Boy Band Episode 4 Season 1 Episode 4 Editor’s Rating 2 stars ** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » Boy Band Episode 4 Season 1 Episode 4 Editor’s Rating 2 stars ** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » I think all of my problems with Boy Band can be summed up by one little detail. This week, they mix up the remaining boys, put them into new bands, and give the bands names.
Some spoilers for BPM (Beats Per Minute) below.
It’s impossible to even begin talking about a movie like BPM (Beats Per Minute) — French director Robin Campillo’s thrilling, heartbreaking portrayal of the AIDS activist group ACT UP Paris in the early-to-mid-1990s — without stating first that such a film about the epidemic has never been made, nor perhaps ever will be made, in the United States.
Here, we’ve been beholden to scripted narratives (some of them quite good) that have always sentimentally framed any progress against the disease as the heroic work of one person, always a white man.
Bradley Cooper. Well, we can finally add some important context to the scene that spurred some very real, very legit headlines such as “Jackson Maine Was Blitzed Out of His Mind at the Grammys Last Night.” While we might’ve been waxing poetic about Bradley Cooper’s smooth-as-whiskey voice in A Star Is Born as opposed to his auteur skills, this anecdote from a new Vanity Fair interview with Cooper and Lady Gaga has us now really gunning for a Best Director nom: For the scenes when Cooper’s Jackson was inebriated out of his mind, “especially the Grammy scene,” he decided to stay in character while behind the camera for maximum authenticity.
Bradley Cooper in Esquire The very handsome Hangover star gets the official stamp of approval from People in this week’s issue, joining the ranks of former SMAs George Clooney, Matthew McConaughey, Matt Damon, and Johnny Depp (twice, we just learned from extensive research. People — a little bit edgy!). Vulture can only assume that People’s decision was based on that totally charming video of Bradley Cooper speaking French, and so we support both the choice and the example it sets for movie stars giving interviews in foreign languages.
Welcome back, queen. What’s this? Brandy’s back on TV and has new music out at the same time? That’s a whole lot of ‘90s/early 2000s nostalgia for the first full week of 2016. Shortly after the premiere of her new BET sitcom Zoe After Ever, Brandy Norwood teased what might be the makings of her seventh album (and first since 2012) with a new solo song, “Beggin & Pleadin.
Breaking Bad To’hajiilee Season 5 Episode 13 Editor’s Rating 5 stars ***** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » Breaking Bad To’hajiilee Season 5 Episode 13 Editor’s Rating 5 stars ***** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » If you’re reading this, it means the Internet did not in fact explode at 10:01 p.m. Eastern time, September 8, 2013.
Aaron Paul. Earlier this year, New York’s Carl Swanson went to New Mexico to watch Aaron Paul (a.k.a. Jesse Pinkman) shoot an episode of Breaking Bad. (Everyone here was jealous; you are not alone.) That story ran in our TV issue. Now, with the fifth season of the show premiering on Sunday, we’re breaking into Swanson’s vault to share with you an excerpt from his transcripts. Herewith, a snippet of conversation that took place on a spring day in Vince Gilligan’s on-set office.
Barbie girl. Welcome to Barbie’s Dream House. Did we mention it was a fever dream? Making a Barbie movie is one thing, but making a Barbie movie directed by indie darling Greta Gerwig of Lady Bird and Little Women fame is a completely different beast. The hype built with each new plot detail, poster, and unearthed Letterboxd account we got ahead of the July 21 release. The film has even been snatching up Hollywood celebs in its manicured plastic fists to the point where it’s getting harder and harder to keep track of them.
Bret Easton Ellis, who of late has spent a lot of timesoapboxing for porn stars and settling debates about what is or is not Post Empire, can also still give good quote, as he did recently to the Paris Review. In that interview (which is out Monday, and which Ellis has already acknowledged may “cause some problems”), he addresses his general fatigue with the New York literary scene, and more specifically, the mini-backlash that followed the publication of Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom.
Mysteries make sense of a senseless world. That’s why we love them. They tell us there are puzzles out there that can be solved. I find that my anxiety levels and my mystery-show consumption are a 1:1 correlation. The more stressful the real world, the more I revert to some British sleuth’s domain. And I’m not the only one. There’s a whole subgenre of movies and TV that is designed to be as chill as humanly possible: the cozy mystery.