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Doctor Who, the iconic 62-year-old British sci-fi show, has just earned its very first Emmy nomination for the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards. Following Ncuti Gatwa's abrupt departure, Billie Piper's surprise regeneration, and the show's unconfirmed renewal status, the future of Doctor Who has never felt quite so precarious. This Emmy nomination couldn't have come at a better time.

While Doctor Who might not be competing for the biggest Emmy awards, with shows like Andor, The Bear, Severance, Shrinking, The Last of Us, The Studio, and more duking it out for Best Drama, Best Comedy, and the Best Actor/Actress categories, Doctor Who has earned a nomination for Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming, alongside other nominees Bridgerton, Étoile, Severance, and Will Trent.

The nominated routine, "There's Always A Twist," comes from the show's Beatles-inspired episode, "The Devil's Chord," featured in Ncuti Gatwa's first season as the Doctor. It's a big,...

Superman has landed in theaters, and with filmmaker James Gunn at the helm, it likely won't surprise you to learn that the movie is packed full of Easter Eggs, references, and easy-to-miss cameos. 

The first Dcu movie is relatively standalone (it's certainly not concerned with setting up whatever comes next), but Gunn took the opportunity to flesh out this shared world. He's also created a living, breathing DC Universe that's like the comic books come to life. 

In this Easter Egg breakdown, we're not taking a deep dive into the obvious efforts like Supergirl's cameo or the post-credits scenes. Instead, we're uncovering the ways Gunn referenced the source material, fleshed out this world, and included cameos and hat tips to the source material, which were easy to miss on a first viewing. 

You can check out these Superman Easter Eggs by clicking on the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.

8. A...

Longtime Doctor Who writer Steven Moffatt has some choice and wise words for fans of the iconic series who think it has suddenly become "woke." Moffatt made a name for himself writing iconic Doctor Who episodes like "The Girl in the Fireplace" and "Blink" before becoming the show's new showrunner, starting with Series 5 up until the end of Series 12 and introduced Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor and Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor. Moffatt is now set to pen the annual Christmas special, "Joy to the World," for Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor.

As in much of pop culture, Doctor Who became the subject of backlash from a segment of its audience that claimed the series was pushing an "agenda," one that just happened to coincide with the introduction of the first female Doctor, played by Jodie Whitaker, and Ncuti Gatwa being the first Black man to play the Doctor. While speaking with The Times,...

RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys and Malcolm Washington’ The Piano Lesson dominated the nominations for the 25th Black Reel Awards with 13 and 12 noms, respectively. The films will square off in 10 categories including Outstanding Film, Director, Screenplay and Ensemble.

Titus Kaphar’s Exhibiting Forgiveness is next with nine nominations, followed by Zoë Kravitz’s Blink Twice with seven. See the full list spanning 22 categories below.

Winners will be honored during the silver anniversary ceremony held virtually on February 10 and streaming live on BlackReelAwards.com.

Related: 2024-25 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Oscars, Spirits, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More

“As we commemorate 25 years, we are proud to highlight the transformative power of Black cinema,” Black Reel Awards Founder Tim Gordon said. “This year’s nominees represent not only excellence in storytelling but also groundbreaking achievements that push boundaries and elevate our culture.”

Presented by Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film, the Black...

Zoe Saldaña is set to receive the Spotlight Award at the 27th annual CDGAs (Costume Designers Guild Awards).

This honor recognizes an actor who embodies a long-lasting dedication to excellence, with particular respect for the impact of costume design. Past Spotlight Award winners include Angela Bassett, Andrew Garfield, Charlize Theron, Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Halle Berry, and, this past year, Annette Bening.

“Widely known for powerful roles which captivate audiences, Saldaña can inhabit a costume and make the character come alive no matter how elaborate or otherworldly,” read an official press release. “From Neytiri in the ‘Avatar’ films and Gamora in the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ franchise, Saldaña embraces being immersed in her costumes. For those respective roles, Saldaña worked with 2023 Cdga Career Achievement Award honoree Deborah L. Scott and 2017 Excellence in Fantasy Film winner Alexandra Byrne and 2013 Cdga Career Achievement Award honoree Judianna Makovsky.

Paul Castle and Jaimee Kadish share a number of things in common, including a sharp sense of humor and a resiliency that inspires. Both are legally blind due to a rare disease called retinitis pigmentosa (Rp) that causes loss of vision over time — Castle was diagnosed at 16, Kadish at 21. And both have brought awareness to the condition and provided valuable representation in different ways.

Castle is a writer and illustrator whose work include the children’s books “The Pengrooms,” about a pair of same-sex penguins. But he is also one half of the social media duo known as Matthew & Paul. The two have gone viral for the pranks Matthew plays on his blind husband — rearranging the furniture so Paul thinks he’s in the wrong apartment, swapping himself out with a mannequin and waiting to see how long until his husband notices. (The videos are always hilarious and usually end with Castle screaming “Matthew!

