Category Archives: New Utopia

FLINT, Michigan Black genius is on display. It is radiant and infectious, cementing the fact that the hashtags #blackgirlmagic and #blackboyjoy were always present even before they became part of the modern mantras of African American people. Laughter is abundant as each guest arrives on the call, greeting one another and me as if we were old acquaintances, classmates, kinfolk.

These adorning faces belong to Josh Wilder, Jeremiah Davison, and Madelyn Porter the writer, director, and actor of The Flint Repertory Theatre's newest world-premiere play, Wrong River. Together, they possess an indescribable aura that ties together the many reasons why Black people continue to push forward despite incredible opposition.

Through our conversation and connection to Blackness, I learned what inspired Wrong River, how Davison became the anchor to hold everyone together, and Porter's gift of storytelling.

"It all started from Facebook," says Wrong River writer, Philadelphia native Josh Wilder, commenting on the catalyst that made him write it. "I realized once children are lead poisoned, their lead-poisoned for life, and to try to attempt to take away their futures, that's when we stand up as a community, as a people."

For Davison, directing a play about his hometown of Flint was a "dream come true. It means the world to me. I feel like I brought Flint's natural flow and perspective. With anything you do, that heartbeat has to be from the source."Theplay follows the story of a young Black family's experience in Flint as the Flint Water Crisis begins to make national headlines."But I believe in my heart that as an artist, you have an obligation to use your craft and skill to speak up, speak out, and to send a message," remarks Porter. "Wrong River is a form of protest, and we're soldiers of the arts."

In the words of The Rep, Wrong River is an "edgy new drama [featuring] thrilling magical realism moments born from the imagination of a 10-year old girl." The play, featuring an all-Black cast, highlights 10-year-old Dayla, her family, and grandmother June, played by Porter, as they explore and deal with the traumatic effects following the Flint Water Crisis. An event that left thousands of Flint residents without clean water, infected for life with elevated lead levels, and once again searching for the light within the darkness.

It is a brilliant emotional rollercoaster as it positions Dayla and her family front and center to grapple with her new reality of living a life sustained by the boxes of Fiji water that litter it unable to bathe or drink from the now leaden pipes. To me, Wrong River is a social commentary of how a government-sanctioned disaster impacted a predominately Black city and added to the evolving narrative of what it means to be Black in America, for better and for worse. But for Wilder, Davison, and Porter, it means all that and then some.

Philadelphia native Josh Wilder serves as the playwright for 'Wrong River.'

"Wrong River is symbolic to me because as Black folk, we [have] been going up the 'wrong river.' I think about slavery. I think about the Nile River. I think about the West coast of Africa," says Porter as her own life experiences and that of her family come to the forefront. "I think about how many 'wrong rivers' as Black folks we had to cross and had to pull the gunk out of."

"They have to see us to believe us. Black people aren't believed when we're in pain," says Wilder taking time to ascertain the weight of his work. "I think the representation of our imagination is seldom on stage. I think the play pulls the curtain back on us and how we're able to love each other through crisis and how quickly we have to grow up."

"It is showing insight on a Black family in the Midwest and our ability to dream and keep dreaming. It's not just, oh, they're Black, and they're struggling," explains Davison offering insight into his directorship. "It brings together and represents our ancestral unity. How we are so intertwined with our ancestors and how that can help us continue to move through life."

Emotions run hot in Wrong River. Relationships become strained, and love and survival are intertwined. But to process this new reality, rationalize her decisions and push forward, Dayla must turn to what continues to be a child's greatest gift and the thing many adults strive to rekindle imagination.

With incredible displays of sound, lighting, and visual work brought to life by Davison, he pulls audiences into the mind of Dayla, where they must grapple with the question of what is right and wrong. But bringing the imagination of a 10-year-old to paper and then to the stage took everyone into inspiring spaces and allowed them to tap into their inner child.Jeremiah Davison is a native of Flint and the director of 'Wrong River.'"I had to tap into the mind of what Dayla's imagination was first. You never stop being a kid as an artist, I feel. A lot of this sparked from figuring out, what is the playground that we have? How do we go into these and create these worlds," explains Davison, who loves talking technology. "How do we create the atmosphere, lights, and implement reality and the magical world of [Dayla's] brain. Then, as a sound designer, how do we wrap ourselves into this space?"

But the production of Wrong River is nothing without its cast and crew, says Wilder, one of which is Porter, having under her belt 30 years of experience in the business, is home on stage, bringing to life her portrayal of June. Porter's used the acting to offer insight and educate audiences particularly the youth of African experiences. However, she tells me with several laughs and powerful oratory that storytelling runs in her family. Growing up, she was labeled "weird" and "crazy" and listened to her aunt tell stories that took "reality, surrealism, and realism and mixed it up."

Those experiences bring the richness of old African griots to the current generation and helped flesh out Wrong River's narrative. Wilder and Davison explicitly state the time spent researching, getting case studies, listening to the stories of Flintstones, and talking with Davison's family to make sure the story was as authentic as possible. The storytelling, whether through Wilder's written work, Davison's directing and usage of tech, Porter's and the cast acting, and the backstage crew, push the collective conversation forward.

Through Wrong River's final moments, the quintessential reasoning, or the seed that binds this all together, of how and why African American people continue to advocate, march, push boundaries throughout education, sports and entertainment, the creative landscape, and have advanced as far as have is revealed hope. We bow our heads or raise them to the skies calling up our ancestors, tapping into our spiritual connections, giving our hopes, fears, praise, honor, and glory.

Wrong River is not a story for European Americans to finally see Black people for who we are. Quite the opposite. It is for us to see and know who we are. To tap into the unconscious imaginative realm that Dayla so powerfully commands to change our realities and create the unseen.

"For generations, as Black people, we've always crafted. We always take something traumatic and make it into something beautiful for us. I think the spirit and the seed are within the journey of Dayla and her grandma in the wrinkle in times," says Davison.

"The key at the very end of this show, there's hope, and there's a utopia in our minds," remarks Porter.

"My idea with writing this piece was to create a timeless piece of drama that can last for centuries. I want to [write about] the Civil Rights Movement of today," exclaims Wilder.

You can learn more and see Wrong River at The Flint Repertory Theatre live before its end date, February 20. Tickets are on sale now.

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A conversation with director, writer, and actor of the soul-stirring stage play 'Wrong River' - Flintside

EPIXs new mystery box horror series From is set to premiere on Sunday, February 20, and a spooky new clip from IGN today previews a nightmarish monster from the series.

Meet one scary grandma down below

Meagan wrote in her From review for BD, Only four episodes in, its already a gripping series that makes you eager to tune in to see what happens next.

The series unravels the mystery of a nightmarish town in middle America that traps all those who enter. As the unwilling residents fight to keep a sense of normalcy and search for a way out, they must also survive the threats of the surrounding forest including the terrifying creatures that come out when the sun goes down.

Created and executive produced byJohn Griffin(Crater), directed and executive produced byJack Bender(Lost, Game of Thrones, Mr. Mercedes), and executive produced by ShowrunnerJeff Pinkner(Fringe, Alias, Lost), From features a stellar ensemble cast led byHarold Perrineau(Lost).In addition to Perrineau, the cast includesCatalina Sandino Moreno(Maria Full of Grace, The Affair),Eion Bailey(Band of Brothers, Once Upon a Time),Hannah Cheramy,Simon Webster,Ricky He(The Good Doctor),Chloe Van Landschoot, Shaun Majumder, Corteon Moore(Utopia Falls),Pegah Ghafoori, David Alpay(Castle Rock),Elizabeth Saunders(Clarice),Elizabeth MoyandAvery Konrad.

Fromis a co-production between EPIX Studios and MGM International Television Productions, and is produced by Midnight Radio and AGBO.

Executive producer Jack Bender directed the first four episodes. Alongside Griffin, Bender and Pinkner as executive producers are Josh Appelbaum, Andr Nemec and Scott Rosenberg from Midnight Radio, Anthony and Joe Russo and Mike Larocca from AGBO and Lindsay Dunn. Midnight Radios Adrienne Erickson will serve as co-executive producer.

