Coming Soon
Out this week:
* Albums
- Hardwired... to Self-Destruct by Metallica: Tenth album by the heavy metal band, their first in eight years since Death Magnetic (2008); includes the singles ‘Hardwired’, ‘Moth Into Flame’, and ‘Atlas, Rise!’.
- Glory Days by Little Mix: Fourth album by The X Factor UK eighth series winners; comes after 2015’s Get Weird; led by the single ‘Shout Out to My Ex’ and includes the song ‘Oops’ (featuring Charlie Puth).
- Also out this week: DNCE, the debut album by Joe Jonas’s band DNCE; 24K Magic, the third album by R&B singer Bruno Mars; and The Weight of These Wings, country singer Miranda Lambert’s sixth release.
* Movies
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (starring Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler) - fantasy, Harry Potter spinoff, first instalment in a five film series; follows the adventures of Newt Scamander (Redmayne) in the wizarding world of New York, seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.
- Nocturnal Animals (starring Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal) - drama, based on Austin Wright’s 1993 novel Tony and Susan; an art gallery owner (Adams) is haunted by a violent thriller written by her ex-husband (Gyllenhaal).
- Bleed for This (starring Miles Teller, Katey Sagal, Aaron Eckhart) - biographical drama, based on the life of former world champion boxer Vinny Pazienza; a boxer (Teller) refuses to retire after a near-fatal accident leaves him severely injured.
Celeb Tweets
- Seth MacFarlane (SethMacFarlane): Ain’t nowhere to go from here but President Kim Kardashian.
- Jordan Peele (JordanPeele): Turns out: Beyonce and Jay-Z aren’t in the Illuminati.
- Ricky Gervais (rickygervais): I guess Brexit doesn’t seem so bad now.
- David Baddiel (Baddiel): On a positive note, he is 70 and the campaign was very stressful.
Star
Nasim Pedrad
- Born on 18 November 1981 in Tehran, Iran.
- Has a younger sister, Nina.
- Family immigrated to the U.S. in 1984.
- Graduated from UCLA School of Theatre in 2003.
- Was a performer with the Sunday Company of comedy troupe The Groundlings.
- Made her television debut with an appearance in an episode of Gilmore Girls (2006) before getting a recurring role on ER (2007 - 2009).
- Gained recognition after joining the cast of Saturday Night Live (2009 - 2014).
- Left SNL to star in the short-lived sitcom Mulaney (2014 - 2015).
- Has since starred in the first season of Scream Queens (2015) and had a recurring role on New Girl (2015 - present).
- Is fluent in Farsi.
Also born today: Jake Abel, Chloë Sevigny, Megyn Kelly, Mike Epps, Owen Wilson, Steven Moffat, Elizabeth Perkins, Margaret Atwood
Spotlight
Doctor Strange
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton
Director: Scott Derrickson
Tagline: Open your mind. Change your reality.
- Action; after a career-ending car accident, a neurosurgeon (Cumberbatch) is drawn into the world of the mystic arts.
- Origin story of the Marvel Comics character; the fourteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Had a budget of $165 million; has made around $345 million in a week.
- Has received generally positive reviews from critics who found the film fresh and entertaining.
- Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm, Jake Gyllenhaal, Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell, Ewan McGregor, Keanu Reeves, and Johnny Depp were among the actors who were rumoured to be considered for the titular role.
- Morgan Freeman, Bill Nighy, and Ken Watanabe were considered for the role of The Ancient One that eventually went to Tilda Swinton.
- Score composed by Michael Giacchino.
- Is likely to be followed by a sequel.