Answer: give in to public demand, create a second season and add in the biggest Hollywood hitter of them all, Meryl Streep. That's the solution Kidman and Witherspoon, also producers of the series, came up with after HBO/Sky Atlantic's Big Little Lies became a smash hit. First, they commissioned Liane Moriarty, who had written the original novel that screenwriter David E Kelley had adapted for the small screen, to write a follow-up novella that Kelley could adapt. Then Moriarty deliberately named the new character - the mother of murdered wife-beater and rapist Perry (played by Alexander Skarsgård) - Mary Louise, in an attempt to lure Streep into joining the cast (Mary Louise is Meryl's real name). She need not have tried so hard. Streep was already a fan. "It was the greatest thing on TV, it really was, that first season," Streep (69) says. "Who wouldn't sign up to be on that?" When asked to join the cast, she agreed without having even read the script. Set in a wealthy … [Read more...] about ‘Women can be pretty f***ing toxic too…’
Movies
Men in Black: International review
In this age of sequels, however, any vaguely familiar story trumps a good, original idea, and a lacklustre 2012 revival is followed by this spin-off that attempts to pass the MIB mantle to a younger cast. Like almost everything else on your cinema screens at the moment, it all started with a comic book, Lowell Cunningham’s rather grungy neo-noir trilogy about an international espionage organisation dedicated to keeping vampires, zombies and alien interlopers in line. It first was published in 1990, and when Marvel bought it in 1994, a movie spin-off became inevitable. The unexpected chemistry of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones did wonders for the first film, which blended their mismatched buddy routine with colourful CGI monsters. MIBs 2 and 3 were by comparison ordinary, but competent, and Men in Black: International is the first film that dispenses with the services of Messrs Smith and Jones entirely. Do they get away with it? Not really. Tessa Thompson (Creed, Selma) … [Read more...] about Men in Black: International review
Nicole Kidman: I’ll eat anything, I used to eat ants
Lifestyle / Entertainment / Film by Press Association 09/06/2019, 1:11 pm Send us a story Sign up to our Daily newsletter Hollywood star Nicole Kidman has revealed she used to eat ants. The actress, 51, told The Mail On Sunday’s You magazine that her first memory, as a child, was eating snow. She added: “I used to eat ants as well, but ants don’t taste good … Just sort of off. “Just acidic-y. Kind of weird. And I’ll eat anything. I’ve eaten almost anything. Witchetty grubs, worms and insects. ” The Oscar-winner said she takes her pet cats with her on hikes in a backpack. She told the magazine: “I really am a cat person. I’ve just got one of those carriers … a cat carrier that’s a backpack and it has a window that they can peek out of and it’s got air and everything, and they love it.” The Big Little Lies actress, who is married to singer Keith Urban, said: “I was … [Read more...] about Nicole Kidman: I’ll eat anything, I used to eat ants
The rise and fall of Diego Maradona
He was a one-off, and his extraordinary story is memorably told in Asif Kapadia's rigorous if not very imaginatively titled new documentary Diego Maradona. In fuzzy TV images from the 1980s and 1990s, we see the master in his glorious prime, scoring and creating goals for fun with his clubs Boca Juniors, Barcelona and, of course, Napoli, where his name is still revered. The bigger the stage, the more he seemed to love it, and we also witness his magnificent progress through the 1986 World Cup, where he led an unfancied Argentine side to glory. In doing so, of course, Argentina brushed aside the challenge of Bobby Robson's England with the help of Maradona's boot - and other appendages. "The hand of God" was how the hyperbole-prone Diego described the clever handball that gave the Argentines their opening goal and provided the infuriated British tabloids with endless nasty headlines. But in Kapadia's documentary we see footage of English centre-half Terry Fenwick elbowing Maradona in … [Read more...] about The rise and fall of Diego Maradona
Film of the Week: Teenage kicks right through the night
Not Booksmart, however, which subverts those tribal clichés and ultimately upends them, reflecting the new mores of a generation determined to avoid glib sexual and social classifications. The directorial debut of actress Olivia Wilde, it bears some relation to the John Hughes teen films of the 1980s, which I never loved though they had their moments, as well as Greta Gerwig's Ladybird. More substantial than the former, Booksmart is lighter, more playful than the latter, and gets its tone exactly right. On the eve of their graduation, high school swots Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) make a horrifying discovery. All through school, they've stuck together and prioritised study and academic achievement over everything else. They've both earned places at Ivy League colleges, but are disgusted to discover that most of the party animals they know are going to Harvard, Yale and Princeton as well. This seems radically unfair to Molly, who histrionically regrets that she … [Read more...] about Film of the Week: Teenage kicks right through the night