Posts in category: Media

The rise of a music journalist professional : Nontobeko Sibisi: Nontobeko Sibisi is a young South African media personality and creative entrepreneur who is passionate about African arts, culture, history, heritage and indigenous knowledge. When she’s not on-screen as a TV Talk Show Host on DSTV’s ‘Show Me Love’ or acting as Sheila on Mzansi favorite telenovela GOMORA, she’s working on her directorial film debut. Some may remember her as an arts and music journalist advocating for cultural diversity on broadcast news platforms that inspired a viral revolution #RespekTheDoek #DoekTheNewsroom #DoekForNonto raising a global conversation on cultural diversity and inclusivity in work spaces. Read more info at Nontobeko Sibisi.

Nontobeko has since foundered her own brainchild Okay Sho! Media. A creative media production and virtual solutions company focusing on original African stories and indigenous content focusing on arts, culture, history, heritage and indigenous knowledge. Nontobeko has extensive experience in broadcast TV – conceptualizing, producing, directing, and scripting content for local and international audiences. Her work has been scheduled on various platforms such as Mzansi Magic, SABC TV & Radio, Kaya FM, The Mail & Guardian, eNCA/ETV, City Press, Standard Bank Arts, and The National Arts Festival, DSTV Moja Love Channels, and BET Africa.

What stories do you want to focus on through film? Why? My interests have always been in the arts, culture and entertainment space. But as my sense of being continues to evolve, there’s been a louder call towards storytelling, preservation healing and archiving of our history, heritage and indigenous knowledge narratives in re-imagined ways. I’ve been learning to allow myself to be a vessel to many ideas that I’ve tried to intentionally note down, trusting that it will let me know again when it’s ready to be told and how it wants to be told. It’s such an intimate relationship/companionship that has to be carved, one that involves leaving your ego at the door, especially when talking about African history, heritage and indigenous knowledge.



The media talent also had her first international trip via Nigeria after being selected as part of a cohort of 36 young African storytellers trained to cover the buildup of the 2010 World Cup as well as the African Cup of Nation. The Twenty Ten Project, an initiative by World Press, Free Voice and Lokaalmondiaal. Her work would go on to win local and international awards such The Siemen’s Profile Award in Doha, Rhodes Top 100 Students including our station’s Best News Anchor, Best Radio Presenter & Station’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Documentary Filmmaker and Creative Media Producer – The long and colorful journey finally comes full circle for the versatile media talent and creative entrepreneur. Nontobeko has been recently selected for the 15th edition of Durban Talents, A Berlin International Film Festival initiative part of 6 Berlinale Talents across the globe. Here, she is being mentored by the continent’s leading filmmakers and producers such as Sarah Bletcher, Nadine Cloete, Bongi Ndaba, Iman Djionne, Mohamed Siam, Akosua Adoma Owusu to name a few. She is determined to make stories and storytelling accessible to anyone and everyone who resonates “there’s a demand of African stories and original African content – meaning there’s much bigger interest than ever before in who we are and how we are – we just have to tell and share our stories in intentional yet re-imagined ways” says Nontobeko. When she’s not working on content for audiences she’s intentionally healing on her Higher Ground Africa platform.

Media personality and entrepreneur Nontobeko Sibisi has been selected to participate in a coveted international filmmaking program called Durban Talents, an initiative of The Berlin International Film Festival, part of six international initiatives of Berlinale Talents . Nontobeko fought her way past 400 storytelling hopefuls from across the continent to secure her spot – after thorough adjudication only 27 projects and 4 film critics, representing 16 countries made the final selection. Nontobeko is one of two documentary projects from South Africa amongst others. Johannesburg – July 2, 2022 –Award-winning Storyteller and Broadcaster Nontobeko Sibisi Ups The Game now adding filmmaker to her professional repertoire. This career building opportunity will see the Broadcaster, TV Producer & Director expand her business portfolio to also include filmmaking under her media production and virtual solutions company Okay Sho! Media. See more information at https://moz.com/community/q/user/nontobekosibisi.

Honors & Awards

– Selected for Durban Talents, A Berlin International Film Festival Initiative. Issued by Durban FilmMart Institute · Jun 2022
– Proud alumna puts an innovative spin to 1st virtual National Arts Festival Issued by Rhodes University & National Arts Festival · Aug 2020
– Arts Journalism Awards Arts Journalism Awards Issued by National Arts Festival AND Business and Arts South Africa · Nov 2016; Associated with eNCA
– Commendation; Science and Journalism Profile Awards
– Commendation; Science and Journalism Profile Awards Issued by Science and Journalism Profile Award · Jan 2014
– Science and Technology Award (Student Category) Issued by Siemens Africa ; Profile Awards (DOHA) · Jan 2011

To date the company has successfully collaborated and produced creative media productions, virtual conversations, web-series, Arts & Entertainment TV Shows on a variety of platforms with a core focus on television, radio, digital media, virtual and hybrid events. The filmmaker and TV Director’s work has been scheduled on various platforms such as Mzansi Magic, SABC TV & Radio, Kaya FM, The Mail & Guardian, eNCA/ETV, The City Press, Standard Bank Arts, and The National Arts Festival, DSTV Moja Love Channels, and BET Africa / Paramount Africa. “The industry has changed so much over the last few years especially the needs of audiences – I get really excited offering my clients creative solutions that meet their needs. I work with a lot of passion to add a “different spark” to our projects, this ensures we create honest and resonating content that’s always meaningful to the client and most importantly audience everywhere.” This is just one example of how Nontobeko is using her skills and personality to make a difference in the lives of others.

I’m grateful to be able to process that under the guidance of amazing and well-accomplished mentors such as Sara Blecher, Nadine Cloete, Bongi Ndaba, Mohamed Siam, and Akosua Adoma Owusu – there are mountains of wisdom being shared not just on the creative processes but also the business of film. Tell us a bit more about yourself. I am a storyteller who is curious about connections, conversations and resonance around universal truths and shared lived experiences. My interests and perhaps also sources of inspiration are African arts, culture, history & heritage and indigenous knowledge. To feed and formalise this yearning for intimacy in stories and connected conversations I founded my brainchild Okay Sho! Media! Where I’m also honing my skills in documentary filmmaking.

