Even M. Night Shyamalan — known for making darker movies like “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs” — goes looking for the light sometimes.
“I just finished three really dark movies, ‘Old,’ ‘Knock at the Cabin’ and ‘Trap,’ which are really edgy movies where the characters are super, super dark and complicated, and I wanted to do something different,” said the director.
He found an interesting opportunity to collaborate on a new supernatural romance novel called “Remain” with Nicholas Sparks. Yes, that Nicholas Sparks — king of romantic dramas like “The Notebook” and “A Walk to Remember.”
Co-authored books are a hot trend right now in the publishing world. Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben have a new novel out. James Patterson has teamed up with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton on books. This collab, however, is different in that Shyamalan had written the screenplay and Sparks agreed to write a novel based on that story. A “Remain” film — starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor — already wrapped production and will be released next year.
“I don’t think anybody has ever done what we just did, which was take the same story and simultaneously go do our separate things,” said Sparks. “It isn’t in linear fashion. It’s two people doing two different art forms from the same story. I trusted him 100% to make the best film version of that story possible and he trusted me.”
The two crossed paths years ago when Shyamalan was asked if he would want to adapt Sparks’ novel “The Notebook” into a feature film. The job ended up going to Nick Cassavetes, but Shyamalan said Sparks’ work “always represented something magical to me.” It meant something to him that he would be entrusted with a story so beloved.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Sparks and Shyamalan talk about teaming up, scary movies and chicken salad. Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
____
AP: At first thought, you two working together seems like an unlikely duo. but the supernatural and romance genres have a lot in common.
SPARKS: We’re not the first to dabble in this. The biggest movie of 1990 was “Ghost.” Shakespeare used to put ghosts into his plays.
SHYAMALAN: I think love is a supernatural conceit. It’s a mythology we all buy into, but it is still a mythology, a supernatural mythology that there’s a “one.” The “destined one” that you meet in the coffee shop and that you know it was meant to be, and then all the things that happened because you met.
AP: Night, you say you approached Gyllenhaal at the beginning of the year about this role. When you did that, did you tell him it would also be a novel written by Sparks?
SHYAMALAN: I must have. But it was such an unusual moment because I had finished writing the screenplay, pressed save, rushed to get in the car to go to New York for my daughter’s birthday. In the car the phone rings, and it’s Jake. And I’m like, “What’s up, man?” We hadn’t talked in five years, something more. And he’s like, “I’d love to be in one of your movies.” And I went, “That is so weird. Where are you?” And he’s like, “I’m in New York.” I said, “Well, I’m going to New York. Want to have tea?” I had a gut feeling that the universe was doing something. So, I called my assistant. I said, “Print the script.” So, we’re just having tea and catching up. And he’s telling me how in love he is and how he’s just so happy and in love. And I said, “You know what? Here.” He was in shock. He called me two days later and said, “I’m in. I love it.” It was a weird kind of beautiful thing.
AP: Does the book follow the screenplay to the letter or vice versa?
SPARKS: Like any adaptation, no. The first thing I said when I read his script was, “Hey, this is great. Of course, it’s gonna be nothing like my novel. It’s entirely different.” Night said basically the same thing.
SHYAMALAN: I think for audiences, it’ll be really interesting. They can point out the differences and ask, “Why did Nicholas do that with the character and the backstory? Why did Night do this?” Our dialogue isn’t the same.
AP: Night, we’re in spooky season with Halloween coming up. Are there any films — besides your own — that you recommend watching?
SHYAMALAN: “The Exorcist,” of course, it’s always there. There’s “The Innocents.” “The Haunting” 1963 film by Robert Wise. And the Japanese movie “Cure.”
AP: Nicholas, have you made Night your famous chicken salad with Splenda?
SPARKS: No, I haven’t. I did an interview with the New York Times where I offered the reporter some of my homemade chicken salad and it had Splenda. And whatever reason this blew up on social media. People thought it must be the most disgusting chicken salad ever. So, I said, “No, it’s delicious.” We started making it on my book tour last year, handing it out to people. And in fact, Splenda put the recipe on its boxes. You can get them. I was invited to the Indianapolis 500 to see the Splenda car.
SHYAMALAN: To get to the core of your question. No, he has not made it. Nor has he mentioned it. Didn’t even offer it.
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco. Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco
It’s time to celebrate the best and brightest of the small screen. Tonight, the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards commence, honoring the crème de la crème of the television industry. The awards show, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, is once again taking place at the Peacock Theater in Downtown L.A., and this year, will be hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze for the first time. Along with Bargatze, presenters set to take the stage include Angela Basset, Jason Bateman, Alexis Bledel, Stephen Colbert, Jennifer Coolidge, Eric Dane, Tina Fay, Walton Goggins, Lauren Graham (please, please let there be a Gilmore Girls reunion!), Jude Law, Evan Peters and Sydney Sweeney.
Apple TV+’s Severance leads the pack with the most overall nominations at a staggering 27, followed by The Penguin (24) and newcomer The Studio (23). No matter if you agree or disagree with the surprises and snubs for the actor and actress noms, there’s no denying that the major categories feature some major star power, including Ayo Edebiri, Kristen Bell, Adam Brody, Jeremy Allen White, Sterling K. Brown, Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo, Michelle Williams and Jake Gyllenhaal. And of course, Harrison Ford, whose nod for his role in Shrinking marks his first ever Emmy nomination.
Before the awards are handed out and the official ceremony begins, however, the attendees walk the red carpet in their most glamorous ensembles. Below, see the best red carpet fashion from the 2025 Emmy Awards.
Cate Blanchett. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Cate Blanchett
Michelle Williams. Getty Images
Michelle Williams
in Chanel
Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost. Getty Images
Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost
Keri Russell. AFP via Getty Images
Keri Russell
in Armani Privé
Elizabeth Banks. Getty Images
Elizabeth Banks
Jennie Garth. Getty Images
Jennie Garth
Adam Brody and Leighton Meester. AFP via Getty Images
Adam Brody and Leighton Meester
Brody and Meester in Prada
Kristen Bell. Getty Images
Kristen Bell
in Armani Privé
Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman. Getty Images
Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman
Akerman in Greta Constantine
Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell. Getty Images
Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell
Bibb in Giorgio Armani
Colman Domingo. Getty Images
Colman Domingo
in Valentino
Hunter Schafer. AFP via Getty Images
Hunter Schafer
Alexis Bledel. Getty Images
Alexis Bledel
in Marmar Halim
Lauren Graham. Getty Images
Lauren Graham
Catherine Zeta-Jones. Getty Images
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Halsey. Getty Images
Halsey
Rashida Jones. Getty Images
Rashida Jones
in Dior
Mariska Hargitay. Getty Images
Mariska Hargitay
in Elie Saab
Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart. Getty Images
Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart
Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty. Getty Images
Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty
Hannah Einbinder. Variety via Getty Images
Hannah Einbinder
in Louis Vuitton
Kathryn Hahn. WireImage
Kathryn Hahn
in Valentino
Sydney Sweeney. AFP via Getty Images
Sydney Sweeney
in Oscar de la Renta
Parker Posey. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Parker Posey
in Valentino
Selena Gomez. Getty Images
Selena Gomez
in Louis Vuitton
Angela Bassett. Getty Images
Angela Bassett
in Yara Shoemaker
Jake Gyllenhaal and Jeanne Cadieu. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
NEW YORK (AP) — There are so many Hollywood stars on New York theater stages or on the way that you might want to level up your stargazing game. Why not play some bingo?
