Entertainment

Marvel Studios put the sizzle in “sizzle reel” today with teases of a slew of upcoming live action and animated shows bound for Disney+. 

Included was the first footage of Oscar Isaac in costume as Moon Knight; Emmy-winning Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany as Bruce Banner’s lawyer/green-hero cousin Jennifer Walters in She-Hulk; and newcomer Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel.

Samuel L. Jackson also makes an appearance in the reel as an aged Nick Fury for a Secret Invasion series that also stars his Captain Marvel co-star Ben Mendelsohn.

Mark Ruffalo appears in the She-Hulk footage, getting his attorney cousin used to her new Hulky powers; that is, when she’s not in court specializing in superhero cases.

The Moon Knight footage shows Isaac as Marc Spector, a nerdy guy who suffers from dissociative identity disorder who becomes a vigilante. “The multiple identities who live inside him find themselves thrust into a deadly war of the gods against the backdrop of modern and Ancient Egypt,” a press release explains.

Ms. Marvel centers on Khan, “a 16-year-old Pakistani American from Jersey City [who] has always struggled to find her place in the world — that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to.”

Along with already-seen footage of the upcoming Hawkeye, the reel also teases the return of Loki, a second season of the animated What If…?, and a bunch of animated shows, including Spider-Man: Freshman Year and Marvel: Zombies. In addition, it confirms the WandaVision spin-off, Agatha: House of Harkness starring Kathryn Hahn.

The preview can be seen on Disney+, which is owned by ABC’s parent company.

Here’s the full upcoming Marvel slate:

—Echo
—Ironheart
—Agatha: House of Harkness
—Secret Invasion
—The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
—X-MEN ’97 (animated)
—What If…? Season 2 (animated)
—Spider-Man: Freshman Year (animated)
—I Am Groot (shorts series)
—Marvel Zombies (animated)

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Halle Berry and Cardi B are the executive producers of the all-female hip hop soundtrack for Berry’s new movie, Bruised, which she directed. The “WAP” rapper has been very open about her past as a stripper, and during an Instagram video posted Thursday, the Oscar winner revealed that she also worked the pole.

The video marked the debut of Halle’s new 5 Rounds interview series.

Halle starred as an exotic dancer in the 1991 film, The Last Boy Scout, co-starring Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans, and she admitted to Cardi that in preparing for the role, she actually danced topless at the Girls, Girls, Girls club in Los Angeles.

“I stripped for two days and two nights to see what it felt like and to see how much I would make,” she confessed. “I did good…I didn’t make as much as you did.”

Meanwhile, Cardi reminisced about her stripping days and said her entry song onto the stage was “Set It Off” by Boosie Badazz.

The two stars also got very graphic, discussing favorite sex positions, and what they’d do if they woke up as a man.

Cardi revealed why she’s rapped about not having sex with broke men. She says when she did get intimate with a poor man, “He was stealing from my purse.” She advised women, “Don’t do it. You’ll end up with nothing.”

The Hustlers star also tweeted about getting to meet the famed actress for the first time.

“Sooo guys I can’t believe I met Halle Berry,” Cardi wrote, “and let me tell you this tea, her skin is so soft…I wanted to bite her shoulder.”

The Bruised soundtrack drops November 19; it features Cardi, City Girls, Saweetie, H.E.R., Young M.A., Flo Milli, Latto and more. The movie opens November 24.

 

 

 

 

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One of the most anticipated sneak peeks of Friday’s Disney+ Day was a long-rumored preview of the upcoming Star Wars spin-off Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

As part of its rollout of dozens of new titles and preview, the streaming service owned by ABC News’ parent company dropped its first look at the 2022 series. 

“There’s a hunger for this character to come back,” star Ewan McGregor says in the clip. “The fans have been waiting long enough, you know?”

While the preview doesn’t show any new footage, it shows concept art for the series, which continues Kenobi’s story after the events of Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. At the close of that film, Kenobi drops a newborn Luke Skywalker off with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on the desert planet Tatooine, promising Yoda he’ll watch over Luke from afar while in exile.

