Jeriann Tripodi, Editor

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 right. Email tripodij2@lasalle.edu any questions you’d like to see asked in the next edition.

Jeriann Tripodi, Editor

Welcome to the wonderful world of entertainment. The following news includes highlights of celebrities, television, movies and music this week.

Paris Hilton brings her parents on her honeymoon

            Socialite and businesswoman Paris Hilton recently married entrepreneur Carter Reum. After a lavish three-day wedding celebration, the newlyweds embarked on their first vacation as husband and wife, which Hilton referred to as a “honeymoon world tour.” The first stop was Bora Bora. According to Page Six, the pair were not alone, but were joined by Hilton’s parents and siblings. An Instagram story captioned a picture of the group as a “family honeymoon.”

The Cut

Jon Gosselin could have lost his life due to a spider

            Former reality star Jon Gosselin has been hospitalized after being bit by a venomous spider. The “Jon & Kate Plus Eight” star shared to The Sun that he woke up in “excruciating” pain and noticed that his leg was swollen and had a red blister with a large red circle around it. The 44-year-old Pennsylvania native was taken to a local hospital where he was given antibiotics. Doctors told Gosselin that he was bitten by a brown recluse spider and that he was lucky because he could have lost his leg or died from the infection.

The Mirror

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” will air once on television this holiday season

            The 1965 animated television special, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” will be returning to the television screen for one night only. On Sunday, Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m., the classic holiday show will air on PBS and PBS Kids. If you miss this opportunity, or want to get festive ahead of time, you can stream “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on Apple TV+ with a subscription or a free trial.

IMDb

Brooke Shields produces and stars in new Netflix Christmas movie

            On Nov. 26, actress Brooke Shields’ latest film, “A Castle for Christmas,” was released on Netflix. This holiday film tells the story of a best-selling American author named Sophie who decides to spend some alone time in Scotland in order to visit her father’s childhood castle. Upon her arrival, she meets the castle’s new owner, a snobbish man named Myles. Although the two do not get along at first, Sophie and Myles become surprised when they start to catch feelings for one another as the holiday season approaches. “A Castle for Christmas” is rated TV-G.

IMDb

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. Back at the top spot after falling to number two last week, this is the seventh 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 during its first week on the charts.

Wikipedia

Jakob Eiseman, Editor-in-Chief

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” hit theaters on Nov. 19,  2021, receiving generally positive reviews from critics, but very mixed reactions from fans of the franchise. I completely understand where they’re coming from, but have to disagree. Yes, the movie gratuitously tugs at nostalgia every chance it gets, and yes, some moments are cheesier than a Goldfish cracker. But, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that it totally worked and I loved a majority of the film. “Afterlife” is not a masterclass in cinema, storytelling, drama or even action — and it doesn’t capture that lighting in a bottle that was the original “Ghostbusters,” but it’s extremely  entertaining, is full of heart and is definitely going to succeed at being this younger generation’s introduction to the Ghostbusters in an exceptional way. In short, if you’re a fan of the original, this is a must see just for nostalgia and entertainment’s sake. If you’ve never been a fan, I think this might sway you. If you’re brand new to the franchise, I can’t think of a better introduction than this film.

“Who you gonna call?”

While I did say that “Afterlife” does not capture the same special touch that made the original a cultural phenomenon, and I stand by that, it does do its best, and is tailor-made to honor the humor, lore and vibe of the original. This is largely in part because the director of “Afterlife,” Jason Reitman (“Juno,”) is the son of Ivan Reitman, the director of the original 1984 film and its 1989 sequel “Ghostbusters II.” “Afterlife” is both Ivan Reitman taking a crack at making a major motion picture in his own vision but also a way to live up to and honor his father’s legacy. He definitely respects the conventions of the older films with the same visual style and gags budding into both, with every set absolutely bursting with references to the original, whether that be obvious sights like the 1959 Cadillac Ecto-1 in the garage, or subtle ones that allude to fan-favorite moments from the original. He also captures the same charm as the original by presenting silly, humorous characters in a world filled with genuinely scary and unsettling ghosts.

“Afterlife” is not a glorified remake, though. Although the story follows several similar beats, Reitman made a great story about a family, memorable character moments and an interesting take on the young-adult blockbuster type movie trope, and just retrofitted it to work in the canon established by his father. The main cast of the film bring hard-hitting comedy chops and genuine heart and soul to these characters that could have easily been made surface level to squeeze into the movie’s two-hour runtime. 

“We came, we saw, we kicked its *ss!”