Sure, Robert Downey Jr., Daniel Dae Kim, Jim Parsons, Mia Farrow, and Katie Holmes are currently in New York, and George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Nick Jonas and Jake Gyllenhaal are on deck for spring.
But if you really want to impress, why not connect the stars, like playing bingo with the stars of “Frasier”? Catch Bebe Neuwirth (who played chilly Lilith) now in “Cabaret” on Broadway; Dan Butler (who played Bulldog on the TV show) in the off-Broadway play “Another Shot;” and then in a few months, see David Hyde Pierce (who played Niles) in “The Pirates of Penzance.”
This combination of photos shows actors, from left, Dan Butler, David Hyde Pierce and Bebe Neuwirth. (AP Photo)
“I love that it would bring people there, and you would just hope that they get bitten by that thing theater can do that no other medium can do,” he says. “Hopefully, it brings you in the doors again.”
Laura Stanczyk, a veteran casting director and producer who has cast dozens of Broadway, off-Broadway and international plays and musicals, knows many shows secure a bankable star to try to stand out.
“When you have actors like Robert Downey Jr. who are finally showing up and participating in the New York theater scene, it becomes even more important to have someone who has some kind of notoriety,” she says.
She is producing the play that Butler is starring in by Spike Manton and Harry Teinowitz, in which a deadpan Butler plays a radio DJ in recovery. “It’s sort of like Bulldog goes to rehab,” jokes the actor.
A wave of stars
Movie and TV celebrities have been part of Broadway’s DNA for decades — one recent big wave was in 2010 with the arrival of Robin Williams, Chris Rock, Kiefer Sutherland, Daniel Radcliffe, Pee-wee Herman, Vanessa Redgrave, Ben Stiller and Edie Falco — but their presence this season is particularly striking.
Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler are starring in “Romeo & Juliet,” Nicole Scherzinger has “Sunset Boulevard,” Peter Gallagher and Julianna Margulies are in “Left on Tenth” and Sean Astin is playing Santa in “Elf the Musical.”
Dan Butler appears on stage during a performance of the off-Broadway play “Another Shot,” in New York on Oct. 13, 2024. (Joan Marcus via AP)
Stanczyk says it’s not too surprising to see so much star wattage since many of the TV and movie stars have their roots in theater. Margulies studied stage, and that’s also where Connor and Zegler got their starts. Scherzinger studied musical theater at Wright State University.
“People forget that these great actors got a lot of their start in theater,” she says. “I do think some directors gravitate towards that because they know those folks — it’s in their bones and there’s a common language.”
The reason “Frasier” Bingo is possible is because so many associated with the show are theater veterans, starting with James Burrows, the director who helped craft the “Cheers” spinoff. Burrows started in the theater and is the son of the legendary playwright and director Abe Burrows, behind “Guys and Dolls” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”
Butler — who was recently cheered on by Pierce during a visit to “Another Shot” — said “Frasier” often had a stage feel. “It sort of felt like doing a short play in front of a live audience every time we filmed,” he said.
Other TV shows — like “Law & Order,” “The Good Wife,” “The Gilded Age,” ”Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and “Only Murders in the Building” — share that stage vibe since they also have leaned into casting from the theater.
So hot is New York that the stars are even coming off-Broadway, like Adam Driver in “Hold On to Me Darling,” Marisa Tomei in “Babe,” Kenneth Branagh in “King Lear,” T.R. Knight in “The Merchant of Venice” and Christian Slater and Calista Flockhart in “Curse of the Starving Class.”
The influx of Hollywood types aren’t squeezing out Broadway stars: Audra McDonald, Sutton Foster, Jonathan Groff, Patti LuPone, Megan Hilty, Jennifer Simard, Adrienne Warren and Darren Criss have all booked parts.
The lure of the stage
Louis McCartney, a rising screen star who will be bringing the play “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” from London to Broadway in spring 2025, didn’t train as a stage animal, but he’s mesmerized.
“It’s sort of this back and forth where you give yourself up,” he says. “You give your soul every single night. And I think that’s beautiful.”
If “Frasier” Bingo isn’t your speed, there’s always “Succession” Bingo: Jeremy Strong was on Broadway in a revival of “An Enemy of the People,” Kieran Culkin will be in a revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross” and Sarah Snook gets the stage all to herself as she plays all 26 parts in an adaptation of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” this spring. Or play a long game: With Clooney and Margulies, you can start on “ER” Bingo.
This combination of images shows the cast of HBO’s “Succession,” from left, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, and Jeremy Strong. (AP Photo)
Stanczyk thinks Hollywood interest in the stage may be driven by the stars attempting to push themselves professionally and to capture that unique buzz that life theater can give.
“Every night you’re in the theater that thing that happens hasn’t happened before. It’s a unique exchange of energy,” she says. “There’s nothing else like it in the world.”
For weeks, viewers have wondered who the killer at the center of the Apple TV+ series Presumed Innocent might be. The show, which centers on prosecutor Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal)—the prime suspect in the murder of one of his colleagues—is based on Scott Turow’s 1987 novel, which was previously adapted into a 1990 film starring Harrison Ford. Thanks to that, a few savvy viewers may have thought they knew who the murderer would be. But instead, the creators of the show used that precedent to play with the viewer up until the very end—and then reveal a completely different killer.
*Warning: Spoilers ahead from the July 24 finale ofPresumed Innocent.*
Presumed Innocent follows Rusty’s trial after he’s accused of murdering Carolyn Polhemus (Renate Reinsve), an ambitious prosecutor who worked in his office. Rusty had an affair with Carolyn years ago that had recently restarted. The news devastates his family, his wife Barbara (Ruth Negga) and their two children Kyle (Kingston Rumi Southwick) and Jaden (Chase Infiniti). Rusty’s colleague Tommy Molto (Peter Sarsgaard) serves as the prosecutor for the case, but seems to have a personal issue with Rusty that colors his vision. Given the horrifying way her body was tied up, there’s also the possibility that Carolyn’s murder is somehow tied to a case she worked in the past.
