Newsletter Monday, December 05, 2016

[LaineyGossip.com - Calling all smuthounds!] Monday, December 05, 2016 [Intro for December 5, 2016] [Mahershala Ali attends the 26th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on November 28, 2016 in New York City] Dear Gossips, The LA Film Critics Association named Moonlight the Best Picture of the year yesterday, followed by La La Land as runner-up. Barry Jenkins, who directed Moonlight, won Best Director. He also won Best Director from the New York Film Critics Circle last week while La La Land was Best Picture. And the LA and New York critics agreed on Mahershala Ali as Best Supporting Actor who is now likely the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor Oscar. How important are critics though in determining Oscar? Several times this year I’ve posted about how critics can affect box office performance, particularly for movies [that are about and for women] and minorities, not unlike how it works within the Academy, the institution that governs the Oscars. The majority of film critics are white men. They see and analyse films through that specific lens. How does that imbalance then affect the way films are supported and celebrated? How does that help or hinder a film’s awards momentum? This was the subject of the most recent episode of Vulture’s podcast, The Awards Show Show during which three critics discussed [How Critics Affect the Oscars, and How Bias Affects Critics]. Jen Yamato is one of those critics. She talks about rivalries between different critics’ associations, how even the critics clubs are jockeying for position – who’s more influential, who can get out first with their pronouncements and declarations – and what impact, if any, these behind-the-scenes competitions have on award season and the films that end up contending for Oscar. Jen tweeted something last week that I sent to Sarah. It was after Martin Scorsese’s Silence had screened for critics. And while proper reviews are still embargoed, many critics started tweeting their initial reactions. Many of those (predominantly male) reactions were super-jizzy. Jen’s reaction was… [@DrewMcWeeny] I expect to be the lonely one here siding with the Japanese against the Jesuits and yet another white male journey of discovery — jen yamato (@jenyamato) [November 30, 2016] And… Anyone still championing Liam Neeson in SILENCE for Best Supporting instead of Tadanobu Asano, Yôsuke Kubozuka, or Issei Ogata, well... — jen yamato (@jenyamato) [December 1, 2016] As viewers then, it might not be enough to know that “critics”, in general, love or hate a certain film. Because “in general”, right now, means generally white male critics loved or hated a certain film. Do we need to make a point of asking the follow-up question, “WHICH critic loved or hated a certain film?” Sarah is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. Jen Yamato is a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. For me, their reviews are going to be weighted with more significance. The problem is that there are not enough Sarahs and Jens. To be fair, as Jen says in the Vulture podcast, the LA Film Critics Association is becoming more diverse. It’s led by a woman, Claudia Puig, and is perhaps more culturally and generationally diverse than other critics boards. Still, as she qualifies, film criticism is “becoming more diverse but criticism is not a diverse place to be”. So it’s not just Hollywood that has to work on representation and inclusion. It’s also everything that orbits Hollywood – critics, media, fans. And that includes us. We here at LaineyGossip are trying to work on it too. As always, we appreciate your criticism, feedback, and guidance. Yours in gossip, Lainey [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 1:05 PM [Working Class? Casey Affleck, Taraji P Henson, and the making of Oprah] [Casey Affleck, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, MIchelle Williams, Matt Damon and Kenneth Lonergan attend Jeff Bezos and Matt Damon's 'Manchester By The Sea' Holiday Party on December 3, 2016 in Los Angeles, California] Jeff Bezos, the head of Amazon, and Matt Damon hosted a holiday party for Manchester By The Sea this weekend in LA. That’s officially what they’re calling it, a “holiday party”, which, I guess is a new euphemism for “campaign event”? It’s not like they’re actually exchanging gifts there. Why are we pretending this is anything but what it actually is? Never mind. Why am I bothering to ask? Pretending, after all, is what everyone’s been doing around [Casey Affleck’s past] and those [sexual harassment allegations] which is what Duana and I are talking about on this week’s podcast, still not officially titled. But we’re getting closer to removing that question mark after Working Class. Did you know that Shia LaBeouf was also up for the role that [Casey] ended up getting in The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford? At least according to Shia? More and more, actors are talking about what they’ve unsuccessfully auditioned for, most recently [Taraji P Henson] last week. The question here though is: do you have to reach a level of success before you can actually talk about that sh-t? Speaking of success – the Oprah Winfrey Show and the new podcast about how it was made and the work involved in making it. We call it producer porn but, really, why isn’t it everyone porn? It’s work porn. And it’s, like, kind of a requirement, isn’t it? Here’s our third episode – available on iTunes by end of day! [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 8:25 PM [Amy Schumer is Imperfect Barbie] [Amy Schumer] Friday it was announced that [Amy Schumer] will star in a live-action Barbie movie, slated for 2018. A Barbie movie has been kicking around for a while, and the current treatment comes from Hilary Winston, a veteran of TV shows like My Name is Earl and Community, and who is also scripting The LEGO Ninjago Movie as part of the LEGO cinematic universe. It’s reported that Schumer and sister, Kim Caramele, will do a rewrite on the Barbie script, but they’re working off Winston’s idea, which is that an imperfect Barbie is cast out of Barbieland (Christ) for being a misfit toy, and then she has a real-world adventure before going back to Barbieland (I mean, REALLY) to save it and teach everyone a lesson about acceptance and inner beauty. So basically, it’s Enchanted but with Barbies. Amy Schumer + Barbie is a recipe for controversy, and sure enough the internet swamp monsters are [already] [at] [it] I’m having flashbacks to the nightmare of Ghostbusters where we have to put up with two years of misogynists bitching about a movie most of them won’t see anyway. And when it comes to a Barbie movie, there are so many other issues raised, like whether or not this is going to end up reinforcing the Barbie Ideal anyway. Barbie comes with her own baggage about body image and beauty standards and vanity and self-acceptance—for a toy Barbie is a total landmine of issues. But instead of talking about whether or not a Barbie movie is a good idea in the first place, we’re going to talk about Amy Schumer playing an “imperfect” Barbie. Schumer, who is still a cute, blue-eyed blonde and is hardly fat. (The “men’s rights” internet problem with Schumer isn’t that she’s not a size two, it’s that she’s outspoken and confrontational. They use her body against her because her words make them mad.) I get the intention of the project but how does this NOT end up reinforcing the worst of the Barbie Ideal? IS a Barbie movie a good idea in the first place? I feel like we were kind of moving past Barbie, culturally, but a movie, especially a successful one, will put her right back at the center of the pop culture map. Who is this actually good for, besides Mattel’s bottom line? [Source] [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 6:52 PM [Smutty Tingles] Madonna wouldn’t remarry Sean Penn. He’s too old for her. ([Dlisted]) Jay Z’s birthday dinner ([Just Jared]) As IF Taylor Swift would give anyone a heads-up on her lyrics ([Cele|bitchy]) Matthew McConaughey’s daughter wearing the cutest suit ([TooFab]) Justin Bieber tells the paps how he’d prefer to be papped ([TMZ]) Jennifer Lawrence disrespects the rocks and… are we supposed to laugh? ([The Superficial]) What to expect from the Britney Spears Lifetime movie ([Pajiba]) Kate Mara in Dior ([Go Fug Yourself]) Why The Weeknd cut his hair ([Jezebel]) [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 5:58 PM [Kunis & Kutcher’s New Baby and a set of “Hollywood” Twins] [Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis] Over the weekend, [Mila Kunis] and [Ashton Kutcher] announced the birth of their son, Dimitri Portwood Kutcher. I am all for this. Every bit of it. In a way, Dimitri is an obvious choice (though I suspect that in this family they’re going to be less likely to use any nicknames), and is underused and stylish and of course speaks to Mila’s Russian