Welcome to the wonderful world of entertainment. The following news includes highlights of celebrities, television, movies and music this week.
Fan crashes his car into Taylor Swift’s New York home
A 31-year-old Virginia man named Morgan Mank has been arrested after he drove the wrong way on pop singer Taylor Swift’s street before reversing and crashing into her building. It has been reported that Mank then got out of the vehicle and tried to gain entry into the residence. After police arrived, the man stated that he would not leave until he met Swift. According to TMZ, Mank was charged with “DWI and criminal mischief.”
Page Six
Peyton Manning admits his love for “Emily in Paris” on “Saturday Night Live”
Former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning was a guest on “Saturday Night Live,” where he joined Colin Jost on the “Weekend Update” segment. When Jost asked for Manning’s perspective on the divisional-round games, the two-time Super Bowl champion admitted that he did not watch football because he ended up binging on the second season of “Emily in Paris” instead. Jost then asked Manning for his opinion on Tom Brady’s retirement. The former Colts player joked that Brady will now have more time to watch the Netflix hit series.
New York Post
“Home Team” is trending on Netflix
Trending in the top 10 on the Netflix streaming platform is the family-friendly comedy and sports film “Home Team.” This film tells the story of a suspended NFL coach named Sean Payton who tries to repair his damaged relationship with his young son by coaching his sixth grade football team. This PG rated film stars Kevin James, Taylor Lautner, Rob Schneider and Jackie Sandler.
Netflix Life
Kanye West’s new album will be released on 2-22-22
Rapper Kanye West has announced that his upcoming album, “Donda 2,” will be released later this month on Feb. 22. Making this announcement on Instagram, Ye posted a picture of the release date written on a replica of his childhood home. This white home was pictured in the sky and on fire. The eleventh studio album will be a sequel to his previous album, “Donda,” which honored his late mother.
Complex
Number one on the Billboard charts: week of Feb. 5, 2022
According to “The Hot 100” on the charts, the number one song in the U.S. is “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” by Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast. Moving from the second spot to the first, this is the fifth week the Disney song is on the charts. According to the “Billboard 200,” the number one album in the U.S. is Disney’s “Encanto” Soundtrack. At the top spot for the second week in a row, this is the ninth week the Latin pop film score is on the charts.
Welcome back to the fun segment “A&E Trivia.” We will play a little quizzo with a total of four questions — one question from each category. You will be given three answer choices. The categories are movies, television, music and celebrities. Let’s go!
I hope you all enjoyed this week’s “A&E Trivia,” and hopefully got a question or two right. Email tripodij2@lasalle.edu any questions you’d like to see asked in the next edition.
Welcome to the wonderful world of entertainment. The following news includes highlights of celebrities, television, movies and music this week.
Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra welcome first child
Singer Nick Jonas and his wife, actress Priyanka Chopra, both took to their individual social media accounts to announce that they have become parents. The joint post stated: “We are overjoyed to confirm that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate. We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family.” According to TMZ, the sex of the child is female but her name has not been revealed.
People
Farrah Abraham arrested for battery at Hollywood hotspot
Reality star Farrah Abraham has been arrested for slapping a security guard at restaurant and club Grandmaster Recorders. According to Fox News, Abraham slapped the security guard as he escorted her out after she was involved in an altercation with another female. Threatening a lawsuit against the Los Angeles hotspot after claiming she was abused by staff, the “Teen Mom” star shared a video to Instagram of the security guard holding her down. After being taken into custody, the single mother was shortly released.
News Nation USA
Fox airs new dating reality show
Fox is currently airing a new reality competition series titled “Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer.” In this show, a group of female contestants get to choose between two men. However, there is a twist: one man is very rich, and the other man is the average joe. The women are told this information, but are not told which man is the rich man. Therefore, they must compete for the man they connect with the best. By the end of the season, one woman will be with a rich man, and the other woman will end up with the average joe. New episodes air on Thursdays at 8 p.m.
