Steve Pond's Blog, page 2043
December 11, 2019
American Cinema Editors Nominate ‘Parasite,’ ‘Jojo Rabbit,’ ‘Knives Out’ for Top Awards
“Ford v Ferrari,” “The Irishman,” “Joker,” “Marriage Story” and “Parasite” have been nominated in the dramatic-film category at the American Cinema Editors’ ACE Eddie Awards, which honor the best in film editing.
In the comedy category, the nominees were “Dolemite Is My Name,” “The Farewell,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Knives Out” and “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”
The most notable omission was “1917,” which contains dozens of cuts but was designed to look as if it was filmed in one continuous, unbroken shot.
Also Read: Golden Globes 2020: The Complete List of Nominees
In recent years, more than 90 percent of the Oscar nominees in the Best Film Editing category have first been recognized by the American Cinema Editors. The majority of Oscar nominees have come from the ACE Eddie dramatic category – though for the last two years, the Academy has taken three nominees from the ACE Eddies’ comedy category and only two from the drama category.
The animated-film nominees were Disney’s “Frozen II,” Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” and the hand-drawn French film “I Lost My Body.” Documentary nominees included “Apollo 11,” “American Factory,” “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” and “Leaving Neverland.”
The nominations for “Parasite,” “The Farewell” and “I Lost My Body” make this the first time that three films predominantly not in English have been nominated by the editors.
Television nominees included “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Schitt’s Creek,” “Barry,” “Fleabag,” “Killing Eve,” “Mindhunter” and “Game of Thrones.”
The 70th annual ACE Eddie Awards will take place on Jan. 17, 2020 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMA)
“Ford v Ferrari,” Michael McCusker, ACE & Andrew Buckland
“The Irishman,” Thelma Schoonmaker, ACE
“Joker,” Jeff Groth
“Marriage Story,” Jennifer Lame, ACE
“Parasite,” Jinmo Yang
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY)
“Dolemite is My Name,” Billy Fox, ACE
“The Farewell,” Michael Taylor & Matthew Friedman
“Jojo Rabbit,” Tom Eagles
“Knives Out,” Bob Ducsay
“Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” Fred Raskin, ACE
BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Frozen 2,” Jeff Draheim, ACE
“I Lost My Body,” Benjamin Massoubre
“Toy Story 4,” Axel Geddes, ACE
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
“American Factory,” Lindsay Utz
“Apollo 11,” Todd Douglas Miller
“Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice,” Jake Pushinsky, ACE & Heidi Scharfe, ACE
“Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound,” David J. Turner & Thomas G. Miller, ACE
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (NON-THEATRICAL)
“Abducted in Plain Sight,” James Cude
“Bathtubs Over Broadway,” Dava Whisenant
“Leaving Neverland,” Jules Cornell
“What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali,” Jake Pushinsky, ACE
Also Read: Art Directors Guild Nominates 'Joker,' 'Avengers,' 'Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood'
BEST EDITED COMEDY SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION
“Better Things”: “Easter,” Janet Weinberg, ACE
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”: “I Need To Find My Frenemy,” Nena Erb, ACE
“The Good Place”: “Pandemonium,” Eric Kissack
“Schitt’s Creek”: “Life is a Cabaret,” Trevor Ambrose
BEST EDITED COMEDY SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION
“Barry”: “berkman > block,” Kyle Reiter, ACE
“Dead to Me”: “Pilot,” Liza Cardinale
“Fleabag”: “Episode 2.1,” Gary Dollner, ACE
“Russian Doll”: “The Way Out,” Todd Downing
BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION
“Chicago Med”: “Never Going Back To Normal,” David J. Siegel, ACE
“Killing Eve”: “Desperate Times,” Dan Crinnion
“Killing Eve”: “Smell Ya Later,” Al Morrow
“Mr. Robot”: “401 Unauthorized,” Rosanne Tan, ACE
BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION
“Euphoria”: “Pilot,” Julio C. Perez IV
“Game of Thrones”: “The Long Night,” Tim Porter, ACE
“Mindhunter”: “Episode 2,” Kirk Baxter, ACE
“Watchmen”: “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice,” David Eisenberg
BEST EDITED MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE FOR TELEVISION
Chernobyl: “Vichnaya Pamyat,” Jinx Godfrey & Simon Smith
Fosse/Verdon: “Life is a Cabaret,” Tim Streeto, ACE
When They See Us: “Part 1,” Terilyn A. Shropshire, ACE
BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES
“Deadliest Catch”: “Triple Jeopardy,” Ben Bulatao, ACE, Rob Butler, ACE, Isaiah Camp, Greg Cornejo, Joe Mikan, ACE
“Surviving R. Kelly”: “All The Missing Girls,” Stephanie Neroes, Sam Citron, LaRonda Morris, Rachel Cushing, Justin Goll, Masayoshi Matsuda, Kyle Schadt
“VICE Investigates”: “Amazon on Fire,” Cameron Dennis, Kelly Kendrick, Joe Matoske, Ryo Ikegami
Related stories from TheWrap:
'The Irishman' Leads in Nominations at the Netflix-Heavy Critics' Choice Awards
Aubrey Plaza to Return as Host of 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards
Greta Thunberg Named Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ 2019
Teenage climate-change activist Greta Thunberg is Time’s “Person of the Year,” the magazine announced Wednesday. At 16, she is the youngest person to be given the title.
