Taylor Swift Kicks off US Eras Tour at Super Bowl Stadium

Taylor Swift arrives at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)
Taylor Swift arrives at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)
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Taylor Swift Kicks off US Eras Tour at Super Bowl Stadium

Taylor Swift arrives at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)
Taylor Swift arrives at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)

Taylor Swift opened her US concert series with a three-hour tour of her career.

Swift kicked off the first concert of the 52-date Eras Tour with a six-song set from her album “Lover” on Friday night at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, where the Super Bowl was played a month ago.

“I don’t know how to address the way this is making me feel right now,” Swift, who hasn't toured since 2018, said early in the show.

She ended the concert with a seven-song set from her latest album “Midnights," closing with the song “Karma.”

In between she played clusters of songs from most of her albums — and just one, “Tim McGraw,” from her 2006 self-titled debut. In the end it took 44 songs and just over three hours for her to span her 17-year career.

Having not toured for her previous three albums, this concert series is intended to play catchup by providing the live debut of many of those songs. When Swift announced the tour in November she called it “a journey through the musical eras of my career (past and present!).”

Swift seemed to acknowledge the Ticketmaster furor that sullied the run-up to the tour when she told the crowd of more than 70,000 that she understands it took “considerable effort” for them to be there.

After another show at the same venue Saturday night, the tour moves on to Allegiant Stadium outside Las Vegas and then AT&T Stadium near Dallas.

It concludes with two Los Angeles-area shows in August.



TELFAZ11 Commits to 9 Productions at NEOM Over Next 3 Years

The collaboration between NEOM and TELFAZ11 will accelerate the growth of NEOM’s media industries ecosystem
The collaboration between NEOM and TELFAZ11 will accelerate the growth of NEOM’s media industries ecosystem
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TELFAZ11 Commits to 9 Productions at NEOM Over Next 3 Years

The collaboration between NEOM and TELFAZ11 will accelerate the growth of NEOM’s media industries ecosystem
The collaboration between NEOM and TELFAZ11 will accelerate the growth of NEOM’s media industries ecosystem

Saudi Arabia’s NEOM and TELFAZ11 have announced a key partnership to create up to nine TV and film productions over the next three years, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The collaboration between NEOM and TELFAZ11 will accelerate the growth of NEOM’s media industries ecosystem, ensuring a rich pipeline of productions, including two feature films and one series currently in development under the new arrangement, SPA said.

Saturday’s announcement follows a recent drumbeat of high-profile TELFAZ11 successes, including the debut of its latest theatrical feature film ‘Sattar,’ which has become the highest-grossing Saudi film to date.

In addition to productions, TELFAZ11 plans to establish a physical presence at NEOM by opening offices in NEOM’s media hub this year. This new office will complement TELFAZ11’s existing offices in Riyadh and Dubai. NEOM will also leverage TELFAZ11’s new NEOM offices to diversify its industry learning activities and multi-disciplinary talent development programs, creating a vibrant talent pool across the value chain and vital career pathways for graduates.

“Our mission is to create a new world-class media hub at NEOM, one that supports the region’s industry to compete and succeed globally. This partnership with TELFAZ11 complements and accelerates this partnership, coupled with our evolving infrastructure, crew depth, industry learning programs, and highly competitive incentive scheme, showing we are well on our way to achieving these goals,” said Wayne Borg, Managing Director of Media Industries, Entertainment, and Culture at NEOM.

Alaa Faden, CEO and Co-Founder of TELFAZ11 said that TELFAZ11 has consistently operated on the leading edge of innovation.

NEOM has provided the backdrop for 30 productions in the last 18 months, including Rupert Wyatt’s ‘Desert Warrior’, starring Anthony Mackie and Sir Ben Kingsley; ‘Dunki’ directed by Rajkumar Hirani and starring Shah Rukh Khan; local acclaimed Saudi feature ‘Within Sand’ directed by Moe Alatawi; the first regional reality TV show ‘Million Dollar Island;’ and ‘Rise of The Witches’, the region’s biggest-ever budget TV show. MBC’s ‘Exceptional,’ a 200-episode-per-year TV drama series, is set to begin shooting in July.


