New and interesting options for streaming entertainment coming 2021
Discovery is behind a handful of networks including: Discovery Channel, Food Network, HGTV, ID, OWN, TLC and Animal Planet. The company will be joining as a new contender in the so-called streaming wars with the big hitters like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+ and Peacock. This year, the only new streaming platform, Quibi, launched and within the same year, rather tragically called in quits.
The service will be available among all the major device platforms that will include smart TV’s, web based, phones and tablets. There was no mention to specific platforms, more information will likely be disclosed closer to the start date. Those that are customers of Verizon unlimited wireless will be able to opt for 12 free months of Discovery.
Discovery+ is set to launch its new streaming platform at the beginning of next year on Jan 4, 2021. The monthly price will have the option of $4.99 with ads, or $2 extra for $6.99 a month without adds. Discovery+ launched last month in UK and Ireland, with plans to expand to more than 25 additional international markets, including the US next year.
The new streaming service will have over 55,000 episodes of TV in its arsenal. Discovery will provide of entertainment with a wide mixture of shows in its library, as well as movies and new and exclusive original content. There are reports of plans for shows including the likes of Chip and Goanna Gaines (Fixer Upper), David Attenborough, comedian Kevin Hart, and big name chefs like Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiss.
“We’ll see, but people love our channels… We’ve never been stronger to the cable bundle.” he continued to say about the networks are “effectively like the NFL times five right now for women.”
-CEO David Zaslav
Haven’t joined in on a Watch Party?
Amazon Prime Video and Netflix have had watch party features for a while now. Hulu and Disney+ are now rolling out its own versions, to allow for friends and family to share some entertainment connectedness.
Hulu started testing the new feature back in May for select users that allowed for a group up to eight people to watch TV shows and movies together. Through the website, the party can chat with one another throughout the videos, commenting in real time, even allowing their own playback feature (in case you have to grab a snack).
The then limited feature is now fully functional and available for all on-demand Hulu subscribers (those that have ad-free or ad-supported options). There should now be a “Watch Party” icon on Hulu’s main page, once in, you will be provided a link that can be shared to up to seven other Hulu subscribers. When all members have joined, the initiator (the host) starts the show or movie. The feature is only supported on Hulu.com, so it will not be accessible through the app.
Disney+ also recently rolled out its own version of a watch party, called “GroupWatch”. The main difference, however is group members are limited to reacting through emojis, with no options yet for written communication.
The meaning of him coming out for the LGBTQ community and beyond
Elliot Page, formerly known as Ellen, announced Tuesday, he identifies as a gender non-binary transgender person and uses both he/him and they/them for pronouns. If you are not familiar with the term, gender non-binary, it means that someones gender identity and who they know themselves to be is neither man nor woman. And the use of pronouns, as we all have them, whether we are conscious of it or not, for a transgender person, they preferred pronouns are a way of showing and giving respect for who someone authentically is.
He took to his social media to post the very candid letter. Below is a portion of the letter, the entirety can be seen on the below post from Elliot’s Twitter.
“Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot.
I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life. I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey.
I can’t begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self. I’ve been endlessly inspired by so many in the trans community.
Thank you for your courage, your generosity and ceaselessly working to make this world a more inclusive and compassionate place.”
This disclosure from Page, is a game changer for the entertainment industry, as it will give more trans visibility on screen. Hollywood has been in need of the depiction of more accurate representation in TV shows and movies. Even though Elliot announcing he was transgender is for obvious personal reasons, there also comes significant and impactful steps that affect the audience.
Page known for his breakout role in “Juno”, as well as other varied characters including work in “X-Men”, “Inception”, “Tallulah, “Whit It!” and much more. Currently starring in Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy”, reports for next season, Page will continue to play the cisgender woman, with no plans to change the character’s gender. Netflix does have plans to change the credits for all his past work.
Prior to the announcement, Page has been one of the most visible and publicly gay actors in Hollywood. Now, Page will be one, if not the, highest profile actor that has publicly identified as transgender. There are a small but growing number of out tran actors and public figures including: Laverne Cox, Chaz Bono, Caitlyn Jenner, Jazz Jennings, Brian Michael Smith and Trace Lysette.
GLAAD’s Director of Transgender Media, Nick Adams, commented on the announcement:
“Elliot Page has given us fantastic characters on-screen, and has been an outspoken advocate for all LGBTQ people. He will now be an inspiration to countless trans and non-binary people. All transgender people deserve the chance to be ourselves and to be accepted for who we are. We celebrate the remarkable Elliot Page today.”
Anytime anyone is able to be their authentic selves, that should be celebrated. Coming out as transgender takes strength and vulnerability, Elliot sharing in such a public way is incredibly up-lifting.
Company testing the waters with video stories for some playlists
Spotify will join in with the growing number of apps that give users access to short video content, at least in a limited capacity initially. What is interesting is, Spotify doesn’t immediately jump out as the type of app that one would have any use for the stories style feature, which are obviously more common among social networking sites, yet it will be interesting to see how its stories feature evolve over time.
Videos, which I will dub “Stories” for the purposes of online videos, have become such a popular feature nowadays and it’s easy to see why. Not only do video stories visually grab people’s attention, the medium can also be interactive, engaging and even create meaningful emotional responses from the images.
Reviewing the number of apps that have a type of stories feature has been growing over the years, it seems like almost all the apps have jumped on the bandwagon. Initially brought about by Snapchat, bigger social media platform likes Instagram and Facebook quickly followed to put its own spin with “Stories” which has become well established features of the app.
Twitter, this month launched its own version called “Fleets”. Fleets are akin to Instagram Stories, in that they are available, given the name, for only 24 hours to share whatever momentary (fleeting) thoughts, feelings, ect.
Other, perhaps lesser known apps that have stories include LinkedIn (just learned that one!) and Pinterest with “Story Pins” that have a PowerPoint like quality that allow a combination of video, images and texts.
