SUNDAY

HBOs dark superhero drama Watchmen leads the field with 11 nominations at the socially distanced 72nd Emmy Awards. Jimmy Kimmel hosts. 5 p.m. ABC

60 Minutes takes a licking and keeps on ticking as the venerable news magazine returns for its 53rd season. 7 p.m. CBS

Old married couple: Alan and Celia (Derek Jacobi, Anne Reid) are back in Season 4 of the British rom-com Last Tango in Halifax. 8 p.m. KOCE

Her Deadly Sugar Daddy is paying the bills but it could end up costing her her life in this new thriller. With Lorynn York and Aubrey Reynolds. 8 p.m. Lifetime

Surfs up in the tsunami-themed season finale of the extreme nature series Apocalypse Earth. 9 p.m History Channel

See if a dastardly conman finally gets his comeuppance in the finale of the true-crime series Love Fraud. 9 p.m. Showtime

Theyre out of the gourds in the new series Outrageous Pumpkins hosted by How I Met Your Mothers Alyson Hannigan. 10 p.m. Food Network

MONDAY

The docuseries Defying Gravity: The Untold Story of Womens Gymnastics tells of the blood, toil, tears and sweat required to compete at the elite level. 9 a.m. YouTube

Your Las Vegas Raiders still sounds weird to us play their home opener against the New Orleans Saints as the new NFL Football season continues. 5 p.m. ABC, ESPN

Shes in the money: Sex and the Citys Kim Cattrall plays the tough if naive wife of a wealthy but unfaithful televangelist (Gerald McRaney) in the soapy new drama Filthy Rich. 9 p.m. Fox

A 10-year-old Aboriginal boy adept at traditional healing methods comes into conflict with local authorities in Australia in the documentary In My Blood It Runs on a new POV. 10 p.m. KOCE

TUESDAY

The British comic and his dear old dad are all dressed up with some place to go in a fourth season of Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father. Anytime, Netflix

Walk it off! The Clippers Doc Rivers and Jill Ellis, late of the U.S. womens soccer team, are among the coaches sharing their secrets for success in the new five-part docuseries The Playbook. Anytime, Netflix

The remaining acts give it their all before a new champion is crowned on the two-night season finale of Americas Got Talent. Terry Crews hosts. 8 p.m. NBC; 9 p.m. Wed.

Frontline lays out your options for the Nov. 3 presidential election in The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden. 9 p.m. KOCE

Find out who made Time magazines list of the years most influential politicians, celebrities, etc. in the new special Time100. 10 p.m. ABC

One of the stars of the Harold & Kumar franchise explores issues of interest to younger voters in the new comedy-and-chat show Kal Penn Approves This Message. 10:30 p.m. Freeform

WEDNESDAY

The names Holmes, Enola Holmes. Millie Bobby Brown (Strangers Things) plays super sleuth Sherlock Holmes kid sister in this adventure tale set in Victorian London. With Henry Cavill and Helena Bonham Carter. Anytime, Netflix

Kooky costumes, hidden faces: The Masked Singer is back for a fourth season. Then, find out who can and who cant carry a tune in the new series I Can See Your Voice hosted by Ken Jeong. 8 and 9 p.m. Fox

The veteran Chicano comedy trio Culture Clash tackles the ongoing protests against police brutality on a new episode of Southland Sessions. 8 p.m. KCET

Borneo is the next stop on a new episode of the nature series Islands of Wonder. 8 p.m. KOCE

The Canadian-made procedural drama Coroner ends its freshman season. Serinda Swan stars. 9 p.m. The CW

Party up in here! Katy Perry, Pink Martini and composer-conductor John Williams take it to the stage in encore performances on the season finale of In Concert at the Hollywood Bowl. 9 p.m. KCET

Letter perfect: Nova spells it out for you in the new episode A to Z: The First Alphabet. 9 p.m. KOCE

Filmmaker Alex Gibney takes a deep dive into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election in the two-part documentary Agents of Chaos. 9 p.m. HBO; concludes Thu.

THURSDAY

Jon Favreau and celebrity chef Roy Choi serve up a second season of their star-studded culinary series The Chef Show. Anytime, Netflix

The fur will fly as professional pet groomers are put through their paces in the new competition series Haute Dog. Matt Rogers hosts. Anytime, HBO Max

Line of Dutys Stephen Graham and Game of Thrones Mark Addy investigate The Murders at White House Farm in this imported whodunit inspired by true events. Anytime, HBO Max

The special India From Above offers an aerial view of the natural and man-made wonders of that South Asian nation. 9 p.m National Geographic

The rampaging will continue until their demands are met in new episodes of the reality series Bridezillas. 10 p.m. WE

FRIDAY

A standout writer-performer from Late Night With Seth Meyers is ready for her closeup in the new series The Amber Ruffin Show. Anytime, Peacock

Get up close and personal with Nashville Stars Coffey Anderson and his kinfolk in the new reality series Country-ish. Anytime, Netflix

Its shoe-shoppin good: Sneakerheads will not rest till theyve scored the most sought-after pair of kicks in this new comedy series. With Allen Maldonado (Black-ish) and Andrew Bachelor. Anytime, Netflix

A teen princess (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) and others of her station suit up for superhero duty in the new action fantasy Secret Society of Second-Born Royals. With Skyler Astin. Anytime, Disney+

Meanwhile, young comic-book fans are tasked with saving the world during a pandemic, no less in the new series Utopia. Rainn Wilson and John Cusack star. Anytime, Amazon Prime

Based on a book by filmmaker Errol Morris, the new true-crime series A Wilderness of Error reopens the case of Jeffrey MacDonald, the former Green Beret convicted of the shocking 1970 murders of his pregnant wife and two young daughters. 8, 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. FX

A scoop of Schubert: Host Scott Yoo profiles the 19th-century Austrian composer in a new Now Hear This on Great Performances. 9 p.m. KOCE

The long-running newsmagazine Dateline NBC also returns with new episodes. 10 p.m. NBC

A new installment of Art in the Twenty-First Century scopes out the contemporary art scene in Beijing. 10 p.m. KOCE

SATURDAY

For the defense: Creeds Michael B. Jordan portrays attorney and activist Bryan Stevenson in the 2019 legal drama Just Mercy, based on Stevensons memoir. With Jamie Foxx and Captain Marvels Brie Larson. 8 p.m. HBO

A hotels activities director hooks up with a hunky guest in the new TV movie Falling for Look Lodge. With Clark Backo and Jonathan Keltz. 9 p.m. Hallmark Channel

Read the original here:

Whats on TV This Week: The Emmys, 'The Masked Singer' - Los Angeles Times

From American Utopia (2020), dir. Spike Lee (all images courtesy Cinetic Media)

Its tempting to say this about any piece of media that brings even a semblance of joy during this terrible year, but David Byrnes American Utopia genuinely feels like a balm. The stage show, which ran from late 2019 to early 2020 at New Yorks Hudson Theatre, exists somewhere between a concert and a musical. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festivals 2020 online edition, the film adaptation, directed by Spike Lee, is a fascinating deconstruction of live performance, emphasizing negative visual space and human connection over pyrotechnics.

As Byrne takes the stage, the recollection of Jonathan Demmes equally joyous 1984 Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense is plain, what with the simple stage assemblage and costuming. Its perhaps a reminder of how things have and havent changed in the time since. But while the original stage show and this film adaptation are absolutely in conversation with Stop Making Sense, Lee still makes it feel distinct. He applies his own visual stamp and a more intimate setup, especially as the show draws closer to its conclusion. He privileges Byrnes audience with unique angles afforded by the camera, getting close-ups, providing new views of the choreography via aerial shots, and generally making this a cinematic experience rather than simply a filmed show. He adds flair to Byrnes minimalist sensibilities.

For his part, Byrne is the same as he ever was humanist, good-humored and often a little self-deprecating, and most of all egalitarian. Hes the focal point of an ensemble, rather than an all-consuming presence. Hes still trying to make sense of the world through Dadaist art, world music, close friends and collaborators, and his audience. The big questions he asks about the American state of being in between the songs provide new context for everything from classics like Burning Down the House and of course Once in a Lifetime to modern collaborations like I Should Watch TV (written with Annie Clark, aka St Vincent) or a retooling of X-Press Zs house track Lazy. Some numbers are updated dissections of modern living, while others are more focused on finding joy in showmanship. Looking at people? Thats the best, Byrne says as This Must Be the Place thunders to life.

For all of American Utopias joy in revisiting these classics, it also has surprising urgency, full of calls to action, specifically around contemporary Black protest. Colin Kaepernick appears on screen as Byrne and his band take a knee and raise their fists, and one of the closing numbers is a cover of Janelle Monaes Hell You Talmbout. That protest song first came out in 2015, and lists some of the Black people killed, mostly by police, up until the point she performed it. Here its updated to include a few names from this year alone: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery. The most telling sign of Lees presence is the confrontational construction of this performance, cutting it with scenes of protests featuring people holding gaze with the viewer, carrying placards and pictures of these stolen lives, with many more names in bold red text that engulf the screen.

The term American Utopia is knowingly oxymoronic. A lot of the show is dedicated to wondering how things can be fixed, if they ever will be. But at the same time, its hard to watch Byrnes warm and humanistic performance without grinning from ear to ear. The American Utopia doesnt exist, but for a couple of hours, the possibility feels a little more hopeful. Even such temporary escapism and affirmation is more than welcome.

American Utopia is currently playing as part of the Toronto International Film Festival. It premieres on HBO October 17.

See original here:

David Byrne and Spike Lee Consider the Oxymoron of "American Utopia" - Hyperallergic

HARVARD Nestled in the woods of Harvard is a message waiting to be discovered: Hope is the watchword now.

These words of Bronson Alcott flutter on a printed banner near the entrance to Fruitlands Museum. Flapping in the wind on large banners throughout the grounds are the words of other transcendentalists, too, utopians and some contemporary philosophers.

Jane Marsching, the 2020 artist-in-residence at Fruitlands Museum, is creating outdoors her interpretation of the newest exhibit indoors.

Recruiting for Utopia: Print and the Imagination, which opened Sept. 5, is an exhibit in two distinct parts. There is a historical collection and a contemporary collection of visual artifacts.

Shana Dumont Garr, curator at Fruitlands, explained the overall premise of the exhibit: To look at New England in two specific time periods: the 1840s and 2019-2020. And to explore how print and design helped express peoples worries and their desires to make the world a better place.

When we think of utopia in this way it was peoples imaginings of what was good, said Dumont Garr. Utopia has meant different things to different people.

In the1840s there were various ideologies competing for the attention of New Englanders. Since there was no internet to share memes, visual representations of complex ideas and concepts were created to spread particular beliefs.

For a little background, 1843 is the year that Bronson Alcott, educator, reformer and father of "Little Women" author Louisa May Alcott, tried unsuccessfully to establish Fruitlands, the experimental utopian community.

About that same time William Miller, a farmer turned preacher, who was born in Pittsfield, prophesied the return of Christ, the end of the world and the 1843 ascension of the true believers to heaven utopia. Miller was a charismatic speaker who gained followers across many social sectors. The Millerites were aligned with the temperance and abolitionist movements and they were encouraged to help others prepare to be worthy to ascend into heaven.

At large outdoor gatherings called tent revivals, Miller would preach to hundreds of people. To help spread the word, large-scale banners printed on linen were hung from the tent depicting timelines of real historical events, blended with scripture from the Old Testament. There were also frightening images of mythical beasts and lots of mathematical calculations. Instilling fear of an apocalypse was an important aspect of Millers proselytizing.

Miller successfully recruited many followers with his persuasive speaking and his didactic visuals. Flyers and pamphlets were printed and distributed and newspapers were sold to further promote his teachings.

The Millerites were only one of many Protestant organizations during this time of resurgent religious fervor. The Shakers in nearby Harvard believed that living a life of simplicity and perfection in all their endeavors would produce a utopia on Earth. They are known for their fine craftsmanship and innovation, but on display in this exhibit are writings devoted to their spirituality.

Shaker Sister Sarah Bates secretly documented in ink on paper her spiritual communications using detailed biblical symbols and text. It was kept secret, rolled up in a drawer, because creating two dimensional art was forbidden in the Shaker faith.

Also on display are handmade and printed ephemera from the Freemasons, the Phrenologists (practitioners of a pseudoscience who claimed they could discern a persons character from the shape of the skull), and various flyers concerned with the urgent issues of the times.

I am hoping that it will be reassuring for people to see that in 1840s New England, it wasnt just farmers who all got along and lived a simple life. There were conflicting ideas and life was just as complicated then, said Dumont Garr.

Today, even with the internet to digitally spread content, there is still a place for the printed word. Think about the signs we have all seen for the Black Lives Matter and Hate Has No Home Here movements, or Greta Thurnbergs Skolstrejk fr klimatet (School Strike for Climate). These powerful messages have spread organically with simply printed yard signs.

