Amina’s only conflict. She’s also a young Muslim woman seeking a husband, and rebellious punk rock goes against the conservative values of her friends...

Photo: ‘The First Lady’ ‘The Crown’ has been one of the most successful and critically acclaimed series in recent years. The series follows Queen Elizabeth II, spanning decades of her life and bringing many familiar faces along the way, from Margaret Thatcher to Princess Diana. Hundreds of award nominations and a hefty collection of Emmys later, it’s no surprise that ‘The Crown’ would become a blueprint for television success. Enter, ‘The First Lady’, an Americanized version of ‘The Crown’ in many ways, all the way down to Gillian Anderson’s roles in both series. ‘The First Lady’ also spans decades, but it’s more fitting to call it centuries in this case. The series follows three different First Ladies, Michelle Obama, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Betty Ford. The vastly different timelines give us a look into just how much has changed (and just how much hasn’t) behind closed doors...

One of 9-1-1: Lone Star‘s key couples called it quits on Monday — and it’s not the one we were worried about.

While much of the hour revolved around Carlos feeling that T.K. was giving more of himself to his new AA sponsor Cooper (aka “Coop”) than he was giving to his boyfriend, that situation actually resolved itself nicely. After seeing how important it is for T.K. to connect with someone who has also struggled with addiction, Carlos ultimately encouraged T.K. and Coop’s friendship, recognizing that it was in everyone’s best interest to do so.

We need to talk about 9-1-1‘s Eddie Diaz. We’ve always known about the vulnerability lurking beneath his handsome war hero exterior, but we’ve never seen it break through like we did in the final moments of Monday’s episode.

After his therapist pointed out that Eddie handles everyone else’s pain without adequately facing his own, the former firefighter reached out to some of the people he served with… only to discover that they’re all dead, even the ones he personally saved.

More from TVLine9-1-1: Lone Star Recap: A Cat-astrophe Ends in...

The “National Treasure” Disney+ series will feature a familiar face.

Disney announced on Monday that Justin Bartha will reprise his role as Riley Poole from the two “National Treasure” films in the TV series, albeit in a guest starring capacity.

The upcoming live-action “National Treasure” TV series expands the franchise that was first introduced in the 2004 film starring Nicolas Cage as history buff and amateur adventurer Benjamin Gates. Cage and the main cast returned for the 2007 sequel “National Treasure: The Book of Secrets,” which found them embarking on another adventure tied to U.S. history.

The Disney+ series centers on Jess (Lisette Alexis), a brilliant and resourceful DREAMer who embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to uncover the truth about her family’s mysterious past and save a lost Pan-American treasure.

Bartha’s character Riley Poole was essentially the sidekick/comic relief in the films, serving as Ben’s...

Now that Maddie is back in Los Angeles, she has a lot to catch up on — and it’s not all pretty.

Specifically, Monday’s episode of 9-1-1 (Fox, 8/7c) finds Buck turning to his big sister for some advice on the whole Lucy/Taylor situation, and TVLine has an exclusive first look at their sibling chat.

More from TVLine9-1-1: Lone Star Recap: A Cat-astrophe Ends in Heartbreak for [Spoiler]9-1-1 Pushes Eddie to His Breaking PointCleaning Lady Renewed for Season 2

“I do love her, and she’s really been there for me with you guys gone, and...

Everything Everywhere All at Once. Courtesy of A24.In an interview with Donna Chu of the Hong Kong Film Archive in 1999, Michelle Yeoh said, “Nowadays, when people hear that Michelle Yeoh is in a film, they will immediately think it is an action film. I hope in the future it will be different, and I can present a variety of faces of myself to the audience. But right now I'm very proud of myself for what I've done, creating a niche for myself in action films, because I've worked very hard to achieve this. I really treasure this status and do not take it lightly. But as an actor, you just want to try to act in different styles, and pursue being in different genres of films.”1The twenty plus years since then have seen Yeoh accomplish exactly that, as she is now internationally famous not just as a star of action films,...

One of Chastain Memorial’s newest docs has made a hasty exit.

TVLine has learned exclusively that Season 5 newbie Miles Fowler — who joined Fox’s The Resident just seven months ago as a series regular — has departed the series after less than one season.

