Over the weekend, Knowles celebrated her daughter’s Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé release with several “Proud Mom” Instagram posts. And one of her captions hinted that Beyoncé might already be working on a new album.
“Last one about the Rotten Tomatoes!” Knowles captioned a screenshot of the 100% Rotten Tomatoes reviews of the concert movie. “Just saw this !! When you see how hard someone works and all the sacrifices they make because for the last month my child was in a studio almost 24 hours a day I was with her most of that time sleeping in the studio! She only went to take her kids to school to shower and come back.”
She continued, “There are only a few people that understand how hard she works ! how she works on every single thing that goes out in a movie or a video or a tour . #that is why I ride so hard for her !!! She deserves every [accolade] that she gets.”
Whether Beyoncé is actually preparing another album is anyone’s guess. Renaissance arrived in July 2022 as her first solo LP since April 2016’s Lemonade, a substantial gap.
It’s worth noting that Beyoncé initially billed Renaissance as a “three-act project” in a statement on her website around its release. She also shared that she had recorded it all “over three years during the pandemic,” so it would seem that she already has two more releases in the vault ready for release.
That said, a generational artist like Beyoncé never rests, so maybe she’s in the studio still tweaking the other two parts? Maybe she’s recording another album entirely? Or maybe she’s just wired to work on music around the clock regardless of if anyone else hears it? History would suggest Beyoncé will let us know what she wants us to know precisely when she wants us to know it, and not one second sooner.
Magazines have handed out their own annual superlatives for decades, but perhaps none of them receive more attention than the Time “Person Of The Year.” The publication has been handing out the award since 1927, when aviator Charles Lindbergh was the first honoree. Now, Time is gearing up to announce their 2023 selection: They revealed today (December 4) that this year’s pick will be announced on Wednesday, December 6. For now, though, they’ve shared the nine shortlisted candidates who were considered, and among them is Taylor Swift.
Of Swift, the publication notes, “Grammy-award winning artist Taylor Swift has had a major year, from re-releasing her albums with record-setting streams to making one of the most successful concert films in history. Swift’s Eras tour is also on track to become the highest-grossing global tour of all time.”
The other finalists are Hollywood strikers, Chinese president Xi Jinping, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Donald Trump prosecutors, Barbie, Vladimir Putin, King Charles III, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
If Swift is chosen, it actually won’t be her first time on a Time “Person Of The Year” cover: She and others were on the cover in 2017 when the Person Of The Year was “the silence breakers,” people who spoke out against sexual abuse and harassment.
Everyone who didn’t see Killers of the Flower Moon in a theater because “it’s too long” is out of excuses. Martin Scorsese’s latest masterpiece, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Robert de Niro, and Jesse Plemons’ big hat, will be available to watch on video-on-demand and digital purchase beginning Tuesday, December 5th. Despite it being a Apple TV+ and Paramount Pictures co-production, no Apple TV+ streaming date has been announced.
Tomorrow you can buy or rent Killers of the Flower Moon before it becomes available to stream on Apple TV+
Lily Gladstone won her first of hopefully many major awards at last week’s New York Film Critics Circle Awards, which also named Killers of the Flower Moon the year’s best film.
“When I accepted this role, I knew that my life was going to be taking a very different turn and I would have a much bigger spotlight on me. So I’ve had a low level of anxiety for the last couple of years about what’s going to happen when the internet figures out who I am,” she told Elle during a recent interview. “So far, I’ve been very pleasantly surprised that there’s way more love than hate out there. And that goes back to community. It’s been an incredible reminder of like, OK, maybe all these things that I’ve been saying — that representation really matters, that seeing yourself represented gives you a sense of your place in the world [resonated with people].”
With all the great new music that was released in 2023, it was a great year to be a Spotify subscriber. 2023 was less awesome, though, for a noteworthy amount of now-former Spotify employees: Throughout the year, the company has had a number of significant layoffs.
In January, they cut 6 percent of their global workforce, which amounted to about 600 people. Then, in June, Spotify cut about 200 jobs from its podcast division. Now, more layoffs have arrived and it’s the biggest round of the year so far. Today (December 4), Spotify announced they’re cutting a whopping 17 percent of its employees. As The Verge notes, “Based on its total headcount of 9,241 revealed during its last earnings release, the cuts are expected to impact over 1,500 people.” So, across all three rounds, that’s about 2,300 people this year.
