Life is a voyage of self-discovery, and here is something I have discovered on my voyage, thanks to this week’s episode of Saturday Night Live:There really is no limit to how much I enjoy comedy sketches that explore the practicalities of common pornographic film scenarios. I cracked up when Chance the Rapper was unable to successfully deliver his extra, extra-large sausage pizza to a babysitter because the kid she was babysitting kept interrupting, I cracked up when Emma Stone played an actress struggling to build a full character around the line “Jared, what are you doing? Not with my godson!” and I cracked up this week, when host J.J. Watt tried to explain to his long-suffering boss at Big Willy’s Pizza why he needs a nap after every delivery:
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This is easily the best behind-the-scenes look at a struggling pizzeria since Do the Right Thing—maybe even since Hot & Saucy Pizza Girls! It’s unclear if “Big Willie’s Pizza” is meant to represent Big Willie’s Pizza Pub of Lexington, Kentucky, which went out of business in 2008, or Big Willy’s Pizzeria of Frankfort, New York, which went out of business only a month ago. Either way, we now have some theories about what went wrong.
"After months of anticipation, the impeachment trial of President Trump wound up consisting of two weeks of dry debate and posturing and will conclude without any witness testimony or new evidence," a narrator for the NBC variety show read. "For those hoping for more, here is the trial you wish had happened."
The fantasy impeachment first replaced Chief Justice John Roberts (Mikey Day) with Judge Mathis (Kenan Thompson).
"Do you want my gavel?" Day's Roberts asked.
"Fool, I brought my own," Thompson's Mathis responded. "Watch out."
Thompson's Mathis then called forth Sens. Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett) and Lindsey Graham (Kate McKinnon) as well as former national security adviser John Bolton (Cecily Strong).
Thompson's Mathis asked what other details were in Bolton's book.
"No, no, sorry Judge. No more free spoilers," Strong's Bolton said. "But you can pre-order the book now. It's called 'Harry Potter and the Room Where It Happened.'"
Mathis also called Hunter Biden (Pete Davidson) to testify -- and he came in on a hoverboard scooter.
"Hey, you're not going to believe this, but my schedule was wide open," Davidson's Biden said.
Thompson's Mathis finally called President Trump (Alec Baldwin) to the stand, who was defending himself.
"Your honor, I'm a very sick old man. How could I withhold aid from the Ukraine? I can barely get around the house," Baldwin's Trump said.
In the make-believe trial, Trump gave a surprisingly honest closing statement.
"Ladies and gentlemen of this government place, what I have learned from this trial is that clearly nothing I do or say has any consequence so I'd like to come clean," Baldwin's Trump began. "The call with the Ukraine wasn't perfect, it was illegal and frankly it was a butt dial."
Baldwin's Trump added that he watches "CNN all the time, and it's awesome," that he cheats all the time in golf and taxes, and that he hates many states, including "West Carolina."
After that, Thompson's Mathis gave his judgment.
"Alright, Judge Mathis finds the defendant guilty on all charges," he said. "He's fined $10,000 and I'm forcing him to say one nice thing about Nancy Pelosi."
Toy Story 4 picked up the Animated Film prize during the ceremony at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown that honored excellence in production design across 11 categories in film and television., Check out the full list of winners below.
Trophy-takers on the TV side included The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Cherrnobyl, The Big Bang Theory, Russian Doll,The Umbrella Acedemy and Drunk History.
Since the ADG Awards launched in 1996, one of its top prize winners has gone on to win the Art Direction Oscar 15 of 23 years. The ADGs awarded a Feature Film prize for its first four years, then split its top categories into Period/Fantasy Film and Contemporary. Since 2006, it has handed out separate trophies for Period, Fantasy and Contemporary films.
But one category hasn’t been much more prolific at Academy Award prognostication. Of those 15 ADG-winning pics that went on to score Oscar gold, four were Period Film winners, four were Fantasy, there were Period/Fantasy, three were Feature and one was Contemporary (La La Land in 2016).
Two longtime industry veterans were inducted into the ADG Hall of Fame posthumously: three-time Oscar nominee William J. Creber, whose credits include the early Planet of the Apes films and Irwin Allen’s disaster pics The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, and 15-time Oscar nominee Roland Anderson, whose credits range from A Farewell to Arms and Reap the Wild Wind to Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Love with the Proper Stranger.
Syd Mead, the visionary futurist behind Blade Runner and Tron who died in December, received the William Cameron Menzies Award. His other films range from Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Aliens to Elysium and Tomorrowland.
Fantasy Film Avengers: Endgame Production Designer: Charles Wood
Period Film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Production Designer: Barbara Ling
Animated Film Toy Story 4 Production Designer: Bob Pauley
Contemporary Film Parasite Production Designer: Lee Ha-Jun
Television Movie or Limited Series Chernobyl Production Designer: Luke Hull
One-Hour Period or Fantasy Single-Camera Series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: “Ep. 305, Ep. 308” Production Designer: Bill Groom
Half-Hour Single-Camera Series Russian Doll: “Nothing in This World is Easy” Production Designer: Michael Bricker
One-Hour Contemporary Single-Camera Series The Umbrella Academy: “We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals” Production Designer: Mark Worthington
Multi-Camera Series The Big Bang Theory: “The Stockholm Syndrome,” “The Conference Valuation,” “The Propagation Proposition” Production Designer: John Shaffner
Variety, Reality or Event Special Drunk History: “Are You Afraid of the Drunk?” Production Designer: Monica Sotto
Short Format: Web Series, Music Video or Commercial MedMen: “The New Normal” Production Designer: James Chinlund
The Miami Fire Department canceled the Planet Pepsi Zero Sugar concert as strong thunderstorms moved through the city shortly after 8 p.m.
"This was a mandatory evacuation in Miami across special event venues," Pepsi said in a tweet. "We are focused on ensuring everyone is safely evacuated. We deeply apologize to the fans."
Fans were asked to leave the concert venue, Meridian at Island Gardens, just before Styles was to start his performance, CNN affiliate WSVN reported.
The former One Direction member apologized to fans on Twitter, saying the fire department wouldn't allow the concert to go on "under any circumstances."
"I'm so disappointed, and I'm sorry," Styles wrote.
A night earlier, Styles, whose new solo album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in December, showed up at Lizzo's concert at the Fillmore Miami Beach and sang her hit song "Juice" with her.
Pepsi tweeted it will offer a full refund for the canceled show and pay for the cost of ride shares for concertgoers.
Lady Gaga is scheduled to perform Saturday at Meridian, the location of Friday night's concert, according to an event schedule posted on Ticketmaster's website.
The Super Bowl Live fan festival, a couple miles from the concert site, will open Saturday morning as scheduled, Miami Super Bowl Host Committee spokeswoman Karla Fortuny said. Earlier, Fortuny said the festival wouldn't open Saturday, citing the weather.
The severe weather threat is not over for Miami, which is hosting Sunday's Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium. According to the National Weather Service, severe weather could hit the area Saturday afternoon and evening, but the threat diminishes in time for the big game Sunday.
CNN meteorologists are predicting a beautiful, dry day for the showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, with temperatures in the mid-60s by kickoff time.
I finally got to see Sorry to Bother You the other week since I am, temporarily at least, a Hulu subscriber again, and that’s where it’s currently streaming. It’s a great movie with a tough political viewpoint that feels all its own, at least among (arguably) mainstream films. It’s all the more impressive considering that it’s the debut feature from Boots Riley.
One thing I particularly appreciated was, after the fact, getting to read some of Riley’s writing offering insight into how he saw his characters and why his movie was crafted the way it was. So often, stories are left out there like singular, pristinely drawn objects that could only ever have existed one way. In a (since deleted) noteonTwitter, Riley spoke to other ways the screenplay could have been crafted and why he landed on certain characterizations and events.
If you’ve seen the film already, it’s worth a read. His note offers a great look into some of his thinking behind the movie, and it’s one of the most useful responses to viewer criticism that I’ve ever seen — not rejecting something and moving on, but explaining out his point of view and acknowledging the challenges he faced pointing things in different directions.
Check out seven trailers from this week below.
F9
There’s no series Verge staffers are more passionate about than Fast & Furious, and the next entry looks like yet another two-or-so hours of truly ridiculous nonstop action with occasional pauses for platitudes about family. Aka, it seems perfect. The film comes out May 22nd. And yes, apparently F9 is the full name for this one.
Swallow
This movie looks gorgeously shot, intensely moody, and extremely uncomfortable. Swallow is a thriller about a pregnant woman who begins to harm herself through means suggested by the film’s title. The trailer has me extremely unsure of how this all plays out (the film seems to be extremely cold and cruel to its main character), but I’ve seen multiple reviews referring to it as a “feminist thriller,” so perhaps the trailer is just misleading. The film comes out March 6th.
The Undoing
The showrunner of HBO’s Big Little Lies teams up with Nicole Kidman again for a new short series about a woman who starts to fall apart after a killing. Hugh Grant and Donald Sutherland make appearances, too. The series starts in May.
Burden
Forest Whitaker stars as a reverend who befriends a white supremacist in 1996 South Carolina in this film, which is apparently based on real events. The story looks a bit Green Book-y, but it also looks like the movie has a great role for Whitaker. It comes out February 28th.
The Plot Against America
David Simon’s latest HBO series is a Philip Roth adaptation with a great cast, including Winona Ryder and John Turturro. The series is about an alternate-history America where FDR loses the election and the country sees a rise in anti-Semitism and fascism. It starts March 16th.
Beastie Boys Story
Apple TV Plus is getting a documentary on the Beastie Boys, and it’s directed by their longtime collaborator Spike Jonze, who goes back to the group’s video for “Sabotage.” This brief teaser doesn’t offer too much detail on what it’s all about, other than to say it exists and is coming out April 24th.
The Burnt Orange Heresy
Mick Jagger plays a kind of sinister and very charismatic art dealer in The Burnt OrangeHeresy. I’m really not sure what this movie is about beyond that, but that’s also all that matters. The film opens in limited release on March 6th.
The much-anticipated release of "American Dirt," a novel about a mother and son who flee Mexico for the United States after their family members are killed by a drug cartel, has prompted a seemingly endless stream of discussion as people representing all sides of the debate continue to speak out.
By now, most are familiar with the details surrounding the controversy. The novel's defenders maintain that Jeanine Cummins' book, released on Jan. 21, is an important narrative confronting a topical issue, U.S. migration from Mexico and Central America. The book has been championed by high-profile celebrities, like Oprah who named it her bookclub pick.
The novel's critics, however, primarily consisting of Latinos and other people of color, have deemed the book opportunistic and racist and are questioning why Latino authors often don't receive a similar level of support for their projects, which touch upon similar themes and are written from an insider's perspective.
Author Jeanine Cummins in Nyack, N.Y..Heather Sten / New York Times via Redux Pictures
But this week brought two major developments in the "American Dirt" saga. The novel made its debut at No. 1 on The New York Times’s best-seller list for hardcover and for combined print and e-book fiction, hours before its publisher canceled the rest of the author's tour Wednesday, citing security concerns.
As the discussion continues, some are asking what's next. How might the conversation surrounding "American Dirt" be capitalized to diversify the publishing industry in an actionable way?
One thing people on both sides of the controversy agree on is that "American Dirt" has further revealed the schism between a publishing industry that is majority white and readers and writers of color. According to the latest diversity survey from Lee & Low Books, which was released on Tuesday, nearly 80 percent of book publishers and agencies are white. Latinos are particularly underrepresented, making up 6 percent of the industry as a whole and 3 percent of the industry's leadership.
Though there have been initiatives in recent years to diversify the industry, including the organizations Latinx in Publishing and We Need Diverse Books, the needle hasn't moved all that much, as evinced by the 2015 diversity survey from Lee & Low Books, which also stated that the publishing industry was approximately 80 percent white.
Yet the nearly omnipresent responses to "American Dirt" suggest that the book will be an inflection point for the publishing industry.
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Latino critics have already somewhat upended publishing by bypassing the traditional modes of book reviewing. Initially these critics began sharing their thoughts on the book through blog posts, tweets and memes, but once the controversy began picking up steam, their thoughts were elicited and shared in the opinion sections of major outlets. Now hundreds have become involved with #DignidadLiteraria, a social movement that calls for social media and in-person actions to share Latino stories. The movement was spearheaded by authors Myriam Gurba, David Bowles, and Robert Lovato, the initial and most vocal critics of "American Dirt."
"We made our point. Now we should pivot toward something far more important than a single white woman who stole our stories," reads #DignidadLiteraria's mission statement. "We call on Latinx writers, artists and rebels to join us in staging actions this coming week: inspired, angry, beautiful actions that will draw the nation's attention to a community of 60 million left off of bookshelves and out of the national dialogue."
According to Bowles, the movement has been functioning "organically" thus far as he, Gurba and Lovato are reaching out to authors and booksellers in different cities to organize town halls to elevate the work of Latino authors. The first live event for the movement was Friday at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and the Association of Writers and Writers Programs will host a #DignidadLiteraria read-in during its annual conference in March. More events will be announced in the upcoming days.
Though these events were inspired by "American Dirt" responses, they will not focus solely on the novel.
