Critics Destroy Chris Pratt's New Show BEFORE Seeing It, Nike Abandons LGBT Athlete, The Real Life Events that Inspired Black Panther (The Five for 07/08/22)
Hey, welcome to The Five.
Again, the publishing schedule is a bit off in “new baby season.”
One note before we begin…a couple of my friends lost their dogs this week (the escapees were found, thank God).
I lost my own dog a couple of times last summer when my then-two-year-old let him out of the house. After looking at several options, I picked up a Fi Collar, which tracks your dog via both GPS and 4G if your four legged friend escapes. The battery lasts close to a week on average.
For $5/month or so…tracking Finley in case he gets out (or gets loose while we’re hiking) is the best money I spend.
If you want to keep your own dog(s) safe, you can use this link to get a free band with your order.
It’s pretty rare that I recommend products, but when I truly believe in something…I want you to know about it too.
Let’s dive into Culture & Commentary.
[one]
Critics and fans have clashed over Amazon Prime’s top streaming show, The Terminal List, starring Chris Pratt. The 8 episode series is rated at 43% by Critics and 95% by audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
The story here is that the opinions on the show were formed before critics had seen a single minute of film on this one.
From Screenrant BEFORE the show was released or critics were able to get screeners:
The backlash against Chris Pratt has not affected the performance of his big-budget franchise films so far, but it could negatively impact his upcoming TV show, The Terminal List. With an acting career spanning over two decades, Chris Pratt has come a long way from being a comic side character to becoming a leading man in box office juggernauts. While his roles as Peter Quill/Star-Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreation have earned him acclaim for his versatility and on-screen humor, he has been in the limelight for many negative reasons of late.
Chris Pratt first garnered criticism for his affiliation with Hillsong Church whose executives are infamously known for having a long history of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments. When Elliott Page asked Chris Pratt to shed some light on the Church's problematic views, the actor defended the institution by claiming that it "opens their doors to absolutely everyone." A few of his social media posts, especially the one where he impassively compared lamb hunting to "unplugging a TV" further greased the wheels of all the backlash coming toward him.
The only problem? Pratt has never set foot inside Hillsong Church.
So, Elliot (formerly Ellen) Page accusation of Pratt would be similar to if Elliot Page accused me of being a member of the Bloods Street Gang in Seattle, when I’ve never even been to the state of Washington…and then having a media outlet amplify that message.
Elsewhere, Buzzfeed compiled a list of “problematic” things about Pratt including:
When Chris shared this post-hunting picture, where he was called out for glamorizing/encouraging hunting, saying, “Look at this glorious food! We will eat off him for a month.”
So…a non-trophy hunter…harvested his own meat, legally and responsibly…and that’s a problem?
But hunting is only the tip of the iceberg because Pratt is, *GASP*, responsible for January 6th, according to one Reddit-er.
Uhhh…wut?
The show went into pre-production in 2020.
And is helmed by a Antoine Fuqua, a black director behind such alt-right, racist hits as Training Day starring Denzel Washington and Olympus Has Fallen, starring Morgan Freeman.
And I’m supposed to believe Fuqua built a pro-January-6th plot months before the Capital Riots, based on a novel that released while Obama was President?!
This whole debacle proves two things:
A. Major media outlet critics are losing their ability to sway audiences away from an otherwise great project.
and
B. Losing my own media career for similar values and activities (Christian worldview, rural lifestyle) wasn’t an anomaly. Chris Pratt’s story is MUCH bigger in scale, but follows the same plot points that got me blackballed from my 13 year career as a mainstream critic.
But then again, The Terminal List may be the top show in America right now…and The Five exists (not that I’m comparing the two in size or impact), so apparently the power of Cancel Culture is fading.
[two]
A pair of very odd occurrences in the post-Roe abortion debate.
The first was that NPR attacked Anti-Vax protestors out of nowhere:
Now that anti-vaccination groups have laid claim to "My Body, My Choice," abortion rights groups are distancing themselves from it — marking a stunning annexation of political messaging.
"It's a really savvy co-option of reproductive rights and the movement's framing of the issue," said Lisa Ikemoto, a law professor at the University of California-Davis Feminist Research Institute. "It strengthens the meaning of choice in the anti-vaccine space and detracts from the meaning of that word in the reproductive rights space."
Framing the decision to vaccinate as a singularly personal one also obscures its public health consequences, Ikemoto said, because vaccines are used to protect not just one person but a community of people by stopping the spread of a disease to those who can't protect themselves.
Way to use my tax dollars to go full Karen, NPR.
The “you stole my language” isn’t new. In 2014, the NYPD attempted to generate positive PR by asking residents to post photos with police, which did not go how they planned:
No one owns a hashtag, just like no one owns the phrase “my body, my choice.” Part of free expression is the ability to use the point of a person or party you disagree with.
Elsewhere, Massachusetts center Elizabeth Warren decided to try to end Pregnancy Resource Centers, which provide resources like diapers, formula and access to medical care to women experiencing unplanned pregnancies:
“With Roe gone, it’s more important than ever to crack down on so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ that mislead and deceive patients seeking abortion care,” said Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, promoting her bill. “We need to crack down on the deceptive practices these centers use to prevent people from getting abortion care, and I’ve got a bill to do just that,” she added.
Under Warren’s bill, charities could be fined $100,000 or “50 percent of the revenues earned by the ultimate parent entity” of the charity for violating the act’s “prohibition on disinformation” related to abortion. But the legislation itself does not define prohibited speech. Warren’s bill directs the Federal Trade Commission to “promulgate rules to prohibit a person from advertising with the use of misleading statements related to the provision of abortion services.” Warren’s bill would thus turn the Federal Trade Commission into a national abortion disinformation board. Perhaps the task of determining what counts as a prohibited “misleading” statement would fall to the recently unemployed Nina Jankowicz for the remainder of the Biden administration. Warren does not seem to have considered who might do this job in a future Republican administration.
