Month: August 2022

If there’s one thing worse than a liar it’s a bad liar, and Lindsey Graham is most definitely that. On Sunday, the South Carolina senator appeared on Fox News where he said these exact words: “If they try to prosecute President Trump for mishandling classified information after Hillary Clinton set up a server in her basement, there literally will be riots in the street.”

The backlash to Graham’s words was swift, with many interpreting his warning as more of a threat. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell went so far as to compare him to notorious Nazi sympathizer Vidkun Quisling. But it seemed to take Joe Biden weighing in to get Graham to react. On Tuesday, the president—a longtime friend and colleague of Graham’s—told a group of supporters: “The idea that you turn on a television and see a senior senator and congressmen saying if such and such happens, there will be blood in the street. Where the hell are we?”

Which, in turn, prompted Graham to go back on Fox News in an attempt to walk back that thing we all heard him say, and essentially claim that he didn’t say it. As the senator explained it:

“What I said Sunday was… I reject violence, but I also reject the double-standard here. So, if they try to prosecute President Trump for mishandling classified information after the [Hillary] Clinton debacle, when she was secretary of state, people in this country will lose faith in law enforcement.”

Which is not at all what he said, as you can see for yourself — again — above.

With a whopping $715 million price tag, Amazon has a whole lot riding on its new The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series. Set a thousand years before the events of the blockbuster films, the show will delve deep into J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth lore as it goes toe-to-to with another high-profile fantasy prequel, HBO’s House of the Dragon that’s already dominating streaming charts. Will audiences who’ve come to expect the more violent and graphic world of Game of Thrones still tune in for The Lord of the Rings‘ more family-friendly, yet no less epic fare? That’s the huge question weighing over Amazon’s head.

During The Rings of Power U.K. premiere, Jeff Bezos revealed a more personal challenge for the massive series: Not failing his son who’s become obsessed with all things Tolkien. Via Variety:

“My kids have become Tolkien fans as well. In fact one of my boys I think approaches the level of a Tolkien scholar he knows so much about this universe. And after Amazon got involved in this project, my son came up to me one day, he looked me in the eyes, very sincerely, and he said: ‘Dad, please don’t eff this up.’ And he was right. We know that this world is important to so many people, we know it’s a privilege to work inside this world and we know it’s a big responsibility.”

While introducing the series, Bezos also thanked the showrunners, Patrick McKay and John D. Payne, for “ignoring” his notes and proving that Amazon made the right call in choosing the untested newcomers to lead newcomers into Middle-earth.

“Everybody here in this audience, you are all about to see that we made the right choice,” Bezos told the crowd.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres September 1 on Amazon Prime Video.

(Via Variety)

The White Lotus turned out to be a genuine sleeper series, one of those rare shows that arrived without much advance press and simmered quietly for weeks before people realized, “Holy hell.” Soon enough, the most passive-aggressive rivalry in recent TV memory culminated with a wallop, and viewers were left craving more following what appeared to be a limited series. The show’s officially an anthology series, and we’ll all benefit from this. Jennifer Coolidge previously turned up as a boozy delight, and as it turns out, her Tanya McQuoid will continue that iconic tour as the show’s second season will head to Italy.

When will this happen? We don’t know a precise date as of yet, but Variety reports that we won’t have to wait too long. The White Lotus Season 2 will premiere sometime in October. The show will air on HBO and be streamable on HBO Max, and unfortunately, Sydney Sweeney won’t be silently side-eying the resort’s guests this time around, nor will we get to see whether Alexandra Daddario’s character will eventually come to her senses and drop Jake Lacey’s horribly spoiled brat of a character.

Yet we will see a whole new crop of actors representing the malaise of the (largely) idle wealthy class who can’t just be happy on vacation. Coolidge represents the one constant character in the franchise thus far, and she’ll be joined by Aubrey Plaza, Theo James, F. Murray, Abraham, Michael Imperioli, and Haley Lu Richardson. Be prepared to judge them accordingly.

Lorde’s August 29 concert in Washington DC was noteworthy for an unusual reason. At one point during the performance, Lorde told the audience, “I was thinking today, I was lying in the Potomac River. […] I love getting to swim in water where I’m playing.” It took a few moments, but when fans realized that Lorde actually swam in the infamously unclean waterway, they laughed and were audibly grossed out.

