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‘The bogans were adorable’: Miriam Margolyes on burnouts and her new TikTok fame

She says her often disarming manner ensures people are “not afraid” of her. “When they talk to me, they’re not guarded – they just speak how they feel and that’s very valuable on television, and very rare, I think. You know, I was extremely moved, for example, by the people who couldn’t read,” she says of an older couple she met in Tasmania. It’s one of the series’ more sobering moments, when the statistics of adult illiteracy in Australia are revealed.

“That’s something that I would call political – I’m not afraid to say the numbers. And they are shocking. But it was just wonderful to see middle-aged people making their lives better,” Margolyes says. “I really did find that moving – and hopeful, because while that sort of thing can happen and work, then things can improve. You know, I’m at the moment living in England, which is in the most awful state, and it is almost entirely created by the corrupt inadequacies and incompetence of those in power.”

She’s pleased about Boris Johnson’s resignation; she’s been in trouble several times for her candid opinions of the disgraced PM, for saying she hoped he might die from COVID, among other things. Most recently, I believe, for referring to him as ‘c—’.

“Oh yes, that’s right – I’ve done that many times. And I absolutely stand by that. He’s everything that I totally disapprove of. He’s a philandering, adulterous, incompetent, corrupt politician – there isn’t a single thing there that you could approve of.”

As an Australian citizen (she has a home in NSW that she stays at with her Australian partner of 53 years, Heather, who lives in the Netherlands; they see each other a handful of times a year), she was also pleased with our recent federal election.

“I voted Labor, of course,” she says. “Australians are not stupid – it takes them a while to make up their minds, but I think everybody, whether they voted Liberal or not, were just disgusted. They just thought, for f—’s sake, let’s get rid of him! And I was very happy about that.”

The 10 best movies of 2022 so far, definitively ranked (from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ to ‘RRR’)

film-festival fare makes its way into the world and you can’t escape Oscar bait. But at least for the first half of the year? Action movies rule like nothing else.

It’s like the movie gods know what cinema lovers have been through the past couple of years, missing out on the big-screen experience because of COVID-19, and they’ve bestowed bountiful, explosive, eye-popping riches upon us. Michelle Yeoh rocks as an unlikely multiverse-hopping heroine, Batman aces a triumphant return, 10th-century Vikings are having a moment, Tom Cruise is back in the cockpit for a “Top Gun” sequel that – believe it or not – exceeds 36 years of expectations, and an Indian film is a joyous, jaw-dropping game changer on the level of “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

So, yeah, there are some seriously great action flicks among the year’s greatest hits. Here are the best movies of 2022 so far, definitively ranked: 

10. ‘Turning Red’

Like the best Pixar originals, the animated comedy takes on a universal aspect of people’s lives in heartwarming fashion – in this case, female puberty. A Toronto teen (voiced by Rosalie Chiang) wakes up to discover that, when overly excited, she turns into an 8-foot-tall giant red panda in director Domee Shi’s funny and empowering tribute to monster movies, 2000s-era boy bands, Asian culture and growing up.

Where to watch: Disney+ and on demand

Review:Pixar’s ‘Turning Red’ tackles female puberty like no other Disney film would dare

9. ‘Master’

Set at a prestigious New England college built on land where a Salem-era witch was hanged, director Mariama Diallo’s superb social horror film stars Regina Hall as a new dean of students wracked by unnerving visions and Zoe Renee as a freshman assigned to a purportedly haunted dorm room. The twisty movie digs into institutional racism and white supremacy, with plenty of supernatural chills as well. 

Where to watch: Amazon Prime

‘Master’:Regina Hall co-stars with ‘some very diva maggots’ in Sundance horror

8. ‘Kimi’

Paying homage to Hitchcock and “Home Alone,”  Zoë Kravitz masks up for a magnetic turn in Steven Soderbergh’s pandemic-era paranoia thriller as an agoraphobic tech worker tasked to improve a company’s Alexa-like device. She hears something she’s not supposed to, reports it to her bosses and ends up on the run, trying to avoid COVID-19 and being murdered, in an old-school throwback with modern tweaks.

Where to watch: HBO Max and on demand

Zoë Kravitz:Actress talks sweaty first day on ‘Batman’ set, breaking the ice with Robert Pattinson

7. ‘The Northman’

Director Robert Eggers just makes really good, totally bonkers movies (“The Witch,” anyone?) and takes his biggest swing yet with an ultra-violent Viking revenge fantasy. Alexander Skarsgård plays a berzerker with simple life goals – avenge his father, save his mother (Nicole Kidman), kill his uncle – in a crazy tale with Slavic witches, a bloody ball game and a naked sword fight on top of an active volcano.

Where to watch: Peacock and on demand

‘The Northman’:Why bonkers Viking epic just had to have ‘a naked sword fight on a volcano’

6. ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’

It’s a long shot for writer/director Cooper Raiff’s film to follow the same path – all the way to a best picture Oscar – as last year’s Sundance Film Festival audience award winner “CODA.” But the sweetly unconventional dramedy “Cha Cha” is a similar feel-good charmer, starring Raiff as an aimless 22-year-old college graduate who starts to find himself as a party-starter at bar mitzvahs and forms a close bond with an older mom (Dakota Johnson).

Where to watch: In theaters and on Apple TV+ Friday

Sundance Film Festival:Dakota Johnson’s ‘Cha Cha,’ horror film ‘Nanny’ win top prizes

5. ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’

Don’t worry about having your brain broken and just go with wild flow of this action-packed, multiverse-hopping genre mashup directed by Daniels (aka Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert). Yeoh dazzles as a laundromat owner whose tax issues get shoved aside when she gets a crash course on alternate realities (including one where she has hot dog fingers!) and has to learn from the lives of her other selves to stop a nihilistic villain. 

Where to watch: In theaters and on demand

Review:Michelle Yeoh’s reluctant heroine powers dazzling, dizzying ‘Everything Everywhere’

4. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Director Joseph Kosinski’s sequel succeeds as loving nostalgia trip and rip-roaring airborne extravaganza, with Cruise’s ever-defiant flyboy Maverick returning to find the best young fighter pilots for a dangerous mission – including the son (Miles Teller) of his late wingman. All the “Top Gun:” boxes get checked but the movie goes the extra mile to land a white-knuckle narrative with a surprising amount of heart.

Where to watch: In theaters

Review:Tom Cruise’s excellent ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ takes to the skies, sticks to the formula

3. ‘The Fallout’

Director Megan Park’s soulful drama centers on the aftermath of a school shooting and Jenna Ortega stuns as a teen who goes numb to family and friends but hangs with a new confidant: the girl (Maddie Ziegler) she was trapped in the bathroom with during the carnage. The well-crafted film – given new weight in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, shootings – offers a sense of hope tempered by an endless cycle of violence.

Where to watch: HBO Max and on demand

‘The Fallout’:Why Jenna Ortega, 19, is ‘drawn to the darker things’

2. ‘The Batman’

Grimy Gotham City and its Dark Knight detective both star in director Matt Reeves’ ambitious reimagining of the Bat-mythos. Robert Pattinson is the tortured dude in the cape and cowl – in his second year of fighting crime – and Reeves’ realistic spin colorfully revamps some pop-culture icons, including serial-killing Riddler (Paul Dano), feisty thief Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) and power-hungry gangster Penguin (Colin Farrell).

Where to watch: HBO Max and on demand

The best of the Dark Knight:Every Batman movie (including ‘The Batman’), definitively ranked

1. ‘RRR’

S.S. Rajamouli’s exuberant and bromantic 1920s-set Indian musical epic – think Marvel and “Fast and Furious” having a Bollywood baby (but in Telugu language) – is the one movie everyone must see. Equal parts historical fiction and gonzo superhero story, “RRR” boasts three hours of over-the-top adventure, high-stakes emotion, true love, great songs, wild animals and even some dance fighting. But the main men make it all work: N.T. Rama Rao Jr. plays a burly warrior sent to Delhi to bring back a girl captured from his tribe by British colonialists, and Ram Charan is an officer in the English army who becomes his best bud but has hard decisions to make in regards to his loyalties.

