In a new minute-and-a-half video, Tina Fey and the stars of 2024’s Mean Girls talk about diving back into the world of 2004 Mean Girls and how the stage musical kept what made it such a success while updating the story for a contemporary audience.
The 2024 musical comedy version stars Angourie Rice as Cady Heron, Auli’i Cravalho as Janis ‘Imi’ike, Reneé Rapp as Regina George, Jaquel Spivey as Damian Hubbard, Avantika as Karen Shetty, and Bebe Wood as Gretchen Wieners. Christopher Briney is Aaron Samuels, Jenna Fischer is Ms. Heron, Busy Philipps is Mrs. George, Ashley Park is Madame Park, Tina Fey is Ms. Norbury, and Tim Meadows is Mr. Duvall.
Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. directed from a screenplay by Tina Fey, based on the stage musical (book by Fey, music by Jeff Richmond, and lyrics by Nell Benjamin). Fey and Lorne Michaels produced, with Jeff Richmond, Nell Benjamin, Eric Gurian, Erin David, and Pamela Thur executive producing.
“New student Cady Heron is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called ‘The Plastics,’ ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George and her minions Gretchen and Karen. However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels, she finds herself prey in Regina’s crosshairs,” reads Paramount Pictures’ synopsis. “As Cady sets to take down the group’s apex predator with the help of her outcast friends Janis and Damian, she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all: high school.”
Mean Girls will open in theaters on January 12, 2024. A special We Wear Pink early access screening will take place on January 10th at 7pm local time. The early screening will include special bonus content, and ticket-holders will receive a limited-edition collector’s print – while supplies last.
Images of the 2023 National Film Registry selections
Home Alone, Love & Basketball, Apollo 13, 12 Years a Slave, and The Nightmare Before Christmas are among the 25 films chosen to be preserved by the Library of Congress National Film Registry. 2023’s selection also includes Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Lady and the Tramp, Desperately Seeking Susan, and Fame.
“Films are an integral piece of America’s cultural heritage, reflecting stories of our nation for more than 125 years. We are proud to add 25 diverse films to the National Film Registry as we preserve our history through film,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “We’re grateful to the film community for collaborating with the Library of Congress in our goal to preserve the heritage of cinema for generations to come.”
The new additions date back to 1921 and bring the total number of films included in the registry to 875. According to the Library of Congress, the films are chosen for “their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.”
Films Selected for the 2023 National Film Registry
¡Alambrista! (1977) ¡Alambrista! is the powerfully emotional story of Roberto, a Mexican national working as a migrant laborer in the United States to send money back to his wife and newborn. Director Robert M. Young’s sensitive screenplay refuses to indulge in simplistic pieties, presenting us with a world in which exploitation and compassion coexist in equal measure. The film immerses us in Roberto’s world as he moves across vast landscapes, meeting people he can’t be sure are friend or threat, staying one step ahead of immigration officials.
Apollo 13 (1995)
The extreme challenges involved in space travel present compelling cinema storylines, and one cannot imagine a more harrowing scenario than the near tragic Apollo 13 space mission. Director Ron Howard’s retelling is equally meticulous and emotional, a master class in enveloping the audience into a complicated technological exercise in life-and-death problem-solving.
Based on the 1994 book Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 by astronaut Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, Apollo 13 blends skillful editing, crafty special effects, a James Horner score, and a well-paced script to detail the quick-thinking heroics of both the astronaut crew and NASA technicians as they improvise and work through unprecedented situations. The talented cast includes Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris and Kathleen Quinlan.
Bamboozled (2000)
Mixing elements of A Face in the Crowd, The Producers, Network, and Putney Swope, Spike Lee’sBamboozled showcases his unique talents, here blending dark comedy and satire exposing hypocrisy. An African American TV executive (Damon Wayans) grows tired of his ideas being rejected by his insincere white boss, who touts himself with an “I am Black People” type of vibe. To get out of this untenable situation, Wayans proposes an idea he feels will surely get him fired: a racist minstrel show featuring African American performers donning blackface. The show becomes a smash hit while at the same time sparking outrage, including militant groups leading to violence.
As with the best satire, the focus is not on believable plot but rather how the story reveals the ills of society, in this case how Hollywood and television have mistreated African Americans over the decades.
Bohulano Family Film Collection (1950s-1970s)
Delfin Paderes Bohulano and Concepcion Moreno Bohulano recorded their family life for more than 20 years. Shot primarily in Stockton, California, their collection documents the history of the Filipino community during a period of significant immigration. They were involved in the local Filipino-American community, including the building of Stockton’s new Filipino Center in the early 1970s. The movies record community events, family gatherings, trips to New York City, Atlantic City, and Washington, D.C., as well as the family’s 1967 visit to the Philippines.
Cruisin’ J-Town (1975)
Duane Kubo’s documentary tells the story of the jazz fusion band Hiroshima, including their attempts to blend art and identity, the group’s roots and influence in the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles, and the burgeoning pulse of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in the early 1970s. A highlight in the film is a cross-cultural jam with Hiroshima and the Chicano performing arts company El Teatro Campesino.
Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
As a follow-up to her acclaimed low-budget indie Smithereens, Susan Seidelman directed this hip screwball romp involving personal ads, mistaken identity and only-in-New-York characters. The film features Rosanna Arquette as an unhappy New Jersey housewife and Madonna as a Lower East Side bohemian free spirit named Susan; Arquette’s deep immersion into Susan’s strange world helps Arquette recharge her life and cure its ills.
