Movies
IMDb announces new ‘Preferred Services’ feature on iOS and Android
Mumbai: IMDb has announced the release of new features to the IMDb app to help customers get the most out of their streaming subscriptions. With the launch of ‘Preferred Services,’ a new feature that helps entertainment fans navigate the expansive world of streaming services, customers can set a list of the streaming platforms they subscribe to, so the app can prioritise the ‘Where to Watch’ information from those providers for each customer.
This enhances the IMDb app ‘What to Watch’ and ‘Where to Watch’ features that help customers navigate the vast streaming and entertainment landscape in the following ways:
1. IMDb currently supports the biggest streaming platforms in India and is working towards getting an exhaustive set of providers onboarded on our Watchbar to ensure a great customer experience. Customers in India today can already see ‘Where to Watch’ information from a wide set of platforms, including Hotstar, JioCinema, MX Player, Netflix, Prime Video, SonyLIV, Sun NXT, TVFPlay, Voot, Voot Kids, and Zee5.
2. After setting their preferred services, customers will have instant access to custom entertainment recommendations right from the IMDb app home screen. Also new is a ‘Trending on your services’ feature to help customers see what movies and TV shows are trending high on the streaming services they use most, and an ‘Explore what’s streaming’ feature that tracks what’s trending on all providers. For users, this means less scrolling and more time enjoying entertainment with friends, as a family, or on their own.
3. When a customer is interested in a title, they can go to that title page on IMDb to see if it’s playing in theatres or streaming on any platform. If the title is streaming on multiple platforms, the Watchbar will also highlight the preferred service it’s on.
4. If a title interests a customer, they can add it to their Watchlist, which is a great place to track the movies and TV shows they want to watch. They can access all their Watchlisted titles easily from the homepage, or from their profile. They can sort their Watchlist by title, IMDb rating, or popularity, and arrange their titles in the order they want to see them. With the launch of the ‘Preferred Services’ feature, customers can now also filter their Watchlist by content that is available to stream on their preferred services.
5. Customers can now also see how many fans have added a particular title to their Watchlist, signaling interest around a title or fandom that they might be interested in.
6. Customers will receive push notifications when titles related to their Watchlists or Favourites are entering or leaving streaming, coming into theatres, or becoming available to rent and/or purchase. They will also be notified if a new episode of a Watchlisted web series is airing that evening in their locale, and when a new trailer from a Watchlisted title becomes available.
Hollywood
Did the ballet and opera controversy cost Timothée Chalamet his Oscar?
The actor’s ‘dying art forms’ comments may have danced away his Oscar chances.
LOS ANGELES: Last night, the 98th Academy Awards delivered a performance that wasn’t in the script, as Michael B. Jordan clinched the Best Actor statue, leaving Timothée Chalamet’s widely predicted win to pirouette away into the night. While Chalamet was long considered the frontrunner for his starring turn in Marty Supreme, many are whispering that a singular, ill-timed performance, not on screen but on the campaign trail, may have rewritten the finale.
For months, the narrative surrounding the race had a singular star, Chalamet, the critics’ darling and the bookies’ bet. However, the closing numbers saw a dramatic plot twist. Chalamet found himself upstaged not just by his fellow nominees but by the ghost of public opinion, following remarks he made during a Variety and CNN actor-on-actor conversation in February.
What started as a breezy discussion turned distinctly frosty when Chalamet, the conversation’s designated trendsetter, took aim at some classical institutions. “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, where no one is interested anymore,” he said, before branding them “dying art forms.”
The backlash was swift and, unfortunately for Chalamet’s campaign, star-studded. For the film industry, an establishment that often fancies itself as the glamorous custodian of the high arts, the actor’s comments didn’t just strike a bum note. They sounded like a discordant symphony. Academy heavyweights, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Spielberg, publicly voiced their disapproval. Spielberg himself countered that the “cinematic experience” and classical performance are bound by a similar dedication to audience engagement, effectively suggesting that Chalamet’s view was perhaps a bit too modern for its own good.
The conversation quickly became a media maelstrom. In a masterstroke of high-culture clapback, renowned ballerina Misty Copeland didn’t just issue a statement. The Academy even choreographed a surprise performance by her for the ceremony itself, a powerful, wordless rebuttal that many saw as a direct riposte to Chalamet’s dismissive claims. Even regional arts institutions joined the choreography. The Seattle Opera offered a cheeky “TIMOTHEE” discount, granting a 14 percent markdown to prove that people do, in fact, care.
Did this cultural counterpoint truly cost Chalamet his win? While some industry insiders argue that Michael B. Jordan’s complex dual performance in Sinners, a performance that also swept the SAG Awards, had simply built up too much momentum, the timing of Chalamet’s comments was undeniably poor. Coming as final Oscar voting began, they arguably soured his narrative and made a vote for him feel, to some, like a vote against artistic unity.
Even the ceremony itself wasn’t finished with the narrative. Host Conan O’Brien, whose sharp tongue is a celebrated feature of these galas, didn’t miss a beat. “Security is extremely tight tonight,” O’Brien jibed during his opening monologue, glancing toward the front row. “I’m told there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities. They’re just mad you left out jazz!”
The laughter that followed was pointed, a final public curtain call for a controversy that Chalamet likely wished had closed weeks ago. Whether it was a case of genuine peer disapproval, a sudden surge in support for Jordan’s powerhouse performance, or simply a case of poor footwork on the campaign stage, the ballet and opera debacle has now cemented its place in Oscar history. Chalamet’s experience serves as a clear memo to future contenders. Even when you are the headline act, a solo performance can still fall flat if you forget to play to the entire house.
