Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Tom Cruise will film his next Hollywood blockbuster on location — 250 miles up in the air and orbiting the Earth once every 90 minutes. The “Top Gun” star will fly through the stratosphere to shoot an as-yet-unknown film aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said on …
Read More »Star filmmakers draw inspiration from Russia lockdown
Moscow, Russia | AFP | The coronavirus pandemic might have brought the film industry to a halt but Andrei Konchalovsky, one of Russia’s most renowned film and theatre directors, is as busy as ever. He wants to make a documentary about daily life under quarantine, exploring the poetic side of the …
Read More »Reinvent the reel: Hollywood mulls new measures to restart shooting
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Movie moguls, directors and lawyers are searching for radical solutions to reopen Hollywood as soundstages gather dust and studio profits slide weeks after cameras stopped rolling due to coronavirus. The film industry has been on lockdown in California since mid-March following strict stay-at-home orders, …
Read More »The Masaka Kids Africana go viral with Drake’s ‘Toosie Slide’
Masaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A video by children of the charity group The Masaka Kids African has gone viral after they performed musician Drake‘s ‘Toosie Slide’ challenge. One of their videos got over a million views after the musician Drake posted the performance on his Instagram account. The …
Read More »Virtual mega-concert featuring Stones, Swift celebrates health workers
New York, United States | AFP | A virtual concert packed with A-listers — from The Rolling Stones to Taylor Swift to Billie Eilish — entertained fans around the world with a show celebrating health workers, as billions shelter at home due to coronavirus. Lizzo, Jennifer Lopez, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney …
Read More »The Beatles’ legend lives on, 50 years after break-up
London, United Kingdom | AFP | When The Beatles went their separate ways in the early 1970s, few thought that half a century later the pioneering band would still influence pop music culture. But, with Friday marking 50 years since their unofficial break-up, the so-called “Fab Four” are still popular and …
Read More »Quibi launching Hollywood ‘on the go’ streaming amid lockdown
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Quibi, the multi-billion-dollar streaming platform launching Monday, is betting it can transform entertainment with short, Hollywood-quality clips to watch “on the go” — even as much of the world is trapped at home. Industry legends and stars from Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro …
Read More »Country music legend Kenny Rogers dies at 81
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Country music legend Kenny Rogers, whose career spanned six decades, has died at the age of 81, his family said late Friday. “Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family,” they said …
Read More »Cinemas in Kampala close
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Century Cinemax in Acacia Mall and Ham Cinemax Makerere have suspended operations following President Museveni’s ban on all public gatherings. Although it had scheduled movies to show on Thursday, Century Cinemax cancelled all movies. Management announced a closure at 3:00 pm on their social media …
Read More »‘The Plot Against America’ goes for daring Trump parallel
New York, United States | AFP | US author Philip Roth certainly could never have imagined Donald Trump’s presidency when he wrote “The Plot Against America.” But a new TV adaptation of his bleak 2004 novel, which envisions an alternate history of a fascist United States, certainly suggests a link between …
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