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In the article series Sound and Vision we take a look at music videos from notable directors. This week we look at Keane's Disconnected, directed by J.A. Bayona. J.A. Bayona is a master at turning horror films into dramas, and drama films into horror. Everyday life can turn horrific on a dime, and his grimmer scenes are filled with a sense of pathos: you do care about his protagonists. Even the ghosts, like in El Orfanato, get their moment of dramatic introspection. And everyday horrors get to feel almost sensationally horrific in the hands of J.A Bayona: the tsunami in The Impossible gets under the skin in a way few disaster movies do, by using tricks out of...

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BTS is back together again… at least on the small screen. Rm, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook are heading to Disney+ with their new docuseries, BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star.

Streaming now on Disney+, the eight-part series tracks the incredible journey of BTS, from their early days in Korea to their international success on the music scene and beyond. Featuring new, never-before-seen interviews, concert performances and behind-the-scenes moments, BTS Monuments chronicles the group’s 10-year career, while previewing what’s to come next.

How to Watch BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star Online Get: Disney+ Subscription $7.99

First announced in 2022, the BTS documentary is available to stream online free for Disney+ subscribers. Not a subscriber? Get access to Disney+ from just $7.99 a month.

Your best Disney+ deal is the Disney Bundle, which gets you Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu for one low price of $14.99. That’s a 44 percent discount versus...

John Oates may be involved a contentious legal battle with his old bandmate, but that won’t stop him from spreading some cheer and raising awareness for a good cause with a new song, “Get Your Smile On.”

Oates said he wrote the breezy tune during the Covid-19 pandemic when he was searching for “any positive vibe I could up with.” He began sketching the song on GarageBand, but as it came together, he “decided to really produce the track the way I would have in a professional recording studio.

Prong have announced their 13th studio album, State of Emergency, arriving October 6th. Coinciding with the news, the thrash vets have dropped the single “Non-Existence.”

The track is apex Prong, holding to the band’s tried-and-true brand of grooved-out thrash. Tommy Victor’s guitar tone is steely, cutting through the mix, and there’s a pop-punkish bounce to the chord structures and shout-along vocals. For Victor, it harkens back to the band’s 1996 album Rude Awakening.

“‘Non-Existence,’ with its techno-style noise guitar that’s omnipresent on this album, is a bit like my retrospective glance at Rude Awakening,” he remarked in a press release.

Victor worked on the LP with producer Steve Evetts and sought to create a record that explored his varied taste in music while retaining the idiosyncrasies of the long-running project.

“It’s a very ‘Prong’ record,” Victor mused. “I think it’s totally genre-transcending and definitely...

Succession star James Cromwell has helped “save” a piglet who fell off a meat truck.

The 83-year-old, who plays Logan Roy’s brother Ewan in the HBO series, is known for taking part in high-profile protests about the mistreatment of animals.

Cromwell first went vegetarian in 1974, then became vegan in 1995 after playing Farmer Hoggett in the film Babe.

On Friday (7 April), Cromwell met a piglet who had been rescued by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), which claimed the animal fell off a truck as he was being taken to be fattened for slaughter.

The animal was found scraped, bruised and covered in mud, and was named Babe by Cromwell in honour of the film that inspired him to go vegan.

In a statement shared with Peta, Cromwell said: “Having had the privilege of witnessing and experiencing pigs’ intelligence and inquisitive personalities while filming the movie Babe changed...

Tina Turner has admitted that she’s long had a soft spot for Mick Jagger.

Turner collaborated with the Rolling Stones frontman many times over the years, supporting the band on tour and performing with Jagger at festivals.

In a new interview with The Guardian, Turner was asked who her celebrity crush was.

“I always had a crush on Mick Jagger,” Turner responded. “I loved when we toured with the Rolling Stones.”

Early in her career, Turner and then-husband Ike (performing as Ike and Tina Turner) opened for the Stones on their 1966 British tour. They supported the band again on their US tour in 1969.

In 1981, Turner opened for the band on her own and, following her comeback in 1985, she performed with Jagger at the Live Aid Festival in Philadelphia.

During the Live Aid Festival performance, Jagger famously decided to rip off Turner’s skirt on stage.

Writing about the incident in her memoir,...

Milestone has only previously been surpassed by Hollywood blockbusters.