The announcement came during NBC’s “Today,” one day after Time revealed that its five-person shortlist for the annual honor also included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Donald Trump, “the Whistleblower” who ignited the impeachment inquiry into Trump, and the Hong Kong protesters.
“Meaningful change rarely happens without the galvanizing force of influential individuals, and in 2019, the earth’s existential crisis found one in Greta Thunberg,” wrote Time’s editor-in-chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal when explaining the decision to give Thunberg the title.
He continued, “For sounding the alarm about humanity’s predatory relationship with the only home we have, for bringing to a fragmented world a voice that transcends backgrounds and borders, for showing us all what it might look like when a new generation leads, Greta Thunberg is Time’s 2019 Person of the Year.”
In 2017, Trump claimed before the reveal of the winner that he “took a pass” on “probably” winning, causing Time to issue a tweet saying, “The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year.”
In November, CNN’s Michael Smerconish encouraged Time to consider those who testified in Trump’s impeachment inquiry hearings when weighing the options for “Person of the Year.”
During an episode of his Saturday show, “Smerconish,” the political analyst and host collectively called the witnesses “diplomats” who had to “put up with attacks,” including by “the president himself.”
Time’s Person of the Year is someone deemed to have had the most significant impact on current events over the last year (and not, per common misunderstanding, a statement of approval for the named person). While the magazine’s editorial board selects Person of the Year, since 1998 it has also held an online reader poll.
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December 10, 2019
Trevor Noah Finds the Silver Lining for Trump After Articles of Impeachment (Video)
Donald Trump may or may not be worried now that the House of Representatives has issued two articles of impeachment against him. But on Tuesday’s “The Daily Show,” Trevor Noah managed to find a silver lining that might make POTUS feel better — as long as he doesn’t think about it too closely.
Noah noted that earlier Tuesday, House Democrats unveiled just two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of congress — which he said showed a lot of restraint considering what they were working with. “Let’s be honest, Trump has done enough crazy s— to merit 2000 articles of impeachment,” Noah said. Among the craziest, Noah listed “obstruction of justice from the Mueller report, using the presidency to enrich his businesses, the porn star payoffs, flag molestation, the time he looked directly into an eclipse, and of course, having Don Jr.”
“I mean, that’s impeachment on its own,” Noah joked about Trump’s oldest son.
Also Read: Trump Campaign Tweets Video of POTUS as 'Avengers: Endgame' Villain Thanos
Yes, Noah noted, the fact that there are only two articles is indeed good news for Trump, unless he’s comparing himself to previous presidents. “In a way, that’s also kind of sad for him. Because Nixon had three articles brought against him. Bill Clinton had four. And Andrew Johnson had 11, which means Trump will have the smallest impeachment of all time,” Noah said.
“You know that’s gonna make him insecure,” Noah continued. “He’s gonna be like ‘It’s not about the size of impeachment, it’s about the friction of the conviction.'” Zing!
Watch the clip below:
TONIGHT: Does Trump realize the two articles of impeachment brought against him are the fewest ever? ???? pic.twitter.com/mXiL4VRjrk
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) December 10, 2019
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Fox News' Chris Wallace Apologizes For Impeachment 'Circus' Prediction
Infowars Correspondent Livestreams Himself Disrupting, Being Removed From Impeachment Hearing
Colbert Sings an Impeachment Jingle to Remind You of What Happened With Ukraine (Video)
Shocking no one, Stephen Colbert was in a chipper mood on Tuesday’s episode of “The Late Show” because of the two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump announced earlier in the day by House Democrats. But just in case the whole thing is hard to keep track of, he sang a new jingle that makes it all easy to remember.
