Georgina Stewart, Author at Music Observer

Dakota Johnson Narrates Impact of Horrifying Gift from Alfred Hitchcock to Her Mother

Georgina Stewart on July 1, 2022

When she was just a young girl, Melanie Griffith received the most petrifying gift from Alfred Hitchcock, a director famous for molding horror film history and supposedly damaging the career of her mother, Tippi Hedren.

“What happened with my grandmother was horrific because Hitchcock was a tyrant,” said Dakota Johnson, Griffith’s daughter, told Vanity Fair. “He was talented and prolific – and important in terms of art – but power can poison people.”

In a recent Vanity Fair cover story, Johnson revealed that her family was forever pained by Hitchcock’s venom, particularly a horrifying Christmas gift the filmmaker allegedly handed Griffith when she was a child: A miniature replica of Hedren in a tiny coffin.

“It’s alarming and dark and really, really sad for that little girl,” said Johnson of her mother. “Really scary.”

Hedren and Hitchcock’s professional ties were vividly portrayed in HBO’s 2012 film, where Hedren and Hitchcock were portrayed by Sienna Miller and Toby Jones, respectively, during the making of The Birds in the 1960s.

The film, directed by Julian Jarrold, documents the duo’s toxicity when working together, which significantly impacted Hedren’s future work.

According to Johnson, she watched a film screening with Hedren, which instilled a lasting impression on her.

“We sat at HBO, my family, and watched that movie together,” Johnson revealed.

“It was one of those moments where just like, how could you not have warned us? We’re in a room with some execs. Maybe this warranted a little conversation beforehand? You look over, and you see a woman who’s just been reminded of everything she went through, and it was heartbreaking. She was an amazing actress, and he stopped her from having a career.”

Griffith revealed in 2012, guesting on Jimmy Kimmel Live, that she indeed got the doll Johnson mentioned in the Vanity Fair story, which she said was donning “the green suit and the hair in the French twist” that Hedren wore in The Birds.

“Can you imagine the psychological effect?” she queried Kimmel. “[Hitchcock] was really weird. He was a really weird guy.”

She then talked to Kimmel about The Girl; however, she described it as a “really wonderful” project.

Kate Winslet to Star in New Limited Series in HBO

Georgina Stewart on July 1, 2022

Photo: Time

Kate Winslet has been confirmed to star in one more limited series for HBO.

The multi-award-winning actress has been confirmed to play a role in Trust and will be an executive producer.

The show is based on Hernan Diaz’s best-selling novel. It follows a wealthy financier who reads a novel inspired by his life; however, he is unhappy with how he and his wife, the daughter of unconventional aristocrats, are characterized.

Later, she discovers that he’s attempting to rewrite his history and his wife’s role. The show, which navigates wealth and talent, trust and intimacy, and reality and perception, will also be executive produced by Diaz.

The show is the third collaboration between Winslet and HBO, where she has previously been featured in Mare of Easttown as a detective who probes a fatal murder in her hometown, Pennsylvania.

In 2011, Winslet won an Emmy Award for her outstanding performance as a mother in Mildred Pierce. Her two previous roles had earned her Emmys for the outstanding lead actress category.

We will see Winslet in James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water. Other titles are Naya Legend of the Golden Dolphin, Lee, and Fake!

Diaz published his first popular novel in 2017 – In the Distance. It became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He was also nominated for the Whiting Award.

Cameron Diaz Returns After Retirement Due to Jamie Foxx

Georgina Stewart on June 30, 2022

Photo: NME

Cameron Diaz is back in the headlines.

The actress has announced that she is getting back to action four years after retirement. The film will be titled Back In Action.

It has been reported that Diaz is starring alongside Jamie Foxx, making this their third film together since 2014’s Annie adaptation (Diaz’s last movie before retiring) and 1999’s Any Given Sunday.

“Jamie Foxx, only you could get me back in action!!!” Diaz said in her Instagram Story. “I can’t frickin’ wait; it’s gonna be a blast!”

Foxx took to Twitter to break the news on Wednesday, along with an audio recording of his phone call with Diaz. The 49-year-old star, on the call, states that she is thrilled to come back to acting; however, she isn’t quite sure how to go about “un-retiring.”

Fortunately, Tom Brady knew what to do when he saw an opportunity. The former NFL star retired from football early this year and went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a month later. So, Foxx included him in the call for some tips for Diaz.

“I was talking to Jamie, and he said you need a few tips on how to un-retire,” Brady said in the phone call with Diaz, “I’m relatively successful at un-retiring.”