The contemporary part of the exhibit is an eclectic collection of printed materials, pamphlets, street signs, posters, zines and a comic book, all created within the past few years by diverse artists. These physical documents highlight issues as varied as the slave market at Faneuil Hall, saving the U.S. Postal Service, the repatriation of sensitive objects belonging to indigenous peoples, and the interface of beekeeping and environmental injustice.

This is not the singular, precious, one-of-a-kind type of artwork destined to hang on the wall of a museum, viewed only by people who have the privilege of visiting that place. These works were intended to be distributed, to convey a message and to recruit others who support the message, building a community in the process.

Paige Johnston, an art historian and co-curator for the contemporary portion of Recruiting for Utopia, explained the value of making art to be distributed. It is a very democratic art form. You can make it out of inexpensive materials, whether that is by photocopying or by hand stitching on paper you have made yourself out of old clothes. There is a level of economic and monetary accessibility.

And Marsching, the artist-in-residence, is creating banners that flutter in the breeze at Fruitlands just as the Millerite banners would have done in the mid-1800s. Marsching is a visual multidisciplinary artist, a professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and a climate change activist. For her project, Utopian Press, she uses bark and acorns foraged on the grounds of Fruitlands to make the ink for the 3-by-30-foot banners hung from trees.

Her ink is steeped in a passive solar oven that she made herself. Marsching designed and built a portable backpack letterpress that can be carried out onto the trails at Fruitlands for groups to collaboratively create the banners onsite and hang them from the trees. Marschings banners visually recreate the words and ideas of the utopians.

"Recruiting for Utopia" runs through March 21, 2021. While visiting Fruitlands, do not miss the exquisite work of Boston painter Polly Thayer Starr. Also on view are some of Starrs personal items and journals.

Read the original:

Recruiting for Utopia exhibit at Fruitlands looks to the past and the present - Worcester Telegram

Naomie Harris as Helen in The Third Day

Lets talk about range. Few writers can jump from hilarious female-led comedy to dark conspiracy theory drama, and then move on to a glorious Roald Dahl musical. Dennis Kelly can. Now, the writer behind Utopia and Pulling is back with The Third Day, an unclassifiable drama/mystery/horror starring Jude Law. I never really understand genre, its confusing, Kelly says, which may go some way towards explaining his eclectic CV. He is interested more in telling a good story than in what form or genre that story takes.

The Third Day is an atmospheric, disorienting tale split into three distinct but interlinked parts. Summer, led by Law; Winter, led by Naomie Harris; and Autumn, a one-off as-live theatrical broadcast on Sky Arts (Saturday 3 October), masterminded by theatre icons Punchdrunk. As the shows co-creator, Punchdrunk founder Felix Barrett had the ideal creative partner in Kelly. He was the perfect match. Because hes a theatre playwright as well, we have that common language, says Barrett.

With the brilliant Utopia, Kelly proved hes more than capable of pulling together a rich tapestry of character backstory, mystery and mythology. Viewers drove themselves mad with the repeated mantra of where is Jessica Hyde?, speculating over the villainous goals of The Network, while falling in love with morally dubious characters such as Arby and the brilliantly-named Wilson Wilson. The Third Day is set to inspire similar levels of speculation as Kelly and Barrett dig into what Kelly calls the mythology and craziness of the shows island setting, and the characters unusual religious beliefs, inspired by the weird and wonderful Gnostic Gospels, which say the world was created by the demiurge and the demiurge isnt God, its something else, something slightly evil, says Kelly.

The direction and visuals of The Third Day needed to reflect the tone of Kellys writing, so its no surprise that Kelly turned to Utopia director Marc Munden to direct the first of the three episodes. With my writing you can read it one way, and become obsessed with the darker or more dangerous elements, Kelly says. But what I wanted someone to do was think of the other stuff the more emotional stuff. Marc immediately responded to that. For Mundens part, he was in no doubt about collaborating with Kelly again. I love working with him. His writing is so unique. His craft is so honed Hes also been so prophetic. Its typical that as we finish this series, we get hit by a virus that is straight out of our last series!

Utopia fans associate Kelly with moments of shocking violence, and The Third Day will once again utilise Kellys ability to shock. It was very interesting to work on how fear and suspense can be visually imagined and [it was] an adventure to peer into the weird mind of Dennis Kelly, says director Philippa Lowthorpe, who directs Winter. Dennis has an interesting take on violence its always challenging the viewer sometimes its bloody, sometimes chilling, at others times its casual, but it always feels real.

Kelly is no shock-jock, though. Hes just as adept with comedy (albeit often dark) and childrens entertainment. Pulling, co-written by Sharon Horgan, dug into the messy, and often ugly, romantic lives of women, while he lent his pen to the multi-award-winning Matilda the Musical. He also wrote a stage adaptation of Pinocchio for the National Theatre. His fondness for comedy even Utopia was hilarious in places is what grounds his work, and stops the darkness from becoming too grim and painful to watch.

Kellys writing always sits right on the cutting edge, and often paves the way for similarly challenging work to follow. This has the unfortunate side effect of meaning that in the past Kelly has tended to be the canary in the mines, testing the waters with work that is a few years ahead of what many commissioners are comfortable with. Utopia was unjustly cancelled by Channel 4 after only two seasons, something that you cant imagine happening in todays era of dark, prestige TV populated with fascinating anti-heroes. Luckily, the TV landscape has finally caught up to his sensibilities.

Kellys reluctance to abide by the rules of genre presents TV commissioners and PR teams with a pickle: how to sell something that doesnt fit neatly into a particular box? But that is also Kellys strength as a writer viewers never know if hes about to veer sharply into comedy, terror or tragedy. Recently the huge success of shows such as I May Destroy You and Years and Years have proved what Kelly has always known: that a show doesnt need to adhere to a certain genre for viewers to latch on to it. Utopia is now finding a second life as a US remake, overseen by Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn, and The Third Day is fully embracing Kellys approach to genre, keeping viewers on their toes until the bitter end. Which is exactly where Kelly likes them.

The Third Day is available now on Sky

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I never really understand genre: the writer of The Third Day on why he refuses to define his new series - The Guardian

Skyler Gisondo as Ben in The Social Dilemma.Netflix

Toward the end of Netflixs new documentary-drama The Social Dilemma, former Google employee Tristan Harris describes technology as simultaneous utopia and dystopia. This quote encapsulates the focus of the film: It primarily plays up well-worn dystopian narratives surrounding technology, with a sprinkling of early utopian views. Although The Social Dilemma attempts to raise awareness around important issues like design ethics and data privacy, it ends up depending on tired (and not helpful) tropes about technology as the sole cause of harm, especially to children. It also omits the very voices who have been sounding the alarm on Silicon Valley for a long time.

The film, instead, mainly centers the voices of former employees at big technology companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter. Many make it a point to tell us about the utopian intentions behind their involvement in the rise of these companies. For instance, Justin Rosenstein, who led the team that built the Facebook like button, says the team was motivated by a desire to spread love and positivity in the world. People within the technology industry have leaned into such techno-utopianism for decades, underplaying how maximizing profits is a major motivating factor for them. As Maria Farrell, an Irish tech writer, argued in March, these prodigal tech bros get an extremely easy ride toward redemption, and The Social Dilemma is another example of this phenomenon. Farrell also points out how they are given attention at the expense of digital rights activists who have been working tirelessly for years. This documentary, which will undoubtedly reach a global audience being on Netflix (itself a key cog within the technology industry), could have amplified such voices. It could have also given space to critical internet and media scholars like Safiya Noble, Sarah T. Roberts, and Siva Vaidhyanathan, just to name a few, who continue to write about how broader structural inequalities are reflected in and often amplified by the practices of big technology companies.

This is one of the documentarys most glaring omissions because it keeps The Social Dilemma from grappling with the roots of the problems with these companies. In a world where economic inequality continues to widen and many people are deeply skeptical of those in power, the film emphasizes how issues like political polarization and the spread of misinformation are directly caused by the design of online platforms. Certainly, the nature of recommendation algorithms that pull people into certain rabbit holes contributes to these issues. But it is not the sole reason for themand oversimplifying problems is part of how we ended up with our current digital environment.

Focusing instead on how existing inequalities intersect with technology would have opened up space for a different and more productive conversation. These inequalities actually influence the design choices that the film so heavily focuses onmore specifically, who gets to make these choices. Many of the people featured in this film express shock and say they never imagined how online platforms would be weaponized. They might have been less surprised by online hate speechor at least better equipped to respond quicklyif their companies workforces were truly diverse in both race and gender. Black women have been sounding the alarm about abusive online speech for a long time, but their words were long ignoredand the film perpetuates that problem.

Rather than a meaningful discussion on this subject, The Social Dilemma retells a dystopian narrative about technology that harks back to moral panics that have accompanied the introduction of various technologies, including books, the radio, and even the bicycle (despite what Tristan Harris says in the documentary). Social media is framed as ruining Gen Z and leading to a mental health epidemic. Although there are valid concerns about issues like excessive use and unrealistic body image expectations, years of research on how young peoples social media use affects their mental health and well-being tells a much more nuanced story. The film correlates a rise in mental health issues among teens in the U.S. with mobile social media use and makes a causal argument that ignores the role of a number of factors. As professor Sonia Livingstone, co-author of the new book Parenting for a Digital Future, points out, issues ranging from economic inequality to climate change may also contribute to young peoples anxiety and stressyet the film suggests technology alone is the problem. This narrative is further bolstered by framing technology use as an addiction. Some researchers who focus on digital well-being warn against using such labels as it pathologizes technology use. It treats frequent use of technology, even for a short period in someones life, as a disorder that possibly requires clinical intervention. This debate continues on, but the documentary only presents one side of it.

This framing of technology use as an addiction also serves to promote complete abstention as a possible solution. In fact, completely logging off social media is one of the few muddled solutions offered toward the end of the documentary. We are told that those in Silicon Valley do not let their children use any social media. Not only does this gloss over how young people can make positive social connections online, it does not offer parents any productive advice about the conversations they may have with their children on issues like media literacy and privacy protection. Again, experts who have spent years conducting research on children and digital media could have offered such suggestions. But they are absent while a dystopian narrative that lacks any nuance is uncritically presented.

Ultimately, this omission of experts and lack of nuance results in The Social Dilemma feeling like a missed opportunity. On the plus side, it informs a wide audience about issues like surveillance, persuasive design practices, and the spread of misinformation online, which may encourage them to hold big technology companies accountable. But who gets to convey this information and how it is framed are also crucial. Amplifying voices who have always had a seat at the table and continuing to ignore those who havent will not lead us any closer to resolving the dilemma the film claims to present.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.

See more here:

Netflix's The Social Dilemma fails to tackle the real issues in tech. - Slate

If theres one thing that film and TV history teaches us, its that strangers visiting remote communities is not a good idea. The Wicker Man, Netflixs Apostle, Midsommar there are no happy endings here. Sky-HBO co-production The Third Day, starring Jude Law and Naomie Harris, is the next big-budget project to adopt the premise and the results are mixed.

Split into three separate parts Summer (three episodes), Autumn (an immersive theatre event broadcast live from London) and Winter (three episodes) The Third Day is at the very least inventive. In the first part, Summer, Law plays bereaved husband Sam an episodic psychosis sufferer who happens upon the mysterious Osea Island during festival season. Reachable only at low tide via a causeway, this chunk of British land off the coast of Essex is populated by the likes of Paddy Considines Mr Martin and Emily Watsons foul-mouthed Mrs Martin (How c**ting lovely! she remarks during one scene), whose inn plays host to off-kilter shenanigans involving the locals. While staying there, Sam meets Jess (Fantastic Beasts Katherine Waterston) and the linebetween fantasy and reality begins to blur.

The Third Day stars Jude Law as Sam, in the midst of a nervous breakdown. Credit: Sky

In the middle of a breakdown, Sams fever-dream state is captured via intense close-ups by director Marc Munden. Aided by a cryptic script from Dennis Kelly and Cristobal Tapia de Veers disturbing score, the former-Utopia triumvirate have succeeded in crafting a haunting and colourful mystery drama that deals with weighty themes like faith and grief.

Skipping Autumn (the immersive theatre event hasnt been filmed yet),The Third Day arrives at Winter, which belongs to Naomie Harris character Helen. Driving to Osea with her two young daughters she explains that the island is a great archaeological treasure to her studious eldest the familys idyllic weekend away quickly spirals into a nightmare. Go home, believe me its for the best! a local hotelier says before shutting the door in Helens face. Does the Booking.com star rating mean nothing to these people?