Walt Disney’s Pixar Animation Eliminates 75 Positions

(L-R) Actors Mamoudou Athie, Leah Lewis, Pixar CCO Pete Docter, producer Denise Ream, director Peter Sohn, actors Vincent Lacoste, Adele Exarchopoulos, and a guest attend the photocall for Pixar's “Elemental” during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 26 May 2023. (EPA)
(L-R) Actors Mamoudou Athie, Leah Lewis, Pixar CCO Pete Docter, producer Denise Ream, director Peter Sohn, actors Vincent Lacoste, Adele Exarchopoulos, and a guest attend the photocall for Pixar's “Elemental” during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 26 May 2023. (EPA)
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Walt Disney’s Pixar Animation Eliminates 75 Positions

(L-R) Actors Mamoudou Athie, Leah Lewis, Pixar CCO Pete Docter, producer Denise Ream, director Peter Sohn, actors Vincent Lacoste, Adele Exarchopoulos, and a guest attend the photocall for Pixar's “Elemental” during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 26 May 2023. (EPA)
(L-R) Actors Mamoudou Athie, Leah Lewis, Pixar CCO Pete Docter, producer Denise Ream, director Peter Sohn, actors Vincent Lacoste, Adele Exarchopoulos, and a guest attend the photocall for Pixar's “Elemental” during the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 26 May 2023. (EPA)

Walt Disney's Pixar Animation Studios has eliminated 75 positions including those of two executives behind box office disappointment “Lightyear,” sources said on Saturday, the first significant job cuts at the studio in a decade.

The cuts included "Lightyear" director Angus MacLane, a 26-year animator who was part of the senior creative team on such acclaimed films as “Toy Story 4” and “Coco.” Galyn Susman, producer of "Lightyear," also departed. Susman had been at Pixar since the release of the original “Toy Story” movie in 1995.

MacLane and Susman could not be reached for comment.

The cuts, which took place May 23, are part of Walt Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger’s previously announced plan to eliminate 7,000 jobs and slash $5.5 billion in costs. That restructuring combined the film and television groups into a single Disney Entertainment unit and eliminated a division charged with distribution.

The layoffs at Pixar are significant because the studio is a creative force generating franchises and characters that drive revenue across Disney.

Pixar is famous for cinematic franchises including “Toy Story,” “The Incredibles” and “Cars.” But “Lightyear,” released a year ago with a reported budget of $200 million, brought in a modest $226.7 million in worldwide ticket sales and received a mixed critical reception.


Festival at Greece’s Ancient Theaters Dedicated to Maria Callas and Century since Her Birth

Spectators enter the Odeon of Herodes Atticus for a performance of "Madame Butterfly" in Athens, on Thursday, June 1, 2023. (AP)
Spectators enter the Odeon of Herodes Atticus for a performance of "Madame Butterfly" in Athens, on Thursday, June 1, 2023. (AP)
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Festival at Greece’s Ancient Theaters Dedicated to Maria Callas and Century since Her Birth

Spectators enter the Odeon of Herodes Atticus for a performance of "Madame Butterfly" in Athens, on Thursday, June 1, 2023. (AP)
Spectators enter the Odeon of Herodes Atticus for a performance of "Madame Butterfly" in Athens, on Thursday, June 1, 2023. (AP)

The music from "Madame Butterfly" and other major operas is known to Greek audiences largely through the recorded performances of Maria Callas, the US-born Greek artist who died in 1977 and is still revered here.

For theatergoers in Athens, watching the tragic story of the young geisha Cio-Cio-San unfold in Puccini's emotionally charged classic has become a familiar favorite at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the stone theater the Romans built at the foot of the Acropolis more than 1,800 years ago.

Late Thursday, it hosted an open-air performance of "Madame Butterfly" to launch Greece’s main summer theater and arts festival, dedicated this year to Callas and the century since her birth in Manhattan on Dec. 2, 1923. She died of a heart attack at her home in Paris at age 53.

Officially known as the Athens-Epidaurus Festival, the summer concerts and plays are also held at the ancient theater of Epidaurus, the UNESCO world heritage site in southern Greece. Much of the program was chosen to complement the centenary celebrations.

Ticket sales from June performances by an opera world power couple, French tenor Roberto Alagna and Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, will help fund the planned summer opening of a Callas Museum in central Athens, according to festival artistic director Katerina Evangelatos.

"It’s all part of the year’s celebrations marking the 100 years ... since the birth of the great diva of opera," Evangelatos said.

Finally free of constraints imposed by the pandemic, the festival has been expanded this year to include new venues and additional collaboration with overseas artists, festivals and theater companies. Organizers also created a new online platform to help Greek performers seek opportunities abroad.

