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A stocked bar cart is a party essential, so whether you’re planning your own holiday get-together this year or want to gift the host with a bottle of something nice, delivery services are a convenient and fast way to alleviate any pre-party stress.

There are now dozens of Postmates-style alcohol services that can deliver craft beers, wines, spirits and liquor to your door in less than an hour, meaning you can impress your guests with a wide selection of drinks that will be sure to keep the party alive once the clock strikes midnight — whether that looks like uncorking champagne, taking shots of tequila or sipping fine wine.

From Drizly to Saucey, here are the best alcohol delivery services to use for your holiday feasts this year (which you can also get delivered through these meal delivery services.)

Drizly

Drizly is one of the best choices for rapid alcohol delivery if you live in a metropolitan city. The service, which partners with local stores, boasts wide-ranging alcoholic offerings with options between craft beer, wine and liquor, in addition to mixers, snacks and party supplies. Drizly is great because they not only have hot brands like Casamigos or Grey Goose, but will also deliver rarer spirits such as Clase Azul. And as long as the product is within your radius, they promise a 60-minute turnaround.

Saucey

If you’re bulk ordering for a party, Saucey is the way to go, with steep discounts on large hauls which can come in as fast as two days. They not only sell hundreds of the most popular brands in tequila, whiskey, vodka, wine and beer, but no order minimums or delivery fees mean you won’t have to cash out for the convenience (although tipping is always encouraged!). Like Drizly, Saucey also has rapid delivery if you’re in one of the more than 30 cities they partner with nationwide.

Minibar

Minibar has their own Party Essentials tab to make it even easier to prep for your hosting gigs this season. They promise 30 minute deliveries in more than 70 cities nationwide, boasting everything from Tito’s Vodka and Bulleit Bourbob to Hendrick’s Gin and Espolón Tequila. In addition to hard alcohol, you can also choose between a wide range of craft beers and mixing ingredients such as club soda, aperol and even lime and lemon so you can get everything you need to mix the perfect drink without leaving the house.

Winc

You can keep your wine cellar stocked year round with Winc, which offers both monthly subscription services in addition to individual gift boxes. The California-based winery offers a more personalized experience when it comes to wine, allowing you to choose your own wines based on your palate, price point and occasion. Many of their wines are featured at some of the best restaurants across the country, and they’re all carefully chosen by the site’s in-house sommeliers (see their current roster of wines here). Never pay for a bottle you don’t like, and you can skip a delivery any time you want.

Total Wine

Despite the name, Total Wine is a one-stop shop for any type of alcohol. Their site features more than 200 pages of every type of spirit and liquor you can imagine: mix Gonzalez’s award-winning tequila with their selection of margarita mixes or make a tangy Moscow Mule with their vodka and lime juice offerings. Not only do they  sell their own shakers and bitters for at-home mixing, but you can also find dozens of cocktail ideas using the ingredients available on their site.

Caskers

If you want to make a statement with your bar cart this year, you’ll want to order from Caskers, which is known for their impressive selection of rare spirits and exclusive releases that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. Examples of their Rare Finds include Clase Azul’s Añejo Tequila, WhistlePig The Boss Hog Straight Rye Whiskey and George Remus Straight Bourbon — premium spirits distributed in extremely limited quantities. You can join different clubs on their site such as the American Whiskey Club and World of Whiskey but you can also just pick and choose from their full collection for one-time purchases.

Read More: The Best Celebrity Alcohol Brands to Gift This Year 

Instacart

InstaCart is a great option for those looking to tag alcohol on top of their regular groceries haul. The popular service is known for delivering from local markets but you can also use their site to shop from dozens of liquor stores in your area, and it might be a better choice over Drizly or Saucey since they have services in more than 500 cities across the country. Since delivery fees vary from $5.99 to $7.99, you’ll want to save InstaCart for when you have a lot on your shopping list, but their partnership with grocery stores also means you can get everything you need for more intensive cocktails, such as juices, bitters and fresh fruits.

Craft Beer Club

Make a trip to the brewery from your house through Craft Beer Club, which delivers curated boxes of some of the most exceptional beers from the country’s best, small independent brewers. Each box showcases two different breweries from two different regions in the U.S., in four different styles. Recent featured beers include Hinterland’s IPA and Belgian Witbier, and Bank Brewing’s American Amber and Pale Ale. Plus, each box comes with Micro Brew News, beer tasting notes and pairing recipes, making it a thoughtful last-minute gift for the beer connoisseur in your life.

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Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet were already

Cari Beauchamp, a political adviser turned historian who documented the overlooked story of women in early Hollywood, when the film industry’s chaotic beginnings allowed them to assert a surprising amount of power, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. She was 74.

Her son Jake Flynn confirmed the death, in a hospital, but did not specify the cause.

Beginning with her 1998 book, “Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood,” Ms. Beauchamp (pronounced BEE-cham) set out to recover a lost part of film history, when women stood alongside men as some of the most prolific and influential figures in the industry.

By combing through the Library of Congress archives, Ms. Beauchamp discovered that about half of all copyrighted films between 1911 and 1925 were written by women, and that they produced and directed movies seen by millions of people worldwide.

Yet aside from a few names, like that of the actor and United Artists co-founder Mary Pickford, most of these women and their accomplishments were erased by the male-dominated studio system that solidified control over Hollywood in the 1930s.

Ms. Beauchamp’s avenue through the story is the life of Frances Marion, a screenwriter with more than 200 scripts to her name, two of which — “The Big House” (1930) and “The Champ” (1931) — won Oscars.

Between the mid-1910s and the mid-1930s Ms. Marion was the highest-paid writer in Hollywood, man or woman. And yet, until Ms. Beauchamp came along, no one had written her biography.

“Women are always in the footnotes,” Ms. Beauchamp told The Christian Science Monitor in 1997. Changing gender mores and the concentration of power in Hollywood by the end of World War II, she went on, made studio lots a man’s world.

“Rosie the Riveter went home,” she said, referring to the countless women who worked in factories during the war, “and so did women working in the studios.”

Aspects of Ms. Marion’s life paralleled those of Ms. Beauchamp. Both were well known and liked around Hollywood in their respective times; both were outspoken women’s rights advocates; and both raised two sons, largely on their own.

They slipped in easily among the rich and famous; Ms. Marion brushed shoulders with the actor Douglas Fairbanks and the press baron William Randolph Hearst, while Ms. Beauchamp chummed it up with the novelist Harold Robbins and the actress Judy Balaban. And Ms. Beauchamp seemed to take to heart one of Ms. Marion’s most famous lines: When asked why she wasn’t married, she replied that she was “searching for a man to look up to without lying down.”

Carol Ann Beauchamp was born on Sept. 12, 1949, in Berkeley, Calif. Her father, Blake, a police officer, moved the family to nearby Stockton when she was 6, and he later worked in insurance. Her mother, Catherine (Crisp) Beauchamp, was an administrator at the University of the Pacific, in Stockton.

She attended Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, Calif., then transferred to San Jose State University, where she studied political science and American history and graduated in 1972.

Ms. Beauchamp spent six years working as an investigator for the Legal Aid Society of Santa Clara County while also becoming active in local and state politics.

She rallied for the Equal Rights Amendment; she was the first president of the National Women’s Political Caucus of California, an advocacy group; and in 1975 she helped run the winning campaign of Janet Gray Hayes, the first woman to be elected mayor of San Jose.

Such work brought her into contact with rising female politicians like Dianne Feinstein, the future Democratic senator, as well as Jerry Brown, the governor of California. She became his press secretary in 1979, and for the next three years she produced about 900 news releases — great training, she later said, for her future career as a writer.

Ms. Beauchamp continued her political work through the 1980s, even as she grew increasingly enthralled with Hollywood and film history. She became a regular at the Cannes Film Festival, and in 1992 she and a friend, the French journalist Henri Béhar, wrote “Hollywood on the Riviera: The Inside Story of the Cannes Film Festival.”

Her first marriage ended in divorce. She married Tom Flynn in 1992. They later separated. Along with her son Jake, she is survived by another son from a previous relationship, Teo Beauchamp.

Ms. Beauchamp wrote and edited several more books after her biography of Ms. Marion, including “Anita Loos Rediscovered: Film Treatments and Fiction by Anita Loos” (2003), “Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary: Her Private Letters From Inside the Studios of the 1920s” (2006) and “Joseph P. Kennedy Presents: His Hollywood Years” (2009).

She wrote regularly about Hollywood for The New York Times and Vanity Fair, and also wrote a number of documentaries, including one based on her Marion biography that she produced, and “The Day My God Died” (2003), about child sex slavery in India and Nepal.

Ms. Beauchamp sewed a common thread through all her work, an ultimately hopeful message that in the face of rampant sexism and even gender-based violence, women could often rely on other women for support.

“I owe my greatest success to women,” she quoted Ms. Marion as saying. “Contrary to the assertion that women do all in their power to hinder one another’s progress, I have found that it has always been one of my own sex who has given me a helping hand when I needed it.”

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Cari Beauchamp, a political adviser turned historian

As if there wasn’t already Kenough of the Barbie-themed ads and merch over the summer, get ready for “Now That’s What I Call Ken-mas!”

That’s right, Ryan Gosling and “Barbie” composer-pop whisperer Mark Ronson have teamed up once again to release a Christmas-themed version of one of the movie’s hit songs, “I’m Just Ken.”

The song answers the question: “What if Ken was more devoted to seasonal Yuletide sounds than movie musical allusions?” One question it does not answer is “Why?”

The repurposed track includes a slightly different vocal performance from Gosling — who still affects the toxic-masculinity tone of the original composition — and myriad bells, a timpani or two, and a cascade of stringed instruments for that Christmas feel.

“Do you think it’s too Christmas?” the “La La Land” star asks a candy cane-wielding Ronson in a room jam-packed with holiday decorations and cookies. It’s the official music video for “I’m Just Ken — Merry Kristmas Barbie.”

Gosling then wonders aloud, “There’s just a worry if we do too much Christmas no one’s going to watch it after the 26th.” He is quickly reassured that that won’t be the case and proceeds to lay down the track, but not before throwing on Ken’s signature shades — because “the world can have Ken’s voice, but only Barbie can have his eyes.”

Not a fan of Christmas music? Fair enough. Well, maybe try the upbeat new disco version of the song.

“Can you feel Kenergy?” Gosling’s backup vocalists sing in the ‘70s-inspired reimagining of the tune. This take has shades of Dua Lipa’s “Barbie” disco anthem “Dance the Night,” which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Aptly titled “I’m Just Ken — Purple Disco Machine Remix,” the track includes funky guitar riffs, beeping synths and all the drama of any good disco jam.

But wait — there’s more.

For the sensiKens of the world, Ronson and Gosling also put out an acoustic version of the song. Somehow more emotionally vulnerable than the original recording, “I’m Just Ken — In My Feelings Acoustic” employs acoustic guitars, a bigger string section, a whole lot of echoing vocals and more dramatic Kenergy than the entire theater departments at UCLA and USC combined.

The original film version of “I’m Just Ken” became a surprise hit amid the success of the billion-dollar “Barbie” box office run. The single peaked at No.87 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August.

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As if there wasn’t already

Thanks to some recent headlines, a Phase 6 debut for the Marvel villain Doctor Doom could be on the horizon in the MCU. 

Dr. Victor Von Doom has been a long time coming in the super-powered franchise, as one of the most asked-for characters since the very beginning of Marvel Studios’ big screen efforts. 

While teases to the character have made it into recent films, it seemed as though fans would have to wait for Doom a bit longer, as the red brand has been setting up Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror as the next Avengers-level big bad.

Doctor Doom Could Be Coming to MCU Phase 6

Marvel

Following Jonathan Majors’ recent firing from the MCU, speculation started swirling about a potential Doctor Doom introduction in Phase 6 of the storied cinematic universe. 

For years, Majors’ Kang the Conqueror looked as though he was being set up to carry the torch left by Josh Brolin’s Thanos as the next major threat to shake the MCU.

However, the Loki actor was officially fired from the franchise after being found guilty of reckless assault and harassment. 

This could potentially point to the Marvel Studios braintrust fast-tracking a Doctor Doom introduction into the MCU to fill the villainous void left by Kang. 

According to a November 2023 report from Variety, as Majors remained embroiled in legal trouble, one of Marvel’s plans – should the studio have been forced to pivot from the actor – was to bring in Victor Von Doom. 

While some may think Marvel Studios will opt to simply recast Majors and continue on the Kang path. However, if that is the case, then the reported internal name-changing of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers 5 would not make a whole lot of sense. 

Marvel Comics recently made a major change to the Doom character on the page, potentially setting the character up for his MCU introduction. 

There has been talk of Doom being present in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie (as a post-credit tease), so he may have already been in the plans for Marvel Studios. The Majors firing though could expedite the process, turning him from a potential villain down the line, into a much more imminent threat. 

Who Could Play Doctor Doom?

If Doctor Doom is, in fact, already planned to appear in some capacity in the Fantastic Four movie, then the iconic Marvel villain may have already been cast. 

However, if he has not and this is the direction Marvel is about to pivot to, Doctor Doom just became the hottest ticket casting call in Hollywood. 

Given the whole Jonathan Majors fandango, Marvel Studios is going to want to make a splash with whatever it does to pick up the Kang-sized pieces. Coming off this controversy, it would not be all that surprising if Marvel goes big game hunting in a potential Doctor Doom casting call. 

That means – if Doom is the next big thing headed to the MCU – no name is too big. 

Actors who may have been out of the question before are not in contention. If it is going to cost the studio an arm and a leg, the MCU creative team will likely back the dump truck of cash up just to secure that perfect name. 

When the idea of an MCU Doom comes up, a few names are common in those fan-casting conversations. 

People like Cillian Murphy, Rami Malek, and Christoph Waltz are all actors who have been popular picks to take on the character, and they feel like natural fits especially given the circumstances. 

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An incredibly exciting, fan-casted candidate for the DCU’s Batman has been imagined as Gotham’s Dark Knight in a fantastic piece of fan art.

