Imagine a world where Juliet goes on to survive after Romeo. What lessons would she have learned in her life about controlling her own destiny? Standing up to her parents? Or throwing it all away for the one she thought she loved? Even William Shakespeare himself must face the Music (thankfully for us, a Soundtrack of Pop Icon Max Martin‘s Greatest Hits) in Mirvish Productions’ & JULIET, against values like equality and inclusion of today.

Toronto is extremely lucky to get to enjoy a run of this phenomenal new Musical, as it continues its extended run in London’s West End currently. Playing at Princess of Wales Theatre till August 14, 2022, & JULIET with its current Cast, will head straight to Broadway.

Emmy-winning Schitt’s Creek Writer David West Read pens the Play, which speaks to an audience of today, bringing pure, blissful joy. Telling its story of Juliet‘s liberation and a catalogue of songs which defined and continue to define an era, it is impossible not to walk away feeling uplifted.

& JULET is empowering, wild and full of heart. Not to mention some outstanding performances from the likes of Broadway veteran Betsy Wolfe (Waitress, The Last Five Years) as William Shakespeare‘s wife Anne Hathaway, Justin David Sullivan as the non-binary May, Melanie La Barrie as Juliet‘s confidante Nurse, and up-and-comer Lorna Courtney in the starring role of Juliet. West Read‘s smart writing, delicately yet at once brazenly approaches angles not pondered by Shakespeare when it comes to asking what his female characters wanted, that the world contained more than just white people and that same sex love existed.

So seamlessly and brilliantly is this Soundtrack interweaved into the story line. Case in point, Bon Jovi‘s “It’s My Life” contains a line “Like Frankie said, I did it my way” and a character, Frankie (Philippe Arroyo) randomly comes out and does the line. Pure genius.

The level of detail is astounding and visually, it is like a Pop Concert-meets-Shakespeare-meets-Moulin Rouge with a relentless energy throughout this two-and-a-half-hour runtime, plus intermission.

& JULIET is invigorating and the perfect lift in spirits we needed this Summer with a huge potential to crossover as Pop Culture phenomenon. More on tickets here.

Some Snaps with the Cast:

We were so lucky to meet Max Martin, in-town recently for the Musical. More here.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

HBO‘s SUCCESSION led the way at the 74th Emmy Award nominations, which were unveiled earlier today, hosted by J.B. Smoove and Melissa Fumero. SUCCESSION gets a total 25 nods including Outstanding Drama. Following in second is Apple TV+‘s TED LASSO with 20 nominations, including Outstanding Comedy, which ties the same feat it accomplished last year. Ten of those nominations are in Acting categories.

This is a stellar, record-breaking year for Apple TV+, which received a whopping 52 nominations, also highlighted by their new Series SEVERANCE getting 14 nods in its first season.

Also receiving 20 nominations, making it the most-recognized Limited TV Series this year, was HBO‘s THE WHITE LOTUS. Star Sydney Sweeney gets two nominations for the Network for her Supporting Actress work in that Limited Series and also EUPHORIA. Her Co-Star Zendaya got three out of the 16 nominations for the Series, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Original Songs “Elliot’s Song” and “I’m Tired“.

For a complete list of nominations, click here.

The EMMYs are set to air September 12, 2022 on NBC and CTV, 8 PM ET.

(Photo credit: HBO)

You’ve read the raves and now Apple TV+ Series LOOT is confirmed to be back for a second season! This is hot off the news that Animal Pictures, run by Maya Rudolph, Natasha Lyonne and Danielle Renfrew Behrens has signed-on for a multi-year first look deal!

Critics are raving about the performances by Rudolph, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Joel Kim Booster, Nat Faxon, Ron Funches and Stephanie Styles.

Synopsis:
In “Loot,” billionaire Molly Novak (Rudolph) has a dream life, complete with private jets, a sprawling mansion and a gigayacht — anything her heart desires. But when her husband of 20 years betrays her, she spirals publicly, becoming fuel for tabloid fodder. She’s reaching rock bottom when she learns, to her surprise, that she has a charity foundation run by the no-nonsense Sofia Salinas (Rodriguez), who pleads with Molly to stop generating bad press. With her devoted assistant Nicholas (Kim Booster) by her side, and with the help of Sofia and team — including mild-mannered accountant Arthur (Faxon) and her optimistic, pop-culture-loving cousin Howard (Funches) — Molly embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Giving back to others might be what she needs to get back to herself.