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When Will HBO's "The Last of Us" Premiere? Not in 2022 - Bloody Disgusting

Prior to my interview with Hanya Yanagihara, an email arrives from her publicist. It warns that the blockbuster literary author of A Little Life, and now To Paradise, does not read reviews of her books or pieces about herself. This, explains the publicist, can cause a frustrating frisson during interviews, because journalists will press Yanagihara to respond to critiques of her work she has not seen.

What intrigues here is that Yanagihara, 47, is not some literary recluse in the JD Salinger vein: she defines her novel-writing as her night job; her day job is editor-in-chief of the New York Times style magazine, T. How, I ask Yanagihara, when we speak, does she contrive to ignore herself, given that her job is to predict the zeitgeist and she is such a talked-about novelist?

Its quite easy, she insists. Like smoking, right? Its much easier to have never started, than to start then stop. Writers are very self-involved and they probably need to be, but editors need to turn their gaze outwards.

We are speaking ahead of her appearance this Sunday at Londons South Bank Centre. Queen Elizabeth Hall is the first stop on a UK then European publicity tour for her monumental third novel, To Paradise. The trip also incorporates 10 days at Paris Fashion Week. Yanagihara travels lightly, but not without apprehension. Ive been sick about six times since October. Not with Covid, with everything but Covid.

To Paradise was published last month to fevered expectation: a New Yorker profile, rave but also perplexed reviews, and a couple of hatchet jobs in the younger, more attitudinal American cultural zines, Vox and Vulture. Despite being a complex, multi-stranded 700-page hardback, it went straight to number one on the Sunday Times bestseller lists. The reason? Yanagiharas last novel, the 2015 Booker-shortlisted A Little Life, has become a 21st century key text. Type A Little Life into TikTok and videos appear of ardent millennials weeping at the fate of Jude, the novels anguished protagonist.

That contemporary New York tale of four male friends, told over the three decades, also divides audiences. Detractors accuse the unwieldy tome of being torture porn, a voyeuristic gothic text luxuriating in operatic misery. They balk at the novels disquieting cocktail of self-harm and aspirational lifestyle. Like F Scott Fitzgerald or Jay McInerney before her, Yanagihara sets her story of rich, attractive, unhappy Americans against a sumptuous backcloth of gourmandising and globetrotting. Here is trauma, but with a high thread-count, probably a pillow menu. Making much of Yanagiharas editorship of T, and before it Cond Nast Traveller, Vultures recent takedown by critic Andrea Long Chu deemed A Little Life an unapologetic lifestyle novel. Others have accused it of that most contemporary of sins: appropriation. After American author Garth Greenwell hailed A Little Life as the long-awaited great gay American novel, not everyone loved that its author identified as straight and female.

To Paradise is told on a far more expansive, ambitious canvas than A Little Life, but is also predominantly peopled by gay men. Yanagihara is vague about why that might be. It was never a sort of intention, she says. It was just who the characters happened to be. She is robust, however, about her right to write those characters. Appropriation suggests that you must write according to your own tribal identities, and I think that is a dangerous thing for any artist to feel compelled to do. I am no more or less an expert on being an Asian woman than any other Asian woman, says the author, a fourth-generation American, of Japanese and Korean heritage, raised mostly in Hawaii.

There is an expectation of female artists, she feels, to bare the body, to talk about womens lives in a way that feels confessional. And thats not something Im interested in. There are great examples, but Im more interested in female artists who resist by choice or just by inclination that exposure of the self.

Sometimes, more is revealed about the universal by writing in the skin of another, she adds. It forces you to be less self-absorbed, more observant and aware of the connections amongst humans, beyond, despite of, and because of their tribal identities. She cites playwright Tony Kushner, who said of his screenplay for West Side Story: One of the great pleasures of art, and one of the reasons we have it, is to be able to witness leaps of empathic imagination.

To Paradise has many leaps of empathic imagination, but is partially inspired by contemporary Americas convulsive recent politics and polarising debates about identity. After the 2016 election, I started thinking actively about what America was, and what it liked to fancy itself as being, says Yanagihara. The January 2017 Trump Muslim ban, a travel directive that forbade people from certain, predominantly Muslim, countries entering the US, was a catalyst. Part of Americas central mythology is that it is a paradise for those who cannot stay, for whatever reason, in the country of their origin, she says. But that ban got me wondering if that central mythology was correct? The original concept of Paradise is of a walled garden.

Writers are self-involved and they probably need to be, but editors need to turn their gaze outwards

The novel imagines three parallel, alternate visions of America (in 1893, 1993 and 2093). The first book, Washington Square (a nod to Henry Jamess novel of the same title) has a 19th century hierarchical society setting. Yet in this hall-of-mirrors distortion same-sex marriages flourish. The conceit is not that theyre in a gay utopia, says Yanagihara. But a version of America not founded according to Puritan philosophies. Gay people have equal rights, but black people and Native Americans do not. This idea that what can be a heaven for one group is not necessarily a heaven for everybody is something I wanted to explore.

In the second tale of the book, in 1993, Washington Square is the scene of a lavish party, gathering the citys gay elite; AIDS is the uninvited spectre. The novels final part, set in 2093, is dystopian: Manhattan has become a bulwark against waves of pandemics. Yanagihara did not write this reflectively, inspired by Covid, but prophetically: she first interviewed virologists in 2017.

In New York, Yanagiharas life is compartmentalised between her high-profile public day job, and her private evening existence as an author. She lives in a former bottle factory in Soho, with expansive rooms and high ceilings. A downside, though, is that the loft apartment buildings steel frames block wi-fi. But its a good apartment to be a nighttime writer in, she says. Its very quiet and faces the back of another building; a cocoon-like burrow made for darkness. Her writing of A Little Life was disciplined: nine to 12 on weeknights, and six hours on a Saturday and Sunday. With To Paradise, she was less regimented. In a way, being sent home in March 2020 was a boon, because I automatically gained an hours commuting time, and wasnt going to the theatre, or out to dinner. When I had wind in my sails, I would stay at my desk for as long as I physically could.

Yanagihara seems happier talking about visual culture ceramicists, experimental land artists, those leading figurative portraitures resurgence than fellow authors. I dont follow the contemporary literary scene or whos on it, she says. Asked whom she has been reading, she mentions only dead white British men: Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Trollope. Her plans for her visit to London this week are more visual than bookish: to visit the John Soane Museum, the New Craftsmen shop and the studio of floral installation artist Silke Rittson-Thomas.

Critics have found To Paradise, with each of its discrete novella-like books ending on a cliffhanger, depressing. Yanagihara thinks it quite hopeful. People endure: they learn how to adapt to even very bad circumstances. They push onwards; all these characters possess the idea that they will go someplace better; that they will finally find the person who makes them feel less lonely. She finished it over a summer in Hawaii, which she still calls home. She is more ambivalent about New York, her base since 1995. Many people I love are here, but in all honesty, Id rather be somewhere else. Hawaii? Europe? No, I think Id like to live in Asia. A farmhouse outside Kyoto would be nice.

Does she believe in this idea of the great American novel? I think every American novel is a great American novel, she quips. With To Paradise she may have written one.

Hanya Yanagihara in conversation with Neel Mukherjee at the Southbank Centres Queen Elizabeth Hall on Sunday, 15; southbankcentre.co.uk

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Hanya Yanagihara on why she never reads her own reviews - Evening Standard

While the rich often die 'overtreated', sequestered from loved ones, more people remain untreated and die of preventable causes, with no access to palliative care

"While many people are 'overtreated' in hospitals with families and communities relegated to the margins, still more remain undertreated, dying of preventable conditions and without access to basic pain relief."

The latest report of the Lancet Commission, "Value of Death: Bringing death back into life", finds that death and dying is, in fact, a "story of paradox" in the 21st century. This report works as a guide for our current understanding of death as an individual and what it means for our healthcare professionals, academicians and governments.

The Lancet report limits itself to the scenario of death when a person develops a life-limiting illness or injury through their death and into the bereavement affecting the lives of those left behind.

Those who worked upon the report included health and social care professionals, social scientists, health scientists, economists, philosophers, political scientists, patients, carers, religious leaders, activists, community workers, and a novelist.

