7 articles

1 hour ago

SAG-aftra’s national board has approved by acclamation a tentative agreement on a new master contract covering commericials work, triggering a ratification vote by the membership.

The board made the annnouncement following its two-day meeting. The performers union and the ad industry jointly announced the tentative agreement on April 3.

The multi-year contract will go into effect if approved by the members. Ballots will be sent to the 160,000 members of the performers union.

The contract covers about $1 billion in annual wages for performers. SAG-aftra president Gabrielle Carteris said on April, “The tentative agreement delivers essential gains while properly positioning us for future growth in digital and social media. As content evolves, we are poised to grow work opportunities that support members and their families.”

Performers are continuing to operate under terms of the current three-year contract, which had a March 31 expiration date but has been extended.

The national board maintained it »

- Dave McNary

2 hours ago

The producers of “Togetherness” didn’t know that Sunday’s season-ending episode would in fact by the program’s series finale when it was shot. Yet the second-season finish did provide elements of closure, albeit in a fashion that was steeped in sentiment, especially if that’s the last glimpse of these characters.

Created by brothers/filmmakers Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass with Steve Zissis, “Togetherness” has always played like a sort-of companion to HBO’s “Girls,” reminding the obsessive, self-absorbed 20-somethings on Lena Dunham’s series that getting older and having kids doesn’t necessarily spare one from angst, emptiness and confusion over the question posed in the old song, “Is that all there is?”

“Togetherness” has also zeroed in on those yuppie problems in a manner that, like so many deeply personal projects in this genre, can seem as if these folks think they are the first ever »

- Brian Lowry

2 hours ago

Spoiler Alert: Do not read unless you have seen the April 10 season one finale of “Billions,” “The Conversation.”

The big finish of the first season of “Billions” — the fiery confrontation between Chuck Rhoades and Bobby Axelrod — was in fact the big finish after six months of filming on season one. Brian Koppelman and David Levien, showrunners and co-creators of the Showtime drama with Andrew Ross Sorkin, made a point of making that the last scene lensed.

Just as it was important to stoke anticipation for the inevitable showdown between Chuck and Axe among viewers, it was important to have some tension building up for stars Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis. Saving that sequence for last allowed both actors to leave it all on the floor — the decimated floor of Axe Capital.

“We really went out of our way to make that the last shot of the season,” Levien told Variety. »

- Cynthia Littleton

2 hours ago

Sharply written and tailor-made to its two marquee stars, “Billions” deals with plenty of weighty issues but proved most enjoyable for an attribute that a lot of premium-cable dramas can tend to forget: Fun. And that set up a finale that made a number of hairpin turns, before rather niftily laying the foundation for a second season.

In its closing moments (and Spoiler Alert if you haven’t watched), in which a U.S. attorney, Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), confronted hedge-fund billionaire and season-long quarry Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), the program actually brought to mind the movie “Duplicity,” which also co-starred Giamatti. Granted, in that corporate-espionage tale it was two titans of industry duking it out, but in each case the show involves powerful men, using every resource at their disposal in an effort to gain advantage over the other.

The last couple of hours also took perhaps the show’s most improbable, »

- Brian Lowry

3 hours ago

Spoiler alert: Do not read on if you haven’t seen the season two premiere of “Fear the Walking Dead.”

The first season of “Fear the Walking Dead” was often criticized for being too slow for its short six-episode season. The show opted to focus on the terrifying rigors of suburban life under military occupation over the zombie apocalypse surrounding them. The second season finally seems to be putting the whole idea of “zombies are a part of our everyday lives now” concept into full effect.

The second season begins with the survivors of the first season running for the sanctuary that is a yacht. The survivors include: Madison Clark (Kim Dickens), her kids Nick (Frank Dillane) and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), her boyfriend Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis), his son Chris (Lorenzo James Henrie), Daniel Salazar (Ruben Blades) — a quiet man with a predilection for torture — his daughter Ofelia (Mercedes Mason »

- Jacob Bryant

4 hours ago

Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart showed off an array of hosting skills Sunday night during the 2016 MTV Movie Awards — including a surprise rap.

The duo rapped a song about Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar-winning movie “The Revenant” at the event held at the Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank, Calif. with the lyrics, “Leo got f–ked by a bear.”

Accompanied by dancers clad in fuzzy bear costumes, the two hosts got the star-studded audience involved too with Rebel Wilson, Adam DeVine and Anthony Mackie jumping into the song.

The shocking rap came after reports that DiCaprio’s character in “The Revenant” was raped by a bear, despite critics saying that DiCaprio is not raped, but rather, brutally mauled by the bear. At the time, the studio behind the film, 20th Century Fox, released a statement: “As anyone who has seen the movie can attest, the bear in the film is a »

- Elizabeth Wagmeister

4 hours ago

The cast of “Straight Outta Compton” finally got their moment.

After being famously snubbed at the “all-white” Oscars, “Straight Outta Compton” won for best true story at the 2016 MTV Movie Awards this weekend.

The ensemble film, which was only nominated for best original screenplay at the Oscars this year, was nominated for three awards at the Sunday night MTV show — true story, breakthrough performance for O’Shea Jackson Jr. and movie of the year.

Jackson was joined by his “Compton” co-stars Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Aldis Hodge and Neil Brown Jr., plus original N.W.A. member DJ Yella, on stage to accept the first award. DJ Yella gave a shoutout to all of N.W.A., including the late Eazy-e who was portrayed by Mitchell in the film.

“I would just like to take a moment to thank the Academy — I mean MTV,” Mitchell said at the award show, held on the Warner Bros. backlot, »

- Elizabeth Wagmeister

7 articles

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