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In the history of Japan, the Edo period, or, as designated by the contemporary shogunate, the Tokugawa period, spanned two and a half centuries and was marked by several contrasting aspects. On one hand, the extremely isolationist approach of the nation allowed it to be completely hidden away from the rest of the world, contributing to a certain oriental enigma and the creation of a police state. On the other hand, the approach allowed the nation to reach the zenith of cultural innovation and maintain peace and prosperity during a period when the rest of the world was being ravaged by the pangs of European colonialism. Both of these aspects are beautifully highlighted in the recently released Netflix original series, Blue Eye Samurai, created by Amber Noizumi and her husband Michael Green, known for his work as a writer on movies like Logan and Blade Runner 2049.

As the series...

Investigation Discovery (ID) has teamed up with Khloe Kardashian for a docuseries about “Twisted Love” and also greenlit a Jeffrey Epstein special as the first in its upcoming, tentatively titled “Who Killed…” series.

“Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein?” will feature exclusive interviews and in-depth investigations into new clues about their titular subjects. When it comes to Epstein, the project will explore his “seedy underworld, privileged life and controversial death.”

“This story has everything: famous names, wealth, sex, tragedy and suicide — or murder,” said Henry Schleiff, group president of Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, American Heroes Channel and Destination America. “Indeed, when deaths as high profile as Epstein’s come to light, people have questionsand that is why ID will seek to provide viewers with additional new information — and, perhaps, answers.”

Epstein was first accused of trafficking young women to his Palm Beach estate in 2005 but escaped relatively unscathed from the law enforcement system.

Ethan Hawke, “Mudbound” director-screenwriter Dee Rees and Emily Mortimer are among the jury members selected for the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, the Sundance Institute announced on Tuesday.

Twenty-five experts were selected to award feature films and short films shown at the upcoming festival, which will take place from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2 in Park City, Utah. Thirty-one prizes will be announced at a ceremony on Feb. 1, while the Short Film Awards will be announced at a separate ceremony on Jan. 28.

The juried Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize was awarded to “Tesla,” which stars Hawke, Jim Gaffigan, Kyle MacLachlan and Lucy Walters.

Also Read: Taylor Swift, Viggo Mortensen and Tessa Thompson Lead Diverse 2020 Sundance Lineup

See the jury members below.

U.S. Dramatic Jury

Rodrigo Garcia

Rodrigo Garcia’s films include the award-winning Nine Lives, Albert Nobbs, Mother and Child, and Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her. His television...

Having long since ascended to the ranks of royalty at the Sundance Film Festival, Ethan Hawke, Dee Rees, Isabella Rossellini and Gregg Araki have now been named as jurors for this year’s Utah shindig.

As well as Hawke starring in Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film award winner Tesla this Sff and Mudbound director Rees helming the world premiering The Last Thing He Wanted, the duo will be joining Rossellini, past Grand Jury Prize winner Wash Westmoreland and Rodrigo Garcia on the 2020 U.S. Dramatic Jury.

Among the other five section juries, Free Solo co-director and Oscar winner E. Chai Vasarhelyi is on the U.S. Documentary jury and the great Cindy Sherman is on the Short Film Jury. Along with a trio of others, Emily Mortimer is on the Sloan jury and, after having his Starz series Now Apocalypse debut at last year’s Sundance, Araki is the sole Next juror.

David Crow Jan 12, 2020

The Critics Choice Awards recognize Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker among the year’s best in film and TV.

On the eve of the Oscar nominations, the critics have given their vote. Quite literally as the 25th Annual Critics Choice Awards is in the history books—along with its diverse selection of winning films and television shows.

The big winners of the night include Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Parasite, 1917, and Joker. The Quentin Tarantino love letter to 1960s Tinseltown notably pulled a surprise win for Best Picture after missing out on the Best Director prize. Not that Tarantino went home otherwise empty handed, as he picked up the Critics Choice for Best Original Screenplay, as did Brad Pitt for Best Supporting Actor, and Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh for Best Production Design.

Yet in possibly the biggest surprise of the night,...

The 2020 Critics’ Choice Awards rewarded many of the best television shows and films of 2019 in a ceremony Sunday night in Santa Monica, California that saw Renée Zellweger, Joaquin Phoenix and many more win big.

Martin Scorsese‘s The Irishman came into the night with 14 nominations, while Quentin Tarantino‘s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood followed with 12 overall nods.

Scroll down for the complete list of winners.

Film Best Picture

1917

Ford v Ferrari

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Marriage Story

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Parasite

Uncut Gems

Best Actor

Antonio Banderas — Pain and Glory

Robert De Niro...

