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Starry Sundance Fest Moves Ahead in Wake of LA Fires 

US actress/singer Jennifer Lopez arrives for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 15th Annual Governors Awards at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles on November 17, 2024. (AFP)
US actress/singer Jennifer Lopez arrives for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 15th Annual Governors Awards at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles on November 17, 2024. (AFP)
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Starry Sundance Fest Moves Ahead in Wake of LA Fires 

US actress/singer Jennifer Lopez arrives for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 15th Annual Governors Awards at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles on November 17, 2024. (AFP)
US actress/singer Jennifer Lopez arrives for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 15th Annual Governors Awards at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles on November 17, 2024. (AFP)

The US film industry's first big gathering since fires devastated Los Angeles will begin Thursday at the Sundance festival, where highlights include a glitzy new Jennifer Lopez musical and a dark Benedict Cumberbatch drama.

Hollywood's annual pilgrimage to the Rocky Mountains to premiere the coming year's most-anticipated indie films is taking place in somber circumstances, after the blazes that killed at least 27 people and brought the entertainment capital to a halt.

Festival chiefs held lengthy talks with filmmakers, including those "who lost homes or were displaced" by the blazes, before deciding to press ahead, said Sundance director Eugene Hernandez.

Organizers heard "harrowing stories of people running out of their homes, evacuating... with their hard drives under their arms" to ensure their films survived, he told AFP.

"Everybody to a person just wants to look forward and wants to look ahead... it'll be a nice moment of reunion and community."

Among the 88 features being screened in Utah's Park City is "Rebuilding," about a rancher who loses everything in a wildfire.

"It takes on an added poignance, for those who will watch it next week," said Hernandez.

Josh O'Connor, known for "The Crown" and "Challengers," plays the lead role.

"It's an incredible film, and one that we felt was important to show, based on that spirit of resilience," said Sundance programming director Kim Yutani.

"I think it will be a particularly moving one for people to see."

- J-Lo, Cumberbatch -

A-lister Lopez brings her first film to Sundance, with "Kiss of the Spider Woman."

From "Dreamgirls" director Bill Condon, the film is based on the Broadway adaptation of Argentine author Manuel Puig's famous novel.

Lopez plays Aurora, a silver-screen diva whose life and roles are discussed by two mismatched prisoners as they form an unlikely bond in their grim cell.

While harking back to grand Golden Age Hollywood musicals with its fabulous costumes and Lopez's "knockout musical performance," the film is a more dramatic and independent take on the genre, said Hernandez.

Cumberbatch stars in another literary adaptation, "The Thing With Feathers," based on Max Porter's experimental and poetic novel about a grieving husband and two young sons.

"It's one of these juicy roles that big actors relish taking a bite out of," said Yutani.

Family tragedy and fatherhood are also the themes of "Omaha," with John Magaro ("Past Lives") delivering "an emotional gut punch of a role" that could spell awards, according to Yutani.

Rapper A$AP Rocky and late-night host Conan O'Brien make up the eclectic cast of mystery "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You."

And "The Bear" star Ayo Edebiri teams up with John Malkovich for thriller "Opus," about a young writer investigating the mysterious disappearance of a legendary pop star.

- Music, politics -

Music is also a prominent theme of Sundance's documentary selection, which has launched several of the most recent Oscar-winning non-fiction films.

A new "must-see" Jeff Buckley documentary features never-before-seen footage from "three very important women in his life, including his mother," said Yutani.

Elegance Bratton explores the Chicago roots of house music with "Move Ya Body: The Birth of House," while Oscar-winning director Questlove examines funk pioneer Sly Stone in "Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)."

Politics will again be prominent.

Former New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern is expected in town to promote behind-the-scenes documentary "Prime Minister."

"The Jinx" director Andrew Jarecki explores violence and corruption in the US prison system with "The Alabama Solution."

