Business of Hollywood Intro for August 11, 2023 Dear Gossips, Earlier this week, entertainment journalist and awards prognosticator Scott Feinberg sent an email to studios and award campaign managers, more or less demanding preferential screenings of Oscar hopefuls. Feinberg is the executive editor of awards for The Hollywood Reporter, and frequently hosts their for-your-consideration events and roundtable discussions, By Sarah • Aug 11, 2023 09:10 am
TV Updates Tom and Zawe’s theater date night Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton had a classy thespian date night at the after party for the press night of Lucy Prebble’s The Effect at the National Theatre. The play stars Bones and All’s Taylor Russell and Paapa Essiedu from I May Destroy You. The after party also By Sarah • Aug 10, 2023 11:45 am
TV Updates The Arconia podcasters are back Only Murders in the Building is back, and after a sophomore season that upped the cozy vibes but meandered a little through a looser, less tightly plotted murder caper, season three finds the balance between all the things Murders wants to be—a New York show, an intergenerational hangout sitcom, By Sarah • Aug 09, 2023 01:15 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Bradley Cooper sets the bar The Venice Film Festival starts at the end of the month, kicking off what is sure to be a strange fall festival season, even after enduring the weird pandemic years. Assuming the WGA and especially SAG-AFTRA strikes will still be going on—which they almost certainly will be —stars will By Sarah • Aug 08, 2023 01:08 pm
Business of Hollywood The strike isn’t ending anytime soon On Friday, August 4, the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) met for the first time since their original negotiations broke down on May 1. This is the first overture toward the WGA to restart negotiations between writers and studios, and it did not go By Sarah • Aug 08, 2023 12:20 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Barbillion In its third week of release, Barbie has powered past $1 billion at the global box office. Greta Gerwig is now the highest-grossing female director, and the only woman to solo direct a billion-dollar film (Captain Marvel director Anna Boden, along with co-director Ryan Fleck, is also a billion-dollar lady By Sarah • Aug 08, 2023 09:54 am
Business of Hollywood This Barbie is on strike Speaking of the strategic deployment of celebrities to the picket lines during the double strike, here is Alexandra Shipp, hot off the success of Barbie, picketing in Los Angeles yesterday. It’s a smart move, sending Shipp—recognizable but not a major star—to the picket line during Barbie’s By Sarah • Jul 28, 2023 11:25 am
What Else What Else? Stephanie Hsu doing a random photoshoot in Brooklyn has big “promoting a movie from home during the pandemic” vibes, except now it’s “wearing outfits pulled for a press tour that’s not happening because of the strike” vibes. She looks great. (Go Fug Yourself) Blake Lively jumped a barrier By Sarah • Jul 27, 2023 04:01 pm
TV Updates Return to The Arconia The world’s most unlikely comfort watch is back, baby! Only Murders in the Building returns for a third season on August 8, and while we are stretching the premise well past the point of credulity—the murders are no longer in the building—I cannot WAIT to return to By Sarah • Jul 27, 2023 01:41 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Prepare for the Barbification of movies Barbenheimer smashed the box office—as I thought, the actual opening weekend box office for both Barbie and Oppenheimer was higher than the estimates—which means we are now in for a nightmare of toy movies hoping to catch Barbie’s lightning in a bottle. (Funny how off the back By Sarah • Jul 27, 2023 11:51 am
Timothee Chalamet New York Timmy Timothee Chalamet was walking around New York yesterday very New Yorkly, doing things like wearing a Yankees jersey and getting a slice of pizza. My Chicago ass is going to sh-t on New York for pizza for a second—it’s just big. I’ve had good New York pizza, By Sarah • Jul 27, 2023 09:53 am
Sinead O'Connor Intro for July 27, 2023 Dear Gossips, Sinéad O'Connor passed away yesterday at age 56. Generally, we’re not in the obituary business at LaineyGossip, but this is one of those losses—like Prince, David Bowie, Whitney Houston—that cuts deep, not just personally but culturally. Sinéad, who converted to Islam in 2018 By Sarah • Jul 27, 2023 09:01 am
Douchebags Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and The Rock: Battle of the Striking Stars Today in Strike Watch! it’s a battle of the A-listers as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made a seven-figure donation to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Relief Fund, while everyone wonders if Brad Pitt is a scab. Courtney B. Vance, president of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, and its executive director, Cyd Wilson, sent By Sarah • Jul 25, 2023 10:31 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Barbenheimer blew up the box office After weeks of disappointing box office, summer 2023 finally staged a comeback thanks to Barbenheimer, the grassroots movement to make Barbie and Oppenheimer a double feature for the ages, and it worked. Barbie opened with an estimated $155 million domestic (with $182 million internationally), and Oppenheimer scooped up $80 million By Sarah • Jul 24, 2023 11:01 am
What Else What Else? Tony Bennett passed away at the age of 96. I saw him in concert once, he was incredible, both a great singer and storyteller. It was a lively show. For such an established professional, Bennett’s act wasn’t overly polished, he was off the cuff and improvising with his By Sarah • Jul 21, 2023 04:14 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Oh yeah, Gran Turismo As studios consider delaying films—particularly the kind of high-profile films that rely on star-studded press tours to drum up audience interest—one movie that is for sure coming out is Gran Turismo, due next month. The film stars Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, and Orlando Bloom, and is both based By Sarah • Jul 21, 2023 03:34 pm
