Browsing Tag

Ready Player One

Taylor Swift’s In-Delicate Dance Moves

Taylor Swift released her music video for “Delicate” (one of the few songs on that album that I genuinely love), and it starts like Britney Spears’ “Lucky” before it segues into a Sia-esque video featuring Maddie Ziegler-ish dance moves. I was confused why she’d want to look so awkward on purpose, but I love Vulture’s take on it: “It’s a daring move by Swift to cripple one of her best new songs with some of the corniest physical motions ever committed to film just to use the corniness as a kind of loyalty oath. Major artists have thinned out the ranks of their fans with clumsy maneuvers before, but for Swift to do so on purpose is remarkably spiteful. In less than two years she’s gone from being sabotaged by others to accidental self-sabotage; now she’s self-sabotaging on purpose.”

-I love that Mindy Kaling commented soup snake on BJ Novak‘s Instagram post about her. It’s a callback to a very funny joke from The Office and it means soul mate. GAH!

-So Emma Watson really is dating Glee star Chord Overstreet? Huh.

-Man, I have mixed feelings about Ready Player One. Personally, I loved the book — while at the same time recognizing that it reinforced some male toxicity/nostalgia porn/gatekeeping tropes that suck. But the reviews out of its SXSW premiere are glowing. I especially like this one, which specifically addresses any post-Gamergate concerns.

-Also, there’s talk that Black Panther breakout Letitia Wright was cut out of the movie, which bums me out. 

Selma Blair is walking back her comments that pal Cameron Diaz has no plans to ever act again.

-Ruh roh. ABC pulled a politically and socially-themed Blackish episode due to “creative differences” with creator Kenya Barris. There’s been talk about the network pivoting recently to target the heartland (hello, Roseanne reboot) so I guess this fits, sadly.

-She alluded to it on Maron’s podcast, and once again Gina Rodriguez is implying that there’s a clear end for Jane the Virgin — possibly as early as next season. While I love that show, I totally support this. CW shows especially seem to not understand when the well has run dry.

Charlize Theron and David Oyelowo teach each other slang words from the Afrikaans and Yoruba languages in this delightful Vanity Fair video.

-There’s lots of hand-wringing about Jennifer Lawrence‘s sudden inability to open a movie. Tessa Thompson’s response to the article is perfection.

-One of my favourite celebrity interviews I’ve ever done was Hugh Grant, even though I could barely find any usable quotes because he basically just spent the whole time taking this piss. This interview reminded me of that.

-Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer have been accused of verbal abuse on their set. In an official statement, they responded: “Due to the high-stress nature of production, tempers occasionally get frayed, and for that, we apologize. However, we think it is important not to mischaracterize our set, where we believe strongly in treating everyone fairly regardless of gender, orientation, race, religion, or anything else.”

-In honour of Buffy premiering 21 years ago, Sarah Michelle Gellar posted some never-before-seen BTS pics on Instagram.

-This is an interesting look at how Fox is promoting I Love Simon thanks because of Greg Berlanti — who says he asked the studio to “sell it as they would any other teen rom-com, the same size and scope” and “not hide or obfuscate in any way what the movie is about.”

-The Sorry To Bother You trailer has dropped and it looks phenomenal. No wonder this movie is getting such huge festival buzz.

Brad Pitt Gets the Spotlight at Frank Ocean Concert

Brad Pitt made a surprise appearance at Frank Ocean’s concert and I have SO MANY QUESTIONS. (Was this a statement? Art? Did he even know he was on screen? Somebody tell me!!)

-I didn’t understand Ayra‘s “that’s not you” line to her direwolf on GoT last night but now that I read the explanation I’m crying.

-Sorry, One Direction fans: Louis Tomlinson has shut down rumors of a romance with Harry Styles.

Lena Dunham referred to Jack Antonoff’s sibling as her “sister-in-law” on Instagram, and then had to deny speculation that she got married.

-I really, really liked this thread responding to Christopher Nolan‘s Netflix comments.

-I guess this is Kevin Hart’s response to those cheating allegations?

-Girls Trip (which I liked A LOT) had the biggest opening weekend for a live-action comedy this year despite its R rating, and already earned back what it cost to make. Add the fact that Wonder Woman and Beauty and the Beast are the year’s top-grossing films so far, and the box office is looking downright rosy for women-led flicks.

-The “friend from work” line in Thor: Ragnarok (aka – the best line in the entire trailer) was actually pitched by a Make-a-Wish kid who was visiting the set the day they shot that scene.

-In news that came out of ComicCon, Michelle Pfeiffer is joining the Ant Man sequel, Patty Jenkins has weirdly not signed on to Wonder Woman 2 yetHenry Cavill’s mustache is causing problems for Justice League, and Ben Affleck insists WB isn’t replacing him (“‘We want you to be the Batman’ they told me, and I believe them.”) Also, I would *love* to know which TV cast was yelling at each other before their TV Line interview.

-Speaking of TV casts behaving badly at the con, the Supergirl crew really stepped in it while doing a musical recap of their season, in which they mocked fans who ship Kara and Lena.  I still need to catch up on that show, but this seemed incredibly mean-spirited. Who cares if the writers will never have Supergirl hook up with a woman onscreen? Let people watch for whatever reason they like and/or hope for whatever outcome they want.  The fact that they were mocking a marginalized group that has really embraced that show made it even worse. The cast’s apologies were not great (gotta love the “I’m sorry but think about ME” tactic).  Jeremy Jordan‘s first note was especially victim-y, but at least he got it right on the second try.

-Everyone is talking about this adorable video of the little girl crying over the Justice League cast, but I like this video of Jason Momoa meeting the little kid who asked about Superman during the panel.

-So much trailer goodies dropped at ComicCon this weekend. On the TV side, we got trailers for the new seasons of Stranger ThingsThe Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Doctor Who’s xmas special, Legends of Tomorrow, Westworld, Lucifer, Once Upon a Time, Preacher, and The Defenders.

-On the movie side, we got Justice League, Thor: Ragnaraok, Black Panther, and Spielberg‘s Ready Player One. (Also, this video of the Black Panther cast reacting to seeing the trailer for their first time is pretty swell.)