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☆ 25 Years Ago, ‘Hannibal’ Marked the Rise of a New Kind of Blockbuster
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-09 | by ( Brian Raftery | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the spring of 1999, a veteran New York book editor got a surprise call from one of the world’s most elusive literary superstars: Thomas Harris. Carole Baron, the editor, had plenty of time for Harris. After “Silence” landed on the best-seller list, Baron signed Harris to a $5.2 million contract for his next two books. But it paid off a few years later when the 1991 film adaptation of “Silence of the Lambs” became a worldwide smash. “Everyone wanted to know when we would have the new Thomas Harris book,” Baron said in a recent video interview, “and I assured them that it was coming.”

Persons: Thomas Harris, “, Carole Baron, Harris, she’d, gourmand Hannibal Lecter, ”, Baron, Lecter, Darth Vader, ” Baron Organizations: York, Dell, Lambs

After the Trump verdict, what word describes how you feel about Donald Trump? After the Trump verdict, what word describes how you feel about Donald Trump? None said they were now definitely Biden voters, though notably, several said Mr. Trump had lost their vote or that they were more inclined to Mr. Biden. Others thought Democrats pushed these felony charges to help Mr. Biden politically, saying that the Biden campaign was trying to exploit the verdict. Character and integrity mattered for the presidency, and disgust with Mr. Trump could tip the scales for some of them in the end.

Persons: Trump, Donald Trump, Frank Luntz, Biden, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Hillary Clinton, didn’t, –, Hilary, “, Tony Soprano, Trump’s Organizations: Biden, White Locations: California

☆ Dwayne Johnson reportedly peed in Voss water bottles on film sets and was up to 8 hours late to shooting 'Red One'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Eammon Jacobs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AdvertisementIt also reported that he tried to save time on other sets by peeing in Voss water bottles, which upset some crew members. He pees in a Voss water bottle and his team or a PA has to dispose of it." When speaking to Esquire ahead of 2021's "Red Notice," Johnson admitted that he pees in water bottles during his lengthy workouts because the gyms he goes to don't have bathrooms. "Any reporting that implies that we got to this point with him showing up seven-eight hours late to set is both ridiculous and false." Representatives for Johnson and Amazon MGM Studios did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Persons: —, Dwayne, Johnson, there's, Adam, didn't, antihero, Johnson's, peeing, TheWrap, doesn't, It's, Dwayne Johnson Organizations: Service, WWE, Business, DC Studios, Amazon MGM Studios, Seven Bucks Locations: Voss, Hollywood, Seven

☆ Rejoice, millennials: The vampire boyfriend is cool again
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

If you've spent time on TikTok or X in the past few months, you may have spotted a proliferation of videos and posts about two video game characters. There's Astarion from "Baldur's Gate 3," and more recently, there's Vincent Valentine, a fan-favorite character from Square Enix's "Final Fantasy VII" remake. Square Enix; Gregg DeGuire/Getty ImagesMercer's opening line in "Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth" is now a fandom legend. from within the depths of his velvet-lined coffin, longtime "Final Fantasy" fans were introduced to the super-cool, uber-goth gunslinger. "I hope viewers of the work see, too, that there's more underneath the surface of a person than the trope of this decadent, hedonistic, theatrical vampire," Newbon said.

Persons: —, hasn't, you've, There's, there's Vincent Valentine, Edward Cullen sparkled, Edward, he's, there's, Alucard, Valentine, Matthew Mercer, Neil Newbon, Matt Mercer, Zelda, Vincent Valentine, Gregg DeGuire, Vincent, Mercer, I've, Vox, Scott Garfitt, who's, Astarion, Newbon Organizations: Service, Business, BAFTA, Getty Images

☆ Kyle MacLachlan was 'sort of offended' when the internet branded him babygirl — until he learned it was a 'high compliment'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Caralynn Matassa | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewKyle MacLachlan was slightly confused when the internet started fangirling over him in a particularly Gen Z way. (The day MacLachlan posted his version using the same caption Lorde used on her photos, the pop star commented, "I am………. The Gen Z slang term, which refers to attractive men, has been in vogue for a few years. It really became popular in 2023 with "Breaking Bad" antihero Walter White to Kendall Roy from "Succession" being dubbed babygirl. Babygirl isn't the only Gen Z slang the actor has been adding to his vocabulary.