Now Lorde has been filled in on what was going on there and she was a good sport about it. A video of Lorde chatting with fans following the show seems to capture the moment right after the Potomac’s shortcomings were explained to her. After offering a shocked reaction, she told the small group, “I think all is well, but now I know why you were laughing. I’m happy to be a DC meme, you know?”

As for the Potomac, it has a long history and reputation of being concerningly unclean. In fact, swimming in the river has actually been illegal in DC since 1971, although the Potomac Riverkeeper Network thinks it’s time to lift the swimming ban. Locals still seem hesitant about intentionally getting in that water, though: ARLnow.com conducted a poll this summer asking if people would swim in the river in the DC or Arlington, Virginia area. Over 2,100 people responded and about 23 percent said yes, 12 percent said “only at a public beach or somewhere with lifeguards,” and the remaining 65 percent gave a hard no.

Donald Trump hasn’t been on Twitter since January 2021, when his account was suspended “due to the risk of further incitement of violence” following the failed coup at the Capitol. The former-president is now using Truth Social, the preferred social media platform of MAGA hat-wearing conservatives, as his diary, but it’s not the same thing.

Twitter is the one that one got away, and Trump took the breakup pretty hard.

Documentary filmmaker Alex Holder interviewed Trump in March 2021, and “he looked terrible, he’d put on a lot of weight. He was incredibly depressed,” he said on the Bulwark Podcast. “And a little behind the scenes secret: The reason for all of that was because he was going through a real withdrawal from not being able to use Twitter. Yeah, I promise. I mean, that’s literally what his closest aide said to me. He was in the most terrible foul mood because he couldn’t use social media.”

This is the first time I’ve ever related to Trump (although my weight-gaining McDonald’s order is different).

This was the second time that Holder spoke to Trump. The first time, in December 2020, “he was furious,” he said. “And for lack of a better word, powerful. He was furious. And I was very scared.” Trump was (and remains) in denial about losing the election, and Holder could sense that “the shit is gonna hit the fan. This is going to be a bad next few weeks. I mean, there was no question he was gonna go full on.” And he did.

You can listen to the podcast below.

(Via the Huffington Post)

Britney Spears has a rich history of sharing skin-bearing photos on Instagram. However, her Instagram account is currently deactivated, so those pictures are inaccessible at the moment. As Spears’ Instagram break continues, though, she has instead been taking to Twitter and used the platform last night (August 30) to drop another nude video.

This time, Spears is topless as she strikes poses, with her long hair obscuring her chest. Part of the video is shot from the back and it shows Spears’ hair reaching all the way down to her underwear.

Spears captioned the post, “First time having really long hair !!! It’s different … serving evil mermaid vibes I guess except I have legs !!! Pss too hot to go outside bored as hell !!! Psss this is not a hair commercial !!!”

This latest post comes a few days after Spears shared another photo of herself, that time letter her hands cover her breasts instead of her hair taking on that task.

Meanwhile, in a Twitter thread on August 28 (shortly after releasing her and Elton John’s “Hold Me Closer“), she reflected on creating and on working with John, writing, “Complacency has always been a boring tactic that feels safe … music … creation … producing is where my heart lies and lifts me with inspiration !!! I’ve had the opportunity to work with someone who is beautiful and kind on all levels … I’m honored and I feel loved by his awareness and acknowledgement, not by only my involement with a song but by my struggles and what I’ve been through !!! He knows the hardships of the world on a bigger scale … You can lose your individuality on a fake tale of how other people may percieve you and some idiots like me fall into the trap cause unfortunately I do care … but at the end of the day …”

Things are turbulent for Arcade Fire right now, even beyond Will Butler’s recent departure from the band. A few days ago, Win Butler addressed multiple sexual misconduct allegations made against him, saying in part, “While these relationships were all consensual, I am very sorry to anyone who I have hurt with my behavior.” The band has opted to carry on with their scheduled tour dates, but at least some high-profile Canadian radio stations are opting to not give the group a platform at the moment.

As Stereogum notes, the program director of Toronto’s Indie88 said the station made “a quick decision over the weekend to pull the band’s music” but has “not yet had a fulsome internal conversation about the permanence of this decision.” A CBC representative also noted they will “pause” playing the band’s songs on CBC Music FM and Sirius XM CBC Radio 3 “until we learn more about the situation.”

