Category: Viral

Stephen Dorff is “sh*t-talking” Marvel again. After softening his remarks about Scarlett Johansson starring in Black Widow back in 2021, Dorff has resumed slamming comic book movies while promoting his new film, Divinity, at Sundance.

“In general, I think it’s a tougher job to be an actor these days because there are less interesting filmmakers, there are less good movies,” Dorff said in a new interview. “Scripts are terrible for the most part.”

Dorff even threw some jabs at film festivals like Sundance before saying they’re the only place where you can find interesting products that aren’t from Marvel or DC Studios. Via The Daily Beast:

It’s all stupid to me. I think film festivals are, in a way, kind of silly, with the exception of, it brings filmmakers and people together and gets an audience to see your movie and you can launch it and sell it there. But in general, most of the movies are selling to streamers anyway, so it’s not really about cinema. I think Divinity should be bought by the majors, and if the majors were smart—if DC or any of these companies were doing cool things — they would look for the next Eddie Alcazar, because that’s the future. Not making Black Adam and worthless garbage over and over again [laughs].

What makes Dorff’s comments interesting is they mirror his initial remarks about Marvel and Black Widow that he later walked back after feeling embarrassed. He accused the media of taking what he said “out of context,” but here he is saying the same exact thing right down to calling comic book movies “garbage.” Which is fine. If Stephen Dorff doesn’t like superhero movies, he doesn’t like superhero movies. Just own it, my dude.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Netflix and Disney had a tough year in 2022, but cheer up, multi-multi-billion dollar companies, there’s some good news, too. Nielsen tabulated the most-streamed TV shows and movies of last year, and both charts are dominated by Netflix and Disney+.

Stranger Things finished number one among all programming with 52 billion minutes streamed in 2022, “the highest total since COVID-driven lockdowns drove audiences to watch 57.1 billion minutes of The Office in 2020,” followed by three more Netflix shows: NCIS, Cocomelon, and Ozark. The first non-Netflix title: Encanto with 27.4 billion minutes of viewing (“equivalent to being watched 269 million times”), making it the year’s most-streamed movie. Parents wish we didn’t talk about Bruno so dang much.

Here’s the top 15 for overall streaming:

1. Stranger Things (Netflix, 52.0 billion minutes)
2. NCIS (Netflix, 38.1 billion)
3. Cocomelon (Netflix, 37.8 billion)
4. Ozark (Netflix, 31.3 billion)
5. Encanto (Disney+, 27.4 billion)
6. Grey’s Anatomy (Netflix, 26.8 billion)
7. Criminal Minds (various, 24.9 billion)
8. Bluey (Disney+, 21.1 billion)
9. Gilmore Girls (Netflix, 20.8 billion)
10. Seinfeld (Netflix, 19.3 billion)
11. Supernatural (Netflix, 18.8 billion)
12. Wednesday (Netflix, 18.6 billion)
13. Heartland (Netflix, 18.0 billion)
14. Cobra Kai (Netflix, 16.7 billion)
15. The Simpsons (Disney+, 15.9 billion)

Ever wonder why The Simpsons is still on? 15.9 billion minutes is why.

The films-only list also includes Turning Red, Sing 2, Moana, and The Adam Project, a movie that we’re all still quoting to this day. You can find the full charts here.

(Via Variety)

It seems like lately, the most popular music is songs from years ago. Last year, the revival of Kate Bush’s 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill” dominated the charts because of Stranger Things; then there was also the massive takeover of Glass Animals’ 2020 song “Heat Waves” two years late due to TikTok.

Now, Lady Gaga took to social media to broadcast that her track “Bloody Mary,” from her 2011 album Born This Way, is big again. She posted a video of the song playing on the radio and wrote: “When your song from 2011 is a 2023 smash.”

Similar to Kate Bush, the resurgence of this old song is due to television. This time it’s thanks to the Addams Family-inspired show Wednesday. But of course TikTok helped as well — fans of the series made a dance trend to share online.

The people behind Wednesday were all about it, tweeting, “I see you doing my dance moves to @LadyGaga’s Bloody Mary,” the Twitter account wrote. “I understand she is followed by little monsters. I approve.” Gaga expressed enthusiasm for the dance also, replying, “Slay Wednesday!” Gaga wrote. “You’re welcome at Haus of Gaga anytime (and bring Thing with you, we love paws around here).”

