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  • Taylor Swift sheds light on an unhealthy relationship: Star sings about escaping toxic love

    Taylor Swift sheds light on an unhealthy relationship: Star sings about escaping toxic love

    Taylor Swift is looking back at a damaging relationship from the other side of it. The 36-year-old superstar released her new single, “Patient Zero,” on Friday, September 25, offering a sharp account of recognizing unhealthy relationship patterns, walking away, and eventually being able to help someone else going through a similar experience.

    The track appears on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, an expanded edition of Swift’s 2025 album featuring four new songs. “Patient Zero” serves as the project’s lead single.

    Taylor Swift’s new single “Patient Zero” explores escaping a toxic relationship, healing afterward, and helping another woman recognize the same warning signs. © Getty Images
    Taylor Swift’s new single “Patient Zero” explores escaping a toxic relationship, healing afterward, and helping another woman recognize the same warning signs.

    Swift frames the relationship as an illness. She casts herself as the first person who survived the emotional fallout and can now recognize the symptoms when another woman encounters the same man.

    What Taylor Swift’s ‘Patient Zero’ Is About

    Swift explained that the concept came from a conversation with friends about an experience that turned out to be surprisingly familiar.

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    “The story behind me writing the song ‘Patient Zero’ is that I was hanging out with a bunch of friends,” Swift said, explaining that one friend revealed she had been contacted by the new girlfriend of an ex who wanted to know whether she had experienced the same troubling behavior.

    The conversation quickly became bigger than one relationship. According to Swift, the other women began responding, “‘Oh, I’ve been through that too,’” and sharing similar stories about being contacted by a former partner’s new girlfriend.

    Taylor Swift on August 23, 2019© GC Images
    Taylor Swift on August 23, 2019

    That gave Swift the idea to write from the perspective of the ex who has already made it out.

    ‘I Was Patient Zero’

    Swift makes that concept unmistakable in the chorus, describing an apparently charming man with a much darker side. She sings about the “devil on his shoulder under his halo” before delivering the song’s central declaration: “I was patient zero.”

    One of the song’s most pointed moments arrives when Swift describes herself as “someone who had him and walked away.”

    Taylor Swift is now married to Travis Kelce© GC Images
    Taylor Swift is now married to Travis Kelce

    By the outro, she describes having “done the healing,” reinforcing the idea that “Patient Zero” is as much about recovery as it is about the relationship itself.

    Is Taylor Swift’s ‘Patient Zero’ About Joe Alwyn?

    Swift does not identify the man in “Patient Zero,” and there is currently no confirmation that the song is about any specific former boyfriend.

    Still, listeners have begun drawing connections between the new track and Swift’s previous relationship with Joe Alwyn, whom she dated for approximately six years before their 2023 breakup. Some of that speculation centers on the song’s medical metaphors, which recall imagery Swift previously used in “You’re Losing Me,” a breakup track widely associated with the end of that relationship.

    Musician Taylor Swift poses at the Wonderwall portrait studio during the 2013 CMT Music Awards at Bridgestone Arena on June 5, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee. © Christopher Polk
    Musician Taylor Swift

    Other listeners have suggested “Patient Zero” may intentionally combine details or themes associated with multiple relationships rather than documenting one particular romance.

    ‘Patient Zero’ Music Video Stars Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell

    The song is also getting a major visual treatment. Swift directed the official “Patient Zero” music video, which stars Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell. The video is scheduled to make its world premiere during the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, September 27.

    Academy Award-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, whose credits include The Revenant, Birdman and Gravity, served as cinematographer on the project.

    Taylor Swift attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards© WireImage
    Taylor Swift attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards

    The premiere comes during another significant VMAs weekend for Swift. She is set to receive the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, recognizing her work behind the camera and contribution to music-video storytelling.

  • ‘South Park’ Season 29 Premiere Hits 4.2 Million Viewers in Three Days and Jumps 33% in Rating After Renaming to ‘South America’ (EXCLUSIVE)

    ‘South Park’ Season 29 Premiere Hits 4.2 Million Viewers in Three Days and Jumps 33% in Rating After Renaming to ‘South America’ (EXCLUSIVE)

    Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s latest stunt has paid off. The Season 29 premiere of “South America” — renamed from “South Park” as a parody of Donald Trump’s controversial initiatives to rename major landmarks — hit 4.2 million viewers in three days.

