COMING SOON
Out this week
Albums
* i/o by Peter Gabriel: Tenth album by the English musician, his first full-length album of new original material in over 21 years since 2002’s Up; preceded by the unveiling of a new single every full moon, eventually culminating in the album’s release.
Movies
* Silent Night (starring Joel Kinnaman, Scott Mescudi, Harold Torres, Catalina Sandino Moreno) – action thriller; a man (Kinnaman) goes into the underworld to avenge his young son’s death.
* Candy Cane Lane (starring Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell, Nick Offerman, Robin Thede, Chris Redd) – comedy; a man (Murphy) makes a deal with an elf (Bell) to win an annual Christmas home decoration contest, only to realize that she is evil.
* Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé (starring Beyoncé, Blue Ivy Carter) – concert documentary; chronicles the creation of the American singer’s seventh album, Renaissance (2022), and its accompanying visual album, as well as the world tour that followed the album’s release.
STAR
Rizwan Ahmed
* Born on 1 December 1982 in London, England.
* Parents moved to England from Karachi, Pakistan, during the 1970s.
* Graduated from Christ Church, Oxford University, with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics.
* Began his music career in his teens. Established himself as a rapper, competing and winning rap battle competitions.
* Has released two albums: Microscope (2011) and The Long Goodbye (2020).
* Is also a member of the Swet Shop Boys.
* Made his big screen debut in the 2006 film The Road to Guantánamo.
* Appeared in independent films before getting his break-out role in Nightcrawler (2014).
* Has subsequently appeared in films including Jason Bourne (2016), Rogue One (2016), Venom (2018), and Sound of Metal (2019), as well as television series like The Night Of (2016) and Girls (2017).
* Upcoming projects include the films Relay and Hamlet.
* Has been married to American novelist Fatima Farheen Mirza since 2020.
SPOTLIGHT
Trolls Band Together
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Kenan Thompson, Kunal Nayyar, Camila Cabello, Eric Andre, Troye Sivan, Kid Cudi, Andrew Rannells, Amy Schumer, Daveed Diggs, RuPaul, and Zosia Mamet
Director: Walt Dohrn
Tagline: Triple the Trolls, Triple the music!
* Animated jukebox musical; after one of his brothers (Sivan) is kidnapped, Branch (Timberlake) and his siblings must reunite their disbanded boyband and rescue him.
* Is the third instalment in the Trolls franchise, which is based on the Good Luck Trolls dolls from Thomas Dam. Serves as the sequel to Trolls World Tour (2020).
* Has grossed $118 million on a $95 million budget.
* Has received mixed to negative reviews, with praise for the animation and energy but criticism aimed at its plot and familiar ideas.
* Score composed by Theodore Shapiro. Soundtrack includes the track ‘Better Place’, an original song by NSYNC, the group’s first new song in 22 years.