Monthly Archives

August 2017

Kim Kardashian Channels Jackie Kennedy Onassis

Kim Kardashian Interview First Lady

–Kim Kardashian‘s Interview cover is so weird — and not just because she’s posing as a First Lady. Why does she look so dead-eyed? Why is her eyeline different than her kid’s? Why is her kid even there?

-Oof, Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” video, which premiered last night at the VMAs, is so, so  bad. I didn’t mind most of it (yes, she’s borrowing from a lot of different people, including Beyonce, but at least it’s pretty). But then came the last 10 seconds. Are you kidding me? That’s not meta-commentary; that’s just commentary. That’s not subtext; it’s just text. There’s nothing sly or coy or clever about just parroting what people say about you. Why is she so scared to go full villain?

-Another low point of the VMAs was Lorde‘s performance. I love that little weirdo and I think her new album is one of the best of the year, but what was that? If she was too sick to sing than she shouldn’t have performed.

-At least Pink‘s performance and speech were great.

-I really like this thread about how Game of Thrones screwed up Dany/Jon. I can’t really get behind them because of all the icky ancestry stuff, but the fact that the build up was so mishandled that we didn’t even get first kiss scene is pretty telling.

–Ed Skrein just dropped out of the Hellboy reboot following its whitewashing controversy, and his statement about it is amazing.  I hope he gets a ton of publicity (and subsequent job offers) for doing what major stars like Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson, Jake Gylenhaal,Benedict Cumberbatch and Emma Stone would not.

–Russell Brand (remember him?) got married again.

-OITNB’s Jenji Kohan talks about all the sexism she faced in TV writers rooms and it’s pretty horrific.

-Paramount Network (is that a thing?) just unveiled the first Heathers promo, proving that very few actors can pull off classic lines like “f*** me gently with a chainsaw.”

-SNL’s Taran Killam tries to murder Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Killing Gunther trailer.

–Liam Neeson puts a ruthless spin on Deep Throat in the new Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House trailer.

Taylor Swift Can’t Shake It Off

-Not surprising: Taylor Swift is dominating the conversation after the first single from Reputation dropped last night. Actually surprising: the conversation isn’t exactly going her way. Her label had to clarify that it’s a total coincidence that her album is being released on the anniversary of nemesis Kanye West’s mother’s death. The video sneak peak makes it look like Lemonade-lite. She’s somehow aligned herself with Right Said Fred. And then there’s the song itself. It’s … not good. Weirdly, I think I wouldn’t mind it if it appeared on Lorde‘s new album (also produced by Jack Antoff). But offbeat, deconstructed choruses and faux-edgy undertones aren’t what Taylor does best. It doesn’t help that she invites everyone to comb through her songs to find the disses (Kanye! Katy!), but the lyrics  just don’t hold up to scrutiny. And instead of truly embracing her snarky side like we all hoped, she’s once again reverted to playing the victim card.  (My favourite tweet about “Look What You Made Me Do” was “It’s like the song is blaming us for the song”).  The pile-on is so extreme today that I’m starting to get Anne Hathaway-ish sympathy feels for Taylor but  still, it’s a rare, giant misstep for her.

–James Cameron says Wonder Woman praise is “misguided,” and called the character”an objectified icon” and “a step backwards.” I mean, we’re really supposed to care about what James Cameron thinks after he explained his approach to developing a strong female character in Avatar with such gems as “Right from the beginning I said, ‘She’s got to have tits,’ even though that makes no sense because her race, the Na’vi, aren’t placental mammals.”

-Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins‘ clapback was perfect.

-In her new Rolling Stone cover story, Gal Gadot points out how ridiculous it was to be criticized for not being curvy enough to play Wonder Woman. “I told them, ‘Listen, if you want to be for real, then the Amazons, they had only one boob. Exactly one boob. So what are you talking about here?'”

–Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher settled their lawsuit with Daily Mail over photos of their daughter.

-The HBO hackers are at it again. They leaked detailed plot outlines about how this weekend’s season finale will end.

-Fleabag is coming back for a second season. Not until 2019 but I don’t care. I NEEDED this news today!

-Also getting another season is Black Mirror. I didn’t even finish the last one, but a Star Trek parody starring Jesse Plemons intrigues me.

–Katie Holmes and Jamie Foxx are still a thing. I wonder when her divorce contract will expire and they can go public?

-This is a really excellent deep dive into how Late Night with Seth Meyers got so, so good. I especially like the part where he talked about diversity in his writing room: “I didn’t know the kinds of things a non-straight white man might bring to the table. The only way to find out was to bring them to the table.”

-Following his ex’s request for full custody of their two children, Jesse Williams is fighting back, insisting his work schedule won’t prevent him from caring for the kids.

-Look how cute the guys who play The Hound and Tormund are in this behind-the-scenes video.

–Miley Cyrus is posing as a nude fairy on the cover of David LaChapelle’s new coffee table book.

–Alicia Vikander has sexy times with an artist while married to Christoph Waltz in the trailer for period piece Tulip Fever.

Taylor Swift Continues to Own Katy Perry

–Katy Perry dropped a new video — but Taylor Swift is still the one getting all the buzz today. This is getting embarrassing.

-The buzz is building that Katy Perry and Taylor Swift will perform together at the VMAs. I’m really not sure why Katy would do this. She’s already in a losing position: her new album tanked, and Taylor is clearly using the show to launch her new album, overshadowing any spotlight Katy will get as the host. What’s the upside for Katy here?

–Katy Perry was cryptic about whether she’s dating Orlando Bloom again, saying “When you get older, lines get blurred.” That’s the nicest way to describe hooking up I’ve every heard.

–Laura Prepon and Ben Foster (aka the couple everyone forgets is a couple) just had a baby.

–A-Rod and J-Lo work out together in a new obnoxious workout video.

-Truth in Advertising filed complaints against Gwyneth Paltrow‘s company to the California gov’t, stating GOOP makes false medical claims to sell products.

–Kate Hudson is getting in on the lifestyle advice action, seeing as acting doesn’t seem to be a thing that she does anymore.

–Cole Sprouse may actually be singlehandedly ruining Riverdale for me. I just can’t with this kid.

-Holy crap, yet ANOTHER Joker movie has been announced. Who even wants this?

-The new trailer for This Is Us season two made me teary, which is the entire point of the show. (I’ve decided I’m going to stop fighting it and just give in. A lot about this show still chafes me, but what they do well, they do really, really well. It doesn’t hurt that this clip is so Randall heavy.)

-This is such a strange story: a book seems to have bought its way onto the NYT bestseller YA list.

-I kind of love that Henry Cavill‘s girlfriend is a) beautiful while also being normal-looking, b) not a teenager, c) a stuntperson, d) can clearly kick his ass.

-This is an interesting look at what happens when a show like Game of Thrones, which is all about plot, suddenly sucks at plotting.

-I also liked these 27 things that didn’t make sense about the White Walker battle in the last episode. (I would add a 28th: why didn’t they light up the fire sword again when they were worried about freezing to death?)

–Anthony Bourdain is fed up with food waste in the new trailer for Wasted!

-Here’s the trailer for Richard Linklater’s Last Flag Flying, which stars Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne.