Thats Entertainment! weekly news roundup
From Kristen Wiig’s new project to Netflix’s price increase, the entertainment world has been buzzing with all sorts of excitement this week.
Scene & Heard keeps you in the loop with an entertainment news roundup for the week of July 11-17.
Kristen Wiig parlays “Bridesmaids” success into something a little more depressing
Actress Kristen Wiig is perhaps best known for the quirky or offbeat characters she plays on “Saturday Night Live” and in her turns in films like the recent “Paul.”
Yet, after the smash success of “Bridesmaids” this past May, the world became privy to a much more sensitive side of Wiig. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wiig will travel even further down that road with her upcoming dark comedy “Imogene,” in which she’s set to star in and executive produce.
Described by the Hollywood Reporter as Wiig’s passion project, “Imogene” is the story of a mildly successful New York playwright who fakes a suicide in an effort to win back her ex-boyfriend, but instead ends up under the watchful eye of her gambling mother.
Netflix raises its price while also raising customers’ anxiety
Netflix made some waves within the entertainment community – and in the bank accounts of many of its users – when it announced last Tuesday that there would be a significant price increase starting Sept. 1.
Louis Bedigian of Benzinga Insights, a part of the Forbes magazine blog network, analyzed the confusion and anger that accompanied Netflix’s almost 60 percent increase of monthly fees for the service.
Bedigian said that Blockbuster could use this as an opportunity to utilize its own streaming service, as well as pointing out that this price hike barely affects Netflix users who only use the streaming plan. “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” producer Gavin Purcell elaborated on Bedigian’s point by saying, “Stop complaining about the Netflix price hike. You know you only use the DVD portion for coasters anyways.”
Legendary Smiths frontman slams the music industry and everybody in it
Former Smiths frontman Morrissey is notorious for being remarkably stubborn and set in his ways. While boycotting Canada on his 2006 tour in response to its seal hunt was understandable, he also broke apart one of Britain’s best rock groups and now he’s taking aim at the music industry.
In an interview with Billboard Magazine, the bitter-sounding Morrissey put down his former label Universal and commented on the current state of music.
“Although (the music industry) has opened up, music seems to suddenly be stifled. There are no songs anywhere about social awareness,” he said. “But you can’t complain too much because you begin to sound like a cloistered nun.”
While Morrissey certainly hasn’t experienced the sort of success he did in his ’80s heyday, he made quite a few comments that ring remarkably true. Regarding the ongoing trend of pop songstresses who top the music charts, Morrissey simply said, “I like the idea of women who are in full control, but I am tired of seeing singers who cannot deliver a song without the aide of 750 frenzied dancers assuming the erotic.”
“Potter” and “Paris” set box office records on completely different ends of the spectrum
It’s certainly been a financially healthy summer at the box office. Several quality blockbusters like “Super 8” and “X-Men: First Class” have done quite well, while smaller films like “Bridesmaids” and even Terrence Malick’s independently produced “The Tree of Life” have found success.
Further exemplifying these opposite sides, the blockbuster “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” has closed the doors on this franchise with a resounding slam, while Woody Allen’s charming “Midnight in Paris” has become the neurotic auteur’s most financially successful North American film to date.
“Potter” now holds the record for highest single-day gross of all time as it finishes this past weekend with a $168 million box office take, breaking the previous weekend record held by “The Dark Knight.” Allen’s film is still hanging onto the bottom of the North American box office an astounding nine weeks after its initial release – proving that even the little guy can turn a profit this summer.