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All week long, “American Idol” fans have been voting in our poll that asked whether Noah Thompson deserved to win Season 20. Their answer is overwhelmingly “yes,” with 50.41 saying the soft-spoken 22-year-old country singer from Kentucky deserved his spot on the show’s winners list. As for the other finalists, 31.05 of viewers thought HunterGirl should have prevailed, while 18.54 of fans believed Leah Marlene was the rightful champion. Do you agree or disagree with those poll results? Sound off down in the comments section.

Noah Thompson is now the 13th male to win “American Idol” after Season 2’s Ruben Studdard, Season 5’s Taylor Hicks, Season 7’s David Cook, Season 8’s Kris Allen, Season 9’s Lee DeWyze, Season 10’s Scotty McCreery, Season 11’s Phillip Phillips, Season 13’s Caleb Johnson, Season 14’s Nick Fradiani, Season 15’s Trent Harmon, Season 17’s Laine Hardy and Season 19’s Chayce Beckham.

The seven females to claim victory are Season 1’s Kelly Clarkson,...

Katy Perry is all smiles about Rihanna's new bundle of joy. Chatting with E! News on the American Idol season 20 finale red carpet, the "Smile" singer revealed that she has "no advice" for the first-time mom, who welcomed her baby boy with boyfriend Aap Rocky on May 19. "I'm so happy for her and congratulations," Perry told E! News. "I know that this time is so precious and it's just like a gorgeous, cozy time. It's a beautiful, magical time, so soak it all in." Perry previously called becoming a parent to daughter Daisy Dove Bloom, 1, with fiancé Orlando Bloom "the best decision I was ever able to make." Another...

“American Idol” concluded with the 20th episode of Season 20 on Sunday, May 22. Noah Thompson took home the title, HunterGirl was the runner-up and Leah Marlene finished in third place. As always, judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie provided commentary. The live finale also had many guest performances from superstars and previously eliminated contestants.

See Noah Thompson wins ‘American Idol’ 2022: Did voters get it right? [Poll]

I was not a fan of any of the original songs tonight, but more on that later. Congratulations to all of the final three, who I am sure have bright futures ahead of them. I will say that my favorite performance of the night came from the entire top 10 joined by Flo Rida and the performance of “Smile” by Christian Guardino and Michael Bublé, which I need on my IPod now. So for the last time this season, hit your lights and let’s go!

Spoiler Alert: The following reveals the winner of Season 20 of American Idol.

It’s been a long and difficult journey for the American Idol Season 20 competitors but only one can take home top honors. But first, the ABC series took the season out on a high note with a variety of performances from top talent in collaboration with contestants.

They included:

Flo Rida + Top 10 Contestants – “Good Feeling”

Earth, Wind & Fire + Jay Copeland – “Shining Star,” “Let’s Groove,” “September” Medley

Deana Carter + Mike Parker – “Strawberry Wine”

Ben Platt + Lady K – “Take Me To The Pilot”

Gabby Barrett + Emyrson Flora – “Pick Me Up,” “The Good Ones” Medley

Tai Verdes + Mike Parker, Emyrson Flora, Jay Copeland, Lady K, Christian – “A-o-K”

Sara Bareilles + Nicolina Bozzo – “She Used To Be Mine”

Katy Perry + Thomas Rhett – “Where We Started”

James Arthur + Fritz Hager – “Can I Be Him”

Michael Bublé + Christian Guardino – “Smile”

Melissa Etheridge + Noah Thompson...

As predicted, the 20th season of “American Idol” ended with Noah Thompson winning the coveted title. The soft-spoken 22-year-old country singer from Kentucky beat out runner-up HunterGirl and third place finisher Leah Marlene during the three-hour season finale, which aired live coast-to-coast on Sunday, May 22 on ABC. He now becomes the reality TV show’s 20th overall champion — see the winners list. If you missed the star-studded episode, read our minute-by-minute live blog to see how Noah Thompson wins “American Idol” 2022. But did voters get it right? Vote in our poll below.

See Katy Perry’s Disney costumes on ‘American Idol’ including Snow White, Ursula, Tinker Bell …

The night began with the Top 10 singers performing the tune “Good Feeling” with Flo Rida on a rooftop. Each of the three finalists then sang a Bruce Springsteen song and an original tune for America’s votes. Leah Marlene took on “Cover Me” and “Flowers,...