The series takes twists and turns that make it feel like maybe Rusty really did do it, despite the fact that he denies that he had anything to do with Carolyn’s death. It’s revealed that Carolyn had recently found out she was pregnant with his child, and had tried to end the relationship—and that Rusty had an obsession with her. At other times, the evidence leaves questions about whether someone else is responsible for her murder. As Rusty’s trial heats up, it takes a dramatic turn when the previously undiscovered murder weapon (a fire poker) appears on Tommy Molto’s desk, with a threatening note attached.
Most of these plot points echo moments from the book and the 1990 film adaptation. At the end of the film, though, Ford’s Rusty discovers the murder weapon (a hammer) in his own toolshed—then learns that his wife Barbara was the one who murdered Carolyn, after she discovered that he’d started up their affair again. That parallels the book’s ending, which also reveals Barbara as the murderer after Rusty accuses her of the crime.
It would make sense, then, for viewers to assume the series would go the same route. After all, Negga is an Oscar-nominated actress who could deliver a killer (pun intended) monologue confession, much like Bonnie Bedelia did in the original film. And for a moment in the final episode, it looks like the series is, in fact, going that way. Rusty tells Barbara that he knows she killed Carolyn because he had her car tracked, and saw that she was the one who drove to Molto’s house on the night the fire poker was left there. Barbara denies it, with a shocked look on her face. Rusty also admits that he was the one who returned to Carolyn’s home later that night and found her dead. Thinking that Barbara was the one who killed her, he tied Carolyn up to divert attention from his wife as the murderer.
Then the series delivers its final twist, revealing that the murderer was actually Rusty and Barbara’s daughter Jaden. She interrupts her parents’ conversation, saying she was the one who took her mother’s car to Molto’s house. She also admits to going to Carolyn’s home on the night of the murder to beg her to stop having an affair with her father. When Carolyn revealed she was pregnant, Jaden snapped and attacked her with the fire poker.
Presumed Innocent
Michael Becker
In the end, Negga does get to deliver an incredible acting moment, as a mother reacting to her daughter’s murder confession. Rusty tells them they’ll never speak of this again, and takes the blame for having the affair that put all of this in motion. The series ends with the family enjoying a dinner together, and closing this chapter of their lives.
Is that the end of the story? Perhaps not. Presumed Innocent was originally released as a limited series, but after its strong success, Apple TV+ announced that it’s been renewed the series for a second season. It’s not clear if any or many of the first season’s characters will return for the second – all we know so far is the new season will focus on a new case – but we have a feeling the twists and turns will be back for more.
Sabrina Carpenter has been working late because she’s the singer at SLN season 49 finale. And Jake Gyllenhaal is the host closing the longest-running American sketch comedy live show before it breaks for the summer.
The 49th season of Saturday Night Live (SNL), highlighted by an unexpected and gory Scooby-Doo twist, ended with actor Jake Gyllenhaal as a guest host and a performance by Sabrina Carpenter. Despite fans’ tempered expectations given that the much anticipated 50th anniversary season is upon us, SNL was still able to have some standout moments.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Sabrina Carpenter’s Scooby-Doo skit takes a dark turn
One of the best sketches of the finale reimagined Scooby-Doo in a darker than usual way. Along with her breathtaking Espresso performance, Sabrina is also seen in this SNL skit titled Scooby Doo and the Mystery of the Shadow Phantom. The official description of the dark comedy skit states, “Things go off the rails as Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo (Jake Gyllenhaal, Sabrina Carpenter, Sarah Sherman, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes) attempt to solve a mystery.”
Jake Gyllenhaal embodied Fred while Sabrina Carpenter slayed as Daphne. Sarah Sherman played the role of Velma alongside Mikey Day’s Shaggy and Andrew Dismukes. The sketch followed the Scooby-Doo gang as they investigated a mystery in a haunted house. Upon catching the mystery man, Fred accidentally rips off his face and chaos ensues. Carpenter’s Daphne hilariously suggests they should “put the face in a bowl of dry rice.” This routine light-heartedness soon turned violent when Fred (Gyllenhaal) pulled out a gun. The situation kept escalating until all that could end it was just Scooby adding another surprising yet funny spin on this well-known plot. Watch here:
Advertisement
Saturday Night Live is gearing up for its 50th anniversary in 2025
Plans for significant celebrations for SNL’s 50th anniversary in 2025 are already underway as the show gears up for it. This live primetime special will be held on Sunday, February 16, 2025 during the celebratory weekend which shall be dedicated to honoring the longest-running show on television. There will be a three-hour long primetime special on the very day.
American Television staple SNL will hold this landmark event in recognition of its own impact and legacy throughout these years. Last year SNL creator Lorne Michaels confirmed his participation in forthcoming festivities; “We’re doing the 50th anniversary show in February of ’25 so I will definitely be there for that, and definitely be there until that,” he hinted at extensive preparations for the event while speaking with Entertainment Tonight.
Main cast members of SNL season 49 include Kenan Thompson, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day, Ego Nwodim, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Punkie Johnson, Bowen Yang, Sarah Sherman, and James Austin Johnson. Not only did the Season 49 finale provide an unforgettable ending to the season but also prepared viewers for upcoming festivities celebrating its golden jubilee where more fun awaits audience members.
The first gay couple ever to appear on American television dates back to 1975 — in Norman Lear’s groundbreaking and highly controversial sitcom Hot I Baltimore.
Back then, featuring an LGBTQ+ couple on national TV was considered horrifying, even shameful. Although it’s far more common nowadays to see LGBTQ+ characters represented in film and television, we still have a long way to go.
These days, we’re lucky to have such a diverse array of incredible gay and lesbian couples gracing our screens, both big and small. Let’s take a look at some of the most fabulous same-sex pairings represented in the media over the years.
Jack and Ennis – Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain was one of the first same-sex romance films to make it to the mainstream media. Back when the movie was in production, A-list celebrities turned down the leading roles of Jack and Ennis right and left. Back then, the idea of a gay gay love story was so taboo in Hollywood that actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg were quick to say “no” because they were terrified that the world would think they were gay and their career would be over.
It looks like it was their loss, though, since the 2005 film was an Oscar-winning triumph. The roles were given to Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger, respectively. Gyllenhall and Ledger play Wyoming cowboys caught up in a 20-year-long forbidden romance.
Despite their undying love for each other — Jack famously tells Ennis, “I wish I knew how to quit you!” — they’re held back by spousal duties and the restrictive social norms of the time.
Ronit and Esti – Disobedience
Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz play forbidden lovers in this gut wrenching 2018 film. Esti (McAdams) and Ronit (Weisz) seem to have all the odds stacked against them. Set in an Orthodox Jewish community, the highly religious standards make it just about impossible for the two to express their passions. But gloriously, they find a way.
In private, when no one’s watching, Esti and Ronit are able to act on their years of pent-up emotions.
Grab a box of tissues for this one. Disobedience is a total tear-jerker.
