Monthly Archives

February 2021

Tom Holland Has No Spoilers Left To Give

tom holland esquire

Esquire profiled Tom Holland, and you can tell how much the fact that Marvel refuses to trust him with plot secrets anymore messes with his head. He says of the upcoming Spider-Man film: “In [Endgame], Robert Downey Jr.’s funeral scene, for the longest time I was under the impression that it was a wedding. I’m 100 percent sure that they’re still tricking me.” He does seem more confident that the rumours of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield making cameos aren’t true, though. “No, no, they will not be appearing in this film. Unless they have hidden the most massive piece of information from me, which I think is too big of a secret for them to keep from me.”

Britney Spears’ boyfriend Sam Asghari slammed her dad in post following release of the Framing Britney Spears documentary. He posted on Instagram: “Now it’s important for people too understand that I have zero respect for someone trying to control our relationship and constantly throwing obstacles our way. In my opinion Jamie is a total dick.” When TMZ caught up with him later, he added “Once he starts treating his daughter right, then we can be on good terms.”

Spears reportedly is aware of the doc but hasn’t yet watched it. She did just tweet this though: “Each person has their story and their take on other people’s stories…Remember, no matter what we think we know about a person’s life it is nothing compared to the actual person living behind the lens.”

-Meanwhile, a video of Craig Ferguson refusing to mock Britney Spears has gone viral. I remember when he said this because a lot of us who were working at an outlet covering celebrity news began feeling the same.

Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt are teaming up for a new action movie.

Pedro Pascal continues to seem like a great human. Lux Pascal opened up about her brother’s reaction to her coming out as a transgender woman: “Pedro is an important part of this. He was the first person to gift me the tools that started shaping my identity. [When I came out to him, he said] ‘Perfect, this is incredible!'”

-Vulture has ranked all 515 original Netflix movies. I’ve only seen 3 of the top 20.

-The National Society of Film Critics has released a statement regarding Variety’s apology for its review of Promising Young Woman. This is such a tough one. On one hand, critics should be able to express opinions. On the other, that review had some brutal sentiments about her appearance that an editor should have caught. And this statement makes it seem like Carey Mulligan objected to it because it might affect her chances in awards season, which is gross.

-I’m still not sure how it happened, but my friend and I ended up watching The Best Man again last weekend. And now comes news that the entire cast is returning for a limited series.

-The CW has ordered a pilot for a live-action Powerpuff Girls reboot from Diablo Cody, and Ava DuVernay’s superhero drama Naomi.

Kelly Clarkson talked about co-parenting with Brandon Blackstock: “It’s tough!”

Morgan Wallen’s sales have spiked since he was caught on tape using the n-word because we live in a garbage world.

-Slate got a lot of people angry yesterday for this truly dumb piece on romance novels. I stopped reading after the first couple of paragraphs when I saw a Fabio reference, which is a dead giveaway that they’re ignorant about what’s going on these days in the genre. If your outlet has to cover romance for Valentine’s Day, maybe get a writer who recognizes that it’s a billion-dollar industry and doesn’t hate all pop culture that’s largely by and for women? (FWIW, I liked this piece about which book to read based on your fave romcom — Bet Me is the best! — and this podcast on how the perfectly structured The Hating Game changed the chicklit genre).

Cynthia Erivo plays Aretha Franklin in a new trailer.

Joel McHale and Kerry Bishe play a couple whose marriage is put to the test in the trailer for Happily.

Shailene Woodley Reportedly Engaged to Aaron Rodgers

-NFLer’s Aaron Rodgers, who is rumoured to be dating Shailene Woodley, thanked his “fiancée” in an acceptance speech.

-What is happening with Armie Hammer? On Friday both his publicist and his agency dropped him, leading to lots of speculation that this was a pre-emptive move because something more (and much worse) is going to come out about him. A bunch of blinds posted by DeuxMoi also seem to suggest a big story is coming from a major outlet soon…

-Whatever surfaces, I hope it makes Bill Maher eat his words.

-Meanwhile, a reporter says Hammer recently apartment-shamed her over a Zoom interview.

-Rapper Mod Sun is not only dating Avril Lavigne  – he just got her name tattooed on his neck.

-It’s over for Ashley Benson and G-Eazy. They started dating right as the pandemic hit, so it’s actually amazing they made it this far.

-On the flip side, a source tells People that Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles “seem very serious” and “spend all their time together.”

Prince Harry was seen with James Corden shooting on a double decker bus reportedly for an upcoming episode of Carpool Karaoke.

-Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan Markle surprised a virtual poetry class.

Natalie Portman denied a tabloid’s bump watch rumours, telling them “do better.”

-Logistics nerds: this is a pretty good breakdown on how difficult it was to shoot the new season Top Chef during a pandemic.

The Weeknd made history as the first solo Canadian performer to headline the Super Bowl halftime show. It would have been better if we could actually hear him.

-The first Falcon and the Winter Soldier trailer dropped during the Super Bowl. It’s interesting that it’s coming smack in the middle of Marvel’s two more experimental new series (WandaVision and Loki), because this looks like a pretty conventional action show. (Unless they lean really heavily into the couples therapy bit and make it super character focused which I would LOVE but I’m not holding my breath.)

-This is a good interview with the WandaVision showrunner about how, despite all its twists and shiny gimmicks, they want to show Wanda as a whole person, not just an all-powerful plot device. He promises a “true emotional catharsis” is on the way.

-Just in time to fill the void left by To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix, Amazon Prime has ordered a television adaptation of another Jenny Han novel series, The Summer I Turned Pretty. I really loved the first book in this series, thought the second was good, and disliked the third a lot.

-I’m doubtful Legends of Tomorrow will continue after its recently-announced seventh season — but if it does, Dominic Purcell won’t be on it.

-More than 14 major studios, networks, streamers and top filmmakers are pursuing screen rights to flight attendant-turned-author T.J. Newman‘s Falling, which is being described as Speed at 35,000 feet.

Lucas Hedges says of his relationship with Michelle Pfeiffer on the set of French Exit: “By the end of filming, I was consistently annoying the hell out of Michelle. I never shut up. I would say I was like a squirrel around Michelle. A squirrel with a lollipop. That’s how I would describe the energy.” (She seems pleasantly puzzled by this description.)

Jennifer Coolidge says she once posed as twins so she could date a guy and his best friend at the same time. My hero!

-The Framing Britney Spears doc (which we don’t get yet in Canada) created a lot of buzz this weekend, with even Sarah Jessica Parker tweeting #FreeBritney.  Apparently Justin Timberlake does NOT come off well. Also, in the doc a paparazzo recalls the infamous moment in 2007 in which Spears took an umbrella to his SUV after he had harassed her during an emotionally fraught night.

-This is a surprisingly affecting interview with Soleil Moon Frye on the Punky Brewster revival.

This thread on how Ted Lasso created a potential pathway forward for masculinity is a must read.

-The trailer for Fast & Furious 9 debuted at last year’s Super Bowl — and it’s still not out. So last night it got yet another Super Bowl trailer.

Oliva Wilde’s On Her ‘No Assholes On Set’ Policy

-In her Directors On Directors conversation with Emerald Fennell for Variety, Oliva Wilde elaborated on her “No Assholes On Set” policy, which people were talking about after she fired Shia LaBeouf.

-Production on Netflix’s star-packed Don’t Look Up was reportedly stopped today when Jennifer Lawrence was hit with glass in a stunt gone wrong. It sounds like she’ll be ok.

Ryan Reynolds, Diddy and David Beckham (who all own alcohol brands) are donating $1 million to bartenders — and made a hilarious video about it.

Lana Del Rey went Instagram official with fiancé Clayton Johnson.

Lana Condor will star in and executive produce Netflix’s Boo, Bitch — a comedy limited series about a high school senior who, after years of playing it safe, decides to live an epic life … only to wake up the next morning and find out she’s now a ghost. I’m into it.

T.I. and Tiny’s reality show has suspended production following those sexual abuse allegations.

Van Jones was on The View today and it did not go well for him. At all.

-Legendary Canadian actor Christopher Plummer has passed away at 91. There are a lot of amazing tributes and clips being shared, but my fave is when he did a roundtable with George Clooney, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton and Voila Davis, and he talked about why he’d never work with Terrence Malick again.

-Netflix’s Malcolm & Marie tries to build on Euphoria and turn director Sam Levinson into a bankable auteur. Judging by reviews, things aren’t quite working out as planned.

-Levinson addressed the film’s backlash in an interview with Esquire: “There is this tendency amongst the establishment, and I mean white establishment critics, to categorize things and talk about them in a way that can sometimes speak to their own importance.”

-Here’s the first trailer for HBO’s docuseries Allen v. Farrow.

Cardi B dropped a new music video and it’s the bright, shiny thing we need to kick of the weekend!