News

Tanner Buchanan and Mary Mouser shared some big news at the Cobra Kai series finale premiere held at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on Wednesday night (February 12) in Los Angeles.

The two stars, who have been on the show since the beginning, revealed that they are engaged, and showed off both of their rings!

Keep reading to find out more…

“We’re so happy to finally share that we’re engaged. This is such a special moment in our lives, the closing of one chapter and celebrating the continuation of another. We’re so grateful for the love and support, and though we’re partial to having our private moments, we’re excited to share this check-in to our world...

Larusso defeats Silver in Cobra Kai season 5 finale, unveiling Silver's criminal plans and securing Miyagi-Do's victory. The Sekai Taikai storyline sets the stage for a massive showdown, as students unite to expose Silver's corruption. Cobra Kai season 6 promises more rivalries, a final battle between Silver and Kreese, and the Sekai Taikai conclusion.

The ambitious and wildly satisfying Cobra Kai season 5 finale not only saw Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) defeat the head of the snake, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), but it also concluded many of the stories Cobra Kai has told since season 1. Cobra Kai's season 5 finale was a multi-layered and massively complex jigsaw puzzle. However, the big picture was that Terry Silver and his plans to turn Cobra Kai into a global organization had to be stopped.

Terry's ultimate master plan was to break out of the San Fernando Valley and bring Cobra Kai to the masses worldwide.

Kyler Park is a high school bully and wrestler in Cobra Kai with prior training, but his potential is wasted due to negative storylines and attitude. Kyler's wrestling background and training in two styles of karate make him a versatile fighter, but his arrogance and temper hinder his progress. Fans hope for Kyler's redemption and personal growth, as his character has the potential for depth and connection to Johnny's story.

While Cobra Kai focuses on the ongoing rivalry between Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) 30+ years after their iconic fight at the karate All-Valley Tournament in The Karate Kid, the show is also largely about a new generation of kids. These kids are being trained to become incredible fighters.

Some of them seemingly pick up the martial art quickly. Few had any prior training, save for Daniels daughter Sam (Mary Mouser) and Tory (Peyton List), who...

Netflix has debuted the trailer for the highly anticipated sixth and final season of ‘Cobra Kai.’

With Cobra Kai eliminated from the Valley, our senseis and students must decide if and how they will compete in the Sekai Taikai — the world championships of karate.

(L to R) Peyton List as Tory Nichols, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz, Mary Mouser as Samantha Larusso, Griffin Santopeitro as Anthony Larusso. Cr. Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix © 2024 (L to R) Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene, Peyton List as Tory Nichols, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz, Mary Mouser as Samantha Larusso. Cr. Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix © 2024

Season 6 stars Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Martin Kove, Xolo Maridueña, Jacob Bertrand, Mary Mouser, Tanner Buchanan, Peyton List, Gianni DeCenzo, Courtney Henggeler, Vanessa Rubio, Dallas Dupree Young, Yuji Okumoto, Alicia Hannah-Kim, Griffin Santopietro, Oona O’Brien.

(L to R) Nathaniel Oh as Nate, Mary Mouser as Samantha Larusso, Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny,...

Cobra Kai Season 6 On Netflix: When Will The Final Season Of The Martial Arts Series Premiere? ( Photo Credit – YouTube )

After seven long years, six action-packed seasons, and moving through two streaming platforms, Cobra Kai is coming to an end. The sixth and final season of the martial arts comedy-drama series will debut soon on Netflix.

The series, which serves as a sequel to The Karate Kid film franchise, has earned a dedicated fan following since its premiere in 2018, with Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprising their roles as Daniel Larusso and Johnny Lawrence, respectively, from the original films.

When will Cobra Kai Season 6 Premiere on Netflix?

Cobra Kai Season 6 will be a three-part event, each featuring five episodes. The first batch of episodes comes out on Netflix on July 18th, 2024, followed by the second part on November 28th, 2024. The third and final part, comprising the series finale, will be released in 2025; however,...

When Cobra Kai returns to Netflix for its sixth and final season, the Karate Kid spinoff plans to expand the Miyagiverse significantly. The teen-focused drama Crane kicked martial arts action fans in the face in 2018, building on the Karate Kid legacy started by Ralph Macchio (Daniel Larusso), William Zabka (Johnny Lawrence), and Pat Morita (Mr. Miyagi). With every season, Cobra Kai has grown through fan-service casting, interpersonal drama, and hard-hitting action. No one could have predicted the Miyagiverse would expand the way it has because of Cobra Kai, and now the show’s co-creator, Jon Hurwitz, says fans can expect Season 6 to explore the franchise in exciting ways like never before!

