EAST MARION, NY —Forget the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the pandemic, a looming storm and political tensions — the one topic that had social media buzzing Sunday night was the series finale to HBO's "The Undoing," starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant.
Without giving away any spoilers, the ending brought viewers on a suspenseful roller coaster of emotions fueled by powerhouse performances by Kidman and Grant — in acting turns many deemed Emmy worthy —as audiences finally learned, after weeks of twists and turns, who killed Elena Alves.
And the answer had the internet on fire.
"'The Undoing': Check you out, Hugh Grant. Wow!" Bonnie Grice wrote on Facebook.
"I'm undone!" wrote Eileen Kapell, also on Facebook.
"Best whodunit show all year," Drew Scott added.
Another woman wrote that she went through her house removing anything that looked remotely like a hammer.
Indeed, the series finale's shocking ending hinged on one very important piece of evidence: A sculpting hammer found in the fire pit of the summer home belonging to Kidman's character's father, played by Donald Sutherland.
Those riveted by the HBO series "The Undoing" found scenes filmed at that very beach house and on the rock-strewn waterfront familiar: The series was shot in 2019 on the North Fork, with the Long Island Sound providing a haunting backdrop for the suspenseful drama.
The beach house where Nicole Kidman's character retreats with her son after learning the shocking news that her husband has been unfaithful and is a suspect in a woman's murder is located on Rocky Point Road in East Marion.
The limited series airs on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Max.
"The Undoing," according to a post on HBO.com, features Kidman and Hugh Grant and marks a reunion between Kidman and "Big Little Lies" creator David E. Kelley. The series is directed by Susanne Bier."The Undoing" is based on the book "You Should Have Known" by Jean Hanff Korelitz.
Also featured in the cast are Sutherland, Edgar Ramirez, Lily Rabe, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Matilda DeAngelis and Noma Dumezweni.
The series, which debuted on Oct. 25, focuses on a successful therapist, Grace Sachs, played by Kidman.
"The limited series follows Grace (Kidman) and Jonathan Fraser (Grant), who are living the only lives they ever wanted for themselves," a news release from HBO said. "Overnight, a chasm opens in their lives: a violent death and a chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster and horrified by the ways in which she has failed to heed her own advice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and her family."
"David has created another propulsive series with a fascinating, complicated female role at its center," Kidman said in the HBO post.
According to Variety, the home, which dates back to 1896, was originally a life-saving station and sports a massive tower.
East Marion, according to the Southold Town website, was "for over 50 years, headquarters of a life-saving station which rescued countless people who otherwise would have been lost when their ships were wrecked off the sound shore. The United States Coast Guard was in charge of the station during World War II."
Kidman has filmed on the North Fork in the past: In 2007, she delighted fans who waited for hours for a glimpse as she filmed a scene at the Long Island Rail Road station in Greenport for "Margot at the Wedding."
What did you think of the final episode of "The Undoing"? Tell us in the comments section.
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Storia Americana,” the fourth season finale of “Fargo.”
The Season 4 finale of “Fargo,” which aired Sunday night, was the second of two episodes that were — thanks to the coronavirus pandemic — short four months after the eight preceding episodes were forced to wrap. “Storia Americana” brought to an end the tale of two warring 1950 Kansas City crime families led on one side by Chris Rock’s calculating Loy Cannon and on the other by Jason Schwartzman’s erratic Josto Fadda. Both men, for all their stylistic differences, wind up equally dead in the end. Still living are Loy’s son Satchel (Rodney L. Jones III) — who, it appears, will grow up to be Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine), the scene-stealing gangster of “Fargo” Season 2 — and Ethelrida Pearl Smutney (E’myri Crutchfield), a young girl whose family is ensnared in the conflict.
Here, “Fargo” showrunner Noah Hawley speaks with Variety about the significance of those two characters, the unique challenges of Season 4 and what the future holds for the anthology series.
It looked like Rodney L. Jones III, who plays Satchel, grew taller during the break in production. Was it something you noticed? It feels like the story benefits from it.
Well, yes, I noticed. Even though we don’t say that time has passed between Episode 8, the black and white episode, and episode nine, time has clearly passed. It’s no longer winter. But I also felt like that opening montage of the war intimates time passing. But yeah, in July, when it looked like you’re actually going to be able to go back [into production], my first thought was that Rodney might have grown. He’s at that age. So they sent me a picture of him as he looks, and he’s clearly getting older. But I agree that it works. The fact that he left a boy and he came home almost a man is meaningful, cinematically.
In what ways were these two episodes different from what you had originally planned?
They didn’t change substantively in any way. We needed to introduce happy we needed to get to the you know, the tragic ends of Otis and Gaetano and and we needed for Ethelrida to triumph in that ninth hour. And then yeah, in the 10th hour, we had to we had to turn things from bad to good to bad again. But certainly in going through the process of prepping for that additional photography, I went through both scripts and made sure that I was only asking the production to film things that were critical to the episodes.
