Browsing Tag

Bridgerton

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky Heat Up the Holidays

–Rihanna brought A$AP Rocky home for the holidays.

-If you were online at all over the last few days, you’ve probably caught up with theĀ Hilaria Baldwin drama, in which it was revealed that Alec Baldwin‘s wife was actually born inĀ Massachusetts and has faked a Spanish accent for years. This is my favourite kind of end-of-year scandal: a harmless saga featuring random celebrity cameos (hello, Amy Schumer) and a couple who keeps digging a deeper hole after getting caught up in their own lies.

–Constance Wu welcomed her first child with her boyfriend,Ā musician Ryan Kattner — and they did it 6 months ago and managed to keep it under wraps.

–Emma Roberts and Garrett Hedlund also had their first child, a boy named Rhodes.

–Nick Cannon and his girlfriend, Brittany Bell, also welcomed their second child together over the holidays.

-Personally, I adored Bridgerton on Netflix, even if it’s not without its flaws (the showrunner insists it’s not just colour-blind casting but the show barely engages with race at all).Ā Also, a lot of people’s favourite book is the one focused on Penelope (which I haven’t got to yet), but the reveal at the end of this season makes me wonder how much the audience will still be rooting for her when it’s time for her love story. In any case, if the show follows the books the next season should focus on Anthony and his new love interest, who’s the best character. Like, so good she makes him tolerable.

-We can’t talk about Bridgerton without talking about THE SCENE. Perhaps because I just read the book I was expecting it, but I was surprised at how vocal the reaction to it was.Ā The scene in the book is even *more* problematic but it does a better job with Simon’s POV in the aftermath than the show does. In the book, he more clearly resists, his reaction stutter is worse, it explores his feelings of betrayal more deeply, she’s way more repentant, and he physically separates from her until he can sort out his feelings. Still, I can’t help but wonder why the show didn’t just drop that scene altogether, or at the very least focus more on Simon’s reaction than Daphne’s.

-Speaking of dubious sex scenes in this week’s pop culture, this is a very, very good piece on both Wonder Woman 1984 andĀ Bridgerton’s missteps when it comes to the lack of male consent.

-Speaking of WW84, this review nails it. I still can’t believe that they made Wonder Woman a secondary character in her own sequel, and that her main storyline was about how she’s spent the past 70 years pining (ha!) for a guy she once spent a week with.

-There are too many Batman movies coming. Way, way too many.

-In movie news that actually sounds good,Ā Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum will star in The Lost City of D; she as a romance novelist and he as a romance novel model. Together they’ll be entangled in a “cutthroat jungle adventure.”

–Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have released a holiday podcast special on Spotify. They had Stacey AbramsĀ as a guest and she talked about #BlackLivesMatter and the importance of voting which helped turn Georgia blue.

–Halsey is taking a social media break after apologizing for sharing a photo depicting her eating disorder without adding a trigger warning.

-Netflix is introducing a new weekly chat show about its trending shows. I wonder how this is going to work, seeing as you can’t really have aftershows for series when all your audience is at different stages of their binge?

-Speaking of Netflix shows, the cheerleading drama Dare Me debuts today and critics love it.

-The new trailer for the CW’s Superman & Lois set a familial tone. Ugh, don’t let me get sucked into another CW superhero show.

–Michael B. Jordan will make his directorial debut with the upcoming third installment of the Creed franchise.

–Lori Loughlin has been released from prison after her 2-month sentence following her college bribery scam.

–Justin Bieber‘s (or Justin Bieber’s PR firm’s) response to his wife on social media is very funny.

–Variety apologized to Carey Mulligan for its “insensitive language and insinuation” after she says its review of Promising Young Woman was “basically saying that I wasn’t hot enough” for the role.

-Speaking of Variety, they had a deep dive intoĀ Shia LaBeouf’s career that seems to have gotten overlooked in the holiday rush. It includes a couple of interesting tidbits, like how Harry Styles replaced him in Olivia Wildeā€™s upcoming film Don’t Worry Darling because Wilde has a “zero asshole policy” on her sets.

–Mads Mikkelsen is the best storyteller.

–Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and Jermaine Fowler star in the Coming To America 2 trailer, coming to Amazon Prime in March.

Beyonce Speaks

beyonce british vogue
Kennedi Carter/Vogue

-This week is going to be crazy and stressful, so let’s let Beyonce ease us into it with her glorious British Vogue spread, mm-kay? This is the first time she’s given an actual interview in years.

-It’s the day before the election and celebrities are pulling out the big guns. Taylor Swift posted a video to urge fans to vote, while Beyonce has endorsed Biden/Harris, adding the caption “come thru Texas,” and Michael Keaton posted another video for Pennsylvania.

-There’s been a bunch of sitcom reunions too, with the New Girl cast turning the theme song into a voting PSA, and the Community cast shooting an in-character short.

–Dave Chappelle will host the first episode of Saturday Night Live after the presidential election — just like last time.

-Speaking of SNL, people really didn’t like it when this weekend’s hostĀ John Mulaney said in his monologue that ā€œnothing much will changeā€ if Biden beats Trump.

–Johnny Depp lost his UK libel case against the publisher of The SunĀ over an article which called him a ā€˜wife beaterā€™ – something the actor denies. The judge ruled the Sun has shown that ā€œwhat they published in the meaning … was substantially true.ā€

–Kendall Jenner threw a Halloween-themed birthday party amid the pandemic, and the internet is out for blood.

-Most celebs seemed to keep it lowkey this Halloween — but still showed off their costumes on social.

–Megan Fox took to Instagram to call out ex Brian Austin Green for posting photos that make her seem like she’s “an absent mother.”

–Joshua Jackson spotted a guy walking down the street wearing his Mighty Ducks character’s jersey and was totally cool about it.

–Cardi B has canceled her divorce filing from Offset.

-On the other end of the spectrum,Ā Julianne Hough has filed for divorce from Brooks Laich 6 months after they separated, despite a brief reconciliation.

–Jamie Lynn Spears has withdrawn her petition to become Britney Spears’ trustee.

-We learned this weekend thatĀ Prince William secretly battled coronavirus in April, even struggling to breatheā€”but kept his ordeal a secret because he didnā€™t wish to alarm the public. Which makes his decision to recently appear in public with his grandmother maskless even more strange.

-It’s November, which means Taylor Swift can legally re-record her old albums now.

-Bless Mariah Carey for always ushering in the holiday season with a fun video.

–Stephen Colbert recited a passage about hope from memory. I love this nerd!

–Ray Fisher once again called out Joss Whedon and Warner Bros, this time about racism.

–John Boyega seems to be at peace with where things landed with Disney following his criticism, which he hopes will make it easier for the other actors.Ā “It was a very honest, a very transparent conversation…They gave me a chance also to explain what my experience was like. Iā€™d hope that me being so open with my career, at this stage, would help the next man, the guy that wants to be the assistant DOP, the guy that wants to be a producer.”

-I don’t have much interest in watching Kate Mara play a woman who seduces a high school student, but the reviews for The Teacher are good.

-My goodness, I want to live inside this Bridgerton trailer. It’s the first major show from Shonda Rhimes for Netflix, and it drops at xmas.