Pop Culture

The Tom Hardy superhero flick sets a new pandemic record, while No Time to Die is licensed to kill overseas.  By Jordan Hoffman October 3, 2021 Let there be profits! Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the briskly-paced sequel to the high performing 2018 Tom Hardy picture Venom, did outstanding business on opening weekend, securing over

It’s spooky season, and sisters Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie Jenner are getting into the haunted spirit. On the very first day of October, Kardashian shared some of her festive decorations adorning the inside and outside of her home, beginning with two massive skeletons standing on either side of her front gate. This content is imported

[embedded content] It’s October, which means it’s time to bust out the fake cobwebs, the waxy face paint, and get into the Halloween spirit! And there’s no better place to do that than Spirit Halloween, the ubiquitous costume and supply store that is currently taking over every abandoned retail store in your area. Last year,

This movie is late. Very late. If there hadn’t been a pandemic, the 25th JamesBond film, No Time to Die, would already be on VOD if not running on premium cable. The original release date in November 2019 was pushed to February 2020 because of production issues. When that didn’t happen because of the departure

Season 47’s premiere was marred by another iffy Biden impersonation and so-so hosting from Owen Wilson—though there were a few bright spots, too. By Karen Valby October 3, 2021 New season of Saturday Night Live, new swing and a miss at a President Biden impersonator! A quarter way through the man’s presidency, SNL still hasn’t

Fifteen years and five films later, Daniel Craig’s run ends with No Time to Die. How does his tenure stack up? By Keith Phipps October 1, 2021 Photographs courtesy Everett Collection; Collage by Gabe Conte Before Daniel Craig arrived, James Bond hadn’t made sense for years. That’s not just because the character’s original conception —

History repeats itself with lavish festivities in St. Petersburg.  By Jordan Hoffman October 2, 2021 It’s been over a century since the last one, but Russia still knows how to do a royal wedding. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov, a Spanish-born, Oxford-educated 40-year-old, is the Tsesarevich, meaning “heir apparent” to the Russian Empire … if

Adele fans are giving us all a lot to think about with their theories about the pop artist’s new album. Billboard reports that on Tuesday, radio host Mauler from The Morning Hot Tub and Stingray Hit List Countdown inspired the recent flurry of Twitter activity. In a now deleted tweet, he wrote, “New Adele. This

Since the Times’s Sunday bombshell, the once under-the-radar media company—and particularly its CEO, Carlos Watson—faced intense scrutiny for possibly deceptive practices, leading to Friday’s announced shutdown. By Caleb Ecarma October 1, 2021 After years of hyping itself as a major media player, Ozy finally became the talk of the industry in recent days—albeit for all

It is with a heavy heart that I report I did not love No Time to Die, despite my long and abiding love affair with James Bond. Your own mileage may vary—many critics appear to be in ecstasies over the film. It is worth seeing if you like Bond or big movies, and it is technically

“It was a total clusterf-ck from start to finish because Ivanka and her crew wanted her father to be on TV.” By Bess Levin October 1, 2021 As the old saying goes, behind every great man is a great woman, though for the Trump era, the more appropriate adage would be, “behind every presidential fuckup

Spider-Man fans, you do not want to miss this. By William Goodman October 1, 2021 Venom: Let There Be Carnage, 2021.Everett Collection / Courtesy of Sony Pictures and Marvel Entertainment Venom: Let There Be Carnage is, unquestionably, the campy and absurd sequel we hoped it would be when its trailer debuted. The sequel, directed by

It’s a daunting task to revisit one of the most famous, most scrutinized, most discussed and most revered television series of all time and transfer it to the big screen. HBO darling The Sopranos, heralded as the gold standard for TV, famously ended ambiguously and left some fans wanting more. In prequel movie The Many