"One of the main objectives of the festival has always been to be outward-looking," Evangelatos told reporters during a recent presentation of this year’s festival. "We don’t want to just bring artists from abroad, we want to build collaboration and relationships."

The lineup this year includes the superstar Chinese pianist Lang Lang, the German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, classical pianist and conductor Christoph Eschenbach and the pioneering German electronic band Kraftwerk, as well as a performance by Icelandic band Sigur Ros with the London Contemporary Orchestra.

The Greek National Opera produced "Madame Butterfly," choosing French director Olivier Py and the Italian choreographer Daniel Izzo. The title role was given to soprano Anna Sohn, who on Thursday gave the first of four scheduled performances.

Sohn partnered with Italian tenor Andrea Carè for a sparse interpretation of the Italian classic, featuring giant helium-filled balloons, dancers in head-to-toe white makeup and time-bending backdrops that included scenes of Japan’s World War II nuclear devastation and modern banner ads for major US commercial brands.

Publicist Constance Shuman, who promotes the work of the Greek National Opera in the United States, said a performance by the company was a fitting start for the festival in the year marking what would have been Callas' 100th birthday.

Born Maria Kalogeropoulos, the singer made her professional debut with the GNO in Athens as an 18-year-old student.

"When she became internationally known, she always came back here, and she really is emblematic of what this opera company is about," Shuman said.

"This is the opening of the Maria Callas year, but her early years are not known about by a lot of people," she said. "So this is a chance to tell people about how Greece and the Greek National Opera contributed to her becoming Maria Callas."


Billy Joel to End His Record-Breaking Concert Series at Madison Square Garden in 2024 

Billy Joel speaks at a news conference at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in New York, to announce his MSG residency will end after July 2024. (AP)
Billy Joel speaks at a news conference at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in New York, to announce his MSG residency will end after July 2024. (AP)
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Billy Joel to End His Record-Breaking Concert Series at Madison Square Garden in 2024 

Billy Joel speaks at a news conference at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in New York, to announce his MSG residency will end after July 2024. (AP)
Billy Joel speaks at a news conference at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in New York, to announce his MSG residency will end after July 2024. (AP)

Billy Joel is finally moving out of his monthly perch at Madison Square Garden. The singer-songwriter says he will conclude his residency in July 2024 with his 150th lifetime performance at the venue.

“It’s hard to believe we’ve been able to do this for 10 years,” Joel said at a news conference Thursday. “I’m now 74. I’ll be 75 next year. It seems like a nice number.”

The record-breaking residency began in January 2014 with Joel playing one show every month at the Garden for, as he said at the time, “as long as the demand continues.”

In January 2015, Joel broke his own record of the “most consecutive performances by any artist” with the 13th show of the residency and a new banner was raised to the Garden’s rafters.

In July 2015, with his 65th lifetime show, Joel broke another record for the “most lifetime performances by any artist,” for which another banner was raised. Both of Joel’s banners continue to hang at the Garden.

“There’s only one thing that’s more New York than Billy Joel — and that’s a Billy Joel concert at MSG,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “For more than 50 years, Billy’s music has defined our city and brought us together. On behalf of 8.5 million New Yorkers, congratulations, Billy, on a historic run of sold-out shows at MSG, and thank you for a lifetime of bringing joy to us all.”

Joel has had 33 Top 40 hits, including three No. 1s — “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “Tell Her About It” — and four No. 1 albums — “52nd Street,” “Glass Houses,” “Storm Front” and “River of Dreams.”

He won six Grammys — as well as a Grammy Legend Award in 1990 — as well as being inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992.


Movie Review: The Giddy Splendor of ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ 

This image released by Sony Pictures Animation shows Miles Morales as Spider-Man, voiced by Shameik Moore, in a scene from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Sony Pictures Animation via AP)
This image released by Sony Pictures Animation shows Miles Morales as Spider-Man, voiced by Shameik Moore, in a scene from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Sony Pictures Animation via AP)
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Movie Review: The Giddy Splendor of ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ 

This image released by Sony Pictures Animation shows Miles Morales as Spider-Man, voiced by Shameik Moore, in a scene from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Sony Pictures Animation via AP)
This image released by Sony Pictures Animation shows Miles Morales as Spider-Man, voiced by Shameik Moore, in a scene from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Sony Pictures Animation via AP)

Let’s get this upfront: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was the best comic-book film of the last decade.

