-HBO Max didn’t send out the first four episodes of the Sex and the City reboot screeners to critics until very late (and didn’t seem to provide clips to talk shows) which is probably not a good sign. The first couple of episodes have now dropped and the reviews aren’t great, with lots of talk about the show’s “disarming new seriousness.”
–Disney has pulled the Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas-starring erotic psychological thriller Deep Water, which was supposed to be released mid-Jan, from its schedule. There’s no word if it’ll be rescheduled.
-Wow, am I confused by Jessica Chastain‘s repeated attempts to “defend” Jeremy Strong from that NY Mag profile. The writer spent months with him (unheard of in this day and age) and the result was a balanced, nuanced profile. Yes, he is clearly a very intense guy but this is an actor who also once said that he tore up one of his only remaining photos of his mother to get into the right mindset for his role in The Judge, so I don’t think he was mischaracterized.
-Meanwhile, this is the best piece I’ve read about all the reactions to that Jeremy Strong profile.
–Travis Scottspoke about the Astroworld tragedy for the first time in interview with Charlamagne Tha God. “I just control what I can on the stage, and then you have the professionals to control what they can in the crowd. It’s just hard because as an artist you want to have the best shows and you want to have the best experiences so you link with professionals to handle that side of it.”
-At his girlfriend’s urging, Jonah Hill used his time on Jimmy Fallon‘s show to talk about climate change.
-HBO Max’s Station Eleven adaptation is getting good reviews (with comparisons to The Leftovers) but man, I just can’t imagine diving into a story about life after a pandemic wipes out most of humanity.
-The first trailer for Guy Ritchie‘s Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre features Jason Statham and Aubrey Plaza’s team trying to pull a job with an a movie star they’re blackmailing, played by Josh Hartnett.
–Alicia Keys appears on the cover of Marie Claireand talks about struggling during the pandemic (“Everybody was like, ‘Are you just so creative because you have all this time in the house?’ I was like, ‘No, actually. I do not feel like that at all.’ I didn’t even know how to work. What was I supposed to work on? Where was I supposed to work? And when? It was so much of making sure everything was organized and the kids were good”), being an art collector (“Every room in this house has a beautiful Black face. When my kids walk in this house, they look on these walls they see their beautiful Blackness and it is normal. That does give you a certain sense of validation or belonging”), and creating a new beauty brand (“It’s about this idea of nurturing your soul and honoring yourself and starting to create rituals and opportunities for you to connect with yourself”).
–Aaron Sorkin is defending Being The Ricardossince its backlash over casting, and he’s comin’ in hot! He tells THR: “I want to tell you my opinion on this and I stand by it, which is this: Spanish and Cuban aren’t actable, OK? They’re not actable. By the way, neither are straight and gay. Because I know there’s a small movement underway that only gay actors should play gay characters. Gay and straight aren’t actable. You could act being attracted to someone, but most nouns aren’t actable.”
–Adele says she’s grateful that she became friends with her neighbors Nicole Richie and Jennifer Lawrence. “They humanized me because I had avoided talking to anyone that was ever famous in any capacity, because I was like, ‘Well, I’m not famous.’ I’m very British like that.”
–Matthew McConaughey is clarifying that he did not say he’s against vaccinating kids, posting on Instagram: “When asked my opinion on the subject of children and vaccination mandates I stated, ‘I couldn’t mandate it for kids just yet.’ What was not clear is that I was referring specifically to the 5-11 year old mandate. What is NOT true, and insinuated with the clickbait headlines since, is that I am against vaccinating children at all. This is false. In fact, our eldest 13-year-old son Levi is fully vaccinated for COVID-19.”
-While appearing on Colbert’s show, Aubrey Plaza dressed like a witch and offered her thoughts on her past costars. She said Kristen Stewart “smells like cinnamon and gasoline,” Molly Shannon is “one of the most legendary living con artists alive today” and credits herself for Michael Caine‘s retirement announcement “Once you experience the best you got to wrap it up.”
-Oh god. A ninth Astroworld victim, 22-year-old Bharti Shahani, has died.
-Meanwhile, there are reports that Travis Scott attended a Dave & Buster’s party immediately after Astroworld, and Drakewent to a strip club the following night. There are also lots of questions being raised about Scott’s partnership with BetterHelp following the tragedy.
-While promoting Licorice Pizza, director Paul Thomas Andersonreflected on the theatre industry and cemented my love for him. “I’m not going to lie — there’s been a couple of moments where I thought the sky was falling. The theatrical exhibition industry had a much-needed and long-coming kick in the pants, didn’t it? They built 25-plexes and 30-plexes and all that kind of stuff, and it got bigger and bigger and shittier, and you know what, you’re shocked that they’re empty? Well, what did you think was going to happen? They built these pyramids for their demise.” And when asked if minds if people stream his movies, he replied, “Not at all. I don’t mind if people discover my work that way. I’m counting on it long after I’m gone.”
