News

Oscar-winning Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar has made a name for himself with a series of brightly colored, delightfully kinky and unabashedly melodramatic titles, mixing comedy, drama, sex and violence to great success. He shows no signs of slowing down, with his latest outing in 2019 being the Oscar-nominated “Pain and Glory.” Let’s take a look back at all 22 of his films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1949 in Spain, Almodovar came to prominence during La Movida Madrilena, a cultural renaissance that blossomed at the end of Francoist Spain. Staring with his filmmaking debut “Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom” (1980), the openly gay director showed an affinity for oddballs and outsiders, populating his films with transvestites, transexuals and homosexuals, all of whom had previously been relegated to the closet. He also showed a talent for working with women, and throughout his 40 year career has placed actresses such as Penelope Cruz,...

Futurama season 12 missed bringing back a villain from 24 years ago in a recent episode, disappointing fans of the show's early seasons. In season 12, episode 4, Bender takes on buggalo fighting as a matador, but the perfect rival, Foreigner, was strangely absent. If Foreigner was brought back, the character would need updating due to outdated stereotypes, although other characters have been updated successfully.

The Futurama revival on Hulu has brought back many of the show's most iconic antagonists, but a recent season 12 episode missed the perfect opportunity to bring back a villain from 24 years ago. Futurama season 12 has seen tons of Easter eggs and callbacks to the original seasons, bringing back fond memories of Futurama's earliest episodes. However, Futurama season 12, episode 3 just missed out on an opportunity so obvious that it is shocking.

Futurama season 12, episode 4, "Beauty and the Bug" sees Bender get involved in another strange hobby: buggalo fighting. Similarly to bullfighting on Earth,...

The Far Side launched in 1980, publishing more than 4000 comics by Gary Larson. Larson's first ten comics have a less streamlined art style, but they immediately tackle some major Far Side themes. Aliens, scientists and survivors on a desert island make their first appearances in these early comics.

Beginning in 1980, Gary Larson's The Far Side now boasts over 4000 comics and an army of devoted fans all around the world. The cows, clowns, insects, robots, aliens, dogs and goldfish of The Far Side have entertained fans for decades, and the fun isn't over, as Larson is still sporadically publishing comics on The Far Side's official website. But with so many jokes over so many years, do The Far Side's very first comics still hold up?

Here are Gary Larson's first 10 Far Side comics, introducing many of the strip's key obsessions and funniest themes. We've ranked them according to how funny they are,...

Matador Content co-founder Todd Lubin has been named president of unscripted at Boat Rocker Studios. He’ll be taking over the role from Jay Peterson, whose exit was also announced on Thursday. HIs appointment is effective immediately.

Peterson will remain with Boat Rocker as an executive producer for several months, to support the transition to Lubin and delivery of current projects. In his new role, Lubin will lead the Company’s creative unscripted efforts, including series and documentaries, overseeing Boat Rocker’s Matador Content, Maven, and Proper Television production shingles. Based in Los Angeles, Lubin will report directly to Boat Rocker Media chairmen David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg.

“Todd is already an established creative leader within the Boat Rocker unscripted division. His history with Matador and Boat Rocker, and his deep experience as an unscripted producer and executive, will help ensure a seamless transition within our unscripted division as Todd...

Nicky Whelan has signed with Stewart Talent for representation.

Australian-born Whelan began her career in the role of Pepper Steiger in the international soap opera Neighbours. She followed that with a move to the U.S. and roles in several successful comedies including Hall Pass alongside Owen Wilson and directed by the Farrelly brothers, and The Wedding Ringer with Josh Gad and Kevin Hart.

Whelan’s extensive television credits include the series regular role of Maya on the hit sitcom Scrubs, series regular alongside Milo Ventimiglia on The Chosen, and the lead role of Annie Mason in the Robert Rodriguez-directed drama series Matador.

Most recently, Whelan starred in the action thriller The Best Man, opposite Vince Vaughn in The Binge, and opposite Bruce Willis in Trauma Center. Whelan is also starring in the action film 72 Hours slated for 2023. Whelan’s other film credits include: shark attack thriller Maneater,...

Queen’s biggest hit nearly took its name from a different part of the Eastern Hemisphere, according to some handwritten notes by Freddie Mercury. A sheet of lyrics — soon to go to auction with about 1,500 more of the late singer’s personal items — appears to have some early scrawlings titled “Mongolian Rhapsody,” which would, of course, become what we know as “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

As Rolling Stone points out, the pages in question (featuring the logo of a now-defunct airline) includes some familiar zingers; “Is this the real life/ Or is this just fantasy?” seems to have been “Bohemian Rhapsody”‘s opening lines from the get-go. But we also see some lines that Mercury was evidently workshopping: “Mama/ There’s a war began/ I’ve got to leave tonight,” for one.

