Gwen Stefani's pop comeback is looking super kawaii.

The singer-songwriter and Voice coach announced Friday her imminent return to solo pop music after years of releasing Christmas-themed bops and duets with longtime romantic partner Blake Shelton.

"LET ME REINTRODUCE MYSELF. New single coming 12/7," the 51-year-old revealed on Instagram alongside the new song's cover art, which features two Stefanis: One sporting the star's signature aesthetic from her days as the No Doubt frontwoman, and the other rocking a glistening denim-and-diamonds outfit reminiscent of her personal style evolution over the years.

Though Stefani has released three holiday singles (and three collaborations with Shelton, including the top 40 hit "Nobody But You" earlier this year) on her own in recent years, she hasn't dropped a solo pop single since 2016's "Misery" from her No. 1-debuting album This Is What the Truth Feels Like.

Prior to Truth, Stefani dropped two other solo albums: 2004's classic Love. Angel. Music. Baby. and its 2006 follow-up The Sweet Escape. She also premiered a pair of standalone singles in 2014, titled "Baby Don't Lie" and "Spark the Fire" made in collaboration with Ryan Tedder, Benny Blanco, and Pharrell Williams.

"Let Me Reintroduce Myself" drops Dec. 7. Check out the new single cover above.

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This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Joey Nolfi

A traditional MTV Movie & TV Awards ceremony might be on hold, but the network will still honor a classic cinema pairing at its special Greatest of All Time event.

EW can exclusively reveal that pop cultural icons Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore will be honored with the GOAT: Dynamic Duo award during Sunday night's show.

Since 1998, the legendary screen team's romantic comedy films have collectively grossed $450 million worldwide, including grosses from The Wedding Singer (1998), 50 First Dates (2004), and Blended (2014). Their shared history at the MTV Movie & TV Awards includes two victories, one for Best On-Screen Team for their work in 50 First Dates, and the other for Best Kiss following their performances in The Wedding Singer.

As previously announced, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart, Gal Gadot, Kevin Bacon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Selma Blair, Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, and William Zabka will also receive accolades during the upcoming Greatest of All Time broadcast. Though MTV has yet to reveal which actors have won which awards, fans can begin to make assumptions based on the list of categories that will be presented during the program: Scream Queen, Legendary Lip Lock, Dance Your Ass Off, Heartbreaking Break-Up, Comedy Giant, Zero to Hero, and She-Ro.

Across the 90-minute show, host Vanessa Hudgens will help recognize the biggest and best moments in film and TV from the 1980s through the present day. The Princess Switch 2 actress is also set to introduce exclusive footage of highly anticipated 2021 releases during the broadcast. Sia, Steve Aoki, and Travis Barker will perform.

MTV is planning a more traditional return for the MTV Movie & TV Awards with a weekend event takeover next year, with details to be announced in the near future. In August, the network successfully launched the 2020 MTV VMAs featuring pre-recorded performances and awards speeches from the likes of Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Miley Cyrus, and more.

The MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time special airs Sunday, Dec. 6 at 8:00 p.m. on MTV.

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• 2021 awards season calendar: See new dates for Oscars, Indie Spirits, more
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• Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore reunite for MTV Movie & TV Awards special
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This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Joey Nolfi

The IFP Gotham Awards will honor late actor Chadwick Boseman's legacy with a tribute at the top of awards season.

Boseman — who died in August after a battle with cancer — is set to receive the Independent Filmmaker Project's annual Actor Tribute award for his standout performance in Netflix's upcoming drama Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the Gotham Awards announced Thursday.

Boseman's Ma Rainey costar, Viola Davis, will receive the Actress Tribute alongside the late Black Panther star as both performers enter the long awards season ahead with these key boosts to their respective Oscar bids.

"Chadwick Boseman was an incredibly talented actor whose significance and impact onscreen and kindness offscreen will never be forgotten. We at IFP are forever indebted to him for all of his contributions to our organization, his legacy in providing mentorship, and we are proud to honor him and all of his historical and groundbreaking contributions with this tribute," said IFP's Executive Director, Jeffrey Sharp, who also called Davis' performance in the film a "culmination of an entire career."

Past recipients of the Gotham Awards' individual acting tribute honors that have gone on to receive Oscar victories or nominations include Laura Dern (Marriage Story), Rachel Weisz (The Favourite), and Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).

Winners for the 2020 Gotham Awards will be announced on Monday, Jan. 11 during a hybrid live-virtual broadcast from Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. See the full list of this year's nominees here.

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• Chadwick Boseman lands 2020 Gotham Awards nomination, First Cow leads

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Joey Nolfi

Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes are a pair of Oscar nominees mining quality drama in the first trailer for Netflix's historical feature The Dig.

