In the complaint to the National Labor Relations Board, SAG-AFTRA says using generative AI undermines “bargaining unit work,” meaning actual voice actors could have played the part of Vader in the free-to-play-but-nigh-impossible-not-to-spent-money-on battle royale experience.

The root of SAG-AFTRA’s complaint stems from ongoing concerns about using AI across the entertainment spectrum. The union is currently involved in an Interactive Media Agreement strike, which targets AI protection for video game voice actors. To be clear, SAG-AFTRA workers can contribute to the game, but arrangements need to happen before participation is approved. Parties would need to grant a deal before a specific date. In Fortnite’s case, that date is August 2023.

In the case of Fortnite, which uses Darth Vader as an NPC and (earnable) playable character, The Walt Disney Co. and Epic Games say the arrangements to use Jones’s voice were made in “close consultation” with the actor’s estate.

“Ask him all your pressing questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire … or you know, a good strat for the last Storm circle. The Sith Lord has opinions,” Fortnite wrote in a blog post about interacting with the menacing villain of the Empire.

SAG-AFTRA is fighting tooth and nail to establish fair arrangements for its union members and the studios/companies they wish to work with. Allegedly side-stepping the process to launch your annual in-game Star Wars event for a “Galactic Battle” marketing push could be considered a step too far in a court of law. The jury remains out on this, but we’re watching the situation closely.

The post SAG-AFTRA hits Fortnite with an Unfair Labor Practice charge for the use of a Darth Vader AI voice appeared first on JoBlo.

What’s the first name that comes to mind when you think of a movie star? Do you go back to the Golden Age of Hollywood? Maybe a ‘70s icon? A blockbuster hero of the ‘80s and ‘90s? The point is, it might not be someone too recent…at least, if you’re Sean Penn, that is, who recently declared, “There’s no such thing as a movie star anymore.”

To me, Timothée Chalamet might be the quintessential movie star right now. But the A Complete Unknown star is hardly on Penn’s radar, saying he has yet to see a single film from him. Adding to this, Penn stated, “It’s like, people are hanging out in their sections of the library. We all used to be in the same library, and [found out] what was special to everybody. I have a romantic memory of that. It’s moved on since then. There won’t be…you’re not going to have a Warren Beatty, it’s not going to happen.”

OK, so Warren Beatty is tough to match, but Chalamet is also a reigning sex symbol (although with that ‘stasche, he’ll never be Beatty) and had the advantage of landing his first movie five years before Beatty did at 24 with Splendor in the Grass. But look at Chalamet or Austin Butler or Glen Powell and you’re looking at a bonafide movie star – granted, they’re not all ones you’re going to drop your weekend for to catch their new flick. (Oh, god, it isn’t Dwayne Johnson, is it?) On the female front, what about Emma Stone or Margot Robbie? For Penn, the concept of a movie star stopped with someone else entirely. “I think the movie star manufacturer ran out around Jennifer Lawrence’s time or something. She’s probably the last movie star, yeah.”

Sean Penn has said many jaded things before, but this does feel a little like the old man yelling at clouds. Really, that he even said he has never seen a Timothée Chalamet movie – even the three that have individually outgrossed Warren Beatty’s entire filmography) – shows he’s out of touch on this one. Yes, Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Tom Cruise – all guys who got their start in the ‘80s – still define the Hollywood movie star, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any newcomers who have a rightful spot in the conversation.

Who do you think stands as an absolute movie star in 2025?

The post Is the movie star dead? Sean Penn thinks so. appeared first on JoBlo.

10 Things I Hate About You was key late-’90s watching for a couple of reasons. One, it actually made Shakespeare fun (sorry, Baz!). But more importantly, it launched or nurtured the careers of so many of a generation’s favorite faces: Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, and, of course, Heath Ledger, who was one of the runaway stars of 10 Things.

Casting the role of Patrick Verona – the bad boy tasked to woo Stiles’ Kat so that Oleynik’s Bianca so she can get a date of her own – was one of the hardest jobs for the team. And while hundreds of guys tried out for the part, once Heath Ledger entered the room, 10 Things director Gil Junger knew he was the one. As he told Entertainment Weekly, “The truth of the matter is we were casting and he walked into the room, and I’m very picky. I had already read 253 guys — 253 guys! And then Marcia Ross, the head of Disney casting, said, ‘Look, this next kid, I don’t know him. It’s a favor for an agent I respect. So if he’s no good, just stop it and send him on his way.’”

Junger added that despite being a teenager (a rarity in Hollywood, as it’s normally 20-somethings cast as high schoolers), Heath Ledger had the right personality to be the one to scale the bleachers in 10 Things. “He just had a magnetism unlike I’ve ever felt. It was undeniable. If there’s old souls, he must have been centuries old because he just had a way about him that — he was only 17, and yet he just was so confident and loving and wanted to be the best he could be. He was just an incredible young man.”

After 10 Things I Hate About You scored big at the box office, Heath Ledger’s career was off. Soon after, he was cast in The Patriot opposite Mel Gibson, leading A Knight’s Tale and co-starring in Monster’s Ball, all just a few years before he would land his first Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain.

10 Things I Hate About You is still so loved 25+ years later that Junger is even developing a follow-up trilogy that is set to feature 10 Things I Hate About Dating, 10 Things I Hate About Marriage and 10 Things I Hate About Kids. Junger has also supported the idea of paying homage to the late Heath Ledger – who died in 2008 – in the 10 Things trilogy.

The post How Heath Ledger beat 250+ others to land 10 Things I Hate About You appeared first on JoBlo.

When this year’s inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame were announced, it included legends and pop/rock icons like Chubby Checker, Soundgarden and Cyndi Lauper. But it just wasn’t weird enough. So, come on, it’s time to ask: Why isn’t “Weird Al” Yankovic in the hall of fame?

Joining in the campaign to get Weird Al inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is John Mulaney, who brought up His Weirdness when chatting about this year’s inductees. Speaking about Chubby Checker’s induction specifically, Mulaney noted that there is some humor to it. “Knowing that it was part novelty I think is great. I’m a big proponent of novelty music. I’m a big proponent of “Weird Al” getting into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This is one step closer, though I don’t know why they need to be led via steps. “Weird Al” brought more people to music than is recognized at all.” He added, “I will, in fact, greatly devalue my coolness by saying [when I was young], it wasn’t until “Smells Like Nirvana” defanged “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that I could enjoy “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” It was scary at first. It just was like, “I’m pretty happy, I’m a kid.” I needed a way in. And after you laugh at “Smells Like Nirvana,” you go, “Oh, this is a really good song.”

There has been a call for action from fans to get Weird Al into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for two decades now (about the time he became eligible, as artists are only up for induction 25 years after the release of their first album). The most notable campaign was called “Make the Rock Hall ‘Weird’”, but none of this has gained enough traction even for enough fan votes. Honestly, I think he’s at least deserving of his own channel on SiriusXM, which would play his parodies and pastiches, along with the original songs and those that inspired him.

