Rosie O’Donnell
Showtime’s American Gigolo Is More Sad than Sexy: Review
The Pitch: Male prostitute Julian Kaye’s leisurely life of bedding wealthy older women and driving nice cars around southern California is suddenly disrupted when he’s framed for the murder of a client. It’s the role that made Richard Gere a household name in Paul Schrader’s 1980 film American Gigolo, but in Showtime’s new series of the same name, Julian is played by Jon Bernthal, the sensitive tough guy who’s become a burgeoning sex symbol in his own right with a string of memorable TV roles in The Walking Dead, The Punisher, and this year’s We Own This City. Julian, who has no memory of the night of the murder, confessed to the killing, and was sentenced to 15 years of prison. After Detective Sunday (Rosie O’Donnell) uncovers evidence that exonerates him, though, Julian is a free man who...
A League of Their Own Review: The Series Adaptation Remixes the Classic Film From Overlooked Points-of-View
The Pitch: You might think you know this story… but you don’t. The Penny Marshall film A League of Their Own, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, was a landmark production as well as a damn great sports movie, chronicling the inaugural season of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, despite the 1943-era sexism that had men chanting from the stands, “Girls can’t play ball!” As groundbreaking as the original film was, 1992 was a long time ago. So in creating a new take on A League of Their Own as a TV show, co-creators Abbi Jacobson (Broad City) and Will Graham (Mozart In the Jungle) have effectively made a remix of the original film, fully centered in the underrepresented voices that, in the movie, only lurked at the edges of the frame. The story is still focused on h...
Rosie O’Donnell to Host 9/11 Conspiracy Film Screening
Rosie O’Donnell is putting the ‘O’ in ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake.” The comedian and conspiracy theorist has partnered with the notorious group Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth to present a screening of The Unspeakable, which purports to reveal the real story behind the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The Unspeakable showcases interviews with several of the people who had been featured in Spike Lee’s HBO documentary New York Epicenters: 9/11-2021½, but who were subsequently cut following a public uproar. The filmmakers behind The Unspeakable refer to these cranks as “experts,” who were “censored.” After the screening of The Uproar, O’Donnell will interview family members who believe a shadowy conspiracy — perhaps the governm...
Nigerian doctor named one of TIME’s Most Influential People in the world
TIME named Nigerian physician Tunji Funsho to the 2020 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The full list and related tributes are available now at time.com/time100, and Mr Funsho’s TIME100 profile is available here. The list, now in its seventeenth year, recognizes the activism, innovation and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals. Mr Funsho, a cardiologist based in Lagos, Nigeria, is the first Rotary member to receive this honour for the organisation’s work to eradicate polio, having played an essential role in ensuring Africa’s certification as wild polio-free in August of 2020. “I’m honored to be recognized by TIME for my part in ensuring that no child in Africa will ever again be paralyzed by wild polio, a disease that once disabl...
Mark Ruffallo Pulls Heartbreaking Double Duty in HBO’s I Know This Much Is True: Review
The Pitch: Based on the Wally Lamb novel of the same name, I Know This Much is True charts the string of tragedies that surround the Birdsey brothers, Dominick and Thomas (both played by Mark Ruffalo) – identical twins born on New Year’s Eve, 1949, and who seem to have been born to suffer. And they do, through abusive childhoods in the 1950s to the early signs of Thomas’ paranoid schizophrenia in their college years. Cut to 1990, when Thomas, amidst a mental breakdown, lops off his own hand in a public library, a move that gets him institutionalized in a high-security mental facility. Terrified at his brother’s living condition, Dominick works tirelessly to get him out. But in doing so, he’ll have to work through some deep-seated issues of his own. Misery Loves Company: Dere...
