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New Disney film is a disenchanting holiday distraction, a feeble fairytale for kids





© Provided by Hindustan Times


Godmothered

Director – Sharon Maguire

Cast – Jillian Bell, Isla Fisher

Godmothered doesn’t earn the right to be as sweet as it is. Few things could have been as genuinely good-natured as Ted Lasso this year, and the new Disney holiday film, despite its pure intentions, isn’t one of them.

You can see how hard it tries, and that’s a problem. While Ted Lasso, the fabulous Apple TV+ show, was effortlessly endearing, there’s a neediness to Godmothered, a desperation if you will. This also happens to be the defining quality of its protagonist, a fairy godmother-in-training named Eleanor.

Watch the Godmothered trailer here

 

Played by Jillian Bell, Eleanor lives in Motherland, the mystical home to fairy godmothers of all shapes and sizes. She studies magic at an academy, and is, by and large, a model student. Chipper to a fault and eternally optimistic, Eleanor finds

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Warner Bros. makes a major concession to pandemic viewing habits

It’s sobering, if not heartbreaking, to imagine enjoying such cinematic extravaganzas as “Wonder Woman 1984,” “The Matrix 4,” the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical “In the Heights” and Denis Villeneuve’s highly anticipated adaptation of “Dune” on anything but the biggest screens. But Warner Bros. realized that the better part of valor was to make them accessible to the widest number of people.

As my movie-obsessed colleague Omari Daniels noted when he heard the news, for movie studios these days, “there are no good or bad decisions — just decisions.” And Warner Bros. made an agonizing but understandable one.

“No one wants films back on the big screen more than we do,” WarnerMedia chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff said upon announcing the new policy. “We know that new content is the lifeblood of theatrical exhibition, but we have to balance this with the reality that most theaters in the U.S. will probably operate

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Movie Theaters, Live Venues Would Get Billions in Aid From Stimulus Package

Click here to read the full article.

About 60% of the movie theaters in the country — though not the major chains — would be in line for several billion dollars in grants if Congress can agree on a coronavirus stimulus package.

Negotiations on a bill were jumpstarted on Tuesday, when a bipartisan group of senators offered a $908 billion plan. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell circulated his own framework that would provide about $500 billion.

Both proposals include $15 billion for live event venues and movie theaters, aides on both sides of the aisle confirmed to Variety. So while the sides remain apart on several other issues, there is broad agreement about bailing out theaters, restaurants and music venues.

McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on Thursday, as hopes rose that a deal could be achieved.

“Compromise is within reach,” McConnell said on the Senate floor on

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10 Great Movie Santas, from Kurt Russell to Paul Giamatti (Photos)

Warner Bros./Netflix/Sony Pictures Entertainment

As the embodiment of kindness, generosity, and Yuletide beneficence, Santa Claus presents some mighty big black boots, much less a red suit, for any actor to fill. But jolly old Saint Nicholas has appeared in the movies for as long as the movies have existed, and here are some of our favorite actors who’ve steered the sleigh (not counting Billy Bob Thornton and anyone else who has played a guy who is pretending to be Santa):
Kurt Russell in 'The Christmas Chronicles'

Netflix

Kurt Russell in “The Christmas Chronicles” (2018) and “The Christmas Chronicles 2” (2020): There’s more than a little bit of Russell’s trucker character from “Big Trouble in Little China” in his take on Father Christmas, but that blue-collar bravado and dad-bod energy make this character, in the words of critic Nathan Rabin, “a Santa who f–ks.”

Jim Broadbent Arthur Christmas

Sony Pictures Entertainment

Jim Broadbent, “Arthur Christmas” (2011): In this delightful animated adventure

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Warner Bros disrupts theater business with same-day streaming

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – AT&T Inc’s Warner Bros studio will debut all of its 2021 films in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming service on the same day, the company said on Thursday, an unprecedented shift that hammered shares of struggling cinema operators.

The movies, which are expected to include “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “The Suicide Squad,” will be available on HBO Max for one month starting on the same day they hit theaters, the studio said in a statement.

“Mortal Kombat,” a new version of “Dune” and a “Matrix” sequel also are scheduled to follow the new release pattern.

Shares of AMC Entertainment, the world’s largest theater operator fell almost 16%, and rival Cinemark dropped about 22%. AT&T shares closed up slightly.