On Monday December 16 2024, National Geographic broadcasts Blink!

Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Blink” on National Geographic promises to be a touching exploration of life and beauty. Titled “A Family Experiences the World’s Beauty After a Life-Changing Diagnosis,” this episode focuses on a family’s journey following a significant medical announcement.

Viewers will witness how this diagnosis becomes a turning point for the family. Instead of letting the news bring them down, they choose to embrace life in a new way. The episode highlights their adventures as they travel to stunning locations, showcasing the beauty of nature and the importance of making memories together.

As the family navigates their challenges, they also discover the strength of their bonds. The episode aims to inspire others to appreciate the little things in life and to find joy even during tough times. With breathtaking visuals and heartfelt moments, this episode of “Blink...

The Lonely Assassins stalk the universe once more, as one cosplayer brings Doctor Who's terrifying Weeping Angels into the real world in incredibly painstaking detail. Created by Steven Moffat for season 3's "Blink" in 2007, the Weeping Angels may appear as harmless statues but can move when out of sight, luring unknowing victims into a false sense of security before ending their lives. After having occupied abandoned homes, shipwrecks, and the dark streets of New York, the Weeping Angels made their last appearance in Doctor Who season 13's "Village of the Angels".

While no living statues appeared in Ncuti Gatwa's ongoing Doctor Who era, body painter and artist Melissa Croft has shared her terrifying take on the Lonely Assassins in a new Instagram Reel.

View this post on InstagramA post shared by Melissa Croft...

Though Doctor Who has been running for over 60 years, the last 20 years have been extra special. When the show was rebooted in 2005, fans quickly fell in love with the stories and have continued to follow each incarnation of The Doctor avidly. As such, there are a ton of exciting adventures and plot twists to sink their teeth into.

Admittedly, every fan has their own opinion on what makes the franchise so unique, but there are certain episodes that stand out throughout the fandom. As such, whether it is the loss of a companion or the introduction of an iconic monster, all of these episodes hold a sacred place in the audience's hearts. But each season has at least one episode that stands above all the others.

This Episode Makes a Historical Item Absolutely Terrifying Season 1, Episode 9, "The Empty Child"

While chasing a foreign object through the Time Vortex, The Doctor...

The Hollywood Creative Alliance has announced the winners for the 2024 Astra Film and Creative Arts Awards on Sunday, Dec. 8. The organization hosted two ceremonies – a luncheon and dinner – at the Taglyan Complex in Los Angeles. Actor, comedian and writer Peter Kim hosted the Astra Creative Arts Awards and two-time Emmy and NAACP-winning comedian Loni Love hosted the Astra Film Awards.

Universal Pictures’ “Wicked” came out on top with eight wins including Best Picture, Best Director for Jon M. Chu, Best Actress for Cynthia Erivo, and Best Supporting Actress for Ariana Grande (tie with Zoe Saldaña). Coming in second place was Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part Two” and Netflix’s “Emilia Pérez” with four wins each. See the full list of winners below.

In addition, the Hollywood Creative Alliance honored costume designer Colleen Atwood with the Inaugural Artisan Icon Award, composer Kris Bowers received the Artisan Achievement Award, and cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi...

Blink is a touching documentary following the extraordinary adventure of one family who turn a devastating diagnosis into something that brings them infinitely closer. As with any documentary from National Geographic, the film is full of stunning sights from some of the most obscure and beautiful places around the globe, but the framing of the film makes every moment feel new. Instead of simply marveling at the beauty of the world, Blink invites us to step out of our comfort zone and explore everything the world has to offer.

Blink (2024)

Director Daniel RoherRelease Date October 4, 2024Writers Edmund StensonRating PGRuntime 84 MinutesGenres Documentary

dith Lemay and Sbastien Pelletier have four young children, who, like many others, are boisterous, loud, energetic, and full of personality. However, three of the four were also diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder which guarantees they will slowly, but surely, lose their ability to see. To fill the...

In 2020, Daniel Roher read an article about a French Canadian couple Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletie who decided to drop everything and travel the world after learning that three of their four children were losing their vision due to a rare, incurable eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa. The family of six planned to embark on a one-year global journey to help fill their children’s memories with breathtaking destinations and once-in-a-lifetime encounters.

“It read as this inspirational news story,” says Roher, who won the Academy Award for “Navalny” in 2023. “I was like, ‘That is a real lovely story. Isn’t it nice to have a life-affirming news story in a sea of depressing and sad news stories?’ So, I clocked it, and then a couple of months later, our friends at MRC reached out and said we should do a documentary about it.”