“It is an historic day. I think we’ll all remember where we were. I was on TV and you were watching it,” Colbert joked during his monologue.
“For only the fourth time in American history, articles of impeachment were drafted against a sitting president. It’s something that no one could have predicted,” Colbert continued, trying not to laugh. “Until Trump was elected.”
Also Read: House Democrats Announce 2 Articles of Impeachment Against Trump
After noting what the articles are — abuse of power and obstruction of congress — Colbert switched to his Donald Trump impression. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening, was that an article of impeachment? I’m sorry, I never read the articles. I do enjoy the impeachment centerfold though,” Colbert-Trump said. He then mimed opening up said centerfold. “Oh, I gotta say, Miss Demeanor’s got a pair of high crimes there.”
Colbert then rolled a clip of California Democrat Adam Schiff, who said during the announcement of articles of impeachment that not impeaching Trump is tantamount to saying “Why not let him cheat just one more time.”
“Fun fact,” Colbert said in response, “‘Why not let him cheat just one more time’ is what Trump had inscribed on Melania’s wedding gift.”
Also Read: Trump Campaign Tweets Video of POTUS as 'Avengers: Endgame' Villain Thanos
That’s when he got to the jingle. “This case is so simple, so bald-faced, we at ‘The Late Show’ came up with this handy jingle,” Colbert said, inviting the audience to sing along. The lyrics: “There’s just one thing that you need to know, Trump said ‘do us a favor though.'”
Watch the whole thing below:
TONIGHT: Trump gets hit with the articles of impeachment. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/ZQ4wzxrkme
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) December 11, 2019
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‘Jumanji: The Next Level': Can Sony Make Box Office Lightning Strike Twice?
Two years after “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” became a surprise box office hit, Sony is hoping to strike box office fortune again with the sequel, “The Next Level” — even though the Dwayne Johnson-Kevin Hart comedy adventure film is opening one week before Disney’s eagerly awaited saga finale “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”
Analysts don’t expect “The Next Level” to match the unexpected success of 2017’s “Welcome to the Jungle,” but also note that the film can still be a hit for Sony. The film has already grossed $53 million overseas and is projected to earn a domestic opening in the low $50 million range, similar to the $55 million 4-day Christmas opening that “Welcome to the Jungle” earned. Critics have been positive so far with an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Welcome to the Jungle,” a sequel to the 1995 Robin Williams adventure film that turned the original film’s magical board game into a video game that sucks whoever plays it into a magical world, was a late December release that proved that other films could thrive alongside “Star Wars” in theaters. Both Sony’s film and Fox’s “The Greatest Showman” had box office legs that carried them well into January.
Also Read: 'Jumanji' Surprise: How The Rock's Hit Did the Opposite of What Most Blockbusters Do
While 2017’s “The Last Jedi” grossed $1.33 billion worldwide, “Welcome to the Jungle” grossed an impressive $962 million, becoming one of Sony’s top 3 highest grossing releases ever and setting new personal domestic records for the film’s entire main cast. That includes box office titan Dwayne Johnson, who has been a part of higher grossing films globally (the “Fast & Furious” series) but broke the $400 million domestic milestone for the first time with “Jumanji.”
The breakout success of “Welcome to the Jungle” came as a much needed win for Sony, preventing it from finishing with an annual total below $1 billion for a third straight year. Sony has already passed that mark in 2019 thanks to the success of last summer’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” That takes some of the pressure off “The Next Level,” which would be considered a success even if it has a much lower global run of around $500 million.
Also Read: Knives In: Lionsgate Bounces Back in 2019 After Worst Box Office Year in Over a Decade
“We won’t really be able to judge whether or not ‘The Next Level’ is going to be a success until around New Year’s Day,” Boxoffice.com analyst Shawn Robbins told TheWrap. “It will have a pretty decent opening weekend and then probably see a big drop because of ‘Star Wars.’ But ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ did so well because it grabbed the interest of audiences, especially families, who wanted something else to see during Christmastime after seeing ‘The Last Jedi.’ If ‘Jumanji’ becomes that again this year, it could really last in theaters for a long time.”