Naomie Harris plays Helen, a mother who takes her children to a mysterious island off the coast of Essex. Credit: Sky

As Helen and her squabbling kids roam the freezing terrain, encountering weirdo after weirdo and the odd mutilated animal, Harris imbues Helen with an affable determination. This time we know what shes up against, so its a relief to find were in the company of someone a bit more attentive than Laws Sam. When the customs of the islanders manage to rattle our new protagonist, the atmosphere in The Third Day morphs into a low-key kind of horror la Ben Wheatleys Kill List. This is the shows best form and itll be fascinating to see which way Autumn goes when it airs in October.

Four months after it was originally scheduled to premiere COVID-19 pushed back post-production The Third Day arrives with two standout episodes (five were available for review, not including the live-streamed, mid-season Autumn and October 19s last episode). It might not blow anybodys socks off but for those who choose to stick by it, next months finale promises a mouthwatering if, likely ill-fated climax.

The Third Day premieres September 15 on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV

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The Third Day review: Jude Laws inventive mystery drama from the team behind Utopia - NME.com

Thank you for leaving your homes, David Byrne tells the adoring crowd of New Yorkers whove showed up for his Broadway show American Utopia, a line that instantly transforms Spike Lees concert movie into a period piece. In a year when live music and theater-going are on the ropes, Lees film version of Byrnes combination rock-show-slash-performance-art-hootenannyshot in late 2019 and slated for broadcast this fall on HBOvibrates with wistful nostalgia. As the opening night selection of a film festival whose attendees mostly experienced it via their laptops or living-room flatscreens, American Utopia is savvy, but also a bit sad. Its vibrant, winning showmanship cant help but feel bittersweet.

Typically, the Toronto International Film Festival is a hive of industry and film-criticism activity; as a resident of the city whos covered TIFF for the past 20 years, Ive gotten used to late August and everything after as an epicenter of business, pleasure, and everything in between. Last year, I introduced my TIFF Ringer coverage by talking about how, nearly 50 years into its history, the organization was gamblingand mostly winningon trying to be all things to all people: a corporately-backed, public-facing celebration bringing together arthouse, grindhouse, and experimental fare under the sign of pop cultural diversity, all while still showing allegiance to the mainstream. Since the 90s, TIFFs desire to act as a launching pad for the Oscars has affected its in-house programming and media perception in equal measure.

In a normal year, the question in a piece like this would be which Toronto premieres had the look of movies that could go the distance on the awards circuit, or maybe which ones flying under the radar were worth seeking out. In 2020, the more pressing concern, on the ground and online, was whether or not there would even be a TIFF, or whether there should be, and if so, what would it look like, and why.

I havent had to leave my house to cover TIFF this year, although I could if I wanted to: The festival is holding a series of in-person screenings at its downtown headquarters and at drive-ins located around the city. But because the festivals entire programwith a couple of exceptions that Ill get to in a momenthas been available to critics via a smoothly functional digital cinema, it felt best to stay inside. (A note: With the exception of Tenet, the only movie Ive seen in public since February was a local drive-in screening of David Cronenbergs seminal sex-and-car-wrecks thriller Crash, which also happens to be the best depiction ever of Torontos concrete overpasses and automotive culture; imagine watching Jaws in a dinghy in Marthas Vineyard.)

To say that this overall setup has had its share of hiccups is an understatement. In the past few weeks, TIFF has come under fire on Twitter for problems ranging from its policy of geoblocking screenings to newly limited media accreditation to an edictsince reversedthat mask-wearing would be optional inside its theaters. In addition, the reduction in programming from over 200 movies to 50 has led to diminished excitementand expectationsabout the festivals impact and artistic mandate. In 2019, TIFF hosted the coming-out party (complete with Kevin Garnett) for Uncut Gems and facilitated heated debates about Joker; this year, with distributors unsure what to do with their wares (even more so after the seeming catastrophe of Tenets theatrical release) and Netflix withholding potential heavy hitters like David Finchers Mank from the festival circuit altogether, its become that much harder to capture a collective public imagination thatin another understatementhas other things on its mind.

As distraction tools go, American Utopia will do nicely. A spiritual sequel to 1984s epochal concert film Stop Making Sensea masterpiece of collaborative music-and-moviemaking directed by Jonathan Demme when he was truly feeling himselfAmerican Utopia finds ex-Talking Heads frontman Byrne in puckish, playful artiste mode, presiding over a troupe of identically suited singers and musicians whose choreographed moves and harmonies are captured by Lee with more cinematic dynamism than the recent film version of Hamilton. A comparison between the two productions is instructive: Where Lin-Manuel Mirandas Tony Awardwinning musical plays now as a relic of the Obama era, American Utopia, from its slyly ironic title on down, has been devised as a dispatch from Trumpland, with Byrne positioning himself as a figure of gentle, principled resistance. An alternate title could be Start Making Sensewalking onstage alone in the first sequence, Byrne tenderly cradles a replica of a human brain and marvels at the neurological miracle of conscious thought. Here is an area that needs attention, he sings, fingering the ersatz cerebellum. Here is a connection with the other side.

For those on the same side of Byrnes intellectual playfulness and progressive politics, American Utopia will seem like its reaching out; for anybody else, its overt, unapologetic appeals to liberal tolerancemost explicitly on the single Everybodys Coming to My House, with its message of inclusion and acceptancewill be just so much preaching to the choir. The matchup between Byrne and Lee is compelling insofar as theyre both masterful at inviting audiences to contemplate ideological issues. Its telling that Lee forgoes the aggressive alienation effects of a movie like Da 5 Bloods in order to serve his stars more benign vision. If American Utopia is a bit uneven and draggy toward the end, its because Lees direction, for all its skill, cant artificially elevate the source material. Its also telling that most of the best songs here are reprises from Stop Making Sense; write stuff as good as Once in a Lifetime and Burning Down the House and youll never live it down, even if youre a genius.

American Utopias greatest virtue is its open-heartedness, which is also, interestingly enough, its greatest flaw: While Byrne and Co. can be forgiven for not anticipating or integrating the precise psychic torment of COVID-19 into their guided tour of contemporary fears and anxieties, theres a cloying sense that the showand the filmis an attempt to put a happy face on an anguished moment. This is also a sticking point with TIFFs consensus critical hit Nomadland, Chlo Zhaos much-anticipatedand mostly impressivefollow-up to the acclaimed millennial Western The Rider, a mix of verit frontier mythology that marked the emergence of a beguiling new filmmaking talent. In The Rider, Zhao profiled a self-styled, 21st-century cowboy struggling, literally and figuratively, to get back in the saddle after a debilitating accident; the film was a work of fiction cast with real people (including taciturn star Brady Jandreau), serving simultaneously as a snapshot of the modern rodeo circuit and a model of a collaborative artistic process in which the storyteller takes her cues from her subjects.

Nomadland is also filled with non-actorsa charismatic gallery of itinerant Americans crisscrossing the Midwest in mobile homes, picking up seasonal work at resorts and warehouses before moving on to the next outpost. Theres material here for a rich, probing documentary about the relationship between rugged individualism and the comforts of community, as well as a critique of the social and economic conditions that leador forcepeople to get on the road. Zhaos journalistic curiosity and facility for location shooting (the lunar landscapes here are mostly in Nevada) are genuine strengths in this context. But theres another major figure in Nomadland whose presence supersedes Zhaos skillfully self-effacing direction: Frances McDormand, whose 60ish widow Fern gets foregrounded to the point that the movie feels like a star vehicle.

To clarify, this is not a bad thing: McDormand might be the best American actress of her eraand potentially on her way to a third Academy Award for her sterling work here. Shuffling purposefully on a bum knee through Zhaos gorgeous widescreen frames, Fern is a perpetual motion machine whose combination of gregarious friendliness and unorthodox awkwardness registers as real and lived-in; her desire to go it alone after the death of her husband (and the vaporization of their savings) evinces a strong will even while she struggles with the obscure, day-to-day logistics of living out of a van. But as good as McDormand is, shes also too iconic to ever disappear into the role, and while her recognizability doesnt keep Nomadland from hittings its marks as an absorbing realist drama, its hard to fully reconcile her presence with the people she bounces off of in a series of ambling vignettes. That goes double for David Strathairn, an excellent actor whose casting as a potential love interest additionally compromises the believability of the proceedings.

The bigger issue with Nomadland might be how benign it is. In her admirable attempt to rebut Trump-era stereotypes about American life and character, she ends up draining away some of the tension and live-wire emotion that could have made the movie extraordinary. At its heart, Nomadland is a road movie, but too many scenes feel stuck in neutralsubtle and delicate to the point of paralysis. It may not be necessary to compare an ascendant auteur like Zhao to a master like Kelly Reichardt, but even with its contemporary dateline, Nomadland lacks the urgencyand effective, hectoring despairof First Cow, which looks more and more like a fraught years most significant American film.

I would have liked to include thoughts on a few other titles that should join Nomadland on the short list of TIFF entries that could gain traction in whatever ends up comprising 2020s Oscar race, but the festival did not make them available to critics. Whether the exclusion of Francis Lees starry same-sex romance Ammonite (starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan) or Halle Berrys directorial debut Bruised from the digital cinema was done at the behest of distributors or as an extra caution against piracy is hard to say for sure, but the movies absence ends up propagating a feeling of imbalance in which some entriesi.e., ones with big stars and actual box office prospectsare deemed more valuable than the exemplars of national, ethnic, and stylistic diversity being showcased further on down the virtual bill.

With this in mindand noting in passing that neither of the two biggish-ticket movies by actors-turned-directors, Viggo Mortensens semi-autobiographical Falling and Regina Kings fact-based drama One Night in Miami, are strong enough to write about at lengthIll end by praising a movie thats not necessarily coming to a cinema (or streaming site) near you anytime soon, but which represents the sense of discovery thats kept me coming back to TIFF for half of my life. Shot in Budapest by the emerging Hungarian writer-director Lili Horvat, the ominously monikered Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time initially evokes Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Arriving for a bridge-side rendezvous with a lover shed met in the United States, Mrta (the mesmerizing Natasa Stork) is bewildered and disturbed to learn that he doesnt remember her. The man doesnt seem to be lying, and as he speaks, Mrtas relationship to reality splinters on impact; as he hurries off to work, she faints dead away.

One way to look at Horvats bizarre and challenging feature is as a story that unfolds in the dazed, semiconscious aftermath of Mrtas swoon. Plenty of movies get described as dreamlike, but Preparations has an uncanny, subconscious logic to ita menacing, immersive sensation of drift from scene to scene and mystery to mystery. The vagaries of the human brain are on display: to Byrnes Hamlet pose in American Utopia, we can add scenes of exposed craniums, gorily clinical operating-room footage that doubles down on the theme of inner worlds being exposed. Mrta and her not-boyfriend Jnos (Viktor Bod) are both doctors specializing in brain surgery, and the characters mutual expertise in the synaptic functions of others is juxtaposed against their uncertainty in each others presence; a scene in which Mrta stalks Jnos down the street (shades of Vertigo) before their physical movements inexplicably sync together transfers their disorientation onto the audience. There are movies that are confusing because their makers dont know what theyre doing, and ones that are confusing because they doPreparations belongs proudly in the second category. Long after my memories of this socially-distanced, WiFi-dependent TIFF have evaporated, Horvats exquisite enigmas will still be on my mind.

Adam Nayman is a film critic, teacher, and author based in Toronto; his book The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together is available now from Abrams.

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Highlights From a Surreal, Remote Toronto International Film Festival - The Ringer

If you lived in a reasonably large city in 2018, you witnessed an invasion.

Unlicensed, unregulated electric scooters flooded cities across the country, starting with the tech utopia of Silicon Valley.

Oftentimes, people in dense cities only have to make a short trip less than a mile or so to run an errand, meet someone, or get something else done. From the perspective of getting around a city, grabbing a scooter for a quick, cheap ride made sense.

But all of the competing scooter companies like Bird, Lime, Scoot, Spin, and Jump forgot about one thing in their business plans... People tend to be jerks.

If you've ever wondered how scooter companies left scooters on the street without losing them, the answer is that they didn't. The scooters got smashed, stolen, and damaged at an amazing rate.

Lots of folks who objected to the scooters even destroyed them out of spite. The Instagram account @BirdGraveyard features scooters thrown off parking garages, lit on fire with gasoline, toppled over like dominos, or hurled into the ocean.

As you can imagine, this was a major problem for the companies. But it isn't unique to scooters...

This problem runs rampant in many disruptive technology companies. And as I'll show today, if you want to invest successfully in the tech sector, you need to watch out for this fatal flaw...

All of these scooter companies aside from Uber Technologies' (UBER) scooter division are private, venture-funded startups, so they don't share full data about their internal finances. But here's the best we can piece together and we're generalizing across the industry...