Persons: —, Kyle MacLachlan, MacLachlan, Anne Walls Gordon, Lorde, …, Kyle, Gordon, babygirl, antihero Walter White, Kendall Roy, Jacob Elordi, Babygirl, I've, " MacLachlan Organizations: Service, SXSW, Productions, Business

☆ Marvel revealed who will play the Fantastic Four — and here's who should be Doctor Doom (not Cillian Murphy)
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Eammon Jacobs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Marvel Studios officially announced the cast of "The Fantastic Four" reboot on Wednesday. The film is coming in July 2025 — but who will play the villainous Doctor Doom remains a mystery. But every good superhero movie needs a villain, and it's only a matter of time before fans get news about the team's nemesis: Doctor Doom. We've seen Murphy play cerebral villains before in Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy, and "Peaky Blinders" — but truthfully, he's the easy option for someone as sophisticated as Doom. Here are a few other options for who should play Doctor Doom in "The Fantastic Four."

Persons: —, Doom, Here's, isn't Cillian Murphy, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss, Bachrach, Matt Shakman, Doctor Doom, Cillian Murphy, he'd, We've, Murphy, Christopher Nolan's Organizations: Marvel Studios, Service, Valentine's, Marvel

☆ ‘Pal Joey’ Review: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildering
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Jesse Green | More About Jesse Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It’s not often that the standout star of a show is its music supervisor, arranger or orchestrator, but in the gala presentation of “Pal Joey” at New York City Center through Sunday, all three are one man, Daryl Waters. That the rest of the revival (really a new creature, made from spare parts) is more suggestive than convincing is no crime; there has never been a satisfactory “Pal Joey.” Though the 1940 original featured some soon-to-be standards by Rodgers and Hart — “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” chief among them — its book by John O’Hara, based on his epistolary novel and New Yorker stories, didn’t match them in tone or dramatic serviceability. Back then, the problem was thought to be the nature of Joey himself, a greasy heel trying to scheme his way from itinerant crooner to supper club smoothie. Along the way he picked up and discarded an innocent named Linda English, traded sex for financial support with a socialite named Vera Simpson and generally ruined everything he touched with his grifty hands. The problem faced by the various would-be saviors of “Pal Joey” — there were Broadway revivals in 1952, 1963, 1976 and 2008 — is rather what new throughline to impose and how to make the best use of its songs.

Persons: It’s, “ Pal Joey ”, Daryl Waters, Waters, ’, ”, Pal Joey, Rodgers, Hart —, John O’Hara, Joey himself, Linda English, Vera Simpson, Brooks Atkinson, J, Pierrepont Finch, Sweeney Todd, Evan Hansen, “ Pal Joey ” — Organizations: New York City Center, “, New York Times Locations: New, ’ Da, York , New York

☆ Falling in Love With the Avengers, America’s Most Toxic Work Force
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Leigh Bardugo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

236, Spider-Man does indeed try to join the Avengers — and he does it because he finds out the Avengers make $1,000 per week. If the Fantastic Four represent a fantasy of an actual family, and the X-Men represent a fantasy of found family, maybe the Avengers represent a fantasy of adult life and, well, work. The story lines they follow offer comics fans another kind of twist and a different kind of team. This establishes a pattern we’ll see again and again with the Avengers of new hires that do and don’t work out. The atmosphere among the Avengers is less league of heroes bound by honor than Earth’s most hostile work environment: a constantly shifting, conflict-generating story machine.

Persons: I’m, Phantom, —, He’ll, Cap, Tony Stark, huff, Powers Organizations: Guardians, Galaxy, Wasp, Marvel

☆ Opinion | Political Correctness Used to Be Funny. Now It’s No Joke.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Yet more unfathomable: that there would be any affection for anything about that era’s nascent political correctness with its penchant for words like “womyn” and other idealistic but often ill-conceived efforts to reimagine the dictionary. In the wake of my 30th college reunion last month at Brown University, a notorious locus for politically correct thought back in the day, those emergent P.C. At that time, word purification rituals were experienced all in good fun or at least, in good fun-making. Even at its peak, ’90s-style political correctness was at least as much self-satire as a movement to be reckoned with. With the exception of its most earnest practitioners — strategically isolated within semiotics departments and grad school dormitories — undergrads from across the political spectrum considered political correctness a passing fad or an attempt at academic esotericism rather than an actual recommendation for how to comport yourself in public.

Persons: Ethan Hawke’s, —, changin, ’, ” Organizations: Brown University, Brown Daily Herald Locations: Brown

☆ Opinion | Can the Writers’ Strike Fix Hollywood?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A somewhat more pessimistic analysis, offered by writers like Sonny Bunch and Jessa Crispin, emphasizes that the superhero-sweatshop corporate strategy evolved because it’s giving audiences what they want. And so even if the strike is an opportunity for reconsiderations, it’s probably not a lever that can change the system as a whole. Personally I would like to see the strike lever a different Hollywood system into being. (HBO’s “Westworld,” for instance, or lately Showtime’s “Yellowjackets.”) Sometimes they play like thin imitations of the previous decade’s antihero dramas. Or they take on the character of the theatrical experience but somewhat worse — with too-big-to-fail franchises that nobody really enjoys.