Based on John Preston's book of the same name, the film — directed by The Daughter helmer Simon Stone — follows Mulligan as a wealthy widow who, during WWII-era Britain, enlists an amateur archaeologist to explore her property for hidden treasures.

Soon after, the ancient burial mounds on her rural estate begin to yield historic finds, causing a media storm and prompting her community to reckon with its past while pondering the country's uncertain future in a time of global conflict.

The Dig was adapted by Harlots and Jane Eyre writer Moira Buffini, with Lily James, Johnny Flynn, Ben Chaplin, Ken Stott, Archie Barnes, and Monica Dolan rounding out the supporting cast. Oscar-nominated production designer Maria Djurkovic (The Imitation Game) also worked on the film alongside 127 Hours' Academy Award-nominated editor Jon Harris.

Mulligan can next be seen in the upcoming awards hopeful Promising Young Woman, which opens in December.

Discover The Dig in select theaters on Jan. 15, followed by the film's Jan. 29 Netflix premiere.

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This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Joey Nolfi

One of the most exclusive cinema events in the world is expanding access to its prestigious content in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Sundance Film Festival announced Tuesday its plans to roll out its 2021 slate across seven days via a custom-designed online platform, drive-in screenings, socially distanced arthouse events, and a network of local community partnerships in an effort to bring next year's edition to audiences around the world.

Beginning Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. MT, films from the upcoming Sundance slate will be available online (followed by a live Q&A) in the United States, with a portion of the estimated 70 feature-length projects also opting for global presentations. Special talks and events — in addition to the New Frontier section for XR and breakthrough media — will also be available internationally. Multiple films will simultaneously debut digitally on a three-hour schedule from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. MT in an effort to "preserve the energy of the Festival with an abundance of choices and collective experiences," according to the announcement.

Following their initial premiere, films will again be made available on demand two days later for a 24-hour period.

"Even under these impossible circumstances artists are still finding paths to make bold and vital work in whatever ways they can,” said Festival Director Tabitha Jackson in a press statement. “So Sundance, as a festival of discovery, will bring that work to its first audiences in whatever ways we can. The core of our Festival in the form of an online platform and socially distanced cinematic experiences is responsive to the pandemic and gives us the opportunity to reach new audiences, safely, where they are. And thanks to a constellation of independent cinema communities across the U.S. we are not putting on our Festival alone. At the heart of all this is a belief in the power of coming together, and the desire to preserve what makes a festival unique -- a collaborative spirit, a collective energy, and a celebration of the art, artists, and ideas that leave us changed."

The 2021 Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 28 through Feb. 3. Public tickets will be available beginning Jan. 7 through Sundance's website. Read on for full details — lifted directly from Sundance's announcement — about the event's planned rollout.

SHORT FILM, INDIE SERIES PROGRAMS

The Short Film and Indie Series (formerly Indie Episodic) programs, focused on creative storytelling outside the feature format, will include 50 short films and world premieres of four episodic works. These will be available on demand on the Festival platform for the full length of the Festival. 

NEW FRONTIER

Since its launch, the Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontier has served as a showcase for dynamic, innovative work at the crossroads of film, art, and technology — and 2021 is no exception, with 14 works in the program. For the first time ever, adventurous audiences around the world will be given the chance to engage with the works, the artists, and each other via a bespoke virtual platform, accessible via computer and VR headsets. The New Frontier Gallery hosts the complete slate of live performances, AR, VR, and other emerging media works. Cinema House is the festival’s fully immersive, big-screen theater, and Film Party is an interactive social space where the entire community of accredited festivalgoers can safely gather together again. The environment also features interactive tools such as proximity audio and video chat. 

SATELLITE SCREENS

Expanding beyond its Utah home, the festival has created a network of partnerships to bring feature films and customized local programming — talks, events, artist meet-ups — to communities across the country. In addition to these Satellite Screen partnerships, the Institute will program screenings atthe Ray in Park City and the Rose Bowl and Mission Tiki Drive-Ins in Los Angeles, health and safety guidelines permitting. Each Satellite Screen will create and host their own events, sharing local cultural conversations with broader festival audiences, with most also screening selections from the 2021 program.

Alabama: Birmingham with Sidewalk Film Festival

Sidewalk Film Center, Sidewalk Drive-In

Arizona: Tucson with the Loft Cinema 

The Loft Open Air Cinema 

California: 

Montclair with American Cinematheque

Mission Tiki Drive-In

Pasadena withthe Rose Bowl

Rose Bowl Drive-In

San Francisco with the Roxie Theater 

Roxie Theater, Fort Mason Drive-In

Colorado: Denver with Denver Film

Sie FilmCenter

Florida:

Key West with Tropic Cinema

Tropic Cinema, The Key West Lighthouse, The Truman Little White House, The Ernest Hemingway House and Museum

Miami with Third Horizon and O Cinema 

New World Symphony SoundScape Park and South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center

Georgia: 

Atlanta with Atlanta Film Society

The Plaza Theater, Plaza Drive-In, Dad’s Garage Drive-In

Macon with Macon Film Festival 

Douglass Theatre

Hawaii: Honolulu with Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA)

Iowa: Iowa City with FilmScene

FilmScene at The Chauncey

Kansas: Wichita with mama.film

mama.film microcinema, Wichita Art Museum, Groover Labs

Kentucky: Louisville with the Speed Art Museum

Speed Art Museum

Louisiana: New Orleans with New Orleans Film Society 

The Broad Theater

Maryland: Baltimore with Maryland Film Festival

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Theater

Massachusetts: Brookline with Coolidge Corner Theatre  

Coolidge Corner Theatre

Michigan: Detroit with Cinema Detroit

Minnesota: Minneapolis-St. Paul with FilmNorth

Riverview Theater

New York: Pleasantville with the Jacob Burns Film Center 

Jacob Burns Film Center & Media Arts Lab

Ohio: Columbus with Gateway Film Center

Gateway Film Center

Oklahoma: Tulsa with Circle Cinema

Circle Cinema, Circle Cinema Drive-In, Admiral Twin Drive-In, Philbrook Museum, OSU-Tulsa, Tulsa University, Gilcrease Museum

Pennsylvania: Philadelphia with BlackStar Film Festival

Puerto Rico: San Juan with Asociación de Documentalistas de Puerto Rico (AdocPR)

Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (MAPR)

South Carolina: Columbia with the Luminal Theater

Spotlight Cinemas Capitol 8

Tennessee:

Memphis with Indie Memphis 

Malco Summer Drive-In

Nashville with Belcourt Theatre  

Belcourt Theatre

Texas: 

Austin with Austin Film Society

AFS Cinema

Dallas with Aviation Cinemas

Texas Theatre

Houston with Houston Cinema Arts Society

MoonStruck Drive-In, DeLUXE Theater

Utah: 

Park City

The Ray

Salt Lake City with Salt Lake Film Society

Washington: 

Seattle with Northwest Film Forum

THE PLATFORM:

One of the fundamental values of the Sundance Film Festival is gathering: it’s a place where a global community of independent artists can convene for a generative and open exchange of ideas. This year, that will take place on the platform’s Festival Village, a free-to-all space where Satellite Screens, partners, and festival sponsors will host a wide range of events, programming, and offerings to complement and enrich the official program. The platform’s Main Street will act as both an homage to the iconic Park City thoroughfare and as an extension of the festival’s core programming, featuring digital partner spaces hosting conversations, musical performances, and more. The Artist Lounge will feature a space for creators to gather for artist programming, as well as for the festival’s Class of ’21 to network and celebrate at private events.

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This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Joey Nolfi

Happiest Season writer-director Clea DuVall still has a few cinematic chestnuts roasting on her mind's fire.

The actress-filmmaker has revealed she's thought about a sequel to her new lesbian rom-com that caused a festive stir online following its Nov. 25 Hulu debut.

"I would love to do a sequel," DuVall told Variety following the film's premiere. "I mean, I have a couple of ideas. We all had such a great time making the movie that we were talking about it then. But it was also just like, who knew if anybody would care about the movie or not? So I definitely am more than open to it."

Written by DuVall and her Veep costar Mary Holland, Happiest Season follows a young queer couple, Abby (Kristen Stewart) and Harper (Mackenzie Davis) who travel to the latter's family home for the holidays only for the former to discover that her lover has yet to come out to her parents (Victor Garber, Mary Steenburgen) and siblings (Holland, Alison Brie). Holiday hilarity ensues as the pair navigates rocky territory, but social media lit up with discussion about the film's conclusion, Harper's treatment of Abby, and the stimulating presence of Harper's ex, Riley (Aubrey Plaza) — all of which DuVall is still processing.

"Do they want Abby to be with Riley, or do they want to be with Riley? I mean, it also can be both," DuVall continued, referencing audience's passionate reaction to Plaza's character. "She’s incredible in general, and she was so fantastic in this film.... To be able to make a movie and put someone who I love and admire as much as I love and admire Aubrey into it — and then watch people fall in love with her — is so rewarding. I don’t blame them for loving her as much as they do. And I think it’s also so cool to have a movie where people are having these conversations, and are having these debates. That people are engaged."