Fox
Nicole Kidman wins best actress for “Being the Ricardos” at Golden Globes
At the 79th Golden Globes, actress Nicole Kidman won “Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” for her starring role as Lucille Ball in the Amazon Prime film “Being the Ricardos,” where she starred alongside Javier Bardem. This R-rated movie portrays the shocking private lives of legendary Hollywood couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. This is the fifth Golden Globe Kidman has won throughout her acting career.
Daily Candid News
Number one on the Billboard charts: week of Jan. 29, 2022
According to “The Hot 100” on the charts, the number one song in the U.S. is “Easy On Me” by Adele. Becoming her longest-running chart topper, this is the tenth week the pop ballad is number one. According to the “Billboard 200,” the number one album in the U.S. is Disney’s “Encanto” Soundtrack. Back at the top spot after falling to the third spot, this is the eighth week the Latin pop film score is on the charts.
Welcome back to the fun segment “A&E Trivia.” We will play a little quizzo with a total of four questions — one question from each category. You will be given three answer choices. The categories are movies, television, music and celebrities. Let’s go!
I hope you all enjoyed this week’s “A&E Trivia,” and hopefully got a question or two right. Email tripodij2@lasalle.edu any questions you’d like to see asked in the next edition.
“Hawkeye” is Marvel’s latest foray into serial streaming entertainmentBeing the fourth TV installment for the franchise, it’s exciting to see how Marvel handles a series with this unique kind of superhero. Previously, we dealt with the wacky time gods in “Loki,” an existential crisis in “WandaVision” and the two half mechanical dudebros of America in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” Unlike these series with super-powered main characters, “Hawkeye” features a character with only a bow and arrow as his powers. This setup makes for an interesting series for the character. With all that being said, here are my thoughts on season one of the latest Marvel series “Hawkeye.”
Despite the show being titled “Hawkeye,” Clint Barton, played by Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker,” “Wand River,”) does not feel like the main character of this show. That role goes to Kate Bishop, played by Hailee Steinfeld (“Pitch Perfect 3,” “Bumblebee,”) since this show serves more as an origin story for her. While it’s extremely funny that Hawkeye has the most Hawkeye things happen to him, they do a really good job with making him the secondary protagonist in this show.. Out of all of these shows, I think Hawkeye handles the double-protagonist trope the best. The series did a good job balancing their screen time and building their relationship, with Barton’s cold and lone wolf personality worked well with the somewhat witty personality of Bishop. Seeing the chemistry between them slowly build only made the ending of the show more satisfying.
Marvel Studios
Then there’s the pacing of the show. The show’s first two episodes reintroduce the world and set the characters that we have for the show. Then once episode three pops up, everything is kicked up a notch. The fight scenes, the dialogue moments and even the surprise guest characters make the next four episodes extremely fun to watch. One of the best parts of the season was the abundance of trick arrows that they were able to come up with and use against their enemies as well, from the somewhat simple ones used in episode three, the exploding arrows, to the more crazy ones in episode six, like a magnet arrow strong enough to take guns out of people’s hands. It felt like the creators had a bunch of fun with this show and these scenes show just how creative they were allowed to be.
If I had to pick anything that I didn’t like as much, it would be that, at times, the main antagonists were a bit annoying. While they had some pretty funny moments and some pretty cool members, there were only so many times I could hear a Russian man say “bro” before it started to get annoying. The henchmen were fun and gave us pretty good comedic moments, but sadly there were just some times where it felt like it was just a bit too much.
Marvel Studios
Honestly, it was surprising how good the show turned out to be. When I saw the first two episodes I was pretty critical of them. I saw that the show had potential, but I didn’t think I would surpass “Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” However, this show turned out to be more than what I originally thought it was going to be. The simplicity of this series is really what gave it its signature charm. It took what makes Hawkeye likable and amped it up. Plus, the few character surprises that were added to the show get me even more excited to see where Marvel goes in the future. All in all, I would say this show is a solid 7.5/10 and I would recommend that you give it a watch.
