Self Driving Car

Best Android Auto Head Unit 2020: Improve Your In-Car Entertainment

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If you think Android Auto is only reserved for those with enough cash to procure a brand new car, you’re sorely mistaken. Because there is now a busy marketplace for aftermarket head units that can quickly and easily be installed into most vehicles, refreshing the interior and bringing serious Android compatibility into the dash.

Even those ancient vehicles with a thin sliver of a stereo system can now be finished with a large touchscreen that effortlessly connects with an Android phone to offer hands-free Google Assistant interactivity, effortless navigation and on-the-fly entertainment.

Of course, there is a price attached to such luxury and to enjoy the full Android Auto experience costs around £200/$200 for a basic model, escalating to over £500/$500 for some of the fancier systems on the market.

But that’s a small price to pay, seeing as many of these modern in-car units also come with DAB+ ratio, reversing camera compatibility and a bunch of other excellent features.

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LGBTQ Flags

‘Out On Television’ Tracks Evolution Of LGBTQ Portrayals

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Actor Wilson Cruz says a new documentary on the evolution of LGBTQ depictions on television is a “love letter” to the medium’s power.

It’s also a testament to how LGBTQ people and their allies harnessed TV to tell the community’s stories, said Cruz, who along with actor-comedian Wanda Sykes was an executive producer for “Visible: Out on Television.” The five-part documentary will be released Feb. 14 on the new Apple TV Plus streaming service.

“It’s through television that we got to tell the entire society and our own culture what our lives are really like. Because of that amount of authenticity, we were able to move the needle to acceptance.” said Cruz, whose TV roles include Dr. Hugh Culber in “Star Trek: Discovery” and Dennis in “13 Reasons Why.”

“Visible: Out on Television” includes an interview with Ellen DeGeneres about coming out as gay along with her sitcom character, and Adam Lambert discussing his experience as an “American Idol” contestant. The narrators include Janet Mock, Margaret Cho, Asia Kate Dillon, Neil Patrick Harris and Lena Waithe.

Making the documentary gave him a sense of how far the medium and society has come, from invisibility to depictions across a wide number of TV programs, Cruz told a TV critics meeting Sunday. The next step toward progress is getting additional LGBTQ creators behind the camera as writers, directors and producers, he said.

He also called for less violence toward LGBTQ characters and more fully dimensional transgender characters that add to what’s portrayed on FX’s “Pose,” which stars Emmy-winner Billy Porter.

Cruz was asked why depictions of LGBTQ people of color lagged.

“I don’t know why it took so long, but I’m sure it had something to do with racism,” he said, dryly. “It’s a hunch.”

Before openly LGBTQ characters came to TV, Sykes said, she tried to guess at possibilities.

“Pretty sure Roz is gay,” she said of a character on the 1986-92 sitcom “Night Court.” She reeled off a few other hunches, including Mary Ann from the 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island” and housekeeper Alice on “The Brady Bunch.”

 

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Kensington Palace

Questions of Racism Linger as Harry, Meghan Step Back

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When accomplished, glamorous American actress Meghan Markle married Prince Harry in 2018, she was hailed as a breath of fresh air for Britain’s fusty royal family. That honeymoon didn’t last.

When Prince Harry, who is sixth in line to the throne, began dating the “Suits” actress — daughter of a white father and African American mother — the media called it a sign that Britain had entered a “post-racial” era in which skin color and background no longer mattered, even to the royal family.

U.K. Labour Party lawmaker Clive Lewis, who like Meghan has biracial heritage, says the royal rift shows that Britain still has a problem with “structural racism.”

“We can see it with Meghan Markle and the way that she’s been treated in the media, we know that this is a reality of the 21st century, still,” Lewis told Sky News. “After 400 years of racism you can’t just overturn it overnight.”

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Video Game Controller

Where FaZe Clan Sees the Future of Gaming and Entertainment

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Lee Trink has spent nearly his entire career in the entertainment business. The former president of Capitol Records is now the head of FaZe Clan, an esports juggernaut that is one of the most recognizable names in the wildly popular phenomenon of competitive gaming.

Trink sees FaZe Clan as the voice of a new generation of consumers who are finding their voice and their identity through gaming — and it’s a voice that’s increasingly speaking volumes in the entertainment industry through a clutch of competitive esports teams, a clothing and lifestyle brand and a network of creators who feed the appetites of millions of young gamers.

As the company struggles with a lawsuit brought by one of its most famous players, Trink is looking to the future — and setting his sights on new markets and new games as he consolidates FaZe Clan’s role as the voice of a new generation.

“The teams and social media output that we create is all marketing,” he says. “It’s not that we have an overall marketing strategy that we then populate with all of these opportunities. We’re not maximizing all of our brands.”

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Veteranarian

Review: ‘Dolittle,’ With Robert Downey Jr., is a Disaster

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The century of human history since Hugh Lofting, in 1920, created his eccentric veterinarian character has only made Dolittle a more astute fictional figure, and a natural candidate for big-screen resurrection. Aquaman can talk to the fishes but Dolittle has the ability to converse with all fauna.

But if they could speak, no realm of the animal kingdom — no penguin, parakeet or panda — would have anything good to say about Stephen Gaghan’s “Dolittle,” a big-budget train wreck in which things go so awry that it can’t even be said to be strictly for the dogs.

“Dolittle,” starring Robert Downey Jr., arrives just weeks after the advent of “Cats,” another Universal Pictures release likewise stuffed with computer generated animals. “Dolittle” is a more harmless and whimsical family entertainment, less likely to provoke nightmares than the digitally furred felines of Tom Hooper’s Andrew Lloyd Webber adaptation. But, just the same, the two films together could be the worst setback for animalia since global warming, or at least “Howard the Duck.”

But perhaps the biggest disappointment of “Dolittle” isn’t the incoherent story line, the suffocating CGI or the unfunny stable of celebrity-voiced creatures. It’s that Downey’s personality doesn’t come through at all, either a victim of the surrounding mess or a party to it.

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Joker Movie

‘Joker’ Leads Oscar Nominations; Female Directors Snubbed Yet Again

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Female filmmakers were shut out, “Parasite” made history and “Joker” edged out “The Irishman,” “1917” and “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” in Monday’s Oscar nominations.

Todd Phillips’ R-rated superhero smash “Joker” topped all films with 11 nominations to the 92nd Academy Awards, while Martin Scorsese’s elegiac crime epic “The Irishman,” Quentin Tarantino’s 1960s Los Angeles fairy tale “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and Sam Mendes’ continuous World War I tale “1917” all trailed close behind with 10 nods apiece.

Those four were among the nine films nominated for best picture by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The others were: Greta Gerwig’s Louisa May Alcott adaptation “Little Women,” Noah Baumbach’s divorce drama “Marriage Story,” Taika Waititi’s Nazi Germany romp “Jojo Rabbit,” James Mangold’s racing drama “Ford v Ferrari” and Bong Joon Ho’s class satire “Parasite” — the first Korean film to be nominated and only the 11th non-English best-picture nominee.

“Joker,” which gives the DC Comics villain an antihero spin cribbed from Scorsese, was expected to do well. But the academy’s overwhelming support for a divisive movie that was far from a critical favorite was unexpected. Its nominations included best actor for Joaquin Phoenix and best director for Phillips.

Though a record 62 women (or about a third of nominees) were nominated Monday, the academy put the most weight behind a handful of swaggering male-driven and man-made movies predicated on virtuosity, spectacle and star power. For the 87th time, the academy selected all-male directing nominees.

Hollywood, in the midst of a streaming upheaval, also gave Netflix more nominations than ever before: 24. The 10 nominations for “The Irishman” tied the most for a Netflix film, following “Roma” last year. Scorsese, a one-time winner for “The Departed,” was nominated for best director for the ninth time. The film also won nods for Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and its de-aging special effects. “We put all of ourselves into this picture,” said Scorsese in a statement.

“1917” followed up its Golden Globes win and strong opening weekend at the box office with nominations not just for its technical achievement (including Mendes’ directing and Roger Deakins’ cinematography) but for best screenplay, too.

“Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” was nominated in just about every category it was expected to, including Tarantino for directing and screenplay, best actor for Leonardo DiCaprio and best supporting actor for Brad Pitt. And Hollywood loves little more than a good story about itself.

“It’s a real love story to this industry,” DiCaprio said by phone. “In this movie, Quentin got to do a movie that was a homage to Los Angeles and a place that I grew up in.”

Despite a year in which women made historic gains behind the camera, female directors were again shut out of best director. The most likely candidate was Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”), who was the last woman nominated, two years ago for “Lady Bird.”

“Congratulations to those men,” said Issa Rae, who presented the nominees alongside John Cho.

Rebecca Goldman, chief operating officer for Time’s Up said of the lack of women nominated for directing: “This is why Time’s Up exists — to ensure women in entertainment and across industries get the opportunities and recognition they deserve.”

There were many surprises. Awkwafina, who was poised to become just the second Asian American nominated for best actress (the first, 1936 nominee Merle Oberon, hid her South Asian heritage), wasn’t nominated for her acclaimed leading performance in “The Farewell.” Also overlooked for best animated film was “Frozen 2,” the highest grossing animated film ever; Beyoncé, for her “Lion King” song; and the hit documentary “Apollo 11.”

 

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Video Camera

Fox Alternative Entertainment Searching For Studio Head

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Fox Alternative Entertainment is searching for a studio head as the company’s unscripted chief Rob Wade looks to funnel ideas from young talent and international producers.

