First Authorized Documentary on Hollywood Blonde Bombshell Mamie Van Doren in the Works

Posted on April 23, 2025 by admin

Entitled “Mamie Exposed! The Life and Loves of the Last Blonde Bombshell”, the first authorized doc on Hollywood’s Blonde Bombshell Mamie Van Doren is in the works. The feature film is an intimate and unprecedented look inside the life of one of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars, and will reveal intimate never-before-shared secrets of Van Doren’s enigmatic, scandalous, and fiercely private personal life.

Production is currently taking place in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, and will be completed by the end of 2025.

Van Doren is on board as Executive Producer. Producers are Alan Eichler, Stephen Israel and Marc Saltarelli, who also directs – the same team that brought audiences the award-winning 2024 documentary “Studio One Forever.” They are also developing a narrative feature based on her published memoirs.

Van Doren in a swimsuit photoshoot in 1955 (source: wikipedia)

Said Van Doren, “I have been fiercely private my whole life, and at ninety-four I’ve decided to throw caution to the wind and reveal intimacies, secrets, and never before shared moments from my incredible life as the last original Hollywood Blonde Bombshell. Marc Saltarelli and his exceptional team are truly talented stewards of my documentary life story. Together we’re going to reveal and celebrate a provocative, entertaining, and indelible life journey.”
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“Songs of Black Folk” Documentary Short Film to have World Premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival

Posted on April 23, 2025 by admin

‘Songs of Black Folk’ documentary short film is set to have its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. “Songs of Black Folk” unites top black musical talent on one pacific northwest stage.

As Artistic Director Ramón Bryant Braxton says, “I want these artists and audiences to be able to walk with their heads held high.” With this film we celebrate and bring greater awareness to their extraordinary ambition, talent and musical power.

“Songs of Black Folk” is from directors Haley Watson (director and producer) and Justin Emeka (director).

The synopsis for “Songs of Black Folk” says:
Songs of Black Folk, a new musical tradition, brings together the largest gathering of Black musical talent on a single stage in the Pacific Northwest, marking a new era for black artists in the PNW, on the meaningful backdrop of Juneteenth. Led by Ramón Bryant Braxton and Rev. Dr. Leslie Braxton, this extraordinary performance group establishes a new tradition, inspiring audiences and the next generation of Black artists. Inspired by this mission, we created a film to capture and celebrate black talent in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Ensuring their stories live beyond a single performance.

Read more about the program on:
https://tribecafilm.com/films/songs-of-black-folk-2025#

Jack Lemmon 100: Festival of Classics Opens May 16 at Film Forum

Posted on April 22, 2025 by admin

JACK LEMMON 100, a two-week festival of classics from the 1950s to the 1990s, will run at Film Forum from Friday, May 16 to Thursday, May 29, in commemoration of Lemmon’s centennial year in 2025. The festival will include Lemmon’s best-known movies, including THE APARTMENT, SOME LIKE IT HOT, DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, THE ODD COUPLE, IRMA LA DOUCE, and THE CHINA SYNDROME.

One of the most beloved actors in movie history, with a 50-year career that included comedies, musicals and dramas, Jack Lemmon (1925-2001), known for his quintessential “every man” persona, became the first person to win Academy Awards for both Best Supporting Actor for his role in MISTER ROBERTS (1955) and Best Actor for SAVE THE TIGER (1973). Lemmon also received Oscar nominations for THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979), TRIBUTE (1980) and MISSING (1982).

A frequent collaborator of director Billy Wilder and actor Walter Matthau, Lemmon first worked with Wilder on the comedy masterpiece SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959), shortly followed by the Oscar-winning THE APARTMENT (1960). He first starred opposite Matthau in THE FORTUNE COOKIE (1966), but it was their iconic clashing of personalities in THE ODD COUPLE (1968) that cemented their place as one of the all-time great comedy teams, with The New York Times dubbing them “one of Hollywood’s most successful pairings.”
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Sasha Colby Announces Stripped II 2025 North American Tour

Posted on April 21, 2025 by admin

Today, international drag icon Sasha Colby announces Stripped II tour. Produced by Live Nation, the 28-city tour kicks off on September 16 at Moore Theatre in Seattle making stops across North America in Los Angeles, Toronto, New York and more before wrapping up in Honolulu at Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall on November 15.

As a proud trans-Hawaiian woman, Sasha is a staple in the American drag industry. She’s been hailed “A LEGEND” by castmates of Drag Race past and present, is a former Miss Continental 2012 (one of the most, if not the most prestigious titles in the drag community), and has been an influential figure of personal empowerment for the drag and trans community for over a decade. Sasha is also the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15, marking a monumental moment in Drag Race history as the first Hawaiian and trans contestant to be crowned. Post Drag-Race, Sasha founded a line of hair extensions, Sasha Colby Hair, and released a new single “Feel The Power” featuring producer Glovibes and vocalist Luciana. From February to April 2024, she embarked on a 22-city North American headlining tour in partnership with Live Nation, the Sasha Colby: Stripped Tour. Riding off the success of the first Stripped tour, she will be setting out on the Sasha Colby: Stripped II Tour from September to November 2025.

