Dear Gossips,
A few quick thoughts this morning:
I saw Love, Simon yesterday. (Sarah’s review will be posted shortly.) As soon as I got home I texted Sarah: “I LOVED Love, Simon”. She texted back, in all-caps: “ME TOO”. And Sarah isn’t one to gush. But this movie is irresistible. What moved me most was the reaction from people in the theatre. I went to a 19+ screening. Many audience members were older, some looked to be in their early 50s, gay men, spending their Sunday afternoon seeing a teen rom-com because 1. teen rom-coms will never get old and 2. this kind of mainstream release would not have been available to them when they were coming out. It was an emotional experience. There were tears, a lot of sniffling, and also a lot of laughter and cheering and relief and appreciation. If you haven’t already, go see Love, Simon. It’s been almost 24 hours and it’s still making me happy.
Next – Variety broke the story on Friday that John Bailey, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, is being investigated by the Academy after three sexual harassment claims were made against him. In response to the story, the Academy released this statement:
The Academy treats any complaints confidentially to protect all parties. The Membership Committee reviews all complaints brought against Academy members according to our Standards of Conduct process, and after completing reviews, reports to the Board of Governors. We will not comment further on such matters until the full review is completed.
As you know, after the Harvey Weinstein revelations were made public in October, the Academy updated its Standard of Conduct guidelines for membership. And now that Standard is being tested by its president. Real life Hollywood plot twists are getting more outrageous than its scripts.
And finally, Terry Gilliam’s comments about #MeToo, describing the movement as “mob rule”. Did you ever read Peter Biskind’s article on the last days of Heath Ledger in Vanity Fair? Terry directed Heath in The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus. It was gross the way Terry talked about Michelle Williams. Basically the way he described it, she was the nagging bitch wife who wouldn’t let Heath hang out with his boys and cared more about Hollywood than real art. Even Peter Biskind got the sense that Terry and his associates were deep into their feelings about how bros should always come first:
“They sound a little like the boys complaining when the wife-to-be comes along and breaks up the old gang.”
Then of course there’s what Terry said about Amber Heard, in defence of Johnny Depp.
Not exactly a dude who’d be sympathetic to the woman’s perspective.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey