Month: November 2022

Apple TV+ has shared a trailer for the historical drama ‘Emancipation’ featuring Will Smith.

Emancipation explores the true story of Gordon, or “Whipped Peter,” a runaway slave who joined the Union Army during the Civil War. Photos of his scars from a near-fatal whipping were published in Harper’s Weekly, illustrating the cruelty of slavery for readers.  An official description reads: “Emancipation tells the triumphant story of Peter, a man who escapes from slavery, relying on his wits, unwavering faith and deep love for his family to evade cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on his quest for freedom.” 

The trailer for Emancipation shows Peter (Smith) face the elements and a persistent slave hunter (Ben Foster) in his escape from slavery.  Steven Ogg, Charmaine Bingwa, Gilbert Owuor, Mustafa Shakir, Grant Harvey, Ronnie Gene Blevins and Timothy Hutton also star

Emancipation opens in theaters Dec. 2 and begins streaming on Apple TV+ on Dec. 9. Take a look at the official trailer – here.

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In the official trailer for “80 for Brady,” four best friends — portrayed by Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sally Field and Rita Moreno — travel to Houston to see their favorite football player, Tom Brady, play in Super Bowl 51.   Super Bowl 51, which took place in 2017, saw Brady lead the New England Patriots to a comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons after trailing 28-3.

80 for Brady is inspired by a true story; in the trailer, Fonda, Tomlin, Field and Moreno’s characters decide to set out on their adventure, which is filled with hilarious hijinks and also some celebrity cameos, including Billy Porter, Guy Fieri and Rob Gronkowski. Brady, who now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, appears in and is a producer on the film, directed by Kyle Marvin.

“80 for Brady” debuts in theaters Feb. 3, 2023.  Take a look at the trailer – here.

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The 50th American Music Awards took place on Sunday night at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, hosted by Wayne Brady and airing on ABC.

Taylor Swift ruled the evening, sweeping all six categories for which she was nominated, including artist of the year, the night’s top honor. Swift is now the most decorated artist in AMAs history, with 40 career wins. BTS also broke records, winning in favorite pop duo or group for the fourth time, making them the most awarded group in the history of the category. Elton John took home his first AMA win since 1988 for best collaboration with Dua Lipa, becoming the longest-recognized artist in the awards show’s history. (John was first nominated for an AMA in 1974.)

Bad Bunny won for Best Male Latin Artist and his Un Verano Sin Ti was named Best Latin Album, while Anitta won for Best Female Latin Artist. Beyonce was awarded Best R&B Artist with her album Renaissance winning for Best R&B Album; and the Best Male R&B Artist statuette went to Chris Brown. Kendrick Lamar scored the Best Male Hip-Hop Artist award, with his Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers LP named Best Hip-Hop Album; Nicki Minaj won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist. Morgan Wallen earned the Best Male Country Artist award, and his single “Wasted on You” winning for Best Country Song.

Lionel Richie, a 17-time AMA winner, was honored with the Icon Award for his career contributions to the music industry, with Charlie Puth, Stevie Wonder and Ari Lennox performing a tribute to Richie.

For the full list of winners, head here.

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HBO announced that the anthology comedy-drama series “The White Lotus” will return for a third season on the network. HBO tweeted alongside a teaser: “I can’t wait to welcome you to the next White Lotus property.” 

The White Lotus, created, written and directed by Mike White, follows the guests and staff of the fictional ‘White Lotus’ resort chain. Season 1 took place in Hawaii and starred Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Lacy, Sydney Sweeny and Molly Shannon. Season 2 is set in Sicily and stars Coolidge, F. Murray Abraham, Meghann Fahy, Michael Imperioli, Theo James, Aubrey Plaza and Sabrina Impacciatore.

HBO programming EVP Francesca Orsi said in a press release: “Reflecting on The White Lotus’ humble, run-and-gun origin as a contained pandemic production, it’s impossible not to be awestruck by how Mike orchestrated one of the buzziest and critically acclaimed shows. And yet, he’s only continued to reach new heights in season 2, which is the ultimate testament to Mike’s raw, unparalleled vision. His courage to explore the uncharted waters of the human psyche, paired with his signature irreverent humor and buoyant directing style, have us all dreaming of more vacation days at the resort we’ve come to adore. We couldn’t be more thrilled to get the chance to collaborate on a third season together.”

Season 2 of “The White Lotus” premiered in October.

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Ticketmaster is apologizing to Taylor Swift and her fans for the disasterous presale for her The Eras Tour, and for canceling the public on-sale. The company released an updated public statement about what went wrong during Tuesday’s Verified Fan presale that left millions of fans without tickets.

Ticketmaster’s tweet read: “We strive to make ticket buying as easy as possible for fans, but that hasn’t been the case for many people trying to buy tickets for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour. First, we want to apologize to Taylor and all of her fans – especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets. Next, we feel we owe it to everyone to share some information to help explain what happened … Historically, we’ve been able to manage huge volume coming into the site to shop for tickets, so those with Verified Fan codes have a smooth shopping process. However, this time the staggering number of bot attacks as well as fans who didn’t have codes drove unprecedented traffic on our site, resulting in 3.5 billion total system requests – 4x our previous peak … We handle onsales for countless top tours, some of the biggest sporting events, and more. Never before has a Verified Fan onsale sparked so much attention – or traffic. This disrupted the predictability and reliability that is the hallmark of our Verified Fan platform.”

Ticketmaster added that it will work to improve its system in hopes this doesn’t happen again: “The biggest venues and artists turn to us because we have the leading ticketing technology in the world – that doesn’t mean it’s perfect, and clearly for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour onsale it wasn’t. But we’re always working to improve the ticket buying experience. Especially for high demand onsales, which continue to test new limits. We’re working to shore up our tech for the new bar that has been set by demand for the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour. Once we get through that, if there are any next steps, updates will be shared accordingly.  While it’s impossible for everyone to get tickets to these shows, we know we can do more to improve the experience and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Demand for Swift concert tickets was huge before the Verified Fan presale. Swift initially announced 27 dates and then added eight and then 17 new dates within two weeks. Swift will play multiple nights in all cities, tallying to 52 shows in US stadiums in 2023. And despite the ticket sale problems, Ticketmaster did note that “over 2 million tickets were sold on Ticketmaster for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour on Nov. 15 – the most tickets ever sold for an artist in a single day.”

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Warner Bros. Pictures has shared a trailer for the romantic comedy-drama ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’, featuring Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek.

‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ is a sequel to 2012’s Magic Mike and 2015’s Magic Mike XXL. The film series follows Michael “Magic Mike” Lane (Tatum), a male stripper from Florida. The new movie sees Mike head to London with a wealthy socialite (Salma Hayek), where he plans to put on a new show.  An official description reads: “For what he hopes will be one last hurrah, Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite (Hayek) who lures him with an offer he can’t refuse… and an agenda all her own. With everything on the line, once Mike discovers what she truly has in mind, will he — and the roster of hot new dancers he’ll have to whip into shape — be able to pull it off?” 

Magic Mike’s Last Dance is written by Reid Carolin, who wrote the first two films. Steven Soderbergh, who directed the first film, returns to direct the latest film in the franchise.

Take a look at the trailer for ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ – here.

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