British stars Jason Isaacs and Celia Imrie will be presented with this year’s Raindance Icon Award.
The actors will receive the honor at the film festival’s opening gala June 18, with the world premiere of Christopher M. Anthony’s debut feature Heavyweight set to screen.
Golden Globe-nominated Isaacs is best known for his recent starring role as troubled financier Timothy Ratliff in the third season of The White Lotus. His comedy credits include The Death of Stalin, Friends With Money and Sex Education. He has also appeared in Peter Pan, Hotel Mumbai, The Great and The Patriot. Audiences will know him as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. Isaacs stars opposite Gillian Anderson in The Salt Path, released in U.K. theaters last month.
“Raindance has always championed people making films who believe in the power of stories, and who are telling them with few resources other than imagination and determination,” Isaacs said about receiving the award. “Those are my people and those are my stories, so I’m thrilled to be receiving their Icon Award (even if I still feel like I’m just getting started).”
Imrie is an Olivier and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actress who is next set to headline The Thursday Murder Club alongside Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley. Her film credits include The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Netflix series The Diplomat. This autumn, she will star in the upcoming BBC series The Celebrity Traitors.
“What an absolute thrill to be accepting the honour of this year’s Raindance Icon Award,” said Imrie. “I adore films and the Raindance Festival gives fabulous chances to new and international writers and directors. Keeping fresh our ever-lasting passion for cinema. I also love dancing, especially in the rain.”
Raindance founder Elliot Grove said: “As part of the 33rd Raindance, it’s an honour for us to celebrate this year’s Raindance Icon Award recipients. Both are the epitome of our industry with careers that include iconic film and television roles — and both remain champions of independent cinema here in the U.K. and internationally. Celia Imrie graced Raindance’s jury in 2017 and Jason Isaacs co- stars in this year’s opening film Heavyweight. We are proud to recognise and honour their achievements with this award.”
Heavyweight, also starring Isaacs alongside Nicholas Pinnock (Top Boy), Jordan Bolger (Peaky Blinders) as well as Jamie Bamber, Sienna Guillory, Blake Harrison and Joplin Sibtain, follows wildcard boxing contender “Diamond” Derek Douglas as his he enters a title fight he doubts he can win.
Previous Raindance Icon Award recipients include Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Winterbottom, David Yates, Vanessa Redgrave, Jonathan Pryce, Gemma Arterton, Michael Caine, Sally Hawkins, Jude Law, Olivia Colman, Terry Gilliam, Guy Richie and Ken Loach.
U.K. rapper Stormzy has officially launched #Merky Films and unveiled the company’s debut project, Big Man.
The British musician, whose real name is Michael Omari, has teamed up with Apple to produce a short film shot entirely on an iPhone 16 Pro. Big Man is directed by Aneil Karia and stars Stormzy in his first-ever lead acting role.
The short tells the poignant, fictional story of Tenzman, a former rap star now navigating a restless and uncertain chapter of his life.
“When two mischievous young boys — Klevis and Tyrell — unexpectedly enter into his carefully guarded world, the unlikely trio forge a transformative bond, one that awakens Tenzman’s dormant musical passion, impulsive joy and fragile optimism,” a plot synopsis reads. “Blending humour, vulnerability and quiet transformation, the film thoughtfully explores themes of reconnecting with your younger self and embracing gratitude.”
Building on the momentum of his other ventures such as #Merky Books, the #Merky Foundation and #Merky Football Club, the new enterprise marks the singer-songwriter’s entry into the world of film and television.
#Merky Films is also developing a drama series and seminal biopic, the company said Thursday, as well as documentaries, an animation project and a new-age mockumentary.
“I always say: music is my first love, but film is my second,” Stormzy said. “#Merky Films is something I’ve been dreaming about for ages — a space for powerful British stories and a solid home for fresh, unexpected art. It’s a natural next step for everything we do at #Merky — sharing our stories, spotlighting important voices and making room for those who deserve to be seen and heard.”
He continued: “I hope you love our first project, Big Man, as much as we loved making it. For me, it’s all about the joy, spirit and fearless energy of youth; that feeling like life is one big adventure and the world’s your playground. I hope it inspires you to dream bigger, live louder and hold on to that unapologetic energy that comes with being young.”
Michael Douglas will join this year’s parade of stars attending the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which has long been a magnet for Hollywood stars.
The star will travel to the picturesque Czech spa town to present a screening of a newly restored version of Czech-American directing legend Milos Forman‘s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, on which Douglas was a producer and which starred Jack Nicholson. The screening will be part of KVIFF’s “Out of the Past” section.
“The 1975 classic, which swept the Oscars and earned dozens of international awards, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year,” the festival highlighted. “Michael Douglas, one of the film’s producers and recipient of the Academy Award for best picture, will personally introduce the restored version at a special gala screening. He will be joined by fellow producer Paul Zaentz — nephew of the late Saul Zaentz, who co-produced the film, as well as members of Milos Forman’s family.”