DuVall also said that (spoiler alert) she feels the fact that Abby's decision to stay with Harper at the end of the film is seen as controversial "has less to do with the movie and more to do with your philosophy on growth and forgiveness," and that her perspective as a 43-year-old queer woman with experience in the complex art of coming out informed her decision to give the central couple a happy ending.

"It’s understanding that sometimes you have to go low so you can figure out your way back up. And I understand the impulse to just cut and run, and be like, to hell with this. But I also really believe that people can get better, people can grow, and people can change. They can recognize that maybe their behavior is not as good as they know it can be, and that they make a conscious effort to change it," explained DuVall. "I’ve spent four years with Harper — I feel like I understand her, and I love her so much. And I think she’s worth it. I want what’s best for all the characters in the movie. And I think the message that you can mess up, and that you can do the work and get better is really important. And be kind to yourself, and have compassion. Because I think compassion is in short supply."

Stewart previously told EW that she "grew up watching and loving conventional movies" where a man and a woman fall in love, but that "seeing [marginalized] people loving each other in the middle of something that's so standardized was really exhilarating and freeing" in DuVall's hands.

"There's a lack of confusion and generalization Clea brings [as a queer woman]," she said. "I want people to see that two girls in love is just so fun."

Happiest Season — also starring Dan Levy, Ana Gasteyer, and RuPaul's Drag Race queens BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon — is now streaming on Hulu.

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This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Joey Nolfi

Ron Howard is putting a Mamaw-strong foot down in defense of his new movie.

During an interview with CBS This Morning on Monday, the Hillbilly Elegy director addressed ongoing criticism of the Glenn Close- and Amy Adams-starring Netflix film, suggesting that it's tied to the political beliefs of the story's real-life inspiration, author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance.

"I do feel like they're looking at political thematics that they may or may not agree with, that honestly aren't really reflected or aren't front-and-center in this story," the Oscar-winning filmmaker, 66, said in response to a question about flak the film has received after its source material — Vance's memoir of the same name — gained popularity during the 2016 election as a glimpse into the low-income white demographic that largely supported Donald Trump. "What I saw was a family drama that could be very relatable. Yes, culturally specific, and if you're fascinated by that, I hope you find it interesting. If you're from the region, I hope you find it authentic, because that was our aim and effort. But I felt it was a bridge to understanding that we're more alike than we are different."

The film follows Vance (played by Gabriel Basso and Owen Asztalos) and his close relatives — including his grandmother Mamaw (Close) and mother, Bev (Adams) — as they navigate drug addiction, familial tension, and poverty during his childhood, before he received a degree from Yale.

Vance joined Howard for the discussion, and speculated that "a lot of people attach a specific political significance" to the film, despite no concrete plot points revolving around substantial political issues. He went on to cite the film's portrait of drug addiction ravaging poor Appalachian regions as a timeless issue that comes through stronger than any of the film's political signals.

"I felt that there was an interesting, contemporary story here: a truthful family drama," Howard said. "I was drawn to that. I also felt it was an interesting emotional rescue and survival story that really celebrated the women in [Vance's] life."

Though the film has been met with negative reviews from critics, Close's performance has still emerged as one of the leading contenders in this year's Oscar race.

"Talking with the real J.D. was crucial. I asked how she sat, how she held her cigarette, what her voice was like, what her house looked like — all of that, plus pictures and video that we got, gave me a sense of who she was," Close previously told EW of researching for the part. "No matter how fierce she could be, they sensed that underneath, she was a damaged person herself, but she had this great energy about her in a non-compromising way."

Hillbilly Elegy is now streaming on Netflix.

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This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Joey Nolfi

Universal Studios Japan is leveling up its stellar new attraction with a stunning first-look preview.

The Osaka-based resort has unveiled a new trailer for its upcoming Super Nintendo World themed land, which offers an up-close look inside the attraction's marquee draw: A massive ride modeled after the popular Mario Kart video game series.

Across a series of images, the trailer reveals the loading platform for the new ride — titled Mario Kart: Koopa's Challenge — as well as the four-passenger vehicles that will carry riders along a high-speed journey through various landscapes from the games.

The teaser also shows off a large interior statue of the villainous Bowser, the primary antagonist who first appeared in Nintendo's inaugural Super Mario Bros. title in 1985.

Also seen in the preview is a video overview of Super Nintendo World, showing off physical replicas of the Super Mario Bros. universe, including spinning coins, moving mushrooms, and the slow-roving carts for the land's half-indoor, half-outdoor Yoshi-themed ride.