More from TVLineCleaning Lady Renewed for Season 2Fox Sets Season Finale Dates for 9-1-1s, The Resident, Call Me Kat and 9 OthersFox Sets Summer Premiere Dates for Fantasy Island Season 2, MasterChef's Return and More -- See Full Schedule

Fowler’s final episode aired on March 29, when Trevor informed his mother Billie (Jessica Lucas) — seemingly out...

A bee landed on a rose at the start of the Bridgerton Season 2 premiere, and that set the stage for a season filled with romance, fatherly flashbacks, marriage proposals, and the gossipmonger everyone loves to hate, Lady Whistledown.

Not far from the nectar-seeking insect, excitement in the Bridgerton household reached a crescendo as Eloise got poked, prodded and beautified for her societal debut in front of Queen Charlotte. Daphne, having gone through the very same process during her season, attempted to give Eloise advice on how to smile and seem pleasant, but the more she talked, the more Eloise sweated-n-fretted.

Warning: contains spoilers for Bridgerton season one.

December 2020 was a hundred years ago at least, so we can all be forgiven for not quite remembering everything that happened in Bridgerton’s first season. Daphne and the Duke were but one spoke in the show’s fancy wheel of romance, intrigue, scandal and pastries shaped like swans. There was also the fake-French modiste and the saucy opera singer, the gambling Lord murdered over his debts, the revelation of who was behind the titillating pen of anonymous social commentator Lady Whistledown, Queen Charlotte’s sad marriage, the nasty Cowpers, the nice boxer and his wife, and much more.

With season two out now, here’s a memory-jog on the major stories you’ll need to recall. Spoilers.

Anthony Bridgerton and Opera Singer Siena Rosso

The Right Honourable The Viscount Bridgerton – Anthony to his friends – is season two’s romantic lead as the...

At the end of the first season of "Bridgerton," viewers finally learn the true identity of gossip columnist Lady Whistledown. The queen of gossip among Regency London's elite knows everything about everyone - and she's not afraid to share the details. That earns this busybody plenty of enemies, and yet no one knows who's behind the pen. Then, in the last moments of season one, the cloaked Lady Whistledown reveals herself as Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan). Keeping her identity a secret from the rest of society hasn't been easy, and it becomes even harder in season two of Netflix's hit show.

One reason Penelope struggles to stay under the radar is the fact that her best friend, Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie), is obsessed with tracking down the real Lady Whistledown. Always chasing a lead, Eloise wants nothing more than to figure out who's behind the gossip. She thinks she's...

“Bridgerton” Season 2 arrives at the stroke of midnight Friday (Pt) and with it a new season of the most delicious society gossip courtesy of one Lady Whistledown.

At the end of the first season, viewers were let in on Whistledown’s big secret in one of the show’s final moments – she is actually Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), wallflower and youngest daughter of Lady Portia Featherington. That particular reveal means the show can bring viewers in on\the drama in Season 2, as Penelope tries to balance being a respectable young lady with her secret salacious writing gig.

“The central theme we’re exploring this season is head versus heart and that’s definitely true for Anthony and Kate, but that’s also true for someone like Penelope,” creator, showrunner and executive producer Chris Van Dusen told TheWrap. “Penelope – her heart is with this alter ego of hers, Lady Whistledown, but...

The second season of Bridgerton drops on Netflix this Friday.

While the hit drama has been known for its outlandish plots, soapy elements, and everything in between, the storytelling on Bridgerton Season 2 is far tighter than its predecessor.

There's a central love story with Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley), but there's also more intrigue surrounding everyone in their orbit.

We know who the Bridgertons, Featheringtons, and the Dansburys are already, and the series does a better job at spreading the storylines out this time between them, which is a significant positive out of the gate.

Kate and her sister, Edwina, are new additions to The Ton, bringing some long-held family secrets to the forefront as they both search for love.

We know Lady Whistledown loves a scandal, and there's plenty of that to go around on Bridgerton Season 2.

The pivot to revolve around Anthony's search for...

9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star aren’t just joining each other on Monday nights — they’re joining forces.

The parent series returns to Fox for the second half of its fifth season on March 21 (8/7c), an evening that continues with Angela Bassett making a special guest appearance as Athena Grant on a new episode of Lone Star at 9 pm.

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So,...

