Film
Bomb Pussy? Gwyneth Paltrow’s Vagina Candle Explodes in Woman’s Living Room
In a story that gives new meaning to “fire crotch,” Gwyneth Paltrow’s novelty candle This Smells Like My Vagina exploded in a UK woman’s home. Jody Thompson, a media consultant and journalist who has published in The Telegraph, the Daily Mail, and other outlets, won this dubious trophy at a company holiday party. “My prize for winning the @persuasioncomms work Christmas party Popbitch quiz,” Thompson wrote on Instagram on December 23rd. “It smells a bit fusty etc etc. Thanks @austin.jane, it’s really made me laugh!” On January 13th, her laughter would be, ahem, snatched away. Thompson lit the wick, at which time things went south. As she told The Sun, “The candle exploded and emitted huge flames, with bits flying everywhere. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” she added...
Donald Trump Orders Construction of 250 Bizarrely Chosen Statues on His Way Out of Office
On his way out of office, Donald Trump is expected to issue a flurry of executive orders and pardons. Among the actions taken on Monday was an executive order following through on his pledge to build a “Garden of American Heroes.” Trump first announced plans for the monument over the summer, but today’s executive order includes a full list of statues that shall be constructed. It’s a disorientingly long list of 250 names spanning entertainment, sports, literature, and politics, with no apparent rhyme or reason for why they were included other than that they’re dead. Musicians include Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holliday, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Elvis, and Whitney Houston, while Humphrey Bogart, Bob Hope, and Jimmy Stewart are among the Hollywood figures ...
50 Most Anticipated Movies of 2021
Anticipating movies these days is a fool’s errand. Unless it’s guaranteed to be hitting a streaming platform, the release date of any film should have an asterisk appended to it. That’s not cynical, but the nature of covering this industry amidst the pandemic. So, you could imagine how fun this list was to put together. (Spoiler: It wasn’t.) Dragging over last year’s offerings to this one seems like an easy task, but the shift opens the door for so many questions, all of which boil down to: “What are the odds?” For many features — you know, like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, or No Time to Die, or Halloween Kills, or any film without a streaming opt-in — the release date is as certain as we are about anything right now in life. “We’ll see” is the name of the game. Having said that, a few studios...
Robert De Niro, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy Join David O. Russell’s Star-Studded New Movie
The new David O. Russell film has just become an A-list bonanza. On Thursday, it was confirmed that Robert De Niro, Chris Rock, and our 2020 Performer of the Year Anya Taylor-Joy have signed on for the film. So too have Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Andrea Riseborough, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Alessandro Nivola. All of those stars will be joining Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and John David Washington in the as-yet-untitled film. Russell and his team are still keeping details about the plot confidential, but anonymous sources who spoke with Collider last year say that it apparently deals with an unlikely friendship between a doctor and a lawyer. Michael B. Jordan was originally slated to be part of the cast, but Washington replaced him last fall for reasons that are still un...
Nicolas Cage Battles Demonic Animatronics in the Trailer for Willy’s Wonderland: Watch
If you’ve ever wanted to punch the rat at Chuck E. Cheese then we’ve got the movie for you. Nicolas Cage wages war against possessed animatronics in the new trailer for Willy’s Wonderland. The film is directed by Kevin Lewis from a screenplay by G.O. Parsons. It stars Cage as a quiet man — in the trailer, he doesn’t speak a word — whose car breaks down at the side of the road. In exchange for getting his vehicle fixed, our hero agrees to spend one night cleaning Willy’s Wonderland, a defunct family establishment famous for its eight animatronic characters. Imagine the new janitor’s surprise when they come to life and try to kill him. Along the way he meets a group of teen’s led by Emily Tosta, who try to warn him that, “You’re here to be a human sacrifice.” But as the fur flies, the youths...
MLK/FBI Sure Feels Like a Film of the Moment: Review
The Pitch: What we publicly and historically know about Martin Luther King Jr. is as follows. The reverend was a pacifist and advocate for civil rights who rose to prominence in the 1960s. A champion for Black Americans, Dr. King was an oratory master, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning voice for a still-maligned class of citizens, and a firm believer in non-violent protest and demonstration. What many people don’t know – unless they’ve maybe seen movies like Ava DuVernay’s Selma — is that the goddamn Federal Bureau of Investigation dogged King for the entirety of his public life as a speaker and organizer. We’re talking wiretaps, plants, offensive leaks and letters pertaining to MLK’s infidelities, all to discredit a “communist” and an “agitator” under the auspices of J. Edgar Hoover’s square-ja...
