Tag: Entertainment – Variety

Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Visar Morina returns to the Sarajevo Film Festival — the scene of a previous triumph — with the biting social drama “Shame and Money,” which won the top prize in Park City earlier this year and is playing in the festival’s main competition.

The director’s third feature wowed audiences at Sundance, where Variety’s chief film critic Guy Lodge praised the “stoic, slowly lacerating look at economic desperation and exploitation in contemporary Europe” as a “keenly observed, sharp-edged portrait of a Kosovo family divided by class.”

Morina’s previous film, “Exile,” which also premiered in Park City, won the Sarajevo Film Festival in 2020. That film, about a Kosovan immigrant grappling with paranoia after a string of menacing events, was loosely inspired by the director’s own experience. Born in Kosovo, Morina emigrated with his family to Germany in the 1990s, before the war that would ultimately lead to the country’s independence. 

“Shame and Money” follows Shaban (Astrit Kabashi) and Hatixhe (Flonja Kodheli), a couple in their forties living with their extended family in rural Kosovo, where they eke out a modest living on their farm. When a family dispute leads to a terrible act of betrayal, their livelihood is suddenly lost. 

Along with Shaban’s mother and the couple’s young daughters, they are forced to move to Pristina, where the pressure to provide weighs heavily on both husband and wife. Piecing together odd jobs, they do their best to find a way in the hyper-capitalist Kosovan capital, until the relentless struggle of daily life pushes Shaban to the breaking point.

Though deeply rooted in the sociopolitical realities of Kosovo, a country that’s largely failed to make good on the promises of the post-war order, Morina sees “Shame and Money” as a parable of modern-day Europe. Across the continent, he notes, the rising cost of living, housing shortages, stagnant wages and a growing rift between the haves and have-nots has spurred widespread pessimism about the direction in which society seems to be heading. 

“We are actually coming to a point in Germany where it feels like we are going straight to a situation like this in Kosovo,” Morina says. “It’s a look into the past and a warning to the future.”

The film provides a bleak portrait of Kosovo, a war-scarred country whose social fabric is fraying at the seams: a society where, as Shaban is reminded by his brother-in-law, Alban (Alban Ukaj), a nouveau riche businessman who reluctantly agrees to take in the struggling family, “Everything has its place. And every person, too.”

For the husband and wife duo, that means a succession of low-skilled, low-wage jobs as they scrap to make ends meet. The rigid taxonomy of contemporary urban life couldn’t be more apparent: When Shaban is offered a job as a night watchman at a gated community rising on the city’s outskirts, he explains to Hatixhe that it is a job “to keep out poor people like us.” 

Gradually, Shaban becomes a ghost of himself, in what comes to feel like a natural outcome in a society where a man’s value can be calculated down to the very last cent. “‘When you’re broke, even your mom doesn’t love you,’” Morina recalls a Kosovan man once telling him. “There is nothing I associate more strongly with the film than this phrase.”

“Shame and Money” is written by Morina and Doruntina Basha. It’s produced by Vicky Bane and Schuldenberg Films in co-production with Eagle Eye Films, Vertigo Ljubljana, On Film Production, List Production and Quetzalcoatl. World sales are being handled by The Yellow Affair and Espoo.

In both of his most recent features, Morina has been preoccupied with the lives of outsiders — those who, either because of immigration (“Exile”) or class status (“Shame and Money”), are shunted to the periphery of society. Increasingly, it seems those dividing lines have become chasms.

At a time when the world (briefly) christened its first trillionaire and the ruling classes build underground bunkers or dream of blasting off into outer space, “Shame and Money” provides a stark warning about the direction in which things are trending — both for our societies and ourselves.

“I really believe that people can only take shit to a certain extent. At some point, they go crazy,” says Morina. “There is this German word sozialer Frieden — social harmony. And I think at some point, there is a point of no return.”

The Sarajevo Film Festival runs Aug. 14 – 21.

THe’Monsters, Inc.’ themed land, Monstropolis is set to open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Disney World in 2027.

The news was announced Saturday at D23. Vice President Creative, Walt Disney World Portfolio at Walt Disney Imagineering, Michael Hundgen told Variety, “We’re so excited to bring Monstropolis to life for fans.”

Currently under construction, Monstropolis will transport visitors into the world of Sulley and Mike.

According to Disney, guests will have the chance to explore the city, meet its citizens, taste unique cuisine, and step into the everyday world of monsters in a totally new way. For the first time, two worlds—once separated—are coming face to face, not through screams, but through laughter.

