Browsing Tag

True Detective

Chris Pratt Is Engaged to Katherine Schwarzenegger

-Is anyone at all surprised by Chris Pratt’s engagement news? They’ve been subtly planting the seeds in the press for a while (pretty much shortly after they met at Justin Bieber‘s Zoe Church in L.A. ) Also, that photo he chose is so deeply unflattering.

-The Critics’ Choice Awards were last night, and I liked what some people wore there better than what they wore to the Golden Globes (Constance Wu, Charlize Theron, Sandra Oh), while I am very confused why some people (Julie Roberts, Amy Adams) basically did a repeat of what they wore last weekend.

-Also last night: Rami Malek finally got his moment with Nicole Kidman.

-The Critics’ Choice Awards handing Roma the big prize is upping its buzz. I’m still not a huge fan (it’s clearly a technical masterpiece but it also left me cold), but Guillermo del Toro’s Twitter thread on why he loves it is very persuasive.

Meghan Markle reportedly told some children at today’s event that her due date is in April, and they’re not going to find out the gender beforehand.

Kylie Jenner has been beaten by a picture of an egg for the most-liked Instagram post ever. 2019 is already wild, y’all.

-Winter is coming — in the middle of April. HBO released a longer teaser and announced that Game of Thrones’ final season will premiere April 14.

-Speaking of HBO, last night’s True Detective premiere did way better in the ratings than I assumed it would.

-I loved that Kayleigh Donaldson’s Twitter thread outed an Instagram “influencer’s” scam conference and got the remaining dates shut down. (Donaldson hosts a really good industry podcast called The Hollywood Read if you’re looking for something interesting to stick in your ear holes.)

-Speaking of industry rumbling, the Academy is now fighting with its largest branch — SAG-AFTRA, who is calling out the Oscars for trying to prevent talent from presenting at other award shows using “intimidation.” Remember last year when the Academy added all those young, diverse voters and we had such hope? Between this and the hosting debacle, what happened?

Brad Pitt is hitting the Oscar trail for If Beale Street Could Talk (which I finally saw and LOVED). His Plan B production company is on quite a streak.

Miley Cyrusbirthday post to Liam Hemsworth is incredibly sweet. It’s weird how much I’m rooting for these two.

-Huh, all those blind items might be onto something. Tidal is under investigation in Norway over “fake streams.”

Travis Scott say he agreed to perform at the Super Bowl with Maroon 5 on the condition the NFL would make a $500,000 donation to his charity of choice (but people don’t seem impressed).

-It turns out that if you want to interest me in a Perry Mason reboot, putting it on HBO and casting Matthew Rhys is the lead pretty much does it.

-I love that Mindy Kaling retweeted this amazing thread of Kelly Kapoor as Pride & Prejudice characters.

-Speaking of great Twitter threads, I’m late to the game but last week HBO gave out Sopranos-inspired nicknames to any celeb/verified who asked for one, and it was amazing.

Tom Hardy and his wife Charlotte Riley have had a baby boy –– but despite reports they didn’t name him after Forrest Gump. Whew!

Ryan Coogler sounds awesome. Women who worked with him on the set of Black Panther said he created an environment where they could “cut past any of the normal bureaucracy of male dominance.”

-There is a new movie coming out starring Mel Gibson and Sean Penn and I have never nope’d anything harder.

-In the Little Woods trailerTessa Thompson must return to the dangerous life she thought she’d left behind.

Worst TV Shows of 2015

worst TV 2015

With more TV than ever, it’s not hard to find something to watch that you’ll love instead of wasting time with mediocre TV. We’ve already covered our favourite shows and moments of 2015 in the previous post, but it wasn’t all puppies and rainbows on the small screen. Here, my fellow TV addicts (Ange, Heather and Nicole) gather for a round table discussion on the TV we hated this year. (Warning: spoilers ahead!)

Worst Trend: Fake-out Deaths

Jen: Maybe it’s because I was raised on Joss Whedon dramas or maybe I’m just a masochist, but I like it when my shows occasionally kill off a beloved character. What I don’t like is when my shows only pretend to. A bunch of dramas fell into this trap this year (The Flash, Game of Thrones, ArrowThe Vampire Diaries), but none was so terribly executed as The Walking Dead. Fake-outs not only feel like a big f-you to the audience, but they also erase the stakes of your show. Stop it, writers.

Ange: Nobody did a proper death like Joss Whedon! Even his not-so-dead deaths (Buffy’s resurrection!) were great. But all these fake-out’s are getting out of hand. I’m not saying kill all our faves, I’m just saying that sometimes you need to have a proper death. I think TWD should have committed to Glenn’s death.