95 movies have been crowned Best Picture at the Oscars, but only two sequels: The Godfather Part II and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Other sequels have been nominated, including The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Toy Story 3, and Mad Max: Fury Road (not The Dark Knight, though, sorry Steven Spielberg), but never two in one year. Until this year, when two billion-dollar grossers, Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick, are up for the biggest prize at the 95th Academy Awards.

Will they win? Vegas says it’s unlikely, with Top Gun: Maverick (+1,000) trailing Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Banshees of Inisherin, while Avatar: The Way of Water (+8,000) ranks eighth among the 10 nominees, ahead of only Elvis and Triangle of Sadness. But never count out Tom Cruise or James Cameron.

As the Hollywood Reporter points out, Top Gun or Avatar could be the populist pick:

It’s also worth noting that Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were all considered massive box office successes (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery only had a limited release before heading straight to Netflix). Many pundits are expecting films that prove moviegoing can still be a financially viable industry to be at the top of the Academy’s priority list come Oscars night.

In a way, both sequels, Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water, are already winners (by not being the dreadful Jurassic World: Dominion). The 95th Academy Awards air on March 12.

(Via the Hollywood Reporter)

Lewis Capaldi saw Matty Healy’s antics The 1975’s At Their Very Best Tour and decided to remind everyone that he’s the ultimate prankster. The 1975’s latest UK stop was Utilita Arena in Newcastle on Wednesday night, January 25, and it would appear Capaldi knew whose footsteps he was (and was not) following.

Taylor Swift previously joined Healy and The 1975 on stage at London’s O2 Arena on January 12. It marked the first time she performed her perennial No. 1 single “Anti-Hero” for the first time and, and her presence kept Healy on his best behavior. A couple of days later, Healy revealed to a crowd that the band had asked Harry Styles to be a surprise guest and perform with them, but “it was a firm no.”

Cut to Newcastle. The big screen behind the stage showed live footage from backstage, saying, “GUEST STARRING HARRY STYLES.” The poor crowd screamed in delight, and when Capaldi walked out of the room instead, they screamed even louder.

“I was gonna sing one of my songs next, but I thought it would just be better if I played a Taylor Swift song,” Capaldi said before launching into Swift’s seminal Fearless single “Love Story.”

Capaldi is nearing the May release of his Broken Desire To Be Heavenly Sent album and has a slew of headlining tour dates scheduled for 2023. See them all here.

Ozzy Osbourne joined Black Sabbath when he was just 19 years old, meaning he hasn’t had much opportunity in his life to work the regular sort of jobs that many of us have. Now, though, he has been given that chance in a new Super Bowl commercial.

He stars in an upcoming ad from enterprise software company Workday (their first Super Bowl spot) and they shared a brief preview of it yesterday (January 25). In the 15-second clip, one office worker asks another, “Who’s the new guy?” She responds, “I don’t know, but he’s supposed to be some kind of rock star.”

The “new guy” then turns around and it’s Osbourne in a short-sleeve button-up shirt, a tie, and to complete the office attire look, black eyeliner. He points at the two and says, “Which one of you wants a piercing?” The man points at the woman next to him and thus concludes the teaser clip.

Variety notes that the full minute-long ad is set to air during the third quarter of the big game, and that it will also feature Gary Clark Jr. and Joan Jett.

Pete Schlampp, Workday’s chief marketing officer, told the publication, “This is something we’ve been budgeting for and thinking about for a while. When there are economic slowdowns, we know that companies that invest in their brands get a great return on the other side. We feel confident about making this investment.”

Check out the teaser video above.

(Spoilers for You will obviously be found below.)

You began with a bizarrely quiet rollout on Lifetime and stayed that way throughout its first season. The show turned out to be compulsively watchable, but few noticed it until the first season arrived on Netflix for late 2019 binging purposes. Netflix knew the value of what they were seeing and picked up the show for second, and third, and fourth seasons while dragging Stalker Joe in ghastly and often starkly hilarious ways.