☆ ‘Master Gardener’ Review: A New Paul Schrader Antihero
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Kyle Smith | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver Photo: Magnolia PicturesLate in his career, Paul Schrader has completed an evocative trilogy about tightly wound, obsessively focused men yearning for expiation of their sins. The 76-year-old writer-director has returned yet again to some of the same psychological territory he visited in his earliest successful script, “Taxi Driver” (1976), and in many others about loners struggling to maintain their composure in a world of pain and guilt. Following his recent efforts “First Reformed” (2017) and “The Card Counter” (2021), he has rounded out the triptych with another penetrating character study, “Master Gardener.” The title figure is a quiet, rigorously devoted horticulturist with a messy past. In cultivating a gorgeous bounty of flowers in a large botanical garden, he seeks his own renewal.

☆ America’s Inflation Antihero Gets a Makeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Jeanna Smialek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The years have not been kind to Arthur Burns, who led the Federal Reserve from 1970 to 1978 and is often remembered as perhaps the worst chair ever to head America’s central bank. Chris Hughes thinks he deserves another look. Mr. Hughes, 39, is a newly accepted doctoral student focused on central bank history at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Hughes then bought and for four years served as publisher of The New Republic, the liberal magazine. As a person who knows something about reinvention, Mr. Hughes thinks Mr. Burns should get one, too.

☆ Los Angeles Gives Star Treatment to P-22, the ‘Brad Pitt’ of Mountain Lions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Alicia A. Caldwell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LOS ANGELES—This valley is filled with celebrities, both gorgeous and aloof. The December death of one famous resident, who was a little bit of both, has provoked an unusually unrelenting outpouring of admiration. The icon is the city’s famous mountain lion, P-22, a stealthy native son-turned-antihero, whom many Angelenos felt they knew and certainly loved, though almost no one got close to.

☆ DC's slate for its new movie and TV universe is bizarre, risky, and a bit confusing — but still promising
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

DC Studios announced the first wave of movies and TV shows for the new DC universe. There are also aspects of the old DC movie universe — but it still shows promise. The slate, titled "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters," is, to put it plainly, bizarre — and even a bit risky. If anything, it's still a bit of the old DC Extended Universe. If Gunn and Safran wanted to keep any aspects of the old DC movie universe, they picked the right ones.

☆ Where can you buy Taylor Swift tour tickets? Not Ticketmaster
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( James Skoufis | James Skoufis Is A Democratic New York State Senator Representing The Hudson Valley. In | He Undertook A Legislative Investigation Into Predatory Ticketing Practices | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Ticketmaster is, yet again, pointing blame at literally everyone but itself after the latest debacle involving tickets for Taylor Swift’s 2023 “Eras” concert tour. Federal anti-trust regulators never should’ve allowed the company’s 2010 merger with Live Nation — and should course-correct by breaking up Ticketmaster. It’s likely that at each of Taylor Swift’s 52 upcoming concerts, thousands of tickets will be “held back” and never released to the general public. Even if you do secure a ticket, fees are out of control. “I should not be left to my own devices,” sings Taylor Swift.

☆ 'Midnights' album snubbed at Grammys? Here's what really happened
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The Grammy nominations are always fodder for surprises and snubs, but in the case of Taylor Swift, it’s not what it may appear. Her latest album, “Midnights,” has been phenomenally successful and made her the first artist to ever occupy all the top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously. Enter the Grammy rules singing, “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me” (lyrics made popular by Swift’s recent single “Antihero”). Turns out the deadline to be considered for a Grammy nomination this year was October 1 and Swift’s album was released a few weeks after that. Swift received for four nominations including song of the year for “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film).”

☆ Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ snubbed at Grammys? Here’s what really happened
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The Grammy nominations are always fodder for surprises and snubs, but in the case of Taylor Swift, it’s not what it may appear. Swift was already the most streamed artist over a 24-hour period on Spotify and good luck getting tickets to her upcoming tour. So some are asking why her newest collection of songs was not nominated for a Grammy on Tuesday. Turns out the deadline to be considered for a Grammy nomination this year was October 1 and Swift’s album was released a few weeks after that. Swift received for four nominations including song of the year for “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film).”

☆ DC's 'Black Adam' will likely fizzle at the box office without a China release, as Marvel's 'Wakanda Forever' threatens to halt its momentum
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

DC's "Black Adam" cost nearly $200 million to make and has earned $321 million globally. It doesn't have a China release yet, and Marvel's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" opens this weekend. With Marvel's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" hitting theaters this weekend, "Black Adam" will likely quickly fizzle at the box office. The first "Black Panther" grossed $202 million in its first weekend in the US, more than the $138 million "Black Adam" has earned in three weekends. On its current trajectory, "Black Adam" is on the way to being a box-office disappointment.

