The Essentials: The Films Of Adam McKay

Snoop Dogg says he won’t let the big Super Bowl stage rattle his nerves. The ultra-smooth rapper said he will worry about his upcoming halftime performance after the fact.“For me, when performing, I never let the moment get bigger than me,” said Snoop Dogg in a recent interview with The Associated Press from his studio compound in Inglewood, California, a suburb of Los Angeles where the Super Bowl will be held Sunday. He’ll take the stage with Dr.

Zack Sharf The rollercoaster journey of casting the title role in George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” is documented in Kyle Buchanan’s upcoming oral history book “Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road.” An excerpt published by Vulture reveals that casting Max Rockatansky boiled down to Tom Hardy, Armie Hammer and Jeremy Renner after an exhaustive search that also included Michael Fassbender, Joel Kinnaman, Heath Ledger, Eric Bana and more.Buchanan, who is also the awards season columnist for the New York Times, reports: “Near the end of the process, Hardy emerged as a front-runner alongside Jeremy Renner and Armie Hammer. Hardy and Hammer even read together as part of their audition, and when Hardy gnashed his teeth and spat at his scene partner, Hammer told Miller that Hardy needed to be Max more than he did.” Audition cameraman Todd Matthew Grossman told Buchanan, “Jeremy and Armie were equally wonderful, but there was something about Tom in the room where it felt like that was Max, without a doubt.

After Nelly’s sex tape was leaked on social media, the singer has issued a statement apologizing for the “private” moment being shared publicly.

more than 464,000 followers on Instagram.Davis, 30, started selling online health and wellness packages back in 2014 after she became a popular social media influencer. The savvy star created the company Brittany Dawn Fitness LLC, which quickly garnered thousands of paying customers in plans ranging in price from $92 to $300 per month.According to the new lawsuit, obtained by the Dallas Morning News, Davis was contacted by at least 14 women suffering from eating disorders.

EXCLUSIVE:  Lionsgate has renewed its first-look film deal with 3Pas Studios, the production company run by producer Ben Odell and bilingual star Eugenio Derbez, Deadline has learned.

Netflix’s record-breaking series Squid Game will hit a pair of movie theaters in Los Angeles and New York later this month as the streamer ramps up its awards campaigning for the Korean series.

Fox is developing a pitch black comedy about a meteorologist whose life unspools after a freak injury at work.

Yara Shahidi (Black-ish, Grown-ish) has signed on to exec produce and star in Amazon Studios’ rom-com Sitting in Bars with Cake, Deadline has confirmed. The feature, based on the blog and book of the same name by Audrey Shulman, will be directed by Pitch Perfect 3‘s Trish Sie.

California Governor Gavin Newsom gave a significant preview of the state’s plan to loosen Covid-19 restrictions next week. Calling it an “endemic plan,” indicated it will take the state into the era when it simply lives with the disease, instead of the pandemic strategy that’s been deployed to date.

EXCLUSIVE: Following a busy fall in both the film and TV worlds, Adrien Brody is looking to stay busy as he set to join Apple Original Films’ Ghosted, starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. Dexter Fletcher is directing. 

Today. “Because it really shaped me into the individual that I am.

XTR, the global nonfiction entertainment studio behind the Oscar-nominated documentary “Ascension,” has hired Abazar Khayami as head of studio. Khayami, who previously served as head of content at NTWRK, will oversee feature documentaries including development, production and execution and shepherd the dozens of films already in the company’s pipeline, the studio said Wednesday.“We are thrilled that Abazar has come on to lead XTR’s production studio during a moment of tremendous growth for the company,” said Kathryn Everett, XTR co-founder and head of film.

Luke Bryan enjoys a close and often hilarious relationship with his American Idol co-judges Lionel Richie and Katy Perry.MORE: Luke Bryan's five children and their mothers – and the heartfelt story behind his family unitIn a new interview with Good Morning America, the country superstar opened up about his relationship with Katy in the run-up to her Las Vegas residency and how that extended to her fiancé Orlando Bloom.WATCH: Chayce Beckham wins American Idol 2021"Anything Katy does, she sends stuff to create more anxiety," he said to the amusement of GMA hosts Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, who could be heard laughing in the background."She's like 'Wow. Big stage, be ready','Wow, get ready for the dry air of Las Vegas', I'm like 'Katy!'" he joked.MORE: Katy Perry reveals wedding news after claims she secretly wed Orlando BloomHowever, he revealed that there was nothing but love between the two, perhaps veering on being closer than you'd expect when Orlando comes into the mix."Me and her, even as years have gone, we have an even more fun friendship and a great working relationship," he gushed about the Firework singer.A post shared by Good Morning America (@goodmorningamerica)Luke joked about Katy being "jealous" of his relationship with Orlando BloomHe then added: "She's really a little jealous because she believes Orlando kind of…might have a little man crush on me. "Because Orlando came to Nashville and I had all these outdoor activities planned for him.

Nadya Suleman, a.k.a. “Octomom,” celebrated her octuplets’ 13th birthday this week. The proud mom took her eight youngest children — Nariyah, Isaiah, Maliyah, Jeremiah, Noah, Josiah, Jonah, and Makai — to a bowling alley, and then to a park, in Laguna Niguel, California to celebrate them reaching the milestone birthday. Photos, which can be seen HERE, show Nadya and the octuplets gathered together and smiling while holding bowling balls at the first celebratory event. The eight kids are truly so grown up — it’s crazy that they are now teenagers!

