News

Don't call them The Addams Family: "The Munsters" may be remembered as one of two darkly funny monster family sitcoms airing in the 1960s, but it's decidedly not the same as its comic strip-based contemporary. "The Munsters," for one thing, pulled its monsters straight from the Universal back catalog, featuring characters based directly on Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf Man. The series starred Fred Gwynne and Yvonne de Carlo as married couple Herman and Lily Munster, whose household consisted of an endearing vampire grandpa (Al Lewis), wolf-boy son (Butch Patrick), human niece (Beverley Owen and Pat Priest), and a whole host of spooky-fun pets including a bat, a cat, a raven, and a dragon-like reptile named Spot.

Despite its enduring spot in the zeitgeist, "The Munsters" actually only ran for two seasons from 1964 to 1966. It was capped off with a movie, "Munsters, Go Home!" that saw the family take a trip to Europe,...

Kicking October to the curb and bringing in some November goodness is a fresh slate of new content headed to Paramount Global’s streamer Paramount+, including the sequel to the hit 1997 film “Good Burger.”

Paramount+ started off November by adding more than 30 titles to its library, some of which include “Above the Rim,” Season 15 of “Ink Master,” “Gladiator” and “The Color Purple.”

And if you’re looking for some holiday movies to watch with the family, you can deck the halls with “Happy Christmas,” “Mistletoe Ranch” or “Christmas Eve.” When the kids go to sleep, adult-friendly treats like “Bad Santa” and “Bad Santa 2” are also available.

The highly-anticipated “Good Burger 2,” which stars Kel Mitchell, Keenan Thompson, Shar Jackson, Carmen Electra, Josh Server, Alex R. Hibbert, Lori Beth Denberg and Lil Rel Howery, hits the platform on Nov. 22

Here’s everything coming to Paramount+ this November, from “The Truman Show” to “Paw Patrol.

This post contains spoilers for the season premiere of "Loki."

"Loki" is back this week, and along with the return of Norse trickster god Loki (Tom Hiddleston), agent Mobius (Owen Wilson), and the rest of the Time Variance Authority, the show's premiere also sees the introduction of a few new key characters. Among them? Ke Huy Quan's helpful, tech-savvy Ouroboros (or O.B.) and X-5, a mysterious new Tva agent played by Rafael Casal. And it's the latter who is particularly intriguing.

So far, we haven't seen X-5 do much besides question whether jet skis are part of the sacred timeline, but the character already seems to be an agitating force within the organization. He's also quite possibly poised to become a recognizable Marvel villain. After all, a featurette for the second season had a couple bits of footage from behind the scenes that showed him in a Tva jumpsuit,...

Rhino has announced that it will reissue newly remastered versions of the late Christine McVie’s final two solo albums, Christine McVie and In the Meantime, on November 3rd.

Both albums will be available in CD, vinyl, and digital versions. In the Meantime will also feature a new Dolby Atmos mix. Pre-orders are ongoing.

Christine McVie was released in 1984 as the singer’s second solo full-length and featured the Top 10 hit “Got a Hold on Me.” In the Meantime arrived in 2004 as McVie’s first solo work since departing Fleetwood Mac and featured her final single, “Friend,” which reached No. 29 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Separately, Mick Fleetwood has paid tribute to his bandmate on what would have been her 80th birthday with an instrumental version of “Songbird,” which McVie penned for Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album, Rumours. Earlier this year, he decided to take on the track at the...

Carrie and Aidan didn't just break up once on Sex and the City, they broke up twice after meeting in season 3. While Carrie was known for her on-and-off relationship with Mr. Big, Aidan Shaw was the next big love in her life. After meeting him at a furniture show, they took their relationship slow, which Carrie wasn't used to. Aidan wanted to build a friendship with Carrie before taking their bond to the next level. In the end, Carrie fell in love with him for the care he put into their relationship.

As was the case with every new boyfriend of Carrie's on Sex and the City, she had to turn down Big when she and Aidan became serious. This turned out to be harder than she realized, and it's where the problems in her relationship with Aidan started. Aidan never saw a breakup in their future, but Carrie knew...

Hong Kong director Alan Mak has brought together award-winning actors Francis Ng (“Drifting”) and Aaron Kwok in new Hong Kong crime thriller “Insider,” 22-years after the two shared the big screen together.

Produced by Tenky Tin for Emperor Motion Picture, the film also stars Simon Yam and Niki Chow. A start of production ceremony took place on Monday, attended by Emp supremo Albert Yeung. Kwok also uploaded images to his Instagram account. International sales are yet to be announced.

Ng and Kwok last worked together in Gordon Chan-directed action thriller “2000 Ad” (2000).

In “Insider,” Ng plays a police officer, who rubs up against a lawyer played by Kwok. But the two later became friends and collaborators to fight against the antagonist. The filming will involve large amounts of action and gunfight scenes.

The announcement of the new production also marks what could be a sign of recovery of the local film industry,...

