Apparently people didn't want to see more of Bridget Jones or the Blair Witch.
So you got NBA 2K17 and basically ignored the rest of the world? While you were busy living out your basketball dreams with Justice Young in MyCareer, Lady Gaga's "hit" single took a dive, no one went to the movies, and Game of Thrones proved it's still the best show on TV (even if we have to wait a ridiculously long time for it to come back). Here's what you missed over the weekend.
Lady Gaga's Radio Woes
Lady Gaga has never been the fearful type. From her energy and subject matter of her music to her highly controversial fashion choices, the pop music artist is all about taking risks.
It’s been roughly two years since she last released new music, and now the stage is set for her long-awaited album titled Joanne to debut in just a few short weeks. The first single off of the release titled “Perfect Illusion” was released just last week and to promote it, the eclectic musician strutted her fit physique around London in barely there short-shorts and heavily cropped tops.
Though the tune was initially well received on the iTunes chart, even reaching No. 1 very early on, it drastically declined in popularity and fell completely from the Top 40 listing — after only one week.The slump didn’t go unnoticed by Gaga, who seemed to allude during her iHeartradio on Air interview that the poor response to the single was possibly the fault of her record label for choosing “Perfect Illusion” to lead the album's release with.
To add insult to injury, rumors began circulating that the American Horror Story actress was in talks with the NFL to be the halftime show performer of choice at the 2017 Super Bowl. A few weeks back, it was Adele who was supposedly in talks with the commissioners of the sport to do the very same thing, but announced during one of her concerts that she had turned down the polite offer. Unfortunately, someone jumped the gun their reporting and Natalie Ravitz, senior VP of Communications for the NFL, had to take to her personal Twitter account to not only clarify the miscommunication, but to also emphasize the fact that the commission has yet to officially choose anyone to fulfill the task.
.@usweekly ignored my on record response: we've had conversations w several fantastic artists about SB Halftime Show but no final decision
— Natalie Ravitz (@NFLNatalie) September 18, 2016
The Summer of Sequels is Over
Two sequels premiered in the theaters this weekend, and so far the response has been less than stellar. Renee Zellweger made her return to the big screen in Bridget Jones’ Baby, a whopping 12 years after the 2004 sequel to Bridget Jones’ Diary, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. But even role reprisals from Patrick Dempsey, Colin Firth and Emma Thompson weren’t enough to carry the film at the box offices, bringing in a mere $8.2 million domestically, for a total of $38.1 million globally.
When the Jones series first launched, the romantic comedy sought an audience of mostly women ages 16 to 35 and, let’s be honest, probably single — that was supposed to be her relatable charm after all. However, now those women are now much older, probably married and even with children. Bridget’s character and her whimsical romantic endeavors are now obsolete, and not relatable for many who are just being introduced to the film.
The creators of The Blair Witch Project are also back with their third installment of the witchy franchise, simply titled Blair Witch. The flick picks up where the original left off almost 17 years ago, with a brand new group of young adults naively looking for the same trouble that their equally curious friends (and the group from the second movie) clearly didn’t survive almost two decades prior.
Its weekend domestic results weren’t much better, narrowly surpassing Jones with $9.7 million. Back in their heyday, the creators were brilliant in introducing the world to the “found footage” film. The fear that they invoked almost effortlessly was reminiscent of the old horror genre from yesteryear. That cinematic magic has since been borrowed and knocked off again and again, purging the style of any awesomeness and relying now entirely on shock value.
Game of Thrones & Other Emmy Winners
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Sunday (September 18) was a big night for television at the 68th annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the who’s who of popular programming gathered together in Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater to see who would reign supreme — after making fabulous fashion statements on the red carpet, of course.
Though Kimmel was chosen to host because of his pension for comedic dialogue, he seemed to lack energy and his offensive jokes regarding Donald Trump, diversity and OJ Simpson’s past fell flat to some.
On the night that is meant to honor those who stood out for their performance and writing abilities, the academy was less than forgiving when it came to cutting off speeches. Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang accepted an award for their work on Master of None, but before Ansari had a chance to finish his brief dialogue he was cut off by music. The same move was pulled on Jeffrey Tambor while he was speaking on his work in Transparent, but he quickly put an end to the orchestra’s hijinks, shutting them up so that he could make his passionate plea for equality in Hollywood for transgender people.
While some of the night’s winners weren’t a surprise, such as Game of Thrones being awarded for Best Writing and Best Directing for a drama series, and best all around drama series (which earned it the most Emmy wins ever), others took viewers by surprise. Newcomers Mr. Robot and Orphan Black beat out some heavy-hitting competitors for Best Actor and Best Actress in a drama series, respectively. The full list of winners can be viewed here.