–Meghan Markle responded to new claims that she knew her father would leak her personal letters.
-Modern Family’s Julie Bowen plays a grandma in Netflix’s Mixtape.
-I’m gonna watch the crap our of Single All The Way, Netflix’s new gay holiday romcom starring Michael Urie, Philemon Chambers, Kathy Najimy and Jennifer Coolidge.
Here's your first look at Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford, and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt in Showtime's White House drama #TheFirstLady (via @EW). pic.twitter.com/0Sje6VSC5G
-Here’s our first look at Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford, and Viola Davis as Michelle Obama in Showtime’s The First Lady.
-The Houston police has declared Travis Scott‘s Astroworld festival a “mass casualty event” after 8 people died and hundreds were injured (including a 9-year-old) after the crowd surged forward during his headlining set and security did not stop the show for 40 minutes. Videos of the audience trying to alert the crew and being ignored are heartbreaking.
–Scott has cancelled his upcoming festival appearances as the lawsuits begin to pour in. Drake, who made a guest appearance at the festival, has also been named in one suit.
–Emily Ratajkowski talked about her new book with the Sunday Times, saying that the exploitation of young women is still common in modeling (“I was not at all shocked by [the Jeffrey Epstein] story. I witnessed so much of that in different forms”), revealed that her teenage boyfriend ‘forced himself’ on her when she was 14 (“So many young women I know, their first early sexual experiences border on nonconsensual”), and said modeling gave her a complex relationship with her body (“There is this sense of your body is not yours, it’s ours. In this contract you’ve given it up to be used how we see fit… If you’re not willing to do what the client wants you to do with your body, then there’s somebody else who will be”).
-According to Page Six, Chris Evans will be this year’s Sexiest Man Alive. I like him a lot but the only interesting thing about this whole thing is that People got scooped.
–Lee Pace shared some thirsty pics and that’s just what I needed to save this Monday.
–Vin Diesel held an olive branch out to Dwayne Johnson via an Instagram post, inviting him back to the Fast and Furious franchise.
–Kanye West (no, I’m not calling him Ye) was spotted at a basketball game with model Vinetria.
–Scott Speedman revealed on Instagram that he’s a new dad.
-After Aaron Rodgers hit nearly every anti-v*xxer talking point in an interview, his fiancée Shailene Woodley is insisting her cryptic posts are not referencing it.
–Emilio Estevez is pushing back on a report that he’s not doing season two of Mighty Ducks because he refuses to follow the show’s vaccine mandate. He blames his departure on “contract disputes” and “creative differences” and says he contracted covid in March 2020 and suffers from long haul symptoms. Interestingly, his statement doesn’t say anything about him being vaccinated.
-Production on Black Panther 2 has halted due to Letitia Wright‘s experiencing an “onset injury.”
-In an open letter, George Clooney asked the media to stop publishing photos of his kids. I can’t recall ever seeing any, but I rarely follow the British press.
-A Kelly Clarkson holiday special is coming to NBC next month.
–Isaiah Washingtontweetedabout how he’d be happy to return to Grey’s and play the lead, as long as Ellen Pompeo was “finally gone”. This is unhinged.
-This is such a great profile on Simon Rex and the highs and lows of celebrity. He partied his way through the early aughts, lost his career for a decade, and is now being lauded by critics for his role in festival darling Red Rocket.
–Will Smith reportedly gave the best wrap gift ever to his King Richard costars: cold, hard cash.
-I saw Eternals this weekend and while it wasn’t my fave Marvel movie, it certainly wasn’t as bad as Iron Man 2 or some of the Thor or Hulk movies, despite getting worse reviews. This is a good pieceon how Chloé Zhao may be being punished for playing the Marvel good soldier.
-After Eternals got banned in Saudi Arabia and more due to its openly gay superhero, Angelina Jolieresponded: “I’m proud of Marvel for refusing to cut [gay] scenes out…How anybody is angry about it, threatened by it, doesn’t approve or appreciate it is ignorant.”
-Speaking of Eternals, I really liked Chloé Zhao’s answer about Kumail Nanjiani‘s character’s decision, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen in a superhero film before. (I did not, however, agree with her answer about referencing a real-life tragedy in the film.)
–Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell‘s new Apple show Shrink Next Door is getting good reviews.
–Ben Gibbard talked about the legacy of Death Cab for Cutie’s The Photo Album, which is 20 years old. He says his favorite use of a Death Cab song on TV was The OC, which of course it is.
–Benedict Cumberbatch goes west in the trailer for Netflix’s The Power of the Dog, Jane Campion‘s latest which is getting serious Oscar buzz.
