Directed by Sara Gunnarsdóttir, Short Film MY YEAR OF DICKS has done the Festival circuit, winning acclaim, including Special Jury recognition for Unique Vision in Writing and Directing at SXSW ’22! The honest, funny and heartfelt coming-of-age story is told through a collaboration of Animators and split into four chapters and at at the center of it is Pamela Ribon, basing this on her Memoir Notes to Boys: And Other Things I Shouldn’t Share in Public.

The Short Film was 30+ years in the making, re-telling her experience growing-up and her quest to lose her virginity as a teen, along with the lessons she learned about herself. It has advanced for consideration of the Academy Award for Short Film.

You can stream it now free for a limited time here! So good. This needs to be adapted into a Feature. 

(Photo/video credit: Sara Gunnarsdóttir)

One of the greatest love stories is finally being told. Hollywood Suite is pleased to be the exclusive Canadian outlet for the HBO Max Original and CNN Films documentary series The Last Movie Stars, a critically acclaimed documentary series directed by four-time Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke. Each of the six hour-long episodes will premiere weekly on Thursdays beginning January 12, 2023, and will also be available to stream on demand the same day.

Directed by Hawke and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, this engaging docuseries celebrates the enigmatic personas, incredible talent, and captivating love story of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Partners on screen and in life, the pair’s unparalleled dedication to their craft, philanthropy, and one another is brought to life by readings of long-lost transcribed interviews with Newman, Woodward, and those closest to them. Hawke enlisted actors George Clooney, Laura Linney, Sally Field, Oscar Isaac, Karen Allen, Ewan McGregor, Sam Rockwell, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Zoe Kazan, and many others, to voice original interviews and explore details of Woodward and Newman’s relationship. The series also features Newman and Woodward’s daughters, who give touching insights into what made their parents’ singular careers, and relationship, so inspiring.

“It’s an honor to get to share Joanne and Paul’s inspiring life and love story with audiences. I’m thrilled that the film has found a Canadian home on Hollywood Suite,” said The Last Movie Stars director Ethan Hawke.

“The Last Movie Stars is an intimate portrait of classic Hollywood royalty,” said Sharon Stevens, Vice-President, Programming, Hollywood Suite. “With masterful direction from Ethan Hawke, one of the most iconic stars of this generation, the docuseries effortlessly weaves old Hollywood glamour with new Hollywood A-list stars, who deliver insights based on their own personal experiences on and off screen. The series fits beautifully within Hollywood Suite’s existing catalogue of films from the Golden Age of cinema to today, bringing historical context to film with a modern sensibility.”

The Last Movie Stars was executive produced by Martin Scorsese, Amy Entelis, executive vice president for talent and content development for CNN Worldwide, and Courtney Sexton, senior vice president for CNN Films. The documentary is produced by Emily Wachtel and Lisa Long Adler of Nook House Productions, Ryan Hawke of Under the Influence Productions, and Adam Gibbs. Mario Andretti is a co-producer on the series, and Hamilton Leithauser (The Walkmen) is the composer for the original score.

(Photo/video credit: Hollywood Suite/HBO Max)

For an incredible fourth straight weekend, it’s AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER on-top again with $36.1 million from 4,341 theatres for 20th Century Studios, for a total $506 million domestically.

M3GAN is off to a fantastic start with $30.2 million from 3,509 theatres for Universal Pictures. Not only this, the Horror starring Allison Williams and Violet McGraw, gets 94% on the Tomatometer. It was made for only $12 million.

Third is PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH with $10 million in its third weekend, a total $84.6 million for Universal Pictures.

Fourth is BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER with $3.1 million, a total $445 million in its North American run for Disney/Marvel.

Rounding-out the Top Five is Whitney Houston Biopic I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY with $2.4 million, a total $19.6 million thus far.

INDIGO present their 2022 WRAPPED and more than ever before readers are craving Memoirs and Romance! Coming this month are new Memoirs from Prince Harry and Canada’s own Pamela Anderson.

Biographies were as popular as ever this past year as we’ve seen Canadians take a particular interest in peeling back the pages on the lives of celebrities, athletes, the royal family and more,” says Rania Husseini, Indigo Senior Vice President, Print. “We’re looking forward to another incredible year for this category, and for non-fiction overall. This month, along with Prince Harry’s book SPARE, Canadian authors like Humble the Poet continue to make their mark with exciting new releases, alongside debut authors like Monica Heisey, all of which support Canadians in their desire to access Canadian content.”

In addition to this, Indigo has compiled some eye-catching insights from its data team:

-A Rise in Romance: In the last two years, romance book sales have more than doubled, with TikTok driving increased interest.
-Biographies are Booming: Over the past five years, three biographies have been in the top 20 bestsellers across all categories, with two in the top five. Based on the success of past celebrity biographies, Indigo predicts 2023 will be the year of the biographies, because once they boom, they REALLY boom.