In a thread on Twitter/X, Hurwitz assured fans the final season of the series delivers big surprises, in-depth character flashbacks, and plot elements that expand the Miyagiverse.

“Season 6 expands the ‘Karate Kid/Cobra Kai’ universe more than the first 5 seasons combined.

Cobra Kai. (L to R) Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny, Joe Seo as Kyler in episode 510 of Cobra Kai. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022

Filming is now getting underway for the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai, which is taking place in Atlanta, Georgia.

Alongside the news of filming having commenced, numerous casting calls have been issued for a range of roles over the next few weeks for background extras. If you’re in the Atlanta, Georgia, area or desperate to appear in on-screen roles, this is your last chance to do so.

Jon Hurwitz, one of the three main showrunners for Cobra Kai, posted last night a picture with fellow showrunners and a writer (Joe Piarulli) and director (Joel Novoa Schneider) with the caption, “The Night Before.”

Picture: jonhurwitz/X

Recently, William Zabka posted a video on X showing his ongoing training for the new season.

# pic.twitter.com...

Xolo Maridueña reflects on his time on Cobra Kai with fondness, having grown up with the cast and crew and hoping to work with them again in the future. The relationship between Miguel and Johnny Lawrence evolved from a student-teacher dynamic to a close friendship and even family bond throughout five seasons of the show. Maridueña feels blessed to have had the opportunity to properly end the Netflix series after six seasons and expresses gratitude for the experience, hoping for a reunion in the future.

Miguel has at least one more fight in him. From the very beginning of Cobra Kai, it was Xolo Maridueña’s character of Miguel Diaz who became this generation’s “Karate Kid.” Back when the Netflix show was still a YouTube property, Miguel was the boy who needed help — not only from bullies but to find himself. Even more than that, the kind-hearted student became...

This Cobra Kai article contains spoilers for season 5.

Cobra Kai has been one heck of a ride. Each season has navigated through a nearly forty-year-old feud, coupled with a teen soap opera while juggling bullying with romance, all thrown in with a copious helping of fight scenes. Throughout the series, Cobra Kai has delivered plenty of surprising twists and crazy cliffhangers.

Season 5 kept up its breakneck pace (and we do mean breakneck – remember how season 2 ended). This season’s finale was oddly parallel to last season’s finale, the villainous sensei gets taken away by the police, only this time it’s Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) instead of John Kreese (Martin Kove). All the beloved main characters put aside their rivalries to vanquish Silver, so once he’s busted, they can all live happily ever after, right? But wait! Kreese escaped jail. That will surely be a major plot point for next season.

Click here to read the full article.

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for Cobra Kai, Pinocchio, Gutsy and Growing Up.

Pinocchio premiere

Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo, Luke Evans and director Robert Zemeckis premiered their new live-action adaptation at the Walt Disney Studios lot on Wednesday.

Luke Evans, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo and Robert Zemeckis Alan Bergman, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, Cynthia Erivo, Bob Chapek, CEO of Walt Disney Studios, and Sean Bailey, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production

Cobra Kai season five premiere

The fifth season of Netflix’s hit martial arts series was unveiled on Wednesday at L.A. State Historic Park, with stars William Zabka, Ralph Macchio and Martin Kove.

Griffin Santopietro, Thomas Ian Griffith, Dallas Dupree Young, Khalil Everage, Hannah Kepple, Yuji Okumoto, Joe Seo,...

Major spoilers ahead for "Cobra Kai" season 5.

The Netflix series "Cobra Kai" has let us catch up with "The Karate Kid" franchise characters like Daniel Larusso, Johnny Lawrence, John Kreese, Chozen, and Terry Silver. But it also gives us a whole new generation of students who are taking up the rivalry mantles of their sensei in various dojos.

/Film participated in a "Cobra Kai" season 5 roundtable discussion with some of the cast members, including Peyton List (Tory), Mary Mouser (Samantha), Xolo Maridueña (Miguel), Jacob Bertrand (Hawk), Gianni DeCenzo (Demetri), Oona O'Brien (Devon), Dallas Dupree Young (Kenny), and Griffin Santopietro (Anthony).

The actors spoke about bullying (including who is bearing the brunt of it in season 5), working with the original film cast members, dojo hopping, and changing relationships. Fingers crossed for a sixth season, because this series has shown fans no mercy in the best way possible.

Who Is Bullying Whom?...

As audiences eagerly await the arrival of “Cobra Kai” Season 5 on Netflix next month, fans can whet their appetites with a slew of first-look images for the new season, including the return of yet another familiar face from “Karate Kid” lore.

