Renaldo (Bernardo Velasco), the hero of HBO’s new comedy Los Espookys, is a study in contradictions. He dresses in Goth fashions and is obsessed with horror movies, but his most natural expression is a broad and welcoming smile. He starts up a business with best friends Úrsula (Cassandra Ciangherotti) and Andrés (Julio Torres) to provide creature effects for specific situations — a struggling beach town in need of a sea monster to attract tourists, an aging priest hoping to stage an exorcism to upstage his dashing young colleague — but the primary goal seems to be helping people feel better about themselves, even if the chosen method is scaring them. The pleasures of Los Espookys — created by Torres, Ana Fabrega and Fred Armisen — are less confounding but still complex. The series, set mostly in an unnamed Latin American country, primarily unfolds in Spanish with English-language subtitles; as fair turnabout, scenes where characters speak English … [Read more...] about ‘Los Espookys’ Review: Horror-Comedy Mashup Keeps It Weird
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Future: Syrup, Strippers and Heavy Angst With the Superstar MC
Outside, it’s rush hour, a still-sunny spring evening in Atlanta, but in here, you’d never know it. This room is windowless and dark, illuminated only by a projector shooting shimmering green stars onto the ceiling, a computer monitor displaying Pro Tools, and the glowing rack of gear beneath it. The air seems composed mostly of high-grade kush smoke, accompanied by just enough oxygen to sustain life. On a shelf in the corner are liter bottles of sugary sodas – Sprite, Pineapple Sunkist, Strawberry Fanta – mixers for a bottle of codeine cough syrup adorned with a picture of Homer Simpson. This control room and its adjoining vocal booth, in a gated studio complex on an industrial road a couple of miles from downtown, is the workplace of choice for Atlanta’s reigning hip-hop king, Future. Six feet three with long, blond-tipped dreads, top-notch cheekbones and the sleepy swagger of the high school athlete he once was, he looks less like an actual … [Read more...] about Future: Syrup, Strippers and Heavy Angst With the Superstar MC
From ‘Fleabag’ to James Bond and Beyond: Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Death and Her Secret New Movie
With two Emmy-nominated series and Hollywood at her feet, the star-creator behind the Amazon comedy and 'Killing Eve' reveals her future plans (hint: It’s probably not a Netflix deal) and the allure of writing for 007: "It’s a kind of fantasy nightmare." Phoebe Waller-Bridge has clearly done her homework. Delivering herself onto a shaded sofa in the Chateau Marmont courtyard, the 34-year-old British auteur surveys the Sunday brunch set with the confidence of a regular. "Before I got here I read something like 'The 25 Most Controversial Things That Happened at the Chateau,'" she confesses, her eyes flashing with a newfound awareness of decades marked by glamour and debauchery. "You know, just to really get in the zone." Interviewing a writer and actor who so nimbly avoids cliche on the grounds from which roughly 8,736 celebrity profiles have been harvested feels almost unsavory. But Waller-Bridge is leaning into Hollywood stereotypes as she hits Los Angeles at the beginning … [Read more...] about From ‘Fleabag’ to James Bond and Beyond: Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Death and Her Secret New Movie
Oscars: New Foreign Language Committee Chiefs On Tweaks, Challenges & Making The Academy A Global Enterprise
Diane Weyermann and Larry Karaszewski are chairing the Academy’s Foreign Language Oscar executive committee for the first time this year, replacing Mark Johnson who had a nearly two-decade run. With 87 movies on the docket for consideration, and the shortlist reveal approaching on December 17, I spoke with them recently about what makes this race tick, its challenges and how they are expanding the group of voices who get a say as the Academy looks to become a more global enterprise. This can be a controversial category (think: 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days or Elle being left off the shortlist) whose voting system has shifted over the years. Recently, the rule whereby members have to attend and vote for movies based on a specific color-coded group was kiboshed. In hopes of gaining more participation, Weyermann and Karaszewski also lowered the minimum required amount of films viewed to vote in Phase I to 12. Says Weyermann below, “We love this category, we love these films, we … [Read more...] about Oscars: New Foreign Language Committee Chiefs On Tweaks, Challenges & Making The Academy A Global Enterprise
Terrence Howard Ordered to Pay Ex-Wife $1.3 Mil in Spousal Support
Breaking News TMZ Composite Terrence Howard's success heading into the final season "Empire" just bit him in the ass -- or should we say the wallet -- because a judge is ordering him to give his ex-wife a huge chunk of his TV earnings. Michelle Ghent scored a 7-figure W Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court when the judge said enough is enough, and ruled Terrence must pay her $1.3 million. About $263k of that is reportedly back spousal support -- and another $1.05 million is based on the fact he's pulling in big money. Terrence is reportedly now making north of $250k per episode of "Empire." Michelle and Terrence's money battles have been dragging on since 2013 -- and, by comparison, he was only hauling in somewhere around $120k per episode in 2015, when the show debuted. TMZ broke the story, Michelle filed docs last year requesting her ex pay her more than $900k in back spousal support, so today's ruling -- first reported by the NY Daily News -- is a massive legal victory for her. … [Read more...] about Terrence Howard Ordered to Pay Ex-Wife $1.3 Mil in Spousal Support