Netflix dropped the trailer to its upcoming Matilda the Musical, and Emma Thompson is turning heads as the production’s icy school headmistress, Miss Agatha Trunchbull.
It is hard to even recognize the Oscar winner, thanks to fearsome prosthetic makeup and a boxy, nearly Nazi-like uniform. “I like troublemakers,” she hisses at one point, as she’s seen swinging a student by her braids. “They make such a lovely sound when they snap.”
Following the plot of the Tony and Olivier award-winning stage production, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical “tells the story of an extraordinary girl, with a vivid imagination, who dares to take a stand to change her story with miraculous results.”
A relative newcomer, Irish actress Alisha Weir plays Matilda in the streaming giant’s take on the classic, with Lashana Lynch, ofNo Time To Die andDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, playing Miss Honey, the kindly teacher who takes a liking to the gifted little girl.
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical debuts in select theaters and on Netflix December 25.
The trailer has been released for the upcoming documentary Let There Be Drums!, which features what’s thought to be the last filmed interview with late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
As its title suggests, Let There Be Drums! spotlights “the world’s greatest drummers” as they “reflect on the art of drumming and how it has shaped their lives.”
“The second I sat on the drums, it was like a bolt of lightning went through my body,” Hawkins says in the trailer, which is streaming now on YouTube. “I’ll never forget that day.”
Other drummers interviewed for the doc include The Beatles‘ Ringo Starr, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Police‘s Stewart Copeland, Jane’s Addiction‘s Stephen Perkins, ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum, and The Grateful Dead‘s Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart.
Bill’s son, Justin Kreutzmann, directed the film.
Let There Be Drums! is set to premiere in theaters, and via Amazon and Apple TV, on October 28.
Camila Cabello wants her fans to know she’s not a big believer in aliens — but a strange sighting in South America may have her reconsidering her stance.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonshe was grilled about a video she captured while exploring a hiking trail with her parents. Camila noted the area was experiencing “a lot of spooky activity … Like, I’m talking UFO alien activity.”
“I don’t want to believe and then I see something that isn’t there,” she added before showing the odd video. “I’m not super into the extraterrestrial. I’m coming from a more skeptical mind.” She revealed her dad, who is a fan of UFO documentaries, flagged the odd sighting when he was reviewing their hiking photos.
Camila said she slowed down the footage and admits, “I think that we might have caught a UFO.” The video shows that, as her mom and dad turn around to smile at the camera, three circular objects shoot overhead and toward the mountains in the background.
“It’s not a bird. It’s not a phone thing,” she stressed. As for what she believes now, Camila revealed, “I think the aliens trusted me to capture a UFO moment.”
The singer joked that maybe the paranormal event happened to her because she wasn’t hoping to see one — as it wasn’t even on her radar — and that’s why she was chosen to experience the strange sight.
“They wanted to convince you,” Fallon ruled.
Camila isn’t the only singer who believes we aren’t alone in the universe. Post Malone, Kesha and Demi Lovato have all come forward with their own paranormal experiences.
Cuba Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty in a Manhattan courtroom Thursday to a count of second-degree harassment.
After reaching a prearranged deal with prosecutors, Thursday’s plea replaces Gooding’s original plea in April, when the actor pleaded guilty to forcible touching.
Gooding has been sentenced to time served. He declined to address the court.
The charges stem from Gooding’s sexual assault case in which prosecutors accused the actor of groping three women. Prior to April’s plea, Gooding had denied all charges.
Gooding, 54, was arrested in June 2019 after a 29-year-old woman said he squeezed her breast at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge in Times Square.
(PARKLAND, Fla.) — Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz has been spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison by a Florida jury for carrying out the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that claimed 17 lives.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection to the Feb. 14, 2018, killing of 14 students and three staff members at his former school. Among the victims were 15-year-old Peter Wang, an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet who died while helping classmates escape, and 35-year-old Scott Beigel, a geography teacher who was shot dead while shepherding students to safety in his classroom.
This penalty phase trial was to determine if Cruz would be sentenced to death or life in prison for the massacre he committed at age 19. The jury’s decision must be unanimous for the death penalty.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 13, 11:09 AM EDT
Judge reads verdict forms
Judge Elizabeth Scherer read the 17 documents, one for each slain victim, aloud to the court on Thursday morning as prosecutors, Nikolas Cruz and his attorneys, and the victims’ families looked on.
The jurors weighed aggravating factors and mitigating factors.
The murder of each victim needs to be found to be “cold, calculated and premeditated” to be eligible for the death penalty.
Oct 13, 9:54 AM EDT
Victims’ parents share emotional statements with jury
Victims’ parents took the stand during the trial to read emotional victim impact statements.
Fred Guttenberg, who lost 14-year-old daughter Jaime, said on the stand, “I couldn’t wait to teach her drive. … I couldn’t wait to see her graduate. I couldn’t wait to see her achieve her dream of getting into the University of Florida and rooming with her cousin and living her best life. I couldn’t wait to see her graduate and ultimately become a pediatric physical therapist, working her dream job.”
