News

Exclusive: Insecure actor Norman Towns has signed with Established Artists for management.

Towns has appeared on BET+’s Churchy and AMC’s Lace, but is best known for a recurring role as Bennett on HBO’s Insecure.

His TV credits also span guest star appearances on BET’s Games People Play, Showtime’s The Affair, TruTV’s Those Who Can’t, and TV One’s Tough Love, while his film roles include credits for Rupert Wyatt’s The Gambler, Clare Lewins’ I Am Ali, Michael Krehan’s Pushing Skills and Swipe Right.

Towns will next be seen in Universal’s upcoming feature from Justin Tipping, Him, and he recently wrapped supporting roles in Michael Greene’s Clika and Jake Helgren’s A Christmas to Treasure. He has also fronted commercial campaigns for the likes of Nike, Apple, Adidas, Playstation and Buick.

Him, the sports horror film from Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions,...

Margaret Qualley is used to embodying larger than life characters on screen. Now, she has a musical alter ego in the form of Lace Manhattan. With help from her Grammy-winning producer husband Jack Antonoff as well as Oscar-winning director Ethan Coen, Lace Manhattan will have two new songs featured in the upcoming film Honey Don’t!

Qualley, who stars as private investigator Honey O’Donahue in Honey Don’t!, created this pop persona while on set. Her co-star Talia Ryder has her own musical alter ego, Dixie Normous, who directed the new Lace Manhattan videos.

Midnight Pulp has revealed the new films that are joining the cult streaming service in May.

Horror highlights include: Mario Bava‘s gothic chiller Kill, Baby… Kill!; acclaimed psychological nightmare Repulsion; Ken Russell‘s Gothic, a retelling of the drug-fueled night that inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein; and The Coffee Table, about which Stephen King said, “My guess is you have never, not once in your whole life, seen a movie as black as this one.”

There’s also ’60s sci-fi horror Queen of Blood with Dennis Hopper; Bigfoot hidden gem Creature from Black Lake; horror anthology Trapped Ashes featuring segments by Joe Dante (Gremlins) and Sean S. Cunningham (Friday the 13th); supernatural horror To the Devil a Daughter with Christopher Lee; Larry Cohen’s genre-defying God Told Me To; and the irresistibly titled Kaiju Glam Metal Shark Attack.

Here’s the full line-up:

May 2: Return of Street Fighter,...

Timothée Chalamet’s reaction on sexual assault allegations against Armie Hammer ( Photo Credit – Instagram; Wikimedia )

In a GQ cover story, Timothée Chalamet called out the “clickbaited” storm that followed Hammer’s sexual assault allegations. His reaction? It was “disorienting.” “These things end up getting clickbaited so intensely,” Chalamet confessed. “Disorienting is a good word.”

The drama kicked off in 2021 when multiple women came forward with accusations, including some pretty shocking details involving cannibalistic fetishes. Hammer’s career took a nosedive. In May 2023, the formal charges were dropped, but by then, the damage was done—Hammer was dropped from film projects, and his agents ditched him like last season’s fashion.

Meanwhile, Chalamet and director Luca Guadagnino were still in the trenches, working on Bones and All, a cannibal love story that seemed almost… too on the nose. “I mean, what were the chances that we’re developing this thing?” Timothée joked,...

Phoebe Cates was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s, but as she hasn't appeared in a movie in a long time, fans wonder what happened to her. Cates was launched to stardom as Linda Barrett in the classic high school comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The scene with Linda at the swimming pool, imagined by her best friend Stacy Hamilton’s brother Brad, has become one of the most iconic moments in movie history. Cates continued to appear in movies regularly throughout the rest of the ‘80s and into the ‘90s, but then she stopped starring in films.

It’s been more than two decades since Cates appeared in a movie, and her last appearance before that was almost another decade prior. Aside from a brief voice role in a video game in 2015, Cates hasn’t worked as an actor in years. It’s tough for actors,...

