sattaking122

[octoberobserver]

We Can’t All Be Shakespeare (3/3) - Sneak Peek

So, I’m doing one last follow up from “Exit, Pursued by a Twunk” & “Richie, I’ve Done Thy Mother”, this time from Richie’s POV and it’ll deal with the article written about him.

~*~

The picture is horrendous.

Then again, when it comes to his hideous mug, Richie Tozier expects nothing less.

“It’s not that bad.”

“I look like Bert from Sesame Street with a crack addiction.”

“That’s...fair."

“Eddie!”

Eddie Kaspbrak snorts out a laugh, still looking contemplatively at the laptop screen, plate of pancakes in hand.

“I’m kidding, Rich, you look good,” he smirks, putting down the plate on the kitchen table and squeezing Richie’s shoulder, dropping a quick kiss to his neck.

Richie scrunches up his nose, a thrill running through him as Eddie’s lips brush his skin. He pushes the laptop across the table to pull the pancakes closer to him, getting to work in slathering them in maple syrup.

“Would you like some pancakes with your syrup?” Eddie predictably quips with a hint of disgust, sitting down to his own breakfast, the laptop propped between them like a beacon of Richie’s impending embarrassment.

“I ‘ould ‘ike not to ‘ome ‘cross like a ‘omplete ass’ole,” Richie answers around a mouthful of food.

“You won’t, Eddie assures with an eye roll, “even if you do have the table manners of a farm animal.”

Richie responds to that by opening his mouth even wider as he obnoxiously chews.

Eddie winces, “Ugh, you’re disgusting. Close your mouth, dickwad.”

“That’s not what you were saying last night, Eds.”

“That’s it!”

Eddie is suddenly pulling the laptop towards him, the glow of the screen basking his face as he begins scanning the article.

“I’m reading this now.”

"No, Eds, I'm not ready to be humiliat—”

Richie Tozier Is Clownin’ Around

And Living His Best Life

Richie “Trashmouth” Tozier, 42, is taking the world by storm following his public coming out over a year ago after decades in the closet. From creating his first self-written standup “Clownin’ Around” that has recently been nominated for an Emmy and a favorite to win, to now embarking on his North American tour, starting with Los Angeles’ Masonic Lodge, things really are looking up for Trashmouth…

By: Jake Daniels

Photography: Robert Mendoza

July 14th, 2018

[heroicadventurists]

Comic Con @ Home panel and exhibitor list (so far)

Source: Comic-Con@Home

Source: SDCC unofficial blog

TV & Movies

American Dad: Ever wanted to learn how to draw one of your favorite AD! characters? Now is your chance, join show Supervising Director, Brent Woods, as he teaches the cast and executive producers how to draw Roger! Grab a sketchbook & pens and learn to draw everyone’s favorite alien alongside Rachael MacFarlane (Hayley), Wendy Schaal (Francine), Scott Grimes (Steve), Dee Bradley Baker (Klaus) and EPs Nic Wegener and Joe Chandler as they chat about the current season and look toward the series’ 300th episode airing on TBS this fall.

[NEW] Archer (July 24 at 5PM PT): with Aisha Tyler, Chris Parnell, Judy Greer, Lucky Yates, Amber Nash, and moderated by Casey Willis.

The Blacklist

Bill & Ted Face the Music: with stars Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, as well as Wyld Stallyns, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine, William Sadler, and director Dean Parisot and writers Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson. Moderated by Kevin Smith.

[NEW] Blast Off with Disney+’s The Right Stuff (July 25 at 1PM PT).

Bless the Harts: Join the Harts, in quarantine of course, for a Paint & Sip! Watch Kristen Wiig (Jenny Hart), Maya Rudolph (Betty Hart), Ike Barinholtz (Wayne Edwards), Jillian Bell (Violet Hart) and Fortune Feimster (Brenda) with executive producers Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Andy Bobrow try to recreate Bless The Harts characters while chatting about their favorite moments from season one, what they’re looking forward to in season two on FOX this Fall and how they’ve kept busy during quarantine while drinking the show’s favorite drink – boxed wine!

Bob’s Burgers: The Emmy Award-winning animated FOX series “Bob’s Burgers” invites fans into their homes for a virtual panel with all of the laughs and surprises they generally bring to the Indigo Ballroom. Creator and executive producer Loren Bouchard will break news about the upcoming season, and the always entertaining cast including H. Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, Dan Mintz and Larry Murphy will have you howling with laughter with never-before-seen footage, followed by a lively panel discussion and fan Q&A.

Constantine: 15th Anniversary Reunion: with Keanu Reeves, director Francis Lawrence, and Akiva Goldsman.

Crossing Swords: Hulu Original Crossing Swordsfollows Patrick, a good hearted peasant who lands a coveted squire position at the royal castle. His dream job quickly turns into a nightmare when he learns his beloved kingdom is run by a hornet’s nest of horny monarchs, crooks and charlatans. Even worse, Patrick’s valor made him the black sheep in his family, and now his criminal siblings have returned to make his life hell. War, murder, full frontal nudity—who knew brightly colored peg people led such exciting lives? With Scott Mantz, Seth Green, Alanna Ubach, Tara Strong, Yvette Nicole Brown, Adam Pally, Tom Root, John Harvatine IV, and Adam Ray.

A Conversation with Nathan Fillion: Showrunner Alexi Hawley (“The Rookie”) talks with Nathan Fillion (“Firefly,” “Castle,” “The Rookie”) about his career in film and television. With special appearances by Joss Whedon, Alan Tudyk, Gina Torres, Mekia Cox, Molly Quinn, Seamus Dever and Jon Huertas.

Director’s on Directing: with Robert Rodriguez, Colin Trevorrow, and Joseph Kosinski.

The Dragon Prince: with creators Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond, as well as voice cast Jack Desena, Paula Burrows, Sasha Rojen, Erik Todd Dellums, Jason Simpson, Jesse Inocalla, and Racquel Belmonte

Duncanville: Join executive producers Mike & Julie Scully, executive producer and star, Amy Poehler, along with stars Ty Burrell, Riki Lindhome, Joy Osmanski, Yassir Lester, Betsy Sodaro and guest stars Rashida Jones and Wiz Khalifa for an exclusive first look at the upcoming second season; returning next Spring on FOX.

Emily the Strange: with creator Rob Reger and illustrator Buzz Parker

Family Guy: Join cast Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, Seth Green and executive producers Rich Appel, Alec Sulkin and Kara Vallow from FOX’s hit animated comedy “Family Guy” as we celebrate 350 episodes with a virtual table read! After, we’ll take a look back at some of our favorite moments from the last 18 seasons, plus a special sneak peek at the hilarity and hi-jinx coming up in our 19th season premiering this fall on FOX!

Fear the Walking Dead: Fear the Walking Dead will present a panel for the series’ upcoming sixth season, premiering later this year. Moderated by Hardwick, the panel will feature Gimple, Showrunners and Executive Producers Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg and cast members Lennie James, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, Danay Garcia, Karen David, Jenna Elfman and Rubén Blades.

G-Loc: with director Tom Paton, and stars Stephen Moyer, Tala Gouveia, Casper Van Dien, and John Rhys-Davies. Moderated by Jacob Oller.

The Goldbergs: with cast members Wendi McLendon-Covey, Sean Giambrone, Troy Gentile, George Segal, Hayley Orrantia, and Sam Lerner

Helstrom: As the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer, Hulu Original Helstrom follows Daimon (Tom Austen) and Ana Helstrom (Sydney Lemmon), and their complicated dynamic, as they track down the worst of humanity — each with their own attitude and skills.