“Jaime imagined she’d be married by 25. I used to think every day about that moment and walking my daughter down the aisle. Becoming a grandparent to the two kids she already decided she was gonna have,” he said.
“What if Jaime wasn’t murdered? What would these moments end up being like?” Fred Guttenberg said. “Not a day goes by where the constant image of Jaime walking down the aisle is not still a part of my daily imagination. Along with that image of what should have been her future, our future together.”
Oct 13, 9:47 AM EDT
Defense says Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays, prosecution says he planned ‘systematic massacre’
Cruz’s defense attorneys had urged the jury to sentence him to life in prison. The defense admitted Cruz was responsible for his actions and planned the school shooting, but argued Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays that traced back to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
“Sentencing Nikolas to death will change absolutely nothing,” defense attorney Melisa McNeill said in closing arguments. “It will not bring back those 17 innocent victims that he viciously murdered.”
The prosecution, arguing for the death penalty, told jurors that Cruz researched previous mass shootings and planned a “systematic massacre.”
“Some of the remarks the defendant wrote on his YouTube were: ‘No mercy, no questions, double tap. I’m going to … murder children. … I’d love to see the families suffer,'” prosecutor Michael Satz said in closing arguments.
“He’s thinking ahead,” Satz said, by “not only looking to inflict pain” on the victims, but also “anticipating how that pain, fear and death … is gonna affect the families.”
Apple icon Steve Jobs never appeared on Joe Rogan‘s podcast, but thanks to a Dubai-based tech company, you might be convinced he did.
The company, Play.ht, used its audio AI wizardry to create a fake podcast interview between the pair as a way to flaunt its voice synthesis technology.
Play.ht cloned the men’s voices to make it sound as if they once had a friendly, more than 19-minute chat that ranged from technology to Eastern mysticism. Evidently, it’s the first in what will be a series of such synthetic sit-downs, called Podcast.ai.
The company says its tech can “instantly convert text into natural-sounding speech,” and the results are pretty convincing, some technical limitations aside. “Joe Rogan” pronounces Patrick Swayze‘s name as Patrick “SWAYS” at one point, and much of “Steve Jobs'” dialogue centers on Apple and the tech market — evidence the company’s artificial intelligence was fed a diet comprised mostly of speeches the tech wizard gave in order to create his side of the conversation.
Similar audio AI technology made headlines recently when it was revealed James Earl Jones had given permission for his voice to be synthesized from now on by a Ukrainian tech company that recreated his Darth Vader voice, as heard in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. The audio wonks at Lucasfilm also used so-called machine learning to de-age Mark Hamill‘s voice as heard in other Star Wars shows.
(WASHINGTON) — The House Jan. 6 committee meets Thursday after a months-long hiatus to hold its ninth public hearing since June, and possibly its last in its investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack. The panel has focused on the role of former President Donald Trump before, alleging he was front and center of a plot to overturn the 2020 election.
Here’s how the story is developing:
Oct 13, 10:45 AM EDT
Trump’s ‘state of mind’ to be a key focus, aides say
Lawmakers will focus on Trump’s “state of mind” leading up to, during and after the insurrection during Thursday’s session, committee aides told reporters.
“What you’re going to see is a synthesis of some evidence we’ve already presented with that new, never-before-seen information to, let’s say, illustrate Donald Trump’s centrality from the time prior to the election,” an aide said.
While there won’t be any live witnesses in the hearing room, the panel’s expected to air new documentary evidence and video footage depicting efforts to respond as the violence broke out on Jan. 6, 2021.
The Grammy Awards race has just opened up in a big way, now that a Grammy favorite has withdrawn his album from consideration.
Silk Sonic, the duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, won Record and Song of the Year at the Grammys earlier this year for their hit “Leave the Door Open.” Their album An Evening with Silk Sonic, released in November 2021 — after the Grammy cutoff for this year’s ceremony — was expected to be a major contender when the nominations for next year’s ceremony are announced in November. But as Bruno tells Rolling Stone, he feels as though they’ve already been honored enough.
“We truly put our all on this record, but Silk Sonic would like to gracefully, humbly and most importantly, sexually, bow out of submitting our album this year,” Bruno says in his statement. “We hope we can celebrate with everyone on a great year of music and partake in the party. Thank you for letting Silk Sonic thrive.”
“Andy and I, and everyone that worked on this project, won the moment the world responded to ‘Leave The Door Open,'” he continues. “Everything else was just icing on the cake. We thank the Grammys for allowing us to perform on their platform — not once but twice — and awarding us at last year’s ceremony. We’d be crazy to ask for anything more.”
“Thank you to everyone that supported this project and championed it,” he concludes.
Of course, Bruno already has more Grammys than he knows what to do with: As a solo artist, he’s won 11 trophies. Anderson .Paak, meanwhile, has four Grammys as a solo artist.
(NEW YORK) — WNBA star Brittney Griner, who is facing nine years in a Russian prison, is worried that she may not be released, her attorney told ABC News as the U.S. works to secure her freedom.
“Her being afraid of not being released is mostly connected to the negotiations, which we are not aware of at all,” Griner’s attorney Alexandr Boikov told ABC News on Thursday.
