Newsletter Wednesday, August 03, 2016

[LaineyGossip.com - Calling all smuthounds!] Wednesday, August 03, 2016 [Intro for August 3, 2016] [Suicide Squad movie poster] Dear Gossips, Suicide Squad is opening this weekend. The reviews started coming out yesterday. And [the reviews aren’t great]. Vanity Fair actually says it’s worse than Fantastic Four, the box office abomination of August 2015 that opened the same weekend. This might be an exaggeration. But the headlines are undeniable. And the nerds are really upset about it. So upset that they’ve [launched a petition] to shut down Rotten Tomatoes, with some suspecting that there’s a conspiracy theory that favours DC over Marvel, worried that these negative shady critics will affect the performance of the film. Ummm… Suicide Squad is expected to break the record for August openings. Some think it’ll go as high as $140 million this weekend. Most agree that it’ll easily clear $100 million and will come in with at least $120 million. So nobody needs to f-cking worry about Suicide Squad. Bad reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are not going to hurt Suicide Squad. Even if those reviews affect Suicide Squad after the first weekend, it’ll still bring in enough money to make it worthwhile for the people who make these decisions to go ahead with a sequel, a second chance to get it right. Unlike female-led movies and female-led comedies, like Ghostbusters, that actually are legitimately underscored on bias and don’t get second chances. I posted [about this a few weeks ago], about how male critics generally review female-driven films less favourably than their female counterparts. Salon published a follow-up to their original piece just a few days ago, specifically breaking down the [Tomato-metre gender gap] and its impact on female projects and subsequent box office, something Suicide Squad won’t have to concern itself with. Suicide Squad is going to be fine. Sarah’s review of Suicide Squad is coming up shortly. Yours in gossip, Lainey [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 1:24 PM [Gwen & Blake might get married] [Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton cover new issue of US Weekly] Cover of the [new issue of US Weekly] and even though it doesn’t say this on the cover, inside the magazine reports that, according to a source, “getting married is a priority” for [Gwen Stefani] and [Blake Shelton]. Supposedly Blake’s planning a proposal and while the details of the proposal itself will be surprise, Gwen knows it’s coming because they already talk openly about “when we get married” and have been trying to decide where to live and whether or not to have more children together. While US is claiming that as an exclusive, PEOPLE has a similar story about the two on their site today reporting that those close to both Gwen and Blake are “expecting (a proposal) to happen at some point”. She’s been posting a lot of pictures of him on tour with her lately. Here’s the most recent: [#goaheadandbreakmyheart #thisiswhatthetruthfeelsliketour Gx #blakeshelton] A photo posted by Gwen Stefani (@gwenstefani) on Aug 2, 2016 at 11:06pm PDT If there’s an imminent proposal, please please please don’t let it be on stage. It’s too much, non? Gwen and Blake first got the feels for each other exactly a year ago. He’d just divorced Miranda Lambert. They were getting to know each other as singles on The Voice. It took a few months for them to [publicly confirm], which they did in Miranda’s face at the CMAs. And ever since, after some speculation that they could have been faking it all, the skepticism has faded away, leaving, simply, a Gwen who’s never seemed more valued, is that the right word? What I’m projecting here is that what’s different in Gwen between what we saw with Gavin and what we see now in Blake is that she’s with a guy who really, really digs her, and is totally OK with people knowing that he really, really digs her. And he also might be totally OK with everyone else digging her more than they did him. This is not how I would describe Gavin Rossdale. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 7:31 PM [Rogue One: We need different directors] A few months ago there was a [report] that Rogue One, the Star Wars spin-off, was undergoing weeks of additional photography, and that the brass at Disney were in a “panic” over an initial cut of the movie not testing well. That whole report seemed fishy to me, not because I don’t believe the reshoots happened—they happen all the time on blockbusters—but because Disney people don’t throw around words like “panic”. But there is more information coming out about the behind-the-scenes situation with Rogue One, and while no one is using the word “panic”, there’s clearly A Situation. [The Hollywood Reporter] claims that five weeks of reshoots took place—that’s a lot. Five weeks is one-fourth of a standard production schedule for a movie of this size, so that’s a not-insignificant chunk of the movie being reworked. Five weeks is more than just “we need to shoot a surprise cameo and redo a scene because the lighting came out garbage”; that’s more like a significant overhaul, and the report says the ending was part of what went under the knife. THR further says that Tony Gilroy, writer of the Bourne movies, is “supervising” the editing, with director Gareth Edwards “collaborating” on the final cut. Danger, Will Robinson. I’m not here to demonize reshoots. In and of themselves, they’re a necessary part of filmmaking, especially at the blockbuster level where so much can go wrong on the day