TikTok, exclusively known for videos and its classic 60-second limit posts understands the power of video posts and is reportedly experimenting with extending TikToks that can be as long as three minutes.
Currently within Spotify, the stories feature will only be available for a limited number of playlists and albums (as the feature is only just begun its roll out). Once you find a playlist that have the feature, for example we choose the Christmas Hit playlist, you’ll see “tap to see the story” and be able to view video snippets from various major artists.
2020 Wrapped – Chronicles your music chooses from throughout the year
As the end of the year nears, the 2020 version of Spotify Wrapped is now live and available for users to find their curated playlists. Accessible on your app, mobile browser or a desktop. With nearly 286 million users and 130 million subscribers, the Wrapped feature is a neat way to reflect on your music and “wrap” up the end of year.
If you don’t yet know what Spotify Wrapped is or the importance of it, it is the annual feature that compiles your yearlong listening history and then creates a truly customized and personalized playlists of what you have listened to the most over the year.
In addition to creating the top 100 tracks you’ve most listened to for the year of 2020, you can also view stats of just how much you played the same songs. The stats can be either enlightening or further solidify what you already know about your taste in music.
For me, I already knew, but visually seeing my love of Billie Eilish, 80’s pop and 90’s alternative is kinda entertaining. You’ll will also be able to see “Missed Hits” and “On Record” which will combine a mixture of songs, artists and podcasts you might like but have not yet listened to.
Even if you aren’t a subscriber to Spotify and want to get data on what the most popular artists and podcasts were for the year, you can by clicking here. We learned the most streamed song of 2020 was by The Weekend for his song “Blinding Lights”.
As part of the Wrapped look back on 2020, Spotify also ranked the top podcasts, with “Joe Rogan Experience” at the top, followed by “TED Talks Daily” and “New York Times The Daily”. The company’s $100 million acquisition with the podcast creation software Anchor definitely paid off, as this year, an isolated one for many because of the pandemic, contributed to more than 1 million podcast shows in the Spotify catalog for 2020.
If you do not use Spotify, fear not, Apple also has its own version of Wrapped, called Replay that was launch November 2019. You will need your Apple ID that you use for your Apple Music subscription, and you will see, just as with Spotify, a comprehensive look at your top played tracks for 2020. Once logged in click on “Get Your Replay Mix” button to see “Replay 2020”.
There is also the option to look at previous years, if you are in a nostalgic mood and want to see how (if any) your musical tastes and choose in music has evolved.
Something a little different is you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to access Apple Replay, you can listen to your mix at any point in the year given you’ve listened to enough music (as the mix is updated on a weekly basis).
During her annual interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Billie Eilish explained her and brother / collaborator, Finneas have been recording a new batch of songs: “Right now I have 16. We’ve been working. And I love them all.”
The Eilish siblings, who like the most of us have been forced to stay at home, have taken that time to get their creative juices flowing.
In addition to playing around and creating hilarious TikTok content, the duo have pumped them out; song after song.
During the interview, she describes their joint creative stamina and how it is at a peak; “I think Finneas and I have just seriously really gotten in the groove. We do it so fast.”
Last month, the singer shared her newest single “Therefore I am” and performed it live for the first time during the American Music Awards (AMAs).
Eilish has also been nominated for several Grammy Awards for “Everything I Wanted”, including Best Pop Solo Performance and Song of the Year.
A TikTok video by Truth Lies Shenanigans (@tlsliveshow) has shown the uncanny similarities of a speech in the comedy film “Legally Blonde” and a speech from Donald Trump. The TikTok went viral, and hilariously, Trump is now being accused of plagiarism.
The words are not verbatim, yet the messages between the fictional character, Elle Woods played by Reese Witherspoon and Trump are hilariously nearly identical in nature.
Elle Woods: “We take our next steps into the world…It is with passion…Courage of conviction…And most importantly…Have faith in yourself…We did it!”
Trump: “You must go forth into the world…Passion…Courage and your conviction…Most importantly…Be true to yourself…I did it!”
During “The Tonight Show” Jimmy Fallon also pointed out that Trump’s commencement speech at Liberty University in Virginia, back in 2017, eerily matches Elle Wood’s speech she gives to her fellow graduates at Harvard Law school.
Coincidentally or not, Legally Blonde is also making a come back. “Legally Blonde” originally premiered back in 2001, with the sequel in 2003. MGM announced back in October that the 3rd installment of the film will be coming sometime around May 2022.
Wonder why all the news outlets seem to repeat each other’s stories? Google trends might have the answer
Google has any number of tools and software services for businesses and web developers. Some fairly well known like Google Analytics, Ad Words and Ad Sense, and others less so. Google analytics helps web site owners and businesses track and quantify the traffic and behavior of their products (physical eCommerce products or intangible products such as blog posts, etc) and can give insight into who, what when and from where people are responding online.
For media producers and news web sites they offer a tool called “Google Trends”. As with many google software products it is extremely deep in what it can do and somewhat inscrutable in how to use. If you want to see what topics are likely to be showing up on your news feed over the next 24 to 36 hours you can go to the page called “Trending Searches”.
What to tool is focused on is using the google search bar as a kind of barometer for what people and wanting to read about or look at online (This tool deals with the google internet search engine, YouTube has its own separate search engine for videos only). The idea is that if, say, 100k people are looking up Paul Walker (deceased star of “Fast & Furious” films) there must be a reason.
Various trending topics and stories can be evaluated and then create a tend among news producers, based on the initial trend by the public reaction to the first story
If you were a media producer or content editor, you could look at the number of articles on the subject that have been written so far and how many eyeballs are chasing those articles.
If the ratio is good, and you think the timing is favorable based on how long you would need to research and produce a similar article, you may get your crew to “pull the trigger” on your on entry into that days “Paul Walker Sweepstakes”.
Using this example live from Google Trends, it turns out that November 30th was the anniversary of Paul Walkers tragic death and there is an instagram post commemorating the occasion put out by his daughter who was only a small child 7 years ago when her father died in a car crash.
