Photo: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday night that he was banning the megapopular video-sharing app TikTok in the U.S. — something he and White House officials had been threatening to do for weeks over concerns about how the Chinese-owned company has collected and handled American user data. Trump, who says a lot of things, said, “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” adding, “I have that authority … It’s going to be signed tomorrow.”

Trump also weighed in — somewhat confusingly — on a developing (seemingly White House–backed) deal aimed at avoiding the ban between ByteDance, the Chinese internet company which owns the app, and Microsoft. “(It’s) not the deal that you have been hearing about,” Trump continued, “that they are going to buy and sell, and this and that — and Microsoft and another one. We’re not an M&A (mergers and acquisitions) country.”

But Trump did not ban TikTok on Saturday; he spent the day golfing and tweeting, and he didn’t ban it on Sunday, either. It’s still not clear if Trump’s announcement was some kind of negotiating tactic, a purely political attempt to sound tough on China, or just another impulsive outburst by the pronouncement-prone president. Whatever the reason, the news prompted countless TikTok users to panic, with some issuing tearful good-byes to their followers and others vowing electoral revenge. Microsoft temporarily paused its efforts to acquire the app amid the mixed signals from the White House, while GOP leaders tried to remind Trump about the art of favoring a deal.

Below is what we know about what’s happened so far with the TikTok ban, the Microsoft deal, and what might happen next.

Trump didn’t appear to be in any hurry to follow through on his announcement over the weekend, and White House officials have remained vague regarding the possible timing, as well. But with the news on Sunday night that Microsoft was resuming its efforts to buy TikTok, apparently with Trump’s approval — the risk of a ban seems low, at least for now.

During a Fox News interview on Sunday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the president would “take action in the coming days” to address “national security risks” presented by Chinese-owned software companies — which may mean Trump will be targeting more than just TikTok.

It’s also important to note that there have been bipartisan security concerns over the app, so Trump and his allies aren’t simply going it alone in this case. On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin claimed that “everybody agrees (TikTok) can’t exist as it does,” including both the White House and congressional leaders.

TikTok has an estimated 100 million U.S. users, having enjoyed explosive growth in the past few years to become one of the most-downloaded apps of all time — as well as a rare competitor to Facebook and Google. The company has an estimated value of as much as $20-40 billion, according to Bloomberg. Any deal to acquire TikTok would have to be approved by both U.S. foreign investment and anti-trust regulators, and while there may be other companies or investors interested in a deal, Microsoft had seemed to be uniquely positioned to be able to both afford TikTok as well as win U.S. government approval. Then Trump weighed in on Friday night.

On Saturday, Reuters and Bloomberg both reported that ByteDance had offered to divest 100 percent of TikTok’s U.S. operations in order to avoid the ban, but the Wall Street Journal later reported that Trump’s comments led Microsoft to pause its negotiations to buy them:

The president’s statements spurred TikTok to make additional concessions, including agreeing to add as many as 10,000 jobs in the U.S. over the next three years, but it isn’t clear if those will alter Mr. Trump’s stance, one of the people said. The founder of TikTok parent Bytedance Ltd., Zhang Yiming, also agreed to sell his stake as part of any deal, the person said. Mr. Zhang was going to retain a minority stake under the deal being discussed before Mr. Trump’s late Friday remarks, the person said.

The software giant was in advanced talks with Bytedance, gaining momentum toward a deal they believed met the White House goal for the popular app to get bought by a U.S. company, the people said. Those plans were interrupted when Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he preferred to ban the app and wouldn’t support a sale.

Treasury officials reportedly told the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. on Friday morning that the ByteDance–Microsoft deal was imminent. The subsequent confusion, according to the Journal, is because some Trump administration officials favor the deal, including Pompeo and Mnuchin, while others favor an outright ban, like trade adviser (and anti-China hardliner) Peter Navarro — who tried to claim on Saturday night that Microsoft could not be trusted since it already does business with China.

Several Senate Republicans and the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce expressed support for the Microsoft deal on Sunday in what appeared to be a concerted effort to save it from the fog of Trump. Then on Sunday night, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that he had spoken with the president this weekend, assuaged his concerns about the potential deal, and that the company was proceeding in its effort to acquire the app, per the New York Times:

Microsoft said it would pursue the deal over the coming weeks, and expected to complete the discussions no later than Sept. 15. Such a deal would involve purchasing TikTok offices in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, would continue to own the social media app’s offices in Beijing. Microsoft may also bring on a series of outside investors, which would hold minority stakes in any deal.