and you just don’t have time to fix it right then. You schedule reshoots about halfway through post-production, because by then you have an idea of what you’re working with, and you know what, if anything, needs to be fixed. So the alarm bell isn’t that Rogue One had reshoots, it’s that there is now, on the record, another filmmaker with significant input into the movie. And if you want to know how that usually goes, look no further than Suicide Squad. [Another report] from THR today confirms months of rumors that there was a lot of BTS drama on that movie, and that director David Ayer was competing with outside editors for the final cut of the film. (Ayer’s cut lost.) Suicide Squad is a [f*cking mess]—every bit of that back and forth is up there on the screen. There’s so much money on the line with these blockbusters, it’s understandable why studios are so anxious about protecting their investment. But here’s the unspoken part of this story—the pool for blockbuster directors is surprisingly shallow. A LOT of top-tier, and even second-tier, directors aren’t willing to give up autonomy to make one, maybe two, installments in someone else’s story wheel. This is why studios so often go for young up and comers, picking up directors right off the festival circuit, or culling talent from TV, where directors are guns for hire, not artistic captains. Those directors are cheaper, sure, but they’re also hungry for the opportunity. They’ll take the oversight of a fleet of producers and studio execs because it means putting their name on a potential billion-dollar hit. But for every Joss Whedon there’s a David Ayer, and for each Colin Trevorrow there’s a Josh Trank. Which is all the more reason to look beyond the baseball cap bros for studio directors. There are so many talented directors who are languishing in their careers because they aren’t getting these opportunities. Gwyneth Horder-Payton, for example, is a tremendously talented director who has done stellar work on television shows like Sons of Anarchy and Justified, but who isn’t getting called by movie studios. Why not is obvious, but it’s also stupid. Horder-Payton has a real flair for exciting action sequences, and she’s been working behind the camera for the last thirty years. She’s not only talented, she’s EXPERIENCED. She’s a no-brainer and ought to be among the first phone calls made if you’re looking for someone to direct a comic book movie, or space opera franchise. But will anyone call her in to pitch Avengers 5 or Star Wars 11? Or will the studios just hire another baseball cap bro and then ride herd on him when he loses control of his movie? How long do we keep playing this game? [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 6:48 PM [Smutty Social Media, August 3, 2016] I wish every profile about [third best Joker Jared Leto] started with this tweet. I bet the scene from American Beauty where Ricky talks about the dancing plastic bag is Jared Leto's ringtone — Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) [April 30, 2014] George Wallace has some soothing words for Chachi. I know it's a scary time [@ScottBaio] but I promise when Hillary wins Netflix will still come at you with a "Charles Back in Charge" reboot. — George Wallace (@MrGeorgeWallace) [August 3, 2016] I find celebrity “Happy Birthday” photos so interesting. Nine times out of 10 the well-wisher chooses a photo that flatters them and not the person they are trying to celebrate. Take for instance this shot of Gisele and Tom: sure they look hot, but we mostly get her expression, the sun hitting her face – this is a Gisele photo, not a Tom photo. [Happy Birthday my love! We miss you and wish we could be with you today. Sending you all our love. May this year bring you so much joy and fulfillment. We love you!! ❤🎂✨😘 Feliz aniversário meu amor! Nós estamos com saudades e queríamos estar com você hoje. Receba todo nosso amor. Que esse ano lhe traga muitas alegrias e realizações. Nós te amamos!] A photo posted by Gisele Bündchen (@gisele) on Aug 3, 2016 at 6:41am PDT My favourite example of Happy Birthday f-ckery is from exactly one year ago, when Taylor posted this photo of Calvin Harris to celebrate her best friend Karlie Kloss. You can see Karlie in the background, right? It’s Karlie’s birthday today, so Taylor has to say something. Or does she? Charlie Puth is trying to shade Justin Bieber’s song writing advice with this tweet. Um… stick to begging your fans to help you get into the top 10 on iTunes, boo. [A photo posted by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber)] on Aug 1, 2016 at 3:19pm PDT if you write music...write from the heart. you don't take notes, you hear them. — Charlie Puth (@charlieputh) [August 2, 2016] I know many of you deeply care for (and want to bone) Pacey, so here is Joshua Jackson looking hot. Both he and Diane are looking great post-breakup. What does that mean? [Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef. He the chance to see it just as the current mass extinction event was taking hold for the#yearsproject the trailer is up now at A photo posted by Joshua Jackson (@vancityjax) on Aug 2, 2016 at 12:04pm PDT [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 6:22 PM [Joel Kinnaman’s hair] [Joel Kinnaman arrives at Claridge's Hotel in London, August 3, 2016] Have had a few requests that last couple of days for [Joel Kinnaman] pictures. Here he is today in London ahead of the UK premiere of Suicide Squad tonight. Am also including some other shots of him over the last week with his wife, Cleo Wattenstrom. I haven’t cared about Joel Kinnaman in a while, ever since he and Olivia Munn broke up. When they were together I was [perving them all the time]. At one point I think I wanted them to be in Fifty Shades Of Grey. Anyway, about Joel in Suicide Squad, but more a point about Suicide Squad than Joel – I was talking to a colleague in the hall just now who saw it at an advance screening. He agrees with Sarah [that the movie is a mess] with a missing second act. And then his next point was about Joel’s hair. Apparently it’s longer and shorter and longer and shorter at random times through the movie because he obviously cut his hair in between initial production and reshoots. It’s a small detail. But this is the kind of sh-t that’s adding up against the movie. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 5:29 PM [Leo’s Greek dancing] [Leonardo DiCaprio seen riding a bicycle on August 2, 2016 in New York City] [Leonardo DiCaprio] was biking around New York yesterday. I know these photos make it look like he was by himself but that’s ridiculous, because he was flanked by the Wolf Pack, also on their bikes, in Wolf Pack formation. What would happen to Leo if he was ever alone? Me, I need my alone time. Sometimes I can’t wait for Jacek to leave the house. He’ll look at me like, you need me to get the f-ck out, don’t you? I do. I really do. So I can’t imagine what it is to be Leo, the need to be surrounded all the f-cking time. Which is why I find it so fascinating – the fact that he has to be accompanied, that the Wolf Pack understands that they’re on rotation for him, that it’s shift work: I got him from Sunday to Tuesday, can you guys take over on Wednesday and Thursday? I’ll be able to relieve you by Friday. Oh sh-t, we’re low staffed on the pack on Saturday – who can we call? Who manages the Wolf Pack Leo Babysitting Schedule?!? In other Leo news, thanks to all of you for sending me this video. It was taken when Leo was in Greece last month, dancing with [Nina Agdal]. Not as bad as his [choreographed moves at Coachella] but… It’s amazing how fame is the antidote to almost every single dealbreaker, non? [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 3:58 PM [More Fantastic, More Magic] [Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them movie poster] Judging from the reviews of Suicide Squad – Sarah’s review [was posted earlier today] – Warner Bros still can’t figure out how to get the DC Universe right. It has however done a great job building the world of Harry Potter. Harry Potter And The Cursed Child has been very well-received on stage in London. The script went on sale this weekend and is doing great business. Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them opens in theatres in November. Building on all that momentum, Warner Bros announced today that [the sequel is underway], with [JK Rowling] and David Yates back to write and direct, and will be released November 2018 with the third expected November 2020. On top of that there are all kinds of theme parks opening too. Basically magic is thriving. Although magic is not immune to crazy fans either. Apparently some of them didn’t know that the script wasn’t a “book” and [were pissed] after buying the book to learn that it was a play… (even though it was clear as f-ck that it was going to be a play)? I hate people. Have you finished reading the play yet? When can we talk about it without you yelling at us about spoilers? Is it a spoiler if I say that I love Scorpius but that shouldn’t be surprising because in my review of [The Deathly Hallows from 2007], I wrote of Draco that “perhaps (his) failure to join ranks with the Dark Lord was not for lack of courage but for lack of hate. If someone is so adored by his parents, parents who ultimately were desperate to save him, can he then be truly rotten to the core?” Duana and I have decided to talk about all of this in a podcast. The podcast will be posted next Monday. So if you haven’t read it – HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? – you have until then! [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 3:10 PM [Rihanna & Drake: no title] [Rihanna and Drake ] E! sent out an exclusive this morning about what’s going on between [Rihanna] and [Drake] that isn’t so much of an “exclusive” as it is an “obvious”. The title of the report was [Here’s Why Rihanna and Drake Haven’t Made Their Relationship Official], which, don’t we know this already? According to E! sources: As you may have guessed, it's Rihanna who's pumping the brakes when it comes to titles. "Rihanna and Drake are hanging out a bit more lately. Rihanna loves Drake, but is still not ready to put a title on them," a source tells E! News exclusively. The insider continues, "Drake would make her his girlfriend in a second if he could. It's more on Rihanna, though. They both care about each other and are having a good time spending time with each other. Drake has expressed to Rihanna that he only wants to date her and only her, but she wants to take day by day this time around." Regardless, the source adds that, "Things are great though and their connection is really strong. Things are progressing nicely." It has never been a secret that these two have always been on Rihanna time. He writes songs about living on Rihanna time! Even on social media it’s evident that Drake operates on Rihanna time. Here’s what he Instagrammed after she showed up for him at OVO Fest in Toronto this weekend: [🎈] A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on Aug 2, 2016 at 7:26pm PDT I f-cking love this picture and could stare at it for days. So could he. But here’s what she Instagrammed about her time at OVO Fest – a photo of herself! [Toronto y'all always so good to me!!! Bare shellings at #OVOFest man! Thank you @champagnepapi for making sure I was there this year!] A photo posted by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Aug 2, 2016 at 8:30am PDT I f-cking love that even more. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 2:30 PM [Jared Leto is the third best movie Joker] [Jared Leto arriving at Claridges Hotel on August 2, 2016 in London, England] Where to start, where to start. Well, I guess we can start with the good stuff. The Good Stuff Suicide Squad is not as flat-out awful as Superhero Face Punch That movie is a [dour, grinding slog], and Suicide Squad has approximately twenty fun minutes in its two hour run time. God help you during the rest of the movie, though. Will Smith as Deadshot Has his movie mojo back. He anchors the movie, and even though his character is saddled with a textbook dumb wiener kid, Smith is such a goddamn MOVIE STAR that you buy into Deadshot’s whole deal even with the dumb wiener kid. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn Is delightful. Harley is disappointingly underwritten, and the frankly gross amount of camera time given to her ass—the male gaze is so rampant in this movie it looks like it was made by a horny twelve year old who just discovered internet porn—is obnoxious, but [Robbie]’s joy is infectious. Bring on that Harley-centric spin-off! (And a different filmmaker, please, as writer/director David Ayer glamorizes Harley’s relationship with the Joker, and downplays the inherent tragedy of a woman destroyed by violent abuse.) Viola Davis as Amanda Waller Is a total boss. The way she eats her dinner while telling old men what’s what is terrific. Like Harley, Waller is underwritten, but also like Harley, Davis is clearly reveling in the character, and that gives her the momentum to overcome the sh*t writing. The Diverse Cast Is refreshing. And that’s it for the good stuff. The Bad Stuff I mean, pretty much everything else. Jared Leto is the third best movie Joker Leto’s much-ballyhooed Super-Method take on the Joker is largely pointless as he is barely in the movie. This Joker is basically just an organized crime boss who dresses like a Vegas lounge singer, and there’s nothing threatening about him. He could’ve been cut entirely and the movie wouldn’t have missed him. The one upside to Jared Leto’s Joker is that you never have to take anyone who defends [Jared Leto]’s Joker seriously. The Soundtrack Is So Aggressive It Almost Ruins the Movie There are so many music cues the movie starts to feel like a music video. And the soundtrack is trying so hard to be cool it becomes the least-cool thing, and this movie co-stars Scott Eastwood, so that’s really saying something. Scott Eastwood is in this movie For reasons no one could possibly, in any conceivable universe, ever give a single sh*t about. Enchantress is a terrible villain [Cara Delevingne] stars as June Moone/Enchantress, a nice archeologist who gets possessed by a dirty ghost. She spends most of her time poppin’ and lockin’ inside a CGI cloud. She’s so badly defined and her plan so vague she’s impossible to take seriously, making her as pointless a villain as that elf guy from Thor 2. Enchantress’s brother is somehow even stupider We don’t care about her. Don’t expect us to care about her CGI monster brother. There’s a sky laser The villain plot is ludicrous and I bet no one can explain it. Even within the movie no one seems to have any context for what’s happening or why. And it involves a sky laser, which is the height of laziness at this point. Can we be done with the sky lasers? There are three beginnings We keep learning the same information over and over. It’s like Groundhog Day, but for a bad movie. Act three is a clusterf*ck of nonsensical bullsh*t Because the entire middle of the movie is missing. We go right from the third time the movie starts to the big finale battle with no build up in between. Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney, for once not the worst part of a Jai Courtney movie) quits the team and comes back with no explanation, and characters are introduced only to be killed off moments later and none of it makes any sense because we’re missing huge chunks of plot and character development. None of the reveals or payoffs work because nothing is set up, which makes the ending boring and flat because there’s no investment or stakes in anything that’s happening. So much for the “filmmaker driven” superhero universe The “filmmaker-driven” universe is total bullsh*t, a bald-faced marketing lie, and Suicide Squad shows all the signs of a movie subjected to heavy studio interference—terrible pacing, horrendous editing, uneven tone. It was obviously hacked to pieces in post-production and compromised by hastily shoe-horned reshot material, and it suffers from all the problems the DC loyal have lobbed at Marvel movies for years—undeveloped villains, generic action, faceless cannon fodder bad guys, dumb jokes, too many characters stuffed into too little plot, and a finale that involves a sky laser. Warner Brothers and DC Films have managed to make the worst Marvel movie yet. Attached - Jared Leto, Will Smith, Jai Courtney, and Joel Kinnaman arriving at their hotel in London and Viola Davis arriving back in Los Angeles after the New York premiere of Suicide Squad on the weekend. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 2:08 PM [Privacy Policy] - [Unsubscribe]