"It's not healthy for Cummins nor is it healthy for us to keep discussing 'American Dirt's' shortcomings ad nauseam," Bowles told NBC News. "The problem goes beyond this novel: why are Latinxs routinely excluded from the market and what are we going to do about it?"
Bowles, author of "The Smoking Mirror" and several other award-winning novels, is also an educator and says that he is fighting for those "who've given up," like some of his Latino students who didn't think they could become writers because they never saw themselves represented on the page.
Just days old, #DignidadLiteraria is already connecting agents and authors from different parts of the country and reigniting the desire to amplify Latino works.
Natalia Sylvester, author of "Chasing the Sun" and "Running," recalled the difficulty she had breaking into the industry. As she attempted to sell her first novel to publishers, she said she was repeatedly told by publishers that while it "had important things to say," they "didn't know how to market it" because it included Latino characters. That book never sold, which she said is a "testament to who the publishing industry thinks its readers are."
She was also instructed to add more scenes of border-crossing to her second novel "Everyone Knows You Go Home," about a Mexican-American family, which she interpreted as publishers wanting her to write more stereotypical plot lines because they couldn't connect "mundane" scenarios with Latino people, like a mother calling her daughter or a family celebrating a birthday.
"I was protective of the story because I wanted to honor that community," Sylvester told NBC News. "I wanted to focus on the joy, not just the pain."
Following "American Dirt," Sylvester is more determined than ever to pay it forward and to create space for Latino writers. Using #DignidadLiteraria, she's inviting authors to reach out to her about their work so she can share it.
For #dignidadliteraria, I want to help lift up unpubbed/emerging Latinx voices—esp that of Afro-Latinx, Indigenous Latinx, Asian Latinx &/or queer folx & ppl w/disabilities. Short version: get in touch & tell me how I can help you. Long version (please read the whole thread!)
— Natalia Sylvester: pre-order RUNNING (@NataliaSylv) January 27, 2020
She's not the only one doing so. Book reviewer Manuel Aragon and others have requested authors who have books coming out in 2020 reach out to them so they can promote and write about them. And editors and agents like Shelly Romero, who works at Scholastic, and Megan Manzano, who works at D4EO Literary, have tweeted that they are continuously soliciting and on the lookout for stories from authors of diverse backgrounds.
"It's more important to me than ever before to let Latinx authors know that there are people who want to hear from us, who want to hear our stories, and who will fight for us," Manzano told NBC News. "We can't be defeated."
Manzano noted that the barriers to entry in publishing are sometimes insurmountable for people beginning their careers. According to Glassdoor, the salary for entry-level positions in publishing can be as low as $30,000, even in expensive cities like New York, where most of the positions are available. She also says that recruitment of people of color is only the first step in addressing the industry's lack of diversity and that often there are "no clear promotional pathways" in publishing, so moving up can sometimes mean leaving a company.
While many "American Dirt" critics were unsatisfied by Flatiron Books' decision to cancel Cummins' book tour — the leaders of #DignidadLiteraria called it an "unnecessary infringement of speech" — there's indication that leaders in the publishing industry won't be able to ignore the pushback to "American Dirt."
"Sources inside NY publishing (yes, we have MANY allies rooting for us FROM INSIDE) & beyond are telling us that #DignidadLiteraria is scaring the sh-t out of VERY powerful interests in the industry," Lovato tweeted Friday. "Ours is not the voice of the subservience and accommodation they pay handsomely for. Ours is a voice they haven't had to hear, one they're not yet equipped to deal with."
The Big Game means big paydays for celebs ... and Nicki Minaj, DaBaby, Lil Baby and Yo Gottiare among the famous folks cashing in on appearances at Super Bowl parties in Miami.
One of the biggest cash cows for rappers this weekend is Studio 23 in Miami Beach. Sources with knowledge of the deals tell us Nicki's getting $125,000 to host Monday night's finale and Gucci Mane's pocketing $100k to host Saturday night's bash.
Jeezyand Yo Gotti hosted parties Friday night, with Jeezy getting $40,000 from Studio 23 and Mirage Miami shelling out $50k for Yo Gotti's services.
Gunna's hosting at the Mirage Saturday night, and he's getting $60k -- on top of the $60k he got from Studio 23 for Thursday's gig.
Lil Baby and DaBaby are co-hosting the Trap Bowl day party Saturday at Wynwood Factory in Miami's art district, and Lil Baby's earning $70,000, compared to $80k for DaBaby.
As for the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs players putting their bodies on the line Sunday ... the victors earn $124,000 each and the losers go home with $62,000.