Over-medicalisation of death

The report states that the death of an individual is not an exclusively family matter now. It has moved from home settings to health systems, i.e. ICUs, hospitals, hospices. Terminally ill people are taken away to these medical facilities. The roles of their families and communities in the decisions making about their lives have receded.

The report calls it over-medicalisation of death, where people are often dying alone and unable to communicate with their family members except electronically. This has been a familiar phenomenon during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report also recorded the personal experiences of those who shaped this report. It mentions an incident of the life of Dr MR Rajagopal, who is chairman of Pallium India, the NGO that provides palliative care to the people of Kerala. The report mentions that most children would have seen a dead body two generations ago. People may now be in their 40s or 50s without ever seeing a dead person. The language, knowledge, and confidence to support and manage dying are being lost, further fuelling a dependence on healthcare services.

Trials of Immortality and Control

According to the report, this is our delusion that we are in control of dying. Large sums are being invested to dramatically extend life, even achieve immortality, for a small minority in a world that struggles to support its current population. Health care and individuals appear to struggle to accept the inevitability of death.

Rebalancing the Death Systems

The Lancet report advocates the rebalancing of the death systems of our society. These systems are many interrelated social, cultural, economic, religious, and political factors that determine how death, dying, and bereavement are understood, experienced, and managed. Income, education, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other factors influence how much people suffer in death systems and the capacity they possess to change them.

According to the report, a death system should be the portal of knowledge by which death and dying are understood, regulated, and managed. The report provided an illustrative map that centres around two key events impending death (based on knowledge of death) and death itself. The map goes beyond physiology to function and health capabilities, including well-being and the capacity to achieve. It further adds that a perfect map of a whole death system would include much more, such as the systems for preventing death and funeral customs.

The report indicates that these death systems are run and controlled by power, thus have been a source of discrimination and inequity in death. Experience of death and dying has become a result of a constellation of factors such as political unrest or conflict, access to and trust in healthcare services, relationships, discrimination or oppression, poverty, education, and many others. The report also provides examples of when power was used in Covid-19 scenarios.

Death Positivity is Good

The report welcomed the death positivity movements for death awareness around the world. These movements are taking shape in the form of death cafes, festivals, or campaigns and the publication of books. It says, Evidence suggests that talking collectively about these issues can lead to an improvement in peoples attitudes and capabilities for dealing with death.

A Good Death

The report also mulled over the question of what is a good death. It concluded that a good death is when it fulfils 11 conditions. These conditions are relief from physical pain and other physical symptoms; effective communication and relationship with healthcare providers; the performance of cultural, religious, or other spiritual rituals; relief from emotional distress or other forms of psychological suffering; autonomy with regards to treatment-related decision-making; dying in the preferred place; life not being prolonged unnecessarily...

Assisted Dying

The report also raises societal and policy questions regarding assisted dying. What are the societal costs of legalising and not legalising? Does legalising assisted dying increase or decrease suicide rates? Does not legalising encourage underground practices (as with illegal abortions)? Is trust in doctors affected? What safeguarding measures are needed? What are the economic costs and benefits? Does legalising assisted dying undermine palliative care? Should those undergoing assisted dying be allowed to donate organs?

It stresses that without asking these questions, assisted dying legislation cannot guarantee human rights in death.

Overtreatment

The report also touched on the question of overtreatment and its relation to the economics of a death system. According to experts, people extend the treatments without assessing their outcomes. Doctors are also biased in their assessment of the benefits of treatment for patients with life-limiting conditions.

And that is why the expenditure on treatment of a person facing terminal illnesses increases manifold during the final days. According to experts, Many new treatments do extend life only marginally and have low success rates and yet are very expensive.

Palliative Care

Experts involved in making this extensive report found that palliative care is accessible only for 14 percent of people worldwide. They recommend that palliative care services be available universally to all at the end of life. Ideally, these services should be part of statutory or public health services, which is not the case now.

Kerala case as Realistic Utopia

In their assessment of death and dying systems around the globe, the Lancet report recognised that end of life services being provided in Kerala is the system closest to their realistic utopia.

Kerala has emerged as a symbol of hope for low cost, equitable, and participatory palliative care, including end-of-life care. The success of this model rests on a series of paradigm shifts relating to how illness, dying, caring, and grieving are viewed within the state.

The report lauded the case of Pallium India, an NGO formed in 1993 intending to manage the pain and other symptoms of people with serious illnesses. Through this, death and dying have been reclaimed as a social concern and responsibility through a broad social movement composed of tens of thousands of volunteers complemented by changes to political, legal, and health systems.

Vision of Death and Dying

The report proposes five principles of a Vision of Death and Dying. According to the experts, these principles are: The social determinants of death, dying, and grieving are tackled; dying is understood to be a relational and spiritual process rather than simply a physiological event; networks of care lead support for people dying, caring, and grieving; conversations and stories about everyday death, dying, and grief become common.

Finally, the report recommends that death and dying must be recognised as normal and valuable. Care of the dying and grieving must be rebalanced. The Lancet plans a diverse programme of events in this year aiming to embed its recommendations globally and to see the realistic utopia take shape in practice.

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The Lancet report: How death and dying is a story of paradox in 21st Century - Firstpost

Last week, metaverse-happy Meta (formerly known as Facebook)revealed a changeto their Horizon VR environment: an invisible "personal space" boundary around avatars that keep others from getting too close.

That didn't take long, did it?

Recently, I wrote about Tim Cook's reluctance to dive headlong into the AR/VR space. Primarily, his comments dealt security concerns. That's nothing new: Websites and applications have long struggled to get data security right, and with different national and regional requirements (like GDPR), it's an immense challenge.

But there's another potential problem with VR that Meta's recent change highlights: the behavioraldanger of anonymity. This isn't a new phenom; a study by Association for Psychological Science fellow Philip Zimbardo in 1969 showed a link between anonymity and abusive behavior. Joe Dawsonsurfaced the studyin 2018, and it couldn't be more apt today.

Dawson notes subsequent studies, too, like one conducted in 2012 by Marek Palasinksi at the University of Lancaster, which revealed a different alarming tendency. When placed in environments ruled by anonymity, people are less likely to help others who are facing abuse or harassment.

Granted, these behaviors are not givens -- chatrooms dominated the internet in the 1990s (and beyond) and while some unsavory behavior occurred, it wasn't enough to shut down the internet. Many people built positive, lasting relationships in these environments. Others were able to open up and be truly themselves, something they struggled with in a hyper-critical reality.

But the opposite is possible -- given our past, probable, even.

By all means, let's explore the possibilities of VR and AR; let's see how they can improve our lives. But as we do, let's not forget two key elements of VR exploration: data security and human behavior.

As Meta has done, let's be quick to add safeguards, security measures, rules, and enforcementwhere necessary to make these new realities safe. If we don't do it now as innovation is firing, we may find ourselves in a very dark, unsettling place litigating sexual harassment, abuse, and violence in digital spaces.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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Mark Zuckerberg's Vision of VR Utopia Has a Very Big Problem and It Has Nothing to Do With Privacy - Inc.

Utopia, by definition, can never be reached. When Thomas More coined the term in 1516, he imagined an ideal world, a self-contained community where people shared the same culture, values and way of life. Utopia was also a pun, based on almost-identical Greek words for no place and a good place.

The Barbican Centre was, and remains, a place where utopian ideas are made tangible. Designed by young architecture firmChamberlin, Powell and Bon, the labyrinthine complex symbolised a corner of London rising from the war-torn ashes; an example of the shifting worlds of arts and culture in the post-war era, and an icon of modern, democratic living. Under a single, 40-acre architectural vision, it encompassed theatre and dance, music of all genres, visual arts, cinema and education, setting its stages for a wide range of artists, communities, audiences and visitors.

When it opened in 1982, its reception ranged from scalding hot to ice cold. Some applauded its brave futurism (even Queen Elizabeth II hailed it as one of the modern wonders of the world); others despised its brazen brutalism. Through fame and infamy, brutal name-calling and calls for its demolition, 40 years later, it remains a melting pot of international arts, and one of the most sought-after residential postcodes in Europe.