heritage. Portwood is for Kutcher’s stepfather – it’s his last name. It’s charming, wearable, unusual…and it’s probably gotten a better review from me than their daughter’s name – Wyatt Isabelle was born in 2014. So, Wyatt and Dimitri. Both totally understandable choices, but let’s be honest -- they don’t exactly sound like they come from the same place. I often comment on how blended families should try to fit new sibling names into the ones that already exist, but this is a total style shift after less than two years – or maybe a difference in the dominant parent: by Kutcher’s own admission, he came up with Wyatt, whereas it’s almost impossible not to think Dimitri was Mila’s idea. Then again, in a way, that makes Mila and Ashton kind of Just Like Us – just another North American couple trying to balance cultural influences and represent their heritages while still letting their kids fit into the day to day of having been born here. I’m particularly into it as Kunis has been open about her struggles as a child immigrant, and her children will likely never know any experience like that. The name, as a talisman to a different place and time, is something I can totally get behind – but stay tuned to discover, in 15-18 years, that it’s Wyatt who’s really into her mother’s heritage, and wants to connect with it more. As for the other baby name news this weekend, [Jensen Ackles] and Danneel Harris had twins, their second and third children…and I had many questions. I put together some information to work with: One – Jensen Ackles has been on Supernatural for twelve seasons. Twelve. On a heavily-syndicated show. I’m surprised he doesn’t have twelve kids by now. Two – From what I can see, his wife (who, I should point out, was on One Tree Hill – I don’t want to imply she’s just ‘the wife’), whose name is spelled ‘Danneel’, pronounces it ‘Danielle’? I have to assume… [UPDATE: it's Dan-kneel. Thanks Marcail!] Three – Their daughter is called JJ, from her full name, ‘Justice Jay’. Four – Their twins are a boy and a girl. These are four pieces of information with which to process the names: Zeppelin Bram and Arrow Rhodes. I’m going to go with ‘Zeppelin Bram’ as the boy, because of Bram, but really, who knows? For that matter, I don’t know if there’s something subversive happening with Zeppelin always being mentioned before Arrow? Is there some ‘from Z to A’ thing going on? Is this about the order they were born or some sort of upending of the hierarchy of the alphabet through infants? I just…I don’t even know what to say. If their older sister is JJ, are they going to be called AR and ZB? Is it against my usual traditional nature if I kind of hope so? I crow all the time about how the ‘Hollywood Baby Name’ is dead, and there are Ellas all across Los Angeles that will prove my point. But…seriously now. Zeppelin Bram and Arrow Rhodes? Either on its own is curious, even unusual. Together they are a movement. A STATEMENT. I just…stay tuned on exactly what statement. And to whom. And what happens if the babies shuffle themselves out of order. And whether they liked the A to Z thing, but originally wanted to go with something like Ari and Zeppelin, but then thought ‘no, they better both be about trajectories and flight and stuff…’ Arrow and Zeppelin may someday be in a fancy Beverly Hills preschool alongside Dimitri. I can only imagine which of them will think they got the better deal. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 5:32 PM [All Eight] [Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina, and Helena Bonham Carter on Ocean's Eight set in New York, December 3, 2016] Ocean's Eight continued filming in New York this weekend and all eight women were on set for a scene on the subway: Sandra Bullock, [Cate Blanchett], [Rihanna], [Anne Hathaway], [Sarah Paulson], [Mindy Kaling], Awkwafina, and Helena Bonham Carter. I can’t wait to see this movie. I can’t stand that we still have to wait almost another year for it. I want to see how these characters are represented. I want to see these women bring those representations – presumably, considering the diversity of the cast – a wide variety of representations, to life. Right now, based only on costumes, I have some ideas. Kathleen wrote about Rihanna’s hacker girl [a couple of weeks ago]. As for Anne Hathaway… We saw her character earlier on a poster [on top of a cab in a scene from the film]. So she’s probably some kind of celebrity. What kind of celebrity? Like an “Anne Hathaway” kind