Joan Plowright, the heralded actress of stage and screen who was also the widow to Laurence Olivier, has passed away. Dame Joan Plowright was 95.

A native of Lincolnshire, England, Joan Plowright – who studied at the famed Bristol Old Vic Theatre School – first made her London stage debut in the mid-’50s. Soon after, she was working alongside Laurence Olivier, then already a well-established icon of the stage and screen himself, having combined these talents in an almost unprecedented way with Henry V and Hamlet. (He was also fresh off of his divorce from Vivien Leigh.) 

The month after Joan Plowright married Olivier, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for A Taste of Honey. Plowright remained committed to the stage, steadily appearing in productions into the early ‘90s. Some key productions include The Crucible; Uncle Vanya; Three Sisters; Saturday, Sunday, Monday; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; and The House of Bernarda Alba.

Even still, Joan Plowright was quite prominent on the screen, too. She earned a BAFTA nomination early on for Most Promising Newcomer for The Entertainer, later earning another nod for Best Supporting Actress for Equus. She would work with Barry Levinson in Avalon, play a charming opposite to Walter Matthau in Dennis the Menace and turn up in The Spiderwick Chronicles. The most acclaim she received, however, came with 1991’s Enchanted April, for which she earned her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. She would win the latter and again win a statue for television movie Stalin, a role that also landed her an Emmy nomination.

In a statement via BBC, Plowright’s surviving family members wrote, “It is with great sadness that the family of Dame Joan Plowright, the Lady Olivier, inform you that she passed away peacefully on January 16 2025 surrounded by her family at Denville Hall aged 95. She enjoyed a long and illustrious career across theatre, film and TV over seven decades until blindness made her retire. She cherished her last 10 years in Sussex with constant visits from friends and family, filled with much laughter and fond memories.”

Leave your condolences for the great Dame Joan Plowright in the comments section below.

The post Joan Plowright, acclaimed British actress and widow to Laurence Olivier, dies appeared first on JoBlo.

“Why are you a child?”

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“Why are you a child?”

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ANTICIPATION.

Will Whannell drop a lupine fiasco?
3

ENJOYMENT.

Heavy going, with some nifty practical effects.
2

IN RETROSPECT.


All told, a bit of a howler.
2

Directed by



Leigh Whannell

Starring



Julia Garner,

Christopher Abbott,

Sam Jaeger

The post Wolf Man review – a bit of a howler appeared first on Little White Lies.

The ongoing feud between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively has reached new levels, with the actor filing a $400 million lawsuit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. Among the many complaints stated in the suit is that Reynolds based the character of Nicepool in Deadpool & Wolverine off of Baldoni in a deliberate attempt to mock the actor. But is there any legitimacy to the claim?

Sources told THR that while the character of Nicepool was created well before Baldoni and Lively had a falling out, the scenes weren’t filmed until near the end of principal photography. “It was all added post-strike,” said one knowledgeable source. Following the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike, Deadpool & Wolverine wrapped up in January 2024. This coincided with a heated meeting between Baldoni, Reynolds, Lively, and producer Jamey Heath.

While speaking on the Deadpool & Wolverine audio commentary, director Shawn Levy noted that the work on Nicepool’s costume was completed before they had even decided on Deadpool’s new outfit. The shooting script also contained nothing which would have implied that Baldoni was an inspiration. “He’s immaculate. He wears a Deadpool suit with no mask,” reads the script’s character description. “The suit looks like Yves Saint Laurent himself slummed it and designed a Marvel film. The man’s about twenty-percent more muscular and after a pretty healthy session in Lola, looks like a younger RYAN REYNOLDS in his prime before his looks were ravaged by four children and ten side hustles. The man’s a goddamn angel.“

It’s clear that Nicepool was in the picture well before Baldoni and Lively started butting heads on It Ends With Us, but the conflict could have inspired some of the character’s dialogue. “We will never know. We can only speculate,” said the source. “But some of the things he says, looking back, are pointed at Justin Baldoni.“

During his introduction in the film, Nicepool says, “In here, everybody calls me Nicepool. Oh my goodness, wait ’till you see Ladypool. She is gorgeous. She just had a baby too, and you can’t even tell.” Deadpool says, “I don’t think you can say that,” to which Nicepool responds, “That’s okay, I identify as a feminist.” The dialogue may reference Baldoni’s behaviour on the set of It Ends With Us, where he’s accused of sexually harassing and fat-shaming Lively’s post-partum body.

Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, recently sent a litigation hold letter to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Disney CEO Bob Iger, demanding that the studio “preserve evidence” related to the character of Nicepool, including:

• Any and all documents relating to the development of the “Nicepool” character in Deadpool & Wolverine, including without limitation all documents and communications relating to the development, writing, and filming of storylines and scenes featuring “Nicepool’
• Any and all documents relating to or reflecting any deliberate attempt to link the character of “Nicepool” to Justin Baldoni
• Any and all documents relating to or reflecting a deliberate attempt to mock, harass, ridicule, intimidate, or bully Baldoni through the character of “Nicepool”

The letter also asks for “all documents and communications relating to complaints of sexual or other harassment asserted against Ryan Reynolds by any person.” During an appearance on The Megyn Kelly Show, Freedman said that he plans to sue Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively “into oblivion.”