The model of the scheme, including a diagonal road across the site, and the proposed use of the circular Coal Exchange. Both were later taken out of the plans. Credit: Barbican Archive

As Nicholas Kenyon, editor of new book Building Utopia: The Barbican Centre, notes in his preface: Some have hated it, some have loved it, but millions have made use of the Barbican over four decades of near-continuous activity, and have come to value its profound contribution to civic and urban life.

Published by Batsford, Building Utopia coincides with the Barbican Centres 40th anniversary and explores the history of this inimitable institution and the blueprint to its longevity. I think the secret of the Barbican is to always be uncompromising in its search for quality and variety, believing that theres no conflict between excellence and popularity, says Kenyon, who served as managing director of the Barbican Centre from 2007 to 2021. The Barbican has always cast its net wide to gather in the most international of the arts, and to provide [them] at reasonable prices to the widest possible audience.

The book contains rare illustrative material from the Barbicans archives, some never before seen in print. The biggest surprise to me in looking through the archives was not how long it took wed always known that the Barbican as a building project took ages! but the number of changes there were in the design as the arts centre emerged as a priority, Kenyon reflects. There are literally thousands of architects drawings of the details. I looked and looked for evidence of the Barbican myth that the building was only approved by a one-vote majority in the City, but I couldnt find it. However, there were many close votes as the project proceeded.

Recent programming designs. Credit: Barbican Archive

The book is bolstered with essays by eminent critics who have lived and breathed the centres history and art forms. Cultural historian Robert Hewison reflects on how the centre came into being, and architectural historian Elain Harwood offers a deep dive into the buildings design. Elsewhere, we find Fiona Maddocks on music, Lyn Gardner on theatre, Sukhdev Sandhu on cinema, and Tony Chambers on visual arts.

Chambers, creative director, former Wallpaper* editor-in-chief and self-professed huge Barbican fanboy, takes readers on a journey through visual arts. He first encountered the building in 1983 on a trip to London for an interview at the Central School of Art. But his love for the place was cemented in 1994 when he rented an apartment in Gilbert House, which he bought in 2000 and still calls home. I was blown away by the modernity and sheer un-Englishness of the arts centre and the surrounding residential estate: it had more in common with the Bauhaus architecture Id recently been introduced to on my art foundation course in Liverpool, his essay recounts.

Chambers takes us through seminal shows, from the inaugural blockbuster, Aftermath: France 1945 55: New Images of Man (1982), to epoch-capturing surveys such as photography group show Through The Looking Glass (1989), and concept-based exhibitions like Seduced: Art and Sex from Antiquity to Now (2007).

Entrance to art: the gallery ticket desk and design for the opening show in 1982, Aftermath.Credit: Peter Bloomfieldhen

The Barbican Art Gallery has, over the years, developed a knack for anticipating future stars (Grayson Perry exhibited in 2002, a year before he won the Turner Prize); shownanability to widen its global appeal with commercially orientated shows like The Art of Star Wars (2000); and extended its authority not just in fine art, but in the realms of architecture, design and fashion, and everything in between.

Chambers essay, and Building Utopia more broadly, highlight the feather-ruffling, intersection-seeking, headline-grabbing role the Barbican Art Gallery has played over the years. A fearless arbiter of art that didnt always get it right, but earned a rightful place in cultural history. The Barbican Art Gallery at 40 is a remarkable story: of how, despite modest beginnings and a difficult environment, a long line of dedicated curators and directors with brave and imaginative programming have established a world-renowned reputation and identity, says Chambers.

In 40 years, the Barbican Centre has proved itself to be not only a building complex, but a cultural microcosm where getting lostand losing yourself are both inevitable.

Few buildings have split opinionto such extremes or made the boundaries between creative disciplines so utterly indistinguishable. It was born as an experimental multi-arts centre, and ended up as a catalyst for all conceivable arts a creative manifesto made concrete.

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Forty years of the Barbican Centre: an art utopia made concrete - Wallpaper*

https://www.nonesuch.com/journal/listen-david-byrne-talks-wnycs-united-states-anxiety-2022-02-10

David Byrne is the guest on a special bonus episode of WNYC's United States of Anxiety. He talks with host Kai Wright aboutDavid Byrne's American Utopia on Broadway. "It's a live Broadway show in which he performs his music almost as a catalyst to a wider conversation about living in a plural society," Wright says: "you, me, us, and what's possible if we can make that work." You can hear their conversation here:

Tickets are on sale now for David Byrne's American Utopia on Broadway at the St. James Theatre here. The cast album, available here, includes songs from his 2018 album, American Utopia, along with music from Talking Heads and Byrnes solo career. Byrne shares the spotlight with a diverse ensemble of eleven musical artists from around the globe for an event that delivers "an experience unlike anything else," says Billboard. "Dazzling, rapturous and jubilant," exclaims the New York Times. "Astonishing," raves Hollywood Reporter. "A knockout celebration of music, dance and song. Pure bliss." Rolling Stone calls it "a tonic for our tumultuous times."

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Listen: David Byrne Talks with WNYC's 'United States of Anxiety' - Nonesuch Records

It's been a year since China's first-ever independent interplanetary mission reached Mars, and in that time, Tianwen 1 has made major achievements while also delivering a number of surprises.

The Tianwen 1 spacecraft entered orbit around the Red Planet on Feb. 10, 2021. Shortly after, the China National Space Administration released epic footage of the event, showing the orbiter pass behind Mars as it fired engines to slow down and enter orbit.

Orbiting, however, was only one aspect of the mission. For the next three months, teams on Earth prepared for the landing attempt of the rover that would come to be named Zhurong, with Tianwen 1 altering its orbit and returning detailed, high-resolution images of the target landing site in Utopia Planitia.

Related: Hello, Mars! China unveils 1st HD views from its Tianwen-1 spacecraft

Following NASA's Perseverance rover in February, Zhurong went through its own, slightly longer, nine minutes of terror and successfully landed on May 14. The achievement made China only the second country to land and operate a rover on Mars, and heralded the country as a major player in deep space exploration.

"The ability to successfully orbit, descend, land safely and deploy a rover on the first try, is a stunning engineering and operational accomplishment," James Head III, a geologist at Brown University, told Space.com.

Zhurong triumphantly rolled down from its lander and onto the red Martian dust a week after touchdown, following systems checks and scoping out the environment. It also dropped a remote camera so Zhurong could pose for a selfie next to its landing platform partner.

The Tianwen 1 orbiter has spent most of its time since the landing supporting Zhurong, making daily passes overhead to relay data from the rover back to Earth. The orbiter has also returned beautiful crescent views of the Red Planet.

In late September, Tianwen 1 paused its work as the sun blocked communications with Earth; then, in early November, the spacecraft lowered its orbit in order to survey more areas of Mars with its seven science payloads.

The orbiter also dropped two further epic surprises. First, on New Year's Day, by releasing a remote, disposable camera that photographed Tianwen 1 above Mars, and more recently with stunning video footage taken using a selfie stick.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Zhurong has far exceeded its primary mission of 90 Mars sols (92 Earth days) and is traveling south from its landing site. The rover has analyzed a number of geologic features and returned images and panoramas of its adventures, and has covered a total of 5,000 feet (1,537 meters) as of Feb. 4.

Looking ahead, Zhurong could reach features including pitted cones, which may have formed through igneous or sedimentary volcanism, said Mackenzie Mills, a graduate student at the University of Arizona and a co-author of a 2021 paper on the geologic context of Zhurong's landing area.

"Future in situ compositional data from Zhurong could help resolve how cones form by providing evidence supporting a proposed mechanism," Mills told Space.com in an email. "Determining how pitted cones form will help us better understand them and also constrain the past geologic context of Utopia Planitia in which they likely formed."

However, Zhurong will soon need to negotiate winter in the northern hemisphere, when its solar panels can't receive as much light because the sun is lower in the sky. Dust storms may also pose a hazard, as they did for earlier rovers. The seasonal changes could cause problems for Zhurong, Sun Zezhou, a China Mars mission system designer, told Chinese press in January.

Winter solstice will occur in July, however, data the rover has already collected will likely prove important once results are published in science journals.