Her post has a massive number of likes (462,410 so far) and this, then, is likely to be a story that will take off like wildfire and more and more outlets jump on it to capture views and try to enlarge their audience.
This area is separated into “Daily Search Trends” and “RealTime Search Trends”. As you’d expect the daily trends follow the large slower moving search trends that have risen to the top of the heap and shows you a sort of greatest hit top ten of what people are searching for. RealTime does the same on a minute to minute and hour to hour basis.
There are ways to dig deeper (deeper than any human would want to) into the data and, of course, you can filter by topic / category and by various countries around the world.
When browsing the RealTime data you can often find interesting articles from usual news outlets that are likely to be a big trend re-produced and written in various styles in a couple of days and seen by, possibly, millions. Or not.
That’s the fun part of this tool, even if you are now a big shot media producer you can browse stories that people are search for and finding interesting and get a glimpse of, potentially, tomorrow’s news today.
Newly sparked dating rumors with couple spotted getting cozy together
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky (Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye), both 32, have been close friends for several years. They have appeared on the red carpet together and even collab-ed in a few of each others’ projects.
Most notably when Rihanna starred in the rapper’s 2013 music video for “Fashion Killa”, and A$AP Rocky joining RiRi for her Fenty Skin campaign this July. As well as both interviewing for GQ and Vogue in August for her skin care and beauty collection.
Ever since Rihanna broke up with her billionaire boyfriend, Hassan Jameel early in January, there have been whispers about a new man.
Since Ri and Rocky have always been a bit flirtatious towards one another, it was said that they allegedly began to see one another romantically after her break up with Jameel.
Now it seems that after all the months of speculations and rumors about their romance, that the two are in fact dating. Page Six reported the couple were spotted having dinner at the Beatrice Inn in New York over the holiday weekend.
The two haven’t come out officially to publicly announce the status or their relationship or quell any of the dating rumors, regardless there’s fantastic chemistry and I’m here for it!
Above:Content Discovery App – River video Clip Introduction
An Unlikely Holy Grail: User Sophistication and the Will to Exist Online
In late 2018 a small firm was looking into opportunities in organizing an online co-op for small businesses (CSSinc), similar to the co-ops created by farmers during the great depression. Where else to start than a trade show of more than 1000 small businesses in Las Vegas. In an informal test, they checked all the web sites listed in the show directory as an indicator of the state of web sophistication among the participants.
Naturally the 10% that were functioning, a few of which at a high level, were all the largest companies attending the show. With costs to set up, and even designing a company web site, at an all time low, why would so many pass up the opportunity to make use of this powerful tool?
‘This is Water’ and the internet dilemma that has swallowed the world
In 2005, David Foster Wallace addressed the graduating class at Kenyon College with a speech that is now one of his most read pieces.
In it, he argues, gorgeously, against “unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.” He begins with a parable:
There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”
This oft quoted passage is about how the world around us can be easily misunderstood by lack of awareness. And, maybe, by the lack of any perceived need to notice what’s really going on.
The two most shocking things about the anecdote above, regarding 90% of small businesses lack of internet presence (or sophistication), are how this could be the case after more than 20 years of the internet being at the center of commerce and, well, life, and what it says about the “water” we are all swimming in.
2020 is the year that the internet became even more important for all our lives. Less obvious is that it is also the year that the problems and obstacles are more important than ever to overcome, and that starts with seeing the water we are all swimming in.
In this acclaimed documentary (available on Netflix) a lot of both problems and solutions focus on the dangers of the current giant-tech dominated internet environment on the “end-user” and the general public.
While that sphere of influence is a serious and growing problem, it is the control and domination by a few massive companies, to the virtual exclusion of smaller businesses, that, to a large degree caused the sick, twisted inequitable and unfair system in the first place.
The relative size imbalance is literally so massive that it is rendered incomprehensible, and, like water to the fish mentioned above, invisible.
A happy shiny logo of, say, coca-cola, looks just as harmless (or menacing, depending on the perspective) as that of Amazon or Facebook, who may be hundreds of times larger in market-cap than the soft-drink giant with long history as a “big” American company. Size of this magnitude is impossible to conceive of by most of us.
But the perception of the giants that control the internet as harmless, or even beneficial and to be admired, is rapidly changing. Therein also lies the potential for probably the only hope of positive change for small business and for society in the US and across the globe.
A Revolution of Perception is Required and already Underway
Part of the problem, one that is growing, admittedly, every day, is the sheer scale of the inequity and corruption. Why even try, as a small business, to go up against the giants that “own” the water we swim in?
Ultimately what is necessary is a sea-change (forgive the continued metaphor) within overall population, both consumers and small businesses. And that starts with the perception that it is the “people” that decide how and what the internet will be who will be “permitted” to interact. An Algorithm own as proprietary secret software by an internet behemoth? Or a decentralized more kaleidoscopic solution that was an inherent promise from the initial days of the internet’s creation?
The signs of change are all around. The “direct to consumer” trend that has produced massive success stories also paved the way for the emerging system of smaller companies being able to reach out directly and actually do business with customers with, sometimes, minimal involvement of the giants.
The signs that this can work are gradually being seen – shopify’s success in offering software and services to businesses wanting to establish a direct connection to buyers is a growing trend. There are many other companies that have recognized the trend and are trying to ride this wave toward a different method of communication between businesses and so-called consumers.
Here are some examples of companies that are taking a new approach to the way we communicate and interact online:
However, the ultimate driver of positive change in the internet will be the increased sophistication of users, both professional and at the individual level.
User Sophistication and Trust: an unlikely but all-important Grail
Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, TikTok and more have all embraced direct in-app-shopping as a way to expand beyond content. Even Google has started a program to allow buyers to purchase from search results without leaving the platform. While these initiatives are all coming from the giant tech firms themselves, they are, ultimately, sowing the seeds of their own demise.