Where to watch: Netflix

Pauly Shore’s Voice in CG Animated ‘Pinocchio: A True Story’ Trailer

Pauly Shore’s Voice in CG Animated ‘Pinocchio: A True Story’ Trailer

by
January 26, 2022
Source: YouTube

“Pinocchio is not just a puppet, he’s a miracle!” Lionsgate has unveiled an official US trailer for an 3D CG animated movie called Pinocchio: A True Story, originally made in Russia by a Russian filmmaker. This is not the same as the upcoming Guillermo del Toro stop-motion animated Pinocchio movie that was also teased this week. It’s the third new Pinocchio movie in the last few years, along with the Italian live-action version recently. This release will be available with an English-language voice cast, featuring Pauly Shore, Jon Heder, and Tom Kenny (of “SpongeBob” fame). Young Pinocchio runs away from his genius creator Jepetto accompanied by the horse Tibalt to see the world and joins the traveling circus run by the hustler Modjafocco. No surprise, this looks awful, with bad animation, a bad story, and bad voice work. Stay away.

Here’s the official US trailer (+ poster) for Vasiliy Rovenskiy’s Pinocchio: A True Story, from YouTube:

Think you know the story of Pinocchio? Think again! In this thrilling, humorous take on the classic tale, the wooden hero is a skilled acrobat who performs stunts with his beloved horse, the wisecracking Tybalt. He runs off to join a circus, where he falls for the ringmaster’s daughter, Bella. But when Pinocchio learns the circus is a cover-up for robberies, he must stop the crime spree in order to save Bella – and, hopefully, become human. It’s a magical adventure the whole family will love! Pinocchio: A True Story, originally known as Пиноккио in Russian, is directed by Russian writer / filmmaker Vasiliy Rovenskiy, director of the films Two Tails, The Big Trip, Magic Arch 3D, and A Female Rodent’s Back previously. The screenplay is written by Vasiliy Rovenskiy, Maksim Sveshnikov, and Vadim Sveshnikov. This movie is set to open first in Russia starting in February 2022 this winter. Lionsgate will then release Rovenskiy’s Pinocchio: A True Story in the US direct-to-dvd / VOD starting on March 22nd, 2022 coming soon. Is anyone interested?

Find more posts: Animation, To Watch, Trailer

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie closes on Uncharted as it tops $400m at the box office

The Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie has now grossed over $400 million globally in under three months.

The live-action sequel, which was co-produced by Sega and paramount Pictures, debuted in selected markets on March 30.

The film is currently the fifth-highest grossing video game adaptation of all time, and as it’s still showing in cinemas it looks set to overtake Sony’s Uncharted movie, which was released in January.

The top-grossing video game adaptations (via Box Office Mojo):

  • Warcraft: $439,048,914
  • Detective Pikachu: $433,230,304
  • Rampage: $428,028,233
  • Uncharted: $401,622,829
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2: $400,015,446

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 also recently became the highest-grossing video game movie of all time in the United States, where it’s lifetime total has now reached $190.56 million.

Sega and paramount confirmed in February that a third Sonic film and a live-action TV series featuring Knuckles have entered production.

Commenting on the success of the movies in a recent VGC interview, Sonic Team’s boss said it presented a welcome challenge for the studio because it now has a broader audience to satisfy with its game releases.

“Because of the success of the movies, we’re finding that we’re reaching into this wider audience of people who maybe never played the game before, or don’t play them that much,” Takashi Iizuka said. “It’s this wider group of fans who we need to start now making content for.

“Honestly, it makes us all very happy, because we have more people now that we can bring content to. It is a challenge though, because we have maybe new gamers or people who haven’t played previous Sonic games, so we don’t think we can go out there with on single game that will make the entire audience excited.”

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie closes on Uncharted as it tops $400m at the box office

Iizuka also suggested he isn’t keen to bring elements from the recent Sonic movies into future video games.

“Because the movie Sonic came from where the game started, trying to take the movie qualities and stick it back into the games doesn’t really work well,” he said.

“What I want to do is stay faithful to our game Sonic and really expand on the game Sonic to incorporate new ideas that are going to get people excited about new games.”

Elvis (2022 film)

ElvisDirected byBaz LuhrmannScreenplay byStory byProduced byStarringCinematographyMandy WalkerEdited byMusic byElliott Wheeler[1]Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures159 minutes[2]CountriesLanguageEnglishBudget$85 million[3][4]Box office$185.6 million[5][6]

Elvis is a 2022 biographical musical film directed by Baz Luhrmann, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner. The film follows the life of rock and roll icon, singer and actor Elvis Presley, told from the perspective of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. It stars Austin Butler in the title role with Tom Hanks as Parker, and Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Kelvin Harrison Jr., David Wenham, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Luke Bracey in supporting roles.

It was announced in 2014 that Luhrmann would be directing an Elvis Presley biopic, though the project was not officially announced until March 2019. Butler was cast in the title role that July, beating out several high-profile actors. Filming began in Luhrmann’s native Australia in January 2020, but paused from March through September following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming wrapped over a year after it began, in March 2021.

Elvis premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 25, 2022, and was released in Australia on June 23, 2022, and in the United States on June 24, 2022. It has grossed over $185 million worldwide and has received positive reviews from critics, with praise for Butler’s performance and the musical sequences.[7][8]

Plot[edit]

In 1997, Elvis Presley’s former manager, Colonel Tom Parker, is on his deathbed. Nursing a gambling addiction that has left him destitute, he looks back on how he first met the future King of Rock and Roll.

Raised mostly by doting mother Gladys, Elvis spent his childhood in the poorest parts of Mississippi. He finds an escape in comic books and especially in song, though he is ridiculed by his peers thanks to his fascination with the African-American music of Memphis’ Beale Street. At this time, Parker is a carnival “huckster” who fancies himself a modern-day P.T. Barnum. Although Parker is already managing country singer Hank Snow, Parker immediately realizes Elvis’ crossover potential when he hears the white artist “singing black” on a low-quality single. He tracks Elvis to a Louisiana Hayride performance, finding that he is a talented musician with a strong sexual appeal.

Parker persuades Elvis to let him take exclusive control of his career, beginning a meteoric ascent that sees the Presley family lifted out of poverty. Ordinary Americans are divided as to their opinions on the singer, with conservative-minded citizens (including segregationist Mississippi Senator Jim Eastland) worried that his music will corrupt their children and calm racial hostility. Eastland calls Parker to an informal hearing, during which he questions Parker about his mysterious past.

After Elvis’ charged dance moves at a concert result in an arrest for indecent conduct, the singer finds himself facing a possible jail term. It is implied that Parker persuades the government to draft Elvis into the US Army as a way of avoiding any further legal entanglements. During his military service in West Germany, Elvis is devastated by his mother’s alcoholism-induced death. He only recovers when he meets Priscilla Beaulieu; on his discharge, he marries Priscilla and resumes his career-making concert tours and films. Parker’s control of Elvis’ life becomes even stronger.

As the popular culture of the 1960s passes him by, Elvis is heartbroken by the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. Although he wants to become more politically outspoken in his music, Parker only allows him to release frivolous feel-good songs. Elvis eventually decides to revamp his image with the help of an outside group of consultants, hijacking a Christmas special by recording various political and emotionally charged songs. Network sponsors are infuriated and threaten litigation, while Parker is disgusted, believing Elvis to have been “brainwashed by hippies.”

Parker refuses Elvis’ request for a world tour and tricks him into signing a contract for a long Las Vegas casino residency. Elvis discovers that Parker does not want to travel abroad because he is a stateless illegal immigrant; having surrendered his original Dutch citizenship, he could not return to America after leaving. When he attempts to fire Parker, the manager responds by suing him for an impossibly large sum of money. They argue, and Parker convinces Elvis that the two need each other. They rarely see each other afterwards, though Parker continues in his role as manager.

