Creepy character from Donald Glover’s ‘Atlanta’ was at the Emmys
Teddy Perkins appeared Monday night at the Microsoft Theater in the same attire as worn on the comedy-drama on the show, sporting a red velvet dinner jacket, heavy white makeup, prosthetics and a bob cut wig. The character was played by the show’s star, Donald Glover, but it’s unclear whether the actor-singer dressed up as Perkins, who became a main attraction in the crowd and social media taking selfies during commercial breaks.
Perkins congratulated Bill Hader, who won an Emmy for best actor in a television comedy over Glover — last year’s winner.
Even Hader had no idea who was dressed up as Perkins.
“I don’t know who it was, but I know it was that guy from ‘Atlanta,'” Hader said backstage.
When Glover was shown in the crowd, Perkins was not around.
Perkins became one of the most intriguing figures during “Atlanta’s” second season because of his eerie appearance. The character tricked Darius, played by LaKeith Stanfield, into visiting his home.
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Rashida Jones Honors Her Father With Netflix Documentary ‘Quincy’
Jones co-directed and co-wrote the Netflix doc about her father Quincy Jones’ prolific career in music.
Quincy Jones has had one of the most legendary careers in the entertainment industry and on Friday night, his accomplishments were honored with the premiere of the documentary Quincy at the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study, with Rashida Jones, Diane Warren and Ted Sarandos in attendance.
Jones rose from the slums of the South Side of Chicago to become one of the most successful and prolific composers and music producers of all time, working with such legendary talents as Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, for whom he produced Thriller, the best selling album in the history of music.
Rashida spoke to THR about why this was the right time to make a film about her father.
“My dad’s story is also the story of black America. He was born in the 30s. He’s seen every decade since. He’s been relevant in every decade since so we’re dealing with a lot of race stuff in this country and it’s important to tell the stories of the past,” Rashida said. “It’s the only way we can learn. It’s the only way we can change and evolve and this is the great way to do it.”
The film brought out Quincy’s friends, family and several important people from his past, including the original band from the Thriller album. Warren and Sarandos were seen chatting excitedly with each other about the film in the lobby of the theater before the premiere.
Rashida co-directed the film with Alan Hicks, who told THR the most exciting things he learned about her father while doing research on him.
“I would learn something every day because Rashida and I would work in the archives and just pour over all the material and you’d find out a new thing every day. For example, I found out that he was in the room with Miles Davis when he recorded Kind Of Blue. And then you found out that he had the first music that was ever played on the moon and that he made all of these discoveries like Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey.”
The film covers every decade in Quincy’s life, documenting both his professional successes and his personal struggles and culminates in his production of a television special to celebrate the opening of the National Museum of African American and Culture in Washington D.C., which featured appearances by Barack and Michelle Obama, Winfrey and John Legend.
The conclusion of the film was greeted with a long and sustained standing ovation for both the film and for Jones who was in attendance.
After the movie, guests headed over to the ballroom at the Neuehouse in Hollywood, where they enjoyed beef sliders, mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto and chicken meatballs and were entertained with a musical performance by R&B singer Lalah Hathaway, who at one point was accompanied by Michael Jackson’s musical director Greg Phillanganes while she sang Jackson’s hit “Human Nature.”
“I am constantly in awe of how much he’s managed to cram into a lifetime,” Rashida noted. “He’s not done. He’s 85 and he’s not done.”
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Check out Lovelyti’s video: Quincy Jones SPILLS ALL THE TEA on Richard Pryor, Marlon Brando, Michael Jackson & Ivanka Trump!!
Soon-Yi Previn Opens Up About Woody Allen, Claims Mia Farrow Abused Her
Soon-Yi Previn, Woody Allen’s wife, has broken her silence about her relationship with the controversial filmmaker and her early life with Allen’s former partner Mia Farrow.
Previn claims in a new interview with Vulture that Dylan Farrow’s allegations of molestation against Woody Allen are false, and that Mia Farrow abused Previn.
“Mia wasn’t maternal to me from the get-go,” Previn told Daphne Merkin, the author of the op-ed and a friend of Allen’s for four decades.
