Taylor Swift has once again stolen a record from herself—which must be a nice change of pace, after all that shit that went down with her masters a few years back—with Spotify announcing today that Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, has already smashed the record for most streamed albums in a single day. A record previously held by one Taylor Swift, for 2022's Midnights, which just barely managed to fend off a challenge last year from 1989 (Taylor’s Version) by Swift, T. ...
Devastating the collective political cartoonists of America—forced to crumple up potentially hundreds of hastily scrawled cartoons depicting Bert and Ernie screaming slogans while out on the picket lines—Deadline reports tonight that the Writers Guild Of America has reached a tentative agreement with Sesame Workshop, likely avoiding a strike that could have shut down production of long-running children’s educational series Sesame Street. The 35 writers on the series had authorized a vote to...
For the second time in the franchise’s ridiculously successful 23-year history, CBS’s CSI franchise is facing the prospect of a world in which there are no active CSI shows on the air. The network announced tonight that it’s killing off revival series CSI: Vegas after three seasons on the air, tossing it onto our old pal, the Friday Night TV Murder Pile. At least it won’t be lonely: Besides being joined by the well-analyzed corpses of its generally more successful siblings, Vegas arrives on...
While it will probably take a few more days for all the reactions, close readings, and fervor over The Tortured Poets Department to really crystallize, one thing that’s immediately clear about the album is its sheer mass. Including its surprise, 16-track sister album, The Anthology, TTPD is a 31-song, two-plus hour behemoth, covering “a daunting amount of lore,” in the words of The A.V. Club’s Mary Kate Carr. But Taylor, clearly going for quantity over what could have been slightly more...
We would like to posit that no single film role has done more to damage the psyches of British male actors of a certain age, type, and jawline than James Bond. The moment pretty much any of these poor saps hits, like, 25, the rumors and speculation, the internal questioning, the horrific, endless pressure all start. “You should be James Bond!” the universe screams at these suckers, until the poor damn fools actually start to believe it, helplessly throwing themselves into the thresher, only to...
It’s another banner week for casting news. Big name actors like Steve Buscemi, Emma Thompson, and Don Johnson landed new television projects, while Riz Ahmed becomes the newest addition to Wes Anderson’s merry band of players. Also, Michael Showalter’s Christmas pic Oh. What. Fun. rounds out its cast. Read on for more. Keanu Reeves to lead new Ruben Östlund It’s a big week for Keanu Reeves, who was just cast in the next film from Triangle Of Sadness director Ruben Östlund. According to...
What is going on with this new The Office thing? The possible reboot/possible revival/possible spin-off has been all smoke and mirrors and Greg Daniels schemes. But it’s real enough to have apparently bagged two pretty big names as the first actors cast. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Domhnall Gleeson (of the Star Wars sequel trilogy) and Sabrina Impacciatore (of the second season of The White Lotus) have signed on to join this amorphous mystery version of the beloved sitcom. As we’ve...
It’s pretty safe to assume that almost everyone engaging with this site is interested in celebrity gossip in some form, whether that’s about directors getting sent t0 “movie jail” or housewives getting sentenced to actual jail. If you think you’re immune, first of all maybe stop lying to yourself and second, consider this scenario: seeking treatment for your gossip addiction, you instead end up smack in the center of it all—at a rehab center for the stars. Wouldn’t you fold just a little bit? ...
Storming into theaters this weekend to play alongside murky, politically fraught films like Civil War, there’s something comfortingly simple and familiar about a historical action flick dedicated entirely to coming up with ways to kill Nazis. From Inglorious Basterds to last year’s Sisu, it’s a subgenre that’s existed for decades—and Guy Ritchie is finally throwing his hat in the Nazi-stomping ring with The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare. But while its loquacious title may promise an action...
If you’ve had a chance to catch Hundreds Of Beavers during its recent roadshow tour, or at any of the many festivals where it’s played to enthusiastic audiences, you already know what a weird and wonderful film it is. If not, it’s kind of hard to explain. Think of it as a live-action Looney Tunes feature, with influences as wide-ranging as video games, martial arts films, and early silent comedies. Shot over 12 weeks in the frozen tundra of northern Wisconsin on a budget of around $150,000, it’s...
Mandisa, the contemporary Christian artist and former American Idol contestant, has died, according to Rolling Stone. She was 47 years old. A statement posted to her social media reads, “We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased. At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details. We ask for your prayers for her family and close knit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time.” It goes on, “Mandisa was a voice of encouragement and truth...
Uh oh! It sounds like Monty Python co-founder John Cleese won’t be able to fart in our general direction via his show about cancel culture any time soon, because it has reportedly already been canceled. Help! He’s being repressed! The project—pretty hilariously titled John Cleese: Cancel Me—was announced all the way back in 2021. “I’m delighted to have a chance to find out, on camera, about all the aspects of so-called political correctness. There’s so much I really don’t understand, like: how...