Season 5 will welcome back Sean Kanan as Mike Barnes, who franchise devotees will remember as one of the main antagonists of “The Karate Kid III.” In that film, he was hired by Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) to take down Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) in the All Valley Karate Championship. Later in Season 3 of “Cobra Kai,” Daniel tells his daughter Sam that Mike was the most ruthless fighter he ever faced off against. Nothing hits harder in “Cobra Kai” than nostalgia.

“As Terry Silver calls upon some old friends to put the Valley in a stranglehold, Daniel and Johnny are going to need all the help they can get...

The real pain begins in Netflix's hit series, Cobra Kai, as Terry Silver returns to the dojo for season 4. Still sporting his iconic ponytail, which over time has now turned aptly silver, the short promo casts The Karate Kid Part III villain in a typically intimidating light, reminding us of his brutal methods ahead of his debut in Cobra Kai IV.

A close friend of John Kreese from his military days, Terry Silver is the main antagonist in 1989's The Karate Kid Part III, and a character that many fans had hoped would return for more revenge-fueled antics against Danny Larusso and the legacy of Mr. Miyagi. Portrayed by actor Thomas Ian Griffith, The Karate Kid Part III saw John Kreese and Terry Silver attempt to gain revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. Silver even manages to force a wedge between the beloved duo, training Daniel-San in brutal, violent,...

Exclusive: T-Pain, the rapper who won the first season of The Masked Singer, is getting into the podcast game.

The musician is launching Nappy Boy Radio, a podcast and video podcast series, after striking a deal with LiveXLive Media’s podcast platform PodcastOne.

The series, which will launch on June 3, will feature conversations between T-Pain and the likes of Peyton List, Xolo Maridueña, Jacob Bertrand, and Joe Seo from Cobra Kai, Mike Tyson, Lil Jon, Steve-o, Jazzy Pha and Slim Jxmmi.

He said that it was conceived after he realized that the late-night conversations that he was having with successful friends should be recorded.

The show is being recorded in his new state-of-the-art podcast studio and he and his guests will dive head first into the world of music, gaming, exotic cars, tech, and alcoholic beverages, as they peel back the layers of what really adds spice to life.

PodcastOne...

This article contains Cobra Kai spoilers.

Why aren’t there more Asians in Cobra Kai?

Since Cobra Kai first premiered on YouTube, The Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, and other publications have called out the series for its lack of Asianness. The series also scored poorly on UCLA’s 2020 Hollywood Diversity Report. Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) are the only non-white main characters. This was exacerbated when the recently-released season 3 excluded Aisha (Nichole Brown), a major character of color who was a fan favorite.

Granted, Cobra Kai does have a few non-white actors in reccurring roles. They just aren’t leads. Nate Oh plays Nathaniel, but he is a minor character with minimal development. Kyler (Joe Seo) was the first bully to appear in Cobra Kai constantly harassing Miguel. To their credit, the writers made him a wrestler instead of a stereotypical martial artist, just because he’s Asian.

The third season of Cobra Kai has already been a huge hit for Netflix, with fans once again relishing in the continued adventures of Daniel Larusso and Johnny Lawrence. With season 3 all released and wrapped up, fans have started to wonder what season 4 has in store for our Karate kids, and now, creator Josh Heald has offered a little insight into the direction that the fourth season will take following the events of season 3.

"Obviously, we've set a challenge at the end of season 3 that sort of gives everybody their marching orders as to the war to come and how this rivalry is going to be decided to a degree, but we're not going to comment on season 4 specifically in terms of when that's coming and how we're getting there. There's a lot more to explore immediately. This is the first time that Johnny and Daniel are looking at each...

The third season of Cobra Kai has proven to be hugely popular with Netflix viewers, having already racked up some impressive viewership figures. Released on January 1st, Cobra Kai season 3 has already been watched by more than 41 million households, with every single one of them no doubt hooked to the continuing adventures of The Karate Kid.

In its first four weeks, more than 41 million households are projected to wax on for Cobra Kai’s third season.

Between all three seasons, 73 million households have checked out the show! pic.twitter.com/dz4JTLd9Cq

— Netflix (@netflix) January 12, 2021"In its first four weeks, more than 41 million households are projected to wax on for Cobra Kai's third season. Between all three seasons, 73 million households have checked out the show!"

Much like the previous seasons, the latest Cobra Kai adventure has been very well received by both critics and audiences alike. Managing to...

