First Day First Show | Reviews of ‘The Kerala Story’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

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Around Tinsel Town

>> Met Gala 2023

Met Gala, the world’s most fashionable fundraiser, was held this week. Hosted on the first Monday in May, the Met Gala this year saw professionals from fashion, film, music, theatre and sports grace its carpet to honour designer Karl Lagerfeld and raise funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here are a few highlights:

> Met Gala 2023 – Honouring Karl Lagerfeld’s legacy

> Alia Bhatt channels iconic Chanel bride in ‘made in India’ creation

> Jared Leto as Choupette, Rihanna in Valentino, Doja Cat, and more

> In pictures: Rihanna, Priyanka Chopra and Roger Federer pay homage to designer Karl Lagerfeld

>> Actor-director Manobala passes away at 69

The multi-faceted film personality, Manobala, who had been moonlighting the Tamil film industry as a journalist, director, producer and actor over many years, died in Chennai on Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 69 and is survived by his wife and son.

>> Hollywood writers begin strike, late-night shows go dark

Soured by diminished pay in the streaming era, Hollywood’s unionized screenwriters went on strike for the first time in 15 years. Some 11,500 film and television writers represented by the Writers Guild of America, put down their pens and laptops after failing to reach a new contract with the trade association that represents Hollywood studios and production companies.

The group representing Hollywood studios fired back on May 4 at claims that film and television workers were forced into the “gig economy” because of changes brought by the streaming TV era.

>> Cannes 2023 jury announced; Brie Larson, Paul Dano, Julia Ducournau feature on the nine-member list

The organisers of the Cannes Film Festival have unveiled the members of the main competition jury for the upcoming 76th edition, which will be held between May 16-27. The eight members will join the jury president Ruben Ostlund.

Meanwhile, here’s a look at the film festival’s line-up

Bollywood

Shah Rukh, Salman to shoot for ‘Tiger 3’ special sequence on May 8

Backstreet Boys arrive in Mumbai ahead of concert, receive warm Bollywood-style welcome

Kriti Sanon’s first-look as Janaki in the Prabhas-starrer ‘Adipurush’ out

Anupam Kher to star in YRF Entertainment’s slice-of-life film ‘Vijay 69’

‘City of Dreams’ returning with season three on Disney+ Hotstar

‘The Kerala Story’ is an attempt to destroy state’s communal harmony: Ruling CPI(M), opposition Congress

Sushant Singh Rajput’s ‘M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story’ to be re-released in theatres

‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’: Akshay Kumar-Tiger Shroff’s actioner gets release date; new stills out

Hollywood

Academy revises rules around campaigning for Oscars after controversies

Michael Douglas to receive honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival

Emma Watson on taking a break from acting: “I felt a bit caged”

‘Some Like It Hot’ leads Tony Award nominations with 13 nods

Ridley Scott’s ‘Gladiator’ sequel ropes in Pedro Pascal; Joseph Quinn also on board

‘Average Height, Average Build’, starring Robert Pattinson and Robert Downey Jr, acquired by Netflix

Amy Adams, Paul Rudd, and Tessa Thompson to star in ‘The Invite’

Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon’s ‘The Morning Show’ renewed for Season 4 at Apple TV+

Ben Affleck’s ‘AIR’ to stream on Amazon Prime Video on May 12

Keri Russell-starrer ‘The Diplomat’ renewed for a second season

Regional cinema

Rajinikanth-Nelson’s ‘Jailer’ to release on August 10

Ajith Kumar’s next with Magizh Thirumeni titled ‘VidaaMuyarchi’

Mani Ratnam’s ‘Ponniyin Selvan 2’ crosses ₹100 crore mark at worldwide box office

First looks of Udhayanidhi Stalin, Vadivelu, Fahadh Faasil from Mari Selvaraj’s ‘Maamannan’ out

Sivakarthikeyan’s ‘SK21’ with Rajkumar Periasamy goes on floors

Vijay Deverakonda’s next with Gowtam Tinnanuri launched

Vikram suffers rib injury during rehearsals for Pa Ranjith’s ‘Thangalaan’

‘Last Film Show’, ‘Village Rockstars’ to be screened at India-themed festival in France

New series on Satyajit Ray’s popular detective character Feluda coming up on OTT

‘Anuragam’, starring Aswin Jose, Gouri Kishan, Gautham Menon and Devayani, to release on May 5

Shivarajkumar’s daughter Niveditha turns producer, launches debut venture

Reeshma Nanaiah to play the female lead in Prem-Dhruva Sarja’s ‘KD – The Devil’

