Film
Jeffrey Epstein’s Pilot Says He Flew Kevin Spacey on Plane Dubbed “Lolita Express”
Day two of Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial began where day one ended, with Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime pilot Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr. on the stand. On Tuesday, as the New York Times and New York Post report, Visoski named some of the high-profile guests he had ferried on Epstein’s private plane, including politicians, artists, and accused sexual predator Kevin Spacey. For those tracing Epstein’s alleged global sex trafficking operation, his frequent flights have long been a source of interest, so much so that his private plane has been dubbed the “Lolita Express.” Visoski served as the disgraced financier’s chief pilot for over 25 years, and testified that in addition to Kevin Spacey, he flew former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, plus actor Chris Tucker, late astro...
Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline to Star in Alfonso Cuarón’s New Thriller Series Disclaimer
Alfonso Cuarón — the Mexican film director behind the Academy Award-winning Roma — is prepping a new thriller series for Apple called Disclaimer. Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline have just been announced as the show’s first confirmed stars. Based on Renee Knight’s 2015 novel of the same name, Disclaimer follows a successful documentary journalist named Catherine Ravenscroft (Blanchett), whose work focuses on uncovering clandestine wrongdoings of long-respected institutions. A mysterious novel written by a widower (Kline) appears on Ravenscroft’s bedside table, which — much to her horror — reveals that she’s the main character in a story she’d rather everyone forget. In addition to directing, Cuarón will serve as the screenwriter while executive producing under his Esperanto Filmoj ...
Kenny G and Director Penny Lane on Making a Documentary, Flying in His Seaplane, and Defying the Critics
In her introduction to Listening to Kenny G, the latest in Bill Simmons’ Music Box documentary series for HBO, director Penny Lane sets out her thesis statement thusly: “Kenny G is the best-selling instrumentalist of all time. He is probably the most famous living jazz musician. And I made this film to find out why that makes certain people really angry.” What follows is a fascinating (though decidedly Kenny-sympathetic) portrayal of the legendary saxophonist, who’s long held the title of the highest-selling instrumentalist in the world. But while he’s been a pop culture icon for decades, he’s also been a punchline, with his frizzy hair and his popularizing of “smooth jazz” into the pop-culture consciousness. To resist Kenny is to resist muzak in elevators, or the riff from “Going Home” th...
Nicolas Cage to Sink His Teeth into Role of Dracula in New Movie Renfield
Fang-tastic news: Nicolas Cage will star as the vampire Dracula in the new Universal monster movie Renfield. It’s named for R. M. Renfield, an inmate at a lunatic asylum who becomes the count’s henchman in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, Renfield will be played by Nicholas Hoult (The Great), with direction from Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War). Like vampires themselves, plot details are being kept in the dark, and it’s unclear how the film will build a story around Renfield, or whether we’ll see other original characters like Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, or the vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing. But Renfield‘s script comes from comedy vet Ryan Ridle (Rick and Morty), from an outline by The Walking Dead‘s Robert Kirkman, so b...
Adam McKay Says Will Ferrell Won’t Answer His Emails: “I Fucked Up”
Adam McKay has opened up about his professional break from longtime collaborator Will Ferrell. In a new profile with Vanity Fair, the Oscar-nominated director said, “I fucked up” in replacing Ferrell with John C. Reilly in HBO’s miniseries about the Los Angeles Lakers. He added that now his old friend won’t return his emails. McKay directed Ferrell in a string of comedy classics, including Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers. In 2006, the two formed Gary Sanchez Productions, which produced dozens of films and TV series including HBO’s Succession. But in 2019, the partners announced the end of Gary Sanchez Productions, writing in a joint statement, “The two of us will always work together creatively and always be friends. And we recognize w...
Ghislane Maxwell’s Lawyer Compares Jeffrey Epstein to James Bond, Doesn’t Seem to Know Who James Bond Is
On the first day of Ghislane Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial, her lawyer compared accused serial predator Jeffrey Epstein to a “21st century James Bond,” which is undoubtedly one of the strangest interpretations of the James Bond franchise in the history of film criticism. Before his death, which was ruled a suicide, Epstein had been arrested and accused of running a global sex trafficking ring involving adolescent girls. Maxwell was Epstein’s longtime partner and former girlfriend, and she’s standing trial on six counts of exploiting young girls. Prosecutors have alleged that she “assisted, facilitated, and contributed to” Epstein’s crimes. Via the New York Times, the defense contended today that Maxwell is a “scapegoat.” Her lawyer Bobbi C. Sternheim said, “Ever since Eve was accuse...
