Monthly Archives

July 2020

Gigi Hadid’s Questionable Taste

–Gigi Hadid‘s interior design choices are shockingly, shockingly bad. I can’t get over the basket of billiard balls in the kitchen.

–The Emmy nominations came out today and HBO’s Watchmen dominated, which I’m pretty happy about. Overall, this is one of the best nomination years in a while. I’m thrilled to see Zendaya, Paul Mescal, Issa Rae and What We Do In Shadows get some unexpected Emmy love, but bummed about Pamela Aldon, Desus & Mero, Unbelievable’s Kaitlyn Dever and Merritt Wever, and El Camino’s Aaron Paul and Jesse Plemons being snubbed.

-In other Emmy news, a record number of Black actors scored nods.

-Also, the way Leslie Jones announced the nominees is the way I want everything to be announced from now on. (“Dead to Me…I love that show, THE GOOD PLACE AAHHHH!!! INSECURAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!”)

-I love that this quickie interview with Paul Mescal was supposed to be about his Emmy nod, and the interviewer still managed to slip in a question about whether or not he’s dating Phoebe Bridgers. (I also love that he wouldn’t talk about it.)

-Just days after announcing her pregnancy, Riverdale star Vanessa Morgan‘s husband, White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech, has filed for divorce.

-Speaking of splits, Meek Mill revealed that he and girlfriend have called it quits, days after Kanye West accused Kim Kardashian of cheating with the rapper.

–Johnny Depp handed out bandannas with notes to supporters outside the courthouse.

-Now that the trial has ended and the verdict is imminent, this is a good piece on who ended up looking like a winner (spoiler alert: nobody), and illustrates the difference between UK and US libel laws — because whatever happened during marriage, this case probably wouldn’t have gone to trial in U.S. where Depp would need to prove falsehood and actual malice.

-In what could be huge news, AMC and Universal have agreed to shorten the window between theatrical premieres and VOD from 70-90 days to just 17 days. This is how many have been predicting the pandemic is going to change the movie industry. There will always be theatrical releases (at least for blockbusters) but the ability to watch new releases from the comfort of your own home is going to come much sooner, especially for smaller films or movies that don’t perform well on opening weekend.

-There are rumours going around that Draya Michele lost her collaboration with Savage X Fenty after making a dumb comment about Megan Thee Stallion‘s shooting.

-Meanwhile, Rihanna is hosting a virtual Fenty Skin launch party tomorrow.

-Actress and director Amy Seimetz has obtained a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, director Shane Carruth.

–Cameron Crowe, Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup and Patrick Fugit had a Zoom chat to talk about Almost Famous’ 20th anniversary.

–Leah Remini and Tony Ortega posted details from a chapter she had written about Tom Cruise for her book, but decided to cut because the publisher worried it would be the only thing the media would focus on. Among the allegations, Remini says Cruise used to get fellow Scientologists to give his girlfriends sex advice and break up with them for him, sent employees he didn’t like for “interrogations” that they had to pay for themselves, fired his longtime publicist Pat Kingsley and secured her cooperation with a “dirt file” the church kept on her, and silenced those around him with draconian NDAs.

-Mad Men’s John Slattery stars in Fox’s new sci-fi drama neXt.

 

Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas Welcome Baby Girl

-TMZ is reporting (complete with hilariously bad photoshopped artwork) that Sophie Turner gave birth to a daughter last Wednesday at a hospital in Los Angeles. She and Joe Jonas reportedly named the little one Willa.

-If the new plan for Tenet actually goes ahead, it’s going to be so, so dumb. Instead of just pushing movie to next year, it will now open first overseas on Aug. 26 in over 70 countries, (including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, Spain and the UK), followed by select U.S. cities on Sept. 3 — even though so few cities in the U.S. should be encouraging people to hang out inside for hours with strangers. But if it drops in other countries, I can’t imagine Warner Bros postponing their U.S. plans and letting people go crazy on torrents, no matter how dangerous theatres still are.

-According to a new book, Prince William ‘wanted to make sure Harry wasn’t blindsided by lust‘ when it came to Meghan Markle. That’s pretty rich, coming from William (if rumours are to be believed).  Also, I’m sure that didn’t come up when Harry was dating Chelsy Davy or Cressida Bonas.

-Speaking of Cressida, she just got married.

–Justin and Hailey Bieber are currently on a cross-country U.S. roadtrip (which sounds like the last thing I’d want to do these days), and they made a pit stop to visit Kanye West at the rapper’s Wyoming ranch.

-Shortly after Justin’s visit, Kanye tweeted “I would like to apologize to my wife Kim for going public with something that was a private matter.” He also posted the cover art for his delayed new album.

-The Daily Beast spoke to former teachers and administrators at Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s New Village Leadership Academy, who say that it was really a Scientology school for kids.

-Speaking of the Daily Beast’s coverage of Scientology, they talked to Leah Remini, who says of Tom Cruise: “This is a man who has not even seen his own daughter in years. That this guy can be running around and having people think he’s this super-nice guy, I don’t get it. But that’s the Hollywood bulls**t game people play.”

-WarnerMedia is investigating the Ellen Degeneres Show’s workplace after that damning Buzzfeed article.

