| | | | | | What's news: L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is calling on Casey Wasserman to step down as chairperson of LA28. Stephen Colbert says CBS' lawyers blocked him from interviewing Dem pol James Talarico. Apple is upgrading its video offering for podcasts. And Hulu's Tell Me Lies will not be returning for a fourth season. — Abid Rahman
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Robert Duvall 1931 - 2026 ►All-purpose actor with few peers. Robert Duvall, the steely-eyed actor whose performances in the first two Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, Lonesome Dove and The Apostle made him one of the finest actors of any generation, has died. He was 95. Duvall, who received an Academy Award — one of his seven Oscar nominations — for his performance as an alcoholic country singer in Tender Mercies (1983), died Sunday at home on his Virginia ranch “surrounded by love and comfort,” his wife, Luciana, announced. The obituary.
—"He was my North Star, my hero." A host of Hollywood figures took to social media on Monday to remember Robert Duvall. Viola Davis, Walton Googins, Adam Sandler, Michael Keaton, Josh Gad, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ted Sarandos, Lynda Carter, Alec Baldwin, Scott Cooper and more industry figures paid tribute to Duvall's supreme talent and longevity. Duvall’s Godfather co-stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino paid tribute to Duvall in statements sent to THR . De Niro said, “God bless Bobby. I hope I can live till I’m 95. May he Rest in Peace.” Meanwhile, Pacino said, “It was an honor to have worked with Robert Duvall. He was a born actor as they say, his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered. I will miss him.” The reaction.
—"It was really easy to believe him as Boo — as a child, I was able to just kind of live in my imagination — and he was perfect for the role." For THR, actress Mary Badham, who played Scout in the 1962 classic To Kill a Mockingbird, remembers her co-star Robert Duvall. Making his big screen debut in the film, Duvall appeared in just a single scene at the end of the film, however, he was unforgettable as Arthur “Boo” Radley. The story. |
WBD Open to "Best and Final" Offer From Paramount ►Dragging on. In a major update to its ongoing sale process, Warner Bros. Discovery has set a March 20 vote for its blockbuster deal with Netflix … but the company says that it will reengage with David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance to see if it can resolve the outstanding issues it had with PSKY’s bid, and to secure a “best and final” offer from the company. WBD said that Netflix had granted it a seven-day waiver to talk with Paramount to try and resolve the issues, and get a final offer. WBD said that after PSKY’s last offer, a representative for Ellison’s company told a WBD board member that it was willing to pay $31 per share for WBD, and that it would still not be its “best and final” offer. The story.
—Banana republic latest. The FCC's proposed changes to the equal time rules for TV talk shows is officially taking its toll on late night. CBS‘ Late Show host Stephen Colbert says that lawyers for the network blocked him from interviewing Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful James Talarico, citing the FCC’s new guidance for political candidates on talk shows. Colbert opened his show Monday by explaining the situation. "I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on," Colbert said, adding, "I could not mention me not having him on, and because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this." The story.
—Pivot to video. Apple Podcasts is bringing upgraded video to its platform. The longtime podcast platform is enhancing the video offering on its Apple Podcasts app starting this spring, amid the growing popularity of video podcasts. YouTube is the most popular platform for video podcasts, but Netflix has begun bringing video podcasts to the streaming service and Spotify, which had already made a big push toward video, has also been ramping up its video efforts. In the Apple Podcasts app, users will be able to switch between watching and listening to shows, as is the case on Spotify, potentially setting them up as a more direct competitor. The story. |
Jesse Jackson 1941 - 2026 ►Icon. The Reverend Jesse Jackson, the widely respected U.S. civil rights leader, has died. He was 84. His family said in a statement that Jackson “died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.” He rose to prominence in the 60s as a leader in Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and he was present when King was assassinated in Memphis in 1968. Jackson later launched two social justice and activism organisations. In 1971, he founded Operation PUSH, followed in 1984 by the National Rainbow Coalition, which merged with PUSH in 1996. While known for his civil rights activism, Jackson also ran for president in 1984, becoming the second African American to do so after Shirley Chisholm. He was a candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination that year and again in 1988. The obituary. |
Bass: Wasserman Should "Step Down" From LA28 ►"The board made a decision. I think that decision was unfortunate. I don’t support the decision." Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is calling on Casey Wasserman to step down as chairperson of LA28 after some emails of his surfaced in the Department of Justice’s Jeffrey Epstein files release. During an interview on CNN Monday, the mayor said, “I cannot fire him, but I have an opinion. And my opinion is that he should step down. That’s not the opinion of the board.” Last week, Wasserman was publicly backed by the Los Angeles Olympics Committee board after they hired an outside law firm to review his interactions with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker connected to Epstein. Their flirtatious correspondence took place in 2003. The story.