Carol and Therese – Carol
This 2015 film captures the sizzling love affair between Therese (Rooney Mara) and Carol (Cate Blanchette.) While the film is a stunning visual masterpiece, the snowy Manhattan backdrop and lush mid-century decor pale in comparison to Mara and Blanchette’s on-screen chemistry. In the film, our leading ladies Therese and Carol must keep their love affair a secret because Carol has a daughter and is going through a tough divorce. Their forbidden romance is constantly disrupted by Carol’s suspicious husband, a private detective, and … you guessed it … the constricting social norms of the 1950s.
Elio and Oliver – Call Me By Your Name
Call Me By Your Name is an exquisite love story that’s set “Somewhere in Northern Italy.” Based on the novel by Andre Aciman, the 2017 film put Timothee Chalamet on the map and launched him into the stratosphere.
What separates Call Me By Your Name from the other films listed is that there’s no bloodthirsty antagonist determined to tear Elio and Oliver apart. In fact, the only people preventing Elio and Oliver from living happily ever after are… Elio and Oliver.
Since there’s no evil force lurking in the corners, Call Me By Your Name unspools like a sun-dappled fantasy. Their romance is met with nothing but support from friends and family.
Due to the film’s lack of obstacles, a handful of critics have labeled this story unrealistic. It doesn’t have the many hurdles that same-sex love interests usually face, both in real life and in media portrayals.
Yet author Aciman says this is very much intentional. Quoting Aristotle, he said of Call Me By Your Name: “Art is not about what happens, but about what should, and ought to happen.”
Nicky Nicholls and Lorna Morello – Orange is The New Black
Orange is The New Black made waves — seismic waves — when it premiered on Netflix in 2013. The series is groundbreaking both for its diversity and its depiction of an array of lesbian relationships.
While Piper and Alex are Orange’s primary couple, many fans found themselves gravitating more towards the second-tier couple, Nicky Nicholls and Lorna Morello.
Played by Natasha Lyonne and Yael Stone, respectively, the frisson between these two is enough to set fire to Litchfield Prison. What starts out as a casual friend-with-benefits deal eventually grows into one of the most heartbreaking romances on television.
Blaine and Kurt – Glee
Kurt Hummel went through hell and back during the first handful of seasons on Glee. As the only openly gay kid in his closed-minded Ohio-based high school, he bore the brunt of constant torment from his peers.
Just when he was at his lowest point, Blaine (Darren Criss) waltzed in to flip Kurt’s life upside down once and for all. It was a heartwarming change of pace for Kurt, who had spent his whole life on the outside looking in.
Santana and Brittany – Glee
Initially, Santana and Brittany’s liaison was played off as a joke. But as the series evolved, so did their relationship. The pair went on to become one of the most popular couples on Glee.
Tweek and Craig – South Park
Tweek and Craig, South ParkComedy Central
When we hear the term South Park, the word “progressive” doesn’t immediately spring to mind. After all, the animated series is famous for its shock humor and toilet jokes. This makes it all the more amusing that the Mountain Town series has one of the hottest LGBTQ couples on TV.
The romance between Tweek and Craig was borne out of fan service. Ever since they appeared in a 1998 episode titled “Tweek and Craig,” some starry-eyed fans of the show had been “shipping” these fictional characters.
This did not go unnoticed by creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who decided to respond by making Tweek and Craig a “canon” pair.
Cam and Mitchell – Modern Family
It’s safe to say that Modern Family wouldn’t be the same without Cam and Mitchell. Their comedic charm brings so much wit to the ABC sitcom, and many regard the pair as fan favorites. Despite having conflicting personalities, their differences only seem to strengthen their bond.
Patrick and David – Schitt’s Creek
Schitt’s Creek’s David and Patrick have the perfect relationship. From the beginning, it’s been nothing but smooth sailing for these two. Their lack of drama is quite refreshing for LGTBQ+ couples, who are mostly represented in the media through a tragic lens. And while there’s certainly a place for that, it’s nice to see a breezy gay couple getting on with their lives together.
One of the cutest moments in TV history was when Patrick proposed to David. Instead of a typical engagement ring, Patrick proposed with four rings — typical of what David usually wears.
They say, “To love them is to know them.” Based on Patrick’s four-ring proposal, he certainly knows David!
All the cool film girlies just came back from Berlin. Specifically, they are fresh from the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, and they still smell like cigarettes to prove it. Between anecdotes about how Berghain is ruined, they’re telling me how they watched Cillian Murphy (my father, emotionally) give another masterful, award-worthy performance in the Enda Walsh adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These. This is apropos of nothing, except that I was not in Berlin, so I will have to wait alongside everyone else to see one of my favorite books on screen later this year.
But how can I be bitter? This week, half of Los Angeles will flock to Texas for South By Southwest in Austin, and I’ll be delightfully distracted by a whole new slate of upcoming releases premiering at this year’s festival. There are so many new films to be excited about premiering at the festival — even without Cillian Murphy’s cheekbones.
Let’s get into it.
What is SXSW?
I’m in for a week of acronyms: SXSW in ATX FTW – LFG!! South By Southwest (aka SXSW or SX or South By) is a film festival, music festival, and industry conference all rolled into one. Fueled by Texas BBQ and Torchy’s Tacos, creative people in the tech, film, music, education, and culture industries swarm from theater to concert hall and conference room networking (allegedly), writing pretentious reviews about the future of culture (guilty), and being menaces to the residents of Austin by causing even worse traffic jams than the city is used to— and I can’t wait.
When is SXSW 2024?
SXSW 2024 will be held from March 8 – 16 2024. Highly anticipated events include Rolling Stone’s Future of Music Series (my artists to watch are Flo Milli and Faye Webster), and the SXSW Music Festival (which, this year, includes The Black Keys, Bootsy Collins, and many more). Of course, the highlight is the insane 2024 SXSW movie lineup. I can’t wait to laugh, cry, and contemplate my very existence while staring up at a screen at SXSW. In the words of Nicole Kidman, “We come to this place to dream.” And this week, the dreamers are all in Austin, Texas.
Here are the films at SXSW 2024 we’re most excited about – starring an assortment of all our favorite actors (even though Cilian won’t be making an appearance). Still, we’re excited to see new performances from faves like Ayo Edebiri, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Jonathan Groff, Hunter Schafer, Rachel Zegler, Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, and a whole lot more.
SXSW 2024 Official Opening Night Selection
Road House
This is not Patrick Swayze’s Road House (1989) — but by the time Jake Gyllenhaal is done with you, you’ll love it as much as the original. Gyllenhaal stars as an ex-UFC fighter-turned-bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, owned by Frankie (Jessica Williams). Facing threats from a criminal gang led by Brandt (Billy Magnussen), Dalton’s violent past emerges. When he is confronted by Knox (Conor McGregor), a lethal gun-for-hire, the escalating brawls and bloodshed become more dangerous than his days in the Octagon. Fans of real-life, ex-UFC fighter Conor McGregor are excited to see him in this film, even if he is the villain. Road House is coming to Prime Video on March 21st.