“Damn, that kind of sucked,” muttered everyone in unison on Jan. 1, 2022. Another year has come and gone, and with it went all things 2021, ranging from super terrible to mildly okay. We lost Omar (Micheal K. Williams) and Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter), Sia released “Music” and I created a Letterboxd account, a terrible moment in time. Despite all of that, the world was treated to some surprisingly great movies this year, and here is my list of my five favorites. A few honorable mentions include “Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” “Pig,” “The Harder They Fall,” “Summer of Soul,” “Luca,” “The Suicide Squad” and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”
#5: “Dune”
“Dune” was released on HBO Max on Oct. 21, 2021. On that day, I was sick with the flu. With low energy levels and no desire to leave my house, I settled in and gave it a shot. The dork part of my brain that loves movies had a surge of “Hell yeah” while watching this and my energy rose to normal amounts, allowing me to have a cool experience taking in Denis Villeneuve’s impressive and glorious interpretation of “Dune.” Gargantuan world pieces, interesting enough space politics, interesting characters and a simple but great story to follow all make this a nifty watch that I recommend for anyone looking to watch “Star Wars” if the politics were actually good. Despite only having a few scenes of action, this movie is more of a spectacle to behold than another space war opera, and for that, it was an excellent movie that I will be rewatching again and again.
Legendary Pictures
#4: “Spider-Man: No Way Home”
Honestly, how could I not put this movie on the list? I’ve been a lifelong fan of the wall crawler’s comics — I grew up watching “Spider-Man 2,” Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man was a super cool skater dude I wanted to hang out with at 12 years old, Tom Holland’s “Home” trilogy is my favorite of all of the Marvel movies, and “Into the Spider-Verse” is an achievement in every sense of animation and storytelling. You get it, I like the spider. Going into this movie I expected to have a satisfying ending to Tom’s trilogy, but I came out feeling like a six-year-old who rediscovered Spider-Man. It was an absolute blast of a time and I have no shame whatsoever admitting I cried three times in the nearly three hour runtime of the movie. I prefer my films to be more “film-y” and have something to say, but dammit, I would be a cold monster to exclude this phenomenal time of a movie from my list. Tears were shed, guffaws were had and vocal cords were shredded from the amount of pure joy I had from one sitting of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
Marvel Studios
#3 “Annette”
I still have absolutely no idea what this movie is. Is it a musical? Is it an Adam Driver standup special? Is it a ghost story? Is it a “Child’s Play” sequel? I don’t know, but I’ll take two, please. Initially topping my list of “5 Good and 5 Bad movies of Summer 2021” on the good side, it was August when I first watched this movie; and to this day, there is so much I find myself thinking about frequently. “So May We Start” is the song of the century thanks to the Sparks brothers, Driver and Cotillard give some severely overlooked and incredible performances of the whole year, and Simon Helberg has been in my nightmares ever since. Although they sing and act really well, this film may not be for everyone, as it feels more like an angry arthouse response to “Singin’ in the Rain” and as if the audiences of the movie are talking directly to you. Bizarre, lovely, strange, weird, delightful and some other word for ‘good.’ Again, I don’t know what this movie is, but I really liked it.
