Netflix
HBO Max Also Pulls Chappelle’s Show at Dave Chappelle’s Request
Last month, Netflix removed Chappelle’s Show from their service at the behest of Dave Chappelle himself. The beloved comedian has now asked HBO Max to pull the iconic sketch series from their library, and they’re granting his request. In a lengthy Instagram video posted in late November, Chappelle explained that because of the contract he signed with ViacomCBS back when the show was made in the mid-2000s — years before streaming services even existed — he actually doesn’t see a penny of the money that ViacomCBS receives when it licenses the show out to companies like Netflix and HBO Max. “They [ViacomCBS] didn’t have to pay me because I signed the contract,” Chappelle said in the clip, which compiles footage from recent stand-up gigs. “But is that right? I found out that these people were ...
Top 25 Films of 2020
Our Annual Report continues as we reveal the Top 25 Films of 2020. Stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles in the days and weeks to come about the best music, film, and TV of the year. If you’ve missed any part of our Annual Report, you can check out all the coverage here. Going to the movies ain’t like it used to be, right? What an understatement. With theaters shuttered up and movie chains filing for bankruptcy, one might argue it’s been a pretty crap year for cinema. Financially speaking, they’re not wrong. But, art is a funny thing. It has a way of enduring even the most arduous obstacles — you know, that whole Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park, “life finds a way” bit — and this year was a testament to that truth. Art had no issue finding a proper stage. That stage, as fate...
George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky Blandly Goes Where Plenty of Sci-Fi Has Gone Before: Review
The Pitch: It’s 2049, and the Earth is plagued by a mysterious apocalyptic event – details are scarce, but it seems as though the world is in its last gasps, and time is running out. Perhaps the only man left on Earth is Augustine Lofthouse (George Clooney), an astronomer dying of cancer who chooses to stay behind while the rest of the personnel evacuate their observatory in the Arctic Circle. As he whiles away the days and weeks waiting for the world to end, two events force him into action: the arrival of a mute girl (seven-year-old newbie Caoilinn Springall) seemingly left behind in the evacuation, and the realization that a spaceship called the Aether is on its way back to the planet. They’ve spent the last few years scoping out a new planet for humanity called K-23, and are comin...
Queen Latifah Tapped To Executive Produce and Star In New Netflix Film ‘End Of Road’
Source: CBS Photo Archive / Getty Queen Latifah is taking her talents to Netflix with her latest announcement. According to Deadline, Queen Latifah has signed on as Executive Producer and lead in the Millicent Shelton directed Netflix thriller End of the Road, a film that follows recently widowed Brenda who, after losing her job, drives her family cross-country to start a new life. In the New Mexico desert, cut off from help, they must learn to fight back when they become the targets of a mysterious killer. In addition to Queen Latifah leading the feature film, End of the Road is produced by Tracey Edmonds’ imprint Edmonds Entertainment with Mark Burg for Twisted Pictures and Brad Kaplan. Latifah and Shakim Compere will serve as executive producers on behalf of Flavor Unit E...
Ariana Grande Announces New Sweetener Concert Film for Netflix
Following a few sneaky teasers earlier this week, Ariana Grande has officially announced her new Netflix concert film capturing her “Sweetener Tour”. Titled excuse me, i love you, it will be available to stream in just a few weeks on December 21st — exactly one year after the tour closed out. “I know this project only captures some of one tour (out of all the other hundreds of shows and moments we have shared over the past six or seven years… jesus lol) but I just wanted to thank u all for showing me more in this lifetime already than I ever dreamed of,” the 27-year-old pop star wrote on social media today. Grande’s “Sweetener Tour” originally kicked off March 2019 and ran for about nine months. The concerts saw the Grammy winner perform hit songs off both Sweetener and thank u, ...
Black Mirror Creators Announce Netflix Comedy Special “Death to 2020”
If you’ve been laughing to keep from crying this hellish year, then the dystopian creators of Black Mirror have something right up your alley: a star-studded Netflix comedy special aptly titled “Death to 2020”. The TV special from Black Mirror masterminds Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones was announced early Monday, alongside its impressive guest list. Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Grant, and Leslie Jones, Joe Keery, Lisa Kudrow, Kumail Nanjiani, Tracey Ulman, Cristin Milioti, and Diane Morgan are all set to appear in “Death to 2020” The Hollywood Reporter notes that the comedy special will be filmed “documentary-style”, and a synopsis from Netflix reads: “2020: A year so [insert adjective of choice here], even the creators of Black Mirror couldn’t make it up… but that doesn’t mea...
Netflix Confirms Elliot Page for Umbrella Academy Season 3
Elliot Page will return as Vanya Hargreeves in the third season of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy. The streaming giant confirmed the news hours after Page announced he is a gender non-binary transgender person on Tuesday morning. “So proud of our superhero! WE LOVE YOU ELLIOT! Can’t wait to see you return in season 3!” the official Netflix account tweeted at Page in support. In the series, which wrapped up its second season this past summer, Vanya is a cisgender woman with superhero powers. Insiders tell Variety that there are no are no plans to change the character’s gender as of now. On that topic, Nick Adams, director of transgender media at GLAAD, told Variety: “Trans actors can and do play both trans and cisgender characters. I’m sure Elliot will continue to be brilliant in Umbrella A...
Netflix Developing ‘Forty Acres’ Film With Cheo Hodari Coker, Jay-Z Producing
Source: Mat Hayward / Getty One of the most popular entertainment platforms continues to show that they are for our culture by their actions. Netflix is curating a new film based on a must read story. As spotted on Deadline the streaming giant has announced they will be developing a movie based on the novel Forty Acres. Written by Dwayne Alexander Smith the book details the fictional story of Martin Grey, a Black lawyer working out of a storefront in Queens. He soon becomes friendly with a group of some of the most powerful, wealthy, and esteemed Black men in America. Martin finds out that his glittering new friends are part of a secret society dedicated to the preservation of the institution of slavery—but this time around, the Black men are called “Master.” According to the press re...
Hollywood Will Never Stop Loving the Music Biopic
This past week saw the release of Stardust, a biopic about David Bowie’s first trip to the United States. If you’ve seen any piece of media related to the film, you probably know that the movie was received poorly — to say the least. This isn’t surprising, though. When the film’s first trailer dropped months ago, the film was immediately scorched online for being a very blatant and very poorly executed attempt to piggyback off the recent success of other musical biopics such as 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody and last year’s Rocketman. Whereas those two films at least had the wherewithal to secure the rights to their stars’ likeness and discography, Stardust opted out of either of those things. Even so, the film chugged along on the strength of its premise alone, but mostly because it’s a musical...
David Lynch to Begin Production on New Project for Netflix
David Lynch is set to begin production on a new project for Netflix. As the fan site Welcome to Twin Peaks points out, the industry trade Production Weekly revealed news of the project in its latest issue. Lynch will write the direct the project, which carries the working title of Wisteria. Filming is scheduled to begin in May 2021 at Los Angeles’ Calvert Studios. Citing its own sources, Welcome to Twin Peaks reports that the project will take the form of a limited episodic series. Lynch kickstarted his partnership with Netflix earlier this year when he brought his short film What Did Jack Do? to the streaming platform. Over quarantine, he’s kept busy by resurrecting his weather reports and uploading original videos to YouTube. While we wait for more details on Wisteria, revisit the ...
‘The Forty-Year-Old Version’ Director Radha Blank Receives Sundance Institute’s 2020 Vanguard Award
Source: Rich Fury / Getty Radha Blank, the brilliant creator behind Netflix’s The Forty-Year-Old Version, has a growing collection of impressive awards and nominations ever since breaking into the film space this year, and her latest win is worth every bit of bragging rights. Last week, the Sundance Institue announced that the multi-hyphenated filmmaker will be this year’s recipient of the prestigious 2020 Vanguard Award for her directorial work on the film. In the wake of the lockdown, Sundance Collab, an online platform for creators across the globe, will host a special event in her honor on December 2 featuring Octavia Spencer, an advisor to Blank at the Institute’s Labs. “It’s a thrill to be acknowledged by my Sundance Institute family, who’ve been behind me from the very beginni...
What’s Streaming on Netflix in December 2020
Netflix is unwrapping some big gifts in December 2020. The shiniest box under the proverbial tree is David Fincher’s Mank. The filmmaker’s first feature in six years stars Oscar winner Gary Oldman as legendary Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and the drama that surrounded his work on Citizen Kane. Another star-studded feature is Ryan Murphy’s The Prom, a fish-out-of-water comedy that finds Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, and Keegan-Michael Key putting on a Broadway production in a small town. That should keep the family business. Elsewhere, there’s the highly anticipated Selena: The Series, the fourth season of Big Mouth, the fourth and final season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and the de facto seasonal docuseries The Holiday Movies That Made Us. EditorsR...
