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A lot is changing for the Waleses as their children come of age. These days, the youngsters are allowed to accompany their parents during official royal duties, and even young Prince Louis helped out when her mother visited a charity last year. But that’s the thing with growth, it often comes with change.

Recently, we reported that Prince George will soon have to fly privately from the rest of his family, and now, with a slimmed-down monarchy already being set up by the current monarch, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis may be denied a royal inheritance.

How This King Charles Plan For The Monarchy May Affect Princess Charlotte And Prince George Down The Line

King Charles’ plans for a slimmed-down monarchy may look good on paper – remember its major failing was revealed when Charles and Princess Kate were diagnosed with cancer in early January – but it could deny some...

Following a premiere at last year’s SXSW, writer-director-star Kit Zauhar’s acclaimed second feature This Closeness is now arriving this summer after an extensive festival tour. Also starring Zane Pais, Ian Edlund, Jessie Pinnick and Kate Williams, the drama was picked up by Factory 25 and will now begin a theatrical run at IFC Center on June 7 followed by an expansion and streaming release on Mubi on July 3. Ahead of the rollout, the first trailer has arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: “Tessa and Ben are staying in Philly for the weekend to attend Ben’s high school reunion. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the couple has to rent a room in a stranger’s apartment. That stranger is Adam, whose loneliness is immediately obvious to his new guests. Adam quickly becomes an unwilling voyeur to the most private parts of the couple’s life. While Ben seeks validation from old classmates,...

Kit Zauhar’s sophomore feature “This Closeness” follows the promise of her 2021 debut “Actual People,” which demonstrated she could tell an immersive story with few resources. Her microbudget feature “This Closeness,” a Narrative Spotlight premiere of SXSW 2023, is now about to open from Factory 25 on June 7, followed by a Mubi streaming premiere on July 3. Watch the trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, below.

Per IndieWire’s 2023 SXSW preview, “This Closeness” “wields its lo-fi constraints with tremendous sophistication and insight. The entire story takes place within the constraints of a Philadelphia apartment, booked by a young couple (Zauhar and Zane Pais) for a high school reunion weekend; once there, they find themselves dealing with the awkward loner (Ian Edlund) who lives there. As tensions mount, the movie dances an elegant line between cringe-comedy and erotic thriller, with Zauhar’s character, an Asmr YouTuber, developing an enigmatic bond with their temporary roommate while...

Exclusive: Brooklyn-based indie film distribution and production company Factory 25 has acquired North American theatrical rights on writer-director Kit Zauhar’s sophomore feature This Closeness, which debuted at SXSW 2023.

The film will begin its theatrical run at the IFC Center in New York City on June 7, with further engagements and a worldwide digital release on Mubi on July 3.

The film stars Zane Pais (Margot At The Wedding) and Ian Edlund with Zauhar also starring as she did on her first feature Actual People, which debuted at Locarno in 2021. Factory 25 also released that film. Actress and singer Jessie Pinnick (Princess Cyd) and multimedia artist Kate Williams round out the cast.

Following SXSW, This Closeness screened at the Philadelphia Film Festival, the Champs-Élysées Film Festival, and the Seattle International Film Festival, where it received a special jury mention for best ensemble cast in the New American Cinema Competition.

This Closeness is produced...

Yes, the photo of Kate Middleton and her children quickly became a major Photoshop fail. Despite the controversy, however, a royal expert says Kensington Palace still got a “clear message” across. Ahead, what the palace conveyed about the Princess of Wales, who appeared officially for the first time since undergoing abdominal surgery in the family photo.

Kate posed for a family photo to mark Mother’s Day in the U.K.

On March 10, 2024, Kensington Palace shared the first official image of Kate since the 42-year-old underwent abdominal surgery in January 2024.

The snap, released to mark Mother’s Day in the U.K., was taken by Prince William. It showed Kate smiling alongside the couple’s three children: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.

“Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months,” Kate said in the caption. “Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day,...

T. A. Barron, the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of The Merlin Saga, today announced that season 2 of Magic & Mountains: The T. A. Barron Podcast will launch on October 2, 2023. Following its successful premiere in 2022, the second season of the podcast will explore the wonders and inspiration of nature, the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, the magic of creative writing, and the power of young people to make a positive difference in our world.

The 12-episode season features an impressive guest line-up and will include conversations with renowned leaders such as beloved environmentalist Jane Goodall and worldwide bestselling author Isabel Allende. From the importance of friendship and philanthropy to uplifting the next generation of young leaders, Barron, his co-host Carolyn Hunter, and guests will reflect on relevant topics and issues each week. United by a common theme, each episode encourages listeners to shape the world around them...