Trailer Unveiled for Upcoming Serj Tankian Documentary Truth to Power: Watch
System of a Down singer Serj Tankian is the subject of a recently announced documentary film titled Truth to Power, which premieres on February 19th. The trailer and poster for the movie have now been unveiled. The new trailer offers a glimpse at what viewers can expect from the intimate documentary, which follows Tankian’s journey as a musician and longtime activist. The singer and his band continue to raise awareness for the crisis in Artsakh, an Armenian-adjacent state that was recently under siege by Azerbaijan and Turkey. In the past, they called for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. “[It’s] looking through my eyes at how message becomes reality through the arts,” Tankian said of Truth to Power in a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone. “Instead of focusing on me as an ar...
Tom Holland Is a Troubled Bank Robber in First Trailer for the Russo Brothers’ Cherry: Watch
Tom Holland is robbing banks while stealing a young woman’s heart in the first trailer for Cherry. This new film from the Russo brothers pops on Apple TV+ on Mach 12th. Cherry is based on the 2018 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. It was written by Nico Walker, a veteran of the US Army who struggled with addiction before landing in prison for (you guessed it) bank robbery. In the hands of the Russo Brothers, to judge by the trailer, the story is stylish but deeply fatalistic. Holland’s character Cherry feels his life slipping away from him. As he says early in the preview, and again at the end, “Sometimes I feel like I’ve already seen everything that’s going to happen. And it’s a nightmare.” But scenes of war in Iraq and armed robberies are intercut with tenderness, a...
Cardi B to Star in New Comedy Assisted Living
Cardi B is already one of the biggest forces in contemporary hip-hop, and now she’s setting her sights on dominating Hollywood. As Variety reports, the “WAP” rapper has landed a starring role in the upcoming Paramount comedy Assisted Living. Previously, Cardi made her feature film debut alongside Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu in the 2019 stripper thriller Hustlers, but Assisted Living will mark the 28-year-old’s first time in a lead role. According to Variety, the film is being billed as a “raunchy comedy” with “tremendous heart” a la Mrs. Doubtfire and Sister Act. It sounds like the perfect setting for Cardi’s lovable charisma and provocative humor to shine in. The film follows a small-time criminal named Amber (Cardi) who ends up desperately looking for a place to h...
Minari Composer Emile Mosseri Shares the Origins of “Rain Song” with Yeri Han: Stream
In our new music feature Origins, we give musicians the chance to explore the backstory behind their latest single. Today, Emile Mosseri tells us about composing the score to Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari. To help elevate the intimate storytelling of one of the best films of 2020, Minari, writer-director Lee Isaac Chung turned to composer Emile Mosseri. Mosseri knew well how to write the proper music for a unique family tale, as he had done recently for Miranda July’s Kajillionaire. Audiences will get to hear how he crafted a score befitting Chung’s beautiful American tale itself when Minari and its soundtrack are released wide on February 12th. One of the reasons Mosseri was able to pen such an evocative soundtrack is because of how early he he began working on the process. In what he cal...
Tommy Lister Legally Changed His Middle Name to “Debo” in Homage to His Friday Character
“Deebo”, a.k.a. Tommy Lister, in Friday There’s method acting and then there’s Tommy Lister Jr.. Shortly before he died last December, the 62-year-old legally changed his middle name to “Debo” in honor of the character he famously portrayed in the Friday film franchise. According to a death certificate obtained by TMZ, Lister’s middle name is printed as “Debo” in the official document. As his manager tells it, about six months before he passed, Lister decided that since he was best known as Ice Cube’s neighborhood bully in the turn-of-the-century stoner series, he might as well change his middle name to reflect that. The document also implies that he legally changed his first name from Thomas to Tommy at some point, so his final moniker (Tommy Debo Lister) was actuall...
Movie and TV Studios are Cutting Ties with Republicans After Storming of Capitol
The world’s largest entertainment conglomerates have either very recently grown a backbone or found a convenient excuse to save money. But as The Hollywood Reporter and New York Times report, after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol building, coming mere feet and seconds away from a confrontation with lawmakers, companies such as Comcast, The Walt Disney Company, Hallmark, AT&T, Facebook, and the Motion Picture Association are cutting off political contributions to members of the Republican party. Most of the backlash is centered around the man who is somehow still President, Donald Trump. He’s already received bans from Facebook and Twitter, and other digital platforms including Snapchat, YouTube, Reddit, and Twitch have since followed suit. Now, entertainment heavyweights are cuttin...
