Monthly Archives

August 2020

Niecy Nash Comes Out with Wedding Announcement

–Niecy Nash (whose legal name is Carol Denise) made two announcements with one tweet: that she’s married, and that her new spouse is a woman. Love this for her. (Also, that dress is killer.)

–This story is wild. Marisol Nichols, who plays one of the parents on Riverdale, has had a side gig these past few years as an undercover agent in the fight against sex trafficking. She’s been working with the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, acting as “bait” by either playing the part of a parent pimping out a child, or impersonating a child being pimped out to a guy who thinks he is about to have sex with a 12-year-old. Sony Pictures Television just optioned the rights to her story.

–Brad Pitt’s new girlfriend Nicole Poturalski is reportedly married and in an open relationship. No judgement, but I’m wondering if her husband is now second-guessing their arrangement.

–Adele is being accused of cultural appropriation after posting a pic in which she wears Bantu knots. (It’s shocking to me how much she looks like Katy Perry in that photo.)

-Paparazzi who are stalking Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are causing chaos in their small beach town of Montecito.

–Channing Tatum wrote a kids book called The One and Only Sparkella. I have a lot of questions about this photo, including why is he reading an empty book jacket?

-These Emma Roberts/Garrett Hedlund pregnancy photos are odd. What are they looking at??

-The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air is the latest series to get a reunion special at HBO Max, following cast reunion announcements for Friends and The West Wing. Will Smith, Alfonso Ribeiro, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Joseph Marcell, Daphne Maxwell Reid and DJ Jazzy Jeff are reuniting to celebrate the show’s 30th anniversary

-Warner Bros reports that Tenet grossed around $53 million in 41 territories outside the U.S. It’s a good start as initial lowball expectations were around $40 million. Weirdly, according to IndieWire the movie studio has taken unprecedented step of blocking Canadian numbers on industry-standard box-office service Comscore.

-Stars continue to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who played the title role in Marvel’s Black Panther and died Friday of cancer. Meanwhile, ABC’s airing of Black Panther last night was easily the night’s top-rated show.

-Black Panther director Ryan Coogler released a 1,250 word written statement about Chadwick’s legacy.

–Jennifer Lopez says she and A-Rod are “so disappointed” at pulling out of the bidding war to buy the New York Mets. (She originally tweeted about it in an all caps statement on Friday night, but deleted it because all anyone was talking about was Boseman’s death.)

–Bella Thorne has apologized to sex workers and OnlyFans users and says she’ll speak to the site’s executives to about the new restrictions they instituted because of her. This is a great thread explaining how she’s endangered the livelihood of OnlyFans creators. Basically, she advertised a nude photo for $200 but ended up sending a bikini pic, leading to an unprecedented amount of requests on for refunds on the site, which in turn led OnlyFans to set a new $50 limit on the price that creators can charge for pay-per-view content, and limit tipping to $100.

-I needed this old video of Denzel Washington and Jamie Foxx bonding over Cardi B today.

-Last night’s VMA awards was a discombobulated mix of pre-recorded performances and speeches. According to Page Six, performers who felt comfortable flying to NYC for it were required to quarantine for three to four days before their scheduled shoot, and shot their bits throughout the last week. Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga and Doja Cat all stayed in LA but shot their performances on a green screen to make it look like they were in New York.

-The extended trailer for Supernatural’s final episodes offers a glimpse at new Young Dean and Sam in flashbacks, plus a dire warning from Billie.

-Fox is developing an animated X-Files spinoff. There was a time when this would have made me ecstatic but the reboot has ruined it for me.

-Dave Grohl accepted a drum challenge issued by a 10-year-old British girl on Twitter that went viral.

-Aw man. The second season of Hulu’s High Fidelity series was going to make Cherise the lead character. Now that cancellation hurts even more.

-The first trailer for Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor is here, which reminds me that I still have a couple of episodes of The Haunting of Hill House left.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky Get Flirty For Fenty

–Rihanna and A$AP Rocky sat down to interview each other and talked skincare, beauty icons, favourite TV shows, and classic cartoons. They’ve got an adorable rapport. I love when she makes fun of his first red carpet appearance: “You coulda used some Fenty Skin back then.”

-Congrats to Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, just welcomed a baby girl to the world, their first child together: Daisy Dove Bloom. (Ok, I gotta give it to them. Daisy Bloom is an adorable name.)

-Also, I very much like that they announced the news on UNICEF’s Instagram account with a statement about the need for pre- and post-natal healthcare for women around the world.

–Jessica Mulroney would like to remind you all that Meghan Markle is her BFF, ok?

-This interview with Tiffany Haddish and John Mulaney is a delight, especially the bit with Haddish talking about wearing a prosthetic penis for confidence.

–This is a good look at how Trevor Noah‘s The Daily Show has gone from being jokes about the news to, more and more, the news with some jokes amid the pandemic — and it’s clearly working. His viewership numbers are astounding, and his videos have racked up millions of views on YouTube, including an extended interview he released in March that went viral.

-It’s worth watching Stephen Colbert’s segment last night, in which he talked about how NBA players are showing more leadership than the RNC convention. “Why should we pay attention to what they’re saying if none of what they’re saying tonight is about what’s happening in America right now? Why should we watch their reality show if it doesn’t reflect our reality?”

-In an new Zoom chat, Issa Rae and Yvonne Orji talked the most emotional scenes to shoot for Insecure season four. God, I hope they both clean up at the Emmys.

-Speaking of Emmy campaign appearances, watching Succession stars Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen get giggly over Shiv and Tom is a delight.

-Grey’s Anatomy alum Sara Ramirez has announced that they are non-binary. They quietly changed their pronouns on social media a while back, and today they posted about their gender directly: “In me is the capacity to be Girlish boy, Boyish girl, Boyish boy, Girlish girl, All, Neither.”