Nicole: Stupid True Detective and their dumb fake out with Colin Farrell (I don’t even care enough to look up his character’s name) was terrible. Ditto Jon Snow on Game of Thrones.

Scenes That Made Me Yell at My TV (In a Bad Way)

Heather:  The last scene in Bloodline where Danny’s son shows up was terrible.  Yes, I’m bitter about that series (see ‘Shows I Can’t Believe I Wasted My Time On’ below) and this scene did not help at all.

Ange: When Oliver REFUSED to tell Felicity about his son on Arrow. I mean, is he serious here?! Where did his damn character growth go?! Jen and I text each other during both Arrow and The Flash, and this scene took the cake for us both. I’m pretty sure she heard me yelling through the incoherent texts at that point. Also, any scene with Laurel I roll my eyes to the point I’m fairly sure my husband thinks I’m having a seizure.

Nicole: I definitely yelled at my TV when Alicia on The Good Wife slept with Peter this season. Why would you do that when you have a hunky Jeffrey Dean Morgan right there smouldering at you?! Why do I still watch this show?

Jen: This was the year when I started swiftly and brutally dropping shows that pissed me off or pushed things too far. (There’s no time for crap during Peak TV). I erased Outlander from my DVR after the threat of sexual violence became suffocating in almost every episode. I also took a long break from Game of Thrones after Ramsey raped Sansa (made even worse because it seemed to be more about Theon’s growth than hers). I’m nowhere near wanting to drop The Flash yet but a scene that elicited a big “Oh, COME ON!” from me was when Barry’s father was freed after 15 years in jail — and immediately and inexplicably left town instead of spending time with his son. I’m not sure if it was the result of some sort of behind the scenes personality or contract drama but it was the first time I felt like the seams were showing.

Worst Trend: Reboots No One Asked For

Jen: Even if The X Files revival is horrible (please don’t be horrible!), I can’t wait for it. But reboot fever is out of control. Does the world really need more Full House? Why did anyone think Heroes: Reborn would work? Can’t we just leave our precious Gilmore Girls memories intact? Was NBC seriously considering bringing back Coach? Is the Twin Peaks and/or Prison Break thing really happening? Try to have some original ideas, Hollywood.

Ange: Yeah – I’m REALLY looking forward to The X-Files revival, but I too am hesitant. As for the rest … I’ll most likely take a pass except for Gilmore Girls. Y’all know we’re going to watch! I’m also sorry to say that I used to be a HUGE Muppets fan, but I just can’t (CAN’T!) bring myself to watch more of the new show.

Heather: I am all in with Jen and Ange on this – excited (yet trepidatious) about The X-Files reboot and completely mystified by the Gilmore Girls one.  Why mess with something that was already perfection?  They already screwed it up enough in the last season or two when the original writers left and they did the Chris vs Luke thing – leave it alone!

Nicole: The Muppets is so disappointing! I’m gonna watch the hell out of Gilmore Girls and The X-Files and they better be good because I just finished rewatching Gilmore Girls beginning to end and I’m on season 2 of my TXF rewatch.

Shows I Can’t Believe I Wasted My Time On

Heather: Bloodline and House of Cards are at the very top of this list for me.  I love Kyle Chandler and I suppose it was well-acted from a technical point of view, but I found it extremely hard to feel sympathy for most of the characters which made it difficult to watch.  I have no words to describe how boring I found season 3 of House of Cards, so I’m just gonna leave it at that.

Nicole: I’m with Heather. I finished Bloodline but I’m done if it comes back. House of Cards and True Detective were both abandoned mid-way through. I’m getting so much better at dropping garbage shows!

Jen: Every year, The Walking Dead sucks me back in with a few decent episodes, and every year I regret it when it inevitably turns back into a burning tire fire. The Good Wife jumped the shark with their split screen shenanigans and hasn’t been able to recover since. I also can’t believe I saw the entirety of season 2 of True Detective. The only thing that made it tolerable was hate-watching it with everyone else on Twitter, where the snarky commentary was immeasurably more entertaining than that show could ever hope to be.

Ange:  The one show I am really mad at myself for wasting my time on in 2015 was Scream Queens. I found myself fast-forwarding this show more than actually watching it. (Though, there was one feminism scene – which could almost fall into the ‘Yell At My TV In A Good Way’ category!) But it didn’t make up for the rest of the series.

Don’t forget to check out our Best TV of 2015 picks and tell us yours in the comments and stay tuned for our Worst  TV picks.