“I was never interested in writing a ‘Mommie Dearest,’ getting even with Mia — none of that,” Previn, who was adopted by Farrow and then-husband Andre Previn when she was six years old, said. “But what’s happened to Woody is so upsetting, so unjust. [Mia] has taken advantage of the #MeToo movement and paraded Dylan as a victim. And a whole new generation is hearing about it when they shouldn’t.”
She described the household of Farrow and Previn as volatile.
“She tried to teach me the alphabet with those wooden blocks. If I didn’t get them right, sometimes she’d throw them at me or down on the floor. Who can learn under that pressure?”
Previn asserted that a while she does have a “little learning disability,” which makes spelling difficult, Farrow would write words on her arms to get her to remember them, and hold her upside down for periods of time because “she thought — or she read it, God knows where she came up with the notion — that blood going to my head would make me smarter or something.” She said Farrow also slapped her and spanked her with a hairbrush.
A family spokesperson refuted all Previn’s claims of physical abuse, neglect, or showing favoritism to one child over another to Vulture.
Previn goes on to describe the beginning of her relationship with Allen, noting that the two were consenting adults at the time — she was 21. She says that in the beginning, neither thought the relationship would last, but over time, they grew closer.
“I’d meet someone in college, and that would be done,” Soon-Yi says of the relationship. “It only became a relationship really when we were thrown together because of the molestation charge.”
After Farrow found out about the affair by finding nude photos of Previn, Previn’s relationship with Farrow deteriorated even further.
“I remember the phone call when she found the photos,” Previn said. “I picked up the phone and Mia said, ‘Soon-Yi.’ That’s all she needed to say, in that chilling tone of voice. I knew my life was over and that she knew, just by the way she said my name. When she came home, she asked me about it, and I — survival instinct — denied it. And then she said, ‘I have photos.’ So I knew I was trapped. Of course, she slapped me, you know the way of things. And then she called everyone. She didn’t contain the situation; she just spread it like wildfire, and then she was screaming at Woody when he came over. Meanwhile, Dylan and Satchel [Ronan] are living under her roof and they are very small, 6 and 4 years old. They hear their mother going crazy, screaming in the middle of the night for hours.”
Previn expressed remorse for the effect the affair had on Farrow, calling it “a huge betrayal on both our parts, a terrible thing to do, a terrible shock to inflict on her.”
In August 1992, Dylan Farrow alleged that Allen had abused her, which Allen has denied and claimed Mia manipulated Dylan into doing. The allegations led to a much-publicized, drawn-out custody battle.
Allen’s sister, Letty Aronson, told Vulture that Mia told her around that time: “‘He took my daughter, I’m going to take his.’ I said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. [Dylan] loves Woody. A child should have a father.’ She said, ‘I don’t care.’”
Dylan tweeted a response to the Vulture (New York Magazine) op-ed shortly after it was published.
Farrow’s son Ronan, a journalist who has written numerous high-profile #MeToo exposes, also tweeted a statement condemning New York Magazine for running the “hit job” and defending his mother’s parenting.
Dylan also tweeted a statement from Mia Farrow’s other living children, with the exception of Moses Farrow, who gave Vulture an account of family life similar to Previn’s.
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The magical ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ trailer is here, dancing penguins and all
After a long wait, the official first trailer for Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns is finally here.
The trailer outlines the oddball nanny’s much needed visit to the grown up Banks children, who now have children of their own. In homage to the first movie, the trailer gives the world its first look at a half-animated, half live-action sequence featuring dancing penguins, underwater adventures, and a tap dance number performed by original cast member Dick Van Dyke. It’s a jolly holiday indeed.
Mary Poppins Returns hits theaters Dec. 19.
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Shout out to the 713: Beyonce gives fans rare look behind-the-scenes of Houston show
Fresh off two high-powered shows at NRG Stadium over the weekend with husband and rap mogul Jay-Z, Beyonce posted rare behind-the-scenes footage of the concert on Instagram.
The couple is currently on their On the Run II tour.
In the video, Queen Bey shared an intimate moment with the rapper backstage, with Jay-Z asking her, “You ready, B? Let’s go get ’em.”
Fans might also recognize the question from their duet “’03 Bonnie and Clyde,” one of their first hits together.
