by tyler | Jun 22, 2023 | CNN, entertainment
James Cameron, who directed the hit 1997 film “Titanic” and has himself made 33 dives to the wreckage, offered some thoughts Thursday after it was announced that a missing Titanic-bound submersible suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” killing five people on board.
“I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship and yet steamed at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night and many people died as a result,” Cameron told ABC News. “And with a very similar tragedy where warnings went unheeded, to take place at the same exact site, with all the diving that’s going on all around the world I think it’s just astonishing. It’s really quite surreal.”
A desperate search and rescue mission had been underway since the submersible went missing Sunday.
US Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said Thursday that a remotely operated vehicle had located the tail cone of the Titan submersible about 1,600 feet away from the bow of the shipwreck.
OceanGate, the company behind the trek, released a statement Thursday stating it believes the five passengers have “sadly been lost.”
“We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” the company said in a statement. “These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
Ironically Rush’s wife, Wendy Rush, is a descendant of retailing magnate Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida, who were part of the group of more than 1500 people who died during the Titanic’s maiden voyage, according to New York Times archive records.
Cameron is an experienced deep sea explorer who in 2012 dove to the Mariana Trench, considered one of the deepest spots in the Earth’s oceans at almost seven miles below the surface, in a 24-foot submersible vehicle he designed called the Deepsea Challenger.
On Thursday, he told ABC News “many people in the community were very concerned” about the Titan’s suitability for the ill-fated trip.
In 2012, he talked to the New York Times about the dangers of deep sea exploration.
“You’re going into one of the most unforgiving places on earth,” he said then. “It’s not like you can call up AAA to come get you.”
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, entertainment
Bruce Willis celebrated his first Father’s Day as a grandfather.
His daughter Rumer Willis, a new mom to baby girl Louetta Isley, took to Instagram to share a few photos of the action star with his new granddaughter.
She captioned it, “Fathers to the old and new. Seeing my father hold my daughter today was something I will treasure for the rest of my life. His sweetness and love for her was so pure and beautiful.”
“Papa I’m so lucky to have you and so is Lou,” her message continued. “Thank you for being the silliest, most loving, coolest Daddio a girl could ask for. Best Girl Dad in the game….”
Willis also congratulated her partner Derek Richard Thomas on his first Father’s Day, writing, “@derekrichardthomas Happy 1st Father’s Day. Thank you for building a beautiful garden for Lou to play in and eat from.”
Emma Heming Willis, Bruce’s wife, paid tribute him on Father’s Day as well.
“What he’s teaching them will span generations,” Heming shared with a photo of their daughters. “Unconditional love, kindness, strength, compassion, patience, generosity, resilience.”
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, entertainment
Father’s Day got wild when Jennifer Lopez shared a shirtless photo of husband Ben Affleck on her Instagram page on Sunday.
“Daddy appreciation post,” Lopez wrote in the caption next to a photo that showcased Affleck flexing his abs in the mirror while standing in what appears to be a bathroom.
Lopez went on to wish “papa” Affleck, and “all the amazing papas out there,” a happy Father’s Day in the caption, adding “we love you and appreciate you more than you will ever know.”
Lopez also shared a video montage of the couple, including a blink-and-you’ll-miss iconic throwback clip of Lopez and Affleck kissing on the yacht from her 2002 “Jenny From the Block” music video, plus two more photos of the pair snuggling in bed.
They each have children from previous relationships. Lopez is mom to twins Emme and Max, whom she shares with singer Marc Anthony, and Affleck shares three children, Violet, Seraphina and Samuel, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
Lopez previously opened up about their family dynamic when she wrote about how they celebrated their first Christmas as a married couple in a December 2022 “On The JLo” newsletter, writing, “We have blended families, doubled the people, doubled the fun, doubled the love, doubled the presents and tripled the chaos!!”
Garner, who was married to Affleck for 10 years before they filed for divorce in 2017, also paid tribute to Affleck on Father’s Day.
“Shout out to BGA—no one loves their kids like you love ours, happy Father’s Day, Ben!” she wrote in the caption of a post on her Instagram on Sunday.
Affleck and Lopez first met on the 2001 set of the movie “Gigli,” in which they both starred. They became engaged in 2002, but went their separate ways in 2004 before tying the knot.
They reunited in 2021, finally got hitched in 2022 and now here we are in 2023, bearing witness to Affleck’s abs on Father’s Day courtesy of Lopez’s camera roll.
To that we say: Happy Father’s Day to us all.
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, entertainment
Watching the coming attraction for “Blue Beetle,” the next movie adaptation of a DC comic, a thought emerged almost reflexively: “There’s one to stream.”
After a weekend that saw a twin bloodbath in terms of major film releases that fell well short of box-office expectations, “The Flash” and “Elemental,” it’s difficult to overstate how corrosive that mentality has become for the theatrical business – fueled, admittedly, by a wide variety of factors, but with the shift toward streaming having clearly contributed to the problem.
“Elemental,” Disney’s latest Pixar movie to hit theaters after several of its brethren went directly to streaming, and “The Flash,” a superhero from the DC/Warner Bros. stable (like CNN, units of Warner Bros. Discovery), earned roughly $30 million and $55 million during their opening weekends, respectively, evoking descriptions like “flop” and “disappointing” – despite mostly positive reaction from moviegoers who did see the films.