Radiohead’s Ok Computer doesn’t turn 25 for another month in the U.K. — and not until July in the U.S. — but guitarist Ed O’Brien commemorated the album in an Instagram post anyway.

O’Brien was inspired to celebrate after seeing BBC Radio 6 Music’s post about the album (and technically, it turns 25 today in Japan). “A few thoughts in no particular order,” he began. “Feels like an age away. 1997 belonged to a different era. We were just kids with unswerving focus and drive. No partying, just...

Exclusive: Lifetime has given a green light to The Gabby Petito Story (working title) movie, with Emmy-nominated Thora Birch attached to co-star and direct in her helming debut. The movie, part of Lifetime’s Stop Violence Against Women public affairs initiative, comes as the anniversary of Gabby Petito’s disappearance and murder approaches this fall.

The Gabby Petito Story will explore Gabby and her fiancé Brian Laundrie’s complicated relationship and what may have gone wrong during their cross-country trip that resulted in Gabby’s tragic murder. The movie will film in Utah this summer and premiere later this year.

Birch will play Gabby’s mom, Nichole Schmidt.

The disappearance of Gabby Petito captured America’s attention, setting off a nationwide search for the 22-year-old travel blogger after her parents reported her missing in September 2021, when she failed to return home following her cross country...

Exclusive: Anderson .Paak, the eight-time Grammy Award winner born Brandon Paak Anderson, will make his feature directorial debut with the dramatic comedy K-pops! for Stampede Ventures—starring in the film alongside his son, Soul Rasheed.

The film centers on a washed-up musician who travels to Korea to write for K-pop stars, discovering that his long-lost son is set to front one of the country’s hottest new groups. He then jumps at the opportunity to capitalize on his son’s stardom for his own renaissance, but learns that fatherhood is much more fulfilling and meaningful than stardom.

.Paak developed the project with rapper Jon “Dumbfoundead” Park, writing the screenplay with Khaila Amazan (A Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea And Tomorrow). Greg Silverman will produce on behalf of Stampede Ventures, with Jaeson Ma on behalf of Est Studios, Park on behalf of Big Dummie and .Paak via his company Apeshit Films.

Ivan Passer’s first American film and his first in the English language is a core life-with-a-junkie tale in a cold Manhattan winter. George Segal is the ‘habituated, not addicted’ (he says) user whose married life has already been destroyed. Can he escape with the help of his new girlfriend? Hector Elizondo’s pimp/pusher has no intention of letting that happen. What’s weird is Passer’s frequently light tone — Segal’s criminal antics verge on the absurd. It’s a great film to see Karen Black, a young Robert De Niro and even Paula Prentiss in action, and yet another snapshot of Times Square in its most degraded decade.

Born to Win

Blu-ray

Fun City Editions

1971 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 89 min. / Scraping Bottom / Street Date May 31, 2022 / Available from Vinegar Syndrome / 27.99, from Amazon / 34.99

Starring: George Segal, Karen Black, Paula Prentiss, Hector Elizondo, Jay Fletcher, Robert De Niro, Ed Madsen, Marcia Jean Kurtz,...

The Beach Boys will kick off a year-long celebration of their 60th anniversary in June with a vastly expanded edition of their greatest hits comp Sounds of Summer.

When it was initially released in 2003, Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys contained 30 of the group’s biggest hits; the box set for the new reissue — out June 17 — bumps the tracklist up to 80 songs and three discs (or six LPs), pairing Brian Wilson and company’s best-known singles alongside dozens of fan favorites like “Til I Die,” “Sail on Sailor,...

Thom Yorke took a break from his side project the Smile to play a rare solo concert Saturday in Zermatt, Switzerland, where the singer delivered a career-spanning set packed with unorthodox acoustic renditions of Radiohead songs and solo works.

Among the surprises that Yorke broke out during the gig was the first-ever acoustic version of the In Rainbows rocker “Bodysnatchers,” the obscure one-off 2009 single “These Are My Twisted Words” played on 12-string guitar, a wildly worked take on “Idioteque,” the unused James Bond theme “Spectre” and the debut solo performances...