The problem has a lot to do with Weird Al being considered a novelty act – and with that, a lot of people don’t appreciate his genuine range in vocal and songwriting abilities. He has also been a pop culture favorite for more than 40 years, marking himself as one of the most unique voices in modern music. And you’d be hard-pressed to find an artist or genre that he hasn’t parodied, pastiched or paid homage to. Heck, you can look at this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honorees and draw immediate links to Weird Al, as he parodied Lauper with “Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch” (admittedly one of his worst songs) and featured both Soundgarden and The White Stripes in his polkas.

What do you think? Does “Weird Al” Yankovic belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?

The post Weird Al deserves to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! appeared first on JoBlo.

Joe Don Baker began his career in the 1960s, turning up in roles in Cool Hand Luke, Guns of the Magnificent Seven and Junior Bonner. But it was playing wrestler-turned-vigilante Buford Pusser – a real-life sheriff in Tennessee – that put him on the map. (He would later be replaced by Bo Svenson for the sequels.)

Much of the focus of Joe Don Baker in his post-Walking Tall ‘70s lineup was on crime movies, landing spots in Charley Varrick, The Outfit and Framed. Action was a forte of Baker’s as well, turning up in a number throughout the first leg of his career.

Joe Don Baker would later have a distinction of playing two different characters in the James Bond franchise. First came 1987’s The Living Daylights, where he played black market arms dealer Brad Whitaker who meets his fate courtesy of 007 (and the Duke of Wellington). He would also turn up for Pierce Brosnan’s first go as Bond in 1995’s GoldenEye, this time playing CIA op Jack Wade, who sides with 007 in his mission. He would reprise that character for 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies.

Joe Don Baker would continue his steady career through the decades, appearing in everything from The Natural (Babe Ruth surrogate The Whammer) to Fletch (a corrupt police chief) to Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear (a PI). His last feature was Jeff Nichols’ Mud. TV credits early on put him in popular westerns such as Gunsmoke and Lancer. In 1997, Joe Don Baker would earn some of the highest praise of his career playing Alabama governor Jim Folsom in TNT miniseries George Wallace.

Despite all of his onscreen credits, Joe Don Baker will always best be remembered for Walking Tall. And he was aware of that, saying he gets most recognized for that role. “It’s amazing to me…It astounds me that people still remember – I can understand it because Buford was such a wonderful person, he was a hell of a character in real life. He was like Hercules or Zeus or something…I was very happy to be chosen to play him and I’m very happy to be remembered for playing Buford…It touched a nerve in everybody who would like to do in the bad guys but don’t have the power and we’d get in trouble…But Buford was able to pull it off.” Pusser passed away in 1974, just one year after the release of Walking Tall.

RIP to one of the toughest dudes to ever hit the big screen in the 1970s, Joe Don Baker.

The post Joe Don Baker, Walking Tall star and James Bond actor, dies at 89 appeared first on JoBlo.

The official festival description reads,
“Future Ruins is a first-of-its-kind music festival: a day-long event where the world’s most influential film and television composers step out from behind the screen and onto the stage.

Set across three stages at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, Future Ruins is designed to feel thoughtful and immersive, bringing this music to light in an environment where it has never been heard before. Every artist is a headliner, each with their own specially curated moment. Each artist is encouraged to take big swings and reimagine their work for a live audience. Ranging from electronic sets and live bands to orchestral performances, fans have the chance to experience live debuts from composers who rarely appear onstage.

This one-time line up is not just a music festival — it’s a cinematic ceremony, a deep dive into sound and story, and a historic first for Los Angeles.”

The line-up of acts is as follows:

• Cristobal Tapia de Veer
  (Babygirl, Smile, The White Lotus, Black Mirror, Utopia (UK), Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, Ponyboi, The Third Day, National Treasure (UK),The Girl With All The Gifts, Humans)
• Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow
  (Ex Machina, Civil War, Men, Drokk, Annihilation, Luce, Free Fire, Black Mirror, Devs)
• Danny Elfman
  (Batman, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Men in Black, Good Will Hunting, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Big Fish, Alice In Wonderland, Spider-Man, Milk)
• Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin
  (Suspiria, Profondo Rosso/Deep Red, Dawn of the Dead, Demons, Tenebrae, Phenomena, Opera)
• HILDUR GUðNADÓTTIR
  (Joker, Chernobyl, A Haunting in Venice, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Mary Magdalene, Tár, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Women Talking, Hedda)
• (a performance of Howard Shore‘s score of David Cronenberg’s Crash)
• Isobel Waller-Bridge
  (Munich: The Edge of War, Emma., Black Mirror, I Came By, Wicked Little Letters, Fleabag, The Lesson, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Magpie, Sweetpea)
• John Carpenter
  (Halloween, They Live, The Thing, Christine, Escape From New York)
• Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein
  (Stranger Things, Lost in the Night, The Hole in the Fence, Spheres, Native Son, Butterfly, Retaliators, Valley of the Boom)
• Mark Mothersbaugh
  (The Life Aquatic, The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Bottle Rocket, Rugrats, The Lego Movie, A Minecraft Movie, Cocaine Bear, Thor: Ragnarok)
• Questlove
  (performing the score works of Curtis Mayfield)
• Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
  (Candyman, Master, Telemarketers, The Color of Care, Grasshopper Republic, Power, Unvion, Seeds, Life After)
• Tamar-kali
  (Mudbound, Shirley, The Assistant, The Fire Inside, The Last Thing He Wanted, Come Sunday, Palmer, The Lie, Little Richard: I am Everything)
• Terence Blanchard
  (BlacKkKlansman, Malcolm X, Inside Man, Da 5 Bloods, When the Levees Broke, One Night in Miami, The Woman King, Perry Mason)
• Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
  (The Social Network, Watchmen, Gone Girl, Soul, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Challengers, Empire of Light, Waves, The Vietnam War, Mank, The Killer)
• Volker Bertelmann AKA Hauschka
  (All Quiet on the Western Front, Conclave, Lion, The Amateur, Dune: Prophecy, The Day of the Jackal, Hollywoodgate, Adrift, War Sailor, The Old Guard, Stowaway, Patrick Melrose)

The post Danny Elfman, John Carpenter, Nine Inch Nails, Goblin and more film composers perform at the Future Ruins Music & Arts Festival appeared first on JoBlo.

This reconnection, which came Tuesday, is a serious shift for both Lyle and Erik Menendez, whose life story has regained a lot of traction over the last year partly due to season two of Ryan Murphy’s Monsters. Having aired in September on Netflix, conversation really started picking up the following month. While we wouldn’t exactly give Murphy credit here (the brothers have been fighting for their freedom in one form or another since their trials ended), that sort of buzz does bring more public attention to the matter.

Of course, just because Lyle and Erik Menendez are eligible for parole doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee. They will have to be approved by California’s parole board. This will be a monumental decision that — just like the original trials, which were one of many “trials of the century” — will be making headlines and generating a lot of discussion over whether or not the brothers deserve to be set free. Just the decision on the judge’s part to resentence will be enough to put the brothers fully back in the spotlight until an eventual decision is made.

Nearly 30 years after the Mendendez brothers’ conviction, Lyle and Erik — who are 57 and 54, respectively (they were 21 and 18 at the time of the murders) — have found support and sympathy from many, who feel they were initially victims and also that the justice system did them wrong, especially since the first trial was televised and thus immediately making a circus of the situation. Family members have also spoken out in support, with more statements being given their week meant to lean positively into their character and growth over the decades.

The brothers were also given opportunities to speak on Tuesday, with Lyle stating, in part, “On Aug. 20, 1989, I killed my mom and dad. I make no excuses and also no justification. The impact of my violent actions on my family … is unfathomable.”

What do you think? Should Lyle and Erik Menendez be set free or do they deserve to spend the rest of their days in prison?

The post Lyle and Erik Menendez eligible for parole after resentencing appeared first on JoBlo.

Dracula is adapted and directed by Kip Williams. This play will mark the Oscar-nominated star’s return to the stage for the first time since her Tony Award-winning role as Celie in the stage production of The Color Purple. She performed in New York for a couple of years before exiting the production in January 2017. Erivo is an alum of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She played Celie in a London show, then she honed her craft in a number of other plays and musicals in the UK before she would relocate back to the U.S.  

The second final part of Wicked, which sports the title Wicked: For Good, flies into theaters on November 15, 2025. Still, Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton), who plays the charming Prince Fiyero in the musical adaptation, is already drumming up excitement for the event of the holiday season. Bailey said he thinks he’s beginning to understand the world inspired by Gregory Maguire’s novel, and there are moments he can’t wait to share with audiences.

“I think we understand the world and how it works [now],” he told IndieWire. “I’m really excited for the tonal shift. The world gets heavier and more complicated and there’s just that pumping sense of hope and joy and resilience and all the things that we love about Elphaba’s journey that I can’t wait for.”

Additionally, Erivo has been vocal about her dream role as Storm for the new incarnation of the X-Men. Erivo talked about her yearning to play Ororo Munroe for Marvel’s mutant team. Erivo says she wants to explore the character’s depth and “inner turmoil,” feeling like a lot has been left on the table by previous incarnations. “I really want to play Storm,” Erivo said. “I know it sounds frivolous but I think we haven’t uncovered how grand she is and all of that inner turmoil that she has, so I think there’s a world where we could do something like that.”

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As told by Susan Morrison, author of Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, Michaels was deeply affected by the 1982 death of Belushi, who was an original player on SNL. And while drugs were around in subsequent eras, watch was specifically put on Chris Farley during his SNL run in the early to mid ‘90s. “When Belushi died, it really hit [Michaels] hard. And I think he felt like, oh my God, this whole approach of just letting people do their own thing on their own time, this was the wrong approach. We’re a tribe, we’re a group, and we have to look out for each other…So by the time Chris Farley comes along, you know, 10 years later or whatever, from the beginning he clearly had addiction issues.”

As it would turn out, Chris Farley would die two years after his SNL run, overdosing at the age of 33…the same circumstances and age as his hero. Unlike Belushi, Farley truly made SNL his home, staying on for five seasons alongside fellow Bad Boys David Spade, Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider.

Ultimately, Farley would be fired from SNL in 1995, although he had grown accustomed to it by then. As Morrison further recounted, “He couldn’t metabolize it, but Lorne had really changed his approach. He would ban Farley from the show for weeks at a time if he was too f*cked up. And he sent him to a series of really tough love rehab places. And obviously, it didn’t do it for him.”

While John Belushi was never the subject of a biopic, he was recently portrayed by Matt Wood in Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night. Farley, however, will be played by Paul Walter Hauser in a movie to be directed by Josh Gad.

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YouTube has officially made the move to stop ad revenue on fake movie trailers on the site, particularly hitting Screen Culture and KH Studio, along with their fellow accounts Screen Trailers and Royal Trailer. Considering these are some of the most prolific names in the game, YouTube is no doubt trying to send a message. In a statement, they wrote, “Our enforcement decisions, including suspensions from the YouTube partner program, apply to all channels that may be owned or operated by the impacted creator.”

Just to give an idea of the kind of work these companies are doing on YouTube, Screen Culture – which has 1.42 million subscribers – released “concept trailers” for The New Avengers (aka Thunderbolts*), Predator 6: Badlands and Lilo & Stitch all in the past week. KH Studio, meanwhile, hits more of a retro market, with some of their most recent videos being fantasy castings of Florence Pugh in Titanic and Timothée Chalamet in Edward Scissorhands. They also list their videos as “parody” as a way to help defend themselves against lawsuits.

While it’s great that YouTube is taking some measures to stop these companies from making cash off of these trailers, it’s hard to see this doing a whole lot. After all, what’s to stop the likes of Screen Culture and KH Studio from creating more accounts to schill their phony trailers? Or the studios from finding their own workaround so they, too, can continue generating revenue?

The influx of fake movie trailers has a lot of edges to it. For one, it’s actually tricking people into thinking they are real; even though AI isn’t near the point of fooling those who know, we’ve all seen how easily duped people are, especially when it comes to the internet. There’s also the matter of a blatant disregard for IP, something that it’s disgraceful the studios aren’t even bothering to fight.

Do you see this move by YouTube doing anything to slow down fake movie trailers?

The post YouTube to stop fake trailer accounts from making money appeared first on JoBlo.

Today, Cruise receives a Fellowship from the British Film Institute and last night featured an in-depth conversation with the star. Variety reports that he revealed in this conversation that he got to work with Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man after his sister urged him to say hello when running into Hoffman at a restaurant. Cruise explained,

She goes, ‘There’s Dustin Hoffman.’ I looked up and there he was, in a hat — he was doing Death of a Salesman — and he was ordering takeout. She goes, ‘You go over there and say hello to him.’ I was like, ‘I’m not going to say hello.’ She goes, ‘You know him, you know his movies.’ And she doesn’t do stuff like that. And I don’t walk up to people, but she was so pushy.”

Cruise told the story with his sister, Cass, present in the audience. He continued to explain that she gave him an ultimatum, “If you don’t do it, I’m just going to go over there and tell him who you are.” Cruise said he responded, “He’s not going to know who I am, that’s going to be really humiliating!” He said that his sister “pestered me so much” that he finally gave in. “I said, ‘Excuse me, Mr. Hoffman, I’m sorry…’ And he went, ‘Cruise!’”

Hoffman offered Cruise and his sister tickets to Death of a Salesman, then the Mission: Impossible star concluded, “As I was leaving he said, ‘I want to make a movie with you.’ And I said, ‘That would be nice, sir.’ And that’s what happened, and basically a year later he sent ‘Rain Man.’”

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Tom Cruise has worked with some of the greatest directors ever. But at the top might be Stanley Kubrick, who directed Cruise and then-wife Nicole Kidman in his final film, 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut. And despite a nasty divorce, Cruise still has wonderful things to say about Kidman – along with some other notable Hollywood luminaries.

Cruise recently spoke to Sight and Sound (via Deadline) for the May issue, wherein he recalled meeting Kubrick and ensuring that Kidman get the role of his wife in Eyes Wide Shut. (Kubrick was at one point considering another one-time Hollywood power couple, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger.) “I flew out to his house and I landed in his backyard. I read the script the day before and we spent the day talking about it. I knew all of his films. I spoke to [The Color of Money director Martin] Scorsese about him and [The Firm director/Eyes Wide Shut co-star] Sydney Pollack… so I knew what he did and how he worked. Then it was basically he and I getting to know each other. And when we were doing that, I suggested Nicole play the role [of Alice]. Because obviously she’s a great actress.”

No doubt Eyes Wide Shut was a unique experience for both Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, who were put on a set that was nothing like their past collabs Days of Thunder and Far and Away. “We arrived in the summer and basically we just started testing… the script was just an idea. We [were] constantly rewriting the scenes and shooting the scenes and then reshooting the scenes to really find the tone of the film.” And for those wondering, yes, he did finish making the movie before his death.

Another legend who worked with Stanley Kubrick is Jack Nicholson. Having worked with Nicholson on A Few Good Men, Cruise was able to see how the Oscar winner operated. On observing these methods, Cruise mentioned, “He was finding his character. And you could see every movement slowed. He became more and more centred as we were going through it. You could tell from the way he’s sitting. He’s actually holding his hat quite tautly to generate power. He understands that lens. He’s a wordsmith, Nicholson. He’s like a crooner that knows how to carve up a monologue and knows how to carve up a scene. He can turn a phrase in such a unique way. And it’s not by chance. He knows what he’s doing. He has command over his body and his voice and he knows the camera.” Cruise also noted that Marlon Brando – once a close friend of Nicholson’s – had similar methods. No wonder they lived down the road from each other!

Whether clinging to airplanes for Mission: Impossible or wading through psychologies of sex with Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise has continued to approach acting like almost no one else.  As he elaborated, “When I’m acting, that’s my home. Acting is every moment new. Every take new. Even though you’ve got all these notes and you want to hit these certain beats. But it’s in a new unit of time and you have to let it fly…”

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Maybe no other game than GoldenEye 007 better gave you memories with your friends. Just seeing the cover automatically sends you back to those basement days, chugging Surge and belching Doritos 3D. And when you took your N64 to college, it was cheap beer on both fronts. Whatever the setting or era, it was almost guaranteed that someone was getting an N64 controller to the knee. Now, GoldenEye 007 is being recognized not just for how many friendships it ruined but how innovative the multiplayer gameplay was, as it will officially be part of the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

Joining GoldenEye 007 are Defender, Quake and Tamagotchi. On Defender, The Strong National Museum of Play noted it for its gameplay that helped separate the skilled players to those who just threw quarters in random machines at the arcade. As for first-person shooter Quake – which id Software launched as a successor of sorts to Doom – the organization lauded the 3D environment. And then there’s the Tamagotchi, which let you experience loss on a personal – and temporary, if you had a pencil handy to press “reset” – level.

Although GoldenEye 007 did have a single player mode, it was the multiplayer that made the game legendary. And while chaos and cursing was inevitable, it was almost always agreed that you couldn’t play as Oddjob and the Golden Gun was off limits. The game’s legacy has been so lasting that a documentary titled GoldenEra was even produced a few years ago.

The Strong – which also houses the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York – launched the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2015, with Doom, Pac-Man, Pong, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and World of Warcraft being the inaugural inductees. Since then, nearly 50 games have been inducted, with selections ranging chronologically from 1962’s Spacewar! to The Last of Us, which got inducted 10 years after its 2013 release.

Other nominees for this year’s World Video Game Hall of Fame included instant app smash Angry Birds, Konami classic Frogger and bar favorite Golden Tee Golf.

What are your favorite memories of playing GoldenEye 007? Who was your go-to character?

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Cited as one of the true game-changers in television history and maybe the greatest show in the history of the medium, it’s hard to find someone who straight-up hates The Sopranos. But there is one prestige name that wouldn’t have minded seeing the show sent to long term parking. No, not Daniel Radcliffe but rather Martin Scorsese, who it turns out has zero appreciation for The Sopranos.

Martin Scorsese’s disinterest in The Sopranos is well-documented, but David Chase offered some elaboration on what kept the director from ever seeking a second opinion. “Marty Scorsese doesn’t like the show. He said, ‘I don’t get it’ – it’s like all these trees and sh*t…It’s very simple. He grew up in New York in Little Italy, and there is Five Families organized crime there. That’s what he depicted. I grew up in New Jersey and there was branches of suburban New Jersey and there was branches of Five Families organized crime, but they’re different from the ones in New York, a different culture…People go to the suburbs to build fancy houses and get trees and stuff. It’s that simple. It was real for that place. Like his is real for his.” Hey, half an hour over the bridge can be a world away…

Maybe fittingly, dozens of actors from Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas would end up having a role of some size on The Sopranos, with the most prominent being Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill/Dr. Melfi), Michael Imperioli (Spider/Christopher Moltisanti) and Frank Vincent (Billy Batts/Phil Leotardo). Chase even considered casting Ray Liotta later on, but the actor would end up playing the Moltisanti twins in The Many Saints of Newark. On a more ironic note, an actor by the name of Anthony Caso had an uncredited role in Goodfellas and later played Scorsese in a season one episode of The Sopranos.

All due respect, we’ve got to disagree with Martin Scorsese over his Sopranos assessment. Just because this mob movie doesn’t depict the same lifestyle as that mob show doesn’t lower its value. Sure, Marty can have any take he wants, but there’s room for both – and a lot of overlap as well. And there’s no denying that a hit is a hit.

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Netflix’s redesign will start hitting your screens over the course of the next few weeks and months, with one of the ultimate goals being to make your decisions easier and faster. In other words, in theory you won’t be scrolling through hundreds of titles before inevitably settling on The Great British Baking Show as you always do. So how does Netflix plan to do this?

