Month: September 2020

If you were asked to name five Alfred Hitchcock movies, your answers would likely include Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, North by Northwest, maybe Rope if you’re kinky. Those are among his most famous films — hell, they’re some of the most famous films of all-time — but none of them were nominated for Best Picture. In fact, only one Hitchcock-directed film ever won Best Picture: 1941’s Rebecca. Netflix hopes to hear that name again on April 25, 2021, during the 93rd Academy Awards.

Based on Daphne du Maurier’s Gothic novel of the same name, the new adaptation of Rebecca is directed by Ben Wheatley (Free Fire) and stars Lily James as a newly-married woman who finds herself living in the shadow of her husband’s (Armie Hammer) dead first wife. Kristin Scott Thomas, perfectly cast, also features as the dedicated housekeeper of Manderley mansion, Mrs. Danvers. If you haven’t seen Hitchcock’s Rebecca, I would suggest waiting until after the remake comes out, not only to avoid comparisons between Hammer and Laurence Olivier, but also because there are some surprises along the way.

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

A young newlywed arrives at her husband’s imposing family estate on a windswept English coast and finds herself battling the shadow of his first wife Rebecca, whose legacy lives on in the house long after her death. A modern adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s gothic novel comes to Netflix: starring Armie Hammer, Lily James, and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Rebecca premieres on Netflix on October 21.

Mission: Impossible 7, the upcoming Tom Cruise franchise picture that does everything but send him to space, shut down production in February due to you-know-what. Getting things started again involved Cruise personally calling Norway’s culture minister before igniting a local controversy involving cruise ships. This followed a bridge kerfuffle and a gone wrong, but Paramount Pictures must be breathing a sigh of relief because it’s all happening (again) for real.

Of course, there have been occasional sightings of Cruise already leaping out of planes and all that, but one never really knows if that’s for business or pleasure. Now, director Chris McQuarrie has posted a truly “impossible” photo to prove that the beleaguered film is truly underway again. He even used this caption: “Action… #MI7 Day 1.”

Yikes… so basically a ramp that leads into the sky? Sounds about right for this franchise and the thrill-seeking leading man. The Norweigian scenery is certainly amazing, and we don’t know exactly who is standing atop that terrifying structure, but there’s a solid chance that it’s Mr. Tom Cruise himself. The Light the Fuse podcast and various Twitter users have posted video of the Cruise in action with a motorcycle and parachute, and my god, he must be so happy.

Mission: Impossible 7 should be released on November 19, 2021.

Drum battle participant Dave Grohl has flexed his storytelling abilities in recent months with his Dave’s True Stories Instagram account. Now the Foo Fighters and Nirvana member will be sharing that passion with another rock legend: He and AC/DC leader Brian Johnson will chat on the upcoming special Brian Johnson Meets Dave Grohl, which will air on September 17 on the UK TV channel Sky Arts.

An official synopsis for the program reads, “It’s a meeting of rock legends as AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson meets Foo Fighters lead singer and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl at the Foos’ LA studio to share stories about life on the road.” Johnson also offered a quote about the meet-up, saying, “Dave Grohl’s passion for rock music is infectious, we had a ball reminiscing about the early days in our different careers. If he ever runs for President, he’d get my vote.”

This ought to be a memorable experience for Grohl, as he has shown love for Johnson’s legendary band in the past. A couple years ago, he named AC/DC the one band he hasn’t played drums with yet but would love to, saying, “AC/DC. That’s my last one. […] If you dive back into their back catalog, that early sh*t, there was a little bit more dynamic, then they settled into the groove. That’s the thing. And it’s because of Phil Rudd. It’s AC/DC, but that guy holds the key.”

Quentin Tarantino has long said that he plans to retire from filmmaking after directing 10 movies, although he’s also hinted that his ninth film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, might have been his last. “I think when it comes to theatrical movies, I’ve come to the end of the road,” he confessed in 2019. Only QT knows for sure what his “show-stopping climax” will be, but if he does direct (at least) one more movie, it might involve the Bride.