They are, in essence, teaching buyers to forego the now standard system of choosing between Amazon and “the rest” in online shopping. This choice, helped along by billions in losses to subsidize “impossibly low” prices plus free shipping paid for by Amazon’s loss-leader strategies, was never a fair or realistic one and created the massive, unsustainable imbalances in online commerce we see today.
The massive and very real paranoia of the giant companies is based on the clear and deep understanding that the competition is always “1-click-away”, which is the unfulfilled promise of the internet in the first place.
D.L.
The greatest obstacle has never been the massive price-dumping schemes or even the sell-at-a-loss free shipping concept that kept buyers from having a second choice in e-commerce. It has been the lack of user sophistication of the sellers and the buyers in the online forum which prevented easier movement from one online option to another.
The massive and very real paranoia of the giant companies is based on the clear and deep understanding that the competition is always “1 click away”, which is the unfulfilled promise of the internet in the first place.
So called “moats” and systems to block users from initiating and exercising choice are built-up and keep getting deeper and more complex. But sophisticated users can, and eventually will, easily just opt-out at any time, when alternatives that they prefer begin to proliferate.
And there is a growing and invisible ocean that already exists all around us. As far-fetched as it may seem “the ocean we swim in” will one day be in no way similar to the deeply problematic one we swim in today and a thorough a change from the bottom up as well as the top down will, finally, bring about a new era in online communication and commerce.
Above: 80 Million in Washington D.C.? Photo Collage / Lynxotic / Adobe Stock
Pseudo-conciliatory tone vanishes in a haze of Tryptophan
Chalk it up to just another day in Trump-world where nonsense is fact and facts don’t exist. After making another non-concession-consession on Thursday, stating that “of course” he would vacate the White House if Biden has won the electoral college vote by December 14th (which is the deadline for those votes to be certified), on Friday, he had, apparently, re-thought that whole “be a reasonable human” thing.
In two tweets that were both marked “This claim about election fraud is disputed” the current election result “denier in chief” postulated that president-elect Biden “can only enter the White House as President if he can prove that his ridiculous ‘80,000,000 votes’ were not fraudulently or illegally obtained,” and further, that “Biden only did well in the large cities of Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Milwaukee, which he claimed have “long [been] known as being politically corrupt.”
The latter is, of course, completely false, and the former is an absurd assertion, even from this source.
Also claiming, with as much false bravado as someone in his losing position could muster, that Biden has a “big, unsolvable problem”.
Trump, laughingly, put forth the theory that “Biden only did well in the large cities of Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Milwaukee”, and added a baseless claim that those cities (that were most assuredly not the “only” ones where Biden did well) have “long [been] known as being politically corrupt.”
Um, Los Angeles ? New York City? We could go down this list all day. “Only did well?”
Which leads to the real question here: who, outside of the thoroughly brainwashed, would even consider such nonsense. Do losing teams in the Super-bowl get to dispute every point on the scoreboard, after the game is over? Does winning by more than 6 million votes count for anything in this wacko universe?
Biden can only enter the White House as President if he can prove that his ridiculous “80,000,000 votes” were not fraudulently or illegally obtained. When you see what happened in Detroit, Atlanta, Philadelphia & Milwaukee, massive voter fraud, he’s got a big unsolvable problem!
Perhaps, to insure absolute certainty, 80 million people should show up at the White House to remind Trump why he must, and will, be moving out on January 20th, if not before (wink).
Biden did poorly in big cities (Politico), except those of Detroit (more votes than people!), Philadelphia, Atlanta and Milwaukee, which he had to win. Not surprisingly, they are all located in the most important swing states, and are long known for being politically corrupt!
“It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,”
—Trump via Tweet
Michael Flynn Pleaded Guilty To Lying About Russia Contact but will not serve time
Michael Flynn’s convoluted legal travails are now over. With this brazen, political pardon, Trump managed to keep at least one of his cronies out of jail. Attempts were made by the Bill Barr justice department to have the case dropped, which would have made an official pardon unnecessary, but those efforts did not come to fruition.
This pardon follows that of Trump’s friend and self-proclaimed “dirty-trickster” Roger Stone Jr., who had been facing down seven felonies, after the Mueller Inquiry led to charges against the outspoken and ultra-partisan Mr. Stone.
Stone had originally pleaded guilty, twice, to lying about a series of conversations with the ambassador of Russia.
Here are some others that Trump has already pardoned:
Date of Pardon
Name
Sentencing date
August 25, 2017
Joe Arpaio
October 5, 2017
March 9, 2018
Kristian Saucier
August 19, 2016
April 13, 2018
Lewis “Scooter” Libby
June 14, 2007
May 24, 2018
Jack Johnson
September 14, 1920
It is unlikely that he will try pardon himself, but with Trump, as anybody paying attention would know by now, anything is possible. Stay tuned
A spate of new titles are being added to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and more
Because of COVID-19, 2020 will go down in history as one of the most unique years for movies. With theaters closed, blockbusters delayed, and dozens of highly anticipated films getting siphoned off to streaming services, there hasn’t been any major box office highs or prestigious content for the big screen. Given the state of the world, this reality will likely continue through December, robbing the holiday season of its traditional major releases.
Thank goodness we have a variety of streaming platforms and many new releases for the month of December and beyond for some much needed holiday entertainment.
Nevertheless, a handful of pictures are still pushing for late 2020 premieres. Not all hope is lost for a Christmas-time movie watching experience. Here are a few anticipated films that plan on coming out before the end of the year…
Happiest Season
Today, a new Christmas romantic comedy has dropped, “Happiness Season” just in time for the long 4 day Thanksgiving holiday. This film is a little unique in that the focus centers around two lesbian women. Kristen Stewart (in real life openly gay) plays Abby and Mackenzie Davis plays Harper, a happy couple, whose relationship is put to the test.
