County Harvey Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Brent Lang Executive Editor New Works Provincetown, a developmental theatre lab founded by producer Mark Cortale with Jonathan Murray and Harvey Reese to create and develop new theatrical works, has commissioned its next slate of projects, including new shows about F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s tumultuous marriage and an adaptation of Ira Sachs’ “Love Is Strange.” The shows are from creators like Mona Mansour, Hannah Corneau, Douglas Lyons, Craig Lucas, Daniel Messé, Nathan Tysen, Mindi Dickstein and Carmel Dean. Among the shows is “Beautiful Little Fool,” which is a new musical inspired by the Fitzgeralds’ relationship.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic There’s a rather simplistic, retro “don’t forget where you came from” message lurking within “It Lives Inside,” suggesting that people who leave their native culture behind might well attract — or even deserve — torment from its ancient mythological spirits. But that faintly reactionary finger-wagging is subsumed by the moment-to-moment effectiveness of writer-director Bishal Dutta’s debut feature. Repping one of the better PG-13 horrors of late, it ekes sufficient menace from the familiar story gist of a consuming demonic presence passed from one beleaguered victim to another.

AB 1078, passed the Assembly in May by a 61-17 margin, and the Senate last week by a 31-9 margin. Under the bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Corey Jackson (D-Moreno), school boards will be financially penalized if they vote to ban books or educational materials related to Black, Latino, Asian, Native American, and LGBTQ topics — provided those topics are part of the school’s approved curriculum, reports Los Angeles-based CW affiliate KTLA.The bill was sparked by a controversy in the Temecula Valley Unified School District, in which the board’s conservative members rejected an elementary school social studies curriculum over supplemental materials that mentioned Harvey Milk as the state’s first openly gay elected official, with the board president dubbing the former San Francisco Supervisor a “pedophile.”State officials blasted the board and threatened legal actions and fines, prompting the board to backtrack and adopt the approved state curriculum.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Now on its ninth feature entry in just a decade, the “Conjuring” franchise has proved something of a powerhouse in the continued growth of horror as one of the most reliably popular (not to mention cost-effective) mainstream film genres. Their mythologies may be garbled and silly, the scares mostly “jump” ones, yet these movies provide a kind of creepy comfort food — familiarly formulaic jolts unlikely to trouble any non-child viewer’s sleep later on — whose satisfactions are amplified by the good actors and superior atmospherics deployed.

It’s a sad day for ’90s kids!

Dennis Harvey Film Critic “Based on a true story” has become one of the most overused (and misleading) labels of our time. Still, its application to “Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose” is duly warranted — and no less ridiculous for being so. The “true events” drawn on here remain dumbfounding: In the 1930s, a family living in a farmhouse on the Isle of Main claimed they played frequent host to an octogenarian mongoose from New Delhi whose mysterious powers were hardly limited to human speech.

Emmerdale ended on a cliffhanger tonight (Tuesday) with fans believing that a relatively new character has died. Earlier, the episode centred around a jewellery theft, with June arrival Victor Anderson (Eddie Osei) set to be the main name in the guilty frame.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic One briny-deep thriller that does not have sharks, other aquatic predators or even human ones, German director Max Erlenwein’s English-language “The Dive” manages to work up considerable tension nonetheless. It’s closer in gist to “127 Hours” than most other underwater suspense films, hinging on a similar type of physical entrapment — only the survivable timespan here is of course much reduced, because the imperiled characters have a limited oxygen supply. While perhaps not quite striking enough in style or incident to leave a lasting impression, this very well-crafted remake of co-writer Joachim Heden’s 2020 Norwegian feature “Breaking Surface” should particularly impress with its underwater photography on the big screen.

Jennifer Aniston isn’t a fan of cancel culture.

Jennifer Aniston has criticised the idea of “cancel culture”, saying she doesn’t “put everybody in the Harvey Weinstein basket”.The Friends actor reflected on her encounters with the disgraced producer in a Wall Street Journal profile interview, which led to the topic of cancel culture.“I’m so over cancel culture,” Aniston said. “I probably just got cancelled by saying that.

be more done with cancel culture?In a new interview with WSJ Magazine, Jennifer Aniston, 54, says she refuses to hold people who make mistakes in the same regard as former Hollywood mogul and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, 71. “I’m so over cancel culture,” the “Morning Show” star told the outlet. “I probably just got canceled by saying that.

Jennifer Aniston is making it clear that she is not a fan of cancel culture and is opening up as to why she feels like that.