Scooter rides are cheap. It can cost something like $1 to unlock a scooter and another $0.15 per minute of a trip. Bird reported last year that it earned an average of $4.27 per ride.

The typical scooter got somewhere between three and four rides per day, so revenue would be about $15 per day.

At a cost of around $550, a scooter needs to ride for 37 days before it pays back its cost.

But scooters don't last even that long. Some datasets show that the average scooter lasts just 28 days before it dies (or is killed).

In other words, buy a scooter for $550, rent it for a total of $420 in revenue, and then start over again.

And that's before the costs of credit-card fees that facilitate the trip (which are high on small transactions), along with paying people to charge and relocate scooters, marketing, and general administration.

Renting out scooters as the business stood just didn't make sense. This is called "unit economics." How much does it cost you to produce and sell one unit... and how much revenue does that earn you?

If the unit economics come back negative, you're going to have a hard time making a successful business. It's the basic building block of making money.

Bird, as of mid-2019, was burning $100 million per quarter. But venture capitalists were giving it money to continue. As the old joke goes, "Sure, we lose money on every sale. But we make it up in volume!"

The thinking was that making some changes could flip the unit economics to positive. If Bird made its own scooters for a better price, controlled its costs, and beat out the competition so that it could raise prices, maybe it could do well.

This sort of thinking pervades the modern economy. Lose money now, and somehow make it later.

This thinking stems from a few things. First, historically low interest rates mean that these businesses can find the capital injections to keep them from running out of money.

Second, Silicon Valley has been taken in by the concept of "blitzscaling." It goes like this... Spend massively, get big, shut out the competition, and then worry about profitability.

Take the food-delivery industry, for example. Business has been booming during the pandemic... But a lot of companies lose more money the more customers they have.

Food delivery apps like Grubhub (GRUB), Postmates, and DoorDash all follow the same model. They charge restaurants a lot, they charge customers a lot, and they don't pay drivers very much. No one seems to come out happy in the deal.

And still, they lose money on every delivery.

Many of these companies have big marketing costs, too. The cost of finding a new customer counts in your unit economics...

For instance, as of July, meal-kit delivery service Blue Apron (APRN) charged about $60 per order and reported gross margins of 38%. This means that after paying for food and delivery, it earned $23 per order. To get a single new customer, we've seen estimates that say Blue Apron pays anywhere from $94 to $460.

That means to turn a profit, it needs customers to renew for anywhere from four months to 20 months. Currently, customers tend to stick around for just a little over four months.

While Blue Apron was a startup darling, the public markets haven't given it much credit since its initial public offering...

We know that everyone loves big technology opportunities the disruptive stocks that will change how our future works. And the companies that put scooters on the streets, deliver food to our front doors, and get us talking about something new... we love them, too.

Technology will be an even bigger part of our lives from here. And a few maybe a small few of these companies will turn into big, profitable enterprises.

But we don't have to play that game.

We can make money in the ever-growing technology sector by investing in companies with positive unit economics... and avoid the guessing game of which unprofitable companies will fix their fatal flaw in time.

Good investing,

Dr. David Eifrig

Editor's note: Doc says this could be the best moment in more than a decade to start using his favorite strategy. That's because when chaos is spiking on Wall Street, the instant cash payouts you can get from this type of trading will spike higher too... And it could help you collect thousands of dollars in extra income each month. Learn the details here.

Further Reading

Major shifts in technology come with hot startups promising to change the world. They're the kinds of companies that are only after growth, with no long-term business model. And they can be a terrible trap for novice investors... Read more here: The 'Hot IPO Trap' Is Back.

Tech-related initial public offerings have made headlines more than a few times in recent memory. But most of these companies don't reach the dominance you might expect. And that's why you're better off avoiding them altogether... Get the full story here.

A NEW ALL-TIME HIGH IN MAKING THE REMOTE WORLD POSSIBLE

Todays company is hitting new highs as it provides broadband Internet

As the pandemic lingers, many Americans have switched from working in offices to working at home. And as the fall begins, a lot of kids are learning virtually instead of showing up to class. This new virtual environment means that demand for fast Internet has exploded. And todays company is meeting that demand

Charter Communications (CHTR) is a $125 billion provider of broadband, video, mobile, and voice services under its Spectrum brand. According to Barrons, its the No. 2 cable provider in the U.S. after Comcast (CMCSA). And the remote work environment has only increased demand for its services Last quarter, Charters residential and Internet customers rose by 850,000, up from 258,000 over the same quarter last year. And its revenue grew 3.1% year over year.

As you can see, CHTR shares are in an uptrend. Theyre up roughly 45% over the past year, recently hitting an all-time high. And as the pandemic drives further need for Charters services, this companys success should continue

View post:

Silicon Valley's 'Fatal Flaw'... And How to Avoid It - DailyWealth

QUICK NEWS BITES

Our most-read stories this week were:

TALKS and OPPORTUNITIES

Delivered virtually over four days, the Know My Name Conference celebrates women (cis and trans) as artists, activists, researchers, intellectuals and mentors, now and into the future. Foregrounding diverse voices and with First Nations perspectives embedded across the program, the event will bring together leading and emerging Australian and international voices from arts and academia.

Presented by National Gallery of Australia from Tue 10Fri 13 November. Registrations essential.

AOC Initiative Scholarship Panelists. Image supplied.

To qualify for the AOC Initiative, applicants must identify as Bla(c)k, Indigenous or as People of Colour; be pursuing a career in musical theatre; be aged between 17 and 30 at the time of submission; be an Australian citizen or resident; not have previously secured a leading or supporting role in a mainstage musical theatre production, and not be engaged in or scheduled for performance-related work in a leading or supporting role at the time of submission.

Donations are being raised via GoFundMe with 100% of the prize money being awarded to the six finalists. So far, the AOC has raised over $10,000 with the winner receiving 50% of the donations; the runner up receiving 20% of the donations and the final four receiving 7.5% of the donations each. All donations support a step forward in the dialogue of inclusivity and social awareness.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has released new dates and funding for the UK/Australia Season 2021-2022.

The Season is a joint initiative by the British Council and the Australian Governments Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to strengthen and build cultural connections. Australia-based arts organisations and individuals are invited to submit project proposals for inclusion in the UK/Australia Season 2021-22.

The application deadline for Australian applications to present work in the UK has been extended. The new closing date is Monday 5 October 2pm AEST. More information relating to the Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program (ACDGP)for the Season is now available on the DFAT website.

Australian individuals and organisations can apply for grants of up to $60,000 AUD. A reminder that organisations are also eligible to bid for up to $40,000 AUD as part of the UK/Australia Season Grant.

This will be the first time the Australian Government and the British Council have collaborated on a reciprocal Season, which will take place from August 2021 to March 2022.

DFAT recently hosted a webinar for Australia-based arts organisations and individuals looking to find out more about the Season. The panel included representatives from the Australian High Commission in the UK, DFAT and British Council Australia, who shared key information around the Season concept, funding opportunities and eligibility criteria. There was also an extensive Q&A session for live participants. Listen on Youtube.

Utopia Art Centre is a community-led initiative. The artists, with the help of Urapuntja Aboriginal Corporation (UAC) have lobbied, saved and put their own resources into getting started. Two years ago, UAC approached Desart for support and direction in finally establishing an art centre.

Were all really excited for the artists and their community. People might think that a region like Utopia has had lots of art services and an art centre set up for years, but it hasnt; the artists have fared for themselves, making this a really important project, said Philip Watkins, CEO of Desart.

With over 100 artists in the region, there is strong demand for access to the benefits of an Aboriginal owned and managed enterprise. The Utopia artists have long seen the success and services a strong art centre brings to other communities and have long advocated for such a model for their homelands.

The nationwide search for the Utopia Art Centres foundation Manager has started. Recruitment is led by Desart, with a competitive package for the right person. The new Manager will be crucial to the start-up of Utopia Art Centre, in equal parts exciting and problem-solving.

Learn more about the position. Applications close Monday 21 September 2020.

FESTIVAL UPDATES

On the eve of wrapping up this weekend, Parrtjima has announced 2021 dates off back of this years success. Parrtjima - A Festival in Light will return to Australias Red Centre and Alice Springs from 9-18 April 2021.

Parrtjima is the only event of its kind in the world, celebrating Aboriginal arts, culture and storytelling through extraordinary light, art and sound installations.

ON STAGE

The City of Ballarat has created what appears to be a world first a 1300 hotline where residents can dial in to express their emotions and have those feelings transformed into a specially composed piece of music.

1300 ROAR is a project of the Creative City Strategy of the City of Ballarat and has been developed as part of the Citys ongoing commitment to supporting the arts and culture sector, as well as integrating creativity into the Citys response to recovery from the pandemic.

Mayor, Cr Ben Taylor said: We understand that our community needs to have an avenue to voice their emotions whether they are feeling frustration, sadness, grief, hope or joy. The 1300 ROAR project gives everyone an outlet to express their emotions in a healthy and productive way.

Residents will be able to call the hotline on 1300 728 760 from now until mid-October. The service also has the capacity to connect residents to Lifeline.

Residents will be able to dial an answering machine and have three minutes to voice their feelings. Everyones submission is anonymous. The files are not listened to instead they are compressed into a single file. The total compressed files are supplied to a local digital sound engineer and composer to craft a soundscape or a piece of music designed to lift spirits and encapsulate this important time.

Ballarat has proven to be ahead of the curve in both managing community wellbeing and injecting much-needed funds into the vulnerable creative sector during lockdown times. This lockdown is no different, added Taylor.

Queensland Symphony Under the Stars 2019. Image supplied.

Symphony Under the Stars is set for 24 and 25 September, when Queensland Symphony Orchestra will return to Gladstone for the eighth consecutive year. For the first time, two concerts will be held in Gladstones picturesque Marina on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 September 2020 at 7pm.

The spectacular event is part of the Gladstone Enrichment through Music (GEM) initiative. Fifty-nine musicians will take the trip north of Gladstone for the two performances.

The program features a movie music repertoire, with works from blockbusters such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, E.T., and Cinema Paradiso under the baton of conductor Dane Lam.

While the event is free, bookings are essential, and must be made via Gladstone Entertainment Convention Centres website.

arTour and Flipside Circusare rolling their first large-scale arts and entertainment tour since COVID-19 hit.

arTour Producer Laura Bonner said they were excited to once again hit the road to bring arts and entertainment to regional and remote Queensland. This trailblazing tour with Flipside Circus is a positive indicator of Queenslands post-COVID recovery and a hopeful sign of more regional tours and performances to come, said Bonner.

arTour has teamed up with Flipside Circus, Queenslands largest youth arts company, to present their community youth engagement program from 12 September to 16 November. They have tailored a program of youth workshops to present a unique two-day training residency in 10 western Queensland communities.

Eugene Choi, Rainbow Chan, Marcus Whale will present a new song cycle inspired by Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love. Photo: Daniel Boud

The Sydney Opera House has commissioned a new work by Sydney artists Rainbow Chan, Eugene Choi and Marcus Whale to be presented as part of its free weekly digital program,From Our House to Yours.

In the Mood, A Love Letter to Wong Kar-Wai and Hong Kongwill feature a theatrical set, 60s style costumes, and sax-drenched renditions of the films romantic soundtrack. New music by Chinese-Australian artists Rainbow Chan and Marcus Whale against a backdrop of narration by Eugene Choi will present an audiovisual journey that guides the audience through a heartbreaking cycle of longing, intimacy and forbidden love.

The performance will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wais landmark film In the Mood for Love, with a new song cycle performed on the Joan Sutherland Theatre stage with visuals evoking Wongs iconic romance through the lens of 2020.

The event will be livestreamed at 9pm AEST on Saturday 26 September and will be available to watch on demand thereafter. Free to watch live online

AROUND THE GALLERIES

Award winning artist Michael Zavros will have his first Sydney exhibition in more than a decade, with a new body of work, A Guy Like Me, to be presented at Sullivan+Strumpf Sydney October 15 to November 14.

Melbourne Art Fair has announced the cancellation of the 2021 edition. With ongoing uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, both in Australia and overseas, Melbourne Art Foundation has made the choice to focus on delivering an exceptional art fair to mark the start of the Australasian cultural season in 2022 from 17-20 February at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Stage 4 is a new online gallery launched 20 September, and exhibiting work created during the COVID-19 pandemic by Australian artists.Exhibited works will be rotated every two weeks. Artists will be able to sell their works through a connected online Shopify store, currently under development.

Stage 4 is currently taking submissions of painting, drawing, digital art, dance, performance, spoken word, and written works. Work must be created after 1 March. Stage 4 was created by Ronan MacEwan, a digital communications specialist for contemporary art galleries and organisations, based in Hobart.