Early Years of Sesame Street Chronicled in New HBO Doc Street Gang
HBO has unveiled a first look at its upcoming Sesame Street documentary Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street. Watch it below. The film, which is set to premiere December 13th, takes a look at the earliest days of the beloved, long-running children’s television show — from its conception and development to its takeoff as a national treasure — all told through interviews with the artists, educators, and cast members who helped create the magic. “This was an experiment. Children were watching a tremendous amount of television. So why not see if it could educate them?” a number of interviewees explain via confessional. “Our target audience were inner city children. We had struggled with the idea of the setting for the show. I wanted to capture that New York energy because, to the thre...
Yoko Ono Shares Article Claiming Peter Jackson’s Get Back Proves She Didn’t Break Up The Beatles
Yoko Ono has shared an Uproxx article that suggests Peter Jackson’s titanic new documentary Get Back proves she didn’t break up The Beatles. Ever since the Fab Four disbanded in 1970, some fans have laid the blame on John Lennon’s wife Ono. This theory never held up under scrutiny, and it’s been further disproved with the release of Get Back, which shows Paul McCartney micromanaging, George Harrison growing frustrated, and Lennon mentally checking out, all while Ringo Starr smiles gamely in an attempt to keep the recording process for Let It Be from totally falling apart. Uproxx collected viewer reactions on Twitter, with many fans noting that Ono’s in-studio presence was incredibly mild. During the eight-hour documentar...
Matthew McConaughey Will Not Run for Texas Governor
Matthew McConaughey has bowed out of the upcoming Texas gubernatorial election. The 52-year-old actor announced his decision in a video message posted to Instagram on Sunday night. “As a simple kid born in the little town of Uvalde, Texas, it never occurred to me that I would one day be considered for political leadership,” McConaughey said. “It’s a humbling and inspiring path to ponder. It is also a path that I’m choosing not to take at this moment.” Instead, McConaughey said he would “continue to work and invest the bounty I have by supporting entrepreneurs, businesses and foundations that I’ve believe are leaders, establishments that I believe are creating pathways for people to succeed in life, organizations that have a mission to serve and build trust while also generating prosperity....
Matthew McConaughey Will Not Run for Texas Governor
Matthew McConaughey has bowed out of the upcoming Texas gubernatorial election. The 52-year-old actor announced his decision in a video message posted to Instagram on Sunday night. “As a simple kid born in the little town of Uvalde, Texas, it never occurred to me that I would one day be considered for political leadership,” McConaughey said. “It’s a humbling and inspiring path to ponder. It is also a path that I’m choosing not to take at this moment.” Instead, McConaughey said he would “continue to work and invest the bounty I have by supporting entrepreneurs, businesses and foundations that I’ve believe are leaders, establishments that I believe are creating pathways for people to succeed in life, organizations that have a mission to serve and build trust while also generating prosperity....
Dwayne Johnson Gifts Navy Vet His Custom Truck
Dwayne Johnson turned the attention back to a very special fan during a recent screening of his Netflix movie Red Notice. “I invited fans to a special theater screening of Red Notice and I wanted to do something cool for all of them,” Johnson wrote on social media. “I also wanted to do something BIG… something MASSIVE… something unforgettable for one fan. My original idea was to give away the Porsche Taycan, that I drive in the movie, Red Notice. So we reached out to Porsche, but they said no. But I still said, yes. I’ll do one better. I’ll give away my personal custom [Ford F-150] truck as the gift. My baby.” The lucky fan in question was a Navy veteran and personal trainer named Oscar, who in addition to taking care of his 75-year-old mother, also volunteers as a leader at his churc...
R.I.P. Stephen Sondheim, Iconic Broadway Composer Dead at 91
Stephen Sondheim, the American composer and lyricist known for hit Broadway musicals such as West Side Story, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, has died. He was 91. Richard Pappas, Sondheim’s lawyer and friend, announced the death on Friday (November 26th) via the New York Times. Sondheim died at his Roxbury, Connecticut home early Friday, with Pappas noting that the death was “sudden.” The evening prior, Sondheim had celebrated Thanksgiving with friends. Advertisement Related Video Sondheim was born on March 22nd, 1930 in New York City, and grew up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and on a farm near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, following his parents’ divorce. He has said his interest in theatre began when he saw the Broadway musi...