Built for around $433 million, Super Nintendo World boasts restaurants, live entertainment, and attractions based on Shigeru Miyamoto's iconic video game series, with appearances from characters like Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and more. While the Japanese edition of the themed land will be the first to open at the top of 2021, North American versions are slated to open in the future at Universal Studios Hollywood and at the planned Epic Universe in Florida.

Super Nintendo World will hold its grand opening at Universal Studios Japan on Feb. 4. Watch the trailer above.

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This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Joey Nolfi

Ring in the new year with all things queer.

EW can exclusively reveal that some of your favorite drag stars are kissing the unwashed tights and unblended wig line of a disaster that was 2020 goodbye with an epic 11-hour livestream event.

On Dec. 31, Producer Entertainment Group — one of the leading drag management agencies — will partner with virtual concert platform Sessions Live to present the New Year's Queens: Goodbye 2020! digital drag revue, featuring 16 drag superstars from RuPaul's Drag Race and The Boulet Brothers' Dragula.

The event will be hosted by Alaska, Bob the Drag Queen, Katya, Miz Cracker, Peppermint, and Trixie Mattel, with performances from BenDeLaCreme, the Boulet Brothers, Divina De Campo, Ginger Minj, Jinkx Monsoon, Jujubee, Manila Luzon, BeBe Zahara Benet, Sharon Needles, and Trinity The Tuck.

"Let’s basically celebrate the end of 2020. I will be wearing a nice dress and trying to put blush on Bob," Mattel said in a statement. Added Peppermint: "2020 has been a rough year to say the least, especially considering many performers and drag entertainers all over the world have been out of work. It’s an honor to host this event with such remarkable talent. I find it poetic that we are all able to finally turn the page on 2020 as we count down together for this fabulous New Year’s extravaganza."

Tickets for the Dec. 31 New Year's Queens presentation start at $39 on the production's website, with interactive VIP packages also available. See full timing information below, and head to the show's page for full performance descriptions.

3 p.m. (Dec. 31) - 2 a.m. (Jan. 1) — Pacific

6 p.m. (Dec. 31) - 5 a.m. (Jan. 1) — Eastern

11 p.m. (Dec. 31) - 10 a.m. (Jan. 1) GMT — London

10 a.m. (Jan. 1) - 9 p.m. (Jan. 1) — Sydney

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This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Joey Nolfi

This article was written independently by Entertainment Weekly's editorial team and meets our editorial standards. HBO Max is a paid advertising partner in Fall 2020.

Awards season? With Meryl Streep? Groundbreaking.

Would the run-up to the Oscars even exist without the three-time Academy Award-winning legend? It’s almost become a cliché in itself to champion the 71-year-old’s unparalleled, once-in-a-generation talents on the screen, but you don’t become an icon without the work to back it up. Here, EW has assembled the finest performances from the world’s greatest living actress, from the ingenue days of The Deer Hunter and The Seduction of Joe Tynan, through to her ongoing imperial phase in commercial hits (The Devil Wears Prada), prestige gems (Doubt), and even the messiest — yet nonetheless delectably juicy — bits in between (She-Devil). Before Streep sets sail for HBO Max in Steven Soderbergh’s Let Them All Talk, read on for a chronological, unranked compilation of the cinema deity’s best work to date.

The Deer Hunter (1978)

Though it wasn’t her first on-screen role, Streep made the most of a small part in Michael Cimino’s Vietnam War masterpiece in a film that would ignite her stratospheric rise to superstardom. Cimino’s tale of how the military conflict impacts small-town Pennsylvanians brought Streep’s then-untapped potential to the attention of an entire industry, as the 29-year-old — playing the young wife to Christopher Walken’s corporal — would go on to receive her first Oscar nod for her work.

Related: Meryl Streep on Meryl Streep

The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979)

An often-overlooked entry in Streep’s filmography, Jerry Schatzberg’s political drama is a glistening gem that saw the actress flexing her versatility in the role of Karen Traynor, an ambitious lawyer who begins an affair with the titular senator played by Alan Alda. Her performance is sweet, alluring, and, most importantly, effortlessly smooth — proving, early in her career, that Streep was capable of tackling any role and making it look easy in the process.

Related: Becoming Meryl Streep: Michael Schulman, Jerry Schatzberg talk Seduction of Joe Tynan

The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981)

Streep remained hot on her Oscar streak in this adaptation of John Fowles’ 1969 novel of the same name, which scored her another nomination (her first among the Lead Actress set).  

