Main Street v. The Merger
Friday, June 19 — Happy Friday, friends (to everyone except Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery!)
Earlier this week, I went to a panel discussion called Main Street v. the Merger, where Atlanta entertainment industry workers, small business owners, elected officials, and advocates were invited to talk through their concerns about the possibility of a merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. As I’m sure you all know, the potential merger was announced in February, but the Department of Justice just officially signed off on the merger several days ago.
That doesn’t mean the merger is officially a go – there are still plenty of guardrails left before this thing becomes a reality. But at the panel, the fear and concern in the room was palpable (despite the small size of the crowd – roughly 30 attendees, including press, according to the moderator Alvaro Bedoya). Industry workers are scared of losing out on even more work than they already have – and are asking for real solutions. Read my piece on the meeting here.
Without further ado … Action!
⚾ “Color Book,” made by Atlanta filmmaker David Fortune, premieres on Netflix today, as well as in select theaters in Atlanta. Check out my 2025 interview with David about the film here.
📜 Caroline King, the CEO of Cinema Life, is receiving a proclamation from Fulton County honoring her work tonight at the first night of the Georgia Shorts Film Festival.
🏗️ The Rialto Center for the Arts is celebrating 30 years in business with renovations to its lobby and expanded art programming.
📺 Speaking of acquisitions, Fox Corp. is paying $22 billion for Roku, merging Fox’s sports and news networks with Roku’s streaming devices.
🦁 And there’s more! Word on the street is – after losing out on its own bid for Warner Bros. Discovery – Netflix wants to buy Lionsgate. For its part, Netflix denied the rumors to The Wrap (subscription needed).
👄 “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is headed to The Sphere in Las Vegas in 2027. That venue feels a little not in the spirit of the whole Rocky Horror endeavor, if you ask me.
✍️ More than 16,000 people have signed a letter to Congress asking them to pass the NO FAKES Act, a bill that would give individuals control over how their name and likeness are used in the age of AI.
💔 Daveigh Chase, best known as the voice of Lilo in “Lilo & Stitch” and as Samara in 2002’s “The Ring,” has passed away at the age of 35.
This week’s newsletter features news on some local “Toy Story 5” connections, and interview with director Adrian Chiarella about his new horror film “Leviticus,” and review of two new films: “Girls Like Girls” and “Unidentified.” Plus, what’s playing at theaters this week, a new edition of Spotlight, and some reading and listening recommendations for your lunch break.
Thanks for reading!
Sammie
‘Toy Story 5’ has multiple Georgia connections
It’s “Toy Story 5” release weekend, and y’all, I swear – I don’t know how they do it, but the franchise is five for five, if you ask me. And lucky for us, this particular entry into the “Toy Story” universe features a couple of local connections I want to highlight this week.
✏️ Peachtree City native David Torres worked as an animator on the film. He’s been at Pixar for 11 years and worked on other films like “Coco” and “Soul.” I spoke to him about how he got into animation and his connection to the “Toy Story” universe. Check it out here.
🥔 Anna Vocino helped co-found Whole World Improv Theatre here in Atlanta in 1994. Now, she’s the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in “Toy Story 5,” taking over for the late Estelle Harris. I spoke with Anna about her career and her path from improv to “Toy Story.” Read our conversation here.
Dinosaur Summer. It’s here.
SPONSORED BY THE FERNBANK MUSEUM
🦖 They ruled the Earth for millions of years. This summer, they rule Atlanta.
Always a favorite dinosaur destination, Fernbank has even more ways to satisfy your inner paleontologist with exhibits, cinema, programs and more this summer! Come face-to-jaws with the Tyrannosaurus rex in the new exhibit, T. rex: The Ultimate Predator. Learn about the iconic dinosaur through life-sized models, specimens, and interactives.
Also, Museum Nights gets a Jurassic twist during LATER: Rex Factor. It’s casual, curious, and the best way to kick off the weekend to connect, discover, and unwind in a come-and-go atmosphere for all ages, with a grown-up vibe.
➞ Experience it all this summer at Fernbank.
Adrian Chiarella on LGBTQ+ community’s attraction to horror and ‘Leviticus’
✝️ Like many a queer kid, Adrian Chiarella grew up watching scary movies and identifying with them. Now, he has written and directed his own horror feature.
His made-in-Australia film “Leviticus” opens around the country this week. It’s about the romance between teenagers Naim (Joe Bird) and Ryan (Stacy Clausen) in a conservative small town. A religious rite that’s meant to heal them instead creates a deadly entity that takes the shape of who its victim desires the most. For Naim and Ryan, it’s each other.
🏳️🌈 Jim Farmer spoke with Chiarella about the making of the film for Georgia Voice. You can check out their conversation here.
‘Girls Like Girls’ is a charmingly flawed debut with heart
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
☀️ Right off the bat, “Girls Like Girls” deals in the familiar conventions of coming-of-age stories.
We meet our protagonist, Coley (Maya da Costa), riding her bike through the wooded streets of rural Oregon – wind softly tousling her hair, the breeze only a slight reprieve from the oppressive heat of summer. Immediately, the film has all the trappings of a sun-drenched, indie film about growing up and falling in love.
