-I haven’t watched this week’s episode of The X Files because I have to wait to watch with my friends (boo!) but apparently it made the whole reboot worthwhile. And there were a ton of easter eggs.
-Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker confirmed that she fought to get paid the same as Peter Capaldi and I love her even more now.
-Also, Octavia Spencer revealed that Jessica Chastain negotiated so that they’d get equal pay on their next film together.
-This deep dive into the rise and fall of the pop star purity ringis such a good read.
-We got our first look at Brie Larson‘s Captain Marvel costume and comic book fans are confused.
-I love that the cast and director of Lady Bird made the cover of EW this week. The portraits are also great.
-If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, Louis C.K. has probably been cancelled for you for months. But it all came to a head today. The rumblingsstarted early this afternoon when he abruptly cancelledtomorrow night’s premiere of his new movie and pulled out of his appearance on Colbert’s show. THR reported that it was in preparation for a big NYT story that was about to break — and then it did. The story details accusations from five different women who claim that C.K. masturbated in front of them, or asked if he could. Courteney Cox and David Arquette went on the record saying they heard about this behaviour on the set of a TV pilot they were producing.
-Vulture has a pretty comprehensive timeline about when the rumours first surfaced, kicking off with Gawker’s blind item way back in 2012, heating up with Tig Notaro‘s August interview with the Daily Beast, to last month’s piece by former Gawker writer who recalled getting shut down when trying to ask male comedians about it at JFL. (It bears mentioning that women comedians have been speaking out on this for months but while guys like Aziz Ansari said “I’m not talking about that.”)
-Not surprisingly, the distributor of C.K.’s controversial new film I Love You Daddy is reconsidering the release. It was already off to a shaky start (many critics at TIFF found the subject matter squicky) even before today.
-The Parks and Rec showrunner has apologized for casting him on the show.
-My biggest concern is how this might affect Better Things (which he produces). It’s probably the best examination of what it’s like to be a woman on TV right now. (A recent episode introduced the concept of a “super single” and I actually cheered.) Pamela Adlon is now in a tough spot of either having to comment and possibly coming off like she’s supporting C.K., or not commenting and seeming shady.
-It’s times like this that I wish that ep of Girls with Matthew Rhys was being re-run nightly on HBO. The way it examined how we brush off or make excuses for the transgressions of powerful men we admire has never been more timely.
-Meanwhile, Charlie Sheen ‘absolutely denies‘ a claim that he raped Corey Haim on the set of Lucas.
-Another actor who is under scrutiny these days is Steven Seagal. Adding to the growing list of complaintsis Portia De Rossi, who says he unzipped his pants during an audition.
-The Kevin Spacey fallout continues. In a totally shocking move, Ridley Scott will reshoot all of Spacey’s scenes in All The Money In The World — which comes out NEXT MONTH. Christopher Plummer (who Ridley originally wanted in the role), will replace him. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott made the decision unilaterally and only notified Sony late Wednesday afternoon. This is NUTS (and I love it).
-Earlier this afternoon, Amber Tamblyn tweetedcryptically to wonder why Matthew Weiner fired his assistant-turned-writer on Mad Men, and then this interviewdropped with the writer accusing him of saying she owed it to him to see her naked.
-Just when you were thinking all Hollywood men were garbage people, John Boyega dropped this workout video and Chris Hemsworth paid tribute to his hammer. Faith restored!
–Julia Louis Dreyfus‘ Veep costars psyche her up for chemo in this funny video.
-Grey’s Anatomy is airing its 300th(!) episode tonight. That’s Supernatural numbers! Shonda Rhimes admitted that the show is ‘sort of a diary’ in a touching new essay.
-A former Smallville actress is reportedly ‘second in command‘ of a cult under investigation for extorting, beating and branding its members. Not Chloe!!
-Big Little Lies will probably start shooting season 2 in the spring. Look, I loved that show and it’s definitely ending up high on my year-end “best of” list. But can’t shows have perfect endings and just leave it at that?
-In other Reese Witherspoon TV news, Apple picked up two seasonsof her and Jennifer Aniston‘s new show.
-Their Netflix show may be getting terrible reviews but it’s not all bad news for Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup — they’re reportedly dating. I sometimes mix him up with her ex, Liev Schreiber, so this is going to be super confusing.
-Meanwhile, Naomi says that she was almost in Big Little Lieswith her bestie Nicole Kidman.
-Like a true Gryffindor, Daniel Radcliffe came to the aid of London mugging victim.
–Mariah Carey is going to co-executive produce a Starz scripted dramawith Brett Ratner about her rise to fame — and I am going to watch the crap out of it.
-This is a good pieceabout Girls Trip and the wonky, wild path of the raunchy female friendship comedy.
-It tickles me that Drake still gets royalty cheques from Degrassi.
-British papers celebrated the news of Jodie Whittaker being named the new Doctor Who by publishing stills from her past nude scenesbecause the world sucks.
-Ohhh…SyFy is developing a series with Catherine Hardwickebased on The Raven Boys. I loved those books!
-Learn about Wonder Woman’s S&M beginnings in the trailer for Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, starring Luke Evans, Connie Britton and Rebecca Hall.
-I’m not sure I’ve ever managed to get through a full screening of The Room, the most infamously bad movie ever made. But the trailer for James Franco’s The Disaster Artist, based on the making of that movie, looks kind of amazing.