For one, Netflix will utilize a vertical feed in the redesign. This will offer short clips of Netflix programming that you can scroll through in such a fashion, sort of like an Instagram reel or TikTok feed. From there, you can watch, add and share. As Eunice Kim, who serves as Netflix’s chief product officer, explained, “Our current TV experience was built for streaming shows and movies. This one is designed to give us a more flexible canvas now and in the future. We are always going to keep sight of what we think is the best experience for our members, particularly driving discovery and engagement with all of the movies and shows and live events and games that they love. And we believe that the improvements to the member experience will ultimately drive lots of great outcomes for us as well.”

Another element that Netflix will introduce in their redesign comes through a collaboration with OpenAI, the company responsible for ChatGPT. Here’s how that will function: Instead of searching for a movie title or landing at one of their pre-programmed pseudo-genres (Lazy Day Comfort Binges, anyone?), you can type in something along the lines of, “movies that will make me LOL” or “TV shows that my wife will get fed up with and I’ll get the 95” all to myself”. From there, Netflix will find the perfect programming for you – provided they actually have it streaming…This feature, it should be noted, is going to initially only be on iOS.

What do you think about the redesign that Netflix has in store for subscribers? What do you see as the biggest benefit?

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Appearing on the Drive podcast with Ford CEO Jim Farley (via EW), Frankie Muniz recalled that it was having a son that made him rethink his career as an actor so he could shift gears into the racing world, insisting that he wouldn’t have the reputation as a has-been. “I literally was holding him, my son, in the hospital bed, and I remember thinking, ‘Who is he going to grow up thinking that I am?’ Sure, I could say, ‘Here’s what Daddy used to do, Daddy used to be an actor, Daddy used to do that.’ But I wanted him to see me working really hard for something, striving for something, and all the ups and downs that come with it. And I really felt like I had unfinished business in the racing world.”

Muniz also admitted that by the time his son was born in 2021, he was well past his peak in the entertainment business, with that particular stretch finding him without a definitive direction. Of course, he ended up getting behind the wheel and officially becoming a NASCAR driver, which is a hell of a lot safer than where other child actors ended up.

But Frankie Muniz will be going back to his roots in a way with the upcoming Malcolm in the Middle revival, which will also allow himself – and his son – to see that he can spread his passions both past and present around. That revival will see him reuniting with Bryan Cranston, Jane Kaczmarek, Justin Berfield, and Christopher Materson. Unlike Muniz, Erik Per Sullivan – who played Dewey on the long-running sitcom – has entirely left showbiz behind, having decided to spend his post-Malcolm years studying Victorian literature.

As for his racing accomplishments, Frankie Muniz has competed at the NASCAR level under the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series, alongside a number of other series. On the movie front, he recently starred in sci-fi flick Renner, which co-stars Marcia Gay Harden, Violett Beane and Taylor Gray.

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Vice City, baby! Rockstar Games is throwing us a bone this week, as they have released the full trailer for GTA VI just a few days after announcing the game would be delayed from Fall 2025 to May 2026.

This trailer – which comes well over two years after the first one back in December 2023 – expands on what we can expect from the storyline of GTA VI. With that, it heavily tones down the more ridiculous elements – we’re talking true Florida people and alligators – that were spotlighted in the first look.

The GTA VI trailer opens with one of the playable protagonists, Jason. After hitting the road and picking up some beer, he heads to pick up his girl, Lucia. From there, we start seeing the robberies, heists and action that the two characters will be getting into in Vice City.

Here is the official plot of GTA VI, as per Rockstar: “Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them. But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive.”

In 2023, the first trailer for GTA VI netted more than 90 million views in 24 hours. We’ve got a while to go before we’ll see any final numbers on the second trailer (Rockstar dropped it around 9:30 a.m.) but we can absolutely expect this to be in that range, if not higher.

The delay of GTA VI was a huge letdown for those looking forward to heading back to Vice City this Fall, but getting another trailer should at least hold us over for a while. And if they needed more time for the graphics – which, going off of this trailer, are stunning – so be it.

GTA VI will be headed to consoles on May 26th, 2026. No price has been set just yet but many are expecting it to hit $100 at a minimum…and yes, that could set a pricey precedent in the video game industry.

What do you think of the second trailer for GTA VI? Will you be pre-ordering it no matter the cost?

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In a statement, Rockstar wrote of the GTA VI delay, “We are very sorry that this is later than you expected. With every game we have released, the goal has always been to try and exceed your expectations, and Grand Theft Auto VI is no exception. We hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve.”

The GTA VI delay is something that many had a feeling was coming, as it seemed especially suspicious that we hadn’t gotten a single clip from the game since the trailer — which hit 90+ million views in just 24 hours — late 2023. Only this year did we get the once-confirmed window of Fall 2025.

In his own statement on the delay of GTA VI, Take-Two Interactive’s CEO In his own statement on the delay of GTA VI, Take-Two Interactive’s CEO said,“We support fully Rockstar Games taking additional time to realize their creative vision for Grand Theft Auto VI, which promises to be a groundbreaking, blockbuster entertainment experience that exceeds audience expectations. While we take the movement of our titles seriously and appreciate the vast and deep global anticipation for Grand Theft Auto VI, we remain steadfast in our commitment to excellence.”

Obviously the news of GTA VI seeing a delay is just about the worst thing fans of the series can hear — hell, the subreddit is even on lockdown right now due to the free fall the news has sent people into. Remember, it’s been 15 years (16 with this stall) since Grand Theft Auto V, so of course we’re all impatient and eager. That said, we all know GTA VI is going to be the game many of us will be locked into for years to come, so we have to have faith that Rockstar is doing this to give gamers the greatest experience possible. Then again, sound reason is sort of out the window for a lot of gamers, who no doubt want to go full Trevor on Rockstar.

What is your take on Rockstar hitting GTA VI with a delay?

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Mike Peters was first diagnosed with lymphoma in 1995. While he initially looked to be headed towards recovery, he would later be diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

It was around this time that Mike Peters helped found Love, Hope, Strength, an organization meant to help those with cancer and leukaemia. In a 2013 interview, Peters said, “The goal is and always will be to keep fighting cancer.  Unfortunately, it’s like trying to hit a moving target at all times. The disease keeps changing and is as human as you and I. It also has a survival instinct all of its own and so we will probably never reach the ultimate goal of eradicating it, but if LHSF can help one person to win and get back to health then that shall be our goal.”

Mike Peters was no doubt an inspiration, persevering and continuing to make music despite the multiple diagnoses. In fact, Peters released multiple solo albums well after The Alarm disbanded in 1991. The band officially formed in its known form in 1981, soon landing their biggest hit with 1983’s “Sixty Eight Guns”, which reached the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart. Their debut album, Declaration, which featured that song, would prove to be their greatest success. The original run of the group released five albums in just eight years.

Songs by The Alarm have been featured on the soundtracks of such films and TV shows as Bachelor Party, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Fast Getaway, Ski School, Untamed Heart, Tanner Hall, Vinyl, Dom Hemingway, 13 Reasons Why, and Animal Kingdom.