Elvis’ behavioral issues and prescription drug addiction overtake him, and a despondent Priscilla divorces him in 1973, taking their daughter Lisa Marie with her. Elvis continues a rigorous schedule of shows that leaves him increasingly exhausted. In 1977, Elvis dies of a heart attack at the age of 42. Shortly before his death, Elvis expresses his greatest fear to Priscilla: that no one will remember him after he is gone.

Elvis is seen at one of his final shows. Bloated and pale (and mocked by the media for his corpulent appearance), he sings “Unchained Melody”. He ends the performance triumphantly, to thunderous applause. As he finishes his recollection, Colonel Parker dies old, impoverished and alone.

Cast[edit]

.thumbcaption{text-align:center}}]]>

  • Austin Butler as Elvis Presley
    • Chaydon Jay as young Elvis Presley
  • Tom Hanks as Col. Tom Parker, Elvis’ manager
  • Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla Presley (née Wagner), Elvis’ wife
  • Helen Thomson as Gladys Presley (née Smith), Elvis’ mother
  • Richard Roxburgh as Vernon Presley, Elvis’ father
  • Kelvin Harrison Jr. as B.B. King
  • Xavier Samuel as Scotty Moore
  • David Wenham as Hank Snow
  • Kodi Smit-McPhee as Jimmie Rodgers Snow
  • Luke Bracey as Jerry Schilling
  • Dacre Montgomery as Steve Binder
  • Leon Ford as Tom Diskin, a spokesperson for Col. Tom Parker[9]
  • Alton Mason as Little Richard
  • Yola Quartey as Sister Rosetta Tharpe
  • Gary Clark Jr. as Arthur Crudup
  • Natasha Bassett as Dixie Locke
  • Kate Mulvany as Marion Keisker
  • Josh McConville as Sam Phillips[10]
  • Christopher Sommers as Horace Logan
  • Nicholas Bell as Senator Jim Eastland
  • Christian Kisando as Smoky, Elvis’ Shake Rag’s childhood friend
  • John Mukristayo as Jimmy, Elvis’ Shake Rag’s childhood friend
  • Miles Burton as Bobby, Elvis’ Shake Rag’s childhood friend
  • Gad Banza as Doc, Elvis’ Shake Rag’s childhood friend
  • Adam Dunn as Bill Black
  • Terepai Richmond as D.J. Fontana
  • Patrick Shearer as Dewey Phillips
  • Liz Blackett as Minnie Mae “Dodger” Presley (née Hood), Elvis’ grandmother
  • Cle Morgan as Mahalia Jackson
  • Shonka Dukureh as Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton
  • Afik Ahmed Pious as Pious Binder

[11]

Production[edit]

Development and casting[edit]

The project was first announced in April 2014, when Baz Luhrmann entered negotiations to direct the film, with Kelly Marcel writing the script.[12]

No further development was announced until March 2019, when Tom Hanks was cast in the role of Colonel Tom Parker. Luhrmann was set as director, and also replaced Marcel as screenwriter with Sam Bromell and Craig Pearce.[13][14][15] In July, the frontrunners for the role of Presley were Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, Austin Butler, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Harry Styles; later that month Butler won the role, after impressing Luhrmann with an audition tape of himself singing “Unchained Melody.”[16][17][18] Luhrmann revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he got a call from actor-director Denzel Washington recommending Butler.[19] In October, Olivia DeJonge was cast to play Priscilla Presley.[20] Maggie Gyllenhaal and Rufus Sewell were cast as Gladys and Vernon Presley in February 2020 (though they were replaced in the film by Helen Thomson and Richard Roxburgh, respectively), with Yola cast as Sister Rosetta Tharpe.[21][15][14]

Filming[edit]

Principal photography began on January 28, 2020, in Australia.[22][23][24] On March 12, 2020, production was halted when Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic.[25][26] Filming resumed on September 23.[27] In September 2020, Luke Bracey, Richard Roxburgh, Helen Thomson, Dacre Montgomery, Natasha Bassett, Xavier Samuel, Leon Ford, Kate Mulvany, Gareth Davies, Charles Grounds, Josh McConville, and Adam Dunn joined the cast of the film. Roxburgh and Thomson replaced Sewell and Gyllenhaal, respectively, who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts caused by the shooting delay.[28][29] Kelvin Harrison Jr. was announced to be portraying B.B. King in December.[30] In January 2021, it was reported that Alton Mason would be portraying Little Richard in the film.[31] On May 25, 2022, Butler revealed to GQ that after filming wrapped in March 2021, he was hospitalized and bedridden for a week after being diagnosed with a virus that simulated appendicitis.[32][33]

Music[edit]

On April 25, 2022, it was announced that Doja Cat would contribute an original song for the film, “Vegas”, which incorporates elements from Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog”. It was released as a single on May 6, 2022, ahead of the film’s companion soundtrack album, scheduled for release that northern summer by RCA Records. The album will also feature variations on Presley material by big name artists in a variety of genres and styles.[34] Italian band Måneskin and Kacey Musgraves are also part of the soundtrack with their respective cover versions of “If I Can Dream” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”.[35][36] On May 23, 2022, rapper Eminem announced on his Instagram that he and CeeLo Green will collaborate on a new track titled “The King and I” which will be produced by Dr. Dre and will appear on the film’s soundtrack.[37] The full roster of artists for the soundtrack album was announced the same day with Stevie Nicks, Jack White, Diplo, Swae Lee and many more joining the lineup, along with the film’s cast. Austin Butler’s renditions of Presley’s songs, as well as actual recordings by Presley himself, are also featured.[38] “The King and I” was released on June 16, 2022, earlier than its originally intended release date. The complete soundtrack was released on June 24, 2022, entering the Billboard soundtrack chart at No. 1 on July 9, 2022.

External video The 2019 pre-production test shoot showcasing Austin Butler’s live vocal performance as Elvis when he is young via Baz Luhrmann’s Twitter

On June 12, 2022, Luhrmann revealed that when Elvis sings in the film, it is Butler’s vocals that are used when he is young, while the real Elvis’ vocals are used when he is older. To prove it, he released on social media an early 2019 pre-production test shoot of Butler as young Elvis performing “That’s All Right” live on set, which went viral and received an overwhelmingly positive response from viewers.[39][40]

Marketing[edit]

The first three-minute trailer for the film premiered during NBC’s live coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics on February 17, 2022, and was uploaded online the same day.[41][42][43] Nick Relly of Rolling Stone stated “The trailer opens with a foreboding voiceover from Hanks’ Parker, in which he acknowledges that he is considered the “villain of this here story” — owing to the widespread belief that Parker’s interest in Elvis was mainly financially motivated. From there, we’re given a look at some of Elvis’ most electrifying early performances, with Butler bearing an uncanny resemblance to the King himself.”[44] Sasha Urban of Variety and Rania Aniftos of Billboard, praised Butler’s performance as he “uncannily resembled Presley”.[45][46] The second trailer premiered online on May 23, 2022, two days before the film’s world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.[47] James White of Empire had stated “With typical Luhrmann swagger and style, this could be a good fit of filmmaker and subject”.[48] Screen Rant-based Adam Bentz had stated “The trailer highlights how the biopic spans a period of over twenty years and chronicles both the singer’s opulent rise to stardom and eventual fall from grace.”[49]

NME magazine dedicated a standalone free-print issue of 36 pages, covering Presley’s life, interviews with Butler, Luhrmann and other cast members.[50] A special Elvis-inspired shoot with artists Wallice and Master Peace, musical guide to 10 tracks from Presley and the city of Memphis and the magazine’s interview with Presley in 1960 (from the archives).[51] The magazine issues were made available digitally and through physical prints in stores on June 16, 2022.[51] An ABC special, Exclusively Elvis: A Special Edition of 20/20, featuring a look at Presley’s real-life and the making of the film, aired on June 21, 2022 to promote the film.[52] AMC Theatres, in collaboration with Feverup, had announced a pre-sale special, where viewers can purchase ticket prices costing $10.99.[53] The final trailer was released online on June 22, 2022.[54]

