Film
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On the Run Is a Total Franchise Play: Review
The Pitch: It’s another SpongeBob movie—what do you need, a road map? Actually, maybe: This newest adventure is an underwater road trip, with SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) and his starfish pal Patrick (Bill Faggerbake) on a mission to save Gary, SpongeBob’s beloved pet snail, who’s being used as part of a skincare regimen for King Poseidon (Matt Berry). This snailnapping was engineered by the scheming Plankton (Mr. Lawrence), who wants SpongeBob to stop (inadvertently) interfering with his plans to ruin the Krusty Krab, the restaurant where SpongeBob happily toils away. There are also two different robot assistants, one amusingly voiced by Awkafina. A Brand New Sponge: This is the third SpongeBob film, following 2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and 2015’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of W...
Hugh Grant to Play Villain in Dungeons and Dragons Movie
Hugh Grant has been cast as the antagonist of Paramount and eOne’s upcoming Dungeons & Dragons film adaptation. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he will play a villain named Forge Fletcher. It actress Sophia Lillis has been added to the big-budget feature, as well, in which she’ll portray a character named Doric. The two actors join a stacked cast for the movie, which is based on the titular fantasy role-playing game. Bridgerton breakout Rege-Jean Page recently joined the production, which also includes Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Justice Smith. Game Night co-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley are helming the film, for which they re-wrote a Dungeons & Dragons script that was based on an original draft from Michael Gilio. Not much is known...
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Cannabis Brand, Houseplant, Comes to the US
Two years ago, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg launched their mid-century modern cannabis line, Houseplant, in their native Canada. Now, the brand is officially crossing the border, as it will soon be available in the United States. Well, at least one part of the US. California residents will soon be able to purchase the company’s three strains of marijuana flower — indica, sativa, and hybrid — via the to-be-launched Houseplant website. Each varietal is named after weather patterns, like the 33% THC (that’s a lot!) sativa strain Pancake Ice. No word yet on when or if the brand’s pre-rolled joints, soft-gel capsules, and two flavors of carbonated beverage (grapefruit and lemon) will follow suit. While the actual weed will only be available in Cali to start, Houseplant’s new home good...
Amy Poehler’s Moxie Unites a New Generation of Rebel Girls: Review
The Pitch: High school junior Vivian (Hadley Robinson) is struggling to find her voice. In response to rampant misogyny and lack of support from her school’s administration, she takes inspiration from her mother’s Riot Grrrl past and creates an anonymous zine called Moxie, attempting to unite students under a banner of feminism. But like many before her, Vivian learns that effective feminist activism requires more than buzzwords and good intentions. Director Amy Poehler attempts to pass the torch from third to fourth wave feminism and delivers an empowering and cathartic look at the complexities of Girl Power. Adapted from Jennifer Mathieu’s inspirational novel, Moxie is a love letter to young people struggling to find their own voices and create the changes they want to see in the world. ...
T.I. Dropped from Ant-Man 3 Amid Sexual Abuse Accusations
T.I. in Ant-Man Earlier today, a lawyer representing 11 people filed criminal inquiries into T.I. and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, for alleged abuses that include sexual assault, kidnapping, drugging, and false imprisonment. Now, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that the 40-year-old rapper will not be returning in Marvel’s Ant-Man 3. In both the 2015 Ant-Man feature and its 2018 sequel Ant-Man and The Wasp, the rapper and actor born Clifford Harris had a supporting role as a character named Dave who assisted Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man) in his superhero exploits. THR has learned that T.I. not part of the cast of the series’ third installment, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but it’s unclear if his departure is related to the recent accusation...
Jeff Buckley Biopic in the Works with Full Approval of Musician’s Estate
A new biopic about Jeff Buckley in development with the full support of the late musician’s estate. It’s titled Everybody Here Wants You and will star Reeve Carney in the lead role. Orian Williams will helm the project, marking his directorial debut. Carney is perhaps best known for playing Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the Broadway staging of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. He also had a reoccurring role in the Showtime series Penny Dreadful. Williams, meanwhile, is an Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated producer, who previously helped bring the story of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis to the screen with the 2007 film Control. This will mark his first in the director’s chair, however. According to Variety, Everybody Here Wants You has the full support of Jeff Buckley’s estate and will have access...