The film follows Phoebe, played by McKenna Grace (“I, Tonya,” “Handmaid’s Tale”), a twelve-year-old science prodigy with a knack for tinkering; Trevor, played by Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things,” “It (2017),”) a high-schooler who’s fed up with the world; and their mother Callie, who is at the end of her rope in terms of cash, luck and ability to keep up with her hyperactive kids. When the three of them are evicted from their city apartment, they’re forced to move out to a creepy “murder house” that was owned by Callie’s father before he died mysteriously. This is a spoiler-free review, but if you’ve seen the original movie and have seen any promotional material for “Afterlife,” it is pretty clear that the family has moved into the home of one of the original Ghostbusters, bringing with it all of the trappings of the team’s antics, including ghost-hunting cars and equipment, occult books and lots and lots of ghosts. Now all that’s well and good, and I was sold just on the premise, and I didn’t even mention that the sexiest man alive Paul Rudd (“Ant-Man,” “Clueless,”) is a side character and makes the movie 10 times funnier.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a 2021 blockbuster movie with a budget of $75 million has giant action set pieces and special effects galore, but “Afterlife” is able to use them tastefully, putting a lot of the focus on the characters and their interactions rather than high-octane ghostbusting and its spectral CGI villains. In fact, for a movie with “ghost” in the title, there really aren’t that many spirits in “Afterlife,” and I respect that decision. I was personally very invested in Phoebe and Trevor’s plot of discovering who their grandfather was and learning to use the Ghostbusters gear more so than anything that was being told to the audience about the villain and the town’s dark secrets. With all that said, though, I was relatively disappointed with the way the plot ramped up toward the end and how the conflict was resolved in a cliche manner that was highly telegraphed. While this didn’t make me hate the rest of the movie, and I still can’t wait to watch it again just to see Paul Rudd ham it up on screen again, it was disappointing, to say the least.

“Don’t cross the streams.”

For all the positives I have to rave about in “Afterlife,” there were many elements that fell completely flat and really inhibited my enjoyment throughout. The references to the original film were charming at first, and were often tastefully implemented, but throughout the movie there were also not-so-subtle callbacks that without context would make absolutely no sense, some of them even having their own musical cues. Simply hearing someone say “Who you gonna call?” for no reason is not a funny reference, it’s ham-fisted and distracting. These in-your-face jokes are peppered throughout, and I know what Reitman was going for, but I would have removed these completely in favor of more Paul Rudd, unironically.

As much as I love the main characters of this film, notice how I only named four in the main cast of well over 10 characters? It’s because with the exception of these genuinely great main characters, a majority of the cast was forgettable and insignificant, only being there for comic relief or to add “weight” to the main characters’ motivations. I’m just comparing this setup to the original film, which had side characters that the audience cared about and that you wanted to see more of every time they were on screen.

“See you on the other side.”

Despite all my qualms with “Afterlife,” I still stand by that, as a fan of “Ghostbusters,” it is a must-see and a great time. I went in with low expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. Even though the film ended exactly how I thought it would, I still loved the story of Phoebe and Trevor and hope to see more of them in the future. I’m giving “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” a 7/10 because for as much as Reitman slipped up, he did create an excellent homage to one of my favorite movies, and told a great, original story within that. While I don’t think “Afterlife” is necessary theater viewing, I would recommend seeing it when you get a chance, especially if it comes to VOD or streaming over the holiday season.

Microsoft pulls a holeshot win on the competition with their open world racer

Jakob Eiseman, Editor-in-Chief

Header Image: Xbox

“Forza Horizon 5” — released on Nov. 9 on Xbox consoles, PC and the cloud — is special to me because it is the first game to release in a long, long time that exceeded my high expectations. I adored “Forza Horizon 4” and spent most of my free time in the winters of my freshman and sophomore year riding through sunny “Horizon 4’s” U.K. pastures in a 2016 Audi R8, so when they announced that there was going to be a next-generation “Horizon” game coming in 2021, I was extremely excited to jump in and see if it could live up to “Horizon 4.” Well, I’m here to say: they’ve done it. Not only does “Horizon 5” live up to its legacy, it surpasses “Horizon 4” in so many ways and I can’t wait to keep playing what is definitely my favorite racing game of all time.