Professional advices for casting Directors in 2021 by oneclicktalent.net? Submit to your target agents every 6 months…with an update about something NEW you have added to your skill set; bookings/plays/training/new headshots. But only submit IF you have something new to share. Make sure you have On Camera training on your resume. When meeting an agent you may need to audition with a prepared television side, or cold read commercial, industrial or film sides. Secondly, the agent wants to know you understandthe technical demands of working on camera, as well as how to navigate the variety of scripts and genres…so that they can feel confident submitting you for work.

What Is a Talent Agent? Talent agents are a regulated portion of the entertainment industry and have the very specific job of finding and securing work for actors, directors, writers, and musicians. Agents work with studios and casting directors to place clients on film productions. Agents are licensed and work for a talent agency “or corporation who engages in the occupation of procuring, offering, promising, or attempting to procure employment for an artist or artists,” according to California state law. Other states have different requirements.

So you want to become an actor? Well as we pointed out in our guide to how to become an actor, you must find yourself a talent agent. Here is our guide to finding a talent agency. The best way to find an agent is to contact the Actor’s Union such as SAG-AFTRA and ask for their list of franchised agents. It is in your best interest to work with a franchised talent agency because non-franchised agents are more likely to be a con artist than a legitimate agent. That said, we have a list of talent agencies across major cities that you should know. Check out the list of agencies below.

One Click Talent guides for talent companies : If you’ve identified potential clients, your next step is to contact those clients and ask if they have a need for models. Initiate conversation with a telephone call. Ask who is in charge of making the final decision about hiring models. Some conversation-starter ideas include asking if they would like to know about a way to save money and increase the quality of their advertising or if they are still looking for models who can represent their company effectively. Offer to take that person to lunch to discuss what your agency can offer her business. Seek out additional networking opportunities at local business fairs.

One Click Talent is an innovative online database system that provides performers, agents and casting directors with a platform to facilitate the casting process. Through our excellent customer support and efficient online database system, One Click Talent is committed to bringing a high-quality experience to entertainment professionals. See additional details oneclicktalent.net. One Click Talent is not an agency and does not offer employment. We are a talent database system that offers web hosting and messaging systems to our members. We are not responsible for job postings or agreements made between our members, casting directors, and agents while using our service. Don’t waste money mailing to every agent in town. Instead, reach out to your selected 15-20 agents and agencies. Actors bombard agents with submissions all the time. If you don’t get responses, submit to your second round of choices. Agents and managers will call you for a meeting if they’re interested in what they see in your submission. Ask your network for referrals. If you have industry contacts, teachers, or friends who can recommend you to your desired agent(s), ask your contact if they would advise the agent to expect your submission.

Top media writers for 2021 and arts tricks? As for sports, Hulu’s lineup includes BTN, CBS Sports, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNEWS, Golf Channel, and Olympic Channel. That’s all in addition to local channels you get in your zip code, such as ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC cable affiliates. Recently, Hulu announced that it would add NFL Network and NFL RedZone to its channel lineup by August 1. It is unclear whether either of these additions will increase Hulu’s subscription costs, however. FuboTV, Sling TV, and YouTube TV all include the NFL Network channel in at least one of their plans and offer NFL RedZone as part of an add-on package. While Hulu’s lineup features NBC-owned RSNs, it lacks most AT&T-owned RSNs (except for SportsNet NY) and every Sinclair-owned Bally Sports RSN (previously, these were FOX Sports RSNs). AT&T TV is the only live TV service we’ve reviewed that includes RSNs from AT&T, NBC, and Sinclair, though it is missing a few NBC Sports RSNs. Make sure to find out which RSN airs your local team’s games before committing to any sports streaming service.

Taking to Instagram, the Country singer, who was born in New Zealand but moved to the US in 1992, shared a beautiful picture showing wife Nicole Kidman with their two daughters in front of an American flag. Thank you to all the service men and women AND their families for all you’ve done and continue to do for ALL of us! Blessings and deep gratitude from our family to you and yours,” he wrote alongside it. The snap shows the women in his life dressed casually, with Nicole, who is wearing a straw hat, putting her hand on her youngest daughter Faith’s shoulder. Sunday Rose, who turns 13 next month, can be seen in front of them.

This low-budget debut feature is a UFO movie that takes time to achieve lift off. In addition to saddling the story with a mostly unnecessary framing device, which underlines the already obvious echoes of The Twilight Zone, director Andrew Patterson and the film’s writers open the 1950s New Mexico-set story with a handful of overly precious exchanges featuring the two main characters, chatty DJ Everett (Horowitz) and young switchboard operator Fay (McCormick). In the beginning, these two might get on your nerves. But once the movie locks them in place, tampering down the acrobatic camerawork and letting the sound design take control, the material finds a more natural rhythm, drawing on the hushed intimacy of old-fashioned radio drama. Like many of the best UFO yarns, The Vast of Night taps into a deep sense of yearning. Wanting to believe is half the battle.

“Handsome, clever and rich” is how Emma’s tagline describes its matchmaking heroine (Anya Taylor-Joy), but it’s also an apt summation of director Autumn de Wilde’s Jane Austen adaptation, which is energized by meticulous style, spirited wit and passionate emotions. Hewing closely to its source material, the film charts Emma Woodhouse’s efforts to find a suitor for her doting companion Harriet Smith (Mia Goth) while struggling with her own blossoming feelings for her sister’s brother-in-law, George Knightley (Johnny Flynn). Round and round the romantic entanglements go, not only for these three characters but a host of others that de Wilde and screenwriter Eleanor Catton faithfully delineate in clean, bright brushstrokes. Its studied imagery suggesting a daintier variation on Wes Anderson’s trademark visuals, Emma boasts an aesthetic confidence that’s matched by its performers. At the head of that impressive pack (which also includes Bill Nighy) is Taylor-Joy, whose Emma exudes just the right amount of playful cockiness and ambition – qualities ultimately undercut by her realization that no amount of manipulations can change what the heart wants. Discover even more info at https://mytrendingstories.com/xamia-arc. Stay up to date with the latest streaming hits with our recurring feature on what to watch this weekend. Does your home’s Wi-Fi coverage not extend to your backyard oasis? We also have story on how to download videos from every video streaming service for offline playback. Even though you may not be able to be in the same physical place as your friends and family due to COVID-19, you can still watch the same shows together. HBO supports Scener, a remote co-watching tool, and you can use the Netflix Party Chrome extension to sync that service’s video playback across devices. Hulu ad-free subscribers, Amazon Prime Video members, and Plex users also get co-watching features. Disney+ is the latest service to add co-watching capabilities.