In a message shared to employees (and here), Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote in part:
“Over the last two years, we’ve put significant emphasis on building Spotify into a truly great and sustainable business – one designed to achieve our goal of being the world’s leading audio company and one that will consistently drive profitability and growth into the future. While we’ve made worthy strides, as I’ve shared many times, we still have work to do. Economic growth has slowed dramatically and capital has become more expensive. Spotify is not an exception to these realities.
This brings me to a decision that will mean a significant step change for our company. To align Spotify with our future goals and ensure we are right-sized for the challenges ahead, I have made the difficult decision to reduce our total headcount by approximately 17% across the company. I recognize this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions. To be blunt, many smart, talented and hard-working people will be departing us.”
John Lennon is still in the news, 43 years after his death.
The Beatles released a “new” song last month, “Now And Then,” that features all four members, including Lennon on vocals. “We had John’s voice and a piano and he could separate them with AI,” Paul McCartney explained.
A new documentary will also reveal Lennon’s last words on the day he was shot and murdered by Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980.
Apple TV+’s John Lennon: Murder Without A Trial features an interview with Jay Hastings, a concierge at the Dakota building in Manhattan, where Lennon lived with his wife, Yoko Ono. “He runs past me. He goes, ‘I’m shot.’ He had blood coming out of his mouth,” he recalled in the documentary. “He just collapsed on the floor.” Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at Roosevelt Hospital at 11:15 p.m.
The documentary includes audio recordings of Chapman speaking to his lawyers. When asked why he shot Lennon, he said, “‘All You Need Is Love,’ have you ever heard that? Well, this is what I say to that: all you need is love and 250 million dollars. He was the biggest, phoniest bastard that ever lived.”
John Lennon: Murder Without A Trial premieres on Apple TV+ on December 6th. You can watch the trailer below.
Billie Eilish popped up at a Variety Hitmakers event over the weekend, and in a red-carpet interview with the publication, the subject of her recent Variety interview came up, in which she said, “I’ve never really felt like I could relate to girls very well. I love them so much. I love them as people. I’m attracted to them as people. I’m attracted to them for real. […] I have deep connections with women in my life, the friends in my life, the family in my life. I’m physically attracted to them. But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence.”
Reflecting on the red carpet, she said, “I kinda thought, ‘Wasn’t it obvious?’ I didn’t realize people didn’t know… I just don’t really believe in [coming out]. I’m just like, ‘Why can’t we just exist?’”
Now, it appears Eilish was perhaps annoyed by that line of questioning.
In an Instagram post shared last night (December 3), Eilish wrote, “thanks variety for my award and for also outing me on a red carpet at 11 am instead of talking about anything else that matters i like boys and girls leave me alone about it please literally who cares stream ‘what was i made for’ [disguised face emoji].”
Meanwhile, in a September interview, Eilish revealed her next album is nearly complete, saying, “There is lots of music coming. There is a whole album of music coming. We’re in the final stages of making it, so that doesn’t mean it’s about to come out, but it is getting there and it’s very exciting.”
I know Van Gogh was a genius. If the point of this were “Van Gogh was a mad genius,” I would not be sharing this with you.
But I found this and I thought, “Oh, what a vaguely interesting thing.” And then I got to the part about the Hubble Space Telescope, and, let me tell you: Mind. Blown.
We’ve got the set up here, but you have to watch the video for the full effect. It’s all the way at the bottom.
Get this: Van Gogh was a pretty cool artist (duh), but as it turns out…
…he was also A SCIENTIST!*
*Pretty much.
Here’s the story.
While Van Gogh was in an asylum in France, after he mutilated his ear during a psychotic episode*…
(*Or, and I’d like to thank the entire Internet for pointing this out, there’s a theory that his friend Paul Gauguin actually cut off his ear, in a drunken sword fight, in the dark. The more you know!)
…he was able to capture one of science’s most elusive concepts:
~~~TURBULENCE~~~
Although it’s hard to understand with math (like, REALLY HARD), it turns out that art makes it easy to depict how it LOOKS.
So what is turbulence?
Turbulence, or turbulent flow, is a concept of fluid dynamics where fluid movements are “self-similar” when there’s an energy cascade — so basically, big eddies make smaller eddies, and those make even smaller ones … and so on and so forth.
It looks like this:
See? It’s easier to look at pictures to understand it.
