I’ve stood next to Sharon Stone a couple of times, and she’s no statue-esque Sigourney Weaver, I can tell you…she was 5’8 when younger, and is probably closer to 5’7″ now.

Cynthia Erivo and Sharon Stone sharing a moment on the Palm Springs International Film Awards red carpet pic.twitter.com/hBpyOPBjai

— Ema Sasic (@ema_sasic) January 4, 2025

Ariana Grande & Nicole Kidman at the Palm Springs Film Festival Awards.

(via: @THR)
pic.twitter.com/HomCOOte9F

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) January 4, 2025

4:55 pm: What did I predict a couple of hours ago?

3:15 pm: The National Society of Film Critics hasn’t chosen its Best Picture winner yet, but you know these holier-than-Joe-Popcorn elitists are going to go with The Brutalist or Nickel Boys. They’re coming from a basic anti-pleasure principle.

A majority of NSFC voters preferred to support Sing Sing‘s Colman Domingo (60 votes) and secondly Adrien Brody (51 votes) for Best Actor instead of Conclave‘s Ralph Fiennes or A Complete Unknown‘s Timothee Chalamet…you can always predict which way the dweebs will blow.

HE supports the honoring of A Real Pain‘s Kieran Culkin, and I respect giving the Best Actress trophy to Hard Truths‘ Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

Hillary Clinton hasn’t looked this slender since the early aughts.

It’s because they know deep down that Average Joes and Janes have come to despise them for the most part, and they don’t want the public’s hate to become too enflamed.

They know that Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris not just because of the economy (which has actually been in fairly decent shape for several months now) and the border (which was too wide-open in ’21 and ’22, but was arrested in late ’23 and ’24) because they know that Averages Joes are sick to death of woke shit and therefore despise Hollywood wokeys with equal fervor, and they don’t want to exacerbate that situation.

Given this intense current of post-electoral loathing for Hollywood citizenry (but not the movies) they’re figuring it’s probably smarter to chill and sit on their hands and wait for the winds to shift.

Industry-ites are afraid to praise The Apprentice because they’re cowards…plain and simple. I’ve been saying for nearly eight months that it’s a truly excellent film with superb performances by Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong, but they’re afraid to acknowledge the quality because they don’t want to be seen as supportive of anything bearing any kind of Trump stamp, even though the film’s second half is quite condemning of the former and future president.

This riff was inspired by Steven Zeitchik’s 11.3 THR story:

Respect and affection for the Oogum Boogum guy, Brenton Wood, who passed yesterday (1.3.25) at age 83. Three hit singles in ’67 –“The Oogum Boogum Song””, “Gimme Little Sign” and “Baby You Got It” — and that was it as far as the big-time was concerned.

I’d more or less forgotten about Wood** by the turn of the century, but then Cameron Crowe used “Oogum Boogum” for an early scene in Almost Famous, and I was back on the train.

Alternate title: What would former shoemaker Daniel Day Lewis say?

HE to Italian shoemaker, sent this morning: “My feet used to be size 12, but over the past eight to ten years I’ve had to wear size 13. I own two pairs of boots and several lace-up shoes that are size 13, and they’re all fine.

“Two or three months ago I ordered a pair of size 13 Bass Weejuns black loafers. They felt stiff and tight at first, but after wearing them a couple of times they’ve loosened up slightly. They’re not what I would call comfortable but they’re wearable.

“Your loafers are beautifully made and very attractive. But they feel a bit tighter than the Bass Weejuns. Last night I wore them indoors for an hour or so, and without socks. (I don’t think I could even put them on while wearing thin socks.) I really need to somehow loosen them up. I need to make the leather softer and more malleable, which only happens from wearing them and walking around.

“I could ask my local shoe repair guy to forcibly stretch them out but the leather has to be softer and more malleable to begin with, right?

“Your shoes only arrived yesterday but right now a voice is telling me they’ve been constructed a bit tighter and snugger than my other size 13 shoes. I’m really afraid that even after the leather has become looser and more relaxed, they’ll STILL feel too tight.

“I’m not saying I should be wearing a size 14 — my feet aren’t that big — but I’m thinking it might be better if I had a size 13 and 1/2. Would it be possible for you to send me a size 13 and 1/2 if I return the current shoes?

“Or should I just hope and pray that they’ll gradually become more wearable or perhaps even comfortable once the leather stretches out?

“I know all about cruel shoes and the suffering that goes along with this. But right now I don’t feel good about this. I’m a little worried.”

The natural, obvious presumption when a talented accomplished person takes his/her own life is that a great deal of unhappiness, frustration and probably depression preceded it. I’m very, very crushed about this. The proverbial black dog has claimed another victim. Poor Aubrey Plaza must be going through hell right now. Deeply sorry.