CG Cinéma
#2: “The Power of the Dog”
Have you ever watched a movie that just goes on and on and by the end you catch yourself staring blankly into the abyss thinking about what it was you just watched? Me neither. Writer/director Jane Campion’s newest slowburn comes in the form of a Western starring real-life cowboy Benedict Cumberbatch. Great googly moogly Benny, you scary man. Delivering one of his sharpest and most uncomfortable performances of his whole career, Cumberbatch makes the skin crawl just by existing. Despite his rough ridges, the movie is nicely balanced out by the delicacy of every other character. Of the many characters that soften the punches from the Cumberbatch cowboy, the most important is Kirsten Dunst’s onscreen son Peter Gordon, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee. A broken boy in a cowboy’s paradise allows Peter to bring one nightmare of a ranch experience into something with a little more cleanliness than manliness. Too many words, don’t care version: Benedict and Kodi worked incredibly together and I highly recommend this movie if you want to see what a Western looks like made by a New Zealander — terrifying. Speaking of terrifying:
Netflix
#1: “Spencer”
In 2019 there was “Uncut Gems,” in 2020 there was “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” and in 2021 along came “Spencer” to add to my yearly list of “Movies that Gave me Anxiety.” “Spencer” is not the same level of anxiety-inducing as the previous two, but this movie was hard to watch. Kristen Stewart nails it, kills it and knocks it out of the park as Princess Diana. This movie is just so sad but I’m just so happy watching it. It’s a backwards feeling but I smile just thinking about how perfect her performance was. The tension is high, no one is happy at all, the outfits and costumes are excessive, Kristen Stewart is still the best, and the musical score is neverending. This movie is correct. Everything about it is just right and works so incredibly well that it feels like the most “movie” a biopic movie can be. Other biopics always feel like they are missing something and it is never super clear what it is, but they still work for whatever they are. “Spencer” works 100 percent even though it is not the most 100 percent accurate story. To me, “Spencer” is a perfect five out of five movie and I hope whoever needs to read this, give it a watch.
Shoebox FIlms
And that’s my list. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Should I have liked one of your favorites more? It doesn’t really matter, this is my list and it is what I like. 2021 had some good watches, but the fingers are crossed that 2022 brings some more surprises and contemporary classics.
Welcome back to the fun segment “A&E Trivia.” We will play a little quizzo with a total of four questions — one question from each category. You will be given three answer choices. The categories are movies, television, music and celebrities. Let’s go!
I hope you all enjoyed this week’s “A&E Trivia,” and hopefully got a question, or two, right. Email tripodij2@lasalle.edu any questions you’d like to see asked in the next edition.
Welcome to the wonderful world of entertainment. The following news includes highlights of celebrities, television, movies and music this week.
Petition seeks to stop Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith from doing more interviews
A man named Dexter Morales has started a petition on Change.com that asks for the media to stop interviewing Hollywood couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith due to the intimate information the couple tends to share about their private lives. So far, the petition has over 20k signatures and users have left comments supporting the cause. One comment stated, “Everything I learn about this couple is against my will. Free us.”
NBC News
Machine Gun Kelly launches nail polish brand
Rapper and pop punk singer Machine Gun Kelly has launched a unisex nail polish line called “UN/DN LAQR.” With a wide variety of color choices, fans can choose from neutrals to bold hues. In a press release, MGK shared that he was inspired to start this brand because nail polish has always allowed him to express himself and make a statement because “every color has a purpose.” Each bottle of nail polish is selling for $18.
Allure
The next “Bachelor” is officially announced
ABC has confirmed that the leading man for season 26 of “The Bachelor” will be Clayton Echard. The 28-year-old former NFL player first emerged as a contestant on Michelle Young’s season of “The Bachelorette.” His surprise elimination during a one-on-one date was the moment when he captured America’s heart — as he broke down in tears while stating that he wished he could find the right person. Echard’s season of “The Bachelor” will debut on Monday, Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Cosmopolitan
The “Home Alone” house will be available to rent this holiday season
The iconic house from the 1990 Christmas movie “Home Alone” will be available to rent on Airbnb for one night. Beginning Dec. 7 at 1 p.m., renters will be able to request to stay in the McCallister family home on the night of Dec. 12. For just $25, four lucky guests will be welcomed with a candlelit mac and cheese dinner, a meet-and-greet with a tarantula and booby traps. Actor Devin Ratray, who played the older brother named Buzz in the film, is hosting.