But just before we hear more from him, the recording ends.

Back in Action will have Seth Gordon as director, who co-wrote the script with Brendan O’Brien. Executive producers include Foxx, O’Brien, Datari Turner, and Mark McNair, alongside producers Gordon and Beau Bauman. No release date has been announced yet.

Diaz appeared in EW’s Sweetest Thing reunion in 2018 with Christina Applegate and Selma Blair. There, she disclosed that she was “actually retired” from acting. After a few years, she told Kevin Hart in Hart to Heart that she feels “whole” following her decision.

“When you do something at a really high level for a really long period of time, there’s a lot that – when you’re the person who’s sort of delivering on this one thing, you’re the person on the screen, you’re the person who’s ‘the talent’ – everything around you, all parts of you that isn’t that, has to be handed off to other people,” she stated.

“It’s fun to do, I love it, I love acting. I feel like I was really lucky because I had people I worked with for 20 years who I know they have my best interest, but for me, I just really wanted to make my life manageable by me. My routine in a day is literally what I can manage to do by myself.”

Stars of The Umbrella Academy Discusses Cliffhanger of Season 3

Georgina Stewart on June 30, 2022

Photo: Starsready

The Umbrella Academy has always ended its seasons on cliffhangers. The first season concluded with the end of the world, and the second season ended by presenting the Sparrow Academy. Now the third season has taken the Hargreeves family to a whole new dilemma.

Besting their Sparrow versions, the siblings seem to have restored the world to its proper register.

But one thing seems to be missing: Their powers are no longer existent. Number Five’s (Aidan Gallagher) power to jump through time and space is gone. Likewise, Diego (David Castañeda) can no longer bend objects to his own accord – even spinning a knife is a flop for him.

Producer Steve Blackman wants audiences to contemplate whether this new state is “a gift or a curse” given by their adoptive dad, Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore).

“I think it depends on the siblings,” Gallagher says in an interview on EW’s Around the Table video show. “Who’s going to end up wrestling with this reality versus accept it and try to cut out a semblance of a normal life?”

Numerous cast members see their characters being significantly shocked by the sudden disappearance of their powers – like Klaus (Robert Sheehan), who merely mastered his immortality, and Lila (Ritu Arya), who can imitate everyone’s abilities.

“I think Lila’s confidence heavily relies on her power to mimic everyone’s powers,” Arya states. “I would be really interested to see her without that and if she’d be as uninhibited or aloof – or just very clumsy and bumping into walls.”

Yet, Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) had already experienced being powerless in season 2 when she didn’t have her voice and appeared to enjoy it. Her power to alter reality with her voice is very tempting – we saw it when she used it in season 3 to harass Luther (Tom Hopper) sexually.

“She fell in love with that version of herself,” Raver-Lampman states.

“Without her powers, she was starting to love the woman she was becoming, and discovering other sides of herself that she didn’t know existed because she had come to rely on the easiest way in or out of situations with her powers. Her time in the ’60s with Ray is this bubble of quiet that she’d never had before… There’s a part of me that thinks she would be okay without it because it did seem easier for her personal life when she didn’t have them.”

The Umbrella Academy has been one of Netflix’s most popular shows, but there is still no news on whether or not it will have a season 4. Unfortunately, this new situation could be the show’s ending.

The disappearance of their powers could finally enable the family’s relationship to be on center stage.

“I wish Luther and Diego find themselves working in a theme park,” says Castañeda.

“Some of us should open a bakery,” Gallagher continues. ‘A couple of us running a shop? Could be fun!”

Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy is now available on Netflix.

Billie Eilish and Finneas Secures Invitation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences

Georgina Stewart on June 30, 2022

Photo: Radio Net

The talented songwriting team of Billie Eilish and Finneas have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

The list of invitees to this year’s Academy Awards was released on Tuesday, and it includes 397 people, including actors, directors, musicians, producers, film editors, and more.

Eilish and Finneas were in the lead in the music category of invitees after they earned the Oscar for Best Original Song for “No Time to Die.” The win made Eilish the youngest person to snag the “triple crown” of film music with “No Time to Die”: an Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe.

In the music industry, composers Hesham Nazih, Ariel Rose Marx, Jacobo Lieberman, Nathan Johnson, Natalie Holt, Leo Heiblum, Lili Hadyn, and Amie Doherty are also invited to participate in the Academy.

