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      Bono, Halsey, Pharrell Williams Added to 'Sing 2'

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      WENN

      The upcoming sequel to the critically-lauded animated movie has added the U2 frontman, the N.E.R.D. member, and the ‘Without Me’ hitmaker among the voice cast ensemble.

      Dec 22, 2020
      AceShowbiz – Rocker Bono, hip-hop superproducer Pharrell Williams, and pop star Halsey are warming up their vocal cords to join the cast of “Sing 2”.
      The artists will voice lead roles in the planned sequel to the hit 2016 animated film, which starred Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, and Taron Egerton as anthropomorphic animals that enter a singing competition. They will all reprise their parts for the follow-up.
      Also planning to harmonise with the group are Bobby Cannavale, “Black Panther actress Letitia Wright, and comedians Eric Andre and Chelsea Peretti.
      Although Bono is a music industry veteran, “Sing 2” will mark his voice acting debut, having previously made onscreen appearances in TV drama “Entourage” and 2007 Julie Taymor film “Across the Universe”.

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      The U2 frontman will play reclusive rock star Clay Calloway in the Illumination Entertainment/Universal project.
      Illumination founder/CEO Chris Meledandri says, “We are thrilled that the Sing franchise attracts such exceptional talent, and we are delighted to announce this extraordinary cast.”
      “The film is a musical celebration of the unrelenting pursuit of one’s dreams, no matter how large the challenges that stand in your way. At its core this movie speaks to the power of optimism and belief.”
      “Sing” director Garth Jennings will also take charge of the sequel.
      The first movie received two nominations at the Golden Globe Awards. It’s deemed one of the Best Animated Feature Films that year and the soundtrack “Faith” by Stevie Wonder featuring Ariana Grande was considered one of the Best Original Songs in a movie.

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      Stimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts Venues

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesThe Stimulus DealThe Latest Vaccine InformationF.A.Q.AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyStimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts VenuesThe coronavirus relief package that Congressional leaders agreed to this week includes grant money that many small proprietors described as a last hope for survival.An empty United Palace Theater in New York. $15 billion of a $900 billion coronavirus relief package is designed to help the culture sector survive after a nearly yearlong revenue drought.Credit…George Etheredge for The New York TimesBen Sisario and Dec. 21, 2020, 4:24 p.m. ETFor the music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions that have suffered through the pandemic with no business, the coronavirus relief package that congressional leaders agreed to this week offers the prospect of aid at last: it includes $15 billion to help them weather a crisis that has closed theaters and silenced halls.The money, part of a $900 billion coronavirus relief package, is designed to help the culture sector — from dive-bar rock clubs to Broadway theaters and museums — survive. Many small proprietors described it as their last hope for being able to remain in business after a nearly yearlong revenue drought.“This is what our industry needs to make it through,” said Dayna Frank, the owner of First Avenue, a storied music club in Minneapolis. She is also the board president of the National Independent Venue Association, which was formed in April and has lobbied Congress aggressively for relief for its more than 3,000 members.As the news of the deal began to trickle out on Sunday night, a collective sigh of relief ricocheted through group text messages and social media posts. “Last night was the first time I have smiled in probably nine months,” Ms. Frank said.Dayna Frank, the owner of First Avenue in Minneapolis, said, “This is what our industry needs to make it through.”Credit…Jenn Ackerman for The New York TimesBroadway theaters, which have been closed since March, applauded the relief package.“We are grateful for this bipartisan agreement which will provide immediate relief across our industry and a lifeline to the future,” Charlotte St. Martin, the president of the Broadway League, the trade organization for producers and theater owners, said in a statement.Nataki Garrett, the artistic director for Oregon Shakespeare Festival, said that the aid would be crucial for nonprofit theaters. “Our situation was critical and dire,” she said.But the leaders of some large nonprofit cultural organizations worried that the way the bill is structured — giving priority to organizations that lost very high percentages of their revenue before considering the rest — could put them at the back of the line for grants, since they typically get a significant portion of revenues through donations.With the bill set to be approved in both chambers of Congress as early as Monday evening, arts groups around the nation were cautiously celebrating while studying the fine print to see what kind of aid they might qualify for. Most doubt the entertainment industry can fully swing back into action until well into next year, at the earliest.The bill allows independent entertainment businesses, like music venues and movie theaters, along with other cultural entities, to apply for grants from the Small Business Administration to support six months of payments to employees and for costs including rent, utilities and maintenance. Applicants must have lost at least 25 percent of their revenue to qualify, and those have lost more than 90 percent will be able to apply first, within the first two weeks after the bill becomes law.The Coronavirus Outbreak More

