List of All Articles with Tag 'showbiz'

The outspoken conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has called Greta Gerwig's widely praised Barbie movie "horrific" and one of the worst films he's ever seen. The 39-year-old, who has previously criticised the likes of Glass Onion and The Last of Us, did not hold back on the critically praised film, which he "s**tshow" and accused it of using up all of its jokes within the first 40 seconds of the film. He did find time to praise the production design and costumes in the film but used the majority of his 43 YouTube review to berate the messaging of the movie which he feels fails the intended audience of mothers and young girls. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Shapiro accused Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach, who co-wrote the film with the Oscar-nominated director of being "smug and self-satisfied" and not being able to decide if they love or hate the Barbie character. Ben Shapiro DESTROYS Barbie for 43 minutes www.youtube.com Shapiro does start his review by mentioning that he was going to quickly say which of Barbie and Oppenheimer he prefers while holding a Barbie doll and toy atomic bomb. Without actually saying which of the two blockbusters he prefers, he instead proceeds to torch a Barbie and Ken doll in a nearby bin, thus telling us he thought Oppenheimer was better. On Twitter on Friday, Shapiro has hinted that he didn't like Barbie by writing: "My producers dragged me to see ‘Barbie’ and it was one of the most woke movies I have ever seen." Shapiro's mini-review of Barbie was soon mocked, which is a frequent occurrence whenever he voiced his contrary opinion on any cultural matter. Before he was known as a political commentator and YouTuber, Shapiro did have a brief stint as a failed Hollywood screenwriter. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

By now you may have already seen the Barbie movie which has become a smash hit at the box office but if you haven't - fear not. The film is likely to be in cinemas for quite a while given its early success. Regardless of whether you have seen the movie or not, we're sure you are aware of the cultural sensation that it has sparked especially. around Ryan Gosling's Ken who arguably steals the movie from lead star Margot Robbie. Despite Gosling's charming and charismatic performance, people are also obsessed with getting their hands on Ken merchandise, specifically the 'Kenough' sweatshirt and hoodie, which Ken wears in the movie. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The fleece hoodie features a tye-dyed design and the phrase 'I am Kenough.' One fan after seeing the film: "Ryan Gosling (Ken) wearing the ' I am Kenough.' hoodie at the end! I need that so dope." Well, the good news is that you can buy the hoodie on the Mattel Creations website but you won't be able to get your hands on any of them until August when they will start to be shipped. The rather fetching hoodie costs £58 ($60) but that is the only garment that Mattel is selling. If you do want to get our hands on other 'Kenough' merchandise you can seek out unofficially third-party outlets Sites such as Eletees, Zerelam, Etsy, and eBay are all selling their own Kenough merchandise at a much cheaper price than what is available on Mattel. However, if you would rather get your hands on the officially hoodie you might have to wait a while as Mattel currently only has size small available. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

After weeks of high-budget lurid pink publicity, it’s easy to forget that Barbie director Greta Gerwig is the indie writer and producer behind Frances Ha, Little Women and Lady Bird. Now, Gerwig has revealed the films that inspired the candy coloured sensation. One of the most prominent influences is The Wizard of Oz, the 1939 Judy Garland classic which a US Library of Congress exhibition described as “America's greatest and best-loved home-grown fairytale”. Gerwig said during her interview with Letterboxd it is an “extraordinary, beloved” movie. “It does something which I wanted to emulate which is these incredible sound stages and these painted skies, and this sense of authentically artificial, which I think is very beautiful and emotional. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “In our movie we have the pink brick road instead of the yellow brick road … and we executed it like they would have done in the 30s and 40s.” However, another important influence is a less obvious one: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, a 1964 musical romantic drama film written and directed by French movie icon Jacques Demy. Greta Gerwig’s Official Barbie Watchlist www.youtube.com The film centres around two young lovers in the French city of Cherbourg, separated by war. It is entirely sung-through, similar to a musical or an opera. Gerwig said she “loved the use of colour” in the film. “The surrealness of the colour was a big part of it”, she added, saying that Barbie’s use of “five different shades of pink or red in one shot and not have it overwhelm anything” was influenced by the film. Other films on the list of influences include Saturday Night Fever, The Truman Show and The Godfather (yep, you read that right). Of Saturday Night Fever, she said: “I always had a sense of wanting this to be a movie with an amazing soundtrack. “Saturday Night Fever obviously has this incredible soundtrack by The Bee Gees. I had watched a documentary about them and was so touched by The Bee Gees and Barbie seemed so disco to me. Actually in her heart. Because Barbie and disco are a little bit dorky, in the best way. “It had that quality and Saturday Night Fever was a kind of movie that was driven by music but was not a musical.” The whole list is as follows: The Wizard of Oz The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Saturday Night Fever The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart The Godfather Grease 2001: A Space Odyssey The Truman Show The Young Girls of Rochefort Oklahoma! Model Shop An American in Paris Singin' in the Rain The Red Shoes A Matter of Life and Death All That Jazz Heaven Can Wait Women on the Verge of a Nervous BreakDown His Girl Friday The Philadelphia Story Gold Diggers of 1935 Twentieth Century The Ladies Man Rear Window And the Ship Sails On Wings of Desire The Earrings of Madame de… Close Encounters of the Third Kind Modern Times Pee-wee’s Big Adventure Mon Oncle PlayTime Splash Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The cast of iCarly have been spotted on the SAG-AFTRA picket line amid ongoing actors' strikes, and even treated fans to a sing-along of the show's iconic theme tune. Jaidyn Triplett could be seen filming herself singing 'Leave It All To Me', while the likes of Miranda Cosgrove, Jerry Trainor and Nathan Kress dance behind her. They held up placards in support of the strike, which has seen over 15,000 actors walk out of jobs, demanding better conditions. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