Under different circumstances, what would you have left on the bone that wasn’t there?
I don’t think there was anything. I had removed, originally, the scenes of Satchel walking home from Episode 9. I thought that was maybe something that we could lose. And FX really argued that we needed it to see Satchel’s journey, to see how he how he becomes Mike Milligan in the end. And I think they were right. It was an abundance of caution on my part to say, “Well, maybe we don’t need that day.” But I don’t really approach things that way. Whatever it is that I cut, which I can’t even remember now, that’s the way it’s meant to be. So I didn’t feel like I missed anything when I watched those hours.
Chris Rock has said that he lost weight and added muscle during the production break. Were there any other changes with the actors that might have raised continuity issues?
There wasn’t a lot, no. Jason Schwartzman was so superstitious that he never shaved the mustache. I think he was pretty adamant that it had to be that mustache, and he didn’t want to shave it and grow another one. I know that that Salvatore [Esposito], who played Gaetano, lost a lot of weight between when when we wrapped and when we came back. But I don’t think you notice.
You’ve said in the past that a big part of this season was telling the origin story of Mike Milligan from Season 2. What, in your mind, happens between Satchel being on the porch and watching his father die and the moment where we meet Mike years later in Season 2?
I feel like when when you are the son of the king and king gets killed, then you are not safe anymore. So my feeling is that that family was not able to stay in that house, that their source of revenue dried up, that they went through some hard times, and that then, ultimately, Satchel did not have a lot of opportunity in his life and had to fall back on the skills he learned from Rabbi. Rabbi said to him, “I don’t want you to be a child soldier like I was.” But on some level, the moment his dad was killed in front of him, he didn’t really have a choice. Then I think he had to change his name, because being a Cannon was not a safe thing to be. So he chose the Milligan name. Then at a certain point, having laundered his identity, he started pulling jobs of some kind and ended up getting in with with the Kansas City mafia, which is ultimately that what Ebal created out of the Fadda family business. So the irony being that he became an employee of the very company that that drove his dad out of business.
The speech that Ebal gives Josto about family business being crazy because families are crazy, is that the seed for the version of the mob that Mike walks into at the end of Season 2 that is functioning almost like a corporate entity?
Yeah, and it’s echoed in Season 2 by Joe Bulo, who at that point is played by Brad Garrett, where he talks to Jean [Smart, who plays Floyd Gerhardt], and he says, “That’s why you can’t have a family business, because one of my guys steps out of line, I break his arm; he speaks out of turn, I cut out his tongue; but what are you gonna do with your sons?” So that is the kind of origin — we see Ebal watching this crazy family psychodrama and formulating this no-family business, hierarchical ideal, and then putting it into into practice.
You’ve talked in the past about “Fargo” coming from your thoughts about what America is, and particularly money in America. It feels like there is something significant notion that is now repeating in the series that a small family business just won’t do. Things have to be bigger in scale and organized and very profit-driven.
Yeah, I mean, it’s not how business used to be. There came a moment, not in the ’50s, but certainly by the ’70s and heading into the greed-is-good ’80s where corporations themselves were not so profit-, shareholder-driven. And then, at some point, they switched what their highest value was, which was generating shareholder value. And at that point, you saw any sense of responsibility to customers or workers go out the window. Any politician will tell you that the backbone of this country is the family business and people are unfortunately losing so many of those family businesses right now. But ultimately, a family business is a humane and human endeavor. And a corporation is neither of those things. In fact, in a corporation, the first thing that you do is create a board of directors and a decision-making hierarchy in which no one person is responsible for any decision — which means that no one person’s morality is driving any decision and it becomes much easier to make decisions that aren’t good for anybody.
In the finale, when Josto and Oraetta are executed, there’s a moment where Jessie Buckley as Oraetta is looking at her warped reflection, and it reminded me of Billy Bob Thornton’s character in Season 1. Is there something to these characters that you keep bringing into the series that seem to represent something primal and almost inhuman?
Yeah, I mean, I think that whether it’s Anton Chigurh in “No Country For Old Men” or Peter Stormare in “Fargo” or the Lone Biker of the Apocalypse in “Raising Arizona” — and I would include John Goodman in “Barton Fink” in there — there’s always these characters in Coen Brothers movies where you think this is not a human being, this is the kind of elemental force that has always been blowing through the American wilderness; a kind of demonic force. You might kill this body — or the dybbuk in the opening of “A Serious Man” — but there’s something more than human that’s happening here. I find that a really fascinating idea for this series, and especially this season. I don’t know if you noticed, but in the black and white episode, there were a lot of historical markers, combined with the haunting of of Ethelrida’s family. There’s this sense that this country is [driven] by the events of the past, and we forget them at our at our peril. In Season 3, we had our mystical bowling alley, and the story of the Rabbi Nachman and the mass grave. This is our past, and I think it’s important to include it in our stories.