of celebrity? Or a “Housewives” kind of celebrity? Check out those nails. Those fake nails with the French manicure. That’s definitely not “Anne Hathaway”. Or the real Cate Blanchett. Or Kerry Washington. Or Scarlett Johansson. With nails like that? F-ck no. And each and every one of those actresses, especially Annie, would know that. So if this is how they’re building the character, style-wise, with these kinds of details, I’m so curious about who she is. Vanderpump or Lisa Rinna? [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 4:56 PM [Tom Cruise Runs From The Mummy] [The Mummy movie poster] Do you remember when The Mummy was an Indiana Jones-ish action-adventure about a smart librarian outwitting a mummy? You know, back when [Brendon Fraser] looked like [this] and didn’t have [weird freaky hands]? Remember Rachel Weisz and how cute and spunky she was, and how she was a total nerd who looked for answers in books while the dudes around her died because they were one-upping assholes? I love that version of The Mummy, but I’m not going to sit here and pretend like mummy movies have ever been about anything more than special effects and action beats—they haven’t, not since 1932. But the new the reboot starring [Tom Cruise] looks really…generic. It hits all the expected Tom Cruise beats: Tom Cruise in an insane action sequences—can’t wait to hear about how they actually tossed Cruise out of a plane without a parachute—an unimaginable threat that only Tom Cruise can stop, and Tom Cruise running. (All Tom Cruise movies should just be called Tom Cruise Runs From….) This one also has bonus “Tom Cruise coming back from the dead because not even death can stop Xenu’s specialest friend”. It reminds me of the [Kong: Skull Island trailer] and how that one only comes alive when John C. Reilly pops up, but The Mummy trailer has no John C. Reilly. It only has Tom Cruise being deadly serious about saving the world, AGAIN. We’re long past the point of special effects impressing us, we’ve seen Tom Cruise save the world several times, and we already have a couple good mummy movies, so I would like to know what The Mummy has to offer us in 2017 besides Tom Cruise running away from some dirt. There’s nothing in this trailer showing me that. But there is one thing The Mummy has going for it—no way is it worse than Dracula Untold. Also attached - Annabelle Wallis at The British Independent Film Awards last night in London. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 3:25 PM [Tom Hardy’s Taboo] [Tom Hardy] stars in and produces a new series called Taboo. See the new teasers for the show below. Taboo premieres on BBC and FX in January. So Tom is doing some promotion with a new cover feature in UK Esquire. The major headline coming out of this article is that he owes Leonardo DiCaprio a tattoo. Apparently they made a bet while working together on The Struggle: The Revenant. Leo told Tom he’d be nominated for an Oscar and if he was right, Tom would have to get “Leo knows everything” tattooed on his body. So far Tom has yet to honour the bet, but only because Leo’s handwriting is for sh-t. He’ll do it though, eventually. The rest of the article is not unlike previous Tom Hardy articles about his reckless youth, his addiction, his personality. Tom can be ornery. He clashes with many of his directors, most famously Alejandro G Inarritu. His mood will change on you with the wrong question. But even when he’s an asshole, that’s totally OK, I guess, because he’s just so talented and gets deep into his roles. Sure, but would an actress be able to get away with that? Speaking of his roles though, while I was reading this piece, it reminded me of Johnny Depp, and the similarities between them. Tom’s characters are dark and tormented. His character in Taboo is along the same lines. And he agrees that that’s been his flavour for some time. But isn’t sure if that’s a bad thing, to go deeper and deeper into that darkness instead of switching gears on the surface with a new direction. In Johnny Depp’s case, though, doing deeper and deeper has become almost caricature. The challenge then is to find a way to do it, like Daniel Day-Lewis, for example, where the performance is still grounded and doesn’t feel like a joke. But that’s also why Tom Hardy was [my first suggestion to play Dumbledore] opposite Johnny’s Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts sequel. Can you imagine the layers there? Johnny would be looking at himself, wondering if it’s a better, new and improved, version. [Click here] to read the full article on Tom Hardy in UK Esquire. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 3:03 PM [We are all Baby Groot] [Chris Pratt attends a photocall for their film 'Passengers' at the Monument to the Conquerors of Space on December 4, 2016 in Moscow] The first full trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 dropped over the weekend—thanks to a Comic Con event in Brazil—and jumping off that [brag video] from a couple months ago, it’s FANTASTIC. They’re still not giving us anything about the plot and we still haven’t seen the new characters played by [Kurt Russell] and Elizabeth Debicki, but the trailer doubles down on the team chemistry which is still amazing, and also shows off what is officially known as Baby Groot. Look at him, though. Willful, independent, incapable of following basic instructions—that’s a toddler. Toddler Baby Groot is going to be EVERYTHING in 2017. And we also get our first look at Pom Klementieff—GREAT name—as a new hero, Mantis. She looks incredible, with those bobbing antennae, and the way Klementieff delivers her lines is just wonderful. Mantis is a character who isn’t supposed to have a lot of interaction with others, and you can hear that innocence, and also the wonder of encountering foreign emotions, in her voice. And then, of course, Drax makes that scene by pointing and laughing. Which is the best part of the trailer. Sure, there’s a clip parade as they go through the Guardians individually, but the bulk of the trailer isn’t montages, it’s two extended scenes showing off team interaction, which is what everyone loves in Marvel movies anyway. (That’s why the “villain problem” has always been the second stupidest complaint against Marvel movies. When the heroes are this good, the villains only need to be basically functioning.) Rocket and Star-Lord sniping at each other was some of the most memorable stuff in Guardians, and this trailer shows us Rocket and Star-Lord sniping at each other in the middle of a huge battle—exactly the tone everyone embraced the first time out. You can withhold the plot details as long as you’re selling everyone on the stuff they love the most, which is the team. The one issue I have is that this is a fairly diverse cast, with four women featured prominently: [Zoe Saldana], Karen Gillan, Elizabeth Debicki, and Pom Klementieff. But alien makeup nullifies Saldana and Klementieff—who is half-Korean—representing minorities as well. It’s a risk run inherent in sci-fi movies, that alien makeup might undermine the diversity of your cast. Gillan and Debicki are also completely obscured by makeup, though, as is Dave Bautista as Drax, and Michael Rooker as Yondu, so I guess, at least, Marvel is being equal opportunity in making people wear body paint. But all anyone can talk about it Baby Groot, and rightfully so. He’s adorable. Look at those big, wet eyes—actually, look at Rocket’s eyes and the perfect expression of defeat on his thief-face, this is stellar animation—and his little wooden face when he gasps. And the way he snarls, “I am Groot!” so perfect. And it will always be the icing on the cake, for me, that ole penis-head himself, Vin Diesel, lobbied hard to be in a Marvel movie and got the animated role with only one line, and now, in #2, is completely unrecognizable. So unrecognizable, in fact, I wonder if he’s even voicing all of Baby Groot. It’s SO far outside his natural register. Is anyone else hearing this and doubting it’s 100% Vin? That should be tag line. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – Now with 30% less Diesel. Here's [Chris Pratt] promoting Passengers in Moscow yesterday. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 1:53 PM [December 5, 2016 – Smutty Shout-Outs] [Charlie Hunnam for Melissa ] «Chère Meli, La dernière année a été très mouvementée avec la naissance des jumeaux (Loïc et Cléo) qui auront 1 an lundi le 5, la rentrée à la maternelle de Rafael et l'ouverture par Anthony de votre boutique Kids at home !!!... tu gères le tout si facilement ... je t'admire et t'aime beaucoup! Bonne Fête ! xox » Manon a aussi demandé des photos de Charlie Hunnam. Comme toi, j’aime beaucoup Charlie…mais Rocky a pris mon cœur. And a big thank you to Kenzie. Teachers and their families appreciate all the support from everyone, and applaud your efforts. [Click here for the rest of the photos.] Posted at 1:30 PM [Privacy Policy] - [Unsubscribe]