The result of that conversation is National Geographic’s “Blink,...

Like many parents with young children — and like all parents with four of them — Edith and Sébastien are constantly exhausted when we first meet them. The Montreal-based couple adores their kids, but the daily grind of chores, activities, homework, and general chaos leaves them in a constant fog as they struggle to make it through the days without a crisis. They lead a life that’s fulfilling in the grand scheme of things, but often unsatisfying on a daily basis.

But even the most cemented routines are capable of crumbling overnight, and the family quickly finds their entire world turned upside down when they receive some unimaginably painful news. Three of their four children were diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, an incurable degenerative disease that eventually results in near-total loss of vision. Devastated by the realization that they have a finite window to make visual memories with their children, the couple...

There are moments in the lovely new documentary Blink where you wonder if directors Daniel Roher and Edmund Stenson should have leaned harder into the inherently heartbreaking aspects of their subjects story. It would have been easy enough considering the film is about two Montreal parents who learn that three of their four pre-teen children are slowly going blind. But instead of accentuating the ticking clock or wringing tears from the cruel fate that awaits three adorable and innocent youngsters, Roher and Stenson go for something richer and more inspiring.

This, as it turns out, is also easy enough to do or at least attempt considering what parents Edith and Sbastien Pelletier did in response to their three children's tragic diagnosis: they took them on a year-long journey around the globe to fill their visual memories with as much beautiful imagery as possible before their worlds go dark forever. While it was probably tempting,...

The final episode of MGM+'s docuseries, The Wonderland Massacre & the Secret History of Hollywood, is now available to stream. In it, best-selling crime novelist Michael Connelly (the mind behind Bosch and The Lincoln Lawyer) goes back through the 1981 murders on Wonderland Avenue, a case that embodied the sex and drugs era of Hollywood and inspired Boogie Nights. The murders span several corners of history and pop culture, involving famous porn star John Holmes, kingpins such as Pablo Escobar, mafiosos like Eddie Nash, and even Liberace and his boyfriend, Scott Thorson.

Connelly may be best known for his Harry Bosch novels, which have resulted in 10 television seasons worth of Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, but he also has a long and storied history as a journalist. He put his investigative skills to excellent use when putting together his Audible Original, The Wonderland Murders & the Secret History of Hollywood, but...

Jenna Dewan seemingly had a cheeky response to the news that she and Channing Tatum settled their divorce.

Earlier this week it was confirmed that the 43-year-old The Rookie actress and the 44-year-old Blink Twice star had reached an agreement in their separation six years after splitting.

On Thursday (September 26), Jenna took to social media to share an iconic Nicole Kidman meme.

Keep reading to find out more…

In a since-expired post on her Instagram story, Jenna posted a 2001 photo of Nicole throwing her arms in the sky and celebrating. It was taken around the time of her separation from Tom Cruise and has been widely shared as a joke since.

“Live every day like you’re 2001 nicole kidman leaving her lawyer’s office after divorcing tom cruise,” one version of the meme reads, via Know Your Meme.

Jenna presented the photo without any additional text and does not appear...

National Geographic Documentary Films is bringing Blink to theaters on October 4 in the U.S. and Canada, but Screen Rant first has an exclusive clip to share with the world. The project is co-directed by Edmund Stenson and Daniel Roher, who won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature with 2022's Navalny, on which Stenson served as associate editor. The duo follows the Pelletier family, who take their four children on a global adventure after three of them are diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa.

The rare, incurable disorder leads to permanent vision loss, which is why parents Edith Lemay and Sbastien Pelletier sought to share the wonders of the world with their young children before it was too late. As chronicled in Blink, the family soaks in the breathtaking sights before them while also grappling with the reality of the challenges that lie ahead. It is a touching tale that perfectly...

This article contains spoilers for Blink Twice

This article contains discussions of sexual assault and abuse.

Blink Twice, Zo Kravitz's directorial debut, left viewers wondering why Geena Davis' Stacy would help Slater King (Channing Tatum) abuse the women he brought to the private island. Considering Stacy's minor role in the movie, it's a fair question, though Kravitz and her writing partner, E.T. Feigenbaum, provide some clues. In the acclaimed psychological thriller, Blink Twice's cast of characters, including down-on-her-luck waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie), are whisked off to tech mogul Slater King's private island. What seems like a few days of debauchery is revealed to be much more sinister in Blink Twice's ending.

Plied with flutes of seemingly endless champagne and drugs of unknown origins, the women guests seem to be having a great time, until Frida and Sarah (Adria Arjona) realize something's off. Blink Twice hints at its twist...