We wish we could have been a fly on the wall when Ken Loach — Britain’s foremost cinematic chronicler of working-class angst and quotidian humanism — first learned about the gig economy. The concept fits right in with the veteran director’s moral vision of a world in which ordinary humans regularly think they can outsmart a system designed to destroy them. In this infuriating, heartbreaking drama, a middle-aged former builder starts driving a truck making e-commerce deliveries and discovers that his dream of being his own boss is the cruelest of illusions. Meanwhile, his wife, a home health-aide worker, struggles with her own corner of a so-called growth industry. What makes this one of Loach’s best isn’t just its rage (which is plentiful) but its compassion (which is overwhelming). It offers a touching cross section of humanity, in which everybody is caught inside a giant machine that discards the weak, feeds on the strong, and perpetuates itself.

Historical changes often have humble beginnings, as was the case with the American Disabilities Act (ADA), whose origin is Camp Jened, a 1970s summer getaway for disabled men and women in New York’s Catskill mountains. James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham’s documentary is the story of that quietly revolutionary locale, where disrespected and marginalized handicapped kids were finally given an opportunity to simply be themselves, free from the judgement of those not like them. What it instilled in them was a sense of self-worth, as well as indignation at the lesser-than treatment they received from society. Led by the heroic Judy Heumann and many of her fellow Jened alums, a civil rights movement was born, resulting in the famous San Francisco sit-in to compel U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Wellness Joseph Califano to sign Section 504 of 1973’s Rehabilitation Act, and later, the ADA. Intermingling copious footage of Camp Jened and the movement it produced with heartfelt interviews with some of its tale’s prime players, Crip Camp is a moving example of people fighting tooth-and-nail for the equality and respect they deserve – and, in the process, transforming the world.

NBC’s Peacock offers three tiers: an ad-supported free plan with about 13,000 hours of content, a Premium tier with 20,000 hours, some live sports, and clips-based channels; and a Premium Plus option with all of the content in the Premium tier, but with no ads when you stream on-demand titles. Although you can’t stream some of NBC’s biggest hits on-demand (Friends, Seinfeld, and The Office), you can watch other popular past and current entries from NBC such as 30 Rock, Cheers, Friday Night Lights, King of Queens, Parks and Recreation, Saturday Night Live, Will and Grace, Chicago Fire, Law & Order: SVU, Superstore, and This is Us. Other non-NBC shows include Battlestar Galactica, Downton Abbey, Eureka, House, Monk, Psych, Ray Donovan, Real Husbands of Hollywood, The Affair, Undercover Boss, and Warehouse 13. Peacock doesn’t yet have many original shows, but The Office is now on Peacock, too. Peacock’s movie library has shrunk since launch and some titles have moved from the free level to the paid Premium tier, but it still includes popular titles such as Burn After Reading, Children of Men, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Field of Dreams, Frost/Nixon, Inside Man, Law Abiding Citizen, Mamma Mia!, Pride & Prejudice (2005), Schindler’s List, Traffic, and Zombieland. Peacock is slowing expanding its live sports content; it recently streamed an NFL playoff game, is gaining some IndyCar coverage, and will soon be the home of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Excellent writing experts in 2021 and writing tricks? As the competition between video streaming services intensifies, differentiation is ever-important. Hulu continues to offer both a strong on-demand streaming library and a robust live TV option. The service is an excellent option for watching popular TV shows and we like its broad platform support, even if Hulu’s original series are hit-or-miss. On the live TV front, Hulu’s channel coverage is top-notch and its DVR features compare well to the competition’s. Despite a few missteps, Hulu keeps its Editors’ Choice award because no other service can quite match its combination of streaming content. What Can You Watch on Hulu? Hulu’s on-demand library has always been about TV shows and that emphasis remains. The service offers hundreds of seasons and thousands of episodes from major networks. The rise of network-specific streaming services, like Paramount+ and NBC’s Peacock, has cut into this content library. However, Disney’s role in Hulu and its vast library of former 21st Century FOX content that doesn’t fit Disney+’s more family-friendly profile will likely keep Hulu afloat.

According to Kidman, Urban isn’t very high maintenance, but he’ll take a pedicure every once in a while from his wife. In fact, Kidman enjoys giving her whole family a spa day, including him. “He’s a pretty low-maintenance guy,” Kidman told InStyle. “Sometimes, though, I’ll treat my whole family to a spa day and massage their feet and give them pedicures.” Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman are one of the cutest celebrity couples, and with both of them working all over the world, it would be easy to miss out on time together. Due to this, they are strict about how much time they spend apart and try not to go more than one week without seeing each other. “Two weeks is still too long for us [to be apart],” Kidman told Vanity Fair. “We like one week. We start to hurt after seven days.”

Disciplined in its approach and unapologetic about its contrivances, Ben Affleck’s basketball coach in crisis drama The Way Back is a sports movie that understands the fundamentals. What it lacks in flashiness or ingenuity — the underdog narrative of a crappy team hitting its stride under the leadership of a gruff coach hits all the requisite Hoosiers notes — it makes up for with an oddly enthralling downbeat craftsmanship. Little details, like the freeze-frame when the scores of games pop up on screen or the click-clack percussion-heavy music, accumulate emotional power over the film’s brisk runtime. Playing a washed-up ex-athlete with an immediately apparent drinking problem and a number of strategically hidden personal demons, Affleck delivers a weary performance that resonates with his off-screen persona (and his recent tabloid headlines) in ways both obvious and surprising. In brief stretches, director Gavin O’Connor, who helmed the similarly intense melodramas Miracle and Warrior, pulls off the ultimate sports movie trick of making you believe the character’s redemption isn’t inevitable. Every win is a battle — even if you know the results going in.

