TV Musicals: Schmigadoon (Apple TV+) & Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Paramount+)

By Christopher James

TV is embracing the musical. Just this week, two new musical series premiered on different streaming services - season two of Schmigadoon (now tackling 60s/70s darker musicals) on Apple TV+ and Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies on Paramount+. Both series use previous musical IP as a launching pad for new stories, one a parody and one an “origin story.” While the level of success varies between the shows (hell, sometimes it varies episode-to-episode), it is wonderful to see new musicals with original songs streaming on our TVs in the same week...

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Review: "No Bears" is new on VOD

by Cláudio Alves

One of 2022's most essential films, a title that will probably continue to accrue power in retrospect, is now available on VOD. It's none other than No Bears, Jafar Panahi's latest feat of illicitly-made cinema, premiered in Venice just as the director faced another period behind bars. He's since been released after announcing a hunger strike in protest. As with all of Panahi's creations since the 2010 sentence that resulted in a 20-year ban on moviemaking as decreed by the Islamic Revolutionary Court, it's challenging to approach No Bears as just another film. Well, that's logical since it's not just another film...

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Drag Race RuCap: "Reunited"

CLÁUDIO ALVES: RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 is almost over, with the finale airing next Friday. This week, however, was time to honor the traditional reunion in the form of an extra-large 80-minute episode. If you’ve been following the queens on social media, you know these bitches have plenty to say, from tales of thievery to bullying accusations and everything in between. Not that this was an especially inflammatory reunion - too many dolls are level-headed individuals for that to happen. Sanity prevailed, drama abated, and it was still an entertaining chapter. If nothing else, it gives us an excellent opportunity to reminisce about the season and our coverage. What say you, dear Nick? 

NICK TAYLOR: It was a good time! The reunion had a fun balance of pure shenanigans, rehashing tensions from the show, and even some serious political ruminations on what it means to be a drag queen in the wake of so many drag bans across the United States…

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Weekend Box Office: (Studio) Movies are Back!

By Ben Miller

For the seventh straight week, a new film at the box office is the new number one.  There was little doubt The Super Mario Bros. Movie would dominate, but I don't think anyone saw how much it would make.  The Nintendo/Illumination film make a whopping $166 million over the long Easter weekend.  That's good for the third-best Easter weekend opening ever behind Furious 7 and Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Elsewhere, the numbers two, three, and four film were all real close with John Wick: Chapter 4, Ben Affleck's Air, and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves around $15-16 million.  Those are some pretty solid numbers for counterprogramming to the kid-centric Mario.  (Big-budget, studio) Movies are back, baby!

Weekend Box Office (actuals) April 7th-10th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (Over 800 Screens)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE	HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE
1 🔺 THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE $166.4 (cum. $224.7) 4,343 screens	1 🔺 LA USURPADORA: THE MUSICAL $128k *NEW* 313 screens

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Michelle Yeoh for Meihodo

by Nathaniel R

Some people never sleep. Michelle Yeoh, recently Oscar crowned, must surely be one of them. The jetsetting movie star works on mutiple tv shows and movies each year and still has time for extra-curriculars. The latest is the Guest of Honor gig later this month in Japan (date TBA) at the fifth annual Meihodo Youth Visual Media Festival. The annual festival gives out medals as well as cash funding in three short film categories: Narrative, Documentary, and Music Video.

The press release is after the jump...

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