The actress claimed the option to watch the movie on Disney+ undermined Black Widow’s box office earnings. Now she and the studio have quietly settled. By Anthony Breznican September 30, 2021 Scarlett Johansson and the Walt Disney Co. have quietly settled their contract dispute over Marvel’s Black Widow, with the actress withdrawing her $50 million

Next year’s Super Bowl is shaping up to be a night to remember, at least music-wise. Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Eminem are set to headline the 2022 Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show, marking their first time taking the stage together. The big event is set to take place on

The conservatorship that has controlled the life of Britney Spears for 13 years neared a possible end on Wednesday after a judge suspended her father, and the pop super-star said later that she was “on cloud 9 right now.” At a contentious three-hour hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny removed Jamie Spears from

According to Texas attorney general, the barbaric abortion law has been great for trade.  By Bess Levin September 30, 2021 As states around the country roll back abortion rights, we’re hearing a lot of arguments explaining why forcing a person to carry a pregnancy against their will is actually a positive thing. In Mississippi, the

Purported Democrat Joe Manchin has been one of the major roadblocks standing between his fellow lawmakers and substantive, meaningful legislation. Along with fellow Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Manchin is attempting to nearly singlehandedly derail President Biden’s Build Back Better plan—a massive $3.5 trillion spending package that invests in clean energy, affordable housing, healthcare, childcare, and much

Gloria Estefan has revealed that when she was 9 years old she was sexually abused by someone her mother trusted. The Cuban-American superstar spoke for the first time publicly about the abuse and its effects on her during an episode of the Facebook Watch show “Red Table Talk: The Estefans” that aired Thursday. “He was

As Zoolander turns 20, we’re looking back at its unusually prescient take on image and self-presentation. By Jake Kring-Schreifels September 29, 2021 Ben Stiller in Zoolander, 2001.CBS / Getty Images When Ben Stiller debuted his professionally good-looking character Derek Zoolander at the 1996 VH1 Fashion Awards, it was easy to laugh at him. Over the

Derek Zoolander was born into the very world that he’d so deliciously send up: the 1996 VH1 Fashion Awards. The character made his first appearance in a short film written by a surrealist comedian named Drake Sather, starring Ben Stiller. At the time, our obsession with the fashion world was reaching new heights. Supermodels were

A Los Angeles judge on Wednesday suspended the father of Britney Spears from his 13-years-long role as the controller of the singer’s business affairs. Read more: Britney Spears conservatorship case back in court “The current situation is not tenable. It reflects a toxic environment which requires the suspension of Jamie Spears effective today,” Los Angeles

Since the Times’ bombshell report on Ozy’s questionable metrics, which entangled CEO Carlos Watson, the company’s board has opened an investigation, a new hire has publicly quit, and A&E has canceled a partnered broadcast. By Caleb Ecarma September 29, 2021 New York Times media columnist Ben Smith dropped a bomb Sunday night by revealing how

Courtesy Candace Mayeron Curse of the Chippendales, a new discovery+ docuseries, peels back the curtains on the Chippendales saga, a twisty (and almost unbelievably real) tale involving a murder, an international manhunt, and lots of oiled men in g-strings. The famous male revue began as a stunt in Los Angeles in the 1980s, but soon

The Britney Spears case returns to court on Wednesday after a summer of surprise turns, shocking allegations, an  engagement and mounting expectations that the 13-year-old legal arrangement that controls the singer’s life will soon end. After years of glacial progress, the past two months have seen the “Circus” singer’s father, Jamie Spears, make a surprise

Before I dive in, I have to apologize for not looking more into this back when I fangirled about the teaser trailer for The Harder They Fall. I had no idea these were actual Black historical figures being portrayed and thought it was a just a stylish, Black take on the Western genre. But now

An Impeachment: American Crime Story producer calls Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp’s taped conversations “the best artifact of female friendship that exists.” By Julie Miller September 28, 2021 On Impeachment: American Crime Story and in real life, Linda Tripp was tempted to tape-record her friend Monica Lewinsky for a complicated hodgepodge of reasons, political and