Thing is, scientists are pretty much *just* starting to figure this stuff out.
Then you’ve got Van Gogh, 100 years earlier, in his asylum, with a mutilated ear, who totally nailed it!
The folks who noticed Van Gogh’s ability to capture turbulence checked to see whether other artists did the same. Most impressionists achieved ” luminance” with their art (which is the sort-of *pulsing* you see when you look at their paintings that really shows what light looks like).
But did other artists depict turbulence the way Van Gogh did?
NOPE.
Not even “The Scream” could hold a candle to Van Gogh!
Even in his darkest time, Van Gogh was able to capture — eerily accurately — one of nature’s most complex and confusing concepts … 100 years before scientists had the technology to observe actual star turbulence and realize its similarity to fluid turbulence mathematics as well as Van Gogh’s swirling sky. Cool, huh?
Watch the video below to learn even more:
This article originally appeared on November 14, 2014
Madeleine Albright once said, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” It turns out that might actually be a hell on Earth, because women just do better when they have other women to rely on, and there’s research that backs it up.
A study published in the Harvard Business Review found that women who have a strong circle of friends are more likely to get executive positions with higher pay. “Women who were in the top quartile of centrality and had a female-dominated inner circle of 1-3 women landed leadership positions that were 2.5 times higher in authority and pay than those of their female peers lacking this combination,” Brian Uzzi writes in the Harvard Business Review.
Part of the reason why women with strong women backing them up are more successful is because they can turn to their tribe for advice. Women have to face different challenges than men, such as unconscious bias, and being able to turn to other women who have had similar experiences can help you navigate a difficult situation. It’s like having a road map for your goals.
It’s interesting to note that women in leadership positions who lacked this style of support system didn’t make as much as the women who did. “While women who had networks that most resembled those of successful men (i.e., centrality but no female inner circle) placed into leadership positions that were among the lowest in authority and pay,” Uzzi writes. Men and women have different needs, and that even extends to their tribe.
But it’s not just in the workplace. A 2006 study found that women who had 10 or more friends were more likely to survive the disease than women who lacked close friends. The study found socially isolated women were 64% more likely to die from cancer, and 43% more likely to have a breast cancer reoccurrence. Friendship is literally the best medicine.
Never underestimate the power of a group text with your girlfriends. Having a place to commiserate over sexism and support other women with goofy gifs when someone succeeds can enrich your life on all fronts.
Something Nicolas Cage said took me aback. Pretty early on, as we were discussing Cage’s terrific, nuanced performance in Dream Scenario, Cage said he is going to stop making movies. And he uses the word “adios” three times to highlight his statement. In fact, he says in a perfect world Dream Scenario would be his last film and he can leave on a high note, but contractual commitments won’t allow that. It’s hard to imagine a world where Nicolas Cage isn’t making movies. Why does he feel this way?
Well, it turns out Nicolas Cage doesn’t watch television. Well, that was the case until recently when his son implored him to watch Breaking Bad, a show Cage calls “magnificent.” And it was Cage’s exposure to Breaking Bad that gave him the idea that this would be the next phase of his career. Cage doesn’t think he can learn anything more from doing another movie (he has a good point there) but thinks he has a lot to learn still from doing television. Cage says he’s still trying to formulate this idea and is talking through it. But he seems genuinely delighted by it. Cage isn’t a big fan of how the internet has distilled his performances into memes (another good point) and is hoping if he plays just one character over a series of seasons/episodes, maybe the internet would, you know, lay off a bit. (I wish him luck there but I’m not sure that’s possible.)
In Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario, Cage plays Paul Matthews, a fairly reserved professor who, out of the blue, starts appearing in people’s dreams, even strangers. And the dreams are all similar. At first, Paul is a bystander, being unhelpful in dangerous situations. At first, Paul enjoys his newfound quasi-fame (Sprite is interested in working with him), but as the phenomenon progresses, Paul becomes more and more violent in these dreams, which has real-world consequences as Paul eventually gets canceled online.
I had a considerable amount of time to talk to Cage so this interview goes quite a few different places, from Breaking Bad to Face/Off to Con Air. And why, soon after his terrible experience on Fast Times at Ridgemont High, he decided to not use the last name Coppola anymore, which is a multipart answer. And the last time I interviewed Cage, 11 years ago, he told me he wanted his career going forward to be “like Led Zeppelin.” So he lets us know if he achieved his Led Zeppelin goals.