Throughout the four seasons, there have only been maybe three or four characters who are just good and smart. And Ethelrida is that character in this season. How important was that character to the telling of this season’s story?
In the superstructure of “Fargo,” whatever the story, it’s a morality tale. And it is ultimately, the story, as the movie is, about a kind of pure, good character on the one side, and real evil on the opposite side. So whether it’s Allison Tolman or Carrie Coon or Patrick Wilson, or this season Ethelrida, there are these characters who [are] just decent people. We’re not saying they’re saints, but they’re just inherently decent people. And I think it’s critical. You can’t tell these stories without that decency, that core American decency. And the fear ultimately is not that violence will be done from one character to another, I think, but that that decency itself is in danger. We went for a long period, starting with “The Shield,” where a lot of our heroes on TV were these demon-hunting, anti-heroes who had sacrificed whatever goodness was in them to protect us from the real evil that was out there — these sort-of haunted characters. And it’s so exhausting to invest in those characters versus this decency. It’s riskier, because decent people run the risk of not only being injured, but becoming jaded. And that in and of itself is violence.
It didn’t occur to me until you you listed those characters there, but when you did, it did strike me that they all play white cops. This season, that role is a Black teenage girl. Is that intentional? And whether or not it’s intentional, what does it say about about the story you wanted to tell this season and how it differed from the stories you told before?
It was definitely intentional. Two years ago now, this story was coming together for me, and I knew that I wanted it to be a story about the collision of African Americans moving from the South and the end of Southern European immigrants arriving in America. I knew that the story was therefore going to center around the experience of white people. And so when I thought about that moral pillar in the story, I thought, well, I could make it a cop again. But that is not the experience of those two groups, that cops are primarily forces of good. So I started to work toward this idea of a cop surrogate and this “Rear Window” idea of this biracial girl who sees something through her window that turns her into a cop — the mystery to solve the mystery of this nurse — so that she becomes our moral pillar. And that led me then to structure the season as I did as her history report and to make her the protagonist.
Have you given thought yet to whether you want to do another season?
I said for three years that I was done, and then I wasn’t, so I’m not going to say that. I have started to think about it. I don’t think it would be the next thing I do, but I do think there’s a more contemporary story percolating for me. The danger is always that you’re going to stay at the dance a little too long. So I have to put a lot of it in place in my head and really make sure that it’s worthy of joining these 41 hours. I don’t want to try and make another one unless I think, “Oh, we have to make this one. It’s the best one yet.”
Article From & Read More ( ‘Fargo’ Showrunner Noah Hawley Reveals What Happens Between Season 4 Finale and the Beginning of Season 2 - Variety )
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Entertainment
Netflix still has some gifts to hand out as the streaming service prepares to unveil a number of highly anticipated original films in the final month of 2020.
Over the course of December, Netflix is adding George Clooney's Midnight Sky, which also stars Felicity Jones, Kyle Chandler and David Oyelowo; David Fincher's passion project, Mank, about Citizen Kane scribe Herman J. Mankiewicz; Ryan Murphy's film adaptation of the Broadway musical The Prom, starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden and Kerry Washington; and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, the latter in his final, posthumous film role.
New original series debuting next month include Selena, a coming-of-age story about the Tejano singer of the same name; Shonda Rhimes' first Netflix series Bridgerton, a sprawling drama set in Regency-era England; the final episodes of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and new seasons of Big Mouth, Mr. Iglesias and Song Exploder, the latter featuring stories behind songs by Dua Lipa, The Killers, Nine Inch Nails and Natalia Lafourcade.
Other films arriving on Netflix in December include E.T., the first three Jurassic Park films, 50 First Dates, Chef, The Da Vinci Code, Runaway Bride, Rango and Nocturnal Animals.
And Netflix is adding seasons of The Challenge, Teen Mom 2, Are You The One and Stargate SG-1 and five Jeopardy! collections.
Missed what came to Netflix last month? Check out the November additions here.
Read on for the complete list of titles coming to Netflix this December.
Michael Bublé kicked off the show surrounded by his family while singing "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" while previews of what was to come appeared on the ornaments hanging on the tree behind him. Next up, "Hollywood's hottest couple" Kermit and Miss Piggy delivered a vocal warm-up of sorts that ended in Piggy's soaring notes cracking the camera lens. But Seacrest made it clear you don't have to have a perfect voice to join in on the fun: "We're celebrating all the holidays," he said. "Wherever you are in the world" -- from South Korea to Italy to Los Angeles -- "this singalong is for you."
Here are seven highlights from the holiday special:
Chloe x Halle: "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"
"It's time for one of life's great questions: Do you want to build a snowman?" asked Seacrest before introducing a "pair of talented sisters, just like [Frozen's] heroines." For Chloe x Halle's performance, the sisters once again transformed their backyard to create a stunning at-home set overflowing with decorated trees and even some light snow falling from the sky. Plus, their performance wouldn't be complete with their own version of Olaf. And as the sisters belted out beautifully chilling harmonies, they wrapped a scarf around their snowball friend.