—Assault allegations. One of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein has accused a prominent video game executive of sexually assaulting her. Sarah Ransome, who detailed abuse by Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell in a 2021 memoir, alleges that Leslie Benzies, a producer and lead designer of several games in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, sexually assaulted her. The allegation appears in a cache of emails sent by Ransome in the DOJ’s Jan. 30 Epstein files release. The story.
—"The Guthrie family are victims plain and simple." The Arizona sheriff investigating the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie‘s mother, Nancy Guthrie, has a message for those who think that her family, including spouses of family members, is behind the elder Guthrie’s disappearance. They’re not. "To be clear…the Guthrie family – to include all siblings and spouses – has been cleared as possible suspects in this case,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement released Monday. “The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case." The story.
—"He’s terrorizing the city." Shia LaBeouf — who has professed to be sober, and who has blamed his abusive behavior towards ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs on his past alcoholism — has been on an extended-weekend bar crawl in New Orleans' Uptown neighborhood since Thursday, say employees of various drinking establishments around the city. The actor ran into a door block early Sunday night at the open-24/7 bar Ms Mae’s when LaBeouf showed up at the boisterous dive sans shirt or cash. The story. |
'Voice of Hind Rajab' Filmmaker Gives Blistering Berlin Speech ►"I feel responsibility more than gratitude." Hillary Clinton and the disgraced Kevin Spacey were among the guests at the Cinema for Peace gala in Berlin on Monday night, where Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania used her acceptance speech to deliver a blistering political rebuke. Ben Hania’s Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated feature The Voice of Hind Rajab was awarded the group’s “most valuable film” prize during the ceremony at the swanky Adlon Hotel. Taking the stage, Ben Hania made clear she viewed the award less as a celebration than as a burden. “What happened to Hind is not an exception. It’s a part of a genocide. And tonight, in Berlin, there are people who gave political cover to that genocide by reframing the mass civilian killing as self-defense, as complex circumstances. By denigrating those who protest,” she said. The story.
—"The situation has gotten worse … as it has across the West Bank." Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of Oscar-winning doc No Other Land, says his family was attacked by the same man who attacked him shortly after he won the best documentary prize nearly one year ago, leaving his brother hospitalized and four family members arrested. In a statement shared on social media by his fellow No Other Land directors Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra, Ballal says his family was attacked by “the settler who attacked me in my home shortly after I won the Oscar last year.” Ballal says his brother called the police but the IDF arrived first and “immediately raided our house, attacking everyone inside.” The IDF, Ballal added, arrested two of his brothers, a nephew and cousin. The story. |
Anderson Cooper Departing '60 Minutes' ►Big L for Bari. Anderson Cooper is ending his time at 60 Minutes. The CNN anchor, who has been a correspondent at the CBS newsmagazine for nearly two decades, opted not to renew his contract with 60 Minutes, sources say. Cooper’s final segment for the show, an interview with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, aired Sunday. Cooper remains with CNN, where he anchors the nightly Anderson Cooper 360 and a weekly newsmagazine, The Whole Story. Cooper’s departure marks the first big on-air change for 60 Minutes under the CBS News leadership of editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. The story.
—The end is nigh. Tell Me Lies is ending the cycle of Lucy and Stephen. Meaghan Oppenheimer, the creator of Hulu‘s buzzy drama starring Grace Van Patten and Jackson White, announced on Monday that the show won’t be returning for a fourth season. The news comes ahead of the highly anticipated season three finale, which releases at 9 p.m. PT/12 a.m. ET on Monday. "After three amazing seasons of Tell Me Lies, tonight’s episode will be the series finale," Oppenheimer wrote on Instagram. "This was always the ending my writing team and I had in mind, and we are insanely proud of it." The story.
—Another win for the Peacock Network. NBC’s first telecast of the NBA All-Star Game since 2002 brought in strong ratings. Sunday’s contest, which featured a USA vs. World format and a round-robin between three squads, drew 8.8m viewers across NBC, Peacock and Telemundo, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings and streaming data from Adobe Analytics. That’s the largest audience for the game since 2011 on TNT (with the caveat that Nielsen has made several changes to its methodology over those 15 years, and most of those games didn’t have a streaming outlet). The ratings.
—Bonza! Netflix has revealed its full slate of 2026 original films and series from Australia and New Zealand. Leading the way is the third and final season of high school drama Heartbreak High, which drops on the streamer on March 25. Coming in 2026, although the release date is still TBC, is the period drama, My Brilliant Career, based on the book by Miles Franklin. The six-part series is set in rural Australia in 1901, and tells the story of an aspiring writer. Also coming sometime in 2026, is the drama Breakers. Toplined by The Boys‘ Anthony Starr, Breakers tells the story of “two best friends from the U.S. [who] go backpacking in Australia and are soon drawn into a seemingly perfect community of surfers led by a charismatic but mysterious figure.” The story. |
Film Review: 'At the Sea' ►"More pain than emotional payoff." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Kornél Mundruczó's Berlin competition entry, At the Sea. Amy Adams stars in this portrait of a woman fresh out of rehab and trying to find her new normal. Also starring Murray Bartlett, Chloe East, Brett Goldstein, Dan Levy, Redding L. Munsell, Jenny Slate, Rainn Wilson, Henry Eikenberry, Eliz Mundruczó and Pál Frenák. Written by Kata Wéber. The review.