In addition to Johnson and Hart, “Jumanji: The Next Level” stars Jack Black, Karen Gillan and Nick Jonas as the avatars of the “Jumanji” video game that four teens got sucked into and had to escape in “Welcome to the Jungle.” While the game was destroyed at the end of the last film, Spencer (Alex Wolff), one of the teens who survived, decides to put it back together and go back inside. The film also features newcomers like Danny DeVito, Danny Glover and Awkwafina. Jake Kasdan directs from a script he co-wrote with Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg.
Also Read: Disney Becomes First Ever Studio With $10 Billion at Global Box Office
Also releasing wide this weekend is Warner Bros.’ “Richard Jewell,” Clint Eastwood’s latest film starring Paul Walter Hauser in the true story of the security guard who was falsely accused of being involved in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing. The film comes a year after Eastwood released another box office hit at the age of 88 with “The Mule,” which opened to $17 million and grossed $174 million worldwide against a $50 million budget. “Richard Jewell,” meanwhile, is projected for an opening weekend in the $10-11 million range.
That success can be attributable to the fact that Eastwood has a very devout fan base among older, male moviegoers, particularly in more conservative communities. But unlike in “The Mule,” Eastwood is not also appearing on screen.
To get around this, Warner Bros. has made TV spots and online featurettes in which Eastwood personally introduces the film and explains why telling its story of justice, mob mentality and media hysteria was so important to him. The studio took a similar approach to Eastwood’s 2014 blockbuster “American Sniper,” which exploded to a $350 million domestic run.
Also Read: 'Richard Jewell' Film Review: Clint Eastwood's Wrong-Man Docudrama Muddles Harrowing True Story
“Richard Jewell” was written by Billy Ray and also stars Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, and Kathy Bates, the latter of whom received a Golden Globe nomination on Monday for her performance in this film. Critics have been generally positive, with an 86% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Finally, Universal will release the seasonal horror film “Black Christmas,” a remake of the 1974 cult film about a serial killer who attacks a sorority during the holidays. It’s a Blumhouse horror film, which means that its projected $10-12 million opening will be enough to ensure a profit. Sophia Takal, who co-wrote the screenplay with April Wolfe, become the first female director of a Blumhouse horror film.
In her updated take on “Black Christmas,” the sorority sisters become a quartet of fighters ready to battle to their would-be murderer to the death. Imogen Poots, Aleyse Shannon, Lily Donoghue, and Brittany O’Grady star with Cary Elwes, and the film does not currently have a Rotten Tomatoes score.
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Disney Becomes First Ever Studio With $10 Billion at Global Box Office
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‘Masked Singer': Tree Says It’s ‘Devastating’ She Was Cut Down Ahead of Holiday-Themed Semifinals
(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Tuesday’s episode of “The Masked Singer.”)
Bah humbug! The latest “Masked Singer” contestant to be cut from the Fox singing competition was The Tree, who was eliminated on Tuesday’s episode and revealed to be singer and “Saturday Night Live” alum Ana Gasteyer. The timing could not have been worse for the comedian — whose costume is clearly not just a tree, but a Christmas tree — as tomorrow’s episode is the show’s holiday semifinals.
“I know! That really hurts my feelings,” Gasteyer told TheWrap. “Who cuts down a Christmas tree in the height of a holiday?! It’s devastating. 2019 was hard enough, and now we have to take The Tree out of the holidays?”
Even though Gasteyer won’t be rockin’ around in her Christmas tree costume on Wednesday’s episode, the singer already had plans for what she would have performed that night, had she stuck around.
Also Read: Fox Reveals First 'Masked Singer' Season 3 Costume (Photo)
“I was very sad, actually, because for the holiday episode we had planned the ballad ‘All By Myself,’ the Celine Dion number,” she said. “You know, I played Celine Dion on ‘SNL.’ So we were going to have The Tree being alone in a Christmas Tree lot not being chosen. And I was really looking forward to singing this sad little song for The Tree.”
We’re not crying, you’re crying!
Gasteyer has more than one special connection to Christmas, which was the main reason she chose her festive costume when she signed on to compete on “The Masked Singer” Season 2. For starters, there’s that classic “Saturday Night Live” Christmas sketch, “Schweddy Balls,” featuring Gasteyer, Molly Shannon, Alec Baldwin and his schweddy balls. And who could forget Gasteyer’s topless Martha Stewart?