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      Steve McQueen's 'Small Axe' Wins Best Film at Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2020

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      Amazon Prime

      Besides Steve McQueen’s five-movie anthology, the members of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association have also lauded late Chadwick Boseman’s movie ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’.

      Dec 22, 2020
      AceShowbiz – Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” movie series has made history as the first group of releases to win the Best Film honour from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
      The director’s five-film anthology, set in London’s black communities over several decades, claimed the top prize when members cast their votes on Sunday (20Dec20) for the best releases of 2020.
      “Small Axe” included the projects “Lovers Rock”, “Mangrove”, and “Red, White and Blue”, but the collection, nor the individual titles themselves, will qualify as motion pictures for Oscars entry, reports TheWrap.com.
      “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” scored two wins – Best Actor for the late Chadwick Boseman, and Best Supporting Actor for Glynn Turman, while Carey Mulligan landed Best Actress for Promising Young Woman, and “Minari” star Youn Yuh-jung picked up Best Supporting Actress.

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      Best Director went to “Nomadland” ‘s Chloe Zhao, Emerald Fennel snagged Best Screenplay for Promising Young Woman, “Wolfwalkers” was declared Best Animated Film, and “Time” was hailed as Best Documentary.
      “Small Axe” was also recognised with Best Cinematography for Shabier Kirchner, Best Production Design was given to “Mank”, and “The Father” was voted Best Editing.
      Rocker Trent Reznor and his movie composing partner Atticus Ross were celebrating too after taking home Best Music/Score for their work on Pixar’s jazz-themed “Soul”.
      LAFCA officials honoured “The Forty-Year-Old Version” director Radha Blank with the New Generation honour, saluting rising filmmakers.

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      Can We Talk About the Mom in ‘A Christmas Story’?