“It’s not safe,” Chow teases. “There’s Jedi hunters out there.”

The most fearsome one of all, of course, is Kenobi’s fallen former student, Anakin Skywalker. At the end of Episode III, Kenobi leaves him to his fate, burning alive and dismembered, after Kenobi defeats him on the lava planet Mustafar. But as fans know, Anakin is saved thanks to a frightening black suit and famously noisy breathing mask, and becomes Darth Vader. 

As previously reported, Hayden Christensen will reprise his role as Vader. 

“We couldn’t tell the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi without addressing Anakin or Vader,” director Deborah Chow insists. 

Concept art hints the Jedi master and his former apprentice will cross lightsabers again. McGregor jokes, “To have another swing at each other, might be quite satisfying for everybody.”

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Chances are, your TV isn’t the standard IMAX screen size — some 52 by 72 feet — but Disney+ has released a slew of Marvel movies and other content in what it’s calling the IMAX Enhanced format on Friday’s Disney+ Day.

The films boast stunning picture quality, but also a different screen ratio than you might have gotten used to since the advent of widescreen TVs. Simply put, the movies play without the black “letterbox” borders at the top and bottom of your screen.

Technically, speaking, the movies appear in a 1.90:1 aspect ratio, vs. your standard 16:9, and will screen with Dolby Vision HDR and DTS audio, if your TV is compatible.

Thirteen Marvel films are now available in IMAX Enhanced, including the just-released to Disney+ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The others include Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Black Widow, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Thor: Ragnarok, and Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Friday morning, HBO Max dropped a brand-new teaser-trailer for the next chapter of Sex and the City, …And Just Like That, along with a release date, December 9.

The tease features Sarah Jessica Parker‘s Carrie Bradshaw living it up with her old friends Miranda and Charlotte, played respectively by Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, along with some of their new friends, including Grey’s Anatomy‘s Sara Ramirez playing Che, and Empire‘s Nicole Ari Parker as Lisa. 

The teaser also features a trademark SATC voiceover from SJP’s Carrie Bradshaw, which ties it all together. “They say some things never change,” Carrie says. “But the truth is life is full of surprises, and as your story unfolds, the city reinvents itself. And just like that, a new chapter begins.”

HBO Max says the “new chapter of the groundbreaking HBO series, Sex and the City…will follow Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s.”

The series also stars returning SATC cast members Chris Noth, Mario Cantone, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, and Willie Garson, the latter of whom died in September of pancreatic cancer.

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Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, which originated in China in 2019, an increasing number of Asian-Americans have reported experiencing racist attacks.  Gymnast Suni Lee, who won a gold medal at this year’s summer Olympics, revealed that she is no exception.

In an interview with PopSugar, the 18-year-old Dancing with the Stars contestant recalls a recent act of anti-Asian hate involving her and her girlfriends, who are also of Asian descent, as they were waiting for an Uber at night.

Lee says they were startled by a group speeding by in a car yelling racist slurs and epithets while insisting they “go back to where they came from.” One passenger, she claims, sprayed her arm with pepper spray as the car sped off.

“I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off,” she adds. “I didn’t do anything to them, and having the reputation, it’s so hard because I didn’t want to do anything that could get me into trouble. I just let it happen.”

Suni recently opened up about the bullying she’s received while in Los Angeles for Dancing with the Stars, noting, “I always see a lot of mean comments about me not being able to dance and I need to go home. I feel like they’re right. I let them get to me.”

Lee tells the outlet that it’s difficult to speak up about uncomfortable topics like racial injustice, especially at her age, but she believes that using her voice makes a difference.

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Paris Hilton tied the knot with boyfriend Carter Reum on Thursday in Los Angeles, a source tells E! Online.

“Paris selected her dress late last night,” notes another insider. “There is a lot of love and support surrounding both Carter and Paris.”

The 40-year-old TV personality and Reum announced their engagement back in February, sharing on Instagram, “When you find your soulmate, you don’t just know it. You feel it.”

“There’s no one I’d rather spend forever with,” she added.