The “Horizon” formula

“Forza Motorsport” is a series of simulation racing games that began in 2005 on the original Xbox and has long been praised for its accurate simulation of vehicle physics and the ability to fine tune cars using real world enhancements and parts, as well as its top-of-the-line graphics and visuals that come with every release. While “Motorsport” focuses solely on racing and the customization of vehicles, “Forza Horizon” is a spin-off series that takes a much more light-hearted approach to the franchise by placing players in large open worlds as part of the Horizon Festival, encouraging players to explore real-life areas like Australia, the U.K. and now Mexico, doing tricks, challenging each other to races, discovering secrets and racing on custom tracks.

“Horizon 5” perfects this formula, adding hundreds of racing events scattered all across varied biomes of a partially fictionalized Mexico. “Horizon 5” features all types of events from dirt races in the jungles, to cross-country races on the white-sand beaches, to drag races in the cities, jumps and stunts in the canyons and many, many more. The exploration and events are incentivised as you are always earning something, whether that be money to buy and upgrade the hundreds of awesome vehicles, clothes for your custom character or unlocking newer, higher-stakes events. It’s extremely satisfying to just sit down after a long day of work and fly up the highway in a decked-out Ferrari, just seeing what events you’ll pass along the way.

Xbox

In “Horizon 4” they changed up their seasonal content systems, and tied it in with literal seasons, changing the roads based on the season (snow, leaves, etc.) and I was not a fan. Now, the seasons system is back, and I am still definitely not a fan. Summer brings rain, fall brings major storms and winter brings sandstorms, all of which make it harder to traverse the world and speed through Mexico freely. I just don’t understand why this is not optional and wish I never had to deal with driving through the rain because it’s already stressful enough in real life, but it’s not the end of the world.

What’s new?

In short…. not much, really. But that’s actually really great because instead of adding bloat to the “Forza” formula, many small tweaks and changes were made to improve it. First off, the new landscape of Mexico is not only significantly larger than the previous U.K. map, but much more diverse, featuring multiple biomes, mesoamerican ruins, densely populated cities, beautiful landscapes, coastal towns with realistic beaches and natural race tracks and stunts baked right in to look authentic to the country’s architecture. Beyond that, the next-generation hardware I was playing on presented nearly photo realistic textures, with still images of this Mexico being nearly indistinguishable from a real photo. The graphics in “Forza” have always been great, but the photogrammetry and scanning Playground Games used to create this game is mind-blowing and definitely the best I have ever seen.

The other major improvement to this entry is the campaign structure. In the past, the so-called story mode in “Forza” has been largely surface-level and designed to make you feel like you are an up-and-comer to the Forza Horizon festival who is taking over the racing scene. This time though, although the story is still relatively basic, and I wish there were memorable characters or interactions, instead they make you feel like a badass racer, and the events just ramp that feeling up. Here are some major highlights from my “Horizon 5” campaign experience:

• Dropping out of a plane in a Bronco and racing down an active volcano
• Blasting a Stingray through a sandstorm on a desert highway
• Going off-roading through a jungle river in a modded Porsche
• Hypercar racing through the brick roads of Baja California and hitting 300 mph
• Drag racing an airplane in said hypercar
• Photo finishing AN AIRPLANE (I won by the way.)

The thing is, that was all in the first 15 minutes of the campaign, it is an immaculate introduction to “Forza 5” and the events keep upping the ante as you progress. This time around, the events are broken up between road racing, cross-country racing, offroading, exploration, stunts, street racing and festival celebrations. By separating the events into categories, it let me tailor my campaign experience to the events I enjoy most which were by far exploring and stunts. Some of my favorite events so far have been canyon jumping in a parade float, racing a stunt team on motor bikes, street racing through Guanajuato and exploring the ruins of Tulum, all of which changed my perspective on what a racing game can really bring to the table.

The good and the bad

Like I mentioned, “Forza 5” is the most visually stunning game I’ve ever played, and the combination of racing, exploration, vehicle customization and overall vibe of the experience make it one of my favorites from this year, and my favorite racing game to date. The vast collection of interesting cars from around the world never ceases to amaze me, and I am definitely motivated to keep playing — even though I’ve finished the campaign — to unlock new cars and continue to experience all the racing and exploration that “Horizon 5” has to offer. This is definitely on my shortlist for game of the year, and I was able to play it on launch day with Xbox Game Pass. I could write pages about why Game Pass is amazing, but the fact that I got to play this amazing title at no additional cost shows how valuable the service is.