The first five episodes of “Loot” are now streaming on Apple TV+, with new episodes of the 10-episode first season premiering every Friday. In this week’s new episode, “The Philanthropic Humanitarian Awards,” The Wells Foundation team attends a ceremony where Molly is receiving an award for her charity work.

Adam Sandler’s back! After having filmed in Toronto over the years, including projects like Pixels and visits to TIFF for acclaimed Uncut Gems and Hotel Transylvania, Sandler is here in the City again but this time as a Producer. The Netflix Feature is an Adaptation of Fiona Rosenbloom’s Novel “You Are SO Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah!“.

Synopsis:

Stacy Friedman is getting ready for one of the most important events of her young life––her bat mitzvah! All she wants is the perfect BCBG dress to wear, her friends by her side, and her biggest crush ever, Andy Goldfarb, to dance with her (and maybe even make out with her on the dance floor). But Stacy’s well-laid plans soon start to fall apart….Her stressed-out mother forces her to buy a hideous sequined dress that makes her look like the bride of Frankenstein. Her mitzvahs are not going well at all. And then the worst thing in the entire world happens––causing Stacy to utter the words that will wreak complete havoc on her social life…You are SO not invited to my bat mitzvah!

While most of the production thus far has ranged from spots outside the downtown core in Port Credit and Oakville, Sandler has been spotted in his time off plenty around Yorkville – just this past weekend he was at ONE at Hazelton Hotel – and he loves to play Basketball, so you might very well see him on a court around town playing with the locals!

Filming made its way up to my neck of the woods last week and there was no way we weren’t going to check it out! We love Sandler and have met him a few times over the years and he’s always been amazingly-nice. And he still hasn’t changed, stopping quickly on his way home for the day for a Selfie with beanie and I! We spotted him wrapping for the day on-set, where we heard he took Selfies with the kids on-set!

Sandler typically is dressed for comfort, t-shirt, sneakers and basketball shorts and we love that he just keeps it real. Love the rainbow theme going on here with his top and sneakers!

“You Are SO Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah!” is expected to wrap mid-August 2022.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

SiriusXM and Just for Laughs are teaming-up again for a third year! While the in-person Festival is celebrating its 40th edition in Montreal July 13-31, 2022, an audio-only Festival just days before the in-person events, can be heard only on SiriusXM. Listeners will hear jokes from the biggest names in Comedy from over the history of the Festival.

From Monday July 11 to Sunday July 17, 2022 inclusive, SiriusXM listeners can enjoy the best moments from the past four decades of the Just For Laughs festival, including both rising news stars and world-class comedy talent, broadcast live on Raw Dog Comedy, SiriusXM Channel 99. Monday through Saturday, two hour-long specials will air each day at 10am and 5pm EST. Then on Sunday the 17^th, the virtual festival will conclude with an audio marathon of the best of Just For Laughs starting at 8am EST. Just For Laughs Canada (SiriusXM Channel 168) will also be playing the virtual festival daily at 11am EST. 

Learn more here about the Festival!

Jamie Foxx hunting vampires! Are you ready? Here’s a new Trailer for DAY SHIFT in which Foxx stars alongside Dave Franco and Snoop Dogg!

Synopsis:

Jamie Foxx stars as a hard working blue collar dad who just wants to provide a good life for his quick-witted daughter, but his mundane San Fernando Valley pool cleaning job is a front for his real source of income, hunting and killing vampires as part of an international Union of vampire hunters.

DAY SHIFT arrives August 12, 2022 on Netflix.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

Stallone‘s back! Prime Video Canada will be streaming the Action icon’s TV Series debut in SAMARITAN, coming this August. Some new Stills are available!

Synopsis:

Thirteen-year-old Sam Cleary (Javon “Wanna” Walton) suspects that his mysterious and reclusive neighbor Mr. Smith (Sylvester Stallone) is actually a legend hiding in plain sight. Twenty years ago, Granite City’s super-powered vigilante, Samaritan, was reported dead after a fiery warehouse battle with his rival, Nemesis. Most believe Samaritan perished in the fire, but some in the city, like Sam, have hope that he is still alive. With crime on the rise and the city on the brink of chaos, Sam makes it his mission to coax his neighbor out of hiding to save the city from ruin.