Release[edit]

Elvis was theatrically released in Australia on June 23, 2022, and in the United States on June 24, by Warner Bros. Pictures.[55] It was previously scheduled to be released on October 1, 2021,[56] before being delayed to November 5, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[57] and later to June 3, 2022.[58] The film was not listed as part of the December 2020 announcement by Warner Bros. Pictures to debut its entire 2021 slate concurrently in movie theatres and on HBO Max, before the film was officially pushed to 2022.[59] It will be streamed on HBO Max on August 8, 2022, 45 days after its theatrical release.[60]

The film had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on May 25, 2022, where it received a twelve-minute standing ovation from the audience, the longest for an American film at the festival and tying with Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Broker for the longest overall.[61][62][63] It also opened the Guadalajara International Film Festival in Mexico on June 10[64] and at the Sydney Film Festival in Australia on June 15.[65]

Luhrmann said in June 2022 that a four-hour cut exists, containing scenes of Presley with his first girlfriend, Dixie, and his meeting with President Richard Nixon in 1970.[66]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

As of July 17, 2022[update], Elvis has grossed $106.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $79.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $185.6 million.[6][5]

In the United States and Canada, Elvis was released alongside The Black Phone, and was projected to gross $25–30 million from 3,906 theaters in its opening weekend.[4][67] It made $12.7 million on its first day, including $3.5 million from Thursday night previews.[68][69][70] It went on to debut to $31.2 million, narrowly beating out holdover Top Gun: Maverick for first place atop the box office. According to PostTrak, 31% of the opening weekend audiences was over the age of 55, with 48% being over 45, while women over 25 (the most-hesitant to return to theaters amid the pandemic) made up 45%. The main reasons given for seeing the film were the subject matter (49%) and Hanks (25%).[71] In its second weekend the film made $18.5 million (and $22.7 million over the four-day Independence Day weekend), finishing third.[72][73] In its third weekend the film made $11.2 million, finishing fourth.[74]

Outside the US and Canada, the film made $20 million from 50 markets in its first international weekend.[75] In its second weekend, the film passed the $100 million worldwide threshold after adding $15.7 million (a drop of 28%) to its total.[76] In its third weekend, it performed well against newcomer Thor: Love and Thunder internationally, grossing $8.7 million (a drop of 44%). As of July 10, 2022, the top markets are the UK ($16.9 million), Australia ($14.8 million), France ($5 million), Germany ($3.1 million), and Japan ($2.6 million).[77]

Critical response[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 78% of 334 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website’s consensus reads, “The standard rock biopic formula gets all shook up in Elvis, with Baz Luhrmann’s dazzling energy and style perfectly complemented by Austin Butler’s outstanding lead performance.”[78] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 64 out of 100, based on 57 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.[79] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A–” on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak gave the film an 88% overall positive score, with 72% saying they would definitely recommend it.[71]

Butler’s portrayal of Elvis was widely praised. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Butler as “a decent physical match for Elvis and a better one vocally.”[80] David Rooney wrote for The Hollywood Reporter that Butler “captures the tragic paradox of a phenomenal success story who clings tenaciously to the American Dream even as it keeps crumbling in his hands.”[81] Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent wrote that he “makes a compelling argument for the power of Elvis, at a time when the musician’s arguably lost a little of his cultural cachet.”[82][8] Philip De Semlyen of Time Out wrote that when Butler “shakes his hips in Elvis’s first gig as a full-blown rock ‘n’ roller, it’s like watching two stars being born.”[83]

On the film itself, Robbie Collin of The Telegraph gave it four out of five stars, calling it “a bright and splashy jukebox epic,” but that “it veers in and out of fashion on a scene-by-scene basis: it’s the most impeccably styled and blaringly gaudy thing you’ll see all year, and all the more fun for it.”[84] Kevin Maher of The Times called it Luhrmann’s “best film since Romeo + Juliet … The power in the musical numbers is drawn from Butler’s turn but also from Luhrmann, who edits with the kind of frenetic rhythms that are almost impossible to resist (feet will tap) … They are the spine-tingling highlights that make the entire project a must-see movie.”[85][86] Jim Vejvoda of IGN called it “a dizzying and at times even overwhelming chronicle of the rock icon.”[87] Owen Gleiberman of Variety called it “A fizzy, delirious, impishly energized, compulsively watchable 2-hour-and-39-minute fever dream — a spangly pinwheel of a movie that converts the Elvis saga we all carry around in our heads into a lavishly staged biopic-as-pop-opera.”[88] Joshua Rothkopf wrote for Entertainment Weekly that it “delivers the icon like never before” and that Luhrmann recaptured “his Moulin Rouge! mojo with a hip-swiveling profile loaded with risk and reward.” He went on to praise Butler’s performance, saying that he “…stares down the lens and melts it.”[89]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times, while praising the visuals and Butler’s performance, felt mixed about the film being told from Colonel Tom Parker’s perspective, saying “I would have loved to have listened in on Luhrmann and Hank’s conversations about their ideas for the character; if nothing else, it might have explained what in the world they were after here. I honestly haven’t a clue, although the image of Sydney Greenstreet looming menacingly in The Maltese Falcon repeatedly came to mind, with a dash of Hogan’s Heroes.”[90] In a negative review for PopMatters, Hannah Engler called it “a missed opportunity to liberate Elvis from the constraints of myth and look frankly at his genius, his flaws, and his addiction (something Elvis also attributes largely to Parker, in a way that is not only ahistorical but irresponsible).”[91] In a review for IndieWire, David Ehrlich wrote that it “finds so little reason for Presley’s life to be the stuff of a Baz Luhrmann movie that the equation ultimately inverts itself, leaving us with an Elvis Presley movie about Baz Luhrmann. They both deserve better.” He also criticized Hanks’ portrayal of Parker, calling it “a ‘true true’ performance defined by a fat suit, a fake nose, and an accent that I can only describe as the ‘Kentucky Fried Goldmember’.”[92] On a historical note, journalist Alanna Nash, who had written an acclaimed biography of Parker in 2010, called the film a “Baz Luhrmann fever dream” that kept the liberties of history fair except to Parker, citing that Luhrmann’s approach of presenting it through a present-day lens meant that the complicated character researched by Nash of Parker is simplified.[93]

Response of the Presley family[edit]

Prior to its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’s daughter, praised the film in an Instagram post after seeing it twice, calling it “nothing short of spectacular”. She went on to praise Butler’s performance as her late father, stating that he had “channeled and embodied my father’s heart and soul beautifully. In my humble opinion, his performance is unprecedented and FINALLY done accurately and respectfully”, while touting Butler as a frontrunner for the Academy Award for Best Actor. On Luhrmann’s direction, she wrote that “you can feel his pure love, care, and respect for my father throughout this beautiful film, and it is finally something that myself and my children and their children can be proud of forever … your utter genius combined with your love and respect for my father and this project is just so beautiful and so inspiring. I know I’m being repetitive, but I don’t care, Thank you for setting the record straight in such a deeply profound and artistic way.” She added that watching the film reminded her of her own son, Benjamin Keough, who died by suicide in 2020, saying he would have loved it as well.[94][95]

On April 29, 2022, Elvis’s ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, shared her thoughts on the film in a Facebook post, saying in full, “For those curious about the new film ELVIS, Baz Luhrmann, the director, provided a private screening for me and Jerry Schilling at Warner studios recently. This story is about Elvis and Colonel Parker’s relationship. It is a true story told brilliantly and creatively that only Baz, in his unique artistic way, could have delivered. Austin Butler, who played Elvis is outstanding. Halfway through the film Jerry and I looked at each other and said WOW!!! Bravo to him… he knew he had big shoes to fill. He was extremely nervous playing this part. I can only imagine. Tom Hanks was Col Parker in this film. What a character he was. There was two sides to Colonel, Jerry and I witnessed both. The story, as we all know, does not have a happy ending. But I think you will understand a little bit more of Elvis’s journey, penned by a director who put his heart and soul and many hours into this film.”[96]