For a few years in the '80s, it felt like Phoebe Cates was everywhere in Hollywood. The child of an entertainment-focused family (her dad was a prolific producer of stage and screen), Cates made her on-screen debut in 1982's "Paradise," a controversial film that's best-remembered as a sort of off-brand "Blue Lagoon" story that featured Cates' underage character nude (the actress was 17 at the time of filming). According to Cates' costar Willie Aames, the nudity in question was filmed by body doubles, but the discourse surrounding the movie would inform Cates' place in pop culture before she even came of age.

Cates' most famous roles would come soon after, and by 1994, she would largely be retired from acting entirely. So why did Phoebe Cates leave Hollywood? The answer is hers to share, and interviews she and her family have given both during her on-screen career and after it ended have been pretty enlightening.

On the road to Halloween, Screambox is unleashing another massive wave of spooky streaming here in September 2023, including 4 shot-on-video obscurities unearthed by our friends over at VHShitfest and Vinegar Syndrome! Now streaming, the lineup includes…

Satan’s Menagerie (1995): Demons from hell are on the loose murdering people for fun. The Cornshukker (1996): The townsfolk bother The Cornshukker because they don’t understand him. Justice Ninja Style (1985): A man blamed for rape and murder has a ninja help him prove his innocence. Blood Hunter (1995): A vampire in Kentucky tries to stop the crime rate.

All four of these VHS-made diamonds-in-the-rough are now streaming on Screambox alongside other new arrivals including the must-see RoboCop docuseries RoboDoc; Mario Bava’s giallo classic Blood and Black Lace; a double-dose of Lucio Fulci madness with The Psychic and Don’t Torture a Duckling; Open Windows, a found footage film starring Elijah Wood; ’70s...

David Jacobs, who created the smash 1980s primetime soaps Dallas and Knots Landing and was a two-time Emmy nominee for Homefront, died August 20 of Alzheimer’s complications at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, his son said Tuesday. He was 84.

“He had Alzheimer’s for many years, and recently he had recurring infections that led to his death,” Aaron Jacobs told Deadline today.

Born on August 12, 1939, in Baltimore, Jacobs started out writing nonfiction books and magazine articles before pivoting to TV, penning episodes of series including Family, Chicago Story and The Blue Knight. He went on to create Dallas and its spinoff Knots Landing, with the former bowing in 1978 on CBS.

By its second season, Dallas was a certified smash, finishing the 1979-80 frame at No. 6 among all primetime series. Starring Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy and others, the ensemble drama about a Texas oil family became a...

Order in the court! The new season of “Lace” is about to begin! The tense legal drama is returning to Allblk for its second season premiere on Thursday, June 29. The show follows attorney Lacey McCullough and the members of her law firm as they attempt to navigate the pitfalls of life, both in and out of the courtroom. From high-priced call girls (and boys) to the ins and outs of a murder trial, this show keeps the drama coming. You can watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Allblk.

How to Watch ‘Lace’ Season 2 Premiere When: Thursday, June 29, 2023 Where: Allblk Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Allblk. 7-Day Free Trial$5.99 / month allblk via amazon.com About ‘Lace’ Season 2 Premiere

After the explosive events of last season, the incomparable Lacey McCullough’s (Maryam Basir) world has been thrown into a downward spiral. This season, Lacey’s enemies are finally closing in,...

Maryam Basir is an American actress and model. She is best known for her roles in Lace (2021), A Boy. A Girl. A Dream. (2018) and To Live and Die and Live (2023).

Maryam Basir Biography: Age, Early Life, Family Education

Maryam Basir was born on February 12 in Detroit, Michigan, and was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Information regarding Basir’s family has not been made publicly known. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, she moved to New York City.

Maryam Basir Biography: Career

In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Basir revealed how she got started with acting. “I was in New York, just at a bank, and this security guard at the bank was like ‘Are you an actor? Or a model?’” Basir laughed. “And I was like, ‘No.’ And he was like, ‘Well you should be!’ So from that, it kind of put...