HOOPS: The star-studded voice cast of “Hoops,” a new adult animated series for Netflix launching this summer from 20th Century Fox Television (“The Simpsons,” “Family Guy,” “Bob’s Burgers”), gathered for an irreverent-in-the-best-way conversation about coming together to make this show that follows a foul-mouthed high school basketball coach who is sure he’ll hit the big leagues if he can only turn his terrible team around. Voice stars Jake Johnson, Rob Riggle, Ron Funches, Natasha Leggero, Cleo King and A.D. Miles join creator and executive producer Ben Hoffman and moderator/ guest voice star Max Greenfield (Johnson’s former “New Girl” co-star) for a truly wild and hilarious Q&A. Fans will be treated to an exclusive first look at footage from the premiere episode. “Hoops” comes from writer-comedian Ben Hoffman (“The Late Late Show with James Corden,” “Archer”), Phil Lord and Chris Miller (“The Lego Movie”), with animation produced by Bento Box (“Bob’s Burgers”).

Kevin Smith: You know what this is.

LGBTQ Representation on TV: with Jamie Chung (Once Upon A Time), Jamie Clayton (Roswell: New Mexico), Wilson Cruz (Star Trek: Discovery), Tatiana Maslany (Perry Mason, Orphan Black), Anthony Rapp (Star Trek: Discovery), J. August Richards (Council of Dads, Angel, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Harry Shum, Jr. (Shadowhunters) and Brian Michael Smith (9-1-1: Lone Star). The panel will be moderated by TV Guide Magazine West Coast Bureau Chief Jim Halterman.

[NEW] A Look Inside Marvel’s 616 on Disney+ (July 23 at 1PM PT).

Motherland: Fort Salen: TBA

NEXT: Coming to FOX in Fall 2020, “NEXT” arrives at Comic-Con@Home with a sneak peek of the thrilling opening scene of the propulsive, fact-based thriller about the emergence of a deadly, rogue artificial intelligence that combines pulse-pounding action with an examination of how technology is invading our lives and transforming us in ways we don’t yet understand. “NEXT” stars John Slattery (“Mad Men”) as a Silicon Valley pioneer, who teams with cybercrime agent Fernanda Andrade (“The First”), to fight a villain unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Panelists will include creator and executive producer Manny Coto (“24”), John Slattery, Fernanda Andrade, Michael Mosley (“Ozark”), Jason Butler Harner (“Ozark”) and Eve Harlow (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) for a fascinating conversation about the new series and how AI and technology infiltrates all of our lives, moderated by Thrillist’s Esther Zuckerman.

NOS4A2: Moderated by Entertainment Weekly’s Clark Collis, the panel will feature Showrunner and Executive Producer Jami O’Brien, Executive Producer Joe Hill and cast member Zachary Quinto.

[NEW] Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe (12PM PT).

Rooster Teeth: Yssa Badiola, Torrian Crawford, Barbara Dunkelman, Fiona Nova, Kerry Shawcross, and special guest F.J. DeSanto are going to virtually smack you in the face with exclusive reveals and new information about Recorded by Arizal, Red vs. Blue Zero, RWBY Volume 8, and Transformers War For Cybertron: Siege.

The Simpsons: They’ll never stop The Simpsons!…from appearing at Comic-Con; this time on zoom. Join Al Jean, Matt Selman, David Silverman, Carolyn Omine, Mike B. Anderson and moderator Yeardley Smith. Find out how the show has surmounted social distancing and turbulent times en route to season 32!

Solar Opposites: Your favorite Shlorpians are getting together for Comic-Con at Home! As Hulu’s most-watched original comedy premiere to date, “Solar Opposites” centers around a team of four aliens who escape their exploding home world only to crash land into a move-in ready home in suburban America. They are evenly split on whether Earth is awful or awesome, while protecting the Pupa, a living super computer that will one day evolve into its true form, consume them and terraform the Earth… Join Justin Roiland (“Korvo”), Thomas Middleditch (“Terry”), Sean Giambrone (“Yumyulack”), Mary Mack (“Jesse”) and executive producers Mike McMahan and Josh Bycel for all things “Solar Opposites” including an exclusive clip from the upcoming second season!

Stumptown: with cast members Jake Johnson, Cobie Smulders, and Michael Ealy

TV Guide Magazine’s Fan Favorites: Hale Appleman (The Magicians), Chris Chalk (Gotham, Perry Mason), Robbie Amell (Upload), Kennedy McMann (Nancy Drew), Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Picard), Richard Harmon (The 100), Lindsey Morgan (The 100), Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows), and Alex Newell (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist)

The Walking Dead: The Walking Dead will make its 11th San Diego Comic-Con appearance with a panel spotlighting the Season 10 Finale episode, “A Certain Doom,” which will air as a standalone episode later this year. Moderated by Hardwick, the panel will feature Gimple, Showrunner and Executive Producer Angela Kang, Executive Producer Greg Nicotero, who directed the season finale, and cast members Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, Josh McDermitt and Paola Lazaro, among others.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond: The Walking Dead: World Beyond makes its Comic-Con International debut as the third series in wildly successful The Walking Dead Universe. Moderated by Hardwick, the series’ panel will feature Gimple, Showrunner and Executive Producer Matt Negrete and cast members Aliyah Royale, Alexa Mansour, Hal Cumpston, Nicholas Cantu, Nico Tortorella, Julia Ormond and Joe Holt.

[NEW] What We Do in the Shadows (July 25 at 5PM PT): with Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Mark Proksch, Harvey Guillen, Paul Simms, Stefani Robinson, and moderated by Haley Joel Osment.

Wynonna Earp.

COMICS

Celebrating 80 Years of The Spirit: Moderated by Danny Fingeroth.

Decoding the Kirby/Lee Relationship: with Danny Fingeroth.

[NEW] Howard Cruse: The Godfather of Queer Comics.

In Conversation with Robert Kirkman: Creator Robert Kirkman answers fan questions on his titles including THE WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE, FIRE POWER, OBLIVION SONG, and more!

[NEW] LGBTQ Comics and Popular Media for Young People.

[NEW] Out in Comics 33: Virtually Yours.

[NEW] Marvel Comics: Next Big Thing: Friday, July 24, 11:00 AM PST

[NEW] MARVEL HQ: Thursday, July 23, 4:00 PM PST

Skybound Presents: Comics & Creators: A panel of Skybound’s comic book creators including Robert Kirkman, the team behind EXCELLENCE, and more come together to discuss their latest projects.

Tribute to Dennis O’Neil: with Danny Fingeroth.

The Wonderful, Horrible History of E.C. Comics: Moderated by Danny Fingeroth.

OTHER

The Art of Collaboration: Duos Behind Top Films, TV Shows, & Video Games.

California Browncoats.

Creative Renaissance: How to Thrive When it’s Hard to Survive. The continued need for social distancing has brought about a creative renaissance in the digital space. Join the conversation with Joe Barrette (Creators, Assemble!), Phil Jimenez (Creators4Comics), Alonso Nunez (Little Fish Comic Book Studio), and Kit Steinaway (Book Industry Charitable Fund) to hear how nonprofit organizations are working with comics creators to support each other and their communities during these challenging times. You will hear about new learning opportunities, collaborations, how to forge new creative friendships in a time of global disconnect and what it means to find your tribe through fandom and shared passion. Moderated by Dan Wood (Comics librarian, EPL).

From Script to Screen: Behind-the-Scenes of Your Favorite Film & TV Shows.

The Future of Entertainment.

GirlsDrawinGirls Presents Industry Professional Women Artists in Quarantine: Balancing Work, Art, Homeschooling, and Life: With Melody Severns, Debbie Mahan, Sherry Delorme, Rehana Khan-Tarin, Aisling Harbert-Phillips, and Christine Chang.

The Legal Geeks.

Making a Living Being Creative: with Lee Kohse, Brendan Hay, Lex Cassar, and Johnny Kolasinski.

Masters of the Illustrated Film Poster.

Music for Animation.

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND November 2, 2018  - Bohemian Rhapsody, Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Nobody’s Fool

It’s November…hurray! Usually, this would mean the end of the slower fall months (not this year!) and the start of the profitable holiday movie season (ditto!), but we’re going to start off a little slower with a couple medium-profile films before building to the more anticipated holiday tentpoles over the next couple weeks.

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (20thCentury Fox)

Probably the most high-profile release this weekend is this biopic about Freddie Mercury and ‘70s/’80s rock legends Queen, which has been anticipated by so many of the band’s fans but has also been plagued from the early days of development with actors and writers on then off the project, plus even bigger problems once it started shooting.

Director Bryan Singer took over the project a few years back as his follow-up to his recent X-Men sequels, and Singer’s involvement is part of the controversy surrounding the film since he was fired halfway through filming for vague reasons involving his private life. A few years earlier, Singer was accused of sexual assault long before the #MeToo movement that took down his good friend and collaborator Kevin Spacey, but Eddie the Eagle director Brendan Fletcher took over the project. Only Singer received directing credit, and you have to assume that even some of the critics who saw the movie might have watched the movie with the above in mind. There’s also been rumors that there will be a new exposé about Singer published this week, which will bring these things back to the forefront. (Other movies where directors were replaced like Justice League and Solo also received mostly negative reviews.)

There’s so many things to consider for this movie but the first and foremost is that it’s the most high-profile leading role for Rami Malek, the Emmy-winning actor who broke out from playing the lead in USA’s Mr. Robot. Malek has serious Oscar chances for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury – a role that was once going to be played by Sacha Baron Cohen – and even the critics who panned the film have said that he’s the best part of the movie.  The movie also stars Lucy Boynton (Sing Street, Apostle), Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzelo, Aidan Gillen and Gwilym Lee as Brian May, but no one is really talking about them much.

There’s an interesting dichotomy about Queen in that it’s considered hard rock or even metal but it was a rock band with a predominantly gay lead singer, which likely helped them acquire some level of gay audience. That audience might also be interested in seeing how Freddie’s sexuality is handled, because there were a lot of concerns that that side of Freddie’s lifestyle and his death from AIDS has been softened up for the movie.

But will the macho guys who chant “We Will Rock You” and sing “We Are the Champions” at football games and generally love Queen’s music go out to see a movie about the band’s openly bisexual frontman that includes a number of strong homosexual scenes (as much as PG-13 will allow).  Equally, there are worries that Freddie’s gay side and other debauchery has been softened up in the movie for that very reason.

At one point, I thought this could match the opening of A Star is Born, but with the mixed reviews so far and the potential backlash against Bryan Singer, that could keep it somewhere in the mid-$30 millions, possibly even lower. We’ll have to see how audiences react before determining if it could be another $100 million plus grosser or falls just short.

If interested, you can also read my positive review of Bohemian Rhapsody RIGHT HERE.

NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS (Walt Disney Pictures)

What kind of world are we living in where the “sure-fire” Disney holiday movie based on one of the most beloved ballets ever, could possibly bomb? That’s the question that some might be asking on Monday as the Mouse House releases one of its weakest movies in years, because this spin on the Tchaikovsky ballet. I haven’t seen the movie yet, because just like every Disney movie for the last two years, I haven’t been invited to attend a press screening, so I’ll have to just assume the movie is bad because the trailers look like shit.

Of course, there have been other Nutcracker movies, but you assume that when Disney takes over a property (like The Muppets), it will automatically attract an even bigger family audience, since they have marketing to family audiences down to a science.

This film was originally directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallström, but Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger) took over as a co-director to finish the movie when Hallstrom wasn’t available for reshoots, and they’re both credited.

The film does have a great cast surrounding young Mackenzie Foy (no relation to Claire), which include Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and Richard E. Grant, but the movie is being promoted by those from other avenues of art including ballet dancer Misty Copeland and Andrea and son Matteo Bocelli from the world of opera doing the original song “Fall on Me*” for the film. (*Mark my words: this song will get nominated for an Oscar.)

In previous years, a family film kicking off November would do well since there’s a lack of family films in theaters, but this year is different, because we’ve already had The House with a Clock in its Walls, Goosebumps and Smallfoot, so kids probably won’t be driven to go to the movies for this one.

My first instinct is that there’s no way this movie makes $20 million, but this is Disney, a company that has the family audience wrapped around its corporate finger, so it’s likely to make more than $20 million only because Disney will saturate theaters with the “Nutcracker” name-brand helping to bring in important family business.

NOBODY’S FOOL (Paramount Players)

The other bit of cross-programming from the kiddie film and the all-white Queen biopic is the latest movie from Tyler Perry, as he shifts his deal over to the newly-formed Paramount Players. This is the second film of the year from the popular playwright, although his thriller Tyler Perry’s Acrimony was one of his lower money makers, grossing just $43.5 million, which is on the lower end for his films. Before that, Perry had slightly more success with last year’s Boo 2! Which grossed just $47.3 million compared to the $73.2 million grossed by Boo!A Madea Halloween a year earlier.

Nobody’s Fool is one of Perry’s first comedies not starring his cross-dressing character Madea, who seems to be the primary draw for many of his bigger films, so it will be interesting to see how this will fare without Madea. For this one, Perry is joined by the ever-popular Tiffany Haddish, coming off the success of Night School ($70 million grossed so far)and Ike Barinholtz’s indie The Oath. She plays a woman released from prison whose sister (Tika Sumpter, who appeared in the hit Ride Along movies) has been in an online relationship with a man who Haddish’s character believes isn’t real. Hilarity ensues.

The movie also stars Omari Hardwick from Power, who recently appeared in the Sundance hit Sorry to Bother You, as well as veteran Whoopi Goldberg, who appeared in Perry’s adaptation of For Colored Girls. Even with an impressive African-American cast, much of the film is riding on the recent success and popularity of Haddish.

The premise and marketing for the film has been fairly spot-on, not bad for Paramount, who haven’t had many hits with African-Americans in recent years other than maybe Denzel Washington’s Fences, which rode its Oscar buzz to $58 million from a mid-December limited release. The only other African-American targeted film from the studio was Chris Rock’s Top Five, which wowed critics at Toronto but only grossed $25.3 million domestically.

In most cases, I could see this movie opening with $20 million based on the combination of Perry and Haddish’s popularity, but I feel this is coming into a market with other options including Fox’s The Hate U Give and that might keep it just below. Having not seen the movie and there being no reviews, it’s hard to tell whether Perry’s fans will help give it legs over the rest of the month or it will get swallowed up by stronger films (like Steve McQueen’s Widows).

A couple wider expansions this weekend include Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria remake going into 250 theaters and the family drama Beautiful Boy expanding into 350 theaters, although it’s hard to think either will make more than $2.5 million, which would be required to break into the top 10. After last week’s surprise expansion of Jonah Hill’s Mid90s, I’m not sure what to expect from either of these films that have done just as well in their platform releases.

Considering that two or three of the new releases will dominate, this week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Bohemian Rhapsody  (20thCentury Fox) - $37.5 million* N/A 2. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (Disney) - $21.3* million N/A 3. Nobody’s Fool (Paramount) - $18 million N/A 4. Halloween(Universal) - $14.1 million -55% 5. A Star is Born  (Warner Bros.) - $9.5 million -32% 6. Venom  (Sony) - $5.5 million -48% 7. Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween  (Sony) - $4 million -45% 8. The Hate U Give (20thCentury Fox) - $3.3 million -35% 9. Hunter Killer  (Lionsgate/Summit) - $3 million -55% 10. First Man  (Universal) – $2.5 million -49%

* A couple minor changes with the updated theater counts for the weekend, although I’m not going too crazy with either movie, since they both have things working against them.

LIMITED RELEASES

The good news this weekend -- especially if you have no interest in any of the wide releases above and are in a big city -- is that there are a lot of great specialty options, and actually three movies I highly recommend.

First up is Joel Edgerton’s second film as a director BOY ERASED  (Focus), based on Garrard Conley’s memoir and starring Lucas Hedges as Jared, a boy with a preacher father (Russell Crowe) and worrying mother (Nicole Kidman) who is sent to conversion therapy under the tutelage of Victor Sykes (played by Edgerton) in hopes of “curing” his gayness. This powerful and timely drama opens in New York, L.A. and San Francisco this Friday and then expands to other cities on Nov. 9. I was really impressed with Edgerton’s adaptation of a book that I’ve yet to read, but also, Lucas Hedges proves that he’s the real-deal with a performance that bolsters his Oscar nomination for Manchester by the Sea a few years back. You can read my interview with Joel Edgerton over on NEXTBESTPICTURE.com.

Rosamund Pike gives a similarly compelling performance as war journalist Marie Colvin in  A PRIVATE WAR  (Aviron), directed by Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, City of Ghosts), as it follows her daring exploits trying to get exclusive stories in the Middle East that eventually led to her death in Syria. Pike is fantastic in the film, really embodying Marie Colvin, particularly her heavy Long Island accent that really adds to the illusion. Jamie Dornan from Fifty Shades of Grey is also good as Marie’s photographer Paul Conroy, and the film also stars Stanley Tucci and Tom Hollander. It opens in select cities, but I’m hoping it will expand wider this month.

Over a year since it debuted in Toronto’s Midnight Madness section where it won the People’s Choice Award, BODIED  (YouTube Originals/Neon) from Torque (and music video) director Joseph Khan will open in select cities. It stars Calum Worthy as Adam, who becomes interested in battle rap as a thesis subject until he becomes obsessed with it and starts taking part in them himself. I loved this movie when I saw it at Sundance earlier this year and sadly, I didn’t have a chance to see it a second time before its release but hopefully Neon will help get it out into theaters before it ends up on YouTube’s premium streaming network.

Tying into their streaming releases, Netflix will give Orson Welles’ long-lost and unfinished The Other Side of the Wind  and Morgan Neville’s related doc They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead. Apparently, Welles was filming this over the course of fifteen years in what would have been the precursor for all those found footage movies I hate so much. The late John Huston plays a filmmaker throwing a party to show a rough cut of his latest “masterpiece” – and it’s obvious that whatever Welles was going for did not translate well into whatever was put together (by the likes of producer Frank Marshall and others) after his death. You can read more about the former in my New York Film Festival coverage, but both will stream on Netflix as well as get a nominal New York (IFC Center) and L.A. release.

Although Halloween is almost over (depending on when I get this posted), that doesn’t mean there won’t be a few more indie horror/thrillers this weekend.

For those who didn’t get enough creepy nun horror with The Nun, there’s Tommy Bertelsen’s Welcome to Mercy  (IFC Midnight) starring Kristen Ruhlin (also the screenwriter) as a single mother named Madaline, who is struck with stigmata (essentially bleeding on the palms), so she’s sent to a remote convent where her and her friend August must confront the demons trying to possess her. It will get the typical limited run and VOD release of most IFC Midnight films.

The absence of the impending Halloween is also not gonna stop Chris von Hoffman’s horror/thriller Monster Party  (RLJE Films), which stars Julian McMahon and is about three thieves who post a daring heist posed as waiters at a fancy Malibu dinner party only to learn that the dinner guests are not what they seem, forcing them to fight a desperate battle to escape.

Opening at the Metrograph Friday is Shevaun Mizrahi’s Distant Constellation  (Grasshopper Film), a cinema-verité doc filmed in a Turkish retirement home where the inhabitants talk about their lives and two of them ride an elevator up and down. This really wasn’t my kind of doc, although I’m sure others will find it compelling.

German filmmaker Margaret von Trotta pays homage to the Swedish filmmaker that inspired her with Searching for Ingmar Bergman (Oscilloscope Labs), which opens at the Quad Cinema on Friday. Co-directed by Felix Moeller and Bettina Böhler, the documentary is made-up of interviews with his collaborators like Liv Ullman, as well as other filmmakers he’s inspired such as Olivier Assayas. It will open in L.A. on Nov. 9 and other cities to follow.

A little mix-up last weekend, because I thought the documentary Maria by Callas (Sony Classics) from filmmaker Tom Volf opened last weekend,  but it actually opens in New York and L.A. on Friday. Its title is fairly self-evident… that is, if you know opera (as I do).

I also somehow didn’t include Texan filmmaker Patrick Wang’s two-feature film A Bread Factory Part One and Two last weekend, but his second film The Grief of Others (In the Family LLC) will follow them at the Village East Cinema in New York and Laemmle Monica in L.A. (You can still see both parts of A Bread Factory starring Tyne Daly and Elisabeth Henryin those cities Weds night and Thursday.) The Grief of Others deals with the death of a baby mere days after its birth and how the parents and family try to get back to their previous lives.

South African director Nosipho Dumisa’s thriller Number 37 (Dark Star Pictures) will open in L.A. at the Laemmle’s Glendale and on Nov. 9 in New York at the Cinema Village. Set in the down-and-out neighborhood of Cape Flats, the film (based on Dumisa’s short of the same name) looks at the residents of one block of apartments filled with all sorts of criminals, low-life as well as a few cops. One drug trafficker has lost the use of his legs so he gets out to the rest of the world using his binoculars but before you can say, “Hey, this is the same plot as Hitchcock’s Rear Window!” he’s hatched a get-rich blackmail scheme after witnessing a crime. Dumisa is one of South Africa’s first black female feature directors and her film won the Cheval Noir at Fantasia in Montreal over the summer after premiering at SXSW.

STREAMING

As mentioned above, Netflix will start streaming the long-lost unfinished Orson Welles film THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND as well as Morgan Neville’s related doc They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, which is about the making of that movie. The family holiday comedy The Holiday Calendar stars Kat Graham as a photographer who discovers an advent calendar that might be telling her future. Also, streaming Friday is House of Cards Season 6… I haven’t even watched the first five seasons and not sure if I should bother at this point.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Spring Dreams: The Cinema of Huang Ji & Yang Lina features four movies from the two woman directors from China, including Egg and Stone (2012), Foolish Bird (2017), Looking for the Rain (2013) and Old Men(1999) – I have never seen (or even heard) of any of these films but I trust the Metrograph’s programmers/curators. This weekend’s Playtime: Family Matinees is the animated The Secret of Nimh, showing on Saturday and Sunday at 11AM.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Visconti’s Senso continues to show as well as the American remake The Wanton Contessa on Sunday afternoon.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Although it’s already sold out, the 50thanniversary of the Monkees concert movie Head with Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz in person takes place on Thursday night.