A Taylor Swift fan has recorded the moment her flight burst into song when it was delayed on the way back from the artist's concert in Colorado. Hannah Hazlett was one of those heading back to Salt Lake City, when those around her fired up into a rendition of 'Love Story' during the tarmac delay, as fellow fans waved their arms, and filmed on their phones. Crew members even got into the spirit of things, and played the song over the plane's intercom system so everyone could join in. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Barbie is everywhere. From Barbiecore becoming fashion's latest buzzword to billboards, to food and drink to merch collaborations – and still, the people demand more. Well now, Greta Gerwig's hotly anticipated film has secured a strong Rotten Tomatoes rating, proving it has style and substance. Barbie, set to hit cinemas on 21 July, has received an impressive 89 per cent score on the popular American film and TV review website, with film critics pleasantly surprised by the Warner Bros' production. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "Life in plastic is fantastic indeed: Barbie is a sharp, hilarious and joy-contagious satire of gender roles," Mireia Mullor from Digital Spy wrote, while Andrew Gaudion from THN described the film as "a feminist fairy tale with lots on its mind about the modern world and the gender roles within. That, and it’s also exceptionally silly and funny." Barbie | Main Trailer www.youtube.com Alice Saville from Time Out added: "This is a wonderfully fun watch that somehow manages to simultaneously celebrate and satirise the Barbie brand, its feminism and girliness pairing like gorpcore sandals with a floaty pink skirt." One glowing review from Brian Truitt at USA Today read: "Barbie is really an insightful exploration of humanity, the meaning of life and the cognitive dissonance of a woman living in the patriarchy, all with a really big heart and style to spare." Meanwhile, New York Post critic Johnny Oleksinkski didn't hold back when offering his take, calling the film "exhausting, spastic, self-absorbed and overwrought disappointment." Greta Gerwig's Barbie, featuring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell, Micheal Cera and Issa Rae, is set to hit cinemas on 21 July. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The same-day release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has sparked a frenzy on social media in recent weeks. But as cotton candy plastic pop meets death, destroyer of worlds on Friday 21 July, it’s worth pointing out that, incredibly, this has happened before. Fifteen years ago on 18 July 2008, dark versus light had another box office showdown, when Nolan’s The Dark Knight was released on the same day as Abba-inspired musical sensation Mamma Mia! Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Of course, social media was a very different beast back then. We can only dream of what the meme machine would have churned out with Christian Bale’s foreboding Batman and Amanda Seyfreid’s bride-to-be Sophie. Or what about Heath Ledger’s terrifying Joker and Pierce Brosnan’s smooth-as-you-like Sam Carmichael? The Dark Knight won the opening weekend by some distance, bringing in $158.4m in ticket sales compared to $27.7m for Mamma Mia! However, the Abba extravaganza clawed back some ground in the end, earning $611m in total, though still far less than The Dark Knight’s $1bn. Of course, theatre fans will point to the resounding success of Mamma Mia! the musical, which is the second-most successful production of all time with $4bn in total revenue, only lagging behind The Phantom Of The Opera. And beyond the numbers, news outlet Vulture even positioned the event as a good versus evil, light versus dark battle “for the soul of America” ahead of opening weekend. Sounds familiar, right? “It’s tempting to look at this weekend, in fact, as a mandate on how Americans feel about the state and future of our great nation,” the publication wrote at the time. “Is America optimistic? Do we essentially view ourselves as attractive, tan actresses frolicking on the beach to ABBA songs? Or is the soul of America chaotic and violent, like the deranged anti-hero whose electrifying presence animates The Dark Knight?” Twitter users tried to give the 15-year-old film pairing the Barbenheimer treatment. One person wrote: “Just realised the dark knight/mamma mia release day could have been called “Abbatman”. Why wasn’t I on Twitter in 2008?” It’s too early to say which of Barbie or Oppenheimer will come out on top on their opening weekend – though analysts have predicted a win for the former. But with the films hitting cinemas on 21 July, we don’t have long until we find out. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Margot Robbie has finally revealed what her favourite Barbenheimer meme is, ahead of the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day (21 July). The rivalry between the two films has descended the internet into chaos, but Robbie appears to be loving the competition. "I love the ones where it's like the cast of Goodfellas being like 'tickets to Barbie please'", she says in an interview with the BBC. However, Ryan Gosling doesn't appear to be as across the phenomenon, chiming in: "What's a meme?" Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The internet going crazy for two films about kids’ dolls and weapons of mass destruction couldn’t have been on many people’s bingo cards. But with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer set to come out on the same day, 21 July, you’d be challenged to name a more iconic duo. The hype around the movies could hardly have been more different. Barbie is, well, Barbie; it’s pink, pretty and plastic. Oppenheimer is the atom bomb: fire and brimstone, the destroyer of worlds. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Social media doesn’t see it that way, though. As cinemas gear up to show the movies back-to-back – and film-goers argue over which one to watch first – the meme factory has been working on overdrive. Here are some of the best Twitter has to offer: It recently emerged that the Barbie dream house had mysteriously appeared in Malibu. It comes complete with a pool, huge balconies and that signature pink finish. Oh, and you can stay there on Airbnb soon. Unfortunately, Oppenheimer fans had an idea for how they could counter the excellent work done by Barbie’s marketing team with a slightly more destructive piece of marketing of their own. They wouldn’t... Would they? People are already planning their entire days around the dual event. Are you Oppenheimer first, then Barbie? (Otherwise known as Oppenbarbie.) Or are you doing it the other, incorrect way? Because if you’re seeing Barbie in the morning followed by a chaser of atomic doom in the evening (Barbenheimer, apparently), you’re doing it all wrong, apparently. Which camp (or state) do you fall into? These two iconic houses in Santa Monica almost nail the difference in tone between the two films without even knowing it: Yes, of course, there is merch. And even the stars of the films themselves have joined in the fun: Instagram has even made a trailer. The good news is, whichever you go for – Barbenheimer or Oppenbarbie – there's one thing everyone can agree on... Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