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Director George Cukor has many works on the National Film Registry and the racy, pre-Code comedy/drama Dinner at Eight illustrates why. Cukor knew how to adapt plays into film, removing their staginess to make them work well on film and adding wit. Cukor also was a master on how best to use the strengths of his actors and handle egos. This ensemble film about high society features an all-star cast, arguably one of the greatest assembled to that point in cinema history, and it became a major attraction and event in the early sound era.
Edge of the City (1957) Edge of the City features superb performances by John Cassavetes and Sidney Poitier in a psychological drama set among New York City railroad workers. Based on a live television drama written expressly for Poitier by Robert Alan Aurthur, Edge of the City follows Cassavetes as a troubled Army deserter who finds trust in others, maturity in himself, and reintegration into society after Poitier, playing a stevedore foreman, befriends him.
Praised by the NAACP for its message of racial brotherhood, this first feature of blacklisted television director Martin Ritt offers finely delineated performances by Ruby Dee, Kathleen Maguire and Jack Warden. Critic Stanley Crouch called the film “one of the highest of the high points in Poitier’s career,” noting “an almost heartbreaking effect in his absolute freedom from the stereotypic, moving with such vitality through so many more moods than would be expected of a Black character then or now.”
Fame (1980)
Alan Parker’s teen musical drama follows the lives of students at New York City’s High School of the Performing Arts as they tackle the demanding environment and the issues young students face. The musical numbers stylistically often resemble music videos in a pre-MTV world, and Fame influenced other classic 80’s musicals like Footloose, Flashdance, and Dirty Dancing. Irene Cara belts out the rousing title song.
Helen Keller in Her Story (1954)
Nancy Hamilton’s Academy Award-winning documentary tells the story of Helen Keller from her birth to early 70s. Keller lived for 14 more years after the film. The documentary came about long after Keller became an international speaker on behalf of both disabled rights and the United States. It uses news footage, photographs, interviews and original sequences to tell her story, as well as a more day-in-the-life approach.
Home Alone (1990)
The young and deeply expressive Macaulay Culkin became a superstar thanks to this 1990 mega-hit that has become embedded into American culture as a holiday classic. Left home alone at Christmas time, a plucky youngster uses his creativity and wit to stave off two bumbling burglars. John Hughes (at that time best known for his teen comedies) fashioned the inventive script while Chris Columbus directed the film for maximum cross-generational appeal. The cast also includes Daniel Stern, Joe Pesci, John Heard, Roberts Blossom and Catherine O’Hara.
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
This exquisitely animated love story between a spoiled cocker spaniel and a mutt was arguably the most mature animation and love story created until then by Disney Studios. It also marked a technological innovation for Disney. In addition to standard theatrical formats, Disney released the film in the wide screen CinemaScope process, in part to keep people going to the theaters following the advent of television. One of the studio’s most beloved animated works, this unlikely love story is made memorable by endearing songs, excellent voice talents (which included Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Bill Thompson, Verna Felton, Bob Baucom, Peggy Lee and Stan Freberg) and iconic moments including a kiss involving spaghetti.
The Lighted Field (1987) The Lighted Field is one of the avant-garde masterworks from Andrew Noren. “I’m a light thief and a shadow bandit,” Noren (1943 – 2015) once said. “The lovers, light and shadow, and their offspring space and time are my themes, working with their particularities is my passion and delight.”
The Lighted Field (1987, 62 mins, silent, B&W, 16mm) is a highly personal work in which Noren uses archival imagery combined with urban and domestic images that are infused with his love of light play and evoke a twinned sense of vitality and mortality.
Love & Basketball (2000)
For her feature film directorial debut, Gina Prince-Bythewood wrote and directed the engaging Love and Basketball, which follows a boy and girl as they pursue their basketball careers from childhood to adults, sharing a mutual affection for the game and an eventual love for each other. Unforgettable and inspiring, the film has been praised as a refreshing new take on the rom-com genre and has had an enduring impact and ongoing resonance with women athletes and young people.
Matewan (1987)
Bringing to light a little-remembered moment in labor history, John Sayles’ Matewan dramatizes efforts in 1920 to unionize a West Virginia company town and the bloody battle that followed between strikers and coal company thugs. Sayles incorporates elements from related labor struggles into the story to show how Black migrants and European immigrants hired as scabs often united with local miners. Structured as a Western, the film examines collective nonviolence as a strategy to combat ruthless exploitation within an individualistic culture animated by blood feuds.
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994)
Freida Lee Mock’s Oscar-winning documentary tells the story of Chinese-American artist and architect Maya Lin. As a Yale University student, Lin won a nationwide design competition to create the new Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall. A firestorm of controversy erupted over the selection of Lin’s design, with critics citing her age, lack of architectural experience, her Asian American ancestry, the design’s black granite, and what they saw as something overly bleak, buried in the ground, rather than a heroic tribute.
Lin eloquently defended herself, and the stark, simple elegant beauty of her V-shaped design pointing toward the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument won the day. The highly visited site has become a cathartic, emotional experience for countless Americans. The film explores themes about artistic freedom, creativity, public art and politics.