The Smile unearth the unreleased Radiohead gem “Skrting on the Surface” for the latest single from the Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood side project.

The track dates back to Radiohead’s In Rainbows sessions and was performed live a handful of times by both that band and Yorke’s Atoms for Peace side project before disappearing for a decade. With the Smile, “Skrting on the Surface” gets a technicolor makeover thanks to Greenwood’s arpeggios, Tom Skinner’s drum work and a bath of synths and subtle brass that accompany Yorke in the closing minutes.

“When you’re scared, what do you do?” asks the now-elderly Beach Boy Brian Wilson, a man whose mind conjures towering cityscapes of gorgeous pop noise but seems to struggle with its own silence. It’s an utterly sincere question, addressed not to the audience or to the air, but asked honestly of the interviewer; his friend, Rolling Stone’s Jason Fine. Brian is scared and genuinely wants help feeling better – a beat of intimate vulnerability rarely seen in traditional rock docs. It’s one of a handful of genuinely remarkable moments in The Long Promised Road, a documentary which, in some places, struggles to justify its existence in a crowded market of Beach Boy docs, but occasionally reaches compelling heights.

Like the Beatles, Stones and Who, the Beach Boys have an obsessively documented career, the band’s story is too intriguing, too era-defining and too twisty-turny to resist telling every couple of years,...

Michael Bublé is the leading man in his new music video for single “I’ll Never Not Love You.” Directed by Andrew Donoho, the clip features Bublé and his wife, Luisana Lopilato, recreating memorable scenes from several iconic romantic comedies.

Paying tribute to classics like Love, Actually, The Notebook, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Casablanca, and Jerry Maguire, many of the video’s scenes are near-exact replicas of the original films. The singer has fittingly dubbed the clip a “cinematic love letter to the movies.”

“I’ll Never Not...

A vampire movie is in the works over at Netflix titled Smile, Deadline has announced today, which is being compared to, of all things, Nicolas Winding Refn’s brilliant film Drive. Said to be “in the spirit” of Drive, William McGregor (“His Dark Materials”) will be directing Netflix’s Smile, which will be produced by Matt Reeves […]

The post Netflix Vampire Movie ‘Smile’ Being Compared to Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Drive’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“Play” time has begun in Las Vegas.

On Wednesday night, Katy Perry launched her highly anticipated Las Vegas residency at the Resorts World Theater. Aptly titled “Play,” the show is quintessential Perry, who indulged the emotional, the over-the-top, the whimsical, the psychedelic, and even the cheesy over the course of 95 minutes.

The concert — which the artist is referring to as “Perry Playland” — amounted to a giant singalong, which seemed to be exactly what she had in mind. Just one day before opening night, Perry posted a video of the setlist...

Ours is an age of nostalgia. Now that the rose-tinted glasses have increasingly turned their gaze toward the 1990s — they’re literally making a “That ’90s Show,” in case you didn’t already feel old enough — “Mixtape” almost feels timely. With a pre-Y2K setting, soundtrack featuring the likes of Vitamin C and Lit, and plot revolving around an orphaned 12-year-old named Beverly (Gemma Brook Allen) tracking down the songs on a mixtape belonging to her departed parents, Valerie Weiss’ very-young-adult dramedy is also a (deep) cut above the usual tween fare.

“A mixtape is a message from the maker to the listener,” says the jaded record-store owner (Nick Thune) to whom Beverly turns for help on her whimsical mission, and you can be sure that “Mixtape” abounds in similar pearls of wisdom. For the most part though, the film’s inherent sweetness keeps such lines from eliciting eye rolls...

The most telling moment in Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road is when the Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson asks his longtime friend, Rolling Stone editor Jason Fine, what he does when he’s scared. The de facto interviewer and guide through the musician’s documentary responds by asking Brian what scares him, and Wilson says “What a Fool Believes” by the Doobie Brothers. The songwriting legend has always had one wary eye on the competition. It’s been an education, and he’s learned so much it’s scared him.

The Beach Boys’ singer, bassist, and keyboardist, besides being the chief and mostly-hit songwriter, was also the band’s producer. The Beatles had George Martin, and they were listening to what the surfer boys were laying down. Brian noticed what was happening in England, and became competitive. He is the one who wrote “Be True to Your School,” and...