Diego Maradona
A look at the career of celebrated football player Diego Armando Maradona. On 5th July 1984, Diego Maradona arrived in Naples for a world-record fee. The world’s most celebrated football icon and the most passionate but dangerous city in Europe were a perfect match for each other. A documentary “Diego Maradona,” which was directed by Filmmaker Asif Kapadia and released in 2019, tweeted his disbelief that the larger-than-life figure had passed away
https://youtu.be/vDXon6NtO8o
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
Taylor Swift delighted fans everywhere with a seemingly out of the blue announcement of her latest project. The concert film will be available exclusively on Disney+ streaming platform. The intimate “Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions” will premiere on Disney+ on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at midnight. The film was shot in September 2020 at the upstate New York studio, ‘The Long Pond’ alongside Swift’s co-producers Aaron Dessner (The National) and Jack Antonoff (Bleachers).
Hillbilly Elegy
Hillbilly Elegy, the movie based on the 2016 book, a memoir written by J.D. Vance that tells his story of the difficulties growing up with his drug-addicted mother in the small working-class town in the Appalachians. As rings true in the book, Vance’s character preserves through hardwork to ultimately take on a better path that leads to his acceptance into Yale.
Wonder Woman: 1984
Patty Jenkins’ sequel to 2017’s “Wonder Woman” was originally slated for a June release, but got perpetually pushed back because of the virus. Now, it is holding onto a Christmas Day theatrical debut. Gal Gadot returns as the titular heroin alongside Chris Pine and Kristen Wiig in this ninth installment to the DC Extended Universe.
Above: Photo “Coming 2 America”
Coming 2 America
After returning to host “Saturday Night Live” and starring in Netflix’s “Dolemite Is My Name,” legendary comedian Eddie Murphy effectively reentered the zeitgeist in 2019. Therefore, hopes were high for his late sequel to the 1988 classic, “Coming To America.” Although made for the theaters, this 2020 film will now be available exclusively on Amazon Prime starting December 18th.
Mank
A film historian’s film if there ever was one, the David Fincher-directed “Mank” stars Gary Oldman as real-life screenwriter, Herman J. Mankiewicz. Shot in black-and-white, the biopic focuses on Mankiewicz’s alcoholism and tumultuous experience writing “Citizen Kane” during Hollywood’s Golden Age. This Oscar-bait movie has already started its limited theatrical run, but will find a home on Netflix come December 4th.
Pixar’s last theatrical release was terribly timed. The critically acclaimed, but commercially underwhelming “Onward” hit theaters the same weekend that the pandemic heated up in America and moviegoers were urged to stay at home. This next Disney-Pixar outing will thus go directly to streaming via Disney+. Available on Christmas Day, “Soul” is the first Pixar feature not to have a big-screen premiere.
Midnight Sky
Netflix went all in for this George Clooney-directed science fiction adaptation. It’s a story about a man (played by Clooney) living on post-apocalyptic Earth and communicating with astronauts as they make their way back to the shambled planet. The film will stream on December 23rd and in this unique case, 2020 might actually add some timely relevance to the plot.
Above: Official Trailer of Free Guy / 20th Century Fox
Free Guy
Riding on the coattails of “Deadpool” and “Detective Pikachu,” Disney’s “Free Guy” is the latest action-comedy to star Ryan Reynolds as a happy-go-lucky protagonist. With a plot involving virtual reality, the movie puts an ordinary guy in extraordinary circumstances for some hilarious thrills. Carried over from 20th Century Fox and not based on any pre-existing IP, “Free Guy” is a bit of a gamble. We’ll find out if it pays off on when it hits theaters on the eleventh.
Another prospective theatrical release for December, Sony’s “Monster Hunter” plans to premiere on the 30th. Based off of the popular video game series of the same title, “Monster Hunter” promises a hybrid of war, science fiction, and fantasy delights. Director Paul W.S. Anderson has missed the mark with his video game adaptations before, but we cannot deny that huge spectacles projected on the big screen are something we’ve been deprived of this year, and therefore deeply crave.
Above: Photo from “Happiest Season / Courtesy of Hulu
Praise for Stewart in first “Out and Proud” Christmas movie
Around this time of year, there are usually a handful of beloved holiday movies like “Home Alone, “Family Stone” and many more. Today, a new Christmas romantic comedy has dropped, “Happiness Season” just in time for the long 4 day Thanksgiving holiday. This film is a little unique in that the focus centers around two lesbian women.
The now streaming movie was originally meant for a theatrical release, yet due to the current climate, found its way to the Hulu streaming platform.
Kristen Stewart (in real life openly gay) plays Abby and Mackenzie Davis plays Harper, a happy couple, whose relationship is put to the test. Harper invites Abby back to her parents for the holidays. Only during the drive is it revealed that her family doesn’t know she is gay and hasn’t yet come out to anyone in the family. Abby has to pose as a straight friend. Bonus, the hilarious Dan Levy, plays John, Abby’s best friend.
“it’s really nice to watch a movie that you get to completely rid yourself of that [feeling] knowing that you can laugh at that experience and that catharsis knowing that what you’re getting is an earned happiness. You get to laugh at these weird fears of saying the wrong thing around someone’s family or not being able to lie very well so maybe they’ll know I’m gay.”
-Kristen Stewart
Director Clea DuVall, who is openly out herself, commented on the film, “I love Christmas movies but I had never really seen myself represented in one before”. Her take away goal was “wanting to feel like I was seeing me in a movie like this, which I had never seen before. And my experience is not unique. I’m not the only one going through it. So there has to be a lot of other people who are also feeling underrepresented.”
'Twas the night before #HappiestSeason, when all through the house, We're gathering our chosen family, or even a spouse, We wrapped the opening credits up nicely just for you, To tell you our movie is now streaming, only on @hulu! pic.twitter.com/4ck1oHKYo6
Above: Photo Courtesy of Netflix “Hillbilly Elegy”
…To Stream or Not To Stream, that is the question?
Hillbilly Elegy, now on Netflix, is a movie based on the 2016 book, a memoir written by J.D. Vance, that tells his story of the difficulties growing up with his drug-addicted mother in a small working-class town in the Appalachians. As rings true in the book, Vance’s character preservers, through hard work, ultimately to take on a better path that leads to his acceptance into Yale.