Also Read: The Butterfly Hopes Jesus Forgives Her for Having to Lie About Being on 'The Masked Singer'
“I’m definitely a Christmastime gal. Between topless Martha Stewart and Schweddy Balls and now my Christmas record, ‘Sugar & Booze’ — I wrote the original tracks on it — it’s very much my season,” She said.
“And I knew that record was coming and I wanted to help people connect the dots between Ana Gasteyer the singer and Ana Gasteyer the comedian, which isn’t always easy to do. And the record is like a really jolly, joyful, ridiculous, nostalgic, holiday-throwback album. So a Christmas tree was the first thing I could think of.”
But if you did happen to connect the dots and figure out The Tree was Gasteyer, you weren’t the only one.
Also Read: 'The Masked Singer' Unveils Another Celebrity Masked Singer: And The Butterfly Is... (Video)
“Oh, my ‘SNL’ girls guessed it almost immediately and that was terrible,” she said. “I had this big fantasy about how I was going to tell them about it, but they all guessed. [‘The Masked Singer’] has such broad appeal and because of the nature of clips and things like that, they guessed it the first week. And they piled up on me in the group text. And that was tricky because I did not trust them to keep it to themselves.”
“The Masked Singer’s” holiday-themed semifinals will air tomorrow, Wednesday, at 8/7c on Fox.
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‘The Masked Singer’ Reveals Another Celebrity Masked Singer: And The Tree Is… (Video)
(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Tuesday’s episode of “The Masked Singer.”)
Fox’s “The Masked Singer” revealed the identity of another Season 2 celebrity contestant during tonight’s special episode of the smash-hit singing competition: The Tree.
On Tuesday, the six remaining second-season competitors performed, including The Leopard, The Flamingo, The Rottweiler, Thingamajig, The Fox and The Tree.
At the end of the episode, panelists Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, Robin Thicke and guest panelist T-Pain (Season 1’s winner) chose the “weakest” contestant, which ended up being The Tree. She was unmasked and revealed to be none other than singer and comedian Ana Gasteyer.
Also Read: The Butterfly Hopes Jesus Forgives Her for Having to Lie About Being on 'The Masked Singer'
Watch video of the reveal above and read our interview with Gasteyer about her time on “The Masked Singer” here.
Now we’re waiting to find out the identities of the five remaining contestants, including The Leopard, The Flamingo, The Rottweiler, Thingamajig and The Fox. And lucky for you, the semifinals air Wednesday, so you won’t have to wait very long for the next big reveals — yes, it’s going to be a double elimination tomorrow.
According to Fox, “Collectively, all of the Season 2 undercover celebrities have amassed 69 Emmy Award nominations, 42 Grammy Award nominations, 22 Broadway shows, three New York Times best-sellers and two have been named Time magazine’s Most Influential People.”
Another episode of “The Masked Singer” airs tomorrow, Wednesday, at 8/7c on Fox.
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‘One in Two’ Theater Review: Donja R Love Brings Absurdity to the Black Queer Experience
In a playwright’s note in the Playbills handed out only after the performance of “One in Two,” Donja R. Love explains that his new play was inspired by a CDC study from 2016 that found that “one in two Black gay and bisexual men will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime.”
“This is absurd,” Love writes on learning that his HIV-positive status is so prevalent in his community, “and this play needs to reflect that.”
And so “One in Two,” which opened Tuesday at Off Broadway’s Pershing Signature Theatre Center in a New Group production, offers a parade of absurdities and meta-narratives and Beckett-like, fourth-wall-breaking theatrical tricks.
The three actors, first seen loafing about the all-white bench-lined set (minimalist design by Arnulfo Maldonado), use audience applause to determine which role(s) they will take on — from the newly diagnosed Donté to Bartender/Nurse/Kinda-Ex-Boyfriend to a third character who plays Mom, a bar hookup and a swishy queen described as “Banjii C— at the Center” (among other roles).
We then alternate between short scenes from Donté’s life as a young black gay man in the city — and scenes in which the performers seem to step out of their characters to comment on the action. After all, Donté is a stand-in for Love who at one point tells the audience, “I’m writing this dreamlike play that’s set in the middle of nowhere and nothing. Or maybe a waiting room? Because that wait has so much weight to it. Ya know?”