Additionally, the pages are also scattered with many alternatives to the unforgettable “Galileo!” “Scaramouch!” “Fandango!” chant: “Momento,” “Belladonna,” and “Matador” are a few,...

Freddie Mercury’s handwritten lyrics for Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” reveal that the song was nearly titled “Mongolian Rhapsody,” according to a lyric sheet bound for auction this month.

Sotheby’s previously announced their impending auction of 1,500 personal items belonging to the Queen singer, and on Thursday, the auction house revealed more of what’s hitting the block, including Mercury’s sprawling 15 pages of lyrics — written on stationary for a defunct airline — for what would eventually become “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

As the handwritten lyrics reveal, the song was originally titled “Mongolian...

The upcoming live-action “One Piece” series at Netflix has cast Peter Gadiot in the role of Shanks.

Gadiot joins previously announced cast members: Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D Luffy, Mackenyu as Rorona Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, Taz Skylar as Sanji, Morgan Davies as Koby, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as Alvida,

Aidan Scott as Helmeppo, Jeff Ward as Buggy, McKinley Belcher III as Arlong, and Vincent Regan as Garp.

Based on the iconic Japanese manga of the same name, “One Piece” centers on Monkey D. Luffy (Godoy), a young man who embarks on a journey to become king of the pirates and find the celebrated “One Piece” treasure. Shanks, also known as Red-Haired Shanks, is a legendary pirate and the childhood hero of Luffy’s.

Gadiot most recently appeared in the critically-acclaimed Showtime drama series “Yellowjackets” in the role of Adam. He is also known for...

Berlin-based Picture Tree International has acquired worldwide rights to docu-fiction “The Painter,” a collaboration between German director Oliver Hirschbiegel, best known for Oscar-nominated “Downfall,” and German artist Albert Oehlen.

The work stars Ben Becker, whose credits include “Brother of Sleep” and “Comedian Harmonists,” and features the voice of Charlotte Rampling. The film is completing postproduction with Pti presenting a first trailer during the Toronto Film Festival’s hybrid market.

The film depicts Oehlen struggling with a painting and pondering the meaning of his creation. Becker impersonates the painter and re-creates a painting that Oehlen himself is creating step by step behind the camera, with the actor improvising the process in front of the camera.

According to a statement, the film “follows the artist as he is struggling and suffering along this process, with us watching in joyful despair, wondering what might happen next, until the white canvas has turned into a finished painting.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been cast in a lead role for HBO's The Last of Us TV series adaptation. Luna will be playing the role of Tommy, the brother of Pedro Pascal's Joel, who's described as a former soldier who hasn't lost his sense of idealism and hope for a better world. Also starring in a lead role alongside Luna and Pascal is Bella Ramsey as the 14-year-old survivor Ellie.

Gabriel Luna has previously worked with HBO as a recurring character in season 2 of True Detective. He is also known for playing Ghost Rider on the Marvel superhero series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and played the main villain in the action movie sequel Terminator: Dark Fate. His other credits include lead roles in the TV shows Matador and Wicked City.

The Last of Us TV series takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. It follows Joel (Pascal...

Days before the release of her new album Little Oblivions, Julien Baker has dropped the single “Heatwave.”

The track opens with delicate guitar, as Baker sings about a car she witnessed that burst into flames. “It’s worse than death than life compressed/To fill a page in the Sunday paper,” she sings. “I had the shuddering thought/’This was gonna make me late for work.'”

“Maybe it’s a trite or well-trod topic, but ‘Heatwave’ is really just about being confronted with how much time I spend worrying about things that are trivial,...

Exclusive: Animal Kingdom actress Christina Ochoa will star in Boon, the upcoming western sequel pic from Yellowstone‘s Neal McDonough.

Boon is a spiritual sequel to the movie Red Stone that takes place in the distant future and picks up with henchman Nick Boon (McDonough) trying to get on with his life. At the same time we learn, our Preacher, the widowed Catherine, played by Christiane Seidel, is busy trying to protect herself and her son from a local criminal organization that is using her land for some unusual activities. When Boon and Catherine’s lives cross paths they find themselves leaning on each other to protect everything they stand for.