Since the movie's release back in 1984, The Karate Kid has become synonymous with that era of filmmaking, but would it have been so popular had the creatives behind it gone with their alternate title? During a recent interview, Karate Kid and Cobra Kai star Ralph Macchio was asked whether he approved of the eventual title, with the actor revealing that, while he was skeptical at first, it sounded like poetry when compared with the alternative.

"I thought, and I was not the only one who thought, it was kind of a hokey, kind of a cheesy title for a movie being directed by the guy who made Rocky. But maybe it was foreshadowing. Maybe I thought if I ever got the part I'd have to carry the damn thing for the rest of my life... I think John Avildsen, our director, said maybe it's East Meets West in West?"

East Meets West in West.

This article contains Cobra Kai season 3 spoilers.

Cobra Kai season 3 brought back several beloved characters from the original Karate Kid movies including Daniel’s first two loves, Ali (Elisabeth Shue) and Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), Daniel’s second major nemesis Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) and many more. In the process, however, season 3 also left some Cobra Kai characters on the sidelines. Fans sorely missed Aisha Robinson (Nichole Brown) and Raymond a.k.a. ‘Stingray’ (Paul Walter Hauser). Aisha has been part of the series since the beginning. She was the first female student of Johnny’s (William Zabka) Cobra Kai Dojo. Stingray first appeared in season 2 and has been the oldest Cobra Kai student so far.

Aisha is dismissed within the season 3 premiere episode ‘Aftermath.’ There’s a curt explanation that her parents moved her to private school after the catastrophic fight at the end of season 2. That seems appropriate. Given the damage to the student body,...

Season 3 of Cobra Kai has already proven to be a big hit for Netflix, continuing the success of the previous two seasons. With a fourth season already greenlit, audiences may have begun to wonder just how much joy the creators behind the show can realistically bring. Well, executive producer and co-showrunner Josh Heald has now revealed that, while they have an ending in mind, it won't happen any time soon.

"We have an endgame in our heads. We've had one for quite some time, and it's not in Season 4. It's well beyond that. In our minds, we have seasons' worth of story that is necessary to tell before we get to that endgame. That will be a discussion going forward with our new partners at Netflix. Can we write to that endgame? Can we know that it's coming? That's not always the case with television and we respect that. For now,...

Cobra Kai continues to expertly mine Karate Kid lore in order to depict the evolution of these beloved 80s characters, with the recently released third season sending Ralph Macchio's Daniel Larusso back to Okinawa to explore the origins of the iconic Mr Miyagi. This brings Daniel's one-time nemesis Chozen Toguchi into the fray, something which could not have come at a better time according the Macchio.

"I think is important for the character, because in The Karate Kid Part II, it was a quote-unquote fight to the death. The first time, it was a tournament, the next time, you're in a foreign country and only the person who lives at the end wins. So the level of facing a character who seems so unredeemable in Chozen - what it does, and I alluded to this earlier, it kind of informs maybe for Larusso how he could be doing better...

With season 3 of Cobra Kai now even more imminent than previously thought, stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka cannot help but look to the future and tease things to come. Macchio, who plays Daniel Larusso in the Karate Kid saga, has now revealed that the creators behind the popular sequel series have plans in place for six seasons worth of story, and that he and Zabka are on board for the duration.

"The writers have always felt they had six seasons in their head, where the story arcs can go. So that should all land when the time is right. You don't want to overstay your welcome, but the fans are having fun and there's more story there. As long as we're allowed to keep doing it, Billy and I are in."

Season 3 will now stream on Netflix a week earlier than planned, with season 4 already on the cards. "We're...

Cobra Kai has proven to be a hugely successful sequel series, even all these years later, with the show able to balance Karate Kid nostalgia and cameos with new characters and stories. Well, another familiar face that the Cobra Kai creators are considering throwing into the mix is The Next Karate Kid Aka Hilary Swank's Julie Pierce.

"In our writers' room we speak about literally every character that has appeared in the Miyagi-verse. So it's obvious that we've spoken about Julie Pierce. As to whether or not she'll return to the series, that's something you'll just have to wait to find out."

Introduced in 1994's The Next Karate Kid, Julie Pierce (Hilary Swank) is taken on as a student by the legendary Mr Miyagi. Julie is a troubled teenager, who Miyagi takes under his wing after he learns that she blames herself for her parents' death. The first sequel...

With the sequel series Cobra Kai reminding everyone of the joys of The Karate Kid, what better time for Frozen 2 star Josh Gad to gather together the cast and filmmakers from both the beloved 80s movie franchise and the hit series for another hefty dose of nostalgia in the latest episode of Reunited Apart. Featuring the likes of on-screen rivals Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, who have of course recently come to blows once again in Cobra Kai, the episodes also bring back Elisabeth Shue, Tony O'Dell, Ron Thomas, and Randee Heller, who played Daniel Larusso's mother. The episode should tide over fans anxiously awaiting the arrival of Cobra Kai series 3.