The team at Sydney Contemporary have been busy creating a bespoke online platform that is more than just an online viewing room.Sydney Contemporary presents 2020features over 450new artworks from Australasia's leading galleries, created by contemporaryartists from around the globe. Sydney Contemporary presents 2020will launch on1st Octoberand will run until the end of the month, with new works added weekly.The new digital initiative showcases 450+ new artworks by more than 380 artists, created during - and in response to 2020.

Imaginary Territories - A Feminist Surrealist Visual Art Exhibition features new works by five accomplished Western Australian artists. Presented by Dark Swan Exhibitions for PS Art Space, Fremantle, it runs from 17 October to 14 November.

The works include film projection, sound, installation, photomedia, and visual art by Jo Darbyshire, Lucille Martin, Rebecca Patterson (33 POETS), Dr Toni Wilkinson, and Dr Kelsey Ashe (pictured top), who is also the curator.

Explaining the inspiration behind the exhibition, Ashe said: In an era of environmental/world crisis and political divisiveness, to conceive new realities has become critically important.The exhibition explores the concept of a "territory" as a domain of the inner world a representation that expresses an "internal truth". Through this Surrealist lens, the artists territories are simultaneously real and imagined, explored into being; a place where both conscious and subconscious realities are envisioned.

Kawita Vatanajyankur becomes a traditional beam scale in The Scale of Justice, holding baskets which fill up with luscious green vegetables, as her balance and composure are increasingly tested.

Part of the artists Mechanized series, in which Vatanajyankur acts as a moving part of a machine, she transforms herself into food production equipment in performance videos that restage everyday processes.

A Horsham Regional Art Gallery digital exhibition touring with NETS Victoria. Curated by Olivia Poloni.

Jonny Niesche,Public Intimacy, 2020. Photo credit: Kate Collingwood.

oOh!media has launched a campaign exclusive to Melbourne, showcasing works from contemporary commercial gallery STATION across its street furniture and rail sites. As Melbournes lockdown continues, the campaign highlights meaningful art that reflects on the current conditions in Victoria, reaching the citys commuters and essential workers at multiple points throughout the day.

Artworks created for the campaign focus on COVID, the artists interpretations of emotions felt during lockdown, and some of the possibilities and positives to come out of Victorias isolation.

Neil Ackland, Chief Content Marketing and Creative Officer at oOh!, said the campaign was a small gesture to help Melburnians through difficult times.

The campaign features works from Adam Lee, Dane Lovett, David Griggs, Jason Phu, Jonny Niesche, and Nell, and will run throughout September.

When COVID 19 forced the cancellation of Design Eye Creative paper on skins live gala event, Burnie Arts Council made an instant decision to shift to a digital format.

Design Eye Creative paper on skin connects Burnies papermaking heritage to a community of Australian and international artists. Their challenge is to design a wearable garment made from at least 80% paper. Filming took place in Burnie over a ten-day period in late June. The film features 31 works from 7 countries and is free online.

Boroondara Arts final exhibition for 2020 is A Family Album. Through painting, photography, textiles and video works, the featured artists illustrate the myriad experiences that bring families together and pull them apart, creating a collage of contemporary Australian communities.

The exhibiting artists include: Donna Bailey, Julie Dowling, Hannah Gartside, Pia Johnson, Hoang Tran Nguyen and Selina Ou. Showing Saturday 31 October Sunday 13 December 2020 at Town Hall Gallery and online.

More arts news you may have missed.

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ICYMI: The week's top news in the arts - ArtsHub

AGENT SONYAMoscows Most Daring Wartime SpyBy Ben Macintyre

We have at last, in Ben Macintyres Agent Sonya, the tale of a fully fleshed-out female spy. Not a femme fatale with a tiny pistol in her purse, Sonya was a spy who loved her kids and was racked by guilt for neglecting them, who had serious babysitter problems, a woman whose heart was broken by Mr. Wrong a woman very much like the rest of us. Except not quite. Macintyre, the author of numerous books on spies and espionage, has found a real-life heroine worthy of his gifts as John le Carrs nonfiction counterpart.

Le Carr, however, could not have invented Ursula Kuczynski, a.k.a. Agent Sonya. For this panoramic account of espionage from Weimar Germany through the Cold War is, above all, a womans story. Macintyre draws on Sonyas own journals, which capture the stressful balancing act of spymaster, mother and lover of several men during the most dangerous decades of the 20th century. Like many supremely successful women, Sonya benefited from men underestimating her.

Her journey began in the lawless streets of Berlin in the 1920s, as Communists and Nazis brawled and the Weimar Republic unraveled. A blow from a policemans rubber truncheon during her first street demonstration set the 16-year-old on the road to revolution. Although born to a prosperous, secular Jewish family from Berlins bourgeois Zehlendorf district, she signed up with the Communists, who seemed to be the only ones prepared to shed blood to fight the Nazis. And once she was seduced by their promise of a workers utopia, Sonya never swerved from the cause.

[ Read an excerpt from Agent Sonya. ]

From Shanghai, where Sonya was caught up in the struggle between Chiang Kai-sheks Nationalists and Mao Zedongs Communists, to Japanese-occupied Manchuria, to the placid Cotswold hamlet where she spent part of the war, Sonya managed to elude German, British and American secret services. It boggles the mind how a woman with so many domestic responsibilities a husband and two children could find time for spy drops and transmitting coded messages. But Sonya was the consummate multitasker, now cooking dinner, now cooking up explosives to blow up railways. Domesticity was the perfect cover.

The rest is here:

The Housewife Who Was a Spy - The New York Times

Keanue Reeves and Alex Winter are back for a new Bill and Ted journey (Picture: Rex)

No way?! Yes way! After long 30 years, those bodacious dudes Mr William S Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and his best friend Ted Theodore Logan (Keanu Reeves) are finally back in cinemas. As Bill And Ted Face The Music is released,, heres Larushka Ivan-Zadehs refresher course on all you need to know about the cult sci-fi comedy franchise.

1983Bill and Ted are conceived in an improv workshop by UCLA students Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson. One day, we decided to do a couple of guys who knew nothing about history, talking about history Solomon told Cinemafantastique, while Teds father kept coming up to ask them to turn their music down.There was a third guy, called Bob, but Bob dropped out.

1984Solomon and Matheson write the first script, by hand, in just four days in a coffee shop. Originally called Bill & Teds Time Van, it saw two nice but dim teenagers borrow a van (later judged a bit too close to Back To The Futures DeLorean) and somehow end up in Nazi Germany where they get up to high jinks with Adolf Hitler (later switched to Napoleon as being less problematic).

1987Though Bill and Ted were originally conceived as weedy 14-year-olds, the rather older and cooler Alex Winter (fresh off The Lost Boys) and Keanu Reeves (in his breakthrough role) and are cast and the film comes in to time and budget ($8.5m). A most egregious disaster occurs when the distributor files for bankruptcy. However Bill and Ted are saved from the direct-to-DVD dustbin by a small video company called Nelson Entertainment, who snap the movie up for a song and make millions.

1989Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure is released! [Cue air guitar riff!] It sees two loveable metal heads in danger of flunking most heinously (Ted) out of their Californian high school unless they can score A+ final history report. Given they only know Julius Caesar as the salad dressing dude, failure seems assured. That means Ted will be sent to a military academy and their atrocious rock group, Wyld Stallyns, will be disbanded.

Enter Rufus (the late George Carlin) and his time-travelling phone booth from the year 2688, who tells Bill and Ted that that their philosophy and music will eventually inspire new utopia, but only if Wyld Stallyns stays together.The goofy pair Ping-Pong through time, collecting historical personages like Socrates (pronounced so crates) and Joan of Arc to ace their project and ensure world peace.

1990Excellent Adventure is such a hit, it spawns a TV cartoon series, an entire youth slang lexicon and a breakfast cereal which Alex Winter cheerfully admits was disgusting.

1991Bill& Teds Bogus Journey is released! [Cue air guitar riff!] This bonkers movie sequel adventure cast a reluctant Joss Ackland (who later said he regretted doing it) as a baddie from the future, who dispatches evil robot replicants of Bill and Ted back to the past to kill our heroes. Events take a surreal turn as our heroes challenge Death (William Sadler) to a game of Twister, find the meaning of life in a Poison lyric, finally learn to actually play their guitars and both produce beards and babies. They sign off to us with Be excellent to each other and party on.

1991Bill and Ted is spun-off into a videogame, a live action TV series and a comic book. In a case of life imitating art, Keanu Reeves forms an ill-received garage band called Dogstar. Reeves also makes Point Break which, followed up by Speed and The Matrix trilogy, transforms him into one of the biggest stars on the planet. Making Bill and Ted 3 is no longer top of his To Do list.

2010A sad Keanu meme, of Reeves looking sad, circulates online. As if to cheer him up, a first draft of Bill and Ted 3 is created. Hollywood, however, doesnt want it. Alex Winter directs the kids TV cartoon series Ben 10, then turns his hand to feature documentaries.

2018The script is still locked in bogus development hell. The studios want to reboot the franchise with a younger cast, but writer Ed Solomon tells Digital Spy that We love these characters, theyve been with us for our whole lives and we wanted to visit them again as middle-aged men. We thought it would be really fun, and funny, and sweet.

2020Bill & Ted Face The Music is released! [cue air guitar riff!] It sees a now middle-aged and married (not to each other) Bill and Ted settled in the suburbs, but yet to fulfil their rock and roll destiny. With time ticking, they must write the best song ever to save life as we know it. This time theyre helped by their own teenage daughters (Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine). Released in the UK this Friday, it has enjoyed most excellent reviews in the US, with a 81% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. A Bill & Ted 4 is already being rumoured. Catch you later, Bill and Ted!

Kid Cudi as himselfThe US rapper shows another side of himself (as himself) as the movies go-to expert regarding epistemological reality and quantum looping.

Holland Taylor as The Great LeaderThe Emmy-winning TV veteran (Two And A Half Men, Hollywood) camps it up in a glittery cape as the most powerful person in the universe.

Kristen Schaal as KellyIn a tribute to the late George Carlin, who played Bill and Teds kindly guide, Rufus, Schaals character is named after his daughter, Kelly Carlin.

Brigette Lundy-Paine as Wilhelmina Billie LoganA most excellent turn as Little Bill (ie the daughter of Keanu Reeves character) should prove a breakout role for this non-binary rising star.

Samara Weaving as Theodora Thea PrestonShe may portray Bills daughter but the real life niece of Hugo Elrond Weaving looks more like Margot Robbies cousin, dont you think?

Bill & Ted Face The Music is out now.

MORE: Keanu Reeves claims Alex Winter almost died while filming for Bill and Ted 3 in a muscular bodysuit

MORE: Bill & Ted Face The Music reviews are out is it an excellent adventure or just bogus?

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Bill and Ted 3: Here's what you need to know - Metro.co.uk

Fraser T Smith is the biggest producer in Britain. A bold claim, sure, but one thats entirely justified when you consider the 48-year-olds CV, which, featuring cowrites for everyone from Mabel and Tom Grennan to Sam Smith and Adele, reads like a Brits red carpet roll call.

Hes master of the pop banger Smith has contributed to 18 No1 albums but most recently hes become best-known for his role in the British rap resurgence, having helped MCs such as Ghetts and Kano achieve recognition outside the underground, before coproducing two of the most seminal albums from the past five years: Stormzys Gang Signs & Prayer (2017) and Daves Psychodrama (2019).

Smith actually joined Dave onstage at the Brit Awards in February to deliver the most talked-about performance of the night with Black, the lead single from Psychodrama, which earned the pair the Ivor Novello for Best Contemporary Song earlier this month. It was their second time winning this highly prestigious award, having already picked up the prize for Daves seven-minute political anthem Question Time in 2017 and one in a long line of accolades for Smith, including Grammys (most notably for Adeles "Set Fire To The Rain), Brits (for both the aforementioned rap albums) and the Mercury Prize, again, with Dave for Psychodrama.

Now, for the first time, Smith is making the move from behind-the-scenes into the spotlight with his own debut solo album, where the likes of Dave and Stormzy will appear not as the lead artist, but as featured acts. Titled 12 Questions, the album, which is due in October, sees Smith pose 12 deeply profound, urgent and universal questions to a lineup of collaborators old and new, with contributions from Kano, Ghetts, Idris Elba and Bastille, as well as artists Es Devlin and Katrin Fridriks, poets Simon Armitage, Arlo Parks and Alysia Nicole Harris and former Black Panther Albert Woodfox. The record couldnt be more resonant for right now, tackling exactly the kind of existential issues that have come to define a 2020 worldview, whether thats retrospection or the desire to reset.