Ethan Shanfeld Jennifer Aniston is “so over cancel culture,” the “Morning Show” actor said in a new cover story for Wall Street Journal Magazine. “I probably just got canceled by saying that,” Aniston continued. “I just don’t understand what it means.… Is there no redemption? I don’t know.

A couple who eloped to Dumfries in defiance of the groom’s parents 50 years ago celebrate their golden wedding anniversary tomorrow.

Newcastle United defender Kieran Trippier praised the 'fantastic' Phil Foden but admitted his side gave the Manchester City star too much space during Saturday's 1-0 defeat.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Though raised in Brooklyn, actor turned producer/director Danny A. Abeckaser was born in Israel. Unfortunately, that birthright isn’t enough to lend authenticity to “The Engineer,” which feels very much like an American B-movie stab at turning Israeli anti-terrorist operations of 30 years ago into formulaic action fodder — without much action, even.

The Who, Madness, Soul II Soul, Amy Winehouse, David Bowie and more.The trail will recognise more pivotal figures in music with a five-day-long celebration. This year’s recipients are Janis Joplin, Harvey Goldsmith CBE, UB40, Gordon Mac (Founder Of Kiss FM), Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson, Sugarhill Gang, Eddy Grant, Buzzcocks, Billy Bragg, Shalamar and The Kinks.

swimsuit season — and this new launch just convinced us to cop some new suits before summer is over. Introducing YEVRAH Swim by Lori Harvey, a sultry new swimwear line inspired by vintage silhouettes.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Marc Forster has frequently demonstrated an ability to tastefully moderate the more manipulative or saccharine aspects of popular but somewhat blunt-edged source material, in bestseller screen translations like “The Kite Runner” and “A Man Called Otto.” That knack comes in handy once more with “White Bird,” a graceful adaptation of a YA graphic novel by R.J. Palacio.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic It’s become increasingly common to lend genre films some semblance of emotional depth by having their protagonists burdened from the start with profound grief or loss. That is especially the case with “Aporia,” producer Jared Moshe’s third feature as writer-director. Its variation on a particular kind of fantasy premise (often involving time travel) underlines the familiar wisdom of “Be careful what you wish for,” as the ability to alter tragic past events only ends up complicating the present for our main characters.

cause of death for actor Julian Sands, 65, has been deemed “undetermined” five months after he went missing on a California hike. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department explained that the death was ruled “undetermined due to the condition of the body and this is common when dealing with cases of this type,” according to People. The British actor was reported missing by his wife Evgenia Citkowitz after going hiking on a Southern California mountain in January.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Watching Nicolas Cage add another notch to his belt of gonzo performances can be a movie’s main attraction. But it shouldn’t be all it has to offer — there ought to be some “there” there. Falling short in that regard is “Sympathy for the Devil,” a hazily familiar black comedy-cum-thriller with the star as a mystery man who carjacks Joel Kinnaman for a wild night’s ride.  Not wild enough, however, as Yuval Adler’s film seems to reprise elements from more distinctive road movies without settling on a consistent tone or persuasive narrative to call its own. Essentially a two-hander, Luke Paradise’s screenplay provides its leads with plenty of opportunity for histrionics; only a credible context and conviction are lacking. RLJE Films opens this just-passable diversion in limited U.S. theaters this Friday, July 28. 

Sophia Scorziello editor Josephine Chaplin, actor and daughter of Charlie Chaplin, has died. She was 74. Chaplin died on July 13 in Paris, according to an announcement from her family. During her career, she starred in a number of foreign films. In 1972 she was featured in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s award-winning film “The Canterbury Tales” and Richard Balducci’s “L’odeur des fauves.” The same year, she also starred alongside Laurence Harvey in Menahem Golan’s 1972 drama “Escape to the Sun” about a group of people attempting to flee the Soviet Union. In 1974, Chaplin starred as Martine Leduc in Georges Franju’s European crime-thriller “Shadowman” alongside Gayle Hunnicutt and Jacques Champreux. The film follows the Man Without a Face, a criminal attempting to find the elusive treasures of the Knights Templar. Chaplin then reprised her role as Martine in the subsequent French mini-series “The Man Without a Face,” an extended eight-episode version of Franju’s film.

