| | | | | | | | | | | | "The regrets of yesterday and the fear of tomorrow can kill you."
-Liza Minnelli
To sign up for this newsletter click here. "The regrets of yesterday and the fear of tomorrow can kill you."
-Liza Minnelli
To sign up for this newsletter click here. | | | | | | | |
Uh, Dudes Named Ryan
Wow, what a weekend for dudes named Chris. Of course, everyone expected one Chris in particular to shine. The Chris Pratt-starring Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 easily won the box office this weekend with a take of around $145 million. Not a surprise, as no other studio actually bothered to release another film with country-wide distribution this weekend. That’s about $50 million more than the first film, and it goes to prove that, yes, Marvel can produce blockbuster franchises based on its lesser known comic book titles. Though, maybe the internet wound up talking more about another Chris this weekend. The Chris of the Pine variety hosted SNL, and opened with a song-and-dance monologue poking fun of how Hollywood overrunneth with handsome, muscley yet relatable white guys named Chris at the moment. Pine used the rest of the show to establish himself as the Chris that can, surprisingly, sing and dance, by singing an anthem to internet porn addiction struggles and voguing his way through a RuPaul’s Drag Race-inspired sketch. So, sorry to the Ryans (Reynolds, Gosling, et. al.) but this weekend clearly belonged to the Chrises. | | |  | | | Second Seasons of TV Shows Based on Novels | | Second Seasons of TV Shows Based on Novels | Save for an odd event miniseries here and there, for years when novels were adapted for the screen they were usually done so as feature films. Of course, that often meant their plots were compressed for the sake of time. Some books just aren’t meant to be pared down to two hours of moving images. The age of peak TV, though, means that miniseries are no longer just special events, and, indeed, three of this year's most buzzed about new series-Thirteen Reasons Why, Big Little Lies, and The Handmaid’s Tale-were all based on stand-alone novels. In the case of The Handmaid’s Tale, producers decided from the start to push the series beyond its source material into a multi-season show. However, Lies and Reasons covered almost everything in the books on which they were based. That may not prevent them from more episodes though. Indeed, Netflix ordered a second season of Reasons this weekend, and all the actresses from Lies seem down for a repeat. Whether showrunners can come up with continuing stories to make it worth it remains to be seen. What is it they say about too much of a good thing? | | | | | | |  | | While the double whammy of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump signaled the possibility that the entire West may be slipping into an angry form of right wing populism fueled by economic anxieties and straight up xenophobia, fellow Trump lookalikes in other countries have not fared as well in elections. On Sunday, Emmanuel Macron was elected the next President of France (at 39, he’s the youngest in the country’s history). He defeated National Front leader Marine Le Pen. Though widely predicted by polling, the results merited a sigh of relief from those who weren’t eager for the entire world to fall down the Trump-paved rabbit hole (and those who weren’t ready to give up on the European Union completely). The victory was the result of the rest of the French political spectrum, from socialists to the traditional right, lining up behind centrist Macron lest they risk the chance of a surprise Le Pen victory (mirroring a similar dynamic that led to the defeat of Le Pen’s out-and-out racist father Jean-Marie in the 2002 presidential election). However, Macron’s win isn’t exactly a return to the status quo in France. He’s the first president elected in 43 years that does not hail from one of the country’s two traditional powerhouse parties. Indeed, he represents his own En Marche! party, a social-liberal party which he founded just a year ago. In any case, if you were wondering how to vote like a French girl, the answer is not for the far right. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Olivia Culpo, 25 (An Influencer of Things Apparently)
Katy B, 28 (Underrated English Pop Star)
Daniel Kaluuya, 28 (Breakthrough of 2017 Contender)
Enrique Iglesias, 42 (Miami Beach, Personified)
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