Warning: Contains Spoilers for Hunters season 2, episode 5!

Hunters is all about Nazis, and one of the show's action scenes copies a horrifying moment from Inglourious Basterds, the Quentin Tarantino film that is also full of Nazi-killing characters. Hunters and Inglourious Basterds share very similar stories and tones, with both projects focusing on vengeful Jews seeking revenge against the Nazis. Due to their many comparisons, it's not surprising that Hunters would reference Inglourious Basterds, with Hunters season 2, episode 5 "Blutsbande" taking inspiration from one of the film's most iconic scenes.

At the end of episode 5, Jonah, Millie, Chava, and Sister Harriet have managed to track down a small farmhouse that they believe contains their kidnapped friend, Clara, as well as several Nazis. Once the group cautiously enters the building, they are greeted with an empty house, only occupied by an overflowing glass of milk. Unknown to the cast of Hunters season 2, Clara...

To Live and Die and Live centers around Muhammad (Amin Joseph), a film director reflecting on his recently-deceased stepfather while also battling with drug addiction.

Actress Maryam Basir, who plays Muhammad’s sister, talked with uInterview founder Erik Meers about her role at the movie’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

“It was just a very emotional role,” Basir told uInterview exclusively, noting that there was a lot of crying on set.

One of the more memorable things from the shoot was her discovering plantains. “I tried them before but I never liked them, but Amin said, ‘taste this you know just try this one try it again.’ And I tried it and it was life-changing. I’m like this is actually really good!”

Basir also noted there were many beautiful moments getting to know everyone’s story while on set.

Basir has just completed work on the new season of Lace.

The premiere of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" season 3 arrived on Paramount+ today, which is exciting twofold for Trekkies. Not only is one of the better "Trek" shows back, but "Lower Decks" in particular gives detail-obsessed nerds a chance to take out their notepads and go reference hunting. The "Lower Decks" writers clearly know "Star Trek" quite well, and their references from previous episodes run from the obvious to the downright oblique. One needs to look closely to see some of the clever in-jokes snuck into the background.

These kinds of references are cute, yes, but it's worth noting that callbacks and canonical mapping have long been a "Star Trek" birthright. In terms of sci-fi TV, the notion of a larger, expanded universe that is operating somewhere far beyond the events of the central show -- a universe that can be periodically visited -- is something that "Star Trek" helped pioneer.

AllBlk hosted the “Developing and Creating While Black” panel during the AMC streamer’s TCA presentation on Tuesday, featuring Mc Lyte (Partners in Rhyme), Michelle Ebony Hardy and Katrina Y. Nelson (Lace), Kaye Singleton (Covenant), and AllBlk’s VP Development and Production, Nikki Love.

They discussing the contributions of Black women to TV and supporting Black talent in their respective projects.

“We started working on Lace back in 2012 when there weren’t that many Black women in lead roles, especially in dramas,” Nelson said. “We have women in comedy but not in drama. So, just to be able to see someone that looks like us in a drama that is an attorney in a series that also has a diverse cast, has been a priority for us.”

She continued, “As Black women, we want us shown in a positive light; we’re not all drug dealers and we’re not all crackheads.

In today’s TV news roundup, MTV announced when the 2021 “MTV Movie & TV Awards” will air, and Netflix revealed the premiere date for the third season of “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.”

Dates

MTV announced that the 2021 “MTV Movie & TV Awards” will air live from Los Angeles on May 16. Following that event, MTV will air “Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted” (working title) on May 17, which will recognize the best moments from reality shows and celebrate everything reality TV. Hosts, honorees, performers, presenters and additional details for both events will be announced at a later date. Sponsors of the two-night celebration include The Real Cost (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) and Sonic.