Summary

  • Fan art imagines Alan Ritchson as Batman, generating excitement for his potential casting in the DCU.
  • Ritchson’s own comments expressing his willingness to play Batman make him a popular fancast choice.
  • His impressive physique showcased in Reacher adds to the anticipation of him embodying a powerful and intimidating Dark Knight.


The most exciting fancast for Batman has been imagined as The Dark Knight in a beautiful piece of fan art. Since it was announced that James Gunn’s DCU movie and TV slate will officially replace the DCEU, fancastings have been prevalent for the various members of the Justice League. While David Corenswet has already been cast as the DCU’s Clark Kent/Superman, many have been wondering which actor will be hired as live-action Batman in the DCU. In recent months, one specific actor has been raised repeatedly concerning a potential role as Batman in what is perhaps one of the most exciting acting candidates for the upcoming DC movies.

The actor in question is Alan Ritchson, with a fantastic piece of fan art by agtdesign imagining the reality in which Ritchson becomes the DCU’s Batman. The image highlights Ritchson’s recognizable face, perfectly edited atop the Batman suit worn by Ben Affleck in the DCEU. Stood in front of the dark, brooding skyline of Gotham City in the moonlight, the exciting prospect of Ritchson becoming the DCU’s Caped Crusader becomes even more tantalizing with a visual cue of how it may look.


Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher in Reacher and Batman in DCU fan art

This piece of fan art raises the question of why Ritchson has become such a popular Batman fancast of late. The primary reason is Ritchson’s own comments on the matter, with the actor speaking out about the possibility of playing Batman during the press tour for Reacher season 2. Ritchson’s response to the DCU Batman fancastings is as follows: “With all the rumors flying that I’m supposed to be playing Batman, how can I knock Batman? I would love to play Batman.”

Ritchson’s own willingness to bring the character of Batman to life led to an increased number of fans clamoring for the casting to come true. This is undoubtedly aided by the actor’s recent appearance in Reacher, which highlights his insanely huge build. Ritchson is clearly adept at packing on muscle, having the perfect size and physicality to make for an incredibly intimidating Dark Knight. This, combined with the need for a new Batman, Ritchson’s openness to the role, and the fantastic pieces of fan art imagining these aspects, make the Reacher star one of the more exciting potential prospects for the DCU’s future.

Source: agtdesign

Key Release Dates

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IGN writes: “Some of the biggest and most respected companies in both industries had some unfortunate moments this year, particularly Bethesda in video games and Marvel in film and TV. From the former we saw Starfield, which wasn’t quite the open worlds space epic we all dreamed of, while Redfall was a huge disappointment by any standards. Marvel premieres like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion also left us underwhelmed, but it’s perhaps the overall lack of direction in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 5 that has us most upset.”

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IGN writes: "Some of the biggest and

If not already apparent, the COVID-19 pandemic of recent years—and its subsequent global economic impact—has shone a spotlight on just how precarious most American lives actually are, whether publicly or behind closed doors.

It’s debatable whether anyone truly works a billion dollars hard or smart, yet wealth continues to amass in the hands of an obnoxious mega-rich elite, leaving most of us one bad day away from complete financial ruin. That is, if we don’t already exist in a chronic state of economic depression to begin with. But our democracy (and tax dollars!) provides guardrails against such dire domestic predicaments, right? Well, in theory…

In practice, however, the US welfare system is under constant threat from within—the kneecapping of government assistance programs becoming a reliable wedge issue for compounding generations of conservative politics.

Then again, there’s an equally influential history of civil rights advocates—frequently women of color—fighting to mend a broken system. Take the subject of filmmaker Hazel Gurland-Pooler’s new feature-length documentary Storming Caesars Palace, Ruby Duncan.

A key figure in the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO), Las Vegas single mother Duncan took her protests not just to the streets, but to the casino floors and restaurants of Sin City’s ritziest hotels. Gurland developed the project in part in Film Independent’s Documentary Story Lab—now accepting submissions for 2024.

We recently spoke to Gurland-Pooler about her personal attachment to the material and the urgency of capturing Ruby Duncan’s story before it was too late. Storming Caesar’s Palace premiered earlier this year as part of Independent Lens on PBS. Storming also recently won IDA’s ABC News Video Source Award for use of archival material at the recent IDA Awards.

 

HAZEL GURLAND-POOLER

Let’s start with the origin of Storming Caesars Palace. How did this project come into focus? What about the story were you were passionate about?

Gurland-Pooler: It’s funny, from the outside I’m not someone who has been on public assistance—although I’ve definitely been on unemployment from time to time, which is essentially the same thing…

Sounds like the life of a filmmaker.

Gurland-Pooler: Exactly. And I’m not from Las Vegas, so this is not my personal experience. I was born to a teenage mother in Bogota, Colombia—or at least that’s the story, I don’t actually know if it’s true—so I’ve always wanted to share and uplift stories of mothers who are working really, really hard to provide for their children. I came across Ruby Duncan’s story and the stories of many moms in the Welfare Rights Movement, who were fighting every step of the way to have enough money to feed and clothe their kids and give them shelter. Because my birth mother wasn’t able to do that for me, I’ve just always been inspired by women who have done that, despite all the things they’re struggling against.

Where did you first encounter Ruby’s story?

Gurland-Pooler: It was a book first by Annelise Orleck. I was listening to an interview with Annalise on NPR and was like, “This book sounds amazing, I have to go get it.” So I bought it and read it. “This should be a documentary,” I thought. I’d been working as an AP on a lot of different historical documentaries and thinking: Why are all the stories that I’m working on about old white men, directed and produced by old white men? It just hit a nerve. At the time I don’t think I put two-and-two together, that it felt so personal.

‘Storming Caesar’s Palace’ (2023, dir. Hazel Gurland)

I think that happens a lot with nonfiction filmmakers. You spark to a subject for whatever reason and feel the itch to pursue it, not realizing until later what the actual subconscious attraction was.

Gurland-Pooler: I read the book in 2005 and introduced myself to Ruby Duncan, but the film took 15 years to make. I got married and had a kid in that time and was working full time jobs the entire time until I got the green light from PBS. A lot of the reason the movie took so long was because I didn’t really have proper funding, I was always using savings and going out to Vegas on holidays to try to shoot stuff. Once I got more support, things happened much faster. Not to put too fine a point on it but there was a sense of urgency, due to Ruby’s age, to make sure she was going to be able to tell her whole story and enjoy the film once it came out. She put a lot of faith and trust in me. So I always feel good knowing that everybody [in the Las Vegas welfare rights community] was happy with the way that it turned out.

What challenges did you encounter during the fundraising process?

Gurland-Pooler: Gatekeepers would say, “Why are trying to tell this historic story now?” For me it was like: all of this is still happening. We have people who are working and don’t make a living wage; they have to have multiple jobs just to take care of their families. I think a lot of people thought, “Oh, I’m never going to need welfare. This doesn’t really involve me.” But I think COVID really pulled back the curtain on economic inequality in general in this country. If I’d made the film in 2010, I don’t think people would’ve been ready for it. So in some ways I think it was a blessing in disguise that it took so long.

On that note, what did the Las Vegas setting give you in terms of being able to draw out that contrast?