AERO  (LA):

Charlize Person will be there on Thursday night to show a double feature of her recent film Tully and Patty Jenkins’ 2003 movie Monster, for which Theron won an Oscar. Friday sees a double feature of Harold Becker’s thrillers Sea of Love and Malice, and he’ll be there in person as well. Krasinski will show A Quiet Place on Saturday night… yeah, I know it only came out six months ago.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

In conjunction with the release of her new doc Looking for Ingmar Berman (see above), the Quad will have a special Margarethe von Trotta: The Political is Personal retrospective that includes most of her films like Rosa Luxemburg, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (on a special imported 35mm print), Sheer Madnessas well as some of the films she’s appeared in like Fassbinder’s Beware of a Holy Whore and The American Soldier. I have not seen a single one of these.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

I just realized this past week the connection between the IFC Center’s Coen Brothers and Shaw Brothers retrospectives… it wasn’t so obvious until I saw both names on the marquee. The Coens’ Weekend Classics this week is the Oscar-winning Fargo (1996) – both at 11AM and at midnight Friday and Saturday --while the Shaw Brothers offering at midnight Friday and Saturday is Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972).  Directed by Orson Welles ends on Thursday with Chimes at Midnight (1965)andF for Fake(1973).

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

The 1979 doc The War at Homewill open here with director Glenn Silberg in person doing Q&As on Friday and Saturday night.

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

A new addition to this section! The beloved uptown theaters of the Film Society of Lincoln Center! Okay, there’s nothing repertory starting this week but next week, for sure.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

Another new addition! On Friday, they’re screening Ousmane Sembene’s 1966 film Black Girl with shorts Fannie’s Film and Fucked Like a Star. It kick-offs BAM’s program Women at Work: The Domestic is Not Free, a series that includes Todd Haynes’ 1995 film Safe, starring Julianne Moore, as well as the amazing Brazilian film Good Manners.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Vincent Price is over but Catalan Cinema’s Radical Years continues through Nov. 10

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The self-explanatory The Coen Brothers Go West runs from Friday to Nov. 18, including Blood Simple, No Country for Old Men, True Grit and more, leading up to their Western anthology The Ballad of Buster Skruggs, which is released on Nov. 16.

[latestnews2018-blog]

Tiffany Haddish takes Hollywood by storm

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Tiffany Haddish takes Hollywood by storm

A year after her breakout role in ‘Girl’s Trip’, the comedian has been keeping busy

What’s the best thing that’s happened to Tiffany Haddish in the past year? Tough question.

The 38-year-old comedian takes a deep breath. “Meeting Oprah, getting a Tesla, hosting the MTV Movie and TV Awards, winning awards, going on trips, staying in different countries, getting an award in Canada. Going to Africa was really super awesome. Getting to meet my aunties and cousins that I hadn’t met before. Having the funds to get my mother out of a mental institution — that’s freaking amazing — and getting her the best doctors. Being able to afford to take care of my grandmother. That’s really better than everything.”

She pauses. “I could keep going because it’s been a pretty phenomenal year,” says Haddish, laughing. But she has one more to add. “Being able to see my ex-boyfriends in passing, them saying ‘Hey, I’d like to take you to dinner some time,’ and me saying, ‘I’m sorry. I’m busy.’ That’s pretty awesome too.”

A year after her breakout role in Girl’s Trip, Haddish is indeed busy. At the top of the list is the Tyler Perry written-and-directed comedy Nobody’s Fool (November 2 in the US), which pairs her with Tika Sumpter. They play sisters (with Whoopi Goldberg as their mom) who once Haddish’s character gets out of jail discover that Sumpter’s boyfriend is catfishing her. She’ll also star alongside Kevin Hart (who for years has been a mentor to Haddish) in Night School (September 28 in the US) and appear in Ike Barinholtz’s dark comedy The Oath (October 12 in the US).

Haddish is also prepping a Netflix stand-up special, attending the Emmys as a nominee for hosting Saturday Night Live (she became the first black stand-up comic to host), developing a sitcom with Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (The Carmichael Show) and readying season two of The Last OG, with Tracy Morgan. And that’s to say nothing of her litany of projects due next year.

With blistering speed, Haddish has become one of Hollywood’s most in-demand talents. Everyone from Paul Thomas Anderson to Judd Apatow (who’s interested in adapting Haddish’s memoir, The Last Black Unicorn, with her) wants to work with her. And this autumn, she’ll be everywhere. It’s the culmination of Haddish’s inspiring rise from a difficult upbringing to the highest reaches of show business.

Haddish has said she was abused a child before entering foster care, and later was briefly homeless while trying to make it as a stand-up in Los Angeles. But her confidence in her future never wavered; Haddish’s production company is named after her personal slogan: She Ready.

“People always say, ‘Are you surprised?’ No, I’m not surprised. I manifested this,” says Haddish. “This is part of my list of goals. I’m grateful I’ve accomplished this much so far, but there’s so much more I want to do. I want to build my own studio one day. I’ve got my little production company going and I want to create things that inspire people to be their best selves.”

Yet as much as Haddish has been accomplishing, some objectives have remained elusive. “Still trying to get pregnant by Leonardo DiCaprio,” she says. “He’s not giving me the time of day right now but he’ll come around.”

Haddish’s telling of her encounter with DiCaprio is exactly what has made her so beloved: She’s radically unfiltered and unapologetically herself. If she wants to wear an Alexander McQueen red-carpet dress over and over again, she will. And if she has a good story about meeting a celebrity, she’ll tell it. Of her DiCaprio-like flirtation with Michael B. Jordan, Haddish says that at the Met Gala the two decided “it’s probably best just to work together.” (One tight-lipped exception: She won’t comment anymore on that infamous Beyonce party scene: “Don’t ask me who bit Beyonce because I’m not gonna snitch!” Haddish says, laughing.)

But, as Sumpter found out, it can be quite a whirlwind joining Haddish’s world. While making Nobody’s Fool, the pair crashed a prom in their hotel, dancing in a sea of awe-struck teenagers while streaming it on Instagram.

“She just does what she does,” says Sumpter. “Tiffany is going to be Tiffany, you just let her run with it. It felt like real sisters. We had each other’s backs. She’s very supportive. I feel like our chemistry was pretty grand.”

Haddish acknowledges some things have changed for her. Now, she gets up every morning at 4 or 5am. “I work every single day. I’ve always worked every day, just not as hard,” she says. But the overwhelming interest in all things Haddish (she also signed a first-look deal with HBO earlier this year) has also been exhausting. “I turn down things every day,” she says.

How does it feel to be so loved? “It feels just like when I was in high school and I was a mascot. I was the most popular girl in school because I was the goofiest girl in school,” says Haddish. “It feels just like high school but amplified.”

But at a time when comedy has struggled mightily at the box office, Haddish has proven the great exception. She hopes to keep going right until her studio and self-help centre sits on the corner of two streets: Tiffany and Haddish. She will make it happen, she insists. “And I will be changing people’s lives for the better.”

[usnewsaggregator-blog]

‘The Voice’ Is Great TV. It’s Just Not Always Great For The Winners.

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‘The Voice’ Is Great TV. It’s Just Not Always Great For The Winners.

Currently in its 13th season, NBC’s “The Voice” seems to have officially cracked the secret reality-TV code and struck gold.

Fresh off a third consecutive Emmy win for outstanding reality-competition program, the show has proved that, six years into its run, it’s still capable of reeling in viewers. Recent ratings rival its debut season; this week, nearly 10 million people in the demographic of viewers ages 18-49 tuned in to watch the Top 8 perform, on par with numbers from season one.

“Whatever the DNA is that’s making it successful, it just hasn’t changed,” the show’s host and executive producer, Carson Daly, told HuffPost. “It still feels like important, special, fresh, eventized, feel-good TV. All those early themes we wanted to roll out into the marketplace have stood as the pillar of what makes the show successful.” 