    That total accounts for viewership across Comedy Central and Paramount+ in the U.S. alone. The episode’s audience was relatively even with the previous season premiere, which reached 4.3 million viewers in three days, while making strong improvements among viewers age 18-49. In that demographic, the episode scored a 0.97 rating after three days, up 33% from Season 28’s 0.73 rating, and a share of 4.77, up from 20% from last year’s 3.96. Between Monday and Friday, the “South America” premiere was the most-watched cable telecast of the week among adults 18-49, excluding sports programming.

    Unsurprisingly, the first episode since renaming to “South America” drove conversation on social media. On the day of its premiere, the series ranked as the No. 1 most social cable comedy, and went on to generate 11 million views and one million engagements in three days. It garnered 63,000 online mentions in three days, a 40% increase from what the Season 28 premiere achieved in the same amount of time.

    In a statement earlier this month, Parker and Stone said, “Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of ‘South Park’ to ‘South America,’” referencing the fact that the tech companies have honored Trump’s name changes on their maps. “We especially want to thank our parent company Paramount — a Skydance Capitulation.”

  • Liza Soberano and H.E.R. on Why Dreamworks Animation’s ‘Forgotten Island’ Story of Friendship Resonated With Them

    Dreamworks Animation knows how to tell stories about friendships, whether it’s between a boy and a dragon in “How to Train Your Dragon” or Donkey and Ogre in “Shrek” or a robot and bird in “The Wild Robot.” Its latest feature, “Forgotten Island,” anchors its story in two best friends who face being separated when one has to go abroad to college. One final night together puts their friendship to the test.

    Liza Soberano and H.E.R. lead the voice cast as Raissa and Jo, who find themselves stranded in the mystical world of the forgotten island of Nakali. They come to find that their only way home might come at the expense of a lifetime of memories and emotions. Written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, the film is produced by Mark Swift.

    “Forgotten Island,” out now in theaters, centers around Filipino folklore, but its beating heart is the universal story of two teenage best friends who share memories and experiences.

    Speaking with Variety, Soberano says the story was one that hit home. Growing up in the Philippines, she understood the theme of “losing” a family member or a friend who needed to go overseas for a better quality of life and to make a better living for themselves. Soberano explains, “I’ve seen all the different permutations of how that could affect family and loved ones that you’re leaving behind.”

    The story struck a deeper chord when she left a successful career in the Philippines to make it in America. “I also went through that journey and that experience three years ago,” she says. She was particularly torn about leaving behind her little sister. “It was really heartbreaking because I was afraid of, I was afraid of us not being close anymore — not just in proximity, but in the relationship itself. I was afraid that we would grow apart. But through this, I actually discovered that there are so many reasons to not grow apart. You have to really fight for the relationship and fight for the closeness, no matter how far you physically are from one another. I find a lot of comfort in that, and this movie has taught me so much about it.”

    Similarly, H.E.R., who grew up near Vallejo, California, also found the story relatable. “I left when I was 17 to move to New York and it wasn’t as far away — just across the country. But it felt super far. My sister was eight at the time, and I was 17 and she wanted her big sister around.”

    While friendship is the beating heart of the film, “Forgotten Island” also captures the Filipino experience through cultural details that resonated deeply with its cast.

    H.E.R. recalls seeing the Filipino elements in the film for the first time. “Seeing the Filipino sun for the first time — even before seeing the full film — made us so emotional. I remember that day very well. I remember seeing ‘pasalubong’ written on the screen, and I thought, oh my gosh, this is as Filipino as it gets. The petroleum jelly, all those little details, just really made me feel like, wow, I’m so proud to be Filipino. This is reminding me of home right now.”

    Soberano agrees, saying, “It was the despedida — the farewell party. That was such an accurate depiction of what it’s like to be at a Filipino house party. There’s so much chaos going on. You have the lolas and the lolos being grumpy at everyone, telling them to either eat, sit down or go sing — and not to be ‘magulo.’ Then you have the little kids doing their own thing, hiding under the tables and creating chaos everywhere. And, of course, you have the titos and titas either playing mahjong on the side or singing karaoke. I thought that was such a beautiful depiction of Filipino energy, but you also feel the love coming from everyone at the party.”