In Variety’s third Mipcom Roundup Alibaba’s streaming platform Youku gets BBC programs, Lagardère buys full ownership of Barcelona’s Veranda, Banijay rolls out Guinness World Records series, Blue Ant International sells and renews and All3Media Intl. extends into Japan and Taiwan.

All3Media Strikes Deals in Japan, Taiwan

All3Media has grown its footprint in Asia thanks to newly announced deals with U-next, Disney and Wowow in Japan and Catchplay in Taiwan. The U-Next deal includes 22 hours of primetime drama including Neal Street Productions’ Bafta-nominated “Informer,” two seasons of Screentime’s Australian drama “Playing for Keeps” and The Forge Entertainment-produced mini-series “Dark Money.” Catchplay in Taiwan and Tohokushinsha in Japan have secured rights to Bafta-nominated mini-series “Mrs. Wilson,” produced by Snowed In for BBC One and Masterpiece. All3Media also sold two factual entertainment series to Japanese broadcasters, “Travel Guides (Australia)” in the company’s first-ever...

"You've been a little... disconnected lately." Gravitas Ventures has debuted an official trailer for a film titled Blue, an indie dramedy made by the wife and wife duo Gabriela Ledesma & Callie Schuttera. The two co-wrote the screenplay together, while Ledesma directs and Schuttera plays a character based on Gabriela's own experiences earlier in life. Based on true events, a young woman struggles to piece her world together after a botched suicide attempt. The film has a bit of dark humor, presenting a raw and honest look at the struggles of life and how hard it is to keep it all together. Starring Callie Schuttera, Shaw Jones, Judith Scott, Laura Harrison, Chelsea Lopez, Johnny Loquasto, Jennifer Daly, Todd Stroik, Aubrey Manning, and Vanessa Sawson. This probably won't connect with everyone but it's worth a look anyway. Here's the official Us trailer (+ new poster) for Gabriela Ledesma's Blue, direct from YouTube:...

Céline Sciamma and Abdellatif Kechiche both arrived at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival with new films, but the reception to “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and “Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo” could not have been more different. While Sciamma’s “Portrait” was hailed as a masterpiece and one of the festival’s best achievements, Kechiche’s “Mektoub” was derided as a new rock bottom for the Palme d’Or winner behind “Blue Is the Warmest Color.” Both films became calling cards for the highs and lows of a filmmaker’s gaze. Critics championed the female gaze of “Portrait,” while Kechiche’s male gaze became a point of controversy just as it did before on the first “Mektoub” film and “Blue.”

In a new interview with France’s So Film magazine, Sciamma defends Kechiche’s male gaze and calls out both film critics and moviegoers for creating a cinema in which the...

Rob Leane May 24, 2019

Difficult second album syndrome? Nah, Pokémon Gold and Silver are brave and brilliant...

This article comes from Den of Geek UK. 

With a bit of time to kill before Pokémon Sword and Shield come out, Den of Geek is taking a stroll down memory lane and replaying all the classic games in the iconic RPG series. For our second trip back into the Poké-experiences of yore, it's time look back at Pokémon Gold and Silver.

Continuing the trend that Pokémon Red and Blue started, Pokémon Gold and Silver launched in Japan first (in 1999) before hitting Australia and the Us (in 2000) before finally arriving in the UK and the rest of Europe (in 2001). The games were immensely popular, with their sales exceeding 23 million units, according to a stat that did the rounds in 2010.

If you do dust off your old Game Boy Color cartridge of Gold or Silver,...

Rob Leane May 20, 2019

Pokémon Go isn't the only critter-stuffed game that doesn't break the bank...

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

The Pokémon franchise is in rude health at the moment, with the Detective Pikachu movie faring well at the box office and the Sword and Shield RPG games looming tantalizingly on the horizon. But if you've already seen the movie and can't wait for those games to come out, you might want to turn your attention to some alternative Pokémon experiences. How about some free Pokémon games, for instance?

You can't argue with a freebie, after all. If you can't afford a console game or just fancy taking part in some inexpensive fun, you've come to the right place. All you need is a smartphone with enough storage space to hold some new software. And if you can meet those two requirements, the Pokémon franchise has plenty to offer.

Here’s what happens when the need to see takes over and I start pulling DVDs off the shelf with only my dark heart as a guide…

The sleazy, claustrophobic, catch-as-catch-can transience of the carnival world, with its ever-changing roster of freaks, geeks, disappointed con men and women with few options, all clinging to shreds of dignity and eyeing a better life while digging themselves deeper into the one from which they want to flee, seems a naturally cinematic subject. Yet there are surprisingly few movies that have ever captured the symbiotic push-pull of vibrant show-biz fakery and dark personal obsessions that lurk behind the curtain, beyond the barker’s call. Somewhere between the boy’s wish-fulfillment of Toby Tyler and the mind-wrenching funhouse mirror reflections of Tod Browning, Tobe Hooper and Rob Zombie, Edmund Goulding’s film of W.L. Greshman’s Nightmare Alley (1947), from a script by Jules Furthman...

Rob Leane May 10, 2019

Pokémon Red and Blue kicked off the iconic RPG franchise back in the 1990s, but do they still hold up?

This article comes from Den of Geek UK. 

While we wait for more details about Pokémon Sword and Shield, Den of Geek is delving back into Pokémon history to have some critter-catching RPG fun. We've decided to revisit all the core games in the franchise, which means taking a trip back to where and when it all began: the iconic Kanto region and the year 1996.

Pocket Monsters Red, Pocket Monsters Green, and Pocket Monsters Blue launched in Japan in 1996. Unless they were savvy enough to import a copy from afar, gamers in Australia and the United States had to wait until 1998 to get their hands on the game, and those of us in the UK and Europe had to hold on until 1999. Pocket Monsters became Pokémon, and...

Phylicia Rashad will make her Broadway directing debut next spring with Charles Randolph-Wright’s play Blue, featuring music by Nona Hendryx, producer Brian Moreland announced today.

The production will mark a reunion: Rashad starred in the work’s 2000 world premiere at Arena Stage in Washington D.C. and the 2001 New York premiere at the Roundabout Theatre Company.

Though Blue will be Rashad’s Broadway directing debut, she has directed productions of four August Wilson plays, including Gem of the Ocean at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Mark Taper Forum, and Fences at both the Long Wharf Theatre and the McCarter Theatre. She’s also directed at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre and New York’s Signature Theatre.

“I am happy to be directing this play that brought me so much joy,” Rashad said in a statement. “It affirms the...

Brandi Carlile will perform Joni Mitchell’s legendary album Blue in its entirety this fall. The show, which takes place October 14th at Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, will feature the singer-songwriter recreating the 1971 masterpiece — one of her favorite albums of all time — with her longtime band.

“If Joni is right and ‘songs are like tattoos,’ then these songs are an indelible part of our collective story and coming of age,” Carlile said in a statement. “Let’s do Blue. Hearts on sleeves and voices raised. Let’s do this one for Joni.

There truly is no other anomalous phenomenon quite like Pokémon. Since its humble beginnings with Pokémon Red and Blue released for Nintendo’s Game Boy all the way back in 1996, developer Game Freak has remained behind the franchise wheel, releasing critical and commercial hit one after the other. But the mainline games, despite being an integral component of Pokémon‘s fame, are but part of a whole that contributes to its global appeal. Another core pillar that continues to attract audiences in their millions two decades on is the ongoing anime series.

Starring Ash Ketchum (and his best friend Pikachu) and charting his quest to become a Pokémon Master, the series, today, celebrates its 22nd anniversary in Japan, having aired its first episode all the way back on April 1st, 1997. To put that long-running success into a greater sense of perspective, more than 1,000 individual episodes and 20 theatrical films have aired...

Exclusive: Denny Love (Empire), Jay Lee (American Vandal), Sofia Vassilieva (Supergirl), Landry Bender (Best Friends Whenever), Uriah Shelton (The Glades) and Jordan Connor (Riverdale) are set as series regulars in Looking for Alaska, Hulu’s eight-episode limited series based on John Green’s novel, from Paramount Television and Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage’s Fake Empire. They join previously announced regulars Kristine Froseth and Charlie Plummer.

Looking for Alaska is told through the eyes of teenager Miles “Pudge” Halter (Plummer) as he enrolls in boarding school to try to gain a deeper perspective on life. He falls in love with a girl, Alaska Young (Froseth), and after her unexpected death, he and his close friends attempt to uncover the truth behind her death and make sense of it.

Love portrays The Colonel, a short, muscular and very smart tank of a young man. The Colonel (his real name is Chip Martin...

From Chaka Khan to James Taylor, an all-star lineup perform some of Joni Mitchell’s finest songs to mark her 75th birthday

This event cinema presentation offers a chance to see one of the two tribute concerts held last November in Los Angeles to honour Joni Mitchell. The revered singer-songwriter, now 75, fully deserves to be feted by an eclectic lineup of artists channelling her music. Fans should be warned, however, that although she can be seen here in occasional cutaways enjoying the show – and younger versions of her pop up in archive clips, photos and painted self-portraits – because of ill health she no longer performs.