Year in Review: 2022 Indigo Wrapped

Don’t forget also to check-out some of INDIGO‘s most-anticipated Books of 2023 right here.

Chinese New Year is approaching in a hop and a skip and this year we’re celebrating the Year of the Rabbit! The new year is set to begin January 22, 2023 and goes till February 9, 2024. Next year will be the Year of the Dragon – which is my year – and I’m dreading it a little! Contrary to belief, celebrating your own Zodiac year can come with challenges. Fortunately though, Dragons and Rabbits have harmonious relations and my year is looking good. How about your year?

Those born in the Year of the Rabbit are known for being gentle, quiet, elegant, and alert as well as quick, skillful, kind, patient, and very responsible. At once, they give a great Poker Face, able to escape from reality easily, but yet they are very faithful.

Some famous Rabbits in Hollywood include some super A-List types like Angelina Jolie, Mark Hamill, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Depp and Drew Barrymore! Did you know also Albert Einstein was a Rabbit? People born under this sign are game-changers!

Rabbits have a much calmer demeanour than Tigers, hence we can expect a less tumultuous year ahead. I think we can all agree that would be welcomed after what was a wild Year of the Tiger in 2022!

In keeping with tradition, here are a couple great Chinese Horoscopes. I love a good Horoscope that looks at your relation to the Zodiac Sign we’re celebrating. Most importantly, I love easy-to-understand.

I appreciate some of the insights on this Horoscope including lucky charms to keep and a pretty detailed analysis of Health, Love and Finances.

Okay, this site is a little more direct, but thoughtfully laid-out. It’ll tell you what signs you’re not compatible with and your best career options. It also has a handy calculator which tells you your exact sign if you’re unclear.

In case you’re unsure what sign you fall under, here’s a quick guide to help you figure it out:

Rat
1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008 2020 2032

Ox
1925 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 2009 2021 2033

Tiger
1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 2010 2022 2034

Rabbit
1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011 2023 2035

Dragon
1928 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012 2024 2036

Snake
1929 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013 2025 2037

Horse
1930 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 2014 2026 2038

Sheep
1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015 2027 2039

Monkey
1920 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 2016 2028

Rooster
1921 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 2017 2029

Dog
1922 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982 1994 2006 2018 2030

Pig
1923 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007 2019 2031

We deserve the best Year of the Rabbit! To a prosperous Chinese New Year!

Mr. Will & beanie

Following the record-breaking success of its first season WEDNESDAY is coming back for a second season, as just announced today! More torture to come! YAY! Did you know Jenna Ortega, star of WEDNESDAY spent her Holidays in Toronto?

Since the series debuted in November 2022:

–Wednesday is now one of the most successful series ever on Netflix. It ranks #2 on the Most Popular -(English) TV list with 1.237 Billion hours viewed within its first 28 days.

-More than 182 Million households have seen the series since its debut. (1.237B hours divided by 6.8 hours)

–Wednesday crossed the 1 billion hour view mark only three weeks after debut – joining Stranger Things 4 and Squid Game as the third title to reach this milestone within its first 28 days.

-The series broke the record for the most hours viewed in a week for an English-language TV series on Netflix – not once, but twice – when it debuted in the #1 spot with a record breaking 341.23M hours viewed, and again in its second week with a staggering 411.29M hours viewed.

-To date, Wednesday has had six consecutive weeks with over 100+M hours viewed on the English TV List — another record!

-On TikTok, #WednesdayAddams has amassed over 22 Billion views

-The Wednesday soundtrack reached #1 on the iTunes Soundtrack chart where it remained in the Top 10 for three weeks. Wednesday Addams, the artist, now has over 1 Million followers on Spotify.

-On Spotify, “Goo Goo Muck” by The Cramps saw a streaming increase of more than 9.5K% compared to the month prior to the series release.

–Wednesday’s iconic dance scene has gone massively viral across global social media. Fan generated content utilizing “Bloody Mary” by Lady Gaga led to a streaming increase of more than 1,800% of the song on Spotify compared to the month prior the series release. Even Lady Gaga joined in on the fun.

-With over 80 Million views and counting, fans can’t get enough of the cast’s reaction to the iconic dance scene video.

–Wednesday’s viral makeup look has been searched for and viewed over 100 Million times by fans on TikTok.

–Wednesday products are in high demand with select items selling out at retailers like Hot Topic, MAC and Cakeworthy.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

Documentary MAKE ME FAMOUS is coming soon to Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in Toronto for a run between January 20 – February 1, 2023.

Set amid the legendary ‘80s Lower East Side art scene, a forgotten artist with dreams of glory is “restored” in the evocative documentary Make Me Famous.

He shared the hand-to-mouth existence of fellow artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and David Wojnarowicz. But in life, Edward Brezinski was better known for his antics than his art, which is only just now being discovered.