Beyonce also gives a shout out to her hometown of Houston in the video, mentioning the 713.
As expected, Bey and Jay drew some star-power to the show.
Astros ace Justin Verlander and his model wife Kate Upton caught the tour on Sunday after Verlander threw 11 strikeouts in seven innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Teammates Carlos Correa and fiancee Daniella Rodriguez, and Tony Kemp and his wife, Michelle, were also dancing in the crowd.
Backstage, former Houston Texan Andre Johnson cheesed with Jay-Z, while members of Houston rap royalty, including Bun B, Slim Thug and Paul Wall watched the throne with DJ Khaled, who is also part of the tour.
Even some ABC13 reporters were in the house.
For those who couldn’t score a ticket, they were left with some serious fear of missing out.
The show was also full of surprises for at least one fan who won a $100,000 scholarship from Beyonce and Jay-Z during DJ Khaled’s set Sunday night.
According to the Boys and Girls Clubs Houston, senior Alezae U. is a student at Galveston Ball High School. She will be the first person in her family to go to college.
If you couldn’t see them in Houston, you might consider going on a road trip. Beyonce and Jay-Z have a few days off before their next show Wednesday in Phoenix.
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Fan Bingbing: China’s Most Famous Actress Has Disappeared
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Imagine if one day Jennifer Lawrence was walking the red carpet in Los Angeles and the next she vanished completely with no word about where she was.
It might sound ludicrous, or terrifying, but it’s the reality in China, where one of the country’s most famous actresses has disappeared without a trace amid an uproar over tax evasion by celebrities.
Fan Bingbing, one of China’s highest-paid and most bankable stars, has appeared in both Chinese and Western films, including the multimillion-dollar X-Men franchise.
Across the country, her face once adorned thousands of advertisements, her star power used to sell a galaxy of luxury brands, from Cartier to Louis Vuitton. She was a regular sight at major award shows and fashion ceremonies. In 2015, Time Magazine named her China’s “most famous actress.”
But the film star hasn’t been seen in public since early June, when, according to a post on her verified social-media account, she went to visit a children’s hospital in Tibet.
In an article by state media Securities Daily on September 6, which was later deleted, the publication said Fan had been brought “under control and about to receive legal judgment.”
No official statement has been made as to Fan’s whereabouts, or any potential criminal charges against the actress.
However, in a country where top celebrities are forced to keep an inoffensive public profile to stay in the Chinese government’s good graces, people have drawn their own conclusions about the actress’ location.
“If you are a billionaire, then that is something that obviously you can enjoy to a certain extent, but you’ve got to be very, very wary that you don’t at any stage cross a red line of some sort and fall afoul of the Chinese Communist Party,” Fergus Ryan, a cyber analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told CNN.
In 2011, the country’s best-known artist, Ai Weiwei, was detained for almost three months during which time his whereabouts were unclear. He was later released after he signed a confession authorities described as being related to tax evasion.
Yin yang contracts
Fan’s purported problems began when alleged copies of a film contract she had signed were leaked onto China’s social media in late May.
According to state tabloid Global Times, she had two different contracts, one for tax purposes saying she was paid $1.5 million (10 million yuan) and a separate, private contract for $7.5 million (50 million yuan).
It’s a practice known in China as “yin-yang contracts,” a form of tax evasion where the first, smaller contract is reported to authorities while the second, larger one is treated as tax-free income.
The man behind the leak, Chinese TV host Cui Yongyuan, apologized in June to Fan for his actions, but the same month the State Administration of Taxation of China urged investigators to look into allegations of yin-yang contracts in the country’s film industry.
Fan’s team issued a furious denial at the time but the actress hasn’t been seen in public since the dispute.
In September, China’s Beijing Normal University released a report, lauded as the first “in the world” and heavily promoted in Chinese state media, which ranked the country’s stars by their level of “social responsibility.” Fan was ranked last, with a score of 0 out of 100.
A producer with a major Chinese studio told CNN the practice of having two contracts, one of them smaller to avoid paying too much tax, was “universal” in the film industry.
He said everyone was worried following Fan’s disappearance, especially because “almost every contract has some irregularities” and won’t stand up to a serious audit.
