It’s been a long time coming, but the light at the end of the tunnel is here. As the pandemic winds down, it’s time to start thinking about concerts again. And not a minute too soon, if you ask us. There’s nothing wrong with listening to music at home (especially if you use our favorite stereo speakers), but it just isn’t the same. With new tours and festivals being announced every day, the return of live music is exciting news to just about everyone....

After more than a year of lockdowns and restrictions, Fourth of July celebrations will be an opportunity to reunite with friends and family. Whether you’re planning a pool party, barbecue, beach day, or simply binging movies on Independence Day, buying a new Bluetooth speaker will enhance your soundscape. To help you make the right choice, we rounded up eight Bluetooth speakers that are perfect for your Fourth of July festivities....

Each of the bracingly intimate films that comprise Jonas Carpignano’s loose-knit Calabrian trilogy are self-contained to a certain degree; like “Mediterranea” and “A Ciambra” before it, “A Chiara” is meant to be understood on its own. But the small handful of overlapping characters between them link their respective stories together on a macroeconomic level in a way that deepens and belies the myopia of their neorealist construction. The triptych begins with two refugees making the perilous trek from Africa to the Italian port city of Gioia Tauro, only to find themselves exploited by the people who got there first....

So much for Sandler’s threats about a “Grown Ups 3” following his Oscar snub for his “Gems” role. Sandler told Entertainment Weekly that he is “going to do another movie with the Safdie brothers,” but did not divulge any specific details about the upcoming project. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Sandler won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead with “Gems,” and previously shared that he “would die to work with [the Safdies] again....

Evan Shapiro, the former head of Seeso who’s now an adjunct professor at the business schools of Fordham and NYU Stern, told IndieWire on Friday the lone connection he sees between Seeso and the newly flopped CNN+ is — and we’re definitely quoting here — “Corporate media be wack, yo.” “In both cases, the companies went all in on something — all in — and something changed,” he added. In the case of CNN+, which made it all of three weeks before new leadership announced it was being scrapped, the “something” that changed was the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger....

Putnam, who exited Sundance in 2021, will join the board alongside another newcomer, global information technology executive Denise “Dee” Clark. Additionally, Lee Wittlinger, who has been an AMC director since 2018, will resign from his position on the board at the end of the year. His private investment firm Silver Lake sold its equity stake in AMC back in January 2021. With both Putnam and Clark joining the board, three of AMC’s nine directors will now be female, whereas currently, just one of its eight members is a woman....

“I think the themes of this movie are very universal,” Adams said. “Whether it be generational trauma, whether it be just examining where we come from to understand where we’re going and who we are. I think the universality of the themes of the movie far transcend politics.” Close added the film “wasn’t made with politics in mind, it was made with Ron’s intent. I think he succeeded magnificently to tell the story of a very specific family....

“It’s a huge mountain to climb, the journey of knowing what it’s like to have a grown child pass away,” she told IndieWire during a recent interview. “Stepping into what that might be like for a couple of months while making the film was certainly very difficult. It’s actually quite a lonely experience.” But she quickly moved on to the next project — and the next one after that, and the next one after that....

The Animation Guild wrote on Instagram that it is “disheartening” that Disney did not immediately oppose Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, calling it a “momentous misstep” for the corporation. CEO Chapek assured staff members on March 7 that the corporation “unequivocally” supports LGBTQ+ rights, despite donating to “Don’t Say Gay” bill backers for years. Officially titled the House Bill 1557, the law prohibits “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity” in Florida primary schools....

The network has ordered a pilot for “The Franchise,” a new satire which will see the “Veep” creator turn his eye for institutional dysfunction toward an industry that has no shortage of it: Hollywood. The series will follow the behind-the-scenes drama on the set of a “dysfunctional, nonsensical, joyous hellscape of franchise superhero movie-making,” as the cast and crew of a fictional franchise wonder if their jobs have any meaning, per the announcement....