The company pledged that if it acquires TikTok, it would make sure all U.S. user data is transferred back to the country and deleted from foreign servers, and said it would bolster the app’s security and privacy protections. “Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns” and “is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury,” the company said. It also noted that the discussions to buy the app were “preliminary.”

On the other hand, the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday that ByteDance insiders have come to favor spinning off TikTok as opposed to selling it, but that could just be a negotiating tactic.

For now, it appears that Microsoft is still on the inside track.

Trump’s supposed ban has prompted an outpouring of grief, outrage, and attention among the app’s users. TikTok videos referencing the ban have clocked more than 380 million views as of Sunday afternoon. Creators have put out emotional good-byes, announcements to their followers about where else they could be found online post-ban, explanations for supposed methods of getting around the ban, and in some cases, attempts to dissuade Trump by appealing to his vanity:

On Saturday, TikTok’s U.S. general manager, Vanessa Pappas, put out a TikTok video letting users know that their concerns had been heard and assuring them that the company expected to continue operating in the U.S. for a long time:

There has been ongoing speculation, on and off of TikTok, that Trump is specifically going after the app as an act of retaliation against its users — some of whom reserved tickets as a prank to his infamously under-attended Tulsa rally in June, and one user has become famous for lip-syncing to the president. While it’s never a good idea to underestimate how much Trump does anything because of personal animus, there is typically some evidence of such views from the president, who is neither known for his guile nor keeping his feelings to himself.

TikTok has insisted that no one needs to be worried about user data falling into the hands of China’s government, but as Stratechery’s Ben Thompson has noted, the concerns over data sharing are valid:

TikTok data absolutely can be sent to China, and, it is important to note, this would be the case even if (TikTok’s) privacy policy were not so honest. All Chinese Internet companies are compelled by the country’s National Intelligence Law to turn over any and all data that the government demands, and that power is not limited by China’s borders. Moreover, this requisition of data is not subject to warrants or courts, as is the case with U.S. government requests for data from Facebook or any other entity; the Chinese government absolutely could be running a learning algorithms in parallel to ByteDance’s on all TikTok data.

He also argues that allowing China to control such a powerful and influential social-media platform could have dire consequences:

(TikTok) censored #BlackLivesMatter and #GeorgeFloyd, blocked a teenager discussing China’s genocide in Xinjiang, and blocked a video of Tank Man. The Guardian published TikTok guidelines that censored Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, and the Falun Gong, and I myself demonstrated that TikTok appeared to be censoring the Hong Kong protests and Houston Rockets basketball team.

The point, though, is not just censorship, but its inverse: propaganda. TikTok’s algorithm, unmoored from the constraints of your social network or professional content creators, is free to promote whatever videos it likes, without anyone knowing the difference. TikTok could promote a particular candidate or a particular issue in a particular geography, without anyone — except perhaps the candidate, now indebted to a Chinese company — knowing. You may be skeptical this might happen, but again, China has already demonstrated a willingness to censor speech on a platform banned in China; how much of a leap is it to think that a Party committed to ideological dominance will forever leave a route directly into the hearts and minds of millions of Americans untouched?

Banning — or effectively banning — TikTok wouldn’t be as easy as the Trump administration claims, but it wouldn’t be impossible, either. According to Trump, he could use emergency economic powers or an executive order to implement the ban, and there is some precedent for that kind of strong-arming, as Recode’s Shirin Ghaffary has explained:

If what’s being reported is true, Trump would issue the order for ByteDance to divest from TikTok through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews foreign acquisitions and investments in U.S. businesses that could threaten national security. The committee, chaired by Mnuchin, has the power to block or reverse mergers and acquisitions involving U.S. and foreign companies.

Increasingly, the agency has been exercising its authority over foreign-owned tech companies operating in the U.S. Last year, CFIUS helped block one of the biggest deals in tech history, after Trump followed its recommendations to stop Singapore-based Broadcom from acquiring the U.S. semiconductor company Qualcomm. The committee also forced Chinese owners to divest from the dating app Grindr and the health startup PatientsLikeMe.

