Batman audience faces rude prank
Batman audience faces rude prank
And the Oscars are just catching up to all other award shows
What to know:
The Batman strikes it big with $134M domestic box office haul… People loved that Batman. Well, most people did. I have to imagine the people who had to endure a live bat in their theater thanks to some obnoxious prankster weren’t thrilled. Can we not do shit like this, please? We just got movie theaters back basically. 🦇
Are the Oscars late to change? No other televised award show presents all of its categories live… I know we’re supposed to dislike the Oscars for pre-taping some categories — but The Wrap is kindly reminding folks that most TV award shows pre-tape or don’t air some categories. The Grammys are barely an award show. The Tonys used to air a pre-show with technical categories on PBS! It’s the nature of the biz at this point. 🏆
Netflix shuts down service in Russia, TikTok suspends new content and live streams in the country… It must be so boring in Russia right now — and it’s all Putin’s fault. What are Russians supposed to do without Netflix and TikTok? Read a book? Name one famous novel that came out of Russia. 🍿
Pamela Anderson to play Roxie Hart in Broadway’s Chicago… As Anderson navigates a career resurgence (thanks to Pam and Tommy), this is a pretty savvy move. I’m appreciating the parallels between her own life and the musicals themes of infamous women. 🎭
Turning Red is being called Pixar’s best movie in years… I mean, Soul is going to be a high bar to clear — but I’m definitely more excited for Turning Red now than I was yesterday. Now, can Disney put Pixar movies back in theaters, please? 🐼
Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan to star in I Am Legend sequel… We are legend? They are legend? The original came out so long ago, I can no longer remember if it’s good. 🎥
Disney CEO pleads fifth on “Don’t Say Gay” bill, employees fire back… The only man in Florida less popular than Ron DeSantis has to be Bob Chapek. 🏳️🌈
God of War TV series being shopped to Amazon… Remember when video games were considered bad IP for movies and TV? 👾
Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan to lead Walking Dead spinoff… Good news for the dozens of people still watching The Walking Dead 🧟♀️
Is It Cake? reality competition coming to Netflix… Fun fact: This newsletter has been cake the entire time. 🍰
What’s new this week:
The Thing About Pam — Mar 8 | NBC drama series | 🍅 80%
Turning Red — Mar 11 | Disney+ Pixar movie | 🍅 93%
The Adam Project — Mar 11 | Netflix sci-fi movie | 🍅
For more pop culture news, discussion, and what-to-watch recommendations subscribe to my pals over on the Kickball Friends podcast. 🎙
What to watch:
Trailer: Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood — April 1 on Netflix
Written and directed by Richard Linklater, starring Glen Powell, Zachary Levi, Josh Wiggins, Lee Eddy, and Jack Black.
This is extremely my shit. A Scanner Darkly is one of my top six movies and I am so glad Linklater ventured back into the world of rotoscope animation. (That’s where they film real actors and then animate over it.) The medium allows Linklater to really flourish and embellish his images with beautiful fantasy you can only do in animation. Linklater is no stranger to stories like this and working with kids (Boyhood, School of Rock) — so there should be some real magic on screen here. The movie is apparently inspired by Linklater’s own life growing up in Texas in the ‘60s. Interesting that both he and Paul Thomas Anderson made nostalgic coming-of-age tales based on their hometowns during the pandemic!
For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!