"The data from the Zhurong rover on possible ancient ocean deposits will provide important perspective on the results from Curiosity and Perseverance, which landed in ancient lakes," Head said.

Tianwen 1, meanwhile, is designed to operate for at least one Martian year, or about two years on Earth, with lots of science to come.

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China's Tianwen 1 Mars mission marks 1st full year in orbit - Space.com

After his tour of duty as Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, SAN has returned firmly to active legal practice, doing what he knows how to do best. As his law firm, Adeniji Kazeem & Co. clocked 25 years recently, Onikepo Braithwaite and Jude Igbanoi engaged him on a wide range of professional issues, including reminiscences of his tenure as A-G of Nigerias largest and most cosmopolitan State. He also spoke about his optimism for the future of the legal profession, in Nigeria

Your Firm recently clocked 25 years of practice. What challenges did you face along the way and what are the things you think made you survive as a Professional? What would you like to see change in the Nigerian Legal Profession?

I started my professional career as a Tax and Regulatory Consultant, with unarguably one of the great Accounting and Consulting Firms of its time Arthur Andersen. For the five or so years I spent with the Firm, it was training galore on a wide range of areas namely tax, audit, accounting, and consulting. In a short while, I was developed into a total all round professional with the confidence and foundation to take on the world. This was possible because the Firm had deep pockets, and was totally committed to continuous training.

The legal profession must embrace this strategy, and enforce total mandatory continuing legal education (CLE) for all practicing professionals, and stipulate non-renewal of practicing licences for failure to comply. Unfortunately, most smaller Law Firms do not have the financial depth to spend the required funds on staff training and professional development, so the NBA must step in somehow. The NBA as a regulator of some sorts is moving in the right direction on the CLE issue; but, more needs to be done so we can produce well baked top-class professionals, who are able to operate anywhere in the world in compliance with global best practices.

While you were in office as Attorney-General of Lagos State, you were credited with several reforms and initiatives in the Justice sector like the DNA Forensic Centre (which was destroyed in the aftermath of the #EndSARS Protests), Task force on Land Grabbers, etc. Kindly, tell us about a few of your innovations and what impact they made.

First, let me say I had good predecessors who did a lot of developmental work before I assumed office.

Secondly, Government is a continuum, and you try to continue from where your predecessors have stopped; but yes, we take credit for some of the new reforms you have mentioned.

However, what is most important is that no matter how reform-minded you are, you must have full support from your principal. I was lucky that the former Governor, H.E. Akinwunmi Ambode was also reform-minded, and this helped me achieve a lot of the things we were able to do. For example, the decision to appoint Directors from the Ministry as Permanent Secretaries in Ministries other than the Justice Ministry was readily approved by the former Governor, and it did wonders for morale in the Justice Ministry. I was also very passionate about using technology to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate crimes, and this gave rise to my push for a functional DNA Forensic Laboratory. The former Governor fully bought into the project and supported its establishment, and his action effectively placed Lagos State on the forensic map of the world.

It is ironical that despite having the Task force on Land Grabbers, Lagos State stands accused of doing the exact same thing in the matter of the Magodo land, even being accused of frustrating the execution of the Supreme Court judgement. Since it is a fairly old matter, and therefore, one that was very much in existence during your time as AG, kindly, shed some light on the issue. Why did the State Government refuse to give up some land or pay compensation to the land owners?

I believe that the current Attorney-General & Commissioner for Justice Mr Moyo Onigbanjo, SAN, has already issued a comprehensive statement on the efforts successive Governments had made to resolve this matter amicably from when the judgement was delivered.

The Statement had also noted, amongst other things, that the Lagos State Government had entered negotiations with the Judgement Creditor for amicable resolution, which was still ongoing until we left office. It is therefore, not correct to say the State Government refused to give up land or pay compensation.

Your tenure saw the introduction of the death penalty for kidnapping in Lagos State. Did you secure any conviction during your tenure? Would you say the death penalty is an effective deterrent against kidnapping? What are your views on the payment of ransoms to kidnappers?

Yes, there were some convictions for kidnapping, but they did not attract the death penalty. The 2017 Law prescribes the death sentence for kidnappers whose victims die in their custody, and life sentence for those whose victims do not die in the hands of their abductors.

I am not aware of empirical evidence, to show a link in reduction in kidnapping and the death penalty.

I do not support the payment of ransoms to Kidnappers as a State policy, as it will only encourage continuation of the dastardly act.

What do you consider as your lowest and highest points in your 25 years of operating your Firm?Our Firm was established in 1996, with my late father as our Legal Consultant. By 1998, he had passed away, and I had hoped he would be around longer to give me the benefit of his rich legal knowledge. It was a sad period for me, but I had to forge ahead.

My high point was during my application for admission into the Inner Bar. Even though I had the option of choosing the Attorney-Generals chambers as a serving AG, I chose my private Law Firms office premises to be inspected by one of the toughest and most upright evaluators, and our chambers passed the inspection. I was proud of that moment, as it meant we had done something right over the years in building our Firm.

I am of course, also very proud of the legal professionals we have been able to train over the years. Law Firms are the building blocks of the legal service industry, and must be heavily supported. There is no gainsaying that without Law Firms, the numerous Lawyers being churned out yearly will have nowhere to work, and there will be frustration and joblessness. In this regard, we must encourage our young Lawyers with living wages, to ensure they can concentrate on acquiring the early skills required to be a good lawyer. The practice of paying slave wages, should be banished forever.

The legal profession is fast changing, with globalisation and a move towards artificial intelligence. How prepared is your Firm for this?

Yes, you are right that globalisation is upon us, and the challenge is how the Nigerian legal profession can raise its game to compete with the best of the Firms in the World. Artificial Intelligence and the growth of web based legal resources is chipping away at the market for routine legal services, so Law Firms need to adapt to the changing world we find ourselves. The new and indeed, old leadership of Law Firms, must become more exposed to Global best practices to provide cutting-edge value-added services.

Our Firm is very prepared for the challenges ahead, as we have been investing in technology and training with the underlying belief that, our staff remain our greatest assets.Your concerns about financial autonomy for the Judiciary and better welfare for judicial officers, are very well known. How, in your view, can this be actualised in the face of the reluctance of most States to comply with the judgement of the Apex Court in that regard? Do you believe that the Memorandum of Understanding signed between JUSUN and the State Governors will make a positive difference?

The Memorandum of Understanding signed by JUSUN and the State Governors is a step in the right direction, but there is a still a lot to be done. Government spending is driven by budgets, which are in turn, determined by revenue received from Federal receipts and internally generated revenue.

It is the revenue that determines what can be distributed to the various arms of Government, including the Judiciary. The Governor is the Chief Executive of the State and controls the treasury, so, if they stick to existing Agreements and set formulas of sharing, there will likely not be complaints of lopsided allocations. It is the failure to adhere to the rules that usually leads to avoidable problems.

Infrastructure development and proper welfare cost money, and the Judiciary cannot easily fight for itself; so, we must continue to fight for them at any given opportunity; but, there must be accountability also.

The Judiciary has been on the firing line in recent times for corruption, suspicious orders and undue delays. What are you views on the characterisation?

Having been able to see the Judiciary, which includes superior and inferior courts of record from the inside as a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, member of the Judicial Service Commission, Body of Benchers, etc., it is impossible not to have a lot of empathy for the Judiciary, because of the inadequate infrastructure and tough economic conditions they continue to operate under. There is still a lot that needs to be done for the Judiciary, and budgets need to be upscaled even further, beyond the limited financial autonomy being enjoyed by some Judiciaries.

I do not condone nor justify corruption, delays nor suspicious court orders, but each case must be taken on its own merit without generalisation. There must be careful evaluation of the roles of the litigants, the Lawyers, support/registry staff and the Judges, who are all key players in the system of administration of justice. It is only with a holistic evaluation, that a proper verdict can be given. I dont accept a general tar brush for a system that still contains hard working, brilliant and selfless men and women. There may be bad eggs, but, in my opinion, they are not in the majority.Lawyers have been often accused of being a major problem for the system of administration of justice, especially with their sometimes unethical practice?