After hitting theaters in August, Blink Twice starring Channing Tatum has become a VOD hit. Directed by Zo Kravitz, the film stars Tatum as Slater King, a billionaire who brings cocktail waitress Frida (Naomie Ackie) to his private island for a party, with female guests soon starting to question their reality. Also starring Alia Shawkat, Christian Slater, and Adria Arjona, Blink Twice reviews were generally positive from critics, and, after a soft start, the film grossed $67.9 million at the worldwide box office.

A new report from IndieWire now reveals that Blink Twice occupies the top spot on both the iTunes and Fandango at Home VOD charts. The thriller beats a number of other recent releases on both charts, including Twisters (2024) Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024), The Crow (2024), and Inside Out 2. Check out both the iTunes and Fandango at Home VOD charts below:

Rank

iTunes

Fandango at Home...

Some of the highest-rated TV episodes from a show chronicle stories that de-center the main character. Sometimes, these narratives are bottle episodes, but they don't necessarily have to fall into this format for them to focus on secondary characters. Some TV show's bottle episodes are pointless, and these detract from the overall quality of the series. However, spending time away from the protagonists and getting to know other characters can help the worldbuilding of the show and make the audience more invested in the overarching plot. Additionally, these episodes can save money and time for showrunners and producers.

There are creative ways to work around the main character's arc, and these storylines demonstrate how creative the writers of a TV series are.

Leaving out the protagonist for a few episodes doesn't indicate that a TV show is disrespectful to its main characters, as their return after a break in the...

Lenny Kravtiz fans are wondering if he’ll be bringing a girlfriend to the 2024 VMAs tonight.

Truth be told, the rocker taking the stage is a big deal. The last time he performed was with Madonna for her ‘Ray of Light’ in 1998.

So who will be sharing this moment with him? Let’s dive into his dating history!

Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz attend Saint Laurent at the Palladium on February 10, 2016 in Los Angeles, California for the Saint Laurent Los Angeles show. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Saint Laurent) Lenny Kravitz’s Girlfriend History

Lenny Kravitz’s most well-known relationship was with Lisa Bonet. The couple met in the mid-1980s and quickly became one of Hollywood’s most beloved couples duos.

They married in 1987 and welcomed their daughter, Zoë Kravitz, a year later. However, the couple split in 1993 and while they’ve maintained a close and supportive friendship,...

Quick Links The Cruelty of a King in Blink Twice A Second Viewing of Blink Twice Reveals the Horror in Plain Sight

Spoiler alert: The following article contains spoilers for Blink TwiceBlink Twice, the directorial debut by Zo Kravitz, is a twisted and gilded euphoric fancy that explores the horrors of power and sexual abuse. Starring Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie, Blink Twice is a wonderfully engrossing film that finely explores the depths of human depravity. A thrilling moment that combines both mystery and drama, the film offers a compelling view of the nature of abuse. However, it is only with a second look that the true cruelty of the characters is revealed in a stunning display that makes the film all the more harrowing.

A psychological thriller that has been praised by audiences and critics alike, Blink Twice follows Frida, a cocktail waitress who unexpectedly finds herself invited to...

Former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat recently shared some of the criticism he received during his 7-year stint at the head of the beloved sci-fi series. Despite contributing to some of the most acclaimed moments in Doctor Who history, Moffat faced intense negativity from fans before ultimately departing the series in 2017 although he has since returned for one-off episodes and, most recently, the 2024 Christmas special entitled "Joy to the World."

Doctor Who 4.5/5

Originally premiered in 1963, Doctor Who is a sci-fi series that follows a powerful being known as a Time Lord, referred to as the Doctor. Using an interdimensional time-traveling ship known as the Tardis, the Doctor travels time and space with various companions as they solve multiple problems and help avert catastrophe as much as they almost cause it. Though the Doctor is always the same character, they experience regenerations, allowing them to be recast every few seasons as...

The Oscar hopes of almost a dozen documentaries will be getting a lift from the International Documentary Association.

The IDA announced the first 11 films in its FallDocs screening series, traditionally an important FYC showcase for documentaries with awards ambitions. Among the 11 are Sugarcane and Blink, both from National Geographic Documentary Films; Frida and I Am: Celine Dion, from Amazon MGM Studios; Black Box Diaries from MTV Documentary Films; Hollywoodgate from Fourth Act Film; The Last of the Sea Women, an Apple TV+ documentary that is about to make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, from Kino Lorber. Scroll for the full list of films.

As it has done for several years running, FallDocs is also making room for several films without distribution to date: The Brink of Dreams (winner of the L’Oeil d’or prize at the Cannes Film Festival); The Flats,...

The 68 th BFI London Film Festival has announced the full programme line-up, which will be presented in cinemas and online, across the UK.