Related: Streep admits on Graham Norton Show her French Lieutenant's Woman role is not her favorite

Sophie’s Choice (1982)

One of Streep’s most devastating roles has become a pop cultural staple since its 1982 release, for which she received widespread acclaim as a Polish Holocaust survivor, whose grim secret looms overhead throughout most of the film. Her moving treatment of the material during the gut-wrenching reveal is some of the finest screen time Streep has ever occupied.

Related: Sophie's Choice: The story behind that haunting scene

Silkwood (1983)

By the mid-1980s, Streep was at the top of her game, the reigning cinema queen of her generation. Recouping nearly three times its budget, Silkwood — based on the true story of a whistleblower who curiously died in a car crash while investigating the dangerous amounts of radiation allowed into the workspace by her plutonium plant employer — earned Streep her third consecutive Best Actress nomination in three years.

Related: 20 whistleblower movies to watch

Out of Africa (1985)

The actress teamed with Robert Redford and Sydney Pollack for this continent-hopping epic that proved audiences around the world were willing to sit through three dramatic hours of melodramatic Streep without complaint — all to the tune of nearly $230 million in worldwide box office receipts.

Related: Meryl Streep's style evolution

Ironweed (1987)

Streep played a terminally ill, vocally inclined drifter opposite Jack Nicholson in a role that, alongside 1988’s A Cry in the Dark, capped Streep’s monumental decade filled with seven Oscar nods — six of which were for Lead Actress. 

Related: Meryl Streep completely bombs a quiz about her own Oscar nominations

A Cry in the Dark (1988)

Though not as widely seen as some of Streep’s most celebrated works, her subtle approach to this Australian drama based on a real-life case of a wild canine snatching a newborn child from her parents’ clutches was perhaps better known to the masses after Seinfeld’s Julia Louis Dreyfus interpolated the famous line “the dingo ate your baby.”

Related: Dingo really did take her baby

She-Devil (1989)

Even in the most putrid of cinematic stinkers, Streep’s charisma is enough to make them feel abuzz. In a rare overtly sexy (and unabashedly fun) performance from Streep, she plays Mary Fisher, a narcissistic romance novelist who begins an affair with the husband of a dumpy housewife (Roseanne Barr), and later becomes the target of her devilish revenge.

Postcards From the Edge (1990)

An actor inherently takes a risk in playing an already well-known personality (her character is inspired by Carrie Fisher in a film based on the actress’ 1987 novel); comparisons to the living party are inevitable, which can quickly lead to accusations of pure mimicry versus acting. But, in Streep’s hands, she finds intricate layers both in Fisher’s script and in her persona, creating an irresistible character that’s both familiar and fresh.

Death Becomes Her (1992)

Another so-odd-it-works offshoot for Streep, Death Becomes Her — in which she and Goldie Hawn play dueling women bickering over a man (Bruce Willis) after downing an immortality serum — brims with dark humor, macabre flair, and amusing body horror in a genre-hopping show-stopper that sees Streep finally tapping into a wealth of tones she’d yet to explore.

The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

Clint Eastwood’s romantic drama follows an Italian war bride who, on her Iowa farm, meets a photographer (Eastwood) and begins an affair while her family is away.

Related: The making of The Bridges of Madison County

One True Thing (1998)

It’s become a cliché for an actor to garner Oscar attention for playing a character with a life-threatening illness, but nothing Streep does is cut from the cloth of expectation — least of all her deeply moving portrayal of a cancer-stricken mother hosting her resentful, journalist daughter (Renée Zellweger) for personal care as the disease takes its toll. Opposite Zellweger’s fiery, career-woman energy, Streep’s sweet, superficially doting mother aesthetic slowly melts away to reveal a tender center that’s sure to move you.

Music of the Heart (1999)

Wes Craven took a fleeting departure from horror to direct Streep in this musical drama about a woman who founded a school of music in Harlem.

Related: Behind the scenes with Meryl Streep explains how she got to Carnegie Hall

The Hours (2002)

Assemblies of acting talent don’t get juicier than Stephen Daldry’s haunting drama starring Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman as three women whose lives become intertwined — across different time periods — by Virginia Woolf’s (Kidman) 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway. Though Kidman won an Oscar and Moore was nominated for their work in the film, Streep was shockingly shut out of the race that year, an even more peculiar turn of events given that the film was an across-the-board contender, with nominations for Best Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Streep’s roles have always resonated with a certain mature crowd, but her performance as the (allegedly) Anna Wintour-inspired, fashion magazine mogul from hell Miranda Priestly made the character an instantly quotable, automatically iconic role that helped Streep regain footing with a younger crowd of fans as the film became a huge box office hit throughout the summer of 2006.

Related: 12 fascinating details from Devil Wears Prada’s final script

Doubt (2008)

Even divine entities quaked in the presence of Streep’s work as a no-nonsense Catholic school principal leading a crusade against a priest’s peculiar relationship with one of her students.