As far as an actual ban of the app, that would be far more difficult, if not illegal, according to Adi Robertson at the Verge:

The most intense app bans happen at the network level, blocking any communication between the targeted servers and users in the country. That’s the approach taken by China’s Great Firewall, and it’s how India enforces its recently implemented TikTok ban. (Australia, which is considering a similar ban, would likely take the same approach.) But American law doesn’t have any precedent for blocking software in that way, so it seems unlikely that the White House would be able to follow through on that kind of heavy-handed network censorship.

Another option would be deplatforming:

To really take TikTok off Americans’ phones, the government would have to do something like make Apple and Google sever their ties with ByteDance (along with any other Chinese app makers). Getting removed from the iOS App Store and Google Play Store would vastly reduce TikTok’s appeal, even if you could still access it through a sideloaded app or website … The government would essentially be ordering companies to deplatform TikTok — and deplatforming can be extremely powerful.

To do this, the Trump administration could repeat a tactic it used with Huawei: have the Commerce Department put TikTok on the “entity list” that limits its commercial ties to US companies. The administration doesn’t need congressional approval to do this, and it can cite any US company that does business with them (barring special exemptions) for violating sanctions.

The outcome of the U.S.–TikTok standoff could have far-reaching implications. As Shirin Ghaffary has pointed out, a ban or forced sale could jeopardize TikTok’s success and weaken its ability to challenge U.S. tech giants like Google and Facebook, which are already benefiting from massive monopolies. The entertainment-industry impact could also be huge, both for creators and for the businesses that orbit them — and everyone got a taste of what that might be like over the weekend, according to the New York Times’ Taylor Lorenz:

TikTok is known mostly for dance videos and comedic skits, but that silliness can obscure two facts: TikTok has become a powerhouse in the entertainment industry and the primary platform that music executives and talent agents use to scout the next big act. And, at the same time, especially as the election nears, the app has become an information and organizing hub for Gen Z activists and politically-minded young people …

The loss of TikTok would upend large swaths of the entertainment industry that have just been completely reoriented around the app. TikTok has rewritten the pop charts, becoming a new default for how labels and aspiring artists promote their songs. And TikTok is where major brands like American Eagle, Chipotle and others spend millions to reach the next generation of consumers.

Elsewhere, some critics like Wired’s Nicholas Thompson have argued that putting aside the security concerns, banning TikTok would be a big blow to free speech, as well:

If one is an avid believer in free speech, how can one even threaten the death penalty for a social media platforrm? TikTok is full of garbage and sometimes hate. But it’s free and open, even in ways that other platforms aren’t …

For the past several years, I’ve warned that the biggest threat to the internet is the technological cold war between the reasonably open, free internet of the West, and the closed authoritarian internet of the East. Now, with the President’s repudiation of free speech and open markets, I worry whether there isn’t as much difference between the two sides after all.

And there could be other political consequences. In early July, a Morning Consult survey unsurprisingly found that Republicans and older adults expressed the most support for banning TikTok, while 59 percent of Generation-Z respondents opposed it. Furthermore, one in four adult members of Gen Z said they were more inclined to use TikTok after learning the U.S. was considering banning it. In addition, NBC News noted on Saturday that banning TikTok could prompt first-time voters to seek electoral revenge:

The popular app that has 100 million users in the U.S. has proved especially vital to many during the coronavirus pandemic as a source of entertainment, community and education, a half-dozen users told NBC News in interviews Saturday. They said TikTok has helped them both unplug from the harsh realities of the world and plug into communities that make them feel connected. Some said that if Trump does ban the app, it could motivate many young TikTokers to vote against the president in the November election.

“If it hasn’t already, I think this will definitely be a game-changer in young voters going out and voting for sure,” Kaylyn Elkins, 18, of Washington state, said.

The Times captured some like-minded views:

“For many kids, politics feel very distant,” said Eitan Bernath, 18, who has 1.2 million followers on TikTok. “This might be the first time it hits home for a lot of kids.”

On Sunday, nine TikTok creators with a collective 54 million followers, including Brittany Broski, Hope Schwing and Mitchell Crawford, published an open letter addressed to Mr. Trump on Medium.

Anecdotal speculation does not equal Election Day effect, of course, but Trump banning the app himself, or even just threatening to, could conceivably boost youth turnout this fall. Whether that possibility becomes a reality remains to be seen, but the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that at least some White House officials remain concerned over the potential backlash from a ban.

This post has been updated to include additional analysis and information.

Photo-illustration: by the cut; Photos: Aemilia Madden, Retilers

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White is the Color of Risk-Tables. To Wear White Means Leaning ino The Possility of a Drip of an Iced Latte, A Splash of Red Wine, or, in My Case Recently, The Greasy Black Smudges of a Bike Chain. Yet, a Risk Taker I am. This Summer, The Siren’s Call of a Billowy White Maxi Skirt has Become All Too Entrance.

If i had to pin my personal obsession with this lost piece of cloth, it mights have to be sitting in the new york Heat Last September, Watching the Maryam Nassir Zadeh Show A Folling Chair Placed NEATLY AROUND OF A HANDBALL COURT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LOWER EAST. AS MINI RIVERS OF SWEAT RAN THEIR WAY DOWN MY BACK (why Had I Chosen to Wear Mohair ??), i Joalously fixated on the model wearing more not thaning a strip of fabric up and a crochet skirt remminiscent of a Grandma’s tablecloth.

While I don’t see Mnz’s Skirt Full of Holes as the Smartest Summer Investment. At peter do, it was a sweeeping pleated iteration. Father Prada, there was a pencil silhouette. The best of iteration of Spotted was the Light Cotton of Ralph Lauren and Dior – A Bit Boho with Ever Steering Too Far Into Woodstock Territory.

Photo: Aemilia Madden

My Personal Pick is Under $ 150 and is from aritzia. It ‘s tiered, slightly sheer iteration with a bit of flounce. I’d been eyeing pricier options from attersee and tota for Weeks but deciding to Bite the Bullet and Dive in First with a Lower-Priced Style, with the option to upgrade (potentially on sale, too). The aritzia quickly proved it Worth; I Loungeed in It at My Boyfriend’s Parents’ House upstate, Styled with a Baggy Vintage Tee and Birkenstocks. It Also Came with me on a trip to paris, where I styled the skirt with a button-down vest and sneakers. Versatility, baby!

In fact, it was in paris that bent to notice I was not the only one heavily relaying on a breathable white skirt for walking around. It was part of that oh-so-reffortless Parisian wardrobe, offten style back to a classic button-down and a pair of sneakers. Sink then, i’ve the trend the takee off-from the dressed-down styling i’d seen in brooklyn, to being worn with concert and cowboy boots, to the most romantic but Spotted on a recent trip to bologna, worn with florral balls and gladiators.

While I’m Still Ironing Out My Summer Plass, A Long White Skirts is the Sort of Seasonal Staple I’ll Be Packing With Me, Whether for a Weekend Beach Vacation in the Hamptons or A Return to Paris, Complete with a Classic Button-Down. I’m imagining wayys to incorporate a White skirt into my seasonal work wardrobe. No Matter What, With Rosé or Iced Latte in Hand, There Will Still Be Some Risk Involved, But the Reward Will Be Worth it.

My White Skirt of Choice was this tiered style from aritzia. It has an elastic waistband but also ties, so it can be worn low at the hips or up higher at the belly button. I’m five-foot-nine and the skirt hits with just at the ankle, which I love for showing off my sandals, sneakers, and boots.

This Skirt Hits Mid-Calf, so is it on the short side of options, but i like it has an elastic waistband and a flounce silhouette. Alex Mill’s High-Quality Fabrics are part of what Makes the brand a standard to me, and SINCE THIS SKIRT IS MADE OF 100 PERCENT LINEN, IT WILL LIGHTWEight and Breatable for Warm Weather.

Personally, I’m not sura than i’m ready to reembrace the scarf-hem trend, but knowing that the auhts remain top of the fashion in the trend cycle, i’d be remiss to iGore this bohemian from free People. With the Addition of Cowboy Boots and a Vest, the look is playful with the being too kitschy.

J.Crew is an inherently beachy brand, and i envision this skirt being a post-swim staple. It is the Kind of Piece I’d Style Over a Colorful Bikini. IT’S MADE OF RAMIE, A SLIGHTLY HEAVIER But Still Breatable Alternative to Linen.