    Aside from starring in the film, the pair also lend their voices to the film’s soundtrack. Their voices capture the nostalgia, warmth and joy that radiate from their characters and the movie as a whole.

    Angela Leus, senior vice president of Film Music at Universal Pictures, previously told Variety that neither she nor the filmmakers wanted to assume that H.E.R. would create an original song. “Everything needed to come from an organic place,” Leus says. “But when H.E.R. saw the film, she was so inspired that she decided to write something — and she was even more inspired to bring in Liza.”

    Speaking about the song, Soberano admits she felt “major impostor syndrome being there.” She asked herself, “What did I do in my life to deserve this?” She adds, “I just felt so honored and blessed to be part of it.”

    H.E.R. echoes the sentiment, saying, “She killed it. There was no need to be nervous because it was just fun. The fact that we were singing as Jo and Raissa just wraps it all up. Then we shot the video in Manila and made it kind of like a travel vlog, continuing that love letter to the Philippines. I’m just grateful to be in this process, especially with Liza. I love these characters. I love this film. I’m forever grateful for it.”

  • ‘Princess Diaries’ Star Heather Matarazzo Reveals She May Lose Health Insurance If She Doesn’t Work Again Soon: ‘Lots of Actors’ Are in the ‘Same Boat’

    ‘Princess Diaries’ Star Heather Matarazzo Reveals She May Lose Health Insurance If She Doesn’t Work Again Soon: ‘Lots of Actors’ Are in the ‘Same Boat’

    “Princess Diaries” star Heather Matarazzo revealed she may not qualify for health insurance if she doesn’t find work soon.

    The actress, who starred alongside Anne Hathaway in the “Princess Diaries” films as Lilly Moscovitz, replied to a post from “Atypical” actor Jack Haven that revealed they needed work in order to qualify for health insurance through SAG-AFTRA.

    The guild offers a health plan for its members that requires a “minimum earnings” threshold be met to qualify. However, booking projects in the entertainment industry is often unpredictable and fluctuates, which leads to larger gaps between employment opportunities and ultimately makes meeting that threshold more difficult.

    “I’m in a bit of an emergency situation,” Haven shared in a YouTube video this week. “I need to make $4,000 by the end of the month in order to qualify for SAG health insurance starting in January.”

    The actor shared their skills and said they will do “pretty much any job,” encouraging anyone open to hiring them on a production under SAG to contact them over email.

    Matarazzo replied to a post about Haven’s plea, writing, “I am literally in the same boat right now. Lots of my fellow actors are. I remember a time when we didn’t have to earn a minimum to qualify for insurance. Glad to see that Jack has gotten an offer that will let them to qualify for 2027.”

    As detailed on the SAG Health Plan’s eligibility page, the minimum threshold is expected to rise by approximately $900 each year until 2030. This year, members were required to earn $28,933. SAG-AFTRA did not respond immediately to comment.

    Matarazzo’s most recent project was the 2025 short film “Paper Tiger.” She also starred “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” “The Devil’s Advocate” and “Scream 3,” as well as multiple episodes of Netflix’s “Wednesday.”

  • Puerto Rico Government steps into the Miss Universe-Nawat fight

    Puerto Rico Government steps into the Miss Universe-Nawat fight

    The Miss Universe conflict involving Nawat Itsaragrisil has taken a significant new turn, and the Puerto Rican government is no longer watching the dispute from the sidelines. The Puerto Rico Tourism Company, a government agency deeply involved in bringing the 75th Miss Universe competition to the island, announced on September 24 that it sent a formal cease-and-desist letter to the Thai businessman.

    The letter demands that Nawat stop making or spreading what the agency describes as false, inaccurate, or materially misleading factual assertions involving the Tourism Company, its officials, contracting procedures, and the handling of public money connected to Miss Universe 2026.

    Nawat’s Version of the Clash with Fátima Bosch© Nawat Itsaragrisil
    The Miss Universe 2026 conflict escalates as Puerto Rico sends Nawat Itsaragrisil a cease-and-desist letter over claims involving public funds and the pageant.

    It is the latest escalation in a complicated Miss Universe power struggle that has expanded far beyond disagreements over franchises and contestants.

    Why Puerto Rico Sent Nawat a Cease-and-Desist Letter

    Nawat has spent weeks publicly questioning how money provided by Puerto Rico for Miss Universe 2026 was handled.