The book became a best-seller, somewhat unexpectedly, with Harper Collins only initially running 10,000 copies, but then found themselves quickly having to reprint. Released during the time that the 2016 election was beginning to build steam, it was said to have gained its popularity, by giving both Democrats and Republican readers a better understanding of Donald Trump’s voter base.
Soon after the debut of book and massive success, Ron Howard’s production company bought the filming rights, in 2017, and then Netflix won the bidding war to finance the movie, a $45 million deal. The film is directed by Ron Howard and executive-produced by the author.
After the release of the movie on Nov. 24, 2020 many critics had mixed reviews. Ranging from Oscar worthy to “worst movie ever”.
The source of the controversy, no doubt, stems from how the movie plays out the “hillbilly” aspect of the narrative. Some say that the depiction of the characters, while based on Vance’s life, only serves to further reinforce stereotypes of poor white America.
Other critics note that the movie tries to sell the “pick yourself up by the bootstraps” type of made-for-film-fantasy while ignoring the very real hardships of addiction and systematic inequalities.
The star-studded cast includes Glenn Close as J.D’s Mamaw (grandmother) and Amy Adams as Bev (his mother). The film is said to be a mostly straightforward adaptation of Vance’s book. The movie is now available to stream through the Netflix platform.
Below is some additional information from the publisher about the 2016 book adapted to the new released film.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Click to see “Hillbilly Elegy” and help Independent Bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
Part memoir, part historical and social analysis, J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy is a fascinating consideration of class, culture, and the American dream.
Vance’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love.” They got married and moved north from Kentucky to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. Their grandchild (the author) graduated from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving upward mobility for their family. But Vance cautions that is only the short version. The slightly longer version is that his grandparents, aunt, uncle, and mother struggled to varying degrees with the demands of their new middle class life and they, and Vance himself, still carry around the demons of their chaotic family history.
Delving into his own personal story and drawing on a wide array of sociological studies, Vance takes us deep into working class life in the Appalachian region. This demographic of our country has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, and Vance provides a searching and clear-eyed attempt to understand when and how “hillbillies” lost faith in any hope of upward mobility, and in opportunities to come.
At times funny, disturbing, and deeply moving, this is a family history that is also a troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large portion of this country.
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Confirmed to Reuters, by his attorney, Diego Maradona, one of, if not the, greatest soccer player of all time has died at 60. Various outlets in Latin America have reported that the cause of death was a heart attack and that he died in his home, after, two weeks prior he had undergone urgent surgery to repair a brain bleed.
Prime video documentary series chronicled his life and career
Currently in the works at Amazon Prime Video is a scripted bio-series based on his life, “Maradona: Sueño Bendito,” which is being produced by BTF Media and is directed by Alejandro Aimetta. Three actors will play Maradona in the series: Juan Palomino (adult), Nazareno Casero (adolescent) and Nicolás Goldschmidt (child). The series will cover events over the span of his entire life.
Also from Amazon Prime Video is a documentary “Diego Maradona,” which was directed by Filmmaker Asif Kapadia and released in 2019, tweeted his disbelief that the larger-than-life figure had passed away.
The nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards were unveiled on Tuesday, November 24, by the N.A.R.A.S. a.k.a. The Recording Academy .
In keeping with the 2020 tradition of “distanced” productions Dua Lipa, Sharon Osbourne, Imogen Heap, Mickey Guyton and Lauren Daigle announced the nominations for the 2021 Grammys from various remote feed locations with an asset by the academy’s chair and interim president/CEO, Harvey Mason Jr.
BTS, the boy band, has received its first Grammy nomination, making history of becoming the first K-Pop group to break into a major category. The group’s official Twitter account posted a video of some of the members reacting to their historic nomination.
Scroll down to see the full list of nominations as they come in, and tune in to the 2021 Grammy Awards on CBS Sunday, January 31, at 8 p.m. ET.
Here Are The Nominations For The 2021 Grammy Awards
Beyoncé leads with nine nominations, while Megan Thee Stallion nabbed her first Grammy nods ever. The two also shared three nominations for their “Savage” remix.
Record of the Year
“Black Parade,” Beyoncé
“Colors,” Black Pumas
“Rockstar,” DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch
“Say So,” Doja Cat
“Everything I Wanted,” Billie Eilish
“Don’t Start Now,” Dua Lipa
“Circles,” Post Malone
“Savage,” Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyoncé
Album of the Year
From left: Este Haim, Danielle Haim, and Alana Haim
Chilombo, Jhené Aiko
Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition), Black Pumas
Everyday Life, Coldplay
Djesse Vol. 3, Jacob Collier
Women in Music Pt. III, Haim
Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa
Hollywood’s Bleeding, Post Malone
Folklore, Taylor Swift
Song of the Year
“Black Parade,” Beyoncé
“The Box,” Roddy Ricch
“Cardigan,” Taylor Swift
“Circles,” Post Malone
“Don’t Start Now,” Dua Lipa
“Everything I Wanted,” Billie Eilish
“I Can’t Breathe,” H.E.R.
“If the World Was Ending,” JP Saxe feat. Julia Michaels
Best New Artist
Ingrid Andress
Phoebe Bridgers
Chika
Noah Cyrus
D Smoke
Doja Cat
Kaytranada
Megan Thee Stallion
Best Pop Solo Performance
“Yummy,” Justin Bieber
“Say So,” Doja Cat
“Everything I Wanted,” Billie Eilish
“Don’t Start Now,” Dua Lipa
“Watermelon Sugar,” Harry Styles
“Cardigan,” Taylor Swift
Best Pop Vocal Album
Changes, Justin Bieber
Chromatica, Lady Gaga
Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa
Fine Line, Harry Styles
Folklore, Taylor Swift
Best Rap Album
Black Habits, D Smoke
Alfredo, Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist
A Written Testimony, Jay Electronica
King’s Disease, Nas
The Allegory, Royce da 5’9″
Best Country Album
Lady Like, Ingrid Andress
Your Life Is a Record, Brandy Clark
Wildcard, Miranda Lambert
Nightfall, Little Big Town
Never Will, Ashley McBryde
Best Country Song
From left: Geoff Sprung, Trevor Rosen, Matthew Ramsey, Brad Tursi, and Whit Sellers of Old Dominion.
