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The Chicago-based Vendiola, a first-generation Filipino-American, is a writer, director, and development exec who has thrice been a Newcity FILM 50 honoree. He’s also a NFMLA alum “I’m truly ecstatic and grateful to NFMLA and OneFifty for this incredible opportunity. For years I’ve taken meaningful risks with the form and content of my work, which has been a double-edged sword of maintaining my artistic integrity while being largely ignored by the usual gatekeepers, for telling stories that do not offer tidy conclusions nor lend to homogenous franchises bled of freshness and nuance....

“I think the film went to an emotional point that we have not been to before with Bond,” said SFX supervisor Chris Corbould. “It was also interesting for me, having worked on all five of Daniel’s films, to see him master the role of Bond on each subsequent film. Daniel was at his peak on ‘No Time to Die’ and, on set during the emotional scenes, he was the most powerful I have ever seen him....

After eight episodes of chronicling the intertwining fates of an entire family tree, “Pachinko” turned its focus to Korean immigrants to Japan, namely the Zainichi women that left their homes as Sunja (Minha Kim) does during the Apple TV+ series’ opening season. Showrunner and series creator Soo Hugh originally envisioned these women’s stories to be the ending of the planned four-season arc for “Pachinko.” For various reasons, Hugh felt that the urgency of what they shared in their interviews couldn’t wait....

Eight-year-old Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) sits in the backseat of her mother’s car outside of the nursing home where her beloved grandmother has just died, and watches through the window as her young parents (Nina Meurisse and Stéphane Varupenne) share a tender embrace. The half-quizzical look on Nelly’s face suggests that she hasn’t seen them hug in a while — that perhaps this moment is doubly charged. She wonders what they mean to each other, and what it feels like to lose someone forever, and whether her mother ever sat alone in a car on a gray fall afternoon and watched as her mother was consoled over her mother’s death....

That’s the “slice of New York life” element of “Pretend It’s a City” that gives this seven-episode season its best moments. Stitching together clips from public talks and b-roll of Lebowitz making her way across the streets of Manhattan, a majority of the series is centered in talks from opposite ends of a table. It’s the most elegant form of old friend catch-up, a smattering of remembrances and a chance to revel in a handful of common gripes....

“Out of all the people who have played Diana over the past 10 years, she’s the closest to her,” Wharfe said of Stewart. “She managed to perfect her mannerisms.” “Spencer,” written by Steven Knight and directed by Pablo Larraín, takes place over a single Christmas weekend in 1991 as Diana celebrates the holiday with the royal family at Sandringham Estate. With rumors of Prince Charles’ affair swirling, Diana spends the weekend contemplating the end of her marriage and seizing the chance to break free from the royal family....

While Luhrmann’s unapologetic maximalism will almost certainly divide audiences when “Elvis” is released, the film already has one major supporter. Priscilla Presley, Elvis’ wife from 1967 to 1973, took to social media this week to reveal that Luhrmann showed her the film, along with former manager Jerry Schilling. And it’s safe to say that she’s a fan. “This story is about Elvis and Colonel Parker’s relationship,” Presley wrote, referring to her ex-husband’s controversial manager Colonel Tom Parker....