To mark The Alarm’s 40th anniversary, the band launched a tour. While it saw delays, Mike Peters said of handling both the production and his illness, “We did the tour in April and May, and it was amazing, it was fantastic, a full-on British tour, big shows every night, we were playing 32 songs in an hour and forty-five minutes, pretty intense. But during the day, I wasn’t well—I was coughing, I found it hard to sleep, I was having night sweats. But as soon as I stepped over the line and went onstage, I was fine—I could sing full-tilt.”

Outside of The Alarm, Mike Peters not only released solo work but served as singer for Big Country once they reformed in 2010. While that Scottish band’s heyday was long behind them, Peters was instrumental in their continuation. He also felt a sort of relief in playing with them, as the band already had an established reputation long before he stepped in.

Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Mike Peters. You can leave your own in the comments section below.

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Jay Leno recently appeared on In Depth with Graham Bensinger (via Deadline), where the topic of The Tonight Show and David Letterman was brought up. And while Leno said he would sit down with Letterman, he’s not convinced it will ever happen. “Oh, yeah. I would like to do that. I think I have no problem with it…I think Dave might be awkward.”

Leno did recall the time that he swung by Letterman’s house on an impromptu drop-in with a friend. “It was the most awkward. Dave’s like, ‘Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Uh, come on in.’ And we’re like, ‘Oh, this is a mistake…It was just so awkward…‘So, uh, you want a glass of orange juice?’ ‘No, I’m OK. Yeah. We gotta get going.’ It was just so awkward…because you really, you have nothing else in common other than comedy really. Dave’s a sports guy. I’m not a sports guy…But I mean, believe me, if they want to do something, I would do it. But I’m not gonna…I tend to get my hand bitten when I instigate those kind of things.” Yeah, college football is the only difference between you and Dave…Sure, Jay.

Jay Leno and David Letterman would end up teaming up in 2010 for a Super Bowl commercial, which was reportedly Letterman’s idea. But outside of that, there’s really no reason for the two to reconcile. Likewise, Conan O’Brien – who had The Tonight Show more directly stolen from him from Leno – has no interest in ever sitting down with the host.

What do you think? Is a Leno/Letterman reunion worth it?

The post Jay Leno doesn’t think he and David Letterman will ever get along appeared first on JoBlo.

As Lester Bangs said in Almost Famous, “The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.” And director Cameron Crowe is going to share the story of his “uncool” life with a memoir arriving later this year titled, aptly enough, The Uncool.

Simon & Schuster (via their Avid Reader Press imprint) will release Cameron Crowe’s memoir this fall, with an October 28th shelf date. As far as the era The Uncool will cover, fans and readers can expect it to lean heavily on Crowe’s time immersing himself in the music industry, where he found himself as a teen working for Rolling Stone and reporting on the likes of Bob Dylan, David Bowie, the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, and more.

As per the publisher, The Uncool “offers a front-row ticket to the 1970s, a golden era for music and art when rock was young. There’s no such thing as a media junket—just a rare chance a young writer might be invited along for an adventure…The Uncool is also a surprisingly intimate family drama. If you’ve seen Almost Famous, you may think you know this story—but you don’t. For the first time, Crowe opens up about his early formative years in Palm Springs, and pays tribute to his father, a decorated Army officer who taught him the irreplaceable value of the human voice. Crowe also offers a full portrait of his mother, whose singular spirit helped shape him into an unconventional visionary.” Obviously much of this inspired Almost Famous, where Patrick Fugut’s William Miller served as his surrogate, touring with one of the greatest fictional bands in movie history, Stillwater.

Cameron Crowe has remained one of the most passionate music fans within the movie scene, giving us iconic moments on that front like the boombox scene from 1989’s Say Anything… and the “Tiny Dancer” sequence from Almost Famous. He would also helm a handful of music documentaries such as Pearl Jam Twenty and the long-unseen MTV doc Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party. He is also tied to a Joni Mitchell biopic looking to star Amanda Seyfried and Meryl Streep.

Will you be picking up Cameron Crowe’s memoir? What is your favorite music moment or movie he has given us?

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Do you have the time to come check out my shrine? Green Day is leaving the boulevard of broken dreams for Hollywood Boulevard, landing a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Fresh off of their Coachella gig, Green Day will next be welcomed to paradise, receiving the 2,810th star on the Walk of Fame right near Amoeba Music. In a statement, Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez said, “The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is honored to welcome Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Green Day’s music has not only inspired generations but also served as the soundtrack to our lives.” The ceremony will take place on May 1st.

Green Day is actually one of the few full-fledged bands to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and will soon be in the company of The Beatles, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and some select others. So the next time you’re hitchin’ a ride to Los Angeles, be sure to check out the star and have the time of your life.

Green Day’s origins go back to the 1980s when lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt were teenagers. Soon after adopting their band name (yes, it’s tied to pot), the boys, along with drummer Tré Cool, released their debut album. But it was 1991’s Kerplunk that helped them break out, something that really blew up with 1994’s Dookie, backed by singles like “Basket Case”, “When I Come Around” and “She”.

Green Day had a bit of a rebrand with 2004’s American Idiot, a concept album that helped them find a new audience, their first Grammy for Record of the Year (alongside their first nod for Album of the Year) and even Broadway love, as the album was adapted for the stage. There was even talk of turning it into a movie but that has faded away.

What do you think of Green Day getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? Are they deserving of the honor or is it redundant?

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Late last year, James Van Der Beek announced he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. And while fans have thrown their support behind him, it’s not surprising that his fellow Dawson’s Creek co-stars have stepped up amid his fight.

Joshua Jackson — who played Pacey Witter, best friend and sometimes bitter enemy to James Van Der Beek’s Dawson Leery — recently said that he and Katie Holmes (Joey Potter), Michelle Williams (Jen Lindley) and Busy Phillips (Audrey Liddell, coming into the show for the final two seasons) have made it customary to keep in touch, especially in times like this. “James is going through something really truly terrible right now. And I wish I could take credit for this, but I was kind of the absentee partner here, but the girls all got together and were like, ‘We need to do something to help this guy out.’ Whether we talk to each other all the time, Busy and Michelle are very, very close. And Katie and I are very close. It’s not a daily call, sometimes it’s not a weekly or monthly or even a half-yearly call. But when you’re together, there’s always that.”

Considering how much the Dawson’s Creek cast went through — sure, they weren’t teens playing teens (when does that ever happen?), but they were still seeing the first huge successes of their careers, a huge pressure — it’s no wonder the show has its share of behind-the-scenes stories of tribulation and triumph. But without them, they may not be as loyal as they are today. As Jackson continued, “There is, you know, these major moments in life — other than your husband, there’s probably no other people in your life that you are that forged to. ‘Cause you had to go through good and bad and happy and ‘F*ck -you’ and ‘Don’t talk to me’ and ‘I love you.’”

