December 14, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Warner Bros. and © DC Comics(WASHINGTON DC) — As it does every year, the Library of Congress has chosen a selection of films for preservation in its National Film Registry. Among this year’s 25 entries are the Oscar-winning Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight, the beloved 1978 musical Grease, The Blues Brothers and A Clockwork Orange.

The films, which must be at least ten years old, are chosen for their “cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to the nation’s film heritage.”

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, which earned Heath Ledger a posthumous Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of The Joker, earned the most public votes of any of this year’s nominees. In a statement to the Library of Congress, Nolan said, “This is not only a great honor for all of us who worked on The Dark Knight, this is also a tribute to all of the amazing artists and writers who have worked on the great mythology of Batman over the decades.”

As always, this year’s entries to the National Film Registry not only includes big Hollywood films like Shrek, but also silent movies, like the 1913 film Suspense, as well as documentaries and short subject reels. 

This year’s entrants include “a record number of films directed by women and filmmakers of color, including nine directed by women and seven by people of color,” according to the organization’s announcement.  Among them: Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, Melvin Van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song, Wayne Wang’s The Joy Luck Club and Stanley Earl Nelson’s Freedom Riders.

There are now 1.3 million films preserved in the archive. Here is the full list of this year’s 25 newest arrivals, in order of release: 

Suspense (1913)
Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)
Bread (1918)
The Battle of the Century (1927)
With Car and Camera Around the World (1929)
Cabin in the Sky (1943)
Outrage (1950)
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
Lilies of the Field (1963)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)
Wattstax (1973)
Grease (1978)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Losing Ground (1982)
Illusions (1982)
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
The Devil Never Sleeps (1994)
Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
The Ground (1993-2001)
Shrek (2001)
Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege (2006)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Freedom Riders (2010)

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

December 14, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Jay Maidment/Netflix(LONDON) — Filming on the Netflix drama The Witcher is plowing ahead without star Henry Cavill, who is recovering from what’s being described as a “minor leg muscle injury” sustained during production on the series shooting in London, according to The Sun. 

Production on The Witcher’s second season has been suspended twice: first in March when actor Kristofer Hivju revealed he had tested positive for COVID-19. That pause lasted until mid-August as the UK went into lockdown over the spring.  Filming was halted again in November following multiple positive cases of the virus. 

The series, which is based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s books that center on supernaturally-empowered beast hunters known as Witchers, ranks as one of Netflix’s most popular series. It is spawning an upcoming prequel for the streaming service, called The Witcher: Blood Origin.

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

December 14, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC News/Steve Iervolino(ATLANTA) — Kenneth Walker, the boyfriend of the late Breonna Taylor, received a major boost in his legal defense fund thanks to Tyler Perry.

TMZ reports that Walker is facing a lawsuit from Louisville, Kentucky police officer Jonathan Mattingly, who was one of the three troopers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor.

Mattingly was struck in the leg before he and other plainclothes police tried entering Walker’s residence.  While it has not been proven that he was struck by one of Walker’s bullets, Mattingly is suing on grounds of emotional distress and trauma.

A GoFundMe has since been launched to help Walker fight the charges.

The campaign reportedly had a slow start until Perry breathed new life into it, sending four separate donations on Sunday to help Walker hit his financial goal of $100,000.

The Madea’s Family Reunion star first issued two $10,000 donations before following up with a $50,000 and then $30,000 donation.  The campaign currently sits at over $102,000.

As previously reported, Walker said that when he first heard the officers trying to break down his door, he believed it was a break in and fired his licensed weapon to defend his property. 

Police returned fire and Taylor was killed during the exchange.

Walker was also arrested and charged with attempted murder of a police officer as well as first-degree assault.  Those charges were later dropped.

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

December 14, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Denzel Washington opened up about the time he egged on Chadwick Boseman to marry his then-girlfriend.

Washington told This Morning on Sunday that he teased Boseman when he invited Taylor Simone Ledward onto the set of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Boseman’s final film before losing his four-year battle with colon cancer, which Washington was not aware of at the time of filming.  

“Credit to him; he kept it to himself,” said the two-time Oscar winner, who produced the Netflix film. “It was nobody’s business.  He was there to deliver and he delivered.  Certain members of his team knew. His wife was there. They weren’t even married yet.”

Washington said that, because he was missing the critical context, he read too much into the way Ledward looked at Boseman.

“She kept her eye on him and she watched him. I’m like, ‘Man she loves that guy.’ But I didn’t know what we know now,” the Flight actor confessed. “I used to watch how she took care of him and I actually said to him, I said, ‘Man, you need to put a ring on that finger.”

Besides never publicly revealing his cancer battle, Boseman, 43, was notoriously private about his personal life and rarely opened up about his relationships.  It is unknown when he proposed to and wed Ledward.

The Black Panther star’s family announced August 28 that Boseman “died in his home, with his wife and family by his side.”

Despite the industry losing such a beloved actor, Washington says that the legacy Boseman left behind speaks volumes.

“He did all he could do with what he was given and he left it here for us to enjoy. Chad will live forever. Period,” he declared.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, premieres Friday, December 17, on Netflix.

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

December 14, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Will Heath/NBC(NEW YORK) — A day after the FDA approved the emergency use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, Saturday Night Live offered its take on the rollout in this weekend’s cold open.

The bit featured Heidi Gardner as President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 coordinator Deborah Birx and Kate McKinnon playing Dr. Anthony Fauci this time.  Brad Pitt famously portrayed Fauci on an SNL episode back in April.

Beck Bennett played Wolf Blitzer, host of CNN’s The Situation Room, who sought Fauci’s comments on the distribution of the vaccine, which Bennett’s Blitzer characterized by saying, “It’s just like the PS5: Everybody wants it, nobody can get it and if you’re rich you already had it a month ago.”

Describing the president’s performance, McKinnon’s Fauci went on to declare Trump “has done about as good a job with the rollout as I did with that first pitch at The Nationals game.”  A video of the awful pitch followed.

The sketch went on to praise Fauci for his contributions in guiding the country through the pandemic, as well as his popularity with Americans, with bras even being tossed at him.

“Any other year I’m a two, this year I’m a 10,” McKinnon’s Fauci declared.

Meanwhile, Gardner’s Birx touted her part in in the rollout, taking credit for almost refuting Trump’s advice to drink bleach to kill the virus.

“Remember when Trump said to inject bleach and I did a stanky little face?” she said. “I almost whispered, ‘No.’”

Saturday’s episode was hosted by Timothée Chalamet, with musical guests Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

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