Meanwhile, other individuals from other categories count actors Troy Kotsur (CODA), Jamie Dornan (Belfast), Arian DeBose (West Side Story), and Anya Taylor-Joy (Last Night in Soho), writer-directors Sian Harries Heder (CODA) and Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car).

Eilish made music history at the Glastonbury festival last weekend as she became the youngest artist to headline the fest.

“As ever, Billie’s greatest strength has been embracing the road less well-trodden and bringing the weirdness into the mainstream, not watering it down for the general public,” said Thomas Smith of NME, giving a four-star review of her Pyramid Stage performance.

“Tonight’s show felt like proof that the future is here, and Glastonbury’s future remains rock-solid for the next half-century if they continue to trust their guts and push things forward.”

Ahead of the performance, Eilish was interviewed by NME for the cover story last week, admitting that she feels “so honored to be a part of” the festival.

Kesha Tours in Haunted Houses With Her Crew

Georgina Stewart on June 30, 2022

Photo: Goalcast

Kesha sees her touring team as a family and treats them as one. Hence, as a family, making them as uncomfortable as possible is not an issue. Sometimes, that implies dodging luxury five-star hotels for “haunted houses.”

The singer-songwriter made an appearance at SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live to announce the promotion of her latest TV show Conjuring Kesha on Discovery+. In addition, she took the time to share a few of her spooky touring schemes.

“When I go on tour, the band and dancers are like, ‘Let’s stay at the W,’ and I’m like, ‘Nope, we’re going to Amarillo, Texas. And we’re staying in a haunted whorehouse, and they’re like, ‘You’re such a bitch,’” Kesha reveals to Cohen.

She further said, “But I love it, ‘cause I basically am going on a road trip. When you go on tour, you go on a road trip.

“And I’m really good friends with my entire crew. So, then I make us all camp and look for aliens or, like, stop at haunted whorehouses.”

The pop star’s interest in aliens and haunted houses is completely documented, thanks to her Kesha and the Creepies podcast, where she navigates concepts of the occult, urban legends, psychedelic art, astrology, and the like.

“I have had so many experiences in this incarnation that I just can’t ignore or explain, and I’ve always been fascinated by supernatural subjects, the unexplainable, and people exploring alternative thought and lifestyles,” she said in a previous interview with EW.

“The creepy and unexplainable is what keeps life magic, so let’s talk about it.”

Cohen raised a question to Kesha: Whether her dancers are okay with all these weird habits. To which she said they were aware of what they signed up for.

“My dancers have been with me for 12 years, honey, if they did not like it, they could have gone,” she stated. “They love it because I’m a crazy motherf—er.”

Chris Pratt, a Huge Member of HCC, Claims to be a Non-Chris

Georgina Stewart on June 29, 2022

Photo: Deseret

One of Hollywood’s most elite clubs, the Hollywood Chris Club (HCC), has an itemized membership list that includes some of today’s biggest stars. Members like Chris Pratt are famous for the organization, both Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth are co-chairman and Chris Pine enjoys a life-long seat on the security council.

These pretty men have dominated the cinematic industry; however, it turns out that an impostor was stealthily taking up space in their ranks.

Pratt said in an interview with SiriusXM’s Pop Culture Spotlight with Jessica Shaw that he is a non-Chris person to those who really know him.

“What do they call you?” Shaw asked the actor. “Pratt?”

“Yep. Pratt. CP. You know, CP. ‘Hey, CP,'” Pratt, or CP, responded.

“But no one calls me Chris. My friend, Chad. I went golfing with my friend, Chad, my pastor, the other day, and he was like, ‘No one calls you Chris? I’m gonna call you Chris. Alright, Chris. You’re up.’ And I was like, ‘No, it feels weird. It’s not my name. Don’t call me Chris.'”

But, to be perfectly clear, his name is actually Chris.

So, an HCC minus one Chris should mean that the Chris organization has an opening. Evans and Hemsworth, two pretty Marvel Chrises, remain in the HCC, as well as Pine, your Chris in the universe of DC and Star Trek.

Chris Messina shone out from the other Chrises when he flaunted his dance moves on The Mindy Project, dancing to Aaliyah’s “Try Again” choreography. And then, the time when Messina displayed his range and went blond, making the internet lose their minds.

Rina Sawayama Drops Latest Single ‘Catch Me in the Air’

Georgina Stewart on June 28, 2022

Photo: Pitchfork

Japanese-British Rina Sawayama has released a new single from her upcoming album, Hold the Girl. “Catch Me in Air” is written to pay homage to her mother, who raised her as a single mom.

“I really wanted to write about this weird relationship with single parents,” Sawayama said about the single. “You do catch each other in the air.”