    Earlier this month, he called on Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González Colón and Puerto Rico Tourism Company executive director Willianette Robles Cancel to investigate what he alleged were irregularities involving money paid to bring the pageant to the island.

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    Nawat alleged that money had been improperly diverted and questioned whether the agreements involving the event had received the appropriate corporate authorization. The agency has now taken the additional step of sending Nawat a cease-and-desist letter.

    According to its September 24 statement, the government agency says some of Nawat’s public claims concerning JKN Universe LLC’s corporate structure and authority, bank accounts, public funds, and the actions of Puerto Rican officials are inconsistent with corporate documentation in the agency’s possession.

    Puerto Rico Says the Miss Universe Fight Is Not Its Fight

    The Tourism Company’s message was particularly clear on one issue: it does not want Puerto Rico dragged into the corporate battle surrounding Miss Universe. Willianette Robles Cancel acknowledged that the agency is aware of disputes between Nawat and people or entities connected with the Miss Universe organization.

    Thai pageant director Nawat Itsaragrisil found himself at the center of controversy after publicly insulting Fátima Bosch.© rrss
    Thai pageant director Nawat Itsaragrisil found himself at the center of controversy after publicly insulting Fátima Bosch.

    However, she said the Tourism Company is not a party to those disagreements. “We are aware that there are controversies between Mr. Itsaragrisil and people or entities linked to the Miss Universe organization. The Tourism Company is not a party to those differences, and we will not allow a controversy between third parties to be used to question, without foundation, the integrity of our processes or the responsible management of public funds. Our responsibility is to protect public funds, the interests of Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico’s projection as a tourist destination, acting with the corresponding transparency and rigor,” expressed CTPR Executive Director Willianette Robles Cancel.

    The agency said it would not allow a dispute between private parties to be used to question, without foundation, the integrity of its procedures or its handling of public funds. It said its responsibility is to protect Puerto Rico’s public money, interests, and reputation as a tourism destination. “Puerto Rico is preparing to host an event of international scale that represents an important platform to showcase our attractions, our culture, and our tourism offerings to audiences around the world. Controversies unrelated to the Company will not divert our attention from that objective, nor should Puerto Rico be used to advance differences between private interests,” added Robles Cancel.

    The agency also stressed that the cease-and-desist does not prevent Nawat from expressing opinions, making claims or going to court.

    The focus has shifted from Nawat’s tears to what the pageant truly represents.© @sarinkp.official
    The Tourism Company does not want Puerto Rico dragged into the corporate battle surrounding Miss Universe.

    Instead, it demands that factual representations concerning the Tourism Company’s actions be accurate and complete and that disputed matters not be presented as settled facts.

    Could the Miss Universe Conflict Threaten Puerto Rico 2026?

    Despite the increasingly public confrontation, Puerto Rico is continuing preparations for Miss Universe 2026.

    The Puerto Rico Tourism Company said on September 23 that production and coordination work for the November competition was moving forward. The agency described the 75th anniversary pageant as an important opportunity to promote Puerto Rico internationally and generate economic activity.

    The Nawat Conflict Is Now Bigger Than the Contestants

    Much of the recent Miss Universe controversy has focused on whether delegates from Thailand and several other Southeast Asian countries will be allowed to compete.

    María Jose Lora (L), winner of Miss Grand International 2017, fbb Colors Femina Miss India 2018 Meenakshi Chaudhary (C) and Miss Grand International (MGI) president Nawat Itsargrisil, pose during a promotional event for the upcoming Miss Grand International Finale 2018 in Amritsar on August 25, 2018. (Photo by NARINDER NANU / AFP) (Photo credit should read NARINDER NANU/AFP via Getty Images) © AFP via Getty Images
    Miss Grand International (MGI) president Nawat Itsargrisil, pose during a promotional event for the upcoming Miss Grand International Finale

    Nawat has insisted those contestants remain eligible and will travel to Puerto Rico, while the opposing Miss Universe side has challenged the validity of their franchise arrangements.

    Before Puerto Rico announced its cease-and-desist letter, Nawat had reportedly given the Tourism Company until September 25 to respond to his questions, saying his legal team could become involved if he did not receive answers.

    Puerto Rico has now responded, but certainly not in the way Nawat appeared to be seeking.

