Business of Hollywood Intro for January 12, 2022 Dear Gossips, At the end of 2021, James Franco peeped out of his hidey-hole and gave an interview to Jess Cagle in which he discussed his failures and “blind spot” for power dynamics, highlighted by a class-action lawsuit brought by former students, Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, who alleged that By Sarah • Jan 12, 2022 09:03 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Rooney Mara is Audrey Hepburn On Friday, news broke (via Matthew Belloni’s Puck newsletter) that Rooney Mara has been cast as Audrey Hepburn in an upcoming biopic to be directed by Luca Guadagnino. People were IN their FEELINGS about this, mainly because Mara is sort of famously glum and Audrey Hepburn did not have By Sarah • Jan 10, 2022 10:46 am
What Else What Else It seems like all the late night hosts have COVID, at least the ones in New York. James Corden is the latest to test positive. Seriously, everyone, stay safe! (DListed) A Kate Sharma primer to get you ready for Bridgerton season two, coming March 25. I cannot WAIT for Kate By Sarah • Jan 07, 2022 04:09 pm
TV Updates Anna Nicole Smith is headed to Netflix Netflix has gone in on true crime in a big way, premiering a new true crime series or documentary every month of 2021, though they saw diminishing returns over the course of the year in the genre. Now, they’re getting in on another current trend, documentaries reexamining famous women By Sarah • Jan 07, 2022 03:16 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Anderson + Cumberbatch + Dahl Wes Anderson is on a roll. With The French Dispatch out in 2021, and his next project, an ensemble film called Asteroid City, already in post-production and expected later this year, Anderson is already prepping his next-next project, a Roald Dahl adaptation for Netflix, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The news comes By Sarah • Jan 07, 2022 02:36 pm
Business of Hollywood State of the Awards Season Union Hello, it is I, Chicken Little, to tell you a little more about how the sky is falling! We’ve already covered the fata morgana that is Spider-Man: No Way Home’s success and the box office, and now we need to talk about AWARDS SEASON. Oh, did you think By Sarah • Jan 07, 2022 11:11 am
Movie Reviews and Previews There won’t be another Denzel Denzel Washington is on the cover of this week’s Variety, promoting his two-fer as both the star of The Tragedy of Macbeth and director of A Journal for Jordan. For Macbeth, he’s a heavy favorite for an Oscar nomination; if it happens, it would be his ninth nomination By Sarah • Jan 07, 2022 10:42 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Intro for January 7, 2022 Dear Gossips, As the pandemic rages into its third year—THIRD! YEAR!—Hollywood continues to fret about the box office and movie theaters. The billion-dollar success of Spider-Man: No Way Home has some cheering that theaters are back, baby, but others take a more measured view. In The New York By Sarah • Jan 07, 2022 09:29 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Pam & Tommy won’t do that The full trailer for Hulu’s Pam & Tommy series is here, and besides leaning on a Meatloaf song for a winky meta-joke about the era, this looks like Craig Gillespie working very much in the vein of I, Tonya, reframing an infamous moment in a famous woman’s life By Sarah • Jan 06, 2022 09:30 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Can Chris Evans dance like Gene Kelly? Chris Evans has been trying to will himself into a musical for a while, and with his Little Shop of Horrors remake stalled (for now), he has put together another project that will let him do a little singing and dancing at last: he’ll star as Gene Kelly. One-upping By Sarah • Jan 05, 2022 09:29 am
TV Updates Keanu in the White City? There is movement at last on the long-gestating adaptation of Erik Larson’s book, The Devil in the White City, produced by Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. This is, indeed, GREAT news to kick off 2022, as true crime aficionados have been waiting for this adaptation since DiCaprio acquired the By Sarah • Jan 04, 2022 11:46 am
What Else What Else Internet Boyfriend Benedict Cumberbatch is using his Power of the Dog awards campaign to talk about toxic masculinity, calling “not all men” a “childish defensive position”. A white guy said something reasonable about gender politics? Prepare for the internet meltdown in three…two…one… (Celebitchy) Madonna is upset with Tory By Sarah • Dec 28, 2021 03:55 pm
TV Updates Wheel of Time never quite turns After the three-episode premiere of Wheel of Time, I was looking for some immediate issues to get resolved over the rest of the first season. Guess what? They don’t get resolved! Wheel of Time instead turns into a frustrating series that is intermittently compelling, but much of the time By Sarah • Dec 28, 2021 02:38 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Tom Holland’s Test With Spider-Man: No Way Home riding high at the box office—it’s the only billion-dollar film of 2020 AND 2021—Tom Holland now faces the hurdle that has been difficult for other Marvel actors to clear: proving his box office mettle outside the MCU. Uncharted opens in February, which By Sarah • Dec 28, 2021 11:44 am
Movie Reviews and Previews The Top Ten Films of 2021 After last year, 2021 feels like a more normal year in film. Just a reminder that for 2020, we adjusted to the extended Oscar eligibility calendar, so there are some films from early in the year that are on the 2020 list, like Barb and Star. So, if you’re By Sarah • Dec 28, 2021 11:12 am
Movie Reviews and Previews The Bat and The Cat A new trailer for The Batman dropped yesterday, this time heavily featuring Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman. While fully acknowledging that Michelle Pfeiffer’s performance as Catwoman in Batman Returns is immortal, I like the vibe of Kravitz’s Catwoman. I especially like her and Batman pushing each other’ By Sarah • Dec 28, 2021 10:27 am