Better Things,” its original comedy series created by, executive produced by and starring Pamela Adlon.Adlon stars as Sam, a working actress raising three daughters in Los Angeles attempting to navigate her life and find fulfillment. Mikey Madison, Hannah Alligood and Olivia Edward portray Sam’s daughter, who are each struggling to come of age, while Celia Imrie portrays Sam’s mother, who deals with increasingly difficult mental and physical health issues. Adlon heavily based the series on her own experiences as an actor raising three daughters.The trailer for the new season sees Sam working on a new movie, giving a presentation to an elementary school class and arguing with her daughters.

Miles Davis for a year in 1968, died today (February 9) of natural causes, close friend Danielle Maggio confirmed to Rolling Stone.Davis’ self-titled debut album arrived in 1973, which she then followed up the following year with ‘They Say I’m Different’. Her third and final studio album, ‘Nasty Gal’, was released in 1975.Though not commercially successful at their time of release, Davis’ music has gone on to be hugely influential in funk circles in the decades to follow.Born Betty Mabry, she appeared on the cover of Miles Davis’ 1968 album ‘Filles de Kilimanjaro’, and was the inspiration behind his song ‘Mademoiselle Mabry’.“RIP Betty Davis, the original (and only) nasty gal, famed for being one of music’s greatest muses, but more importantly, one of the funkiest to ever do it,” journalist and author Jeff Weiss wrote in tribute to Davis.“Her first 3 solo records are sleazy, soulful and raw.

Spotify streams of Little Simz‘ music have soared over 350 per cent following her appearance at this year’s BRIT Awards.The rapper, who released her last album, ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’, back in September, won the award for Best New Artist at last night’s (February 8) ceremony at London’s The O2. She also performed a medley of her tracks ‘Introvert’ and ‘Woman’.Her massive night has since prompted a huge spike in Spotify streams in comparison to other BRITs winners including Adele, Silk Sonic, Ed Sheeran, Dave and Sam Fender.There was a 812 per cent increase in streams of ‘Introvert’ and a 594 per cent spike for ‘Woman’, equating to a 365 per cent jump overall.Elsewhere, Adele, who took home three BRITs last night (Artist Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year), saw a 137 per cent increase in Spotify streams following the awards, while Dave’s streams went up by 217 per cent. Fender’s music saw a 79 per cent jump.“As ever, the BRITs showed the incredible breadth of talent being fostered here in the UK, across every genre of music,” Tom Connaughton, managing director of Spotify UK and Ireland, said in a statement (via Rolling Stone UK).

Families of the 22 who died in the Manchester Arena bombing have reacted with anger and dismay after a second act of vandalism at a memorial for their lost loved ones.

Former Manchester City and England striker Trevor Sinclair has compared Manchester United youngster James Garner with club icon David Beckham.

A taxi driver was taken to hospital with a head injury after he was attacked in a back street in Cheetham Hill on Tuesday evening.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorHollywood is about to stampede into Middle Earth. An array of movie, merchandising, gaming and live event rights to “Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit” and other titles from author J.R.R. Tolkien are coming up for auction now that the Saul Zaentz Co.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorLifetime’s newest reality show, “Leave It To Geege,” sees Geege Taylor, a single mom and breast cancer survivor, on a mission to help other people on their journey of raising an autistic child.The show debuted on Lifetime in January and from Feb. 10 will be transitioning from linear to digital, starting with a two-episode drop followed by weekly episodes rolling out on mylifetime.com, the Lifetime app and VOD.Taylor, whose 19-year-old son Pootie was diagnosed with autism as a young child, says she had first wanted to open her doors to TV cameras over seven years ago.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSteve Yockey, the creator and co-showrunner of HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant,” has developed a new dark comedy series that has gotten a script to series order at Fox.The single-camera project is titled “Cindy Snow.” The series follows the title character, who is the most popular local meteorologist in Savannah, GA. But behind the cameras, she’s — not nice. When a freak head injury at work triggers surreal glimpses of the future, Cindy’s life quickly unspools.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs the Prince estate moves forward after years of confusion following the singer’s 2016 death, the six heirs are divided into two camps: the three siblings who sold their interests to Primary Wave, and the three who have retained their holdings.With the value of the estate recently determined at $156.4 million, the two parties are now establishing a structure for how to work together. In a ruling on Tuesday, a Minnesota judge decided against Primary Wave’s proposal to create a single holding company.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane!! No, it’s a … comet heading right toward us!!!

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet seen “Don’t Look Up.”At the beginning of Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up,” Michigan State astronomy grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers that a comet is heading toward Earth, and will cause an extinction-level-event for the entire planet in a little over six months: something she duly reports to her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio).

David Wallace-Wells Guest ColumnistFor Variety‘s Writers on Writers, David Wallace-Wells pens a tribute to “Don’t Look Up” (screenplay Adam McKay).Parables are hard, which is why the best ones tend not to play like parables at all. Light comedy about the end of the world isn’t exactly easy, either, but “Don’t Look Up” delivers that, too.In retrospect, at least, we now know Adam McKay’s early movies were about much more than they seemed to be about at first.