Browsing Tag

Game of Thrones

The Game of Thrones Empire is Collapsing

-Woof, there was a ton of drama surrounding Game of Thrones-adjacent stuff today. First, it was announced that GoT showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss would NOT be making three new Star Wars movies after all. Their excuse is that they’re too busy. There’s a lot of talk today that maybe their public acknowledgements this weekend that they had no idea what they’re doing got them fired, but I think Kathleen Kennedy‘s passive-aggressive statement indicates that maybe Star Wars didn’t have their full attention after they inked a multi-million dollar deal with Netflix. She said: “We hope to include them in the journey forward when they are able to step away from their busy schedule to focus on Star Wars”.

-In even more shocking GoT-related news, HBO is not moving forward with the prequel pilot starring Naomi Watts. Fan enthusiasm for Game of Thrones cooled considerably in the final season (this thread spells it out well), but the GoT brand is still so massive for HBO internationally. The truly sucky thing is that Benioff and Weiss drove the brand into the ground, but this show (which was going to have a female showrunner) is paying the price.

-Judging by this clip, Meghan McCain pushed Whoopi Goldberg too far today on The View during a discussion about the treatment of veterans.

–Kanye West said a lot of crazy and exhausting things yesterday, including that God rewarded him with $68 million tax refund for becoming born-again Christian.

-How did I have no idea that Stranger Things’ David Harbour is dating singer Lily Allen?!? Well done, you crazy kids.

-I’m hearing so many good things about Hulu’s Looking for Alaska, but I especially enjoyed this piece that looked at the show through the lens of Tumblr’s love/hate relationship with John Green, the author who wrote the book the show is based on.

-In an new interview, Selena Gomez talked about her “toxic” first love whose name everyone is pretty sure rhymes with Wustin Meiber: “You’re in a phase of life where you experience love for the first time, and I think that can just be just a little toxic. You have this codependency that you think is love, and then you have this addiction to the passion and the frustration with each other that you think, ‘Oh, that’s love,’… and I believed that for a long time.”

-I can’t believe I want to watch a show about a twerking Emily Dickinson, but the reviews for Apple’s new series are so good!

-My fave running joke on Keep It is when the make fun of podcaster (and Ronan Farrow‘s fiancee) Jon Lovett, so this bit in Farrow’s Catch and Kill book slayed me.

–Idris Elba and Liam Hemsworth are both in Montreal right now and everyone’s getting the vapors.

–Kurt Sutter says he was fired from FX’s Mayans MC because of simmering tensions with his new Disney bosses, which he says came to a head because he turned in scripts too late to allow them to give notes, and because he wrote a raunchy Disney joke into one episode. “I want to be clear about this. I was dismissed for being an abrasive dick. But there was no improper behavior and no one picked up the phone and complained about me.” (Even though in the original reporting, it was alleged he was fired following an investigation after writers, producers, cast and crew reported a hostile work environment on the show.)

-The final Knives Out trailer has arrived. I. CAN. NOT. WAIT.

 

Seth Rogen Talks Kanye and Kids in GQ

seth-rogen-gq

-I love how everyone’s freaking out about how good Seth Rogen looks in his new GQ spread. He talks about Kanye West’s influence on him and why he and his wife don’t have kids. “We very much like our lives, so we will continue to put it off, it seems like, for a little while…I’ve had my friends be like, “Yeah, it really was hard on our relationship.” I’m not saying we couldn’t overcome it, but, again, we really get along and have a very good dynamic. She works very hard, and a lot as well, so when we’re together, we really try to enjoy each other and hang out.”

–Rihanna’s NYT interview is a must-read: “I love being black. So, sorry for those who don’t like it.”

–Celine Dion‘s episode of Carpool Karaoke aired and she was even more extra than we could have hoped for!

–Johnny Depp accused ex-wife Amber Heard of having “painted-on bruises” to allege abuse, saying “She was the perpetrator, and I was the victim.” For crying out loud, her police reports had medical records in them!

–Scarlett Johansson and SNL’s Colin Jost are engaged after two years of dating. This is going to be husband No. 3. (I always forget she was once married to Ryan Reynolds.)

-The Jonas Brothers are on the latest episode of Billy on the Street. “The measles are back and so are the Jonas Brothers!”

-In their new Esquire interview, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio talk about getting butterflies when meeting Luke Perry on the set of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and it’s very sweet.

-Also, I’m sure Brad and Leo like each other — but this clip of them on the Cannes red carpet makes it look like they really, really don’t.

-Also at Cannes, Nicolas Winding Refn said his new TV show isn’t actually a TV show.  “It’s a 13-hour movie. It’s not TV!” Sigh. If movie directors don’t respect TV, maybe they should not attempt TV?

–Colin Firth came to Elle Fanning’s rescue when she fainted at a Cannes party, which is so very Mr. Darcy of him.

-This is a good explanation of Hulu/Disney/Comcast divorce. Basically, I’m expecting to look back at my cable bill as “the good ole days” when we’re all paying twice for all the streaming services we’ll end up getting.

-The endless Keanu Reeves love that has come out of the John Wick 3 promo tour has been such a treat. I especially love this video of him with puppies.  There’s also this great story of him making a teen theatre employee’s day. And of course, his Ellen interview where she questioned why he and Sandra Bullock never got together when they both admitted to crushing on each other at the same time, and he responded “We were working.”