So viewers have to make do with arresting, occasionally straight-up but mostly fascinating reinterpretations of Mitchell’s songs, performed by guest singers and an all-star house band. Arguably, the best performances here take the song in a new direction and transmute it with sheer force...

Joni Mitchell’s Morning Glory on the Vine, a rare book of handwritten lyrics, poems and watercolor paintings that the singer-songwriter distributed to friends in 1971, will be available to the masses this October.

“In 1971, as her album Blue topped charts around the world, Joni Mitchell crafted one hundred copies of Morning Glory on the Vine as a holiday gift for her closest friends,” Mitchell’s site wrote of the book (via Pitchfork).

“For this stunningly beautiful book, Joni hand-wrote an exquisite selection of her own lyrics and poems and illustrated...

Sue Clothier.

Producer Sue Clothier has teamed with the MDs of distributor Transmission Films, Richard Payten and Andrew Mackie, to form production company Utopia, which will make factual and scripted content for all platforms.

Over her career, Clothier has produced or overseen the production of more than 500 hours of original content, including Employable Me, Life on the Reef, Changing Minds, Kakadu, 10 Days That Shocked the Nation: Cronulla Riots, Whiteley and Blue. Clothier founded Northern Pictures in 2010, with the company then acquired by Blue Ant Media in 2017. Previously, she has worked as general manager of ScreenWorld and head of TV factual production at Becker Entertainment.

Utopia’s slate will be anchored in the factual space, but also has a number of scripted projects in development.

“Transmission Films is the leading independent distributor in the country and partnering with Richard and Andrew in Utopia has been the easiest decision I have ever made.

Pokémon aren’t the only recognizable faces popping up in the latest “Detective Pikachu” trailer.

Diplo appears in a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in the new trailer for Warner Bros.’ live-action Pokémon film.

The DJ can be seen about halfway through the clip wearing a pair of headphones and sitting behind a booth with some sound mixing equipment during a Pokémon battle. Next to him, an announcer is seen introducing the duel between a Blastoise and Gengar, water-type and ghost-type creatures, respectively. Diplo teased his cameo on Twitter.

playing myself in the pokemon detective movie is the first time my kids have ever thought i’m cool https://t.co/wl27DPcBEt

— dip (@diplo) February 26, 2019

The footage ends as the legendary Pokémon Mewtwo flies through a Pikachu float, turning it into a fiery explosion. Mewtwo first appeared the original “Pokémon Red” and “Blue” video games for the Game Boy in the late ’90s.

Kevin Bacon takes the prize for sweetest Valentine’s Day gift!

The 60-year-old actor shared a video of himself singing Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” on a ukulele that he said was a gift for his wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick.

“Ok, we don’t really do Valentine’s Day in my family so shhh don’t tell Kyra that I got her this little Valentine’s Day present,” Bacon whispered to the camera as he showed off the instrument. “All right? Just keep it quiet, thanks!”

The actor began to sing Mitchell’s 1971 song from her album Blue with his dog,...

Missy Peregrym is back in law enforcement. Having previously been on the show Rookie Blue, she’s now starring on FBI. Though she’s carried a badge on both shows, Peregrym says the two characters are very different, and she likes where Maggie’s story is going on FBI. (Click on the media bar below to hear Missy [...]

The post Joining ‘FBI’ A Big Step Up From ‘Blue’ For Missy Peregrym appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

A Joni Mitchell tribute album, celebrating her 75th birthday, will feature live renditions of the singer’s songs by Brandi Carlile, Norah Jones, Chaka Khan, James Taylor and many others. The record, Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration, will come out on March 8th. It contains a recording of a tribute concert that was held in her honor in Los Angeles last November.

The concert will additionally be broadcast in movie theaters on February 7th. Tickets are available at the Joni 75 website.

Percussionist Brian Blade, who made three studio albums and toured with Mitchell,...

“I wanted to choose Blake [Shelton] from the get-go, but something inside my gut was telling me to go with Kelly [Clarkson], so I had to listen to that,” Voice winner Chevel Shepherd tells Rolling Stone of choosing her coach. Now, as the titleholder of the show’s 15th season, she’s glad she did. Following Tuesday night’s finale, Clarkson, the newest Voice coach, officially earned back-to-back victories, with her mentorship of season 14 winner Brynn Cartelli, and now Shepherd.

In this season’s pool of contestants, Shepherd proved herself to be a tough contender.

