‘Cats’ Trailer Becomes Top Twitter Trend in Reaction to Furry CGI Felines

The “Cats” trailer dropped Thursday afternoon, and Twitter pounced. At the time of this writing, the movie was the top trending topic worldwide on Twitter with over 300,000 tweets. While that’s only a fraction of the record 50 million tweets that “Avengers: Endgame” accrued, it’s still an impressive initial response for a film based on a 38-year-old musical.

If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, the actors in Tom Hooper’s “Cats” all retain their human bodies and faces, but are covered in CGI fur and possess pointy ears and tails. Some viewers found the anthropomorphism unsettling, while others — like star Taylor Swift — were thrilled. Reacting to her transformation into a feline, the singer tweeted, “I am a cat now and somehow that was everything.”

But if you wade through the many memes and reactions to the trailer Thursday, you’ll see people having a hard time finding the right words to express their feelings.

“I don’t know what I expected from ‘Cats” ‘digital fur technology’ but the short answer is NOT this. My brain has melted. My eyes are bleeding. There is no god,” entertainment journalist Kristy Puchko said on Twitter. “Maybe we were too harsh on Sonic.”

Disney's 'The Lion King' Looks to Roar at the Weekend Box Office

After five consecutive weeks wherein the weekend domestic box office failed to top the same weekend from a year prior, this weekend will easily buck the trend. Leading the charge, Disney's latest release, the "live-action" adaptation of The Lion King, is likely to outperform the combined top twelve from the same weekend last year all on its own as it is ushered into over 4,700 domestic locations and all over the world.

With what has been a summer box office season that has seen plenty of films under-perform and miss expectations, Disney is hoping their CGI adaptation of the studio's beloved animated feature The Lion King delivers not only at the domestic box office, but all around the world. The film will launch in a record 4,725 domestic locations this weekend and industry expectations have it pegged for a debut around $175-180 million, which would be enough to top the current July opening record holder Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which opened with $169 million back in 2011. A performance in that range would also be the second largest of the year so far behind only Avengers: Endgame ($357.1m) and ahead of Captain Marvel ($153.4m). It would also top Beauty and the Beast, another Disney live-action reimagining, which opened with $174.7 million in March 2017 in 4,210 locations.

‘Supergirl’ Star Melissa Benoist Joins Kevin Smith’s ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot’

Melissa Benoist, the star of “Supergirl,” has joined the cast of Kevin Smith’s “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot,” Smith announced on Instagram on Thursday.

The film is a satire about Jay and Silent Bob racing to Hollywood to prevent a reboot of their comic book superhero movie “Bluntman and Chronic” from being made, and in the rebooted version, Benoist will play the actress set to take the role of a now female Chronic.

“And we gave her some pants *before* the good folks at @supergirlcw!,” the director joked on Instagram, noting how Benoist’s hero wears a skirt on the CW show.

Kyoto Animation fire: Arson attack at Japan anime studio kills 33

An arson attack at Kyoto Animation studio in Japan on Thursday morning July 18th, reportedly killed at least 33 people and left 36 others injured.

The 41-year-old suspect shouting “You die" as he broke into the studio spraying petrol before igniting it, was also hurt and taken to a hospital. Though the motive of the attack is yet to be established, however it was gathered that most victims of the incident were employees at Kyoto Animation, which does work on feature films and TV productions but is best known for "Free!", manga series "K-On!", the anime TV adaptation of "Haruhi Suzumiya" and "Violet Evergarden" which Netflix picked up in 2018.

Doctors remove 33 objects including razor blades and a screwdriver from the stomach of a 30-year-old man

Doctors in India have removed 33 objects, including razors and knives, from the stomach of a 30-year old man identified as Yogesh Thakur,

Thakur was admitted to the hospital on July 14 after he complained of severe stomach pain. His mother, Kusma Thakur, told doctors her son would 'grab anything and eat it', leading them to conduct x-rays and doctors were stunned to find objects such as a knife, screwdriver, razor blades and plastic items inside Thakur's stomach.

Two days later, doctors extracted all the objects in an operation and Thakur, a part-time farmer, is now recovering and will receive psychiatric help.

Italy, FBI raids target resurgent Cosa Nostra family

Italian anti-mafia police and the FBI in New York have arrested 19 people, in coordinated raids on historic mobster families bidding for power within the Cosa Nostra, investigators said Wednesday.

Raids in both countries targeted links between the Sicilian Mafia -- known as the Cosa Nostra -- and US organised crime, said an Italian police statement.

Italian police said 18 people had been arrested in Italy and one in the United States.

Among those arrested was Thomas Gambino, considered by the FBI to be a key player. Police also cuffed members of the Inzerillo family, said Italian prosecutor Roberto Tartaglia.

During their investigation, they said, they secretly filmed Gambino holding a covert meeting with the head of the Inzerillo family on a rubber dinghy off the coast of Palermo last summer.

The Inzerillo crime family has been trying to rebuild after the 2017 death of its enemy, Boss of Bosses Salvatore "Toto" Riina, police said.

