by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:
ANIMATION - From
THR: The Oregon-based animation studio, Laika, has laid off 56 employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the studio says they will be rehired at a future date. The studios has produced several Oscar-nominated animated films, including "Coraline," "ParaNorman," and "The Missing Link."
MOVIES - From
Variety: Comedian Tig Notaro will replace actor-comedian Chris D'Elia in Zack Snyder's zombie movie, "Army of the Dead." D'Elia has been recently accused of sexually harassing underage girls. "Army of the Dead," which has been called a "spiritual sequel" to Snyder 2004 film, "Dawn of the Dead," will undergo reshoots to add Notaro into the film.
ANIMATION-POLITICS - From
Deadline: "The Simpsons'" Marge Simpson hits back at a White House aide who compared Democratic Vice-Presidential pick, Kamala Harris' voice to hers.
TELEVISION - From
TheWrap: The pop culture network, G4, is apparently making a return, and former G4 host, actress Olivia Munn, is reportedly returning as part of the relaunch deal.
AVATAR - From
YahooEntertainment: "Avatar 2," James Cameron's sequel to his mega-hit, "Avatar," will make use of practical set in addition to a massive use of CGI and motion-capture.
STREAMING - From
BleedingCool: Horror label, Blumhouse Productions, is teaming up with Amazon Original Movies to produce eight thematically connected films. The first four debut in October 2021, with the remaining four coming in 2021. There are synopses for the first four films.
TELEVISION - From
THR: Seth MacFarlane of "Family Guy" is producing a new TV adaptation of author Herman Wouk's novels "The Winds of War" (1971) and "War and Remembrance" (1978) for Universal Consent Productions. Both books were previously produced as TV miniseries for ABC. At the time of its release in 1983, "The Winds of War" was the most watched miniseries of all time. "War and Remembrance" the miniseries ran from November 1988 to May 1989.
MOVIES - From
YahooEntertainment: Oscar-winnner Octavia Butler talks about being paid what she's worth for film and TV roles.
POLITICS - From
BET: Former Vice President Joe Biden, the 2020 presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States, has chosen California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. The formal nomination will take place during the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention next week.
ANIMATION - From
Deadline: "SpongeBob SquarePants" is getting a spin-off. It's the animated TV series, "The Patrick Star Show," and it will feature Patrick hosting his own late-night talk show. Voice recording on the series has reportedly started.
STREAMING - From
Deadline: Martin Scorsese has signed a first-look deal with Apple. The Oscar-winning director will base his production banner, Sikelia Productions, at Apple for film and TV series developments.
JAMES BOND - From
YahooEntertainment: Sean Connery voted best James Bond by a fan vote. [
I choose Roger Moore - Leroy.]
MUSIC - From
YahooToday: Twin brothers, Tim and Fred Williams, have gone viral on YouTube with their reaction to Grammy-winning recording artist, Phil Collins' iconic drum fill on his 1981 hit, "In the Air Tonight."
WARNER MEDIA - From
Deadline: Now, the layoffs at WarnerMedia begin in a bid to streamline the company.
From
Deadline: WarnerMedia has undergone some big changes at the very top of the company with a chairman and two executives leaving.
DISNEY - From
Deadline: Garth Davis, who directed the 2016 Oscar-nominated drama, "Lion," will direct Jared Leto is Disney's planned third "Tron" film.
MOVIES - From
Deadline: Actor Ben Affleck's next effort at directing film will be "The Big Goodbye." The film will tell the behind-the-scenes story of the making of one of Hollywood's greatest films, "Chinatown" (1974).
BOX OFFICE - From
Deadline: The top film for the 8/7 to 8/9/2020 weekend box office is "Tax Collector" (starring Shia LeBeouf) with an estimated take of $317,000. The movie exhibition marketplace is still being stricken by COVID-19.
ANIMATION - From
LATimes: Black animators demanded change in Hollywood for years. Now, in the wake of George Floyd's death, they have Hollywood's attention.
DISNEY - From
EW: The documentary film, "Howard," takes a look at the life and work of playwright and lyricist, Howard Ashman, who wrote the lyrics to Alan Menken's music for Disney's animated films, "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast."
OBITS:
From
THR: One of America's all-time great media moguls,
Sumner Redstone, has died at the age of 97, Tuesday, August 11, 2020. He is best known for bringing Viacom, Paramount Pictures, and CBS together to form one media giant. When CBS and Viacom split, Redstone remained chairman of both companies, although each had its own CEO.