–Megan Thee Stallion talked about being shot in both feet in a tearful IG live: “It was just the worst experience of my life and it’s not funny, it’s nothing to joke about and nothing for y’all to go and be making fake stories about. I didn’t put my hands on nobody I didn’t deserve to get shot.”

–Peter Shinkoda (who played Nobu in Daredevil) says Jeph Loeb, who was then the head of Marvel TV, told the writers not to develop Asian characters and drop a major storyline for his character. “Jeph Loeb told the writer’s room not to write for Nobu and Gao. This was reiterated many times by many of the writers and showrunners that ‘Nobody cares about Chinese people and Asian people. There was three previous Marvel movies—a trilogy called Blade—where Wesley Snipes kills 200 Asians each movie; nobody gives a shit, so don’t write about Nobu and Gao,’ and they were forced to put their storyline down and drop it. [The writers] were very apologetic that they couldn’t follow through with it but their hands were tied.” Watch the clip here, and the full interview here.

-He also tweeted that he and his costar (also Asian) were not invited to the Season 2 premiere.

-Netflix has announced The Witcher: Blood Origins; a spin-off series set 1200 years before the story of Geralt of Rivia.

-After 37 years on Days of Our Lives, Kristian Alfonso (who plays Hope) is saying goodbye — and seems quite happy to be rid of it. “In the last few years, Days of Our Lives is not the Days of Our Lives as I know it.”

–Seth Green looks back at his biggest roles in this 9-minute video, of which I watched every second.

-Pitchfork gave Taylor Swift‘s new album an 8/10, which is INCREDIBLY generous compared to how their ratings usually go. And some of her craziest fans have spent the day harassing and doxxing the reviewer.  My god.

-A few people I follow on Insta were sharing video of the drive-in concert Third Eye Blind did this weekend, and it seemed so cool. Social distancing and masks seemed enforced, and people listened through their car stereos. But then video of a Chainsmokers “drive in” concert that happened in the Hamptons surfaced and I’m back to being scared of everyone.

-Freeform seems to be first out of the gate with a show that revolves around covid. Here’s the trailer for Love In the Time Of Corona, a four episode romcom that was shot using remote technologies from in the cast’s actual homes.

-The Kissing Booth 2 just dropped this weekend, but it turns out the third movie has already been shot and is coming next year. There’s already a new clip too.

-The entire cast of Scott Pilgrim vs the World reunited for a Zoom table read.

–Gillian Jacobs takes a trip down memory lane in the I Used To Go Here trailer.

Taylor Swift Spins a Compelling Tale with Folklore

-What are we all thinking about Taylor Swift‘s new album? I’m only two listens in but I’m digging it. It’s restrained and contemplative (but not introspective — some of the songs are clearly fiction, like “The Last Great American Dynasty,” which is about Rebekah Harkness who once owned Swift’s house, or “Cardigan,” “August” and “Betty” — which is a trilogy revolving around a high school love triangle. Of course, many people think the trilogy is really about Karlie Kloss). My favourite songs from her in the past few years are “Archer” and “Dress,” so I was already in the bag for stripped-down Taylor.

-The reviews are overwhelmingly positive, with the Guardian giving it 5 stars and saying while it’s “Swift’s most coherent record since her staunchly country days, it’s nonetheless her most experimental, developing on Lover’s stranger, more minimalist end,” Buzzfeed saying that “in isolation, alone with a paper and a pen and a guitar, she’s yet again written some fucking great songs,” Rolling Stone praising it for “the most head-spinning, heart-breaking, emotionally ambitious songs of her life,” Billboard noting “there’s nothing quiet about this songwriting tour de force,”  Teen Vogue saying “in her restraint, she leaves space for couplets that slice through the heart,” and Variety observing “at least this one won’t require an album-length Ryan Adams remake to convince anyone that there’s songwriting there.”

–Jennifer Lopez turns 51 today, just in case you want to feel bad about yourself.

–Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani debuted the video for their new duet “Happy Anywhere”, which was shot by her brother, Todd Stefani, who quarantined with the couple at Shelton’s Oklahoma ranch.

-There was a panel for The New Mutants at Comic-Con and I think everyone is shocked that it’s still going ahead.

–Mel Gibson‘s rep reveals he was hospitalized back in April with covid. Unlike Tom Hanks, I guess he didn’t feel the duty to share his experience and educate his fans on the seriousness of the virus.

-Here’s another good breakdown of the Britney Spears conservatorship.

-I don’t believe for a second any of the “ratings” numbers Netflix releases, but if they’re bragging about the performance of Charlize Theron‘s Old Guard, hopefully that means a sequel is coming.

-Also, Charlize doesn’t strike me as the most social media plugged in celeb, so her responding to fan praise is great.

-This is a really good piece on how baffling it is that this far into the streaming wars, nobody (not even Netflix) seems to know how to build a good user interface, making browsing a headache and searching an embarrassment. I recently did a Happy Endings rewatch on Amazon Prime and every single time I’d have to search for the next episode, even though I’d watched the previous one the day before.

-Speaking of Amazon Prime, How To Build a Girl starring Beanie Feldstein hits the streaming service today. I saw this last year at TIFF and was very charmed by it.

-Stranger Things’ Joe Keery plays a rideshare driver on a murder spree on the trailer for Spree.