Coming Soon
Out this week
* Albums
- Pollinator by Blondie: Eleventh album by the rock band, their first new release since Ghosts of Download (2014); includes the songs ‘Doom or Destiny’ (featuring Joan Jett), ‘When I Gave Up on You’ (featuring The Gregory Brothers), ‘Love Level’ (featuring John Roberts), and ‘Tonight’ (featuring Laurie Anderson).
* Movies
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker) - action, sequel to the 2014 film; the team continues its adventures while unravelling the mystery of Peter Quill’s (Pratt) parentage.
- The Lovers (starring Debra Winger, Tracy Letts) - comedy; a divorcing couple (Winger and Letts) unexpectedly rekindle their relationship.
- Three Generations (starring Naomi Watts, Elle Fanning, Susan Sarandon) - drama; a teenager (Fanning) decides to transition from female to male.
Star
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins
- Born on 5th May 1988 in Tottenham, London, England.
- Parents split when she was a child. Was raised by her mother. Is estranged from her father.
- Graduated from the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in 2006; was a classmate of Leona Lewis and Jessie J.
- Was discovered after her demo was posted on MySpace by her friend, which led to a recording deal.
- Released her breakthrough song, ‘Hometown Glory’, in 2007, and her debut album, 19 (2008) the following year. Has since released two more albums, 21 (2011) and 25 (2015), all named for her age at the time of writing the songs.
- Has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the best selling artists in the world.
- Has won numerous accolades, including nine Brit Awards, an Oscar, a Golden Globe Award, and fifteen Grammies.
- Cites the Spice Girls as a major musical influence.
- Married entrepreneur Simon Konecki this year. They have a son (born 2012).
- Has a fear of flying.
Also born today: Henry Cavill, Craig David, John Rhys-Davies, Michael Palin
Celeb Tweets
- Stephen Colbert (StephenAtHome): Obama is reportedly receiving $400K for his first private speaking gig. Wow! It’s so weird to know something about a president’s finances.
- John Hodgman (hodgman): It’s a lightning storm but at first I thought it was my neighbor taking creepy 5 AM selfies with a flash.
- Kumail Nanjiani (kumailn): Humanity peaked with french fries. We’ll never beat that.
Spotlight
The Fate of the Furious
Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Scott Eastwood, Nathalie Emmanuel, Elsa Pataky, Kurt Russell, Charlize Theron
Director: F. Gary Gray
Tagline: The ride isn’t over.
- Action; a cyber-terrorist (Theron) manipulates Dom (Diesel) into committing various crimes.
- Is the eighth instalment in The Fast and the Furious franchise.
- Had a budget of $250 million; has made $1 billion in around two weeks.
- Has received mixed reviews, with critics deeming it one of the weaker chapters in the popular series.
- Diesel and Johnson had a feud while working on the movie, but eventually resolved their issues before the filming wrapped up.
- Is the second film in the franchise - after The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) - to not feature Paul Walker. His character was retired following his death in 2013.
- Score composed by Brian Tyler.
- Is set to be followed by the two remaining films in the franchise, the first of which, tentatively titled Fast & Furious 9, is scheduled to be out in April 2019.