9-1-1: Lone Star momentarily stopped trying to kill off its entire cast on Monday to catch up with someone from Mateo’s past. Because Lone Star is always gonna Lone Star, the episode was still thoroughly heartbreaking.

It all began when Mateo got a call to pick up his “father” from the bar, which was weird for two reasons: Not only does his father not drink, but he also lives in Mexico. The man turned out to be Mateo’s old boss Captain Tatum (played by Jack Conley), who was drowning his sorrows after losing a member of...

“Bridgerton,” the steamy Regency era drama from Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland, is heading back for Season 2 on Netflix – and soon.

When the show made its debut on the streamer on Christmas Day 2020, it became an instant sensation with fans unable to get enough of the chemistry between Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), the loving Bridgerton family, Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) reigning over the ton’s season, the scheming mamas of the marriage mart, and all the scandal captured perfectly by the quill-wielding Lady Whistledown.

Season 2 will follows the love story of the Viscount – Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) – as he decides to go to all the balls and social outings in pursuit of the perfect bride to become his viscountess. But when is the show back? Dear reader, read on.

When Does “Bridgerton” Season 2 Premiere?

Season 2 will premiere March 25, 2022 on Netflix. The streaming service drops their shows at midnight Pacific Time,...

There's a new love story at the wheel of Bridgerton when it returns for its second season on March 25.

Netflix unveiled a full-length trailer for Bridgerton Season 2, and there's a lot to unpack.

At the top of the new footage, Lady Violet Bridgerton gets everyone talking by introducing the competition for her son's heart.

“This is the season the Viscount intends to find a wife,” she says to a packed room.

We are quickly introduced to Kate Sharma and her sister Edwina, who have recently arrived from India.

The trailer teases a complicated romance for Anthony and Kate as they both try to imply they're not into one another.

It makes for many fun scenes, including Anthony tripping over Kate's beautiful dog and falling into a river.

The pair go back and forth in what can only be described as verbal sparring matches.

“What happens when duty is in conflict...

‘Pushpa’ director Sukumar, who lauded Sai Pallavi at the pre-release event of an upcoming movie, called her the ‘Lady Pawan Kalyan’. As Sukumar spoke on the stage on Sunday, took Sai Pallavi’s name, as the crowd went ga ga, cheering up on the ‘Fidaa’ actress, non-stop. Looking at the response on calling out Sai Pallavi’s […]...

With Margot Robbie attached to a new "Pirates of the Caribbean" feature, there is now talk of updating Milton Caniff's "Terry and the Pirates" comic strip character 'Dragon Lady', based on 'Lai Choi San', a real woman pirate from the South China Sea :

Inspired by movie characters played by actress Anna May Wong, the 'Dragon Lady' term has since been applied to describe 'powerful women'.

Caniff's 'Dragon Lady', aka 'Madam Deal', debuted in in the first "Terry and The Pirates" Sunday strip story (1934), as a beautiful seductress, who fell in love with Terry's older sidekick 'Pat Ryan'.

In the years leading up to World War II, she became a force for good.

During the 1940's, actress Agnes Moorehead played the character on radio.

In the "Terry and the Pirates" film serial (1940), Dragon Lady was played by Sheila Darcy.

Click the images to enlarge... ...

GLAAD’s “Where We Are on TV” study this year found that the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer characters is at an all-time high, with 11.9 percent of series regular characters on scripted primetime broadcast series being

LGBTQ.

This marks a significant increase from both last year’s 9.1 percent inclusion and the study’s previous high of 10.2 percent.

More from TVLineThe First Lady Trailer: Viola Davis' Michelle Obama Refuses to Be a 'Black Martha Stewart' in Showtime DramaBillions Renewed for Season 7Super Pumped Renewed at Showtime, Season 2 to Follow Rise of Facebook

The 2021-2022 TV season also...

Happy Valentine's Day, Lady Whistledown is coming to wreck your romance! The sharp-tongued gossip-monger is returning with the second round of "Bridgerton," which will surely be no less cutthroat than last season when her pamphlet circulated through London society circles with enough clout to break hearts. The anonymous newspaper columnist has since been revealed to the audience — spoilers for season 1 — as none other than Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), the young and clever Featherington who's willing to write whatever truths she deems necessary.

Penelope weathered scandal after scandal last season, watching with the other elites as Daphne Bridgerton stole the...

The post Bridgerton Season 2 Teaser: Lady Whistledown Is Out For Blood This Valentine's Day appeared first on /Film.

Regency-era Gossip Girl is back and wreaking havoc on London high society in the new teaser for Season Two of Bridgerton, which is set to return to Netflix March 25.

The new teaser is centered around the delivery of a long-awaited dispatch from the ton’s eminent tea-spiller Lady Whistledown, revealed at the end of Season One to be (spoiler alert) Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), the youngest daughter of the Featherington clan. “As the members of our ton questioned my identity and means,” the flier reads, “this author has been doing but...

On Monday’s “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert kicked things off with a cold open gag inspired by the recent uproar over Spotify’s deal with podcaster Joe Rogan, because of the the huge amount of factually incorrect information about vaccines and Covid-19 featured on his show.

The gag was simple: A Spotify playlist where each selected song formed part of a sentence advancing lies about Covid-19 vaccines.

Of course, if you need a quick catch up: Last week Neil Young removed his music from Spotify in protest of Rogan. The same week, more than 200 scientists and medical experts released an open letter urging Spotify to quit promoting vaccine misinformation. And on Friday, Joni Mitchell announced she would be removing her music from Spotify to show solidarity with Young.

This has resulted in Spotify taking a huge stock market hit, and now it says it will add content warnings to podcasts touching on Covid.

Southeast Asia has been a favourite setting for Hollywood filmmakers and some of the best movies have been set here or have significant parts of their top scenes here. The breath-taking landscapes, urban architecture and cultural differences all add up to spectacular scenes in movies.

Here are our top seven movies filmed in the lovely Southeast Asia.

Kong: Skull Island

Starting off with this 2017 masterpiece, Kong: Skull Island boosted Vietnam’s international image, and after that movie, Southeast Asia become a popular Hollywood hub spot, more than ever before. Set in the 1970s during the Vietnam War era, the movie follows a group of American soldiers as they encounter the legendary Kong on his mysterious island. The film’s producers spent a month in Vietnam, filming to get the best shots.

Vietnam looks absolutely gorgeous in the movie and it proved to be the perfect aesthetic for the film.

The Hangover II...

Lionel Richie has been named as the recipient of this year’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the Library of Congress announced Thursday, with an all-star tribute concert set to be filmed in March and aired on PBS in May.

“In so many ways, this national honor was made for Lionel Richie, whose music has entertained and inspired us— and helped strengthen our global connections,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden in a statement. “Lionel Richie’s unforgettable work has shown us that music can bring us together. Even when we face problems and disagree on issues, songs can show us what we have in common.”

The tribute concert will take place in Washington, D.C., on March 9 and broadcast on PBS stations May 17 at 9 p.m. Et.

The Gershwin Prize was not given out in 2021. The last musician to receive it, in 2020, was Garth Brooks, who at then-57 became...

Continuing this season of new hosts and comedic experimentation, this week’s “Saturday Night Live” saw “The Harder They Fall” star Jonathan Majors take on first-time hosting duty. And not just any first-time hosting duty, as he had to do so with Taylor Swift as the heavily-buzzed-about music guest.

Host: Jonathan Majors

One thing to really appreciate about this new season of “SNL,” in all of its freshness and newness, is the fact that it’s not relying on gimmicks for its opening monologues. While a scripted Q&a, a Studio 8H tour, or even the occasional musical number can be fun, the past few years have been so overloaded with gimmick monologues — particularly in the musical number category — that there was obvious burnout. The back to basics nature this season has taken with both its hosts and their monologues has been refreshing.

But nerves still exist, especially coming from a first-time host,...

A24's "The Green Knight" Blu-ray dropped this week, and it's got two fantastically fun featurettes that dive deep into the creation of the movie. In the featurettes "Boldest of Blood and Wildest at Heart: Making the Green Knight," and "Practitioners of Magic: Visual Effects," the cast and crew of writer/director David Lowery's sprawling Arthurian epic shared some fascinating facts from behind the scenes.

"Ex-Machina" star Alicia Vikander felt like she had won the lottery when Lowery told her she would be playing dual roles. She plays Essel, Gawain's (Dev Patel) lover at the court in Camelot, and "The Lady," a mysterious noblewoman who seduces Gawain....

The post 5 Things We Learned About The Green Knight From the New Blu-ray appeared first on /Film.