ACM Awards: Ella Langley Tops Winners; Cody Johnson Named Entertainer of the Year

Ella Langley was the biggest winner at the 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards, which happened on Sunday night. Even though Cody Johnson won the top prize, which is entertainer of the year, Langley took home five awards in total. Her song "Choosin’ Texas" won the first award of the night for song of the year and also won single of the year. She also won female artist of the year and artist-songwriter of the year. Another award she got was for "Don’t Mind If I Do," a song by Riley Green featuring Langley, which won music event of the year.

Cody Johnson also won male artist of the year.

 Parker McCollum’s album, which is also named after him, won album of the year. The Red Clay Strays were named group of the year, and Brooks & Dunn won duo of the year. Avery Anna got best new female artist, and Tucker Wetmore won best new male artist. Jessie Jo Dillon was named songwriter of the year for the third time in a row.

Shania Twain, who has won ACM Awards three times before, hosted the show for the first time.

 The ceremony was streamed live only on Prime Video and was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Wilson opened the show with an energetic performance of "Can’t Sit Still."

 There were many performances that night, including from Langley, Anna, Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett & Jordan Davis, Zach Top, Little Big Town, Riley Green, the Red Clay Strays, Kacey Musgraves, Carter Faith, Parker McCollum & Lee Ann Womack, and Kane Brown.

Lauren Alaina got emotional when introducing Dan + Shay, who performed their song "Say So" in memory of Ben Vaughn, a respected figure in the music community who was president and CEO of Warner Chappell Nashville and passed away by suicide last year.

The show ended with Blake Shelton performing Kenny Rogers’ "The Gambler," written by Don Schlitz, who passed away last month.

The awards are decided by members of the Academy of Country Music, which has more than 5,000 members this year, a record high.

 The eligibility period for the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards was the calendar year 2025. 

A full list of winners from the 2026 ACM Awards is available.

Kristen Stewart and ‘Full Phil’ Cast Get Lively 5-Minute Cannes Ovation Despite Mixed Response to Quentin Dupieux’s Absurd Comedy

Kristen Stewart and Woody Harrelson's fame was very noticeable at the premiere of their new movie, "Full Phil," inside the Palais. The film is a funny, father-daughter story directed by French musician and filmmaker Quentin Dupieux. Before the movie started, Dupieux and his actors, like Charlotte Le Bon and Emma Mackey (who had a very popular movie called "Ella McCay" in France), got a lot of cheers from the crowd, which seemed to be full.

The movie is a strange, funny comedy that made people laugh, but it didn’t quite hit the mark with the audience.

 When the credits ended, people clapped politely. As the lights came up, the crowd stood and applauded for the cast, especially cheering loudly for Stewart. Stewart joined in by making faces at the camera, waving at the people in the balcony, and even dancing a bit to keep the attention on the other actors.

Dupieux then took the microphone and said, “I’ll be very brief because I imagine everyone wants to leave.”

 He thanked the audience for staying and said it was nice but it was late. He used the moment to thank his team, including producer Hugo Sélignac, musician Siriusmo, his wife Joan Le Boru, and the cast.

He ended by saying, “I want to live with artists and work with artists.

 Thank you, Cannes, thank you very much.” He finished with a literal mic drop.

"Full Phil" stars Stewart and Harrelson as a father and daughter trying to reconnect in Paris.

 Along the way, they face French food, a 1950s horror movie, and a nosy hotel worker. The cast also includes Emma Mackey, Charlotte Le Bon, Tim Heidecker, and Eric Wareheim.

Dupieux was last at Cannes with his 2024 comedy "The Second Act," which opened that year's festival.

 Stewart was at Cannes last year to show her directorial debut, "The Chronology of Water," which was praised by critics. She starred in that film as a swimmer overcoming addiction, played by Imogen Poots.

In an interview, Stewart said she was really excited to work with Dupieux because of his creative style.

 She said, “I love his movies. They don’t look or feel like anyone else’s, and those are the kinds of directors actors are lucky to work with. He holds the camera all the time. You’re with him, completely connected. He knows how he’s going to edit it by the end of the day. If he misses a shot, he gets it. He’s not just an auteur—he’s like a mastermind.”

Bulgaria Wins 2026 Eurovision Song Contest as U.K. Comes Last With One Point

Bulgaria's Dara won the 70th Eurovision Song Contest with 516 points for her song "Banagaranga."