Also Read: 'Greater Clements' Theater Review: Judith Ivey Carries the Very Heavy Load of a Son
Love has some striking and weighty things to say, particularly about how the experiences of black gay men tend to get buried beneath whiter depictions of the AIDS crisis like “The Normal Heart” and (as he calls it) “Angels in A-f–king-merica.”
Of course, those plays were written back when AIDS was both a new epidemic as well as a truly scary and lethal one. But as the nurse tells Donté early on, “With all the advancements we’ve made, this is no longer a death sentence.” And so an HIV diagnosis in 2019, though it still looms large within the LGBTQ community, doesn’t have quite so much weight to it as it all-too-recently did. Ya know?
The cast is quite strong, and Edward Mawere brought real pathos to Donté at my performance. But under Stevie Walker-Webb’s direction, the transitions between the various theatrical modes can be jarring. And the more humorous, absurdist sections are so broadly performed that they tend to undercut the cri-de-couer moments, particularly a creaky ending that doesn’t land with the heft Love clearly had in mind.
Related stories from TheWrap:
'Greater Clements' Theater Review: Judith Ivey Carries the Very Heavy Load of a Son
John Boyega Says ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Left Him Feeling ‘a Bit Iffy’
In a candid new interview with Hypebeast, John Boyega said that he didn’t care for the arc his character, Finn, experienced in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” particularly how he was separated from the other main characters in the new “Star Wars” trilogy.
“‘The Force Awakens’ I think was the beginning of something quite solid,” the actor said. “‘The Last Jedi’ if I’m being honest I’d say that was feeling a bit iffy for me. I didn’t necessarily agree with a lot of the choices in that and that’s something that I spoke to Mark [Hamill] a lot about, and we had conversations about it. And it was hard for all of us, because we were separated.”
In Boyega’s opinion, when compared to the original “Star Wars” trilogy, the dynamic between Finn, Poe, and Rey wasn’t as strong as Luke, Han, and Leia. “I guess in the original ‘Star Wars’ films there was much more of a trio feel where it was essentially about Luke’s journey, but, Han and Leia, there was a strong dynamic,” said Boyega.
Also Read: Rian Johnson Had Been 'Holding the Secret' of Baby Yoda in His Heart for Weeks
Interestingly, Boyega also appeared to indicate that, at least as of the Hypebeast interview, there’s still a lot he doesn’t know about the upcoming “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” which hits theaters in less than two weeks.
“Which I think, I don’t know how quickly we’re going to be able to establish that long-term dynamic with [Episode] IX, but if it’s exploring that dynamic, then that would be cool,” added Boyega. “I do feel even after three films still, we don’t know them as much as we got to know Han, Luke, Leia. And maybe that’s a great opportunity to get to know them a little bit more.”
We’ll all find out for ourselves when “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” lands in theaters on December 20.
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Court Orders Netflix to Stop Poaching Fox Employees
A Los Angeles court has handed Netflix an injunction barring the streamer from continuing to poach employees from Fox.
The ruling came down on Tuesday according to Variety, and comes two weeks after Judge Marc Gross issued a tentative ruling indicating his stance on the case, bringing to an end the roughly three-year suit the now Disney-owned Fox brought against Netflix.
Gross wrote in his 57-page filing on Tuesday that Fox is entitled to injunctive relief, as follows: “Netflix shall not solicit employees who are subject to valid Fixed-Term Employment Agreements with Fox or induce such employees to breach their valid Fixed-Term Employment Agreements with Fox.”
Also Read: Golden Globes Nominees by the Numbers: Netflix Rules in Both TV and Film
The court’s decision on Tuesday takes major steps in holding up the validity of fixed-term employment agreements, which have been standard practice in the industry. A win for Netflix would have given employees more leverage in negotiations.
Netflix is likely to appeal the court’s decision.
Fox initially sued Netflix in September 2016, accusing the streamer of enticing employees under contract to jump ship despite having deals.
Fox named Marcos Waltenberg and Tara Flynn in its 2016 suit. Waltenberg was Fox vice president of marketing, partnerships and promotions; Flynn was executive director and, later, vice president of creative. Both were under two-year contracts, and Fox had the option to extend them. In Flynn’s case, this right was exercised, but she bounced regardless.
“As our complaint explains, we filed this lawsuit because we believe Netflix is defiantly flouting the law by soliciting and inducing employees to break their contracts,” a spokesperson for Fox told TheWrap at the time. “We intend to seek all available remedies to enforce our rights and hold Netflix accountable for its wrongful behavior.”
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