BTS: “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”
Joining the singalong from Seoul, the K-pop superstars introduced the Christmas classic by channeling the man himself, chuckling "ho ho ho" as they walked onto the present-filled set dressed in cozy sweaters and scarves. Halfway through, RM gave his best Santa impression while asking viewers: “What do you wish for this Christmas? BTS!” He later delivered a sky-high note before the group wished everyone a happy holiday.
Ciara: "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
Following a heart-warming performance from P!nk and her 9-year-old daughter Willow, Seacrest teased Ciara's clip by telling fans the show was going "from one talented mother to another.” He then joked that her kids, Future and Sienna, were trying to take his job as they introduced their mom's song of choice. And that wasn't all they did -- they also joined in on the fun, dancing and singing along with their mom. While Ciara and Sienna wore matching vintage '50s varsity jackets, Future sported a leather jacket and aviators to drive home the vintage-inspired visual.
Disney on Broadway: "Let It Go"
While the Disney on Broadway cast members have participated in the previous two Disney Singalongs, this one was particularly special: It was their first time performing onstage -- and together -- since Broadway's shutdown in the spring. The members joined forces at Times Square's New Amsterdam Theatre for the Frozen hit, and when they sang the line "We’re never going back … the past is in the past," it hit unintentionally hard.
Leslie Odom Jr.: "What’s This?"
The Hamilton star delivered an impassioned and incredibly speedy delivery of The Nightmare Before Christmas track, mirroring Jack Skellington's movements from the film that played behind him. Prior to his performance, Odom admitted to Seacrest he was a bit nervous, but after he was seen smiling in front of the at-home green screen -- and standing next to a Jack Skellington-inspired snowman -- it was clear he knew he nailed it.
Katy Perry: "I’ll Be Home for Christmas / Cozy Little Christmas"
Seacrest said it best when he introduced Katy Perry's performance by saying she "put her heart and soul -- as we’ve come to expect" into her clip, "really going the extra mile" (for those who don't remember, Perry dressed as Mrs. Jumbo for her last Disney Singalong performance). And somehow, even that was an understatement. Perry started her performance of not one but two Christmas songs strapped atop a moving vehicle because, of course, she was dressed as a Christmas tree. After fighting to be taken down, Perry the tree was then shown inside a family's home all dressed up with ornaments and lights while being fed pie in between verses. As Seacrest said: “I've never been more moved by a singing tree."
Adam Lambert: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
Adam Lambert had the highly sought-after closing slot, which appeared just before the legendary Andrea Bocelli wrapped the special as at-home fan videos aired. But to no one's surprise, Lambert over-delivered by adopting the less-is-more strategy, opting for gorgeous sky-high notes rather than costumes or green screens. Seated in his backyard, he performed what Seacrest said was "Minnie Mouse's personal favorite" and balanced soft, tender moments with unparalleled vocal strength.
Article From & Read More ( 7 Best Moments From 'The Disney Holiday Singalong,' From BTS to Adam Lambert - Billboard )
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Entertainment
The pop queen and rapper, both 32, are said to be in the beginning stages of a romantic relationship, a source told People on Monday.
The confirmation came after they were seen enjoying a dinner with friends at New York City's Beatrice Inn Saturday, as reported in Page Six.
Starry connection: Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are dating. The pop queen and rapper, both 32, are said to be in the beginning stages of a romantic relationship, a source told People on Monday. They were snapped in London last year
The Umbrella vocalist and Praise the Lord (Da Shine) artist collaborated earlier this year on a promotional campaign for her Fenty Skin line, taking part in joint interviews with Vogue and GQ for the promotion.
The You Da One singer at one point, asked A$AP Rocky about how he considered his skin, and he said, 'Handsome.'
He told the Rude Boy singer that the hardest part of collaborating with her was keeping focused and serious.
'I think the hardest part about working with you is not goofin’ off and laughing the whole time,' he told her. 'Like this s*** is comedy. That's the hardest part. You know, people be so cool it's hard not to, not to laugh. That's all. But it was fun. The hardest part is not having too much fun. You just forget that it's still work at the end of the day.'
The Umbrella vocalist and Praise the Lord (Da Shine) artist collaborated earlier this year on a promotional campaign for her Fenty Skin line. They were seen in Paris in 2018
Support: The rap star was seen at Rihanna's Diamond Ball in September of 2019 in NYC
The two have past toured together in 2013, and he was featured on her 2011 song Cockiness.
The Barbados-born beauty earlier this year parted ways from billionaire businessman Hassan Jameel, and a source told US in February that she and ASAP Rocky, whose full name is Rakim Athelaston Mayers, had been 'hooking up' and 'having fun,' as they 'have always had chemistry.'