On May 21, 2022, Presley’s granddaughter, actress and filmmaker Riley Keough, shared her response after viewing the film at Cannes, saying in full, “It was a very emotional experience. It’s very intense to watch when it’s your family. The first movie I ever watched in the theater and said I wanted to make movies was Moulin Rouge!, I was 12. It was a real honor to know Baz was doing this movie. Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!, for the age I was at the time, were really powerful. It wasn’t like I distrusted Baz in any way, but you’re protective over your family. At the end of the day, we’re not going to tell Baz Luhrmann how to make a movie. In the first five minutes, I could feel how much work Baz and Austin put into trying to get it right. That made me emotional immediately. I started crying five minutes in and didn’t stop. There’s a lot of family trauma and generational trauma that started around then for our family. I felt honored they worked so hard to really get his essence, to feel his essence. Austin captured that so beautifully.”[97][98]

Accolades[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ D’Alessandro, Anthony (September 10, 2020). “Elvis: Baz Luhrmann-Tom Hanks Movie Returning To Production In Australia After COVID-19 Shutdown”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  2. ^ “Elvis”. Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  3. ^ Maddox, Gary (April 30, 2022). “The great persuader: Baz Luhrmann on his biggest gamble yet”. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Rubin, Rebecca (June 22, 2022). “Box Office: ‘Elvis’ Targets $30 Million Debut, ‘The Black Phone’ Aims for $158.9 Million”. Variety. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  5. ^ a b “Elvis (2022)”. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  6. ^ a b “Elvis (2022) – Financial Information”. The Numbers. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  7. ^ Randolph, Eric (May 25, 2022). “Cannes can’t help falling in love with ‘Elvis’“. Yahoo!.
  8. ^ a b VanHoose, Benjamin (May 25, 2022). “Austin Butler’s ‘Sexy’ Elvis Performance Applauded by Critics Despite Movie Earning Mixed Reviews”. People.
  9. ^ Jahn, Mike (December 4, 1968). “Elvis Presley to Make Personal Appearances”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
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  11. ^ Elvis (2022) – IMDb, retrieved July 16, 2022
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  13. ^ D’Alessandro, Anthony (March 28, 2019). “Tom Hanks In Talks To Play Colonel Tom Parker In Baz Luhrmann Untitled Elvis Presley Pic”. Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Kroll, Justin (February 21, 2020). “Yola to Play Sister Rosetta Tharpe in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis (Exclusive)”. Variety. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
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  21. ^ Kroll, Justin (February 7, 2020). “Maggie Gyllenhaal to Play Elvis Presley’s Mom in Baz Luhrmann’s Biopic (Exclusive)”. Variety. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
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  30. ^ N’Duka, Amanda (December 30, 2020). “Kelvin Harrison Jr. To Play Blues Icon B.B. King In Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Project”. Deadline. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
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  32. ^ Sharf, Zack (May 25, 2022). “Austin Butler Was Hospitalized After ‘Elvis’ Wrapped, Bedridden for a Week: ‘My Body Shut Down’“. Variety.
  33. ^ Paiella, Gabriella (May 25, 2022). “Austin Butler is a hunk of burning love”. GQ.
  34. ^ Willman, Chris (April 25, 2022). “Doja Cat’s ‘Elvis’ Soundtrack Single, ‘Vegas,’ Set for May as RCA Readies Movie’s Companion Album”. Variety.
  35. ^ Yossman, K. J. (May 15, 2022). “Eurovision Winners Maneskin to Feature on Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ Soundtrack”. Variety. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  36. ^ Willman, Chris (May 2, 2022). “Kacey Musgraves Is Covering ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ for ‘Elvis’ Film Soundtrack”. Variety. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  37. ^ “Eminem Teases New Song “The King and I” From Elvis Movie Soundtrack”. HipHopDX. May 24, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
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  39. ^ Tionah Lee (June 12, 2022). “Baz Luhrmann Confirms Austin Butler Sings All Young Elvis Songs In Movie – Riley Keough Reacts | Entertainment Tonight”. Etonline.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  40. ^ “Baz Luhrmann’s Instagram profile post: “The response to Austin’s version of Trouble has been tremendous but so many of you still ask, ‘is it Austin singing?’ I feel I haven’t been…”“. Instagram.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  41. ^ Parker, Ryan (February 17, 2022). “‘Elvis’ Trailer: Yes, That Is Austin Butler Singing in Baz Luhrmann’s Biopic About the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
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  44. ^ Reilly, Nick (February 17, 2022). “Baz Luhrmann Drops Trailer for Biopic ‘Elvis’“. Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
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  50. ^ “Warner Bros brings back a one-shot NME magazine for Elvis movie”. The Drum. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  51. ^ a b “Pick up your exclusive ‘Elvis’ Film Special Edition of NME”. NME. June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
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  54. ^ “One Final Trailer for ‘Elvis’ with Austin Butler – Opening This Week”. FirstShowing.net. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
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  60. ^ Seddon, Gem (August 10, 2021). “Warner Bros. movies heading to HBO Max after 45-day theatrical window in 2022”. gamesradar. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  61. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy; D’Alessandro, Anthony (May 25, 2022). “Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ Rocks Cannes with 10-Minute Standing Ovation”. Deadline.
  62. ^ “‘Elvis’ Star Austin Butler Thrusts Hips at Cannes, Gaining 12-Minute Standing Ovation”. Variety. May 25, 2022.
  63. ^ Bae Hyo-Joo (May 2, 2022). 12분 기립 박수 ‘브로커’ 수상 가능성은? “황금종려상 충분히” [12-minute standing ovation ‘Broker’ Chances of winning? “Enough for the Palme d’Or”]. Newsen (in Korean). Retrieved May 27, 2022.
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  69. ^ Lang, Brent (June 24, 2022). “Box Office: ‘Elvis’ Banks $3.5 Million in Previews, ‘The Black Phone’ Scares Up $3 Million”. Variety. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
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  72. ^ “Domestic 2022 Weekend 26”. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
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  76. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (July 3, 2022). “Minions: The Rise Of Gru Boogies To $202M WW As Top Gun: Maverick Flies By $1.1B Jurassic World Dominion Rumbles Past $800M – International Box Office”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
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  82. ^ “Baz Luhrmann’s sweaty, seductive Elvis makes the King cool again – review”. Independent.co.uk. May 25, 2022.
  83. ^ “Cannes review: Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ is a showstopper”.
  84. ^ Collin, Robbie (May 25, 2022). “Elvis, review: You can’t help falling in love with Baz Luhrmann’s jukebox epic”. The Telegraph.
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  88. ^ “‘Elvis’ Review: Baz Luhrmann’s Biopic, Starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks, is a Stylishly On-the-Surface Life-of-Elvis Impersonation Until It Takes off in Vegas”. May 25, 2022.
  89. ^ “Cannes review: Electrifying ‘Elvis’ delivers the icon like never before”. Entertainment Weekly.
  90. ^ Dargis, Manohla (May 26, 2022). “Cannes 2022: ‘Elvis,’ as Remixed by Baz Luhrmann”. The New York Times.
  91. ^ Engler, Hannah (June 23, 2022). “Baz Luhrman’s Elvis would be better as a comic book movie”. PopMatters.
  92. ^ Ehrlich, David (May 25, 2022). “‘Elvis’ Review: Baz Luhrmann’s Deliriously Awful Biopic is ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ at 4,000 M.P.H.” IndieWire.
  93. ^ “‘Elvis’ Fact or Fiction: Colonel Tom Parker Biographer on What’s Real and What’s Not in Baz Luhrmann Biopic”. June 25, 2022.
  94. ^ Respers France, Lisa (May 16, 2022). “Lisa Marie Presley believes late son would have loved ‘Elvis’ movie”. CNN. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  95. ^ ““Hello everyone, I haven’t posted in quite some time because there really isn’t much to say, as I am and will forever be mourning the loss of my son. Navigating through this hideous grief that absolutely destroyed and shattered my heart and my soul into almost nothing has swallowed me whole. Not much else aside from my other 3 children gets my time and attention anymore. However, that being said, I do want to take a moment to let you know that I have seen Baz Luhrmann’s movie “Elvis” twice now, and let me tell you that it is nothing short of spectacular. Absolutely exquisite. Austin Butler channeled and embodied my father’s heart and soul beautifully. In my humble opinion, his performance is unprecedented and FINALLY done accurately and respectfully. (If he doesn’t get an Oscar for this, I will eat my own foot, haha.) You can feel and witness Baz’s pure love, care, and respect for my father throughout this beautiful film, and it is finally something that myself and my children and their children can be proud of forever. What moved me to tears as well was watching Riley and Harper, and Finley afterwards, all 3 visibly overwhelmed in the best way possible way, and so filled with pride about their grandfather and his legacy in a way that I have not previously experienced. It breaks my heart that my son isn’t here to see it. He would have absolutely loved it as well. I can’t tell you enough how much I love this film and I hope you love it too. Everyone involved poured their hearts and souls into it, which is evidenced in their performances. Baz, your utter genius combined with your love and respect for my father and this project is just so beautiful and so inspiring. I know I’m being repetitive, but I don’t care, Thank you for setting the record straight in such a deeply profound and artistic way. Love you – LMP”“. Instagram. May 14, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  96. ^ “Elvis Presley’s Ex-Wife Praises Baz Luhrmann Movie”. Screen Rant. May 2, 2022.
  97. ^ “Elvis’ Granddaughter Reveals Reaction to Baz Luhrmann Movie”. Screen Rant. May 21, 2022.
  98. ^ “Riley Keough Cried Watching Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ with Mom Lisa Marie and Grandma Priscilla Presley (EXCLUSIVE)”. May 21, 2022.
  99. ^ “5th Annual Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Awards Nominations Include X and THE BLACK PHONE”. Daily Dead. June 29, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.