With an animation blizzard blown straight in from the pages of comics, “Into the Spider-Verse” took a supercollider to all the conventions of the superhero movie. Solemnity was out. Gone, too, was the idea of a chosen one. Spider-Man could be anyone, including a graffiti-tagging kid from Brooklyn, including a pig named Spider-Ham. The possibilities of the comic book movie were suddenly limitless. With Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower” thumping, the vibes were, as they say, immaculate.

So a lot to live up to. Yet five years later, the Spider-verse is still expanding in thrilling ways. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is the rare sequel that dazzles as much as the original did. It’s something to behold. Colors drip, invert and splatter in a shimmering pop-art swirl.

If “Into the Spider-Verse” reveled in the head-spinning collision of universes, “Across the Spider-Verse” turns the multiverse blender up a notch, or 10. Worlds bump into each other like shoppers in a crowded bodega. Spider-Men and Spider-Women tumble forth like unloaded clown cars. In this frenetic, freewheeling thing that dares you keep up with its web-slinging pace, the sheer muchness of what’s in the frame can be almost overwhelming.

But despite all that’s going on, “Across the Spider-Verse” is remarkably grounded as a coming-of-age tale. The masterful flair of writers-producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who penned the script with David Callaham, lies in how they detonate convention and then assemble the leftover, splintered shards to build something deceptively sweet and simple.

The directing team has been entirely swapped out. Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson take the reins in this second chapter, which finds Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) now a 15-year-old with a better handle on his crime-fighting powers. He’s less adept, though, at communicating with his parents, Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry) and Rio (Luna Lauren Vélez), who still don’t know their son’s secret identity and are growing increasingly concerned about his strange behavior.

Similar issues bedevil Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), who by revealing to her police captain father (Shea Whigham) that she’s Spider-Woman has caused a huge rift in their relationship. (He blames her for Peter Parker’s death.)

When Miles and Gwen, stuck in worlds apart, meet again and swing in tandem through New York, they’re less a romantically linked Spidey pair than they are a couple of teenagers whose parents just don’t understand. When they sit together, on the underside of a ledge on the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, gazing at an upside down Manhattan, hazy and blue in the distance, the lingering image perfectly encapsulates an electrifyingly downside-up movie franchise.

In its chaotic and jumbled way, “Across the Spider-Verse” keeps playing with these notions. Miles and Gwen, rightly, feel exceptional — that their problems are unique to being enormously gifted kids. But the movie again and again reinforced that, yes, they’re supremely talented, but, no, they’re far from alone. “I’m Spider-Woman,” Gwen says when a pregnant superhero (Issa Rae) peels in on a motorbike. “Me, too,” she replies.

This being a “Spider-Verse” movie, though, there more than just a few Spider-Men lurking about. There are actually gobs of them, each from some parallel world. (Among those here are a Mumbai-like New York, a Lego land and a nightmarish alternate reality.) The portals start opening thanks to The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a supervillain-in-training who looks like a splotchy blank page with ink drops on him.

But Spot’s powers grow, bringing the attention of the Spider-Society, a gaggle of Spider-People who guard over order in the multiverse. Some of them are pretty cool — most notably Daniel Kaluuya’s Spider-Punk, a British rocker who looks like he dropped out of The Clash. Others, like the leader Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), are more serious and haunted.

When worlds start colliding, prescribed storylines get upset. Seemingly anything goes in these multiverse realms, but, Miguel informs us, there is Canon that needs to be obeyed. Certain foundational narrative beats must occur, in some form, for every Spider-Man, including the sacrifice of a loved one.

When Miles tests these tenets, he brings about a cataclysmic battle across the Spider-Verse, and a movie series hellbent on deconstruction faces-off against formula. For Lord and Miller, the post-modern makers of “The Lego Movie” and “The Mitchells vs. The Machines,” it’s a battle they’ve been girding for their whole lives.

The danger in all these crisscrossing dimensions is that no reality seems to mean all that much. By exponentially multiplying worlds and Spider-Men, “Across the Spider-Verse” risks making itself dizzy. Yet it surprisingly, even movingly, stays true to the teenage emotions at its core and the parent-kid relationships driving all these multiverse convulsions.

It’s the first Marvel movie that I felt in the theater a palpable disappointment that it was over. (“Across the Spider-Verse” is a sequel in two parts, and ends here in full-on cliffhanger fashion.) That “Across the Spider-Verse” earned that response is surely partly due to its giddy design just as it is to its conviction that we all contain multitudes. As Rachel Dratch’s principal says in the film: “Every person is a universe.”