The Oscar winner told Andy Cohen last year that a third Kill Bill movie is “definitely in the cards” and “if any of my movies were going to spring from my other movies, it would be a third Kill Bill.” One potential idea he’s thrown out: “It would focus on the daughter of Vivica A. Fox’s Copperhead,” according to the AV Club, “the first of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad killed in Kill Bill: Vol. 1, and her quest for revenge against the woman who killed her mother,” Uma Thurman’s the Bride. Fox has expressed interest in Zendaya playing her on-screen daughter (“Tarantino, cast Zendaya!” she said), and in the new issue of Empire, the Euphoria star was asked about the casting rumors:

“I saw that! I was quite honored that she would say that,” she said. “Obviously she’s incredible and I’m very flattered that she would think of me.” Of course, none of this means the project is any closer to happening – and Zendaya herself seems aware its all rumor-kill and scuttle-butt for now. “You know, it’s just an idea,” she says. “The internet kinda takes things and run with it.”

I’m going to run with this until crossing the finish line: Tarantino, cast Zendaya!

(Via Empire)

Miley Cyrus turned in one of the more visually distinct performance of the recent VMAs ceremony, but it wasn’t without behind-the-scenes drama, as she noted during a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

She told the host about a sexist comment that one of the show’s directors made towards her while discussing production details:

“I was just asking some questions, not even on some diva sh*t. I wanted the lights to be turned off and then the lighting of the room to just be lighting me. So no key light, no beauty light. Beauty light is always used on women, and I said, ‘Turn the f*cking lights off.’ You would never tell Travis Scott or Adam Levine that he couldn’t turn the beauty light off.

They said, ‘Okay, we’ll just do the same thing that we would do with the guys,’ because that’s what I want. And then something that I was doing […] for the VMAs, my bracelets kept getting caught in all this sh*t and they said, ‘You want to be treated like a guy and lit like a guy? We wouldn’t be dealing with this if a guy was doing it.’

And I said, ‘Well, a guy wouldn’t be doing this, because a guy doesn’t sell your show with sex the way that I’m going to,’ and I’m aware of that. I had these conversations with the directors talking to me. It’s a ridiculous conversation and also embarrassing.”

Watch the clip below.

Game 3 of the Nuggets-Clippers series showed that Denver’s Game 2 effort wasn’t a fluke and that they’re going to make the Clippers work for a conference finals berth, but this time L.A. was ready to respond to Denver’s activity and energy level.

The Nuggets took an early lead and threatened to run away with things in the second quarter, but a furious L.A. rally, spurred on by some tremendous defense, cut the Denver lead to two at the break. The two teams traded leads and runs in the second half, but the Nuggets offense went cold at the wrong time in the closing minutes and the Clippers, who got into the bonus midway through the fourth quarter, attacked the Denver defense to create good looks and get to the foul line to pull away.

A couple late Nuggets buckets made things close, but they were never able to string enough stops and scores together in the final minutes to pull out another win, with L.A. going ahead 2-1 thanks to a 113-107 victory. Here are our three takeaways from a highly entertaining Game 3.

1. Paul George stepped up

The Nuggets made their defensive gameplan very clear in Game 2 and stuck with it in Game 3, blitzing Kawhi Leonard with ball pressure from Jerami Grant and doubling him in the pick-and-roll game to force the ball out of his hands. In Game 2, the rest of the Clippers struggled to step up as Leonard struggled to create for himself against that pressure, but in Game 3 Leonard was patient in passing out of doubles and Paul George stepped up big time with 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting (5-of-7 from three) to go along with four assists and four rebounds.

George’s early struggles in these playoffs were well documented, but he’s been steadily improving and while he seems to understand Kawhi is going to take a leading role, when teams send extra attention at Leonard he’s asserting himself much better and Game 3 was a high point of his playoffs thus far. He doesn’t have to do this every night, because there will be times Leonard takes over, but showing that he can do this will make defenses think long and hard about how to gameplan for this Clippers offense and sending extra help at Leonard.

You could argue Denver played better than the Clippers in this game, but that George and Leonard simply out-talented them to a win. That ability, to win when your team doesn’t have its best stuff because of your stars, is often the difference between a championship team and the very good teams. It’s what people thought we’d get from L.A. this season but doubts began creeping in earlier in the postseason George would hold up his end of the deal. Now he is and if they can get both of their stars going at the same time, that’s going to make them the title contender everyone projected them to be.

2. Nikola Jokic is giving the Clippers absolute hell

Jokic damn near dragged the Nuggets to a win in this one (with a major assist off the bench from Michael Porter Jr.), but ultimately they fell short as the shooting around the Serbian superstar was simply lacking down the stretch. Jokic had 32 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, hitting 13-of-24 from the field and 3-of-8 from three. He dug deep in his bag of tricks, throwing ridiculous passes, getting every Clipper big in foul trouble by banging in the post, and stepping out to three-point range for a personal 9 point run at one point on three straight possessions.

On a night where Jamal Murray simply didn’t have it, going 5-of-17 from the field for 14 points, Jokic was sensational, continuing his excellent play from Game 2. That bodes well for Denver, as his engagement (and he was likewise very active defensively for a second straight game) is huge for their ability to be at their best. Now, they just need Murray to find his stroke again and have someone else be able to hit a three, as the rest of the Nuggets were just 8-of-26 from deep.

3. The Clippers made more winning plays

Denver was awesome in this game, but when it came down to it at the end, the Clippers made the necessary plays. There were certainly questionable whistles in this game (on both ends), but L.A. was the aggressor late, attacking the Denver defense to force contact and get to the stripe once in the bonus — something Denver didn’t do in the second quarter when they were in a similar situation. Defensively, the Clippers appeared to be sleep-walking early in the game, but down the stretch they seemed to flip the proverbial switch and made some tremendous plays, highlighted by Kawhi Leonard’s fingertip block of a Jamal Murray dunk attempt in the final minutes.

Denver couldn’t hit the same shots they did in Game 2 in Game 3, and that really made the difference. A pair of wide open threes for Jerami Grant went begging and neither Murray nor Jokic could conjure up much for themselves in isolation play or the pick-and-roll. L.A. clearly is going to focus on taking those two away in key moments and beg the question of Grant and Gary Harris and the rest. Harris answered the call in Game 2, but Grant couldn’t in Game 3. That will have to change going forward in order for the Nuggets to have a chance at closing games out if they find themselves in more tight games in this series, because we know L.A. has arguably the league’s best closer in Kawhi Leonard on their side.

Teyana Taylor and her husband Iman Shumpert announced they have welcomed their second daughter into the world. Born early in the morning on Sunday, Taylor and Shumpert have named their baby girl Rue Rose.

Shumpert shared the news to social media and said their child arrived healthy, though a little early:

“At 3:28 am on Sept 6th 2020 Rue Rose decided that the baby shower thrown for her and mommy was too lit. She didn’t make the party but she managed to make the next day her birthdate!!! Now…when we buy homes, we always find a bathroom with great energy… but not in a million years would you be able to tell me we’d deliver both of our daughters in a bathroom without the assistance of a hospital! Our newest edition entered the world in the water and came out looking around and ready to explore! A healthy child. A little sister. Another daughter. Black love wins….again. Welcome babygirl…we love you!”

Back in June, Taylor revealed in an interview with Nick Cannon that Erykah Badu was going be her midwife and help deliver her child: “I’m considering home birth, and I’m actually going to be doing it with Erykah. Her and Iman are going to deliver my baby. I’m super excited. I’ma have her just sing her verse from ‘Lowkey’ to me to calm my nerves.”

See a photo of Shumpert and Taylor’s newborn baby above.

Though he did briefly start wearing a mask a number of months into a pandemic he hasn’t exactly helped slow down, President Donald J. Trump has mostly been seen without one. He rarely wears them, mocks those that do (like Joe Biden), and even when he does get involved with masks there are unintended creepy results. On Labor Day, when deaths by COVID-19 approached 190,000, Trump snapped at a reporter he had trouble understanding, telling him to take off his mask. It did not go well.

As per Deadline, the president forced reporters to work on Labor Day, holding a press conference in which he spent part of the time railing against the Atlantic article that claims he called U.S. veterans “losers” and “suckers.” While he was being asked about it by Reuters journalist Jeff Mason, Trump interrupted him. He was a bit muffled, Trump told him, thanks to the mask he was wearing in an indoor room filled with people. So Trump asked him to remove it. Mason didn’t, offering instead to speak louder. When Mason asked Trump if that was better, he replied with an annoyed affirmative.