But as DuVernay began making her own films (like “Middle of Nowhere,” “Selma,” and “A Wrinkle in Time”) and producing and distributing others through her ARRAY company, she realized it didn’t have to be that way. “I thought, ‘oh, wait, there’s a choice here, it doesn’t actually have to be that way. You could actually choose all kinds of people, and people are just choosing not to do that.”...

Per the official Kickstarter campaign: “‘Avatar Legends: The RPG’ is a heroic fantasy game set in the universe of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ and ‘The Legend of Korra’ in which you and your friends take on the role of young heroes from across the Four Nations who have joined together to make the world a better place. It’s a game for people of all ages who want to look at the world beyond the scope of the existing stories and explore the meaningful actions heroes take for the good of others....

In a sprawling new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bardem and Kidman admitted that the enormity of what they’d taken on didn’t quite hit them until they agreed to be cast. “I wasn’t aware of how big it was,” Bardem said of “I Love Lucy,” which once drew as many as 60 million viewers a week in the U.S., while adding that he mainly knew Arnaz as a musician who worked with Spanish entertainer Xavier Cugat....

The star-studded concert was preceded by a pre-taped video featuring Queen Elizabeth II having tea with Paddington, the beloved protagonist of two eponymous films from Studiocanal. The short film saw the bear (with Ben Whishaw reprising his role from the films) offer the Queen a marmalade sandwich, before she revealed that she always keeps one in her purse. The video ends with Paddington wishing the Queen a happy Jubilee, and thanking her for her service to the nation....

At the bottom of this page are IndieWire Deputy TV Editor Ben Travers’ predictions for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. This article will be updated throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2021 race. Voting for the 2021 Emmys was held from June 17 through June 28 (with polls closing at 10 p.m. PT). Emmy nominations were announced Tuesday, July 13....

While plenty of sci-fi movies have predicted a future dominated by virtual reality, the technology isn’t quite that widespread — yet. But more and more people are starting to discover what the world of VR, which allows you to strap on a headset and become fully immersed in a new environment, actually entails. Games are of course one of the most popular ways to use VR technology, but other experiences, like virtual film festivals or concerts, are becoming more widespread....

The show, which just aired its season finale on Adult Swim, is a madcap animated exploration of a giant conglomerate’s CEO — who just also happens to be a thinly disguised superhero. It’s also following in the canonical footsteps of a beloved classic. Judy Ken Sebben (Paget Brewster), the corporate executive who moonlights as the costumed crimefighter who gives the show its name, first appeared on “Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law....

Based on the personal life of science fiction author Phillip K. Dick, “Jane” is rooted in the relationship between Dick and his twin sister Jane, who died six weeks after birth. Jane’s passing impacted Dick’s creative work and legacy, according to his daughter Isa Hackett. Dick penned ‘The Man in the High Castle” and “Minority Report,” both of which were adapted for the screen. His work also inspired “Blade Runner” and “Total Recall....

This year’s nominees were led by “Ascension” and “Summer of Soul,” two films by first-time documentarians. Each had six nominations. But “Ascension,” Jessica Kingdon’s look at the pursuit of the Chinese dream, failed to score any prizes November 14. “Summer of Soul,” which won the top documentary prize and an Audience Award following its Sundance premiere earlier this year, won five of the six awards it was nominated for at the critics awards: Best Documentary Feature, Best First Documentary Feature, Best Editing, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Director, a prize Thompson shared with “The Rescue” in a tie....

Cynthia Nixon defended her iconic “Sex and the City” character from fans after Miranda’s storyline in “And Just Like That” included adultery, political incorrectness, and technical ineptitude. Miranda’s affair with standup comedian Che (Sara Ramirez) and subsequent split from fan favorite Steve (David Eigenberg) also sparked critical debate. Yet Nixon doubled down on supporting the story arc for Miranda in revival series “And Just Like That.” “I think that’s a bizarre reaction,” Nixon told Vogue....