This article contains spoilers for The Flight Attendant seasons 1 and 2 and Sherlock.

The best mind palaces—a mnemonic device in which you create a space to store memories, information, and other subconscious scraps—are those built to resemble someplace familiar or personal. That makes it incredibly ironic, then, that all of Cassie Bowden’s (Kaley Cuoco) mind palaces are hotels. The internationally jetsetting flight attendant and (very) amateur detective at the heart of HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant spent season 1 trapped in a mental recreation of the lavish Bangkok hotel suite in which she woke to find her dead one-night-stand Alex (Michiel Huisman) with his throat slit. Though she solved his murder, season 2 catapults a one-year-sober Cassie back into a new mind palace: the Berlin hotel bar where yet another man she interacted with (platonically this time!) is dead.

But instead of that man’s ghost, it’s herself behind the bar: Bangkok Cassie,...

Festival was forced to cancel April dates after a wave of Covid cases.

The Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff) has announced it will host its 46th edition from August 15-21, after previously being forced to postpone due to a rapid rise of Covid-19 cases in the city.

Organisers are planning a hybrid approach of in-person and online screenings for the 17-day festival, similar to the approach Hkiff took in 2021 after being cancelled altogether in 2020 at the start of the outbreak. The full programme will be unveiled in July.

Hkiff’s Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival, which usually takes...

Said to be "a story of how a retired British-Chinese soldier and a marginalized young South Asian man face the plight of being abandoned by society," Hand Rolled Cigarette comes from Hong Kong and offers a smoky atmosphere that looks like clouds of tension are rolling through it. Actor Chan Kin Long (Port of Call) makes his directorial debut, which he also shared in writing with Ryan Wai-Chun Ling. Lam Ka Tung, Bipin Karma, and Singh Hartihan Bitto star. Edko Films is distributing in Asia; they've set the release for June 17. The poster comes from the official Facebook page. The trailer is below and paints a dark, noir-ish setting that is quite alluring, if you're in the proper mood for it. The film is...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The Hong Kong International Film Festival has announced the cancelation of its world premiere screening of crime thriller “Where the Wind Blows.” The move appears to be part of the accelerating ‘mainlandization’ of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry.

The festival said Monday evening in a statement that screenings of “Where the Wind Blows” (previously known “Theory of Ambitions”) had been cancelled at the request of the film’s owner.

“Upon request from the film owner, the screenings of ‘Where the Winds Blows’ originally scheduled at 5.30 p.m. on 1 April and 2.30 p.m. on 4 April are cancelled due to technical reasons,” the festival said in a statement in English and Chinese.

The film was produced by Hong Kong’s Mei Ah Film Production in a co-venture with mainland Chinese firms Dadi Century and Global Group. Its production budget has been reported as $38 million.

The film is directed by Philip Yung, who...

Hong Kong director Fruit Chan, who somehow manages to be an industry veteran and an enfant terrible at the same time, is currently in post-production on “Coffin Homes.” The film is a satirical horror anthology, that probes the city’s eternal housing problem, especially its micro dwellings known as cubicle apartments or coffin homes.

Chan, who has long played in a social realist riff through titles including “Dumplings,” “The Midnight After” and Hollywood-Hong Kong,” takes the term literally and focuses his film on folks who are ready to live under the same roof as the dead. It stars Tai Bo (“Suk Suk”), Cheung Tat Ming (the Dragon Loaded film series), Loletta Lee (“Ordinary Heroes”) and Susan Shaw (“Gallants”).

Edko Films, part of producer Bill Kong’s cinemas to distribution group, is handling rights, with all territories outside Greater China available at FilMart.

The firm is also proposing “Disconnect’d” a drama-thriller starring Aaron Kwok.

Frequent Johnnie To collaborator Dennis Law is directing the film, which stars Eddie Cheung and Dada Chan.

Hong Kong-based Entertaining Power is launching sales at Filmart Online on crime thriller A Murder Erased, written and directed by frequent Johnnie To collaborator Dennis Law.

Also produced by Law, the film started shooting in Hong Kong on February 21 and is targeting release at the end of the year. Eddie Cheung (Our Time Will Come), Dada Chan (The Secret Diary Of A Mom To Be) and Maggie Shiu (Port Of Call) head the cast.

Cheung plays a narcotics officer who is assigned to...

Global streaming giant Netflix has acquired rights to “The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity,” a period fantasy action film by the ferociously talented and divisive director Guo Jingming. The film is set for a major theatrical release in mainland China on Dec. 25.

Netflix, which acquired rights excluding China, will release it in the rest of the world on Feb. 5, 2021, shortly before the Lunar New Year holiday celebrations.

Adapted from the popular 2001 novel “Onmyoji” by Japanese writer Baku Yumemakura, the story sees the four best Yin-Yang Masters in the country called to the capital to slay the serpent demon, which awakens only every 100 years. In the meantime, a princess and the head of the royal guard conspire to end the serpent’s eternal life.