The Lff will present a vibrant and diverse programme of 253 features, shorts, series and immersive works from 79 countries, featuring 63 languages playing across the 12 days of the festival. This includes 112 works made by female and non-binary filmmakers – 44% of the programme.

World Premieres

From filmmakers and artists include: Steve McQueen’s Blitz which opens the festival, Ben Taylor’s Cunard Gala Joy starring Thomasin McKenzie, James Norton and Bill Nighy, the BFI National Archive and The Film Foundation’s restoration Silent Sherlock, Darren Thornton’s Irish comedy film Four Mothers, spellbinding performance film from Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard The Extraordinary Miss Flower, thriller series A Thousand Blows from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, the latest documentary from Oscar®-winning directing duo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin Endurance,...

The 2024 Telluride Film Festival was a success on many fronts, delivering packed screenings (and commensurate turnaways) at the big titles booked in the popular venues, with smaller turnouts for docs and classic titles in the less-frequented theaters. Below, IndieWire lays out the festival hits, commercial breakouts, Oscar contenders, and distribution seekers.

Festival Holdovers

The Telluride movies that played best for audiences were already anointed with credibility from prior festival reviews and/or prizes. That includes Cannes prize-winners “Emilia Pérez”, “Anora”, “All We Imagine as Light”, and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”, the banned Iranian film submitted for Oscar consideration by Germany. All will be strong Oscar contenders, assuming that “All We Imagine as Light” is submitted by India or France for Best International Film, which is not a foregone conclusion. From Sundance was secret screening “A Real Pain” (Searchlight), starring Kieran Culkin and writer/director Jesse Eisenberg, which played...

Like many other actors, Kevin Bacon is also a fervent advocate of cinema and theatergoing. With audiences returning to see movies in their rightful environment, the Footloose star attempts to stir up interest in recent releases.

IndieWire reports that Bacon took to X (formerly called Twitter) following his most recent trip to the cinema, gushing about his latest watches. He posted a video with the caption: Going to the movies is a very special experience. This is the experience that I grew up with and what made me want to be in the movies. Do yourself a favor and go to the theater this weekend. Lots of cool options out there. He stated that it was his third movie he has seen that week, going on to enthuse about Zo Kravitzs directorial debut, Blink Twice, the newest installment of the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus (d. Fede Alvarez), and Strange Darling,...

"Yes, they're going to need help, but at the same time, it's gonna be their life in their own way." National Geographic has revealed an official trailer for a documentary film titled Blink, following a Canadian family on an adventure of a lifetime. Or specifically – the lifetimes six human beings. After three of their children are diagnosed with an incurable eye condition, one family embarks on an epic journey to show them all of the beauty of the world before it vanishes for good. This is premiering at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival this weekend before it opens in theaters in October. Based in Montreal, Quebecois couple Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier are parents to Mia, Léo, Colin and Laurent. Mia was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at age 7, as were her younger brothers. While spending this year traveling the world together, they received extensive media attention and were filmed for this doc.

George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise is a pillar of modern science fiction. What started out as a relatively ambitious space opera project became one of the most lucrative and popular franchises in history. Being present for several decades now, Star Wars has raised multiple generations of fans and it still remains one of the best fictional universes ever created.

But, after Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, the whole fictional universe has been at the center of big controversies more often than not, which culminated with the toxic “fan” campaign against The Acolyte. But, the roots of this behavior go far back and are not related to The Acolyte per se, as the story we are going to report on confirms.

Namely, this story goes back to the filming of Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker, in which actress Naomi Ackie was cast as Jannah. The Blink Twice...

Actress Zoë Kravitz stepped into the spotlight at a London photocall for her directorial debut, Blink Twice, donning a sleek, lingerie-inspired ensemble.

Kravitz, known for her roles in Big Little Lies and The Batman, chose a black lace camisole and matching midi skirt from Saint Laurent for the event. She completed her look with patent leather slingbacks, also by the French fashion house and accessorized with round sunglasses and delicate gold jewelry by Jessica McCormack.

Appearing alongside Kravitz was her fiancé and the film’s star, Channing Tatum. The actor opted for a classic black suit by The Row, paired with a white t-shirt and penny loafers.

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Blink Twice, set to release this Friday, marks Kravitz’s first venture into directing. The psychological thriller stars Tatum as the antagonist, with Naomi Ackie and Alia Shawkat in leading roles.

Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence and Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Bellini in ‘Conclave’ (Photo Courtesy of Focus Features. © 2024)

The 51st Telluride Film Festival announced its lineup just days ahead of the festival’s opening on Friday, August 30, 2024. The festival, which runs through Monday, September 2nd, will include the world premieres of Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, Edward Berger’s Conclave, and Malcolm Washington’s The Piano Lesson.

This year’s festival includes 60 feature films, shorts, and revival programs.

“This brief weekend of cinematic bliss reminds us every year that movies really are magic,” stated Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “The process of assembling our line-up is both daunting and rewarding, and it never fails to bring the most fantastic sense of satisfaction once we’re finished. Our anticipation matches that of the audience. We’re delighted to now share what we found to be the most exciting, interesting and...

Our ongoing Member Lens feature spotlights current Film Independent Members to see how they got started, where they are now and what being part of Film Independent means to them. This month: producer Diane Becker.

***

Film Independent Member Diane Becker has always had non-fiction in her blood. The Academy Award winning producer of Navalny started off going to school for photojournalism, ended up working for big news networks, but couldn’t help but think that going into film was what she needed to do.

After graduating from AFI, she was exposed to the world of documentary filmmaking, and found that it was a collision of two worlds she loved. Now she has produced films like King Coal, Stutz, the Netflix docuseries The Program: Cons Cults and Kidnapping, and Blink, which is premiering this fall for National Geographic.

We spoke with her earlier this month about the high-highs and low-lows of...

Exclusive: About 50 minutes into Blink, the National Geographic documentary that’s about to make its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, the Lemay-Pelletier family boards a gondola in Ecuador and begins a spectacular descent down a steep mountainside. But then the gondola jerks to a sudden stop.

The film directed by Edmund Stenson and Oscar winner Daniel Roher (Navalny) documents the family’s incredible travels around the world – hiking in the Himalayas, hot-air ballooning in Egypt, surfing in Indonesia, on safari in Namibia. But on the gondola, the adventure comes to a perilous halt: hour after hour passes. The light fades to total darkness, with no sign of rescue.

“Why did it have to be us?” one of the kids asks with growing alarm. “This can’t be real. It’s a nightmare.”

The Lemay-Pelletier family (from left): Mia, Sébastien, Colin, Edith Lemay, Laurent and Léo in Kuujjuaq,...

Telluride Film Festival has announced the line-up before the festival starts on Friday, with world premieres for Edward Berger’s Conclave, RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys, and Robbie Williams musical biopic Better Man.

Also making the cut in the main programme are documentaries Leonardo Da Vinci from Ken Burns, Kevin Macdonald’s One To One: John & Yoko, and R. J. Cutler’s Martha Stewart film.

Tim Fehlbaum’s September 5 and Joshua Openheimer’s The End are in the main programme, alongside Cannes favourites Anora, The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, All We Imagine As Light, and Emilia Pérez.

The 51st...

Unless you’re a major studio or willing to pay for a rent-spiked ski lodge––and even then––few festivals ring more exclusive than Telluride, which has the distinction / misfortune of firing the starting gun for fall festivals and that ever-deleterious phenomenon we call “Oscar buzz.” Their 2024 lineup nevertheless features some films of note: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson’s Rumours; Alain Guiraudie’s Misericordia; Payal Kapadia’s All That We Imagine as Light; Sean Baker’s Anora; and Alfonso Cuarón’s Apple series Disclaimer.

On a repertory end, Kenneth Lonergan’s been anointed this year’s Guest Director and has programmed the following: Arch of Triumph, Barry Lyndon, Doctor Zhivago, Grand Hotel, and My Darling Clementine. And Telluride’s 2024 Special Medallion goes to Les Films du Losange, who will represent Misericordia and have their history celebrated with the following screenings: Beauty and the Beast; Charles, Dead or...

Channing Tatum has a tradition of stealing things from movie sets, but had to break his habit when playing Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine as he was too scared to try and steal his costume. Playing the card-wielding X-Men character was a dream realized for Tatum, who was meant to star in the role many years ago in a project that found its way into the graveyard of lost movies. However, he was finally able to don the garb of Gambit in this years summer blockbuster, as one of the many crowd-pleasing cameos on offer in the film.

Deadpool & Wolverine 3.5/5 SuperheroActionComedy Sci-Fi

A follow-up to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 films starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox.

Release Date July 26, 2024Director Shawn LevyCast Ryan Reynolds,...

Spoilers are ahead for Blink Twice's ending.

This article contains discussions of sexual assault and abuse.

After seeing Blink Twice, audiences have been a little torn over the film's final scene but writer-director Zo Kravitz has already clarified how the somewhat-divisive ending perfectly fits her movie. Kravitz's directorial debut wasn't originally titled Blink Twice. Instead, it was a more provocatively titled project that underscored the film's dark third-act reveal. Much like Slater King (Channing Tatum), the billionaire at Blink Twice's center, the movie boasts a glossy facade, but, at its core, Blink Twice is Promising Young Woman meets Get Out with a dash of Spring Breakers thrown in for good measure.