“Bluebird,” Miranda Lambert
“The Bones,” Maren Morris
“Crowded Table,” the Highwomen
“More Hearts Than Mine,” Ingrid Andress
“Some People Do,” Old Dominion
Best R&B Performance
“Lightning & Thunder,” Jhené Aiko feat. John Legend
“Black Parade,” Beyoncé
“All I Need,” Jacob Collier feat. Mahalia and Ty Dolla $ign
“Goat Head,” Brittany Howard
“See Me,” Emily King
Best Rap Song
“The Bigger Picture,” Lil Baby
“The Box,” Roddy Ricch
“Laugh Now, Cry Later,” Drake feat. Lil Durk
“Rockstar,” DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch
“Savage,” Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyoncé
Best Rock Performance
“Shameika,” Fiona Apple
“Not,” Big Thief
“Kyoto,” Phoebe Bridgers
“The Steps,” Haim
“Stay High,” Brittany Howard
“Daylight,” Grace Potter
Best Progressive R&B Album
Chilombo, Jhené Aiko
Ungodly Hour, Chloe X Halle
Free Nationals, Free Nationals
Fuck Yo Feelings, Robert Glasper
It Is What It Is, Thundercat
Best Alternative Album
Fetch the Bolt Cutters, Fiona Apple
Hyperspace, Beck
Punisher, Phoebe Bridgers
Jaime, Brittany Howard
The Slow Rush, Tame Impala
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
“Un Dia (One Day),” J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, and Tainy
Above: Video of CBS This Morning – Photo Collage / Lynxotic
Daily Show funny man will bring his many talents to the big show for Music excellence
Trevor Noah, host of “The Daily Show” has been announced as emcee of the 2021 Grammys.
The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021, on the CBS at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT and will be streamed live on GRAMMY.com at 3:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. PT.
“Despite the fact that I am extremely disappointed that the GRAMMYs ® have refused to have me sing or be nominated for best pop album, I am thrilled to be hosting this auspicious event, I think as a one-time Grammy nominee, I am the best person to provide a shoulder to all the amazing artists who do not win on the night because I too know the pain of not winning the award! (This is a metaphorical shoulder, I’m not trying to catch Corona). See you at the 63rd Grammys!
Sleuthing Swifties discover surprise Easter egg on social media
Taylor Swift delighted fans everywhere with a seemingly out of the blue announcement of her latest project. The concert film will be available exclusively on Disney+ streaming platform.
Taylor took to her social media to send a cryptic message, her notorious easter egg “Not a lot going on at the moment”. Fans quickly figured out that the artist used the same caption when she was working on the album ‘Folklore’ and knew that big news was brewing.
The news comes after even more good news for the 10-time Grammy Award winner; at the 2020 American Music Awards, Taylor took home three awards: Artist of the Year, Favorite Music Video of the Year (for her No. 1 song “Cardigan) and Favorite Female Artist in Pop/Rock category.
The film was shot in September 2020 at the upstate New York studio, ‘The Long Pond’ alongside Swift’s co-producers Aaron Dessner (The National) and Jack Antonoff (Bleachers). Justin Vernon of Bon Iver made a guest appearance purportedly to perform in a duet for the song “Exile” (her upcoming single).
“There’s something about the complete and total uncertainty of life. If we’re going to have to recalibrate everything, we should start with what we love the most first,” Swift says. “It’s an album that allows you to feel your feelings and it’s a product of isolation.”
The three musicians secretly filmed the performances using a robotic camera in order to adhere to covid-19 guidelines.
The intimate “Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions” will premiere on Disney+ on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at midnight.
The Book and now the Man are minting TikTok Memes all night long
Using the hook line “Take this and pass it on” Barack Obama appeared in his first bonafide TikTok and, while handing his new book “A Promised Land” to someone Offscreen, he lays the tagline down.
This, if you are familiar with TikTok nomenclature and virality is an invitation to add your own video, where for example you “receive” the book he is handing off, creating the illusion that you had it handed to you by the former president, known as a Duet.
These are already being produced and many variation will be coming soon. In the meantime an organic meme has already taken hold – one of people reading passages from his book aloud, unboxing their very own copy, speaking to the camera with a loving, adoring review, showing off Barack and Michelle’s books side by side, proposals to start a bookclub with “A Promised Land” as the first title, Crying with joy as they listen to the audio-book version, repost of the audio, A Trump impersonator reading (and insulting) in Obama’s voice, A slide-show with a famous Obama speech as an audio track, and many, many more.
Although this first TikTok from the former President was posted to the Publisher Penguin’s account, there’s a lot of hope, an audacious amount of hope you could say, that Obama will create his own personal account and become a regular or at lease occasional TikTok creator.
The American Music Awards are tonight, with live performances featuring: Billie Eilish, BTS, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes, and more, all live from Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater.
The 2020 AMA’s will be airing live from Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater on Sunday, November 22nd on ABC beginning 8 p.m. EST/PST. In addition to the live TV over the air feed, the show can be seen via live television streaming services such as Hulu With Live TV, YouTube TV.
With social distancing in force a massive cheering audience is not likely, however there performance are slated for various combinations of artists including: Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion (who has 5 award nominations), Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber (separate and together), Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez and Maluma, Dua Lipa, Dan + Shay,Bad Bunny with Jhay Cortez, Lil Baby, BTS, the Weeknd (who with Roddy Ricch has a total of 8 nominations) and many more.
Hosted this year by Taraji P Henson, of Empire fame, the show will also feature performers Doja Cat and Bebe Rexha, Lewis Capaldi, Machine Gun Kelly, 4kGoldn with Iann Dior, Nelly and Bell Biv Devoe, plus surprise guests and “unique collaborations.”