Gurland-Pooler: Las Vegas was a fabulous setting for this story. It’s literally a place where people come to throw their money away. But if you think about who’s actually doing the work in the hotels and kitchens and clean everything, all those jobs have historically been done by mostly women of color. And particularly in the time the film is taking place—the 50s, 60s and 70s—by Black women living on the Westside, half a mile from Downtown, in substandard housing, struggling to pay their bills. It just offered so many opportunities to juxtapose wealth and poverty.

Las Vegas welfare protests

When did the Film Independent Doc Lab come onto your radar?

Gurland-Pooler: I’d been trying to fundraise and had done a pitch at Big Sky and from there I was invited to come to Film Independent. It was an incredible experience, even though we had to do it virtually because it was 2021. But being with Film Independent and getting to meet all these different filmmakers, I felt really safe and encouraged and supported. I was essentially able to workshop the film. At that point I basically had an assembly that in my mind was a rough cut. But coming into these sessions and being able to work with all these fancy people in the industry was great. They were able to be like, “Well, this feels like a train plowing through here, you gotta have space to breathe for more emotion.”

Is there one particular Mentor, session, or moment you feel impacted Storming Caesars Palace the most?

Gurland-Pooler: I would say one of the mentors I had that was really important was Miranda Yousef. She’s an editor, so she watched it and we really went over things and she gave suggestions that were really helpful. It wasn’t general advice. It was like, “This scene is dragging, you have to do something about this” or “This is too fast, I don’t know what’s happening” or “Maybe you should think about this part out of order.” Very concrete, helpful feedback. I’m just so glad it all worked out, because I needed a lot of help, with this being my first film.

And how has distribution process gone?

Gurland-Pooler: Before the film was broadcast on PBS, we had something like 45 community screenings in 36 states, most with local public media station support through Independent Lens’ Pop Up. We were fortunate to be one of four films that season selected for this program. Some of them were virtual, but it was always connected with BIPOC or women-led community organizations working on the ground now dealing with some of the issues in the film. I’m excited that our impact campaign has been able to keep that going. From there we’re going into high schools with lesson plans through PBS LearningMedia and we have Educational distribution through Women Make Movies. It’s a good interconnected ecosystem, you can get distribution through Education and Impact with these community screening events, and we’re meeting all of our goals to engage our audiences and fortify the current work of grassroots organizations, while [the orgs] are able to use the film as an inspirational activation tool for their members and communities, and it’s a really lovely thing. 

Celebrating 30 years, Film Independent Artist Development promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work. Become a Member of Film Independent today. Support us with a donation here.

Keep up with Film Independent…

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We begin a series of recurring podcast themed episodes where we discuss the many alternate versions, special editions and director’s cuts of a popular work of art. Robocop (1987) starts off that series of recuts and here to help highlight the R-rated version, the NC-17 special edition and cheesy safe-to-air-on-TV recut are Bobby & Matt, the Slept on Cinema Podcast duo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This week, Jonathan Majors was found guilty on misdemeanor counts of reckless assault and harassment against ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, and later that same day, Marvel Studios confirmed that it would no longer be working with the actor who was said to be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s new main villain, after Josh Brolin’s Thanos. Majors had already appeared as several different versions of multiversal menace Kang The Conqueror in Loki and Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, and his storyline was going to fully come together in the next Avengers movie (originally announced as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, but now simply referred to as Avengers 5, per The Hollywood Reporter).

Other than that, Marvel has been predictably tight-lipped about its future plans, meaning we don’t know how the jettisoning of Jonathan Majors is going to impact upcoming Marvel stuff beyond the fact that it has to in some way. With the studio unwilling to give us big spoilers, that leaves us to make wild speculations about what could/should happen. But, in a surprising and refreshing twist, the speculations don’t have to be all that wild because there are really only two options for Marvel at this point: Recast Jonathan Majors and move forward with a different person playing Kang, or do a soft reset and remove Kang from the equation entirely.

Both options are equally likely and equally possible given the current state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so let’s break them down.

Option 1: Recast Kang with a different actor

Marvel’s current storylines are all about the multiverse, which is to say the infinite possibilities afforded by infinite alternate realities. That conceit has already made it possible to put three Spider-Mans in one movie, different versions of famous heroes in another movie, and a bunch of different Lokis in Loki. Quantumania also introduced a huge array of different Kangs—all played by Majors at the time—in a post-credits stinger.

In terms of Marvel lore, then, it would be enormously easy to just bring in a different actor and say “This is Kang now.” No one in-universe would ever need to directly address that he looks different and nobody would ever need to acknowledge the Majors versions of Kang ever again. Marvel could even have a new main version of Kang who establishes his evilness by killing all of the other Kangs offscreen. It would be very clean and easy.

And it would be similarly easy behind the scenes, because Marvel has recast characters a bunch of times in the past, so it clearly doesn’t have any reservations about the practice. Don Cheadle replaced Terrance Howard as James “Rhodey” Rhodes after the first Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo replaced Edward Norton as Bruce Banner after his Hulk movie, and Harrison Ford is going to replace William Hurt as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in Captain America: New World Order. Nobody in Iron Man 2 or The Avengers bothered to say “Hey, that guy looks different from the last time we saw him” because they didn’t need to.

Recasting Kang would also have the added bonus of reestablishing why he should be the new big bad guy for people who didn’t bother watching Loki or Quantumania, and with the general public clearly experiencing some MCU fatigue, an opportunity to give your villain a second first impression.

Option 2: Replace Kang with a new villain

The more exciting option might be to sideline Kang entirely and move ahead with a different main villain. Now that Marvel Studios has confirmed it has a Fantastic Four movie in the works, the door is open for a handful of additional noteworthy Marvel villains that could easily justify the same kind of multiversal stakes as Kang. Doctor Doom is an obvious one, since he’s arguably THE big Marvel villain in the comics, but there’s also Galactus (the planet-eater is literally the biggest Marvel villain, thank you thank you) or a dark horse candidate like Annihilus (a big bug guy from another dimension).

We’ve got to see at least one of them sooner or later, and having Doctor Strange or whoever say “Oh no, all of our tampering with the multiverse accidentally unleashed this great evil dude” would be almost as easy as saying “Kang looks different now, just go with it.”

And there’s an easy lore justification for this as well: Season two of Loki ended with Tom Hiddleston’s Loki (not the one who died in Infinity War but the one who escaped the regular timeline in Endgame) stepping into the web of the multiverse to physically hold all of reality together so it wouldn’t spin out of control and destroy all of existence. That’s some proper comic book nonsense that could be used to explain why all the different versions of Kang are no longer a threat and why some villain from some other universe suddenly finds themself with a new chance to do evil.

There’s even some reason to think that this is exactly what’s happening behind the scenes, with Marvel Studios hiring Loki creator and season one showrunner Michael Waldron to write the next two Avengers movies. Waldron has experience with the “comic book nonsense” side of the MCU, so it seems important that he—out of all potential writers—has been brought in at this point, years before these movies really need to get off the ground, during a time of apparent disarray for Marvel.

Whatever Marvel chooses and however this all works out, the collective internet will be happy to either second-guess its decision and criticize the rollout, or just numbly accept everything that happens and root for the studio to succeed like a favorite sports team.

