How to get out of a toxic relationship

Child grooming is a tough subject to tackle, but Belgian director Emmanuelle Nicot takes a sensitive approach in her Critics Week feature Love According To Dalva . The key here is perspective: almost everything is shown from the point of view of a victim who has been taken into care, and who doesn’t realize she has been abused. Watching the truth slowly dawn upon her gives this film real tension, while also providing the possibility of recovery and enlightenment. Dalva (Zelda Samson) is a 12-year-old girl who dresses like a grown woman, wears make up and does not expect to be treated like a child. She’s horrified when she’s taken from her father and into a temporary facility for teenagers with problems. She’s even more dismayed when she learns that her father has been arrested. Slowly, it transpires that Dalva believes that the “love” he has shown her is perfectly normal — she has been hidden from the world and immersed in a relationship that she thought was consensual. … [Read more...] about Cannes Review: Emmanuelle Nicot’s ‘Love According To Dalva’

Executive Producer and star Emmy Rossum dons the blond wig and hot pink for new limited series, Angelyne . Angelyne’s larger-than-life persona covered billboards around the city of angels and catapulted her to cult status in the ’80s. Rossum gathered hundreds of hours of footage and images of Angelyne to study her mannerisms and voice to tell the story. As a lover of etymology, she bore her depiction of one of Los Angeles ’ most mysterious icons from the name. “I had a way of breaking down her name for myself that I never actually told anybody that’s like a secret prayer I would tell myself before we rolled. When I broke down her name I got, ‘At a fork in the road, I’m reborn a messenger of God,'” she said. “I truly believe that the character of Angelyne represents something that people needed in Los Angeles which was a a bright pink light, a beacon of hope, a sense of mystery and magic, someone that could bring you joy in a barren concrete wasteland of dreams. And I really … [Read more...] about ‘The Breakdown’ With Emmy Rossum

W hen Steven Soderbergh began work on The Knick – his gritty, historical medical series for Cinemax, set in New York City in 1900 – he enjoyed replicating the era’s look, fashion and stomach-churning surgical practices. But one of the few things that was far too ghastly to replicate was the music. “Oh, it was horrible,” he says with a laugh. “Aesthetically, it’s a really cool period, but the music was absolutely boring and not interesting. Ragtime had just started – and there’s a tiny bit of that in the background of some scenes – but other than that, there was nothing good.” So the director turned to the only person he thought could give The Knick a unique sound: his frequent collaborator, Cliff Martinez. As the director filmed the show, he had been using shimmery EDM flourishes that Martinez had written for the 2012 teensploitation flick Spring Breakers and some of the composer’s wiry synth lines from his own 2011 pandemic disaster film, Contagion , as temporary … [Read more...] about Blood Brothers: Inside the Music of ‘The Knick’

There are few contemporary working artists who maintain a more idiosyncratic release schedule than D’Angelo . He’s famous for tinkering and revising his music, eating up years and hundreds of reels of analog tape on his way to an eventual album. It took him 14 years to follow up 2000’s smash hit Voodoo with his most recent album, Black Messiah . In that time, three U.S. presidents occupied the White House, Facebook was invented, and D’Angelo released precisely zero songs. So it was a surprise when a new D’Angelo track titled “ May I? Stand Unshaken” quietly appeared on YouTube recently. Even more startling: In many of the bootleg clips D’Angelo’s new song soundtracks footage from the wildly popular video game Red Dead Redemption 2 . That’s because the only way listeners can legitimately get their hands on “May I? Stand Unshaken,” which has not been officially released yet, is by buying a copy of the game. “Even RCA [D’Angelo’s label] had no idea we were … [Read more...] about D’Angelo F-cking Loves Playing ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’

" Dancing with the Stars " doesn't want Chelsie Hightower this season, but Reebok (and Reebok's money) sure does ... the shoe company's sticking by the dancing pro, despite the fact she was axed from season 16. Chelsie inked a major endorsement deal with Reebok earlier this year to be the face of its new dancewear line (which launched in Feb). A great choice for Reebok, considering CH's been a staple on "DWTS" since 2009. TMZ broke the story ... Chelsie was NOT asked to return to ABC's hit show this year -- begging the question, WHAT WILL REEBOK DO NOW???? A rep from Reebok tells TMZ ... "While we believe Chelsie was the perfect choice for the upcoming season [of 'DWTS'], our relationship with her will not change moving forward and we look forward to continuing to work with her.” Chelsie tells TMZ, "I am just thrilled to be the face of Reebok's new dancewear line ... the line is FABULOUS!" Who needs sequins and spray tans when you got sneakers -- and $$$? … [Read more...] about ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Chelsie Hightower — At Least REEBOK Still Loves Me!