Aside from the Oscars the AMA’s are often the largest ratings draw for any pre-scheduled live televised event.
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Art meets and imitates life squared in new Comedy series inspired by Trump and Produced by the Obamas
Barack and Michelle Obama are producing a sketch comedy series for Netflix inspired by Trump’s 2016 presidential win and transition. The Obamas’ production company “Higher Ground” will bring in U.S. comedian to host the show, which has been titled, “The G Word with Adam Conover”. Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions has a multi-year agreement to produce films and series (both scripted and unscripted) for Netflix.
Click to see “The Fifth Risk” and help Independent Bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
The streaming series is loosely inspired by the book “The Fifth Risk” by Michael Lewis. Written in 2018 his book is about the narrative of the Trump administration’s botched presidential transition, and takes us into the engine rooms of a government under attack by its leaders through willful ignorance and greed.
Interestingly, Barack Obama was himself a topic and participated, to some degree, in the transition and it is interesting to imagine what, if any, insight he may have been able to ad to the comedic potential of the subject matter.
The Federal Government manages a vast array of critical services that are meant to keep us safe and underpin our lives, from ensuring the safety of our food and drugs and predicting extreme weather events to tracking and locating black market uranium before the terrorists do. Trump’s lack of interest or ability in managing the transition, let alone the Government itself, is the basic fodder for the comedic premise.
BoJack Horseman treatment could yield fantastic and funny results
Adam Conover confirmed the news on Twitter; “Very happy to finally be able to share this news: I’m creating a new comedy series for Netflix about the federal government. It’s called The G Word, and I can’t wait to share it with you.”
Conover is known for “Adam Ruins Everything” and “BoJack Horseman” and will use his comedic chops to blend sketch comedy with documentary elements, as the focus of the show is, in normal times, a pretty serious one, the government.
Netflix’s press release shared a little more light into what the show will bring to viewers:
”Using fast-paced visual comedy, Conover reveals the profound power and complexity of the U.S. government, introduces viewers to the heroic civil servants who make it work, and takes an incisive satirical look at its shortcomings.”
NETFLIX PRESS RELEASE
Filming is set to begin sometime early 2021, during the same general time as Barack Obama’s former vice president Joe Biden will be taking office as the 26th President.
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Announcement dropped on 10th Anniversary of ‘ Pink Friday’
Nicki Minaj (Onika Tanya Maraj ) has struck a deal with HBO Max, which will consist of 6 half-hour episodes of the docu-series for the streaming platform.
The news came on the 10th Anniversary of her album “Pink Friday”.
The series is set to follow Minaj’s life, letting fans explore both her personal and professional life, highlighting her accomplishments in the rap genre. The series name remains untitled.
The rapper, posted on her social media account, alongside the short clip above, she wrote: ““I am beyond grateful & excited to share this news with you guys today. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have #HBOMAX on board to help me tell my story in this delicate & memorable way. A way that my fans will love forever. This doc is next level.
I can promise you that. ? Follow @hbomax @hbomaxpop & @bronstudios to get the updates you’ll need. Love you. #NickiMinajHBOMAX ITS GOIN DOWN!!!! BASEMENT!!!!!”
“Nicki Minaj is a multi-faceted artist, businesswoman, and innovator as well as force to be reckoned with. It’s a privilege to bring this project to HBO Max and provide our viewers with unprecedented access to her life,”
-Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max
The project will be directed by Michael John Warren, who has worked with Minaj in the past as well as other rappers, including Jay-Z’s “Fade to Black” movie back in 2004.
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Mathematics and Philosophy meet in Fractal Pioneer’s Unique Career
Benoit Mandelbrot, the renowned French-American mathematician, died on October 14th, 2010 at the age of 85, and would have turned 96 today. To celebrate, Google published a doodle in his honor. An additional part of the celebration, Google launched an interactive “Explore” feature to allow users to view the endless patterns of the Mandelbrot set.
If you don’t know what a fractal is, simply put, it is a never-ending pattern. As defined by the Fractal Foundation: “They are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop“. There are many examples of fractals in nature, in fact virtually all natural phenomena can be seen as being fractal based.
Mandelbrot is best known for fractal geometry, which is a term he coined in 1975 to describe a new branch of geometry that sought to explain of the irregular shapes and processes found within nature. His research has contributed valuable knowledge in many different fields including physics, medicine, geology, art and even finance.
Wide ranging influence continues to this day
His fractal theory have even found its way into pop culture, with graphical images created by his algorithm placed on t-shirts, posters, album covers, and even inspired a song called “Mandelbrot Set” by Jonathan Coulton and the text “The Colours of Infinity” by Arthur C. Clarke.
The mathematician won numerous awards, including the prestigious ‘Wolf Prize” in 1993 for Physics and even had a small asteroid named in his honor in 2000 called ’27500 Mandelbrot’.
Mandelbrot made significant contributions to the study of financial markets as a fractal based system that conforms to the concept that all of nature, and the entire universe, is also fractal based. A great body of overlapping work exists between the studies of the financial markets done by Mandelbrot himself as well as the way his fractal concepts figured into the work of Ralph Nelson Elliott and Robert Prechter of the ElliottWave.com.
The basis of Elliott’s theory is to describe price movements in financial markets as recurring, fractal wave patterns. This core insight was, in essence an outgrowth of the recognition that, when looking at various time frames in stock market charts, and therefore the human behavior that generated those patterns, the result is no different than looking at, for example, a sea coastline from various altitudes – which reveals a fractal.
The insight that produced this theory not only established and inspired the stock trading strategy based on the Elliott Wave Theory, but also more recently led to Robert Prechter’s Socionomic Theory. Socionomics is a new science using the benefits of Elliott Wave Theory in understanding not only finance and economics but also social behavior, popular culture and politics which can be seen as interpreting nature using fractal based concepts.
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