COMING SOON
Out this week
* Albums
- Dearly Beloved by Daughtry: Sixth album by the American rock band, their first studio release since Cage to Rattle (2018); includes the singles ‘World on Fire’ and ‘Heavy Is the Crown’.
- Montero by Lil Nas X: Debut album by the American rapper; includes the singles ‘Montero (Call Me by Your Name)’, ‘Sun Goes Down’, and ‘Industry Baby’.
* Movies
- The Starling (starring Melissa McCarthy, Chris O’Dowd, Kevin Kline, Timothy Olyphant) – comedy drama; a grief-stricken woman (McCarthy) becomes comically obsessed with getting rid of a combative starling that has nested in her backyard, and ends up discovering her will to live.
- Prisoners of the Ghostland (starring Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella, Bill Moseley) – action; a notorious criminal (Cage) must break an evil curse in order to rescue a girl who has disappeared into a dark supernatural universe.
- Best Sellers (starring Michael Caine, Aubrey Plaza, Scott Speedman, Ellen Wong) – comedy drama; a cranky author (Caine) reluctantly embarks on a final book tour to help a young publisher.
- The Eyes of Tammy Faye (starring Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Cherry Jones, Vincent D’Onofrio) – biographical drama; tells the story of controversial televangelists Tammy Faye Bakker (Chastain) and Jim Bakker (Garfield).
Star
Mena Massoud
- Born on 17th September 1991 in Cairo, Egypt.
- Has two older sisters.
- Family immigrated to Canada when he was three years old.
- Made his screen debut in 2011 with guest appearances in television series.
- Had recurring roles in series like Open Heart (2015) and Jack Ryan (2018) before gaining widespread recognition for portraying the titular role in the film Aladdin in 2019.
- Has since starred in films including Strange but True (2019) and Run This Town (2020) as well as the series Reprisal (2019).
- Upcoming projects include the romance film The Royal Treatment.
- Is a vegan.
- Is fluent in Arabic.
Celeb Tweets
- Tammy Golden (tammygolden): Not to be a grammar nazi, but people keep saying “I climbed Everest” when it should be “I climbed the most ever.”
- Julius Sharpe (juliussharpe): If the TV industry ran music, we’d also have ‘Big Red Corvette’, ‘Material Guy’, and ‘Oops I Did it Again, Again’.
Spotlight
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Cast: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kingsley, Tony Leung
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Tagline: A Marvel legend will rise.
- Action; a skilled martial artist (Liu) is forced to confront his past after he is drawn into his father’s disruptive organization.
- Is the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Had been in development since 2001 but finally started taking shape in 2018.
- In the late 1980s, Stan Lee had considered a potential film or TV series about Shang-Chi – who was visually based on martial arts legend Bruce Lee in the comic book series – with Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee’s son) in the lead role. The plan did not materialize.
- Had an estimated budget of $150-200 million. Has grossed nearly $160 million in around a week.
- Has received positive reviews, with critics praising the cast, Asian representation, and action sequences.
- Score composed by Joel P. West.