A source told Page Six in late January: 'They shared a hotel suite during that trip in New York. However, Rihanna is reluctant to put a label on it as it’s so soon after Hassan.
'They’re really enjoying each other’s company and taking things easy as it’s still early days. It’s really casual between them and she’s not thinking about whether there’s a future with Rocky. She’s a newly single girl having fun.'
Rihanna has also past been romantically linked to fellow musical stars Drake and Chris Brown and race car driver Lewis Hamilton. A$AP Rocky has past been connected to models Daiane Sodré and Chanel Iman, rapper Iggy Azalea and reality star Kendall Jenner.
Dailymail.com has reached out to reps for both Rihanna and A$AP Rocky for further comment on the story.
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Entertainment
Chadwick Boseman would have turned 44 years old yesterday, November 29. To celebrate the late actor's memory and legacy, Boseman's fellow performers and former costars, including those from Black Panther, shared loving tributes on his birthday.
Boseman passed away in August after a private four-year battle with colon cancer. At the time, his reps confirmed the news, saying, "A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much. From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honor of his career to bring King T'Challa to life in Black Panther."
The shocking news of his passing had fans and stars heartbroken across the world. Tributes poured in for the beloved actor, and only continue to months later. Below, read through some of the heartfelt notes his costars posted on his birthday.
Lupita Nyong'o shared a photo with Boseman, writing, "Deeply loved, sorely missed. #ChadwickBoseman."
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Michael B. Jordan shared a black-and-white photo of himself embracing Boseman. "Continue watching over us King. Happy Birthday . Miss you," he wrote.
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Viola Davis, who stars opposite Boseman in the upcoming film, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, shared a video of the actor. "Happy birthday in Heaven, Chadwick! You are still so alive to me!! I love you," she tweeted.
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Mark Ruffalo, who shared the screen with Boseman in the Avengers superhero franchise, tweeted a behind-the-scenes clip of the cast singing "Happy Birthday" to the actor on set. "Thinking of your passion, love, and your light today, @chadwickboseman," Ruffalo wrote. "Happy Birthday. Wishing we could time travel back to this moment."
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Entertainment
Most readers will probably be happy to say goodbye to 2020 at the end of this month, but unfortunately, we'll also have to say bid adieu to some of the very best science fiction stories that Netflix has to offer.
November was full of dark dystopias in terms of sci-fi films, and while December doesn't look that much brighter, there's still plenty to enjoy this month as we careen towards the full holiday season.
For anyone hankering for a taste of tomorrow, here are the 11 best science fiction shows and movies available to stream on Netflix with a special focus on whatever's new, original, or leaving soon. And yes, we'll throw in just a touch of holiday flair for fun.
George Clooney stars and directs in this frigid post-apocalyptic film. A lonely scientist in the Arctic, he struggles to warn a group of astronauts returning to Earth of the global catastrophe that's devastated the planet.
The story is adapted from Lily Brooks-Dalton’s acclaimed novel Good Morning, Midnight. The astronauts had discovered a new and shockingly inhabitable moon of Jupiter, but the Earth goes cold and silent before they can return home. Clooney himself has described the film as a cross between Gravity and The Revenant. That's quite a bold claim, and while early reviews haven't been published just yet, this seems like a film worth keeping an eye on.
The Midnight Sky will be released on Netflix on December 23, 2020.
When six Spider-People team up to save the day, we all win.Sony Pictures
Perhaps the best animated feature film of the last decade, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an absolute must-see triumph in which several alt-reality versions of Spider-Man team up to save the day. And none of them are the normal, heroic Peter Parker that you're probably familiar with.
Our hero is the young Miles Morales, a half-Black, half-Puerto Rican teen from New York City who's bitten by a radioactive spider and gains superpowers on the same night that Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, rips open a hole in space-time. The hijinks and superheroics that ensue are fun for the whole family and complex enough for even the most hardcore of comic book nerds.
As an added bonus, the film does take place in the winter around the holidays. And a different version of Miles also stars in the PlayStation exclusive video game released alongside the Sony PlayStation 5. The game even has a few clever tie-ins to the movie, so if you're a fan of one then you'll love the other. But you better act fast: This one's leaving Netflix this month!
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse will swing out of the Netflix library on December 25, 2020.
The internet is a big, scary place.Disney
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) — the sequel to 2012's Wreck-It Ralph (2012) — is one of the best non-Pixar Disney animated films in recent memory. Almost like a digital Toy Story, all of the video game characters in a dusty old arcade come alive and travel through power cables to socialize when real people aren’t around.
Protagonist Wreck-It Ralph is a villain in one game who dreams of becoming a hero, and his misadventures through a digital landscape are fun and exciting. That goes double in the sequel where Ralph winds up in a hostile new terrain: The Internet. The kid-friendly, fun-filled movie chock full of cameos from Disney princesses and even Stan Lee. One of the very last Disney films to seemingly leave Netflix for good, Ralph Breaks the Internet will soon only be available to watch over on Disney+.
