| It's Wednesday, and I'm old enough to remember when phones cost less than a major household appliance. Hello from Los Angeles, where we're keeping an eye on Apple's ambitions, respecting Liam Neeson's self-awareness, and looking forward to Drake's awards-season picks. APPLE OF OUR EYES Did you watch yesterday's big, shiny TV special? Of course I'm talking about Apple's two-hour marketing event. The Cupertino, California, product bacchanal provided lots for geeks to contemplate—most notably the $1,000 iPhone X, which will rely on facial recognition technology to unlock your phone. That'll be handy here in L.A., provided the iPhone X can tell apart everyone who goes to the same plastic surgeon. But of particular interest in Hollywood is a schism surrounding the new Apple TV announced on Tuesday, which promises 4K resolution and a revamped app with live sports. As The Wall Street Journal's Ben Fritz reports, Apple has signed new deals with every major studio but one to sell movies in the ultra high-definition 4K format for $20. The lone holdout? Apple's Hollywood BFF, and the company that probably knows the most about the tech giant: Disney. "Disney's absence is particularly notable given a longstanding close relationship between the two companies," Fritz writes. "Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger is on Apple's board of directors and Disney was the first studio to sell television shows and movies on iTunes." Apple's history of ticking off media companies by forcing them to lower prices is a long one. But the latest kerfuffle comes as Apple is investing $1 billion in acquiring and producing original content of its own. So is Apple a collaborator or a competitor to traditional-media companies? The answer is yes. Call me on your iPhone X and we'll discuss it. FONDA AND REDFORD, TOGETHER AGAIN V.F.'s Hillary Busis writes: They fell for each other in Barefoot in the Park, The Chase, and The Electric Horseman—and now, nearly 40 years later, Robert Redford and Jane Fonda have reunited for one more swoon-worthy romance, the Netflix release Our Souls at Night. V.F. has your first look at the film's official trailer, which shows the two stars—an octogenarian and a septuagenarian, respectively—taking their tentative first steps towards new love. Clearly, the chemistry is still there; as Fonda said at the Venice Film Festival, where the movie premiered, "In Barefoot in the Park, I couldn't keep my hands off of him. I was constantly forcing myself on him. In Our Souls at Night, the dynamic of my character to his character was somewhat similar. I just love the fact that these films bookend our careers. . . . I wanted to be able to fall in love with him again." VERY PARTICULAR SET OF SKILLS V.F.'s Yohana Desta writes: Liam Neeson is hanging up his ol' action boots. At the Toronto International Film Festival, the Oscar-nominated actor announced that his Taken days are behind him according to Sky News: "They're still throwing serious money at me to do that stuff," Neeson said. "I'm like: 'Guys, I'm sixty-fucking-five.' Audiences are eventually going to go: 'Come on.'" The fact that Neeson is an action star in the first place was a "pure accident," he added. Back in 2008, that first Taken film was a surprise hit, adding an explosive new chapter to the then 56-year-old's career. He rode that franchise train for two more films, lending his talent to less memorable fare like Non-Stop and the upcoming Hard Powder to boot. Perhaps the gravelly voiced Irish star is more interested in adding some golden hardware to his shelf by focusing on prestigious dramas like last year's Silence and the upcoming Mark Felt, in which he plays the titular Watergate whistleblower. TREMENDOUS! | | V.F.'s Laura Bradley writes: Good news, S.N.L. fans: just a couple more weeks until the Season 43 premiere on September 30. Even better? Alec Baldwin will be back to play, who else, Donald Trump. The actor has waffled over the past year regarding how frequently he'll return to the role, but as he told Ellen DeGeneres on Wednesday, he'll be back on the show for the premiere and some undetermined number of future episodes. He'll reportedly be making fewer appearances this season than he did last, due to a busy schedule, but look on the bright side: at least he's back. THANK ME LATER V.F.'s Katey Rich writes: There are a lot of kingmakers and influencers to woo at the Toronto International Film Festival, from sales agents to critics who can change a film's fate with a single tweet. But Sean Baker's The Florida Project managed to win what might be the most elusive and coveted endorsement in the entire city: Drake's. The Champagne Papi was spotted in his hometown of Toronto on Monday night "looking cozy," in Page Six parlance, with the film's star, Bria Vinaite. He also took to his Instagram to promise that The Florida Project is "the best film you'll see this year." Biased? Maybe. But that's a poster-ready pull quote if we ever heard one—and A24, which knows its way around an unconventional awards-season campaign, is surely taking note. That's the news for this overcast Wednesday in L.A. What are you seeing out there? Send tips, comments, and a flip phone to to Rebecca_keegan@condenast.com. Follow me on Twitter @thatrebecca. |
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment