Three new Spicy Lemonade Refreshers beverages will be available in Starbucks stores in Canada for a very limited time this spring, while supplies last, beginning tomorrow Tuesday, April 16, 2024.

· Spicy Strawberry brings together sweet flavours of strawberry and acai shaken with ice, real strawberry pieces, zesty lemonade and Starbucks Spicy Chili Powder Blend.

· Spicy Dragonfruit combines sweet flavours of mango and exotic dragonfruit shaken with ice, real dragonfruit pieces, zesty lemonade and Starbucks Spicy Chili Powder Blend.

· Spicy Pineapple features flavours of pineapple and passionfruit shaken with ice, real pineapple pieces, zesty lemonade and Starbucks Spicy Chili Powder Blend.

Customers can also enjoy the new Spicy Cream Cold Foam, which combines the new Spicy Chili Powder Blend with Starbucks classic, silky cream cold foam. Try adding Spicy Cream Cold Foam to a Cold Brew for a coffee with a kick, or enjoy it with an Iced Chai Tea Latte for a delicious combination of spices.

No doubt it’s a smash! Alex Garland‘s CIVIL WAR debuts atop the Box Office this weekend with a smashing $25 million for A24, an all-time high debut for the buzzy independent distributor. The dystopian Drama Thriller gets 83% on the Tomatometer. Elevation Pictures release in Canada.

In second is GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE with $14 million for Warner Bros., taking it to $157 million in its domestic run.

Third goes to GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE with $4.6 million for Sony Pictures, a tally of $95.8 million to date.

MONKEY MAN finds itself in fourth in its second weekend out for Universal Pictures with $4.5 million, a total $18.1 million made thus far.

KUNG FU PANDA 4 rounds this Top Five out with $4.4 million for Universal Pictures, bringing its run to $172 million.

Big things are expected of Prime Video‘s latest series, FALLOUT based on the role-playing video game of the same name. Set in an alternate history of Earth post-WWII, survivors are forced to take refuge in Fallout bunkers, where they don’t realize that these are designed for psychological experiments.

Check-out our Review here.

Above this, a giant cockroach activation took place in Toronto at York x Bremner – one day only – today at 2:30 PM, drawing a huge crowd despite the rainy weather! Above this, star Ella Purnell who plays Lucy MacLean appeared, drawing cheers. Call it a takeover!

So lucky to have a quick moment and snap with Purnell (Yellowjackets, Churchill, Maleficent) who despite being on a bit of a whirlwind tour this morning in Toronto, still stopped to say “hi”. She’s so lovely!

FALLOUT already has arrived on Prime Video. Stream it now!

(Photo/video credit: Prime Video Canada/Mr. Will Wong)

Paramount Pictures presented their upcoming release slate at CinemaCon in Las Vegas yesterday. In attendance were the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn.

CHRIS HEMSWORTH, BRIAN TYREE HENRY, DIRECTOR JOSH COOLEY

PRODUCERS LORENZO DI BONAVENTURA, MARK VAHRADIAN AND AARON DEM AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ZEV FOREMAN 

FROM TRANSFORMERS ONE

LUPITA NYONG’O, JOSEPH QUINN, 

DIRECTOR/SCREENPLAY/STORY BY MICHAEL SARNOSKI AND PRODUCER ANDREW FORM

FROM A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE

BRIAN ROBBINS, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES

CHRIS ARONSON, PRESIDENT OF DOMESTIC THEATRICAL DISTRIBUTION, PARAMOUNT PICTURES

(Photo credit: Paramount Pictures)

So much buzz surrounding A24 and HBO‘s THE SYMPATHIZER, which is based on the Pullitzer Prize-winning Novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen. The Limited Series not only is co-produced by among others Don McKellar and Robert Downey Jr., the latter also stars in it as well! And did we mention Canada’s Sandra Oh also has a role?

A Toronto Premiere was held last night at TIFF Lightbox and in attendance were:

•Mayor Olivia Chow
•Hoa Xuande as the Captain
•Fred Nguyen Khan as Bon
•Duy Nguyễn as Man
•Kieu Chinh as Major’s Mother

Legendary Filmmaker David Cronenberg also came out to show support!

THE SYMPATHIZER centers on a plant from North Vietnam in South Vietnam army, just at the end of the Vietnam War. He flees to the US, where he still continues to report back to the Viet Cong.

Some highlights from the night:

It premieres Sunday, April 14, 2024 on HBO Canada and Crave Canada at 9 PM.

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Zarrar Khan‘s IN FLAMES is catching heat. The Psychological Thriller has done the festival circuit to award-winning success and is now touring the theatres in major cities ahead of its North American release.

He writes and directs this haunting Psychological Horror set in Pakistan, about a young woman experiencing visions after the death of the patriarch in her family. Her and her mother are left vulnerable in a place where women don’t feel safe. A warning of the horrors women face in a patriarchal society.

The New York Times also have just given it their stamp of approval just this week.

So wonderful seeing the Cast and Crew also in attendance last night at Paradise Theatre, including:

•Ramesha Nawal as Mariam
•Bakhtawar Mazhar as Fariha
•Omar Javaid as Asad
•Mohammad Ali Hashmi as Saleem
•Anam Abbas, Producer
•Kalaisan Kalaichelvan, Composer

Highlights from the night:

IN FLAMES plays at TIFF Lightbox beginning April 19, 2024.

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

The Walt Disney Studios dazzled attendees at the 2024 CinemaCon® Convention in Las Vegas earlier today. The studio provided an exclusive look at its upcoming theatrical releases, including films from some of its famed production studios: Disney Live Action, Marvel Studios, Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight Pictures.

Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, took to the stage at The Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace to speak about the power of the theatrical film experience and the upcoming flow of exceptional cinematic events Disney will be delivering to theatres in the coming months before turning the microphone over to Tony Chambers, executive vice president and head of theatrical distribution.

Chambers thanked the members of the exhibition trade industry in attendance and kicked off the Studio’s presentation with 13 minutes of thrilling footage from the highly anticipated all-new action-adventure spectacle from 20th Century Studios, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which opens in theatres nationwide on May 10. Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously, and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all he has known about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.

Next up was Disney’s “Young Woman and the Sea,” the extraordinary true story of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to successfully swim the English Channel, which comes exclusively to U.S. theatres only in a special engagement on May 31. Chambers tossed to a taped greeting from legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who then introduced the brand-new trailer featuring Daisy Ridley as the accomplished swimmer born to immigrant parents in New York City in 1905. Through the steadfast support of her older sister and supportive trainers, she overcame adversity and animosity to rise through the ranks of the Olympic swimming team and complete the staggering achievement – a 21-mile trek from France to England. CinemaCon attendees were the first to see the trailer.

Chambers welcomed Emmy Award®- and Golden Globe Award®-winning actor Amy Poehler to the stage. Poehler, who returns to cinemas as the voice of Joy in Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” and who is receiving this year’s CinemaCon Vanguard award at the Big Screen Achievement Awards ceremony, spoke about the film, which is a return to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as Headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness (voice of Phyllis Smith),

Smith), Anger (voice of Lewis Black), Fear (voice of Tony Hale), and Disgust (voice of Liza Lapira), who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety (voice of Maya Hawke) shows up. And it looks like she’s not alone: enter Envy (voice of Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (voice of Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (voice of Paul Walter Hauser). “Inside Out 2” is directed by Kelsey Mann and produced by Mark Nielsen.

CinemaCon attendees were then treated to the first 35 minutes of the animated film, which opens in theatres June 14.

Looking ahead to two of the most anticipated upcoming releases, Chambers brought Kevin Feige, producer and president of Marvel Studios, to the stage, who, in turn, welcomed Cap himself, Anthony Mackie, to talk about Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: Brave New World.” Mackie offered up a little behind-the-scenes insight before introducing a first look at the film, which hits theatres on February 14, 2025. Directed by Julius Onah, produced by Feige and Nate Moore, and executive produced by Louis D’Esposito, Charles Newirth, and Mackie, “Captain America: Brave New World” also stars Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumbly, Shira Haas, with Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford.

Feige then spoke about Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool & Wolverine” and introduced Shawn Levy, the film’s director. The filmmaker, who is receiving CinemaCon’s Director of the Year award at the Big Screen Achievement Awards ceremony, thrilled the audience with an exclusive look at the film, which stars Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, and Matthew Macfadyen. Kevin Feige, Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy and Lauren Shuler Donner produce with Louis D’Esposito, Wendy Jacobson, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, George Dewey and Simon Kinberg serving as executive producers. “Deadpool & Wolverine” is written by Ryan Reynolds & Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick & Zeb Wells & Shawn Levy. “Deadpool & Wolverine” opens in theatres July 26.

Chambers then shared a special greeting from “Alien: Romulus” producer Ridley Scott and director/writer Fede Alvarez, who thanked exhibitors for their ongoing partnership and their support of the “Alien” franchise over the past 45 years and introduced a special look at the upcoming film, a truly terrifying cinematic experience opening in theatres August 16. 20th Century Studios’ “Alien: Romulus” takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.

Up next was Searchlight Pictures, which recently released “Poor Things,” the winner of four Academy Awards® last month and is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. On June 21, “Kinds of Kindness,” which will premiere this summer at the Cannes Film Festival, opens exclusively in theatres—directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the film stars recent Oscar® winner Emma Stone, who is joined by Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer. The film is a triptych fable, following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife, who was missing at sea, has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader.

The first footage from 20th Century Studios’ “The Amateur” was then screened exclusively in the room. The film, an action-packed espionage thriller directed by James Hawes and starring Oscar® winner Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitriona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Adrian Martinez, and Laurence Fishburne, opens in theatres nationwide on April 11, 2025.

Oscar® winner Barry Jenkins then took to the stage to talk about Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” the follow-up to 2019’s global phenomenon, and showcase the teaser trailer for the film, which opens in theatres on December 20. Told in flashbacks, “Mufasa: The Lion King” reveals the rise of one of the greatest kings of the Pride Lands as Rafiki, Timon, and Pumbaa share the story of Mufasa with a young lion cub. The film is produced by Adele Romanski & Mark Ceryak, and executive produced by Peter Tobyansen.

The Studio closed out the presentation with a surprise appearance by Dwayne Johnson, who came to a stage filled with Polynesian drummers and dancers from Tiana Liufau’s Nonasina (Liufau is the choreographer on the “Moana” films). Johnson returns as the voice of Maui in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Moana 2,” opening in theatres on November 27. Bergman returned to the stage to introduce NATO chairBob Bagby, who presented Johnson with the NATO Spirit of the Industry Award in recognition of his unparalleled dedication, passion, and commitment to the motion picture theatrical experience.

“Moana 2” reunites Moana (voice of Auli‘i Cravalho) and Maui three years later for an expansive new voyage alongside a crew of unlikely seafarers. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced. Directed by Dave Derrick Jr., co-directed by Jason Hand, and produced by Christina Chen and Yvett Merino, the epic animated musical features music by GRAMMY® winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, GRAMMY nominee Opetaia Foa’i, and three-time GRAMMY winner Mark Mancina.

By David Baldwin

Oscar-nominated Writer/Director Alex Garland is best known for his critically acclaimed sci-fi/horror films Ex Machina and Annihilation. This weekend, he takes on an entirely different beast with CIVIL WAR, a relentlessly paced, breakneck thriller involving a group of journalists traveling across the war-torn countryside of the former United States in hopes of interviewing the third term President before he surrenders to invading factions. The cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemons and Nick Offerman.

We had the chance to chat virtually with Garland about the film and his process. Here’s what we learned:

Can you speak about the importance of sound design in CIVIL WAR? Did you always intend for the film to be shown in IMAX?