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First edition of ‘Harry Potter’ fetches whopping $471K at US auction

HDFC Bank Net Up 19% to ₹9,196cr

HDFC Bank’s net profit rose 19% in the first quarter to ₹9,196 crore, beating analyst estimates, on lower provisioning for bad loans and strong growth in net interest income. India’s largest private sector lender reported a net profit of ₹7,730 crore in the corresponding period last year.

New 4K Restoration Trailer for 1953 Sci-Fi Movie ‘Invaders from Mars’

New 4K Restoration Trailer for 1953 Sci-Fi Movie ‘Invaders from Mars’

by
June 13, 2022
Source: YouTube

“Capturing humans at will for their own sinister purposes!” Ignite Films has revealed a new trailer for their 4K restoration of a sci-fi classic titled Invaders from Mars, originally released in 1953. This 69-year-old film will be out on Blu-ray in September, and has been touring to restoration festivals including TCM, Fine Arts Film Festival, and the upcoming Il Cinema Ritrovato in Italy. Fans have waited for the restoration of William Cameron Menzies’ sci-fi classic Invaders from Mars. Now, finally, the wait is almost over! “Fearful memories of this timeless 1953 bone-chiller still haunt the dreams of fans who have never forgotten the story of a young boy who witnesses an alien invasion.” Ignite states: “We’re grateful to finally complete the 4K restoration of the sci-fi classic Invaders from Mars after a lengthy search for the final elements. We needed the elements to fill in the gaps in the original camera negative, which was stored with great care at the UCLA Film Television Archive.” The 1950s sci-fi film stars Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Morris Ankrum, Leif Erickson, and Hillary Brooke. This was the very first alien invasion film shot in color, following The War of the Worlds also released in 1953. Looks better than ever – have to watch.

Here’s the new 4K restoration trailer for William Cameron Menzies’ Invaders from Mars, from YouTube:

From TCM: “William Cameron Menzies had already distinguished himself as an Oscar-winning designer and the director of H.G. Wells’s visionary Things to Come (1936) when he helped turn this low-budget science-fiction movie into a cult favorite. His unique design style, marked by distorted sets and low-angle shots, sets this film apart from other 1950s fright fests. Rushed into theaters before producer George Pal’s The War of the Worlds (1953), Invaders from Mars was the first alien invasion film shot in color. Its tale of a child (Jimmy Hunt) who witnesses a flying saucer land near his home and then notices odd behavior from his parents and neighbors inspired countless other films, from Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)—another picture in which people become convinced their loved ones have been replaced by soulless lookalikes—to Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm (1979) and Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant (1999), whose directors saw Invaders from Mars as children.” Invaders from Mars is one of the final films directed by William Cameron Menzies. The screenplay is by Richard Blake. The film originally opened in April of 1953, with an alternate, longer version released in the UK in 1954. Ignite Films will debut the 4K restoration of Invader from Mars on Blu-ray / dvd starting on September 26th, 2022. For more details, visit their official site.

Find more posts: Sci-Fi, To Watch, Trailer

Slash/Back shows how Indigenous creators get things done despite ‘unlimited barriers’

When director Nyla Innuksuk decided what her film Slash/Back was going to be about, she knew she was going to have to do some things differently. And in a way, shaking things up was the whole point. 

The film, which premiered on Friday, follows a group of teen and preteen girls in Nunavut as they grapple with the pains of growing up, reconcile their cultural identity with an adolescent pressure to conform — and single-handedly fight off an alien invasion. 

“I grew up obsessed with horror movies,” Innuksuk said in explaining why she chose to make a film ultimately about identity in the horror genre.

“I was always dressing up my cousins as ghosts and dousing them in blood. And it just kind of made sense for me to be thinking that kind of route when it came to making my first feature.”

The result is a unique mix of contemporary sci-fi and traditional Inuit myth, comedy and horror that Innuksuk created by borrowing from her own past growing up in Nunavut. 

But to make Slash/Back come out the way she envisioned it, she had to change how actors are cast, how crews are housed, and prove to investors that a horror movie could work in the Arctic’s 24-hour sunshine — demonstrating the lengths Indigenous filmmakers are going to to build capacity and get their stories told.

‘It was totally crazy’

Slash/Back is filmed entirely in the hamlet of Pangnirtung, on Baffin Island roughly 300 km from Iqaluit, with no roads leading in or out — the first feature-length film to shoot there.

To get investors on board, Innuksuk first started with a virtual reality proof-of-concept short film, featuring horror in that landscape, with the normal everyday realities of Inuit teens talking about boys, scrolling Instagram and dreaming about summer holidays in Winnipeg. 

Since there were no casting agents in the territory, Innuksuk instead organized a series of acting workshops to simultaneously teach about 20 girls — the majority of whom had never acted before — the ins-and-outs of the craft, figure out which girls fit which part, and refine those parts to truly match the habits and personalities of Nunavut’s Gen Z. 

And on top of all that, the production shipped nearly 60 beds and mattresses to two schools in the community, and the whole crew stayed there for the entirety of filming. Innuksuk says they chose to do so because, with Nunavut’s housing crisis, it would be impossible for them to highlight and champion Pangnirtung without ultimately hurting residents by doing it any other way.

“It was totally crazy — crazy way to make a movie. But that’s kind the only way that it would have been possible, is to be given that space and have everyone in the community help out and help us make it.”

Despite the lengths she had to go to, Innuksuk is far from the only filmmaker approaching filmmaking with that level of access and support in mind. For years, Indigenous filmmakers have pared filmmaking with behind-the-scenes work to support Indigenous creators and communities historically shut out from the industry.

And now, that work is beginning to see real results, Innuksuk said. 

Director Nyla Innuksuk on the set of Slash/Back, shot in the hamlet of Pangnirtung, on Baffin Island about 300 km from Iqaluit. Innuksuk set up acting workshops to help cast her film. (Ksenia Stassiouk)

Training works, says director

Movies like Danis Goulet’s Night Raiders, Tracey Deer’s Beans and Kathleen Hepburn and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’s The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open by Indigenous filmmakers and starring Indigenous cast have, in the last few years, burst onto the scene as some of the best productions coming out of the country. (Hepburn is not Indigenous, though co-director and star Tailfeathers is Blackfoot and Sámi)

At the same time, like Innuksuk’s, those films oftentimes were produced with a number of programs built in to support the next generation of talent, and increase the confidence and access of other Indigenous creators.