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best ComedyBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest MoviesBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCan We Talk About the Mom in ‘A Christmas Story’?The woman hasn’t had a hot meal in 15 years and she’s always cooped up at home. 2020 is the year to give this character from a classic holiday movie her due.Melinda Dillon, center, plays Mother Parker in “A Christmas Story.”Credit…MGMDec. 21, 2020, 7:00 a.m. ETIt’s been tough to watch movies in 2020 and not project our frustrations and anxieties onto the screen. Maybe the extravagant wedding sequence in “The Godfather” suddenly felt garish compared to all of this year’s Zoom “I Dos.” Or maybe you put on “Elf” to pass some quarantine time, and the crowded mall scenes launched you into a cold sweat, because everyone is inside and no one is wearing a mask.When I watched the classic “A Christmas Story” recently for the 20th time (at least), my pandemic-weary brain zeroed in on something I’d never really noticed. I looked past the cute kids and the leg lamp and the famous tongue-stuck-on-the-pole scene, and became laser focused on the mom. One look at her disheveled hair and shabby robe and exasperated stare and I thought: This woman is a damn hero.“A Christmas Story,” which TBS has played on a loop every holiday season for over a decade, takes place in early 1940s Indiana, and follows a young boy named Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) who desperately wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas, even though his mom (Melinda Dillon, referred to as “Mother” in the credits), says his dream gift is too dangerous. That’s pretty much the plot, but the director Bob Clark and the writer Jean Shepherd somehow created an oddball, timeless Christmas movie that manages to be both darkly comic and sweet. Every year I’ve watched this movie assuming Ralphie is the protagonist. Now I’m not so sure.Peter Billingsley in “A Christmas Story.”Credit…MGMWhen we meet Mother, she’s frazzled, serving food and wearing dowdy clothes that look like rags next to her husband’s comparatively haute couture suit. While The Old Man (Darren McGavin) reads the paper or grumbles about the faulty furnace, Mother cooks, cleans, wrestles the kids into their gigantic snow suits and frets about everyone’s well-being, even though no one frets about hers.Normally I wouldn’t find her plight so enthralling, but on this viewing, as soon as her husband and kids left for the day, I desperately wanted to know what this woman did with her alone time. She wasn’t juggling home school and work during a global crisis, so did she just keep on cleaning? Maybe she mixed herself a clandestine Tom Collins and took a bubble bath. Where were the scenes of her celebrating her freedom by dancing through an empty house, like Jill Clayburgh in “An Unmarried Woman”? Was I projecting?Something tells me she was not sipping cocktails and pirouetting from room to room.Instead, we see Mother serving up cabbage and meatloaf, which practically makes her a saint in my book. I’ve occasionally handed my toddler son Goldfish and some grapes for dinner over the past year (toddlers are picky!), so at least her uninspired meals are home cooked. We also see her washing Ralphie’s mouth out with a huge bar of red soap after he says “the queen mother of dirty words.” My son said his first curse word this year also, only he’s 3-years-old instead of 9 like Ralphie. Rather than stuffing soap in his mouth, I looked away to hide my laughter and to avoid giving the word any attention. Mother didn’t have the luxury of reading fancy books by child psychologists instructing her about what to do when kids curse. What she did have was a big bar of soap.Mother might not get treated like a superstar, but Dillon received top billing in “A Christmas Story.” She came to the film with a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” plus two Academy Award nominations, for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Absence of Malice.” Dillon started out as the first coat check girl at the improv theater The Second City in Chicago, but when her career quickly took off, she was overwhelmed by the prospect of fame. She turned her energy away from acting and toward marriage and kids. The role of real-life suburban mom quickly lost its allure, though.“I got buried alive,” Ms. Dillon said of her stay-at-home stint in a 1976 interview with The Times. She went back to work.Reading that, it’s hard not to imagine that Ms. Dillon brought some of those feelings to the role of a woman who, as Ralphie says early on in the movie, “hadn’t had a hot meal for herself in 15 years.”She’s not just a meatloaf baking pushover, though. Mother has mastered the art of outsmarting her husband. She uses stealth tactics to convince him not to turn on the hideous leg lamp he won in a contest, like suggesting he keep it off so they don’t waste electricity (this qualifies as a stealth tactic in my eyes). She later not-so-subtly asserts her authority by destroying the leg lamp in a fit of rage. I cheered her on with every off-camera smash. Deprived of hot meals and cooped up at home, she needs this.From left, Ian Petrella, Billingsley, Dillon and Darren McGavin.Credit…MGMAt the end of “A Christmas Story,” Ralphie and Randy tear open their many presents, and The Old Man opens a gift from Mother, a shiny blue bowling ball. As I watched her observe her husband and son’s delight around the Christmas tree, I noticed that she was holding something that could either be a gold spatula or a fly swatter. I hoped that whatever her gift was, it was not either of those things. Suddenly, on the umpteenth viewing of this movie, I needed to know if this woman, the saint of the film, got a Christmas present.Frantic Google searches combining “mother” “Christmas Story” “gift” and “spatula” yielded nothing, so I emailed A Christmas Story House & Museum in Cleveland, the site of the actual house from the movie, hoping for answers.“Who cares what the mom gets for Christmas,” replied the museum’s owner Brian Jones. Turns out he was joking, but still. “No one has ever asked me that in nearly two decades in the business,” he wrote.According to Jones, Mother is indeed holding a fly swatter. If she gets any presents, we never see them. Is her Christmas gift the fact that her husband and sons are all happy and fulfilled? Where is her reward for multitasking and keeping everyone fed and clothed and protected from blizzards, all while sacrificing her own time and energy to make yet another cabbage stew? They could have at least given her a card!From now on, when I watch the end of “A Christmas Story,” I won’t be focused on Ralphie’s BB gun or Old Man Parker’s bowling ball. I’ll be rooting for the mom, and imagining a deleted scene where she kicks up her feet, has that Tom Collins and gets a quiet moment all to herself.Dina Gachman is an Austin-based writer and the author of “Brokenomics.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Marvel May Pass the Baton to M'Baku in 'Black Panther' Sequel

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      Marvel Studios

      The studio, which has been actively working on the sequel following the sudden passing of Chadwick Boseman, is reportedly considering to make the Jabari Tribe’s leader the new Black Panther.

