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Ben Stiller produced and stars in “Nutcrackers,” the opening night film for the Toronto Film Festival.
“Nutcrackers” is directed by David Gordon Green, and co-stars Linda Cardellini, Edi Patterson, Tim Heidecker and Toby Huss.
From its description, “Nutcrackers” sounds like a lighthearted family comedy, akin to “Baby Boom” and others in which a jaded city guy is forced to take on country kids and come to love them.
The Toronto Fest will close with Rebel Wilson’s “Deb,” which has a similar theme: jaded city high school girl must move to a small Australian town where she befriends a farm and learns o enjoy the simple pleasures of a debutante ball.
(I want to know where the movie is where a city person goes to the country for a weekend and leaves, vowing never to return?)
TIFF will be full of stars this September, with latest additions including Ron Howard’s “Eden,” a survival thriller directed by Ron Howard, starring Jude Law, Ana de Armas and Sydney Sweeney; and “K-POPS,” a dramatic comedy that takes inspiration from eight-time Grammy Award winner Anderson.Paak’s own life, bridging family lineages and cultures.
There will also be tributes to Cate Blanchett, Amy Adams, David Cronenberg. Sandra Oh is the chair of the TIFF fundraising gala.
J.D. Vance rose to fame as the author of the much maligned “Hillbilly Elegy.”
First it was a book in 2016, then “Hillbilly” became a Ron Howard movie for Netflix.
Now Vance, who successfully ran for the US Senate off the book and movie’s successes, to be his vice presidential running mate.
If Vance became president of the United States somehow, even the people who like him now will regret it.
When the movie came out, Vance was assailed as a fraud who turned his family and friends into stereotypes. The movie was panned on Rotten Tomatoes, and has a 25% rotten rating.
The book, despite Vance’s nonstop publicity, is low on the Amazon lists in both paperback and hardcover. The paperback is number 743,587. So far no one’s rushed to buy it now that Vance could be eligible to destroy the country. Let’s see what happens.
Here’s an excellent review of “Hillbilly Elegy” from a Kentucky website. Vance is portrayed in all the criticism of his book as an opportunist who threw everyone he knew under the bus. Now he’s got a chance to back the bus back over us.
More to come…
I’m the guy JD Vance sent the “America’s Hitler” text to in 2016. He was my roommate in law school.
Obviously he’s a sellout, but the bigger deal is he’s angry and vindictive. The perfect fit for Trump’s revenge.
JD’s rise is a triumph for angry jerks everywhere.
UPDATE 1:06pm– I’m told the schedule at MSNBC is “fluid.” Even though the regular shows beginning at 8pm won’t be on, we should be seeing Rachel Maddow as part of a group. It won’t be her commentary, as usual. Nicholle Wallace and Ari Melber are supposed to be on this afternoon. But it’s unclear. Everyone, by the way, is in New York. No one is in Milwaukee, so far.
keep refreshing…
EARLIER Fans of MSNBC are pretty angry today.
There was no “Morning Joe” with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
Later today, there’ll be no regular hosts like Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Ari Melber, et al.
Instead, MSNBC has chucked its popular hosts and shows for NBC coverage of the Republican National Convention.
A source tells me: “The standard convention week plan was for convention coverage all week so prime time shows were already preempted by convention coverage. Same with Dem convention week. that’s the way it has always been for every convention week.”
Meanwhile, Fox News and CNN stars are certain to be featured on all their convention programming.
MSNBC holds on by a thread courtesy of its show hosts. But they are a peculiar network, frightened to say the wrong thing in light of the Trump shooting over the weekend. Look for their numbers to plummet.
In a new photo shoot on Instagram, the Queen Bee is seen in front of record store bins. She’s stuck her “Cowboy Carter” album in front of copies of a lot of other rock stars’ albums. Including Madonna!
This seems to be Beyonce doing a little Grammy Award campaigning. Her album, “Cowboy Carter,” has been overshadowed since its release last spring by Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and others.
This might not be a good way to go. Sticking “Cowboy Carter” in front of the Madonna section of the record store seems a little provocative. Madonna fans may not be so thrilled.
Beyonce has an uphill battle getting to Album of the Year at next winter’s Grammys. She didn’t tour or do interviews to support the album when it was released. She didn’t sing a single note on a TV show.
In the end “Cowboy Carter” sold just 284,000 CDs, LPs, and downloads. Streaming bulked it up to 1.1 million.
The fifth and final season of “Stranger Things” is filming now.
They’re still in the middle of their work, so it will be some time before the Duffer Brothers, et al show us how they wrapped up their supernatural hit.
But Netflix sent along this behind the scenes clip for our enjoyment. Better to watch than TV coverage of the RNC!
We are now doomed. I hate to say it, but this week is the turning point.
Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed Donald Trump’s classified documents case, the whole thing.
This is the Jack Smith case. Smith is the special prosecutor appointed to handle the case. Cannon, in the tank for Trump as his appointee, has done everything to stop this proceeding. She says that it was unconstitutional to appoint Smith in the first place.
If the government appeals, they’ll have to go to the Supreme Court, which will back her since they’re in Trump’s pocket, too.
Meanwhile, MSNBC — which was supposed to be the liberal news network — and CNN — which no one watches — are turning the Republican National Convention into a pageant for Trump.
We are lucky to be living in a woman’s world, but not the one presented by Katy Perry.
The pop singer and American Idol host’s return to the charts has been a disappointment.