Chevel Shepherd could pull off the biggest upset in the history of “The Voice” and win season 15 over frontrunners Kirk Jay and Kennedy Holmes, according to 22% of the viewers of Monday’s finale. They give the edge to this talented teen from New Mexico because she is the only singer from Team Kelly Clarkson still in the competition. Those backing Chevel remember that coach Kelly is the reigning champ on “The Voice.”

At her blind audition, Chevel impressed Kelly, Jennifer Hudson and Blake Shelton with her cover “If I Die Young.” She opted to work with her idol, Kelly. Chevel was then pitted against two other artists on Team Clarkson. In each instance Kelly went with her, first in the Battle round when she and Mikele Buck sang “You Look So Good in Love and then in the Knockouts where her performance of “Travelin’ Soldier” outdid that of Sarah Grace.

An argument about Weezer derails a Christmas dinner in a Saturday Night Live sketch that found Leslie Jones and Matt Damon debating the merits of the long-running alternative rock band.

The fight begins after Weezer’s cover of Toto’s “Africa” is played during the dinner. “I think they’re doing some cool things right now,” Damon’s character says of Weezer, noting that the band just announced the release date for “the freaking Black Album.”

Jones’ neighbor tells Damon, “I’m just a little confused because real Weezer fans...

The Season 15 finalists for NBC’s reality TV singing competition “The Voice” have been chosen and will compete for the championship on Monday, December 17. After months of Blind Auditions, Battles, Knockouts, Live Shows and Instant Saves the stage has been set: Team Blake Shelton‘s Chris Kroeze and Kirk Jay, Team Kelly Clarkson‘s Chevel Shepherd and Team Jennifer Hudson‘s Kennedy Holmes will compete for the title. Coach Adam Levine failed to advance any of his artists to the finale. But which of the four finalists do You want to to be crowned the winner during the season finale on Tuesday, December 18? Vote in our poll below.

See‘The Voice’ Semi-Finals results show recap: Top 8 will cruelly and swiftly become a Final 4 tonight [Updating Live Blog]

Chevel Shepherd (Team Kelly) – The 16-year old country singer from New Mexico impressed Blake, Jennifer and Kelly with her blind audition of “If I Die Young,...

After Tuesday night’s live elimination where a Top 8 cruelly became a Top 4, Blake Shelton managed to advance both of his artists, Kirk Jay and Chris Kroeze, to the finale. Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson will each have just one finalist with Chevel Shepherd and Kennedy Holmes, respectively. Three-time champion Adam Levine fell short with his team and will have to sit on the sidelines.

Next Monday, December 17, “The Voice” Top 4 will perform live for audience votes for the last time and then on Tuesday’s grand finale, the winner of “The Voice” season 15 will be crowned based on votes and downloads. Kelly will be defending her championship after winning with Brynn Cartelli in season 14, but Jennifer is looking to snag her first win as a coach in the U.S. and Blake is hoping to add to his collection of crowns, already six deep.

Below we rank the four...

Four singers will be eliminated on tonight’s “The Voice” results show. Yes, the Top 8 will cruelly and swiftly become a Final 4 for this next-to-last week of Season 15. Which four artists do you think are on the chopping block for Tuesday?

For the remaining contestants in this autumn season, there is one artist from Team Adam Levine, two each for Team Blake Shelton and Team Jennifer Hudson, plus three singers for Team Kelly Clarkson. Make your comments in our live updating blog item below about this one-hour episode airing on NBC. Read our analysis from the past seven shows for Monday, November 19, Tuesday, November 20, Monday, November 26, Tuesday, November 27, Monday, December 3, Tuesday, December 4 and Monday, December 10.

For last night’s episode, here were the duets and solo performances for each of the teams:

Sarah Grace (Team Kelly) – “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles

Kennedy Holmes (Team Jennifer) and Reagan Strange...

Heading into next week’s finale for Season 15 of “The Voice,” Team Blake Shelton‘s Kirk Jay appears poised to lock down his spot in the final four after coming out on top of this week’s iTunes chart. The Alabama country singer closed out Monday night’s live performance episode, putting his own spin on John Michael Montgomery‘s hit “I Swear.” The performance earned him a standing ovation from all four coaches and landed him at #4 on iTunes at the time voting closed on Tuesday, December 11.

See‘The Voice’ Top 8: Who was the best (and worst) on Monday’s show? [Poll]

While iTunes is no longer an official voting method, it remains one visible way to find out which artists are striking a cord with viewers. Team Kelly Clarkson‘s Chevel Shepherd had a big night as well, with her cover of LeAnn Rimes‘ “Blue” hitting #6 on the chart.

