If you’re still in need of weekend plans, don’t worry because we’re working for you to find out what’s happening ‘round town.
Roanoke Wing Fest will return to Roanoke’s Dr. Pepper Park. Enjoy great food, entertainment, vendors and more. Tickets are $7 at the gate. It’s Saturday from noon to 7 p.m.
The Carroll County Agricultural Fair continues this weekend. Enjoy the rides, food, shows, pageants and more. Gates open at 5 p.m. on Friday, noon on Saturday and at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $5.
Head to downtown Lexington for the Rockbridge Community Festival. Enjoy activities for the family, arts and craft vendors, live music and more. It’s Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Enjoy a movie under the stars at Moves in the Park in Lynchburg. Friday night, Lion King will be shown at Riverside Park. There will be food trucks and popcorn available. The movie starts at sunset at about 8 p.m. Admission is free.
Story: Ibrahim, his father and younger brother are waiting from their Hindu neighbour Suma to bring dinner, but when there’s a knock at the door, it upends all their lives
The good thing about Malayalam movies, apart from timely stories told in an unique manner, is how the side characters are given interesting personalities and quirks. And so much so in Kuruthi, that you almost don’t notice that ‘the star’ hasn’t made an appearance till the 45th minute. The film, with story and screenplay by Anish Pallyal and directed by Manu Warrier, is a gripping thriller, set for the large part in a house and over 24 hours, and amazingly, deals with the communal dynamics in the country.
Roshan Mathews’s Ibrahim has lost his wife and daughter in the landslide caused by the Kerala floods. His Hindu neighbours, Suma, played by Srindaa, and her brother also lost family members. Suma, who lends her hand with domestic chores at Ibrahim’s house, where his elderly father, portrayed by Mamukoya, and his young brother live, presses Ibrahim to marry her. She says she is willing to convert if that is what is stopping him, and she will continue her faith quietly indoors.
Meanwhile, the small-town was gripped in the talk about a Hindu store assistant killing a Muslim shopkeeper and that night as the men wait for Suma to bring dinner, as the brothers pick another fight with their elderly father, there is a knock on the door. It is a frenzied SI, played by Murali Gopy, who has brought the murderer in handcuffs. His jeep and civil police officers were waylaid by Muslim ‘terrorists’ who want to get their hands on the murderer, so in this cut-off area, he wants to halt at this house for the night. Suma, who turns up with dinner, also ends up stuck there, there is an open hostility and tension in the air. The young murderer and Ibrahim’s brother Rasul, played by Naslen, argue about not so much how their side is right, but how the other is wrong, even as SI Sathyan keeps a tight grip on the situation. And the elderly Moosa, who is laughably unknowledgeable, but nevertheless wise. He has some of the coolest lines, like when he boosts to the SI about having buried many bodies when he worked as a driver for a landlord, and when his embarrassed son tries to shut him down, he retorts quickly, “Why? Is sir going to put me in jail? That’s ok, at least I’ll get meals in time.” He’d just argued with Ibrahim earlier about not getting dinner.
Into this already tense scenario enters family friend Kareem, who has brought Laiq, essayed by Prithviraj, to add fuel to the flames. Here, the smoothly flowing story becomes a bit overburdened with drama. Now, with the two ‘communities’, old friendships and politics juxtaposed in this small house, loyalties and principles come into play, and the tension is driven up further. It’s an amazing situation with the sensible viewer unclear about whether to take sides or be objective, and if the director had underplayed the drama a tad, the film would have merited much more from it. But having said that, it is a fab effort and a story that needs to be told. We need to be shown that this is a situation where no one can win.
While the characterisations are brilliant, special bouquets, applause and encores to the actors. Each one – Prithviraj, Roshan, Srindaa – does a good job, but an extra couple of garlands for Mamukkoya and Murali Gopy. The latter has become a master of subtle expressions: a quick sadness at the flood deaths, almost a smile when he hears another ‘blunder’ from Moosa. Abinandhan Ramanujam’s cinematography aptly matches the claustrophobic stress in the early bits and the frenzied tension later.
Kuruthi is a brave, bold film to make and a must watch for the same reason.
A production company ready to shoot a movie in South Carolina pulled out because it couldn’t get insurance due to the state’s low vaccination rates and increasing COVID-19 case numbers.
The Film Commission, a division of the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, is responsible for the recruitment and economic development of the motion picture industry within the state.