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This week, Jonathan Majors was found guilty

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Great news! “Like Flowers in Sand” is available to watch on Netflix USA!

 

Date Added: 20th December 2023

Want to keep forever? Try looking for ‘Like Flowers in Sand’ on Amazon (paid link)

 

New episode coming on Thursday

Description:

Struggling to find success, a former wrestling prodigy finds himself ready to quit until he reencounters an old friend who reignites his passion.

 

Certificate: TV-14
Parents strongly cautioned. May not be suitable for ages under 14.

 

Year: 2023

Duration: 12 Episodes

Audio: Spanish (Latin America), Korean – Audio Description, Korean [Original], Portuguese (Brazil)

Subtitles: English, Spanish (Latin America), Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese

Episode Length: 1hr 05min

 

Cast and Crew

Cast: Jang Dong-yoon, Lee Ju-myoung, Yun Jong-seok, Kim Bo-ra, Lee Jae-joon, Lee Ju-seung

 

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Everybody is talking about “American Fiction.”

The debut feature from writer/director Cord Jefferson, an Emmy winner for his work on HBO’s “Watchmen,” “American Fiction” stars Jeffrey Wright as a college professor who is juggling a family that is barely keeping it together with a literary prank that goes horribly (or is that wonderfully?) awry. And you can learn more about the movie (which won the Audience Award at the Toronto International Film Festvial) thanks to a new featurette that you can watch above.

“When I started writing this movie it was just a script and a dream and that was it. The minute Jeffrey signed on that would be enough to make me happy but to add in this amazing cast, I’m forever grateful for that,” Jefferson said in the featurette. The movie’s all-star cast also includes Sterling K. Brown, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, John Ortiz and Leslie Uggams.

“It’s all about the collaboration,” Wright said in the featurette. “It’s been a really wonderful one.”

Wright’s Thelonious “Monk” Ellison is put on academic leave and returns home to deal with his family, which includes his mother (Uggams) dealing with health issues and a brother (Brown) embracing his new lifestyle as a gay man. He also falls in love with a neighbor (Erika Alexander) and, frustrated that his own book isn’t getting picked up, creates a more stereotypically “Black” book under a pseudonym that winds up being a bestseller.

“American Fiction” is in select theaters now and additional cities on Friday. It will be going wide in January.

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December 20, 2023 @ 2:23 PM Everybody is

Tom Nitti left The Voice season 24 early, but he stayed close with many of his friends from the show — including this season’s winner, Huntley!

The country singer took to his Instagram page on Wednesday, following the season 24 finale, to congratulate his friend on his big win.

“CONGRATULATIONS @huntleymusic I’m super proud of this dude right here!” Tom captioned a video of the pair singing together. “First guy I met off the plane in California and he came up to me and said ‘bro you’re Tom right, killer voice man.'”

“Huntley deserves this win he’s one of the most hardworking, kind hearted, and talented people I know,” he added. “I must’ve heard this dude sing She Talks to Angels a billion times before our blind auditions. We became great friends, shared our stories and became apart of a huge supportive family/friend group. So happy for you buddy! Keep rockin!”

Tom left season 24 ahead of the Playoff Rounds amid a contentious breakup.

Following a heartfelt Instagram post after he initially said he left the show due to “personal reasons,” the singer went more in-depth about what exactly went down in an interview with the Utica Observer-Dispatch. He revealed that, during his time on the show, his now ex-wife decided to try and pursue full custody of their two children. 

“It’s always been a dream of mine to pursue music full-time, but I can’t do that without a cushion,” explained the law enforcement officer and Purple Heart recipient. “As a dad, I need to make sure my children will be supported.”

The singer has since revealed that he recently wrote a song about the situation called “Redemption Road,” which he hopes to share with his kids in the future.

As for his Voice family, the singer raved that “the most positive thing from my experience on the show was the camaraderie I found among other vocalists.”

Season 24 finalist Jacquie Roar echoed that sentiment when she shared an update on Tom after the finale — hinting that a musical collab between the two might happen in the near future.

The singer called her upcoming project “explosive rock country” and even shared that it might be featuring another Voice collab — with her friend, Nitti.

“I spoke with him today. He was just rooting me on and saying that he was really proud of me,” she shared. “Tom and I are good friends. And there’ll be music coming out between both of us as well… As soon as they let me release it, I’m releasing it.”

The Voice returns for season 25 in February 2024.

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Tom Nitti left The Voice season 24

Jennifer Love Hewitt appeared on the “Inside of You” podcast and revealed she once had to pull a filmmaker aside on set because he was telling her she had to be sexier. As an actor in her early twenties, Hewitt had no idea what such a request even meant. She said that she never felt like she was “in her body” as a young actor as she was constantly sexualized from a young age.

“I didn’t feel self-confident [and that age]. I felt watched. I felt like I had to be everything for everybody all the time,” Hewitt said. “I was called sexy before I ever knew what being sexy was. I was 17 years old on the cover of Maxim, and I had no idea why I was on the cover of Maxim. I was honored. I loved it. But why?”

“I remember doing ‘Heartbreakers’ at 23 and the director was like, ‘We just need you to be sexier.’ I had to pull him aside and be like, ‘I don’t know what that means. I’m only 23,’” she continued. “I know that I’m supposed to be this thing for people but I don’t know what that means. He had to like help me figure that out.”

“Heartbreakers” was directed by David Mirkin and starred Hewitt opposite Sigourney Weaver. The two actors starred in the 2001 comedy as a mother-daughter con artist team.

Because Hewitt felt such a lack of self-confidence in her early twenties, she finds it unusual when fans often tell her they want to see her physical appearance restored to that age.

“It’s weird for me when people are like, ‘That’s the girl that we wanted you to be,’” Hewitt said. “That girl was so insecure and so confused and trying her best. But this girl 1703113487 —who may not look [that] way—I like who I am. I feel good. I’m fine.”

Does Hewitt consider herself sexy at 44 years old? “I mean, not every day, but you know, I have my moments,” she said. “There’s definitely times where I look in the mirror and I’m like, ‘Oh, dear god, what has happened?’ And there’s other times where I’m like, ‘She’s got it. She’s fine.’”

Watch Hewitt’s full appearance on the “Inside of You” podcast in the video below.

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Jennifer Love Hewitt appeared on the “Inside

A panel of frosted glass at the Holocaust Museum in Montreal shows a list of place names where Jews lived before many were taken and killed during the Second World War.

Eva Kuper was among those who survived the Holocaust.

“I want people to understand what the power of hate is and how each of us is capable of unbelievable evil,” she told Global News, shortly before a museum staff member broke down in tears upon hearing her story.

The power of Holocaust stories is why Kuper supports the construction of a new Holocaust museum in order to reach more people. Construction has begun on Saint-Laurent Boulevard just north of Sherbrooke Street. The new building will replace the current museum on Côte-Sainte-Catherine Road and be larger – 55,000 square feet over three floors, plus a basement.


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“It will have incredible educational offerings,” explained Gillian Sonin, marketing and PR coordinator for the museum. “There will be a permanent exhibit, there will be traveling exhibits, there will be classrooms.”