  • U2’s new album ‘Carnaval De Luz’ has a surprising Rosalía connection

    U2’s new album ‘Carnaval De Luz’ has a surprising Rosalía connection

    U2 is officially entering a new era, and one song on the legendary rock band’s upcoming album immediately caught fans’ attention. The Irish group has announced Carnaval De Luz, its 16th studio album and first collection of new album material in nine years. The record is scheduled for release on November 13, 2026, with Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. all returning for the new chapter.

    But among the album’s intriguing song titles, one stands out: “The Mirror Maker (Rosalía).” The title initially sparked reports that Spanish superstar Rosalía had recorded a collaboration with U2. There is an important twist, however. According to subsequent reporting, Rosalía does not actually perform on the song. Instead, she inspired it.

    The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr, Bono and Adam Clayton of U2 perform Joshua Tree live on stage at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London. (Photo by David Jensen/PA Images via Getty Images)© PA Images via Getty Images
    The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr, Bono and Adam Clayton of U2 perform Joshua Tree live on stage at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London. (Photo by David Jensen/PA Images via Getty Images)

    Is Rosalía Featured on U2’s “The Mirror Maker”?

    At first glance, it certainly looks that way. “The Mirror Maker (Rosalía)” appears on the official Carnaval De Luz tracklist, while another song, “Torn,” is explicitly listed as featuring Dolly Parton. U2’s official store also lists “The Mirror Maker (Rosalía)” without a “feat.” designation.

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    Consequence reported that a source confirmed Rosalía inspired the U2 song but is not one of the album’s featured collaborators. Spanish outlet LOS40 subsequently reported the same clarification.

    Exactly how her music, image, or artistic approach influenced the track has not yet been publicly detailed.

    U2’s New Album Carnaval De Luz Arrives in November

    Carnaval De Luz will arrive November 13 through Island Records and marks U2’s first studio album of entirely new material in nine years.

    Irish band U2 perform from a balcony for Mexican fans in Mexico City on May 12, 2026 in Mexico City, Mexico. © Getty Images for U2
    Irish band U2 perform from a balcony for Mexican fans in Mexico City on May 12, 2026 in Mexico City, Mexico.

    Produced by longtime U2 collaborator Jacknife Lee, the project explores spirituality, friendship, freedom and endurance in the face of darker forces, according to the band’s announcement. U2 says the music also combines echoes of its more experimental periods with tightly constructed songwriting.

    The album arrives during an especially significant moment in the band’s history.

    September 2026 marks 50 years since Larry Mullen Jr. placed a handwritten notice at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin looking for musicians to form a band. That meeting eventually produced the group that became U2. Five decades later, they are still experimenting.

    Irish rock band U2 © Getty Images
    Irish rock band U2

    The Edge described the new record as a “messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs,” while Bono framed Carnaval De Luz around the idea of responding to darkness with louder music, bigger stories and brighter songs.

    U2 Releases New Song “Silencio”

    While listeners will have to wait to hear the full story behind “The Mirror Maker (Rosalía),” U2 has already offered another preview of the album.

    The band released “Silencio” alongside the album announcement. Running just 2 minutes and 35 seconds, the song is described by U2 as an homage to the attitude of early surf punk. Ryan Tedder provided additional production on the track, while its music video was filmed in Mexico City and directed by Mexican-American duo Cliqua, Pasqual Gutiérrez and Raúl “RJ” Sanchez.

    “Silencio” follows “Street of Dreams,” which was released in July as the first song from the upcoming album.

    The Spanish-language touches are hard to miss. Beyond Carnaval De Luz and “Silencio,” the album includes “La Reina,” while “The Mirror Maker” carries Rosalía’s name in parentheses.

    Dolly Parton Appears on U2’s New Album

    There is one major guest appearance that is explicitly confirmed.

    Dolly Parton appears on the album-closing track “Torn.” The song was co-written by U2, Parton, and Johnny McDaid, with Daniel Lanois contributing pedal steel guitar. It has been described as Parton’s final recorded vocal performance.

    Parton's legacy continues © NBC
    Parton’s legacy continues

    Other familiar names are involved behind the scenes. Brian Eno contributed co-writing and synthesizers to “Go (Carnaval De Luz),” “The Greatest Show on Earth,” and “Can’t Stop Us Now.” Martin Garrix has a co-writing credit on “Glorify,” while Lanois appears on “Torn.”

    Those collaborators connect the new album to different periods of U2’s history while also introducing contemporary influences.

    U2 Carnaval De Luz Tracklist

    The announced 12-song tracklist is:

    1. “Go (Carnaval De Luz)”
    2. “La Reina”
    3. “Street Of Dreams”
    4. “The Mirror Maker (Rosalía)”
    5. “Superficiality”
    6. “If The World Is At War We Better Not Be”
    7. “Silencio”
    8. “The Greatest Show On Earth”
    9. “Glorify”
    10. “Midnight Sunshine”
    11. “Can’t Stop Us Now”
    12. “Torn” (Feat. Dolly Parton)
  • New York Film Festival Kicks Off With James Gray, Tony Gilroy and Filmmakers Toast In New Lounge

    New York Film Festival Kicks Off With James Gray, Tony Gilroy and Filmmakers Toast In New Lounge

    The New York Film Festival and Rolex unveiled their new filmmakers lounge at the Lincoln Center Thursday night, where filmmakers including Paper Tiger’s James Gray and Behemoth!’s Tony Gilroy caught up and prepared for the frenzy of opening night Friday and the days ahead.

    Housed within the glass-walled Lincoln Ristorante, across from the Lincoln Center reflecting pool and within eyeshot of the main exhibition hall for the film festival, the lounge had been a goal for the festival and for Daniel Battsek, president of Film at Lincoln Center, who noted that he had brought it up in his interview before taking on the position in 2025.

    The desire was “to have a room that filmmakers and colleagues from the industry can just kind of hang out, before they see a film, after they see a film,” Battsek said as he raised a glass to toast the room. “So I’m so happy that this has come into being.”

    Attendees Thursday night also included directors and film teams from Tender Loving Care, Club Kid, Clarissa, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Edward Said: Between Worlds, Everytime, My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile, Bucking Fastard and My Wife Cried, as well as from Lincoln Center and the film festival. This is the second year Rolex has been a sponsor of the film festival, with its clock stand in the lounge, as well as loaned watches on the wrists of notable attendees.

    Leading up to the event, festival organizers had been prepping for the technical feat of showing the opening night film, Paper Tiger, in 35 mm, a rarity at the New York Film Festival. Asked about the preparations, Gray, the film’s director, polled his cinematographer and editor, standing nearby, who had varying degrees of confidence in the ability to show in 35 mm (festival organizers definitively said it would happen). Earlier, Gray and Gilroy also debated the origins of the language Esperanto and joked it could be their next project (“An Esperanto musical,” Gilroy quipped.)

    Filmmaker James Gray (NYFF64 Opening Night film Paper Tiger), NYFF Artistic Director Dennis Lim and the group toasting the festival.

    Courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center / Photo by M.J. O’Toole

    While claiming he was filled with “stress and terror” about the opening night screening, after having the film premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it received strong reviews, and show at Locarno Film Festival in August, Gray also noted his pride at having a film as part of the New York Film Festival, having grown up in Queens.

    “I’m from about nine miles that way, and I never thought I’d make a film that would show at the Lincoln Center,” he said.

    Asked about his motivation in making the crime-thriller, starring Miles Teller, Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, Gray said there’s part of his own story in the project.

    “You can’t put your finger on what it is about a story that moves you. But it’s very autobiographical,” he said, adding that much is drawn from his teenage years, in particular. “I never have a goal about a festival. But it’s why I thought this was the ideal place to show it.”

    Ksenia Mironova (‘My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile’) and filmmaker Julia Loktev (‘My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile’) with NYFF Artistic Director Dennis Lim at the New York Film Festival Filmmaker Lounge, supported by Rolex.

    Courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center / Photo by M.J. O’Toole

  • ‘Kill Me Now’ Review: A Tired Hollywood Suspense Satire Riddled with Borscht Belt Humor

    ‘Kill Me Now’ Review: A Tired Hollywood Suspense Satire Riddled with Borscht Belt Humor

    Picture Robert Altman’s The Player remade as a contemporary Woody Allen movie, except Woody is played by a woman who’s even more neurotic than he is, and you’ll get a whiff of indie director Michael Polish’s latest comic concoction, Kill Me Now.

