TORONTO, ONT – After a three-and-a-half-hour documentary on his life, Paul Simon had only sympathy for the audience. “You’re probably exhausted,” Simon told the crowd after the premiere of Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon” on Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival. The 81-year-old Simon, himself, hadn’t watched the film … Read more
TORONTO, ONT – Fifty pages into Percival Everett’s “Erasure” Cord Jefferson knew he wanted to adapt it into a movie script. Halfway through, he began to see Jeffrey Wright playing the book’s academic protagonist, Thelonious “Monk” Ellison. By the time he was finished, he knew he wanted to direct it, too. As quick as that, … Read more
LOS ANGELES – Music fans, it is time to bid adieu to the sunny, slow summer months, and welcome fall — historically, one of the busiest times in the calendar year for new albums, EPs, and mixtapes. Trends have already begun to reveal themselves: Some of the biggest names in pop (and in pop’s future) … Read more
LOS ANGELES – Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis apologized Saturday for character letters the celebrity couple wrote on behalf of fellow “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson before he was sentenced for rape this week. A judge in Los Angeles on Thursday sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women … Read more
TORONTO, ONT – Vicky Krieps noticed that while there’s plenty of instruction for getting into a role, there’s curiously little about getting out of one. For Krieps, the disarmingly natural Luxembourgish actor of “Phantom Thread,”“Corsage” and “Bergman Island,” it’s not a small issue. It may even be the most important part of the process. If … Read more
ROME – “Poor Things,” a film about Victorian-era female empowerment, won the Golden Lion on Saturday at a Venice Film Festival largely deprived of Hollywood glamour because of the writers and actors strikes. The film, starring Emma Stone, won the top prize at the 80th edition of the festival, which is often a predictor of … Read more
WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday hosted a celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary with appearances by some of the music genre’s pioneers and stars. Common, Jeezy, MC Lyte and Roxanne Shante were among the hip-hop artists invited to join Harris for the party at the vice presidential residence. Hip-hop’s 50th birthday has inspired … Read more