–Caitríona Balfe is on the cover of Vanity Fair’s Awards Insider issue for Belfast (a film I found super boring but what do I know?), and she talks about how scary Outlander fans can be. “When you have a kid, you become really protective. I don’t want those [crazy fans]—because that’s what they are—I just don’t want them talking about him. It’s sad, because you meet the loveliest people who are fans of the show and they’re super supportive and they do the nicest things—and then you have that little thing, which just taints it.”
-I tried to watch The Tender Bar this weekend but even my love for George Clooney (who directed it) couldn’t sustain me past the first hour. Still, Ben Affleck was the best thing about it. He talks to the LA Times about turning 50 this year (“The common thread I’ve found from the people I know who’ve turned 50 who are the happiest is that they’ve stopped worrying so much about what other people think”) why he dropped out of directing The Batman (“I looked at it and thought, “I’m not going to be happy doing this. The person who does this should love it”) and how his priorities changed around the time of Justice League (“It was really Justice League that was the nadir for me. That was a bad experience because of a confluence of things: my own life, my divorce, being away too much, the competing agendas and then [director] Zack [Snyder]’s personal tragedy [Snyder’s daughter Autumn died by suicide in 2017] and the reshooting. It just was the worst experience. It was awful. It was everything that I didn’t like about this. That became the moment where I said, “I’m not doing this anymore.” It’s not even about, like, Justice League was so bad. Because it could have been anything”).
-Meanwhile, Kevin Smith explained how he tried (and failed) to make a Superman movie with Ben Affleck.
-Here’s a better look at The Batman’s villains Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman.
–Robert Durst, the subject of HBO’s The Jinx, has died in custody at 78. He was recently convicted of murdering Susan Berman in 2000.
–Bob Saget‘s Full House costars are expressing their shock and sadness over his sudden passing. (There was no sign of foul play or drug use.)
-Instead of having a Golden Globes broadcast, they just announced the awards via a live tweet and the rollout was a mess (with tweets full of dumb jokes but often missing what role the winner won for) and was quickly overshadowed by the outpouring of grief over Bob Sagat’s death.
-Despite the mess, there were some good wins (especially because the Globes broadcast died because of their lack of diversity). MJ Rodriguez became the first transgender woman to win best actress, while Squid Game’s O Yeong-su became the first Korean actor to win. That being said, judging by its reception today, I’m doubtful the broadcast will ever comes back.
-The Eternals is hitting Disney+ tomorrow.
–Zendaya posted a trigger warning for this season of Euphoria, which started last night. (This behind-the-scene clip cleansed some of the trauma from the premiere.)
-In honour of her 40th birthday, the palace released three new portraits of Kate Middleton by photographer Paolo Roversi.
-The CW is now for sale and Supernatural fans seem to want to take credit for its demise, but the network has never been profitable — even when that show was airing. (I saw a tweet where a stan claimed that SPN licensed conventions is what made the CW money, which is adorable. The stars? For sure. The network? No.) It has more do to with streaming — I remember when I was an Arrowverse fan there was a lot of industry talk about how the Netflix deal basically was the biggest way those shows made their studios money, but now all the streaming rights are going to the studio’s own apps. This tiktok explains it well.
–Aubrey Plaza will star in season two of Mike White’s HBO comedy The White Lotus, which sounds like perfect casting.
-Grey’s Anatomy has scored a surprise early renewal for its 19th season on ABC after Ellen Pompeo inked a rich new deal to return. She’s also been upped from co-executive producer to executive producer.
-Critics may hate Emily In Paris but the latest season must be doing great for Netflix— they just handed it a big two-season renewal.
-The Morning Show has scored a predictable third season renewal at Apple — and will now be on its third showrunner.
-I liked The Lost Daughter, but I’m starting to like all the think pieces surrounding it even more than I liked the movie. This one is excellent.
-Every year, this movie critic compiles clips from his favourite films of the year, and his latest edition doesn’t disappoint.
-Omicron is surging but studios are still expecting film critics to attend in-person screenings.
-Netflix’s The Kanye West Trilogy, decades in the making, just got a teaser ahead of its Sundance premiere.
-Here’s a look at Peacock’s BelAir, which premieres on Super Bowl Sunday with its first three episodes, followed by new episodes weekly. It’s a more dramatic take on the beloved sitcom.