And, days after the Gaza ceasefire agreement took effect, Palestinian-American director Cherien Dabis will unveil her "groundbreaking" new film "All That's Left of You," which has been given a highly prominent Saturday evening premiere at Sundance's biggest venue.

"That is not an accident. This is a really special one," said Yutani.

"I have not seen a film about a Palestinian family told in quite this way."

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 23 through February 2.

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Entertainment

Now It’s All Come Together: Forgotten Beatles Photos Released

The Beatles in New York in 1968. (AFP)
The Beatles in New York in 1968. (AFP)
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Now It’s All Come Together: Forgotten Beatles Photos Released

The Beatles in New York in 1968. (AFP)
The Beatles in New York in 1968. (AFP)

The venue that hosted The Beatles' only concerts in Japan has released long-forgotten photos of the legendary British band six decades after the gigs.

At the height of Beatlemania in 1966, when the quartet was the world's most famous pop group, the Beatles staged five summer performances in Tokyo in front of screaming fans.

Crowds reportedly thronged their hotel, where they stayed in the finest suite.

Then in 2009, more than 100 photos shot during the gigs "were discovered on a shelf" inside an office at the concert venue Nippon Budokan, the arena's operator told AFP.

But the 19 rolls of negative film -- reportedly wrapped in paper and labelled in such a way that it suggested they belonged to Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun -- remained "stored as they were" until recently, the operator in a statement.

However, as the 60th anniversary of the Japan tour approached, the venue operator asked a Beatles expert to examine the negatives, and "his assessment revealed that the photos appear to have never been published" in newspapers or other media.

Among the photos released by the concert venue is a shot of John Lennon smiling beside a Japanese doll that resembles a figurine featuring on the album cover of the 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".

The global stars were under tight security during their visit, but the doll may have been purchased during a hurried shopping trip, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said.

The newspaper is investigating who took the photos and why the negatives had been kept in Nippon Budokan despite being wrapped in paper labelled "The Yomiuri Shimbun archives room", it said.

The photos capture "the atmosphere of that one and only Japan tour -- now remembered as a historic event -- as well as various moments from their stay in Japan," the Nippon Budokan statement said.

Entertainment

AI-generated Artists Break Through in Country Music

"Whiskey & Water," a song by Cain Walker featuring Cade Winslow, is one of many AI-generated country music tunes. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
"Whiskey & Water," a song by Cain Walker featuring Cade Winslow, is one of many AI-generated country music tunes. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
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AI-generated Artists Break Through in Country Music

"Whiskey & Water," a song by Cain Walker featuring Cade Winslow, is one of many AI-generated country music tunes. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
"Whiskey & Water," a song by Cain Walker featuring Cade Winslow, is one of many AI-generated country music tunes. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP

AI-generated singers routinely rank among the top-streamed country music artists in the United States -- a trend that for now is limited to a genre that industry observers fear is becoming too formulaic.

Breaking Rust, Cain Walker, Aventhis, and Outlaw Gospel have more in common that cowboy hats, denim and leather. They are all completely computer-generated, from their faces to their melodies, said AFP.

And they are all hitmakers.

"That's a phenomenon I didn't see coming," said Jennie Hayes Kurtz of the country music band Brother and The Hayes.

"I thought AI was going to be curing cancer or something."

Many of the AI country tunes tap into the genre's archetype of the lone cowboy: a rugged, taciturn, plain-spoken man who, above all, refuses to apologize for simply existing.

Lyrics are delivered in raspy, gravelly voices that sound as authentic as the real thing.

"It's scary as songwriters," said Kassie Jordan, who forms the singing duo Blue Honey with her husband Troy Brooks.

"We are starting to see a lot of people just putting words into these chatbots and it is writing songs for them," she said. "As a songwriter, it's kind of like, is anyone going to even think I really wrote this?"

Berklee College of Music professor Joe Bennett noted that a sampling of AI singers suggests that the words used to "prompt" AI songs were "not particularly detailed."

None of the producers behind AI-generated music projects responded to AFP's requests for comment.