In the case of both Night Raiders and The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open, that materialized in the form of onset mentorship programs to help give young Indigenous filmmakers a way into the industry. For Beans, which is drawn from Deer’s own traumatic experiences during the 1990 Oka Crisis, Deer had a behind-the-scenes acting coach help the film’s child stars learn how to engage with the emotionally charged aspects of the script. 

Many of those children had never acted before, and Deer explained in an interview at the time with news and culture outlet Cult MTL that she similarly had to cast through an acting workshop instead of going through the normal casting process as “there aren’t a ton of Indigenous kids in that traditional system that have already been discovered.”

Writer, director and actor Jennifer Podemski explained that sort of resource building is one of the reasons we see the wave of Indigenous-led productions we have now. 

Her first production was also the first Indigenous dramatic series in North America — and came to exist wholly because of a training initiative for young Indigenous artists. In 2002, Podemski and Laura J. Milliken brought a script and film crew to Regina and worked with 40 Indigenous youth to produce what would eventually morph into 2003’s Moccasin Flats TV series, which ran for three seasons. 

“I know, and I’ve seen — and anyone who remembers or who was a part of that project knows — that training works and training builds capacity,” Podemski said. 

“It may not be for everybody, but we do need our own communities to engage with us as content creators to help build that capacity, and also introduce these careers in the film sector to the youth.”

Two decades later, Podemski is now working on a new show, Little Bird, about an Indigenous woman looking for her birth family after being removed from them during the Sixties Scoop. That production, like so many others, also features a training program for both emerging and mid-level Indigenous filmmakers. 

Jennifer Podemski says she is passionate about giving Indigenous creators chances to train, learn, share content and succeed. (Shine Network)

‘Unlimited barriers’ remain

While offering those opportunities and resources is necessary to break down the barriers facing Indigenous creators, she said, there are still “an unlimited range of barriers within the industry itself.” 

The greatest barrier, said Podemski, is Indigenous people’s “ability as corporations.” Despite the proven track record of Indigenous productions, it is often difficult to secure investment, while Podemski said broadcasters often request that Indigenous creators “have partners who are non-Indigenous so that … they can feel more confident that they will get the delivery they’re looking for.” 

“I’m pretty sad to see that we are still near-invisible in terms of the kind of work that we are able to do, the kind of money we are able to access, and the kind of audiences we’re able to engage,” she said. “Because we don’t have the platforms needed to bring our stories to wider audiences.”

Until that can change, Podemski said, Indigenous creators are forced to rely mostly on self-sustained training opportunities to foster young talent. 

But even still, the positive effects of that training are undeniable. At 24, Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat is a younger player in the Canadian entertainment industry. He fell into acting only a few years ago after a scout noticed him working at a country club and asked him to audition. 

After booking his first role in the drama series Tribal, he later landed a role in the Letterkenny spin off Shoresy, in which he plays Sanguinet, comic foil to title character and hockey player Shoresy. 

Harlan Kytwayhat appears in a scene from Shoresy. (Bell Media)

Kytwayhat says growing up in Makwa Sahgaiehcan, a Cree First Nation in Saskatchewan, acting or acting classes weren’t opportunities open to him or any of his friends — which meant he never even considered a career in the film or television industry for himself.

Now, seeing where his career led him, one of his ultimate goals is to one day start an arts program in his reserve — to champion the arts as a viable career for young Indigenous kids so they can make their way into the industry the way he did. 

“I really hope it progresses more here,” Kytwahat said. “And not just here, but like all small towns, small communities and other reserves.”

Helen Mirren makes regal bow as Harry Potter quiz show host

Dame Helen, as the Oscar, Emmy and Tony-winning actor is properly addressed, makes her debut as a quiz host with Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses. The weekly, four-part series begins 8 pm EST Sunday on TBS and Cartoon Network.

In episode one, contestants representing the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff houses field trivia questions about J.K. Rowling’s novels-turned-films in a bid to claim a championship trophy and prizes.

Helen Mirren left the cramming to the players and is unworried about being a novice game show emcee.

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“I can certainly play a strict host,” she said, drolly.

Mirren’s willingness to take on something different shouldn’t raise eyebrows. She’s celebrated for her regal roles — including The Queen, Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great — but also counts the Fast the Furious movie franchise among her varied credits.

Her return to a comic book-based project is upcoming: She plays a mythological goddess in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Mirren’s baptism in the genre came with the film Red and its sequel.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Helen Mirren discussed her admiration of the Potter canon, making a TV fashion statement, and female bonding on the set of the DC Comics-based film. Remarks have been edited for length and clarity.

You’ve had an eclectic acting career, and now you’re adding your first game show to the resume.

Absolutely, which is why I signed up for it. I’m always up for a bit of an adventure. Also, of course, it’s a wonderful subject and at a great moment, the 20th anniversary (of The Sorcerer’s Stone, the first Potter film). And the very fact I was never in any Harry Potter movies — much to my chagrin, I might add. It was a great way to to be able to participate in the whole extraordinary phenomena that is Harry Potter.

Are you a fan of the stories?

What I remember very clearly was when the whole world of Harry Potter started rising. The most magical thing is the way the books were passed from hand to hand amongst kids, and adults sort of didn’t know anything about it. It wasn’t like it was published with great fanfare. A lot of the people who’ll be competing (on the show), they will be in their 20s, 30s, 40s, but they will have past experience with Harry Potter as a kid.

Have you watched any TV competition shows for tips or sought advice on hosting?

I thought I’d just play it by ear and be as natural as I could. I’m personally very excited about it, so hopefully I’ll communicate that. I’ll be probably as nervous as the contestants themselves, and I’ll try to hide that.

You aren’t playing a role with the costume dictated by your character, but was there a certain look you wanted as a host?

That’s an interesting question. The set, as you will see, it’s so extraordinary, it’s a beautiful, beautiful Harry Potter world that they’ve constructed. So I did want what I wore to reflect a slight costuming feel. And in a way, I’m playing a kind of a character. So, yes, I wanted it to be a sense of costume and presentation. It’s got a slight sense of vintage about it, and a sense of belonging in that world.

In the sequel to Shazam! you play Hespera, daughter of Atlas. Is she a hero or villain?

I’m not going to tell you the answer to that. You’re going to have to ascertain for yourself. I’m a member of three goddesses: Lucy Liu as Kalypso and the third goddess played by Rachel Zegler, who will be a huge star in a very short space of time. So there are three of us together, and that was really a great experience because it’s so infrequent that you get to spend a whole of a movie with two other women. So often you’re the only woman in the cast. Here we were a trio, and that was great. I loved it.

New Ferment in Anti-RSS Discourse in South India

From Karnataka in the South to Uttar Pradesh in the north, India is witnessing a new brand of casteism patronised by the Hindu Right in power. It is backed by the ideological and organisational might of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is trying to smother the rebellious Dalit identity under its hegemonic project of “Hindu unity”. As an inevitable countercurrent, there is also a new anti-caste genre spearheaded by Dalit creative forces. They are proving second to none in developing cultural products with a universal appeal, from literary works to new cinema. They are setting a radical agenda in mass culture, challenging Hindutva hegemony and its underlying upper caste consolidation head-on. This is clearly visible in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Literary Salvo against Saffron in Karnataka

Those who love democracy and secularism have had too much bad news from Karnataka in recent times—from the hijab ban to curbs on azaan, trumped-up issues with halal meat, the communalised revision of textbooks, an anti-conversion law, and flash mobs taking out yatras to attack the shrines, shops and homes of minorities. But now there is good news. 