World Cinema

French actor Eva Green wins USD 1 million in spat over ‘‘B movie’‘

Director Damien Chazelle to head Venice Film Festival

Trailers

Trailer of Denis Villeneuve’s grand sci-fi ‘Dune: Part Two’ out

Trailer of ‘Marvel’s Wastelanders’, starring Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, out

Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma play cat and mouse in ‘Dahaad’ trailer

Anushka Shetty, Naveen Polishetty’s ‘Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty’ teaser promises a fun rom-com

Trailer of Mamta Mohandas, Soubin Shahir’s thriller ‘Live’ out

Trailer of Kannada crowd-funded film ‘Daredevil Musthafa’ out

Trailer of Anna Ben, Arjun Ashokan’s comedy-drama ‘Trishanku’ out

‘Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom’ to release on May 12, trailer out

Trailer of ‘Bhuvana Vijayam’, starring Sunil and Vennela Kishore, out

Naga Chaitanya plays a cop on a mission in Venkat Prabhu’s multistarrer ‘Custody’

New in streaming

Coming to Netflix in May: Historical drama Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, action drama The Mother, seventh season of reality show Queer Eye, and more

New on Disney+ Hotstar in May: American documentary miniseries Rennervations, action comedy series American Born Chinese, and more

K-Dramas coming to Netflix in 2023: Part 2 of the revenge drama  The Glory, the time-slip romance   A Time Called You, romance drama  Doona!, and more

Korean films coming to Netflix in 2023: Yeon Sang-ho’s JUNG_E, biopic film The Match, crime action film Believer 2, and more

Essential reading

1) Why Mani Ratnam’s ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ duology is better when seen as one singular movie

>> Watching the two movies back-to-back gives you the big picture and its true magnum opus nature

2) Bellamkonda Sreenivas on ‘Chatrapathi’ remake: This is our tribute to SS Rajamouli

>> The actor talks about his debut in Hindi cinema with the redux of Rajamouli-Prabhas blockbuster ‘Chatrapathi’

3) Homi Adajania’s unmade films are his best

>> The director talks about ‘Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo,’ K-serials, Murakami, and his crazy stockpile of unfilmed ideas

4) Sex, patriarchy and crowded spaces | Kanu Behl on his Cannes-headed film ‘Agra’

>> The director discusses the landscape of sexuality and why filmmaking has to be a ripple effect

5) Actor Shanthnu on ‘Raavana Kottam’ and turning over a new leaf in cinema

>> The actor speaks about his evolution as an actor and what changed after his much-praised turn in ‘Paava Kadhaigal’

6) ‘Gurudev Hoysala’ to ‘Kabzaa’: Are Kannada films facing the heat of IPL 2023?

>> The IPL has put the Kannada industry in a spot of bother, but some believe that it isn’t an unsolvable problem

7) Changing the way we experience games: the rise of sports documentaries 

>> Documentaries are an adept vehicle to narrate stories in a way cliches are not muddied with a fictional screenplay

8) Pradeep Doddaiah says his film, ‘Out of Syllabus’ has nothing to do with school

>> The director says that his Kannada movie focusses on life and relationships, topics that are not taught in schools

9) Playback singer Usha is back on the melody track

>> 25 years after her debut, Usha is set for her second innings with a new video channel and multi-genre singles

What to watch

1) ‘Afwaah’ is Sudhir Mishra’s night out in a rumour mill

Read the full review here

2) In ‘The Kerala Story’, Adah Sharma’s performance is marred by half-truths and an emotionally exploitative gaze

Read the full review here

Adah Sharma in ‘The Kerala Story’

3) Dimple Kapadia anchors ‘Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo,’ a quirky, uneven series

Read the full review here

4) ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ is a mostly satisfying conclusion to James Gunn’s threequel

Read the full review here

5) Allari Naresh’s action sequences cannot save a collapsing ‘Ugram’

Read the full review here

6) ‘Silo’ is a palatable dystopic show led by a stunning Rebecca Ferguson 

Read the full review here

7) Nine pint-size powerhouses, including one from India, sparkle in ‘Star Wars: Visions’ Volume 2 series

Read the full review here

8) In ‘2018,’ Jude Anthany Joseph’s technically solid recreation of the floods is a message of unity too

Read the full review here

9) Akhil Akkineni’s ‘Agent’ is an excruciating snooze-fest that only leaves you annoyed

Read the full review here

10) Kannada solo-actor thriller ‘Raaghu’ is weak on execution

Read the full review here