"See, here's the thing, Josh. I kind of already do a reunion of that film every week now," Macchio joked, referencing the hit continuation series, which began life on YouTube before moving to the popular streaming giant Netflix.

Zabka...

Following on from yesterday's teaser, the full trailer for the third season of the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai is here and offers a pretty detailed glimpse of what Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg have in store for us. Reuniting audiences with our warring heroes Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio), it looks like the karate-loving pair will be putting their differences aside for a change in order to bring some semblance of order to the chaos that was left in the wake of the season 2 finale.

According to the official synopsis from Netflix, Cobra Kai season 3 will deal with the repercussions of the brawl at the high school that closed out the second season. With Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) in a coma, both Daniel and Johnny must reassess the extent of their own involvement in the events that put him there and try to figure...

The Sundance Institute the finalists for the second edition of its Momentum Fellowship, a full-year program of customized creative and professional support for writers, directors, and producers from underrepresented communities who work in the fields of documentary, narrative features, and episodic content. The Institute also announced the recipients of its Launch Grant Fund, a new opportunity for emerging filmmakers from underrepresented communities launching their first feature film.

The 2020 Momentum Fellows are Andrew Ahn, Linda Yvette Chávez, Christina Choe, Deborah Esquenazi, Rodney Evans, Penny Lane, Avril Z. Speaks, and Malika Zouhali-Worrall. The 2020 Launch Grant Fund Recipients are Marion Hill, Meryam Joobeur, Anais Blondet Medina and Kase Peña.

The program evolved from the Women at Sundance Fellowship, and takes a more intersectional approach, applying to artists identifying as women, non-binary and/or transgender, artists of color, and artists with disabilities.

As part of the Momentum Fellowship, Sundance Institute has once again partnered...

“Yellow Rose,” written, directed, and produced by Diane Paragas, was awarded the Grand Jury Award for outstanding North American narrative feature at the 35th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, which ran May 2-10.

Special Jury Awards for cinematography, actress and breakthrough performance went, respectively, to Ante Cheng for “Ms. Purple”; Maya Erskine for “Plus One”; and Eva Noblezada for “Yellow Rose.”

“Seadrift,” directed by Tim Tsai, took home the Grand Jury Award for North American documentary feature, while the jury-panelists gave Special Jury Awards to “Jaddoland,” directed by Nadia Shihab, and “Origin Story,” directed by Kulap Vilaysack.

The Grand Jury Award for international narrative feature went to “House of Hummingbird,” directed by Bora Kim. Jury Awards went to Leon Le for “Song Lang,” and to the directors ensemble of “Vai”: ‘Ofa-Ki-Levuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki, Amberley Jo Aumua, Becs Arahanga, Dianna Fuemana, Marina Alofagia McCartney, Matasila Freshwater, Mīria George, Nicole Whippy.

It isn’t easy making a film like Driveways stand out. We have walked these streets so often before. We know the twists and turns. We expect the darker corners. Yet stand out is exactly what Driveways does. The movie is a bittersweet coming-of-age story about the intergenerational, interracial friendship of an 83-year-old veteran of the Korean war and an Asian-American boy just about to turn 9, who arrives into town with his single mother and considerable emotional baggage.

Driveways is directed by Andrew Ahn, an Angeleno producer-turned-filmmaker whose previous film Spa Night earned an acting award for Joe Seo at Sundance 2016. If that was a hint that Ahn was a fine director of actors then Driveways is a confirmation. The film stars Downsizing breakout Hong Chau–who bristles here with the same blend of warmth and caustic humor that made her the gem of that much-maligned Alexander Payne film. Chau plays Kathy,...

Writer/director Andrew Ahn’s feature film Spa Night premiered in competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival (e.g. nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Dramatic films) and recently Ahn won the 2017 John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards for the film. The star and lead actor of Spa Night, Joe Seo, also won a Special Jury Prize for Breakthrough Performance (Dramatic). ScreenAnarchy’s Timothy Tau got the opportunity to talk to Ahn about the film, as well as current projects he is currently working on now. Sa: Congratulations on winning the 2017 John Cassavetes award at the Independent Spirit Awards for "Spa Night" and also the other accolades the film has received! Because your speech has also been covered by several outlets, I...

