A Definitive Ranking of Friends Christmas Episodes

 Posted on June 11, 2024  |  11 minutes  |  2134 words  |  Zora Stowers

This list was originally published December 22, 2020. For a list of our favorite Chandler Bing episodes of Friends, head here. We’ve all seen the rankings of the beloved Friends Thanksgiving episodes — for the record, the best one is “The One With All the Thanksgivings,” in which we see how Chandler met Monica and Joey put a turkey on his head — but the show had some memorable Christmas episodes, too. [Read More]

A GIF History of Leonardo DiCaprio Raising Glasses

 Posted on June 11, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  301 words  |  Janel Helmers

With drink in hand, Leonardo DiCaprio’s been cheers-ing for practically his entire acting career. Many on the Internet quickly realized this after he was so opulently introduced in this year’s The Great Gatsby and our collective minds flashed back to 1997’s Titanic. That’s an easy comparison to make, but did you know he also raises his glass in 2002’s Gangs of New York? And in 1998’s The Man in the Iron Mask? [Read More]

A Guide to Decembers Best In-flight Movies, Sorted by Airline

 Posted on June 11, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1615 words  |  Janel Helmers

The December holidays are upon us, which, for many, means a whole lot of time on a plane. But as you squeeze into your seat and peek at the row ahead to figure out if the guy in front of you is a recliner (he is), worry not: There will be plenty of entertaining content to help you get through the interminable taxiing, line waiting, taxiing again, deplaning, replaning, and, if things go as planned, actual flying. [Read More]

A Guide to Jesse Armstrongs Other Comedies to Curb Your Post-Succession Blues

 Posted on June 11, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  616 words  |  Aldo Pusey

You may not be able to make a Tomelette without breaking some Greggs, but now that Succession has concluded its wild second season, there’s one thing you can control in your life: watching more of Jesse Armstrong’s dramedies to fill the Waystar Royco void. (And if you don’t want to, then, to quote some wise men, fuck off.) Armstrong has been an integral part of Britcom DNA since the early aughts as a writer and creator, and, thanks to the powers of streaming TV, most of his shows are a click away if you want to forget that whole Gerri and Roman thing ever happened. [Read More]

A Guide to Rewatching Sidney Poitiers Most Memorable Films

 Posted on June 11, 2024  |  18 minutes  |  3684 words  |  Janel Helmers

His image evolved and adapted over decades as the central contradiction of the actor and director’s life played out on screens. Sidney Poitier, who died at 94, was one of the most durable and beloved movie stars of the 20th century. He was also a pioneering Black actor and activist whose efforts to integrate American cinema were intertwined with his attempts to change the country’s racial attitudes through speeches, marches, talk-show appearances, and political campaigns, encouraging multiple generations of activists. [Read More]

A Guide to the Many Lawsuits Against Diddy

 Posted on June 11, 2024  |  14 minutes  |  2910 words  |  Elina Uphoff

Self-proclaimed “bad boy for life” Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing serious legal issues following numerous allegations of sexual assault, harassment, and sex trafficking throughout his career. On March 25, simultaneous bicoastal raids of his Los Angeles and Miami homes played out live on CNN while the hip-hop mogul was on his private jet amid what could turn out to be a very public reckoning. In addition to an investigation from Homeland Security and the federal government, he is also facing four federal lawsuits. [Read More]

A New Edith Piaf Biopic Will Use AI to Re-create Her Voice

 Posted on June 11, 2024  |  1 minutes  |  179 words  |  Sherie Connelly

Call her the Sparrow of AI (or maybe the SpAIrrow of Paris?). A new biopic of French singer Edith Piaf will use artificial intelligence to re-create her voice and an animation of her, Variety reports, with an AI Piaf narrating the film. Warner Music Group has been working with production company Seriously Happy on the film and is currently looking for a studio partner. And, somehow, Piaf’s estate is okay with all of it! [Read More]

A One-Dimensional Robert Moses in Straight Line Crazy

 Posted on June 11, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1118 words  |  Sherie Connelly

Ralph Fiennes in Straight Line Crazy. Right off the bat, it’s funny that a play about Robert Moses is playing in Hudson Yards. Come to the Shed, in the most icily luxurious public-private mall-dominated corner of the city, and watch Ralph Fiennes, who is extremely British, reenact the history of our own broken city planning. Learn about the ways Moses rammed through projects of urban renewal that ultimately choked the city and forced out poor families as you sit amid a giant array of new towers that incorporate a light dusting of affordable apartments. [Read More]

A Short History of The Old Guard Comic Universe

 Posted on June 11, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1557 words  |  Aldo Pusey

All the character backstories you need. Warning: The Old Guard spoilers ahead. Netflix’s The Old Guard introduces a familiar, covert group of unkillable soldiers, but it’d be hard to classify it as a typical comic-book adaptation. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood with a screenplay by the comic’s writer, Greg Rucka, The Old Guard focuses on the relationships between these eternal characters and the ways they’ve lost faith in a world that refuses to change for the better. [Read More]

A Strange 20-Year Loop to Broadway

 Posted on June 11, 2024  |  15 minutes  |  3027 words  |  Elina Uphoff

From the porn studio to the Tony Awards. The cast and crew of A Strange Loop in collage at the Lyceum Theatre. Photo: Pelle Cass The cast and crew of A Strange Loop in collage at the Lyceum Theatre. The course of musical theater never did run smooth. Michael R. Jackson should know. The playwright first started working on his Pulitzer-winning show, A Strange Loop, when he was 21 years old. [Read More]