Israel's Noam Bettan came in second with 343 points for his song "Michelle," while Alexandra Căpitănescu, representing Romania with "Choke Me," placed third with 296 points.

The UK finished last, with Sam Battle performing under the stage name Look Mum No Computer and singing "Eins, Zwei, Drei."

Australia and Italy were in fourth and fifth places, respectively.

 Delta Goodrem's "Eclipse" got 287 points, and Sal Da Vinci's "Per Sempre Sì" came in fifth with 281 points.

Da Vinci won the Sanremo Music Festival earlier this year, which gave him the right to represent Italy at Eurovision.

 Other familiar faces included Cyprus's Antigoni, who UK viewers might recognize from 2022's "Love Island" Season 8, performing "Jalla," and Delta Goodrem, who appeared on the long-running Australian soap "Neighbours" before starting her singing career.

The contest was held at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, and had the theme "United by Music," marking the 70th anniversary of the competition.

 The hosts were model and singer Victoria Swarovski and actor Michael Ostrowski.

Despite some protests, including a boycott from five countries, this was the second year in a row that Israel came in second.

 Bettan received 220 points from the audience, moving him to first place after the audience votes, but he couldn't beat Bulgaria's 589 points, which led to Bulgaria's first-ever Eurovision win.

This year, 35 countries voted, with each country's jury and audience votes having equal weight.

Last year's winner, Switzerland's JJ, was at the event to present the glass trophy to Dara.

 JJ had won in 2025 with the song "Wasted Love," earning 436 points.

Eurovision first started in 1956, making it the world's longest-running annual international televised music contest.

Sam Raimi to Direct Modern Update of Ventriloquist Dummy Horror Movie ‘Magic’ for Lionsgate

After his movie Send Help, a twisty survival thriller released by 20th Century/Disney earlier this year, Raimi is now directing Magic. This is a modern version of a William Goldman novel that was already made into a 1978 cult horror film. The original movie featured Anthony Hopkins as a mentally unstable ventriloquist.

Raimi had already agreed to produce Magic, setting it up at his own production company last year.

 Other producers include Roy Lee, as well as Chris Hammond and Tim Sullivan. These last two people really supported the project from the start and helped develop it by finding the original rights.

The script for Magic was written by Mark Swift and Damian Shannon.

 They also wrote Send Help for Raimi and have worked on other movies like Freddy vs. Jason and the remake of Friday the 13th. The script is an updated version of the 1976 novel by William Goldman, who also wrote the script for the original movie.

In Magic, Anthony Hopkins plays Corky, a magician who becomes famous with his ventriloquist dummy, Fats.

 Fats is a loud and sarcastic character. Corky is offered a TV show deal but is scared to reveal his mental health struggles. He decides to go to the Catskills to reconnect with an old love, but Fats starts taking over and turns things violent.

The movie also had Ann-Margret and Burgess Meredith in it and was directed by Richard Attenborough.

 Before it came out, 20th Century Fox made a TV ad that focused on just the dummy’s face, saying “Magic is fun, we’re dead.”

Raimi Productions’ Zainab Azizi is also producing.

 Nathan Kahane and Paul Fishkin will be executive producers, along with Andrew Childs from Vertigo.

Meredith Wieck and Pavan Kalidindi are handling the project for Lionsgate.

Send Help, which starred Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, had a big surprise success when it opened in theaters on January 30.

 It was a return to horror for Raimi and got some of his best reviews in over 15 years.

Lionsgate’s motion picture group chair Adam Fogelson said, “His coming aboard represents one of the truly great matches of director and material.”

Curry Barker’s Critical and Audience Favorite ‘Obsession’ Earns $2.6M in Previews

Emerging director Curry Barker's supernatural horror film *Obsession* made a promising start, earning $2.6 million from Thursday previews and Wednesday early screenings.

That’s a strong beginning, especially since the $1 million film is expected to open between $10 million and $12 million in the U.S. during a quiet weekend before the long Memorial Day holiday.

It's still unclear if *Obsession* can beat out *The Devil Wears Prada 2* and the Michael Jackson biopic *Michael*, which are expected to lead the box office.

One key advantage for *Obsession* is that younger adults aged 18 to 24 are not showing up for those other movies.

 Another is that the film has gained strong support from both critics and audiences. It currently holds a 95 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes from both groups as of midday Friday.

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Barker, 26, built a big fan base on YouTube through his sketch comedy channel, *That's a Bad Idea*.

 He later made a found-footage horror film called *Milk & Serial*, which went viral. Soon after, everyone wanted to work with him, and he finally signed with UTA.

*Obsession*, which Focus acquired at the Toronto International Film Festival for about $15 million, stars Michael Johnston as a man who has long been in love with his friend Nikki (played by Inde Navarrette) and hopes she will return his feelings.

 But things get worse when he buys a One Wish Willow, a toy that promises to grant one wish if it's split in half. He wishes for Nikki to love him. Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter also appear in the movie.

Focus is releasing *Obsession* in 2,542 theaters across North America, including 435 large-format screens, many of them premium.

 James Harris, Haley Nicole Johnson, Christian Mercuri, and Roman Viaris are among the producers, along with Jason Blum of Blumhouse, who serves as an executive producer. Others involved include Leonora Darby, Mark Lane, David Haring, and Ruzanna Kegeyan.

Focus put a lot of effort into the film's digital marketing, including selling out a replica of the One Wish Willow.

 The product sold out in just a few hours, and the in-world commercial has already earned over 4.4 million views on YouTube. Fans have also been engaging with Nikki's obsessive and unsettling texts, voice notes, and special deliveries after seeing cryptic billboards in Los Angeles and New York, each showing her messages and a phone number inviting people to call.

*Obsession* generated a lot of interest at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival, where Focus won the rights over Neon and A24, with Universal Pictures handling the film overseas.

Before the film's release, Focus announced it's reteaming with Barker and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster on Barker's next movie, *Anything But Ghosts*, alongside Spooky Pictures and Divide/Conquer.

 Barker is also set to direct A24's *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre*.

Asghar Farhadi Says ‘Any Murder Is a Crime’ When Asked About Iran War at Cannes: ‘It’s Extremely Cruel and Tragic’

 Asghar Farhadi talked about the conflict in his home country, Iran, during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival for his new movie "Parallel Tales," saying, "Any murder is a crime."

Soon after, he was asked about the war between Iran, the U.S., and Israel.

 Farhadi has been living outside of Iran since 2023, but he was in Tehran recently and saw the effects of "two tragic events."

One of these events was the death of many innocent people, including children and civilians, who were killed in the war.

 Before that, there was the death of a number of demonstrators who were also innocent and were killed in the streets, Farhadi said through a translator. "These two events are extremely painful and will never be forgotten," he added.

He also mentioned Iran's response, which included missile and drone attacks on Israel, and expressed sympathy for the victims.

 "Being angry and showing anger over the death of innocent people, civilians who were killed because of the bombing, doesn’t mean you support the execution or the death of demonstrators," he explained. "Feeling empathy for those killed in demonstrations doesn’t mean you can’t also feel empathy for those who died in the bombing."

Farhadi concluded, "Any murder is a crime.

 Under no circumstances can I accept that another human being should lose their life, whether it's due to war, executions, or the massacre of demonstrators. It's extremely cruel and tragic to know that, despite all the progress we are supposed to have made, every morning we wake up to news of new innocent lives being taken without any reason at all."

"Parallel Tales" premiered on Thursday night with a 5.5-minute standing ovation for Farhadi and his French cast, including Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Adam Bessa, Pierre Niney, and Catherine Deneuve.

 The French drama follows Sylvie (Huppert), who spies on her neighbors across the street for inspiration for her new novel. "When she hires young Adam (Bessa) to help with her daily routine, she has no idea that he will turn her life and her work upside down, until the fiction she had imagined surpasses the reality of them all," the synopsis continues.

Farhadi has spoken out about the situation in Iran before, urging his fellow filmmakers to speak up.

 In a statement in April, he wrote, "Attacking a country's infrastructure is a war crime. Regardless of any beliefs or attitudes, let's unite to stop this inhumane, illegal, and destructive process."

Magic Hour Movie, Release Date, 2025 Magic Hour Cast and Crew

Magic Hour

2025 | 1h 20m

Genre: Drama. Romance

Directed by Katie Aselton

Written by

Katie Aselton

Mark Duplass

Produced by Emily Neumann

Cast

Katie Aselton

Daveed Diggs

Brad Garrett

Susan Sullivan

Cinematography Sarah Wheldon

Edited by

Stephanie Kaznocha

Kyle Boston

Music by

Zach Dawes

Tyler Parkford

Production

company

Duplass Brothers Productions

Distributed by Greenwich Entertainment

Release dates

March 7, 2025 (SXSW)

May 15, 2026 (United States)

Running time 89 minutes[1]

Country United States

Language English