Erykah Badu Basks in Her New Era of Reinvention and Expansion 

Erykah Badu arrives at the Valentino ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented in Paris on Oct. 2, 2022. (AP)
Erykah Badu arrives at the Valentino ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented in Paris on Oct. 2, 2022. (AP)
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Erykah Badu Basks in Her New Era of Reinvention and Expansion 

Erykah Badu arrives at the Valentino ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented in Paris on Oct. 2, 2022. (AP)
Erykah Badu arrives at the Valentino ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented in Paris on Oct. 2, 2022. (AP)

Erykah Badu has unintentionally occupied the role of culture shifter and influencer for 20 plus years, well before it became a trendy, social media descriptor. Her impact has vibrated throughout music and fashion, and the “Green Eyes” songstress sees it clearly.

“I can hear my influence in music. I can see my influence style,” explained the four-time Grammy winner. “I hear my words resonated all over the world...So yeah, I can see it.”

That cultural cache may be why her collaboration with Italian fashion house Marni has been so anticipated. The Marni x Erykah Badu capsule was released in select US Marni boutiques last month. The 42-piece collection features women's ready-to-wear garments, including dresses, accessories and footwear, accented with handmade leather patchwork, heavy wools, bold sequins and lush velvets. Badu, 52, who is known for her creative and eccentric style, was hands on in all aspects.

“I’ve worked the same way in every area of my life; on stage I’m doing sound, I’m doing lighting, set design, costume, hair, makeup,” said Badu, whose 18-year-old daughter Puma modeled for the campaign. “I’m involved in everything. I am a creator. I am a visionary...we put those things together and came up with something really creative.”

Claire Sulmers, CEO of the influential style blog Fashion Bomb Daily, says Badu's versatility has made her a muse for designers.

“She is a trendsetter, but she’s always marched to the beat of her own drum...she can work anything, from a designer you might find at a flea market, to a runway,” said Sulmers, who called Badu an icon. “I think that is what can be attributed to her collaborating with brands because a lot of these brands that might have been under the radar or off the radar, now they’re like, ‘Whoa, there’s this beautiful woman who is an amazing artist, who also has an amazing style, and we want to work with her.’”

As Badu enters the fashion industry and launches other business ventures, the singer-songwriter is keeping her feet firmly planted in music with a tour on the horizon. In a wide-ranging video interview with The Associated Press, Badu discussed her businesses and creativity.

The line between entertainer and philosopher is often blurred when conversing with the “Next Lifetime” artist. When asked what makes her happy, she mentions her diet; when questioned about the creation of her classic records, she brings up the latest theories on the formation of the pyramids.

Her aura has a warm, but intense gravitational pull, and there’s a long-running joke that one can’t look into her eyes without falling into a trance — a myth Badu embraces. She has embarked through life with a creative fearlessness.

“If I’m a little nervous or afraid, I feel brave because of the confidence,” said Badu, who has served as both a birthing and end-of-life doula for the past two decades. “That has always driven my creativity and art. So, it’s easy to be a non-conformist, especially when you feel confident that there’s no such thing as losing because even those moments are lessons. I take all the information and use them to reinvent myself each day.”

Badu has helped bring babies into the world for friends, family and even celebrity mothers like singers Summer Walker and Teyana Taylor, stating the relationships happen organically, and she only agrees if she can dedicate the time. There’s no website or phone number to request the “Love of My Life” singer's doula services, at least not yet.

“(If) the money gets tight, then we’ll see,” she joked.

A champion for Black women and free thinking, she’s not only in an era of reinvention, but expansion.

Draped in Afrocentric garb including statuesque headwraps and ankh jewelry, Badu teleported into the music scene in 1997 with her debut album, “Baduizm.” It earned her a best new artist Grammy nomination and a best R&B album win.

A pioneer of the '90s neo-soul movement with contemporaries like Maxwell, D’Angelo and Jill Scott, Badu crafted soulful classics like “On & On,”“Tyrone,”“Bag Lady,”“Didn’t Cha Know” and “Window Seat.” Her last official project was 2015’s “But You Caint Use My Phone” mixtape.