Derek Presley, who directed the first installment, Red Stone, returns to helm Boon and is co-writing. Red Stone producer Jason Starne also returns for the sequel.

In addition to Ochoa, the film features Jake Melrose, James Madio, and John Patrick Jordan.

In today’s TV news roundup, ABC announced that BTS, Michael Bublé, Katy Perry and more will feature in “The Disney Holiday Singalong,” and Netflix announced the premiere date date for Season 4 of “Big Mouth.”

Casting

ABC‘s “The Disney Holiday Singalong” lineup has been announced, with BTS, Michael Bublé, Katy Perry, Julianne Hough, Derek Hough, Chloe x Halle, Adam Lambert, Andrea Bocelli, Pink, Kerry Washington, Hayley Erbert, Ciara and Leslie Odom Jr. taking part. The special takes place on Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. and will be hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Also, cast members from the Broadway performances of “The Lion King” and “Aladdin,” as well as from the touring “Frozen” musical will join to perform “Let It Go.” Other celebrities set to appear on “The Disney Holiday Singalong” will be announced closer to the premiere date.

Netflix announced a slew of new cast members set to join “Ozark” as...

Chantal Thuy has successfully shapeshifted into a series regular for Season 4 of The CW’s Black Lightning, where she since season 1 has recurred as metahuman Grace Choi.

“Chantal Thuy embodies the character of Grace Choi,” showrunner Salim Akil said in a statement. “I am sure our Black Lightning fans knew, especially those who follow the Grace and Anissa relationship storyline, that having Chantal join as a series regular was only a matter of time. I am elated to finally welcome her officially to the team.”

More from TVLineTV's Big Cast Changes!Black Lightning: What Threats Will Haunt the Pierces...

Exclusive: Grace Choi is officially here to stay on The CW’s Black Lightning. Chantal Thuy, who plays the shapeshifting metahuman on the Arrowverse superhero drama, has been upped to series regular for season four.

Grace Choi is based on the Black Lightning comic created by Tony Isabella with Trevor von Eeden. Thuy first appeared as a recurring character in the first season and she developed a relationship with Anissa (Nafessa Williams) who is also known as the metahuman Thunder and/or Blackbird. The Grace and Anissa broke ground as an on-screen queer superhero couple of color — and they were about to get married before the War for Freeland interrupted things.

“Chantal Thuy embodies the character of Grace Choi,” said Black Lightning executive producer and showrunner Salim Akil. “I am sure our Black Lightning fans knew, especially those who follow the Grace and Anissa relationship storyline, that having Chantal join...

The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honoring Antonio Banderas with its International Star Award for his work in “Pain and Glory.”

The festival will present Banderas with the award on Jan. 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The festival runs Jan. 2-13.

Banderas stars in “Pain and Glory” as film director who has seen better days. He won the best actor award in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered.

“Throughout his career Antonio Banderas has garnered international acclaim and world recognition from his memorable performances,” said festival chairman Harold Matzner. “In his latest film ‘Pain and Glory,’ Antonio Banderas gives another deeply moving performance as aging film director Salvador Mallo going through a creative crisis as he reflects on the choices he’s made throughout his life.”

Past recipients of the International Star Award include Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman, Helen Mirren, Gary Oldman and Saoirse Ronan.

Pedro Almodóvar and Antonio Banderas have made eight movies together, and their latest, Pain & Glory, may represent the high point of their collaboration. In perhaps Almodóvar’s most directly autobiographical film to date, Banderas literally wears the auteur director’s clothes to play a Spanish filmmaker named Salvador Mallo. As the character reflects on his youth, and suffers through crippling back pain, he rekindles a friendship with a volatile actor from his past and reconnects with a lost love. Given the rocky road of their own relationship—Almodóvar criticized Banderas for his early-’90s move to Hollywood and it took them years to repair the rift—the parallels are striking. In conversation with Deadline, Almodóvar and Banderas trace their relationship from a whirlwind first encounter through to the effortless sense of catharsis and self-reflection within which Pain & Glory was made.

Deadline: Take me back to the beginning of your journey together.

Josh Homme and his Desert Sessions crew unveiled an action-packed animated video for “Crucifire,” a quick-ripper off volumes 11 and 12 of The Desert Sessions, Arrivederci Despair and Tightwads & Nitwits & Critics & Heels, out Friday, October 25th, via Matador.

“Crucifire” clocks in at just under two minutes, but boasts driving guitars, rumbling drums and a deceptively tender vocal performance by Royal Blood’s Mike Kerr. The wild anime-style video for the song, directed by Anthony Francisco Schepperd, centers around a half-girl-half-motorcycle hero trying to stop an evil witch from taking control of a...