 

 

 

 

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Home Alone, the perennial holiday movie about a mischievous boy defending his home from opportunistic burglars, will have its story continued in the new Disney+ original, Home Sweet Home Alone.

Star Aisling Bea [ASH-ling bee], who plays the protagonist’s mother, told ABC Audio the film is “not a remake” of the original 1990 movie — it’s a sequel.  That’s a small relief for the Irish comedian, who admits a reboot would mean she’d be compared to Catherine O’Hara — who played Macaulay Culkin‘s on-screen mom.

“The character is so different of the mother,” said Bea, “which I think gives it a new energy and why it makes it a different film. And takes the pressure off ‘Oh, you’re reprising Catherine O’Hara’s role.'”

She further teased, “All of the characters sort of spin on their head in terms of who’s good and who’s bad.”

The This Way Up star, who was about 6 when the first Home Alone movie came out, explains why the original movie was formative for her.

“I remember when I first saw it,” Bea recalled, “I sort of felt like, ‘Oh, this is a film for me like that. It’s from my point of view,’ which was a rarity to see something that felt like a sort of adult movie in a way or comedy that that was told from the child’s eyes.”

So, what would happen if the Wet Bandits broke into her home during the holidays?

“They’d be really disappointed,” she laughed, because her valuables consist of a collection of fridge magnets and modestly-priced jewelry. “Maybe they’d take my one of my 94 pillows and cushions that I have adorning every of every surface and a lot of Irish paraphernalia!” 

Home Sweet Home Alone is streaming now on Disney+.

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The latest installment in the Power franchise, Power Book IV: Force, will premiere Sunday, February 6, 2022.

Starz made the announcement Thursday about the series starring Joseph Sikora as Tommy Egan, with a teaser-trailer. In the fourth installment of Power, Egan leaves New York City and plans to takeover Chicago. 

Idris Elba, who currently stars in the Netflix Western The Harder They Fall, teased his return as homicide DCI John Luther in another Netflix film. The 49-year-old British actor wrote “Oi……I’m back!” Wednesday on Instagram with behind-the-scenes images from the set. Elba starred from 2010-2019 in the Luther BBC series. Cynthia Erivo has been announced as one of his co-stars in the movie, simply titled Luther.

In other news, VH1 announced that VH1 Family Reunion: Love & Hip Hop Edition, will return for season two on Monday, December 13th at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The show features cast members from the Atlanta, New York, Hollywood and Miami series, including Amina Buddafly, Brooke Valentine, Cyn Santana, Erica Mena, Juelz Santana, Mimi Faust, Peter Gunz, Rich Dollaz, Safaree and Stevie J. On Monday, Stevie filed for divorce from Faith Evans after three years of marriage.

Finally, Ava DuVernay, Will Smith, Halle Berry and Jennifer Hudson will be among the special honorees at the annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television. DuVernay will receive the first-ever Melvin Van Peebles Trailblazer Award, and Smith will be honored with the Actor Award for Film for his role in King Richard. Berry will be presented with the Career Achievement Award, and Hudson will be recognized with the Actress Award for Film. Niecy Nash will host the event Monday, December 6 at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

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Paramount+ has cast Lizzie Caplan in a series adaptation of the 1987 hit Fatal Attraction, which starred Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. The show has already gotten a full season order for the streamer.

Caplan will play Close’s role of Alex, the woman who flies off the (knife) handle after having an affair with Douglas’ hotshot lawyer Dan. What results is a tale of twisted obsession that includes, famously, with a bunny in a pot of boiling water.

The Douglas role has yet to be cast.

According, to Paramount+, the new series is, “A deep-dive reimagining of the classic psychosexual thriller from the 1980s” that “will explore fatal attraction and the timeless themes of marriage and infidelity, through the lens of modern attitudes towards strong women, personality disorders and coercive control.”

Caplan, a veteran of dozens of movies and TV shows, recently earned Emmy and Critics Choice Award nominations in the Outstanding Lead Actress categories opposite Michael Sheen in Showtime’s Masters of Sex.

Dirty John veteran Alexandra Cunningham is writing and acting as the show’s executive producer.

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