“Unfortunately, after going back and forth for a number of weeks with our bond company, they have not approved South Carolina due to the low vaccination rates and increasing COVID cases,” Volition Media Partners Producer Michael Jefferson wrote in an email to the commission that was shared on social media.
Jefferson didn’t reply to The Post and Courier for additional comment.
Destin Daniel Cretton (left) and Simu Liu speaks during the “Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings” portion of the Marvel Studios panel on day three of Comic-Con International on July 20, 2019, in San Diego. A film featuring Liu pulled out of South Carolina because it could not be insured due to the state’s low vaccination rates and growing COVID-19 case load. File/Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Chris Pizzello
“While Volition Media mentioned a concern with COVID-19 numbers in the Southeast, as in most negotiations, final filming decisions are the result of a variety of factors,” Storm said. “We have not had any films or productions pull out of South Carolina due to COVID-19 concerns in the past year.”
Last year most bond companies, which provide insurance to corporations in the film industry and beyond, regarded the COVID-19 pandemic as a force majeure, Carolina Film Alliance President Linda Lee said. Now they don’t, more closely analyzing what exactly they will insure, she said.
“(Volition) did everything properly … and then they couldn’t get the completion bond simply based on our COVID-19 record,” Lee said. “It’s a real shame.”
Lee told The Post and Courier the Los Angeles production company pivoted to South Carolina after a July 1 announcement that the S.C. Film Commission would receive $15 million to offer in incentives.
These non-recurring incentives, targeted at feature films versus recurring television series, were funded by an overage in the state budget at the end of last fiscal year, said Lee.
The amount matches the $15 million the commission already offers in recurring TV incentives that have helped bring “The Righteous Gemstones” and “Outer Banks” to Charleston.
“We’re certainly sorry to hear that,” Brian Symmes, Gov. Henry McMaster’s spokesman, said of the film exiting the state. “But the governor’s policies and decisions when it comes to COVID-19 have certainty enhanced the state’s economy by keeping businesses open and getting South Carolinians back to work.”
Symmes said McMaster is asking South Carolinians to “take a good hard long look” at the COVID-19 options available to them, including the vaccine, which the governor and his family have received.
“Obviously, the option every South Carolinian has right now that we know is the most effective is to get the vaccine,” Symmes said. “The governor has encouraged South Carolinians to do their own research, get information about the vaccine and ultimately make a decision sooner rather than later to get it, but ultimately that’s a personal decision and he will not mandate or force anyone to get it.”
The film industry has been adhering to strict COVID-19 rules throughout the pandemic, including a temporary halt in filming followed by frequent testing, masking and social distancing.
A July agreement between Hollywood and major companies allows film and TV productions to require vaccines on set.
Netflixbecame the first major Hollywood studio to require actors and crew members in contact with the set get vaccinated. The company has now extended that policy to all office employees and visitors.
Locally, “The Righteous Gemstones” partnered with MUSC to provide continuous COVID-19 testing throughout production this year.
“We don’t want to put fear into people,” Lee said. “But it is a fact that this is not a safe state to live in right now so how can it be a safe state to work in?”
Lee said at least two other films are negotiating with the commission, though since they are larger and with more affiliations, she doesn’t expect their bond companies to deny them insurance as in Volition’s case.
Storm at the Film Commission said he doesn’t foresee this becoming a trend for other productions interested in filming in the state.
“We’ve got talented crew in South Carolina who knows what it takes to keep sets safe and are committed to helping grow the film industry in the Palmetto State,” he said.
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The boss of Sony’s movie business has said he believes that the video games business will be the next focus for company mergers and acquisitions.
Speaking during the Bank Of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications Entertainment Conference this month (transcribed by VGC), Sony Pictures Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra was asked if the movie industry would see any further consolidation.
He replied: “I think the traditional medium of television and film has probably peaked and the new growth area will be the games business, and who’s better positioned than Sony for that business?
“I do think you’ll see some consolidation on that side. You’ll probably see a little more on our side as well. I do think there are probably too many film studios and you might see one or two less over the next five-to-ten years.
“But I think the next area of consolidation will be the games business.”
The games industry’s pandemic boost has already seen a significant rise in mergers and acquisitions.
According to recent research by InvestGame, the value of MAs in the games industry exceeded $22 billion in 2020, including the sales of ZeniMax to Microsoft and Codemasters to EA, which is the highest amount since 2016. It said the key acquirers in 2020 were Tencent, Embracer Group, Stillfront and Zynga.
