The Record Club: The Go! Team's Ian Parton on balancing pop with politics: "We've got funkier but the songs have become more meaningful"

The Whale in something of a mixed bag for representation and storytelling.Here’s a look at the six straight men who have won Best Actor for playing gay men.William HurtHollywood heartthrob William Hurt made history when he won the Best Actor Oscar in 1986 for portraying “effeminate” gay man Luis Molina, who forges a relationship with his cellmate in a Brazilian prison.The film focuses on much more than just Molina’s sexuality, but it is certainly a big part of his character, and Hurt’s performance was groundbreaking at the time.Hurt would claim the prize on his first attempt, and though he was nominated three more times throughout his career, he didn’t snag a second trophy.​​Tom HanksJust a few years later, Tom Hanks became the second person to win the Best Actor Oscar for playing a gay male character.In 1994, the star – who was still just beginning what would go on to become one of the most celebrated careers in Hollywood – took home his first Academy Award for his role in Philadelphia, which tells the story of a lawyer dying of AIDS who sues his employer for wrongful termination and wins.In his speech, Hanks thanked people from his past who clearly helped make him the actor–and the person–he was when he won.“I would not be standing here if it weren’t for two very important men in my life, so… two that I haven’t spoken with in awhile, but I had the pleasure of just the other evening,” the star began. “Mr.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor in the “Rust” case, resigned on Tuesday, saying she did not want questions about her dual roles as a legislator and prosecutor to “cloud” the issues. The move is another setback for the prosecution of Alec Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who are accused of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021. The prosecution previously dropped a five-year sentencing enhancement against both defendants, after discovering that the law did not apply at the time of Hutchins’ death. Reeb was hired last August by Mary Carmack-Altwies, the Santa Fe district attorney, to lead the prosecution. A longtime prosecutor from Clovis, N.M., Reeb was elected in November as a Republican member of the state House of Representatives.

Jordan Moreau “The Last of Us” actor Gabriel Luna is ready to return as Tommy for Season 2 of HBO’s hit adaptation, and he teased a bit of what to expect at HBO Max’s “The Last of Us” SXSW Conversation over the weekend ahead of the Season 1 finale. Luna plays Tommy, the younger brother of Joel (Pedro Pascal), who joins the Firefly rebels and lives in a safe, civilized settlement in Jackson, Wyo. He’s first introduced in the Episode 1 opening flashback, where Tommy, Joel and Joel’s daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) escape the cordyceps fungus outbreak in Austin, Tex. — which is coincidentally Luna’s hometown and the location of the SXSW festival. Twenty years later, Tommy reunites with Joel in Jackson after Joel transports Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across the country. Tommy is now settled own, married to his wife Maria (Rutina Wesley) and has a child on the way.

David Benedict Since Nicholas Hytner, former artistic director of the National Theatre, is one of the finest, most detailed Shakespeare directors in the land, you could be forgiven for forgetting that he really knows how to put on a show — and then some. Given that his career spans everything from “One Man, Two Guvnors” to the original “Miss Saigon,” expectations in London were high that, armed with arguably the greatest musical comedy ever written, he might be onto a winner. Revise your expectations: His immersive, explosively joyous “Guys and Dolls” is a solid-gold knockout. Hytner has always been strong on physical staging. Because he started out in opera, he has always known about crowd control and can shift the emotional temperature of a scene simply by how he commands groups of people on stage. After his runaway-hit, immersive productions of “Julius Caesar” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at his own Bridge Theatre, he now takes that skill up umpteen notches moving not just the actors in “Guys and Dolls” but a third of the audience.

Naman Ramachandran “White Snow,” the latest project from celebrated Indian filmmaker Praveen Morchhale, is his “artistic revolt” against political systems that repress artists. The project has been selected for the 21st Hong Kong — Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), the project market that operates concurrently with FilMart (March 13-16). Set in and around Kargil, a Muslim-dominated town in the Himalayas, where a war was fought between India and Pakistan in 1999, the film tells the story of Amir, whose short film gets banned due to a complaint from a religious leader, and his social media accounts gets blocked. His elderly mother Fatima sets out on an arduous journey in the Himalayan mountains to show the film in villages, which breaks her mentally and physically and brings her close to madness before she becomes a free soul.