Garland: I never dreamed we’d be able to show this in IMAX. And I was really pleased, and the people I worked with were extremely pleased, that that’s where we ended up. It’s a great environment to show a film. It’s not just the screen, it’s as you said, the sound system.

In terms of the evolution of [the sound design], I think what I should really say first and foremost is that I work and have worked for more than two decades with a really great sound designer [named] Glenn [Freemantle]. I’ve never not worked with him actually. And a lot of what you hear is not my work, it’s his work and it’s his thoughtfulness and it’s his understanding of the tone of the film. What I do is I cut the Film with an editor and then Glenn will take it away for a few weeks [after] we have a discussion, we talk about some of the ideas. In CIVIL WAR, a lot of that was about reality and it was about a mixture of silence and attack…Then Glenn takes it away and he just works on it and really what happens is I arrive a few weeks later to see what he’s done. Then we go through another process which is modulating and trying out little experiments and stuff. But the bulk of that is him working with his team in quite an autonomous way. So I just want to give the credit where it’s due.

Sound is extremely important. People kind of know [that] because if you watch a Horror film and it’s creeping you out and you’re at home, mute it, and suddenly it’s just not scary anymore. You take away the sound design and you take away the score and suddenly it all seems kind of empty. It might even become instantly a bit silly. It becomes the opposite of frightening almost immediately. So sound is hugely, hugely important in cinema.

Your previous films live in the science fiction/horror genres but CIVIL WAR does not. What made you decide to write this film?

Garland: The genre flows from the subject matter. The genre I saw this as was a war movie, but it could have been a Sci-Fi movie. I could have set it for example on a distant planet, and it would be [an] allegory…But it didn’t feel right because part of the currency of this film is about how much of this is real? How much of the dangers that are being offered up, how much are they real dangers? What would it take to get there? What are the behaviour patterns and thought patterns that could actually lead either America or my own country [the United Kingdom] or other countries around the world into this space?

Your films centre around strong female protagonists. Why do you gravitate towards a female point-of-view versus male?

Garland: In some ways I don’t really differentiate that much between a female point-of-view or a male point-of-view, which means I don’t ask – in some ways – too many questions of it. But I think it’s less political than it might seem. It doesn’t really contain a statement of any sort. I’m in my mid-’50s and I grew up watching films through the ’70s and ’80s and into the ’90s…a lot of them I absolutely love but in almost every movie, it would be a male lead. That’s just how films worked back then. And what that means is when I sit down to write a film, on some level I find it internally just slightly more boring if it’s a male lead because I feel like I’ve inhabited those stories so much. I find it just slightly more interesting [to write a female lead]…It’s like a 49 percent, 51 percent thing. It’s not a huge sort of urge. It doesn’t have an agenda. It’s got more to do with familiarity actually I think.

Is SPOILER dead at the end of the Movie?

Garland:*nods* [They are] brown bread as we would say in the UK, yep. *chuckles*

Elevation Pictures release CIVIL WAR in theatres on Friday, April 12, 2024.

Review here.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Country Singer-Songwriter DASHA is on the verge of something big. Her current single “Austin” already has amassed 86 million streams on Spotify, propelled further by a whopping 700k videos using it on TikTok. Moving to Country is the best decision she ever could’ve made! And she’s just released her debut album, WHAT HAPPENS NOW? via Warner Music Canada.

Dasha has had a busy week, filming the Music Video for her viral hit and also appearing at the 2024 CMT Music Awards. And then her first visit ever to Toronto where she will appear at Rock ‘N’ Horse Saloon for a special appearance!

So awesome getting to meet Dasha quickly. She was absolutely sweet and so smitten by beanie! And we are just as smitten with her!

Some Snaps:

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong/Warner Music Canada)

Following POOR THINGS’ Oscar-winning success, Yorgos Lanthimos is back with KINDS OF KINDNESS and today we get an official Trailer, hot off the news it will premiere at Cannes!

Synopsis:

In select theaters June 21, 2024. KINDS OF KINDNESS is a triptych fable, following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader. Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer

(Photo/video credit: Searchlight Pictures)