Devanur Mahadeva, Karnataka’s prominent ideologue and Dalit movement leader, has published a book titled ‘RSS: Aala Mattu Agala—RSS: Its Depth and Width’. The publication of this book, critical of the RSS, was a mega event. Innovatively planned as a big-bang event, it had six prominent publishers come together to release it on the same day. Thanks to the still robust literary and cultural networks of the Kannada intelligentsia, word about its release spread quickly, without any stage-managed commercial promos.

‘Depth and Width’

The 64-page booklet (priced at Rs. 40) unveils a unique subaltern critique of the Sangh Parivar’s hegemony. Its critique is not limited to aspiring for conventional liberal democracy and it is premised on a quest for radical social justice. The six publishers had released 9,000 copies, but almost all sold out within a week. Reprints are on the way. The unprecedented response to the book has had taluka-level publishers publish it to cater to the growing demand. It is a rare feat for any serious non-fiction work. 

Most importantly, the overwhelming number of readers signals that it is not the Dalit youth or activists alone who are reading it but people from all social backgrounds. The attraction among non-Dalits to a Dalit-centric, Ambedkar-related text is a significant development. Perhaps it means the tender shoots of a new cosmopolitanism, liberal multiculturalism, and democratic composite culture will sprout.

Dr V Laxminarayana, a comrade-in-arms of Mahadeva in the Dalit and radical movements and Karnataka convener of the All-India People’s Front, told NewsClick, “Devanur Mahadeva shows in his book that Golwalkar’s vision was based on three lethal ideas. The first is to uphold ‘Purusha Sukta’ of the Rig Veda, which laid the basis for a hierarchic and oppressive Varna system. The second is the rejection of Ambedkar’s Constitution to maintain chaturvarna, and third is the glorification of Aryan supremacy. He shows how, based on these three principles, Hindutva ideology is anti-Dalit and anti-working people to the core. Mahadeva also strategises for the defeat of the BJP in Karnataka in the next election by calling for a broad unity of anti-BJP forces.”

Other activists NewsClick spoke to in Karnataka feel the politics of Mahadeva’s book is not just resentment and protest. Instead, it is an assertion of dignity, autonomy and independence and speaks to the rise of a leadership of the most oppressed within the democratic arena. It is not a lament expressing the oppression of those excluded and marginalised. Instead, it reflects their confident claim to an independent social and political role and a direct challenge to Hindutva. The book is not confined to encounters with upper caste dominance in villages or mohallas but challenges Hindu elite caste political leadership across India. 

Mahadeva pioneered Karnataka’s autonomous Dalit movement in the 1970s, just after a similar movement made its mark in neighbouring Maharashtra. Like the Dalit Panthers of Maharashtra, the new Dalit assertion in Karnataka was led by the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti or DSS, and Mahadeva is one of its founders. For more than four decades, he has been a key strategist of the Dalit movement and advocated a “third force” in Karnataka politics based on progressive movements. It would be a movement of the Dalits and include the movements of farmers, women, labour, the radical left and civil society groups.

Mahadeva has flourished as an author and literary figure and is a Padma Shree awardee for his contributions to Kannada literature. He and comrades such as late DR Nagraj have ensured that Dalit literature is more than a match to other literary genres in the vibrant Kannada literary arena. Politically, he remained an independent leftist and ardent associate of Dr Rammanohar Lohia. 

While the Hindu upper caste communal moorings in Karnataka was acquiring a mass populist dimension, and the anti-Muslim bias of the Hindu middle classes was spreading like a virus, Mahadeva’s book on the RSS has landed like a bombshell. The thousands of copies it has sold within a week establish that there is a large audience for anti-saffron literature in Karnataka. It also confirms the Hindutva surge in Karnataka would not go unchallenged.

New Dalit-Centric Cinema in Tamil Nadu

While the literary arena still dominates popular mass culture in Karnataka, in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the Tamil film industry, Kollywood, has taken its place. It is a highly politicised arena in which the histories of Dravidian politics and the film world are inseparable. A new genre of subaltern Tamil films, which many call “Dalit cinema”, is making waves. Pa. Ranjith, its forerunner, was just 29 and barely out of arts school in 2012 when he made his debut. 

S. Kumaraswamy, a prominent left leader in Tamil Nadu, summarises this phenomenon for NewsClick: “Pa. Ranjith epitomises new Dalit cinema, which is not about dirt and grime or drowning in tears but about life and full of colour. It is about struggle and assertion and questioning the values of caste-ridden Hindu society. It is also about reaching out to the toiling masses of other castes.” 

Still, Pa. Ranjith’s films have been huge commercial successes. His Sarpatta Parambarai was viewed in 150 countries through OTT platforms. In the film, the hero takes a heavy beating, sinks low, and rises again to touch the skies. His inspirational message to the Bahujan is ‘Neeye oli—Be your own light’, and it was acclaimed by all who saw it. The New York Times called it a “must-watch movie” on OTT. In Pa. Ranjith’s Pariyerum Perumal, a Dalit student seeks to study and succeed as a lawyer to fight for the oppressed. His Kabali and Kaala, both made with Rajinikanth, were megahits. Kaala speaks out against Hindutva, while Kabali strikes out against the oppression of Tamils in Malaysia. His Attakathi and Madras were about the throbbing urban life of Dalits and their determined assertion against politically-patronised urban mafia. 

Pa. Ranjith blazed a trail in Dalit cinema, but other film-makers such as Mari Selvaraj and Vetrimaran have sustained the trend with their movies. Their stories revolve around the lives of “hidden” and “denied people”. In Vetrimaran’s Asuran, a Dalit hero leads a struggle against oppressive upper-caste kulaks and mobilises peasants from toiling castes. 

“Memory cards might have replaced costly film rolls in this hi-tech age, but memories—of oppression and struggles—are retrieved and retold as powerful aesthetic stories so that society will not sink into the morass of forgetfulness. In their political message, these films are a rallying call against Hindutva, as they shake the roots of the status quo,” says Kumaraswamy.

True, there is an element of glamorisation and romanticisation of Dalit existence and resistance, which perhaps is unavoidable in film-making. But the cultural constructs of caste and anti-caste are embedded in real-life oppression and inequalities. Films with stark Dalit motifs and urban themes from Dalit lives, too, become box-office hits now. Raising the cause of Dalits is no longer a narrow voice but becoming a much larger moralist proposition with a democratic imprint. It has as much appeal among non-Dalits as among the Dalits. This is a qualitatively new element in Tamil social cinema.

Mahadeva and Pa. Ranjith have individually stormed the elite/upper caste bastions of the Kannada literary genre and the Tamil film industry, respectively. Their work does not revolve within a limited horizon but pitches into a broader horizon of socio-cultural and political democracy. Both have established their artistic supremacy in their fields. Maybe their success is nascent, but they have proven that a new generation has arrived to take the lead of the oppressed in the exclusionary cultural and literary arenas. In this sense, it is good news for all democratic and secular aspirants.

Incidentally, this new ferment in the Dalit discourse spotlights the historical challenge of democratisation (on the social plane and at the grass-roots) in plural but hierarchic and polarised societies. It marks the outbreak of popular liberalism at the social level, even if fleetingly. This is the kind of outbreak that made Barak Obama president of a racist white supremacist society. 

What is happening in India is not conventional Dalitism pitted against episodic upper caste cruelty. This is a wider social-democratic and political assertion. It shows how saffron governments are doing injustice to Ambedkar by trampling his democratic values and the constitutional guidelines on liberty, freedom of expression, and the rule of law. 

In recent times, economically advanced Maharashtra was the first to witness a powerful Dalit upsurge, during the Elgar Parishad episode. The rattled establishment still sees an “Urban Naxal” spectre behind it. Perhaps it is the turn of other comparable States, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, to experience popular social-democratic assertion. Will this change hold the mirror before relatively more conservative Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh and Bihar? Will it inspire the progressive intelligentsia in the saffronised ‘cow-belt’ regions? Will new Devanur Mahadevas and Pa. Ranjith’s rise in the not-so-vibrant cultural fields of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar? History tells us only time stands between good news from the South echoing in the West and North.

The author is a commentator. The views are personal.