List of All Articles with Tag 'show'

An actor with dwarfism has hit out at the new film Wonka for casting Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa. George Coppen, 26, said the part should have been offered to an actor with the condition because there is already a shortage of appropriate roles for people with dwarfism. The upcoming movie will focus on the life of Willy Wonka, the mysterious character at the centre of the Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, played by Timothee Chalamet. It features Grant as an Oompa Loompa trapped inside a jar. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter In previous versions of the story based on Roald Dahl's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the characters were played by actors with dwarfism. Coppen, whose father played an Ewok in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, said: “A lot of actors [with dwarfism] feel like we are being pushed out of the industry we love. “A lot of people, myself included, argue that dwarfs should be offered everyday roles in dramas and soaps, but we aren’t getting offered those roles.” In the trailer, Grant’s character is seen saying: “I will have you know that I am a perfectly respectable size for an Oompa Loompa."Wonka replies: “An Oompa what now?” The Oompa Loopma says: “Allow me to refresh your memory.” “Oh, I don't think I want to hear that,” Wonka says. “Too late,” the Oompa Loompa answers. “I’ve started dancing now. Once we’ve started we can’t stop.” People commented on Grant’s role on Twitter. One person wrote: “Hugh Grant is definitely in his IDGAF [I don’t give a f***] era, every decision this man makes is insane and I love it.” Another wrote: “Thought another Wonka movie was unnecessary but now I'm sold, give me more Oompa Loompa Hugh Grant”. Wonka’s release date is 15 December 2023. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The girl portraying Zayn Malik's love interest in his latest music video has shared the tale of how she went from 'fangirl' to manifesting her dream. Grace Dumdaw took to TikTok to share tweets of hers from 2014, where she joked she would 'kill her family to touch Zayn Malik', and has now been getting up-close-and-personal with the star in 'Love Like This'. Dumdaw has since appeared across Malik's social media channels, and can even be seen hugging the singer while riding on a motorbike with him in the video. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Oppenheimer is currently dominating cinemas globally, but clocking in at two-and-a-half hours long, it begs the question for many: When is it time to pee? Well, one film fanatic has got us covered, giving a scene-by-scene breakdown of when it's worth sticking around in your seat. Mary Arndt revealed that as soon as the professor Oppenheimer used to work with appears at Los Alamos for the first time - get ready to run to the bathroom. "If you can keep your trip under like two minutes all you need to know is that Oppenheimer got his security clearance", she says. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Barbie director Greta Gerwig has responded to the torrent of hate that rightwingers in the US have directed at the film, saying it’s “an invitation for everybody to be part of the party”. Speaking to the New York Times, Gerwig was asked if she had anticipated the degree of woke-bashing that rightwing critics have engaged in since the film came out, with some calling it a “man-hating” movie. Gerwig said: “Certainly, there’s a lot of passion. My hope for the movie is that it’s an invitation for everybody to be part of the party and let go of the things that aren’t necessarily serving us as either women or men.” She added: “I hope that in all of that passion, if they see it or engage with it, it can give them some of the relief that it gave other people.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Barbie’s feminist themes have sparked rage from influencers like Ben Shapiro, who made a bizarre Youtube video last week in which he burned Barbie dolls. Ginger Luckey Gaetz, wife of Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, said the movie “neglects to address any notion of faith or family, and tries to normalise the idea that men and women can’t collaborate positively”. Gerwig also responded to criticism that Mattel, which owns the Barbie doll range and executive produced the movie, interfered in the production creatively, in a scene where a character described the dolls as “sexist and fascist”. She said: “It wasn’t like I ever got the full seal of approval from [Mattel], like, ‘We love it!’ I got a tentative, ‘Well, OK. I see that you are going to do this, so go ahead and we’ll see how it goes.’ “But that’s all you need, and I had faith once it was in there and they saw it that they would embrace it, not fight it. Maybe at the end of the day, my will to have it in was stronger than any other will to take it out.” The backlash has been strong, but the support has been stronger, with Barbie already breaking the record for the highest-ever opening weekend for a female director at $356m. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

There were always question marks over which lessons that executives from toy making giant Mattel would learn from the roaring success of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Some said it could show the power of giving a top indie filmmaker like Gerwig the budget, time and resources to make a piece of memorable – and at times subversive – cinema which drew on people’s childhood memories. However, it looks like executives have already decided to pick option B: create an intellectual property-driven movie machine, and crank out a film about every toy they can think of to boost profits. Because that’s what people liked about Barbie, right? Mattel wants to create a cinematic universe similar to that of Marvel, following the immense success of its first feature film – and they already have more than a dozen projects in the works. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Products that are already in line to get the Barbie treatment include “Barney”, “Polly Pocket,” and “Hot Wheels”. “Barbie, as a brand, has many different iterations. The product lines of Barbie is a very broad brand. In addition to the main Barbie figure, she has family, she has a lot of elements around in her universe,” Mattel chief executive Ynon Kreiz told Variety. “It’s a very rich universe… It’s a very broad and very elastic brand, in terms of opportunities.” “At the outset, we’re not saying, ‘Okay, let’s think already about movie two and three.’ Let’s get the first one right and make that a success. And if you do that, opportunities open up very quickly, once you establish the first movie as a successful representation of a franchise on the big screen.” “Successful movies lend themselves to more movies,” the CEO added. “Our ambition is to create film franchises.” Robbie Brenner, the Oscar-nominated producer in charge of Mattel’s new film division, said the company was hopeful Barbie would become a box office success, so that it would open the door for franchises like “Masters of the Universe” and “Hot Wheels". “Everybody hopes that when you create a movie that there is going to be a franchise,” Brenner told Variety. “That’s the hope — that it goes on and on and it’s a gift that keeps giving. But, in this day and age, you just want to get the first one right.” Here are the films Mattel wants to make next: Barney Produced by Daniel Kaluuya, the purple dinosaur is going to be made into a live-action movie. Brenner said: I don’t know that it’s necessarily going to be darker. It’s just going to be unique — more of like [Spike Jonze films] Being John Malkovich or an Adaptation." “Any movie that has Barney is not certainly going to be straightforward,” Brenner adds. Referencing the Seth MacFarlane comedies, she quips: “We’re not making Ted. You know what I mean?” The upcoming film will apparently be about “identity and finding who you love and who feels alienated” and “what does it all mean?” Brenner says the film will “be more adult and have adult themes — and sort of be a little bit off-kilter”. Polly Pocket Starring Emily In Paris star Lily Collins, the Polly Pocket dolls will be made into a film directed by Lena Dunham. Brenner said there is already a “great” script, and that Dunham and Collins would be “an amazing collaboration. Lena is so collaborative and rolls up her sleeves and really likes to roll around in notes and listen. She’s incredible”. “Lily is so smart and so specific and so productorial. It’s just been an incredible collaboration, so we are thrilled about it. Hopefully, we’ll be making that at some point in the future.” Hot Wheels This one will be produced by JJ Abrams – because the world needs yet another film about toy racing cars, of course. Abrams has described the adaptation as “grounded and gritty” and said the film will have “real characters that you can relate to, that are three-dimensional, that have emotional journeys”. She added: “Look at any JJ Abrams movie. All of his movies have an incredible story and incredible characters. That was something that was important to him — to make a movie that’s not just going to be fun and exciting, but that has real emotion and real stakes to it.” And plenty more… There is a film about Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, starring Vin Diesel, which could be absolutely bizarre, while another doll franchise movie, American Girl, is “in the works”. Magic 8 Ball will “probably be a PG-13 thriller,” Brenner said, while a Masters Of The Universe film about the superhero He-Man could also become reality. Other projects include Thomas The Tank Engine (yep, that’s right folks) and, in a surprise turn, Uno. How corporate executives think a film about the playing card game will turn out is anybody’s guess. But it’s going to happen. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Dan Patrick Renews For Four More Years

American singer Jason Aldean has spoken out to thank his fans after his “racist” song Try That In A Small Town becomes a hit. The country singer’s track saw a 999 per cent increase in streams after it began trending last week for its content following the release of the accompanying music video. The tune also made it to number 2 on the Billboard Chart. The lyrics of the song have been accused, by some, of having violent and racist undertones. The chorus says: “Try that in a small town, see how far you make it down the road. Round here we take care of our own. “You cross that line it won't take long for you to find out, I recommend you don't try that in a small town.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter On Twitter, Aldean shared a montage clip featuring imagery taken behind the scenes of his tour. In one clip, Aldean addressed the crowd referencing the controversy around the song. “So, somebody asked me, ‘Hey man, do you think you’re going to play this song tonight?’. The answer was simple. The people have spoken and you guys spoke very, very loudly this week.” Aldean denied that the track has any racial undertones, taking to social media last week to write: “In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.” The music video for the song features imagery of riots and protests and was pulled from the air by television network Country Music Television (CMT) in the US three days after it was first shown. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The release of Oppenheimer has got off to a box office success, but fans in some countries have been left feeling cheated after a nude scene with Florence Pugh was censored with CGI. On 21 July, the highly-anticipated Christopher Nolan film was released in movie theatres drawing millions of people around the world to cinemas. The film about the “father of the atomic bomb” stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr and Florence Pugh. Pugh, who played the character Jean Tatlock, was pictured after a sex scene sitting naked on a sofa having a conversation with Oppenheimer, played by Murphy. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter But for some cinemagoers in India, the full effect of the scene was diminished by the use of CGI to cover Pugh with a dress. To ensure the film would be classified in the U/A category, Universal Pictures made an edit to the Indian version of the film by placing a dress over Pugh to shield the nudity. One user joked: “The best ever CGI work in India award goes to the Indian censor board for Florence Pugh's black dress in Oppenheimer.” But, others pointed out that it wasn’t only India that screened the censored version of the film. According to other Twitter users, the same CGI-edited version was also played in cinemas in Indonesia, Pakistan and the Middle East. Another claimed: “In Malaysia, they deleted both 1st and second sex scenes because they didn't add anything to the plot (it was an R rated movie, I paid to see that). “But they couldn't delete this scene because it's important to the plot so they choose to cover her.” Someone else suggested that in Nepalese cinemas, the Pugh nude scene was simply cut altogether, without them realising the significance it had on the rest of the film. According to figures, Oppenheimer’s domestic opening weekend made a gross of $83m (£64.75m). Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The 'father of the atomic bomb' counted the Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita as one of his favourites.