Nicolas Cage: How are you?
No complaints. How are you?
The same. No complaints.
The internet loves it when you get to scream, but I love it when you dig into a more reserved character like this, and I think you’re extremely good at it. I don’t know if that’s what you saw in this role.
I’ve always, in my filmography, I’ve always tried to mix it up and explore different genres and different styles of what can be done with film performance. I’ve always looked at the margins and the edges of film performance. And what can we do to maybe recall different styles of acting from silent film or from the golden age stars like Cagney. And, then also, if you look carefully at the filmography, find the more minimal performance style – the 1970’s naturalism style that we’ve all become obsessed with ad infinitum as the arbiter of good acting. But in this case, I think people like to be reminded that I’m capable of a more natural style of film performance, even though I’ve explored other choreographed acting styles.
Do you like being reminded of that, too?
Yeah… I mean, I like staying fresh. I mean, I like to keep mixing it up. I don’t want to get stuck in any genre or any performance style. I want to do it all. And I feel that I’ve, at this point – after 45 years of doing this; that in over 100 movies – I feel I’ve pretty much said what I’ve had to say with cinema. And I’d like to leave on a high note and say, “Adios.” I think I have to do maybe three or four more movies before I can get there, and then hopefully switch formats and go into some other way of expressing my acting.
Oh, wait, so you only want to do three or four more movies?
Well, I’d like to. I would’ve liked to have left on a high note, like Dream Scenario. But I have other contracts that I have to fulfill, so we’ll see what happens. I mean, I am going to be very severe and very astringent on the selection process moving forward. But for me to do another movie, I do want to explore other formats. I am very interested in immersion streaming with episodic television. I have seen things that can be done now with characters and the time they’re given to express themselves. I saw Bryan Cranston stare at a suitcase for an hour on one episode of Breaking Bad. We don’t have time to do that in a feature film, so maybe television is the next best step for me. We’ll see.
So if it were up to you, Dream Scenario would be your last movie?
I would say, “Adios.” I did what I had to do with cinema and I want to move on now. But I’m not there yet, but hopefully I will be. We’ll see.
It’s interesting you brought that up because you really haven’t got to explore episodic television. And now seasons can be six or eight or ten episodes. Is that what’s appealing? Does that make sense?
Well, yeah. It absolutely makes sense. But more importantly, I want to spend some quality time with my family. And I’m going to be 60 next month and my dad died at 75. So it’s like, if I’m lucky, I have more years than he did, but I don’t know. And so what am I going to do with my next 15 years? Well, what’s important? What’s important is my children and I have a baby daughter. And if I can find an episodic show to do that stays in one place where I don’t have to keep leaving, we can all be together. That, on a personal level, would be great. But also I’m a student and I don’t know if I have anything else to learn in cinema. I might have something to learn in television.
I mean, that’s interesting because you probably don’t have anything to learn in cinema. I can’t think of anything you really haven’t done.
Well, that’s how I feel. We’re in agreement. I feel like I’ve really been eclectic and I’ve explored the margins of film performance. And I’ve done every genre. And so the only thing I haven’t really done is Broadway and I haven’t done a television show. I did one pilot that didn’t get picked up when I was 15, but I think I want to try something else.
Wait, have you done a true Western?
I did Butcher’s Crossing and The Old Way, and that was a chance to do something there. But yeah, I think I pretty much said what I had to say with film.
Well, I will say though, even though I said I can’t think of anything you really haven’t done, selfishly I still like watching you in movies. But I think people would make the transition over to a television show or a streaming show if that’s what you did next.
Well, I think so, too. But again, as a student, I would never call myself a master. As a student…
But I can say that. I think you’re a master at this point. But I know you don’t want to say that, but I can say that.
You can say it. But I mean, my point is, as a student, where do I go that would challenge me and stretch me and make me grow in some way? Where would I go where I would learn? How do I pour yeast on my education as an actor? Well, you try things like television immersion or you try things like Broadway. There are other formats to explore.
Could Paul Matthews in Dream Scenario have been a 10-episode series?
Probably, yeah. Each episode would be a new dream.
I’m thinking I could watch 10 hours of this guy.
[Laughs] Well, I love that. I wouldn’t want him to wear out his welcome, but yeah, I think I know what you mean.