The screening is also a celebration of Karlovy Vary’s long-standing ties to Cuckoo’s Nest and its creatives. “Forman was a loyal supporter of the festival, and he, along with Douglas, Zaentz, and actor Danny DeVito, who also starred in the film, are all recipients of the festival’s Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema,” the fest noted. “The film made Oscar history as only the second to win all five major Academy Award categories: best picture (Douglas and Zaentz), best director (Forman), best actor (Jack Nicholson), best actress (Louise Fletcher), and best adapted screenplay (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman).”
Michael Douglas and late Karlovy Vary International Film Festival president Jiri Bartoska (right).
Courtesy of Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary
Douglas last visited Karlovy Vary in 1998, when he and Saul Zaentz were honored with the Crystal Globe.
Said KVIFF executive director Krystof Mucha: “The presence of Michael Douglas, Paul Zaentz, and the Forman family will make this an unforgettable moment in the festival’s history.”
U.S. filmmaker Alexander Payne (Election, About Schmidt, Sideways, The Holdovers) is joining Lucy Liu, Emma Thompson, and Jackie Chan as honorees at this year’s 78th edition of the Locarno Film Festival. Payne will receive the Swiss fest’s Honorary Leopard, the Pardo d’Onore, presented by Manor, on Friday, Aug. 15.
He will also present his films The Descendants (2011) and Nebraska (2013), as well as participate in a public discussion with the festival’s audience and fans.
“The distinctive voice behind a slate of dryly funny modern classics, writer-director Alexander Payne has secured his place on the short list of filmmakers whose work can be said to define American cinema in the 21st century,” Locarno said. “His films have collectively won three Academy Awards, three BAFTAs, and eight Golden Globes in various categories, including for their memorable performances, and exemplify the pleasures of mid-budget filmmaking for grown-ups – a besieged art form ever in need of defense.”
Born in Nebraska in 1961, Payne studied filmmaking at UCLA, where his student work drew attention from Hollywood. By 1996, he had written and directed the comedy Citizen Ruth (1996), starring Laura Dern, which premiered at Sundance. “From there, Payne went on to realize a remarkable series of seven more feature films, with each distinguished by their elegant construction, biting humor, and extraordinary tragicomic performances from an astounding range of revered actors,” Locarno highlighted.
Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival, lauded Payne as “an erudite auteur with an encyclopedic cinephile knowledge” and an “author of a unique filmography in which he has always addressed the complexities of the human condition with a smile.”
He continued: “Gifted with an unerring sense for the bittersweet facets of human comedy, he is a filmmaker with sensibilities at once exquisitely classical and modern. An impeccable director of actors who has worked with such names as Jack Nicholson, George Clooney, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Matt Damon, Bruce Dern, and Paul Giamatti, in Payne we find a knowledge of the savoir-faire of Hollywood cinema, its poetry, and its uniqueness.”
The Pardo d’Onore has been handed out since 2017. Previous recipients include Manoel de Oliveira, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ken Loach, Jean-Luc Godard, Abbas Kiarostami, Terry Gilliam, Alexander Sokurov, William Friedkin, Alain Tanner, Jia Zhang-ke, Leos Carax, Werner Herzog, Agnès Varda, Michael Cimino, Marco Bellocchio, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Jean-Marie Straub, Todd Haynes, Bruno Dumont, John Waters, John Landis, Kelly Reichardt, Harmony Korine, and Jane Campion.
The 78th edition of the Locarno Film Festival will take place Aug. 6-16.
It’s easy to throw around the word “genius” when talking about some of the greatest artists of all time. But when it came to The Beach Boys’ founding member Brian Wilson, that word was more than just a compliment – it was a fact. With a legacy in pop culture that spans decades, and inspired one of the best music movies of all time, the legendary musician behind songs like “God Only Knows,” as well as Pet Sounds, the bedrock album that spawned it, is remembered today in a bittersweet light; due to his passing at the age of 82.
Brian Wilson’s family announced his passing on social media, with a photo of him sitting on a bench, smiling. That upbeat image was accompanied by the Twitter announcement, which read as follows:
2014 historical drama Love & Mercy.
Paul Dano playing versions of Brian Wilson, and with Paul Giamatti’s role as Dr. Eugene Landy, the film alternates between the making of the album Pet Sounds, and said period of treatment. In a statement issued by Cusack, through his representatives, he honored the man’s passing with this fond remembrance:
For some, Love & Mercy is considered one of the best rock-n-roll biopics, which is thanks to its coverage of not only Brian Wilson’s musical process but his life and times outside of his career.