Aviva tackles the multifaceted nature of gender identity in fittingly diverse fashion, depicting the highs and lows of a couple’s relationship via narrative and modern-dance means – as well as by having both a man and a woman play each of its protagonists, male Eden (Bobbi Jene Smith, Tyler Phillips) and female Aviva (Zina Zinchenko, Or Schraiber). That Bunuelian device speaks to the masculine and feminine sides of both characters, whose ups and downs together and apart form the basis of Boaz Yakin’s (Remember the Titans) unconventional semi-autobiographical tale. From email pen pals, to husband and wife, to estranged exes, Eden and Aviva’s love story is told from both external and interior vantage points. The writer/director employs narration, shifts in perspective, flashbacks, and wild dramatic scenes—both male and female Edens and Avivas sometimes share the screen, partying, arguing or having passionate sex—to provide an intimate sense of the desires and fears propelling these conjoined figures forward. Yakin’s sinuous, passionate indie is as entrancing as it is daring. Discover more details on https://mytrendingstories.com/genny-jones-aka-confident-queen. Streaming services started as an add-on to DVD and digital download offerings with a trickle of second-run movies and TV shows. They were supplements to the programs you watched on their first (and second) runs on cable TV. But speedier internet connections and an abundance of media streaming devices have accelerated the decline of traditional cable. More and more viewers are cutting the cord entirely in favor of dedicated streaming alternatives. Entertainment and tech giants are not blind to the threat, however, and the media landscape is rapidly changing. Consolidation and curation (that is, owning the most media properties and serving the best content) seem to be the overarching goals of the players involved.

Look, all you really need to know about this trippy H.P. Lovecraft update is that Nicolas Cage stars as a husband, father, and would-be farmer who owns and does a lot of shouting about alpacas. Or maybe what’s most important is that this throwback horror freak-out is the work of filmmaker Richard Stanley, making a long-in-the-works comeback over two decades after he was famously fired from the disaster that was The Island of Dr. Moreau. Either way, rest assured that things start going very poorly for the ill-fated family at its center, not to mention their animals, when a meteor crash-lands on their rural property and starts warping reality around it.

Historical changes often have humble beginnings, as was the case with the American Disabilities Act (ADA), whose origin is Camp Jened, a 1970s summer getaway for disabled men and women in New York’s Catskill mountains. James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham’s documentary is the story of that quietly revolutionary locale, where disrespected and marginalized handicapped kids were finally given an opportunity to simply be themselves, free from the judgement of those not like them. What it instilled in them was a sense of self-worth, as well as indignation at the lesser-than treatment they received from society. Led by the heroic Judy Heumann and many of her fellow Jened alums, a civil rights movement was born, resulting in the famous San Francisco sit-in to compel U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Wellness Joseph Califano to sign Section 504 of 1973’s Rehabilitation Act, and later, the ADA. Intermingling copious footage of Camp Jened and the movement it produced with heartfelt interviews with some of its tale’s prime players, Crip Camp is a moving example of people fighting tooth-and-nail for the equality and respect they deserve – and, in the process, transforming the world.

NBC’s Peacock offers three tiers: an ad-supported free plan with about 13,000 hours of content, a Premium tier with 20,000 hours, some live sports, and clips-based channels; and a Premium Plus option with all of the content in the Premium tier, but with no ads when you stream on-demand titles. Although you can’t stream some of NBC’s biggest hits on-demand (Friends, Seinfeld, and The Office), you can watch other popular past and current entries from NBC such as 30 Rock, Cheers, Friday Night Lights, King of Queens, Parks and Recreation, Saturday Night Live, Will and Grace, Chicago Fire, Law & Order: SVU, Superstore, and This is Us. Other non-NBC shows include Battlestar Galactica, Downton Abbey, Eureka, House, Monk, Psych, Ray Donovan, Real Husbands of Hollywood, The Affair, Undercover Boss, and Warehouse 13. Peacock doesn’t yet have many original shows, but The Office is now on Peacock, too. Peacock’s movie library has shrunk since launch and some titles have moved from the free level to the paid Premium tier, but it still includes popular titles such as Burn After Reading, Children of Men, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Field of Dreams, Frost/Nixon, Inside Man, Law Abiding Citizen, Mamma Mia!, Pride & Prejudice (2005), Schindler’s List, Traffic, and Zombieland. Peacock is slowing expanding its live sports content; it recently streamed an NFL playoff game, is gaining some IndyCar coverage, and will soon be the home of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Awesome media writers in 2021 and arts reviews? Many other live TV services also strive to appeal to general audiences, including AT&T TV, and YouTube TV. Other services are better suited for one genre of content than others. For example, fuboTV is an excellent sports streaming service, though it pretty much matches Hulu in the other categories as well. ESPN+ is another sports-centric service, but with a much narrower content scope. How Much Does Hulu Cost? Hulu’s ad-supported, on-demand streaming plan currently costs $5.99 per month. To avoid ads, you need to spring for the $11.99-per-month plan. You can bundle Hulu (ad-supported version), Disney+, and ESPN+ for $13.99 per month or get the ad-free version of Hulu in that same bundle for $19.99 per month. College students can get the ad-free version of Hulu for $1.99 per month. The $64.99-per-month Hulu + Live TV plan bundles the service’s live TV component with ad-supported access to its on-demand library. If you want Hulu’s live channels and the ad-free on-demand package, that costs $70.99 per month.

The couple enjoyed a date night with a difference in May when they went to an ice hockey game together. Both the actress and country music star shared an image of themselves holding hands and watching the game dressed in matching yellow Nashville Predators t-shirts. Nicole and Keith recently returned to their home in America with their two daughters, Sunday and Faith, after several months in Australia. While they were there, Nicole filmed her upcoming project, Nine Perfect Strangers, which she stars in alongside many other major names such as Melissa McCarthy, Luke Evans and Regina Hall.