Wade, President of Alternative and Specials at Fox Entertainment, told Deadline that the company is investing in the in-house production division, which was set up last year, with the hope of finding big, broad entertainment series.

Corie Henson, Wade’s former number two who joined TBS and TNT last year, will not be directly replaced and the Brit has already started interviewing candidates on the studio side.

“We’ve got a great team on the network and I’m looking to bolster that but my main focus of investment in more senior figures is on the studio side. Fox Alternative Entertainment is going to have a studio head and then a small team,” he said.

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Superhero Shield

Captain America Actress Charged With Second Degree Murder

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Captain America: The First Avenger actress Mollie Fitzgerald has been arrested in Kansas City and charged with second degree murder after she allegedly killed her mother.

Fitzgerald’s mother – Patricia ‘Tee’ Fitzgerald, 68 – was discovered inside her Olathe home on 20 December 2019 and had been stabbed to death by a single stab wound. Her daughter has been jailed at the Johnson County Jail on a $500,000 bond. It is unclear whether she has retained an attorney as yet.

Police have confirmed that “a 38 year old white female, known to the victim, was contacted on scene and transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. This case remains under investigation by the Olathe Police Department.”

As well as acting, Mollie Fitzgerald was trying to make a name for herself as a filmmaker, however, she was most noted for her role as Stark Girl in the 2011 movie. She also worked as Joe Johnston’s assistant director and the two worked together again in 2014 on the crime thriller The Lawful Truth which was both written and directed by Fitzgerald with Johnston starring. They also collaborated on The Creeps and Fitzgerald is currently working on the documentary Fireball.

While filming the Avengers film – a movie that took over $370 million at the box office worldwide – Fitzgerald said that “being a part of this production has been one of the best experiences of my life.”

Fitzgerald’s most recent on screen work was in 2018 when she appeared in Trouble Is My Business.

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Patricia Fitzgerald had spent the last few decades living in Houston with her husband of 40 years Terry – who was described in her obituary as the “love of her life” – and was in moving back to Kansas City.

Her brother Gary Hunziker confirmed he was not aware of the details surrounding her death stating “we were shocked. It doesn’t matter the circumstances – the loss of a sister is what it’s all about.”

Police have confirmed that they are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident confirming that “everyone involved in the incident has been identified.”

Fitzgerald is not the first entertainer to be involved in a homicide case.

In May 2014 actor Michael Jace, who appeared in The Shield, was arrested for the murder of his wife who he shot in front of their two children and was convicted of second-degree murder in 2016. While in 1993 both Snoop Dogg and his bodyguard were arrested over the fatal shooting of rival gang member Philip Woldemariam. While Snoop’s bodyguard was acquitted claiming he shot Woldemariam in self-defense, it was not until 1996 that Snoop was also acquitted.

Police charged Soprano’s actor Lillo Brancato Jr. with second-degree murder after an off duty police officer was fatally shot in 2005. Although he was acquitted of murder he was eventually jailed for 10 years in prison for attempted burglary, being released on parole in 2013.

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Back in 1979 Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious was arrested and subsequently charged with stabbing to death his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. Police found Vicious slumped in the hallway in a drug-induced haze and he admitted to the murder. He was released on bail and died seven weeks later after overdosing on heroin at a party.

In 2010 celebrity chef Juan-Carlos Cruz was charged with soliciting murder after it was claimed he had paid two homeless people to kill his wife. Cruz pled no contest to the charge however he was charged to nine years in prison, although it is expected that he will only spend between four and five years behind bars as Cruz had not committed a violent felony.

Record producer Phil Spector was found guilty of the shooting of Lana Clarkson in 2003. Despite claiming that Spector had witnessed Clarkson committing suicide, Spector was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in jail. Due to the first trial ending in a hung jury during 2007, Spector lived for six years on bail before finally being put away in 2008.

One of the most famous cases in recent times was that of Olympian Oscar Pistorius, who was charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Although Pistorius admitted firing through a bathroom door he continued to claim he thought there was an intruder in the house. However Pistorius was finally jailed for six years for murder in July 2016.

Finally, NFL star O.J. Simpson was charged with the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Despite a high profile case dubbed ‘The Trial of the Century’, Simpson was found not guilty in 1995. However Simpson and Goldman’s families subsequently filed a civil suit against him and he was ordered to pay them $33.5 million for the wrongful deaths in 1997. Simpson continues to deny he had anything to do with the murders that split the nation with just as many American citizens believing him guilty as those who believe he is innocent. The case has been listed as unsolved.

