the entertainment news bulletin
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This week I thought I’d share my takes on the top entertainment news of the past week.
Denis Villeneuve is our next James Bond director
We found out earlier this year that the Bond franchise had been acquired by Amazon MGM, long running producers were stepping down and of course, we knew that there would be a new lead. I personally was very suspicious of where the next phase of Bond would go, seemingly stacked against some big, high risk changes. However, Villeneuve being signed to direct and executive produce is VERY promising. In case you’re unfamiliar with the name - you’ll certainly know the work - Villeneuve is the legendary mind behind the Dune (2021), Arrival (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017). Basically, I have full confidence he can be trusted with the next iteration of the 007 story. Now we just need the perfect star to lead it… but no news on that or production timelines yet.
Kim Kardashian might be doing a Bratz movie… and she’s the villain
History does repeat itself because Bratz saw what Barbie did and thought we’ll have a piece of THAT pie… (and by pie I mean Barbie (2023) grossing $1.44 billion). I’ll also note there have been rumours about around 6 other toys getting films, so we are in a dark timeline. Kardashian has been nudging further into an acting career, with appearances in American Horror Story. voice acting in PAW Patrol films… and a couple of upcoming projects. She’s also producing this live-action Bratz film, so the possibility of a role doesn’t feel unlikely. I don’t hate Kardashian’s acting, but she is up against it with the fact that she will always primarily be Kim Kardashian. If anyone kind of looks like a Bratz villain though… Unfortunately, she’ll NEVER be Burdine Maxwell.
Sabrina Carpenter releases alternate album cover
You might have heard there’s been a lot of commentary, and commentary about commentary, and commentary about commentary about commentary about Sabrina Carpenter’s recently unveiled (and as yet unreleased) album called Man’s Best Friend. On the album cover, she is shown on all fours next to a figure in a suit, grabbing her hair. I barely want to touch on the controversy, but my take is that satirical social commentary is good and art should never be taken 100% literally. This latest turn of events is releasing an alternate cover, which Carpenter said is “approved by God.” In this tamer one, she is standing in a room of suited men, standing close to one with her hand on his arm. She otherwise hasn’t made any comments on the backlash, but makes her take on any puritanical nonsense clear.
Wicked (2024) is finally streaming on Netflix, so you can get your delayed first watch or rewatch in before part 2, i.e. Wicked: For Good (2025) hits cinemas in November.
The Bear (2022) season 4 is now streaming in full on Disney+, although early reviews are sadly not looking positive.
Atmosphere (2025)
Fiction Book
By Taylor Jenkins Reid
One of my favourite authors (behind Daisy Jones & the Six (2019)), has just released her latest novel. Jenkins Reid has a fantastic talent for immersing her stories into eras in history, with a rich understanding for the little worlds that her characters occupy. Atmosphere is no different, set in the 1980s NASA Space Shuttle program, and following fictional astronaut Joan Goodwin. The story alternates between a space disaster, for which she is command control in Houston, and moments across the 7 years preceding it, in which she juggles training, caring for her niece and falling in love with fellow candidate, Vanessa. Balancing a queer love story with the backdrop of exploration, ambition and the unknowability of space. I can’t speak for any accuracy, but I found myself very immersed in the story and desperate to know how it would unfold.
Scrapper (2023)
Film
SBS On Demand, Stan
For fellow fans of Aftersun (2022) or The Florida Project (2017), you simply must watch Scrapper. They feel like a perfect trio. This film is led by a 12-year-old, whose mother has recently died, and is now living alone in their home in London. Pretending that her uncle has been caring for her to skirt around teachers and social services, she steals bikes to make money. Her summer is interrupted by the reappearance of the father she never met - played by my beloved Harris Dickinson. Its a tight 84 minute character driven story, with a relatively uplifting tone considering the subject matter, as we watch these two damaged people navigate their new relationship and what they might hope to mean to each other. The child-actor, in her debut film does a magnificent job alongside Dickinson in injecting heart into this special story.
Materialists (2025)
Film
In Cinemas
I went into Materialists with tempered expectations, the reviews were mixed but the cast, director/writer and my general affinity for romance left me hopeful. The mix of reviews makes me nervous to even confess this… but I adored Materialists. As in, I saw it twice in 4 days. Starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans, this film delves into the world of elite matchmaking in NYC. A world where the privileged can pay a subscription, build their essential criteria, and have an “expert” set them up on dates. Johnson is the matchmaker, Evans her ex-boyfriend, and Pascal her new suitor who rejects joining the agency in favour of dating her. The commentary presented by Celine Song is a reflection on the transactional, algorithmic and tick-box nature of modern dating - and the paradox of using materialistic foundations whilst hoping to find something as undefinable and immeasurable as love. I, a hopeless romantic, will always be sold by that premise.
Aside from the obvious subjectivity of film, I also believe this may have fallen down in its advertising, and the expectations many set for it. Its played relatively straight for a rom-com, and a glitzy, sparky love story never quite catches fire. Instead, settling for the quiet love that simmers below the surface, that feeling of inexplicable rightness between two people that maybe, as outsiders, we cannot fully understand either.
You’re the same as always,
Linley x
