movies

Toronto: Black Sunflowers First Look at Ukrainian Youth Coming of Age

Published

2 hours ago

August 17, 2026

James Marcus Haney made his name as a filmmaker sneaking into Coachella, Glastonbury and other top music festivals by posing as press to get exclusive footage of pop stars and their performances.

That need to gate crash marquee festivals with his camera was captured in his 2014 feature documentary No Cameras Allowed. Now Haney is headed to the Toronto Film Festival with Black Sunflowers, a feature documentary about Ukrainian youth coming of age amid martial law as they move between underground raves and car racing on the home front and the brutal front lines of war against Russia.

*Black Sunflowers.*

Toronto Film Festival

The first images for Black Sunflowers, which will have a Sept. 11 world premiere in Toronto, has young Ukrainians facing tragedy and duty as soldiers on the front lines, while they find distraction on concert dance floors, in relationships or bonding at a local watering hole.

Working with a Ukrainian film crew, Haney captures an army truck driver who races his car down city streets back home; a young amputee soldier finding freedom on a high energy rave dance floor, despite a blade prosthesis; a young woman turning from nature photography to war photography amid the ruins of war; and still another young woman being trained to shoot a rifle as a generation of youth face compulsory military service.

Haney, in a director’s statement on the TIFF website, recalls first arriving in Ukraine as war reshaped everyday life: “I was surprised to see how much normal life carried on, despite the war. I couldn’t help but think that mainstream media is missing half of the story.”

Haney’s film joins a slew of other Ukraine war documentaries, including Roman Liubyi and Volodymyr Tykhyy’s Time Machine Maidan, which bowed at Sheffield, Oscar-winning filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov‘s new film, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, and Militantropos, from co-directors Alina Gorlova, Yelizaveta Smith and Simon Mozgovyi.

Black Sunflowers, with an original score by Fred Gibson (Fred Again), Brian Eno and Koloah, is produced by Pedram Rezaee, Mikayla Jean Miller, Yevhenii Zdorovylo, Samy Mosher, Eric Maldin, Volodymyr Yatsenko and Anna Yatsenko.

movies

‘Private Eyes West Coast,’ ‘Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent’ Premiere Dates

Published

3 minutes ago

August 17, 2026

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The CW has padded out its fall schedule with premiere dates for a pair of spinoff series. The series bow of crime-solving dramedy Private Eyes West Coast is set for 8 p.m. Monday, October 5, followed by the Season 2 debut of Canadian procedural Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent at 9.

Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson star in Private Eyes West Coast, a spinoff of the Canadian series Private Eyes that aired from 2016-21 in the Great White North. Priestley and Sampson are reprising their roles as private investigators Matt Shade and Angie Everett.

In the 10 -episode first season, Shade and Everett have left behind their P.I. firm and settled into a new life on the Canadian West Coast, but their new quiet life is shaken when a night out lands them at the scene of a murder. A woman stands over her dead boyfriend with a bloody steak knife in hand. Believing in her innocence, Shade and Everett dive headfirst back into the high-stakes world of investigation. They juggle the challenges of opening a P.I. firm in a new city, and without their friendly Toronto network of sources, Shade and Angie work to build a new community.

L&O Toronto: Criminal Intent returns for its sophomore session with Toronto’s brightest detective duo, Detective Sergeants Henry Graff (Aden Young) and Frankie Bateman (Kathleen Munroe), who see clues others may have missed and always solve even the toughest of cases using their own unique set of investigative skills. With the help of the Specialized Criminal Investigations Unit — their boss Inspector Vivienne Holness (Karen Robinson), Deputy Crown Attorney Theo Forrester (K.C. Collins), pathologist Dr. Lucy Da Silva (Nicola Correia-Damude), and tech expert, Mark Yohannes (Araya Mengesha) — Graff and Bateman tackle the most high-profile homicides in the city inspired by some of Canada’s most infamous headlines.

Private Eyes West Coast is produced by Lionsgate Canada, with arah Dodd, Jennifer Kassabian, Shawn Piller, Lloyd Segan, Jocelyn Hamilton, Darren Giblin and Priestley serving as executive producers. Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent is produced by Lark Productions and Cameron Pictures in association with Universal Global Television and Citytv. Tassie Cameron is showrunner and executive produces Seaosn2 alongside Erin Haskett, Amy Cameron, David Valleau, Alex Patrick and Wanda Chaffey.

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Ariana Madix Makes Broadway Return With ‘Just In Time’ Musical As Connie Francis

Published

12 minutes ago

August 17, 2026

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Ariana Madix is returning to Broadway for a limited engagement in the musical Just In Time, producers Tom Kirdahy, Robert Ahrens and John Frost confirmed.

The Emmy-nominated Love Island USA host will star as Connie Francis beginning Saturday, September 12, and play her final performance on Sunday, November 22.

“It’s a pinch-me moment to be able to come home to the Broadway stage, and all I could have ever hoped for,” Madix said. “I am beyond excited to work with the legends behind Just In Time and to entertain audiences at one of my favorite theaters in the city!”

Just In Time stars Jeremy Jordan as Bobby Darin, the legendary singer whose short but remarkable life took him from teen idol to global sensation, inspiring generations of performers who followed. The musical transports audiences into an intimate, swinging nightclub complete with a live band, a stellar ensemble cast, and iconic Bobby Darin hits including “Beyond the Sea,” “Mack the Knife,” “Splish Splash,” and “Dream Lover.”

Madix made her Broadway debut in 2024 when she took on the role of Roxie Hart in Chicago for a limited engagement. Following her successful run, she reprised the role for another limited run in August of that same year.

Just in Time, which originally starred Jonathan Groff as Bobby Darin, opened to critical acclaim on Saturday, April 26, 2025, and is the only musical of the 2024-2025 season to have announced that it has recouped its capitalization. Connie Francis was originally played by Gracie Lawrence. Madix is the latest to play Gracie following Isa Briones, Olivia Holt and fellow Love Island USA host Sarah Hyland.

Developed and directed by Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge), Just In Time invites audiences to experience the great American entertainer’s meteoric journey – from soaring highs to crushing lows.

The cast of the musical also includes Olivia Holt (Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger), Carrie St. Louis (Wicked), Debbie Gravitte (Jerome Robbins’ Broadway), Joe Barbara (A Bronx Tale The Musical), Emily Bergl (Good Night, Oscar), Lance Roberts (The Music Man), Caesar Samayoa (Come From Away), Christine Cornish (Kiss Me, Kate), Julia Grondin (Funny Girl), Valeria Yamin (Moulin Rouge!), Jaime Foord (Broadway debut), Tari Kelly (Mr. Saturday Night), Matt Magnusson (A Wonderful World), Jeffrey Schecter (A Chorus Line), and Tristen Buettel (Boop! The Musical).

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Levitt joins the company as Sandra Dee beginning Tuesday, December 1, 2026.

Tickets for Just In Time are now on sale for performances through Sunday, February 7, 2027.

movies

‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Renewed For Season 2 By HBO

Published

21 minutes ago

August 17, 2026

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The dancing clown is back: HBO on Monday announced a Season 2 renewal for It: Welcome to Derry, its Stephen King prequel series from Warner Bros. Television and EPs Andy and Barbara Muschietti.

We’re told the move had been expected for some time; HBO was simply waiting on the creative take for the new season.

While Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane co-showran Welcome to Derry Season 1, Kane is now set to take over as sole showrunner.

Set in the world of King’s It universe, It: Welcome to Derry expands the vision established by Andy Muschietti a little less than a decade ago in his pair of It films for New Line. Set in 1935, amidst the Great Depression, Season 2 revolves around the bloody massacre of the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers who stop in Derry to buy ammo and end up facing unimaginable horror.

“We are excited to return to the chilling world of Derry and to further expand on Andy and Barbara Muschietti’s horrifically iconic adaptation,” said Sarah Aubrey, Head of HBO Max Original Programming. “Together with Brad Caleb Kane, they will break new ground in season two, deepening the terror, the mystery, and the unforgettable Pennywise lore that fans love to devour.”

Clancy Collins White, Warner Bros. Television’s President of Creative Affairs, commented: “We know It: Welcome to Derry will continue to captivate viewers with its spine-tingling new journey into the 1930s for Season 2. We look forward to bringing fans back to the town of Derry to experience the next chapter and uncover even more of what lies beneath the surface.”

The Muschiettis said, for their part, “Continuing to explore and expand on the amazing world Stephen King created is an absolute privilege. The support of our partners at HBO and Warner Bros. Television is priceless. Boy do we love our jobs!”

Since premiering on HBO last October, It: Welcome to Derry has ranked among the top 4 series premieres globally in HBO Max history. The series has Bill Skarsgård, star of the Muschiettis’ It films, reprising his villain role as Pennywise the Clown. Season 1 had him sharing the screen with Jovan Adepo, Taylour Paige, James Remar and many more.

Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti will exec produce Season 2 under their Double Dream banner, alongside Kane, Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Jamie Travis and Dhana Gilbert. The drama is produced by HBO and Warner Bros. Television.