So how did AI find a place in a genre that is fundamentally rooted in the human experience and storytelling, blending folk, blues, and even gospel influences?

For Bennett, the emergence of modern country music in the early 2000s -- with a highly polished, more pop sound and repeated "melodic shapes" -- is key.

AI models could become adept at replicating such a sound, when fueled with those elements, he explained.

- 'Superficial' -

Once overshadowed by rap and Latin music, and hindered by the industry's shift to digital music formats, country music has nevertheless staged a comeback thanks to a generation of artists with stronger pop, not folk, sensibilities.

Following in the footsteps of country-turned-pop megastar Taylor Swift, today's headliners are more likely to sport baseball caps than wide Stetsons.

Their music breaks genre boundaries, while artists such as Beyonce and Post Malone win fans and sell albums with their crossover efforts.

Last year, country stars Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan were both in the top 10 most streamed artists on Spotify.

Some in the industry believe country's rebirth signifies a dulled-down formula designed to appeal to the widest possible audience.

"The lyrics aren't as deep as they used to be," Jordan said.

"A big portion of popular country music has become kind of shallow, so that is pretty easy to duplicate."

Bennett says the industry must do a better job of identifying AI-generated music, noting that Deezer is the only major streaming platform to clearly label such material.

"We need AI detection," Bennett maintained.

"It will happen, and there is a consumer demand for it."

Hayes Kurtz said there is a large audience of "passive" listeners who don't care whether music is made by AI, but there are also "active listeners" who attend concerts, buy band merchandise, and deeply respect the integrity of the artists.

"That audience seems to really care it the music is made by the actual humans they are going to see," Hayes Kurtz said.

Jordan says she remains optimistic about the future.

"There's another wave of country artists that are coming that is really into doing it the old school way and showing emotion," she said.

"That will be harder for AI to duplicate. That might save the genre."

Entertainment

'Charlie's Angels' Stars Reunite for Show's 50th Anniversary

Aired over five seasons between 1976 and 1981, 'Charlie's Angels' became a cultural phenomenon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
Aired over five seasons between 1976 and 1981, 'Charlie's Angels' became a cultural phenomenon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
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'Charlie's Angels' Stars Reunite for Show's 50th Anniversary

Aired over five seasons between 1976 and 1981, 'Charlie's Angels' became a cultural phenomenon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
Aired over five seasons between 1976 and 1981, 'Charlie's Angels' became a cultural phenomenon. VALERIE MACON / AFP

The stars of legendary American crime drama "Charlie's Angels" reunited Monday at Los Angeles' PaleyFest to celebrate 50 years since the show catapulted the trio to fame.

Aired over five seasons between 1976 and 1981, the show became a cultural phenomenon that left its mark on television and starred Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd -- who joined after Farrah Fawcett left the show to pursue a movie career.

The series followed three powerful women who left the daily grind of the Los Angeles police force to become private detectives working for a mysterious boss named Charlie Townsend who spoke to them through an intercom.

It hoped to highlight the strength of women and fight against the archetype that women needed rescuing, Smith -- who played Kelly Garrett -- told AFP on the red carpet at Hollywood's legendary Dolby Theatre.

"Women came into their own, it was groundbreaking (and a) game changer for women," she said.

"Here we were chasing danger (and) we were not being rescued. We were not a wife, a nurse, a secretary, a girlfriend... we were these strong women that could take down a 200-pound man."

Jackson, 77, said she had "never doubted" the show's potential or that it would become a hit big enough to captivate audiences half a century later.

"It was unique, it was unusual, and the three of us had chemistry... we're still sisters today," the 77-year-old who played Sabrina Duncan told AFP.

Although the cast of "Charlie's Angels" changed several times, Smith, Jackson and Ladd formed the series' most enduring trio with Fawcett, who died in 2009, returning as a guest star in a few episodes as Ladd's older sister.

PaleyFest, organized by the Paley Center for Media, celebrates the best of American television.