Hollywood, CA – The Hollywood Film Awards announced today that highly-acclaimed artists Antonio Banderas, Renée Zellweger, Al Pacino and Laura Dern will be honored at the 23rd Annual “Hollywood Film Awards. Banderas will receive the “Hollywood Actor Award” for his poignant turn in Pedro Almodóvar’s 21st film, “Pain and Glory” and Zellweger will receive the “Hollywood Actress Award” for her powerful portrayal of the iconic Judy Garland in Rupert Goold’s “Judy.” Pacino will receive the “Hollywood Supporting Actor Award” for his brilliant depiction of the infamous Jimmy Hoffa in Martin Scorsese’s mob masterpiece “The Irishman,” and Dern will receive the “Hollywood Supporting Actress Award” for her commanding performance as a hard-hitting divorce attorney in Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.” Actor and comedian Rob Riggle will host the ceremony, which will take place on Sunday, November 3, 2019 at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA. About The Honorees Since his introduction to American cinema,...

Kim Gordon unveiled a cacophonous new ripper, “Hungry Baby,” from her forthcoming debut solo album, No Home Record, out October 11th via Matador.

The song boasts pummeling drums, a bass line that could register on the Richter scale and a wash of feedback that Gordon molds into something that teeters on the edge of discordant and melodic.

Her vocals hold the track together as she breathlessly seethes, “I’ll take you in/I’ll put you out/I’ll tell you stories of what you’ve got,” before extending the...

Pedro Almodóvar gets it: “Pain and Glory” looks like a swan song. The movie finds revered Spanish filmmaker Salvador Mallo — a fragile Antonio Banderas, who could be cosplaying Almodóvar at Comic-Con — battling drug addiction, inner demons, and an aging body as he struggles with an existential crisis. It’s not hard to conclude that the 70-year-old auteur is ready to throw in the towel.

“I suspect there might be something in the movie that feels like I’m saying goodbye,” Almodóvar said, sitting down for an interview in New York a few days before the movie’s release. He let go with a gentle laugh. “Eh, I hope not. You don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but no, I absolutely want to keep on making movies.”

In fact, Almodóvar said he had ambitious plans to direct his first English-language feature, in a nearly completed screenplay adapted from...

Pedro Almodovar celebrates his 70th birthday on September 25, 2019. The Oscar-winning Spanish auteur has made a name for himself with a series of brightly colored, delightfully kinky and unabashedly melodramatic titles, mixing comedy, drama, sex and violence to great success. He shows no signs of slowing down, with his latest outing in 2019 being the critically acclaimed “Pain and Glory.” But where does it fall with the rest of his filmography? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at all 21 of his films, ranked worst to best.

SEEPenelope Cruz movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best

Born in 1949 in Spain, Almodovar came to prominence during La Movida Madrilena, a cultural renaissance that blossomed at the end of Francoist Spain. Staring with his filmmaking debut “Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom” (1980), the openly gay director showed an affinity for oddballs and outsiders, populating his films with transvestites,...

Kim Gordon unveiled the bruising new single, “Sketch Artist,” from her debut solo album No Home Record, set to arrive October 11th via Matador.

The former Sonic Youth member also sahred a video for “Sketch Artist,” directed by the Berlin-based experimental filmmaker Loretta Fahrenholz. In the clip, Gordon plays a driver for a ride share app called “Unter,” and as she drives passengers — including Broad City star Abbi Jacobson — around nighttime Los Angeles, her cold stare shocks pedestrians on the street into dancing fits.

No Home Record — whose title alludes...

The besuited assassin seems to only exist in films. Perhaps it’s time to put them out of their misery

The central gimmick of new movie Killers Anonymous is an AA-style support group where various underworld assassins come to “share”. That’s about all it has to bring to this flagging party, other than underlining how utterly divorced the movies’ concept of the “hitman” has become from reality. The world is tragically full of gun violence and targeted assassinations, but the perpetrators are rarely cool international assassins who make a clean shot from a rooftop far away, or walk away from explosions without turning round (thus making it painfully obvious that they’re the culprit!). And yet these characters have become a tiresome fixture of modern moviegoing. Someone needs to take them out.

Where Killers Anonymous assembles a motley group of recovering assassins (including Gary Oldman and Jessica Alba), we...