Well, not sitting in a theater all day for 10 hours, but…
Yeah, no, I get it. I know exactly what you mean. I think you could tune in to what’s going on with Paul.
Every week we get to see what Paul’s up to. I’d be into that.
It’d be like, “Oh, no, you dreamt that about me?” Right?
The way this movie begins with the dreams of him just not helping out, I found that horrifying. Maybe even more horrifying than when he starts attacking people in dreams. It really is a terrible thing for people to think about you.
Well, that’s why the episodic version of Paul Matthews would be interesting because he could start the show with, “What did you dream about me now?” And it gets increasingly more violent.
See, we’re coming up with something here. Every week it escalates.
Until it’s time to stop and move on to the next TV character. I think we have nine episodes there.
I think you’ve got 12, at least.
Well, it’s a good idea. I’ll pitch it to Kristoffer (Borgli) when I see him tomorrow. I’ll have to make sure I give you credit.
Yeah, I’ll be waiting by the phone to get my credit for that.
[Laughs] Right.
Last time we spoke in 2012, you said going forward you want your career to be like how Led Zeppelin did it. Basically that they did their own thing and are mysterious…
I remember that interview.
Oh, you do?
Yeah. That was a good one.
I remember at one point I brought up Peggy Sue Got Married and Jim Carrey is in that with you told me that you got offered Dumb and Dumber.
Yeah. I decided to do Leaving Las Vegas instead.
That worked out for you.
I think so. But yeah, I remember that interview now that you mention it. And the difference between me and Led Zeppelin is that they didn’t do what we’re doing. They didn’t do any interviews.
Right. You mentioned that.
I never made it to the Led Zeppelin mythos.
But the people who pay for the movies probably wouldn’t be very happy if you didn’t go out and start telling people about the movie.
No question. They would be pissed.
And then people wouldn’t see Dream Scenario. And again, I think that’s interesting you said you’d end on this one because this is one of my favorite performances from you. And I like a lot of your performances.
Well, I meant it. I would like to say, “Adios,” on this one. But I can’t just now. But look, I enjoy our conversation. I mean, I enjoy our interviews. I think it is good for the mind. You need to stay sociable. You need to talk to people and it keeps you sharp. What am I going to do? Just sit in a room and read a book? I mean, I could do that or live a life of contemplation. I mean, I could do that, but I think this is more interesting. So I’m glad I’m having these conversations.
Well, I would argue reading a book probably sounds more fun than just a life of contemplation. A lot of people enjoy reading books.
I would have to agree with you. I’ve tried the life of contemplation. I’m here to tell you it’s a dead end.
Books are fun. You could read books.
I’m starting to read more. Last night, I was reading Magister Ludiby Hermann Hesse. And I’m on Australia time, so I’m not really going to bed. I wake up at 12:30 at night, and in the book, in Magister Ludi, the magistrate was telling a friend of his and the friend said, “Oh, I’ve been on alcohol and sedatives that helped me sleep.” And the magistrate says, “Well, why don’t you look at the starry sky and listen to music? And now I’ll play a piece for you that’s better than any sedative.” So I took it to heart and I put on some Debussy and I fell asleep.
Well, see, that sounds very relaxing.
Yeah, and it was. It helped. I’m not sure how long the sleep lasted, but at least it worked for a minute or two.
Well, see, you ruined one of my questions already by saying you don’t want to do movies anymore. The last time we spoke was for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. And you just experienced it with Superman in The Flash, but with all these universes coming together, why can’t Nicolas Cage play Ghost Rider again? And I know how much you like it, but you just told me you don’t want to do movies anymore. So that’s probably a “no.”
Well, like I said, it’s going to be a very severe and stringent selection process. I’m not saying no entirely. I’m saying if something came along that I thought had some pop to it, some spark to it, that maybe could be fun for folks to revisit, like a Face/Off 2 or Ghost Rider, that’s another conversation. But I mean, that’s not going out and finding a brand new bit of material and trying something else. I’m still developing my ideas about all this. Who knows what will really happen?
But when we had that conversation back in 2012 or whenever it was, I never thought I would say this, what I’m saying now, that I’m ready to explore television. But probably because the TV wasn’t there yet. And also because I was a true blue film actor and I never thought I’d want to do anything else. But so many changes are happening in my industry. And there’s AI and these things. And also the internet mashups and the viral stuff that’s going on and how the performances are being received. There was a big article in The New Yorker today that came out by Isaac Butler — and he wasn’t necessarily wrong about what he said about how the internet can reduce people to a punchline, which was not what I signed up for when I decided to be a film actor.