Trailer

HBO Max will launch Season 2 of award-winning Spanish comedy series “Perfect Life” in the U.S. on Dec. 2, two weeks after its Nov. 19 domestic premiere on Movistar Plus in Spain. The streamer also dropped a new international trailer for the upcoming season, which gives a brief taste of the evolving relationships and real-life challenges facing protagonist Maria and those closest to her, including her best friends Cristina and Esther.

Picking up six months after Season 1 left off, María is now a mother, although motherhood isn’t what she expected, Cristina and her partner are discussing opening their relationship and Esther is staring down her fears of commitment as a question about marriage looms.

Season 2 is once again written, directed and stared by rising star Leticia Dolera, joined by co-scribe Manuel Burque on screenwriting duties. Additionally, two of Spain’s most exciting young filmmaking talents in Lucía Alemany (“La Inocencia...

Former pop singer Vitamin C has plenty to smile about these days.  Known for such late 1990s hits as "Smile" and "Graduation," the 49-year-old showbiz stalwart, whose goes by her real name, Colleen Fitzpatrick, is now a music executive for Netflix. During an interview with Variety that published on Tuesday, Oct. 19, she explained how she went from performing on stage with brightly colored hair to working behind-the-scenes on music for streaming projects.  After her performing career slowed down, Colleen started a production company called Vcr in 2006, where she worked with such stars as Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. In 2012, Colleen became...

Colleen Fitzpatrick has a knack for knowing what you need to hear at any particular point in time, and she knows how to put it in front of you. As the Netflix executive responsible for music creative production, spectacle and events, much of the music on the streamer’s series passed through her hands — or ears.

In fact, in all likelihood, you’ve crossed paths with Fitzpatrick — under her stage name Vitamin C, who saw multiple hits in the 1990s, including end-of-high-school staple “Graduation (Friends Forever),” and her reggae-tinged Top 20 smash, “Smile.” She’s also a former actor, whose appearance as Amber von Tussle in John Waters’ “Hairspray” was an unforgettable one.

In 2006, Fitzpatrick launched her own production company, Vcr, with a focus on music projects. That’s when she put her songwriting talents and music business savvy at work for a slew of Disney-generated pop stars, including Miley Cyrus...

Another unexpected comic treasure from the mid ’70s! Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston make an irresistible pair of would-be outlaws in a tale of the modern West — high-country Montana, actually — where a gentleman rancher from New Jersey owns all the land and making an honest living is just too boring. Thomas McGuane’s hilariously laid-back dialogue pits our slacker cattle rustlers against society — but only in the pursuit of having a good time. Frank Perry’s beautifully directed show gives choice roles to a fistful of actors: Clifton James, Elizabeth Ashley, Harry Dean Stanton, Slim Pickens, Charlene Dallas, Richard Bright, Joe Spinell, Patti D’Arbanville. Call it ‘literate’ country comedy, with musical accompaniment by Jimmy Buffett. The extras include a great new interview with star Jeff Bridges.

Rancho Deluxe

Blu-ray

Fun City Editions

1975 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date July 19, 2021 / Available from Vinegar Syndrome /

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Elizabeth Ashley,...

Katy Perry and Miranda Kerr's latest hangout is as sweet as "daisies." The gal pals, who have formed a special bond since Katy became engaged to Miranda's ex Orlando Bloom, enjoyed a relaxing day together on Wednesday, July 14. In fact, the "Smile" singer celebrated the launch of the supermodel's new beauty product from her Kora Organics brand. Katy took to Instagram to share behind-the-scenes clips of the intimate event, which included floral yoga mats, pint-sized plants and other goodies for guests. Of course, the Grammy winner got her hands on the brand's Minty Mineral Hydration Mist. The 36-year-old pop star even...

Thom Yorke has released a new remix of Radiohead classic “Creep.” The new slowed-down rendition is called “Creep (Very 2021 Rmx).”

Aptly living up to its namesake, the remix slowly unfurls over the course of nine minutes. It’s fitting for our pandemic era, where a sense of time is warped and singular moments can seem both fleeting and drawn out simultaneously. Woozy synths and reverb enhance the feeling of discombobulation and uncertainty. The song’s accompanying video features artwork from Jun Takahashi.