Given Trump’s, shall we say, checkered history with masks, the exchange did not go over well with those on social media.

Others pointed out that his chief rival in the 2020 election has no problem being a role model when it comes to one of the best ways to stop the spread of a highly contagious virus.

Others praised Mason for remaining steadfast — yet another reporter who’s kept their cool when bullied by a notoriously tetchy president.

It’s worth noting another thing Trump said during the same press conference: He made sure to praise a reporter who did take off their mask, which is not something one should do.

But what did Mason wind up asking Trump? Once they had finally gotten over the hump, he brought up the fact that some people are having trouble believing his denial of the Atlantic story, especially since he’d made similar comments about another veteran, the late John McCain.

Trump said he didn’t understand people who believed that, saying, “I have always been on the opposite side of John McCain. John McCain liked wars. I will be a better warrior than anybody, but when we fight a war, we’re gonna win ’em.” He added, “The story is a hoax,” which was “written by a guy who’s got a tremendously bad history.” He didn’t go into specifics, and he didn’t actually say anything about his history of demeaning American soldiers like McCain.

After an explosion during the seeding games, Denver Nuggets rookie forward Michael Porter Jr. cooled off to begin the postseason. While the uber-talented 22-year-old did show flashes, including a 28-point game, in the first round against the Utah Jazz, the Nuggets deployed him for fewer than 40 total minutes in the first two games against the L.A. Clippers. On Monday evening, though, Porter Jr. excelled in the first half of Game 3, scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds, and those positive contributions set the stage for an earth-shattering moment in the third quarter.

With the Nuggets holding a one-point lead, Porter caught the ball on the right wing, drove to his left and rose up to punish Montrezl Harrell for his attempt to draw a charge. The result was a devastating dunk, with all kinds of reaction from Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller on the TNT broadcast.

It should be noted that Porter Jr. leaned into his youthful inconsistency with a pair of mishaps immediately following the dunk. Still, this was a reminder of what he can do as a 6’10 forward with vertical athleticism, and Porter Jr. also puts pressure on opposing defenses with a fluid jump shot and the ability to find teammates when prompted to do so.

In a back-and-forth game played at the highest level of the sport, one play (and exactly two points) from Porter Jr. likely won’t swing the outcome. Still, this was one heck of an exhibition from the rookie, and Porter Jr.’s dunk was one of the more memorable highlights from the NBA Playoffs to this point.

Adult Swim’s The Venture Bros. has had an odd life, premiering 17 years ago but in that time only doing 81 episodes spread out over seven seasons. (At times it’s felt like the terminally truant Rick and Morty was emulating its “we’ll do it when we want to” approach.) So it almost makes sense that it would have an unusual end: Almost two years after its most recent episode, creator Jackson Publick took to Twitter to confirm fans’ worst fears, namely that it had been cancelled.

Unfortunately, it’s true: #VentureBros has been canceled,” Publick wrote. What’s more, the news isn’t new. “We got the highly disappointing news a few months ago, while we were writing what would have been season 8. We thank you, our amazing fans, for 17 years of your kind (and patient) attention. And, as always, We Love You.”

The news was re-confirmed by one of its stars, James Urbaniak, who voiced cost-cutting scientist, inventor, and corporate big wig Dr. Thaddeus “Rusty” Venture. “The pilot aired 17 years ago, which means the show was almost old enough to vote,” the actor wrote. “It was one of the great gifts of my life & career. The fans were, quite simply, the best.”

Like a number of the original run of Adult Swim cartoons, such as Space Ghost and Sealab 2021, The Venture Bros. parodied Hanna-Barbera children’s cartoons from the ‘60s and ‘70s, in its case lifting a lot of its inspiration from Jonny Quest. And like those other shows, it took them in absurd and surreal directions. Its fans were instantly heartbroken.

What is now the last Venture Bros. episode aired on October 7, 2018. It doesn’t appear they’ll be given the chance to give it a proper send-off.