by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
COMICS TO FILM - From Negromancer: Here is my review of "The Suicide Squad."
TELEVISION - From YahooAP: CNN has fired three employees for going to work although they had not received a COVID-19 vaccination.
TELEVISION - From Variety: Actress Colbie Smolders, who has made numerous appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will play real-life political commentator, Ann Coulter, in FX's "Impeachment: American Crime Story." She replaces actress Betty Gilpin, who had to withdraw from the project due to scheduling conflicts. "Impeachment" focuses on the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky.
ANIMATION - SouthPark: MTV Entertainment Studios inks new and expansive deal with creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone through 2027. South Park TV series extending to season 30 for Comedy Central linear. 14 South Park original made-for-streaming movies exclusively for Paramount+ starting with two films in 2021
SCANDAL - From YahooWashPost: In Hawaii, a case of mistaken identity so crazy that you have to read it yourself. The victim spent over two years in jail and also in a mental institution.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: Taylor Sheridan has created a prequel to his hit TV series, "Yellowstone." Entitled "1883," the series will star Sam Elliot, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill.
STREAMING - From Deadline: Apple's "Apple Original Films" is closing in on a big deal to obtain worldwide rights to director Matthew Vaughn's star-studded next film, "Argylle."
MUSIC/SCANDAL - From TheDailyBeast: This month, specifically Aug. 25th, is the 20th anniversary of the plane crash in the Bahamas that killed singer and actress Aaliyah D. Haughton, simply known as "Aaliyah." This article talks about a new book, "Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah," that makes the claim that the singer was drugged by one of her entourage and carried onto the plane before it crashed.
From Complex: There have been hints that Aaliyah's music will be available on all streaming platforms this month (Aug. 2021). In response, her family issues a statement about unauthorized projects.
COVID - From Stat: For many people, the belated realization that COVID-19 will be "a long war" sparks anger and denial.
CELEBRITY/COVID-19 - From YahooEntertainment: Actress Jennifer Aniston says that she has had to cut ties with "a few people" over COVID-19 vaccinations.
MOVIES - From Deadline: Actor Brendan Fraser, best known for Universal's wonderful "The Mummy" franchise, has landed two huge acting gigs. He has joined Martin Scorsese's highly-anticipated "Killers of the Flower Moon" and also Max Barbakow's comedy, "Brothers."
MOVIES - From Deadline: Nicholas Hoult will star in Universal Pictures' "Renfield," which focuses on Count Dracula's henchman.
MEDIA - From Deadline: Meet "DirecTV Stream," the new entity born as a result of AT&T spinning off DirecTV.
CELEBRITY - From CNN: Emmy winning television personality and comedian, Kathy Griffin, has announced that she has lung cancer and will have surgery.
STREAMING - From Variety: Amazon has released an image from and a release date (Sept. 2, 2022) for its series, "The Lord of the Rings."
BUSINESS - From WSJ: Reese Witherspoon’s media business, Hello Sunshine, is selling itself to a firm backed by private-equity giant Blackstone Group Inc., reportedly for 900 million dollars.
BOX OFFICE - From Variety: The winner of the 7/30 to 8/1/2021 weekend box office is Disney's "Jungle Cruise" with an estimated take of 34.2 million dollars.
From Deadline: New Line Cinema's "The Conjuring" franchise, which is currently comprised of seven movies, has crossed the two-million dollar mark in worldwide box office.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: Alex Kurtzman, the architect behind CBS Studios' "Star Trek" universe, has signed an overall mega-deal with CBS Studios. The deal is reportedly worth 150 million dollars, which would put Kurtzman among the top writer-producers in TV.
MUSIC/POLITICS/BLM - From YahooRollingStone: Willie Nelson returned to the stage Saturday (July 31st) to take part in the Poor People’s Campaign march for voting rights outside the Texas Capitol in Austin.
MOVIES - From TimesUK: From "The Sunday Times" comes this article: "Is Matt Damon the Last of Hollywood's Leading Men." The actor says, “Movies as we know them aren’t going to be a thing in our kids’ lives.” “And that makes me sad.”
MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment: Veteran movie car coordinator Dennis McCarthy breaks down the back stories behind two of the biggest vehicular stars of "F9" as Yahoo Entertainment presents exclusive 3D augmented-reality renderings of the film’s "Dodge Charger Wide Body" and "Dodge Charger Hellcat" — two of the nine Chargers McCarthy and his 12-person team built for the film — which you can virtually place in your family room.
BLACK FILM - From TheGuardian: Melvin Van Peebles and Perry Henzell made seminal 70s films – now their kids have recovered their fathers’ would-be classics.
OBITS:
From Deadline: Songwriter and musician, Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, has died at the age of 70, Saturday, August 7, 2021. Thomas an alto saxophone player was one of the founding members of the American R&B, soul, funk, disco, jazz, and pop band, "Kool and the Gang," and he had been with the band since its inception in 1964 until his death.
From YahooSports: Former Major League Baseball pitcher, J.R. Richard, has died at the age of 71, Wednesday, August 4, 2021. A Houston Astros legend, Richard was one of the most feared pitchers of the 1970s. Richard had a stroke in July 1980 that effectively ended his career.