Xbox

As much as I love “Horizon 5” it is not without its issues. While I’ve had no visual or gameplay glitches, sometimes the driving mechanics are a bit finicky. The controls can be tailored to be a full simulation of real driving or an almost fully arcade style akin to a “MarioKart.” It took me nearly seven hours to really find a style that worked for me, and even as I’m writing this I still feel somewhat unsatisfied with the way certain driving styles feel. While I love the smooth feeling of road racing and offroading, street races and some faster drives feel a bit hard to calculate without making it too easy with assists. Additionally, I find the AI drivers you race against to be poorly balanced. When they are set to easier difficulties, I always come in first, but as soon as I raise it up even one notch, I feel like I’m being left in the dust. Besides those minor complaints, though “Horizon 5” is nearly perfect.

The finish line

I love “Forza Horizon 5” and will probably continue to play it for years, just popping in to clear up some races and gun it down the highways of Mexico. While it isn’t perfect, it’s a masterclass in so many fields, and for that I’m rating it 9/10. I couldn’t recommend “Forza” any more than I already have and think it is worth your time. I played on Xbox Series X and did not have the means to test it on other Xbox consoles, PC or the cloud, but like I mentioned, it is on Game Pass which is highly accessible on so many systems and I urge everyone who’s able to go try it out and join me on the racetrack.

Jeriann Tripodi, Editor

Welcome to a brand new and 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.

Jeriann Tripodi, Editor

Welcome to the wonderful world of entertainment. The following news includes highlights of celebrities, television, movies and music this week.

Britney Spears’ conservatorship ends after 13 years

            On Nov. 12, Judge Brenda Penny has ruled that the ongoing conservatorship over pop singer Britney Spears’ estate and personal affairs be terminated during an afternoon hearing. Fans and supporters of the #FreeBritney movement, who were waiting outside of the courthouse, cheered frantically as soon as they were informed of the verdict. The 39-year-old “Toxic” singer shared a video of her fans celebrating and captioned that this day was the “best day ever.”

Variety

McDonald’s to launch the “Mariah Menu” during the holidays

            Grammy-Award winning singer Mariah Carey and McDonald’s are launching the “Mariah Menu” with 12 days of free food. Starting on Dec. 13, customers who use the app to make a minimum purchase of $1 will receive different free items off the special menu every day until Christmas Eve. These items, which will be served in a special Mariah-themed holiday packaging, include a Big Mac, 6-piece Chicken McNuggets, a cheeseburger and apple pie.

@McDonalds via Twitter

Amanda Kloots honors Nick Cordero on “Dancing with the Stars”

            Celebrity fitness trainer Amanda Kloots brought tears to the eyes of the audience members when she dedicated her performance to her late husband Nick Cordero during the semi-finals on “Dancing with the Stars.” Dancing to Lenii’s version of “Live your Life” with her professional dance partner, Kloots chose this song because her late husband wrote and sang the original version. Cordero, who was a Broadway actor, made headlines in early 2020 when he was one of the first celebrities to be diagnosed with COVID-19. He passed from complications several months later.

Dancing with the Stars via Youtube

 “Clifford the Big Red Dog” is now playing in theaters

            On Nov. 10, “Clifford the Big Red Dog” arrived in theaters and made $22 million during its first five days. According to The Hollywood Reporter, that is one of the best starts for a family-friendly film during the pandemic. However, the film, which can also be streamed on Paramount+, came in second place during its first weekend at the box office, as Marvel’s “Eternals” has remained at the top spot for the second weekend straight. “Clifford the Big Red Dog” is based on the early 2000s television series, and tells the story of a young girl named Emily Elizabeth who becomes surprised when her small red puppy becomes 10-feet tall.

Paramount+

Number one on the Billboard charts: week of Nov. 20, 2021

According to “The Hot 100” on the charts, the number one song in the U.S. is “Easy On Me” by Adele. Staying at the top spot for the fourth week in a row, this is the fifth week the pop ballad is on the charts. According to the “Billboard 200,” the number one album in the U.S. is “Still Over It” by Summer Walker. The Contemporary R&B album is at the top spot during its first week on the charts.

Uber Turco News

Jeriann Tripodi, Editor

Welcome to the wonderful world of entertainment. The following news includes highlights of celebrities, television, movies and music this week.

 Travis Scott is being sued by concertgoers after Astroworld Festival tragedy

            On Nov. 5, a deadly crowd surge took place at the opening night of rapper Travis Scott’s concert, Astroworld Festival, in Houston. As a result, eight people died and hundreds were injured. Concert attendees are suing the rapper and Live Nation due to inadequate security and medical staff as well as for pain and suffering “caused by several stampedes and a crowd compression,” according to legal documents obtained by TMZ. Scott, who has been blasted on social media for continuing the show while the chaos unfolded, will pay for the funerals of his deceased fans.

