Diego Calva’s Ensemble Film “Babylon” to Open in Wide Release Christmas Weekend

Diego Calva will be spending the Christmas holiday in Babylon

The 30-year-old Mexican actor’s latest ensemble project Babylon, starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, will open in wide release in U.S. theaters on December 23.

Diego Calva, Babylon

The film was originally scheduled to open in limited release during the Christmas holiday, with its wide release on January 6.

Babylon will open in the wake of 20th Century Studios/Disney’s Avatar: The Way of Water on December 16 and will share the marquee nationwide with movies like Sony’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Universal/Dreamworks Animation’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and the expansion of United Artists Releasing’s drama Women Talking.

Set in the 1920s, during Hollywood‘s transition from silent films to sound films, the film follows Manny Torres (Calva) as he pursues a career within the industry, starting as a film assistant.

Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, the film was shot in Santa Clarita, CA, where many silent and early sound movies were made, like Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times.

In addition to Calva, Robbie and Pitt, the ensemble cast also includes Tobey Maguire, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, Max Minghella and Jean Smart.

FKA Twigs Readying Sophomore Album “Mary Magdalene”

FKA Twigs is preparing for the next chapter of her musical career…

Five years since her debut album, the 31-year-old part-Spanish singer is finally mounting her full comeback, sharing album details and some of the horrors she’s faced since we last saw her.

FKA Twigs

In a cover story for UK magazine i-D, FKA Twigs goes through a selection of songs from her upcoming second album Mary Magdalene including one called “Holy Terrain” featuring rapper Future.

“I wasn’t sure whether he would even know who I am,” the singer says, explaining how the collaboration came to be. “I was like, ‘Hi, it’s Twigs. Let me know if you wanna talk about music or anything.’” When the rapper got back to her immediately she had a small fit of excitement.  “He’s such a sweetheart. I sent him the album and I called him up and was like, ‘Listen, Future… this is what my album’s about. It’s a really empowering, sensitive record, with a lot of feminine energy, and this song is probably the most fun track on it, but I still need lyrical content.’ And he said, ‘Okay, I’ve got it’. And his verse is beautiful.”

“He’s just talking about his downfalls as a man; how he’s sorry and asking for healing,” FKA Twigs adds. “I love sad Future. I love when he gets emo, when he expresses himself. It’s just so beautiful when he opens up.”

In expressing some of the hardships she has faced since releasing LP1, including breakups with actors Robert Pattinson and Shia LaBeouf, FKA Twigs reveals a particularly gruesome work experience she put herself through, shooting a Spike Jonze-directed advertisement for Apple only a week into recovering from an operation where tumors were removed from her uterus.

“I looked like death, I looked disgusting. I wasn’t supposed to be moving. And Spike’s like, ‘Okay, so we’re gonna play the song and I need you to dance around your living room to it,’” explains the singer. “I was fully going for it and literally feeling like my uterus was gonna fall out. I didn’t tell them about the surgery or that I had all these stitches in my bellybutton. It was grim. It was grim as f—.”

FKA Twigs wasn’t even meant to be walking for six weeks and here she was dancing. “When I was on set with Spike, the stitches in my bellybutton were splitting open. I told him: ‘Just so you know, if I start bleeding through this white shirt…’. I basically couldn’t lift my arms up, because all your organs stick together and you can’t stretch your stomach. I was involved in the choreography though, so I based all the movements on Audrey Hepburn as she was always moving like that – very forward and with a contracted stomach – because that’s all I could do.”

FKA Twigs still calls the commercial shoot “an amazing experience” though, and the advertisement both won favor both online and at many of the top advertisement awards.

FKA Twigs is set to release her album Mary Magdalene this fall. She will also appears in the upcoming film Honey Boy, written by LaBeouf.

FKA Twigs Stars in Spike Jonze-Directed Short Film for Apple HomePod

FKA Twigs isn’t just a talented musician…

The 30-year-old part=Spanish singer proves she’s also an incredible dancer and actress in a brand-new short film directed by Spike Jonze to promote Apple HomePod.

FKA Twigs

In the nearly four-minute film, FKA Twigs comes home from a dull, dreary day at work. She begins to daydream and moves to the uptempo beat of Anderson .Paak’s funky new single “Til It’s Over.”

Her living room bends and twists along to the melody, turning a mundane night at home into a light-filled colorful fantasy.

“Til It’s Over” showcases .Paak’s unique vocals with a refreshing electronic mix.

Pentatonix Among 50 Acts to Be Honored at the 2015 YouTube Music Awards

There’s no doubt Kirstie Maldonado is YouTube sensation… After all, the video for PentatonixGrammy-winningDaft Punk” single has garnered more than 122-million views alone.

And now the 22-year-old half-Mexican/part-Spanish singer and her Pentatonix band mates are being recognized for their online success.

Pentatonix

Pentatonix, which had the best-selling album by a group last year, is one of 50 acts that will be feted during this year’s YouTube Music Awards.

The platform noted that the winners were “chosen by the fans” as they “showed the biggest growth in views, subscribers and engagement over the last six months on YouTube.”

Collectively, the winners – which include Fifth Harmony, Beyonce, Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Sam Smith, Sia, Pharrell Williams, Brad Paisley, Tori Kelly and Katy Perry — have over 146 million subscribers and 44 billion lifetime views.

To celebrate the winners, the ceremony on March 23 will comprise of premiering a slew of new Vice-produced music videos by Charli XCX, Ed Sheeran, Martin Garrix, Cahoots, Max Schneider, Migos, Megan Nicole, Nicky Jam and Shamir, among others.

The move follows the platform’s first-ever YouTube Music Awards in 2013, which streamed live from New York City’s Pier 36. Jason Schwartzman and comedian Reggie Watts co-hosted, while Spike Jonze oversaw the creative direction of the ceremony, which also featured the production of live music videos by Lindsay Sterling, Avicii and Arcade Fire.