Monthly Archives

October 2017

Matt Damon and George Clooney Speak Out Against Weinstein

–Matt Damon and George Clooney were on GMA today, where they talked about how they knew Harvey Weinstein was “an asshole” but didn’t know the extent of the stories. I found Damon’s comments, in particular, to be a bit problematic. He admits that he heard about what happened to Gwyneth Paltrow from Ben Affleck, but insists he just thought Weinstein was “a womanizer,” saying “This level of criminal sexual predation is not something that I ever thought was going on.” Oh yeah, Matt? And what exact level of “criminal sexual predation” would have made you speak up?

-Clooney also spoke out against Woody Allen’s comments about hoping this doesn’t result in a “witch-hunt atmosphere.” “That’s a stupid thing to say. The reality is it’s not a witch hunt to these women, who were trapped in a hotel room and told they were going to get a part, and then suddenly here comes Harvey Weinstein in his birthday suit. That’s not a witch hunt; that’s an assault.”

-Actress Brit Marling wrapped her Weinstein story in a fascinating essay about the economics of consent. “Consent is a function of power. You have to have a modicum of power to give it.”

–Bob Weinstein’s former assistant says she told him about his brother’s sexual harassment over 25 years ago.

-Also, a damning new L.A. Times report outlines how Weinstein “used fashion as a pipeline to models.” More than 10 former or current fashion models — including Cara Delevingne and Angie Everhart — have accused him of a wide range of sexual misconduct.

-Speaking of L.A. Times’ investigations, they published a story this weekend about sexual harassment allegations against director James Toback, in which 38 women accused him. Since the story came out, the reporter says the number has risen to nearly 80.

-Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn says he’s been warning people about Toback for 20 years.

–Colin Farrell congratulated himself for not staring at a reporter’s boobs. What a swell guy.

-It’s not all bleak:  at least Kit Harrington is taking back those comments he made last year about experiencing sexism.

–Kim Cattrall says she was ‘never friends‘ with Sex and the City costars. Why do people assume all costars are friends anyway? How many of your coworkers do you consider your BFFs? It’s such a weird expectation…

-Well this is super disappointing: Ewan McGregor and his wife Eve Mavrakis have split after 22 years(!) of marriage following new photos that emerged of him kissing his Fargo costar, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

–Justin Timberlake has been announced for the Super Bowl halftime show and Twitter is not happy about it. There’s no way he DOESN’T invite Janet Jackson to perform with him though, right?!

-EW has an intense new clip from season two of Stranger Things, which drops on Netflix this weekend.

-Netflix sent TV critics all 9 episodes of season 2 of Stranger Things (no, I’m not calling it Stranger Things 2 like it’s a goddamn movie sequel, I don’t care what the Duffer Bros say), and the response seems to be ‘good, but not great’ which frankly, is way better than I was expecting. Sepinwall says it “mostly lives up to the original [season]”, NPR says “It’s not perfect, but I bet you watch the whole thing,” THR calls it “quite good and, if your expectations are in check, largely satisfying,” and Variety says “once the story kicks into a higher gear about halfway through the nine-episode season, a lot of the old magic returns.”

-Speaking of Netflix shows, should I be watching Mindhunter? Because every TV critic I follow seems to be in love with it…

–Justin Bieber‘s new tattoo is ginormous and covers his entire torso — and Beliebers  aren’t handling it well.

-Before next week’s David S. Pumpkins special, check out Vulture’s oral history on the origins of the sketch.

-Riverdale star Lili Reinhart apologized after tweeting photo of “racially insensitive” Halloween photo. Goddamn it, this happens with CW stars every. single. year.

-I kinda love that Drake had his 31st birthday party at Casa Loma.

-Of course John Stamos got engaged at Disneyland.

-If Jenny Slate and Chris Evans are dating again, they’re not trying to hide it.  Remember that next time she gives an interview about the sanctity of her privacy.

–Taylor Swift dropped a preview of her new music video. Did she borrow Scarlett Johansson‘s nude suit from Ghost in the Shell??!

-Star Trek: Discovery was renewed for Season 2. There wasn’t really a question about whether it would survive, seeing as it’s anchoring CBS’s All Access subscription service, but I’d love to know its ratings.

-Here’s the first trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

WB Pulls The Plug on Justice League Junket

-There were a lot of eyes on the upcoming Justice League press junket. Would publicity try to put questions about Weinstein/Affleck‘s conduct on the banned list? Would journalists obey? Looks like we might not get to find out — the WB just cancelled the US junket. Well, that’s one way to get around it, I guess. It’s all up to you now, London journalists!

–Lupita Nyong’o is the latest actress to come forward with her own experiences about Harvey Weinstein‘s advances.