Building on the success of her well-received debut feature Actual People, writer-director-actor Kit Zauhar’s This Closeness further explores the deviously twisty nuances of angst as experienced by people in their 20s nowadays. The plot unfolds over a weekend during which couple Tessa (Zauhar) and Ben (Zane Pais) come to stay in a “sad,” sparsely decorated Philadelphia apartment, having used an online app to book a bedroom from introverted host Adam (Ian Edlund).

But the inherent awkwardness of sharing a small space with a total stranger subtly unnerves all three characters. Tensions bubble up from the depths, especially submerged jealousies between Tessa and Ben, who have come to town for the latter’s high-school reunion. The result is a finely observed study of modern manners and mores on a micro-budget that’s nevertheless rich in feeling, especially the cringeiness one might experience from watching other people bicker or hearing people have sex through thin walls.

Click here to read the full article.

Taking a breather from some of the physically demanding and sometimes villainous roles she’s played of late in the likes of Marvel franchises and HBO’s Westworld, Tessa Thompson stars in The Listener as a more unsung sort of superhuman: a crisis hotline worker.

Perhaps seeing a chance to push to nearly the limit that old thespian saying — sometimes attributed to performance coach Stella Adler — that “acting is reacting,” this spare, low-tech work mostly focuses on Thompson’s expressive face as she listens to calls for help from 10 very different people in distress. The voice cast offers a mix of famous (Margaret Cho, Alia Shawkat, Rebecca Hall) and less well-known names, democratically allotted roughly the same amount of air time by the film.

The Listener represents actor-director Steve Buscemi’s fifth directing credit, the second after Lonesome Jim where’s he’s stayed strictly behind the camera.

If you found yourself wide awake in the wee small hours with personal demons rattling in your brain, and you picked up the phone to share them with a patient, neutral stranger, Tessa Thompson’s measured, calming voice is more or less exactly what you’d hope to hear on the other end of the line. As Beth, a night-shift volunteer for a crisis helpline, the actor’s naturally gentle, benevolent presence is the chief asset of Steve Buscemi’s minor-key chamber drama “The Listener” — not that she has a host of elements to compete with in what amounts, on screen at least, to a one-woman show.

Thompson’s unforced credibility isn’t shared, however, by a flat, superficial script that treats an assortment of mental health ailments as quirky conversation fuel. Each anguished call that Beth takes, over the course of one long, dark night of assorted souls, is...

In a world where politicians use mental health as mere talking points when discussing gun violence and suicide rates, Steve Buscemi’s “The Listener” addresses the crisis head-on. Written by Alessandro Camon, the Oscar-nominated scribe of “The Messenger” (2009), the film follows a helpline volunteer named Beth, played by Tessa Thompson, who is an integral part of the small army of counselors who field calls from all kinds of people who feel lonely and broken. The film unspools at the Venice Festival’s Giornate degli Autori and is the closing film of Venice Days on Sept. 9.

Buscemi can sympathize with anyone who feels lost and broken, especially as he is still reeling from losing his wife Jo Andres in January 2019; they had been married for over 30 years. While in pre-production, the director and producer called a helpline number. “At first, it was in the name of research,” Buscemi told Variety. “I...

Nickelodeon’s Shauna Phelan and Zack Olin have been promoted to EVPs and Co-Heads, Nickelodeon and Awesomeness Live-Action Series and Films. The news was announced today by Brian Robbins, Paramount President & Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, and Chief Content Officer, Movies and Kids & Family, Paramount+.

Formerly Co-Heads of Live-Action for Nickelodeon and Awesomeness, both brands within Paramount Global, Phelan and Olin are now expanding their purview to oversee all scripted live-action Nickelodeon and Awesomeness series and movies for Nickelodeon and Paramount+, including YA content. They will continue to report to Robbins.

Said Robbins, “Shauna and Zack are behind some of Nickelodeon’s biggest hits from iCarly to That Girl Lay Lay and have been entertaining kids and families across all our demos for years. As the demand for content continues to grow for both our audience and for Paramount+, and given the Studios’ success as producers of top YA franchises,...

Do you know what the average life expectancy was in the 18th century? It was 17. (You read that right.) No, this wasn’t just about the fact that human beings back then tended to live less long. It was about the staggering inequality that society was built on. In Europe, the majority of people were hand-to-mouth laborers who drifted from place to place, lacking the benefits of being landed servants. (Not that being a landed servant was any picnic.) They existed in poverty, without health care or schooling or much of anything else. Their lives, in effect, were a death sentence.

That stark reality is the taking-off point for “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” a nimble and eye-opening documentary that puts you in the revelatory position of looking back over the last 300 years — where we’ve been and where we’re going — from a God’s-eye economic view. That may sound dry as dust,...

As the Occupy Wall Street movement began to crest and millennials the world over started to realize they’d be the first generation since World War II to make less money than their parents, French economist Thomas Piketty had the good fortune to release a hyper-readable book that explained why (or at least offered a lucid argument for liberals to debate and conservatives to deny). “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” moved 1.5 million copies in its first two years of release, making it the highest-selling title that Harvard University Press has ever published, and turning its author into the closest thing his field has to a rock star.

Now, in the midst of an election year pandemic that is ruthlessly exposing the rift between capital and labor — and shining a garish spotlight on the gross inequality that results from such a disconnect — Kiwi filmmaker Justin Pemberton has translated Piketty’s text into a spry,...

Capital In The Twenty-first Century Kino Lorber Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Justin Pemberton Screenwriter: Adapted by Matthew Metcalfe, Justin Pemberton, Thomas Piketty, based on Thomas Piketty’s book Cast: Thomas Piketty, Joseph Stiglitz, Gillian Tett, Kate Williams, Gabriel Zucman, Ian Bremmer, Rana Foroohar, Francis Fukuyama Screened at: […]

The post Capital In The Twenty-First Century Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Aside from its slate of international series developed with Zdf and Rai through the Alliance, France Televisions is set to co-produce a flurry of high-profile series aimed at global audiences, notably “Germinal,” “Josephine and Bonaparte” and the adaptation of Guillaume Musso’s bestseller “La jeune fille et la nuit.”

A modern adaptation of Émile Zola’s 1885 masterpiece, “Germinal” tells the story of a coalminers’ strike in northern France in the 1860s. Julien Lilti, the writer of Canal Plus hit series “Hippocrate,” is writing “Germinal” and will likely be collaborating with other writers. Banjiay Rights has come on board to handle international sales on the show which is currently in development.

Nathalie Biancolli, who has been spearheading France Televisions’s push into ambitious international series since joining the company in 2017, told Variety that “Germinal’ continues the pubcaster’s “tradition with historical drama series but will be tackling the genre in a...

We all know that the process of assigning names to royal babies is anything but simple (especially since they usually get three to four names). But what you might be surprised to hear is that - unlike most major royal decisions - the name doesn't necessarily need to meet the approval of the queen. Queen Elizabeth is always given the power of determining titles (even gifting Philip with a new title to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary), and though her opinion is respected when it comes to determining a new child's name, her permission isn't required.

Related: We Doubt Meghan Markle Will Have a Traditional Baby Shower - Here's Why

It's understood Queen Elizabeth doesn't have to approve of royal baby names, but traditionally (and out of courtesy), she is told the name before anyone else. As royal commentator Kate Williams explained to CNN, the names chosen by royal parents...

Oscar-nominated actress Berenice Bejo (“The Artist”) is set to headline “Josephine and Napoleon,” an English-language period drama series created by British showrunner Tony Saint (“Das Boot”).

Now in development, the eight-part series is being produced by the well-established British company Ecosse Films and Pascal Breton’s Paris-based Federation Entertainment for the network France Televisions, which is also co-producing.

The show is based Andrew Roberts’ “Napoleon: A Life” and Kate Williams’ “The Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte.” It will be directed by a French and English filmmaker duo who will be announced at a later stage, along with a French writer who will be working with Saint.

Bejo, who earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” and won best actress at Cannes for Asghar Farhadi’s “The Past,” will play Josephine, Napoleon Bonaparte’s first wife, lover, and muse.

Josephine de Beauharnais, a mischievous aristocrat born in the French West Indies,...

If you've ever been nervous about meeting your significant others's parents, it's nothing compared to the amount of pressure that comes with greeting a member of the British royal family. There is a nuanced royal protocol in place as a way to ensure universal respect for Queen Elizabeth II and the rest of her relatives, and although it's rather simple, people still manage to break it all the time. In 2009, Michelle Obama was chastised for hugging the queen, and basketball superstar LeBron James was called out in 2014 for putting his arm around Kate Middleton after the Cleveland Cavaliers won a game against the Brooklyn Nets. Although many people would sell an organ to get a hug from Michelle or LeBron, each broke the number one rule when meeting the royals: don't go beyond a handshake.

We might fawn over Kate Middleton's down-to-earth personality now, but years ago the royal family...