After being detained in Russia for more than five months, Griner was found guilty on drug charges in a Moscow-area court on Aug. 4 and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Her attorneys filed an appeal on Aug. 15 and a hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25.
“She is not very much hopeful for the appeal because the first court decision — the verdict showed that the case is totally unjust even by present Russian standards, and we are not hoping for a big release, but of course we hope for the best,” Boikov told ABC News.
According to Boikov, decisions on appeals are usually made during one hearing, but other hearings could be scheduled and he expects a decision by the end of October.
Griner, a 31-year-old Houston native who plays professional basketball for the Phoenix Mercury, was detained on Feb. 17 at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Khimki as she returned to Russia to play during the WNBA’s off-season after she was accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in the country.
Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges in July, saying that the vape cartridges containing hashish oil were in her luggage mistakenly and that she had no “intention” of breaking Russian law.
Since she was detained in February, Griner has only spoken to her wife, Cherelle Griner, twice and currently “she’s not having phone calls with her family,” Boikov said.
He added that while requests are not being “denied,” there’s “a lot of bureaucracy and paperwork and back and forth between different institutions” so scheduling phone calls has been “very hard.”
Boikov said that Griner is also experiencing some physical “pain” in prison, where she is unable to exercise or receive physical therapy.
“She has some issues with her knees, with her back, I think basketball-related but of course, she doesn’t have a big bed, a good mattress or a time or place to exercise and to keep her muscles in shape,” he said.
“Of course, without movement and the conditions in jail, she is not in very good shape,” he added.
The U.S. government classified Griner’s case on May 3 as “wrongfully detained,” meaning the U.S. will more aggressively work to negotiate her release even as the legal case against her plays out, the State Department has said.
Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine began one week after Griner was detained, and some officials have expressed concern that Americans jailed in Russia could be used as leverage in the ongoing war.
President Joe Biden initially told CNN on Tuesday that he would be open to meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 November summit to discuss Griner’s release, but when asked by ABC News on Wednesday about a potential meeting, the president said, “not with Putin.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday that Biden “has no intention of meeting with President Putin.”
State Department spokesperson Ned Price told ABC News on Wednesday that “securing the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner is a priority for this administration.”
Asked about Griner’s condition and whether the U.S. has access to her in prison, Price said that the “most recent consular access with Brittney Griner was at the beginning of August.”
“We continue to impart on the Russian government the necessity of consistency and regular consular access to Brittney Griner but also to all of those Americans who are detained in Russia,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a preliminary injunction as part of her $250 million civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump to stop what she says is his ongoing fraudulent conduct.
On the same day last month that James filed the lawsuit accusing Trump, his three eldest children, and two corporate executives of “staggering” fraud that she claims “grossly inflated” Trump’s net worth, the Trump Organization quietly registered a new entity, Trump Organization II, according to a new court filing Thursday.
Investigators suspect that Trump could move assets from his family real estate business to the new entity in an attempt to evade liability posed by the lawsuit, according to the attorney general’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
“[T]he Trump Organization now appears to be taking steps to restructure its business to avoid existing responsibilities under New York law,” the filing said.
Thursday’s filing also made clear James is concerned that Trump and the other defendants could be using the same alleged “fraud and misrepresentation” as they prepare Trump’s financial statements for the current year.
“Indeed, in many areas, the Trump Organization has continued using practices they knew to be improper or fraudulent,” the motion said.
James is also seeking the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the Trump Organization’s submission of financial information to accountants, lenders and insurers, “to enjoin Defendants from transferring to non-party affiliates or otherwise disposing of assets without Court approval,” the filing said.
“Our investigation uncovered the fact that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in significant fraud to inflate his personal net worth by billions of dollars to illegally enrich himself and cheat the system,” James said in a statement Thursday. “Since we filed this sweeping lawsuit last month, Donald Trump and the Trump Organization have continued those same fraudulent practices and taken measures to evade responsibility. Today, we are seeking an immediate stop to these actions because Mr. Trump should not get to play by different rules.”
The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to James’ newest filing. Trump has denied wrongdoing and has called James’ investigation a politically motivated “witch hunt” by an attorney general he has called “racist.”
James, who is black, rejected a settlement offer from the Trump Organization last month to resolve the matter, sources told ABC News.
The lawsuit accused them of engaging in “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation in the preparation of Mr. Trump’s annual statements of financial condition” that overstated the values of nearly every major property in the Trump portfolio over at least a ten-year period.
“These acts of fraud and misrepresentation grossly inflated Mr. Trump’s personal net worth as reported in the Statements by billions of dollars and conveyed false and misleading impressions to financial counterparties about how the Statements were prepared,” the lawsuit said.
“Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization used these false and misleading Statements repeatedly and persistently to induce banks to lend money to the Trump Organization on more favorable terms than would otherwise have been available to the company, to satisfy continuing loan covenants, and to induce insurers to provide insurance coverage for higher limits and at lower premiums,” said the suit.
In Thursday’s motion, James said that nearly a month after she filed her suit, the former president and his son Eric have refused to accept service of the lawsuit. She sought permission to serve them electronically.