Given the high costs associated with producing and marketing those films, each studio faces the prospect of sizable financial losses, although these projects will continue to provide revenue down the pipeline in harder-to-measure ways, including, yes, the value they bring to the studios’ respective streaming services.
For theater owners, there’s small consolation in that. And for Hollywood talent – beginning with the Writers Guild of America, which is well into the second month of a strike against the major studios and streamers – the lack of transparency about streaming revenue and how it’s calculated has represented a major sticking point in those contract negotiations.
As the Los Angeles Times reported, writers have taken to calling this “the Netflix strike,” a reference to the way streaming – as exemplified by the streaming giant and emulation of its practices – has upended the existing business model and clouded the future.
Whether that’s an entirely fair assessment, what seems clear is the one-two punch dealt to movies going by the push toward streaming in 2019, and the pandemic that began the following year, has shifted consumer habits, despite some encouraging signs of a rebound. For every “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Avatar: The Way of Water” or “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” there appear to be two or three high-profile titles that look destined to leave their corporate parent awash in red ink.
Perhaps no once-reliable hit maker has experienced a more sweeping setback than Pixar, which saw Disney move films like “Turning Red” and “Soul” directly to streaming during the pandemic, and “Lightyear” – a spinoff from the mighty “Toy Story” franchise – underperform at the box office. The prevailing sense is part of the audience that once dutifully flocked to Pixar fare as family-friendly outings have been reprogrammed to wait and consume those items in the comfort of their homes.
Similarly, “The Flash” follows a string of box-office disappointments for DC with what amount to second-tier superheroes, following “Black Adam” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods.” Even Marvel hasn’t been immune to such issues, as “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” failed to deliver much of a “wow” factor commercially (or creatively) speaking, though the latest “Guardians of the Galaxy” sequel fared considerably better.
The main challenge, to borrow screenwriter William Goldman’s famous line about Hollywood that “Nobody knows anything,” is the lack of hard and fast rules about what might work, and the aforementioned bright spots indicating that there’s still life in traditional movie exhibition, including the occasional happy surprise.
For now, though, Hollywood is engaged in the usual second guessing and finger pointing, hoping “The Flash” and “Elemental” represent specific examples as opposed to further evidence of systemic erosion that bodes ill for the big summer releases yet to come. While it’s tempting to blame the movies themselves, that’s a harder case to make when people didn’t see and reject them but rather didn’t show up in the first place.
With apologies to Goldman, we do know at least this much: Streaming is fundamentally changing things. How much remains harder to pinpoint, but compared to the movie business as we knew it even five years ago, the warning signs are flashing.
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, entertainment
Bebe Rexha was rushed off stage on Sunday at her concert in New York City after someone threw a cellphone that hit her in the head.
Rexa grabbed her face and fell to her knees, according to video of the incident shared by concertgoers on social media, while the crew at the Rooftop at Pier 17 rushed out to help her.
Rexha has been on her “Best F’n Night of My Life” tour.
One concertgoer took to Twitter to write about the incident, “This is Bebe Rexha being rushed out of the concert venue here in NYC after someone threw a f—ing phone and hit her face as she was leaving the stage. We were all having a hell of a good time and so was Bebe, we were all having a blast, I mean who would even do that??? We hope you’re ok.”
Another said, “Absolutely great show ruined by a fan throwing their phone at @BebeRexha hopefully she is ok after that.”
Supporters came to the singer’s defense, with one writing, “bebe deserves so much BETTER like come on. we love you girl.”
Rexha has more concert stops in Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Orlando and Houston.
The singer has not yet addressed the incident. CNN has reached out to representatives of Rexha for comment.
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, entertainment
CNN’s second annual “Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedom” concert is set for Monday night, to be broadcast from Los Angeles’ historic outdoor Greek Theatre in Griffith Park.
Performers will include Charlie Wilson, Miguel, Kirk Franklin, Nelly, SWV, Davido, Coi Leray, Jodeci and Mike Phillips, with Oscar-winner Questlove and Adam Blackstone serving as musical directors.
The show will also feature a tribute to late music legend Tina Turner by singer and “Grown-ish” star Chlöe Bailey. Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver special remarks during the event.
Hosted by CNN’s Sara Sidner, the concert will air worldwide on all CNN platforms along with OWN nationally at 8 p.m. ET on Monday. CNN’s pre-show coverage will begin at 7 p.m. ET with a spotlight on African-American advocates, trailblazers and creators.
The event, produced by LiveNation and and Jesse Collins Entertainment, was announced last month, with EVP of Integrity and Inclusion for CNN Worldwide Johnita P. Due saying, “We are thrilled to continue to elevate the importance of the Juneteenth holiday.”
“I look forward to the electricity of the 2023 show. It is meticulously crafted as an expression of the excellence and resilience of the Black community and the ongoing pursuit of equality.”
Last year’s inaugural CNN Juneteenth concert welcomed Chaka Khan, Khalid, Ne-Yo, Earth Wind & Fire and Khalid, among others.
