Yes, the filmmaker behind The Lobster, The Favourite, Poor Things and Bugonia has made ads for Squarespace (the website-building platform) and Grubhub to air during Super Bowl LX. The Grubhub spot is untitled, but the Squarespace commercial is titled Unavailable, and, of course, it stars Emma Stone. - The Hollywood Reporter
The vanishingly rare presentations of stage work, whether dance, opera or theatre, are invariably acquisitions from cultural organisations that provided most of the funding and all of the production expertise. - The Conversation
“I’m going to be putting tariffs on movies from outside of the country,” the president told The California Post in an interview shared Monday. “If they’re made in Canada, if they’re made in all these places, because Los Angeles has lost the movie industry.” - Yahoo
“Six months after the funding cuts, few public TV or radio stations have closed their doors. Many have scraped together a patchwork of funding from concerned donors, philanthropies or government grants. Others, facing insurmountable budget issues, have resorted to mergers with bigger stations to stay online.” - The New York Times
I can’t imagine saying to my son that TV kills brain cells, but I do think it — or fear it. Our language might have shifted (today we talk about rotting), but the notion endures that watching too much TV and other visual content is detrimental for kids or at least has a whiff of moral failing. - The New York...
One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson’s counterculture comedy, received 14 nominations for Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, while Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller garnered 13. Marty Supreme and Hamnet each got 11 nods, while a sleeper, the Tourette’s comedy I Swear, landed five. - The Guardian
This weekend, “the festival is bidding farewell to its longtime home and forging forward without its founder, Robert Redford, who died in September. Next year, it must find its footing in another mountain town, Boulder, Colo.” - San Francisco Chronicle
“Jack Murley alleged he was called homophobic names, including ‘fairy boy’, by other staff members and told to sound ‘less gay’ on air by a manager.” - BBC
“Each is a story about standing up to something that seems too big to confront: an authoritarian government, an abusive system, dehumanizing societal norms. Together, they show the power of nonfiction filmmaking, both amateur and professional, in those acts of resistance.” - The New York Times
Apparently, it was too hard to put parental controls on the old characters. So: “We’re pausing teen access to the current version while we focus on the new iteration. When that new iteration is available for teens, it will come with parental controls.” - The Verge (Archive Today)
“Even in a case where a star comes on first, … the casting director has to build an entire world around them — not just actors who fit each individual part but combine to form a harmonious vision, one that can be disrupted by a single off-key line.” - Slate (MSN)
“The Bethlehem-based organization, which includes PBS39, WLVR radio and the Lehigh Valley News website, will lose about half of its workforce, which had stood at 41. It also cut back on some PBS programming ‘to align expenses with sustainable funding.’” - The Morning Call (Allentown, PA) (MSN)
The overlooking of the Good Witch was truly Wicked. Then again, crowd pleaser Wicked: For Good got basically nothing overall, so maybe it’s time to reconsider that shunned Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film category …just sayin’. - Deadline
For anyone fantasizing about Hollywood as some liberal bulwark, though, the 2024 election brought that idea to an abrupt halt. The industry’s era of progressive sincerity, and much of its wariness toward conservative-coded content, has evaporated. - The New York Times
Under the agreement, the BBC will grow its number of YouTube channels to 50, which includes those operated by commercial arm, BBC Studios. New specialist channels will include BBC3’s Deepwatch (working title), featuring new and existing documentaries. Seven children’s channels will be launched (as well).” - Deadline