Josephine Chaplin, the daughter of Charlie Chaplin and Oona O’Neill, who was an accomplished actress in her own right, has died at 74, according to a report in Le Figaro, which cites her children Charly, Julien and Arthur. She died on July 13 in Paris.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Power publicist Alla Plotkin is teaming up with Jillian Roscoe, becoming a partner in Birch Public Relations. Roscoe launched the firm in March 2023 after leaving ID PR. Plotkin also departed ID at about the same time but didn’t announce her next move until her new partnership with Roscoe. Plotkin’s clients, including Sarah Paulson, Nicholas Braun, Bette Midler, Holland Taylor, Harvey Guillen and Titus Burgess, will join Birch’s roster, which includes Donald Glover, Jeremy Allen White, Sharon Horgan, John Cho, James Marsden, Kemp Powers, Gerard Butler, Judy Greer, Jesse Garcia, Mandy Moore, David Duchovny, Lake Bell, Jim Parsons, Fred Armisen, Jake Johnson, Ben Schwartz, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Melissa Rauch, Hannah Fidell, Ken Marino, Sarah Chalke, London Hughes, Lewis Howes, Zach Woods, Ty Burrell, Clay Tarver, Kevin Tancharoen, Julian Dennison, Jake Szymanski, Nicolette Robinson, Anna Drezen, Dan Perrault and Noah Pink.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic If “Barbarian” handily won as last year’s premier monster-in-the-basement movie, 2023’s prize might well end up going to “Cobweb” — a less inspired effort, but one decently creepy enough to get the job done. Chris Thomas Devlin’s script feels like a composite of some prior horror conceits, and there is not much depth to the narrative or characters. Still, director Samuel Bodin’s first theatrical feature is atmospheric, and departs from stock slasher conventions just enough to make for an entertaining if unexceptional scarefest. Lionsgate is releasing the U.S.-produced feature (which was apparently shot in Bulgaria in 2020) to limited theaters on July 21.  It begins with the familiar device of a child having night terrors that are probably not entirely in his or her imagination. Eight-year-old Peter (Woody Norman, from “C’mon C’mon”) is a sad loner, bullied at school, who’s woken from sleep by noises seemingly behind his bedroom wall — it sounds like something or somebody is moving around back there. When he taps on the wall, “it” taps back, which sends him screaming to his parents. But they dismiss it as an old house’s bumps in the night. 

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Darren Criss will host and perform at the MPTF’s 2023 NextGen Summer Party on Aug. 6. MPTF NextGen Board also announced Tuesday that the host committee for the evening includes Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Camilla Belle, Matt Bomer, Yvette Nicole Brown, Sherry Cola, Lana Condor, Colman Domingo, Janina Gavankar, Jason George, Max Greenfield, Harvey Guillén, Olivia Holt, Glen Powell, Harry Shum Jr., Michael Rooker, Reid Scott and Tiffany Smith. “MPTF has proven time and time again that they are a necessary and invaluable resource to those in our industry. With the ongoing strikes and subsequent production shutdowns impacting so many, the services that MPTF provides are even more critical,” NextGen co-chair Jeffrey R. Epstein said in statement. “Funds raised during the Summer Party will help those who are directly affected as we weather these challenging times.”

Amad could be offered as a makeweight in a deal to bring Rasmus Hojlund to Manchester United, according to reports.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Five years ago seems aeons in an era so disrupted by COVID. So it comes as a surprise to realize that the original screen “Bird Box” arrived a full 14 months or so in advance of pandemic restrictions — becoming an early Netflix pop-culture phenomenon before lockdown made that sort of thing a regular occurrence. Susanne Bier’s film of Josh Malerman’s sci-fi horror novel was intriguing and suspenseful enough, even if its emphasis on psychological drama over thrills made for a somewhat unlikely breakout hit.  Inevitably, if belatedly, there’s now a follow-up — but not an adaptation of Malerman’s own print sequel, which continued the travails of the character played by Sandra Bullock. Instead, “Bird Box Barcelona” is a “parallel story” set on another continent entirely. Written and directed by Alex and David Pastor, whose prior genre efforts “The Last Days” (2013) and “Carriers” (2009) both had similar basic premises, it finds a different cross-section of humanity imperiled by unseen but presumed space aliens. When glimpsed, they induce immediate, overwhelming suicidal urges — or, in a chosen few, mind-controlled subservience that drives them to lead unsuspecting others to their doom.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic In the diverse annals of survivalist cinema, one lesson is clear: Death is surely preferable to an eternity (or even 95 minutes) spent trapped with the inimitable duo of Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin in 1996’s “Bio-Dome.” By contrast, the dystopian-future-style living is pretty easy to take in “Biosphere,” given the more amiable company of stars Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass. They play besties stuck for the long haul in a self-sustaining habitat after some murky catastrophe has rendered the world outside lethal.  This first directorial feature for producer Mel Eslyn (who co-wrote with Duplass) is a somewhat uneven construct that at times threatens to exhaust its bro-comedy goodwill. But ultimately the performers are winning enough, and the ideas in the ambiguous story intriguing enough, to achieve an end result of successful middleweight charm and substance.