The post Did Ryan Reynolds really use Justin Baldoni as inspiration for Nicepool? appeared first on JoBlo.

Variety reports that Jasmin Savoy Brown has officially signed on to return as Mindy Meeks-Martin in Scream 7. She joins Mason Gooding, who plays Mindy’s brother Chad.

Scream 7 will see the return of Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott. After playing the role in the first five Scream movies, she was expected to return for the sixth until the studio low-balled her. “As a woman, I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream,” Campbell said. “I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise. It’s been a very difficult decision to move on.” Courteney Cox is also back as Gale Weathers, which will make her the only actor (with the exception of Ghostface voice artist Roger L. Jackson) to appear in every Scream movie.

Isabel May (Yellowstone: 1883) will play Sidney’s teenage daughter, with Celeste O’Connor (Madame Web), Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), Sam Rechner (The Fabelmans), Asa Germaan (Gen V), and Anna Camp (True Blood) also signing on. It was originally believed that Patrick Dempsey might be returning as Mark Kincaid from Scream 3, but it didn’t happen. Joel McHale (Community) recently signed on to play Mark Evans, Sidney’s husband.

The original plan for Scream 7 would have seen Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega returning as Sam and Tara Carpenter, but Spyglass Media fired Barrera after a few pro-Palestinian social media posts that they deemed anti-Semitic. The very next day, it was revealed that Ortega had exited the project as well. It was initially reported that this was due to scheduling conflicts with the second season of Wednesday, but it later emerged that she had wanted a substantial salary increase, which Spyglass refused, so she walked.

That wasn’t the end of the drama either. Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day) was set to direct the movie, but he also departed, calling it a “dream job that turned into a nightmare.” Scream 7 is slated for a February 27, 2026 release.

The post Jasmin Savoy Brown officially returns as Mindy Meeks-Martin in Scream 7 appeared first on JoBlo.

We lost the great David Lynch today, and of the many actors he worked with throughout his long career, Kyle MacLachlan is perhaps the most synonymous with the director’s work. MacLachlan played Paul Atreides in Dune, Jeffrey Beaumont in Blue Velvet, and FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks. In a post on Instagram, MacLachlan paid a touching tribute to his friend.

“Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big budget movie. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision,” MacLachlan wrote in the caption. “What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to.“

MacLachlan continued, “Our friendship blossomed on Blue Velvet and then Twin Peaks and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I’d ever met. David was in tune with the universe and his own imagination on a level that seemed to be the best version of human. He was not interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that make us who we are. They are our breath.“
 
“While the world has lost a remarkable artist, I’ve lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own,” MacLachlan wrote. “I can see him now, standing up to greet me in his backyard, with a warm smile and big hug and that Great Plains honk of a voice. We’d talk coffee, the joy of the unexpected, the beauty of the world, and laugh. His love for me and mine for him came out of the cosmic fate of two people who saw the best things about themselves in each other. I will miss him more than the limits of my language can tell and my heart can bear. My world is that much fuller because I knew him and that much emptier now that he’s gone. David, I remain forever changed, and forever your Kale. Thank you for everything.“

A very sad day.

The post Kyle MacLachlan pays touching tribute to David Lynch: “I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision” appeared first on JoBlo.

The Los Angeles wildfires have been extraordinarily destructive, but the first responders have done incredible work. They have not only fought the fires themselves but also assisted the evacuees, who, in some cases, have lost everything they have. In a video posted on Instagram, Bruce Willis made a rare public appearance to thank the first responders.

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A post shared by Emma Heming Willis (@emmahemingwillis)

“Spotting a first responder, Bruce never missed a chance to show his gratitude with a heartfelt handshake and a ‘thank you for your service.’ Yesterday was no different,” wrote Emma Heming Willis in the caption.

Bruce Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia over two years ago, prompting him to step away from Hollywood. His ex-wife, Demi Moore, updated fans on his condition last month. “Given the givens, he’s in a very stable place at the moment,” Moore said. “And I’ve shared this before, but I really mean this so sincerely. It’s so important for anybody who’s dealing with this to really meet them where they’re at, and from that place, there is such loving and joy.” However, she also said that watching someone you love struggle with the condition is “very difficult” and “not what I would wish upon anymore.“ Moore continued, “There is great loss, but there is also great beauty and gifts that can come from it.“

In the last few years before his retirement, Willis performed in many direct-to-video movies, which he was criticized for at the time. However, Quentin Tarantino defended the movies, saying he was “really impressed” by Willis. “I thought he was really charming in them. He’s really fun,” Tarantino said, although he admitted it was obvious that Willis was operating with an earpiece. “You can never have a scene where he says a line, somebody else says a line, and he says a line back,” he explained. “You’re getting one line out of him at a time, so there’s always a cut. But he’s making it work. He’s not phoning in his performances.“

The post Bruce Willis thanks Los Angeles wildfire first responders in rare video appeared first on JoBlo.

Much as we viewers try to mentally piece together all the scenes in Severance to better grasp the big picture of its mysteries, Ben Stiller and his team engage in the similar process of considering how to present those scenes to us. On the final episode of The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott’s first…

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Much as we viewers try to mentally piece together all the scenes in Severance to better grasp the big picture of its mysteries, Ben Stiller and his team engage in the similar process of considering how to present those scenes to us. On the final episode of The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott’s first…

Read more…