How the creators of HBO’s The Sympathizer turned the bestselling novel into a dark, comic romp for TV

On the surface, Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer is the perfect target for adaptation. First off, it’s a novel — one of the more lucrative source materials for an industry perpetually hungry for existing IP and a built-in audience.  Second, it’s a Pulitzer Prize winner, a badge of honour that already proved a boon for similar adaptees like Spotlight, Driving Miss … Read more

Rocky actor, former linebacker Carl Weathers dead at 76

Carl Weathers, a former NFL and CFL linebacker who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star — playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies, facing off against Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator and teaching golf in Happy Gilmore — has died. He was 76. Matt Luber, his manager, said Weathers died Thursday. His family issued a statement … Read more

Finding the ‘heart space’: Director Ava DuVernay gets personal for new film

Director Ava DuVernay speaks with the CBC’s Eli Glasner about what compelled her to create her latest and perhaps most challenging film, Origin. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) When you sit down to interview Ava DuVernay, you quickly realize how she rose to the top of her profession in 12 short years. Before DuVernay became an Oscar-nominated director … Read more

Canada’s Drag Race crowns season 4 winner

Canada’s Drag Race has crowned its new queen after a glitzy season filled with heated moments thanks to cast members who weren’t afraid to speak their minds. On Thursday night’s season finale, Vancouver’s Venus joined the ranks of past winners Priyanka, Icesis Couture and Gisèle Lullaby after weeks of fashion, acting and comedy challenges against the … Read more

Moon missions, meteors, a solar eclipse and more: Reasons to keep your eyes on the skies in 2024 

This year, outer space is going to be a busy place. We’ve got the launch of the Europa Clipper, which will orbit one of Jupiter’s enigmatic moons and investigate whether it could harbour conditions suitable for life; we could cheer on the first Canadian to orbit the moon; and we’re getting a total solar eclipse that … Read more

U.S. ‘beginning’ internal discussions about renewing North American trade pact

For anyone with lingering night terrors from the last renegotiation of NAFTA, the notion of reopening the pact might evoke the trailer for a classic horror movie sequel: It’s baaaaa-aaaack.  But this time is different, says the U.S. envoy to Canada. In an interview with CBC News, Ambassador David Cohen said officials in his country have … Read more