The report notes that because video games have outperformed many industries hurt by the pandemic, public and private investors have started to target the industry as a perceived safe bet.
“We intend to increase development personnel and other in-house costs by approximately 20bn yen [$184m] year-on-year, as we further strengthen our in-house software,” Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki said in the April conference call.
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“To enhance our software offering, we intend to continue investing in partnering with external studios, in addition to aggressively investing in our in-house studios.”
He added: “As I just mentioned, we aim to strengthen the PlayStation platform through actions such as the recently announced partnership with Haven Entertainment, which was established by Jade Raymond, creator of the famous game Assassin’s Creed.
“In our additional investment of Epic Games, along with the rest of the Sony group we will also work to enhance the social and platform capabilities of games.”
Sony has been working more closely with its movie business in recent years, following the opening of PlayStation Productions, a movie studio tasked with adapting its game franchises to television and movies.
I would like to draw all your attention towards what could be one of the fantastically-put together hero introduction songs in the recent past. I only ask for 20 seconds of your time.
In under 10 minutes in Kodiyil Oruvan, we get a song about the hero with snapshots from his everyday life, that not just spells out for the audience what a gold-hearted and diamond-footed hero Tamil cinema has never seen (duh!), but screams it instead. In Nee Kaanum Kanave, we get a glimpse — and literally so — of Vijaya Raghavan (Vijay Antony), as he goes about his everyday chores on a bicycle. Now the obvious, natural and instinctive question that may arise in your mind is, what’s so markedly different about this song in particular… don’t most of Tamil cinema’s mass narratives have these? The answer is a resounding NO.
Because, in those films, the hero’s good deeds would have mostly been related to the background or we get to hear about his sainthood-ness through lyrics, if you pay attention that is. But in Kodiyil Oruvan, we seemed to have finally found the answer to why Tamil cinema’s mass heroes are good-hearted and diamond-footed.
Picture this: in the said song, Vijaya Raghavan carries an elderly woman when he finds her unable to walk; he delivers medicines and groceries to the needy, takes care of his mother, does swimming, serves as part-time teacher to children, can be seen occasionally practising boxing and also seem to help woodcutters. He also rides a bicycle. Oh, wait! We seemed to have discussed that in the previous paragraph. Given the myriad roles he dons, I half-expected Vijaya Raghavan to break into an impromptu tap dance, while tossing the pan preparing a schezwan curry. And I am positively sure that I missed at least two of the roles in his everyday chores.
From this peculiar, yet very real description of the song, you, the reader, should have now figured out the kind of film Kodiyil Oruvan is.
It is the latest entry in Tamil cinema’s never-ending list of crowd pleasers, which isn’t an issue. But how do you invent something new out of a tried-and-tested-and-dead formula is the question. It is a film that milks paneer out of the amma sentiment, but remains true to the conventions of Kodambakkam-ness.
Like, for instance, it is Vijaya Raghavan’s first day of college in a new city. He sits on a desk that miraculously has amma scribbled on it. What does he do next? Gets emotionally-attached and we are left to wonder if the director thinks of us as fools. The ‘goodness’ of this scene sets precedent for a loud, boring, preposterous film that follows.
Director Ananda Krishnan made a brilliant debut with Metro, which, for the most parts, had everything put together in an orderly manner. In Kodiyil Oruvan, he goes bombastic with WhatsApp forwards as approach to screenplay writing.
Take this: Vijaya Raghavan lives in a housing board in Chennai. When he finds a boy peeing outside his house, he does something spectacular: he gives the boy a seed and asks him to plant it there. The next day, the boy comes to take a leak but decides to hold it instead, when he sees the sprout. This is what happens when you take ‘sowing the seeds’ in literal sense.
I wonder why Vijaya Raghavan didn’t lecture from J Krishnamurti’s book, when a politician gives him trouble. I mean, he could have planted a few thoughts and we all could have gone home happily.
If you see a guy who looks like Bruce Willis in Alabama this week, it’s perfectly fine to do a double take.
The actor, 66, is filming a movie thriller, “Die Like Lovers,” in the Birmingham area.
Jesse Atlas, director and co-writer of the movie, confirmed to AL.com that filming is underway here. The movie is based on his 2017 short film “Let Them Die Like Lovers,” about a body-hopping assassin who starts to question her identity and the morality of her violent assignments.