BBC

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are both moving on to new relationships

            According to Page Six, both rapper Kanye West and reality star Kim Kardashian are dating other people since they have announced their split. Although their divorce has not been finalized, West has been spotted with a model named Vinetria, who is half his age. The 44-year-old rapper and the 22-year-old beauty made their first public appearance together at a basketball game. Meanwhile, Kardashian is dating “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson. The 41-year-old socialite and reality star and the 27-year-old comedian have been spotted kissing and going out to dinner at hotspots in California and New York.

enews

“Stranger Things” season four will have a summer 2022 release

            In a recent tweet, streaming platform Netflix has announced that the highly-anticipated fourth season of its hit sci-fi and drama series, “Stranger Things,” will be released during the summer of 2022. The tweet also announced the titles of the nine episodes. In addition to this announcement, Netflix released the fourth teaser, titled “Welcome to California,” indicating that the majority of the action will no longer take place in Hawkins, Indiana, which was the setting for the first three seasons.

Stranger Things 4 | Welcome to California | Netflix

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are cast for upcoming “Wicked” film

            Pop singer Ariana Grande and actress Cynthia Erivo both took to their Instagram accounts to announce that they will be starring alongside one another in director Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked,” which is based on the hit Broadway show with the same name. In their similar posts, Grande and Erivo shared photos from their video chat and also shared handwritten notes to each other expressing their happiness of working together. Playing the witches of Oz, Erivo will star as Elphaba and Grande will star as Glinda.

Sportskeeda

Number one on the Billboard charts: week of Nov. 13, 2021

According to “The Hot 100” on the charts, the number one song in the U.S. is “Easy On Me” by Adele. Staying at the top spot for the third week in a row, this is the fourth week the pop ballad is on the charts. According to the “Billboard 200,” the number one album in the U.S. is “=” (pronounced “Equals”) by Ed Sheeran. The pop album is at the top spot during its first week on the charts.

Koimoi

Nolen Kelly, Editor

It’s Wednesday, and you know what that means: more words to read that I wrote. Spooky scary skele-season is over, and while I can’t lie, I do miss it a bit more than usual, I am looking forward to things beyond the grave, like movies. This week I’m reviewing Timothée Chalamet in “Dune,” his latest movie not titled “The French Dispatch.” Although many other publications’ reviews are either filled with pure unadulterated rage about how boring “Dune” is or praising the new addition to the collection of movies that God himself wrote, I personally think this is a slightly flawed, but very good movie.

“Dune” is based on the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert and was originally adapted into a movie in 1984 by David Lynch, but was slammed by Lynch himself at the time for his lack of interest in his own creation and for how “heartbreaking” the whole process of making it was. The movie remained divisive among Lynch’s fans, general movie enjoyers, original fans of the novel and science fiction fans for decades. By 2017, French-Canadian director Denis Villenueve would build up a reliable resumé of movies that ranged from nail biting and ultra-tense thrillers like “Sicario” and “Prisoners” to science fiction movies about humanity and its connections with non-human entities like robots in “Blade Runner 2049” and “Arrival.” The latter two films would serve as Villenueve’s tests as to whether he would be able to tackle something as large as “Dune” and when the film was announced back in February of 2017, many people were very excited, including me.

Too long, too boring, “don’t care, get ratioed” history lesson aside, “Dune” has been in need of a good adaptation for a long time and I believe Villenueve did a killer job… on part one. “Dune” is only part one of two movies and despite part one being 80 percent political discussion and 20 percent action, it is a very good movie. Although Villenueve tends to make his movies with a rich color spectrum, he chose to make “Dune” a very bleak and monochromatic movie that I kind of hated at first because it looks so boring. But, I think the longer the movie went on, the more I appreciated how simple the colors were. Single shades of black, grey, yellow and white fill the screen and force you to pay attention to what is being shown when everything is the same color. And speaking of paying attention — this story is primarily composed of political discussion so it can absolutely get boring, however, I think that it works well and stays interesting if you can keep in mind that this is only part one and the better stuff will come later if this movie is not working for you. “Dune” is all about world building, establishing the politics of the story and developing the characters and relationships. 