SXSW 2024 Official Closing Night Selection
The Idea of You
This film is like if your mom stole your Wattpad moment. Created by two-time SXSW Audience Award Winner Michael Showalter, it’s his great return to SXSW and it’s sure to be a riot. Allegedly based on Harry Styles (and a little bit of Prince Harry, too), The Idea of You is the salacious story of a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with her daughter’s favorite popstar. She goes from begrudgingly chaperoning her daughter to Coachella to meeting, and falling for, 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of a band based on One Direction. This odd couple romance promises to be more than meets the eye. The couple is played by Red White & Royal Blue’s Nicholas Galitzine alongside Anne Hathaway so I am ready and willing to go on this ride. I’m expecting something that feels like a mix of After, A Star is Born, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Watch the trailer HERE. And listen to the first song from the Original Soundtrack by fictional boy band August Moon HERE.
Other films to watch at SXSW 2024
I Wish You All The Best
I am unspeakably excited for Tommy Dorfman’s queer coming-of-age drama. Written and directed by Dorfman and starring Corey Fogelmanis, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Alexandra Daddario, Cole Sprouse, Lena Dunham, Amy Landecker, Lexi Underwood, and more (wow!) it’s an adaptation of Mason Deaver’s novel of the same name. A queer tale of chosen family, it follows Ben DeBacker, a non-binary teen who is thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas. Struggling with anxiety, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their art teacher, Ms. Lyons, while trying to keep a low profile at their new school. Ben’s attempts to survive junior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. With the help of Nathan, and his friends Sophie and Mel, Ben discovers themselves, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.
A Nice Indian Boy
A Nice Indian Boy
I’ll watch Jonathan Groff in anything — and this original odd-couple comedic drama would have taken me no convincing anyway. Self-effacing doctor Naveen Gavaskar meets Jay Kurundkar, a white man adopted by two Indian parents, when Jay takes his picture at the hospital. Despite initial skepticism on Naveen’s part, the two quickly fall in love. Naveen avoids telling his traditional family—parents Megha & Archit and sister Arundhathi—who accepted his sexuality years earlier and are close to him but increasingly don’t know much about his life. Eventually, inevitably, Jay, with no family of his own, has to meet the Gavaskars, who have never met a boyfriend of Naveen’s.
The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy
Don’t fret, Barbie fever is over, but Ryan Gosling will be back on your screens soon enough with this comedic action blockbuster. Ryan Gosling stars as Colt, a stuntman who, after a near-career-ending accident, is drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget movie—being directed by his ex, Jody (Emily Blunt)—goes missing. Now, this working-class hero has to solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. Certified heartthrob Aaron Taylor Johnson is also in this — giving me something to look forward to as I wait patiently for his role in Kraven: The Hunter later this year. I’m sat.
Omni Loop
Omni Loop
The more Ayo Edebiri in the zeitgeist, the better. Alongside Mary Louise Parker, Steven Maier, Eddie Cahill, and more, she stars in this existential sci-fi feature. Zoya Lowe, a 55 year old woman from Miami, FL, has been diagnosed with a black hole inside her chest and given a week to live. But what the doctors and her family don’t know is that she has already lived this week before. She’s lived it so many times, in fact, that she doesn’t even know how long it’s been. Until one day she meets Paula, a young woman studying time at a lab in the local university, and together they decide to try and solve time travel so Zoya can actually go back— back into her past, back to a time before she settled, back to when her whole future was still wide open in front of her—back so she can do it all over again, and finally be the person she always wanted to be. It’s this year’s Everything Everywhere All At Once so I have high hopes.
The Greatest Hits
The Greatest Hits
Harriet (Lucy Boynton) finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time – literally. While she relives the past through romantic memories of her former boyfriend (David Corenswet), her time-traveling collides with a burgeoning new love interest in the present (Justin H. Min). As she takes her journey through the hypnotic connection between music and memory, she wonders if she can change the past. Think Yesterday, but … no, pretty much just exactly Yesterday.
Y2K
Y2K A24 Movie
The children are our future! This A24 disaster comedy, Y2K, stars Rachel Zegler, Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison, Lachlan Watson, Daniel Zolghadri, Mason Gooding, The Kid Laroi (yes, from that Justin Bieber song), and more as high schoolers who crash a NYE party in 1999 and end up fighting for their lives. But doesn’t all high school feel like that?
I Love You Forever
I Love You Forever
Directed and written by Cazzie David and Elisa Kalani and starring Sofia Black-D’Elia, Ray Nicholson, Jon Rudnitsky, Cazzie David, and Raymond Cham Jr, this film portrays the sad reality of the dating landscape. It follows Mackenzie, a disillusioned 25-year old law student tired of the apps — because who isn’t. When she has a “real life meet-cute” with a charming journalist who makes her believe true love may actually exist. Ultimately, it starts to go left and Mackenzie finds herself trapped in a tumultuous and depleting cycle of emotional abuse.
Doin It
Doin It
Starring internet sensation-turned-host-turned-actor Lilly Singh, Doin It is a comedy of errors about an Indian woman trying to lose her virginity. Fans of Never Have I Ever, which also starts with that premise, should flock to this film. After teenage Maya is caught in a sexually compromising position, her mom moves the family back to India so Maya can learn proper discipline. Years later, she returns to the US to find funding for her teen-focused app, and gets a job as a substitute high school teacher so she can research her target demo. But when the principal assigns her to teach sex ed, Maya —who’s still a virgin— sets out on a quest with her best friend to make up for the high school experience she lost out on. It also stars Ana Gasteyer, Sabrina Jalees, Stephanie Beatriz, Mary Holland, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Sonia Dhillon Tully.
Civil War
Civil War
No, not the Marvel film. Much more chilling and dystopian — especially since it’s set in a plausible, near-future. It stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, and Nick Offerman taking us on an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride through a fractured America balanced on the razor’s edge, going through a civil war.
Birdeater
Birdeater
A bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare. I’m imagining part Saltburn and part Get Out from this feature debut.
Babes
Babes
After becoming pregnant from a one-night stand, Eden leans on her married best friend and mother of two, Dawn, to guide her through gestation and beyond. Starring lana Glazer, Michelle Buteau, John Carroll Lynch, and Hasan Minhaj, this comedy about friendship and motherhood is sure to be both belly-busting and heartwarming
Musica
Musica
Based on writer, director and star Rudy Mancuso, Música is a coming-of-age love story that follows an aspiring creator with synesthesia, who must come to terms with an uncertain future, while navigating the pressures of love, family and his Brazilian culture. Alongside Mancuso are Camila Mendes, Francesca Reale, Maria Mancuso, and J.B. Smoove.
Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told
Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told
If anyone else has heard about Freaknik endlessly without hearing about Freaknik, your time has come. This documentary feature is a celebratory exploration of the boisterous times of Freaknik, the iconic Atlanta street party that drew hundreds of thousands of people in the 80s and 90s, helping put Atlanta on the map culturally. At its height, Freaknik was a traffic-stopping, city-shuttering, juggernaut that has since become a cult classic. This documentary will, too.
The Black Sea
The Black Sea
Immersive and inspired by Derrick B. Harden’s travels to Bulgaria, The Black Sea details the transformative journey of a man who finds unexpected connections in a small coastal Eastern European town even as he finds himself to be the only black person around.
Pet Shop Days
Pet Shop Days
I love a very serious thriller with a whimsical title. Starring Jack Irv, Darío Yazeb Bernal, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard, and more, you know this one’s going to be good. In an act of desperation, impulsive black sheep Alejandro flees his home in Mexico. On the run from his unforgiving father, Alejandro finds himself in New York City where he meets Jack, a college age pet store employee with similar parental baggage. Together the two enter a whirlwind romance sending them down the rabbit hole of drugs and depravity in Manhattan’s underworld.
Toll
Toll
This Brazilian feature is definitely going to chill me to my core, I’m calling it now. Suellen, a Brazilian toll booth attendant and mother, falls in with a gang of thieves in an attempt to keep her family afloat. In doing so, she realizes she can use her job to raise some extra money illegally for a so-called noble cause: to send her son to an expensive gay conversion workshop led by a renowned foreign priest.
My Dead Friend Zoe
My Dead Friend Zoe
My Dead Friend Zoe follows the journey of Merit, a U.S. Army Afghanistan veteran who is at odds with her family thanks to the presence of Zoe, her dead best friend from the Army. Despite the persistence of her VA group counselor, the tough love of her mother and the levity of an unexpected love interest, Merit’s cozy-dysfunctional friendship with Zoe keeps the duo insulated from the world. That is until Merit’s estranged grandfather—holed up at the family’s ancestral lake house—begins to lose his way and is in need of the one thing he refuses… help. It stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Gloria Reuben.
A House Is Not a Disco
A House Is Not a Disco
Directed by Brian J. Smith, this documentary shows a year-in-the-life in the world’s most iconic “homo-normative” community: Fire Island Pines. Situated fifty miles from New York City, this storied queer beach town finds itself in the midst of a renaissance as a new generation of Millennial homeowners reimagine The Pines for a new, more inclusive era. Filmed like a Wiseman movie on magic mushrooms, a large cast of unforgettable eccentrics, activists, drifters, and first-timers reflect on the legacy of The Pines while preparing their beloved village for the biggest challenge it has faced since the AIDS crisis: rising seas caused by climate change.
Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion
Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion
My eighth-grade self, experiencing all the stages of grief in the Brandy Melville changing room, is ready for this expose. It examines how Brandy Melville developed a cult-like following despite its controversial “one size fits all” tagline. Hiding behind its shiny Instagram façade is a shockingly toxic world, a reflection of the global fast fashion industry. Fast fashion isn’t all glitz and glamor – it’s a business that sacrifices humanity and pollutes the planet for the sake of profit.
LOS ANGELES—Announcing that he was following the artist’s lead, music executive Scooter Braun confirmed Friday that he would also be re-recording Taylor Swift’s masters. “I just think it’s only right that I get paid for my music,” said Braun, who said the newly recorded tracks would be labeled “Scooter’s Version” so that his millions of devoted fans would be aware which tracks to stream. “This process has been emotionally and physically draining, but I know in the long run it will be worth it. I’ve been taking guitar lessons for six weeks now, and my voice coach says I’m a natural. Keep an eye out for 1989 like you’ve never seen it before on Oct. 27!” At press time, Braun had teased several “from the vault” tracks featuring Scott Borchetta and Jake Gyllenhaal.
You Can Still Get Taylor Swift Tickets Down This Dark Alley By Crawling Into Back Of This Van
There are two ways of taking pills—two and only two.
You pinch the pill between your thumb and index finger, pick it up, and place it on your tongue. You take a drink of water. This method is thetweezers.
Or else: You place the pill in your palm and launch it toward your mouth, as if your teeth were battlements and your arm a siege machine. Don’t bother with the water. This method is thecatapult.
In real-world situations, many people—let’s say most—make a habit of the tweezers. In the movies, the opposite is true. An on-screen pill bottle works like Chekhov’s gun: Eventually, its contents will be fired at an actor’s mouth, or smashed between his lips, or hurled into his gullet.
Think of Austin Butler as the lead in Elvis, alone in his hotel room: He slaps those quaaludes in, liquid-free, sideburns tilted toward the ceiling. It’s a textbook movie swallow, the Stanislavski Fling. Butler got an Oscar nomination; so did Ellen Burstyn, popping diet pills in Requiem for a Dream. On Succession, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin, each a two-time Emmy nominee, gobble meds on-screen. Going catapult is everywhere in cinema; it’s a gesture that befits the biggest stars. Angelina Jolie shoots her pills in Girl, Interrupted. So does Brittany Murphy. Jake Gyllenhaal catapults a pill in Donnie Darko. Albert Brooks in Modern Romance. In Goodfellas, Ray Liotta does it twice.
I love the movies! But it’s time we had a public-health announcement: The catapult is not, in fact, how a person should be taking pills. The act of swallowing a medication is so pervasive—and so intimate—that one easily forgets it is a skill that must be learned. In the U.S., roughly three-fifths of all adults are on prescription drugs; perhaps one-sixth will falter when they try to gulp it down. Twenty years ago, Bonnie Kaplan, a research psychologist at the University of Calgary, devised a new technique for helping people overcome this problem. Her method, as laid out in a mesmerizing video, suggests that you turn your head to make a pill go in. (No one has ever done this in a movie and no one ever will.) The turning motion helps open your upper esophageal sphincter, Kaplan says, though she does admit that more familiar postures have their own advantages. Some people like to raise their chins: “They say it is easier for the pill to slide down their throat, as if their tongue is a ski jump and it is a straight shot down the hill.” Others tip their heads the other way, chin-to-chest, “because they say it is more relaxing in the neck.”
But on the all-important matter of the hand, Kaplan’s messaging is very clear: You pick up the pill between your fingers; then you place it on your tongue. Which is to say, you do thetweezers. Other training methods are consistent with this rule. One approach for teaching children, published in 1984, describes “correctly placing” a pill on the back of the tongue—which clearly cannot be accomplished via a whole-hand toss; another, from 2006, says to “place the pill on your tongue towards the back of your mouth.”