Netflix announced that “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous” will return for a third season on May 21 with 10 new episodes. Inspired by the “Jurassic World” franchise, the animated series follows six teenagers who were chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime experience at Camp Cretaceous,...

Exclusive: Allblk has cast the stars for its legal drama Lace, with Maryam Basir (The Chi), Skyh Black (Sistas) and Tanyell Waivers (Queen Sugar) set to join the series. Also joining the principal cast are Antoine Harris (The Breaks) and Terrell Carter (Empire). Kemy Time productions co-founder Katrina Y. Nelson, Michelle Ebony Hardy, Adam Starks and Tracy Grant created the series.

Lace, directed by Deuces and Brotherly Love helmer Jamal Hill, follows a prolific Los Angeles attorney who often blurs the lines between right and wrong to protect her rich and powerful clientele. The series will premiere in the fall and also features Taylor Bynoe, Mollie Dolcimascolo and Isaac Stephen Montgomery in supporting series regular roles.

Basir’s Lacey McCullough is a successful and highly connected attorney whose influence sometimes leads her down a very dark path. With the help of her trusted associates, Othello Charles (Black) and Britney Deveaux (Waivers) – and the ever-efficient twins,...

Umc, the AMC Networks-owned streaming service focused exclusively on Black television and film that was created by BET founder Robert L. Johnson, will be rebranded Allblk in January 2021 with a new look and feel.

Johnson’s Rlj Entertainment launched Umc (Urban Movie Channel) in November 2014. The service became part of AMC Networks two years ago with the cable programmer’s acquisition of Rlj Entertainment.

Heading into 2021, Allblk is ramping up production on a slate of original series, including previously announced multi-cam comedy “Millennials”; Mc Lyte sitcom “Partners in Rhyme”; legal drama “Lace”; haircare makeover series “My Mane Problem”; and the Datari Turner/eOne reality series “Notorious Queens.” In addition, the Allblk content lineup will feature the continuation of original series “Double Cross,” “A House Divided” and Craig Ross Jr.’s “Monogamy”; We tv co-production “Beyond the Pole”; and recent releases “A Closer Look,” “For the Love of Jason” and “Terror Lake Drive.

Umc, the AMC Networks-owned streaming service focused on Black TV and film, will rebrand as Allblk in January.

The new name and look comes on the heels of a corporate realignment of the service. Last week, AMC Networks shifted it under the aegis of Gm Brett Dismuke along with linear network We tv.

Robert L. Johnson, the businessman known for founding BET, created Umc (short for Urban Movie Channel) in 2014. Johnson’s Rlj Entertainment, which also had streaming assets like Acorn TV, was acquired by AMC Networks in 2018.

“Umc began as a distribution model for Black creatives to directly reach the then largely underserved African-American audience without the restrictions of legacy content development and traditional broadcast models,” Johnson said in a statement. “As technology advances and programming demands from our community evolve, the rebranded Allblk will be well positioned to breakout as the preeminent streaming destination for viewers seeking Black entertainment.

AMC is rebranding Umc, its streaming service devoted to Black television and film programming.

Beginning in January, Umc will become Allblk as it ramps up production on a slate of new originals, including multi-cam comedy Millennials and legal drama Lace.

Umc launched in 2014 under BET founder Robert L. Johnson’s Rlj Entertainment as a home for programming focused on African American audiences. It was moved under the AMC Networks corporate umbrella after the entertainment company’s acquisition of Rlj in 2018. “Umc began as a distribution model for Black creatives to directly reach the then largely underserved African American audience ...

AMC is rebranding Umc, its streaming service devoted to Black television and film programming.

Beginning in January, Umc will become Allblk as it ramps up production on a slate of new originals, including multi-cam comedy Millennials and legal drama Lace.

Umc launched in 2014 under BET founder Robert L. Johnson’s Rlj Entertainment as a home for programming focused on African American audiences. It was moved under the AMC Networks corporate umbrella after the entertainment company’s acquisition of Rlj in 2018. “Umc began as a distribution model for Black creatives to directly reach the then largely underserved African American audience ...