-Now that Quentin Tarantino has broken his silence about Weinstein, what matters most is what he does next. Kevin Smith is donating his Weinstein residuals to Women In Film. Channing Tatum halted a movie he was set to direct and produce at Weinstein’s company. These are more than just statements about how men in Hollywood need to do better; these guys are putting money on the line. Will Tarantino?

-Meanwhile, Weinstein is reportedly spending his time in sex rehab falling asleep in group therapy and telling anyone who will listen that there’s a conspiracy against him.

-Hollywood is crumbling — even the animation world. Nickelodeon has fired Chris Savino following reports of harassment.

-Stranger Things lead kid Finn Wolfhard is leaving his talent agency after sexual-assault allegations against his agent.

-I can’t figure out whose camp planted this story about Robert Pattinson wanting FKA twigs back because “that’s the girl he wants to marry.” I’m embarrassed for both of them.

–Lena Dunham‘s interview with Gabrielle Union is pretty great (mostly because Gabrielle Union is always pretty great).

-Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter wrote a book? And there’s a trailer for it?

–Adam Scott and Ben Schwartz are here to shoot down all your Parks and Rec fan theories.

-This is a great NYT profile on Taika Waititi, the quirky New Zealand director who is shaking up Marvel with the new Thor movie. I still can’t believe the guy who danced as Micheal Jackson in Boy is taking over Hollywood…

–Scarlett Johansson organized a Hurricane Maria fundraising event with her Avengers co-stars.

–Pink revealed that Christina Aguilera once took a swing at her in a club.  “I’m an alpha and she’s an alpha…women have to learn how to support each other; it’s not taught on the playground.”

–Julia Louis-Dreyfus is documenting her chemo journey.

–Jay Leno paid tribute to David Letterman, talking about their rivalry and the practical jokes they would play on each other. “Even when he was mean to me, it was funny.”

-The reviews for Michael Fassbender‘s The Snowman are hilariously mean.

–Chris Hemsworth revisits Sept 11th in the 12 Strong trailer.

Kerry Washington Moves to Facebook

kerry-washington-allure

–Kerry Washington looks stunning on the cover of Allure. Meanwhile, she’s producing a new TV show for Facebook.

-RED ALERT! Prince Harry has taken Meghan Markle to the palace for tea with the Queen!

-Has Anna Faris moved on from Chris Pratt? She’s been spotted enjoying dinner dates with cinematographer Michael Barrett.

-Speaking of being spotted looking cozy, Shailene Woodley seems to be enjoying her time with rugby player Ben Volavola.

-Seeing Sandra Bullock happy makes me happy.

–Ben Affleck‘s image rehab efforts just got dialed up to 11: there are photos of him with a stray puppy.

-Aw nuts. Nicholas Brendon (who played Xander on Buffy) is back in the news again, this time for being arrested for violating a protective order and felony domestic violence after an alleged attack on his girlfriend.

-It what may be the worst non-apology I’ve seen in a long time, David Cross now says he was probably doing his “Southern redneck character” when he met Charlyne Yi.

-Meanwhile, Mayim Bialik shows us how it’s done by issuing a formal apology for her controversial NYT op-ed: “Let me say clearly and explicitly that I am very sorry.”

-After weeks of silence, Quentin Tarantino (the director most closely tied to Harvey Weinstein), has spoken out, admitting he knew what was happening but still did nothing. “I knew enough to do more than I did. There was more to it than just the normal rumors, the normal gossip. It wasn’t secondhand. I knew he did a couple of these things. I wish I had taken responsibility for what I heard.”

-The New Yorker offers an inside look into what it was like at the Weinstein Co. on the days both exposés were released. Staff members are now asking for every NDA — including theirs — to be dismissed so everyone can speak openly.

-Meanwhile, this is a great article on how Hollywood must go some much further than just stopping one man.

–Natasha Lyonne is the latest actress to come forward with a story of assault.

–David Blaine is being investigated by British authorities after former model Natasha Prince has come forward accusing the magician of sexual assault. (His lawyer denies her claims.)

-I think me and Netflix’s Marvel shows are on a break, but I must admit that the trailer for the new season of The Punisher is very well done.

–Penn Badgley is finally talking about Gossip Girl in a way that makes it sound like he’s not totally ashamed of it, which is new. He still doesn’t understand how his character was Gossip Girl, though. Same, sir.

–Shia LaBeouf has been found guilty on one count of obstruction stemming from his July arrest.

–Jake Gyllenhaal playing with a little kid in the new CK ad is making my ovaries shiver.

-The director of The Snowman, which opens this weekend and stars Michael Fassbender,  has spent the whole press tour talking about how terrible the movie turned out.

–Frances McDormand​ confronts Woody Harrelson in a scathing new clip from Three Billboards, my favourite movie at this year’s TIFF.

-Speaking of movies that people at TIFF loved, the first teaser for I, Tonya has landed, with Margot Robbie playing Tonya Harding.