In June, Dave Chappelle made a surprise appearance...

The Trueheart social impact search engine, which launched globally last week and was created by the married dynamic duo Amy and Scott Malin, is poised to disrupt philanthropy. Users will change the world with every search.

Brian Austin Green - #Search4Smiles campaign to benefit Smile Train

With the Trueheart social impact search engine, you get the same great search experience as other search engines, but the major difference is Trueheart donates 80% of their net profits to six best in class charities who save lives (Smile Train), end global hunger (Action Against Hunger), protect the planet (Global Green), promote animal welfare (4 Paws For Ability), fight for equality (Pflag National), and support our youth (Variety Boys & Girls Club).

Searching the web with Trueheart is a quick, easy and Free way to power donations that will create measurable impact. You can start searching today at trueheart.com.

Co-Founders Amy & Scott Malin, the...

There’s a scene in Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road that’s different from the many Brian Wilson documentaries. The artist is riding around Southern California with friend and music journalist Jason Fine when he’s told Jack Riley, his musician friend and one-time manager of the Beach Boys, has died. Riley managed the band during their prolific, if unappreciated, post-Pet Sounds years, his contributions—helping Carl Wilson write the lyrics for “Feel Flows” and “Long Promised Road,” the latter of which this intimate documentary is named after—went far beyond management.

Reeling from Riley’s death, Wilson recoils from talking to Fine, who does something important: he allows space for Wilson to feel the loss of Riley’s life and affirms his friend in pain. It helps Wilson through the trauma and shows the audience emotions we never see from the characteristically stoic musician. It is moments like this...

Even if you think that Brian Wilson is God — and yes, I do — you could easily say that we don’t need another documentary about him. There have been some good, rich, and deep ones, like “Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times,” the 1995 musicological meditation directed by record producer Don Was, or “Brian Wilson and the Story of ‘SMiLE’,” which chronicled the history of that most fabled of all unfinished albums as well as the remarkable story of how, in 2004, Wilson and Darian Sahanaja put its majesty back together again. “Love & Mercy” (2014) wasn’t a documentary, but it had the true-life power of one; it’s one of the great music biopics, with an insight into the perfect storm of forces that made Brian Wilson tick. Beyond that, so many of the tales of Wilson’s life and art — his creation of, and withdrawal from,...

Cruella is only the latest of Disney’s series of attempts at remaking other studios’ successful films using their own IP.

“So we have a story about a classic, irredeemable villain who is known for thoroughly enjoying their own wickedness with a laugh … except now it’s an origin story in a ’70s-ish setting where the villain is now a sympathetic nobody who’s beaten down by the people on top, a twist involving their parentage and the main ‘antagonist’ of their story, and a scene/trailer set to ‘Smile’ by Nat King Cole. Am I talking about Cruella (2021) or Joker (2019)?”

Read more at The Mary Sue.

The reemergence of cicadas are also seeing a surge of people trying out cicadas as food for the first time. If you’re one of those people, here’s what you need to know beforehand.

“So, you’ve decided to eat a cicada.

It marks Tesson’s 10th edition at the helm of Critics’ Week.

The upcoming edition of Cannes Critics’ Week (July 7-15) will be a momentous one for its artistic director Charles Tesson on a number of levels.

As well as being the first physical edition since 2019, after last year’s hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the parallel section’s 60th edition, it will also be respected film critic and academic Tesson’s tenth edition at the helm. Screen talked to Tesson about the line-up, which was unveiled on Monday, and plans for the 60th edition.

According to the press release,...

“Lucifer” star Kevin Alejandro is set to lead a limited series adaptation of Katie Rogin’s 2018 novel “Life During Wartime,” TheWrap has learned exclusively.

Alejandro Films Productions, founded by Kevin Alejandro, Leslie Alejandro and Dani de Jesus, and Craig Anderson Productions have jointly secured the rights to Rogin’s book, which follows Jim Vargas, who suffers from Ptsd and survivor’s guilt due to the blame he assumes for his brother’s death on 9/11.