A Movie Trip Through Filmland (1921)
This educational and highly informative film about the production of motion picture film stock and the impact of movies on a global audience was shot at Kodak Park, the headquarters of the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York. The film begins with a gathering of animated multi-national characters as they attend the “International Convention of Movie Fans.” The animated curtains part and the audience sees Kodak Park and a short movie detailing every step of the film manufacturing process, including statistics on how much raw cotton, silver, and water is used to create the 147,000 miles of film stock produced in 1921 (enough to circle the globe).
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The king of dark whimsy, Tim Burton won over an even larger (and decidedly younger) crowd with this delightful stop-motion animated offering. Jack Skellington, whose giant pumpkin head rests precariously on top of his rail-thin body, is the king of Halloween Town; one year he dreams of bringing a little Christmas magic to his humble hamlet.
Conceived and produced by Burton (with direction by Henry Selick), Nightmare features creative set design to construct an imaginary world, songs by Danny Elfman and the voice talents of Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page, Paul Reubens and Glenn Shadix. It has become both a Yuletide and Halloween tradition for adults, kids, hipsters, and many Halloween fanatics.
Passing Through (1977)
A key figure in the LA Rebellion film movement, director Larry Clark uses Passing Through as a rumination on the central importance of jazz in African-American culture and the attempts of others to appropriate this legacy for profit. Released from prison, an African-American jazz artist refuses to rejoin the music industry he feels is controlled by white mobsters and corporate interests. Instead, he seeks to find his grandfather and musician mentor in order to preserve his artistic integrity and rediscover the creative and social possibilities of jazz.
Queen of Diamonds (1991)
This landmark work by experimental filmmaker Nina Menkes was filmed on location in Las Vegas. Menkes’ sister and collaborator, Tinka Menkes, plays an alienated blackjack dealer living and working in Sin City. The film takes a close look at the desolation of daytime Vegas, contrasting the lights, noise and life of the city to the quiet, lonely reality of its residents. Nina expresses her unique style through the use of long takes and extended periods of silence to convey her character’s solitary life in the Nevada desert.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Science fiction film sequels sometimes fail because the original reveals the stunning main secrets, thus reducing the awe and surprise factors in future installments. Not so with Terminator 2. Director James Cameron retained the many virtues of the original and added a deft script with more nuanced characters and plot twists, a large budget, and cutting-edge special effects for an even more chilling story revealing the bleak future portended in the original.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mission changes from ending the future of humanity to ensuring its survival, from killing the mother to protecting the son from an assassin adept at quicksilver. The film also marked somewhat of a technical milestone in the transition from practical to CGI special effects.
12 Years a Slave (2013)
One of the key films of the 2000s and winner of the Best Picture Oscar, 12 Years a Slave offers a raw, visceral look at slavery on a Louisiana plantation. Directed by Steve McQueen, the film is based on the 1853 memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup, an African American free man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery for 12 years before regaining his freedom. In addition to the Best Picture Oscar, the film also won for Best Adapted Screenplay (John Ridley), and Best Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong’o).
20 Feet from Stardom (2013)
Morgan Neville directed this fascinating, Oscar-winning documentary on back-up singers, the unsung musical workhorse heroes who provide musical harmony and essential contributions to famous songs while lurking in the shadows. The film features interviews with prominent back-up singers such as Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, and Judith Hill. interspersed with archival footage from artists such as David Bowie.
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
A ground-breaking romantic comedy, Ang Lee’s second film focuses on the cultural clashes between East and West, traditional vs. modern lifestyles. To satisfy his parents back in Taiwan and their desire that he get married, a gay Taiwanese American immigrant in New York has a marriage of convenience with a mainland Chinese woman. Complications ensue when the parents decide to visit and meet the bride.
The unconventional family trio (gay couple/paper wife) works to create a believable façade. Both hilarious and poignant, the film glides effortlessly between various genres.
We’re Alive (1974)
In 1974, three female UCLA graduate students, Michie Gleason, Christine Lesiak and Kathy Levitt, led a video workshop at the California Institution for Women, then the largest women’s prison in the U.S. What emerged from six months of roundtable discussions — taped by the incarcerated participants — is We’re Alive, a 49-minute documentary of astonishing power. Simultaneously anonymous and intimate, the women are unsparing in their condemnation of the dehumanization of the carceral state while at the same time exemplifying a triumphal dignity (alive, indeed). The film is a blueprint for prison reform and thus, unfortunately, as timely today as it was then.
Statements from the Filmmakers, Courtesy of the Library of Congress:
“It’s a very honest, heartfelt reflection of something that was very American, which was the space program in that time and what it meant to the country and to the world,” Howard told the Library of Congress. The technical advisor on the film was Capt. David Scott, an astronaut who went to the moon, gave Howard this statement: “He said you have a chance to tell people what it was like within the framework of a narrative that is entertaining. You have the chance to really get it right and let people know what the Apollo era was all about. We took that very seriously.”
“A great deal of this film was autobiographical,” Gina Prince-Bythewood said in an interview about Love & Basketball. “Monica’s character, growing up as an athlete, all the feelings she felt, feeling ‘othered’ and different as if something’s wrong with her because she loves sports. All those were things that I had to deal with growing up, being a female athlete and with my parents.”
“Slavery for me was a subject matter that hadn’t been sort of given enough recognition within the narrative of cinema history,” said Steve McQueen on 12 Years a Slave. “I wanted to address it for that reason, but also because it was a subject which had so much to do with how we live now. It wasn’t just something which was dated. It was something which is living and breathing, because you see the evidence of slavery today.”