Today, hes releasing the video for the first single from the album, Do We Really Care? Pt1, which features Tom Grennan and rapper Tia Carys. Although the album was 80 per cent finished before lockdown, this particular song had yet to be recorded, meaning Smith had to get creative in order to get it over the line: We drove a hard disk recorder with a mic down to Toms house and left it outside. He took it in, recorded it, gave us a call and left it outside again for us to pick it up. I got his vocal off the little memory card, which is what you hear on that single, he says. Smith knew he wanted this to be the lead track: the chorus, a sample from The Lovin' Spoonfuls 1966 hit Summer In the City, felt weirdly prescient for the pandemic, particularly the line There doesnt seem to be a shadow in the city. Also, he says, Tia Carys' verses, which delve into her growing up in London, really resonated for this time.

The video, premiering exclusively above, drills down on these themes even further, offering a trippy, animated look at the lyrics in action, inspired by the artwork from 1970s progressive rock covers and created in collaboration with creative agency 1983, illustrator Ori Toor and Pentagram Design. Knowing how conceptual the record is and how potentially challenging some of the concepts are, I wanted to make sure we had balance, says Smith. I wanted visuals and music that people could just enjoy. As much as the collaborators answering the 12 questions are incredibly deep and diverse, I dont want the album to feel high-brow, so I wanted to juxtapose that with a video that was pretty. It also features Do We Really Care? Pt2 at the end, a spoken word piece from Poet Laureate Simon Armitage.

Smith came up with all the existential questions himself, saying that they flowed out of him during a time when he was feeling anxious about his next step musically, but also the state of the world more generally. Theyre big and focused (Dave, for example, responded to Why Are We So Divided, When Were So Connected? while Stormzy tackles How Do We Find Our Truth?) but also intertwined: The more we got into it the more I realised there was a lot of cross-pollination between the questions, so What Matters Most could relate to How Much Is Enough? he explains. Its been the most amazing 12 months of learning... I went into this looking for answers and through the strength and diversity of all the collaborators I came out with some really interesting points of view. Being able to share that in this album is the greatest gift Ive been given and also could possibly give.

So of all 21 tracks, does Smith have a favourite? Id never heard of Albert Woodfox before doing this record, but while I was trying to decide who I wanted to pose each of my 12 questions to, I read an article about him. Long story short, I flew out to New Orleans to ask him, Whats the cost of freedom? His story is well documented, but to sit in a room with a guy who was held in solitary confinement for the longest of any prisoner in America 44 years, 23 hours a day in a six by four feet cell, to ask him that question, it was a mind-blowing experience, Smith explains. He asked Kano, who hes been working with since 2004, to appear on Freedom, the companion track: For him to have to record the track on his phone, then for me to receive that and hear how he reacted to Alberts story was a seminal moment.

Interestingly, Smith has chosen not to release 12 Questions under his own name, opting instead to go by Future Utopia. Im very proud of the collabs Ive done over the years, but I did feel that my name is so associated with the great people Ive worked with, that it could feel very much like a producer record, he says. Instead, this project feels to me very much like a collaboration in the Massive Attack and Gorillaz style and Id like to feel that this project could take on many different guises in the future.

Given the mind-expanding aims of the record and the way it so skilfully, comprehensively captures the zeitgeist, would Smith say he feels hopeful or concerned for the future? I feel positive because I just feel we have to be, he says. There has to be good that can come out of the terrible events of lockdown in terms of the way that we view frontline workers, carers and the NHS. I think in the wake of the George Floyd tragedy there is more awareness of Black Lives Matter and hopefully so much more care and education These terrible events have allowed us all to take stock of the way that were living and, hopefully, we can move forward in a more diverse, caring and thoughtful way.

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Excerpt from:

Fraser T Smith on going from Britain's most in-demand producer to solo star - British GQ

Choi Min-hwa poses in front of his Once Upon a Time paintings at Gallery Hyundai. (Gallery Hyundai)

The exhibition, Once Upon a Time, at Gallery Hyundai showcases 60 paintings and 40 sketches by Choi that were inspired by Samguk Yusa, a collection of legends and folktales mainly from Koreas Three Kingdoms (Goguryeo, Silla and Baekje) period compiled by the Buddhist scholar and monk Iryeon in 1281 during the time of the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392).

Among the popular folktales from the Samguk Yusa are stories about the founding monarch of Silla Hyeokgeose -- said to have emerged from an egg -- a bear who became a human after eating garlic and the Indian princess Heo Hwangok, who became the wife of King Suro of Geumgwan Gaya.

"Joseon Port - Song of Gonghu II, by Choi Min-hwa (Gallery Hyundai)

Although the paintings were inspired by Samguk Yusa, they expand the realm of human imagination and present a utopia where boundaries of ethnic groups, nationalities and religions do not exist.

Choi began the new painting series in 1998 after traveling through Thailand and India, where he realized there was a lack of visual representations of mythological figures in Korean cultural tradition, compared to other cultures and civilizations. He then began traveling around the world, studying Western and Asian mythologies.

Twenty years worth of archival paintings and sketches on display at the gallery basement show how the artist developed his new painting series.

Until the 1990s, Choi was a representative artist of the Minjung Art movement that began in 1979 among artists who held that paintings should reflect social issues, as Korea was ruled by an authoritarian regime.

With Your Wakeful Eyes, which measures 7 meters in width, was used at the funeral procession for Lee Han-yeol, a university student who was killed in 1987 during a protest calling for democracy. The painting was damaged by police as they suppressed the funeral that turned into a protest rally.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 11 at Gallery Hyundai in Jongno, central Seoul. Online reservations are required in advance at its website at http://www.galleryhyundai.com due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)

Original post:

Utopia of Asian, Western mythologies comes to Gallery Hyundai - The Korea Herald

Fall is typically the most exciting time of the year for broadcast TV, as networks launch new shows and kick off fresh seasons of returning favorites starting in September. Due to production shutdowns amid the coronavirus pandemic, fall TV at least on broadcast networks is looking much more scaled down this year. But streaming services are still forging ahead, and there's an onslaught of original movies and shows, plus exciting new library acquisitions, heading to Amazon Prime Videothis month.

Amazon is making a strong case it should be your streaming service of choice this month thanks to exciting additions like The Boys Season 2. The superhero series will return on Thursday, Sept. 4 with new episodes and exciting new characters, like Shawn Ashmore's Lamplighter. But if you're looking for something a little more serious, you should mark your calendars for the Sept. 18 premiere of All In: The Fight for Democracy. The Stacey Abrams-led documentary examines voter suppression in the United States and aims to educate viewers about how they can protect their right to vote.

The Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch on Amazon Prime Video in September 2020

Check out everything that's coming to Amazon Prime Video throughout September below.

Sept. 1Movies1/11 Million Happy NowsA Birder's Guide To EverythingAbe & Phil's Last Poker GameAddicted To FresnoAlex CrossAmerican DragonsBachelor LionsBarney ThomsonBeach PartyBewitchedBig TimeBitter MelonBullyC.O.G.CarringtonCasino RoyaleClose Encounters Of The Third KindDark MatterDe-LovelyDefense Of The RealmDie, Monster, Die!Don't Talk To IreneDr. Goldfoot And The Bikini MachineEaten By LionsEmployee Of The MonthEnemy WithinExtreme JusticeFace 2 FaceGas-s-s-sI'd Like To Be Alone NowI'm Not HereKart RacerKramer Vs. KramerLakeview TerraceLord Love A DuckMan Of La ManchaMicrobe And GasolineMiss NobodyMuscle Beach PartyMusic WithinNo Way To LivePatriots DayRamboSex And The City: The MovieSex And The City 2SlashSlow BurnSnapshotsSunlight Jr.The Bank JobThe Billion Dollar HoboThe BirdcageThe Dunning ManThe FestivalThe Go-GettersThe GraduateThe Hanoi HiltonThe Haunted PalaceThe House On Carroll StreetThe Last House On The LeftThe MechanicThe Ring ThingThe Video DeadThe VisitorsThe Weight Of WaterThe White BusThe WoodsThe Yes MenTo Keep The LightThe Turkey BowlTwice-Told TalesTyler Perry's Daddy's Little GirlsWarrior RoadWeather GirlWhat Children DoWhat If It Works?Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?Yongary: Monster From The DeepZoom

SeriesA Chef's Life Season 1Cedar Cove Season 1Codename: Kids Next Door Season 1George Gently Season 1Hero Elementary Season 1How to Become a SuperStar Student, 2nd Edition Season 1I'm Dying Up Here Season 1Keeping Faith Season 1Last Hope with Troy Dunn Season 1Nazi Mega Weapons Season 1Stuck With You Season 1Texas Metal Season 1The Blood Pact Season 1The Bureau Season 1The Celtic World Season 1The Crimson Field Season 1The Jack Benny Show Season 1The Roy Rogers TV Show Season 1Wrong ManSeason 1

Sept. 2Hell On The Border

Sept. 4MoviesDino Dana: The Movie

SeriesThe Boys Season 2 [Trailer]

Sept. 16Blackbird

Sept. 18All In: The Fight for Democracy [Trailer]Gemini Man

Sept. 22The Addams Family

Sept. 25Judy

SeriesUtopia Season 1 [Trailer]

Sept. 28Force of NatureInherit The Viper

Sept. 29Trauma Center

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What's New on Amazon in September: The Boys Season 2, Utopia, and More - TV Guide

Streaming entertainment can be overwhelming with so many streaming services adding new shows and movies every week. Here is a list of new releases this September 2020 playing on Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max.

Here is a list of all the new titles coming to Netflix for the month of September 2020. Highlights this month include a bunch of Netflix Originals including The Boss Baby: Get That Baby!, Ratched, and The Social Dilemma. Read More

September brings new Amazon Original Series and Movies including the sports docuseries All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur (2020); hip-hop inspired comedy, Get Duked! (2020); the highly anticipated season 2 of The Boys (2020); family-friendly and action-packed dinosaur adventure Dino Dana The Movie (2020) and the premiere of new series Utopia (2020), based on the British series of the same name created by Dennis Kelly. Read More

From current episodes and original series to kids shows and hit movies, Hulu has something for everyone. Here is whats coming to Hulu in September 2020. Read More

Disney+ is the dedicated streaming home for entertainment from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and more. Here is everything that is coming to Disney Plus in September 2020. Read More

From brand new series and documentaries to blockbuster movies, theres something for everyone in the family this July on HBO Max. Here is whats coming to HBO Max in September 2020. Read More

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What's New to Streaming in September 2020 - rutherfordsource.com

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Time is a concept that has lost all meaning in the year 2020, yet its still wild to realize that our pandemic summer is drawing to a close. Ordinarily, the fall TV season would be right around the corner, with a slew of new shows debuting across network, cable, and streaming platforms. But the movie and TV industries have ground to a near-standstill thanks to COVID-19, and a majority of U.S. shows are still not back in production.

What does all of this mean for your viewing schedule? Youll see the biggest impact on broadcast TVthose shows ore generally picked up to series in May, begin shooting over the summer and premiere in September or October. Needless to say, none of that has happened, so the network schedule ispretty thin. Cable pickings are slimmer than usual too, but HBO, Showtime, and FX all delayed some shows from the spring and summer to make sure their fall schedules wouldnt be empty. Theres also plenty of new content coming from Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix. Here are 12 new shows that should be on your radar this fall.

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1Away

In this sweeping space drama, Hilary Swank stars as Emma Green, a formidable NASA commander embarking on a dangerous and unprecedented years-long mission to Mars, leaving behind her ailing husband (The Good Wifes Josh Charles) and teenage daughter. Leaving the planet for three years admittedly sounds pretty enviable right now, but Emma has to contend with mutinous crew members, life-threatening technical disasters, and a pressure-cooker environment as the international crew members try to figure out how to coexist.

Friday, September 4.

2Woke

New Girl's Lamorne Morris stars in this semi-animated Hulu comedy as Keef, a struggling cartoonist who self-identifies as "non-controversial," i.e. he tries not to talk about race. But after a run-in with a racist police officerand after inanimate objects come to life to confront him about racial inequalityKeef's worldview begins to change. The show sees him grapple with how to "stay woke" without compromising the mainstream success that finally seems within reach.

Wednesday, September 9.

3We Are Who We Are

Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino make his small-screen debut with this HBO miniseries, which tells a coming-of-age story set on an Italian military base. Two American teenagers (Jordan Kristine Seamon and Jack Dylan Grazer) meet on the base and form a friendship that becomes deeper and more complex over the years. Between the unique setting and Guadagninos track record with sumptuous romance, this looks unmissable.

Monday, September 14.

4The Third Day

If what youre craving is unsettling psychological drama, HBO has absolutely got you covered this fall. A co-production with Sky Atlantic, this British miniseries is split into two parts telling interconnected stories: Part one stars Jude Law as a grief-stricken man whos drawn to a mysterious island, while part two stars Naomie Harris as a strong-willed woman who arrives at the same island seeking answers. In between the two parts of the season, an immersive live event will air, which promises to allow viewers to inhabit the story as it happens. This was originally planned to be a live theater event, but its unclear what itll look like in the lockdown era. No matter what, were intrigued.

