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“I’ve always found the combination of this proto-feminism, of these women trying to make sense of the world that they’re trapped in, but also the romanticism and the kind of utter joy and the warmth of her storytelling, to be a really compelling combination,” Cracknell said in a recent interview with IndieWire. “It was one of the backdrops of growing up for me.” Her favorite Austen? “Persuasion,” the final novel the author completed before her death in 1817 (it was published, alongside her earlier “Northanger Abbey,” six months after she passed away), which was why Cracknell opted to helm a fresh adaptation of the novel for her feature directorial debut....

“Resident Evil,” over its first six episodes, provides plenty of time to dwell on zombie symbolism and verisimilitude. Staring into eyes surrounded by a clear, indented division between actual skin and latex breaks the spell of a fictional horror adventure. So does bad zombie acting, where discrepancies in movement, speed, and ferocity invite further unwanted distractions. (For example, some zombies dive-bomb victims, piercing body armor and skin in a single bite, while others politely move aside when the hero’s only shield is a trashcan lid....

Eight new actors are joining the cast of “Severance” for Season 2, including notable stars like Gwendoline Christie (“Game of Thrones”), Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”), and Bob Balaban (“The French Dispatch”). Merritt Wever, Robby Benson, Stefano Carannante, John Noble, and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson have also been cast. They’ll join a stacked ensemble that already includes the likes of Adam Scott, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, Patricia Arquette, Tramell Tillman, and Zach Cherry....

Eight months after the IDA board tapped Rick Pérez as its new executive director, four senior staffers resigned en masse. A fifth left in February; two junior staffers followed suit. All are women or non-binary. This leaves the IDA with five vacant director-level positions on a six-person leadership team. The four former senior staffers — deputy director Amy Halpin, senior director of development and partnerships Jina Chung, interim director of programming and advocacy Maggie Bowman, and funds and enterprise program director Poh Si Teng — posted on Medium shortly after their resignations....

While “Justice League” was awarded the new #OscarsCheersMoment prize, voted for by fans via social media, the announcement landed literally zero applause at the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday night. The live ceremony had an unexpected moment of silence after the supposedly top, most cheer-worthy film moment of 2021 was awarded to The Flash (Ezra Miller) entering the Speed Force in the DC film. Film critics took to Twitter to mock the irony of the “most cheer-worthy moment” being met with utter silence....

Following the Los Angeles Times exposé on the Golden Globes in 2021, the fallout was swift, and the ceremony was dropped by broadcaster NBC. The investigative piece revealed that the HFPA had no Black journalists among its 87 members, surfacing myriad other accusations. While the Globes will soon return to NBC on January 10, 2023, through a one-year agreement with the broadcaster, Best Actor contender Brendan Fraser will not be in the audience....

“Shiva Baby” follows chaotic bisexual Danielle (comedian Rachel Sennott), who arrives late to a Jewish funeral, also called a shiva, after a stressful morning trying to extract payment from her sugar daddy Max (Danny Deferrari). Polly Draper and Fred Melamed are pitch perfect as Danielle’s parents, who futz and preen over her with a hilarious blend of neuroses and suffocation. When Max shows up at the shiva, blonde shiksa wife (“Glee” star Diana Agron) and baby in tow, Danielle’s woes have only just begun....