“I didn’t make the movie to be influential, but it was,” said The Wedding Banquet‘s Ang Lee. “I see since the movie, whether it’s cross-culture or gay issues, some major breakthroughs, certainly in Taiwan and the Chinese community because the movie was well-liked. It just eased into people’s lives quite naturally.”
“It’s my fourth decade of filmmaking, and I don’t remember saying to myself, ‘Don’t do this because the audience might not like it,’” said Bamboozled‘s Spike Lee. “And there were more cases where audiences did not like stuff but that did not matter to me because I was showing the truth as I see it.”
Writer-director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) asks you to suspend all disbelief as you watch the official trailer for Civil War. The idea that individual states could team up and fight the U.S. military isn’t as far-fetched as Garland’s choice to have California and Texas fighting on the same side. The action must be taking place on Earth-2.
Garland’s a brilliant filmmaker, so it’s possible he’ll be able to convince audiences that a universe exists in which California and Texas agree on at least one political issue.
The cast includes Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Nick Offerman, and Sonoya Mizuno from Garland’s Devs television series. Real-life couple Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog) and Jesse Plemons (Killers of the Flower Moon) also star along with Wagner Moura (The Gray Man).
A24 released this brief description of Civil War: “A race to the White House in a near-future America balanced on the razor’s edge.”
The A24 film opens in theaters and IMAX on April 26, 2024.
Margot Robbie as Barbie (Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures)
It’s a Barbie world, and members of the Critics Choice Association (of which I’m one) are living in it. The record-breaking blockbuster earned 18 Critics Choice Awards nominations, followed by Oppenheimer and Poor Things with 13 each. Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon picked up 12 nominations.
The Holdovers and Maestro each scored eight nominations.
Barbie‘s 18 nominations came in the Best Picture, Best Comedy, Best Actress (Margot Robbie), Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling), Best Supporting Actress (America Ferrera), Best Young Actor/Actress (Ariana Greenblatt), and Best Acting Ensemble categories. Additional nominations included Best Director (Greta Gerwig), Best Original Screenplay (Gerwig and Noah Baumbach), Best Cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto), Best Production Design (Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer), Best Editing (Nick Houy), Best Costume Design (Jacqueline Durran), and Best Hair and Makeup.
“Dance the Night,” “I’m Just Ken,” and “What Was I Made For” are nominated in the Best Song category, and Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt were nominated for Best Score.
“We are so excited to celebrate this year’s remarkable projects, performances, and the people who made it all possible at the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards,” said CCA CEO Joey Berlin. “This year saw an incredible number of blockbuster hits and beautiful stories brought to life in these exceptional films.”
Chelsea Handler returns as host of the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards airing live on The CW from 7:00 – 10:00 pm ET (delayed PT) on January 14, 2024.
Critics Choice Awards Film Nominations:
BEST PICTURE American Fiction
Barbie
The Color Purple
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
Saltburn
BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Leonardo DiCaprio – Killers of the Flower Moon
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction
BEST ACTRESS
Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall
Greta Lee – Past Lives
Carey Mulligan – Maestro
Margot Robbie – Barbie
Emma Stone – Poor Things
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sterling K. Brown – American Fiction
Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling – Barbie
Charles Melton – May December
Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
America Ferrera – Barbie
Jodie Foster – Nyad
Julianne Moore – May December
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Abby Ryder Fortson – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Ariana Greenblatt – Barbie
Calah Lane – Wonka
Milo Machado Graner – Anatomy of a Fall
Dominic Sessa – The Holdovers
Madeleine Yuna Voyles – The Creator
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Air
Barbie
The Color Purple
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
BEST DIRECTOR
Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Greta Gerwig – Barbie
Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
Alexander Payne – The Holdovers
Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Samy Burch – May December
Alex Convery – Air
Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer – Maestro
Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach – Barbie
David Hemingson – The Holdovers
Celine Song – Past Lives
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Kelly Fremon Craig – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Andrew Haigh – All of Us Strangers
Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
Tony McNamara – Poor Things
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Matthew Libatique – Maestro
Rodrigo Prieto – Barbie
Rodrigo Prieto – Killers of the Flower Moon
Robbie Ryan – Poor Things
Linus Sandgren – Saltburn
Hoyte van Hoytema – Oppenheimer
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Suzie Davies, Charlotte Dirickx – Saltburn
Ruth De Jong, Claire Kaufman – Oppenheimer
Jack Fisk, Adam Willis – Killers of the Flower Moon
Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer – Barbie
James Price, Shona Heath, Szusza Mihalek – Poor Things
Adam Stockhausen, Kris Moran – Asteroid City
BEST EDITING
William Goldenberg – Air
Nick Houy – Barbie
Jennifer Lame – Oppenheimer
Yorgos Mavropsaridis – Poor Things
Thelma Schoonmaker – Killers of the Flower Moon
Michelle Tesoro – Maestro
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Jacqueline Durran – Barbie
Lindy Hemming – Wonka
Francine Jamison-Tanchuck – The Color Purple
Holly Waddington – Poor Things
Jacqueline West – Killers of the Flower Moon
Janty Yates, David Crossman – Napoleon
BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
Barbie
The Color Purple
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Priscilla
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Creator
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
BEST COMEDY
American Fiction
Barbie
Bottoms
The Holdovers
No Hard Feelings
Poor Things
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Wish
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Anatomy of a Fall
Godzilla Minus One
Perfect Days
Society of the Snow
The Taste of Things
The Zone of Interest
BEST SONG
“Dance the Night” – Barbie
“I’m Just Ken” – Barbie
“Peaches” – The Super Mario Bros. Movie
“Road to Freedom” – Rustin
“This Wish” – Wish
“What Was I Made For” – Barbie
BEST SCORE
Jerskin Fendrix – Poor Things
Michael Giacchino – Society of the Snow
Ludwig Göransson – Oppenheimer
Daniel Pemberton – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Robbie Robertson – Killers of the Flower Moon
Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt – Barbie
Sienna King as Scotty Lyon and Juno Temple as Dorothy “Dot” Lyon in ‘Fargo’ season 5 episode 5 (Photo CR: Michelle Faye/FX)
Dot the Tiger (Juno Temple) orders Lorraine Lyon (Jennifer Jason Leigh) out of Wayne’s hospital room as FX’s riveting season five of Fargo continues with episode five. Lorraine’s not used to having her will be thwarted and considers what to do next about the Dot and Wayne situation.