      Dec 21, 2020
      AceShowbiz – The shift of power in Wakanda is still one of the hot topics among MCU fans following the untimely passing of “Black Panther” lead star Chadwick Boseman. According to the latest report, Marvel is now considering to pass the torch to M’Baku (Winston Duke) in the upcoming sequel.
      Twitter influencer and writer Daniel Richtman was allegedly the first to come up with the news of M’Baku potentially becoming the new central figure in “Black Panther 2”. Richtman said, per We Got This Covered, “Marvel thinking of making M’Baku Black Panther now.”
      Prior to this, there were rambling rumors that T’Challa’s sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) was to have a more prominent role in the upcoming feature, with many assuming she’s the best option to become the new protector of Wakanda. However, Marvel may have had a change of heart as Richtman allegedly noted, “Shuri may not get it anymore or it could be both of them for this one movie or one or the other, they are undecided.”

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      It’s unclear why Marvel starts considering to make M’Baku as the new Black Panther, but this arrives after Wright came under fire due to her anti-vaccine stance. Earlier this month, the actress posted a controversial video from the On The Table channel, in which host Tomi Arayomi cast doubt on the COVID-19 treatment.
      She initially defended her decision to post the YouTube clip, responding to the backlash, “if you don’t conform to popular opinions. but ask questions and think for yourself … you get cancelled.” She later clarified, “My intention was not to hurt anyone, my ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies. Nothing else.”
      Despite her explanation, Wright continued to receive a storm of criticism, including from her own Marvel co-star Don Cheadle, who blasted the video’s message as “hot garbage.” The actress later deleted the video in question before deactivating her social media accounts after landing in hot water.

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      Shia LaBeouf Removed From Netflix's For Your Consideration Awards Page Amid Abuse Allegations

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      Netflix

      After FKA twigs slapped the actor with a lawsuit alleging him of sexual battery and infliction of emotional distress, the streaming giant scrubs his name from the ‘Pieces of a Woman’ publicity materials.

      Dec 21, 2020
      AceShowbiz – Netflix is distancing itself from Shia LaBeouf amid allegations of abuse and sexual battery launched against him by his former girlfriend FKA twigs. After the British singer filed a lawsuit against the American actor, the streaming giant has removed his name from the “Pieces of a Woman” For Your Consideration page.
      According to IndieWire which first reported of the change, the “Transformers” star was initially included in the publicity materials on the awards page for the upcoming film starring him alongside Vanessa Kirby. However, his name is now no longer listed among those the streamer is pushing for film prizes and is not included in the film’s synopsis on the site.

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      Netflix has not addressed its decision to remove LaBeouf’s name from all publicity materials of “Pieces of a Woman”. This, however, comes after twigs accused the 34-year-old actor of assault, sexual battery and infliction of emotional distress during their months-long romance, which began in late 2018.
      In the lawsuit, she detailed an incident which happened on Valentine’s Day in 2019, during which he allegedly drove recklessly while pressing her to declare her love for him by threatening to purposefully crash the car. In another occasion, the “Two Weeks” singer said that the former Disney Channel star choked her in the middle of night.
      Responding to the lawsuit, LaBeouf said in a statement, “I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel… I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations. I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years. I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say.” While he apologized for his his aggressive behavior, he insisted that “many of these allegations are not true.”

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      Patty Jenkins Gets Candid Why She Found It Easy to Walk Away From 'Wonder Woman 1984'

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      WENN/FayesVision

      When revealing how close she actually came to ditching the sequel project over equity demands, the ‘Wonder Woman’ director stresses her career had never been about making money.