Hundgen explained, “’Monsters, Inc’ is right up there in terms of iconic locations. The moment you saw it, you thought, ‘I want to go to a world where monsters live and work and play.’ And so, to get to do that at the scale that we’re doing it at is phenomenal. Not only is it about the breadth of the land, but also about creating some of these iconic locations that we’ve seen in the films throughout the years that we’re now getting to realize.’”

A central element of Monstropolis is its theatrical experience, which Hundgen emphasized as an important addition to the land. “We knew the door coaster was the cornerstone of the experience,” he said. “It feels like just giving them a coaster would shortchange the experience. So, we embarked on this idea of a theater experience that would really orient our guests to Monsters. We’re inviting folks into this land for the first time, and the monsters are a little skittish around that, so they’re kind of feeling us out. For so long they’ve been sometimes as afraid of us as we are of them, and so this idea that we’re all working in harmony together is new to them.”

Hundgen explained that it wouldn’t be a typical theater experience. Collaborating with Pixar and Industrial Light & Magic, the team has developed high-definition panels combined with physical characters. In addition to humor and heart, the show will feature a new original song written exclusively for the park by composer Randy Newman.“It’s the first time Randy has ever written something exclusively for a Disney theme park,” Hundgen revealed, calling the song a perfect complement to the high-thrill rollercoaster that will be located nearby.

Disney’s first-ever suspended rollercoaster ride will be a major highlight of the land. “It’s a showstopper,” Hundgen declared. “It’s the first hanging coaster we’ve ever done at Disney anywhere in the world. That opening scene will take you straight into the laugh floor, and guests will be placed into contraptions that Mike has created to harness both laughs and screams. The idea is that if you combine those two things—well, screams are powerful, but laughs are even more powerful.”

The ride will take guests 40 feet high in four seconds, he teases. “When you think about show-stopping moments in our canon, that is going to be up there as one of the biggest and best that we’ve ever seen.”

The rollercoaster will take guests 40 feet high in just four seconds. “When you think about show-stopping moments in our canon, this will rank as one of the biggest and best,” Hundgen teased. He credited the Imagineering team and their research and development efforts for pushing the boundaries of innovation. “Some of the techniques we’re using in the theater itself come from our partnerships with R&D and ILM,” he said. “More importantly, it’s about using technology to support the story we’re telling. What can we do to deepen the emotional connection guests have with these characters while using tech to enable that?”

Hundgen also noted the use of innovative techniques in both the theater and coaster experience. “We’re drawing inspiration from immersive theater and optical illusions that make you feel like things are actually there—paired with physical elements that truly are there,” he explained. “You’ll see plenty of that in the theater experience, as well as a few tricks in the coaster that combine old-school illusions with new tech, all infused with the humor and heart of these characters.”

In addition to the theatrical experience and the rollercoaster, Monstropolis will feature merchandise locations and new restaurants—Disney staples. Among them will be Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza, inspired by the mascot from “Monsters University,” and Harryhausen’s, the sushi restaurant featured in the first film where Mike and Celia went on their date.

“We’re reimagining Harryhausen’s as a brand-new space,” Hundgen shared. “The menu will be wildly fun. Imagine sushi dishes inspired by the monster world: sushi rolls, tempura satays, all with iconic names that feel straight out of the film.” Guests can also look forward to an animatronic octopus sushi chef. “We’re going to have a full-on animatronic sushi octopus figure, cooking up sushi and playing host,” he confirmed.

Monstropolis is scheduled to open in 2027, with restaurants, merchandise experiences, and the theater show debuting alongside the new land. Hundgen expressed excitement about the ambitious project. “Monsters, being one of the first out the gate, will really raise the bar. It’s an incredible project team—passionate and dedicated—and they’ve worked through some pretty gnarly challenges. This will be a fantastic addition to Hollywood Studios and Walt Disney World as a whole. It’s going to be quite the destination.”

“Hacks,” “The Pitt” and “Beef” were the big winners of the 2026 Astra TV Awards.

“The Pitt” took home the most trophies of the night with six. Those include for best drama series, streaming drama ensemble, actor in a drama series for Noah Wyle, supporting actor in a drama series for Patrick Ball, supporting actress in a drama series for Sepideh Moafi and guest actress in a drama series for Tal Anderson.

“Hacks” won several comedy awards, including best comedy series, actress in a comedy series for Jean Smart, supporting actress in a comedy series for Hannah Einbinder and directing in a comedy series for Lucia Aniello’s work on the final episode. “Shrinking” took home awards for best streaming comedy ensemble, actor in a comedy series for Jason Segel, supporting actor in a comedy series for Harrison Ford and guest actor in a comedy series for Michael J. Fox.

“Beef” dominated the limited series and TV movie categories, earning five awards, including for best limited series, actor in a limited series for Oscar Isaac and supporting actor in a limited series for Charles Melton. Lee Sung Jin also won for directing the episode “Oh, The Comfort, The Inexpressible Comfort.”