Released Thursday night, “Woman’s World” only went as high as number 4 on iTunes. Now it’s down to 44.
Perry really needed this anthem to take off. She hasn’t had a hit in quite a while, concentrating instead on her TV career.
“Woman’s World” looked like it could be a nice comeback. The song is catchy and the attitude is right.
But fans bridled at the bizarre jiggly video. They were also not too pleased about the participation of producer Dr. Luke on a feminist anthem considering that he was accused of rape and sexual harassment. Dr Luke — Lukasz Gottwald — settled with singer Kesha last year after a decade of fighting.
“Woman’s World” was supposed to be the big set up for a new album called “143” coming on September 20th. “143” is supposed to reflect the number of letters in the words “I love you.” Whoever thought of this in marketing should be fired. WTH are they talking about?
Also, why didn’t they wait until after this week’s political convention to release the single? Next week, Perry could have been all over TV launching the song. She needed a big outside concert audience on the Today show or GMA. Now this is a fizzle.
The MAGA white rapper has a new song, cashing in on the Trump shooting. It’s been out 8 hours and is number 1 on iTunes.
The “song” is right wing, racist, all of the MAGA values. Maybe it will get played at the RNC this week.
Tone deaf? Tasteless? Too soon? All of the above.
By the way, Donald Trump — who is fine, according to him — is still a 34 time convicted felon and a rapist who is awaiting sentencing and two more trials.
Lyrics: [Verse 1] They burnin’ the country down with their progressiveness It started with changing what gender is Then graduated to you’re racist if you think that your life matters and your skin don’t have melanin They don’t want peace, they want skeletons They want men to pretend that they’re feminine They don’t want an election, they got so offended by freedom that they just tried killin’ the president I used to think that thе woke were misguidеd, but now I can see that they’re evil Twitter is angry that Trump isn’t dead, you know got shot? Innocent people Thought y’all were tolerant? Thought we were equals? I thought you valued how everyone feels? Then why are y’all celebrating an attempted assassination like you’re part of Antifa?
[Pre-Chorus] Thank God the left can’t aim Thank God the right don’t riot Welcome to the home of the brave Freedom ain’t afraid of violence You wish he was dying
[Chorus] Bitch you missed Thank God the left can’t aim Why can’t we just shoot straight? Y’all are goin insane Bitch you missed There’s no one else you can blame Tried to lock him up in a cage Now you tryna kill what you hate Bitch you missed
[Verse 2] Told us trust the science, but it never made sense to me Why would we put all our trust in the enemy? Millions of people are hooked on amphetamines, they’re making billions on untested remedies Borders are open to people with felonies, Biden can’t stop ‘em, he don’t have the energy Y’all wanna kill the man trying to fight for a better tomorrow by making him Kennedy? I tried to give y’all a chance, like “maybe the left isn’t nuts”, I was wrong Y’all are exactly as crazy as every conservative person I know said you were all along Wanna protest? Go hard Wanna burn flags? Go off But y’all are so triggered that you’re pulling triggers at presidents, y’all the terrorists when you’re armed
[Pre-Chorus] Thank God the left can’t aim Thank God the right don’t riot Welcome to the home of the brave Freedom ain’t afraid of violence You wish he was dying
[Chorus] Bitch you missed Thank God the left can’t aim Why can’t we just shoot straight? Y’all are goin insane Bitch you missed There’s no one else you can blame Tried to lock him up in a cage Now you tryna kill what you hate Bitch you missed
Jane Fonda already had two Oscars when she became a fitness phenom in the early 80s.
The only person as famous in the field was Richard Simmons, who passed away this weekend after battle with cancer and a long, strange period of being a reccluse after a long celebrity career.
On Instagram, Jane fondly recalls Simmons from their workout heyday:
Richard Simmons always wanted people to feel good and be happy. He would go out of his way to make people happy. I often wondered if maybe nobody had made him happy when he was a little boy.
He was generous.He gave of himself, of his time, to make people happy. He once popped out of a huge cake at the launch of some Jane Fonda WORKOUT event. That was generous.
He found out I was in a store where he was so he quickly bought some small trinket and ran across the store, shouting at the top of his lungs in that unmistakable voice, to let me know he was coming. That was generous.
I saw him last when I took him and a boyfriend of his to lunch at the Polo Lounge. The relationship was new and he was proud. I never saw or heard from him again and, like many thousands of others, I’ve mourned his absence from my life.
I hope he felt the love so many were sending him these last years. I hope it made him happy. I read he died peacefully in his sleep in his very white home. Rest in Peace, Dear Richard
“Despicable Me 4” soared past $200 million with no trouble and keeps minioning dough.
“Inside Out 2” is also still very animated, pushing up to $572 million. Wow. Keeping kids out of school has turned out to be a blessing for theaters. They’re nice and cool.
But “Fly Me to Moon” was a bust with just $10 million. The romcom has stars and good reviews, but no marketing killed it off. Exhibitor Relations points out this is the same way “The Bikeriders” started, but that movie was not ultimately a satisfing experience. A lot more could have been made of “Fly Me.”
Kevin Costner’s “Horizon,” we know the whole story. It still made $2.2 million after losing 747 theaters. Next week, another chunk will go. Will fans ever see Part 2? Will John Dutton be resurrected on “Yellowstone”? Who knows?
This Thursday we get “Twisters,” and the following Friday comes the over-marketing “Deadpool and Wolverine.” The latter should have a monster first weekend. It’s rated R, for Ryan Reynolds.