While it’s incredible to hear that the Dawson’s Creek co-stars are making it a point to keep in touch, there’s also the sad fact that James Van Der Beek has found himself selling merch from Varsity Blues to help cover expenses.

We here at JoBlo.com want to wish James Van Der Beek the best in his fight, and you can do the same in the comments section below.

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With WrestleMania 41 over, word comes that Netflix will release a 10-part docuseries designed to take fans behind the scenes of what makes events like that tick. Titled WWE: Unreal, the series will hit the streaming service this summer.

The WWE has produced some incredible documentaries about their talent and programming over the years, so many of which offer deep dives you won’t get anywhere else. Considering Netflix has been on the multi-part documentaries train for a while now, this one focused on WWE should be an awesome combination. To give an idea, the teaser features Paul “Triple H” Levesque – who serves as WWE’s CCO (taking over more duties once Vince McMahon left) – saying, “Seven days a week, 365 days a year. This is a calculated, coordinated production…We’re gonna lift the curtain.”

In their release, Netflix teased a little bit of WWE: Unreal along with tonight’s episode of Raw, which, as the first one right out of WrestleMania, is usually one of the most exciting of the year. “While full details remain under wraps, WWE: Unreal is part of Netflix’s rapidly growing partnership with WWE — one that kicked off in a major way in January 2025 with Raw, streaming live on Netflix on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.  Since the premiere, dozens of superstars have stepped into the WWE Raw ring, including The Rock, John Cena, and the Undisputed WWE Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, and the Raw after WrestleMania on Monday, April 21 is set to be the biggest spectacle of the year.”

While a comprehensive look at the history of the WWE would have been a worthwhile endeavor, it seems like this Netflix series will be centering on 2025. That said, seeing how things work behind the scenes, from the writers room to run-throughs to the finished product, will be a must-watch.

Netflix acquired broadcast rights to WWE Raw last year for $5 billion. The streamer’s debut episode landed nearly 5 million views worldwide.

Will you be checking out Netflix’s upcoming 10-part documentary on WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.

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***This article will contain spoilers for WrestleMania 41 – more specifically for the match between John Cena and Cody Rhodes***

As an iconic wrestling career nears its end, the time is now for a Funko Pop! marking John Cena’s final WrestleMania in-ring appearance, where he defeated Cody Rhodes to win his record 17th world title.

As per Funko: “To commemorate Wrestlemania 41, Funko, the leading pop culture and fandom lifestyle brand, have announced their newest limited edition John Cena Pop! celebrating one of the most iconic wrestlers and his enduring legacy…Commemorate a WWE superstar by bringing this exclusive POP! John Cena® (WrestleMania 41) into the ring so he can put on one of his memorable final shows in your WWE collection.”

The figure, which is currently up for pre-order on Funko’s site, features John Cena in his new heel t-shirt and hat which he wore to the ring at Wrestlemania 41. The estimated shipping date is September 25th. This isn’t the first time that Funko has given John Cena the Pop! treatment, as he has variants for U Can’t See Me, Never Give Up, The Doctor of Thuganomics, and a Pop! Moment modeled after a WrestleMania showdown with The Rock.

WrestleMania 41 marked John Cena’s 17th appearance at WWE’s grandest stage of them all. With his win on Sunday night, his record stands at 11-6. Other notable victories include those over the likes of Triple H, Shawn Michaels and The Rock. His last singles win at WrestleMania was back in 2015.

John Cena announced his retirement from in-ring wrestling in July, formally kicking off his 2025 farewell tour with this January’s Royal Rumble. While he lost that 30-man match, he would go on to win the Elimination Chamber, giving him the shot at Cody Rhodes’ title, which Rhodes won at WrestleMania XL over a year ago.

While John Cena only has so many matches left in him, you’ll be able to catch him in the much-anticipated second season of Peacemaker, returning August 21st.

What did you think of John Cena’s final WrestleMania match? Were you surprised that he won the title?

The post John Cena gets WrestleMania 41 Funko Pop! appeared first on JoBlo.

For close to two decades, Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston were one of Hollywood’s top power couples. And while the flame fizzled, Nicholson proved how much of a card he still is by offering Huston his home as a refuge for her as she evacuated during this year’s wildfires in Los Angeles.

Anjelica Huston recently spoke of how Jack Nicholson reached out, saying, “The phone just rang out of nowhere, and it was him. It’s always a comfort when he calls. It was heartbreakingly sweet. I’ve gone back over it ­several times in my head, and I think next time I’d accept the invitation.”

Anjelica Huston and Jack Nicholson don’t see each other much anymore, which comes down to a mixture of being busy and construction… “Life gets in the way. Also, for some reason, they’ve been doing endless rerouting and road work near his house, so it takes hours to get to him, and that’s always irritating. I always managed to be late going to see him, which is very irritating for him.”

Jack Nicholson first started dating Anjelica Huston in 1973, one year before he would star in Chinatown, which featured her father John as Noah Cross. John Huston would later direct both Nicholson and Huston in 1985’s Prizzi’s Honor, for which Anjelica won Best Supporting Actress. As for other movies the two starred in together, there was only 1995’s The Crossing Guard. The pair split in 1990, the same year Nicholson directed Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes.

Jack Nicholson hasn’t been in a movie for 15 years but has been getting a lot of great press lately, turning up more frequently in public after living a more quiet life of retirement. Huston, meanwhile, has been consistent, having turned up in the John Wick series as The Director, continuing her collaborations with Wes Anderson and leading BBC One’s miniseries Towards Zero.

With Anjelica Huston’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar win for Prizzi’s Honor, the Huston clan became the first three-generation family to win Academy Awards. Both John and his father Walter won for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, meaning John directed both his daughter and father to Oscar gold.

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Being Mortal was set to be Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut. And backed with a cast that included himself, Bill Murray, Seth Rogen, and Keke Palmer, along with Ansari’s own skills he honed with his show Master of None, the movie was one that was on the radar. But it all fell apart after Murray was accused of committing what was described as “inappropriate behavior” on the set.

Three years after production halted on Being Mortal, Bill Murray says he’s still haunted by the movie being shut down halfway through, further explaining the circumstances of the moment that caused it all. “I don’t go too many days or weeks without thinking of what happened on Being Mortal…I thought I was trying to make peace, I ended up, in my mind, being barbecued. Someone that I worked with, had lunch with on various days of the week and so forth. It was Covid, we were all wearing masks and we were all just stranded in this one room listening to this crazy scene. And I don’t know what prompted me to do it, it’s something that I had done to someone else before and I thought it was funny and every time it happened it was funny. I was wearing a mask and I gave her a kiss and she was wearing a mask. It wasn’t like I touched her, it was just [makes smooching sound], I gave her a kiss through a mask, through another mask, to another person. And she wasn’t a stranger.”