“I’m always working on new music. I don’t know when I’ll put it out, but I’m waiting for the right time,” said the 2018 Soul Train Legend honoree. “I like to feel necessary for my real audience. My real audience is trees and wind and rain, air — ancestors and things like that.”

Badu says music is the star that her other businesses orbit around.

“Everything is vibration and sound, from the sound of the birds that I’ve heard since I was a child... (to) the clothes I wear — the clothes in my Marni line all have bells on them,” explained the Dallas native, who still resides in the city. “So, if I associate everything with music, it’s very easy for me to create...there’s a variety of things I listen to throughout the day, from wind chimes in the morning to Brent Faiyaz in the afternoon to Bach — I mean, there’s just so many different things. I just love music and frequency. It is my therapy.”

One of her most impactful musical contributions didn’t come from a hit, but from the lesser-known “Master Teacher Medley” on 2008’s “New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)” album. Produced by Shafiq Husayn, that song is largely credited with reintroducing the term “stay woke” — with collaborator Georgia Anne Muldrow chanting those words — to a new generation.

“From the time they started using it for Black Lives Matter (social protests), it was out of my hands because it kind of doesn’t really belong to us anymore,” said Badu, who describes the phrase as a person’s heighted awareness of everything going on around them.

However, when conservatives made the term a political lightening rod, Badu decided to speak out.

“It got a little out of hand. That’s why I had to say something about it, because people were starting to use it as a weapon,” she continued. “If it gets into the wrong hands...I’ve gotta interfere and bring it back in.”

Badu, who has an upcoming Funko Pop! figure that sold out during pre-order, is prepping for a highly anticipated 25-date tour kicking off this month. Yasiin Bey, the hip-hop star formerly known as Mos Def, will join her for the “Unfollow Me” tour.

“I just want people to follow their own heart,” said the active social media user, giggling at the cheekiness of the title. “It’s about your journey.”

As Badu, who will appear in the upcoming film “The Piano Lesson” starring Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington, continues her own odyssey, her outlook is one of gratefulness and optimism.

“When I open my eyes in the morning, I say, ’Still here! Got another chance today do some good (expletive), create some great (expletive) — be challenged by people and make the right choices. Another chance to discriminate between things that are useful in my brain...(and) thoughts that are not,” she revealed. “That’s woke. That’s awareness — knowing that there is adversity, but also using the tools that you have to navigate through your world.”


Animated Spider-Man Back with ‘Arthouse’ Sequel to Oscar Winner

US actor Shameik Moore arrives for the world premiere of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2023. (AFP)
US actor Shameik Moore arrives for the world premiere of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2023. (AFP)
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Animated Spider-Man Back with ‘Arthouse’ Sequel to Oscar Winner

US actor Shameik Moore arrives for the world premiere of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2023. (AFP)
US actor Shameik Moore arrives for the world premiere of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2023. (AFP)

Nearly five years after the animated "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" won an Oscar with its innovative, biracial take on the beloved webslinger, a wildly ambitious sequel aims to further blur the boundaries between superhero films and arthouse cinema.

 

"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," out Friday in the United States, picks up the story of half-Black, half-Latino Miles Morales, again using an eye-popping blend of decades-old 2D comic book drawing techniques with the latest computer-generated visual effects.

 

This time, the action takes place across several parallel universes, each one visualized in its own unique animated style, from a paint-streaked, grungy 1990s New York to a kaleidoscopic futuristic hybrid of Mumbai and Manhattan.

 

The movie employed three directors, more than 1,000 artists, and runs at two hours and 20 minutes -- unusually long for an animated film.

 

Its creators told AFP that the success of the first movie -- which holds the highest-ever rating for a superhero movie on Rotten Tomatoes (97 percent) -- "gave us permission to just be even more daring on this film."

 

"I feel like we got the amazing opportunity as directors to make the world's biggest independent film, basically," said co-director Justin K. Thompson.

 

"It's an arthouse film, disguised as a superhero movie."

 

'The Spider-Verse'

 

The film's hero Morales was first introduced to comic books in 2011, but came to mainstream attention with "Into the Spider-Verse," which won the Academy Award for best animated feature in 2019.

 

Morales shares a familiar backstory with Peter Parker -- bitten by a radioactive spider, he quickly deploys his new powers to swing between Manhattan skyscrapers and fight crime.

 

But his diverse ancestry and fondness for trendy sneakers and rap music set him apart from the "traditional" Spider-Man.