Lorraine knows Dot’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but how do you handle a wild animal without getting bitten?
Dot and family have moved into Lorraine’s mansion, and Lorraine wrongly believes she has them under her thumb. Like the tiger, Dot has a cunning and strategic mind. A fact that’s made apparent when Lorraine conspires with her chief counselor, Danish Graves (David Foley), to have Dot locked up in a psychiatric ward.
When the orderlies come to get her, she reminds them of her recent history. She reportedly burned a man alive and chopped another’s ear off, and she will not go quietly.
After a brief but apparently vicious off-screen battle, Dot is strapped onto a gurney and taken to the Walter Mondale Care Center. (It’s the same hospital where Wayne’s being treated.) You can almost see the wheels turning as she plots her escape. Step one, distract the orderly. Step two, launch a surprise attack that results in the orderly strapped onto the gurney and Dot trying to blend in as she walks down the hall.
Dot’s attempt at small talk with two other employees doesn’t go well, and an alarm’s triggered – nearly ruining her escape. But Dot is fast on her feet and acts like she’s escorting a patient in a wheelchair.
Do. Not. Mess. With. Dot.
Lorraine conducts business with two men who have greatly underestimated her, seeming to believe Danish Graves is the person they should be dealing with. Lorraine quickly picks up on the fact they’re chauvinists and calls them out. She points out she’s the CEO of the billionaire dollar corporation Redemption Services.
Lorraine reveals she wants to buy their bank. Research shows they don’t have the funds to cover banking regulations. When they call her “lady,” Lorraine knocks $10 million off her offer. One partner dares to interrupt, and she silences him while explaining she wants to get into the credit business along with being in the debt business. Buying their bank is the first step in accomplishing that.
“But if you hate women more than you love money, I’ll just take my millions elsewhere,” says Lorraine, wrapping up the conversation. They have until the end of business to get back to her.
Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lorraine Lyon in ‘Fargo’ season 5 episode 5 (Photo CR: Michelle Faye/FX)
And now for the first face-to-face meeting between Lorraine Lyon and Sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm). She notes he’s from North Dakota and then welcomes him in when he claims Dot is his wife. Lorraine believes everyone can be bought and asks Roy what his “f**k off fee” is. Roy’s offended by Lorraine’s assumption he can be bought and explains he and Nadine were married in June 2007. After two years of being in a relationship, she disappeared.
Roy assumed she was dead and only discovered that she’s still alive after she was arrested. Lorraine would love to send Dot back to Roy, but unfortunately, her son loves Dot so Roy’s just going to have to “put his big boy pants on” and deal with it.
Roy claims that biblically speaking, it’s Wayne who is the thief and should send Dot back to him. Lorraine deduces he’s a constitutional lawman who doesn’t believe in taxes, helping the poor, assisting people with disabilities, or LGBTQ+ rights. Roy confirms she nailed it. That’s him to a T.
Basically, he wants freedom but no responsibility. Lorraine says the only person who gets that deal is a baby. “You’re fighting for your right to be a baby,” says Lorraine.
Danish interrupts to discuss the bankers, and Roy says he knows one of them. The amount of you-know-whats Lorraine has left to give has been depleted, and she announces Roy is leaving. If she can’t buy him off, then she has nothing further to talk about.
Before he leaves, Lorraine reminds him that after seven years of being missing, a person is presumed dead. So, Dot is Wayne’s “property” now.
Jon Hamm as Roy Tillman and Dave Foley as Danish Graves in ‘Fargo’ season 5 episode 5 (Photo CR: Michelle Faye/FX)
As Roy’s leaving, Deputy Indira Olmstead (Richa Moorjani) arrives with news that Dot escaped. Roy overhears this juicy tidbit and calls Gator (Joe Keery), ordering him to take his men and kidnap the husband. Oh, but Gator isn’t going to be in on the job. Roy doesn’t trust him to get it done and sends the other men into the hospital instead.
Dot’s making her way to the exit when Roy’s men walk in and ask for Wayne Lyon at the front desk. They’re sent to the third floor, and Dot quickly changes her plans, pushing the patient into the elevator and hoping to get to Wayne first.
Gator busies himself by pouting and vaping until he sees FBI Agents Meyer and Joaquin pull up. He runs into the hospital, hoping to warn his dad’s men.
Dot switches the patient’s nameplate from across the hall with Wayne’s and then enters his room, using it as a temporary hiding spot. When the patient insults her, she reacts by knocking him out. Next, Dot steps into Wayne’s room, and he asks what money is. The poor guy is completely oblivious to the world at this point – but incredibly lovable.
Dot escorts him to the bathroom to keep him out of harm’s way. They pause for a huge hug, and then Dot gently settles him into the bathroom. She instructs him to lock the door and not come out until she tells him to.
Gator walks by just as the FBI agents ask Dot/Nadine to step into a room to talk. She doesn’t have time right now but asks for their card.
Meanwhile, Roy’s minions have taken the rude patient, believing he’s Wayne. Gator’s never seen Wayne, so he doesn’t realize they’ve grabbed the wrong guy.
(Throughout the episode, season four star Jason Schwartzman’s been providing a voice-over with key facts about tigers that relate to Dot’s circumstances.)
Dot spots the orderlies who’ve been searching for her and suddenly agrees to Meyer and Joaquin’s help getting to the restroom. It takes a few minutes, but finally, the agents realize she’s escaped out the bathroom window.
Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lorraine Lyon and Richa Moorjani as Indira Olmstead in ‘Fargo’ season 5 episode 5 (Photo CR: Michelle Faye/FX)
Deputy Indira Olmstead meets with Lorraine, and the first thing Lorraine points out is that Indira is $192,000 in debt. Lorraine asks if Indira sees the cage that she’s in, and Indira admits she does. Indira’s just another animal in the cage at the zoo, while Lorraine is the zookeeper.
Lorraine wonders if Indira will do her job and look for Dot or continue to waste her time peppering her with questions.
While this is all going down, Dot makes her way to Lorraine’s house and secretly meets with Scotty out in the snow. (There’s armed security all over the property, yet Dot creeps in unnoticed.) Scotty reveals Sheriff Roy was there and said to say hi, and Dot claims he’s just someone she used to know.
Indira’s shocked when she arrives home after a disastrous day and discovers Dot and Scotty are in her house. Dot’s even made coffee, and Scotty’s happy to announce she had breakfast for dinner.
Scotty watches The Little Mermaid while Dot spills some of the beans. (Roy took her when she was 15 and abused her throughout their marriage.) She’d like to leave Scotty there for a few days, certain she’s not safe at Lorraine’s. After hearing her traumatic story, Indira is now officially #TeamDot – along with all of the audience, I’m sure.
Dot drives off in one of the dealer cars from Wayne Lyon Motors.
Emma Corrin as Darby Hart in ‘A Murder at the End of the World’ (Photo CR: Chris Saunders/FX)
The suspense is getting intense on FX’s A Murder at the End of the World with just two episodes left. Episode six, “Crime Seen,” quickly reveals that Darby (Emma Corrin) survives after being trapped under a pool cover at the end of episode five. Lee (Brit Marling) and David (Raul Esparza) rescue her, but David leaves the two women alone.
Back in Darby’s room, Lee confirms she was the one who sent Darby the Morse code message to meet. Darby really wants to trust Lee, but she brings up the fake passport she found and feels she isn’t being honest with her. Lee admits everyone she’s been honest with is gone, except for David. She insists she just wants to keep Darby safe.
Lee knows Andy can’t be trusted. At first, it was little things she noticed Andy would do or say, but then it became bigger. He controls everything Zoomer does, including how much he eats and sleeps. Andy became abusive to Lee, and Zoomer witnessed it. Lee also realized that when Andy’s hotel was complete, she and Zoomer would be trapped there.
Lee hatched an escape plan. She got a fake ID, a wig, and a beat-up old car and left with Zoomer. She crossed over into Canada and arrived at a cabin in the woods that was off the grid. It was her friend’s cabin, and she was shocked to see Andy (Clive Owen) standing there with her friend when she pulled up. Somehow, he found out.
Darby learns that Bill was invited by Andy and that Bill initially refused. She puts the pieces together and figures out she was only invited by Andy as bait to get to Bill.
The clues are beginning to fall into place for Darby, but the overall picture remains unclear.
Lee asked Bill for help, and in turn, he enlisted Rohan’s help because Rohan had a boat. Lee and Bill pulled in David to help as well. That’s why Bill and David were together the night that Bill died.
Brit Marling as Lee Andersen and Raúl Esparza as David in ‘A Murder at the End of the World’ episode 6 (Photo CR: Chris Saunders/FX)
Darby has an epiphany. Instead of trying to understand the killer, she should try to understand the victim. She and Lee head to Bill’s room, but they’re interrupted by the door opening. They’re afraid it’s Andy, but it is just Oliver (Ryan J. Haddad). Apparently, David sent him to get Lee and Darby and take them to his room.
Darby still wants to go to Bill’s room, and Lee and Oliver go with her.
While in Bill’s room, Oliver hands over the device he hid from Todd to Darby. It contains the footage from Bill’s doorbell camera on the night of his murder. There’s a light as if Bill opened his door, but there’s no one there. Darby thinks someone edited themselves out of the video.
As Darby goes over how Bill died, she realizes he had her book. There must be something in there he wants her to see. She thinks it’s the last chapter because that’s what she reads at book signings.