Charles Spencer is a part of royal history himself — and he’s also an expert on the kings and queens of the past.

The author and historian’s latest book, To Catch A King: Charles II’s Great Escape, debuts this week and is a follow-up to his 2015 bestseller Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I. The book was celebrated at an event in London on Thursday at the Ralph Lauren store on fashionable Bond Street. (The location was fitting: Charles II loved clothes!)

A wonderful evening celebrating the launch of #ToCatchAKing now exclusively available...

Coming to theater on April 3rd is the film Effie Gray.

The film explores the fascinating, true story of the relationship between Victorian England’s greatest mind, John Ruskin, and his teenage bride, Euphemia “Effie” Gray, who leaves him for the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais.

Effie Gray is the first original screenplay written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Emma Thompson. In this impeccably crafted period drama, Thompson delicately and incisively probes the marital politics of the Victorian Era, and beyond.

Dakota Fanning stars as Effie Gray Ruskin. The cast includes Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Tom Sturridge, David Suchet, Greg Wise, Claudia Cardinale, James Fox, Sir Derek Jacobi and Robbie Coltrane.

The film is produced by Andreas Roald (Terrence Malick’s Voyage Of Time) and Donald Rosenfeld (Malick’s Tree Of Life and Voyage Of Time).

Producer Donald Rosenfeld spent 1987 to 1998 as President of Merchant Ivory Productions, in charge of the financing...

Exclusive: Tim Grady and Jeff Lipsky’s New York-based Adopt Films has acquired Effie Gray, the period drama penned by Emma Thompson. Dakota Fanning stars as the eponymous character in the biopic of the 19th century Scotswoman who married critic and author John Ruskin as a teenager only to see their six-year relationship finally annulled with Gray still a virgin. She later wed celebrated pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. For Millais, Gray bore eight children and became his muse (along with her younger sister Sophie).

The company plans an early spring 2015 release.

Julie Walters plays Ruskin’s baleful, controlling mother, and David Suchet is Ruskin’s feckless, enabling father. Thompson, Tom Sturridge, Greg Wise, Claudia Cardinale, James Fox, Derek Jacobi and Robbie Coltrane round out the cast.

Richard Laxton (Burton & Taylor) directs from Thompson’s first original screenplay. (She won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for 1995’s Sense And Sensibility.

Shane Richie was among the EastEnders stars who showed their support for colleague Rudolph Walker's awards ceremony celebrating young theatrical talent. The Sun reports that Richie, who plays Queen Vic landlord Alfie Moon, was joined by Kate Williams (Liz Turner) and Ellen Thomas (Grace Olubunmi) at the event. The Rudolph Walker School's Drama Awards were first launched in the 1970s but were re-established on Sunday, May 22, and Walker, who is also known as 'Enders veteran Patrick Trueman, applauded the youngsters that performed. (more)...

Six 'EastEnders' stars have been axed. Long-serving actors Cliff Parisi and Derek Martin - who play mechanic Minty Peterson and show patriarch Charlie Slater respectively - were among the cast members told yesterday (16.04.10) their time on the BBC soap is coming to an end. The others to leave are Libby Fox, played by Belinda Owusu, her on-screen gran Liz Turner (Kate Williams) and boyfriend Adam Best (David Proud), as well as show newcomer Liam Bergin, who only joined as Danny Mitchell earlier this year. The decision was made by new executive producer Bryan Kirkwood and has reportedly sent fear through the rest ..

Liz Turner (Kate Williams) is worried by her son Owen's (Lee Ross) return to Walford during tonight's episode of EastEnders, expressing her concerns that he'll return to his old ways. Having served time for trying to kill his daughter Libby (Belinda Owusu), Owen hopes to reconnect with his estranged family, including his former lover Denise (Diane Parish). Liz takes Owen home (more)...

Former EastEnders stars Lee Ross and Kate Williams are to return to the BBC soap later this year as screen mother and son Owen and Liz Turner. Ross, 38, first appeared as Denise Wicks's (Diane Parish) alcoholic ex-husband Owen in June 2006 when he arrived in Walford to make contact with his daughter Libby (Belinda Owusu). During his stay, he rekindled his romance with Denise, but his violent behaviour soon reared its head when he hit her and subsequently held her hostage in her own flat. The police arrested him and he was remanded in custody pending trial. In September 2006, Owen's mother Liz (Williams) visited her son in prison prior to his court appearance, in which he received a six-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years. Following his release, Liz urged her son to start a new life in Wales but at a low ebb, Owen knocked his mother unconscious (more)...