Andra Day is First Black Best Actress Winner at Golden Globes in 35 Years
Andra Day is the first Black Best Actress winner at the Golden Globes in over 35 years thanks to her excellent performance in The United States vs. Billie Holiday. During Sunday night’s ceremony, Day became the second Black woman in history to ever take home the coveted award for Best Actress – Drama. The only person to have claimed the prize prior was Whoopi Goldberg for The Color Purple back in 1986. In between, seven other Black women have been nominated for the award, including Halle Berry, Viola Davis, and Ruth Negga. Day was understandably shocked to hear her name announced at the virtual Golden Globes event as friends and family embraced her while cheering. This was her first-ever lead role in a feature film and her third acting credit overall, following some voice acting in Ca...
2021 Golden Globes Winners: The Complete List
The 2021 Golden Globe Awards took place on Sunday night after being delayed for nearly two months due to COVID-19. Now in its 78th year, the Golden Globes honor the best in film and television as determined by the Hollywood Foreign Press. Film was scattered, but as expected. Nomadland and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm predictably ran away with their respective top honors, Minari won the only nomination it (tragically) could, Daniel Kaluuya matched the award seasons buzz with his Best Supporting Actor win for Judas and the Black Messiah, and Soul nabbed both Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. Television belonged to Netflix with essential wins for both The Crown and The Queen’s Gambit. The former ruled over Best Drama, Best Actor for Josh O’Connor, Best Actress for Emma Corrin,...
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Wins Best Comedy at 2021 Golden Globes
Very nice! Borat Subsequent Moviefilm won Best Motion Picture – Comedy at tonight’s Golden Globe Awards. Additionally, Borat himself, Sacha Baron Cohen, claimed the prize for Best Actor in a Comedy. Taking place 14 years after the events of the original Borat film, the world-famous Kazakh journalist returned to Yankeeland in 2020 in order to gift his daughter, Tutar, to then Vice Premiere Mikhael Pence. Along the way, Borat and Tutar are forced to navigate a deadly pandemic, QAnon conspiracy theorists, and Rudy Giuliani. In accepting the award for Best Comedy, Baron Cohen singled out the former New York City mayor. “I’ve got to say, this movie could not have been possible without my co-star, a fresh new talent who came from nowhere and turned out to be a comedy genius,”...
Nomadland’s Chloé Zhao Becomes Only Second Woman Ever to Win Best Director at Golden Globes
Nomadland filmmaker Chloé Zhao made history during the 2021 Golden Globes, becoming only the second woman to win the award for Best Director. She’s also the first Asian woman to claim the honor. Zhao, a 38-year-old native of Beijing, China, won for Nomadland, which follows Fern (played by Frances McDormand) as she embarks on a new life as a van-dwelling nomad, traveling the American West. Nomadland also won Best Motion Picture – Drama during tonight’s Golden Globes. Prior to Zhao’s victory, Barbra Streisand had been the only woman to ever win Best Director at the Golden Globes. Streisand earned the prize in 1984 for Yentl. In fact, over the course of the Golden Globes first 77 years, only five women total had been nominated for top filmmaker: Streisand, Ava DuVernay, Jane Campion...
Chadwick Boseman Posthumously Wins Golden Globe for Best Actor
Chadwick Boseman has posthumously won the 2021 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama, for his final film performance as a blues trumpeter in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Boseman died last summer of colon cancer at the age of 43. As Newsweek reports, he’s only the second actor to receive this accolade posthumously, after Peter Finch won in 1977 for his cracked performance as broadcaster Howard Beale in Network. His wife Simone Ledward Boseman accepted the award on his behalf. “He would thank God, he would thank his parents, he would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices,” she said, before tearfully offering gratitude to his cast mates, friends, and director George C. Wolfe. “He would say something beautiful. Something inspiring… And I don’t hav...
Andra Day Brings the High Notes to The United States vs. Billie Holiday: Review
The Pitch: Recorded in 1939, Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” brought attention to the atrocious practice of lynching, specifically in America’s southernmost states. Its lyrics were created as a response to an infamous, horrific photo of a lynching taken by photographer Lawrence Beitler almost 10 years prior. It’s a magnificent song concentrated on an ugly truth. In some ways, Holiday’s life was similar — all her outer beauty paling in comparison to the pain and suffering that existed beneath the surface of her life. Directed by Lee Daniels and written by Suzan-Lori Parks, The United States vs. Billie Holiday focuses on the final decade of the jazz singer’s life — specifically, 1947 to 1959. Based on a chapter of Johan Hari’s 2015 book, Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the Wa...