    Starring Jacqueline Singer (who also wrote the screenplay) as an anxiety-ridden screenwriter convinced her neighbor is stalking her — did I say the film sounded like The Player? — this rather tired satire of the movie biz gets a few good jokes in but is otherwise stuffed with cringey one-liners and too many kooky characters. Following its premiere at Oldenburg, Kill Me Now should find a lifeline in fests and on streaming.

    Kill Me Now

    The Bottom Line

    An intriguing talent in need of a better project.

    Venue: Oldenburg Film Festival (Independent)
    Cast: Jacqueline Singer, Mena Suvari, Balthazar Getty, Mario Van Peebles, Keith Carradine, Mira Sorvino, Judd Nelson, Colleen Camp, Duke Nicholson
    Director: Michael Polish
    Screenwriter: Jacqueline Singer

    1 hour 49 minutes

    With her tiny stature, extra large glasses and nonstop wisecracking, most of it involving her Jewishness and various neuroses, Singer makes one think of the Woodster in more ways than one. But as much as the writer-actress has a unique screen presence, she just can’t dish out top-tier jokes like Allen used to do in his heyday. It also doesn’t help that Polish’s direction is about as far from Annie Hall as L.A. is from New York, with little subtlety and lots of offbeat Hollywood hijinks that already feel out of date by a good decade or so.

    Singer plays Victoria, a professional scribe living alone in a ginormous home in the hills, where she’s supposed to be banging out a new screenplay that, predictably, winds up mimicking events in the movie we’re watching. The script has been ordered by a studio run by a coterie of women, with Mira Sorvino (in one of many cameos) playing the crazy boss, until they’re all replaced by a bunch of men and their crazy boss. Posters on the wall for the studio’s hits include such titles as 2 Weddings and a Cremation and The Janitor Who Knew Too Much, which gives you a hint of the film’s brand of humor.

    When she’s not writing, which is most of the time, Victoria does a lot of kvetching, fretting about her nonexistent social life or freaking out about the strange man (Duke Nicholson, grandson of Jack) staring at her from the house across the street. It’s not exactly compelling stuff, and the dialogue doesn’t elevate it to a higher comic realm.

    “I’m looking for a John Wayne who isn’t gay or Gacy,” Victoria quips about her failed search for a boyfriend, then confesses to her shrink, who’s played by Judd Nelson: “I could never commit suicide. I can’t commit to anything.” Some of the film’s wackest lines go to Mario Van Peebles, who plays Victoria’s Jewish dentist uncle and tells her one night over Shabbat dinner: “I like my wine like my women. Thick, kosher … like a potato knish.” Oy gevalt.

    The broad satire also stretches to Victoria’s overfriendly neighbors (Beverly D’Angelo, Keith Carradine) and over-the-top, on-and-off bestie (Mena Suvari), making for a cast of side characters all trying to outdo each other on the Richter scale of quirkiness.

    Kill Me Now only becomes interesting when it strips away such eccentricities and gets personal, such as when Victoria embarks on a humiliating, borderline abusive relationship with an L.A. cop (Balthazar Getty). “I’ve never even been with a guy who could finish in the same room with me,” she tells someone early on, and the self-immolating sadness feels more intriguing than any of the Hollywood parody stuff, which was done way better in the Altman movie (whose fictitious studio is alluded to in this film’s production company name, Now More Than Ever) as well as in Seth Rogen’s The Studio, which pays homage to The Player in fun and clever ways.

    The prolific Polish broke out with his low-budget cult hit, Twin Falls Idaho, and has since helmed an array of indie features ranging from a Kerouac adaptation (Big Sur) to a sci-fi spoof (Hot Bot) to an old-school Western (Terror on the Prairie). He gives Kill Me Now an, er, polished sheen that lacks gravitas and seems forever stuck in deadpan mode. That’s too bad, because there’s something real and original about Singer that feels so out of place in the artificial paradise known as Hollywood. It would be nice if she could find a more convincing way to prove she’s got what it takes.

  • Chris Hansen Strikes Back at ‘Primetime’ Movie (Again) With ‘I’m Chris Hansen’ Documentary Trailer

    Chris Hansen Strikes Back at ‘Primetime’ Movie (Again) With ‘I’m Chris Hansen’ Documentary Trailer

    Have a seat: Chris Hansen wants to show you something.