Tickets will be available starting with artist presale beginning Tuesday, April 22. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning Friday, April 25 at 10am local time at TheSashaColby.com.

Docu-Series “Not Your Butter Chicken” Premieres for Asian Heritage Month

Posted on April 20, 2025 by admin

Jugaad Sisters Inc. announced today that their four-part docu-series Not Your Butter Chicken directed by Priyanka Desai (House Special) will be available to stream for free on CBC Gem starting Thursday, May 1st, 2025 as part of the Asian Heritage Month collection. The series celebrates the recipes, untold stories and life lessons of South Asians in Canada through the eyes of celebrated Vancouver culinary mind, Shiva Reddy.

Over the course of four episodes, Not Your Butter Chicken takes us from Vancouver to Kamloops and Kelowna, BC, and Lethbridge and Fort McMurray, Alberta, while host Shiva Reddy explores her culture with other South Asians to fill in the gaps that come with being a second-generation Canadian. Once a competitive hockey player, Reddy grew up to be one of the first South Asian women to make it in the world of wine and fine dining in Canada. Now, grappling with her mother’s battle with dementia, Reddy is on a journey to piece together the story of her Indian heritage through food and community.

“Everyone knows Butter Chicken, but not the culture that created it. The title is a playful invitation to discover all the ways Indian culture is more than this go-to dish,” says Reddy, who is also a sommelier at Michelin star restaurant Burdock & Co. in Vancouver. “Because my mom is my connection to my Indian heritage, her dementia meant we were slowly forgetting our stories and recipes. For me, this show was a way to make new memories even as my mother was losing hers. For our viewers, I hope this show inspires you to collect the stories that mean the most to you.”

SFFILM Celebrates Scientific Excellence in Lee Isaac Chung’s “Twisters” with $20,000 Sloan Science in Cinema Prize

Posted on April 19, 2025 by admin

Today, SFFILM announced the program slate of the Sloan Science in Cinema Initiative at the 68th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival), which runs April 17–27.

A Festival Talk, free to the public, will feature director Lee Isaac Chung accepting the Sloan Science in Cinema Prize for his latest film, Twisters, followed by a special onstage conversation on the integration of science and cinematic tools to depict extreme weather. Lee Isaac Chung (Minari, The Mandalorian) will be joined onstage by Director of the Global Systems Laboratory (GSL), Kevin Kelleher, who spent 26 years at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and served as technical consultant on both Twister (1996) and Twisters (2024); Tapio Schneider, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Caltech Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences; Twisters’ supervising sound editor and sound designer Al Nelson (Jurassic World, Top Gun: Maverick) and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) visual effects supervisor Florian Witzel (Avengers, The Mandalorian).

“We are thrilled to award this year’s Sloan Science in Cinema Prize to Lee Isaac Chung’s hit film Twisters and this year’s Sloan Science on Screen Award to Cyprien Vial’s thought-provoking film Magma,” said Doron Weber, Vice President and Program Director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “While taking some liberties with the science, these two disaster films feature credible scientists as major protagonists and are based on the latest scientific research. They join a nationwide program that has supported over 850 science and film projects with 20 partners and, in addition to supporting screenwriters at SFFILM, has honored outstanding films such as Oppenheimer, Don’t Look Up, and Hidden Figures.”
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Dark Sky Films Neo-Noir/Horror “A Desert” Sets Premiere

Posted on April 18, 2025 by admin

The Dark Sky horror/thriller has set its LA Premiere at the American Cinematheque Los Feliz 3 – May 1st (with the cast in attendance), New York City: Roxy Cinema – Tribeca May 2nd, Los Angeles, Leammle Glendale on May 2nd.

“A Desert” is described as a sun-bleached neo-noir horror film about time, the chaos of our world, and the relevance of images in the cultural desert we are faced with today.

In the movie, a past his prime photographer heads out on a road trip across the American Southwest to recapture the magic and success of his previous work. Instead, he finds himself thrust into the dark and chaotic underbelly of America and unwittingly drags his wife and a shady private detective down into this nightmare world with him.

With music by Ty Segall whose new album Possession comes out May 30th, A DESERT stars David Yow (Dinner in America, I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore), Kai Lennox (Green Room, The Girl from Plainville), Sarah Lind (A Wounded Fawn, Die, My Love), Zachary Ray Sherman (Under the Banner of Heaven, The CW’s 90210) and Ashley B. Smith (Off Ramp, Extremity).

“A Desert” is the first feature film from director Joshua Erkman, a writer, director, and musician living and working in Los Angeles. He has directed a number of music videos for various rock ‘n roll/punk groups, which have been featured in Rolling Stone, Spin, and Pitchfork.