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

At the spa, you're not talking, and you're completely naked. I feel the most Korean that I ever feel, because it's my naked Korean body, in this Korean space.” —Andrew Ahn[1]Moving away from the whitewashed casting controversy of the Ghost in the Shell remake and its calls to replace Scarlett Johansson with an Asian actor, I’ve concluded that there is no need for an Asian-American cyborg, because we already have plenty. In interviews, Scarlett Johansson has described her character, The Major, as someone who is “removed from her sexuality,”[2] “not living a human [or] robotic existence,”[3] and “has no heart.” This list of traits also functions as a list of the three defining stereotypes of Asian-Americans in cinema. They kiss and undress, but never cross the lines or make a mess. They go through the motions of living but never experience joy, ecstasy, or devastation. Like cyborgs, they are human on the outside,...

Director Andrew Ahn came out to his parents as gay with a short film — after making them star in it. Since “Dol (First Birthday)” (which premiered at Sundance in 2012), he’s come a long way, with his first feature-length film “Spa Night” recently opening to critical acclaim. The film follows 18-year-old David (Joe Seo) coming to terms with his sexuality, his Asian-American ethnicity and his future, with the looming threat of college on the horizon, as he finds his desires at odds with those of his community and parents.

Continue reading Andrew Ahn Talks ‘Spa Night,’ ‘Doctor Strange’ Whitewashing, Asian & Gay Representation On Screen at The Playlist.

Every week, a bevy of new releases (independent or otherwise), open in theaters. That’s why we created the Weekly Film Guide, filled with basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.

For August, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list below, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.

See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for August 2016

Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, August 19. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.

Wide

Ben-Hur

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Cast: Jack Huston, Morgan Freeman, Nazanin Boniadi, Rodrigo Santoro, Toby Kebbell

Synopsis: The epic story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), an officer in the Roman army. Stripped of his title,...

Fusing the eroticism of an underground cruising culture with surprisingly heartfelt family drama, Spa Night is the debut feature of Korean-American CalArts graduate Andrew Ahn. Developed at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, the Film Independent Screenwriters Lab and the Film Independent Directing Lab, the film follows up Ahn’s well-received 2012 short, Dol, which also addresses coming-out within a Korean-American community. In Spa Night, Joe Seo plays David, a gay 18-year-old who hasn’t told his parents he’s gay. Their struggles with their own family business create pressure on him just as he’s drawn to explore his sexuality after discovering a gay hookup […]...

Body after body unfurls across the screen with ease in Andrew Ahn’s Sundance premiere “Spa Night.” The beautifully lensed drama is, like its protagonist, compelled and often obsessed by the human shape and form, and Ahn’s film artfully uses the physical to tell a mostly standard issue coming-of-age story with style. Joe Seo stars as Korean-American teen David, divided between his desires to please his straitlaced immigrant parents (Youn Ho Cho and a particularly wonderful Haerry Kim) and a burgeoning sexuality that places him at odds with not just his family, but everyone and everything else in his life.

The film opens during a family visit to a Korean spa, as the camera quietly observes a dutiful David, tasked with helping his father Jin (Cho) scrub clean after a soak and a steam. The two are clearly close, and when they meet up David’s mother Soyoung...

American independent cinema has long been a viable venue for the children of immigrants to tell their stories, and Andrew Ahn’s first feature, Spa Night, is no exception. A muted melodrama with a keen understanding of subtle social divides, the film follows one young first-generation Korean-American as he takes his first tentative steps outside the confines of his close-knit family, and discovers secrets about his parents and his own community. Though it leaves too many narrative blanks unfilled, Spa Night is a promising debut from a filmmaker with a lot of insight into the different guises that immigrants and their offspring wear as they make their way through the world.

Joe Seo stars as David Cho, an 18-year-old Los Angeleno living in Koreatown with his father, Jin (Youn Ho Cho), and mother, Soyoung (Haerry Kim). David’s parents own a failing restaurant, which makes them particularly anxious about their...

"I thought I could do better for you. I thought I could do more." Strand Releasing has debuted the official trailer for Andrew Ahn's film Spa Night, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Joe Seo plays David Cho, an 18-year-old Korean-American living with his family in Los Angeles who takes a job at a Korean spa to help make money for his family. There he discovers the seedy side of the spa, and struggles with his own sexuality and identity in a vibrant, poetic coming-of-age story. The full cast includes Haerry Kim, Youn Ho Cho, Tae Song and Ho Young Chung. This trailer features some impressive cinematography and the film earned a few rave reviews out of Sundance, so check it out if you're interested. Here's the first official trailer for Andrew Ahn's Spa Night, originally embedded from Vulture: A closeted Korean-American teenager takes...