Thats a tough call because this is my direct constituency, and there are very, very many respectable and ethically upright Lawyers in practice.

However, the truth must be told, that we do have major problems of discipline, quality, and ethics which the profession is trying to self-regulate, albeit with huge push back from some bad eggs. It is important though, that there is continuing compulsory legal education to sanitise the mindset of some of our colleagues who have deviated, or are deviating from the values that have made the legal profession so respectable over the years.

Covid-19 has brought on virtual hearings for a lot of court proceedings, but some have complained that there is insufficient infrastructure to support this shift in judicial proceedings. What are your thoughts on this?

Technology is extremely key, for any serious-minded organisation to effectively operate today. The public health challenges brought on by Covid has now made it imperative that we all fully embrace technology, and the Judiciary and entire Justice sector appears to be slowly keying into this change. A lot of Law Firms now operate physically and virtually, and the pattern of providing legal services is also changing, so Law Firms must adapt and re-adapt to survive. It must, however, be said that, whether in the Judiciary, Law Firms, or the Justice sector, the deployment of technology costs a lot of money; but, there are gains in speed and efficiency in the long run.

My utopia is online Courts and ADR, where a huge number of ordinary people can access justice and get results quickly and cheap, from adjudicators who can operate from anywhere in the world. We should not underestimate the frustrations ordinary people are going through with the justice system, the archaic and sometimes antiquated procedure, the unending paperwork, and the delays. These changes will not be easy, but with commitment of all stakeholders, it is very doable.

The younger generation of Lawyers who are typically more comfortable with technology, must be arrowheads of change in justice delivery.Thank you Learned Silk.

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'My Utopia is Online Courts and ADR' - THISDAY Newspapers

This year is easily going to be more exciting than the previous one with numerous tentpole films arriving in 2022. A heavy load of new movies are coming to theaters, streaming platforms, and video on demand in February that we should not miss. These movies cross a wide plethora of genres, that includes action, romance, drama, comedy, adventure, fantasy,sci-fi,horror, and thrillers. The number of VOD releases is more this month.

In February 2022, streaming services are piled with an exciting line-up of films. On Netflix,Tall Girl 2;Fistful of Vengeance; Texas Chainsaw Massacre;A Madea Homecomingare releasing. On Amazon Prime,I Want You Back; on HBO Max, KIMI; onApple TV+,The Sky Is Everywhere; on Paramount+,The In Between; and on Hulu,No Exitwill be released.

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The intriguing VOD releases of the month are Last Looks; Last Survivors; Catwoman: Hunted; Alone With You; Shapeless; Catch the Fair One; Here Before; Wolf; A Banquet; Potato Dreams of America; Big Gold Brick; Desperate Riders; and Gasoline Alley. Some of these are having a limited theatrical release as well. And the movie Apex will be released on Blu-ray & DVD.

Films that are set to release exclusively in theaters in February are Moonfall; Jackass Forever; Death on the Nile; Marry Me; Blacklight; Uncharted; and Dog. Sonys video-game adaptation Uncharted is the tentpole movie of the month which is likely to have the biggest box-office among these.

Check out the synopses and release dates for these new movies below.

Moonfallis Lionsgates sci-fi action-adventure disaster film co-written and directed byRoland Emmerich(Independence Day). It stars Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Michael Pea, Charlie Plummer, Kelly Yu, and Donald Sutherland. Emmerich is known for his big scope disaster-themed films with a lot of destruction.

Synopsis: In Moonfall, a mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact and the world on the brink of annihilation, NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler (Berry) is convinced she has the key to saving us all but only one astronaut from her past, Brian Harper (Wilson) and a conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (Bradley) believe her. These unlikely heroes will mount an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love, only to find out that our Moon is not what we think it is.

The film was shot with a $140 million budget, making it one of the most expensive independently-produced films of all time. Moonfall is scheduled for a wide theatrical release. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. It so far holds a 40% Rotten Tomatoes score based on 151 reviews but it has a better audience rating of 68%. This film is worth watching for sci-fi and disaster movie fans.

RELATED:ROLAND EMMERICH DISCUSSES WHETHER HED LAUNCH INTO SPACE TO SHOOT A MOVIE

Moonfallrelease date: February 4, 2022

Jackass Foreveris Paramount Pictures reality slapstick black comedy film directed by Jeff Tremaine. The sequel toJackass 3D(2010)it is the fourth main installment and the fifth overall installment in theJackassfilm series. The film starsJohnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Wee Man, Danger Ehren, and Preston Lacy. It also includes various celebrity guest appearances.

Synopsis: Celebrating the joy of being back together with your best friends and a perfectly executed shot to the dingdong, the original jackass crew return for another round of hilarious, wildly absurd, and often dangerous displays of comedy with a little help from some exciting new cast.

Jackass Forever is set for a wide theatrical release. The R-rated film was well-received by critics. It holds an 85% RT score so far based on 116 reviews. This is a must-watch comedy for the Jackass fans.

Jackass Foreverrelease date: February 4, 2022

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Last Looks is RLJE Films mystery action crime thriller directed by Tim Kirkby, from a screenplay by Howard Michael Gould based on his 2018 novel of the same name. It stars Charlie Hunnam, Mel Gibson, Morena Baccarin, Lucy Fry, Rupert Friend, Dominic Monaghan, Jacob Scipio, and Clancy Brown. This R-rated thriller will be released in limited theatres and on-demand simultaneously. The film so far holds a 67% RT score based on 27 reviews.

Synopsis: Charlie Waldo (Hunnam) is an ex-LAPD superstar who left the force and now lives a life of simplicity and solitude deep in the woods. Alistair Pinch (Gibson) is an eccentric actor who spends his days drunk on the set of his TV show. When Pinchs wife is found dead, he is the prime suspect and Waldo is convinced to come out of retirement to investigate what happened. The case finds Waldo contending with gangsters, Hollywood executives, and pre-school teachers, all in pursuit of clearing Pinchs name or confirming his guilt.

Last Looks(VOD & limited theatres) release date: February 4, 2022

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Last Survivors is Vertical Entertainments sci-fi mystery thriller directed by Drew Mylrea and starring Drew Van Acker, Alicia Silverstone, Stephen Moyer, Benjamin Arthur, and Mark Famiglietti. It will release in limited theatres and on-demand simultaneously. The thriller so far holds a 71% RT score based on 14 reviews.

Synopsis: Troy (Moyer) and his son Jake (Acker) have been living off the grid for over twenty years. Every day is a fight for survival with Troy warning his son of dire consequences should he go beyond the barriers of the woodland Utopia they have built together as all interlopers are dealt with in the most brutal fashion. But the sheltered and nave Jake is naturally becoming curious about life outside their isolated wilderness. And a chance encounter with a beautiful stranger (Silverstone) is about to see their world unravel in a shocking flood of secrets, lies. and homegrown horror.

Last Survivors(VOD & limited theatres) release date: February 4, 2022

Catwoman: Huntedis an animated direct-to-video superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, based on the DC Comics. The film is directed by Shinsuke Terasawa and written by Greg Weisman.Catwoman: Huntedis a standalone film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. The anime-styled film will be released digitally.

The voice cast includes Elizabeth Gillies as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Stephanie Beatriz as Kate Kane/Batwoman, Jonathan Banks as Roman Sionis/Black Mask, Steve Blum as Solomon Grundy,Lauren Cohan as Julia Pennyworth, Keith David as Tobias Whale, Zehra Fazal as Talia al Ghul and Nosferata, Jonathan Frakes as King Faraday and Boss Moxie, Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Barbara Minerva/Cheetah, Kelly Hu as Jade Nguyen/Cheshire, Andrew Kishino as Mr. Yakuza and Domino 6, Eric Lopez as Domino 1, Jacqueline Obradors as La Dama, and Ron Yuan as Doctor Tzin.

Synopsis: Catwomans attempt to steal a priceless jewel puts her squarely in the crosshairs of both a powerful consortium of villains and the ever-resourceful Interpol, not to mention Batwoman. It might just be enough to contain her. Or not.