Monday, September 14.

5Pen15 Season 2

Hulus critically acclaimed cringe-comedy will return for a sophomore run, with Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle reprising their roles as awkward adolescent versions of themselves. Season 2 will reportedly bring more darkness and experimentation, although it wont involve a jump to high schoolErskine and Konkle have confirmed that both their characters will still be in seventh grade when the show returns.

Friday, September 18.

6Ratched

45 years on from the seminal Jack Nicholson-starring movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, we're getting the origin story of its unforgettable villain. Ratched is Ryan Murphy's third Netflix outingafter The Politician and Hollywoodand stars Sarah Paulson as a young nurse at a 1940s mental institution, who becomes more and more jaded by what she sees on the job. OFOTCN fans know Nurse Ratched as a sadistic monster more interested in punishing her patients than treating them, but this show promises to explore exactly how she got to that dark place.

Friday, September 18.

7Utopia

This intriguing conspiracy thriller is adapted from a British series of the same name from 2013, and the showrunner is none other than Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl and Sharp Objects. Utopia follows a group of comic book fans who bond online over their shared obsession with a fictional comic series named Utopia. But the gang soon discovers that the series isnt quite as fictional as they thought, and is in fact the harbinger of an apocalypse that only they can prevent.

Friday, September 25.

8The Comey Rule

Given the horrifying rollercoaster American politics has taken us all on over the last four years, its surprising, in a way, that there have been relatively few scripted Trump White House projects so far. Showtimes upcoming miniseries The Comey Rule dramatizes the fraught relationship between the president (Brendan Gleeson) and former FBI director James Comey (Jeff Bridges). We all remember the big moments, like Comeys fateful decision to publicly reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails, and, of course, Trumps unceremonious firing of Comey in 2017but how about the right-out-a-mob-movie story of how Trump demanded loyalty from Comey over dinner? Or Comey hiding in a curtain to avoid Trump? You couldnt write fiction better!

Sunday, September 27.

9The Good Lord Bird

Adapted from James McBride's award-winning 2013 novel of the same name, this eight-episode drama takes place shortly before the Civil War. Though based on real events, the series is told from the perspective of a fictional enslaved boy, nicknamed Onion (Joshua Caleb Johnson), who joins abolitionist John Brown (Ethan Hawke) and his army of soldiers fighting against slavery in Kansas.

Sunday, October 4.

10The Haunting of Bly Manor

Lets face it: Halloween this year is looking a little bleak, given that 99 percent of our go-to celebrations (trick-or-treating, costume parties, and, um, apple bobbing?) are off the table in these pandemic times. Thankfully, Netflix has your spooky content needs covered with this follow-up to 2018s emotional family horror series, The Haunting of Hill House. A few cast members return for Bly Manor, including Victoria Pedretti, who plays a young governess hired to take care of two newly orphaned children at a large, creepy country estate, and begins losing her grip on reality as shes plagued by apparitions. After Pedrettis heartbreaking performance as Nell in the first season, this showcase for her is sure to be intriguing.

Friday, October 9.

11The Undoing

Nicole Kidman reunites with Big Little Lies writer David E. Kelley for this miniseries, a psychological drama that looks deeply addictive based on the trailer alone. Directed by Susanne Bier, The Undoing stars Kidman as a successful therapist, Grace, whose enviable New York City life unravels in a matter of weeks. Plot specifics are being kept under wraps, but we know the unravelling involves a violent death, a missing husband (Hugh Grant), and in the place of a man Grace thought she knew, only a chain of terrible revelations.

Sunday, October 25.

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The 12 Best Fall TV Shows to Keep on Your Radar - ELLE.com

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a blessing and a curse to television.

On one hand, TV has been one of our most faithful companions during these isolated, socially distanced months. Movie theatres are only now reopening but, since the world shut down in March, anybody with a screen, a cable account, internet access or an antenna has been able to fill their hours with TV shows.

On the other hand, TV production shut down along with everything else, putting a serious dent in networks and streamers schedules, leading to postponements and cancellations of numerous programs.

That being said, we havent run out of new things to watch just yet, nor are we likely to. And though the quantity has decreased, theres still quality to be found.

Ive been sampling new shows since last month and have chosen 10 to share with you. This is far from an exhaustive list but reflects my particular taste. The series are listed by premiere date.

The Sounds (Acorn TV, CBC)

I love a good twist, dont you? This Canadian-New Zealand co-production is full of them, including some that I doubt youll see coming. Its about a Canadian couple (played by Canadian Rachelle Lefevre and New Zealander Matt Whelan) who flee Vancouver for the small town of Pelorus, New Zealand, to escape his toxic, rich family and start an environmentally friendly business. Except husband Tom goes missing while kayaking in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. In the search for Tom, secrets are revealed and wounds reopened, including a 15-year-old murder case involving a local Maori teen. (Two episodes are now on Acorn, with weekly episodes coming Mondays beginning Sept. 7. Weekly episodes debut Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. on CBC.)

Away (Netflix)

Take the emotional appeal of a family show and meld it with the dramatic potential of a serial set in space. Thats what this big-budget series does. Oscar-winner Hilary Swank stars as an astronaut leading a three-year, international mission to Mars. Talk about a tough work-life balance: overseeing the logistical and interpersonal demands of a dangerous mission while trying to be a wife and mother from afar as you hurtle through space. Swank is up to the task, as are the diverse actors who play her crew (Mark Ivanir, Vivian Wu, Ato Essandoh and Ray Panthanki), along with Josh Charles (The Good Wife) and Talitha Bateman as her husband and daughter. (Now streaming)

Brave New World (Showcase)

What does it mean to be human? This series, an adaptation of the dystopian 1932 novel by Aldous Huxley, takes another stab at the question. Futuristic New London where moods are controlled by happy pills, and monogamy and privacy are banned is contrasted to the so-called Savage Lands, where people are free to give rein to their emotions. Two charismatic leads, Jessica Brown Findlay of Downton Abbey and Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), play Lenina and John, who represent the two sides of the divide. (Sept. 13, 9 p.m.)

The Third Day (HBO, Crave)

If youre in the mood for something creepy and mysterious, this six-parter should fit the bill. Movie star Jude Law leads the first three episodes as a man who essentially becomes trapped on a strange, foreboding island off the British coast when he does a good deed but you know what they say about no good deed going unpunished. In the second half, Oscar nominee Naomie Harris (Moonlight) is the outsider stirring up the locals. Emily Watson, Katherine Waterston and Paddy Considine also star. Dennis Kelly, the British writer and producer renowned for the U.K. version of Utopia (see below), created this one, too. (Sept. 14 at 9 p.m.)

Utopia (Amazon Prime Video)

Reviews of this drama are embargoed until Sept. 15, but you can connect some of the dots yourself by knowing its a remake of a violent British black comedy, also called Utopia, about a group of nerds obsessed with the unpublished sequel to a cult graphic novel believed to predict the future a novel also coveted by a secret organization willing to kill anyone who gets between them and it. The U.S. remake is by Gone Girl novelist Gillian Flynn, who describes it as The Goonies meets Marathon Man. It stars John Cusack, Rainn Wilson, Desmin Borges, Dan Byrd, Sasha Lane, Ashleigh LaThrop and Christopher Denham. (Sept. 25)

A Wilderness of Error (FX)

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TV viewers true-crime addiction isnt going away anytime soon and heres a new entry to feed the habit. It comes from the same producers who brought us the wildly popular The Jinx Jason Blum and Marc Smerling (the latter also directs). This one involves a shocking murder in Fort Bragg, N.C. in 1970: a pregnant woman and two little girls stabbed to death, and a convicted suspect (husband, father and army doctor Jeffrey MacDonald) who continues to maintain his innocence. The series is written by acclaimed documentary maker Errol Morris (Fog of War) and based on his book of the same name. (Sept. 25, 8 p.m.)

Fargo (FX)

Im cheating a bit here since Fargo is not a new show. However its anthology structure guarantees a new cast and new plot line every season, so its new enough. Im not allowed to review this one yet either. Just know that it maintains Noah Hawleys signature mix of violent crime drama, black comedy and quirky character study. Chris Rock and Jason Schwartzman lead the cast, which includes standouts like Jessie Buckley (Chernobyl), Ben Whishaw (A Very English Scandal), Timothy Olyphant (Justified), Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) and relative newcomer Emyri Crutchfield. (Sept. 27 at 10 p.m.)

War of the Worlds (CBC, CBC Gem)

One could argue we dont need yet another adaptation of the H.G. Wells story of alien invasion. One could also argue theres never been a better time for one, with the world still reeling from the coronavirus invasion. Setting the plot in the present day heightens its relatability in a way period pieces cant (the book came out in 1897, which is also when the TV version before this was set). These days, we can all relate to stay-at-home orders. Gabriel Byrne and Elizabeth McGovern lead a mostly French and British cast that includes La Drucker, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Adel Bencherif. (Oct. 7 at 8 p.m.)

Trickster (CBC, CBC Gem)

There is a healthy tradition of TV shows that revolve around young people touched by supernatural forces. Trickster, based on the novel Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson, joins that tradition while showcasing another: the Indigenous mythology of the supernatural being known as the Trickster. Such shows work best with a compelling protagonist at the centre, and producers here found a gem in newcomer Joel Oulette. He stars as teenager Jared, who navigates school, a part-time job and supporting his hard-partying mom (Crystle Lightning) and unemployed dad (Craig Lauzon) while dealing with the weird things hes seeing and the unsettling stranger whos come to town. (Oct. 7, 9 p.m.)

Departure (Global TV)

Air travel may be but a memory for most of us due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this event series has echoes of the not-so-distant past in its central mystery: a passenger plane en route from New York to London disappears over the Atlantic with 256 people on board. The British-Canadian co-production boasts a top-notch cast, including national treasure Christopher Plummer. Other Canadian talent includes Alias Grace and Frankie Drake Mysteries standout Rebecca Liddiard, Evan Buliung, Kris Holden-Ried, Allan Hawco and Mark Rendall, while the excellent Archie Panjabi and Shazad Latif, among others, hold up the British end. (Date TBA, although Americans will see it Sept. 17 on Peacock.)

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Mysteries, violence, space invaders and happy pills: Here are 10 new TV shows worth watching this fall - ThePeterboroughExaminer.com

Ridley Scott's Raised by Wolves holds a dark secret about what happened to the Gen-1 kids after a pair of robots raise them on a mysterious planet.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the first three episodes of Raised by Wolves, available now on HBO Max.

Ridley Scott's Raised by Wolves kicks off with a pair of robots, Mother (Amanda Collin) and Father (Abubakar Salim), coming to a mysterious planet, Keppler-22B, to colonizeit years after a religious war broke out on Earth. They were sent by the Atheists, who were battling with the Mithraic, followers of a god named Sol.

However, as the first three episodes play out, while the bots do manage to build a mini-society, the first batch of kids they raise, die with the exception of young Campion. But after weaving subtle hints of some misdirection, it turns out the deaths were indeed nature's fault.

RELATED:Ridley Scott Comes to TV With Eerie Sci-Fi Drama Raised by Wolves

Mother, reprogrammed after being a Mithraic war machine, uses her body to turn the embryos into children and raises them in the dusty terrain with Father, carrying the hopes of the Atheists on their backs. With six of the 12 embryos surviving, the robots build barracks, plant provisions called carbos (short for carbohydrates) and educate the kids on science as the means to true progress. They're non-believers and want to fashion a destiny based on their hands, not hoping and praying with an invisible force.

However, the utopia they're trying to establish takes a dark turn asthe kids dieout. Tally falls into a deep hole, with Walden, Gabby, Mariall and Spiria succumbing to disease. Only Campion is left, but he too shows minor signs of illness, although it may be that he's just frail. Still, it worries his parents as they start to think they're failing in their mission onlyfor everything to change 12 years later when the Ark, Heaven, comes with a new human contingent.

RELATED:Raised by Wolves: Ridley Scott Pits Humanity vs Androids in New Trailer

Mother kills Father for wanting to send Campion to mankind, and when Marcus and his knights try to kill her and take her son, she eliminates most of them before attacking the Ark. Mother crashes it but brings five kids back to her home. She wants her pack of six back again with Campion, even bringing Father back to help her fix the mistakes of old. However, once more signs pop up that these kids could be sick or worse, Father's worried the culprit is actually Mother due to her reprogramming failing.