In the 2008 backdrop of the financial crisis, Vargas’ Iraq war veteran niece Nina Vargas goes missing after a nightmare-ish party with other vets. When no one searches for the missing vet he decides to investigate alongside her friend and former army nurse Lise Sheridan.

Kevin Alejandro — who has starred alongside Tom Ellis on “Lucifer” throughout the show’s first five seasons, the most recent of which dropped Friday on Netflix — will star as Vargas.

Rogin’s...

The following contains playlist spoilers from Lucifer Season 5, Episode 10.

For four-and-a-half seasons, Lucifer‘s friends and colleagues danced with the devil. But in the musical episode “Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam,” they got to sing with him, too.

More from TVLineLucifer's Rachael Harris Toasts Deliciously Awkward 'Family Dinner'Lucifer's Kevin Alejandro Talks Dan/God Friction, 'Naked' EpisodeLucifer's Lesley-Ann Brandt Reflects on Maze's Season 5 Battle With Rejection, Leading to Finale's Major Eve Moment

The second episode of Season 5B found Lucifer & Co. breaking out in song at the visiting God’s whim. The playlist kicked off with “Another One Bites the Dust...

Katy Perry calls 2020 a year of surrender. Shortly after she announced her pregnancy with fiancé Orlando Bloom, the world went into lockdown amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Aside from having her baby, life was uncertain. Flash forward to 2021, and what lies ahead is finally clearer. Perry is a new mom to 9-month-old Daisy Dove, she recently announced her upcoming Las Vegas residency, and on May 14, she released the track "Electric" for Pokémon's 25th anniversary. The pop icon chatted with Popsugar about the past, present, and future - and the people who support her at every step.

The music video for "Electric" draws from Perry's experience as a teenager starting off in the music industry. When Perry reflects on that time in her life, she feels like she did "a really good job." She said, "I have no regrets. I stumbled, I fell, I made mistakes. I learned from all of it.

Plus ‘Crestone,’ ‘F.T.A.,’ ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,’ ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High,’ ‘Merrily We Go to Hell,’ ‘Trances,’ ‘Masculin Feminin,’ ‘Smile,’ ‘The Hot Spot,’ ‘Tank,’ ‘Sweet Liberty,’ ‘All-American Murder,’ ‘The Cellar,’ ‘Winterbeast,’ ‘Horizons West,’ and ‘The Wages of Sin.’

Continue reading The Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘The Good, The Bad & The Ugly,’ ‘The Mitchells Vs. The Machines’ & More at The Playlist.

Near the pinnacle of director-driven ’70s cinema is this marvelous comedy about a ‘American Miss’ contest, and the swirl of personalities that come to support, promote and ogle the teen beauties just learning the ropes of the good old U.S. hype machine. Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon and Michael Kidd are just wonderful as the adults in charge of the pageantry; Annette O’Toole, Joan Prather and Melanie Griffifth are among the hopefuls, learning an early lesson in a time honored, entirely bogus Americana ritual: as Michael Kidd says, he teaches these sweet kids to dance and behave like Vegas showgirls. It’s deceptively, distractingly funny — and as true as the day is long.

Smile

Blu-ray

Fun City Editions

1975 / Color /1:85 widescreen / 113 min. / Street Date May 25, 2021 / Available from Vinegar Syndrome / 34.99

Starring: Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon, Michael Kidd, Eric Shea, Geoffrey Lewis, Nicholas Pryor, Titos Vandis, Paul Benedict, William Traylor, Dick McGarvin,...

I’ve written here before about my fondness for director Michael Ritchie, particularly his streak in the 1970s when he made one great movie after another about the dark side of the American competitive spirit. Most of his best films – Downhill Racer (1969), The Candidate (1972), The Bad News Bears (1976) – are wry meditations on what it really means to win (and lose) in a culture where winning is valued above all else; one of the most memorable moments in all of his work comes at the conclusion of The Candidate, when Robert Redford’s senatorial candidate wins his election […]

The post Smile, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Carole Lombard: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

I’ve written here before about my fondness for director Michael Ritchie, particularly his streak in the 1970s when he made one great movie after another about the dark side of the American competitive spirit. Most of his best films – Downhill Racer (1969), The Candidate (1972), The Bad News Bears (1976) – are wry meditations on what it really means to win (and lose) in a culture where winning is valued above all else; one of the most memorable moments in all of his work comes at the conclusion of The Candidate, when Robert Redford’s senatorial candidate wins his election […]

The post Smile, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Carole Lombard: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

For three weeks in the pandemic, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real holed up at RCA Studio A in Nashville with producer Dave Cobb to record an album that Nelson describes as “coming home.” The result is A Few Stars Apart.