That’s how people ought to take their pills. But how do people really do it, in real life? At the start of her research, Kaplan told me, she wasn’t telling takers what to do; she spent time observing how they liked to swallow medications on their own. The cinematic catapult was simply nonexistent in the wild, she said. “I never saw anyone just throw it back.” Never?Anyone? I asked Kaplan to describe the way she swallows pills herself, and she paused before she answered, as if she’d never really thought this through. “My husband and I both turn our heads to the right,” she said at last. First she’ll place the pill on the back of her tongue, and then she’ll twist and swallow. “But you know what?” she said. “I do often clap my hand to my mouth with my last pill or two.”
“It’s very individual,” Cindy Corbett, a nursing-science professor at the University of South Carolina, told me. She’s on a team that uses smartwatch accelerometers to track patients’ adherence to their medication regimen. Their system knows when someone moves a hand up to their face, she told me, but it won’t distinguish how a pill is being held, or whether it is placed or flung into the mouth. (Indeed, the study’s four-step “protocol-guided medication-taking activity” includes this ambivalent instruction: “Place/toss pill to mouth.”) When I asked Corbett what she’s seen herself in this regard, as a clinician, she drew a blank. “I’ve never thought about it that much.”
Maybe this is it: If you even have to think about the way you swallow pills, then you’re almost certainly someone who has trouble taking pills; and if you’re someone who has trouble taking pills, then you really should be taking pills in tweezer mode. In the off-screen world, to catapult is a privilege reserved for those with floppy throats. It’s the difference between the gags and the gag-nots. That inequality is only reinforced by the movieland fantasy of universal tossing, which sets up (as only Hollywood knows how) an impossible and unhealthy standard for behavior. Look, Elvis gobbles benzos; why can’t I? “People’s preconceived notions of how they’re supposed to swallow pills does lead to mental barriers,” says Marissa Harkness, a co-creator of the Pill Skills training kit, a case of sugar-based placebos made in different shapes and sizes.
When actors catapult on camera, they get the benefit of looking more dramatic: bigger gestures, more to see. But something more important is going on in movie swallows, a deeper meaning to the movement—an implied relationship of power. Taking pills by catapult suggests that you’re a victim, that your body and your mind are under siege. A hand that’s driven by compulsion fires drugs into the face. A teenage boy is pelted by his Prozac. But some stories need to have this flipped, so the pill can be a tool instead of an affliction. In Taxi Driver, Robert De Niro tweezers bennies. He’s a man on a mission. And the most famous pill-taking scene in movie history, from The Matrix, has Keanu Reeves pinch a pill between his thumb and index fingers in dramatic close-up, and deposit it into his mouth. Then he drinks a glass of water. (Is that a movie first?) A character who tweezers is going on a journey, the film director John Magary told me. He’s curious. He’s in control. (From Magary’s films to date: two catapults, zero tweezers.)
Perhaps the movies have this figured out. There are two ways of taking pills—two and only two. The tweezers or the catapult; self-knowledge or oblivion. In the end, the choice is yours.
It’s sourdough bread and handstands for Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Lee Curtis.
The two stars are talking about the time they spent together during the Covid-19 pandemic, telling People that the actor, who is Lee’s godson, and his girlfriend Jeanne Cadieu, lived in the house next door that Curtis owns. Curtis, who won best supporting actress Oscar at lthe 2023 Academy Awards, is friends with Gyllenhaal’s parents, director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner.
“We’ve just gotten to know each other,” Lee said while at the premiere of Gyllenhaal’s new thriller “The Covenant.” “He also lived with me during Covid for almost a year. He and Jeanne lived in the house next door that I have. And so there was also that. For a minute.”
Lee revealed that Gyllenhaal, like a lot of people, turned to bread baking during the time, and would act and sing and do handstands for the small group.
“He made a lot of sourdough bread, a lot,” Lee said. “So singing, acting, sourdough. And he did that test where you do a handstand against the wall and take your shirt off and put it back on.”
Gyllenhaal added the bread baking has stuck.
“I am still eating sourdough,” he said. “Yes. I haven’t stopped. Even though we’re out of the pandemic, I am still making sourdough.”
Gyllenhaal’s new film is a military thriller directed by Guy Ritchie. It also stars Alexander Ludwig, Antony Starr, Bobby Schofield and Jonny Lee Miller.
Reese Witherspoon has been one of the most phenomenal and reliable Hollywood actresses. From Legally Blonde to Your Place or Mine, the Oscar winning actress has been known as queen of the rom-com movies.
Besides her acting skills, Witherspoon is also known for dating some of the best Hollywood hunks including Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Phillipe. Here is everything that you need to know about Witherspoon’s dating history.
Who is Reese Witherspoon dating now?
On 24 March 2023, Reese Witherspoon announced her divorce with Jim Toth.
After meeting in 2010 through mutual friends, Reese and Jim quickly got married in a whirlwind private ceremony. They welcomed their son Tennessee in September 2022. After more than a decade-long marriage, the ex-couple announced that they are getting divorced. The ex-couple said in a statement, ‘Our biggest priority is our son and our entire family as we navigate this next chapter’.
Reese Witherspoon dating history
In 2007, Reese Witherspoon started dating her CIA thriller Rendition co-star Jake Gyllenhaal. However they broke up in November 2009 after dating for about two years. As per PEOPLE, Jake was even ready to get married but Reese did not want to go there.
Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe were the power couple of Hollywood as they started working together in Cruel Intentions. They tied the knot in June 1999 and over the course of six year marriage welcomed two children: daughter Ava in 1999 and Deacon in 2003. Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe announced their formal separation in October 2006.
At the age of 16, Witherspoon generated dating speculations with Chris O’Donnell as she attended a tribute party with him for latter costar Al Pacino in 1993. As per PEOPLE’s source Chris liked the actress but they were just friends.
Jerry Sisto in AMA Reddit revealed he had a brief romance with Witherspoon in 1992. However, as the actress went to Africa for shooting 1993’s A Far Off Place, their relationship took a toll.
Jake Gyllenhaal channels the late Patrick Swayze in a remake of “Road House,” but the new version takes a detour to the UFC octagon. Cameras were out to capture a staged fight featuring Gyllenhaal’s character amid bouts of a real UFC event in Las Vegas on Saturday. (Watch the videos below.)
In reviving Swayze’s bar bouncer who tried to keep the peace but couldn’t resist kicking ass, Gyllenhaal traded blows in a scene with former UFC fighter Jay Hieron.
The scripted battle featured Gyllenhaal’s character leveling Hieron with a flying knee.
It’s unclear whether the Zen-like mien of Swayze’s Dalton will make it into the reimagined movie, but we know his chiseled physique will. Gyllenhaal looked absolutely shredded in another go-round as a combat-sport athlete. Remember his boxer in 2015′s “Southpaw”?