Netflix over budget concerns. News that the project is being shelved comes following reports that A-listers Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Owen Wilson and Michael Fassbender were circling the lead roles in the film. Netflix was backing the movie, which was announced in April 2022 and greenlit with a price tag well over $100 million, a source confirms to Variety. (Industry newsletter Puck reported that the film would cost $130 million to produce). It’s not clear how much of the budget would’ve been devoted to designing an immaculate kitchen, a staple in the Nancy Meyers Cinematic Universe.

Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor in the fatal "Rust" on set shooting case, has made the decision to step down.  "After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to step down as special prosecutor in the 'Rust' case," Andrea Reeb said in a statement shared by the office of New Mexico's First Judicial District Attorney on Tuesday. The statement continued: "My priority in this case—and in every case I’ve prosecuted in my 25-year career—has been justice for the victim.

In the latest episode of the podcast The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling, which was released today, the Harry Potter author spoke about the reactions to her 2019 tweet in which she expressed support for Maya Forstater, a British researcher fired for comments interpreted as anti-trans, drew condemnation from GLAAD.

Joshua Bassett quietly shut down a heckler during his concert over the weekend.

you live in a state that is most likely to survive it?With the recent success of HBO‘s “The Last of Us,” insurance marketplace Insuranks surveyed more than 1,000 US citizens about zombies and what they might do in case of a terrifying undead apocalypse. They also analyzed more than 1,000 Google searches to determine where each state lands on zombie apocalypse preparedness.According to the survey, Wyoming is the readiest to take on the walking dead.

Chris Pine kicked off his day with his regular dance workout!

Celebs are speaking out in response to celebrity stylist Law Roach‘s shocking announcement that he is retiring from the industry.

Nancy Meyers‘ romantic comedy movie will not be moving forward at Netflix.

We’ve heard how hard this divorce has been for Kelly Clarkson behind the curtain. And now she’s opening up about how her kids have been affected.

Metallica have purchased a majority stake in a vinyl pressing plant in Virginia.Furnace Record Pressing in Alexandria, Virginia is one of the largest pressing plants in the United States, with 12 Pheenix Alpha presses and two Finebilt presses.In the past, it has pressed a host of reissues for Metallica, including box set vinyl of their albums ‘Kill ‘Em All’, ‘Ride The Lightning’ and ‘Master Of Puppets’.The band are now majority partners in the plant, which was founded in 1996 by Eric Astor. In a statement, Astor said: “Building Furnace into the dedicated and experienced family of experts that it is today has been a huge effort, but immensely gratifying.“Knowing our long-term future is secured while also being better able to take advantage of growth opportunities is really exciting for every member of the Furnace staff.”Metallica’s Lars Ulrich said: “We couldn’t be more happy to take our partnership with Furnace — and Eric, Ali and Mark specifically — to the next level.

BREAKING – Alec Baldwin has just won another scuffle with the Santa Fe District Attorney in the criminal case over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021.

The Record Club will welcome The Go! Team as its latest guests this week.

Around 1,300 homes in Scotland are still without power as Storm Otto moves away from the UK. The homes have not been reconnected since they fell off-grid on Saturday afternoon.

Jessica Kiang The unusual design of the White Pagoda, a 13th-century Buddhist temple in the Xicheng district of Beijing, makes it hard to see its shadow. This has given rise to the local legend that its shade can actually be found some two thousand miles away in Tibet, the temple’s spiritual home. The landmark is a constant presence in Chinese director Zhang Lu’s tender, brimming “The Shadowless Tower,” which fixes its setting in the very heart of the Chinese capital, a city rarely portrayed as fondly as it is here. But the pagoda can also be seen as an evocatively imperfect metaphor for a lifestage: that tipping point in the middle of one’s time when, with the past and future weighing equally on either side, you can feel disoriented and suddenly directionless, as when the sun is directly overhead and you cast no shadow.