Nelson and the band preview the upcoming LP, their first since the one-two punch of 2019’s Turn Off the News (Build a Garden) and 2020’s acoustic rendering Naked Garden, with the hopeful song “Perennial Bloom (Back to You).” Opening with a simply strummed acoustic and Nelson’s plaintive,...

The most memorable scene in Ryuichi Hiroki’s Netflix thriller “Ride or Die” is its most brutal one, in which a whole bedroom gets painted in Dario Argento red after few minutes of rather pink activities. Those we can count are but a few, but when they happen, Hiroki is fast to return where he had started many years ago. Naked skin is famously something that made his career, and once the erotic wheel starts rotating it takes a wee bit of time to put a halt to it. For the audience who can totally live with only three minutes of canoodling/ making love instead of six – these moments are ideal for visiting the restroom or pouring a glass of whatever. For the others, six minutes will be too short because some sexual fantasies never cease to excite specific type of viewers.

Before anyhing else is said about the film,...

Exclusive: Allblk, AMC Networks’ popular streaming service for Black TV and film, has teamed with sister brand, Rlje Films, for the VOD release of Lil Duval’s Living My Best Life comedy special.

In his first stand-up special, based on his successful 2018 single “Smile (Living My Best Life)”, Duval takes an intimate and hilarious look at life, sex, relationships and more. Filmed before a star-studded, live audience in Atlanta, Ga, the hourlong special also features appearances from actress Bresha Webb (NBC’s Marlon), comedians Gary “G Thang” Johnson and Navaris “Navv” Greene, and social media star Pretty Vee. Lil Duval’s Living My Best Life premieres on VOD outlets Tuesday, May 4. It will stream exclusively on Allblk later this summer.

Born Roland Powell in the Florida county that inspired his stage name, Lil Duval has appeared in several films and TV shows including Meet the Blacks, Grow House, The Trap,...

Unearthed, never-before-seen 8mm footage filmed in John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s home features in the new video for “Look at Me,” from the upcoming John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band-The Ultimate Collection reissue, due out April 16th.

The video — which also utilizes the “Ultimate Mix” of “Look at Me” — boasts between-takes footage from a pair of the couple’s short films, Film No. 5 (“Smile”) and Two Virgins, both filmed by camera operator William Wareing at Lennon’s Kenwood home in 1968.

The intimate side-by-side footage — unseen by the public before its...

Valerie June has spent the past decade on her own meandering path towards artistic self-definition. Her 2013 album, Pushin’ Against a Stone was her breakthrough, establishing the singer’s distinctive country-blues whine as a vital voice in contemporary roots music.

But the album, co-produced by Dan Auerbach and Kevin Augunas (Edward Sharpe, the Lumineers), also positioned the singer as a rural anachronism amidst the post-Mumfords banjo boom, an image June has been carefully and subtly shedding ever since. She deliberately mapped out her next steps, waiting four years until 2017’s The Order of Time.

Kirk Franklin performed with his band and choir in the latest “at-home” Tiny Desk concert from NPR, playing live from his studio Uncle Jesse’s Kitchen in Arlington, Texas. And leave it to the gospel legend to bring the energy of a euphoric church service right through the computer screen.

“I know you’re at home right now, in your draws, listening to some Jesus music,” he said straight to the camera. “It’s Ok. Jesus loves you in your draws!”

Franklin performed with a gospel choir made up of Melodie Pace,...

Wolf Alice have announced new album, Blue Weekend. The follow-up to 2018’s Mercury Prize-winning Visions of a Life, the upcoming LP arrives on June 11th via Dirty Hit/RCA Records and is available for preorder.

The band also shared the video for the album’s first single, “The Last Man on Earth.” In the Jordan Hemingway-directed clip, vocalist-guitarist Ellie Rowsell is filmed in black-and-white as she delivers the song about “the arrogance of humans.”