Choosing a movie to watch isn’t a fraught decision if you know who to trust. That’s the simple idea driving this list, which will be consistently updated and meticulously rearranged throughout the year. With some films getting their release days moved and others premiering early on VOD because of the ongoing global pandemic, this is already a strange, challenging year for the movie industry. But, like last year, we’ll still do our best to keep you in the loop on the explosion-filled blockbusters you can’t miss and the more intimate smaller films you must seek out. If it’s good, we want it on here.

Tom Hardy’s gift for hulking intensity and charismatic growling are in full effect in Capone, a fictionalized account of the last year in the life of the legendary American gangster. Trapped in a palatial Florida estate, his mind deteriorating thanks to neurosyphilitic dementia, Al Capone (Hardy) rants, raves, soils himself and freaks out over hallucinatory visions of people, and events, from his past. Writer/director Josh Trank’s film is a subjective affair told largely from Capone’s POV, so that nothing can be trusted and yet everything speaks, symbolically, to the man’s deep-seated ambitions, fears and misgivings. It’s a headfirst dive into delusion, told with free-flowing suspense and absurd comedy, all of which comes to the fore during a late scene in which Capone opens fire on his friends and family with a giant golden tommy gun while wearing a diaper and chomping on a cigar-like carrot. Part Cowardly Lion, part Bugs Bunny, and altogether ferocious even as his sanity frays, Hardy’s Capone is yet another triumph for the star, who ultimately captures his protagonist less through imposing physicality than via his dark, glassy, lost eyes. Read even more information at https://mytrendingstories.com/dr-zooos. Plex is yet another option for streaming your local media content, over-the-air cable (provided you have the right hardware), and an on-demand library that now includes all of Crackle’s library. Open-source software Kodi offers similar media-management functionality. You should use a virtual private network (VPN) for all your internet-related tasks, but VPNs are particularly useful for streaming services since they can sometimes grant access to region-locked content. For example, if you connect to a VPN server in the UK from a device in the US, you may be able to watch free content from BBC TV. That said, streaming services are cracking down on VPN usage, so we recommend signing up for a trial to test your network setup before fully committing to a service. Make sure to check out our guide on how to unblock Netflix with a VPN as a starting point.

Haley Bennett is absurdly good as a Hudson Valley housewife who’s sleepwalking through a controlling marriage until a psychological disorder forces her into awareness. Carlo Mirabella-Davis’s psychological drama is an exploration of domestic oppression and unexamined expectations of motherhood — but it’s also its own kind of body-horror story, as its heroine finds herself indulging in the urge to swallow things that were never intended for human consumption. These increasingly disturbing spectacles are enfolded in a movie that’s otherwise mesmerizingly beautiful, like a dream that gives way to a nightmare before dumping you, abruptly, back into the land of the living.

Autobiographical tales of trauma don’t come much more wrenching than Rewind, director Sasha Neulinger’s non-fiction investigation into his painful childhood. A bright and playful kid, Neulinger soon morphed into a person his parents didn’t recognize – a change, they soon learned, that was brought about by the constant sexual abuse he (and his younger sister Bekah) was suffering at the hands of his cousin and two uncles, one of whom was a famed New York City temple cantor. Its formal structure intrinsically wedded to its shocking story, Neulinger’s film reveals its monstrous particulars in a gradual bits-and-pieces manner that echoes his own childhood process of articulating his experiences to others. Not just a portrait of Neulinger’s internalized misery, it’s also a case study of how sexual misconduct is a crime passed on from generation to generation, a fact borne out by further revelations about his father’s upbringing alongside his assaultive brothers. Most of all, though, it’s a saga about perseverance and bravery, two qualities that Neulinger – then, and now – exhibits in spades.

Hulu’s basic on-demand streaming plan only costs $5.99 per month, but the ad-free version will run you $11.99 per month. College students can now get Hulu’s ad-supported version for $1.99 per month. The Hulu + Live TV plan costs $64.99 per month and combines Hulu’s live TV service with the ad-supported streaming plan. You can add Enhanced Cloud DVR (increases the available DVR storage to 200 hours from 50) or the Unlimited Screens package (allows an unlimited number of concurrent device streams in your home and up to three outside of it) to your plan for $14.99 per month each or $19.99 for both. If you want even more options, you can add HBO or Showtime for $14.99 and $8.99 per month, respectively. Note that Disney controls Hulu, so we can’t predict Hulu’s long-term future, especially with the successful Disney+ launch. For now, it appears that Hulu will keep all the shows and movies from the 21st Century FOX acquisition that are intended for older audiences.

Excellent news writers in 2021 and writing tricks? Hulu’s web interface for live and on-demand content looks much more modern now than in years past, with big, flashy sliders and easily discoverable content. Hulu is planning to make interface text more legible in a forthcoming update. The homepage highlights noteworthy shows with horizontally scrolling lists below for categories such as Live Now, My Channels, Sports, News, and Hulu Originals. At the top of the page, you get categories for Live TV and My Stuff. Search and Account options live in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. The search feature is not as robust as the one offered by YouTube TV, which allows you to combine terms (such as “Science Fiction” and “1982”). In the account section, you can manage billing details and your subscription add-ons. You can also add user profiles for individual users, a feature we appreciate. While you can restrict certain profiles to kid-friendly content only, that’s not as flexible as other platforms’ capabilities, which let you set restrictions by content ratings.

The couple enjoyed a date night with a difference in May when they went to an ice hockey game together. Both the actress and country music star shared an image of themselves holding hands and watching the game dressed in matching yellow Nashville Predators t-shirts. Nicole and Keith recently returned to their home in America with their two daughters, Sunday and Faith, after several months in Australia. While they were there, Nicole filmed her upcoming project, Nine Perfect Strangers, which she stars in alongside many other major names such as Melissa McCarthy, Luke Evans and Regina Hall.