Miley Cyrus Calls Out Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” Video

miley cyrus taylor swift marie claire

-You know, I don’t disagree with Miley Cyrus in her Marie Claire cover story for calling out a double standard when it comes to her vs. Taylor Swift. They both control their (incredibly manufactured) personas, but because Miley’s isn’t conservative, it riles people up in ways Taylor’s never will.

-Speaking of, The Daily Beast’s article on Anne Hathaway and the culture of celebrity misogyny is worth a read.

-So even People couldn’t snag photos of Jennifer Aniston wedding dress, huh? That surprises me.

-Also, Jimmy Kimmel officiated the wedding which is kinda sweet.

Ben Affleck’s nanny is weighing her TV interview options and it’s got me like:

Nicki Minaj called Meek Mill her “baby father” during a concert, but that doesn’t mean she’s pregnant. It just means that words are hard for famous people.

Kelly Rutherford made the risky move of not sending her children back to Monaco, and now her ex-husband is accusing her of child abduction.

Zac Efron may be joining The Rock for the Baywatch movie, which means movie studios have somehow found a way to covertly mine my dreams for ideas. I’m totally ok with that.

-There’s more talk that Rihanna is dating Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton.

Ed Sheeran continues to be mistakenly linked to super hot women.

Amy Schumer‘s HBO special just got its first teaser, and it’s way too short. But at least we now have a date: Oct. 17.

Jennifer Lawrence took a break from her filming schedule to visit a children’s hospital in Montreal because she’s aces.

FKA twigs admits that she still hasn’t seen the Twilight movies. If she wants to stay engaged to Robert Pattinson, she should keep it that way.

-During their TCA panel, FX unveiled their annual ‘state of TV’ report and revealed that by the end of 2105, there will be 400 scripted shows (comedies and dramas) airing on network, cable and streaming services. I had a conversation this weekend (and then another today on Facebook) with friends who say there are no good TV shows on right now. I disagree; I think we’re in an insanely awesome TV era but you have to search for it now; it’s not on network TV anymore. I’m LOVING Mr Robot (which technically doesn’t debut in Canada until Sept), UnREAL is better than any Lifetime series needs to be, and there are a ton of shows I haven’t had time to tune into this summer, but sound good. Every TV critic I follow seems to love AMC’s Humans and Sundance’s Deutschland 83. Comedy Central’s Review just came back, and FX’s You’re The Worst will soon return for a second season. I gave up on Halt and Catch Fire last year but by all accounts, they re-jigged the show to focus on the female characters and season 2 is amazing. Masters of Sex is too heavy for me right now, but Josh Charles is on it so I’ll catch up someday. Hulu’s Difficult People looks the kind of snarkfest I’d love. And I haven’t even had time to look at Netflix in a while, but it’s comforting to know that new episodes of Wet Hot American Summer are waiting for me when I do. And this is the dead of summer! A few years ago, it’d be a TV wasteland right now.

-Speaking of the TCAs, CBS presented today, and was quick to shut down any questions about The Good Wife’s green screen f**kery. Weirdly enough, Valerie Bertinelli (of all people) was having none of it.

-CBS also debuted a new Supergirl trailer, which smartly veers away from the rom-com, Devil Wears Prada feel of the first one to focus on fanboy-baiting action instead. I saw the pilot and liked it, but I feel like The Flash already checks all those boxes for me. (On the plus side, crossovers with the CW shows are suddenly a possibility.)

-Speaking of CW superhero shows, Arrow just nabbed Parker Young, who was my favourite part of Suburgatory and Enlisted. Tara from True Blood is also on board.

-This story about the filming of Bring It On is full of goodness, including the fact that Eliza Dushku and Jesse Bradford were arrested during production.

-There’s some new footage in Star Wars: The Force Awakens’s international TV spot.

-I’m giving this story about Amal Clooney taking over Donald Trump‘s spot on Celebrity Apprentice a hard side-eye. HARD. SIDE-EYE.

Keri Russell‘s dress at the TCAs is a not my favourite. On the plus side, three of my favourite TV critics (Linda Holmes, Maureen Ryan and Alan Sepinwall) are unintentionally photobombing her…

-Last night’s True Detective finale was so, so bad (and so, so confusing — god bless Slate and Uproxx for posting their detailed explainers. The fact that the Slate one spread through Twitter this morning like an especially robust strain of herpes indicates just how many of us lost the plot). My favourite “review” so far is this article on Pajiba, in which the reviewers all all try to pass it off to someone else because none of them can bear the thought of trying to make sense of it.

-The upside of watching True Detective last night is that HBO used it to debut their first trailer for Westworld, which looks BONKERS. I’m in.