August 07, 2019

Here's the Scoop...

I'm a big fan of writer/director Guillermo Del Toro. His movies are visually amazing, endlessly creative, and are incredibly entertaining; although I have yet to see his Oscar winning film, The Shape of Water.

Director Guillermo Del Toro was honored with the 2,669th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.

Del Toro, 54, was presented with the honor during a ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard to celebrate his decades-long career in film. He was joined by fellow director J.J. Abrams and singer Lana Del Rey.

He began his speech by describing himself as "weird" and saying he found hope when he arrived in Hollywood and met people he found to be as weird as he is.

"I think this star is for you, all of you that feel weird, to come over and sit for a moment," he said. "I will spiritually be here for you any time you want to come."

Del Toro, who was born in Mexico, went on to discuss his heritage and dedicate the star to fellow immigrants.

"As as a Mexican, receiving this star is a gesture and no gesture right now can be banal or simple," he said. "This is very important that this is happening right now because I can tell, to all of you -- all immigrants from every nation -- that you should believe in the possibilities and not the obstacles, ever."

Del Rey, who performed a song for Del Toro's newest film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, praised Del Toro's unique storytelling style.

"In a culture of sameness, he's completely himself and that's the greatest lesson I get from all of his tales," she said. "It's a beautiful thing to be reminded that being different is to be celebrated."

Abrams recalled recognizing Del Toro as a "pure genius" early on in their careers.

"You are a mind-bendingly brilliant creator, a multidisciplinary artist, a curator of the most remarkable collection of art -- a man who celebrates otherness and tells stories of unlikely heroes with hearts almost as large as his own," he said.

Del Toro began his directorial career with the 1993 film Cronos and went on to direct other projects such as the Hellboy series and 2013's Pacific Rim.

His 2006 film Pan's Labyrinth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language. Del Toro won awards for Best Direction at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes for his most recent film The Shape of Water, which also won the Oscar for Best Picture.

A much desvered honor for the remarkable artist.

Be Well,
Steve

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'The Addams Family' moves to New Jersey in new trailer

The Addams Family is giving fans a glimpse of the titular family's move to New Jersey.

MGM released a trailer for the animated film Wednesday featuring the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz and Finn Wolfhard as Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday and Pugsley Addams.

The preview shows the Addamses and their extended family attempt to adjust to a bright suburban neighborhood.

"It's all so different," Wednesday says in the clip.

The Addams' strange ways are met with suspicion from their neighbors, who declare the family "monsters" who will ruin the neighborhood. Wednesday, meanwhile, manages to impress some of her classmates with a science experiment.

The Addams Family is directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan and also features the voices of Catherine O'Hara, Nick Kroll, Martin Short, Bette Midler and Snoop Dogg. The movie released a first teaser in April and opens in theaters Oct. 11.

The Addams Family is based on the cartoon by Charles Addams. The cartoon has been adapted several times, including as a 1960s live-action TV series starring John Astin and Carolyn Jones and a 1991 movie with Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston.

Cameron Diaz says she's 'in a great place': 'I don't miss performing'

Cameron Diaz is feeling happy and "fulfilled" amid her absence from the spotlight.

The 46-year-old actress discussed her break from acting and teased a new project in an essay for the September issue of InStyle.

Diaz started modeling as a teen and skyrocketed to fame after making her film debut in The Mask at age 22. She subsequently starred in There's Something About Mary, Charlie's Angels, Gangs of New York and other successful films, but has not appeared onscreen since the 2014 adaptation of Annie.

"The way I look at it is that I've given more than half of my life to the public. I feel it's OK for me to take time for myself now to reorganize and choose how I want to come [back] into the world. If I decide to. I don't miss performing.

At this point, I've done so much I feel fulfilled with the adventures I've sought out in my life. I'm in a great place, and the world is so different now too. The mid-1990s are an era that will never exist again. I'm just so grateful that I go to witness and partake in it."

Diaz said she's enjoying her privacy and living by her own schedule. Taking a break from acting has allowed her to focus on her relationships with friends and her husband, musician Benji Madden.

"I'm grateful for every moment I have. I just want to build better, stronger friendships with the people who are in it with me. Of course, that includes my husband," the star said. "Getting married to him was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"My husband's the best," she gushed. "He's the greatest human being, and he's my great partner. Marriage is certainly hard, and it's a lot of work. You need somebody who's willing to do the work with you, because there's no 60-40 in marriage. It's 50-50, period. All the time."

Diaz also said she's "looking at the landscape of wellness," and teased a new project in the works.

"I like doing my own thing. I like creating, so I'm just looking for the project that makes the most sense for me now. I have some things brewing, but it's a little too early to talk about them," she said.