Those early themes Daly’s talking about center on one primary ideal: giving someone who’s been attempting to break into the music industry the opportunity of a lifetime. Singers of all shapes, sizes, ages, backgrounds, races and gender identities are provided the chance to perform in a blind audition on “The Voice,” during which four superstar coaches (not judges) sit with their backs to the stage, hoping to hear the next Whitney Houston, Justin Timberlake or Taylor Swift. From there, the contestants sing to an audience of at-home viewers eager to vote them into potential stardom. A $100,000 cash prize and a record deal with Republic Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, or, in some cases, with pop and country label Big Machine is on the line. 

“Where else can you come on a show and sing and not be judged on anything but your talent, your voice?” the show’s executive producer Audrey Morrissey told HuffPost. “You’re in one-on-one tutoring with these people who are doing nothing but trying to shine a light on you and give you the fruits of all their experience in a very concentrated time to help you: to help you win the show, to help you win your career, to help you become a better artist. It’s literally priceless. Money can’t buy that.”

Of course, the coaches on “The Voice,” the ones who sit in those massive red chairs that dramatically swivel around at the push of a button, have other motives beyond a desire to “shine a light” on fresh talent.

“They’re making a lot of money, too, so don’t forget about that,” Daly joked.

According to The Wrap, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine each make about $13 million a season. And the show not only gives unknown artists a platform but allows its star coaches one, as well. On primetime TV, they can expand their careers by flaunting family-friendly personalities and premiering new music. Before “The Voice,” for example, longtime coach Shelton had hit after hit on the country music charts with No. 1 songs like “Austin,” “Some Beach” and “All About Tonight.” But since his first stint on the show in 2011, his albums have gained mainstream appeal, with “Red River Blue” and “Bringing Back the Sunshine” both landing at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, at points surpassing the likes of Adele’s “21.”

With all of its addictive goodness, you’d think the artists emerging from “The Voice” would also gain some momentum in the music business. However, the popularity of the show and its celebrity mentors doesn’t necessarily trickle down to the artists the network highlights for months on end. In truth, the show’s 12 winners have produced only five original Top 40 songs and earned one Grammy nomination from 2011 to now. And most of the winners’ singles that ranked on the Hot 100 were either “Voice” performances or original victory songs. Cassadee Pope and Danielle Bradbery are the only artists whose post-“Voice” singles have charted on the list.

Unlike the coaches whose fame continues to flourish, it seems many “Voice” winners fare worse in the great expanses of the fair-weather music industry. The days of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood ― who, after being crowned the champions of “American Idol” in 2002 and 2005, respectively, went on to earn a combined 10 Grammy Awards ― are gone. Today, “The Voice” might do everything in its power to make sure the viewers who vote are captivated by the show’s talent in-season. But once those artists are thrust into the music world, why do we rarely hear about them post-show?

We do hear about some winners, like Jordan Smith, whose success was personally fostered by executive “Voice” producer Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey. After flawlessly singing Sia’s “Chandelier” to an incredulous row of coaches on the show, he went on to nab three Top 40 hits and three No. 1s on the Hot Christian Songs chart. His first album, “Something Beautiful,” was a critical and commercial success story as it debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard chart in March 2016, right behind “Voice” coach Gwen Stefani’s “This Is What the Truth Feels Like.” Smith sold 54,000 units in the album’s first week, making him the highest-ranking winner of any singing competition series in the last six years. Nine months later, his holiday album, “’Tis the Season,” peaked at No. 11. He has been touring nationwide ever since.

And then there’s Cassadee Pope, who signed to Big Machine after her win. (A source close to the company confirmed to HuffPost that Pope and the label decided to “mutually” part ways this year.) Now in the country domain, the former pop-punk singer has drawn comparisons to alternative vocalists like Avril Lavigne with her radio-primed voice. The season three champ has produced four Top 40 hits, two of those ― “Over You” and “Stupid Boy” ― being “Voice” performances. Her 2013 hit “Wasting All These Tears” landed at No. 37 and has been played more than 19 million times on Spotify. Her debut solo country record, “Frame by Frame,” also scored a No. 9 placement on the Billboard 200 and sold 43,000 copies in its first week. Just this year, Pope was nominated for a Grammy for best country duo/group performance for her song with Chris Young, “Think of You.”

When asked who he thinks truly embodies a “Voice” success story, Daly cited the 28-year-old Florida native. “Cassadee was like a rocker chick in an all-boy band [Hey Monday], almost like Gwen in No Doubt, and she went on Team Blake and now I’ve seen her on red carpets and in Nashville,” he said.

Another notable mention is season four winner Danielle Bradbery, who, although not a mainstream darling, has achieved success in the country music realm. The Houston native was 16 when she won the show and went on to release her self-titled debut album just five months later. Like Pope, Bradbery signed to Big Machine. “We knew she had a chance, and we definitely wanted her if she was going to win,” a Big Machine representative told HuffPost. “That was at the height, when media was just like, ‘The Voice, The Voice, The Voice!’”

“They knew exactly what we needed to do as soon as I was off ‘The Voice,’ and so they flew me to Nashville and got an album cooking,” Bradbery told HuffPost of her experience with her management team. “Everything was really fast, but I knew they knew what they were doing… they had a plan. They got me on the ‘Today’ show right away, and are just big fans of getting the names and faces out there as much as possible and as fast as possible.”

Bradbery’s 2013 single “The Heart of Dixie” peaked at No. 58 on the Hot 100 and performed decently on the Country chart. She toured with Brad Paisley and went on to produce an anthem for the promotional campaign of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi with “My Day.” Bradbery pushed forward with the release of her sophomore album, “I Don’t Believe We’ve Met,” on Dec. 1, and it’s currently No. 41 on the Billboard 200. Her lead single “Sway,” which features more pop-inspired undertones, was released in June and peaked at No. 19 on the Country Digital Songs Sales chart.

“If I’m being honest, I didn’t know much about the whole other side of the music industry that you have to create for yourself and your teams… management, label, booking agents, everything along those lines,” she said. “It was definitely a learning experience every step of the way.”

As it still is for season 12 winner Chris Blue. Instead of rushing forward with his debut album, the R&B singer from Knoxville, Tennessee, is working diligently with his former coach and now manager, Alicia Keys. “I watch Alicia and how she works, and she goes nonstop,” Blue told HuffPost. “After the show and putting in long hours every day, I realized, ‘Hey, this has to continue. This is now my lifestyle. You have to work hard in this business.’”

Daly and Morrissey agree. They say “The Voice” is more of a boot camp than a superstar generator, so if people want to make it in the cutthroat entertainment industry, they’re expected to put their blood, sweat and tears into their own development. Winning, they insist, is hard work.

In fact, the producers never wanted to mimic “Idol,” even if it “blazed a path” for them in the TV landscape, Daly said. “We didn’t really create the show to create a celebrity musician or make people rich and famous. That was never really the goal of the show. We are proud to say that so many of the artists who have been on ‘The Voice’ in any capacity have quit their sandwich-making jobs and are doing well in music. And at the end of the day that’s winning, to us.”

But not every artist who’s deemed “The Voice” triumphs. For every Christian singer like Smith or country fave like Pope and Bradbery, you have a handful of “winners” who enjoy less of the sensation of a post-“Voice” career.

Take, for example, season one runner-up Dia Frampton, who found some success in the early aughts alongside her sister in the indie-rock band Meg & Dia. During her time on “The Voice,” she said, the show, like many other reality programs, attempted to shape and mold its contestants’ stories to attract viewers, not necessarily lifelong fans.

