Merit: Last News

When feeling a bit off, it's tempting to brush it aside as just another seasonal bug.

Hunter Ingram For seven years, if you weren’t named John Oliver, you were just happy to be nominated in the talk series category at the Emmys. Between 2016 and 2022, HBO’s “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” dominated the category, a streak beaten only by Oliver’s former employer, “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” which won variety talk series the entire decade between 2003 and 2012.

Carlos Aguilar The work of British filmmaker Christopher Nolan, past and recent, merits even greater appreciation when compared to Chinese director Chen Sicheng’s ambitious but saccharine and mostly dull “Decoded,” an adaptation of the 2002 novel of the same name by Mai Jia. This cradle-to-grave portrait of fictional character Rong Jinzhen (Haoran Liu), a prodigious orphan turned valuable government asset in the 1940s, chronicles how his unique skillset ultimately helped clear the path for China to establish its own nuclear weapons program.

Merit Street Media laid off almost third of its employees on Friday, sources tell Deadline. The move comes four months after the launch of Dr. Phil McGraw‘s news and entertainment TV network with Christian-based Trinity Broadcasting cable network as a main distribution partner, putting the new brand in more than 65 million homes on DirecTV and Dish, among cable and satellite systems.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Once every year or two a movie comes along that brings fresh energy to the found-footage horror movie, a terrain that’s been mercilessly, repetitiously over-tilled since “The Blair Witch Project” broke out a quarter-century ago. Unfortunately, “In Our Blood” does not capture that prize for 2024.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer President Joe Biden said Wednesday that while he believes his record merits a second term in office, he dropped his reelection bid to “unite my party” to confront a threat to American democracy. “Nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition,” Biden said, before invoking a line from President Kennedy.

Manchester United are considering the appointment of Tommy Rowe as a player-coach in the academy.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Here we go again. Kamala Harris, former U.S. Senator and Attorney General of California and Vice President to Joe Biden, is the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for this year’s upcoming presidential election.

A senior Scottish Tory has said the party should "revisit" the idea of breaking away from the UK Conservatives.

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer A federal judge has put a temporary ban on “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli from streaming or disseminating copies of a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album that he purchased for $2 million in 2015.

Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.com After 3 seasons, John Wilson is tired of people questioning the integrity of “How To With John Wilson.” However, when you spend 18 episodes curating the most unbelievable New York oddities and storylines while sending crews out to film “houses that look like faces” or a “bunch of bottles of urine discarded on the sidewalk” (which are actually pretty easy to find in the city), the public can’t help but wonder if the subjects of his docuseries on HBO are really… real. The master of weaving seemingly unrelated narratives and anecdotal tangents together into an (often emotional) truth about humanity sat down with Variety‘s Making a Scene to discuss why he was ready to address the disbelievers and unveil his process of creating the final season of “How To.” So, for the penultimate episode of “How To,” instead of busting out the receipts, Wilson decided to lean in and stage the fakest episode of “How To” to date.

Rutherglen boxing coach Archie Durie received a surprise award at the Cambuslang and Rutherglen Sports Council Awards earlier this month.

Brad Pitt just got a win in his legal battle with ex Angelina Jolie over their Miraval winery.

Tatiana Siegel It proved to be the most disturbing scene in a movie chock full of unflattering sequences about Donald Trump. In Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice,” Trump (played by Sebastian Stan) violently throws his then-wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova) to the ground and proceeds to have nonconsensual sex with her. In the controversial scene, Ivana playfully presents a book to her husband about the merits of a female orgasm.

Another tower block is to be built in Manchester city centre. But for heritage groups it is a watershed moment as a Grade II listed building will evetually be demolished to make way for it - and it will be constructed in a conservation area.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Even Dr. Phil is getting in on TV’s frenzied battle for sports rights. The daytime mainstay has long been known for doling out common-sense advice without any bull.

There has been consternation about benefit claimants undergoing "mass surveillance" by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for months, following the announcement of new powers to access bank account information. But, in a recently published plan to tackle fraud, the department has spelled out exactly who will access this information.

Chris Sutton insists he has no issue with Brendan Rodgers calling out his comments as he applauded the Celtic manager’s move towards the title.

Prince Harry is being 'permanently set adrift' by his father and the senior royals, according to Royal author and commentator Tom Quinn.

Prince Harry has been dealt a "kick in the teeth" with King Charles timing a "hurtful" royal announcement for maximum impact, according to an expert.

A Royal expert claims Prince Harry was "in tears" when King Charles announced a new honour for Prince William.