Only eight contestants remain on Season 15 of NBC’s The Voice, and Monday night found the frontrunners squaring off for a spot in the four-singer finale that will take place next week — plus some country mash-up fun.

As always, R&B powerhouse MaKenzie Thomas turned in a captivating performance, boldly tackling a Mariah Carey tune for the second time this season. Taking on “Vision of Love,” Thomas gave the 1990 hit a gospel makeover, standing in front of a waterfall of light and earning cheers from the crowd as the song’s energy rose halfway through.

Julio Medem's Lovers of the Article Circle (1998) is showing November 17 – December 16 on Mubi in the United Kingdom and November 25 – December 24, 2018 in the United States, and Room in Room (2010) is showing November 18 – December 17, 2018 on Mubi in the United Kingdom.Room in RomeKairos is a specific word that the Ancient Greeks used to describe time, not in its lineal nature, but an opportune moment or critical, chance timing. Kairos is composed by circumstances capturing the most elusive part of our lives, half-fate, half-luck, activated by human agency. Celebrated Basque director Julio Medem, in his filmmaking strokes, has a way of taming this crucial notion of time, transforming chance encounters into kairotic human interaction. His orchestration of character development over the course of a lifetime in Lovers of the Arctic Circle (1998) or a night, as in Room in Rome (2010), represents the magical transformative power of intersubjectivity and intimacy. Both films position and...

Monday night during the Top 8 performance episode of “The Voice,” country singer Kirk Jay of Team Blake Shelton took on “I Swear” for America’s votes. Kirk decided to dedicate his performance of John Michael Montgomery‘s pop/country hit to a young fan who’s currently in the hospital fighting cancer. Will Kirk be one of the four artists to make it to the Season 15 finale? Watch “The Voice” live performance video above.

SEEChevel Shepherd brings ‘pure country’ to ‘The Voice’ with ‘Blue’ cover, raves Kelly Clarkson [Watch]

Rival coaches Jennifer Hudson and Adam Levine had a fun argument about who got to talk about Kirk first, but since time was running out they both only had a few seconds. Then it was Blake’s turn to heap praises on his country artist. “Eighty percent of the things that JHud talks to me about is you, just so you know,...

Monday night during the Top 8 performance episode of “The Voice,” country singer Chevel Shepherd of Team Kelly Clarkson took on “Blue” for America’s votes. Chevel chose the classic LeAnne Rimes hit because it most showcases who she wants to be as an artist, with the long notes and the slight yodeling. Will Chevel be one of the four artists to make it to the Season 15 finale? Watch “The Voice” live performance video above.

SEEReagan Strange is back on ‘The Voice’ after Adam Levine’s ‘strange’ week: Watch her belt out ‘You Are the Reason’

“I love my finals girl, y’all,” Kelly said while standing up and holding out her arms. “This is Chevel. This is pure country. This is what I fell in love with when I was a little girl. I remember when this came out, LeAnne Rimes was singing it and I’m like, ‘Oh, this...

Monday, December 3 on “The Voice,” Chevel Shepherd took on “You’re Lookin’ At Country” for Team Kelly Clarkson during the Top 10 performance episode. Kelly’s so-called “Country Tinkerbell” was tasked with yodeling along with her performance this week, which the judges all universally praised. Do you think this performance was good enough for Chevel to advance to next week’s Top 8 show for Team Kelly? Watch the “Voice” video above and read the coaches’ comments below.

SEESarah Grace takes huge ‘The Voice’ risk by changing up ‘Amazing Grace’: Will she advance to Top 8 week? [Watch]

Blake Shelton: “She is so cute, there’s no way around it. Chevel, you have found a way to make a Loretta Lynn song even countrier than it was originally. How is that possible? With the yodel that’s reoccurring throughout the performance, I thought it was a lot of fun. I thought you sang it great,...

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham has announced his first album release in four years, setting February 15th as the arrival date for his sixth studio LP, American Love Song.

The gravel-voiced New Mexico native — who also earned an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for 2009’s “The Weary Kind,” the theme song from the Jeff Bridges film Crazy Heart — presents 15 new tracks which touch on themes both personal and cultural, co-producing the set with former Bob Dylan guitarist (and Blaze actor) Charlie Sexton.

“Wolves,” released today as the first offering from the project,...

Tony Sokol Nov 26, 2018

Fifty years later, and 107 cuts total and we still can't get enough of The Beatles' White Album.

A half century after their records first premiered, the Beatles are coming up with the numbers. The 50th anniversary reissue of the band's 1968 double album The Beatles debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album is also known the "White Album," which also happened with the two post-breakup "Red" and "Blue" compilation double albums.