 

It is all made possible thanks to the concept of a "multiverse," in which different versions of the same characters exist in parallel dimensions -- and occasionally interact -- that has been used in comic books for decades.

 

In recent years, the multiverse has become popular in Hollywood too, as movie studios feed audiences' boundless appetite for more and more superhero films, and writers scramble to explain how they can possibly all fit together.

 

"The thing that shocked us on the first movie was, there was no resistance to the idea of a multiverse -- that the audience were completely on board and, like, not confused!" Christopher Miller, who co-produced both movies, told AFP.

 

"It allowed this movie to go to even more spectacular places -- to introduce more unusual characters."

 

The first Spider-Verse movie had a 1930s film noir-style private eye Spider-Man, and even a Spider-Ham pig character. This time, we meet a British punk rocker Spidey, and a dashing Indian version.

 

Two-hour barrier

 

Aside from the complexity of its dimension-hopping plot, the new film has raised eyebrows due to its length.

 

While upcoming adult dramas such as Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" and Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" are set to top three hours, anything longer than two hours for a US animated feature is highly unusual.

 

And "Across the Spider-Verse" is the first of two sequels, with "Beyond the Spider-Verse" to conclude events next year.

 

But the creators shrugged off the notion that "a film that happens to be animated" must be brief, noting that "quiet" moments from the first film involving Miles bonding with his father and uncle were fan favorites.

 

"The peaks don't play as high if those lows don't play as beautifully low as they do," said co-director Joaquim Dos Santos.

 

"Those are the moments you're losing -- the moments that actually make the film special in the first place," added fellow director Kemp Powers, who also co-wrote Pixar's "Soul."

 

"Of course, if it were six hours, that's too long," he joked.


How ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ Found a Sound of Its Own 

Ari Notartomaso, Marisa Davila, Cheyenne Isabel Wells and Tricia Fukuhara attend Paramount +'s "Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies" FYC Event at Hollywood Athletic Club on May 14, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Ari Notartomaso, Marisa Davila, Cheyenne Isabel Wells and Tricia Fukuhara attend Paramount +'s "Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies" FYC Event at Hollywood Athletic Club on May 14, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
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How ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ Found a Sound of Its Own 

Ari Notartomaso, Marisa Davila, Cheyenne Isabel Wells and Tricia Fukuhara attend Paramount +'s "Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies" FYC Event at Hollywood Athletic Club on May 14, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Ari Notartomaso, Marisa Davila, Cheyenne Isabel Wells and Tricia Fukuhara attend Paramount +'s "Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies" FYC Event at Hollywood Athletic Club on May 14, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

While songwriter Justin Tranter has attained success by penning hit pop anthems like Justin Bieber's "Sorry" and Imagine Dragons' "Believer," writing music for the Paramount+ prequel "Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies" took him in a new direction.

For the 10-part musical TV series based on the famous 1978 film "Grease," Tranter wrote 30 original tracks - most of which weren't in the vein of the pop songs for which he is known.

"I'm very proud of my pop songs but there isn't the level of storytelling that's required for a musical," Tranter told Reuters.

"Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies" is set in 1954, four years before the story of the US high school movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

The first season, which ends on Thursday, follows four rebellious students who unite to become the misfits of Rydell High and eventually the "Pink Ladies" clique. The show's lead, Marisa Davila, portrays Jane Facciano, the first female student to run for class president.

When he knew he was interested in being a part of the project, Tranter wrote his own original audition song, "Too Cool," which is featured in the first episode.

One of the main challenges Tranter faced was emulating the popular songs from the original film, which incorporated sounds from different decades.

"Some of it feels very true to the '50s and some of it is very much a late '70s take," Tranter said, referring to the original "Grease."

He also wanted to bring some of his contemporary pop style into the mix as well.

"We are waiting to see how an audience receives 30 original songs over 10 episodes. No-one has done it before, so we don't know how it's going to work," Tranter said.


HBO Estimates 2.9 Million Watched ‘Succession’ Finale on Sunday Night 

This image released by HBO shows Brian Cox as Logan Roy in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)
This image released by HBO shows Brian Cox as Logan Roy in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)
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HBO Estimates 2.9 Million Watched ‘Succession’ Finale on Sunday Night 

This image released by HBO shows Brian Cox as Logan Roy in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)
This image released by HBO shows Brian Cox as Logan Roy in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)

HBO said 2.9 million people watched or streamed the series finale of “Succession” on Sunday night, a series record that is expected to grow as delayed viewing is taken into account.

