Coming Soon
Out this week
* Albums
- Raise Vibration by Lenny Kravitz: Eleventh album by the American singer; comes after 2014’s Strut; includes the singles ‘It’s Enough!’ and ‘Low’.
- Ruby by Macy Gray: Tenth album by the R&B singer, the follow-up to 2016’s Stripped; includes the songs ‘Over You’, ‘Tell Me’, ‘When It Ends’, ‘Jealousy’, and ‘Witness’.
* Movies
- Peppermint (starring Jennifer Garner, John Gallagher Jr., John Ortiz) – thriller; a young mother seeks vigilante justice after corrupt officials let her family’s killers walk free.
- The Nun (starring Demián Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Charlotte Hope) – horror, spin-off of 2016’s The Conjuring 2; a priest (Bichir) and a novice (Farmiga) are sent by the Vatican to investigate the mysterious suicide of a nun.
- Destination Wedding (starring Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves) – romantic comedy; two strangers invited to a friend’s wedding develop mutual affection.
Celeb Tweets
- Mark Hoppus (markhoppus): The most unbelievable part of Die Hard is that gas at AM/PM is only 75¢ a gallon.
- Nick Frost (nickjfrost): No one prepared me for just how many different creams I’d be using in my late forties.
- Conan O'Brien (ConanOBrien): I just tried out a new flight simulator that’s so realistic, I spent the whole 2 hours grounded at JFK.
Spotlight
Crazy Rich Asians
Cast: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Harry Shum Jr., Ken Jeong
Director: Jon M. Chu
Tagline: The only thing crazier than love is family.
- Romantic comedy; a native New Yorker of Asian descent (Wu) goes to Singapore to meet her boyfriend’s (Golding) family who turn out to be very wealthy.
- Is based on Kevin Kwan’s 2013 novel of the same name.
- Is the first film by a major Hollywood studio to feature a majority Asian American cast in a contemporary setting since The Joy Luck Club in 1993.
- Generated controversy for casting non-Chinese lead actors as Chinese Singaporean characters.
- Had a budget of $30 million; has made over $130 million.
- Has received positive reviews from critics who found the film visually impressive and appealing despite its formulaic love story.
- Score composed by Brian Tyler.
- Is likely to be followed by a sequel which will be based on the original book’s 2015 sequel China Rich Girlfriend.
Star
Evan Rachel Wood
- Born on 7th September 1987 in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
- Has three brothers, Ira, Dana, and Thomas, and a sister, Aden.
- Parents divorced when she was a child.
- Appeared in theatre productions as a kid.
- Was awarded a black belt in taekwondo when she was 12.
- Began her career with made-for-television films in 1994, subsequently appearing in several television series, including American Gothic (1995 – 1996) and Once and Again (1999 – 2002).
- Gained prominence for starring in the film Thirteen (2003).
- Currently stars in the sci-fi Western series Westworld (2016 – present).
- Upcoming projects include an untitled crime drama film that is expected to be released next year.
- Is part of the electro-pop duo Rebel and a Basketcase, which she formed with multi-instrumentalist Zach Villa in 2016.
- Was married to actor Jamie Bell from 2012 to 2014; they have a son, Jack (born in 2013) together.
Also born today: Shannon Elizabeth, Tom Everett Scott, Toby Jones, Eazy-E, Chrissie Hynde