MUMBAI: Here we bring exciting updates from Hollywood industry to keep you amused. Read on.

Thomas Middleditch joins 'Zombieland' sequel

Actor Thomas Middleditch is joining the upcoming Zombieland sequel.

The Silicon Valley actor will star alongside Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin in Zombieland 2, reports leading publication.

Zoey Deutch and Rosario Dawson are also boarding the cast.

Zombieland 2 will be set in a world in which zombie slayers must face off against many new kinds of zombies that have evolved since the first movie, as well as some new human survivors.

Original Zombieland filmmaker Ruben Fleischer, who has helmed Venom too, is returning to direct the follow-up. He is re-teaming with original writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, known for their work on both Deadpool movies.

The sequel began production in January and will be released this October, on the 10th anniversary of the first film.

Middleditch will next be seen in Godzilla: King of the Monsters and stars on Silicon Valley, for which he received a 2016 Emmy nomination.

Berlinale must ignore Netflix films: CICAE

The International Confederation of Art Cinemas (CICAE), which represents art house cinemas across Europe, has criticised the Berlin International Film Festival for including Netflix film Elisa and Marcela in its competition line-up.

In an open letter to Berlinale's festival director Dieter Kosslick and German culture minister Monika Grutters, it said being a public-funded festival the Berlinale should reserve its competition slots exclusively for films that will have a theatrical release and not web portals like Netflix, reports leading publication.

"As the declared business model of Netflix is the exclusive exhibition of films and series on its own portal, Netflix endangers the structures of cinemas as places of culture and the cultural diversity of the film market," the group said.

The CICAE said the Berlinale must ban Netflix movies from its competition line-up or risk undermining its position as a cinematic showcase.

Detlef Rossmann, CICAE president, said, "Either the Berlinale is a film festival and shows only works destined for the cinema or it's not a film festival anymore."

The 2019 Berlin International Film Festival, which began on 7 February, will conclude here on Sunday.      

Melissa Benoist, Chris Wood engaged

Actress Melissa Benoist has got engaged to her Supergirl co-actor Chris Wood.

The duo took to Instagram on Sunday to announce the news of their engagement, reports leading publication.

"Yes yes yes it will always be yes," Benoist captioned a photograph of Wood kissing her on the cheek, with her engagement ring on full display.

Wood shared the same photograph and wrote, "The happiest."

They both met on the set of TV series Supergirl, in which Benoist stars as the lead character.    

The 30-year-old actress was previously married to Glee star Blake Jenner. But due to irreconcilable differences, she filed for divorce in 2016 and officially got separated from him in 2017.

Women shine at Grammy Awards 2019

A year after the Grammy Awards were criticised for its track record in gender representation, women took centrestage at the 61st edition of the annual gala here on Sunday night. There were bold performances and wins in many top categories, including the album of the year that was given to Kacey Musgraves for Golden Hour.

The controversies of last year, when just one woman won a solo award during the telecast - and the outgoing head of the Recording Academy, the organisation behind the awards, remarked that women in music should "step up" to advance their careers - were never far from the surface of the show.

Dua Lipa, a 23-year-old British singer, alluded to that when accepting the award for best new artist, saying she was honoured to be recognised among so many other female artists, reports nytimes.com.

"I guess this year we really stepped up," Lipa said. Backstage, she said the message of greater gender equity was immediately clear to her when the nominations were announced last December.

Musgraves took home three other prizes, apart from album of the year, in the country field.

The ceremony saw Falguni Shah and Prashant Mistry of Indian origin losing in two separate categories, while Grammy and Oscar-winning Indian musician A.R. Rahman enjoyed the show as an audience member.

It was also the night of hip-hop artists.

Both the record and song of the year prizes - the latter awarded for songwriting - were won by Childish Gambino's This Is America, a song about racial injustice.

It was the first hip-hop song to win either award. But Donald Glover, the actor and musician who performs as Childish Gambino, was absent.

He, along with Kendrick Lamar and Drake, the two influential young rappers in music, were offered performance spots on the show but they turned them down, reflecting the alienation from the Grammys that has taken hold among much of the upper ranks of hip-hop.

Drake was there to accept the award for best rap song, for God's plan from his blockbuster album Scorpion.

Before his speech was cut off, he alluded to the gulf between the Grammy establishment and hip-hop culture.

Brandi Carlile, an earnest female singer-songwriter in an Americana style, was the dark horse of the show, getting six nominations - more than any other woman - including in the top categories of album, record and song of the year. She ended up winning three awards, though none in the top categories. She took best American roots performance for The joke, and Americana album for By the Way, I Forgive You.

They were the first Grammys of her career.

Lamar and Drake, the two most-nominated artists - with eight and seven nods respectively - each won only one. Lamar's King's Dead from the Black Panther soundtrack, tied for best rap performance with Anderson Paak's Bubblin.

Childish Gambino's This Is America won a total of four awards, including rap/sung performance and best music video.

The ceremony here began with Camila Cabello performing her song Havana joined by Ricky Martin, J. Balvin and Young Thug.

Then singer Alicia Keys, the host, introduced "my sisters" Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Michelle Obama and Jennifer Lopez. Each spoke about the inspiring power of music throughout their lives.

Among various performers, Janelle Monae performed Make me feel with bits of inspiration from Prince and Michael Jackson, but focused on female sexuality, surrounded by female dancers in tight rubber outfits.

With Bradley Cooper absent, A Star Is Born star Lady Gaga took both parts of Shallow herself. She won best pop duo/group performance forShallow.

Lopez led a Motown tribute performed as a Vegas-style revue. She was joined by Smokey Robinson and Ne-Yo, with a medley of about 10 songs jammed into six minutes and featuring gymnastic, bottom-shaking, somersaulting dancing.

Cardi B won the first Grammy of her career, best rap album for Invasion of Privacy.

H.E.R., the stage name for Gabriella Wilson, led a slow-build version of her ballad Hard place. She won two awards, for R&B performance (in the song "Best part") and best R&B album for her self-titled release H.E.R.

Among the veterans, Diana Ross celebrated her 75th birthday with two hits from her solo career, The Best Years of My Life and Reach Out and Touch(Somebody's Hand), while Dolly Parton had the most cross-generational appeal, singing a five-song medley with Katy Perry, Kacey Musgraves, Miley Cyrus and Maren Morris that had Smokey Robinson and the K-pop group BTS all dancing and singing along in the crowd, reports leading publication.

(Source: IANS)