NPR
Number one on the Billboard charts: week of Dec. 4, 2021
According to “The Hot 100” on the charts, the number one song in the U.S. is “Easy On Me” by Adele. This is the eighth week the pop ballad is on the charts. According to the “Billboard 200,” the number one album in the U.S. is “30” by Adele. The pop album is at the top spot for the second week in a row.
Merry mid-December everyone! I’ve been looking forward to putting this article together for a while now because of how much fun the Halloween special was, and so I have officially dubbed this fun little semi-regular piece as “Movie Season.” With the jolly red North Pole guy coming down your chimney soon, it is currently the second best time of the year, right after my birthday, and along with the endless amounts of good feelings and gorgeous cosmetic changes the country goes through to accommodate the holiday season, it is time to break out the hot cocoa, grab the softest blanket in your vicinity and let the fire crackle to a dark room as we take a look at some of our Christmas movie favorites.
I grew up watching a lot of Chevy Chase, from “Saturday Night Live” to “Spies Like Us” and my favorite, “The Three Amigos.” When twelve-year old me discovered the “Vacation” movies, I didn’t like them very much. But, I did like “Christmas Vacation” and every year since then, I have watched it. Each time, something new sticks out to me and makes the experience so much better. Young Nolen loved the Christmas feeling and silliness of Chevy’s facial expressions, teen Nolen loved the cursing, the mania and the silliness of Chevy’s facial expressions and adult Nolen recently rewatched and loves everything Chevy does, especially his silly facial expressions. Am I making myself clear why I love this movie? “Christmas Vacation” is top to bottom a near-spotless movie. As a Christmas movie and a movie in general, this whole thing is amazing. While others use Christmas as just an event to get to, “Christmas Vacation” makes use of the entire season as each day brings a new wave of domestic destruction and anarchy. I can honestly quote this movie from start to finish and it never gets boring. That’s pretty much it. I just really love this movie and I yield my time, your honor.
Hughes Entertainment
Now that I have spoken my piece, it’s time to shift over to see what the people have chosen to submit as their favorites. If you’d like to see your submissions in future columns, follow me on Instagram @nolenkelly where I put out polls to my story.
Jeriann Tripodi: “Elf”
“During the holidays, I enjoy watching ‘Elf.’ I watch this film every season. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, the jokes never get old and it always makes me feel festive.”
Kevin Wilus: “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”
“I love how much chaos is caused throughout the movie. Between hanging up lights to make their house the brightest in the town and causing a power outage, to going ludicrous speed down a snow hill, it’s a classic Christmas movie. If you haven’t seen it you’re missing out and must watch it as soon as possible.”
Aidan Degnan: “It’s a Wonderful Life”
“‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is my favorite. It’s a Christmas movie that gets the spirit of the season right without putting Santa in it or making it about presents under a tree. The message of the story goes beyond Christmas and is about why life itself is worth living.”
Maddy Kelly: “Elf”
“It’s different from a lot of classic Christmas movies. It’s one that everyone can enjoy. It has all the magical Christmas elements with some adult humor.”
Liberty Films
Aidan Tysinski: “A Christmas Story”
“It reminds me of how I was as a kid during Christmas. Even though the movie takes place during the 1940s, there is something universal about wanting that one toy every year for Christmas. It is also a great movie because of the many, many quotable lines.”
Dylan Villenueva: “Elf”
“My favorite Christmas movie is ‘Elf’ because it’s a timeless, holiday comedy. I also watched it as a tradition every year growing up! It brings back great memories.”