Arriving on streaming in the middle of a pandemic, a time when many lives have fallen into unceasing loops of quarantine-related repetition and tedium, the Lonely Island produced comedy Palm Springs perhaps resonated differently than when it premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Jokes about doing the same shit over and over just hit harder now. Tracking a romance between a goofball wedding guest (Andy Samberg) and the bride’s self-destructive sister (Cristin Milioti), writer Andy Siara’s clever script combines Groundhog Day existentialism with a quippy take on quantum physics, doling out inspirational life lessons and math cram sessions at a clipped pace. In the same way Tom Cruise had to battle aliens in Edge of Tomorrow, the two must relive a wedding over and over, struggling to escape from an Instagram-ready, celebratory hell. It might not be as purely funny as Samberg’s other big screen adventures Hot Rod and Popstar, but Palm Springs finds its own winning spin on a surprisingly robust micro-genre.

“Handsome, clever and rich” is how Emma’s tagline describes its matchmaking heroine (Anya Taylor-Joy), but it’s also an apt summation of director Autumn de Wilde’s Jane Austen adaptation, which is energized by meticulous style, spirited wit and passionate emotions. Hewing closely to its source material, the film charts Emma Woodhouse’s efforts to find a suitor for her doting companion Harriet Smith (Mia Goth) while struggling with her own blossoming feelings for her sister’s brother-in-law, George Knightley (Johnny Flynn). Round and round the romantic entanglements go, not only for these three characters but a host of others that de Wilde and screenwriter Eleanor Catton faithfully delineate in clean, bright brushstrokes. Its studied imagery suggesting a daintier variation on Wes Anderson’s trademark visuals, Emma boasts an aesthetic confidence that’s matched by its performers. At the head of that impressive pack (which also includes Bill Nighy) is Taylor-Joy, whose Emma exudes just the right amount of playful cockiness and ambition – qualities ultimately undercut by her realization that no amount of manipulations can change what the heart wants. Find more info at https://mytrendingstories.com/profile/ciara-hall/. Stay up to date with the latest streaming hits with our recurring feature on what to watch this weekend. Does your home’s Wi-Fi coverage not extend to your backyard oasis? We also have story on how to download videos from every video streaming service for offline playback. Even though you may not be able to be in the same physical place as your friends and family due to COVID-19, you can still watch the same shows together. HBO supports Scener, a remote co-watching tool, and you can use the Netflix Party Chrome extension to sync that service’s video playback across devices. Hulu ad-free subscribers, Amazon Prime Video members, and Plex users also get co-watching features. Disney+ is the latest service to add co-watching capabilities.

Ben Affleck gets one of his greatest (and most personally resonant) roles as an alcoholic former high-school basketball star who gets a chance at redemption when he’s hired to coach his alma mater’s hopeless hoops team. This could easily become mired in clichés, but director Gavin O’Connor and writer Brad Ingelsby strike a fine balance between delivering the promised underdog sports drama and presenting a portrait of trauma and grief that resists easy solutions. At the center of it all is the star’s tense, restrained performance as an emotionally distant man whose considerable demons can’t really be vanquished with a few wins.

The mythic quality of the Cordillera – the towering eastern stretch of the Andes mountains that serves as both a protective and isolating barrier for the city of Santiago – is harmonized with the grand, destructive illusions of Chile’s Pinochet regime in The Cordillera of Dreams, documentarian Patricio Guzmán’s personal rumination on his homeland’s tumultuous history, and his relationship to it. From vast sights of the snow-capped Andes, to grainy on-the-street video footage of Pinochet tyranny, to introspective interviews with fellow artists, Guzmán’s film (the third entry in a trilogy that also includes Nostalgia for the Light and The Pearl Button) examines the catastrophic upheaval of 1973’s coup d’état, and the lingering scars it left on him and the country’s citizens. In vistas of the ancient and immovable Cordillera, close-ups of cracks lining the hardscrabble soil, and gazes into labyrinth-like patterns found on junkyard car doors, Guzmán (who also serves as narrator) evokes a poetic sense of imposing mysteries and unrepairable fissures, which spread through him – and economically unbalanced Chilean culture – like the solemn valleys that course between the Andes’ peaks.

Hulu supports an impressive range of gadgets and you stream on up two devices simultaneously. Note, however, that you can now stream Live TV on the PlayStation 4 with Hulu (though not on PlayStation 3). Hulu’s support for 4K content is limited; only some of its originals can be streamed at that resolution and only on the Apple TV (5th gen or later) and Chromecast Ultra. Hulu’s latest redesign brings the service into the modern age. Interfaces are now consistent across platforms and feature elegant navigation menus and a media-first aesthetic. None of the apps we tried suffered from performance issues. Recently, Hulu added the ability for premium subscribers to download content for offline viewing. Although it launched on iOS, this feature is now also rolling out to Android users. Eligible subscribers can download up to 25 titles across five devices; downloads are available for up to 30 days or two days after you begin playback. Not all Hulu shows support this feature, but Hulu’s originals are among those that do.

Top streaming platform reviews today? Many other live TV services also strive to appeal to general audiences, including AT&T TV, and YouTube TV. Other services are better suited for one genre of content than others. For example, fuboTV is an excellent sports streaming service, though it pretty much matches Hulu in the other categories as well. ESPN+ is another sports-centric service, but with a much narrower content scope. How Much Does Hulu Cost? Hulu’s ad-supported, on-demand streaming plan currently costs $5.99 per month. To avoid ads, you need to spring for the $11.99-per-month plan. You can bundle Hulu (ad-supported version), Disney+, and ESPN+ for $13.99 per month or get the ad-free version of Hulu in that same bundle for $19.99 per month. College students can get the ad-free version of Hulu for $1.99 per month. The $64.99-per-month Hulu + Live TV plan bundles the service’s live TV component with ad-supported access to its on-demand library. If you want Hulu’s live channels and the ad-free on-demand package, that costs $70.99 per month.

According to Kidman, Urban isn’t very high maintenance, but he’ll take a pedicure every once in a while from his wife. In fact, Kidman enjoys giving her whole family a spa day, including him. “He’s a pretty low-maintenance guy,” Kidman told InStyle. “Sometimes, though, I’ll treat my whole family to a spa day and massage their feet and give them pedicures.” Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman are one of the cutest celebrity couples, and with both of them working all over the world, it would be easy to miss out on time together. Due to this, they are strict about how much time they spend apart and try not to go more than one week without seeing each other. “Two weeks is still too long for us [to be apart],” Kidman told Vanity Fair. “We like one week. We start to hurt after seven days.”

