CAPSTONE/MILLENNIUM/HI-FEX FILM NEWS

AN EVENING TO REMEMBER

JOY, INSPIRATION AND ENTERTAINMENT WAS PROVIDED AT THE 2021 US LEGACY CUP INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL.

A live concert in Los Angeles featuring multitalented and multi-cultural performers, this year’s event was dedicated to first responders and other COVID heroes.

Presented by the Merano Cultural Exchange, backed by Los Angeles County and supported by Hi-Fex, the annual celebration serves as a cultural bridge for international and local talent.

Zhang Sujiu - Long a leading light of the American Chinese community

MIA J. YANG - a popular TV and event host as well as art supervisor of festival

SOPHY WU - Famous opera performer and chairwoman of this festival GEORGE LI - Producer of the festival and President of Merano Cultural Performances.

FABULOUS FASHION FUNCTION

Street style, evening wear, beach chic and other great looks were showcased at the IFSM Summer Runway show as part of Fashion Week L.A.

The latest collections and best trends from top designers took their turn on the catwalk at the elegant event presented by Fashion Unity Network and supported by Hi-Fex.

And it was clear from all the stunning outfits on display that the fashion industry is looking beyond the pandemic to a time when we can all socialize again in style. Michael Keaton is to make a dramatic return to his iconic role as Batman.BACK It won’t be in a new Caped Crusader movie but in another superhero film.TO THE BATCAVE The Flash – starring Ezra Miller at the fast-moving title character – features Keaton’s Batman in a supporting role.

It will be the first time he has donned the cape since 1992’s Batman Returns, which featured Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. No special effects or prosthetics will be needed as the events in The Flash film are set 30 years after that movie. In 2014 Keaton starred in best picture winner Birdman as an actor best known for playing a movie superhero.

IS THIS THE MOST PROLIFIC PRODUCER IN HOLLYWOOD?

WE ALL KNOW HOW TIME CONSUMING AND DIFFICULT IT IS TO GET QUALITY MOVIES MADE – BUT NOBODY SEEMS TO HAVE TOLD OLIVER RIDGE.

Even against the backdrop of a global pandemic, this prolific young producer has managed to bring one acclaimed, starstudded, movie after another to our screens.

This year has already seen the release of three of his productions; gangster film Lansky, starring Harvey Keitel and Sam Worthington, drugs drama Body Brokers with Frank Grillo and award-winning documentary Valerie, about the health struggles of Oscar nominated actress Valerie Perrine.

Coming soon is Shriver, starring Kate Hudson, Michael Shannon and Don Johnson, and the first movie from Oliver’s new company Space Pilot Media, which is Corner Office starring John Hamm. Championed by BAFTA and recommended by bestselling author Stephen King – a big fan of Ridge’s first movie The Neighbor – the British moviemaker has quickly won the trust of stars and the industry for an ability to quickly and professionally bring a diverse and dynamic range of projects to the screen.

THE TITANS WHO RAN MGM IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD ARE THE SUBJECT OF AN AWARD-WINNING NEW PLAY.

Taming the Lion focuses on Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg’s often tyrannical reign over the iconic film studio. Set in 1933, the story tells how the dastardly duo tried to hide the fact that top box office star William Haines was gay by giving him an ultimatum – marry a woman or leave the movie business.

His choice between the love of one man or the love of millions of fans drives the action in playwright Jack Rushen’s gripping and well performed true life tale which makes audiences reflect how far Hollywood has come. Taming the Lion is staged at Theatre 40 Beverly Hills where the 2021 season includes another movie themed play, As Good As Gold, featuring rising star Nicola Victoria Buck in a winning comedy about three female scriptwriters.

Sandro Monetti

SPIELBERG SIGNS SHOCK

DEAL

Steven Spielberg has formed a surprise partnership with Netflix. The legendary film director’s company, Amblin Partners, has signed to produce two movies a year for the streaming giant. The multi-year pact took Hollywood by surprise as Spielberg had previously seemed something of a Netflix sceptic by championing the theatrical moviegoing experience. But things change fast in this industry and the icon becomes the streamer’s latest high profile signing.

UNIVERSAL SPENDS $400 MILLION ON NEWEXORCIST

TRILOGY

IN A BLOCKBUSTER DEAL WHICH HAS STUNNED HOLLYWOOD, UNIVERSAL IS SPLASHING OUT $400 MILLION FOR GLOBAL RIGHTS TO A NEW TRILOGY OF EXORCIST HORROR FILMS.

The strategy behind the eye-popping purchase is to screen the movies on the studio’s streaming service, Peacock, and bring more subscribers to the platform which has struggled to equal hit-filled rivals like Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime and Apple TV Plus.

The original 1973 film The Exorcist was a critical and commercial smash becoming the first horror movie ever nominated for the best picture Oscar.

Ellen Burstyn, who starred in that film as a mother who hires priests to exorcise her possessed daughter, will return in the first of the three new movies, which is expected to debut in 2023.

David Gordon Green, the filmmaker behind Universal’s recent Halloween reboot, will direct the new Exorcist franchise.

The blockbuster films will be produced by Blumhouse, a company which ironically made its name making low budget hits like The Purge and Get Out.

JAMES GANDOLFINI’S SON IS TO STAR IN A PREQUEL MOVIE TO GANGSTER SERIES THE SOPRANOS.

The Many Saints of Newark sees Michael Gandolfini as a younger version of his late father’s most iconic role, mob boss Tony Soprano.

“It’s a profound honor to continue my dad’s legacy while stepping into the shoes of a young Tony Soprano,” said Michael, who was born in 1999 –the year The Sopranos debuted on HBO.

The film, set in 1967 and released this October, sees young Tony getting his start in the family business and the trailer reveals Michael has the same expressions, voice and temper his dad brought to the part.

Written by Sopranos creator David Chase, the film also stars Ray Liotta, Vera Farmiga and Leslie Odom Jr.