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Bryan Singer

Natalie Portman: No Longer a Manic Pixie Dream Girl

natalie-portman-vanity-fair

-In her new Vanity Fair cover story, Natalie Portman talks about being involved in the #MeToo movement, looking back on her experience with Harvey Weinstein and the former costars who’ve accused him of misconduct (“Like the set of Beautiful Girls—every woman in that movie has come forward”), and how upset she is to have been part of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl wave.

Rami Malek thinks that viral video of him with a fan is “not that bad” — and I agree. We can’t just see actors in the wild and expect them to perform on cue like dancing monkeys.

-This look at how many chances Bryan Singer got with the Bohemian Rhapsody film is quite eye-opening. Oh, to be a white dude in Hollywood. (In response to the article, Singer released a statement to THR: “Any discussion about fights between myself and Rami Malek are simply an exaggeration of a few creative differences that were quickly resolved. This is normal on a film set. And I think the work speaks for itself.”)

-As interesting as this take is on Nicki Minaj and Cardi B‘s social media war is, I’m still exhausted by the whole thing.

Kanye West now says he’s distancing himself from politics: “My eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative.” Sure.

-Netflix got the original cast of Sabrina the Teenage Witch to watch the new reboot and give their reactions, and it’s very funny. “I wasn’t allowed to take my clothes off!”

Justin Bieber shaved his head and instantly looked 3097% better.

-This takedown of Post Malone’s music is a thing of beauty: “Post Malone’s music is dead-eyed and ignorant, astonishingly dull in its materialism, an abandoned lot of creativity with absolutely no evidence of traffic in his cerebral cortex — and there’s also a negative side.”

Jesse L Martin is taking a leave of absence from The Flash this season due to a back injury he sustained during the summer hiatus. I figured something was up — in every scene so far this season he’s been conspicuously sitting down or leaning on something.

Louis C.K.’s latest standup show was met with a handful of protesters. During the show, the comedian said “They tell you that when you get in trouble you find out who your real friends are. It’s black people, it turns out. They’ll stick by you,” invoking a group of people whose allyship he seems to value, if not reciprocate.

-Hollywood stuntpeople say that the past several years have brought about a troubling change when it comes to safety, likely due to the huge increase in streaming content, which has led some productions and stunt coordinators to cut corners.

-I’m very curious to know how much control Barbra Streisand had over her Carpool Karaoke segment. I’m guessing A LOT.

-The director of Blue Is the Warmest Color has been accused of sexual assault in France. That film’s TIFF premiere was the most awkward screening I’d ever been to because the lead actresses refused to be on the stage at the same time as him (they said at the time they way he filmed sex scenes made them feel “like prostitutes”), so for the film’s intro he came out first, said his bit, and then left the stage so the actresses could come out.

-The Kiss Quotient is being adapted into a film, which I’m very excited about but also very curious how they’re going to do it because that book was *steamy*.

Sara Bareilles performs a soulful version of ‘Theodosia Reprise‘ for the latest Hamildrop and I’m not crying YOU’RE crying!

Rebel Wilson get meta in the rom-com spoof Isn’t It Romantic. I love everything about this trailer.

 

Victoria Beckham Explains Why She Doesn’t Want a Spice Girls Reunion

Victoria Beckham covers Vogue Australia

Victoria Beckham looks amazing in the pages of Vogue Australia (though I’m not sold on the flesh-coloured bandeau). In the interview, she talks about why she doesn’t want to do a Spice Girls reunion (“I always wanted to do fashion, so I was lucky that music was never my main passion. For the other girls it was”) and why she left the group in the first place (“I remember sitting very near to the front [at an Elton John concert] and looking at him singing those songs he’d sung time after time, year after year, and his passion and his enjoyment was incredible, even after all that time. And a few nights later, I was on stage at Madison Square Garden with the Spice Girls and I thought: ‘It’s almost like a waste that I’m given this opportunity. I appreciate the time I’ve had with the girls, but I don’t have what Elton can have after all these years.’ There was nothing there, other than that my kids were in the audience and I wanted them to see Mummy doing the Spice Girls.”).

Bryan Singer is working hard to get ahead of an article that Esquire is about to publish an article that he says will ruin his career.

-This article about how Timothee Chalamet is the perfect movie star for 2018 (according to producers, agents and studio execs) is so, so weird.  There’s lots of talk about how he’s a soft “beta” and not a hard “alpha” like Leonardo DiCaprio by people who clearly forget that Leo was a teen heartthrob for decades (“He’s pretty fey,” says one veteran studio hand and Academy voter in his 60s. “He might be the next Anthony Perkins, rather than the next Leo”).  This part is especially gross: “Girls love him now because I don’t think they’re scared of him…You’re selling the new male. What does the new male movie star look like in a post #MeToo world, where you can’t get away with all the things the alpha guys used to crush it at?” What exactly were you trying to get away with before?!

-Speaking of articles that deal a lot about traditional movie star archetypes, Viggo Mortensen talks about how not becoming famous until he was in his 40s helped him avoid celebrity traps. I have mixed feelings about Green book — I liked it but it’s problematic — but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s part of the mix when Oscar talk comes around. (Also, I can’t believe he’s going to be 60 in 5 days!)

-I was genuinely surprised by Meghan Markle’s pregnancy announcement. I wonder how Princess Eugenie feels about the fact that they announced it to the family at her wedding?