Marvel

Doctor Strange Sequel Is Shaping Up To Be Marvel’s Most Intriguing Movie

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Scott Derrickson’s vision for a true horror movie in the form of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness excited MCU fans. But a little over a year before the movie’s release, Derrickson is stepping down. The director announced on Twitter last night that he would no longer helm the project, citing “creative differences” with Marvel Studios.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is more than just another entry in the MCU for Marvel. It’s a bridge to the new, cross-platform world that Marvel exists in thanks to Disney+. Multiverse is supposed to connect Doctor Strange and the film side of the MCU to shows like WandaVision and Loki, some of the most anticipated original series on the Disney+ streaming side. Derrickson will stay on Multiverse as an executive producer; it’s unclear how his departure will affect the July 2021 release date.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was billed as darker than anything that came before it in the MCU, a full-fledged horror movie. Artistically, a horror-fueled Doctor Strange might be what a more mature Marvel Cinematic Universe audience wanted, but it became increasingly clear that studio head Kevin Feige and Disney weren’t as on board. Feige walked back Derrickson’s take on the movie at a Q&A in New York, noting Multiverse of Madness was “a big MCU film with scary sequences in it.” Feige’s comments toned down what Derrickson told fans to expect when he spoke about Multiverse of Madness at San Diego Comic-Con in July.

While Feige and Marvel Studios have championed original filmmaking (consider movies like Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther), a key instrument to keeping the MCU going strong is consistency. Matthew Ball, former head strategist at Amazon Studios, wrote about this in an essay about Marvel and franchises. Ball noted that “universes rely on consistency and continuity that go beyond each individual entry or voice,” adding “they are structured to never end or have troubling ambiguity.” That’s more important than ever as Disney and Marvel try to figure out a way to carry on cinematic storytelling in various eight- or 10-episode series on Disney+.

Marvel is a key component to Disney+’s success. Agnes Chu, an executive who oversees content on Disney+, previously told The Verge that “the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not just a theatrical play,” adding it’s a major play for the streaming service. When seasons come to an end, parts of those stories and character arcs “can migrate back to the big screen.”

Feige and the Marvel team want to make a good Doctor Strange sequel; there’s no question that’s a priority. But it’s also a priority to ensure the seamless transition of the MCU from a film-focused world into a streaming one, where fans can keep up and want to continue watching the next installment. This is something Marvel icon Stan Lee spoke about; he called it the “illusion of change.”

Former Hulk comic writer Peter David addressed the issue in a blog post, stating that Lee believed the secret to Marvel’s success was making it seem “as if things were changing in the life of a character… but, in point of fact, have them remain exactly the same.” David suggested that committing to genuine change could have egregious results “when by simply pretending to change things, one doesn’t have to risk finding oneself stuck with a character who has lost those elements that made him appealing in the first place.”

“The problem is that on the one hand fans want real change, want a sense that something has long-term meaning; on the other hand, as creators we’re boxed in,” David wrote. “Things intended as changes in the status quo are seen only as the latest in an endless succession of unconvincing and temporary morphs, unless they’re dramatic enough that they can’t possibly be undone … at which point the fans go nuts and demand not only the reinstitution of the status quo, but the heads of everyone who had anything to do with the change in the first place.”

Look at the current MCU. Even big changes aren’t entirely permanent. Thor lost an eye in Ragnarok, but got it back; Tony Stark destroys his suits in Iron Man 3 only to return with a plethora in Avengers: Age of Ultron two years later. Iron Man 3 ends with Tony’s personal growth, but it’s reset in Age of Ultron. It’s an illusion of change to keep things fresh while the story progresses and fans are happy.

 

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Amazon in Car

Amazon Releases Fire TV for In-Car Entertainment

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SEATTLE—Amazon is expanding its Fire TV Edition program, enabling the entertainment service to be used across things like smart TVs and streaming media players, as well as new avenues like auto manufacturers and soundbars. The updated Fire TV will offer specific tools and services to better integrate it into products.

For the first time, Amazon is expanding its Fire TV program to automakers, announcing a partnership with BMW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. This will enable living room-like experiences in the car with hands-free access to Alexa, a touchscreen interface and offline playback capabilities. Content can be recorded with Fire TV Recast or saved locally on-device, or streamed over a vehicle’s Wi-Fi, LTE, mobile hotspot or any WAN-enabled device.

After releasing the first Fire TV Edition soundbar from Anker innovations in September 2019, Amazon has announced a second model now available, the TCL Alto 8+ Soundbar-Fire TV Edition. Both soundbars support acoustic performance, with tuned speaker drivers and support for Dolby Digital Plus. Amazon announced that it is working with Anker, Polk Audio and Tonly on new soundbar systems. It also expects to offer Dolby Atmos support, compatible device control, HDMI switching and far-field voice control to its soundbars later this year.

Television and telecommunication operators will also now have easier access for offering Fire TV to their customers, Amazon announced. Following Fire TV partnerships with Tata Sky in India and Verizon in the U.S., operators in North America, India, Europe and Japan can choose an appropriate Fire TV offering as well as merchandising opportunities.

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