It’s unclear what role Willis will play in the full-length feature, or if the main character’s gender will be changed to accommodate the star. In the short, directed by Atlas and written by Atlas and Aaron Wolfe, the assassin is a woman named Alex (played by Angela Lewis).
The plot of the movie was described this way by Deadline: “A woman’s husband is killed in action as part of an experimental new military program. A former black-ops soldier then takes his place to find his killer.”
Brickell Broadbridge International are producing the film, Deadline says, along with Endless Media.
The Alabama Film Office confirmed that the primary filming locations for “Die Like Lovers” will be in the Birmingham area, but other details weren’t available.
Recent casting calls for background actors and stand-ins for “Die Like Lovers” were posted on Facebook by Goleman Casting. The notices said work in various categories was available June 21-25, and called for background actors who would play diner customers and members of a black ops team.
“Die Like Lovers” is the latest in a long line of movie projects for Willis. The actor has more than a dozen films in the pipeline, according to IMDB, many of which are in pre- or post-production.
His resume includes the “Die Hard” series, “Pulp Fiction,” “12 Monkeys,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Sin City,” “The Fifth Element,” “Motherless Brooklyn,” “Unbreakable” and “Glass.”
On television, Willis is best known for his breakthrough role on “Moonlighting” (1985-1989). Playing a wisecracking private detective opposite Cybill Shepherd, he won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1987. “Moonlighting” set the stage for his film career, where Willis earned fame as an action hero.
Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.
Here they go again – ABBA reunite for first new album in 40 years
Swedish supergroup ABBA announced their first new album in four decades on Thursday and said they would stage a series of virtual concerts using digital avatars of themselves in London next year. Fans piled online to celebrate the long-awaited reunion of one of the world’s most successful bands. “2021 has been saved by new ABBA music,” @elliemiles23 said in one widely shared Twitter post.
Critics say ‘Dune’ movie will thrill ardent fans, may mystify others
The much-anticipated movie remake of science-fiction epic “Dune” won praise from critics on Friday for its stunning visual spectacle, though some of the initial reviews said that only the most hard-core fans would enjoy the storytelling. “Dune” debuted at the Venice Film Festival on Friday and will hit theaters and the HBO Max streaming service on Oct. 22. The movie is adapted from Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel about an intergalactic battle to control a precious resource.
Kristen Stewart’s turn as Princess Diana wows Venice
U.S. actress Kristen Stewart’s interpretation of Princess Diana in “Spencer” got a warm reception at the Venice Film Festival, where it premiered on Friday, with some critics already tipping her as an Oscar favourite. Chilean director Pablo Larrain follows a transformative Stewart as the troubled princess reluctantly joining the royals for a three-day Christmas gathering at Sandringham House as her marriage to Prince Charles breaks down.
Returning to film, Jane Campion says #MeToo was ‘like the end of apartheid’
Acclaimed New Zealand director Jane Campion, back on the big screen after a 12-year hiatus, praised fellow female film-makers for a string of top awards over the past year, saying the #MeToo movement was like “the end of apartheid” for women. Campion, presenting her new film “The Power of The Dog” at the Venice festival on Thursday, pointed to colleagues Chloe Zhao – whose “Nomadland” won the top prize in Venice last year and went on to fetch three Oscars – and this year’s Cannes winner Julia Ducournau.
R. Kelly accuser says she reached $200,000 settlement after herpes diagnosis
A woman testified at R. Kelly’s sex abuse trial on Friday that she reached a $200,000 settlement with the RB singer after she contracted herpes. Prosecutors have been trying to show jurors in Brooklyn federal court that Kelly was careless toward alleged victims of his sexual practices, including multiple victims who claim he kept silent about transmitting disease through intercourse.
‘Our Mikis has gone’: ‘Zorba the Greek’ composer Theodorakis dies at 96
Composer Mikis Theodorakis, whose music crossed international boundaries in his captivating score for the film “Zorba the Greek”, died on Thursday, plunging Greece into three days of mourning. A towering man with a brooding presence and a shock of wavy hair, Theodorakis’s work evoked a progressive, democratic vision of the world, though his political struggles reflected a darker side of Greece rarely seen by visitors.
Director Villeneuve says science fiction epic ‘Dune’ more relevant today
Tackling politics, religion, the fight for precious resources and the environment, Frank Herbert’s 1965 epic science fiction novel “Dune” is more relevant to today’s audiences, director Denis Villeneuve said on Friday as he brought his ambitious adaptation to the Venice Film Festival. An ensemble cast led by Timothee Chalamet stars in the mammoth project, set in the future where noble families rule planetary fiefs.
‘Hadestown’ marks return of Broadway musicals after 18-month shutdown
Broadway’s long-awaited reopening kicked off on Thursday with the return of Tony-winning show “Hadestown” – the first musical to come back after an unprecedented 18-month shutdown. “Hadestown,” which won eight Tonys in 2019 for its modern rock twist on the ancient Greek tale of lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, was the biggest show so far to take to the stage again ahead of the return of more than a dozen productions later in September.
As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 rolls around, filmmakers take different approaches
A slew of new films and TV series are being released around the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001, attacks, taking different approaches as the United States looks back on that day that changed everything. One of the more high-profile projects being released is “Worth.” A Netflix film, “Worth” tells the story of mediator Kenneth Feinberg, played by Michael Keaton, who was tasked with developing and administering the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund.
Maggie Gyllenhaal picks Ferrante novel for her directing debut
Maggie Gyllenhaal picked an unconventional novel about motherhood for her debut as a director in “The Lost Daughter”, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Friday. In the film, Olivia Colman plays Leda, a middle-aged British literature professor vacationing on her own in Greece who becomes transfixed with a young mother (Dakota Johnson) and her daughter on the same beach.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The new James Bond movie “No Time To Die” on Friday set a world premiere date for late September, despite speculation in the entertainment industry that the film’s release might be delayed for a fourth time because of the coronavirus epidemic. A posting on the official @007 Bond Twitter account said the red carpet world premiere for the Universal Pictures and MGM film would take place in London on Sept. 28, ahead of the planned Sept. 30 release date in U.K. movie theaters.
It is due to be released in the United States on Oct. 8. The date for “No Time to Die” has been moved three times from its original April 2020 slot since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020 as movie theaters around the world closed their doors and restrictions were placed on audience capacity.
James Bond movies are among the most valuable film franchises in Hollywood, with 2015’s “Spectre” raking in $880 million at the box office worldwide, while “Skyfall” in 2012 grossed more than $1 billion globally. The film, which cost an estimated $200 million to produce, marks Daniel Craig’s last outing as the British secret agent and is among the most anticipated potential Blockbusters this fall.
However the Delta variant of COVID-19 has led to a rise in infections in the United States and elsewhere, raising concern about whether audiences will feel safe sitting in cinemas. Box office receipts for recent big releases, including “Black Widow” and “The Suicide Squad,” have been disappointing as Hollywood studios have released some films on streaming platforms.
Takings at the box office for North America are running about 50% behind the same period in 2019, according to Variety. Sony Corp’s movie studio last week delayed the release of superhero sequel “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” by nearly a month to mid-October.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Looks like Michael Myers can’t be stopped, in either Haddonfield or in real life. Halloween Killsreleased on Friday both in theaters and on Peacock, and absolutely dominated at the box office with a $55 million take. Most of it came from North America and its love for Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter, and the $50 million debut came above original expectations.
Though Myers was able to eliminate competition like No Time to Die in North America, internationally, he was no match for the tentacles and tongue of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Andy Serkis and Tom Hardy’s monster Marvel flick is continuing to break pandemic records with an international weekend take of $115.6 million. Currently at $283.6 million, it’s well on its way to breaking $300 million. It still hasn’t released in China yet, which is partially why we even have a sequel to the movie in the first place.
Kills’ success is good for the box office, which has gotten some reliable franchise hitters in recent months, but probably not comforting news for Peacock. When Jungle Cruisehad its dual release back in the summer and a pretty solid box office, Disney was quick to send out emails touting its success. NBCUniversal’s been pretty quiet about its viewership numbers, which says everything about their plan to put the movie on their streaming service. Still, the option to see it from the comfort of your home is there.
Either way, the second act of director David Gordon Green’s horror reboot has a pretty solid start for itself. Universal and Blumhouse likely feel smart about making this a trilogy in 2019, whose final installment will release in 2022 with Halloween Ends. But Dune is coming out next week in theaters and on HBO Max, so now it’s time to see if Michael can survive a big ass space worm. (Dude’s survived a lot of injuries throughout his life, so he probably can.)