The investigation, dubbed "New Connection" by the Italian police, revealed "the strong bond established between Cosa Nostra in Palermo and US organized crime," it said.

Investigators focussed in particular on the Gambino crime family in New York.

FBI and FTC Must Investigate FaceApp’s Ties to Russia, Chuck Schumer Says

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday is calling for the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate FaceApp, the popular app that lets users age themselves with one of several filters, over its use of user photos and data.

Schumer, in a letter to both the FTC and FBI that was first obtained by NBC News, said he’s especially concerned with FaceApp’s developer being based in St. Petersburg.

“In particular, FaceApp’s location in Russia raises questions regarding how and when the company provides access to the data of U.S. citizens to third parties, including potentially foreign governments.”

The FTC and FBI did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

FaceApp has sparked a phenomenon in the last week, with celebrities from Drake to Cardi B using the app to show their followers what they’ll look like when they’re old and gray. The app’s popularity has rocketed it to the top of Apple’s free apps chart, with aged FaceApp posts littering Instagram, Facebook and Twitter in recent days. At the same time, it’s raised questions over how FaceApp will use its pictures and data moving forward.

Instagram Tests Hiding Likes to ‘Remove Pressure,’ Company Says

Instagram has expanded hiding “likes” to six new countries, months after the Facebook-owned app launched its initial test in Canada.

On Wednesday, Instagram rolled out the test in Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand. Users will still be able to see how many like their posts get, but when someone else goes to their post, the total number of likes will be absent.

“We hope this test will remove the pressure of how many likes a post will receive, so you can focus on sharing the things you love,” Facebook director Mia Garlick told the us


The larger test comes only a few months after Instagram head Adam Mosseri told BuzzFeed News the company wants users to focus less on their like counts. Mosseri said he wanted to create “a less pressurized environment where people feel comfortable expressing themselves,” rather than an environment where people delete posts that don’t rack up enough likes.

The test also comes as there’s mounting evidence likes are detrimental to mental health.

Massive heat wave spreads east as storms linger in Upper Midwest

More than 200 damaging storms were reported on Wednesday, with most of those in the Midwest or along the Interstate 95 corridor. In Connecticut, lightning struck a tree, knocking a branch onto a car and killing a 21-year-old man inside. Six tornadoes were reported across Minnesota, Wyoming and Nebraska, while flash flooding was seen from South Dakota all the way into New York City.

'Bachelor' Creator Mike Fleiss Accused of Attacking Pregnant Wife

Photos of the alleged attack and injuries were included in the filings.
Mike Fleiss, creator of ABC's The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, has been accused by his wife of attacking her after she refused to have an abortion, according to court documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

Laura Fleiss on Tuesday filed an emergency domestic violence restraining order in Los Angeles.

In the documents, the 2012 Miss America winner accused her husband of attacking her over the Fourth of July weekend because she would not get an abortion, which he allegedly demanded.

The couple's 4-year-old son, Ben, was in the room during a portion of the argument that went on for several days, according to the documents.

Laura said in the filing, “This was not the first time he had threatened a divorce during our marriage, but now, he was using this threat as leverage to force me to have an abortion. In addition, on July 4th, Mike made the following statements to me: ‘I am cutting you off financially Monday morning’; ‘You are paying for everything with your money’; ‘Next time I see you, I don’t want to see your stomach’; and ‘You have a choice, you can choose. Have an abortion or go back to Wisconsin, but you are not taking Ben.'"

After Two Weeks, A$AP Rocky Is Still Detained in Sweden

After two weeks, A$AP Rocky is still detained in Sweden after turning himself in to authorities following a June 30th altercation. On July 1st, TMZ posted a video of the Harlem rapper allegedly throwing a man across the street in Stockholm as a fight broke out. A day later, the Harlem rapper was arrested by Swedish police for suspected “gross assault,” according to The Hollywood Reporter and CBS News.

In two separate posts on Rocky’s Instagram, the two men can be seen following A$AP and his associates through the street. After multiple calls for the unknown men to stop following them and turn around, one of the men hits Rocky’s security with what appears to be a pair of headphones. “So a few drug addicts are not my fans. We don’t know these guys and we didn’t want trouble,” Rocky wrote on Instagram. “They followed us for 4 blocks and they were slapping girls butts who passed.”
A Swedish court ruled that Rocky was to be held for two weeks in pre-trial detention until the fight was investigated, The Hollywood Reporter noted.

“The conditions of the facility are horrific and include 24/7 solitary confinement, restriction of amenities for the most basic of human functions, lack of access to life-sustaining food as well as unsanitary conditions,” John Ehmann, Rocky’s manager, wrote on Instagram. “On the day of his arrest, I spoke with the U.S. Embassy Consult who informed me that his request to visit Rocky was rejected by police, which violates article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which Sweden is a signatory. Since then, he has been allowed to visit with a U.S. Embassy Consult and attorney, but only in the presence of Swedish officials. It is troubling and worrisome that the laws are not being applied equally.”