“And every book you take and dust off from the shelf/Has lines between lines...

Four years after her breakout 2017 album The Order of Time, singer-songwriter Valerie June will be releasing her latest studio album The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers on March 12th.

Recorded in Los Angeles and Miami with producer Jack Splash, June’s forthcoming project finds the singer brightening and building on the ethereal roots-music blend she introduced on her most recent studio effort.

“For this album I wanted to see how we could bring some modern elements into that band-in-the-room approach I’ve taken with my records in the past,...

Katy Perry closed out the Inauguration Day Celebrating America concert with a surprise performance of her 2010 hit “Firework.” Other performances at the special included Demi Lovato, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, Justin Timberlake, and more in honor of Joe Biden becoming the 46th President of the United States.

Performing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Perry began her booming anthem with a stripped-down take, singing above a sobering piano accompaniment. As the firework shows began over the National Mall, the song picked up to its lush, empowering pace.

Juice Wrld and Young Thug reunite in the new “Bad Boy” video. According to a statement, the Cole Bennett-directed, Lyrical Lemonade-produced visual marks the final official music video Juice Wrld filmed before he died in December 2019.

In the new visual for the Pierre B’ourne produced track, the rappers reference 1995 action film, Bad Boys, where Martin Lawrence and Will Smith portray narcotics detectives. In the music video, the pair cruise the streets and later meet up with a group of people whose identities are obscured with face paint.

Katy Perry is celebrating her love Orlando Bloom's birthday with a sweet tribute.

The famous couple, who have been together for over five years, welcomed their baby girl, Daisy Dove in August 2020. And now the 'Roar' hitmaker has penned a heartfelt tribute in honor of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor's 44th birthday.

The 36-year-old singer took to Instagram on Wednesday (January 13), where she shared a series of never-before-seen photos of the pair, giving fans a closer look into their romantic lives.

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"Happiest 44th to my love, brilliant father of my Dove & a shimmering mirror that sees and reflects to me what I can’t yet see," Katy Perry captioned the adorable post.

"Thank you for always going back down to the mat with me and never tapping out…," she continued. "So glad...

The Polar Express is a timeless Christmas tale that was first published as a children's picture book in 1985. The story found its way to the big screen in 2004 with brand new characters, details, and songs bringing the pages to life. Tom Hanks lent his voice to several different characters including the train conductor, the narrator, and Santa Claus himself.

Related: The Polar Express: 10 Moments That Made Us Smile

While many feel that The Polar Express is a must-see during the holiday season, it only received a 56% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. One fan took to Reddit wondering why the film isn't well-loved by everyone, and they, along with a few other fans, explained their reasons why they very much enjoy this timeless classic.

Song Name - Not the End of the World

Singer - Katy Perry

Album - Smile (Fan Edition)

Check out the song lyrics of Not the End of the World by Katy Perry

It's not the end of the world

No, not the end of the world

Throw on your fancy attire, fears in the fire

Don’t lose hope

It's no funeral we're attending

Actually, just the beginning

Throw on your fancy attire, fears in the fire

Don’t lose hope

It's not the end of the, no, not the end of the world

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You can catch a star if the sky is falling down

There's a golden lining up in every single cloud

You can take a frown, turn it all the way around

All the way around, all the, all the way around

A fortune teller told me,...

Katy Perry and Zooey Dechanel share their look alike story. Katy Perry's look alike American actress Zooey Deschanel is starring in Perry’s new music video “Not the End of the World,” from her latest album, Smile released on Monday.

The video starts where Katy Perry has been abducted by her fan aliens who welcome her in space cheering "Katy" "Katy" but the person who was kidnapped was not katy but instead her look alike Zooey, who clarified that "No, no, no! Sorry. Misunderstanding. I'm Zooey,"

Katy Perry shared on Instagram and informed about Zooey Dechanel who is her doppelganger and stated "I had this idea that Zooey would step in while I was taking a bit of a leave (maternity leave) … for so long we've had this funny relationship and friendship… people think we look alike," Perry said.

Further Katy added, "When I moved to L.A. maybe 18 years ago…...