Quoteworthy
Benedict Cumberbatch Plans to Host Ukrainian Refugees
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch plans to open up his inner sanctum to Ukrainian refugees in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked invasion. The London resident and star of The Power of the Dog shared his intentions to take part in the UK’s new “Homes for Ukraine” initiative on the red carpet for the 2022 BAFTAs on Sunday, March 15th. “It is a really shocking time to be a European two-and-a-half hours’ flight away from Ukraine and it’s something that hangs over us,” Cumberbatch told Sky News. “We all need, as we know, to do more than wear a badge. We need to donate, we need to pressure our politicians to continue to create some kind of refugee safety and a haven here for people who are suffering and figure that system out. I know it’s ongoing, I know that’s happening. Everyone need...
Charlie Cox Calls Ben Affleck’s Daredevil Movie “Tonally Confused,” Says the “Suit Sucks”
Charlie Cox wasn’t the first actor to play Daredevil, but he’s not afraid to criticize his predecessors. When discussing the future of Netflix’s Daredevil series at the 2022 Middle East Film & Comic Con, Cox revealed he was no fan of the Ben Affleck-starring 2003 Daredevil film, which he called “tonally confused.” “I watched it once, and then I wanted to go and do my own thing,” Cox said. “I hadn’t seen it before I got the role. I watched it when I got the role.” Cox clarified that he didn’t have a problem with Affleck’s performance — “I like his Matt Murdock,” he admitted — so much as he had a problem with the film itself. “I feel like the movie tried to do too much and it was a little tonally confused,” he said, adding: “They had everyone in that movie — they had Kingpin, t...
Noel Gallagher Says Rock’s Gone Middle Class: “Working Class Kids Can’t Afford to Do It Now”
Noel Gallagher thinks rock and roll has become a middle class pursuit, telling The Daily Mirror that, “Working class kids can’t afford to do it now.” The longtime Oasis star and current frontman of High Flying Birds tallied up rising costs, noting that “guitars are expensive, there’s no rehearsal rooms. They’ve all been turned into wine bars and flats.” He added, “There’s lots of singer songwriters, loads of middle class bands… wearing guitars as opposed to playing them. But four or five guys from a council estate [public housing] can’t afford guitars.” Advertisement Related Video As for whether there will be another Oasis — or whether rock and roll will continue to be an art form — he sounded unsure if young people even care. “Where are the 14-year-olds in bands now?” he wondere...
Benedict Cumberbatch Defends The Power of the Dog After Sam Elliot’s Attack
Benedict Cumberbatch is defending The Power of the Dog after actor Sam Elliott called the film a “piece of shit” and complained about “allusions of homosexuality.” Cumberbatch stars as Phil Burbank, a man whose carefully-cultivated machismo hides personal anxieties about his sexual preferences. For Cumberbatch’s work in director Jane Campion’s film, he’s been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and he’s being considered for the same honor at the 2022 BAFTA Awards. He recently participated in a BAFTA Film Sessions panel where he politely addressed the controversy. After answering a question about all the Phils still out there in the world today, he said he hoped The Power of the Dog helped explain “what poisons the well in men, what creates t...
Sam Elliott Complains About “Homosexuality” in “Piece of Shit” Movie The Power of the Dog
Sam Elliott has spent half his acting career perched on top of a horse, and he seems to now consider himself an expert on all things cowboy. In a new interview on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, the star of 1883 called the Oscar-nominated film The Power of the Dog a “piece of shit” while complaining about all the “allusions of homosexuality.” Jane Campion’s deconstructed Western stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Phil Burbank, a self-styled macho man whose insistence on presenting himself in the most manly way possible hides deep insecurities about his sexual identity. When Maron asked Elliott what he thought of the film, the 77-year-old responded, “You want to talk about that piece of shit?” “Where’s the Western in this Western?” Elliott asked. “I mean, Cumber...
Guillermo del Toro Slams Oscars for Cutting Awards from Live Broadcast
It seems pretty likely that we’ll hear Guillermo del Toro’s name at this year’s Oscars, but the filmmaker wants his fellow artisans to get the same due as big-name directors. While accepting an award at the Hollywood Critics Association Awards on Monday (February 28th), del Toro criticized the Academy for cutting select behind-the-scenes categories from the Oscars’ live broadcast, noting the collective nature of filmmaking. “If any year was the year to think about it, this is not the year not to hear their names live at the Oscars. This is the year to sing and do it live,” del Toro said. The director, who was accepting the Filmmaking Achievement Award, was referring to the artists who work in documentaries, editing, makeup and hairstyling, production design, short films, and sound. Last we...
