ACORN TV
Programming from several countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand, and UK. AMC Networks chief Josh Sapan told The Hollywood Reporter that Acorn TV has "among the lowest churn" among major services owing to its focus as well as viewers' "dedication and affinity" for its content.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was the voice of Paddington Bear in the Ukrainian versions of “Paddington” and “Paddington 2.” Zelensky, who is currently leading the Ukrainian army against a Russian invasion of his country, was a comedian and actor before becoming president. He has been praised around the world for remaining to fight alongside his soldiers despite being offered numerous opportunities to leave with his family following Russia’s invasion. Most famously, Zelensky starred as a teacher who inadvertently becomes president of Ukraine in three seasons of a show called “Servant of the People.” The series ended in 2019, the same year in which Zelensky launched – and eventually won – a real campaign to become president of Ukraine. In a promotional video for “Paddington 2,” Zelensky introduces himself in between recording vocals for the bear, saying: “Hello to my darling friends. I, Volodymyr Zelensky, will lend my voice to the wonderful, charismatic, friendly bear Paddington. Paddington’ [is a film] you can go to see with your whole family, and everyone will enjoy it regardless of your age,” he adds. “You know you will definitely walk out of the film in a fantastic mood.”...

The Cannes Film Festival has taken a position on the war in Ukraine, and will bar Russian delegations at its 75th edition this May. “As the world has been hit by a heavy crisis in which a part of Europe finds itself in a state of war, the Festival de Cannes wishes to extend all its support to the people of Ukraine and all those who are in its territory,” reads a statement released on Tuesday. “However modest as it is, we join our voices with those who oppose this unacceptable situation and denounce the attitude of Russia and its leaders....

Sergei Loznitsa, the award-winning Ukrainian filmmaker of “Donbass” and “Babi Yar Context,” has spoken against the boycott of Russian films. “Many friends and colleagues, Russian filmmakers, have taken stand against this insane war. When I hear today these calls to ban Russian films, I think of these (filmmakers) who are good people. They are victims as we are of this agression,” added the filmmaker. On February 2022, as the Russian soldiers had just started invading Ukraine, the very first message I received was from my friend Viktor Kossakovski, a Russian filmmaker who said, ‘Forgive me. This is a catastrophe. I’m so ashamed. What is happening before our eyes if horrible, but I’m asking you to not fall into craziness. We must not judge people based on their passports. We can judge them on their acts. A passport is tied to the place we happen to be born, whereas an act is that a human being does willingly,” Loznitsa said....

On Monday, the Academy announced 10 movies that made the cut for the #OscarsFanFavorite Leaderboard, selected via hashtags and submissions on an Academy website. “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” made the list. “Dune,” the highest-grossing best picture nominee with $400 million worldwide, make the cut. But so did the top Oscar nominee of the year, “The Power of the Dog”. The musical “Tick, Tick … Boom!” starring best actor nominee Andrew Garfield, has never made Netflix’s weekly Global Top 10, but it did make the Fan Favorite Leaderboard. No Disney films at all made the list: Not Marvel Studios releases “Shang-Chi” or “Black Widow,” not “Cruella” with Emma Stone or “Jungle Cruise” with the Rock. Instead, the R-rated “The Suicide Squad” is the only other superhero movie to be among the Fan Favorites. Its joined by the horror film “Malignant,” the jukebox musical “Cinderella,” the zombie action horror film “Army of the Dead” and the period biopic “Minamata.”...

Jonny Greenwood’s Oscar-nominated score for “The Power of the Dog” will receive a special live-to-screen performance March 10 with Wordless Music Orchestra at the helm. The performance will take place at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Greenwood, who rose to fame as lead guitarist for the alternative rock band Radiohead, previously received an Oscar nomination in 2018 for his score of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread.”...

AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron dropped a bombshell this week by announcing the exhibition chain will charge more for tickets to “The Batman” as part of a variable pricing experiment. Tickets to the Robert Pattinson-starring comic book tentpole will be “slightly higher than the prices… for other movies playing in the same theaters at the same time,” Aron said during an AMC earnings call. According to Entertainment Weekly, AMC is charging an extra $1.50 on adult tickets for “The Batman” in Los Angeles. Speaking at a 2013 panel at the University of Southern California, George Lucas shared his belief that moviegoing would eventually resemble Broadway or sporting events in that theaters would have different price tiers for different kinds of films....

Over $200,000 worth of props were stolen from the set of "The Crown," last week One day after the set theft for "The Crown," a robbery took place during the French shoot for the upcoming third part of "Lupin." The show is currently being filmed in the Nanterre neighborhood outside of Paris, putting production on a three-day hiatus. It was reported that the set was ambushed by approximately 20 people with faces covered who broke onto set by throwing mortar fireworksThe irony of course being that "Lupin" is based on Maurice Leblanc's 1905 character Arsène Lupin, one of the most prominent examples of the "gentleman thief" trope. The character has appeared multiple times throughout the history of entertainment, and the popular "Lupin III" turned the character's grandson into an anime icon. A well-orchestrated heist on the set of a show about a famous thief? The debate of art imitating life vs. life imitating art rages on. (courtesy BJ Colangelo)...