-This is a great piece explaining OnlyFans, the spotlight on its new celebrity users, and how platforms defined and popularized by sex workers are often the first ones to deny them their place at the table.

–Jaden Smith and Cara Delevingne‘s upcoming romantic drama Life In a Year is facing an uncertain future now that two of its supporting actors (Cuba Gooding Jr. and Chris D’Elia) are facing sexual misconduct claims.

-Not today, Terry Crews!

-Bravo is moving forward with its reality TV production, even Top Chef. All the contestants and judges will have to be tested and quarantined before production begins, the set will be socially distanced, and the judges won’t share food anymore.

-People are on baby bump watch for Jennifer Lawrence because of these pics.

-Weirdly, there’s lots of talk that TIFF is denying critics press accreditation this year — which makes no sense because pretty much everything is digital so it’s not like there’s capacity concerns. Hopefully this is a sign that they’re reversing their rejections.

-The Ringer posted a history of movie costars who hated each other and it’s exactly the type of content I needed today.

–Anya Taylor-Joy and Marielle Heller star in the trailer for The Queen’s Gambit, Netflix’s limited series adaptation of Walter Tevis‘ novel.

 

 

Kate Winslet On This Year’s Uncertain Awards Season

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–Kate Winslet, back in the awards race with same-sex romance Ammonite, covers THR and talks about choreographing her own sex scenes with Saoirse Ronan (“[Director] Francis [Lee] was naturally very nervous. And I just said to him, ‘Listen, let us work it out.’ And we did. ‘We’ll start here. We’ll do this with the kissing, boobs, you go down there, then you do this, then you climb up here.’ I mean, we marked out the beats of the scene so that we were anchored in something that just supported the narrative. I felt the proudest I’ve ever felt doing a love scene on Ammonite. And I felt by far the least self-conscious”) and attending this year’s TIFF (“I can be barefoot and I don’t have to put a dress on. It’s awesome”).

–Justin and Hailey Bieber appear to have missed the memo on L.A.’s no parties order.

–Brad Pitt is reportedly dating Nicole Poturalski, a German model. They were spotted together in France. There’s lots of chatter about how she looks like Angelina Jolie, but looking at her Instagram I’m not sure I see it.

–Britney Spears’ sister just made a move to control the pop star’s assets. Jamie Lynn Spears, who was selected as trustee of the pop superstar’s estate two years ago, is seeking more control over the performer’s fortune. Meanwhile, Spears’ father submitted additional documentation to continue the conservatorship, including checking a box that indicates the singer is unable handle her finances.

-My goodness. More powerful Hollywood men have been named as having been involved with the actress Charlotte Kirk.

–Thandie Newton said she was “surprised by the appreciation” she got after speaking candidly about what it’s like working with Tom Cruise. “I have nothing to lose because I could just then not get hired, which is kind of normal for people in my generation anyway. So I’ve got nothing to lose and I would rather go out using this moment.”

–Gabrielle Union and Kirsten Dunst reunited virtually with director Peyton Reed and writer Jessica Bendinger to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of Bring It On.

–Louis C.K. donated to Joe Biden’s campaign; Biden gave it back.

–Halle Berry has dropped her lawyer and is now representing herself in her divorce proceedings with Olivier Martinez. This seems…misguided.

-Alias costar Kevin Weisman posted some very cute old photos of the cast have a pre-awards show party in 2002.

-It’s really interesting to see how US-based movie publications are handling film reviews these days. Collider just posted: “To publish reviews without any awareness of the current landscape can be seen as an implicit endorsement of attending the theater. That would be putting our readership’s health in jeopardy, and we don’t want to do that.”

-Meanwhile, Variety interviewed Christopher Nolan stans who are taking flights just to see Tenet.

-I really like this idea of using empty major league baseball fields to screen movies, but Warner Bros and or Nolan won’t even let Tenet screen at drive-ins in cities where theatres are still closed, so good luck with that.

-If you want to see the Dune trailer, you actually have to go to the movies. It’s currently only showing in front of Tenet, but isn’t expected to premiere online until Sept 9. Seriously, what is Warner Bros doing?!?

-Good news for One Day at a Time fans. The series, which was picked up by Pop after being cancelled on Netflix, will now also air on CBS.

-Altered Carbon has been canceled by Netflix after — you guessed it! — two seasons. They’re not even pretending their shows will last longer than 2-3 seasons anymore, huh?

-Stranger Things’ kiddo Noah Schnapp denies using the n-word while singing along to a song.

-I caught up on I May Destroy You’s season finale (which aired on HBO on Monday but a few months ago in the UK) and oh my god. If you have HBO or Crave, it’s so worth watching. It’s been a while since a show got me so jazzed that I immediately looked up all the think pieces as soon as it ended. No wonder celebrities like Janelle Monae, Seth Rogen, Adele, and Jane Fonda have been raving about it.

-I also appreciated this piece on I May Destroy You’s similarities with HBO’s other devastating new show about the power of narrative, I’ll Be Gone In the Dark.

-A shy teen makes music with a band of ghosts in the trailer for Netflix’s new musical Julie and the Phantoms.

-Quarantine comedies are the latest thing. HBO’s Coastal Elites features Sarah Paulson, Bette Midler, Kaitlyn Dever, Dan Levy and Issa Rae. Meanwhile, a bunch of familiar faces show up in the trailer for Netflix’s remotely shot anthology series Social Distance.

-Here’s the trailer for Sundance hit The Forty-Year-Old Version. Writer, director and actress Radha Blank won the Vanguard Award for her comedy about a once-promising playwright who turns to hip-hop.