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Spa Selections

“Carmen,” “Foe,” “Limbo,” Australia’s Oscar contender “Shayda,” “Streets of Colour” and “The Royal Hotel” have received the six nominations for best feature film at this year’s Screen Producers Australia Awards. The Spa Awards will be held on Thursday, March 21, 2024, the final evening of the Screen Forever conference.

In the documentary feature section, the nominations are “Flyaways,” “Harley & Katya,” “Living With Devils,” “Onefour: Against All Odds,” “The Cape,” “The Giants,” “The Jewish Nazi?” and “The Platypus Garden.” Nominations for best telemovie or miniseries production are “While the Men Are Away,” “The Claremont Murders,” “Wellmania,” “The Messenger,” “Bad Behaviour” and “The Clearing.”

“2023 was a year filled with a number of challenges for our industry, but the Australian screen sector continued to delight audiences globally with stories that share our unique culture and creativity,” said Spa CEO Matthew Deaner.

Storm Brewing

Hong Kong-made crime action film “The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell...

Indie retro-inspired RPG Sea of Stars is connected to The Messenger, which could confuse some newcomers about whether they need to play The Messenger before starting their adventure. Both games are developed by Sabotage Studio and set in the same universe, but the gameplay of each title is completely different. The Messenger is an action platformer taking inspiration from games like Ninja Gaiden, meaning it won't necessarily appeal to everyone interested in Sea of Stars. For those interested in a complete narrative experience, however, taking on both titles in the correct order may seem like a must.

Although Sabotage Studio is based out of Quebec City, many of the core inspirations for Sea of Stars come from Japan. Drawing from titles like Chrono Trigger, Illusion of Gaia, and Super Mario RPG, Sea of Stars sticks to classic turn-based combat and top-down pixel art while promising modernized elements as well. Legendary composer Yasunori Mitsuda,...

Jax, Brittany, and Kristen from Vanderpump Rules will be starring in a spinoff show with their friends and familiar names from the entertainment industry. The spinoff will focus on their lives post-Vanderpump Rules, including new relationships, trying for a family, and navigating the next stages of their lives. Hopefully, the spinoff will give Jax, Brittany, and Kristen a more positive reputation, and viewers can expect an entertaining mix of familiar faces and newcomers.

The Vanderpump Rules spinoff starring Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright, and Kristen Doute has been confirmed, and an all-star cast will be joining the reality TV veterans on-screen. In June, it was officially announced that the former Sur employees were filming a separate Vanderpump Rules spinoff show together. With Vanderpump Rules becoming more popular than it's ever been following Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss' affair, now seems to be the right time to bring the OGs back...

August 2023 brings with it several long-awaited new releases, including Baldur's Gate 3, Armored Core 6, and Genshin Impact 4.0. The final month of summer is almost here for those in the Northern Hemisphere, and it's a scorcher. Many are off school or on a lighter summer schedule, so it's the perfect time to curl up next to a rumbling air conditioner and play some brand-new games. Just make sure to wear headphones.

August's release schedule follows several months' worth of big-name, time-consuming releases. As the month starts, many players will still be wrapping up their Tears of the Kingdom playthroughs, or clearing out the Hunt Board in Final Fantasy 16. However, as the dog days of summer drag on, players will likely be looking for something new and refreshing, and the month of August will be sure to deliver. With a few major new releases from previously dormant franchises and a whole host of unique indie games,...

Netflix's They Cloned Tyrone receives rave reviews, earning some of the streamer's highest praise for a sci-fi film. Critics praise John Boyega's performance in this Netflix original, marking it as a standout. The verdict is in, and They Cloned Tyrone is garnering impressive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, signaling a hit for the streaming platform.

Netflix's Jamie Foxx sci-fi movie They Cloned Tyrone earns the streamer some of its best reviews ever. Directed by first-time feature film helmer Juel Taylor, They Cloned Tyrone concerns an oddball trio who stumble upon a sinister government cloning conspiracy. Also starring Kiefer Sutherland and David Alan Grier, the film began a limited theatrical release on July 14, and is now streaming on Netflix as of July 21.

With Netflix's They Cloned Tyrone now streaming for all, the verdict is in on the quirky Boyega-led sci-fi movie, and critics are giving the film unusually good reviews...

Updated, with detail on pretrial hearing: Donald Trump said today that he received a letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith stating that he is a target of a grand jury’s January 6th investigation, in what the former president said was a prelude to arrest and indictment.

In a message posted on Truth Social, his social media platform, Trump said that the letter received over the weekend gave him a “very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.”

Trump said that he received the letter on Sunday night. The news quickly dominated coverage on cable news networks.

Related: Donald Trump Indictment Unsealed In Classified Documents Case: Read 37-Charge Filing Here

Smith already has indicted Trump on a series of charges relating to the former president’s withholding of classified documents after he left the White House. But he also is said...

Jen Shah is sharing a glimpse of her life in prison, nearly five months after she began her six-year sentence, which has since been reduced to five years.

In a new two-part interview with The Messenger, the “Real Housewife of Salt Lake City” star, 49, admitted she “took shortcuts and broke the law.

“I own and understand my actions created victims,” she told the outlet via e-mail. “I hurt people and I must reiterate that I blame no one but myself.”

Read More: Jen Shah Completes Court-Ordered Anger Management Classes From Behind Bars: ‘#ZenJen’

Shah was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering while filming season 2 of “Rhoslc” in March 2021.