Courtroom drama A Guilty Conscience has made history at the Hong Kong box office as the first local film ever to reach Hk$100m ($12.75m), a figure only previously achieved by Hollywood tentpoles.

The feature from first-time director Jack Ng reached the milestone on February 21, just 32 days after its release on January 21 – the eve of Chinese New Year.

Only a handful of Hollywood films have previously hit Hk$100m at the Hong Kong box office, with recent titles including Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way Of Water. Others include Marvel...

John Oates tackles the pandemic blues on his new song “Disconnected,” the latest single from the Rock Hall-inducted musician.

“‘Disconnected’ was an idea that I had in my digital archives that I rediscovered during the pandemic…the theme felt even more timely and I produced a reimagined version at home using Garage Band on my Mac,” Oates said of the track in a statement.

“There are always times in our lives when we all feel ‘Disconnected’ from some thing or someone …emotionally, physically, spiritually, or any of the above…but...

Industry stalwarts including director Cheryl Dunye (“Bridgerton”), actor, writer, director Romola Garai, producer Elizabeth Karlsen (“Mothering Sunday”) and Sky Comedy commissioning editor Tilusha Ghelani have joined the illustrious roster of mentors at The Writers Lab U.K. & Ireland.

Now in its second year in the territory, the lab, which supports women and non-binary writers over 40, is set up to discover new writing voices from across Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The initiative is produced by Untamed Stories’ Julia Berg and Ruth Spencer and Twl co-founders Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon.

It is presented with support from Dirty Films, the independent production company headed by Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton, Coco Francini and Georgie Pym. The Writers Lab U.K. & Ireland is in association with Birds’ Eye View, Dancing Ledge Productions, Curzon Cm Development Fund, Maisie Williams’ production company Rapt, London-based film and TV agency Dench Arnold, Screen Scotland, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland,...

Editor’s note: Mooky Greidinger is CEO of the world’s second-largest exhibitor, Cineworld, which also owns Regal in the U.S. A staunch supporter of the theatrical experience, Greidinger grew up in the industry and is avowedly passionate about the movie business. But as Oscars weekend arrives, he is confounded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as, in his words, “many of the largest and most influential films of today remain unrecognized.” Greidinger penned the guest column below in which he calls for the Academy Board to convene an “industry emergency committee… to brainstorm and identify a more sustainable solution.”

For more than a decade, we have seen the Academy Awards ceremony deteriorate and its cultural power wane, losing ratings and consumer interest not only in the U.S. but worldwide. Oscar Night was once the biggest event for our industry and for all cinemagoers — an...

The Fyc Independents Screenings will take place Friday, May 31 in Van Nuys, Calif, Variety has learned exclusively.

Formerly the Fyc U.S. Independents, this evening of screenings and schmoozing with talent from series such as the CW’s “All American,” Netflix’s “Atypical” and Starz’ “Vida” is thrown by actress and producer Meredith Thomas to increase visibility of supporting, guest and short form actors.

“I’m driven to help independent talent and creators get much needed attention of TV Academy voters during a time when studios are spending millions on Fyc mailers and hosting extravagant events,” said Thomas. “I want to level the playing field so great work can be seen and recognized.”

The lineup of actors whose Emmy eligible work will be showcased include Kristos Andrews (Amazon’s “Class Act”), Wendy Braun (“Atypical”), Elena Campbell-Martinez (“Vida”), Michael Campion (Netflix’s “Fuller House”), Kim Estes (Vimeo’s “Dicks”), Ren Hanami,...

Today's feature is not your typical slasher flick... in fact, it's not typical of anything, except maybe the decade in which it was made (it was completed in 1983), and it proudly defies any simple or logical explanation for what it is, or even why it exists. The first feature film from director Gorman Bechard (best known to horror fans for the crazed slasher satire Psychos in Love), Disconnected is better described for what it isn't than what it is: while it does depict a series of bloody murders, it isn't really a by-the-numbers slasher; while it has oddball pretensions of artiness, it's not an experimental/art-house film; and it's hardly ever been seen by the public, outside of a very limited VHS run. I was exposed to Disconnected just last weekend, via a very rare 16mm print at a “Secret Sixteen” screening at the Jumpcut Cafe in Los Angeles... and...