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The new location is key, she said, being more central will make it easier for people to discover it. She pointed out that Saint-Laurent Boulevard is also of historical significance.

“Not only for the Jewish community but many immigrant communities who came to Montreal.”

According to Parks Canada, several groups of newcomers have settled in the area since the 1800s. The aim for museum officials is to address hate in all its forms.

“What starts with antisemitism, what starts with Jews, never ends with Jews,” Sonin stresses, “and so what we’re doing is really trying to educated the public about hatred, about intolerance, about human rights.”

As such, she adds, the new location will include  information and education about genocides beyond the holocaust.

Kuper believes perhaps more than ever people need to be made aware of the consequences of hate.

“We can see by what’s happening in the world today with the rise in antisemitism and hatred, Islamophobia,” she noted.

Visitors to the current space like Gabriel Blain support the plan for a new and bigger space.

“I think it’s going to bring a lot because there are lot a lot of little pieces that’s here, and and I think there’s a lot more that they could add (at the new location),” he pointed out.

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In the end, Blain believes, institutions like the museum matter because it’s an opportunity to learn about each other.

Construction of the new building is scheduled to wrap up in 2025 with an official opening in 2026.

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A panel of frosted glass at the

EXCLUSIVE: Despite a difficult year for broadcast television, ABC can look back with confidence as it kicked off the year with some strong scripted content and was buoyed through a rocky fall season primarily by unscripted content.

The broadcast network managed to hold strong throughout the entire year with the return of series including The Rookie and American Idol, as well as the introduction of new favorites like Will Trent and The Golden Bachelor.

“ABC’s success this season demonstrates the ongoing vitality of the linear network offering and its invaluable role in delivering content to audiences across platforms,” Debra OConnell, president, Networks and TV Business Operations, Disney Entertainment Television said in statement to Deadline. “It’s been a tremendous year for the network and we’re looking forward to building on this success in the months ahead.”

Here are some of the highlights:

Will Trent kicked off the year on a high note, improving the Tuesday 10 p.m. slot by 170% in total viewers for ABC, according to Nielsen data. The time period was also up 57% among adults 18-49.

It’s hard to compete with CBS’ Tuesday FBI lineup, which consistently pulls some of the largest linear audiences for scripted dramas nowadays, but Will Trent narrowed in during that 10 p.m. hour. While FBI: Most Wanted averaged around 5M live + same-day viewers per episode, Will Trent averaged just over 3M, peaking with the premiere’s 3.6M.

Will Trent made for ABC’s strongest series in the Tuesday 10 p.m. hour since Big Sky during the 2020-2021 season. After 35 days of multiplatform viewing, Will Trent managed about 9.43M viewers per episode, finishing the 2022-2023 broadcast season as ABC’s No. 3 series.

Tuesday nights also benefitted from the return of The Rookie, which moved to the 8 p.m. hour in January. The show actually improved in this time slot, averaging around 3.2M live + same-day viewers per episode. That’s up 56% in total viewers from that time period’s comparable weeks the year prior. The time slot was also up 31% among adults 18-49.

After 35 days of multiplatform viewing, episodes grew to around 10.4M viewers, which made it ABC’s No. 1 scripted series in delayed viewing.

The Rookie was also against some tough competition in the 8 p.m. hour, with FBI‘s 7M average viewers looming, but still the procedural managed to pull out a strong performance. Compared to The Rookie‘s Sunday performance, Season 6 was up 7% in total viewers and 17% among adults 18-49.

The first half of the year was also buoyed by strong performance from ABC’s stalwart series American Idol, which emerged as the No. 2 unscripted series last year among adults 18-49, tying with Fox’s The Masked Singer. American Idol averaged a 0.92 rating in delayed viewing.

In the second half of the year, the broadcasters had to weather through a fall schedule that was devoid of most scripted series due to the writers and actors strikes. ABC had two tricks up its sleeve with the introduction of The Golden Bachelor and the reintroduction of Dancing With The Stars — which helped keep those weeknight primetime slots eventful.

ABC got the ratings rose when it introduced The Golden Bachelor to the airwaves. The latest iteration of The Bachelor franchise has proved to be a smashing success for the network, which had been trying to reinvigorate its long-running dating series for some time.

The Golden Bachelor posted six consecutive weeks of audience growth heading into the finale, which saw over 9M people tune in after seven days of multi-platform viewing. That’s up pretty heftily from the 6.1M who watched live, which was already the franchise’s biggest audience in nearly three years.

The fall also welcomed back Dancing With The Stars to the broadcaster after the ballroom competition series moved exclusively to Disney+ for one season. Disney never released viewership figures for that season of DWTS, but the move to bring it back to ABC in a different time slot indicated the series could benefit from airing on broadcast. And it did.

The premiere episode stayed even with Season 30’s (the last to air on broadcast) debut audience. From there, ABC managed to “eventize” some of the episodes to draw an even bigger audience. It should come as no surprise to anyone that Taylor Swift night drew the biggest crowd, delivering the show’s most-watched telecast in years.

The November finale drew the second largest audience of the season with 5.5M viewers tuning in to watch Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy take home the mirrorball trophy. Overall, Season 32 averaged just under 5M live + same-day viewers, according to Nielsen.

As mentioned above, there wasn’t too much competition from the other broadcasters for eyeballs during primetime, though on Thursdays CBS’ Big Brother went head-to-head with The Golden Bachelor, which bested the former in live + same-day viewing.

On Tuesdays, Dancing With The Stars had competition from both NBC’s The Voice as well as CBS’ Big Brother. The Voice came out on top in that battle of the reality series with nearly 6M viewers on Tuesday nights, though Dancing With The Stars came in second.

ABC is also touting the strength of its game shows, like Celebrity Jeopardy!, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, The $100,000 Pyramid and Press Your Luck. According to the network, more than 80% of the seven-day audiences for these shows come from linear viewing.

“I am so proud of the team at ABC for the strategy and creative excellence that propelled the network to #1 in entertainment last season and again in the demo this fall,” said Craig Erwich, president, Disney Television Group. “This past year, we successfully introduced the latest pop culture sensation with The Golden Bachelor, brought back a fan favorite – Dancing with the Stars, delivered can’t-miss live events, and transported audiences through our scripted series, including our newest, Will Trent and Not Dead Yet.”

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EXCLUSIVE: Despite a difficult year for broadcast

Taraji P. Henson broke down in tears during an appearance on Gayle King‘s Sirius XM radio show when asked whether she has plans to quit acting.

“Are you thinking about it?” King asked the Oscar-nominated actress while she was seated next to Blitz Bazawule and Danielle Brooks to promote their film The Color Purple. The question caused Henson to pause, cover her eyes with one of her hands and tear up. “I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious about what I do, getting paid a fraction of the cost. I’m tried of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over. You get tired.”

It’s no wonder King broached the subject. Henson appears on the current cover of The Hollywood Reporter opposite Brooks, Fantasia Barrino and King’s best friend, Oprah Winfrey, to promote the film, which has been updated and reimagined as a musical. In the story, Henson told THR’s co-editor-in-chief Nekesa Mumbi Moody that despite a career filled with successes like an Oscar nod for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, her Emmy noms for the series Empire and an acclaimed turn in Hidden Figures, she often feels stuck within the same lowball offers.

