Monthly Archives

September 2018

Amandla Stenberg Is About to Break Out

Amandla-Stenberg-Seventeen-Magazine-October-2018

–Amandla Stenberg (who’s promoting both The Hate U Give and Where Hands Touch) covers the Oct issue of Seventeen. I did not love WHT at TIFF but I was so very impressed by how articulate and thoughtful she was during the Q&A.  (Also, that pop can shirt she wears in the Seventeen photo shoot is fire!)

–Kristen Bell announced today that a new season of Veronica Mars is officially a go at Hulu. The eight-episode season will stream in 2019, and all of the past episodes and the movie will also be available on Hulu. This is exactly the news I needed this week! I’m assuming a Cdn network will pick it up like the other Hulu shows.

-Creators Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright are both returning. Following the news, Thomas tweeted: “The movie was nostalgic. The Hulu limited series isn’t going to be. Hardcore So-Cal noir. One big case. Eight episodes to tell the story. This is a detective show.” (I seem to be one of the few who liked the movie. I know everyone complains that it was too much fan service but I’m a fan who likes to be serviced! Err, wait…)

-This is nice: Wilmer Valderrama has reportedly been a “constant presence” at ex-girlfriend Demi Lovato‘s side since her overdose.

–Chris Evans just signed on to a limited series on Apple. They keep collecting stars but not actually telling us how/where we’re supposed to watch these shows.

–Chloe Dykstra says she contemplated suicide because of Chris Hardwick-supporting harassers. “When I found out he had gotten his jobs back, I was actually relieved because I knew [the online harassment] wasn’t going to stop until he was reinstated.”

-This profile of Chevy Chase, who talks about how he’s sober and wants to work but no one wants him anymore, could double as a PSA on the importance of not treating others terribly during your entire career.

–Drake is suing a woman who he claims falsely made pegnancy and assault allegations.

-That Slate piece about how Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian are good at “performing their relationship” is getting a lot of flack — deservedly. I’m not linking to it ’cause it’s gross. Just let the woman live.

-AMC has cancelled Dietland after just one season. It was a show that started with so much promise and then just kind of … fizzled.

-Speaking of shows ending, HBO’s The Deuce will come to a close with a third and final season order. This makes sense to me. The new season just started and despite the huge stars and critical love, the buzz has been crickets.

-The Hollywood Reporter released its 100 most powerful people in entertainment list. Not a lot of big surprises, but I like that Ronan Farrow and Tiffany Haddish made their list debuts.

-A series about Marvel’s female heroes is in the works at ABC, written by the Wonder Woman writer. Please, please, please let it include Agent Carter!

–Prince Andrew reportedly wanted the BBC to air Princess Eugenie’s upcoming wedding and they said no because they assumed it would be a ratings flop.

-The butt hurt dudes on Twitter who think Brie Larson should smile more in the Captain Marvel trailer need to re-prioritize their entire lives.

-A bunch of famous women, including Julianne Moore, Eva Longoria, America Ferrera, Gabrielle Union and Amber Tamblyn, appear in a video to stand in support of Brett Kavanaugh accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

–Cary Fukunaga will direct the 25th Bond film, taking over from Danny Boyle, who left the project after reported creative clashes. He’s mostly a TV guy, having directed True Detective season one, and the new Netflix show Maniac.

-The Serial podcast is back with a new season and a very different subject topic.

-This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman hit back at “white male movie critics” who are slamming Life Itself. I saw it at TIFF and I slammed it, and I’m not a white male movie critic. I’m just a person with eyeballs.

–LCD Soundsystem‘s new “Oh Baby” video was directed by Rian Johnson and stars Sissy Spacek and David Strathairn.

-What exactly is Blake Lively trying to prove?

–Paul Feig did a really great interview with The Independent, in which he talked about wanting to write better female comedic parts (“I got tired of seeing how women were being portrayed in movies. It just got so bad, especially in comedies. They’re props basically”), and his dislike of the term ‘strong female characters’ (“It feels two-dimensional. I like women who are strong and weak and funny and vulnerable and scared”). Yeah, he can stay.

–Jodie Whittaker takes charge in the Doctor Who season 11 trailer.

Demi Lovato’s Mother Breaks Her Silence About Daughter’s Overdose

-While promoting her new book, Demi Lovato‘s mom is talking about her daughter’s recent overdose. “We just didn’t know for two days if she was going to make it or not.”

–Maroon 5 is rumoured to be headlining the next Super Bowl halftime show because apparently there isn’t enough depressing news in the world already.

–Brad Pitt is seeing his kids more often — but still in the presence of a monitor from the Dept of Children and Family Services.

-Also, according to ET, Pitt and Angelina Jolie recently had a “secret meeting” at her house to call a truce.

–Millie Bobby Brown says she’s friends with Drake and he texts her advice about boys. I’m choosing to believe that’s cute and not creepy…

-I swear, the new Fall TV season hasn’t really made much of a dent in my brain (despite writing multiple articles about it!). But there’s a new Amy Poehler-produced sitcom called I Feel Bad premiering on NBC tonight that sounds like it has potential.

-Speaking of new TV, I watched the first episode of Sorry For Your Loss last night and Elizabeth Olsen‘s performance is phenomenal.  (Facebook has uploaded four episodes.)

-The editor of The New York Review of Books is out after the magazine published an essay by Jian Ghomeshi. Good.

-When talking about his Emmy win, John Oliver revealed he has a three-month-old.

-The mystery of who was dressed up like Teddy Perkins at the Emmys continues to deepen.

–Avril Lavigne is back with new music after a 5-year hiatus. It’s an intimate piano-driven ballad and it’s lovely, but I was really hoping her first comeback single would be a bop instead of a weeper about Lyme disease.

–Kesha also has a new song.

-This is a good take on how the celebrity profile is dying because of A-listers afraid to have real conversations and C-listers who give it all away on social media.

–Domhnall Gleeson is defending his Last Jedi costar Kelly Marie Tran, who was chased off social media by trolls. “People having an opinion about the film is absolutely fine. You pay your money, and you’re allowed to have an opinion. The stuff with Kelly was bullshit. That’s a different thing altogether, so those people are just morons. Those people are just assholes. It’s a different level of stuff. You don’t buy that when you buy your tickets.”

-Emma Approved is coming back? It’s a web series based on the Austen novel and it’s *adorable*!

-I missed this Anna Kendrick‘s bts interview with Noah Trevor a few days ago, but it’s super funny. “She’s wing manning for her own boyfriend and I respect that!”

-Now that TIFF is over, the Oscar race is finally starting to take shape.

–Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin are honeymooning (and busking?) in London.

-So Ticketmaster is actually working with scalpers? Swell.

-I have no interest in watching The Predator, but this Ringer list of questions about The Predator is highly entertaining.

–Suki Waterhouse reveals she accidentally shot someone while filming Assassination Nation in New Orleans.  How can that be a thing?!

–Michelle Yeoh is not impressed by James Corden. Same.

 

 

 

Dakota Johnson on Chris Hemsworth’s Body: “It’s Insane”

Dakota-Johnson-Vogue-Australia-October-2018

–Dakota Johnson is promoting both Suspiria and Bad Times at El Royale — which landed her this gorg cover on Vogue Australia. She talks about El Royale costar Chris Hemworth and how he spent most of the shoot shirtless: “Oh my god. It’s such a distraction…No-one on set could pay attention to anything else: it was so shocking, not in a sexual way at all, just, like, scientifically, how is it possible to look like that? Crazy! Then he would eat a bowl of Smarties and you’re like: ‘You’re an asshole, f*ck you!’ I don’t eat anything sweet: I eat green things for three months in order to fit into a pair of jeans. And he eats whatever the f*ck he wants and looks like he was literally chiselled out of marble – it’s insane.”

–Rihanna has written an op-ed in the Guardian about the global education crisis: “When it comes to helping the world’s poorest children, as well as the communities and societies in which they live, I’m still learning – and I need others to join me on the journey and use their voices alongside mine.”

–Elizabeth Olsen‘s new show Sorry For Your Loss debuts tonight on Facebook Watch to good reviews. The only issue? No one really knows how to watch TV episodes on Facebook yet. (I work in social media all day and I had to look it up, too). Here’s how to watch it on your app, or you could go straight to the show’s episode page.

–Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt have officially signed on to a Mad About You revival because everything old is new again.

-Holy moly, this sounds like my jam: Paul Feig is directing an Emma Thompson-penned holiday rom-com that’s based on the Wham! song “Last Christmas” and stars Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke and Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding. All of those words are wonderful!

–Will Smith and Idris Elba discovered what Nicole and I figured out last year: that sabering champagne bottles with big swords in fancy restaurants is super fun.

-I love that Issa Rae threw a pre-Emmy yacht party for black nominees and her Insecure cast/crew — and at one point she took all the guys’ shirts.

-Speaking of the Emmys, we recapped the best and worst dresses here.

-Marvelous Mrs. Maisel swept the comedy Emmys, which led to all of my coworkers asking me today if it’s any good. I watched the first half of the season and found it very charming — but was not compelled to finish it. It’s cute, but if you have other comedies to catch up on, I would absolutely recommend prioritizing Atlanta or Barry ahead of it.

-Breakout comedian Hannah Gadsby subtweeted her nastiest Nanette critics (including Michael Che) when she presented an award and now I love her even more.

-Someone — but not Donald Glover or Lakeith Stanfield — came to the Emmys dressed as Teddy Perkins, aka the most terrifying character Atlanta has ever seen.

–This photo of Handmaids stars Yvonne Strahoski, Ann Dowd and Alexis Bledel when they all lost in the Best Supporting Actress in a Drama was adorable.

–Sandra Oh introducing her parents to Milo Ventimiglia on the red carpet was wonderful. (This is exactly the only person my mom would want to meet too.)

-It’s never been more obvious that Jesse Plemons is punching above his weight than the photos of him with Kirsten Dunst last night. Get it, Landry!

-This was the lowest rated Emmys ever (though weirdly, not here in Canada).

-This is a good piece on how Woody Allen and Soon-Yi tried to use that New York magazine piece to shut down allegations against him — and failed completely.

-Here’s our first peek at the 90s-set Captain Marvel — complete with Blockbuster and Brie Larson punching an old lady in the face. The fade from “her” to “hero”? Yeah, that’s good stuff.