Diaz said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in March 2018 that she's "semi-retired" from acting but open to a Sweetest Thing reunion with Selma Blair and Christina Applegate. Blair had previously said Diaz was retired, but later backpedaled on her comment.

LOOSE LIPS:

"I just couldn't take the fact that I had to leave again. It felt like an endless limbo. Like there was no end in sight. And, I mean, it's true: There really is no end in sight with touring ... Thinking about that literally made me throw up. I'm not a throw-upper, but I threw up twice, from the anxiety."
--Billie Eilish, opening up about the impact fame and life on the road has had on her mental health, in an interview with Rolling Stone

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What stars have joined the cast of the 'Baby-Sitters Club' Netflix series?

'American Crime Story' to explore Clinton impeachment in Season 3

American Crime Story will explore president Bill Clinton's impeachment trial in its upcoming third season.

FX confirmed plans Tuesday at the Television Critics Association press tour for American Crime Story: Impeachment, which will premiere Sept. 27, 2020, amid the 2020 presidential election season.

Impeachment is based on the Jeffrey Toobin book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President. The season will focus on the women involved in Clinton's impeachment proceedings.

Beanie Feldstein will star as Monica Lewinsky, with Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp and Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones. Sarah Burgess will write and executive produce the series, with Lewinsky herself serving as a producer.

"This franchise re-examines some of the most complicated, polarizing stories in recent history in a way that is relevant, nuanced and entertaining," FX CEO John Landgraf said in a press release. "Impeachment: American Crime Story will likewise explore the overlooked dimensions of the women who found themselves caught up in the scandal and political war that cast a long shadow over the Clinton presidency."

At the press tour, Landgraf defended the network's decision to air Impeachment shortly before the 2020 election. The timing has already raised concerns the show could influence the outcome of the election.

"Let me just say something about the current environment. So this person knows what the show is, knows how the audience is going to respond to it, knows how it's going to impact history, right?" Landgraf said of critics. "This certainty that says, 'We can't have conversations, we can't make art, we can't have nuance, I won't even wait to pronounce judgment on it,' is toxic in the media environment."

"I've read it, I think it's great," he added. "I don't believe it's going to determine who is the next president of the United States."

American Crime Story previously explored O.J. Simpson's murder trial in Season 1 and Gianni Versace's assassination in Season 2.

Famous birthdays for Aug. 7

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include:

-- Hungarian countess/serial killer Elizabeth Bathory in 1560
-- Carl Ritter, German co-founder of modern geographical science, in 1779
-- World War I Dutch spy and courtesan known as Mata Hari, born Margaret Gertrude Zelle, in 1876
-- Actor Carl Switzer in 1927
-- Baseball pitcher Don Larsen in 1929 (age 90)
-- Humorist Garrison Keillor in 1942 (age 77)
-- Actor Tobin Bell in 1942 (age 77)
-- Former FBI Director Robert Mueller in 1944 (age 75)
-- Minnesota Supreme Court Justice/football Hall of Fame member Alan Page in 1945 (age 74)
-- Actor Wayne Knight in 1955 (age 64)
-- Actor David Duchovny in 1960 (age 59)
-- Actor Maggie Wheeler in 1961 (58)
-- Actor David Mann in 1966 (age 53)
-- Actor Charlize Theron in 1975 (age 44)
-- DJ Samantha Ronson in 1977 (age 42)
-- Actor Abbie Cornish in 1982 (age 37)
-- Hockey player Sidney Crosby in 1987 (age 32)
-- Actor Liam James in 1996 (age 23)

??? Guess Who ???

What stars have joined the cast of the 'Baby-Sitters Club' Netflix series?

Alicia Silverstone and Mark Feurerstein have joined Netflix's upcoming Baby-Sitters Club reboot.

The streaming service announced in a tweet Tuesday the 42-year-old actress and 48-year-old actor will star in the new series based on the Ann M. Martin book series of the same name.

"@AliciaSilv will co-star in the upcoming live-action series The Baby-Sitters Club as Kristy's mother, Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer. @markfeurstein will play Watson Brewer," the post reads.

The Hollywood Reporter said Watson is the love interest of Elizabeth, the mom of Kristy Thomas. The show follows the babysitting adventures of Kristy and her best friends, Mary Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi, Stacey McGill and Dawn Schafer.

Netflix ordered The Baby-Sitters Club to series in February. The first season will consist of 10 half-hour episodes and is in production in Vancouver, B.C. Walden Media, which owns the rights to the book series, is producing the series.

The Baby-Sitters Club books were published between 1986 and 2000 and sold 176 million copies. The series was previously adapted as an HBO series (1990) and a feature film (1995).

Silverstone is known for the film Clueless and has since starred in the Paramount Network series American Woman. Feurerstein played Clifford Calley on The West Wing and Dr. Henry "Hank" Lawson on Royal Pains.