Ralph Breaks the Internet is leaving the Netflix library on December 10, 2020.
A deeply sad man finds fulfillment through a relationship with a bodiless A.I., but can it last?Warner Bros. Pictures
Netflix's single best sci-fi romance is once again leaving the platform. It was only late July 2020 when it last left before returning in October. And now, Her is leaving once again.
In this gripping film, the always-excellent Joaquin Phoenix plays a man named Theodore who falls in love with his new A.I. called Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). Samantha learns at an exponential rate, and the way she evolves over the course of the film to fill the emotional void in Theodore’s life is a fascinating cautionary tale about the increasing complexity of technology — and how it can be more trouble than it's worth when it only serves to isolate humans from each other.
Her won Best Original Screenplay at the 86th Academy Awards, and with good reason. So consider it a must-watch in the coming weeks, doubly so because it's leaving the platform very soon.
Her will be removed from the Netflix library on December 31, 2020.
Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey deliver incredible performances in this one.Focus Features
Her might be the best sci-fi romance on this list, but Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is my personal favorite — and it's also leaving at the end of the month after only rejoining the platform back in August 2020.
Seldom does Jim Carrey ever take a serious acting role, but when he does, he really knocks it out of the park. Written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a cult classic that takes place in what we might as well call an alt-reality where scientists have developed a full understanding of how to manipulate memory in the human mind. There are many different directions a story with this pseudoscience could go in, but this film narrows the focus to one dysfunctional couple and the scope of their entire relationship.
Told in a nonlinear fashion and riddled with suspenseful elements that'll remind you of a thriller, it's a compelling and emotional watch that'll leave you contemplating the value of your own memories. Carrey's Joel Barish and Kate Winslet's Clementine Kruczynski are a memorable pair of misfits, and their chemistry really elevates the story. There's also a great wintery scene on the beach.
Netflix will forget Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on December 31, 2020.
Vanessa Hudgens stars as a typically overworked and lonely woman heading into the holidays, wishing she might finally discover her knight in shining armor. That’s when she runs over a literal medieval knight wearing shining armor in the middle of the snowstorm who accidentally time-traveled to the present.
Writing for Jezebel, Kelly Faircloth called The Knight Before Christmas “goofy but perfect,” writing that the film “makes no sense,” and yet “frankly, I love that.” The movie feels like a ridiculous but fun story like Kate & Leopold but set during the Christmas season. Because it’s time travel, it definitely counts as science fiction.
The sappy romantic film debuted during the 2019 holiday season. Is it a modern classic? That's for you to decide.
A sick triceratops gets treatment in the original 'Jurassic Park.'Universal Pictures
Dino-mite! Just when you thought Steven Spielberg's seminal dinosaur movie, Jurassic Park, was extinct, it comes roaring back to Netflix on December 1.
Relive the captivating sense of natural majesty that we really haven’t seen since from the franchise. This 1993 film may have launched a wildly lucrative sci-fi blockbuster series, but none of the sequels are as good as the original. (The second and third films are also back on Netflix, if you're so keen.)
Based on Michael Crichton's 1990 novel of the same name, the titular Jurassic Park is the name of a park created on a tropical island where genetic scientists figured out how to clone dinosaurs based on ancient DNA found in mosquitos. While the science doesn't make a ton of sense, it sure does make for a wildly entertaining premise for a movie. What ensues is an exciting adventure that involves many different species of dinosaurs.
Jurassic Park reopens on Netflix as of December 1, 2020.
A curious collision of documentary series and speculative science fiction, Alien Worlds applies the laws of human life on Earth to the rest of the galaxy to imagine what life could look like on other worlds.
It offers a lot of provocative and realistic-looking imagery about what life might look like on other worlds. Could it possible be true? We may never know, but this series is aimed at making you wonder.
Alien Worlds will land on Netflix December 2, 2020.
Neo Yokio is a criminally under-appreciated animated series on Netflix that will probably never get a legitimate Season 2, but a 2018 Christmas special called “Pink Christmas” is the next best thing.
In the future of an alternate history, a drowned New York becomes “Neo Yokio.” Kaz Kaan (Jaden Smith) is the pink-haired “magistocrat” tasked with protecting the city from supernatural (mostly demonic) threats with the magic powers wielded by everyone in his family tree. Neo Yokio celebrates anime tropes, upper-class society, and classism just as much as it criticizes all of these things. If you delight in the truly weird, then don’t hesitate to watch the hilarity that is Neo Yokio.
“Pink Christmas” is presented as festive holiday tale told to Kaz by his robotic butler, and it captures the spirit of the show as much as it does the capitalistic spirit of Christmas.