Like other industry insiders CNN spoke to, he declined to be named due to the political sensitivity of the topic.
Scaring celebrities into line
Jonathan Landreth, former Beijing-based Asia editor for the Hollywood Reporter and longtime observer of China’s entertainment industry, told CNN the Chinese Communist Party was treading a tricky line, keen to use high-profile celebrities to sell the “Chinese Dream,” but not wanting to promote the stark income divide.
“Maybe this is just scaring folk to … start paying taxes. If someone were to get busted, then I think it would send a ripple effect to how film production goes forward in the coming years,” Landreth said.
An executive in a foreign film studio’s China office told CNN the lack of A-list celebrities in China increased the bargaining power and earnings of a lucky few — high-profile performers like Fan.
But while cracking down on them might solve other problems, she said it wouldn’t help address the fundamental lack of talent across the Chinese film and television industries.
Combined with strict ideological control, such measures act only to create a “sad situation” in China’s creative industry, she said.
The controls, though, can only go so far. The Chinese government needs the high-profile celebrities to help drive commerce, both domestically and internationally, to promote China, said Landreth.
The crackdown may in fact be intended to solve a different problem facing authorities. “It has long been an open secret that a movie budget is a great place to hide money,” said Landreth.
The Communist Party’s leadership may hope that by shining a light on celebrity tax avoidance, it could deflect attention and avoid closer public scrutiny of the rumored corruption among top government officials and their families, Landreth told CNN.
Spreading ‘positive energy’
The Chinese Communist Party has long had an uncomfortable relationship with celebrities.
In recent years, state media has called on celebrities to spread “positive energy” on the internet. The threat of career-ending trouble with authorities has led the country’s stars to pay attention to the party’s wishes.
The result is a celebrity culture that has less in common with the salacious and controversial Hollywood familiar to the Western world. In China, celebrities often try to keep their reputations’ positive and inoffensive.
Australian analyst Ryan said when he lived in China, he worked with the publicity team for Chinese actress and singer Li Bingbing.
He encouraged Li to become more involved with environmental causes, including the United Nations Environment Program.
But Ryan said the team would never choose a cause, or take up a fight that was ahead of what the Communist Party was comfortable with, especially if it opposed current government policy.
“You would be foolish to go out ahead of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese authorities on issues and lead the way,” he said.
Despite the speculation and the concern, Ryan said it was possible the explanation for Fan’s disappearance was actually very simple.
“She possibly did something wrong … the evidence was put out there for all to see, I guess, in a way that put the authorities in a position where they had to come down hard on her,” he said.
Netflix’s Apostle trailer teases a bloody cult thriller from the director of The Raid
The year: 1905. The plight: Religious blood cults are kidnapping people. The solution: Dan Stevens, certified action hero.
In Apostle, a new film coming to Netflix in October, Stevens — best known for roles on Downton Abbey and Legion, but a proven skull-buster in the criminally underrated The Guest — teams up with The Raid director Gareth Evans for a unique twist on the religious psychodrama. The “twist” is somewhat literal: In the first trailer, we see cranks of a vise stretching out the spine, shackles wrapped around the wrists of prisoners, and a turn or two of a knife in the belly. Apostle promises a gruesome thriller that should scare and shock and further solidify the caliber of both actor and director.
Stevens plays Thomas Richardson, described in the film’s official synopsis as the “prodigal son,” who returns home to discover that his sister has been abducted by a religious sect living in solitude on a misty island. To retrieve her, Thomas travels to the remote location and embeds himself among the members, led by Prophet Malcolm (Michael Sheen). Thanks to bloodlust and the general evil of man, the rescue operation does … not go smoothly.
Written and directed by Evans, Apostle is “a harrowing occult fable where the only thing more horrifying than madness is the sinister reality behind it.” Fans of puritanical action-horror like Black Death, Solomon Kane, The Wicker Man or even Tom Hardy’s Taboo should immediately cue this one up.
Apostle hits Netflix on Oct. 12.