Frida (Naomi Ackie), a cocktail waitress and aspiring nail artist, and her best friend, Jess (Alia Shawkat), have a chance encounter with Slater and his powerful entourage. Soon enough, the two women join the rest of Blink...

Zo Kravitz's directorial debut in Blink Twice is making waves, with a standout thriller and darkly humorous tone. The film features a talented cast led by Channing Tatum, with an enigmatic storyline reminiscent of real-life figures like Jeffrey Epstein. Blink Twice explores themes of abuse, manipulation, and memory manipulation, ending with a surprising twist that empowers the protagonist.

Zo Kravitz is a well-known actress, having made her name with her roles in prestige TV, like her stint on HBOs Big Little Lies, and major motion pictures like 2022s The Batman. Recently, though, shes made her debut behind the camera as a director with her recent release Blink Twice. Although the movie has only been officially out in the theaters for a few days, having premiered on August 23rd of this year, its already proven to be a standout for the summer movie season.

Theres been a lot of talk, and...

After 16 years of fits and starts, a $50M reboot of 1994 goth thriller The Crow finally flew into theaters and dropped out of the sky with a disastrous $4.6M opening.

Forget about critics plucking the feathers from The Crow at 19%, those moviegoers who attended Thursday night, predominantly fans, slammed the movie on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak with one star, a 47% grade and a 36% definite recommend.

Lionsgate limited its skin in the game with a $10M North American acquisition and $15M P&a on this Rupert Sanders-directed take, starring burgeoning It and John Wick: Chapter 4 genre star Bill Skarsgård. At the end of the day, the studio stands to lose more — in the neighborhood of $30M — on its $110M-plus feature take of gonzo sci-fi video game Borderlands.

So why make a big deal here on The Crow? Even if, let’s say, Lionsgate possibly breaks even in pic’s...

Updated: Another busy weekend at the international box office, with strong holds across the board, and a major new milestone for Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2. Already the highest grossing animated film of all time, globally and overseas, the sequel has become the first animated movie ever to cross the $1B international box office threshold, now nearing $1.003B. Overall, it is one of only 12 films ever to surpass that milestone. More on that phenom below.

Leading all play overseas was 20th Century Studios/Disney’s Alien: Romulus which added $41.6M overseas in the sophomore session (-35%), and raised its offshore cume to $152.8M. Globally, the total is now $225.4M through Sunday.

Much as it did last frame, China continues to overperform on the Fede Alvarez-directed installment, sticking No. 1 and now at a strong $73.3M. It is the second-biggest Hollywood movie in China this year, behind Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

Naomi Ackie is the headliner of Blink Twice, and shes an absolute ace in the role, but Zo Kravitzs feature directorial debut is also an ensemble piece that demands pitch-perfect casting across the board. In the film, Ackies character, Frida, gets what she thinks is a dream opportunity to be whisked away by a tech billionaire (Channing Tatum) to his private island where she can spend limitless time relaxing by the pool and partying with his high-profile friends. What starts as a high-energy party film you cant help but want more of takes a deft descent into disturbing chaos courtesy of Kravitzs clear vision, the cast chemistry, and each actor's thorough understanding of their role.

Quick Links Season 3 Showed a Darker Side to the 10th Doctor The Re-Introduction of Captain Jack Gave 10 a New Best Friend Season 3 Showed Growth on All Sides Season 3 of Doctor Who showed a darker side to the 10th Doctor & explored his grief. The top 5 most popular episodes of Season 3 include "Blink" and "The Sound of Drums." The re-introduction of Captain Jack gave The Doctor a much-needed sense of companionship.

Doctor Who has collected a ton of avid fans during its 60-year reign, all of whom present a diverse selection of opinions on the show. Every fan has a favorite Doctor, making it a franchise that defies conventions and the rules of typical fandoms. As such, it's sometimes difficult to pinpoint what makes the show so popular or decide which era is the best.

There's no denying that Doctor Who has seen an incredible influx of popularity since its 2005 reboot and...

This article contains massive spoilers for "Blink Twice."

"Blink Twice" is a confident, exciting piece of filmmaking that turns a talented actor into a multi-hyphenate triple threat. Zoe Kravitz, who you know from films like "The Batman" and shows like "Big Little Lies," co-wrote the screenplay for "Blink Twice" alongside E.T. Feigenbaum and makes her feature directorial debut with this spectacular and subversive movie, a gorgeous, colorful, primal scream of a thriller that uses its heightened, stylish trappings to terrific effect. /Film's Bj Colangelo called the movie "the biggest surprise of 2024," and considering we didn't know Kravitz had this in her as a filmmaker, I'm inclined to agree.