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Catwoman: HuntedVOD release date: February 8, 2022

Alone With Youis Dark Star Pictures horror mystery-thriller written and directed by Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks. The film stars Emily Bennett, Barbara Crampton, Emma Myles, Dora Madison, and Meghan Lane. It so far has a 75% RT score based on 16 reviews. The film is set for a limited theatrical release on February 4, 2022, and later will be released digitally through VOD.

Synopsis: As a young woman painstakingly prepares a romantic homecoming for her girlfriend, their apartment begins to feel more like a tomb when strange voices, shadows, and hallucinations reveal a truth shes been unwilling to face.

Alone With You VOD release date: February 8, 2022

Apex is RLJE Films sci-fi action thriller directed by Edward John Drake and written by John Drake and Corey William Large (The Ninth Passenger, Cosmic Sin). Apex stars Neal McDonough (Yellowstone, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), Bruce Willis (Die Hard, The Sixth Sense), Corey William Large (Cosmic Sin), Lochlyn Munro (Riverdale), Trevor Gretzky (Spiral), Megan Peta Hill (Open Water 3), Alexia Fast (The Ninth Passenger), and Nels Lennarson (Broil).

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Synopsis: Serving a life sentence for a crime he didnt commit, ex-cop Thomas Malone (Willis) is offered a chance at freedom if he can survive a deadly game of Apex. Six hunters pay for the pleasure of hunting another human on a remote island, but once Malone arrives all hell breaks loose. Laying traps and playing mind games, Malone tries to turn the tables and fight for his life and his future.

Drake and Willis have been teaming up quite often recently. John Drake directedCosmic Sin(2021) andAmerican Siege(2021) which starred Willis and they are teaming once again for the upcomingGasoline Alleywhich will be released this month as well. Willis is well known for his action films, he makes a bunch of direct-to-video action films every year.

Apex was released in limited theatres and through VOD simultaneously on November 12, 2021. It didnt get a good RT critics score but it has a 72% audience score. Now it is scheduled for a DVD and Blu-ray release.

Read our review forApexbelow!

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Apex (DVD & Blue-ray) release date: February 8, 2022

KIMI (Kimi) is HBO Maxs original crime thriller drama directed by Steven Soderbergh (Oceans trilogy) and written and produced by David Koepp. The film stars Zo Kravitz, Rita Wilson, India de Beaufort, Emily Kuroda, Byron Bowers, Jaime Camil, Jacob Vargas, Derek DelGaudio, Erika Christensen, and Devin Ratray. The R-rated thriller is scheduled to be released on HBO Max.

Synopsis: During the COVID-19 pandemic in Seattle, an agoraphobic tech worker discovers evidence of a violent crime while reviewing a data stream, and is met with resistance and bureaucracy when she tries reporting it to her company. Seeking justice, she must now do the thing she fears the most: she must leave her apartment. To get involved, she must face her greatest fear by venturing out of her apartment and into the city streets, which are filled with protestors after the city council passes a law restricting the movements of the homeless population.

KimiHBO Max release date: February 10, 2022

Shapelessis XYZ Films horror mystery thriller drama directed by Samantha Aldana in her feature directorial debut and written by Bryce Parsons-Twesten and Kelly Murtagh. It stars Murtagh, Bobby Gilchrist, Jamie Neumann, Marco Dapper, Erika Ashley, Craig Leydecker, Sherri Eakin, and Gralen Bryant Banks. Kelly Murtagh wrote the script and also produced it.

The film follows a struggling singer trapped in grips of her eating disorder who must face her addiction or risk becoming a monster. It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 12, 2021. It so far holds a 67% RT score based on 15 reviews with praise for its story. It is set for an on-demand release.

Synopsis: The worlds a stage for Ivy (Murtagh)there just arent many people seated in front of it. Struggling to establish herself as a singer, she collects humble checks while bouncing around various New Orleans lounges and bars and crooning with her silky-smooth voice for minimal amounts of liquor-sipping patrons. But those meager paydays arent Ivys toughest battle. Thats reserved for when shes home alone, which is when her physical insecurities overwhelm her and she succumbs to a debilitating eating disorder. Keeping her battles a secret has its consequences. Ivy is now transforming into something nightmarish. And it may be too late to reverse course.

ShapelessVOD release date: February 10, 2022

Death on the Nileis 20th Century Studios mystery crime thriller drama directed by Kenneth Branagh from a screenplay by Michael Green, based on the 1937 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. Produced by Branagh, Ridley Scott, Judy Hofflund, and Kevin J. Walsh, the film is a sequel toMurder on the Orient Express(2017).

It stars Branagh returning as the world-renowned private detective Hercule Poirot, along with Tom Bateman (also returning from the first film), Gal Gadot, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Emma Mackey, Dawn French, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, Ann Turkel, and Letitia Wright round out the stacked ensemble cast.

Synopsis: Renowned Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirots (Branagh) Egyptian vacation aboard a glamorous river steamer turns into a terrifying search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couples idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short. Poirot is entrusted with the important task of identifying which one of the passengers of S.S.Karnakis the killer before they strike again. Set against an epic landscape of sweeping desert vistas and the majestic Giza pyramids, this tale of unbridled passion and incapacitating jealousy features a cosmopolitan group of impeccably dressed travelers, and enough wicked twists and turns to leave audiences guessing until the final, shocking denouement.

The film is the third screen adaptation of Christies novel, following the 1978 film and an episode of the television series Agatha Christies Poirot broadcast in 2004. Its release has been delayed several times due to the pandemic since its original release date of December 20, 2019. The film so far holds a 68% RT score based on 72 reviews. The long-delayed whodunnit film is finally being released theatrically worldwide.

Death on the Nilerelease date: February 11, 2022

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Marry Meis Universal Pictures romantic musical comedy-drama directed by Kat Coiro (She-Hulk), with a screenplay by John Rogers, Tami Sagher, and Harper Dill, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Bobby Crosby, which was originally released as a webcomic.

The film will star Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Maluma (making his feature-film debut), John Bradley, Chloe Coleman (Gunpowder Milkshake), Michelle Buteau, Jameela Jamil, Jimmy Fallon as himself, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Brady Noon, and Sarah Silverman.

Synopsis: Kat Valdez (Lopez) is half of the sexiest celebrity power couple on Earth with hot new music supernova Bastian (Maluma). As Kat and Bastians inescapable hit single, Marry Me, climbs the charts, they are about to be wed before an audience of their fans in a ceremony that will be streamed across multiple platforms. Divorced high-school math teacher Charlie Gilbert (Wilson) has been dragged to the concert by his daughter Lou (Coleman) and his best friend (Silverman). When Kat learns, seconds before the ceremony, that Bastian has cheated on her with her assistant, her life turns left as she has a meltdown on stage, questioning love, truth, and loyalty.

As her gossamer world falls away, she locks eyes with a strangera face in the crowd. If what you know lets you down, then perhaps what you dont know is the answer, and so, in a moment of inspired insanity, Kat chooses to marry Charlie. What begins as an impulsive reaction evolves into an unexpected romance. But as forces conspire to separate them, the universal question arises: Can two people from such different worlds bridge the gulf between them and build a place where they both belong?

The film was previously set for February 12, 2021, but was delayed. Now it will be released theatrically worldwide and digitally on the Peacock streaming service on the same day in the US. This is a must-watch film for the fans of musicals, fans of rom-coms, and the fans of JLo and Owen Wilson.

Marry Me(theatrical & Peacock) release date: February 11, 2022

Blacklight is Open Road Films action-thriller directed by Mark Williams and screenplay by Williams, Nick May from a story by May and Brandon Reavis. The film stars Liam Neeson as an FBI operative who gets involved in a government conspiracy; Emmy Raver-Lampman, Taylor John Smith, Aidan Quinn, Claire van der Boom, Yael Stone, Gabriella Sengos, Georgia Flood, Caroline Brazier, Mel Jarnson, and Tim Draxl also star.