The Spanish auteur’s finest film in years, Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory” is also his most personal, a colorful vivisection of the director’s life and work, his regrets and achievements. No doubt playing a version of the Academy Award-winning director himself, Antonio Banderas stars as Salvador Mallo, a film director in creative crisis who begins experimenting with drugs in the lead-up to a local career retrospective of his work. Banderas won the 2019 Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his portrayal, which is the Spanish actor’s most sensitive performance in many years. With the Cannes prize under his belt, Banderas has a strong shot at his first Oscar nomination ever, especially since this is one of Almodóvar’s more accessible efforts.

“Pain and Glory” features several breakouts in the cast, including Asier Etxeandia as Alberto, Salvador’s former onscreen muse who’s now a high-functioning heroin addict.

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’re highlighting the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.

Bisbee ’17 (Robert Greene)

Over the past decade, Robert Greene has carved out a place as one of the most vital American documentarians working today, and with Bisbee ’17, he has produced perhaps his most accomplished work to date. A chronicle of the centennial reenactment of the forced deportation of mining workers that occurred in the eponymous Arizona town, the film emerges as a clear-eyed, blistering look into contemporary political divisions through an entire spectrum of viewpoints, while still possessing some of the most lucid and impressive filmmaking of the year. – Ryan S.

Where to Stream: Amazon Prime

The Childhood of a Leader (Brady Corbet)

The feature debut from...

Spanish actor Antonio Banderas will receive this year's CineMerit award for lifetime achievement at the Munich International Film Festival.

Banderas began his film career in the 1980s together with Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and films such as Labyrinth of Passion (1982), Matador (1986) and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989).

He went to Hollywood in the 1990s, starring in such features as Philadelphia (1993), Interview With the Vampire (1994) and Roberto Rodriguez‘s Desperado (1995), which made him a bona fide action star.

The 58-year-old actor is arguably best known for his role as the hero in Martin Campbell's The Mask of Zorro ...

Spanish actor Antonio Banderas will receive this year's CineMerit award for lifetime achievement at the Munich International Film Festival.

Banderas began his film career in the 1980s together with Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and films such as Labyrinth of Passion (1982), Matador (1986) and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989).

He went to Hollywood in the 1990s, starring in such features as Philadelphia (1993), Interview With the Vampire (1994) and Roberto Rodriguez‘s Desperado (1995), which made him a bona fide action star.

The 58-year-old actor is arguably best known for his role as the hero in Martin Campbell's The Mask of Zorro ...

In the latest episode of our podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, Stephen Malkmus breaks down his new solo album, Groove Denied — which combines digital experimentation with some more traditionally Malkmus-ian moments — and touches on many other topics. Most notably, he hints that another Pavement reunion is back in the realm of possibility. A few highlights follow, but to hear the entire discussion, press play below or download and subscribe on iTunes or Spotify.

Pavement could play again. As recently as last year, Malkmus downplayed the chances of playing again with Pavement,...

Gabriel Luna is once again suiting up as Marvel’s Ghost Rider, but this time for Hulu.

Variety has learned exclusively that Luna will star in the recently announced Hulu series based on the comic book character. This will mark the second time that Luna has played Ghost Rider, previously appearing as the character in the ABC-Marvel series “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” However, sources stress that this will be a completely new iteration of the character in now way connected to the “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” storyline.

In addition to his time on “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” Luna’s other television credits include “True Detective,” “Wicked City,” and “Matador.” On the feature side, He is set to appear in the upcoming “Terminator: Dark Fate” opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton. He has previously appeared in films like “Bernie,” and “Balls Out.”

Luna is repped by UTA,...

There’s not that many films in the hitman’s-existential-crisis-comedy subgenre— “Grosse Point Blank,” “Analyze This,” “Matador,” “In Bruges,” even “Pulp Fiction” has some shades of it— but the very specific crisis of confidence and the moral toll of murder in a comedic setting feels limited and well documented by now. It doesn’t seem like there should be that much ammunition left in the cartridge by now, really, but HBO’s terrific dark comedy “Barry,” created by Alec Berg and star Bill Hader, not only proves otherwise, but demonstrates with murderously capable skill and precision that the crisis of faith in the career of the expert assassin is actually a stockpiled arsenal full of all kinds of deadly weapons.

Continue reading ‘Barry’: Trauma, Lies & Inherent Darkness Make For A Terrific Season 2 [Review] at The Playlist.

Stephen Malkmus beckons for someone to rescue him in his new song, “Come Get Me,” which appears on his forthcoming solo LP, Groove Denied, due out via Matador on March 15th. The song follows the previously released LP tracks “Rushing the Acid Frat” and “Viktor Borgia.”