It’s certainly been a tough week for music lovers, as the loss of Wilson comes not too long after the death of Sly Stone, of Sly and the Family Stone fame. This fact was lamented in our next tribute, from The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood:
Music aficionado and horror master Stephen King’s Threads accountwas also spotted as paying homage to this The Beach Boys icon. And in his offering, “The Life of Chuck” author said what we were all thinking:
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With a musical style that gave rock-n-roll a sun-drenched Californian feeling, songs like “Surfin USA” and “California Girls” still feel like automatic plays in those warmer, beach friendly months. But musicians like The Velvet Underground’s John Cale are quick to remind us all that those radio hits are only the surface of what Brian Wilson had to offer:
Brian Wilson is no longer living on the mortal plain, but his work will persevere as long as there are stars above us. Which leads to what is perhaps the greatest tribute to the man’s musical legacy; a star studded performance of “God Only Knows” from 2015, celebrating the launch of BBC Music:
God Only Knows – BBC Music – YouTube
Watch On
We here at CinemaBlend offer our deepest condolences, love, and mercy to the friends and family of Brian Wilson. God only knows what we’d be without his music.
Ever since Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino signed on in October to remake American Psycho, fans and industry insiders have been casting the role like it’s 1999 all over again. Oscar nominee Austin Butler briefly emerged as a rumored frontrunner, but he was never in serious talks. The name that keeps bubbling up? Patrick Schwarzenegger.
Yes, that Patrick Schwarzenegger, aka Saxon Ratliff.
The White Lotus season-three scene-stealer has not only been name-checked online for the part — he’s endorsed it. “I’d love nothing more,” he posted on X in April, responding to a fan suggestion that he take a stab at the character Christian Bale made famous in the 2000 adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ best-selling Wall Street slasher novel.
Informed sources tell us Schwarzenegger is very much on the radar of the film’s producers, though some involved in the Lionsgate production fret that he hasn’t yet toplined a major feature. Then again, neither had Bale when he was cast — this was pre-Batman, when his résumé leaned to more art house fare like Velvet Goldmine. That could change soon, with Schwarzenegger joining Margaret Qualley in Love of Your Life, a romantic drama from Amazon MGM Studios. Meanwhile, rumors plant him in the role of Cyclops in Marvel’s planned X-Men reboot, and still others suggest he might team with dad Arnold for a remake of Twins (well, Patrick’s been suggesting it, anyway). In any case, with Guadagnino now sidetracked by other projects — including the Amazon sci-fi flick Artificial — there may be just enough time for Schwarzenegger to prove himself and come back Psycho-ready.
Asked by THR whether American Psycho was on his list of career goals, Schwarzenegger didn’t name the film but did name-drop the director. “What’s on the very top of it is to work with a person like that, like Luca.”
The Clambake’s Off. A Summer Slump in the Hamptons
The good news? There’ll be plenty of legroom on the jitney. The bad? That’s because nobody appears to be renting in the Hamptons this summer.
According to Rambling’s East Coast sources, the usually bustling Long Island clambake enclave — where everyone from Steven Spielberg to Paul McCartney to Brooke Shields owns sprawling properties — is suffering from its sleepiest season in recent memory. Some reports have rentals down as much as 30 percent, even more at the high end in the coveted dunes. Local real estate insiders blame the usual suspect — economic uncertainty — but other factors may be compounding the sluggishness, like fewer European vacationers willing to set foot on U.S. soil (or sand) since Donald Trump returned to office, as well as a lingering chill from the county’s Airbnb crackdown two summers ago (though by now, most rental homes are compliant).
Still, some island brokers insist the season will swing back — provided property owners adjust their expectations from pandemic era rates. “Those homes still sitting on the sidelines are more often than not priced for a market that no longer exists,” notes Rylan Jacka, managing director at The Agency in East Hampton. “Landlords who remain rigid on pricing may find themselves with a beautifully staged rental home — and no one in it.” — NANCY KANE
Beeple’s Trump Taco Too Spicy for Insta
While Trump and Elon Musk were busy trading jabs across Truth Social and X last week in their billionaire slap fest, a weirder, more surrealist skirmish was playing out lower on the feed: Beeple vs. Instagram. The brawl began with the infamous digital artist’s latest post — an eye-catching (and, honestly, kind of stomach-turning) image of a giant, nude Trump with a fully loaded taco where his genitals should be. Within hours, Instagram took down the picture. But it’s the platform’s explanation for the censorship that has Beeple and his 2 million followers scratching their heads.
“They said it violated Instagram’s anti- bullying and harassment policies,” says the artist, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann. “That’s absurd! The idea that my picture could bully President Trump is insane.”
This isn’t the first time Beeple — who, a few years back, famously sold a collection of his NFT art for $69 million at Christie’s — has allegedly bullied a commander in chief. In December, Instagram removed another of his images, this one depicting a naked Joe Biden posing with a machine gun discreetly covering his presidential bits. Same policy violation. Same silence from Meta.
Instagram didn’t respond to Rambling’s request for comment, but odds are this feud will outlast the Trump-Musk one — though the latter still might inspire a future Beeple post. A reconciliation cuddle, perhaps, hopefully not involving tacos.
This story appeared in the June 11 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