The film stars David Yow (Dinner in America, I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore), Kai Lennox (Green Room, The Girl from Plainville), Sarah Lind (A Wounded Fawn, Die, My Love), Zachary Ray Sherman (Under the Banner of Heaven, The CW’s 90210), Ashley B. Smith (Off Ramp, Extremity), Rob Zabrecky (Lost River, A Ghost Story) & S.A Griffin (Free LSD, California Scheming).

Kana to Publish Iconic Manga Classics City Hunter and Cat’s Eye by Legendary Mangaka Tsukasa Hojo

Posted on April 17, 2025 by admin

Kana has announced the release of two landmark manga series by legendary mangaka Tsukasa Hojo: City Hunter and Cat’s Eye. Both series, beloved for decades, are now set to captivate English-language audiences in gorgeous collector’s omnibus editions on sale in September 2025.

City Hunter, the iconic manga inspired by1980s Tokyo nightlife, arrives in a deluxe English-language omnibus edition containing the first three volumes of the original Japanese series, featuring all original art and a stunning six-page full-color insert. Known worldwide for blending action, comedy, and romance, City Hunter follows Saeba Ryo, an exceptional marksman and charismatic antihero, as he navigates the thrilling and dangerous underbelly of Tokyo. The recent Netflix adaptation of City Hunter (2024) was a monumental success, becoming the #1 most-watched film on Netflix Japan for two consecutive weeks, as well as the top non-English film globally upon release.

Joining City Hunter, Cat’s Eye, a sparkling romantic-action-comedy, receives its first-ever English manga release. Following sisters Rui, Ai, and Hitomi as they embark on high-stakes art heists to uncover the mystery behind their father’s disappearance, Cat’s Eye masterfully blends romance, suspense, and humor. Fans can also look forward to a new anime adaptation exclusively premiering on Disney+ in fall 2025, perfectly timed to coincide with Kana’s English release.
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Judas Priest And Alice Cooper Unite For Co-Headlining Fall Tour

Posted on April 16, 2025 by admin

This fall, shock rock legend Alice Cooper and heavy metal trailblazers Judas Priest will share the stage for an epic co-headlining tour across North America. Produced by Live Nation, the 22-city run kicks off September 16 at Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, MS, and stops in Toronto, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and more before wrapping October 26 at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, TX.

Coming off the second leg of their Invincible Shield Tour and the release of their celebrated 19th studio album, Judas Priest remains a dominant force in metal. Meanwhile, Alice Cooper, the godfather of theatrical rock, wraps up his “Too Close For Comfort” tour this summer, promoting his most recent “Road” album, and will have an as-yet-unnamed all-new show for this tour. Corrosion of Conformity will join as support on select dates.

Alice Cooper is widely recognized as the godfather of shock rock, combining horror theatrics with classic hard rock anthems. With a career spanning over five decades, he continues to tour globally, delivering elaborate stage shows that defy expectations. From Love It to Death to Detroit Stories, Cooper’s influence on rock, film, and culture remains unmatched.

Judas Priest, hailing from Birmingham, England, have been at the forefront of heavy metal for over 50 years. With iconic albums like British Steel, Screaming for Vengeance, and their newest release Invincible Shield, the band’s legacy is cemented by their Hall of Fame induction and unparalleled live performances.
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Charlie Wilson, Babyface, K-Ci Hailey & El Debarge Join Forces For The Uncle Charlie’s R&B Cookout Tour

Posted on April 15, 2025 by admin

R&B icon Charlie Wilson is bringing the ultimate soul-infused celebration to fans this summer with his Uncle Charlie’s R&B Cookout Tour, produced by Live Nation Urban and P Music Group featuring an all-star lineup of legendary acts including Babyface, K-Ci Hailey and El DeBarge. The nationwide tour kicks off on August 27th at the prestigious Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and will travel across major cities, delivering an unforgettable night of timeless hits, powerhouse vocals, and feel-good vibes.

With decades of chart-topping success between them, Wilson, Babyface, Hailey and DeBarge will take fans on a journey through some of R&B’s most cherished classics. Charlie Wilson’s catalog includes anthems from his time as the co-founder and lead singer of The Gap Band, such as Outstanding, Yearning for Your Love, and Burn Rubber, along with solo hits like There Goes My Baby, I’m Blessed, and Charlie, Last Name Wilson. Together, this lineup promises a night filled with timeless music.

Babyface’s expansive catalog of love songs, including Whip Appeal and Every Time I Close My Eyes, is matched only by the chart-topping hits he’s written and produced for other artists—among them Whitney Houston’s Exhale (Shoop Shoop), Boyz II Men’s End of the Road and I’ll Make Love to You, Tevin Campbell’s Can We Talk, and Bobby Brown’sDon’t Be Cruel and Roni.
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