In the song’s accompanying lyric video, a series of paintings solely featuring the singer line an empty gallery. As the camera pans across the various pieces of artwork – which depict him in various outfits that range from suits to ruffled shirts; in some...

I Am the Night Episode 4 brings a surrealistic look at a true crime as the "Matador" prepares to check a queen.

This I Am the Night review contains spoilers.

I Am the Night Episode 4

I Am the Night episode 4, "Matador," puts the pieces at play as Sepp (Dylan Smith) wiles away the hours by a poolside chessboard at Dr. Hodel's (Jefferson Mays) mansion. The doctor's protégé is an imposing figure, even in the course of a retreat, having just moved from a four-move to a two-move checkmate. His boss isn't happy with him, as he lost track of Fauna Hodel (India Eisley), the most important piece on the board.

Sepp may have been keeping the conversation less than lively with Dr. Hodel's clientele, but his silent demeanor, and barely contained rage, makes him appear like a trained dog. The doctor then proceeds to treat his potential patients the same way,...

Scott Lonker is leaving CAA to run Kimmelot – the production company formed by Jimmy Kimmel and Brent Montgomery’s Wheelhouse Entertainment.

Lonker, who has been with the talent agency for nearly eight years, becomes president of Kimmelot, which was formed last year as a “creative lab” to produce unscripted, scripted and digital content with the late night host.

Based in New York, Lonker has been responsible for packaging series including Netflix and Radical Media’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman and represents indies such as Truly Original (The Real Housewives of Atlanta), Matador (Lip Sync Battle); Love Productions (Great American Baking Show); BBC Worldwide (Dancing with the Stars); Condé Nast (Last Chance U) as well as filmmakers including Joe Berlinger and Rj Cutler.

He began his career at the mailroom at the William Morris Agency and later joined A&E Television Networks, where he served as Vice President of Unscripted Development.

CAA TV packaging agent Scott Lonker has been tapped by Jimmy Kimmel to run his recently launched media production company Kimmelot, the company announced on Monday.

Launched last fall and described as Kimmel’s “creative lab,” Kimmelot creates content in the unscripted, scripted, digital, app/mobile-based realms, with initial projects focused on comedy. Lonker will step down from his role at CAA to serve as president of the Los Angeles-based media company, which operates under Brent Montgomery’s Wheelhouse Entertainment.

“I could not be more excited. Scott is smart, creative, experienced and well-liked and, while the fact that he decided to leave a great job at CAA to run Kimmelot does make me question his instincts, I’m sure it will all work out fine,” Kimmel said in a statement.

Also Read: Jimmy Kimmel Forms New Content Company Kimmelot With Brent Montgomery

Said Lonker, “I have had the dream job...

The Injustice Society has recruited its first three members: The actors taking on the roles of Tigress, Sportsmaster and Dragon King on the upcoming live-action DC Universe series Stargirl will be Joy Osmanski, Neil Hopkins and Nelson Lee, respectively.

The Injustice Society, a volatile collective of master criminals, dates back to 1947 in the pages of DC Comics where the group was the underworld’s counterpoint to the Justice Society of America, DC’s first superhero team. The vintage heroes and villains have a prominent presence in Stargirl, which will premiere in 2019 on the DC Universe subscription streaming site.

Osmanski will portray Tigress. The official Stargirl character description for the lethal criminal: “Protecting and providing for her family, Paula Brooks hunts the world’s most dangerous game – humans – as the Tigress.”

Tigress has comic-book roots going back to 1947, although she was called the Huntress in those days. She was introduced as...

Yvette Monreal (Matador) and Christopher James Baker (True Detective) are set as series regulars in DC Universe’s upcoming Stargirl series. Details on their roles are being kept under wraps, described only as undisclosed DC characters.

Based on the DC characters, Stargirl follows high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore, played by Brec Bassinger (Nickelodeon’s Bella & The Bulldogs) as she inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop the villains of the past. The new drama reimagines Stargirl and the very first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, in an unpredictable series.

Geoff Johns created the Stargirl character in 1999. The character was modeled on Johns’ late sister, also named Courtney, who was killed in a 1996 plane crash. The character has previously been portrayed on the screen by Britt Irvin and Sarah Grey on Smallville and Legends of Tomorrow, respectively. Johns is writing the first episode and executive produces.

Along with Johns,...