That includes the above image, which shows Joe Goldberg in his suburban incarnation while married to Love, who was (emphasis on the “was”) arguably even crazier than he was. After he saved his own life by killing Love, he chose to abandon their son (which he believes is for the child’s good) and begin a new life in Europe for Season 4. He’s in search of Marienne but also motivated by self preservation. Joe’s now a “professor” (named Jonathan Moore) with a beard and everything, and then the stalker finds out that someone is stalking him.

How many episodes will carry us through this latest journey?

The season will consist of 10 episodes, which will arrive in two batches (five episodes apiece). The first part will arrive on February 9, and the second will roll out on March 9.

From the Season 4 synopsis:

After his previous life went up in flames, Joe Goldberg has fled to Europe to escape his “messy” past, adopt a new identity, and, of course, to pursue true love. But Joe soon finds himself in the strange new role of reluctant detective as he discovers he may not be the only killer in London. Now, his future depends on identifying and stopping whoever’s targeting his new friend group of uber-wealthy socialites…

Before this happens, you can go watch star Penn Badgley dancing on TikTok. You’re welcome.

You returns on February 9.

Recently, Britney Spears did something she does on a fairly regular basis: She deactivated her Instagram account. This time, though, some fans were left concerned about Spears’ well-being, so much so that they called the police to request wellness checks.

As Page Six notes, following Spears‘ deactivation, fans started sharing TikTok videos of themselves calling police. In one such clip, the caller said, “I was calling because I am worried about the physical safety of a resident in your area,” adding of the reason for the wellness check request, “There’s been suspicious activity online and now her account has been deleted.”

The good news is that Spears is apparently fine: A Ventura County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told the publication, “I can confirm that we did get calls into our dispatch, and essentially, I can confirm that we don’t believe that Britney Spears is in any kind of harm or any kind of danger. […] I can’t confirm or deny that deputies went to her house, but we don’t believe that Britney Spears is in any kind of harm or danger at this point.”

TMZ reports that police started receiving calls about Spears at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday, January 24, and they paid her a visit not long after. According to “sources connected to Spears,” the singer was “annoyed” by the situation.

Based on the hit book by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy Jones & The Six chronicles a Fleetwood Mac-esque band from obscurity to dominance to implosion. The 10-episode miniseries stars Riley Keough as Daisy and Sam Claflin as romantic foil/creative partner Billy Dunne, the charming one-two punch behind a 1970s rock group that burns out instead of fading away.

Here’s the official synopsis from Prime Video:

“In 1977, Daisy Jones & The Six were on top of the world. Fronted by two charismatic lead singers—Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne —the band had risen from obscurity to fame. And then, after a sold-out show at Chicago’s Soldier Field, they called it quits. Now, decades later, the band members finally agree to reveal the truth. This is the story of how an iconic band imploded at the height of its powers.”

The show was adapted for TV by duo Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (500 Days of Summer) and looks like a blend of Almost Famous and the documentary style of The Last Dance. You can almost see Daisy saying “And I took that personally.”

Fortunately, the backing tunes meet the moment. That’s not a huge surprise considering they pulled in Marcus Mumford, Phoebe Bridgers, Blake Mills, Jackson Browne, and more to write and record for the fictional band.

Daisy Jones & The Six hits Prime Video March 3rd, and they’ve even got an album blurring the lines between fact and fiction.

Last Saturday was a big night for Saturday Night Live. According to The Wrap, 4.8 million viewers tuned in to watch White Lotus star Aubrey Plaza host alongside musical guest Sam Smith. Those lucky viewers were treated to a surprise monologue interruption by President Joe Biden, the return of April Ludgate and Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec, as well as the M3gan gay club scene the world needed.

The only episode with a higher rating was Steve Martin and Martin Short’s hosting gig featuring Brandi Carlile, with 5.1 million tuning in. Thus, the message sent by fans to Lorne Michaels is crystal clear: above all else they want comedians pushing 80 and sardonic actresses the internet keeps asking to step on them. It was also, sadly, the first episode without Cecily Strong in the cast.

On the musical front, Smith performed “Unholy” with Kim Petras — making her the first trans woman to perform on SNL — as well as “Gloria” — which involved a guest appearance by Sharon Stone.

It was a standout episode with a diverse slew of celebrity cameos, and its success has given Michael B. Jordan and Lil Baby another high bar to aim for when they host January 28th.

(via The Wrap)