It stars a young and attractive cast headed by Mark Chao (“Saturday Fiction”), Allen Deng (“Ashes of Love”), Jessie Li (“Port of Call”) and Wang Ziwen (“The...

The film is scheduled for a wide theatrical release in China on December 25.

Fortissimo Films has sold Chinese fantasy film The Yin-Yang Master: Dream Of Eternity, directed by Guo Jingming, to Netflix for world distribution, excluding China.

The film, which stars Mark Chao (Saturday Fiction) and Allen Deng (Ashes Of Love), is scheduled for a wide theatrical release in China on December 25. Netflix will then launch it in more than 190 countries and regions on February 5, 2021.

Adapted from Japanese fantasy novel Onmyoji by Baku Yumemakura, the film tells the story of China’s four best ‘Yin-Yang Masters’, who are called to...

The Chinese filmmaker Mei Feng is best known as the regular screenwriter for Ye Lou’s films, including “Summer Palace” (2006), Cannes title “Spring Fever” (for which Mei won the Best Screenplay award) and, most recently, “The Shadow Play” (2018). His directorial debut “Mr. No Problem” (2016) premiered at Tokyo International Film Festival and toured across the East- and South-East Asia afterwards. Mei’s second directorial effort, “Love Song 1980”, also premiered at Tokyo, while its European premiere took place at the competition of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

“Love Song 1980” could be accurately described as an unofficial prequel to Mei’s debut screenwriting work, “Summer Palace”, dealing with the milieu of the students in Beijing during the times of the great change and paradigm change that occurred in the 80s. While the plot of “Summer Palace” takes place in the year of Tienanmen, “Love Song 1980” is situated at the beginning of the decade,...

Operation Greenlight today unveils seven projects by emerging Hong Kong filmmakers, all target to realising their artistic visions.

The initiative, organised by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society for Create Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Film Development Council, features a bespoke open pitching session to connect young filmmakers with industry professionals and potential investors. Now in its 6th edition, Operation Greenlight will take place online on 27 August as part of this year’s Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) programme in conjunction with Filmart Online, the virtual edition of the 24th Hong Kong International Film & TV Market.

According to Mr Gary Mak, Secretary-General of the Film Development Council (Fdc), the global Covid-19 pandemic had presented the organisers of this year’s Operation Greenlight, initially scheduled for March, with an unexpected challenge.

“However, we remain fully committed to showcasing local filmmakers’ story-telling which helps to illuminate us from a uniquely Hong Kong perspective,...

New titles from Fruit Chan, Wong Hing Fan and Chan Kin Long will be launched at the upcoming Filmart Online.

Hong Kong-based Edko Films has picked up international rights to three new titles from Hong Kong directors, including an as-yet-untitled satirical horror anthology from veteran filmmaker Fruit Chan.

The other two films are from up-and-coming talents – action drama Disconnect’d, which is the second film directed by Wong Hing Fan, following i’m livin’ it, and Chan Kin Long’s debut feature, Hand Rolled Cigarette. All three films are currently in production.

Starring Lam Ka Tung and Bipin Karma, Hand...

At 30, and already an accomplished novelist, Guo Jingming deftly turned himself into one of China’s top film directors when he unleashed bratty, aspirational comedy-drama “Tiny Times” on an eager public in June 2013. Then he showed his understanding of marketing strategy by releasing a sequel barely six weeks later.

Guo’s upcoming action fantasy “The Yin Yang Master” is already billed as a two-parter, so he will not be able to pull off the surprise sequel trick a second time. But there is every reason to expect the movie pair to be among the biggest Chinese films of the next 12 months.

The story involves a snake dragon, and a cabal of Yin-Yang masters, a scheming princess and a well-placed palace guard who each have other plans for the power of the demon than the one they advertise.

The films, being pitched this week in the online version of the Cannes Market,...

Amsterdam and Beijing-based sales company is also stepping into Asian TV series sales with Horizon Tower.

Fortissimo Films is launching sales at the Efm on two Chinese titles – fantasy action film The Yin-Yang Master: Dream Of Eternity and arthouse drama Hot Soup, directed by Zhang Ming, whose 2018 The Pluto Moment premiered in Cannes Directors Fortnight.

The Amsterdam and Beijing-based sales company is also stepping into Asian TV series sales with Horizon Tower, produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures. All three titles are currently in post-production and scheduled for delivery later in 2020.

Directed by Guo Jingming (Tiny Times franchise), The Yin-Yang Master:...

A collection of songs Glen Campbell originally recorded as a demo singer for Elvis Presley to hear will soon see the light of day, as the lost album Sings for the King will be released November 16th via Capitol/UMe.

In the years between 1964 and 1968, during which he’d score his first hits as a solo artist, Campbell recorded studio versions of songs written with Presley as the intended artist, as he could skillfully imitate Presley’s delivery. Many of those songs were penned by songwriters Ben Weisman and Sid Wayne,...