This is all stuff we’ve seen before, and “Girls Like Girls” does not shy away from being exactly what it is. Sometimes it gets a little lost in those conventions, feeling a little unsure of itself – but its heart is undeniable. It’s a little cliché at times, with hints of awkwardness that don’t quite hit the teenage sensibility the film is going for. But even the moments that don’t quite congeal are bolstered by the film’s sweetness and wonderful chemistry between its two leads.
🚲 Check out my full review here.
‘Unidentified’ is an ill-conceived, misbegotten whodunnit
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
💄 The most interesting idea in Saudi filmmaker Haifaa al-Mansour’s new film “Unidentified” is that of dissonance. We meet our protagonist, Nawal (Mila Al Zahrani), listening to an influencer talk in gruesome detail about true crime cases while doling out makeup tips – get ready with me while we talk about murder! I love this new lip gloss – and also, let me tell you about the time a serial killer threw a woman’s severed head out of the window of his car.
It’s a smart idea, crystallizing the blasé treatment of violence against women in many cultures, including the one in which Nawal is living and working in – she’s a divorced woman in Saudi Arabia, working as a secretary of sorts for her local police station. When the dead body of a teenage girl is found in the middle of the desert, she takes it upon herself to investigate – taking seriously what the men around her refuse to.
All of this appears to set up a pretty standard whodunnit within the context of Saudi Arabia’s particular patriarchal society. Right off the bat, however, “Unidentified” (co-written by al-Mansour and Brad Niemann) feels strangely flat, devoid of tension and confusing in its execution. Its final moments, which ostensibly seek to clarify and turn the narrative on its head, only serve to undercut everything we’ve seen before without investigating the ending’s ramifications.
🔎 Read my full review here.
At the Movies!
If you’re looking for a movie to see in theaters this week, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to!
Movies releasing this weekend:
⚾ “Color Book”
🎸 “Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul”
💗 “Girls Like Girls”
🌊 “Time and Water”
🦊 “The Death of Robin Hood” (pictured)
🤠 “Toy Story 5”
🇸🇦 “Unidentified”
Special Events:
🦘 Everything is Terrible! & Memory Hole Present: “Animals Are Over” @ The Plaza Theatre (Friday)
👑 “The Devil Queen” in 4K @ The Plaza (Saturday-Wednesday)
🏳️⚧️ “Castration Movie Anthology i” @ The Plaza (Saturday)
🎰 “Ocean’s Eleven” 25th Anniversary @ The Plaza (Sunday-Wednesday)
🌎 “This World is Not My Own” @ The Tara (Friday)
🇲🇽 Paratime: “Él” @ The Tara (Sunday)
🐑 “Brokeback Mountain” @ Landmark Midtown Art Cinema (Saturday-Tuesday)
🚀 “Interstellar” @ Landmark Midtown Art Cinema (Sunday-Wednesday)
🕶️ “Risky Business” @ Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Sunday-Monday)
Spotlight: Chiwetel Ejiofor in ‘Backrooms’
🛋️ I’ve been thinking a lot about “Backrooms” since I saw it – both positively and negatively. I think what works best about it is everything that doesn’t fall under the purview of “traditional movie stuff” – that is to say, the backrooms themselves, filmmaker Kane Parsons’ vision of them, and the meta-textual nightmare they unlock. The story and the characters, I could really take or leave – the vibe is what’s most important here.
That being said, I continuously find myself impressed with Chiwetel Ejiofor’s performance the more I go back to it. In some ways, this is a very silly observation – Ejiofor very well might be one of our best living actors. But unfortunately, it feels like he rarely gets the chance to show that off on screen. I didn’t really expect “Backrooms” to be the vehicle to show off what he can really do, but here we are.
Ejiofor plays Clark, a furniture store owner who’s dealing with problems both professional and personal – his store is always empty, and his wife just left him. Clark’s connection to the backrooms is the strongest out of all the movie’s characters – both thematically and literally – but Ejiofor’s performance pushes it over the edge.
His portrait of a man wracked with self-loathing is so full of tension – rage and sadness bubbling underneath every fake, salesman smile. But what kicks the performance into fifth gear is not that underlying tension, but how Ejiofor portrays Clark’s awareness of his falseness. His melancholy doesn’t stem from what’s happening to him necessarily, but rather how conscious he is of the ways in which he conflicts with the world. There’s something wrong about all of this – about him, about his environment, about how people interact with each other. The more he lives within the backrooms – a place that thrives on its wrongness instead of trying to hide it – the more he comes alive.
Lights, Camera, Action!
🔵 IndieWire recently published a slew of craft-centric roundtable discussions that give some insight into parts of the filmmaking process other than directing, acting, or other so-called above-the-line jobs. Costume designers discussed the importance of the logistical aspects of their work, editors reflected on the subtleties of their art form, cinematographers talked aspect ratios and cameras, and production designers shared how to find an aesthetic.
🥩 If you asked me who the best actor coming out of “Riverdale” would be in 2017, I don’t know if I would have had the foresight to say Charles Melton. But almost 10 years later, he has established himself as a real force to be reckoned with (if you haven’t already, please watch “May December”). He recently stopped by the “Little Gold Men” podcast to talk about his work, becoming a father, and more.
🍿 The Daily is jumping on the train of talking about how movies like “Backrooms” and “Obsession” have rejuvenated younger moviegoers. But I love hearing reporter Kyle Buchanan talk about this, so even if you think you already know why these two low-budget horror movies are the stuff of box office magic, you should give this episode a listen.
🖋️ Today’s Scene was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