SAMARITAN arrives August 26, 2022 on Prime Video Canada.

(Photo/video credit: Prime Video Canada)

It was one for the books as the second CCYAA (Canadian Chinese Youth Athletic Association) Celebrity Classic powered by Virgin Plus, took place last night at the University of Toronto‘s Goldring Centre! Headlined by and featuring guest appearances by the likes of Simu Liu and NBA star Jeremy Lin, Comedian Ronny Chieng, Comedian Hasan Minhaj, Bling Empire star Kim Lee, Shang-Chi star Meng’er Zhang and more, the weekend was highlighted by a series of events leading up to the match. The event raises funds for the Jeremy Lin Foundation and the CCYAA’s new Community Centre.

Among the festivities this weekend were three Comedy Shows at Yuk Yuk’s with Comedian Julie Kim headlining. Kim recently wrote the Script for the JUNOS, hosted by Liu, and is confirmed for the upcoming Just for Laughs Festival! There also was a Youth Jam held at Goldring Centre, plus a four-day vendor Festival, FRESH FEST, at indoor Asian Night Market, SUPERFRESH in the Annex. For one day only, popular California Bubble Tea Chain BOPOMOFE CAFE did a pop-up shop which saw at one point, a 90-minute queue outside the hotspot.

As expected, Lin strut his stuff at the tournament, not to be outshined by Content Creator Mike Wu, whom many were saying deserved MVP! Fans went wild seeing up-close and personal some of their Asian-Canadian/American idols!

We were out and about and so thrilled to get to meet some of the stars in-town for the affair celebrating North American Asian Excellence.

See who we spotted, with a little help from beanie!

This event is amazing and hoping in coming years it remains an annual thing! So important to celebrate the accomplishments of this Community!

Learn more about it here.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Adrianne Ho CCYAA Charles Melton Chase Sui Wonders Hasan Minhaj Jeremy Lin Julie Kim Kim Lee Lucia Liu Meng'er Zhang Simu Liu

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER roars in its opening weekend, taking $135 million from 4,375 theatres for Disney. This fourth film in the Thor franchise gets 67% on the Tomatometer, which still didn’t deter Moviegoers from making this the fifth-highest opening of all time for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, top spot still belonging to Avengers: Endgame which debuted with $357 million in 2019.

Second spot goes to MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU, last weekend’s #1 Film, with $47.2 million from 4,426 theatres, a total $205 million over two weekends for Universal Pictures.

Third belongs to the ever-resilient TOP GUN: MAVERICK with $14.6 million from 4,513 theatres for Paramount Pictures. This takes its domestic run just shy of $600 million.

ELVIS is still in the building in fourth spot with $11 million from 3,714 theatres, a four week total of $93 million for Warner Bros.

JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION takes $8.1 million this weekend, taking its run to $351 million for Universal Pictures.

Bobby Farrelly is back with CHAMPIONS (There’s Something About Mary, Me, Myself & Irene) and a release date has been set for March 24, 2023 via Focus Features and Universal Pictures Canada.

About CHAMPIONS
CHAMPIONS, directed by Bobby Farrelly from a screenplay by Mark Rizzo, stars Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, and Matt Cook. Producers on the project are Paul Brooks and Scott Niemeyer via their Gold Circle Entertainment banner, and Jeremy Plager via his 7 Deuce Entertainment banner. The film is executive produced by Woody Harrelson, Gold Circle Entertainment’s Brad Kessell, Alexander Jooss, Morena Films’ Álvaro Longoria, and Películas Pendelton’s Javier Fesser and Luis Manso. 

In CHAMPIONS, Harrelson stars in the hilarious and heartwarming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.

About CHAMPIONS
CHAMPIONS, directed by Bobby Farrelly from a screenplay by Mark Rizzo, stars Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, and Matt Cook. Producers on the project are Paul Brooks and Scott Niemeyer via their Gold Circle Entertainment banner, and Jeremy Plager via his 7 Deuce Entertainment banner. The film is executive produced by Woody Harrelson, Gold Circle Entertainment’s Brad Kessell, Alexander Jooss, Morena Films’ Álvaro Longoria, and Películas Pendelton’s Javier Fesser and Luis Manso. 

In CHAMPIONS, Harrelson stars in the hilarious and heartwarming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.

(Photo credit: Paramount Pictures)