Jon Hamm is a national treasure.Netflix
Netflix’s beloved series of cautionary tales about the future dangers of emerging technologies, Black Mirror, did a scary Christmas special in Season 2, Episode 4 with “White Christmas.” At a remote outpost covered in snow, two men share a Christmas meal together and swap eerie tales of their earlier lives in the outside world where different technologies led to death and misery for everyone involved. Their newfound isolation initially seems like them avoiding their problems altogether, but there’s a shocking twist at the end that makes this episode the darkest Christmas story ever told.
Though it dips into the realm of horror and satire, Black Mirror is consistent with one question: What can technology do to us when it’s taken to extremes? “White Christmas” is no different.
1. Stargate SG-1
'Stargate SG-1' is a treasure for anyone who likes military-oriented futuristic sci-fi.Syfy
Star Trek's more realistic cousin with far less campiness going on, Stargate SG-1 is an excellent spin-off series based in the same universe as the film Stargate (1994). The hard sci-fi series takes place in a universe where mankind discovered a Stargate that can access a network of similar alien devices spread out across a multitude of planets.
The titular SG-1 is one team tasked with exploring the universe through these portals, and along the way, they encounter all sorts of alien beings in interesting worlds. The show's many adventures are often based loosely on human mythology, often grappling with heady themes of morality in a more accessible way than the grittiness of something like Battlestar Galactica. This series is on my lists for best sci-fi series of all times, so for it to make its way into Netflix's galaxy is a big deal.
Stargate SG-1 arrives on Netflix December 1, 2020.
Played by actor Rosario Dawson, Ahsoka made her live-action debut in The Mandalorian episode entitled "The Jedi." Dawson's portrayal of the animated character meant that some changes needed to be made to Ahsoka's appearance for the transition to a live-action format.
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One major cosmetic change included smaller head-tails, also called montrals and lekku. Ahsoka had short lekku at the beginning of Star Wars The Clone Wars but much longer lekku in Star Wars Rebels and later episodes of The Clone Wars to show that they grew as she aged.
However, in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka's lekku head tails are short once again, which confused fans who were used to seeing her longer lekku in Rebels.
Star Wars character concept designer Brian Matyas addressed fan questions on Twitter on Nov. 27 about Ahsoka's new look. He explained that one factor in the change had to do with the weight of the head tails. If the head tails were kept long, it would most likely make stunt fighting more difficult.
Yea pretty much that was the chief concern. From animation to live action I did a ton of design exploration for her and their appropriate size for the actor with consideration for stunts and movement. I'm sure I'll get to discuss at greater length in the near future!
"Can you share at all the conversations you had regarding the size of her montrals/lekku?" Star Wars fan Jack Kennedy tweeted. "There's some confusion among fans as they were much bigger in Rebels around this same time period. Figured it was just impractical for the actors but wondering if there's anything else to it."
"That was the chief concern," Matyas answered. "From animation to live-action I did a ton of design exploration for her and their appropriate size for the actor with consideration for stunts and movement. I'm sure I'll get to discuss at greater length in the near future."
Not all fans were happy with the changes to Ahsoka's appearance in The Mandalorian.
Sadly, I think this was a bad call. Biggest complaint with the show so far but man, it’s not cool to see the continuity messed with. Found this rendition posted earlier and it looks so much better following Ashoka’s age relative to others of her species and following Rebels pic.twitter.com/q1XOYh2xHY
"Sadly, I think this was a bad call," Star Wars fan Logan Harrington tweeted. "Biggest complaint with the show so far but man, it's not cool to see the continuity messed with. Found this rendition posted earlier and it looks so much better following Ahsoka's age relative to others of her species and following Rebels."
Other fans suggested CGI for a quick fix to Ahsoka's head tails length.
Ahsoka's lekku head tails are much longer when she was an animated character.
Lucasfilm
"The krayt dragon in the first episode looked very real and detailed, the frog lady in the following episodes, also great and realistic," fan HousePanther tweeted. "Both those creatures are involved in action scenes so I'm still scratching my head as to why they both look better than Ahsoka freaking Tano."
"While I do see the complaints people have, I'm actually pretty happy with what we got," fan Sean Merchant tweeted. "I do have a question. Do you think in the future they might use digital effects to make her lekkus longer or no?"
Felicity Huffman will soon find herself back on screen, Fox News has confirmed.
The “Desperate Housewives” actress, who was caught up in the infamous college admissions scandal and ended up serving 11 days out of her 14-day sentence in prison due to her involvement, has landed her first acting gig since her release from FCI Dublin last year.
Huffman has signed on to star in an upcoming comedy for ABC inspired by the life of Susan Savage, the owner of Triple-A baseball franchise, the Sacramento River Cats.
The name of the series remained untitled at the moment, but the outlet reported on Monday that the show was pitched to Huffman by CEO of Kaplan Entertainment, Aaron Kaplan, and will be written by Becky Hartman Edwards.