Eddie Vedder Talks “Serious” Bout with COVID-19: “I Saw My Life Flash in Front of My Eyes”
Eddie Vedder came down with COVID-19 earlier this year, and as he explained during his concert in Los Angeles on February 25th, his bout with the novel coronavirus was “pretty serious.” Fan footage captured Vedder addressing the crowd at the YouTube Theater. “I got the COVID right before we were supposed to start practicing, probably five or six weeks ago, and I literally saw my life flash in front of my eyes,” he said. He went on to explain that he’d “done some very good things for my body and I’ve also had a lot of fun, and I’ve done some things that would be termed some kind of abuse,” he laughed. “I won’t get into the details. Just use your imagination.” He added, “It felt pretty serious. To get through that and be back in a room like this facing this many people… It’s been a gift...
David Crosby’s Advice to Young Artists: “Don’t Become a Musician”
The world is pretty dire right now and the music industry is no exception. In light of the recent Spotify vs. Joe Rogan debacle — in which issues of censorship, misinformation, racism, and paying artists an adequate wage all came to a head — Stereogum recently got on the phone with one of the biggest artists who pulled their music from the platform: David Crosby. During the interview, he revealed why, in his eyes, the modern music industry is pretty hopeless. “Don’t become a musician,” Crosby said when asked what he would tell younger artists trying to navigate the penniless world of streaming. “I don’t like Spotify. I don’t like any of the streamers, because they don’t pay us properly. Their proportion is wrong. They’re making billions with a ‘b’ and they’re paying out pennies with a ‘p.’...
Francis Ford Coppola Slams Marvel: “It’s One Prototype Movie That Is Made Over and Over Again”
You don’t become one of the world’s most esteemed living filmmakers without making a few enemies. In a new interview with GQ, Francis Ford Coppola didn’t shy away from calling out his pet peeves in modern cinema, revealing that he generally finds Marvel movies formulaic and repetitive. “There used to be studio films,” the Godfather mastermind said. “Now there are Marvel pictures. And what is a Marvel picture? A Marvel picture is one prototype movie that is made over and over and over and over and over again to look different.” Even some non-Marvel blockbusters, particularly Dune and No Time to Die, haven’t pleased Coppola, either (ironically, Dune director Denis Villeneuve has also voiced his frustrations with the science of Marvel). Advertisement Related Video “You cou...
Jack Antonoff Calls Damon Albarn’s Criticism of Taylor Swift’s Songwriting “Trumpian”
Last month, Damon Albarn took heat for bluntly — and incorrectly — stating that Taylor Swift “doesn’t write her own songs.” Of course, Swift is one of the most accomplished songwriters of the last two decades, but the Gorillaz/Blur frontman attempted to reduce her to a “co-writer.” “That doesn’t count,” he said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing.” There was some back and forth on Twitter, with Swift calling Albarn’s “hot take… completely false and SO damaging,” and Albarn eventually issuing a direct apology. Still, the words were said, and many Swifties are still standing up for the musician. That includes Swift’s frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, who lumped the tenor of Albarn’s remarks in with Donald Tru...
Sean Penn: “Cowardly Genes” Have Made Men “Feminized”
Sean Penn seems to never stop talking, and if you accidentally find yourself agreeing with one thing he said, you need only wait for the next dollop of unasked-for wisdom to drop like a turd from his mouth. In a new interview with The Independent, Penn decided to launch an unprovoked attack on the trans community, bizarrely claiming that “cowardly genes” have left modern men “feminized.” Penn was promoting his latest flick, Flag Day, alongside his co-star and real-life daughter, Dylan. “I think that men have, in my view, become quite feminized,” he said. “I have these very strong women in my life who do not take masculinity as a sign of oppression toward them. There are a lot of, I think, cowardly genes that lead to people surrendering their jeans and putting on a skirt...
Dolly Parton Praises Taylor Swift and Britney Spears: “You Have to Stand Up for Yourself”
Dolly Parton was one of 12 children and she broke into a notoriously misogynistic country scene in the 1960s, so she is perhaps the world’s preeminent expert on making her voice heard. In a new interview with Hollywood Life, she sang the praises of Britney Spears and Taylor Swift, applauding one’s triumph over an abusive conservatorship and the other pushing back against insults from Damon Albarn, saying, “You have to stand up for yourself.” “I really get rubbed wrong sometimes when people mistreat the artist. I don’t like that,” she said. “I don’t like to judge other people and their problems, but when all that stuff that happens, like with Britney Spears — when they get [wrapped up in] controversy like that, you have to kind of stand up for yourself.” She also defended Swift, who Albarn ...