“I’ve been getting paid and I’ve been fighting tooth and nail every project to get that same freaking [fee] quote. And it’s a slap in the face when people go, ‘Oh girl, you work all the time. You always working.’ Well, goddammit, I have to. It’s not because I wish I could do two movies a year and that’s that. I have to work because the math ain’t mathing. And I have bills,” she told THR. “Listen, I’ve been doing this for two decades and sometimes I get tired of fighting because I know what I do is bigger than me. I know that the legacy I leave will affect somebody coming up behind me. My prayer is that I don’t want these Black girls to have the same fights that me and Viola [Davis], Octavia [Spencer], we out here thugging it out,” Henson says. “Otherwise, why am I doing this? For my own vanity? There’s no blessing in that. I’ve tried twice to walk away [from the business]. But I can’t, because if I do, how does that help the ones coming up behind me?”

Henson continued the subject by telling King that “the math ain’t mathing” when it comes to her salaries and supporting the team of people that work with her and for her. “When you start working a lot, you know, you have a team. Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone,” she explained. “There’s a whole entire team behind us. They have to get paid.”

She also turned her attention to performers like Brooks by saying that the fight can be more exhausting if she can’t leave the door open for others. “It seems every time I do something and I break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m at the bottom again like I never did what I just did, and I’m just tired. I’m tired. I’m tired. It wears on you, you know? Because what does that mean?” she said. “If I can’t fight for them coming up behind me, then what the fuck am I doing? … They play in your face and I’m supposed to smile and grin and bear it.”

Henson’s interview went viral on Wednesday as it was shared far and wide on X (formerly Twitter). Some of Henson’s Hollywood peers also weighed in on the subject, with Gabrielle Union posting, “Not a damn lie told. Not. A. Damn. Lie. We go TO BAT for the next generation and hell even our own generation and above. We don’t hesitate to be the change that we all need to see AND it takes a toll on your mind, health, soul, and career if we’re keepn it 100.”

A Black Lady Sketch Show creator Robin Thede posted a thread encouraging her followers to watch the interview and then took a moment to break down the math that comes with taxes, commissions to agents, managers and lawyers and fees for employees. “This woman is OSCAR NOMINATED – imagine the struggle for 99% of the rest. Maybe folks won’t relate but that’s also the issue – being misunderstood and people just assuming they’re ‘rich.’ So next time yall see an actor working at Trader Joe’s, maybe it will hit different,” she shared before praising Henson on a personal level. “Taraji P. Henson is a goddess. I met her when I was a STAND IN on All of Us and she was a guest star. She treated me with the utmost kindness! I saw her a week ago at an awards show and she grabbed me and told me how proud she was of me . She has ALWAYS fought for US.”

Pose co-creator Steven Canals also offered his take: “This is why I always say, ‘Stay outta my bank account.’ People make assumptions that my success equates to financial stability. Yes, I had a whole ass show and no, I don’t drive a luxury car & I don’t own my home.”

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Taraji P. Henson broke down in tears

Your dad’s favorite streamer, Ninja, will attempt his best Dick Clark impression (or do the kids only know Ryan Seacrest now?) and will host his own New Year’s Eve event that will stream on Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok. According to a report in Variety, the event, known as “Ninja’s NYE,” will feature appearances from other top streamers, giveaways, a Fortnite tournament, and a countdown to midnight.

The event is meant to appeal to Gen Z with promises that it’s not your parents’ New Year’s Eve ball drop. “Ditch your TV and come hang out with us,” reads the event’s website. “It’ll be more fun… we promise.”

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Your dad’s favorite streamer, Ninja, will attempt

Meghan McCain is taking shots at her former The View co-host Ana Navarro while defending herself from suggestions she uses her famous last name to gain influence.

On the most recent episode of her podcast Meghan McCain Has Entered the Chat, the political commentator and the daughter of the late Senator John McCain flipped the table and claimed Navarro was the one banking on the McCain last name.

“I have a long history with Ana Navarro because she was dating a funder of my dad’s campaign and then joined the campaign, I guess. I have no memory of her ever working on my dad’s campaign, but she claims to,” McCain said of her history with Navarro. “No one has trafficked on the McCain last name and legacy more than Ana Navarro. She throws around the fact that she worked for my dad [and] knew my dad… I mean, all day long and again, pull the receipts.”

McCain detailed that when she found out Navarro made reference to her on the show and compared her to Hunter Biden she got “very upset [and] very angry,” which prompted her to send “a big long tweet” to defend herself.

The political analyst disagrees with the comparison to Joe Biden’s son, saying, “I am nothing like Hunter Biden, I am the exception. A lot of nepo babies, particularly in politics, they struggle, they have addiction issues, there’s a lot of darkness.”

“I am very proud of the fact that I never went down that road,” she continued. “I feel like no matter what kind of life I live, no matter how much joy I find, no matter what I do with my life, I am still going to be used in this way by a national television show and it is very hard. It feels very bullying and very abusive and I don’t know how to get them to stop.”

Navarro made a comment on The View on Dec. 14 that many interpreted as a dig at McCain. While discussing Hunter, Navarro said, “Joe Biden’s crime is being Hunter Biden’s father. Look, did Hunter Biden influence peddle on his last name? Yes, he did. So did half of Washington — people sitting at this table did it.”

McCain would later take to X/Twitter to express her disapproval and threaten legal action against her former employer, posting, “All accusations are absurd, defamatory and slanderous. I will be consulting my lawyers regarding what was libeled against me on The View this morning.”

On her podcast, McCain didn’t mention if she was moving forward with the lawsuit.

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Meghan McCain is taking shots at her

The Crown: 25 Real Facts About Events In The Final Season

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The Crown: 25 Real Facts About Events

Media mogul Byron Allen has renewed his attempt to acquire BET Media Group from Paramount Global — extending a $3.5 billion offer.

On Tuesday, Allen, who is founder and CEO of Allen Media Group, emailed Paramount Global senior executives and board, offering $3.5 billion for BET Media Group, which includes the BET cable channel, VH1, BET Studios and streaming service BET+, sources familiar with the situation confirmed to Variety. That’s up from $2.7 billion that Allen had offered earlier in 2023.

Reps for Paramount Global and Allen Media Group declined to comment. Bloomberg first reported on Allen’s renewed offer for BET. Other potential buyers of BET Media Group include BET CEO Scott Mills, a 26-year veteran of the company, and Chinh Chu, a former executive at private-equity firm Blackstone executive who runs CC Capital Partners, who have discussed a price tag of under $2 billion, Bloomberg reported.

In the email to Paramount brass, Allen wrote, “You are pursuing an inside sale at a below-market price with management that will not yield the highest price for the stockholders. We believe it would be an egregious breach of fiduciary duty by the Paramount Global management team and board of directors if BET is sold for anything less than the highest price, particularly, in order to provide a sweetheart deal to an insider at the expense of public shareholders.”