Exclusive: ICM Partners has signed writer-director Andrew Ahn, whose debut feature film Spa Night premiered last month at the Sundance Film Festival. It won a Special Jury Award for star Joe Seo. Ahn, born and raised in Los Angeles, participated in the Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab, the Film Independent Screenwriting Lab, and the Film Independent Directing Lab with Koreatown-set Spa Night, which also received a Sundance Institute Cinereach Feature Film Fellow…...

Yesterday, Nicholas Bell and I issued our Top 10 New Voices, and now we launch into our New Faces. They range in age, amount of screen time, and in this year’s batch of New Faces made memorable turns in supporting or principle character roles. Narrowly breaking into our top ten list we have names such as Sand Storm‘s Lammis Ammar and Spa Night‘s Haerry Kim. Here is our top ten countdown.

#10. Royalty Hightower – The Fits.

Move over Creed. The youngest featured actress to be profiled in our ten set was embraced in Park City as the next “it” personality and for good reason. In Anna Rose Holmer’s debut, Royalty Hightower’s Toni has a lot of volume – she physically inhabits a character who is at odds with her burgeoning teenagehood (a transition that is not always welcomed) in a performance that empathically comes across as non-actingly natural.

U.S. – DRAMATICGrand Jury PrizeThe Birth of a Nation (Nate Parker)Directing AwardSwiss Army Man (Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert)Special Jury AwardAs You Are (Miles Joris-Peyrafitte)Special Jury Award – Breakthrough Performance Spa Night (Joe Seo)Special Jury Award – Individual PerformanceMorris from America (Craig Robinson)The Intervention (Melanie Lynskey)Waldo Salt Screenwriting AwardMorris From America (Chad Hartigan)Audience AwardThe Birth of a Nation (Nate Parker)Next Audience AwardFirst Girl I Loved (Kerem Sanga)

U.S. – DOCUMENTARYGrand Jury PrizeWeiner (Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman)Directing AwardLife, Animated (Roger Ross Williams)Special Jury Award for EditingNUTS! (Penny Lane, Thom Stylinski)Special Jury Award for Social Impact FilmmakingTrapped (Dawn Porter)Special Jury Award for WritingKate Plays Christine (Robert Greene)Special Jury Award for Vérité FilmmakingThe Bad Kids (Lou Pepe, Keith Fulton)Audience AwardJim: The James Foley Story (Brian Oakes)

World Cinema – DRAMATICGrand Jury PrizeSand Storm (Elite Zexer)Directing AwardBelgica (Felix van Groeningen)Special Jury Award...

Nate Parker's racial drama "The Birth of a Nation" took both the top honors of the grand jury prize and the audience award at this year's Sundance Film Festival which held its ceremony tonight.

The film, a drama about the life of Nat Turner and the slave rebellion he led in antebellum Virginia, made headlines several days ago when it was acquired by Fox Searchlight for a record-shattering $17.5 million.

It also marks the fourth year in a row where one film has taken the top two prizes in U.S. dramatic competition following 2013's "Fruitvale Station," 2014's "Whiplash" and last year's "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl". The U.S. documentary grand jury prize was awarded to "Weiner," a behind-the-scenes portrayal of disgraced politician Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign.

In the World Cinema dramatic competition the grand jury prize went to Elite Ziker's "Sand Storm" which deals with...

After the last week-plus of covering over 50 films, it’s now time for 2016 Sundance Film Festival to name their favorites. Tonight they’ve unveiled their wide range of winners, topped by Nate Parker‘s Nat Turner slave rebellion drama The Birth of a Nation and, in the documentary section, the political feature Weiner. With many of our other favorites, including Morris From America and Kate Plays Christine, picking up awards, it was another strong year for the festival.

Check out the full list of winners below (with a hat tip tip to Indiewire), including links to our reviews where available, and check back for more coverage all throughout the year for the films.

U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize: The Birth of a Nation

U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize: Weiner

U.S. Dramatic Directing Award: Daniel Scheinart and Daniel Kwan, Swiss Army Man

U.S. Documentary Directing Award: Roger Ross Williams,...

I firmly believe that we’ll know the representation gap in American entertainment will have been closed not when the prestige dramas featuring minorities are getting their fair Oscar shake, but when people don’t bat an eye at the most banal films of every possible category just happening to be about people of color and/or Lgbt individuals and/or whatever else. In that respect, Spa Night is ahead of its time. Instead of being an indie film about a disaffected young white man adrift in the world, it’s an indie film about a disaffected young closeted Korean man adrift in the world. As such, it’s mostly content to adhere to all the expected conventions of the genre, but its choice of main character and setting does indeed set it apart from the rest of its ilk, if only marginally so.