-Twitter is fantasy casting a movie with Kerry Washington and Chris Evans, and Washington is into it because she’s no fool.

Jennifer Garner says an Alias reboot may be in the works. Despite my reboot fatigue, I don’t hate this idea.

-Kirsten Dunst and Kristen Scott Thomas have designed sweaters, with proceeds going to their fave charities.

Nicole Kidman has not one, but two movies that are generating Oscar buzz (Boy Erased and Destroyer) so she’ll be doing quite a bit of press in the next few months. Still, I’m surprised that she talked about Tom Cruise in a new interview while addressing #MeToo: “I got married very young, but it definitely wasn’t power for me — it was protection. I married for love, but being married to an extremely powerful man kept me from being sexually harassed. I would work, but I was still very much cocooned. So when I came out of [the marriage] at 32, 33, it’s almost like I had to grow up.”

-I really like Ariana Grande and I hope she’s doing ok after her split from Pete Davidson. At least it happened before the wedding.

-On a new podcast, Taran Killam got candid about the mood behind the scenes on SNL: “When Seth Meyers left the show, the dynamic changed quite a bit. He was the last person there who I witnessed really collaborate with Lorne, as opposed to just kind of do what Lorne says.”

Drake comes off really, really well when talking about his drama with Pusha T in Lebron James’ new HBO show The Shop.

Ansel Elgort is living two different lives in the Jonathan trailer.

Tiffany Haddish Dishes on Taylor Swift’s Potluck Dinner Party

Tiffany Haddish continues to be the perfect talk show host. On today’s Ellen, she talked about getting invited to Taylor Swift‘s potluck dinner party. (“She can cook. Like the chicken was BOMB! And she made cornbread. BOMB!”)

Ed Sheeran says that Beyoncé changes her email address EVERY single week. Frankly, I’m more surprised that she uses email…

-Meanwhile, here’s the duet Ed and Beyonce released last week.

Demi Lovato is doing everything right. If I was famous, I too would cast Jessie Williams in my music video and fill it with hot sex scenes.

-The woman who played Gail on Dawson’s Creek keeps posting old behind-the-scenes pics from the show and I am NOT OK!

-TV did right by its female superheroes last week, and was all the better for it.

-The very best part of this weekend’s SNL was the “Welcome to Hell” song.

-Well, this is the best possible House Of Cards outcome: The 8-episode final season will star Robin Wright, without Kevin Spacey.  No one loses their job, and Wright gets to end the series as the HBIC.

-As soon as the Kevin Spacey news hit, a lot of attention shifted to director Bryan Singer. (Google their names together — rumours and settlement whispers about Singer have been floating around for years, with Spacey’s name often associated). So lots of eyebrows raised when production on Bohemian Rhapsody (the Freddie Mercury biopic starring Remi Malek) was halted on Friday because Singer failed to show up.  Now comes confirmation that he’s been officially fired from the movie, with THR reporting that Singer and Malek repeatedly clashed due to Singer’s repeated unexplained absences and culminated in a confrontation “which, while it did not become physical, did involve Singer throwing an object.”

-One of Danny Masterson‘s alleged sexual assault victims says a Netflix executive told her this weekend that higher-ups at the company don’t believe the four women who have accused Masterson of rape. Then the exec’s wife wrote the woman a truly terrible email — from her Disney corporate account! For a company as savvy as Netflix, they keep stepping in it with this one.

-A Penguin editor resigned after actress Charlyne Yi accused him of harassment, which he vigorously denied on his blog. So she responded with Tweeting out some serious receipts.

-Gross. Matt Lauer is seeking $30 million from NBC after firing over sexual misconduct allegations.

-This is a good question: why isn’t Hollywood rallying around Terry Crews?

Meek Mill’s request for a bail hearing has been denied. Seriously, how has this judge not been recused yet? This is nuts.

-It’s HILARIOUS that the New York Times is trying to explain what a shipper is.  I first heard the term when The X-Files was airing — the first time around. Also, I disagree with their assessment that shippers only like non-canon couples. This is a way better explainer.

Steven Soderberg his having some issues with his Godless series. First, critics seemed disheartened that it was marketed as a Wild West centered around two badass widows, but turned out to be a dude-focused Deadwood rip-off. Now he’s denying plagiarism claims.

Justin Theroux plays a sexually frustrated astronaut on this week’s At Home With Amy Sedaris. This seems like good content.

-I’ve never watched the TV show The Exorcist, but the fact that the showrunner responded like this to reaction of a gay kiss makes me want to:  “I saw a couple of homophobes on Twitter and my response is, ‘Good, f*ck you. I’m glad you didn’t like it, I’m glad it ruined the show for you. You shouldn’t have good things in your life.'”

-Avengers: Infinity War has become the most-viewed trailer in 24 hours of all time with 230 million views.

-I haven’t been excited by an NBC show for years, but this Good Girls trailer has Christina Hendricks, Retta and Mae Whitman robbing a grocery store so I’m in.

Christina Hendricks also shows up with Gillian Anderson in the Crooked House trailer.

Bill Hader is a world-class assassin in the first trailer for HBO’s Barry.

-Speaking of new HBO shows, True Blood and Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball‘s new series Here And Now has a trailer.

-The first Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom teaser features Bryce Dallas Howard in shoes that aren’t heels. So yay!