A bit more wearable than the origin See-through lace Skirts I Spotted on the Mnz Runway, this pleated wrap skirt is the Kind of Summer Staple I’m Always on the Lookout for-Versatile with Formulaic, and Simple with Skewing Boring.

I used to be firmly in the anti-sheer-skirt Camp, but over the last year, the trend has warmed up on me, especally as a styling tool to add texture. My go-to is to style the skirt under a minidress or a long blazer.

Summer is all about ease, so i usually skip over anyding that feeds too, but i find this bubble-hem skirt to esportlessly bridge the gap (no work innded) between effartless and sartorial. The Hemline is Unexpect, but The Cotton Poplin Fabric is Lightweight and Comfy.

For Fancy Summer Parties and Special Events, This Long Satin Skirt from Prada is just the right amourt of dramatic thanks to its extra-long silhouette. I Can End Envision A Nontraditional BRIDE Styling it with an elegant blouse or a fitted blazer for a city ceremony.

One day reality-tv stars will Learn to thoroughly selfeslves before trying to get on a show. Today is not that day. Love island USA‘S Cierra Ortega Has Left the Villa. Announcher iain Stirling Said on the July 6 Show That Ortega Had Made An Exit “Due to a Personal Situation.” That personal situation being that and personally used racist Language about the asian community and people found out. On July 1, fan resurfaced an Old Instagram Story of Ortega’s in Which She Said She Got Botox “I Can Also Be A Little C- – – – GEND I LAUGH/SMILE.” Fans Immediately Called for Her Firm, and Host Ariana Madix Said on Social Media that the comments would be addressed. SINCE HER REMOVAL FROM THE VILLA, CIERRA’S PARENTS HAVE RELEASED A STEETEENT, DISPROVING OF HER ACTIONS But Also Condemning Fans Been Attacking Cierra and Her Family and Friends Online.

On July 9, Ortega Posted A Video on Social Media Saying She Agreed With The Producers’ Decision to Remove Her from the Villa. “I am not the Victim in this situation, “she said. Ortega Called the video an” Accountability video “Rather than an apology video, though she did Apologize to” The Entire Asian Community. ” Ortega Said She Had no idea the slur she’d used to be a slur, but also that “intens doesn’t excuse iGnorance.” Also?

This is the Second Contestant This Season Who was Asked to Leave Love Island USA For their racist social-media content. Yulissa escobar was ascked to leave the show on day two after fans surfaced a podcast appearance in which she was used slurs. She latessed an Apology, Saying, “I’ve Changed a Lot Synce, Not Just in How I Speak, but in How I show up, How to Carry MySelf, and How I Honor the Experiences of Others.” She Continued, “Growth Means Recognizing When You Were Wrong, If Its Uncomfortable, and Choosing to Move Forward with Humility and Accountability.” But that not all – Austin Shepard’s Trumpy Likes Were Also Highly Criticized. Shepard Denies Being A Racist, Saying On Instagram Live“Are you fucking dumb? Honestly, are you dumb? Do you not think?” He pointed to the Black Woman tattooed on his side as proof he couldn’t be racist. “But have Black Tattoos!” is a novel defensive.

This post has haen updated through.

Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: A24, Sabrina Lantos/Sony Pictures Classics, Neon

The fall film festivals are the unofficial kickoff point for awards season, a time of thrilling possibility for dozens of movies by talented filmmakers and featuring skilled and charismatic actors. And yet, distressingly, this early stage is too often where the lists of possible awards contenders start to get narrowed down. If you’ve heard anyone say that Jessie Buckley is a lock to win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Hamnet, you’ve borne witness to this narrowing in action. It’s like we wait all year to finally see these movies, and once we do, we can’t wait to throw 70 percent of them in the bin so we can drive everyone crazy talking about the other 30 percent ad nauseam for the next six months.

Now is not the time for narrowing! Now is the time to cast our nets wide and make the case for award worthiness for as many films and performances as we can manage. This past week at the Toronto International Film Festival was the ideal time to cast that wide net; the festival featured holdover films from the Cannes and Sundance festivals, a handful of films that had just recently debuted in Venice or Telluride, and then a roster of TIFF premieres, ranging from Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man to John Early’s Maddie Secret.