Synopsis: Trust, identity, and the danger of unchecked power push a covert operative to the edge in this intense action-thriller. Travis Block (Neeson) lives and fights in the shadows. A freelance government fixer, Block is a dangerous man whose assignments have included extracting agents out of deep-cover situations. When Block discovers a shadowy program called Operation Unity is striking down ordinary citizens for reasons known only to Blocks boss, FBI chief Robinson (Quinn), he enlists the help of a journalist (Raver-Lampman), but his past and present collide when his daughter (van der Boo) and granddaughter (Sengos) are threatened. Now Block needs to rescue the people he loves and expose the truth for a shot at redemption. Nothing and no one is safe when secrets are hidden in Blacklight.

Liam Neeson is well known for his action films, he makes at least more than one action movie every year. Also, Neesons characters family in his movies will always need saving from danger. This is the second time Mark Williams and Neeson teamed up before they didHonest Thiefin 2020.Blacklightis scheduled to have a wide theatrical release by Open Road Films and Briarcliff Entertainment.

Blacklightrelease date: February 11, 2022

Tall Girl 2is Netflixs original teen romantic comedy-drama directed by Emily Ting from a screenplay by Sam Wolfson. It is the sequel to the 2019 filmTall Girl. The rom-com sequel is releasing on Netflix this month.

The cast of the first film returns which includes Ava Michelle, Sabrina Carpenter, Griffin Gluck, Luke Eisner, Anjelika Washington, Rico Paris, Clara Wilsey, Angela Kinsey, and Steve Zahn. Johanna Liauw and Jan Luis Castellanos are new additions to the cast.

Synopsis: Jodi Kreyman (Michelle) deals with her newfound popularity. Her miscommunications, however, start causing rifts with those around her and now she really needs to stand tall.

Tall Girl 2Netflix release date: February 11, 2022

I Want You Back is Amazon Primes original romantic comedy film directed by Jason Orley from a screenplay by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger. The film stars Charlie Day, Jenny Slate, Gina Rodriguez, Scott Eastwood, Manny Jacinto, Clark Backo, Jami Gertz, Jordan Carlos, Dylan Gelula, Isabel May, and Mason Gooding. The film so far holds a 85% RT score based on 13 reviews. The R-rated comedy is releasing on Prime this month.

Synopsis: Peter (Day) and Emma (Slate) are total strangers, but when they meet, one thing instantly bonds them: they were both unexpectedly dumped by their respective partners, Anne (Rodriguez), and Noah (Eastwood), on the same weekend. As the saying goes, misery loves company, but their commiseration turns into a mission when they see on social media that their exes have happily moved on to new romances, Anne with Logan (Jacinto) and Noah with Ginny (Backo). Terrified that, in their 30s, they have lost their shot at happily ever after and horrified at the prospect of having to start over, Peter and Emma hatch a desperate plot to win the loves of their lives back. Each will do whatever it takes to put an end to their exes new relationships and send them running back to their arms.

Read our review forI Want You Backbelow!

RELATED:I WANT YOU BACK REVIEW: A FAMILIAR PREMISE ENJOYABLY EXECUTED

I Want You Back Amazon Prime release date: February 11, 2022

The Sky Is Everywhereis an A24s and Apple TV+ original drama film directed by Josephine Decker and written by Jandy Nelson, based on her novel of the same name. The film stars Grace Kaufman, Jason Segel, Cherry Jones, Jacques Colimon, Ji-young Yoo, Havana Rose Liu, Julia Schlaepfer, and Pico Alexander. It is scheduled to be released this month, by A24 on Apple TV+.

Synopsis: Tucked among the magical redwood trees of Northern California and surrounded by her grandmothers gargantuan roses, 17-year-old Lennie Walker (Kaufman), a radiant musical prodigy, struggles with overwhelming grief following the sudden loss of her older sister, Bailey (Rose Liu). When Joe Fontaine (Colimon), the charismatic new guy at school, enters Lennies life, shes drawn to him. But Lennies complicated relationship with her sisters devastated boyfriend, Toby (Alexander), starts to affect Lennie and Joes budding love. Through her vivid imagination and honest, conflicted heart, Lennie navigates first love and first loss to create a song of her own.

The Sky Is EverywhereApple TV+ release date: February 11, 2022

The In Betweenis Paramount TV+ original romantic sci-fi drama directed by Arie Posin and written by Marc Klein. The film stars Joey King, Kyle Allen, Celeste OConnor, Kim Dickens, John Ortiz, Anna Stadler, Diany Rodriguez, April Parker Jones, and Donna Biscoe. Joey King, Andrew Deane, Robbie Brenner, Dan Spilo serve as producers. This romantic drama is scheduled to be released on Paramount TV+.

Synopsis: This is a supernatural love story that centers on a teenage girl, Tessa (King), who, after bouncing around in foster homes for most of her childhood, doesnt believe she deserves her own love story. Everything changes after she has a chance encounter with Skylar (Allen), a senior from a neighboring town whos a true romantic. As her heart begins to open, tragedy strikes when a car accident takes Skylars life, while Tessa survives.

As Tessa searches for answers in the aftermath of the accident, she soon believes Skylar is attempting to reconnect with her from the afterworld. With the help of her best friend and a newfound belief that love never dies, Tessa attempts to contact Skylar one last time, in order to give their love story the epic ending it deserves.

The In BetweenParamount+ release date: February 11, 2022

Catch the Fair Oneis IFC Films crime drama thriller written and directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka. The film stars Kali Reis, Daniel Henshall, Tiffany Chu, Michael Drayer, Kimberly Guerrero, Lisa Emery, and Kevin Dunn. Darren Aronofsky serves as an executive producer.

Synopsis: A Native American former champion boxer embarks on the fight of her life when she goes in search of her missing sister. It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 12, 2021. It currently holds a 94% RT score based on 32 reviews with praise for its performances and story. It is scheduled for a limited theatrical release and a simultaneous on-demand release.

Catch the Fair One (VOD & limited theatres) release date: February 11, 2022

Here Beforeis BBC Films psychological thriller drama written and directed by Stacey Gregg in her feature directorial debut. It stars Andrea Riseborough, Jonjo ONeill, Martin McCann, Niamh Dornan, Lewis McAskie, Jesse Frazer-Filer, and Eileen OHiggins.

Synopsis: When a new family moves in next door, their young daughter, Megan (Dornan), quickly captivates Laura (Riseborough), stirring up painful memories of her own daughter who died several years previously. Before long, Lauras memories turn to obsession as Megans unsettling behavior begins to convince her of something supernatural. As Lauras determination to get to the bottom of it becomes all-consuming, her family begins to fracture and the line between the extraordinary and the real becomes ever more obscured in this haunting story about a mothers love.

The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on 17 March 2021 and received positive reviews from critics, with Riseboroughs performance being singled out for praise. The film was nominated to compete in the Narrative Feature Category at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival.

It so far holds an 81% RT score based on 43 reviews with praise for Riseborough and the director. The R-rated thriller is scheduled for a limited theatrical release on February 11, 2022, and later an on-demand release on February 15.

Here Before VOD release date: February 15, 2022

Wolfis Focus Features psychological drama written and directed by Nathalie Biancheri. An international co-production of Ireland and Poland, it stars George MacKay, Lily-Rose Depp, Paddy Considine, Eileen Walsh, Fionn OShea, and Lola Petticrew.

Synopsis: Believing he is a wolf trapped in a human body, Jacob (MacKay) eats, sleeps, and lives like a wolf much to the shock of his family. When hes sent to a clinic, Jacob and his animal-bound peers are forced to undergo increasingly extreme forms of curative therapies. However, once he meets the mysterious Wildcat (Lily-Rose), and as their friendship blossoms into an undeniable infatuation, Jacob is faced with a challenge: will he renounce his true self for love.

Wolfhad its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on 17 September 2021. It holds a 45% RT score based on 65 reviews with praise for MacKays performance, its audience score is much better tough. The R-rated drama had a limited theatrical release in the US on 3 December 2021, by Focus Features. Now it will be released through VOD.

Read our review forWolfbelow!

RELATED:WOLF REVIEW: A FILM WITH SUCH INTERESTING SUBJECT MATTER SHOULDNT BE ALLOWED TO DO SO LITTLE WITH IT

WolfVOD release date: February 15, 2022

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February 2022: New Movies You Don't Want To Miss - The Illuminerdi