Which you explore in this movie.
Well, right. He may have been, he was flexing his intellect a little much. But I mean, he was talking about I’m a maximalist actor. Well, I mean, that’s not all I am.
I don’t think that’s true. I think you do roles that can certainly be that, but I don’t think you do that every time.
Yeah. But anyway, he’s obviously a smart guy, but he wasn’t wrong about the way the internet is a new element and the way it’s receiving performance and filmmaking gives me pause for thought and makes me think… let’s just stay on television maybe? Maybe that’s a better avenue.
Oh, people on the internet watch television too though.
Well, I’m sure they do, but they can’t keep talking about the same character the way they would about me playing Butcher’s Crossing or Paul Matthews. I’m always bringing something new. If I’m in a zone with one character, how many times can they comment on it?
I mean, how many times do we comment on James Gandolfini playing Tony Soprano? Quite a bit.
Well see, that’s just it. This is a new world for me. I don’t watch TV.
And like you just said, with Bryan Cranston playing Walter White.
That was new. That was new for me because my son told me to check it out.
Oh, so this is recent that you watched Breaking Bad?
I just found it recently, like last year.
Oh, wow. Okay.
My son, he introduced me to the format. I thought, okay, there is something here. But these are… I’m sharing ideas with you as I’m still forming them.
I see. Look, that show is addicting.
It is magnificent.
You always want to watch the next episode.
Oh yeah. And that’s the thing with television, you’ve got to find that hook to keep them coming back.
Well, John… I haven’t spoken to him in a very long time, but at one time we were pretty close. And I considered him my friend. And I’d like to talk to him again and say hi. He just worked with Joel Kinnaman on Silent Night. And I worked with Joel on Sympathy for the Devil. But John’s also, he’s serious about his faith, so he probably saw the devil when I was doing the headbanging role in the priest’s uniform. You’ve got to give that some credit.
Last night a friend of mine was talking about comfort movies and she said hers is Con Air. What do you make of that?
She sounds like a great lady and sounds like somebody I could have a good conversation with. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. She sounds like she’s probably a lot of fun. Likes movies that don’t make her have to think too much. I sometimes feel that way about some of the music I listen to where I don’t want to have to think. And some of the movies I watch. I mean, I don’t know how many times I’ve put on an Ishiro Honda Godzilla movie from the 60’s…
I recently bought the Criterion set, I’ve been making my way through them.
They’re great! And there’s the charm. The charm of being a guy in a monster suit acting it out is it’s fun to lose yourself in those worlds. Maybe she was experiencing something like that with Con Air. The best one in my view, I don’t believe it was a Ishiro Honda-directed one, but was the one with Hedorah, the Smog Monster.
Oh, I haven’t gotten to that one yet.
Well, I dig it because it’s really 60’s pop art. And they use a lot of split screen and weird music and lava lamps and I think it’s a trippy movie and it’s worth a watch.
Last time we spoke I brought up Fast Times at Ridgemont High and you mentioned it was a terrible experience and explained why, because people held it against you your last name was Coppola, which you said led you to change your name. What I’m curious about is that just a few years later you do a movie with your uncle, Francis Ford Coppola, with Peggy Sue Got Married. Based on what you said about Fast Times, I’m curious why you did a movie with your uncle so soon after?
Okay, let’s break this one open. First of all, I am blessed that I grew up in a family with immensely talented folks. Francis has made some of my favorite movies of all time, and he’s also my uncle. And in many ways, he is like another father to me. So when your uncle calls and says they want to do a movie with you, one, that’s your uncle, and you don’t want to say no. And two, he’s great, and why would I want to say no?
But my choice to change my name wasn’t only because some narrow-minded folks on the set of Fast Times couldn’t receive the idea that I could have any talent. Because they said I was only there because of my uncle. And they “loved the smell of Nicolas in the morning,” that stupid Apocalypse Now paraphrasing.
The real reason, the shrewd reason, the business reason, is I know that filmmakers are egocentric and I know that directors can be very competitive. And I didn’t think they’d want the name Coppola above the title on their own projects because of his illustrious contribution to cinema. So I shrewdly shifted the name so I could be invited by other directors who were also forming their own identities and probably didn’t want another director’s name on their title. So it’s different than an actor who’s born with a famous name like Fonda. That’s different than if you’re an actor who’s the nephew of a famous director, not an actor. There’s a distinction there. Do you follow me?