'The White Storm 2: Drug Lords' ('Sou duk 2: Tindeih deuikyut'): Film Review

Andy Lau and Louis Koo lend star power to Herman Yau’s quasi-sequel to the surprise hit 'The White Storm.'
Despite what that title may indicate, there aren’t all that many drug lords in the follow-up to Benny Chan’s surprise 2013 hit The White Storm. Veteran pulp crime drama director Herman Yau picks up for Chan in The White Storm 2: Drug Lords and steers far away from the first film's tale of conflicted cops chasing a drug trafficker in Thailand. Instead, he settles in to concoct a relatively run-of-the-mill cops-and-robbers thriller with few surprises — with the exception of the final gonzo car chase through Hong Kong’s Central subway station.

Why no one has thought to do this before now is a mystery for the ages, but that enjoyably ridiculous sequence and some cheeky hamming by co-star Louis Koo (taking over the mantle of "hardest-working man in show business" with a staggering 18 films on his slate this year) make up for what the pic lacks in narrative logic or editorial flow.

Drug Lords is likely to be received with the same kind of reception the first film did, meaning audiences at home in Hong Kong, in China (there’s a clear cut anti-drug message that should prove easily digestible) and overseas that got a kick out of the original will probably check this out. And at roughly a half-hour shorter (!), Drug Lords has Yau’s signature hyper-efficient pacing (editing comes courtesy of Yau regular Chung Wai-chiu) that could actually win it new fans. Yau and frequent co-writers Erica Li and Eric Lee dispense with the lofty thematic goals Chan toyed with (and never really achieved), making Drug Lords a leaner entertainment-for-entertainment’s-sake exercise that's ideal for the summer season.

‘Russian Doll’ Star Natasha Lyonne Talks Season 2 Plans and Using a ‘Serial Killer’-Style Storyboard

If you thought keeping track of all the time loops in “Russian Doll” was a little overwhelming, then just imagine how much work sorting through those threads was for star/co-creator Natasha Lyonne. But just because it was tough doesn’t mean Lyonne, who was nominated for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series on Tuesday for her performance in the first season of the Netflix series, didn’t love that aspect of the complex project.

“The multiple timelines is part of what made me so thrilled for so many people on our team to be acknowledged today because that really was the detail-oriented, big-boy work of our show in so many ways: keeping the rules of our particular game very, very specific,” Lyonne told TheWrap.

Co-created by Lyonne, Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler, the series follows a young woman named Nadia (Lyonne) on her journey as the guest of honor at a seemingly inescapable party in New York. Nadia suffers through multiple time loops that end in her death throughout the eight-episode first season, an aspect of “Russian Doll” that wasn’t easy to keep track of.

Can ‘Lion King’ Remake Meet Sky-High Box Office Expectations Despite Backlash?

Aside from “Avengers: Endgame,” most box office observers pegged Disney’s CGI remake of “The Lion King” to be the biggest moneymaker of summer 2019. But as the final days tick down to its release, Jon Favreau’s movie is facing down sharply mixed reviews and social media buzz even as it is projected for a $150-180 million opening.

Three years ago, critics and audiences alike lauded Favreau’s CGI/live-action take on “The Jungle Book,” which grossed $966.5 million worldwide and took home a Best Visual Effects Oscar. But reviews for “The Lion King” are much more polarized. While some critics praised the photorealistic approach to the Pride Lands, others called the film a “soulless chimera” of the original 1994 film. Currently, the remake has a 61% score on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to 95% for “The Jungle Book.”

Critics who panned the film also singled out the interactions between the different characters as lacking in facial expression compared to its hand-drawn predecessor. Such complaints have been echoed by many “Lion King” fans on social media as clips from the new movie have come out in recent weeks, prompting side-by-side video comparisons casting the remake in an unfavorable light.

But will any of this actually hurt “The Lion King” at the box office? All signs say no. According to analytics site Movio, the film had brought in 17,000 pre-release admissions by July 9, outpacing presales for “Toy Story 4” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” 38% of those pre-sales came from moviegoers ages 25-34, signaling the four-quadrant appeal that has made these Disney remakes such big moneymakers.

Stephen Verona, Writer/Director of ‘The Lords of Flatbush,’ Dies at 78

Stephen Verona, producer, co-writer and co-director of “The Lords of Flatbush,” died from lung cancer this past weekend in Los Angeles. He was 78.

Released in 1974, “The Lords of Flatbush” follows four Brooklyn greasers in 1958 as they steal cars and pick up girls even as the looming specter of adulthood nears. The film helped launch the careers of Sylvester Stallone and Henry Winkler, who played two members of the gang prior to their big breaks in “Rocky” and “Happy Days.”

Stallone in particular saw his career resurrected thanks to “The Lords of Flatbush.” According to a retrospective in Ultimate Classic Rock, Stallone was considering giving up on acting when he was discovered by Verona at an acting workshop. Stallone has later said that his performance as Stanley Rosiello, a boorish greaser with a sensitive side that plans to marry his girlfriend after hearing she’s pregnant, became the blueprint for his iconic performance as Rocky Balboa.