Julie & Julia (2009)

Some feel the actress’ take on iconic chef Julia Child is too showy and exaggerated, but even Streep at her most unhinged possesses an unexplainable magic that’s impossible to take your eyes off of.

The Iron Lady (2011)

Streep’s most recent Oscar victory didn’t land without criticism. Her portrayal as controversial political figure Margaret Thatcher divided awards pundits almost as harshly as Thatcher herself did the British public, especially given the neck-and-neck contest the actress waged that year with Viola Davis’ beloved work in The Help. While many have dinged this performance as a scenery-chewing masterwork in spectacular mimicry, there’s a palpable ferocity to Streep’s committed performance that’s unwavering, even in the film’s most intimate moments as it covers Thatcher’s political heyday to her quiet years as an elderly recluse.

Related: Meryl Streep discusses Iron Lady

Adaptation. (2002)

After a string of straightforward dramatic turns, Streep took a dizzying turn as writer Susan Orlean opposite two Nicolas Cages (the actor played both Charlie Kaufman and his fictional brother, Donald) in Spike Jonze’s meta dramedy about Kaufman’s attempt to adapt Orlean’s The Orchid Thief into a movie.

Ricki and the Flash (2015)

Regardless of how many cliches the plot around her gives in to, seeing Streep unleash as an aging rocker — complete with wild hairstyles and an unhealthy amount of leather — is worth enduring the saccharine (yet ultimately irresistible) emotional notes sounding around her.

Related: Meryl Streep took guitar lesson from Neil Young to prep for Ricki and the Flash role

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This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Joey Nolfi

If sleighs dashing through the skies aren't your thing, Dwayne Johnson has an eye-popping alternative: Flying fanny packs.

During a commercial break for Thursday's 94th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, NBC debuted an adorable ad for the actor's upcoming TV comedy Young Rock that sent a gigantic recreation of Johnson — clad in an iconic look from his youth — soaring above the streets of Manhattan.

Voiced by Today show hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, the commercial (disguised as real coverage from the parade) saw the balloon dressed in Johnson's infamous belted blue jeans, fanny pack, black turtle neck, and thick silver chain, as seen in a heavily memed photo of Johnson circa the 1990s.

As Kotb explained, Young Rock "follows the wild times of Dwayne as a kid, a teen, and a college footballer," while Guthrie exclaimed that she "can't wait to see what kind of trouble little D.J. got into."

Johnson shared a first look at the series on Wednesday, posting photos from the set showing dramatized versions of his early life. Adrian Groulx plays Johnson at age 10, with Bradley Constant stepping in for Johnson at 15, and Marco Polo star Uli Latukefu portraying him at 18, just as he was recruited to play football for the University of Miami.

Young Rock debuts in February 2021 on NBC. Watch the commercial above.

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Author:Joey Nolfi - Source: EW

Steve Carell is saving Christmas in a new holiday commercial.

The beloved Office actor takes on his jolliest role to date as Santa Claus in Comcast's new ad, which premiered on Thanksgiving Day.

The commercial follows Carell as a conflicted Santa, who, amid the chaos of 2020, has accepted that the "usual" Christmas gifts aren't going to cut it this year. Thus, he enlists the help of his loyal elves to adapt to the times — through trial and error, of course — as Santa and Mrs. Claus navigate the trials of video chatting and drone delivery as Dec. 25 approaches.

In the end, Santa holds a video conference with the elves while he's flying in his sleigh. "This year has been harder than ever. And yet, somehow, you all found a way to pull it off. You reminded us it's not about the toys or the ornaments, it's about the little things," he says, before his helpers chime in with an important note: "You're on mute."

Watch Carell's Comcast holiday commercial — directed by I, Tonya helmer Craig Gillespie — above.

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Author:Joey Nolfi - Source: EW

With just under a month left to go until Christmas Day, the iconic singer-songwriter's perennial holiday jam "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has begun its yearly ascent up several national song rankings lists.

In addition to reentering the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 29 on Tuesday, the beloved song — which reached its peak of No. 1 for the first time last year — entered the top 10 on the domestic Spotify chart Thursday morning.

Sitting at No. 9, "All I Want for Christmas is You" amassed 821,848 daily plays on the subscription music service, surpassing Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's smash hit "WAP" as it rises.

The 1994 tune celebrated its first No. 1 chart placement in the United States in December 2019, ringing in its 25-year anniversary as Carey's 19th overall chart-topper (and making her the solo artist with the most No. 1s in history).