“I was introduced as the children’s book author, which was something I very lightly touched upon when we were doing interviews — that I liked writing children’s books, I liked blogging and writing stories. But that was definitely not the highlight in my own mind,” Frampton explained. “I felt like I said, ‘I love yoga,’ and then it became the highlight, even though that’s just a fun thing I do on Saturday mornings. That was interesting, to kind of have that narrative chosen for me.”

Frampton didn’t see herself as a children’s book author. Nor did she think she’d make it that far on the show. Her “sole intention” behind appearing on “The Voice” was to slip in Meg & Dia stories in hopes of getting the duo back on their feet after they spent all their savings on their 2011 album, “Cocoon.”

“In the moment, we had been dropped from our label, we didn’t have a publicist, we didn’t have money, and I thought, ‘This is our publicity, possibly,’” she said. “But the band was never mentioned. I mean, I mentioned it, but it was never put on the show.” After Frampton finished second, she was picked up by Universal Republic to kick off a solo career. All the while, her sister Meg was left wondering what could’ve been.

“Honestly, there was aftermath to that decision for years,” Dia said. “I think that last year was the first year I felt normal again with my sister, and that’s been a lot of work on our part… I still feel like I abandoned her in a way, and I struggle to deal with that in trying to be successful. I feel like sometimes I wish to not be successful so that I don’t do well and don’t abandon her again.”

Following her season’s wrap, Dia and her new team whipped together an album in a few months, which she said was pushed on her by the label. ”I felt like the record was rushed to be put out,” she said of 2011’s “Red.” “I was so excited to work with so many different producers that I think I should’ve focused on working with one person who I really loved because the album kind of ended up being a crazy plethora of songs in all different genres.”

Despite that, she insists her time on “The Voice” was a learning experience that led her to open for her coach Shelton and go on tour with James Blunt in China. According to Dia, she thought she’d found her stride when “Red” went double-platinum in parts of Southeast Asia, but shortly after a year of celebrity, she was back to the life of a struggling artist. Now she can’t even go out on tour because she fails to sell enough tickets or make enough money to promote her new album, “Bruises.” She’s currently working at a health food store, making minimum wage, while writing songs for other artists.

“I look back at my time, not so much on ‘The Voice’ but post-‘Voice,’ because I felt like that was such a spike in my career and life… It felt like I was doing everything right and I was going to be OK and I was bearing on what I think was success, and then everything just kind of falls down,” she said, getting emotional. “That’s one thing you have to be prepared for as an artist. You have your ups and you have your downs, and your ups feel so amazing and your downs feel so difficult. And I feel like I am in a bit of a down right now. I feel like I’ve been throwing spaghetti at the wall for so long trying to make something hit, just kind of helping other artists get their voice out when I feel like mine is kind of going deeper and deeper into a hole.”

There’s no sure way to determine why some artists soar after “The Voice” while others fall flat, but it appears a lot has to do with who’s in a contestant’s corner after they graduate from the show. For example, if talent isn’t thoroughly supported by Universal Music Group after a season ends, albums can go unproduced, unpromoted and unsold. Morrissey explained that, at its discretion, the pop-focused Republic Records chooses how many people it wants to pick up once the finale airs. Sometimes it partners with other labels, like Big Machine, if it thinks it’s not the best fit for a specific artist. 

“Pretty much all the winners are picked up,” Morrissey said. “There is choice amongst the label what they do with them, but we, as a television show, once they won, we’re not necessarily personally involved in their careers. We do everything in our power to prop them up, as we can, but that’s when it flips over to, really, the music business.”

“When the baton is passed post-‘Voice,’ there’s some problems,” Levine told Howard Stern in 2015, suggesting that the label “fucks it up” because “no one knows what they’re doing.” He continued, “People take over after we do this great job of building these people up on the show. There’s some real issues there.”

Season eight winner Sawyer Fredericks had an inconvenient experience shortly after being crowned “The Voice” in 2015. The now 18-year-old said he dropped Republic after his first album, “The Good Storm,” was released, over disagreements about his songwriting process. “It was kind of a mutual decision,” Fredericks told HuffPost, explaining that the label had him co-writing the record even though he wanted to pen his own lyrics. “I think it definitely changed my intent for a lot of songs.”

For his sophomore album, “Hide Your Ghost,” the now independent singer-songwriter ― who lives on a farm with his family in upstate New York ― wants to take back control of his sound.

“I wanted the freedom as full producer. Basically, whatever I say happens with the album, and I have the final word for everything… really conveying what I mean in my original work,” he explained.

Fredericks is not the only “Voice” winner to go independent. After the label didn’t fully support his album “Come Through for You,” season one’s Javier Colon voluntarily moved on from Republic. Despite having catchy, potential hits like “Stand Up” (featuring Levine and co-written by Pharrell WIlliams), Colon’s music never got its due.

“I went in with high hopes, as I believe everyone did,” Colon told Buddy TV in 2012. “But when you pour your heart and soul into a new album that you think is really great, and your label who is supposed to support, market and promote your music does neither, it’s really hard not to be upset.”

Season 11’s Alisan Porter decided to part ways with Republic, too. The former child star (“Curly Sue,” “Parenthood”), now 36, initially took to Twitter to share the news that she was going independent.

Not everything worked out perfectly with my “record deal” so I went back to the drawing board. My EP is written and I begin production Fri.

— Alisan Porter (@alisanporter) March 27, 2017

“It just wasn’t the right fit for me,” she told People earlier this year. “I have a really clear vision of who I am, and it might not be the most cookie-cutter commercial radio [vision]… I would much rather be true to myself than to do something that didn’t feel right for me.”

Same goes for season five winner Tessanne Chin. Her debut album with Republic, “Count on My Love,” sold only 7,000 copies in its first week due to what she deems a lack of promotion. Now the 32-year-old Jamaican reggae-R&B singer is signed to the Justice League Music Group. She’s been performing frequently enough, but hasn’t seen the kind of success Pope and Bradbery have.

See also: winners Jermaine Paul, Josh Kaufman, Craig Wayne Boyd and Sundance Head, who have yet to release albums with Republic Records, and perhaps never will.

So, what gives? As more and more singing competition “winners” become “losers,” who’s at fault? And is there anything that can revive the once-sensational reality show dream?

“You can’t blame a record company or management because, I think, in today’s day and age, you can ‘succeed’ and really take off without it because of the tools that are available to you independently,” Daly said. “A hit song is a hit song is a hit song, and I don’t care who sings it. You can ask Charlie Puth or Meghan Trainor; Fall Out Boy did this back in the day without any help from radio. If you have a hit song, it’s going to happen for you. It’s just a matter of time.”

According to a Big Machine rep, it’s sometimes difficult to market “Voice” talent after the show, in part due to their network association. Because “The Voice” is on NBC, other companies, like CBS or ABC, won’t feature the show’s artists. “The networks are so competitive with one another that you need not only a label behind you, [but] you need to make sure the network is behind you and going to support you beyond you just being on their show,” the rep said. “If you’re stuck to only being able to do the ‘Today’ show or ‘Access Hollywood’ or another NBC platform, it’s limiting.”

Morrissey says, record deal or not, “The Voice” tries to highlight former contestants whenever it can. Just this week, Alisan Porter was able to promote her Las Vegas show, “The Voice: Neon Dreams,” which is set to give artists, including Chris Mann (season two), Mary Sarah (season 10), Matthew Schuler (season five) and Matt McAndrew (season seven), a new platform, boosting their profiles once more. “The Voice” also recently highlighted past contestants’ journeys on the web-exclusive series “After The Voice.”