The visuals for the new single are amazing. They show footage of Sawayama playing live, which fans submitted to make it even more special.

“Catch Me in the Air” is written by Sawayama, with Oscar Scheller, Gracey, Clarence Clarity, and Stuart Price. They wrote it “in-between lockdowns,” according to the musician.

“I wanted the whole song to sound like it was on an Irish coastline, like a Corrs video. We put in a key change to go into the chorus at the end of the pre-chorus to make it lift and soar like a bird. I then worked on it more with Clarence before taking it to Stuart Price,” she said.

“This was the first song that Stuart and I worked on together, and it was the most incredible experience. I’m such a huge fan of his work with Madonna and Kylie, so it was a dream come true. We would send each other stock images of coastlines, people doing yoga on a pier, meditating in the middle of a field, hay bales, etc., to get inspired sonically,” she continued.

Gwen Stefani is an inspiration to many people, including Sawayama, she said in an interview with Zane Lowe.

“I was like, ‘Why don’t we just pretend to write for Gwen,” she stated.

“But after that, I was like, ‘Ooh, I’m so about pre-chorus key changes at the moment. So, I think it was going into the chorus or maybe even going into the pre-chorus. But anyway, I was like, ‘Oscar, come up with a key change, please.’ And he was racking his brains because doing a key change is really hard… and what’s harder than an obvious key change is a really subtle key change.”

Hold the Girl will be released on September 2nd through Dirty Hit. Last month, Sawayama revealed her album to fans alongside its lead single, “This Hell.”

Carol Burnett to Appear in Better Call Saul Finale

Georgina Stewart on June 28, 2022

Photo: Page Six

Carol Burnett stars in the final episodes of Better Call Saul, says AMC on Monday.

No more details were disclosed about the guest appearance of the actress/comedian, apart from the fact that she will play a character called Marion.

Burnett, who is a multi-award-winning actress with six Emmys, confessed her love for Breaking Bad and its prequel, Saul.

In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel years ago, Burnett said, “I’m crazy about anything [Bad and Saul overload] Vince Gilligan writes.” The actress was present on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Bob Odenkirk in April. She has also been referred to in season 2 by Chuck (Michael McKean), Jimmy’s brother.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of my favorite show,” said Burnett regarding her guest appearance.

Evidently, the final season’s second half already has several expected guests: Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will return their Breaking Bad characters – Walt and Jesse.

Saul’s midseason finale sees Jimmy (Odenkirk) and Kim’s (Rhea Seehorn) scheme going sideways, with Lalo (Tony Dalton) murdering Howard (Patrick Fabian), menacingly connecting the lives of the lawyers and the cartel.

“A lot of this story is the story of unintended consequences,” said co-creator Peter Gould in a recent interview with EW. “The consequences are just beginning, let’s put it that way.”

The first among the six final episodes drops on July 11.

Olivia Rodrigo is ‘Devastated and Terrified’ about Supreme Court Ruling Over Women Abortion Rights

Georgina Stewart on June 28, 2022

Photo: Yahoo

Musicians from all over have come together in response to the recent court decision that could potentially risk reproductive rights for women. Olivia Rodrigo and Lily Allen criticized the ruling with a song.

Saturday was an epic day for Rodrigo. She performed at the Glastonbury Festival and even got on stage to sing a flaming version of Allen’s 2009 famed “F— You.”

“I’m devastated and terrified that so many women and so many girls are going to die because of this,” the hit singer stated. “I wanted to dedicate this next song to the five members of the Supreme Court who have showed us that at the end of the day, they truly don’t give a s— about freedom.”

Allen pointed her middle finger at Rodrigo while he mentioned the names of five different Supreme Court Justices – Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh.

“We hate you!” she shouted ahead of her, and Allen started her song.

Rodrigo presented Allen to the crowd in amazing terms, calling her “the most incredible songwriter, the most incredible artist, the most incredible person.”

The two singers were not alone in their criticism of the Supreme Court’s verdict for dropping federal protections on abortion rights that were installed 50 years ago. Phoebe Bridgers ushered the crowd during her performance on Friday to chant “f— the Supreme Court.”

Lizzo revealed on Friday that she and Live Nation would team up to donate $500,000 each to Planned Parenthood and the National Network of Abortion Funds.

Rage Against the Machine vowed to allocate its earnings from two concerts in Wisconsin and Illinois – they have raised $475,000 thus far – to reproductive health care in those states.

Many more have expressed their protest against the decision.