But Bill Murray’s actions, however he meant them to be taken, were all it took for Being Mortal to be scrapped by Searchlight Pictures. And Murray continues to defend his move, adding that the idea of kissing through masks is a comedic set-up. “You know, you can teach an old dog new tricks. But I just thought it was a disappointment. It was a great disappointment because I thought I knew someone and I did not. And I certainly thought it was light and I thought it was funny. And to me it’s still funny, the idea that you could give someone a kiss with a mask on, it’s still stupid. That’s all it was.”

We all know that Bill Murray has a certain reputation for his on-set behavior. And however true or untrue some of the stories are, it didn’t stop a number of publications from throwing them online, especially in the wake of Being Mortal. But for Murray, it’s more or less a witch hunt, saying, “When someone has an episode like mine on this Being Mortal thing, the world goes searching for more proof that this person is a monster — an absolute monster. Well, I’ve had interactions with hundreds of thousands of people over 40, 50 years. Now, you can come up with half a dozen. If you really worked, you’d probably come up with a couple dozen.” Care to comment, Richard Dreyfuss?

While we’ll never see Being Mortal in its planned form (there have been talks of revisiting it at some point), Ansari instead lined up his true directorial debut, Good Fortune, which stars himself, Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, and Keke Palmer. Hm, notice anyone missing…?

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This summer will mark the 14th anniversary of the release of A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin’s fifth book in his A Song of Fire and Ice series…which means the 14th anniversary of the last time we got a book in the series. So where is The Winds of Winter? At this point, we’re almost afraid to ask.

George R.R. Martin was recently asked by TIME about the status of The Winds of Winter, to which he admitted that it is far overdue. “That’s the curse of my life. There’s no doubt Winds of Winter is 13 years late. I’m still working on it. I have periods where I make progress and then other things divert my attention and suddenly I have a deadline for one of the HBO shows, I have something else to do.” Well maybe if you weren’t spending so much time with dire wolves!

Other than the recent petting of dire wolves and blasting House of the Dragon, George R.R. Martin has a number of endeavors, although he is constantly trying to convince fans that these aren’t taking any time out of his writing. “I swear, I opened a bookstore and people say, ‘Why is George R.R. Martin opening a bookstore? He could be writing Winds of Winter.’ I don’t actually work in the bookstore, you know…I have a theater — I’m not the projectionist. They seem to overestimate how much time I’m putting into these things.”

Just last year, Martin admitted that he really wasn’t sure if he would ever finish The Winds of Winter. That would also pretty much confirm that he’ll also never get around to the supposed seventh installment, A Dream of Spring. And, honestly, we just have to go with it at this point and be happy with the books he’s given us. That should be good enough to convince fans to chill out, right…?

To date, Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice novels have sold over 90 million copies and been translated into nearly 50 languages.

Are you ever expecting George R.R. Martin to finish The Winds of Winter? What is your favorite book in A Song of Fire and Ice?

The post George R.R. Martin calls “The Winds of Winter” the curse of his life appeared first on JoBlo.

Earlier this month, director James Cameron wondered if AI could be used to exponentially trim movie’s budgets. If that seemed like a hot take in those words, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has one to top it — it’s not just that money can be saved through the use of AI but better ideas can be generated because of it. OK, Ted, let’s hear this one… 

During Netflix’s first-quarter earnings call this week (via Deadline), Ted Sarandos was asked about the impact of AI on the industry. For starters, Sarandos spun it in the direction of there being excitement over the potential of  AI in Hollywood. He would add, “I read the article too about what Jim Cameron said about making movies 50% cheaper. I remain convinced that there’s an even bigger opportunity to make movies 10% better.”

So what role does Ted Sarandos see AI having for movies? As it turns out, pretty much any you can think of, saying it’s a tool to be shared between blockbusters and indies. “So, our talent today is using AI tools to do set references, pre-vis, VFX sequence prep, shot planning, all kinds of things today that kind of make the process better. Traditionally, only big-budget projects would have access to things like advanced visual effects such as de-aging. Today, you can use these AI-powered tools to enable smaller-budget projects to have access to big VFX on screen.”

As we know, artificial intelligence isn’t going away and is only getting stronger (for good or bad is up to interpretation) with each passing day. Basically, we have to live with it. But one point Ted Sarandos is missing here is that while everybody does now have access to it, there’s no reason for every studio, every film and every director to find it useful. Remember the outrage and calls for boycotts there were when the low-budget Late Night with the Devil used it for just three still images? Yeah, they didn’t need to use it yet the access was too alluring, showing just the sort of damage and sway it’s holding throughout the budget spectrum.

What do you make of Ted Sarandos’ comments on AI? Is the access doing more harm or good?

The post Ted Sarandos says AI will make movies 10% better appeared first on JoBlo.

Look! Up on your shelves! It’s a Big Bird! It’s a Cuphead Aeroplane! No! It’s Funko‘s new lineup of Funko Pop figures for James Gunn’s Superman! Steel your wallets, friends! Collectible figurines inspired by the upcoming film from DC Studios are flying into stores and online retailers faster than a speeding bullet. Funko’s Superman collection includes Pops for Krypto, the superpup, Superman, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor.

In addition to regular-sized Pops, the lineup includes a JUMBO version of Superman, featuring the Son of Krypton in flight and a Superman keychain to keep your house key from falling into the wrong hands. The new Funko Pops are a great way to help celebrate Superman Day and make your Pop collection mightier than ever!

Today’s Funko Pop announcement comes after James Gunn and WB dropped a Superman behind-the-scenes video featuring new footage from the films, cast and crew comments, and an exciting look at the film’s elaborate production. In the video, James Gunn, Peter Safran, and cast members emphasize the importance of bringing hope and heart back to Superman for a bold, new era of DC Studios movies.

In James Gunn’s Superman, the iconic superhero embarks on a journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent. The film sets the tone for Gunn and Safran’s DCU, positioning the new era as a colorful, hopeful, and action-packed roller coaster of emotions and superhero shenanigans.

Superman stars David Corenswet (Twisters, Hollywood ) in the dual role of Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult (the X-Men movies, Juror #2) as Lex Luthor.  The film also stars Edi Gathegi (For All Mankind), Anthony Carrigan (Barry, Gotham), Nathan Fillion (the Guardians of the Galaxy films, The Suicide Squad), Isabela Merced (Alien Romulus), Skyler Gisondo (Licorice Pizza, Booksmart), Sara Sampaio (At Midnight), María Gabriela de Faría (The Moodys), Wendell Pierce (Selma, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan), Alan Tudyk (Andor), Pruitt Taylor Vince (Bird Box) and Neva Howell (Greedy People).

Will you add Funko’s new Superman Pops to your collection? Which one of the new Pops is your favorite? Funko’s Superman Pops are on sale now! Let us know in the comments section below.

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