Other People’s Favorites:
People seem to like “Elf,”and I know this because I wrote the word “Elf” so many times and I’m tired of it. Moving on, there are the many great submissions I received on my Instagram. Commentary Editor Alina Snopkowski is a big fan of the Russian comedy “Ёлки 2”, a complicated tale of just watch it and have a good time, and she also enjoys “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” similarly to Ryan Donaghy, who also points and laughs at the silly little bald boy. The chiseled specimen known as Colin McPoyle is a man’s man who prefers his cinema geared a bit more towards the abstract film category, with “Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever.” James LeVan comes in with “Fatman” with Mel Gibson. Incredible film. Oh, and hey, look at this guy, Sean Dembeck over here, he finds himself thinking this little movie you may know called “Elf” is “pretty good” and I agree. Gregory Cornelius Shannon sips the finest of wines while watching “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” and Ray Thompson practices the meditative art of theft inspired by his favorite movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Grace Tenneson may have enjoyed “Home Alone” but Tori Sciarra prefers the sequel “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.” To be fair, the best one is actually “Home Alone 4” and I couldn’t tell you what happened in it aside from French Stewart getting hit in the genitals. I finally saved the best for last with a highly debatable pick for a ‘Christmas’ movie as Tyler Rojas, wise guy that he is, chose “Die Hard.” Personally, it depends on the year if I see it as a Christmas movie or not, and it turns out it is a ‘Bones Year’ and I currently deem “Die Hard” a Christmas movie.
New Line Cinema
Thank you again to everyone who submitted an answer for this week. This article is always fun to put together and I love seeing everyone else’s favorites. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas, if you celebrate it, and a happy New Year, if you believe in time, and I look forward to coming back during the next Movie Season.
I have not talked too much about television here in the A&E section and I will do better, I’m sorry. There has been a ton of fantastic TV from the past year, and a few favorites include “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson,” “Scenes From a Marriage,” UFC 268, “Loki,” and, of course, HBO’s “Succession.” Currently in its third season with two episodes remaining at the time of writing, “Succession” feels like it is in a league of its own from everything else on TV, and this season may be the best thing on HBO for a long time.
If you are not familiar with “Succession,” it is about a family, the Roy family, consisting of patriarch Logan Roy and his children Conner, Kendall, Siobhan and her husband Tom, their bumbling cousin Greg and Roman. The Roy family owns Waystar RoyCo, a media and entertainment conglomerate, that each member fights to gain control of after Logan suffers a health scare. The premise and character motivations are as simple as the title of the show, but there really is nothing else like it on TV right now. Despite the entirety of the show being dedicated to the business and stocks of Waystar RoyCo, the drama and story come from the characters, the dastardly things they are willing to do to seek their father’s approval as next in line to run the company and as his own plans to slowly pit his own children against each other for the fun of it because he is an evil man.
HBO
“Succession” is a very mean show. The first two seasons had a few glimpses into the dark and cavernous souls the Roy family has, but season three has fully opened the gates of Hell and is not afraid to show how barbaric these people are to each other. You think your family Thanksgiving was rough? Logan Roy hits a kid over the head with a can of cranberries. It was so awesome. That was in season one, but it was just the writers being nice to the audience. In season three the Roys are in full civil war mode and have collapsed after Kendall Roy played the blame game on a public stage in the finale of season two. Apparently the only proper course of action is to eviscerate and shame each other and destroy any credibility the others have on national television. With nothing holding the family back from public shaming, they go balls to the wall and do not hold back. Without spoiling anything, “Rape Me” by Nirvana is now even more uncomfortable than it was before and I commend “Succession” for weaponizing it. Season three has been relentless so far and while each episode progresses the story further each time with some good shocks in between, it always knows how to respond to itself which is not always easy. The second the piano keys of the opening theme hit, you know this episode will assault your feelings and it will be a good time.
“Succession” is some of the best TV you will see right now. It’s been a while since I have actually been excited to sit down weekly and watch a new episode of a show. “Succession” makes almost everything feel like a tension-filled nightmare. Mundane events like vacations, Thanksgiving and birthday parties are not safe from family politics or actual politics and everything is always uncomfortable. There is not much I can say about this show without getting deep into the details to try and sell you if you are not watching it. Season three so far has been an absolute blast and I am sad this season is almost over because it is wild. Watch “Succession” on HBO please.
The La Salle Collegian 