An up-and-coming musician has told the story of how Paul Rudd ended up in one of his music videos, after running into the actor at a Taylor Swift concert. Claud, who is signed to Phoebe Bridgers' label, reportedly explained to Rudd that one of their songs was inspired by his 'energy', and the 54-year-old was keen to hear the album. A few email exchanges later, and Rudd starred as a disgruntled mailman in the video for 'A Good Thing'. "He came for the whole entire day," Claud said on TikTok. "He stayed for like five hours." Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Lizzie McGuire fans have been left thrilled after Hilary Duff appeared to revive her iconic character while standing out on the picket line of the Hollywood actors' strike. She was joined by her How I Met Your Father costar Francia Raisa as they hit the SAG picket line outside of Paramount Studios. The 35-year-old held up a placard, as her song from the 2003 movie 'What Dreams Are Made Of' blared out, and they chanted along. A Lizzie McGuire reboot was on its way until it got halted in 2020. Click here to sign up for our newsletters

It’s become one of life’s great predicaments: should you go Barbenheimer or Oppenbarbie? We’re referring, of course, to the burning debate over whether to watch Barbie or Oppenheimer first. The summer’s two biggest blockbusters will be released on the same day (21 July) and cinema buffs are gearing up for watching them back-to-back. But is it better to first treat yourself to the candy-coloured endorphin boost that Greta Gerwig’s comedy promises to be? Or save that as a kind of after-dinner treat for when you’ve finished Christopher Nolan’s three-hour masterpiece? Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Here, indy100 has devised a quiz to help you figure out where your loyalties truly lie… 1. You’re going on a date and don’t know what to wear, you… a) Just kidding! You always know what to wear, and you always look fabulous b) Wear the same outfit you threw off last night after work – you have more important things to be worrying about c) Cancel the date and stay home in your PJs 2. When you think about death… a) You realise you’re alone among your friends b) It’s because the lives of millions of people are in your hands c) You swiftly distract yourself by looking at cooking tutorials on TikTok 3. When you go out you always remember to bring your… a) Rollerblades b) Fedora c) Oh crap, you’ve forgotten already 4. Your ideal romantic partner would be… a) No one! You’re happy just having lots of friends b) You can’t quite seem to figure that one out c) Err... Jamie Dornan? Idris Elba? Someone like that... 5. Your views on politics are… a) Hang on, you’ll need to ask the president about that one (she’s a good friend!) b) Definitely left-leaning, which does get you into trouble at times c) Really not something you feel like getting into right now 6. Your ultimate goal is… a) World peace b) World peace c) To wake up tomorrow not feeling like you’ve been hit by a bus The answers Mostly As: Your pores are positively dripping with plastic, your feet are no doubt permanently arched, too – you definitely need to see Oppenheimer first. Take a break from all the fluff and glitter and spend three hours considering the very nature of war. Then, once you’ve had your fill of theoretical physics and Cillian Murphy’s piercing blue eyes, you can head straight back to your happy place and breath a sigh of relief. Mostly Bs: The world is weighing heavy on your shoulders, it feels like you have the very future of humanity in your hands – go see Barbie. Watch Ryan Gosling’s glistening abs and Margot Robbie’s ear-to-ear smile and try to feel glum, we dare you. Then, while you’re still high on hot pink and power ballads, go see Oppenheimer for a blast back to reality. Mostly Cs: Hun, are you OK? You’re clearly having a tough week and it sounds like you could do with a night in. Put on your pjs, snuggle up on the sofa, and save the cinema for another day. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.