From
Deadline: The actor and singer,
Trini Lopez, has died at the age of 83, Tuesday, August 11, 2020 of complications of COVID-19. His hit songs include the 1963 version of the song, "If I Had a Hammer," and the 1965 version of "Lemon Tree." His best known role was as one of the "Dirty Dozen" (Pedro Jimenez), in the 1967 film, "The Dirty Dozen."
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19 NEWS:
From
CDC: The Centers for Disease Control has a "COVID Data Tracker."
From
YahooNews: Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?
From
YahooNews: Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.
From
Deadline: The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.
From
TheNewYorker: The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.
From
YahooNews: Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?
From
YahooLife: What is "happy hypoxia?" And do you have this COVID-19 symptom?
From
JuanCole: Remeber when President Donald went crazy and suggested that we
ingest household cleaning supplies and UV light to fight COVID-19. Here is the video and commentary from Juan Cole.
From
TheIntercept: The federal government has ramped up security and police-related spending in response to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, including issuing contracts for riot gear, disclosures show. The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves...
From
TheAtlantic:
The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying. The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.
From
ProPublica: Hospital's Secret COVID-19 Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns
From
TheGuardian: More than 20 million Americans could have contracted COVID-19, experts say.
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RSN/WashPost: The COVID-19 mutation that has taken over the world.
7/13 - From
YahooSports: Maybe a pandemic means that there will not be college football this fall.
7/13- From
YahooNews: The CDC adds four new symptoms (including nausea and purple or blue lesions on feet and toes) to the list of COVID-19 symptoms.
7/19 - From
YahooFinance: Harvard Public Health professor Dr. Howard Koh says the U.S. "needs to regroup" to find COVID-19.
7/22 - From
YahooNews: A public health employee predicted Florida's coronavirus catastrophe — then she was fired.
7/22 - From
YahooLifestyle: Florida mom loses son, 20, to coronavirus, and then days later, her daughter.
7/23 - From
TheWrap: The site has a list of movie and TV stars, entertainment and sports figures who have tested positive for COVID-19
From
YahooEntertainment: Oscar-winning filmmaker Mel Gibson reveals that he was hospitalized with COVID-19 for a week in April.
From
Bloomberg: Will the COVID-19 pandemic turn Millennials into socialists?
7/27 - From
CNN: Chief of critical care at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Costa, passes away due to Covid-19 complications... after treating the hospital's sickest COVID-19 patients. He was 56 and leaves behind family, including a husband of 28 years.
7/29 - From
YahooPolitico: Rep. Louie Gohmert, the defiant Texas Republican U.S. congressman who refused to wear a mask, has tested positive for COVID-19.
7/30 - From
Deadline: Emmy-winning actor Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad") reveals that he had a bout with COVID-19.
7/31 - From
YahooEntertainment: Writer and actress, Lena Dunham, creator of HBO's "Girls, reveals that she contracted COVID-19 and the symptoms she experiences and still experience.
7/30 - From
YahooGMA: In their bid to crackdown on illegal gatherings amid COVID-19, New York authorities break up an alleged sex party.
7/31 - From
Slate: COVID-19 is airborne - for reals!
8/2 - From
TheDailyBeast: In Mississippi, COVID-19 has coroners terrified.
8/6 - From
CNN: Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (Republican) has tested positive for COVID19.
8/6 - From
YahooNews: Testing everyone constantly could stop the spread of COVID-19... according to this article.
8/8 - From
YahooNYT: The coronavirus is new, but your immune system might recognize it.
8/8 - From
YahooNBC: They thought COVID-19 was a hoax, and they almost died from it or are watching family and loved ones suffer with it or die from it.
8/9 - From
YahooNews: The rest of the world is incredulous at the pitiful U.S. response to COVID-19.
8/9 - From
YahooAFP: According to the real-time tally kept by John Hopkins University, the United States has hit 5 million cases of COVID-19.
BLACK LIVES MATTER:
From
RSN: Judge's Blistering Opinion Says Courts Have Placed Police Beyond Accountability
From
Billboard: In an interview will the venerable music publication, legendary country music singer-songwriter and actress, Dolly Parton, expresses support for the "Black Lives Matter" movement.