His reputation was such that, when Brezinski died, his obituary dwelled on an incident where he poisoned himself, eating part of an expensive installation called Bag of Donuts that he deemed pretentious.

Make Me Famous, by director Brian Vincent and producer Heather Spore, is a documentary that uses the life of an almost-legend – sneered at by some contemporaries, admired by others – as a springboard for a period in New York’s cultural history when “starving artists” reset the creative bar.

Reflecting the New Wave mentality then playing out in music, they created a community in studios in the city’s then-derelict Lower East Side. With little more than a DIY creative urge and practically no cash, the likes of Julian Schnabel would come home from his restaurant job with broken plates and put them together as a “canvas” for paintings.

Brezinski’s home base, the Magic Gallery, was a decrepit apartment on Third Avenue, across from a men’s shelter. Fellow aspiring artists and gallerists created the beginnings of a “scene” that made some rich and famous, and left others behind.

Through interviews, and hundreds of images – much never before seen, including videos – Make Me Famous examines some of these intangibles through the recollections of some of NYC’s Downtown scene’s most colourful figures. As business entered the picture, were “antics” good marketing?

Actor/monologist Eric Bogosian recalls helping the late Robert Mapplethorpe assemble a sex-fueled gallery launch party, which was packed with revelers, none of whom bought even a single one of his works.

Along with his Neo-Expressionist artworks, the commercially unsuccessful Brezinski left behind a mystery as his legacy. After a time struggling in East Berlin, he ended up in France, where he apparently died in 2007 (in Nice, the authorities initially said). But proof of his death was sketchy, so the filmmakers embark on a journey, based on a rumour, that he may have faked his own death.

Make Me Famous follows Brezinski’s friends and fellow artists, Marguerite Van Cook and James Romberger, to France to unearth the truth about what happened to Brezinski.

Richard Hambleton and other artists questioned why director Vincent would make a film about a relative unknown. “Famous people, to me, are talked about ad nauseam,” Vincent says. “Whereas this story is guaranteed to be the only documentary made about it so far.”

“On a personal level, I’m an actor, and I’ve been a struggling actor for 30 years. And so, I can relate to these feelings of not being famous, and questioning whether I’m going to fail in my career.

“I wanted to answer the fundamental question, if I’m still struggling to the day that I die, did I inspire anyone? What will be left of what I did? And then more broadly, it’s interesting to look back and see what was overlooked in art history.

And then it begins an investigation, which is the fun part. That’s the stuff I love to do.”

Filmmakers Brian Vincent and Heather Spore are also performers. Brian graduated from Juilliard and Heather was on Broadway in Wicked for 13 years.

Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win Advance Passes in Montreal to see critically-acclaimed WOMEN TALKING.

Advance screenings will be held Wednesday, January 11, 2022 in:

• Montreal: Cineplex Forum at 7:00 pm 

Synopsis:

Based on the best-selling novel by Miriam Toews, “Women Talking” follows a group of women in an isolated religious colony as they struggle to reconcile their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony’s men.

Director: Sarah Polley

Cast: August Winter, Ben Whishaw, Claire Foy, Frances McDormand, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Kate Hallett, Kira Guloien, Liv McNeil, Michelle McLeod, Rooney Mara, Shayla Brown, Sheila McCarthy

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK.

Rules and regulations here.

Universal Pictures Canada release WOMEN TALKING – In Select Theatres January 13, 2023. Everywhere January 20, 2023.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

As a perfect accompaniment to the limited edition Do Son collection by world-famous Diptyque Candles, the Werlen Meyer creative studio has produced a short film, that immerses you in the fond memories of summers spent in Halong Bay, Vietnam, by Yves Coueslant, one of Diptyque’s founders. Set to a unique soundtrack by singer-songwriter James Blake, the film brings to life the inspiration behind Do Son, one of Diptyque’s iconic fragrances.

This year, a few new additions to the beloved Do Son collection are arriving, including limited edition bottles donning new artwork and a new 30ml EDT size (perfect for travelling!).

More here.

We can’t wait for 80 FOR BRADY! A new Featurette has arrived for this star-studded new Comedy coming next month!

SYNOPSIS:

80 FOR BRADY is inspired by the true story of four best friends living life to the fullest when they take a wild trip to the 2017 Super Bowl LI to see their hero Tom Brady play. Starring Academy Award® nominee Lily Tomlin, Academy Award® winner Jane Fonda, Academy Award® winner Rita Moreno and Academy Award® winner Sally Field, with 7-time Super Bowl Champion and producer Tom Brady, 80 FOR BRADY is in-theatres February 3, 2023.

CAST:

Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field, Tom Brady, Billy Porter, 

Rob Corddry, Alex Moffat, Guy Fieri, Harry Hamlin, Bob Balaban, Glynn Turman, 

Sara Gilbert, Jimmy O. Yang, Ron Funches, Matt Lauria

(Photo/video credit: Paramount Pictures Canada)