In what hasn’t exactly been a great year for action movies so far, Bad Boys for Life has to be the biggest surprise. Given its lengthy production history, its January release date, and the departure of series director Michael Bay — the action auteur gets a winking cameo here, perhaps taking a break from shooting Netflix’s 6 Underground — this movie could’ve been a disaster. Instead, Smith and Lawrence easily slip back into the roles that made them action movie icons in the ’90s and the writers find a way to update the garish, over-the-top aesthetic of the series for the franchise era. In a wise decision, directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah don’t even bother trying to top the excess and mayhem of Bay’s Bad Boys II.Bad Boys For Life is a gentler, sillier movie than its predecessor, less interested in moments of vulgarity than in scenes of sitcom-like human connection and familial melodrama. There are explosions and car chases through the streets of Miami and jokes about getting too old for this shit, but the material is given a light touch that lets the two stars do what they do best.

Tom Hardy’s gift for hulking intensity and charismatic growling are in full effect in Capone, a fictionalized account of the last year in the life of the legendary American gangster. Trapped in a palatial Florida estate, his mind deteriorating thanks to neurosyphilitic dementia, Al Capone (Hardy) rants, raves, soils himself and freaks out over hallucinatory visions of people, and events, from his past. Writer/director Josh Trank’s film is a subjective affair told largely from Capone’s POV, so that nothing can be trusted and yet everything speaks, symbolically, to the man’s deep-seated ambitions, fears and misgivings. It’s a headfirst dive into delusion, told with free-flowing suspense and absurd comedy, all of which comes to the fore during a late scene in which Capone opens fire on his friends and family with a giant golden tommy gun while wearing a diaper and chomping on a cigar-like carrot. Part Cowardly Lion, part Bugs Bunny, and altogether ferocious even as his sanity frays, Hardy’s Capone is yet another triumph for the star, who ultimately captures his protagonist less through imposing physicality than via his dark, glassy, lost eyes. Find additional info at celia fitzgerald. Can You Stream Sports Online? Sports fans may worry that they won’t be able to watch live sports when they ditch cable. However, that’s simply not the case. Many of the video streaming options we reviewed are also among the best sports streaming services. Regardless of whether you want to watch regional, national, or international sports coverage, there is a service that meets your needs. Although blackouts and cancellations may still apply, these streaming options offer distinct advantages over cable, including full-featured apps on many platforms and simultaneous streaming capabilities. Football, basketball, basketball fans should also check out our roundup of the best NFL streaming services, best MLB streaming services, best NBA streaming services, and the best NHL streaming services.

In its rough outlines, Neasa Hardiman’s film isn’t all that different from any number of unspeakable-menace-at-sea horror flicks, but this chiller — about an Irish fishing trawler that is attacked by disease-baring parasites secreted by a mysterious deep-sea creature — also has a fully realized, lived-in quality: You can smell the oil, sweat, and salt, and hear the grind of motors and murmur of sailors. That enhances both our terror as well as the film’s eerie, unintentional resonance: It will feel uncomfortably familiar to an audience newly obsessed with the anxious mechanics of infection and exposure and quarantine. Still, the movie works not because it was released during a pandemic, but because Hardiman wisely builds suspense from uncertainty, as our heroes are terrorized by the agonizing solitude of the open sea and a nemesis that is practically invisible.

Andrew Patterson’s The Vast of Night is a marriage of the old and the new, blending effects-aided cinematic showmanship to old-school radio drama. In the director’s sterling feature debut (written by James Montague and Craig W. Sanger, and framed as an episode of a Twilight Zone-ish show called “Paradox Theater”), two 1950s high schoolers – confident radio DJ Everett (Jake Horowitz) and telephone operator Faye (Sierra McCormick) – stumble upon a strange signal that, they come to suspect, originates from the stars looming above their small-town-USA home. Like Orson Welles’ classic 1938 The War of the Worlds broadcast, the film is a tale of potential invasion that plays out over radio waves, and Patterson thus naturally focuses on intently listening faces, and the spoken words that captivate them, as a means of generating anticipation, mystery and suspense. At the same time, his centerpiece sequences are models of formal precision and depth, as protracted shots across sprawling fields, through crowded gymnasiums, and in and out of cramped buildings create pulse-pounding tension while simultaneously conveying the propulsive flow and binding, interconnected nature of narrative storytelling itself.

We appreciate VRV’s slick, cohesive interface, which makes it easy to jump from one channel’s offerings to another’s. VRV also has useful features for organizing the content you want to watch, plus it supports unlimited simultaneous streams and offline downloads on mobile. It does, however, lack the community features of many other anime streaming services, such as an apparel store, forums, and digital comics and manga. In addition to its web interface, VRV offers an app for Android and iOS, media streaming platforms (Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Roku), and gaming consoles (Xbox One and PlayStation 4). Amazon offers access to its video content in one of two ways: a standalone Amazon Video subscription or an Amazon Prime subscription. An Amazon Video subscription costs $8.99 per month and only includes access to Amazon’s streaming video library. An Amazon Prime account, which includes Prime Video content and a ton of other shipping and shopping perks, costs $12.99 per month (or $119 per year). Amazon refers to its video streaming service as Amazon Prime Video in most of its support documentation.

High quality streaming platform recommendations right now? The No Commercials price tier still displays ads for a few programs per streaming rights, but to Hulu’s credit, it is upfront about this limitation. At present, these shows are Grey’s Anatomy and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but this list of shows is subject to change. Ads in the basic plan are no worse than regular television, but they are jarring and obnoxious for on-demand content. When we watched an episode of Killing Eve, the stream was interrupted five times for commercial breaks, some of which included several back-to-back ads. If you’re getting rid of cable to avoid commercials, you’ll definitely want the No Commercials tier. Maybe you decide that your current Hulu plan isn’t right for you or you don’t want to pay for Hulu at all. Check out our guide on how to modify or cancel your Hulu subscription. Hulu also offers Cinemax ($9.99), HBO Max ($14.99), Showtime ($8.99), and Starz ($8.99), add-ons, which let you watch shows and movies from those networks along with their live feeds. Additional add-ons specifically for the Live TV plans include Enhanced Cloud DVR (200 total hours of storage plus the ability to fast forward through ads) and Unlimited Screens (no restrictions on simultaneous streams over your home network), which cost $9.99 per month each or $14.98 per month for both. You can also opt for the Entertainment ($7.99 per month) or the Español ($4.99 per month) Add-ons.