The change, led by WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, was the most aggressive move to date to bring movies into homes sooner, and it sent a shock

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Warner Bros.’ HBO Max Move May Be ‘Nail in the Coffin’ for Struggling Movie Theaters



a group of people walking in front of a store: movie theater closed pandemic

© TheWrap
movie theater closed pandemic

Warner Bros. shocking decision to release all of its 2021 films on HBO Max and in theaters simultaneously may have been prompted by unprecedented circumstances — the coronavirus pandemic that has shut down theaters worldwide, with full reopening postponed to some distant future. But what Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff called a “unique one-year plan” threatens permanent changes to movie theaters that have been under strain even before this year.

“It’s a nail in the coffin for theaters who have been vulnerable for a long time — you are witnessing the single biggest blow to cinema since COVID-19,” the Patriarch Organization CEO Eric Schiffer told TheWrap, noting that WarnerMedia parent AT&T “has made a business decision that the traditional movie experience is less important” than growing the company’s six-month-old streaming platform.

Warner’s announcement includes likely blockbusters such as DC Films’ “The Suicide Squad,” the

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“I’m Gonna Come In Like A Hurricane”

Click here to read the full article.

Trailblazer. Shock jock. Media mogul. Icon. Those descriptions of syndicated talk veteran Wendy Williams flash across the screen in the first trailer for Lifetime’s Wendy Williams: The Movie. 

Yes, the “Queen of Gossip” is getting the biopic treatment, and she played the footage on her talk show Thursday. Check it out below.

“Wendy Williams is not going anywhere,” Ciara Payton (The Oval) as Williams says from behind a radio mic at the outset. “I’m gonna come in like a hurricane.”

And storm in she does in Wendy Williams: The Movie, which chronicles the highs and lows she has has experienced throughout the years — from her scrappy upstart days in urban radio to the success of her own daytime talker.

“You’re the star,” we hear her ex-husband Kevin Hunter (Morocco Omari) say.

Williams herself is among the executive producers, meaning this

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Cynthia Erivo Is Going to Star in a Movie About Princess ‘Gifted’ to Queen Victoria

Cynthia Erivo is taking on a big new role.

The 33-year-old Harriet actress is set to star in and produce a film based on the life of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a 19th century African princess who was “gifted” to Queen Victoria after she being orphaned and enslaved by a West African king, Deadline reported.

Here are more details: “Born Omoba Aina, an Egbado princess of the Yoruba people, she was ‘gifted’ to Queen Victoria in 1850, taken to England and renamed Sarah Forbes Bonetta. The Queen’s patronship was a thorny rose that put Sarah at the centre of British aristocracy but did not shield her from public scrutiny, personal suffering or the dangers of a capricious court that was fundamentally suspicious of her as a strong, educated Black woman.”

According to the report, the biopic is meant to be a celebration of Sarah Forbes Bonetta as a

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By betting big on HBO Max, Warner Bros. has hastened the future of the movie business

A mere two weeks after announcing Wonder Woman 1984 would be released in movie theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously, Warner Bros. has upended the film business again. In a jaw-dropping move, the studio declared Thursday that its entire 2021 film slate would do the same, including such boldfaced titles as Dune, The Suicide Squad, and The Matrix 4. It’s a strategy with massive implications for the future of the industry — but also one clearly born out of desperation and a dearth of options, as the COVID-19 pandemic looks likely to keep many movie theaters shuttered well into next year.



a man standing on a beach with a mountain in the background: Warner Bros. Pictures

© Provided by Entertainment Weekly
Warner Bros. Pictures



a man standing on a beach with a mountain in the background: By betting big on HBO Max, Warner Bros. has accelerated the changing nature of the movie business and streaming.

© Warner Bros. Pictures
By betting big on HBO Max, Warner Bros. has accelerated the changing nature of the movie business and streaming.

“It’s probably most shocking because they’re doing it before Wonder Woman‘s release, and not

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Category:

Small Theater Companies Would Get Billions in Aid From Relief Package

About 60% of the movie theaters in the country — though not the major chains — would be in line for several billion dollars in grants if Congress can agree on a coronavirus stimulus package.

Negotiations on a bill were jumpstarted on Tuesday, when a bipartisan group of senators offered a $908 billion plan. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell circulated his own framework that would provide about $500 billion.

Both proposals include $15 billion for live event venues and movie theaters, aides on both sides of the aisle confirmed to Variety. So while the sides remain apart on several other issues, there is broad agreement about bailing out theaters, restaurants and music venues.

McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on Thursday, as hopes rose that a deal could be achieved.

“Compromise is within reach,” McConnell said on the Senate floor on Thursday. “We know where we agree. We

… Read More
Posted On : Published By : [email protected]_84