Ever wondered what it would be like to see John Wick rock out on stage? What about Neo, from The Matrix, playing a bass solo? Well, soon you might be able to – and people on social media are loving it. Hollywood star Keanu Reeves has confirmed that his band Dogstar is hitting the road, announcing a new tour to accompany the release of their first album in 23 years. After the band played a show at the Roxy in Los Angeles recently, they took to Instagram to announce the record, as well as an American and Japanese tour. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "WE ARE BACK!!! Thank you to everyone who came out to The Roxy last night," they captioned the Instagram post. "We are so excited to announce our new album Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees out on October 6th on our label Dillon Street Records," the post said. "A very limited quantity of signed vinyl is available in the Official Shop - act quick! "Listen to the lead single "Everything Turns Around" & watch the music video now. Next month, we kick off our 25+ date headline tour in North America & Japan. Get tickets this Friday at 10am local time. VIP packages available." Reeves fans on social media were excited by the news. One person tweeted: “I need to be there!! I need to be there!! I need to be there!!!” Another person wrote: “My love, tell me what you can't do.” One other commenter said: “John Wick can shred too? Nice. Seriously though I did not know he was in a band but this totally tracks.” Last time Dogstar released an album was in 2000, with Happy Ending. Before that it was 1996’s Our Little Visionary. Set for release on October 6, Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees will feature 12 tracks in total which includes the new single 'Everything Turns Around'. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Barbie and Oppenheimer did so well at the box office at their opening weekend that Vue International reported its biggest weekend for UK cinema ticket sales since before the pandemic. On Sunday, the cinema chain said a fifth of its customers had bought tickets to see both films in a double bill. More than 2,000 of Vue’s screenings for Barbie were sold out, according to the company. The company said the comedy drama Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, would exceed ticket sales for Super Mario Bros and expected Oppenheimer to become the biggest film of the year. Tim Richards, chief executive and founder of Vue International, said: “Vue saw its highest weekend admissions since Avengers: Endgame in 2019 with the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer, proving that when the movies are there our customers will come to watch them on the big screen. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “Barbie is tracking to become the biggest film of 2023 and has a good chance of getting into the Top 10 highest grossing films of all time. “It is an incredibly exciting moment for the industry, and we expect this trend to continue for the coming weeks.” In total, the cinema chain had more than 4,000 sell-out sessions across the country for both films. Meanwhile, Odeon reported on Thursday that more than 200,000 advance tickets had been bought and more than 10,000 guests were expected to see both films during the opening weekend. Universal Pictures said Oppenheimer had made £8.05m in the UK and Ireland since Friday. They said the biopic is on track to have a better opening three days than Nolan’s other blockbusters Dunkirk, Interstellar and Inception. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Doja Cat is facing a backlash after speaking out about the practice of pop stars’ obsessive fan bases using collective nicknames to describe themselves. Taylor Swift has the "Swifties", Ariana Grande has the "Arianators" and Lady Gaga has the "Little Monsters". And until recently, Doja Cat had the "Kittenz". However, in a now-deleted post on social media platform Threads, the pop star said: “My fans don’t name themselves s***. If you call yourself a ‘kitten’ or f***ing ‘kittenz’ that means you need to get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house.” The backlash was strong and immediate, in the latest instance of hordes of devoted fans getting just a teensy bit too invested in what musicians say and do. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter One of her fan accounts, The Kittenz Web, said: “Just delete the entire account and rethink everything. It’s never too late.” Another fan on Twitter said: “Imagine telling your fans to get a job when they are the ones that buy your music, merch and concert tickets.” Another asked on Threads if she could tell her fans that she loves them. Doja Cat replied: “I don’t though cuz I don’t even know y’all.” One fan hit back: “And we don’t know you. But we have supported you through thick and thin. Mind you, you’d be nothing without us.” But Doja wasn’t having it. She said: “Nobody forced you. IDK why you’re talking to me like you’re my mother... You sound like a crazy person.” The singer eventually deleted her account on the platform following the backlash. It’s not the first time 27-year-old Doja Cat, whose real name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, has been forced to stand up for herself in the face of fanatical social media followers. She was previously accused of blocking people who weighed in on her relationship with Twitch streamer J Cyrus. “I DONT GIVE A F**K WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE,” she wrote on Instagram. “I NEVER HAVE AND NEVER WILL GIVE A F**K WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT ME OR MY PERSONAL LIFE.” Meanwhile Doja Cat fan pages like Doja HQ, The Kittens Room and Doja Cat News have all deactivated their accounts since the most recent incident. The Grammy award winning musician is expected to release her fourth studio album later this year. According to reports, that will likely steer away from the pop music she has previously released and draw more from hip-hop and R&B. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.