Browsing Tag

Caitriona Balfe

Caitríona Balfe Talks Fame, Fandom

Caitríona Balfe vanity fair

–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.

Angelina Jolie Swings High

Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek and Lauren Radloff

-Elle released a series of covers for their Women in Hollywood issue, including ones featuring The Eternals’ stars Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek and Lauren Radloff. In the shoot, the best pics are of Jolie — mostly because they shot her swinging in a harness over a swimming pool.

-In a series of scathing Instagram posts, actress Ruby Rose finally opened up about her abrupt departure from the CW’s Batwoman, claiming unsafe work conditions and mistreatment by the network/studio. She also called out costar Dougray Scott, who she says “yelled like a little bitch at women and was a nightmare.” (My Ever After-loving heart is breaking.) Warner Bros TV responded with their own harsh words, saying she was fired based on an internal investigation of “multiple complaints about workplace behavior that were extensively reviewed.”  Between this, Brandon Routh and Dominic Purcell leaving Legends under not-great-sounding circumstances, and Supergirl’s Jon Cryer liking tweets about boycotting the network, the CW needs to get their house in order.

-All the bts drama makes me glad that Arrow ended and the decades-long hold the WB/UPN/CW had on me lifted, though the new teaser for The Flash’s crossover event looks good. It will feature Jefferson from Black Lightning, Mia from Arrow, Ray from Legends, Alex from Supergirl, Ryan from Batwoman, and Roy Choi from the last CW crossover.

-Netflix is vehemently disputing the fired staffer’s denial of leaking Dave Chappelle payout information to the press.

-Meanwhile, Ashlee Marie Preston, Jonathan Van Ness, Angelica Ross, Jameela Jamil, Mason Alexander Park, Kate Bornstein, Our Lady J, Sara Ramirez, Peppermint and Colton Haynes appeared in a video to support the walkout of Netflix employees, and Elliot Page (who stars in Netflix’s Umbrella Academy) tweeted it.

-Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy also voiced his support.

-Also, the list of demand for the walkout is very thoughtful — and does not include taking down Chappelle’s special.

–Jonah Hill says he doesn’t care that people think he ruined surfing. First, why do people think that? Second, is he searching IG stickers with his name? Third, would anyone know about this if he hadn’t posted it?

–Alicia Silverstone says she’s been banned from a dating app twice (likely Raya).

–The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced that it would move forward with handing out Golden Globe awards for the films and TV shows of 2021 — even if it’s not broadcast.

-This is such a good piece on why Mel Gibson keeps getting so many chances. “I’m convinced that far too many people decided that Weinstein’s punishment was proof enough that they’d fixed the problem. Not only that but it became the new benchmark for abuse.”

–Freida Pinto is the latest celeb to reveal a secret wedding during lockdown.

–Meryl Streep, Kit Harington and Matthew Rhys will head the ensemble of an eight-episode drama on Apple TV+ about climate change.

–Adele described her unique way of eating chips and I’m very intrigued!

-This is a great interview with Shalita Grant on playing the comic relief in You and Search Party.

-The finale for Only Murders in the Building aired this week and I was surprised how continually charmed I was by that show.  Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez made a fascinating team, Amy Ryan is always stellar, and Tina Fey has a quip at the end of the finale that I’m still laughing about.

-Netflix is moving ahead with a To All The Boys spinoff focused on the youngest daughter, Kitty.

-Here’s a clip of Anya Taylor-Joy singing “Downtown” for the soundtrack to Last Night in Soho.

–Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe star in the Belfast trailer, written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. Audiences adored this at TIFF, where it won the People’s Choice Award.

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost Have Baby Boy

–Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost have welcomed a baby boy named Cosmo(!) into the world. It’s her second child, and their first together.

-Congratulations to Outlander’s Caitriona Balfe and Tony McGill who recently welcomed their first child together — despite her fans not knowing she was pregnant.

–Chloe and Halle Bailey cover of Flaunt magazine.

-In THR’s new cover story, Michael Keaton admitted that he got lost when the Morbius filmmakers tried to break down what’s been happening in the MCU and how it makes sense that he’ll play Batman in The Flash thanks to the multiverse. “I’m nodding like I know what the fuck they’re talking about. I go, ‘Uh-huh.’ And I’m thinking, ‘You may as well be explaining quantum physics right now to me. All I know is I just know my guy. And I know the basics.’ So finally, they were looking at me, and they just started laughing. They said, ‘You don’t know what we’re talking about, do you?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t, no idea what you’re talking about.'”