Actress Felicity Huffman has landed her first acting role since the fallout stemming from the college admissions scandal. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Zack Gottsagen of “The Peanut Butter Falcon” is also slated to star alongside the Emmy-winning Huffman, whose character unexpectedly takes over as majority owner of the River Cats following the death of her husband Art Savage in November 2009.
Gottsagen will portray the couple’s son, who is a baseball fan and has Down syndrome.
The real-life Sacramento River Cats won a Triple-A national championship last year and are currently minor-league baseball’s most valuable franchise with a value of $49 million, according to Deadline.
Huffman was released from prison in October 2019 and in addition to serving out her term, the actress also received one year of probation, was ordered to perform 250 hours of community service and pay a $30,000 fine.
The wife of fellow actor William H. Macy pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. She confessed to paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to have a proctor correct her older daughter's answers on the SAT. She considered the same for her younger daughter but decided against it.
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After six episodes, The Undoing finally unveiled the show's murderer — and he was in plain sight the entire time!
On Sunday, HBO aired the finale of the limited series, which stars Nicole Kidman as Grace Fraser, a Manhattan therapist whose life crumbles when her husband Jonathan (Hugh Grant) becomes the primary suspect in the brutal bludgeoning of another mom at their son's school.
Nicole Kidman Sings Cover of 'Dream a Little Dream of Me' for The Undoing Opening Titles
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After countless twists and red herrings along the way, every character became a potential culprit in the whodunit, until it became clear Grant's charismatic oncologist was, in fact, the remorseless killer.
The revelation culminated in an intense climax that saw him on the run with his frightened son (Noah Jupe) as audiences witnessed flashbacks of Jonathan murdering his mistress Elena Alves (Matilda De Angelis).
Fans on Twitter reacted to the finale episode on Sunday night, with most shocked that they looked past Jonathan's guilt to accuse supporting characters of the crime.
"Me: Blaming every single character all week. Also me: I KNEW IT WAS HIM!!!!!!!!" joked one person in a tweet, as another user wrote: "not me creating like eight different theories for the undoing and none of them being right.............."
"People overthinking The Undoing has to be the clearest sign we’ve been in quarantine too long," tweeted another viewer.
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Some fans also remarked that they were convinced Lily Rabe's character, Grace's friend Sylvia, was the murderer, theorizing that she also had an affair with Jonathan. That guess turned out to be way off given Sylvia helped Grace take down Jonathan in court. "I just feel like all of social media owes Lily Rabe an apology tonight," tweeted one fan about the internet wrongfully accusing Sylvia.
Noma Dumezweni, who plays Jonathan's cutthroat defense attorney Haley Fitzgerald, received a lot of love on Twitter for her fan-favorite performance, including from one user who declared, "[I] need them to do a spinoff procedural courtroom drama" about Haley.
Audiences also called for the Emmy Awards to recognize the thriller series and its cast — and one audience member went as far as to suggest new categories be created: "Petition to create new Emmy categories for The Undoing: Best Coats (Nicole Kidman), Best Beard (Edgar Ramirez)."
The Undoing is based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz and was adapted by Big Little Lies screenwriter David E. Kelley. Director Susanne Bier told Entertainment Weekly earlier this year that a season two of the series is not probable.
"This is a tight story, which is why I think six hours is perfect," Bier said. "There's something about six that has a natural arc."
"It's not like a drama series where you're not quite sure how they're going to evolve and you have a next season," Kidman, 53, also told EW. "That's why I say it's like cinema, because you have a beginning, middle and end. The thing about a limited series is it's so difficult because you're writing a much longer form of cinema that you have to keep people engaged in, and in some ways that's so much harder. That, as an actor, is delicious."
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Kelly Clarkson just scored a big victory in her divorce case ... the judge just awarded her primary custody of their 2 children in Los Angeles.
Kelly and estranged husband Brandon Blackstock were fighting over custody of 6-year-old River and 4-year-old Remy. Brandon apparently has decided he wants to live on their ranch in Montana and wanted joint custody of the kids where they could be shuttled back and forth between L.A. -- where Kelly lives -- and Montana.
Disso Queen Laura Wasser, who reps Kelly, argued that her client felt Brandon's position would be detrimental to the kids, and the judge agreed, saying, "The court finds that the minor children are not now and have not been residents of Montana and that California is their home state."
The judge gave Kelly and Brandon joint physical and legal custody, but the upshot is that Kelly will have the kids most of the time. The judge ruled Kelly has primary custody of the kids in L.A. and Brandon gets the kids on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th weekends of each month. The 1st and 5th weekends Brandon must be in Los Angeles in order to spend time with the kids. As for the 3rd weekend of the month ... the kids would travel to Montana.
Although it's technically joint physical custody, Kelly will clearly get the kids the lion's share of the time, which is what she wanted.
The order also says neither Kelly nor Brandon can talk smack about the other to the kids. The order also says neither parent can consume booze or weed within 8 hours of driving a car with the kids inside.