Exclusive: APA has signed Jamal Hill, the writer and director behind the Queen Latifah-produced drama Brotherly Love.

Hill recently directed True To The Game 2, the sequel to the 2017 drama starring Vivica A. Fox, Andra Fuller, Erica Peeples, Niatia “Lil Mama” Kirkland, Iyana Halley, and Jeremy Meeks. The pic is due to hit select theaters on Nov. 6. His past credits include Streets starring Meek Mill and Nafessa Williams, Netflix’s Deuces starring Meagan Good and Larenz Tate, and The Available Wife, starring Kj Smith and acquired by Umc.

Hill, who is set to direct a new Umc series titled Lace, will continue to be managed by Sean Mik’ael Butler of Cultivate Entertainment.

Exclusive: AMC Networks-owned streamer Umc has ordered a legal drama from Adam Starks (On My Block), Tracy Grant (Lincoln Heights) and Kemy Time Productions.

The subscription service, dedicated to Black film and TV and a rival of ViacomCBS’ BET+, has handed Lace a six-episode order for its first season.

The series will follow a prolific Los Angeles attorney who often blurs the lines between right and wrong to protect her rich and powerful clientele.

It is currently casting and the producers are in talks with Jamal Hill, who helmed Netflix feature Deuces, to direct. It was created by Katrina Y. Nelson, co-founder of Kemy Time Productions along with Michelle Ebony Hardy, Starks and Grant.

Nelson and Hardy will serve as co-showrunners and will executive produce alongside Starks and Grant. Brett Dismuke, Chief Content Officer of Umc, and VP of Development & Production, Nikki Love, will serve as executive producers for Umc.

Presenting “Love Always,” a recurring feature in which we pay tribute to the women who helped shape our views on pop culture.

This time we pay a 51st birthday tribute to Phoebe Cates. She retired from acting 20 years ago (save for a brief bit in her pal Jennifer Jason Leigh‘s 2001 The Anniversary Party) to raise her family with husband Kevin Kline, but she gave us a couple of iconic moments in the 80′s that will live forever.

Here are seven reasons why I will Love Always Phoebe Cates.

That Scene In Fast Times At Ridgemont High

1982′s Fast Times At Ridgemont High introduced us to Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sean Penn, Forest Whitaker, Eric Stoltz, Anthony Edwards, Judge Reinhold and gave Brian Backer his best film role since The Burning.

It also gave us, without a doubt, the greatest nude scene in film history … that involved breasts. When Phoebe came...

Shirley Conran has said that Fifty Shades of Grey is "worse than mediocre". The author of 1982 bestseller Lace told Metro that she was not a fan of El James's record-breaking erotic novel. Asked about the success of the book, Conran said: "It's not mediocre, it's much worse. The sex scenes aren't a turn-on; it's badly written; and it should have had a good editor. "But it shows there's a demand for something to improve the illicit life of women in the West; they aren't getting the sexual stimulation they need." Asked what works as women's erotica, she replied: "What turns me on are chorus girls, the high kicks in fishnet tights and high heels. "Black lace underwear; and Billie Piper in Secret Diary Of A Call Girl. All that sex was very pretty." (more)...

I’m not gonna lie: I had no interest in Game Of Thrones, and didn’t watch it during the first season. As with many shows, I eventually discovered it one night when, too drunk to figure out how to work our ridiculously complicated remote control, an episode came on. As fate would have it, that episode was a rerun of the pilot and long before I had sobered up, I was hooked. Why did no one tell me it was a soap? And not only that, but the best soap on television. Now, I won’t even pretend that I can remember (let alone spell) half their names, and I’m a tad too tired as I write this to actually go to IMDb, but the story in which the hot no-longer-caged dude told girl-pretending-to-be-a-boy that he would repay her kindness by killing any three people she wished (and...