"I wrote the beginning and the middle on the keyboard in a little house in Upstate New York, in a room by myself," Carey previously revealed to EW. "I just started thinking about all things Christmas and growing up as a kid that loves Christmas. I think that’s why it’s such a festive record."

Carey is expected to perform the song as part of her upcoming Apple TV+ holiday show Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special, which also features collaborations with Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Jermaine Dupri, Snoop Dogg, and more.

Author:Joey Nolfi - Source: EW

Burlesque

• Movie

The curtain almost closed on the 2010 musical Burlesque with a nod to a Julia Roberts classic.

Speaking to EW as part of our oral history for the beloved film's 10-year anniversary, writer-director Steven Antin revealed that he originally shot a much different conclusion to the Cher/Christina Aguilera musical.

"The first ending for the film I shot wasn’t good. I hated it. I didn’t like the way it was written, and I didn’t like the set," Antin candidly revealed, adding that he initially envisioned his story — about Aguilera's Ali, a small-town woman with a big voice who moves to Los Angeles to make it as a showgirl in an underground club run by Cher's no-nonsense Tess before falling for a hunky, songwriting bartender named Jack (Cam Gigandet) — finishing with an ode to 1990's Pretty Woman.

"It was Jack and Ali saying goodbye, and then he gets into a taxi to go to the airport to go somewhere. I can’t even remember where," Antin remembered. "Ali runs out onto the fire escape and calls his name, and he jumps out of the taxi and climbs the fire escape to her, and they have this big, romantic kiss. Then, we cut to the big musical finale, 'Show Me How You Burlesque,' which is still the same."

As it stands, the film ends with Ali and Jack reuniting backstage at Tess' club after a fiery breakup in the latter's apartment, exchanging sweet words before Jack finally presents Ali with a finished version of a song he'd long been working on.

"We tested [the original ending] with an audience, and everyone agreed… reshoot it!" Antin finished. And the retooling apparently worked: "We tested the movie several times, of course, and the final test was with an audience in Arizona. The movie tested through the roof. It was insane. It was in the high 90s, and that’s rare."

The film would go on to gross over $90 million at the global box office before becoming a cult phenomenon.

Read EW's full oral history on Burlesque — featuring behind-the-scenes memories with Aguilera, Cher, Antin, and more of the film's crew.

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Author:Joey Nolfi - Source: EW

According to a company filing Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Disney intends to cut 32,000 jobs — primarily in Parks, Experiences, and Products — from its 223,000-strong workforce through early 2021 as parks at its Disneyland resort in Anaheim, Calif., and Disneyland Paris will remain closed for the foreseeable future due to the ongoing outbreak.

The filing indicates that the most significant impact of the pandemic on its parks business included a detriment of $6.9 billion in operating income due to property closures and reduced operating measures in place at the Disney World resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneyland.

In September, Disney confirmed it would reduce its parks workforce by 28,000 in North America alone.

Wednesday's SEC filing noted such measures — in addition to other mitigation efforts, such as reducing discretionary expenditures and reduced management compensation — would "have an adverse impact" on Disney's overall business. Elsewhere, Disney has reshuffled most of its theatrical release schedule (including pushing Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow tentpole to 2021 and dropping its live-action Mulan remake for a premium price on Disney+).

According to CNN, Disney suffered a loss of $2.8 billion in overall business through Sept. 30 of this year, compared to the company's $10.4 billion profit in 2019.

Author:Joey Nolfi - Source: EW

RuPaul's Drag Race

• TV Show

• VH1

• Reality

Streaming Options

Deck the halls with boughs of hennys: Your favorite drag stars from RuPaul's Drag Race and The Boulet Brothers' Dragula are coming together for a jolly holiday special.

EW can exclusively reveal that 10 drag legends will assemble for the Drag Queen Christmas VOD event, a virtual adaptation of Murray & Peter Presents' annual nationwide holiday tour amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This year, Sasha Velour, Shea Couleé, Jaida Essence Hall, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Thorgy Thor, Jackie Cox, industry icon Lady Bunny, and Dragula winner Landon Cider will take part in the festivities with performances, while Trinity The Tuck and Nina West are set to emcee the production.

"Unfortunately, COVID has sidelined our tour this year," producer Murray Hodgson said in a press statement. "This would have been our fifth season on tour and there was no way we were going to let down the fans this year, so we’re making it available "on demand" for fans all around the world. Fans can watch the show with family and friends as many times as they want throughout the entire holiday season."

Drag Queen Christmas is now streaming on demand at DragFans.com.

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Episode Recaps

RuPaul's Drag Race

RuPaul — as host, mentor, and creative inspiration — decides who's in and who's out.

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Author:Joey Nolfi - Source: EW