That said, some of the best...

Nate Parker’s directorial debut claimed the Us Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and corresponding audience award at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, capping off a barnstorming week for the slave revolt drama.

Last week The Birth Of A Nation sparked a bidding frenzy that resulted in the biggest on-site deal in the festival’s history as Fox Searchlight paid $17.5m for worldwide rights.

Sonita, Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami’s film about a rapping Afghan teenager opposed to arranged marriage, earned similar double honours as it won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and audience awards.

The Us Grand Jury Prize: Documentary award went to Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg’s Weiner, while the audience voted for Brian Oakes’ Jim: The James Foley Story.

The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic went to Elite Zexer’s Sand Story and the audience choice was Carlos del Castillo’s Between Land And Sea.

In other winners:...

Andrew Ahn’s directorial debut uses the Korean spas of Los Angeles as a backdrop for a gay coming-of-age story, but – unlike the spa – it’s a chilly affair

Korean Americans actors, besides comedian Margaret Cho and Star Trek star John Cho, are rarely afforded roles in American feature films. In that respect, Spa Night is cause for celebration.

The coming-of-age drama, from first-time feature film-maker Andrew Ahn (his short film Dol premiered at the 2012 Sundance film festival), is a rarity among films shot in the Us: it takes place in Los Angeles’ densely populated Koreatown neighbourhood, and features a cast made up solely of Korean American actors. While it’s invigorating to see that area’s community given a voice on screen, Ahn’s muted approach to his material, coupled with the passivity of the film’s lead character, David Cho (Joe Seo), leaves Spa Night feeling too cold to fully engage.

In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? After two weeks of shooting with one week left to go, my lead actor Joe Seo injured […]...

In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? After two weeks of shooting with one week left to go, my lead actor Joe Seo injured […]...

Kate Plays ChristineThe lineup for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, taking place between January 21 -31, has been announced.U.S. Dramatic COMPETITIONAs You Are (Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, USA): As You Are is the telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the course of their friendship through a construction of disparate memories prompted by a police investigation. Cast: Owen Campbell, Charlie Heaton, Amandla Stenberg, John Scurti, Scott Cohen, Mary Stuart Masterson. World Premiere The Birth of a Nation (Nate Parker, USA): Set against the antebellum South, this story follows Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner, accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. After witnessing countless atrocities against fellow slaves, Nat devises a plan to lead his people to freedom. Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, Mark Boone Jr. World PremiereChristine (Antonio Campos,...

The Sundance Film institute has released the line-up of film for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Going to Sundance is one of my favorite events of the year. I love going because you never know what kind of movies you're going to see. Sometimes they are great films that amaze and entertain, other times they completely suck ass, but that's all part of the fun of going to the festival. It's an awesome experience for any hardcore movie geek, and if you ever get a chance to go, you need to.

The event takes place in Park City, Utah next year from January 21st to the 31st. It looks like there's a great line-up of movies at next year's event. My favorite portion of the event is the Midnight section because it deals more with geeky genre type movies, but I also enjoy the various sections of other line-ups.

Some of...

The Sundance Film Festival has today revealed the 65 films which are going to make up the 2016 Us and World Cinema Competition Dramatic and Documentary categories, along with those which make up the out-of-competition Next slate. This is a very diverse and interesting list, and one which Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam is clearly very excited to show off next year.

“At a time when big-budget blockbusters and free online content are ubiquitous, independent filmmakers continue to be extraordinarily creative, artful and inventive.”

Sundance 2016 will run from January 21st – 31st in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. Check out the full list of movies below and let us know which of these you’re most looking forward to seeing (even if some will inevitably fail to ever reach cinemas).

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Presenting the world premieres of 16 narrative feature films, the Dramatic Competition offers Festivalgoers a...

In last year’s selection of sixteen U.S. Dramatic Competition offerings, it was Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me & Earl & the Dying Girl that landed both U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic awards, it was Rick Famuyiwa’s Dope who landed the richest deal ($7 million range), it was Patrick Brice’s The Overnight that had the most post festival momentum, it was Marielle Heller’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl that received a longer term accolades (Bel Powley won Best Actress at the Gothams) and it might be Robert Eggers’ The Witch that becomes the cult item we reference back in a decade from now. This year we accurately predicted ten of the sixteen items below. Among the more familiar folk, we have established names such as Antonio Campos (Christine – see pic of Rebecca Hall above) and So Yong Kim (Lovesong). We have second...