When it was first released, The "White" Album spent nine nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 between Dec. 28, 1968 and March 1, 1969. On March 29, 1969, the last week of its top 10 run, it was at number 5. The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 50th anniversary reissue in 2017 premiered on the Billboard 200 at No. 3 on June 17, 2017. The original 1967 album was at number one for 15 weeks straight from July 1 through Oct. 7, 1967.

further reading: The Beatles: In Defense of Revolution...

There can’t be many pairs of hands as safe as Don Letts’s when it comes to music knowledge. A cultural polymath who has been front-and-centre of the music scene for over 40 years – as a musician, DJ, radio presenter, Grammy Award-winning music video and film director. Letts was one of the key figures in the introduction of reggae to the punk movement, working particularly closely with The Clash.

He’s returned to reggae, celebrating his first love with a series of podcasts for Turtle Bay, and in his latest Reggae45 podcast, he has zeroed in on reggae’s place in Jamaican cinema. “With this episode Don takes the term soundtrack from a literal point of view, delving deep into the world of film and how the sound has a parallel connection with the story on the screen.”

The Citizen Kane of Jamaican cinema is Perry Henzell’s 1972 crime thriller...

You’d be hard-pressed to find a series with a more diverse fanbase than Pokemon. Having been on the market for over 20 years, the franchise’s audience has become so large and varied, that you could pick three Pokemon fans at random, and end up with three completely different people who all love different things about the series. Personally, I consider myself a longtime fan who holds the first two generations of games up on a pedestal, though I realize I’m probably in the minority here. Show up at your favorite retail store on the launch day for a main entry in the series, and you’ll be swarmed by fans young and old, who are eager to get their hands on developer Game Freak’s latest iteration. And then, of course, you have the Pokemon Go crowd, which itself is a hodgepodge of casual and nostalgic gamers alike.

Abdellatif Kechiche, the French director best known for helming “Blue is the Warmest Color,” has been accused of sexual assaulting a young actress, Deadline reports. The woman, who is remaining anonymous for now, filed a complaint with French police at the beginning of October, alleging Kechiche assaulted her at a dinner party in Paris in June. Kechiche’s lawyer says the director “categorically denies” the accusation.

According to Deadline, French police have started a preliminary investigation into the accusation. The actress says the alleged assault took place at an apartment located in the 20th Arrondissement in Paris. The apartment was owned by a mutual friend of Kechiche and the actress.

Kechiche is famous for sharing the Palme d’Or with actresses Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Despite “Blue Is the Warmest Color” being championed by many critics and moviegoers, some have criticized Kechiche’s male...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSFrieze reports that David Lynch, in collaboration with Showtime and Collider games, is set to create a Twin Peaks virtual reality experience: "Twin Peaks Vr will allow players to explore locations from the original series (1990–1991) as well as Twin Peaks: The Return".We're four years removed from Gone Girl and still without a new David Fincher movie—thankfully /Film reports that, despite the radio silence, David Fincher is still set to direct "World War Z 2", which is set to shoot Summer 2019.Recommended VIEWINGClint Eastwood returns both behind and in front of the camera—this time hunted by his protégée Bradley Cooper—in what looks to be a remarkable thriller about lifetimes, borders, and family. The first trailer for The Mule is here:Here is the official trailer for Joseph Kahn's battle-rap comedy Bodied,...

LeAnn Rimes seems determined to change her primary color from “Blue” to… red and green.

She embraced Christmas music in a big way with a couple of mid-decade holiday recordings, and will soon embark on her sixth annual Christmas tour. But Rimes is really bringing the connection home with “It’s Christmas, Eve,” an upcoming Hallmark Channel in which she has the title role, and for which she’s recorded a soundtrack, due Oct. 12.

Variety has the exclusive premiere of the title song she co-wrote and sang for the film. It’s one of three original compositions she cut for the project, which represents an extra effort to bring something new to the holiday proceedings, as opposed to regifted chestnuts.

With nothing but piano accompaniment for most of the track, “It’s Christmas, Eve” avoids the treacle of most contemporary holiday music and harks back to the simplicity and hopeful,...

This year Nick Robinson starred in the coming-of-age teen dramedy “Love, Simon,” which premiered at Mardi Gras Film Festival on February 27 and was released by 20th Century Fox in the United States on March 16. Robinson is mostly known for playing Ryder Scanlan in ABC Family’s “Melissa and Joey” (2010-2015) and Zach Mitchell in “Jurassic World” (2015), so he’s already a familiar face in the industry. Will Hollywood Foreign Press Association voters give him love for his breakthrough performance in “Love, Simon” by nominating him for Best Musical/Comedy Actor at the 2019 Golden Globes?