As she begins to read, memories flood her of the night they went to the serial killer’s house. A quick recap of what we learned in episode one: They found skeletal remains in the vacant house, and the killer caught them. This time, we see that when the man cocks his gun, Bill (Harris Dickinson) steps in front of Darby and the man kills himself.
After fleeing the basement, she checks the man’s ID and finds out he’s a former cop. Darby runs to a nearby house and asks the owner to call the police.
Harris Dickinson as Bill and Emma Corrin as Darby Hart in ‘A Murder at the End of the World’ episode 6 (Photo CR: Eric Liebowitz/FX)
Later at the motel, Darby discusses what just happened and starts to make a comment about the serial killer thinking they appreciated what he had done. Bill cuts her off fast, completely disagreeing and saying the killer certainly wasn’t appreciating anything.
Bill and Darby view things very differently. They could have died, and Darby doesn’t seem to get that.
The following day, Darby finds Bill’s note that he had to take off and left her the car. She also discovers his laptop and phone in the bathtub filled with water.
The action returns to Bill’s room, with Darby crying and Lee embracing her. Darby admits she hasn’t read that part of her book since she wrote it. She confesses, “I didn’t want to see all the ways I left him before he left me.”
Oliver’s struck by something Bill said about the serial killer and “faulty programming.” Oliver wonders what Bill meant by that, and Lee thinks Bill picked that part in the book because Bill knew his killer was a hacker. Oliver believes that maybe David was right about Lu Mei. Oliver adds that Lu Mei builds smart cities where everyone is tracked.
Darby considers it but is also suspicious of Eva. She had access to the pacemaker device and the morphine.
As Darby attempts to come up with a plan to get Lee and Zoomer out of there, someone in distress begins to call out Lee’s name. It’s David, and he’s not alone. He’s with Andy and his head of security, Todd.
Episode six ends with Andy saying, “There’s my wife.”
New episodes of FX’s A Murder at the End of the World air on Tuesdays on Hulu.
Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij (The OA) created the series and serve as writers, directors, and executive producers. Andrea Sperling, Melanie Marnich, and Nicki Paluga also executive produce.
Marisa Abela stars as Amy Winehouse in director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s ‘BACK TO BLACK’, a Focus Features release. (Photo Credit : Courtesy of Dean Rogers/Focus Features)
Director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black will open in U.S. theaters on May 10, 2024. Industry‘s Marisa Abela stars as the iconic singer who tragically passed away at the age of 27 on July 23, 2011.
The cast also includes Jack O’Connell (Ferrari), Eddie Marsan (Fair Play), and Lesley Manville (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris).
“My connection to Amy began when I left college and was hanging out in the creatively diverse London borough of Camden. I got a job at the legendary KOKO CLUB, and I can still breathe every market stall, vintage shop, and street… A few years later Amy wrote her searingly honest songs whilst living in Camden. Like with me, it became part of her DNA,” said director Taylor-Johnson.
Taylor-Johnson added: “I first saw her perform at a talent show at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho and it was immediately obvious she wasn’t just ’talent’… she was genius. As a filmmaker, you can’t really ask for more. I feel excited and humbled to have this opportunity to realize Amy’s beautifully unique and tragic story to cinema accompanied by the most important part of her legacy – her music. I am fully aware of the responsibility, with my writing collaborator – Matt Greenhalgh – I will create a movie that we will all love and cherish forever. Just like we do Amy.”
Monumental Pictures’ Alison Owen and Debra Hayward serve as producers, with Nicky Kentish-Barnes and STUDIOCANAL’s Ron Halpern and Joe Naftalin executive producing. The Amy Winehouse Estate, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music Publishing have given Taylor-Johnson’s film their full support.
Focus Features offers this synopsis:
“Back to Black is a never-before-seen glimpse into Amy Winehouse’s early rise to fame and the release of her groundbreaking studio album, Back to Black. Told from Amy’s perspective, the film is an unapologetic look at the woman behind the phenomenon and the relationship that inspired one of the most legendary albums of all time.”
Marisa Abela and director Sam Taylor-Johnson on the set (Photo Credit : Courtesy of Dean Rogers/Focus Features)Marisa Abela stars as Amy Winehouse in director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s ‘BACK TO BLACK,’ a Focus Features release. (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Dean Rogers/Focus Features)
‘The Voice’ season 24 coaches John Legend, Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire, and Niall Horan (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC)
NBC announced they’ve landed a star-studded lineup of performers for The Voice season 24 finale. Airing on Tuesday, December 19, 2023 at 9pm ET/PT, the season finale will feature special performances by Earth, Wind & Fire, Keith Urban, AJR, Jelly Roll, and Tyla. Plus, the first-ever coaching duo of Dan + Shay will take the stage to perform before taking their seats in the coaches chairs for season 25.
Season 24 coaches Niall Horan, John Legend, Reba McEntire, and Gwen Stefani will hit the stage with their final artists to perform special duets. The coaches will also team up for a rendition of “Let It Snow.” In addition, fans can expect to see the return of the season’s Top 12 artists for a group performance. And Bryce Leatherwood, the winner of season 22, is set to perform “The Finger” – so expect a show jam-packed with musical numbers.
Here’s the rundown on who is singing what:
• Three-time Grammy Award-winning duo Dan + Shay to take the iconic stage with a special performance of “Bigger Houses,” the fan-favorite title track of the band’s fifth new studio album, Bigger Houses.