And so with all due respect to the Jessie Buckleys and Paul Mescals of Hamnet and the Renate Reinsves of Sentimental Value, I want to spotlight ten performances that aren’t being forecast for Oscar nominations right now. They deserve to be in the conversation and for as many potential audience members to know about them. What good is Oscar season if it doesn’t get the word out about as many interesting movies as possible, after all?

Photo: Netflix

Rian Johnson’s Benoit Blanc films have featured standout performances before: Ana de Armas and Chris Evans in Knives Out; Janelle Monáe, Edward Norton, and Kate Hudson in Glass Onion; and, of course, Daniel Craig as Blanc himself. Yet both films only managed to eke out Original Screenplay Oscar nominations, which felt like mere consolation prizes. Historical precedent aside, Josh O’Connor deserves serious consideration as a Best Actor contender. He’s hilariously in over his head as a young priest in the hostile territory of a small-town monsignor and his close-knit cabal of true believers. But that comedic skittishness masks an inner resolve, which O’Connor cannily plays ambiguously: Is he sincere of belief or a potential killer? Both? That O’Connor steals the movie out from under Craig’s delightful bluster is accomplishment enough. But when placed in the context of O’Connor’s recent performances, his versatility ought not be overlooked. That the same actor who communicated infuriating brashness in Challengers and louche swindler energy in La Chimera is able to nail it with a character of such disarming sincerity in Dead Man is worthy of more than just passing notice.

Photo: Sabrina Lantos/Sony Pictures Classics

As Lorenz Hart — short of stature, fond of drink, bristling with resentment over his professional partner Richard Rodgers’s new success with Oscar Hammerstein on Oklahoma! — Ethan Hawke does not stop talking for 100 minutes. Director Richard Linklater is fond of a verbose protagonist; Hawke and Julie Delpy gabbed through three films’ worth of Before movies, after all. But Hart’s motormouthed, topic-hopping, half-as-self-aware-as-he-thinks-he-is conversations in Blue Moon are on another level. Hawke somehow keeps us on Hart’s side, even as we sympathize with the barkeep who tends to him, the lounge patrons within his earshot, and ultimately Rodgers himself, who Andrew Scott plays with the muscle memory of a man who has endured Hart’s combination of generational talent and highly developed neuroses for years. Scott won a prize for supporting acting at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, and he is great, but this is Hawke’s movie. He plays Hart with a bittersweet sense of eulogy, a man cursed with the awareness that his talent is drowning in a bottle and whose legacy with Rodgers is being threatened by puerile lyrics like “Where the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye.”

Photo: A24

Somehow, we’ve reached 2025 without Rose Byrne getting an Oscar nomination; not for Bridesmaids or Spy or The Meddler. You could chalk those snubs up to the Academy’s anti-comedy bias, but they’ve got no such excuses this time: Byrne’s brittle, pleading performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is the stuff of the year’s best dramatic work.

The audience cannot escape Byrne in the film. Director Mary Bronstein keeps her camera in uncomfortable proximity to Byrne’s Linda, a therapist dealing with her young daughter’s eating disorder, a flooded apartment, and an absent husband whose phone calls always carry a note of judgment that Linda isn’t taking care of things better. Byrne appears to feel how close that camera is, as if we the audience are stressing her out just by watching her. She pairs Linda’s frustration at failing with an increasingly vehement urge to escape, and her face registers how long this battle has been raging inside her.

Photo: NEON

Performances in foreign-language films have historically had a hard time garnering sufficient support during awards season, even as international filmmakers find more and more headway into the Oscar game. That seems like the trajectory the Palme d’Or–winning It Was Just an Accident is taking, with director Jafar Panahi getting — deservedly — the lion’s share of attention for the film’s blend of emotional rawness and dark comedy. But that kind of intriguing tonal mash-up is exactly why the actors in the film ought not be overlooked, and I want to single out Afshari, who plays a wedding photographer who finds herself caught up in the kidnapping of a suspected Iranian torturer. She blends into the increasingly ragtag ensemble of this ad hoc revenge operation, lending a comedic frankness when needed. But in the film’s final stretch, Panahi calls upon her to access the kind of rage and pain that undergird this story, and she is more than up for the challenge. The next challenge is for award voters to dig a bit deeper themselves, because if this kind of performance were in an English-language drama, she’d be in the Oscar mix for sure.