    On Friday, Hansen’s TruBlu streaming network ($4.99/month or $49.99/year) unveiled the trailer for I’m Chris Hansen, a documentary about and starring the Dateline legend three years in the making. That timeline is important as everyone involved wants you to know that this doc is not simply some knee-jerk reaction to how Hansen feels about A24 feature film Primetime, in which Robert Pattinson portrays the To Catch a Predator journalist.

    As for Primetime, well, he’s not a fan. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter — Hansen’s first since the Lance Oppenheim film debuted at Venice — Hansen called the movie, out today in theaters, “a complete work of fiction attached to a real name.”

    “Based upon what I’ve seen in the trailer and my understanding of what has been written about the film, they wanted to create something much darker and way more dramatic,” he told THR‘s Seth Abramovitch. “I think it’s an insult to the thousands of men and women who work hard every day to protect children from predators. They turn something that is very positive, very challenging and not without risk into what is essentially a horror film.”

    And that, Hansen added, is itself “exploitative and predatory.”

    At the time, Hansen had not seen the film because he refused to sign a nondisclosure agreement — but he set up a major troll-job anyway, buying ads for TruBlu ahead of all Primetime screenings, as first reported by THR.

    Hansen wants you to know he has no beef with Pattinson personally.

    “I have no issue with Robert Pattinson. I think he’s a great actor and a nice guy, and he has been very gracious in his comments about me,” he said. “But they put him in a difficult position. He’s going to be asked, ‘Did you actually meet with Chris Hansen?’ And he has to explain why, as an actor portraying me, they never reached out even to have a discussion.”

    Hansen’s theory?

    “I think it’s because the studio and the director didn’t want to know the truth,” he said. “They had a notion of the film they wanted to create, and they wanted to benefit from the use of my name.”

    Hansen’s true crime streaming channel is now benefiting from the film’s release. Read more from THR‘s interview with Hansen here, and watch his doc’s trailer below:

  • Oscars: Denmark Selects May el-Toukhy’s Golden Lion Winner ‘Woman Unknown’ for International Feature Race

    Oscars: Denmark Selects May el-Toukhy’s Golden Lion Winner ‘Woman Unknown’ for International Feature Race

    May el-Toukhy’s “Woman Unknown” as be chosen as Denmark’s official entry for the international feature film race at the Oscars.

    “Woman Unknown” just won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival from a jury presided over by Maggie Gyllenhaall. El-Toukhy was the sole female director in competition at this year’s Venice fest. In addition to the Golden Lion, the film also earned its star Mathilde Arcel the Coppa Volpi for best actress. The movie went on to play at Toronto, and will next screen at the BFI London Film Festival, as well as Busan.

    Tine Fischer, the Danish Film Institute CEO who chaired the Danish Oscar committee, pointed out “May el-Toukhy has already made history with ‘Woman Unknown,’ becoming only the second Danish director to win the Golden Lion in Venice, following Carl Th. Dreyer’s Ordet in 1955.”

    Fischer described “Woman Unknown” as a “bold and uncompromising film that explores guilt, shame and morality, showing how women’s bodies and destinies become the focus of society’s condemnation and control.”

    “It is a film that offers no easy answers but dares to ask difficult and important questions. With its strong artistic vision and thematic complexity, it is well positioned to make its mark in the Oscar race,” she continued.

    The movie takes place in Copenhagen, May 1945, as Marie prepares for her summer wedding to an older, respected widower. “For several years, she has worked as a maid in his household, caring for his daughter. Now, a new life finally seems within reach. But beneath the seemingly idyllic surface lies a secret that could shatter her dream. And as the truth about her shameful past comes ever closer to being revealed, the price she is willing to pay grows ever higher. No one must know the truth,” the synopsis reads.

    El-Toukhy previously directed “Queen of Hearts,” which won the Audience Award at Sundance and received both Robert and Bodil Awards in Denmark. El-Toukhy then directed episodes of the Emmy-winning series “The Crown” and was one of the initiators of Dogma25, launched during the Cannes Film Festival in 2025.

    Produced by Mikael Christian Rieks for Nordisk Film Production, “Woman Unknown” is supported by the Danish Film Institute and will be released in Danish cinemas on Feb. 4.