☆ 'Black Adam' credit scene proves Hollywood has learned nothing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Ani Bundel | Ani Bundel Is A Cultural Critic Who Has Been Writing Regularly Since Her Work Can Also Be Found At Elite Daily | Weta'S Telly Visions | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

DC Films’ latest release into the endless superhero pantheon, “Black Adam,” has a lot riding on Dwayne Johnson’s muscled shoulders. Black Adam, one of the regularly scheduled villains in the comic book, was supposed to be his main antagonist. And while “Black Panther” did a great job of making its bad guy both a certifiable badass and a nuanced character, “Black Adam” fails miserably. “Black Adam” has an interesting inkling of an idea: an oppressed culture that needs to overthrow the invading white men. But the midcredit sequence in “Black Adam” unfortunately suggests studio leaders are committed to making the same mistakes all over again.

☆ 'Black Adam': Meet the characters
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Meet the Justice Society of America (JSA), a crew of superheroes who want to tamp down, or at least better control, the titular antihero Black Adam. Before you see “Black Adam,” familiarize yourself with the new cast of morally ambiguous super-humans. From Doctor Fate to Adam himself, here are the fresh faces you’ll meet in “Black Adam.” (“Black Adam” is distributed by Warner Bros., which shares parent company Warner Bros. We meet Adam when he returns from a 5,000-year-long imprisonment. Doctor FateDoctor Fate isn't one to start unnecessary wars, especially with a formidable warrior like Black Adam.

Oct 19 (Reuters) - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars in the antihero DC Comics film "Black Adam," and he is calling it his passion project. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe character Black Adam first appeared in a 1945 Fawcett comic book. In the film, Black Adam, the ancient hero of fictional country Kahndaq, is freed from imprisonment after 5,000 years and he is less than happy about such a rude awakening. The wrestler-turned-actor also hopes the audiences will connect with the film the same way he connected with the Black Adam character during his childhood. Produced by New Line Cinema, a unit of AT&T Inc's (T.N) Warner Bros studio, "Black Adam" will be released on Friday.

☆ Dwayne Johnson reportedly sidestepped the DC movie boss to get a major character's long-awaited cameo into 'Black Adam'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dwayne Johnson went around the DC film boss to seek approval for a major character's cameo in "Black Adam." The new Warner Bros. studio heads said yes to the cameo, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Neither representatives for Johnson nor Warner Bros. immediately returned requests for comment. "Black Adam" is the first franchise tentpole theatrical release in months, as movie theaters face a lack of new releases compared with before the pandemic. "Black Adam" comes at a time when the DC movie franchise itself is at a crossroads.

☆ 'Black Adam' review: Dwayne Johnson stars as the antihero in a drab addition to the DC Universe
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —“Black Adam” features a protagonist of almost unlimited power, which only makes its puny script more conspicuous. There’s simply no getting around the clunkiness of the dialogue, or the sense “Black Adam” overestimates the character’s appeal. Times being what they are, playing an actual superhero represents an inevitable addition to Johnson’s action resume, and “Black Adam” (setting aside “DC’s League of Super-Pets”) checks off that box. “Black Adam” premieres October 21 in US theaters and is rated PG-13. DC and Warner Bros., which is distributing the movie, are units of Warner Bros.

☆ New York Comic Con tries to get back to normal in a world changed by Covid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-05 | by ( Mike Calia | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Cosplayers dressed in Mandalorian armor and Black Widow pose for a photo during Day 4 of New York Comic Con 2021 at Jacob Javits Center on October 10, 2021 in New York City. (NEW YORK — New York Comic Con isn't quite what it was before the pandemic. But it's still a way off from the approximately 250,000 fans who attended the New York event in 2019. ReedPop, the company that owns New York Comic Con, is fine with being conservative two years after the coronavirus forced organizers to make the event entirely virtual. The virus is still around, so Covid masks will still be required at all times indoors this year, although fans won't need to present proof of vaccination.

☆ 'Morbius' was a box-office dud but now it's topping Netflix's charts, as the streamer's deal with Sony continues to pay off
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-09 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Starting this year, Sony movies stream on Netflix after their theatrical and home-entertainment runs. The streamer also is licensing select older movies from Sony's library, such as its past Spider-Man movies. As part of the agreement, Netflix has a first-look option for movies Sony is making directly for streaming or planning to license for streaming. Sony movies have dominated consumer engagement on Netflix. 9)The chart below illustrates the top 10 most in-demand movies on Netflix over the last 90 days:

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