Iramb Zusha

NEW YORK: The CEO of American clothing and lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret has resigned amid flagging sales and controversy around a lack of diversity at the line’s iconic annual fashion show, a source said Wednesday. A source familiar with the matter said CEO Jan Singer, who had been in the position since September 2016, would leave the company, but did not specify when. American media outlets had reported the move without specifying the reason, and Victoria’s Secret parent company, L Brands, declined to comment. The departure comes less than a week after the brand’s marketing director Ed Razek garnered anger for saying in a Vogue interview that Victoria’s Secret had thought about and decided against including transgender or plus-size models in their show, which this year was held in New York on November 8. “We attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes (in 2000). No one had any interest in it, still don’t,” Razek told the magazine. The director cited pop star Rihanna’s Sava...

LOS ANGELES: Albus Dumbeldore is a young professor at Hogwarts School; the charismatic but evil Gellert Grindelwald is determined to manipulate the world for his own ends; and Newt Scamander, with his magical suitcase of strange creatures, is trying to stop him. The wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling returns to the big screen this week with “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” and its dark themes are grounded firmly in the real world. Set in 1927, some 70 years before Rowling’s best-selling “Harry Potter” books and movies, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is the second in a spinoff movie series that explores the fight between good and evil, and between tolerance and acceptance. “The thing that has always been extraordinary about (Rowling’s) work is people relate to aspects of it, whether it is specific character traits or vulnerabilities or a political climate,” said Eddie Redmayne, who plays Scamander. “Yet she shrouds it in this world that is so magical an...

Apple has inked a multi-year deal with A24, the studio behind Oscar-winning projects Moonlight and Amy, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters, as the iPhone maker pushes deeper into original content and movies. Apple, which had allocated an initial $1 billion for programming, earlier inked deals with Hollywood celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and ordered two seasons of a series starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston to bring in more content for its users. Other projects Apple had announced include a remake of Steven Spielberg’s 1980s science fiction anthology series Amazing Stories, based on Isaac Asimov’s influential “Foundation” science fiction novels, and a drama from La La Land movie director Damian Chazelle. New York-based A24’s Academy Award nominations include Lady Bird and Room. The deal comes at a time when top online streaming service providers including Netflix, Amazon.com’s Prime Video and Time Warner HBO are spending billions to create original content.

LOS ANGELES: Coming-of-age movie “Eighth Grade” and family drama “If Beale Street Could Talk” scored best feature nominations on Friday for the Independent Spirit Awards, the annual honours given to Hollywood’s lower-budget movies. “We the Animals,” a film about three biracial brothers, led all movies with five nods, including one for best first feature from director Jeremiah Zagar. “Eighth Grade” was in the running for the top prize alongside “First Reformed,” “Beale Street,” “Leave No Trace” and “You Were Never Really Here.” The best female lead category included nominations for Glenn Close for “The Wife” and Toni Collette for “Hereditary.” Joaquin Phoenix was nominated for best male lead for his performance in “You Were Never Really Here” and was up against “First Reformed” star Ethan Hawke, among others. The Spirit Awards, to be held on Feb. 23, and hosted by the Film Independent organisation, celebrate artistic films made for under $20 million at an informal lunch on the Santa Mon...

LONDON: Seven rare vintage posters of Mickey Mouse are expected to fetch thousands of dollars at an auction that coincides with the 90th anniversary of the cartoon character’s first film appearance. The seven posters, dating from the 1930s and 1940s, went on display on Friday at a commemorative exhibition in London organised by Disney. They are going under the Sotheby’s hammer in an online auction that runs until Nov. 26. A price list in a statement from the auctioneer and Walt Disney Co. UK & Ireland suggests they could fetch more than 130,000 pounds in total. “We’re expecting a lot of interest… There are collectors who collect animation posters from all over the world and Mickey Mouse historically is the most valuable of all the animation characters,” Bruce Marchant, Sotheby’s film poster consultant, told Reuters. “They’re particularly rare posters from England, France, Belgium and two of them are the only known surviving examples and for three of the others, there are certainly ...

TAIPEI: Asian cinema’s top stars gather in Taipei on Saturday for Taiwan’s Golden Horse film awards, dubbed the Chinese-language “Oscars”, with acclaimed director Zhang Yimou’s “Shadow” leading the race. Oscar-winning Taiwanese-American director Ang Lee, Chinese superstar Gong Li and Hong Kong’s “heavenly king” Andy Lau are among the celebrities due to walk down the red carpet in Taipei ahead of the glitzy ceremony. Chinese director Zhang’s martial arts epic, inspired by traditional ink-brush painting, leads with 12 nominations including for the coveted best film, best director, best leading actor and actress awards. Taiwanese comedy “Dear EX” about a widow fighting for her husband’s inheritance against his gay lover, follows closely with eight nods in the best film and best acting categories, plus a best new director nod for Taiwanese duo Mag Hsu and Hsu Chih-yen. Best director contenders are all from China. Zhang, Jiang Wen (“Hidden Man”) and Lou Ye (“The Shadow Play”) will face off ...

LOS ANGELES: Pop singer Justin Bieber has confirmed his marriage to model Hailey Baldwin, posting the ultimate status update on social media two months after it was reported the couple had obtained a marriage license. “My wife is awesome,” Bieber wrote on his Instagram account, next to a picture of himself and Baldwin walking and holding hands. The Canadian singer is one of the world’s biggest-selling musical acts. Since releasing his last studio album in 2015, he has been featured on hits by other artists, including Major Lazer’s “Cold Water” and a remix of Luis Fonsi’s global sensation “Despacito,” in which Bieber sang in Spanish. This summer, it was reported that Bieber was engaged to Baldwin, 21, the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin, and in September media outlets reported they had obtained a marriage license in the United States. The Arizona-born model has changed her name on Instagram to Hailey Bieber. Justin Bieber, 24, was the second person after singer Katy Perry to reach 100...