See‘Love, Simon’ leading man Nick Robinson is this year’s Timothee Chalamet

In the movie, which was directed by Greg Berlanti, written by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (“This Is Us”) and based on Becky Albertalli’s novel “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda,” Robinson plays the title character, Simon Spier, a high school senior...

Liz Lemon. Leslie Knope. Mindy Lahiri. The past several years have been full of iconic comedy leading ladies, and they're about to have a new member of the club. On the new NBC comedy I Feel Bad, Emet Kamala-Sweetzer tries to juggle her family and her career and finds herself frustrated over not being able to achieve her idea of perfection and "having it all." There's a good chance you recognize the actress playing Emet, but an equally good chance that you can't quite remember what you recognize her from. Never fear - we've got the rundown of where you've seen actress Sarayu Blue before.

Known earlier in her career as Sarayu Rao, Blue has been acting since 2002's Leela, although she didn't snag a noticeable role until 2007. In that year, she joined the film Lions For Lambs, which starred Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, and Meryl Streep. Despite the film's starry cast,...

On the North American 20th anniversary of Pokemon Red and Blue, Cinelinx takes a look at how the simple RPG captivated gamers and helped influence generations to come.

Today marks 20 years since Pokemon debuted here in North America, kicking off one of the most consistently successful franchises in gaming. To mark the occasion, I'm taking a look back at the impact this simple RPG franchise had on me as a gamer, why it works so well, and the lasting infulence it's had on gaming in general.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a big Pokemon gaming fan here on the site. My fanboyish-ness comes out with just about every press release we get regarding new games coming out, and I've been steadily playing PokemonGo since it's release. Something about the simplicity of the game, that belie deeper mechanics is really appealing. They’re RPGs stripped...

Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues reboot has a host and a new title. TV newcomer and Broadway actor Joshua Dela Cruz will lead a new generation of preschoolers in the search for clues with the beloved energetic girl puppy blue on Blue’s Clues & You (fka Blue’s Clues). Production begins this month in Toronto.

The network announced in March that it was bringing back the animated preschool classic with a 20-episode series order that would have a “refreshed signature look.”

In Blue’s Clues & You, puppy Blue invites viewers to join her and live action host Dela Cruz on a clue-led adventure and solve a daily puzzle. With each signature paw print, Blue identifies clues in her animated world that propel the story and inspires viewers to interact with the action.

The casting of Dela Cruz was the result of an opening casting call that began last April in Southern California.

The Notebook is covering Tiff with an on-going correspondence between critics Kelley Dong and Daniel Kasman.Monrovia, IndianaDear Kelley,I'm glad you were delighted by A Star Is Born, a film I admit I reserve considerable skepticism for due to my love of the Janet Gaynor and Frederic March version from the '30s—as well as because I'm still lamenting the fact that Clint Eastwood's production, which was to star Beyoncé, never got made. I first need to see the Barbara Streisand version before catching the new one, but isn't it strange and wonderful how many times and through such different eras this story has been told? I look forward to this 2018 one and wonder what kind of artist the inevitable 2050 remake will revolve around—one can only hope some kind of populist A.I. hologram.But back to the present epoch, one which, from the looks of the films I've seen,...

Keith Collins, who has died of a brain tumour aged 54, was the long-time companion of the film-maker and artist Derek Jarman. A practical, dependable and vigorous man, Keith believed his greatest achievement was keeping Derek alive long enough to finish the film Blue (1993). His presence in the last eight years of Derek’s life enabled the film-maker to make an abundance of late work including painting, writing and the creation of his garden at Prospect Cottage in Dungeness, Kent.

Born in Lanchester, County Durham, Keith grew up in Burnhope and went to Greencroft grammar school in the neighbouring village. His father, Stanley, was a bus driver who went on to work in a tyre factory, while his mother, Valerie (nee Robson), gave piano lessons to local children.

News came yesterday that Rlje Films have acquired the North American rights for David Ian McKendry's debut feature film and seasonal horror flick All The Creatures Were Stirring. The film had its world premiere at the Chattanooga Film Festival this past Spring.    All The Creatures Were Stirring stars Constance Wu, of the much talked about film of the moment Crazy Rich Asians, and a couple of indie horror darlings Amanda Fuller and Graham Skipper (The Mind's Eye and Sequence Break). Read the synopsis in the press release below and if you pick up a sort of holiday themed The Theatre Bizzare vibe to it all you would not be far off I am told.   Rlje Films will release All The Creatures...

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