“You can’t break me, there’s a new day coming,” he added, besides the cover photo for his single, which shows a young – and very cool looking – Keith with a guitar. The Australian-American singer and songwriter, who has been married to actress Nicole since 2006, wrote an eloquent summary of his new song Out The Cage – and many of us will relate to the heartfelt meaning. Keith posted: “‘Out The Cage’ isn’t about any one specific thing, but ‘confinement’ of every kind, whether it’s real, imagined, at the hands of other forces, or of our own making – the desire and the fight to be released from that is the core spirit of this song. It’s about liberation from all that is imprisoning us.

For a certain type of moviegoer, any film where Nicolas Cage says the word “alpacas” multiple times is worth seeking out. Luckily, Color Out of Space, a psychedelic adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story from 1927, offers more than just furry animals and unhinged Cage theatrics. Mixing hints of science-fiction intrigue and bursts horror movie excess, along with a couple splashes of stoner-friendly comedy, Richard Stanley’s proudly weird B-movie vibrates on its own peculiar frequency. Cage’s Nathan, a chatty farmer with a loving wife (Joely Richardson) and a pair of mildly rebellious kids, must contend with a meteoroid that crashes in his front yard, shooting purple light all over his property and infecting the local water supply. Is it some space invader? A demonic spirit? A biological force indiscriminately wreaking havoc on the fabric of reality itself? The squishy unknowability of the evil is precisely the point, and Stanley melds Evil Dead-like gore showdowns with Pink Floyd laser light freak-outs to thrilling effect, achieving a moving and disquieting type of genre alchemy that should appeal to fans of Cage’s out-there turn in the similarly odd hybrid Mandy. Again, you’ll know if this is in your wheelhouse or not.

Bio-terror comes in corrupting forms in The Beach House, whose contagion-based scares speak, subtly if severely, to our present moment. On a Cape Cod getaway, aspiring astrobiologist Emily (liana Liberato) and her going-nowhere boyfriend Randall (Noah Le Gros) wind up sharing accommodations with fiftysomething couple Jane (Maryann Nagel) and Mitch (Jake Weber), friends of Randall’s dad. Drinks and hallucinogenic edibles help alleviate the initial awkwardness of this get-together, but the good times are fleeting, thanks to a strange mist emanating from the dark, furious depths of the ocean, which contaminates the area with glowing Lovecraftian foliage and giant, slimy organisms. The normal order is quickly turned on its axis—quite literally, in one unforgettable shot—as alien forces infest, infect and annihilate. Aided by Liberato’s accomplished performance, first-time writer/director Jeffrey A. Brown stages his mayhem with assured efficiency, creating an air of impenetrable mystery through uneasy silence, compositions that devolve into cascading bubbles and a squishy foot-surgery sequence that would make body-horror maestro David Cronenberg proud. See even more details on yvette zuniga. Can You Stream Sports Online? Sports fans may worry that they won’t be able to watch live sports when they ditch cable. However, that’s simply not the case. Many of the video streaming options we reviewed are also among the best sports streaming services. Regardless of whether you want to watch regional, national, or international sports coverage, there is a service that meets your needs. Although blackouts and cancellations may still apply, these streaming options offer distinct advantages over cable, including full-featured apps on many platforms and simultaneous streaming capabilities. Football, basketball, basketball fans should also check out our roundup of the best NFL streaming services, best MLB streaming services, best NBA streaming services, and the best NHL streaming services.

Director Kitty Green’s scripted debut depicts a long day in the life of a low-level drone at an unnamed New York film studio not unlike the Weinstein Company. Jane (Julia Garner) takes calls and makes copy and scrubs the bodily fluids off the couch in her boss’ office, all with the same look of grim understanding that this is what she has to endure to get ahead in her dream industry. Spare and devastating, The Assistant serves up a portrait of an abusive workplace in which the behavior of the unseen man at its head trickles down to inform the power dynamics and behavior of the rest of the company. That includes HR, to which Jane pays a visit in a brutal centerpiece scene that emphasizes what it’s like when the only choices open seem to be to become complicit or to give up.

Historical changes often have humble beginnings, as was the case with the American Disabilities Act (ADA), whose origin is Camp Jened, a 1970s summer getaway for disabled men and women in New York’s Catskill mountains. James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham’s documentary is the story of that quietly revolutionary locale, where disrespected and marginalized handicapped kids were finally given an opportunity to simply be themselves, free from the judgement of those not like them. What it instilled in them was a sense of self-worth, as well as indignation at the lesser-than treatment they received from society. Led by the heroic Judy Heumann and many of her fellow Jened alums, a civil rights movement was born, resulting in the famous San Francisco sit-in to compel U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Wellness Joseph Califano to sign Section 504 of 1973’s Rehabilitation Act, and later, the ADA. Intermingling copious footage of Camp Jened and the movement it produced with heartfelt interviews with some of its tale’s prime players, Crip Camp is a moving example of people fighting tooth-and-nail for the equality and respect they deserve – and, in the process, transforming the world.

Are you tired of mindlessly watching reruns of your favorite show? Try to learn about something with the documentary-focused CuriosityStream. The service offers a massive collection of informational and entertaining features in categories such as History, Kids, Lifestyle, Nature, Science, Society, and Technology. David Attenborough and Sigourney Weaver are among the hosts of the top-notch titles on CuriosityStream. There’s also a kid-specific section on the platform. Make sure to check out our roundup of the best online learning sites if you are interested in expanding your knowledge potential. The service offers two pricing tiers that offer the same documentaries. The only difference is that the more expensive plan ($9.99 per month) unlocks 4K streaming. CuriosityStream supports offline downloads on mobile and doesn’t show any ads either. You can download the app on mobile devices (Android and iOS), gaming platforms (Xbox One), streaming media devices (Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, and Roku); and smart TVs.