Photo: Toronto International Film Festival

Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers is an unusual film for the director, a near chamber piece featuring Ian McKellen as a painter who has passed from relevance into the realm of filming Cameos from his studio inside his cavernous London townhouse. The veteran actor, whose own distinguished career in theater and dramatic film is often overshadowed by his phenomenal success in franchise IP, feels right at home lamenting an art world gone to ruin and tossing out generation-gap barbs towards Michaela Coel as the art restorer/forger sent to complete an unfinished series of portraits. McKellen’s last Academy Award nomination came nearly 25 years ago, and since then, contemporaries like Christopher Plummer, Bill Nighy, Jonathan Pryce, and Anthony Hopkins have all been recognized with Oscar nominations and wins. Peter O’Toole got a fare-thee-well Oscar nod for 2006’s Venus, in which he played a past-his-prime actor. Surely someone could put together a career-capper campaign for McKellen in a movie in which he’s legitimately great, right?

Photo: NEON

Park Chan-wook’s dark comedy about unemployment, consumerism, and resentment isn’t afraid to meander. What initially seems to be a satire about corporate downsizing evolves into a kind of scheming caper romp, before downshifting into something that feels more horror-comedy structured. It’s a fine excuse for Park to show off his mastery of tone, while also giving his actors a lot of space to go for big laughs. No one takes their opportunity and runs with it better than Yeom Hye-ran, who plays the wife of a recently laid-off worker at a big corporate paper factory. Introduced as a stereotypical shrewish wife, Yeom plows past any pat characterizations with an energetic, passionate performance, one which requires a surprising degree of physicality. In my screening, her character’s unexpected return to the story late in the film elicited delighted laughter from an appreciative audience.

Photo: Train Dreams

Shortly after Train Dreams debuted as one of the best-received films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Netflix purchased the rights and folks started anticipating a possible awards push for the fall. A huge part of that push ought to go to Joel Edgerton, who embodies the soft-spoken 1910s logger at the center of the film. Edgerton’s performance style has always tended toward sturdiness, which has often drawn charges of being stiff or dull. But in Train Dreams, that stillness feels observational, taking in a world full of senseless injustice and capricious fate set amid the stunning beauty of the western states. But the actor never falls into passivity either. In his stillness, Edgerton’s Robert Grainier is grappling with the violence of a changing world, and his physical acting carries that struggle. It’s a masterfully subtle work in one of the year’s more breathtaking films.

Photo: Focus Features

Justifiably, the skyrocketing praise for the acting in Hamnet is going to stars Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. They don’t need anyone’s help to get on the awards radar, not as audiences are getting flattened by their devastating depictions of parental grief. But if Hamnet is the awards juggernaut it’s seeming like it might be, there could be room for one more performer on its bandwagon. Noah Jupe, the now-20-year-old young actor from such films as A Quiet Place and HoneyBoy, shows up late in the film, as an actor portraying the title character in Hamlet. Jupe’s casting is itself meaningful, as his younger brother, Jacobi, plays Hamnet in the film. Obviously, there’s a lot of weight put on this play-within-the-film to deliver some kind of catharsis, and while Mescal and Buckley are emoting their asses off from either side of the stage, it’s Jupe who serves as a kind of living conduit, and he plays the part exactly that way — like he’s barely in his body at that moment. It’s a scene people will be talking about all year, and I dearly hope the young man at center stage isn’t lost in it.

Photo: BiM Distribuzione

What an interesting career Bill Skarsgard is building for himself, from the terrifyingly pouty-lipped Pennywise in It to the terrorized lodger in Barbarian to a stylized gangster opposite John Wick. Even when disappearing into Count Orlok in Nosferatu, you can feel him making choices. In Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire, Skarsgard does the Dog Day Afternoon thing as a charismatic criminal seeking retribution against a system that has wronged him. Skarsgard plays his real-life vigilante as both righteous and naïve, angry at the corporate greed that has helped wreck his life but almost childlike in his devotion to the radio host (Colman Domingo) who could help get his message out. He’s a live wire, and Skarsgard injects almost as much madcap comedy into the role as he does pathos. Speaking of Dog Day Afternoon, Al Pacino shows up briefly in the film for a tense phone call that feels almost like a benediction to young Skarsgard, an urging to pick up the torch for a new generation.

Photo: Sony Pictures Classic/Everett Collection

Well, now she’s just showing off. After starring in the lead role in a film for the first time in her career last year in Thelma, the 95-year-old Squibb does it again in Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut. Squibb’s Eleanor is an ornery old woman who, after moving to New York City to be close to her aloof daughter and the part of her grandson’s face that is visible from above his phone screen, gets caught up in a lie that she’s a Holocaust survivor. While the plot relies way too much on the main characters — Squibb’s Eleanor and Erin Kellyman’s college student who befriends her — never simply having an honest conversation, Squibb is in full control of her performance. Eleanor is opinionated, lonely, frustrated, and scared, giving Squibb a rich palette from which to paint. That Squibb’s lone Oscar nomination was for a performance in Nebraska that only called upon her to be a fraction as complex as her most recent characters is the kind of frustration that Eleanor would get quite pissed off about.

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Photo: Noam Galai/NBC Via Getty Images

The please don’t destroy wind — onto Saturday Night Liveat Least – has come to an end. Following a Season Marked by Fewer On-Camera Appeanance than Fans Had Grown Accountomed to, The Sketch-Comedy Trio-Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy-Is Moving in Different Directions. Wann Snl‘s 51st season kicks off on October 4, Marshall Will Be Part of the Show’s Cast, Jaining Fellow New Performers I have Patterson, Veronika Slowikowska, Tommy Brennan, and Jeremy Culhane. Higgins Will Department the Show to Pursue Acting Projects, while herlihy will Remain on the Snl Writing Staff, Acciting to Sources Close to the Show. It”s the latest in a series of recent shake-ups at Snlwhich Include the Departures of Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim, and Devon Walker.

AFTER DEVELOPING AN Online Following During The Pandemic, Please Don’t Destroy was initially Hired by Snl In 2021 as Writers and Performers Who Starred in Their Own Pretped Shorts. They Quickly Became Fan Favorites by Adapting Their Banter- and non-sequitur-heavy sketch sensitibility to the show. They have struck in sketches in which Taylor swift Called say “Three Sad Virgins” and Bad Bunny Dressed Like Shrek, and Their Success LED to Writing and Starring in Feature Film, PLEASE DON’T DESTROY: The Treasure of Foggy Mountainin 2023.

Despite the News of Marshall’s Snl Casting, A Source Tells Vulture That Please don’t destroy is not breaking up. The trio is Presently on Tour and currently has two movies in designs for major studios that have been to be announced. In addition to their collaborating work, the members of the GROUP WILL PURSUE OPPORTUNITIES Separately. Herlihy ha booked a number of roles this year Including Happy Gilmore 2, Roommates, The Breadwinner, and The Running Man, while Higgins Will Have Projects to Announce Soon.

For fans who want to celebrate the Group’s Time Together on Snl Rather than mourn it, please don’t destroy dropped a sketch-comedy special and tour Documentary USING Footage Shot During 2023 Sketch Hotbe Last Month. It ‘full of Big Laughs that, in Hindsight, May Feel a tad bittersweet.

Mike Shinoda.
Photo: Twitch

If you are happy to be on twitch at 2:30 am Last Night, you might have caught a Surprise Linkin Park Set. Mike Shinoda and the Crew Stopped by Kai Cenat’s Mafiathon 3 Stream at the Butt Crack of Dawn to Five Songs for the Folks on Cenat’s Bedroom (and Online). The Band Played A Mix of Their Latest Year zero Singles, Like “The Emptiness Machine” and “Heavy is the Crown,” and Og Hits Like “In the End” and “Faint.” And it wouldn’t be a kai center stream with a little chaos. New Vocalist Emily Armstrong and DJ Joe Hahn Smashed Up A Light Box with a Baseball Bat and Sledgehammer as thyir Penultimate performance on the stream.

Cenat Has Had Cameos APLENTY ON HIS MAFIATHON 3 Stream. Selena Gomez Brought A Gift Basket of Rare Beauty Product for Cenat’s Sister, Marlon Wayans Stopped by to Crush the World’s Hopes for a White Chicks 2, And Mariah Carey Unveiled Her Latest Album’s Artwork Live, Among Maryy, Mory Others. At this point, it”s probably easier to list the Celebs Who haven’t Stopped by the Cenat Compound in Beverly Hills. Is Leonardo Dicaprio Next? He’s got a movie to promote, after all.