Boat Rocker Media has acquired unscripted production company Matador Content, which is behind Paramount Network’s Lip Sync Battle. Following the cash and stock transaction, Matador founders Jay Peterson and Todd Lubin remain at the helm as the company joins the Boat Rocker group. This deal marks Boat Rocker’s largest expansion into the Us market.

Founded in early 2013, Matador has produced such series as Emmy nominated Lip Sync Battle, Boy Band (ABC), What Would Diplo Do? (Vice), The Rape of Recy Taylor (The Orchard), The Who Was? Show and Fight World (Netflix), Master of Arms (Discovery Channel), Banksy Does New York (HBO), and Lip Sync Battle Shorties (Nickelodeon). As part of Boat Rocker Media, Matador is expected to ramp up its development slate across all genres and get access to new sources of financing for pilots and series going forward.

This deal marks Boat Rocker’s third acquisition in...

Exclusive: Robert Rodriguez’s El Rey Network has named Mauricio Rios, a veteran executive most recently at Telemundo’s Universo Channel, as its VP programming and acquisitions.

Before his three-year stint at Universo, where he was director of programming and scheduling, Rios had exec stints at NBCUniversal and Fox Latin America Channels.

Rios replaces Dan Kozlowski, who was director of programming and acquisitions for four years. Since its founding in 2013, El Rey has taken some big-budget swings with original shows like From Dusk and Matador. In terms of the outlook under Rios, plans call for a doubling of the number of original hours on the network in 2019 and an expansion into new genres.

Rios was previously director of joint venture channel operations at Comcast/NBCUniversal International, where he provided oversight and guidance for programming, marketing, online, on-air, and operational requirements of international joint venture channels in Latin America, South Korea,...

The Resident is bringing Gilmore Girls‘ Life and Death Brigade back together: Tanc Sade will reunite with his Gg co-star Matt Czuchry on the Fox medical drama.

Sade — who played Logan’s Yale pal Finn on the aforementioned CW/Netflix series — will guest-star in a Season 2 episode as Josh Robinson, a professional extreme adventure guide whose story takes a highly unexpected turn when he is treated by Dr. Conrad Hawkins (Czuchry) at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital, TVLine has learned.

Sade first announced his casting via Instagram (see the photo below). The actor’s other TV credits include Deception, Roadies and Matador.

Author: Jon Lyus

Antonio Banderas is one of the more recognisable faces (and certainly one of the most recognisable voices) in Hollywood. His presence in front of the camera is tangible, and the variety of roles he enjoys now is testament to a versatility few could have expected of the man who came to Tinsel Town barely speaking a word of English.

He has been a masked legend (twice, one furry – the other not so), played with another kind of mask (horrifcally so – see the final note), appeared opposite the likes of Sir Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Spongebob Squarepants. He’s done it all, and now a new film of his arrives on DVD this week.

Security sees the actor as an ex-Special Forces vet taking a job as a security guard. On his first night he rescues a young girl fleeing from a hijacked convey,...

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 855

1988 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 89 min. / Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 21, 2017 / 39.95

Starring Carmen Maura, Fernando Guillén, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma, María Barranco, Kiti Manver, Guillermo Montesinos, Chus Lampreave, Yayo Calvo, Loles León, Ángel de Andrés López, José Antonio Navarro.

Cinematography: José Luis Alcaine

Film Editor: José Salcedo

Original Music: Bernardo Bonezzi

Produced by: Augustin Almodóvar

Written and Directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Connected film festival attendees learned about Pedro Almodóvar before everybody else, especially if they had an understanding of new developments in Spanish cinema. Film school had shown us nothing but the very exceptional work of Luis Buñuel, most of which is really from Mexico and France. In the 1980s we Angelenos were just getting access to films by the old-school ‘traditional’ rebel Spaniards Carlos Saura and Juan Antonio Bardem.

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Always Shine (Sophia Takal)

With the excess of low-budget, retreat-in-the-woods dramas often finding characters hashing out their insecurities through a meta-narrative, a certain initial resistance can occur when presented with such a derivative scenario at virtually every film festival. While Sophia Takal‘s psychological drama Always Shine ultimately stumbles, the chemistry of its leads and a sense of foreboding dread in its formal execution ensures its heightened view of...