—"The King is reborn." David reviews Baz Luhrmann's EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert. A companion piece to his 2022 film, the Aussie director unearthed 59 hours of unseen footage from the Warner Bros. archives, which has been painstakingly restored, including discarded material from two ‘70s concert films. The review.
—"An unpolished gem." David reviews Anthony Chen's Berlin competition entry, We Are All Strangers. A rudderless young man and his hardworking father each experience love, marriage, loss and the fragility of dreams in this concluding part of Chen’s loosely linked Growing Up trilogy. Starring Yeo Yan Yan, Koh Jia Ler, Regene Lim and Andi Lim. Written by Anthony Chen. The review. |
Film Review: 'Dust' ►"Ultra-relevant, but a bit of a slog." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Anke Blondé's Berlin competition entry, Dust. Set in 1999, the film stars Arieh Worthalter and Jan Hammenecker as a pair of shady Belgian tech edgelords who face their downfall. Also starring Thibaud Dooms, Anthony Welsh, Janne Desmet and Aldona Jankowska. Written by Angelo Tijssens. The review.
—"Lyrical and original." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Geneviève Dulude-de Celles' Berlin competition entry, Nina Roza. The latest feature from Quebecois director stars Galin Stoev as a curator searching for an 8-year-old artistic prodigy in his native Bulgaria. Also starring Ekaterina Stanina, Sofia Stanina, Chiara Caselli, Michelle Tzontchev, Christian Bégin and Nikolay Mutafchiev. Written by Geneviève Dulude-de Celles. The review.
—"Stop imagining already." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Andrew Erwin and Brent McCorkle's I Can Only Imagine 2. This follow-up to the hit inspirational 2018 film featuring Dennis Quaid depicts the story behind the creation of another of the Christian band's songs. Starring John Michael Finley, Milo Ventimiglia, Sophie Skelton, Arielle Kebbel, Sammy Dell, Trace Adkins, and Dennis Quaid. Written by Brent McCorkle. The review.
—"Inspiring, despite some questionable storytelling choices." THR's Daniel Fienberg reviews Pietra Brettkelly and The Critics' Crocodile. The filmmakers chronicle a rise from iPhone DIY storytelling on the streets of Kaduna, Nigeria to the German art scene in this Berlin premiere. The review.
In other news...
—BAFTAs: Bryan Cranston, Cillian Murphy, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Hudson among presenters
—AMC Networks International names Tom Keaveney head of U.K. business
What else we're reading...
—Neil Vigdor highlights the seven pivotal moments in Jesse Jackson’s life [NYT]
—Adrian Horton writes that "Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is big movie with a very small mind" [Guardian]
—Charlie Warzel rings the alarm, bangs the drum, and raises all manner of red flags about the internet's nihilism crisis [Atlantic]
—On the topic of internet nihilism, Dan Adler reflects on the right-wing obsession with Jeffrey Epstein’s quarter zip sweatshirt [Vanity Fair]
—Elisabeth Donnelly writes that for millenials, the first generation to grow up online, James Van Der Beek was a true heartthrob [Harper's]
Today...
...in 2012, two years after its Japan debut, Disney released the Studio Ghibli film The Secret World of Arrietty in North American theaters. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, from a screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa, the anime is a adaptation of the book The Borrowers and was huge global hit. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Billie Joe Armstrong (54), Jeremy Allen White (35), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (45), Lou Diamond Phillips (64), Paris Hilton (45), Ed Sheeran (35), Michael Bay (61), Jerry O'Connell (52), Brenda Fricker (81), Richard Karn (70), Michael Jordan (63), Denise Richards (55), Rene Russo (72), Dominic Purcell (56), Larry the Cable Guy (63), Jason Ritter (46), Rory Kinnear (48), Bonnie Wright (35), Ellie Haddington (71), Sasha Pieterse (30), Lucy Davis (53), Becky Ann Baker (73), Brooke D'Orsay (44), Taylor Misiak (34), Kelly Carlson (50), Meaghan Martin (34), Chord Overstreet (37), Ashton Holmes (48) |
| Frederick Wiseman, the pioneering documentary filmmaker whose penetrating, observational depictions of public institutions raised ethical issues and provoked social examination, has died. He was 96. The obituary. |
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