• Earth, Wind & Fire – the nine-time Grammy-winning legends and one of the best-selling artists of all time – will perform a medley of hits from their iconic catalog that spans five decades. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers will be hitting the road again next summer with legendary band Chicago on their renowned co-headlining Heart & Soul 2024 Tour.
• Four-time Grammy winner Keith Urban will perform his #1 hit “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” which has amassed more than 1 billion streams.
• Multi-platinum band with over 5 billion streams, AJR will perform a mash-up of their 3x-platinum hit “Bang!” and “Yes I’m a Mess” from their new album, The Maybe Man.
• Jelly Roll, Best New Artist Grammy nominee and CMA New Artist of the Year, will perform his Grammy-nominated song, “Save Me,” from his record-breaking debut country album, Whitsitt Chapel.
• Grammy-nominated global Amapiano Pop/R&B sensation Tyla will take to the stage with her history-making Billboard Top 10 hit “Water” from her self-titled upcoming debut album.
The much-anticipated third season of Netflix’s Bridgerton finally has a confirmed premiere date. The eight-episode season will be split in two, with the four-episode part one premiering on May 16, 2024. Part two’s four episodes debut on June 13.
The long-awaited premiere date announcement was accompanied by a short but sweet video featuring a voiceover by Lady Whistledown. The one-minute video acknowledges that season three’s premiere has been a long time coming and that fans from around the globe have been impatiently awaiting the release date confirmation.
Netflix released this description of the upcoming season:
“Bridgerton is back for its third season and finds Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) has finally given up on her long-held crush on Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) after hearing his disparaging words about her last season. She has, however, decided it’s time to take a husband, preferably one who will provide her with enough independence to continue her double life as Lady Whistledown, far away from her mother and sisters. But lacking in confidence, Penelope’s attempts on the marriage mart fail spectacularly.
Meanwhile, Colin has returned from his summer travels with a new look and a serious sense of swagger. But he’s disheartened to realize that Penelope, the one person who always appreciated him as he was, is giving him the cold shoulder. Eager to win back her friendship, Colin offers to mentor Penelope in the ways of confidence to help her find a husband this season. But when his lessons start working a little too well, Colin must grapple with whether his feelings for Penelope are truly just friendly.
Complicating matters for Penelope is her rift with Eloise (Claudia Jessie), who has found a new friend in a very unlikely place, while Penelope’s growing presence in the ton makes it all the more difficult to keep her Lady Whistledown alter ego a secret.”
In addition to #Polin, season three’s cast includes Claudia Jessie as Eloise Bridgerton, Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton, Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte, Adjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury, and Ruth Gemmell as Violet Bridgerton. Lorraine Ashbourne plays Mrs. Varley, Hannah Dodd is Francesca Bridgerton, Simone Ashley is Kate Sharma, Jonathan Bailey is Anthony Bridgerton, and Harriet Cains is Philipa Featherington.
Additional season three cast members include Bessie Carter as Prudence Featherington, Jessica Madsen as Cressida Cowper, Florence Hunt as Hyacinth Bridgerton, Martins Imhangbe as Will Mondrich, Will Tilston as Gregory Bridgerton, Polly Walker as Portia Featherington, and Julie Andrews as Lady Whistledown. Hugh Sachs is Brimsley, Emma Naomi plays Alice Mondrich, Kathryn Drysdale is Genevieve Delacroix, and Sam Phillips is Lord Debling.
Jess Brownell guides the series as showrunner and serves as an executive producer along with Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, Tom Verica, and Chris Van Dusen.
Apple TV+’s 2024 lineup includes the new comedy series Palm Royale, which is set to premiere on March 20th. Loosely based on Juliet McDaniel’s 2018 novel Mr. and Mrs. American Pie, Palm Royale will kick off with the release of the first three episodes. Additional new episodes arrive on Wednesdays leading up to the May 8th season finale.
Emmy and Oscar nominee Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, Saturday Night Live) leads the cast of the ensemble comedy. Oscar and Emmy winner Laura Dern (Marriage Story, Big Little Lies), Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Leslie Bibb, Amber Chardae Robinson, Mindy Cohan, Julia Duffy, Kaia Gerber, and Oscar and Emmy winner Allison Janney (I, Tonya, Mom) also star.
Big-name guest stars include Carol Burnett and Bruce Dern.
“Palm Royale is a true underdog story that follows Maxine Simmons (Wiig) as she endeavors to break into Palm Beach high society,” reads Apple TV+’s synopsis. “As Maxine attempts to cross that impermeable line between the haves and the have-nots, Palm Royale asks the same question that still baffles us today: ‘How much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to get what someone else has?’ Set during the powder keg year of 1969, Palm Royale is a testament to every outsider fighting for their chance to truly belong.”
Abe Sylvia writes and serves as showrunner. Executive producers include Sylvia, Kristen Wiig, Laura Dern, Jayme Lemons, Katie O’Connell Marsh, Tate Taylor, John Norris, Sharr White, Sheri Holman, and Boat Rocker. Tate Taylor, Abe Sylvia, Claire Scanlon, and Stephanie Laing directed season one.
Apple TV+’s premiere date announcement was accompanied by the first batch of photos from the 10-episode season.
Laura Dern (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Leslie Bibb (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Carol Burnett (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Ricky Martin (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Amber Chardae Robinson (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Kaia Gerber (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Josh Lucas (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Allison Janney (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)