-I don’t watch The Big Bang Theory, but people are really upset by the Penny twist.

-It sucks that Mayim Bialik had to shut down an Instagram commenter who ogled her for wearing a t-shirt — but do you remember the time she wrote a NYT op-ed about how she escaped harassment in Hollywood by not dressing provocatively?

-On a new podcast, Julianna Margulies said she’s done ‘protecting CBS’ over the real reason she hasn’t gone on The Good Fight — because they wouldn’t pay her what she was making on The Good Wife. “I thought, Why am I protecting CBS? I said yes. They said no. And you know what? I need to pave the way for the next one coming up…I also know for a fact that any male star who is asked to come on a spin-off of their show would’ve been offered at least $500,000…If they were to ask me to go back on The Good Fight, paying me what my salary is, [I would be there] in a heartbeat.”

–Joshua Jackson has been cast as the male lead in Hulu drama Little Fires Everywhere, joining a cast that includes Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. I LOVED that book!

-The Chi has dropped actor Jason Mitchell following accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct.

-People may have hated it, but Game of Thrones’s finale set HBO’s all-time ratings record.

-Speaking of GoT, Jason Momoa live-streamed his reaction while watching the show and was NOT happy about Dany’s fate. Meanwhile, Emilia Clarke said of Dany’s turn “It comes out of f—king nowhere. I’m flabbergasted.”

–Celeste Barber appears on the final webisode for Gay of Thrones and it’s perfect.

-This Is Us’ Milo Ventimiglia bonds with dog in The Art of Racing in the Rain trailer.

 

Emilia Clarke Talks Fame and Famous Fans

emilia-clarke-allure

-The Mother of Dragons herself Emilia Clarke covers the new issue of Allure. She talks about her desire to go unrecognized in public (“I move like a shark when I’m in public. Head down. I think I’ve got quite bad posture because of it, because I’m determined to lead a normal life”), and the time Beyonce introduced herself to say she was a fan (“I watched her face go, ‘Oh, no, I shouldn’t be talking to this crazy [woman], who is essentially crying in front of me.’ I think my inner monologue was, ‘Stop fucking it up,’ and I kept fucking it up.”).

-Last night’s Game of Thrones was fun from an action point of view, but garbage from a character arc point of view. Sure, there’s been foreshadowing that Daenerys has grown increasingly bloodthirsty (remember Meereen?), but foreshadowing shouldn’t replace character development. The buildup to her suddenly mowing down women and children was way, way too fast. Also feeling unearned was how Cersei ended up. And if you’re going to build up Jamie’s beautiful character arc for seasons just to throw it away in one episode, can there not be a line or two of dialogue about how he just couldn’t shake old habits/his true nature/whatever? The last two episodes have been character whiplash.

-They also had another coffee cup moment with Jamie’s gold hand suddenly going missing. How does a show with this budget keep messing up like this?!

-Wait, so the #FreeBritney movement wasn’t just a crazy conspiracy theory after all? Britney Spears requested that a judge end her conservatorship, and also accused her dad of placing her in a mental health facility against her will.

–Felicity Huffman wept as she pleaded guilty today. Prosecutors are recommending she’s sentenced to four months in prison.

-Ooh boy, Constance Wu really stepped in it this weekend. When her ABC sitcom Fresh Off The Boat was renewed on Friday, she tweeted “So upset right now that I’m literally crying. Ugh. Fuck.” And when someone tweeted at her about the renewal “Great news!” she responded “No it’s not.” She also commented on the show’s IG post about the renewal “dislike.” Then her Crazy Rich Asians costar Gemma Chan liked a since-deleted tweet from a reporter who claims Wu has a reputation of being rude and petty (Chan said it was a mistake). Wu followed up with a tweet that didn’t really clear anything up. It all seemed like TV is now beneath her. And the next day came the pièce de résistance: her long apology post. Look, there’s a whole different conversation to be had about how actresses need to appear grateful for any sort of success in a way that actors don’t, but this apology made the situation worse. She passive aggressively called the Fresh of the Boat experience/cast/crew “easy and pleasant” but not challenging, and then — AND THEN — she had the balls to end it with “It’s meaningful when you make the choice to believe women.” As if everyone was lying about what she said and there aren’t screenshots everywhere?! Co-opting the #MeToo language to deflect from a temper tantrum is gross. And I can’t imagine how the FOTB cast and crew feels right now.

-Speaking of actors who are torpedoing their careers by venting on social media instead of in their friend group text, ABC’s Stumptown, starring Cobie Smulders, recast the romantic lead played by Mark Webber and he has some choice words about it.

-This deleted Endgame footage between Tony and Peter is so soft!

-The Avengers: Endgame screenwriters say that Captain America is the father of Peggy Carter’s children. Wait…that doesn’t make any sense. This is the latest incident of the creators over-explaining the plot in ways that make it seem like they don’t understand the universe that’s been established.

-I don’t know much about makeup influencers on YouTube, but this Tati Westbrook and James Charles feud is bananas. (Here’s a good refresher if you’re an old like me.) Since it all went down a couple of days ago, she has gained 2.6 million subscribers and he has lost 2.4 million.

-This weekend saw networks quietly killing more shows, including Whiskey Cavalier and Proven Innocent.

-Netflix’s steamy new What If trailer pits Renée Zellweger against Jane Levy.