Gyllenhaal also had a tense weigh-in scene, in which he trash-talks and strikes his opponent, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“I can’t even believe I trained six weeks for this shit, to fight this piece of shit,” Gyllenhaal says in the staged altercation. “Just gimme the belt now. Come on, motherfucker, let’s go!”
He also took in the love of the crowd as his character entered the octagon.
UFC great Conor McGregor makes his acting debut in the Amazon Prime Video movie, which does not have a release date yet.
But it does have expectations.
“‘Road House’ is a home run for us,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said last year. “Not only is it a nod to fans of the original, but it is also a big, fun, broad audience movie.”
Check out photos of the cinematic slugfest, and a moment in the crowd with Gyllenhaal and McGregor watching the real action:
Jake Gyllenhaal looks on while filming a scene for an upcoming remake of the 1989 movie “Road House.”
Actor Jake Gyllenhaal knocks down actor Jay Hieron in the much buzzed-about remake of the 1989 movie “Road House.”
Actor Jake Gyllenhaal is restrained by the referee in a staged scene of the “Road House” remake.
“Road House” co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Conor McGregor enjoy a light moment during the UFC 285 event at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
When Angela Bassett set the car on fire in Waiting to Exhale. When Aubrey Plaza spirals for a full episode after finding the condom wrapper in White Lotus. When Rosamund Pike fakes her death, frames her husband — Ben Affleck — for murder, and disappears completely after discovering his affair with EmRata in Gone Girl. Chefs kiss to all of it. Because one thing about me? I love the wrath of women.
While I don’t support the scorning of women, I support the actions of scorned women. Just like Lady Gaga said on the House of Gucci’s red carpet, “I don’t believe in the glorification of murder. I do believe in the empowerment of women.”
And recently, both Shakira and Miley Cyrus metaphorically murdered their cheating partners — Gerard Piqué and Liam Hemsworth respectively — by skewering them with the spikes of hit break-up anthems.
It’s the Taylor Swift treatment. Immortalizing a man in song — in the worst way possible … for him. Jake Gyllenhall and John Mayer are probably texting Piqué and Hemsworth words of support. They’ll need it.
In case you missed it, here’s a quick rundown on current breakup anthems on the charts that are bringing back girl power.
The backstory behind Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers”
Miley Cyrus is no stranger to penning songs about Liam Hemsworth. After being married for only one year, Cyrus and Hemsworth divorced in February 2020. However, their tortured romance has been making headlines since 2010. That means Liam Hemsworth wasted this woman’s time for an entire decade. No wonder she’s pissed.
Ever since they fell in love on the set of The Last Song, Miley’s been dedicating absolute bangers to her on-again-off-again partner. The movie’s breakout track, “When I Look At You,” should have netted her a slew of awards. A snub I shall never-ever get over. But since then, there have been many others: “Wrecking Ball,” “Malibu,” and even one named “I Would Die For You.”
But the instantly viral hit “Flowers” has special significance. The single is the first release from the former-Disney star’s upcoming album, Endless Summer Vacation. But this single was released on January 13th — little Liam’s 33rd birthday. It seems Miley is in her petty era. And we love it for her.
Even the lyrics of the song allegedly dig at her former relationship. “I can buy myself flowers,” Miley sings, “I can hold my own hand.” This assertion of self-love is a direct response to Bruno Mas’ “When I Was Your Man.” Why? Well, apparently Liam dedicated this song to Cyrus at their wedding. Odd, because it is a breakup song. Foreshadowing, maybe? At least we now get a breakup banger out of it.
The video is also sure to go down in music video history. Its vintage fashion looks were instantly striking, but when fans looked closer, they sussed out the deeper meaning of the video’s captivating narrative. First off, the video contains multiple references to Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Classic and unhinged.
But that’s not all! Turns out, it was filmed in the very house where Hemsworth allegedly cheated on Cyrus… with multiple women… multiple times! And there she is, reclaiming her space and her time. As she should!
The backstory behind Shakira’s “Out of Your League”
One other woman-scorned dominating the news? None other than the ever-iconic Shakira. The Columbian singer shattered YouTube records for the most streamed Latin music song in 24-hours. The track, “Out Of Your League,” is an unapologetic rant to her former partner Gerard Piqué. Astoundingly, it’s logged 63m+ YouTube views in 24-hours, making it the most-watched new Latin song in the platform’s history.
And the story behind this song? More infidelity, unfortunately.
Rumor has it, Shakira realized her former partner was cheating on her after returning home to find that her jar of jam had been eaten. And, supposedly, Piqué has never tasted jam in his life. Shakira playing detective and ending up with a hit song? I’m obsessed.
The song is pretty much a diss track. And like all fine diss tracks, it’s filled with savage jabs and no pulled punches. Shakira — 45 — sings: “I’m worth two 22-year-olds,” referencing her ex’s quick rebound with a 22-year-old. She sings: “You swapped a Ferrari for a Twingo/You swapped a Rolex for a Casio.”
The title is also a play on Piqué’s profession. As a soccer player, he’s familiar with leagues. But Shakira is definitely far beyond his.“I was out of your league,” she says, “which is why you’re with someone just like you.”
Jake Gyllenhaal is adding another comic book movie to his resume. The actor, who played Quentin Beck/Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), will star in Prophet, based on the comic book of the same name by Rob Liefeld (Deadpool). John Prophet, the Image Comics character who first appeared in Youngblood #2 (July 1992), is a man living during the World War II era who volunteers to be in German scientific experiments (never a good call) to support his family. He gets a version of a super soldier serum, but is brainwashed to serve evil. After he’s buried alive in a bombing, Prophet wakes up in 1965 where he takes on new threats and struggles to find his estranged family.
Prophet will be directed by Sam Hargrave (Extraction) with a script by Kurt Johnstad (300, Atomic Blonde). A previous script for the film was written by Arrowverse veteran Marc Guggenheim. Studio 8 will be producing the film. There has yet to be a breakout comic book film that didn’t come from either Marvel or DC (or the mega studios that own them), but perhaps Prophet could break the streak. Or it could be another Bloodshot. There’s no date yet for the film’s release.
(via THR, featured image: Rich Fury/Getty Images for LACMA)
‘Black Adam’ is on track for a $60 million opening weekend. (via Variety)
Your favorite superheroes will appear in DC’s Black History Month Celebration. (via CBR)
Las Vegas’s When We Were Young Fest cancelled due to high winds. (via Comicbook.com)
Baby Spice for British Prime Minister?
The Empire ruins Andor’s spring break for everyone. (via Pajiba)
Queer women have ruled horror for ages. (via Autostraddle)
An explainer for that ‘House of the Dragon’ opening credits sequence. (via Collider)
Wise words from Rod Serling’s daughter:
For those told they’re not good enough, they will never make it… Someone once said to my dad, “You ought to switch careers because you’ll never be a writer.” pic.twitter.com/0rnh9TBgJj