Later, as Mother struggles with the kill-mode in her, the fear she inflicts into Campion when he sees her ruthlessly slaughtering Mithraic soldiers leaves herwondering if she's been subconsciously murdering her children. She asks a reborn Father to kill her if that's the case, as she might be losing herself to her bloodthirsty Lamia identity. But when Campion runs away with the pack and Father tries to load the carbos into a small ship from the Ark, the truth emerges. It turns out the carbos were poisoning the kids as it wasladen with radiation. The robots weren't affected but the kids were, leaving everyone wondering if it's the soil, monsters or maybe tech hidden below causing the problem. Regardless of the cause, though, even after Father brings Campion and Co. back home and proves Mother's innocence, it's still unclear how the kids will find a new source of food.

Created by Aaron Guzikowski and produced by Ridley Scott, Raised by Wolves stars Amanda Collin, Abubakar Salim, Winta McGrath, Niamh Algar, Jordan Loughran, Matias Varela, Felix Jamieson, Ethan Hazzard, Aasiya Shah, Ivy Wong and Travis Fimmel. New episodes arrive each Thursday on HBO Max.

KEEP READING:Ridley Scott's Raised by Wolves Debuts First Trailer, Key Art for HBO Max Sci-Fi Series

The Venture Bros.: Adult Swim Is Looking for Ways to Continue the Canceled Series

I'm a former Chemical Engineer. It was boring so I decided to write about things I love. On the geek side of things, I write about comics, cartoons, video games, television, movies and basically, all things nerdy. I also write about music in terms of punk, indie, hardcore and emo because well, they rock! If you're bored by now, then you also don't want to hear that I write for ESPN on the PR side of things. And yes, I've written sports for them too! Not bad for someone from the Caribbean, eh? To top all this off, I've scribed short films and documentaries, conceptualizing stories and scripts from a human interest and social justice perspective. Business-wise, I make big cheddar (not really) as a copywriter and digital strategist working with some of the top brands in the Latin America region. In closing, let me remind you that the geek shall inherit the Earth. Oh, FYI, I'd love to write the Gargoyles movie for Disney. YOLO.

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Raised by Wolves: What REALLY Happened to the Gen-1 Kids? | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

The fall film festival season is now officially underway with Venice Film Festival kicking off last week. Next on the calendar is the Toronto International Film Festival, which will understandably look quite different in the age of the pandemic. With limited-capacity screenings along with virtual offerings (geo-blocked to Canada), the overall lineup is drastically reduced from the standard hundreds of features down to the 50 or so that will premiere from September 10 through September 20.

Well be extensively covering the festival with reviews beginning to roll out this week, and ahead of the kick-off, were highlighting the 12 world premieres at TIFF were most looking forward to. Check out our preview below and return later this week for an overview of the must-see short films coming to the festival and more.

76 Days (Hao Wu,Weixi Chen,and Anonymous)

There will be many, many documentaries and narrative features in the years to come dissecting the coronavirus pandemic and its sobering effects on virtually every aspect of human life. One of the first non-fiction films out of the gate is 76 Days, which depicts the Wuhan shutdown and its 11 million inhabitants, which began on January 23. Co-directed by Hao Wu, whose Peoples Republic of Desire won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize for documentary, as well as Weixi Chen in his debut, and anonymous collaborators, their film explores the medical workers and patients on the frontlines of the crisis. We imagine it will not only be a harrowing look at how the virus took hold, but also a lesson in what the world couldve have done differently if only more caution was paid. Jordan R.

Ammonite (Francis Lee)

Francis Lee follows up his heart-wrenching drama Gods Own Country with Ammonite, which will have its world premiere at TIFF following being selected at both Cannes and Telluride. The film marks the British directors second queer feature as well as the second lesbian drama from distributor NEON this year, with Portrait of a Lady on Fire opening in February prior to the U.S. going into quarantine. Set in 1840s England, Ammonite follows fossil hunter Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) and a younger woman Charlotte Murchison (Saoirse Ronan) developing an intense relationship, intertwining their lives forever. Certainly the most-anticipated at TIFF, judging by Film Twitter fervor, well find out later this week if it lives up to the hype. Josh E.

Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg)

When I saw an early still from Another Round, starring Mads Mikkelsen, I assumed it was a racing picture set in Europe, with the actor at the center drinking champagne from the bottle and surrounded by captains hat-wearing 20-somethings. Rather, Another Round is about racing to get tipsy. The title should have tipped me off, but the convivial fun pictured isnt an image Ive seen associated with drinking since John Cassavetes Husbands. Marking a reteam with The Hunt director Thomas Vinterberg, the story follows a group of high school teachers who try to maintain a level of inebriation throughout the day to see what it inspires in them. If Churchill won WWII in a heavy daze of alcohol, who knows what a few drops might do for them? Josh E.

Beginning (Dea Kulumbegashvili)

One of the biggest pleasures of any film festival is the arrival of a new voice. A title that has caught our eye in this regard is Dea Kulumbegashvilis directorial debut Beginning. Initially selected as a Cannes premiere, itll now debut at TIFF before coming to NYFF. Shot on 35mm and featuring a score by Nicols Jaar, the drama follows a Jehovahs Witness missionary who seeks justice in a remote Georgian village. While not much else is known about this Georgian directors debut, were hoping it will make for a major discovery this fall. Jordan R.

Concrete Cowboy (Ricky Staub)

Greg Neris novel Ghetto Cowboy has been adapted by first-time feature director Ricky Staub and co-written with producer Dan Walser for the intriguing drama Concrete Cowboy, starring Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things), and Jharrel Jerome (When They See Us). Having its world premiere in the Next Wave category, Concrete Cowboy stars Elba as a Black cowboy Harp on the streets of North Philly, who reconciles with his troubled son Cole, played by McLaughlin.When Cole agrees to do grunt work at his fathers stable his life begins to turn around. His new freedom comes under threat when childhood friend Smush, played by Jerome, tempts him with drug dealing. Josh E.

David Byrnes American Utopia (Spike Lee)

A perfect way to open this years TIFF, not to mention a movie of the moment if there ever was one, David Byrnes American Utopia is set to debut at the festival before NYFF and a premiere on HBO next month. Having had the chance to see the Broadway performance before the world was struck by the pandemic, American Utopia a euphoric, joyous experience that I imagine director Spike Lee will capture with much fervor and passion. Shot by Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dave Chappelles Block Party), I look forward to seeing what most caught her eye in this filmed version. Jordan R.

Fauna (Nicols Pereda)

Following up his TIFF, Locarno, and NYFF selection My Skin, Luminous, Mexican-Canadian director Nicols Pereda is back with the 70-minute Fauna. An clever, meta exploration of how the violence in Mexico reverberates through culture and imagination, it actually sets up a surprisingly humorous tale that should put this director deservedly on the radar of more viewers. Jordan R.

Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds (Werner Herzog, Clive Oppenheimer)

After going Into the Inferno withClive Oppenheimer, the duo will look to the skies for their next cinematic exploration. With production already underway, Fireballfinds them exploring sites that may yieldinsight into comets and meteorites, helping them understand what they can tell us about the origins of life on Earth. With Herzogs singular voice, we look forward to his thoughts on the galaxy and, perhaps, our own planets demise. Jordan R.

Good Joe Bell (Reinaldo Marcus Green)

Since breaking out with the drama Monsters and Men, starring John David Washington, Anthony Ramos, and Kelvin Harrison Jr., director Reinaldo Marcus Green has been developing two major projects. While the pandemic delayed production of his Will Smith-led biopic King Richard, about the father of Venus and Serena Williams, hes completed Good Joe Bell, a drama which finds Mark Wahlberg returning to a more grounded, dramatic realm in the true story of an Oregon father who sets out to walk across American to raise awareness about the effects of bullying after his son committed suicide. It has the makings for a poignant, powerful drama with a script by the Brokeback Mountain team of Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. Jordan R.

MLK/FBI (Sam Pollard)

Recent declassified documents show the length the FBI went to neutralizing King as an effective Negro leader, according to a memo from 1963. In Sam Pollards new documentary, MLK/FBI, he wrestles with Kings legacy as a Black Christian freedom fighter and alleged philanderer. Using research from David J. Garrow, a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Pollard exegetes public knowledge of King through historical record, and parses through the FBIs made-up stories about the civil rights icon. Josh E.

The Inheritance (Ephraim Asili)

Ephraim Asilis feature debut invokes Godards La Chinoise in palette, structure, and playful didacticism to weave together the history of MOVE liberation group, the Black Arts Movement, and the filmmakers own formative experiences in a Black Marxist collective. The films central narrative follows a young man who inherits his grandmothers home and turns it into a Black socialist collective at the encouragement of his girlfriend. Produced, shot (on vibrant Super 16mm), written, and directed by Asili, it looks to be his break out after a handful of acclaimed shorts. Josh E.

True Mothers (Naomi Kawase)

Another Cannes-selected film that will be making its debut at Toronto International Film Festival this year is the latest drama from Naomi Kawase. The prolific Japanese directors new film True Mothers follows a couple struggling with infertility who are blessed with adopting a new daughter, only to have the daughters mother enter their lives years later. With the makings for a heartfelt look at what family means, we hope this is a TIFF standout. Jordan R.

Honorable Mentions

While weve focused on the world premieres above, theres also a handful of notable films coming to TIFF that have premiered elsewhere in the past months, some of which weve reviewed, including The Disciple, Nomadland, City Hall, Notturno, Night of the Kings, Pieces of a Woman, The Truffle Hunters, Falling, The Father, and Summer of 85. In terms of additional world premieres coming to TIFF, were also looking forward to the Naomi Watts-led Penguin Bloom, Joo Paulo Miranda Marias Memory House, and a work-in-progress version of Halle Berrys directorial debut Bruised, as well as the surprises that await in the lineup.

Follow our complete TIFF coverage here.

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Our 12 Most-Anticipated Premieres at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival - The Film Stage

"Data-Driven Thinking" is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media.

Todays column is written byJay Friedman, president and partner atGoodway Group.

In the cola wars, it was Coke vs. Pepsi. In the battle of the coasts, its New York vs. Los Angeles. Rap? Tupac vs. Biggie. And of course, Google vs. Facebook in the battle for identity supremacy.

Whats most notable in each of these classic rivalries, though, is that each is two-way. Third place isnt even in the discussion. Yet, thats how it appears the identity wars are being framed. That its third place thats up for grabs. Will it be LiveRamps ATS? The Trade Desks Unified ID? Or, perhaps Recurly, Piano, Zeotap, MediaWallah or one of the many others wins this portion of the market.

Meanwhile, the marketers that even have half of an eye watching this discussion are largely still putting the bulk of their money into Google and Facebook.But I dont think its third place thats up for grabs. I think its first.

Why is this believable? Because most marketers believe in the principles underpinning PRAM: Privacy is important, a healthy open internet is better for society, all marketers and publishers should have equal access to the mechanism for operating an addressable internet and dont break the law.

While ad techs typical timeline for consolidation and shakeout can last five or more years, identitys clock is ticking. IDFAs go away within a month. Cookies are still slated to be deprecated within 18 months. The industry doesnt have the time for the process to play out the same way it always has. This market must be shepherded to its steady-state, and its in the hands of publishers and advertisers to do that.

To get there, Id recommend we look at a few guardrails to keep us focused on the right outcome.

No kings needed

Maybe we should just king-make one of them and move on? I hear this unnecessary statement often. Government regulators in Europe, Australia, and the United States. are poised to act against this very notion with existing platforms. So, the solution is to make another? King-making is counter to the PRAM and IAB principles.

Open-source or trade-managed wont work either

If one end of the privatized spectrum is a handful of kings, the other end is a LUMAscape of companies all fighting to win the identity race. Neither of these solutions achieves marketers and publishers goals. The end solution must be open-source, or at a minimum managed by a trade association that listens to all but makes decisions for the greater good.

Win-win 100% positive for all

A mistake I see often is confusing the idea of a win-win deal with the idea that the end solution cant have any downsides for any party. Thats not win-win, thats a utopia. A viable solution will have downsides, but it will deliver on the PRAM and IAB principles.

There are firms whove taken funding that will no longer be relevant. One companys fingerprints will be on the solution more than another. Theres likely one bitter pill or another in here for all of us, and it will be a small price to pay as an industry.

A big olive branch to consumers

Speaking of bitter pills, Id recommend that PRAM and the IAB include a heavy olive branch to consumers in our way forward. As Brian OKelley famously said, advertising is no longer good when its creepy.

What if SKU-level retargeting was sacrificed in this way forward? Or, requiring at least three hours before retargeting? Perhaps cross-device retargeting requires a 24-hour delay? Even the appearance that our identities arent fully wired up together in the background would go a long way toward quieting the (oft misinformed) privacy and surveillance capitalism crusaders.

An open internet with an open mechanism for addressability is very achievable. Its time for our industry to play the long game.

Follow Jay Friedman (@jaymfriedman) and AdExchanger (@adexchanger) on Twitter.

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Identity Needs A Solution Capable Of Actually Winning - AdExchanger