Feist, who is opening for Arcade Fire on tour at the moment, is taking some action of her own. Arcade Fire and Feist performed in Dublin, Ireland last night (August 30) and as Pitchfork reports, a sign at her merch booth indicated that proceeds from merch sales will go to Women’s Aid Dublin.

Sharon Stone learned the hard way what Hollywood does to women as they age: It ignores them. Sure enough, after becoming one of the biggest stars of the ’90s, she was used up and tossed as she entered middle age. Perhaps that gave her tough (or at least tougher) skin, because now she doesn’t take crap from anyone. In the last few years alone, she’s slammed anti-vaxxers like Joe Rogan, demanded all-vaxxed sets, even called out the producers of her breakthrough smash, Basic Instinct. And that extends to garbage boyfriends, too.

In a cover story for Vogue Arabia (as caught by Page Six), the legendary actress confessed that she let a relationship with a younger boyfriend die after he told her to get Botox and she refused.

“It would probably be really good for your ego and mine if I did,” she recalled telling him. “I saw him one more time after that and then he wasn’t interested in seeing me anymore.” But it seems the feeling was mutual. “If you don’t see me for more than that, you’ll please find your way to the exit.”

As it happens, Stone has a deeply unpleasant history with plastic surgery and injectables. “There were periods in the super fame when I got Botox and filler and stuff, and then I had this massive stroke and a nine-day brain hemorrhage and I had to have over 300 shots of Botox and filler to make the one side of my face come up again,” she explained. Having been near death caused her go from seeing Botox as a “cute luxury to some kind of massive, painful neurological need.”

Instead, Stone learned to revel in aging, even going viral earlier this summer by posting a semi-topless pic of herself by a pool. “I posted it because I feel like women become invisible once we become moms and you’re 45 and people walk by you like you’re not there,” she told Vogue Arabia. She added that “life doesn’t always make you feel like a winner as you grow older.”

(Via Page Six)

Tove Lo is having a big year. The pop star is set to release a new album, called Dirt Femme, this October, and the singles — “True Romance,” “No One Dies From Love,” and “2 Die 4” — have been building the anticipation exponentially. Today, she’s back with a music video for the latter single.

Though she originally released “2 Die 4” with a music video, that one apparently wasn’t enough. The YouTube caption of the new video reads: “We wanted to make a pop b*tch y2k experience. With all the choreo, the outfits, the wetness. I think we more than delivered.”

The video takes place in a crazy pool party with lots of skin and dancing; the choreography is great and only intensified by the fact that it’s being done in water. There’s also a lot of cathartic headbanging and hair-whipping, and at one point Tove Lo is a big flower. She went all out, and it was definitely worth it.

When releasing the song, she had said, “With ‘2 Die 4’ I wanted ‘instantly iconic’ energy.” She surely achieved that prestigious status with this video.

Check out the video for “2 Die 4” above.

Dirt Femme is out 10/14 via Pretty Swede and MTheory. Pre-save it here.

Over the last several years, A24 has distinguished itself as arguably America’s foremost independent film company. They even have their own distinct voice: On top of high-end American art cinema like Moonlight and The Florida Project, they also crank out genre movies that are (for lack of a better word) “elevated,” serious but eccentric, sometimes even crossover hits. In other words, they’re the perfect place for Nicolas Cage, perhaps the biggest movie star weirdo of the modern age. So how on earth hasn’t the Oscar-winner worked with them yet? Anyway, that’s finally about to change.

As per Deadline, Cage has signed on to star in Dream Scenario, whose title definitely sounds like something that would come from the studio behind movies like Swiss Army Man, The Death of Dick Long, and Everything Everywhere All at Once, the latter their biggest-ever moneymaker. As for what it’s actually about, that’s under wraps. All that’s currently known about it is that it’s a comedy, and that it almost certainly involves dreams.

If the marriage of Nicolas Cage and A24 wasn’t enough, there’s a little cherry on top: It will be produced — but not directed — by Ari Aster, one of the studio’s titans, who had big hits with the madly ambitious nightmare horrors Hereditary and Midssommar. He’s a little busy right now with Disappointment Blvd., which is due sometime next year. As for Cage, he’s been enjoying something of a career renaissance of late, getting some of his best-ever reviews for movies like Mandy, Pig, and the meta romp The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Then there’s Renfield, in which the star of Vampire’s Kiss — about an ’80s NYC yuppie who (wrongly) thinks he’s a vampire — actually gets to play the big cheese himself, Count Dracula.

(Via Deadline)