“We do try to keep tabs on them. We do invite them back and have them perform on the show when they’re ready and they have music. To the best of our ability we push all of their work on all our socials. We try to do what we can,” Morrissey said. “It is what it is. We try our best.”

Fredericks, for one, confirmed that “The Voice” producers have kept tabs on him and his career. “I don’t think it’s completely like I’m on my own. They’ve helped out quite a bit, and they’ve offered me to do stuff with the show,” he said. “It’s really fun to go back; it’s like a whole family. And it’s still going! This show, like everything, is just go, go, go.”

The coaches are also a big part of the equation. Bradbery’s former mentor, Shelton, who she called “very genuine,” pays attention to the music she’s releasing. He congratulated her on a recent single, which Bradbery said he does as often as he can. “He definitely keeps everybody that’s been on his team under his wing, which I think is really amazing about him. What you see on TV of Blake is exactly what you’ll get. He’s not fake.”

The same could be said about most of the coaches who attempt to stay in contact with their contestants after “The Voice,” Morrissey said. Levine has signed former artists to his record label, 222, while Keys continues to work and write with Blue.

“Coaches go to a lot of lengths to help people keep growing far more than the public sees. We just don’t really have enough time or way on our show to illustrate that,” Morrissey said. “I’m just thinking about Christina [Aguilera] and Alisan Porter �� they’re still very close and work together. Miley [Cyrus], famously, my God, she keeps in touch with everybody, is texting constantly.”

“It’s more than just a season to them or show or just a moment in time, but they really take on the artists as their own and really care about these individuals,” Blue told HuffPost.

However, it’s not just the winning artists who take their shot in the ruthless world of music post-“Voice.” Throughout every season of the show, hundreds of contestants rotate in and out of the spotlight. Another famous reality show contestant is proof you don’t have to win to win: Jennifer Hudson. She is currently a coach on “The Voice,” but she placed seventh in the 2004 season of “American Idol.” She’s since won a Grammy for her album “Jennifer Hudson,” and Oscar, Golden Globe, British Academy Film and Screen Actors Guild awards for her role as Effie White in 2006’s “Dreamgirls.” Perhaps, with her experience, she can help guide her three eliminated live-show contestants, Davon Fleming, Shi’Ann Jones and Noah Mac, to mainstream success without a crown.

“When she’s looking at them and saying, ‘I’ve been you. I’ve been right where you are. I know how to do this. I know how you’re feeling. I can help you navigate the waters once we’re successful.’ I mean, how do you not take somebody up on that offer? That’s valuable,” Daly said. “And having Kelly [Clarkson] on next season, too, will be the same thing.”

In Clarkson’s mind, making your way to the top of the music charts after appearing on a singing competition show has a lot to do with perseverance. But, of course, luck plays a role, too.

“The question is always, ‘Why does this one make it and why didn’t this one?’ And it’s hard to tell you that because I think if we knew the answer we’d bottle it up and sell it so everybody could make it,” Clarkson told HuffPost. “Jennifer Hudson and I had this talk when I worked with her recently. We were both like, ‘You know, it’s really not even winning.’ Like she’s the best example of that. It’s taking that opportunity, making something of it and being OK with the fact that it might not be exactly what you thought it was going to be.”

We’ve seen that sort of attitude with “Voice” contestants like RaeLynn, who, at 23, is now one of the most sought-after songwriters in Nashville after being eliminated in the quarterfinals of season two. Her debut album, “Wildhorse,” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Albums Chart and landed within the Top 10 on the All-Genre Album Sales Chart in 2017. This success, though, came after she left Big Machine and joined forces with Warner Music Nashville, which helped her sink into who she wanted to be as an artist. Under its guidance, she wrote “Love Triangle,” which garnered her a whole lot of attention for its raw and honest lyrics about being a child of divorce.

“Within a week, I had so many other writers who wanted to write with me because of that song,” RaeLynn told Billboard. “It goes to show a great song is what can change a lot for you, and that’s what that song did for me.”

RaeLynn credited Nashville as a pivotal environment. This might explain why a select few winners have flourished when they focused on Music City.  

“Everybody knows everybody, and when they find out there’s a new artist that’s great, everybody is going to support them,” she said. “They don’t just support artists who’ve already made it. They want to support new artists, and I think that’s so special.”

And it seems country music listeners want to support emerging artists, as well. A source close to “The Voice” told HuffPost that voting during the show typically takes off in local markets when there’s a particularly moving performance. For example, when Sundance Head advanced in the competition, “The Voice” saw a huge spike in voters from Texas.

“A lot of people who haven’t won the show [and are successful] are just people from Team Blake… He’s from that world and they take care of their own, no doubt about it,” Daly said, mentioning acts like RaeLynn, the Swon Brothers and Gwen Sebastian, who toured with Shelton and wrote three songs on Miranda Lambert’s latest critically acclaimed album, “The Weight of These Wings.”

Ultimately, Clarkson believes no singing competition winner should ever feel like they’re automatically going to be a superstar with a dozen No. 1s. “That’s a level of entitlement that’s going to end up not really working out well,” she advised.

“TV is so powerful, right? Use that platform and use that stage to really showcase what you have, and then use that opportunity to meet as many people as you can meet. That’s all we can really do because there’s no rhyme or reason to why some of us make it and some of us don’t. We all work hard. But some of it is the aligning of the stars.”

Even with the ups and downs, most if not all of the contestants HuffPost spoke to had nothing but fond memories from their time on “The Voice,” and credited the show for giving them a place to shine.

“I loved it as a learning experience, and I’m happy I did it,” Fredericks said. Bradbery and Blue expressed similar sentiments. “If it wasn’t for ‘The Voice,’ I’d be home doing regular stuff, so it was probably the biggest high moment of my whole entire life,” Bradbery said. “It’s been amazing.”

“‘The Voice’ is a really great concept,” Frampton said. “At first, I honestly thought, ‘OK, this has to be rigged. Somebody has to tell the coaches to turn around for certain people.’ But going through the show and seeing the process, I truly believe that it is very genuine.”

Despite the inconsistent track record, the hope for post-show success persists. “The Voice” is expected to continue running two cycles a year until ratings dip (which likely won’t happen anytime soon). Daly said that because there’s so much content out there, in order to stay relevant you have to be on top of your game. “There’s very little appointment viewing,” he said. “If you go away too long, you run the risk of just like falling into oblivion. There’s a successful Mark Burnett competition reality program [‘Survivor’] that’s been on twice a year on CBS for 35 seasons, and it works!”

Daly and Morrissey also know their show is entertaining a robust audience and fills that feel-good void on TV. Because when it comes down to it, the winners of “The Voice” are the network, the coaches and, undoubtedly, the devoted fans who get to see a produced version of the American Dream play out before them. They might not be tuning in to vote for album sales or chart appearances, but they’re glued to their seats in anticipation of each season’s climax.

Win or lose, prevailing after “The Voice,” like any other talent show, is the luck of the draw. But who knows? With a younger, more pop-rock-inspired crop of season 13 finalists (including Brooke Simpson, 26, Chloe Kohanski, 23, and Addison Agen, 16), the future winner could fare better. There’s still a country singer in the mix, though, ahead of next week’s finale, 40-year-old Red Marlow. Will a Tennessee crooner reign supreme once again? If we had to guess, we’d say yes.

UPDATE: (Dec. 20) ― Rock-pop singer Chloe Kohanski was crowned Season 13′s “The Voice.” With that, her coach, Blake Shelton, secured his sixth win.   

Additional reporting by Lauren Moraski. 

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated the title of Stefani’s album. It is “This Is What the Truth Feels Like” not “What the Truth Feels Like.”

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