      Dec 21, 2020
      AceShowbiz – Filmmaker Patty Jenkins had “started to walk away” from “Wonder Woman 1984” before Warner Bros. studio bosses finally agreed to bow to her pay equity demands.
      Jenkins was highly praised by movie critics and fans alike after teaming up with actress Gal Gadot for Wonder Woman’s first solo blockbuster in 2017, when it banked more than $821 million (£607 million) at the global box office.
      However, it took some time before Warner Bros. chiefs announced the director would be returning to take charge of the follow-up, “Wonder Woman 1984”, amid reports suggesting Jenkins was leveraging her position to land a better deal.
      Now she has opened up about how close she actually came to cutting ties with the DC Comics project altogether, simply because she was determined to stand up for herself and demand the same pay as male filmmakers receive for superhero blockbusters.
      In a candid interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, she confessed, “I started to walk away. I was gonna walk away. I even said I’d be happy to go to another studio and make a quarter as much because it’s not a sequel, on principle, no problem.”
      Jenkins admits her career had never been about making money, because she never had the leverage, but this time around, she knew it was “time to turn the tables,” especially as it was easy to find out how much her male counterparts were making for the same kind of work.

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      “They got paid seven times more than me for (their) first superhero movie,” she explained. “Then on the second one, they got paid more than me still. It was an easy fight to say, ‘This can’t be. It super can’t be. And it really can’t be on Wonder Woman…’ ”
      “It was an interesting thing to do, but it was an easy thing to do in the fact I was dead serious. That I was like, ‘If I can’t be victorious in this regard, then I’m letting everyone down.’ If not me, who? So it became something I became very, very, very passionate about.”

      Now Jenkins is looking to the future after the launch of “Wonder Woman 1984”, which hits U.S. audiences on Christmas Day (December 25), and she’s unsure if she will be back for Wonder Woman 3.
      She and screenwriter and comic book author Geoff Johns have already outlined a plot for the next instalment in the DC Extended Universe franchise, but whether Jenkins will be back in the director’s chair remains to be seen – and it all depends on the status of the movie industry once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
      “It’s interesting, I actually came up with a story, and Geoff Johns and I beat out an entire story for ‘Wonder Woman 3’ that we were super fired up about, but I’ve never felt this way before as much as I do now,” she mused.
      “I don’t think I’m doing it next,” she continued, “and so I have to sort of wait and see where we are in the world, you know? What I wanted to talk about in (WW84) was very prescient to what I was feeling and what you were sort of feeling was coming. So now I’m not sure. So much has changed in the world.”

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      Alicia Silverstone Gets Son Small Roles in Her Movie and TV Series so She Can Take Him to Work

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      Instagram

      The ‘Clueless’ actress reveals she landed her nine-year-old son Bear small roles in her latest projects so he can be with her on the set during the pandemic.

      Dec 20, 2020
      AceShowbiz – Actress Alicia Silverstone has landed her nine-year-old son small roles in her latest projects simply so he can join her at work.
      The “Clueless” star admits having nine-year-old Bear follow in her acting footsteps with appearances in new film “Sister of the Groom” and in the forthcoming second season of Netflix series “The Baby-Sitters Club” is simply a workaround amid tightened COVID-19 restrictions on set.
      She explained to Entertainment Tonight, “Because of COVID rules he can’t come (on set) unless he’s in it, so they (producers) put him in it…”

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      “All I wanted was to be able to bring my baby to work. We have to support working mothers, too… I’m not going to leave my kid for months. That’s just not happening. Out of the question.”
      Alicia Silverstone is raising her son on a vegan diet. She credited veganism for keeping the boy super healthy and insisted plant-based diet could still provide people with all the key nutrients they needed.
      “He’s such an example of health. This is a child who is plant-based,” she said. “To never have needed antibiotics in nine years and to never have needed any kind of medical intervention… Most kids have so many ear infections, they’re taking medicine all the time. I’m not saying I wouldn’t give it to him… I’m saying he doesn’t need it.”
      “This is a kid who’s been (sick) twice in his life. Twice. For, like, a few hours,” Alicia boasted. “He said, ‘Mummy, I don’t feel good. I’m going to lay down.’ In his whole life, twice. He can get a snot (sic) nose, but he’s still climbing trees.

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      Carrie Underwood’s Son Shows Off His Song With Mom to Classmates

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