Above: Spanish poster for Pepi, Luci, Bom (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 1980). Artist: Ceesepe.Is there a contemporary filmmaker with a more vivid graphic sensibility than Pedro Almodóvar? His always distinctive films, with their bold colors, deliberate blocking and impeccable set design, often look like cartoons or magazine spreads come to life. Following suit, the posters for his films have always been a testament to his aesthetic, whether in his scrappy underground days or his far more polished later years. With his 20th feature film, Julieta, opening December 21, and a Museum of Modern Art retrospective beginning in New York next Tuesday, I thought it was high time I featured the best artwork of Almodóvar’s 40 year career.Any cinephile in their twenties might be forgiven for thinking that Almodóvar is the most establishment of arthouse directors: perennially fêted by Cannes and the New York Film Festival, winner of two Oscars, and, since the late 1990s,...

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns to ABC tomorrow, and we already know that this season is all going to be about Ghost Rider. We know that Gabriel Luna (Matador) will be playing the Robbie Reyes incarnation of the character, and that his brother Gabe will be played by Fear The Walking Dead's Lorenzo James Henrie.

Now we've got a new TV promo for season 4 of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. which you can see right here:

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will roar into your home in Ghost Rider's flaming car starting tomorrow, September 20, at 10Pm/9Pm Central.

Mario-f. Robles Rt @I_Am_MFR: Icymi: "#Top5 Reasons #Rogueone: A #Starwars Story Is More Important Than The Force Awakens — Lrm Online https://t.co/KAavyQGY4r about 6 days ago...

I should probably start by reiterating a very key point:

I don't care about diversity.

Despite being a latino actor, myself, and being the nephew of Elizabeth Peña- who was a role model for many hispanic actors- I've really never batted an eyelash over the idea of diversity on television or a desire to be represented on screens both big and small. For me, personally, when considering what movie to watch, what network to tune into, or which artist to support, it all boils down to one question: Does it interest me? I don't see skin color. I don't see gender. I see an opportunity for entertainment, and ask myself if it's something I'd like to check out.

With that said, I do find it cool when I see certain marginalized groups get recognition in an organic and natural way. In last week's column "Will Latino Audiences Continue To...

See Full Gallery Here

Though he’s not actually in full flaming-skull mode just yet, the first batch of promotional images for the upcoming season 4 premiere of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. do provide us with a glimpse of Gabriel Luna (Matador, Wicked City) as Robbie Reyes, who we will see transform into the Spirit of Vengeance at some point.

The stills also feature Agents May (Ming-Na Wen) and Mackenzie (Henry Simmons), who will be heading up some kind of top secret “specialist strike teams”. This has led to speculation that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s counter-terrorist Special Mission Unit, S.T.R.I.K.E., might also be making their debut.

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In addition, ABC has released a synopsis for the season premiere, which is titled “The Ghost.” t doesn’t really include any new plot details, but the cast list does...

Sony Pictures Classics has set a Dec. 21 theater release for Pedro Almodóvar’s 20th film “Julieta,” and acquired the remainder of his film library. The new acquisitions include “Pepi, Luci, Bom;” “Labyrinth of Passion;” “Dark Habits;” “What Have I Done to Deserve This?;” “High Heels” and “Kika.” The full library also includes “Matador,” “Law of Desire,” “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” “The Flower of My Secret,” “Live Flesh,” “All About My Mother,” “Talk to Her,” “Bad Education,” “Volver,” “Broken Embraces,” “I’m So Excited!” and “The Skin I Live In.” “Julieta” premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Sony Pictures Classics announced today they have acquired the rest of Pedro Almodóvar's full library of films including Pepi, Luci, Bom, Labyrinth of Passion, Dark Habits, What Have I Done To Deserve This?, High Heels and Kika. Additionally, Almodóvar's new film (his 20) Julieta, will be released in theaters on December 21. It debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May. With this acquisition, Spc now has the full library of films which also includes Matador, Talk to Her…...

The tension between science and religion rages on far into the 21st century, but the two have been in conflict with each other since the beginning. The new film “Finding Altamira,” directed by Hugh Hudson (“Chariots of Fire”), places that conflict at its center. Antonio Banderas stars as Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola y de la Pedrueca, an archaeologist who in 1878 accidentally discovers a cave filled with ancient paintings. When it turns out that the art is over 10,000 years old, it inspires wrath and condemnation from religious and scientific communities who refuse to accept their conception of human history has been flawed. Now, Marcelino must choose to do what’s right, even though it might put his family and reputation in jeopardy. The film also stars Golshifteh Farahani (“About Elly”), Rupert Everett (“Shakespeare In Love”), Pierre Niney (“Yves Saint Laurent”), and more. Watch a trailer for the film below.

Antonio Banderas...