Speaking of the characters, I don’t think there is anyone in this movie I don’t like. Zendaya Coleman’s (“Euphoria,” “Malcolm and Marie”) character Chani and Dave Bautista’s (“Spectre,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”) Glossu Rabban do not play major roles in this part and I think that is fine, as they may be more prominent in part two. There were a lot of big actors and characters in this movie, but it felt like everyone played a pretty big part in either the story or the motivation of another character. Oscar Isaac (”Scenes From a Marriage,” “Ex Machina”) as Leto Atreides was an excellent example of a devoted father and honest leader while Stellan Skarsgârd (“Good Will Hunting,” “Thor”) was a disgusting and intense Baron Harkonnen. Timothée Chalamet (“Lady Bird,” “Call Me By Your Name”) was a decent Paul Atredies, but his best moments were whenever he interacted with Josh Brolin’s (“Milk,” “No Country for Old Men”) Gurney Hallick and, possibly one of the top three characters of the movie, Jason Mamoa’s (“Aquaman,” “Sweet Girl”) Duncan Idaho. He is a great character, but man, that name is terrible. 

On top of a great cast and some good looking colors and landscapes, the size and scale of this movie is impressive. “Dune” is impressive because of how large and advanced everything looks and feels, such as massive ships that carry entire armies to the vast cities on each planet. Everything looks and feels big. The sandworm, from the trailers and not a spoiler, is terrifying, and just the thought of something like that slithering beneath layers of sand and big enough to destroy entire ships further adds to the terrifying magnitude of this universe. Even the size of the Baron is intimidating as he is a big mondo man who can just levitate wherever he wants. It is repulsive but it is really cool. I came out of this having really enjoyed everything but the thing that struck me the most was just how big everything in this movie was and I felt so small afterward.

There is a lot to talk about with this film. I can understand why people don’t love this movie and I get why it is held in such high regard, but I can say I am happy comfortably in the middle. “Dune” is a slower burn than other sci-fi movies, but, while people say that “Star Wars” is the space opera, I think this movie takes the cake as an actual opera in space. “Dune” is a long but slick and cool couple of hours that may not be for everyone but is definitely worth checking out if slow but cool movies are your thing. “Dune” (2021) earns a hefty “A-” from me and I can’t wait for part two.

Jeriann Tripodi, Editor

Welcome to the wonderful world of entertainment. The following news includes highlights of celebrities, television, movies and music this week.

 Zayn Malik has been charged with crimes against Gigi Hadid and her mother

            Former “One Direction” member Zayn Malik has been charged with four criminal offenses of harassment after being accused of shoving the mother of his partner, supermodel Gigi Hadid, during an argument. According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, Malik shoved 57-year-old Yolanda Hadid into a dresser and called her derogatory names. The singer has also been charged for harassing his partner. The pair have since broken up.

TMZ

Drake treats himself to $5.5 million watch

            Rapper Drake recently turned 35 years old and bought a $5.5 million watch as a birthday present to himself. The watch is a rare, 1-of-1 piece designed by Swiss luxury watch company Richard Mille. The high-end item is see-through due to its sapphire crystal case, and employs “complex tourbillon movement,” according to TMZ. It has been reported that this is the most expensive gift the “God’s Plan” rapper has ever bought for himself.

Complex

Dan Levy will launch a new cooking reality show

            Actor and showrunner Dan Levy has announced that he will be launching and hosting a new cooking reality competition series titled “The Big Brunch.” In a press release, the “Schitt’s Creek” star stated that he has made this show for people “who create communities around their cooking, hoping to take their skills to the next level.” According to NBC News, the aspiring chefs will share their stories and dreams before competing for a “life-altering prize.” “The Big Brunch” will be released to HBO Max in 2022.

Deadline

“House of Gucci” trailer is released

            On Oct. 28, MGM released the dramatic trailer for the highly anticipated Ridley Scott film “House of Gucci.” This biographical crime drama stars big Hollywood names such as Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto and Salma Hayek. The trailer emphasizes fashion, power and animosity as it focuses on the very confident Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) who marries into the wealthy Gucci family but becomes vindictive when things do not go according to her plan. Gaga, who is shown in a black wig and smokey eye makeup, sports a heavy Italian accent. “House of Gucci” is rated R and will arrive in theaters Nov. 24.

Hola

Number one on the Billboard charts: week of Nov. 6, 2021

According to “The Hot 100” on the charts, the number one song in the U.S. is “Easy On Me” by Adele. Staying at the top spot for the second week in a row, this is the third week the pop ballad is on the charts. According to the “Billboard 200,” the number one album in the U.S. is “Certified Lover Boy” by Drake. The hip-hop/rap album is back at the top spot during its eighth week on the charts.

Los Angeles Times