Earlier this year, Paramount Global had been exploring the sale of a majority stake in BET Media Group, with bidders said to include Allen, Tyler Perry and Sean “Diddy” Combs. In August, Paramount called off the bidding process for BET because “a sale wouldn’t result in any meaningful deleveraging of its balance sheet,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

The renewed interest in a deal for BET comes amid talks between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global about a potential merger. Meanwhile, Shari Redstone, whose National Amusements owns a controlling stake in Paramount Global, has been in talks to sell her shares in NAI, according to multiple reports.

A deal for BET Media Group would dramatically expand Allen’s media empire. Allen Media Group, which encompasses Entertainment Studios (founded 30 years ago as CF Entertainment), owns 12 cable networks, including the Weather Channel, JusticeCentral.TV, Cars.TV and Pets.TV, a theatrical movie distribution company and a stable of 28 broadcast stations affiliated with the Big Four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC). Allen Media Group also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 73 television shows, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated TV programming for broadcast stations. The company has nearly 2,300 employees.

In September, Allen publicly announced a $10 billion offer for ABC, eight local TV stations as well as FX and National Geographic Channel, which are also Disney-owned properties. Disney CEO Bob Iger has since said the company’s linear networks are “not for sale.”

Founded by Robert L. Johnson in 1980, BET has been a major outlet for programming aimed at Black audiences since its inception. Johnson sold the cable channel to Viacom in 2001 for $3 billion.

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Media mogul Byron Allen has renewed his


Jonathan Majors Kang the Conqueror Ant-Man

Jonathan Majors and his defense team released a statement after the Loki star was found guilty of two misdemeanor charges of domestic violence on Monday, saying that the actor “still has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name.”

The Manhattan jury found Majors guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment. He was acquitted of intentional assault in the third degree and aggravated harassment in the second degree. Sentencing is now set for February 6.

Jonathan Majors Grace JabbariJonathan Majors Grace Jabbari

Photo: People

The Defense Team Responds

Following the guilty verdict, Majors’ defense team released a statement.

“It is clear that the jury did not believe Grace Jabbari’s story of what happened in the SUV because they found that Mr. Majors did not intentionally cause any injuries to her. We are grateful for that,” a statement provided by Majory’s attorney Piyra Chaudhry read.

Jonathan MajorsJonathan Majors

Photo: Radar Online

“We are disappointed, however, that despite not believing Ms. Jabbari, the jury nevertheless found that Mr. Majors was somehow reckless while she was attacking him,” the statement said.

Majors “Still Has Faith in the Process”

Despite the guilty verdict, the embattled actor’s attorneys say that Majors is looking forward to clearing his name.

Jonathan MajorsJonathan Majors

Photo: AFP via Getty Images

“Mr. Majors is grateful to God, his family, his friends, and his fans for their love and support during these harrowing eight months,” they said. “Mr. Majors still has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name.”

Following the news that Majors had been found guilty, the actor was quickly dropped from the MCU. If Majors is going to rehabilitate his image, he has a long way to go.

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Review: Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #3
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Robert Venditti
Art: Riley Rossmo
Colors: Ivan Plascencia
Letters: Tom Napolitano

Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd

 

 

Summary

Wesley Dodds gets to work investigating the burglary and fire at his house and comes face to face with his adversary, making Wesley feel about three steps behind.

Positives

It should come as no surprise that this series has inspired a rereading of Sandman Mystery Theater.  Venditti, Rossmo and Plascencia are clearly taking their own inspiration from that series.  As Wesley is able to evaluate more and more of the clues, Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #3 feels more and more like a direct continuation of Sandman Mystery Theater.  Perhaps, it isn’t quite as gritty or adult, but it feels so close to the world of Sandman Mystery Theater, it’s hard not to think of them together.  It’s important to understand that Sandman Mystery Theater was one of the excellent Vertigo titles of the ’90’s and such comparison is high praise.

Wesley gets to follow up on some clues as he questions the coroner, and learns some interesting facts about the deceased man found in Wesley’s house which burned at the end of issue #1.  One of the more subtle aspects of this series that we see touched on in this issue is Dian Belmont assisting Wesley in his work as the Sandman.  She’s very much in the background, but in this issue she points out something in a file that not only helps Wesley, but what she says aloud helps maintain Wesley’s concealed motive for having police files strewn about his coffee table.  Dian has been at Wesley’s side and in on his secret identity since the ’40’s and gratifying to have this aspect still present.

Positives Cont’d

There’s a really well done action sequence at the end of Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #3 when Wesley faces off against the thief of his deadly gas formulas.  This antagonist is presenting himself as a darker version of the Sandman with seemingly no compunction against killing.  He dresses in a darker version of the Sandman costume as well which is effective.  The layouts by Rossmo are dynamic full of energy.  It’s a well executed action sequence that also adds some cerebral content to set this series stylistically apart.

Rossmo continues to reference the look and fashion of the era that assists with not only the world building, but also ensuring the authenticity of this as a period piece.  Drawing the appropriate modes of dress and fabric patterns is a detail that not everyone may notice, but when it is noticed, it adds a significant level visually.

Negatives

It’s hard to find a negative for this issue, maybe it’s too short?  That seems to be about it.  I’d easily take five more pages an issue.

Verdict

Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #3 is another great issue.  There’s a physical and emotional conflict for Wesley with the theft of his formulas and Venditti lays it our for the reader to suffer along with Wesley’s conscience.  Rossmo and Plascencia add the right details to make the story interesting visually and they add up to being the kind of book DC Comics needs more of.

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648 Review: Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #3[Editor’s Note: This review

BioWare has announced its intention to fully reveal Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in the summer of 2024.

The plan was confirmed to coincide with its annual community celebration of all things related to the fantasy series.

And it was accompanied by the release of a new trailer, viewable below, offering a look at some of the in-game locations players will get to visit in Dreadwolf.

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“This is a world brimming with stories and characters waiting to meet you,” reads a new blog post attributed to the Dragon Age team. “The fate of this world teeters on the edge of a knife.

“In past games, you only got to see a slice of the world. In Origins, it was Ferelden—a land ravaged by war and Dark Spawn. In II, it was Kirkwall and its locales—festering with corruption and a dark underworld. And in Inquisition, you ventured across much of Orlais—facing down political intrigue as often as combat.

“This time, however, much more of Thedas is yours to see. The desolate, beautiful badlands of the Anderfels with curtains of distant mountainous spires. The twisting canals and gleaming towers of Antiva, where Crows may lurk in any shadow. The turquoise seas of Rivain with its rushes of greenery and hardy sea-faring people. And of course, there’s more.

“We felt this was best for the tale we wanted to tell this time and we hope you enjoy it as much as we have! It’s allowed us to create many more locations than past games, including both some you’ve longed to go to… and some you’ve never heard of before!”

Last October, BioWare general manager Gary McKay said that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf had reached alpha status and was playable “from the opening scenes of the first mission to the very end”.

He went on to explain that the team was focused on the game’s pacing, the various relationships that players will have with other characters, as well as “narrative cohesion”.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf gameplay leaked online in February, offering the first look at the RPG sequel in action.

BioWare said in August that it was laying off “approximately” 50 employees as part of a shift to becoming “a more agile and more focused studio”.

It was subsequently claimed that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’s release “keeps getting pushed back” internally and that it might not arrive until early 2025.