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What’s Coming and Going From Netflix the Week of September 17, 2018
I’m most excited this week about a weird limited series called Maniac from Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation, True Detective, It). Emma Stone and Jonah Hill star as patients in a “mindbending pharmaceutical trial gone awry.” It looks like they hallucinate themselves into a lot of wacky situations, allowing for lots of different costumes, wigs and prosthetics, which is always a good time.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least point out that Tony Danza and Josh Groban star as a father-son duo in The Good Cop. Tony’s the “crooked but kindhearted dad,” Josh plays a “pathologically honest detective.” What hijinks could possibly ensue?
Arriving This Week
A * denotes a Netflix original. Links go to Netflix trailers and watch pages.
Monday, September 17
- The Witch
Tuesday, September 18
- American Horror Story: Cult
- D.L. Hughley: Contrarian*
Friday, September 21
- Battlefish*
- DRAGON PILOT: Hisone & Masotan*
- Hilda*
- Maniac: Limited Series*
- Nappily Ever After*
- Quincy*
- The Good Cop*
Sunday, September 23
- The Walking Dead: Season 8
Leaving This Week
Nothing’s leaving this week!
Article via: What’s Coming and Going From Netflix the Week of September 17, 2018
Trial begins Monday for Chicago officer accused of murdering black teen
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The trial of white Chicago policeman Jason Van Dyke, accused of murder in the 2014 shooting of a black teen, was set to begin on Monday in a decisive case for race relations and policing in the United States’ third-largest city.
A soundless dashboard camera video released in 2015 showed police gunning down 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. It spurred protests, fed a national debate over the use of excessive force by police against minorities and led to the ousting of local officials.
The officer, now 40, opted for a jury trial on Friday following the selection of a 12-person jury and five alternate jurors.
The jury of four men and eight women includes seven white people, three Hispanic people, one black person and one Asian person, based on appearances, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Opening statements were expected later on Monday.
Van Dyke’s attorney, Daniel Herbert, on Monday morning asked Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan to dismiss the jurors, saying “the negative and inflammatory rhetoric” surrounding the case had made it impossible for them to be impartial, but the judge rejected that argument. Gaughan also denied a defense motion to move the trial out of Chicago.
Van Dyke, who was suspended without pay after he was first charged in 2015, pleaded not guilty to murder and has said he felt threatened by McDonald.
McDonald was armed with a knife when he was shot. Van Dyke faces six counts of first-degree murder, 16 counts of aggravated battery – the same number of times prosecutors say McDonald was shot – and one count of official misconduct. Van Dyke is the first Chicago police officer to face a murder charge for an on-duty incident in decades.
The deaths of mostly unarmed black men at the hands of police officers across the United States in recent years have led to protests and sometimes violence in major U.S. cities. The killings, some of which were captured on video, helped give rise to the Black Lives Matter movement and became an issue in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.
The video, released by the city more than a year after the shooting in response to a freedom of information lawsuit, sparked days of protests in Chicago. Former Chicago police Superintendent and mayoral hopeful Garry McCarthy was fired, voters ousted the prosecutor who charged Van Dyke, and activists called for the resignation of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Emanuel said on Sept. 4 he would not seek a third term after facing widespread criticism over his handling of the city’s gun violence. He did not specifically cite McDonald in his announcement.
A U.S. Department of Justice investigation that began after the video’s release found that Chicago police routinely violated people’s civil rights, citing excessive force and racially discriminatory conduct.
Three Chicago Police Department officers were indicted in June 2017 for conspiring to cover up McDonald’s shooting. They have not yet been tried.
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Ariana Grande: Tribute to Ex-BF Mac Miller
Ariana Grande is looking for ways to deal with Mac Miller‘s death, and one way she found is to embrace her ex-boyfriend’s own words.
Ariana posted a tribute to Mac Saturday, saying she was listening to one of the cuts from his album, Swimming.
The track — “Ladders” — has the lyric, “Somehow we gotta find a way/no matter how many miles it takes.”
Grande posted the artwork from the album, but added storm clouds … clearly for emotional effect.
TMZ broke the story … Mac died of an apparent OD earlier this month. He had been with friends the night before he died and law enforcement believes drugs took his life.
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Watch: The Music World Mourns Mac Miller+ Ariana Grande Turns Off Her IG Comments