Simu Liu, one half of the “Kenadians”, has been so charming on the Barbie press tour. Here’s one last interview with Simu, to mark the official end of Barbie press, now that the actors are on strike. (Popsugar)
Heather is right, now is the time for brand parties galore, because the celebs, they have nowhere else to go. Natasha Lyonne is already making the most of it. (Go Fug Yourself)
One of most surprising things about the labor situation in Hollywood right now is how badly Bob Iger is handling it. He is generally respected as one of the best mediators in town, a true diplomat who can handle hot tempers, big egos, and unreasonable demands—like really unreasonable ones involving insane riders in people’s contracts, not workers asking for fair compensation. But the last week, especially, has been bad for Bob I.
Granted, he’s basically the AMPTP janitor right now, cleaning up PR disaster after PR disaster as his fellows in that group keeping swinging wrecking balls around, but even so, I have been genuinely surprised he’s not coming through this any better than he is. (Celebitchy)
Brian Grubb is a Justified expert, and I say this as I, myself, am a Justified expert (reminder! I will be recapping City Primeval with Dave Chen at Decoding TV!). Brian ranked all the villains of Justified as we stand on the eve of City Primeval and Boyd Holbrook entering the lists as a new Justified villain. My only quibble with Brian’s ranking is that I would move the Florida Crowes up a smidge, maybe swap them with the Harlan Illuminati, because I think they were supposed to be THAT hapless and dumb. I mean, they’re related to Dewey Crowe. This is not a family working with a lot of brain power. They’re like the Looney Tunes of Harlan criminals. He’s absolutely right about Michael Rappaport’s accent, though. (UPROXX)
Vince Mancini is one of my favorite writers/podcasters, let alone film critics. His essay pondering the fate of film criticism cuts a little close to the bone—I, too, got my start by reading blogs in the 2000s and sending in a writing sample to a site I liked—but it’s well worth a read for considering The State Of Things as the entertainment industry and entertainment itself is going through another major upheaval.
I have always felt very fortunate to get to write for LaineyGossip, not only because Lainey is a wonderfully supportive editor, but because you, the readers, are a fantastic audience. We’ve dodged a lot of the worst bullets striking digital journalism (but if you like LG, please, I am BEGGING you, turn off your ad blocker), and LG readers remain a smart, informed, curious, funny bunch. So thanks for reading, because I never want to stop doing this, and I do know how lucky I am to still be in the game 10+ years later. (The #Content Report)
