November 4, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Melinda Sue Gordon; ©2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.(LONDON) — Director Christopher Nolan broke his silence on Tenet‘s post-pandemic performance in an interview published in the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday.

The thriller was delayed by the pandemic’s shuttering of movie theaters in the States, but the filmmaker was steadfast that the Warner Bros. film starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson get a theatrical bow and not be shunted to streaming services.

Nolan says he was “thrilled” with the film’s nearly $350 million worldwide gross, but worries major studios got the wrong message. “Rather than looking at where the film has worked well and how that can provide them with much needed revenue, they’re looking at where it hasn’t lived up to pre-COVID expectations and will start using that as an excuse to make exhibition take all the losses from the pandemic instead of getting in the game and adapting — or rebuilding our business, in other words,” he explained.

Nolan added, “Long term, moviegoing is a part of life, like restaurants and everything else. But right now, everybody has to adapt to a new reality.”

By George Costantino and Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

November 4, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Walt Disney Records(NEW YORK) — People can’t seem to get enough of Frozen II.  Case in point, the sequel’s soundtrack has officially shattered a record achieved by the first movie. The Frozen II soundtrack, released November 2019, has spent nearly a year on the Billboard Soundtracks chart. 

Featuring the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Evan Rachel Wood and Jonathan Groff, the album has shown itself on the Billboard list for 45 nonconsecutive weeks.  Not only that, the album never slipped below second place during its nearly yearlong run.

Either way, this feat puts the original Frozen soundtrack’s impressive chart record on ice.   

The 2013 album for the first Frozen movie, which featured the smash-hit single “Let It Go,” made a 44-week run on the Soundtrack’s chart.

As for the Frozen II soundtrack’s impressive show at the top of the chart, it now ties with two other albums for having the third most weeks in the number one spot.  Frozen 2 now ties with 2001’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? and 2017’s The Greatest Showman for notching 34 weeks in the top position.

Those three albums also bowed on the Billboard 200, which tracks all album sales regardless of genre.

While the Frozen II soundtrack has outperformed the original Frozen on the charts, it still has ways to go before it comes even close to the sales numbers its predecessor enjoyed.  

The sequel’s album has sold roughly 371,000 copies as of November 2020 — compared to the Frozen soundtrack’s unprecedented four million plus album sales.  

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

November 4, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Darren Gerrish/WireImage(LOS ANGELES) — It’s that time of year again when Gwyneth Paltrow’s website goop highlights this year’s must-have holiday gifts. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the website chose to feature gift ideas that “meet the needs of today: less travel and more snacks, self-care, and booze.”

The official 2020 goop Gift Guide, released Tuesday, highlights an array of intriguing, charming and downright bizarre gifts that would certainly make a statement under the Christmas tree.

Goop broke up this year’s fantastic finds into several gift categories, from “The Ridiculous but Awesome” to “The Foward-to-Your-SO” guides.  What’s making the headlines, however, are the items listed under “Ridiculous but Awesome.”

The name is apt, as the selections include a $38,000 Avocado Green Mattress — which the site claims is, “handcrafted to your unique comfort preferences and style, including firmness, wood finish, base style, and height” — as well as a $7,500 birthing chair from designer Stiliyana Minkovska, and a $35,000 pyramid-shaped dresser. In case you’re wondering why the latter is particularly pricey, Goop says it, “energetically lifts the vibrations of whatever room it’s in.”

Another offering is the Edie Parker Ouija board, fetching a price of $1,995 (or four interest-free payments of $498.75,) which is a “hand-poured, glitter-bombed acrylic” spirit board that is sure to be a conversation starter — literally — at the dinner table.

For those who’d rather not contact the dearly departed, goop singled out a gift perfect for those who crave peace and quiet.  The “Studypod” is exactly what it sounds like, a $13,600 portable single-person study room that could be set up anywhere, even the great outdoors.  It comes with a detachable desk so it can become a yoga studio or even a bedroom.

Another item listed is a leather custom made watermelon bag by designer Tsuchiya Kaban, but prices vary based on the customer’s specific requests.

For the record, it’s a bag for holding a watermelon, not a bag with a fruit design.

Thankfully, not everything goop highlighted this year will put too much of a strain on shoppers’ wallets, as it also has a “Holiday Gifts under $100” category, which boasts items like Oregon Wine in a Can ($17 for a four-pack) and, of course, Gwyneth Paltrow’s infamous “personally” scented candle that retails for $75.

By Megan Stone and Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.