January 20, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — (NOTE LANGUAGE) Donnie Darko celebrated its 20th anniversary Tuesday and star Jake Gyllenhaal voiced his appreciation for the cult hit that launched his career.

Taking to Instagram to celebrate the movie’s milestone, the 40-year-old Oscar-nominee reflected, “Pulled out my script and some artifacts from Donnie Darko… It was released 20 years ago today.”

“It’s a film that changed my life and my career and it’s been unreal to watch this story find afterlives with new audiences and new generations, and yet, what Donnie said to Roberta Sparrow is still true: ‘there is so much to look forward to,'” continued Gyllenhaal, adding the movie still brings him joy.

He laughed, “Thank you to all the fans who’ve come up to me over the years with that confused look on their faces and asked me: ‘what the f*** is Donnie Darko about??'”

“Happy 20th Donnie! Let’s keep confusing people. Here’s to 20 more,” the Spider-Man: Far From Home star concluded.

Gyllenhaal shared a snap of the movie’s original script that has some of his notes scribbled across the title page. Several pieces of papers, including envelopes and tags, are shoved into the binder’s pocket.

Donnie Darko, released January 19, 2001 at the Sundance Film Festival, was not a box office hit.  When it was slated to hit theaters in October, commercials for Donnie Darko were limited in light of the 9/11 attacks because they featured a crashing jet.

Donnie Darko went onto earn $7.5 million in the global box office despite touting an impressive cast, like Patrick Swayze and Drew Barrymore.  It also starred Jake’s sister Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The film went onto achieve critical acclaim and has since developed a major cult following.

Empire also lists the movie as the 2nd greatest independent film of all time.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 20, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Walt Disney Television/Yolanda Perez(NEW YORK) — Alec Baldwin has put the breaks on Twitter, permanently.

The 30 Rock star has repeatedly vented his frustration over how the internet has reacted to the cultural appropriation controversy surrounding his wife, Hilaria Baldwin.  The lifestyle influencer was accused by a Twitter user in December of a “decades long grift in which she impersonates a Spanish person.”

The accuser, LeniBriscoe, backed up the claims by including interviews where Hilaria speaks in a Spanish accent and opens up about her parents, who are natives of Massachusetts.

The fallout was immediate and Alec has threatened to quit Twitter multiple times because his wife is continuously harassed, he says.

On Monday, the 63-year-old actor said he is closing up shop on Twitter, saying the website “is like a party where everyone is screaming. Not much of a party.”

“Goodbye for now,” he added.

Hilaria has repeatedly tried to clear the air since the scandal broke in December.  She first took to Instagram to share her side of the story, confessing that she was born in Boston “and grew up spending time with my family between Massachusetts and Spain.”

Hilaria added that she’s “really lucky I grew up speaking two languages” and is also raising her children to be bilingual.

The fitness model also confessed that she is a “white girl” born “Hillary,” not Hilaria, which she said is what her Spanish relatives called her and which she eventually adopted professionally. 

Mrs. Baldwin continued to ward off accusations of cultural appropriation and opened up about her contested heritage in a lengthy piece in The New York Times. 

It is unknown when or if Alec intends to return to social media.

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

January 20, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Walt Disney Television via Getty Images/Lorenzo Bevilaqua(LOS ANGELES) — It’s official — Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Lauren Burnham-Luyendyk are having a boy and a girl!

The former Bachelor stars, who announced they were pregnant with twins back in December, revealed the sex of their unborn babies in adorable social media posts on Tuesday. 

Alongside a series of photos which both blue and pink cotton candy sticks, Lauren, 29, shared, “Alessi is getting a baby BROTHER & a baby SISTER we couldn’t be more excited!”

Arie, 39, made a similar post and wrote, “BOY! & GIRL! How did we get so lucky @laurenluyendyk?! So excited to meet the @luyendyktwins.”

The duo, who are already parents to 19-month-old daughter Alessi, also shared a YouTube video showing behind the scenes of their gender reveal photo shoot, as well as, their candid reactions to finding out what they will be welcoming. 

Arie and Lauren met on season 22 of the ABC reality TV series and wed last year. The twins are due in July. 

By Danielle Long
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 20, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

January 19, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Steven Ogg in “Snowpiercer” – Courtesy TNT(NEW YORK) — Snowpiercer, TNT’s adaptation of the 2013 Bong Joon-ho sci-fi film, will stay on the tracks into season 3.

The network announced that the post-apocalyptic show, starring Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly, Hamilton Tony winner Daveed Diggs, Sean Bean, and Steven Ogg, has been renewed before the show’s second season debuts on January 25. 

The series is set onboard a 1,001-car train that can never stop, which houses the only human survivors of a climate catastrophe that left the earth an arctic wasteland. The train is divided by class — because, well, people — and there’s a rebellion from the regulars who eke out a living in the back against the elite living high on the hog in the front cars.

Steven Ogg, a veteran of The Walking Dead, and known to a generation of gamers as Trevor from Grand Theft Auto V, plays survivalist Pike in Snowpiercer. He tells ABC Audio he wasn’t expecting the show’s train sets to be so realistic. “The train’s moving — it shakes. It’s awesome,” he laughs.

“It was funny: at first we were told there was going to be movement on the train, but that first time when you have your first words to say, and ‘Action’ is called, and all of the sudden the train starts going back and forth a bit — I forgot all my lines.”

Ogg adds, “You sort of have sea legs. I certainly found myself always holding on to either side. You remember in the old days when we used to fly in planes?” the actor asks sarcastically, “when you walk down the aisles, you sort of hold on to each side? That’s how it feels in the train — you sort of feel at the end of the day like you’re still on a ship, that movement…It’s pretty amazing, that world, truly.”

Snowpiercer returns Monday, January 25 at 9 p.m. ET on TNT

By Stephen Iervolino 
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.