In this week’s handle with care, the World Cup final, the Tory Lanez trial, and who is hosting the GRAMMYs?
There was one thing I didn’t know I needed before the year ended, and it arrived in the form of a one minute and 15 second long video on Friday morning.
The Barbie trailer was released!! Merry Christmas to me!!! There were reports of the trailer being played ahead of Avatar: The Way Of Water — which opened this weekend — and photos were being circulated online. I think I’ve watched this trailer over 15 times since Friday… like I’m enjoying a little snack in between meals or something.
I’m so obsessed with the direction of the film already. The official synopsis is, “After being expelled from Barbieland for being a less than perfect-looking doll, Barbie sets off for the human world to find true happiness.” From the looks of the trailer, it’s so fun and bright! It’s looking like a musical comedy to me, because it seems like there’ll be a lot of dance numbers. Greta Gerwig reunited with Alexandre Desplat, who is scoring it, and Jacqueline Durran, who did the costumes. Both previously worked on her Little Women adaptation.
The opening of the trailer spoofs Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, with young girls playing with baby dolls until Margot Robbie’s Barbie appears. Then we see scenes of Robbie as Barbie waving at Barbieland (do we think she is a landlord?), Issa Rae’s Barbie wearing a sash that says “President,” and Simu Liu doing a dance scene. Ryan Gosling, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Ncuti Gatwa are seen as their own versions of Ken in a frankly discombobulated looking scene (😭), and another dance number at a Barbie Dreamhouse.
Here’s a look at the official poster! I need to see my name in the Barbie font.
Congratulations to Anya Taylor-Joy
Argentina won the World Cup earlier today in a nail-biting match against France.
The game was determined by penalties after France quickly tied during extra time. I watched, and it was so exciting. I love a high stakes competition!
handle with care stands with Megan Thee Stallion
Tory Lanez is currently on trial for allegedly shooting rapper Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020. The rapper, whose name is Megan Pete, gave an emotional testimony.
What’s dizzying is the testimony from Pete’s ex-friend Kelsey Harris, who contradicted herself in court enough, it allowed for the court to play her 80-minute recorded interview from September. Harris walked back a lot of her claims this week, but the interview exposed that Lanez tried to bribe them both with $1 million, and that Harris texted Pete’s bodyguard at the time saying, “Help. 911. Tory shot Meg.”
In a turn of events, bodyguard Justin Edison has gone missing before he was scheduled to testify. The trial will continue this week.
News Briefs
Dancer Stephen “tWitch” Boss died this week by suicide. He was 40 years old, and rose to fame after competing on So You Think You Can Dance.
Rihanna shared a cute TikTok revealing Baby Fenty for the first time:
Ariana Grande will be the first celebrity guest judge on the next season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which starts on Jan. 6. I’m seated!!
handle with care’s Person of the Year 2022 Florence Pugh shared the first trailer for her upcoming film, A Good Person.
Trevor Noah is hosting the GRAMMYs for the third time
The host, who just wrapped up seven years on The Daily Show, is hosting music’s biggest night once again. The awards show is making its way back to LA’s Crypto.com Arena in 2023, and they will air on Feb. 5.
Critics’ Choice Nominations are out
Everything Everywhere All At Once leads the way with 14 nominations, including Best Picture. Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, and Jamie Lee Curtis were nominated for individual acting categories, but the entire cast is nominated for Best Acting Ensemble.
Turning Red and Marcel The Shell With Shoes On are both nominated for Best Animated Feature, and I fear that these will be the frontrunners at every awards show this season. The complete nominees list is available here.
For funsies
Jennifer Lawrence dragged disgraced director Bryan Singer on The Hollywood Reporter’s actress roundtable. She said, “I mean, I’ve worked with Bryan Singer. I’ve seen emotional men. I’ve seen the biggest hissy fits thrown on set.”
It’s me, hi!! Happy Sunday! Thanks for reading! There will be a Christmas newsletter next week where I’ll give my pop culture predictions for 2023, and review the predictions I made for this year. I’m excited!!