Both of these arguments are…profoundly religious.
NPR is accusing Anti-Vaxers of secular blasphemy…some sort of postmodern version of “taking the Lord’s name in vain” for “misusing” a phrase they hold as holy.
Elizbeth Warren’s stance that abortion must be the only option and no one else dare speak of alternatives has a pretty Theocratic vibe to it.
Columbia University’s John McWorter has painted the antiracist movement as a new religion of sorts…but perhaps “Abortion as Sacrament” is finding it’s way into the dogma as well.
[three]
I didn’t see this one coming. Teenage boys all over the world are dressing up in suits to see Minions: Rise of Gru.
Variety reports:
A new trend on TikTok and Twitter took shape over the past week, with groups of young moviegoers dressing in formal attire to attend “Minions: The Rise of Gru” in style. Dubbed with the title #Gentleminions, the hashtag has accrued 5 million views on TikTok, gaining such a level of prominence that Universal Pictures, the distributor behind the “Despicable Me” spinoff, issued a formal acknowledgement of the trend.
Bill Hirst, a teenager in Sydney, Australia, created one of the first posts on TikTok to take part in the trend. Hirst’s video, which features a swath of young people in suit jackets moving up an escalator, has accrued more than 8.5 million views over the past week. “The Rise of Gru” released in theaters in Australia on June 23, giving Hirst and company a head start on the trend before the film became available in other territories.
“My mate saw one of the first videos that was quite small at the time. We wanted to do it just for fun,” Hirst told Variety. “We just chucked on our suits and went straight to the cinemas…It was very spontaneous. We had our formal literally a couple days before that. We had all had our suits ready.”
Believe it or not, I’m calling this one a huge win.
Social media once again becoming a place for stupid, fun hijinks and trends is a small step towards cooling down the rage of a nation that’s been living in a constant state of anger and paranoia for 6+ years at this point.
A bunch of teenage boys in suits aint gonna save the Union, but it’s not a bad place to start either.
Plus, making a trip to the theater a trendy event to document on social media may help save the box office…and keep the lights on at your local multiplex.
[four]
Athletic gear giant Nike loves selling LGBT sneakers during PRIDE month.
Nike loves LGBT profits.
Nike just doesn’t care about the first openly LGBT Nike athlete, who facing a decade in Russian prison, apparently.
Just days after the end of PRIDE month, WNBA start Brittney Griner, the first Nike sponsored LGBT athlete, pled guilty to drug possession in Russia (on probable trumped up charges) and is looking at a decade in (basically Soviet) prison.
Nike, a really gay company last month, has yet to issue a statement of support for Griner, despite continuing to make money from the star’s shoes while she rots in prison.
It’s almost like Nike was only in it for the money the whole time or something…
[five]
Thor: Love and Thunder releases today…reviews are fairly mediocre, although I doubt the Marvel legion of super fans will care.
I’m probably seeing tonight, so I’ll let you know my thoughts next week.
I really want to be excited for Amsterdam, but I really hate writer/director David O. Russell, who turns out either piles of garbage (American Hustle, Joy) or a gem (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter)
Maybe it’s better to say that I’m frustrated that a great filmmaker makes such bad movies sometimes.
Anyway, Russell’s latest, Amasterdam, is certainly stuffed with acting talent, including: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and John David Washington, Robert De Niro, Chris Rock, Taylor Swift, Anya Taylor-Joy, Mike Myers, Rami Malek, Zoe Saldaña, Timothy Olyphant.
If I had to wager on it now, I’d say this will be heavily hyped…but terrible.
Hope I’m wrong though.
UPDATE: Maybe I don’t hope I’m wrong. Turns out Russell has a history of violent behavior on set towards cast & crew.Clerks I and Clerks II are darlings of 90’s indie cinema. The franchise returns 20+ years later, featuring Ben Affleck, Sarah Michelle Geller and SNL alum Fred Armisen.
Honestly, I don’t remember the first two movies, although I watched them in college trying to like cool stuff or something…but the Clerks franchise does have a strong fanbase. So, if you’re in the fan club…mark your calendar for September 13th.
Disney is starting to let go of some details for Andor, the next original show in the Star Wars saga. The series will eventually span 24 episodes and cover five years of story, ending with the beginning of Rogue One, which is my favorite Star Wars movie.
Expect more James Bond/Jason Bourne spycraft than light saber duels from this one…streaming August 31st.
Woah, Black Panther in real life! The comic (and film, starring Chadwick Boseman) was inspired by the Dahomey Amazons, an all-female elite fighting force. Viola Davis (The Help, Suicide Squad) takes the lead role in The Woman King, which may add some hardware to her already stuffed Oscar/Emmy/Tony trophy case.
Disney+ is resurrecting the (both beloved and mocked) National Treasure IP as a TV show…no plot specifics yet, but it’s filming in New Mexico.
Nicholas Cage isn’t returning, but Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago, Mask of Zorro) plays a major part in a story that may encompass parts of Central and South America this time around (which will probably be New Mexico made to look like those places to save money).
NEW MUSIC:
Just two months after dropping a chart-topping 34 song album, country breakout star Zach Bryan is…back with more new music. “Summertime Blues” is the title track of a forthcoming EP. Somehow, it’s great.
Independent Houston rapper Tobe Nwigwe, who built his following by posting a video every Sunday since 2016 (and the streak is still going), has an excellent new single with Two Chainz and Chamillionaire.
Nwigwe, who mainly creates with his music with his wife on vocals and the same producer on every track…has built a seemingly bulletproof musical empire that operates outside of the modern entertainment industry.
Until the next one,
-sth