-I don’t know what I’m less surprised by: that Carrie Underwood would like an anti-mask tweet from an extremist voice like Matt W*lsh, or that celebrities still haven’t figured out that we can easily see which tweets they’ve liked.

–Joshua Jackson really wanted to clarify that yes, Jodie Turner-Smith proposed to him first, but that’s not the whole story. “Yes, two proposals. And also for anybody who is freaked out by a woman claiming her own space, shut the fuck up. Good God, you cannot believe the things people were leaving my wife on Instagram. She did it. I said ‘yes.’ We’re happy. That’s it. That’s all you need to know. That has been a real education for me as a white man, truly. The way people get in her comments and the ignorance and ugliness that comes her way is truly shocking. And it has been a necessary, but an unpleasant education in just the way people relate to Black bodies in general, but Black female bodies in specific. It is not okay. We have a long way to go.”

-The Ringer talked to current and former colleagues of new Jeopardy host Mike Richards…and it’s not good! Also, his old podcast jokes have resurfaced online and they are also not good.

-According to The Daily Beast, Queen Elizabeth‘s lawyers wrote to major British newspapers warning them against taking or publishing pictures of the royals at Balmoral the same day that Prince Andrew arrived there. Interesting how they were willing to sic lawyers on the press for negative coverage of him but not Meghan Markle.

–Ant Anstead confirmed that he’s dating Renee Zellweger, saying “Look, everybody knows that Renee and I have become quite close… we kept it secret for a while, and unfortunately some pictures were taken and put out there.”

-Open arguments have begun in R. Kelly’s sex crime trial, and prosecutors said he used “every trick in the predator’s handbook.” Meanwhile, his lawyer seemed flustered in her opening remarks, accidentally saying “the girls” in reference to Kelly’s partners before quickly correcting herself by saying “excuse me, the women,” as well as saying: “You ultimately will have to find Mr. Kelly guilty — excuse me, not guilty.”

–Alyssa Milano and her uncle were involved in a car accident after he suffered a suspected heart attack while driving.

–Phoebe Dynevor has signed on to executive-produce and star in Amazon’s adaptation of Exciting Times and now everyone is wondering what that means for Bridgerton. She’s only in brief scenes in the subsequent books — because that’s how those books work.

-This is an interesting piece on Nicole Kidman the film actor versus Nicole Kidman the TV star, and how she seems to be choosing less interesting roles on the small screen vs the big screen.

-Meanwhile, I had no idea her new show Nine Perfect Strangers had already started airing. There’s too much TV.

-I was clicking on a celebrity-related tweet last week and it went to Gawker, which felt like a time warp. The site is back with an almost-all female staff.

-With Delta bearing down hard on the US, the movie studios are beginning to rethink their release schedule again. The fall film festivals are still rolling on, though.

-Oooh boy. Canadian director Denis Villeneuve said of Dune’s release, “The way it happened, I’m still not happy. Frankly, to watch Dune on a television, the best way I can compare it is to drive a speedboat in your bathtub. For me, it’s ridiculous. It’s a movie that has been made as a tribute to the big-screen experience” Sigh. Look, I get that as a filmmaker, he wants people to see his movies in the best possible presentation — not to mention his profits and ability to make a sequel are probably tied to box office receipts. But others have pointed out the elitism of his comments. Also, we’re in a pandemic! If people are more comfortable watching it on HBO Max, at least they’re watching it. And not to give James Gunn too much credit, but I did like what he had to say recently about movies becoming favourites because they’re re-run on TV, which seems especially true for a film like Dune, which is destined to be a cult fave due to repeated viewings.

-I don’t watch RHONY, but I really liked this interview with Eboni K Williams about getting along with costars like Ramona Singer who have different political views.  “I’m not looking to see if Ramona and I agree on North Korea, or mask bans, or anything like that. I don’t care about that. But I’ve got to see if we align on those basic principles of shared humanity. And if we don’t, that saves me time, and really, Ramona time.”

-Here’s the final trailer for Annette, which seems to have divided critics.