It's the type of film that starts going in one direction, builds to a reveal, takes a big turn, and ramps things up exponentially as it races toward the finish line. Here's what you need to know about the movie, and what its ending means.

As Zoë Kravitz makes her feature directorial debut, she’s receiving rave reviews from her cast, including boyfriend Channing Tatum.

The Blink Twice star praised Kravitz for co-writing and helming the psychological thriller, reasoning that directing was “always what she was supposed to do,” after working together on the film in Yucatán, Mexico back in 2022.

“It was okay, it was alright,” he joked to Consequence about working with Kravitz. “She’s obsessed with stories in movies — specifically movies. Like, we don’t do very much other than just watch movies. To get to be around someone that is so in love with it, that it consumes their whole life… It is who they are. This isn’t just like, ‘Oh, I want to see if I can direct a movie.’ This has always been the plan.

“I don’t even know if it was a plan. I think it was...

New voices emerge in cinema every year, and sometimes, these voices aren’t entirely unfamiliar. It’s becoming increasingly common for actors to turn into filmmakers and try their luck behind the camera. Zoë Kravitz (The Batman) is the latest courageous artist with a desire to bring her ideas to the screen for the first time in Blink Twice, also contributing to the screenplay alongside E.T. Feigenbaum (High Fidelity). With an interesting cast led by Naomi Ackie (Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody) and Channing Tatum (Magic Mike Xxl), alongside well-known names like Christian Slater (Mr. Robot) and Adria Arjona (Hit Man), Blink Twice has a wealth of talent at its disposal.

The story centers on billionaire Slater King (Tatum) and his spontaneous encounter with Frida (Ackie), a waitress at his fundraising gala. After a night filled with chemistry between the protagonists, King invites Frida to join him and...

Although Zoë Kravitz long had the hunger to write and direct, the actual process of creating “Blink Twice” was led by fast instincts. “I didn’t have a plan,” she tells IndieWire over Zoom. “I started writing the story because I just wanted to write it, and I felt the emotion behind it.” She did not know at first that she was writing a screenplay, but just the process of writing down these ideas and feelings she was processing was therapeutic.

Only upon completion was Kravitz able to look back at it and say, “’Oh, that’s what I was saying, and this is what I was talking about. And that’s what that means. And this is a metaphor for this.’ But art is so magical in the way that you don’t really know what you’re doing. You’re just feeling your way through it. And then once it’s finished,...

It can be a misstep when certain tiers of the elite attempt to solve class dynamics in their art—such as when a director who descends from the British elite makes a satire about a poor person overtaking his rich friend’s family castle. It never bodes well when a...

Your browser does not support the video tag. Blink Twice features a twisted vacation turn on a remote island, uncovering the dark side of power. Zo Kravitz's directorial debut with Channing Tatum portrays sinister roles in a psychological thriller. Alia Shawkat and Christian Slater discuss their approach to characters and bonding experiences on the set.

Frida, a cocktail waitress, has her life turned upside down after she meets tech mogul billionaire Slater King at a fundraising gala in Blink Twice. He invites her and her friend Jess to his remote island for a luxury-filled vacation. This takes a dark turn when Jess disappears and things about the island don't seem to add up. As Frida tries to uncover the truth, she begins to question her reality.

Zo Kravitz helmed Blink Twice as her directorial debut and co-writer of the script with E.T. Feigenbaum. Channing Tatum takes on a more sinister role balancing charm and menace,...

There’s a moment from the filming of Blink Twice that Zoë Kravitz can’t get out of her head. It was the middle of the night, during a scene that called for her star Naomi Ackie to lie on the ground in the dirt, restrained while another character holds a gun to her head. They were trying to line up the shot just right, and it had been hours since Ackie had eaten; Kravitz, the movie’s director, wanted to break to let her rest and have a snack. “But she was like, ‘It’s all right, babe, just hand me the sandwich,’ ” she recalls. “I took a picture of it because it was so incredible. She’s got one hand behind her back, there’s the gun to her head, and she’s just in the dirt eating her sandwich with the other hand with a smile on her face.

Zoë Kravitz is finally dipping her toes in directing films, and for someone who has been in the industry for a long time, Blink Twice is a dream come true. It’s fair to say that she has every advantage in her career because of her status as a nepo baby, but working on this project made her realize one thing that separates actors from the rest of the crew.

Credits: Zoë Kravitz in The Batman / Warner Bros. Pictures

While this is her first stint behind the camera, she already has enough knowledge about the inner workings of creating films in Hollywood. She’s no stranger to the pressure and chaos that happen on movie sets.

Zoë Kravitz Argues Actors Are Sheltered From The Realities Of Filmmaking

Blink Twice is a movie that sends a powerful message because of its origin concept. Zoë Kravitz, on her directorial debut, planned a...