I do. And sounds like based on everything you just said, by the time Peggy Sue Got Married came around, this wasn’t really an issue anymore.
It wasn’t an issue. Except that I didn’t like the script and I didn’t really want to make the movie. And I must’ve said no five or six times. But I could tell it was frustrating and it’s my family.
Well, selfishly, I now know you didn’t want to make Peggy Sue Got Married, but I am glad you made it because I enjoy you immensely in that movie.
Well, I love the movie now and what we did in it. I do. But I had to find that character to love it.
I think that was my introduction to you. I remember my mom was so tickled when Charlie tries to change the lyrics to the Beatles song. She thought that was the funniest thing she had seen in her life.
Well, I’m glad. Please say hi to her. But the movie works on a very funny level. It really does.
Well, whatever it winds up being, I hope you get to make this series you want to make. This sounds like a very interesting shift with your career and I’m looking forward to it.
Thank you so much. I appreciate your vote of confidence. Thank you.
Right, obviously you’ve been waiting for that all day.
Well, no! I mean it! Your enthusiasm about it makes me even more enthusiastic about this. As I said, I’m still fomenting my ideas. So this helps me get to that, “Okay. He likes that idea. Maybe more people will?” You know what I mean?
Well, I think a lot of people will like this idea.
The Green Bay Packers moved to 6-6 on the season and into the final Wild Card spot in the NFC on Sunday night with a thrilling 27-19 win over the Kansas City Chiefs at Lambeau.
It featured an impressive performance by Jordan Love, a strong outing from the defense which produced some big plays, and also one of the wildest final drives of the season (that didn’t end in points). Trailing by eight with just over a minute to play, the Chiefs needed to get in the end zone and then get a two-point conversion to force overtime, but with Patrick Mahomes under center, that always feels like a distinct possibility.
What ensued was an absolutely insane drive with some truly awful officiating that went against both sides, a punch thrown way behind a play that saw a key player get ejected, and a Hail Mary fall harmlessly to the turf.
We’ll start with the first dreadful call which moved the Chiefs out to midfield as Patrick Mahomes scrambled for a first down and got absolutely popped going to the sideline. That got flagged for a 15-yard penalty, but as NBC’s rules analyst Terry McAulay pointed out in the booth, it shouldn’t have been as Mahomes was still inbounds and fighting for extra yardage when he got hit, which means it’s legal to hit him as hard as you please.
Following that, Rashee Rice caught a screen and seemingly fumbled as he got brought down, which the Packers returned for a touchdown, but he was down before the ball came loose, bringing it back to the Packers 35. From that point, a 15-yard penalty was assessed to Isaiah Pacheco, who was the star of the Chiefs offense on the night but found himself ejected after he threw a punch in frustration after being blocked to the ground on the return — with the only camera on that part of the play being the pylon cam at the first down marker.
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) December 4, 2023
That penalty moved the Chiefs back to the 50, and it looked as if they’d set themselves up with a first-and-goal after Marquez Valdes-Scantling got tackled trying to get to a deep ball from Mahomes, only for there to somehow be no flag thrown on the play.
McAulay (along with everyone else watching) couldn’t believe there was no pass interference and the Chiefs were left without a great scoring opportunity. From there, the Chiefs were the beneficiary of the next bizarre call, as MVS caught a ball near the sideline but pretty clearly was being pulled backwards before he got out of bounds, meaning the clock should’ve kept rolling without Kansas City having a timeout. Instead, the referee ruled that he had gotten out before forward progress stopped, giving KC another chance.
After a quick throwaway from Mahomes, he finally launched a Hail Mary as time expired that got batted down, but not without some more pass interference controversy as there was a shove to Travis Kelce in the back that went uncalled.
McAulay again thought that was a miss, but as Cris Collinsworth noted, they usually need something flagrant to be called on a Hail Mary. It was not a banner drive for the officiating crew assigned to Sunday Night Football, but it did make for an entertaining (or frustrating, depending on your viewpoint) final drive.
In any case, it was a big win for the Packers who move into a Wild Card spot for now with five games left in the season, while the Chiefs slip to 8-4, two games up on Denver in the AFC West.
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