Elsewhere, Keri Russell won actress in a drama series for her work in “The Diplomat,” Macaulay Culkin won guest actor in a drama series for “Fallout,” Vince Gilligan won writing in a drama series for “Pluribus” (specifically, the episode “We Is Us”), Christina Ricci won guest actress in a comedy series for “Wednesday” and “The Comeback” won for writing in a comedy series, with Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King being recognized for the episode “Valerie Does It All.”

In the nonfiction and variety programming categories, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” won for talk or variety series, “The Muppet Show” won for stand-up or variety special, “John Candy: I Like Me” won for documentary TV movie and “Lost Women of Alaska” won for docuseries or nonfiction series.

“Tonight’s winners represent the extraordinary range of talent and storytelling that continues to make television such a powerful medium,” Astra Awards EVP Matt Weis said in a statement. “From established icons to exciting new voices, we’re proud to celebrate the artists and creative teams whose work has entertained, surprised and connected with audiences over the past year.”

The Astra Awards are voted on by the Hollywood Creative Alliance, honoring the best achievements in television from the past year. As previously announced, Troy Kotsur, William H. Macy, Cedric the Entertainer, Jason Ritter, Shawn Hatosy and Natalie Alyn Lind were all recognized with special achievement awards.

Nate Bargatze and his “Big Dumb Eyes” just set a Guinness World Record.

The Tennessee-born comedian has officially sold the most tickets for a stand-up comedy tour, surpassing the previously record held by Jeff Dunham.

Bargatze will be presented with the Guinness World Record onstage at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Saturday. Ahead of the show, his “Big Dumb Eyes” world tour had sold approximately 2,016,254 tickets, passing Dunham’s “Spark of Insanity” tour, which sold 1,981,720 tickets. The final ticket number on Bargatze’s Guinness World Records certificate will be confirmed later this weekend.

Bargatze accomplished the feat at an impressive pace. To achieve the previous record, Dunham sold 1,981,720 tickets across 386 venues between Sept. 13, 2007, and Aug. 21, 2010 (35 months and 8 days). Bargatze’s “Big Dumb Eyes” tour, which began on April 6, 2025, crossed the 2 million mark after just 16 months and 10 days — and across only 128 venues. (There were also no puppets on the Bargatze tour.)

Along the way, Bargatze broke 84 venue records, according to his reps, which included becoming the only comedian to sell out three consecutive performances at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena in a single calendar year — a feat matched only by Taylor Swift and Garth Brooks.

Bargatze, whose clean, deadpan comedy has made him famous among all age groups, was crowned by Pollstar as the highest-grossing stand-up comic, with $77.5 million reported in 2025 alone. Earlier this year, he crossed over onto the silver screen with his movie “The Breadwinner,” and he is currently planning to build a $350 million theme park in his home state of Tennessee called Nateland.

Bargatze is repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners, UTA, Ginsburg Daniels Kallis and 2PM Sharp.

“Mutrion,” a short film set in the Venice lagoon by 26-year-old Italian director Marco Cavazzin, has scooped the best director award at the Locarno Film Festival’s Pardi di Domani (Leopards of Tomorrow) section.

“Mutrion,” which is the only Italian entry in the section, stars Manfredi Marini, who previously starred in Giovanni Tortorici’s “Nineteen,” and Giulio Maroncelli and is produced by the independent studio Etimo. The short, shot entirely on the lagoon islands, is supported by the Veneto Film Commission and distributed by Italy’s Cattive Produzioni.

“In a lagoon suspended in time, legend has it that sooner or later every inhabitant loses the toenail of their right big toe,” says the synopsis. “It has never happened to Marco. But now that he has returned, something inside him is beginning to crack.”

The story follows Marco (played by Manfredi Marini), who in childhood was nicknamed “Mutrion” (which means “sulky”). Marco left the lagoon area at age twenty. Unlike the other locals, he never lost his toenail. Returning four years later, he faces the community’s tacit expectations and structural isolation, causing something deep within him to fracture as the landscape shifts between physical reality and psychological projection.

“This short stems from the desire to tell a story of return, the attempt to reconnect with a place that has become both familiar and distant over time. In the Venetian lagoon, rituals, superstitions and family stories are still present and continue to shape collective identity,” Cavazzin said in his directors’ statement.

Locarno’s Leopards of Tomorrow selection was judged by a jury panel made up by Lebanese director Mounia Akl; South African producer Steven Markovitz and Italian director Antonio Piazza. Mutrion was the only Italian entry among 20 works from all over the world, including France, the U.K., Iran, Qatar, China, Taiwan, the U.S. and Ukraine.