Speaking of her life behind bars, the Bravolebrity shared that she’s “found multiple ways to mentor other prisoners,” including “tutoring Ged and Esl [English as a second language] students, mentoring women on their release plans, teaching multiple workout classes and tutoring on reading,...

The Australian supernatural horror film Talk to Me is the latest fright fest distributed by A24, and its cast is full of up-and-coming young actors. Directed by notable YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou, Talk to Me follows a group of teens who dabble in the dark arts by performing seances with an embalmed hand that eventually leads to a deadly possession. Updating classic horror movie tropes for the 21st century, Talk to Me takes a cinematic approach to its horror storytelling and delivers its abundant scares with mostly practical effects. Though an independent film at heart, Talk to Me has the chance to become an international horror blockbuster.

The film had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, and the buzz surrounding it kicked off a bidding war for its international distribution rights. Indie film titan A24 won (via Variety) and added it to their collection of other elevated...

Steve Buscemi's latest directorial feature, The Listener, will make its North American premiere at this month's Tribeca Film Festival. The Listener follows Beth (Tessa Thompson), a helpline volunteer, through one night of work in her Los Angeles apartment where she takes phone calls from callers struggling with different problems and anxieties. While Thompson is the only actress shown on-screen through the film's 96 minutes run, audiences will hear her interactions with several callers, voiced by actors including Rebecca Hall, Jamie Hector, Margaret Cho, and Alia Shawkat.

In a first-look clip, which you can watch below, Beth is questioned by a caller (voiced by Hall) about the difficulties she faces as a helpline volunteer. Beth shares that the most challenging part is after the caller hangs up when she is left to wonder if she upset or failed them.

The Listener is penned by Alessandro Camon, who earned an Academy Award...

Emerging Indie of the Year Forest has launched a sister company Forest Sounds to focus on premium factual podcast series.

Following on from the international success of TV documentary titles, and its first narrative podcast Hometown: A Killing, the team behind The Battle for Britney and We Need to Talk about Kanye are now launching Forest Sounds.

Established to capitalise on the demand for bigger, better propositions, the new label is focused on the premium end of the market developing a range of narrative and always on podcasts underpinned with world-class cutting-edge journalism.

Crafted for audio but with the potential to translate into the worlds of non-scripted and scripted Film and TV, Forest will be leveraging its award-winning track record in TV to produce a range of podcasts for a new generation of listeners.

Currently in production on The Kanye Story (BBC Sounds) and a yet to be announced narrative...

The HBO miniseries White House Plumbers dramatizes the true events of the Watergate scandal, but how does the cast compare to their real-life counterparts? Released in five parts, the star-studded series is based on Egil Krogh's book Integrity and centers on Nixon operatives G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt as they try and fail to contain one of the nation's biggest political scandals. Unlike other historical adaptations that spice up certain elements for exciting effect, White House Plumbers presents its tale of political intrigue almost exactly as it occurred and focuses on the fascinating characters involved. More than simply justifying its existence, the series makes the story relevant again.

The Max exclusive series was met with modest praise from critics (via Rotten Tomatoes), and the cast was given particular notice for their brilliant recreations of well-known historical figures. To truly represent such a momentous event in history, the...

Singer Maynard James Keenan made headlines, including right here at Consequence, for dressing in drag at Tool’s headlining performance at Welcome to Rockville on Sunday in Daytona Beach, Florida. Despite the show coming just days after Governor Ron DeSantis signed an anti-drag bill into law, the rock frontman insists his outfit “had nothing to do with Florida.”

As reported, Keenan wore a blond wig, exaggerated red lipstick, and prosthetic breasts during the festival gig. And while it wasn’t the first time the Tool vocalist dressed in drag onstage, the timing seemed to indicate a defiance against the new Florida law that restricts minors from attending drag shows (Welcome to Rockville is an all-ages event).

That all said, Keenan told The Messenger in a post-show interview, “I’ve been cross-dressing since long before these clickbait-junkie dupes were out of diapers… It’s pretty crazy the technology and the prosthetics nowadays,...

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis attended an anti-choice gala hosted by an extremely conservative Christian group and yet spent very little time talking about the issue of abortion during his speech.

At the Florida Family Policy Council gala Saturday night, the Republican governor’s address lasted approximately 40 minutes, but only two minutes of his remarks were spent on abortion, according to Politico. Those two minutes were spent touting legislation he signed into law last month banning the procedure after six weeks gestation, one of the most restrictive laws in the nation,...

Ron DeSantis — the Florida governor who is expected to soon announce his intention to take down Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary — still can’t admit that the former president lost the 2020 general election.

“You said during an event in Iowa over the weekend that the GOP needs to reject a culture of losing. Do you acknowledge hat Trump lost and there wasn’t all this fraud he talks about?” a reporter asked the Florida governor during a press conference on Monday.

DeSantis noted Republicans losing the House in...

Donald Trump knows he needs media giants like Fox News and CNN to help him win back the White House in 2024. He’s been busy pushing them to bend to his will.

CNN is certainly complying. The network invited him to spend over an hour pushing lies to millions of viewers during a town hall event last Wednesday. Many within the network have criticized the decision to host the former president, with insiders describing it to Rolling Stone as everything from “appalling” to a “fucking disgrace.” Trump is still gloating about it.