That beat the first-night record of 2.75 million for an episode that aired on April 30, earlier in the fourth and last season of the family drama about a media company.

The audience can be expected to expand significantly when delayed viewing is taken into account. For example, “Succession” episodes this season have been seen by an average of 8.7 million viewers, according to the Nielsen company.

The series finale provided an answer to the question central to the story, about whether any of media magnate Logan Roy’s children would inherit control over his media empire.

“Succession” didn’t approach HBO’s record of 19.8 million people who watched the 2019 finale of “Game of Thrones” on its premiere night. HBO estimated that some 46 million people have watched that episode when delayed viewing is taken into account.

HBO said that “Barry,” its series starring Bill Hader, had 700,000 viewers on the night of its finale this past week. Episodes have been average 3.4 million viewers this season.


‘The Little Mermaid’ Makes Box Office Splash with $95.5 Million Opening

This image released by Disney shows Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in "The Little Mermaid." (Disney via AP)
This image released by Disney shows Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in "The Little Mermaid." (Disney via AP)
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‘The Little Mermaid’ Makes Box Office Splash with $95.5 Million Opening

This image released by Disney shows Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in "The Little Mermaid." (Disney via AP)
This image released by Disney shows Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in "The Little Mermaid." (Disney via AP)

“The Little Mermaid” made moviegoers want to be under the sea on Memorial Day weekend.

Disney’s live-action remake of its 1989 animated classic easily outswam the competition, bringing in $95.5 million on 4,320 screens in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.

And Disney estimates the film starring Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as her sea witch nemesis Ursula will reach $117.5 million by the time the holiday is over. It ranks as the fifth biggest Memorial Day weekend opening ever.

It displaces “Fast X” in the top spot. The 10th installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise starring Vin Diesel has lagged behind more recent releases in the series, bringing in $23 million domestically for a two-week total of $108 million for Universal Pictures.

In its fourth weekend, Disney and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” made an estimated $20 million in North America to take third place. It’s now made $299 million domestically.

The performance of “The Little Mermaid” represents something of a bounce-back for Disney’s animated-to-live-action remakes, and makes it likely they will keep coming indefinitely. Poor reception and the pandemic had some recent reboots either performing poorly or skipping theatrical releases for Disney +, including “Dumbo,” “Mulan” and “Pinocchio.”

“It works as long as the movies deliver,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “It’s great for Disney to be able to go to their archive by reviving these titles that started off as huge hits in the animated realm.”

The opening puts it in the top tier of Disney’s remakes, with a similar performance to 2019′s “Aladdin,” though it was well short of 2017′s “Beauty and the Beast,” which opened to more than $170 million, and 2019′s “The Lion King,” which brought in more than $190 million in its first weekend.

Audiences thought it delivered. The film had an A CinemaScore, and according to exit polling had more ticket buyers between ages 25 and 34 than children, suggesting nostalgic adults were essential.

“The multi-generational component of this cannot be overstated,” Dergarabedian said.

Critics were more lukewarm. The movie is currently at 67% on Rotten Tomatoes. In her review, Lindsey Bahr of The Associated Press called it “a somewhat drab undertaking with sparks of bioluminescence” that like too many of the Disney remakes “prioritized nostalgia and familiarity over compelling visual storytelling.”

She said Bailey, half of the sister R&B duo Chloe x Halle, still shone with a “lovely presence” and “superb voice.”

Directed by Rob Marshall with a reported budget of $250 million before marketing, “The Little Mermaid” tells the story of a yearning, wayward daughter who cuts a devil’s deal to swap her fins for a pair of legs. It features the songs from Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, including “Part of Your World” and “Under the Sea,” that helped the original film spark a Disney animation renaissance in the 1990s.

Fourth place went to Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which keeps reaching new levels in its eighth weekend. Now available to rent on VOD, it still earned $6.3 million in theaters. Its cumulative total of $559 million makes Mario and Luigi the year’s biggest earners so far.

Comics couldn’t stand up to Ariel as the week’s other new releases sank.

“The Machine,” an action comedy starring stand-up comedian Bert Kreischer, finished fifth with $4.9 million domestically. And “About My Father,” the broad comedy starring stand-up Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro, was sixth with $4.3 million.

It’s not clear whether “The Little Mermaid” will have legs — or fins — going forward. Next week brings the release of animated “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” with “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” arriving the following week.